Judge William Wilkins was the owner of the estate called Homewood, whose grounds are now the Homewood Cemetery. His mausoleum is the oldest in the cemetery, which was built around it, and it is a model of the original Mausoleum at Halicarnassus.
Older family gravestones are gathered around the monument, including the grave of Judge Wilkins’ father, Captain John Wilkins, who fought in the Revolution.
More pictures of the Wilkins mausoleum, including transcriptions of the four inscriptions.
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.
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.”)
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.
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.
The mausoleum is approached by a stairway that is a work of art in itself.
A large Doric mausoleum whose size is not immediately obvious until we consider the full-sized bronze doors.
You can learn more about Edward H. Jennings, Successful American, at our earlier article on the Edward H. Jennings mausoleum.
