St. John's Evangelical Cemetery, Buffalo NY

    St. John's Ev., 2000

    St. John’s Evangelical Cemetery was located on the corner of Military Road and Lansing Street in Buffalo, New York. Established in the 1860s by St. John’s Evangelical Church on Amherst Street, the last burial was in 1918.
    In 1974, while searching for the burial place of John Rupp (died 25 May 1883), I explored this abandoned cemetery. It was marshy and overgrown with weeds and brush, but several stones were still standing, including one for Jacob Rupp.The large monument was substantial and in good condition. I vaguely remember an encircled “R” at the top and names, Jacob's and his wife's, and something about five children who died young. I did not record the inscription.
    In October 1983, I revisited the site of this cemetery - it had been destroyed. In the middle of the area, under a rug, was a pile of rubble that might have been shattered gravestones. I searched the entire area, even where it was still almost impenetrable, and found no standing or toppled stones.
    I have regretted ever since that I did not photograph the Rupp stone and record the inscription.

Postscript: The property was sold in December 1976 to Niagara Dairy Products Corp., and the cemetery was decommissioned by the church. The remains of the cemetery were bulldozed circa July 1977 to make way for a parking lot. I don’t know if the bodies were removed, but I suspect they were not.

Photograph from Buffalogen's collection