tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14324646686454213932024-03-06T12:00:55.246-08:00Tolomato Cemetery TimesThe Past and Present of Historic Tolomato Cemetery, St. Augustine, Florida.Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04493096470169447646noreply@blogger.comBlogger163125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1432464668645421393.post-77164168686490872352019-12-01T14:42:00.000-08:002019-12-01T14:42:17.226-08:00Of Catafalques and Kings<br />
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In Spanish-heritage countries - and all Catholic rooted countries - November is the Month of the Dead. And it's over for this year, since today, Dec. 1, is the First Sunday of Advent...so we must honor November. It begins with the Feast of All Saints, November 1. Our Halloween, Oct. 31, is of course a shortened version of the full title in English, the "Eve of All Hallows," with the "Hallows" being the Saints. The next day is All Souls' Day, November 2, which is the day for cemetery visits and blessings. In Spanish, this was the Día de los Difuntos (Day of the Dead) or <span style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Día</span> de las Animas, meaning the day of the [Holy] Souls. These Souls weren't necessarily Saints (somebody who is already known or proclaimed to be in Heaven), but your Irish grandmother would have referred to them as the Holy Souls, because if they had made it to Purgatory, they were on their way to Heaven. But she might have said the "poor Holy Souls," because Purgatory meant they needed prayers, both at their funerals and afterwards. And it is here that the catafalque comes in. Below we see the All Souls' Day catafalque at St. Trinita in Rome, where the traditional rite is celebrated. This photo is from the <a href="https://catholicnewslive.com/story/552725" target="_blank">Catholic News Live </a>site, where you can find out more about it.<br />
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But first things first. In its Greek
original, the word that is the base of catafalque means “platform.” And this indeed was and has
always been its meaning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In Western
funeral and cemetery terms, however, it has a very specific and liturgical
meaning, although now mostly unknown because of changes to Catholic ritual in the 1960s and 1970s decreed by the Second Vatican Council. It was a platform, yes,
but one with a very specific use: to hold the casket or the body of the
deceased during the funeral service and, depending on the circumstances, also
at the graveside for the burial. Often referred to as a bier if it was meant just for holding the casket, it could be very simple or very ornate. </div>
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Below you see Lincoln’s
catafalque, which bore his coffin through the streets and on trains to its
burial place in Illinois, and is still used for placing the casket for a state funeral in the Capitol Rotunda.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6BQzWYJrcdzN0ClxsYENLVkKAzQuVIzWigl1i1L2HghhHgYeklNqqd3PCeTYlNhbeES0UhwIGvg5yzCzj6fPUTAmW2-wCWWRYvzC1SIEgWFqJGljth9gxVM_j-8TdP2IhECSCvVzM64GQ/s1600/220px-LincolnCatafalque.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="165" data-original-width="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6BQzWYJrcdzN0ClxsYENLVkKAzQuVIzWigl1i1L2HghhHgYeklNqqd3PCeTYlNhbeES0UhwIGvg5yzCzj6fPUTAmW2-wCWWRYvzC1SIEgWFqJGljth9gxVM_j-8TdP2IhECSCvVzM64GQ/s1600/220px-LincolnCatafalque.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "quot"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">But sometimes the catafalque itself became the focus, because it was used as the representation of the deceased when the body was not present - either because the body had been lost to war, shipwreck or some other disaster, or because the mass was a memorial, celebrated for someone who had already been buried in another place, or on certain dates following the burial, such as 40 days afterwards, a year afterwards, etc. </span><br />
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We have to remember that both Catholic and Protestant funerals, prior to the Second Vatican Council, were very different from what we are accustomed to now. There were no "eulogies" detailing the deceased’s love of beer, embarrassing
things he or she had said or done, etc. In other words, no chuckles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a very solemn and thought provoking
moment, because if it was a funeral with <i>cuerpo presente</i>, meaning that the body
of the deceased had been brought into the church, this would be the last time
that he or she would be before the altar. When they closed the casket (left open until the Mass began), it would also be the last time that
this person’s mortal face would be seen on this earth.<br />
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So even when the deceased wasn't physically present, the
catafalque remained, dressed as though for a funeral. The above catafalque is in the Cathedral of Guadalajara in <span style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Sigüenza</span>, Spain (below). Notice the damage on the tower from the Spanish Civil War.</div>
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Essentially, this type of catafalque was a representation of the presence of the deceased and was used
only when the body was not present,
in other words, for a memorial mass. A memorial mass commemorates the death of
the deceased, often at particular times: 40 days after his death, the year
after, or whenever it was considered appropriate. So in many places, the
catafalque was kept waiting in the back of the church for these needs. People who
grew up prior to the Second Vatican Council can probably remember the black vestments, the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dies Irae</i> (Day of Wrath, the Latin chant
used at a funeral), and the other rites and signs of a Mass for the Dead. One of the most important of these was the Final Absolution, prayers said just before the body was taken to the cemetery for burial. When the body was not present, these prayers were said at the catafalque. Below we see another photo from Catholic News Live, which has interesting old-rite funeral information. Notice the coordination and solemnity.<br />
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And now for some spectacular
catafalques. On a recent trip to Spain, I had the great good fortune to have
friends take me to the little town of Atienza (shown below) in the province of Guadalajara
in La Mancha.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s an area rich in history,
ranging from geologic times to prehistoric man to modern Spain. And there, a
truly remarkable man, don Agustín González Martínez,<a href="https://laplazuela.net/index.php/cultura/10093-don-agusthttps://laplazuela.net/index.php/cultura/10093-don-agustin-el-alma-de-los-museos-de-atienzain-el-alma-de-los-museos-de-atienza" target="_blank"> the 87 year old parish priest,</a> has
built not one but three museums, filled with local finds, ranging from church
art to fossils. In fact, the 2 euro admission fee gets children a free fossil
and a free mineral with their entrance ticket.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Below, we see don <span style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Agustín</span> strolling in Atienza with Benito Rodriguez Arbeteta, a well known Spanish art historian who has done considerable research on Atienza.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgds7EVcf-7XCV1CMaPtT13lwTs3eq4CTdRLSp6bNr1m6Ys9IeqbFqbH6G7U5IwwuXO_hd2z7_BT1vqLptljLu4pxaJk4DiD6HvwyCqlHG88qJFh6eKUNW7yBKUJHOkDCy_5O1rAjMoeh1C/s1600/benitoycura2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgds7EVcf-7XCV1CMaPtT13lwTs3eq4CTdRLSp6bNr1m6Ys9IeqbFqbH6G7U5IwwuXO_hd2z7_BT1vqLptljLu4pxaJk4DiD6HvwyCqlHG88qJFh6eKUNW7yBKUJHOkDCy_5O1rAjMoeh1C/s320/benitoycura2.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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Don Agustín, in his rambles over the dry and rugged hills, walking or bicycling from
parish to parish (at one point, he served 11 small rural parishes in the area), kept his eyes to the ground and picked up all sorts of small fossils and pieces of the local rare minerals.<br />
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He put the
better pieces in the museums, where they are side by side with one of the most interesting collections of Spanish religious art that I have ever seen. Here below, for example, is a magnificent figure, El Cristo del <span lang="ES" style="mso-ansi-language: ES;">Perdón</span>, by the Spanish Baroque sculptor, Luis Salvador Carmona. The globe upon which Christ is kneeling and appealing to God for mercy depicts Adam and Eve and several other scenes of sinful humanity. </div>
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But back to the catafalque. One
of the things that was present in the church in Atienza was the 16<sup>th</sup>
century catafalque, which now resides in the church museum.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wasn’t sure if it pre-dated the Council of
Trent, a Catholic council held in 1545-1563 that made some changes to the liturgy,
but it definitely reflects an older, mediaeval sensibility.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Once thought to come from Mexico - since the Spanish immediately established workshops in the New World for the production of religious statuary and art, some of which was of such high quality it was then sold in Spain itself - scholars now believe it was produced in Spain. </span><br />
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Around the sides are four scenes
of death and judgment coming for people in different stations of life. In some
there is a speech ribbon, with a figure representing death announcing its
presence with a Latin phrase or. A particularly dramatic one has death with the visual depiction of a
puff of breath, blowing out the candle of life for the unfortunate man in the
painting. However, the words on the stele say, "And the light shone in darkness," and in the ribbon, "and the darkness comprehended it not," from the Gospel of John. So there is hope.<br />
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It is on wheels, like the larger
ones that such as that waiting in the choir at the Cathedral in<br />
Sigüenza, but it is only about
casket-sized in length and about twice as deep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> The best source for information on this fascinating piece is Benito Rodriguez Arbeteta's paper, in Spanish only, <i>Nemini Parco </i>[I Spare No Man], available from <a href="https://www.academia.edu/" target="_blank">Academia.edu</a>.</span><br />
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However, while technically all were equal before Death, in the case of royal death commemorations, enormous temporary catafalques
were built for memorial masses to acknowledge that this person was a little more equal than others. Below is the catafalque of the Spanish king Felipe IV, who died in 1665.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHR9_xPmDJROMOi7r2CQ01_R3pLqFd4zNZB2cdtNE-971XIWxPdWUJKUrCe4Nt7vuC2g2WW079i-70zvfvB1r_sphv6ql-GOLyiJFRC4-TQMw5XWDivAZdmC88ohpTsgFgXDigExIP9cSk/s1600/220px-Philip-catafalque-1665.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="271" data-original-width="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHR9_xPmDJROMOi7r2CQ01_R3pLqFd4zNZB2cdtNE-971XIWxPdWUJKUrCe4Nt7vuC2g2WW079i-70zvfvB1r_sphv6ql-GOLyiJFRC4-TQMw5XWDivAZdmC88ohpTsgFgXDigExIP9cSk/s1600/220px-Philip-catafalque-1665.jpg" /></a></div>
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This was true throughout Europe and sometimes<span style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> the deceased simply had to be "royalty" in his own field, </span>and in fact some true (but temporary) works of art were created, such as the catafalque of Michelangelo, built by his artist friends. And even atheists such as
Voltaire got in on the act, certainly without the aid of religious services, although in his case the catafalque was more of a bier with his body propped on top in ceremonial splendor. He had been buried elsewhere before the French Revolution, and then was "resurrected" afterwards as the intellectual author of the Revolution. His body was then taken out of its burial place at an abbey (allowed only because his brother was the abbot) and sent to Paris. The catafalque was dragged by teams of peasants through the rain from his initial rural burial place and brought to the Pantheon in Paris, where he lies today.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHqwm4JuNx-CjM2ZvTndnK5-wVGntxPH1bN6kzxXRIZ0LLISaMGKXLkEBu84tSbW4gCB-8nCAeEVMNthrZnOKfjLc0m5acdOk5oBlhbA94CjqfLmWzRD1G1ps0H209SuyLMiiC8EOhfMYJ/s1600/Voltaire_cercueil_fun%25C3%25A9railles_Panth%25C3%25A9on.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="245" data-original-width="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHqwm4JuNx-CjM2ZvTndnK5-wVGntxPH1bN6kzxXRIZ0LLISaMGKXLkEBu84tSbW4gCB-8nCAeEVMNthrZnOKfjLc0m5acdOk5oBlhbA94CjqfLmWzRD1G1ps0H209SuyLMiiC8EOhfMYJ/s1600/Voltaire_cercueil_fun%25C3%25A9railles_Panth%25C3%25A9on.jpg" /></a></div>
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With the decline in belief in the Resurrection, the Last Judgment and Eternity, things have gotten more modest and many people don't even have a funeral service or a burial. If they do have a funeral or burial service, the bier now consists of a folding stand that
the funeral director wheels in, sometimes without a casket, but
with an urn of cremated remains occupying the top of the stand. And memorial
masses no longer have catafalques at all, and in fact they no longer even wear black, except in very traditional churches.</div>
<br />
But what’s the connection with
Tolomato?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It goes back to Second Spanish
Period Governor Enrique White, who founded the town of
Fernandina as a refuge for the Spanish King Fernando VII, exiled after Napoleon's invasion of Spain. Fernando was autocratic and widely hated, but after the French invasion, he suddenly became "El Deseado," the longed-for one. He did eventually get back into power and only a couple of years later wiped out the Spanish Constitution of 1812, which established a constitutional monarchy and to which there is a contemporary monument on the Plaza in St Augustine. The monument below is a replica in <span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Avilés</span>, Spain, with our friend, former <span style="color: black; font-family: "quot"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 107%; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Avilés </span>City Councilman <span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Román
Alvarez González, standing in front of it. As for Fernando VII, once he came back, he wound </span>up being (justifiably) hated again. But in any case, at that point, Gov. White thought he was doing the right thing.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib9PQPqOcUU40kCjIYnxRCRRkAPgMnoAhNY2Yohix2DsSVr497nQtQk0qs97JswCVdkQYq3KZ9524YRcLSdrm1CycNhYD6Go8er_tRAB__MzPfIWpV3vC3eppmzyCK4dcndwr9Kp8yzGZZ/s1600/IMG_0321.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib9PQPqOcUU40kCjIYnxRCRRkAPgMnoAhNY2Yohix2DsSVr497nQtQk0qs97JswCVdkQYq3KZ9524YRcLSdrm1CycNhYD6Go8er_tRAB__MzPfIWpV3vC3eppmzyCK4dcndwr9Kp8yzGZZ/s320/IMG_0321.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Getting back to Tolomato, Gov. Enrique White was the source of all sorts of civic improvements in St Augustine. Sometime before 1811, he requested that a plan be drawn up for the modernization of Tolomato Cemetery, which
meant converting this somewhat haphazard space with its unmarked or
unidentified burials – all facing east but otherwise helter skelter – into a
modern late 18<sup>th</sup> century cemetery on a grid plan, with marked and
numbered spaces, identifiable burials, and of course, different pricing for
different areas. We can assume that this had the approval of the parish priest
at the time, Fr. Miguel O’Reilly, since there are notations about the cost of
quicklime and the wages of the sexton. A section of the map is shown below. It was probably done by George F. Clarke, who platted Fernandina Beach in that same year at the request of Gov. White.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPs_IauuMhfbHQ1uRKwxkUyLuStu4Ot1wlqbH3g1QnsjeS3rrdxyRH9mwodVW8zqpU6mG2Iv53259O9sh2EhbxdhG38JUfpEFKxnvGWq9jd1arFMGJmhOxzalvJBinuj08G7gkVfCkBYfQ/s1600/Tolomato+1811+Map.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1379" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPs_IauuMhfbHQ1uRKwxkUyLuStu4Ot1wlqbH3g1QnsjeS3rrdxyRH9mwodVW8zqpU6mG2Iv53259O9sh2EhbxdhG38JUfpEFKxnvGWq9jd1arFMGJmhOxzalvJBinuj08G7gkVfCkBYfQ/s320/Tolomato+1811+Map.jpg" width="275" /></a></div>
The Church paid for the burial of
paupers, slaves and strangers, so one quadrangle was reserved for these groups. The primo sections
were to the back of the cemetery, and the best of all were in the (never-built)
wall with niches at the back of the cemetery, which would have been about 20
feet in front of the current Varela Chapel. The strip of land for the Varela
Chapel was only bought in 1853, meaning that the cemetery ended at that point
in the 18<sup>th</sup> and early 19<sup>th</sup> centuries.<br />
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<br /></div>
But one thing prominently
featured on the map is the catafalque, situated approximately where the current Varela Chapel is located.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It is shown on the map as a small rectangle at the west (back) end of
the cemetery and is identified as a "t<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;">úmulo</span>," which in this case would mean bier or platform. The amount of stone to be bought for it, shown on the map, is fairly modest and it was not meant to be very high. <span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">However, in the Tolomato of Gov. White’s time, there was not even a
dignified place to rest the casket for burial services outdoors at the
cemetery, so it is probable that the <span style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">"t</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "quot"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 107%; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">úmulo</span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">," </span>mentioned in the map was a permanent stone bier. These are found in some old cemeteries in the United States as well as Europe, and are often thought to be unidentified tombs, because they look like box tombs although with no name or decoration. But they're not.</span><br />
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<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />
One of the purposes of construction of the Varela Chapel by
the Cubans and other followers of Fr. Varela in 1853 was the provision of a
funeral chapel for Tolomato. During his time in St Augustine, Fr. Varela had been bothered
by the lack of one. The purpose of a funeral chapel was to provide an inside,
consecrated place with an altar where funeral masses could be celebrated, since
mass was generally not celebrated outside in those days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Below we see a photo of the Varela Chapel, probably taken sometime in the early 20th century.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhpB7xzLrHQInkY725CvCX5JTVTfwKq2iA4z12HPZrAMy7GC0BFZpBvlik0R_BMeHRNNvi_CwzUjuo6aRMbYBRjy5VsEX_aM8FCZq4sziEBkRkkpwbrAkGiJBSbRDsVy1Qkpmstbw6O6iJ/s1600/Chapel_1920s.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhpB7xzLrHQInkY725CvCX5JTVTfwKq2iA4z12HPZrAMy7GC0BFZpBvlik0R_BMeHRNNvi_CwzUjuo6aRMbYBRjy5VsEX_aM8FCZq4sziEBkRkkpwbrAkGiJBSbRDsVy1Qkpmstbw6O6iJ/s320/Chapel_1920s.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Unfortunately Governor Enrique White got
no further than the plan. Money was short in Spain and Spanish America at that
time as a result of the Napoleonic Wars, and there was growing hostility between Britain and the new United States, which began only about 75 miles north of St Augustine. And then, alas, Governor
Enrique White himself died in early1811, his plans put in motion but never to be completed.</div>
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His fellow Irish Spaniard, Fr. Miguel O’Reilly died in 1812, and we hope that he was able to bury his friend, Gov. Enrique White, who was like him,
Irish-born.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We know where Fr. Miguel
O’Reilly is buried, but unfortunately, no one knows where Gov. White is buried.
Somewhere in Tolomato.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
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<br />
The accounts of
the church say that he was shaved and prepared for his funeral by José Canova, a Canary
Islander, and that he was buried under a cairn of stones at Tolomato. The town had planned to get him a more suitable monument, but events
overtook St Augustine in this period, resulting in a change of flags only
ten years later and the disappearance of the Spanish from Florida. The only place that bears his name is White Street in Fernandina (map shown below, for more information, visit the <a href="https://ameliamuseum.org/" target="_blank">Amelia Island History Museum</a>). But somewhere in the cemetery, sadly unmarked, lies Governor Enrique White, the Spanish governor who had loved Florida and had planned
to put a catafalque in Tolomato.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFwrt0Pyvd17S48LcUKkZI964AeqPyFsVWvr5GyblUJe1HqXZ5tKY36VrYAkUYD1M7Yn34sHmKrmAgjQCmDPiU5t7vAVbPkmXlhrarlJCpG4x2Vh6clmqWVERFtn_HrTlQoqVO4XiroHDc/s1600/Fernandina.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="211" data-original-width="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFwrt0Pyvd17S48LcUKkZI964AeqPyFsVWvr5GyblUJe1HqXZ5tKY36VrYAkUYD1M7Yn34sHmKrmAgjQCmDPiU5t7vAVbPkmXlhrarlJCpG4x2Vh6clmqWVERFtn_HrTlQoqVO4XiroHDc/s1600/Fernandina.jpg" /></a></div>
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<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04493096470169447646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1432464668645421393.post-73619916426164559162019-08-23T12:01:00.000-07:002019-08-23T12:01:38.476-07:00Looking for Tolomato<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiaGhbsYdmgHHU0xdcdUZFiYMHTP3rLhdTzgRexwyCxXnQwDqdcBhaF53UDXylP4HBpIFZIm-ezA8rCpBOsZ4oclxLSNkddN8Q2uGtHOGXCkCH580Vl84hNpFGvEH-KFR36g2vFWRjbRcW/s1600/152F8B74-7CFC-4B71-810C-B224B73D7A8B.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiaGhbsYdmgHHU0xdcdUZFiYMHTP3rLhdTzgRexwyCxXnQwDqdcBhaF53UDXylP4HBpIFZIm-ezA8rCpBOsZ4oclxLSNkddN8Q2uGtHOGXCkCH580Vl84hNpFGvEH-KFR36g2vFWRjbRcW/s320/152F8B74-7CFC-4B71-810C-B224B73D7A8B.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span><br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The name Tolomato, beautifully wrought in metal
over the new gate of Tolomato cemetery, declares the Indian heritage of the
site, and one of the first things our visitors hear when they take our Third
Saturday tour is the story of the Tolomato Indian mission that was located on
that plot of land, long before it became a cemetery.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">This being St Augustine, in the 19<sup>th</sup> and 20<sup>th</sup> centuries, visitors heard much more sensational stories, ranging from tales of
a 7-foot tall Indian named “Chief Tolomato” who appears at night - mostly to the ghost tours - to the
gruesome tale that a Franciscan friar was slain in the Varela Chapel (built
1853) by Indian raiders in the 16<sup>th</sup> century.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Not true, of course, although there is
another Tolomato, far away and long ago, where this actually did happen.</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The name Tolomato is somewhat like Brigadoon, the mythical
town that appeared and disappeared, because it seems to keep popping up along
the SE coast from Georgia to St Augustine.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>Historians and archaeologists know where it started, but even so the
details have remained elusive, with the exact locations of some of the sites
that bore that name having been lost to things ranging from violence to time
and sea water.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Because our TCPA docents start off by telling visitors the
history of the name, it occurred to us one day at a meeting that we could make
this long and complicated story a little more real for ourselves by taking a
field trip to the original Tolomato and seeing where it all began. The area is
now known as <a href="https://www.fws.gov/refuge/harris_neck/" target="_blank">Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge</a> and is on the Georgia coast,
right across from St. Catherine’s Island and about 60 miles south of Savannah.
It’s less than a 3 hour drive from St. Augustine, so we picked a date that
we hoped was before the mosquitoes would be in full blossom. And then a small band of TCPA members set out, armed with our cameras. Louise Kennedy took her usual great photos and several others of us did our IPhone best, but I'll have to post those elsewhere and send out a link.</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Harris Neck is a little remote
and not oversupplied with hotels or even places to eat, so to make life a little easier for ourselves, we stayed on Jekyll
Island and made a day trip to Harris Neck.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPKEY_92qfIIFxXu5SmXG3o7YjfxMW-V4Nph5uiZvCyQSrnyaGR-EinBZGzKwZtkJf4EJP9REAxkScvSI_wjketrMTWNjz69C8S5V1D_luY18v_QHZ0nQ5o2I97L6XsbChkex-yaDRt0S5/s1600/A6703631-CE3F-4D6D-8C28-E18E178B4848.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPKEY_92qfIIFxXu5SmXG3o7YjfxMW-V4Nph5uiZvCyQSrnyaGR-EinBZGzKwZtkJf4EJP9REAxkScvSI_wjketrMTWNjz69C8S5V1D_luY18v_QHZ0nQ5o2I97L6XsbChkex-yaDRt0S5/s320/A6703631-CE3F-4D6D-8C28-E18E178B4848.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">First we found a fictional Tolomato, of course. Hwy<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>17 from Jekyll Island to Harris Neck goes
through Darien, a very interesting town that suffered greatly during the Civil
War and in fact was burned to the ground. It recovered, became a sleepy
Southern town with a Civil War museum, and is now on its way to becoming a
modern “cute” B&B town.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>But it also
boasted, or thought it boasted, a Tolomato site, a ruined tabby chimney and
walls that the town hoped was from the chapel.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>Once word got out, the name Tolomato began popping up on local roads and
historical markers. But alas, it wasn’t true: the site was actually all that was left of a late 18<sup>th</sup> century sugar mill.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>That didn’t stop anybody, however, and a new
luxury subdivision named Tolomato Island has already seized the name. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtf5D935ve8D3rIowJq3K4q2ABwtRMTdUeGQEZDAieh_loW7b6xbYreXM8uKr9Hcpk4vl2HU2Bs5MTSnqdfxTpkj0VO1DwHZ8rtHRnPr_M8OwZxDgPh8VYbqFpDWst4_M6rzrQZd4y-lmM/s1600/IMG_6215.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtf5D935ve8D3rIowJq3K4q2ABwtRMTdUeGQEZDAieh_loW7b6xbYreXM8uKr9Hcpk4vl2HU2Bs5MTSnqdfxTpkj0VO1DwHZ8rtHRnPr_M8OwZxDgPh8VYbqFpDWst4_M6rzrQZd4y-lmM/s1600/IMG_6215.JPG" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">But what name?<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The
name of the original Tolomato Mission, founded in 1595, was La Natividad de
Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe de Tolomato (The Birth of Our Lady of Guadalupe at
Tolomato).<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>To “unpack” the name for
those unfamiliar with Spanish church naming customs, it refers to three
different things. First is the Catholic feast day on September 8 celebrating
the Birth of Our Lady, which was also chosen as the official founding date of
St. Augustine in 1565. Thus, the friars chose that name to refer to the founding of missionary efforts in Florida. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Next is “Guadalupe,” which of course refers to the
apparition of the Virgin to the Mexican Indian San Juan Diego in 1531.
Guadalupe is a place in Extremadura, Spain, which had an early painting of the
Virgin that was somewhat similar what Juan Diego saw and the image that appeared on
the inside of his straw cape, and the 16th century Spanish bishop of the area,
which is now part of modern Mexico City, was from Extremadura.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>But as the title of Our Lady of Guadalupe (the image in the photo below) began
to refer more commonly to the 1531 apparition to an indigenous Mexican, the
Spanish then often included it in the name of churches directed to missionary
activities among the Indians of the Americas.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinpmFzmcPU3cdd5CANQN1tzo2_qhJQo1bJ9huviQVRxMQNuPu3AhGTWIeeyrQOZC8qeiK15Atvg4xumzIzQ3-2FPFYXuMOYz511K55sH4ozNOV414nAVhyphenhyphensoAoBzFq42_6HvICd8icqTSw/s1600/guadalupe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="428" data-original-width="275" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinpmFzmcPU3cdd5CANQN1tzo2_qhJQo1bJ9huviQVRxMQNuPu3AhGTWIeeyrQOZC8qeiK15Atvg4xumzIzQ3-2FPFYXuMOYz511K55sH4ozNOV414nAVhyphenhyphensoAoBzFq42_6HvICd8icqTSw/s320/guadalupe.jpg" width="205" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Finally, we have “Tolomato,” referring to the place where
the mission was located. Tolomato is thought to mean is thought to mean “on the
river bank” or “between the river banks” in the Guale language. The aboriginal
Tolomato population were Guale Indians, which refers to a language group or
nation rather than a “tribe.” There were several major language groups along
the SE coast, and the languages were not mutually intelligible. There were the
Guale of north Georgia, a little further south there were the Mocama and then
the Timucua, to name a few. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEpSSrz2wO4HX5CJWErN5sMsvoulX04SS4QiqgUpChwFG5FyMtdRfQ3-uZNvBVTpNfBPq_o8SizLmSUyTYcvsozOE0VdJkYpeb1whVFKK1KenKP30VKCRWpAXJeNli_SlXEzjgfvb1SRVL/s1600/056364E3-BB12-4846-8A06-3CF5B92D6DB7.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEpSSrz2wO4HX5CJWErN5sMsvoulX04SS4QiqgUpChwFG5FyMtdRfQ3-uZNvBVTpNfBPq_o8SizLmSUyTYcvsozOE0VdJkYpeb1whVFKK1KenKP30VKCRWpAXJeNli_SlXEzjgfvb1SRVL/s320/056364E3-BB12-4846-8A06-3CF5B92D6DB7.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The location of Tolomato was indeed on the bank, as seen above, or possibly
between two rivers, since Harris Neck is actually a peninsula in the coastal marshes,
with its tip pointing to Santa Catalina, aka, St. Catherine’s Island. There is
an important mission site on St. Catherine’s Island that has been the subject
of many excavations and even now has a rededicated cemetery and church, but in
the 16<sup>th</sup> century, the Tolomato mission was considered the most
important. It was probably the residence of the most important cacique, or
chief, among the many groups of Guale Indians who lived in the area. Below is a map in the visitor center at the park which will show you a little more on this.</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV36D_BT2FMUcbCV0p6DqYL2JNhOdAc9dNeJrm60kmf1Zgw_I2pgeiJPSlBmcsg9JZFP5k2iKttOVcud-QCaIt7bugUJiTyAcVWmA4KgbV2VmIjoRWx1TwdbFgIjmbI1Ykt8ABcRWWmmz9/s1600/IMG_4381.JPEG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV36D_BT2FMUcbCV0p6DqYL2JNhOdAc9dNeJrm60kmf1Zgw_I2pgeiJPSlBmcsg9JZFP5k2iKttOVcud-QCaIt7bugUJiTyAcVWmA4KgbV2VmIjoRWx1TwdbFgIjmbI1Ykt8ABcRWWmmz9/s320/IMG_4381.JPEG" width="240" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">However…a word of caution!<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>There were several missions scattered through the Sea Islands, and the
only one that has been definitively identified is Santa Catalina.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>There are researchers who think that a
mission known as Talapo was the mission located on Harris Neck, and the
Tolomato mission was actually located at a place now known as Sutherland Bluff,
near Shellman Bluff and across from Sapelo Island in Georgia. However, we
decided to go with the Harris Neck site, simply because it is the one that
appears most often in the literature.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>And
we checked with the Federal ranger in charge of SE archaeology, Rick Kwasniewski, who
told us that Indian and Spanish artifacts of the right period have been found
at two locations on Harris Neck, with the most probable location of the Tolomato
village being near the modern day boat ramp.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>If some future excavation turns up something new, we’ll just have to
make another trip!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">In 1595, the Franciscans established a mission church at
Tolomato, with a resident friar, Fr. Pedro de Corpa, a Franciscan from
Astorga, Spain.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Early Southeast mission buildings
were usually simple wooden and thatch constructions, and inventories carried
out by Spanish governors and religious authorities revealed that most did not
seem to have permanent tabernacles or even baptismal fonts. The missionaries
would bring altar vessels and other things as they needed them for fear that they
might fall into hostile hands if the mission was attacked.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>So we don’t know exactly what the mission looked
like, but it was probably fairly simple and not like the much later, more developed California missions. Below is a recreation at Mission San Luis in Tallahassee of the mission chapel.</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYFIDeoR-sD64y-nYCi11D3qz12189Xv-FPLW00L0Cqeca9VIA1M1gXudzaYV-AmS2_BuPnxl8ukJ3zVVqXgJoHhrbO2rpwj_-BJJeZ3qVuB5K9LumuDkdcRochnyf3ljtN-tOzuS5zFx7/s1600/franChurch4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="174" data-original-width="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYFIDeoR-sD64y-nYCi11D3qz12189Xv-FPLW00L0Cqeca9VIA1M1gXudzaYV-AmS2_BuPnxl8ukJ3zVVqXgJoHhrbO2rpwj_-BJJeZ3qVuB5K9LumuDkdcRochnyf3ljtN-tOzuS5zFx7/s1600/franChurch4.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Basically, the villages functioned as any other village, ruled by their chiefs. But where the Indians had originally been more migratory, they now lived a stable, agricultural life (since this was the European ideal), often with some common work to support the mission, such as the production of hides in the California ranching missions. They were also instructed in the Faith, began the day with prayers and hymns, attended Mass and were expected to conform to Catholic moral teachings, particularly in the area of marriage. Sometimes the Franciscan treatment of the Indians was good; at other times, it was harsh, although often the Franciscans stood between the Indians and even harsher treatment by the Spanish or Mexican civil governors. And of course the missionaries were often caught in midst of the rivalries and animosities between different Indian leaders and groups.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The Franciscans extended this model across the country. Below you see a painting of two 18th Franciscan friars, one of them from the Provincia de Santa Helena (which included St Augustine and the Florida Georgia missions). He was killed in a hostile Indian attack in Arizona in the late 18th century, and the painting is in the Museum of New Mexico in Santa Fe, which also had a Franciscan presence. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc9VdPelDJ_lkdfZW_CC9b9F9dp83rTPmPXpIYwaAeks6-X9Fanqh9Uri_nppB1h73Ta-4Nh5CQttr1YnaUkLQTfszfad-kS0wefwHraHzyte2L5ydNUeFtK7h_bJUE04rGkDQF_22hxf0/s1600/FranciscansPainting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="360" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc9VdPelDJ_lkdfZW_CC9b9F9dp83rTPmPXpIYwaAeks6-X9Fanqh9Uri_nppB1h73Ta-4Nh5CQttr1YnaUkLQTfszfad-kS0wefwHraHzyte2L5ydNUeFtK7h_bJUE04rGkDQF_22hxf0/s320/FranciscansPainting.jpg" width="240" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">For the first two years, everything seems to have gone well
for Fr. Corpa, but it changed literally overnight. One morning in late
September or early October of 1597 – the exact date is unknown, but the friars’
report arrived in St Augustine on October 7, 1597 - as he recited his prayers, he
looked up to see a group of hostile Indians, including the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">cacique</i> of Tolomato himself, burst into his cell. Still
kneeling, he was clubbed to death by one of the warriors at the command of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">cacique</i>.</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Supposedly, he was then beheaded and his head was mounted on
a post near the boat ramp, although the Spanish do not report finding it when
they arrived. His body was buried in the woods near the village, and the
church, the friar’s residence, and the council house were burned.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Later the Spanish found a statue of St
Anthony de Padua (a popular Franciscan saint) and the altar – probably not the
altar table as we think of it in modern churches, but the altar stone, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ara</i>, in Spanish – hidden in the woods
near the ruined town.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Why this happened is still a subject of discussion. To make a long story short, the best book
on this confusing subject is probably <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Murder
and Martyrdom in Spanish Florida</i>, by J. Michael Francis and Kathleen M.
