Thomas Durant Mausoleum
Thomas Durant Mausoleum
February 26, 1820–October 5, 1885
Green-Wood Cemetery
Brooklyn, New York
Thomas Clark Durant’s mausoleum is slightly tucked into a hillside. A large granite door tells viewers that there is no need to linger, that there is no need to try to peek inside; the mausoleum’s interior is not viewable, not even a peephole view. It is an odd testament to an enthusiastic man who was a master of publicity.
Thomas Durant was born in Lee, Massachusetts. He went to Albany Medical School, obtained a degree, and served for a time as a professor of surgery. But he had his sights set on bigger things. After working for his uncle’s grain exporting company, he realized that there was a great need for a better transportation system that led him into the railroad industry.
He became embroiled in a lawsuit over the construction of a bridge, and hired a young attorney named Abraham Lincoln to defend him. That association became beneficial when Abraham Lincoln became president a few years later, and, in 1862, awarded Durant’s company the Union Pacific a major part of the building of the Transcontinental Railroad. Construction of the railroad was hampered by the Civil War but, never one to miss an opportunity to profit from other’s woes, Durant made a financial killing by smuggling in cotton from the Confederate States.
When railroad construction kicked into high gear after the Civil War, Durant staged a number of publicity events to draw attention to the project and to garner investors. The events culminated with Thomas Durant wielding the sledgehammer that drove the Golden Spike into its resting place at Promontory, Utah, finishing the Transcontinental Railway.
The mausoleum was not completed until almost three years after Durant’s death, and the interior is rarely seen. Rather than the standard utilitarian stone box with crypts, the mausoleum’s interior is an architectural gem. It sports polished granite columns, two rooms, three statues, and a high-relief frieze panel. Art critic Effie Brower, who seemed to have an opinion on most of Green-Wood’s monuments, commented on one of the statues holding a wine goblet in her book Greenwood Leaves, “What does it mean? . . . Can it be that he who lies beneath was a victim [of drinking] or was he saved by faith from the ‘cup.”
Text and copy © Douglas Keister Visit Doug’s Author Page
[address cemetery=”Green-Wood Cemetery” street=”500 25th St ” city=”Brooklyn” state=”New York” zip=”11232″]
Walden-Myer Mausoleum
Walden-Myer Mausoleum
Forest Lawn Cemetery
Buffalo, New York
Constructed in 1857, the Walden-Myer mausoleum is basically Romanesque in form, but there are a number of curious details. Although the structure’s rough ashlar masonry, double columns, cavernous arched doorway, and square shape make it appear formidable and cold, carved acanthus leaves that flank the steps and a bulbous sphere crowning the top add a touch of whimsy.
Although the round orb atop the mausoleum symbolizes God’s sovereignty over heaven and Earth, ironically, the globe presaged the career of Albert James Myer (1829-1880). When Myer traveled in the west in the1850’s, he observed Indians signaling each other by waving pieces of cloth. He applied what he had seen and invented the ingenious “wig-wag” system of signaling. In 1860 he became the Army’s first officer of the newly formed Signal Corps.
After the Civil War, the Signal Corps became responsible for weather reporting, and Myer helped popularize a system of predicting the weather by using telegraph reports assembled from different areas of the country. The Weather Service, administered by the Signal Corps, was officially inaugurated by an act of Congress in 1870, and remained a function of the Army until 1890 when the civilian Weather Bureau was established.
Albert J. Myer’s alias “Old Probabilities” was one of the best known personages in the United States in the 1870’s. Every day in the 1870’s, most major newspapers would carry a note supplied by Myer’s department which would read, “it is probable that….,” followed by that day’s prediction.
Also sharing the mausoleum with Albert Myer are his wife, Catherine Walden, four of their six children, and members of the Walden family including Catherine’s father, Ebenezer Walden (1777-1857), Buffalo’s first lawyer, a Buffalo judge, mayor, and real estate developer, and, presumably, the de facto builder and first occupant of the mausoleum. According to the Maine Granite Industry Historical Society, the monument is made of Hallowell granite.
