I think our attitude towards cemeteries is summed up at Rotterdam Mall. Next to one of the entrance doors is a small nondescript wall surrounding a few headstones of a family cemetery and incorporated into the design of the mall entrance.

One of the unfortunate byproducts of being alive is death and the disposition of those remains. Over countless thousands of years we have tried just about everything in sending those remains to a new frontier. We have tried burning, mummifying, deep freezing, and the most popular - burial in the ground. You need a lot of land for the latter. In Troy, there still may be bones under your feet.

According to published histories, in 1786, the year settlers began leasing land at Vanderheyden's Ferry (Troy), there was a grave yard on the southeast corner of Congress and River Streets. When the standing building on the site burned in the 18th or 19th century, the remains of bodies found were reburied in Mount Ida Cemetery.

The Schuyler family had a grave site at the corner of Madison and Fourth, still standing in 1848. Another grave site was at the south side of Hoosick east of Ninth and was owned by the Society of Friends.

During the 19th century, several Native American remains were uncovered along the River fronts, often dumped or given to anthropologists.

From 1787 to 1886, some 50, 000 people were buried in Troy according to one source.

It was obvious early on that there was a need for an organized system to bury the dead and several cemeteries were formed in the city.

In 1796, Jacob Vanderheyden gave to the city a plot of land at the corner of Third and State. In 1875, the city exhumed some 208 bodies and reburied them at Oakwood so they could build City Hall. When City Hall burned in 1938, the site was converted into the present Barker "Park."

The Troy Cemetery was given to the Village of Troy in 1814 by Stephen Van Rensselaer, founder of RPI, on a site east of Mount Ida and west of the falls, just south of Congress. This site was neglected. A headstone was found in 1886 with the inscription "In Memory of George Young, who died November 6, 1814, age 55 years." He was the first person to be buried there. It's also recorded that Walter Irving McCoy (1859-1933) a U.S. Representative from New Jersey, 1911-15 (8th District 1911-13, 9th District 1913-15); and state court judge was buried there.

Mount Ida Cemetery has had a couple of incarnations. The first site on the east side of Pawling Ave, was purchased by the city in 1832. Three years later the south part of it, the old catholic burying ground was sold to St. Peter's. A new Mount Ida Cemetery, on the north side of Pinewoods, half a mile east of the old one, was purchased in 1854. The Mount Ida Preservation group is currently working on preserving this cemetery.

St. Mary's Cemetery on the north side o the Brunswick Road was purchased by Rev Peter Havermans in 1845.

For the South End, the Sixth Ward Cemetery was developed on a hill west of Vanderburgh Avenue, near the Burden Iron Works and was given to the city in 1836 by the Troy Nail Factory Company.

St. Peters Church Cemetery opposite Oakwood was purchased by the Right Rev. John McCloskey, Bishop of Albany in 1858.

St. Joseph's Cemetery sitting between the Poesten and Wyants Kills was purchased by the Rev Joseph Loyzance in 1860.

Oakwood was started when land was purchased in 1849 and laid out into the beautiful landscaped cemetery of 300 acres. It was designed by J.C. Sidney, a philadelphia landscaper. Many of the smaller cemeteries that were later abandoned had their residents reburied here. Friends of Oakwood Cemetery is doing a terrific job of bringing back this cemetery to its former grandeur.

All of the existing cemeteries are in various degrees of care, but there does seem to be a new interest in preserving these communities for the dead. Already mentioned is Friends of Oakwood and the Mt Ida Preservation groups locally. It's happening on a national scale as well.

There is a great Web site devoted to saving grave sites worldwide called "Saving Graves (www.savinggraves.com/)." It features emergency alerts and actions you can take, clean up events, and even how to clean graves or take rubbings.

Other great Web sites that deal with cemeteries and featured in previous columns are the Political Graveyard (http://www.politicalgraveyard.com/) which features dead politicians and Find A Grave (http://www.findagrave.com/) which features other famous people.