Kole (American Museum of Natural History, 2011).<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="margin: 0px;"><br /></span></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPcjdt4Gu5bP5xkCNtH1CdJj_lTIfpMiYg17Rz1XplT0vM9v6-fcnXbfpGUB_0F6qn7NdSRbW0zepmWyqAjGaa48G_4nOz3LoCKFyruon_4CrRxwCZaFuBktrpBfYH1MsKRszkuHg9s8Ny/s1600/410DF798-F86A-4005-B0EA-A3D02BD7A99C.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPcjdt4Gu5bP5xkCNtH1CdJj_lTIfpMiYg17Rz1XplT0vM9v6-fcnXbfpGUB_0F6qn7NdSRbW0zepmWyqAjGaa48G_4nOz3LoCKFyruon_4CrRxwCZaFuBktrpBfYH1MsKRszkuHg9s8Ny/s320/410DF798-F86A-4005-B0EA-A3D02BD7A99C.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="margin: 0px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">In any case, the attacks put an end to Tolomato and of all
of the missions in the area, with most of the resident friars being killed,
and one taken captive for a year.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The
important mission buildings had been burned by the Indians themselves during
the uprising, and in the succeeding months, most of what remained of the
villages was destroyed by Spanish reprisals. However, within a few years, the
Franciscans returned, and several of the other missions, most notably Santa
Catalina, were revived. David Hurst Thomas, from the Museum of Natural History in NYC, did extensive work on the site, and remains interested in it. Click <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SjU2aMSvuM" target="_blank">here</a> for a really interesting - if lengthy - video about his work and its sequels on St Catherine's Island. Ignore the lemurs.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">But by then Tolomato seems to have disappeared for good from
Georgia, and the name is only found again in the 1620s, this time in Florida, in
the reports of the Spanish Governor don Luis de Rojas y Borja. Residing in St
Augustine, he speaks of the establishment of a new mission Indian village, Nuestra
Senora de Guadalupe de Tolomato, on the Guana River not far north of St
Augustine.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The Guale Indian residents
were to provide labor for ferrying goods across the river, cutting timber, etc.
and they had their own village, church and priest at the new “Tholomato,” as it
appears in the record.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">This, alas, turned out to be just the first step in the long journey of the Indians from Georgia to Cordova St. But since we're only looking at the beginnings of the journey, that story will have to wait for another post.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">As for Harris Neck, its story after the departure of the
Indians is also an interesting one.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>After the gradual departure of the Spanish from the Georgia area and the
destruction of the mission chain by British colonists from Georgia and South
Carolina in the early 1700s, British settlers acquired land in the area.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The large hammock got the name Harris Neck in
the mid-18<sup>th</sup> century, when one William Thomas Harris established a
large plantation dedicated to cotton and rice growing.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>It passed through his family and a large
section was bought by Jonathan Thomas, who called it Peru Plantation and raised
cotton there. One of his descendants, dying without heirs, left it to a former slave,
who in turn sold parcels to other black - and some white - families after the end of the Civil War.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>It is considered part of the Gullah-Geechee
corridor, since most of the African American residents are descendants of slaves
brought from West Africa to work the plantations, who then became landowners
after the Civil War.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPU1GNHQSbQGea1xJi_NEb5JtHQGW9fqf0LYpZJ8eAD40NEzNIIMONofVbtJYLF7KZZuZITXQHbInJ-j7shKIb0i6oDZ6fOrsk79cchQvBYjrSxLKW3D7CCKSJvjuwReyeGzWoAXoObt3J/s1600/IMG_4415.JPEG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPU1GNHQSbQGea1xJi_NEb5JtHQGW9fqf0LYpZJ8eAD40NEzNIIMONofVbtJYLF7KZZuZITXQHbInJ-j7shKIb0i6oDZ6fOrsk79cchQvBYjrSxLKW3D7CCKSJvjuwReyeGzWoAXoObt3J/s320/IMG_4415.JPEG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Things changed later in the 1880s, when some of the land was
bought by wealthy people from Savannah and other parts of the South.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>One of these was Pierre Lorillard, of the
tobacco family, who built a mansion – really, more of a party house - for his
mistress and friends who would arrive at his deep-water dock on their yachts.
The mansion had fountains and formal gardens and was even used as the Officers’
Club for the Harris Neck airbase during WWII! But it had deteriorated by the
time Harris Neck became a wildlife refuge in 1962 and was torn down. Below is the one remaining, algae-filled fountain, and above is the huge stork and marsh bird nesting area that is now the main feature of Harriss Neck.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN7-pEON3YW6M5XHRtlDWbpMoWcZaWRAAbrhKGtU2V0h5vrCTZfW0FOd_peps0ZQfJGlJ2v5h6IJcK-0kipwRfvYWnrm0IpQ1mri6obVweNonXGa_QqcQLWd2tYcABnaInF5QfcecaikGq/s1600/F67413B0-D12F-4DB4-B5DB-97DC355AD1EC.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN7-pEON3YW6M5XHRtlDWbpMoWcZaWRAAbrhKGtU2V0h5vrCTZfW0FOd_peps0ZQfJGlJ2v5h6IJcK-0kipwRfvYWnrm0IpQ1mri6obVweNonXGa_QqcQLWd2tYcABnaInF5QfcecaikGq/s320/F67413B0-D12F-4DB4-B5DB-97DC355AD1EC.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The<span style="font-family: "calibri";"> famous Georgia archaeologist Lewis H.
Larson thought that this might be the location of one of the Tolomato mission village.
A shell mound runs through the area, and Larson's excavations in the late 20<sup>th</sup>
century turned up Spanish and native pottery fragments and even aboriginal
house floors.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>As we moved through the
area, carefully and unsuccessfully trying to avoid ticks, we found intriguing
traces of shell deposits that certainly predated the mansion.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>It is not likely that the Lorillards spent
much time shucking wild oysters in the gardens of their mansion.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Some of the later history of the land is not pretty. When the land was seized by the government for the building of the airfield, the black families
were compensated at $26.90 per acre, while white families received $37.31 per
acre. In addition, after the war the families were not allowed to move back to their
land as promised, but the entire property was turned over to McIntosh County as a park or
wildlife area.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">In 1962, the land was taken back by the Federal Government
because of mismanagement by the county government and turned into the Harris
Neck National Wildlife Refuge.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>It is
famous as a breeding and nesting area for wood storks, herons, egrets and other
coastal wading birds. In fact, during our stay, the trees were white with
egrets, almost to the point where it looked as if snow had fallen. The area is
visited mainly by birdwatchers and photographers, as well as occasional
bicyclists and walkers, and a stop at the ranger station will give you some
insight into the lively bird activity there.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOKw-xvm0_xio69E2IJyxJ4kZZJmMEuIwPDh0NiTfrakSDseg65n_iRQPZvEPGt-wKVt4jG8G565T-haydZPPmZq7uEsFN395Xm85owrMV-3l3YQxMi1SArYHaUYZxrGuvizktDkBR8Lw1/s1600/FF65E7EA-78AD-417C-AA04-E710A4523CF0.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOKw-xvm0_xio69E2IJyxJ4kZZJmMEuIwPDh0NiTfrakSDseg65n_iRQPZvEPGt-wKVt4jG8G565T-haydZPPmZq7uEsFN395Xm85owrMV-3l3YQxMi1SArYHaUYZxrGuvizktDkBR8Lw1/s320/FF65E7EA-78AD-417C-AA04-E710A4523CF0.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">And finally, of course, we found a cemetery.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>At the very edge of the park, right next to
the boat ramp and in another area considered likely to have been the location of
Mission Tolomato, is the <a href="https://vanishingcoastalgeorgia.com/2017/07/24/gould-cemetery-harris-neck/" target="_blank">Gould Cemetery</a>. It is named after the Gould family,
which had owned the property, and it holds the remains of members of many of
the longest-standing African American families of the peninsula.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>We walked through the cemetery, seeing the old
handcrafted concrete headstones and the more modern professionally created
marble monuments, and noticing the same family names repeated. One family seems
to have had a tradition of church work, with tombstones listing pastors and
deacons and evangelists – and on the way out of Harris Neck, we happened to see
one of these last names on the sign board of a tiny local church by the
narrow road!<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="margin: 0px;"><br /></span></span>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">We paid our respects to the residents of the cemetery and
then walked over to the edge of the creek near the boat ramp, wondering if perhaps
we were walking where the original Tolomato Mission had once stood.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Artifacts have been found at this site, and
it certainly looks like a place that would have been ideal for the
establishment of a village, since it is right next to a deep creek with access
to channels leading to the sea and to St. Catherine’s Island.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The site is wide and bright and, nearly 500
years later, so peaceful that you can almost imagine our Tolomato
Indian family poling their boats along the creek – probably laden with the oysters
whose shells we would see as a sign of their presence all these many years
later.</span><br />
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<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span>Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04493096470169447646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1432464668645421393.post-47215207042147858392018-03-22T07:23:00.000-07:002018-03-22T07:23:06.266-07:00Irish Tolomato for St. Patrick´s Day<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
St Patrick's Day 2018 may have come and gone - but it's still March, so there's still time for a St Patrick's Day post to share the special tour we did at Tolomato Cemetery to feature our many Irish burials. Louise Kennedy, our genealogist par excellence, got to work and dug deep into the records and gathered together all of our marked Irish burials, so we were able to lead our St Patrick´s Day visitors through a pretty comprehensive tour of the Irish past of St Augustine. And here it is, in screen form, for blog readers who didn´t have a chance to be out there with us on that sunny St. Patrick´s Day. </div>
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Visitors are often surprised by the large number of people born in places such as County Antrim or Dublin and immediately think of Potato Famine immigration. But it wasn't the potato's fault, because the Potato Famines started only in the 1840s, while but the Irish presence in St Augustine goes back to the beginning. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcRqc7_JSNlm8pJD1HJxJE4ELeE51h8rNXXpSplwnmur9W6no2zNMeDttm_kpKqJ8e60LFnVewkJ6iofVic4a1mJsQ7SMxTck7uCB9Zqz5wpCMVxEK6yQjCVDsdcWDwSdOLMCE9bFcEZ8T/s1600/StAugRecord.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a>In fact, some of the parish records of St Augustine from 1594, which are the oldest written records in what is now the US, were kept and signed by an Irishman, Fr. Ricardo Artur (Richard Arthur), who had served as a soldier in the Spanish army and then was the parish priest in this garrison town until about 1605. (The records are held by St Augustine but have been digitized by Vanderbilt University and may be consulted on-line.)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlLKhQ0YdB99ErMGW-LqgNoJ9x8IHXMKhdHU5ayvXLbBaonUMHeYtQtU-2B87PEmGOitTZ3h1f0eGCTDMs-PgNm_19CE__XDWi9MVDSNbDp7r0OyLw0oVVjycQuDjtgas_jhkGNWp9MDiv/s1600/StAugRecord.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; clear: right; color: #0066cc; float: right; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></a>The Spanish army included large numbers of Irishmen in what were referred to as the Hibernian Regiments. The wiki image above shows them with a Hibernian Regiment flag, which was a Spanish battle flag bearing the harp, symbol of Ireland. St Augustine often had these regiments stationed at the Castillo. And many of the clergy, both diocesan priests and members of religious orders such as the Franciscans, were Irishmen who had been educated in Spanish universities and seminaries because of the repression in Ireland starting around 1556, under Henry VIII, which forbade them to receive this education in Ireland. Below is a photo of the entry to the building of the Colegio de San Patricio (St. Patrick's College or Seminary) in Salamanca, which closed in 1837 and is now used as a sort of student center.</div>
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So the Irish were a fairly large and important presence. In fact, a Florida scholar, Dr. Michael Francis, recently discovered indications that First Spanish Period St Augustine was celebrating St Patrick's Day as far back as 1600, ordering an extra measure of gunpowder so that they could fire the cannons to celebrate. The next year, mention is made of a procession, probably following the statue of the saint set on a small platform carried by four people, as is still done in villages in Spain. Below is the procession for Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Ponferrada, Spain.</div>
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Since the Irish and their descendants were scattered throughout the Spanish Empire, it should be no surprise that the very oldest extant individually marked grave in the State of Florida, that of Elizabeth Forrester (d. 1798), belongs to an Irish American transplant from the Northeast, Philadelphia, specifically. She was 16 at the time of her death and burial in Tolomato Cemetery. Her father, Gerald Forrester, was born in Dublin, emigrated to Philadelphia, and then brought his family to Florida. He was a merchant and ship's captain in St Augustine in the late 18th and early 19th century, and the family owned an orange grove in what would now be Lincolnville. This lovely stone is wearing away but is beautifully carved and probably was ordered from carvers in the Northeast or possibly Charleston, which produced many markers located throughout Southern cemeteries.</div>
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Moving on a little bit, we have an important Irish burial that is no longer marked at all, that of Second Spanish Period Governor Enrique White. He was also born in Dublin, served in the Spanish military and was appointed to the position of civil governor of Florida. He must have been an active and farsighted man, because in 1811 he came up with a plan to modernize Tolomato, going from its rather helter-skelter layout of burials to an orderly grid plan with numbered plots, priced according to the desirability of their location. This never came about because the political situation was tense (with the War of 1812 about to break out) and Spain and its financing for the colonies had been disrupted by Napoleon's invasion, followed by domestic strife and wars on the Spanish Peninsula. </div>
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One of the results of this was that the king, Fernando VII, had been forced into exile - but Governor Enrique White came up with a plan. He laid out a town on a neat grid plan, and even named it Fernandina, hoping to attract the royal family to take up residence there. For various reasons, this never happened either, and White himself died in 1811 with this project unrealized. However, one of the streets of the modern Fernandina Beach is named White Street in his honor.</div>
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As for his burial site, the Canary Islander who prepared Governor White for burial had him buried under a cairn of stones somewhere towards what was then the front of the cemetery. This was meant to be a temporary situation, since the town had planned to order a nice marble marker for this important figure, but it seems that this never happened. So his exact burial location is unknown.</div>
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Next we have his contemporary, Fr. Miguel O'Reilly, whose tomb (above) is next to that of another Irishman, Fr. Miguel Crosby, who replaced Fr. Miguel O'Reilly as the St Augustine parish priest upon O'Reilly's death in 1812. Educated at the University of Salamanca, Fr. Miguel O´Reilly had first been sent to St Augustine to serve as the priest for the Minorcan community, but had been unable to enter the town because St Augustine was under the British, the American Revolution was going on, and the Americans had blockaded the harbor. He turned back but later reentered St Augustine in 1784 as chaplain to the Hibernian Regiment assigned to the Castillo. He was the first parish priest of the church that is now the Cathedral, which was completed in 1797, and was a very important figure in Second Spanish Period Florida.</div>
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Then there was Fr. Edward Mayne, born in County Antrim, whose family emigrated to Philadelphia and who then came to Florida after his ordination in Maryland, shortly after Spain had handed Florida over to the United States in 1821. These were tumultuous times, with shifting allegiances, blurred lines of episcopal authority, and conflicts between the older Spanish residents and the newcomers from the Northeast and South Carolina. He was caught up in the chaos and at one point was locked out of the church by Geronimo Alvarez, head of the church wardens, and had to appeal to the bishop before he could get back in and take over the parish. But everything was finally resolved, tranquility returned, and by the time of his death in 1837, he was remembered on his gravestone as "gentle and humble of heart." The stone itself is interesting, because it is very tall and has what are called "shoulders," the two projecting points on the top. This is much more typical of a Northern cemetery or even an Irish cemetery, but unfortunately we do not know where they got Fr. Mayne's beautiful (although alarmingly leaning) stone.</div>
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Dating to roughly the same period, we have this beautiful vault, below, of <span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;">Lucas
Creyon, Esq. – born 1798. <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>“This stone
records the affection of a brother. It contends against time to perpetuate the
Memory of Lucas Creyon, Esq.native of the County of Sligo in Ireland, but for
many years an inhabitant of Columbia, South Carolina. He died in the City of
St, Augustine Oct. 21<sup>st</sup>, 1821. Aged 36 Years. <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>May his soul rest in peace Amen.” We know little more about him, although the ¨Esq.¨following his name suggests that he may have been a lawyer.</span></div>
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Taking a medium size jump ahead, we have a connection that goes back a ways. Here we see the vault of Major William Travers (1794-1840). His plantation was burned during the Seminole War in 1840. </div>
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Major William Travers was born in St Augustine, but his father, Dr. Thomas Travers, was born in Kildare and was a doctor. In fact, he had come to St Augustine as a doctor under the British and was made director of the Royal Hospital, now the Spanish Military Hospital, on Aviles St (at that time called Hospital Street). When the Spanish returned, some of the British Period residents stayed on, and Dr. Thomas Travers chose to remain and was then made head of the Royal Hospital under the Spanish. You can see a mannequin representing him, sitting in a reconstruction of his consulting room, at the Spanish Military Hospital. He was born in 1751 and died in 1807. Like his son, he is buried at Tolomato Cemetery, but his grave is not marked and we do not know its exact location.</div>
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The Civil War was an important time for the Irish, and a couple of our markers remind us of this. Michael Neligan's stone, above, is one of the Civil War VA markers at the front of the cemetery. He was undoubtedly of Irish descent, but was born in Connecticut and for reasons unknown, came to St Augustine. He joined the Confederate Army at the age of 55; his son, Henry Neligan, joined the same regiment. Fathers and sons often joined the army together. He seems to have fallen ill during the war and for awhile was listed as AWOL, but eventually that was straightened out and he finished the war as a serving member. After the war, he ran a variety of businesses, including a boarding house, and was followed in this by his son. He died in 1871, but his family continued to be a part of St Augustine. In fact, just today, driving back from I-95, I passed a construction company truck belonging to...Neligan Construction. It was a green truck, painted with shamrocks! Perhaps a descendant?</div>
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We have another interesting Civil War related Irish burial, shown above. This marker is one for Patrick Keenan, who died in St Augustine in 1877. He was born in 1844 in County Tyrone, but served in the Union Army in Pennsylvania, probably one of the thousands of Irish immigrants drafted immediately upon arriving in the United States. After the war, he joined the Regular Army and was stationed at the Castillo. He died of tuberculosis, and the legend on his stone states that that the marker had been provided by his military companions in his company at the Castillo, "as a tribute of respect" for this man who had died so far from home and family.</div>
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<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM91fqV8PivtT1koE38pvxZo12tc__aEkBvgc5B9hm7j6FIM5yzEp-jQCpw9UAJtA7tXCoyae7-UWPDELmg1k9eP99IPUD87h_nwxho7-1LnnaL_0O1RgYNE9ghjyaJ-5E_2Euwg5bE4KO/s1600/Stubbs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>The above marker is that of William Stubbs, who was born in Dublin in 1795 but lived most of his life in Michigan, where he was a farmer. He died in St Augustine in 1857, at the age of 62, but as late as 1850, he was listed in the Michigan census. How did he come to be buried at Tolomato? Was he possibly relocating late in life to Florida, as many people still do today, or was he perhaps a tourist, just traveling through? We don't know much more about him than what appears on his stone. However, several years ago, a visitor discovered his name on the stone and realized that William Stubbs was his ancestor. Perhaps someday we will learn more about him and his circumstances.</div>
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Finally, we have William O'Hara. He was born in Meath in 1823, and came to St Augustine at some unknown point, where he married Antonica Alvarez in 1853. He is buried near a couple of small obelisks and flower-engraved stones, all sadly marking the graves of O'Hara and Alvarez children. So once more we see the Spanish and the Irish, together again, and once again we are reminded of the fact that this tiny town and this even tinier cemetery record the place where all the cultures of the vast Spanish and English speaking worlds flowed together into the new United States...and that the people above who now lie in Tolomato Cemetery played their part in this great history.</div>
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<br />Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04493096470169447646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1432464668645421393.post-46969199872729071342018-02-06T18:20:00.001-08:002018-02-06T18:20:58.864-08:00Pere Lachaise at Last!<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">OK, this is the moment we’ve all been waiting for – well,
perhaps not, but I certainly have been looking forward to it for some time: The
visit to Pere Lachaise.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">As cemetery fans know, Pere Lachaise in Paris was the first
of the “garden cemeteries” that developed in the 19<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> century. But its origins were definitely unromantic
and sanitation and health oriented, and the above photo looks bleak - but bear in mind that this was in late December in chilly Paris, so the “garden” part will look a lot better in a few months.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQuWUkex9JGtT5OcQ6RmZ9NBvDblrB16DydyYKJRPmAoehZbHfQkZwqgpH8fRD8cFY90gwcYtvU5W1S59cXbUEhuhamUEF0K6qfXVCrFY4naUNGA8bjkYjuNV9bdjqD2gvRDB8wBx4jQQR/s1600/flowers.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQuWUkex9JGtT5OcQ6RmZ9NBvDblrB16DydyYKJRPmAoehZbHfQkZwqgpH8fRD8cFY90gwcYtvU5W1S59cXbUEhuhamUEF0K6qfXVCrFY4naUNGA8bjkYjuNV9bdjqD2gvRDB8wBx4jQQR/s400/flowers.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">The garden cemetery movement was not an aesthetic movement, but was the
result of concerns about parts of Paris that had turned into charnel pits
(basically, mass graves) and as a result suffered from contaminated water
and unbreathable air.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">The cemetery was
built on land that had belonged to a Jesuit residence where "Pere La-Chaise," a priest
who had been the confessor and important advisor to Louis XVI, had once
lived.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Curiously, Catholics originally were
not permitted to be buried in Pere Lachaise (later English spelling)</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">because it was not consecrated ground,
although at some point, that changed and there are now many Catholics buried in
Pere Lachaise.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The cemetery, which opened in 1804 and sits atop a hill in
the 20th Arrondissement, is a somewhat random looking place. <span style="margin: 0px;"> Outside of the walls, there are many funeral services and stores that sell headstones, urns...and the beautiful ceramic flowers below, a welcome substitute for our plastic flowers. Inside the walls, t</span>here are collapsed vaults, bizarre vaults,
beautiful vaults, arrogant vaults, unassuming family vaults…and Jim Morrison
and Oscar Wilde, both of whose vaults have had to be protected from their rabid
fans.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">f there’s any US place I think would be similar to Pere
Lachaise, it would be Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta. That is, a profusion of
monuments, abundant scatterings of "grave goods" (the things people leave on or around a burial place), closely packed graves…and tours.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">But our tour was quite an eccentric one, unbooked, random,
and our guide, Raphael, found us rather than the reverse. However, this is the
common practice with Raphael, and if you do a search of Raphael and Pere
Lachaise, you’ll get a lot of results. Below, he clutches his trusty IPad and map as he tells us the details of the monument behind him.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">First, though, the cemetery.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The winter is perhaps not its best time, but really, any
time that you’re in Paris is probably the best time. We arrived on the metro
and put on our hats and scarves and gloves and went up the hill.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">There is a map floating around in various places, including
the cemetery’s own excellent <a href="https://pere-lachaise.com/" target="_blank">website</a> (which has a virtual tour), but the map’s vision and that of
normal human beings appears to be a little different, and it can be hard to
find the marked sites.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">We wandered the cemetery, which is divided into sectors and
aisles and corners, fruitlessly looking for Chopin (whose body is buried at
Pere Lachaise, while his heart is buried in Poland.)<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>And then suddenly we heard a voice saying,
“Chopin!<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>You are looking for Chopin?”</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">This was Raphael, who has been the benevolent guide-spirit of
the cemetery for some 30 years.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>He
emerges, he finds you, takes you to see what you wanted to see and much more,
and then (after a tip, of course…don’t forget the tip!) he dashes off to find
other people looking for Chopin. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Here you see him zipping along a secret corridor behind the vaults, followed by one of his little flock.</span><br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoFq8ihQbK8Z0J-FRUmTZ_viStxw1kzF4hyphenhyphenoxs9Cp7d8NzDn4tg8NUoVTKrzvZ1kXFiisaKk7ojdx0q0NjEOXX1vsjcpGPlvka25DbE9Idu2ZOMifUZx1XMu_FSRoFdVRZrEf2F2IhppCh/s1600/following+raphael.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoFq8ihQbK8Z0J-FRUmTZ_viStxw1kzF4hyphenhyphenoxs9Cp7d8NzDn4tg8NUoVTKrzvZ1kXFiisaKk7ojdx0q0NjEOXX1vsjcpGPlvka25DbE9Idu2ZOMifUZx1XMu_FSRoFdVRZrEf2F2IhppCh/s320/following+raphael.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">But by the end, you will have run after him at top speed and seen a lot
of burial sites and heard so many real, true (he swears it!), not-ghost-stories by that time
that you’ll be exhausted.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The cemetery is some 110 acres, and includes hundreds of
markers, vaults, monuments and enclosures, as well as a crematory and ossuary.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>It has some 100,000 burials at the moment, but as Raphael told us, “Famous? You get to stay
forever. Not famous?<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Ten – 20 years,
whatever you have paid for and then…” thumb over the shoulder.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<br />
However, famous can have many meanings...a M. Lafitte, the inventor of the anvil, is buried at Pere Lachaise, although I didn't even realize that the anvil had an inventor. (This refers, of course, to the anvil with the rounded point for shaping horseshoes.)<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA6x3qzO61CvL7i-qOPVil42xp6toccYcJ9NfApBe4T3tc9q6bjracos9piImjKFvHtmjbMaeLccEGOpz5ehlbq5RJwY6B8nsS20yTuYQ_5HMFl_eqfbQ02bSvtyA5OFI6xYhElcdeUIVK/s1600/anvil.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA6x3qzO61CvL7i-qOPVil42xp6toccYcJ9NfApBe4T3tc9q6bjracos9piImjKFvHtmjbMaeLccEGOpz5ehlbq5RJwY6B8nsS20yTuYQ_5HMFl_eqfbQ02bSvtyA5OFI6xYhElcdeUIVK/s320/anvil.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">We ran between the vaults, following Raphael down narrow corridors, up leaf-covered stairs hidden behind drooping branches, and along routes that only he knew to find the people that he had determined would be of interest to us. This did not include Jim Morrison, although I have a vague recollection of having sped past his grave at some point.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">All you need to be buried at Pere Lachaise, technically, is
to have been a resident of Paris at some point, or to have died there (which
explains Jim Morrison).<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The survivors of
the deceased essentially lease the space, for ten years or more, and after this
time, the remains can be removed and placed in the giant ossuary or even
cremated. Along the edges of the cemetery are “Gardens of Remembrance,” which are strips of very green grass regularly sprinkled with ashes from the crematory
and guarded by a sign warning people not to step on them.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHhOnd0lIhUkGBHO_6bVWqBc_CwQ-J15yus1rXouLz2dB70sVIINa-33mYMT-duz71ZcBGggBHUL7VrbNiHwImEIfbt5DCNG7GJgu0AfG4bKzmqL-4SsPnfIqseIe5jldLGL7ABU0ZSiBZ/s1600/lawn.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHhOnd0lIhUkGBHO_6bVWqBc_CwQ-J15yus1rXouLz2dB70sVIINa-33mYMT-duz71ZcBGggBHUL7VrbNiHwImEIfbt5DCNG7GJgu0AfG4bKzmqL-4SsPnfIqseIe5jldLGL7ABU0ZSiBZ/s320/lawn.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The streets and aisles of the cemetery are narrow and
tightly packed. There are large family vaults with many people buried in them,
but most of the features that appear to be vaults are actually just ornamental stone structures
built over an underground crypt, which is generally not accessible. <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The cemetery is famous for its monuments. They include the
starkly realistic – the one below is a communard who died in the uprising of
1871.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRU8N6-hr8wKnE3JoAfld_eYor5xKnSF6viOEM5828VRsKnb-dIHH2iporivRQaaYP-SQJMckMB2GImuwLTtDuPd-6Sxr0bLIWyeokm3hIjleTkk9JmiILTTBEH3wlNbfhGVh2HuLs53xM/s1600/communard.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRU8N6-hr8wKnE3JoAfld_eYor5xKnSF6viOEM5828VRsKnb-dIHH2iporivRQaaYP-SQJMckMB2GImuwLTtDuPd-6Sxr0bLIWyeokm3hIjleTkk9JmiILTTBEH3wlNbfhGVh2HuLs53xM/s320/communard.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
The other very realistic monument is that of<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> a famous Parisian Lothario who was shot dead by the
husband of one of his conquests and is now considered a sort of lucky fertility symbol for couples who want to have children.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">At the instruction of Raphael, the embarrassed New York couple
below touched both of the figure's shoes because they want twins. There was the other visibly shiny part of the figure they had to touch, too, for the "magic" to work...which is why they appear so embarrassed.</span><br />
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQEuH-fbprY4JqXI9OFr_aEfAG7oLpo2gBfKtKRBqho7I-qjrFbLYu4VT8-5j1LhDoC8YeW0S13kv5M2hCZW86X0BeYPfa98WWXIQ9BTP8uATg2JI_IJGeClmUja3OCKARNcq84g7jIBtB/s1600/NYCouple.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQEuH-fbprY4JqXI9OFr_aEfAG7oLpo2gBfKtKRBqho7I-qjrFbLYu4VT8-5j1LhDoC8YeW0S13kv5M2hCZW86X0BeYPfa98WWXIQ9BTP8uATg2JI_IJGeClmUja3OCKARNcq84g7jIBtB/s320/NYCouple.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Many of the people buried at Pere Lachaise were well known
in the art world or the world of performing arts.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Modigliani is buried there, and so is
Delacroix – the latter with some great bronze recreations of some of his most
famous paintings.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6pggMKwYqxc6tmP0KRqgEmKT7kyh7U3aDVH8teyPuRh_kW6akpZNwi9NPir1fU5h0ofm7nnbMJ4cd6GEk12LF_rPe4dT33hQm4S2kOtdcUh7L_nsmOCFEETS8SaJPa5usAKVe0_zcHWSc/s1600/Delacroix.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6pggMKwYqxc6tmP0KRqgEmKT7kyh7U3aDVH8teyPuRh_kW6akpZNwi9NPir1fU5h0ofm7nnbMJ4cd6GEk12LF_rPe4dT33hQm4S2kOtdcUh7L_nsmOCFEETS8SaJPa5usAKVe0_zcHWSc/s320/Delacroix.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Musicians abounded. We did find Chopin, and we found a
variety of other musicians, including Edit Piaf. W</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">e also found people I hadn’t thought about for years,
such as Marcel Marceau, the mime who went by the name of Bip and died in 2007. He was born in Strasbourg and of course had to flee from the Nazis, lived in hiding as a member of the French Resistance...and developed his skills in their clandestine theatrical performances. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEa29JLFzO52rMDrbK6QeuUHXHmouP5zCwmklfdzS-u8_7JnkB1wPC4l_NfwwWoR4jTQNhYGj3IPv2XNW-T5e3LJh_lwdMNItsPiSG_mrFog4JrRdjuoNiJ_gi0OS1K5LflRLZUt6XsNYl/s1600/MarcelM.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEa29JLFzO52rMDrbK6QeuUHXHmouP5zCwmklfdzS-u8_7JnkB1wPC4l_NfwwWoR4jTQNhYGj3IPv2XNW-T5e3LJh_lwdMNItsPiSG_mrFog4JrRdjuoNiJ_gi0OS1K5LflRLZUt6XsNYl/s320/MarcelM.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">From the world of English letters we have, of course, Oscar
Wilde.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">His monument is protected by a
