The Macabre Doctrine

2011-12-18T12:59:00.001-08:00

Bidder backs out for crypt above Marilyn Monroe CELEBRITIES

August 25, 2009|Jeff Gottlieb, Los Angeles Times

The crypt above Marilyn Monroe's was sold by her husband Joe DiMaggio to Richard Poncher in 1954.
Credit: Reed Saxon / Associated Press 2001

Los Angeles — It was a day of ups and downs when the online bidding ended Monday for the crypt above Marilyn Monroe.

Elsie Poncher, whose husband, Richard Poncher, is entombed in the crypt at Pierce Bros. Westwood Village Memorial Park, said she wanted to sell it to pay off the more than $1 million mortgage on her Beverly Hills home.

A bidder from Japan appeared to be the winner of the eBay auction with an offer of $4,602,100.

But several hours after being sent an invoice, he e-mailed Poncher's representative, "I am awfully sorry but I need to cancel this because of the paying problem."

Steve Miller, a mortgage broker and banker who is representing Poncher, said he had e-mailed the 11 other bidders who offered at least $4.5 million, giving them 24 hours to make an offer. He said if the right offer isn't made, he and Poncher might try to find another way to sell the crypt.

Six Seriously Spooky Cemetery Stories

2011-10-20T16:53:00.000-07:00

Six Seriously Spooky Cemetery Stories:

'via Blog this'

2011-10-09T11:03:00.000-07:00

10 Great Movie Vampires Written by: ListsOPlenty.com

Vampires have become an integral part of modern culture, from true believers to those who love to be entertained with horror and blood lust. There have been countless movies made about vampires, all stemming from the original adaption of the Bram Stoker novel and the classic portrayal of Dracula by Bela Lugosi. Every fan will have their favorite, and indeed there are many notables, as far as vampires in leading roles go. This list presents ten of the greats, and since vampires never die, there will likely be many more to come

10. Blood for Dracula AKA Andy Warhol’s Dracula (1974

Andy Warhol added his touch of arty pop culture to the vampire legend by making his own Dracula movie. Dracula is a beautiful, campy and sometimes scary character as only Andy Warhol could create. Count Dracula knows that if he fails to drink a required amount of pure virgin’s blood, he’ll die. His assistant suggests that the Count and he pick up his coffin and take a road trip to Italy, where families are known to be particularly religious, and therefore should be an excellent place to search for a virgin bride. They do, only to encounter a family with not one, but four virgins, ready for marriage. The Count discovers one-by-one that the girls are not as pure as they say they are, meanwhile a handsome servant begins to observe strange behaviour from the girls who do spend the night with the Count. It’s a race for Dracula to discover who’s the real virgin, before he either dies from malnourishment or from the wooden stake of the servant.

9. Max: Lost Boys (1987)

Max, the head vampire of the town, has a classic line in this movie: “Don’t ever invite a vampire into your house, you silly boy. It renders you powerless.” The movie combines humour, supplied by The Frog Brothers, and suspense very well, and is almost Stephen King-like with the small town-USA setting.
8. Marcus: Underworld: Evolution (2006)

Underworld: Evolution is the second film in the Underworld series, following Underworld in 2003. Evolution continues the feud between Vampires and Lycans (werewolves), but highlights glimpses of their origins some centuries ago. Just hours after the events of the previous film, Selene and Michael find themselves on the run from the other remaining vampires. However, a new threat emerges when Kraven, the villain from the previous movie, unleashes Marcus, the very first vampire. Marcus has been accidentally transformed into a vicious new hybrid of vampire that is incredibly strong and can fly.

7. Valek: John Carpenter’s Vampires (1998)

By night, vampires rise from graves in search of human prey. By day, vampire slayer Jack Crow leads a contingent of Vatican mercenaries in a long-waged war against these enemies. After Crow’s crew is brutally slaughtered by Valek, , a vicious 600-year-old vampire, Crow is determined to get revenge. Valek is nearing the end of a long search for the Berziers Cross, the implement of ritual that can give him all the vampires succeeding him omnipotent power to walk in the daylight, a theme that was also present in the Blade series.

6. Satanico Pandemonium: From Dusk Til Dawn

This movie is gritty, brutal and full of gore. It also features Salma Hayek as Satanico Pandemonium, a stripper who also happens to be a vampire. In fact, everyone in the bar is a vampire, which leads to a crazed all out battle in the final half of the movie. The main characters are on the run from the police, they escape across the border into Mexico and will be home-free the next morning, when they pay off the local kingpin. They just have to survive ‘from dusk till dawn’ at the rendezvous point, which turns out to be a strip joint infested with vampires.

5. Miriam and John: The Hunger (1983)

David Bowie plays John, with Susan Sarandon as his vampire wife Miriam, who together haunt and hunt for prey in the New York City club scene. They come across an unsuspecting Catherine Deneuve, which gives the movie a high level of sexuality, and eventually turn her into a creature of the night. The film is stylish and despite being over 20 years old still seems current, and the vampires played by Bowie and Sarandon bring a good level of class and sophistication to the genre, without the usual blood letting that vampire movies are known for (not that gore is a bad thing in this genre!).

4. Peina: The Addiction (1995)

Christopher Walken plays Peina, the intellectual vampire who is steeped in philosophy. At one point in the movie he says, “Mankind has striven to exist beyond good and evil, from the beginning. And you know what they found? Me.” A New York anthropology grad student turns into a vampire after getting bitten by one, and then tries to come to terms with her new lifestyle and frequent craving for human blood.

3. Countess Marya Zaleska: Dracula’s Daughter (1936)

In the vampire genre fo movies, it is rare to see a female as the lead bloodsucker. This is a classic early movie, made when the legend was still being established as a Hollywood story line, and takes the perspective of the lineage of Count Dracula through his daughter. Professor Van Helsing has done the world a favor by driving a stake through the heart of Count Dracula and thus destroying him. For his trouble, Scotland Yard charges him with murder. Dr. Jeffrey Garth, a psychiatrist, may be able to act as an attorney and defend him in court, but Garth finds he has his own troubles when the Countess Marya Zaleska seeks his help. She wants to be released from her desire to drink the blood of the living. She steals the corpse of her father, Count Dracula, and burns it ritually, but can’t escape the thirst for blood.

2. Blade: Blade Series (1998)

Wesley Snipes plays one of the better roles of his career as Bl;ade, the vampire who is half human and can “daywalk”. His assistant, played by Kris Kristofferson, is a lab rat and engineering genius who makes an arsenal of Bond-esque weapons and gadgets that Blade uses to fight the bad vampires (he is a good one). The movies are well made and gritty without being overly campy, and the Blade character manages to be cool, tough and sympathetic all at the same time.

1. Nosferatu : Nosferatu (1922)

F.W. Murnau’s German silent classic is the original and some say scariest Dracula adaptation, taking Bram Stoker’s novel and turning it into a haunting, shadowy dream full of dread. Count Orlok, the rodentlike vampire frighteningly portrayed by Max Schreck, is perhaps the most animalistic screen portrayal of a vampire ever filmed.

