Old Cemeteries – Gardens of Stone

I love old cemeteries. Amidst all the sadness they represent, there is also a sense of peace and solitude. They’re rich in history and tell wonderful and amazing stories. I especially love the way the memorials, both grand and insignificant, display the emotions of loss and grief in such beautiful ways. I guess this classifies me as a taphophile but to appropriate General Patton’s remark I can only say, “God help me, I do love it so.”

I sometimes refer to cemeteries as “gardens of stone”. This comes from a 1987 movie Gardens of Stone based upon a book of the same name. It’s about a group of soldiers serving in the “Old Guard” at Arlington National Cemetery during the Vietnam war. For them, the cemetery is a garden, a garden of stone. For some reason, that simple phrase has always stuck with me. Somehow, it seems very fitting.

Cimitero Acattolica di Roma – Roma, Italia

The first memorial that piqued my interest was the Youree memorial in Scott’s Cemetery in Scottsville, Texas. About all that remains of Scottsville is the old cemetery. At one time it must have been a very prosperous place to have such a cemetery. The Youree memorial is part of the somewhat famous Angel of Grief genre. It just conveys the emotional loss so wonderfully. All told, I’ve photographed 14 of the angels in 4 states and 2 countries. I estimate this is around one-third of the total. So, when we planned a vacation in Italy I knew we had to make a stop to photograph the original Angel of Grief, the one all others are patterned after.

I braved driving in Rome to visit the Cimitero Acattolica di Roma (Non-Catholic Cemetery of Rome) to see the original Angel of Grief. It was sculpted by American artist and sculptor William Wetmore Story (1819-1895) made this for his wife Emelyn Story (1820-1895). Wikipedia notes “The statue’s creation was documented in an 1896 issue of Cosmopolitan Magazine: according to this account, his wife’s death so devastated Story that he lost interest in sculpture, but was inspired to create the monument by his children, who recommended it as a means of memorializing the woman. Unlike the typical angelic grave art, “this dramatic life-size winged figure speaks more of the pain of those left behind” by appearing “collapsed, weeping and draped over the tomb”.”

It is simply beautiful. I used my 24mm tilt-shift lens to shoot a panorama format. The tilt-shift lens is great for making panoramas without distortion. Additionally, the 24mm focal length allowed me to set up very close to the memorial, within 2 to 3 feet as I recall.

Mustang Cemetery – Walker County, Texas

One of the most poignant memories is from Mustang Cemetery in Walker county, Texas. Mustang was started in 1896 and is still an active cemetery. It’s isolated, hidden well off the main highway and is a dusty drive on dirt roads. Mustang is one of the simpler of all the cemeteries I’ve visited. Although, it may lack grandeur, it still means something to the families of those buried there

I saw 5 wooden crosses with simple plaques on them. The cemetery association has placed crosses to mark graves with missing or badly deteriorated tombstones. It broke my heart to read the plaques on these crosses . They read from right to left:

• UNK for Unknown
• Jack Lofton Infant 1
• Jack Lofton Infant 2
• Jack Lofton Infant 3
• Jack Lofton Infant 4

The registry (spells the names as “Loftin”) at the entrance didn’t have dates for these but did list a date of death for Lottie Loftin (Jack’s wife) as “before 1900”. Unfortunately, there was no indication of where Jack ended up. Hard times, hard life. It reminds me that any of the sorrow I’ve ever experienced pales in comparison and that I should count my blessings.

Glenwood Cemetery – Houston, Texas

I was shooting in Houston’s Glenwood Cemetery when I spotted a flash of blue standing out in the sea of green, brown and gray. Curious, I went to investigate and noticed that someone had hung a braided ring on the child’s arm with colorful star spangled blue ribbon and two red ribbons with small bells attached (one now missing). Just the kind of thing a young child would love. The gift was for little Libbie Dow who died in 1886, aged 16 months. Even though she had been gone 127 years at the time I photographed this, someone still cared about Libbie.

Viewing the graves of little children is difficult. It’s difficult to imagine the pain and sorrow their parent and family must have endured. There is an old proverb, “Grief shared is halved; joy shared is doubled.” To me that is what someone placing that ribbon means. It’s someone recognizing and saying they are willing to share the burden of grief even after more than 100 years. This restored my faith in humanity and I felt better knowing that.

Bonaventure Cemetery – Thunderbolt, Georgia

Of all the old cemeteries I’ve seen, Bonaventure Cemetery outside of Savannah, Georgia is one of the most beautiful. This is in large part, because of the Live Oak trees dripping with Spanish Moss surrounding beautiful memorials. Bonaventure’s most well known memorial is the “Bird Girl” that became a famous photograph for the cover of the book, Midnight In The Garden of Good and Evil. Bird Girl became so popular it’s been moved to a museum to preserve it.

Perhaps one of the saddest memorials is “Little Gracie” who died at the tender age of six. Her family later moved back to New England leaving Gracie all alone in Georgia. Her sad story is why her grave is the most visited in Bonaventure. Another famous memorial, and the one in this photo, is the “Shell Girl” at the Baldwin family plot with it’s Bible quotation “Receive The Kingdom Of God As A Little Child”. These are just a few of the things that make Bonaventure such a fantastic place. I wish I could have spent more time there.

La Necrópolis de Cristóbal Colón – Habana, Cuba

With more than 800,000 graves and 1 million interments La Necrópolis de Cristóbal Colón in Habana, Cuba is one the world’s largest cemeteries. The group I was with took a tour through the cemetery and I was so impressed I went back on my “free time” to explore further. That is when I found the tomb of Maria Josepha Perez de Urria (d. 1871). Although different from the Angel of Grief it also uses a grieving angel theme to convey the emotion. The marble sculpture is simply exquisite.

As a result of the economics of life in modern day Cuba, many of the gravesites are in disrepair and have deteriorated significantly. These economic realites have not been kind to La Necrópolis de Cristóbal Colón. Nonetheless, it is still a place you should visit if you have the opportunity.

The Stories and Emotion Remain

All of these people died more than a 100 years ago. After that length of time, you would think that their story would be forgotten and the emotions of grief and loss would be diminished. But yet, this has not happened. With memorials, both grand and insignificant, old cemeteries, these gardens of stone, have kept their stories and the emotions surrounding their passing, alive. And that for me, is a wonderful thing.

What’s been your experience in photographing old cemeteries? Please leave a comment in the comment box below.