A Glass Tombstone

1896

A glass tombstone; that is certainly something unique. Such a grave marker stands in but one place in the United States, and that is the cemetery overlooking the city of Kittanning, Pennsylvania. It has but recently been set up there, over the grave of Mrs. Elizabeth Pepper, of Ford City, by her son, Matthias Pepper.

Not one of the piles of marble and granite attracts so much attention as the piece of polished glass, with clear inscription, which stands on a gentle slope falling slowly from the hilltop.

Matthias Pepper, who had the glass set up, is assistant superintendent at the Ford City factory. The piece used as a grave memorial is a part of a large plate which was made of unusual thickness for the construction of circular panes to cover the portholes of ocean steamships. The practical indestructibility of glass was its quality which suggested to Mr. Pepper its use in the cemetery.

Marble and granite seem to many to be almost eternal in their hardness, but they are far from it, and not at all to be compared with glass. Wind and rain, heat and cold have their effects on stone of any kind, and finally wear away the hardest granite and cause it to crumble. Go into any old graveyard, where stones were erected more than one hundred years ago, and it will be found to be the exception where all the lettering on the monuments can be made out. The stone has crumbled and the outline has been obliterated. No such effect is produced by the weather on glass.

The Pepper monument is of plate glass one inch thick, a foot and a half wide and four feet high. It stands in a mortise cut into a cube of sandstone. The top of the glass is arched. The lettering on it is made by the "sand blast" process, and is distinct. The monument bears this inscription:

In memory of Elizabeth Pepper, of Ford City. Died February 4, 1892. Aged seventy-seven years.
Also William Pepper, husband of the above. Died ——. Aged ——.

From this inscription it may be inferred truly that William Pepper is still living.

This new use for plate glass is likely to become extended, for it has many things to recommend it. The transparency and purity of the material are suggestive and appropriate. It is easily and quickly etched, its cost is not great, and in durability it surpasses any other available material. — Pittsburg Dispatch.

A Pet Cemetery

1908

Where Pet Dogs and Cats Are Buried In State

New York. — In a picturesque little spot situated on one of the most beautiful of the Hartsdale hills lies one of the oddest of cemeteries. The casual visitor here, inspecting the inscriptions on the tombstones, would expect to see records of long forgotten generations, perhaps the history of the village in the lives of its citizens, but instead the stones contained nothing but inscriptions to dogs, with an occasional cat epitaph here and there.

"Fido, asleep," "Our beloved fox terrier, Flossie," "Dedicated to the memory of our pet cat, Smutty." Such a jumble of inscriptions meet the eye that the visitor begins to wonder whether the souls of Fido and Smutty now rest peacefully side by side or whether they arise at the witching hour to fight out once more their lifelong battle. In that case even the back fences of Harlem would be preferable to the rural peace of Hartsdale.

This cemetery, moreover, contains French dogs and French inscriptions and German dogs. And just as human tombstones have little angels on them so these dog tombstones have little puppies carved on them playing with toys. Next to one of the graves the owner has erected a big rustic mourner's bench so that he may grieve for his pet in comfort.

The most elaborate grave is that of a bulldog that once belonged to a family named Willson. Besides having a big granite stone at the head, it has two little bay trees on either side, and at the foot is a little marble trough with three little marble canaries drinking out of it. The canaries would be more easily explained if it were a cat grave, but perhaps this particular bullpup had feline predilections.

For six months after he was buried tali dog had fresh violets or roses placed upon his grave every day, it is chronicled. The burial cost the bulldog's owner over $500.

The grave digger of the cemetery also tells of dogs buried in rosewood or mahogany coffins, some with gold handles, and gold, jewel-studded collars around their necks.

"You have no idea," he will wander on, "how much money some undertakers make on the side in these dog coffins. Often the coffins are lined with plush or velvet and cost large sums of money.

"And then some people insist on having their dogs embalmed before they are willing to bury them. Of course the undertakers keep that part of their business very secret, but they do it just the same."

