Last month the cemetery was so changed I completely missed it when I drove by. All of the trees on the ridge behind the cemetery had been cut down, and in the process, stones have been buried in the debris. The ridge reminded me of vistas I had seen in the west after a forest was clear cut. The image above was taken several years ago, The image below was taken last month.
The headstones of Charles and Frances Cooper, shown below in 2013, have fallen down the slope, his half buried in the debris and tipping at a precarious angle.
Charles Cooper’s headstone had been replaced recently and read CO H, USCT. I hadn’t seen these initials before, so I did a little research. They refer to the US ColoredTroops in the Civil War. Charles Cooper was a member of the 8th Regiment of the USCT. This was an infantry regiment of African American men operating out of Philadelphia under the command of Colonel Charles Fribley. The regiment saw action in Florida, Virginia, and Texas. Sgt. Cooper was fortunate to return and live twenty more years. The Cooper headstones have particular historic significance for Sodus because Charles Cooper’s grandfather, a former slave, was one of the two first African American landowners in the area.
I found a broken Civil War star medallion peeking out of the mud. Perhaps it belongs to one of the headstones buried nearby?
I’ve contacted several local organizations to elicit support for rescuing the stones before they are permanently lost in the rubble.