Gravely Speaking

LESTER C. MADDEN

SEPT. 24, 1931—June 7, 1983

Yesterday, June 20^th, was the 49^th anniversary of the release of Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster movie Jaws.  That movie, based on the Peter Benchley novel of the same name, spawned three sequels and so many knock-offs that there is an entire week devoted to shark movies for fans’ viewing pleasure.  Movies that include the original movie and sequels as well as Sharknado, Shark Night, Raiders of the Lost Shark, and Two-Headed Shark Attack, among many others.

Jaws also spawned a huge fan—Lester C. Madden.  In fact, he loved the movie so much that his wish was to have a gravestone that paid tribute to the movie.  His gravestone, in the Allegheny Cemetery in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is a black granite replica of the original shark on the Jaws movie poster—with the shark’s open mouth bearing its deadly teeth.

Now that is a true fan!

RACHEL BLYTHE

WIFE OF

A.G. BUAER

Jan. 9, 1897 – Aged 26 YEARS

“True worth is being, not seeming.”

The inscription underneath her Rachel Baur’s picture:

In thy dark eyes splendor

Where the warm light loves to dwell

Weary looks yet tender

Speak their last farewell

There is an unusual cradle grave marker in the Oakwood Cemetery in Raleigh, North Carolina.  Cradle grave markers are so named because they resemble a cradle.  They consist of a footstone and headstone connected by two low stone walls forming a rectangle, the interior of which is used for plantings. The grave marker of Rachel Blythe Bauer is unusual in that the headstone is made of brick and forms a foundation that is topped by a small replica of a building that was designed to resemble the Temple of Diana in Ephesus.  Between two columns is a portrait of Mrs. Rachel Bauer.

Rachel Blythe and Adolphus Gustavus Bauer’s love story was uncertain from the start.  They were in love but because Rachel was from a prominent Cherokee family it was illegal in North Carolina at that time for Native Americans to marry outside their race.  However, the couple had been advised if they were married outside of their state, the marriage would be accepted and legal upon their return.  They were married in secret on November 15, 1894. They were married again in Washington D.C. on June 18, 1895.  However, the North Carolina Supreme Court ruled in June of that year, that the marriage was invalid, and the couple would be liable for prosecution if they returned to the state.  The McCook Tribune of Nebraska, June 28, 1895 edition reported that “in the event they attempt to live in North Carolina it is reasonably certain they will have trouble.”  However, the couple did return and no charges were brought forth. Rachel gave birth to their daughter, Owenah, in October of 1895. 

Adolphus flourished as an architect until tragedy struck on May 2, 1896, when the buggy he was riding in was struck by a train.  He suffered major injuries including dizzy spells, delusions, and depression.  He continued to work, however.  In December of 1896, Rachel gave birth. Shortly, after their son, Fred, was born tragedy struck again.  Rachel died on January 9, 1897, most likely from complications of dysentery.

Adolphus designed Rachel grave marker for his beloved wife.  The North Carolina legislature passed a bill validating the marriage of the couple.  It was announced in The North Carolinian on Thursday, March 11, 1897.  On May 11, 1898, Adolphus committed suicide.  He was found holding a photograph of Rachel.  The note he left behind requested that he be buried “buried by the side of my wife, in Raleigh, N.C., where I have so long sojourned and among the Southern people I have liked so well.”

Etta Rebecca White Ratcliff

October 24, 1880

May 28, 1918

Etta Ratcliff is buried next to one of the broad avenues in the Oakwood Cemetery in Raleigh, North Carolina.  Her gravestone features a carved angel—not unusual except the face of the angel is modeled after Etta herself. 

Etta was a mother of five and wife to William Emmet Ratcliff.  Ratcliff was a successful knitting factory owner.  Etta was a very young 37 years old when she died of a cerebral hemorrhage.  After her death, Ratcliff ordered a statue to be carved in her likeness. 

The statue, made of marble was carved in Italy.  During the shipment to America, the ship carrying the angel sank with Etta’s statue sinking with it.  Later it was recovered and placed where it now stands in the cemetery.

Maybe because of Etta’s angelic appearance and the resurrection of the statue itself from the bottom of the Atlantic, stories popped up with people claiming that as they walk past the angel, not only Etta’s eyes follow them, but some say her head moves following them.  Upon closer inspection of the statue, the neck has a crack, which some say is the reason the angel’s head can move about. There are claims that she has also been known to flutter her wings!

According to a WTVD broadcast, which aired Tuesday July 30, 2019, Oakwood Cemetery Executive Director Robin Simonton responded to the claims, “It’s … a little unsettling for us in a cemetery to see a statue that looks like a person.  It lends itself to urban legend.”

Urban legend or not, Etta’s angel watches over the passersby.

The Oakwood Cemetery in Raleigh, North Carolina has a large section dedicated to Confederate soldiers who died in the war and those soldiers who served and survived and wished to buried there after the war.  The white marble gravestones are marked with birth and death dates of the fallen soldiers, with most of the dates from the war years to the late 19^th century.  However, there is a commemorative marker that was placed early this century, and it was for the last crew members on the CSS H.L. Hunley.

