A Tale of Two Cemeteries

This past Tuesday, I decided to take advantage of the drier weather outside, and resume my search for Winston Churchill's maternal ancestors in Pompey Hill, New York.   It ended up being 'a tale of two cemeteries': one alone and abandoned; the other, better maintained and fruitful.

My first stop was on Henneberry Road, in the town of Pompey: a long road leading from the hamlet of Pompey Hill into wooded hill country.   I passed by homes nestled in the woods, plus a farm or two.  I was in search of Sweet Cemetery, where Leonard Jerome's grandfather, Aaron, was said to be buried.   In the event, the cemetery was so small, I passed right by it; I had to turn around and look closely, as it was surrounded by old and gnarly trees.    Not only that: the ground inside was overgrown, with broken gravestones.  

With those challenges in mind, I was still determined to see what I could find in the cemetery.   Getting out of the car, I crossed the road, and discovered the gate would not open.   It was almost rusted shut, and the only way in was through a broken part of the encircling stone wall.   I gingerly climbed through the hole--the wall was just past my knees--and stepped round the loose stones and a huge tree root, and entered the cemetery grounds.

I didn't see a gravestone for Aaron Jerome among the few markers I found.   They were quite old: probably dating back to the American Revolution, or just afterwards.   A couple of them had been tipped over by vandals.   I also found a more recent burial: a local woman who loved gardening.   But the garden at her grave was sadly neglected: there was a bronze marker, with a small bouquet next to it.   Needless to say, I was most disappointed in what I found.   It was as if Aaron Jerome had been buried in an unmarked grave, aged only 37.

I retraced my steps out through the stone wall, and went back to my car.   I only took the one photograph (above left).   I drove back to Pompey Hill, and decided to visit the Jerome family plots in the larger, and better-maintained, Pompey Hill Cemetery across US Route 20.   On a previous visit last year, I did find two Jerome family plots in that cemetery.

I couldn't remember exactly where the Jerome plots were, so I spent more than a few minutes wandering about.   It was a sunny but cool day: there was a bit of a breeze, as I wandered amongst the gravestones, and reading the inscriptions.   Eventually, I found what I was looking for.

In the first Jerome family plot, I found the grave of one Miss Jennie A. Jerome (photo right).   She was the third cousin of Winston Churchill's mother, Jennie, Lady Randolph Churchill, and she spent her whole life in Pompey Hill.   She died in 1947: right around the time that Mr. Churchill sent twelve signed photographs of himself, to be raffled off and raise money for the rebuilding of the Pompey Presbyterian Church, which had been destroyed by fire in 1946.   Churchill referred to his cousin's death, in a letter written from his country home at Chartwell, in Kent, in August 1947:

Chartwell,
Westerham
Kent


August 30, 1947


Dear Mr. Durston:
Thank you for your letters of August 23 and 25.    I am indeed sorry to learn of the death of Miss Jennie Jerome, my mother's third cousin.   It is good of you to let me know about it.


I am glad to know that the photographs have arrived safely, and to think that they will be of some help in raising funds for the restoration of the Pompey church.


It would certainly interest me to visit the graves of Lieutenant Murray {possibly the father of Leonard's mother, Aurora Murray Jerome} and others of my forebears as you suggest.  Should an opportunity present itself, it would be a pleasure to me to come to Pompey and Syracuse, where I feel I have so many family and friendly connections.


Yours sincerely,
Winston S. Churchill
And in a handwritten postscript below his signature, Churchill writes:
Pray let me know how the photos go.


The "Mr. Durston" is one E.C. Durston.   I will have to find out some information on him; I found several letters he had written, in the Jerome family files at the Onondaga Historical Association.

It was really wonderful, to find Miss Jerome's grave, and connect her to her famous British cousin.   A fruitful visit to Pompey Hill Cemetery.