Friends of Oak Grove Cemetery » Navigating Oak Grove

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

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

Coming August 4th

administrator — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 02:11:38 +0000

Update!

Just in time for the anniversary of the crime: the user-friendly guide to Borden-related graves in Oak Grove Cemetery. The booklet contains maps, biographies of people connected with the case who are buried at Oak Grove, three walking tours with maps of how to locate both minor and major personalities in the Borden story, a history of the cemetery, fun facts and trivia, who is NOT buried at Oak Grove connected to the Borden case, and articles on the Victorian celebration of death, symbolism on funerary statuary and much more! Designed in a black and white “Edward Goreyesque” style, the publication will go on sale August 6th.

Filed under: Announcements, Borden Family Plot, Borden-Related Graves, Funeral History, Funeral Vocabulary, Navigating Oak Grove, Oak Grove Notables, The History of Oak Grove, The Victorian Way of Death, Victorian Funeral Symbolism

The Ladies’ Comfort Station

administrator — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 19:44:13 +0000

For many years, the small, tiled-roof building directly opposite to the office inside the main gate was used as a lavatory and lounge for the lady visitors to the cemetery, and a convenience during funerals for attendees. Currently it is a break room for cemetery staff. It once had the dubious distinction of being the space where the grisly autopsies of Abby and Andrew Borden took place under the eye of medical examiner, Dr. Dolan, city doctor J.H. Leary, Clerk of autopsy, D.E. Cone, and Dr. F.W. Draper of Boston who was called in by Attorney General Albert Pillsbury.

The stained glass lancet windows have been broken and are currently boarded up, but the original deep wainscotting, moldings, and lavatory tiles with a Greek key pattern are still intact.

Click on thumbnails for enlargements of wainscotting and tile

A Map of Oak Grove

administrator — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 19:01:02 +0000

click on thumbnail for full-sized map

Josiah Brown, a city architect and surveyor laid out the winding avenues and paths named for shrubs and trees. Over time, weather, vandals, and age have taken a toll on path markers. One current project under investigation by the Friends of Oak Grove is an effort to replace the signs using wooden , hand -painted markers on poles.