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10

MOUNT AUBURN'S NEW BUILDINGS. Sunday Globe June 17 - 1900

[image of statues in the chapel of Mount Auburn. Statues depict John Winthrop, James Otis, John Adams and Joseph Story. Small image in lower left of the chapel with caption NEW CHAPEL MT AUBURN]

STATUES OF THE NEW CHAPEL OF MOUNT AUBURN.

The new chapel at Mt Auburn cemetery, and the administration building, containing the offices of the superintendent and others, are now finished and occupied, and have, in fact, served for a number of months to fulfill the different purposes for which they were designed.

The one nearer the street is the administration building. This building and the chapel are alike constructed of red stone, and the architecture of the group of buildings is the perpendicular gothic, types of which are to be found in many of the rural churches of England. The architect, Mr Willard T. Sears, has carried out the style consistently in all details.

These two buildings are connected by a cloister, and the material of the main walls is Potsdam sandstone, and the mullions of the windows are Indiana limestone.

The chapel, the main entrance of which is on the principal avenue, is so placed as to be parallel to the street. The porte cochere opens into a vestibule directly under the tower, and there is

another entrance on the north side of the latter.

In one part of the building the visitor will find the celebrated group of statues which have been in possession of the corporation for many years.

There are four of these statues composing the group, and their history is a very interesting one. At a meeting of the trustees held Jan 3, 1854, the subject of procuring some historical statues of great public men was considered, and a committee appointed on the advisability of the idea.

The committee considered the matter carefully, and reported that they deemed it advisable to procure a certain number of marble statues commemorative of men who have been distinguished in the history of the country in their character and public services.

The custom of placing works of sculpture commemorative of the illustrious dead is not uncommon in Europe, and is occasional in this country.

This report caused the trustees to vote that a committee of three be appointed to consider the subject of introducing statues into the cemetery at the expense of the corporation.

After many meetings and much discussion it was finally decided at the

meeting of Sept 4, 1854, to vote the sum of $15,000 for the purchase of three marble statues, said statues to be those of distinguished American citizens.

About this time a statue of Judge Story arrived from Italy, destined for Mt Auburn, and was temporarily placed in the vestibule of Boston Atheneum. It was the result of a spontaneous private subscription, which had immediately followed the death of that distinguished citizen and jurist, which wsa in 1845.

The selection of three historical personages to fill the remaining niches of the old chapel was finally settled in this way. A method was adopted of assuming a representative man for each of the four great epochs in the history of Massachusetts.

First comes, therefore, the statue of John Winthrop, the first governor of the commonwealth; second we find the statue of James Otis, who resisted with magnificent courage and spirit the aggression of the British parliament. The third epoch, representative of the time of the revolution and the establishment of the new constitution, is exemplified in the statue of John Adams. The fourth and last statue represents the last epoch in the marble counterpart of Judge Story.

11

THE CARE OF CEMETERIES — SUPT. JUDSON, OF ST. AGNES', READS AN INTERESTING PAPER. — THE SUBJECT WELL HANDLED. — The Originator of the Perpetual Care of Cemetery Lots Was John I. Wendell, An Albanian—Mr. Judson Gives His Views on the Subject Before the American Cemetery Superintendent's Association.

Albany Argus Sept 11 - 1896

At the national convention of the American Cemetery Superintendent's association held at St. Louis, Mo., yesterday, the following paper prepared by Superintendent B.D. Judson, of St. Agnes' cemetery, Albany, was read. The paper is very interesting and important to every lot owner in a cemetery. It appears from the paper that the originator of the perpetual care plan in cemeteries was Jr. John I. Wendell, a leading and progressive Albanian, many years ago. Here is the paper:

Our worthy Secretary Enrich, in his appeal to us urging the writing of papers to be read at this convention, states that although the many subjects heretofore treated have embraced nearly all of importance in the management of cemeteries, they have by no means been exhausted, and that the interest in them should be kept alive by further review and discussion.

