6-2-12 Crystal Valley Cemetery, Manitou Springs CO

Deana and I paid a visit to the Crystal Valley Cemetery in Manitou Springs Saturday morning.

I was excited to discover Deana shared my interest in cemeteries. I think mine sprang from a school project where I collected 100 different tombstone epitaphs.

I'm not sure if the building at the front of the Crystal Valley cemetery is still used for anything (through the windows a table and stacked chairs were visible. I'm assuming the chairs are set up for graveside ceremonies.)

At the back, a very small door. I love off-sized doors. I think it goes back to Alice in Wonderland.

At the very front row of the gravestones is Mr John T. Lily, whose stone was provided by the Woodsmen before they discontinued their tombstone program in the 20s due to cost. We saw quite a few woodsmen stones, but this one is the most impressive. John must've had the primo-Woodsmen insurance policy.

Behind him, and under the shade of trees, is the first of only two mausoleums on the grounds.

Theresa M. Kenny immigrated from Austria and bought her plot in the cemetery 14 years before she needed it. She was known for her home improvements and took it upon herself to build her own mausoleum, reportedly using a spoon from her kitchen to texture the walls. For the last decade of her life, post-construction but pre-funeral, she could be found in the rocking chair she set on the porch of what she lovingly called her "little house." The chair was entombed with her at her death in 1943.

Across the road lies Freddie Schneider, age 2 years and 6 months, in one of the more unusual monuments. It appears to be the size of his crib, with decorative toys/tassles hanging from the sides.

 In a section not far away, things got a little more cluttered. I'm not sure if this is a discount section added later, but the wide strip between the large, walled, family plots has been co-opted by a younger generation of people apparently without a family plot who are cremated. The spaces appear to be no more than a foot square.

Up on the hill to the right there are a row of identical stones like this one, but only Chester's bore the linked chains with "F, L, T" in each.  While a lot of the masonic tombstones bear the words "Faith, Love, Truth" I was curious whether these letters stood for the same thing and what the symbolism of the chain might mean. As it turns out, the "F" is for Friendship, and the chain is the symbol of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, established in Britian in the 1700s and brought over to America by Thomas Wildey in Baltimore in 1819. They got their name, as close as I can tell, because they came from all walks of life, including the working class and various guilds. Any man willing to dedicate himself to benevolence, no matter his trade, was welcome. 

Up behind this row stands a lone grave under a large tree whose invasive roots and some burrowing animals are serving to dislodge Charles Adams' resting place. 

Charles Adams was born Charles  Schwanbeck of Prussia, who served in the Union Army, as the Brigadier General of the Colorado Militia, and as an Indian Agent who, in 1879, secured the release of five hostages taken captive by the White River Utes after the Meeker Massacre. He later served as minister to Bolivia under President Hayes. He died in the Gumry Hotel fire in Denver in 1895.

Further back, you begin to see a number of much more modern tombstones, including this one:

And this one, very bohemian and beautiful with its iron leaves on the tree, along with other trinkets, beads, and rocks. 

The last line of the inscription bolted to the large rock that serves as the base of this unusual memorial reads, "If you must be blue, be a bright blue."

Another one I loved was Lanita Hobbs' shady spot. Her stone is made of the same red stone of the earth around her. (In winter when the trees are not in bloom, you can clearly see Garden of the Gods.) And growing on her plot are Columbines, bleeding hearts, and native Colorado ground cover.

This one caught our eye about midway through the cemetery. I was able to learn about them here.

The oldest birthdate in the cemetery that we could find belonged to Jesse Judy, 1829.

One of the tallest headstones belongs to Charles "Chuck" Shouse whose signature appears to have been used in the unusual script of his name on the stone. He was a Navy vet in the Vietnam War and is memorialized in The Names Project Aids Memorial quilt, block 1958.

In the upper center of the cemetery is the Wheeler Family plot. While Jerome B. Wheeler, the multimillionaire owner of Macy's, is the best known Wheeler of Manitou, the most poignant stone belongs to the three little girls of  W.G and H.H. Wheeler.  

In 1887, Maud, Clestia, and Clara, ages 3, 5, and 7 of were buried here within a month of each other, most likely victims of the cholera pandemic sweeping the globe that year.

The second of the two mausoleums on the property is the Richards building which, clearly, they did not undertake to build themselves like their neighbor Theresa. 

Back at the very front near the building and where we parked was the stone of 22 year old Kelly Murphy. The handprint on the stone, with a heart in the center of the palm, is that of her 2 year old son Julien. Her story is here. 

Close up of some of the stones and bottles left at Kelly's memorial:

Note to family and friends, I expect to find beautiful rocks left at my grave or I'm coming back to haunt you.