Remembering Greyfriars Bobby

 by Joy Neighbors, A Grave Interest

Greyfriars Bobby is the most popular Dandy Dinmont Terrier in the world. Bobby belonged to John Gray, who worked as a night watchman for the Edinburgh, Scotland police force in the 19^th century. Bobby went everywhere with John, including on his watchman rounds.

But John became ill of consumption and died on February 15, 1858. Bobby was inconsolable. He followed the coffin to the gravesite in Edinburgh’s Greyfriars Kirkyard and remained there for another fourteen years. 

Bobby's Collar

When it was decreed that all dogs must have a license in 1867, the lord provost, Sir William Chambers paid for Bobby’s license so he could remain in the cemetery by his master’s side. His collar tag read: “Greyfriars Bobby – from the lord Provost, 1867, licensed”

 

The people of Edinburgh took care of Bobby, bringing him food and blankets so he didn’t have to leave his master’s grave for long. During Bobby’s life he was awarded the Key to the City of Edinburgh, and his collar now rests in the Museum of Edinburgh.

 

Bobby passed away on January 14,  1872,  at the age of 16 and was buried   just inside the cemetery grounds at the front gate about 75-yards from John’s grave. In 1981, Bobby received a  marker for his grave, which reads:

 

 

 

“Greyfriars Bobby – Died 14th January 1872 – Aged 16 years
Let his loyalty and devotion be a lesson to us all”

 

One year after his death, a fountain and life-sized statue of Greyfriars Bobby was placed just outside the Kirkyard. Today, it is considered good luck to rub the statue’s head and nose. Nicholson’s Pub now sits behind it and is known as Greyfriars Bobby’s Bar, named after Edinburgh’s most loyal dog.

 

In 2021, a special memorial was erected to Greyfriars Bobby to mark the 150^th anniversary of his passing. It can be found along the east wall of the cemetery. 

Today, his grave is a sought after spot. When I was in Edinburgh, I made the pilgrimage to Greyfriars Kirkyard, not to see the graves of those bearing the names that were used in the Harry Potter series, but to pay my respects to Greyfriars Bobby. I left a stick for him along with numerous others, as a way to pay tribute to his undying devotion.

~ Joy

Forgotten Cemeteries

 

Cemeteries can disappear for a variety of reasons. We’ve lost many after family farms have been sold or abandoned. In the 20^th century, numerous states didn’t have laws instructing the landholder to continue to care for the cemetery. 

 

Gravestone Path

I know of one southern Illinois farm that was home to a family cemetery. Once sold, the ground was tilled up, and the tombstones were turned over to make a walking path to the hog shed. When I contacted authorities (at that time in the 1980s), the state had no laws in place to prevent a landowner from decimating a family cemetery: it was their land to do with as they liked.

Thankfully, we now have some public officials that understand the necessity of keeping those sacred and vital plots intact. But parcels of land can slip through the cracks. Today, we’ll explore several cemeteries that have “disappeared,” although they remain somewhat intact, just not where you’d expect to find them.

 

INTO THE WOODS, Edgar County, IL

Edgar County, Illinois 

On a cemetery hopping expedition in the spring of 2012, I was having trouble finding a cemetery; located on the map in Brouillett Township. GPS identified it as down a gravel road, but actual driving took me to a rural farmhouse set far from the road. The family who lived there said that  I was searching for Adams Cemetery, which was located on their property. But it would take a four wheeler to get there.

The family who lived there said the name of the cemetery was Adams, and it was located on their property. But it would take a four-wheeler to get there. We loaded up and traveled across a ditch, and a far distance into the woods. After climbing a hill, we found it.

About three dozen graves were there, and in the early spring, the stones were easy to find. Last names included Adams, Bush, Buchanan, Jamison, and Legg. Find A Grave  has a page for the cemetery with 34 documented stones.

 It was an enjoyable foray into the woods, and wonderful to see landowners who considered themselves to be custodians of the graveyard. (If anyone recognizes these folks, please let me know their names. I have forgotten.)

 

 

 

IN THE FRONT YARD, Haysville, IN 

Cemetery in the Front Yard

Hope Cemetery in Dubois County, Indiana, is a fitting name for this small graveyard located in a front yard on Route 56 near Haysville. There are about a dozen grave markers; several with names and dates that are readable. The earliest burial date appears to be 1848 for Ezekiel T. Inman. The last was for Seth Alonzo Roberts, who was born August 1, 1881, and died on February 24, 1943.

 

SPRINGS SHOPPING CENTER, Louisville, KY      

994 Breckenridge Lane                                                                                           

The Burk Family Cemetery is hiding in plain sight in Louisville. Surrounded by tall hedges, the cemetery is located in the parking lot of the Springs Shopping Center.

Five graves are located here, those of James, Matilda, Charles, Samuel Burk, and an infant son, all buried in the 1800s. Four graves are marked with obelisks and ledger stones. The fifth marks the grave of an eight-month-old with an infant carved as if asleep on top of the stone.

At one time, the Burks were prosperous and owned a horse farm. When family members decided to sell the land in the early 20^th century, they refused to have the cemetery moved. And so today, you can still duck behind the hedges and visit the graves of a 19^th century Hoosier farm family.