In selecting the title for my paper, I am led to say that I have taken it not from choice, but as a matter of duty, believing that it should be a perpetual subject until every place upon the face of mother earth into whose bosom the mortal bodies of our kindred rest (and our own, so soon to be gathered), aspiring to the title of "cemetery," shall be absolutely under perpetual care for the lots, and permanent care for the grounds. In the year 1891, at the convention held at Chicago, the late lamented and accomplished member of our association, Mr. John W. Lovering, of Mount Auburn, Boston, read a very masterly paper upon "Perpetual Care," in which he treated the subject in thorough and practical manner. Again, in the year 1893, at the meeting held at Minneapolis, our brother, Mr. Timothy McCarthy, of beautiful Swan Point, Providence (who, by the way, a short time since warned me "not to steal his thunder"), gave us the fruits of his deep and timely research in a paper calculated to be of great service to those desiring to know the workings of the salutary system designed to preserve the sacred enclosures of the dead.

The "up-to-date" cemetery at Muncy, Pa., has published, through a spirit of progressiveness, a handsomely illustrated pamphlet giving in cultured and sincere language, a most effective entreaty which, if heeded, would dispel the neglected, dismal and cheerless sight of uncared-for graveyards, whose appearance to-day is the strongest of all pleas for perpetual care.

Having before me these writings, which as they become older, must form documents of constantly increasing value, worthy of place amongst carefully treasured archive, showing the experience and far-sightedness that prompted the authors in their endeavors to promote that which, in years to come, will be acknowledged as the only means whereby to insure the proper care for all days that which during the lifetime of our forefathers cost so much, and was to them the source of commendable pride. I feel incompetent to add words that might even help us in our efforts to prevail upon all managers and lot-owners in cemeteries, to "rally 'round the flag" of perpetual care.

It is to be noted that in all recently published catalogues of cemeteries a large space is devoted to the explanation of this system, now so acceptable, as shown in the marvelous increase of the number of lots placed within the list. These publications, together with the numerous perpetual care signs, to be seen upon lots in cemeteries, indicate its rapid growth and favorable consideration.

Mr. John G. Barker, a former president of our association, and until recently of Forest Hills, Boston, a gentleman thoroughly equipped as a leading authority upon matters relating to the management of parks and cemeteries, in a carefully prepared tabulated statement, made in the year 1891, shows that out of a list of 108 cemeteries, 43 lots were sold with perpetual care; while it is reasonable to presume that in the remaining 65, although it may be optional with the purchasers of lots, a great majority of those sold may be embraced within that kind of care.

A glance over the year-book (1895) of Greenwood, Brooklyn, cemetery discloses the fact of that far-famed necropolis having begun with a fund of $150, in the year 1851; had increased the amount to $437,174.80 January 1, 1896. The year of 1895 marks deposits made of $34,917.39, thus clearly indicating the popularity of the system termed special care. The general fund for the improvement and permanent care of this same cemetery was raised to the amount of $1,848,065.32—$143,263.26 having been added during that year.

To some the assets of this cemetery, $2,285,240.12, may appear as to be too large a sum for a corporation of its kind to hold. Not so at all! The report of its expenditures shows that every cent of the income was judiciously used for the purposes for which it was intended, and the appearance of the grounds attests that fact. These figures show, how, under proper management, this, the third in order of construction of cemeteries, "Mount Auburn," Boston, and "Laurel Hill," Philadelphia, preceding it, might also, with many other large cemeteries be enumerated in proportionate comparison and example.

Our own and far-famed neighbor, the Albany Rural, is not in the background. It's "perpetual care" compares favorably with those of its peers. Incorporated in the year 1841, an amendment to its charter was granted by the State legislature in the year 1845, making it lawful for the corporation to receive and hold any grant, donation or bequest, upon trust, to apply the income thereof under the direction of the trustees, for the improvement, embellishment and care of the grounds, and the different lots, tombs, monuments, etc., either public or private. The idea of this amendment was conceived and carried into effect by a gentleman, one of the original trustees, Mr. John I. Wendell, who one day visiting a churchyard upon the banks of the Hudson river near New York city, observed several lots within the enclosure that were well taken care of.

Having his curiosity excited, he inquired the reason why those whose monuments bearing inscriptions indicating that the owners were long since made tenants of the grounds, should receive care when those belonging to those still in life should appear so much neglected. He was informed that the church corporation held certain sums of money bequeathed to it by those parties, and each year expended the interest theron in keeping the lots and their appurtenances in good order and condition. Returning to Albany, Mr. Wendell put in force, as before stated, his scheme, and became, so far as I am enabled to know, the originator of "perpetual care" as now so successfully applied to cemeteries.

