President Garfield, wounded by an assassin, killed by his doctors

Posted on January 15, 2012 by gravelyspeaking

The Garfield Tomb, Lake View Cemetery, Cleveland, Ohio

The tomb, in the Lake View Cemetery was designed by George H. Keller, is a circular tower 50 feet in diameter soaring 180 feet high made of Ohio sandstone. Wrapped around the “porch” of the monument are five bas-relief panels that depict scenes in Garfield’s life and the last of the five illustrating his death.

James Abram Garfield (November 19, 1831 – September 19, 1881)

James Garfield, the 20th President of the United States, was the last person who came from log-cabin beginnings to be elected to the highest office in the land. Garfield was born in the Ohio countryside on a farm. At less than two years old, his father died and the family struggled to get by living in abject poverty. By hard work and determination, Garfield rose to the presidency. As a teenager, Garfield took a job working on the Erie Canal on a construction crew but was determined to gain an education. He turned out to be a gifted learner and was hired at Hiram College to teach where he had been a student. Garfield was elected as an Ohio State Senator, nine-time United States Congressman from Ohio, and served as a General in the Union Army during the Civil War. After the war in Congress, Garfield was a tireless supporter of freed slaves and political reform railing against the political spoils system.

Garfield was a skilled and compelling orator. In 1880, at the Republican National Convention he was asked to give a nomination speech for the Secretary of the Treasury, John Sherman, who was running for the presidency. His spellbinding speech so moved the conventioneers that Garfield himself was nominated on the 35th ballot.

Only four months into Garfield’s presidency, Charles Guiteau, a dissatisfied office seeker and lunatic, shot the president twice once in the arm and once in the back. For the following 80 days Dr. D. Willard Bliss directed the care of the wounded Garfield. But it was not the assassin’s bullets that killed the felled president, but the inept care he received. Bliss believed that the antiseptic and sterilized operating conditions that Joseph Lister wrote about was quackery. In fact, Garfield’s bullet wound was searched by the bare and unwashed hands nine times without antiseptic on the day he was shot which led to the infections that riddled and weakened his body.  A new book, Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President, by Candice Millard details the apalling medical care that President Garfield received before his death.

The white marble sculpture of James A. Garfield

This white Carrara marble sculpture by Alexander Doyle captures James Garfield just as he stood beside a chair to deliver a speech in Congress.

The dome of the Garfield Tomb

The dome of the Garfield Monument depicts angels from the four corners—North, South, East, and West–of America mourning the loss of the President.

The last of five bas-reliefs on the porch of the Garfield Tomb

 The scene of Garfield’s death at Elberon, New Jersey

The crypt displaying the casket of President Garfield

Below the great hall with the statue of Garfield is the crypt that displays Garfield’s bronze flag-draped coffin next to Lucretia’s casket. Two urns are placed in the crypt—that hold the remains of Mollie Garfield Stanley-Brown, their daughter, and her husband, and former devoted secretary to President Garfield.

Posted in Presidential graves | 3 Comments

The last two ocean voyages by Columbus

Posted on January 14, 2012 by gravelyspeaking

The Columbus Tomb, Seville, Spain

Ordinarily I don’t write about graves, tombs, or funerary symbolism outside of North America, but this is a brief interlude into the world outside my regular “beat”.  I took these photos when my family and I were on vacation in Seville, Spain, and touring the awe-inspiring Seville Cathedral, the largest Gothic Cathedral, and the third largest church in the world.  I was struck by the magnificance of the Columbus Tomb designed in the romantic-style by artist Arturo Melida.  The four mace bearers carrying the mortal remains of Christopher Columbus represent the four kingdoms–Castile, Leon, Aragon, and Navarra–that were under Spanish rule when Columbus left on his 1492 voyage of discovery.  Then I was struck by the mystery and contraversy of who might actually be in the tomb since there has long been a lingering doubt.
 
Christopher Columbus, famous for his voyages to the New World, traveled more after he died than most people do during their lifetimes.   He died in Spain in 1509, and was originally buried at Valladolid, Spain.  After his will was read, the remains of Christopher Columbus and those of his son, Diego, were shipped to the Caribbean island of Hispanola (modern-day Dominican Republic and Haiti) in 1537 making what was thought to be his last trans-Atlantic passage. Christopher Columbus and Diego Columbus were buried along side the remains of Christopher’s brother, Bartholomew, in the Cathedral of Santa Maria in Santo Domingo.  They rested there underneath the altar of the church for over two and a half centuries.
 
But France won dominion over the Spanish territory in 1795.  To protect the remains of Columbus the Spaniards shipped an unmarked casket and the remains within to the island of Cuba, to be reburied in Havana.  
 
