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

  This stately mausoleum, with Egyptian overtones, houses the remains of Richard Kyle Fox in Woodlawn cemetery.   Fox , who was born in Belfast Ireland , published the popular National Police Gazette From 1877-1922. In its heyday the publication --which sold for a dime --had a circulation of 500,000 and a readership in the millions.

Grosvenor Atterbury is one of several prominent architects --along with James Fenwick and Richard Upjohn--buried in Green-Wood Cemetery. While during the course of his long career Atterbury was responsible for the design of many prominent structures, he is most remembered for designing the stately Tudor and Colonial style homes which comprise the exclusive enclave known as Forest Hills Gardens. Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. (son of the co-designer of Central Park and Prospect Park) was the landscape architect on this 1908 project of one of America’s oldest planned communities. Residents have included Jimmy Breslin, Geraldine Ferraro, Branch Rickey (the baseball executive who signed Jackie Robinson) and CSI actor David Caruso. Atterbury died in 1956 at the age of 87 in Southampton Hospital. He is buried beneath a simple stone --which notes that he was an inventor architect--in a shady and secluded family plot. His father was a lawyer who became the general counsel for the Erie R...

Dr. Lottie Cort practiced medicine for 55 years, after graduating --in 1883--from Women’s Homeopathic Medical College in Pennsylvania. During her career she held a number of positions, including secretary of Memorial Hospital and president of the hospital’s dispensary-a position she held until 1912. An early advocate for women’s issues, Dr. Cort was a prominent suffragist and a founder of the Elizabeth Cady Stanton Equality League. She was also a member of the Chiropean, a club for women which served Brooklyn’s Eastern District. The Chiropean --whose name invited much curiosity--was founded in 1896 and its 250 original members included many prominent women, including the wife of Brooklyn Mayor Frederick Wurster. An early NY Times article stated their mission as:” …to give full scope and an enlarged field to the prerogatives of the twentieth century woman, and to make her in all respects not only the co-equal, but the admitted superior of the twentieth century man.” Dr. Cort died su...

 On May 8th, I'll be part of a book event at Brooklyn's venerable Old Stone House. For more details click on this link: The Old Stone House

The Charlotte Canda monument, commemorating a young woman who died in 1845 on her 17th birthday, stands as one of Green-Wood Cemetery's most ornate and unique memorials. Crafted in the style of a tabernacle, the Gothic-style monument features a life-sized marble figure of Canda wearing a flowing gown and standing atop a pedestal. Drafted by sketches made by Canda herself, the monument was initially intended as a memorial for Canda's late aunt. However, after Canda's tragic death, the design was personalized to reflect Charlotte's interests and personality. From its intricate details to its symbolic elements, reflecting the Victorian era's fascination with symbolism, it serves as a lasting testament to Charlotte's brief but impactful life. Buried nearby is Charles Albert Jarrett de la Marie, Canda's fiancé, who committed suicide a year after her death.  The monument has become an iconic symbol within Green-Wood Cemetery, attracting visitors who are dr...

Elias Howe, Jr. is often credited with inventing the sewing machine. Actually, he was granted a patent for the lockstitch (the basic stitch made by a sewing machine) in 1846. That patent expired in 1867 and—ironically-- so did Howe. Howe funeral service took place at the First Universalist Church in Cambridgeport, Mass. and the officiant was a Rev. Greenwood. He was then buried in Cambridge Cemetery. In 1890, the same year Howe’s wife, Rose, died, the Howe’s were buried together in Green-Wood. Their beloved dog, Fannie, is buried within the family plot, along with her own monument, on which a poem entitled “Only a Dog” is inscribed. The Howe gravesite is located at the prime intersection of Battle and Hemlock Avenues and is a most popular stop on my tour.

Scott Joplin was an American composer and pianist who became famous for his ragtime compositions.Over the course of his career, Joplin composed more than forty ragtime pieces. The Maple Leaf Rag, which was one of his earliest compositions, is considered to be the most prominent work of the ragtime genre. Joplin died at age 49 and was buried in St. Michael's Cemetery in East Elmhurst, NY, on April 5, 1917. However, more than 50 years later, his music experienced a resurgence in popularity after the release of the movie "The Sting" in 1973. The film, which won several Academy Awards, featured a number of Joplin's compositions, including "The Entertainer," which was adapted by Marvin Hamlisch for the movie. The film's success and music helped introduce Joplin's work to a new generation of fans. For the past few years, St. Michael's Cemetery has been hosting an annual Scott Joplin Memorial Concert. This year's concert date is Satur...

Florence Scannell was a New York City Councilman and opponent of Tammany Hall politics. In December of 1869, he was shot in a barroom brawl by Thomas Donahue, a day before being elected Alderman, a position he never assumed. From the time of the shooting until he died on July 10, 1870, Scanell lay “hovering on the edge of life.” At Scannell’s funeral mass, which took place at St. Stephen’s Roman Catholic Church in Manhattan, Rev. Father Henry told the congregants that they should not mourn for his departure, for there was reason to believe he was now “in a better world.” At the conclusion of the religious service, Scannell’s wood casket was opened and several hundred mourners passed by to say a final goodbye. The casket was then loaded onto a funeral coach, borne by six gray horses, for the ride to Calvary Cemetery in Queens. This exquisite statue, which marks Scannell’s grave was dedicated by his brother, John J. Scannell, as is noted on the stone. Several months after his broth...

Yesterday, I attended a wonderful lecture about Louis Comfort Tiffany at the Cold Spring Harbor Library in Long Island. Although I researched Louis Comfort and his father, Charles Lewis, the famed jeweler, I learned a number of things about the family and took a new look at their modest gravestones in Green-Wood Cemetery. It seems that Louis C. Tiffany was quite the party animal, throwing lavish parties—sometimes for 1,000 people—-at Laurelton Hall, his 100-room estate set on 580 acres in Oyster Bay, LI. The invitations were proffered by scrolls, often written in hieroglyphics, and guests were—-more often than not—-requested to attend in costume. Louis Comfort Tiffany died in 1933, but Laurelton Hall lived on, serving as a haven for artists per Tiffany’s wishes. Sadly, in 1957, the mansion burned down in a mysterious fire, the origin of which has never been discovered. Much of the contents of Tiffany’s home were destroyed. One of these, (seen above) was Tiffany's prized work ...

Johnny Torrio, who was once considered to be America's top public enemy, died in 1957. However, his death went largely unnoticed by the media and the public. Torrio suffered a heart attack while sitting in a barber's chair on April 15th and later died in Brooklyn's now-defunct Cumberland Hospital.   It wasn't until three weeks after his death that a small news item was published in the New York Times, referring to Torrio as "the man who put Al Capone in business." Later that year, Albert Anastasia, a rival mobster, was also killed while getting a shave in a barber's chair.