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Glenwood Cemetery Lockport, New York, 325 Glenwood Avenue, Lockport, NY (2025)

11/21/2025

Another early 20th century postcard of a tree-lined street in Lockport. This shows Locust Street looking south from Willow Street. This end of Locust was originally an extension of Washburn Street but around 1868, the residents of this stretch of the street petitioned the Lockport Common Council to consider it as a continuation of Locust Street rather than Washburn Street. The house on the left was built by Thomas Throne Flagler in 1862. Flagler was the editor of the Niagara Courier newspaper, president of the Holly Manufacturing Co. and the Niagara County Bank, in addition to several others. He also served in the U. S. Congress and in the NYS Assembly. Flagler died in 1897. The home was purchased by Charles Bishop in 1901 and was occupied until his death in 1934. Bishop was General Manager of the American District Steam Co. After his death, it was rented out for a several years and then acquired by William R. Kenan in 1947 to give him more privacy. In 1962, he was forced by the city to tear it down due to its deteriorating condition. The Flagler/Bishop carriage house now the Kenan Education Building.

The first house on the right, was the home of William H. Lee, President of the Lockport Felt Co. He also held that position in several other companies, as well as serving as State Senator in the NYS Assembly. The house was built in about 1911. Lee died in 1954.

The next house on the right with the large portico, was most notably the residence of Jesse and Arabella Peterson. It had been built in 1863 by Hopkins C. Pomeroy and occupied until his death in 1890. The Petersons purchased the home in 1910 and added the columned front porch a few years later. Jesse Peterson was founder and president of Indurated Fibre until his death in 1921. Arabella organized the SPCA of Niagara County in 1888 after having witnessed two men beating a work horse on the streets of Lockport. After her death in 1929, the organization moved to Niagara Falls where it is still located today.

11/17/2025

Dr. Walter J. Leake
1863-1944
Section 16 Lot 87 Grave 2

Walter J. Leake, was one of the young and progressive dentists of Lockport, was son of Rev. Robert N. and Margaret (Morgan) Leake, and was born in the town of Williamsville, New York, November 20, 1863. Rev. Robert N. Leake was born near London, England, in 1833, and at sixteen years of age came to this country, where he has resided ever since. He married Margaret Morgan, who was born and reared near the world's metropolis in the west of England. Walter J. Leake grew to manhood in western New York, received his education in the public schools of this State, and in 1883 commenced the study of dentistry with the late Dr. Charles Watts, of Lockport. After completing his full course of reading and practice work in 1888, he entered the dental department of the University of Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated during the year of ’89. He then entered into partnership with his preceptor, Dr. Watts, under the firm name of Watts & Leake. This partnership continued until the death of Dr. Watts, which occurred May 20, 1891. Since then Dr. Leake continued in active practice without any partner. He watched closely the rapid advance of his profession, and made himself acquainted with all its improvements and late invented apparatus. He was the first president of the Lockport Dental Association and he belonged to the Rotary Club, and served as the director of the Lockport YMCA. Dr. Leake retired in 1936 after practicing for more than 50 years.

11/14/2025

For many decades Grace Episcopal Church in Lockport maintained a cemetery on the north side of Lincoln Avenue near Pine Street.
Early church ledgers record hundreds of burials there, the first mentioned being “Mrs. Mary D. Charles, a Communicant” buried in the “church burying ground” on October 15, 1837. Over the next few decades many of Lockport's prominent residents were buried in the cemetery.

In the center of the old cemetery stood a large mausoleum which held the entombed remains of General John Jackson and members of his immediate family.

As early as the 1880's church elders appealed to state officials for permission to move the remains from the cemetery to another area cemetery to make way for residential growth of the city. In 1889, a bill granting permission to move the cemetery passed both the State Senate and the State Assembly. A newspaper article at the time states “The title to this land is held by Messrs. Moody, the well-known nurserymen on Pine Street. Church elders finally authorized the removal of remains on July 25, 1930.

