Blodgett turned to another prominent Le Roy citizen, Chauncey Olmsted, who would later be buried in the cemetery. Olmsted gave him $200, which made it possible to purchase the land from a local wheat farmer. Under Blodgett's supervision, Olmsted built the original fences and walkways. The Rev. Samuel Cox, first chancellor of Ingham University, suggested the name Machpelah, from Jacob's exhortation at Genesis 49:30: "Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephrom the Hittite, the cave in the field of Machpelah ..."