large cat, one of the many that roam the cemetery.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCcKZ5z3pMYSCuBRZ5G612Wu0_7tIOqIqYNbbafndi4PBw7NRnmoR76vqINZbWKsUdyVh30yDUNx5_sYvTTswGKKqbqtG4igPLgvqrgBBCf2crWCbBxhAhlH3RGf4hOsbJy26G2n53ms9C/s1600/IMG_8873.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCcKZ5z3pMYSCuBRZ5G612Wu0_7tIOqIqYNbbafndi4PBw7NRnmoR76vqINZbWKsUdyVh30yDUNx5_sYvTTswGKKqbqtG4igPLgvqrgBBCf2crWCbBxhAhlH3RGf4hOsbJy26G2n53ms9C/s320/IMG_8873.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It is also protected by a plexiglass shield,
because for some completely unaccountable reason, women love to kiss the
marker, and the lipstick was damaging the stone. Below you can see the
lipstick stains left by the more athletic women who managed to get above the
plexiglass and plant their kisses next to the wonderful Sphinx carving by Jacob
Epstein.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6BK1Na_WyvKVLguA80eyaqTGk0vxdUyjzadE3P8ZW94Etw48u4m9dZBShUhoqA2H-cuY7OJI8e71gdwhZpfOILOHYU7wePUvzJDNuB_fNRv1S1HtcjeLGBUT63WcxqSNiY9XA8s0VC37s/s1600/kisses.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6BK1Na_WyvKVLguA80eyaqTGk0vxdUyjzadE3P8ZW94Etw48u4m9dZBShUhoqA2H-cuY7OJI8e71gdwhZpfOILOHYU7wePUvzJDNuB_fNRv1S1HtcjeLGBUT63WcxqSNiY9XA8s0VC37s/s400/kisses.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">There are many Americans, including Gertrude Stein and
Alice B. Toklas (both California products), whose grave is tended and decorated by Raphael, as you see below. <span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">William Franklin, a descendant of
Benjamin Franklin who died in somewhat clouded circumstances in Paris, is also buried in Pere Lachaise, and there are in fact, once you start looking, many Americans who managed to be buried there because they happened to die in Paris.</span></span><br />
<b><br /></b>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ9KFHo8br-_V5Yvd0SIm6-x-6JSU0ogBaV3B0RUNsmAd_FkxBxayoPXsWlU-OCXCyYEpH-nCXWwjcRsz_-LaF6PISk1K2xtFi43Iw0ytiZPjX675RW6R7YZwzTSDoXDFGvxKycYveLvBT/s1600/IMG_8976.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ9KFHo8br-_V5Yvd0SIm6-x-6JSU0ogBaV3B0RUNsmAd_FkxBxayoPXsWlU-OCXCyYEpH-nCXWwjcRsz_-LaF6PISk1K2xtFi43Iw0ytiZPjX675RW6R7YZwzTSDoXDFGvxKycYveLvBT/s320/IMG_8976.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Naturally, there are politicians buried all over the place,
many in very imposing mausoleums, although most of their names would now be
unknown even to French citizens.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>Napoleon had wanted to be buried there, but actually got his very own –
well, calling it a mausoleum would be seriously understating it. Perhaps temple
would be a better word: below you see his ornamental casket at Les Invalides,
several miles away, where the rotunda is graced by many statues of Napoleon in
a god-like form.</span><br />
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<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
But if you're not Napoleon, the <span style="font-family: inherit;">cemetery accepts burials of persons of all religions or
none at all, but one thing that was almost surprising was the profusion of
Jewish burials.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>There are various
Rothschilds buried there, although some were moved to Israel long ago, and many
burials of other Jewish public figures or people important in the business
world. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: inherit;">But there was one particularly striking area of the cemetery
that I had never read about: the Holocaust monuments. The various concentration
camps to which French Jews were deported are marked, each one with its own
monument, and there is also a monument specifically for the children who were
taken from Paris to these camps and never returned.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">There are also monuments that suddenly call the viewer back
to the difficult present.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The young
woman below died in the terrorist attack on the Bataclan nightclub in
2015.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">And the young man was one of the
writers for the French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, who died in the
terrorist attack on the magazine’s offices, also in 2015.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7cpwnp3jVuCSOM-cIwmTsk2Qa4fF8pQRboDZzeo3XlmmLrpBcQ8ZYJ3HrjddZy9_vo5vqyn-kyju3OvARH8khEbQ1lyqbye1_dDKiaoOBewhFdpEe49PIYLyycKsi0W_W7bG59rsfaO7g/s1600/charlie+h.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7cpwnp3jVuCSOM-cIwmTsk2Qa4fF8pQRboDZzeo3XlmmLrpBcQ8ZYJ3HrjddZy9_vo5vqyn-kyju3OvARH8khEbQ1lyqbye1_dDKiaoOBewhFdpEe49PIYLyycKsi0W_W7bG59rsfaO7g/s400/charlie+h.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The day was very cold, windy and occasionally rainy, and
after a couple of hours, we called it quits, went off to have a glass of wine and a croque monsieur in a warm neighborhood café, and then ended up at Sacre Coeur, viewing the remarkable mosaics. When last seen, Raphael was bounding off to find
more people looking for Chopin.</span><br />
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<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span>Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04493096470169447646noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1432464668645421393.post-29817819822401136402017-12-10T18:02:00.001-08:002017-12-10T18:02:19.123-08:00Tolomato 2017 - Lights and ShadowsWe're getting ready for our Annual Meeting this coming Saturday, December 16, from 4-6:00 pm, and all of you who get this blog post are welcome. It's also our Christmas party, which we have outdoors at the cemetery, so dress warmly!<br />
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But before we start marking our calendars, let's look at what has happened over the last year. Blog posts have been a little scanty because we have had so many time consuming reconstruction tasks as a result of a hurricane named Matthew, followed in less than 12 months time by a hurricane named Irma, and the major focus was on those events. Nonetheless, we had some real high points and great events in between all those consultations with fence companies, tree surgeons, etc.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguZXDS_NAg7OLeCHJ6Zgxs0xk4KkZfmaVO3nzr5XuSsiLupKBwqMuJULZx_JB3iophhhwWHAHQoe8a3YmBYPn6daY4G0mLYPia05_ppTq5e0cR-W4f5QDodV23m2_85CStwdvF2_VkKi5q/s1600/2017januarytree.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguZXDS_NAg7OLeCHJ6Zgxs0xk4KkZfmaVO3nzr5XuSsiLupKBwqMuJULZx_JB3iophhhwWHAHQoe8a3YmBYPn6daY4G0mLYPia05_ppTq5e0cR-W4f5QDodV23m2_85CStwdvF2_VkKi5q/s320/2017januarytree.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<span style="color: black; margin: 0px;">In January, 2017 we started with a
gloomy sight – a dark day with our proud red cedar sheared off at the top.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>This was damage from Matthew in October
of 2016, but most of the other damage had been remedied by then.</span><br />
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So the famous TCPA volunteers, docents and board members, such as Brooke and Janet, above, got busy and we<span style="color: black; margin: 0px;"> moved
along with our usual Open Day and visitor schedule, having an average of 3-400
visitors on each Open Day over the spring and summer. We had some special spring events: the annual Minorcan Day
in February, a visit from our Cuban archeological friends, and some interesting
individual visitors. For example, we had two visitors from a historic cemetery in
Roswell, Georgia, who told us the sad Civil War story of the <a href="http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/deportation-roswell-mill-women" target="_blank">lost women of Roswell.</a><span style="margin: 0px;"> And we had numerous descendants and other interested parties who came looking for genealogical information (which Louise Kennedy, and her new "genealogist in training," Joan, were happy to supply).</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; margin: 0px;">We had another big event in April, with the installation of the DAR marker for
Juan Ruiz del Canto, a Spanish naval captain who assisted the Americans in the
Revolutionary War. We now have three Revolutionary War figures marked at the
cemetery: Don Juan McQueen, Juan Ruiz del Campo, and Francisco Xavier
Sanchez.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>St Augustine was under the
British during the Revolution, so most of their activity took place elsewhere,
usually on the seas.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; margin: 0px;">We
decorated for Memorial Day in May and in June we were ready for a CRPT (Cemetery
Resource Preservation Training) event, showing attendees the cemetery and our
preservation activities.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>We also started
a few projects aimed at furthering these ends: the improvement of lighting in
the Varela Chapel and the installation of a large room-sized storage shed, given to us by the
Cathedral for use as an office and materials storage space, on the grounds of
St Benedict’s Church in Lincolnville. The lighting project is temporarily
suspended, since Hurricane Irma made us realize that there are more pressing
needs for the Varela Chapel. But the new TCPA “office” is moving ahead. The shed has been moved to a good location, insulated, supplied with shelving and lighting,
and is now awaiting the installation of windows.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Below you see Barbara Wingo opening the door, and it is now keeping our papers and
supplies high and dry.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; margin: 0px;">In June,
Elizabeth went to the conference of the Association for Gravestone Studies in
Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and came back with all sorts of ideas, as well as having learned about "comb graves" (which we don't have here in Florida). At the moment, a
group of Florida cemetery enthusiasts, including Shelby Bender, Emily Jane from
FPAN, and Catherine Eddins from Tallahassee, are engaged in forming and
planning the first program for the new Florida Chapter of the AGS.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>More on that later!</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; margin: 0px;">Elizabeth
also went on a quest to find the original Tolomato site. There is a site that is inaccurately known as Tolomato Island, near Darien, Georgia – which actually turned out to
be the remains of a 19<sup>th</sup> century sugar mill, something that hasn’t stopped optimistic developers from using the name, as you see below - but the verifiable site is the next photo, an idyllic location
at what is now the Harris Neck Wildlife Refuge, near St Catherine’s Island in Georgia.
Artifacts have been found, but the actual location hasn’t been determined;
however, we’re getting closer. One of these days we'll know more.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; margin: 0px;">August
was a fairly quiet month, marked mainly by the visit of <span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> And we were fortunate enough to have Emily Ford, from the New Orleans restoration company Oak and Laurel, come in and take a look at the Oliveros Papy vault, which is in serious need of preservation. We started work on this, and found that the descendants are interested...but then...Irma hit.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></span>
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This time, the flooding seems to have been somewhat less of a problem than the wind.<span style="color: black; margin: 0px;"> There was no damage to the markers, except that the sign you see below and the new bushes we had just put in, alas, are no more. They were pulverized by huge
limbs that fell from the big oak tree near the gate. But the gate itself was
spared, and the damage was cleaned up within little more than a month, although the tree near the gate will never look the same.</span><br />
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<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; margin: 0px;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: black; margin: 0px;">We were
fortunate enough to have clean-up help from members of a men’s prayer group from a
parish in Pennsylvania who wanted to aid post-Irma Florida, and wanted to help
somebody who couldn’t pay them back.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>So
they called around to the cemeteries and found us. The two men, accompanied by
Conrad from the local hostal, The Pirate Haus, wielded their chain saws and went
through these huge limbs snicker-snack. Below you see Our Heroes, accompanied by TCPA members. Then the pros came in with their trucks
and hauled off the mountains of debris.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; margin: 0px;">Other lesser damage, such as the cracked NE corner of the new wall, is under repair. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; margin: 0px;">We were
open again in October, and we had a huge event at the end of the month just to
prove it. Florida Living History sponsored its Dia de los Difuntos event at the
cemetery, and we hosted reenactors - such as James Bullock “being” Gen. Biassou
and Fr. Medina “being” Fr. Varela – and even a short 16<sup>th</sup> century
Spanish play presented by Theater with a Mission from Tallahassee. It was a
great event, attended by some 700 people, and we expect to do it again next
year.</span><br />
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<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: black; margin: 0px;">In
November, we also had another All Souls event, the annual blessing of the
graves led by Fr. Tom Willis from the Cathedral. As always, the Minorcans, accompanied
by Fr. Ed Booth, came to Tolomato for their usual November prayers for their Minorcan
ancestors, as well as for a chance to view the new fence-donor plaque installed
on the wall, as Menorcan Society President Rusty Hall is doing below. The other donor plaques are in the works and will be ready early
next year.</span><br />
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<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; margin: 0px;">Also in
the fall, we had preservation activities with our Flagler College friends and a
great visit from a group of 7<sup>th</sup> graders from FSDB (Florida School
for the Deaf and Blind), who did rubbings and learned about the cemetery and
local history.</span></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; margin: 0px;">We also conducted
a condition survey of all of the features, and are preparing to work on a few
especially threatened markers and vaults. In addition to the Oliveros Papy vault, we have other vaults that need attention
(repointing of bricks, restoration of plastering, etc.), deteriorating metalwork, and our centerpiece, the
Varela Chapel, which needs painting and moisture control. You’ll hear more about
this next year.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="color: black; margin: 0px;">Tolomato
made it to the screen a couple of times this fall, with the cemetery being used
as an (unidentified) backdrop for an episode of the PBS show “Secrets of the
Dead,” and also being filmed for part of a series on the Minorcans in St Augustine.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; margin: 0px;">Also in
November, we were saddened to announce the death of one of our wonderful volunteers,
Priscilla de la Cruz, whom many will remember from the front gate, where she
greeted visitors wearing her famous top hat. Requiescat in pace, dear Priscilla.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; margin: 0px;">Finally,
we made it to December.<span style="margin: 0px;"> To start, Janet decorated the chapel and the bishop with a wreath and poinsettias. Then, a </span>couple of days
ago, we had a group of Greek visitors from the Panhellenic Society in the far off Tampa-St Pete area, who laid a
wreath and had an Orthodox memorial service at the tomb of Mary Darling, known
in St Augustine for having been a teacher at what is now called the Oldest
Schoolhouse. She was a member of the Genopoly family, which bears an Anglicized
version of their Greek name, and thus a descendant of one of the “Greek
Minorcan” families who arrived in St. Augustine in 1777.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; margin: 0px;">And now?
The only thing left this year, of course, is our Annual Meeting and Christmas
Party, which will be held on Saturday, December 16, at 4:00 pm just after the
closing of the gates for our regular Open Day.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>If you’re getting this blog post – you’re invited. There will be tasty goodies
and beverages, a chance to meet fellow Tolomato fans, and you’ll get to hear more of
the details on our important preservation plans for 2018. Naturally, you
are more than welcome to become a member if you’re not already one, renew your membership
if it has lapsed, and – most important – volunteer to be part of these exciting
things next year! We need you!</span><br />
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Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04493096470169447646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1432464668645421393.post-29594507725505966332017-08-28T13:26:00.001-07:002017-08-28T13:26:12.140-07:00Finding Footstones On our most recent Open Day, while seeking the shade of our trees on a blazingly hot day, a couple of our volunteers came across some footstones that had somehow become separated from their headstones but bore initials that might make it possible to identify them. The result was some excellent sleuthing by Louise Kennedy, our TCPA Secretary and genealogical expert, and Nick McAuliffe, our Vice President and archeaologist. And this is what they found...<br />
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First of all, what is a footstone? Basically, it was just a small marker to indicate the end of the grave, and was placed at the opposite end from the headstone. It generally bore only the initials of the deceased, although occasionally it included the date of death. Footstones seem to have entered into common use in England in the 17th century, and many 18th century English cemeteries have them. It is also thought that, in some places in England, footstones bearing only initials and placed at the foot of a burial without a headstone were used to mark the graves of felons. But generally, they simply represented the termination of that particular individual's cemetery plot, and in fact, many of them were later removed to reduce cemetery clutter and make it easier to cut the grass.<br />
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Tolomato has a number of footstones, some of them nearly sunken into oblivion with only a tiny band of marble remaining, others with no identification at all on them, and a few others with initials but no identifiable headstones to associated with them.<br />
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And then there are the wandering ones, such as the one Nick discovered, blackened and mildew-covered because of its long exile at the edge of the cemetery. The marker was found near the remains of the cast iron grave enclosure on the south side of the cemetery. When the new fence was put in, workers removed a tree - which as you can see, wasn't easy, since it had "swallowed" some of the metal parts of the enclosure - and we think that the stone was half-buried in the ground behind or very near to the tree. <br />
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It was certainly not the most legible thing, and it took us awhile to discern the letters E.F.M. They are in the dark part of the marker. At first we weren't sure if the footstone was dark from earth staining, having somehow been turned upside down and stuck in the ground with the inscribed part at the bottom. But it turned out that the white part had actually been the buried part, protected from the elements and the pervasive lichen and mold.<br />
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Initially we hoped that we had found something associated with the grave enclosure, since we have never found any hints as to the identity of the person or persons buried there. But Louise hit on the answer: the footstone belongs to the grave of Fr. Edward Francis Mayne, priest at what is now the Cathedral from 1827 up to his death in 1834. The footstone had somehow ended up about 30 feet from the headstone.<br />
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As you can see, Fr. Mayne has an imposing marker, nearly 6 feet tall, with "shoulders." (Yes, we plan to have it straightened.) Perhaps it was given to him to compensate for his trials at the Cathedral, since he was the parish priest during the "Wardens Period." This refers to a period during the transition of Florida from a Spanish settlement to an American territory, when the resulting changes of diocesan authority and delays in assigning priests let to the establishment of a group of church wardens to run the parish. Unfortunately, they seem to have been a fractious group, and drove more than one priest out of the parish. <br />
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When the Irish-born Fr. Mayne was assigned in 1827, he became embroiled in a conflict with the wardens when one warden, Antonio Alvarez, tried to prevent him from doing the burial rites for Jose M. Sanchez on the grounds that Sanchez was a Mason. Fr. Mayne felt that the decision was his to make, after which the wardens locked him out of the church and he was able to conduct only a graveside burial service at Tolomato for Sanchez (who had been a political rival of Alvarez for the position of Mayor of St Augustine). In fact, the wardens would not let him reenter the church and he was forced for some time to say Mass in a private residence. <br />
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The struggle over his authority went from bad to worse over the years, even ending up in the secular courts, and was finally resolved at the end of 1832 during a meeting with the French-born Bishop Portier, Bishop of Mobile and Vicar of Florida, when the bishop threatened to excommunicate the wardens. They settled down, but poor Fr. Mayne lived little more than another year, dying in January of 1834. <br />
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The Latin inscription on his marker records that he died in the 33rd year of his life and that he was a faithful pastor, "gentle and humble of heart." So perhaps some recognition of his trials came from the faithful of St Augustine, and his beautiful headstone - which we plan to reunite with its footstone - represents this.<br />
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But that's not all! Yet another grave enclosure yielded another footstone to study and once again, Louise Kennedy went into action. <br />
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This enclosure is under one of our two huge oak trees, and is slowly being pulled out of the ground by the tree. It contains some fragments of stone, along with a footstone that didn't belong there but was put into the ground in the recent past just to keep it from being run over by the lawn tractor. And while nobody knows the identity of the "owner" of the enclosure - a relatively small enclosure possibly for just one burial - the footstone bore the initials C. D. G. And who else could that be but Charles Dominique Gobert, whose simple but dignified and well-preserved headstone is located about fifteen feet away from the grave enclosure?<br />
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Like Fr. Mayne, he had a dramatic and conflict ridden life, and Louise uncovered his story for us.<br />
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Charles Gobert was born in France in 1767 but emigrated to the new United States and became a naturalized citizen in 1794. He started his life in the US as a merchant in Philadelphia, marrying the daughter of Lewis Ogden, an important figure in the War of 1812, and eventually moving with her to Spanish St Augustine. Unfortunately, he lost his fortune as a penalty for his involvement in a duel with a Spanish officer and returned north, this time to New York, where he filed for bankruptcy. He seems to have moved around to various positions and then was employed as a civil engineer at the Washington Navy Yard, during which time he ended up defaulting on a contract for producing musket balls, perhaps because he was too busy with his own invention: a "hydro-war-ship."<br />
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In this tense period before and during the War of 1812, Gobert tried to interest the Mayor of Newark and other authorities in his "Machines for public harbor Defense." He even wrote to President James Madison in 1814, shortly before the end of the war, to describe his project and get support. And while he got a cash advance from Newark for this work, he never seems to have delivered the product. In fact, no plans for it have ever been found and it is not clear what this "machine for blowing up Ships of War" looked like or how it functioned.<br />
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Gobert took off again and ended up getting arrested for treason after it was found that he was dealing with and sending clandestine communications to the British in the Chesapeake. Somehow he seems to have gotten out of this predicament, and was merely jailed, once again, for bankruptcy, this time in Washington. When he was released, he bounced around a bit, pursuing interests and seemingly phantom opportunities in Baltimore, Havana and New York.<br />
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Finally, in 1816, President Monroe accepted his claims of innocence of the charge of treason and the State Department restored his papers. <br />
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And then at last, in 1821, we find a mention of him in the "Florida Territorial Papers," where he appears as a translator and interpreter of French and Spanish. The other mentions of him are in a census and a couple of civic and property records - and, true to form, in records of a 1826 lawsuit over rental payments.<br />
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Louise cites the report of the New York Evening Post: "<i>Charles Gobert, native of France, resident merchant in New York City, for the last 9 years residing in St. Augustine, died 26 March 1830.</i>"<br />
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And all this information was found by Louise from the finding of that small, stray slab of marble that was the footstone installed at Tolomato Cemetery 137 years ago. So even the humble footstone deserves its measure of historical respect.<br />
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<br />Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04493096470169447646noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1432464668645421393.post-74593458777298316682017-08-14T10:44:00.003-07:002017-08-14T10:44:30.739-07:00The Fair WestOccasionally we travel beyond our humble one acre at Tolomato to view the spreading cemeteries of other countries - or, in this case, of our own American West. And even though we spent several hours at the 285 acre <a href="http://fairmount-cemetery.com/our-grounds/fairmount-history/" target="_blank">Fairmount Cemetery</a> in Denver, Colorado, which includes an enormous public mausoleum, seen below, we visited only a fraction of its monuments.<br />
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Fairmount Cemetery as such was founded in 1890, but was in use well before that as the City Cemetery, founded in 1858 and incorporating yet another cemetery, Mount Prospect. Its first burial was James (Jack) O'Neil, who died in 1859 in unfortunate circumstances, shot to death in a gambling argument. This was the Wild West, after all. Note that his gravestone, below, proclaims that he was MURDERED.<br />
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Perhaps because of burials such as this, the City Cemetery developed an unsavory reputation, and, as boom-town Denver became more prosperous and home to some very wealthy people, city fathers urged the founding of a beautiful "garden cemetery" in the style inspired by Paris' famous Pere Lachaise. A new cemetery was founded on the site in 1890. It incorporated several other cemeteries, and some burials were moved to Fairmount while others were moved away, and some of the burials from Denver's earlier cemeteries were left in place - under land that is the site of the Botanic Gardens and various local parks.<br />
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A German landscape architect, Reinhard Scheutze, was hired to design it and created a vast, rolling park that now has some 3,800 trees and thousands of markers and monuments. The style in 19th and early 20th century Denver, oddly, was very French influenced, and many of the mausoleums and markers of the prosperous reflect this or display a Classical theme. Anybody who was anybody in Denver is buried here, and the names - Bonfils, Cheesman, Boetcher, among others, can be seen on the streets and important buildings of Denver.<br />
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Burials from the 1920's and 30's are often Art Nouveau in style, while some adopted the "Egyptian" style made popular after the discovery of King Tut's tomb in 1922.<br />
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And then there was the mausoleum, with its hundreds of niches and vaults - and the largest collection of stained glass in Denver! An interesting fact was that in recent times, people had decorated the niches of their deceased with little personal items, such as eyeglasses or some other favorite or typical thing. These are called "grave goods" by scholars, and now appear even in niches holding cremated remains.</div>
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There were a couple of "markers" of truly monumental simplicity: huge boulders of rough pink granite from the Rockies, such as you see below:</div>
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However, one of the most interesting things was the marker and monument of J.A. Falkenburg, founder of the Western branch of that famous insurance and burial society, Woodmen of the World. You may know them from their tree-trunk shaped markers, which can be found in virtually any cemetery in the country.</div>
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You can read the rather complicated history of the Woodmen <a href="http://agraveinterest.blogspot.com/2011/06/woodmen-of-world-and-tree-stone-grave.html" target="_blank">here</a> at the blog A Grave Interest, but suffice it to say that none of it would have happened without Falkenburg, shown below. But no tree trunk! It looked as if the front of his granite plinth may once have had a tree-trunk fastened to it, or at least a plaque featuring their slogan, <i>Dum Tacet Clamat</i>, "Though silent, he speaks," but it was obviously lost at some point in the past and only a few bolt-holes remain.</div>
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But all throughout the cemetery, trunks of varying sizes, styles and materials appeared, reflecting the many forms this enduring symbol has taken over the years. In addition, there were more graceful markers with the symbol of a bird and a trunk - for the women's branch, the Women of Woodcraft. Perhaps these form the best monument to J.A. Falkenburg.</div>
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Fairmount Cemetery is open for visitors at any time, and in addition, has a full schedule of tours and events sponsored by their volunteer group, the <a href="http://fairmountheritagefoundation.org/" target="_blank">Fairmount Heritage Foundation</a><u>.</u><br />
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<br />Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04493096470169447646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1432464668645421393.post-27096285734258767872017-05-24T13:22:00.000-07:002017-05-24T13:22:52.841-07:00Memorial Day History at Tolomato CemeteryThe cemetery was open for visitors last Saturday, and since we will not be open on Memorial Day, one of our members, Ray Hinkley, took advantage of the time to set out American flags in front of the markers of our veterans...of many wars.<br />
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Going chronologically, of course, we start with the American Revolution. We did a longer post on this a couple of weeks ago, so you will probably remember that Florida was actually under the British during the period comprising the American Revolution (1775-1783). In fact, the reason the British left St Augustine, which they had gotten away from the Spanish in 1764 as a result of the French and Indian or Seven Years War, was the American victory and the terms of the Treaty of Paris in 1783. This required them to surrender their territory in the new United States and return territories taken from other colonial powers to their earlier owners. Thus Florida returned to Spain, and was Spanish for another 40 years, until it became a US territory in 1821.<br />
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So there were no battles here and no American soldiers here, but some of those buried at Tolomato Cemetery nonetheless did participate in the American Revolution, so we felt they deserved commemoration. Above you see flags in front of the DAR markers for don Juan McQueen - who, as a merchant captain with business interests in Paris, carried secret letters back and forth between General Lafayette in France and General George Washington - and Juan Francisco Ruiz del Canto, who provided crucial information and aided Spanish Governor Bernardo de Gálvez in the crucial 1781 Battle of Pensacola, which kept the British from taking over parts of the lower South. Spain had become an ally of the Americans in 1779 and at that point possessed Louisiana and had a regiment based there. Gálvez defended or took Baton Rouge, Natchez, Mobile and Pensacola, and was considered so important by George Washington that he invited Gálvez to march at his right hand in the grand parade in Philadelphia on July 4th, 1783. Below, reenactor Jos<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">é</span> Gueits appears in an 18th century Spanish uniform such as Gálvez' men might have worn.<br />
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We couldn't find anyone buried at Tolomato who had participated in the War of 1812, during which time St Augustine was Spanish, so we had to jump ahead to the Civil War.<br />
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And here we have both sides represented: above we see the markers for the Confederate veterans buried in the cemetery (although not in those exact locations). Colonel John Masters of the Sons of the American Revolution made it his life's work to find unmarked Civil War soldier graves throughout Florida, searching through burial records and VA records, and then obtained and installed VA markers for them. These markers were installed in the year 2000. The names on them are old St Augustine names, some of them Minorcan names while some of them, such as Bravo, are even First Spanish Period names.<br />
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The other side of the Civil War also appears in the two markers below, one for Frank Papy and one for Hector Adams. They were both members of a regiment of the USCT, or US Colored Troops, units opened by the Union Army for the recently emancipated African Americans; sometimes these vets are referred to as the Freedmen. This particular regiment was originally from South Carolina, but the recruiting station was at the Castillo, and Frank Papy, a waiter, joined when he was 19 while Hector Adams, a wagon driver, joined at the age of 50. We know a fair amount about these men from their VA records. <br />
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St Augustine had a number of other Freedmen, and there are more burials at the Mission Nombre de Dios, which was used as the parish cemetery during the 15 or so years between the closing of Tolomato Cemetery in 1884 and the opening of the current Catholic cemetery of San Lorenzo in 1898.<br />
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And finally, since Tolomato closed before any of the "Great Wars" of the 20th century, we have a veteran who died far from home, Patrick Keenan, born in Ireland. He joined the Army in Pennsylvania during the Civil War but remained in the service as Regular Army and was stationed with the 5th Regiment here at the Castillo. He died of tuberculosis in 1877 at the age of 33, and his fellow soldiers in his new home provided this stone for his grave. The inscription reads: "This Stone is Erected as a Tribute of Respect by his Comrades of Battery K, 5th Artillery."
