Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury [Connecticut]) 1903-1917, 1904-09-26
OIL KINGS BURIAL PLOT.
Features of Rockefeller's Final
Resting Place In Cleveland.
ALWAYS KEPT IN SPLENDID ORDER


Situated ON Hi1 Overlooking Lake
Erie, the Plot Is Large Enough to
Bury Twenty Ordinary Families I'm.
Trust Mngnate,s Tombstone q Cost
1y Monument.
When John ID. Rockefeller is done
with his immense fortune, with Stand
ard Oil combinations of capital and
with everything else that gives him
final resting place will be in Cleveland,
O., says the New York Press. One of
the most exclusive clubs he ever be-
longed to will have the honor Of dig
ging his grave.
In the later years of his life Mrs.
Rockefeller, who was a Cleveland girl,
never has been able to persuade her
husband to remain In Cleveland for
any length of time She never got him
into the city but he became possessed
Of an unconQuerable desire to get out
of 1t again. When her daughters were
unmarried Mrs Rockefeller frequent
ly visited her girlhood home without
her husband. She does still, but less
frequently
The trust king never went into de-
tails, even with his wife, in giving
reasons for his dislike Of Cleveland.
His intimate friends understand that
he is annoyed because every incident
Of his business life he did not care to
have published was given out by per-
sons who knew him during his early
business struggles In Ohio
Long before John D. Rockefeller had
climbed into the multimillionaire class
Mrs. Rockefeller made up her mind
that the family burial plot was going
to be in Cleveland. If she could not
remain in the surroundings of her girl
hood while she lived she was deter
mined that nothing should prevent it
after she was dead. When the Lake
View Cemetery association was start
ed, while Mrs. Rockefeller was still
bringing UP her family in Cleveland,
she went to look at fine plot on a
hill overlooking Lake Erie One Of her
relatives died soon afterward, and she
persuaded Mr. Rockefeller to buy the
plot. 1t is large enough to bury twenty
ordinary families In.
From the outset the Lake View GEM
etery was not organized for profit 1t
There is no stock or dividends. The
organization is precisely like that of a
select church or club. Lot holders are
admitted by vote. Anybody who OBJ
tains a lot becomes member OF the
association. If he decides not to die
or to move away from the United
States he cannot sell his lot to whom
he chooses. He must be guided by the
wishes of the association. Several
prominent persons who wished to be
buried In Lake View have been black
balled, so to speak.
But Mr.. Rockefeller was not He got
his fine lot and paid large price for
it. Neither he nor the cemetery man
ayers will tell how much. The hand
come mausoleum for the martyred
President Garfield is not far from the
Rockefeller plot. Harry Garfield, the
presidents son, is one of the trustees
Of the cemetery. Mr.. Rockefeller is
another trustee. Marcus A, Hanna
was one Of the latest Of the prominent
men to buy plot in Lake View. 1t is
some distance from the Standard OH
magnate's stately shaft Mrs. Hanna
intends to erect mausoleum on her
plot. Secretary OF State John Hay
also owns lot in Lake View. His son
Adelbert, who was killed by fall In
L., sx>1 al
NJ. D. Leggett is another prominent
plot holder.
During the past summer the Stand
ard Oil king spent a considerable sum
Of money identifying his cemetery
plot. Mrs. Rockefeller sees that 1t is
always kept in magnificent order. Ev-
cry time she goes to Cleveland she
spends many hours there and covers
the graves OF her dead with flowers.
The white granite Rockefeller monu-
ment is a wonder OF its kind. The
shaft is fifty-one feet high from the
base Of the die and is said to be the
largest monolith ever taken from a
quarry In this country. Mr.. Rockefeller
sent agents all over New England to
find a suitable quarry from which to
take it and finally selected one at
Barre, VT With it's two bottoms, die
and shaft the monument Is within q
few inches Of seventy feet high, which
is the same height as the obefisk in
Central park. But its prominence on
a hilltop makes 1t look much taller
than the obelisk.
The total cost of the Rockefeller
monument, the design for which was
selected by Mrs. Rockefeller, is very
nearly 100000.