at Mount Auburn
Friends of
Mount Auburn _____________________________
January 2014
This brochure includes angels and cherubs found on the route of this walk. For locations of these works of art see the map on the inside of back cover. WILLIAM BLAKE
1757-1827
He who binds to himself a Joy Doth the winged life destroy; But he who kisses the Joy as it flies Lives in Eternity‟s sunrise.
The word angel derives from the Greek “angelos” which means messenger. In Islam the word for angel is “mala.” Angels and Cherubs in the cemetery represent messengers who sing praises, make music, point to heaven and watch over us. They were very real to the Victorians and are found in numbers in monuments of that era.
Story Chapel Central Avenue Willard Sears (1837-1920) was the architect of this chapel built between 1896 and 1898. On its ceiling is a host of angels carved of wood and modeled on London‟s Westminster Hall built from 1385 onwards during the reign of King Richard II. The Chapel was named in 1935 for Justice Joseph Story (1779-1845), a founder and first president of the cemetery.
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
Willie Pike Pine Avenue Lot #2543 Willie Pike died in 1856 at age 7. On this monument signed by Wm. Freedley, two small cherubs carry a bud upward. The inscription reads: “Willie. There are roses in Heaven. I have gone to gather them.”
Levi Brigham Pine Avenue Lot #1290 An angel holds a banner; the cherub below is surrounded by a halo of light. This stone to the memory of Levi Brigham is another one signed by the monument maker, Wm. Freedley.
Blanchard Spruce Avenue Lot #1896 On each corner of the sarcophagus is a cherub face. Each face shows a different expression. The monument remembers John Adams Blanchard born in Boston in 1842; died in Florence in 1885 where he is buried and his child, George, who died in 1873 at 16 months of age. The monument placed here in 1887 is signed by its maker, L. Costoli, of Florence, Italy. Allen Spruce Avenue Lot #1380 Here is another monument signed by Wm. Freedley. There is an angel carrying a banner and other symbols: oak leaves and acorns, and downwardturned torches. The banner is inscribed: “Samuel P. Allen, died January 24, 1850, aged thirty six years.� The first burials in this family lot were that of children.
Williams Spruce Avenue Lot #1697 This monument celebrates the life of Joseph Watson (17921831). It was placed here by his sister, Elizabeth Watson Williams, in grateful remembrance. A cherub adorns the monument which is signed by monument maker, J. Carew (1820-1870).
Hartshorn Corner of Pilgrim & Elder Lot #1328 This monument showing a cherub holding a horn is for the young children of John and Mary Ann Hartshorn: Richard Harding Hartshorn who died in 1826? and Adeline Eliza Hartshorn. The children were reinterred here in May 1851. The monument is signed by the Tingley Brothers, monument makers, Providence, Rhode Island.
Ranstead Spruce Avenue Lot #1650 An angel blows a horn in this monument that remembers Susannah Ranstead, wife of Charles Ranstead. She 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
Thomas Spruce Avenue Lot #6150 This elegant16-ft. limestone Celtic Cross was designed in 1905 by the John Evans & Co. with the involvement of Mrs. Rose Fay Thomas. “this design is from old celtic crosses….and it is unique in the world”. (from correspondence, Mount Auburn Cemetery Historical Collections)Praying angels fill the rectangular capstone.
Chickering Magnolia Avenue Lot #2282 The Chickering Monument is part of the Significant Monument Collection of Mount Auburn Cemetery as are the Nevins and Whitney monuments we will visit on our walk today. Mount Auburn just received a federal grant to preserve these and other works. The grant recognizes the cemetery as an outdoor museum. The renowned American sculptor, Thomas Ball (1819-1911), memorializes here the Chickering family of piano makers.
Nevins Eagle Avenue Lot #4659 Mrs. Henry Nevins commissioned this monument for her husband, Henry Coffin Nevins (1843-1892). Sculptor Augustus SaintGaudens, (1848-1907) designed it and architect Stanford White oversaw its placement. The family has a perpetual care agreement with the cemetery to maintain the site and also to place on the grounds seasonal flowers
Whitney Oriole Path Lot #4510 In 1876 Charles Whitney commissioned this magnificent classical inspired Italian marble monument by the renowned Italian sculptor Nicola CantalamessaPapotti (1833-1910). It was carved in Rome and shipped to the United States. A life-size, classically robed angel with outstretched arm toward the rising sun, lifts open the draped sarcophagus while gazing into the distance with the expression suggesting hope and resurrection. A robust putto balances the sculpture in both the style and symbolism.
