LOCATION OVERVIEW

Spencer’s Corners Burying Ground, Merwin Road, is situated north of the village of Millerton, within the town of North East, New York. The site is one of the oldest cemeteries in Dutchess County, with one headstone dating back to 1701. It is located in an area known as “the Oblong,” along part of the old Salisbury to Rhinecliff Turnpike where the original settlers and ore miners made their home. It was named for the Spencer family who established residence there in 1770. The Burying Ground was originally a part of the Baptist Church, built in 1777, during the American Revolutionary War, by Reverend Simon Dakin.

In 1887, the Baptist congregation moved to a new church in the village of Millerton. Following the advent of the railroad in Millerton, many families migrated south to this growing community. In 1907 the Burying Ground was incorporated as a nonprofit entity and regulated by the New York State Division of Cemeteries. In 1987, it was considered an “abandoned cemetery” and was ceded to the town of North East, which is currently responsible for mowing and light maintenance of the site.

EARLY SETTLERS

Before it became Spencer’s Corners, historians suggest that early settlers in this area were mostly likely made up of a ‘congregation’ from Shekomeko, comprising native Mahican Indians of the Algonquin tribe, and the Moravian missionaries who had Christianized them. This settlement was referred to locally as “Sichem,” which may have derived from the Hebrew word Shechem - a biblical town and ancient commercial center. White settlers eventually drove the Moravian and Christianized Indian community from this area over to the eastern border of Indian Lake. But by mid-17th century, most of this community had also been dispersed.

THE DUTCH AND THE OBLONG

The Dutch were the first to colonize the area now known as Dutchess County, mostly for the purpose of fur trading. The first settlers' dwellings may have been caves dug into the sides of hills, lined with split logs, roofed with small timbers, and covered with layers of sod. Smoke from the cook fires escaped through a hole in the roof. Sparsely settled Dutchess County maintained only paths or highways wide enough for horse and man.

When the Dutch surrendered to Britain the territory became New York. In 1717 Poughkeepsie was named the county seat and Dutchess County was one of the twelve original divisions of the Colony of New York. It was named in honor of the Duchess of York. Between 1685 and 1731, a series of land patents were granted to private persons, resulting in eleven Crown Patents. Two of those patents were the Little Nine Partners tract and the Oblong or Equivalent Tract. The boundary line between New York and Connecticut had long been a subject of inter-colonial dispute, but Connecticut agreed in 1731 to cede to New York land that extended the whole length of Dutchess County along the Connecticut border which has been known ever since as the Oblong.

DEVELOPMENT OF NORTH EAST

North East Precinct was formed in 1746 from the Upper Nine Partners tract. There was rapid growth during the mid-18th century, thanks to the abundance of potential waterpower, fertile soil, and the extensive forests. Grist and sawmills were built and every hamlet with any potential power was self-sufficient. Many of the early settlers were from New England. Up until this time, there was little progress made in the settlement of these lands. New York became a state in 1777 and in 1788 an act was passed with the purpose of dividing the counties of the state into towns. North East Precinct was changed to North East Town.

BAPTIST CHURCH

Elder Simon Dakin came from the vicinity of Boston and located to “Spencer’s Clearing” (as it was known then) on November 6, 1751. At his house, he established what would become a thriving outpost of the Baptist Church from Amenia. There were nine original members: Simon Dakin, Elijah Calkin, Josiah Baker, Maltheo Rowlee, Reugen Cloos, Barzillai King, Stephen Pepper, and Elisha Cole. A church covenant and articles of faith were adopted and its nine disciples became the Baptist Church of Phillips Patent, Government of York. In 1762, a dedicated house of worship of the Baptist Church was built adjacent to the burying ground site and designated as a “churchyard” for that purpose. By 1770, the congregation membership was recorded as numbering sixty-five. Dakin served as pastor for fifty years, despite having duly ceded the churchyard to New York State in 1776, the year the severance of the American colonies from Great Britain was accomplished.)

HIGHWAYS AND TURNPIKES

Highways were important for the development of Dutchess County. One of the first acts of New York's legislature in 1788 was to create an act to improve highway layout. Highway districts were mapped out so that District No. 2 began at the house of Charles Dolph, south to the Precinct Line, including the crossroad by Simon Dakin to the Oblong Line. And District No. 4 began at Connecticut Salisbury Road, running west as far as the Nine Partner's line. These two roads ran very close to what is now called Spencer's Corners.

Robert Livingston owned an iron furnace in Ancram, New York. The ore to supply the furnace was hauled principally from the ore beds near Spencer's Corners in North East. In 1800 another act was passed by New York's legislature called to establish a Turnpike corporation for improving and making a road from the town of Salisbury, in the state of Connecticut to Wattles' Ferry on the Susquehannah River. Livingston's ultimate objective was to develop the village of Ancram and the means to this end would be a good road from the Salisbury ore beds to the Ancram furnace. The turnpike began near Alexander Spencer's house in North East, and traveled from there northwest over the mountain.

In 1802, the turnpike was again rerouted making Rhinebeck the terminal point on the Hudson. Petitions were presented and a report was read that pointed out the advantages of opening a turnpike road from the house of Alexander Spencer in the town of Northeast in the county of Dutchess through the town of Rhinebeck. Alexander Spencer, son of Philip Spencer, for whom Spencer's Corner was named, was a state legislator at this time and coincidentally, died during this session.

In 1821, seven petitioners called for more changes to the town of North East, creating three distinct divisions based on the natural geographical barriers. The new town barriers are essentially the same as they are now. One of the petitioners for this change was Wakeman Bradley of Spencer's Corner.

In 1797, a private postal route was established from Sharon, Connecticut to Rhinebeck, New York. The post office in what is now North East, was “Spencer's Corners.” In 1818, the general post office established a mail route “from Rhinebeck by North East and Amenia to Sharon."