mangled fence

German fracture

 Hier ruht

Matthias Schonung.
Geb. den 16 Sept. 1805.
In Lambrecht Rhein Pfalz Baiern.
Gest. den 12 Aug. 1854.

Ruhe seiner Asche

Here rests Matthias Schonung. Born 16 September 1805.  Lambrecht Rhein Pfalz, Bavaria. Died 12 August 1854. Rest his ashes.

On top, there is a Christogram, a variation of the letters: IHS (a mediæval latinate abbreviation of the the first three Greek letters of Jesus). Then there is the biographical information with letters cut very finely. The German phrase is equivalent, but not the same as rest in peace.

At some time the right arm of the cross split cleanly off. Partly because, the camera used does not have a view finder, and the day being very bright with a low winter sun, i could not see a shadow profile fall on the cross. Interesting picture it did make.

Fidelis ad urnam

On the top stone is the emblem of the San Patricios flag (Irish Battalion of the Mexican Army 1847-8), which also was used in Irish regiments in the American War for the Union (1861-5). This is on the flag with the words Éirinn go Brách, or Erin Go Bragh (Ireland For Ever). Fidelis ad urnam is Latin for faithful to the urn (which is funeral object, so it translates to faithful to the tomb, or faithful until death. The motto alone is the slogan the Malones. But this Irishman was a Walsh.

It must be remembered, that, all of Ireland was under English/British occupation, and many left Ireland escaping the prison, and the hangman. Some while in the new country worked for the old country's freedom. Other than that, the American army recruited the foreign born. 

Walking through the graveyard reading stones as if they were history, one's imagination can construct a narrative. The more one knows of history, and symbolism, one's suppositions can be plausible. Going to records offices, more particular evidence can be found. That is not my trade. I just on occasion read stones.

In Memoriam

Captain P. K. Walsh

Born in Ireland 1818.

Died in Cleveland, O.

July 28th 1886. 

True to God. His Country

and

Human Liberty.

God Save Ireland.

God Bless the Memory of

Ireland's Brave

and

Unflinching Patriot.

As impressive as the small stone, it is not alone. He has second, bigger one. This one has a medal on the stone. It reads, on its front face: Sacred to the memory of Capt. Patrick Kiernan Walsh. Born in Dundalk, Ireland. 1818. Died in Cleveland, O. July 28th 1886. "May his soul rest in peace"

This line, on another face is something special: Erected by his many friends, as a tribute of affection.

if a stone falls...

This stone stele, supra, face down. When it fell, it cracked this stone, infra. The maintenance at St. Joseph Woodland is content, the money spent for grave and burial has long gone. Cleveland's  Catholic Cemeteries, as so much of the diocese has had years of in accountability. As the diocese they have no problem in asking for money.

Frank was born in 1889, he thought he was going to die in the XXth century. His Margaret died in 1960. Scripted stones are public monuments, and monuments are created for historical remembrance. After initial erecting, some are meant to be further annotated. Sometimes the arrangements are not made.

Woodmen

This stone from Woodland, its logo is clear. Many are thinly inscribed, or badly incised and barely legible.

Now, you walk through a few established cemeteries (graveyards) and you will see some things again in grave monuments and markers: masonic symbols, tree stones, zinkers, lambs, angels, crosses. Woodmen memorial insignia is one.

It has a skyscraper in Omaha. The other well known insurance company in Omaha used to have a television show with Marlon Perkins, an old, thin man with white moustaches. He ran the St. Louis Zoo. Years before he used to be their snake man, and before that laborer. In between he ran Buffalo's, and then Chicago's zoos.

All those years on television, he had the much younger (27 years) Jim Fowler wrestling gators, and being chased on the savannah. He would introduce the segments and break into a commercial, "While Jim is counting his fingers after being badgered by a surprised badger who was still in his burrow, you can count easy and contentedly while Mutual of O**** protects your burrow..."

Woodmen of the World began in 1890, an earlier Modern Woodmen of America began by the same man in 1883. Things happened, and he left the first one. They were fraternal benefit societies. They were life insurance outfits with burial benefits.

Before the Depression they provided gravestones of various designs. Some were tree stones, some carried just the logo. The logo had variety: some had the ancient tools of wood cutters (the founder had been a free mason), maul (combination sledge and axe), wedge, axe, beetle (heavy hammer); sometimes a dove of peace; sometimes the latin phrase, 'Dum Tacet Clamat, (though silent he speaks loudly). Woodmen Circle was the women's auxiliary.

For a time they had a radio, and television stations with the call letters WOW. They once employed Johnny Carson on air.

at St. Joseph Cleveland, cross substitutes for the tools; several others in Catholic graveyards with only the scripted circle, and bare cross
one face of a family monument at Woodland, inside of WOW circle almost gone; this is also a cenotaph (monument without corpse)

St. Joseph's Cemetery, Cleveland

St. Joseph's Cemetery is slightly older than St. John's. It is on the corner of East 79 and Woodland. The southern property lines abut railroad.
Immediately east of St. John's Cemetery is St. Joseph's. The Woodland neighborhood has fallen on hard times. Rich people do not drive by often. Not many with substantial, or any funds choose to be buried, or have their relatives deposited here. Although, a recent bishop of Erie Pennsylvania is there in a family plot. He had been a child at St. Rose and St. James parishes.

In one of these cemeteries, a fellow i once worked with found God. He was a big, strong, angry man with sensual tastes. He abused himself and others. He was capable in his trade, and a fairly bright man, and a talkative man. [He invented the word 'cohoosion'.] After a night of excessive 'partying' he awoke to find himself in a Catholic Cemetery on Woodland. This awakening changed his life. He decided to abandon his former lifestyle, as much as he could, and became religious. He admits to many failings, and he wants others to confess theirs too.
There is fashion in grave markers. Certain styles and decorations, and lettering come to the fore and then fade. One was a cylindrical stone sitting on a cradle. Some people thought of this resembling a bolster pillow, and refer to it as a 'bolster stone'. Other people who work and maintain graveyards, call them rollers. The bolster above became a roller.
There are three* mausoleums on the property, two are of religious sisters' orders. The Sisters of Notre Dame, supra, and the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, infra. These cemeteries on Woodland suffered vandalism, and the mausoleums were invaded by vandals, and grave robbers. These buildings have been sealed, two with stone blocks, and the Notre Dame Sisters with a marker stone listing those inside the vault (†1899-1919), and those on the hillside (†1878-1918). The diocesan cemeteries brag that they, "maintain all burial sites in perpetuity".
There is a couple of locust trees growing on the roof. The locust is a very fast colonising tree, with a deep initial and crossed roots that really anchor the plant. It is described, as an evasive species, an opportunistic plant, a weed. They grow quickly, and have gone to leaf when used as fence posts, they burn well and hot. Beneath the cross, there are leafy vines surrounding a stone with a sculpted relief of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. At the continued growth rate, it will cover up that decorative art.
_______________________________
*I saw three to-day, i look at an old map, and it reads a fourth smaller one to the left of the Notre Dame sisters. If it was there once, it is not now.