Gravely Speaking

Tucked in the back of a mausoleum in the Forest Hills Cemetery in Chattanooga, Tennessee, is a stained-glass window that depicts Christ carrying the Cross along the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem on His way to Crucifixion.

This dramatic portrayal shows Christ bent and crawling up steps with the Cross on his back.  He is surrounded by two Roman soldiers with spears and clubs drawn. At the top of the steps Simon of Cyrene appears to be getting read to help Christ carry the heavy burden.

King James Version, Luke 23: 27 “And as they led Him away, they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country, and on him they laid the Cross, that he might bear it after Jesus.”

In this depiction, Christ carries the entire Cross.  However, many modern Biblical scholars believe that Christ carried only a patibulum or crossbar which was affixed to a pole or stipe that was already driven into the ground at Golgotha, also known as Calvary or the Hill upon which Christ was crucified.

TO THE MEMORY OF

BELLE ACHER

BORN IN EASTERN PA SEPT 5. 1858

DIED IN WARREN PA SEPT 19.1900

BY HER BRILLIANT ACCOMPLISHMENT

AND RARE-GRACES OF MIND AND PERSON

SHE GAVE DISTINCTION

TO THE HISTORIC ARTS.

TO THE NAME OF BELLE ARCHER

THE MASTER LEANING REACHED A HAND AND

WHISPERED IT IS FINISHED

W. CLARKE NOBLE SCULPTOR

In the Easton Cemetery in Easton, Pennsylvania, is a large 6-foot-tall granite monolith with a bronze insert with an inscription to and a bas-relief sculpture of actress Belle Archer.  Belle Archer started her acting career under the name of Belle Mackenzie on the Baltimore and Washington, D.C. stages.  Her first role was in the play “The Mighty Dollar.”  In 1880, Belle married fellow actor, Herbert Marshall Archer, and changed her name.  They soon began to play opposite of each other in a play titled, “The Highest Bidder”. Though her marriage failed in 1889, Belle’s career took off and for the next ten years she appeared in stage productions of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” “Hazel Kirke,” “The Foresters”, “The Three Musketeers”, and “Lord Chumley” among others.

On September 16^th, 1900, Belle Archer took a bad fall on the train station platform in Jamestown, New York.  Though it was thought she was recovering, she died the following Wednesday, September 19^th.  Her funeral was held in the Episcopal Church in Easton.  She was buried in the Easton Cemetery.

The monument marking her grave includes a bronze plaque sculped by Maine-born artist William Clarke Noble (February 10, 1858 – May 10, 1938).  The medallion portrait is said to be a reproduction of her favorite.  Her beauty is best described by The Easton Daily Express, September 21, 1900, that noted “her beautiful face and form and the grace and ease of her carriage captivated her audiences wherever she appeared.”  The portrait, sculpted by Noble, captured her notable beauty. 

Noble’s many works can be found at the Gettysburg Battlefield, the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in Newport, Rhode Island,; Mount Moriah Cemetery in Philadelphia; New York City; Doane Park, Newark, New Jersey; the Maine Statehouse; as well as many other places throughout the country.

Lewis Raul

October 12, 1855 – July 18, 1924

Jane Elinor Morely Raul

August 21, 1860 – April 8, 1930

Marie Edna Raul Haytock

1881 – 1964

Benjamin Haytock, Jr.

March 17, 1882 – May 21, 1933

Harry Lewis Raul

October 2, 1883 – May 26, 1960

FRSA

The Raul family plot in the Easton Cemetery in Easton, Pennsylvania, includes the gravestone of Harry Lewis Raul, sculptor.  Raul was a member of the Fellow of the Royal Society of Artists, and his works can be found in the D.C. area and in many cities, museums, and private collections. That includes several sculptures in the Easton area, including a memorial to the sailors and soldiers who served in WWI in the Wilson Borough.

The Raul family plot also includes a sculpture titled “The Guardian” created by Harry Lewis Raul himself. 

The statue is a stylized angel standing guard with the Biblical verse below emblazoned on the face of the shield.

HE THAT DWELLETH

IN THE SECRET

PLACE OF THE

MOST HIGH

SHALL ABIDE

UNDER THE

SHADOW OF THE

ALMIGHTY

FOR HE SHALL

GIVE HIS

ANGELS CHARGE

OVER THEE

TO KEEP

THEE IN ALL

THY WAYS.