Practically considered, no cemetery ought to be established without first making it an obligation that a certain percentage of its receipts from sales of lots and other sources, should be set aside and invested in reliable securities as a sacred fund for the permanent care of the grounds, buildings, roads, etc., for without having on hand such a fund, the interest upon which should be sufficient to meet the expenses, where will the corporation obtain the means to do the work after all the lots are sold?

Certainly not as do cities by taxation upon city property to maintain their public parks, libraries, etc. The idea, as some would have, to tax cemetery lots is preposterous and illegal and could not be enforced if it were lawful, because the owners in a majority of cases are either dead or too poor, if living, and cannot be counted upon to pay any amount, however small. All lots, therefore, ought to be sold at a price including perpetual care. How often we notice a beautifully planned section of a cemetery marred by an unkept lot, occupying a prominent location amongst the adjoining highly ornamented grounds and lots neatly cared. A monument or tomb may stand as an eyesore within surroundings of enchanting beauty. This would not be the case if the one who erected it, at perhaps great cost, had been compelled to devote a part thereof to its maintenance and future keeping.

A few are disposed to distrust cemetery corporations as custodians of trust funds; in this they are not warranted. because we have no evidence of a failure of a cemetery assocation organized under State laws. The trustees are generally selected from the best and most reputable lot owners. They receive no emolument or compensation for their services, which they are supposed and are willing to give as a labor of devotion and be contented with the honor conferred by being selected to so responsible an office. Many that for profit and whose business and occupations covers work upon lots in cemeteries deprecate the system because they consider it to their disadvantage and injury. The interest of the low-owner ought to be paramount, even if he be a gardener himself.

I call to mind a gentleman who some years ago stated to me his lack of confidence in the management of cemeteries and said that his belief in the integrity of his children was strong enough to assure him of the future care of his lot, upon which he had expended large sums and taken so much pride. He died and his body was laid to rest in

his own appointed and desired place, amid much pomp and ceremony. Within two years thereafter his untrustworthy heirs, to whom he left a moderate fortune, became too poor to properly care for themselves. His large and imposing monument stands upon an ill appearing lot, now seldom if ever visited by his children. How many instances might be cited to prove that it is a great mistake to attempt to establish a new or mountain an old cemetery without beginning with and adhering to perpetual care.

By its establishment, the responsibility of the work is placed where it belongs and in its proper channel. Not one half of the almost innumerable rules and regulations enacted by cemeteries would be necessary to enforce a proper respect upon the part of outside workmen, some of whom must continually be under the watch of the cemetery officials that its rights be not trampled upon and its grounds not defaced. The rules requiring all interment and foundation work to be performed by men in the employment of the cemetery are equally applicable to that of the care of lots. Should the corporation become arbitrary or unreasonable in its management, the proprietors of lots certainly have redress in securin their just rights through the medium of a change in officers, which in such rare cases of mal-administration will soon follow and come to their relief.

As to the fixed rates for perpetual care, those adopted by "Swan Point," Providence, and "Spring Grove," Cincinnati, appear to be about right. However they cannot be considered cosmorama, because the rate of interest in many States differs, and then the cost of labor varies in different localities. If upon the lot there is or may be erected a monument or tomb the principal should be sufficient to cover its care. If flowering plants or shrubs are desired to be furnished a corresponding increase must be made to provide for the extra outlay. The principal must be determined by the rate of interest allowed and the cost of labor, etc., required.

Let every cemetery create and hold its permanent fund for the care of its own land and property. Sell every lot at a price, including perpetual care, at a moderate yet paying rate. Show sincerity by spending every cent upon the work. This will establish confidence with those whose money you hold in trust for the purpose and no trouble will ensue. In one year the interest may accumulate a trifle above the cost; hold it to meet a future contingency of repairs, etc., that may arise. Elevate and uphold the standard of permanent and perpetual care in every cemetery throughout the land until time shall merge into eternity.

12

SOMERVILLE JOURNAL: FRIDAY, JUNE 1, 1900.

MOUNT AUBURN CEMETERY. — Last Resting Place of Many Famous Men and Wom[e?]n Described by John W. Converse. — "Life is real! Life is earnest! And the grave is not its goal; Dust thou art, to dust returnest, Was not spoken of the soul."

