Kensico Cemetery

Kensico is one of the “The Big Four” cemeteries in the New York area. The other three are Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn (which I once visited for a concert in the chapel); Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx and Sleepy Hollow Cemetery with which I am very familiar as it’s just down the road from our house in Briarcliff Manor. Although Sleepy Hollow has its fair share of grand mausoleums it also has a very old section (The Old Dutch Burying Ground), which is at least 200 years older than anything at Kensico. Kensico, however, has a great variety of tombs, so many in a neo-classical style that while walking around I sometimes felt that I was in the Roman Forum, or walking around the Parthenon.

One of the entrances to Kensico Cemetery

Apart from my fascination with cemeteries it was this latter was what brought me to the ceremony. I wanted to find the final resting places of Sergei Rachmaninoff (because I like his music) as well as a that of Danny Kaye (UNICEF‘s first Goodwill Ambassador. I worked for UNICEF for about 38 years). I failed on both counts. After walking around for about three hours, following the map I couldn’t find either of them. By this time, I was hungry, tired and my feet hurt. I sat down for a couple of minutes and took a look at the Find a Grave website, which has GPS Co-ordinates for graves. From this I discovered that there was no way that could ever have found these graves using the map, because the map is just wrong: the graves are not in the locations marked by the map. Now I know where they are I guess I’ll have to go back again.

While it’s a pleasant enough cemetery with its open landscapes, attractive mausoleums, nice statuary etc. it’s not one of my favorites. I tend to prefer older cemeteries, where the old, crumbling gravestones are packed tightly together. There’s certainly a lot of space at Kensico Cemetery.

The Community Mausoleum was built in 1924 to offer above-ground burials – presumably for those who didn’t want or couldn’t afford their own above-ground mausoleums.

According to Rootsweb

This mausoleum was erected in 1924 to replace the original Receiving Tomb. Architect Sidney Lovell styled the building after twelfth-century gothic churches of northern Europe. At the time of its dedication in 1925, the building design was described as Tudor Gothic. The mausoleum was erected with permanence, as well as grandeur, in mind. The exterior is pink Etouah marble from Georgia. The interior is white marble from Alabama. Massive cast bronze doors mark the entrance to the mausoleum and private chapel area. In fact, all the doors, windows and gates in the mausoleum are made of or framed in bronze. The community mausoleum houses a small chapel, 292 crypts, 68 niches and two private rooms.

According to Douglas Keister:

William Van Duzer Lawrence was born on a farm outside Elmira, New York. His parents, Robert D. Lawrence and Catherine Van Duzer Lawrence, both came from prominent Dutch-American families. At age 19, William went to work in the family’s pharmaceutical business and quickly rose through the ranks. He amassed a considerable fortune in both the pharmaceutical and real estate business. At the turn of the nineteenth century, he built a suburban housing development called Lawrence Park in Bronxville, New York. The development catered to the upper middle class, and because of its semirural setting, it was attractive to established painters, sculptors, and literary types. The artistic aura of the place must have rubbed off on Lawrence. In later life, he started making contributions to a variety of institutions. His most well known outpouring of wealth was in 1926 when he founded Sarah Lawrence College after the death of his wife, Sarah Lawrence (1846-1925). The centerpiece of his large plot at Kensico is a semicircular low neo-Gothic wall with a throne-like arch. The plot is peppered with the graves of members of the extended Lawrence family.

A rather “exotic” tomb!

