at Mount Auburn
Friends of
Mount Auburn _____________________________
January 2013
This brochure includes the angels and cherubs found on the route this tour will follow. For locations see the map on the inside of the last page of this booklet. Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Hebrews, xiii, 2
Rembrant van Rijn, Abraham Entertaining the Angels, 1656
The word angel derives from the Greek “angelos” which means messenger. In Islam the word for angel is “mala” which also means messenger. Angels and Cherubs Represent Messengers and Spirits who * mediate between the human and the divine * sing praises and joy * make music; carry trumpets and harps * point to Heaven * care for the dead * pray for us * watch over children * represent departing spirits * proclaim and carry scrolls and banners * make records in the Book of Life * guide souls to Heaven
Story Chapel (Central Avenue) Designed by Willard Sears and built between 1896 and 1898, Story Chapel is used for Memorial Services and Friends’ activities. Inside the Chapel a host of angels carved of wood sings overhead. The Roof Angels, shown left, are modeled on the roof structures at London’s Westminster Hall built from 1385 onwards during the reign of King Richard II.
Photo of Story Chapel, ca. late 1930s
And one [angel] cried to another, and said “holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of God’s Glory.” Isaiah 6:3
Mudge Lot (Lot #3144 Lawn Avenue) Ernest Mudge, son of Andrew and Cornelia Mudge, died February 1871 at 4 years and 5 months. This marble monument is based on the work of a German sculptor, Christian Daniel Rauch, called The Goddess of Victory.
Pike Lot (Lot # 2543 Pine Avenue) Little Willie Pike died in 1856. He was 7. In the small marble stone in the center row of stones two small cherubs carry a bud upwards. "Willie. There are roses in Heaven. I have gone to gather them.” This monument is by William Freedley.
Ward Lot (Lot # 559 Greenbrier Path) An angel floats above the deathbed of Caroline Margaret Ward (1834-1857) who died at age 22 in child birth. The angel points to heaven as the husband receives the child. The monument is based on a design by John Gibson for Mrs. Byrom who died in 1833. It is framed by an egg and dart symbolizing life and death.
Hubbell Lot (Lot # 1898 Elm Avenue) In this sheltered carving an angel tells a waiting woman that Jesus has risen. On the back of the monument is written: "The Darkness is Past. The True Light Now Shineth." In 1874 the Superintendent of Mount Auburn estimated that the cost of this "very elaborate monument" of marble and granite was $2,500.
Lockwood Lot (Lot #3390 Mistletoe Path) Rhodes Lockwood died in 1905. A tall angel protects a young girl and boy in this relief carving, reminiscent of the figure of Charity in familiar paintings.
Poor Lot (Lot #1012 Fir Avenue) Cordelia Poor died in 1845, aged 11 months, is here and so are Sarah and Caroline. This marble monument carries the image created by Bertel Thorvaldsen, “Day—Aurora with the Genius of Light.” in 1815.” An angel carries two young children.
Brown-Frothingham Lot (Lot # 1690 Sedge Path) An angel with a wreath touches a cross. This monument is for Mary Otis Frothingham (died 1863, aged 48 years) and Joanna S. Frothingham (died 1869, aged 84 years).
Dunbar Lot (Lot #1009 Fir Avenue) This monument is to the family of Thomas J. Dunbar, Mary K. (aged 29) and daughter, Mary Elisabeth (aged 4). Both died Oct. 17, 1840 and were buried here in 1854. An angel stands on clouds holding a garland of flow
Sherman Lot (Lot # 1944 Sorrel Path) Charlotte Augusta Sherman died in 1897 at the age of 67. In this monument of remembrance an angel holds a scroll with Sherman’s name on it. Two torches point downward.
Ranstead Lot (Lot # 1650 Spruce Avenue) This monument honors the life of Susannah Ranstead who died in 1853 at age 36. from The Occultation of Orion: Then, through the silence overhead, An angel with a trumpet said, "Forevermore, forevermore, The reign of violence is o'er!" And, like an instrument that flings Its music on another's strings, The trumpet of the angel cast Upon the heavenly lyre its blast, And on from sphere to sphere the words Re-echoed down the burning chords,-"Forevermore, forevermore, The reign of violence is o'er!" -- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Meyer Lot (Lot #1375 Fir Avenue) Maude and Leon, brother and sister, ages 6 and 3, and children of Joseph and Eliza Meyer, died in June 1863. An angel sits atop the stone, holding a wreath.
Brown Lot (Lot # 787 corner of Cypress and Cedar Avenues) This large lot has monuments from many generations of styles. Lucy C. Parker, age 9 who died in 1877, is remembered by a marble angel rising from the earth, her hands held in prayer; Henry Howard Brown (1851-1908) and his wife Hannah Bangs Thayer (1849-1941), had placed for themselves colonial revival stones made of slate designed by the Boston firm of John Evans and Company. One of the stones bears a resemblance to a historic slate stone of the colonial period.
