It’s that time of year when tourists and locals flood the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery to peruse through the thousands of headstones and mausoleums. There are dozens of tours that mention the most famous figures throughout the burial ground (do Washington Irving and Andrew Carnegie ring any bells?). However, dozens of individuals who made their mark within the state and country have also been laid to rest within the Westchester cemetery’s 90 acres. From well-known journalists to prominent political figures, here are 10 people you probably didn’t know are buried in the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.
Orlando Jay Smith (1842-1908)
Orlando Jay Smith was an early-20th-century American philosopher who published two books. He was also the founder of the American Press Association, which, at the time of his death on December 20, 1908, was the largest newspaper syndicate in the United States.
George Jones (1811–1891)
George Jones was an American journalist who was born in Vermont. Jones, alongside Henry Jarvis Raymond, co-founded the New-York Daily Times, which is now better known as The New York Times. He passed away in Maine on August 12, 1891.
@westchestermag We explored the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery! The grounds are open for visitors daily from 8 a.m to 4:30 p.m. A variety of tours are available for those looking to learn more about the cemeteries famous residents, and other spooky stories. The cemetery is a must-see this Halloween season. #sleepyhollowcemetery #sleepyhollow ♬ Fall October Halloween horror classic(177261) – rareNote
Worcester Reed Warner (1846–1929)
Worcester Read Warner was a mechanical engineer and manufacturer of telescopes. He cofounded the Warner & Swasey Company with Ambrose Swasey. Warner and his wife, Cornelia Warner, donated a local gem to the villages of Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow: the Warner Library.
Edgar Evertson Saltus (1855-1921)
Edgar Evertson Saltus attended Yale and received his law degree at Columbia College in 1880, but he never practiced. Instead, he picked up writing and was the author of numerous racy novels. Saltus was one of the few U.S. novelists to adopt sophisticated cynicism. A few of his popular works are The Philosophy of Disenchantment, Anatomy of Negation, and The Paliser Case.
Francis Saltus Saltus (1849-1889)
Francis Saltus Saltus is Edgar’s older brother. He was an American poet and music critic. Saltus wrote four comic operas with most of his humorous work written under the pseudonym Cupid Jones. Saltus was also the leader of a group of bohemians in New York. Along with his brothers, who met at Billy Moulds’ bar in Manhattan, the group had “a taste for anything exotic.” He passed away at the Riverside Sanitarium in Tarrytown.
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Related: The True History Behind “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”
Belle Moskowitz (1877-1933)
Belle Moskowitz was a progressive reformer, political advisor, and social activist. She counseled New York governor Al Smith through four terms and managed his campaign for president of the United States. After her passing in 1933, The New York Times referred to her as the most powerful woman in United States politics.
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Ann Lohman (1812–1878)
Ann Lohman, better known as Madame Restell, was a 19th-century seller of patent medicine. She also provided abortions in New York City. Ann and her second husband, Charles Lohman, came up with a story to validate Ann’s credibility in midwifery and women’s health. They told everybody that she traveled to Europe to train in midwifery under a French physician named Restell. Afterward, she began selling patent medicine and created birth control products known as “preventative powders” and “female monthly pills,” all under the name Madame Restell.
Raymond Mathewson Hood (1881–1934)
Raymond was an American architect who worked in the Neo-Gothic and Art Deco styles. He’s well-known for designing New York City landmarks like the Daily News building, the McGraw-Hill building, and the American Radiator Company building. He also designed the Chicago Tribune Building in Chicago. However, he is best known for his work on New York City’s Rockefeller Center.
Leo Baekeland (1863–1944)
Leo Baekeland, or “The Father of the Plastics,” was a Belgian-born chemist and entrepreneur. He is best known for inventing Velox, a photographic paper later purchased by Eastman Kodak, and synthetic plastic, a substance he named Bakelite. He died of a stroke in Beacon.
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Daniel Draper (1841-1931)
Now buried in the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, Daniel Draper was a meteorologist who founded the New York Meteorological Observatory in Central Park in 1868.