“This one-of-a-kind mausoleum is the resting place of prolific silent film director J.Gordon Edwards. Canadian-born Edwards was one of the most prominent movie directors in the silent film era. He began his career as a stage actor and director and then in 1914, he made his film debut as director of St. Elmo. Not long after his debut, he became a director at Fox Film Corporation (Fox merged with Twentieth-Century Pictures in 1935 to become Twentieth-Century Fox). From St. Elmo in 1914 until his last film, It is the Law, in 1924, Edwards directed over 50 films. He is best known for directing the original Cleopatra in 1917, The Queen of Sheba in 1921, which contained an enormous chariot race and for all of Theda Bara‘s films from 1916 to 1919 (including her most noted role in Cleopatra). Theda Bara said that Edwards was the kindest director she had ever worked with.
Edward’s wife, Angela, commissioned the mausoleum some years after Edwards death, and it is an homage to the exotic high-production period films Edwards directed. The twin minarets were originally wired for electricity. Inside the mausoleum are a number of movie props, including chairs and a tiger-skin rug. Often Angela would visit the mausoleum and read while seated in one of the chairs. When she died in 1965, she directed that she be cremated and her ashes be mingled with her husband’s. Their ashes are sealed in one of the crypts, which is inscribed with the last line (Canto XXXIII, line 145) of The Divine Comedy Part III Paradiso by Dante Alighieri: “L’amor che move il sole e l’altre stele” (“The Love which moves the sun and the other stars”). Gordon Edwards was the step grandfather of director Blake Edwards (July 26, 1922 – December 15, 2010). Stories in Stone. New York. A Field Guide in New York City Area Cemeteries and their residents. By Douglas Keister.”

The most prominent grave markers (i.e. the two directly in front of the cross) are for James Irving Raymond and his wife Grace Clark Adams.

According to America’s Successful Men of Affairs: The city of New York, edited by Henry Hall, page 533.

James Irving Raymond, head of the importing house of A.A. Vantine & Co., was born in Bedford, Westchester county, N.Y. August 23, 1843. His father was Edward Raymond, a prosperous farmer. The boy attended the public schools and academy of his native town and spent his time, not needed for study, in the work of the farm. In 1864, he came to New York city to enter commercial life, equipped with a good education and a determination to merit success. His first and only engagement was with the house of A.A. Vantine & Co. Here, he applied himself earnestly, studying the details of the extended business of the firm and evincing a rectitude and capability, which soon brought promotion. In a 1875 he became a partner. After the death of Mr. Vantine, founder of the business, Mr. Raymond purchased the entire interest. He is now the sole owner of an unequaled establishment. The house has been and is today the greatest of the kind in the United States, making a specialty of the finest rugs and other goods of China, Japan, Turkey, India and other Oriental countries. A retail and wholesale business is done, extending to every section of the country and requiring representatives in nearly all the markets of Europe and Asia. While Mr. Raymond is personally of modest and retiring temperament, the fame of his business is world wide and the reputation of the house for solidity and exact business methods is enviable. In 1875, Mr. Raymond married Grace, daughter of Col. John Quincy Adams of Brooklyn, the union resulting in one son, Irving Edward Raymond, now eighteen years of age and preparing for a collegiate course. Mr. Raymond is a member of the Presbyterian church and lives in Stamford, Conn., in a home which exemplifies all which is artistic and tasteful. He is a member of the Union League club and the Stock Exchange, and a director of the New York Real Estate Trust Co.

Curiously, Vantines was acquired in the 1920s by Arnold Rothstein, a gangster, as a front for his drug dealings.

In the mid-1920s, Arnold Rothstein saw illegal drugs as an untapped field, one that could be developed and profited from. The drug traffic was unorganized and there was little competition on the level Rothstein chose to enter. In fact, the only competition at that time was provided by unethical doctors. Rothstein’s plan was to purchase and sell in quantities so large that no one could compete with him. He could regulate supply and demand on an international basis. In 1923, a kilo of heroin, 2.2 pounds, could be purchased for $2,000. It could then be cut and resold for $300,000.
Rothstein’s interest in narcotics was strictly for wholesaling. He would need a network to sell the drugs and the rum running and bootlegging market already in existence would serve as his pipeline. Lucky Luciano and Waxey Gordon were in place in New York City and New Jersey. The Torrio – Capone Empire was interested in Chicago. Charles “King” Soloman was ready in Boston, as well as Harry “Nig Rosen” Stromberg in Philadelphia. In addition, mobsters in Detroit, Kansas City and St. Louis showed an interest.
Among the buyers Rothstein decided to do business with was Jacob Katzenberg, who was already serving the New York mob as a liquor buyer in Europe.
When Katzenberg teamed up with Rothstein in 1926, they began purchasing from European sources. Rothstein purchased “Vantines,” a well-established importing house in New York City. The importing house had an excellent reputation and was known as a legitimate enterprise. When shipments arrived for them, customs officials gave their merchandise only a cursory search. Vantine’s would become a perfect front for the smuggling operation. Rothstein also owned several art galleries and antique shops that would also serve as fronts.
Source: Later in Vantine’s History.