A newspaper article from that time reads as follows:

OLD EPISCOPAL CEMETERY TO MAKE WAY FOR ADAVANCE OF PROGRESS – NOTABLES BURIED THERE.

After resting undisturbed for more than seventy years in the old Episcopal cemetery on Lincoln Avenue, near Pine Street, the last earthly remains of upwards of one hundred early Lockportians are about to be removed to a new lot in Glenwood cemetery to make way for the residential growth of the city. Instead of a desolate area overgrown with trees, shrubbery, grass and weeds, the new location will be suitably marked and placed in perpetual care.
The land occupied in the old cemetery was conveyed to Grace Episcopal Church in 1837 by the late Judge Elias Ransom Jr., whose body lies in the Ransom plot at the northeast corner of the grounds. Judge Ransom died November 23, 1863 and his wife died on December 30, 1875. Four other members of the family, Charles W. and Benjamin Ransom, James and Laura Gladigott share the plot which is surrounded by an iron fence and marked by individual headstones as well as a larger monument. Time and the elements have left their marks even on the granite shaft but the names are still discernable as is the brief epitaph, “Thy Work Shall be Rewarded”.
In the center of the old cemetery is a large stone vault containing the body of General John Jackson, Lockport's first baker, who died April 17, 1875. Whether General Jackson fought in the Civil War or how he obtained the title is not clear, but an article in the”Souvenir History of Niagara County” contributed by the late Joshua Wilber, early Lockport historian, says this about him: “John Jackson, the pioneer baker of Lockport, came from Boston Massachusetts in 1821 and commenced business. His location was on Buffalo Street about on the site of Darrison's flour and grain store. Here, according to the statement given the writer by a pioneer of 1822, Jackson had a small building in which he mixed his dough, and sold his bread and crackers. His first bake oven was made of clay, and built on a platform resting on a large stump in Buffalo Street, in front of the premises. Sticks were inserted in the clay as the oven was formed, and when it was fired these sticks burned, leaving the oven like one solid brick. His brother, Uriah Jackson, was a baker, and worked for John. They used a handstamp and cut out the crackers one at a time.
Ultimately John Jackson built and owned all the buildings to the northwest corner of Main and Cottage Streets, including the corner. General Jackson later in life was extensively engaged in business here and in the west.
The Jackson tomb was undoubtedly once a memorial of beauty with a cross or mage in a niche over the entrance and surrounded by a lawn and iron fence. The image and fence have long since disappeared and until a few years ago when it was cleaned away, wild vegetation almost completely covered the vault.
Besides the body of General Jackson the vault contains the bodies of five other members of the family, Francis R. Jackson who died February 17, 1863, Andrew Jackson who died April 7, 1857; Louisa Jackson who died November 8, 1855; Abigail Burrill who died August 7, 1860 and Mary L. Platt who died July 27, 1855. The caskets were placed in the vault against the wall and sealed in with a brick wall.
While the caskets in the vault are still in good condition, investigation has shown that those in the earth outside have crumbled away and the bodies, except for a few of the larger bones have returned to the dust “from when they came”. Whether the plot was used for burials before it was turned over to the church in 1837 is not known but the stones indicate that some persons buried there died many years before. They may have been originally buried elsewhere and later moved to the plot.
The oldest stone on the grounds bears the inscription “Charlotte, daughter of George and Lydia Trowbridge, September 11, 1811. Another old stone indicates that the occupant of the grave beneath died in 1818.
A tale of sorrow is recalled by one stone which indicates that three Blackley boys, aged 7 months, 10 years and 23 years, respectively, all died in the month of October 1855. While reading the stone it is easy to imagine some plague such as smallpox or cholera swept the family carrying off the children in rapid succession.
In another part of the cemetery a plain stone slab announces that Dr. H. Thomas lies there. He died February 27, 1840 at the age of 40 years.
Many persons buried there came from England and the phrase “Native of England” and “Native of Cornwall” is a familiar expression on the stones.
One of the best preserved tombstones bears the inscription “Joseph Scott, 75, died August 25, 1866”. The stone was cut by Williams and Mathers, Lockport. Their trademark is lightly cut on the base of the stone.
Although some burials were made later the cemetery has not been regularly used for the past seventy years and the stones indicate that most internments were made during the Civil War period. Gradually the cemetery fell into neglect; small saplings sprang up and grew into aged trees. The roots now practically cover many graves.

