Thursday, September 16, 2010

Woodlawn Cemetery, Elmira, New York



Sometimes it seems as though there isn't a town or city in America that doesn't have a Woodlawn cemetery.

Elmira's Woodlawn was chartered in 1858, part of the "rural cemetery" concept first implemented in this country at Mount Auburn Cemetery, Boston, Massachusetts.

I believe my favorite part of the weekend in Elmira was walking through through this huge cemetery and finding the hidden treasures I was searching for.

Among several notable people buried in this huge cemetery are Mark Twain, Ernie Davis, Heisman Trophy winner, famous movie producer Hal Roach, and John W. Jones. Jones was born a slave in Virginia in 1817 and after fleeing north to Elmira, aided in the escape of 800 slaves via the Underground Railroad. In 1859 he became the sexton of Woodlawn cemetery and was personally responsible for the burial of almost 3,000 Confederate Prisoners from the Elmira Prison Camp. He kept such precise records that in 1877 their burial site within Woodlawn was declared a national cemetery.



I expect to return to the Elmira area one day in the not to distance future and another walk through this fasinating resting place for so many, known and unknown will be at the top of my list of things to do while there.

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