13th annual Temple Hill Cemetery Spirit Walk
Photo Courtesy of Miranda Padilla
On Sept. 26, the Temple Hill Cemetery hosted the thirteenth annual Spirit Walk, “Carved in Stone: Explore the Spirits, Symbols, & Stories of Temple Hill.” This was a great way to start off the spooky season! The event consisted of a guided tour through the cemetery, with Victorian-era performers explaining the history behind some of Geneseo’s most influential and historic families, alongside refreshments such as apple cider and donuts. Learning about both the history of the Geneseo families and the context behind the gravestone decoration was the perfect start to autumn and there was an amazing turn out.
Temple Hill Cemetery, which originally consisted of three acres, was founded in 1807 by James and Williams Wadsworth according to the Temple Hill Cemetery website. The two originally wanted a space for community members to rest at no cost; today the land has expanded to 15 acres with around six thousand individuals laid to rest there.
Throughout the tour, there were a total of nine different gravesites to stop at. These included the families of Allen, North, Bow, Piffard, Sinclair, Fridd, Honeywell, Booher, and Wadsworth.
Hezekiah Allen was the first grave stop. He was a longtime resident of Geneseo and known as an honorable man. His tomb is very tall, a tribute to his importance to the community. Atop his grave lies an urn, which was only used as decoration back then; it was a symbol to remember the dead rather than to actually keep them in. Allen’s tombstone was also purposefully cracked to symbolize a shortened life.
On the Old Grounds lies Noah North and his families’ graves. A willow was carved onto his stone for grief and mourning but also to show immortality. He was a folk artist and is attributed to turning Geneseo from a pioneer frontier to a thriving community. His family member, Ellen, was the founder of the Geneseo Jam Kitchen (c. 1893) in her home on Main Street, where her preserves, jellies, and jams brought her business, allowing the kitchen to grow exponentially according to the Along the Genesee Preservation website. The website also shares that her business employed women and provided goods for the Geneseo community at reasonable prices.
Elisha Bow and his family have a plot on the grounds; his wife and three children are buried there. Bow was said to be a typical farmer, but records show he was actually a horse dealer. Him and his wife have standard graves with little to no ornamentation or engravings, whereas his daughter has a very decadent grave. Her grave is a cross with ivy growing on it; ivy indicated an eternal life due to its bright green color year-round. Their sons on the other hand have flat gravestones with two different engravings from that of their sister.
The Piffard family plot is the resting place for David and Ann Matilda Piffard, alongside other family members. Originally born under King George’s rule in England, Piffard moved to Geneseo. His grave is topped with a book symbolizing a person living a full life.
The Sinclair plot was interesting as it has a unique blueish-gray tomb that is fully hollow and made of zinc. With intricate carvings in it, the egg and dart is of significance; the egg represents life and the darts carved around it signify the reality of everyone’s morality. Legend has it that bootleggers used to hide illicit substances inside the tomb and come in at night to retrieve and use it.
Charles Fridd and George W. Booher’s plots are significantly smaller than the rest. With Booher’s grave being a jagged cross shows agony or suffering during one’s life, as well as intense passion or sacrifice in one’s faith.
The two most significant stops were for Ethelbert Honeywell and the Wadsworth families. The Honeywell plot holds Ethelbert—a longtime resident of Geneseo and superintendent of the Temple Hill Cemetery for forty four years—and his family. Their graves are decorated to look like a chopped tree trunk and slabs of the tree. The main tree trunk does not have the canopy of leaves and the limbs appear to be chopped off. This is very significant as the severed limbs indicate a child in the family had passed before their parents.
Finally, the Wadsworth family plot is deeply rooted in Geneseo history. Walking down Main Street, you might notice a prominent bear statue; the bear is named Emmeline, in honor of Emmeline Wadsworth, who is buried in this plot.. Emmeline was one of the founders of the Geneseo Normal School which was originally an all girls school. Also buried in this plot is General James Samuel Wadsworth who fought in the first World War. Unfortunately, his grave was vandalized in 2011 with pieces of it ripped off and stolen.
The Spirit Walk at Temple Hill Cemetery was informative and it was interesting to learn about the community and what it used to be! Seeing all the tombstones of influential residents of Geneseo made me appreciate the community even more than I already had. If this sounds interesting to you, you find the history of Geneseo interesting, or you just love things that are a little spooky, make sure to stop by next year for another Temple Hill Cemetery Spirit Walk!