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| Gravestone of Mary Hitchcock. |
To eliminate a dangerous curve on Siwanoy Road, Cos Cob, just north of its intersection with the Post Road, it will be necessary to go through a long-abandoned private cemetery, the history of which is more or less hazy. Inscriptions on the few remaining headstones show that it was in use by a family named Hitchcock as far back as the days preceding the Revolution, but exactly when the first body was interred there and when it ceased to be used is largely a matter of conjecture.
Elimination of the curve is planned by the town in connection with the paving of the road next summer. Town officials, however, realize the legal complications surrounding such a step when a cemetery is involved and are proceeding cautiously. If there are any living descendants of those buried there, consent of each one must be obtained, and this sometimes is a long and tedious process. The cemetery is part of the property now owned by Michael Taylor, but this does not eliminate the necessity of obtaining the consent of the others interested.
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| The Hitchcock Cemetery. The office building at 8 Sinawoy Road is to the left. Image credit: Showmystreet.com |
The cemetery is a small one, on the left side of the road as one the Post Road. It is enclosed by a stone wall with the exception of a few places is apparently just as it was at the time it was built. On the east side is a small iron gate that will not to swing open due to dirt that has accumulated around the bottom.
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| Another view of the cemetery from the intersection of Sinawoy Road and Taylor Drive. The building in the upper left corner of the image is the back of the Cos Cob Firehouse. Image credit: Showmystreet.com. |
The whole interior shows evidence that it has been abandoned for many years. Good sized trees are growing all over the plot. In the center is what was probably at one time a small vault. This, however, has long since been sealed and trees are growing over it. What it contains, if anything, nobody knows.
There are only four headstones to be found in the entire cemetery, and only one of these is standing. It reads as follows:
Here Lies
the Remains of
John Hitchcock
Deceased
May 5th, A. D. 1774
Aged 49 years
The stone stands at the extreme northwest corner. It is a brownstone, probably inexpensive, and like the others in the cemetery has been badly worn by the elements, its inscription all but obliterated. Despite its age, however, its inscription is possibly plainer than any of the others.
Scattered on the ground close by are three others. Next to the John Hitchcock stone in point of age is the following:
In
Memory of
Mary, Wife of
Thomas Hitchcock
Who Died
April 21, 1797
Aged 17 Yrs.
10 Mos. & 19 D's.
Third in point of age is the following:
In
Memory of
Thomas Hitchcock
Who Died
Dec. 29, 1813
Aged 56 Years
& 4 Months
If each case, effort is here being made to reproduce the inscriptions is nearly as possible is they appear on the stones. Following the age on the Thomas Hitchcock stone are lines of poetry, similar to those found on so many of the old stones. These lines are badly worn by the elements and difficult to decipher. The following is all that is possible to reproduce here:
"The debt I paid the grave
– soon you all will follow
me."
The inscription on the remaining stone reads as follows:
In
Memory of
Thomas, Jr.
Son of Thomas &
Hannah Hitchcock
Who Died
Sept. 18, 1827
Aged 20 Yrs.
6 Mos & 7 das.
Thy morning parents grieve for
one
Who made with them so short a
stay
Perhaps your Heavenly Father
saw
Some –---- on its way.
The "Abstract of Tombstones of the Town of Greenwich" and "Abstract of Births, Marriage and Deaths of the Town of Greenwich from the Earliest Town and Land Records to June, 1847," the work of Spencer P. Mead and in the town clerk's office, reveal but little more information about this old cemetery. Mr. Mead, a lawyer, member of the Sons of the Revolution and Sons of Colonial Wars, and author of "Ye Historie of Greenwich," published in 1911, and "History and Genealogy of the Mead Family," published in 1901, arranged his abstracts and typewritten form and they form a most valuable part of the town's history.
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| Historian Spencer P. Mead's record of the Hitchcock Cemetery, Cos Cob. |
Of the Hitchcock family we find the following references in the "Abstract of Births, Marriages and Deaths:"
"John Hitchcock and Mindwell, daughter of Joseph Rundle, were married on July 8, 1756, by Rev. Abraham Todd. Their children were:
"Thomas, born Aug. 30, 1757."
"Joseph, born Oct. 29, 1759."
"Thomas Hitchcock and Clemence, daughter of William Reynolds, of Pound Ridge, were married on Feb. 26, 1784."
Daniel Bouton, of Rye, and Mahala Hitchcock, of Greenwich, were married on Nov. 14, 1827, by Rev. John Ellis, of Stamford."
"Ard Knapp and Louise Hitchcock, both of Greenwich, were married on May 10, 1841, by Rev. B.M. Yarrington."
Greenwich Library records reveal a Thomas Hitchcock, who was a soldier in Capt. Abraham Mead's company in the Revolution. They also reveal that one Silas Betts married Hannah Betts, a cousin, and that after his death she married Thomas Hitchcock. It is entirely probable that the Thomas Hitchcock, Sr., buried in the old cemetery, is the soldier mentioned as a member of Captain Mead's company and that he married the Hannah Bettes who first married Silas Betts.
Silas and Hannah Betts had only one child, Walter, born Sept. 27, 1789. Walter married Harriet Morrell, born April 14, 1796. He was lost at sea in 1828 and his wife died in October, 1882. They left three children, Emily, Silas, Anne, William and Willis.
Whether or not more than one child, Thomas, Jr., was born by the union of Thomas and Hannah Betts Hitchcock, no records are to be found. There are about a half dozen small markers in the old cemetery but they bear no names, and there is no way of knowing how many bodies are buried there.
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