You've gotta see the General

To Woodland Cemetery i came on a fluke. I was noticed, first by one woman, then by a second. And at both incidences, i was just about to hop into the flivver and go home. They were both enthusiastic volunteers, and ambassadors for Woodland Cemetery. They catalogue, and help maintain the once premier Cleveland necropolis.

The second lady, was extremely eager to talk. By happenstance, my current street of residence had been her old street of residence. She gave me a tour. We had a two vehicle caravan about the cemetery. She spoke of the denizens, and the ground hog [woodchuck] problem [they are digging up graves], former vandals and grave robbers, and other interesting things. We spoke about war, and the ravages it does to the combatants. But, most insistently, “You've gotta see the General”, or really his monument. I did, and was quite pleased.

It was a four sided pillar. Donald McLeod, could the name be any more Scottish? And right behind him, across one street had been Holy Trinity. Across the other street, a Catholic Cemetery. Donald was an Unitarian. Well, one face tells you Donald was born at Fort Augustus near Inverness [by Loch Ness] Scotland, on the 1st of January 1779. Now, that was its new name after the disaster of Culloden 1746. The old name, for the wee village, was Kiliwhimin [Cill Chuimein]. It was newly named after the Butcher, Duke of Cumberland, William Augustus, third son of William II.

McLeod lived 100 years, 6 months and 21 days. What did he do for a century? How did he get to die in Cleveland? Well, a part of the story is on another face:

A soldier in the campaigns of the Duke of Wellington. And a participant in the burial of Sir John Moore. A British officer at the Battle of Waterloo. And in the American War of 1812. Major General of the Patriots in the Canadian Rebellion of 1837.

France under Napoleon Bonaparte wanted the control of Europe. The Peninsular [Iberia = Spain, Portugal] War was fought from 1807-1814. The British were first lead by Lt. Gen. Arthur Wellesley (later Duke of Wellington). He was recalled, and the Scotsman, Lt. Gen. John Moore took command. He died after being struck by cannon shot at the Battle of Corruna, in Galicia, Spain on January 16, 1809.

McLeod had attended the University of Aberdeen. In 1803 he joined the British navy. He joined the 42nd Highlanders, infantry in 1808. His unit was active in Spain, and Portugal. They were sent to Canada. Sgt. McLeod participated in Battle of Lundy's Lane (Niagara Falls, Canada) July 25, 1814. He also participated at Queenston Heights, and Crysler’s Farm. The regiment came back to England, then Waterloo. June 18, 1815 Napoleon fought his last battle. The newly created, Duke of Wellington led the British. The British, the Dutch, and four German states ended Napoleon's return to power.

In 1816 McLeod settled in Prescott, on the St. Lawrence, across Ogdensburg New York. He became a teacher, publisher of a newspaper, and a militia major. In 1837 rebellions broke out in Lower Canada (Papineau's)[Quebec], and Upper Canada (Mackenzie's) [Ontario]. The Rebels (Patriotes, Patriots) wanted a responsible government, they were in opposition to the Tories (Conservatives) and the Crown. The Tories trashed his printing press. McLeod escaped to New York state.

He became a brigadier general overseeing 500 men. On the second day of the March, a US colonel, and his troops took all their weapons. February 24, 1838 he reached Windsor. Four hundred British troops wee waiting, they had been notified by the American General Hugh Brady. McLeod and his, now, 300 had six muskets, and one cannon. They retreated to the American side, and were arrested.

The Canadians in the US formed a Hunters Lodge in Cleveland, and one in Rochester. They were imitating masonic structure. McLeod was appointed Secretary War, and Major General, in Cleveland. In 1840, the US ended these lodges, and other Canadian organisations; also the government in Canada was improving. The rebellions were put down. Self-rule was still a generation away [July 1, 1867].

McLeod wrote a book: A Brief Review of the Settlement of Upper Canada by the N. E. Loyalists and Scotch Highlanders in 1783; and of the Grievances which Compelled the Canadas to have recourse to Arms in Defence of their Rights and Liberties in the Years 1837 and 1838. Together with a Brief Sketch of the Campaigns of 1812-'13-'14: With an account of the Military Executions, Burnings, and Sackings of Towns and Villages, by the British, in the Upper and Lower Provinces, during the Commotion of 1837 and '38. By D. McLeod, Major General, Patriot Army, Upper Canada. Cleveland: F. B. Penniman, 1841.

