Forest Lawn Cemetery (Buffalo, New York)

Forest Lawn Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery located at 1411 Delaware Avenue in Buffalo, New York. Founded in 1849 by Charles E. Clarke, the cemetery encompasses approximately 269 acres (1.1 km²) and serves as both a historic landscape and an active cemetery providing burial, cremation, and memorial services to the Buffalo community. In addition to its historic monuments, sculptures, and arboretum landscape, Forest Lawn remains an operating cemetery offering traditional burial, mausoleum entombment, cremation services, and columbarium niches. The cemetery contains numerous historic family mausoleums as well as modern community mausoleums available for purchase. Forest Lawn also operates a crematory and serves as a cultural and educational resource for the region, offering historical tours, genealogy research, and interpretive programming. == Architecture and Landscape ==

Forest Lawn Cemetery was designed in the tradition of the nineteenth-century rural cemetery movement, combining landscaped grounds, winding roads, and monumental sculpture. The cemetery contains hundreds of examples of funerary art including obelisks, classical monuments, bronze sculpture, stained glass memorials, and architecturally significant mausoleums. The landscape also functions as an ArbNet Level I Arboretum with a large collection of mature trees and ornamental plantings. == Active Cemetery and Memorial Services ==

Forest Lawn Cemetery continues to operate as an active cemetery serving the Buffalo region. In addition to traditional in-ground burial, the cemetery offers mausoleum entombment, cremation services, and columbarium niches for cremated remains. Forest Lawn maintains a number of community mausoleums, which provide above-ground entombment in climate-controlled buildings designed for year-round visitation. These structures complement the many historic private family mausoleums located throughout the cemetery grounds. The cemetery also operates an on-site crematory and provides a variety of memorialization options including traditional monuments, private family estates, and cremation memorials. == Forest Lawn Cemetery Group ==

Forest Lawn Cemetery is the flagship property of the Forest Lawn Group, a nonprofit organization that operates a network of historic cemeteries throughout Western New York. In addition to Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo, the organization maintains and operates fourteen cemeteries across Erie, Wyoming, and Cattaraugus counties, preserving historic burial grounds while continuing to provide active burial and cremation services for local communities. Among the cemeteries in the Forest Lawn Group are: • Clarence Fillmore Cemetery – founded in 1864 on land donated by Rev. Dr. Glezen Fillmore, a cousin of President Millard Fillmore and an early Methodist leader in Western New York. The cemetery contains approximately 8,800 burials, including veterans of the American Revolutionary War. • Evergreen Lawn Cemetery – established in 1893 as Bloomingdale Cemetery and located in the Town of Newstead. • Forest Hill Cemetery, dedicated in 1870. • Freedom Cemetery and Freedom Rural Cemetery, which originated with Welsh Baptist settlers in the 1840s. • Gethsemane Cemetery, formerly a private burial ground of the Sisters of St. Francis before being entrusted to the Forest Lawn Group in 2018. • Griffins Mills Cemetery, founded in 1834. • Lakeside Cemetery, a 200-acre historic cemetery in the Southtowns. • Lancaster Rural Cemetery, one of the oldest cemeteries in Lancaster. • Oakwood Cemetery, founded in 1841. • Quaker Settlement Cemetery, with graves dating to the early nineteenth century. • St. Matthew’s Cemetery, a landscaped garden cemetery along Cayuga Creek. • Williamsville Cemetery, a historic village cemetery whose earliest burials date to the early nineteenth century. Together these cemeteries preserve thousands of historic graves and monuments while continuing to operate as active burial grounds for residents of Western New York. Green Burial The Forest Lawn Group is also committed to environmentally sustainable burial options. Green burials, which minimize environmental impact by using biodegradable caskets or shrouds and avoiding concrete vaults, are available at select locations. • Forest Hill Cemetery in Attica and Lakeside Cemetery in Hamburg both offer dedicated green burial areas, allowing families to choose a natural burial while maintaining the dignity and care of the cemetery grounds. By offering these modern and eco-conscious options, the Forest Lawn Group continues to meet contemporary needs while preserving the historic character and natural beauty of its cemeteries. == Mausoleums ==

