Mountain View Cemetery - Mountain View Mortuary

Welcome to
Mountain
View
Cemetery
ESTABLISHED 1882
A Self-Guided Historical Tour
from the 19th century to today
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Mountain View
is among the oldest of cemeteries for the public in
San Gabriel Valley. As was the custom in frontier
days, residents of Pasadena buried their loved ones
on family property. Colonel Jabez Banbury was no
exception. His son, Charles, and other Pasadeneans
such as Laura Giddings, were buried on land that
lay along the Arroyo Seco, now part of the Wrigley
Estate. Colonel Banbury decided to sell his property
in 1882, and the matter of what would become of
these graves became urgent. This prompted Mr.
Giddings to set aside some of his property to be
dedicated as a cemetery. In early 1883, the burials
were moved to the newly established cemetery on
Fair Oaks Avenue. By the end of the year, eight other
transfers were made for a total of 24 burials. Today,
after more than 100 years, the descendants of Levi
W. Giddings still own and operate the cemetery,
mortuary and crematory.
Through the years, Mountain View acquired the
mausoleum located across the street from the main
cemetery, on Marengo Avenue. Mountain View
Mausoleum was considered the crown jewel of the
more than 80 mausoleums constructed by Cecil
E. Bryan. In addition, Pasadena Mausoleum was
acquired and expanded. Both mausoleums offer
the finest in burial crypts, niches and Westminster
crypts.
Mountain View has two beautiful chapels: Chapel of
the Gardens and Sunrise Chapel. Also available for
memorial services is the outdoor Vista Del Monte
committal area. Mountain View is also known for
its extensive stained glass windows, art collection
and arboretum type grounds with trees from all over
the world.
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Your Self-Guided Tour of
Mountain View
Cemetery
The number in front of a paragraph is the stop number on the map
G
ET READY FOR A SHORT TRIP BACK IN TIME
— OVER A HUNDRED YEARS AGO. Well-dressed
Victorian ladies in wide-brimmed hats and chivalrous
gentlemen in boots and derbies visited this place just as
you are doing today.
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1
Follow the road to the
right after you enter the
main gate. The picture at top is what you should see when you turn
around to face the mountains.
When the cemetery was established in 1882, these roads were
unpaved, lined with gravel only. In those days, visitors arrived
by horse and buggy. Notice the white marble step built into the
curb. Genteel ladies used these steps as a landing to secure their
footing and gracefully approach the family plot. As progress
brought the automobile to the common man, asphalt paving
replaced gravel lining, so the steps are now much less prominent.
All the same, this first white-marble step is special because it is
original. Some have been repaired or replaced with concrete, but
there are still many original steps remaining.
Look to the other side of the road where there is a white
monument topped with a cross. Repairs on these old columns, as
well as the addition of final names and dates on granite markers,
are still done by hand. Sometimes you can see the artist at work
here, measuring and sketching, then perfectly matching the
original lettering on the monuments.
— PROCEED SOUTH ALONG THE MAIN ROAD —
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2
CHILDREN’S CEMETERY — Typical of the early 20th century, this
cemetery also reserved a section for children. The significance of the
exact location in the cemetery is unknown. However, the first burials of
children in this section are close to their parents. Necessity likely spurred
the creation of this special section.
THE REVEREND FARNSWORTH — This local Methodist minister
performed the wedding of Jennie Hollingsworth to Joshua Reed Giddings,
son of cemetery founder Levi Warren Giddings.
GEORGE WHARTON JAMES — Prominent author from the late 19th
century - early 20th century. (See box on following page.)
— CONTINUE SOUTHWARD TO STOP NO. 3 —
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George Wharton James (1858-1923) —
Born in England, he settled in Nevada, USA at age 23 as
a Methodist minister. He was offered a pulpit in Long
Beach in 1887, moved to southern California and fell in
love with the American Southwest. James wrote more
than forty books and lectured on southern California’s
history, attractions, and folklore.* His outpourings
annoyed contemporary Charles Fletcher Lummis, who
claimed that literary territory for himself. When James’
wife divorced him in 1889, claiming infidelity, James’
career was considerably blemished by the public scandal.
In 1895, in a happier second marriage, James moved
to Pasadena and became a vocal proponent and tireless
promoter of the craftsman ethos, which he called the
Arroyo Culture. James edited the one issue of Arroyo Craftsman published in
1909, after which the enterprise folded. The essential elements in the Southern
California style, he asserted, were outdoor life, the Arts and Crafts Movement,
and an interest in Indian crafts of the Southwest. James eventually co-founded
James died in 1923 at a sanitarium in Napa Valley where he had gone to recuperate
from exhaustion.
