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Maple Grove Cemetery resides in Kew Gardens, Queens County, New York. This historic cemetery includes graves from the late 1780s and is an active cemetery at present.
"Maple Grove Cemetery was established by a group of six Brooklyn businessmen in 1875 - late in the period of rural cemetery development. Until that time most rural cemeteries were created through the purchase of large tracts of land by private citizens. However, under the leadership of William Cogswell, the six businessmen cleverly purchased 75 acres of undeveloped land in Jamaica and Newtown from Mary A. Webb, in exchange for one half the proceeds from the sale of burial lots. The benefit to the newly formed Maple Grove Cemetery Association was that it would not have to raise funds ahead of time to purchase the land.
Now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Maple Grove Cemetery has been honored by many fine families as the final resting place for their loved ones."
https://maplegrovecenter.org/about/rich-history/
https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/65162/maple-grove-cemetery
Notables
Maple Grove Cemetery features the fascinating stories of such noteworthy individuals as:
Lavern Baker, Singer in Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
Martin Branner, Cartoonist – “Winnie Winkle”
Meville Ellis, Pianist & Composer
Samuel Cisco, Desegregation advocate in Jamaica
Dr. Max Gerso, Pioneer in medical ecology
Alfred Grebe, Radio and broadcast pioneer
Josef and Rosina Lhevinne, Russian pianist
Samuel Loyd, America’s Puzzle King
Charles Manly, Aviation pioneer
Ludolf Portong, pioneer in cotton textiles
Elisabeth Riis, Wife of social reformer Jacob Riis
Jimmy Rushing, Blues singer
John Sutphin, Queens politician and philanthropist
Millie Tunnell, Former 11-year old slave
Edouard Wah, Haitian artist
Ann Wilkins, One of the first female missionaries to Africa