Cemetary Towns in N.Y. Hold Some of the Famous

We told you recently about a hobby that some people have to visit the graves of famous celebrities. While some travel around looking for these graves, others have made their searches more local.

Chuck D’Imperio of Oneonta, New York, is the author of "Great Graves of Upstate New York." He believes that the state of New York has enough buried there for people take up an interest in their local cemetaries.

“They’re repositories of history, family history, New York history,” he said. “There are representatives of every war. There are fascinating sculptures. You never know who’s going to turn up in a cemetery in Central New York.”

So who has D’Imperio found? The book contains a list of 70 people – including criminals, politicians, movie stars, artists – who are buried in Upstate New York.

“The list of these 70 people is fascinating,” said D’Imperio. “It includes four U.S. presidents. It includes very, very famous names like James Fenimore Cooper and Lucille Ball.” D’Imperio became interested in famous graves after the death of his grandfather. He is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Elmira. So is Mark Twain.

“There’s politicians here,” he said. “There’s folk heroes here; there’s a horse here. There’s a one-legged tap dancer here.”

You may now be wondering where some famous horses are buried. Mr. Ed? Unknown. Secretariat? Kentucky (a champion horse...of course, of course). Marvin The Tap-Dancing Horse? Reruns.

[Utica Observer-Dispatch]