Grant Mausoleum
The Grant mausoleum has elements of classical revival (the basic form, proportions, and column capitals), Richardsonian Romanesque (the rusticated stone), and even Egyptian (the pyramid-like roof). Architects saw mausoleums as an opportunity to be more creative and playful than their other work since they didn’t have to be concerned with things like electrical outlets, plumbing, views, and traffic flow from one room to another. Mausoleums are truly a testament to function following form since they had but one simple function: to house bodies. The mausoleum houses a number of bodies, including contractor John T. Grant, who died in 1887; William D. Grant, who built the Grant Building in downtown Atlanta; John W. Grant, a real estate tycoon who died in 1938; and Georgia Governor John Marshall Slaton, who died in 1955.
Text and photo © Douglas Keister Visit Doug’s Author Page
[address cemetery=”Oakland Cemetery” street=”248 Oakland Avenue Southeast” city=”Atlanta” state=”Georgia” zip=”30312″]
Richards Mausoleum
The magnificent Richards mausoleum is one of Oakland’s finest. As is common with much funerary architecture, it is a combination of architectural styles. The vertical emphasis and the bat-winged gargoyles are reminiscent of Gothic architecture while the rounded windows and doorway (with a hint of a Gothic peak) are more suited to Romanesque architecture. The mausoleum was designed by renowned funerary architect H. Q. French of New York City. He designed a very similar mausoleum in Oakwood Cemetery in Syracuse New, York. Robert H. Richards, who died on September 16, 1888, was the co-founder of Atlanta National Bank.
Text and photo © Douglas Keister Visit Doug’s Author Page
[address cemetery=”Oakland Cemetery” street=”248 Oakland Avenue Southeast” city=”Atlanta” state=”Georgia” zip=”30312″]
Clark Mausoleum
William Andrews Clark Jr.
March 29, 1877–June 14, 1934
The mausoleum of William A. Clark, founder of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, sits on an island in the middle of a pond. The elegant Classical Revival family mausoleum was built in 1920, well before his death in 1934. It was constructed of Georgia marble and was designated the most beautiful monument constructed between 1925 and 1928 by the Architectural Society of America.
Text and photo © Douglas Keister Visit Doug’s Author Page
[address cemetery=”Hollywood Forever Cemetery” street=”” city=”Los Angeles” state=”California” zip=”90038″]
Douras Mausoleum
Marion Davies/Marion Cecelia Douras
January 3, 1897–September 22, 1961
Marion Davies, whose real name was Marion Cecelia Douras, was a Ziegfield Follies dancer. Shortly after meeting publisher William Randolph Hearst, she became his mistress and constant companion for over thirty years. With Hearst’s sponsorship, she was cast in a number of films and proved to be a credible actress, appearing in films in the 1920s and ’30s. Also residing in the mausoleum is Arthur Lake (April 17, 1905–January 9, 1987), most noted for playing the role of Dagwood Bumstead in the Blondie movies.
Text and photo © Douglas Keister Visit Doug’s Author Page
[address cemetery=”Hollywood Forever Cemetery” street=”” city=”Los Angeles” state=”California” zip=”90038″]
Gates Mausoleum
John W. Gates
May 18, 1855 – August 9, 1911
John Warne “Bet a Million” Gates was a financier, owner of the American Wire Company, which was an early manufacturer of barbed wire. He made millions when sold the company to J. P. Morgan’s United States Steel Corporation. Gates was also the founded of the Texas Company, which became the Texaco Oil Company. Gates was known for his fondness for gambling. In 1900 he bet $70,000 on a horse race in England and reaped a $600,000 return. Rumors escalated his winnings to one million dollars and he acquired the nickname “Bet-a-Million” Gates.
The massive Gates mausoleum is executed in a Classical Revival style with two fluted Ionic columns on the front and sides with a plain entablature and slightly gabled pediment. The mausoleum features a door crafted by Robert Aitken in 1914 depicting a mourning woman draped in cloth.
Inside, the mausoleum features two male portrait busts in marble, a combination altar and sarcophagus, a stone table and two stone chairs. The mausoleum’s interior is crafted largely in pink granite. Centermost is a dark-hued stained glass window. In a 1932 article in American Landscape Architect, the mausoleum is illustrated as the “most impressive in Woodlawn.
Text and photo © Douglas Keister Visit Doug’s Author Page
[address cemetery=”Woodlawn Cemetery” street=”East 233rd Street” city=”Bronx” state=”New York” zip=”10470″]
Graves Mausoleum
Robert Graves
1866-November 27, 1931
Robert Graves came from a prominent New York family. He inherited a large fortune from his father’s wallpaper business and lived an affluent lifestyle. However he led a trouble life and was married three times. His second wife, Margaret J. Loughman Plant, was formerly the wife of Henry B. Plant, president of the H. B. Plant Company, which had a number of railroad holdings. Graves inherited her fortune when she died. In 1931, his mounting financial problems (perhaps as a result of the general financial collapse of the stock market in 1929) stun him into despondency. On November 28th 1931 he was found slumped in his chair after apparently firing two bullets into his head. However he must not have died completely in financial ruin: his will left $50,000 to a charitable fund called the “Hundred Neediest Cases Fund” administered by the New York Times in the name of his wife’s charity, the “Margaret Plant-Graves Fund”.
