Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2013, All Rights Reserved U.S. Data Repository Please read U.S. Data Repository Copyright Statement on this page: Transcribed and submitted by Linda Talbott for the US Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ ========================================================================= U.S. Data Repository NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization. Non-commercial organizations desiring to use this material must obtain the consent of the transcriber prior to use. Individuals desiring to use this material in their own research may do so. ========================================================================= Formatted by U.S. Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== Buffalo Cemeteries, An Account of the Burial Places of Buffalo From the Earliest Times Read Before the Buffalo Historical Society, February 4, 1879 by WILLIAM HODGE Pub. Bigelow Brothers, Buffalo, N.Y.; 1879 [11] THE MATHEWS AND WILCOX GROUND ------- Another private cemetery enterprise was set on foot by General SYLVESTER MATHEWS and BIRDSEYE WILCOX, about 1833 or 1834. They laid out twelve acres for the purpose, on farm lot No. 30, next to the five acres which the city had purchased in 1832 for the Potter's Field. This twelve acre field was improved, and lots sold to different individuals ; and as the land was more desirable than that on the corner of Delaware and North streets, there was considerable attention paid to decorations and monuments, until Forest Lawn was formally established; and then for a time but little interest appeared to be taken in this. I am happy, however, to state that a better feeling now prevails; that the grounds are carefully tended, and do not look so deserted and comfortless as they did a score of years ago. The HODGE family purchased two lots in this place, and paid for them by furnishing and planting yellow locust trees along the outer edge of the whole, and on each side of the walks and carriage ways. Before that, this burying ground having been originally used for agri- cultural purposes, was of a barren appearance, being entirely desti- tute of trees and shrubbery. Those locust trees were therefore at that time thought to be a very desirable acquisition, as they grew quickly They yet remain as specimens of the taste of a former generation; yet we cannot but think what a magnificent grove the place would now have been, if graceful elms had been chosen for planting. In 1853, the lot owners, finding that MATHEWS and WILCOX neglected to care for the property, opened negotiations for the purchase of the remaining rights, which was duly effected by the lot owners raising a subscription therefor; and in 1854, an association was incorporated under the name of the "Buffalo Cemetery Association." The new company paid the old proprietors the sum of $5,000 for all their interest therein, and since that a steady improvement, as has been mentioned, has been noticeable. =========================================================================== If you've reached this file through a SEARCH, you can access the more of our information about Erie County, N.Y., by going to the following URL: http://www.us-data.org/ny/erie/ ===========================================================================