A Military Tour of Christ Church Cemetery
Grave Sites 60 through 79

Go to Reference Table of Military Gravesites

The following are Maps of the Cemetery and the Grave Sites discussed in this Work:

Map of Manlius Cemetery & Christ Church Cemetery
Christ Church Cemetery with Military Sites indicated in Tour Order
Enlarged Map of Christ Church Cemetery

60. Joseph Smith (Lot 60) was born on September 28, 1789 at Middlefield, Massachusetts. He married Sophia Wattles on December 13, 1815. She was born March 1, 1798 at Lebanon, Connecticut.

Joseph was a lieutenant in the War of 1812. When he was on a soldiering expedition to Sackett's Harbor in October 1814, he wrote this November letter to his brother, Azariah: "...wrote you by Mr. Robbins that we had been very much favored in this County this fall on account of our not being called for to go in to the service but in an hour when we least expected it we were all called for to go to Sackett's harbor for its defence, which was then thought to be in danger of an attack from the enemy accordingly we marched on the 30th of Oct. for that place we were however ordered to stop at Smith's mills (a village on the big Sandy Creek about 12 miles this side of the harbor and then to wait till further orders which we did--and encamped there about fourteen days and were discharged--Gen. Brown's army having arrived at the harbor from niagara it was thought by him not necessary to detain the militia there any longer and accordingly we were all sent home again--we fared verry well while in camp much better than I expected we should our provisions were good and our duty light--the march out and back was verry fatigueing it being so verry muddy that we were forced sometimes to wade through it and water half leg deep however I stood it verry well much better than i thought I should when I started from home I was hearty all the while we were gone--if a man has his health he can endure almost anything but to be sick in such times is what I should dread about all the rest I saw several that were verry sick while I was gone, and to see how the poor fellows fared it was enough to make one shudder at the idea--I thought it would be impossible for me to endure the campaign before I went from home not having been used to such fare and fatigue as is necessary for a soldier to undergo but when I got away from home I found that I was much more hearty than I was at home and I could eat Uncle Sam's beef and bread with a good appetite." The great majority of the War of 1812 deaths were due to dysentery and other camp diseases.

The Battle of Sackett's Harbor, May 29, 1813

Smith was a member of the vestry of Christ Church for many years. The church purchased Smith's home following his decease on January 22, 1849 for its parsonage. Smith's wife passed away on May 21, 1839, aged 41. Their stones are down and broken.

The Joseph Smith Residence, 113 North St.

61. John Parke (Lot 60) was born in Chatham, Connecticut in 1760. He enlisted in the Revolutionary War at the age of sixteen, and served through it. As a sergeant he was present at the execution of Andre, and often described it, says Beauchamp. In 1798 he was commissioned as Major in the 23rd Connecticut militia by Gov. Trumbull.

John married Bethia Smith on July 1, 1784. She died in Middle Hadam in 1802. He first moved to Camden, New York, then to Manlius. He passed away on July 6, 1819, aged 58. The epitaph on his intact stone reads: Time was like me/He life possess'd./And time will be/When I shall rest.

62. Joseph Williams (Lot 61) was a member of the militia. His wife, Elizabeth, died on December 26, 1848, aged 72. Capt. Williams passed away on March 18, 1836, aged 66. His stone is down. The epitaph reads: Behold and see as you pass by/As you are now so once was I./As I am now so you must be./Prepare for death - to follow me. His wife's stone is not there.

This is not the same Joseph Williams that Bruce claims moved from Connecticut to Manlius in 1795. That Williams served in Capt. Joseph Perkins' Co., which was called out on the Lexington alarm at the onset of the Revolutionary War. When he arrived in Manlius he had fifty cents to his name. He bought land at 20 shillings an acre, cleared five acres all alone, built a house, and brought his family by ox team and sled the following year. He was also an early member of Military Lodge 93, called after those lodges instituted for the army. This Joseph Williams is not buried in Christ Church Cemetery.

