Green Hills Cemetery

There are many veterans' graves dotted throughout Dryden's Green Hill Cemetery. Notable gravesites include those of Civil War nurse Julia Cook (?-1908) and Civil War U.S. Colored Troop (USCT) soldiers Edward Sorrell (1824-1864) and John Sorrell (1847-1903). Edward Sorrell died during the Civil War at Graham's Neck, South Carolina. The Sorrell family gravestone monument can be found in Section 2 of the cemetery.

Tompkins County Historian Carol Kammen has written about Julia Cook and other Civil War nurses from Tompkins County, and her essay can be found at the New York State Museum's Office of State History.

The Sorrells were two of the 26 African American men from Tompkins County who enlisted in the USCT during the Civil War. Kammen wrote a play, I Am a Man, Too, based on their experiences, and that play was adapted into the 2015 film, Civil Warriors, directed by Deborah Hoard and Che Broadnax. More information about the African American soldiers who fought in the Civil War can be found at Ithaca Heritage.

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