Greenfield Cemetery, Uniondale, NY: My step-3rd great grandmother Sarah Jane Andrews-Baldwin-Smith

Yesterday afternoon, Thursday, January 28, 2021 at 4 p.m. I went to Greenfield Cemetery in Uniondale, New York in search of the grave of my step-3rd great grandmother; Sarah Jane Andrews-Baldwin-Smith. You can read more about why I am doing this search in earlier blog posts.

With the plot location in hand I headed for Section 25, Lot 172, Grave 3 - Sarah Jane's spot.

First you should know Greenfield is not laid out in a simple grid pattern and the lots are not numbered a meaningful order. Well, not meaningful to me at least. It appears as though the first lots are in the middle of the cemetery. Then, I suppose, as the cemetery expanded outward it added lots.  Take a look:

Not wanting to go into the main office during this period of COVID, I drove around the cemetery looking for Section 25 without a map. Ugh it took forever and I was there very close to closing time. No one wants to get closed in a cemetery.

After I finally found the lot right near the main entrance - who would think lot 25 was right next to lot 1? - I had to figure out what Lot 172 meant. 

Fortunately, most of the headstone were engraved with numbers. I was looking for a stone marked 172-3. The graves closet to the main gate had lower numbers like 38-2. So I went to the other end of the section to find headstone numbered starting with 300s. OK - so she was in the middle somewhere.

I was really lucking in pulling right up to a headstone numbered 168-2. I got out of my car and trampled around the nearby area. Take a look at this area:

Welcome to my family. There is rarely ever a headstone. Ugh. So frustrating. 

But in looking around at the few headstone there were in this area I found one labeled 172-4. 

Sarah Jane should be 172-3 so I am assuming that she is right next to this stone.

Now I was not familiar with any family connection to Van Wicklers. However, when I got home I reread the obituary I found on Ancestry for Sarah Jane and right there it states that she died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Samuel Van Wickler.

So now I really do believe Sarah Jane was interred right next to that headstone and I have the task of unpuzzling how Sarah Jane is related to Richard H. Van Wickler.

Hi, step-3rd great grandmother. Where is Gersham and the first Sarah Smith??