Mt. Albion Cemetery in April of 2000 - photo by Denise Frederick
Mt. Albion Cemetery in April of 2000 - photo by Denise Frederick
This cemetery has over 25,000 burials and covers 100 acres. The earliest plots were sold at public auction to raise the money to buy the first 25 acres. Mt. Albion is very picturesque, with rolling hills, wooded areas, grassy areas and winding roads. At the highest point, stands the Civil War Memorial Tower honoring the 463 Orleans County men killed in that war. The tower was built from Medina sandstone and is 61 1/2 feet high (82 steps to the top). From the top of the tower you can see many miles in all directions.
There are over 1,900 family plots, 3 military sections (Civil War section, Veterans section and the Companion Veterans section), 5 single grave sections (Arbutus, Greenbank, Zephyr, Deerfield & Mapleview), Ashwood (crematory section) and many family mausoleums. Several old cemeteries in the area had to, for one reason or another, have the bodies removed. In most cases they were reburied in Mt. Albion. Therefore even though the cemetery starting burying in 1843, there are many earlier burials.
Although the Cemetery was formally opened on September 7, 1843,
volunteers, Trustees and local businessmen provided most all of the manual
labor in the initial years. For nearly two decades the Village of Albion
Trustees superintended the management of the Cemetery. As business grew in
Albion, local business men had increasingly little time to volunteer their
services at the Cemetery. Thus, a paid Cemetery Caretaker or "Keeper"
became necessary. Once the first Cemetery Commission was established on May
26, 1862, Mr. Michael Hanly was appointed the first official Cemetery
"Keeper" at an annual salary of $240.00. Because of the increased cost of
living, he was given the use of wood (previously sold) from the Cemetery,
along with the new "Keepers" house (present office/residence) and a small
garden plot.
Here is a list of the Cemetery Caretakers and Superintendents, length of service, and the Lot they now rest on.
Caretakers/Keepers
1) Michael Hanly 1862-1894........Lot 613 Aloe
2) John Bidelman 1894-1905.........Lot 411 Cypress
3) Fred Standish 1905-1935.........Lot 631 Asphodel
4) Julia Standish 1935-1936........Lot 631 Asphodel (assumed duties upon death of husband Fred Standish)
5) Hubert Standish 1936-1970...... Lot 631 Asphodel
The Cemetery Commission was deactivated in 1970 (after the death of Hubert
Standish) and returned the responsibility of the Cemetery to the Village
of Albion Board of Trustees. Supervision is now performed by the Superintendent
of Mount Albion Cemetery.
Superintendents
6) Ellis A. DiLaura 1970-1982........Interred St. Joseph's Cemetery (1985)
7) Philip Knight 1982-1996...........Greenbank 1524
8) Jason A. Zicari 1996-Present .....thanks for providing the history of the Caretakers and Superintendents.
In 1976, Mt. Albion Cemetery was placed on the National register of Historic places thanks to Donna Strickland Rodden (also buried at Mt. Albion), who was the mayor of Albion for 13 years.
It took over two years to compile this information. Every stone was recorded, all the cemetery records were copied and Orleans county census records were researched in order to create as complete a record of this cemetery as possible. This Mt Albion Cemetery databbase went om line March 28 1997. It was formatted to HTM by Doug Murphy and organized by Sharon Kerridge.
