The monument was put up in 1876; the sculpture was by Fred Meyer, a local artist. It is difficult to form an opinion of its artistic merit today, since the years have considerably softened its features; but Father Pitt is inclined to say that it is not a work of the first quality. In its setting, however, surrounded as it is by the regimented gravestones of the men who served in the war, it is as evocative and picturesque as anyone could desire.
Here again is our favorite flower-strewing mourner, the most common cemetery sculpture in Pittsburgh. This is very similar (though not quite identical) to the Heck monument in the Sewickley cemetery. The lily in our mourner’s hand is distinctive and, when her hands are present, instantly identifies her.
With a gathering of crows.
A fine Doric mausoleum; like a gentleman’s suit, it is designed not to stand out, but to be just a little better and more tasteful than what everyone else is wearing this year. James Wood Friend died in 1909; he may have had this mausoleum built for him before that.
A fine and fairly well preserved marble Pietà presides over the Bennett family plot. The earliest burial appears to be from 1883, and we may take that as roughly the date of this monument.
