Gardens of Stone --- A Cemetery Blog by Alexandra Kathryn Mosca

DeWitt Clinton was so many things to New York: Governor, Senator, Mayor and instrumental in the construction of the Erie Canal. Clinton also plays a large part in Green-Wood's history as it was Clinton's reburial in Green-Wood -he was originally buried in the Clinton Cemetery in New Britain, NY - that became Green-Wood's first major tourist attraction. This photo shows the exquisitely detailed full-length bronze sculpture, by Henry Kirke Brown, in which Clinton is dressed in contemporary clothing along with a Roman toga draped around his waist and over his left shoulder.   An archival shot of the statue shows it was originally surrounded by a fence,

One of the most special places in Brooklyn is Green-Wood Cemetery. Twenty years ago, I saw it for the first time and thought it was the most magnificent cemetery I'd ever seen. And I had seen a lot of cemeteries in my career as a funeral director. Of course, back then, there was no way of knowing that twenty years later, in 2008, I would do a book about the place. But that's just what I did. After years of profiling noted cemeteries and famous funerals, as a freelance writer, I got the opportunity to delve into the history of the most famous cemetery in America. I knew many of Green-Wood's famous residents when I began the project. Still, as I continued to research by traversing the grounds and reading all I could about the place and its history, it became a question of winnowing down subjects to include in the book. If I were to do a  Green-Wood Cemetery  Part II, III, IV & V, I could not possibly include all the stories Green-Wood has to tell. I want to share some of ...