FOREST HOME CEMETERY
2405 West Forest Home Avenue
Milwaukee, WI 53215
414.645.2632
Estalbished: 1847
Acres: 200
Official Website
Bella Morte Rating: 5 Tombstones
Forest Home Cemetery, final resting place of some of Milwaukee's most prominent citizens, including Beer Barons Valentin Blatz, Frederick Pabst and Joseph Schlitz, as well as Harley Davidson co-founder William Davidson, five Wisconsin governors, fifteen Milwaukee mayors and a host of lesser-known souls, has been on the Bella Morte list of "Must See" cemeteries for a number of years. This Victorian-style resting ground promised to be a gem. It did not disappoint.
Forest Home began with the 1847 purchase of 67 acres of forested land and softly sloping hills. Mr. Hull, the gentleman from whom the property was purchased, donated an extra five acres for the free interment of impoverished members of the Protestant Episcopal Church, thereby bringing the cemetery property to 72 acres.
The earth of Forest Home was opened to receive its first burial on 3 August, 1850. The deceased was the child of John P. McGregor, one of the individuals who helped to purchase the land for the cemetery. In 1864, approximately 1,200 bodies were exhumed from Milwaukee Cemetery on National Avenue and re-interred at Forest Home. Since that time, the grounds have expanded to their current 200 acres containing winding drives, gardens, trees, ponds, bridges, fountains and, of course, tens of thousands of memorials held sacred to the memory of those whose lives they commemorate.
As with many of the country’s most beautiful burying grounds, Forest Home was designed and developed under the inspiration of Cambridge's stunning Mount Auburn Cemetery. It has been designated an official Milwaukee Landmark and has earned a listing in the National Registry of Historic Places.
Before turning our attention to what we consider the highlights of the cemetery, a word or two regarding the mausoleums, columbaria and chapel are in order.
Forest Home features two community mausoleums. The first we visited was the Halls of History. Finding little information on the structure before our visit, anticipation ran high as we prepared to investigate this combination mausoleum and community education center, the only one of its kind in the country. Unfortunately, our high expectations were less than fulfilled after exploring the building. Upon entering, we were greeted by lovely windows featuring grayscale images from various areas around the city as well as a restful atrium area. The main level had little more to offer, however, containing only the usual marble and wood front crypts with little to distinguish one from the other. A stairway led to the lower level which was highlighted by a fountain and a bronze sculpture of a dove descending above the word "Peace." A central seating area was flanked by displays highlighting the lives and contributions of various former Milwaukee residents whose earthly remains now rest elsewhere on the cemetery grounds. Although an interesting concept, the Halls of History left us uninspired.
Just across the roadway from the Halls of History lies Forest Home's Chapel Gardens Community Mausoleum. An unremarkable complex of open-air mausoleums, Chapel Gardens held our interest only in that it included in-ground tombs with occupants interred directly beneath the pedestrian walks skirting the central structures of the complex. In addition, as the cemetery allows more than just names and dates on the crypt fronts, a number of individuals have memorialized their loved ones with interesting quotes and phrases.
If you visit the cemetery, please take a moment to stop by the Landmark Chapel if it is open. Designed by the architectural firm of Ferry and Clas, construction on the chapel began in 1890 and took two years to complete owing to the attention given to detail. As chapel buildings are often locked during our cemetery explorations, we were delighted to find the doors open. We were further delighted upon seeing the building’s lovely architecture including the two conservatories which flank either side of the main seating area. In addition to abundant tropical foliage, one of the conservatories contained a beautiful and extremely rare sleigh hearse. Quite a find!
Back outside, the lure of the grounds' beauty entices visitors to explore the monuments and memorials which dot the landscape. One rather unusual place of commemoration you may wish to include in your explorations is the Sunset Garden. Although this "garden" appears at first glance to be nothing more than a wooden gazebo, the large bronze plaques with rows of engraved names which adorn two sides of the structure may give you pause, as they did us. Upon closer inspection the "garden" beneath the gazebo roof reveals itself to be a sort of charnel house for cremated remains. Scattered beneath a protective grid of fencing lie the mortal remnants of the individuals whose names are listed on the aforementioned "garden" plaques. Although not in use at the time of our mid-spring visit, metal brackets lining the interior of the Sunset Garden seem to indicate it may feature planter boxes later in the season. This unique resting place is the first of its kind we have encountered in all our years of cemetery exploration.
In regard to monuments, Forest Home possesses great riches. There are too many remarkable memorials to comment on them all, thus, we will address only a handful here.