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<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04493096470169447646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1432464668645421393.post-80825047321931641492017-05-11T03:49:00.003-07:002017-05-11T03:49:49.513-07:00Tolomato Cemetery and the American Revolution<br />
The Daughters of the American Republic (DAR) recently gathered again at Tolomato Cemetery to dedicate the marker of a DAR American Revolutionary War Patriot - that is, a DAR member's ancestor who participated in the American Revolution in some way - buried in the cemetery. The first commemoration, you will recall, was for Don Juan McQueen, who was from South Carolina but spent much of his life in St Augustine and is buried at Tolomato Cemetery. He aided the American side by carrying messages from General Washington to General LaFayette in France when he made merchant voyages back and forth to Paris. <br />
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But now we have a very different story. The DAR's honoree this time was Juan Francisco Ruiz del Canto y Escalona, a Spanish citizen born on Spanish Street in St Augustine in 1730 during the First Spanish Period. He was of Spanish descent on both sides, although his mother was a 6th generation St Augustinian. Above we see all of our "Revolutionary War" corner, with markers for Don Juan McQueen, Francisco Sanchez (near the vault on the right) and our newest marker, for Ruiz del Canto.<br />
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Juan Francisco Ruiz del Canto was responsible for the supervision of the Castillo de San Marcos, and when the Spanish left St Augustine in 1763, he was appointed by the Governor as one of the group of three Spanish citizens who oversaw the mapping, sale and settlement of Spanish properties with the incoming British. One of the other members of this little group was Juan Jose Elixio de la Puente, famous for his 1764 map of St Augustine. Below, Elizabeth Gessner stands with a group of "Spanish soldiers" wearing uniforms of the First and Second Spanish Periods (1565-1763, 1784-1821).<br />
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Ruiz del Canto made many trips from Cuba to St Augustine for these purposes and also had many contacts among the local Indian tribes, which enabled him to dissuade the Indians from supporting the British in the growing conflict and secure their neutrality. In 1779, Spain joined the American side in the war against the British and Ruiz del Canto served with the Spanish. In 1780, he captured a small British sailing craft and took its captain and crew as prisoners to Cuba. When interrogated by the Spanish, the captain, British Captain. Robert Holmes, revealed information about British troop locations and naval presence in Pensacola. This proved crucial to the planning of the successful Seige of Pensacola by Spanish General Bernardo de Gálvez. The re-taking of Pensacola by Spanish forces - which included a regiment from Majorca and one of the Hibernian (Irish) Regiments under the command of General Arturo O'Neill - drove the British out of West Florida. At the end of the American Revolution, the area was returned to Spain, which granted Americans access through it to the Mississippi River. Below you see the reenactors as well as members of the current Spanish military hold the flag of the Louisiana garrison, since Louisiana was Spanish at the time of the activities of Ruiz del Canto.<br />
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Our DAR patriot made his way back to St Augustine after the Spanish returned in 1784, settling with his second wife Francisca de la Hita Salazar (also St. Augustine-born) and their children first in a house on Hospital (now Aviles) Street and then on St George Street, in the Avero house, which is now known as St. Photios Shrine and had been the residence of Fr. Pedro Camps after the Minorcan arrived during the British Period. <br />
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See how well everything ties together in our complicated past!<br />
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The research on Ruiz del Canto was done by the very gifted and dogged historian for St. Augustine's Maria Jefferson DAR Chapter, Lynne Cason, shown above in front of the honor guard as she tells the story of Ruiz del Canto. When the DAR decides to dedicate a marker, they do extensive research on the honoree, and in addition, find a DAR member descendant to represent him. In this case, they found Teresa Sardinas, shown in the photo below, who came up from South Florida to be present at this honor. She is sitting with representatives of the Spanish military, who came from Tampa to be present at this recognition of Spain's aid to the nascent US during the Revolution.<br />
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The DAR had members from the local and far-flung chapters in attendance for this important event. It was a very photogenic and well attended event! TCPA Secretary Louise Kennedy took most of the photos in this post, and others were taken by member Joan Roberts. <br />
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Because of the military importance of Juan Francisco Ruiz del Canto's actions, there was a delegation of Spanish military representatives in attendance. Here you see Lt. Colonel Gonzalez Prada addressing the crowd with some interesting details of Spain's activities during the American Revolution.<br />
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The DAR had also invited "representatives" of the Spanish military of the past: two groups of reenactors. Dr. Warren Feldman and Jason Davis were our First Spanish Period soldiers, while John Cipriani and Jose Gueits Romero represented the Second Spanish Period. <br />
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Fr. Ed Booth, a longtime friend of Tolomato Cemetery, gave the invocation and blessed the marker. Here he begins the prayers as Teresa Sardinas waits to unveil the marker (under the blue tarp).<br />
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The American Revolution took place during the British Period in St Augustine, so of course St Augustine had no participation on behalf of the American side. In fact, it functioned mainly as a prison for Americans captured at sea or in battle further north. They were held in the Castillo or under house arrest at various other points around town. But the Treaty of Paris that ended the Revolution required England to vacate territory it had gotten from other colonial powers, and Florida then reverted to Spain for another 40 years - which allowed our Revolutionary Patriot to return to St Augustine, live out the rest of his days here (resuming his work at the Castillo), and be laid to rest in Tolomato Cemetery in 1802, over 200 years ago. <br />
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And now Tolomato Cemetery has it's very own "Revolutionary War" corner, with markers for Don Juan McQueen (installed by the DAR), Francisco Xavier Sanchez (installed by the Sons of the American Republic) and Juan Francisco Ruiz del Canto (DAR marker), all of them reminding us of the very interesting and little-known story of Florida during the American Revolution.<br />
<br />Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04493096470169447646noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1432464668645421393.post-84478118767654500942017-03-13T14:39:00.000-07:002017-03-13T14:39:22.546-07:00In Rememberance of Minorcan Headstones<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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As everybody certainly must know by now, there are about 1,000 people buried in Tolomato Cemetery. There are probably Christian Indian graves under the site of the <i>ermita</i> – or chapel – of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe de Tolomato, but since we are not sure how many they were or exactly where the chapel was located, we can't include them in the count. We really begin counting with the arrival of the Minorcans in 1777.<br />
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This group of several hundred people set sail from Minorca with to work on Dr. Turnbull’s plantation in New Smyrna Beach. After eight difficult years in New Smyrna, they rebelled against their mistreatment by the good doctor and walked to St Augustine. Their priest, Fr. Pedro Camps, stayed to look after the sick and dying who couldn’t make the walk, and then joined them and lived in the house that is now the St. Photios Shrine, dealing with his “parish” of Minorcans and offering mass in the house. Under the British, who were Anglicans, there was no other Catholic priest in St Augustine, and Fr. Camps served both his Catholic and Greek Orthodox Minorcans. Below we see the statue of Fr. Camps with some of his Minorcans that is in the west courtyard of the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine.<br />
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Needless to say, one of the first priorities was to provide a final resting place for his older or ailing parishioners, but this had already been dealt with by a delegation of Minorcans, including Juan Genopoly, Antonio Llambias, and Francisco Pellicer, who went to the British governor, Patrick Tonyn, and asked permission to bury the dead at the old Tolomato mission. The site was not being used by the British, and the wooden chapel had been torn down and used for firewood in their first winter in St Augustine, so all that remained was the 4-story stone bell-tower and this location just outside the gates. Governor Tonyn mentions that he granted permission for the Minorcans to use what he referred to as the “old Catholic cemetery” of Tolomato, and the abandoned space then entered into use as a cemetery.<br />
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The first burials were, of course, the Minorcans from Fr. Pedro Camps’ parish. The first one of which we have a record is Gertrudis Pons, although the year of her record is given as 1784, which is the year that the Spanish returned to St Augustine. Obviously, in such a large group, many had died prior to that time. Alas, the “Golden Book” of the Minorcans (so called because of its yellow cover), referring to the parish records maintained by Fr. Pedro Camps up to 1784, only lists baptisms and marriages, so we don’t have an accurate death record for the time prior to that. However, Dr. Turnbull, feuding with Governor Tonyn for having accepted the Minorcans and, in Turnbull’s opinion, having encouraged their “rebellion,” states that some 65 of them died in the first two months of 1777. While he may have been exaggerating – he is trying to claim that they lived better with him than when they got to St Augustine – it is no doubt true that a good number did die, which would explain the urgency of the request to use the “old Catholic cemetery.”<br />
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Unfortunately, there are no existing death records for the years between 1777 and 1784, so we have no way of knowing who they were. Patricia Griffin, in her book <i>Mullet on the Beach</i>, points out that according to the baptismal statistics, births plunged in the first few years, meaning that it is possible that the population had also diminished. And given the conditions and the poor health and stress of the Minorcan population, perhaps many infants did not even make it to baptism and would not have been recorded.<br />
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Still, from about 1784 onwards, with the return of the Spanish and the reestablishment of the parish church (now the Cathedral) under Fr. Tomás Hasset, who was succeeded by Fr. Miguel O’Reilly (both of them Irishmen in the service of Spain) , records resumed and we have a good idea of who is buried at Tolomato Cemetery. <br />
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Of the list, about 400 are from the original Minorcan families, but of course this does not count some of the descendants with non-Minorcan names who were the product of the complicated Spanish-Minorcan-Irish-British marriages of the time. And remember: a St. Augustine Minorcan can have a Greek name, an Italian name, or any one of a host of Mediterranean island names (Corsican, Sardinian, Sicilian, etc.), since Dr. Turnbull cruised through the Mediterranean picking up anybody who would go with him. Minorca is a tiny island about 130 miles off the coast of Spain, and because of the same war that made St Augustine British, Minorca was also under the British. So it was a convenient place to collect the recruits for this New World venture. The result is that 55-60 percent of the original arrivals were actually Minorcans of Minorcan descent, but the remaining “Minorcans” were a pan-Mediterranean crew. Below is the grave of a member of the Masters family, a very widely extended St. Augustine Minorcan family; the name is an anglicized version of the Catalan surname Mestres.<br />
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So what is there to see at Tolomato today? There are only about 105 markers remaining at Tolomato Cemetery. Many of the 18th and 19th century markers were wooden and would have crumbled into dust long ago, while many other graves may have had no markers at all. It was the responsibility of the family to pay for this and also to maintain the site – the all-in-one “perpetual care” cemetery wouldn’t come along until the late 19th-early 20th century – and many people either couldn’t or wouldn’t – or, this being America, they had moved away. In addition, there’s the usual cemetery wear and tear. Even stone or concrete markers fall over, they crack and crumble, or sometimes they are even stolen for other uses (garden stepstones used to be a favorite).<br />
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Nonetheless, of those 100 or so markers, we have about 30 that have distinctive, identifiably Minorcan names, such as the Manucy headstone above.<br />
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So we were delighted when the Menorcan Cultural Society wanted to have a find-a-grave event at Tolomato Cemetery in early March! The trip was organized and led by Lea Craig, who had been recruiting visitors on the Menorcan Cultural Society Facebook page in connection with this month's Menorcan Festival at the Llambias House. (Note that in this case, Menorcan is spelled with an e, reflecting the spelling of the island's name in Spanish and Catalan.) That event, with the requisite delicious perlau and chowder, was held on Saturday, and on Sunday, a number of out-of-town Minorcans who had stayed over came out to visit the cemetery.<br />
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They were delighted to look at our records (and correct them from time to time!), view headstones that were those of ancestors of one or another branch of their family, and hear the story of the cemetery. Many of them enjoyed talking with Louise Kennedy, above, who had prepared a list of Minorcan burials for the event. We had some Sanchez descendants. Sanchez is a First Spanish Period name, but the patriarch of the family stayed in St Augustine during the British Period and had many children, who, of course, married Minorcans. We had some Andreu’s, a name often anglicized to Andrews, some Papys, some Miers, and some Pomars – and probably others that I missed, for which I apologize! <br />
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The photos below show you the marker that is embedded in the side of the Oliveros-Papy vault, while beneath it is the ledger stone of Pedro Benet. He was an important 18th and 19th century citizen who was from Minorca, and was known as the "King of the Minorcans." However, he did not come with the Turnbull group but arrived separately, a few years later, and we have many Benets buried at Tolomato. The Benet ledger stone once sat atop an above-ground vault, which crumbled long ago.<br />
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Louise Kennedy and Joan Roberts were busy as bird-dogs at the Genealogy Desk, and we captured a lot of great family stories to add to our records. Nick McAuliffe and Brooke Radaker took the Minorcan contingent on mini-tours to see the different Minorcan headstones. We had created a map and an alphabetized list, based on Matthew Kear’s invaluable thesis, <i>In Rememberance</i> (available from <a href="https://www.lulu.com/shop" target="_blank">Lulu</a>, the on-demand publishing site, for a mere $12.00), so that they could find the graves more easily. Meanwhile, Janet Jordan and Don Roberts dealt with other visitors who weren’t with the Minorcan group, giving a few lucky passers-by entry to the cemetery for photos and stories.<br />
We were hoping to add some family photographs or other records to our collection, but maybe next time. We hope that this will be the first of many such events in partnership with the Menorcan Cultural Society.<br />
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<br />Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04493096470169447646noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1432464668645421393.post-30709784604185017912017-02-04T15:40:00.000-08:002017-02-04T15:40:08.755-08:00Mighty Oaks
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The cemetery is almost back to normal after Hurricane
Matthew, but one thing that has been changed forever is our tree-scape.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Fortunately the two oaks that dominate the
view, one on either side of the central path, are still standing – although one
lost a massive limb that embedded itself several feet into the ground when it
crashed down – but we have lost several trees at the back and our formerly
beautiful red cedar is not what it used to be. In fact, it looks as if there
should be buzzards perching on its broken limb, but you’ll be happy to know
that the tree service will be out soon to make it more presentable.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> We talked with a local nursery recently about replanting a
couple of trees and placing some bushes across the back fence to make up for
shrubbery that belonged to other neighbors but was destroyed during the
flooding that followed the hurricane. The flood water was mostly salt water,
and you soon discover which plants are salt-tolerant and which are most
definitely not!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Of course none of the current trees at the cemetery were
planted by a nursery; in fact, most of them, with the possible exception of the
cedars, were planted by birds and squirrels, our busy little laborers in the
planting business. The cemetery was not regularly maintained for years after
its closure in 1884. But even before that, the mid-19</span><sup><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup><span style="font-family: inherit;"> century
concept of the “garden cemetery” probably hadn’t made it to St. Augustine.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Our planting plan involves only plants that would have been
used in the 18</span><sup><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup><span style="font-family: inherit;"> and 19</span><sup><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup><span style="font-family: inherit;"> century South, the active
period of the cemetery, in the interests of historical consistency.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The imagery is important and has shaped our
ideas on the basic question of what to plant in a cemetery, but there are also
practical considerations.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">When we think of cemetery trees, we usually think of willows
or other elegiac, “weeping” trees, and possibly some somber evergreens here and
there, and perhaps a laurel tree.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">That
is partly because these trees were frequently featured as symbols of mourning in
gravestone carvings, artwork on funeral announcements, etc.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">They were not always present in the
cemeteries themselves, however, for practical reasons. Willow trees, for
example, require a huge amount of space and water and were much less common in
the ground than in art.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">So trees and
plants in a cemetery should be relatively easy to manage...not like this Southern magnolia, a towering tree that is leaning against our front wall and crushing it!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6gqMQ4CgIoD81_UKwn2HmGkkTWD6mtEwsbJsU1fRRMmn9wlfE5Uz0uwJoCGpxFqt56YI7zf5vwcl6MIiuv2uolxwyiH2G3U9caCb-5l6MOmYNmC_0KvM2rD9I-rHhr4mplKBGSmEr_7EU/s1600/IMG_6119.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6gqMQ4CgIoD81_UKwn2HmGkkTWD6mtEwsbJsU1fRRMmn9wlfE5Uz0uwJoCGpxFqt56YI7zf5vwcl6MIiuv2uolxwyiH2G3U9caCb-5l6MOmYNmC_0KvM2rD9I-rHhr4mplKBGSmEr_7EU/s400/IMG_6119.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Some of the plants seen in cemetery art have been appearing
for millennia. The laurel leaf, either in the form of a crown or perhaps as a
leaf motif, goes back to Classical times, when winners of elections and
competitions or even simply important people wore crowns made of laurel leaves.
The laurel was considered sacred by the Greeks and a symbol of remembrance,
because the Greek god Apollo wore a laurel wreath crown in memory of the mortal
Daphne, the object of his affections, who had been turned into a laurel tree
(precisely to protect her from Apollo’s intentions!). </span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">It was incorporated into later Christian
burial iconography to mean remembrance and Christian victory over death.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4UcY3k-au_qbpfu-tvzqL7SLHKdrlom4F3VXsaX6xRGo9-N6fGD79i1vf1JtKc4xbBAIw83QR-0K-f5e3JE6nc_s7md69UYsmAb0Zw9mqCDVR0TOfJtYq8WE3F-M8uS1426CGSGzSrdgf/s1600/IMG_6096.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4UcY3k-au_qbpfu-tvzqL7SLHKdrlom4F3VXsaX6xRGo9-N6fGD79i1vf1JtKc4xbBAIw83QR-0K-f5e3JE6nc_s7md69UYsmAb0Zw9mqCDVR0TOfJtYq8WE3F-M8uS1426CGSGzSrdgf/s400/IMG_6096.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Here at Tolomato, we have a regional variation: the oak-leaf
arch, which we see above, coming out of a broken trunk (the latter, of course, representing
death).</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">But an arborist who was working
in the cemetery pointed out that the archway must have been made in the
Northeast, because the oak leaves, shown below, are those of the white oak, which does not
occur in Florida or the warmer parts of the South.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">So there are little details that will reveal
interesting things about a cemetery.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The weeping willow is a pretty obvious cemetery choice, and has been part of
cemetery and funeral imagery for centuries. It’s weeping, after all.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">It has the sad and sorrowful droop of a
mourner and leaves that look like tears, so it was a natural for the
iconography.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">This particular willow,
with a mourning dove flying up from the branches and little lambs resting
peacefully beneath it, is in the ironwork on the gate to the Hernández grave
enclosure (mid-19</span><sup><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Century).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Note the ears of corn, a particularly Southern motif, although there are varying interpretations of its significance and origin.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">There are also floral motifs, such as lilies and roses.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Lilies were often featured on the markers of
children to express their innocence and purity. Here we see the marker for several Mickler infants,
who died in the mid-19th century. Their marker features tear-drop shaped fuchsia flowers.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaVQBxlat4PN1r3_UHWYev-AAFut_xAPjxuCs-g9tMOxZRkpzW1TVlGz396X9hGmTs0ImLTiJ6cdYrAovBBR0zHeqZTDNGeXr0dEjeDLN-laMNwkN8YWmx6_ycgVaKiu8JBZzhbJRAC6Yt/s1600/IMG_6115.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaVQBxlat4PN1r3_UHWYev-AAFut_xAPjxuCs-g9tMOxZRkpzW1TVlGz396X9hGmTs0ImLTiJ6cdYrAovBBR0zHeqZTDNGeXr0dEjeDLN-laMNwkN8YWmx6_ycgVaKiu8JBZzhbJRAC6Yt/s320/IMG_6115.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Roses frequently appeared on the markers of young women,
such as this marker for Nena, the only daughter of Gaspar and Teresa Oliveros Papy, who died in an accidental shooting in 1861 at the age of 17.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The marker is embedded in the wall on the
north side of the Oliveros-Papy vault at the back of the cemetery.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgolcoq9oletL9p5FvdMrs8iEVDnH_BIrsUu7246NElKAA953Bl-rWaZ6GoJSmHBeE1A1QTV0r3bbdeg_l6oZFeLBF4uAJxbmeRgO5ahyphenhyphenhZuT-rglmddadcGwLV6jlE44KzgjcrucplJVHA/s1600/Nena.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgolcoq9oletL9p5FvdMrs8iEVDnH_BIrsUu7246NElKAA953Bl-rWaZ6GoJSmHBeE1A1QTV0r3bbdeg_l6oZFeLBF4uAJxbmeRgO5ahyphenhyphenhZuT-rglmddadcGwLV6jlE44KzgjcrucplJVHA/s400/Nena.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">And of course, other flowers abound on our grave markers. Look
for them on your next visit – and by that time, you might even see real live
plants coming again to grace our beautiful little acre at Tolomato Cemetery.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik2mRzAVgp4VRGHHt1hT8OH4AJhUycceg60f4LV73w69JQvIW5NjX_a7OF5HIsffaCLCbLMMv_CsPaWRb9Q6cSVK5iItl3g4lZdGeT9SeDr_kFBsYlIBXwUgUUwdzwNM-pFeNc6nPWfPO4/s1600/IMG_6083.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik2mRzAVgp4VRGHHt1hT8OH4AJhUycceg60f4LV73w69JQvIW5NjX_a7OF5HIsffaCLCbLMMv_CsPaWRb9Q6cSVK5iItl3g4lZdGeT9SeDr_kFBsYlIBXwUgUUwdzwNM-pFeNc6nPWfPO4/s400/IMG_6083.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04493096470169447646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1432464668645421393.post-87134784609214095632016-10-21T08:36:00.001-07:002016-10-21T14:14:01.522-07:00Tolomato Meets Hurricane Matthew How fast things can change! Two weeks ago, Armstrong Fencing loaded up its truck with the old chain link and barbed wire Tolomato fence and rode off into the sunset, after having completed the installation of a beautiful, stately looking new fence all around the back and sides of the cemetery.<br />
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<img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH6Sb34kbvbTCqe5-TAKi_AbtXVQXWgPbCzlc-mQNvJH_fc5OvEiQWwqDfE_hrMPllisoPhfrQHQ952X8FQL0osOe_AdtJZXf0T3NPSiRuiena-dfGGvz5DrX0TfwINNCfFcsoMrG12l8h/s320/IMG_4928.JPG" width="320" /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHp-b-P5CPpa8pEvwNwJUqTnzyyWbNsXjhNz4NFgInBJtu6lxWuT3l6RFoPrBYXNeZ4JOQVNgd5RCCOSS-PxI4Uo8aQdSBGxoMnDqeY5hHdmcNdII3Wm46C38jvu1s4lAf2I4zVAzpbysE/s1600/IMG_5019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHp-b-P5CPpa8pEvwNwJUqTnzyyWbNsXjhNz4NFgInBJtu6lxWuT3l6RFoPrBYXNeZ4JOQVNgd5RCCOSS-PxI4Uo8aQdSBGxoMnDqeY5hHdmcNdII3Wm46C38jvu1s4lAf2I4zVAzpbysE/s320/IMG_5019.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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And only three days later, Hurricane Matthew hit - and part of that brand-new fence was destroyed, ironically, by a tree we had saved on the north side of the cemetery. Its roots weakened by all of the water in the ground, the tree - top heavy from sucking up thousands of gallons of water during the flood - was shoved over by the wind, broke through the fence, and fell against two other trees in front of it. They in turn fell against the roof of the Oliveros-Papy vault, as you can see below.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4u_kksdWl2bf9jIvyLnO7Ca6EbfUwFx0cyeDeaGkyO8TERgC_IkjRxYYqcAU6E79GWrbUWoheNSJH7pySuxEUMdIs5nltpgjk3wTEB_9FI1gfrzz9cwJmPput0KqyxF3e1yqBD6nEcSJZ/s1600/IMG_5081.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4u_kksdWl2bf9jIvyLnO7Ca6EbfUwFx0cyeDeaGkyO8TERgC_IkjRxYYqcAU6E79GWrbUWoheNSJH7pySuxEUMdIs5nltpgjk3wTEB_9FI1gfrzz9cwJmPput0KqyxF3e1yqBD6nEcSJZ/s320/IMG_5081.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5xBgm1hIEl-WbB8ZznWrsz7OLMdgi-mJZc2_EcbRMDr7GQ6A54ubxsvc8wa47vjhNuV_XnIvjfgfa-0zdLao26d7BuoGsRfr8zayOAV2UnlhFbeJFUb3hegZYXJSMsnmatuldUZveLujS/s1600/IMG_5111.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5xBgm1hIEl-WbB8ZznWrsz7OLMdgi-mJZc2_EcbRMDr7GQ6A54ubxsvc8wa47vjhNuV_XnIvjfgfa-0zdLao26d7BuoGsRfr8zayOAV2UnlhFbeJFUb3hegZYXJSMsnmatuldUZveLujS/s320/IMG_5111.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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But before going into more disaster details, let's focus on the positive. As I mentioned, we completed the fencing, including the back and sides, which we didn't expect to get done until many years from now. But only a couple of months after the completion of the front fence and gate in April, we received two very generous donations that would enable us to finish the back and side fencing. Again, with more serendipity and information from a friend of Tolomato who walks by the cemetery every day and knew we were looking for a fence company interested in this job, we found Armstrong Fencing, a Jacksonville company that had already worked on the neighboring school board buildings (formerly Ketterlinus School). <br />
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This gave us enough money to complete a couple of other jobs. Local mason Rick Hernandez, who has ancestors buried in the cemetery, had just finished work on rebuilding a partially collapsed vault and restoring the De Mier tomb, and he came back to give us a beautiful new coquina concrete entryway in front of the new gate. No more standing in a puddle of water to get into Tolomato! <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3T38DBJvxKoOMKzBo7-oQHlIwKHmQPqFlDO8OntjsTE4UJzM0Y3kPI-3nLUlRr4qlhwxWSglwprwzxv3WmOlnLPAexd9CLvWMYYJtOzbiwid0eNI7enMoF-okDSp7se8JFnauniVlTV_g/s1600/Rick+paving.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3T38DBJvxKoOMKzBo7-oQHlIwKHmQPqFlDO8OntjsTE4UJzM0Y3kPI-3nLUlRr4qlhwxWSglwprwzxv3WmOlnLPAexd9CLvWMYYJtOzbiwid0eNI7enMoF-okDSp7se8JFnauniVlTV_g/s320/Rick+paving.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Speaking of water, he finished this job just three days before Matthew struck. Fortunately, the cement was hardened and wasn't affected.<br />
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But a lot had happened before that, too. We went through the city's permitting process after having already voluntarily done the HARB (Historic Architecture Review Board) process and arranging for the archaeological monitoring to be conducted on the places where the 101(!) postholes were dug. Nothing unexpected was found, although it does appear that most of the burials must have been a few feet in from the modern boundaries of the site.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHbKK_9zFCfhLrMaXjuCY-5b0OGQUhfnhePuWq3E90FFtKZ4hYRqUpItLXacEFkPI78bcKScdiY7dhsT436ubaYKLaRnLZ8slywfKd9317Pwpq9RL0n8p0qCGJhadpUFQwd2gzl4IBTaqo/s1600/IMG_4937.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHbKK_9zFCfhLrMaXjuCY-5b0OGQUhfnhePuWq3E90FFtKZ4hYRqUpItLXacEFkPI78bcKScdiY7dhsT436ubaYKLaRnLZ8slywfKd9317Pwpq9RL0n8p0qCGJhadpUFQwd2gzl4IBTaqo/s320/IMG_4937.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Then we had an arborist come and evaluate the trees along the side and back, since several of them were too close to the wall or another structure to permit the fence to be placed behind them, and would have to be removed or boxed. We received permits from the city to remove those that could or should be removed - that is, they were already damaged - and at the suggestion of Armstrong, built box-outs for eleven trees that couldn't be removed or simply looked nice even in their somewhat inconvenient locations.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGGTyPjjMDcqWH5afKR77O1m4wlAUv9R4I-n1ZwFH5JiCUv35Vb74hP8QiBtfj3UZKU_yNwoOj48xPz26SqWZMj-TS9OziUAnDVQaEpn0kBk_FaHhQfagHWE8On7pcy5pP2803jKaO8NVL/s1600/Tree+box.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGGTyPjjMDcqWH5afKR77O1m4wlAUv9R4I-n1ZwFH5JiCUv35Vb74hP8QiBtfj3UZKU_yNwoOj48xPz26SqWZMj-TS9OziUAnDVQaEpn0kBk_FaHhQfagHWE8On7pcy5pP2803jKaO8NVL/s320/Tree+box.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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But trees can be a problem in an historic cemetery. If there has been a period of neglect, they revert to the wild. A "volunteer" tree can grow around and "swallow" a feature, such as an iron enclosure post or even a marker. As the tree grows, it ends up dragging the feature out of the ground.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBdewSXFJ5E1QPghgMGOJvBt8qt91w_cFrAUpaVGnGPCv8RcVY0vTyrH41gR_W-9mIH3LqEsQeHCA9pio9wZncu_aRT1sMbc4ySALubH2HTnpJQFxZCdNnB7PQhJoJTkLwbihOGoi8W8Ya/s1600/eddie+cutting.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBdewSXFJ5E1QPghgMGOJvBt8qt91w_cFrAUpaVGnGPCv8RcVY0vTyrH41gR_W-9mIH3LqEsQeHCA9pio9wZncu_aRT1sMbc4ySALubH2HTnpJQFxZCdNnB7PQhJoJTkLwbihOGoi8W8Ya/s320/eddie+cutting.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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But we solved all those problems - Eddie from Tree Medic carefully carved back the offending tree, in this case, a hackleberry that had swallowed the large post of a grave enclosure. Cutting anywhere near a tree with embedded metal is very dangerous, so he had to do much of it by hand - but rescued the enclosure post, leaving only a small piece of wood that will fall or can be chipped off. Restoration on that beautiful enclosure (we don't know the names of the "residents") will begin next year.<br />
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After some 6 days of work and monitoring, we ended up with a beautiful fence, which ties in with the existing fencing on the front but is unobtrusive while at the same time giving the cemetery a great, almost formal dignity.<br />
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And then...Hurricane Matthew struck.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGkd0eob7wpF9RidFFLbUWH0O_wp-J9VADZEcskVYAk7PmeGOEJHxxFWz7E26qcR2H6cL_P-5rHi5YovZ_3l7YoDnN9ZwgIING80sm15dzzLGzwkhpTfe1gCzdvXRGVXYpEBVUM60ViNm1/s1600/bridge+of+lions+water.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGkd0eob7wpF9RidFFLbUWH0O_wp-J9VADZEcskVYAk7PmeGOEJHxxFWz7E26qcR2H6cL_P-5rHi5YovZ_3l7YoDnN9ZwgIING80sm15dzzLGzwkhpTfe1gCzdvXRGVXYpEBVUM60ViNm1/s320/bridge+of+lions+water.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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St Augustine was much more devastated than the rest of the country seems to realize, partly because we have a "keep your chin up" tradition here, since it has been devastated many times in its long history, sometimes by its enemies and sometimes by natural forces. However, as we review the damage, and see the houses with all of their former occupants' sodden and mildewing possessions piled outside, see the demolition crews tearing out whole floors of houses, or even see people who have lost their homes altogether, we realize that this wasn't just Florida weather business as usual.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhGy2oW2pKsR-MjMPIXTKdoZ1j52oCZiJZJZfCDWyiXRbPHkD8ohNQKPRHVXXOLwB_HHf_y93OZ0x4uqWobZsH5CdC13UjZ4PjyQ6-8wc22nuWpyLbxKkdxxu_QTSWE2L1mAXkOVZbuE6X/s1600/IMG_5075.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhGy2oW2pKsR-MjMPIXTKdoZ1j52oCZiJZJZfCDWyiXRbPHkD8ohNQKPRHVXXOLwB_HHf_y93OZ0x4uqWobZsH5CdC13UjZ4PjyQ6-8wc22nuWpyLbxKkdxxu_QTSWE2L1mAXkOVZbuE6X/s320/IMG_5075.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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So at the cemetery, compared to other parts of town, we have little to complain about. We lost several trees - such as the cedar tree below - and large limbs, and part of the new fence.<br />
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Now a possibly semi-uprooted or perhaps just water-swollen neighboring tree is pressing against and shattering the restored front wall. We'll deal with that.<br />
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We lost one marker, but it was pretty fragile anyway. Interestingly, the volume of water in the cemetery - according to the neighbors and the high-water marks on the wall of the flooded Varela Chapel, it was about 3 feet deep - made some of the older burials collapse a bit and we suddenly saw the indentations for "lost" graves and some slightly raised and solid areas that may possibly be markers that fell over decades ago and can now be retrieved. So we'll try to bring some good out of it!<br />
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The cemetery is getting back to shape as fast as possible. Paul the painter came and sealed and painted the raw concrete wall, and landscaper Paolo and the crew came in and did a clean up, aided by the Cathedral maintenance staff. Then Tree Medic came and started working on the huge downed trees. We're keeping an eye on the big oaks, which lost a couple of limbs but are still standing, because the water that flooded the cemetery was salt water, which is no friend of oak trees. Keep your fingers crossed that the oaks don't start dying.<br />
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Our worst loss was probably what you see below, Louise Kennedy's carefully maintained genealogical and historical records, which were submerged under three feet of water in the storage shed where they were kept. She is trying to salvage what she can and replace the information when she can find its source, but these notebooks were the work of many years and will be hard to rebuild. But this did give us a new priority, namely that of finding better "office space" than a plastic storage shed. <br />
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We had to cancel the Open Day because it was too wet and dangerous to enter the cemetery, and we also had to cancel a Florida Living History event that we were planning for the end of October. Many people - volunteers, reenactors, etc. - in St Augustine had their lives disrupted to the point that they wouldn't have been able to come, and some of the hotels and motels along the bay front and on Anastasia Island were flooded and damaged. But others are open and in fact some new ones were just about to open and are undamaged. And TCPA volunteers are going to do a cemetery clean-up this Saturday and it will be almost like new - or old - when we're done with it. So if you were planning to visit St. Augustine and Tolomato, don't give up! You can find hotel space, and we at Tolomato Cemetery plan to be open in November (November 19, specifically).<br />
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So we'll be back in business soon. And we were thrilled to see this photo in the local First Coast Magazine:<br />
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Above a somewhat elegiac caption is the Varela Chapel seen through Scott Thompson's beautiful gate. The photo was taken about a month before Matthew hit. But everything will be fine before too long and once again, Tolomato Cemetery will be the photographer's dream and the beautiful, restful space it was meant to be.Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04493096470169447646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1432464668645421393.post-33428836150004001122016-08-14T09:52:00.000-07:002016-08-14T09:52:23.805-07:00Summer Tour: San Atilano in ZamoraIt's summer and once again time for the cemetery vacation tour! This time I’m in Zamora, Spain, as an Hospitalera (a volunteer who takes care of the pilgrims) at a pilgrim hostel on this particular route (La Via de la Plata ) of the Camino de Santiago.<br />
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Zamora is in Castilla y Leon, in the north-central part of the country. It's a grain growing, wine producing and sheep herding area, very hot and dry in the summer and bitterly cold and windy in the winter. The Duero, a wide and beautiful but shallow and mostly unnavigable river, runs along the base of the cliff upon which Zamora, like all the defensive towns of Castilla y Leon, is situated, keeping lookout over the plains and fields. </div>
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The Camino de Santiago is the ancient pilgrim route to the tomb of the Apostle St James (Iago is a form of James, hence, Santiago) in Compostela, the Field of Stars, in Galicia on the Atlantic Coast of Spain. The Via de la Plata, which for you Spanish students, doesn't refer to silver, but rather to a corruption of the Latin word for paved road, follows the old Roman road from Sevilla to the north. Pilgrims now take it to join the various other routes that all lead to Santiago de Compostela. </div>
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But enough of all that! Back to cemeteries! Such as the local Zamora cemetery, San Atilano, whose magnificent gate is shown below.</div>
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In preparation for my visit, I did some web research, and found some excellent articles that had appeared in the local press a few years ago. If you read Spanish or want to rely on an automatic translation, here’s the link: http://www.zamora.es/ficheros/Historia%20del%20Cementerio-1.pdf The author is Isauro Perez Raton.</div>
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I found out that, like everywhere else in Europe, Zamora had been subject to frequent outbreaks of diseases such as yellow fever (mosquito borne) and cholera, a water borne disease. In the early Middle Ages, people were not sure what caused these illnesses, although there was some (accurate) suspicion that contaminated water had something to do with it.
