USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > Hartford > Cedar Hill Cemetery, Hartford Connecticut, 1863-1903 > Part 2
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The ascent of the first or most easterly slope, called "Grand View Ridge", brings the entire cemetery into view. The height is in sections one and two, and it sinks away to the northward in sections five, six, and seven. On the east, beyond Consecration Avenue, which runs along its base, is the beautiful slope comprised in sections three and four, looking toward the sunrise and melting into the landscape foreground. Looking toward the west, another and higher ridge is seen, named after its former owner, "Hillhouse Ridge," the height of which is in section twelve. In the distance, separated by a charming intervale, which nature has planted, is the sunset summit, one hundred and seventy-three feet above the ceme- tery entrance, crowned with foliage of many shades and forming a very desirable background for the view. At first the visitor is sensible only of his immediate surroundings.
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Costly examples of monumental art in granite and marble are round about. The advantages which the rural cemetery offers for such memorials are clearly manifest. Amid flow- ers, shrubs, and trees, many varieties of which are visible, the countless shapes of stone in pillar, shaft, and block, are brought into harmony, and the extensive greensward is the relieving screen upon which their outlines are shown. On all sides, in the distance, a panorama circles the vision round as vast as the horizon itself. This great advantage of Cedar Hill Cem- etery rarely escapes remark. To the northward the gilded dome of the capitol building is seen, towering aloft in the midst of Hartford's church spires. Beyond and forty miles away is the Holyoke mountain range, with the familiar summits of Mount Tom and Mount Holyoke. The broad and fertile valley of the Connecticut river sweeps away eastward. Here and there, amid its rolling sea of meadow and forest, the clustered homes of many towns are distinctly visible ; Rocky Hill, Wethersfield, Glastonbury, East Hartford, Manchester, South Windsor, and Rockville nestling between the eastern hills. Farther away and forming the background of a pano- rama, gorgeous in the colors of spring or autumn, there is the rugged range of hills extending from Eastbury northward to Bolton and beyond, with the Somers Mountains in view. The scenery westward, though in part hidden behind Sunset Cliff, as the wooded height of the cemetery is called, is diversified and charming. The eye finds meadow, grove, and mansion scattered over an extensive valley, with the Talcott mountain range looking down upon it from the west and showing its bold outlines against the sky. To the south a portion of Mount Lamentation is seen, and the Hanging Hills of Meriden are plainly in sight. The well-known landscape architect, Adolph Strauch, standing on this ridge years ago and looking about on the magnificent scenery, is said to have remarked, "I have visited every cemetery of any note, from the St. Law- rence to the Rio Grande, and I have never seen the spot that has so many advantages as this, or so splendid a landscape." One who has dwelt upon this view will not wonder at such enthusiasm. As the eye sweeps the horizon round, searching out some well-known spot, fascinated with the distant moun-
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HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE SKETCH
tain peak or dwelling with admiration upon the vast sea of green, the mind is impressed by the grandeur of the scene. The emotions are quieted by the vast calm of nature. One appreciates then the desire of so many cultivated persons to rest at last in the midst of the perpetual beauties of earth. The soul is comforted with the thought that friends and kin- dred have at least found a place of sepulture in harmony with their characters and tastes, worthy to contain and fitted to protect their memorials. The rural cemetery has for its aim the gratification of these refined and natural desires. In the keeping of a corporation, which has profits for no one and equal benefits for all lot owners, which can receive and carry out all desirable trusts in passing years, such hopes are thought to be sure of fulfillment.
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Northam Memorial Chapel
The Northam Memorial Chapel is the most conspicuous edifice of the group gathered about the entrance to Cedar Hill Cemetery. It stands on a gentle elevation south of the gate- way, and fronts toward the highway, with an ornamental lawn before it. This chapel is the gift of the late Colonel Charles H. Northam of Hartford, who was from the organiza- tion of the corporation to his death an interested member of its Board of Directors. It is appropriately consecrated in his memory.
Some time before his death Colonel Northam expressed the pious wish to a few friends that there might be erected at Cedar Hill Cemetery a mortuary chapel, set apart as a Chris- tian temple for all proper purposes in connection with the burial of the dead. The general design in his mind was very much like that subsequently developed by his executors. Accordingly he bequeathed in his will the sum of thirty thou- sand dollars ($30,000) for this end, directing his executors to erect the edifice. The bequest not being sufficient for a build- ing according to the design selected, Mrs. Susan R. Northam generously increased the sum to forty thousand dollars ($40,000) to carry out her husband's wishes in the best possible manner. This chapel was not designed as a receiving vault, and can never be so used. The donor's aim was to provide the sacred and comforting associations of the church for such as assemble at the burial of the dead. As expressed in his will, the edifice is "to be used for the purpose of holding funeral services therein by any and all persons, of any and all religious denomi- nations or sects, at all proper times, subject to the reasonable rules and regulations made by said Cedar Hill Cemetery Asso- ciation concerning the same." To this purpose alone the chapel has therefore been devoted.
