HOCPA | Fall 2018 Newsletter

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13 Jan Fall 2018 Newsletter

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Fall-2018

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Address:

P.O. Box 15065
Syracuse, NY 13215

Phone:
(315) 415-2954

Email:
HOCPAOakwood@gmail.com

Sometimes you can’t tell the families in Oakwood

Sometimes you can’t tell the families in Oakwood without a scorecard. Case in point is Zebulon Weaver. He was born in Otsego County in 1811. He attended Hamilton College, and read law with and then clerked for lawyer Timothy Jenkins of Oneida. In 1843 Weaver moved to Cicero, and in 1860 established a law practice in Syracuse. In 1880 he retired from law and moved back out to Cicero. When he died in 1904, he was 92 years old. So, who’s he related to? Zebulon married Emma Gage in 1845. Her brother was Henry Hill Gage who, in 1844, married Matilda E. Joselyn of Fayetteville. Henry and Matilda’s daughter, Maud, married L. Frank Baum. Emma and Zebulon had two children, one of whom was a daughter, Blanche Weaver Baxter (1856-1947). After a successful 30-year career as an actress on Broadway, and some not-quite Broadway, Blanche returned to Syracuse. There she took up the fight for women’s suffrage, following in the footsteps of her famous aunt. Blanche’s daughter, Zebulon’s granddaughter, was Ramona Baxter Bowden (1895-1984), a writer, teacher, feminist, and actress. Five of these folks (Zebulon, Emma, Henry, Blanche and Ramona) are buried in Section 27, Lot 30. Only Emma and Henry have markers. If you visit, don’t forget your scorecard.

HOCPA needs more photos for our files, website, ne

HOCPA needs more photos for our files, website, newsletter, etc! If you have any to share, please hashtag #oakwoodsyr 😀

Thanks to everyone who came out for today’s tour

Thanks to everyone who came out for today’s tour. Hope to see you again on June 12th!

When we think of Oakwood Cemetery our minds go to

When we think of Oakwood Cemetery our minds go to the incredible mausoleums, like L.C. Smith or the Longstreet pyramid. But many of the beautiful monuments would not be there without the craft of John C. Esser (1839-1905). A native of Germany, he was the proprietor of the granite works at S. Salina and Cortland Ave. and the first to carve native Onondaga limestone. There is very little about his life in the public record, but we can see through his eyes. He worked on designs for the Carnegie Library in Syracuse and the Hall of Languages at SU, and produced ornamental carvings of fruit and wheat over the state capitol entrance in Albany. He was commissioned to sculpt the Whitlock Angel of Peace (Sect 4 lot 94) which is one of eight in Oakwood on the Smithsonian “Save Outdoor Sculptor” list. It is believed that the angel is modeled after his daughter Kittie who died at age 19 from childbirth and was sculpted in marble on a base of Onondaga limestone. He also sculpted the monument for Charlotte L. McLane (Sect 28 lot 42) which shows a laurel crowned medallion under which is a lyre and over which moves a butterfly, the symbol of immortality. He carved the medallion of Judge James R. Lawrence (Sect 7 lot 10) and a portrait bust of the journalist Lewis H. Redfield (Sect 3 lot 144), both from life, and both of which grace their respective monuments. His handiwork is also evident in the elaborate ornamental work on the John A. Green mausoleum (Sect 25 lot 1). He was also commissioned to work on a bust of William H. Seward to adorn the monument to be erected in Auburn. He took his son John Matthew into partnership as Esser & Son in 1886 and they owned a quarry in Jamesville from which they supplied many businesses. The firm employed 15 men and worked in marble, stone and granite. John Esser is buried with his family in Sect 6 lot 57 and it is not a stretch to imagine that he designed his own monument.

Another reminder. ☺️ See you Sunday!

Another reminder. ☺️ See you Sunday!

Did you see this!? Our Board President, Rick Naylo

Did you see this!? Our Board President, Rick Naylor, was on @bridgestreettv this morning to talk about our upcoming tour schedule. First one is Sunday at 2pm! Hope to see you there.

Don’t forget, our first tour of 2022 is this Sun

Don’t forget, our first tour of 2022 is this Sunday at 2pm! You can learn more by clicking the link in our bio.

When you think of women investigative reporters, y

When you think of women investigative reporters, you probably don’t come up with the name of Jennie Chapin. Yet Jennie, the first woman reporter associated with a Syracuse newspaper, broke a story locally that had legs all the way to the Department of Justice in Washington, DC. It started in 1901. A firm called Cliff Publishing Company ran a contest in a magazine called Modern Home. People were notified that they had “won,” and to claim their prize of a watch or diamond ring, they need only send the company $1.37. That $1.37 would be equivalent of $42.74 today. After receiving three letters announcing her win, Jennie wanted to know if this was on the up and up so she placed a personal ad in the newspaper asking local people who had corresponded with Cliff Publishing to contact her. The letters poured in. Sure enough, people who sent in their $1.37 never received their prize, or the prize was of extremely poor quality. Jennie broke this story in the March 12, 1904 Syracuse Herald with headline, “INVESTMENT DIDN’T PAY.” Oh, there was also a 25-cent shipping charge. The Syracuse postmaster, Dwight Bruce, took the complaints and forwarded them to the Assistant Attorney General in Washington, DC. One scam, at least, was over. Jennie, who was born in Rochester in 1846, had moved to Fayetteville and began her newspaper career in the 1880s. She was a member of the New York Women’s Press Club, the League of American Pen Women, and the Society of American Authors to name just a few. In 1908 she moved to Colorado where she lived for eight years. An article of note written in 1911 was in response to outrageous remarks by a Syracuse contractor, George Grannis, who claimed that the better class of women of Colorado do not vote, and that people there joke about women suffrage. Jennie let loose with the headline “SUFFRAGE NO JOKE,” ending with, “he [Grannis] proves his remoteness from acquaintance with the best women of Colorado.” Jennie didn’t always have a sharp tongue. In 1901 she penned a poem that began, “Have you had a kindness shown? Pass it on.” Jennie died penniless and alone in 1924. She is buried in Sec. 62. She has no headstone.