The cemetery is probably best known for the Beer Barons who chose it to memorialize their lives and the lives of their families. Of these, none did so in more grandiose style than Valentin Blatz (1826-1894). The massive, fortress-like Blatz mausoleum was constructed from more than 500 tons of granite and features a marble interior, which, unfortunately, cannot be viewed from the structure's exterior. Crowned with impressive planting urns, imposing pedestal columns to either side of the granite stairs each bear a name: "Kremer" to the left (Blatz' oldest daughter married John Kremer of the Milwaukee Oleograph Company) and "Kletzch" to the right (Blatz' wife, Minna's, maiden name). The Blatz name is carved on the lintel above the tomb's bronze gates and sealed doors. Intricate carvings adorn the building in various areas, but always in an understated, elegant way which serves only to add to the monument's imposing grandeur.
Directly across from the Blatz monolith stands the Joseph Schlitz (1831-1875) cenotaph. Soaring magnificently above the surrounding landscape, the figure of a woman, left arm raised to the sky, crowns this impressive tribute to Schlitz. Although many members of the Schlitz family are buried at this site, Schlitz himself is not. On 7 May, 1875, while on a trip to his German homeland, Schlitz' ship struck a rock along the foreboding Atlantic coast near Land's End in Cornwall. Schlitz' body was never recovered. A panel on the side of the Schlitz stone depicts the ill-fated ship and bears the simple inscription "Lost May 7, 1875." Those interred around the Schlitz family monument include Georg Carl August Ühlein, who, along with his brothers, took over the management of the Schlitz Brewery upon the drowning death of Joseph Schlitz. Ironically, in 1850, at 8 years of age, Ühlein survived a fire and the eventual mid-Atlantic sinking of the S.S. Helene Schlomann on his way from Germany to Milwaukee.
Completing the triangular placement of the Beer Baron's monuments, the stunning but sadly disintegrating Pabst family memorial lies a stones throw from the Blatz and Schlitz monuments. Beneath the engraved inscription "To the Memory of Our Beloved," a grieving female figure leans against a central column, her head bowed. A spray of palms and laurel wreaths lies on the stairs at her feet. Her left arm is missing from just above the wrist. Her right hand is fingerless. Whether the result of vandalism or the ravages of weather and time, this damage does not, in itself, signal the undoing of this magnificent sculpture. Rather, the soft stone from which it was carved will prove the monument's eventual downfall. Given the degree of wear already evident on the memorial, it is doubtful anything could be done to save the piece. A pity the sculpture was not cast in bronze or carved from granite. Unless conservators can somehow halt the disintegration, the stunning Pabst monument will, in time, be lost. An interesting side note: The Pabst Mansion in Milwaukee was designed by Milwaukee architect, George Bowman Ferry, one half of the duo responsible for the design of Forest Home's Landmark Chapel, discussed earlier in this review.
Other monuments in the cemetery which should not be missed include the Fitch memorial which features a stunning seated bronze angel who gazes contemplatively across the grounds. In addition to the Fitch monument, Section 2 contains many other stones, sculptures and memorials to delight the visitor, including the Chaintron mausoleum and the Chapman and Schroeder angels.
Elsewhere on the grounds lies the tomb of William Davidson, co-founder of the Harley-Davidson motorcycle company. The Davidson Family Monument is attractive and certainly not over-done considering what the family fortune would have allowed. Davidson's small marker, one of a number that rest beneath the larger family stone, is frequently visited by motorcycle enthusiasts who come to pay their respects and leave gifts of flowers and trinkets. (Co-founder William S. Harley is interred at Milwaukee's totally un-inspiring Holy Cross Cemetery).
Tinseltown devotees may wish to visit the graves of actress Lynn Fontanne and her actor-husband of 55 years, Alfred Lunt. The inscription on the A.D. Lunt monument reads:
Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne were universally regarded as the greatest
acting team in the history of the English speaking theatre. They were married
for 55 years and were inseparable both on and off the stage.
The memorial to the victims of the 10 January, 1883 Newhall House fire should also be included in your visit to the grounds. Designed by Henry Ogden, the monument consists of a 26 foot octagonal tower which terminates, appropriately, in flames. The names of seventy-one of the Newhall House fire victims are engraved on a series of twelve granite plaques which ring the base of the memorial. Please visit our listing for Calvary Cemetery to read more about the Newhall House disaster and to learn about the memorial to the Catholic dead on the Calvary Cemetery grounds.
When visiting Forest Home, make certain not to miss the smaller section of the cemetery that lies across Cleveland Avenue. This area can be accessed directly from the cemetery by crossing a bridge that spans Cleveland Avenue or by a lower roadway that actually crosses the avenue. For us, the highlights of this section were the unusual monument to one Edward Lieber and the Sonja Zigic memorial.
