Friends of Oak Grove Cemetery » Extraordinary Tombstones and Monuments

Oak Grove Facebook Quiz Tonight!

administrator — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 14:24:05 +0000

Need more excitement in your life? Nothing good on T.V.?

Tune in tonight,( September 15th) at 10 p.m. for the first ever (but not the last) So you think you know Oak Grove Cemetery? Jeopardy-style online quiz.

Questions and photo identifications will be posted in rapid fire, each going up after the previous one has been correctly answered. There will be one winner, with difficult brainbusters in case of a tie. Join us at Friends of Oak Grove Fall River tonight. A prize will be awarded to the winner- and the competition will be fierce! How well do YOU know Oak Grove?

Filed under: Announcements, Borden-Related Graves, Cemetery Structures, Civil War Monuments, Extraordinary Tombstones and Monuments, Famous, Famous Burials, Funeral History, Navigating Oak Grove, Oak Grove Notables, The History of Oak Grove, The Victorian Way of Death, Victorian Funeral Symbolism

1890 Photos

administrator — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 14:38:50 +0000

The following two photographs appeared in Century magazine, in an article which described Oak Grove Cemetery as a memorial park setting and mentioned several famous people buried here. The first is of the arch as it appeared in 1890, showing the ivy. The second is the Hargrave crypt, which is built into a ridge, also dated 1890. The Hargrave family were operators of a large soap manufacturing business in the city.

A trade card and 1883 image of the Hargrave Soap Manufacturing Co.

Filed under: Extraordinary Tombstones and Monuments, Navigating Oak Grove, Photo of the Week, The History of Oak Grove Tagged: Hargraves Soap Fall River

Alexander Lawson & T. Richard Kessell

administrator — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 14:59:18 +0000

Fall River rose granite

F.O.G. received an email from a relative of Nicholas Kessell, a Fall River stone cutter who worked with the T. Richard Kessell & Alexander Lawson monument company. Lawson’s was located just outside the gates of Oak Grove Cemetery for many years and produced wonderful monuments of granite quarried from local sites. The rosy Fall River granite was especially fine. The quarry was filled in many years ago. An excellent article appeared in The Spirit recently http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110714/PUB03/107140358

Filed under: Extraordinary Tombstones and Monuments, Granite Industry, Oak Grove Notables, The History of Oak Grove Tagged: Nicholas Kessell

History of Oak Grove now available

administrator — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 02:24:57 +0000

A History of Oak Grove Cemetery and Walking Tour of Borden-Related Graves and Buildings is now available at the Fall River Historical Society and the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast Museum giftshop. A copy will also be available this week at the Fall River room in the public library. The booklet retails for $19.95 plus tax and includes a CD of 151 color photos illustrating graves mentioned in the booklet and examples of Victorian symbolism in stone carving. To purchase a copy directly from the author, a check may be made to and sent to Shelley Dziedzic. P.O. Box 86, North Stonington, CT 06359. The amount should include postage and handling of $4.25 which will include a heavy-duty padded mailer for shipping. ($24.20 total) If you prefer to pay by Paypal, send $24.20 using the send to button to Revdma@aol.com.

Contents

1-2 Introduction

3-4 History of Oak Grove as described in the report of the Massachusetts

Historical Commission, Office of the Secretary, Boston

5-7 Oak Grove in More Recent Days

8-9 Relating to Oak Grove Cemetery and the Interment of the Dead Chapter XXII

City Ordinances 1859

10-16 1915 Report to the Board of Park Commissioners by Egbert Lawton

17-19 Mr. Egbert Lawton, Superintendent of Oak Grove

19 A-B Salaries of Early Superintendents and Expenses of Interest

20 Initial Expense Report 1856

21-22 Approved City Ordinance Applying to Oak Grove Cemetery

23-29 Symbolism on Victorian Funeral Statuary

30 Map for Tour Circuit #1

31-34 Autopsies of Abby & Andrew Borden, August 11, 1892

35 Funerals of Abby & Andrew Borden, August 6, 1892

36-39 Identifications and Biographies for Tour Circuit #1

40 Map for Tour Circuit #2

41-42 Identifications and Biographies for Tour Circuit #2

43 Map for Tour Circuit #3

44-46 Identifications and Biographies for Tour Circuit #3

47-49 Uncle Lawdwick Borden and the Sad Case of the Deaths in the Cistern:

