Pittsburgh Cemeteries

Author: Father Pitt

  • Michaelofski Monument, Chartiers Cemetery

    The base is in fine shape, but the marble mourner is woefully eroded. It is a peculiar property of stone mourners, by the way, that, no matter how symmetrically classical the base of the monument may be, they always sit or stand on piles of rustic stone.

    Father Pitt could not find a Michaelofski headstone in this plot, or any other inscription on the monument. It seems almost as if the plot was purchased, and this expensive monument erected, and then no one was ever buried here. The cemetery records compiled by Mr. Norman J. Meinert list a John Michaelofski as having died in 1918, but the date comes from “death notices,” not a stone in the cemetery. A kind correspondent has pointed out that an Anna Michaelofski is recorded in county death certificates as having died in 1915; she was also buried in this cemetery.

  • Glass Monument, Chartiers Cemetery

    Old Pa Pitt has never seen another monument remotely like this one: a very realistic rendition of a soldier’s tent in marble. The marble has eroded, and the inscriptions are nearly illegible, but the name “Glass” and the date “Died May 15, 1864” are clear. Cemetery records indicate that the rest of the name is Michael A. Glass, but give us no birth date.

  • Esplen Monument, Chartiers Cemetery

    This marble monument for John Esplen and his wife Catharine was probably put up when Catharine died in her forties; unfortunately, the inscription on her side is becoming illegible, and old Pa Pitt was not able to make out the exact age or date—perhaps 1868. John died at 67 in 1894 (by which time marble was all but extinct as a monument stone in Pittsburgh); if the date 1868 for Catharine’s death is right, she was probably a few years older than he was. Is this a branch of the Esplen family for whom Esplen, the former borough (now city neighborhood) at the mouth of the Chartiers Creek, is named?

  • Morrison Obelisk, Allegheny Cemetery

    Your obelisk has to be pretty tall to compete in the Allegheny Cemetery. This one is a serious contender. It stands in the middle of a circular plot designed to have graves arranged in an orbital fashion, though only about a quarter of the circle is filled in.

  • Holmes Column, Allegheny Cemetery

    A curiously eclectic Gothic monument; it looks as though the architect tried to stuff every idea he had ever had about the Gothic style into one fat column. The elegant blackletter inscriptions are noteworthy.