Graveyard Symbolism A - F

ACORN

Immortality
As the seed of the oak, the acorn is a symbol of potential.

In Norse and Celtic culture, acorns symbolized life, fertility and immortality.Druids ate acorns, believing them to have prophetic qualities, and acorns were sacred to the god Thor, whose Tree of Life was the Oak.

Acorns and oak leaves form one of the circular "hex signs" used by the Amish and Mennonite communities of southern Pennsylvania, the various signs were believed to bestow favors such as protection or natural abundance.


* Oak Leaves & Acorn - Maturity, Ripe Old Age

ALPHA AND OMEGA

The Beginning and The End
Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. Symbolizing the beginning and the end.

The shape of Alpha is related to a pair of compasses - an attribute of god the creator, while Omega's shape is similar to a torch -- the fire of apocalyptic destruction.

The Christian symbol juxtaposing the two letters is derived from the book of Revelation: "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last". (Revelation 22:13).

ANCHOR

Early Christians used the anchor as a disguised cross, and as a marker to guide the way to secret meeting places. A Christian symbol of hope, it is found as funerary symbolism in the art of the catacombs. Often set amongst rocks. It can also be an occupational symbol in sea-faring areas or the attribute of Saint Nicholas, patron saint of seamen, symbolized hope and steadfastness. An anchor with a broken chain stands for the cessation of life.

ANGELS

The agent of God, often pointing towards heaven; guardians of the dead, symbolizing spirituality. Angels are shown in all types of poses with different symbolism.

• Two angels commonly identified by the objects they carry: Michael, who bears a sword and Gabriel, who is depicted with a horn.
• Blowing a trumpet (or even two trumpets) - Representing the day of judgment, and “Call to the Resurrection”.
• Carrying the departed soul - As a child in their arms, or as a Guardian embracing the dead. The messengers of god" are often shown escorting the deceased to heaven.
• Angel/Cherubim - Guardians of a sacred place, servants of God; divine wisdom or justice.
• Flying – Rebirth.
• Many angels gathered together in the clouds - Represents heaven.
• Angel Weeping - Grief, or mourning an untimely death.

BIRD IN FLIGHT

Bird in flight - These are symbolic of the "winged soul." The representation of the soul by a bird goes back to ancient Egypt. Some older burial art features only wings to convey the symbol of divine mission. Often denote the graves of children, eternal life.

BUTTERFLY

The soul
Although quite rare, it is occasionally seen on graves (most often of children). It is symbolic of the resurrection of Christ. The meaning is derived from the three stages of the life of the butterfly—the caterpillar, the chrysalis, and the butterfly. The three stages are symbols of life, death and resurrection. Short-life.

CROSSES

The ties between all religious beliefs and symbolism have always been strong. To the Christians the greatest symbolic message is in the crucifix. The crucifix or cross can generate many symbolic messages ranging from love, faith and goodness to terror and fear (e.g. the Ku-Klux-Klan’s use of the burning cross). There are many different types of Christian crosses worldwide, but only a handful is common in North America.

• Botonee Cross - So named because of its modified trefoil (three-lobed) ends, represents the trinity.
• Calvary Cross - A Latin cross standing on three steps or blocks, it signifies faith, hope and love. Love is sometimes replaced by charity.
• Celtic Cross - The circle around the crosspiece symbolizes eternity. It's origin can be traced to the Celtic cultures of the British Isles. There is a legend of how St. Patrick when preaching to some soon to be converted heathens was shown a sacred standing stone that was marked with a circle that was symbolic of the moon goddess. Patrick made the mark of a Latin cross through the circle and blessed the stone making the first Celtic Cross.
• Eastern Cross - Used in Orthodox (Russian/Greek) Christian Religions, this cross upper horizontal shoulder representing the inscription over the head of Jesus. The lower slanting shoulder represents the footrest of the crucified Jesus.
• Fleuree Cross/Gothic Cross - This flowered cross symbolizes the adult Christian by its more opened flared out ends.
• Greek Cross - It has four arms equal in length and is the traditional symbol of Christian faith. The equal length drawings of the cross is pre-Christian, and in paganism, represented the four elements—earth, air, fire and water. 
• Ionic Cross - Similar to the Celtic Cross, it's ends flair outward. The ionic cross signifies everlasting salvation, love and glory. The circle around the crosspiece symbolizes eternity.
• Latin Cross - One of the oldest symbols of Christianity and the most commonly used form, it is also the simplest in design. In early times, it was called god's mark.
• Latin Cross surrounded by circle or oval - Representing eternity or never-ending existence.

