The Great Necropolis--Atlanta's Westview Cemetery

The Atlanta Metro Area sprawls over an immense area that officially covers a large portion of Georgia and includes a small portion of neighboring Alabama. Of its great cemeteries, only Westview matches that sprawling nature. This immense cemetery holds the record as the largest in the Southeast at 582 acres, of which only about half has actually been developed. It currently holds nearly 100,000 interments and far outpaces Atlanta's other great cemetery, Oakland, which is a mere 48 acres and contains around 70,000 interments.

A row of mausolea with the crenellated water tower in the background.
Photo 2011, by Lewis Powell IV, all rights reserved.

Looking towards one of the many hills. Photo 2011, by Lewis Powell IV,
all rights reserved.

Looking down one of the many hills. Photo 2011, by Lewis
Powell IV, all rights reserved.

Looking towards one of the more well-to-do sections from the
potter's field. Photo 2011, by Lewis Powell IV, all rights reserved.

Unlike Oakland, which has been celebrated for its history, architecture and importance, Westview hasn't received as much acclaim. Oakland has been the subject of a few books while Westview remains a quiet giant in the background. Interestingly, both cemeteries played parts in the Civil War as battles raged around the city. From a house atop a hill near the small municipal cemetery that was the original six acres of Oakland, General John Bell Hood directed Confederate forces during the battle of Atlanta. It was also the Civil War that caused Oakland's first major expansion when a place to bury Confederate dead was needed. Oakland has since grown to occupy the farm house where Bell stayed which was replaced with a building containing the sexton's office and living quarters and marked with a bell tower used to summon workers.

The land now occupied by Westview Cemetery, however, was the scene of actual fighting. On the 28th of July 1864, as the Union Army under General Sherman vied to take control of Atlanta, thus seizing the heart of the Confederacy, a portion of the Army of the Tennessee under General O.O. Howard was ordered to seize and cut the railroad as it entered the western side of the city. The armies engaged near a small chapel called Ezra Church. Though the Confederate forces failed to repulse the Union attack, the army did not cut the western railroad. When Westview Cemetery was created in 1884, it incorporated some of the Confederate trenches and later a monument was built to those who died there.

The Confederate section from the rear. Those buried
in this section are Confederate veterans who died years
after the war. Photo 2011, by Lewis Powell IV, all rights
reserved.

The graves of Confederate veterans are arranged in a circular
pattern arround the monument. Photo 2011, by Lewis Powell IV,
all rights reserved.

Near the Confederate section is a crenellated water tower.
Photo 2011, by Lewis Powell IV, all rights reserved.

The water tower looking up from the base. Photo 2011, by Lewis
Powell IV, all rights reserved.

A private corporation created Westview in 1884 and built a large gatehouse. The cemetery became a popular burial place for Atlanta's elite families: governors, politicians and businessmen with names like Dorsey, Woodruff, Grady, Hartsfield, Allen, Candler, Eggleston, Rhodes and Haverty. Since that time, the list has included sports stars and even rappers. In 1943, the cemetery constructed what is perhaps the largest mausoleum in the world in the center of the cemetery. Referred to as "The Abbey," this expansive Venetian-style structure contains space for over 11,000 burials plus a chapel and space for family visitation. The magnificent three-story building is highlighted with stained glass, murals, mosaics, ironwork and ornate stone work.

Looking towards the Abbey from the cemetery. Photo 2011,
by Lewis Powell IV, all rights reserved. 

An exuberant facade. The architect incorporated the Georgia
state seal and the Atlanta city seal into this design. Photo 2011,
by Lewis Powell IV, all rights reserved.

Looking into the loggia from a side window. This is underneath the
face pictured above. Photo 2011, by Lewis Powell IV, all rights reserved.

Inside the loggia. Photo 2011, by Lewis Powell IV,
all rights reserved.

The Abbey's belltower. Photo 2011, by Lewis Powell IV, all
rights reserved.

The porte cochere. Photo 2011, by Lewis Powell IV, all
rights reserved.

A different facade. Under this loggia is a mosaic depicting
the risen Christ. Photo 2011, by Lewis Powell IV, all rights
reserved.

A tower window. Photo 2011, by Lewis Powell IV, all rights
reserved.

Plaques around the building are carved with quotes
regarding death. This quote is from William Cullen
Bryant's poem, Thanatopsis. Photo 2011, by Lewis
Powell IV, all rights reserved.

