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.

Nadine Earles was the oldest daughter of Julian and Alma Earles. Poor little Nadine was born with a cleft lip (also known as a harelip), and spent much of her young life in doctors’ offices and in speech therapy. In November 1929, just before she was scheduled to have her second surgery, she came down with diphtheria, a highly contagious upper-respiratory disease. Because of the contagious and deadly nature of the disease, the entire block where the Earles family lived was roped off, and the Earles’ house was placed under quarantine. Shortly before Nadine became ill, her father had purchased the materials to build her a playhouse, and now that that family was forced to stay home, her father had time to build the playhouse. Unfortunately, all the hammering and sawing noise bothered the feverish Nadine so her father halted construction. As Christmas neared, Nadine was given some of her presents early, but mostly she wanted the playhouse. Alas, Nadine succumbed to the disease on December 18.

Immediately after Nadine’s death, her grief-stricken father tore down the playhouse and began rebuilding it on her gravesite in Oakwood Cemetery. However, Nadine’s new playhouse needed to be built with more permanent materials, and it took going through a couple of contractors before an adequate structure could be built. On April 3, 1934, on what would have been Nadine’s 5th birthday, a group of twenty-five children dressed in their best party clothes showed up at Nadine’s playhouse to enjoy games and a traditional birthday cake with ice cream. A photograph of that celebration is mounted in an oval frame and propped up against a window inside the playhouse.

As the years have progressed, Nadine’s playhouse has been meticulously maintained by the family. Gifts are often left on the steps. A number of Nadine’s dolls, and others sent by visitors, decorate the playhouse’s interior. Nadine’s father Julian died in 1976 and her mother Alma died in 1981. Their graves are located directly in front of the playhouse.
Text and photo © Douglas Keister Visit Doug’s Author Page

[address cemetery=”Oakwood Cemetery” city=”Lanette” state=”Alabama” zip=”36863″]

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.

Mausolea are often the result of a bit of playfulness on the part of architects. Although the designer of the Kampfe mausoleum has been lost to the ages, it appears that he may have used a cookie jar for his inspiration. The bit of color seen through the bronze door is a stained glass window depicting an angel telling Mary that Jesus has risen from the dead. The bronze door depicts a woman with a lamp about to enter the mausoleum. Seven Kampfes are spending eternity in the whimsical mausoleum. The last internment was Maria Kampfe who died in 1946.
Text and photo © Douglas Keister Visit Doug’s Author Page

[address cemetery=Green-wood Cemetery” street=”Willow Avenue” city=”New York” state=”NY” zip=”11218″]

Smith Mausoleum

Jasper “Jack” Newton Smith
1833–1918

Much can be said about Jasper “Jack” Newton Smith, who died in 1918 at the ripe old age of 85. He owned a brickyard, was a real estate developer, built a men-only apartment house named the Bachelor’s Domain, and had a noted aversion to ties. The story goes that when he had his portrait painted, the painter adorned him with a tie, figuring that Jack just didn’t want to wear one for the sitting. Jack had a fit and had the painter execute a new tie-less one. When it came time to build his mausoleum, Smith personally supervised the construction and kept a keen eye on sculptor C. C. Crouch to make sure the seated statue did not sport a tie. The mausoleum is just to the left of the cemetery entrance, and Jasper “Jack” Newton Smith is positioned in such a way that he can view visitors as they come and go.
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″]

Torrio Mausoleum

John “Papa Johnny” Torrio
February 1882 – April 16, 1957

Johnny Torrio had a relatively long life, especially considering his checkered provenance. Johnny Torrio was born in the village of Irsina, Italy then his family immigrated to America when he was two. He grew up in the Lower East Side, becoming involved in the Five Points Gang as a teenager. He quickly developed into a cold, calculating, cunning and crafty criminal. Hence his other Mob nickname “the Fox”. Torrio became, by all accounts wildly successful in his less-than-mainstream profession of running various Mob rackets. He moved to Chicago in 1918 taking his understudy, one Alphonse Capone along with him. Torrio and Capone worked together throughout the 1920’s presiding over the Chicago Outfit. They became multimillionaires running various operations including a bootlegging, gambling and prostitution.

But as with all businesses there were conflicts and rivalries with other businessmen. On January 24th 1925 a group of Chicago businessmen known as the North Side Gang attempted to take over Torrio’s business by eliminating him. As Torrio was driving home from a shopping trip with his wife, Anna he was greeting by a hail of gunfire initiated by North Side Gang members Earl “Hymie” Weiss and George “Bugs” Moran. Although Torrio was severely wounded he managed to survive. Shortly thereafter Torrio officially retired and moved to Italy. However, Torrio returned to the United States in the 1930’s and continued to serve as an elder statesman and advisor to the Mob. He died of a heart attack while getting a haircut. Wary to the end, he was seated “Chicago style” (facing the door).
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″]

Archbold Mausoleum

John Dustin Archbold
July 26, 1848-December 5, 1916

John Dustin Archbold was one of the titans of the Gilded Age. Archbold was born in Ohio, the son of Rev. Israel Archbold and his wife Frances. Israel Archbold died in 1859 and young John became the man of the family. The family moved to Salem, Pennsylvania, which was not far from the soon-to-be-developed oil fields of Pennsylvania. He saved a meager amount of money, and then in 1864 he moved to Titusville, Pennsylvania in the heart of the oilfields. By age nineteen his small investments were paying off; so much so that he was able to buy a home for his mother and send his sister to college. He worked at and invested in oil fields for the next 11 years. During that time John D. Rockefeller’s company, Standard Oil was hungrily gobbling up smaller companies and was setting its sites on Archbold’s company, Acme Oil Company of Titusville. The two men engaged in a spirited and very public battle but peace was made and Archbold was offered a position at Standard Oil. Over the years he held positions of vice president and president and served on the board of directors. In later life, Archbold devoted himself to educational and philanthropic works. His most significant donation was $6 million to Syracuse University.

