Cemetery offers lessons about the past, comfort for the present

BRENT ENGEL
brent.engel@courierpost.com

For Linda Spaun and Rick Florea, Mount Olivet Cemetery is a living part of Hannibal.
The two are board members of the not-for-profit association that oversees the graveyard, and are recruiting volunteers to help the full-time caretaker with upkeep.
The cemetery dates to 1847 and has an estimated 15,000 graves covering 150 acres.
Tombstones feature names of the famous and obscure, rich and poor, young and old and everyone in between.
Relatives of Mark Twain are buried here, as is one of the author’s most infamous characters, “Injun Joe” Douglas.
Another famous occupant is Hannibal native Clarence Gideon, the defendant in the Supreme Court case that required states to provide lawyers for suspects who could not afford counsel.
There’s a monument to Admiral Robert Coontz, but the unassuming tombstone over his nearby grave is no different than those of other military veterans buried here.
“The names read like a history book of Hannibal,” Spaun said. “The monuments are just magnificent. Some of the most beautiful sculpture in Hannibal is in a cemetery.”
“If I go out and look at these stones, each one has a story,” Florea said. “Each one of them has character. You see so many different stones and sizes. Nowadays, most stones are flat.”
One of the more compelling headstones is shaped like the trunk of a tree. It stands more than 10 feet high, and was erected by the wife of William P. Harrison, who died a month after his 76th birthday in 1894.
The graveyard features many family plots and stones that feature the names of children who died before reaching adulthood.
“It’s common to see grandparents, their kids and their kids,” Spaun said. “You can get a pretty good idea of when antibiotics came along, because you didn’t have people dying of pneumonia or an infection.”
Florea marvels at the size of some of the stones.
“The weight is incredible,” he said. “A lot of them were put up with a horse and wagon. They weighed tons.”
Most stones are in good shape, although a few from the 1840s and 1850s have fallen down. They’re not picked up for fear of causing greater damage. Statues, decorations and inscriptions are common.
“We have angels,” Spaun said. “Once in a while, you’ll see a lamb. That’s for a child.”
Inscriptions include “I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness” and “Here we’ll sleep and dream forever ‘mid the roses of God’s rest.”
Unlike many cemeteries, Mount Olivet has few rules, especially when it comes to the size and decorations put on the stones.
“We’re not real strict,” Florea said. “We allow for a little individual feel.”
The one-of-a-kind chapel, which still is used occasionally, features a working 150-year-old pump organ and multi-colored stained glass.
There is one mausoleum and the old entry gate, though unused, stands near Fulton Avenue at what was once the end of the old Hannibal trolley line.
Many people come to Mount Olivet to walk or just get away from it all. They can relax under the shade of huge hard maples and cedars.
“This is a very peaceful place,” Spaun said. “People used to come here for picnics. We wouldn’t think about doing that now.”
Spaun and Florea each have a son buried at Mount Olivet. They say that by looking at the tombstones and seeing the losses suffered by so many other parents from generations past, they’re better able to cope with their losses.
“It’s comforting to see that other people have gone through it before and have gone on,” Spaun said. “Life does go on.
“I get some relief out of it,” Florea said. “I had a letter from my son that I had put on the stone.”
The cemetery is open from daylight to dusk, but is locked at night and a family lives on-site. It is funded from burial lot fees and donations, which can be sent to Mount Olivet Cemetery Association, 2340 Fulton Ave., Hannibal, Mo., 63401.
The big need is for volunteers to do trimming. The caretaker, Bruce Sims, spends most of his time mowing the huge cemetery.
“It takes two weeks to get from one end to the other,” Florea said.
As for ghosts, well, neither Spaun nor Florea have seen any and they haven’t heard any stories about apparitions.
Of course, it could all be a matter of timing.
“I haven’t been here at night,” Spaun said. “We lock the gates.”