63. Ichabod Wood (Lot 63) was born on March 4, 1746. In early 1700, he married Elizabeth Brownell of Little Compton, Rhode Island. Ichabod was a lieutenant in the 2nd company of Little Compton in June 1769, but declined the office in February 1779. He died on October 4, 1817, aged 71. Elizabeth died on August 27, 1827, aged 79. Both stones are down.

64. John N. Nichols (Lot 64) was an Ensign in the Rhode Island militia during the Revolutionary War. He died on July 6, 1828, aged 89, according to burial records. He is buried in the George Church lot. His stone is intact.

65. Charles Johnson (Lot 65) was a farmer who served in Capt. Daniel Mulholland's Manlius Artillery Co. in the War of 1812. He died on April 28, 1837, no age given. The stone is intact.

66. This unknown soldier of the War of 1812 (Lot 66) served in the 23rd Regiment, U. S. Infantry. He died in April 1813. There is no stone present.

67. Elijah Covey (Lot 66) was a soldier in the 23rd Regiment. He died in the War of 1812 on October 30, 1812. There is no stone present.

68. Jeremiah Cooper (Lot 158) was born in 1842 in Saratoga County and came to this area in 1858. He served in Co. F of the 2nd New York Cavalry, and died on September 20, 1918 in Buellville, town of Pompey. Jerry was survived by his widow, Elizabeth Reed Cooper. Both stones are intact. Elizabeth, born in 1845, passed away on October 10, 1920. Besides his widow, he was survived by sons, Bert and Ernest, and his daughter, Isa, then married to George Crossley.

Isa Cooper Crossley was born in Pompey on May 26, 1867. She and her spouse were living at 169 W. Seneca St. in Manlius when she noticed a stalled snowplow in the area. Inspired to improve upon the design, she commenced work in October 1913. In 1914 she patented her "Princess Maude" Royal Empress Snow Plow. Her brother, Ernest, made drawings of the machine, and was her business agent and manager. By July 1914, the Canadian Pacific Railroad was interested in purchasing Crossley's patent for $100,000.

69. Asher Mills (Lot 167) moved to Manlius from Connecticut in 1805. He served as paymaster in Major Charles B. Bristol's rifle battalion in 1815. Asher Mills was a farmer and a hatter. His hat factory was at Eagle Village. He also ran a retail shop in Manlius Village until 1832 in the west extension of the present Masonic building. His father, Moses, is mentioned below. Asher died on October 3, 1867, aged 86. His wife, Margaret, died on March 31, 1868, aged 84. Their monument is intact.

70. Moses Mills (Lot 167) was in Col. Hutchins' regiment, serving from Connecticut at West Point in the Revolutionary War. According to Beauchamp, his name appeared in Litchfield, Connecticut in 1790. He died on October 23, 1830, aged 85 and his wife passed away on May 4, 1842, aged 91. His stone is intact.

71. Jesse Hall Prindle (lot 162) was a quartermaster in the War of 1812 and an officer of the June 20, 1854 Onondaga County celebration of surviving members of the War of 1812. He was the son of Ellabaugh and Olive Terrill Messenger Prindle and a descendant of William Pringle (Prindle), a native of Scotland. Pringle settled in New Haven, Connecticut by 1654. Jesse's mother was a descendant of Roger Tyrrell. Tyrrell was born in Stepheney, Middlesex, England and settled in Milford, Connecticut by 1638.

Jesse had two marriages. Harvey Cobb Prindle, his son by Asenath Elliot, is buried in this lot. Mahala Rawson, his second wife whom Jesse married in 1831, is also buried here, as is his mother, who died in 1848, aged 74. Jesse passed away on September 1, 1856, aged 59. His stone is intact.

72. Frank A. Sass (Lot 169) resided at 113 Academy St. in Manlius when he drowned after his car plunged into Cazenovia Lake on November 4, 1933. Lt. Sass was accorded a full military funeral, with units from every American Legion post in Onondaga County represented. Only fifty years old, he had an imposing army record according to his obituary. He enlisted in the regular army in 1903, served with the cavalry until 1917, and achieved the rank of Sergeant. When the United States entered World War I, Sass re-enlisted and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the cavalry. He later was transferred to the ordnance department, and discharged in 1919 as first lieutenant. He re-enlisted and subsequently was assigned to the Manlius Military School where he served as an instructor for ten years until his 1929 retirement. He then became manager of the Crow-Levick plant, a division of the Cities Service Oil Co. in Syracuse. Sass was a member of Archie Van Patten Post 141, American Legion in Manlius where less than a week before his death he had installed the officers of the post. His wife, Marguerite, was active in the affairs of the Legion auxiliary. Besides his wife, he was survived by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. John Sass, seven brothers and three sisters, all of Chicago. Marguerite passed away on November 3, 1972, aged 85. Their stone is intact.