James believed that Pasadena, because of its distinctive character, and
Southern California, generally, were destined to become the center of aesthetic
expression in America. No art would be more important to southern California
in its rise to aesthetic preeminence, he thought, than the art of domestic living.
Legions of lovers of California cuisine, décor, and design have given substance
to James’ prophecy.
*His books included In and Out of California’s Missions (1905), Through Ramona’s Country (1908), and The Wonders of the Colorado Desert (1906).
3
— STOP AT THE CROSSROADS SHOWN AT RIGHT —
Points ahead include outdoor mausoleum Vista Del Monte,
resting place of physicist Richard Feynman. To the south is Pasadena
Mausoleum, where rests noted actor George Reeves (Clark Kent in the
1950’s television series “Superman”). Other notables that rest off our
route are seismologist Charles Richter, chemist Alfred Amos Noyes,
and astronomer James Fassero.
A look to the left here reveals a row of upright monuments inscribed
in Japanese with names and epitaphs, dating to as early as the late 1930’s.
These uprights testify to the founders’ committment to honoring the
diversity of the community and the equality of its people, in a time
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when the civil rights of many Japanese Americans were being trampled
as they were herded into internment camps.
A look to the right shows a distinctive monument to a Civil War era
family by the name of Matthews. Its design features several of the
symbolisms mentioned in the center pages of the booklet.
— AT THE INTERSECTION, TURN LEFT —
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Gravestone Symbolism
- Classical Greco-Roman columns - to some, they
reflected a kind of optimism that can always be found in
the human spirit, that something more perfect is yet to
come.
- The Celtic Cross - Scottish and Irish immigrants to
this country accounted for over 25% of the immigration
in the 1800s. Many of these crosses can be found in the
cemetery. This one features a different design on each
side.
- Obelisks, or straight columns, were popular reminders
of the newly finished Washington Monument, which
opened in the United States capitol in 1884. These
miniature replicas were erected out of sentiment and
patriotism. Egyptology was very much in fashion, but
after some years passed out of the public consciousness.
During the 1920s, when King Tut’s tomb was unearthed
in Egypt, these small obelisks began to dot the cemetery
landscape again.
Other symbolisms:
- Open Bible: the Word through which one gains salvation and revelation
- Open Book: the human heart, its thoughts and feelings open to the
world and to God
- Urn: the body’s death, from which the soul rises to heaven
- Dove: the Holy Spirit, peace and Christian constancy and devotion
- Flowers: at once the beauty and the brevity of life
- Grapevines: Christ
- Ivy: everlasting life, from its continually green leaves
- Broken Column: the end of life, especially life cut short
SOURCES: Stories in Stone, 2005, by Douglas Keister;
other information: historian Gregory McReynolds
TOUR ROUTE
A New Memorialization
As the 1800’s drew to a close, people began to see cemeteries as more
than a place where they could lay their dead to rest. Unlike burials
in European cities that were exhumed after some decades to make
way for others, cemetery plots here could be purchased in perpetuity.
Future generations could come here to reflect, knowing that there
forebears lay here undisturbed. The Victorian-era view of death was
less about the actual passing-away of a person than the concern that a
person might die unrecognized and without the benefit of mourning.
A new symbolism developed reflecting what they held to be
significant: the soul, one’s life’s work, religion and the joy of salvation.
Thus, cemetery planners began to create a park-like setting that,
when well-maintained, gives the illusion that the park stretches to
the horizon. The cemetery, more than ever, became a place for taking
comfort in the grave.
4
This path leads north to Heritage Circle, final resting place
of the founders of the cemetery. This view of the cemetery
exemplifies the tranquil, timeless beauty of the garden cemetery,
which became popular in the 19th century. (See inset on map
page.)
As you continue through the tour, take note of the wide
variety of monuments. In many instances, they reflect the
hopes and beliefs of the pioneers who settled this area in the
late 1800s. While retaining the Victorian sensibilites they were
reared with, their rugged
individualism
brought
them west and helped make
Pasadena what it is today.
Use the center page of this
booklet as a guide to the
symbolism in the detailed
design of these monuments.
Proceed to the Lowe
family monument,
which will be on your
right
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5
The Lowe monument is straightforward, unembellished.
This in no way symbolizes the extraordinary individual
buried here, “Professor” T. S. C. Lowe. (See box below.)
— Proceed North to Stop No. 6 —
T
haddeus Sobieski Constantine Lowe was
born April 20, 1832 in Jefferson Mills, New Hampshire. A selfeducated man who was obliged to stop his formal schooling in the
fourth grade, he spent his early years as a “snake oil” salesman of patent
medicines using the sobriquet “Professor”.
