The Warner Brothers’ Mausoleums
Home of Peace Cemetery
Los Angeles, California
The mausoleum on the left contains the remains of a number of members of the famed Warner Bros. family, most notably the brothers’ parents, Benjamin Warner (1857–1935) and Pearl Leah Warner (1857–1934), and their son, Samuel Warner (August 10, 1885–October 5, 1927), one of the founders of Warner Bros. (Sam, Harry, Albert, and Jack). Benjamin and Pearl were emigrants from Krasnosielc, Poland, moving first to Baltimore in 1883, then to Ontario, Canada, and then to Youngstown, Ohio. The family changed its name from Eichelbaum to Warner. All of the Warner boys had the entrepreneurial spirit and opened diverse businesses including a bicycle repair shop, a bowling alley, and a grocery store.
In 1903, the brothers jointly purchased a movie projector and a print of the 10-minute-long film The Great Train Robbery. Using the profits from ticket sales, the brothers purchased a movie theater the following year. During the next few years, the brothers, singly and as a group, made their own films and became involved in film distribution. They moved to Los Angeles in 1918. In 1923 they official joined forces and established Warner Bros. Pictures with Harry as president, Sam and Jack as vice-presidents, and Albert as treasurer.
As with all siblings, certain rivalries and tensions erupted through the years, but, collectively, the Warner brothers were responsible for many motion picture triumphs and innovations, and the company continues to thrive to this day. Perhaps Warner Bros. most memorable achievement was the The Jazz Singer (1927) where spoken dialogue was used for the first time as part of the action of the film. Although the film was not the first movie with sound, it is widely credited with introducing “talkies.”
The most famous occupant of the smaller Warner mausoleum, sandwiched between a couple of evergreen trees, is eldest son Harry Warner (December 12, 1881–July 25, 1958). Sharing space in the mausoleum is motion picture director Charles Vidor (July 27, 1900–June 4, 1959), who was married to Dorothy Warner, the daughter of Harry Warner.
Albert Warner (July 23, 1884–November 26, 1967) died in Miami Beach, Florida.
Text and copy © Douglas Keister Visit Doug’s Author Page
[address cemetery=”Home of Peace Cemetery” street=”4334 Whittier Blvd” city=”Los Angeles” state=”California” zip=”90023″]
Magnin Mausoleum
Rabbi Edgar Fogel Magnin
July 1, 1890–July 17, 1984
Home of Peace Cemetery
Los Angeles, California
This granite mausoleum houses the earthly remains of Rabbi Magnin, sometimes called the “Rabbi to the Stars.” Edgar Fogel Magnin was born in San Francisco, and was a member of the family that founded the Magnin department stores I. Magnin and Joseph Magnin Co. Edgar attended the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati and was ordained in 1914. He became the rabbi of the Congregation B’nai B’rith, now known as the Wilshire Boulevard Temple, in 1915, a position he held for 69 years. He actively pursued motion picture and television celebrities and executives, and performed many Hollywood marriages and funerals. He also participated in the inaugural ceremonies of Presidents Richard M. Nixon and Ronald Reagan. Rabbi Magnin was a member of more than 20 local and national organizations, hosted a radio program, gave frequent lectures, and was a liaison between Jewish and Christian communities. During his tenure, his congregation grew from a few hundred to close to 3,000 families. His fundraising abilities were in large part responsible for the construction of the Wilshire Boulevard Temple that opened in 1929. The temple, now a designated historic landmark, has a 100-foot-diameter dome and magnificent murals commissioned by the Warner Brothers. In 1980, the site of the temple was named Edgar F. Magnin Square.
Text and copy © Douglas Keister Visit Doug’s Author Page
[address cemetery=”Home of Peace Cemetery” street=”4334 Whittier Blvd” city=”Los Angeles” state=”California” zip=”90023″]
Vanderhorst Mausoleum
Circa 1864
Magnolia Cemetery
Charleston, South Carolina
The Vanderhorst Mausoleum is built in the Egyptian Revival style. Since Egyptian architecture doesn’t use arches for strength, walls need to be battered at an angle of approximately 70 degrees to make the building structurally sound. A Christian cross, designed to soften the pagan overtones of the mausoleum, is set into the door. The cross is flanked with twin lotus columns.
Text and copy © Douglas Keister Visit Doug’s Author Page
[address cemetery=”Magnolia Cemetery” street=”70 Cunnington Avenue” city=”Charleston” state=”South Carolina” zip=”29405″]
Armand Hammer Mausoleum
Armand Hammer
May 21, 1898–December 10, 1990
Westwood Memorial Park
Los Angeles, California
The only family mausoleum in Westwood Village Memorial Park houses the remains of tycoon and owner of Occidental Petroleum Armand Hammer and other members of the Hammer family. A controversial and self-promoting figure, he claimed at various times in his long life that he was friends with Vladimir Lenin, Ronald Reagan, and Richard Nixon. Numerous magazines and newspapers reported on his exploits, and five biographies have been penned about his life.
