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The Spectator
Resting in Peace on the Hill
by Meghan Woolley '13Features Writer
November 06, 2009
As a Halloween treat this Family Weekend, Frank Lorenz, Alumni Review editor emeritus, led a group of students and their families on a tour of the College cemetery. The tour, highlighting the most famous and interesting people associated with Hamilton, gave students and families a glimpse into Hamilton's past and the distinctive characters that once filled it.
The first monument the tour visited was dedicated to Azel Backus, who became the first president of Hamilton College in 1812. As a condition for accepting the presidency, Backus requested a house with enough land to "raise some vegetables, chickens, and goats." Lacking a sufficient plot of land, the College converted a students' boarding house into a home. The building, still on campus, is now called the Backus House.
The next stop was at the relatively modest monument belonging to Samuel Kirkland. Kirkland came to upstate New York in 1764 as a missionary to the Oneida Indians. In 1793, Kirkland spoke with President Washington about founding a school and was referred to Alexander Hamilton, who was then Secretary of the Treasury. Hamilton agreed to lend his name to the College, in addition to serving as trustee and helping to obtain a charter from his father-in-law and Governor of New York, Philip Schuyler.
Right next to Kirkland's grave was Oneida Chief Skenandoah. Before founding the Hamilton-Oneida Academy, Kirkland worked to cultivate the Oneidas' support for the American Revolution. With the help of Chief Skenandoah, Kirkland was able to maintain the tribe's support despite attacks by other tribes loyal to the British. The two men developed a friendship so great that when Chief Skenandoah died
he requested to be buried next to Kirkland so that he could "hold
onto his shirt tails and follow him to Heaven."
Elihu Root is another of the distinguished residents of the cemetery. Born in Buttrick Hall in 1845, Elihu graduated from Hamilton as a teenager and went on to become a lawyer. Through his friendship with President Theodore Roosevelt, he became Secretary of War in 1899 and then Secretary of State in 1905. In 1912 he earned the Nobel Peace Prize for a long career of involvement in international negotiations. His wife Claire, daughter Edith and her husband Ulysses S. Grant III are also buried in the cemetery.
Lorenz told another interesting story about Alexander Woollcott, who had been a professor at Hamilton. Upon his death, a friend remarked that "When Alex dies, he won't go to Heaven; he'll go to Hamilton." However, after Woollcott was cremated his ashes were accidentally sent to Hamilton, NY, ending up at Colgate University! Eventually Hamilton College was able to get a hold of his ashes and bury him in the cemetery according to his wishes.
Buried next to Woollcott is a doctor who Woollcott had met as a hospital orderly. Talking with him, Woollcott discovered that the young man had attended Hamilton and wanted to be a doctor, but lacked the funds to attend medical school. Woollcott gave him the money without hesitation, and years later the doctor showed his gratitude by requesting to be buried next to Woollcott.
These characters were joined by other trustees, presidents, long-time faculty members and a few students whose lives were intricately intertwined with Hamilton College. Their stories form a picture of Hamilton's past, parts of the backbone of our community today. For this reason these "Giants in the Earth" certainly do seem to be an integral part of the college and its character.