NORTHAM MEMORIAL CHAPEL.
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NORTHAM MEMORIAL CHAPEL
The erection of the building was begun in the summer of 1882, and the corner stone, located at the northeast corner of the foundation, was laid with appropriate services on the 31st of October the same year. The architect was Mr. George Keller of Hartford. On the 12th of November, 1883, the work being completed, the chapel was dedicated. The day was the anniversary of Colonel Northam's death. The services were as follows: Hymn, "Come, let us join our friends above"; Reading of Scripture, Psalm xcix, John v: 19-30, and Rev. xxi: 1-7; Hymn, "Blest be the tie that binds"; Address, Rev. Edwin P. Parker, D.D .; Hymn, "Lo! what a cloud of wit- nesses"; Delivery of the Chapel to the Directors of the Ceme- tery, Mr. James B. Powell, executor; Acceptance of the Chapel, Mr. Rowland Swift, treasurer of the corporation ; Doxology ; Prayer and Benediction.
The chapel presents a beautiful and picturesque appearance from all points of view. It is designed in the English Gothic style, which is particularly suited to the character of the building. In its plan it is cruciform, with steep pitched roofs, having gables at the east and west ends of the nave, and smaller gables at the ends of chancel and transepts. The gray rock-faced Westerly granite is relieved by the lighter color of the hammered granite dressings, and the dark slate of the roofs makes an agreeable contrast with the stone. The bank on which the chapel stands slopes gently from east to west, giving to the low walls of the chapel an appearance of height at the ends, which is further increased by a graceful belfry that rises above the western gable and above the chancel and tran- sept roofs which group below it. The side walls are pierced with narrow triple windows, and the chancel is lighted by a beautiful mullioned window, the arched head of which is filled with stone tracery. The western gable of the chapel was struck by lightning September 11, 1901, but the damage to the granite blocks and the interior has since been thoroughly repaired.
The entrance to the chapel is at the east gable, lying just outside the cemetery walls. The doorway is arched, and enriched with carved columns on each side, and in the spandrel of the arch above is carved the head of a sleeping cherub,
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modeled by the sculptor Bauer. This is a poetic work, and beautifully suggests that they for whom the chapel is built " are not dead, but sleeping." On either side of the entrance are coupled windows lighting a vestibule; a rose window is above, and the graceful lines of the cross at the peak of the gable, and again at the top of the belfry, form the crowning emblems of this Christian memorial.
At the entrance a large vestibule, the entire width of the building, is separated from the body of the chapel by a low carved cherry-wood screen, the upper panels of which are filled with stained glass of antique pattern. A broad aisle leading from this vestibule extends up the middle of the nave, and a row of solid-cherry wood pews are on either side. The chan- cel is at the extreme west end, and the choir occupies the tran- sept on the north, and the robing-room that on the south. The chancel and transept arches and the mullioned windows have splayed jambs and arches of red Carlisle sandstone, and the entire floor of the chapel is paved with very small buff, red, and brown tile, laid in a meandering pattern of varying design, called in olden times " the labyrinth " or " road to Jerusalem." The side walls are faced with red pressed brick from the floor up to the level of the window stools, forming a band of color entirely around the chapel. The wall surface above this is tinted in a light buff color until it meets the paneled cherry- wood ceiling, which is divided into bays by three trusses which span the nave.
The whole forms a harmonious setting for the rich stained glass of the windows, which shed a softened and religious light over all. These are by Cottier & Co., the celebrated artist firm of London and New York, and the work is fully equal to their enviable reputation. The chancel window, which is the most conspicuous and richest in design and color, repre- sents the "Resurrection," with Christ in the center, emerging from the tomb, and the Roman soldiers guarding the entrance are represented in the attitudes of awe and astonishment. In roundels above are the Angels of the Resurrection holding a scroll bearing the legend "I am the Resurrection and the Life," and above these is the Holy Spirit descending in the form of a dove. In the rose window in the eastern gable, opposite the
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NORTHAM MEMORIAL CHAPEL
chancel, is an angel extending a scroll bearing the words "Death is swallowed up in Victory." The coloring of the windows is rich, the composition excellent, and has the great merit of telling its story at a glance.