Unfortunately when I visited, the Abbey was closed, though the signs said it was open until 4:30 PM. I was, however, blown away by the enormous cemetery and some of its remarkable monuments. I was guided by a good friend, Benjamin Lewis, who has gotten to know the cemetery quite well. His introduction to this massive location came as he was looking for the burial location of his great-great grandfather who was hanged as a criminal and then buried in an unmarked grave in the potter's field section of the cemetery. Certainly it was interesting to see the huge shifts in the cemetery between the graves of industrial and commercial barons and the humble of the potter's field, the massive monuments and then the lowly and sometimes unmarked graves of the less well-off. In his rambles through the cemetery, Ben had also stumbled on the grave of Thurman Cain, brother of recent GOP presidential candidate, Herman Cain, a native of Atlanta.

Two graves were of particular interest to me, those of Robert Shaw and Joel Chandler Harris. Shaw, longtime conductor of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and one of the greatest choral conductors and arrangers of the 20th century, is buried in a simply marked grave next to his wife. I had the honor of singing the Mozart Requiem under him a couple years before his death and it was an enlightening experience. Lacrimosa dies illa. 

Robert Shaw's simple marker.

Joel Chandler Harris' grave consists of a large, rough-hewn boulder with a bronze plaque and a bas-relief likeness of the master storyteller. Harris, a journalist, collected and published stories he heard from slaves and former slaves. Known as the "Uncle Remus" stories, these stories are the descendants of African folktales and they have enshrined characters like Br'er Rabbit, Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear into the pantheon of beloved, yet also vilified, characters. Some African-Americans consider the stories, which are written to imitate the dialect of the slaves, to be offensive and racist. Harris has also been accused of cultural theft while others argue that his publishing of these stories was an act of cultural subversion. Regardless, his home, The Wren's Nest, has been preserved as a museum not far from Westview and his stories continue to be told there and throughout the South.

Joel Chandler Harris' great boulder. Photo 2011, by Lewis Powell IV,
all rights reserved.

With my interest in the paranormal, I did a quick search for ghost tales from Westview, but alas, I could find none. With Westview's tremendous history, it would be no surprise that a few shades are still wafting about the corridors of the Abbey or down the lanes of Atlanta's sprawling necropolis.

My thanks to Benjamin Lewis for sharing this treasure with me.

Sources
National Park Service. "Battle Summary: Ezra Church." Accessed 24 December
     2011.
Westview Cemetery. "The History of Westview." Accessed 24 December 2011.
Westview Cemetery. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Accessed 24 December 2011.

Henry McCauley's Hands--Waverly Hall Cemetery

Waverly Hall Cemetery
GA Highway 208
Waverly Hall, Georgia


Lately I've been travelling to Columbus, Georgia for work. Once I've finished the work, I've set out to photograph the nearby cemeteries. Columbus' Linwood Cemetery is marvelous and features some incredible funerary art, some of it by local stone carver Henry McCauley. McCauley's work, described in Mary Jane Galer and Linda Kennedy's book on Linwood Cemetery as "museum quality," also appears in the cemetery in Waverly Hall, just down the road.

Working between 1856 and 1879, McCauley produced a number of exquisite monuments. Among them, two monuments in Waverly Hall Cemetery featuring beautifully carved matrimonial hands. These hands, common in Victorian grave symbolism, symbolize holy matrimony. Two hands joined together commonly appear in the symbolism and may have a variety of meanings; but in this case with gender-specific cuffs indicates matrimony.

Both monuments are fairly similar and the Lowe Monument appears to have had a column similar to the Crook Monument. There is a rounded column base on top of the Lowe Monument with a notch in the top for attaching the column. It's interesting to note that, according to the Linwood Cemetery book, McCauley started working in 1856, as the deceased all died prior to that. Of course, sometimes it would take years to get a permanent marker. Both monuments are signed, "H. McCauley, Columbus."

There is also a bit of difference in how the hands are carved. The hands on the Lowe Monument, in my humble opinion, are a better effort and more natural. The fingers appear more relaxed than the stiff fingers on the other monument. Also, note the wrinkles and folds of skin on the thumb on the Lowe Monument, detailing absent from the Crook Monument. The inclusion of a double heart above the hands on the Lowe Monument emphasizes the matrimonial nature of the joined hands.

The Crook Monument erected for Maj. Osborne
Crook, d. 15 October 1851 and his wife, Elizabeth
C. Crook, d. 25 October 183[?]9. Photo 2011,
by Lewis Powell IV, all rights reserved.

