Pittsburgh Cemeteries

Author: Father Pitt

  • Brandt Monument, Trinity German Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery, Franklin Park

    Youth may die

    A tower of zinc with a number of stock inserts, but also what appears to be a portrait of one of the deceased—something old Pa Pitt hasn’t seen on other zinc monuments around here.

    Brandt monument
    Hier ruhet Philip

    Hier ruhet Philip, sohn von Philip und Regina Brandt, geboren 1, Nov. 1857, gestorben 7, Aug. 1879. Seine Seele gefiel Gott, darum eilte er mit ihm aus diesem Bösen leben.

    Father Pitt’s translation is based on his limited knowledge of Cemetery German, and he invites corrections:

    Here lies Philip, son of Philip and Regina Brandt, born Nov. 1, 1857; died Aug. 7, 1879. God was pleased with his soul, so he took it with him out of this evil life.

    Faith pointing upward

    If you were wondering which allegorical figure the statue on top was supposed to be, you will find it helpfully identified as Faith on the base of the monument.

    Faith points us upward to the sky; / Hope, anchor like, holds till we die.
    By faith are ye saved
    Portrait

    This portrait might represent Philip Brandt Senior; the man is certainly older than the 21 years that Philip Junior was allotted.

    Portraits were a service offered by the Monumental Bronze Co. of Bridgeport, as an 1882 catalogue tells us: “We are prepared to produce correct pictures of individuals in the shape of medallion portraits, half, three-quarter or life size, which we can model from seeing photos or the living subject, having competent artists employed at our works, who are also skillful in producing portrait busts and life size portrait statues.”

    From the catalogue, we can identify the monument as the Monumental Bronze Company’s No. 155, which the catalogue mentions can be fitted with “life size Medallion Portraits.” The top of the monument has been replaced with the No. 176 Statue of “Faith”.

    Philip and Regina Brandt inscription

    By the time the parents died in the early 1900s, their inscriptions were placed in English, perhaps by surviving children who no longer spoke German.

    Elizabeth Brandt

    Although zinc monuments ceased to be made at the time of the First World War, inserts for them could still be ordered for some time afterward.

    Rear of the monument

    The date 1880 would refer to the erection of the monument, put up shortly after Philip Brandt the younger died in August of 1879.

    Philip and Christena Brandt

    There are two small headstones beside the main monument: one for Philip Brandt (presumably the same Philip for whom the main monument was erected) and Christena A. Brandt, a girl who died at the age of 11. Youth may die, as the motto in zinc reminds us.

    Christena A. Brandt

    Christena A. daughter of P. and R. Brandt, died April 28, 1866, at the age of 11 years. Farewell all ye earthly friends.

    Christena’s inscription is in German, but the standard back panel for the headstone is in English.

    Gone, but not forgotten.
    Philip Brandt

    The back of Philip’s monument is a gesture equally understood in English or in German.

    Hand pointing upward

  • Maria Boertzler Monument, First Congregational Church of Etna Cemetery

    Maria Boertzler monument

    A beautiful work by a German craftsman. Father Pitt is not an expert in German, but the inscription seems to be in Franconian:

    Hier ruht
    die Gattin von
    JOH. H. BOERTZLER
    gb. Maria Wunderlin
    Gebor. 1 Marz 1829
    Gest. 28 August 1875

    Ein freues Weib und
    eine wahre Mutter
    warst Du und das sagt
    Alles! Alles!

    Anyone with a better knowledge of German dialects is invited to submit a better translation, but here is old Pa Pitt’s attempt:

    Here lies
    the wife of
    Johann H. Boertzler
    Born March 1, 1829
    Died August 28, 1875

    A joyful wife and
    a true mother
    were you, and so says
    everybody! Everybody!

    See the transcribed inscription above

  • Danielis Monument, First Congregational Church of Etna Cemetery

    Danielis monument

    A bronze monument unlike anything else old Pa Pitt has seen around here, and he suspects it may have been done by a craftsman more used to architectural ornamentation than to cemetery monuments. Whoever it was created a fine work, however, and the inscriptions are also good pieces of hand lettering.

    Bertha Danielis, 1880–1923; Alexander Danielis, 1875–1949

    Bertha
    Danielis
    1880–1923
    Alexander
    Danielis
    1875–1949

    Danielis
    Bronze tracery
    Danielis monument

  • First Congregational Church of Etna Cemetery

    This cemetery occupies a vertigo-inducing hillside site with some spectacular views of the Pine Creek valley and Sharpsburg beyond. Some time ago it was cleaned up and restored, with a spiffy new sign and a winding brick pathway and stairway, but the enthusiasm had dried up when old Pa Pitt visited recently, and the place was in need of some attention. Nevertheless, it is worth a visit. The church that owned it was originally a German-speaking congregation, and a number of handmade tombstones by German craftsmen can be found scattered among the stock monuments.

  • Letitia Lee Tombstone, First Congregational Church of Etna Cemetery

    …the Memory of Letitia Lee Consort of Joseph Lee Who departed this life July —th A. D. 1871 Aged — years 10 mths — days

    This is a very unusual tombstone, handmade by a folk artist of some skill, the way the early settlers’ tombstones were made, but as late as 1871. Almost all English-speaking craftsmen were put out of business by the mechanized monument industry in the 1840s, but in German-speaking communities local craftsmen continued to work until the early twentieth century, and that is our explanation. The church that owned this cemetery was originally a German church, and other handmade tombstones in the cemetery are in German; here an English-speaking family must have hired a German craftsman.

    The inscription is mostly legible, but Father Pitt was unable to interpret some of the numbers:

    …the Memory
    of
    Letitia Lee
    Consort of Joseph Lee
    Who departed this life
    July —th A. D. 1871
    Aged — years 10 mths
    — days

    Note the term “consort,” already well out of fashion, but the usual term for “wife” on tombstones of the late 1700s and early 1800s. Mr. Lee or his stonecutter had very old-fashioned tastes.