USA > Ohio > Hamilton County > Cincinnati > Spring Grove cemetery: its history and improvements, with observations on ancient and modern places of sepulture > Part 2
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Of late years, the red, gray, and blue granites have been extensively employed for monumental purposes in most of the larger cemeteries in this and other countries. Granite is not divided into beds or layers, nor has it any sign of stratification. The three con- stituent minerals, viz : quartz, feldspar, and mica, appear to have been brought together in a fluid state, and afterward solidified by crystallization. A polished surface of the material readily shows its composition. The quartz is the bright diamond-like material, the feldspar is the dull ivory-looking substance, and the mica is glistening and shining, and usually flat and
2
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Spring Grove Cemetery.
plate-like. Granite monuments in which the three con- stituent minerals are nearly equal in size, and the gran- ulation most uniform, will best resist the destroying forces of the elements.
With Berlesch, in his admirable sketches of the Alps, we can really feel and most truthfully say, that, "Granite is a symbolic substance-it, in common with marble, is the historic stone. As amongst beasts the lion ranks as king, being the representative of noble qualities and physical power; as amongst plants the oak presents a picture of firmness and endurance, so granite represents all that is unchangeable and uncon- querable in the kingdom of dead inorganic matter; it is, in a narrow material sense, a substance of eternal duration. Monuments erected of this stone over three thousand years ago, are still wondered at on the borders of the desert as the mightiest works of human power, and are said to be this day as fresh as when they came from the sculptor."
The historian, Sir G. Wilkinson, says: "The hieroglyphics on the obelisks and monuments in Egypt are sculptured with a minuteness and finish which, even if they used steel as highly tempered as our own, can not fail to surprise the beholder, and to elicit from him the confession that our modern sculptors are una- ble to vie with them in this branch of art. In those days the bold architects grasped the granite rock, and thought that they had saved a scrap from the
19
Introduction.
destruction that awaits every thing wrought by human hands."
The most celebrated granite works in Europe are to be found in Scotland and Sweden, whence mon- uments have been shipped to the remotest parts of the globe, while in the United States of America the Quincy granite is to be seen in every city and cemetery of any importance.
There is another and justly-celebrated kind of granite, exceedingly fine and regular in its granulation. In it the shining mica is wanting, and its place is sup- plied by another glossy-looking mineral called horn- blende. Its name, syenite, is derived from the fact that its oldest and best specimens have been quarried at Syene in Egypt. Usually, the feldspar is reddish and the hornblende dark or black, the combination of the two giving a rich and striking color and texture to the polished surfaces .. Many other combinations of these and other minerals have been observed under dif- ferent conditions, and are known under various names of crystalline rocks and porphyries, most of which are admirably suited for monumental purposes.
While stratified rocks are limited in their area, and also in their thickness, the granite rocks, being the foundation of all others, exist over the whole area of our globe, and no limit to their thickness can be ascer- tained. Masses of granite and other crystalline rocks have been forced to the surface by a concentration or
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Spring Grove Cemetery.
force from below, or within the earth, which man, with his finite understanding, can scarcely appreciate. It is now universally acknowledged that these wonderful physical effects have been produced by the agency of terrestrial heat. On the other hand the sandstone and marble rock, and, indeed, all the stratified and sediment- ary deposits, are held to be of an aqueous origin. Thus, we have two distinct classes-the one having originated through the agency of heat, the other through that of water; the first containing not the least evidence of the existence of either vegetable or animal life in any form, the last yielding imbedded fossil remains of plants and animals, from the lowest type to those of the barely extinct mammal.
Porphyry is less fine than many of the ordinary rocks used as marbles, but it far exceeds them in hard- ness, and is capable of bearing a high polish. It is admirably calculated for use in columns, for funerary monuments, urns, etc., of which there is a great number to be seen in Rome. The red lead-colored porphyry, which is found in Minorca, variegated with black, white, and green, is a beautiful and valuable material for mon- umental purposes. The pale and red porphyry is found in large quantities in Arabia Petræa and Upper Egypt, and in separate nodules in Germany, England, and Ireland. The dark red variety is the most com- mon in Rome. It is of a deep purplish red, with oblong white spots. There are two varieties of black
21
Introduction.
porphyry. The brown porphyry has a brown ground with large oblong greenish spots. The green porphyry is of a very dark green ground with oblong spots of a lighter shade, sometimes of a fine grass green. The art of cutting this stone as practiced by the ancients, appears to be now quite lost. Some think they had a secret of tempering steel better than we, and others that they possessed means of softening the porphyry.
