Revolutionary War Cemetery The Revolutionary War Cemetery , also called the Old Salem Burying Ground , is located on Archibald Street , just off state highway NY 22 in the village of Salem , New York , United States . It is a area with over a thousand graves , at least 100 of which are those of Revolutionary War dead or veterans . The cemetery was established prior to the war , but became known as a burial ground for casualties of the conflict when many were buried there , particularly after the nearby Battle of Saratoga , when a hundred bodies were reportedly put in one mass grave . More of the conflict ' s dead are buried here than in any other graveyard in Washington County , and possibly the state . The cemetery has suffered some neglect over the years , but that has slowly been reversed since it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003 . Property . The cemetery is a roughly rectangular area surrounded by a slate fence , 3 feet ( 1 m ) high by 2½ feet ( 76 cm ) extending southwest from the south side of Archibald Street . On its south side is farmland . The neighborhood is residential and the houses across the street are small . The surrounding hills can be seen from the cemetery . It is generally flat with some mounds . It is just to the south of the village ' s historic district . Outside the main entrance ' s two wrought iron gates ( one for pedestrians and the other for carriages ) on granite posts are two signs . One is a two - sided marble obelisk whose inscription honoring the veterans buried here indicates it was placed jointly by the town and state in 1933 . It is considered a contributing object to the Register listing . The other sign , a blue - and - yellow historical marker similar to those used by the state , was placed by the village in 1962 . Past the entrance a wide path runs across the cemetery . It passes a cluster of mounded family vaults and then enters the main ground , with many marble headstone s . The majority face east , the preferred orientation for graves in the 18th century . Their full number was not known until a Daughters of the American Revolution count in 1954 which put the number at 1 , 040 , dating from 1769 to 1923 . A recount in 1998 found 58 more , bringing the total to 1 , 098 . Two more mounded family vaults are located against the rear wall . A fenced - off plot belonging to the Law family is against the north wall . There are some footstones , and 10 slate table stones , but the majority are headstones . The earliest graves are clustered against the north side , including three in red sandstone , a rare material for 18th - century Washington County graveyards . Many of them have unusual stones with carved funerary art by Zeruabel Collins , a local stonecutter . History . The cemetery was founded a few years after Salem was first settled by a combination of migrants from Massachusetts and religious refugees from Ireland . The first known burial is Solomon Barr in 1767 , the year the cemetery was formally established . Local legend has it that the next one was an unknown local Indian who wandered into the settlement and died . The earliest existing gravestone is that of Abram Savage , who died in 1769 at the age of 18 . Many of the early burials were people of regional historical significance . James Turner ' s family owned the Turner Patent , the local land grant . Joshua Conkey and his wife Dinah were both present at the nearby Battle of Bennington . St . John Honeywood was a Yale graduate who was the second principal of the local school . A poet and painter as well , his version of " Darby and Joan " is still anthologized today . The local men buried in the cemetery who served in the war did so for the most part as members of the White Creek Militia , some later becoming part of the Continental Army . In addition to the nearby battles like Bennington and Saratoga , some saw action further from home at places like Monmouth . There are roughly a hundred known to have served . If the men supposedly buried in a mass grave after Saratoga were to be confirmed as buried here , that number would be doubled , making it one of the largest burial sites of Revolutionary War soldiers in the country . Local stonecutter Zeruabel Collins is credited with 36 of the cemetery ' s stones , including Savage ' s , the first . Those use funerary art similar to that of his father , also a stonecutter . Later ones show his own style , characterized by a deeply cut face with prominent jaw , small wings arising from it , positioned above an intricate twisted scroll - like floral motif . Also unusual in the cemetery are the sod - covered burial mounds . These were possibly a custom brought from Scotland or Ireland by that group of settlers . They are made of dry laid - up slate with an east - facing Roman arch sealed with stones and an iron gate . An empty one that has been examined suggests the masons took great care with their work . In 1791 the town created a committee drawn from its two Presbyterian congregations to oversee the cemetery , hire a supervisor and build a fence to deter gravestone theft and illegal burials . It appears that this later task was not accomplished until 1870 when money was made available . Thirty years later , in 1821 , the cemetery received its oldest decedent , when 104 - year - old James McNish , father of Lt . Alexander McNish , Esq . , died September 18 and was laid to rest . Almost four decades after that , a new rural cemetery was opened west of the villages , and burials at the Revolutionary War Cemetery began to decline . After 1898 , only one burial , that of John Gillis in 1923 , took place , and then under special permit . After the Register listing , in 1999 , the Salem Cemetery Committee was formed to restore and oversee the Revolutionary War Cemetery as well as two others in the town . It took photographs of the gravestones and found that half of them had either been knocked over or were in danger of falling . Others were buried and overgrown , and a lightning strike later damaged a section of the wall . The committee has put out information brochures , compiled lists of those buried , put American flag holders next to the headstones of veterans , and promulgated regulations for the taking of stone rubbing s .