The stories of the many heroes buried at Mount Moor Cemetery are too rarely told, like the epic story of the cemetery itself — almost obliterated by the construction of the the Palisades Mall.
On Tuesday, Nov. 11th, Mount Moor’s annual Veterans Day Service will mark the rich history and many stories connected to Mount Moor. Join us Tuesday at 10 a.m. for as we pause to mark this moment and thank all veterans for their service.
Thirty two veterans, who served in every armed conflict since the Civil War, are buried at Mount Moor, along with approximately 300 men, women and children who suffered descrimination in death by Jim Crow customs and Rockland County’s other cemeteries.
Veterans buried at Mount Moor include Solomon Miller. Born in 1843, Solomon E. Miller of from Amsterdam, NY was a substitute (able bodied men could pay others to enlist in their place to avoid being drafted). William Brown of Amsterdam paid Miller $300 ($5000 today) to enlist in his place.
Miller was present at the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Courthouse on April 9, 1865. He may have seen with his own eyes the face of Lee and other once-proud plantation owners as they hung their heads in defeat — at the hands of men whom they would have considered property no less.
After the war, Miller returned to Amsterdam. It is unknown as to why he was in Nyack on September 26, 1918, when he passed away at age 75. Mount Moor has many Millers, so perhaps he had moved there to be with family.
Tuesday’s program will recognize Bertis Blanks (Army Veteran), Curtis McDuffie (Army Veteran) and the Joseph P. Dwyer Vet to Vet Program of BRIDGES at Palisades Mall under. Our keynote speaker will be John Allen Murphy, veteran and former Rockland County Legislator during the tenure of Hezekiah Easter, the man who saved the cemetery from destruction.
On March 13, 2007, Hezekiah Easter, Jr. (below) was laid to rest beside his brother and his father. The man who saved the cemetery was the last man buried at Mount Moor. A parking structure and the facades of box stores loom in the distance, held at bay by a solider and statesman who will forever keep his silent and solemn vigil over these hallowed grounds.
Read our 2014 Nyack Sketch Log about Mount Moor Cemetery here.
Watch Ben Aaron’s 2025 feature on Mount Moor here.
Bill Batson is a Nyack News & View columnist and serves as the President of Friends of Mount Moor.
