Death is certainly worthwhile if the reward of it is this ideal romantic landscape.
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Pond in the Allegheny Cemetery
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Egyptian Revival
The style of architecture called Egyptian Revival had its heyday in the 1920s. In Pittsburgh it is almost always associated with death: we find it especially in mausoleums and in memorial dealers. The style always teeters on the edge of kitsch unless, as here, it is handled with restraint and taste. The setting of this mausoleum, under the shade of mighty trees, gives it a calm dignity it probably didn’t have when it was built.
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Tombstones of the Romantic Era
“Romantic” is a vague term, but in the Allegheny Cemetery there is a certain class of tombstones for which no other adjective seems appropriate. Asymmetry and an imitation in stone of forms from the vegetable kingdom are their distinguishing traits.
The Wilkins family monument crosses the line from simple romanticism into morbid romanticism. It depicts the Wilkins family as a tree trunk, with each deceased member as a branch cut off from the trunk. The metaphor, if carried to its logical conclusion, suggests that the family is extinct, leaving nothing but a dead stump. But someone must have paid for that monument, which is really quite colossal in person.
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Memorial of Oliver Ormsby
The Ormsby family were early settlers in the little town of Pittsburgh, coming here in 1768, when their son Oliver was only about a year old. Oliver spent the rest of his life here, and was buried in Trinity Churchyard with a memorial that shows how much wealth he had accumulated in that time. The inscription reads thus:
ERECTED
To the Memory of
OLIVER ORMSBY
Son of John Ormsby
born at Bedford, Pa. Feb. 23, 1767
removed in 1768 to Pittsburgh where he
resided until the period of his decease
the 28th of July A.D. 1832,
leaving to his afflicted family
(who were prematurely bereaved by an
all wise Providence of a devoted father)
a character of unblemished Purity
a fountain flowing with streams
of the noblest virtues for their instruction.
O best of Parents
Long for thee thy Children’s tears shall flow.
Long shall their bosoms heave with woe.
But thanks to our Almighty Father
we mourn not as those without hope
looking with the eyes of faith
for a reunion of our once happy family
in the regions of bliss,
where the spirits of the dust are perfected
through Christ Jesus our Lord. -
Trinity Churchyard
Pittsburgh’s earliest settlers are buried downtown in the churchyard of Trinity Cathedral, the Episcopal cathedral of Pittsburgh (or at least the cathedral of some Anglican diocese, though which one may be up in the air right now). Next door is First Presbyterian, another colonial-era congregation, and across the street is the Duquesne Club, forming a perfect triangle of old money.
Trinity Churchyard is half a block up Sixth Avenue from the Wood Street subway station.
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A Stroll through Allegheny Cemetery
A short stroll in the snow through an enchanted landscape filled with fantastic temples, angels, and cold beauties with warm hearts.
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I Love You, Lillian Russell
Lillian Russell may be the most celebrated beauty in the history of the United States.
Her fourth and last husband was a Pittsburgh newspaperman, which earned her a mausoleum in the Allegheny Cemetery. On Valentine’s Day, someone left glass pebbles spelling out “I love you” in front of the door.
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Dead, but Still Busy
Mr. O’Neill is possibly the only resident of the Allegheny Cemetery who is still working at a desk job post mortem. Eugene O’Neill is buried nearby, but not any Eugene O’Neill you know.
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Lilies
Easter lilies, symbolic of the resurrection, rendered in stained glass at the rear of a mausoleum in the Allegheny Cemetery. -
Among the Angels
Two angels from the Allegheny Cemetery, where angels are understandably a popular theme in sculpture.