Gravely Speaking

Gravely Speaking and Syngrammata have decided to dig deep into our photo collections in order to bring you pairs of images drawn from our many years combing through American cemeteries. Each pair will be linked by a theme which we are free to interpret. Suggestions of future themes to follow are welcome in the comments! This week’s theme is: the most impressive mausoleum.

Gravely Speaking writes:

The Belmont Mausoleum, in the Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, is a near replica of the Chapel of Saint Hubert; the original is in Amboise, France, the final resting place of Leonardo da Vinci.

Alva Smith Vanderbilt Belmont (1853-1933) commissioned the architectural firm of Hunt and Hunt to build the tomb after the death of her second husband Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont (1858-1908) in 1908.  The mausoleum was completed in 1913 and is a masterpiece of late-fifteenth-century French Gothic architecture.

The front façade displays two intricately carved sculptures.  The lintel—or horizontal block above the door—features a sculpture depicting the legend of Saint Hubert from which the chapel is named.  According to the legend, while hunting Hubert saw a stag with a crucifix between his anthers.  After the vision, Hubert converted to Christianity.  Because of his humane treatment of the animals he hunted, Saint Hubert became the patron saint of hunters.  That was particularly fitting for a focal point for the Belmont Mausoleum because of the Belmont family’s association with horse racing—the Belmont Racetrack and the world-famous Belmont Stakes, the oldest prize in the Triple Crown.

The sculpture in the pointed arch above the door depicts a scene with King Charles VIII and his wife, Anne of Brittany, kneeling in deference to the Madonna and Child.

The chapel has many architectural features that were common to Gothic design: Gargoyles—The spouts that were designed to divert rainwater away from the building were often elaborately designed to look like grotesque animals and human forms known as gargoyles.  These figures became popular in France during the Middle Ages, though they can be found in other countries during that time, as well. Hood molding—If you look above the scene of the stag, there is a three-sided molding, also known as a drip molding. Pinnacles—These ornamented structures are usually pointed and are found on the corners of the Saint Hubert Chapel.  They are often found on the buttresses of Gothic buildings.  Stepped buttresses—in the chapel, the stepped buttresses can be seen of the front of the building’s sides.  These are a mass of masonry built against a wall to give the building additional support and strength.  The buttresses on the chapel are stepped, meaning in this case, the buttress has a wider segment, then on top of that is a smaller one, and still one more smaller buttress on top of that.  Topping the buttress is a gargoyle. Trefoil window—In the middle of the gable on the front of the chapel is a roundel, a small circular frame.  Inside the roundel is a trefoil—three-lobed form—in this case, a window.  Spire—the tall, oxidized copper structure tapering up from the roof is a steeple or a spire.

Syngrammata writes:

The Falcione mausoleum misappropriates Greek architecture in a dozen ways, but impresses nevertheless. One of the disappointments of my life is that the doors of the mausoleum are opaque, because I’m sure the interior is as stunning and lively as the exterior. Frankly, a preservation order should be slapped on this mausoleum: it’s that good.

I’m impressed by a rigorous commitment to symmetry which is even carried through the landscaping. The landscaper had real talent, playing effectively with the heights, shapes, colors, and brightness of the shrubs in order to create a dazzling frame for the structure. There must be a ‘perpetual care’ fund to keep everything so neatly trimmed.

A statue of the Madonna (?) on the left and a fine reproduction of William Wetmore Story’s 1894 Angel of Grief at center might be proxies for Falcione’s widow, who has humbly refused to place her name on the exterior of this complex so that it can be entirely about her beloved husband.

Gravely Speaking and Syngrammata have decided to dig deep into our photo collections in order to bring you pairs of images drawn from our many years combing through American cemeteries. Each pair will be linked by a theme which we are free to interpret. Suggestions of future themes to follow are welcome in the comments! This week’s theme is: interesting/significant mausoleum windows.

Gravely Speaking writes:

In a mausoleum in the Metairie Cemetery in New Orleans, the stained-glass window in the back of the tomb depicts an angel with vibrant red wings, an ochre gown, against a bright blue background.  Angels are known as God’s messenger from the Hebrew root word 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 one 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.

