After searching through this beautiful cemetery on many genealogical quests, we decided a record of all the-tombstones would be a benefit to researchers. Our first goal was the old Town of Dunkirk section. We completed this in the fall of 1990. Encouraged by our results, we began the next spring to copy the oldest markers in Saint Mary\’s Cemetery, those in the sections we have numbered 1 and 2. At that time, we never envisioned completing the newer sections, since family memory and newspaper information should give researchers all the necessary data for genealogical purposes. However, in answering letters of enquiry for the Historical Society of Dunkirk, we found that a complete record would be most helpful.

Now we have completed all but the newest, southeast section. The format we have used is different than any other we have seen and we hope it will be useful to researchers. We have numbered the sections arbitrarily as we read them. See the map in this volume for these section numbers. They have no relationship to the official section designations used in church cemetery records. In each section we have numbered the rows from east to west and numbered the monuments and landmarks from south to north. Each entry has a number which should help the researcher pinpoint the location of a marker.

Part I is an alphabetic listing of every name found on a marker, including any maiden names given for the women, followed by a 5 digit number. The main body of this work (Part II) is printed in numerical order, just the way we read the cemetery. This list will give the researcher all the information given about an individual and on all those buried nearby. A researcher who visits the cemetery can locate an individual marker by following this system: the first digit (1 through 0 plus X) designates the section in which that maker was read; the second and third digits designate the row, and the fourth and fifth digits the marker number . For example, the marker for Mary Adams is #11924. This marker will be found in section one. Starting at the eastern end (back) of section 1, count 19 rows (and look in the numerical list for stone #11901 to check the name you are going to find nearest Williams St in row 19). A quick count from south to north (north from Williams St) to the 24th marker should soon locate the stone with the information for Mary Adams.

Part III is an incomplete list of burials 1851-1911 translated and copied from microfilm at Reed Library. This microfilm is also available at Patterson Library in Westfield and from any branch library of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We do not claim to be experts at translation of Cannon Law Latin. Also, in this record, we copied no material pertaining to type of religious service or sacrament rendered, or to any other religious designation such as officiating clergy. This information can be provided to researcher by contacting the office of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seaton Church in Dunkirk NY .
Part IV is our original reading of the Town of Dunkirk Cemetery, now administered by St Mary\’s personnel as part of St Mary\’s Cemetery. Following this is a list of known burials in this section as found in our research of newspaper obituaries for the years 1916 through 1921. We know there were many in other years and will keep a list of these burials found in future research.

This has been a labor of love and its publication brings us great satisfaction. We hope it will reward the genealogical researcher with information about ancestors and maybe even help in locating some present day cousins.
Lois & Norwood Barris -1992