Yet it is good for the living to visit the places consecrated to the service and repose of the dead. There is no name that designates them with such expressive elegance as cemeteries which mean places of sleep. When there, you stand, as it were, on the borders of two worlds. There you reflect on "the instability of wealth and power, the certain decay of all earthly greatness," and the characters and virtues of the departed. There thoughts of the mourners awaken in your breast the tenderest of human sympathies. There you dedicate your life anew to the right. There you become purer, better, and wiser for your communion with the dead.

It was my good fortune to be the guest of former-Councilman J. Lorenzo Attwood, of this city, on a four-hours' visit to Mount Auburn cemetery a late Sunday afternoon. Being employed there, one can see more with him for a guide in a few hours than he could alone in a week.

Within the black iron fence of this cemetery are about one hundred and forty acres and about thirty-five thousand bodies, thought he ---st interment was made scarcely sixty years ago. These bodies are those of persons who died in all parts of the world.

The grounds are cut by a perfect network of gracefully curving and winding paths and avenues which are adorned by beds of flowers, grassy lawns, hedge of shrubs and trees. They are made to conform as far as possible to the natural surface of the ground. Some are paved and all have excellent beds and are well graded. The avenues for carriages are about eighteen feet wide, and the foot paths about five, and the lots set back about six feet from the path or avenue.

The lots vary in size, but fifteen feet by twenty is the standard size. The paths and avenues are mostly distinguished by the names of plants, flowers, and trees, and are marked by pretty little sign boards. The original portion of this beautiful cemetery are known as the Stone farm and Stone woods. It was a favorite rural resort, and the Harvard students called it Sweet Auburn, and went there for secluded walks.

The cemetery tract "is beautifully undulating, containing a number of bold eminences, steep acclivities, and deep shadow valleys." It also has a large number of native and adopted trees. Some portions of it look like a park and other portions like great lawns. The picturesque effects are increased by the presence of playing fountains, ponds, and lakes.

Among the most interesting spots there are Garden avenue, Tower hill, Hazel dell, Consecration dell, Indian ridge, Halcyon lake, and Forest pond. Here nature is most charming. In this cemetery the lover of the works of art may spend days of pleasure. And so may heroworshippers, for while there are cemeteries where wealth makes a greater display there is not one in which are buried so many of the remains of noted persons. Here myriads of the wise, the brave, the good, and the great are laid beneath the sod.

The Spurzheim monument on Central avenue commemorates the professional zeal and scientific attainments of one who was a world renowned expounder of phrenology. One the same avenue is a striking monument, called the Harnden monument, erected to the memory of the founder of the express business in America by the United States express companies. Not far from this, and on Central avenue, is a monument consisting of an erect figure with a book in hand, to the memory of Hosea Ballou, a great Uni[v?]ersalist preacher. And on this avenue is [a?] beautiful cenotaph of four gallant fel[l?]ows who were lost in an exploring ex[p?]edition. In the triangular lot at the intersection of Spruce and Fir avenues is a marble shaft with a bronze medallion portrait of Rev. Charles Turner Torrey, who died in a Baltimore prison for assisting in the escape of negro slaves, declaring "It is better to die in prison with the peace of God in our breasts than to live in freedom with a polluted conscience."

On Greenbrier path is a fine Italian marble monument, which marks the grave of William Ellery Channing, the fearless and eloquent pastor of the old Federalstreet church in Boston for nearly twoscore years. On Lavender path is a Scotch granite monument to John Pierpont, freedom's preacher and poet. On Spruce avenue a granite slab marks the grave of Dorothea L. Dix, a famous army nurse; and on this avenue rests the body of Dr. Howe, who fought for liberty in the armies of America, Poland, and Greece, and also of Robert Gould Shaw, who fell at the head of a negro regiment at Fort Wayne, S.C.

On Lawn avenue is a massive monument, erected by the Boston independent corps of cadets. On Narcissus path, near the edge of Forest pond, a plain marble shaft marks the grave of the great jurist, Joseph Story, and the orator of the day at the consecration of the cemetery. On Bellwort path are some trees and a rough boulder sent from Switzerland to mark the grave of the immortal Louis Agassiz, Eben W. Horsford, the distinguished professor, Asa Gray, the great botanist, Julius Eichberg, the founder of the New England conservatory of music, Alvan Clark, maker of the great telescope, Dr. Nathaniel Bowditch, Jared Sparks, and John G. Palfrey, the historians, Rev. John Murray, an eminent Universalist divine, Mrs. Augustus Hemenway, Fanny Parnell, Thomas Dowse, George S. Hillard, Nathaniel P. Willis, Fanny Fern, Choate, Everett, Sumner, Winthrop, Holmes, Longfellow, Lowell, James T. Fields, Phillips Brooks, Edwin Booth, Charlotte Cushman, William Warren, and Mrs. J.R. Vincent are all buried here.

