Gerrard Mausoleum
Built in 1936 for the Gerrard family, this was one of the last of the grand mausoleums built at Spring Grove. Its architecture is entirely appropriate for the times: a blend of modern classicism and art deco. Its smooth surfaces and restrained embellishments are often seen in public buildings built around the same time.
Although the Gerrard mausoleum is a blend of modern architectural styles, the bronze door, with its grape leaf pattern in the form of a tree, is in the Arts and Crafts style. Arts and Crafts architecture and the Arts and Crafts aesthetic flourished in the first few decades of the twentieth century. The style was a reaction to the excessive ornamentation and ostentatiousness of the Victorian era and proposed a return to simple hand-made goods. One of the basic tenants of Arts and Crafts architecture and ornament was the use of natural materials and when that was not possible, as in the case of this bronze door, to use ornament to express the natural world. The window grills are more Art Deco in their design.
Text and photo © Douglas Keister Visit Doug’s Author Page
[address cemetery=”Spring Grove Cemetery” street=”Spring Grove Ave” city=”Cincinnati” state=”Ohio” zip=”45232″]
Blocher Mausoleum
It’s impossible to stroll by the Blocher mausoleum in Buffalo’s Forest Lawn Cemetery without wondering what the story is behind this one-of-a-kind tomb. Indeed, the circumstances that led to the tomb’s construction are an intriguing mix of fact and fable. It’s a tale of love and passion and loss and sorrow. The center of attention inside the tomb is Nelson Blocher, laid out for viewing, clutching a bible. Looking at his prostrate form are his parents, John and Elizabeth Blocher. Hovering above is an angel, who, some say, bears a striking resemblance to a maid employed by the Blocher family. It’s said that Nelson died of a broken heart. Accounts of the day say that his mother, Elizabeth, goaded her husband, John into constructing the tomb as a memorial for their heartbroken son.
Read More»Dunlop Mausoleum
Clark W. Dunlop (1845-March 6, 1908)
Eliza Cisco Dunlop (1836-August 8,1932)
Unnamed Parrot (ca 1891-March, 1921)
Dr. Clark W. Dunlop certainly had an interesting life. And unfortunately, a tragic and contentious death. Born in 1845, he graduated from the Eclectic Medical College of the City of New York then set up offices on Bond Street. By 1884 he had founded and installed himself as president of the United States Medicine Company where he published a handbook titled Dr. Dunlop’s Family Practice describing the symptoms and treatment of 100 common diseases. The manual, which was designed for use by families, also contained advertisements for some of Dr. Dunlop’s nostrums, including Dr. Dunlop’s King of Pain, Dr. Dunlop’s Cascara Compound (a laxative) and other patent medicines and remedies.
Read More»Bache Mausoleum
Jules Bache
November 9, 1861 – March 24, 1944
German born Jules Semon Bache rests among the many robber barons, financiers, and millionaires he lived with. Bache made his living as a banker and stockbroker In 1886 he became a minority partner in the stockbrokerage firm of Leopold Cahn & Co., then, when he took over full control of the company in 1892, renamed it J. S. Bache & Co. Through crafty investing and financial acumen he became enormously wealthy. And, to his credit he gave away much of his fortune to support the arts and charitable causes. He was a long time collector and patron of the arts and donated a number of Raphaels Rembrandts, Titians and others to the Detroit Institute of the Arts and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In 1981 Bache & Co. was acquired by Prudential Financial, Inc. for $385 million, and is now known as Prudential Bache.
His tomb reflects his interest in the arts. He chose as his mausoleum, a replica of the elegant Kiosk of Trajan or “pharaoh’s bed” at the temple of Isis on the island of Philae on the Nile River. Bache’s Kiosk of Trajan was designed by Davis, McGrath & Kiessling in 1916 and fabricated of Barre granite by Farrington Gould & Hoagland The hallmarks of the Bache mausoleum are the 14 massive columns which are capped with abstractions of lotus blossoms (signifying the unfolding creative universe) and the open roof design. A winged solar disk which is associated with divinity and royalty is carved above the lintel. The winged sun is also symbolic of the soul. When placed above doors it served as a reminder to visitors of the eternal nature of their soul. The landscaped lot was designed by Charles Wellford Leavitt in 1918. Leavitt’s original design was quite Spartan and meant to reflect the aridity of the Egyptian climate. The Bache mausoleum and its grounds were featured in a 1917 article in Architectural Review magazine on mausoleum architecture, and in a 1921 article titled “Planting the Mausoleum Plot” in Park and Cemetery, magazine. It also appeared in the “Portfolio of Current Architecture” in the May 1920 issue of Architectural Record, and on covers of Park and Cemetery magazine in April, May, June and July 1932.
Text and photograph © Douglas Keister Visit Doug’s Author Page
[address cemetery=”The Woodlawn Cemetery” street=”East 233rd Street” city=”Bronx” state=”New York” zip=”10470″]
Belmont Mausoleum
Oliver Belmont
November 12, 1858 – June 10, 1908
Alva Vanderbilt Belmont
January 17, 1853 – January 26, 1933
40 53’12.75"N 73 52’36.34"W
The Belmont mausoleum is an almost exact full-scale replica of a famous building, the Chapel of Saint-Hubert in the Queens section of Chateau Amboise in France’s famed Loire Valley. The Chapel was designed by Leonardo DaVinci in the “Gothic Flamboyant” style in the early 1500’s. DaVinci spent the last three years of his life in the village of Amboise as a guest of Francois I. Upon his death in 1519, DaVinci’s remains were placed in a sarcophagus in the chapel he designed. The Belmont version was designed by the architecture firm of Hunt & Hunt (1908) and fabricated in limestone by Barr Thaw & Frazer.