Many of the dogs that were prize winners in their lively days have all their trophies, ribbons, silver mugs and such things buried with them. Others have all their old collars, whips and playthings, and one woman actually buried a Bible and rosary with a dog.

"Of course I know it must seem very silly," she said in explanation, "but it just makes me feel better, so why shouldn't I do it?"

"And do they have real funerals for dogs, with services and so on?" asked the seeker of information of the digger of graves.

"Well, no; no real services," he explained, "though some of them would like to, I guess, by the way they act.

"Sometimes they bring the body up from New York in an automobile, sometimes they ship it up as freight and meet it at the railway station with carriages. Only family and friends, you know. There are never very many of them.

"But the way those people act when it comes to covering up the box is — well — just about the limit. And the men are not much better than the women, either. I've got a pretty interesting job, I can tell you.

"And most of them come up regularly and see to it that I'm keeping the grave in OK condition. And on the day of the dog's death they usually decorate the grave with flowers. I can tell you I wouldn't mind being some dogs."

There are now 450 dogs and about 20 cats buried in the cemetery. Plots cost from $15 to $25 each, including a zinc lined box which is hermetically sealed for shipping. This, however, is only the minimum expense for a dog funeral, and from this point the price goes up far into the hundreds.

They're Not Dead, But Living

1914

On Memorial Day

There is no death. There are no dead. In every town in America they are garlanding graves; lilacs from the tree beside mother's door, peonies from a great red mound which has been the pride of the place for years, snowballs and syringa from shrubs which father planted when the place was new.

But beneath the friendly grasses under the low mound marked with some dear name, there lies not one dead hero. Here is laid the dust fallen from his garments, here perchance may still be found a keepsake not yet indistinguishable. For all the years that we have mourned this brave spirit, he has lived only a little way apart in a planet to us invisible, alert, progressing, rejoicing in a plan universal, and at peace and in harmony with the law of love eternal. — Exchange.


Remember Lincoln's Message

That man honors the memory of the dead on Memorial day who, in Lincoln's words, dedicates himself "to the unfinished work" which must be done before this nation shall be worthy of its opportunities, and of the devotion of those who gladly died for it.

Decatur Doctor Caught Digging Up Negro Cadaver

Illinois, 1879

BODY SNATCHING.

A Decatur Doctor After a Negro Cadaver

His Operations Brought to a Sudden Conclusion.

The Decaturites are all worked up over a body snatching affair that occurred last Friday night. A prominent Decatur physician is implicated in the affair, and if he shows up the Decatur folks promise him an anti-cordial reception.

It seems that the above mentioned physician wanted to increase his knowledge of the human frame, and with this end in view he climbed the fence of a Decatur graveyard, having in his possession those necessary grave-robbing instruments, a pick and shovel. Strange to say this son of Esculapius seems to have a horror for the Caucasians. The reason of this is not known, but it is thought that Caucasian "stiffs" do not "pan out" as well as those of other races, therefore he concluded to get a "subject" of the African persuasion.

Having arrived at this conclusion he wended his way toward the "last resting place" of a recently "planted" negro. As soon as the grave was reached he unslung his pick and immediately began to delve into the newly made grave. He worked away with a will, and he was just stooping to raise the lid of the coffin when the deep stillness of the night was broken by the loud report of what seemed to him about seventeen cannons. The bullets flew past his cranium and buried themselves in the earth a few feet beyond him. The perspiration started in great beads to his forehead, and dropping his pick and shovel he precipitately fled. Scaling the graveyard fence, he took a short cut for his stable. Arriving there he immediately hitched his horse to a buggy, and in less time than it takes to "blow up a safe" he was driving across the country at a "Sleepy Tom" gait, and no tidings of his whereabouts have been received up to this writing.

The names of all parties are reserved, as it is thought that there will be further developments made.

—Fort Wayne Sentinel, Fort Wayne, IN, Aug. 19, 1879, p. 4.

