Monastyrishche immigrants to the United States created the First Monastrishter Benevolent Society in New York City about 1910. The benevolent society purchased two plots over the years at United Hebrew Cemetery on Staten Island. The first plot is located at Block 26 and has about 79 graves dating from 1910 to 1980. The second plot is located at Block 105 and contains about 150 graves with burials from 1936 (or 1938) to 1993.¹

The benevolent society liquidated after 1974 but prior to January 1982 due to the death of most members. The two original plot maps containing surnames are in the YIVO landsmanshaftn collection.

There are probably errors in some of the surnames on the plot maps for women passing away after liquidation of the benevolent society. Some tombstones could have a different surname compared to the name on the plot map.

For example, a discrepancy could be due to a widow remarrying after the death of her first husband and therefore having a different surname at the time of her burial. If the burial occurred after liquidation of the society, no one would have been available to correct the surname on one of the plot maps.²

In the years 1957 through 1959 the society held meetings at the Adelphi Hall, 74 Fifth Avenue in New York City. At the end of 1957 the members voted to reduce the number of meetings to six a year with a requirement that each member attend at least three of them. The newsletters contain reminders to members of the importance of keeping current on payments for their cemetery plots. The table below lists the board members of the benevolent society.³ The second table contains a list of surnames on plot maps for Block 26 and Block 105. The number of surnames is considerably less than the number of graves because each surname is only mentioned once in the table. ⁴