Lane Lot (Lot #961 Verbena Path) Nellie Thompson, sculptor, created this image in 1916 which she copyrighted. The angel is to the memory of Helen Grenville Stevens (1851-1916).
Brigham Lot (Lot # 1290 Pine Avenue) An angel holds a banner over a tomb. A cherub is surrounded by a halo of light. This stone to the memory of Levi Brigham is signed by the monument maker, William Freedley.
Denney Lot (Lot # 308 Linden Path) The proprietor of this lot, Thomas Denney, is not buried here. His wife Sarah who died April 18, 1848 is, and their children who died that same year Mary Elizabeth and Rebecca. Inscription for Sarah: "Beautiful, Faithful and Happy"
Lawrence Lot (Lot #489 Cypress Avenue) William Lawrence died in 1848 and is buried in this large Lawrence Family Lot. His monument is a triangular pediment with a cross. On a shelf an angel stands with right hand raised and left arm down holding an inverted torch. The monument is by J & T Carew.
Bigelow Chapel (Chapel Avenue) In October 1844 the Trustees of Mount Auburn Cemetery voted to erect a chapel of fine hammered Quincy granite at a cost not to exceed $25,000. The building would serve as a place for funeral services and as a depository for appropriate works of art. In an architectural competition, trustee Dr. Jacob Bigelow, physician and Harvard professor, was selected as the winning design. His proposal incorporated the use of stained glass windows in the romantic Gothic tradition. Dr. Bigelow sought the advice D. R. Hay of Edinburgh, a noted decorative painter and author. Hay recommended Ballantine and Allan of Edinburgh for the glass and told Bigelow that their studio had been selected "by the Royal Commission of the Fine Arts to furnish the painted glass for the principal portions of the new Houses of Parliament." Bigelow requested that they start immediately. He wrote: “In the Nave window [north window] you will fill the large perpendicular lights and all the smaller lights of the upper compartments, exactly as they now stand in your designs. But the great circular space in this window I wish filled, not with the resurrection piece in your design, but with an allegorical representation of Death, of which I send you a design copied from the Thorvaldsen's bas relief, Night, representing a winged sleeping female and two infants. It is the most beautiful & appropriate thing I have seen. In the Rose window you will substitute in the center a design which is also enclosed in the roll, and which is allegorical of immortality. It is copied from the two cherubs in Raphael's Madonna del Sisto, who are here represented as gazing upward into a light or glory, which proceeds from an invisible source. Raphael's picture is at Dresden. Some parts of it, especially the cherubs wings, are highly colored. If you have good copies in Edinburgh, please to imitate them, paying all attention to keep the expression of the faces. “ Today the depiction of Thorvaldsen's Night in the north window remains for us to admire, but the images of Raphael's cherubs in the south window were replaced by a patterned design in the 1920s. All are invited for refreshments and a viewing of images taken at the event A Glimpse Beyond this September.
On the Cover: Thorvaldsen image of Night (1815, North window, Bigelow Chapel.)
LOCATIONS OF LOTS
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1 2
5
4
15
18 17
7 6
16
14
9
3
8
10
11
12
13
3
1. Story Chapel 2. Mudge 3. Pike 4. Ward 5. Hubbell 6. Lockwood 7. Poor
8. BrownFrothingham 9. Dunbar 10. Sherman 11. Ranstead 12. Meyer 13. Lane
14. Brown 15. Brigham 16. Denney 17. Lawrence 18. Bigelow Chapel
Friends of Mou nt Aubu rn
_______________________________________________________ 580 Mount Auburn Street | Cambridge, MA 02138 We invite you to participate in the programs of the Friends of Mount Auburn Cemetery. Membership information is available at the Gatehouse information rack, the Visitors Center, and the Office. Since its founding in 1831, Mount Auburn Cemetery has retained its original purpose of being a natural setting for the commemoration of the dead and for the comfort and inspiration of the bereaved and the general public. Its grounds offer a place for reflection and for observation of nature—trees, shrubs, flowering plants, ponds, gentle hills, and birds both resident and migrant. Visitors come to study our national heritage by visiting the graves of noted Americans and enjoying the great variety of monuments and memorials. Mount Auburn Cemetery began the “rural” cemetery movement out of which grew America’s public parks. Its beauty and historic associations make it an internationally renowned landscape. Designated a National Historic Landmark, Mount Auburn remains an active, non-sectarian cemetery offering a wide variety of interment and memorialization options. t: 617-547-7105 | f: 617-876-4405 www.mountauburn.org Funding provided in part by The Friends of Mount Auburn Cemetery is a nonprofit charitable trust promoting the appreciation and preservation of the cultural, historic and natural resources of America’s first landscaped cemetery, founded in 1831.
© Friends of Mount Auburn Cemetery, 2013
Walk prepared by Rosemarie Smurzynski Based on Angel walks prepared by Janet Heywood, 1995-2005