Walk With Ghosts - 2013 (The First)

Pardon the timing of this post, but the law got in the way.  Now we must hurry back in time a bit, to a Friday evening in late June.  We have some catching up to do. Our destination is once again magnificent Oakwood Cemetery, resting gently aside Syracuse University, on Comstock Avenue.  Our purpose for visiting is the annual “Ghost Walk” sponsored by the OHA. For a quick catch-up, read “Walk With Ghosts,” published 7/12/2012 (or re-read – according to my limited stats for the blog, this post is the most widely read of all my offerings). Once freshed/refreshed, you may continue.

This year, threatening skies greeted the attendees as they wove their way through Oakwood’s many roads to the gathering site.  Usually, people meet up at the old Chapel, but this year the check in site was a tent about 100 yards from there.  Funny I thought; I wonder why?  I would find out soon enough, as one of Oakwood's endearing secrets would be revealed at tour's end.  

This year, there were again five Ghosts to greet us as we wound our way through the hills and valleys that give Oakwood its unique character.  We met Comfort Tyler, Claire Alcee, Milton Price, John Wilkinson, and Dr. George Greeley.

So, the skies are clearing, birds are once again singing, and groups of ghost seekers are moving out. Let's see what awaits us this year.  Cameras ready!

 

Comfort Tyler

Comfort Tyler was a name I’ve heard before, and I thought I had a vague idea of who he was. Not even close. He rests now near one of the most famous plots in Oakwood, the huge pyramid that is the monument for the Longstreet family.  Comfort scored this prime location when his daughter married into the Longstreet family.  Good move, albeit it a permanent one.

Comfort, born in 1764, led quite a varied and interesting life in his 63 years. Are you ready?  Here’s the bullet version:  at 14, enlisted in the Continental Army, stationed at West Point. Was a school teacher and a surveyor.  Married, had a daughter, became a young widower, then married again. Came to Onondaga County as one of its earliest settlers. First settler to fell a tree in the county.  Built first Turnpike in NY State.  One of first manufacturers of salt.  Operated a tavern.  Built bridges. Justice of the Peace.  Sheriff.  County Coroner. County Clerk. First Postmaster.  First Manlius Town Supervisor. State Assemblyman.  Survived bite of rabid dog.  Whew!  That enough for you?

Oh, and along the way, he met Aaron Burr, got involved in something or other that got him arrested for treason, but, with Comfort’s curriculum vitae, all ended well.  He died in 1827.  Rest in Peace Comfort, you sure as hell earned it!

 

Claire Alcee White - longing for her Andrew

 Claire Alcee came to this life in 1892.  She, Nellie Claire Alcee Howard, of the Washington Howards, don’t you know. She spoke French and was trained to be a lyric opera prima donna.  She performed at the Met, and indeed, all over the world. Hers was a life long career.

She married Andrew S. White in 1918.  He was a lawyer, of the Syracuse Whites, one of whom became Governor of New York.  He was a widower, previously wed to Anne Belden (yet another Belden!). His uncle was Andrew D. White, co-founder of Cornell University, and its first President. Andrew D. had this house near Fayetteville, as we shall see.  When Andrew D. moved to Ithaca and Cornell, the house came to Andrew S. Are you following this? I hope so. Oakwood’s history has many twists and turns, so many tangled vines amongst the residents. In some respects, parts of Oakwood are like the old neighborhoods of the living and rich that once was Syracuse.  They, upon death, simply picked up and moved to Oakwood and created another such neighborhood.  Think Belden.

But back to Claire.  Claire Alcee was her stage name.  She was a patron of the Met.  She sang for FDR and Eleanor in the East Room of the White House.  She performed on the radio, the entrtainment medium of the day.  She sang at the Paris Opera House, and in Berlin. During WWII, she entertained with the USO. Oh, how she loved clothes. And she played a mean round of golf!  In 1952, her beloved Andrew died.  They never had children.  She lived on till 1982, and when she died, it is said that that her estate sale was the largest ever in the history of central New York.  At Cornell, in White Hall, hang portraits of Claire and Andrew. 

Now, about that house Andrew S. inherited.  The Whites spent time between their apartment at the Plaza in New York, and their estate in Fayetteville, called Fairfield.  It still stands today.  I (and you, if you live in or near Syracuse) have driven right past this home thousands of times.  And more than once, I’ve wondered about its story.  It has always looked to me to be an mystical window to another era.  For awhile, it looked in some disrepair, but to see it now, you know it has been restored to its original grandeur. 

Close your eyes and imagine it, elegant early model horseless carriages pulling up to the front entrance, lights inside the manse illuminating the grounds, men and women dressed in their finest, as another evening of entertainment begins.  If you look closely, you may catch a glimpse of Theodore Roosevelt, who visited the Whites on more than one occasion.

It is still sitting right there, waiting for you to pay a visit.  Drive slowly, and not at rush hour…on Rt. 5 east, out of Dewitt, past Wegmans, past the light at Lyndon Corners, and on toward Fayetteville.  Just past Onondaga Country Club and Lyndon Golf Course, it is nestled midst a copse of trees on the south side of the road.  Looking every bit the mansion, it is as impressive now as it was then. 

Fairfield -  Decorated for Christmas

You must wait for the next post to meet the other three ghosts.  This complete post would not pass the "I must be able to read this while waiting in my Doctor's office" test promulgated by my reader/volunteer part-time editor.  She will have words with me if I run too long.  Rule #1 - do not upset  an editor. I only have two of them, and while not strictly editors, they do offer words every now and then and it really wouldn't pay to tick off 50% of them.  As Twain would say, I don't have a lot of freight to throw overboard.  Which reminds me, we'll see Mark Twain then as well.  He'll have words for sure!