The side windows and the vestibule windows are filled with stained glass of a simpler design and in lighter tones, thus heightening the effect of the richer and more important win- dows in the chancel and western gable. The chancel furni- ture is cherry, and the rail and reading desk of polished brass. The rich colors of the walls, ceiling, and furniture, the beauti- ful pavement, and the glowing colors of "the storied windows richly dight," delight the eye and prepare the mind to receive the lessons of the solemn occasion, when chastened by sorrow and in its most receptive mood.
The bell in the west gable bears the following inscription :
" In loving memory of Charles H. Northam. Born Dec. 21, 1797. Died Nov. 12, 1881."
This memorial chapel is admirably adapted and located for its purpose. The dignity of the exterior is heightened by its commanding position, and the spacious interior, rich and beau- tiful, is bright and cheerful, fitted to dispel gloomy thoughts and at the same time impress the mind with the holiness of the place. During the winter season it is kept warmed by a furnace in the cellar. At services where the remains are not to be immediately interred in the cemetery grounds, the casket is lowered, at the proper time, from its place before the altar by a mechanical appliance, and the bearers remove it to the receiving tomb close at hand. Everything which may seem to be inharmonious with the solemnity of the service is thus avoided, and the sanctity of the holy place surrounds the mourners with its comfort and hopes.
Gallup Memorial Gateway
The center of the beautiful group of buildings at the en- trance to Cedar Hill Cemetery is filled by the Gallup Memorial Gateway. It is built in accordance with the original design, which contemplates a gate-lodge for the Superintendent, to stand on the north, in harmony with the chapel on the south. This third edifice as yet awaits some generous donor, but when it is provided the extent of the architectural design will appear and the gateway will assume its natural place as an entrance guarded on both sides by its more stately neighbors.
The gateway was the gift of Mrs. Julia A. Gallup of Plain- field, Connecticut, who, during the last years of her life, resided in Hartford. It was completed during the summer of 1889, after the design of Mr. George Keller, and cost twenty-eight thousand dollars ($28,000). A low granite wall about thirty feet in length connects the gateway with the chapel, and gives an imposing breadth to the whole entrance. In the center is the main carriage gate, eighteen feet wide. Two smaller gates are provided for pedestrians, one on each side. To the south is the waiting-room designed for the use of visitors to Cedar Hill Cemetery, and at all times kept comfortable for this pur- pose. To the north is the office building of the Superintendent, where charts, plans, and records relating to the cemetery are kept for consultation. The waiting-room, office building, and the massive gate-posts and walls of the gateway are all built of the same material as the Northam Memorial Chapel, white Westerly granite, so that, although they form an independent group, they are in harmony with the whole. The magnificent iron gates which fill the main entrance, and the smaller gates on either side, are probably the most beautiful specimens of wrought-iron work in the country on so large a scale. There is no cast work, but the whole is done with the hammer and
GALLUP MEMORIAL GATEWAY.
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GALLUP MEMORIAL GATEWAY
anvil. When seen at a distance against the horizon or the white background of the granite, these gates, with their beau- tiful interlacing scrolls, delicate leaves, flowers, and tendrils, seem like rich lacework stretched across the openings. The waiting-room on the one side of these gates and the office building on the other, each present gables to the roadway. The gable of the waiting-room is filled with a beautiful memo- rial window to Mrs. Gallup, for the waiting-room is designed to be especially memorial in its character. The interior is paved with rich stone mosaic in different tones of color. A wainscot of polished Numidian marble of a beautiful rich red color runs around the room. The ceiling, which is arch-shaped following the lines of the roof, is lined with white oak wood, and the walls between the roof and the marble wainscoting are colored to harmonize with the rest. A large open fireplace with polished red marble chimney-piece, which reaches from floor to ceiling, is placed on the south side of the waiting-room and bears on the lintel over the fireplace this inscription :
IN MEMORY OF MRS. JULIA A. GALLUP, WHO BUILT THIS GATEWAY. BORN AT PLAINFIELD, 5TH JUNE, 1814, DIED AT PLAINFIELD, 3D Nov., 1884.
The stained glass memorial window is by Cottier & Co., of London and New York, and represents "The Ascension." It is composed in a simple, bold manner, and executed in very rich colors, and at once commands the attention of the spec- tator on entering the chamber. The other windows in the room are of leaded white glass, and the splayed jambs, arches, and window stools are of red Tennessee marble.
