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History of Mount Hope
The Gazebo at the North Entrance of Mount Hope
Mount Hope Cemetery was established in 1838 in Rochester, NY. It is considered to be America's first rural cemetery, which functioned as a park/art museum back in Victorian times. The cemetery spans over 196 acres of lofty hills, covered with beautiful trees, and valleys carved out by glaciers many years ago. Amongst this picturesque landscape is thousands of marble, granite, and white bronze tombstones, ranging from simple headstones to monolithic obelisks. It has become known for being home to such old but beautiful and ornate tombs. Mount Hope is the final resting place of 350,000+ people, with an average of 500-600 new burials per year. It is also the resting place of some famous people, such as Susan B. Anthony and the founders of Bausch & Lomb.
Helen L. Warren Brown: Beloved Wife
Helen Brown was a life cut too short. She was only 29 years old when she died of typhoid fever in Paris, France on September 26, 1872. She was the wife of G. Bruce Brown. According to Mount Hope's records, she lived in St. Paul and was actually buried in Mount Hope on October 22, 1872. Unfortunately, there are no records of when her birthday was. Her grave is quite ornate. It is a 10 ft tall tombstone complete with an epitaph on the front, a Biblical quote on the back, and a well-detailed statue on top, all made from marble.The sheer size and attention to detail on her tombstone really shows how much her husband really loved and missed his wife when she died.
About the Tombstone
Time to talk about the details of the statue on Helen L. Warren Brown's tombstone. The figure holding the cross is Mary Magdalene, who was a redeemed sinner and the first one to see Jesus Christ resurrected. This could mean redemption or resurrection with salvation from the cross. It should be noted that the figure is wearing draped clothing, which are a sign of sadness and mourning. In the statue's free hand is a wreath of laurel leaves with some holly berries mixed in. A wreath generally means triumph/victory in death, same goes for laurel leaves. The holly berries represent happiness and passion but also death since holly berries are poisonous to ingest, which could allude to the early demise of Brown. Around the bottom of the cross is ivy, which are reminders of eternal life. This next feature is a bit subtle, but at the foot of the figure is a tree stump, which stands for a premature death. In this case, the tree stump alludes to the early death of Brown. On the placards of the tombstone are carvings of different types of flowers.
Most of the flowers are hard to decipher however. The ones that are recognizable are:
- Cultivated Rose- eternal love
- not fully blossomed roses- a life cut too short
- Wild Rose- resurrection
- Anemone- resurrection
- Morning Glory- youth and love
- Evening Primroses- eternal remembrance
- Rosettes with leaves- simplicity, love, and modesty
Also on the back of her tombstone is a quote from Matthew 5:8 "Blessed are the Pure in Heart." This quote alludes to her being so young and pure at the time of her death
The Material Used and Current Condition
The tombstone has a very dirty appearance with traces of white. Upon closer inspection, the material used to create the tomb was marble. The marble used to be white and smooth when it was first erected in 1872. However, weathering has given it a dirty look to it, especially on the epitaph. The surface is no longer smooth, it now has a rough bumpy texture to it, most likely caused from all the years of being exposed to rain.The really dark areas on the epitaph could be caused by lichens, which are plants that love to grow in the dark recesses of the lettering found in most marble tombstones. Fortunately, the tomb is raked 2 on Rahn's Index of Weathering, as the letters on the tomb are still legible but show signs of some damage. 
The are also a few cracks present on the tombstone. The most prominent one is the one pictured above. Judging from how deep the crack looks, it was caused by frost wedging. Frost wedging is when water gets into a little crack and then it freezes and expands, causing the crack to get bigger. Seeing as this tomb is in Rochester, NY, this is no surprise whatsoever.
Different types of gravestone weathering
Restoration
As far as restoration is concerned, it appears that no real restoration has been attempted so far. However, it does look like the statue portion has been kept cleaner than the bottom portion, due to the whiter appearance of the statue compared to the bottom .