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Schumer seeks U.S. Army support to reinter remains at Lake George Battlefield Park

 A memorial for four unknown French and Indian War soldiers at Lake George Battlefield Park
Lucas Willard
/
WAMC
A memorial for four unknown French and Indian War soldiers at Lake George Battlefield Park

In 2019, the remains of dozens of people dating back to the Revolutionary War were discovered during a construction project in Lake George. Since that time, the remains have been in possession of the New York State Museum, which has been working to learn more about the people who died.

Museum investigators have so far determined the remains belonged to at least 44 individuals, several of whom were likely Continental Army soldiers.

With the 250th Anniversary of the American Revolution approaching, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is joining the call for the remains to be reinterred in Lake George.

The area played an important role in both the French and Indian War and the American Revolution.

Senator Schumer recently joined the effort, writing to the Secretary of the Army for his support in bringing the remains to the Lake George Battlefield Park, which is owned by New York State and is also serving as a final resting place for unknown soldiers killed in the 1755 Battle of Lake George.

John DiNuzzo, President of the Lake George Battlefield Park Alliance, welcomes Schumer’s letter of support to bring the remains to the site.

“You know, these now 44 different individuals who sacrificed in 1776 at the founding of our country, it just seemed self-evident that we should give them a respectful and appropriate reburial in a place near where they perished,” said DiNuzzo.

Lake George Town Supervisor Dennis Dickinson agrees.

“They should be buried approximately where they lived and died. They're a significant part of our history fighting for freedom and I’m looking forward to it,” said Dickinson.

DiNuzzo said it’s believed that the place where the remains were found is associated with a smallpox outbreak that impacted the Lake George region during the American Revolution.

“Probably a localized cemetery that was improvised by the Continental Army to just, you know, rid the hospital of the remains, lest you know the smallpox be transmitted to other people in the area,” said DiNuzzo.

Lisa Anderson is the New York State Museum’s curator of Bioarcheology. She said the remains contained clues that led to the determination that they dated to the Revolutionary period.

“One of them contained buttons that are associated with the First Pennsylvania Battalion which actually was in, during the Revolutionary War. So that put a good date on this, they were only in existence from 1775 to 1776, so very narrow window. And also, a couple of the graves had wooden coffins so that told us that they were at least historic in Euro-American as opposed to pre-contact Indigenous graves,” said Anderson.

Anderson called the discovery of the remains and information that has been gathered from them significant.

“The fact that we now know where the cemetery was, and efforts can be made to try to preserve any other graves that may still be there, and then also a chance to learn something about the lives of those who were in the northern campaign or early part of the American Revolution and who perished there. So it's been a very interesting for us and I think we hope to share all that information with the community at large,” said Anderson.

Lucas Willard is a reporter and host at WAMC Northeast Public Radio, which he joined in 2011.