Forest Lawn Cemetery contains numerous private family mausoleums dating from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, reflecting Buffalo’s industrial and architectural history. In addition to historic mausoleums, the cemetery maintains several community mausoleums that continue to provide entombment space for families today. One of the most notable structures is the Blue Sky Mausoleum, designed in 1928 by architect Frank Lloyd Wright for Darwin D. Martin and constructed in 2004. The monument contains 24 crypts and is considered one of the few Wright-designed funerary monuments in existence. Other mausoleums in the cemetery include: • Burgess-Little Mausoleum – designed by H. H. (Henry Harrison) Little. • Butler Mausoleum – constructed for Edward H. Butler, proprietor of the Buffalo Evening News. • Buswell-Hochstetter Mausoleum • Good Mausoleum – constructed for Daniel B. Good, who established the Seibert-Good Company in Chicago, which later consolidated with the Seymour H. Knox stores of Buffalo, N.Y. and finally amalgamated with the F.W. Woolworth Company. • Goodyear (Frank) Mausoleum – constructed for Frank Henry Goodyear, who, with his brother, Charles W. Goodyear, started the Buffalo and Susquehanna Railroad. • Kellner Mausoleum – constructed for John. S. Kellner, president of the Crystal Ice and Storage Company. • Knox Mausoleum – constructed for Seymour H. Knox I, co-founder of F. W. Woolworth Company. • Laub Mausoleum • Letchworth-Skinner Mausoleum – • Mitchel H. Mark Mausoleum – constructed for Mitchell Mark, founder of the Vitascope Theater Company • Oberkircher Mausoleum – constructed for Caroline Oberkircher and family. • Pierce (George) Mausoleum – constructed for George N. Pierce who co-founded a company known as Heinz, Pierce and Munshauer for the manufacture of refrigerators, birdcages, iceboxes and bathtubs, until leaving to establish the Pierce Cycle Company, which later became the Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Co. • Stachura Mausoleum – constructed for Chester and Gloria Stachura. • Steuernagel Mausoleum – constructed for John Steuernagel, president and board chairman of Kleinhans department store. • Vars Mausoleum – designed by Lawrence Bley and Duane Lyman. Interred are Harry Thorp Vars, Gertrude Waltho Vars, Mary G. Vars, Addison Foster Vars, Addison F. Vars Jr., Aline Vars, Carlton J. Balliett, Evelyn Waltho Balliett Jr., Rose Waltho Brown, Bertha W. Barker, and Estelle Noell Reavis. • Walden-Myer Mausoleum – designed by Richard A. Waite for Buffalo's mayor from 1838–39, Ebenezer Walden, and son-in law, Albert J. Myer, recognized by many as the "founder and father" of the US Weather Bureau. • Willams-Pratt Mausoleum == Community Mausoleums ==

In addition to its historic private mausoleums, Forest Lawn Cemetery maintains several modern community mausoleums that provide above-ground entombment for individuals and families. These structures include the Birchwood Mausoleum, Oakwood Mausoleum, Rosewood Mausoleum, and Serenity Mausoleum, which offer climate-controlled crypts and indoor visitation areas. Community mausoleums provide an alternative to traditional burial and have become an increasingly common form of memorialization in the United States. Construction has also begun on the Legacy Mausoleum, a new memorial structure designed to expand above-ground entombment options at Forest Lawn. Margaret L. Wendt Archive and Research Center In 2014, the Margaret L. Wendt Archive and Resource Center opened within the cemetery. It is a digitized history center, of interment records maintained since 1849, Construction and funding for the Center was provided by The Margaret L. Wendt Foundation along with support from The John R. Oishei Foundation. ==Gallery==

Image:Walden-Myer Mausoleum, Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo, New York, March 2005.jpg|Walden-Myer Mausoleum Image:Blue Sky Mausoleum 1.jpg|Blue Sky Mausoleum. Designed in 1928 by Frank Lloyd Wright for Darwin D. Martin. Constructed in 2004. Image:Blue Sky Mausoleum 4.jpg|Close-Up of Blue Sky Mausoleum Image:Red_Jacket_monument.jpg|Red Jacket statue sculpted by James G. C. Hamilton, 1890. Image:Crane Monument - Forest Lawn, Buffalo.jpg|Thomas Crane Monument, 1853. Image:Blocher Memorial - Forest Lawn, Buffalo.jpg|The Blocher Memorial Image:Birge Memorial - Forest Lawn, Buffalo.jpg|The Birge Memorial by George Cary for George K. Birge, president of the Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Company. Image:Fakir of Ava - Forest Lawn, Buffalo.jpg|Grave of the Fakir of Ava Image:Dorothy Goetz Berlin grave.jpg|Grave of Dorothy Goetz, wife of Irving Berlin Image:Cook Forest lawn.JPG|Marker for final resting place of Frederick Cook Image:Oishei Bell - Forest Lawn, Buffalo.jpg|The Oishei Bell, near the entrance to the cemetery Image:Blocher Memorial interior - Forest Lawn, Buffalo.jpg|Interior of the Blocher Memorial Image:Millard Fillmore Grave.jpg| Millard Fillmore grave Image:Rick James Grave.jpg|Rick James grave Image:Colgan Air Flight 3407 Memorial.jpg|Memorial to the victims of Colgan Air Flight 3407 ==Others buried here==

