Gravely Speaking

The white marble tablet of Charles Samuel Morris in the Home of Peace Cemetery and Emanu-El Mausoleum in Colma, California depicts a winged Father Time as an old man, with a long beard and a large pair of wings. Father Time is standing with one of the tools of his trade that makes him instantly recognizable–a scythe. The scythe, a tool that was once used in the harvest, symbolizes the Divine harvest.  Just as wheat is cut down by the scythe during the harvest, so are souls by Father Time.  Also at Father Time’s feet is an hourglass.  The hourglass is a memento mori symbol—to remind all who pass by that life is ephemeral.   The soap opera, Days of Our Lives, has as their catchphrase,  “Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives.”  The meaning of that catchphrase is clear; life passes by very quickly.  Life measured by the grains of sand slip through one side of the hourglass to the other in a flash. 

Father Time is standing behind a “weeping virgin”. Father Time is delicately untangling the Virgin’s hair. The act of untangling represents that with perseverance all things can be accomplished. She is pointing to an open book, which most likely represents the Book of Life.  In Judaism and Christianity, the names of the righteous were recorded in the Book of Life; they were assured entry into Heaven.  The Book is referenced many times in the Bible (King James Version), including Revelations, Chapter 20,  Verse 12: “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God: and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead…Verse 15: “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”

They both stand before a broken column, the symbol of a life cut short.

Levi Strauss

February 26, 1829, Buttenheim, Landkreis Bamberg, Bavaria, Germany

September 26, 1902, San Francisco, San Francisco County, California

Levi Strauss, made famous and wealthy from innovative blue denim trousers strengthened with a rivet, built a massive family mausoleum in the Home of Peace Cemetery and Emanu-El Mausoleum in Colma, California.

Strauss, his mother and two sisters immigrated to the United States, first working in a family dry goods business in New York.  In 1853, however, he struck out on his own to San Francisco where he built a business serving the hordes of Forty-Niners rushing to California to pan for gold.  He partnered with Jacob Davis to create a tougher pair of work pants using metal fasteners.  They shared the patent, which Strauss agreed to pay for in exchange for the right to manufacture the trousers.  At first the pants were made of canvas but he switched to blue denim which was more effective at hiding dirt and stains.  Strauss found his gold in clothing which made him a millionaire.

Strauss built a mausoleum made of a light Salisbury pink granite at the staggering cost of $48,000.  The domed tomb has fluted Doric columns supporting a portico and flanking decorated bronze doors.  Levi Strauss, who never married, left a fortune of nearly 900 million in 2025 dollars. He shares his tomb with his mother and other relatives.

G. B. DRAGO

NATO Dec. 3—1850

MORTO Maggio 29 1905

CATERINA DRAGO

1871 – 1965

DRAGO

LOUIS J. DRAGO

1901 – 1982

The Drago Family monument, imbued with a multitude of symbolism, features a Latin Cross and an angle on top of a base in front of a grave ledger which can be found in the Holly Cross Cemetery, at Colma, California.

The centerpiece of the gravestone depicts an angel in a Greek neoclassical sculptural scheme referred to as contrapposto, which is an Italian word meaning counterpoise.  The figure is poised “such that the weight rests on one leg, freeing the other leg, which is bent at the knee.  With the weight shift, the hips, shoulders, and head tilt, suggesting relaxation.”  In early classical sculptures the statues were often nude figures but also draped as in this example. 

The angel is holding a palm frond, an ancient symbol of victory, dating back to Roman times when victors were presented with palm fronds. The palm fronds were also laid in the path of Jesus as He entered Jerusalem. So, for many Christians, the palm represents righteousness, resurrection, and martyrdom, symbolizing the spiritual victory over death associated with the Easter story.

Behind the angel figure is the Latin cross which is universally recognized as the symbol of Christianity. Though it may look simple to the eye, the symbol is imbued with deep meaning to all Christians. Carved in the center of the cross are the initials “IHS” which have been used for centuries by Christians as a monogram, often referred to as a Christogram, for Jesus. The three letters are a Latinized version of the Greek letters ΙΗΣ (iota-eta-sigma), the first three letters of the name “Jesus” in Greek.