To date, we have been unable to learn anything about Mr. Lieber; however, his large tombstone -- which appears to depict the deceased standing with his hat tucked under his arm while a female figure we suspect may be his mother, watches from the doorway and an angel hovers above-- definitely caught our attention. In addition to the aforementioned depiction on the front of the stone, the back features an engraving which appears to be a Pope sitting beside an old testament figure or, perhaps, God "Himself." The two figures sit beneath a cross and the Keys of Saint Peter while an angel watches from above.
Finally, this area of the cemetery also contains a tribute to Sonja Zigic, a young woman who died at the age of 16. The elaborate memorial features a near life-size bronze sculpture of Sonja seated atop a large black granite base. The granite base features a photo of Sonja on the front and this inscription:
29 October, 1971 - 27 July, 1988
My Father watches o'er me, His eye is never dim
at morn, at noon, at twilight, I safely trust in him
A much larger inscription on the side of the monument reads as follows:
In Memory of Sonja
God blessed the world with Sonja and made so many see
that strength is not just for soldiers. Nor is bravery.
Her heart was filled with courage and her spirit undaunted by pain.
She lived with untold sorrows and dreams she’d never obtain.
Uncomplaining and understanding, she lived each day as her last.
Her loved ones felt a great emptiness when her soul untimely passed.
God did not forget that she fought so fervently.
She is blessed with peace and free from pain so deservingly.
In honor of her life and the battle that she fought, I humbly ask
you to allow me to leave you with one thought. No blessing is greater
than a child whose eyes can see so clearly that life is love and
sharing it with those we hold so dearly.
Sonja’s love lives forever on…
By Peggy A. Mills…1988
Although Ms. Mills is not the reincarnation of Shelley, her tribute to Sonja still touched us.
There is, of course, much more to be seen and discovered at Forest Home, yet our purpose here is not to describe each detail. Rather, it is our hope that our brief literary and photographic preview will whet your appetite sufficiently to encourage you to plan a visit to this exceptional American burying ground. If you live in the Milwaukee area and have not taken the time to explore Forest Home, we strongly encourage you to do so. If you live outside the Milwaukee area, as we do, know that your journey to Forest Home will be sweetly rewarded.
{G}
2405 West Forest Home Avenue
Milwaukee, WI 53215
414.645.2632
Estalbished: 1847
Acres: 200
Official Website
Bella Morte Rating: 5 Tombstones
Forest Home Cemetery, final resting place of some of Milwaukee's most prominent citizens, including Beer Barons Valentin Blatz, Frederick Pabst and Joseph Schlitz, as well as Harley Davidson co-founder William Davidson, five Wisconsin governors, fifteen Milwaukee mayors and a host of lesser-known souls, has been on the Bella Morte list of "Must See" cemeteries for a number of years. This Victorian-style resting ground promised to be a gem. It did not disappoint.
Forest Home began with the 1847 purchase of 67 acres of forested land and softly sloping hills. Mr. Hull, the gentleman from whom the property was purchased, donated an extra five acres for the free interment of impoverished members of the Protestant Episcopal Church, thereby bringing the cemetery property to 72 acres.
The earth of Forest Home was opened to receive its first burial on 3 August, 1850. The deceased was the child of John P. McGregor, one of the individuals who helped to purchase the land for the cemetery. In 1864, approximately 1,200 bodies were exhumed from Milwaukee Cemetery on National Avenue and re-interred at Forest Home. Since that time, the grounds have expanded to their current 200 acres containing winding drives, gardens, trees, ponds, bridges, fountains and, of course, tens of thousands of memorials held sacred to the memory of those whose lives they commemorate.
As with many of the country’s most beautiful burying grounds, Forest Home was designed and developed under the inspiration of Cambridge's stunning Mount Auburn Cemetery. It has been designated an official Milwaukee Landmark and has earned a listing in the National Registry of Historic Places.
Before turning our attention to what we consider the highlights of the cemetery, a word or two regarding the mausoleums, columbaria and chapel are in order.
Forest Home features two community mausoleums. The first we visited was the Halls of History. Finding little information on the structure before our visit, anticipation ran high as we prepared to investigate this combination mausoleum and community education center, the only one of its kind in the country. Unfortunately, our high expectations were less than fulfilled after exploring the building. Upon entering, we were greeted by lovely windows featuring grayscale images from various areas around the city as well as a restful atrium area. The main level had little more to offer, however, containing only the usual marble and wood front crypts with little to distinguish one from the other. A stairway led to the lower level which was highlighted by a fountain and a bronze sculpture of a dove descending above the word "Peace." A central seating area was flanked by displays highlighting the lives and contributions of various former Milwaukee residents whose earthly remains now rest elsewhere on the cemetery grounds. Although an interesting concept, the Halls of History left us uninspired.
