Stories in Stones: Stories from Oneida County, NY Cemeteries

       Stephen Sicard was born on June 1, 1835 in New York City. He was educated in Utica. Mr. Sicard was employed at Oneida County Bank from 1854 to 1885, where he hold various positions including teller. After he left the bank Mr. Sicard became a member of the firm of H.H. Hurd and Co. who were a flour and grain commission merchants.     Stephen Sicard married Mary Gridley dau of Judge Philo Gridley. They had four children: Ernest G; Stephen Jr who was employed by various Utica and Albany Newspapers; Susan who was gifted singer who studied in Europe; and George M.      Stephen Sicard passed away on November 5, 1890 of apoplexy. He and Mary (who passed away in 1908) are buried in the Gridley family plot (Plot 17 lot 404) of Forest Hill Cemetery. 

  Louise Dellmayer Kasson was born in Vienna, Austria on June 18, 1859. She graduated from the Vienna Conservatory where she studied cello, and performed throughout Europe both as a solo act and with ensembles. She joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra after moving to the United States.       In 1900, Louise married interior designer John G. Kasson, and began teaching cello and violin at the Utica Conservatory and Elliott School of Music. Louise passed away on February 6, 1913 due to heart failure and was buried in Plot 37A lot 3875 in Forest Hill Cemetery in Utica. Her husband John hired famed artist Karl Bitter to sculpt her memorial monument, which was completed in 1915. John died in 1956 is also buried with her and his second wife Harriett who died in 1928.

         A couple of Saturdays ago my family and I watched the movie the Sterile Cuckoo. It was mostly filmed in Oneida County. There is a scene in the movie where Pokie played by Liza Minnelli takes Jerry the boy (Wendell Burton) she likes to a cemetery she found (you can find the scene on youtube by googling Cemetery in the Sterile Cuckoo). I was curious what local cemetery they filmed the scene at and after some digging found out that it was Kirkland Prospect Hill Cemetery. The next day we went to Clinton and found the house they used as a boarding house that Pokie stayed at when visiting Jerry, the buildings they used at Hamilton College, and then we went to the cemetery and I took a few photos of about where I think they filmed the scene.