The Dominican Republic, however, claimed that Columbus’s dust and bones remained in Hispanola. To bolster their claims, they shared the discovery of a box that had been uncovered in the Santo Domingo cathedral, in 1877,  with an inscription “C.C.A” on the outside of the lead box.  Inside the box the inscription read, “The illustrious and excellent man, Don Colon Admiral of the Ocean Sea.”  The title of the Admiral of the Ocean Sea had been conferred on both Christorpher and his son, Diego.  Also, both were referred to as Don Colon.  The authorities in Santa Domingo declared that they held the remains of Christopher Columbus because the lead box they had in had the intials C. C. A.–Cristobal Colon, Admiral. The Spanish rejected that claim, with the theory that the majority of Christopher Columbus’s remains were in their possession, while some may have been left behind.
 
After the Spanish-American War and the defeat of the Spanish, Columbus was on the move again and the unmarked casket made its last ocean voyage in 1898 to Seville, Spain, to finally dock in the tomb in the Seville Cathedral.
 
However, DNA analysis of bone fragments from the Tomb in Seville were compared to the bone fragments and dust from the Seville tomb of Christopher’s brother Diego Colon which happen to be a perfect match. Researchers announced the results in 2006, hoping to put an end to the contraversy. But one aspect of the case was left unturned–the DNA from the Dominican Republic was not not analyzed, the contraversy remains to this day.
 

The Columbus Tomb, Seville, Spain

Posted in Famous graves | 2 Comments

Dove

Posted on January 11, 2012 by gravelyspeaking

Holy Cross St. Joseph Cemetery, Indianapolis, Indiana

 

Many symbols found on gravestones have multiple meanings. The dove is one of those.

 Several references in the Bible 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 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.

Knightridge Cemetery, rural Bloomington, Indiana

 

Posted in Symbolism | Leave a comment

Pointing Upward

Posted on January 8, 2012 by gravelyspeaking

Sand Creek Cemetery, rural Martinsville, Indiana

The finger pointing upward, indicates the soul traveling to Heaven, sometimes a presumptious claim, though hopeful.
 

Sand Creek Cemetery, rural Martinsville, Indiana

Here the finger pointing upwards is coupled with the image of a willow tree, a traditional symbol of sorrow.  This seems to indicate while the soul of their loved one has gone to Heaven, the family on Earth mourns the loss and grieves for their loved one.
 

Mt. Nebo Churchyard Cemetery, Mt. Nebo, Indiana

The image above of the finger pointing upward is coupled with a crown that has the words, GONE HOME, on the base.  The crown symbolizes victory.  Most likely the combination of the images represent the flight of the soul from the earthly realm to the Heavenly realm.  “Gone Home” is an often used euphemism for Heaven.  In this case an indication that the soul received its “crown” in Heaven.
Posted in Symbolism | Leave a comment

The Bonds of Marriage

Posted on January 6, 2012 by gravelyspeaking

Crown Hill Cemetery, Indianapolis, Indiana

In the tree-stump tombstone above, two hands emerge from the opening in the bark of the tree.  The two hands are depicted clasping a chain.  The hand at the top is a male’s hand; the shirt cuff is square, unadorned, and masculine.  The hand below is clearly the hand of woman because of the fluted and lace sleeve. 
 
There are seven links in the chain that the couple holds between them.  It could possibly be a coincidence, or more likely holds Biblical significance.  The number seven shows up more often in the Bible than any other number.  The number seven first shows up in the Book of Genesis.  The creation story tells us that God created the Earth in seven days and on the seventh day, God rested.  God’s work was done in seven days.  Thus the number seven has come to represent completeness. 
 
Here the seven-link chain symbolizes the tender bonds of marriage.  The motif is an expression of the marriage being a path to completeness on Earth, that the couple holds onto even to death, “unto death do us part.”
 

Henry and Ella Smith Tombstone, Crown Hill Cemetery, Indianapolis, Indiana

Posted in Symbolism | Leave a comment

Tree-Stump Tombstone and Fern

Posted on January 4, 2012 by gravelyspeaking

Knightridge Cemetery, rural Bloomington, Indiana

This small tombstone in the church cemetery in rural Bloomington, Indiana, is a stump, not fully grown in width or height.  This tree-stump tombstone is a metaphor in limestone, representing a life that has been cut short. Little Cora Nelson was less than two years old when she died and was buried.  Twinning up the base of the stump are three fern fronds.  The fern, a forest botanical, in funerary art represents both sincerity and sorrow.
 
The gravestone for 33-year old Mellia Baxter Roberts below, in the same cemetery, is another example of the tree-stump tombstone with the three fern fronds at the base of the marker.
 

Knightridge Cemetery, rural Bloomington, Indiana

Posted in Symbolism, Treestump gravestones | Leave a comment

Budden on Earth

Posted on January 2, 2012 by gravelyspeaking

Knightridge Cemetery, rural Bloomington, Indiana

For me, the hardest gravestones to look at are the ones for children.  They speak to the father in me.  I can look at them and understand the grief and the sorrow that the parents felt at the loss of a child, though, I cannot not personally bear the thought of what it must be like to endure.  I am often reminded of the feelings expressed by President Grover Cleveland, when he buried his daughter, “Baby Ruth”.  He could not quite get over the feeling that as his 12-year daughter lay in the coffin, that she was cold.  It haunted him.  It is those kind of irrational feelings and thoughts that people have during funerals.  I remember when my father died, my Uncle Fred asked me if I had taken shoes up to the funeral home for my Dad.  He said with a tear in his eye, “Brother Wilbur has always had cold feet.”

