Mountain Grove Cemetery LbNA #52324 (ARCHIVED)
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Add Location| Owner: | N/A |
|---|---|
| Plant date: | Mar 1, 2010 |
| Location: | |
| City: | Bridgeport |
| County: | Fairfield |
| State: | Connecticut |
| Boxes: | 4 |
| Planted by: | Paws18
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|---|---|
| Found by: | The 3 Cheeses (4) |
| Last found: | Apr 10, 2011 |
| Status: | FFFFFFFFFFFFaa |
| Last edited: | Mar 1, 2010 |
** Please note, the boxes have been taken in for the winter. I want to repair the boxes. I will put them back out in the spring**
Welcome to Mountain Grove cemetery located on the corner of North Avenue and Dewey Street. This is a classic example of a rural cemetery which was designed to be a "get away" from the crowded cities, rural cemeteries were designed with gardens, rolling hills, winding roads, and ponds. Mountain Grove is one of the most beautiful cemeteries I've ever come across and is also the resting place of Charles Sherwood Stratton “Tom Thumb” and Phineas T Barnum “P.T. Barnum”!
Legendary 19th Century American showman and circus promoter. Best remembered for founding the first modern three-ring circus, which also would eventually became the biggest and most important circus in the world, the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus. After failing in business, he started a religious-oriented weekly newspaper, “The Herald of Freedom,” in Danbury in 1829, he moved to New York City in 1834, where he began his career as a showman. In 1835, he started this new venture with the purchase and exploitation of a blind and elderly black slave woman, Joice Heth, reputed to have been the nurse of George Washington, and to be over a hundred and sixty years old. After his success with Heth, Barnum joined up with the Aaron Turner Traveling Circus, bringing with him a Negro juggler and singer. Following the failure of his touring show, he purchased Scudder's American Museum, New York, in 1841. He added considerably to the museum’s attractions, and it became one of the most popular shows in the United States. He made a special hit by the exhibition, in 1842, of the famous midget Charles Stratton, the celebrated “General Tom Thumb.” A remarkable instance of his enterprise was the engagement of the renowned “Swedish Nightingale,” soprano Jenny Lind, for a singing tour of the U.S. for the then-unheard-of salary of $1,000 a night for one hundred and fifty nights, all expenses being paid by Barnum. The tour began in 1850. Another major Barnum attraction of the period was Chang and Eng Bunker, the original Siamese (conjoined) twins. Barnum retired from the show business in 1855, but had to settle with his creditors in 1857, and resumed his old career again as showman and museum proprietor. In Brooklyn, New York in 1871, he established the "Greatest Show on Earth," a traveling amalgamation of circus, menagerie and museum of "freaks” which became the first modern three-ring circus. In 1881 he merged with James Bailey to create the Barnum & Bailey Circus, which toured around the world. The show's primary attraction was Jumbo, an African elephant he purchased from the London Zoo. Years after his death on April 7, 1891, his circus was sold to Ringling Brothers to form what would become the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus. Barnum wrote several books, including “The Humbugs of the World” (1865), “Struggles and Triumphs” (1869), and two autobiographies.
Charles Stratton: Circus Performer. Without question the most famous midget in history. Phineas T. Barnum discovered him, named him "General Tom Thumb" and made him a success, in 1842. When Charles Stratton was born, he was a large baby, weighing a little over nine pounds. He developed normally for a while, reaching 15 pounds and two feet, one inch in length by five months of age, then his growth stopped. By age five he had not grown an inch more, but otherwise he was a completely normal child. His 1863 wedding to Lavinia Warren was the most celebrated marriage of its time, and was performed in front of two thousand guests (even President and Mrs. Lincoln sent gifts). His final height was three feet four inches. The Statue of him, on top of his headstone, is 'Lifesize.
The hunt for these letterboxes is a little different. Most times you park your car somewhere and walk or hike to find the letterboxes. To hunt for these you’ll want to take your car as the letterboxes are all over the cemetery.
To Start:
Letter Box # 1
Enter through the big iron gates. Drive straight ahead till you come to an intersection, straight ahead you will see a head stone named William Seeley and off to the right you will see the head stone Jennings with an oxidize deer on top. Bear right, so the deer will be on your left side. Go straight ahead through 4 trees (two on each side) follow the road as it curves around the hill taking note of the “in hill mausoleum”. Look for William B Hincks (Civil War Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient) mausoleum letterbox #1 (Piece of Cake) will be to the left of the door under the tree and in the wall at the bottom .
