Thanks to a scout, a spy's grave among those spruced up in Oyster Bay
As part of his Eagle Scout project, Nick Ramirez, 18, undertook a project to clean up gravestones at the historic Fort Hill Cemetery in Oyster Bay, including that of Revoluntary War spy Robert Townsend. Credit: Debbie Egan-Chin
After hundreds of years, the names on the gravestones at Fort Hill Cemetery in Oyster Bay became hard to read — including one belonging to a Revolutionary War spy.
Nick Ramirez visited there as a young boy and decided someday he would change that. Years later, the Boy Scout, now 18, recently made beautifying the grave sites part of his Eagle Scout service project.
The effort, which began in November and finished last month, led to the restoration of the gravestones at the site — about 40 in all — and the creation and installation of a new bench and an archway that's now at the cemetery's entrance.
“I realized that when visitors went to see the cemetery, the visibility was an issue,” Ramirez said of the names on the gravestones. The poor conditions didn't allow visitors “to go there and appreciate the town’s history,” he added.
Ramirez teamed up with fellow Boy Scouts from Troop 253, Town of Oyster Bay employees and members of Raynham Hall Museum for the project. The first task was to rake leaves and clean up gravestones using a solution that removes biological growth.
Sandstone was a popular material to use for gravestones in the 18th century, said Christopher Judge, director of visitor services at the museum. But he said it has proved brittle over time, making it difficult to read some inscriptions as time takes a toll.
“A lot of the information — it could be poetry, the person’s name and birth and death date — is really lost to time on a sandstone headstone,” Judge said.
Among the graves that got a sprucing up was that of John Townsend, who was among the early nonindigenous people who settled in Oyster Bay. He died in 1668 before his burial on what was his own land.
The Eagle Scout project also included work on the gravestone for Townsend's great grandson, Robert Townsend, whose code name was “Samuel Culper, Jr.” in General George Washington’s spy ring during the Revolutionary War.
Weather prevented the project from continuing during the winter, but work picked up in February, when Ramirez began creating a wooden bench and archway that now are located at the cemetery's entrance. Ramirez did a car wash to raise money for the materials. Those features were installed in June.
Ramirez, who lives in Oyster Bay, said while he knew the cemetery had a rich history, he was surprised to find that “pretty much every single tombstone there is over 200 years old.”
Judge said the main draw of the cemetery is Robert Townsend’s grave, noting the widespread interest in spies and their influence in major conflicts like the colonists' war against the British.
“People come to this cemetery specifically to look for Robert Townsend's headstone,” he said.
Oyster Bay Supervisor Joseph Saladino commended the work to restore a historical site in the town.
Since the project finished, the town has been using social media posts to encourage visitors to check out the cemetery — part of an effort to highlight the historical significance of different Oyster Bay locations.
“Oyster Bay’s history is our nation’s history and Nick Ramirez has helped us to make it even more prominent,” Saladino said.
After hundreds of years, the names on the gravestones at Fort Hill Cemetery in Oyster Bay became hard to read — including one belonging to a Revolutionary War spy.
Nick Ramirez visited there as a young boy and decided someday he would change that. Years later, the Boy Scout, now 18, recently made beautifying the grave sites part of his Eagle Scout service project.
The effort, which began in November and finished last month, led to the restoration of the gravestones at the site — about 40 in all — and the creation and installation of a new bench and an archway that's now at the cemetery's entrance.
“I realized that when visitors went to see the cemetery, the visibility was an issue,” Ramirez said of the names on the gravestones. The poor conditions didn't allow visitors “to go there and appreciate the town’s history,” he added.
Ramirez teamed up with fellow Boy Scouts from Troop 253, Town of Oyster Bay employees and members of Raynham Hall Museum for the project. The first task was to rake leaves and clean up gravestones using a solution that removes biological growth.
Sandstone was a popular material to use for gravestones in the 18th century, said Christopher Judge, director of visitor services at the museum. But he said it has proved brittle over time, making it difficult to read some inscriptions as time takes a toll.
“A lot of the information — it could be poetry, the person’s name and birth and death date — is really lost to time on a sandstone headstone,” Judge said.
Among the graves that got a sprucing up was that of John Townsend, who was among the early nonindigenous people who settled in Oyster Bay. He died in 1668 before his burial on what was his own land.
The Eagle Scout project also included work on the gravestone for Townsend's great grandson, Robert Townsend, whose code name was “Samuel Culper, Jr.” in General George Washington’s spy ring during the Revolutionary War.
Weather prevented the project from continuing during the winter, but work picked up in February, when Ramirez began creating a wooden bench and archway that now are located at the cemetery's entrance. Ramirez did a car wash to raise money for the materials. Those features were installed in June.
Ramirez, who lives in Oyster Bay, said while he knew the cemetery had a rich history, he was surprised to find that “pretty much every single tombstone there is over 200 years old.”
Judge said the main draw of the cemetery is Robert Townsend’s grave, noting the widespread interest in spies and their influence in major conflicts like the colonists' war against the British.
“People come to this cemetery specifically to look for Robert Townsend's headstone,” he said.
Oyster Bay Supervisor Joseph Saladino commended the work to restore a historical site in the town.
Since the project finished, the town has been using social media posts to encourage visitors to check out the cemetery — part of an effort to highlight the historical significance of different Oyster Bay locations.
“Oyster Bay’s history is our nation’s history and Nick Ramirez has helped us to make it even more prominent,” Saladino said.
Scout's honor
- An Eagle Scout led an effort to restore gravestones at Fort Hill Cemetery.
- Nicholas Ramirez, 18, also created a new bench and archway for the Oyster Bay burial ground.
- Robert Townsend, part of George Washington's Revolutionary War spy ring, is buried there.
Joseph Ostapiuk covers the Town of Oyster Bay and the City of Glen Cove. He joined Newsday in 2023 after spending more than six years at the Staten Island Advance/SILive.com.
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