By Kathy Arlt, Contributing Writer @Blogfinger
I can’t say exactly where I found it, or when. I think it was on Ocean Pathway, and I’m pretty sure it was sometime during the early 1990’s. When I picked it up to take it home—since there was no way I could just walk past something so unique—I wondered why someone had put it out with the trash.
The reason became abundantly clear as soon as I brought it inside: it stank of mildew and mold, with a strong undernote of cat urine. Within five minutes this pungent aroma filled my little Ocean Grove cottage, and I considered putting it outside with the trash myself. But instead I wiped off the whole thing, front and back, with bleach, and then I took it back to my New York loft, which had the space (and high ceilings) to allow any lingering smells to dissipate. Now odor-free, it hangs in my Ocean Grove living room.
In case you can’t make out the inscription, it reads: “In Fond Remembrance of My Loving Husband/Who peacefully expired February 24, 1908/On his soul sweet Jesus have mercy.” At the top is a cut-out photograph of the gentleman who’d passed away.
I don’t know how common these “memorial posters” were in 1908. I couldn’t find one like it—or even a description of something like it—on the Internet. I did read a lot of articles about the Victorian era’s very elaborate mourning customs though, including the use of post-mortem photography to memorialize deceased loved ones. This practice fell out of favor at the end of the 19th century, so the unnamed gentleman on my “found” poster was very much alive when his photograph was taken. But who he was, how old he was when he died, what caused his death, where he lived: these are all mysteries that probably can’t be solved.
Actually your mystery might be solvable. You could try looking thru records of males who died on Feb 24th, 1908. Assuming you can find such records. If so you can, see if any were from Ocean Grove or nearby. Also you then can look thru 1900 census records after you have ID’d this deceased man. Doing these 2 searches would give you name, age, where they lived, what they did, etc. Hope this helps.
That’s really beautiful and touching. I’m glad you rescued it. A glimpse into the heart & mind of a love lost 100 years ago…
Your idea sounds so easy, Frank, but it’s really impossible. All the nationwide death records search sites require a name. But even if I could find a list of male deaths on 2/24/1908, I’d still just be guessing if I picked out an individual, since I wouldn’t know how old he was when he died. And I can’t assume that this gentleman lived in Ocean Grove in 1908; in fact, he may never have lived here.
Kathy : You are quite right. I tried. One other final suggestion would be to try checking records of Ely funeral home (732-918-6650) and Francioni Taylor & Lopez funeral home (732-775-0028). They are both in Neptune but both used to also be in Asbury Park. Both date back to late 18th century. They were in 1908 the only funeral homes in this area. That is assuming the person was from this area and assuming they have records that far back. OG funeral home & Buckly funeral home in Asbury only go back to the 1950′s. Good luck.