Child's Headstone Returned to Fournier Cemetery

Donald Boland came across a headstone in his Noyac home’s carport a few days after he closed on the property in 1984.

The battered stone read “Samuel E., Son of Samuel and Jane Robinson,” and Boland, unsure of what to do with the monument, placed it in his backyard. He and his friends would occasionally toast to “Sammy,” who died at 9 years old in 1845. The marker became an interesting, if morbid, part of the landscaping.

It wasn’t until a few months ago that Boland — after reading an article in Newsday about the town’s efforts to — learned about Robinson’s origins. He called the town, prompting a little research by historian Zachary Studenroth. Studenroth learned that the marker’s final resting place was in a small, moss-covered burial ground called “Squires/Fournier Cemetery” on Red Creek Road.

The town held a small ceremony commemorating the reuniting of the headstone and the burial plot Wednesday morning. The child’s parents are also buried in the cemetery, said Roger Tollefsen, a member of the Hampton Bays Cemetery Task Force.

Studenroth used documents dating back to the 1930s to find where Robinson’s marker belonged. A 1936 Daughters of the American Revolution survey, and one from the 1970s, showed that the headstone originally was located off Red Creek Road. But, a 2006 survey completed by the University of Pennsylvania showed the headstone was missing from the small cemetery, owned by the town.

With the documentation in hand, Studenroth and Tollefsen worked on restoring the headstone to its original location. It was re-set about two weeks ago, Tollefsen said.

The Squires/Fournier Cemetery dates back to the early 1800s, a time when graves were marked with footstones and headstones, Studenroth said. Tradition at the time called for the initials on footstones to face east, and inscriptions on the headstones to face west, positioning the dead to rise up and watch the second coming of Christ, which was thought to be connected with the sunrise, Studenroth said.

That schematic also helps cemetery maintenance volunteers identify missing headstones and those that have shifted with time, Studenroth said. An extra footstone in the Squires/Fournier cemetery served as another clue on where Robinson’s stone belonged, he said.

Boland is not sure how the headstone made it across the Shinnecock Canal from Hampton Bays to Noyac, but is glad the stone has returned to its home. Tollefsen suggests it was a prank, or an accident on behalf of a contractor.

 “It’s a mystery,” Boland said.