Where did all the Bodies Go? CALVARY CEMETERY, COHOES, NY

There used to be a cemetery on the south end of Cohoes, west of the Mohawk Paper Mill and east of the old Erie Canal.  Calvary Cemetery was owned by St. Bernard's Roman Catholic Church.  Today it is a dog walk with a forest of day lilies. When I was growing up, it was a source of great mystery to me because I could only see one, very tall monument from the road.  I asked my mother where are all the gravestones were and her answer astonished me!  "They removed all the stones and dug up all the bodies".  Exactly "who" they were was unknown.  According to my mother the most amazing thing about it was nobody knew where they reburied all the bodies!  In the past few years I have learned several of my ancestors were buried there.  Did my mother realize her grandfather was buried there when she told me that no one knew where the bodies went? Were they reburied? Incinerated?  Why were the two monuments to priest allowed to remain?

A Sign at the Entrance

 According  to The Church of Latter Day Saints FamilySearch site, the cemetery is closed and there are no records available.  A closer look at the sign gives a little explanation......

Someone mows a path through
 the center of the old cemetery
The better to walk all the neighborhood dogs.

.An even more interesting question was why was it closed?  Was it poorly managed and posing a health hazard? Was Mohawk Paper Mill interested in purchasing the land?  It all happened a long time ago and there doesn't seem to be any one alive who has answers.
Here's a few more photos from a lovely walk in Calvary Cemetery...