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

  Born in Lee, Massachusetts, Thomas Clark Durant attended Albany Medical School, earned a degree and, for a time, taught surgery. However, after becoming aware of the need for better transportation, he became involved in the railroad industry. When he became involved in a lawsuit about a bridge, he hired a young lawyer named Abraham Lincoln to defend him. This connection paid off when Lincoln became president and, in 1862, gave Durant’s company, the Union Pacific, a big part of building the Transcontinental Railroad. Although construction faced delays due to the Civil War, Durant took advantage of the situation by secretly bringing in cotton from the Confederate States to make money. After the war, railroad construction resumed, and Durant organized publicity stunts to draw attention and investors. A memorable moment was when he swung the sledgehammer to drive the Golden Spike into the ground in Promontory, Utah, completing the Transcontinental Railway. Durant died in 1885, but th...

  Capt. Alexander Joseph Swift was the son of Brigadier-General Joseph G. Swift, West Point's first graduate. During the Mexican-American War, Capt. Alexander Swift trained U.S. Military Academy officers for deployment to Mexico. It was there, during the Battle of Vera Cruz, a 20-day siege of the Mexican seaport, that Swift contracted dysentery. He died less than a month after the battle ended and is buried in Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery.

  A bronze angel, holding a hammer and chisel, perches on the monument of Benjamin Franklin Romaine, a NYC merchant, appearing to rest after completing the memorial. Romaine was a Trustee of both the Bowery savings Bank and the Church of the Divine Paternity, where his funeral service was held. Romaine's father, Jacob, who is also buried in the plot, headed the Romaine Academy for Young Ladies, a private school in New York City.

  In 1817, brothers James and John Harper founded J. & J. Harper in New York. They were later joined by their younger brothers Wesley and Fletcher, and the company was renamed Harper & Brothers. It became the leading book publisher in the United States during most of the 19th century. Harper & Brothers played a major role in the early industrialization of book publishing. In the 1850s, they shaped American culture by creating and distributing Harper's New Monthly Magazine and Harper's Weekly. The company had its most significant influence during the three decades following the Civil War. Harper textbooks educated students, Harper trade books were found on family shelves, and Harper periodicals illustrated current affairs and guided national thought. However, as the literary marketplace evolved, Harper was increasingly viewed an old-fashioned "family" publisher by the century's end. This compelled its corporate reorganization. In 1962, Harper & Brot...

Soft and buttery, Spritz cookies began as a Scandinavian Christmas tradition that involves squiring the dough through a press with patterned holes and dipping the cookies in chocolate or other flavorings. Today, it is a tradition shared by many countries and cultures, and many home bakers have their favorite take on the recipe. One of the most special is the one Naomi Miller-Dawson made for her family. And what makes this particular recipe so special, is that it is etched into her tombstone.    I had heard about the Spritz Cookie gravestone, for some time,  But it wasn't until early this year, that I finally saw the unique monument.  On a cold, but sunny, day in February, I met up with Marge Raymond, Green-Wood Cemetery's most popular tour guide, to tour the grounds and interview her for an upcoming article. After showing me a number of interesting sites, she led me to the pink granite monument topped by what appears to be an open cookbook. There, across two stone pa...

I came upon the grave of Dr. Auguste Renouard quite by accident when I was working on my Green-Wood Cemetery book. And, of course, I included a photo of it in the book.   Considered "the father of arterial embalming."  Renouard's monument is a tribute to him and notes: E rected by the Funeral Directors and Embalmers of the United States in Recognition of the Valuable Services of August Renouard in Advancing the Science of the Preservation of the Dead. Trained as a medical doctor, he developed a keen interest in embalming, writing often on the subject for funeral industry trade journals. In 1878, Renouard published what is said to be the first embalming textbook, 'The Undertaker's Manual.' Several years later, he opened The Renouard Training School for Embalmers in New York City. The mortuary school had a stellar reputation for turning out some of the most skilled embalmers of the time. Dr, Renouard died on March 13, 1912. Three years after Renouard's death...

As many of you already know, Green-Wood Cemetery is a truly special place. With its 478 acres of beauty and serenity, it is filled with untold stories. But G-W is not only a cemetery; it also supports social impact programs, including bee colonies.    To further such efforts, and help " maintain healthy honey bee colonies, which help pollinate Green-Wood's 478 acres and keep Brooklyn's natural environment healthy and diverse."  I'm looking to sponsor a beehive on the cemetery grounds. The cost of this sponsorship is $500, and we are raising money and awareness for the plight of honey bees. If 750 new G-W book orders are received by the end of September, book royalties will be contributed towards this cause. I would love for you to join me in helping the honey bees. and supporting this initiative, by purchasing a copy of Green-Wood Cemetery. The book itself is a photographic history of the cemetery, filled with rare archival photos and informational snippets about ...

  In the 19th century, Aaron Arnold partnered with James Constable, his son-in-law, to open Arnold Constable & Co. The department store soon became a mecca for America’s elite, counting Mary Todd Lincoln and Eleanor Roosevelt among its clientele. Their promise to offer shoppers “everything from cradle to grave,” was especially true during the Civil War when the store did a brisker than usual business in mourning clothes. Aaron Arnold and James Constable, are buried among other family members in underground vaults beneath a unique gazebo-like monument at the intersection of Atlantic and Elm avenues. One of the earliest lots sold after the cemetery opened, the property is mentioned in cemetery historian, Nehemiah Cleaveland's 1849's booklet Green-Wood: A Directory for Visitors. . Arnold, Constable & Co. closed in 1975. James M. Constable Dead

  The Van Ness Parsons pyramid-shaped monument, in Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery, is a most fitting final resting place for amateur Egyptologist Albert Ross Parsons. It is also a perennial  favorite of mine to photograph. Here is how it looked on a recent spring day.  From the late 19th century, into the early 20th century, Egyptian Revival was a popular style in memorialization. The Van Ness Parsons mausoleum is one of the finest examples, with its mix of Egyptian, Christian, and mystical symbolism.

