Famous File: Adolph Edward Borie

While wandering around Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia, PA I climbed down a hill to find this pretty retaining wall tucked in the far back of the cemetery kinda hidden from everything.

To my pleasant surprise I found this nice mausoleum at the end of the wall.

It belongs to Adolph Edward Borie.

He was a Presidential Cabinet Secretary. Upon his father's death, he inherited a mercantile business that involved the silk and tea trade. He was consul to Belgium between 1843 and 1848, and was elected President of the Bank of Commerce of Philadelphia in 1848. In 1862, he was one of the founders and first president of the Union League of Philadelphia. He joined the cabinet of President Ulysses S. Grant in March of 1869 as Secretary of the Navy; but, finding that his business interests required his attention, he served only three and a half months. He accompanied former President Grant on his world tour in 1877. (bio by: Thomas Fisher on Find-A-Grave)


Wikipedia
Museum of Learning

Beautiful Lady and Her Final Sleep

I found this amazing monument at Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis, MO. 

I had to email the Cemetery to get the information to who was resting beneath this monument. Here is the information they sent me.

Georgiana C. Louderman

Buried 3/8/1875

Lot 1697 Block 82/83 Space 4.

On the fondation of this monument (the gray portion) in the corner it has "Fisher & Bird" below that "N.Y." I found an ad for the company in the "Real estate record and builder's guide, Volumes 5-6".

I am also taking a guessing that the foundation may have been a later addition.  It looks much newer then the rest of the monument.

Girl in the Shadow Box

This beautiful monument is located at Bellefontanie Cemetery in St. Louis, MO. Wish I could have gotten better photos. She is quite beautiful but the glass and the sun were not cooperating with me.

She comes with an interesting story.  According to A Journey through History Touring Bellefontaine Cemetery (a pamphlet I picked up at the front office of the cemetery):

During a trip to Italy in the early 1900's, Herman Luyties, owner of the first proprietary drug store in St. Louis, met a voluptuous model for an Italian sculptor.  He fell in love with her and proposed, but she declined.  Heartbroken, Luyties commissioned the sculptor to render a 12-foot marble statue of his beloved.  The statue was shipped to St. Louis, where he kept it in the foyer of his Portland Place home.  The several-ton statue was soon moved, because of its extreme weight, to the family burial plot in Bellefontaine Cemetery.  When the weather began to deteriorate the marble he had her enclosed in the glass-fronted case.  Luyties died at the age of 50 and was buried at the foot of "the girl in the shadow box". 

Tombstone Tourism article By Douglas Keister

'Tombstone Tourism' on the rise, allows you to get close to your favorite celebs....
http://www.gadling.com/2010/08/03/tombstone-tourism-on-the-rise-allows-get-close-to-your-favorite-celebrities/

Superman

(Located at Park Cemetery in Carthage, MO.)

More info on Cody Sanders.

Elks Rest

I just really like this Elks monument.  It is placed in the center of a group of grave stones that form a circle around it. It is located at Bellefontanie Cemetery in St. Louis, MO.
 

Previous post with information on the Elks.

Sunday Styles: Flush Marker

Flush marker -- A flat, rectangular grave marker set flush with the lawn or surface of the ground.  No frills but makes maintenance easier. Many military markers are flush markers.