African-American Ancestral Burial Ground at Vale Cemetery
Site Brief:
Founded: 1863
Location: Schenectady, NY
Additional name(s): Vale Cemetery
Affiliate group(s): N/A
History:
The African-American Ancestral Burial Ground at Vale Cemetery is the final resting place of abolitionists, Underground Railroad activists, advocates for African-American freedom, former slaves, war heroes, and people who were the fiber of Schenectady’s African-American community that began in the late 17th century. Vale Cemetery was established in 1857. Beginning in 1863, the African-American burial ground—formerly called the Colored Plot—was moved from Veeder Avenue to the present location. Vale Cemetery is listed as a National Park Service Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Site.
Notable members of the African-American community include: Moses Viney (1817-1909), a fugitive slave from Easton, Maryland who traveled the Underground Railroad to New York in 1840. While living in Schenectady, Viney was employed by Eliphalet Nott, President of Union College, and later he established a livery business and became a respected businessman. R.P.G. Wright (1772-1847) was an advocate for the education of African-Americans and president of anti-slavery conventions in the 1840s. Corporal Jared Jackson (1840-1888) served with Company N of the 20th Regiment of Colored Troops in the Union Army during the Civil War. The Vale community hosts an annual Juneteenth celebration at the African-American Burial Ground to honor the day the last slaves were freed by the Emancipation Proclamation, June 19th, 1865. The program includes a reenactment of Moses Viney’s escape from slavery.
