Upon moving to Prospect-Lefferts in 2002, one of the first things I did was head to the Dutch Reform Church on the corner of Church and Flatbush Avenues. We had driven past the church many times in our Brooklyn house hunt, though what intrigued me most was the cemetery. If you have any historical interest in the area, it is well worth a walk through. Some of the tombstones are in remarkably good condition, considering the age. I spent a sunny afternoon creating a photographic inventory of stones, as I often do in cemeteries. Walking among the monuments you will see many familiar Brooklyn names, descendants of the early Dutch settlers.
One interesting stone is that of Richard Alsope [sic] of Middletown, Conn. “He came to Flatbush in August 1815, to visit his sister, the wife of Mr. Riley. He had retired on a certain day to his room in the house now occupied by Mrs. Schoonmaker, and was subsequently found dead sitting in a chair by the window. It is presumed he had been struck with apoplexy. The tomb-stone which marks the place where his remains lie interred, bears the following inscription: — In memory of Richard Alsop, Esq., of Middletown, Conn. Distinguished by genius and poetical talents, respected for integrity, and beloved for his amiable simplicity of character. He died suddenly, when on visit to this place, on the 20th of August, 1815, aged fifty-four years.” [from History of the Town of Flatbush, Thomas M. Strong, D.D., 1842.]
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