Letter Box # 2
Continue following the road, you will notice that is very bumpy. When you come to the intersection take a left and follow the road you will see some more in hill mausoleum on the left, follow the road that goes up a steep curvy hill continue following the road. You will pass several set of stairs on your left, look for a set of stairs that lead to a family head stone Mallory. Stop and park here. Look to the left for the evergreen tree with a lot of bases intertwining each other. Letterbox #2 (New Life Begins) is to the left under the brush. If you go during the spring you can see some birds nest.
Letter Box # 3 (Wild turkeys like this area, please becareful)
Back in your car, take a right and follow the road straight, keep going straight through the intersection, you will see up on the hill on your right side a Stone Arch with the name Bishop on it (He was a US Congressman for Connecticut). At the end of road, take a left and then a right. Follow the road as it goes between sections 5 & 7. Take the next right you will see on the right side family head stones named Comstock & Tichenor. Follow the road to the left and park. Walk towards the chain link blocking the road, go around the chain link to the right and keep heading towards the woods. You will see a headstone that comes to a point with the name Benjamin on it. Go behind it, past some rocks in the left and through two trees on the right you will see 3 skinny evergreen trees. Look for a big tree with 3 tan rocks in front of it. (If you’re in the right section, you will see an older section of the cemetery and a head stone that says Daniel G. Wheeler). Looking at the big tree off to the right you will see a skinny tree that was starting to fall, before it got caught by a branch of the big tree. Letterbox #3 (Pot of Gold) will be at the base of the fallen tree. (When the sun hits this section just right, it looks very golden)
Letter Box # 4
Back in the car continue down the road. Follow the road to the left and continue going straight till you see the head stone of Henry W. Chatfield and Elizabeth Brooks (one headstone two names). Take a left and park. Get out of the car and walk down the road you were just on (before you took the left and parked). As you walk down the road, you’ll see some faded headstones to your right walking down the road, look for the family headstone Watson on the left side of the road. Directly across the road and towards the woods/swamp (in the background you’ll see 95 interstate), you will see tree with a big base and two section of the tree. Letterbox #4 (Little Chick-a-Dee) is located in the base of the tree in front on the left side. If you’re lucky, you might see some little birds playing.
To leave the cemetery: you’ll see a big tree ahead of where you just parked. Drive past to the tree so it’s on your right side. This road will get you back out to North Avenue.
On a side note this same road you’re on to get out of the cemetery, you will pass the grave sites of “Tom Thumb” & “P.T Barnum” As you start to head down the road, look towards your left, you will see Tom Thumb monument. It’s a white monument with his life size figurine on top of it. The name on the front will say Stratton. P.T Barnum is down the road little on the right side. His monument is gray, with a stone fence around it. On the front it says Barnum and in the spring & summer has flowers all around it.
Welcome to Mountain Grove cemetery located on the corner of North Avenue and Dewey Street. This is a classic example of a rural cemetery which was designed to be a "get away" from the crowded cities, rural cemeteries were designed with gardens, rolling hills, winding roads, and ponds. Mountain Grove is one of the most beautiful cemeteries I've ever come across and is also the resting place of Charles Sherwood Stratton “Tom Thumb” and Phineas T Barnum “P.T. Barnum”!
Legendary 19th Century American showman and circus promoter. Best remembered for founding the first modern three-ring circus, which also would eventually became the biggest and most important circus in the world, the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus. After failing in business, he started a religious-oriented weekly newspaper, “The Herald of Freedom,” in Danbury in 1829, he moved to New York City in 1834, where he began his career as a showman. In 1835, he started this new venture with the purchase and exploitation of a blind and elderly black slave woman, Joice Heth, reputed to have been the nurse of George Washington, and to be over a hundred and sixty years old. After his success with Heth, Barnum joined up with the Aaron Turner Traveling Circus, bringing with him a Negro juggler and singer. Following the failure of his touring show, he purchased Scudder's American Museum, New York, in 1841. He added considerably to the museum’s attractions, and it became one of the most popular shows in the United States. He made a special hit by the exhibition, in 1842, of the famous midget Charles Stratton, the celebrated “General Tom Thumb.” A remarkable instance of his enterprise was the engagement of the renowned “Swedish Nightingale,” soprano Jenny Lind, for a singing tour of the U.S. for the then-unheard-of salary of $1,000 a night for one hundred and fifty nights, all expenses being paid by Barnum. The tour began in 1850. Another major Barnum attraction of the period was Chang and Eng Bunker, the original Siamese (conjoined) twins. Barnum retired from the show business in 1855, but had to settle with his creditors in 1857, and resumed his old career again as showman and museum proprietor. In Brooklyn, New York in 1871, he established the "Greatest Show on Earth," a traveling amalgamation of circus, menagerie and museum of "freaks” which became the first modern three-ring circus. In 1881 he merged with James Bailey to create the Barnum & Bailey Circus, which toured around the world. The show's primary attraction was Jumbo, an African elephant he purchased from the London Zoo. Years after his death on April 7, 1891, his circus was sold to Ringling Brothers to form what would become the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus. Barnum wrote several books, including “The Humbugs of the World” (1865), “Struggles and Triumphs” (1869), and two autobiographies.