Roberts Mist Path Lot #5945 This Celtic cross is an accurate reproduction of an 8th-centry AngloSaxon Church yard cross and a fitting monument for Coolidge Sutton Roberts‟ (1849-1904) evangelist work in Buenos Aires, South America. The replica is possibly the work of the Henry Murray Company of Boston with angels bearing scepters celebrating the „Dominion of God‟ and angels bearing trumpets, spreading the message of Christianity and salvation.
Sears Opal Path Lot #6009 Miss Mary Pratt Sears and Mr. Francis Sears commissioned this monument after the death of their mother, Sarah Pratt Sears in 1911. Bela Lyon Pratt (1867-1917) was the sculptor. Bela Pratt was mentored by Augustus St. Gaudens. He later became the head of the Sculpture Department at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, from 1898-1917.
Brown Cypress Avenue Lot #787 This is a large family lot with monuments of varying styles of cemetery art. Notice, though, the slate colonial revival monument made for the grave of Henry Howard Brown (1851-1908), and his wife Hannah Bangs Thayer (1849-1941). The firm of John Evans and Co. modeled this monument after a 1690s one in the Point of Graves Burying Ground, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
John Trull Pine Avenue Lot #1285 This monument celebrates John W. Trull who died April 12, 1867. The image of the winged cherub blowing a horn is in Victorian Cemetery Art, Dover, 1972. The monument is another one signed by local carver, Wm. Freedley.
Bigelow Chapel Nave (North) Window Chapel Avenue The circular stained glass window, made by the preeminent firm of Ballantine and Allan of Edinburg, Scotland, was commissioned by Trustee and chapel designer, Dr. Jacob Bigelow, in 1846. James Ballantine (1808-1877) was a notable figure in the artistic circles of Edinburg as a „master‟ of painted glass and poet. The brilliant highly colored window depicts a benevolent winged angel carrying two infants to heaven. It is a rare example of early extant stained glass in the romantic Gothic tradition, as an allegorical representation of death copied mainly from a well- known bas-relief titled Night (1815) by Thorvaldsen‟s of an angel ushering infants to heaven. A sense of continuity between the artistic achievements of distant and venerable cultures exemplified the founders‟ belief that the sublime unity of art and nature could transform the soul, and that the effect of the glassmaker could elicit thoughts of mortality and reflection on the eternal. “…through its image [in glass], the Ballantine [Chancel] window serves as an expression of the “story” of the Victorian death, and thus of the specific time of national history.” – Dr. Virginia Raguin, 2004.
Advertisement from the 1848 Boston City Directory
* The Tingley Marble Company, 131 and 417 South Main Street, Providence, R.I., is one of the oldest marble-works in the United States. The business was established by Sylvanus Tingley in 1811. * Advertisement from the Boston Almanac, Issue 23, 1852
* Advertisement Architectural Annual of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology 1900-1901. JOHN EVANS & CO. MODELING AND CARVING IN WOOD AND STONE ALTARS, REREDOSES, PONTS, TABLETS AND MONUMENTS 77 HUNTINGTON AVE. BOSTON, MASS Evansâ€&#x; papers, photographs, correspondence and sketchbooks of architectural details and of headstones are at the Boston Public Library. .
Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Hebrews, xiii, 2
LOCATIONS OF LOTS
2
1. Story Chapel
1
2. Pike 3. Brigham
4
4. Blanchard
3
5
5. Allen
17
16 6
6. Williams 7. Hartshorn
15
8. Ranstead 9. Thomas 10. Chickering 11. Nevins
8
12. Whitney 7
13. Roberts 14. Sears 15. Brown 16. Trull 17. Bigelow Chapel
9 10 12
11 13 14
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, 2014 Walk prepared by Rosemarie Smurzynski & Patricia Grandieri Based on Angel walks prepared by Janet Heywood, 1995-2005