The Archbold mausoleum had one very interesting temporary guest. When John D. Rockefeller’s wife Laura died, the newspapers reported that he asked his old friend John Dustin Archbold if he would house Laura’s remains for a while before transferring her to the John D. Rockefeller plot in Cleveland’s Lakeview Cemetery. “1 want to keep her with me as long as I can.” The newspapers reported. Ah, how romantic and touching. Alas, Rockefeller’s sentiments just may ring a bit hollow since something else was preventing him from going to Lake View Cemetery: as soon as he crossed the state line into Ohio he would have been served a summons for a court case he had been avoiding. Laura remained in the Archbold mausoleum for four and one half months while Rockefeller’s lawyers worked things out with tax officials in Ohio.

Archbold’s one-of-a-kind mausoleum was fabricated of green granite by Troy Granite in Worcester, Massachusetts. It measures 36 feet by 36 feet and is 32 feet tall. It contains 12 crypts. The contractor/builder was the Norcross Brothers, which charged $31,308 for the building. The mausoleum including the bronze doors was designed by the New York firm of Morris, Butler and Rodman Architects. The glass mosaic ceiling was crafted by Otto Heinigke (1850-1915). It contains a number of iconic Christian symbols including winged depictions of the four evangelists, the Agnes Dei (lamb of God), doves, angels and crosses.
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″]

Rinelli/Guarino Mausoleum

Angels in cemeteries tend to be either heroic or mournful or contemplative. This plus-sized archangel Michael seems to have fluttered on over to the Rinelli Guarino mausoleum and simply alit there, perhaps taking a break before heading to his next destination. Look closely and you’ll see that Michael holds his sword in his right hand at rest across his lap, symbolizing that the earthly struggles of the mausoleum’s inhabitants have ended. His left hand is also in a relaxed pose. The first permanent occupant of the mausoleum was Pietro Rinilli who died in 1913.
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″]

Acea Mausoleum

The perfectly petite Acea mausoleum was constructed by Farrington, Gould and Hoagland, one of New York’s most prolific mausoleum builders. Although the firm was based in New York, they always used granite quarried in Barre, Vermont.

Spending eternity inside the mausoleum is Nicolas Acea (October 22, 1828-January 7, 1904), his wife Francisca Toste y Garcia Fallencida, Acea (?-May 24, 1912) and their young son Tomas Acea y Terry (August 10, 1867-July 25, 1884). Cuban-born Acea made his fortune growing and refining sugar in Cienfuegos, Cuba, where he and his wife died.
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″]

Romanesque Mausoleums

This row of Romanesque Revival mausoleums, nestled into a hillside, is the eternal home of a number of San Francisco’s founding fathers. Although at first glance the mausoleums all appear the same, there are subtle differences.

The corner turrets, rusticated masonry and round arches are characteristics of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture of the late nineteenth century.
Text and photo © Douglas Keister Visit Doug’s Author Page

[address cemetery=”Mountain View Cemetery” street=”” city=”Oakland” state=”California” zip=”94611″]

Miller Mausoleum

The George Miller mausoleum is rare both in its architecture and history. It was designed and erected by the Harrison Granite Company in New York City in 1919 in the form of a medieval “keep”. Keeps are the main towers of castles and were usually designed with enough space to serve as living quarters for the royal family in times of siege. One would think that the Miller family must have had some royal lineage in their background, but such is not the case.

The Miller mausoleum is an oddity in the funerary industry: it is a “used” or, perhaps more delicately put, a “previously owned” mausoleum. The mausoleum was originally commissioned by Adam Tindel, who bought the lot in 1919. Later that year, the mausoleum was erected, followed closely by the interment of Harris Emory Tindel. In the next few years a few more Tindels were received into the mausoleum’s crypts.

Then, according to cemetery records, on December 7th, 1928, an order was issued to transfer the bodies to another section of the cemetery and to sandblast the Tindel name off the mausoleum.

Evidentially, George Miller purchased the previously occupied mausoleum and cemetery records indicate that on January 6th, 1937 his ashes were placed in crypt #3. The next few decades saw a number of Miller family interments. The Miller mausoleum continued to be used through the 1980’s.
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″]

Merritt Mausoleum

The Merritt mausoleum is perched at the very top of Millionaires Row in Mountain View Cemetery. The mausoleum is an unconventional temple form. It would have been considered a daring and high-style expression of personal individuality. There is an interesting play of smooth and rough masonry accented with delicately sculpted Romanesque ornament.

Dr. Samuel Merritt was one of the early residents and promoters of Oakland, California—among other things a lake, a hospital and a college are today named after him. He served as mayor of Oakland in 1868, was a Regent of the University of California, and a founder of the Oakland Savings Bank and the California Insurance Company. Trained as a physician, he apparently didn’t look after his own health too well. The 340 pound Merritt died in 1890 of diabetes complicated by uremic poisoning.
Text and photo © Douglas Keister Visit Doug’s Author Page

[address cemetery=”Mountain View Cemetery” street=”” city=”Oakland” state=”California” zip=”94611″]