Wilcox Friends Cemetery in North Collins, New York

About

Get directions Quaker & Wilcox Rds
North Collins, New York, USA

Coordinates: 42.55841, -78.91591
Cemetery ID:

Members have Contributed

About these numbers These percentages indicate the number of Find a Grave memorials that have a grave photo or GPS coordinates. We don't know the total number of burials in a cemetery, so we cannot calculate a percentage of those with memorials, photos or GPS coordinates.

Photos

1 open photo request.

This cemetery, the oldest known cemetery in North Collins, is located at the northwest corner of the intersection of Wilcox Road and Quaker Road where the original Quaker meeting house stood. Unfortunately the lovely sign erected by the D.A.R. is incorrect. The cemetery is the Shirley Orthodox Friends Cemetery. Both the congregation and the cemetery are named for the nearest hamlet as was customary. There is no documentation that any of the Wilcox family ever belonged to the meeting or was buried there. The hamlet of Shirley is now merely a part of the Town of North Collins.

This cemetery is the final resting place of many of North Collins pioneer settlers. They came from New England seeking land, cleared the virgin forest and made the area their home. There are three Revolutionary War veterans buried at the Shirley Orthodox Quaker Cemetery. Although it was not unknown (but rare) for members of Quaker congregations to serve in the military (they fought to restore peace), it is unusual for them to be buried with recognition of that service. Quakers were the original conscientious objectors. They fulfilled their patriotic duty to their country by supporting the military when possible (knitting socks, preparing lint for wounds, etc.), but did not believe in bearing arms.