A Ray of Sunshine

That's what they are - a representation of a ray of sunshine, reaching to heaven.

The obelisk.

Sunshine in January!

The Egyptians first used the obelisk in the Old Kingdom (2650-2134 BCE), according to Douglas Keister in his book, Stories in Stone (Motes Books 2009). He also tells us that few and fewer examples of Egyptian Revival architecture appear the closer you get to the Bible belt. So there's that! There is a lot of Egyptian Revival architecture in Laurel Hill - there are special tours that highlight it, so if you are interested, keep your eyes open for those tours.

BTW, I own a book (see above) with a 2 page "Glossary of Major Epidemics/Pandemics". Just saying.

Another thing that there is a lot of in Laurel Hill is the obelisk! The cemetery is full of them, so many that at one point the cemetery had to write to their plot owners, asking them to please find another style of monument to commemorate their loved ones.

A vista of one of the seas of obelisks at Laurel Hill Cemetery

I was going to discuss the largest obelisk in Laurel Hill today - the monument of Mayor Edwin Henry Fitler. 

The Fitler Obelisk

It's 55 feet tall - that's big. Rumor has it that Fitler was a small man.

Just saying. :-)

He was Mayor of Philadelphia from 1887-1891, and was the first Mayor to work out of the current City Hall (but only because he moved in before it was done, just so he could say that). 

So Fitler's monument is HUGE.

 His wife's - not so much. LOL!

Anyway, I was going to go on and on about Fitler, who was an interesting guy. But then I started to think about where the SMALLEST obelisk in the cemetery might be. So, not being a fool, I asked the staff. They directed me to the general vicinity of General George G. Meade's burial place, which is always easy to find since you can see the floral tributes left there.

You might note that General Meade's stone is pretty small. At least compared to Fitler...

And just above the good General, up the rise, are these two little darlings:

They are so adorable, leaning in towards each other. After some digging in the cemetery archives (fun!!), I figured out that they belong to Henry C. Perot, who was buried on 6/13/1848, aged 2, and Elizabeth M. Perot, who was buried on 9/15/1851, aged 1.

Aged two, and aged one.

The best guess I had to their identity was that the children were the first ones buried in the Perot plot, and their marble obelisks were the most worn in the plot. Marble doesn't hold up very well. If you see a stone that looks brand new but with an older death date, it's probably hard granite. Marble is soft and doesn't hold up well in the weather and the pollution.

Some of the stones in the Perot plot had been re-set over the years, so all of the other stones were straight. But these two little ones were leaning towards each other, partially fallen over.

And they stole my heart.

So let's think of Lizzie and Harry when we think of Laurel Hill Cemetery obelisks. They are some of the sweetest little monuments there. If you go to visit General Meade, look up the hill and see them, cousins looking after each other even in their way too early deaths.