◊ Dracula: Dracula (1931)

Bela Lugosi set the standard, and no list of vampire greats would be complete without his name. After realizing success in the role on stage, he was selected to play the character on screen. Some critics say that this is the movie that created the horror genre in film. Lugosi took an entirely different approach to the Dracula character, particularly when compared to the earlier “Nosferatu”, where Max Schrenk played the vampire as a monstrous rat like creature with no redeeming qualities. Lugosi’s vampire was charming, sophisticated, handsome and powerfully charismatic (well groomed also). Although he was forever identified with the Dracula character, he only played him on screen twice, in 1931 and 1948 (played Dracula in “Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein”). He did play “Dracula like” characters in MGM’s “Mark of the Vampire” (1935) and in Columbia’s “Return of the Vampire” (1943).

Thousands Dead in the Bronx

2011-08-27T21:58:00.000-07:00

Thousands Dead in the Bronx:

'via Blog this' Interesting mausoleums of the famous during the early 18th century!

Grief and Beauty in Vermont

2011-08-10T20:07:00.000-07:00

John Porter Bowman served in the Vermont Hose of Representatives in 1851. He owned a tannery, and became quite wealthy. He married Jennie and they had a daughter named Ella. Sadly, Ella died in 1879, and Jennie followed a year later in 1880. John had skilled masons and stone cutters build a beautiful mausoleum for his wife and daughter. He also had his likeness created in the form of a statue, kneeling near the entrance, holding a key, and a mourning reef. He later had a beautiful Victorian mansion built across from the cemetery. Laurel Hall build in 1882, was a testament to his wealth and devotion to his family. The cemetery and mansion are now owned by the Laurel Glen Cemetery Association. You can check out beautiful photos of the mansion and mausoleum at: Bowman Mausoleum 1880 Flicker Photo album

Image belonging to: origamidon@Flickr

When Facebook Users Die

2010-10-23T03:29:00.000-07:00

As more Facebook users die, ghosts reach out to reconnect"- Sent using Google Toolbar"

10 Fascinating Graveyards You Must See

2010-10-01T19:39:00.000-07:00

10 Fascinating Graveyards You Must See

Undertakers offer coffins for gay market - Yahoo! News

2010-08-20T02:19:00.000-07:00

Undertakers offer coffins for gay market - Yahoo! News

Last Meals

2010-06-22T08:09:00.000-07:00

Orginial Post by MSN.com

On death row, the last menu is up to you. In all other cases, it's up to fate.
Let's look at some famous (and not-so-famous) final repasts.

Death Row

Ted Bundy declined to make a request for food before his execution, so he was offered a traditional breakfast. Illinois prison officials asked a local restaurant to prepare the last meal for John Wayne Gacy, and Gary Gilmore was served meat & potatoes with milk and coffee.

On the fictional end of death row, inmate John Coffey requests this comfort food in this book by Stephen King. (Watch clips from the movie.) And in one episode of "The Simpsons," Homer opts for beer, doughnuts and fried chicken.

The Last Supper

Jesus took his last meal with his disciples, as famously depicted. (It's possible that over time that meal has been supersized.) Lord Buddha's last meal was sukaramaddava, though just exactly what it consisted of is somewhat open to speculation.

RMS Titanic

While the doomed Titanic's first-class passengers had a book written about their extravagant final dinner, the second-class passengers' meal wasn't too shabby either. (What about third class?)

World LeadersMahatma Gandhi ate a modest last meal before he was shot and killed on the way to a prayer meeting in 1948. President John F. Kennedy had breakfast at his hotel in Fort Worth, Texas, before flying on to Dallas just hours before his assassination in 1963. Former French President François Mitterrand indulged in a now-legendary last meal in 1996.

Poisonous Animals
According to legend, Cleopatra enjoyed some figs that concealed death for dessert. One famous Japanese kabuki actor (what's kabuki?) died after eating this poisonous fish

Famous Writers
Ernest Hemingway reportedly ate one of his favorite dinners the night before he committed suicide. Welsh poet Dylan Thomas apparently succumbed after a surplus of liquids.

CelebritiesEveryone knows where Elvis Presley was when he died, but you may not know these sweets were the last thing he ate. Flamboyant entertainer Liberace's last dish was a little more mundane than you might expect. (How did he die?) Comedian John Belushi ate a nourishing light supper at this famous Hollywood restaurant the night he died. Glamour icon Marilyn Monroe reportedly ate a not-so-glamorous meal before she died.

Famous Chefs
Several notable chefs shared their ideal farewell noshes in this book. Anthony Bourdain would forgo the ant eggs for this. Not surprisingly, Mario Batali would postpone the inevitable with 8-10 courses. Lidia Bastianich would keep it simple, and Gordon Ramsay would opt for classic British fare.

The Business of Death

2010-03-13T18:12:00.000-08:00

Now, when someone dies, we depend on the local mortuary to care for and, for a lack of a better term, dispose of the body. It's very clinical, clean, and shut away from the public. Morticians, and funeral directors, are the people who we depend on to care for our dead. These people are willing to do what the general population is not. Most people can not imagine being this close to death and see it as "gross", and"creepy". To most, death is something off in the distance, something better not thought about, something macabre.

At the turn of the last century, death was looked at in a very different way. The Victorians saw death as natural, and inevitable. They embraced death when it came to call, and saw mourning in public and death rituals as a very acceptable thing to do. To them, death its self wasn't something to fear, but not properly mourning their loved ones was more of a fear.

Prior to the 20th century, the family often cared for the deceased. The body was washed, and dressed, put on ice, to stop decomposition. A coffin was often made by the local wood worker or cabinet maker. The body was then laid out in the family parlor for a short time. The local livery would move the dead to the grave yard. Mourning wasn't something done in private, and caring for the dead wasn't looked upon as something taboo.

Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War believe it or not, helped to start the modern way of caring for the dead. Embalming and preserving the body in modern times, came about when soldiers were dying on the battle field, far from home, and not only needed to be transported to their families for burial, but to stop the decomposition process. Dr. Thomas Holmes, a captain in the Army Medical Corp is accredited with embalming over 4,000 soldiers.

Embalming didn't catch on, however, until Lincoln's assassination and the technique was done to his body. Lincoln was put on a train and was taken home to Springfield for burial. There were numerous viewings of his body on the way and millions looked upon his well preserved corpse. The mass public began to accept the idea of embalming their loved ones.

The tradition of having the family care for the body turned into a commercial enterprise, over time, that was done by someone who specialized in embalming and funeral arrangements. With embalming their loved ones the families now had the time to plan funerals, and memorials for their loved ones, with out the immediate imitate worry of decomposition. Families started to look outside the home to have their dead cared for. At the turn of the century, eventually funeral service were handle by one person or one business, the mortician and mortuary was born.

Morticians, now have to be licensed in the art of embalming. There are now colleges that specialize in mortuary science. These colleges teach wannabe morticians, not only how to embalm a body effectively and safely, but also business management, restorative arts, and how to work with distrait and grieving family members. Mortuary Science degrees are often obtained in 2 to 4 years, including a year of apprenticeship.

Caring for the dead is now very much a business ranging from small town funeral homes to large corporations such as Forest Lawn Memorial Park and Mortuary in California. Coffins have turned into caskets, which are made, for the most part, by large companies, such as Batesville Casket Company. We no longer depend on the local livery to transport our dead, they are driven in beautiful funeral coaches like the ones manufactured by Eagle Coach Company. The dead aren't just buried in the local crowded church yard anymo re, but spacious green cemeteries, or memorial parks, can be found all over the united states. They are designed to resemble spacious parks complete with water fountains, and sculptures.
The business of death is necessity in today's society but there are alternatives ways to care for and bury our dead that are starting to become more popular. Green and home funerals, are starting to become in favor versus a traditional funeral.