In 1846 the British pardoned the surviving rebels. Some had been hanged, more were sent to the prison colony of Australia. McLeod returned to Canada, later coming to Cleveland. Where he died.

pro patria mori

To be born in one land, and to die in another. On a gravestone, it is not a novel inscribed; but in a few characters a story is limned. An historian, an antiquarian, or some sort of researcher may be able to uncover more details. One could search for relatives to interview. Often, after the passage of a certain number of years, no one knows more than the marks inscribed. Yet, those marks have some instructive value. St. John's Cemetery, Cleveland. Sargeant James Kelly. Company B, 8th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Wounded at Gettysburg. July 3, 1863. Born in Ireland March 3, 1836. Died July 7, 1863. May his soul rest in peace.
Kelly was an immigrant to America [when did he arrive?]. He died four days after being wounded in the most famous of that war's many, many battles — Gettysburg. The name is Irish. The stone has the clover, the Irish will have you know, is the shamrock. The stone also has a cross, and sits in a Catholic cemetery. It was very important, and very promoted for Catholics to be buried only in hallowed grounds, which usually meant Catholic cemeteries.
Woodland Cemetery, Cleveland. 7th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry. War for the Union 1861-1865.
Woodland Cemetery was the City of Cleveland's most important public cemetery in the XIXth century. It opened in 1853, and was conveniently available for the war dead. Near the main entrance there are two large monuments for two regiments [23rd, 7th] of infantry. The one for the 23rd was dedicated on August 1, 1865, just a few months after the end of combat. The names of the war dead are written on all four sides, of the lower portion, of the monument. The number is almost evenly divided by those who died in action, and those that died by disease. Remember, the four horseman are war, famine, death, and pestilence.

The other [1872] is harder to read, for the engraving in the color of stone. Raised lettering is easy to read. It has four freshly restored, union painted, rifled cannons [West Point Foundry] defending it. The regiment was infantry.

That war had many names, but in Cleveland, at that time, it was called 'War for the Union'. The Republicans were successful politically. There were no Republicans in the South. To-day, things have changed. The South is full of Republicans, and no Republicans would use the term—'War for the Union'.

Woodland Cemetery, Cleveland. Alfred J. Straka. Born July 5, 1895. Died May 26, 1914 at Vera Cruz Mexico in the service of United States Navy.

I heard Woodrow Wilson's guns
I heard Maria calling
Saying, "Veracruz is dying
And Cuernavaca's falling"
—Veracruz. Warren Zevon and Jorge Calderon

That Battle of Vera Cruz took place 21-24 April 1914. The Mexicans were having a civil war. The US occupied Vera Cruz to 23 November. Twenty two American servicemen were listed as dead. This fellow, presumably, was one.
Lake View Cemetery. John S. Allen 1893-1918. Private, Company M 18th Infantry American Expeditionary Force. Died from wounds received in action Argonne France.
The Battle for the Argonne Forest was the last offensive of the War to end all wars. It began 26 September 1918. It was the largest American engagement in the war. It was the only engagement for most Americans. It was the deadliest battle that Americans ever engaged in. America does not remember this one. This was the big one. The American Expeditionary Force (an honest name), fought along side the 4th and 5th French Armies, against the German Fifth. The Allied Forces were more than twice the size of the Germans, and suffered more casualties. The Americans were of a larger population than the Germans, and this was the first of their troops. The Germans agreed to an Armistice.

The only surviving veteran of World War I is an English waitress, that signed up in 1918. She is 110 years old, Florence Beatrice Green (née Patterson, born 19 February 1901).

Who's that stone?

Before this summer, i had been to Lake View Cemetery, Cleveland, O., i think thrice. Once to see President Garfield's Monument, it was closed. Once a friend wanted to drive by Eliot Ness's stone. I stopped in to see the Tiffany decorated chapel. Once to drive from Mayfield to Euclid Avenue, while pointing out what a place it was. The trips were short.

