The McCann family were prominent figures in history of Elmira Heights and Chemung County
If one stands at Mark Twain's grave in Woodlawn Cemetery and looks east, down the hill, an enormous boulder stands among the gravestones on the roa...
If one stands at Mark Twain's grave in Woodlawn Cemetery and looks east, down the hill, an enormous boulder stands among the gravestones on the road below. It marks the burial site of George and Crete McCann. It was placed there on Jan. 17, 1881 after being hauled from the east side of the Chemung Canal, over a specially built bridge.According to Erin Doane, former curator at the Chemung Valley History Museum, 'Nine teams of horses and six yoke of oxen were used to move the immense stone. George wanted the boulder to mark his final resting place because he thought ‘an object formed by nature' was far more suitable as a monument for the dead than ‘a costly and ornate monument made by man.