Syngrammata writes

The image shows the wondrous 3’ x 2’ glass plate used as the rear window of the Mathews mausoleum in Nisky Hill Cemetery, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. It bears a photograph of the family made by patriarch James Mathews II (†1935) and depicts a little boat bearing his wife Carolyn (1878-1920), son James III (1908-1938), and daughter Martha (1907-1985) on a small artificial lake on a summer day. The black and white photograph has been painted with colors to render it more lifelike. Carolyn’s presence points to a date before 1920.

On that hot day when this image was created, none of these people in the flourishing prime of their lives could have imagined that it would one day illuminate their cold tomb! Someone has put a bullet through the window, and the moisture leaking in is slowly eating away both emulsion and color in a reminder that nothing is permanent.

Matthew L. Williams

September 19, 1855 – June 17, 1937

Susan Ruth Pittman Williams

December 10, 1860 – November 20, 1948

The Williams-Beachly family monument in the Wyuka Cemetery in Lincoln, Nebraska, depicts an angel clutching a garland of flowers as she looks downward toward the grave.  The white marble rounded-top monument with the angle sculpture is mounted on a granite plinth atop a large flat granite base with the surnames WILLIAMS and BEACHLY etched into the facade.

The angel carrying the garland of flowers to decorate and watch over a grave is a common “angel type” found in American cemeteries.  In the 2007 edition of Markers, XXIV, published by the Association for Gravestone Studies, Greenfield, Massachusetts, Elisabeth L. Roark wrote an article about angels titled, “Embodying Immortality: Angels in America’s Rural Garden Cemeteries, 1850—1900”, pages 56 – 111.  Roark argues that angels were not “Romantic attempts to beautify death.” She writes, “while this was part of their appeal, angel monuments are far more complex in meaning and can act to reveal manifestations of popular Christian beliefs.”

According to the article, angels come onto the scene in rural garden cemeteries in a big way starting circa 1850 and then throughout the rest of the century. Though angels come in many variations and forms, in her study of 14 rural cemeteries from each region of America, Roark found that most angels fall into the following eight categories:

1. Soul-bearing Angels
2. Praying Angels
3. Angels who decorate and watch over the grave
4. Pointing angels
5. Recording angels
6. Trumpet angels
7. Michael the archangel
8. Child angels

Angels are mentioned over 270 times in the Bible but of the eight categories of angels that Roark describes in her article, Angels who decorate and watch over the grave are the only type not specifically defined in the Bible. Roark notes that decorating graves with flowers originates with the ancient Greeks, this type of symbolism, however, is something newly found in graveyards of the 19^th Century.

After the Civil War, it became popular to decorate graves lavishly with flowers. Roark writes, “Like their live counterparts, the angels’ sculpted flowers suggest the parallels drawn at this time between the cyclical nature of plant life and human birth, death, and resurrection.”

SOLOMON LEVY

BORN IN SCHWERSENZ NEAR POSEN,

GERMANY

SEPTEMBER 29, 1826,

DIED

SEC. 28, 1898

IN SWEET REMEMBRANCE

OF THE JUST

SHALL LIVE

WHEN INGRATES SLEEP IN DUST

The Solomon Levy monument in the Mount Hope Cemetery in Rochester, New York, is a white marble sarcophagus—and a potpourri of symbolism. The sarcophagus as a gravestone form is an ancient burial monument designed to look like a coffin.  This tomb is embellished with ornamentation and draped with a funeral pall held up with lion’s feet resting on a light gray granite block.  But the “coffin” is empty–just an empty symbol of the receptacle.

The word, sarcophagus, is derived from two ancient Greek words, sarx, which meant flesh and phagein meaning to eat.  The two words together, sarkophagus, mean flesh eating.  The term came from the limestone used by the ancient Greeks to bury the dead which was thought to decompose the flesh of the deceased.

This powerful monument was designed to project strength.  Holding up the tomb are four large meaty lion paws.  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 late 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.

