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Join us for a Veteran’s Day Ceremony at Monfort Cemetery

TONH, Cow Neck Peninsula Historical Society host ceremony honoring 12 American Revolutionary veterans buried here

Tombstone of Adrian Onderdonck who passed on January 20, 1794. Courtesy Chris Bain, Cow Neck Peninsula Historical Society.
Tombstone of Adrian Onderdonck who passed on January 20, 1794. Courtesy Chris Bain, Cow Neck Peninsula Historical Society. (Christopher Bain)

On Saturday, November 11, 2023 at 8:30 a.m., as part of the commemoration of Veteran’s Day, The Town of North Hempstead (TONH) and Cow Neck Peninsula Historical Society (CNPHS) invite the community to participate in a ceremony honoring the service of twelve (12) American Revolutionary War Patriots buried in Monfort Cemetery. During the ceremony, special markers and American flags will be placed at the gravesites of the local patriots.

The Monfort Cemetery is located at the intersection of Port Washington Boulevard and Main Street, just behind and up the hill from the post office. The cemetery, usually closed to the public, is a town landmark and is on the State and National Registries of Historic Places. An active burial ground from at least 1737 to 1892 the site contains some of the town’s earliest settlers including the Onderdonk, Hegeman, Dodge, Rapelje and Schenck families. The Monfort Cemetery, was cared for until 1984 by Burtis Monfort and then deeded to the town by him.

Currently, the Town of North Hempstead’s historian Ross Lumpkin and town officials have joined volunteers from the Cow Neck Peninsula Historical Society in an ongoing effort to raise the funds needed to restore the deteriorating gravestones, as well as to preserve and honor the Colonial and American historical legacy in the cemetery.

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The community is advised that the cemetery is hilly and contains tree roots & low-level stones, so appropriate footwear is advised at all times on the site.

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About the Town of North Hempstead

Ross Lumpkin, Town Historian

lumpkinr@northhempstead.ny.gov

About Cow Neck Peninsula Historical Society

Chris Bain, President

chris@cowneck.org

The mission of the Cow Neck Peninsula Historical Society is to engage people of all ages in programs that highlight the lifestyles of the people and families that lived and worked on the peninsula throughout the years. Central to this mission is the preservation of the Sands Willets House (circa 1735) and the Thomas Dodge Homestead (circa 1721), which the Society operates as house-museums.

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