Oak Hill Park - Former Cemetery Ground

OAK LAWN CEMETERY-THE MAKING OF A PARK
As far back as 1895, many owners of the lots in the old Oak Lawn Cemetery complained that the residents of that vicinity were using it as a cow pasture. Cows were hitched with long ropes to stakes driven into the ground and were permitted to graze at will over the private lots. The owners of the lots were outraged and wanted a stop put to this. In 1905, the authorities had forbidden further burials in the cemetery and perhaps this might have given the impression to some that this was now public property, which it was not. The lots, nearly all of them occupied, had been purchased by the owners who held the deeds for them, and were kept in as good condition as possible. But by now, the cemetery was not a very handsome or picturesque spot. There was talk that the bodies would be removed from there.

On March 7, 1905, a act was presented to the assembly at Albany by Hon, Jasper E. Smith, which authorized the City of Olean to acquire Oak Lawn Cemetery, and other land, for the establishment of a public park, to provide for the removal of remains in the cemetery, and the re-interment thereof, and authorized the issuing of bonds for that purpose. There were nineteen sections to this act, which would take effect immediately. The City of Olean was authorized to issue bonds for $35,000 for the conversion of Oak Lawn into a park. The Common Council met on April 25, 1905, for the purpose of listening to any objections that might be made to the acceptance of the bill. There was a large attendance by the public, the majority of whom favored acceptance of the bill. All the members of the council voted to accept, except Alderman Palmer who was absent.

Henry McKinley was the main objector stating, “I recently counted the graves in Oak Lawn and found 1,041, not including those that may have been leveled.” It would take a lot of money to move the bodies and he didn’t think that $35,000 would cover the expense of doing so. He went on, “ I do not think there is anyone her who takes interest in the old cemetery except myself. I look after my lot there. I have a son buried there.”

J. W. Pratt followed McKinley and his talk in a rather sarcastic vein amused the crowd. He said he would not feel at home if the cemetery was removed and he could not go along there and pick a blackberry now and then. There was only one thing about the cemetery he ever did admire and that was the archway at the head of Laurens Street, but that had decayed and fallen. He thought that a high fence with spiked points should be put up to keep in the dead and keep out the living. Anything to preserve antiquity. In years to come, he went on, the hotels would be crowded with people who would come to look at the famous old cemetery.

Next to speak was J. H. Bradner, C. D. Judd, Charles Cotton, A. I. Williams, and H. W. Marcus, all who were in favor of making the change although it might increase their taxes. Willis Chamberlin favored rolling down the graves, remove the tombstones and the dead be allowed to lay undisturbed.

John Sloane told how the birth of the bill came about as the result of a petition from the taxpayers for the improvement of the cemetery, and he favored the change. He believed that the old soldiers should be taken up and put in a suitable plot of their own in another cemetery. He said that it was a disgrace to Olean to have them buried in such a disreputable place.

On April 3, 1906, a notice in the paper stated that the Park Commissioner of the City of Olean intended to commence the removal of the remains of those interred in Oak Lawn Cemetery as soon as the weather permitted. The markers, monuments, etc. would be removed along with the remains.

On April 5, 1906, parties who owned lots in Mt. View Cemetery and with the intention of reburying their loved ones opened about eleven graves. Present were a large number of people who had gathered around to watch the proceedings.

On April 11th, the employees of the park commission started to take up the bodies in the oldest part of the cemetery. Charles Cotton was placed in charge of this work crew and D. P. Woodard was superintending the removal of the remains. The first grave dug was that which had the tombstone inscribed “UNKNOWN CONFEDRATE”, failed to furnish a bone for the rough box, which was in waiting. Not even a trace of the box, which was supposed to be buried there, could be found. He had died on an Erie train while being transported to Elmira prison camp in 1865. In a grave next to it, that of a child buried two years before in 1864, in it was found to be a few bones and part of the coffin. Later on the remains of a soldier with soldier’s trappings, braid, etc, were found in a grave second from the one where it was expected the body to be found. Mr. Cotton had told how the Confederate soldier had on government boots and that the boots were in good shape, the soles being half inch thick. In several places there were two bodies found in one grave.

Those that were now being removed were those that had no relatives or friends who were able or willing to do so. Signs were posted around the cemetery prohibiting the people from standing around the graves that were being opened and bothering the workers. A small rough board hut had been erected in the cemetery for the workers to leave their tools and other belongings in.

