Kensico Cemetery

From Academic Kids

Kensico Cemetery is a cemetery in Valhalla, Westchester Co., New York, founded in 1889, when many New York City cemeteries were becoming full and rural cemeteries were founded near the railroads which served the city. Initially 250 acres (1 km²), it was expanded to 600 acres (2.4 km²) in 1905, and reduced to 461 acres (1.9 km²) in 1912 when a portion was sold to the neighboring Gate of Heaven Cemetery.

Many entertainment figures of the early nineteenth century were buried here. The cemetery has a special section for members of the National Vaudeville Association, some of whom died in abject poverty.

British spy Major John Andr� was captured in 1780 in a house located on what is now cemetery ground.

Notable burials include:

Ed Barrow, (1868-1953), hall of fame baseball manager and executive
Henri Bendel, (1868-1936), fashion designer, famed for the Bendel bonnet
Paul Bonwit, (1862-1939) founder of Bonwit Teller department store
Evangeline Booth, (1865-1950), evangelist, daughter of Salvation Army founder
Billie Burke, (1885-1970), actress, played "Glinda the Good" in The Wizard of Oz
Paddy Chayefsky, (1923-1981), screenwriter, winner of three Academy Awards
Harry Cooper, (1904-2000), hall of fame golfer
Tommy Dorsey, (1905-1956), swing-era trombonist
Sherman Edwards, (1919-1981), Tony Award winning composer and songwriter
Geraldine Farrar, (1882-1967), opera singer
Harry Frazee, (1880-1929), owner of the Boston Red Sox who sold Babe Ruth
Fred Friendly, (1915-1998), broadcaster
Lou Gehrig, (1903-1941), baseball player who gave his name to Lou Gehrig's disease
Al Hodge, (1912-1979), actor
Danny Kaye, (1913-1987), comedic actor
Hebert Henry Lehman, (1878-1963), politician
Dorothy Loudon, (1933-2003), Tony Award winning actress
Anne Nichols, (1891-1966), playwright and screenwriter
David Graham Phillips, (1867-1911), jounalist and novelist
Harriet Quimby, (1875-1912), pioneer aviatrix
Sergei Rachmaninoff, (1873-1943), composer, pianist and conductor
Ayn Rand, (1905-1982), author
David Sarnoff, (1891-1971), broadcaster and head of RCA
Fay Templeton, (1865-1939), Broadway star
John North Willys, (1873-1935), automobile manufacturer
Florenz Ziegfeld, (1869-1932) producer of the Ziegfeld Follies