James Irving Raymond must have been turning in his grave!

The cross itself bears an attractive floral decoration of passionflowers (symbolizing Christ’s Passion, Redemption and Crucifixion).

According to Doug Keister:

…the corona ends in thorns reminiscent of Christ’s crown of thorns, the white color of the flower reflects his innocence, the stamen and stigma represent the nails that were driven through his hands and feet, and the tendrils represent the whips.

Another tomb with a touch of exoticism. The name on it is “Landon” and so far I haven’t been able to discover any additional information about it’s inhabitant.

Doublas Keister’s Stories in Stone. New York. A Field Guide to New York City Area Cemeteries and their residents identifies this architectural style as ‘Egyptian Revival’ and goes on to describe it as follows:

… another tomb style of antiquity, Egyptian, is perhaps the most funerary of all architecture. After all, almost all architecture in ancient Egypt had something to do with death and the afterlife.
American cemeteries have often had a schizophrenic attitude toward Egyptian Revival architecture because of its pagan roots. However, in the New York City area with its diverse population, there doesn’t seem to be any particular aversion to the Egyptian Revival Style.
Almost every Egyptian Revival tomb is adorned with a pair of vulture wings sprouting from a circle (symbolizing the sun) and flanked by twin cobras (symbolizing death). Often a pair of male sphinxes (female sphinxes are Greek) guards the entry to the tomb. Above the entry to the tomb, and usually circling the entire tomb, is an architectural element called a ‘cavetto cornice’ (flared with curve). Other hallmarks of Egyptian Revival architecture are the tapered (battered) entry and hieroglyphics. Since Egyptian architecture doesn’t make use of the strength of arches or tapering columns, its dimensions are quite massive and provide strength, the walls of the Egyptian temple-style mausoleums taper in about 70 degrees.
To soften the pagan demeanor, designers of Egyptian Revival tombs often add selected Christian symbols and statues in front of or on the tomb as ell as religious-themed stained glass windows.

The Landon tomb has many of the elements mentioned above: vulture wings, sun disk and cobras; pair of male sphinxes; massive construction; tapered walls. (Note: some of these are not visible in the above picture.).

The cemetery has lots of other Egyptian-style architecture including pyramids and obelisks.

At first I was somewhat confused as to what this impressive structure was. “Mecca Temple”, sphinx’s, lotus blossoms – not something you see a lot of in Westchester, NY.

Eventually I figured it out. It was the “A.A.O.N” that gave it away. It stands for “Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine” otherwise known as the ‘Shriners‘

Apparently it was common Masonic groups to give themselves fictitious histories. The following describes such a history, once (but not longer) used by the Shriners:

The Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine was founded in the city of Mecca, Arabia A.D. 656, by Mohammedan Kalif, Alee, son-in-law of Mohammed. It was originally organized as an inquisition for the purpose of suppressing lawlessness, violence and the disregard for human rights, at that time running high in Arabia.
The order spread rapidly and its temples were soon established in all the great centers of population in the east, numbering among its members many of the eminent men of learning and social and political prominence, while the influence for good exhaled by the order was far reaching. Moslem in origin, the order even to the present day has been characterized in its ceremonies by the beautiful imagery of the oriental customs, while its spirit of religious toleration has departed from the old Mohammedan principle of subverting all other beliefs to that of Mohammedanism.
The authority to establish the order in America was conferred on Dr. Walter M. Fleming, by Rizk Allah Hassoon Effendee in New York in 1872, since which time the order has grown to nearly 100 temples and a membership far above 60,000.
The story is related of a member of Mecca temple, of New York, who, a number of years ago, was consul from this country to Tunis. There it chanced that he became acquainted with an Arab pasha, who on occasion saw the fez and its decorations of scimitar, crescent and star in the consul’s apartment. He recognized them at once, and it developed that there is now among the Arabs the same order, with symbols preserved from the original organization of Mecca, though Arab and American are far apart in other things. So struck was the pasha with the incident that he soon presented to the consul a large quantity of scimitars, robes and other paraphernalia saying that each had “seen service,” and that they were genuine Arab weapons and accoutrements. This gift was promptly forwarded to Mecca temple, and now the visitor to the armory of the New York Shriners may see an outfit, some parts of which are centuries old.”
-Source: The TrestleBoard, a California based Masonic periodical. May 1904