Lieut. Frank A. Sass, U.S.A.

73. Stephen O. Dickerson (Lot 257) was a private in Co. F of the 2nd New York Cavalry during the Civil War. He served under the well-known Fayetteville resident, Major Mortimer Birdseye. Birdseye later was promoted to Colonel. Through Birdseye's influence, the battalion was attached to the famous 2nd New York Harris Light Cavalry. A photo of Birdseye in uniform appears below.

Col. M. B. Birdseye
From Photo Taken in 1863

Stephen Dickerson died at his home in Pompey on July 16, 1911 of heart disease and within a few days would have been 91 years of age. The Dickerson monument is intact.

74. Albert H. Monroe (Lot 260) was a private in Co. C of the 122nd Regiment, New York Infantry during the Civil War. He mustered in August 28, 1862. On September 12, 1864, he was wounded in action near Berryville, Virginia. The gunshot wound he suffered cost him his arm and he was discharged for disability on February 16, 1865. The year of his birth is unclear. One source claims Monroe was 18 when he enlisted on August 4, 1862 and a genealogy source says he was born in 1854. His stone inscription reads shows birth in 1846 and death in 1908, but Christ Church burial records say he was 55 when he died on April 21, 1903.

Albert H. married Emillus (Emma) Sarah Hilts. She was the daughter of Georgius (George) Hilts. Her brother, Charles L., was in Co. C of the 122nd Regiment. He died in battle at Winchester, Virginia on September 19, 1864, and is buried at the Cold Harbor, Virginia National Cemetery.

Battle of Winchester Sketches by J. E. Taylor

Her brother, George Henry, was wounded at Petersburg during the Civil War. He was the grandfather of Raymond Everett Hilts, mentioned next. Emillus Sarah died on January 27, 1916, aged 64.

75. Raymond Everett Hilts (Lot 264) was born in East Syracuse on October 24, 1918, and served as a corporal in the U. S. Army during World War II. He was among the eighth generation of the Hilts family in the Americas, a descendant of Christofel (Huls) Hiltz. Hiltz came from Marth, Ostertal, Pfalz, Germany in 1709, and settled in the Palatinate section of New York State. His name appears on the 1711 Census of Soldiers of Palatine Volunteers to Canada. Christofel's grandson, Lorentz "Loring" participated in the Revolutionary War. Raymond's grandfather, George Henry, was a member of Co. C, 1st Reg., E Battery, and was wounded in the Battle of Gettysburg.

Raymond Hilts married Jane Fowler and they had seven children. Prior to his retirement as a machinist for Vega Industries, he had lived for 17 years in the Central Square area. He was a member of Trach-Auringer Post, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Constantia. Before his death on October 17, 1984, he moved to Onondaga Drive in Brewerton. His brother, Edwin, six of his children, and nine grandchildren survived him. His stone is intact.

76. William E. Girton (Lot 286) was born at Nanticoke, Pennsylvania on February 7, 1895, and was the son of Arlington M. Girton. He attended Shickshinny High School in Pennsylvania and then entered Manlius School where he was a graduate of the class of 1916. From 1916-1917 he was a post-graduate at the Manlius School, and also had charge of the younger boys in Verbeck Hall. The hall is named after Brigadier General William Verbeck, shown below, who was president of The Manlius School from 1888 to 1930. Gen. Verbeck (1861-1930) is buried in Verbeck Family Cemetery on the grounds of the former Manlius School, now the Verbeck Estates, off Route 92.