Just across the roadway from the Halls of History lies Forest Home's Chapel Gardens Community Mausoleum. An unremarkable complex of open-air mausoleums, Chapel Gardens held our interest only in that it included in-ground tombs with occupants interred directly beneath the pedestrian walks skirting the central structures of the complex. In addition, as the cemetery allows more than just names and dates on the crypt fronts, a number of individuals have memorialized their loved ones with interesting quotes and phrases.
If you visit the cemetery, please take a moment to stop by the Landmark Chapel if it is open. Designed by the architectural firm of Ferry and Clas, construction on the chapel began in 1890 and took two years to complete owing to the attention given to detail. As chapel buildings are often locked during our cemetery explorations, we were delighted to find the doors open. We were further delighted upon seeing the building’s lovely architecture including the two conservatories which flank either side of the main seating area. In addition to abundant tropical foliage, one of the conservatories contained a beautiful and extremely rare sleigh hearse. Quite a find!
Back outside, the lure of the grounds' beauty entices visitors to explore the monuments and memorials which dot the landscape. One rather unusual place of commemoration you may wish to include in your explorations is the Sunset Garden. Although this "garden" appears at first glance to be nothing more than a wooden gazebo, the large bronze plaques with rows of engraved names which adorn two sides of the structure may give you pause, as they did us. Upon closer inspection the "garden" beneath the gazebo roof reveals itself to be a sort of charnel house for cremated remains. Scattered beneath a protective grid of fencing lie the mortal remnants of the individuals whose names are listed on the aforementioned "garden" plaques. Although not in use at the time of our mid-spring visit, metal brackets lining the interior of the Sunset Garden seem to indicate it may feature planter boxes later in the season. This unique resting place is the first of its kind we have encountered in all our years of cemetery exploration.
In regard to monuments, Forest Home possesses great riches. There are too many remarkable memorials to comment on them all, thus, we will address only a handful here.
The cemetery is probably best known for the Beer Barons who chose it to memorialize their lives and the lives of their families. Of these, none did so in more grandiose style than Valentin Blatz (1826-1894). The massive, fortress-like Blatz mausoleum was constructed from more than 500 tons of granite and features a marble interior, which, unfortunately, cannot be viewed from the structure's exterior. Crowned with impressive planting urns, imposing pedestal columns to either side of the granite stairs each bear a name: "Kremer" to the left (Blatz' oldest daughter married John Kremer of the Milwaukee Oleograph Company) and "Kletzch" to the right (Blatz' wife, Minna's, maiden name). The Blatz name is carved on the lintel above the tomb's bronze gates and sealed doors. Intricate carvings adorn the building in various areas, but always in an understated, elegant way which serves only to add to the monument's imposing grandeur.
Directly across from the Blatz monolith stands the Joseph Schlitz (1831-1875) cenotaph. Soaring magnificently above the surrounding landscape, the figure of a woman, left arm raised to the sky, crowns this impressive tribute to Schlitz. Although many members of the Schlitz family are buried at this site, Schlitz himself is not. On 7 May, 1875, while on a trip to his German homeland, Schlitz' ship struck a rock along the foreboding Atlantic coast near Land's End in Cornwall. Schlitz' body was never recovered. A panel on the side of the Schlitz stone depicts the ill-fated ship and bears the simple inscription "Lost May 7, 1875." Those interred around the Schlitz family monument include Georg Carl August Ühlein, who, along with his brothers, took over the management of the Schlitz Brewery upon the drowning death of Joseph Schlitz. Ironically, in 1850, at 8 years of age, Ühlein survived a fire and the eventual mid-Atlantic sinking of the S.S. Helene Schlomann on his way from Germany to Milwaukee.
Completing the triangular placement of the Beer Baron's monuments, the stunning but sadly disintegrating Pabst family memorial lies a stones throw from the Blatz and Schlitz monuments. Beneath the engraved inscription "To the Memory of Our Beloved," a grieving female figure leans against a central column, her head bowed. A spray of palms and laurel wreaths lies on the stairs at her feet. Her left arm is missing from just above the wrist. Her right hand is fingerless. Whether the result of vandalism or the ravages of weather and time, this damage does not, in itself, signal the undoing of this magnificent sculpture. Rather, the soft stone from which it was carved will prove the monument's eventual downfall. Given the degree of wear already evident on the memorial, it is doubtful anything could be done to save the piece. A pity the sculpture was not cast in bronze or carved from granite. Unless conservators can somehow halt the disintegration, the stunning Pabst monument will, in time, be lost. An interesting side note: The Pabst Mansion in Milwaukee was designed by Milwaukee architect, George Bowman Ferry, one half of the duo responsible for the design of Forest Home's Landmark Chapel, discussed earlier in this review.