Charles Stratton: Circus Performer. Without question the most famous midget in history. Phineas T. Barnum discovered him, named him "General Tom Thumb" and made him a success, in 1842. When Charles Stratton was born, he was a large baby, weighing a little over nine pounds. He developed normally for a while, reaching 15 pounds and two feet, one inch in length by five months of age, then his growth stopped. By age five he had not grown an inch more, but otherwise he was a completely normal child. His 1863 wedding to Lavinia Warren was the most celebrated marriage of its time, and was performed in front of two thousand guests (even President and Mrs. Lincoln sent gifts). His final height was three feet four inches. The Statue of him, on top of his headstone, is 'Lifesize.
The hunt for these letterboxes is a little different. Most times you park your car somewhere and walk or hike to find the letterboxes. To hunt for these you’ll want to take your car as the letterboxes are all over the cemetery.
To Start:
Letter Box # 1
Enter through the big iron gates. Drive straight ahead till you come to an intersection, straight ahead you will see a head stone named William Seeley and off to the right you will see the head stone Jennings with an oxidize deer on top. Bear right, so the deer will be on your left side. Go straight ahead through 4 trees (two on each side) follow the road as it curves around the hill taking note of the “in hill mausoleum”. Look for William B Hincks (Civil War Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient) mausoleum letterbox #1 (Piece of Cake) will be to the left of the door under the tree and in the wall at the bottom .
Letter Box # 2
Continue following the road, you will notice that is very bumpy. When you come to the intersection take a left and follow the road you will see some more in hill mausoleum on the left, follow the road that goes up a steep curvy hill continue following the road. You will pass several set of stairs on your left, look for a set of stairs that lead to a family head stone Mallory. Stop and park here. Look to the left for the evergreen tree with a lot of bases intertwining each other. Letterbox #2 (New Life Begins) is to the left under the brush. If you go during the spring you can see some birds nest.
Letter Box # 3 (Wild turkeys like this area, please becareful)
Back in your car, take a right and follow the road straight, keep going straight through the intersection, you will see up on the hill on your right side a Stone Arch with the name Bishop on it (He was a US Congressman for Connecticut). At the end of road, take a left and then a right. Follow the road as it goes between sections 5 & 7. Take the next right you will see on the right side family head stones named Comstock & Tichenor. Follow the road to the left and park. Walk towards the chain link blocking the road, go around the chain link to the right and keep heading towards the woods. You will see a headstone that comes to a point with the name Benjamin on it. Go behind it, past some rocks in the left and through two trees on the right you will see 3 skinny evergreen trees. Look for a big tree with 3 tan rocks in front of it. (If you’re in the right section, you will see an older section of the cemetery and a head stone that says Daniel G. Wheeler). Looking at the big tree off to the right you will see a skinny tree that was starting to fall, before it got caught by a branch of the big tree. Letterbox #3 (Pot of Gold) will be at the base of the fallen tree. (When the sun hits this section just right, it looks very golden)
Letter Box # 4
Back in the car continue down the road. Follow the road to the left and continue going straight till you see the head stone of Henry W. Chatfield and Elizabeth Brooks (one headstone two names). Take a left and park. Get out of the car and walk down the road you were just on (before you took the left and parked). As you walk down the road, you’ll see some faded headstones to your right walking down the road, look for the family headstone Watson on the left side of the road. Directly across the road and towards the woods/swamp (in the background you’ll see 95 interstate), you will see tree with a big base and two section of the tree. Letterbox #4 (Little Chick-a-Dee) is located in the base of the tree in front on the left side. If you’re lucky, you might see some little birds playing.
To leave the cemetery: you’ll see a big tree ahead of where you just parked. Drive past to the tree so it’s on your right side. This road will get you back out to North Avenue.
On a side note this same road you’re on to get out of the cemetery, you will pass the grave sites of “Tom Thumb” & “P.T Barnum” As you start to head down the road, look towards your left, you will see Tom Thumb monument. It’s a white monument with his life size figurine on top of it. The name on the front will say Stratton. P.T Barnum is down the road little on the right side. His monument is gray, with a stone fence around it. On the front it says Barnum and in the spring & summer has flowers all around it.