The Batavia Cemetery Association is delighted to announce that the annual Halloween Candlelight Ghost Walk is back! Join us as we meet the famous and infamous movers who shaped and influenced the city of Batavia on Saturday, October 23, 2021, on a ghost walk through the historic Batavia Cemetery on Harvester Avenue in Batavia, NY.
The guided tour along candlelit paths will bring guests to meet men and women of Batavia, who for various reasons held great power and wielded great influence in their time, were victims of tragic events, or both. Philemon Tracy, one of the few Confederate officers buried in the north, Ruth, the unknown victim of a horrific murder, Joseph Ellicott, a man of great power and great faults, and William Morgan, the man who disappeared and believed to have been murdered before they could reveal the secrets of the Masons, are some of the ghosts who will tell their stories on the tour.
Also in attendance will be Civil War veteran General John H. Martindale, who was military governor of the District of Columbia in 1865, and James Holden, a sergeant during the American Revolution. Dean and Mary Richmond, who greatly influenced business and civic life in Batavia in the 1800s, will meet guests at their magnificent mausoleum on the final leg of the tour. Mr. Richmond made his fortune in Great Lakes shipping and served as the second president of the New York Central Railroad. Mrs. Richmond greatly expanded her husband’s fortune after his death and served on the boards of numerous businesses and civic organizations.
Tours begin at 7:00 p.m. and run every fifteen minutes until 8:30 p.m. Admission is $10 and includes refreshments. One must reserve. The profits are intended for the maintenance and restoration of the cemetery. For more information or to reserve, contact (585) 943-5662.
