TOWN OF WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) – “Brookside Cemetery covers 170 acres and there are nearly 13,000 permanent residents that live here. Not live here. Lie here,” said Toni Engelman, Executive Director of the Jefferson County Historical Society.
Whether they were on foot or in a car, hundreds turned up to Brookside Cemetery Saturday to take a trip back in time.
“There’s a lot of history of leaders, landowners that are buried here at Brookside cemetery,” said tour guide Rob Aikin.
Hosted by the Jefferson County Historical Society, the tour took guests past headstones marked with the name Massey, ornate monuments to the Paddock family, and even into the cemetery’s Colonel George Flower Chapel that is only open one day a year.
“The chapel consists of 16 stained glass windows and they are Tiffany windows.,” said tour guide Suzie Renzi-Falge.
You may have noticed many of those highlights had familiar names.
“You’re going to see a lot of names of streets in Watertown. You’re going to see a lot of people who contributed to the economy of the North Country. People who had fame and fortune well before the 20th century,” said tour guide Brian Ashley.
One of those people is Henry Keep. Guests made their way to his Mausoleum towards the tour’s tail end. The story of his life has made him a North Country legend.
“Henry Keep had an amazing rags to riches story where he was in the poor house as a teenager. When he passed away, he had millions of dollars that he gave to his family and favorite charities,” said Dr. Jason White.
If you missed out on the cemetery tours. The Jefferson County Historical Society still has plenty planned this month. Next will be their Halloween Happy Hour and the following week will mark their first ever Halloween Costume Ball.
Copyright 2023 WWNY. All rights reserved.