An Odd Genius: Mortimer

1874

An Odd Genius

An Irishman died, a few weeks ago, in London, whose career and attainments entitle him to a niche in the annals of literature. The deceased was about fifty years of age, and was as odd a figure as one could meet in a day's ride. He was small, but firmly knit, generally wore a white hat and a dress coat, and always had an old volume under his arm. He was a confirmed book-worm. Mezzofanti was hardly a more accomplished linguist. Mortimer was a graduate of the University of Dublin, and deeply versed in classic lore, but he added a polish to his erudition by his intimacy with at least a dozen modern tongues. He spoke French, German, Russian, Polish, Spanish, Italian, Modern Greek, Turkish, Arabic, Irish, and Danish with fluency. In his youth he had been cabin-boy in an American bark, and subsequently became a medical student in Paris, but had to leave it on account of his connection with the June insurrection of '48.

He was a very strong man, and utilized his strength by taking an engagement as a Hercules in a circus in Australia. By turns he gave lectures on Shakespeare through Germany, was a Greek professor at Hamburg, had a troupe of Spanish ballet-dancers in Holland, and was a companion of Sir William Don, the baronet actor, in his wildest continental frolics. In his time he had been tutor to Charles Lever's children at Florence. He came to the surface one day in the employment of Tom Thumb; another in the company of Murphy the Irish giant, who was a distant cousin. He had been in London since the Franco-Prussian war, which ruined him in fortune. His learning was of little profit to him, for he died very poor in a ward of a hospital, and is buried in a nameless grave.

Who Loves Not The Star? (poetry)

1878

WHO LOVES NOT THE STAR?

Who loves not the Star-light,
Which gladdens the night
And makes the world happy
With heaven's bright rays?

Oh, who shuns the Star-light
Which God freely sends,
To bless and to prosper
His foes and his friends?

Is there a poor mortal
Self prisoned somewhere,
Far from the warm Star-light
And heaven's pure air?

Where glitters the purple,
With gold spangled o'er,
And rich colored carpets
Bedizen the floor.

Where gas rays alone
Flicker dim, like the lights
Oft seen in a church-yard
On foul murky nights.

And curtains hang over
The windows, like clouds
Which blacken the heavens,
Or like ghastly shrouds

That covers the forms
Of the dead and decayed,
Oh such, while they live,
Are in graves ready-made!

Oh then, the bright Star-light
To me freely give,
With beams all celestial
As long as I live.

Yes, when I am buried,
'Twill be time enough quite,
To draw the tomb's curtain
And shut off the light.

—Daily Star, Marion, Ohio, Jan. 10, 1878, p. 1.

The Dying Wife (poetry)

1878

The Dying Wife.

Lay the gem upon my bosom,
Let me feel her warm breath,
For a strong chill o'er me passes,
And I know it is death.
I would gaze upon the treasure—
Scarcely given ere I go—
Feel her rosy, dimpled fingers
Wander o'er my cheek of snow,

I am passing through the waters,
But a blessed shore appears;
Kneel beside me, husband, dearest,
Let me kiss away thy tears;
Wrestle with thy grief, my husband,
Strive from midnight unto day;
It may leave an angel's blessing
When it vanishes away.

Lay the gem upon my bosom,
'Tis not long she can be there,
See! how to my heart she nestles,
'Tis the pearl I love to wear.
If in after years beside thee,
Sits another in my chair,
Though her voice be sweeter music,
And her face than mine more fair;

If a cherub call thee "Father,"
Far more beautiful than this,
Love thy first-born, oh! my husband!
Turn not from the motherless;
Tell her something of her mother—
You may call her by my name!
Shield her from the winds of sorrow!
If she errs, oh! gently blame.

Lead her sometimes, where I am sleeping
I will answer if she calls,
And my breath will stir her ringlets,
When my voice in blessing falls;
Then her soft black eyes will brighten,
And shall wonder whence it came;
In her heart when years pass o'er her
She will find her mother's name.

It is said that every mortal
Walks between two angels here;
One records the ill, but blots it,
If before the midnight drear
Man repenteth — if uncancelled,
Then the right-hand angel weepeth,
Bowing low with veiled eyes.

