J.D.R. Hawkins

One bullet can make a man a hero… or a casualty.

Archive for the tag “Marie Laveau”

What the Dead Can Teach Us

Elmwood 2

This may sound a bit morbid, but I love exploring old cemeteries. In my opinion, the older, the better. One of my favorites is Elmwood Cemetery in Memphis. A person can learn a lot about that city’s history, just from walking around. There is a section for Confederate soldiers, including some officers, another area filled with small pox victims from the epidemic in 1873, and a slave section, where most slaves didn’t even receive the honor of a headstone. The ornate, Victorian headstones and monuments are beautiful and sad. One that stands out to me is an empty swing, which is near the grave of a child.

Swing

Author Shelby Foote, who wrote volumes on the Civil War and was featured in Ken Burns’ documentary, is buried there. He was so enthralled with Nathan Bedford Forrest and the Forrest family that he requested to be buried near them. He got his wish.

http://www.elmwoodcemetery.org

New-Orleans-St-Louis-cemetery-no-1-tombs

Another fascinating place to visit the dead is in New Orleans. The graves in the cemeteries are all above ground because the sea level is so high. Many graves were washed into the sea before people placed the deceased in mausoleums.

Marie

One fascinating character buried in St. Louis Cemetery #1 in New Orleans is none other than the Voodoo Queen herself, Marie Laveau. The crypt where she is buried is usually covered with trinkets, charms and Mardi Gras beads. This cemetery is believed to be the most haunted cemetery in the country.

celtic-crosses-in-an-old-irish-cemetery-mark-e-tisdale

Some of the oldest cemeteries are, of course, in Europe. I have seen several Irish graveyards, and I think they are profoundly beautiful. Filled with Celtic crosses, these old cemeteries are certainly filled with ghosts, too. I’d love to be able to hear some of their stories.

Irish Cemetery

Here in Colorado, there are many old cemeteries as well. Some consist of the graves of miners, who came here looking for fortune, but instead, found sickness and poverty. The Gold Camp Victorian Society dresses in period clothing and provides tours of the Mount Pisgan Cemetery near Cripple Creek. An interesting stop on the tour is the headstone of Fred E. Krueger. No, not the horror character, but a mere 15-year-old boy who died of mysterious causes in 1897.

Fred

https://gazette.com/premium/the-mysterious-headstone-of-fred-e-krueger-found-west-of/article_d76db5d6-ee9f-11e9-a5a1-572389059672.html

Many take it upon themselves to provide the upkeep of these national treasures. My husband’s SCV camp cleans up a small cemetery in Horn Lake, Mississippi every year. I think it’s crucial that we respect and revere these honored dead. They are an important part of this country’s history, and of our own history as well.

Crescent City Confederates (Part 2)

Nearly everyone has heard of the famous cemeteries that exist in New Orleans. These graveyards are unique and unusual in that all the graves are above ground. In other words, the deceased are all entombed. This is because the Big Easy is below sea level, and the graves would inevitably be washed away at some point. Various tombs are so old that they are decaying, while others are so elaborate that they resemble miniature churches complete with stained glass windows.

One of the most famous cemeteries in New Orleans is St. Louis Cemetery #1, which is located in the French Quarter. The infamous Voodoo practitioner, Marie Laveau, is buried there. Another famous cemetery, the Lafayette Cemetery in the Garden District, is where the author Ann Rice based her vampire novels. But I discovered another interesting cemetery that isn’t visited by tourists: the Metairie Cemetery.

In this cemetery is a fascinating mausoleum which holds the remains of forty-eight Civil War veterans. Dedicated to the Army of Tennessee, the Confederates are watched over by a statue of a soldier on his steed, and another standing guard with his musket in hand.

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