Alex Smythe: Update on Seneca Village Cemeteries

Summary

Over the past month, I have been trying to connect the burial records for the cemeteries in Seneca Village with census records accessed through ancestry.com. At first, I was finding the research to be a bit frustrating because a lot of the people listed were not able to be found in these records, so I was fearing that I hit a dead end. Luckily, upon searching the name of the parents of a child that had been buried in the Zion Cemetery on 85th street (the Riddles), I found a page that listed many associated members of SV. The people were listed as a part of the same household, but this was simply a way of grouping neighbors together. There was a list of about 15 names who all lived in the 19th ward of NYC, which encompassed Seneca Village. This was especially important because I was able to find the occupations and other forms of information that helped give context to who exactly lived in the village. There were many Irish immigrants and Black residents listed, one Irishman named Matthew Maloney was said to have owned a "coffee shop" implying that there was a sort of communal gathering place in the village where people could eat and drink. I was so very excited and satisfied coming across this information and it really felt like I was finally doing something truly significant.

All Angels Church After it was physically relocated from Seneca Village
Census information accessed through Ancestry.com listing a resident of Seneca Village who was a black woman and a property owner which was very rare for the time period.