One pair of hands on the Crook Monument. Photo 2011, by
Lewis Powell IV, all rights reserved.

The opposite side of the Crook Monument. Photo 2011, by
Lewis Powell IV, all rights reserved.

The Lowe Monument, note the natural stone
foundation and coping. This was erected for
General Henry H. Lowe, d. 8 July 1854 and
his wife Mariah H. Lowe, d. 27 November 1852.
Photo 2011, by Lewis Powell IV, all rights
reserved.

The hands and hearts from the Lowe Monument. Photo 2011,
by Lewis Powell IV, all rights reserved.

McCauley's signature from the Lowe Monument. The Crook
Monument is signed, but the signature could not be clearly
photographed. Photo 2011, all rights reserved.

Sources
Galer, Mary Jane and Linda Kennedy. Historic Linwood Cemetery.
     Charleston, SC: Arcadia, 2004.

Locked In -- Charleston's Magnolia Cemetery

70 Cunnington Street

Charleston, South Carolina

A moss-draped drive through the cemetery.
Photo 2011, by Lewis Powell IV, all rights reserved.

A Victorian era plot near the center of the cemetery.
Photo 2011, by Lewis Powell IV, all rights reserved.

After wandering through Magnolia Cemetery in awe for almost two hours I began to make my way out. The cemetery has winding drives through its oak shaded acres with a posted speed limit of 15 miles per hour. Not wanting to miss anything, I was probably driving slower than that when I approached the massive cemetery gates. The gates were closed and a chain and large padlock secured them. A number of expletives left my mouth and panic quickly set in. A couple of Northern Mockingbirds (Mimus polyglottis) loudly scolded me from atop an adjacent tombstone. The welcome sign listed rules for the cemetery but no number in the event that you’re locked in with the dead. As I dialed 911, I prayed that I would not face a fine or worse for missing the very obvious sign stating that the gates would close at 6PM. It was 6:15.

A Victorian monument. Photo 2011, by Lewis Powell IV, all rights reserved.

In this city of so many fine homes and buildings, only I would first head to the cemetery. But, this place is so much more than just a resting place for the dead, it’s truly an art museum, a guide to three centuries of art and architecture and a habitat for native plants and wildlife. Wandering among the graves were Domestic and Canada Geese (Branta canadensis) and Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos). I passed a couple of ponds within the cemetery and was excited to see a dead tree in the center of one pond with a number of water birds perching on it. Even better, were the two “Life Birds” I saw there: Wood Stork (Mycteria americana) and American White Ibis (Eudocimus albus).

A snag in the main pond with perching waterbirds. Two Wood Storks
are perched at the top with two White Ibises underneath. A Cattle
Egret is perched on the right with a Great Egret in the background.
Photo 2011, by Lewis Powell IV, all rights reserved.

For a taphophile, Magnolia Cemetery is heavenly. Everywhere there is marvelous funerary art and symbolism. As I walked and was fed upon by legions of mosquitoes (I won’t acknowledge their scientific name as they don’t deserve it) I had to pass graves that in most cases I would be drawn to in order to pursue more interesting graves. By the end of the first hour, I took to riding in my car to avoid the mosquitoes and trying to photograph the most interesting graves closest to the drive.

The grave of Mary Porcher Huches, died 1 May 1895. The grave
has a wonderful rope border with lilies of the valley, a symbol of
innocence and purity.
Photo 2011, by Lewis Powell IV, all rights reserved.

The large, Gothic Revival monument to Elbert P. Jones,
died 1 April 1852. Designed by architect Francis D. Lee and
constructed by E. Greble of Philadelphia.
Photo 2011, by Lewis Powell IV, all rights reserved.

Among the more notable monuments is the grave of Rosalie Raymond White. Situated next to one of the ponds, the White family plot has some fascinating art, but particularly interesting is the grave of young Rosalie who died less than a year after her birth. There is a hooded cradle and under the hood, the likeness of the child. According to Denise Roffe in her Ghosts and Legends of Charleston South Carolina, the likeness is a death mask and one of the few such things on a grave in the United States.

Grave of Rosalie Raymond White.
Photo 2011, by Lewis Powell IV, all rights reserved.

The death mask of Rosalie Raymond White.
Photo 2011, by Lewis Powell IV, all rights reserved.