The bottom of this gravestone for a one-day old infant girl, who was born and died three days before Christmas in 1920, displays the iconic lamb motif–found almost exclusively on children’s gravestones.  The lamb is the symbol of the Lord, the Good Shepherd.  It also represents innocence, likely the reason why this motif usually adorns the tombstones of infants and young children.  Most often the lamb is lying down, often asleep, a euphemism for death. 

This gravestone also has carved on it, one of the epitaphs associated with children, “BUDDEN ON EARTH TO BLOOM IN HEAVEN.”  What is unusual about this treatment is that the carving of the two flowers on the gravestone illustrate the epitaph by displaying a bud and then a flower in full bloom.

In the half-circle of the top of the rounded-top tablet is a rising sun.  Often it is difficult to discern whether the sun is setting or rising.  That has long been a problem to know which is which.  In fact, Benjamin Franklin had the same difficulty at the Constitutional Convention of 1787 upon looking at the picture of the sun painted on the back of the President’s Chair.  Franklin said, “I have often looked at that picture behind the president without being able to tell whether it was a rising or setting sun. Now at length I have the happiness to know that it is indeed a rising, not a setting sun.” 

Franklin was making a statement about the work that had been completed by the delegates to the convention and his view of what it meant for the United States.  In funerary art, however, it is less about commentary and more about what the carving looks like.  In this motif, the rays eminating from the sun usually indicate that it is a rising sun.  The rising sun motif represents resurection and a renewed life. 

Posted in Epitaphs, Symbolism | Leave a comment

Disabled American Veterans

Posted on January 1, 2012 by gravelyspeaking

Knightridge Cemetery, rural Bloomington, Indiana

 The Disabled American Veterans organization was formed September 25, 1920, in the wake of World War I.  Few services were offered to soldiers upon their return from the war.  At a Christmas dinner hosted by an Ohio Superior Court Judge Robert F. Max the idea first surfaced to form the organization to assist wounded soldiers.The metal marker is a reproduction of the organization’s logo, which originated from a painting commissioned for a certificate of service by President Woodrow Wilson and executed by artist Edwin Blashfield. The original painting features a wounded veteran holding a rifle kneeling before Columbia.  Columbia, the symbol of freedom, is framed with an American flag and shield behind her.  She uses a sword to knight the soldier in honor of service to the nation.  In the other hand she holds above her head the certificate announcing the service and sacrifice of the veteran.

Today the Disabled American Veterans has over one million members.

Columbia Gives to Her Son the Accolade of the New Chevalry of Humanity

Posted in Metal Markers | Leave a comment

Father Time and the Weeping Virgin

Posted on December 27, 2011 by gravelyspeaking

Lake View Cemetery, Cleveland, Ohio

In this bas-relief, a winged Father Time is depicted here as an old man, with long hair and a long beard, with a large pair of wings.  Father Time is plying the tools of his trade that make him recognizable–a scythe, he carries over his shoulder and an hourglass resting behind him.  The scythe, a tool that was once used in the harvest, symbolizes the Divine harvest.  The hourglass is a reminder that time marches on and as the sands of time pass by all come closer to death; life is short.  Just as wheat is cut down by the scythe during the harvest, so are souls by Father Time.

Here, Father Time is standing behind a “weeping virgin”.  Father Time is delicately untangling the Virgin’s hair.  The act of untangling represents that with perserverance all things can be accomplished.  The weeping woman is holding in one hand a sprig of acacia, which represents the immortality of the soul, and in the other a rolled scroll, symbolic of life and time.  They stand before a broken column, the symbol of a life cut short.

Posted in Symbolism | Leave a comment

The Lion

Posted on December 24, 2011 by gravelyspeaking

Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

 The lion has long been a symbol of bravery, strength, and majesty. In popular culture, the lion is known for its power and is called King of the Jungle and King of the Beasts.

The lion is often used as a royal emblem, found eight times in the Royal Arms for the Queen of England alone!

The lion in funerary art symbolizes the power of God. It is often depicted flanking the entrance of a tomb to guard against evil spirits to the passageway to the next realm. It also represents the courage of the souls the lions guard. There is also a connection of the lion to the Resurrection. It was once believed that lion cubs were born dead but would come to life after three days when the cubs were breathed upon by a male lion. The three days is significant because it is the number of days Jesus was in the tomb before he was Resurrected.

Crown Hill Cemetery, Indianapolis, Indiana

Posted in Symbolism | Leave a comment