As we find a great variety of forms in monuments, we might also very properly employ a considerably larger variety of material in their construction. Beau- tiful effects are produced by monuments composed of various kinds of stone. The lower base of the structure may be of a dark material, Quincy granite for example, while the pedestal and column might be of the rose-colored Scotch granite, or of porphyry, and when surmounted by a beautiful statue of mar- ble or of white granite, it will present a variety and lightness of colors without being motley. Intelligent observers do not hesitate to say that the alliance of col- ors in architecture and sculpture, was made at a period when monuments were erected in the best style of art.
There are but few vaults in Spring Grove, it having been the policy of the Board from the very start to discourage the erection of structures, which the history of sculpture throughout the world has proved to be a failure. There is, nevertheless, a grand sentiment of eternity in the cavern temples and
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Spring Grove Cemetery.
rock tombs of India and Egypt, while even in our own days, the lingering blaze of departed genius and greatness gilds the aspiring vaults of Westminster Abbey, and the radiance of Scotch poetry lights up the arcades of Melrose. "There is no doubt," says Lou- don, "that burying in sepulchers, by which the body is prevented from mixing with the soil, is of great an- tiquity, and it was probably justified in the early ages of history, but it may be fairly asserted that this practice is not in conformity with the opinion and spirit of the present age, for neither then nor now is it any perma- nent security against desecration by the human species." Witness the mummies of Egypt, desecrated even in their solid rock-tombs and pyramids, while in our own age, tombs often crumble to pieces in a few years, and it has even been found necessary to invoke the aid of government for the protection of the dead in an enlightened christian country.
How much better for the health of the living and the honor of the dead were the money, now laid out in building vaults, expended on handsome monuments, or on increased space of ground, and how much more natural and agreeable to see the grass-covered graves of a family, side by side, than to have them remain unmixed with the earth, deposited on stone shelves above ground, and forming separate portions of pre- served corruption, from which volumes of pernicious gases are continually exhaled. "My father," says Peter
23
Introduction.
Cunningham, "always had an abhorrence of West- minster Abbey. He is now buried in Kensal Green Cemetery, not in a close, damp, pestiferous vault, or in a brick grave, just as bad, but in his native earth, that he may mingle with what he sprang from, thus fulfill- ing his desire of being laid where the wind can blow over, and the daisy grow upon, his grave."
The mortal remains of Washington Irving rest in a simple grave at Tarrytown, on the Hudson, while those of the immortal Alexander von Humboldt were committed to his native soil in the garden at Tegal, near Berlin. Nothing, however, exceeds the simplicity of the late Duke of Saxe-Gotha. In his last will he desired his son to allow no ceremony at his burial, except such as is customary for a poor man ; to erect no monument, but to plant a tree on his grave. The burial took place at the midnight hour, when the body of the sovereign was deposited in a plain grave, situated on an island in the park. The reigning duch- ess, with her child in her arms, had strewn flowers around the grave, and the whole ceremony was only interrupted by the sighs and tears of all present.
"When we reflect," says a distinguished writer, "on the affecting circumstances under which every grave is closed, and call to mind the injunctions and provisions of the various religious denominations of mankind on this subject, it is scarcely too much to assert that the moral and religious state of a commu-
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Spring Grove Cemetery.
nity may be fairly guessed by the respect shown to a burial place. For, if christian piety influence a com- munity, and if the children be nurtured in the fear of God, instead of being permitted to indulge in a life of idleness and vice, surely unmistakable indications will appear in their conduct. If we desire that our own graves shall be respected, let us respect those of others. A cemetery should be held as a sacred resting-place of the dead, and never be entered but with reverence and serious reflection."