Green funerals are designed to lessen the impact on the earth's resources than a traditional burial and funeral. The body is often not embalmed, wrapped in shroud and either buried directly in the earth, or put into a biodegradable basket, or green coffin. There are green cemeteries that one can be buried in. These cemetery don't look like cemeteries at all, rather they look like open fields. The traditional headstones are gone, often no markers used. To located a person, the cemetery relies on a global positioning system.

Funerals are starting to be hosted at home again. Home funerals put the family in control, much like it use to be at the turn of the last century. The family often prepares the body and hosts the funeral at their home. Not only is this a less expensive option, but also the family has more time, to say goodbye.

You can check out these websites to find out more about funerals, embalming, cemeteries, hearses, and green funerals.

Grave Addiction
Photos of cemeteries

FindAGrave.com
Information and photos of burial places of celebrities.

Funeral.com
Information on planning funerals

Coffin It Up
Handmade custom coffins

Mr. Ed's Hearse Pictures
Awesome, awesome, (Did I say Awesome yet?) pictures of retro hearses.

National Museum of Funeral History

Green Burial Council

Graveyards of Chicago
One of my favorite sites! Awesome photos of historical Chicago cemeteries.

National Funeral Directors & Morticians Association, Inc.
Membership association of professional funeral directors and morticians and embalmers.

----------------
Now playing: The Eagles - Hotel California (Live Acoustic)
via FoxyTunes

Funeral for Edgar

2009-11-29T16:40:00.000-08:00

To celebrate the bicentennial of Edgar Allan Poe's birth, the city of Baltimore had several events to honor the macabre poet. Events included a recreation of Poe's funeral, including a viewing of his body, and a funeral procession to the Westminster graveyard.

The viewing would be incomplete without a body, so a man named Eric Supensky using photographs and a marble bust for reference, made a realistic body of Edgar Allan Poe out of latex rubber.

At the funeral there were actors, to protray Poe's various friends, and family. Speakers at his funeral included, Sarah Helen Whitman (former fiancée), George Lippard (friend from Philadelphia), George Rex Graham (editor, Burton’s Gentlemen’s Magazine), and Nathanial Parker Willis (friend).

When I heard of this I thought "What an awesome way to honor Poe." I just wish I could have seen the events myself.

Check out these websites for more info:
Poe Bicentennial
Nevermore 2009
You Tube Video of the funeral

You can buy anything at Wal-Mart

2009-11-18T15:47:00.000-08:00

Well, it's official.. Now you can buy anything at Wal-Mart. The popular department store now is selling caskets.. Yeah, you read that right. Caskets, they are selling caskets at their famous "everyday low prices". Check it out at walmart.com. In the search bar for the site type casket and the choices will pop up.

----------------
Now playing: Marilyn Manson - If I Was Your Vampire
via FoxyTunes

Waverly Hills Sanatorium

2009-10-27T16:54:00.000-07:00

The white plague.. it was and still is responsible for many deaths, and early 20th century Kentucky was not immune. Enter Waverly Hills Sanatorium... The city of Louisville's solution for the problem. It was opened in 1926 with the hope of helping to contain the disease. Waverly Hills was built on the highest hill in Louisville and to allow the wind circulate through the building. The best treatment for Tuberculous in the early 19oos was thought to be nutritious food, rest and plenty of fresh air.

Waverly Hills was considered state of the art and many people passed through it's doors with hope of a cure. For many, it's estimated tens of thousands, it was the last place they entered alive. Today Waverly has become the mecca of ghost hunters and seekers of the mysterious. Disembodied voices, slamming doors, orbs, and strange moving shadows have been seen and heard at Waverly.

I first heard about Waverly from a TV documentary and I fell in love... It seems that Waverly is wonderfully spooky and simply walking through it's corridors you step back in time. Now over run with dirt, crumbling walls, and rusting hospital equipment it has all the makings of a perfect macabre atmosphere. Sounds perfect...:)

Canadian's Epitaphs

2008-11-07T17:02:00.000-08:00

Traditional epitaphs rest in peace

By Stefanie KranjecFri Nov 9, 8:16 AM ET
Canadians are becoming wordier, particularly when it comes to their last words.
Alberta-based author Nancy Millar has wandered the country's graveyards and says that over the past 20 years, gravestone epitaphs have begun to illustrate a trend of Canadians wanting to be more than "eternally beloved" when they
"rest in peace."
"I was trying to show that Canadians are interesting and can be interesting in their graveyards," she said about her book, "The Final Word: The Book of Canadian Epitaphs."
"I think graveyards have a root in history. I'm not particularly creepy or any of those sorts of things, I just love them because they tell a story out there."
Many of the nontraditional epitaphs noted in the book are whimsical.
"This wasn't my idea," complains a gravestone near Salmon Arm, British Columbia.
A Saskatoon headstone reads: "I'd rather be in Boston watching the Red Sox," and in Manitoba, a widely used epitaph, according to Millar, is "I told you I was sick."
"He who dies with the most toys wins" can be found in a cemetery near Medicine Hat, Alberta. Three hours north, in Delia, Alberta, "All things considered, we'd rather be in Philadelphia," a variation on the W.C. Fields quotation, is immortalized.
Diane Langlois, co-owner of Mountain Memorials in Hamilton, Ontario, a family-owned business that has designed and engraved headstones since 1924, says that personalized epitaphs account for about 40 percent of her business. She attributes the upswing to technology and the Internet giving people a database of phrases to pick from. In earlier times, the Bible was often where people looked for inspiration.
Millar also says that with fewer Canadians attending religious services on a regular basis, the church has lost headstone influence.
In Ontario, each cemetery has its own bylaws, which, among other things, may lay out what can and cannot be engraved on a headstone.
The Registrar of Cemeteries, however, has the power to revoke a cemetery's bylaws if anything "generally offensive" such as profanity, racial slurs and messages amounting to a hate crime, make it on to a headstone.
"It's really hard to get a saying that works for you because you don't want to be irreverent, because that offends the living people," Millar said.
But sports enthusiasts - "Gone Fishing'; writers - "To be continued..."; romantics - "We'll dance in the moonlight"; and even jokers - "I'm not here, I'm havin' a beer"; all have their final say in cemeteries across the country.
"Well, I suppose you don't dress like everyone else," said Millar. "You want to be noticed a little bit out in the graveyard. It depends on the person, just like what we pick to wear."
(Reporting by Stefanie Kranjec; Editing by Peter Galloway)

Winchester Mystery House

2008-08-17T17:16:00.000-07:00

It certainly looks out of place surrounded by modern buildings and parking lots. It certainly is big, almost unbelievably large. It certainly is strange, full of mystery, and seems to have no rhyme or reason to its random layout. The house, built by a woman named Sarah Winchester, was an attempt to attract good karma. Her husband was the second president of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. The gun that won the west, was stained with the blood of angry spirits, according to Sarah. Sarah felt the deaths of her husband William Wirt Winchester in 1881 and baby girl Annie Pardee Winchester in 1866, were the result of the angry spirits who were killed by the riffle.