DOVE

The dove is most frequently depicted as holding an olive branch in its beak.  The dove also signifies purity and peace. The symbol of the dove with an olive branch is universally representative of peace.

 The dove is an appropriate symbol for burial markers as it also represents “the passing from one state or world to another.”  Across time, the sacred dove has been associated with funerary cults and was sacred to all Mother Goddesses, depicting femininity and maternity.

DOVE – DOUBLE HEAD

A double-headed dove, much like the double-headed eagle, signifies the dualnature of unity. The double-headed dove shown below appears to be part of anolder Masonic emblem which time has effectively erased. This symbol representsthe dual nature of unity and is also an imperial emblem of power and protection. According to the Association for Gravestone Studies, it also symbolizes a 32nd or 33rd degree Mason.

DRAGON

There are dramatically different interpretations in Eastern and Western cultures. In the Orient, the dragon protects humans from evil spirits and represents joy, health and fertility. But in Western cultures, the dragon possesses the negative traits of the snake, destruction, danger, depravity, and loss of innocence. In Jewish tradition, mythical beasts like the dragon are messianic creatures. Also, a dragon being defeated by St. George depicts triumph over sin.

EYE OF HORUS, EYE OF PROVIDENCE

Symbolizes the watchful eye of God.
A carved eye seen upon a gravestone, represents an omnipresent, all-seeing God. When the eye is enclosed within a triangle, the triangle is symbolic of the Holy Trinity; the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

This symbol first appeared in the west during the 17th and 18th centuries, as the Eye of Providence, depicting good fortune and prosperity, but representations of an all-seeing eye can be traced back to Egyptian mythology and the Eye of Horus.

FLOWERS

Flowers are often found in cemeteries not only as fresh offerings to departed members of the family or to friends but as carved images on headstones. Flowers are important symbols in many cultures, representing gods and goddesses, the soul and the spiritual flowering of the spirit, immortality and the brevity of life, and of course, rebirth. During the Festival of Rosalia in ancient Rome, roses were scattered over graves.

*  Roses

The rose has, as many symbols do, a dual nature. It has represented “heavily perfection as well as earthly passion.”  It also symbolizes both life and death, immortality and the limits of Time. As used in association with funeral traditions, the rose symbolizes eternal life and resurrection. In Christian lore, the rose grows on the Tree of Life, signifying regeneration and eternal life.

Graveyard Symbolism S - Z

SHEAF OF WHEAT

Sheaf of wheat on a headstone denotes a long and fruitful life.Wheat is symbolic of immortality and resurrection. Being a staple of life,wheat has been thought of as being a gift from God. Like other cereal crops such as corn and barley, wheat symbolizes the fertility of the earth, renewal,rebirth and abundance. In Christian symbolism, wheat represents the body of Christ, the righteous and the godly.

SHELL

The shell is one of the more unusual graveyard decorations—normally it is the scallop shell. Symbolically, the shell represents a pilgrimage or journey however it has also been used to symbolize baptism and fertility. According to Jack Tresidder, the shell is a symbol of the vulva, “linked with conception,regeneration, baptism, and, in many traditions, prosperity—probably through its association with fecundity.”

SKULLS

Puritan Influence (16th & 17th Century) ~ was extremely dark and foreboding in its message denoting the person lived and died with nothing important in between.

Post Puritanism (mid 17th Century) ~ skulls were depicted with a brighter and more innocent image.

STAR OF DAVID

Six-pointed star or Star of David, also known as Magen David (Hebrew for shield of David), it is typically used as a symbol of Judaism. The star is actually made of two triangles. It signifies divine protection as epitomized by the alchemistic signs for fire and water which are an upward and downward apexed triangle. The star is a very ancient symbol, used by several Asia Minor cultures, as well as some Greek city states. For Judaism, the Star of David came into widespread use at the beginning of the 20th century. Theodore Hertzel, a Jewish activist, adopted the symbol in his writings promoting Palestine as a Jewish homeland.

STONE BALL

A cluster of three stone balls, however, connotes a gift or money. However, there are other meanings behind this symbol as well. Balls may represent either the sun or the moon and symbolic of the power of the gods to hurl comets from the heavens.