In conclusion I will merely state that the sugges- tions here offered, are made with reference to the improvement of rural cemeteries in an economical and tasteful manner, and, when fully sustained by the emi- nent authors quoted, I do not hesitate to submit them for your consideration.
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pring
Cemetery.
J
HISTORICAL.
ITUATED IN THE VALLEY OF THE MAH-KET-E-WA (Mill Creek), about three miles from the present limits of the city of Cincinnati, Spring Grove Cemetery is approached by an avenue one hun- dred feet wide.
The grounds were selected in 1844. The charter of the corporation was prepared by the Hon. Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase, Nathaniel Wright, and the late Judges Timothy Walker and James Hall, and was granted by the legislature of Ohio on the twenty- first of January, 1845.
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Spring Grove Cemetery.
The first meeting of subscribers for the election of directors was held on the eighth of February, when the following gentlemen were chosen, viz : Robert Buchanan, William Neff, A. H. Ernst, David Loring, Nath. Wright, Griffin Taylor, Charles Stetson, J. C. Culbertson, and R. G. Mitchell. On the eleventh day of the same month the board was organized by the election of R. Buchanan, president ; Griffin Taylor, treasurer, and S. C. Parkhurst, secretary. The above- named gentlemen were among the originators of this laudable enterprise.
On the twenty-eighth day of August, 1845, the grounds were consecrated as a burial place with appro- priate ceremonies-prayer by the late Rev. J. T. Brooke, and an address by the late Judge John McLean.
Its area at that time was one hundred and sixty-six acres, of undulating surface, mostly of a sandy subsoil, and abundantly supplied with water and forest scenery. The numerous springs and the ancient groves of trees suggested the name SPRING GROVE.
The principal entrance to these grounds is from the Cincinnati and Spring Grove avenue, on the south- ern boundary. The entrance buildings are in the Norman Gothic style of architecture. They were erected between 1863 and 1867, from designs of James K. Wilson, Esq., and contain a large waiting-room for visitors, besides other apartments for the use of the
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The Plan.
directors and superintendent. The total length of these buildings, including gateway, is one hundred and thirty feet; they cost the corporation over fifty thou- sand dollars.
There is a large and commodious vault or receiving tomb, situated in the center of the grounds, for the deposit of bodies in coffins previous to interment. This structure was considerably enlarged in 1859, from designs of A. Mullet, Esq., architect.
Architecture, sculpture, and landscape gardening, have combined their noblest efforts to render Spring Grove Cemetery an appropriate depository of the dead, and we trust it will continue to be an object of admi- ration and interest as long as virtue and genius shall be regarded on earth.
P
THE PLAN.
THE original plan for improving the grounds was made by John Notman, the designer of the celebrated Laurel Hill Cemetery near Philadelphia. This plan was partly executed under the supervision of the late Howard Daniels, the first superintendent and acting secretary of the association, who was assisted by his
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Spring Grove Cemetery.
successor, Dennis Delaney, now also numbered among the dead.
Later improvements were made by the order and under the special direction of the monthly committee, in accordance with the provisions of the charter on that subject. The larger part of the grounds has since been surveyed with trigonometrical precision, by the late Thomas Earnshaw and sons, one of whom is still employed by the corporation for that purpose.
The present plan of improvement was adopted by the board of directors in 1855, at the suggestion of Adolph Strauch, the superintendent and landscape gar- dener since that time. It is the practical application of a system of landscape gardening, partly described by the late John C. Loudon and other eminent authors, by which the capacities of the grounds have been so far developed, and with such success as to render its con- tinuation of the highest importance to the interests of the place.
Those parts of Spring Grove improved in the first years of its existence, are now being gradually remod- eled in conformity with the simplicity of the present style of improvement, at the request of the lot-holders themselves; and should the contemplated plans of the board be properly sustained, and carried out with the energy and taste which has been heretofore displayed, the day is not distant when Spring Grove will scarcely find a rival.
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Trees.
As a study we can already recommend these sacred precincts above all others. A ramble among the beautiful groves and silent tombs will give the visitor many a valuable hint, and, although in the costliness of her monuments she is surpassed by others, yet to the lover of nature Spring Grove is more delightful and satisfactory.
