NOLA Burial & Necropolis 010 - Jefferson Fire Company #22

Please click on the images for larger, more-detailed versions.

The Jefferson Fire Company No. 22 crypt is one of four or five firemen group tombs in Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 The Lafayette Hook and Ladder Co. No. 1 and The Chalmette Fire Co. No. 32 are also in attendance. The writing on the relief of the pump reads: Incorporated April 27 A.D. 1845- Ready at the First Sound.

A lot of filming happens in this cemetery.

I was only inconvienced a little bit.

NOLA Burial & Necropolis 009 - Colored Crypt

Please click on the images for larger, more-detailed versions.

"One of these things is not like the others,
One of these things just doesn't belong,
Can you tell which thing is not like the others
By the time I finish my song?"

This crypt is an interesting splash of color in the otherwise whitewashed Lafayette Cemetery No.1. I'm very surprised there isn't more of this here.

Columnar markers are common in the New Orleans cemeteries. Most indicate "societies" and "associations" to which the deceased belonged. I need to do some research and make a post about these.
Note how long ago these people died. It's good to see that someone is keeping up on the maintenance of the tomb.

NOLA Burial & Necropolis 008 - Bread Oven

Please click on the image for a larger, more-detailed version.

Hey, when I die, will you do me a favor and bury me in a bread oven?
Then bury my dog beneath me.

KTHNXBAI

NOLA Burial & Necropolis 006 - Embedded Marker

Please click on the image for a larger, more-detailed version.
Just, you know, put stuff anywhere!
It's only a sacred marker for someone's mother's final resting place!

NOLA Burial & Necropolis 005 - Almost

Please click on the image for a larger, more-detailed version.

...Almost a Saint.
I don't know if that means "nearly canonized" or "big and or tough enough to be on the local NFL team". They grow 'em pretty big in NOLA. Anyway, you might recognize the last name from the Mamaw Nice Lady post. This is a fun burial spot. Death is often taken lightly way down yonder.

NOLA Burial & Necropolis 004 - Donated Remains

Please click on the image for a larger, more-detailed version.

Every time I look at this marker, I envision random body parts buried randomly about this field- not too deep, maybe wrapped in something flimsy or some old gauze. An arm here or a leg there... pile of guts, maybe...

Then I read this on NOLACemeteries.com:

"Charity Hospital Cemetery was established in 1847. It is is a mass grave for all of the poor of New Orleans. Thousands of patients without money or relatives have been buried in unmarked graves for almost 150 years. Most of the burials were from the Yellow Fever and Malaria epidemics that ravaged the city. The cemetery is never open and has a large iron fence with “No Trespassing” signs and barbed wire. In 1989, a monument was erected by the Tulane and L.S.U. Medical Schools to thank the people who donated their bodies to science. The cemetery is now closed and bodies that would have gone to the cemetery will now be cremated. The reason for the cemetery closure is because dogs got into the cemetery and dug up body parts, hence the chain-link fence and barbed wire."

You can not out-absurd New Orleans, no matter how hard you try.

NOLA Burial & Necropolis 003 - Nice Lady

Please click on the image for a larger, more-detailed version.
My understanding here is that Mamaw...was a nice lady.

And that her great grandchild designed her flower-holder.
Very sweet.

This is in a Cemetery at Canal / City Park. I think it's St. Patrick No. 1, but I'm not sure.

NOLA Burial & Necropolis 002 - Jazz Funeral / Odd Fellow's Rest

Please click on the image for a larger, more-detailed version.

I will admit that this is not a terribly pleasing photograph.
For unbelievably gorgeous photos from this cemetery, please visit NOLACemeteries.com.

The asymmetry in the iron work is due to vandalism. You can see the symbols of the "benevolent society" known as The Independent Order of Odd Fellows. They are: the mother and her children, a beehive, the Bible, the cornucopia, the world, the eye of the Deity, the five-pointed stars, the initials "I.O. of O.F."