Sarah suffering from the loss of her baby girl and husband consulted a physic. The physic told her to appease the spirits. The physic said that she lost her loved ones because the people who were killed by a Winchester were angry and vengeful. She must move west, and build a house that must never be completed. If the building stopped, Sarah would die. So Sarah, moved from New Haven to San Jose, California and hired workers to began construction on her house in 1884. Night and day workers toiled with the sound of hammers and saws in the background. It didn't stop until Sarah died on September 5, 1922.

Sarah had inherited a fortune from her husband's company, and used it to furnish and build the house. You can find Tiffany glass, hand carved wood, modern indoor plumbing, hand pushed gas lighting, and three elevators inside the manison. The cost to build was well over 5 million, an amazing sum especially for the late 1800s. The house covers 4 acres, has two basements, 467 doorways, 47 fireplaces, 40 bedrooms, 40 staircases, and 5 kitchens.

Part of the house's purpose was to confuse the angry spirits and keep Sarah safe. To do this, there are countless stairways that lead into walls, doors open to the lawn outside, stair posts that are upside down, skylights that are designed to be one above the other, and bathrooms with glass doors. It's wonderfully strange.

Today, the house is a California Historical Landmark and is registered with the National Park Service as "a large, odd dwelling with an unknown number of rooms." Several different tours of the house are available, including flashlight tours at night on dates around Halloween and each Friday the 13th.

You can find out more about the mansion at WinchesterMysteryHouse.com

Medgar Evers

2008-05-08T17:14:00.000-07:00

In July of 1963 civil rights activist Medgar Evers was shot in the back while exiting his car in the drive way of his Mississippi home. Ironically, his wife and children were inside watching President Kennedy's famous speech against segregation. Medgar staggered, bleeding to his front door as his wife and children ran out of the house trying to aid him. He died close to an hour later at an area hospital.
Medgar was born in July 2, 1925 in Decatur, Mississippi. He enrolled in Alcorn State University in 1948 and married fellow student Myrlie Beasley in 1951. His increasing roll in fair treatment in the black community made him a target of death threats and violence.

He was an active member of the RCNL (Regional Council of Negro Leadership) Medgar helped to organize boycotts against gas stations that wouldn't allow black to use their restrooms. The night Medgar was shot a gun was found at the scene which was traced back to a man named Byron De La Beckwith, a man with known ties to the Ku Klux Clan and White supremacist organizations. Beckwith evaded justice twice when both court trails resulted in a hung jury. In 1994 Medgar's widow, Myrlie, helped to reopen the 30 year case and retry Beckwith. Bobby B. DeLaughter was the prosecutor and later wrote a book about the case entitled Never Too Late: A Prosecutor's Story of Justice in the Medgar Evers Case.

Medgar's body was exhumed by Dr. Michael Baden. Dr. Baden commented in his book Dead Reckoning and on his series Autopsy that Medgar's body was in remarkable condition. So good in fact, that Dr. Baden called Medgar's son to come view the body. Medgar's son was just a little boy when his father was murdered and barely remembered him. Dr. Baden set up the autopsy room like a funeral parlor and was able to reunite father and son. It was an incredible touching and powerful moment. Beckwith was convicted of murder on February 5, 1994. Beckwith appealed several times without success and died in prison on January 21, 2001.

A movie was made about Edgar's Murder entitled Ghosts of Mississippi directed by Rob Reiner. An excellent movie starring Whoopie Goldburg, as Myrlie Evers and Alec Baldwin as Bobby DeLaughter.

Dr. Carl Von Cosel

2008-05-07T17:13:00.000-07:00

Here is the bizarre and quite macabre story of Dr. Carl Von Cosel and his obsession with a beautiful young girl named Elena Hoyos. Elena's father worked in a tobacco factory rolling cigars. During the 1930 tuberculous was quite rampant and factories with many works in a small space provided the perfect opportunity for the disease to spread. Elena's father and mother succumbed to the disease and Elena soon became infected and went to Von Cosel for medical treatment. Von Cosel immediately fell in love with her but Elena didn't return his affection. Von Cosel did all he could to save her from death but in the end was unable to. Elena died on October 25, 1931. Von Cosel struck with grief gained permission from Elena's remaining family to build her a large above ground mausoleum.

It was said that Von Cosel visited her mausoleum every night. Soon simply visiting her wasn't enough. He stole her body late one night and brought it back to his home. Using, piano wire, and silk cloth soaked in wax patched Elena's body together as it decomposed along with perfume, disinfectants, and preserving agents to cover the smell. Elena's sister heard strange rumors that Von Cosel was sleeping with Elena's body and went to his home to confront him when she stumble upon her sister's body. Horrified she contact the Key West authorities and Von Cosel was arrested. He stood trail on the grounds of wantonly and maliciously destroying a grave and removing a body without authorization but the case was eventually dismissed due to the statue of limitations.

Elena's body was examined and put on display at Dean-Lopez Funeral Home where over 8,000 people filled past it. She was eventually reburied in a secret location. Von Cosel moved to a different part of Florida and wrote an autobiography about Elena's death and his love for her. He died on July 3, 1952. His body was discovered on the floor of his home three weeks after his death. In the room, there was a metal cylinder on a shelf above a table, in it wrapped in silken cloth and a robe was a waxen image of Elena... talk about bizarre..

Lady Dai

2008-05-06T17:13:00.000-07:00

The art of body preservation is in most minds mastered by ancient Egyptians. The ancient Egyptians believed in life after death, that life simple continued on as they knew it. So if life continues on, then your body must survive to make the trip. Ancient Egyptian morticians were excellent at their trade. They preserved bodies that are on display thousands of years after they placed the last strip of linen around the body.

However, the Egyptians might need to pass the blue ribbon in body preservation to the ancient Chinese. In 1971 archaeologists came across a tomb and a preserved corpse. The body was in such good shape that a modern autopsy was preformed. The organs were found in tact including the brain. The limbs were flexible and blood was still found in the veins.

The body belonged to a woman name Xin Zhui, the Lady of Dai. She died, between 178 and 145BC and was a woman of wealth and privileged. She was married to the marquis of Han, and lived during the dynasty of Han.

Her tomb was full of treasures literally reflecting her tastes. It was apparent she loved to eat since her tomb included artifacts related to food including bamboo baskets containing soy beans, pears, and the bones of game, including swans, pheasants, pigs, and oxen.

There were also copies of her favorite recipes and lacquer dinnerware. There was also a beautiful hand woven funeral banner placed over her coffin. It featured the Lady Dai making her way to the afterlife with cane in hand.

Her love of food became her demise. The autopsy reveled extensive heart disease, a fused disc in her spine, and gallstones. It seems a gallstone blocked one of the gall ducts and caused her already weakened heart to fail.

There was a reddish liquid found in the coffin and scientists can't decided wither the liquid was place there for preservation purposes or was simple water leaking through the tomb and casket.

The corpse is on display at the Hunan Museum in Changsha. Her postmortem story was also featured on Diva Mummy on the National Geographic Channel.

