The Glowing Tombstone of Pittsburgh

Tombstone of Giovanna Cecere
Photo by Find-a-Grave user, Roseanne Kocinski-Fowler

Giovanna Cecere was born on June 23, 1929 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to parents Mr. and Mrs. Frank Cecere. She was one of at least seven children. Unfortunately, a heart condition would end her life far too soon. She passed away on October 27, 1948 at the age of 19 and was buried in St. Michael's Cemetery. But, she would not rest in peace for long.

On Friday, July 31, 1953, hundreds of curiosity seekers flocked to the cemetery to catch a glimpse of a spectacular sight. A few days before, Mrs. Germaine Woods of 117 St. Paul Street, noticed something strange. It was an eerie yellow-green glow, coming from a tombstone in St. Michael's. That tombstone would, obviously, turn out to be that of Giovanna Cecere. As word spread about the strange phenomena, a throng of onlookers began arriving, and police were called in to help control the situation. That night, Police Inspector Paul Mozuch showed up to control the crowds, as well as try to figure out just why the tombstone was glowing. According to his observations, the tombstone itself was made of a highly polished red marble. No paint or powders were present that would explain the glow. Further, it didn't seem that the stone was reflecting any nearby lights.

The glow seemed to come from an area around the porcelain portrait of Giovanna which was on the tombstone. Weirdly, the glow wasn't observed to those standing in front of the tombstone, or anywhere IN the cemetery for that matter. The glow was only observed from a spot on St. Paul Street, about half a mile away.

Also called in that night, was George Cecere, the brother of Giovanna, who lived nearby, as well as the parish priest. The priest covered the tombstone, which extinguished the glow, then blessed the grave with holy water, leaving it covered.  George and Mozuch stayed until 3 am that night, keeping watch over the grave.  However, that was merely the beginning of a weekend full of onlookers.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
03 August 1953

Each night, the gates to the cemetery were locked, and the tombstone was covered up. That didn't stop people from showing up, though. Worse yet, it didn't detract treasure hunters from trying to chip away at Giovanna's stone, especially her portrait. Chicken wire was put up around the gravesite and padlocks (which were broken off) locked up the gates. Patrolman Michael O'Toole and Acting Lt. John Perich were on site Sunday to direct traffic and replace the covering that kept being removed. 

The church's official stance was that this whole thing was the result of crazy rumors, and was not supernatural, nor miraculous in nature. Inspector Mozuch personally believed that the tombstone's glow was a result of the stone absorbing the sun's rays all day long. Norgal Hoger, a chemist who had not observed the stone in person, gave the explanation of 'fox-fire' as it was a common phenomenon in cemeteries. Whatever, the cause, the mania would eventually die down. Today, Giovanna once again lies in rest. She is joined by her sister, Mary Jo, who shares the tombstone. What is conspicuously missing, however, is the porcelain portrait that once graced the tomb and was said to be the center of the mysterious glow. Was it removed by the family to put the rumors to rest...or did one of those treasure hunters actually walk away with a prize?

"The glowing tombstone" is a popular trope in paranormal research, and with the glow centering on the tombstone portrait, I can't help but think about West Virginia's 'Devil Baby of Ravenswood,' in which a similar portrait was the root of a spooky legend. Feel free to go check out that blog post as well, and if you visit Giovanna or little George (The Devil Baby of Ravenswood), please remember that these were real people...not just ghost stories. Treat them with the respect they deserve. And as always, happy haunting. 

Giovanna's Obituary
Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph
28 October 1948

The Pittsburgh Press
01 August 1953

The Star Press (Muncie, Indiana)
02 August 1953

Merry Christmas! A Tombstone Tuesday Perspective

Merry Christmas!  It's a greeting we in the tri-state hear A LOT this time of year.  However, its a holiday sentiment you don't normally come across while strolling through a cemetery.  Well, unless of course you're strolling through one of the many cemeteries that provide a final resting place for quite a number of people with the name Merry or Mary Christmas!  

Wikipedia, of all places, has some pretty interesting information on the use of 'Christmas' as a surname.  It is definitely not a common surname by any means.  However, you can find the greatest concentration of Christmases in Essex and Sussex Counties, England. Some believe its origins stem back to the 1100's when 'Christmas,' spelled various ways, was a byname given to those people who were born on Christmas day. 

