Cemetery Iconography: “Stories in Stone”

In our American culture, a plentiful mixture of English & European symbols bring symbolic meaning to the lives of those loved then departed.  The presentation will cover common symbols, abbreviations, unusual designs as well as common elements found in the Victorian Era’s abundant vocabulary of carvings.  A section of the presentation will focus on Jewish Cemetery Iconography.  Feel free to bring examples & pictures of your own favorites and we can share an evening of “Show & Tell” as part of this fun, interactive presentation by Fairfax County History Commissioner & founding member of the Fairfax County Cemetery Preservation Association, Lynne Garvey-Hodge. Fairfax, Jermantown, Mt. Zion, Clifton Union & Clifton Cemetery will be included, as well.

Other beautiful iconography from 19^th-20th centuries – especially locales such as Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland [the classic late 19^th c. “bring a picnic & enjoy the beauty on a Sun. afternoon w/ family & friends cemetery”….final resting place of Jeptha Wade, (AT&T founder), John D. Rockefeller, Sr. & John Henry Devereux & family – for whom the Town of Clifton was once named, Mt. Hope in Rochester, New York (resting place of Susa B. Anthony & Frederick Douglass)  & even Pere LaChaise in Paris, France – [final resting place of Chopin & Jim Morrison of The Doors fame].  

Characters Reenacted

Mrs. John Henry Devereux
“Railroads: Rough & Regal Times–Meet Mrs. John Henry Devereux”

Lynne Garvey-Hodge presented her newest reenactment: “Railroads: Rough & Regal Times -Meet Mrs. John Henry Devereux” (aka, Antoinette Cecelia Kelsey Devereux -the wife of the man for whom the Town of Clifton was once named when it was called Devereux Station) at the November 7, 2013 Clifton Community Woman’s Club meeting.

Hear the life & times of John Henry Devereux (who served the Union troops during the Civil War) as told by his lovely wife & mother to his four children. She was the daughter of Lorenzo Kelsey, Mayor of Cleveland, Ohio. Antoinette was a well-known socialite, who entertained neighbors such as the Rockefellers, Vanderbilts & Mrs. & Mrs. Charles F. Brush – in a stunning mansion on Cleveland’s “Millionaire Row”. She was a devoted Episcopalian woman – who enjoyed & endured the sights & scenes on the landscape of this country’s post Civil War Railroad Industry boom – living in a city filled with many inventors, entrepreneurs, educators & the finest style of America’s Gilded Age. The family was highly respected and honored: upon the death of John Devereux, President Rutherford B. Hayes served as one of his pall bearers.  

Angelina Grimké
“One Woman Against a Nation”

An early 19^th c. abolitionist, Angelina – the youngest of nine (9) children & her eldest sister, Sarah, dared to speak out against the horrors of slavery in their Charleston, South Carolina home town.  Being children of an extremely wealthy 3^rd generation slave-holding family – Angelina tells her story of epiphany moments causing her to put a voice to the atrocities she witnessed.  In spite of polite pleas to her family’s Episcopalian leaders, then to her adopted Presbyterian church’s Session & finally to New England Quakers, Angelina’s voice went ignored.  Passionate & well-spoken – she gave lectures in the Pennsylvania area on the need for Christians to unite & do away with turning a blind eye to those in shackles.  She settled into her chosen world of Philadelphia.  So loved & revered – then hated & feared – was Angelina, that her first lecture at the newly built Pennsylvania Hall in Philadelphia attended by over 3,000 men & women – was met with angry crowds & mobs outside furious at her suggestion that the North warmly welcome any freed negro slaves & live as neighbors.   Bricks were thrown through the windows of the hall, fire bombs thrown inside & chants to kill her rose up from those on the outside of the hall. Two weeks later the hall was burned to the ground – having cost the people of Philadelphia $40,000 – a tidy sum in 1838.   A fervor of fear & hatred against Angelina gave rise to her nickname, “Devilina”.  A voice not to be squelched, she married abolitionist Theodore Weld at a wedding involving white & African-American clergy – and white & African-American guests!  Friends with Frederick Douglass, Harriet Beecher Stowe, & Julia Ward Howe – Angelina Grimké’s name would have been recognized in every household in America during her time.  She and her husband predicted the Civil War and were absolutely clear that the women of the south were as much slaves as the slaves they owned – to a cruel, greedy & vicious economy of which their men folk were generational players.  Listen to her story, her pain & anguish – & be reminded that the 21^st century still resounds with the cries of those enduring inhuman horrors.