Funeral horses stampede, overturn hearse

2008-02-08T17:12:00.000-08:00

A hearse overturned when the horses pulling it to a south London cemetery stampeded, dragging the carriage and coffin past appalled relatives and sending floral tributes flying.
"It was dreadful," a mourner told the South London Press. "The horses dragged the carriage to the cemetery on its side, tossing the coffin all over the place and destroying all the flowers inside.
"Some people got very angry and had to be restrained by other mourners... It is understandable given the circumstances. I'm horrified that something like this could happen."
Police were called to calm angry mourners so that the funeral last month could go ahead.
The carriage appeared to have clipped a mini-roundabout as it entered Lambeth Cemetery for the funeral, the local council which administers the graveyard said Friday.
(Reporting by Peter Apps, editing by Tim Pearce)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/stampede_dc

Autopsy with Dr. Baden

2008-01-25T17:10:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite shows on TV airs on HBO entitled Autopsy with Dr. Michael Baden. Dr. Baden serves as New York's medical examiner. He has done high profile cases such as Nicole Simpson & Ron Goldman, The Romanovs Last Imperial Family of Russia, President Kennedy, Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols, and Medgar Evers civil rights activist. I have read his book Dead Reckoning: The New Science of Catching Killers. Dr. Baden has the incredible gift and talent to allow the dead to speak, to give voice and shine light on horrific crimes and help put the perpetrators behind bars.

One of his cases that sticks out most in my mind is when a bag of bones was found in a river along with what looked like, at first glance, two jelly fish. The jelly fish turned out to be breast implants. The implants had a number printed on them and with that number, the implants were traced back to the owner. A woman, who had a connection with drug dealers and was murdered and had her body thrown in the river. I'm sure when she went to the plastic surgeon for the consultation she never imaged that those breast implants would one day help to identify her killer.

I have included posts in my blog about some of the stories featured on Autopsy.

Old Nampa Hospital

2008-01-14T17:07:00.000-08:00

Towering, originally uploaded by Candi Coated Cyanide.

Located in Nampa, Idaho this building served as a hospital for Nampa Idaho from 1918 until the late 70s when it was turned into a convalescent home. It briefly was renovated to apartments and now sits empty. When I visited the property I was lucky enough to come across the present owner of the building who is currently trying to find a buyer who will be mindful of the building's history.

I loved walking the grounds and taking photographs of this building. I couldn't shake this haunting feeling of the building being lonely. It looked as if the grounds and the hospital its self was once full of people and now is reduced to an empty shell.

You can read more about the old Mercy Hospital here. Check out the rest of the photos I took of the building and grounds at my flickr account.. Old Nampa Hospital

The Baker Hotel

2007-11-20T17:05:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite shows on TV is entitled Dead Famous. Two people, a sensitive and a sceptic go and try to find the ghosts of dead celebrities. Whether you believe in ghosts or not, there is some damn good historical knowledge to be gained from watching the show.

On one episode they were investigating the legend of Bonnie & Clyde. The famous outlaw lovers that met their end with police on May 23, 1934 in Bienville Parish, Louisiana. Chris Fleming (the sensitive) and Gail Porter (the sceptic) visit the historic Baker Hotel in Mineral Wells, Texas, a favorite hang out of Bonnie & Clyde.

The Baker Hotel construction began in 1926 and opened in 1929, just two weeks after Black Friday. Built by T. B. Baker at the height of the roaring 20s the hotel welcomed quite a few celebrities, including Judy Garland, Clark Gable, the Three Stooges, Lyndon Johnson, Helen Keller, and Ronald Reagan. The Baker Hotel closed it's doors for good in 1972 and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

To walk into the hotel now is to walk back in time. It's amazingly beautiful even though it is in a state of bad deterioration. The hotel is supposedly home to quite a few ghosts, disembodied voices, and flying orbs.

Check out this links on the hotel:

http://www.spiritofthebaker.com/

http://texashistory.unt.edu/search/?q=baker+hotel&t=fulltext

http://www.texasescapes.com/TexasPanhandleTowns/MineralWellsTexas/BakerHotelMineralWellsRWP.htm

Tacoma's Stadium High School

2007-11-16T17:03:00.000-08:00

High school students living in Tacoma Washington have an awesome high school. Dubbed "Castle on the hill" Tacoma High school definitely looks like it is set in a English country side in the 1600s rather than a modern day high school. The school was featured in the movie 10 Things I Hate about You. I didn't really care for the movie, it was the school that caught my eye. I was ecstatic to found out it was an actual building and not a set.

The building was meant to be a luxury hotel and construction began in 1891 but the depression and a fire hampered the construction and the dreams of it becoming of Washington's most beautiful hotel. It was converted into a high school in 1906.

Check out the history behind the school and some awesome pics.

The Legend of Titanic

2007-11-08T16:59:00.000-08:00

I saw this news story off of ABC. I think it's interesting that only 1 survivor is left. I think it's even more amazing that there were survivors (old enough at the time to remember) to tell their story... that they were there to experience of all Titanic's beauty and horror...
I saw this movie entitled Ghosts of the Abyss where James Cameron led an expedition to explore Titanic at the bottom of the North Atlantic. They were able to find the famous Turkish baths. You could see the famous blue green tile glowing through the murky water. I can't imagine what it felt like to be the first people to enter that room for over a hundred years. As they explored the ship I was over come with a sense of respect and grief. You could almost hear the ghosts of the passengers and crew.

Anyone who knows me, my friends, family.. knows I love history.. I bleed historical facts, tidbits, and oddities.. Titanic is a part of any history lover's knowledge. I was lucky enough to visit the Titanic exhibit in Las Vegas at the Tropicana last year. I saw clothing worn by passengers, the dishes they ate off of, the beds they slept in. I was able to experience how cold the water was that April night in 1912 and see an almost endless list of names of those who perished. it gets to me every time.. the stories.. the heroes.. the romance.. and the horror the sheer horror of all those who lost their lives.. 2200 passengers and crew set sail from south Hampton and over 1400 of those people met their end when the great ship sank. Titanic was the second in a series of ocean liners built by White Star. These liners were to be the most luxurious, fastest, and largest of their day. Titanic's construction began in 1908 resulting in over 3 years of hard labor on the backs of Irishmen. It was a symbol of status..It was the best of everything.. Along with the rich and prestigious that Titanic attracted there was also the poor and disheartened who saw Titanic as a first step in a better life in America. That all came to a horrible end on April 12, 1912 in the North Atlantic ocean.

The Mackay Bennett set sail on April 17th with the morbid task of recovering Titanic's victims. Bodies that where recovered from the water they were tagged, embalmed and placed in coffins or if too badly decayed were placed in white bags and put back into the ocean. The bodies were were then taken back to Halifax Nova Scotia and laid out in a temporary morgue located at for families to identify them, then buried in one of three cemeteries, Fairview Cemetery, Mount Olivet Cemetery, and Baron de Hirsch Cemetery. Click here for pics of graves and bios on some of the people buried in these cemeteries.

Of all the stories of the bodies being recovered the one that touches me the most is that of the unknown child. A Blondie haired little boy whose body was recovered by the Mackay Bennett.. The body didn't have any means of identification. The captain and the crew of the Mackay Bennett were so touched and grief stricken by they site of the child they paid for his funeral and gravestone in Fairview Cemetery. The child was laid in a white coffin and carried out of a packed St George's Anglican Church on May 4. The fair haired child was buried in Fairview cemetery with a head stone that read "Erected to the memory of an unknown child whose remains were recovered after the disaster to Titanic, April 15, 1912." However, in November 2002 an exhumation followed by DNA testing the body was identified as Eino Viljami Panula, a 13 month old child who's parents were from Finland. There is an excellent series on PBS entitled Secrets of the Dead. In one of the episodes entitled Titanic's Ghosts, the story of the unknown child is told along with the process of identifying him. A name was finally put to the small body. For over a hundred years the body of a child laid in a cemetery in Nova scotia with out a name to identify him and now he is finally someone, he is some one's child, some one's little boy who can finally rest.