Carved stone balls have appeared in widely diverse areas of the world and apparently represent mystic and archaic meanings. According to the Association for Gravestone Studies, these balls may represent the endlessness of time, or eternity, which would be very appropriate for cemetery symbolism.

In Mesoamerica, where the ballgame was played for ritual reasons and the results were often deadly, the ball itself symbolized the sun that not only journeyed across the sky but also in and out of the underworld.

Victorian influence also was responsible for the introduction of ancient Egyptian motifs into secular architecture and graveyard decoration. The “rebirth” of ancient architectural styles during the neo-pagan revivalist period resulted in some of the more interesting changes to American homes and buildings. The photograph above shows how this style also came to be used on the tombs of our more wealthy citizenry, who, according to some researchers, did not know the ancient symbolic meaning the image but chose the design due to the popularity of anything Egyptian.

SWASTIKA

Exact origin is unknown but it is considered one of the oldest and widespread symbols used. Commonly found on Buddhist memorials, it represents the seal of the Buddha’s heart; the doctrine of Buddha; the round of existence. To the Chinese, the swastika had two forms symbolizing the male and female; clockwise and anti-clockwise. Also used by the Romans and later by the Nazi party in Germany during the Second World War. Means "all is well" in Sanskrit; ancient symbol, especially common in India; good luck or good fortune; commonly used in Hindu art, architecture and decoration (source).

SWORD

The sword has several meanings including vitality and strength, association with the military and gods of war and as a symbol of indomitable power and divine truth.

TREES

Symbolism depends on the type of tree. The Tree of Life represents longevity, resurrection, eternity and incorruptibility. The weeping willow symbolizes grief and sorrow.

URN

Greek symbol of mourning, the body as a vessel of the soul, originating as a repository for the ashes of the dead in ancient times - a popular symbol of mourning. Most represent an ossuary. In several examples an Angel is looking inside it as if to inspect the contents. A flame is sometimes shown coming from the Urn. They are often draped with a cloth or festooned with a wreath or garland. This fashion of Urn's persisted well into the 1850's at least.

* Urn, draped - Connotes death, often of an older person.
*Urn with flame - Undying friendship; eternal flame.

WREATH

Eternal Victory
Originally an ancient symbol of victory, it was adopted into the Christian religion as a symbol of the victory of the redemption.

The wreath as a circle is one of mankind's oldest symbols. It stands for eternity, because it is without beginning or end. It is a sign of completeness, perfection, and wholeness. A hand holding the wreath represents the Hand of God.

YIN-YANG SYMBOL

The symbol comes from Taoism and Confucianism and represents harmony and balance. It denotes the two existential and controlling forces of the universe, the yin, the negative and passive feminine power depicted in black and on the left side of the circle, and the yang, the positive and active masculine power depicted in white on the right side of the circle. Yin represents the soul, wetness, cold, darkness, the moon, the Earth and sustenance. Yang represents the spirit, light, heat, dryness, day, the sun, heaven, creation and dominance. The yin before the yang signifies primeval darkness before creation. The small circle of the opposite color contained within both the yin and the yang represents the seed of the other and therefore their interdependence. The sigmoid line dividing the yin and yang means dynamism and the two are contained within a circle of revolution and unity.

Graveyard Symbolism M - R

MASONIC SYMBOLS

The Masons, also known as the Free Masons, have left their symbols throughout American burial grounds. The primary symbol used is that of the square and the compass, normally shown with a “G” inside the symbol.  The square, or carpenter’s square, and the compass represents the interaction between mind and matter, or rather “the progression from the material to the intellectual to the spiritual.”  The square, as it indicates a right angle, stands for what is right, justice and the true law. The compass symbolizes the ideal circle of “all-embracing love” for humanity. The “G” which is centrally located in the image either stands for Geometry or God— or both. The exact meaning is clouded by the organizations reluctance to define their symbols and their meanings.

MENORAH

Menorah or seven-branched candlestick - Jewish symbol for divine presence of God. The seven branches of the candlestick represents the seven days for the creation of the world by God.