Other monuments in the cemetery which should not be missed include the Fitch memorial which features a stunning seated bronze angel who gazes contemplatively across the grounds. In addition to the Fitch monument, Section 2 contains many other stones, sculptures and memorials to delight the visitor, including the Chaintron mausoleum and the Chapman and Schroeder angels.
Elsewhere on the grounds lies the tomb of William Davidson, co-founder of the Harley-Davidson motorcycle company. The Davidson Family Monument is attractive and certainly not over-done considering what the family fortune would have allowed. Davidson's small marker, one of a number that rest beneath the larger family stone, is frequently visited by motorcycle enthusiasts who come to pay their respects and leave gifts of flowers and trinkets. (Co-founder William S. Harley is interred at Milwaukee's totally un-inspiring Holy Cross Cemetery).
Tinseltown devotees may wish to visit the graves of actress Lynn Fontanne and her actor-husband of 55 years, Alfred Lunt. The inscription on the A.D. Lunt monument reads:
Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne were universally regarded as the greatest
acting team in the history of the English speaking theatre. They were married
for 55 years and were inseparable both on and off the stage.
The memorial to the victims of the 10 January, 1883 Newhall House fire should also be included in your visit to the grounds. Designed by Henry Ogden, the monument consists of a 26 foot octagonal tower which terminates, appropriately, in flames. The names of seventy-one of the Newhall House fire victims are engraved on a series of twelve granite plaques which ring the base of the memorial. Please visit our listing for Calvary Cemetery to read more about the Newhall House disaster and to learn about the memorial to the Catholic dead on the Calvary Cemetery grounds.
When visiting Forest Home, make certain not to miss the smaller section of the cemetery that lies across Cleveland Avenue. This area can be accessed directly from the cemetery by crossing a bridge that spans Cleveland Avenue or by a lower roadway that actually crosses the avenue. For us, the highlights of this section were the unusual monument to one Edward Lieber and the Sonja Zigic memorial.
To date, we have been unable to learn anything about Mr. Lieber; however, his large tombstone -- which appears to depict the deceased standing with his hat tucked under his arm while a female figure we suspect may be his mother, watches from the doorway and an angel hovers above-- definitely caught our attention. In addition to the aforementioned depiction on the front of the stone, the back features an engraving which appears to be a Pope sitting beside an old testament figure or, perhaps, God "Himself." The two figures sit beneath a cross and the Keys of Saint Peter while an angel watches from above.
Finally, this area of the cemetery also contains a tribute to Sonja Zigic, a young woman who died at the age of 16. The elaborate memorial features a near life-size bronze sculpture of Sonja seated atop a large black granite base. The granite base features a photo of Sonja on the front and this inscription:
29 October, 1971 - 27 July, 1988
My Father watches o'er me, His eye is never dim
at morn, at noon, at twilight, I safely trust in him
A much larger inscription on the side of the monument reads as follows:
In Memory of Sonja
God blessed the world with Sonja and made so many see
that strength is not just for soldiers. Nor is bravery.
Her heart was filled with courage and her spirit undaunted by pain.
She lived with untold sorrows and dreams she’d never obtain.
Uncomplaining and understanding, she lived each day as her last.
Her loved ones felt a great emptiness when her soul untimely passed.
God did not forget that she fought so fervently.
She is blessed with peace and free from pain so deservingly.
In honor of her life and the battle that she fought, I humbly ask
you to allow me to leave you with one thought. No blessing is greater
than a child whose eyes can see so clearly that life is love and
sharing it with those we hold so dearly.
Sonja’s love lives forever on…
By Peggy A. Mills…1988
Although Ms. Mills is not the reincarnation of Shelley, her tribute to Sonja still touched us.
There is, of course, much more to be seen and discovered at Forest Home, yet our purpose here is not to describe each detail. Rather, it is our hope that our brief literary and photographic preview will whet your appetite sufficiently to encourage you to plan a visit to this exceptional American burying ground. If you live in the Milwaukee area and have not taken the time to explore Forest Home, we strongly encourage you to do so. If you live outside the Milwaukee area, as we do, know that your journey to Forest Home will be sweetly rewarded.
{G}