Category Archives: Cemeteries

-Illinois, Cemeteries, Historic Photos, Symbolism

A Memorial to a Circus Train Accident in Forest Park, Illinois

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On June 22, 1918, one of the worst train accidents in United States history happened near Hammond, Indiana. While it was the worst circus accident in US history, it was only the third worst US train accident in 1918. Early in the morning, an empty troop train (a military train used to carry personnel and supplies) crashed into the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus train, that had stopped to address mechanical issues. The troop train’s conductor had fallen asleep and missed signals to stop. The accident killed 85 people and injured over 100 more.

Courtesy of the Library of Congress

Just five years earlier, the fraternal order Showmen’s League of America was formed in Chicago for outdoor showmen. They purchased a large 750 lot section in Woodlawn Cemetery. It was here where the mass funeral of the circus performers and staff were held. According to The Indianapolis News (June 25, 1918), 57 people were buried in the cemetery. Unfortunately, many people were not identified. The circus held a large funeral, and the unidentified bodies were placed in a mass grave. For those who could be identified, they were placed in individual graves.

Image from The Chicago Tribune

The section is still being utilized today. If you ever decide to visit, the section is at the front of the cemetery. The section is flanked by four elephants with downturned trunks, which represents mourning.

-Illinois, Cemeteries, Famous People

Al Capone’s Grave: The Gravesite that Launched Find a Grave

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If you’re in Chicago and love cemeteries, it’s obligatory to visit Mount Carmel Cemetery. There’s the Italian Bride and the famous spinning marker (posts coming later on those), but it’s most famous resident is Al Capone.

Capone became a mob boss by the age of 26, went to prison by 33, and died right after he turned 48. Upon his death in Florida, his body was transported back to Chicago to be buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery. By 1952, he was moved to Mount Carmel Cemetery after his mother passed. He is in a family plot.

For those who spend a lot of time on FindAGrave, you know that the site was started because the creator, Jim Tipton, visited Al Capone’s grave and realized that others might be excited to see his grave. The site began in 1996. In a 2000 article in USA Today, he shares, ‘People come and pour their hearts out because they’re writing (about) their dead mother or father. I feel oddly voyeuristic, but a lot of people have written me saying it gives a sense of closure.’ At the time the article was published, the site had 2.5 million graves. Today, there over 265 million memorials listed.

Black History, Cemeteries, Illinois

The Grave of Emmett Louis Till in Burr Oak Cemetery (Alsip, Illinois)

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Emmett Louis Till (1941–1955) was a 14-year-old African American boy who was abducted and murdered in Mississippi after being accused of flirting with Carolyn Bryant, a white store owner’s wife. His lynching became a national story when his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, insisted on an open-casket funeral so the world could witness the brutal violence inflicted on her son.

For a more detailed account, Wikipedia provides a good summary.

He was buried in Burr Oak Cemetery on Chicago’s South Side. When a friend and I visited the cemetery the day after a rainstorm, the grounds were waterlogged and poorly drained. We were unable to approach his grave without wading through several inches of standing water. It is unfortunate that the cemetery contends with this issue, as my friend and I visited several other cemeteries that day, none of which had significant standing water.

Cemeteries, Uncategorized

How to Document a Cemetery

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Last summer, I organized a group of volunteers to help document a historic cemetery in the Atlanta area. As I spoke with the volunteers and answered their questions during the event, I realized it would be beneficial to write down the steps for preparing to document a cemetery and then doing it.

Some of this may seem like common sense, but if you’ve never documented a cemetery before, I hope this post will help you prepare when you decide to do so.

The Benjamin Walker plot shows that walking around a marker reveals more information that is good to document.

What to Wear

  • Closed-toed shoes-Whether the cemetery is manicured or overgrown, there will be bugs that will want to bite you and holes that you might step into, and closed-toed shoes will minimize the risk and possible injury. I would also consider boots if you are going into an overgrown cemetery during the warmer months. (I’ve stepped in enough holes over the years to know sturdy shoes minimize injuries.)
  • Long pants-I know some people will find this suggestion ridiculous, but pants will help protect your legs from plant overgrowth and any living thing that might want to take a bite out of your leg.
  • Bug spray-Insects, especially mosquitoes, love me, so I always have bug spray. It will also help repel any other insects that call the cemetery home. (I am still traumatized by stepping into an ant hill and hundreds of ants were very angry I disturbed their home. I had bug spray to quickly kill them.)
  • Hat – While I am not a hat person, they help keep the sun off your face and prevent ticks from getting into your hair.
  • Sunglasses – While these are self-explanatory, some cemeteries have so few trees that it can get unbearably hot, and the bright sun can make it hard to see headstones, especially those with a reflective shine.
  • Sunscreen– If you’re like me, this will be especially helpful on really sunny days.
  • Water

What to Bring

  • Camera-In a perfect world, you are using a camera with GPS-enabled. If you are using your phone, most people have geotagging already activated. If you are using a digital camera, some mirrorless and many DLSRs have internal GPS. GPS is helpful especially when you upload to FindAGrave because it will geolocate where a grave is on a memorial.
  • Gloves-These may be useful if you need to clean a marker that has become embedded in the ground.
  • Flashlight-This is to help angle light to help reading a headstone easier. Some people will recommend using foil to get an impression, a grave rubbing, or something that involves touching the marker. I always recommend not touching any marker, especially the older the are. The older they are, the more fragile a marker will be. Also, sometimes even newer markers can be unstable because the headstone has become disconnected from the base. In most states, it is illegal to touch a grave marker without the permission of the cemetery and/or the family. (For the love of all things graveyard, do not use shaving cream to get a better read of a headstone.)

How to Photograph

  • Most cemeteries bury their residents in rows with an east- west orientation. However, due to age and space availability, this might not be the case in some cemeteries.
  • Many taphophiles will do what is called “mow the row,” l which essentially means walking the row and getting everything on that row.
  • While it is important to get a good clean shot of a marker, it is also helpful to step away from the marker and try to include a wider shot of where the headstone js. This way someone can use a combination of GPS and landmark photos to help a visitor find a grave marker.
  • If the marker is standing, walk all sides of the marker because it could include more names or other information that would be good to document.
This is an example of how to include the full marker, along with enough background to provide visual clues.
-Georgia, Black History, Cemeteries, Churches and Temples, Vernacular Headstones

Mountain Creek AME Church-Sumter County, Georgia

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Mountain Creek AME Church is located in Sunter County. The main church building was constructed in 1890. The fellowship hall was added in 1990.

This building was on the property. The abandoned piano makes me wonder if it was the old Sunday school. It could have been an old school. I don’t believe it is an old church because tar paper isn’t typically used on churches.

-Kentucky, Black History, Cemeteries, National Register of Historic Places, Vernacular Headstones

African Cemetery Number 2 of Lexington, Kentucky

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African Cemetery No. 2 is the earliest recorded cemetery organized, owned, and managed by the Black citizens of Lexington, Kentucky. Purchased in 1869 by the Union Benevolent Society No. 2 and chartered in 1870, it served as a burial ground until 1976.

The cemetery’s notable residents include Oliver Lewis, the first Kentucky Derby winner, and Isaac Burns Murphy, a three-time Derby-winning jockey. It also contains graves of over 150 U.S. Colored Troops, including soldiers from the 54th and 55th Massachusetts Regiments.

After decades of neglect, the site was declared abandoned in 1973. Plans for development ended when surveys revealed over 5,000 burials. In 1979, Rev. Horace Henry Greene lead the restoration efforts of the cemetery and founded the non-profit to manage the cemetery. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.

Keys was a noted groomer and worked for the Idlehour Stock Farm.