In addition to the other motifs carved into this monument, the sarcophagus also displays a fringed funeral pall in a sign of grief.  The drapery represents a shroud symbolizing death and sorrow. The drapery can also be a motif that represents a veil that separates the Earth and Heaven.  

Emblazoned on the front of the tomb is the most recognizable emblem of the Freemasons, the square and compass, with the letter “G” appears in the middle of the emblem.  Each component of the symbol represents a different Masonic orthodoxy, though, these are not hard and fast: The compasses represent the boundaries of wisdom a person should have the strength to circumscribe and stay within.  The square symbolizes virtue in all actions, just as the expression “square deal” means treating people with fairness.  The letter “G” seems to have more than one meaning.  It could possibly mean God, as in the creator of the universe; or Gimel, which is the word for the third letter of many Semitic languages.  The number three is significant to many Masonic rituals and beliefs.  Some also believe the “G” may represent geometry.

Lastly, in Hebrew, in a half circle at the top of the tomb on the side that gives Levy’s scant biographical information, are the two letters “pey” and “nun” which is translated to “here lies buried”.  Below the Levy’s date of death are inscribed the Hebrew letters “taf”, “nun”, “tzadik”, “bet”, and “hey” meaning “May their soul be bound up in the bonds of eternal life”.

LOVINIA

wife of

G. BOSTATER

DIED

May 5, 1878 (?)

Aged

38Ys 2Ms & –Ds

Weep not for Her who

now at rest in her repose

and care no more annon

Her spirit smiles from

that bright shore

And softly whispers

weep no more.

The titled and eroded white marble gravestone of Lovinia Bostater in the Wyuka Cemetery in Lincoln, Nebraska, displays one of the most common Victorian motifs found in American cemeteries—clasping hands.

The symbol can take on many meanings and sometimes the cuffs on the wrists can give the viewer a clue and can indicate a particular meaning.  If for instance, one cuff has lace and one is a buttoned shirt cuff, it likely represents the matrimonial bond—that link between a married couple.  If the cuffs on both wrists are shirt cuffs, it can symbolize fraternal brotherhood—for members of the same organization or union—a brotherhood. 

Some gravestones depict the hands descending through the clouds—the clouds symbolizing Heaven. This motif likely represents a final farewell or eternal bond between the living and the dead. The handshake may also represent God reaching down for the deceased to bring them into his presence as a welcome to Heaven—the Heavenly handshake.

In this case, the clasping hands most likely represent the marriage bond.  In addition, to the symbolism of the clasping hands, there is a ribbon draped over each wrist.  This may be a depiction of “handfasting”, an ancient Celtic ritual.  In this ritual, the hands are tied together to symbolize the binding together of two lives, as in marriage.

Blessed are the

Pure in heart, for

They shall see God.

                             Matt.

JENNIE L.
1873 – 1927

HANSON

The white marble monument marking the grave of Jennie L. Hanson in the Wyuka Cemetery in Lincoln, Nebraska, depicts an angel leaning against a pilar.  Billowing clouds surround the haloed angel holding a ribbon with the words, “PAX”, Latin for “PEACE.”

When we see a winged figure in a cemetery, we instantly recognize it as an angel–a messenger of God.  However, Christian art did not depict angels with wings until the fourth century.  Before then, angels were represented in several different forms–sometimes in human form, but also represented as a doves, or even just as a hand reaching down to Earth from the Heavens.  Beginning with the reign of Constantine, angels began being depicted with wings, as this angel is portrayed.

CORA

WIFE OF JOSEPH F.

LEMBERGER

MAY 1, 1860

SEPT. 17, 1901

The tall gray-marble square column gravestone in the Wyuka Cemetery in Lincoln, Nebraska, pictured above displays an incised carving of gate, a very common symbol found in American cemeteries.  In this example a crown and a cross are carved above the gates.  The gates, which are an important part of the Last Judgment, represent a passageway.  The gates are the portal for saved souls to make their passage from the Earthly realm to Heaven upon Christ’s return.

The crown is a symbol of glory and reward and victory over death.  The reward comes after life and the hard-fought battle on Earth against the wages of sin and the temptations of the flesh.  The reward awaits in Heaven where the victor will receive a crown of victory.  The crown also represents the sovereign authority of the Lord.  The cross, of course, is the universal symbol of Christianity.

