Memorial rock honoring enslaved, indigenous will make 'history really real to people'
A memorial rock on the grounds of St. John's Episcopal Church in Oakdale honors the indigenous and enslaved people whose graves have been lost to time. Credit: Newsday/John Paraskevas
Islip Town's oldest church has planted a memorial rock to honor the indigenous and enslaved people buried at the church's graveyard, a move community leaders say will make “history really real to people.”
St. John’s Episcopal Church in Oakdale, built in 1765 by the early settler Nicoll family and which has roots stretching back to 1698, has a graveyard containing several dozen headstones. What is not visible are the graves of servants, the enslaved, indigenous and freed people, whose headstones have either eroded or been stolen, vanishing any sign of their final resting place.
The rock was placed earlier this month, and an unveiling ceremony will be held later this year, said officials from the Islip Town historian’s office, Oakdale Historical Society and Montaukett Indian Nation leadership, who were involved in the project. They said they hope to shine a light on the town's hidden history.
It’s unclear how many people are buried at the site, town historian George Munkenbeck said. One church record of a freed woman named Sarah shows she died at the age of 24 in 1703. Her body was buried in the northeast end of the graveyard, before the current church was built. But her grave marker, likely made of wood, no longer stands.
“For years, Islip has been the undiscovered gem of history on Long Island,” Munkenbeck said.
From left, church administrator and lay minister Denise Conte; Town of Islip historian George Munkenbeck; Ronice Bunn, of the Montaukett Indian Nation; Sandi Brewster-Walker, executive director of the Montaukett Indian Nation; and Maryanne Almes, president of the Oakdale Historical Society. Credit: Newsday/John Paraskevas
The location of those buried remain a mystery that can be cracked by ground penetrating radar, Munkenbeck said, but the work is not planned and would be expensive and time-consuming. Also, the exact size of the church graveyard isn’t clear, he added. Munkenbeck lives near the church and said he began hearing tales of unmarked graves in the '70s.
The team is still scouring records in search of clues and confirmations, which Munkenbeck said is challenging since Islip wasn’t required to maintain vital records before 1881. Churches were responsible for cataloging their congregation’s records, or the records were stored privately in family Bibles, Munkenbeck said. This means records are scattered, lost to time or are hiding in people’s dusty attics. Records don't provide a clear glimpse into indigenous or Black populations, but a town supervisor letter from 1798 says of the 125 homes in Islip, 25 of them housed people of color.
“We know that they lived here. We know that there are mentions that they were part of the congregation,” Munkenbeck said of those enslaved or who worked for the Nicoll family and nearby tenant farmers.
Sandi Brewster-Walker, executive director of the Montaukett Indian Nation, said as they identify those buried near the church, she plans to compile a masterlist of family names.
“It’s important to me that people look at the history,” she said. “Who were these slaves and who were these people?”
Brewster-Walker said she was always aware that indigenous people lived in Oakdale, but their history largely lacked public awareness. The memorial rock is an important step in calling attention to indigenous people in Islip and showing that they lived there, she said.
“It’s connecting their lives and making history really real to people,” she said. “Instead of having people think that all Indians were in the West. That’s a big myth.”
Memorial rock
An official ceremony will be held later this fall to unveil the rock. Contact the Oakdale Historical Society for more information about the event.
Brinley Hineman covers the Town of Hempstead and the City of Long Beach for Newsday. She previously was a reporter in Nashville, Tennessee, and is a West Virginia native.
