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Photo by Ray Saviciunas
Gothic Memorial to five-term mayor of Akron, Lucius Bierce. Considered a somewhat radical thinker, Bierce once praised abolitionist John Brown, who was hanged for leading a raid on Harper's Ferry. Bierce said of Brown, "It has been said that old Brown is crazy. Would to God there were millions of such crazy men at the North." The Bierce family was among many who fell victim to the era's high infant mortality rate.
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Photo by Ray Saviciunas
Gothic Memorial to five-term mayor of Akron, Lucius Bierce.
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Photo by Ray Saviciunas
John R. Butchel Monument. A staunch supporter of education, Buchtel is credited with the founding of Buchtel College, which went on to become the University of Akron. Part of the land for the college was originally Spicer Cemetery. Avery Spicer sold the tract of land for $1, and the bodies in the old cemetery were relocated to Akron Rural Cemetery. Over the course of his lifetime, Buchtel donated approximately half a million dollars to Buchtel College.
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Photo by Ray Saviciunas
Civil War Memorial Chapel constructed in 1876 by the Buckley Post of the Grand Republic for the deceased soldiers of the greater Akron Area. Gargoyles mounted on the top corners of the chapel reflect elements of Gothic Revival architecture and serve as guardians of the cemetery.
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Photo by Ray Saviciunas
John Hower is among Akron's elite laid to rest at Glendale. Others include Ferdinand Schumacher, Samuel Lane, Colonel Simon Perkins and the Seiberlings.
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Photo by Ray Saviciunas
A row of mausoleums. Aging Stone and creeping ivy add to the beauty of the mausoleums. Some were built to resemble Gothic churches with others bring to mind classical antiquity, their facades echoing Roman, Greek and Egyptian temples.
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Photo by Ray Saviciunas
Mausoleum of Dr. Jedediah D. Commins, founder of the Akron Rural Cemetery. Commins lost his 20-year-old song Augustus and couldn't bear the prospect of burying him in the often-flooded spicer cemetery. He preserved Augustus' body in alcohol for two years while he raise funds for the cemetery. Dr. Commins' mausoleum dates to 1860 and is the oldest mausoleum in the cemetery.
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Photo by Ray Saviciunas
Close up of the west end window (of the Civil War Memorial). The windows, made of European rolled Cathedral glass from Scotland, are of special interest. Panels in the north-facing window honor the contributions women made in the war. The south facing window panels depict George Washington, Commodore Perry and Abraham Lincoln and commemorate the U.S. Centennial. The window at the west end honors Lewis P. Buckley and the 29th Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment.
Founded in 1839, Glendale Cemetery was originally called the Akron Rural Cemetery. Winding avenues named for trees and graceful, varied architectural styles on memorials and monuments render it a quiet retreat within the city.
Records of the deceased reveal much of the past, including those whose fates were linked to the layout of the city or the limitations of medicine. More than a few laid to rest here drowned in the city’s canals. Many of the women buried here from the 19th century died in childbirth. And quite a few graves from the same period attest to the high mortality rate among infants and young children. In an age prior to the discovery of antibiotics, other frequent causes of death included scarlet fever, consumption (tuberculosis), cholera and influenza. Much can be learned of the past from Glendale Cemetery, which achieved placement in the National Register of Historic Places in the 1980s.