Michael Niethe is the former superintendent of Glenwood Cemetery and a current trustee of the Glenwood Cemetery Association.

11/13/2025

“Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast.” — Hebrews

The anchor has long symbolized the steadfast hope found in Christ. Early Christians, facing persecution, adopted the anchor as a discreet emblem of their faith—its form cleverly disguising the cross. It often served as a secret sign, guiding believers to hidden places of worship. In the ancient world, the anchor also represented safety and hope, a fitting metaphor for spiritual steadfastness.

The most stylized form, known as the Mariner’s Cross, merges the imagery of an anchor and a cross. This symbol emerged during the Roman persecutions and is also called Saint Clement’s Cross, in honor of Pope St. Clement I, who served as Bishop of Rome from about 91 to 101 AD. One of his most revered acts was writing a letter to the Corinthians—one of the earliest known Christian documents beyond the New Testament.

More literally, the anchor functions as an occupational symbol of seamanship and may mark the grave of a sailor. It is also sometimes used as a tribute to Saint Nicholas, the patron saint of sailors.

Further reading
https://www.catholicfaithandreason.org/st-clement-of-rome-died-110-ad.html

11/12/2025

Please take notice that hunting, scouting and gutting of deer, or other wildlife, is STRICTLY PROHIBITED inside the cemetery, and in the cemetery owned wooded area West of the cemetery (all the way to Michigan St.) This is considered trespassing and the local authorities will be called.
This is yet another reason we are closing cemetery gates at 3:30pm. Our priority is the sanctity of the grounds and safety of staff and visitors.

11/12/2025

The following article was published on Tuesday March 27, 1883:

"Funeral of Dr. A. M. Leonard.

The sad service of burial was performed over the remains of Dr. A. M. LEONARD yesterday afternoon by Rev. M. D. BABCOCK at his late residence, in the presence of a large assemblage of the friends and relatives of the deceased. The Niagara County Medical Society attended in a body. The floral designs which were offered by loving and bereaved ones were beautiful and very numerous, the principal set pieces consisting of a large white cross, a sheaf of wheat, and floral sickle, and anchor, a pillow with the word ''Father" upon Its surface and many baskets of rare cut flowers and bouquets of choice blossoms. The interment took in Glenwood Cemetery."

Following is a part of an article published in the same newspaper on Thursday June 7, 1883. This article is titled "Biographical Notes on the Character of Dr. A. M. Leonard, Read Before the Niagara Co. Medical Society, June 4, 1882, by Dr. S.T. Clark.

