The Gumaer graveyard is believed to be the oldest burial place in the town. Some of the old stones have inscriptions which show that burials were made there very early in the eighteenth century.
The old Maghachemeck graveyard is in the southern section of the town at Port Jervis. Previous to 1907 this ground was much neglected, and its condition was anything but creditable to the citizens of that growing village. Interments were made there long prior to the Revolution.
The Laurel Grove cemetery is situated in the extreme southeastern part of Port Jervis. This was established in 1856 by John Conklin, who owned the site, and it is the modern cemetery now in use. It contains many fine monuments and the lots and drives are well kept. The name Laurel Grove was most appropriately bestowed because of the thick natural growth of the American laurel on the ground. In 1857 the Weeping Willow cemetery was begun in Port Jervis. This is St. John's burial ground next the Reformed church. Among other cemeteries are that of the Reformed church, started in 1833, the Catholic cemetery, also in Port Jervis, and the Rural Valley cemetery in Cuddebackville, opened in 1867. In the early eighties the Weeping Willow cemetery was purchased by the village of Port Jervis and converted into a site for a school building, the bodies being removed to other cemeteries.
MILITARY HISTORY.
At the beginning of the French war of 1775 there were only about thirty families within the present limits of Deer Park township. It was then divided into upper and lower neighborhoods. In the upper or northern part, near the old county line, three small forts were built; one on the Neversink, another at the house of Peter Gumaer, and the third near the home of Peter Swartwout. There were also three forts in the lower neighborhood on the south.
It is believed, however, that most of the Indian occupants of this region had left before the opening of this French war. But they returned in force when the Revolution began and attacked some of the early settlers in 1777. These attacks soon became more frequent and alarming, and the Committee of Safety was obliged to resort to very vigilant methods in repelling the ferocious savages. Three other forts were built in the Peenpack section, and these were manned by soldiers known as the nine-months' men. Many of the women and children were sent out of the town to more safe quarters. About this time there were some fifty families in the town and they moved into the forts for protection. But the settlement was attacked by a force of Indians and Tories about that time and afterward, and many were killed in the conflicts. Many of the houses and barns were burned and much of the crops were destroyed during these Indian raids.
Many stirring incidents of those days are recorded, but much of this record is merely traditional and lacks authentic documentary evidence in its support.
At the close of the war the people were practically in a destitute condition, and it took them a long time, with the very meager facilities at hand, to reinstate themselves. Even the Continental paper currency had greatly depreciated in value, and it was necessary to build mills to make material for rebuilding their homes and barns.
At the opening of the Revolution Major John Decker was one of the most prominent citizens in the Minisink valley, and it is said that one of the objects of these Indian raids was to secure the scalp of Major Decker. They succeeded in burning his house to the ground and destroyed all his property during his absence from home at night, driving out his family to sleep on the banks of the Neversink River, but they didn't get the Major's scalp, though he was wounded while riding his horse homeward, and barely escaped with his life by hiding in a cave.