What's New?

Ongoing work on the obituary project and the Doc-A-Block project at Riverside has meant that there was no new content added to the site this month, but, as soon as it is ready, you will be the first to know!

Coming Soon!

The annual meeting of the Friends of Historic Riverside Cemetery will be held Saturday, May 21st, from 10am to Noon at the Holy Transfiguration of Christ Cathedral. The annual meeting will include information on the monument archive program (Doc-A-Block) and the long-term planning initiative (Riverside 2020), a brief update from each of the Committee Chairs, and opportunities for volunteer involvement. Please plan on joining us!

Featured Article

Unsolved Mysteries

Cemeteries are full of stories. Some stories are more or less straight-forward. There are tragedies of children who died young, of epidemics and accidents.

And yet, for every straight-forward story, there are stories that are left tantalizingly incomplete.

Take, for example the tale of a Civil War Colonel, who is buried at Riverside Cemetery. He has two markers, one in granite and one in white bronze (zinc). The large White Bronze marker has a panel detailing his heroic exploits, and there is a separate panel detailing three children who pre-deceased him, who were buried in another state. There is no mention of his wife. The granite marker is a Woodman of the World maker, and simply lists his dates and rank. It's placed on the immediately in front of the large zinc marker, such that they are practically touching. The plot also has a flat, zinc, block marker, which is something I've never seen.

Why does the good Colonel have two headstones? What happened to his wife? The stones are silent.

Or take the strange case of a plot marked in the center and what was once a grand marble obelisk. All four sides were prepared for names, but only one side had any. The name of Charles Joseph Estabrook, son of Joseph and Mary takes one of the four sides. To the right of this marker, lies his parents, Joseph and Mary, who have seperate granite markers, and to the left, a George Estabrook, who was likely a brother. His marker is also granite, and matches his parents'. Why was the marble not carved with the names of the other family members? That was clearly the intent when it was purchased, why did they change their plan?

Numerous stones are carved with both the names of a couple, with only the dates of the first person to die, and no dates for the spouse. Based on their birth date, it is likely that the missing spouse has died. What happened to him or her? Did they move away, and no one knew of the previous arrangement? Perhaps the person remarried and was buried with their later spouse. Or perhaps something else explains the unfinished marker. Who knows?

It is probable that these mysteries cannot be solved, and its possible that the explainations are less interesting than the speculation. And, it is possible that only those hiking around in cemeteries are interested in these little mysteries.

Around the Web

Technology is being use to thwart vandals who try to steal from the dead.

A Cemetery in Dayton is preparing to bury a time capsule and is looking for submissions.

In honor of Earth Day, take a look atgreen caskets.

A slave cemetery in Virginia is being restored, giving them a more dignified resting place.

Like home births, home funerals are again gaining ground.

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