"A. M. Leonard, M. D., was born in Middlebury, Genesee county, N. Y., November 15, 1821, and was the son of Thomas Leonard and Betsy Peck, his wife. These progenitors of Dr. Leonard were of Pilgrim stock, the father born in Puritan Massachusetts, the mother in Rhode Island. Alfred was the sixth child of a family of fourteen children, thirteen of whom attained manhood and womanhood. As a child, he was dutiful, loving and industrious; as a young man, tall, lythe and active in person, he added to an agreeable presence the dignity of reticence and the suavity of a true gentleman.
Having completed a course of study at the Milville Academy, he, as all progressive young men are accustomed to do, when thrown on their own recourses, taught for a few winters, thus perfecting himself in the learning he had acquired, and rendering it more available always by having imparted it to others. During this time he was acquiring the rudiments of a medical education in the office of Dr. Shuler, and here I desire to add, that from the character of the students who came from that office, and from the knowledge I have acquired of the man and his methods, I unhesitatingly affirm that to be a student in that man's office was of itself a liberal education, it was here that the young Leonard gained his thoroughness in investigation and delicacy of manipulation which ever after were his leading traits at the bedside.
After two years with Dr. S., Alfred became for one year a student with his older brother. Dr. Herman Leonard, of Strongsville, Ohio, and at his request attended one course of medical lectures at the Western Reserve Medical College, Cleveland, Ohio; but the next year we find him at home and matriculated in the Buffalo Medical College, from which he graduated with honor in the Spring of 1849.
Immediately after receiving his degree he entered into a partnership with Dr. Skinner of East Lockport. This copartnership was dissolved about 1858 and Dr. Leonard moved to upper town where he enjoyed the confidence of his brother practitioners and the patronage of some of the best families in this community.
October 6th, 1852, our late brother took to his heart and home in marriage, Miss Harriet S. Pierce, a most estimable lady, and one who for more than thirty years proved in many and varied ways the proverb of the wise man true "a prudent wife is from the Lord." She and three sons and one daughter survive the husband and father.
About the year 1859 Dr. Leonard removed with his family to Tonawanda, where he soon built up for himself a remunerative practice and, having acquired an enviable surgical reputation, the breaking out of the civil war opened a new theatre for the exhibition of his abilities in this direction.
He enlisted and in 1862 was commissioned by Governor Edwin D. Morgan as surgeon of the 151st regiment with the rank of Major. The labors of an arduous campaign and the exposures incident to camp life soon made fearful inroads into his health already somewhat broken by his untiring devotion to his profession, for if ever a man was proud to be a Doctor it was A. M. Leonard. Early in the summer of 1864 he left the service of the United States in the field, and was appointed to a position in the Provost Marshal's office at Lockport. Here he served faithfully until about nine months before the close of the war when he was superseded. Just before Lee's surrender you will remember was the last draft in this state; and our friend Leonard was one of the elect and although sick and enfeebled as he was when he presented himself before the man who had supplanted him and taken from him a remunerative position, the ignominious wretch passed him as a sound man and forced him to shoulder a musket and march to the front, or furnish a substitute. Dr. Leonard was determined to go on the war path once more, but his fond wife who had struggled alone with her four little ones, begged him not to go.
He listened to these persuasions and bought a substitute, for whom he paid nine hundred and sixty dollars, and who served just two weeks in camp at Elmira and was mustered out, for the war had ended. This was a financial blow, from which Doctor Leonard never fully recovered. From this time to the day of his death, our friend battled with sickness, disappointment and untold physical anguish.
How great a sufferer he was for seven long years, only those of us who have witnessed his throes, heard his groans, and ministered to his necessities, can answer.
In the Intervals of extreme suffering, how hard for many years, he strove to keep up his practice, and what strong efforts he made to be cheerful and social his patients and family can best tell you.
Many a time has he risen from his couch where an hour before he was writhing in agony, and in the quiet which an op**te afforded, filled the ears of his boyish auditors with stories of the war, told as no one beside him could tell them. His retentive memory, his vivid imagination and choice language, made him the prince of storytellers.
Dr. Leonard as a practitioner of our beloved profession was noted for his minute observation of his cases. Careful and correct in diagnosis, he was conservative in the use of drugs, but trusted largely to nature and good nourishment. I have often heard him remark "that it would kill a well man to go without food and there were few sick men who could stand more grief than a well one."
Pure air, good food and exercise were accounted by him as the three great remedies in all diseases. Other things were food, but these were indispensable. Dr. Leonard was a Christian, and in the times of his darkest afflictions his faith lifted him above the troubles of these mortal scenes and while his earthly tenement of clay was growing frailer day by day, like righteous Paul of old, he could say, "I have a house not made by hands, eternal in the heavens." His lips often dropped words of thanksgiving where, to those who looked on, there seemed little to be thankful for but knowing in whom he had believed he felt that peace which comes from believing and the joy which is alone the fruit of the indwelling of the Holy Ghost. If I were to sum up in three words the total of Alfred Malory Leonard's character, I would choose these three: patience, faithfulness, cheerfulness.
Dr. Leonard was a man well beloved by those who knew him best, and this society has lost in him one of its most brilliant and faithful members."

