Historic Hudson Valley Headstones Damaged

Editor's Note: This article has been corrected. The owners of a store who had taken clay casts years ago were not identified as responsible for the recent incidents. Also, a Google Maps photo of Sparta Cemetery has replaced a photo from the Ossining Police Department Facebook post. Patch regrets the error.

OSSINING, NY — Headstones were damaged at historic Sparta Cemetery and the Old Dutch Church in Ossining and Sleepy Hollow.

"Yesterday morning the Town supervisor got a call from one of our neighbors reporting possible damage to a tombstone at Sparta," Ossining police said on Facebook. "The original report indicated there was some type of residue left on the stone and people were concerned that it would damage some of our irreplaceable history. The complainant also relayed that a similar incident may have occurred at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery (which is not in our jurisdiction)."

The woman was accused of pouring chemicals on the grave markers. “She put some kind of chemical solvent on and then something that would be plastered up against it to take the impression,” Rev. Jeff Gargano told CBS New York.

The Friends of the Old Dutch Church have created a GoFundMe page to raise money for repairs to the damaged tombstones.

Ossining police said they investigated. They also spoke to a woman who had used a type of modeling clay to create casts of parts of each stone in order to re-create ornamental items for her online store, Ossining police said on Facebook. The modeling clay she used is not believed to cause permanent damage, police said.

Owners of an online company who said they had visited years ago to collect impressions in Sleepy Hollow commented about the controversy on their Etsy site and said that they have received several messages about the recent incident, some of them hostile.

In fact, casting, rubbing, or otherwise using foreign substances on these historic stones does violate the rules of Sparta Cemetery, which is owned by the town of Ossining, police said.

"So here's the deal," police said. "First, if you're looking to start a business, make sure you're not using someone else's property to create a profit. That's just unprofessional. Second, please be considerate of our landmarks. These are things that cannot be replaced. We're lucky to live in a warm and welcoming community with so much history. Let's all do our part to be the guardians of our past."

If you want to learn more about Sparta Cemetery you can join the Ossining Historic Cemeteries Conservancy. For other Ossining history, stop by the Ossining Historical Society Museum.

The Old Dutch Church and Burying Ground is several miles south, also on the Albany Post Road.

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