Burial Grounds and Historical Churches

Copiague has two historical Native American and Civil War burial grounds.

The oldest black church on Long Island started in Amityville, but now exists in Copiague.

The Our Lady of the Assumption church stands in the old part of town known as Marconiville.

Indian and Civil War Burial Grounds

On 35th Street, just north of sunrise Highway are two cemeteries which are declared as Town of Babylon Historical sites. They are both burial grounds of Native American families and Civil War Veterans.

Take a picture tour historic Copiague Indian and Civil War Burial Grounds, or select the photograph to see a picture spread. (This file has many photographs and may take a while to load).

On the east side of the road is the Green-Bunn Burial ground. The site contains a general memorial to those buried there. There is only one fading headstone that remains.

On the west side of the street is the Brewster burial ground. In addition to the general memorial to those buried there, there are three prominent markers. They are for “Charlie Carr - Civil Wor(sp) Vet,” “Florance H. Brewster,” and “Sidney Brewster.”

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Bethel A.M.E. Church^1,2

(A.M.E. — African Methodist Episcopal)

The history of the colored peoples in Copiague goes back to the the late 1700s. The population started with the Shinnecock Indians and the blacks from Shelter Island, NY. The Shelter Island blacks were freed slaves. They had bought their freedom.

The old town of Huntington South and the current towns of Amityville and Copiague share in the development of a church.

Around 1814 Daniel Squires invited three men to his home in Amityville as place of worship for the black residents of the community. A Sunday school had already been holding regular sessions in the homes of residents. For about two decades, the church members met in each other’s homes to hold Sunday services.

In 1839, Elias Hunter deeded to the congregation a site in the west side of Albany Avenue just to the south of Great Neck Road. Five years later an old ice house was donated and became the first place for worship. It was razed in 1854.

Most likely the cemetery at Bayview and Albany Avenue (Amityville) is the oldest black cemetery on Long Island. It is a small 50x150 foot plot. As per the newspaper Newsday, October 24, 1979, page 21, the cemetery was to be restored at that time. This cemetery was built because colored people were not allowed to be buried in Amityville Cemetery until around the turn of the century.

With the suburban development after World War II, Mrs. James Coster/Corsker presented the congregation with a new site between Sunrise Highway and Simmons Street in the hamlet of Copiague. The site was a natural in that Mrs. Corsker, in her will, stated that she did not want anybody on her property but black people. A new church was built on this site. Ground was broken in 1962. The first service was in 1967.

The church holds the distinction of being the oldest black church and Sunday school on Long Island. In 1980 it was still sponsoring Boy Scout Troop #17, one of the oldest in Suffolk County.

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Our Lady of the Assumption

One of the nearest churches to Copiague was St. Martin of Tours, in Amityville. It was considered too far away for active participation. Moreover, the residents of Amityville were inhospitable to Marconiville residents. Marconiville decided to build its own church.

It started with the formation of Our Lady of the Assumption Society in 1927. John Campagnoli was an ally to the idea, as it would help his real estate business, and helped to convince the Bishop of the Diocese of Brooklyn (Marconiville was then under that jurisdiction) that a local church was needed.

Campagnoli donated some land for the church and construction started in 1929. As those were Depression years, construction was slow. For about 10 years, it remained a basement church for 220 people, with a leaky roof. In 1941, work was begun on a new 350 seat church. The construction was aided by the physical labor of Reverend Francis Del Vecchio. Our Lady of the Assumption was sponsored by St. Martin of Tours as a mission of the parish. In 1897, St. Martin of Tours was established as a mission of St. Killian’s in Farmingdale⁴. Participation in the church was not limited to Italians only. The Irish also shared services. The happenings and culture of Marconiville were quite strange to neighbors who lived only a few blocks away⁵.

To this day (year 2007), the church celebrates the Feast of Our Lady of the Assumption with a street fair, entertainment, and food.

Footnotes

1. Dibbins, Purdy and Ruggles, editors. “A Backwards Glance,” The Amityville Historical Society, Amityville, New York ©1980. Pages 23-25.

2. Project cherish: The African American church oral history Transcribed Tapes.

3. Newsday. October 24, 1979. Page 21.

4. Dibbins, Purdy and Ruggles, editors. “A Backwards Glance,” The Amityville Historical Society, Amityville, New York ©1980. Page 55.

5. LaGumina, Salvatore J., “From Steerage to Suburb: Long Island Italians. ” Center for Migration Studies, New York, 1988 pg 127

Web Explorations (external links)

Web site for Bethel A.M.E. Church is www.bethelamecopiague.net/about.htm