ROSA B. MOORE

1876 – 1911

GONE BUT NOT

FORGOTTEN

In the example below, also found at the Wyuka Cemetery, the symbol of the gates is not carved on the gravestone, but the gates ARE the gravestone.  And, in this case the gates are not closed but slightly ajar.  The cemetery booklet* suggests the gates just might be ajar “for easy passage by Rosa Moore to her eternal reward.”

*Wyuka Cemetery: A driving & Walking Tour, page 78, written by Ed Zimmer, published in 2009 by the Wyuka Historical Foundation  

JOSEPH OADES

OF ENGLAND

DIED DEC. 10, 1885 AGED 57 YRS.

— —

IN MEMORY OF MARY ELIZA OADES

THE BELOVED WIFE OF JOSEPH OADES

DIED MAR. 26, 1871 AGED 29 YEARS

The Oades grave markers in the Wyuka Cemetery in Lincoln, Nebraska, were produced by the Western White Bronze Company of Des Moines, Iowa, a subsidiary of the Monumental Bronze Company of Bridgeport, Connecticut. 

Though the company billed the markers as “white bronze” they were cast zinc.  The zinc markers are often referred to as “Zincies” by cemetery aficionados.  The markers are distinguishable by their bluish-gray tint. Many of the designs mimicked designs that were commonly found carved from stone. The Oades markers are designed to look like rounded-top tablets. The zinc markers were produced beginning in the 1870s until the company closed shop in 1912.

A scroll on the face of each of the markers contains the name and death dates of the Joseph and Mary Eliza Oades. The scroll represents both the life of the deceased, and the time spent on Earth.

Above the scroll is a dove.  Several references in the Bible refer to the dove as a symbol of the Holy Spirit including 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 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. Thus the dove symbolizes the Holy Spirit, peace, and purity. 

The back of the markers features a woman’s hand holding a lily of the valley sprig. The lily of the valley is much like other lilies in funerary art and viewed as a symbol of innocence and purity.  

According to the booklet, Wyuka Cemetery: A driving & Walking Tour, page 70, written by Ed Zimmer, published in 2009 by the Wyuka Historical Foundation, “The Oades were born in England and immigrated to Lancaster County through Canada.  Mary Eliza was only 29 years old when she died in 1871, just two years after the founding of Wyuka.  Mr. Oades was suffering from “St. Vitus’s dance” a neurological disease that causes uncontrollable movements, when he took his own life at age 57 in 1885.”

The Forest Home Cemetery in Forest Park, Illinois, is divided into two sections by the Des Plaines River.  Emma Goldman’s gravestone, the Druid Monument, the Haymarket Martyr’s Monument among others are in the main section of the cemetery.  The smaller section of the cemetery just across the Des Plaines River has fewer gravestones and mausoleums.  But one unmarked and plain mausoleum holds within its walls a famous broadcaster and his wife, “Angel”.

He got his start in life in Tulsa, Oklahoma—the son of a police officer who was killed in a robbery gone wrong. As a young boy, he was fascinated with radios and in his spare time made radio receivers.  As is often the case, a big influence on his life was a teacher who remarked that he had a certain timbre in his voice that would be terrific for radio. 

Radio at the time was a medium that had taken off and most families listened to the radio for their news and entertainment.  So, in 1933, the teenaged boy got a job cleaning the local radio station in Tulsa.  It turned out to be his big break in radio as he was eventually given the chance to read commercials and news on KVOO Radio.  While attending the University of Tulsa, he continued to work as an announcer at the station and was promoted to program director, which led to other positions in other markets—Oklahoma City, Salina, Kansas, and St. Louis, Missouri.  It was in St. Louis in 1940, while working for KXOK Radio that he met and married Lynne Cooper—“Angel”—a school teacher who later became his producer and partner in the radio business.

During World War II, he continued his radio career after a brief stint in the armed forces.  In 1951, he began airing segments for which he became famous.  Eventually these segments became syndicated, and his program reached a staggering 24 million people a week and was broadcast on 1,200 radio stations.