Also according to Wikipedia, the earliest known record of someone being named 'Mary Christmas' dates back to 1837 when Mary Canon married a man by the name of Christmas in Alton. It is believed that 50+ women named Mary have gone on to marry men with the surname of Christmas...but the article doesn't mention anything about women who are born with the name Mary Christmas...or the women and/or men whose name take the Yuletide season a step further with the 'Merry' spelling of their first name!  For example:

Photo by Find-a-Grave Contributor Dianne Wood

Sergeant Major Merry Lawrence Christmas was born May 21, 1929 in Arkansas.  He served in World War II and in the Korean Conflict, and I'm sure his military buddies had plenty to say about his unusual, yet festive name! Sergeant Major Christmas passed away in 1999 and his tombstone can be found Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Newnan, Georgia.

Sergeant Major Christmas isn't the only fella whose parents produced a son they named Merry Christmas, though.  Merry Franklin Christmas was born on November 5, 1848 in South Carolina.  He passed away on July 13, 1914 at the age of 65. He is buried in the Bowden Cemetery in Drew County, Arkansas.

Photo by Find-a-Grave Contributor Leslie Acord

Find-a-Grave, a great website devoted to categorizing and documenting cemeteries and burials only has a few entries for people named Merry Christmas...but it actually has quite a few for MARY Christmases...120 entries to be exact!  I don't want to leave anyone out, but there's no way I can feature all those Marys on here...so here's just a couple who were first to pop up!

Mary Van Christmas was born on Christmas Eve, 1910...but she wouldn't receive her unique holiday name until her marriage Grandison Christmas!  Mary passed away in 2000 and is buried in the Coley Springs Missionary Baptist Church Cemetery in North Carolina.

Photo by Find-a-Grave Contributor Margaret Gagliardi

This next and final grave I'll be featuring is a sad one. It is the grave of little Mary Agnes Christmas, born January 22, 1931.  Unfortunately, Mary did not live to see her fifth birthday.  She is buried in Ephesus Church Cemetery in Jackson County, Florida. 

Photo by Find-a-Grave Contributor Mary Greer Thomas

I hope you've enjoyed this Christmas edition of Tombstone Tuesday!  I love the beauty and history of tombstones and am always eager to share the more unusual and fascinating examples of funeral art.  I also love to preserve the history of the people beneath the stones, and let their stories be told one more time. Haunted cemeteries are a lot of fun, but even those that aren't can be still be absolutely awesome! I hope you're continuing to have a wonderful holiday season and are enjoying all the Christmas-themed posts here on the blog and over at Theresa's Haunted History Facebook page.  Stay spooky...and I'll catch ya on the next one!

The Strange Tomb of Fernand Arbelot

According to a brief biography written by Kit and Morgan Benson, not much is known about the musician, actor and architect, Fernand Arbelot. However, he has left quite a legacy in the form of a very unique tomb, located in Paris' Pere Lachaise Cemetery.

The tomb depicts a man lying on his back, holding up a disembodied HEAD and gazing into its cold, stone eyes. An epitaph reads, "They were amazed at the beautiful journey which led them to the end of life."

Sources say that the stone is the work of Belgian sculptor, Adolphe Wansart,  and completed in 1946, four years after Arbelot's death.  Arbelot was born in 1880 and a Parisian newspaper ran an obituary for him on November 19, 1942. Again, very little information was given, other than that he was serving as a director in the Westminster Bank.

Legend states that Arbelot's wish behind the tomb design was to gaze upon the beautiful face of his wife for all eternity. Some unsubstantiated claims indicate that he sped that desire along by killing her before taking his own life in a murder-suicide that would give Romeo and Juliet a run for their money. What IS known is that Arbelot passed away during the Nazi occupation of Paris, a very dark period of time in French history---and while not much is known about his life, his name will forever be known, thanks to a VERY unusual piece of funerary art.

Sources:
Find-a-Grave/Kit and Morgen Benson
Amis et Passionnes du Pere-Lachaise

Murdered by Human Wolves

If you were to visit Oklahoma's Konawa Memorial Cemetery, you might come across the grave of Katherine Cross. The unassuming stone reads states that Katherine Cross, daughter of JT and MK Cross, was born on March 13, 1899 and died on October 10, 1917.  It's always sad to see the grave of someone who died so young, but death is a normal part of life, and it doesn't discriminate based on age---especially during that time period!

It isn't until you take a much closer look at the tombstone that you realize there is much more to the story...

