Islip historical society, Gardiner Foundation help recall veterans buried at Oakwood Cemetery

Oakwood Cemetery superintendent Joe Nolan, cemetery association president Patricia Voges, and Historical Society of Islip Hamlet board member Robert Finnegan stand behind the gravestones of Civil War veteran Frederick Wright and his wife, Phoebe. Credit: Rick Kopstein
An Islip historical society, with help from a matching grant, plans to offer a history lesson about some of the area's war veterans buried long ago at the landmark Oakwood Cemetery in Bay Shore.
Using a grant from the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation, the Historical Society of Islip Hamlet said it plans to post a sign at the 145-year-old cemetery listing Revolutionary and Civil War veterans buried there.
Robert Finnegan, a historical society board member and a founding member from 1992, said the organization knows of at least three Revolutionary War-era veterans and more than 30 Civil War-era veterans buried at Oakwood.
“We just want to recognize that it’s a significant cemetery,” he said. “ ... There’s a lot of history, and famous and infamous people buried there.”
The historical society announced last month that it was a recipient of a 2024 Challenge Grant from the nonprofit Gardiner Foundation, which is dedicated to the study of Long Island history. The grant matched around $8,600 raised by the society last year through a tour of Oakwood Cemetery and a comedy club fundraiser. The grant matches fundraising efforts from nonprofits up to $10,000.
The cemetery, founded in 1880, is the final resting place for many who were moved there after its founding, said Finnegan, who estimated some 19,000 people are buried on the 40-acre grounds.
Finnegan said the nondenominational cemetery was part of the 19th century “Rural Cemetery Movement,” which started in Europe a century earlier and was inspired by early garden aesthetics, according to Manhattan museum The New York Historical.
It was established by 13 businessmen from the Islip-Bay Shore area, said Oakwood Cemetery superintendent Joe Nolan.
Some of the more memorable people buried on the grounds include members of the Entenmann’s family, of baked goods fame; Marjorie L. Hines, the first actress to voice-character Betty Boop; and Confederate veteran Mortimer Bainbridge Ruggles, who aided John Wilkes Booth in his escape after assassinating President Abraham Lincoln, Nolan said.
The historical society’s efforts have helped preserve the cemetery’s history, Nolan said. "They do so much ... in promoting and remembering the history of the area, something we must never ignore."
That sentiment was echoed by Islip Town historian George Munkenbeck, who highlighted the rich history of Islip, especially during the Civil and Revolutionary wars. The town maintains a list of veterans from the wars, he said.
After posting the list of veterans, the Historical Society of Islip Hamlet wants to use remaining grant money to stabilize the headstone of Civil War veteran Frederick Wright Sr. and restore the headstone of his wife, Phoebe Wright.
Wright was one of 121 men from Islip who enlisted in the Union Army, Newsday has reported. The historical society possesses 110 letters written between Wright and his wife during the war, donated by descendants of the family.
The historical society is also considering using grant funds to put up other historic markers in the Islip hamlet and may fund a scholarship with the rest, Finnegan said.

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Put a little love in your heart with the NewsdayTV Valentine's Day Special! From Love Lane in Mattituck, NewsdayTV's Elisa DiStefano and Newsday deputy lifestyle editor Meghan Giannotta have your look at ways to celebrate Valentine's Day this year.