This absolutely stunning building also sits by the lake near the more famous Getty mausoleum. It is quite large, and Graceland’s index lists 23 people interred from four generations of the family. Going by the interment records, this mausoleum appears to be quite old compared to many of its neighbors. The earliest entombment listed was […]
John Samuel and Maud G. (Kennedy) Holmes John (1868 – 1931) was originally from Canada and came to the US as a teenager. Maud (1878 – 1955) was born in Michigan, the oldest of 5 children. The couple married in Chicago in 1900 when John was 32 and Maud was 22. In 1910, the census […]
Four generations (and possibly five) of Illinois natives are entombed here. The mausoleum was first erected for matriarch Barbara Cure Espert who died in 1907, many years before her husband. Originally buried at Elmwood Cemetery, she was moved to this mausoleum a year after her death. It would be another 24 years before her husband […]
Designed by Louis P. Sullivan, this is possibly my favorite of the traditional mausoleums I saw at Graceland. It is massive and black and sits back between two trees, glowering out at passersby. It is extraordinarily goth, and I love it. Martin Ryerson Sr was born in 1818 in New Jersey and came to Michigan […]
As it says over the door, the Balaban Mausoleum was built “In Memoriam to Ida Balaban Katz,” the sister of the founders of Balaban and Katz, the iconic movie palace moguls. The mausoleum was designed by Rapp and Rapp, the same architects who designed the Chicago Theater which still stands as a highly recognizable icon […]
All three generations of Ludwig/Louis* Wolffs are interred at Graceland. Ludwig Sr is entombed in this sunken mausoleum on the far northern side of the cemetery while his son Louis Jr and grandson Louis III are buried together on a family lot near the southeastern corner of the cemetery, memorialized by this unique stone. The […]
Joseph & Adelaide Mazza Galli Joseph (1874 – 1935) was a candymaker in the early decades of 20th Century Chicago. He was from Italy, and Adelaide (1874 – 1939) was born in Chicago to Italian immigrant parents. They married in 1894 and seem to have been partners in business as well as in life. In […]
The Hinch family was wealthy and well-connected, especially through matriarch Elizabeth Magee Hinch’s side of the family, but tragically, almost all of them died relatively young. Elizabeth married William Hinch in 1888 and they had three children: sons Henry and Leslie and daughter Mabel. William died in 1899, leaving Elizabeth to raise the children on […]
John J. Kastner was a saloonkeeper in Chicago in the early 1900s. One can infer by what appears to be his somewhat early retirement between 1920 and 1930 that his livelihood may have been interrupted by Prohibition, though it seems he still did well for himself financially. He was first married in 1889 to Marie […]
The details on this Egyptian-style mausoleum are exquisite. There are 8 niches inside, but my photo didn’t capture all the names, and to be honest, I presumed someone else would have documented this one already, but that was not the case! Three generations are definitely entombed within, including Colonel Joseph Triner, Jr, who fought in […]