The medallion on the left column represents Walter Millard Fleming, co-founder (with William J. Conlin also known by his stage name of William J.Florence) of the Shriners.

Mackey’s Encyclopedia of Freemasonry provides additional information:

Walter Millard Fleming established the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine in the United States. In 1867 Brother William J. Florence made a trip to the Old World and is reported to have secured there useful information for the introduction and establishment of the Shrine.
When he returned to the United States with all the data obtainable he communicated the particulars to Doctor Fleming, and thereby after further consultation with Brother Charles T. McClenachan and other able Masonic ritualists, they prepared the way to establish the Shrine in the United States. On June 16, 1871, Doctor Fleming, assisted by Brother Florence, conferred the Degrees upon four Knights Templar and seven members of Aurora Grata Consistory, Thirty-second Degree, and September 96, 1872, the organization was effected and officers elected.
Doctor Fleming was born on June 13, 1838, in Portland, Maine, and died at Mount Vernon, New York, September 9, 1913, being buried in Kensico Cemetery. He was a prominent medical man; joined the Masonic Fraternity February 13, 1869; was raised in Rochester Lodge No. 660 of Rochester, New York. He removed his office and residence to New York City and associated himself with Aurora Grata Lodge of Perfection in 1870; received the Degrees of the Consistory up to and including the Thirty-second Degree on May 31, 1871, and was given, on September 19, 1872, his Thirty-third Degree. December 3, 1872, he affiliated with New York Lodge, No. 330, of New York City, he having demitted from his Rochester Lodge. He was exalted in Lafayette Chapter, No. 207, Royal Arch Masons; became a member of Adelphic Council, No. 7, Royal and Select Masters; was knighted in Columbia Commandery No. 1, Knights Templar of New York City, March 19, 1872, and was unanimously elected Eminent Commander at the succeeding Conclave, April 15, 1872, which office he retained four successive years. He founded and served as Illustrious Potentate the Mecca Temple, originally named Gotham, which was the first Temple established by the Shrine.
Mecca Temple received its Charter on September 26, 1872, and Brother Fleming held his original office from the time of its inception until December, 1887. Re was elected Grand Imperial Potentate at the first Session of the Imperial Grand Council of the Order, June 6, 1876, and retained this office until June 14, 1886. The name Grand was after a time dropped.

The medallion on the right column reads: “Erected by the members of Mecca Temple A.A.O.N mystic shrine. To the memory of Augustus Winniett Peters 33. Born June 10, 1844, died December 29, 1898. Potentate of Mecca Temple December 1887 – December 1898. First President of the Borough of Manhattan.

The initial letters: Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine form an anagram of “A Mason”.

This is the only pyramid on the property. It’s distinctive shape easily identifies an Egyptian influence and reflects the fascination that people had at the turn of the last century with other cultures.

According to “Find a Grave” at least fifteen Pinkneys are associated with the mausoleum. Take your pick. The earliest is William Townsend Pinkney who died on 25 May, 1865.

His obituary in the New York Times reads:

Mr. WILLIAM T. PINCKNEY, President of the Astor Fire Insurance Company, died at his residence, No. 39 West Thirty-eighth-street, on Sunday morning, after a brief attack of paralysis. Mr. PINCKNEY was an old and highly respected resident of the Seventh Ward. He was formerly one of the Governors of the Alms-house, and was for many years an officer of the Board of Education and Free Academy. The funeral ceremonies will take place at the Church of the Holy Trinity, to-day, at 3:30 P.M. The remains will be deposited in the Marble Cemetery, Second-street.

