Wilfred “Tex Larabey” Courtney Born in Port Ewen in 1930, he became a country music performer and was quite well-known in the Kingston area. His stone is graced with a carving of an acoustic guitar. Though his records are out of print, you can listen to a clip of his song “Music To Get Stoned To” on Youtube.

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Robert H. Dietz World War II Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, killed in action (1921–1945) Dietz served as a Staff Sergeant in the United States Army in Company A, 38th Armored Infantry Battalion, 7th Armored Division. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for action on March 29, 1945 at Kirchain, Germany.  Forced to cross a minefield and two bridges rigged with explosives, he killed two Nazi bazooka teams, bayoneted an enemy soldier armed with a Panzerfaust anti-tank weapon, and jumped into waist-deep water under one of the bridges to disconnect the demolition charges. His work completed, he stood up to signal that the route was clear and was killed by an enemy volley from the left flank. Dietz is credited with single-handedly opening the road for the capture of Kirchain. Learn more about Dietz on our History page.

 

Maj James Hervey Everett Second Lieutenant and captain in the Civil War (1837–1926) Served in Company K, 120th New York State Volunteer Infantry. Served 1862-1865. Major, New York Volunteers by brevet. Wounded at Gettysburg and Petersburg. Businessman, president of Everett & Treadwell Company, Wholesale Grocers, Kingston, NY. New York State Assemblyman, 1890. First commander of Pratt Post 127 GAR, Kingston, NY.  His gravestone is a large, ornate sculpure of a Celtic cross shown in the photo (click to enlarge) Learn more about Gettysburg veterans interred in Wiltwyck Rural Cemetery on our History page.

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James Forsyth A prominent attorney, politician and County Court Judge. His daughter donated property for Forsyth Park.

 

William Gwynne, Mail clerk on the Titanic (1870–1912) Gwynne was in England when he was informed that his wife was ill back in New York. He had planned on returning to America on the Philadelphia but he transferred to the Titanic to hasten his journey.

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Gladys Hurlbut Actress, Playwright (1898–1988) She appeared in numerous films and television series throughout the 1950s and wrote several plays and screenplays including Higher and Higher, which starred Frank Sinatra.

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Bernard McBride Came to the US in 1951 from Ireland, moved to Rondout from NYC in 1854. He became Kingston’s first ice cream manufacturer and opened his ice cream parlor at the corner of Broadway and O’Neil in 1871. Read an archival newspaper clipping about McBride.

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Alton Brooks Parker American political figure (1852–1926) Parker received his law degree at Albany Law School then practiced in Kingston, New York. He served as a justice of the New York Supreme Court from 1885 to 1889, And ran for President in 1904 but lost to Theodore Roosevelt. Visit our History page to watch a lecture on Alton Parker.

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Jacob H. Tremper (1812–1888) Ship captain and namesake of a well-known steamboat. Also owned & ran the “James W. Baldwin” & the “Manahattan”. Sold Thomas Cornell his first steamboat. His son ran a summer hotel in Phoenicia, “Tremper House”, namesake of Mount Tremper, which was among the first of its kind in the Catskills & helped establish the Catskills as a summer resort destination. 

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John Vanderlyn, Artist (1775–1852) His painting The Landing of Columbus (c. 1851) hangs in the United States Capitol rotunda. Visit our History page to watch a lecture on John Vanderlyn.