Lunch At The Cemetery
Today I had lunch with a few governors, mayors, senators, philanthropists, business leaders, physicians, military leaders, poets, sculptors, lawyers, a judge, a circus performer, a church leader and an actor turned assassin. I wasn’t sure I wanted an assassin there, but he arrived way before I did. I had lunch at The Green Mount Cemetery. Do you find that just a bit creepy? Please don’t. It really was great fun.
What inspired me was a show on PBS entitled "A Cemetery Special." It was a celebration of some of the old interesting places where people are buried. We are lucky to have one such place in Baltimore, Maryland: The Green Mount Cemetery.
My journey began in the late morning. I grabbed my backpack and filled it with a blanket, book, camera, paper, pen, lunch and water. I had all the things I needed for the perfect day. I walked from my home to the graveyard. Once there, I stopped by the office to retrieve a map and before you know it, I was out and about looking at beautifully carved tombstones, snapping photos and reading poetic inscriptions and epitaphs of the deceased.
People’s thoughts were different back in the day. There was a style of writing and thinking that is desperately needed now more than ever. Many grave markers had the words faithfully, devoted, precious, beloved, nurturer, great leader, just to name a few. How inspiring!
A huge building caught my attention. I soon discovered it was a public mausoleum. The superintendent was kind enough to open the door so I could look around. This hulking three-story structure was built in 1929 and holds hundreds of niches and crypts (700 people are interred). One particular crypt caught my attention. It was very elaborate. I looked inside and saw two beautiful coffins draped with American flags. The flags looked very old, tattered and torn. I am not sure who was buried there, but they were wealthy, and they were treated with a great deal of care, love, respect and dignity in death and, I would imagine, in life, too. We should be so lucky.
I was ready for lunch and choose to have it with Enoch Pratt. I laid out my small blanket, sat down, ate and read. How apropos to be reading at the grave of the man who helped establish one of the oldest free public libraries in the United States.
It was very peaceful listening to birds sing, watching the squirrels bury acorns and looking at the beautiful sky. I also saw a couple of gravediggers preparing a plot. Somebody else will be coming to the cemetery, but not today. Shortly after, I was back on my feet enjoying this outdoor treasure.
In the nineteenth century, Americans would head for the local graveyard when they wanted to escape from cities, when they wanted to relax and enjoy a lush green environment, with a natural setting with beautiful art. I am told cemeteries sometimes got so crowded tickets were required for admission.
Perhaps I will make visiting memorial parks stylish again. I have always loved cemeteries, especially the ones that are very old and have a historical perspective. Most of all, I enjoy visiting them on rainy days. Some might call it strange (I prefer romantic or poetic).
Green Mount Cemetery is one of the earliest rural cemeteries in the United States.
"Samuel Walker, a Baltimore tobacco merchant, led the campaign to establish it after visiting Mount Auburn Cemetery in 1834. The site chosen was the country estate of the late merchant Robert Oliver. His estate, known as "Green Mount", was a hilly location. During his life, Robert Oliver spared no expense in beautifying his estate, and aided by its natural advantages, he left it, at his death, a picturesque location. The proprietors of Green Mount Cemetery purchased about sixty acres from the heirs of Robert Oliver, and Green Mount Cemetery was officially established. Benjamin Latrobe, a civil engineer with the Baltimore Railroad, laid out the early design. It was officially dedicated on July 13, 1839. Special hymns were written for the occasion. The first person laid to rest was two-year-old Olivia Cushing Whitridge. Since that time, more than 65,000 individuals have been laid to rest." (I did a little reading.)
Before today's visit, I went to the cemetery on Sunday, but it was closed. I am glad I made it back. I couldn’t have chosen a better day.
Before leaving I visited some additional graves, most of them famous: Johns Hopkins, William and Henry Walters, Mary Elizabeth Garrett, Theodore McKeldin, John Wilkes Booth, Betsy Patterson, Sidney Lanier, Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte, Ross Winans, Ferdinand C. Latrobe and Moses Shepherd.
It’s sad cemeteries aren’t quite so popular and full of people. Well, I guess you could say they are full of people, but I am talking about the ones that come to visit and not the permanent residents. They are great places, full of surprises, history, sometimes riddles and popular stories.
