Semi-weekly south Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1883-1889, 1888-02-07
UNMARKED GRAVES.
The Neglected Resting Places OF Famous
Literary People.

The Neglected Resting Places of Famous
Literary People.
Il Is curious, and certainly not cred-
table, that the graves of famous
literary people receive so little atteh-.
lion at the hands of living relatives
and descendants, even in the case of
those whose present comfortable cir,
cumstanoes are chiefly the results of
the hands that lie still in death.
Washington Jrving's grave in quaint
and ancient Sleepy Hollow cemetery
is a dlsmal-looking spot even in mid
summer and in autumn and winter
The dreariness of the place is intensi-
fed. The slab that tells the visitor
that he sialds Mt the grave of one of
the greatest writer's America has ever
produced Is badly damaged. Relic
hunters from all quarters of the globe
have clipped of large pieces of tho
granite, and although every precau-
ton Is apparently taken TO prevent
vandalism, and liberal reward of
fcred by the ceihciory people, the
practice goes on unabptod. The strict
watch recently set upon tho grave has
resulted in n new device by
visitors, who now deposit small
stones II aud shells found in
other parts Of tho cemetery
on the grave, and, rcsumng their
walk for n brief WHILE return and
take away the stone or shell so that it
may DO claimed for the relic thai 1t
once rested on Irving's grave. Helen
Hunt Jackson's grave is kept bright
and attractive by tho many visitors
who seek the rocky ,"ud evergreen
powered sepulchro OF the auther of
"Romona," and drop flowers and
other tokens of love upon II. But for
these attentions OF the outside world,
the grave would assume dreary as
pect, forlorn and uncared for. A
large number of visiting cards and
scraps of paper containing impromptu
verses and eulogistlc memorials are
frequently found tucked IN among the
evergreen branches Fanny Osgood's
and Fanny Ferns graves at Mount
Auburn, near Boston. receive only tho
visits of a few ardent admirers, most
ly elderly ladies. Tho last resting
place of the gifted Alioo and Phoebe
Cary. OH the brow of the hill at
the entrance 10 Greenwood, Brook
lyn. is sadly neglected now. and wero
1t not for the occasional garland or
cluster Of roses deposited there 1t
would be dismal spot Tho narrow
iron gate Is badly rusted. the ever
green hedges are rapidly being obliter-
ated and the large block of granite
beneath which the gentle sisters
slumber is gradually sinking down.
ward and largo holes underneath the
monument are visible, Horcc Greeley
tho warm friend and adviser of the
Cary sisters until his death, kept his
promise made when, as pall-bearer. he
agreed to look after their "lonely
home" and SEQ TO it that It looked
presentablc 10 the many visitors, but
now tho once tried and able journalist
is also the tenant of silent tomb Just
beyond the knoll where his gentle two
friends lie. aud their remaining rela-
tives seem to care nothing for its APP
pcarance. Mcdonald Clarke, 'fhe
mad Broadway poet" and "Doo-
sticks" who married Fanny Ferns
lovely daughter, are also encoflined
In dreary plots of grounds at Green
wood, almost forgotten by the world.
Mrs. Lydia Hunter Sigourney, who.
in her day, charmed thousands on
both sides Of the ocean with her de-
lightful writings, rests in Hartford,
her old home and although the atten-
ton of Harriet Bcecher Stowe. mark
Twain" Charles Dudley Warner and
other of her old-time friends has fire.
quently been called 10 the shameful
condition of her grave, aud the Sahara
desert-like appearance it presents, by
travellers, yet nothing has been done to
improve it Susan Warner also gained |
the respect and love of thousands. by
her "Wido, Wide World and |
"Queechy," lies In the military ccm-
ctery at West Point with the sanction
Of the Secretary Of War-the grave
forgotten by all except her devoted
sister Anna, who showers love and
flowers upon the resting-place of her
who was so close companion to her1
in life and presenting an almost iso-
lated instance of posthumous family
Of tho grave Of the lit
oraly dead.-M Y Graphic.