Walking around with a camera, there is so much to see. It is a sculpture garden, and history museum. Graveyards are filled with the unknown dead, but this one has notable exceptions.
John D. Rockefeller, the man richer than Midas or Croesus, is planted here near a huge granite needle. Very near by, there is [maybe] the most pompous statue in Cleveland. Whatever one thinks of Cleveland, it is very plentiful in sights. People on tour, and they do tour, ask, “Who the hell is that?”

One sees a large mausoleum [which acts as a pedestal], reminiscent of the original at Halicarnassus for Mausolus, king, and satrap of the Carians in Anatolia, built by his queen/sister/wife, Artesimia II. On top, seated in a chair, is a statue of S.S. Stone, which sits as enthroned king of the cemetery as ridiculous as Yertle the Turtle.

Do the people, who walk or drive by, know who Silas Safford Stone was? Of course not, he was a real estate speculator, that became rich dealing to railroads, and the federal government. The Civil War was a marvelous way to get rich.

the other angel

Recently, i posted essays on Lake View Cemetery (a, b). It is a place that can be photographed repeatedly. It is the Who was Who in Cleveland; beyond that, it has had some serious landscaping. One can, rightfully, consider it a sculpture garden.
I have seen people outside the area (Cleve., O.), and outside the country interested in one particular piece: the Haserot bronze angel, created by Herman Matzen, and called by some, 'the Angel of Death Victorious' [i have not yet discovered the source]. Some just call it the 'seated angel', or the 'crying angel'. There is also a Haserot stone woman in the cemetery by Joseph Carabelli. This verdigris vision is right below the Hanna mausoleum. Hanna was the man who bought, and stole the 1896 presidential election for McKinley from Bryan. That mausoleum is marked by a worn rubber mat on the sidewalk leading to it.

The other angel that is popular was sculpted by James Earle Fraser. Fraser did many American historical statues (Franklin, Patton, Lincoln). The buffalo and Indian head nickel was his design. John Milton Hay died in 1905 as the Secretary of State. He had married a daughter of the railroad, and steel mill, magnate, and bridge architect, Amasa Stone of Cleveland. In 1916 Fraser carved a monument of soft, fossil bearing, limestone.

Hay created the 'Open Door Policy' in China. The beginnings of American imperialism, was seriously begun in the administrations of McKinley, and Theodore Roosevelt. US troops joined in the quelling of the Boxer Rebellion in China. The US fought Spain for their remaining overseas empire. The Caribbean was becoming an American lake. Hay wrote to Theo. Roosevelt that the Spanish war was "a splendid little war".
It is an odd, martial angel with a stele quoting James iii. 18, “And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.” The stone is not strong enough to withstand the rain, and snow of Cleveland, and is being washed away. The original, sword shaft has been replaced by concrete cement, and is noticeably different in shade, and texture. The pedestal is of granite and is mostly covered by blue spruce, which greatly adds scenic ornament.

It is a naked, almost, burly Saint Michael. The wings are there, but not prominent when viewed directly. He is helmeted, and is gazing downwards with arms crossed, expressionless. He is more of a gladiatorial guard than Christian angel.

graveyard bat

adult male large brown bat held by adult small male human
So, instead of hunting hare, we have bat. Bats can get quite upset, and bark in irritation and distress, as did this one. A metroparks naturalist conducted a lesson in Cleveland bats at Lake View cemetery, last night. Nets in the woods caught the flyers. Tri-color (eastern pipistrelle), and large (not really very) brown bats were held captive for a few minutes.

The tri-color was a juvenile, just recently an aviatrix [this was confirmed by an examination of bones in wing], she was captured with her mother. Bats need maternal guidance, for a time. Bats may live long lives, but have a high mortality rate in the initial year. A she-bat generally gives birth to twin pups, one male and one female.

The wing examination, amongst other things, delineates the bones in the hand. The wing membrane is thin, and is easily punctured; but fast healing. Most bats are small and light. They suffer from parasites, and scars from mites are visible in the wing.

A new scourge is the white nose fungus (geomyces destructans), which is killing the bats in eastern north America. In 2004 near Albany, New York it was first seen, and its spreading. It attacks them in hibernation, and has wiped out colonies. The fungus has a similarity to athlete's foot.

US bats are insectivores. Some species gobble moths, some snack beetles, others gnats, mosquitoes and so on. Sonar location focuses the meal in flight. During the presentation, lightning bugs were visible. Kids asked whether bats eat them, the answer, in part, was have you ever tasted a firefly? they are chemically composed to taste terribly.

