NYDUTCHE-L Archives
Archiver > NYDUTCHE > 2006-11 > 1162740732
From: "E" <>
Subject: Re: [NYDUTCHE] HAWLEY Family - A Neglected Tomb - Salt Point- 1928
Date: Sun, 5 Nov 2006 10:34:18 -0500
References: <002301c7006c$06c0e000$6c615743@GinnyDesktop><001401c70082$53656190$1900a8c0@tms>
WW II 1943. Soapbox still in favor... Hyde Park...... Saw them there.
Several speakers.. Audiences of from three to maybe a dozen. Grant
----- Original Message -----
From: "cliff.hayes" <>
To: <>
Sent: Saturday, November 04, 2006 9:30 PM
Subject: Re: [NYDUTCHE] HAWLEY Family - A Neglected Tomb - Salt Point- 1928
> A soap box originated, I believe, in England long before microphones or
> telephones. Anyone who wanted to speak in public would take a box,
usually
> a soap box seemed to be the right size, take it to the area where he
decided
> to make his speech, set down his (soap) box, step up on it and start
hawking
> for an audience; hence he got on his "soap box". I believe this was still
> in favor in WWII and well may be in vogue today.
>
> Cliff Hayes
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Ginny" <>
> To: "Dutchess Roots List" <>
> Sent: Saturday, November 04, 2006 5:50 PM
> Subject: [NYDUTCHE] HAWLEY Family - A Neglected Tomb - Salt Point- 1928
>
>
> > Not My Family but I thought this might be of interest to someone - I
can't
> > help but grab these articles when I'm looking for something else on the
> > microfilm - This article had a picture of the "Neglected Tomb" - not the
> > greatest when printed from the microfilm - but - if anyone wants the
> > picture - e-mail me - Off List - and I will scan and send it to you!
These
> > folks are a mystery to me as I can't seem to find them in Census - I may
> > have found Mary, a widow age 82 - Mother of 0 with 0 Living in Pleasant
> > Valley in the 1910 census - her neighbors are Henry Knickerbocker and
> > David Smith - Maybe this will help someone! Would be interested in just
> > what a soap box is - perhaps a wooden box that one would buy soap in in
> > early years????
> > ----------------------------------------------------------------
> > Sunday Courier
> > Weekly Newspaper Published at Poughkeepsie
> > Sunday, June 10, 1928
> >
> > A NEGLECTED TOMB
> >
> > Bodies of Hawley Family,
> > Long Dead,
> > Lie in Vault in Field
> >
> > Elaborate Burial Place on
> > Edge of Swamp
> > Attracts Visitors
> >
> > In a field several hundred feet back from the west side of the road
> > between Salt Point and Hibernia, resting in a brick and marble tomb, the
> > doors of which are unlocked, rest the skeletons of three persons, two
men
> > and a woman. Lewis Hawley and his wife, Mary Hawley, and son, Archibald
> > Hawley and its contents on the edge of a swamp has long been known to
the
> > people of the neighborhood and most of the residents in that section
have
> > visited the vault [. . . . bad line in film here . . . .] the strange
> > burying place has spread and many persons from Poughkeepsie and
elsewhere
> > have visited the place.
> >
> > The vault is built of brick on two sides. The front and roof are of
> > marble six inches thick. It was built by Lewis Hawley many years ago at
a
> > cost, it is reported of $1,500. It would cost three times that sum
today.
> > Just why he elected to have himself and his family laid to rest there
> > instead of being buried in a cemetery has always been a source of
> > speculation in the neighborhood.
> >
> > Only the marble roof and a small part of the vault are visible from the
> > road. The vault faces the west. It has three iron doors at the
entrance.
> > The plot is surrounded by a high substantial wire fence and bushes and
> > young trees.
> >
> > Two of the bodies lie in caskets. The bones of a third person lie in a
> > soap box with a wire screen covering. The body of a man lies at the
left
> > of the entrance. The woman's body lies at the right. The soap box is
in
> > a corner. The glass in the casket of the man is broken. The tops of
both
> > caskets have been removed and put back in place by many who have visited
> > the place.
> >
> > On one casket is a silver plate which reads:
> >
> > Mary Hawley
> > 1827-1912
> >
> > Mrs. Hawley was the last of the family to be laid in the vault. Lewis
> > Hawley, the head of the family, died October 15, 1887, at the age of
> > sixty-nine years, according to a carving on the outside of the vault.
> > Archibald, apparently the son, died May 16, 1899, at the age of
> > forty-eight years.
> >
> > There is a story to the effect that when her son died Mrs. Hawley never
> > permitted his room or bed to be touched. For years afterward she sat in
> > the shade at the entrance to the vault all during the summer days
because
> > she wanted to be near her boy.
> >
> > The man now owning the land on which the vault is located has left the
> > place undisturbed. He has refused to sell the marble in the
construction
> > and has not yet made up his mind as to what he will ultimately do with
the
> > place. So far as is known, there are no near relatives of this branch
of
> > the Hawley family living.
> >
> > -------------------------------------------
> >
> >
> > Ginny
> >
> > -------------------------------
> > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to
> > with the word 'unsubscribe' without the
> > quotes in the subject and the body of the message
> >
>
>
> -------------------------------
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