Psalm 91: 1-11

Dr. Traill Green, M.D.

May 25, 1813 – April 29, 1897

Harriet Moore Green

July 29, 1820 – February 17, 1906

Dr. Traill Green was an important figure in Easton, Pennsylvania.  According to the April 30, 1897 edition of The Washington D.C. Star, he was an “eminent physician and famous scientist.”  In addition to that, Green was a prominent professor of chemistry at Lafayette College, as well as, a trustee and for a short time an acting president. 

Nationally he served as the first president of American Academy of Medicine.  One of his many contributions to the community of Easton was as serving on the school board.  He was one of the first, too, to believe that graveyards should be away from population centers which led to the founding of the Easton Cemetery.  Green served as the first board president, a position he held for nearly 40 years.

In honor of Green’s service to the college, community, and cemetery, Harry Lewis Raul was commissioned to create a statue of Dr. Traill Green dedicated May 30, 1911, which stands just inside the gates of the Easton Cemetery bearing the inscription, “M.D.L.L.D. First President of the Easton Cemetery Company, Physician – Scientist – Educator – Patriot – Christian.”

Charles Koffman Williams

January 31, 1862 – October 12, 1944

Ida L. Wilson Williams

December 17, 1866 – December 29, 1940

The Williams Family monument, titled “Vision,” in the Easton Cemetery in Easton, Pennsylvania, is a private commission created by sculptor Harry Lewis Raul and cast in 1908. 

Raul (October 2, 1883—May 27, 1960) was a native of Easton, who studied the classics first at Lafayette College, then transferred to study with noted artists in New York and Philadelphia. His work can be found throughout the cemetery and other places in Northampton County, Pennsylvania.  For a time, Raul had his own art studio and created public and private commissions.

An example of his public work, similar to the classically draped allegorical figure in the Williams Family monument, can be found in front of the Northampton County Courthouse created in 1912 and cast in 1913 to honor the sailors who died in the Maine and the soldiers and sailors who served and died in the Spanish-American War.

IN MEMORY OF

THE

MARTYS OF THE MAINE

AND THE SOLDIERS

SAILORS AND MARINES

OF THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR

1898 – 1902

ERECTED UNDER THE AUSPICES OF

THE COUNTY OF NORHTAMPTON AND

COL. CHARLES WIKOFF CAMP NO 43

UNITED SPANISH WAR VETERANS

OF EASTON PENNSYLVANIA

DEDICATED JUNE 24, 1914

Several readers have asked about the carving on the Patrick tree-stump gravestone from the previous post which is in the Friendship Park Cemetery at Paragon, Indiana. While it is clear that the hand of the female, denoted by the lace on the sleeve, is handing something to the male hand, it is not clear what it is. The writing has eroded on the item and can’t be made out. If anyone has a clue about what this might be, please share.

John Quincey Patrick

November 1847 – November 16, 1933

Highland Mary Franklin Patrick

May 15, 1856 – June 1, 1935

Tree stump tombstones were a part of the rustic movement of the mid-nineteenth century which was characterized by designs that were made to look like they were from the country. The gravestones were purposefully designed to look like trees that had been cut and left in the cemetery to mark a grave. Most of these tree-stump tombstones were carved from limestone, which is easier to carve.

The tree-stump tombstones were a funerary art contrivance mimicking the natural surroundings of the cemetery and were most popular for a twenty year-period from about 1885 until about 1905.  The creativity of the carvers was boundless and often tailored to the interests of the deceased.

This tree stump tombstone in the Friendship Park Cemetery in Paragon, Indiana, created for the Patrick Family is a great example of the unique designs that the stone carvers used to display the individual tastes and interests of the persons they memorialized with their craft.  This example depicts a stack of books resting atop a side table. From the tree reaches a hand reaching for the top book on the stack.  As it turns out, a reading of Highland Mary Patrick’s obituary, indicates that Mrs. Patrick “was a well-read woman and took an intelligent delight in reading the best literature.”  Her gravestone was a lasting tribute to her love of reading!