11/11/2025

🇺🇸 Honoring Our Veterans 🇺🇸

Today, we pause to honor the brave men and women who have served our nation with courage, dedication, and sacrifice. Your commitment to protecting our freedoms and upholding our values will never be forgotten.

To all veterans—thank you for your service, your strength, and your unwavering love for this country.

11/10/2025

John Wesley Steele
September 10th, 1821 – June 7th, 1882
Section 10 Lot 10 Grave 1

John Wesley Steele, like many rural youths of his time, cut short his education at age sixteen in order to find employment, moving to Lockport, New York. Over time, he worked there in a variety of occupations but it was not until Steele engaged in the liquor trade and invented an alcoholic tonic called “Niagara Star Bitters” that he and his family would be thrust into the forefront of Western New York business circles.

Steele was born in Royalton, Niagara County, New York, in 1821. Described as an ambitious youth, as soon as he was able, he gravitated to nearby Lockport. By 1829, Lockport was an established village. The community was centered on the locks, and consisted mainly of immigrant Scottish and Irish workers brought in as labor. There always was canal-related work and in 1839 Steele was recorded as the foreman of a construction gang, graduating in subsequent years to enterprises involving stabling horses and selling lumber. About 1845, John, then 24, married a 20-year old local girl named Sophronia Houstattler. The family would have three children who lived to adulthood, Charles W., William Wallace, and Mary Sophronia. A fourth, George, died in infancy. By the early 1860s, he was working for a Lockport liquor firm called S. W. Lackor & Co. It did not take long for Steele to recognize the profits to be realized by producing a new brand of bitters. Not only were these highly alcoholic tonics popular with the public, they were considered medicine and accordingly taxed at a lower rate by the federal government.

After some months with Lackor, apparently deciding he could do better on his own, Steele quit and turned to compounding, bottling, and selling a nostrum of his own invention that he called “Niagara Star Bitters.” He packaged it in rectangular bottles in a range of amber shades. The bottles had a domed base and stood 10 1/4 inches tall. The words “JOHN W. STEELE NIAGARA STAR BITTERS” were marked on two lines on one indented panel. The opposite side has the names with a star between Niagara and Bitters. In one domed top indented panel has an embossed flying eagle facing right with three arrows in its talents. Stars are present on three sides of the roofed shoulders and the “1864” is embossed on the fourth side. These have been attributed to the Lockport Glass Works; a local glass house recorded having employed 56 men and 15 boys.

With the success of his bitters, Steele moved back into the liquor trade in partnership with a mayor of Lockport, R. B. Hoag, and Captain B. H. Fletcher. They called their enterprise Fletcher, Hoag & Steele. Although this company was credited with distilling whiskey at a plant at the northeast corner of Lock and Ontario Streets, I can find no record of such a facility. I believe Fletcher, Hoag & Steele were “rectifying,” that is, blending raw whiskeys for color, smoothness and taste. Their major seller was Steele’s “Niagara Star Bitters,” described as selling twelve thousand cases a year. In 1870, Steele’s net worth was put at the hefty equivalent of $625,000.

Subsequent Lockport business directories indicated that in the mid-1870s, Steele was back working as a single proprietor. Thus some of John W. Steele bitters bottles may date from this time, as against the earlier period. Now rich and established among the leading businessmen of Lockport, the entrepreneur began to branch out in interests. He financed the construction of an all-brick commercial office building in downtown Lockport called the Central Block, hailed as “an ornament to the city.” He also joined with a partner in business called Steele, Wells & Company. This outfit dealt in coal and lumber, and manufacturing sashes, doors and blinds in a Lockport factory. It also owned a lumber and coal yard in East Lockport. With Hoag, Steele also built a large malt house.

