Vandermark Family Cemetery

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: Debruce, Rockland, Sullivan, New York, United States
Surname/tag: Besimer Beesimer Beasmer Beismer Beesmer Beasimer Bismer Vandemark Vandermark Hogancamp

The Vandermark Family Cemetery is a rural cemetery in Sullivan County, NY which was presumably originally created for burials of family members of three related families: Beesimer (and variants), Vandermark (and variants) and Hogancamp (and variants). The cemetery was once surrounded by land owned by the three primary families. The cemetery was abandoned by the family, probably at the point when the last locally residing family member died, who was possibly Nettie Beismer.

The surrounding family owned land (at one point over 500 acres) was lost, probably through eminent domain, to the watershed for New York City.

Below is the acreage of the family members as seen on the 1860 non-population, agriculture census: ^[1]

Name	Improved acres	Unimproved acres	Total acres
Ephraim Vandermark	70	60	130
C. Beesimer	85	15	100
Josiah Vandermark	60	57	117
Riley Hogancamp	50	44	94
Simeon Vandermark	40	110	150
Total acreage			591

As an abandoned family cemetery, the local town provides upkeep, mowing the cemetery a couple of times a year and whatever is seen as necessary upkeep. There was not a direct access to the cemetery for some time; access used to require walking across private property and wooded state watershed land. This has been remedied by the Town which has created an access road, a gate and sign.

Efforts have been made, over the years, to establish a family cemetery association to protect and maintain the cemetery and to prevent further non-family burials which have been allowed since its abandonment. Anyone interested in the establishment of a family cemetery association for this cemetery can contact this profile manager whose final wishes include a stone and ashes to be there.

Profiles of those buried in the cemetery can be viewed in the list of profiles in the Category listed at the bottom of this page.

The Findagrave page for the cemetery:^[2]

Sources:

1. ↑ 1860 Non-population Census: "U.S., Selected Federal Census Non-Population Schedules, 1850-1880"
   National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, DC; Copies of Nonpopulation Census Schedules; NAID: 2791276; Record Group Number: 29; Record Group Title: Records of the Bureau of the Census; OS Page: 1; Line Number: 21
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 1276 #4511838 (accessed 9 July 2024)
   Name: Riley Hogencamp; Enumeration Date: 20 Jun 1860; Place: Rockland, Sullivan, New York, USA; Schedule Type: Agriculture.
2. ↑ Cemetery: "Vandemark Family Cemetery"
   Findagrave
   Vandemark Familiy Cemetery (accessed 9 July 2024)
   See template information.