In Europe, there has been an organised bat night for some years now. It educates the public. Bats are having trouble. Bats fulfill a helpful rôle in nature, to the benefit of man. Folklore, superstition, and bad press has not done them well.

15th European Bat Night will take place on 27-28 August 2011.

not of graveyard rabbits

Now this here--blogosphere has many circles. We all are attracted to certain themes. I do not want to write on just one topic, and this reduces readership. Sure, i would like to be a ‘professional’ writer. I have not received a penny, yet. In the sixth grade, i sent a question to the newspaper. They carried a column in the funny pages. I received a set of encyclopedia, which really helped me the next six years. But, if you know a lot, the less people care. You can hold two concepts in your mind, and people will approve of the one, and disapprove of the other.

Frank Stanton wrote editorials for the Atlanta Constitution. His daddy went to fight for the confederacy. Stanton was also a lyricist. Some poems he wrote in dialect, others were sentimental with regular spelling. He had been included in anthologies. The one poem, The Graveyard Rabbit begins:

In the white moonlight, where the willow waves, He halfway gallops among the graves— A tiny ghost in the gloom and gleam, Content to dwell where the dead men dream

and then, i think, he goes off into unfamiliar superstition and southern? folklore. Well anyway, someone started a circle of web journals called, Graveyard Rabbits. They are solely devoted to gravestones, cemeteries, and genealogical stuff.

Well, a while back, public television had a cemetery programme. About five graveyards were featured, one very near me, Lake View (x,y,z) which sits on the boundary of Cleveland, Ohio. Really, it is a fascinating, and a beautiful place. To-morrow, they are scheduled a bat night. Some years ago in Poland and France there originated this ecological conservancy programme concerning these flying mice. It has spread elsewhere. This is not some creep show. This is serious education about stewardship of nature.

A lot of graveyards go to ruin quickly. Some are so rule bound they follow factory conformity. So there may not be that many interesting ones.
I took this foto of some gravestones in front of the Abbey of Gethsemani, Trappist, Kentucky in the late morning of August 1st, 2011. There were some 90° days, followed by nightly rains, followed by morning mists and fog. Nine in the morning, visibility was near zero, within an hour it had mostly burned away. In this little patch, not pictured, there is a large stone with a listing [on both sides] of unmarked graves. The first thirteen, look to be, irish nuns. A few names later is Zachariah Riney, Lincoln's first teacher.

The critter that seemed to be fond of the stones was the mockingbird. It would make hop flights from one stone to the next. If i had a faster focusing camera, with a good telephoto lens, i could have snapped several; at least one with a tasty insect in his beak.

Trappist, Kentucky sits in Nelson County, the county seat is Bardstown. Only Baltimore was older than Bardstown as an english speaking diocese in the Americas. It just never grew. They moved the seat to Louisville, and the cathedral became a basilica. Kentucky has 120 counties. Nelson, Marion, and Washington sit together as ‘Kentucky’s Holy Land’, they together are less than 75,000 people; but the only catholic majority counties in a state absolutely full of baptists.

Trappist, Kentucky

Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani, Trappist, Kentucky

In 1848 forty-three monks arrived in central Kentucky from the Abbey of Melleray, France; forty-four had left, one was lost at sea. Some trappist monks had been in the area from 1805-09. To-day, there are forty-five monks.

They arrived on 21 December 1848. They state themselves: the next day they prayed seven times, and every day they pray seven times, unto the end.

Perhaps, the best known resident was the spiritual writer, Thomas Merton†1968, Father Louie. The success of his auto-biography, The Seven Storey Mountain (1948), was a Godsend to the monastery, in both financial support, and increase in numbers to more than 300. Merton was also a poet, and an artist. He wrote on inter-faith dialogue, social and racial justice, and peace issues. Not every one was happy with this, including the government. To-day, there are few monks there who wish to discuss Merton, “he’s just another monk”.

Merton had a difficult relationship with the new abbot, Dom Fox (1948-68). Merton had just made his final vows.
Grave of Fr. Louis Merton (center), his abbot (left) R.D. James Fox; people brought chairs while praying/meditating; to the left is the outside wall of the church.