• John J. Albright (1848–1931), American businessman and philanthropist • Lewis F. Allen (1800–1890), American politician and land developer • Major Andre Andrews (1792–1834), 2nd Mayor of Buffalo • William Farquhar Barry (1818–1879), U.S. Civil War general • Hiram Barton (1810–1880), Mayor of Buffalo, 1849–50, 1852–53 • Lyman K. Bass (1836–1889), member of the U.S. House of Representatives • Philip Becker (1830–1898), Mayor of Buffalo, 1876–77, 1886–89 • Al Boasberg (1891–1937), comedy writer • Louise Blanchard Bethune (1856–1913), first female architect • Daniel D. Bidwell Civil War brigadier general • Stephen Champlin, US Navy officer • Lewis P. Dayton, Mayor of Buffalo, 1874–75 • William Dorsheimer, United States Congressman and Lt. Governor of New York State • William Fargo, Mayor of Buffalo, 1862–65, a founder of Wells Fargo and of American Express. Fargo, ND is named for him. • Abigail Fillmore, wife of U.S. President Millard Fillmore • Caroline C. Fillmore, second wife of U.S. President Millard Fillmore • Barbara Siggers Franklin, mother of singer Aretha Franklin • Dorothy Goetz, first wife of Irving Berlin • Townsend Griffiss, first US aviator killed in Europe in World War II, 1900–1942 (cenotaph, body not recovered) • Anna Katharine Green, American poet and novelist • Anson Goodyear, first president of the Museum of Modern Art • Charles W. Goodyear, co-founder of the Great Southern Lumber Company • Nathan K. Hall, member of the U.S. House of Representatives • Mickey Harmon (1984–2025), American artist and activist • Samuel P. Heintzelman, Civil War major general • Martha Jackson, art dealer, founder of the Martha Jackson Gallery • Edwin Jaeckle, New York Republican State Chairman 1940–44 • Rick James (1948–2004), American musician and composer • Edward Austin Kent, Buffalo architect who perished aboard the RMS Titanic (1854–1912) • Jesse Ketchum, Canadian politician and tannery owner in Toronto and Buffalo • William Ketchum, Mayor of Buffalo, 1844–45 • Northrup R. Knox, Founder of the Buffalo Sabres, banker and community leader • Seymour H. Knox I, businessman, co-founder of F.W. Woolworth Company • John D. Larkin, owner and founder of the Larkin mail order company, 1845–1926 • Stanford Lipsey (1927–2016), newspaper publisher • Timothy T. Lockwood, Mayor of Buffalo, 1858–59 • John C. Lord, Presbyterian minister and activist • George Maltby Love, 1831–1887 Civil War Medal of Honor Recipient • Matthew D. Mann (1845–1921), American gynecologist who operated on President McKinley after he was shot • Louis W. Marcus (1863–1923), Justice of the New York Supreme Court • Mitchell Mark, pioneer of motion picture exhibition • Darwin D. Martin, Larkin Company executive and commissioner of the Darwin D. Martin House • Joseph G. Masten, Mayor of Buffalo, 1843–44 & 1845–46 • William McMillan, Buffalo's first Superintendent of Parks • Henry Moxley, African-American businessman, religious leader and activist • Albert J. Myer father of the U.S. Army Signal Corps • Stanley Spisiak, Conservationist and savior of Lake Erie • Alfred P. Stone, member of the U.S. House of Representatives • Mary Burnett Talbert • Sheldon Thompson, Mayor of Buffalo • Josiah Trowbridge, physician and Mayor of Buffalo • George Urban Jr. (1850–1928), businessman • Richard A. Waite, British-born American architect • John B. Weber, Civil War colonel and United States Congressman, 1885–89 • Chandler J. Wells, Mayor of Buffalo, 1866–67 • Charles Barker Wheeler (1851–1935), New York Supreme Court justice • John G. Wickser, New York State Treasurer, 1903–04 • Samuel Wilkeson, industrialist and Mayor of Buffalo • Joseph Willcocks, former member of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada and Major in the Canadian Volunteers (US Army) during the War of 1812 • William Williams, U.S. Representative, railroad executive, banker • Craig Lehner, Buffalo Police Officer • 17 unidentified victims of the Angola Horror • 11 unknown soldiers who died in hospitals in Buffalo during the Civil War ==See also==