Author Archives: gravelyspeaking

MITCHELL WILLIAM WHITTIER MITCHELL JUNE 3, 1854 – NOVEMBER 8, 1915 ELLA YOST MITCHELL JULY 2, 1855 – JUNE 11, 1945 A MAN SHALL BE AS THE SHADOW OF A GREAT ROCK IN A WEARY LAND William Whittier Mitchell was … Continue reading →

THAT BEST PORTION OF A GOOD MAN’S LIFE: HIS NAMELSS UNREMEMBERED ACTS OF KINDNESS AND LOVE  Charles Webster Shippey was a real estate dealer who was struck down by a locomotive killing him just a few feet away from the … Continue reading →

The Protestant Reformation spawned many different religious sects, including splinter groups from sects that had already broken away from mainstream Protestant churches.  One such group was known as The United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing.  This group became … Continue reading →

Leonard Wells Volk, written about in the two previous blogposts, is not only buried in the Rosehill Cemetery in Chicago, Illinois, but two of the monuments he designed are also in the cemetery.  As you drive through the main gate … Continue reading →

Leonard Wells Volk, written about in the previous blogpost, was buried in the Rosehill Cemetery in Chicago, Illinois.  Not only is there a statue monument commemorating his burial plot, but one of the first monuments one sees through the castellated … Continue reading →

LEONARD WELLS VOLK 11 – 7 – 1828 8 – 19 – 1895 EMILY CLARISSA BARLOW HIS WIFE 8 – 23 – 1832 5 – 28 – 1895 ADELLE DOUGLAS 4 – 17 – 1864 8 – 9 – 1865 … Continue reading →

In the article, “Embodying Immortality: Angels in America’s Rural Garden Cemeteries, 1850—1900”, pages 56 – 111, 2007 edition of Markers, XXIV, written by Elisabeth Roark, she writes of the eight most common types of graveyard angels found in cemeteries—grouped by the … Continue reading →

The Gothic Revival in the United States began in the late 18th Century.  At first, there were only small features of the Gothic style that were incorporated into buildings such as tracery and other minor embellishments but after a few … Continue reading →

In the ‘Nineteenth Century Mortuary Architectural Styles’ post by Jason Holm, he writes, “Victorian sensibilities merged with Romantic tendencies and thrust revivals of Gothic, Classical, and Egyptian architectural styles in the mainstream.”  There was not one Gothic style but many: … Continue reading →

May “Mollie” Cash Neal Born 1844, Louisiana Died October 1894, aged 49-50 Mary Elizabeth “Lizzie” Neal Born 1867, Louisiana Died June 17, 1889, aged 21-22 The monument in the historic Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta of two women sitting next two … Continue reading →