A wonderful example of the architectural influence of ancient Rome. The gravesite in the name of Bell is on a rise with dignified steps leading to the decorative door. The rounded shape of the mausoleum and the pediment above the entrance are clearly derived from Roman architecture. This is the largest mausoleum in Kensico in terms of square footage.

It’s the mausoleum of Henry Hillary Bell (1857 to 190d). According to his obituary (as found as an image on his entry on the Find a Grave website):

Hillary Bell, the famous dramatic and music critic of the New York Press, dropped dead suddenly last Thursday evening. His death was due to a heart failure, although previous to Wednesday he was in good health. On Thursday afternoon Mr. Bell had been writing some gossip for the press which read:
“This year Charles Frohman has all …ed (? unreadable) to Father Henry. Father Henry then recommended a girl. She was selected by Mr. Bell, who asked her to come to his home at once. She had to get her baggage, which was in the Barge Office, and Mr. Bell accompanied her. Just as the baggage was being carried to a desk in the Barge Office Mr. Bell reeled as if fainting. Before he could be helped, he had fallen on the floor, dead. He had given no sign that he was ill.
When his death was announced, his many friends among the newspaper men were greatly shocked and grieved. He had among his admirers and intimates many editors throughout the country.
Hillary Bell was born near Belfast, Ireland in 1857. He was educated by private tutors, studied art, and came to the United States. At first, he worked as a portrait painter with much success.
In 1888 he married Miss Rita Ireland, and soon afterward entered newspaper work, devoting himself principally to dramatic criticism.
Mr. Bell became editor of the Home Journal, of New York. His style attracted the attention of the management of the London Era, and he became its American correspondent. His analytical article on Richard Mansfield’s Nero led to his engagement on the New York Press.
He became interested in life insurance and became connected with the Mutual Reserve Life Insurance Company. He was made finally an officer and director in the corporation.
Later he formed a syndicate of western newspapers, to which he contributed regularly on dramatic topics. At the same time he found opportunity, by “economizing the minutes”, as he used to express it, to become the editor of a publication devoted to insurance interests.

A Druid cross of Cape Ann made of granite marks the grave of Judge John Fitch. He was the first person to be buried in Kensico Cemetery. He was interred in 1890 and his monument was unveiled on November 12th of that year. Two hundred members of the Sons of the Revolution, along with other dignitaries, traveled by chartered train from Grand Central Depot in New York City to Kensico for the occasion. A banquet followed at a historic house on the grounds of Kensico.

Bertha Marion Reese Aiken is interred here. Other than her date of birth (19 Feb 1863) and the date she died (2 Nov 1930) I’ve not so far been able to discover any additional information. She was married to Friend M. Aiken, who is also interred in this Mausoleum. Again, I’ve found little information about him, other than the year of his birth (1855), the year he died (1929), and that he seems to have had some trouble with the IRS (If indeed this is the same Friend M. Aiken, a not too common name, See: Aiken v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue – Casetext

I liked the look of the mausoleum, and it has some colorful stained glass.

Assorted Statuary

Assorted Mausoleums

Kensico Cemetery isn’t all large mausoleums and fancy statuary. There are also large number of plain gravestones, all looking pretty much the same.

The Administration Building

Kensico Cemetery was founded in 1889 as a rural cemetery. Its proximity to the New York Central Railroad provided easy access for funeral parties coming from Manhattan. The administration building served as a private railroad station for the exclusive use of lot owners. Kensico remained a regular stop on the railroad until the early 1980’s when the line was electrified north of White Plains. The Queen Anne style building still features the original arched windows, reception area, and ticket office and remains a symbol of welcome to arrivals.

Purveyors of Monuments and Memorials

I don’t think these businesses are part of the cemetery, but they certainly provide important support to those who have lost their loved ones.

Lunch in New York City

A Visit to New Hamburg