His unique way of describing a story and his staccato-style delivery gained him fame and multitudes of recognition and many industry awards including induction into the National Association of Broadcasters National Radio Hall of Fame, induction into The Oklahoma Hall of Fame, and the prestigious Paul White Award of the Radio and Television Digital News Association. He even received America’s highest civilian award—the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

The son of Harry Harrison Aurandt and Anna Dagmar Christensen Aurandt, became nationally known for his radio program which aired from 1951 until 2008, his unique delivery, his staccato-style, and such catch phrases as “Hello Americans, this is Paul Harvey, stand by for news!”  That famous broadcaster in the unmarked mausoleum is none other than Paul Harvey—“Now you know the rest of the story!”

Paul Harvey Aurandt

September 4, 1918 – February 28, 2009

Lynne “Angel” Harvey

October 4, 1913 – May 3, 2008

David E. Thompson

February 28, 1854

August 25, 1942

Jeanette M. Thompson

October 16, 1867

July 21, 1911

The Thompson monument in the Wyuka Cemetery in Lincoln, Nebraska, was commissioned by D. E. Thompson upon the death of his wife Jeanette Thompson.  The Thompsons were a “power couple” in Lincoln in the 1890s and early 1900s.  D. E. Thompson was a prominent businessman serving as superintendent of the Burlington Railroad west of the Missouri River and as the president of the local gas and insurance companies.  Eventually his business acumen and connections led him into politics.  According to Wyuka Cemetery: A Driving & Walking Tour by Ed Zimmer (2009), Thompson was appointed by President Theodore Roosevelt U. S. envoy to Brazil and later as ambassador to Mexico. 

Thompson commissioned Fred L. Kimball, a noted Nebraska artist, to create the Thompson family monument.  The sculpture was cast at the Jno Walters Foundry in New York.  The monument is comprised of pink granite and has a life-size bronze relief sculpture in the center depicting a mourning figure lifting part of her garment over her head to form a veil.  The veil represents the partition that exists between the Earthly realm and the Heavenly one–between life and death.  In her other hand she is clutching a floral wreath. This is a common Victorian funerary symbol expressing the transitory nature of life.  D. E. Thompson died in 1942 in Southern California.  His remains were cremated and interred at the family plot.

The Thompson Monument is similar to a monument created for James Melvin who commissioned Daniel Chester French to design a memorial to his three fallen brothers. The monument is in the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord, Massachusetts.  Daniel Chester French was arguably the most noted sculptor of his day, creating such monumental works as Minute Man at Concord, Massachusetts, the Marshall Field Memorial in Graceland Cemetery at Chicago, and his most famous work—the Seated Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial at Washington, D.C.

When James Melvin came back from the Civil War after serving in the 6^th Massachusetts Infantry, he was not joined by his brothers, Asa, John, and Samuel. They had all served in the 1^st Massachusetts Heavy Artillery unit which took heavy losses throughout the war. John was the first to perish—he, at a military hospital in Fort Albany, Virginia. Asa died on the battlefield during an assault on Petersburg, and Samuel, who had been captured, died at the infamous and reviled Andersonville prison.

French created the sculpture he titled, Mourning Victory, which features a woman as the allegorical figure of victory. Here again the mourning figure is lifting part of her garment over her head to form a veil. However, in French’s sculpture the mourning figure is holding a sprig of laurel in her other hand. The laurel wreath dates back to Roman times when soldiers wore them as triumphal signs of glory.  The laurel was also believed to wash away the soldier’s guilt from injuring or killing any of his opponents.  In funerary art the laurel wreath is often seen as a symbol of victory over death.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, which has a replica of the statue in marble in their collection, describes the statue, “The massive figure of Mourning victory emerges from the block of stone projecting two moods: melancholy, in her downcast eyes and somber expression, and triumph, in the American flag and laurel she holds high. French captured the sense of calm after the storm of battle, which must have referred to the pride, after the sorrow of grieving, felt by the surviving brother.”

The similarities of the two monuments display common Victorian symbolism captured by each artist.