Since the adoption of the present style of im- provement the financial condition of the association has also very much improved, for not only has the size of the place been extended to more than double its former area, but a large surplus fund has already been laid aside, for the perpetual care of the grounds after all burial lots shall have been sold.
TREES.
"THE patriarchal language of four thousand years ago," says the late Judge Story, "is precisely that to which we would now give utterance. We are stran- gers and sojourners here. We have need of a pos- session of a burying place, that we may bury our dead out of our sight. Let us have the field and all the trees that are in the field, and that are in the borders
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Spring Grove Cemetery.
round about, and let them be made sure for the pos- session of a burying place."
The Hebrews watched with religious care over their places of burial. They selected for this purpose ornamental gardens, deep forests, fertile valleys, and lofty mountains. The ancient Asiatics lined the approaches to their cities with sarcophagi and mau- soleums embowered in shrubbery, traces of which may be seen among their magnificent ruins. The aboriginal Germans buried their dead in groves consecrated by their priests. The Greeks exhausted the resources of their exquisite taste in adorning the habitations of the dead. They discouraged interments within the limits of their cities, and consigned their reliques to shady groves in the vicinity of murmuring streams, and called them, with the elegant expressiveness of their beautiful language, cemeteries, or places of sleep. The sanctity with which the ancients regarded woods and groves, converting them at times into temples, would naturally induce them to select these retired and beloved spots as the depositories of their dead.
The hard and peculiar position in which the earli- est converts to christianity were placed by pagan perse- cution and cruelty, led to the establishment of separate places of interment, and they were generally located in deep forests. In the retirement and seclusion of these holy precincts were the first altars erected to the known God of the christians, and in this fruitful soil were
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Trees.
planted those seeds of early and simple piety, "at first no larger than grains of mustard seed, but which soon became a tree, so that the birds of the air lodged in the branches thereof." In a word, and to speak a bold and noble truth, says the learned and admirable Evelyn, " trees and woods have twice saved the world: first by the ark, then by the cross, making full amends for the evil fruit of the tree in Paradise, by that which was borne on the tree of Golgotha." No true lover of nature needs to be reminded of the pleasure which the mind receives in the contemplation of trees-those silent, yet eloquent historians of passing generations of the human race, whom they, in the fullness of their their own time, will follow.
The cultivation and study of trees very naturally, and almost unavoidably, lead the mind to contempla- tion and reflection. One can hardly imagine a more appropriate place for the exhibition of those beautiful wonders of nature, than the quiet and peaceful sanc- tuary of the dead. Every man who has the oppor- tunity of planting a tree and avails himself not of it, waives the privilege which is thus given him of bene- fiting posterity. While men sleep trees grow; and after adding, during their growth, to the beauty of the landscape, providing shade and shelter, they also ameliorate the climate and soil of their location. Ju- dicious planting and the cultivation of the various
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Spring Grove Cemetery.
kinds of forest trees, belong to the first branch of the economic art.
The arboriculturist, in particular, will find Spring Grove a place of great interest. It has been the desire of the Directory from the first, to introduce a variety of suitable representatives of the vegetable kingdom into these grounds. In this they were considerably assisted by the lot-holders themselves, the most prom- inent of them being members of the Cincinnati Hor- ticultural Society, in which society originated the idea of establishing a rural cemetery in the vicinity of the "Queen City of the West."
The greater part of the grounds, when purchased, was, as stated before, densely covered with native forest trees. In the lower or southern portion, the elm, sycamore, and ash predominate; the central part of the grounds is chiefly covered with tulip trees, sugar maple, sassafras, etc., while the western division is almost exclusively occupied with beech, sour gum, red- bud, and dog-wood. The northern part is adorned with some of the finest groves of various kinds of oak, of nature's own planting centuries ago. The effect produced by the brilliant colors which most of these trees and shrubs assume in autumn, is truly mag- nificent.
The introduction of varieties of evergreens, whose perennial verdure is particularly appropriate for orna- menting places of sepulture, has contributed much to
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Trees.
mitigate the bleak desolation of winter. The pine, the cedar, the cypress, the yew, and the ivy, are already embalmed in sepulchral literature.
