Fort Hill and Townsend Burying Ground

 cemetery, place with historical importance

Here British soldiers, who occupied Oyster Bay for most of the Revolutionary War, established a fort which they used as a lookout for patriot ships that might slip into the harbor. In the cemetery next to Fort Hill many of the British soldiers are buried side by side with soldiers who opposed them. In this same cemetery is the grave of Robert Townsend, one of the most famous and effective of all of George Washington's spies. Next to him is his sister Sally, who helped him gather information from the British officers who were billeted in Raynham Hall, the residence of Samuel Townsend, father of Robert and Sally. Sally, who broke the heart of many a British officer, gave her brother information that led to the capture of Major John Andre' at Tarrytown, N.Y. Andre', was conspiring with Benedict Arnold to capture West Point, a strategic outpost of great importance to the patriots. The handsome Andre' lived a short time in the Townsend house. To this day there remains in the house a pane of glass over two hundred years old bearing the names of Sally and Audrey Townsend which Andre cut there with a diamond. John Townsend acquired the land for the Fort Hill cemetery in 1661. He was the first of his family to be buried there when he died in 1668, a century before the Revolution. The last, more than two hundred years later, was Solomon Townsend, buried in 1880. Sixty-three stones remain in this historic cemetery, which, like the adjoining fort, now is owned and cared for by the town of Oyster Bay.