The Suicide of Eliza Darling Borden and Murder of Her Children

50-55 Other Gravesites of Notables

56 Borden-Related Personalities Not Buried at Oak Grove Cemetery

57-63 The Victorian Celebration of Death: The Borden Funerals

64 Sources Used in the Preparation of This Publication

Filed under: Announcements, Borden Family Plot, Borden-Related Graves, Cemetery Structures, Civil War Monuments, Extraordinary Tombstones and Monuments, Funeral History, Funeral Vocabulary, Granite Industry, Local Support, Mourning Art, Navigating Oak Grove, Oak Grove Notables, Oak Grove Tours and Events, Potpourri, The History of Oak Grove, The Victorian Way of Death Tagged: Shelley Dziedzic

New Year’s Twilight 2011

administrator — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 02:57:15 +0000

Photographs labeled WC were taken by Will Clawson, SD by Shelley Dziedzic on the Friday after New Year’s Day. The ground was particularly warm hitting the cold air, and a very theatrical misty effect was the result!

Filed under: Borden Family Plot, Cemetery Structures, Extraordinary Tombstones and Monuments, Photo of the Week, Potpourri Tagged: Will Clawson

Mailbox- The Borden Marker

administrator — Fri, 21 May 2010 02:08:24 +0000

Elaine Kessell

(edit)

I am finally in the process of doing my family tree. My great grandfather’s name was Nicholas Kessell and I have always known he was a stonecutter in Fall River Mass in the mid to late 1800′s as he past on in 1904 of “stone consumption”. I came across a book “The Fall River Directory of 1882 and notice an ad in there for Kessell and Lawson, a stonecutting company. I can only guess that my great grandfather was in that partnership. My question is, if there is anyway you could find out if he was all involved in the cutting of the Borden tombstone in 1892? I have been intrigued all my life, but now am very curious.
Thank you,
Elaine Kessell
There is never any information about stonecutters.

Thanks for your email. Sorry to say, the Borden stone was ordered from a Westerly, R.I. carver. Westerly was a hub for this sort of work and still today has a few remaining carving studios. Buzzi’s is still in business (Ruth Buzzi of Laugh-In fame is in that family) The Borden stone was installed in January of 1894 and is made of Westerly blue granite. Fall River also had some great carvers and a rosy-colored granite.

Filed under: Borden Family Plot, Extraordinary Tombstones and Monuments, Granite Industry, Potpourri

Arches, gates and doors

administrator — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 02:58:32 +0000

This particularly beautiful tall arch is to be found in the central west end of Oak Grove and is a familiar symbol of passing through from one state to another- from earthly to celestial, from life to the hereafter.

There are smaller arches, gateways and doors to be found in Oak Grove, some found carved onto tabular monuments and others carved completely as the symbol itself. This one has an Egyptian inspiration- complete with canopic jar.

Posted in Extraordinary Tombstones and Monuments, Granite Industry, Photo of the Week, Potpourri, Victorian Funeral Symbolism Tagged: Victorian Symbolism in Funeral Monuments

Oak Grove in Winter

administrator — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:00:04 +0000

(Do Not Stand At My Grave and Weep sung by Ben Crawley, with Boys Choir Libera, text below)

Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints in snow,
I am the sunlight and ripened grain.
I am the gentle Autumn rain.Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there, I do not sleep.
When you awake in the morning hush,
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there, I do not sleep.

Holding Tombs

administrator — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 19:27:59 +0000

Long before the backhoe, the six-foot deep hole for the coffin had to be dug by hand with pickaxe and shovel. In the nineteenth century, during the iron cold winters in New England, sometimes it was necessary to store the coffin until the January thaw or Spring when the frost was out of the ground. There are several of these Egyptian Revival style holding tombs which were built into hills or mounds, each containing shelving on either side of the interior to hold 6-8 coffins. Today this particular tomb houses lawn mowing equipment. This holding tomb, which is at the west side of the cemetery near the main entrance, housed the two coffins of Abby and Andrew Borden for a week while city medical examiner, Dr. Dolan, arranged for a complete autopsy on the bodies to be held at Oak Grove in the Ladies Comfort Station. It was there that the two skulls were removed and held for trial evidence on August 11, 1892.

