You Can't Get Blood from a Stone, But You Can Get Tears

In Riverside Cemetery in Wichita Falls, Texas, stands the statue of a young woman descending a staircase. Witnesses say that the statue, on occasion, weeps.

"I saw what looked like a tear," said Julie Coley, a genealogist who has meticulously recorded the graves of Riverside Cemetery, where the girl's statue stands.

"It was a tear stain on her right cheek. I've gone back many times since in all kinds of weather and all times of day. I've never seen the statue cry again."

Of course, you can't have a spooky gravestone story without a tragic, fictional back story.

It was on her wedding day, dressed in her flowing dress, that she tripped on her train and fell down the mansion's stairs, her young life cut short by a broken neck - or so some say. [Link]

The true story? She died of typhoid in Detroit.

Haunting Found Wanting

The story goes that 6-year-old Inez Clarke was locked out of her house by her parents on the night of Aug. 1, 1880, for being a naughty girl. She was promptly struck by lightning. Her guilt-ridden parents claimed she had died of tuberculosis, and had her buried in Chicago's Graceland Cemetery beneath a lifelike marble statue. Little Inez has been haunting the cemetery ever since.

A great story, if only Inez Clarke had existed.

"Based on cemetery records there's no such person buried in that grave," Al [Walavich] says.

He's even looked up U.S. Census records from the 1800s and found "no indication that such a child ever existed."

There's even an affidavit from Inez's "supposed mother" issued in 1910 -- 30 years after the child's death -- that claims the Clarkes had two daughters, both of whom were still living at the time. The document also stated neither parent had any other children, Walavich says.

"And the most telling fact was that one of the Clarke family [relatives] had been in touch with cemetery about statue and grave. When asked who Inez was, she said, 'I have no idea, but isn't it a lovely statue,'" he says. "It's kind of hard to have a haunting when the supposed person never really existed." [Link]

An 8-year-old boy, Amos Briggs, is actually buried beneath the statue. Walavich suspects that the intricately carved statue was an advertisement for its maker, Andrew Gage.

[Photo credit: Inez Clark in Her Plexiglass Case by Richie Diesterheft]

He's Small, but He Has No Decency!

One of the most beloved landmarks in Brussels is the Manneken Pis—a 24-inch-tall bronze statue of a naked boy peeing. Whom the statue depicts depends on which story you believe.

The most common explanation (and one that is found on a wall plaque near the Pis) is a slightly twisted family story. A man lost his little son in the big city. The man searched high and low, but for two days, his son wasn’t to be found. Then, finally, he found his son — right as the boy was relieving himself on a street corner. So grateful was the man that he commissioned a statue of the boy just as he found him. [Link]

Another possible explanation identifies the boy as two-year-old Duke Godfrey II of Leuven, who was placed in a basket and hung from a tree during a battle in 1142, but managed to repel the enemy forces by tinkling on them.

Yet another version goes like this:

In the 14th century, Brussels was under siege by a foreign power. The city had held their ground for quite some time. The attackers had thought of a plan to place explosive charges at the city walls. A little boy named Juliaanske from Brussels happened to be spying on them as they were preparing. He urinated on the burning fuse and thus saved the city. [Link]

Check out his official website, or this panoramic view of the Manneken, but "Be careful! He's small … but he has no decency!"

The Founding Father of Surfin' USA

George Freeth, whose mother was native Hawaiian, brought the sport of surfing from Hawaii to Southern California 100 years ago this Sunday.

Freeth came to Venice on July 22nd, 1907 at age 24 and by the end of the month, it was reported in the news that a Hawaiian was riding the waves on a board on the north end of Venice.

As if it weren't enough to bring what later would become the cultural phenomenon of surfing to Southern California's shores, Freeth is also revered as a pioneering lifeguard. [Link]

A statue at Redondo Beach Pier also gives Freeth credit for inventing the "torpedo shaped rescue buoy that is now used world wide." If not for George Freeth, a lot more people would have drowned on Baywatch.

