Burial Ground

Written By Dino DiPietro

Here is a thoroughly researched history of St. David AME Zion Cemetery in Sag Harbor, NY:

📍 Location & Overview

  • The cemetery is part of the St. David African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in the Eastville community of Sag Harbor, Suffolk County, New York. It lies on Eastville Avenue, adjacent to the AME Zion church and the Eastville Historical Society House

  • It contains approximately 100 graves, including prominent members such as Reverend J. P. Thompson, the first pastor of the church

🏛️ Early History & Eastville Community

  • The Eastville area, originally known as “Snooksville” after the Irish Snooks-Hicks family, emerged in the 1830s during Sag Harbor’s whaling boom. It was later renamed Eastville due to its easterly location

  • This neighborhood developed as a multi-ethnic enclave composed of African-Americans, Native Americans (including Montauk and Shinnecock peoples), and Irish immigrants, many of whom worked in the whaling industry

⛪ Church Establishment & Cemetery Formation

  • St. David AME Zion Church was established in 1840 to serve people of color who were segregated in the local Presbyterian congregation

  • The original church building, constructed in 1839 by African-American and Native-American congregants, is believed to have been part of the Underground Railroad network. Reverend J. P. Thompson, an abolitionist and associate of Frederick Douglass, led the church

  • In 1857, trustees Elymus Derby, Samuel Butler, and David Hempstead purchased land from Hannah and Anna Maria Solomon for $50 to create the cemetery

    • David Hempstead is notable as a founding trustee and is interred in the cemetery

  • The cemetery served as a burial ground from 1857 until approximately 1993

🏺 Preservation & Archaeological Significance

  • The Eastville Community Historical Society (founded 1981) now maintains both the church and cemetery, preserving significant artifacts and graves, especially those of African- and Native-American Sag Harbor whalers

  • In 2014, University of Minnesota students conducted a ground-penetrating radar survey to map and document burial sites

  • A historical marker, erected in 2015 by the William G. Pomeroy Foundation, identifies the cemetery as a multi-ancestry burial ground from around 1857, honoring African-American, Native-American, and European heritage

🌍 Social & Cultural Context

  • Eastville’s identity as a working-class, diaspora-rich community persisted through many transformations—from whaling to factory work to modern tourism. The cemetery stands as a tangible record of its evolving multi-ethnic composition

  • The church-cemetery complex also highlights regional abolitionist activity and the role of faith communities in social justice during the 19th century

In Summary

St. David AME Zion Cemetery—founded 1857, active until 1993, and located within Sag Harbor’s Eastville district—remains a culturally and historically-rich site. It reflects the lives and legacies of African-American, Native American, and Irish immigrant members of the whaling-era community. Its ties to abolitionism, a continuing preservation effort, archaeological findings, and a 2015 state historical marker underscore its importance in Long Island’s African-American and ethnic heritage.

Dino DiPietro