The office building on the opposite side of the roadway is treated in a simpler manner, befitting its purpose. A pleasant bay window projects toward the front, commanding the lawn and roadway, so that the attendant can easily observe any one approaching the gates.
One of the most noticeable features of this entire gateway group when it is approached by the visitor, is its admirable location as related to the cemetery grounds. Its background
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CEDAR HILL CEMETERY
of tall spruce trees displays it to advantage. Through it the entrance avenue passes into a beautiful vista, sinking away in the intervale foreground and rising again in the ascent of the ridge, where monuments look out from the abundant foliage. The impression made, therefore, is not that of many gateways which suggest exclusion and conceal the grounds beyond. It stands out, rather, as a beautiful memorial, inviting one to enter a vast and charming landscape.
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Chronological List of the Officers of Cedar Hill Cemetery
1865-1903
PRESIDENTS
George Beach, 1865-1867
George W. Moore, 1867-Oct. 20, 1889
Nelson Hollister, 1889 - March 2, 1897 Jonathan B. Bunce, 1897 -
VICE-PRESIDENTS
William L. Collins, 1865,- Nov. 15, James C. Jackson, 1876-Feb. 7, 1882 1865
Nelson Hollister, 1882-1889
George W. Moore, 1866-1867
Jonathan B. Bunce, 1889 -1897
George Beach, 1867-1876
George G. Sumner, 1897 -
SECRETARIES
Rowland Swift, 1865-1866
Ward W. Jacobs, Oct. 6, 1866 -
TREASURERS
Rowland Swift, 1865-1885
Ward W. Jacobs, 1885-
SUPERINTENDENTS
Jacob Weidenman, 1865-1872
Robert Scrivener, 1883 -
William Salway, 1874-1883
DIRECTORS
George Beach, 1865- July 16, 1899: Thomas Belknap, 1865-1868 Marshall Jewell, 1865-Feb. 10, 1883 George W. Moore, 1865-Oct. 20, 1889 Gordon W. Burnham, 1865 -1866 Hiram Bissell, 1865-1876 William L. Collins, 1865 - Nov. 15, 1865
James C. Jackson, 1865-Feb. 7, 1882 Jonathan B. Bunce, 1865-
Henry A. Perkins, 1865-1868
Charles H. Northam, 1865-Nov. 12, 1881
Nelson Hollister, 1865-March 2, 1897 Daniel Phillips, 1865- May 2, 1903.
Samuel Woodruff, 1865-1868
Samuel Coit, 1865-1868, 1870-1878
Francis B. Cooley, 1865- Jonathan F. Morris, 1865- Jan. 30, 1899
Albert F. Day, 1865-1867
Edwin Taylor, 1865-1868
James G. Batterson, 1865- Sept. 18, 1901 Richard A. Robbins, 1865 - Feb. 26, 1895
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CEDAR HILL CEMETERY
John C. Parsons, 1866-March 11,1898 Rowland Swift, 1866-June 13, 1902 Erastus Collins, 1867 - April 7, 1880 Edson Fessenden, 1868-Jan. 4, 1888 Zeno K. Pease, 1868-Aug. 23, 1890 Mark Howard, 1868 - Jan. 24, 1887 George A. Fairfield, 1868 -
Gardner P. Barber, 1868-Oct. 7, 1879
Oliver D. Seymour, 1868 -1878
Haynes L. Porter, 1868-1872 Burdett Loomis, 1870 -1876
Ward W. Jacobs, 1872 -
John Amidon, 1876 - Aug. 11, 1891 Palmer Southworth, 1876 - Aug. 28, 1889
Richard D. Hubbard, 1880 - Feb. 28, 1884
Austin C. Dunham, 1880 -
Asa S. Porter, 1880 - Dec. 8, 1883
Pliny Jewell, 1883 - George G. Sumner, 1884 -
Drayton Hillyer, 1887- Edwin P. Taylor, 1888 - Oland H. Blanchard, 1888-
William E. Collins, 1888-May 19, 1893 Edward M. Gallaudet, 1888-
James B. Moore, 1889 - Arthur N. Hollister, 1889-Jan. 18, 1897
Henry C. Dwight, 1890-
William B. Clark, 1891 - Atwood Collins, 1893 - Wm. E. A. Bulkeley, 1898-
Charles L. Goodwin, 1898-
Edward W. Hooker, 1898-
Edward D. Robbins, 1898- Francis Parsons, 1898 -
George W. Beach, 1899-
William L. Squire, 1899 -
In the above list of officers the annual meeting at which each was elected is indicated by the first date, that of retirement by the second. Where the latter is an exact date it is that of a death in office.
