Pittsburgh Cemeteries

Category: First Congregational Church of Etna Cemetery

  • 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.