ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - New York state is honoring a night watchman who perished in a 1911 fire that devastated the state Capitol in Albany.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday signed legislation directing the state to install and maintain a plaque within the Capitol memorializing the guard, Samuel Abbott.
Abbott, a Civil War veteran, was working in the Capitol the night of the fire. The 78-year-old was the only person to die in the blaze, which destroyed thousands of books and artifacts in the state museum and library and did significant damage to the Capitol building. His ghost is said to haunt the Capitol to this day.
Cuomo, a Democrat, says the plaque will be a fitting honor for a man who served his nation and his state.
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