Last year we started a fundraising campaign started which has now successfully raised the $5,000 required to dismantle, repair and restore the priceless Daniel Coman Munro genealogical monument in Elbridge Rural Cemetery (Elbridge, New York). The monument has been removed from the cemetery and is in the process of being repaired.
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— Photos courtesy of Jim Connell
Who Was Daniel Coman Munro?
Daniel Coman Munro was born on May 10, 1819 in Elbridge, NY. He was one of thirteen children of John Munro (1781-1860) and was a grandson of Squire Munro (1758-1835). He married Elvira Coman (1816-1897) and they had eight children together.
In 1876, the extended Munro family in Elbridge began holding annual reunions to allow the family to gather, organize and update the genealogical records for the extended family. They wrote about the reasoning behind starting the reunions, saying “we are of the same family by birth or by marriage, and the family has increased so mightily that we know not our own kinsmen when we see them face to face, let us therefore search out the records and find out the families, the name of all both small and great, who have descended from him who is known as Squire Manro, for his life was just, and his memory blessed, and his children’s children, even to the third and fourth generation do honor him…”
Among those appointed to an executive committed at that first meeting in 1876, we find D. C. Munro. He continued to serve for many years and was later elected President of the reunion committee. He was so dedicated to with the preservation of history, that he had a metal monument engraved with genealogical information erected in the Elbridge Cemetery.
Daniel died on April 25, 1893 in Elbridge. Elivra died on May 8, 1897. Both are buried in the Elbridge Rural Cemetery near the monument.
Saving the Daniel C. Munro Genealogical Monument
A November 2016 letter from the Cemetery Association informed us of the monument’s precarious state. The internal framework has deteriorated causing the monument to settle and lean precariously and was in danger of eventual collapse. The unique construction makes it too expensive for repairs via public grant funding and they offered us the opportunity to repair it or it would be torn down and replaced with a plaque. Mark Munro, founder of the Squire Munro Project started a fundraiser and, over the next 14 months, we raised $5,000 to cover the cost of repair. Within the next month, Barnett Memorials will disassemble the monument and begin repairs. Photos of the process will be available upon completion of the process.
Read more about the fundraiser here.
Contributors who helped save the Daniel C. Munro Monument:
- Jane Munro Chowaniec
- James Connell
- Margaret Edwards
- Hannah Munro Flom
- Thomas LaClair
- Grace Mayer
- Joan Robert Munro Martin
- Robert Martin
- Allen Munro
- Bill and Judy Munro
- David Munro
- J. Richard Munro
- John P. Munro
- Mark C. Munro
- Philip C. Munro
- Robert & Martha Ness
- Polly S. Nicholson
- Art North
- Susan Parker
- Kathy Pyers
- David Stratton