 

 

 

AT THE MOVIES, Middleburg Heights, OH

18348 Bagley Road

Hickcox Cemetery, also known as Hepburn,  was the burial ground for seven of the original settlers of Cuyahoga County in the early 1800s. A farming community, in the 1840s it became known as the Onion Capitol, growing tons of yellow globe, red wetherfields, and yellow flats onions, celery, and other crops that were shipped to the Eastern United States.

It was stipulated in a Hickcox family member’s will that the cemetery should not be disturbed for any reason. A Middleburg preservation group, “Sons, Wives, Ancestors for Middleburgh's Preservation Coalition” (SWAMP), posted twelve “Pioneer Trail” plaques in the cemetery to provide information about the graves and the cemetery site.

In the late 1990s, a developer bought the land to build a multiplex movie theatre.  The will request was honored, and today, it lies at the corner of a parking lot for the Regal Movie Theatre in the Regal Middleburg Town Square Plaza.

 

KINGS ISLAND, Cincinnati, OH

Dog Street Cemetery at Kings Island

 

Located on what once was the Dill Farm and R. Eugene King Farm in Deerfield Township, is a small cemetery now called Dog Street. Burials began there in 1803 and continued until 1869, including a Revolutionary War veteran, Peter Monfort in 1823.

 

In 1970, when 80-acres of  property was purchased for the Kings Island Amusement Park, developers began a search for the graveyard and the tombs it contained. Untended since the 1890s, it had disappeared in the undergrowth of myrtle, weeds, and trees. Only two stones remained standing, although officials reported that there may have been close to 80 markers at one time. In 2005, the Warren County Genealogical Society found 69 graves in the cemetery, although only 52 headstones remain.

 

There are reports of a five-year-old girl who haunts the graveyard, and the north parking lot. The story goes that the child, called “Missouri Jane” Galeener, died in 1846 of cholera and was buried here. Her family then moved on to Illinois. But reports say that Jane has been seen, wearing a blue prairie dress, wandering  the cemetery and adjacent parking lot. Perhaps she is still searching for the family that moved on.

 

A Note of Encouragement

When you’re searching for a cemetery you can’t find, always take a moment to ask the residents near the GPS location. While some of the early cemeteries are no longer cared for, or are considered defunct, it’s worth checking with locals who might have the answer.

~ Joy

CATACOMBS IN AMERICA

 

Catacombs of St. Callixtus in Rome

Catacombs have been used for thousands of years. These man-made subterranean passages were constructed to hold vaults or chambers used as religious burial spaces for underground tombs. Sometimes referred to as a necropolis or an underground City of the Dead, catacombs are commonly associated with the Roman Empire.

 

Catacombs of Paris

It was during the First Century when Christians created underground tombs as burial sites for the bodies of apostles Peter and Paul. Since it was illegal to bury a  body in Rome, catacombs were located outside the city.

 

Catacombs have been discovered across the world. These    underground passages are filled with decorative carvings,   inscriptions, statues, and paintings that identify and tell a story  about the dead.

 

 

Roman, Parisian, and Egyptian Catacombs

 

Roman Catacombs

The most famous catacombs are in Rome, where at least forty underground crypts have been rediscovered in recent years. The Christian Catacombs of Callixtus contains the Crypt of Popes from the second to the fourth centuries.

 

Catacombs of Paris

The Catacombs of Paris are ossuaries (A box, chest, or space that serves as a final resting place for human remains.), which contain the bones of more than six million people. The construction of the underground City of the Dead began in 1786. By the 19^th century, renovations were made, and the crypts were open to the public in 1874. 

 

Egyptian Catacombs

Egypt is home to the Catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa in Alexandria. The tombs were created from the 2^nd to the 4^th centuries and are a blend of Roman, Greek, and Egyptian cultural influences. Rediscovered in 1900, the catacombs are thought to belong to a single family, but evidence of other persons buried there is prevalent.

 

 

American Catacombs

Catacombs do exist in the United States, although cemeteries were more to our liking with mausoleums and crypts built above ground.

 

Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral, Manhattan, NY

Catacombs of St Patrick's

In New York City, Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral is one of the best examples of an American catacomb. Built between 1809-1815 in the Gothic-Revival style, there are 35 family crypts and five vaults for clerics. The tombs belong to New York’s best known families including captains of industry, bankers, politicians, and lawyers. VIP guided tours of the cathedral and catacombs are available.

 

Old North Church, Boston, MA

Catacombs of Old North Church

The crypt below the Old North Church was used for burials from 1732 to 1860. This is the oldest church building and the longest-serving Episcopal congregation in Boston. This national historic landmark holds more than 1,100 interments in 37 separate brick vaults, each containing 20 to 40 coffins. As of February 2023,  the original doors to 16 crypts are being restored, offering archeologists a chance to see inside several of the tombs in more than a century. Tours of the historic Old North Church continue with crypt tours resuming in July 2023.

