4High School News

FFHS student gives revolutionary war hero a facelift

Senior Ryan Weitz has long been fascinated by local history—so much so that the F-FHS senior became the Village of Fultonville's official historian. So it came as a shock and a bitter disappointment when he discovered the gravestone of a local Revolutionary War hero laying facedown in the Old Caughnawaga Cemetery adjacent to the school.

Colonel Frederick Visscher served as colonel of the Tryon county militia in the Revolutionary War. He commanded a regiment under General Herkimer at the battle of Oriskany and was later severely wounded during the Burning of the Valley in 1780. His accomplishments and personal sacrifice led General George Washington to request Visscher sit at his right hand at a dinner honoring Washington in Schenectady in 1782. New York Governor George Clinton appointed Visscher brigadier-general following the war. Visscher was also Montgomery County's first judge of the court of common pleas. Upon his death in 1809, he was buried in a family cemetery near Tribes Hill.

In the 1985, Visscher's descendents arranged to have his and his wife's stones moved to a more prominent location in the Fonda cemetery. Whether due to vandalism or natural causes, Visscher's headstone fell to the ground. Ryan's sense of history and decency demanded he take action.

Ryan contacted the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and arranged to have a bronze plaque made honoring Visscher. The restored stone and the plaque now proudly recognize Visscher and his role as one of our community's early heroes.

 
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