My last post was written about a cemetery visit from February 2020. I am sure that date resonates with everyone. It’s right before the Covic-19 virus changed the world.

It also changed cemetery hopping a bit. Some folks actually sought out cemeteries to walk around because social distancing was so easy and well, let’s state the obvious. Most of the “residents” were deceased and could cause no physical harm.

I began visiting some of Atlanta’s larger cemeteries again like Westview, Greenwood, and Crest Lawn. Why not Oakland? It’s closer to downtown and I just didn’t have it in me to go. Which is why I’m going to share Crest Lawn Cemetery/Casey’s Hill with you.

Crest Lawn Cemetery

Crest Lawn Cemetery is a bit of an odd duck, frankly. I’m going to tell you what I was able to find out.

The main part officially opened in 1916 and covers close to 145 acres. There aren’t a lot of old classic monuments like the ones at the other cemeteries that opened earlier. There are an estimated 29,000 burials for it noted on Find a Grave. I’m sure there are more. It also has a large mausoleum but I don’t know how many folks are in there.

Crest Lawn has had several names over the years. Death certificates have it listed as Casey’s Cemetery, Crest Lawn Cemetery, Highland Cemetery, North View Cemetery, Riverview Cemetery, and Crown Hill Cemetery.

Casey’s Hill, located on the back side of Crest Lawn, is not “officially” part of the cemetery because they don’t do any maintenance or burials back there. John Austin Casey owned much of the property in this area from 1820 to 1907, so many of the markers are older than the ones in Crest Lawn. But I’ll get to that in the next post.

My first visit to Crest Lawn (according to my photo archives) was in February 2013. I was doing a Find a Grave request and wandered around a bit. Two of the pictures I took that day were of this prominently placed statue. I don’t know when it was placed. I have since learned there are a number of cemeteries that have the same statue.

If you are looking for good views of the city of Atlanta, Crest Lawn has some good ones.

Unfortunately, I can’t tell you much about Crest Lawn’s mausoleum. It’s never been open when I’ve been there and I’ve read that you can only get in if you own a space inside and have a key. Some cemeteries are just like that. (By comparison, Westview Cemetery’s large Abbey Mausoleum is almost always open.) But here’s what the outside looks like.

This Good Shepherd-themed monument caught my eye. I think it’s from the 1960s but I can’t be sure. It could use a little TLC.

A Deadly Fire

As I said, there aren’t many classic monuments at Crest Lawn but there’s one I did see that has a heartbreaking story behind it.

On Saturday, Oct. 16, 1915, a fire broke out in the Mion Building at 40 and 42 Luckie Street. The Atlanta location of the Mutual Film Company. No movies (all silent at that time) were filmed there but many copies were stored there and distributed to theaters across the country, along with movie posters/ads. That area of the city was quite busy then and is now.

As fire trucks rushed to the scene and onlookers tried to get a better luck, two young ladies fought to survive.

One of them was Charlotte “Lottie” Lee Ham, a 16-year-old stenographer who had attended Atlanta’s Central High School. She was working alongside another young woman, Clara Westbrook. The fire trapped them in a back room and there were no fire escapes to climb down.

Lottie was one of the five children of Dean Ham and Martha Sadler Ham. Dean worked as a knitter at a cotton mill. Lottie was liked by her classmates and she taught Sunday School at North Atlanta Baptist Church. Lottie earned $14 a week at Mutual.

According to newspaper reports, Lottie’s friend Sam Berry fought his way through the crowd and was halfway up the ladder before firemen pushed him down. He would later say, “She was one of the best friends I had on earth and I would have gladly died to save her.”

It was determine that the fire started on the ground floor when scraps of film on a cutting table were ignited by sparks produced by an electric fan. Later, the Hams would sue the Mutual Film Company. This article from the Feb. 27, 1916 gives the details. I don’t know if anything ever came of it.

Her coworker, Clara Westbrook, was 29. She was carried out of the burning building alive but died soon after from smoke inhalation. She was buried at Union Hill Methodist Church Cemetery in Canton, Ga. She left behind several siblings.

This is the monument for Lottie at Crest Lawn. While the young women are buried in two different cemeteries, I have to wonder if the two figures represent both Lottie and Clara.

Atlanta Artist

You can find a number of Jewish graves at Crest Lawn. Some are grouped by congregation (like the Shearith Israel graves) but others are not.

One that I found in the Mount Carmel section got my attention. The marker for Judith Alexander is definitely not what you might expect. Several tidbits of information about her are written about her, such as her birth/death dates. It’s also an abbreviated obituary of sorts.

But it’s the block with a hole lined full of little “faces” that is what grabbed

Born in 1931, Judith studied art, first at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia, then with the painter Hans Hofman in New York City. Judith advocated for art and artists, opening the New Arts Gallery on North Peachtree Road in Atlanta.

As a showcase and platform for such world-renowned artists as Franz Kline, Jackson Pollack, and Jim Dine, Alexander’s gallery grew into a center for Atlanta’s young arts community. In 1978, she became a pioneer in the promotion of self-taught artists when she opened the Alexander Gallery on East Paces Ferry Road. Among those she brought to the world’s attention were Nellie Mae Rowe, Ned Cartledge, Carlton Garrett, and Linda Anderson—Georgians all.

Though she lived most of the year in New York City from 1989 through 2004 (she moved to be near her sister Rebecca), Judith remained a revered presence in the Atlanta family of artists, art-lovers, and art dealers. She died suddenly at age 73 on Dec. 15, 2004.

According to artist Mario Petriena, who created Judith’s unique memorial, “Judith had a way of building you up, One time, after some disappointment, she said to me ‘People can be curators or dealers or critics, but never forget that you have the biggest gift of all—the ability to make art.’ She was always there. I can’t count the number of artists she helped.”

Kohanim Hands

This marker for Simon Kagan is etched with the Jewish symbol of the Kohanim hands. I did not know about these until I began visiting Jewish cemeteries. Do they remind you of something?

The image of two hands with thumbs touching fingers paired and split is known as the Kohanim hands. Kohanim are members of the Jewish priest tribe descended from Aaron, the brother of Moses. The Kohanim raise their hands in this gesture over their heads to bless the congregation. It is believed that the radiance of God (Shekhinah) will stream through their fingers.

This may call to mind the greeting from the Vulcans in Star Trek. The late Leonard Nimoy, who played Spock, was Jewish and took inspiration from his heritage to create the famous gesture.

Shearith Israel Section

The Shearith Isreal section of Crest Lawn features a number of more modern Jewish graves, many of which have been laser etched on dark stones.

I know very little about Abram and Sarah Borukhov but I was taken with the complexity of their markers and how very life-like their images appear on them. I only know that Abram emigrated to America from Uzbekistan.

Atlanta Rhythm Section Drummer

This is not the first time I’ve photographed a grave of someone that I later discovered was a notable person. But I admit I did not know who R.J. Vealey was when I saw his marker.

Born in 1962, Robert Jason “R.J.” Vealey was a much respected studio musician who recorded with artists including Section Eight, Zaccaria, Tone Poets, Stonefish, and was the drummer of Roy Orbison’s backing band. In 1995, he became the drummer for the Southern rock band “Atlanta Rhythm Section”. On November 13, 1999, after the band had finished a set at a concert in Orlando, Fla., he complained of indigestion and then collapsed.Vealey was only 37 when he died.

Vealey is also a member of the Georgia Music Hall of Fame.

There’s more of Crest Lawn Cemetery to discover. Next time, I’ll take you into the woods where the Casey’s Hill section is located.