Ghost Walk 2024

by Susan Zehnder, Education Director

Over 500 people joined us for our 18^th annual Ghost Walk in Woodlawn Cemetery. This event has a lot of moving parts, and once again, we’re grateful for the help and flexibility of everyone involved. In the years we’ve been doing this, we’ve covered more than 72 stories of people buried in the 166-year-old cemetery, and we would like to think we’ve helped to lift up some of the amazing lives from our community. For the curious, previous scripts are posted on our website under the Ghost Walk heading, and as a bonus, the staff will be reading this year’s scripts this Wednesday, October 30^th at noon, here at the museum. We encourage anyone interested to join us for this free event. Maybe you weren’t able to attend, want to hear the stories again, or have questions about the ghosts or process.

Here is a brief description of this year’s characters.

The Hungerford Brothers - Brothers Daniel (1886-1967) and Floyd (1888-1963) were fascinated by rockets and aircraft. They were early enthusiasts of all forms of aviation, and in 1909, they built their own airplane engine and worked as glider mechanics. To help make things a little easier for themselves, they invented a rocket powered soldering iron. As the field of aviation started to grow, they purchased their own aircraft. Inspired by what was happening overseas, they invented a rocket-powered automobile and called it the Shirley Lois Moon Girl after Daniel’s daughter. Unfortunately, they debuted the car in November 1929, just days after the stock market crash. It never caught people’s interest the way they had hoped. Actor Joe Edkin played the role of Daniel, and John Olcott was his brother Floyd.

Floyd and Daniel Hungerford

Leon “Windy” Smith (1889-1960) Smith was born in Pennsylvania and attended schools in the Elmira area. When he met Glenn Curtiss, his discovered his true passion was flying. After getting his pilot’s license, he trained pilots to fly in WWI. When the war ended, the demand for pilots and flight instructors diminished. He continued to fly, and took a job with the newly developed Air Corps. What happened next made history. Read more about Mr. Smith in this recent blog here. Actor Sam Claypool played Smith.

Leon "Windy" Smith

Alice T. Knapp ((1870-1917) Active in local politics, Knapp worked quietly behind the scenes to get things done. She took part in helping to set policies and organize campaigns that supported women’s suffrage, temperance, and prohibition. Local officials admired her so much that her name was proposed for the position of Elmira’s city police commissioner. They collected 800 signatures in her support, but the Common Council voted to delay their vote. One day later, Knapp fell ill and was rushed to Arnot-Ogden Hospital. She never recovered and died soon after. Actor Casey Winston played Knapp.

Alice T. Knapp

Sarah Wey Tompkins (1866-1929) Socialite Sarah Wey was married to wealthy businessman Ray Tompkins. Their lives revolved around being part of the community and donating generously to various causes. When she died, her obituary included a lot of information about the men in her life, rather than focusing on her accomplishments. Actors Cathy Wiggs and David Wigs played the socialite and newspaper seller.

Sarah Wey Tompkins and newspaper seller

All twenty-one tours over the three days went smoothly with the Hunter’s Moon rising to add the perfect atmospheric mood. We hope everyone who attended enjoyed themselves and we look forward to another collection of characters for next year.