Today I went on a tour of
Lowell Cemetery. I'm just going to assume that any of you who know me will not have any questions about why this is something I would be doing.
Back when we lived in our old apartment, we used to walk there fairly often. I've also been there before with some of our visiting teachers to talk about Lowell history. There are a few fairly significant stones that are always great for teaching Lowell history. My favorite story of all of them is that of Louisa Maria Wells
This is the marker for Louisa Maria Wells, who died in 1886. She had worked in the mills in Lowell, and also brought her mother to Lowell to run a boarding house. She was an only child, her parents had died before her, and she was unmarried and had no children of her own. When she died, a sum of $8,000 remained in her estate and her will directed all of it to be used to erect a monument on her grave. But Wells’ remaining cousins contested the will, objecting to the considerable fortune being used for a grave marker for an unremarkable woman. The case dragged on in the courts for twenty years, at the end of which, the courts sided with Louisa. And in a positive turn to this sad tale, the money had been well invested and by 1906, when the matter was settled, the executor of the will was able to use the funds to commission Daniel Chester French – the American sculptor you likely know as the creator of the seated Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial -- to create the gravestone. French himself did not complete the work; instead, he passed the project on to one of his female associates, Evelyn Longman, who would also eventually go on to create a monument in 1912 for the grave site of the 146 women killed in the fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. So many stories there, all tied up in this gorgeous, humongous marker. That's an angel standing above a mill worker -- the crouching woman is wearing a smock and holds a bobbin in her hand. It's about 15 feet tall and in a lovely spot. She was one of thousands of girls who came to the Lowell mills and worked in some fairly harsh conditions to make a better life. It's a beautiful memorial.
There are so many beautiful monuments in this cemetery, and so many stories, too.
I'm rather fond of the markers that are made in an over-the-top naturalistic style, like the ones that look like trees that have been cut down:
This one is particularly sad, since Edwin and Alonzo were each just one year old.
Then there are ones meant to look like piles of rocks:
A couple weeks ago we took Lucy and walked around there. Again, you know that's totally normal.
It's a really gorgeous place to walk, and Lucy was especially excited about the giant field of dandelions:
But she really liked looking at the stones and kept asking me to take her picture with them. Like this:
And she delightedly asked me to take a photo with these two, who she deemed "The Spiderweb Twins!"
I expect I will have to write a story about them.
Also, I am totally bringing back the name "Mehitable." Oh, and "Ballard." (see below)
In fact, I will go ahead and tell you that you should look for the Lucy-Bridget co-written book series of The Spiderweb Twins, featuring Mehitable and Ballard and their wacky adventures. Maybe we should put up the kickstarter on that now?
One of the most famous monuments is the Ayer Lion:
Lucy liked him a lot:
But for the most totally out there monument, I think I have to place my vote for this one:
Horace F. Ebert (1853 - 1893), I like your style!
That's it for today's installment, but I'll give you a little teaser for next week. Do you remember how last year,
I spent a week in the nineteenth century? Well, it's not a whole week this time, but I'm going for the day to work at the American Antiquarian Society library on Monday. I will bring back some good stories, I promise.
