Paying Our Respects at Lake View Cemetery in Jamestown, New York
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There are some locations that we visit once, document, and then move on to the next adventure. Then there are places that seem to draw us back. Lake View Cemetery in Jamestown, New York, is definitely one of those places.
We had visited Lake View Cemetery years ago, primarily to pay our respects at the grave of legendary comedian Lucille Ball. During our latest trip through western New York, we found ourselves back in Jamestown and decided it was time for another visit. This time, however, Lucille Ball wasn't the only person we were looking for.
Our timing made things somewhat interesting. The sun was already beginning to drop, the wind had picked up, and our microphones were still packed away. Rather than skip the visit, we decided to make the best of the remaining daylight, capture footage of the graves and monuments, and add narration afterward.
After all, when you're traveling like we do, sometimes you have to work with the conditions you're given!
A Historic Cemetery in Jamestown
Lake View Cemetery sits on a hillside overlooking Jamestown, New York, and has been part of the community for more than a century and a half.
By the late 1850s, Jamestown was expanding, and the community needed additional burial space. In 1858, local residents established a new cemetery on approximately 37 and a half acres. Lake View Cemetery was officially dedicated on October 5, 1859, becoming Jamestown's third public burial ground.
Its creation came during the rural cemetery movement of the nineteenth century. Cemeteries created during this period were intended to be more than places to bury the dead. They were landscaped with trees, winding roads, monuments, and open spaces where families could visit loved ones while enjoying peaceful surroundings.
Lake View Cemetery eventually expanded to more than 150 acres and became the final resting place of more than 46,000 people.
Today, its winding roads, mature trees, historic monuments, and impressive mausoleums make it one of the most beautiful historic cemeteries in western New York.
But for many visitors, there is one name that immediately comes to mind when they hear Lake View Cemetery.
Lucille Ball.
Returning to Lucille Ball's Grave
Lucille Ball was born Lucille Desiree Ball on August 6, 1911, in Jamestown, New York. She would eventually become one of the most recognizable entertainers in television history, particularly through her iconic role on I Love Lucy.
We had visited her grave during a previous trip to Lake View Cemetery, but there is an interesting part of Lucille's story that many visitors may not realize.
She wasn't originally buried here.
Lucille Ball died on April 26, 1989, following complications from surgery for an aortic aneurysm. She was cremated, and her remains were originally placed at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in California, where her mother was also buried.
More than a decade later, that changed.
In 2002, Lucille's children decided to bring their mother back home to Jamestown. They believed she would have wanted to be buried with her family.
On July 3, 2002, the cremated remains of Lucille Ball and her mother were reinterred in the Ball Hunt family plot at Lake View Cemetery.
Lucille now rests among her parents, grandparents, brother, and other relatives.
It seems incredibly appropriate.
Hollywood may have made Lucille Ball a worldwide celebrity, but Jamestown was home.
Today, fans continue traveling to Lake View Cemetery to visit her grave. Many combine their cemetery visit with other Lucille Ball-related locations around Jamestown, creating a pilgrimage honoring one of America's most beloved entertainers.
Lake View Cemetery even makes finding her relatively easy. Visitors entering the cemetery can follow a painted line along the cemetery roadway leading toward the family plot.
But there's another colored line visitors can follow.
And that one led us to our next stop.
Finding B. F. Goodrich
Following the blue line through the cemetery brought us to the Marvin family plot and the grave of Benjamin Franklin Goodrich.
If that name sounds familiar, it should.
B. F. Goodrich became one of the most important names in America's rubber industry and had particularly strong connections to Akron, Ohio.
Goodrich originally trained as a physician. He attended Cleveland Medical School and later studied surgery at the University of Pennsylvania. During the Civil War, he served as a surgeon with the 35th New York Infantry.
Following the war, Goodrich eventually moved away from medicine and became involved in several business ventures.
In 1869, he purchased the Hudson River Rubber Company with a partner. The venture struggled, but another opportunity eventually brought Goodrich to Akron.
In 1870, he relocated his rubber business there, establishing what would eventually become the B. F. Goodrich Company.
For us, finding Goodrich here in Jamestown was especially interesting because of the company's enormous connection with northeastern Ohio.
Akron would eventually become known throughout the world for its rubber and tire industries, and Goodrich helped lay the foundation for that transformation.
On November 4, 1869, Benjamin Goodrich married Mary Elizabeth Marvin. The couple had four children.
Goodrich's health eventually declined, and he traveled to Colorado, where he died in 1888. His remains were returned to New York, and today he rests here in Lake View Cemetery.