PENTAGRAM

This is a five-pointed, star-shaped figure made by extending the sides of a regular pentagon until they meet. This figure pre-dates Christianity and was first known to be used by Pythagoras, the Greek philosopher. Later in the Middle Ages, the pentagram was used by magicians and sorcerers. It was believed that the pentagram offered protection against evil. Christianity adopted the figure and the symbolism to suggest the five wounds suffered by Christ on the cross. It is interesting to note that the pentagram is used by both Christianity and pagan beliefs such as modern day Wicca.

This star is drawn with one stroke of the pen. Its exact origin is unknown, and its meaning has changed throughout the ages. The pre-Christian Celtic priests called it the witch's foot. It is also called Solomon's Seal and was known in the Middle Ages as the goblin's cross. Today the symbol is a favorite among graffiti artists and so-called demonology practitioners. Like the pentagon, it is believed to have protective powers against evil. In Wicca beliefs, it represents protection against demons and a symbol of safety. The ancient Babylonians used the symbol as a magic charm. The five-pointed pentagram star represents the five senses. To the Jews, it represents the five mosaic books. This symbol has also been adopted by Masonic organizations (e.g., the Eastern Star).

PALM TREE

Palm trees are rather rare as a graveyard symbol but they do occur as shown above. In the Mediterranean the palm was long regarded as sacred with the sun god Assure often depicted above the palm. The ancient Egyptians, Romans and Christians were fond of the palm as representative signs of victory both in war and over death. It also represented rebirth.

Graveyard Symbolism G - L

HANDS

*  Downward - Mortality or sudden death. (Possibly a depiction of a secret Masonic handshake.)

*  Upward - The reward of the righteous, confirmation of life after death. Heavenly reward, ascension to heaven.

*  Hands praying - Connote devotion.

*  Two hands touching at thumbs - The hands are making the "Live long and prosper" gesture that Mr. Spock used on Star Trek (Leonard Nimoy is Jewish, and that's where he got it). The Cohen was the priestly caste. They perform a few specific functions in Orthodox Judaism, and have a few unique restrictions: they are not supposed to remarry or touch a dead body, for example. People who are Cohen often have Cohen as their last name. This is the hand gesture made by Cohen at the end of services in Orthodox synagogues, it's a benediction, and had come to universally represent Cohens.

 HANDS HOLDING OBJECT

*  A chain with a broken link - Symbolizes the death of a family member.

*  A heart - Symbolic of charity and is common on 19th century memorials. It is typically seen on memorials of members of the Independent Order of Odd fellows. Charity.

*  An open book - The embodiment of Faith.

LAMB

This is the most common animal symbol found on a child's grave. The lamb appears throughout the ages with great regularity in Christian art and because it is a symbol of Christ: "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world!" (Bible, John 1:29). The use of the lamb in religious art pre-dates Christianity and appears to have been used first by the Egyptians. It signifies purity and innocence. Christ in his sacrificial role and personifies: innocence, meekness, gentleness and humility.

LINKS OF CHAIN

The three links of chain which appear at the top center of the marker is a symbol of Freemasonry expressing a bond between brother Masons and also signifies a powerful and lasting unity.

LION

Symbolizes the power of God and guards the tomb against evil spirits. Like other guardians, the lion's watch is as eternal as the stone of which it is depicted. The lion also recalls the courage and determination of the souls which they guard; they manifest the spirit of the departed. Resurrection.

Call of the Night's Watch

 

The night-watch went his rounds in many of our colonial towns, and called the hour and the weather. Stumbling along with his long staff and his dim horn-lantern, he formed no very formidable figure either to affright marauders or warn honest citizens that they tarried too long in the taproom. But his voice gave a certain sense of protection to all who chanced to wake in the night, a knowledge that a friend was near. All who dwelt in the old towns of Bethlehem and Nazareth in Pennsylvania could listen and be truly cheered by the sound of the beautiful verses written for the night watchman by Count Zinzendorf. In winter the watchman began his rounds at eight o’clock, in summer at nine. No scenes of brawling or tippling could have prevailed at the Rose Inn when these words of peace and piety rang out:—

Eight o’clock:
The clock is eight! To Bethlehem all is told,
How Noah and his seven were saved of old.

Nine o’clock:
Hear, Brethren, hear! The hour of nine is come;
Keep pure each heart and chasten every home.

Ten o’clock:
Hear, Brethren, hear! Now ten the hour-hand shows;
They only rest who long for night’s repose.

Eleven o’clock:
The clock’s eleven! And ye have heard it all,
How in that hour the mighty God did call.