The tree-stump gravestones themselves were imbued with symbolism. The short tree stump usually marks the grave of a person who died young—a life that had been “cut” short.  This tree-stump, however, is fairly tall—hardly a stump. The Patricks, John Quincey and Highland Mary, lived to be 86 and 79 respectively, both having lived long lives.

Often the inside of a mausoleum is the more impressive than the exterior with displaying sculptures and stained-glass windows that are not readily accessible to be viewed.  Even though this window from a mausoleum in the Mount Holly, Little Rock, Arkansas, is broken, the brilliant colors and imagery convey what was likely the deep religious faith of the family entombed here. 

The center of the top third of the window displays rays of amber light that form a cross—the universal symbol of Christianity.  In the middle of that cross is a crown of thorns.  The portrayal of crown of thorns as described in John, Chapter 19: Verse 1, where the Romans mock Christ: “Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged Him.”  Verse 2, “And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe.”  Verse 3, “And said, Hail, King of the Jews! and they smote Him with their hands.”

Inside the crown of thorns and in the center of the rays of light is a five-pointed star. Again, this imagery is about the Passion of Christ and His Suffering.  The star likely represents the Five Holy Wounds of Christ–one wound in each hand, a wound in each foot, and one in his side where Jesus was pierced to check to make sure he was dead.

Just below is a dove.  There are several references in the Bible that refer to the dove as a symbol of the Holy Spirit. Matthew 3:16 reads, “And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him.” In Mark 1:10 the Bible says, “And Straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him.” Again in John 1:32, the Bible reads, “And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.” 

Along with the dove symbolizing the Holy Spirit, the dove is also closely associated with peace, often depicted with a sprig of an olive in its beak. This, too, originated in the Bible. After the waters receded in the story of Noah, the dove appears. Genesis 8:11, “And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off; so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.”  It was viewed as a sign of God’s forgiveness.  The dove, with its white color, is also a symbol of purity and innocence and for that reason is often found the tombstones of children. Thus the dove symbolizes the Holy Spirit, peace, and purity.

At the base of the window is a display of Easter lilies.  The lily, as a funerary symbol, has many meanings including purity, innocence, virginity, heavenly bliss, majestic beauty, and Christ’s resurrection.  The Easter Lily has long been associated with the Christian religion, commonly referred to as “White-Robed Apostles of Christ.” Early Christians believed that lilies sprouted where Jesus Christ’s sweat and tears fell to the ground in the Garden of Gethsemane.  Christians also believe that the trumpet-shaped blossoms announce the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

As is often the case, symbols not only have a religious meaning but often share a secular one, as well.  The color white has typically been a color associated with virtues of purity and innocence.  So, just as the symbol of the white dove can be found on the grave of a child, so, too, can the white lily. The child being the epitome of purity and innocence.  The white lily is also associated with virginity and marriage, in particular relationship to women.  On one hand, the lily represents virginity and innocence, which is an appropriate symbol for a young unmarried woman.  On the other hand, it is symbolic of majestic beauty and marriage, which makes it an appropriate symbol for all married women regardless of their age.

IN BELOVED MEMORY OF

LT. COL. JOHN BAYARD SNOWEDEN II

BORN JAN. 19, 1906

KILLED IN ACTION NEAR MARBACHE, FRANCE

SEPT. 7, 1944

COMMANDING 318^TH INF BN 3^RD 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.

MOTHER

ARABELLA A.

BINNINGTON

Born October 27^th 1847

Died January 5^th 1918

Grave markers are made of many different materials—stone, zinc, wood, iron, bronze, and even steel as is this marker in the Rosehill Cemetery at Idaho Falls, Idaho. 

For the most part, markers are meant to be created to last, which is why so many are made of sturdy materials such as granite or bronze which holds up against the weather for generations. 

However, in some cases, the families had to use materials at hand, such as the pioneers who crossed the open prairie as they travelled Westward.  Many of those markers were fashioned quickly out of wood and painted with names and dates as the families continued their treks. 

While others used materials that are less expensive and less likely to endure harsh weather, such as this steel rounded-top marker.  Clearly the rust is taking a toll with the marker coming apart at the seams. It is only a matter of time before the corrosion damages the marker beyond repair and this tribute to a mother no longer serves its purpose.