Last, the rough-cut gray-granite base features ivy leaves which are a common motif in American cemeteries and Victorian art. Because of ivy’s ability to survive in harsh weather and dry conditions, it has become associated with immortality and rebirth. Ivy leaves can also represent friendship. Because of its ability to “hang on” the symbol has come to represent undying attachment.

SARAH E. WARD

WIFE OF

J. S. NEAL

DIED

MAY 1, 1877

AGED

22 Ys. 6 Mos. 1 d.

Gone from this land, Father, Mother,

Brothers and Sisters, too.

And now my friends, I bid adieu

Palmer’s Prairie Church of Christ in rural Sullivan County, Indiana, is no longer, but the church graveyard is, and is a testament to the congregation that once worshipped there.  Several hundred tombstones mark the graves of former congregants, including the stained and weathered white marble tablet of Sarah Ward Neal.

Though the stone shows weathering and erosion, the bas-relief in the rounded top of the gravestone is clear enough to make out.  The scene depicts an angel, with swirling clouds over head, kneeling beside a box tomb as she places flowers on top of it.

The angel carrying flowers to decorate and watch over a grave is a common “angel type” found in American cemeteries.  In the 2007 edition of Markers, XXIV, published by the Association for Gravestone Studies, Greenfield, Massachusetts, Elisabeth L. Roark wrote an article about angels titled, “Embodying Immortality: Angels in America’s Rural Garden Cemeteries, 1850—1900”, pages 56 – 111.  Roark argues that angels were not “Romantic attempts to beautify death.” She writes, “while this was part of their appeal, angel monuments are far more complex in meaning and can act to reveal manifestations of popular Christian beliefs.”

According to the article, angels come onto the scene in rural garden cemeteries in a big way starting circa 1850 and then throughout the rest of the century. Though angels come in many variations and forms, in her study of 14 rural cemeteries from each region of America, Roark found that most angels fall into the following eight categories:

Angels are mentioned over 270 times in the Bible but of the eight categories of angels that Roark describes in her article, Angels who decorate and watch over the grave are the only type not specifically defined in the Bible. Roark notes that decorating graves with flowers originates with the ancient Greeks, this type of symbolism, however, is something newly found in graveyards of the 19^th Century.

After the Civil War, it became popular to decorate graves lavishly with flowers. Roark writes, “Like their live counterparts, the angels’ sculpted flowers suggest the parallels drawn at this time between the cyclical nature of plant life and human birth, death, and resurrection.”

HENRY

Died, Aug. 10, 1864, Aged 19 Days.

EDWIN,

Died Oct. 17, 1865, Aged 1 Mo. 19 Days

May their souls rest in peace

Children of NATHAN & PAULINE BACHMAN.

The double rounded top white marble tablet in the Home of Peace Cemetery and Emanu-El Mausoleum in Colma, California, depicts the two infant boys, Henry and Edwin, of Nathan and Pauline Bachman.  The bas-relief carving on the left depicts the infant on a cloud as his soul ascends to Heaven.

The scene on the right shows a lifted curtain revealing a “sleeping” baby. This motif is two-fold. It depicts the passage of the soul from the Earthly realm to the Heavenly realm but also the Victorian custom of draping black cloth to express the family’s mourning.  The draperies would have been kept in place for quite some time even after the body was removed to the grave.  This would allow the family to continue to mourn and to express their sorrow.

Charles C. Keene

Born 1832, Hessen Cassel, Germany

Died May 7, 1894, San Franciso, California

Susan Keene

Born April 1852, New York, New York

Died August 22, 1915, San Francisco, California

Keene was born in Germany and migrated to the United States becoming a naturalized citizen on October 5, 1868.  According to the San Francisco Federal Census of 1880, Charles and Susan Keene were living at 1515 Tyler Street in San Francisco with their children, Meriam, William, Rose, and Jeanette and sister-in-law, Sarah Snow and her daughter Rose.  According to accounts, Charles built and sold the first accordions in the San Francisco area. 