Text and photo © Douglas Keister Visit Doug’s Author Page
[address cemetery=”Westwood Memorial Park” street=”1218 Glendon Avenue” city=”Los Angeles” state=”California” zip=”90024″]
Smith / Whaley Mausoleum
Magnolia Cemetery
Charleston, South Carolina
This magnificent pyramid mausoleum houses a number of members of the Smith and Whaley families. Egyptian architecture is the most funerary-appropriate architecture, since almost all architecture in ancient Egypt had something to do with death and the afterlife. However the pagan aspects of Egyptian architecture didn’t always sit well with cemetery superintendents and tomb designers usually added a Christian accessory such as a cross or statues of Biblical figures to soften the pagan overtones.
Text and photo © Douglas Keister Visit Doug’s Author Page
[address cemetery=”Magnolia Cemetery” street=”70 Cunningham Ave.” city=”Charleston” state=”South Carolina” zip=”29405″]
Monroe Memorial
President James Monroe
April 28, 1758–July 4, 1831
Hollywood Cemetery
Richmond, Virginia
James Monroe was the fifth president of the United States. He was born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, to well-to-do, but not wealthy, parents. He was privately tutored until the age of eleven, and then attended Campbelton Academy in Virginia. One of his classmates was future Chief Justice John Marshall. He then enrolled at the College of William and Mary, but was caught up in the revolutionary spirit. He enlisted and fought in the American Revolution in the Third Virginia Regiment. In 1780, he went back to school, and studied law under Thomas Jefferson.
In 1780, Monroe married seventeen-year-old Elizabeth Kortright who was a great beauty by all accounts. In 1790, Monroe was elected to the United States Senate. For the next twenty-seven years, he held a variety of high-level political offices, serving twice as governor of Virginia, as Secretary of State, and as Secretary of War. He was elected President of the United States and served two terms (1817–1825). Highlights of his presidency were the enactment of the Monroe Doctrine (that declared that the United States would regard any interference in the internal affairs of any states in the Western Hemisphere as an unfriendly act) and the Missouri Compromise (that delineated the parts of the United States where slavery would be allowed). Monroe also advocated the establishment of a refuge for freed slaves in the African nation of Liberia by supporting the efforts of a group called the American Colonization Society. That plan never came to fruition, but, in the midst of the planning, the capital city was named Monrovia, the only foreign capital named after an American president.
James and Elizabeth Monroe were the first couple to live at the newly rebuilt White House after the British burned it in 1814. Unfortunately, their tastes ran well beyond their means. At the time the presidential salary was $9,000 a year. Congress had appropriated $20,000 the first year of Monroe’s term so the couple could buy furniture for the White House, and an additional $18,000 the next year. The couple spent much of the money on French antiques and diverted at least one-third of the money for entertainment. A scandal ensued and Congress asked to be reimbursed for the money spent entertaining. Still, the couple entertained and even used the White House for the marriage of their daughter Maria. When Monroe’s term ended in 1825, he left Washington essentially broke because Congress had withheld his salary until he paid the couple’s entertainment debts. Congress eventually gave him $30,000 of the $53,000 it had withheld. Elizabeth’s health had been in decline for a number of years and she finally succumbed on September 23, 1830, at age 62. She was interred in a vault on their Oak Hill, Virginia estate. James Monroe was convinced to leave Oak Hill. He moved in with his daughter and her husband in New York City where he lived out his remaining months of life. After his death, he was buried in the Gouverneur family vault (their daughter Maria’s husband’s family) in the New York City Marble Cemetery. Rest in peace, James Monroe. Well, not yet.
James Monroe rested peacefully for over twenty years; then, in the 1850’s, in a resurgence of state’s pride, politicians in Virginia started lobbying to bring home all of the deceased presidents who were born in Virginia. The plan to bring all the fallen Virginia-born presidents home never materialized, but the Virginia General Assembly did convince Monroe’s descendants to request that Monroe’s body be brought back to Virginia, and buried in the Dignitaries Circle in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond. The owners of the Hollywood Cemetery Company were enthusiastic supporters of the plan, knowing that having Monroe buried in the cemetery would boost lot sales and revenue. Monroe’s body was disinterred from the Gouverneur family vault on the morning of July 2, 1858, and placed in a mahogany coffin studded with thirteen stars in a circle to represent the thirteen original states. Other silver stars were added around the coffin. After the disinterment, a formal ceremony followed at the Church of the Annunciation where ten thousand mourners filed past the draped coffin. The coffin was loaded onto the steamer Jamestown on the East River in New York on July 3, 1858, bound for Richmond via the Atlantic Ocean and the James River. On July 5, 1858, hundreds of mourners slowly walked through the cemetery’s gates following the horse-drawn hearse carrying James Monroe’s remains. His coffin was lowered into the ground at Dignitaries Circle. In late 1859, a 12-foot tall cast-iron monument—manufactured by the Philadelphia company Wood and Perot, and labeled as a birdcage by detractors, was placed over his grave. His wife, daughter, and son-in-law were moved from their burial places and reinterred alongside James Monroe some years later.