Another prominent monument is that William Washington. I viewed this one from the car, so I couldn’t get all the information, but it appears to be a cenotaph (a monument to someone who is buried elsewhere) to this notable figure from the American Revolution. The monument, surrounded by an unusual circular iron fence (I’ve not seen one, though they were numerous in this cemetery), is a large marble column with an ivy garland wrapped around it. At the base of the column is a rattlesnake, a creature I’ve not seen at all in funerary art. The snake is taken from the early American Gadsden flag, the first flag carried into battle by the Continental Marine Corps during the American Revolution, which bears the words, “Don’t Tread On Me.” This flag has most recently been adopted by the Tea Party.

The monument to William White; a Doric column with
a rattlesnake entwined at the base.
Photo 2011, by Lewis Powell IV, all rights reserved.

The rattlesnake sans head.
Photo 2011, by Lewis Powell IV, all rights reserved.

This monument was designed by E.B. White and constructed by W.T. White, the city’s most prominent stone carver and monument builder. As I wandered the cemeteries of Charleston, in nearly every graveyard I found monuments with White’s signature. Nearby, another marvelous monument by White is the stone for the Rev. I.E.H. Seymour. Topped with the statue of a praying woman, the stone bears a wonderful crest. An hourglass is encircled by an ouroboros, an ancient symbol meaning cyclicality; thus in this, the cyclicality of time or that even in death, life is created. This idea is strengthened by a wreath which can mean victory in death. The wings, however, are harder to interpret and I have yet to find an explanation. On this same stone is also the image of a bee, another symbol that I cannot yet interpret.

The crest of the Seymour monument.
Photo 2011, by Lewis Powell IV, all rights reserved.

The mysterious bee from the Seymour monument.
Photo 2011, by Lewis Powell IV, all rights reserved.

Not far away is the monument for Hugh Swinton Legare, who served two years as a state legislator, South Carolina Attorney General, then as a state Representative to the United States House and then United States Attorney General under President John Tyler. The monument consists of a large marble Corinthian column sitting on a large base. One side of the base is carved with the national crest with a bald eagle, while the opposite site bears images from the South Carolina state crest with a wonderfully carved palmetto tree with a pair of shields underneath back with 12 spears (representing the other 12 colonies); all sitting on a fallen tree. The palmetto’s significance comes from a battle fought on Sullivan’s Island near Charleston, June 28, 1776, between colonists and the British. The colonists had built a fort of palmetto logs and the British cannon fire seemed to bounce right off. The dead tree represents the defeated British fleet. This monument was also built by White and is signed “W.T. White/Steam Marble Works/115 Meeting St”.

The Legare monument.
Photo 2011, by Lewis Powell IV, all rights reserved.

The eagle crest on the Legare monument.
Photo 2011, by Lewis Powell IV, all rights reserved.

The South Carolina crest on the Legare monument.
Photo 2011, by Lewis Powell IV, all rights reserved.

Lagare died in 1840 in Boston, Massachusetts while attending ceremonies for the unveiling of the monument at Bunker Hill. He was buried in the Mount Auburn Cemetery there. Interestingly, this is one of the cemeteries upon which the designs for Magnolia Cemetery are based. Mount Auburn, coupled with New York City’s Greenwood Cemetery provided the inspiration for the “Garden Cemetery,” a type of cemetery found throughout the United States. These cemeteries, created in park and garden-like settings were a departure from the usual church yards where most people were buried. In 1857, Lagare’s remains were exhumed from his Boston burial place and he was re-interred here among the magnolias.

Magnolia Cemetery was founded in 1850 on the grounds of the former Magnolia Umbra plantation. The old plantation house still stands in the center of the cemetery. Laid out by South Carolina architect Edward C. Jones, the rules for governing the cemetery were copied from those of Mount Auburn and Greenwood. This sacred parcel of land has become the resting place of many of Charleston’s most prominent people.

James Brown Boyd monument topped with
a palmetto.
Photo 2011, by Lewis Powell IV, all rights reserved.

Closeup of the palmetto by A. F. Chevereaux.
Photo 2011, by Lewis Powell IV, all rights reserved.

Nearby is another stone carved with state symbolism including a wonderful, freestanding palmetto. The monument is for James Brown Boyd, Sergeant of the Palmetto Guards of the 2^nd South Carolina Regiment. He was killed at the battle of Sharpsburg, Maryland (usually called Antietam), September 17, 1862. This is not a White monument and is signed “D.A. Walker.” The palmetto sculpture is signed, “A. F. Chevreaux, Sculptor”.