I will be her right hand angel,
Sealing up the good for Heaven;
Striving that the midnight watches
Find no misdeeds unforgiven.
You will not forget me, husband,
When I am sleeping 'neath the sod;
Oh, love the jewel to us given
As I love thee — next to God!

Juvenile Ideas – Children's Questions and Answers

1916

A little girl once said to me. "Are there people on the moon?" I said I didn't know, but that perhaps there were. " "Well, what do they do," she said, "when there's only a little bit? They must get very crowded. Don't they?" Which was almost as perplexing as the query put to me by another little maiden, who asked, "What do angels do with their wings when they lie down and go to bed?"

Very quaint was the idea of a little girl who was once visiting a house where a small child had died recently. She was asked to draw something. So she drew a grave with some flowers on it. Her mother, on seeing it said, "Janie. you mustn't do that; Mrs. —— wouldn't like it. You see, it reminds her of very sad things." "Oh, well," said the child, "perhaps it was thoughtless of me, but I can easily turn it into a beehive." And she did, with all the bees coming out — Hilda Cowham in Strand Magazine.

—Stevens Point Daily Journal, Stevens Point, Wisconsin, July 29, 1916, page 3.

Find Grave of Grandfather of Abe Lincoln

1922

Located in a Church Yard Near Louisville, Kentucky.

Louisville, Ky.,—The grave of Abraham Lincoln, grandfather of the martyred president, has been found in a churchyard near here, in the belief of several Louisvillians who recently have completed an extensive investigation.

The investigators found two stones — their inscriptions blotted away by long exposure to the elements — which they believe mark the grave of the emancipator's grandfather who was killed by Indians in 1786 within sight of his cabin and before the eyes of his three sons.

According to R. C. Ballard Thruston, who made a preliminary investigation of deeds in the Jefferson county courthouse, the examination warrants the belief the land composing the churchyard is part of the Lincoln property, which included 400 acres.

Additional details of the death of the emancipator's grandfather have been revealed by the investigation, it was stated.

When their father fell mortally wounded Mordecai ran to the house and procured a rifle while Josiah darted for a nearby fort to obtain aid. Thomas, then a boy of 9 years, remained with his father.

According to the findings, an Indian seized Thomas and was about to scalp him when Mordecai returned and shot the savage to death. Thomas was released and later became the father of the martyred President.

—The Davenport Democrat and Leader, Davenport, Iowa, April 14, 1922, page 14.

Man Who Saw Lincoln's Face 21 Years Ago Describes How Emancipator Looked

Editor's Note - While this remarkable story had its setting in an incident 21 years ago, it reveals a number of facts concerning the inspection of Abraham Lincoln's tomb hitherto not generally known.

One striking instance is the description of the almost perfect state of preservation in which the body was found by the investigators - after it had been interred for 36 years.

The leaden casket was pried open and the remains viewed. The face of the martyred president corresponded precisely to the pictures by which the present generation knows him; even to the faint smile on the lips.

The experience of B.D. Monroe, set forth in the accompanying article, probably never will fall to the lot of another man.

-----
By Harold D. Robinson,
International News Service Staff Correspondent

Springfield, Ill., Jan. 25 - The man who last saw Abraham Lincoln, B.D. Monroe, of this city, today recalled memories of the great emancipator's appearance when human eyes last looked upon him, twenty-one years ago today. Monroe was a member of the board of trustees of the Lincoln monument, who secretly opened the martyred president's coffin before it was sealed in a huge mass of steel and concrete beneath the shaft erected in his honor.

Before the trustees would certify that Lincoln's remains were actually in the casket, in the face of many rumors that the body had been removed, they determined to open the casket and make positive identification. A Lincoln guard of honor was gathered in secret in one of the rooms of the monument. It included B.D. Monroe, then Assistant Attorney-General of Illinois; Jacob Thompson, of Springfield; Mrs. Alfred Bayliss, of Kent, Ohio, then Miss Clara Kern; W.O. Williamson, of Gailsburg, Ill.; Joseph H. Freeman, of Aurora, Ill.; Ross Culver, of Springfield, and John H. Brenholt of Alton, Ill., then acting governor, all of whom are still alive, and Floyd K. Whittemore, James S. McCullough, George M. Black, Clinton L. Conkling, Joseph P. Lindley, Major Edward S. Johnson, Mrs. Edward S. Johnson and Jasper N. Reece, now dead.