***UPDATE***
The unknown child's remains once thought to be Eino Panula are now thought to be the remains of Sidney Leslie Goodwin. Due to subsequent DNA testing. Read the story here

Reposted from Yahoo News
– Wed Sep 22, 11:50 am ET
LONDON (Reuters) – The Titanic hit an iceberg in 1912 because of a basic steering error, and only sank as fast as it did because an official persuaded the captain to continue sailing, an author said in an interview published on Wednesday.
Louise Patten, a writer and granddaughter of Titanic second officer Charles Lightoller, said the truth about what happened nearly 100 years ago had been hidden for fear of tarnishing the reputation of her grandfather, who later became a war hero.
Lightoller, the most senior officer to have survived the disaster, covered up the error in two inquiries on both sides of the Atlantic because he was worried it would bankrupt the ill-fated liner's owners and put his colleagues out of a job.
"They could easily have avoided the iceberg if it wasn't for the blunder," Patten told the Daily Telegraph.

AP/Premier Exhibitions, Inc.-Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
"Instead of steering Titanic safely round to the left of the iceberg, once it had been spotted dead ahead, the steersman, Robert Hitchins, had panicked and turned it the wrong way."
Patten, who made the revelations to coincide with the publication of her new novel "Good as Gold" into which her account of events are woven, said that the conversion from sail ships to steam meant there were two different steering systems.
[Video: A closer look at the Titanic disaster]
Crucially, one system meant turning the wheel one way and the other in completely the opposite direction.
Once the mistake had been made, Patten added, "they only had four minutes to change course and by the time (first officer William) Murdoch spotted Hitchins' mistake and then tried to rectify it, it was too late."
Patten's grandfather was not on watch at the time of the collision, but he was present at a final meeting of the ship's officers before the Titanic went down.
There he heard not only about the fatal mistake but also the fact that J. Bruce Ismay, chairman of Titanic's owner the White Star Line persuaded the captain to continue sailing, sinking the ship hours faster than would otherwise have happened.
"If Titanic had stood still, she would have survived at least until the rescue ship came and no one need have died," Patten said.
The RMS Titanic was the world's biggest passenger liner when it left Southampton, England, for New York on its maiden voyage on April 10, 1912. Four days into the trip, the ship hit an iceberg and sank, taking more than 1,500 passengers with it.
(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)

Titanic Survivor Dies at 96
1 of Last 2 Titanic Survivors Dies at 96; Barbara Dainton Lost Father in 1912 Sinking
The Associated Press
LONDON
Barbara West Dainton, believed to be one of the last two survivors from the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, has died in England at age 96.
Dainton died Oct. 16 at a nursing home in Camborne, England, according to Peter Visick, a distant relative. Her funeral was held Monday at Truro Cathedral, Visick said Thursday.
Elizabeth Gladys "Millvina" Dean of Southampton, England, who was 2 months old at the time of the Titanic sinking, is now the disaster's only remaining survivor, according to the Titanic Historical Society.
The last American survivor, Lillian Gertrud Asplund, died in Massachusetts last year at age 99.
Dainton, born in Bournemouth in southern England in 1911, was too young to remember the night when the huge liner hit an iceberg and sank in the Atlantic in April 1912, killing 1,500 people, including her father, Edwy Arthur West.
He waved farewell as the lifeboat carrying Barbara; her mother, Ada; and her sister, Constance, was lowered into the ocean, according to Karen Kamuda of the Titanic Historical Society in Indian Orchard, Mass. His body was never identified.
The Titanic did not have enough lifeboats for all of 2,200 passengers and crew. Only a small number of those unable to find a place on the boats survived the freezing waters.
Dainton returned to England after the accident. She married in 1952.
She avoided publicity associated with the Titanic and even insisted that her funeral take place before any public announcement of her death, Kamuda said.
"We respected her privacy," Kamuda said. "We're so open with everything and our emotions nowadays, but people at that time, they just didn't talk about it."

The Undertaking

2007-11-04T16:55:00.000-08:00

"A man that I work with named Wesley Rice once spent all of one day and all night carefully piecing together the parts of a girl's cranium. She'd been murdered by a madman with a baseball bat after he'd abducted and raped her. . . . Most embalmers, faced with what Wesley Rice was faced with after he'd opened the pouch from the morgue, would have simply said "closed casket," treated the remains enough to control the odor, zipped the pouch, and gone home for cocktails. It would have been easier. The pay was the same. Instead, he started working. Eighteen hours later the girl's mother, who had pleaded to see her, saw her. She was dead, to be sure, and damaged; but her face was hers again, not the madman's version. The hair was hers, not his. The body was hers, not his. Wesley Rice had not raised her from the dead nor hidden the hard facts, but he had retrieved her death from the one who had killed her. He had closed her eyes, her mouth. He'd washed her wounds, sutured her lacerations, pieced her beaten skull together, stitched the incisions from the autopsy, cleaned the dirt from under her fingernails, scrubbed the fingerprint ink from her fingertips, washed her hair, dressed her in jeans and a blue turtleneck, and laid her in a casket beside which her mother stood for two days and sobbed as if something had been pulled from her by force. It was the same when her pastor stood with her and told her "God weeps with you." And the same when they buried the body in the ground. It was then and always will be awful, horrible, unappeasably sad. But the outrage, the horror, the heartbreak belonged, not to the murderer or the media or the morgue, each of whom had staked their claims to it. It belonged to the girl and to her mother. Wesley had given them the body back . . . it was what we undertakers call a good funeral."

That's an excerpt from the book: The Undertaking: Life studies from the dismal trade. The author named Thomas Lynch is a hometown mortician. I saw a documentary on Mr. Lynch and his business Lynch & Sons on PBS entitled The Undertaking. It provide a intimate look into the life of a undertaker, how they carefully balance overwhelming emotion with business.. The book is beautifully written giving the reader a sense of mortality. I highly recommend you check out both the book and the documentary.

What's with all the dead people?

2007-10-19T16:49:00.000-07:00

I hear that question often, along with getting the look, the look that I just sprouted antlers, when someone finds out about my interests.. So I like cemeteries, funerary history, and forensic pathology leaves me weak in the knees.. So what if I have a large collection of books with the words corpse, funeral, and death in the title? I don't consider myself Gothic. I'm not suffering from a mental illness, or happen to be a serial killer...

I have always been fascinated about what happens when we die.. Where does the energy go? It is simply fade to black, or is there something out there we can't see or experience until we cross that great divide? My father allowed me to be myself and entertain those thoughts. My Dad, and I were birds of a feather.. I remember always watching horror movies with him. He would call me into the room especially when Bela Lugosi was on the TV in his most famous role. Dad was a mystery and horror lover and he instilled that into me. I can still hear him reciting The Raven, or see his copy of Dracula on his bookshelf.

Death, to me is the ultimate mystery.. I don't fear it, or consider it a negative thing. The Victorians were masters, next to the ancient Egyptians, at mourning and putting death front and center. It used to be something that wasn't hushed about, or feared. It wasn't clinical, neat or clean. When a family member died the body was laid out in the family home in the parlor.. hence, the word funeral parlor. Children weren't spared the sight of a dead body. The family was responsible for taking care of their dead. Death was accepted as something natural..

