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

Alfred "Billy" Martin was only 17 years old when he was first signed to a baseball contract. When his manager and mentor, Casey Stengel, became the Yankee’s manager, in 1950, he signed Martin to the team. Martin proved to be a valuable asset, being named 1953’s MVP, the year the Yankees won the World Series. In 1975, after his playing days were behind him, Martin was hired by Yankee’s owner George Steinbrenner, to manage the team. Under his leadership, the Yankee’s won the 1976 Pennant and the 1977 World Series. Yet, despite Martin’s successes with the team, his relationship with Steinbrenner was tumultuous and tales of his firings and subsequent rehirings filled newspaper pages. A 1985 NY Times article characterized their relationship as “sport's longest-running soap opera.” Martin died on Christmas day in 1989, at the age of 61, when his pickup truck --driven by a friend--skidded off an icy road in upstate NY. His funeral Mass, which took place four days later, was he...

George Herman Ruth Jr. --known to the world as Babe Ruth--was one of the most iconic figures in the world of sports. From 1920 to 1935, Ruth was a central figure in baseball, leading the NY Yankees to 7 American League championships and 4 World Series titles. When Ruth died at 53 on August 16th (my birthday) in 1948, his casket was placed in the rotunda of Yankee Stadium as befitting his stature. So beloved was he that over 100,000 people came to pay their respects. His grave at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, NY, is a treasure trove of Yankee memorabilia. It is also “the most recognized and visited [site] on the grounds,” I was told by the cemetery’s former superintendent, Jim Ford, who gave me a glorious tour of the cemetery for an article I was working on (and for which I was given special permission). In 2002, my profile of Gate of Heaven appeared in  American Cemetery  Magazine. It remains one of the few articles written about the cemetery’s noted residents and I am...

During the Civil War, twelve-year-old Clarence Mackenzie signed on with the Thirteenth Regiment of the New York State Militia as a drummer boy whose duty was to beat out march cadence. In 1861, MacKenzie accompanied the unit to a camp in Annapolis. Tragically, he was killed on June 11, 1861, by the accidental discharge of a musket during a training exercise, becoming --at age 13 -– Brooklyn’s first war casualty. Three thousand people attended his funeral at Green-Wood Cemetery. MacKenzie’s grave was marked only by a wooden sign until his story became part of a book about the cemetery. After this, a campaign ensued, resulting in MacKenzie’s grave being moved to a different spot and marked by this zinc statute

Clarence Day authored several books in his time, but the 1935 publication of  Life With Father  was his most significant and enduring. A staple in English Lit classes, the book is an autobiographical account of Day's young life with his family, peppered with humorous anecdotes about his Wall Street broker father. Published in 1935, the book was later-- in 1939-- adapted as a Broadway play. On the heels of its closing, in 1947,  Life With Father  was released as a movie, co-starring a teenage Elizabeth Taylor. From 1953 to 1955,  Life With Father  was given a new life, this time as a television show. Clarence Day did not live to see the influence his work would have on popular culture as he died the same year as the book's publication. Yet, his earlier words seem prophetic now:  "The world of books is the most remarkable creation of man. Nothing else that he builds ever lasts. Monuments fall, nations perish, civilizations grow old and die out, and,...

One of the most poignant love stories to be found in Woodlawn Cemetery is that of Lawrence and Elvira Wegielski. The New York Times apparently thought so too, judging by their 2003 feature NEW YORK LORE; Love, Unstoppable, which chronicles a devotion that transcends death. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/09/nyregion/new-york-lore-love-unstoppable.html?src=pm

Came across this monument on a recent walk through Flushing Cemetery in Queens County, NY. What struck me immediately was not only its beauty, but its similarity --minus the wings--to the Angel of Grief.   I don't have any information about this statue apart from the family name, but am searching and will post an update if I find out any details. The flower and pink bracelet-like ornamentation makes me think that someone has recently visited.

  In the 1890s, American sculptor William Wetmore Story created the  Angel of Grief  monument for the future grave site of him and his wife in Rome's Protestant Cemetery. Several replicas of the  Angel of   Grief --  also referred to as the  Weeping Angel  -- c an be seen around the country in various cemeteries. The above photo.is of one such replica. This early 20th-century version commemorates the Cassard family and can be seen in Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery. A black & white photo appears on page 73 of my Green-Wood book.

When Eva (nee Duarte) Peron, affectionately known as “Evita” to her adoring public, died at the age of 33 on July 26, 1952, her funeral was as grand as the life (albeit short) she had lived. Her body was medically embalmed --a rare and costly practice--and placed in a specially constructed Bronze casket with a glass cover for public viewing. And what a viewing it was! Eva’s body remained on display for 13 days during which time 3 million Argentines, after waiting in line for hours, filed past her casket to pay their final respects. In the meantime, construction was to begin on the mausoleum which would house her remains. However, it would take more than 20 years before that would happen. Ousted by a coup, President Juan Peron went into hiding as did Eva’s body, because of the strong anti-Peron sentiment in the country. On October 22, 1976, Eva Peron’s body was at last entombed in the family mausoleum in La Recoleta Cemetery. A plaque at the site is inscribed in Spanish with the words: ...

http://coffincouches.com/pages/3015/Dodger_Blue.htm

Henry Steinway, born Steinweg, emigrated from Germany to New York with his wife and four sons. He initially worked for various piano makers in the city before starting his own piano manufacturing company, Steinway & Sons, in 1853. Steinway's concert pianos quickly earned a reputation for their exceptional quality and craftsmanship. In 1870, a year before he died, Steinway moved his business to Queens, purchasing land in Astoria. The company still operates from Queens, and the area's main thoroughfare --Steinway Street--  is named in his honor.  Shortly after Steinway's death, his family constructed a grand mausoleum in Green-Wood Cemetery. It is the largest private mausoleum in the cemetery, and can accommodate up to 128 entombments. The granite structure reportedly cost $80,000 to build. .