Casket Opened
The sarcophagus was brought into the room and was opened. Inside was a cedar box and when this was opened by workmen a leaden casket was exposed. The casket was very long, very wide and very shallow. Three workmen with chisels began cutting an opening over the head and breast. When they had cut out and raised a section of the leaden lid the trustees gathered and beheld Lincoln.

"He looked just like the picture," said Monroe as he was reminiscing. "His features were extremely pallid and that faint, sweet smile of his rested upon his lips."

"His beard was plainly visible," Monroe continued. "Part of his hair had fallen out. His shirt front and his black silk steek were well preserved, but the rest of his clothing had begun to fall to pieces. He had been buried thirty-six years.

"I was standing closest to the casket as the workmen replaced the section they had cut from the lid. I watched the shadow of the lid fall across Lincoln's face as that face disappeared from mortal view forever."

Newspaper men were barred from the monument chamber during the opening of the casket. The official report of the proceeding was given out as follows:

"In the presence of several members of the Lincoln guard of honor the casket was opened and the remains viewed by persons present and fully identified. It was found that the remains were in a good state of preservation, after which the casket reached and consigned in our presence to the place prepared for the same in the monument.

Rumors Cause Action
The rumors that Lincoln's body no longer rested within its sarcophagus, which caused the opening of the casket, developed from an attempt to steal the body in 1876.

Benjamin Boyd, an engraver, had been given a penitentiary sentence after his conviction on a charge of counterfeiting. Terrence Mullens and Jack Hughes, who passed the counterfeit bills printed by Boyd were unable to operate with the engraver in prison. They conceived the plan of stealing Lincoln's body from its tomb at Springfield and holding it as hostage for Boyd's release.

The plot called for the taking of the body in a wagon to the Indiana sand dune and burying it between two trees where the shifting sands would quickly blot out all traces of recent digging. The counterfeiters were then to demand the pardon of their engraver and the payment of $200,000 for the return of the body.

Wind of the plot reached Captain P.D. Tyrrell, chief of the United States Secret Service in the Illinois district. He assigned Lewis G. Swegles to the case.

Master Body Snatcher
Swegles, posing as a master body snatcher who supplied medical schools with cadavers, inducted the conspirators to enlist his services. They took him into their confidence and on the night of November 7, 1876, the three went to the tomb equipped with saws, files, chisels, axes, and dark lanterns.

The padlock on the door of the tomb was cut away and they entered the chamber where Lincoln's body rested. The outer cover of the casket was pried off. The casket was pulled partly out of the sarcophagus and work was begun upon its lid. A signal from Swegles brought a squad of Secret Service men stationed in another room and the plotters were caught red handed. They received sentences of one year in prison.

The body was hidden in various parts of the monument following the attempted theft. It was moved seventeen times before it was sealed in its final resting place deep in the foundations of the monument.

Comment: Opening the casket and moving Lincoln's body to the monument happened September 26, 1901 (that info from genealogytrails.com). The above article, 21 years later, then, is from 1922 or 1923. I'm not sure why the article's dateline says January 25. The original source of the article is unknown. It was in a scrapbook. There's some more information on the exhumation at this link at genealogytrails.com.

Another witness, Moses O. Williamson, state treasurer of Illinois from 1901-03, said, "There was Lincoln looking just like his last pictures, seemingly asleep. His face was darker than yours or mine now. But that was to be expected. Otherwise there was scarcely a change. His features stood out as they had been engraved in my memory from pictures of him. It seemed as though we might have spoken to him and awakened him. He wore a black bow tie and one bow was slightly mildewed. But those were the only signs of decomposition we could observe. It was an impressive occasion. Then the casket was again sealed." (Source for quotes in this paragraph, The Bridgeport Telegram, Connecticut, Feb. 3, 1925, p. 4).