The Confederate section.
Photo 2011, by Lewis Powell IV, all rights reserved.

According to Denise Roffe, this cemetery may have a few spirits wandering around. In one story, a brother and sister were fishing in the nearby Cooper River. When the little girl’s favorite doll fell in the water, she dove in to retrieve it and her body was found later clutching the doll. Her spirit has been seen in the company of a Civil War soldier, said to be her father. When the two are approached, they both vanish as the little girl giggles. Another spirit is also a young girl seen near the burial site of Annie Aiken.

Part of the burial lot for the crew of the CSS Hunley, the
Confederate submarine that sank in Charleston harbor after
sinking the USS Housatonic. Photo 2011, by Lewis Powell
IV, all rights reserved.

The cemetery is massive and I easily could have spent many hours here, but the swarms of mosquitoes feeding on me every time I got out of the car began to be too much. That’s when I decided to leave, and good thing as I found the locked gates.

The Egyptian Revival W.B. Smith mausoleum.
Photo 2011, by Lewis Powell IV, all rights reserved.

A jolly man in a pickup truck pulled up as I spoke to the 911 operator. He had the key. Thank God. I told him I was so bowled over with Magnolia Cemetery that I had lost track of time. Smiling he listed some facts about the place: it contained around 33,000 interments (a number that is still growing) on 154 acres. I’m glad I’m not yet one of those who have found their rest here.

Sources

Hugh Swinton Legare. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Accessed 30

     July 2011.

Jacoby, Mary Moore and John W. Meffert. Charleston: An Album from

     The Collection of the Charleston Museum. Dover, NH: Arcadia Press,

     1997.

McNulty, Kappy and Nenie Dixon. National Register of Historic Places

     Nomination form for Magnolia Cemetery. 23 August 1976.

Roffe, Denise. Ghosts and Legends of Charleston, South Carolina. Atglen,

     PA: Schiffer, 2010.

Seal of South Carolina. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Accessed 30

     July 2011.

"Worthy of preservation and appreciation..." (Newsbyte)

In my other blog, I have a feature called the Newsbyte where I feature news articles I've come across. I've decided to use this feature in this blog as well.

As I said in the Purpose statement for this blog, while I like old cemeteries, I don't know as much about them. One of the purposes of this blog is to document my exploration into these cemeteries. I discovered something quite interesting tonight while looking for news on Alabama cemeteries. The article, in the Troy, Alabama Messenger, talks about two cemeteries in the county being added to the Alabama Historic Cemetery Register. The WHAT!?!

The Alabama Historical Commission, a "state agency charged with safeguarding Alabama's historic buildings and sites," maintains a register of important historic cemeteries throughout the state. What a novel concept! I can say that Georgia nor the federal government have anything like this. The National Park Service administers the National Register of Historic Places, but the National Register excludes most cemeteries. Cemeteries must meet special standards in order to be included. From the Nation Register Bulletin, Guidelines For Evaluating and Registering Cemeteries and Burial Places:

To be eligible for the National Register, a cemetery or burial place must be shown to be significant under one or more of the four basic Criteria for Evaluation. Criteria A, B, C, and D indicate the several ways in which a property may be significant in American history, architecture (including the disciplines of landscape architecture and planning), archeology, engineering, and culture. Decisions about the relative significance of cemeteries and burial places can be made only with knowledge of the events, trends, and technologies that influenced practices of caring for and commemorating the dead, and with some concept of the quality and quantity of similar resources in the community, region, State, or nation. 

So, while the National Register is out for listing many cemeteries, seeing a state actively listing them is exciting.  It certainly provides a way of recognition, which can help in obtaining funding for preservation and maintenance.

Not only is this list important from a preservation standpoint, but it provides a great list of places to visit for someone like me. The cemetery program coordinator quoted in the article says it beautifully, "The AHC considers the notable historic cemeteries in this register to be particularly worthy of preservation and appreciation and, therefore, deserving of this special recognition."


The article lists three cemeteries in the Troy area that have been added to the list. The Carter Cemetery, a small family cemetery in Goshen, and the Antioch Cemetery in Shellhorn, a community cemetery dating from the 1840s, are both located in Pike County. The Providence Cemetery in Glenwood in Crenshaw County is also a community cemetery.


The Alabama Historical Commission deserves a kudos for their marvelous list of historic cemeteries!

