Dead Tree Trunk Crucifix (Dessaint children & grandchildren) -- Dallas TX USA
N 32° 48.083 W 096° 47.745
14S E 706392 N 3631419
The striking dead tree trunk crucifix tombstone for the Dessaint Children in Calvary Cemetery in Dallas tells the sad story of a family tree that has lost several branches
Waymark Code: WM15GZ1
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 01/05/2022
Views: 4
The most striking and tragic 19th century memorial at Dallas' Old Calvary Cemetery, a historic Catholic burial ground, commemorates the short lives and tragic deaths of several children and grandchildren of early Dallas businessman and capitalist Louis Dessaint.
The base of the tombstone is a large tree that has been cut off about 2 feet above the ground. The old trunk has other smaller trunks branching from it on the left and the right sides. A crucifix made of thick dead tree limbs has been fastened together with what look like wooden spikes, though made of stone. The crucifix rests on the larger flat base of the trunk, looking deliberately set.
To me, these spikes that fasten the cross-timber to the center of the crucifix look like eyes, and the gap of missing bark just under the crossing branch (where Claire Dessaint's vital dates have been carved in it) looks like an open mouth, crying out in grief.
There is so much death and despair imagery on this tombstone, it's truly striking. At the same time, there is hopeful imagery of recovery and resurrection.
Along the bottom of the crucifix where it has been set on the stump, letters spelling Dessaint have been fashioned out of smaller tree branches and scattered around as if they had fallen to the earth like leaves in the autumn.
Around the trunk, leafy ferns are growing up around the dead trunk, a Victorian era symbol of everlasting life. On the back of the trunk, a cute clump of hatted mushrooms sprout from the decaying tree, new life amid death. A wood ear also sprouts from the trunk, symbolizing death being a necessary part of life.
The five children memorialized on this tombstone are as follows:
Carved into the crucifix, below the cross beam :
Claire (Dessaint- a daughter)
Born
Mar 25, 1851
Aged
11 Y's 10 M's
Carved into a truncated branch extending up from the R side of the tree trunk:
Corrine (Dessaint - a daughter)
Born
July 12, 1857
Aged
5 Y's 6 D's
On the base of the tree trunk:
Mary Agnes (Irvine - a granddaughter)
Born
Oct 25, 1872
Died
Aug 23, 1894
In 2017, a small cut end of a broken branch set on the top of the L side of the tree trunk also held an epitaph:*
Eugene (Irvine - a grandson)
Born
Aug 29, 1868
Aged
1 Y'r 8 M's
and lastly at the foot of the grave, not on the tree trunk:
Addie (Irvine - granddaughter)
Baby
Born Apr 14, 1894
Aged 10 months & 23 days
*In January 2022 this element has sheared off and is resting on the ground, most probably due to the 2020 ice storm that paralyzed Texas. No descendants may remain in Dallas to repair this element.
Also relationships and last names were sourced from Ancestry and Find-A-Grave
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