I must say that I'm not a big fan of death, so I try not to frequent cemeteries very often. However, I am fascinated by a web site that features burial plots of famous people. It's called Find A Grave and is maintained by a guy who collects dirt -- from graves of famous people.

Jim Tipton has a collection of over 100 bottles of dirt. His first spoonful was taken from the grave of Al Capone, but it's his Web site that draws the most interest - as a unique history lesson. Find A Grave is a database of hundreds of burial sites of famous people throughout the world. You can search the database alphabetically, by geographic region, or by claim to fame (actor, scientist, etc). You can also type in a name and see if they appear, so to speak.

Each burial site contains the name of the deceased, the person's claim to fame, how they passed on (if known), and the name and location of the cemetery. Many of them have actual photos of the grave site as well. If you are only interested in viewing the graves, you can go to an alphabetical listing. If you click on the name of a cemetery, it will list the folks buried there. It also gives you a location map of the cemetery if you want to visit.

My first thought when stumbling on this Web site was to see if anyone from the Capital District was in the database. Afterall, fame is in the eyes of the beholder, or in this case, the collector. In fact, there are 735 people from New York State, with 5 from Troy, 17 from Albany, and only 1 from Schenectady. Most of our notables are resting in Oakwood Cemetery in Troy, Albany Rural in Albany, and Vale Cemetery in Schenectady. I was surprised by the number of nationally important people buried in our area. It motivated me do a little reading to see what these folks did when they were living. It became an American history lesson all by itself. Here is a sample of some of our perpetual residents:

The following political figures are all buried in Albany Rural Cemetery located in Menands.

Chester A. Arthur, 21st U.S. President (1881-1885 ). Arthur spent his youth in Lansingburgh and graduated from Union College in 1848. He taught school locally in Schaghticoke and was principal of the academy in Cohoes.

Daniel Manning, (d. July 4, 1851.) was U.S. Secretary of State (1885-87) under President Grover Cleveland, the only President elected to two nonconsecutive terms (22nd President 1885-1889, 24th President 1893 1897).

William Marcy, (d. December 24, 1887.) was the U.S. Secretary of Treasury (1853-57) ) under Franklin Pierce, 14th President of the United States (1853-1857).

William Paterson, (d. September 9, 1806.) U.S. Supreme Court Justice for 13 years (1793­1806 ), and a signer of the Constitution.

Stephen van Rensselaer, (d. January 26, 1839.) Politician and educator. Last of the great Patroons. He bought the old Farmer's Bank on Middleburg and River to create the Rensselaer Institute, now RPI.

Thurlow Weed (d. 1882), Editor of the Albany Evening Journal, and was a staunch opponent of the Albany Regency. As a Whig, he helped secure the election of William H. Harrison as President in 1840.

Erastus Corning, II. (d. May 28, 1983.) Mayor of Albany, New York from 1942-1983. Longest termed mayor in the U.S.

Military heros, educators, architects, and others also make home here.

George Henry Thomas, (d. March 28, 1870). Thomas was a Union Major General in the Civil War and was known as the "Rock of Chickamauga." His actions there saved the retreating Union army with a valiant rear guard action, according to the Web site. He won the Congressional Medal of Honor. He's buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Troy, New York.

Peter Gansevoort (d. 1812 ), Revolutionary War Hero. Commanded Fort George at Lake George in June of 1776, heroically defended Fort Stanwix (where he was promoted to Colonel Commandant ), and served as Albany County Sheriff in his later years.

Philip Schuyler (d. November 18, 1804.). Famous General of the Revolution. His daughter married Alexander Hamilton in Albany.

There are educators like Troy's Russell Sage (Financier) and Emma Willard (Founder of the School of her name). Architects Marcus T. Reynolds (d. July 11, 1864.) who designed a number of Albany Troy buildings, or Albany's famed architect Philip Hooker, (d. January 31, 1836.) are also buried here.

Troy's Uncle Sam Wilson (Meat Packer) is buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Troy. Mother Ann Lee (d. September 8, 1784.), founder of the Shaker religious sect is buried in Colonie. Schenectady scientist Charles Steinmetz, (d. October 26, 1923) is buried at Vale Cemetery. Most recently the famous actress Maureen O'Sullivan, who played 'Jane' in the Tarzan movies of the 1930's and 40's was buried at the Most Holy Redeemer Cemetery, in Niskayuna.

One of the most interesting sections of Find A Grave is called Posthumous Reunions. Here Tipton reunites people that worked together or had some relationship while alive. For example, you can visit the five deceased members of the original Saturday Night Live, or pay your respects to the cast of I Love Lucy, the Apollo One accident victims, the Marx Brothers, even the members of the Lewis & Clark expedition.

Finally the site has links to other "next life" subjects.

At first I thought this site was a bit ghoulish, but it made me curious about the lives of these deceased people. And in that end, I suppose, the site does more than honor them. It keeps their legacies alive.

There are many other notable figures buried in the Capital District that have not made this database, so I am going to create our own Capital District Virtual Cemetery Honor Roll. It will be located on the MESH web page at www.themesh.com. I am requesting your help to send in information and photos and a short bio of those who you feel are of historic interest (no, not your Uncle Fred). The person must be dead at least 75 years and played some role in the development of the Capital District. If you are web savvy, send the photos as gif, or jpeg images to me at drittner@wizvax.net. I'll let you know when it's up.

In the meantime, you can visit Find A Grave at:
http://www.findagrave.com/

©1999 Don Rittner
Don Rittner is the host of Inside The Net, a weekly radio show on WROW 590AM, Saturdays from 1-2PM, and author of several Internet books. He is president of The Learning Factory in Albany.