Efforts were made to halt burials under church floors or in the churchyards in towns, but this was piecemeal. It was not until a particularly severe cholera outbreak in 1833 that serious steps were taken. The town fathers of Zamora voted to create a municipal cemetery on the other side of the Duero, about a half-mile away from the river, and named it San Atilano, after a saintly 11th century bishop of Zamora, seen in this altarpiece in the cemetery chapel. </div>
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To do this, they assessed the local parishes.
This, needless to say, was not popular. The arguments went on for years, with parishes seeking exemption from the assessment and also resenting the fact that they no longer received the fees for burials in the churchyard. In addition, there was much citizen grumbling, since wagons that crossed the bridge to come into Zamora were forced to carry construction materials back across the bridge to the cemetery on their return trip. </div>
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However, the work got done, and the cemetery opened in 1834. There were several expansions over the years, and it now occupies most of a hilltop about a kilometer from the bridge. </div>
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The cemetery is laid out in sections that bear the names of saints, which reflect those of the parishes that bury their dead in this cemetery. </div>
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There are a number of elaborate family vaults from the late 19th century and onwards. But most of the graves are simply marked and some are within family enclosures.</div>
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The regulations of the cemetery allowed for the placement of a named headstone, but without thereby bestowing title in perpetuity to the plot. After a certain number of years, the bones were removed and placed in an ossuary. However, some family vaults are the property of the family, which is indicated on the vault. </div>
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Originality reigns in this cemetery. Above we see a vault that looks exactly like the Cathedral of Zamora, a remarkable Romanesque building with a curious 12th century Byzantine-influenced rounded dome with a "fish scale" tile- shown below.</div>
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Unlike modern cemeteries, which feature flat plaques designed for the convenience of the riding mower, San Atilano leaves the families room to express themselves. Some of the monuments are very elaborate, such as this hand-carved Guardian Angel, guarding a touching photo of the deceased.</div>
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Or the glass flowers you see on this vault.</div>
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But there are some special simple plots: here we see the graves of Spanish soldiers who fell in battle, starting in 1937 (the Spanish Civil War). </div>
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The cemetery is busy at all times, with family members coming to care for graves, the constant sound of the mourning doves in the cypresses, and the many burials from local parishes. Below, a group of mourners follows a casket to the burial place.</div>
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There is a funeral chapel near the gate and outside is a box for alms for the “Holy Souls,” that is, masses to be said for the souls in Purgatory.
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Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04493096470169447646noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1432464668645421393.post-8462288074012075702016-06-25T14:19:00.000-07:002016-06-25T14:19:23.287-07:00The Tale of a Fence<br />
As everybody who lives in St Augustine – and many who don’t – already know,
we dedicated and blessed the new entryway at Tolomato Cemetery about a month
ago, on May 7th, 2016. This part of the project is done, although we’re
still working on the back and sides and also plan to improve the stretch from
the city sidewalk to the actual gate opening. But leaving aside such tedious
details, we’d like to get back to some basic questions we are always asked,
such as “How long did this take?”<br />
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Well, it’s actually taken almost 240 years, since about 1777, with the
arrival of the Minorcans in St Augustine during the British Period (1763-1784).
A cemetery had probably existed on that site during the First Spanish Period,
but it was associated with the Tolomato Indian mission village and
Franciscan-run chapel located there. This early map shows the location of the chapel, near the corner of modern Cordova and Orange streets.<br />
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Normally, burials in Spanish Florida were under the floor of the church or in
the churchyard. There would have been some kind of a wall around the
church, extending the consecrated ground and thus making it usable for burials.
There’s no record that the Tolomato mission had such a wall, or at any rate,
not a stone wall, but there probably would have been some delineation of the
space, such as a wooden fence with a gate or a pillar, etc. In a Franciscan
village, the mission bell was frequently hung in this area, but the mission
bell at Tolomato was probably located in the four-story coquina bell-tower that
is recorded as having been part of the Tolomato chapel. <br />
<br />
So we don’t have any record of a wall at this time, but we do have a couple
of odd features that are difficult to explain and may have been part of a wall
or gate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of them is visible only in an old photo and must have collapsed long ago, but the other still exists and causes considerable interest among visitors, many of whom take it to
be a very strange vault and ask how people could be buried in this small square
space.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> This pyramid-shaped pile of coquina is only about a 3 feet square and perhaps a little more than that at its top and is located right behind the vault of Elizabeth Forrester, the oldest marked burial in the cemetery. </span><br />
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We have no answer, except that it
was probably not a burial vault, unless it was an ossuary (receptacle for
placing bones removed from overcrowded vaults or burials).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it doesn’t seem to have much of an
opening, other than the niche in the top, so it would have been difficult to
get the skeletal remains into it without removing a few stones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Speculation has now moved to having its be
part of a wall or marking the boundary of an area, and the niche was perhaps
for holding the base of a cross or some other marker and may actually have been part of the original mission site, with its "ermita de piedra," or stone chapel. <br />
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But back to what we actually do know about the wall.<br />
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The earliest marked burial at the cemetery (and the oldest marked burial in
the State of Florida) is that of Elizabeth Forrester, who died in 1798.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> You see it above, with the aforementioned mysterious structure visible behind it. </span>At some point in the following years, grave robbers broke into
the vault and stole Elizabeth Forrester's clothing for resale at one of the local thieves’ markets.
They were caught and punished, and in 1809, the Spanish governor, Enrique
White, ordered Fr. Miguel O’Reilly, the parish priest for the church on the
plaza that would eventually be elevated into the Cathedral of St Augustine, to hire
a guard and build a fence around the cemetery to prevent such a thing from
happening again.<br />
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Fr. Miguel O’Reilly complained about the cost of this and said he wasn’t
sure how much money was in the treasury because his assistant, Fr. Miguel
Crosby, hadn’t audited the accounts for 11 years! However, we can assume that
he went ahead and did it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But again, we
have no idea what it looked like, except that it was probably fairly basic, because in 1811, we see plans to change it. <br />
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In that year,
plans were produced to completely redo the cemetery, creating a more modern
cemetery laid out in a grid pattern with numbered burial plots, and a row of
stone vaults and a catafalque at the back of the cemetery. (A catafalque in a
cemetery is a structure somewhat like a table, where the casket is placed
during the final parts of the burial service.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
We see a stone wall around it with ossuaries in the corners and two pillars for a double-leaved gate. </span>However, the governor died in 1811, Fr. Miguel O’Reilly died in 1812 (his vault is shown below),
and the Spanish Empire, already under threat from the independence movements of
Latin America and the North American tensions that would lead to the War of
1812, simply didn’t have the money or the will to make such expensive improvements
to this modest little city. <br />
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So the work was never finished - or even started - and the cemetery continued as it was for decades. Even in the mid-19<sup>th</sup>
century, visitors to Tolomato Cemetery complained about the shabby appearance
of the fence – which may have been the same one that Fr. Miguel O’Reilly set up
in the early years.<br />
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In
1853, José María Casals, one of the Cubans who came to St. Augustine in 1853 to
aid the ailing Fr. Felix Varela and found that they had arrived too late to do anything
more than bury him, accompanied the parish priest, Fr. Aubril, to the cemetery
to look at the land for the Varela Chapel. He comments that it was a lonely
resting place, with a wooden enclosure and only four or five half-ruined old
vaults, so clearly things had not improved much over the years. <br />
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Here we see a 19<sup>th</sup> century photograph of the old wooden wall. The
“gate” seems to have been an interior door that had been lopsidedly hung
between the crumbling wooden posts. <br />
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Even tourists mentioned its dismal state occasionally, and there were
complaints from locals that cows kept knocking the fence down and getting into
the cemetery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it seems not to have
been until 1916 that steps were taken to replace the fence with something more
dignified. On April 27, 1916, we see this notice in the St Augustine Record: “<span lang="EN" style="color: #1d2129; font-size: 10.5pt;">To Erect A
Cemetery Wall: John Reyes has material unloaded on the ground for an artificial
stone wall which will be built along the street line of the Catholic cemetery
on Cordova street. The wall will be 117 feet long and 42 inches high. It will
greatly improve the appearance of the cemetery, displacing the old fence which,
although serviceable, was not very ornamental.”</span><br />
<br />
Note the tactful description, “serviceable,” but “not very ornamental.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So we may conclude that it looked horrible.<br />
<br />
This resulted in the building of the concrete wall along the front and parts
of the sides of the cemetery, which we see below in an early 20th century photo of strollers on Cordova Street.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course,
the streets - particularly Cordova Street - had changed since the first days of the mission and cemetery, with
some of them being straightened, some being widened, and some being
eliminated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, allowing for a few
feet that were acquired towards the front of the cemetery in the 19<sup>th</sup>
century and the strip of land purchased in 1853 for the building of the Varela
Chapel, thus making the original more square-like area more rectangular, the
cemetery seems to have maintained its boundaries.<br />
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<br />
In fact, it is that very wall that came down to us and which we rebuilt
along the front in this latest 2016 renovation, almost 100 years after the Record article.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The wall is made of a combination of concrete blocks, blocks of coquina (shown below),
and even stacks of brick: in other words, whatever was at hand. <br />
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The 2016 repairs were a little more orderly, and consisted of adding concrete block and rebar pilasters to strengthen the wall while giving it another coat of concrete in those areas where it did not need repair. <br />
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And of course, the other major improvement was the addition of two high
pillars for holding the beautiful wrought-iron gate, topped by its graceful
archway that at last proudly bears the name “Tolomato” and gives this beautiful
place the honor that it is due.<br />
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<br />Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04493096470169447646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1432464668645421393.post-7313273480285273942016-05-12T07:20:00.000-07:002016-05-12T07:22:33.320-07:00Open the Gates!<p>Saturday, May 7, 2016 was the big day! After some 220 years of starts, false starts and even indifference, Tolomato Cemetery finally got the entryway it has always deserved, one worthy of the beauty of the site, the City of St Augustine and, most important of all, the people who rest within it. <p>Years of work on the part of the TCPA went into this - in fact, we checked back in our records and saw that we first kicked off plans in 2012 - but now it's done. And the results are beautiful, even more wonderful than we had hoped. <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ToCzltJ_cWI/VzSQmhwY0-I/AAAAAAAAMd8/l-IKS356xs0/s1600-h/IMG_3547%25255B9%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_3547" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_3547" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Jp29J0eM-T4/VzSQm6BbolI/AAAAAAAAMeA/gCyWUTZj_Bc/IMG_3547_thumb%25255B5%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="461" height="362"></a> <p>In the course of the project, the old chain-link and barbed wire fence on the front was removed, the masonry wall was rebuilt, a new fence was added to the top of it, and a splendid hand-forged wrought iron gate was added to the entryway, topped by the name of the cemetery and a cross in copper. <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-UlNIrMeRE_0/VzSQnVyrV_I/AAAAAAAAMeE/3tsmk1D0lPc/s1600-h/IMG_3559%25255B10%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_3559" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_3559" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-rMZSpLnnzoo/VzSQn9I9boI/AAAAAAAAMeI/aljbMRarbpI/IMG_3559_thumb%25255B6%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="414" height="332"></a> <p>This project represents a solid four years of work by the Tolomato Cemetery Preservation Association. At our board meeting planning for the dedication last week, a member commented that it seemed like we had been working on it forever – and when Louise Kennedy, our Secretary, checked her minutes, she found that the agenda item first appears way back in 2012! That’s not quite forever, but it is certainly most of the life of the organization, which was only founded in 2010. <p>The board of the TCPA certainly deserves massive thanks for all the hours and days and weeks spent on this project, ranging from fundraising to consulting with designers and contractors to passing through the HARB (Historic Architecture Review Board) review and other bureaucratic chores. They’re very modest, however, so while you see them scattered through these photos, such as that of the procession to the gate shown below, they wouldn’t step out for a feature photo! But we all know who they are! <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-TYTsuHBQV6E/VzSQoKBsJWI/AAAAAAAAMeM/Jyf5XPJfsq8/s1600-h/Procession%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="Procession" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="Procession" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-LZ1_MDIGgfg/VzSQoi1XPYI/AAAAAAAAMeQ/bzI3QgImY8c/Procession_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="495" height="455"></a> <p>Many people were involved in this project, and the purpose of the dedication was to formally open the gates, which were completed only about two days earlier, and thank those many people.We had beautiful weather for the event, held in front of the Varela Chapel and then moving to the gate for the blessing by Fr. Tom Willis.The guests and a few lucky tourists who were just passing by ate cookies and listened to Elizabeth Gessner, President of the TCPA, describe the work and introduce the people who had participated in this nearly four-year-long project. <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-atVMG6ia5UI/VzSQpE-LUfI/AAAAAAAAMeU/8UebGxX6dbQ/s1600-h/Entry%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="Entry" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="Entry" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-gIWAKK4VrrM/VzSQpjt17VI/AAAAAAAAMeY/0q_lp9oHauI/Entry_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="270" height="417"></a> <p>So let’s start with the donors, without which nothing would have been possible! There were first of all the many, many donations we have gotten through our “Foot of Fence” program, where people could visit the website tolomatofence.com and contribute $10 to “buy” or sponsor a foot of fence – or could “buy” as many feet as they wanted. All of these names and those of all the other donors, along with technical information on the construction and the project, will be included in a time capsule to be placed near the front wall sometime this year. <p>We also had larger individual donors who made memorial contributions and will have memorial plaques placed on the inside of the front wall. More on that as it happens! <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-9_1_V9P2j7o/VzSQp46WoJI/AAAAAAAAMec/7FDV70RZUcY/s1600-h/DSC04562%25255B9%25255D.jpg"><img title="DSC04562" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="DSC04562" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-fznHd8gLf0U/VzSQqZYJF-I/AAAAAAAAMeg/Kstzk-P_iyg/DSC04562_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="493" height="294"></a> <p>Important institutional donors were also in attendance. They included the Minorcan Society, represented by Carol Lopez Bradshaw, who is shown above talking to the crowd about the work of the Minorcan Society, which raised money by raffling off a traditional Minorcan cast net, handmade by member Mike Usina. Many of those buried in Tolomato are Minorcans, and thus the ancestors of the members of the Minorcan Society, so this was a very fitting moment. <p>Also present were members of the Rotary Club, represented by Katherine Battenhorst. Because of the very, very generous 450<sup>th</sup> Commemoration donation made to the project by the Rotary Club, the northern end of the outside fence now bears a splendid new bronze Rotary plaque honoring this donation so that visitors can see it as they walk downtown from the City parking garage. Louise Kennedy, TCPA Secretary, admires the plaque in this photo below. <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-6OqrnLfkD-I/VzSQqgRGE8I/AAAAAAAAMek/Ay7RsFofaAg/s1600-h/Louise%252520and%252520Rotary%252520Plaque%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="Louise and Rotary Plaque" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="Louise and Rotary Plaque" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-TT5TbDVARxM/VzSQrNzgroI/AAAAAAAAMeo/-s5YlIrWwqg/Louise%252520and%252520Rotary%252520Plaque_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="514" height="355"></a> <p>But there were other people who were crucial in this, and they were present to receive their accolades. Don Crichlow, the St Augustine architect who is descended from about half of the historic families whose names can be seen in the cemetery, donated his graceful plan for the fence and entryway that enabled the TCPA to go ahead. The light fence on top of the wall, conserving the 100-year old curve into the gate, are particular features of this plan. We’ll have more historical information on the fence and gate in a blog post within the next week or two so that you can see its connections with that first project of more than 200 years ago. But meanwhile below you see Don Crichlow talking about his part in this lengthy project. <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-2MrnpenQE-s/VzSQrs9EfpI/AAAAAAAAMes/31brmE0xVIc/s1600-h/Don%252520Talking%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="Don Talking" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="Don Talking" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-CaW4w1ZDsH4/VzSQsISUX5I/AAAAAAAAMew/TRIKobv0mUM/Don%252520Talking_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="458" height="316"></a> <p>And then we have the gate! We already see visitors standing in front of it to have their pictures taken and people taking photos of the gate alone, so it’s a pretty spectacular addition that I think will become a St. Augustine landmark. And it was made by a St. Augustinian, Scott Thompson, shown below opening the gate and doing his happy dance because it was finally done and everything was perfect! <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-vHsrzMMh60w/VzSQsqyBoDI/AAAAAAAAMe0/Ic4fnj8Ps_8/s1600-h/Scott%252520Entering%252520Gate%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img title="Scott Entering Gate" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="Scott Entering Gate" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-z2ZtWYddS1o/VzSQs8tQQCI/AAAAAAAAMe4/lRnTnFOAM9c/Scott%252520Entering%252520Gate_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="408" height="636"></a> <p>Scott is a graduate of Flagler College and still lives in St Augustine, and actually spontaneously proposed his design at an Open Day when he was visiting with his brother and friends. Graduating with a BFA, he found himself gravitating towards metalwork and is now the blacksmith for an ornamental metalwork company in Jacksonville. He researched different styles and designed the perfect one for this site: an 18<sup>th</sup> century Spanish style piece, light, airy but at the same time formal and elegant. The gate is wrought iron and the name of the cemetery and the cross are copper, so they will develop a beautiful patina with age. Everything was forged by Scott at his shop in Jacksonville. <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-KzDSDhx5m-k/VzSQtUP961I/AAAAAAAAMe8/eABDtrCzn1c/s1600-h/DSC00721%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><img title="DSC00721" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="DSC00721" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-CwbWGOhczoQ/VzSQuOIwxSI/AAAAAAAAMfA/3uCvTeA6KhI/DSC00721_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="364" height="506"></a> <p>We also had another “special” heir of Tolomato who came to bless the gates and be the first one to open them: Fr. Tom Willis, the pastor of the Cathedral Basilica (which owns the cemetery). He is a St Augustine native and in his way is also the “heir” of the several St Augustine priests buried in the cemetery, particularly Fr. Miguel O’Reilly, who was responsible for the first fence and gate at the cemetery some 200+ years ago. Below we see Fr. Tom with Scott Thompson, Elizabeth Gessner and Don Crichlow. <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7M-yrXptepc/VzSQumQFgJI/AAAAAAAAMfE/gwzw87tY8ME/s1600-h/Fr.%252520Tom%25252C%252520Scott%25252C%252520EDG%25252C%252520Don%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="Fr. Tom, Scott, EDG, Don" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="Fr. Tom, Scott, EDG, Don" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-yCjdD_P6Yjs/VzSQu6QsWqI/AAAAAAAAMfI/eJwRf5PhOR0/Fr.%252520Tom%25252C%252520Scott%25252C%252520EDG%25252C%252520Don_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="314" height="476"></a> <p>Fr.Tom gave an address on the chapel porch and then led the group from the chapel to the gate while Joanie Oliveros Taylor, Don Chrichlow’s cousin and therefore also related to half the people in the cemetery, played “Amazing Grace,” accompanied by our “official Chapel Harpist,” Mary Jane Ballou. And then Fr. Tom blessed the gate while the crowd stood on the inside. <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV8l3v0qdW6sjUih7zojcunuwpBtfb0gfbO_49-JxWx0csS-GmtLFCdWt14A3KNgm-3skbwyrdnLu0Dv53W1F4CAPhIkNUvWar3I6jDocETw_Q5Vy8OOocEe-ONJvX3hgeBZhZGeyJDm9O/?imgmax=800"><img title="Fr T Blessing" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="Fr T Blessing" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-H8H2sE7LJhc/VzSRGv8rVEI/AAAAAAAAMfQ/bja6hFz2tN4/Fr%252520T%252520Blessing_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="316" height="473"></a> <p>Then, as a visual representation of Fr. Miguel O’Reilly and all his predecessors and the history of this place, Fr. Tom Willis was the first person to officially open the gates and go right on through. <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-AU5GXmXvmIo/VzSRHM38iLI/AAAAAAAAMfU/TCuwvADrzp0/s1600-h/Fr%252520Tom%252520Willis%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img title="Fr Tom Willis" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="Fr Tom Willis" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-TiZnzb_E_u0/VzSRHoEr7VI/AAAAAAAAMfY/3bzkOUCA-_E/Fr%252520Tom%252520Willis_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="564" height="447"></a> <p>The moment we had all been waiting for! By the way, notice the beautiful curve in the fence, which follows the restored old wall and was part of Don’s design, executed in aluminum by local metalworker Glen Easters. <p>After that, we all went back to stand around the chapel and eat cookies and take photos, such as those in this post, taken by Nick McAuliffe, Patty Kelbert and Joan Roberts. Meanwhile, Matt Armstrong stayed at the gate, proudly welcoming passing St Augustine visitors to step through the gates. <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-4IQR0xRLKxQ/VzSRH8FazOI/AAAAAAAAMfc/Ow_WSJI7c5Q/s1600-h/Matt%252520at%252520Gate%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><img title="Matt at Gate" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="Matt at Gate" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-EEGSYoJTh2U/VzSRIcyvBcI/AAAAAAAAMfg/oAHl5SEiC8Q/Matt%252520at%252520Gate_thumb%25255B4%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="385" height="605"></a> <p>It was truly a beautiful day and a wonderful moment for Tolomato Cemetery. We are hoping that it is pleasing to both past and present St. Augustinians and to our many visitors. The TCPA is very proud of the beautiful work that finally gives the cemetery an entryway worthy of its history and of the people resting there, and thanks all of the many people who helped in this achievement. <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIlIcd3O3_q0b6EL8T3apuK_lyYSr3xgVweXCY4vqY71LU2sIOwq3oMIOAvARGYDa0Rt84ZOrfAOXUzQxB_FZT_glsbdh2tFCK7PIgJCB9SsIc07Rk6wOVsMO1RE5_QC3C3m4JAdWOMHWM/s1600-h/DSC00707%25255B8%25255D.jpg"><img title="DSC00707" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="DSC00707" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgymyaENX7RSk_GL99NQSrGABeWZqbeLFir_ks-HdMQ9wq6_-srbyWetBDiHdLObPPLkcWa4lRJBiBxFKB3Vl0QUVcSDXupq3AF2ksSaHd0WIhuyzxNMoQau3BTXgH-NN7fgifPif4XXxf/?imgmax=800" width="510" height="415"></a>Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04493096470169447646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1432464668645421393.post-8717493639625017552016-03-15T18:11:00.002-07:002016-03-15T18:16:03.161-07:00Spring Visitors at Tolomato<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Spring always brings our migratory visitors back to St
Augustine, and this year, it’s started a little early. Our first three group
visits this year have been very interesting and remind us what Tolomato is
all about.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">At the end of February, we had a visit from the Greek
community, led by the wonderful people from St Photios Shrine on St George
Street. The many Greek burials at Tolomato are those of the Greek component of
the Minorcans. In St Augustine talk,
“Minorcans” means those people who left Minorca – a formerly Spanish
Mediterranean island under the control of England during St Augustine’s late 18</span><sup><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;">th</span></sup><span style="font-family: "calibri";">
century British Period, also as a result of the settlement of the French and
Indian War - and who arrived at New
Smyrna Beach in 1765. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbPSUhUvdHT9JwUaQxt9ULCUFbPfqN5FkOWBDMbBmymaFkfGqE3Q8_DvAnlIZ4BTSYpu0RVzAIEjGHxC7aC_RVLZNTib156fxrlfUgjevXA6LCgVcGHxxdMLpLXYqZ5-TrOEJQqvg-o6Bi/s1600/IMG_1268.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbPSUhUvdHT9JwUaQxt9ULCUFbPfqN5FkOWBDMbBmymaFkfGqE3Q8_DvAnlIZ4BTSYpu0RVzAIEjGHxC7aC_RVLZNTib156fxrlfUgjevXA6LCgVcGHxxdMLpLXYqZ5-TrOEJQqvg-o6Bi/s400/IMG_1268.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">But this does not mean they were all Minorcans born and
bred. Many of the people that Dr. Turnbull brought back with him as indentured
servants (read: slaves) for his indigo plantation in New Smyrna Beach were
Italians, Sardinians, Corsicans…and Greeks.