Twelve o’clock:
It’s midnight now! And at that hour ye know
With lamps to meet the bridegroom we must go.

One o’clock:
The hour is one! Through darkness steals the day.
Shines in your hearts the morning star’s first ray?

Two o’clock:
The clock is two! Who comes to meet the day,
And to the Lord of Days his homage pay?

Three o’clock:
The clock is three! The three in one above
Let body, soul, and spirit truly love.

Four o’clock:
The clock is four! Where’er on earth are three,
The Lord has promised He the fourth will be.

Five o’clock:
The clock is five! While five away were sent,
Five other virgins to the marriage went.

Six o’clock:
The clock is six! And from the watch I’m free,
And every one may his own watchman be.

Source:

Stage Coach and Tavern Days
by Alice Morse Earle

Mary Mills Patrick (1850 - 1940)

Born: March 10, 1850, Canterbury, New Hampshire
Died: February 25, 1940, Palo Alto, California

Occupation:  American Missionary and Educator

Mary Mills Patrick oversaw the evolution of a girls’ high school into a major college for Turkish women.

Patrick graduated from the Lyons Collegiate Institute in Lyons (now part of Clinton), Iowa, in 1869. In 1871, by appointment of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, she became a teacher in a mission school in Erzurum in what is now eastern Turkey. In her four years there Patrick learned ancient and modern Armenian. In 1875 she was transferred to the American High School for Girls (also known as the Home School) in Scutari (Üsküdar), an Asiatic suburb of Constantinople (now Istanbul), and she became principal of the school in 1889. During her summers she lived in Greek villages. She thus was able to add Greek and Turkish to her repertoire of languages. After a study furlough in the United States she received a master’s degree from the University of Iowa in 1890.

In that year, after much planning and the securing of a charter from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the American High School became the American College for Girls at Constantinople, later known as Constantinople Woman’s College. Patrick served as president of the college from its opening. Her summer studies at the Universities of Heidelberg, Zürich, Berlin, Leipzig, Paris, and Oxford resulted in a Ph.D. from the University of Bern, Switzerland, in 1897. Her dissertation was published in 1899 as Sextus Empiricus and Greek Scepticism. When the college was destroyed by fire in 1905, a new site was acquired in Arnavutköyü on the European side of the Bosporus. A new charter in 1908 ended the college’s ties to the mission board, and in 1914 the new campus was occupied.

Patrick kept the school open through the Balkan Wars, the Turkish revolution, and World War I, and through those changes it evolved from a school primarily for minority Greek, Armenian, and Bulgarian Christian women into a leading centre of higher education for Turkish women. She remained president until her retirement in 1924, after which she moved back to the United States. The American College for Girls later affiliated with nearby Robert College for men.

Patrick’s books include Sappho and the Island of Lesbos (1912); The Greek Skeptics (1929); Under Five Sultans (1929), an autobiography; and A Bosporus Adventure (1934), a history of the college.

Address:  Care British Post Office, Constantinople, Turkey

Burial:  1940
Canterbury Village Cemetery
Merrimack County
New Hampshire, USA
Plot: 3541

Sources:

Who's Who in America 1901 - 1902
A Biographical Dictionary of Notable Living Men & Women
of the United States
Edited by John W. Leonard
A. N. Marquis & Company 1901

Encyclopedia Britannica

Find A Grave Memorial - Mary Mills Patrick

H. H. Holmes ~ 18th Century Serial Killer

Visitors enjoying the color and light of the 1893 World's Columbian Exhibition in Chicago had no idea that not far away Dr. Henry Howard Holmes had set up his own dark, private exhibition of death and torture on a scale comparable to that of the fair itself. Though sometimes mistakenly called America's first serial killer, he could very well be its most prodigious. Though convicted of only one murder, Holmes confessed to 27 and the actual total could have been as high as 230.

Visitors enjoying the color and light of the 1893 World's Columbian Exhibition in Chicago had no idea that not far away Dr. Henry Howard Holmes had set up his own dark, private exhibition of death and torture on a scale comparable to that of the fair itself. Though sometimes mistakenly called America's first serial killer, he could very well be its most prodigious. Though convicted of only one murder, Holmes confessed to 27 and the actual total could have been as high as 230.
Timeframe:  1888 - 1894

Locations: Chicago, IL; Irvington, IN; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Philadelphia, PA

Victims: Confessed to murdering 27 men, women and children, other estimates put the total as high as 230 murders.

