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Robert Hughes

The new sign marking St. John’s historic cemetery. Photo by Lauren Feldman

By Lauren Feldman

St. John’s Episcopal Church of Huntington unveiled the new sign fronting its cemetery on Sunday, Sept. 8. The unveiling was accompanied by a lecture on the complex history of both St. John’s and the cemetery grounds, provided by local historians and preservationists.

Locals will note that the cemetery, located across from Huntington Hospital, is more than a stone’s throw from the church’s current location on the corner of Main Street and Prospect Street. 

They may also find it odd that the church located next to these grounds is not, in fact, St. John’s, but the Bethel AME Church, which represents an entirely different congregation.

Joel Snodgrass discusses preservation and restoration plans for the cemetery. Photo by Lauren Feldman

Historians Toby Kissam and Robert Hughes were on-site to explain the strange location of the cemetery grounds. 

The church building today is the third one in the congregation’s history, erected at the beginning of the 20th century on land donated by Cornelia Prime. The first services were held in the new church on Pentecost, 1907. A new parish hall was built, and the church was consecrated in 1917.

The cemetery itself marks the grounds of the original church site. In the 1740s, the Rev. Samuel Seabury Sr. of St. George’s paid a visit to Huntington, where he found a small group of like-minded people. By the following year, enough settlers in the area were invested in forming their own parish. 

A small church building was erected a little north of the Village Green, located along Park Avenue on the north side of Route 25A. 

Throughout the Revolutionary War, Kissam said, there were no permanent ministers at the church, as Long Island was a region of divided loyalties. While there were many Tories loyal to the king, Huntington was a town of patriot sympathizers and no minister associated with the official church dared settle in the area. 

Following the war, the church struggled to reorganize, and after five decades the original building was in a state of extreme disrepair. 

By the 1860s, the vestry was debating whether to rebuild on the existing grounds or move elsewhere. The location of the church was perceived as inconvenient for most people to attend, consequently lowering attendance and enfeebling the church. But in spite of these disadvantages, the church was rebuilt on the original site.

Then in 1905 a fire destroyed the church’s building, and the church was rebuilt at its new (current) location, with the land provided by Prime. 

And so it came to be that the church and its cemetery were separated across town. With the new sign in place, as well as inviting members of both the congregation and the village, the clergy of St. John’s hopes to continue to raise awareness for the ongoing efforts of the church to restore these sacred grounds.

Architectural conserver Joel Snodgrass walked visitors through the plans for preserving and restoring the grounds at St. John’s. The process will include bringing in professional landscapers to clear out the severe overgrowth of the grounds, as well as repairing and replacing some of the damaged ancient stones. 

The unveiling of the cemetery sign comes at a pivotal time for the parish, which will be celebrating its 280th anniversary in 2025. Plans are underway to host and fundraise for a series of events in celebration of the longevity of the congregation. This information will soon be available on the parish’s website. 

On Tuesday, December 12, 2023, the Greenlawn Centerport Historical Association hosted the Harborfields High School Jazz Band for a focus session on local hero Samuel Ballton.

Born into slavery in Westmoreland, Virginia in 1838, Ballton found his way to freedom three times, finally escaping the South for good with his wife, Rebecca. Arriving in Greenlawn in 1873, Ballton found employment with Alexander Gardiner and was eventually dubbed Greenlawn’s “Pickle King” when he grew and processed more than 1.5 million pickles in a single season.

Harborfields High School Jazz Band Leader Dan Bilawsky, having developed an interest in Ballton’s life, commissioned an original jazz composition about his story and, to learn more about “The Pickle King,” attended a Walking Tour and Pub Crawl in June of 2023. Through discussions with Town of Huntington Historian Robert Hughes at that event came the idea of creating deeper community connections by bringing the jazz band to the GCHA to learn more about local history and, specifically, Ballton.

During the field trip, Hughes spoke to the band and the GCHA created a temporary exhibit complete with photos, memorabilia, and Samuel Ballton’s sword. This visit also served as a part of a larger project for the students—a documentary on “The Pickle King” to be co-produced by the high school’s media journalism students and the jazz band.

“Our plan is to premiere this musical selection at our December concert to tie into the sesquicentennial of Ballton’s arrival in Greenlawn, and then put together a short documentary about ‘The Pickle King’—man and music,” Dan Bilawsky shared.

Hughes and Executive Director Claudia Fortunato-Napolitano were interviewed by the students for this forthcoming production. “The students did a great job, and they were fascinated to hear about Samuel Ballton and his journey in life, from being born a slave to becoming a pioneering figure in Greenlawn,” remarked Fortunato-Napolitano. “At the conclusion of their visit, the band presented our organization with a copy of the score signed by the composer, Jeff Lederer, which is now in the GCHA archives. The jazz band also performed the piece, and it was wonderful!”

The Greenlawn Centerport Historical Association is a non-profit membership organization with a mission to research, collect, record, and preserve artifacts, photographs, fine arts, and ephemera of Greenlawn & Centerport. In addition, they promote the preservation of historic structures and maintain two historic homesteads to provide the public with an opportunity to learn about early life on Long Island.