Flood Mausoleum
The Flood mausoleum is a restrained, but elegant example of Beaux Arts symmetry in the form of a Greek temple. Twenty-eight ionic, polished granite columns support the intersecting cross-gables.
Although it is not documented, it is likely that Augustus J. Laver, who designed Flood’s Menlo Park estate, “Linden Towers” and his San Francisco mansion, also designed his mausoleum. Well heeled citizens like James Flood, frequently employed the same architect to design their private residences as well as their mausoleum.
Constructed in 1889, the Flood mausoleum was originally located in the Laurel Hill Cemetery in San Francisco. In 1905, the entire mausoleum, as well as Flood’s remains, were moved 10 miles south to Cypress Lawn Cemetery, in Colma. The mausoleum escaped the disastrous 1906 earthquake unharmed. It remains today, one of the most beautiful examples of funerary architecture in Cypress Lawn Memorial Park.
James Clair Flood (1826-1889), the son of Irish immigrant parents, arrived in California in 1849. He teamed up with a fellow Irishman, William O’Brien, and opened a saloon in San Francisco. The two men bought up Nevada mining claims from their saloon patrons. With some astute speculation, they soon found themselves in control of the vast Comstock Lode. Four years after quitting the saloon business Flood was earning more than $500,000 a month. Flood established the Nevada Bank in 1875, which after his death merged with the Wells Fargo Bank.
Text and photo © Douglas Keister Visit Doug’s Author Page
[address cemetery=”Cypress Lawn Memorial Park” street=”1370 El Camino Real” city=”Colma” state=”California” zip=”94014″]
Colton Mausoleum
The Colton Mausoleum is a fine example of the eclecticism of designer Fulgenzio Seregni. Seregni, a native of Milan, Italy, billed himself as a “designer of artworks of a memorial nature”. He designed mausoleums all over the United States. Here in Oakland’s Mountain View Cemetery, in addition to the Colton mausoleum, he designed two Gothic Revival mausoleums and numerous monuments.
For the Colton mausoleum he chose a basic Greek Revival Temple style with Corinthian columns and pilasters complete with twin sphinxes to guard the Colton remains. Although sphinxes and Greek Revival Temples are considered pagan architectural forms they continue to be among the most popular types of funerary architecture.
Mrs. David D. Colton had this mausoleum built for her husband following his death in 1878. Colton was legal counsel to the “big four” of transcontinental railroad fame, sometimes known as the big four and one-half with the addition of Colton. When Colton died, his wife tried to collect on the shares of the railroad that she now owned and the railroad gave her a very low valuation of those shares. She sued and the resulting trial, which she did not win, nevertheless exposed the wide spread corruption and political bribery exercised by the railroad.
As a statement of her continuing grief, she had the mausoleum built in a location that would be plainly visible from her Nob Hill residence across the bay in San Francisco.
Text and photo © Douglas Keister Visit Doug’s Author Page
[address cemetery=”Mountain View Cemetery” street=”” city=”Oakland” state=”California” zip=”94611″]
Mary Baker Eddy Monument
Mary Baker Eddy (July 16, 1821 – December 3, 1910) was a religious leader and author who was responsible for founding the Christian Science church. She lived her entire life in the New England region of the United States. Her enigmatic personality was both reviled and revered, approaching sainthood in the eyes of some, while others believed her to be a charming, albeit hypocritical, huckster. Upon her passing, The Boston Globe lauded her saying, “She did a wonderful – an extraordinary work in the world and there is no doubt that she was a powerful influence for good.”
- Early Years and Influences
- The Spiritual Journey of Mary Baker Eddy
- Mount Auburn Cemetery
- A Legacy in Perpetuity: The Mary Baker Eddy Mausoleum
Early Years and Influences
Mary Baker Eddy was born in the summer of 1821 in Bow, New Hampshire. Her father, a strict religious practitioner, ensured the family lived by the prevailing Puritan values of the day, doing honest but hard work each day of the week, except Sunday, the day of rest. Baker Eddy’s mother took on the more traditional role of caretaker and nurturer.
Baker Eddy often took ill as a child, experiencing fainting spells and severe and debilitating bouts of energy depletion. In later years, psychiatrists and historians attributed these episodes to being psychosomatic in nature, perhaps as a response to the strict and cool manner in which her father parented Baker Eddy and her siblings.