The May tour is titled, “Residents Galore on our

The May tour is titled, “Residents Galore on our Flat Trail Tour.” As always, there is no cost - but donations are appreciated.

Being an “all around woman” was the fate of Dr

Being an “all around woman” was the fate of Dr. Martha Foote Crow (1854-1924) an 1875 Syracuse University graduate with a Ph. D, something you might consider unusual for women at the time. While a student there she helped found Alpha Phi and was the first National President. After serving on the faculty of several colleges she was sent in 1891 by the National Bureau of Education to investigate conditions of higher education of women in European countries. In 1894, while professor at Chicago University she asked “Will the co-educated co-educate their children?” Members of the Association of Collegiate Alumnae who graduated before 1875 were asked this question and 137 answered, with 109 in favor of co-education and only 7 against. One responded “It is in the interest of women’s advancement that men should learn increasingly to respect her intellect, and also that she herself should discover that she has an intellect that can cope with man’s without disparagement.” As dean at Northwestern University in 1901 she refused to allow co-eds to attend a dance arranged by the Evanston Boat Club. 250 women, dressed for the dance, formed a line and marched to Dean Donbright’s residence to appeal for help but the dean insisted on observance of the “early-to-bed regulation” and the women were ordered to their dorm. But in the following year Dr. Crow planned with women students to have a system of self-government, appointing committees which would make the rules governing meal times, hours for study, hours when callers may be received and other student matters. While serving as an educator she found the time to write poetry, a play, and biographies of Lafayette, Harriet Beecher Stowe and Elizabeth Barrett Browning. And in all this she found time to “ride the wheel.” Dr. Crow is buried in Section 14, lot 96 with the Foote family although her marker is buried under the grass.

Sometimes it pays to fight big businesses. It rea

Sometimes it pays to fight big businesses. It really paid off for Dr. Mather Williams (1799-1868) who came to Syracuse the year it was incorporated as a village (1825) and had a thriving practice. After marrying Caroline, the daughter of Joshua Forman, he purchased property around the village. Some of those lots were along Washington St. where the Syracuse & Utica Railroad decided it owned the road and started to double its track. The railroad believed the property owners surrendered the land to public use and they had the right to build on it because it was one mode the public made use of. The adjacent property owners were not happy about that and, led by Dr. Williams, held up the second track until they had an agreement that the railroad would lay flagstone sidewalks on both sides of the street for its entire length at a cost of $10,000. After initially losing the case, the Court of Appeals reversed the decision stating that “the dedication of land to the use of the public as a highway is not the dedication of it to the use of a Railroad company; the two are essentially different and that consequently a railroad cannot be built upon a highway without compensation to the owners of the fee.” In addition to the original amount sued for and adding in costs and damages the final award was $28,000. Unfortunately, Dr. Williams did not live to receive the judgment but his heirs did. Dr. Williams is buried alone in Section 14, lot 112.

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Historic Oakwood Cemetery Preservation Association - Syracuse, NY

7 hours ago

Sometimes you can’t tell the families in Oakwood without a scorecard. Case in point is Zebulon Weaver. He was born in Otsego County in 1811. He attended Hamilton College, and read law with and then clerked for lawyer Timothy Jenkins of Oneida. In 1843 Weaver moved to Cicero, and in 1860 established a law practice in Syracuse. In 1880 he retired from law and moved back out to Cicero. When he died in 1904, he was 92 years old. So, who’s he related to? Zebulon married Emma Gage in 1845. Her brother was Henry Hill Gage who, in 1844, married Matilda E. Joselyn of Fayetteville. Henry and Matilda’s daughter, Maud, married L. Frank Baum. Emma and Zebulon had two children, one of whom was a daughter, Blanche Weaver Baxter (1856-1947). After a successful 30-year career as an actress on Broadway, and some not-quite Broadway, Blanche returned to Syracuse. There she took up the fight for women’s suffrage, following in the footsteps of her famous aunt. Blanche’s daughter, Zebulon’s granddaughter, was Ramona Baxter Bowden (1895-1984), a writer, teacher, feminist, and actress. Five of these folks (Zebulon, Emma, Henry, Blanche and Ramona) are buried in Section 27, Lot 30. Only Emma and Henry have markers. If you visit, don’t forget your scorecard. ... See MoreSee Less

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