Gravely Speaking

The John E. Hubbard monument in the Green Mount Cemetery at Montpelier, Vermont, features a statue of Thanatos created by famed sculptor, Karl Bitter.  The monument is neither black nor Agnes—it is green and it Thanatos.  Thanatos, in Greek mythology, was the personification of death.

Oddly, however, this monument has become known in local lore as Black Agnes.  The monument may have been given the name based on a sculpture that was erected for General Felix Agnus, the publisher of the Baltimore American who was buried in the Druid Ridge Cemetery, at Pikesville, Maryland, outside of Baltimore.  The seated sculpture, that became known as Black Agnus and once decorated General Angus’s monument, was a knock-off of the sculpture that Augustus Saint-Gaudens created for the Adams monument in the Rock Creek Cemetery at Washington, D.C.

What is plain from looking at the Hubbard monument is that the “she” is a “he.”  Nonetheless, the name, Black Agnes, persists and a mythology of its own has been created around the sculpture.  Supposedly, if you sit on the lap of the sculpture, something bad will happen to you—some say in seven hours, some say seven days, some say seven months; the amount of time varies depending on who retells the story of the curse. Locals also tell of screams coming from the cemetery at night in the vicinity of the monument.  Others report seeing the eyes of the sculpture turn to glowing red, though, no photographic evidence of that has surfaced.

Separating Fact and Myth

What we know to be true is that the monument was created for John Erastus Hubbard (1847 – 1899) who was a prominent businessman and citizen in Montpelier.  When his well-to-do Aunt passed away in 1890, she left the bulk of her fortune to the city of Montpelier.  John contested the will and won the fortune which he added to his own sizeable holdings.  It caused many in the city to see Hubbard as a bit of a scoundrel who cheated the city out the bequest—which some estimated the fortune at $300,000—which was a King’s ransom in the 19^th Century.

Hubbard’s reputation was nearly instantly tainted, but when he died less than ten years later, he left the bulk of his fortune to the city—some believe to polish his tarnished legacy.

On either side of the statue that dominates his tomb are the following two stanzas from William Cullen Bryant’s poem, “Thanatopsis” which would seem to indicate that Hubbard did not believe he had anything to be ashamed of:

THOU GO NOT LIKE THE

QUARRY SLAVE AT NIGHT

SCOURGED TO HIS DUNGEON

BUT SUSTAINED AND SOOTHED

BY AN UNFALTERING TRUST

APPROACH THEY GRAVE

LIKE ONE WHO WRAPS THE

DRAPERY OF HIS COUCH

ABOUT HIM AND LIES DOWN

TO PLEASANT DREAMS.

As the French proverb goes, “There is no pillow so soft as a clear conscience”.

Next to several gravestones in the Hope Cemetery at Barre, Vermont, are small metal markers imbued with an amazing amount of symbolism.  The marker has at its center a cross and crown laid upon a triangle that is resting upon downward pointing swords in saltire.

All of these symbols point to the marker commemorating the grave of a member of the Knights Templar—that and the fact that at the bottom of the cartouche, the words—“St. Aldemar Com. No. 11. K.T.” gives us several clues.  K. T. refers to the Knights Templar.  “Comm.” is an abbreviation for commandery, one of the organizing units in the Knights Templar, a fraternal order associated with Freemasonry.

Next to several gravestones in the Hope Cemetery at Barre, Vermont, are small metal markers.  The markers have a shield displaying a rampart lion overlaid on two crossbars and atop another shield with thistle leaves and thistle flowers flanking the top shield.  The letters B. at the top of the marker and O. S. C. at the bottom of the marker are initials that stand for the Benevolent Order of Scottish Clans.

Several of the symbols on the metal marker are significant to the Scots.  The rampart lion is the same heraldic symbol displayed on the royal Banner of Scotland which was flown by Scottish Kings.  The crossbar represents St. Andrew, the patron saint of Scotland, who was martyred at Patras in Achaea in Greece.  St. Andrew believed himself unworthy to die in the same way as Christ and requested he be lashed to a Crux decussate or an x-shaped cross.  The thistle is the National Emblem of Scotland.

The Benevolent Order of Scottish Clans fraternal organization was founded in the late 1800s in St. Louis, Missouri, by James McCash to would provide insurance and mutual aid to its members.  The organization also promoted the Scottish heritage by sponsoring the replaying of Highland games, dancing, picnics featuring Scottish foods, and playing bagpipes.

Fittingly, the order was founded on St. Andrew’s Day.

CAPT.

JAMES HAMOR

DIED

Dec. 17, 1873,

AE. 79 yrs.

He’ll ride no more the billows _____

Nor o’er the rolling wave

He has performed life’s final voyage

And anchored in the grave.

CLARA B.

Wife of

CAPT. JAMES HAMOR

Died June 12, 1888,

AE. 84 yrs 6 mos.

& 7 days

I know that my redeemer

liveth.

Some gravestones display the occupation of the deceased as does this one from the Bar Harbor, Maine, Village Burying Ground.  The cemetery is just a block or so from the village green tucked between two great churches.  Toward the back of the cemetery is the gravestone of sea Captain James Hamor.

Even if his title of Captain was not engraved on his gravestone it would be easy to discern his occupation from the bas-relief carving of a great ship on the rolling sea.  And, even though, there is one word in his epitaph that is undecipherable, it confirms his occupation by defining his life and burial in seafaring terms.