Baker Eddy was regarded as being exceptionally intelligent and headstrong. The bulk of her early education was arrived at by self-teaching, reading texts and studying with her brothers who were receiving a more formal education. After some time, Baker Eddy’s father relented, enrolling her in a local school.
Not long after leaving school, Baker Eddy, who had always had a strong interest in the concepts and study of spirituality, found a mentor in Phineas Quimby, a man who professed that medicines and physicians were no better for curing suffering and illness than faith and our own minds. The teachings of Quimby profoundly affected Baker Eddy and are widely regarded as the foundational ethos for the church she later founded.
The Spiritual Journey of Mary Baker Eddy
Before finally founding the Christian Science church, Baker Eddy sought enlightenment down several non-traditional paths. She was alleged to have dabbled in Spiritualism, a practice that, in the 1800’s was viewed akin to heresy. Rumors abounded the Baker Eddy both attended and even sometimes led seances in parlors in and around Boston, Massachusetts.
Baker Eddy also looked eastward for influence, appropriating much of the Bhagavad-Gita, a 700-verse Hindu scripture, in her own book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. This best selling tome was criticized for its direct plagiarism of Baker Eddy’s mentor, Phineas Quimby, as well as its strikingly similar message to that of the Bhagavad-Gita as well.
Writing in his own work entitled Christian Science, noted American satirist Mark Twain shared his opinion on the quality of Baker Eddy’s authorship:
“Largely speaking, I have read acres of what purported to be Mrs. Eddy’s writings, in the past two months. I cannot know, but I am convinced, that the circumstantial evidence shows that her actual share in the work of composing and phrasing these things was so slight as to be inconsequential. Where she puts her literary foot down, her trail across her paid polisher’s page is as plain as the elephant’s in a Sunday-school procession. Her verbal output, when left undoctored by her clerks, is quite unmistakable.”
While it is patently clear Baker Eddy had her detractors in her life, her influence cannot be denied. Today there exist approximately 1,700 Christian Science churches in 76 countries. In each of those communities, the congregants present the Christian Science Reading Room as a public service. Baker Eddy’s book, despite the questions surrounding its authorship, has remained a best seller for decades and was listed among others as one of the “75 Books By Women Whose Words Have Changed The World,” by the Women’s National Book Association.
Mount Auburn Cemetery
The Mount Auburn Cemetery is a sprawling memorial garden in a pastoral setting located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Buried and interred there are several prominent individuals, including poets, dignitaries, and influential public figures. The grounds are open to the public for walking tours and include several miles of peaceful walking paths.
Mount Auburn, along with the Green-Wood Cemetery located in Brooklyn, New York, was one of the early influences on Frederick Law Olmsted for the design and creation of one of the most significant public spaces ever made, New York City’s Central Park. Olmsted realized the throngs of visitors each year to the park-like cemeteries exposed the need and desire for grand, open spaces in the rapidly growing cities of the early and mid 1800’s.
A Legacy in Perpetuity: The Mary Baker Eddy Mausoleum
Mary Baker Eddy was buried at Mount Auburn in an open-air mausoleum that was designed by the renowned New York City-based architect Egerton Swarthout. According to Douglas Keister, the design of the mausoleum derives from a tholos form of a circular colonnade which consists of eight columns each 15 feet in height. Swarthout explained why he included no roof, saying there should be “nothing between the grave and sky but flowers.”
Widely regarded as the finest example of the granite carver’s craft, Mary Baker Eddy’s mausoleum is constructed entirely of Bethel, Vermont white granite and features carved floral representations of the morning glory and the wild rose. The wild rose was Mary Baker Eddy’s favorite flower, and the morning glory was selected for symbolically opening to light and closing to darkness. Also carved into the mausoleum is the lamp of wisdom and a sheaf of wheat.
Mary Baker Eddy was a complex and, at times, perplexing individual. Her impact on the lives of hundreds of thousands of individuals cannot be denied or discounted. Her final resting place at Mount Auburn Cemetery provides a dignified legacy representative of the extraordinary life she lived.