There are monuments of respect or gratitude or love erected here to Benjamin Franklin, Margaret Fuller Ossoli, John Lothrop Motley, and others buried elsewhere.

Here rest the remains of those who in life were distinguished orators, authors, poets, statesmen, lawyers, soldiers, divines, reformers, actors, scientists, and scholars; but, so far as I am informed, none of a great painter, sculptor, or musician, with the possible exception of Eichberg. John Stetson was a rough-spoken, but kindhearted, strong, and remarkable man. I cannot conceive two men more unlike in life than James Russell Lowell and John Stetson; but their graves are so near that they can shake hands. Surely death is a great leveler.

On leaving a Watertown or a Mt. Auburn car at the cemetery the eye is at once attracted by the large granite gateway and lodges. The height of the gate is twenty-five feet, and the width, including the lodge, is sixty feet. The piers or posts are four feet square, and the entrance is ten feet wide. The two lodges are connected by a curved iron fence with two obelisks. On the outside of the gate is the following inscription:—

Then Shall The Dust Return To The Earth As It Was, And The Spirit Shall Return Unto God Who Gave It.

On the opposite side:—

Mount Auburn, Consecrated September 24, 1831.

The gateway is in the Egyptian sytle and has foliage or banded cylinder, winged globe and other Egyptian devices. On the left, just within the gates, are the new brownstone offices and chapel buildings. The office building has a frontage of fifty-five feet and is sixty-five in depth. In the rotunda of this building are four marble historical statues of Massachusetts men, representing as many important epochs in her history. They are the settlement of the colony, the first resistance to the aggressions of the British parliament, the revolution, and "peaceful fruition under the supremacy of beneficial laws." The men are John Winthrop, James Otis, John Adams, and Joseph Story.

The chapel is one hundred and sixteen feet long and forty-four wide. The architecture is of the English style of churches in the early part of the fifteenth century. It is planned to meet the requirements of all religious denominations. On the further side is a sun dial, and under it an inscription from one of Whitter's poems. These buildings are connected by a cloister, which also extends along the north wall of the chapel.

A little way beyond, and on a hill, is the old chapel building, containing a stained glass window of national reputation. There is now installed in it two crematory

retorts, built on the latest scientific principles. It takes an hour to prepare and an hour for incineration. The ashes are deposited in a copper cylinder, terra cotta, wooden, wedgewood, bronze, and marble urns. It was told that the ashes of incinerated bodies vary in weight from two and one-half pounds to seven. This shows what watery and gaseous things the bodies of human beings are.

Cremation from a sanitary point of view has much to recommend it; but from a sentimental one it is different.

It is all very well for a man to have the ashes of his first love in a little bronze urn, affectionately inscribed, standing in his sleeping chamber, until he marries the second time. But after that the chances are that the second love would get angry at the sight, throw the ashes into the ash barrel, and sell the urn for pin money. Take for an illustration the widow of seven husbands, whom the Sadducees spoke about. Just imagine her weeping and dusting the seven little urns containing the ashes of the only seven men she ever loved. But suppose she leaves the dusting to the servant. The urns stand in a row, and the servant being drunk or careless tips them over and the ashes get sadly mixed.

Perhaps our bodies better burn than rot. Perhaps they better be devoured by flames than worms. But with cremation beautiful cemeteries and burial lots, splendid monuments and memorial stones will go, and their places will be taken by great temples for the deposit of tens of thousands of urns.

On the summit of Mount Auburn is the tower. It resembles the round towers of the feudal ages, and the top of it is about two hundred feet above the level of the sea. It contains a gallery, battlements, gothic windows, and a stone spiral staircase. It affords a beautiful landscape view of woods, cultivated fields, cities, villages, large and small sheets of water, and the windings of the Charles river over seven or eight miles of its course. There is then within the reach of the eye every variety of natural and artificial scenery to awaken the emotions of the highest and most affecting character. There are few towns and cities where the resting places of the dead are not made beautiful by trees and flowers and shaded walks and drives, but Mount Auburn is the oldest of the many beautiful suburban cemeteries in the country.

John W. Converse.