Pittsburgh Cemeteries

Author: Father Pitt

  • Moeslein Monument, St. Peter’s Cemetery (Arlington)

    Moeslein monument

    A big marble cross on a rustic base, with the inscription on an open book on the base. As with most monuments sold as “marble” in the 1800s, it was made from soft limestone that has eroded badly, so that the decorations on the cross are almost obliterated. The inscriptions are also weathering away, but right now they are still mostly legible. Meanwhile, the base, made of a different stone, still shows every chisel mark as sharply as when it was installed.

    Inscription on the Moeslein monument

    A. Moeslein
    May 13, 1824
    June 15, 1898

    Family
    L. B. Moeslein
    June 14, 1834
    Mar. 18[?], 1886

    A. E. Moeslein
    Apr. 29, 1858
    July 1, 1912

    Rose Moeslein
    Freb. 21, 1860
    July 17, 1931

    Moeslein monument

  • Bollenberg Stump, Homewood Cemetery

    Bollenberg stump

    The Woodmen of the World, still selling life insurance today under the name WoodmenLife, guaranteed every member a grave monument in the form, appropriately, of a stump. The stump program ended about a hundred years ago, but a number of these stumps were installed in Pittsburgh cemeteries. This one marks the plot of the Bollenberg family, with a separate log for Frederick Bollenberg and an unnamed infant son. Mr. Bollenberg died at the age of about 32, and it is possible that he and the child died from the same cause.

    Frederick Bollenberg, 1874–1906; Infant Son
    Bollenberg, gone but not forgotten
    Woodmen of the World seal

    The seal of the Woodmen of the World, whose local chapters were called “camps.” “Dum tacet clamat”: “Though he is silent, yet he cries out.” (The Woodmen usually translate this motto as “Though silent, he speaks.”)

    Bollenberg stump

  • Homewood Cemetery Maintenance Building

    Tudor maintenance building

    This maintenance building could use a bit of maintenance, which is surprising in a cemetery where everything is usually polished to a glimmer. But nothing is wrong that a bit of paint and stain won’t fix.

    Gable
    Gable brackets
    Maintenance building
    Homewood Cemetery maintenance building
    Lower level

  • John Worthington Mausoleum, Homewood Cemetery

    John Worthington mausoleum, with a tree

    Architect Louis Stevens, who had designed the Worthington mansion in Squirrel Hill (now part of Temple Sinai), also designed this splendid mausoleum for Mr. Worthington to move into after his demise. It is one of the most spectacular mausoleums in the Homewood Cemetery; and, unlike most Gothic mausoleums in Pittsburgh, it takes its inspiration more from castles than from churches.

    John Worthington mausoleum from the front
    Stairway and mausoleum

    The mausoleum is approached by a stairway that is a work of art in itself.

    Planter and inscription: “John Worthington”
    Inscription on the mausoleum: “John Worthington”
    Bronze doors
    Detail of the doors
    Stained glass
    Left stained-glass panel
    Right stained-glass panel
    John Worthington mausoleum
    Perspective view

    More pictures of the John Worthington mausoleum.

  • George Hogg Monument, Allegheny Cemetery

    Angel of the Resurrection

    “Angel of the Resurrection” was the sculptor’s name for this bronze angel. Henry Kirke Brown was the sculptor, and he was one of the first Americans to cast his own full-size bronzes. When his statue of De Witt Clinton was unveiled in 1855, it was reported to be the first full-length statue cast in bronze by an American; this angel, however, is older, though a little less than life size (if angels have a life size). By some reckonings, then, this is the first large bronze statue cast in America. It was cast in about 1850, since George Hogg died in 1849.

    Face of the angel
    Angel of the Resurrection
    George Hogg monument

    More pictures of the George Hogg monument.