The Salt Lake City Cemetery

 The Salt Lake City Cemetery is an absolutely MASSIVE cemetery located in the Avenues above downtown Salt Lake. It is one of the largest city ran cemeteries in the country expected to contain approximately 120,000 persons. Due to St. Patrick’s day, a unique grave marker was featured on the news recently, so we decided to take it on as our St Patrick’s Day adventure because it sounded cool. While we were here I decided to check out a couple other interesting grave markers of note including 2 notorious urban legends. If you have followed my blog long enough you will know we are no strangers to cemeteries.

This was really kind of just meandering around and locating a few specific grave markers. So I don’t really have any quick stats to share.

Our first stop, and what brought us out today:

James Mcternay

This particular marker in in a part of the cemetery called Mount Calvary Catholic Cemetery. I am not sure if it is it’s own thing, or just the Catholic section? Either way it is within the main cemetery.

If you enter the cemetery from 4th Ave. and T St. you can’t miss it. However if you do, it is just NE of the roundabout.

Some of these grave markers are huge!

McTernay passed in 1910, aged 65.

What is interesting about this grave marker is that at 27 feet tall, it is the tallest grave marker in the city, possibly the entire state.

 

From the front.

Little closer.

James Mcternay was an Irish Immigrant bartender. He was known as a genial mixologist and a bit of a philosopher.

He set aside $2,000 for a monument in his will (close to $60,000 today). He also left a lot of his estate to charity. He died in 1910 of pneumonia.

You can read a little more about him in this article (outside link).

The monument, and his grave marker to the left of it.

This cemetery is 127 years old! And has a LOT of graves.

More grave markers.

The back of a cross.

The monument and his grave marker. I think it is fantastic that the tallest grave marker in the city does not belong to any prominent church member or politician, but to a bartender.

This grave marker has a photograph.

A couple more big ones.

Not far from here was another significant grave marker I have known about for a very long time, but have never actually seen before.

Lilly E. Gray.

This marker is between 325 E and 355 N and just west of 1200 east.

The interesting thing about this grave marker is the surprising and somewhat horrifying epitaph. “Victim of the best 666”.

That epitaph has inspired a number of urban legends and speculation and has made this particular marker a notorious hot bed of ghost stories (none of which I can recall at the moment). It drew the curiosity of all sorts of people, particularly the gothic crowd back in the 90’s. I remember going with my friends at least once attempting to locate the marker. Of course, back in the 90’s it wasn’t as easy to find now. Now there is a specific pin on google maps that will take you right to it.

Someone has left some flowers.

So we did a little bit of digging and found this article (outside link).

Basically from what I can tell, her husband, Elmer Gray ordered the tombstone and was a nutcase that claimed democrats kidnapped his previous wife. So it is suggested that he thought the government (particularly democrats) was the beast and killed his wife.

For some reason I cannot tell (sarcasm) Lilly's family hated Elmer and he was buried on the complete other side of the cemetery.

So, not to get overly political, but these nutcases that we see today sure as hell existed decades ago as well. Honestly, with what I see today I am surprised we don't have more of these crazy epitaphs.

Alright. Onto the next marker.

We passed what appears to be a veterans section (Passenger Seat Photography (PSP)).

This grave marker is a bench,

Matthew Stanford Robinson

This one is less spooky, and more inspirational and well, sad.

This one is south of 445 N and east of Hillside Ave. However there is also a pin on Google Maps that will take you to it. It is a lot easier to spot than Lilly Gray.

This beautiful grave marker is really easy to spot amongst the other ones.

Not the best lighting here, but it shows a child lifting out of a wheelchair and reaching for the sky.

Better lighting. I love that someone has left him a stuffy.

According the Wikipedia (outside link), Matthew had an affliction that deprived him of oxygen so he was born blind, and partially paralyzed and was not expected to live. He died in 1999 at the age of 10. His father designed the inspiring marker. It was to depict him in the afterlife no longer bound to his earthly afflictions.

I think it is wonderful that they turned such a sad story into something inspirational.

The back.

With the epitaph.

“In memory of those
who walk more closely
In the hands of god.

And who more humbly
lift the world inspiring
the hearts of men,

With their legacy complete
in love, they return
home again to god.

To behold his face
and be wholly healed
in joy forever more.”

I am not a fan of religious stuff, but that is a really pretty epitaph.

Mountains.

The last grave marker I wanted to see is back on the spooky side. However I did not locate this one before we got here, but I knew it was here somewhere. We did a little onsite googling, and Landis appeared to find it on something like findagrave which provides GPS coordinates. So, off we went.

I was a little concerned that these coordinates seemed further away than the cemetery, but, I went with it and off we went.

Another random cemetery shot.

Yeah, the coordinates took us to Rice Eccles Stadium (PSP). At least I was able to get a shot of the Olympic torch! We thought maybe the grave we were after were across the street in Mount Olivet Cemetery and almost went wandering around there, but we pulled over and did more googling. We almost gave up and went home, but we decided to head back and try one more time.

Jacob Moritz AKA Emo

To get here you want to approach from 4th avenue and Center St. which is between P and Q streets (closer to Q) head north on center street (the cemetery is so big it has it's own Center St.) and park by the stairs on the right. It is almost directly east from there.