The CSS H. L. Hunley, named for its creator Horace Lawson Hunley, was an experimental warcraft, the first of its kind in naval history—a submarine that successfully sank another ship, the USS Housatonic, in combat.  The Hunley did not do this on its first try, however.  In fact, the Hunley, also nicknamed the “porpoise” and “the fish boat” sank twice before—on its maiden run August 29, 1863 killing its first crew of five members and later on October 15, 1863 killing all eight on board.  Hunley himself was drowned on that voyage.  The Hunley was raised both times and returned to battle.

The placard placed on the commemorative markers reads:

“On February 17^th, 1864 the CSS H.L Hunley was the first submarine to sink an enemy ship in combat.  He sub was lost that night as well, when it sank just outside Charleston Harbour in SC. With all eight crewmembers perishing.  Crew Member James A Wicks was from North Carolina.  Whereas it played a small role in Civil War history it played a major role in American naval history.  The Confederate States of America submarine’s brave crew is listed below.  Buried beneath this marker are partial sedimentary remains of those brave naval men taken from the sub when it was raised from the floor of the ocean on August 8^th, 2000.

Lieutenant George E. Dixon, Commander

Arnold Becker

Corporal J. F. Carlsen

C. Lumpkin Miller

James A. Wicks

Joseph Ridgeway”

It is believed that when the crew fired its torpedo and hit the USS Housatonic, the impact of the explosion also sank the Hunley. The Hunley and its crew members were lost that night, until in 1995, the Hunley was found and raised for one last time. The Hunley is now on display at the Warren Lasch Conservation Center in North Charleston, South Carolina.

FRANCIS SCOTT KEY

FITZGERALD

SEPTEMBER 24, 1896

DECEMBER 21, 1940

HIS WIFE

ZELDA SAYRE

JULY 24, 1900

MARCH 10, 1948

“SO WE BEAT ON, BOATS AGAINST

THE CURRENT, BORNE BACK

CEASESSLY IN THE PAST.”

–The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife, Zelda are buried in the Fitzgerald Family plot in St. Mary’s Churchyard Cemetery in Rockville, Maryland.  When F. Scott died in 1940, the church officials denied him the right as a lapsed Catholic to be buried in the churchyard, so he was buried in the Rockville Cemetery down the road. When Zelda died, F. Scott and Zelda were buried in the churchyard after the church officials had rethought their position.

The afternoon I was the there the sun was setting behind the gravestone, which was littered with votive candles, booze bottles—empty and full—trinkets, toys, journals, pens, and pencils.  And tucked in with the memorabilia strewn on top of the grave ledger, was a note, a moving tribute to F. Scott and Zelda:

“In high school.  He is no longer here plagued by loss and depression and leaving this earth at age 39.  I was 15 when I first read Gatsby, and it made me think and feel in similes and metaphors that I‘d never before considered.  My mentor…encouraged me to write and to study literature in college and I did. 

Tragedy struck me when I was 22, and I was unable to truly process or write for many years. I found it too difficult to feel.  But still, in the quiet moments I found myself reaching for the books and authors who made me, me.

I’m 32 now and some things have changed, and yet others have not.  Perhaps I’m not the author I’d dreamed of being, but I’ve endured.  I’d like to hope that one day, I’ll write the book I’ve been wanting to.  You were both writing at my age, and I am amazed by your words.

It is with love that I say that I’m so sorry that your lives didn’t treat you fondly at times and that you didn’t live as long as you should have.  The world is cruel at times, and it seemed to favor despair with you both.

Please know that your impact is perhaps bigger now than ever and that you have not been forgotten, you, and Ernest, and Gertrude, and all the rest. 

Words can last forever and stand the test of time, and I thank you profoundly for yours.

Love always,

…”

The note is a more moving memorial to the Fitzgeralds that a gravestone could ever be.

Most cemeteries, especially historic cemeteries that no longer have room for new burials, rely on volunteers for the upkeep. In the historic Easton Cemetery in Easton, Pennsylvania, volunteers create gardens in cradle graves!

There are many superstitions that surround the supernatural and consequently burial practices, many of which have been long forgotten.

For instance, the doors to mausoleums are often imbued with symbolism.  In fact, the door itself represents a portal.  Portals come in many forms—a door, a gate, a window, even your eyes and your mouth are considered portals.  Many superstitions about death concern portals, many of which come from the Victorian Age.

The eyes, for instance, are considered the windows to the soul. Victorians believed the eyes were powerful, almost magical, even in death. When a person died therefore, the body had to be removed from the home feet first (most people died at home in the 19^th Century). In that way, the eyes of the deceased could not look back and lure a live person to follow the dead through the passageway to death.

The Victorians also believed that as you passed by a cemetery that you needed to hold your breath. The fear was that if one opened one’s mouth, that a spirit from the dead residing in the cemetery would enter your body through the portal—the open mouth.

