Fillmore’s Buffalo legacy recognized at commemoration

UB and community partners gathered — on a downright balmy day for Jan. 7 — at the gravesite of Millard Fillmore in Forest Lawn Cemetery to mark the 216th anniversary of the birth of UB’s first chancellor and 13th president of the United States.

“We are here on a beautiful morning to recognize the life of perhaps our region’s most accomplished citizen,” William J. Regan, director of special events at UB said in greeting those gathered to honor Fillmore’s Buffalo legacy.

“Last year, we thought it would be fitting to include all the organizations that can trace their roots back to Millard Fillmore in this annual celebration, and we are pleased that their representatives are here with us again this year. Millard Fillmore’s legacy today remains truly vibrant as these organizations, that he helped found, continue to define and lead Buffalo in so many ways.”

Fillmore, who was the last president not to be a Democrat or a Republican — he was a member of the Whig Party — helped establish UB, serving as the university’s first chancellor from 1847 until his death in 1874.

He also played a major role in founding numerous cultural, civic and community organizations in Buffalo and Erie County that continue to thrive today. These Fillmore legacy organizations include the Buffalo History Museum, Buffalo & Erie County Public Library, the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, The Buffalo Club, Buffalo Public Schools, Buffalo Science Museum, Buffalo General Medical Center, Hodgson Russ LLP, SPCA Serving Erie County.

Fillmore was also instrumental in framing the charter that transformed the village of Buffalo into the city of Buffalo, and as a four-term congressman, secured funding to enlarge the Buffalo Harbor and expand the Erie Canal.

Thursday’s gravesite ceremony, hosted by UB, the Forest Lawn Group and The Buffalo Club, began with short remarks and wreath presentations.

Col. Michael Bank, 107th vice wing commander at the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station, presented the White House wreath on behalf of President Obama. In addition, a special legacy wreath was presented by members of Buffalo and Erie County organizations that Fillmore helped found.

At the conclusion of the gravesite event, the program continued in the Margaret L. Wendt Archive and Resource Center in Forest Lawn with a memorial address by Melissa Brown, executive director of the Buffalo History Museum.

In citing the sizable collection of Millard Fillmore papers and letters that the museum now has, Brown noted the collection almost didn’t survive right from its beginnings.

“Millard’s son, Millard Powers Fillmore, left instructions in his last will and testament that ‘All papers, letters, notes and correspondence involving my father are to be burned upon my death,’” Brown said.

“That would have left the world with nothing. But the executor of the will made a judgment that Fillmore’s son meant that all personal family letters and other correspondence were to be burned. Fortunately for us, he chose to save everything.”

This year’s commemoration marked the 51st consecutive year UB has organized the ceremony, a tradition that dates back to 1937. From 1937 until 1965, the anniversary ceremonies were organized by Charles Templeton, a UB alumnus who worked with the city of Buffalo and the Buffalo Board of Education to program the annual events.