I know there are people out there like me, that are interested in the same thing.. I don't have an outlet for these interests in real life so the internet, including this blog, have become my oasis. It's the place were I can learn and express my interest in death, and the paranormal.

After the death of my parents, I realized how important a mortician's role is. They give the ultimate gift to the grieving, a chance to say goodbye. They do the dirty work. They make the dead presentable. They strive to make them look at peace for the family. Few people know what goes on in the basement of a mortuary, or understand the painstaking process of cleaning and embalming a corpse. It's not fun, and it certainly isn't pretty. Death doesn't work from 9-5 Monday through Friday. It doesn't take vacations. I was grateful to the mortician that took care of my parents. I admired his work ethic and compassion. He made it possible for me to say goodbye to my parents. Have you hugged a mortician today?

These are some of my favorite websites when it comes to death, and dying:
Find A Grave
National Museum of Funeral History
Taphophilia (dot) Com

White Light, Black Rain

2007-08-09T16:43:00.000-07:00

To see more pics like this one check out Nuclear Art Pictures at FreakingNews.com

I saw a documentary on HBO tonight entitled White Light, Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I was born in 1980 over 30 years since the bomb was dropped killing over 210,000 people. My father was in his late 40s when I was born so he was old enough to remember the war. He was a prejudiced man, referring to any oriental as a "jap". I used to be shocked at the way he looked at orientals or anyone of a different color or race but now I just think he was a product of his time. Though it doesn't make it right, it was a different time back then and my father along with millions of other Americans, Japan was the enemy, the monster behind Pearl Harbor.I have always been interested in Nuclear Engineering and the Atomic bomb so I Tivoed the documentary. It really opened my eyes to the sheer horror that happened that clear, August day in 1945. It's almost unreal the damage caused by that bomb. People unlucky to be close to ground zero were vaporized on impact. The few survivors suffered from missing limbs, eyes, and skin melting off their bodies. Many died from their injuries. The light and heat was so bright and intense from the bomb that human shadows were burned into the concrete. The few people who survived and had no outward signs of disfigurement or injury began to develop mysterious symptoms, such as purple spots, hair loss, and fever. Bones and charred bodies were littered all over the Japanese cities. A survivor said in the documentary that the only to move was the flies swarming over the numerous bodies. Everything was in ruin, rubble, and death. Today, Hiroshima and Nagasaki are thriving Japanese cities. If not for the numerous memorials marking the cities, one may never know what had happened there.What surprised me the most was the attitude of the pilots of the planes who carried and dropped the bomb. They seemed to have no remorse or a real understanding of the complete and total destruction, and evil that was released onto the cities those days in August. They had a job to do, in order to end the war, and they accomplished that objective.
So much destruction, so much death. It just makes me wonder what will happen to mankind with that kind of technology that can destroy every living thing on earth. What happens if someone actually decides to use it again?

**UPDATED INFO**

Hiroshima bomb pilot dies aged 92

Paul Warfield Tibbets Jr, the man who commanded the first atomic bomb mission, is seen in front of Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima.

Gen Tibbets (centre) always said he had no regrets Tibbets on Hiroshima The commander of the B-29 plane that dropped the first atomic bomb, on Hiroshima in Japan, has died.
Paul Warfield Tibbets Jr died at his home in Columbus, Ohio, aged 92.

The five-ton "Little Boy" bomb was dropped on the morning of 6 August 1945, killing about 140,000 Japanese, with many more dying later.

On the 60th anniversary of the bombing, the three surviving crew members of the Enola Gay - named after Tibbet's mother - said they had "no regrets".

'No headstone'

A friend of the retired brigadier-general told AP news agency that Paul Tibbets had died after a two-month decline in health.

Gen Tibbets had asked for no funeral nor headstone as he feared opponents of the bombing may use it as a place of protest, the friend, Gerry Newhouse, said.
The bombing of Hiroshima marked the beginning of the end of the war in the Pacific.
Japan surrendered shortly after a second bomb was dropped, on Nagasaki, three days later.
On the 60th anniversary of Hiroshima, the surviving members of the Enola Gay crew - Gen Tibbets, Theodore J "Dutch" Van Kirk (the navigator) and Morris R Jeppson (weapon test officer) said: "The use of the atomic weapon was a necessary moment in history. We have no regrets".
Gen Tibbets said then: "Thousands of former soldiers and military family members have expressed a particularly touching and personal gratitude suggesting that they might not be alive today had it been necessary to resort to an invasion of the Japanese home islands to end the fighting." Air show Paul Warfield Tibbets Jr was born in Quincy, Illinois, in 1915 and spent most of his youth in Miami.

He enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1937 and led bombing operations in Europe before returning to test the Superfortress.
He retired from the forces in 1966.
In a 1975 interview he said: "I'm proud that I was able to start with nothing, plan it and have it work as perfectly as it did... I sleep clearly every night."

In 1976, Gen Tibbets was criticised for re-enacting the bombing at an air show in Texas.
A mushroom cloud was set off as he over flew in a B-29 Superfortress in a stunt that outraged Japan. Gen Tibbets said it was not meant as an insult but the US government formally apologised.
In 1995, Gen Tibbets denounced as a "damn big insult" a planned 50th anniversary exhibition of the Enola Gay at the Smithsonian Institution that put the bombing in context of the suffering it caused. He and veterans groups said too much attention was being paid to Japan's suffering and not enough to its military brutality.

Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/americas/7073441.stmPublished: 2007/11/01 16:57:00 GMT

My very dear Sarah

2007-08-08T16:41:00.000-07:00

My very dear Sarah:

