Wendy's trip log: Ghost Walk/summer must be here pools OPEN.

June 2019
Oakwood Cemetery
Syracuse, NY

Tammi and I were excited to attend a Ghost walk at Oakwood with the Outdoor Women's group. I really did not know what to expect, except that I thought it might be ghosts. This was not totally the case. The event was affiliated with the Onondaga Historical Society and the ghosts were not really spirits of the night, but rather a mini stage show narrated by actors portraying the decease who were once a prominent person in the Syracuse area.

Both Tammi and I had thought there would be scary stuff and were prepared to hear ghost stories or maybe do some EVP work or something. This was totally different from anything like that. The cemetery itself has some amazing architecture and this was once a place I roamed as a kid. (more of that later). Below is one of the really cool monuments. The Elk was climbed upon by me and my friends when we were younger.

We met up at the old church. Which was also frequented by me and my friends when we were younger. It was most definitely a scary place back then. I explained to the women that I had my own history with this cemetery. Wrong or not, I spent may evenings "parting" in this place in my teens. I have my first full beer in this place and many more after that. Like I said, was it wrong, perhaps. But we sure had fun.

After checking in we were grouped with a guide and started making our way around the route of the ghosts. I really did thing we were going to be exposed to a ghost haunt. I even got excited when our guide reported we would have to listen closely when the ghost's spoke. I was convinced we would have some EVP type of interaction. No such luck.

We made it to our first ghost. An actor actually who told his story. Basically the ghost walk was a small skit of people who had once lived in the Syracuse area and had an impact or at least an interesting story to tell. Although I did not recall our first ghost's name. He was into politics and was against prohibition.

Some of the monuments in this cemetery are incredible. I caught a picture of this one with a beautiful women carved in stone.

This women was not so fortunate as her head is missing. I wonder what the story is behind that.

Another really neat monument is this pyramid. Another interesting story I suppose. I bet there is some information some where about each of these unique stone pieces left as a memory of a lost love one.

Our next ghost was Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage. She was a teacher for many years before she married the wealthy Russell Sage. After his death she inherited quite a large sum of money.

From our actress's words, it did not sound like she really liked her husband all that much, but certainly found positive ways to spend his money. She donated thousands towards education and founded the Russell Sage College in Troy NY. You can wiki her and get all kinds of information.

Our next ghost...I do not recall her name. (She may have been a Walch) but the as she told her ghostly story it was clear she was bat s*&t CRAZY. She told of stories such as a deceased husband out of state, attending high society functions and acting bizarre and eventually ending up in an institution in a town boarding Canada. She had some very interesting tales to tell.

Another view of the pyramid.

Our next ghostly encounter was with this man. He portrayed not the actual person buried at Oakwood, but the fictional charter the deceased man had written about. (Of course I did not get the name of the book or the deceased author). At any rate this actor told a story of the character and all of the adventures he had.

Our last ghost told of his grisly tale. Apparently this young medical student had been arrested for a most awful crime. Although the crime was committed by many of his peers, it still seems horrible by all standards. He was accused and charged with grave robbing/body snatching. Apparently this was not such an uncommon event and paid pretty well. You see these young doctors in training needed bodies for their study. The act of removing a body became so common, people went to great measures to protect their deceased from movement of their final resting place. It was even believed that some would rig bombs to go off. The practice also prompted the burial in mausoleums.

Fortunately for this chap, (Who I also did not get his name) his charge was a slap on the hand by local authorities.

The ghost walk was all very interesting, but not scary in any way. Educational yes, but not a real Ghost Walk. Fun, but it is likely I would not go again. The cemetery itself is incredible with the massive stone structures throughout. I would enjoy a nice walk through with a history lesson on the structures much more.

In between ghosts....our pool was opened and the kids had some great fun.