Gone to graveyards, everyone

Ubi sunt qui ante nos fuerunt? (Where are those who were before us?)

Mikhajl Aleksandrovič Šolokhov (Михаил Александрович Шолохов) in the first chapter of And Quiet Flows the Don (1934) has Darja singing a lullabye:

...А где ж гуси?
В камыш ушли.
А где ж камыш?
Девки выжали.
А где ж девки?
Девки замуж ушли.
А где ж казаки?
На войну пошли. ...

...A gde ž gusi?
V kamyš ušli.
A gde ž kamyš?
Devki vyžali.
A gde ž devki?
Devki zamuž ušli.
A gde ž kazaki?
Na vojnu pošli. ...

...And where are the geese?
They've gone into the reeds.
And where are the reeds?
The girls have mown them.
And where are the girls?
Married and gone away.
And where are the Cossacks?
They've gone to the war...

Pete Seeger read this, and in 1955 wrote the song, Where have all the flowers gone?, which was expanded by Joe Hickerson, in 1960, to include:

...Where have all the soldiers gone?
Gone to graveyards, everyone.
Oh, when will they ever learn?...

Woodland Cemetery Cleveland has a contiguous plot of veteran graves of the XIXth century. Some are so worn in lettering, that it is difficult to tell the front side from the back side. A typical legible stone reads:

S. A. MILLER
CO. F
1ST MICH. L. A.

neo-Gothic Angel

Angel imagery is common in cemeteries of the gilded age (late XIXth century). The most genre perfect, and impressive one in Cleveland may be the one for Freda Schubert in Cleveland's Woodland Cemetery.

When i first saw this statue, i was surprised that i had not heard, or read about it before.* I am very inclined to believe that Herman Schubert loved his wife very much.

The red stone of the pedestal is soft, pitted, and smudged with soot.

supra, profile view; infra, three quarters

Lake View Cleveland has several programmes throughout the year. One is the angels tour. A very few, two at least, are outstandingly interesting. Most are equal to those found in several other local cemeteries. Why Freda's angel is not better known is comparatively odd. When walking through Woodland Cemetery this statue is striking, it commands attention. All the information, that i have, is what is on the monument itself. It has been there an hundred years. Is anyone from Herman and Freda's family about? and know anything of the sculpture?

The angel's left hand is missing the forefinger, and the end of the [palm] frond.

The drapery became convenient for wasps to build comb nests.

____________________________

*postscriptum: Michelle Day of Woodland Cemetery Foundation brought to my attention, a photograph of this monument made the cover of a book: Silent Cities: the Evolution of the American Cemetery. Princeton Architectural Press. Kenneth Jackson (Author), Camilo Jose Vergara (Photographer). 1989 .I was not aware of this book beforehand. Professor Jackson has much of the same thoughts that i have on American burial yards. He is right on two big points. The 'memorial parks' beginning with Glendale California's Forest Lawn changed the landscape (for the worse). This spread throughout the country, with noticeable resistance from immigrants and their children. Thus began a symbiotic and continuing process of isolating and reducing the cultural niche of the graveyard. He does not go as far as to say that this style of burial ground of aesthetics, commerce, and spiritlessness could only go farther by having cemeteries double as golf courses.

Artificer

Veterans are entitled to a government issued grave marker. Veterans also end up indigent to a greater degree than those whom did not serve. It is not always because of pride in service that they, or their families, wish a government stone. Most people would consider it shameful for a veteran to have an unmarked grave. [i have no information on this burial pictured, i am just stating actualities]

The 10th Ohio Volunteer Infantry never saw combat. The Spanish American War was brief. It destroyed the remnants of an imperial, and military Spain. The United Stated achieved status as a naval, and imperial power. Most of what was the remaining Spanish empire, became part of the US empire. The Spanish called the war "El Desastre" — the Disaster. The war was fought in the Caribbean, and the Pacific from April to August of 1898.

In July the 10th Ohio was mustered with 1280 men and 42 officers. The armistice began on 12 August. The next week, the 10th Infantry was in training camp in Pennsylvania. They would finish their service in Georgia in March 1899. Twenty one men died of disease, two in accidents.

A military artificer is a term not now used in the US military. He was a mechanic, craftsman, maintenance man for arms and equipment. One artificer per infantry company was standard.

Sacred Heart of Jesus

While the other representations of Jesus are familiar in the Orthodox, and Byzantine world, and in the Protestant, this one is quite Roman Catholic. The Beloved Disciple of the Sacred Heart was St. Margaret Mary Alacoque *1647, 1690†. The devotion existed for centuries, but her affection and attachment was the most zealous in its wider practice.

the bleeding, Sacred Heart of Jesus, pierced by a crown of thorns

stained glass in a mausoleum with angels with thuribles (incense burners) and candles

with an altar to say Mass

Erie Street Squirrel

Red squirrel in a saucer magnolia tree

Erie Street (East Ninth) Cemetery Cleveland, O., is a green space between asphalt, brick, and cement. There are relatively few monuments, and burials remaining. It is a quiet spot just south of Cleveland's financial district, and across the street from the new base ball park.
There is one drive that splits the long rectangle of a graveyard, betwixt East 14th and 9th, in twain. The building in the background is the home field of the Indians of the American League.
The stone on the left is the same in two photographs. It is pitted plaque on multi-cracked cement. It is a Memorial Day Association veterans' commemoration for the Grand Army of the Republic (Union troops).

Cross and crown: religious or masonic?

Is this cross and crown, religious or masonic?

Catholic burial at Cleveland Calvary.

Now, the anchor is another symbol of faith. In this admiralty anchor a cross is, ever so slightly, hidden. Of course, the man could have been a sailor. The anchor echoes the cross and crown. The anchor was used on the graves of the catacombs. What does that signet mean? Although in life there is suffering (cross), life ends in the glory (crown) of heaven. That is a comforting thought for the departed, and his love ones.

The answer is masonic. It is a mark of an additional masonic order of the York rite, Knights Templar. Masons borrow liberally from Catholic Christian symbolism and adapt it to their mythology. Here, in Woodland Cemetery, a civil graveyard of Cleveland, it is cut in the middle of this stone pillar. The pillar is made broken to symbolise a life ended. Masonic symbolism is infatuated with death.

and to confirm, the monument is further engraved with compass and square

More Czechs · Více Čechů

Here is a family buried side by side, progressively in death, left to right. The parents (2nd, 3rd stones), assuredly, were born in the old country (a Czech province [probably Bohemia] in the Austrian Empire); the younger son (first stone), maybe. The last stone is of an older brother *1873, and either his wife or a sister *1875. The youngest child died first. His Christian name, Ladislav, is not anglicised; his parents', and the others' names are.

The European War (WWI) started 28 August 1914. American entry came 6 April 1917. During 1916 American nationalism was surpassing American pacifism. When America mobilised for war, a strong propaganda effort pushed a bellicose Americanism. The use of English only became more dominant. Many people, especially Germans, changed their names. Here in 1914 'Naše Matka' died, in 1917 'Father' died.

Naš Syn · Our Son

Ladislav Pejsa
Roz[ený] List[opad] · Born 6 November 1878
Zem[řel] 17 Unora 1902 · Died 17 February 1902

Naše Matka · Our Mother

Father