  The recently installed monument in Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery marks the grave of legendary journalist Pete Hamill. A passage from his 2003 book 'Forever' is inscribed on the back. In 2011, Hamill was awarded the DeWitt Clinton Award for Excellence by The Green-Wood Historic Fund at its annual gala. That evening, he spoke of growing up in Brooklyn, and his earliest visits to Green-Wood.    On what would have been Hamill's 86th birthday--June 24, 2021--Pete Hamill in Park Slope Brooklyn was dedicated. You can read a lively account of that day here: The Pete Hamill Way

  The Stewart mausoleum was a collaboration between McKim, Mead & White (as in Stanford), once the largest architectural firm in the world, and renowned sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens. In the 1800's, the Stewart family were major patrons of the arts. Their aesthetic tastes are reflected in their final resting place.

  Near the edge of Green -Wood Cemetery, a sculpture of a beautiful woman –Rose Guarino--reclining across stone steps stops visitors in their tracks. Open-eyed, with lips parted and long hair flowing, she is dressed in a flowing gown, and wearing sandals. She clutches a bouquet in her hands. For generations, Brooklyn locals have believed that the monument commemorates a mafia bride gunned down on her wedding day in a revenge killing. The true story behind the statue does involve a murder and is just as tragic.  In the summer of 1909, Dominica Merello and her daughter, Rose Guarino, were dining with family members on the lawn of their NJ summer home when Pietro Silverio, an irate domestic employee, rushed the women, gun in hand, to exact revenge for losing his job. As the women attempted to flee, Silverio gave chase and shot Guarino in the back.   She died three days later. Guarino's body was held for two years in the cemetery's receiving vault while the monument w...

  Charles Feltman is credited with "inventing" the hot dog. In 1871, Feltman opened the Feltman Restaurant and Beer Garden in Coney Island. His establishment proved hugely popular, and on one day alone it was reported that he served 40,000 hot dogs. One of his workers, Nathan Handwerker, would go on to achieve his own fame after opening his own Coney Island hot dog restaurant: Nathan's.

  I've just visiting Green-Wood for the umpteenth time. Given that I've written a book about the cemetery, as well as a number of articles, it might seen like there's nothing new to see. But that's definitely not the case. Its 478 acres always offer a previously unseen historical and/or architectural gem along with a new perspective on oft-photographed favorites. What's more, seeing the grounds through a friend's first visit (as I did yesterday) is illuminating. 

  The Weeping Angel is one of my all-time favorite monuments. So much so, that I requested that the publisher of my last book-- Gardens of Stone--make it the cover.  This monument is Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery, but variations can be found in a number of cemeteries around the world.

The weather today was superb for a cemetery walk, With fall colors illuminated by bright sun, I enjoyed visiting some previously photographed sites, to offer a new perspective.  In the mid-19th century, successful tobacco merchant, John Anderson, was one of the suspects in the murder of his employee, Mary Cecilia Rogers. And even though he was never convicted of the murder, his arrest derailed his ambition to become mayor of New York City. Anderson died in France, and was entombed in this grand mausoleum high upon a hill in Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery.

  The graves of the Prentiss brothers lie side by side in the shadow of the Historic Chapel near tranquil Valley Water. During the Civil War, the brothers from Maryland fought on separate sides. Both were mortally wounded in the same attack. The storied poet Walt Whitman ministered to both brothers and later wrote about them. In 2008, new gravestones, courtesy of the Veterans Administration, were unveiled in front of the Prentiss brother's illegible 19th-century marble gravestones.

Last night, I attended  a most unique event at Green-Wood Cemetery with my friend & fellow funeral director, Doris Amen. It was a two mile stroll through the grounds, after dark, on a perfect fall evening . Along the way, we encountered performance artists stationed in and around some of Green-Wood’s many notable mausoleums and monuments. Food stations, too, were available . Our ties to Green-Wood run deep. Doris is the cemetery’s “go to” funeral director, having handled the funerals of the cemetery president’s family, as well as many of the staff’s loved ones. While I, enamored with the grounds from my very first visit as a funeral director, wrote a  book  about the place. During the researching and writing process, I traversed the grounds countless times. Still, seeing it at night is something extra-special. Even in the dark, we discovered new sites and saw others in a different light. Highlights were the Currier (of Currier & Ives) monument lit up in pink, and ...

This cast iron bear marks the grave of artist William Holbrook Beard who was known for his depiction of human-like animals. Bears were particular favorites of his. His work can be seen in the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the New-York Historical Society, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. One of his most famous paintings was "Bulls and Bears in the Market in 1879. The work was a satirical rendition of the behavior of investors.  Beard was buried in Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery in 1900. But f or more than a hundred years, Beard's burial site remained unmarked. However, the cemetery decided to intervene and contacted Alexander Acevedo, a NYC art gallery owner who had previously exhibited Beard's work., To raise funds for a memorial, Acevedo appealed to donors, and Colorado sculptor Dan Ostermiller responded with a sculpture of a bear sitting on a headstone.

 Green-Wood Cemetery continues to be a treasure trove for story ideas. My latest is in this month's American Cemetery & Cremation magazine. Even though all four of the monuments featured in the article appear in my cemetery books, I've since learned even more about them, and their back stories.