Text and photo © Douglas Keister Visit Doug’s Author Page
[address cemetery=”Hollywood Cemetery” street=”412 S Cherry Street” city=”Richmond” state=”Virginia” zip=”23220″]
Steinway Mausoleum
Green-Wood Cemetery
Brooklyn, New York
The largest private mausoleum in Green-Wood holds the earthy remains of dozens of members of the Steinway family, and there’s room for dozens more. Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg (1797-1871) arrived in the United States with his family in 1851. He soon anglicized his name to Henry Engelhard Steinway. Steinway was already a successful piano-maker in Germany, and he and his four sons found ready work at piano companies in New York before striking out on their own in 1853 as Steinway and Sons. The company soon became known for quality workmanship and garnered awards at expositions in London and Paris. Steinway’s simple principle was to build the best possible piano without regard for price, and to strive to always improve the instrument. The company has earned over 120 patents, a greater number than any other piano company.
The Steinway mausoleum was built shortly after Henry Steinway’s death for $80,000 ($1.5 million today). It was designed by John Moffitt and contains over 200 individual crypts. Its hilly perch makes it appear even more massive and imposing. The cemetery frequently opens this private mausoleum to visitors during special events.
Steinway Mausoleum Interior
Two walls of crypts line the interior of the mausoleum. Each wall contains 56 crypts. A large piece of granite covers an underground vault. Just out of view at the bottom left are the crypts of Henry Steinway and his wife Julia. The lettering on the marble cover fronting his crypt reads, “E. Henry Steinway, Born February 15th 1797, at Wolfshagen, Duchy of Brunswick, Germany, arrived in New-York June 29th. 1850. Name lawfully changed from “Steinweg” Died February 7th, 1871.”
Text and photo ©: Douglas Keister Visit Doug’s Author Page
[address cemetery=”Green-wood Cemetery” street=”500 25th Street” city=”Brooklyn” state=”New York” zip=”11232″]
Earles Mausoleum
Nadine Earles
April 3, 1929–December 18, 1933
Oakwood Cemetery
Lanett, Alabama
No offense to the 8,500 citizens of Lanett, Alabama, but there isn’t a lot of reason to visit this tidy little town. Well, except for one thing: it has one of the most interesting tombs in America. The tomb of Nadine Earles, though technically called a mausoleum, doesn’t exactly look like a traditional mausoleum. It looks more like a child’s playhouse because that’s exactly what it is. The only deviation from a real playhouse is that little Nadine is buried beneath it, and it is located in Oakwood Cemetery.
Read More»Kampfe Mausoleum
Green-Wood Cemetery
Brooklyn, New York
On June 15, 1880, the Kampfe brothers (Frederick, Richard and Otto F.) patented the Star, the first safety razor manufactured in the United States. Other inventors soon came out with their own safety razors, and from 1880 to 1901 over 80 safety razor patents were issued in the United States. Gillette, often mistakenly credited with the invention of the safety razor, didn’t acquire a patent until 1904. By 1906 a number of the Kampfe brothers’ businesses were consolidated into the American Safety Razor Company. Today the company (now the Personna American Safety Razor Company) produces blades for shaving, medical, and industrial uses.
Read More»Taylor Mausoleum
Henry A. C. Taylor
1840/1841–May 20, 1921
Woodlawn Cemetery
Bronx, New York
Henry A. C. Taylor was a financier and corporate director who served as director of National City Bank, trustee of New York Life Insurance Co., director of the Metropolitan Opera and the Real Estate Company. He came from an old New York family, and, after graduating from Columbia University, quickly rose through the ranks of his father’s firm, Moses Taylor & Co.
The mausoleum was designed in the Classical Revival style by architects McKim Mead & White in 1900. It was fabricated by R. C. Fischer & Co. in Vermont marble. The mausoleum’s façade features two heavily relieved Corinthian columns that frame a set of two immense bronze doors with intricate grille work. Dentil molding and a coronet inscribed with the letter T (for Taylor) embellish the lintel above the door. Festoons, putti, and dentil molding decorate a frieze that circles the perimeter of the mausoleum. The mausoleum is topped with a dome that rises above a complex projecting cornice. The base of the structure is unusually high hinting at the additional interment vaults that are accessed by a removable floor slab.
Text and photo © Douglas Keister Visit Doug’s Author Page
[address cemetery=”Woodlawn Cemetery” street=”Webster Avenue E 233rd Street” city=”Bronx” state=”New York” zip=”10470″]