Monuments And Odds & Ends

The focus for the final installment on Green-Wood Cemetery are monuments and some interesting things that I took note of.

Dogs

Dogs are not permitted to be buried in human cemeteries. Somehow though fourteen years after inventor Elias Howe’s death, a dog “Fannie,” was buried at the family plot in 1881. That is the exception.

For many people, their dogs were like members of the family. Some decided if they could not be interred with their canine comrade, a likeness of the pooch in statue form would remain in perpetuity with the family.   I’m sure there are many instances of canine references spread throughout Green-Wood, but these two final resting places were among the most visually dominant.

First, the Michel mausoleum has two dogs made of bronze which look to be setters flanking each side of the mausoleum. They lie forever waiting for their master.

John E. Stow was born in Plymouth, England in 1817. He lived at 134 Willoughby Avenue in Brooklyn and died December 21, 1884. He was one of the city’s longest practicing fruit merchants when he died. His store located at 90 South Street in Manhattan was on the same block for over 40 years.

Our Little Adelaide

Right in back of the tombstones for John and Jane Stow (John’s second wife) is a small marble marker for John’s little daughter Adelaide who died in July 1848.  Emiline, John Stow’s first wife died in December 1848 making this a dreadful year in his life.

 

Hopper Striker Mott, author and historian

Hopper Striker Mott was a ninth-generation descendant from Adam Mott who settled in New Amsterdam in 1640.  Hopper was the author of the 1908 book The New York of Yesterday. The book tells the history of the village of Bloomingdale, which was a village covering a large area on the west side of Manhattan which stretched from approximately 53rd Street to 131st Street and Sixth Avenue to the Hudson River. The book is scarce with only 500 copies being published at ten dollars per copy, an exorbitant amount in 1908. It is worth it, as the book is copiously illustrated. The family obelisk marks the final resting place of Hopper Striker Mott who died in 1924 at the age of 70.

 

“Frankie”

Rear Admiral Aaron Ward fought bravely during the Spanish-American War.  With his wife Annie Willis Ward they had six children, four of whom died in infancy.  It is obviously heartbreaking to lose that many children, but “Frankie” Irwin Franklin Ward must have been a special child to the Wards. When he died at the age of three and a half the Wards memorialized him in stone with what appears to be a life sized statue and  inscriptions at the base of every side of his monument.

 

 

 

 

 

On the back side of the monument it reads: Irwin Franklin Beloved Son Of Aaron Ward U.S.N. And Annie Cairns Willis. Another reads Born Feb. 13, 1877.  The opposite side says Died Sept. 2, 1880, and the front simply says Frankie “Yet A Little While”

New York Fire Department Memorial

From Our Firemen The History of The New York Fire Department, 1887:

…the New York Fire Department bought a handsome lot on Tulip Hill, Greenwood Cemetery, for the interment and commemoration of those who had lost their lives in the discharge of a laborious and often perilous duty. The spot selected is one of the finest in the country. The Firemens Monument is a pyramidal column of marble, resting on a massive pedestal of the same material, with a granite base below. The fireman on its summit is a well-executed figure. One arm surrounds and supports a child, just rescued from the flames, which still pursue it. His right hand holds a trumpet. The attitude is spirited, and the general effect very good. Upon four of the pilasters of the pedestal, and upon its upper surface, appears various representations in relief, or in full, of implements and articles appertaining to the fireman’s calling. His swinging engine lantern, his trumpet and cap, his hose and hydrant, the hook and ladders all are sculptured there. The workmanship of the structure is admirable. The monument occupies the center of a large circular lot, and its position is commanding.

Reverend Charles Richard Baker and Reverend St. Clair Hester sarcophagus

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two Reverends -marked on each side of the sarcophagus are the Reverend’s Baker and Hester and their wives.  Since 1872, when he was just 30 years old, Charles Richard Baker had presided over one of the largest Episcopal churches in Brooklyn, The Church of the Messiah at Greene and Clermont Avenues. Reverend Baker died suddenly August 15, 1898 in Austria touring Europe with his wife, daughter and her husband, Reverend St. Clair Hester.  By coincidence also at age 30, Reverend Hester succeeded his late father-in-law at the Church of the Messiah and presided over the congregation until his own death on May 26, 1933.

Fogg / Auld Family

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This unusual monument, a sphere balanced on a pyramid, holds a sad story. Stephen L. Fogg whose business at 26 Fulton Street was one that would do well in maritime 19th century New York, providing ship furnishing and upholstery.

On the evening of October 16, 1886 Fogg was lying in his bed at his home 28 Halsey Street in Brooklyn and asked his wife where his vest was. She told him it was on a chair across the room. He got up, walked around the foot of the chair and without a word of warning jumped right through the second floor window, ripping the window from its sash in a hail of glass and was killed instantly when his body hit the pavement. The New York Times covered the story with the headline, “Insanity Ends In Suicide.”

The newspaper account says Fogg had been partially insane for a week on account of financial difficulties. Even though he was not insolvent, his difficulties which had begun months ago preyed heavily on his mind. Fogg’s wife Marion Wallace Auld Fogg lived on for another 28 years. Marion’s family the Auld’s, are interred on the same plot as the Fogg’s are.

Notable Architecture

Benjamin Franklin Romaine

A seated angel holds a hammer at the monument for Benjamin Franklin Romaine.

Private John Charles Kostenbader

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Private Kostenbader died in the service of his country in France in World War I on October 25, 1918.  The sculptor who modeled this bust of Kostenbader did a very good job at capturing his likeness. Less three weeks after he was killed, the war would be over.

Eliza A Hutton

Eliza A. Hutton has a low profile sarcophagus. The roman numerals for her birth and death dates make you stand here a few extra seconds to figure out she was born 1819 and died in 1882. She is buried here with, John Hutton who died in 1874, Andrew Hutton who died in 1891, and Lewis Tooker Hutton who died in 1914.

George and Patience Clark

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Clark mausoleum appears to be made of a similar material to many of the brownstones in Brooklyn and New York. The mausoleum is a bit dilapidated as are the marble lambs out in front of it.

McRee Swift, Engineer

McRee Swift a prominent engineer who worked as a supervisor on many railroad, street and sewer projects over a long career, he died on Easter 1896 at the age of 77 in New Brunswick, NJ. Two years later on April 10, 1898 his wife Abby also died on Easter, perhaps explaining the prominent inscription on to of the tombstone, “I Believe.”

Judge Samuel Garrison

 

Samuel Garrison was an important judge in Brooklyn.  The very tall monument with an angel standing on top of a column marks his final resting place.

 

 

Matthews Monument

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Matthews monument strikes me as one of the more unusual final resting places in Green-Wood. The gargoyles are especially notable and grotesque. The whole Gothic effect comes off quite well. John Matthews (1808-1870) was known as “The Soda Fountain King.” He invented a device to carbonate water and a soda dispenser machine and became very wealthy.

Soon after the monument was built in 1870 by Karl Muller, it was named Mortuary Monument of the Year. The obelisk in the center of the roof was originally much taller and is now missing a good portion of its height.

Van Ness /Parsons Mausoleum

The Van Ness – Parsons pyramid mausoleum incorporates all sorts of religious symbols. It juxtaposes a sphinx, Jochebed holding the baby Moses and Jesus holding a baby lamb!

Sarah E. Bruce

The Bruce family plot contains Sarah E. Bruce’s tombstone and it is well noted that she lived to the age of 103. When she was born, Andrew Jackson was the President of The United States. When she died the White House was occupied by Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Sarah had lived through 26 Presidential administrations.

 

 

Does it look to you as though this tree has a heart?