Dr. Turnbull had been the British consul in Smyrna, which was under the
Turks at that time, and his wife was a Greek woman from Smyrna, Maria Gracia
Bin Dura. Above, you see the wreath placed by the Greek contingent at the Minorcan sign. Blue and white are the Greek colors.</span><br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Dr. Turnbull's wife thought Greeks could withstand the Florida heat better
than the usual English or Irish laborers generally used by the English, so they
had originally gone to the Mediterranean to collect Greek workers. However,
conflicts with the Turks had increased, and many of the Greeks had either fled the area or
were not permitted by the Turks to leave. So Dr.
Turnbull dropped off his Greeks on Minorca and then went and collected more
workers from other Mediterranean ports – and finally had some 1300 people to take back to Florida. And the rest, of course, is history...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfIBBxZ66V_o0u_5hvTasFPm6CYas6CAVZEuTmMBr3Vs-ccObeQBFDzDYSPCRK-1Ap1d_BHFMwr9JFXTvbWQSU9ydt5KyKyysuIUiJIpc0q_iwHz0ZsiD945Q1LYdZRPlaeYWJDoSpwu5A/s1600/Camps+Statue_thumb%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfIBBxZ66V_o0u_5hvTasFPm6CYas6CAVZEuTmMBr3Vs-ccObeQBFDzDYSPCRK-1Ap1d_BHFMwr9JFXTvbWQSU9ydt5KyKyysuIUiJIpc0q_iwHz0ZsiD945Q1LYdZRPlaeYWJDoSpwu5A/s400/Camps+Statue_thumb%255B1%255D.jpg" width="297" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">In 1777, the Minorcans rebelled after years of mistreatment at the hands of Dr. Turnbull and came to St Augustine. They were accompanied by their priest,
Fr Pedro Camps, who served both the Catholics and the Greek Orthodox in the colony. His statue at the Cathedral, shown above, depicts him protecting the Minorcans of the colony. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">He was given
permission to bury his parishioners at the former Tolomato Indian mission, so
there are many Greeks from that first immigration buried at Tolomato
Cemetery. Some of the names have been
shortened and Anglicized – such as Papy, for example, which was originally a
much longer and more complicated name – but the Greek presence is
throughout. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">So it was wonderful to host our Greek friends. This was a
special visit, provided for the Greek Deputy Minister, </span><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">Terens-Nikolaos Quick</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">, shown in the photo below. With
him were the Greek Consul in Miami, </span><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">Adamantia
Klotsa, </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">several members of the local Greek community, and Bishop Dimitrios
of Xanthos, as well as Polly Hillier, director of St Photios Shrine and many,
many Greek descendants of the New Smyrna arrival. It was a beautiful visit and the TCPA crowd was thrilled to welcome them.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEPvM_lPWwYRbXVGpsK4hMcJIE6xEpciP2vnzJadrH2i0gyNvAPl_819C5mFg7IV1mfjiLPkekLDWms8DzjNxqX3_X8vOtW8pyOKrIwQLwv5XLQOfSgx-ij9SjIMv8IHyCXbif4wocvXn7/s1600/2016-2-28+Tolomato+024.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEPvM_lPWwYRbXVGpsK4hMcJIE6xEpciP2vnzJadrH2i0gyNvAPl_819C5mFg7IV1mfjiLPkekLDWms8DzjNxqX3_X8vOtW8pyOKrIwQLwv5XLQOfSgx-ij9SjIMv8IHyCXbif4wocvXn7/s400/2016-2-28+Tolomato+024.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The people in this photo are </span><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">Dr.
John Symeonides (AHEPA), Deputy Minister of the Hellenic Parliament
Terens-Nikolaos Quick, Bishop Dimitrios of Xanthos, Commander George Kostanis,
Consul General Adamantia Klotsa and Paul Kotrotsios</span><br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The next group visit was a large group of Cuban refugees and
their Cuban American descendants from Miami, who came to visit the burial place
of Fr. Felix Varela. They were led by Julio Hernandez of Miami and were members of the Union Familia Escolapia Cubana
(UFEC), an association made up alumni of schools in Cuba and the US
Cuban community run by the Escolapians or Piarists, a religious teaching order
founded in Rome by a Spaniard, St. Joseph Calasanz, in the early 17</span><sup><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;">th</span></sup><span style="font-family: "calibri";">
century. The religious order is known in Spanish as the Orden de las Escuelas
Pias (Order of the Pious Schools) and is the oldest of the orders founded
specifically for education.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizjo3cWEHVVpxZy0V6uWoyOtK5whQyjv-2m1yFexLjYEqh6_CNM7SXTUwmMcQT_E_b3PpLe9o0nVH-zrpIEY_rIKOELFbdib1RKFdStmjbf2XX3SICEjMRmnUbDbKnKkv-qk-1-PVQO-X2/s1600/DSC04227.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizjo3cWEHVVpxZy0V6uWoyOtK5whQyjv-2m1yFexLjYEqh6_CNM7SXTUwmMcQT_E_b3PpLe9o0nVH-zrpIEY_rIKOELFbdib1RKFdStmjbf2XX3SICEjMRmnUbDbKnKkv-qk-1-PVQO-X2/s640/DSC04227.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Establishing themselves in Cuba in the mid-19</span><sup><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;">th</span></sup><span style="font-family: "calibri";">
century, they ran several important schools in the cities of Cuba that provided
an excellent education for both the children of prosperous families and
the children of the poor. They were
particularly known for their teaching of religion and humanities, and their
devotion to Fr. Varela results from their respect for him as an educator and
tireless teacher himself. He wrote and did much during his years in Cuba aimed
at improving and modernizing education throughout Latin America, producing
textbooks as well as writings on educational theory.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8jYy97vtvqgGJ2ZqV9X7NEYo0l3Q0awFnlXUouhsSaQtIb8lQJeMLbRQV_EacbLW58c2l-lfXyN49V9HN3Qnt-ua_q1ofTPGEtTuRJI9MkJ39Mr3gtDTUC8CxrSVV1BTJTKgpLMK12Tno/s1600/IMG_1617.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8jYy97vtvqgGJ2ZqV9X7NEYo0l3Q0awFnlXUouhsSaQtIb8lQJeMLbRQV_EacbLW58c2l-lfXyN49V9HN3Qnt-ua_q1ofTPGEtTuRJI9MkJ39Mr3gtDTUC8CxrSVV1BTJTKgpLMK12Tno/s400/IMG_1617.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The group of alumni was delighted with their visit to the burial
place of Fr. Varela. They were
accompanied by one of the members of the order, Fr. Mario Vizcaino, who is shown above standing to the right of Elizabeth Gessner while she tells the visitors about the tomb of Fr. Miguel O'Reilly, Felix Varela's first teacher. They had earlier been received by St. Augustine Bishop Felipe Estévez
with a talk about Fr. Varela. The group
is considering a contribution to the improvement of the lighting in the chapel,
and possibly towards the purchase of some AV equipment, and they promise to
return.</span><br />
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">And finally…the Rotary Club!
The Rotarians came to place a plaque at Tolomato Cemetery commemorating
their very generous donation to the completion of the new fence and gate. St. Augustine residents who drive by the
cemetery can watch it taking shape, and once it is finished and the fence is
erected, the plaque will be placed on the fence to show the Rotarians’ concern
for the beautification and preservation of historic St Augustine. We hope this
will take place sometime in the next couple of months</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The Rotary Club of St Augustine came out to the cemetery
after their monthly meeting to present the plaque to the TCPA and Fr Tom Willis,
as the representative of the property owner, the Cathedral Basilica of St
Augustine, for which Tolomato served as the parish cemetery until its closing
in 1884. Below we see Elizabeth Gessner, Fr. Tom Willis and Rotary Club members surrounding Katherine Battenhorst, who is holding the new plaque.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6DQG-Im-733sFgfWXU70T3SsnG0HIhxow4w6pii8yTkndGhMNGOOt1FtgahbxX3KeWaZcyImZdE0rWdU_nEMIp7VzSb1QbP_h12gOIsyE_jFUrasbQP10hVwoTO246yVzbblZWfp9jHbi/s1600/2016-3-7+Tolomato-rotary+crop+018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6DQG-Im-733sFgfWXU70T3SsnG0HIhxow4w6pii8yTkndGhMNGOOt1FtgahbxX3KeWaZcyImZdE0rWdU_nEMIp7VzSb1QbP_h12gOIsyE_jFUrasbQP10hVwoTO246yVzbblZWfp9jHbi/s400/2016-3-7+Tolomato-rotary+crop+018.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">A little research showed how appropriate this project was
for the Rotary Club. The Rotary was
founded in 1915 in Chicago by several local businessmen, and got its name from
the fact that they initially rotated their meeting places between their
different offices. They were dedicated
to the improvement of international understanding through commerce and intellectual
exchanges. Their founding, of course, is well after the founding or even
closing date of the cemetery, but the Rotary has a long history of connection
with St Augustine.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7YnONdVRU27tGO6SsIhMdZVIHdqcnoJxQUUa-XMKc6vpQEKQDyqVQ01GUnCNZTsrFWrzaLNQ4KoFqiN0G8AFQ1sJtOm4zJBEDXrxBTbTGGBP4-lBSnQvjsTVvdJJnMAERWhHGpuNbALMr/s1600/2016-3-7+Tolomato-rotary+crop+014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7YnONdVRU27tGO6SsIhMdZVIHdqcnoJxQUUa-XMKc6vpQEKQDyqVQ01GUnCNZTsrFWrzaLNQ4KoFqiN0G8AFQ1sJtOm4zJBEDXrxBTbTGGBP4-lBSnQvjsTVvdJJnMAERWhHGpuNbALMr/s400/2016-3-7+Tolomato-rotary+crop+014.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">In fact, a Rotarian was one of the people most important in
reestablishing St Augustine’s connection with Spain after the Spanish American
War had left hostility between the two countries. Ángel Cuesta la Madrid, a
Tampa cigar maker originally from Asturias in Northern Spain, birthplace of St
Augustine’s founder, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, was a Rotarian and even went on to found the first Rotary Club in Spain. But while in Tampa, where he produced the famous Cuesta-Rey cigars,it was his reconciliation
project that eventually brought about the famous trip of St Augustine and US
officials to Avilés in 1924 to receive the casket of Pedro Menendez. The admiral had been reburied in another
monument, and Spain gave his original casket to the City of St Augustine as a
symbol of renewed friendship. The casket
is still on view in the Diocesan Museum in uptown St Augustine, and the Rotary
is still helping St Augustine to discover, communicate and honor its history.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
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<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04493096470169447646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1432464668645421393.post-1811478693549854132016-02-26T06:54:00.000-08:002016-02-26T06:54:05.366-08:00Letter PerfectTolomato Cemetery receives many researchers every year, some of them
interested in the people buried there, some of them interested in the technical
details of the burials…and this year, for the first time, a researcher
interested in the lettering of the marker inscriptions.
<br />Our visitor, Lori Young, is a professor of art at the University of Ohio
Bowling Green and <br />is Chair of the Graphic Design division. She was making a
tour of Southern cemeteries for a book project she is undertaking and we were
delighted that Tolomato was one of them. Not only do we have 18th and 19th
century American inscription carving, we have a couple of interesting examples
of Cuban work to show off.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_DnQeUcohv0SohuYE1TYjL_l4xfnoQtSP_YCWRSYtS_DQWsDNWOt2eXShYf0iPv7MzXofbw0g-PIJqJDwZ29fhtBvh6M9p-FqNeBknKLNfW-SKTJlK9i8YVDS4fbu-uV13YxGEEornnDQ/s1600/IMG_2745.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_DnQeUcohv0SohuYE1TYjL_l4xfnoQtSP_YCWRSYtS_DQWsDNWOt2eXShYf0iPv7MzXofbw0g-PIJqJDwZ29fhtBvh6M9p-FqNeBknKLNfW-SKTJlK9i8YVDS4fbu-uV13YxGEEornnDQ/s400/IMG_2745.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
<br />
Part of Lori Young’s specialty, graphic design, is the area of typefaces,
that is, simply the way the letter looks. In this marker for members of the
Avice family, you will see several different fonts.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVNUdqWZ5beo1dHjf28nlQ4tVQPPWK-41wUvTO9ZySNYE4agfpjZoHMBYER3kby706S9NyduiPj4f9_rHLajgFeDbTmHagJDuokMMR_DrhPr_O8H4GvTiPocaYQ2tc2uumLwxw1QOp0_o_/s1600/IMG_2752.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVNUdqWZ5beo1dHjf28nlQ4tVQPPWK-41wUvTO9ZySNYE4agfpjZoHMBYER3kby706S9NyduiPj4f9_rHLajgFeDbTmHagJDuokMMR_DrhPr_O8H4GvTiPocaYQ2tc2uumLwxw1QOp0_o_/s400/IMG_2752.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
What is a font? Just to give you a brief introduction, a letterform is the way a printed or
engraved letter is shaped in terms of slant, thickness, ornamentation, and
style. Does it have hooks at the end of the strokes or is it straight up and
down? Or perhaps it has flourishes and curlicues? Is it thick or thin, slanted
as in italic or dark as in bold?
<br />
<br />
A typeface means a group of letterforms (a “font family”) that have the same
features. One easy thing that distinguishes fonts when you look at them, for
example, are whether they have little hooks (serifs) at the ends of the letters
or just straight lines (sans-serif). Below we see two modern fonts, Courier New
(with serifs) and Arial (sans-serif) that are commonly used in printed
documents:
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-family: Courier New;">Courier</span> <span style="font-family: Arial;">Arial</span></span></blockquote>
Lettering on stones in cemeteries generally reflects the popular styles of
the time and place and can be very useful in telling us something about the
people buried there and their times.
<br />Tolomato has several markers that are interesting from a typographical point
of view.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYDUk_DCC_3rGY5POP2G8EK2iT-w-TNLQSLiLvuOLJ6Cgnt9ODobJcnSH08zNGLPJg13flmAt-ILSmpJ0bofxz5L69bMPeogEzwndXh8D0oiPfpj7Gp2h2xmnKHnGFOVtELH6ZlSaAM2yr/s1600/Stone.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYDUk_DCC_3rGY5POP2G8EK2iT-w-TNLQSLiLvuOLJ6Cgnt9ODobJcnSH08zNGLPJg13flmAt-ILSmpJ0bofxz5L69bMPeogEzwndXh8D0oiPfpj7Gp2h2xmnKHnGFOVtELH6ZlSaAM2yr/s400/Stone.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
<br />
The Varela Chapel is first on the list. On the ledger stone that covers the
crypt, Lori told us that we have an example of a so-called “Tuscan” font. This
was based on a European wooden font (that is, one to be used when letters were
printed with wooden blocks) and was sometimes used in stencils. It was popular
everywhere, particularly in the Americas, including the Wild West, during the
19<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> century.
<br />But the Varela stone was carved in Cuba of Cuban marble and not in the Wild
West! However, Tuscan-style fonts were well-known everywhere for use in signs
and inscriptions, and the Cuban stone carvers probably stenciled the lettering
on and then tapped it out with their chisels. Below is a close- up of part of
the inscription, which says, fittingly, “THE CUBANS,” referring to the fact that
the marker was a tribute to Fr. Varela from his Cuban admirers.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrXHeMRy19gEWslJ_M0vTPKUACHkAwvFPAA-glJiI8-F1kWBHwbFo7kCGFjoJfvgGnoD8-OyuvqKgpL6Yx4_lX4A1W_e8AYuD6LVupqvDYkgQ5ERC9cgNuYfMmI1wZ_k8-gbaWvCwGeZgl/s1600/Los+Cubanos+-+Detail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrXHeMRy19gEWslJ_M0vTPKUACHkAwvFPAA-glJiI8-F1kWBHwbFo7kCGFjoJfvgGnoD8-OyuvqKgpL6Yx4_lX4A1W_e8AYuD6LVupqvDYkgQ5ERC9cgNuYfMmI1wZ_k8-gbaWvCwGeZgl/s400/Los+Cubanos+-+Detail.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
On the front of the chapel is a stone with the classic winged hourglass,
indicating that time flies and life is fleeting, although the Varela Chapel
has the somewhat unusual variation of bat’s wings. This was placed by the Cubans
who paid for the chapel and ordered its furnishings “to explain why we had built
it.” This marker is in Spanish, and its translation reads, “This chapel was
built by the Cubans in 1853 to preserve the remains of Father Varela.” And
Lori provided some interesting details that we had never noticed or considered
before.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBv4H8tLHhorFa82H1ORs3VlLtUTe5nBjnH48gMHlu9fisn4ggv5fkmK3rDsLs9qS7183nuebSrRIQEDqzjKpxxncKQSlUl6N0BixAIl1CNji6zHawyCt2-sFsBK6_YvBDApEbL4dckqlU/s1600/Wall+Plaque.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBv4H8tLHhorFa82H1ORs3VlLtUTe5nBjnH48gMHlu9fisn4ggv5fkmK3rDsLs9qS7183nuebSrRIQEDqzjKpxxncKQSlUl6N0BixAIl1CNji6zHawyCt2-sFsBK6_YvBDApEbL4dckqlU/s640/Wall+Plaque.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
The font used on the stone is known as an “Egyptian” font. It’s blocky and
has long bars and feet and is also known as a “slab serif” font. In this one,
the serifs aren’t little hooks, but are solid, slab-like projections over the
bases of the letter.
<br />This font was formally developed in the early 1800s. There is no connection
with Egypt in either the design or the artistic approach, but the impact of
Napoleon’s trips through Egypt was very strong at the time and somehow the font
became known as “Egyptian.” Because of the name, it became popular again in the
early 20th century with the discovery of King Tut’s tomb. It’s one of the
precursors of the famous mid-20<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> century Courier font shown earlier.
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<br />
In addition, the decorative details she is pointing out here are worth
examining. These were based on a branching pattern that was common in Southeast
Asian temple art and came into Western design motifs, somewhat modified, in the
18th and 19th centuries with the increase of European trade in goods and
antiquities with Asia. Its vaguely recalled association with sacred spaces or
items made it particularly suitable for use on gravestones or other Western
funeral art.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6YefXnlRv3EQb5N1z55bZ-B2lpwZr2QVLlTgMEYhmGFfZhhDCCSKyONqzpNsTOhjbw_ZD7Qs_3IQPv9W8G3_GUvPiEHOLSxur9hPCwg2l-KFwo0_WXYaLR1s7Xv_KVRWUoxRlMsRYh1kG/s1600/IMG_2750.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6YefXnlRv3EQb5N1z55bZ-B2lpwZr2QVLlTgMEYhmGFfZhhDCCSKyONqzpNsTOhjbw_ZD7Qs_3IQPv9W8G3_GUvPiEHOLSxur9hPCwg2l-KFwo0_WXYaLR1s7Xv_KVRWUoxRlMsRYh1kG/s320/IMG_2750.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<br />
Lori also found a lot to interest her in this large marker for the Avice
family, which you saw at the top of this article. Here, Lori shows Cynthia
McAuliffe a letter in the rather large and varied (from a font point of view)
inscription on this marker. She called our attention to the calligraphic drawing
of the numeral “1” with a sort of upstroke at the top. Notice that there are no
serifs, no feet – nothing, just an indentation at the top of the letter, as if
it had been a pen-stroke and the writer had swept up the line.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkGyS4gRPb4GKZP1qtmaX9Yil4RuLI3qcM-lsBA6KxB9MH6aew9qHzrO9gu65ZZCVd0RuRbLRzKm6B-_GR3y_Rzr2xUkyi4R739W7jXfvas4RSRr2g3InVLX3Rkn4dowwkeD1FHQMo8BfT/s1600/IMG_2816.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkGyS4gRPb4GKZP1qtmaX9Yil4RuLI3qcM-lsBA6KxB9MH6aew9qHzrO9gu65ZZCVd0RuRbLRzKm6B-_GR3y_Rzr2xUkyi4R739W7jXfvas4RSRr2g3InVLX3Rkn4dowwkeD1FHQMo8BfT/s320/IMG_2816.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
This was simply to distinguish the numeral “1” from its sneaky look-alikes,
the capital “I” and the lower case letter “I.” Anybody who has ever had to
struggle over a password or email address where any of these three symbols (“1,”
“I” and “l” – that would be one, eye and ell) could be present will certainly
appreciate this! Notice how it differs from the “I” in “DIED” above it.
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<br />Lori will keep us posted on her further research. Below, she takes one last
photo of the Elizabeth Forrester vault from 1798, the oldest marked burial in
the state of Florida, its beautiful 18th century script unfortunately almost
eroded away. Lori Young will be on sabbatical next year to work on this
project, so we might even hope that she can come back and visit Tolomato again
and give us more fascinating details on this rarely considered aspect of
cemeteries.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhleV5Hs6HrUtBQ0q-UXO6yZJWi-mVsRAQr056VBjry7W6_-rFJcTxMVLpCW_DhBpBp895DlsgBuDTSlwIgZx_SctfdZMmpWjri2UgpezL8SPOVa-YKxTq0rpFusHgNBD6TsN6O9CxJrp3G/s1600/Lori+Young.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhleV5Hs6HrUtBQ0q-UXO6yZJWi-mVsRAQr056VBjry7W6_-rFJcTxMVLpCW_DhBpBp895DlsgBuDTSlwIgZx_SctfdZMmpWjri2UgpezL8SPOVa-YKxTq0rpFusHgNBD6TsN6O9CxJrp3G/s400/Lori+Young.jpg" width="363" /></a></div>
<br /><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04493096470169447646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1432464668645421393.post-46733784405824299572016-01-27T14:33:00.000-08:002016-01-27T14:42:10.632-08:00Before Tolomato<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">St Augustine was founded in 1565 and Tolomato was
established as a cemetery in 1777.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Located
just outside the city wall and under the gun emplacements, the site had been in
use since about 1706 as a Franciscan Indian mission, which would also have
included a burial ground. Abandoned during the British Period, the arrival of the Minorcans in 1777 brought Tolomato into use again, this time as the parish cemetery. It remained so after the British left and the Spanish
returned and built what is now the Cathedral on the Plaza.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">But where were St Augustinians buried before that time? Just this week, we had a dramatic meeting with the past.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqmLrz3HO062T6pGZNL-WxHnpKoRvvm_uGSUTsmbYZ_PjU5psA9BBY1wtq-HXZDKx6tqori-agIlLVJ4SN5yJyH1rv15aAmBLiaJmh5kNPqt6Q8OFU7nPP7MRhUP9Czuc1BGZWFOnJXgzX/s1600/IMG_2678.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqmLrz3HO062T6pGZNL-WxHnpKoRvvm_uGSUTsmbYZ_PjU5psA9BBY1wtq-HXZDKx6tqori-agIlLVJ4SN5yJyH1rv15aAmBLiaJmh5kNPqt6Q8OFU7nPP7MRhUP9Czuc1BGZWFOnJXgzX/s640/IMG_2678.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The City Archaeologist, Carl Halbirt, conducts digs at
places where the ground is going to be disturbed down to a certain depth. There
is a sewer replacement project planned for Charlotte St., which is one of the original streets of the city and passes by the site of the first permanent church
established by the Spanish in what is now the downtown area.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The church was named Nuestra Señora de los
Remedios, Our Lady of the Remedies, which was a popular name in the Spanish territories
because of their remoteness from even the relatively rudimentary medical help
of the times.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Prayer was really the only
recourse.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The fact that the 18</span><sup><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">th</span></sup><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
century Spanish Military Hospital is located right next to this site indicates
its importance in the history of healing throughout the centuries.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCByVuPy3EnulCO_tAd1NUfNlxwKsvedtcfmW_eGUNj1np1Ad95m8v-6LDRM_76T4pg982PTCngemPrey-2ZbIAwkslpg4yyW7-T_24VxxmU9qAjEKiRG0WYTFgKecbFuTG-N-D-M98oTl/s1600/IMG_2711.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCByVuPy3EnulCO_tAd1NUfNlxwKsvedtcfmW_eGUNj1np1Ad95m8v-6LDRM_76T4pg982PTCngemPrey-2ZbIAwkslpg4yyW7-T_24VxxmU9qAjEKiRG0WYTFgKecbFuTG-N-D-M98oTl/s400/IMG_2711.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5LWV64itT3OVouX4KqU06-_YBsCQMJipJoXIYRJowp2P1arDJ49vqoJk5qavmFuUxxId8qMR5S4B-jDVeG3nK6B5YE2YMTvxLaJ_wvVcFCE6f6_LbMhDveBh8XPRTL7Cb9pNIu9UxIynj/s1600/IMG_2716.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The building next to the site where Carl made this latest
find is located on the exact site of Los Remedios, as indicated by the
archaeological plaque on the west side, Aviles Street, commemorating another one
of Carl’s digs. The building, shown below, is now in use as an art gallery but was built in 1964 by the State of Florida for use as a visitor information center. It was constructed on the site of Los Remedios and its cemetery. One of the features of the building was a plexiglass window in the
floor through which visitors could gaze down upon skeletons of those who
had been buried there centuries earlier. Tastes changed and it was eventually decided that this was not very respectful, so the window is now closed!</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Los Remedios was built in 1572 and destroyed in 1586 by Drake, rebuilt and then destroyed for a final time by Governor James Moore in 1702, in the same wave of attacks that destroyed the Tolomato Mission near the modern Guana River Preserve. Burials thus continued at the site for some 130 years, although we do not know with any certainty the number of people buried there. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The usual place of
burial was under the church floor, particularly for the more important people in town. When the space under the floor was exhausted, burials moved
out into the churchyard, which was usually set behind a wall so that all the space
was consecrated space. An interesting detail that you can see if you look closely at this photo is a bit of what is possibly the tabby floor of the church or at any rate a seal of clay around skeletal foot bones (which are pointing towards the right edge of the photo), indicating that these people were indeed buried under the floor of the church and not in the churchyard.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkhBf059xoOw3Ig8hrqi91z1x2O_l5MHh6BhUAap8UML8Fy0CYvAMnTIOSb-98Yc0kHLl4f9Z0_lRnW9SAzoEwoh7bcPFUdG9bsBxTRGItKc2CI3lBYYc9QHQ4jNlJ8oFvkUMtOPnfxfAk/s1600/IMG_2725.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkhBf059xoOw3Ig8hrqi91z1x2O_l5MHh6BhUAap8UML8Fy0CYvAMnTIOSb-98Yc0kHLl4f9Z0_lRnW9SAzoEwoh7bcPFUdG9bsBxTRGItKc2CI3lBYYc9QHQ4jNlJ8oFvkUMtOPnfxfAk/s400/IMG_2725.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The general practice was to leave burials in situ for a
certain amount of time, and when more space was needed, the few remaining bones
of persons buried earlier were collected and reburied, often in an ossuary.