Arrested: Boston, November 17, 1894

History:

Dr. Henry Howard Holmes was born Herman Webster Mudgett on May 16, 1861 in Galmanton, New Hampshire. While a student at the University of Michigan Medical school, he began to hone his skills as a con artist, stealing cadavers from the university and using the bodies to collect on fraudulent insurance policies. Following his graduation in 1884, he took the name Henry Howard Holmes and moved to Chicago, ostensibly to practice pharmacy, but continuing a lucrative career in fraud.

Holmes took a job at the drugstore of Dr. E. S. Holton on the corner of Wallace and 63rd Street in Englewood, IL, south of Chicago. Holton was dying of cancer and Holmes convinced Holton's wife to sell him the store, assuring her she could continue living upstairs after the doctor died. She did not live there very long; after Dr. Holton died Holmes murdered Mrs. Holton, disposed of her body, and told her friends and relative she had moved to California.


In the lot across from the drugstore, Holmes designed and supervised construction of an enormous three story building known locally as the "Castle". He made sure that none of the workers stayed on the job long enough to know the full layout of the building which was a maze of over 100 rooms including trapdoors, sliding walls, false floors, airtight doors, stairways to nowhere.

He operated the Castle as a hotel for visitors to the fair. In the privacy of his soundproof rooms, Holmes would torture and kill hotel guests. Some were locked in rooms fitted with gas lines which he controlled; he would turn on the gas when they slept. Others were locked in a bank vault near his office where he could listen to their screams as they suffocated. The bodies were dropped down a greased chute to the basement which was outfitted with a dissecting table, a lime pit, and an enormous furnace. After removing the flesh and cleaning the bones, he would reassemble the skeletons and sell them to medical schools.

When the fair ended, Holmes left Chicago to flee his creditors. He traveled around the United States and Canada, continuing with insurance fraud and other swindles. In Philadelphia he and his long-time associate Benjamin Pitezel conspired to fake Pitezel's death for the insurance. Holmes was to procure a charred corpse and claim it was Pitezel, burned in a laboratory explosion. Instead of following their plan, he got Pitezel drunk then set him on fire after he passed out.

Though Holmes collected the insurance money, police had been alerted to the plot and Philadelphia detective Frank Geyer began following Holmes in his travels across America. Geyer arrested Holmes in Boston on November 17, 1894 and took him back to the Philadelphia to stand trial. In the course of his investigation, Geyer had uncovered the remains of three of Pitezel's children.

Court Trial: Philadelphia, October 28, 1895

Holmes chose to handle his own defense at the trial and The Philadelphia Inquirer described his performance as "vigorous and remarkable." But he had failed to establish his case and by the end of the first day he brought his two attorneys back into the case. The prosecution's presentation was thorough and methodical and in the end they prevailed.

Verdict: Guilty of first degree murder.

H. H. Holmes was sentenced to hang. After his conviction, the Hearst newspapers paid Holmes $7,500 to tell his story. In a series of articles he confessed to killing 27 people in Chicago. Chicago police investigated the Castle and using missing person lists and testimony of neighbors placed the estimated body count closer to230.

On May 7, 1896 H. H. Holmes was hanged at Moyamensing Prison in Philadelphia. In accordance with his last wishes, Holmes's coffin was filled with cement before being nailed shut and buried in a grave ten feet deep with two feet of sand and concrete poured in before it was covered with dirt. He wanted to guarantee that no one would dissect his corpse as he had done to so many others.


Books:

Borowski, John, (adapter). The Strange Case Of Dr. H.H. Holmes. West Hollywood, Calif: Waterfront Productions, 2005.

Larson, Erik. The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America. New York: Vintage, 2004.

Schechter, Harold, Depraved: The Definitive True Story of H.H. Holmes, Whose Grotesque Crimes Shattered Turn-of-the-Century Chicago . Pocket, 2004.

Gravesite (from Findagrave)
H. H. Holmes (Herman Mudgett) Gravesite

A Mysterious Murder in Pittsburg

 

Police Lieutenant Snyder, walking down Frankstown Avenue in Pittsburgh’s East End, around one a.m. on January 8, 1889, heard a gunshot from the house of Albert Davis, a well-known African American restaurant owner. The Lieutenant forced his way inside and found Davis lying dead at the bottom of a staircase. A revolver lay on a table next to several empty beer bottles. Standing near the body in their nightclothes were Carrie Palmer and Mollie White, both African American. Mollie White, a girl no older than 14, said she had been awakened by the shot and saw Davis fall down the stairs, but knew nothing of the circumstances leading up to his death. Carrie Palmer refused to give any information.