Green Mount Cemetery is more than a place to visit, it’s a destination. In many ways I consider it to be a museum of sorts. If you get the chance, go for a visit. I guarantee you’ll enjoy it. Wander about and look for unusual and dramatic headstones, read inscriptions, investigate and compare dates. You will read some eloquent, witty, clever and poetic epitaphs. Make sure you visit before you pass away. I spent five hours at the cemetery and was disappointed when the superintendent pulled his car up and said, "We are closing soon. If you purchase a plot you can stay here longer someday." He was clever, personable and friendly. He made my experience that much more enjoyable. – paerki
What inspired me was a show on PBS entitled "A Cemetery Special." It was a celebration of some of the old interesting places where people are buried. We are lucky to have one such place in Baltimore, Maryland: The Green Mount Cemetery.
My journey began in the late morning. I grabbed my backpack and filled it with a blanket, book, camera, paper, pen, lunch and water. I had all the things I needed for the perfect day. I walked from my home to the graveyard. Once there, I stopped by the office to retrieve a map and before you know it, I was out and about looking at beautifully carved tombstones, snapping photos and reading poetic inscriptions and epitaphs of the deceased.
People’s thoughts were different back in the day. There was a style of writing and thinking that is desperately needed now more than ever. Many grave markers had the words faithfully, devoted, precious, beloved, nurturer, great leader, just to name a few. How inspiring!
A huge building caught my attention. I soon discovered it was a public mausoleum. The superintendent was kind enough to open the door so I could look around. This hulking three-story structure was built in 1929 and holds hundreds of niches and crypts (700 people are interred). One particular crypt caught my attention. It was very elaborate. I looked inside and saw two beautiful coffins draped with American flags. The flags looked very old, tattered and torn. I am not sure who was buried there, but they were wealthy, and they were treated with a great deal of care, love, respect and dignity in death and, I would imagine, in life, too. We should be so lucky.
I was ready for lunch and choose to have it with Enoch Pratt. I laid out my small blanket, sat down, ate and read. How apropos to be reading at the grave of the man who helped establish one of the oldest free public libraries in the United States.
It was very peaceful listening to birds sing, watching the squirrels bury acorns and looking at the beautiful sky. I also saw a couple of gravediggers preparing a plot. Somebody else will be coming to the cemetery, but not today. Shortly after, I was back on my feet enjoying this outdoor treasure.
In the nineteenth century, Americans would head for the local graveyard when they wanted to escape from cities, when they wanted to relax and enjoy a lush green environment, with a natural setting with beautiful art. I am told cemeteries sometimes got so crowded tickets were required for admission.
Perhaps I will make visiting memorial parks stylish again. I have always loved cemeteries, especially the ones that are very old and have a historical perspective. Most of all, I enjoy visiting them on rainy days. Some might call it strange (I prefer romantic or poetic).
Green Mount Cemetery is one of the earliest rural cemeteries in the United States.
"Samuel Walker, a Baltimore tobacco merchant, led the campaign to establish it after visiting Mount Auburn Cemetery in 1834. The site chosen was the country estate of the late merchant Robert Oliver. His estate, known as "Green Mount", was a hilly location. During his life, Robert Oliver spared no expense in beautifying his estate, and aided by its natural advantages, he left it, at his death, a picturesque location. The proprietors of Green Mount Cemetery purchased about sixty acres from the heirs of Robert Oliver, and Green Mount Cemetery was officially established. Benjamin Latrobe, a civil engineer with the Baltimore Railroad, laid out the early design. It was officially dedicated on July 13, 1839. Special hymns were written for the occasion. The first person laid to rest was two-year-old Olivia Cushing Whitridge. Since that time, more than 65,000 individuals have been laid to rest." (I did a little reading.)
Before today's visit, I went to the cemetery on Sunday, but it was closed. I am glad I made it back. I couldn’t have chosen a better day.
Before leaving I visited some additional graves, most of them famous: Johns Hopkins, William and Henry Walters, Mary Elizabeth Garrett, Theodore McKeldin, John Wilkes Booth, Betsy Patterson, Sidney Lanier, Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte, Ross Winans, Ferdinand C. Latrobe and Moses Shepherd.
It’s sad cemeteries aren’t quite so popular and full of people. Well, I guess you could say they are full of people, but I am talking about the ones that come to visit and not the permanent residents. They are great places, full of surprises, history, sometimes riddles and popular stories.
Green Mount Cemetery is more than a place to visit, it’s a destination. In many ways I consider it to be a museum of sorts. If you get the chance, go for a visit. I guarantee you’ll enjoy it. Wander about and look for unusual and dramatic headstones, read inscriptions, investigate and compare dates. You will read some eloquent, witty, clever and poetic epitaphs. Make sure you visit before you pass away. I spent five hours at the cemetery and was disappointed when the superintendent pulled his car up and said, "We are closing soon. If you purchase a plot you can stay here longer someday." He was clever, personable and friendly. He made my experience that much more enjoyable. – paerki