The white marble monument in the Hills of Eternity Memorial Park in Colma, California, depicts a Union Civil War soldier astride a horse.  In the lower left-hand corner of the scene is a broken wheel.  Like many symbols—the hanging and broken bud, the broken column, the empty chair—the broken wheel represents the end of life’s journey. The wheel is a metaphor for the circle of life which is broken by death.

Keene was a captain associated with California military units and clearly very proud of his service.  He was a member of Company H. Second Regimental Infantry, part of the San Francisco Hussars and was very active in the national guard.

According to newspaper accounts at the time of his death Keene was known to be eccentric, well known for riding his old white horse around the city. 

The white marble tombstone in the Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery in Colma, California, is topped with a botonee or budded cross—that is, each arm terminates in three knobs or lobes often associated with the Holy Trinity.  The gravestone also features a mourning figure in the round inset at the top of the marker.  These images were common on many late-nineteenth century gravestones. The mourning figures are nearly always beautiful, young women overcome by grief, limp from sorrow. Here the kneeling mourning figure, her head lowered and resigned with loss, accepts the reality of death as she leans against a cross-topped marker. 

ERECTED BY MICHAEL IN
MEMORY OF HIS BELOVED WIFE
HONORA ANNA GABRIELLE McCLURE
BORN IN VIRGINIA CITY, NEV.
MAY 30, 1877.
DIED AUG. 12, 1904.
MAY GOD HAVE MERCY ON HER SOUL.

The white marble monument for Honora McClure in the Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery in Colma, California, is replete with symbolism.  The column is topped with a billowing flame which is a funerary symbol of the eternal soul and the divine light guiding the departed to its next life.

At the base of the column is a winged orb often portrayed as an Egyptian motif representing the sun god Ra.  It was usually placed over the entrance to a temple to ward off evil spirits as seen in the Whittell Mausoleum in the Cypress Lawn Cemetery also in Colma. 

However, this winged orb is at the base of the monument, not over an entrance and does not resemble the Egyptian motif.  Here the symbolism likely represents the soul’s flight from its mortal coil.

JOSEPH

HIRSCHBACH

A NATIVE OF

MANHEIM.

DIED

APRIL 29, 1897.

AGED 35 YEARS.

The pointed white marble tablet of Joseph Hirschbach in the Home of Peace Cemetery and Emanu-El Mausoleum in Colma, California displays a violin in the arch of the gravestone. 

A musical note vanishes as soon as it is played, lasting but a moment; because of that the violin symbolizes the fleeting nature of life.  If the violin has a broken string, it is another symbol of the fragility of life itself and a reminder of how little time there is on Earth—a memento mori symbol.

It is also likely to represent the profession as a musician or the deceased’s love of music.

IN MEMORIAM

MARGARET McK. MUNHALL

MARCH 8, 1925

JOHN MUNHALL

1833 – 1904

HETTY MUNHALL

1837 – 1875

“BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN HEART”

The massive rock face gray granite Munhall Family monument in the Allegheny Cemetery in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, features a seated angel framed by a rounded arch supported with two composite columns.  The classically draped angle holds a palm leaf and a floral wreath.

The palm frond is an ancient symbol of victory, dating back to Roman times when victors were presented with palm fronds. The palm fronds were also laid in the path of Jesus as He entered Jerusalem. So, for many Christians, the palm represents righteousness, resurrection, and martyrdom, symbolizing the spiritual victory over death associated with the Easter story.

The floral wreath. This is a common Victorian funerary symbol expressing the transitory nature of life.  In this example, the flowers in the wreath are roses and can symbolize love and beauty or the messianic hope that Christ will return.

The composite capitals on the columns feature poppies.  In cemetery symbolism the poppy represents eternal sleep.  Just as it was portrayed in the movie, The Wizard of Oz, the main characters lie down in a field of poppies where they fall into a deep sleep.  That same imagery is used here.  The angel sits in front of a portal suggesting the entryway to Heaven and eternal sleep.