Tri-Counties Genealogy & History by Joyce M. Tice
Rumsey Swartwood Cemetery, VanEtten Township, Chemung County, New York
Bradford County PA
Chemung County NY
Tioga County PA
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 Read by Doris & Joseph Boyd in 1979 

Photo by Joyce M. Tice July 10, 1999
Joyce's Search Tip - December 2007 -
Do You Know that you can search just the search just the 860 pages of Chemung County Cemetery Records on on the site by using the Cemeteries -Chemung button in the Partitioned search engine at the bottom of the Current What's New Page? If you use that partition follow these steps to search just one cemetery. 
1. Choose Cemeteries - Chemung
2. Enter part of the cemetery name [ie Comfort or Carr] AND a surname.
3. Choose the Find ALL Words option. Then it will find just the pages with that surname in the one cemetery you indicated. 

You will also want to search the three county level Obituaries by Cemetery partitions
Rumsey-Swartwood Cemetery
Read by Joseph and Doris Boyd
Read on October 23, 1979
Typed by Ruth BRYAN Coffelt of Gilbertsville, Pennsylvania.
    The Rumsey - Swartwood Cemetery is in the Town of Van Etten, Chemung County, New York, being situated on the south side of State Highway 224 behind the farm house of Murray Schoonmaker.  It is located about 1/10th of a mile west of the intersection of Route 224 and County Highway 3 (the Wyncoop Creek Road), laying between Cayuta Creek and the abandoned right-of-way of the Lehigh Valley main line.  It is not visible from the highway.  An abandoned cemetery, it has lacked any care or attention for well over 50 years.  An investigation may reveal that the Town of Van Etten is responsible for the cutting of the brush and the mowing of the weeds at least twice a year.  The tombstones, on the other hand, are the obligation of the descendants of those persons interred there.
    In 1932 the cemetery was grown to brush, trees and high grass.  In 1979 the same conditions prevail - rotting tree limbs, brush and weeds, and a thick matting of heavy grass covering the entire plot.  Most of the tombstones lay upon the ground and there may be others hidden from sight under the grass and litter.  Undoubtedly there are numerous unmarked graves.
    The data on all the tombstones found was copied on October 23, 1979, by Joseph & Doris Boyd.  To read much of the data on the markers it was necessary to apply a coating of white chalk.  Information in brackets does not appear on the tombstones, but has been added for general interest.  Likewise, the surname for some wives, sons, and/or daughters has been added for the sake of clarity.
 
Last Name First Name Date of Birth Date of Death Age Inscription/Relationship/Comments
AMES BENJAMIN 1841 08/15/1841 5m (This is a nice small shale tombstone.)
          (Next is a shale tombstone laying on the ground with its face scaled away. No data.)
DECKER JOHN 1809 1899   "Father" (He was a farmer with 64 acres in the Town of Van Etten in 1868.)
DECKER MARINDA 1816 1899   "Mother" (Tombstone is off its base and laying on the ground.)
DECKER HENRY 08/12/1847     (No death date.)
DECKER AUGUSTA S. 04/27/1847 3/11/15   His wife. 
DECKER JOHN J. 12/11/1881     (No death date.)
DECKER NELLIE L. 10/20/1886     His wife. (No death date.)
MCINTYRE SOVINA       See entry for JEREMIAH K. RUMSEY.
MCINTYRE ZIMRI 1783 or 1784 10/05/1877 93y  
MCINTYRE ORPHELIA 1784 or 1785 09/29/1865 80y (Both epitaphs on one tombstone which lays face-up on the ground.)
MOORE JANE 07/31/1823 09/07/1840 47y 1m 7d Wife of EDWARD MOORE. (Not found by Boyd on 10/23/1979. Data from Staver Record - 1932.)
ROSEKRANS SARAH M. 05/15/1835 11/04/1862 27y 5m 20d Wife of NELSON ROSEKRANS. (Tombstone lays on the ground in 8 small pieces and some data is badly eroded. Death date and age is from the Staver Record - 1932.)
RUMSEY JEREMIAH K. 09/24/1800 04/18/1871 70y 6m 24d  
RUMSEY SOVINA 11/16/1807  1872   (She was the daughter of ZIMRI & ORPHELIA MCINTYRE and was married in 1827 in Hector, New York. This is a large heavy shaft type monument with the shaft laying on the ground. There may be additional data, but the shaft is too heavy to roll over.)
RUMSEY MARY ALICE 1857 02/11/1859 1y 2m Daughter of JAMES & MARY RUMSEY. (Tombstone not found by Boyd on 10/23/1979. Data from the Staver Record - 1932.)
SMITH MARY E.        (See entry for MARY E. SMITH VREDENBURG.)
SWARTWOOD ISAIAH 09/21/1791 08/01/1873 81y 10m 11d  
SWARTWOOD MARY 01/05/1797 12/21/1856 59y 11m 16d Wife of ISAIAH SWARTWOOD.
SWARTWOOD GEORGE F. 05/14/1840 02/02/1878   (A shaft type monument laying on the ground.)
SWARTWOOD FAYETTE 03/14/1858 11/10/1861 3y 7m 27d  
SWARTWOOD JANE 03/14/1784 05/03/1854 70y 1m 19d Wife of DANIEL SWARTWOOD. (Tombstone lays face-up on the ground.)
          Next is a fieldstone tombstone with its face scaled off. No data. DANIEL SWARTWOOD'S grave?
SWARTWOOD JOHN 02/27/1754 12/12/1837 83y 9m 15d (Tombstone not found by Boyd on 10/23/1979. Data from the Staver Record - 1932. He is reported as being a soldier in the American Revolution.)
SWARTWOOD SARAH  1756 09/28/1830 73y 10m Wife of JOHN SWARTWOOD. (An excellent shale tombstone laying face-up in the weeds.)
          Nearby are two shale tombstones with no data.
SWARTWOOD JOHN 1800 or 1801 09/19/1875 74y (Tombstone not found by Boyd on 10/23/1979. Data from the Staver Record - 1932. He was a constable, owner of the Union Hotel, and postmaster in Van Etten in 1868.) 
SWARTWOOD NORA 1869 or 1870 10/30/1883 13y 10m Daughter of KING J. & MARY JANE SWARTWOOD. (Tombstone not found by Boyd on 10/23/1979. Data from the Rumsey Record - 1972.)
VREDENBURG CHARLES 07/24/1830 07/05/1860 29y 11m 11d (Tombstone lays face-up in the weeds in three pieces, is broken through the age line and turning black.)
          Next is a small shale tombstone with no data.
VREDENBURG IRA S. 01/09/1845 03/31/1888    
VREDENBURG WALDO S. 10/30/1874 05/24/1891 16y 6m 24d Son of IRA S. & ESTHER B. VREDENBURG. (A shaft type monument laying on the ground. There may be additional data on the shaft, but is too heavy to roll over.)
VREDENBURG MARY E. SMITH 1852 or 1853 07/12/1877 24y Wife of ALFRED VREDENBURG. (Tombstone not found by Boyd on 10/23/1979. Data may appear on the fallen IRA S. VREDENBURG monument. Data from the Staver Record - 1932.)

Published On Tri-Counties Site On 7/31/99
 
Bradford County PA
Chemung County NY
Tioga County PA

Published On Tri-Counties Site On 07/31/1999
By Joyce M. Tice
Email: Joyce M. Tice

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