Another superstition had to do with the mirrors in the home. After a death, the family very quickly covered the mirrors. It was believed that mirrors were false portals in a sense. The Victorians believed that the spirit of the dead could enter a mirror and become trapped in the mirror. If the spirit did so, it would not be able to complete its trip through the passageway from the Earthly realm to the Heavenly realm, or in some cases, to warmer climes.

The door as a motif in funerary art symbolizes mystery.  The door is the portal from the Earthly realm to the next. In Christianity, the door is usually viewed with hope, charity, and faith.  The next life in the hereafter will be better than the one experienced here on Earth.

Even the iron gates and fencing around the cemetery were imbued with a power—the power to keep the malevolent spirits such as ghosts, fairies, and witches at bay.  It was thought that iron had a supernatural power.  Hence a horseshoe nailed to a door was thought to be a talisman protecting those inside and repelling evil spirits.  Burying an iron knife in front of the threshold to your home was believed to ward off witches from coming in.  And the iron fencing around a cemetery was believed to contain the souls of the dead.  The magical powers of the gate and fencing are also found surrounding family plots.  It was thought that once the gate was closed the spirits could not follow you home!  Keep those gates closed!

THE TWELVE GATES WERE TWELVE PEARLS, REV. 21:21

“TO-DAY SHALT THOU BE WITH ME IN PARADISE.” LUKE 23:43

FRANK HAMILTON, 1853 – 1947, RESTING

CARRIE HAMILTON, 1852 – 1908, RESTING

ELBERTINE R. HAMILTON, 1862 – 1958, DEVOTED DISCIPLE

Two monuments, one in the Rock Creek Cemetery at Washington D.C. and the other in Cave Hill Cemetery at Louisville, Kentucky, depict an opening or gateway with a rock rolled away from the opening.

The Hamilton Tomb has two Bible verses carved into the face of it that indicate that the opening of that monument is meant to portray Jesus’s entry into Heaven, “To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise.” The second Bible verse, Revelation 21:21, goes on to describe the destination, “And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was one pearl; and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.”

The second monument, that of Zachariah Madison Sherley, a prominent riverboat fleet owner and pilot and his wife Susan Wallace Cromwell Sherley, also depicts a rock next to an entryway. This one, too, depicts the Resurrection of Jesus.

Many places in the Bible describe the Holy event, as does John 20:1 – 2, “The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulcher, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulcher. 2. Then she runneth and cometh Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them. They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulcher, and we know not where they have laid him.”

SHERLEY

Z. M. SHERLEY, 1811 – 1879

SUSAN W. CROMWELL, HIS WIFE, 1831 – 1928

However, the Bork Family monument in St. Joseph’s Cemetery in Tiffin, Ohio, depicts Jesus’s ascension to Heaven. Here Jesus leaves the Earthly realm for the Heavenly realm—this is the Resurrection of Christ.

In a mausoleum in the Metairie Cemetery in New Orleans, the stained-glass window in the back of the tomb depicts an angel with red wings.  Angel’s are known as God’s messenger from the Hebrew root meaning send. 

This angel is thought to be a Seraphim.  Seraphim are one of nine orders or choirs of angels which are organized into three spheres or orders, with three choirs in each.  According to Christian tradition, the First Order, is made up of the Seraphim, Cherubim, and Thrones; the Middle or Second Order is made up of Dominions, Virtues, and Powers; and the Lowest or Third Order is made up of Principalities, Archangels and Angels. 

Seraphim are mentioned in Isaiah 6:2-3 (King James Version):  2) “Above it stood the Seraphim; each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.”  3) “And on cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: The whole earth is full of His glory.”

According to tradition, the Seraphim have red wings because they are the closet to God.

JUDSON

CLAY 1892 – 1960   SYLVIA SHAW 1897 – 1976

Alongside one of the avenues in the historic Graceland Cemetery in Chicago is a plain and unadorned polished granite block marking the grave of Sylvia Shaw Judson.  There is nothing about the stone that gives a hint to the artistic talent of the woman buried beneath or the fact that she created one of the most famous sculptures marking a family plot in the famed Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah, Georgia.

The photo on the cover of the book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt made the statue, Bird Girl, by Sylvia Shaw Judson a sensation.  So much so that readers of the book flocked to the Bonaventure Cemetery to see it, which caused the family to move the sculpture marking their family plot to the Telfair Museum.  Bird Girl now has her own room in the museum.

The image is intriguing.  The statue is plain.  The girl is expressionless as she stands there, with her head titled slightly. There she stands with her arms out holding a bowl in each hand like scales—weighing, I thought—good and evil. —not knowing whether it is a nod to the virtuous or the villainous.  But it turns out the sculptor intended the statue to adorn a garden—not a cemetery.  The two bowls were to have water in one and bird feed in the other.  Bird Girl is Shaw Judson’s most famous sculpture, but her works can be found in many places including botanical gardens, libraries, museums, schools, and churches.

Ironic that her sculpture Bird Girl should have received such fame as a grave marker while her own stone is plain and devoid of her talent as a sculptor.