SECTION TWO, LOOKING NORTHEAST.
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Act of Incorporation
UPON THE PETITION OF HENRY A. PERKINS, WILLIAM HUNGERFORD, AND OTHERS, PRAYING FOR AN ACT OF INCORPORATION, FOR THE PUR- POSE OF ESTABLISHING A CEMETERY IN THE VICINITY OF HARTFORD, AS PER PETITION ON FILE, DATED THE SECOND DAY OF NOVEMBER, 1863.
Resolved by this Assembly:
SECTION 1. That Henry A. Perkins, William Hungerford, Charles Cheney, Austin Dunham, William T. Lee, Jonathan S. Niles, George Beach, Calvin Day, Gurdon Trumbull, Albert Day, Marshall Jewell, Pliny Jewell, Jr., Stiles D. Sperry, Thomas Belknap, James C. Jackson, and William R. Cone, with all other persons who are or shall hereafter become associated with them in the manner hereinafter provided, be, and they hereby are, with their successors and assigns, made and established a body corporate and politic, by the name of the Hartford Cemetery Association, or such other name as said corporation may hereafter adopt, for the purpose of pro- curing and establishing a burying-ground or place of sepulture, and en- closing, improving, adorning, and enlarging the same; and by that name shall be capable in law to take, purchase, and procure all such lands, and to such extent as they shall deem necessary for their purposes, and hold the same and all other kinds of property, and the same lease, sell, and convey for sepulchral purposes and at pleasure; to sue and be sued in all courts; to have and use a common seal and the same to change and alter at pleasure; to make and carry into effect all such by-laws, rules and regulations as may be deemed expedient for the proper management of the affairs of the corpo- ration, and generally, to do and cause to be done and executed all such acts and things as to them may appertain.
SECTION 2. That for the purpose of procuring the said grounds there- for, and establishing such burying-grounds or place of sepulture, said corporation shall have and possess all and the same powers, to enable them to acquire said lands, as are now possessed by communities or associations duly formed according to the provisions of the one hundred and ninetieth section of the act concerning communities and corporations for the enlarge- ment of the limits of a burying-ground or place of sepulture already estab- lished, and for the purpose of procuring said lands for such burial-place, and enlarging the same, all the provisions of the act entitled, An act in
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CEDAR HILL CEMETERY
addition to an act concerning communities and corporations, approved June 21, 1849, be and the same are hereby extended and made applicable to the procuring of lands by this present corporation for their burying- ground, and the enlargement of the same, to as full extent as said powers and provisions are now applicable to the enlargement of burying-grounds or places of sepulture already established by associations or communities formed according to the provisions of the said one hundred and ninetieth section of said act in this section first mentioned.
SECTION 3. The capital stock shall consist of five hundred shares of one hundred dollars each, and payable in such way and manner, and at such time and times, and either in whole or in part, as the directors of said corporation shall require, or the by-laws thereof shall prescribe, to be repaid in such way and manner and at such times as shall be provided for in said by-laws or ordered by said directors.
SECTION 4. The affairs of such corporation shall be managed by a board of directors, the number and the term for which they or any part or portion of the same shall hold their office to be fixed by the by-laws, and such other officers as the by-laws require or the directors shall appoint.
SECTION 5. Subscriptions to the capital stock may be made in such way and manner, and upon such terms, as the persons named in the first section hereof may adopt for the purpose. The first meeting of the sub- scribers to said capital stock shall be held at the rooms of the Historical Society, in the city of Hartford, on the first Wednesday in July, 1864, at two o'clock afternoon, or at such other time after said day, and at such place, as any three of the persons named in the first section hereof shall fix for that purpose, giving notice thereof over their signatures by a publica- tion of such notice in two of the daily newspapers published in said city at least three days prior to such meeting, at which said meeting, after the adoption of such by-laws as the subscribers to said stock present shall deem necessary for the organization and government of said corporation, they shall proceed to the organization thereof by the election of a board of directors, and may transact such other business as may be brought before said meeting.
SECTION 6. Each shareholder at said meeting, and until otherwise pro- vided by the by-laws, shall be entitled to a number of votes equal to the number of shares held by such stockholder, and may vote either in person or by proxy.
SECTION 7. Every person who shall become and be the owner and proprietor of a lot in the burial-ground of said corporation shall be entitled to attend and take part in the deliberations of said corporation, and allowed to vote and exercise all the rights and privileges of a member of said corporation, whenever such person shall have complied with all the conditions required for that purpose, and all the requirements of the by- laws entitling him to such rights of membership shall have been observed and performed.
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