February 20

February 20, 1895: Frederick Douglas died in his home in Washington D.C. at the age of 78.  He had been participating that day in a meeting of the Women's National Council and was scheduled to speak later that evening at the nearby Hillside African Church.

(from the New York Times, Feb 21, 1895)

Sources and Further Reading:

• Obituary- Death of Fred Douglas, New York Times.  February 21, 1895, pp. 1&3

August 14

August 14, 1884: The body of Lt. Kislingbury, second in command of the Greely Arctic Expedition, is exhumed from Mount Hope Cemetery to investigate allegations of cannibalism. Kislingbury had been laid in state at Rochester City Hall four days earlier. Inspection of the body revealed that flesh had been stripped from the bone, confirming the rumors.

Sources and Further Reading

• New York Times, August 15, 1884, "The Second in Command Lieut. Kislingbury's Mutilated Body Disinterred")
• History of Rochester and Monroe County, New York (1908); Peck, William F.; page 109
• Wikipedia: Lady and Franklin Bay Expedition
• Wikipedia: Adolphus Greely

March 13

March 13, 1906: Susan B. Anthony died in her home on Madison St. at the age of 86.  She is buried at Mount hope Cemetery. It would be 14 more years before the 14th amendment to the Constitution was ratified, preventing any citizen, regardless of sex, from being denied the right to vote.

Sources and Further Reading:

1. Wikipedia: Susan B. Anthony

August 18

August 18, 1838: William Carter becomes the first person buried in the Mt. Hope Cemetery.

Sources and Further Reading:

1. History of Rochester and Monroe County, New York (1908); Peck, William F.; page 69-70

March 14

March 14, 1932: Kodak founder George Eastman committed suicide in his home on East Ave. leaving the following note: "To my Friends, My work is done. Why wait?"

Sources and Further Reading:

1. Wikipedia: George Eastman

November 13

November 13, 1829: Sam Patch died attempting a second jump from 125 feet over Rochester's High Falls on Friday, the 13th of November. He had successfully jumped the falls from 100 feet the previous week, but having raised insufficient donations from the spectators, he planned to repeat the stunt again, this time from a 25 foot platform. His fate was not known until the following spring when his body was recovered from ice in the river near Charlotte.

Sources and further reading:

1. Rochester History Journal: v53, 1991 
2. Wikipedia: Sam Patch
3. United States magazine (1856) , Volume 3, pg 567-570 (source of illustration)