Sources
Commission. Alabama Historical Commission. Accessed 17 July
     2011.
Potter, Elisabeth Walton and Beth M. Boland. Guidelines For 
     Evaluating and Registering Cemeteries and Burial Places. 
     National Park Service, 1992.
Treadwell, Jaine. "Two local cemeteries added to historic register."
     TroyMessenger.com. 24 June 2011.

Fallen Southern Gothic—The Broome Monument

Lot 355

Hill View Cemetery

New Franklin Road

LaGrange, Georgia

Hill View Cemetery from the Dallis family plot. Photo 2011, by
Lewis Powell IV, all rights reserved.

There’s always an issue of where to start. I figure, where else but my own hometown and the old main cemetery here, Hill View? I’ve driven or ridden past Hill View many times since I moved to town at the age of three. There were always monuments there that have intrigued me, but I never took much time to stop. At some point in my childhood I took a class in gravestone rubbing from the local art museum and that gave me some time to explore the cemetery. After making the decision to start this blog, I figured a visit would be in order and I was amazed and saddened; amazed by the incredible art that exists there and saddened by the state of the cemetery.

A fallen Gothic Revival monument to Mrs. E. J. Swanson,
consort of S. W. Swanson, died May 28, 1842. Photo 2011,
by Lewis Powell IV, all rights reserved.

Hill View Cemetery is, as far as I can find, the old main city cemetery. Forrest Clark Johnson’s book on the cemetery does not reveal when the cemetery first opened, but I’ll assume it opened not long after the incorporation of the city in 1828. Standing there among the monuments, it’s obvious that so many of these people were instrumental in the creation of the city as their names occur in streets and other locations. Also there is some truly incredible funerary art can be found here. While the cemetery is basically maintained by the City of LaGrange (they cut the grass and such), so many of the monuments really need restoration and preservation, which I presume is not their responsibility.

The cemetery is part of three major cemeteries all located together: Hill View, Shadowlawn and the Hill View Annex. Hill View lies south of Bacon Street with its Annex located north of Bacon Street. Shadowlawn is due east of the Annex, across Linden Avenue. Both the Annex and Shadowlawn Cemeteries are starkly modern in comparison with the original Hill View with its trees and old monuments.

The Broome family plot under a shady cedar tree. The plot
lies within the fence. Photo 2011, by Lewis Powell IV,
all rights reserved.

On my first visit, I was drawn to a handful of monuments one of which was the monument to Rufus Broome and his wife in the Broome family plot. The plot is nestled in the shade a cedar tree, a species with symbolic meaning in cemeteries. Part of the plot is surrounded by a low marble wall with a section adjacent surrounded by a marvelous ornamental iron fence in Gothic Revival style. Sections of the fence are completely intact while other sections are missing. Within the fence is the marvelous Gothic Revival monument to Colonel and Mrs. Broome.

The Rufus and N. W. Broome monument. The pillar that once
topped the tomb lies on the left with the pillar's base on the right.
Photo 2011, by Lewis Powell IV, all rights reserved.

Colonel Broome first appears in the city’s history in 1836. The eight-year-old city of LaGrange was at that time on the frontier and still under threat from Muskogee or Creek Indians who still lived in villages just over the state line in present day Alabama. The Creek War of 1836 broke out among the Upper Creek who still lived in Alabama in response to the theft and deception of land speculators and settlers after the 1832 Treaty of Cusseta. Volunteers in LaGrange formed two companies of soldiers under the marvelously named Colonel Julius Caesar Alford who headed south to Columbus while Colonel Broome remained behind to defend the city. Women and children were barricaded in the newly built brick courthouse for protection. The courthouse briefly bore the name Fort Broome.

Street sign for Broome Street. The street runs alongside the old
Broome homestead at Broome and Main Streets. Photo 2011,
by Lewis Powell IV, all rights reserved.

Old LaGrange National Bank Building, sitting on
the site of the Broome homestead. Photo 2011,
Lewis Powell, IV, all rights reserved.

Broome was born in Nash County, North Carolina and had moved around a bit in east Georgia before he and his wife, Nancy Williams Pitts, moved to LaGrange in 1830. Broome was a planter and a merchant and served as one of the original trustees of the LaGrange Female Academy, predecessor to today’s LaGrange College. The family home, located at the corner of Main Street and Broome Street, was torn down for the LaGrange National Bank Building in 1917 which now houses the Troup County Legacy Museum and Historical Society. Broome died in 1855 and his wife, two years later.