Back into the Salt Lake City Cemetery and the Jewish section which also appears to have it's own name: B'Nai Israel Cemetery again, not sure if it is separate, or part of the main cemetery. Or maybe it got absorbed? Anyway, I find it a little weird that there are sections by religion but you know it was a different time I suppose.

Grave markers as far as you can see. There are approximately 120,000 persons buried in the entire cemetery. It apparently is one of the largest city operated cemeteries in the country.

There is the grave marker we are after between the trees.

Interesting marker. Also, notice all the pebbles on the headstones? Apparently it is a Jewish tradition to leave pebble as an act of remembrance and respect for the deceased.

We made it. To Jacob Moritz' grave marker.

This is one that I have visited before. Lets see, before I dig into the lore here is what I remember from my teenage years. Supposedly if you looked in the window and chanted Emo, a pair of red eyes would stare back at you from the other side. I don’t think we ever actually saw anything

There was also a local urban legend that the caretaker for the cemetery would shoot at night time trespassers with a pellet gun. So we were all very easy to spook and bolt LOL. Looking back I don’t think a single one of my friends could ever attest to being shot at.

The window has had a metal plate bolted over it, probably due to continued vandalism.

Here is an image I found of the grave marker with it's window.

So either I misremembered the legend or it has evolved cause according to the dead history (outside link) it goes like this:

"If you circle the Moritz Mausoleum three times while chanting “Emo, Emo, Emo” and then look into the mausoleum you’ll see the red glowing eyes of “Emo” staring back at you."

Pretty similar I guess.

Anyway,

Moritz was a beloved member of society and was a brewer. In fact he created the Salt Lake Brewing Co. on 10th East and 5th South. Part of it is still standing and is now the Anniversary Inn.

I found an image of what it looks like today courtesy of Google Maps.

His brewery became one of the largest outside of Milwaukee, he also owned over 36 saloons.

He married Lahela Louisson from Hawaii in 1889.

in 1910 he succumbed to the effects of lung and stomach cancer at the age of 61.

His ashes were interred in the mausoleum sometime after July 31st, and shortly after the rumor's began. Lahela remarried and moved to California. Eventually Jacobs remains we removed and given to the family.

So where does the legend of Emo come from? Well, it really isn’t known. I can’t find anything explaining that. All we can figure is that the grave marker is old, it’s big, and it is kind of spooky looking. So we figured someone at some time told a story. Likely in an attempt to scare a girl into snuggling. And it somehow just took off.

So again, kind of a meh explanation, but I guess like so many urban legends they are either circumstantial or completely unfounded.

It kind of makes me feel like a bit of an asshole that my dumb teenage ass participated in these shenanigan's. I mean, it was harmless, my friends and I were just dumb teenagers looking for a thrill, and we never vandalized or left garbage, but it just feels super disrespectful looking back. I hope the age of technology will eventually put this urban legend to rest.

At least a lot of people still leave peoples in his honor.

One last look.

After this we decided to explore a little more of this section of the cemetery.

There are quite a few large grave markers in the area.

Large grave that appears to contain several people from 1920 - 1998.

Another large one with the same family name Auerbach. Landis did some digging and learned that the Auerbach's owned a general store in Salt Lake called Auerbach's Department Store that operated from the 1860's to 1979. Despite the Mormon boycott (due to being a direct competitor to ZCMI), they lasted 114 years, with their final building being on 3rd South. More info in this article (outside link),

Some markers in Hebrew.

A stacked mausoleum.

As old as this cemetery is, it appears to be still in use.

Another mausoleum.

More grave markers.

Stone with a Star of David. I am sure this has a particular significance that I am not aware of.

More markers, and more pebbles.

More markers.

Markers and Ensign Peak in the background.

More markers.

This one is super faded, but appears to be from 1898. Wow.

1873. Whoa!

Just as old, but easier to read. I wonder if they have been restored, or replaced.

It appears the first, and oldest grave here is Mary Wallace from 1848.

More markers.

Well, we saw all of the markers I wanted to so we decided to head on home for the day.

A couple other people of note we did not visit today, but seemed interesting:

Simon Bamberger: 4th Governor of Utah.
Thomas Battersby Child. Creator of Gilgal Garden.
Mary M. Wallace: 1st known person to be buried here.
Porter Rockwell. We have seen his cabin down in Eureka.
Heber Manning Wells: Utah's 1st Governor.
Lester Wire: Inventor of the traffic light.
Edward Woods: American Actor.

Several other Governors, Mayors, and other politicians. Full list on Wikipedia (outside link)

There are also a ton of prominent members of the LDS Church, but I really don’t have any interest in any of them.

Fancy old manor (PSP).

The Cathedral of the Madeleine (PSP).

Downtown (PSP).

The Salt Lake Temple under construction (PSP).

Snow capped mountains (PSP).

Well, that ended up being a bigger adventure than we intended, but it was quite informative and fun to learn a little bit of history. Not to mention getting down to the bottom of 2 urban legends! We both love history, and well, cemeteries as well, as is probably evident if you follow my blog. It was a fun little add on adventure, and a little awakening experience.