His octagonal mausoleum is set on a three-tiered podium, It features fluted pilasters marking each of the corners and an antefix at the peak of the stepped stone roof. Inside the mausoleum are seven nature-themed stained-glass windows crafted by Tiffany.
Text and photo © Douglas Keister Visit Doug’s Author Page
[address cemetery=”Woodlawn Cemetery” street=”East 233rd Street” city=”Bronx” state=”New York” zip=”10470″]
William Rockefeller Mausoleum
William Rockefeller
May 31, 1841-June 24, 1922
The largest mausoleum in Sleepy Hollow was built in 1920. It houses the remains of members of the William Rockefeller family. William Rockefeller was born in Richford, New York, and then moved with his family to Strongsville, Ohio in 1853. He started a refinery in 1865, which was acquired by his brother, John D. Rockefeller in 1867. That company became Standard Oil. William Rockefeller then became interested in the copper business and along with his business partners tried to control the copper industry. The business machinations proved successful and the Anaconda Copper Company went on to become the fourth largest company in the world. William Rockefeller kept a much lower public profile than his brother John D. Rockefeller and was considered to be much more friendly and personable than John D..; When he died, the gross value of his estate was estimated at 102 million dollars. He had requested a simple funeral, but nevertheless, the service received attention in the papers. Of special note was the number of servants that were allowed to attend the funeral including a bootblack who had served him for forty years. Next to be interred in the mausoleum was William Goodsell Rockefeller who died on December 3, 1922.
William Rockefeller was known for his ability to work with others and form a team to reach a common goal. His mausoleum was truly a group effort. His impetus for building the mausoleum was the to provide a dignified final residence for his wife of 56 years, Almira Geraldine Goodsell Rockefeller (1845-1920). Rockefeller hired Welles Bosworth (1868-1966) an Ecole de Beaux Arts trained architect. At the time, Bosworth was most noted as being the lead architect for the Pan-American Exposition held in Buffalo in 1901. John D. Rockefeller later hired Bosworth to oversee a number of Rockefeller’s projects in France including the restoration of the Palace of Versailles. Bosworth’s design for the William Rockefeller mausoleum called for a classical revival style tomb with engaged Ionic columns and a stepped pyramid-style roof. The mausoleum is 35 feet 6 inches across the front, 43 feet 8 inches deep and 38 feet 5 inches high. The walls are 16 inches think.
The Presbrey-Leland Company, one of the premier monument builders of the time, executed the actual construction of the mausoleum. The firm still operates today. Overseeing the project was monument builder William Crawford. Crawford chose Barre, Vermont granite for all the structural elements. Of special note is the 10-foot wide, 30-foot long 14-inch thick granite walkway that was carved from a single slab of granite. Inside the mausoleum there are 20 wall crypts. The cella (interior space of the mausoleum) is 12 feet by 18 feet 2 inches. In the cella are two marble sarcophagi for William and Almira Rockefeller. Other architectural details include a bronze door and other bronze details fashioned by the William H. Jackson Company of New York and slate crafted by the Structural Slate Company of Pen Argyl (argyl is Greek for slate rock), Pennsylvania). The bas-relief above the entry has been attributed to French born sculptor Gaston Lachaise. A number of granite-covered graves of other members of the extended Rockefeller family pepper the lawn area outside the mausoleum. Despite the mausoleum’s grand scale and prominent siting, William Rockefeller kept his name low key. Rather than have his name in bold letters in the frieze area over the entry he chose to modestly place it on the lower step of the stylobate (out of view on the far left; it echoes the anno domini 1920 on the lower step of the stylobate on the far right right).
Text and photo © Douglas Keister Visit Doug’s Author Page
[address cemetery=”Sleepy Hollow Cemetery” street=”540 N. Broadway” city=”Sleepy Hollow” state=”New York” zip=”10591″]
Chrysler Mausoleum
Walter Percy Chrysler
April 2, 1875 – August 18, 1940
Members of the Walter Chrysler family repose in this garden-variety classical revival mausoleum. One would expect something a bit jauntier. Why? Well, for one, one of the most recognizable buildings on the planet bears his name: the Art Deco masterpiece, The Chrysler Building.