At the age of 31, as the American Civil
War was approaching full-swing, Lowe was
appointed by President Lincoln as Chief of
the U.S. Army Aeronautic [balloon] Corps for
the purpose of reconnaisance. By the time
of Lowe’s resignation in late 1863, he and his
crew had made more than 3,000 flights over
enemy territory.
Lowe moved to California in 1887. In the interest of advancing
science and education, he helped found Throop University, which later
became known as the California Institute of Technology. Along with
engineer David J. Macpherson, Lowe financed and built the Pasadena
and Mount Wilson Railway and opened several hotels, beginning
with the Echo Mountain House in 1894. Various circumstances led
to Lowe running out of money before he could extend the line to the
summit of Echo Mountain. Even so, from 1893 to 1936 an estimated
3,100,000 people rode the Mount Lowe Railway, making it Pasadena’s
most popular tourist attraction until the obseratory burned down in
1928, and Alpine Tavern in 1936. The Great Depression precluded any
rebuilding efforts at the time. Little, if anything, remains today of that
herculean endeavor.
Thaddeus Lowe made and lost several fortunes and held over forty
patents. His inventions included a mobile hydrogen gas generator, and
advancements in mechanical refrigeration and natural gas heating
and lighting. He died January 16, 1913.
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6
The Great Oak - Featured in movies and television, this has been a
favorite spot to rest. It is a place surrounded by quiet and takes many
back to idyllic times long past.
— Proceed North to Stop No. 7 —
7
Several small, white markers memorialize Union soldiers of various
ranks who died during or after the American Civil War. These include
Domingo Jara, one of a small Mexican-American band of
infantrymen stationed at a fort in what is now downtown Los
Angeles.
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8
— Proceed North to Stop No. 8 —
Heritage Circle, Giddings Family Monument - The founder of the
cemetery, Levi Warren Giddings, was the nephew of 19th-century
anti-slavery statesman from Ohio, Joshua Reed Giddings. (See box on
page 10.)
— Proceed to your right around the circle —
9
Henry Harrison Markham, governor of
California from 1891 to 1895, lies here.
Born in New York in 1840, Henry fought with
the Union in the American Civil War and was
wounded twice. He became a lawyer while
still young, and served in Congress before
campaigning for governor as “the dashing
colonel from Pasadena.” He is credited by
some as having helped rescue California
from an economic depression during his
term as governor by promoting tourism
and business development.
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JOSHUA REED GIDDINGS (1795-1864) — In February, 1841,
the slaves aboard the ship “Creole”, bound from Virginia to Louisiana,
mutineed and landed in the British Virgin Isles.
The English freed them, an act of which Mr.
Giddings approved. On March 21, 1842, he
addressed the US House of Representatives
with a series of resolutions. He declared that,
since slavery was an abridgment of a natural
right, it had no force beyond the state
that created it; that when an American
vessel was in international waters, it was
under the force of the US alone, which
had no authority to hold slaves; and that the
mutineers had only resumed their natural
right to liberty, and any attempt to reenslave them would be unconstitutional
and dishonorable. Officially, for health
reasons, in 1861 President Lincoln appointed
him United States Consul-General in Canada, which office he held
until the time of his death. Unofficially, he had fled due to there being a
price on his head. He is not buried here, but his nephew, Levi Warren
Giddings, named his own son after the courageous statesman.
— Proceed north out of Heritage Circle to Stop No. 10 —
10
Ruth Brown Thompson
(1825 - 1904) — In 1859, at
Harper’s Ferry, Virginia, Ruth’s father, famed abolitionist John Brown,
was hanged. She and her husband,
Henry, left their home in the midwest and came to Pasadena. Their
sons, Owen and Jason, lived in the
mountains above Altadena and are
buried there. The monument shown
here has since been stolen and is still
at large.
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— turn around and go back toward the main entrance —
11
Marker craftsmanship — Notably, the
tree-trunk marker for the Clapp and Howe
families is an example of the detailed work put into
monument design in the early days of the cemetery.
The Knight obelisk is also noteworthy, as is the Orange
Brown obelisk. While memorials of a grand scale like
these are very rare, the bench just to the right of the
main gate on the way out is a monument design we
still offer. We encourage you to explore our garden
cemetery, find a favorite spot where you can reflect, and
then share it with generations to come by purchasing a
memorial bench.
For more details on the people who rest here, visit your local
library or the archives at the Pasadena Museum of History.
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visit us online at www.mtn-view.com
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2400 North Fair Oaks Avenue ● Altadena, CA 91001 ● (800) 468-1095
24 hours
california fd no.1020
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