The Yaphank Almshouse Cemetery is a potter's field located south of the LIE, near exit 67. It was established in 1872, with over a thousand interments until it closed in 1953.
The cemetery is located adjacent to the old location of the Suffolk County Almshouse, otherwise known as the poorhouse. The poorhouse was a catch-all place where the mentally ill, poor, and criminal classes of society were often left to live out their days. Most of the burials are marked only by small numbered headstones. Thankfully, Find a Grave does have records of which individuals are represented by each headstone. However accurate they are is unclear.
What struck me most about my visit to the Almshouse Cemetery was its lack of upkeep and lack of carved headstones. The cemetery is the resting place for unclaimed decedents who didn't have the means to provide themselves with a proper burial, nor any family to take responsibility for their remains. Several of the burials were for elderly "inmates" (anyone living in the Almshouse was called an inmate, regardless of the reason why they were living there) who were widowed or too old to care for themselves. One such burial is that of Charles Albin. According to Find a Grave, Albin was 80 years old when he passed away, and was widowed before his death. As a young man, Albin lived in Southampton, working as a servant in the house of James Rogers. Many members of the Rogers family can be found buried in the Old Southampton Graveyard, and the North End Graveyard.
Mostly, the Almshouse Cemetery is a reminder of the class divide that has always existed on colonized Long Island, and the inarguable fact that elaborately carved headstones are not a privilege accessible to all members of society.
Extremely interesting historical information that sheds further light on early America. Valuable work, Alyssa. You are doing a great service, and every post to your site opens up information that has remained hidden for too long. Don’t stop. Russ. S.