The Great Father Was Not Decapitated

Anne Heyward remembers visiting the grave of her ancestor Thomas Heyward, Jr.—a signer of the Declaration of Independence—when she was a young girl.

Her first memory of visiting Heyward's graveside was in 1941. "My sister and I were very impressed," said Anne, 71. "We decided to call him 'The Great Father.' That night after we got home, our parents realized we thought the (bust) was his real head and they had buried the rest of him -- all except his real head. We had never seen a statue before." [Link]

No Limitation on Statues

This is what happens when you give the memorial company a blank check.

Davis was friends with a local tombstone salesman named Horace England, and together the two men designed a memorial consisting of life-size marble statues of John and Sarah as they looked on their 50th wedding anniversary. The statues would stand at the foot of the graves and face the headstones; the cemetery plot would also be protected from the elements by a 50-ton marble canopy supported by six massive columns.

Completed in 1931, the Davis memorial was easily the most impressive in Hiawatha, probably in the entire state. And yet when Davis got a look at it he felt something was missing. The giant stone canopy dwarfed the pair of statues beneath it. The solution? More statues.

[Photo credit: Davis Memorial by Frank Thompson]

Her Ancestors Were Norse, of Course

Carrie Heiser has erected a 6-foot-tall, 800-pound bust of Leif Erikson's grandfather beside her driveway in Duvall, Washington.

Heiser's great-grandfather, Olafur Einarson, made the family's genealogical connection back to Olafur the White during a trip back to Iceland in 1899, she said. He searched through historical records in his hometown of Hafursa, and Heiser's uncle made copies of his research for the rest of the family.

Heiser's three children, ages 13, 17 and 26, didn't initially share her zeal for family history.

"They make fun of my Viking things," the Seattle-born Heiser said. "But now, with Olafur out there, they're intrigued. It put a face to this story I've been telling them." [Link]

Town Could Use Hughes Museum

Yesterday was the 50th wedding anniversary of Howard Hughes and Jean Peters, who were secretly married Jan. 12, 1957, at the L&L Motel in Tonopah, Nevada. The motel has been demolished, but residents want to erect a statue of the lovebirds nearby.

The group led by Tonopah businessman Bob Perchetti also is pursuing plans to open a Howard Hughes Museum and Wedding Chapel across the street from the motel that was razed about 18 months ago.

"It'll be a life-size statue of Howard Hughes and Jean Peters looking into each other's eyes and appearing as they did when they got married," Perchetti said. "We think it's finally time to recognize Howard Hughes in Tonopah." [Link]

This is how Hughes appeared after he got married. That's why I'm remaining a bachelor.

Not a Statuesque First Lady

A statue of Julia Dent Grant—wife of President Ulysses S. Grant—erected in Galena, Illinois, is receiving tepid reviews. The man who conceived of the tribute thinks the head should be "lopped off and redone," and the locals, too, are unimpressed.

They complain that the statue is imposing, unshapely and out of proportion, with a head that is too big and arms that are too small. Around town, the popular nickname for the statue is "Mrs. Butterworth," because it resembles the matronly shaped bottle of that brand of syrup.

Great-great-grandson Ulysses Grant Dietz thinks his stocky, cross-eyed, slave-owning ancestor deserves better.

Dietz said his ancestor was a warm person with a sunny personality whose support was crucial to her husband's success. None of that shines through in the statue, Dietz said. "It didn't strike me as a statue that was either flattering or beautiful in itself and possibly not the best way to honor her," he said. [Link]

Commemorating Khan

The Embassy of Mongolia and the Mongolian Community Association in Washington, D.C., want to erect a monument to that most prolific of conquerors, Genghis Khan.

Michael Johnson of the D.C. Office on Planning said that the groups, like any others wishing to erect a statue on city land, must apply to the agency's Commemorative Works Committee with detailed plans and designs. He said "greater weight" usually is given to honorees with a local connection but declined to comment on Genghis Khan. [Link]

Should We Learn to Love Lawn Jockeys?