There is, perhaps, no tribe of plants, not except- ing even the oaks, which claims more admiration than the genus pinus, nor any that brings with it so many pleasing recollections or associations of thought. In the scriptures, which abound in sublime and beau- tiful allusions to the woods and forest scenery of Syria and Palestine, the various species of the pine tribe stand eminently conspicuous. In the forty-first chap- ter of Isaiah, Jehovah says: "I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, I will set in the desert the fir tree and the pine." Several of the grand old cedars, which are believed to have been in their prime when Solomon built the temple, are still standing in a gorge on Mount Lebanon. The bark of the most ancient has, in many cases, been cut away to afford room for carving the names of christian visitors. To protect from such wanton and stupid injury these biblical emblems of strength, is a work in which Protestant, Catholic, Jew, and Moslem should join.
The ancient Egyptians considered the pine as an emblem of the soul. The Roman poets also mention the pine frequently. Virgil alludes to the mournful sounds produced among its branches by the wind, and calls them singing pines.
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Spring Grove Cemetery.
"The pines of Mænalus were heard to mourn, And sounds of woe along the groves were borne."
Statius says, sylvanum gloria pinus, 'the pine the glory of the woods.' And again, hinc, audax abies, et odoro vulnere, pinus, 'the pine that breathes forth fra- grance from each wound.' In the Dendrographia of Johnston, groves of pine are said to be particularly wholesome to walk in; and every one must have felt the refreshing influence of such a walk in the beginning of summer, when the pines are producing their shoots, the resin at that time being in a comparatively volatil- ized state, and floating in the atmosphere.
This interesting family of plants now engages much of the attention of the most zealous and enter- prising lovers of arboriculture. The introduction of numerous species of conifers from all parts of the world, into this vicinity of late years, has given rise to the formation of pinetums, and many extensive planta- tions, comprising some of the rarest species of arbor- ean vegetation, may be seen upon the adjoining hights of Clifton, as well as in our own grounds.
The varieties of situations and soil at Spring Grove, in which it may be desirable to plant the various kinds of trees and shrubs, are very numerous, and no treatise, however elaborate in detail, could bring the whole under review. From the practice of indis- criminate and capricious planting by those who own
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Trees.
lots, a large number have had cause to regret some untoward results. Choice specimens of trees are often seen to injure each other by too close planting, and, in many instances, proprietors of lots obstinately refuse to permit the removal of some in order to save others, until it is too late. Rare and beautiful specimens are found hidden and destroyed by others of an inferior description, which should be removed.
The largest and best grown specimens of ever- greens on these grounds are the following:
PINUS Austriaca, Cembra, excelsa, Laricio, Mughus, pumilio, ponderosa, rubra, rigida, Strobus, and sylvestris. ABIES alba, nigra, rubra, Canadensis, excelsa, orientalis, and Douglassü. PICEA balsamea, nobilis, Nordmanniana, Pichta, pectinata, and Pinsapo. JUNIPERUS oblonga pen- dula, Suecica, Hibernica, Virginiana glauca, and Sabina. THUJA occidentalis, orientalis, tartarica, filiformis, aurea, TAXUS baccata, Canadensis, and others.
. A large number of other rare evergreen trees and shrubs have been planted, but are yet small plants ; they will be mentioned at a future time.
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Spring Grove Cemetery.
LAKES.
THESE ornamental waters are situated at the foot of the first rising ground, and extend from the eastern to the western boundary of the cemetery. They cover at present about five acres of ground, and are supplied by copious springs that water many a grove of cypress and larch, as well as thickets of hollies, laurel, and yew. Of late years, a large number of Rhododendrons have been planted in sheltered situations, on the marshy margins of the lakes. They are so arranged as to be in view from the principal drive, and other prominent points. These plants are very interesting at all sea- sons. At the blooming period they are magnificent. In the formation of this chain of lakes art has solved the difficult problem of concealing her operations under an appearance of unrestrained nature.
The environs of ornamental waters, which only a few years ago presented to the eye a dismal swamp, that was considered unfit for any improvement, much less for sepulchral purposes, have been selected by some of our most prominent citizens as family burial places. Some of the projecting points and peninsulas are already adorned with tasteful monuments, embosomed
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