Text and photo © Douglas Keister Visit Doug’s Author Page
[address cemetery=”Mount Auburn Cemetery” street=”580 Mount Auburn Stree” city=”Cambridge” state=”Massachusetts” zip=”2138″]
Childs and Baeder Mausoleums
Two Classical Revival mausolea catch the first rays of the summer sun at Laurel Hill Cemetery. Both mausolea are in an area known as Millionaire’s Circle, which contains a collection of monuments and mausoleums of rich and famous Philadelphians.
George William Childs made his fortune selling and publishing books and in 1864 became the publisher of the Public Ledger, Philadelphia’s major newspaper. He was a consummate host, entertaining presidents (Grant, Hayes, Arthur and Cleveland) and poets (Longfellow, Holmes and Emerson) at his city and country estates.
Unfortunately, little is known about the Baeder mausoleum.
Text and photo © Douglas Keister Visit Doug’s Author Page
[address cemetery=”Laurel Hill Cemetery” street=”3822 Ridge Avenue” city=”Philadelphia” state=”Pennsylvania” zip=”19132″]
Betz Mausoleum
One of the largest mausoleums in West Laurel Hill Cemetery is the Classical Revival Betz mausoleum. Years of exposure to the elements have given its copper dome as well as its bronze doors a rich patina. The pediment, pilasters, blind windows, urns and lofty angel are all Classical Revival fare. Inside the mausoleum is an elaborate spiral staircase leading a flight down to the 30 underground crypts.
John F. Betz (1831-1908) was one of Philadelphia’s beer barons. He also owned a number of real estate holdings in Philadelphia, New York and Stuttgart, Germany. The family estate Betzwood, which was sold following his death, became famous as Lubin Studios, the world’s largest silent movie studio. Fans of the cinema wishing to experience the pastoral beauty of Betzwood may want to secure a copy of a silent movie shot at Betzwood, “Tillie’s Tomato Surprise” staring popular movie star of the day, Marie Dressler.
Text and photo © Douglas Keister Visit Doug’s Author Page
[address cemetery=”West Laurel Hill Cemetery” street=”Lower Merion” city=”Bala Cynwyd” state=”Pennsylvania” zip=”19004″]
Poth Mausoleum
The Poth mausoleum is a Classical Revival showcase with a flowery topped dome punctuated with a stylized pine-apple, antifixes on every corner, Corinthian columns, stained glass above the door, dentils, twin bronze capped urns, wreathes and more. All of this ornament seems fitting for a baron, even if he was a “beer baron”.
Frederick August Poth (1840-1905), was born in Germany and came to Philadelphia in 1861. By 1863 he had married and set up a small brewery in his backyard. Mr. Poth had both business acumen and good brewing recipes. By 1875, F.A. Poth and Sons was the largest brewery in the United States, a claim it held until Poth’s death in 1905. In addition to his brewery, Poth was quite active in real estate, acquiring and developing properties in the Parkside Avenue, Viola Street and Memorial Hall areas of Philadelphia.
Text and photo © Douglas Keister Visit Doug’s Author Page
[address cemetery=”West Laurel Hill Cemetery” street=”Lower Merion” city=”Bala Cynwyd” state=”Pennsylvania” zip=”19004″]
Letchworth Mausoleum
The July 12th, 1872 issue of the Buffalo Commercial Advertiser & Journal noted, “Josiah Letchworth has erected what will be, when finished, the most elegant mausoleum in the country. The outside walls are of Medina and Connecticut brown sandstone. The inside walls and ceiling are of the most beautiful varieties of Italian and Egyptian marble finished in elegant and appropriate style.”
Apparently, Josiah was overcome with grief when, Mary (1839-1868), his bride of only three years, passed away while touring Switzerland. He spent close to $100,000 on this Classical Revival mausoleum. The centerpiece of the interior is a statue of his bride.
On the interior back wall of the mausoleum is an inscription which is as much a tribute to the run-on sentence as it is to Mary: “In memory of whom this monument and mausoleum have been erected by her husband whose unbounding love could not bind to earth the immortal spirit of her who was its most cherished object whose presence made earth a paradise, whose virtues, accomplishments and nobility of heart while they won the homage they deserved were excelled by a living Christian faith which even in her death taught the heart to say, ‘even so father, for so it seemed good in thy sight’”. Whew! Josiah sure must have loved his Mary.
