IN BELOVED MEMORY OF
LT. COL. JOHN BAYARD SNOWEDEN II
BORN JAN. 19, 1906
KILLED IN ACTION NEAR MARBACHE, FRANCE
SEPT. 7, 1944
COMMANDING 318TH INF BN 3RD ARMY U.S.A.
BURIED LOT A ROW 6 GRAVE 145
AMERICAN MILITARY CEMETERY NO. 1
CHAMPIGNEUL, FRANCE
The monument in the Elmwood Cemetery in Memphis, Tennessee, was a cenotaph. It was erected to commemorate the life and death of t. Col. John Bayard Snowden II, who was not originally buried under the tomb. The word cenotaph originates from the Greek word kenotaphion. Kenos means empty and taphos tranlsates to tomb–together they form “empty tomb.”
As the inscription details on tomb, Lieutenant Colonel John Bayard Snowden II was killed in action near, Marbache, France in September of 1944. After his death, he was buried in an American Military Cemetery in France, and then his body was returned to Elmwood Cemetery in his hometown of Memphis.
The life-size angel gracing the tomb was sculpted by Norfolk, Virginia-born artist, William Couper (September 20, 1853- June 22, 19420). The bronze angel holds a palm branch in one hand and torch pointed downward, representing death in the other. Couper was a noted artist well-known for his neo-classic and realistic sculptures of military heroes, historical figures, and angels, including the recording angel he sculpted for his family’s monument in the Elmwood Cemetery, in Norfolk, Virginia.
His sculptures can be found in town squares, museums, parks, and cemeteries, including the sculptures of sphinxes he carved for the Stanford Mausoleum on the grounds of Stanford University.
Gravely Speaking 