Every time I think I found all that can be found, I am proven wrong. I recently became aware of a new blog: Chicago and Cook County Cemeteries. Fascinating place! Even Catherine's final resting place has a story attached to it!
By Thshriver (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons |
The problem was that the railroad tracks and the cemetery station platform were above grade. As a result, moving the casket from the funeral train to the ground-level cemetery was quite a problem. Rather than having pallbearers manuever the casket down a steep set of stairs , an elevator was built. The manually operated elevator was in a separate building next to the railroad tracks. Once the casket was lowered to ground-level, it could then be loaded on to a horse and wagon for the procession to the gravesite.
The funeral train and elevator are no longer used, but the elevator still remains. I have no idea if the elevaor was still in use when Catherine died in 1916, but I suspect it certainly could have been. I wouldn't be surprised in the least. Everything about her has been a surprise!!
I don't have a picture of Catherine's grave nor that of her daughter Ida, who is also buried there. I plan to post a photo request on FindAGrave - maybe I'll get lucky!!
No comments:
Post a Comment