In 1917, Girton became a student at Syracuse University, and went into the R.O.T.C. Camp in Spring 1918. During World War I he was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant of Infantry, and was stationed at Camp Grant, Illinois. In 1919 he taught primary grades at Manlius School, and from 1920-1922 was assistant to Col. Guido F. Verbeck at the Manlius School's summer camp in the Adirondacks. In 1924 he married a Miss Weeks. By 1926, he was promoted to Captain, and became head coach of football at Manlius. Before his sudden death at age 39 on April 3, 1934, he was a member of Archie Van Patten Post 141, American Legion, and Manlius Military Lodge. He also was a commander in the Order of the Phoenix, Manlius School honorary order. There is a massive, overturned monument in the cemetery that may have been toppled during the 1991 vandalism and now lies inscription side down. It possibly carries the Girton name.

77. Karl Verbeck (Lot 287) was born in Manlius in 1900. He was the son of Gen. William and Katharine Jordan Verbeck, and brother to Guido Verbeck. Karl was a St. John's School cadet, and a member of the U. S. Army during World War I. From 1920 to 1937 he was associated with the business department of The Manlius School, and was treasurer of the school from 1937 to 1939. He also was a reserve officer attached to a regular infantry regiment. He died at West Point while visiting his brother, Col. William J. Verbeck, on July 3, 1946. He was survived by his wife, Mary Lighthall, whom he married on August 28, 1926; two sons, Channing and Peter; his brother, and two nephews, Lt. Col. Samuel S. Verbeck and Lt. Col. Guido F. Verbeck. His stone is intact.

78. Reginald M. Ballantyne, M. D. (Lot 287) died in an automobile and trolley car crash on June 30, 1937, aged 49. Dr. Ballantyne entered the medical corps of the U. S. Army in 1917, and served as a first lieutenant in the First Field Artillery attached to Battery A of Syracuse. Afterward he served in Troop D, First Cavalry. He was called to duty on the Texas border where he was transferred to the Fourth New York Ambulance Company. From there he went to the Fourth Heavy Artillery of Buffalo. He re-enlisted the following year, and during World War I he served as First Lieutenant of Ambulance Co.105 in the 27th Division in France. He was promoted to Captain, and after the war he organized an ambulance company in the New York National Guard. He resided at 403 Seneca St. His son, Reginald, Jr., was a lieutenant in World War II. While in Italy, Reginald, Jr. was awarded the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star for heroic achievement on the Fifth Army front where he was a member of the 34th "Red Bull" Division of the 133rd Infantry Regiment.

Dr. Ballantyne was appointed as Onondaga County penitentiary physician in June 1936, and also was a Republican committeeman in the town of Manlius. He was survived by his wife, Mabel Van Zade; Reginald Ballantyne, Jr.; his daughter, Janet; his mother, Mrs. Thomas Ballantyne of Syracuse; three brothers, Maj. Ballantyne of San Antonio, Texas, Commissioner G. H., and Thomas R. Ballantyne of Syracuse; and four sisters, Mrs. W. Backett of Philadelphia, Mrs. Constance Adams of Detroit, Mrs. William Sheridan, and Mrs. Charles Brenner. His stone is intact.

79. Frank D. Heffernan (Lot 266) was born on February 27, 1892. He was a private during World War I. Frank died at his home on Brown Gulf Rd., Manlius on November 10, 1986. He was 94 years old, and the oldest charter member of the Manlius American Legion Post. He was the only surviving World War One veteran of the Archie Van Patten Post 141 of Manlius, and had been marshal of the village's Memorial Day parade for several years prior to his decease. Heffernan was a native of Delphi Falls, and was a self-employed carpenter who later worked at the Oberdorfer Co. He retired in 1969, and was a member of St. Ann's Church. He served in Europe during World War I and was a life member of Manlius VFW Post 7872. He was survived by his wife, Lena; four daughters, Blanche Wait of Fabius, Joan Hand of DeWitt, Eleanor Hughes of Syracuse, and Lenora Bobbette of Fabius; three sons, Malcolm and Charles Heffernan, both of Manlius, and William Heffernan of Rochester; 35 grandchildren and 50 great-grandchildren. His stone is intact.

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