As he matured, Steele’s son, William Wallace, increasingly had become part of family ventures. Because of the family’s new-found affluence, Wallace was able not only to complete his secondary schooling but also to attend the Rochester Business College. In 1872 Wallace at the age of 22 married Lydia L. Freeman, 19, of Middleport, New York, the daughter of prominent businessman Benjamin F. Freeman. They would have three children. Wallace was active in community affairs, serving for 1876 and 1877 on the Niagara County Board of Supervisors and participating in several Masonic groups. He also served a term as a volunteer fireman.

In 1878, as John Steele looked after other interests, Steele & Co. was reorganized as Steele, Torrance & Co. with R. B. Hoag as a silent partner and major stockholder. The firm billed itself as “Dealers in Foreign and Domestic Wines and Liquors” and continued marketing the “Celebrated” Niagara Star Bitters. In 1881 Torrance retired, leaving Wallace Steele and Hoag at the helm of Steele, Torrance.

John W. Steele died in June 1882, age 61, after a lingering illness. According to his newspaper obituary: “The supposed cause of death was cancer of the stomach, but a post mortem examination this morning disclosed the fact that the cause of death was a degeneration of the liver, kidneys and spleen, and a general breaking down of the system.” After a service at Lockport’s Grace Episcopal Church, where he was a member, Steele was buried in Glenwood Cemetery. His obituary hailed him for a “life of industry and usefulness.”

A year after the father’s death, however, the roof fell in for Wallace Steele when his company was thrown into bankruptcy. The Lockport Journal claimed that: “The cause of the failure is mainly losses in business extending over several years, the firm of Steele, Torrance & Co. having been considered on a precarious foundation for some time back.” The main culprit was R. B. Hoag who had racked up debts equivalent to $1.6 million today and was forced to liquidate his local business interests, including the liquor house, to pay for them.

The individual liabilities of Wallace Steele were a small fraction of what Hoag owed and he had sufficient assets to cover them. As his “preferred creditor” he designated Benjamin Freeman, his father-in-law. While obviously shaken by these events, this Steele emerged from bankruptcy to start anew. Later it would be said of Wallace: “Under many business difficulties in former years, he has always shown that indomitable business energy which has enabled him to laugh at misfortune and to place himself in the front ranks with the successful men at the present time.”

This time Wallace Steele opened his liquor house under two names, his own and “L. L. Steele,” representing his wife, Lydia L. Steele. Both were located at Number 2 Lock Street in Lockport. After a successful run of about twenty years at the head of these alcohol-based ventures, Wallace died in 1906 and was buried not far from his father, mother and infant brother in Glenwood Cemetery. He was only 56 years old.

His wife, Lydia, who increasingly had been brought into management, continued to operate the liquor house for the next two years. By 1909, however, the company had disappeared from Lockport business directories. Lydia was listed simply as “widow of Wallace.” This ended the half century that the Steele name and “Celebrated Niagara Star Bitters” were renowned in Western New York. John Steele’s nostrum had brought the family a long way.

Note: Coming across the whiskey jug that opens this post, I found my research — as has happened before — carrying me to the Peachridge Glass blog of Ferdinand Meyer V. Ferd featured the bottles, including several shown here. Nevertheless, I decided there was a story to be told about the Steele family and its rise in Lockport through the success of Niagara Star Bitters. A key source for the information found on this post was Landmarks of Niagara County, New York, edited by William Pool and published by D. Mason & Company in 1897.
Written by Jack Sullivan. October 8, 2018.

11/04/2025

During our leaf removal efforts, intermittent road closures may be necessary within the cemetery. For the safety of our crew and visitors, please do not attempt to drive around road barriers. Thank you. As a reminder, due to the time change, gates may be locked between 3:30-5pm.

10/30/2025

Gates will lock today (10/30) and tomorrow (10/31) at 3:30pm. Also, due to the freeze warnings, the water has been turned off for the season.

Glenwood Cemetery Lockport, New York

11/21/2025

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Monday	9am - 12pm
Tuesday	9am - 12pm
Wednesday	9am - 2pm
Thursday	9am - 12pm