New window to history at historic St. George’s

A cemetery that dates to the 18th century will  have a historic marker containing a map of the graves surrounding St. George’s Episcopal Church will be unveiled on Sunday.

Known for the 522-foot white picket fence surrounding its cemetery, St. George’s is a historical touchstone, not only for historians, but for everyone living in Hempstead Village and its environs. 

The cemetery has graves dating to at least 1738. The creation of the map is a fascinating story.

Sadly, on many of the cemetery’s 500-plus headstones, the engraved names have become too weathered to read. Founding settlers’ names, like Hewlett, Bedell, and Carman, are fading, and many headstones are broken.

Several years ago, historian Amy Vacchio discovered that original inhabitants of historic Rock Hall in Lawrence were buried at St. George’s. 

Rock Hall was built in 1767 by a retired Antigua plantation owner named Josiah Martin. Martin’s home became a Town of Hempstead museum in 1953. Vacchio is the current director.

Every week, Martin and his family worshiped at the only Anglican church around—St. George’s, a two-hour journey by horse and carriage. Eventually, Martin himself was buried there.

“There is so much history here,” Vacchio said, “not only of Hempstead and Nassau County, but of the American Revolution and the history of our country. For years I have watched the stones deteriorate and thought, if I don’t do something, we will lose this important historical and cultural resource.” 

Restoring St. George’s disintegrating grave markers would be an expensive, long-term project. Mapping the names on all of the graves, while difficult, was much more within reach. 

With Matt Longo, a colleague at Rock Hall Museum, Vacchio obtained a grant and got started. During 2021 and 2022, in concert with then-rector Rev. Ajung Sojwal, Vacchio and Longo plumbed old documents contained in the church, including a graveyard map done by Boy Scouts in 1935. 

“These families provide the genesis story of the Town of Hempstead, and their gravestones are primary sources that resist archival control,” Longo said. “A graveyard allows the community the opportunity to take a stroll through history. I want my research to be as available to the public as these gravestones.”

The result of their efforts, in addition to the physical map to be unveiled on Sunday, is a website called HistoricStGeorgeCemetery.org. 

The physical map includes a QR code that takes visitors to the website.

The website explains the mapping project, provides an alphabetical list of the names on the headstones, and shows the location of each grave. 

Visitors can also access the website either at HistoricStGeorgeCemetery.org or through FriendsofRockHall.org.

The parish of St. George’s has welcomed the project. 

“It will be good because we do have visitors coming to visit the area for its history,” said facilities manager Bill Johnson. “It’s especially helpful for people who come to look for their ancestors among the headstones.”

“Every tomb is a story waiting to be told,” said Vacchio, “and I hope to tell it.”

The unveiling will occur just after noon at St. George’s, 319 Front Street, in Hempstead, on June 4, where the map has already been installed beside the church building.