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Taphophilia (dot) Com...
A repository of morbid curiosities:
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The People, History, Art, and Lore of Cook County Cemeteries
By Matt Hucke And Ursula Bielski. Discover a Chicago That Exists Just Beneath the Surface - About Six Feet Under! Take a tour of Chicago's permanent residents! Please visit the Lake Claremont Press website to purchase your copy of Graveyards of Chicago today!
Green-Wood Cemetery Arcadia Publishing announces the release of Alexandra Mosca's historic account of one of New York's most famous cemeteries. Aracdia Publishing's Images of America series has an extensive catalog of many cemetery publications! Please visit Arcadia Publishing to purchase your copy of Green-Wood Cemetery and to browse other available titles!
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Epitaphs: The Magazine for Cemetery Lovers By Cemetery Lovers
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Guardians of the Soul: Angels and Innocents, Mourners and Saints, Indiana's remarkable cemetery sculpture
with photography by John Bower and foreword by Claude Cookman is now
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West Springfield Massachusetts: Stories Carved in Stone by Rusty Clark features information on early New England gravestone carvers with more than two hundred photos and illustrations. Please visit the Dog Pond Press website.
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Jim Davis Cared For Elm Grove With Pride |
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Written by DeadGirl
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Sunday, 25 December 2005 |
Jim Davis Cared For Elm Grove With Pride
By CAROL W. KIMBALL
Day Staff Columnist
Published on 12/12/2005
New London Day
Mystic, CT - Elm Grove Cemetery, established in 1853, is one of Mystic's landmarks. A prime piece of real estate located on the east bank of the Mystic River off Route 27, beautiful landscaping and stately trees make it one of the most attractive spots around. No wonder folks in Victorian times loved to spend Sundays strolling there among the sepulchers.
Elm Grove is a model of beauty, its lawns carefully trimmed and edged and every blade of grass in place among the ornate obelisks and monuments and simpler headstones that dot the grounds. Flower beds are neatly tended in season. Drive through the elegant 1892 archway along the winding avenues that replicate a huge elm tree and you know immediately that someone cares.
Elm Grove has an impressive Board of Trustees and a fine work crew to do the doing, but behind it all was the devotion and expertise of the superintendent, Jim Davis. Sadly, Jim is no longer on the job. He died Nov. 20 after a short illness.
Jim spent most of his life at Elm Grove. He went to work there in 1960 when he was 16 and became superintendent in 1994, when he moved into the big house built there by H.R. Douglas of New London in 1905. Through the years he learned so much about the people buried there that he was a virtual encyclopedia of Mystic history. And he had it all in his head. Last spring when a question arose about the spelling of Jerry Browne Road, I decided to ask Jim look up Jerry's records to see what was on his tombstone. When I phoned he said immediately, “I know just where he is buried, and his name on the stone is spelled B-r-o-w-n-e. But his grandparents are buried nearby and they spelled their name without the E.â€
Bill Peterson, a member of the Board of Trustees, met Jim when he got his first paying job on the crew at Elm Grove. He admired Jim's knowledge. “All you had to do was mention the name and you would get the exact location of that person's lot in the cemetery. Sometimes you would also get a bit of historical information he had tucked away in his memory about the person.†Bill Fish, another trustee, agrees. “James Davis knew more about Elm Grove than any one I know,†he says.
In spring 2004 Jim phoned me. He was disturbed because there was no stone on the grave of Miss Dorris Bindloss, his kindergarten teacher at Broadway School. He spearheaded a drive for funds from her former pupils for a beautiful stone. He designed it himself, with an appropriate sketch of a child's book, and hosted the ceremony for its dedication. No one but Jim would have thought of this.
Many of the unusual trees in Elm Grove were planted by one of Jim's predecessors, Henry Schroeder, who was superintendent for more than 50 years until his death in 1923. Horticultural groups often visit Elm Grove to see the rare specimens he planted. One of these was an unusual weeping copper beech, gigantic in size. A few years ago Jim noticed that this tree was ailing, and consulted experts at the University of Connecticut for treatment. When the tree eventually died, he saw that it was replaced by one of the same species.
He wanted everything at Elm Grove just right. Horace Lamb, another trustee, remembers the elaborate care Jim took of the ducks on the Lily Pond, feeding them and protecting them so that they did not stray into the river where they would be endangered.
Jim made Elm Grove a user-friendly place. Recently when some local cemeteries established rigid rules about grave decorations, a Day reporter interviewed him about decorations at Elm Grove. Jim said he believed that the family should place what they felt appropriate on the grave, and what would bring them comfort; he felt it was their decision. A visit to Elm Grove in the newer section shows many interesting and novel but pleasing decorations put there in loving memory. It's a very friendly place. To the south, dozens of small American flags wave in a section where many veterans are buried, adding a patriotic touch.
Jim was generous and big-hearted. Elm Grove is well-endowed with money and crew to care for it. But Jim reached out to other less fortunate burial grounds in the area. His crew cared for the ancient and historic Whitehall Cemetery, and on numerous occasions he lent his expertise to problems of another historic burial ground, Lower Mystic Cemetery, acting as consultant and supplying help when it was needed.
Jim was also a skilled craftsman. According to Bill Fish, he could start with a cherry tree, make furniture out of it and heat his home with the residue. “He could and did fix everything and at very little cost,†he added. “And of most importance, he knew how to make Elm Grove function as a cemetery and how to keep it one of America's most beautiful cemeteries, perpetually.â€
Jim Davis, the keeper of Elm Grove, made a difference in his community. He will be missed.
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