Text and copy © Douglas Keister Visit Doug’s Author Page
[address cemetery=”Walden-Myer Mausoleum” street=”1411 Delaware Ave” city=”Buffalo” state=”New York” zip=”14209″]
Sarnoff Mausoleum
David Sarnoff
February 27, 1891–December 12, 1971
Kensico Cemetery
Valhalla, New York
This bunker-like mausoleum is the final resting place for communications mogul David Sarnoff. He was born near Minsk, Russia into a poor Jewish family. His father immigrated to the United States, and, when he amassed enough money, he sent for his family. Nine-year-old David arrived in the United States in 1900. He began actively working in 1906 after his father became incapacitated with tuberculosis. In the fall of 1906, he got a job with the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America, and thus began a 60-year career in communications.
Sarnoff’s first major achievement was popularizing radio broadcasting. Until the early 1920’s, radio broadcasting was seen as a point-to-point technology not a point-to-mass-audience medium. Sarnoff’s coup was to broadcast a boxing match for his new employer RCA, Radio Corporation of America. Over 300,000 people listened, and sales of radios soared. He founded NBC, National Broadcasting Company, in 1926, and was also instrumental in the development of television. Spending eternity in the Sarnoff plot as well is RCA executive Robert Sarnoff (died 1997) and his wife, opera singer Anna Moffo (June 27, 1932–March 9, 2009).
Text and copy © Douglas Keister Visit Doug’s Author Page
[address cemetery=”Kensico Cemetery” street=”271 Lakeview Avenue” city=”Valhalla” state=”New York” zip=”10595″]
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″]
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″]
Bonwit Mausoleum
Paul Bonwit
September 29, 1862 – December 11, 1939
This simple gray granite mausoleum holds the remains of department store titan Paul Bonwit. Bonwit was born in Hanover, Germany. He moved to Paris at age sixteen than emigrated to the United States in 1883 at age 21. He briefly worked in a department store in Lincoln, Nebraska, then moved to New York City to accept a position with Rothchild and Company, eventually becoming a partner. In 1895 he opened up his own store, then two years later teamed up with Edmund Teller to open a store called Bonwit Teller. Bonwit Teller specialized in high-end women’s apparel and prospered throughout much of the twentieth century. Paul Bonwit controlled the company until 1934 when he sold the store and brand to the Atlas Corporation. In 1980 Donald Trump bought the flagship Fifth Avenue store and subsequently tore it down to make way for the Trump Tower.
Text and photo © Douglas Keister Visit Doug’s Author Page
[address cemetery=”Kensico Cemetery” street=”Mount Pleasant” city=”Valhalla” state=”New York” zip=”10595″]
Getty Mausoleum
According to the Commission on Chicago Historical and Architectural Landmarks, this delicately ornamented little cube, designed in 1890, by Louis Sullivan, marks “…the beginning of modern architecture in America.” Never mind that the purpose of the building is to house dead bodies. The statement certainly is a heavy weight for such a small building to bear. Upon closer inspection it can be seen that Sullivan did indeed invent a new, based not on classical architecture, but on his own ideas.
Sullivan’s limestone cube combined strong geometric mass with exquisitely sculpted ornament. Although a century of wear has affected some of the finer etchings, the basics of the design remain. Sullivan kept the bottom half of the mausoleum smooth, which serves as a foil for the maze of octagons. Stars, heralding the ubiquitous star-burst designs which would appear in the 1950’s, are set into each of the octagons. The bands around the door and windows alternate between smooth and ornamented.
Although critics will always debate which architect and which building signaled the beginning of modern architecture, no one disputes that Sullivan was charting new ground in architectural design.
Henry Harrison Getty was a partner in the lumber business with Martin Ryerson. Getty knew of Sullivan’s work from the design Sullivan created for Ryerson’s mausoleum. Getty commissioned Sullivan to design this mausoleum for his wife Carrie Eliza Getty, who died in 1890. Henry lived until 1919 and is entombed along with Carrie and their only child, Alice, who died in 1946.
Text and photo © Douglas Keister Visit Doug’s Author Page
[address cemetery=”Graceland Cemetery” street=”4001 North Clark Street” city=”Chicago” state=”Illinois” zip=”60613″]
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″]