How the people in the house were related was not immediately clear. Carrie Palmer was also known as Carrie Davis, and the newspapers reported that she was living with Davis as his wife, implying that they may not have been legally married. She later testified that she and Davis were married in 1880. Carrie’s sister had been visiting until nearly midnight; Mollie White shared Carrie’s bed that night and may have been her niece, but it was never stated.

At the inquest, Mollie White elaborated her story saying that when she went to bed at 11:50, Davis was in the corner reading a book. She heard nothing until the pistol shot awakened her, and then she saw Carrie running from the room with Davis running after her. He did not get far before falling on his face down the staircase with blood pouring from his mouth. Cable W. Nicholas, Davis’s partner, was also at the house that night. He and two other men were in the room below when the shot was fired. Nicholas testified that the couple frequently quarreled and he had heard them threaten each other’s lives. Carrie Davis, alias Palmer, was indicted for the murder of Albert Davis.

The trial of Carrie Davis began on July 3, 1889 (by now the newspapers had stopped adding “alias Carrie Palmer” to her name). The prosecution presented a circumstantial case against Carrie. The post-mortem doctor testified that the lack of powder marks on the body made suicide impossible, but Carrie believed that Albert had shot himself. On the stand she said that, like  Mollie White, she woke when she heard the gunshot, but she remembered nothing that happened after.  Attorney Brooks, a good friend of Albert’s, testified that Albert had a “jolly disposition” but on that night was downhearted and melancholy. Other defense witnesses testified that they had seen Albert wiping tears from his eyes.

In his closing statement, Carrie Davis’s attorney stated that by the rules of circumstantial evidence, it was just as likely that Mollie White killed Albert Davis as it was that Carrie Davis did. More to the point, he asserted, the prosecution had not proven that Albert hadn't committed suicide.

The jury believed the prosecution and found Carrie Davis guilty, but of second-degree murder, not first-degree as the prosecution sought. She was sentenced to ten years in the penitentiary.  

 Sources:

"A Mysterious Murder in Pittsburg." Harrisburg Daily Independent 8 Jan 1889.
"A Mystery in Pittsburg." Harrisburg Telegraph 8 Jan 1889.
"Committed for Murder." Pittsburgh Daily Post 10 Jan 1889.
"In the Criminal Court." Pittsburg Dispatch 7 Jul 1889.
"In The Second Degree." Pittsburg Dispatch 4 Jul 1889.
"Probably a Murder." The Daily City News 9 Jan 1889.
"Said to have Suicided." Pittsburgh Daily Post 3 Jul 1889.
"The East End Tragedy." Pittsburg Dispatch 9 Jan 1889.
"They Charge Her With it." National Police Gazette 2 Feb 1889.

Stabbed to Death in Office Frolic

February 15, 1909

15-Year-Old-Boy Struggling with Girl Stenographers Killed on Birthday

Fell on Sharp Ink Eraser

'The Girls in His Department of the Metropolitan Insurance Company were Trying to Kiss Him - One Arrested

George S. Millitt of 425 Pleasant Avenue, an office boy employed in the Department of Applications of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, on the third floor of its new building, in Madison Square, was stabbed yesterday in the left side, apparently as the result of skylarking in the office, and died in the ambulance on his way to the New York Hospital.

The police say the boy died without explaining how he received his wound.  Miss Gertrude Robbins of 168 West Eighty-first Street, a stenographer employed in the same office, was arrested later at her home, and was locked up first on a charge of homicide.  As there was no evidence to connect her with Millitt's death, however, the charge was changed so that she was held merely as a material witness.  At midnight, after a brief preliminary inquiry by the coroner, she was paroled in the custody of her counsel.

The accident was surrounded by a great deal of secrecy.  The police first knew of it when Policeman Blass, on post in Twenty-third Street, noticed shortly before 5 o'clock an ambulance in front of the entrance to the Metropolitan Life building.  He went to make inquiries but received nothing but evasive replies to his questions.  Then he walked upstairs and found Millitt lying on the floor of the applications department in the midst of the crowd of excited persons.