Yup. That's right.  It says, "Murdered by human wolves." Who or what were these human wolves and how was Katherine murdered? Rumors sprang up that her body had been found mutilated---torn to shreds. Some say the culprits were Ku Klux Klan members, while others took a more supernatural approach and claimed that these 'human wolves' were actual WEREWOLVES. Further legends sprang up that Katherine's ghost was haunting the cemetery, being seen AND heard in the vicinity of her tombstone, a legend that persists to this day.

But what REALLY happened to Katherine?

According to data from Katherine's death certificate and an October 25th, 1917 edition of the Seminole County News, Katherine's death was every bit as horrific as the legends would lead one to believe---but with a much more human monster than any werewolf or even Klan member.  Katherine died of what was listed as a 'criminal operation' at the hands of Dr. A.H. Yates, and his assistant, a school teacher named Fred O'Neal. While not confirmed, this cause of death heavily implied that Katherine had undergone an illegal abortion and succumbed due to complications.

What is especially tragic is that she wasn't the first.  On August 15, 1917 another young lady named Elise Stone was admitted under Dr. Yates' care.  She stayed at his office for four days before being sent home, where she died soon after. The original cause of death listed for Elise was 'congestive chill,' but suspicion arose and her body was disinterred for an autopsy. Like Katherine, her cause of death was now listed as complications from a criminal operation. Although the newspaper article states that the two men were charged, it doesn't appear that any further legal action was ever taken. And even with the cause of death cleared up, there are still more questions than answers concerning this strange tale of how two young women suffered a nearly identical fate two months apart and what the heck a school teacher was doing assisting abortions.

One researcher has delved into a few different theories suggesting that Mr. O'Neal was actually the father of these unborn children or perhaps even worked as a 'scout,' choosing among his young pupils boys and girls to engage in illicit sex acts with prominent town citizens. Whether or not any of that is true, we will probably never know.

*All Photos from Find-a-Grave*

Sources:
Merlyn's Cave
Wikipedia
Find-a-Grave
USGenWeb

Buyer Beware: The Tragic Death of Ellen Shannon

There's a rather unique tombstone at Girard Cemetery in Erie County, Pennsylvania. It doesn't feature an elaborate shape or carving, nor does its size immediately draw the eye of visitors.  In fact, from afar, it looks pretty unassuming---just a normal tombstone.  It's only when one gets close enough to read the epitaph that one realizes just how special this tombstone really is.

Ellen Shannon was born in Ireland around 1844. As a housewife living in Pennsylvania, she suffered an extremely tragic and quite ironic death at the age of 26. An oil lamp exploded, fatally burning the young woman. While burns sustained from lamp accidents was a pretty common thing during this time period, the family of Ellen Shannon decided to use her tombstone as a way to point out the ironies in this particular case and warn the public that it could happen to them, too! 

A product known as R.E. Danforth's non-explosive burning liquid did just what it was marketed NOT to, and the results were deadly.  In fact, it wasn't the only time Danforth's product claims failed to deliver.  In November of 1872 a twelve year old boy suffered a similar fate trying to light his wood stove. 

In a time before Consumer Reports, the Better Business Bureau, and the internet, one family took it upon themselves to find a unique way to not only warn others of a dangerous product, but to get in a sweet little jab to the company as well. Over 100 years later, this tombstone still exists to tell the tragic and ironic tale of a young Irish girl's death...a death that should never had happened. Buyer Beware. 

In Memory of

 Ellen Shannon

Age 26 Years

Who Was Fatally

Burned Mar. 21 1870

By the Explosion

Of a Lamp Filled

With R.E. Danforth's

Non-Explosive

Burning Liquid

The Clothespin Grave

It's Tuesday...so let's make it a Tombstone Tuesday!  Instead of the usual 'ghost story' or haunted location, let's just take a look at a VERY interesting symbol of one Vermont man's lasting legacy!

W. Jack Crowell was born on August 6, 1924.  He made his career in the clothespin industry; in fact, he owned the National Clothespin Factory of Montpelier, Vermont. The National Clothespin Factory opened in 1906 and continued manufacturing wooden clothespins until 2009, making it the LAST American company to do so. 

Apparently, Jack really loved his job, because when he died on October 20, 1996 his family erected in his honor a giant clothespin tombstone!  It is said that original plans for the tombstone were to include an actual spring so that children visiting the grave could play on the marker, just like a see-saw!  Although there is unfortunately no playing on the tombstone allowed, many people still flock to the Middlesex Center Cemetery each year to view the unusual tombstone. 

Vermont Deadline