Green Lawn Cemetery in Columbus, Ohio

Designed by Architect Howard Daniels and established in 1848, Green Lawn Cemetery, at 1000 Greenlawn Avenue in Columbus, Ohio, is a historic private rural cemetery. Its meandering roads wander 360 acres, where over 155,000 are interred, including Samuel Bush, grandfather of President George H.W. Bush and great-grandfather of President George W. Bush, and World War I flying ace Eddie Rickenbacker.

The Hayden mausoleum is a centerpiece of Green Lawn Cemetery. It was designed by Ohio architect Frank Packard and built at a modern-day cost of approximately $2.5 million. Built for banker Charles H. Hayden (1837-1920) and his family, it is made from granite and white marble, and its interior sarcophagi were made in Italy. It is truly impressive.

I love this bronze statue of an old fisherman, erected in the memory of Emil Ambos (1844-1898). Emil was the son of Peter Ambos, a talented German confectioner who became a wealthy banker and industrialist. The statue used to be holding two fish, but apparently both have been stolen.

The memorial to “Georgie” Blount (1867-1873), who died at the age of five, is one of the most beloved. He died after falling from a banister and hitting his head on an iron stove. His parents, Eli Jackson and Sara Blount, were proprietors of the American House Hotel. Visitors often leave tokens of their affection at the marble statue.

This bronze relief of an elderly lady is located on a gray granite, neoclassical monument to the Riordan family. There are several family members buried nearby, so it is unclear who the relief is meant to depict. However, it was noteworthy enough to find its way into the Smithsonian Art Inventory.

1LT Stacy Taylor, Jr. enlisted as a private in Company F, 43rd Ohio Infantry on October 24, 1861 after the outbreak of the American Civil War. He was promoted to Lieutenant on June 29, 1862 and transferred to Company A. He fought at the Battle of Corinth, Mississippi and died in Decatur, Alabama on April 26, 1864.