Curiosities
As I wander around New England and upstate New York, I occasionally come
across something unique and unusual. I’ve visited a general store that straddled the border between Vermont and Quebec, a grave with a window looking down on the corpse, another grave of an alleged vampire in Rhode Island, a ghost town in the Adirondack Mountains, a cabin once occupied by Vice President Theodore Roosevelt, a hand-carved set of wooden drums with sculpted heads of spirits, humans, animals, and other oddities.
From time to time, I’ll tell the stories of these places and things with both words and photos, so check back occasionally to see what I’ve found. As always, positive Google reviews are both welcomed and appreciated.
Thanks for checking out my webpage.
Jeff
The photos here are of the Bowman Mausoleum in Laurel Hill Cemetery, Cuttingsville, Vermont. I’d passed it many times until curiosity got the best of me and I stopped to take a closer look. I’m glad I did.
John Bowman was born in 1816 in Pierce’s Corner, Vermont. He made a fortune in the leather tanning business supplying the Union Army during the Civil War. He married Jennie Gates in 1849. Their first daughter, Adie, was born in 1854 but died at 4 months of age. Ella was born in 1860 but died of illness in 1879. Less than a year later, John’s wife, Jennie, also passed away.
Grief stricken; John hired a New York City architect to construct an elaborate mausoleum to house his deceased family at a cost of $75,000. While I was there the door to the vault was open but a locked gate prevented access. I saw the floor is finished in mosaic multi-colored tiles and the walls are floor to ceiling mirrors to make the crypt look larger. There are busts of Jennie and their daughters in the corners gazing at each other. As I looked at the statue of Bowman climbing the steps to the crypt door, I saw he was carrying the key to unlock the heavy wood door. He is wearing a mourning coat, white gloves, and carrying a top hat and mourning wreath. Perhaps it's just my imagination, but I see grief etched in his face. It’s said he sat on the balcony of Laurel Hall and gazed at the vault containing his wife and daughters.
In 1882, Laurel Hall, a Victorian mansion, was completed across the street from the mausoleum and Bowman lived there for ten years, until his death in 1891. In his will he left $50,000 with instructions the windows remain lighted, a fire kept burning in the fireplace, and an evening meal be prepared for the family in the event they returned from the dead. When the money ran out, the furnishings in the house were sold at auction.
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