Historic Graveyard

The Graveyard at Flushing Meeting House

137-16 Northern Boulevard
Flushing, New York 11354

In 1676, before the Meeting House was built, John Bowne donated land and arranged for a burial ground on Northern Boulevard. The Meeting House was built on land purchased adjacent to the graveyard in 1694. Today, after a great deal of expense and volunteer effort, the graveyard is cleared and blooms with indigenous flowers and bushes. Old elm trees and oaks shade the perimeter and help set the quiet garden apart from its bustling neighbors. It is a startlingly beautiful, peaceful place in the midst of downtown Flushing, and it is a perfect place to remember the Quakers who lived here before us, and who lived such extraordinary lives.

The early Quakers did not use headstones and so it is difficult to say who was buried in the Meeting House graveyard before 1820. It is believed that John Bowne is buried here, as the Bowne family plot is in the graveyard, but there is no existent headstone marking his grave. When Quakers did begin using headstones, they were often small and plain with no more than a name or initials on it. Many of these small stones have sunk into the earth or shifted out of position over the years. At least one stone was stolen.

A number of prominent early Quakers are buried here. Noted abolitionists William Burling and Matthew Franklin are here, as is Samuel Leggett. Leggett, the founder of The New York Gas Light Company, was granted the first franchise to lay underground gas pipes in New York City, and his home was the first house in New York to be lit by gas lights. John Murray, Jr., known for his benevolence and as one of the founders of the Free School Society and The Society for the Manumission of Slaves, is buried here. A number of families prominent in Long Island history have plots here, including the Hicks, Farrington and Lawrence families. All burial records for Flushing Meeting are now at Friends Historical Library at Swarthmore College.

When the graveyard was closed at the end of the 19th century, Flushing Meeting bought one of the original plots at the Flushing Cemetery on 46th Avenue, and since that time Flushing Meeting members may be buried there.

The following is a partial listing of the individuals recorded buried in the Meeting House graveyard:

James Edwin Andrews died 1839
Nathaniel Weeks Andrews died 1842
White D. Andrews died 1839
William Henry Andrews died 1837
C.L.B. & R.L.B
F.C.E.W. Bank
Fannie Bassett, died 1885
Benj. C.B. (Probably Bowne)
Catherine Bowne, died 1848
Charles Bowne
Cornell Bowne, died 1864
Eliza F. Bowne, died 1870
Hannah Bowne
Hannah H. Bowne
Isaac W. Bowne
John W. Bowne
Philip Bowne
Samuel Bowne
Scott H. Bowne
Willett Bowne
Catharine Browne, died 1843
James and Elizabeth Byrd, died 1842
Phebe Byrd, died 1864
Samuell B. Byrd, died 1863
Elizabeth Chapman, died 1838
William B. Clement, died 1855
Susan W. Cock, died 1872
Sarah Cook, died 1863
William E. Cook, died 1868
Captain Leonard Dove, died 1848
Carrie Embree, died 1860
Deborah L. Embree, died 1821
John L. Embree, died 1850
ABA(rm) Farrington, died 1838
Maria Farrington, died 1857
Mary Farrington, died 1831
Walter Farrington
Joseph Fitch, died 1868
Anthony Franklin, died 1854
John L. Franklin, died 1863
Lydia Franklin, died 1837
Richard Franklin, died 1835
Mary Gilmore, died 1838
Edward Jenner
Elizabeth Jenner
Laura Hammond, died 1865
Anna D. Hicks, died 1891
Caroline Hicks
Charles Hicks
Elizabeth Hicks
Sarah T. Hicks, died 1874
Silas Hicks, died 1861
Scott Hicks
Elizabeth Jackson, died 1869
Lydia C. Kimber, died 1829
Joshua Kimber, died 1856
Rachel J. Kimber, died 1885
William C. Kimber, died 1827
Thomas King, died 1888
Margaret Kissam, died 1886
A.L., died 1843
Deborah Ann Lawrence, died 1886
Elizabeth W. Lawrence, died 1852
Esther Lawrence, died 1847
Gilbert Lawrence, died 1870
William Lawrence, died 1893
Ann F. Leggett, died 1833
Caroline Leggett, died 1853
Elizabeth Leggett, died 1849
Margarete Leggett, died 1831
Margaret Leggett, died 1851
Samuel Leggett, died 1847
Thomas Leggett, died 1865
Elizabeth (Fowler) Lowerre, died 1844
Giles H. Lowerre, died 1850
John Lowerre, died 1831
Lewis Lowerre, died 1846
Hannah Matlock, died 1886
Timothy Matlock, died 1845
Henry Mitchell, died 1843
W.T.P.
Josiah Paine, died 1849
Adelia Pearsall, died 1839
Adeline Pearsall, died 1843
Catharine E. Pearsall, died 1837
Jacob Pearsall, died 1846
Mary E. Pearsall, died 1840
Sam… Persall, died 1841
Abigail Pinkham, died 1861
Juliett Powell, died 1856
Susan A. Powell, died 1863
George W. Quinby
Lydia F. Smart, died 1840
Abigail Smith, died 1843
Nathaniel Smith, died 1835
Alice Titus, died 1842
Elizabeth Titus, died 1856
Michael Titus, died 1837
Michael A. Titus, died 1859
Phebe L. Titus, died 1882
William L. Titus, died 1859
Abigail E. Thurston, died 1851
William R. Thurston, died 1855
Edward O. Townsend, died 1864
Louisa Tucker died 1841
Lewis Underhill
S.L.W. died 1848
Catherine J. White, died 1872
Jane White, died 1866
John White, died 1844
Abraham Whitson, died 1857
Ann Whitson, died 1869
Eugene Whitson, died 1867
Mary Whitson, died 1865
Sarah P. Whitson, died 1865
Thomas Whitson, died 1846
Abegail L. Willets, died 1865
Ann P. Willets, died 1851
Elizabeth T. Wines, died 1864
Edward S. Wines, died 1863
Jane L. Wines, died 1865
John Wines, died 1869
Robert S. Wines, died 1861
Amelia Wright, died 1863
Catharine Wright, died 1848
Caroline E. Wright, died 1864
D.D. Wright, died 1841
James B. Wright, died 1879
John D. Wright, died 1879
Jordan Wright, died 1837
Mary B. Wright, died 1843
Phebe C. Wright, died 1816
Rebecca Wright and her son Robert
Harriet Lawrence & H.L.B.
Robert Lawrence, died 1847