There was talk about strange things being unearthed at Oak Lawn and as fast as the storied leaked out the curious came to the site to see what they could. Park Policeman Emulous Morse had to keep repeating a speech he had arranged for their benefit. A crowd would gather and just as their interest would be aroused to the exciting point when the top of the casket was reached, there would be a dead silence, and then Morse would speak up. When the next grave was dug, he again had to repeat his stern admonishment to keep the onlookers out of the way and let the men do their work. It was the only way he was able to keep the crowd from growing.

It was on one of those days that the bones of a “giant” were taken up. He was in box that measured about six feet ten inches. The bones were about twice the diameter of those of an average man. On another occasion, after digging down fully six feet they found a vault of masonry inside of which was a box made of two-inch planking. On the top of it was a huge stone that must have weighed three hundred pounds. The big stone was raised by means of a tackle and then the plank lid was taken off. It was water soaked but whole. Inside the casket, which fell to pieces when touched, but to add to the mystery, there was nothing in it. Not even a bone was found. In one or two other instances nothing was found in a grave except the metal pieces from the coffin. There were very few plates found bearing the name of the deceased.

Every precaution was taken to disinfect more thoroughly the dirt taken from the graves.
As soon as the remains were removed, quick lime was sprinkled about the bottom of the grave on what remained of the box, and in the dirt before it was thrown back into the hole. The dirt last removed and nearest to the box was put in first. It seems that on one occasion the health officer had a trying day and decided to scare the crowd of women spectators. He announced that the body or skeleton of the man they were removing had died of small pox. This caused the women to scatter in all directions.

About 225 bodies had been removed by April 18th. A half a dozen or so were mere skeletons and not even the cloth in which the bodies were wrapped was left except in very few cases. On August 27th the workers had taken up 139 bodies, thus a total of 900 remains had been moved. It was expected that in two weeks the task would be finished. Two of those removed that day were that of H. Harper Phelps, the lawyer who had lost his life in the big fire of 1866, and also that of Edna Moore, the infant daughter of H. M. Moore, who was buried in 1865.

The strangest and perhaps the most significant occurrence took place on April 28th. It was 10 o’clock in the morning; when the people on Washington Street near the corner of Fifth Street saw a whirlwind of considerable size and power. It originated at State Street and traveled up Fifth Street into the cemetery where Charles Cotton’s horse was tied to an iron rail and where about thirty workmen were busy. In the wagon attached to the horse were several coats that belonged to the workman and these were lifted up into the air for many feet by the whirlwind. The horse became frightened and plunged about threatening to break the wagon. As the whirlwind passed on it relieved several workmen of their hats and picked up another man’s coat off the ground and carried it about twenty feet in the air.

A cloud of dust and dry leaves followed the whirlwind. When it reached Washington Street it stood still for a moment and then shot a column of dust and leaves three feet in diameter, fully 30 feet above the treetops and this could be seen for quite a distance. After whirling a short distance beyond, it died out. (Could this have been the departed making their final adieu to their long time resting place?)

By May 11th, nearly all the bodies had been removed to their new locations and the employees were now gathering up the tombstones. Plans were made to do the grading of the New Oak Hill Park in the fall so the ground would be allowed to settle over the winter.

On a Saturday, June 30, 1906, the park commissioner was to auction off eight houses and one church on the east side of N. Sixth Street between Washington and Putnam Streets.

In April of 1907, about thirty workmen were employed at Oak Lawn Cemetery and they were quickly giving it the appearance of a park. Superintendent Babb was in charge of getting the work done for the landscape architect W. H. Manning of Boston. Under the direction of Charles Cotton who was the foreman, a gang of men and teams were cutting into the hillside on North Fourth Street and drawing dirt over on the Sixth Street side where a fill was being made for the tennis courts and the children’s playground.

The roadway, which was to take the place of Putnam Street, was also being graded. It would enter the park about fifty feet from the south boundary line on Fourth Street, near the sand pit and in a winding way would run to the head of the hill on North Fifth Street and thence on over the hill to Sixth Street. The road was closed to the proposed location of the bandstand, so that owners of teams would be able to drive into the park and listen to the music.

A number of the evergreen trees in the northwest corner of the park were taken out since they were much too thick for a healthy growth. A large brush heap had been gathered, which promised to make the biggest bonfire that had been burned in Olean in years.

Throughout the following years many band concerts and religious services were held in the park. Today the park is known as Oak Hill Park, the tennis courts are still there and it remains a playground for the children and a place to take a rest and feed the squirrels and think back on the old resting place for the first residents of Olean.

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By: Eileen McCartan Smith, Olean, NY All rights reserved.

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