Pillar in situ. Photo 2011, by Lewis Powell IV,
all rights reserved.

What attracted me to the monument was the marvelous Gothic Revival design. Most of the monuments in Hill View are of Neo-Classical or Victorian design, with less than a handful that are purely Gothic in nature. The monument is now in pieces, but originally it was a large base topped with a Gothic style pillar. The pillar now lies next to the large base, with the base of the pillar lying on the other side of the main base. Quite possibly, there was a finial topping the pillar, but a quick glance around the site does not reveal it.

Lower portion of the pillar with ivy leaf ornament. Photo 2011,
by Lewis Powell IV, all rights reserved.

Top portion of the pillar. Photo 2011, by Lewis Powell IV,
all rights reserved.

Base of the pillar, note the scoring in the marble. Photo 2011,
by Lewis Powell IV, all rights reserved.

Gothic architecture originated in the great Medieval cathedrals of Europe and, over time, spread to other buildings. The style saw a revival in Britain in the mid-18^th century with its popularity spreading to America in the mid-19^th century. Therefore, this monument is an early example of Gothic Revival. The pointed arch, used in cathedrals for its great strength, is one of the primary elements of this style. On the base of the monument, pointed arches are carved on all four sides. Each arch contains tracery, or ornamental interior support, in the form of a quatrefoil, a four petaled flower. To me, this flower appears to be a stylized dogwood (Cornus sp.). The tracery comes to a point with a stylized English ivy (Hedera helix) leaf which is also found on the pillar. The tracery also creates two arches within the main arch, which also may be symbolic. The whole arch is decorated on the outside with three curled acanthus (Acanthus spinosus) leaves on either side.

Tracery detail. Photo 2011, by Lewis Powell IV,
all rights reserved.

Detail of the dogwood-like flower in the tracery.
Photo 2011, by Lewis Powell IV, all rights reserved.

There is a good deal of symbolism within this stone. The arch itself, being divided by the tracery into two smaller arches may be a symbol of a couple joined in holy matrimony, but further a larger whole divided in two may perhaps be a reference to the Trinity. The stylized dogwood would be a reference to the Crucifixion. The legend of dogwood says that wood from that tree was used to make the cross upon which Christ was crucified. In punishment, God caused the tree to whither and the flowers to bear the marks of the cross.

Closeup of the acanthus leaves. Photo 2011, by Lewis
Powell IV, all rights reserved.

The ivy leaf, in funerary art, symbolizes immortality and faithfulness as ivy is an evergreen. The acanthus leaf is also a symbol of immortality and rebirth. Combined, these two elements add not only symbolism, but a florid levity to the stringent Gothic lines. Overall, these elements create an aesthetically pleasing monument.

Signature of J. Baird. Photo 2011, by Lewis Powell IV, all
rights reserved.

It also should be noted that this stone is signed by the artist. A small signature reads, “J. BAIRD/PHIL.” A quick Google search revealed this to be John Baird of Philadelphia who operated a large operation carving headstones and monuments throughout the mid-late 19^th century. Certainly a stone with this grandeur and pedigree would have been expensive and spoken to the wealth of Colonel Broome and his family. It’s also interesting that the family would have gone as far as Philadelphia to procure a monument.

Grave of Julia Broome, died July 31, 1850. Photo
2011, by Lewis Powell IV, all rights reserved.

Grave of Elizabeth Broome Craybill and infants.
Photo 2011, by Lewis Powell IV, all rights reserved.

The monument is surrounded by the graves a of the Broome’s children, including three daughters who died in their teens. Besides the minimalistic ledger graves which consist of slabs of marble, there is a neoclassical wreathed urn atop the grave of Elizabeth Broome Craybill and her infant children, a highly ornamented cradle grave for Julia Broome complete with a wreath of flowers and a fringed drape over the top and the simple headstone of Martha with a pointed arch and caps. This plot represents the range of architectural styles found in America around the middle of the 19^th century.

Inscriptions

“Front” side:

OUR

FATHER & MOTHER

Left side:

RUFUS BROOME

DIED JAN. 1, 1855

AGED 72 YEARS

Right side:

N. W. BROOME

BORN AUG. 28, 1798

DIED AUG. 31, 1857

Sources

Creek War of 1836. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia.

     Accessed 12 July 2011.

Funerary Art Symbolism. Oakdale Cemetery. Accessed

     12 July 2011.

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