Text and photo © Douglas Keister Visit Doug’s Author Page
[address cemetery=”Forest Lawn Cemetery” street=”1411 Delaware Avenue” city=”Buffalo” state=”New York” zip=”14209″]
Feltman Mausoleum
The archangel Michael, sword at the ready, tops the domed cupola of Charles Feltman’s temple mausoleum. Corinthian columns, cherubs, statuary, urns, you name it, the Feltman mausoleum could easily serve as a primer for any student of classical architecture. Most municipalities would be happy to have a building as ornate as this to decorate their town square, but this building serves to celebrate just one man.
Feltman, a pie maker/baker, had a push cart on New York’s Coney Island. The pies he was selling weren’t doing so well and he just couldn’t seem to compete with the inns on Coney Island that were selling hot dishes. Feltman pondered long and hard and thought back to his youth. He remembered a long, slightly curved sausage, known as a dachshund sausage, that the butcher’s guild in Frankfurt, Germany, had popularized. A light bulb went off in his head and he abandoned the pie business and concentrated on selling frankfurter sandwiches. His cart was quite small and he only had room for his little frankfurter sandwich and two condiments, mustard and sauerkraut. His simple idea was an instant success and shortly thereafter he opened Feltman’s German Beer Garden, complete with carousel where he continued to sell his money making sausages.
Feltman wasn’t the only person immortalized in American folklore because of these slender little sausages. In 1913, Feltman hired Nathan Handwerker to help him, for the princely sum of $11.00/week. A few years down the road, two frankfurter aficionados, Jimmy Durante and Eddie Condon, irritated that Feltman had raised his price to 10 cents, convinced Nathan to open his own operation and sell them for 5 cents. Nathan promoted his frankfurters (made to his wife Ida’s recipe) by offering them free to any of the doctors at the nearby Coney Island Hospital on the condition that the docs ate them while standing next to his stand in their hospital whites and wearing their stethoscopes. Another triumph for capitalism and for Nathan whose frankfurters and other meat products continue to thrive to this day.
And then there is the story of Harry Stevens, who was a concessionaire at New York baseball games. Supposedly his vendors would call out, “Get your red-hot dachshund sausages!” and…..well, you figure out the rest.
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″]
E.J. “Lucky” Baldwin Mausoleum
This mausoleum is probably exactly what most people imagine a family tomb looks like. Its Classical style is admirable for its restrained elegance and enduring beauty. Twin polished, black marble columns in the Tuscan, frame the entry. A ray of sunlight illuminates a figurative stained glass window, and crowning the pediment an eternal flame, frozen forever in black marble.
Like many of his generation, Elias J. Baldwin (1828-1909), made his fortune as a Gold Rush entrepreneur. He earned his nickname “Lucky” by speculating in the Comstock Lode silver mines in Nevada. He made his fortune selling out at peak value. Baldwin proceeded to enhance his fortune with successful business endeavors in the hotel and real estate businesses. He built and owned major hotels in San Francisco and Lake Tahoe. His most enduring legacy was his interest in the Santa Anita Rancho in Southern California which eventually became the world famous Santa Anita Raceway.
Text and photo © Douglas Keister Visit Doug’s Author Page
[address cemetery=”Cypress Lawn Memorial Park” street=”1370 El Camino Real” city=”Colma” state=”California” zip=”94014″]
Wharton Mausoleum
The Wharton mausoleum, built c. 1860 seems to be comfortably burrowed into the hillside. The mausoleum’s rich patina has been aided, no doubt, by decades of exposure to the smokestacks of Pittsburgh’s many industries. A blooming “snowball” bush softens and completes the scene. The Wharton mausoleum’s form is Classical Revival with some early Victorian embellishments. One can easily imagine the mausoleum’s double doors gracing the parlor of a fashionable Pittsburgh address.
The lot owner and one of the occupants of the mausoleum was Oliverette Wharton, a relative of the Wharton brothers, who owned the Ormsby Ironworks in Pittsburgh.
Text and photo © Douglas Keister Visit Doug’s Author Page
[address cemetery=”Allegheny Cemetery” street=”4715 Penn Avenue” city=”Pittsburgh” state=”Pennsylvania” zip=”15224″]