SHAW , OR VAULT , BURIAL SITE
(Town of Summerhill, NY) #233
CEMETERY INSCRIPTIONS
_________________________________________
SHAW , OR VAULT , BURIAL SITE
IN 1961 THE WRITER VISITED A BURIAL SITE IN THE TOWN OF SUMMERHILL , CAYUGA COUNTY , N.Y. , ABOUT ONE MILE SOUTH OF U.S. ROUTE 90 , ON THE EAST SIDE OF CHAMPLIN ROAD AND BACK 5OO FEET , ONE EIGHTH MILE SOUTH OF THE INTERSECTION WITH MONTGOMERY ROAD , LOCATED ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF LOT 49 NEAR THE THOMPKINS COUNTY LINE . PG. 49 IN THE NEW CENTURY ATLAS OF CAYUGA COUNTY , DATED 1904.
_________________________________________
BUCKLEY'S HISTORY OF SUMMERHILL GIVES : " SOME DISTANCE BACK FROM THE GROTON CITY ROAD IS A TOMB OVER 100 YEARS OLD , BUILT BY DANIEL J.SHAW ON HIS FARM . HERE LIE HIS REMAINS WITH NUMEROUS RELATIVES . MR. SHAW WAS ONE OF THE WEALTHIEST MEN IN CAYUGA COUNTY AT THE TIME . THE INSCRIPTION OVER THE TOMB TELLS THAT IT WAS ERECTED IN 1843 , AND READS : 'MACHPELAH ULTIMA DOMUS IN TERRA. ' IN FRONT AND BACK OF THE TOMB ARETHE TABLETS WITH BIBICAL QUOTES AND THE NAMES OF THE PEOPLE WHO LIE BURIED THERE . "
_________________________________________
THIS TOMB WAS APPARENTLY EXCAVATED IN ROCK , PERHAPS FIFTEEN FEET SQUARE
AND TEN FEET HIGH , WALLS LAID IN MASONARY AND THE ROOF ARCHED ABOVE THE GROUND LEVEL , TRULY A WORK OF ART AT THE TIME . ENTRANCE DOOR WAS ON THE EAST SIDE NEAR TOP , AND NOW PARTLY FIILED IN WITH ROCK RUBBLE , THROUGH WHICH WAS SEEN A FEW HUMAN BONES AND REMAINS OF COFFINS , THE WORK OF VANDALS . THROWN AMOUNG THE ROCKS AT ONE SIDE OF THE VAULT ROOF WAS A MASSIVE WHITE MARBLE SLAB , PERHAPS THREE BY SIX FEET AND TWO INCHES THICK , AND MARKED IN THREE PANELS , INSCRIBED AS FOLLOWS:
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
WORSHIP GOD
I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE . HE WHO BELIEVETH IN ME THOUGH HE WERE DEAD , YET SHALL HE LIVE.
________________________________________________________________________
NO.1. - IN THE VAULT UNDER THIS MONUMENT LIE THE REMAINS OF JOHN SHAW WHO DIED ON SUNDAY , MARCH 29 , 1840 , AGED 84 YEARS - AND SABELLA TENNENT SHAW , HIS WIFE , WHO DIED ON SUNDAY , FEB. 24, 1828 , AGED 71 YEARS. PRECIOUS IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD IS THE DEATH OF HIS SAINTS.
NO.2. - ERECTED TO THE MEMORY OF OUR DEAR PARENTS BY
DANIEL JOHN SHAW WILLIAM
TENNENT SHAW
ELIZA KING
ANN MOFFAT
ISABELLA T.JOHNSON & MARIA JANE LOWREY
THEIR SURVIVING CHILDREN - JULY 4 , 1843
MACHPELAH
ULTIMA DOMUS IN TERRA
NO.3. - THEIR CHILDREN WHO DIED BEFORE THEM WERE ISABELLA IN 1794 , AGED
1 YEAR , INTERRED AT ROSE YARDS , CO. ANTREM , IRELAND . MARGARET SHAW MINIER
, IN 1811 , AGED 20 YEARS. ROBERT T.SHAW IN 1824 , AGED 38 YEARS. BOTH BURIED
AT THE ASBURY MEETING HOUSE IN LANSING. THE REMAINS OF ABRM. J. MINIER ,
SON OF MARGARET , WHO DIED IN 1826 , AGED 16 YEARS , LIES HERE BY THE SIDE
OF HIS GRAND PARENTS.
Thanks to Linda Brinkman for transcribing the information on this page into a digital format.