Dr. McClure had been summoned from the New York Hospital soon after 4:30 o'clock.  He found the boy unconscious and prepared to take him to the hospital.  He was suffering from a wound just below the heart, caused, it was said, by a sharp ink eraser which the lad carried in his pocket.  The boy died before he reached the hospital without recovering consciousness.  An autopsy has not yet been made, but it is supposed that the cause of death is internal hemorrhage.

Policeman Blass learned that Millitt was 15 years old yesterday.  He was the son of a widow and had been in the employ of the company about two months.  He seemed to those used to the accustomed to the usual run of office boys almost perfect.  His manners were good and his fair hair and fair complexion made him the pet of all the girl stenographers.

Yesterday he came down and remarked that it was the anniversary of the wreck of the Maine.  He explained that he knew it because the ship had been blown up on his birthday and that he was 15 yesterday.

At once the girls began to tease him.  They told him that on such an occasion he deserved a kiss, and every one of them vowed that as soon as office hours were over she would kiss him once for every year that he lived.  He laughingly declared that not a girl should get near him, and he was teased about it all day.

As 4:30 o'clock came, and the day's work was over, the girls made a rush for him.  They tried to hem him in and he tried to break their line.  Suddenly, he reeled and fell, crying as he did so, "I'm stabbed!"

At once the joking stopped.  Miss Robbins, when she saw what happened, ran to the boy's side and tried to help him.  She knelt by him, but the sight of the blood was too much for her and she fainted.  Somebody hurried to the medical department of the company and called Dr. Thomas H. Willard, one of the staff examiners.  He did what he could for Millitt, and it was he who telephoned the ambulance.

Miss Robbins was soon brought to and told to go home.  Most of the other girls had already departed, and when Policeman Blass arrived there were present besides the doctors and Millitt, C. D. Jerolaman, R. H. Nash, E. H. Price, George F. Abbott of 2442 Lorillard Place. The Bronx, and C. B. Brooks of 774 Union Street, Brooklyn.

None of these would tell Blass anything about how the accident happened, and it was only by chance that he learned that Dr. Willard had had Miss Robbins under his care.

Blass went away to the new West Twentieth Street Station to report to Capt. Hayes.  The Captain, McConnell, Walsh, and Trajan of Inspector McCluskey's staff, were sent over to the Metropolitan Insurance Building.  When they got there, they found the office locked up and everybody gone home.

The police managed, however, to locate Miss Robbins from the directory.  They say that her home address was refused to Blass at the office, so they determined to try whether Mrs. Harriet E. Robbins, a widow of 168 West Eighty-first Street, could give them any information about her.  Her daughter, Miss Robbins, admitted that she was the girl they were seeking and agreed at once to accompany them to West Twentieth Police Station.  She is 23 years old.  She was not told at first that Millitt was dead.

Miss Robbins did not give the detectives any detailed account of the occurrence, but told them simply that the boy was popular with everybody, and that one of the stenographers had been joking him about his birthday.  She said, according to the detectives, that she had been one of those who approached him, and that as he tried to avoid her she noticed in his hand something that looked like a stick six inches long.  As he fell, she said, she believed that this entered his side.

The "stick" of which she spoke is assumed by the police to be a knife ink eraser, which the New York Hospital authorities found in Millitt's outside coat pocket.  It had a very sharp edge, and would make exactly the kind of wound which killed him.  There was a cut on the inside of the coat, and the edge of the knife was coated with blood.

Mrs. Robbins accompanied her daughter to the police station and William R. Phelan of 302 Broadway was called in as her lawyer.  When Miss Robbins was arraigned before the desk, she maintained her self-possession and answered quietly the regular questions.  She was sent to the old Tenderloin Station and walked up Sixth Avenue with her mother, the detectives following a few paces behind.  When she was asked by Capt. O'Brien if she had any statement to make, she replied that by advice of her counsel she had nothing to say.

John R. Hegeman, Jr., Assistant Treasurer of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company called late last night at the West Twentieth Street Police Station.  He told the police he was quite sure that Millitt's death was a regrettable accident.  He had himself obtained employment for the boy two months ago, he said, and he understood that he was doing well in the office, and was popular.  Mr. Hegeman said that the ink eraser found in the boy's pocket was of the regular pattern supplied to employees of the company.

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