The lawn jockeys I see these days are generally of fair complexion, but the statues had a darker past. Before tonight, I wasn't aware of an effort to rehabilitate these supposed symbols of servility.

Museum curator Charles L. Blockson, the great-grandson of a slave who escaped to Canada on the Underground Railroad, has been trying for two decades to rewrite the history of the lawn jockey on the basis of two stories so good they're just begging to be refuted.

[I]n 1983, while retracing his ancestor's journey on the underground railroad, Blockson made a startling discovery: A lawn jockey had shepherded slaves to freedom.

In a 1984 National Geographic cover story on the underground railroad, Blockson told how the wife of U.S. District Judge Benjamin Piatt had tied a flag to a lawn jockey as a signal to fleeing slaves that it was safe to stop there.

Blockson also came across the Revolutionary War legend of Jocko. The story goes that a 9-year-old New Jersey farm boy named Jocko sneaked out of his house to find his father, a freed slave who had enlisted with George Washington's army.

The boy wound up in an encampment on Christmas Eve, before Washington's crossing of the Delaware. Waiting for his father's return, the boy volunteered to care for the general's horse during a blizzard. The next morning, Washington discovered that the boy had frozen to death, his hands still clinging to the horse's reins. [Link]

Washington was so moved by Jocko's sacrifice that he commissioned a tacky lawn ornament handsome statue of the faithful, frozen groomsman for his estate at Mount Vernon.

Of course, all the web references to the Underground Railroad story trace back to Blockson and no further. And a spokesman for the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati has said that "there is no truth to the idea that lawn jockeys were used as part of the Underground Railroad." And the folks at Mount Vernon call the Jocko story "apocryphal." But I will withhold judgment until I've read Blockson's 1984 NG article, "Escape From Slavery: The Underground Railroad." Only then will I decide that I don't believe him.

[Photo source: Lawn Jockey Love (license)]

Celtic Musicians Left Reeling

There was a downside to finding the real Annie Moore. Some people in Texas learned that they'd memorialized the wrong Annie Moore.

The news left an Irish-culture group in Texas reeling. The Southwest Celtic Music Association dedicated a statue to their Annie Moore last March at the North Texas Irish Festival.

But that Annie Moore was actually born in Illinois, according to [Megan] Smolenyak's research.

"It's too bad we got it wrong," said Jim Miller, the festival's spokesman. "I don't know what we can do about it now. It's unfortunate." [Link]

The festival website now has a retraction and apology.

Salem Statue Slanderer Sues

Richard Sorell is suing the police department in Salem, Massachusetts, for violating his civil rights. He was arrested last year while protesting the unveiling of the less-than-historically-significant statue honoring the lead character of Bewitched.

Sorell, a local tour guide, was upset that a statue of Elizabeth Montgomery perched on a broom was erected so close to where innocent people were condemned to death during the Salem Witch Trials.

Sorell brought a homemade sign to the statue's unveiling in June 2005 that read "Elizabeth Who? Is she from Salem?" When he realized his sign couldn't be seen by television cameras, Sorell tried to move closer to the front of the crowd and was arrested after police said he nearly knocked over a 71-year-old woman. [Link]

I'm descended from two of the Salem "witches," and my research shows that neither of them wore sleeveless dresses.

Witnesses to Witnesses to History Witnessed in N.C.

From The (Nags Head, N.C.) Outer Banks Sentinel of Dec. 17, 2005:

Wright Memorial unveils new statues

BY CHARLEY BUNYEA, SENTINEL STAFF

The national memorial of the first powered flight in history is now complete and forever frozen in time as three new statues were unveiled at the Wright Brothers National Memorial on Friday.

"Forever memorialized and captured in bronze is that one 500th of a second when flight was first achieved," said US Coast Guard Chaplain Rob Heckathorne during the ceremony.

More than 50 descendents of the four individuals who witnessed the first flight were present to see their distant relatives immortalized in bronze.

[snip]

[Read the whole story]

tags: genealogy, family history, family tree