Architect R.H. Hunt, in designing the relief panels above the entry of the Belmont mausoleum made very few changes from the originals on the Chapel of St. Hubert in Amboise, France. The central figure in the lintel is a stag with what looks like a crucifix growing from its head. The crucifix is actually supposed to be wedged in its antlers and represents the stag that caused St. Hubert to convert to Christianity. Also occupying the panel are St. Hubert, patron saint of the hunt, St. Christopher, St. Anthony, dogs, angels, cherubs, and various woodland creatures. The tympanum’s central figure is the Madonna and Child flanked by the kneeling figures of Charles VIII of France and his Queen, Anne of Brittany.
Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont who rests beneath the protruding gargoyles of his mausoleum was hardly a religious man. O.H.P. Belmont’s great love was horses. He was the founder of the Belmont Raceway. He was also a financier and a U.S. representative in Congress from New York. After O.H.P. died, following an attack of appendicitis, his wife Alva Vanderbilt Belmont (she was previously married to William Vanderbilt), used large sums of her fortune to support the growing suffragette movement. Alva lived a long life, and, after her death in Paris in 1933, her remains were interred in the Belmont mausoleum. Interred along with Alva is the suffragette banner she carried, inscribed with the words, “failure is impossible”. The banner hangs inside the mausoleum. As early as 1917, Alva Belmont opened the mausoleum to the public and today it is frequently opened for tours given by the Friends of Woodlawn Cemetery.
R.H. Hunt and his father Richard Morris Hunt were partners in an architectural firm that specialized in designing residences for the rich and famous. Richard Morris Hunt designed residences for Alva when she was a Vanderbilt and R.H. Hunt designed this mausoleum for her when she was a Belmont. She may have switched husbands but she knew a good architectural firm when she found one.
Text and photos © Douglas Keister Visit Doug’s Author Page
[address cemetery=”The Woodlawn Cemetery” street=”East 233rd Street” city=”Bronx” state=”New York” zip=”10470″]
Garrison Mausoleum
Cornelius Kingston Garrison
March 1, 1809–May 1, 1885
This Moorish Revival mausoleum is the final port of call for Commodore Cornelius Kingston Garrison. Garrison’s tomb was designed by New York architect Griffith Thomas, who also designed a number of buildings in New York City, including the original New York Life Insurance Building (1860). In 1908, The American Institute of Architects called Thomas “the most fashionable architect of his generation.” For the Garrison mausoleum, Thomas worked with Islamic, Byzantine, and Moorish forms, topping his creation with a dome that one can easily imagine was transported straight from St. Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow. Of particular interest is the way the polychrome granite treatment is used to bring attention to the different architectural elements. It is one of the most elaborately styled mausoleums in Green-Wood.
Read More»White Mausoleum
Ralph H. White’s last resting place, designed by architect Willard Sears, looks for all the world like the town hall of a thriving metropolis. The massive cupola, that looks like a bell tower without the bell, is supported by 12 Ionic columns. Circling the top of the dome is a ring of garlands. Punctuating Ralph White’s statement in Classical Revival architecture is an eternal flame, frozen in granite, complete with lightening rod.
R.H. White owned a large Department store that was a Boston area landmark.
Photos and text © Douglas Keister Visit Doug’s Author Page
[address cemetery=”Mount Auburn Cemetery” street=”580 Mount Auburn Street” city=”Cambridge” state=”Massachusetts” zip=”2138″]
Ehret Mausoleum
This big-shouldered Romanesque Revival mausoleum is the eternal home of a big-shouldered man. George Ehret was born is the city of Hofweier in the Grand Duchy of Baden, Germany. His father, who was a prosperous brewer in Germany, came to the United States in 1852. Young George followed in 1856. He went to work for Anton Hupfel in Manhattan and in six years became Hupfel’s master brewer. Then Hupfel lent him enough money, combined with what he had saved, to start a brewery of his own. Ehret christened it the Hell Gate Brewery. To get pure water, he drilled an artesian well through 700 feet of rock, saying he would not defile good hops with city water. In 1871, he produced 33,512 barrels of beer; by 1874, production topped 100,000 barrels; by 1900, the Hell Gate Brewery’s production soared to over 600,000 barrels. Barrel-chested George Ehret became one of the richest men in New York.
Read More»Byers Mausoleum
The multi-columned Byers mausoleum, built in 1902, is a perfect small scale Grecian Doric temple. The only break in the symmetry of the columns is the gap in front of the doorway. The gap is just wide enough to allow for the passage of a funeral procession carrying a casket into the mausoleum.
Alexander McBurney Byers (1827-1900) was in iron making for his whole adult life. He became a blast furnace superintendent at age 16, and in 1864 was a founder of the iron and pipe-making firm Graff, Byers & Co., which became A.M. Byers & Co. in 1886. His firm was noted for the Aston-Byers process that used Bessemer converters to make wrought iron pipe.
Photos and text © Douglas Keister Visit Doug’s Author Page
[address cemetery=”Allegheny Cemetery” street=”4715 Penn Avenue” city=”Pittsburgh” state=”Pennsylvania” zip=”15224″]