I'm sure you thought Odd Fellow's Rest was just a great Crowbar album. It is that.
But more importantly, in the days before trade unions or our sickeningly inefficient, corrupt welfare state, people in this country properly achieved things they might not normally afford with charities and Co-ops like the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (or Oddfellows in the U.K. where it was founded in 1730). The I.O.O.F. is a "benevolent society" wherein members pool portions of income to help other members in need while providing benefits and services to all members. This is not to be confused with organizations like the Freemasons, K of C or New Orleans' famous Krewes. The I.O.O.F. is, however decidedly Christian and patriotic.

But that system started going away once Huey Long came along in the late 20s and now "Every man is a king". Well, we see what the entitlement mentality did for NOLAs needy after Katrina. But that is for another post.

I presume the word "odd" here means "random" or "varied" and not "people who look like Tiny Tim."

One of the services provided by the IOOF is burial after death. Not only is burial cost covered, but the relationships fostered with your community (often through charity work) and others who are reached and helped by these societies usually means that a fair number of people are affected when you die.

This provides for a large turnout for your funeral. In New Orleans, they have what are called Jazz Funerals. In short, Jazz Funerals involve the presence of a musical group. A brass band or dixieland jazz ensemble are often used. They play slow, somber music as the casket is carried to its final resting place. The procession is done in a walking dance called a second line, or second lining. Once the casket is interred, the whole group turns around and dances away from the burial site with loud, happy, celebratory music. After all, we're celebrating a life, not mourning its end, right? High standing in the IOOF or any other society will give you a large and impressive second line at your final march.

If you are unfamiliar with this custom, please spend six minutes watching this amazing video. This is a real Jazz funeral, not a made-for-TV jazz funeral. It doesn't get really fun until about 1/ 2 way in. Dig the black parasol.



I've only seen one jazz funeral and it was nothing like this. When people talk about "preserving the culture of New Orleans" they're not talking about the viability of Zatarain's as a company, or crappy tourist trap bars on Bourbon Street.
This is a different world.

This is the funeral for Kerwin James, tuba player for New Birth Brass Band. He was the younger brother of Philip Frazier, tuba player and director of Rebirth Brass Band. About 2:36 minutes in, you see The Rebirth Brass Band tuba. I don't know if that's Phil, but you see him assist the pallbearers for a moment.

Kerwin died after a year in a coma which began when he suffered a stroke during or soon after a performance. He was 35 and living in Houston after walking out of New Orleans behind Katrina carrying his tuba.

I feel a little connection with this funeral because I read Philip Frazier's bulletins from the Rebirth Myspace page. I got to read about Kerwin's condition, progress, down-turn and finally his passing in real-time. Here is Kerwin's Obituary. And here is how the city & cops screwed this up (more Youtube footage included) . Seems you need a permit for jazz funerals these days in Fauberg Treme. Oh, and there may have been homicides at recent jazz funerals, some from stray bullets.

Who arrests a 'bone player? Seriously!

As is customary to any mention of Rebirth by me, I must encourage you to try to see them if ever you are in New Orleans. If they are not touring, they play the Maple Leaf on Oak St. every Tuesday night. They go on at least an hour later than the posted time and make a most unbelievable noise that you must experience. For those near me in Cleveland, they get up to the Beachland Ballroom with some regularity.

Lastly I will leave you with this great little video by Animator Monkmus with music by Kid Koala. It's just lovely.

NOLA Burial & Necropolis 001 - Lafayette Tomb

Please click on the image for a larger, more-detailed version.This tomb is in Lafayette Cemetery No. 1, where scenes from the films Easy Rider and Interview with a Vampire were shot.

It is bordered by 6th St, Prytania, Coliseum and Washington. This is Uptown, Garden District.

We lived in an apartment on 6th Street, 2 doors down from the cemetery. The opposite corner of the cemetery meets the front door of Commander's Palace, one of the standard-setting restaurants not only for New Orleans, but the whole nation, if not the world.

This is a poorer-quality photo because it is a scan of a sun-faded, thumb-tacked print that I keep behind my desk at work.

Anyone else see a face in the whitewash?

I like how you can see the bricks through the plaster.