The indications are very strong that we shall move in a few days -- perhaps tomorrow. Lest I should not be able to write you again, I feel impelled to write lines that may fall under your eye when I shall be no more.Our movement may be one of a few days duration and full of pleasure -- and it may be one of severe conflict and death to me. Not my will, but thine O God, be done. If it is necessary that I should fall on the battlefield for my country, I am ready. I have no misgivings about, or lack of confidence in, the cause in which I am engaged, and my courage does not halt or falter. I know how strongly American Civilization now leans upon the triumph of the Government, and how great a debt we owe to those who went before us through the blood and suffering of the Revolution. And I am willing -- perfectly willing -- to lay down all my joys in this life, to help maintain this Government, and to pay that debt.But, my dear wife, when I know that with my own joys I lay down nearly all of yours, and replace them in this life with cares and sorrows -- when, after having eaten for long years the bitter fruit of orphanage myself, I must offer it as their only sustenance to my dear little children -- is it weak or dishonorable, while the banner of my purpose floats calmly and proudly in the breeze, that my unbounded love for you, my darling wife and children, should struggle in fierce, though useless, contest with my love of country?I cannot describe to you my feelings on this calm summer night, when two thousand men are sleeping around me, many of them enjoying the last, perhaps, before that of death -- and I, suspicious that Death is creeping behind me with his fatal dart, am communing with God, my country, and thee.I have sought most closely and diligently, and often in my breast, for a wrong motive in thus hazarding the happiness of those I loved and I could not find one. A pure love of my country and of the principles I have often advocated before the people and "the name of honor that I love more than I fear death" have called upon me, and I have obeyed.Sarah, my love for you is deathless, it seems to bind me to you with mighty cables that nothing but Omnipotence could break; and yet my love of Country comes over me like a strong wind and bears me irresistibly on with all these chains to the battlefield.The memories of the blissful moments I have spent with you come creeping over me, and I feel most gratified to God and to you that I have enjoyed them so long. And hard it is for me to give them up and burn to ashes the hopes of future years, when God willing, we might still have lived and loved together, and seen our sons grow up to honorable manhood around us. I have, I know, but few and small claims upon Divine Providence, but something whispers to me -- perhaps it is the wafted prayer of my little Edgar -- that I shall return to my loved ones unharmed. If I do not, my dear Sarah, never forget how much I love you, and when my last breath escapes me on the battlefield, it will whisper your name.Forgive my many faults, and the many pains I have caused you. How thoughtless and foolish I have oftentimes been! How gladly would I wash out with my tears every little spot upon your happiness, and struggle with all the misfortune of this world, to shield you and my children from harm. But I cannot. I must watch you from the spirit land and hover near you, while you buffet the storms with your precious little freight, and wait with sad patience till we meet to part no more. But, O Sarah! If the dead can come back to this earth and flit unseen around those they loved, I shall always be near you; in the garish day and in the darkest night -- amidst your happiest scenes and gloomiest hours -- always, always; and if there be a soft breeze upon your cheek, it shall be my breath; or the cool air fans your throbbing temple, it shall be my spirit passing by.Sarah, do not mourn me dead; think I am gone and wait for thee, for we shall meet again.As for my little boys, they will grow as I have done, and never know a father's love and care. Little Willie is too young to remember me long, and my blue-eyed Edgar will keep my frolics with him among the dimmest memories of his childhood. Sarah, I have unlimited confidence in your maternal care and your development of their characters. Tell my two mothers his and hers I call God's blessing upon them. O Sarah, I wait for you there! Come to me, and lead thither my children.

-Sullivan

This letter was written by Sullivan Ballou in 1861. He was a Major in the Civil War. He wrote the letter on July 14, 1861 and died one week later at the Battle of Bull Run. I have always been interested in history particularaly the Civil war. I first came across this letter at the library. A book caught my eye For Love and Liberty by Robin Young. The book goes into detail about the author of the letter, and his family. If you are at all interested in the Civil War, I recommend this book. It's unbelievely touching and brings the terrible cost of war into perspective.

Old Wagon & Consolidated Machine Co.

2007-08-05T16:39:00.000-07:00

I was informed that an old building in the downtown area of Idaho Falls, which was the site of the old Wagon & Machine Co was set for demolition. The branch of the company in Idaho Falls was managed by Gilbert George Wright in 1889. If you haven't figured out yet, I'm a history buff.
So I went down and took some pics of the building.

I wasn't able to get inside, but got some good shots of the outside of the building. I also found the graves of the Wright family in Rose Hill Cemetery.
It just seemed kinda of strange to me that a 100 years ago the Wright family was a prestigious, popular, welcomed part of the community and now most people don't know their name. The only thing left is a few stones in the old part of Rose Hill Cemetery. You can check out Rose Hill Cemetery and some pictures of the Wright plot on my website. It amazes me how much this city has changed. I love looking at old photos of the city, with model T Fords and the ladies with the wool skirts and sun hats.

New Orleans

2006-04-25T16:32:00.000-07:00

My trip to the city was amazing. I was able to visit to Saint Roch Cemetery 1 & 2. They were breath taking. Cemetery one which is older had a chapel near the front gate dedicated to Saint Roch the patron saint of miracle cures. Inside the quaint chapel was an alcove full of braces and prosthetic limbs along with prayers of thanks for Saint Roch giving the gift of miracle cures. Saint Roch being a Catholic cemetery of course, was full of Catholic art and sculptures. The 2nd cemetery located across the street had several large mausoleums that look liked they were currently in use for new customers.I was also to able to go on the Haunted History tour featuring Saint Louis Cemetery Number one. This cemetery was the oldest in the city. It was raining pretty hard that morning but the weather wasn't going to stop me from achieving my dream. The cemetery was a site to behold, full of history and an amazing feeling of mystery.I can't explain the feeling that came over me walking through the gate. Many people don't understand my love of cemeteries. I always get the feeling, from most people, that I am sick, or crazy, somehow. New Orleans cemeteries were the holy grail for me and I was actually there. It was so old, and mystic. I cried tears of joy when the taxi driver dropped me off at Saint Roch. He asked me if I was ok, and I just blubbered "I'm great. Thanks for the ride." tipped him and got out. I cried again when walking with the tour group into Saint Louis. Again, I got looks like I need to be strapped in a white coat. I still get teary eyed when I talk about it..Saint Louis #1 featured many society tombs including the Italian society which a large sculpture of a woman holding a torch. This tomb was featured in the movie Easy Rider with Dennis Hopper. There was so much artwork it was over whelming. I kept falling behind from the group to take pictures and explore. The ground was full of puddles and like an idiot I only packed flip flops to wear. There I was balancing (pretty badly)a umbrella, camera, jacket, and my hand bag, wading through puddles. I was backing up to get a wide angle of a tomb and ran right into another tomb. I fell on my ass right into a puddle. By the end of the tour, I was completely soaked including everything I was carrying. I couldn't of been happier, though.I asked the tour guide about the damage done to the city from Hurricane Katrina she mentioned the dead palm tree near the front of the cemetery and an old tomb with several families interred in it were the only things to sub stain any damage. I was lucky enough to finally be able to visit the tomb of Marie Laveau. I couldn't believe I was actually standing two feet in front of it. It wasn't in a book or on the TV I was actually there. I laid my hand upon her tomb and asked her my heart's desire. There were many coins and trinkets laying next to her grave for, thanks of the wishes she had granted. The rain that day, gave the cemetery an even more eerie and wonderfully magical feeling. You can see my pictures taken of the cemetery at my website in the Cemetery Section.I also visited the French market where I spent the majority of my time, spending money. There was anything the mind could imagine for sale there. I was told that pre hurricane Katrina there was also fresh produce for sale. The market went down for several blocks near the quarter and was a great place to spend an afternoon.The French Quarter was just how I always thought it would be. Music of every kind was blasting from every bar we passed, which were many. Balconies full of fragrant flowers loomed above. It was so alive down there, and exciting.I stopped at Marie Laveau's House of Voodoo. It was pretty much to me, like a tourist shop except it had voodoo memorabilia. There was however, a small to scale tomb of Marie Laveau's, of course, I had to buy that.I was able to go into Mississippi along the coast and see the damage from the hurricane. It was serene and heartbreaking. We drove along what used to be a large tourist area but now was reduced to ugly condos and construction. The boardwalk along the beach was torn in pieces, the many restaurants and large hotels were no more. It was eerie with all the rebuilding and murky water in the distance. There used to be beautiful Victorian homes that no longer stood, foundations with no houses, stairways that lead no where. In the city many houses still bore the mark of Xs with the number of bodies found inside. Many fema trailers could be found along with abandoned houses. Living in Idaho it didn't really occur to me how horrible and utterly devastating the hurricane was. I mean I saw it on the news, and the many images but my mind didn't wrap around the utter devastation people were living with, and continue to live with. Imagine loosing everything, your home, everything in it, your job, because the building no longer stands, your car, and maybe even your life. I felt incredibly lucky.