The company bearing his name continued making important technological contributions long after his death. Its work eventually included advancements involving synthetic rubber, plastics, and even spacesuits used during America's space program.
Standing at his grave was another reminder of something we frequently discover during our travels.
History connects places in unexpected ways.
We traveled from the Youngstown area into New York and found ourselves standing at the grave of a man whose name became inseparable from the industrial history of nearby Akron, Ohio.
And we still had one more person we wanted to find.
This one came with a ghost story.
Grace Galloway and the Lady in Glass
One of the most recognizable monuments at Lake View Cemetery belongs to Grace Lavone Galloway.
Grace was the daughter of John and Sarah Galloway and was remembered as a talented singer whose vocal abilities were considered extraordinary. She performed in operas at the Chautauqua Institution and reportedly had an opportunity to pursue an even larger career.
According to her story, Grace was offered the opportunity to perform with New York City's Metropolitan Opera.
Her father refused to allow it.
At the time, such a career was apparently considered inappropriate for a respectable young woman.
Grace's life was tragically short. She died from tuberculosis in 1898.
Her family created an elaborate memorial in her honor. The monument includes a life-sized marble representation of Grace enclosed behind glass. The statue was designed by an artist in Pittsburgh and sculpted from marble in Florence, Italy.
The result is unforgettable.
And a little creepy.
Especially when you're standing there as daylight is beginning to disappear.
The Legend of the Lady in Glass
Over the generations, Grace's monument became surrounded by folklore.
The historical story of Grace Galloway eventually blended with romantic tragedy and ghost stories. One popular version claims that the statue depicts Grace wearing her wedding dress and that she died from a broken heart.
The story is compelling.
It just isn't what happened.
Grace died from tuberculosis.
Nevertheless, legends surrounding the Lady in Glass have become part of Lake View Cemetery's identity.
Visitors have claimed that Grace's marble figure appears to change expressions. Others say her eyes seem to follow people as they move around the glass enclosure.
Naturally, we had to test that one ourselves.
And depending on where you're standing and how the sunlight hits the monument, those eyes really can appear to be following you.
We even joked that if the statue actually moved, our paranormal investigation was immediately over!
Other stories are considerably stranger.
Some visitors claim Grace's figure has disappeared completely from behind the glass, only to reappear moments later.
Others describe experiencing an unexpected feeling of sadness while standing near her memorial.
Whether these experiences are paranormal, psychological, caused by reflections in the glass, or simply the result of standing in front of such an unusual monument is impossible to say.
But there is no denying that the Lady in Glass has an atmosphere all her own.
Is Lake View Cemetery Haunted?
The Lady in Glass isn't the only paranormal story associated with Lake View Cemetery.
Visitors have described unexplained footsteps during quiet evenings, whispers when nobody else appears to be nearby, and sudden cold spots even during warmer weather.
Paranormal investigators have also reported unusual photographs and possible electronic voice phenomena while investigating portions of the cemetery. Others simply describe the uncomfortable sensation that someone is watching them while walking through some of the older sections.
Of course, experiences like these are subjective.
Old cemeteries naturally create an atmosphere that can heighten the senses. Wind moving through trees can sound like voices. Shadows from monuments can create strange shapes. Reflections from polished stone and glass can produce unexpected visual effects.
Then again, we've spent enough time investigating supposedly haunted locations to know that occasionally something happens that isn't quite so easy to explain.
That's what keeps us looking.
Another Adventure at Lake View Cemetery
Our return to Lake View Cemetery turned into much more than another stop at Lucille Ball's grave.
We were able to revisit an old location, learn the fascinating story of how Lucille Ball eventually returned home to Jamestown, find the grave of industrial pioneer B. F. Goodrich, and finally stand face-to-face with the Lady in Glass.
Three graves.
Three completely different stories.
One historic cemetery.
That's one of the reasons we enjoy exploring cemeteries like Lake View so much. Every monument represents someone's life. Some belonged to people known around the world. Others belong to people whose stories have faded from public memory. And occasionally, a grave becomes associated with a legend that continues long after the person it memorializes is gone.
Lake View Cemetery contains more than 165 years of Jamestown history, and we barely scratched the surface.
As darkness approached, it was time for us to finish our visit and continue our travels.
But considering this wasn't our first visit to Lake View Cemetery, we're certainly not going to say it will be our last.
There are always more stories waiting to be discovered.
Until our next adventure...
Happy Hunting!
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