The word is based on the Latin word </span><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">os</span></i><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">, meaning bone, and refers to a container or space for
reburial of bones. Sometimes they were placed in niches in the wall around the
churchyard, if there was a stone or adobe wall, and sometimes the ossuary was simply
a separate walled-off space where bones were cast. And sometimes they were
taken out temporarily and then reburied on top of the new and deeper burial, as probably happened here.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhldZGLEQ-G2-w5ZbYsnGCUKD89z0Bt0EgxA7VXPz0_5LG5kL7Fn5XEgl_10VCfHxujf5prOhyphenhyphenSHXlrEjoq3_017zpmVEjKzssY_9ZBQzQNtc2d8u08fIrQnXa5Iqlc2N3tFic3ZaOofjDe/s1600/Detail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhldZGLEQ-G2-w5ZbYsnGCUKD89z0Bt0EgxA7VXPz0_5LG5kL7Fn5XEgl_10VCfHxujf5prOhyphenhyphenSHXlrEjoq3_017zpmVEjKzssY_9ZBQzQNtc2d8u08fIrQnXa5Iqlc2N3tFic3ZaOofjDe/s400/Detail.jpg" width="317" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">If you examine the photo above, you will see the remains of
at least three people.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">This means that
the ground had been disturbed sometime way back when, since the 19</span><sup><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">th</span></sup><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
and 20</span><sup><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">th</span></sup><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> century disturbances of the ground for urban projects never
replaced the burials but simply cast them aside or at best dumped them back
into the ground helter-skelter.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">But
these “extra” bones had been carefully replaced, so Carl said that he thought
they had been removed to permit new burials and then replaced in a small
rectangular area that would have constituted the ossuary. In other words, we were looking at some of the earliest St Augustine residents, possibly even the first settlers, and were looking at bones that had not been seen in hundreds of years.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Now take a look at the area circled in red. This is a jawbone seated on top of a spinal column (which is lying under older bones that had been replaced in the grave) and of one of the interesting
things is that the head points toward the east. Normally, Catholic burials in a
cemetery were facing towards the East, since the Lord was supposed to come
again from the east on the Day of Judgment.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">However, this skull is facing west. Why is that?</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglxfBu8EELBDB-8peJl6bm2lfhKfsY9Q4yQLY2q6C8XNvlrhZZbN7PeIJMj6lKWKhggORcGaSOEEqMKWtwldxZfaF5h8EADMJsuyO50wHf_-QlXQQO1eb_i0XZvNT4xxEKkkSeSvcpWyKK/s1600/IMG_2724.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglxfBu8EELBDB-8peJl6bm2lfhKfsY9Q4yQLY2q6C8XNvlrhZZbN7PeIJMj6lKWKhggORcGaSOEEqMKWtwldxZfaF5h8EADMJsuyO50wHf_-QlXQQO1eb_i0XZvNT4xxEKkkSeSvcpWyKK/s400/IMG_2724.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Fr. Tom Willis from the Cathedral came out to visit his
“ancestral parishioners,” which is exactly what they would have been, since the
Cathedral has inherited all these earlier Church burial spaces. When Carl
mentioned that these bodies were buried in the church facing towards the altar,
Fr. Tom Willis explained that in this situation, this actually was the East…the “liturgical East.” That is,
the place where the altar is located represents the East, so if you are facing it, you
are facing towards Jerusalem, the Garden of Eden and all of the other Biblical
references of early cartography and spatial understanding of the East. And of course, it is
there that you will see the Risen Lord, and this is why in the Catholic
liturgy, the altar is considered the East.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Thus people buried under the floor in the church building would have
been facing the altar, which in this case was at the west end of the building –
but thereby became the liturgical East.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">So while facing west, the burials within the church building were all actually facing the East, in the symbolic sense of the term.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">When Carl came across these remains today, he fully expected to do so because he knows the downtown sites so well.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">However, these burials were remarkably well preserved, probably because of their closeness to the water and the fact that they have been kept almost underwater for centuries. Air dries bones and reduces them to dust, but water will preserve them until they are removed from the wet environment…and then they dry out and turn to dust almost immediately. </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Below, Carl probes to determine the starting point for the "sterile soil," that is, soil that has not been disturbed and lies underneath the burials, although the soil was too wet to determine this. The water table is about three feet down at this point.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS_G43y2FyktUsJJ_vLX3dY7tXoAU92YsXG6GtRLePxdDRYm2kit5A3rjF5qrBvXXP8CaOf5cTZw-GXybyaosjtrHMMmMm1_1-0xDnzDvTFKu__40HT0dbr2V3sWxVjXQofa9ruRsnj6b9/s1600/IMG_2722.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS_G43y2FyktUsJJ_vLX3dY7tXoAU92YsXG6GtRLePxdDRYm2kit5A3rjF5qrBvXXP8CaOf5cTZw-GXybyaosjtrHMMmMm1_1-0xDnzDvTFKu__40HT0dbr2V3sWxVjXQofa9ruRsnj6b9/s400/IMG_2722.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">But back to Charlotte Street. What is going to happen
now?</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Carl would like the city to move
the proposed sewer line to the other side of Charlotte Street, a narrow street
that has already been disturbed many times, and then he will cover up the bones
with a layer of sand and replace the soil and the street will be repaved with
cobblestones.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">And as for those remains that cannot be replaced in their
spaces at the site, they will go either to Tolomato or to the Mission for
reburial.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja-8gszZkNb4ZrySsCBNMd9QI9S5waRsC6IgCgThZgoeFwp0W0mpSS71oC72x9XhuamoLpYzWxbmKu8puhPGLEAEzpNYOhWcjCufYsPtfFbhlEBQwSMgkXvDcGZJFhIwvncdM4ReWzKBfN/s1600/Bones.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja-8gszZkNb4ZrySsCBNMd9QI9S5waRsC6IgCgThZgoeFwp0W0mpSS71oC72x9XhuamoLpYzWxbmKu8puhPGLEAEzpNYOhWcjCufYsPtfFbhlEBQwSMgkXvDcGZJFhIwvncdM4ReWzKBfN/s640/Bones.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">We don’t know anything about these individuals; above we see Dr. Kathy Deagan contemplating their bones. They were
all once like us, living, breathing people walking the streets of St Augustine.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">And I’m sure that they had no idea that,
several centuries later , their very skeletons would be appearing before the eyes
of thousands of people in a form that could not in any possible way have been
imaginable to them - notice the large camera lens at the top of the photo!</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span></div>
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">But most of all, as Fr. Tom Willis reminded us, we should
remember that hundreds of years ago, these people received the benefit of what
is still one of the most important Corporal Works of Mercy, which are things to be
done by a Christian to aid others: Burying the Dead. Even here in rough early
St Augustine, desperate though its circumstances may have been, these human
bodies were treated with respect and given the honor due them.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">And we should thank our ancestors on this
little peninsula for having saved and passed on this heritage to us.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br /></div>
Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04493096470169447646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1432464668645421393.post-10860658892612705172015-12-19T16:16:00.000-08:002015-12-19T16:16:42.809-08:00It's Happening At Last...and a Merry Christmas to All!What’s happening? The wall and the fence, at long last. Below you see the
current state of the entrance to Tolomato Cemetery.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL7yjcKkxGJcDdarfoc9Fi6j5SEgjU3l1Z49h4qFiWaLHnC0-dvKAlg_UfMSQ1qxnRmMhtDGUWPUylfr6uE18rPd8Ni6ig1Y9GPTGzfPc7E4hz6drSVUgPwz872iB7avY0TRkLihDvwWom/s1600/2015-12-16+St.+Aug+033.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL7yjcKkxGJcDdarfoc9Fi6j5SEgjU3l1Z49h4qFiWaLHnC0-dvKAlg_UfMSQ1qxnRmMhtDGUWPUylfr6uE18rPd8Ni6ig1Y9GPTGzfPc7E4hz6drSVUgPwz872iB7avY0TRkLihDvwWom/s400/2015-12-16+St.+Aug+033.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Work began last week. So far the masons have taken down most of the cracked
and unstable parts of the concrete wall and have made the cuts to install the
piers that will support the new fence. Below you see the masons making one of
the cuts, this one on the north side of the entry way.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia7VOF8vafHmEahZ1e-xWiv_vNtUXWSqZWAPN2s_v0LIwRe_7xnbzhsSZuNO0cdfawwLvfV214B3wBtFITKlQLwrIWP9z6l-IFdLJrcqFQ8nyEAV2a6IIb49OD6LR6bx91xrTuOMVJviUf/s1600/wall+cuts.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia7VOF8vafHmEahZ1e-xWiv_vNtUXWSqZWAPN2s_v0LIwRe_7xnbzhsSZuNO0cdfawwLvfV214B3wBtFITKlQLwrIWP9z6l-IFdLJrcqFQ8nyEAV2a6IIb49OD6LR6bx91xrTuOMVJviUf/s400/wall+cuts.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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The cemetery itself is closed off with temporary, moveable fencing that will
probably remain up for a couple of months, until the wall is done and the fence
is installed and all is secure again.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQzqs6PQ3xfzbMJDA4WLFEggtE3qXz8gl7_5K04SukG5WUzihlibtsXhESlneOs92mg2hWCa7bE7AUIlVnCBgwvgmzOoh62Cn9AAc7wYdbXn-jxDYWeo9GFQY_KqksFY6GXzS_IEvr6GJ8/s1600/wall+cuts1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQzqs6PQ3xfzbMJDA4WLFEggtE3qXz8gl7_5K04SukG5WUzihlibtsXhESlneOs92mg2hWCa7bE7AUIlVnCBgwvgmzOoh62Cn9AAc7wYdbXn-jxDYWeo9GFQY_KqksFY6GXzS_IEvr6GJ8/s400/wall+cuts1.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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This is a cleaned up view of the cut. Based on the research done by Nick
McAuliffe, we think that this part of the wall was built around 1916. Most of
the wall seems to be concrete block under a layer of concrete mortar. An
article in the precursor of the St Augustine Record for that year reports that
construction is about to begin on the wall. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHvQEl9jkV5LzrpV0dwAm1ADonTiUU8Qdc6-Owe1BbKBdrpEavc0iNS_BWTZQNJvprQBbP-ppGSvWRUu85JbntCDMn-VWY13MWCZ0OtrA3ecPnn61C2IuqGRorFaBvVHTDTiIk84rqJi88/s1600/IMG_8488.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHvQEl9jkV5LzrpV0dwAm1ADonTiUU8Qdc6-Owe1BbKBdrpEavc0iNS_BWTZQNJvprQBbP-ppGSvWRUu85JbntCDMn-VWY13MWCZ0OtrA3ecPnn61C2IuqGRorFaBvVHTDTiIk84rqJi88/s320/IMG_8488.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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And almost 100 years later, here we are again! Below you see Janet Jordan and
Nick McAuliffe, who also volunteer to work with the City Archaeologist, Carl
Halbirt, doing a quick inspection of the site. They found very little of
interest, except for a probably late 19th or early 20th century horseshoe, which
we of course considered to be sign of good luck.<br />
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But that was last week, when it was still warm and sunny. This weekend would
have been our normal Open Day, but we had to cancel for the first time in five
years because access to the site was impossible. Most of it was taped off and
there was construction equipment in the gateway. However, today turned out to be
a suddenly cold and windy day, so perhaps it was just as well that this was the
day we had to close.<br />
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Tolomato Cemetery should be open as usual on the Third Saturday next month,
the date of which will be January 16, 2016. The job won’t be complete by then,
but certainly the wall will be done and at least a start will have been made on
the fence and the gate. So that means that if you live here, you have to come
by and check on it whenever you can – and if you don’t live here, you have to
check our Facebook page, Historic Tolomato Cemetery, because our board members
will be updating it regularly with shots of the work in progress.<br />
<br />
And in the meantime, from the “temporary Tolomato” shown in Nick’s photo
below, have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBZ1T0Q78iiohc48lWSINmeXI9QeNVV2c5XKmwT7X4qNTZhuyLUHY8X6cWh_eDI0RxUenuRuqOjjmelJJw0Vf0gAWjB-taGKYEsPw65h6nMWWJBAQxQ0ljTzB4iQXzYbzjDQHH6x6mG-m8/s1600/IMG_8493.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBZ1T0Q78iiohc48lWSINmeXI9QeNVV2c5XKmwT7X4qNTZhuyLUHY8X6cWh_eDI0RxUenuRuqOjjmelJJw0Vf0gAWjB-taGKYEsPw65h6nMWWJBAQxQ0ljTzB4iQXzYbzjDQHH6x6mG-m8/s400/IMG_8493.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br />Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04493096470169447646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1432464668645421393.post-12155425339668883112015-10-30T14:09:00.001-07:002015-10-30T14:09:31.185-07:00Bosque Bello–Tolomato’s Fernandina Beach Cousin<p> <p>Last weekend, I visited what I know think of as Tolomato Cemetery’s cousin: Bosque Bello Cemetery in Fernandina Beach, founded in 1798 during the Second Spanish Period. This makes it a close relative of Tolomato Cemetery. <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-jU8J1KvM5LA/VjPcFxOwCGI/AAAAAAAAMJI/nLOY6oN4Yps/s1600-h/Sign%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="Sign" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="Sign" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-uJ-Jh-Ofqbs/VjPcGwcchrI/AAAAAAAAMJQ/iWJqgWEuoHc/Sign_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="470" height="392"></a> <p>Tolomato Cemetery was first used as a cemetery during the British Period, when the Minorcans arrived and established their community in the north end of the city; but it really entered into its own as the parish cemetery for the town during the Second Spanish period, one of the most interesting eras in St Augustine’s interesting history. And what was happening in St Augustine at that time? <p>The big parish church of St Augustine, which became a cathedral in 1870 with the designation of St. Augustine as a diocese with its own bishop, had just been finished and dedicated in 1797. Fr. Miguel O’Reilly was the parish priest of the church, and Gov. Enrique White (a Dublin born Spanish citizen) was the governor of Florida. Jesse Fish, Maria Evans, don Juan McQueen, Miguel Isnardy, Pedro Benet and a host of other colorful characters were alive and well in St Augustine. With the exception of Miguel Isnardy, who is buried somewhere under the floor in the Cathedral, and Jesse Fish, all of these people are now buried at Tolomato Cemetery. <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-A-5vHjd1YrE/VjPcIgHlwPI/AAAAAAAAMJY/vP5uIRa_miA/s1600-h/IMG_1208%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_1208" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_1208" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-j6RbIyHANnQ/VjPcJt0KkiI/AAAAAAAAMJg/nYqM4aqZ3d0/IMG_1208_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="346" height="470"></a> <p>Outside of little St Augustine, the new United States was consolidating and already testing the borders of Spanish Florida. Meanwhile, on the Continent, that famous Corsican, Napoleon Bonaparte, shown glowering below, was preparing for the coup of 1799 against the French government, which would set him on a quest to conquer all of Europe. In 1808, he would invade and conquer Spain, whose far flung empire would still manage to limp along with little help from the <em>patria madre</em>. The Napoleonic Wars produced complicated European alliances, not always the same at all times in all places, and of course spilled over into the New World with our War of 1812, which ended in 1815 and involved most of the major European powers. <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-9p0xD5nEdTE/VjPcKBhtDSI/AAAAAAAAMJk/pvyb4Uf00Mw/s1600-h/th0J59FN56%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="th0J59FN56" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="th0J59FN56" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-I8ZPDr16_rQ/VjPcK6YcBrI/AAAAAAAAMJw/GzFBv7HnXjw/th0J59FN56_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="300" height="375"></a> <p>Meanwhile in Spain, the anti-Napoleonic “government in exile” in Cádiz wrote a Constitution in 1812 -the very same Constitution that is commemorated by the obelisk in St Augustine’s <em>plaza mayor</em>, erected in 1814. But unfortunately, by 1814, the absolute monarch, Fernando VII (Ferdinand the Seventh) was back in control, and ordered that all Constitution monuments be taken down…an order that never got to or was ignored by St Augustine. Of course, all of this commotion had major effects on Spain and its colonies, and one of its minor but enduring effects was the origin and name of the town of…you guessed it, Fernandina Beach, named after the despised and tyrannical Fernando VII. Still, we kept our obelisk…and created more, as you see below. <p align="center"><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ldX7dya4oo0/VjPcL1tiOrI/AAAAAAAAMJ4/voA3qzR2bAI/s1600-h/IMG_2163%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_2163" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_2163" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-JPAI8ZKwOl4/VjPcMpYPrHI/AAAAAAAAMKA/xBkix5_3f8M/IMG_2163_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="406" height="557"></a></p> <p>If Fernando was so unpopular, how did the town get that name? It was bestowed by Governor Enrique White in 1811, right after Fernando (below) had returned to Spain upon the eviction of Jose Bonaparte, and around the time that one of the Second Spanish Period’s most interesting but most neglected figures, George J. F. Clarke, was employed as Surveyor General of East Florida. <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7uCZaIIkBCQ/VjPcN8J5zcI/AAAAAAAAMKI/nIfOOhwMgHE/s1600-h/ferdinand%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="ferdinand" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="ferdinand" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-KaX1oIURMsU/VjPcO9s2y_I/AAAAAAAAMKQ/XsmEMKTJwK8/ferdinand_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="367" height="512"></a> <p>Clarke was born in St Augustine during the British Period, became a Spanish citizen with the change of governments in 1783, and was baptized in St Augustine as a child in the 1780s during the Second Spanish Period, and then pursued a long career under various flags in the military, politics, agriculture and even scholarship. He died in 1836 in St Augustine, under yet another flag – this time, that of the United States, and as a US citizen – and is buried somewhere at Tolomato Cemetery. <p>Clarke’s most important or best known work was the platting of the town of Fernandina Beach and his subsequent government and military work in the protection of what is now known as Amelia Island from pirates and British marauders. <p>His ties with St Augustine remained very strong; his Irish-born mother, Honoria Clarke, had been widowed when her children were young and had bought a property at the corner of St Francis and Charlotte Streets, where George grew up. This property, of course, is now known as the Tovar House, after an earlier owner, and is part of the Oldest House complex. <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-gmGcu70CkJA/VjPcPj5u8mI/AAAAAAAAMKU/2H0mm1LC5II/s1600-h/IMG_2147%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_2147" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_2147" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-qdCsZPFXQTA/VjPcQUPov4I/AAAAAAAAMKc/vQdYPIX8CXM/IMG_2147_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="376" height="510"></a> <p>When George Clarke was finally out of public life on Amelia Island as the result of governmental changes, he returned to St Augustine and devoted himself to agricultural research and development. One of his closest collaborators was another gentleman scholar, Napoleon’s great nephew Prince Achille Murat, whose distinctive little house on the corner of Bridge and St George Streets is currently hosting an archeological dig turning up layers of our earliest history. <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-oPMCwKmmqBA/VjPcRPgjj7I/AAAAAAAAMKo/VkQH58OBYqA/s1600-h/IMG_2165%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_2165" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_2165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsVhC4ABGt2e4epp_04nKbDTOY_wkNmRsv-wVYj6S12NpMY788HgNnXDJ4zvg94lN-YdbRUzM-mw9IO6u1rqwZRmwp8quwOMRJb7IhOGKouNwvOELMxxvERcsW8YoyYp_PHGzxXXmOfyF8/?imgmax=800" width="469" height="362"></a> <p>Where does the cemetery come in? Bosque Bello was founded as part of the town of Fernandina Beach in 1798, and is in the “Old Town” area, about a mile from its better known newer downtown area, which was the result of a 19<sup>th</sup> century move of the town’s activities for commercial reasons. The cemetery is owned by the City of Fernandina Beach. <p>But my visit last week had nothing to do with any of this, but instead was related to St. Augustine’s own Sisters of St Joseph. I was simply tagging along with someone who was doing a research project on the history of the Sisters, many of whom are buried at Bosque Bello. So I found St Augustine and Tolomato connections everywhere, starting with the sign below. <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-W-AFIyKaV3c/VjPcS7YkTTI/AAAAAAAAMK4/6-dnrbcgC9g/s1600-h/IMG_4005%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_4005" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_4005" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGYWDrVomBcg5vXRvkKZpKU_fNwyCZZ-N-cEw7KKh7iJjmJrtNuJ0n5wBj7r6jktxSnZB06aqXkMdZWyXttZepLR_0_9AxEXG2-AZPJMZst0_NPi_9I_BTHa0wsGr6P5zFhN3j8j3kLyRs/?imgmax=800" width="491" height="385"></a> <p>The sign is in front of the house below, which had been bought by Bishop Verot and where he installed some of the Sisters to work in nursing and education in Fernandina Beach. It is still a private residence, and in this photo, you even will catch a glimpse of the resident and his Halloween flag on the porch! <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmL7er6K9s7ZX506Ws8YjJvbfsTU6M0Lk7SN5pd0NyAfst0lGs-YZDF_UQfS3m2SbvWgM0jcJ0ZOt4seFlhM_HRzfwQVwyy8SrBCz8n2QiU1MKpxETeZWAVAIBibgBoKd_OjGnZ5TTscMx/s1600-h/IMG_4007%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_4007" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_4007" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-3Ej72T5FB0w/VjPcU5pPImI/AAAAAAAAMLM/7d-PvMx1QhY/IMG_4007_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="466" height="360"></a> <p>In the lore of the Sisters, the house has an odd name: The Pin House. The name comes from the yellow fever outbreak of 1877, when people would leave their sick family members on the porch of the house, with notes pinned to their clothing identifying them and asking the sisters to take care of them. <p>We have to remember that nobody knew what caused or spread yellow fever at that time. It was a terrifying and uncontrollable disease, much like ebola, and people feared that it was communicable through contacts with infected victims. It would only be in 1905, another twenty five years or so, when it would be established that yellow fever was spread by the bites of infected mosquitoes. But Bishop Verot (shown below) sent the sisters out to help the sufferers at that time and they went willingly, despite what could easily be expected to be their fate. The Sisters of St Joseph cared for the patients as best they could, but yellow fever has a very high mortality rate and in that pre-antibiotics era little could be done, so there were many, many deaths from the dread disease. <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-K4DwrAWcklw/VjPcVgqP5DI/AAAAAAAAMLU/H-kcjGjwbhI/s1600-h/IMG_2168%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_2168" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_2168" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-QWZ-6AS9GzY/VjPcWXCEOLI/AAAAAAAAMLc/PmOWNx4HsP4/IMG_2168_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="350" height="475"></a> <p>In fact, several of the SSJ died, including two of the original eight French sisters who had arrived in St Augustine in 1867 at the invitation of Bishop Verot. Along with many other yellow fever victims, they were buried in Bosque Bello. Below is the grave of one of the sisters, Mother Marie Celinie Joubert, located in the SSJ plot in the old part of the cemetery. <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Wdc5JTVndz8/VjPcXZfnBTI/AAAAAAAAMLo/IZ9OE0_Y3Y8/s1600-h/IMG_2101%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_2101" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_2101" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-RCVuSKs99ss/VjPcYGw9r2I/AAAAAAAAMLw/OSSfNRkiCFE/IMG_2101_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="441" height="611"></a> <p>The cemetery and town were platted in 1811 under Gov. Enrique White, who was a great urban development enthusiast, the same year as the never-realized plan for Tolomato Cemetery that would have meant laying it out in an orderly pattern of rows, aisles and numbered plots, as we see below. But many things were happening in Spain and the US at that time, so the Tolomato plan was never completed, although Old Town Fernandina Beach was in fact constructed according to plan and is the last colonial city to have been built on the grid plan provided in the Leyes de Indias, the Spanish master plan for colonial development in the “Indies.” <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ZS4Or3hp63k/VjPcZCWZtII/AAAAAAAAML4/YfZxiLZ_5dc/s1600-h/1811%252520Map_Section2_copy%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img title="1811 Map_Section2_copy" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="1811 Map_Section2_copy" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-LgId68TKzaI/VjPcZ1D-L_I/AAAAAAAAMMA/yYGwuAAhakc/1811%252520Map_Section2_copy_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="443" height="630"></a> <p>The earliest marked grave at Bosque Bello dates to 1813, and was that of a French soldier who died in Fernandina Beach. We have to remember that Fernandina Beach was the site of many conflicts – between the Spanish and the British, between the Spanish and the (mostly French) pirates, between the French and the Spanish and the British and the American governments…between everybody and everybody, in fact. And it even had a short-lived independence movement, to complicate things further. <p>The other graves in the old part of the cemetery give a view of life on Amelia Island. There are, of course, many graves of children. The lamb was a common motif on the burial markers of children, such as the one below, for 4 year old J. R. Nelson, who died in 1902. <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-nyzUUzhlnQM/VjPca8mA9EI/AAAAAAAAMMI/FvxqCET75Vk/s1600-h/IMG_2118%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_2118" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_2118" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-WOdvFkmwkGs/VjPccFhz2RI/AAAAAAAAMMQ/vAm6tIHI9ZM/IMG_2118_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="452" height="619"></a> <p>There are the usual large markers for important men, the smaller markers for their wives, and many military markers. Of interest were the many markers for those who died in or were veterans of the Spanish American War, such as that of Alvin Willis, below. Much recruiting of soldiers for the Spanish American War was conducted in the Jacksonville area, and these stones reflect the impact of this now nearly forgotten war. <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-K2BVUiXcBCI/VjPcdd2u4vI/AAAAAAAAMMY/eCRzthxXMUo/s1600-h/IMG_2110%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_2110" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_2110" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/--f7xBZe1YYA/VjPcecDGaFI/AAAAAAAAMMg/CqPdeIOzooY/IMG_2110_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="622" height="480"></a> <p>Bosque Bello still lives up to its name – Beautiful Woods - because the woods are still beautiful. The cemetery has the requisite Florida live oaks with Spanish moss, and it also has a large number of old red cedar (cypress) trees. You can see the remains of these trees at Tolomato Cemetery, although we only have a couple of specimens still standing. But Bosque Bello has some dramatic and healthy examples still thriving. <p align="center"><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-G_2sqUDlqD4/VjPcfcO8DfI/AAAAAAAAMMo/bbPd4K9J73s/s1600-h/IMG_2106%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_2106" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_2106" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wWgVDrENfLI/VjPcgMgvBgI/AAAAAAAAMMw/W5CreKBSxgs/IMG_2106_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="360" height="489"></a></p> <p>There is the odd modern touch of a huge power plant that steadily hums or throbs, depending on the demand at that time of day, in the background at the cemetery. If you look at the photo below, you can see the top of the stack. But it is a regular sound, not particularly obtrusive, and simply makes the visitor marvel that everything changes and yet is still the same. <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-WrTZdDpePkY/VjPchqwBneI/AAAAAAAAMM4/t0H5wQltk8k/s1600-h/IMG_2103%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_2103" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_2103" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-OYkS38c1iAk/VjPcicjCH1I/AAAAAAAAMNA/tp7PgtRsGxU/IMG_2103_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="528" height="418"></a> Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04493096470169447646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1432464668645421393.post-68761575101494063602015-10-20T16:18:00.001-07:002015-10-20T16:18:25.741-07:00Memory Eternal–Pat Kenney<p> <p>Tolomato Cemetery is, well, a cemetery, and thus is all about death. But these are remote deaths, the last one some 125 years ago, and while we tell the stories of the people buried there, probably most of us skip over the fact that one day none of us will be there to tell that story. <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-_oWQn8_WsQE/VibLnOnc1BI/AAAAAAAAMH8/SgpNVZeeK18/s1600-h/Pat%252520Kenney%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="Pat Kenney" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="Pat Kenney" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ESel2zpIW5U/VibLnrHs1RI/AAAAAAAAMIA/ENA5rYNpHgU/Pat%252520Kenney_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="445" height="344"></a> <p>Two weeks ago, we had our first death in the TCPA with the death of our dear docent and board member Pat Kenney, who was also going to be the editor of our first book on the cemetery. She died about a year and a half after having been diagnosed with cancer. Pat was a strong, positive person and even after her surgery was hoping to resume her work on the book project. <p>Pat was born in New York but brought up in St Augustine and spent most of her life in the St Augustine/Jacksonville area, so she knew many descendants of those buried at Tolomato, and was always eager to help them connect the dots on sometimes sketchy family records. She was always very much a part of St Augustine. When her family requested that memorial contributions be made to Tolomato Cemetery – a large number of the donations came from her classmates at St Joseph’s Academy, Class of ‘66. <p>She had a real passion for helping people to know things! Pat was often to be found at the back of the cemetery near the chapel, either working with Louise on the genealogy table or simply explaining that area to the visitors. She was very shy about photos, so the only photo we had was one where she was leading a tour and had her back to the camera…but her daughter, Kelly, supplied us with a photo of Pat. <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-lsLkWJS4d9E/VibLqednYMI/AAAAAAAAMIM/j9D9LGdRPg0/s1600-h/Pat%252520Kenney%252520photo%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="Pat Kenney photo" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="Pat Kenney photo" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-19tEcfhjH_o/VibLqx31auI/AAAAAAAAMIU/Z5WtVp3lDqQ/Pat%252520Kenney%252520photo_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="171" height="180"></a> <p>Our very first meeting with Pat came from a visit to Tolomato Cemetery in early 2011, when she visited the cemetery with a group of attendees of the Franciscan History conference at Flagler College. She then contacted us to find out more and to arrange for a visit with some of her students from FSCJ/Deerwood, where she taught at that time. The first time most of us met Pat was when she brought this group of students to the cemetery in May of 2011…and we were all completely impressed by the way she had prepared her students – many of whom were in the mortuary science program at the State College - and how concerned she was about them and their understanding of this site and about burial practices and respect in general. <p>Later, she contacted us about bringing another group from UNF, where she was then teaching, and also about getting more involved in the activities at the cemetery. And that was how Pat became a docent and then a board member and then the committee chair and editor for the projected book on the cemetery (which will be dedicated to her when it is eventually produced). <p>She wanted to come back after her surgery, but that soon became impossible. Yet Pat was still a presence in the cemetery. So now all we can say is “We miss you, Pat.” <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-6qylZ-VPf_U/VibLsQr6iFI/AAAAAAAAMIc/D_yNJH2aezg/s1600-h/Tolomato%252520Postcard%2525202%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="Tolomato Postcard 2" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="Tolomato Postcard 2" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-F00KS-O1tTU/VibLtAxLdwI/AAAAAAAAMIk/E7qCdTVoclU/Tolomato%252520Postcard%2525202_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="509" height="344"></a> <p>This is Pat’s obituary from the Florida Times Union: <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ihBV9YAzJi8/VibLura9t-I/AAAAAAAAMIs/zrZlhSJP9N4/s1600-h/image%25255B3%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-FH3bFVEmU2k/VibLvrjbvWI/AAAAAAAAMI0/zQw5Rn5o7BA/image_thumb%25255B1%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="514" height="370"></a> <p>During the active time of Tolomato Cemetery, the funeral chant in the Catholic Church was the “In Paradisum.” The English translation is: "May the angels lead you into paradise; may the martyrs receive you at your arrival and lead you to the holy city Jerusalem. May choirs of angels receive you and with Lazarus, who once was poor, may you have eternal rest." <p>This is the Latin, which you can hear by clicking <a href="https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=in+paradisum+chant&qpvt=in+paradisum+chant&FORM=VDRE#view=detail&mid=84E2E37C789ACEFEE82384E2E37C789ACEFEE823" target="_blank">here</a>: <i>In paradisum deducant te Angeli; in tuo adventu suscipiant te martyres, et perducant te in civitatem sanctam Ierusalem. </i><i>Chorus angelorum te suscipiat, et cum Lazaro quondam paupere æternam habeas requiem.