Mt. Hope Cemetery with Aunt Amy!

Inspired by last week's fun graveyard walk, yesterday took a brief trip to the Mt. Hope cemetery. It was improved considerably by the presence of Aunt Amy, who was visiting for the weekend. :-)

The cemetery dates back to the 1830s. It receives ~500 new occupants each year, and has a number of famous figures, including Susan B. Anthony, Frederick Douglass, George Eastman (cremated), Bausch, Lomb and Corning. 

Perhaps the best attribute, though, is that it's on very hilly terrain populated with gorgeous old trees. To walk around this cemetery is to constantly climb steep hills or down into small gulches and valleys. And according the wikipedia, there are catacombs underneath which are currently sealed up. 

I have tried to talk to Sam a little about how in the day when the church was young Christians stood apart from pagans because they weren't afraid of cemeteries or the dead.

Also shared with him the etymology of "sacrophagus" (from "flesh eater", because the limestone of which they used to be made would cause rapid deterioration of the interred). And this led to my favorite poem about cannibals:

Among the anthropophagi,
People's friends are people's sacrophagi.

Anyway, it's a great place for kids to run (except for having to keep Josh was plunging off the many precipices--Aunt Amy was great for that!). It was a cool (60s), overcast day, which actually made it great hiking weather. Hope you enjoy the photos below... 

AA in front of one of the many fields of graves.

There is an astounding amount of gorgeous statuary. 

In front of this one was a young couple and their dog, doing some geocaching. They were enthusiastic about telling us about it, and got Sam excited about it as well. If only we had a GPS!

The only Celtic cross. What craftsmanship!

Henry was apparently a short man. Looks a little like he's just about to sneak into the bathroom with a book.

I can only assume this is the grave of a librarian.

This person appears to have died of a very bad headache.

Amy says she wants to be cremated. Shame, cause we could also recycle this one for her use...

Seriously--good birthday gift idea for Emily for next year.

Or my wife...

...Susan. At the very least could make a coffee table out of them.

There's a sizable number of Jewish graves, some, like this one, quite old.

Which brings to mind the Jewish custom of placing stones on top of grave stones.

This, though, seems a little over the top.

This is a variation, but a heartbreaking one. 

We figure the teddy bear was for Amelia.

Amelia's grave was part of four with a vast list of names, with this poem in the center:

Scatter me not to the restless winds.

Nor toss my ashes to the sea.

Remember now those years gone by

when loving gifts I gave to thee.

Remember now the happy times,

the family ties we shared.

Don't leave my resting places unmarked

as though you never cared.

Deny me not one final gift

for all to come and see...

a single lasting proof that says 

I loved and you loved me.

You don't go to cemeteries expecting all the stories to be happy ones.

There was a huge number of crypts. Josh went up to just about each one and knocked on the door. Sam had already said he wished we could come overnight and just confirm that zombies don't rise out of the ground once the sun sets.

This is set into the side of a hill.

This one is vast, but there's no indication of the names of the occupants. Guess they weren't doing it to get famous.

Sam enjoyed the crypt as well.

We always look for names which have gone well out of style. Lulu, or Fannie, for that matter.

Or even Elijah and Mihala.

One of the stranger names--Venor Mogridge.

This was a little strange. From this it appears that Charlotte, born in 1834, hasn't died yet. That's staying power--makes her 179 years old.

Amy wondered if Miss Crocker ever had the chance to marry a Mr. Dial. If she'd hyphenated , she would have been Crocker-Dial. (Well, we all thought it was funny.)

And if Antoinette had hyphenated, she could have been Ms. Pumpelly-Perkins. THAT has a ring to it. Nice Deco type face, btw.

Sam particularly enjoyed being caught in the act of falling through the air. There's something poetic about a young person being caught in mid-air in the midst of all those resting places.

Fun trip. Got us all tuckered out.