Stories in Stones: Stories from Oneida County, NY Cemeteries

        Theodore Pomeroy was born in Utica on Jan 14, 1820 to Dr. Theodore and Mary Fuller Pomeroy. He attended Columbia College. After graduating Mr. Pomeroy studied law in the offices of Beardsley and Crafts.      Dr. Pomeroy and Thomas R. Walker assumed charge of an oil cloth factory after the founder J.D. Edwards was unable to pay back a loan to them. Mr. Walker left the business in 1854. The younger Theodore Pomeroy gave up his legal career and joined his father in the management of the factory. Dr. Pomeroy died in 1860. Theodore Pomeroy took over the factory after his father's death. The factory was located at the corner of Columbia and Cornelia Streets (they were demolished after he retired).     Theodore Pomeroy married Mary Dutton (who died Nov 21, 1900) they had a son Theodore who died at the age of 10 on April 11, 1859; son George D; daughter Florence Evelyn.     Theodore Pomeroy died at his home in t...

      William M. Philleo was born Dec 21, 1857 in Utica to William and Mary Talbot Philleo.      William M. Philleo's first job was in the commercial agency R.G. Dun and Company. Mr. Philleo later worked for local lawyer James S. Lynch.      In 1873, William M. Philleo was appointed assistant search clerk under county clerk James B. Paddock.  He continued in that job for three years. When the Utica Daily Republican newspaper was started Mr. Philleo was in charge of circulation. He stayed with the newspaper the whole 18 month that it was published.     In 1884 William M. Philleo married Frances E O'Hara (she died in 1939). They had a son William T.     On April 3, 1890 Postmaster Erastus Clark appointed William M. Philleo money order clerk. Nine years later Mr. Philleo was appointed assistant postmaster from which he served under seven postmasters. In 1908 he was considered as postmaster but w...

           James Burch Murray was born July 26, 1886 in Utica, NY to David Clinton and Mary Louise Williams Murray. He graduated from Utica Free Academy. James Burch Murray graduated in 1908 from Williams College. At Williams he was a member of Kappa Alpha Fraternity and the Gargoyle Society.      After graduating from Williams, James Burch Murray joined his father in the firm of Johnson & Murray. After Mr. Johnson died it was incorporated as Johnson & Murray Co. He served as Vice-President and then as President and General Manager. James Burch Murray also was President of the Seneca Warehouse Company. He was director of the Oneida County Trust Company. Mr. Murray was on the Board of Managers of the Home for the Homeless.     In 1910 James B. Murray married Elsie Benton. They had three children: Helen Louise; David Clinton, and Marjorie.     James B. Murray was a member of the following: Fort Sc...

    David Clinton Murray was born April 6, 1858 in Oriskany Falls to Edwin R. and Frances S. Murray. The family moved to Utica when David was nine. After completing his education at Utica Free Academy he was hired as an assistant bookkeeper at the First National Bank. By the time he was 21 he was promoted to be a discount clerk.     David Clinton Murray left the Bank and entered the hop business under J.H. Hines. During the summers he worked as a bookkeeper at the American Hotel in Richfield Springs. In 1881, Mr. Murray entered into the wholesale grocery business with H.I. Johnson near the Old Opera House on LaFayette Street. Later they moved to a new building on Hotel Street. In 1911, the company brought a lot on Whitesboro Street and erected a large building. A few years later the business was sold , turned over and became part of Austin Nichols and Company. David Clinton Murray became a director of that corporation.         ...

     Ambrose G. Howard was born around 1812. He came to Utica from Madison County. Mr. Howard was an accomplished florist and landscape gardener. He was Superintendent of Forest Hill Cemetery for years. He and his wife Sarah had two children: Gertrude who married Willard Conkey and Charles A. who sadly passed away before both of their parents. Ambrose died on April 6, 1882 and Sarah died on August 2, 1905. They are buried 30C Lot 1198 in Forest Hill Cemetery.    

     Edwin Allen Wood was born in Poolville, Madison County, NY on August 27, 1835. He moved to Eaton, NY with his parents and there he learned the trade of machinist. On June 11, 1856 he married Eliza Gibson (who died in 1899). In 1857, Edwin came to Utica. He invented a steam gauge to be used on steam engines of all kinds. In 1861, he founded the Utica Steam Gauge Company and became President of the company. On New Years Day 1900 he retired and moved to Evanston, Ill to live with his son William G. Wood who with another son Allen G survived him when he died on October 27, 1905. He is buried in plot 25 Lot 880.    

    Did you know that the Japanese Government owns a lot at Forest Hill Cemetery? They own 30 lot 1313. The word Japanese is inscribed on the base in capital letters. Only one person is buried there. His name is Sac Ichi Mutoo who died Oct 6, 1873. It is believed he was studying the textile trade at either Hamilton College or Colgate. If that was the case he would have been one of the first Japanese students immigrants to land on American soil less than 20 years after the US and Japan signed a trade treaty which opened Japan to western civilization. The death notice in the Thursday October 9, 1873 issue of the Utica Morning Herald reads as follows:      “In this city, Sai Ichi Mutoo, native of Hikone, Japan, aged 27 years. Funeral will take place from the chapel of Westminster Church, Washington St., this city, Thursday afternoon at 3 o’ clock. Friends and acquaintances are respectfully invited to attend.”     

           Henry J. Wood was born July 19, 1829 in Clinton, NY to Clark Wood. He graduated from Clinton Liberal Institute. He first worked at grocery stores in Little Falls, Frankfort, and New York Mills before he came to Utica in 1850 where he became a clerk at James Dutton's Dry Goods Store. The year after he married Susan Homer (who died in 1891). In 1853 Henry J. Wood started working for R. V. Yates at his wholesale clothing store. In 1861 he with his brother Charles and H.H. Cooper brought the business from Yates. He retired from the business in 1875.      Henry J. Wood was also a director and secretary of the Utica Water Works. He was a large owner of real estate. Mr. Wood was president for 12 years of Forest Hill Cemetery. He was director of the Skenandoa Mill, The First National Bank and the Utica-Willowvale Blachery; he was a trustee of Faxton Hospital; and a large stockholder in the Utica Steam and Mohawk Valley Cotton Mil...

       I love cemeteries and also researching and finding lost stories. It is my hope in this blog to tell the stories of some of the people buried in Oneida County, NY Cemeteries. My main focus will be on people interred at Forest Hill Cemetery in Utica, NY.       This is my second cemetery blog. I started one titled Bayside Cemetery about people buried in Bayside Cemetery in Potsdam, NY. The address is https://baysidecem.blogspot.com/ . I have not updated it since 2016 because we moved from the area in 2015 and I started graduate school in January of 2017.