In Part I, I shared the story of the angel at Hendersonville, N.C.’s Oakdale Cemetery that is said to have inspired Thomas Wolfe when he wrote his 1929 novel, Look Homeward, Angel.

This week, I’m going to feature what I’m simply going to call…random funky stuff at the cemetery. Every cemetery is a little different. Oakdale stood out to me not only due to Wolfe’s angel but for the many above ground vaults/tombs sprinkled throughout the cemetery.

Brick Tombs Aplenty

Last time, I showed you some large vaults from Oakdale Cemetery. Now I’m going to share some of the individual brick ones. My guess is that at some point in the 1940s to 1960s, a local brick mason was making these. Perhaps they might have also been more affordable than the ones being manufactured at that time.

Lloyd Laughter has a stone marker placed atop his brick vault. It has a stone slab over the top. He died on July 28, 1954 at age 51 after a long illness. It makes sense in a way that he has a vault like this because his obituary mentions he was both a stone mason and a builder. His wife, Martha, died 24 years later at age 70 in 1980. You can see her marker to the left of his vault in the photo above.

Unlike the Laughters, the Moodys are buried in one double brick vault, topped by a stone slab. They have individual bronze plaques with their names/dates on the front.

Lua Mae Garren Moody, 67, died on Dec. 19, 1950. Her husband, Ralph Leonard Moody, a retired railroad worker, died on Nov. 4, 1962 at age 75. Ralph remarried to Inez Brooks but she is not buried at Oakdale Cemetery.

Helen Saleeby’s vault is made of brick and has a handsome bronze plaque on one end. It does not have a stone slab on top like the others I’ve mentioned.

Helen “Hallie” Kershaw Saleeby was a native of Beirut, Lebanon but emigrated to America in 1910. She married Saloom Saleeby, who was also a native of Lebanon. Sadly, Saloom was shot and killed during a robbery at the gas station he operated in Salisbury, N.C. in 1940. He was 69 when he died. Hallie died on March 13, 1968 at age 82.

The vault of Dixie E. Whiteside is a little different because the bricks are a white/gray and the top has a curved, arch-like shape to it. She has a bronze plaque with her name/dates on the front. She died on Oct. 31, 1965 at age 40.

Ann Osteen Waters has a similarly shaped brick vault but hers is made of the traditional red bricks and is not as tall. She died at age 42 on May 12, 1965.

Roll Out the Barrel (Vaults)

Oakdale Cemetery also has a number of what I call “barrel” vaults because they look like a barrel sticking halfway out of ground. The body is not above ground but is buried underground. The two I’ve featured here are from t he 1930s.

This one for Ulysses Grant Alredge (1872-1937) is typical of the ones I see. I noted seven men named Ulysses buried at Oakdale Cemetery. But only this one was Ulysses Grant, not exactly a popular name in North Carolina after the Civil War!

Born in 1872 in Polk County, N.C., Alredge did not go by “Ulysses” but “Grant” instead. During his last 10 years, he was the election registrar for the South Blue Ridge precinct. He died on May 5, 1937 after an illness of two years.

The barrel vault for Lillie Louise Forest Garren (1880-1934) is very similar to that of Ulysses G. Alredge. But hers appears to have two small vent holes on one side of it.

Born in 1880 to John P. Forest and Louisa Caroline Forest, Lillie married William Absalom Garren. He was a police officer who served in many roles from constable to deputy sheriff to police chief in Henderson County.

Lillie died on March 5, 1934 at age 53. She is buried to the right of her son, Willie, who died as an infant on Oct. 21, 1902.

“Of Such is the Kingdom of Heaven”

The monument for William Stuart Gover caught my eye because of the lovely ivy entwining the column carved into it.

Born in 1893 in Kentucky to stock trader Bowen Goggins Gover, Jr. and Annie Singleton Gover, William was one of their three children. He had battled with tuberculosis since the age of five (according to his death certificate). According to his obituary, he was known and liked by many in Hendersonville. He died of heart failure at age 17 on May 17, 1911.

William is buried between his mother and his sister, Gladys Gover Egerton.

A Transplanted Scotsman

The detail of the carving on the monument to Thomas Anderson and his wife, Annie Laing Anderson, I worth sharing. I wonder if it was from the Asheville monument shop operated by Thomas Wolfe’s father.

Born in Crossgatehall, Scotland in 1836, Thomas married Annie Laing in Wentworth, Canada in 1867. The couple had two daughters, Maggie and Bessie.

According to the 1880 Census, they were living in Spartanburg, S.C. where Thomas worked as a railroad engineer. Thomas’ brother, James, a railroad superintendent, and his nephew, William, an engineer, lived with the family .

The Andersons were living in Hendersonville at the time of Thomas’ death on May 18, 1887. He was 50. I don’t know his cause of death.

Annie lived with daughter Maggie (she never married) for the remainder of her life. Annie died on Dec. 21, 1921. Maggie died on Feb. 28, 1944. Bessie, who married the Rev. Montraville Walker Egerton in 1893, died on Nov. 30, 1941. Both daughters are buried at Oakdale Cemetery.

The draped urn at the top of the Anderson monument features flowers and an eternal flame. I think this one is particularly well executed by whoever carved it.

Then there are the flowers that adorn the top of each side of the monument. Again, I think these were done by someone with admirable carving skills.

My traveling companions were ready to get going so we left Oakdale Cemetery. Lisa and I found a nice winery not too far from our cabin and enjoyed some freshly made sangria.

Next time, I’ll take you with me to visit St. Michael’s Cemetery in Pensacola, Fla.