 

Franciscan Monastery, Washington, DC

Few people realize that there are catacombs beneath the Franciscan Monastery in Washington DC. Built in the late 1800s by monks, the catacombs are replicas of Roman tombs. Their purpose is to offer Americans a spiritual pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Although only a few bodies are interred here (most are in Rome), religious statues and replicas of Holy Land shrines are on display with in-depth descriptions about the lives of the saints.

 

St Innocent and St Benignus

The crypt does contain the remains of two people. The first is Saint Innocent (Saint Innocentius), an eight-year-old child martyr murdered during the Roman oppression of the Second Century. While his head is made of wax and covered with a wig, the child's hands are the actual bones covered with gauze.

 

The other tomb retains the bones of  Saint Benignus, a loyal disciple of Saint Patrick of Ireland. Benignus was known as St. Patrick’s psalm singer. His bones were buried here, but his head remains in Rome.Tours are available for free by visiting MyFranciscan.org.

 

 

St. Joseph Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, Newark, NJ 

Photo by: Roadside America

The catacombs at Saint Joseph Immaculate Heart of MaryChurch in Newark, New Jersey, were created in 1937 by Reverend Father Mateo Amoros. Assistant pastor Amoros was impressed with the catacombs he viewed in Montreal and decided his church should have one. When the state of New Jersey would not allow human remains to be buried beneath the church, Amoros decided to have wax replicas of certain martyrs created and placed in the vaults below the sanctuary. The martyred figures include St Genaro, who was thrown in a fire for refusing to denounce Christianity; St Ines, who refused to marry a Roman soldier saying she was already “married to God,” and St. Cecelia, who also refused to give up her religion and instead was boiled alive and beheaded. While the vibe is more of a strangely decorated church basement than the Roman catacombs, it has the distinction of being the first wax museum in the United States. There is no charge to view the catacombs, but you must request permission at the rectory.

 

St. Francis Seraph Church, Cincinnati, OH

Photo by: Jeremy Kramer

 

In the Queen City, St. Francis Seraph Roman Catholic Church in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood, built over a Catholic cemetery, and created their catacombs. In 1819, Christ’s Church was built just beyond the city limits, and a graveyard was placed next to the church. In 1822, the church moved to the downtown area, but the cemetery remained. In 1859, St. Francis Seraph Church was built on the site, and the forty-one souls originally buried there were interred in a crypt below the sanctuary. Their tombstones were used to pave the floor. Tours are conducted by American Legacy Tours. 

While catacombs never caught on here as they did in Europe, it’s nice to know that a few churches kept the tradition, giving us the  opportunity to stroll though the hushed warrens of some interesting American Cities of Death .

 

~ Joy

 

 

 

 

Human Composting

 There is a new alternative to burial and cremation – human composting. Scientifically referred to as  Natural Organic Reduction (NOR), it is the latest sustainable and eco-friendly alternative to a body being embalmed before burial. (The U.S. uses more than 8000,000 gallons of embalming fluid in a year, which after burial seeps out into our ground.)

 

How It Works

Preparing for NOR (Recompose)

    

The process of human composting involves the body being placed in an 8-foot steel cylinder that is filled with wood chips or sawdust, and alfalfa straw. Oxygen is added, and the container is kept between 130 and 160 degrees Fahrenheit to speed up decomposition.

 

An Earth Funeral Vessel

 

Once the decomposition begins, the cylinder is rotated so that the remains continue to break down. The process takes 30 to 40 days 

and results in around a cubic yard 

of nutrient-rich soil (and bone fragments), just like you get from your backyard compost pile. The cost is around $5,000.

 

 

            Return Home Composting            

Families may claim the composted soil for burial, or scattering. Some conservation groups will also accept human compost. It is a sustainable alternative in metro areas where traditional burial grounds are filling up.

 

Now Legal in Six States

Human Composting was first legalized in Washington State in 2019 by a new company called Recompose.

 

By April 2021, Colorado had also legalized NOR, followed quickly by Oregon. In 2022, California and Vermont joined the group. And in January 2023, New York legalized the process.

 

Companies That Offer Human Composting

 

Recompose is the company that started it all. Founded in 2017 by Katrina Spade, it was the first human composting funeral home in the U.S. Recompose offers a way to “recycle” ourselves while creating a sustainable future. The facility also offers tours.

 

Earth Funeral offers carbon-neutral funerals. Located in Oregon and Washington, their soil transformation takes about 45 days. Families may accept the compost, scatter it and plant a flower or tree, or donate it to the Olympic Peninsula conservation site for land restoration projects.

 

 

Herland Forest began as a non-profit natural burial cemetery in Washington State. Located on the edge of the Cascadian wilderness, Herland Forest is committed to helping an individual complete the “circle of life.” A video and slideshow explain natural burial.

 

 

 

 

Return Home is a full service green funeral home in Seattle,
Washington. Operating the world’s largest NOR facility, families may visit a loved one’s vessel during the 30 to 60 day process. Their 8-acre woodland offers dedicated space for scattering composting remains.

 

Leaving the Earth a Better Place

Natural and green burials have become popular during the 21^st century. Human composting may be the next eco-alternative process, along with flame cremation, and water cremation in the U.S. 

Time will tell.

 

 

~ Joy