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January 1, 2022

Mystery on the Red Sandstone Trail

Blair Madore

On Sunday September 12th, I was hiking on the Red Sandstone Trail with two students Claudia Beltran and Paxton Smith, from the Clarkson Timber Bridge Team. We were looking at ways to rebuild an area of the trail that frequently washed out.

Along the way, we encountered what looked like an old grave stone. We were all quite amazed and surprised. At first, I thought it was made of stone but then realized it was carved into wood and was in remarkably good shape. It couldn’t possibly be a real grave marker that was over 60 years old, could it?

I’m the Trail Coordinator for the Red Sandstone Trail and I have walked this part of the trail at least 25 times in the last few years and this was the first time I noticed it. Surely someone put this up recently, maybe as a prank or for a scavenger hunt or other activity? As it turns out, my first thoughts could not have been more wrong. The stone read:

LENA
COOKLIN
JULY 1946
JULY 17, 1961

If this was real, I imagined that a young woman had drowned in the river. Wouldn’t that be such a tragic event it would appear in the local paper? A few hours scouring records for July 1961 led to nothing. I posted the picture on the ADK Laurentian Chapter’s Facebook page. Lots of people tried to help but no one could find any concrete information. There was no “Lena Cooklin” in any of the easily available databases. There were mentions of people named Cooklin living in the North Country (past and present) but that was as far as we got.

I emailed North Country Now to publish the picture and ask if anyone had information. The next morning, I began gettng emails and phone calls. The story emerged a bit at a time over the day and we had a nearly complete story by that night. Several people who walk the trail frequently told me that the marker has been there for many years—at least three; at least 10; one even said 20. If it was more than 20 years old, it predated the creation of the trail. Maybe it was real?

Several people thought it was a grave marker for a family pet. After all, we often don’t know the exact date of birth of our pets but, we do know when they pass. That would explain why we could not find any newspaper report of a young woman drowning or a name in a birth or death registry. Several people told me that Lena is a common dog name.

An avid outdoorswoman and ADK member, Eileen Visser, was one of the people who had seen this grave marker for many years. She and a friend, Judy Brassard, who was good at local genealogy, began a search and found records about the Cooklin family.

“A Clarence Cooklin family lived on the Back Hannawa Road during the 50’s and 60’s up to the 1970’s. Clarence was Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds for BOCES in Norwood. Upon retirement they moved to South Carolina where he is buried. He had a son, Earl who moved to Michigan by 1971 and a daughter Barbara who married and lives in Salem, South Carolina.”

Eileen also used public records to determine Clarence Cooklin and his family lived at 261 County Route 59 (the Back Hannawa Road). This property is west of the road and not adjacent to the river. How would a marker for a family member or pet end up close to the river?

Mimi Vandeusen, the Director of the Potsdam Public Museum confirmed some of the information from Eileen. In fact, Mimi knew that Barbara Cooklin Maxwell lived in South Carolina and still regularly participated in the Museum’s Facebook group. Mimi had seen the grave marker some years ago but had not been able to find any specific information at the time. Mimi offered to try contacting Barbara for further information.

That evening I was contacted by Mark Gerrish who owns the property between the Back Hannawa Road and the trail. The trail and the land between the trail and the water is owned by Brookfield Power Authority. Mark told me that he purchased the property in 1978 and not long after, Mr. Cooklin from across the street came over to visit him. Mr. Cooklin informed him that his dog was buried on Mark’s property down near the river.

At this point, the mystery was solved. We knew this was the gravesite of a family dog and the marker had been there for over 60 years! This was a very interesting piece of the history of the trail and clearly important to preserve out of respect for the Cooklins and for future generations of hikers to experience.

The next morning, Judy Brassard told me she spoke with Earl Cooklin. Earl was 15 in 1961 and grew up with Lena, their pet collie. Lena went missing on July 17, 1961 and Earl and a friend found her at the edge of the river there. Lena had already passed away. Earl found a sturdy piece of oak and carved the marker. He has never had another dog.

The next day I received a phone call from Earl himself! He explained the situation further. That July 17th was a very hot day and they thought Lena had gone down to the river to cool off. Earl and Lena frequently hunted and fished in that area. When Earl and his friend went to look for her, they found her already dead. She was much too heavy to carry back up the steep bank so they buried her on the spot. Earl said he carved the grave marker from a piece of oak and applied at least 10 coats of varnish on it. No wonder it was so well preserved!

I told Earl that Eileen Visser volunteered to help create an interpretive sign to share this tale with hikers. We hope to install it on the trail near the grave marker for all to enjoy this touching story and piece of local history for many years to come.

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