Walter Chrysler grew up in Ellis, Kansas. At an early age he displayed a talent for mechanical things and he took a number of jobs as a mechanic for railway companies. He advanced through the ranks as a foreman, superintendent and master mechanic, eventually becoming the works manager at the American Locomotive Company in Pittsburgh. A short time after assuming the position and director at the company asked him if he might be interested in automobile manufacturing. In short order Chrysler became the production manager for Buick in Flint, Michigan. Just as he had done in railroading, he rose rapidly and in 1925 formed his own firm, the Chrysler Corporation. Then came the crowning event of his career; he financed the construction of the Chrysler Building. Before being surpassed by the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building was the tallest building in the world. It still remains the tallest steel-supported brick building in the world. The Chrysler Building and the accumulation of other successes in his life led to being Time magazine’s Man of the Year in 1929.
Text and photo © Douglas Keister Visit Doug’s Author Page
[address cemetery=”Sleepy Hollow Cemetery” street=”540 N. Broadway” city=”Sleepy Hollow” state=”New York” zip=”10591″]
Gurnee Mausoleum
This marble mausoleum is the permanent home of a number of members of the Gurnee family. The most noted resident is Walter S. Gurnee. Gurnee was born in Haverstraw, New York, then the family moved to Detroit. In 1835 he started a business in Detroit then moved to the booming city of Chicago where he got into the leather business, becoming one of the first tanners in Chicago. In 1843 he founded and installed himself as president of the Chicago Hide and Leather Company and later as a partner of the Gurnee and Matteson (a saddlery and leather firm) where he amassed his fortune. He became active in a number of trade organizations and soon thereafter became president of the Chicago and Milwaukee Railroad. Gurnee served as mayor of Chicago from 1851-1853.
He moved to New York in 1863 and soon became one of the city’s movers and shakers, in the banking a business world. When he died at age 91 he was serving as the treasurer and a director of the Shelby Iron Company, and served on the board of directors of the American Smelting and Refining Company, American Surety Company, Carbon Steel Company, Chrysolite Silver Mining Company, Clifton Iron Company, Pittsburg, Lisbon and Western Railroad and Tennessee Coal, Iron, and Railroad Company. He was also a member of a number of community organizations including the American Museum of Natural History and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The Gurnee’s home of 5th Avenue in Manhattan was a site of frequent entertainments and gala events. It’s only fitting that the family mausoleum is full of activity and life. There are allegorical statues as well as statues of Mr. and Mrs. Gurnee and their daughters. A number of intricately carved marble busts of Gurnee family members grace the mausoleum’s interior. At the rear of the mausoleum are two allegorical statues. The statues and the mausoleum’s interior all crafted of marble.
Text and photo © Douglas Keister Visit Doug’s Author Page
[address cemetery=”Sleepy Hollow Cemetery” street=”540 N. Broadway” city=”Sleepy Hollow” state=”New York” zip=”10591″]
Harder Mausoleum
Most mausoleum interiors tend to be rather pedestrian storehouses for the departed. The Harder mausoleum, which was built by W. W. Leland Studios, might fit that description save for interesting juxtaposition of the crypts. Rather than being flat to the wall they protrude out at a 45-degree angle. The cross-hatched window echoes the angular pattern. The mausoleum’s first permanent guest was Victor Achilles Harder (August 15, 1847-August 9, 1914). Victor Harder was born in Manhattan but lived almost all his life in Brooklyn. While still a youth he was employed by Mayor, Lane and Company and later bought the company. He seemed to have a talent for buying and developing companies. He was the president of the Powhatan Brass and Iron Works in West Virginia and the Essex Foundry in Newark and was a director of the Connecticut Tobacco Corporation. He was best known as the founder of the Victor A. Harder Real Estate and Construction Company in Brooklyn. Subsequent generations of Harders continue to use the mausoleum.
Victor Harder’s business ventures received the usual amount of attention in the local papers, but one of his daughter’s exploits cause a bit more attention than the wealthy family wanted. On November 10, 1910 the New York Times reported that Harder’s seventeen-year old daughter Hortense had been caught smuggling. Smuggling? It seems that young Hortense was returning from her studies in Europe and accidentally forgot to declare that in her trunks she had seven new designer gowns. An innocent enough mistake, one might suppose, but an inspection of Hortense’s handbag revealed labels that had been removed from the dresses, no doubt to elude customs inspectors about the garments’ provenance. Not so, claimed Hortense. She said she had removed the labels, not to evade paying customs duties but so her friends couldn’t find out where the gowns were made and order the same one. After all, Hortense’s coming out party was being scheduled and it would be absolutely devastating for another girl to have the same gown. Somehow it was all worked out. An $800 customs fine was paid and young Hortense didn’t wind up with a criminal record. On January 20, 1911, Hortense made her debut in a spectacular Paris gown. Whether the label had been sewn back on is not known.
Text and photo © Douglas Keister Visit Doug’s Author Page
[address cemetery=”Green-Wood Cemetery” street=”Willow Avenue” city=”Brooklyn” state=”New York” zip=”11218″]