</i> Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04493096470169447646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1432464668645421393.post-31928922006093654042015-09-10T06:58:00.001-07:002015-09-10T06:58:55.161-07:00Farewell to the 450th<p>As we hope everybody knows, this weekend was the celebration of the 405th anniversary of the founding of the city of St Augustine with the landing of the Adelantado Pedro Menendez de Aviles. Of course, Tolomato Cemetery wasn’t established at that time, and it was not for another 150 years that the refugee Indians from La Natividad de Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe de Tolomato would be settled on the site of the current cemetery. Still, the historical connections run back through the families buried there, and also reflect the continuing story of St Augustine.</p> <p>In fact, Tolomato Cemetery hosted one of the few events of the weekend that had any connection with St Augustine’s real history. The cemetery was the objective of a procession from St Photios shrine to commemorate the Greek arrival in St Augustine and to bless the graves of all of the St Augustinians buried there.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-EnKYs2hGgeY/VfGMYO9HouI/AAAAAAAAME0/wxQbgQYsqbQ/s1600-h/IMG_6215%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6215" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_6215" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-zq-Zp7qQz-c/VfGMY1nNznI/AAAAAAAAME8/PSGxqE2OOqg/IMG_6215_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="527" height="367"></a></p> <p>Greeks? At Tolomato? Yes, St Augustine had a fairly significant Greek population in the 18th century because of the arrival of the Minorcans in 1777. While most of the Minorcans were actually from Minorca, many were from other parts of the Mediterranean, including Greece. The name of the group comes from the fact that Dr. Andrew Turnbull, the British-period indigo plantation owner, shipped the group out from the formerly Spanish island of Minorca, which was controlled by the British at that time as a result of the same war that had given them control of St Augustine. </p> <p>Dr. Turnbull had been the British consul in the Ottoman Empire prior to coming to the American continent, and had married a Greek woman from Smyrna. This is the reason that he named the colony New Smyrna Beach.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-PySUyWhQxuw/VfGMZdLfVpI/AAAAAAAAMFE/ccd2Jmz8NjA/s1600-h/IMG_6222%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6222" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_6222" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-BMmAOlJvenY/VfGMaFB00_I/AAAAAAAAMFM/7z245uDUY3c/IMG_6222_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="523" height="416"></a></p> <p>Dr. Turnbull felt that Greeks would be able to tolerate the heat of Florida better than other groups of laborers that the British used. So they set off for Greece to recruit laborers, but for various reasons were not able to get the number of workers they needed. So they seem to have sailed the Mediterranean, gathering up immigrants from Sardinia, Sicily and other parts of Italy, and even a Corsican or two…and of course, Minorcans. </p> <p>Eight years later, the survivors of this group would arrive in St Augustine and become a distinctive and foundational part of the city’s life.</p> <p>This year, the commemoration of the Greek arrival was particularly spectacular. The above photos, taken by Nick McAuliffe, give you some glimpses of the celebration, which was organized by our good friend Polly Hillier of St Photios Shrine, whom you see above, addressing the group. Brooke Radaker took the photo below, where you see the members of the Cantorae St. Augustine, directed by Mary Jane Ballou, singing a Greek hymn as the procession enters.</p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjannclm6qKwjOodU5OnSME_KKd-247S7mD3zr4rZPlX8nHsVWcxJ58CXxpW-h6bhGSulPYmtu-w-9Yqu12MvWkFEhxJLVJJf5iJVTzjmpTgDKG5TFrQxaNVeLd3ABmIX8kkrwIbTfId9Ci/s1600-h/cantorae%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="cantorae" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="cantorae" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-TT3yDpNcd0E/VfGMbwLk15I/AAAAAAAAMFc/SStANaZo-xs/cantorae_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="572" height="447"></a></p> <p>We had a beautiful gathering of clergy, walking together to bless the graves in this special place and showing once again the wide diversity of St Augustine’s founding population. Here we see the Orthodox Bishop Demetrious with the Catholic Bishop of St Augustine, Bp. Felipe Estevez (who was born in Cuba, a place closely tied to St Augustine), Fr. Tom Willis, who is the rector of the Cathedral, and Fr. Nicholas Louh of the Greek Orthodox Church. Louise Kennedy took the photos below.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-nQ_YJRBjVEY/VfGMdIckvkI/AAAAAAAAMFk/nHSOuDfMUSQ/s1600-h/2015-9-15%252520Greeks%252520037%25255B7%25255D.jpg"><img title="2015-9-15 Greeks 037" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="2015-9-15 Greeks 037" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-uI8TnFQiqHI/VfGMdwEJkJI/AAAAAAAAMFs/J4HWOqhEojY/2015-9-15%252520Greeks%252520037_thumb%25255B4%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="578" height="415"></a></p> <p>They were accompanied by official representatives of the Greek community, and Mayor Nancy Shaver initiated the event by reading a proclamation honoring the Greek landing day. Below, Fr. Nicholas places a flower on a vault.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-XxV-3q2wbM8/VfGMfoA-rSI/AAAAAAAAMF0/2lmGcFpWB14/s1600-h/2015-9-15%252520Greeks%252520032%25255B8%25255D.jpg"><img title="2015-9-15 Greeks 032" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="2015-9-15 Greeks 032" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-kbV6RH8AjQI/VfGMgWkvrqI/AAAAAAAAMF8/HiNBmHFzF0w/2015-9-15%252520Greeks%252520032_thumb%25255B5%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="543" height="469"></a></p> <p>There were so many striking photos it was hard to know which to pick. Here are the two bishops again, in front of the Varela Chapel.</p> <p> <a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-3Y4wEWYZzdU/VfGMhX-zFqI/AAAAAAAAMGE/ryEMQMLwMv0/s1600-h/2015-9-15%252520Greeks%252520025%25255B8%25255D.jpg"><img title="2015-9-15 Greeks 025" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="2015-9-15 Greeks 025" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ffExAc0NFXc/VfGMiGvt3sI/AAAAAAAAMGM/ZrD56lQKJzY/2015-9-15%252520Greeks%252520025_thumb%25255B5%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="536" height="463"></a></p> <p>The procession included Greek dancers, who later performed on the stage on the Plaza.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-huXsHKpPfzo/VfGMjonFroI/AAAAAAAAMGU/3ppPECxSptY/s1600-h/2015-9-15%252520Greeks%252520035%25255B12%25255D.jpg"><img title="2015-9-15 Greeks 035" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="2015-9-15 Greeks 035" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/--k9LIHaSuSQ/VfGMkiW_-hI/AAAAAAAAMGc/RwhP_KyVRRs/2015-9-15%252520Greeks%252520035_thumb%25255B6%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="596" height="514"></a></p> <p>The grave blessing at Tolomato was actually part of a larger Orthodox memorial service, which had begun at St Photios Shrine with the prayers and hymns that are traditionally used in this service (which also form part of the funeral service). It concluded at Tolomato with the blessing and further hymns, and then with something that most non-Greeks were seeing for the first time: the serving of kolyva. This is a mixture of cooked wheat berries (whole grains of wheat), sesame seeds, nuts, raisins or other dried fruits, pomegranate seeds, sugar or honey and bitter spices. It is blessed and served in small cups after a memorial service and on similar occasions, since wheat represents the Resurrection and the symbolism of sweetness and bitterness is deeply rooted in religious imagery. It is a very ancient tradition, and appears not only in Greece and the Mediterranean traditions, but among all of the Slavic peoples as well. Here’s a sample…I wish we had some sort of tasting device on our IPhones, because it is actually very tasty!</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-JqjHBVleEJA/VfGMlZKYUHI/AAAAAAAAMGk/WC45gd2Qqd0/s1600-h/IMG_1581%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_1581" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_1581" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Hsd1_lEcg30/VfGMmIvO8GI/AAAAAAAAMGs/LZPga5-vLpw/IMG_1581_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="501" height="393"></a></p> <p>So that was how we celebrated the 450th at Tolomato Cemetery – with a little real, living history!</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-neC1dg-R_Mw/VfGMm0AfJ2I/AAAAAAAAMG0/NugH_NbsYi8/s1600-h/IMG_6214%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6214" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_6214" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-lsP0uL63gyc/VfGMnaFKEuI/AAAAAAAAMG8/fd0s_7uXm6Y/IMG_6214_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="560" height="542"></a></p> Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04493096470169447646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1432464668645421393.post-79223250661926543772015-08-17T16:25:00.001-07:002015-08-17T16:25:52.870-07:00Sister City Cemeteries<p>Aviles, Spain is one of St Augustine’s sister cities – and perhaps even the most important one, since our 16th century founder, Pedro Menéndez, was from Avilés. To commemorate this connection during this 450th anniversary year, several members of the St Augustine Archaeological Association took a trip to Aviles to view archaeological work being done in that city. Our generous hosts showed us everything from prehistoric cave paintings to Roman ruins to pre-Romanesque churches, and even took us down into a modern archaeological site, a 19th and early 20th century coal mine that has been excavated and turned into a museum of early industry. Next year, some Avilés archaeologists will come to St Augustine, and we’ll show them what we have…not as old, by any means, but certainly interesting. In this photo, you see some of the group, along with our host, Román Álvarez, surveying modern Avilés.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-TpgWuERZlnk/VdJtNxiDz_I/AAAAAAAAMAA/G_KhiIHAEDc/s1600-h/Aviles%252520View%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><img title="Aviles View" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="Aviles View" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-_Q2UuBk1TnI/VdJtOv9gkKI/AAAAAAAAMAI/E6XQvn1RbFM/Aviles%252520View_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="460"></a></p> <p>Naturally, one of the things we will show them is Tolomato Cemetery, since we hope to have even more information about it by next year. Work is due to begin soon on the repair of the fence and wall, and the city archaeologist, Carl Halbirt, will do a small dig along the front wall to see what information he can…dig up. Groan – I had to say it! </p> <p>Next year, a graduate student is also planning to base his thesis on a Ground Penetrating Radar study of Tolomato, looking for the footings of the old mission chapel and bell tower as well as any other significant archaeological record that he can find.</p> <p>But as we prepare to investigate Tolomato for our visitors, it’s worth spending a few minutes talking about the cemeteries of Avilés. </p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK28DSMjDzMdjNxmIb-_Ol_Ao_nM_69CF7cAgvZCBfC8jdTdQPyyw0DEQsPhxXiW86FGdejCcuR-Iw_V0sYEzdNLY5lbH4lH9WLAwO90Ga3sd_yHLgSP9nXQzo5Hy8qcoLOhEaX_6fyt_F/s1600-h/Padres%252520Franciscanos%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><img title="Padres Franciscanos" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="Padres Franciscanos" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-PvKEVlJCxuo/VdJtQ3RgTTI/AAAAAAAAMAY/BD0DNw5_r5k/Padres%252520Franciscanos_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="515" height="540"></a></p> <p>As in St Augustine, pre-19th century burials were under or around the church. In the above photo, we see the church where Pedro Menéndez is buried, in a marble urn high up on the wall; it is now known as the Iglesia de los Padres Franciscanos, but during the time of Menéndez, when it was his parish church, it was known as San Nicolás.</p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinWy0AthUnSFR4D3ILxUty8qFgoM48gW6F03mojYt05FbS-8ASsCd5m605GCBbenYCnzD5kWkRHVhwNbbRXEum7N3eFK7qXOGiMzySyJHF-ga_Pune2K5rEksy3NiHxsPY84bGHvmhyZnD/s1600-h/Iglesia%252520Sabugo%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img title="Iglesia Sabugo" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="Iglesia Sabugo" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-QKsxqxbKivI/VdJtTwlzLhI/AAAAAAAAMAo/BKdkODg9dTY/Iglesia%252520Sabugo_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="527" height="545"></a></p> <p>In this photo, we see the side of a 13th century church, with gravestones clearly visible in the yard next to it. This is the old Iglesia de Sabugo; the latter was the name of the village where Menéndez was born. It was originally a separate fishing and maritime trades village located next to the larger commercial town of Avilés, but now it is simply a neighborhood in Avilés. The church is now closed, but archaeological work has found many burials around the church and under the floor.</p> <p>And then we come to the world’s largest, most dramatic angel…as the 19th century cemetery arrives in all its glory! This angel points to Heaven from its seat on the casket of the Marquise de San Juan de Nieva at the Cemeterio Municipal de La Carriona on the outskirts of Aviles. This dramatic statue by 19th century Asturian sculptor Cipriano Folgueras was even a finalist in a recent Spanish cemetery art competition.</p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtcTWoWDM9Ke_6LTaw1rjtQarGtszWvT7RMSHUbWyG1iXiqn1FLZjkqA-M-HEUr5xGgWfx62yKNoIVsmfEmrorMYkh6f2sJ6j6vO-PJuouIsqQ6tmQa2P3SVPvXC4zy6BF15nyBpaoFK6P/s1600-h/Angel%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img title="Angel" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="Angel" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ZAmplLVNuto/VdJtVpovqVI/AAAAAAAAMA4/RqxCmDK9eAw/Angel_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="420" height="576"></a></p> <p>This cemetery was opened in 1890 when, as in St Augustine, burials were forbidden within the city of Avilés for health reasons. It contains many huge monuments, some of them by well-known artists and sculptors of the time, as well as fields of more modest stones. Below is the grave of a local poet and author, Armando Palacio Valdés, where a mourning woman sits next to an excerpt from one of his poems, in which he urges the passer-by to leave a branch of honeysuckle in his memory. Someone has, in fact, left some flowers at the foot of the monument.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-HDwrWtFAAfM/VdJtWqhVL2I/AAAAAAAAMBA/aoRSKPbz2ik/s1600-h/IMG_1310%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_1310" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_1310" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-pWT-rATQZ4M/VdJtX3xxXPI/AAAAAAAAMBI/X5LIAhrH7Jw/IMG_1310_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="432" height="441"></a></p> <p>Below we see a crypt with stairs, so that people could descend to pay their respects to the deceased who were buried in niches under the crypt.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-PKGM5hyujW0/VdJtY4rcQ5I/AAAAAAAAMBQ/TiUeOAh-hFM/s1600-h/Crypt%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="Crypt" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="Crypt" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-A3YNlY2csT0/VdJtZiQ8hMI/AAAAAAAAMBU/93CmYvFtdls/Crypt_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="380" height="388"></a></p> <p>The cemetery is still in use and has regular burial services. There is a chapel in the center of the cemetery that contains a catafalque, where the casket is placed during the funeral Mass or service. </p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-hQKqijsvfZM/VdJtauN6jqI/AAAAAAAAMBg/D9RIZ4om9aI/s1600-h/Chapel%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><img title="Chapel" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="Chapel" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Qn93z1ax80w/VdJtbRnlgSI/AAAAAAAAMBo/cd__0qAVGuQ/Chapel_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="378" height="524"></a></p> <p>The cemetery is located on the top of a hill and is a dramatic sight in its own right. Interestingly, it also has an interpretation center, and offers guided tours and programs on the cemetery, cemetery art and related matters. </p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0hYPtxNZnz0Ft3mqsWFx5qmjw7eBWTcWpbgwFww1qXDZEFkJ0E_sZPbTZ4ldGQJmT6SymGfczAu8YKrkUXipyMcD-pDFN2VeRcUg7U6jJ6BDDFr35940QpGjw4zbyIf72Z4U-BfIN-qlR/s1600-h/Fence%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img title="Fence" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="Fence" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-03RWRaJnm24/VdJtd5zC2NI/AAAAAAAAMB4/RFUtRI6RQ0g/Fence_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="541" height="424"></a></p> <p>But you don’t have to go all the way to Avilés if you’d like to find out more about our Sister City’s cemetery, which goes by the acronym CicLaC. All you have to do is click here for their <a href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cementerio_Municipal_de_La_Carriona" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a> site (in Spanish, of course) or <a href="http://www.significantcemeteries.org/search?q=carriona&x=0&y=0" target="_blank">here</a>, for the very interesting site of the Association of Significant Cemeteries in Europe, an EU initiative which has links to fascinating cemeteries all over Europe.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-xgajftyfyuc/VdJte5lfvdI/AAAAAAAAMCA/ipoYzHZVXkU/s1600-h/CicLaC%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><img title="CicLaC" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="CicLaC" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-lvtITFbHic4/VdJtfrnWK3I/AAAAAAAAMCI/o0iIWq7v6Ho/CicLaC_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="475" height="497"></a></p> Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04493096470169447646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1432464668645421393.post-40143330924482453472015-07-13T12:03:00.001-07:002015-07-13T12:03:52.838-07:00An Unexpected California Cemetery<p>Last week, I had to make an unexpected trip to Santa Rosa, California, and while there, I came across a completely unexpected cemetery. Called the Santa Rosa Rural Cemetery, it is located in what may once have been a rural area, but certainly now appears to have been an established residential area for some time. At first glance, it seems to serve more as a park for local residents than a cemetery – but as I wandered through this hilly, oak-tree covered refuge, I realized that it had indeed been a busy 19th and 20th century cemetery and in fact was even still in use as a burial place.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-m40Sieqld6Q/VaQLVKH85DI/AAAAAAAAL9M/JA2xRSEc4rc/s1600-h/IMG_0527%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_0527" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_0527" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-KQufS_2gqhc/VaQLV5iMGAI/AAAAAAAAL9U/LiAP_GfC6TA/IMG_0527_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="433" height="335"></a></p> <p>Santa Rosa is about 75 miles north of San Francisco, and the area was home to the Pomo Indians before the arrival of Europeans. Since the 18th century, there had been Spanish and Mexican ranchers in the area, which has its own Matanzas Creek – so named because the ranchers used to slaughter cattle at a point along the creek. There were even Russians, strayed over from the Russian settlement at Fort Ross. But the first formal settlement (1836) was the homestead of the Carrillo family, related to General Vallejo, founder of Sonoma and a man who had passed through three citizenships (Spain, Mexico and, finally, after California became a state in 1850, the United States) by the time of his death.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-yTTHseXQPNY/VaQLXVvDRFI/AAAAAAAAL9c/wzv4jA7dgls/s1600-h/IMG_0530%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_0530" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_0530" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLscZCzgM-fSeldlmj9ynXW0IA_ouucudmS9wcRrnwzhacv6pttQJUtvbr4ECV65Ujwt2bYWfOBzlZDamXXJg7RYQNouH-FsWIxNfiwuYiY5JpeDLVLHIv8N0LPsXHx3sVwqXpBLxhIcoN/?imgmax=800" width="259" height="351"></a></p> <p>The town developed rapidly after statehood, and the cemetery was officially established in 1854. It expanded and other adjoining plots of land were bought, although they were considered separate cemeteries and it was only sometime after the 1930s that they were all brought together as the Santa Rosa Rural Cemetery. There are over 5200 burials, and the plots are mapped and identified. While the cemetery is technically closed, the families that hold original titles to the plots are allowed to continue to use it for burials. Below is a modern marker.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-HbG7q8F7G7s/VaQLZjBIp0I/AAAAAAAAL9s/FPC4B6JhfgY/s1600-h/IMG_0548%25255B8%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_0548" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_0548" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-CZSSv-IBU6o/VaQLaXov0DI/AAAAAAAAL90/He6jnLpVpUo/IMG_0548_thumb%25255B10%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="361" height="344"></a></p> <p> But the 19th century markers were the really interesting sights. The cemetery has an unusual number of Civil War veterans, some of whom had volunteered from California and others who had emigrated to California from both North and South after the war. During the war, there was considerable conflict, although no fighting, in California between supporters of the South (who were more numerous in Southern California) and supporters of the Union. Most of the 160 or so Civil War burials are those of Union soldiers, although there are also about 15 Confederate soldiers buried at the Rural Cemetery. Many of those buried here fought at Gettysburg, and a Gettysburg monument was even installed in the cemetery in 1910. Tolomato visitors will recognize the old-style Veterans Administration marker belwo.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-EaeKBWOhgIk/VaQLbc8-vSI/AAAAAAAAL98/cxhcPCiumkQ/s1600-h/IMG_0553%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_0553" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_0553" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ayksgVgG_LA/VaQLcQ56QkI/AAAAAAAAL-E/CHAaOiGL6PQ/IMG_0553_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="328" height="451"></a></p> <p>I was also struck by a very touching symbol that appeared on numerous markers: two hands clasping, sometimes in front of a cloud or nimbus-like shape. This represented a farewell to earthly life and a welcome into eternity.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-DW4mze_-3IE/VaQLdiY6liI/AAAAAAAAL-M/v8Sn664NMrM/s1600-h/IMG_0547%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_0547" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_0547" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Zkj3iT8oO-c/VaQLeZsqpFI/AAAAAAAAL-U/xJmfy0XnSmg/IMG_0547_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="278" height="377"></a></p> <p>If you look closely, you will notice something that was not present on all of them and had a slightly different meaning. The cuff on the sleeve of one of the hands looks like a man’s shirt-cuff (sometimes even with cuff links!) while the cuff on the other hand appears to have lace or braid at the cuff, such as a woman’s dress would feature. This meant that the burial site was that of one or both of the members of married couple, with one of them welcoming the other to their reunion in their eternal home.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Y9muKvhJWL8/VaQLgJbPphI/AAAAAAAAL-c/XKz3wTo-3tk/s1600-h/IMG_0540%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_0540" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_0540" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-rcE2P1t8J6I/VaQLgzt_YuI/AAAAAAAAL-k/rWrcLsjWNmY/IMG_0540_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="331" height="455"></a></p> <p>There were also lambs, birds and other symbols that had been meaningful to the families of the deceased, and I spent quite some time searching out the different symbols in the dappled light. And I certainly wasn’t alone. The cemetery was full of strollers, and on the way out, I discovered from a bulletin board set near the gate that it has a full program of activities. Like Tolomato, it is maintained and curated mostly by a volunteer association, although the City of Santa Rosa helps with major projects. And like Tolomato, it has docents – and some really neat activities!</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-HcuTPs9KLfg/VaQLiEAscgI/AAAAAAAAL-s/PPZLfYJlYYM/s1600-h/IMG_0557%25255B7%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_0557" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_0557" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-qYKUuVl3h38/VaQLi-6IitI/AAAAAAAAL-0/6h0EqgCKUEg/IMG_0557_thumb%25255B9%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="352" height="528"></a></p> <p>So, in the unlikely event that I have to go to Santa Rosa again, I plan to check out the <a href="http://srcity.org/departments/recreationandparks/parks/cityparks/cemetery/Pages/default.aspx" target="_blank">Santa Rosa Rural Cemetery</a> website first and see if I can fit in one of these tours. And if you’re interested in knowing more about the cemetery, click on the link and you can see everything from little bios of interesting people buried there to a detailed plot map. A highly recommended site!</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-URDG5gw2a_c/VaQLk9_V3EI/AAAAAAAAL-8/V2lUSZW-W7M/s1600-h/IMG_0538%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_0538" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_0538" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBMhG2EPqyAuKim5iUGr_3fovPTypsPfO_lFRDH5CpbXT6cVEsakjpmyPRi6SWrjAryblEMAOfZ39KSiCcH-npIG9a2_Qo6zGx8kS1uVAdcYaa9om2LnAZkAiHbBwgx7wmnIqSjcXzWnG0/?imgmax=800" width="482" height="384"></a></p> Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04493096470169447646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1432464668645421393.post-35146459969849047742015-06-07T08:04:00.001-07:002015-06-07T14:18:38.252-07:00The 450th Anniversary At Tolomato Cemetery<p>As everyone knows, Tolomato Cemetery was first an Indian mission, La Natividad de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe de Tolomato, established by the Franciscans in the early 18<sup>th</sup> century to shelter the refugee Indians fleeing the British attacks on the mission chain in other parts of Florida. However, the first mission of that name was originally located in South Georgia - Tolomato was a place name - and was one of the earliest missions founded after the arrival of the Spanish. <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-G088EXebzjw/VXRdWjMCILI/AAAAAAAAL4c/eGNNu6ztLAQ/s1600-h/DSCN3050%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img title="DSCN3050" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="DSCN3050" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-T4YxDLHk6BQ/VXRdXQwYcgI/AAAAAAAAL4k/u93ikIPhCmM/DSCN3050_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="387" height="531"></a> <p>In fact, as you can see from the above plaque that is in the Spanish burial place of St Augustine’s founder, the Adelantado Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, the name of the mission reflected the founding of St Augustine. The Spanish title, which translates as the “Nativity of Our Lady,” was given to commemorate the Catholic feast day when Menéndez formally landed, September 8 – the feast of the Birth of the Virgin. It was on this date that Menéndez was rowed up to the shore somewhere in the vicinity of the current Fountain of Youth and the Mission Shrine for the celebration of mass by the expedition’s chaplain, Padre Francisco López Mendoza de Grajales, The mission in St Augustine that was located on that spot was, of course, Misión Nombre de Dios (Name of God), since Menéndez claimed the land “In the Name of God”, and subject to the Spanish Crown. The land is still known by that name, although the mission is long gone and the only traces of the 17th century stone church on that site are parts of the floor uncovered in an archaeological dig last year. <p>So while Tolomato Cemetery is much later than our founding…the cemetery is “only” some 238 years old, having entered into use as a cemetery in 1777…we have a connection with that anniversary through the original founding date of St Augustine and the original name of the cemetery property. <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-pubFIjbPFHI/VXRdYGEYpwI/AAAAAAAAL4s/Xa8Rda9kzzg/s1600-h/MenendezBurialChurch%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="MenendezBurialChurch" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="MenendezBurialChurch" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ypGmW1i1xSo/VXRdY20GuZI/AAAAAAAAL40/-d4FrSrxmB0/MenendezBurialChurch_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="438" height="595"></a> <p>As for his own burial, Pedro Menéndez is buried in Spain, where he died of typhus in 1574 while preparing the Armada to set sail for Flanders. Above is the church where he is currently buried, the Parish Church of St Nicholas, la Parroquia de San Nicolás, now staffed by the Franciscans. He was born in the neighborhood and baptized in the parish, and it was his last wish to be buried there. However, it took a long time for this to happen, since he died in another Northern Spanish city, Santander, and it was years before his body was returned to Avilés. A look at the rocks below, off coast of Aviles and the scene of hundreds of shipwrecks, will show you something about the conditions mariners faced on what is known in English as the Bay of Biscay. <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-gAKLXgoA8yA/VXRdaBArH4I/AAAAAAAAL48/OP8UH_5A5Vk/s1600-h/DSCN3044%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="DSCN3044" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="DSCN3044" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-bDjgM4FBppY/VXRdaq5FVtI/AAAAAAAAL5E/QGShVowMQyo/DSCN3044_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="479" height="370"></a> <p>Even then the posthumous travels of Menéndez were not over, because his body was moved several times subsequently for reasons ranging from a roof leak in the parish church to fears of desecration of his grave by hostile forces during the Spanish Civil War. <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Zxot_Oq8VrM/VXRdb4rTyDI/AAAAAAAAL5M/ckIsnOwAtf0/s1600-h/DSCN3087%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="DSCN3087" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="DSCN3087" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-slZHaHT6qEg/VXRdcYbu_WI/AAAAAAAAL5U/QqvD5WyDZ30/DSCN3087_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="489" height="378"></a> <p>Even more confusingly, both of the Avilés churches in which his body reposed – the original parish church and another church about a half mile away off the Plaza Mayor of Avilés, which is shown above – were at one time or another known as San Nicolás and both of them were at one time or another staffed by Franciscans. So sometimes it’s a little difficult to sort out this complicated story! <p align="center"><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-lnPmrCq-lpw/VXRddZp0wEI/AAAAAAAAL5c/lyN_VJU9nOk/s1600-h/MenendezUrn%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img title="MenendezUrn" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="MenendezUrn" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-a95yuRyH8j57CL0avzvlWDwu7b2JBJvMrWlGKV_rRMytBpiKzOGUjKI3IMuXDt5oKrjiOmfmv5iPQNWIcif9yeD7M3BWhmAx2JmmxWKS3SaljpcBRzy1cQW5K60n39mXfuUJKUiywLVF/?imgmax=800" width="507" height="447"></a></p> <p>However, in 1924, the remains of the Adelantado Pedro Menéndez were placed in this carved marble urn, which in turn was placed in a niche high up on the wall near the pulpit, as you can see above. It remained there until it was removed and hidden during the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s. It was not immediately found again after the war, and it was only in the 1960s that it was moved back into the 1924 location, which is where it remains to this day. <p>The original casket was given by Avilés to the City of St Augustine in 1924 as a gesture of international friendship, and may be now seen in the museum at the Mission. Notice the little ship model in the bell tower of the Avilés City Hall (Ayuntamiento) also commemorating this. <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/--tVpmR28bxM/VXRdezfNPiI/AAAAAAAAL5s/jO1GebMxQ_I/s1600-h/DSCN3089%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><img title="DSCN3089" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="DSCN3089" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-oRwudf5c1VY/VXRdfqCwT2I/AAAAAAAAL50/jY_MDezIBS8/DSCN3089_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="462" height="634"></a> <p>Even with the indirect and complicated connection of Tolomato Cemetery to Pedro Menéndez, we felt we needed to do something special for this anniversary. And what could be more special than opening the cemetery for visitors? <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJXW7WJg2qZ1nj6BuA4I4lPwAsS_R-Ed2kVR1KkYITcCDVCEqN0wIbLjlUdvkuTQWNA3NE0RJT9WOUi0v9vMS8OeEoukDlcN8TqPuGuoOnlAfRi8k8cqAse2aZ8dzVft5tvhfTYBpW-glX/s1600-h/OpenSign%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="OpenSign" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="OpenSign" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-rOzJ1GfD6sg/VXRdhICa7mI/AAAAAAAAL6E/K9_LvrPjbgM/OpenSign_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="495" height="364"></a> <p>So our gift to honor the anniversary will be a special opening on from 12-3 pm on Saturday, September 5<sup>th</sup>, the “big weekend,” when visitors will be thronging downtown for all the musical and other events scheduled for that time. Who knows, we might even have a little City of St Augustine birthday cake – and a toast to our city’s founder, the Adelantado Pedro Menéndez de Avilés! Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04493096470169447646noreply@blogger.com0