Green Mount Cemetery in Montpelier, VT, is one of the most picturesque spots in the state. It was started in 1854 and is set right in the midst of the area’s gorgeous rolling hills. Besides natural beauty, the cemetery also features quite a few excellent examples of funerary art. For instance, the William Stowell tomb, which features a tall set of hand-carved stairs cut into a single granite ledge. At the top, but not a part of the tomb, is a dead tree stump that has been roughly carved into a throne.

Elsewhere, a life-size statue of a little girl leans against a flower-carved rail. The statuary marks the burial spot of seven-year-old Margaret Pitkin, who died in 1900. In the story that goes with it, a sculptor was commissioned to create the piece from a photograph. When the parents saw the finished piece, they were dismayed to discover that he had left off a button on her shoe…until he showed them the picture, which revealed that one of the shoes of the girl in the picture also featured a missing button.

The John Hubbard grave is also a highlight and depicts the bronze statue of a seated, shrouded figure who seems to be writhing in the deep anguish of grief. It was sculpted by Karl Bitter to memorialize the grave of a local philanthropist who died in 1899. Less is known about the Frederic Dieter grave, which is topped by an amazing life-sized statue of a dead and prostrate Jesus being tended by Mary. The hollows eyes, jutting ribs, and various wounds of the Christ figural make the work somewhat startling. Adapted with Permission from: The New England Grimpendium by J.W. Ocker