Zinc Monuments

administrator — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 15:34:18 +0000

One type of monument especially popular from the Civil War through 1900 is the white bronze or zinc monument. White bronze is a misnomer, for the monument is not made of bronze, but rather zinc or more rarely, iron. The final patina is whitish to pale blue to darker blue, and the great benefit of this type of monument is that the embossed metal panels and ornaments hold epitaphs and images in sharp relief for a very long time. They seem to take the weather, moss and lichen growth and acid rain exceptionally well. The only drawback is that attached elements, such as a top urn, can be easily snapped off, and seams, especially at the base, can separate. With the proper method of repair, however, this is not much of a problem, but trouble results when concrete is used as a filler. The zinc monument offers a good crisp image for monument rubbing using rice paper and soft heelball wax. For more information on zinc monuments, visit these two links below. Oak Grove has many beautiful examples of this monument type.

http://www.si.edu/mci/english/research/conservation/zinc_sculptures.html

http://www.tngenweb.org/darkside/white.html

Mausolea

administrator — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 03:16:16 +0000

n. pl. mau·so·le·ums or mau·so·le·a 1. A large stately tomb or a building housing such a tomb or several tombs.

There are three mausolea built in the favored classical Grecian style at Oak Grove and one in a distinctly Gothic Revival mode.

The Turner Mausoleum can be found near the main entry , slightly to the center behind the Civil War obelisk and cannon memorial.

(west facade)

Typical triangular pediment (south facade)

The Sears and Charlton Mausolea are quite close together in the south end.

Earle Perry Charlton became a Vice President of Woolworth’s dimestore chain, a position he held until his death in 1930. Charlton Hospital, just down the street from Oak Grove is named in his honor. Mr. Charlton was a great philanthropist and benefactor to the city.

The Gothic Revival Mausoleum

Symbolism in Stone

administrator — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 15:44:31 +0000

Oak Grove is a non-denominational city cemetery. The majority of burials here could be classified as Protestant-affiliated. Saint Patrick’s cemetery in the north end of the city as well as several Roman Catholic church cemeteries within the city contain the remains of most of the city’s Catholic population. So it is not surprising that saints, angels and crosses are very few within the walls of Oak Grove. Tablet-shaped stones and obelisks are the favored shapes to be found, even among the stones from the 1855-1900.

The only figural madonna at Oak Grove

Granite, marble and the very durable metallic monuments compose the majority of markers. The great beauty of Oak Grove lies in the landscaping of the grounds and the intricate carvings and symbolism on many of the older stones. Although there are sections of contemporary, fairly nondescript markers in the northeast end, the great majority of grave markers in this cemetery are from the golden age of monument carving when hand tools were used and artistry and pride of workmanship were the key elements of the craft. The Fall River area was famous for granite, especially pink granite, and this ready resource is much-evident in use. The slide presentation above contains many of the symbols associated with fraternal orders and particular Victorian sentiments and virtues.

Anchor- Steadfastness, Hope, a maritime career

Bellflower-Constancy and gratitude

Calla lily- Majesty, Beauty, Marriage

Daisy- Innocence, grave of young child, the “day’s eye”

Fern- Frankness, Humility, Sincerity

Laurel (wreath) Victory, Immortality, Eternity

Lily of the Valley- Innocence, Purity, one of the first Spring flowers

Lyre- References a harp, heaven, angelic music, occasionally used on the grave of a poet.

Madonna Lily- Purity

Rose- Univeral symbol of Love, queen of flowers, used most often on graves of women

Wheat or wheat sheaf- Long life, the reaping of years, productive and abundant

Oak leaves- Strength, Endurance, Faith and Virtue

Open Book- Book of Life, List of St. Peter, life of the deceased as an open book, a pure life

Tree or log stones- These could be ordered from Sears and Roebuck catalogue, and were used for the Woodsmen fraternity as well as carpenters, builders, lumbermen, or to suggest by their height as short life cut off in its prime, head of the family, and occasionally contains a nest with birds suggesting children of the deceased.

Dove- Most popular animal seen in cemeteries, symbolizes Peace, Holy Spirit

Hands Clasping- An earthly farewell, a heavenly welcome or matrimony

Curtain, Drapery, Veil- Passing from one existence to another, an ending

Hourglass- Fleeting Time, Tempus Fugit, inevitability of earthly Death

Door, arch, gateway- Passing from one existence to the next

Ship- Seafaring life, a journey, or symbol for the Chirch universal with the mast as the cross

Torch- Upside down position has the meaning of extinguished life.

Pine Tree- Evergreen, Eternal