Tag: graves

Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 418

By Erik Loomis

In General

On February 21, 2019

This is the grave of Babe Ruth. George Herman Ruth, Jr., was born in Baltimore in 1895 to a German speaking family. For some reason that is not clear, Ruth was sent to an orphanage at age 7, even though his parents were still alive. This was actually pretty common in the early twentieth century. […]

General

Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 417

By Erik Loomis

On February 19, 2019

This is the grave of John Mitchell, Jr. Born into slavery in Richmond in 1863, Mitchell learned to read as a young child, even though he was also working as a newsboy and then as a carriage boy for a

General

Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 416

By Erik Loomis

On February 18, 2019

This is the grave of Pop and Hattie Stoneman, as well as Scotty Stoneman and other various Stoneman Family members. Ernest “Pop” Stoneman was born in 1893 in Monarat, Virginia. In late nin

Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 415

By Erik Loomis

In General

On February 17, 2019

This is the grave of Roy Acuff. Born in 1903 in Maynardville, Tennessee to a fairly prominent family for that poor region of the South, Roy Acuff grew up surrounded by music. While his family were doctors and preachers and state legislators, they were also fiddlers and piano players. In 1919, his family moved to […]

General

Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 414

By Erik Loomis

On February 16, 2019

This is the grave of Julian Bond. Born in 1940 in Nashville to Horace Mann Bond and Julia Bond, Julian grew up in a household where education mattered more than anything. His father was a college pres

General

Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 413

By Erik Loomis

On February 15, 2019

This is the grave of Reinhold Niebuhr. Born in 1892 in Wright City, Iowa to a German immigrant family, Niebuhr grew up in a religious world. His father was a minister and he himself would become one o

Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 412

By Erik Loomis

In General

On February 13, 2019

This is the grave of Henry and Carrie Getty. Henry Getty was a lumber capitalist. He’s not very interesting. There’s not even any significant information about him easily available, partly because any exploration of “Getty” online or in obvious sources brings you to a lot of other Gettys, such as J.Paul. These were just a […]

General

Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 411

By Erik Loomis

On February 12, 2019

This is the grave of Pendleton Vandiver. Born in 1869 in Butler County, Kentucky, Vandiver was an old-time fiddler. That wasn’t uncommon. No one made any real money at this, but there wasn’

General

Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 410

By Erik Loomis

On February 9, 2019

This is the grave of Jerry and Elaine Orbach. Born in 1935 in The Bronx to parents on the edges of the entertainment industry (dad was in vaudeville but also managed a restaurant, mom sang on the radi

Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 409

By Erik Loomis

In General

On February 8, 2019

This is the grave of Stephen F. Austin. Born in 1793 in Wythe County, Virginia, in 1798 the family moved to eastern Missouri, which was the extreme frontier at that time, really well beyond where most whites would go. But his father Moses Austin had developed connections with the Spanish government after going out to […]

General

Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 408

By Erik Loomis

On February 7, 2019

This is the grave of James Russell Lowell. Born in 1819 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Lowell graduated from Harvard in 1838 and then got a law degree from the same institution in 1842. He was an atroci

General

Black Cemeteries

By Erik Loomis

On February 7, 2019

I’m a little behind in my grave posts because I have been trying to get a bunch of other things done. Unlike what people generally believe, I do not find cemeteries interesting at all for themse

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