Letchworth Mausoleum - Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo, NY
Posted by: 
Rayman
N 42° 55.542 W 078° 51.704
17T E 674499 N 4754782
Located high upon a small hill, the Letchworth Mausoleum is probably the largest and most grand of all the mausoleums in Forest Lawn Cemetery.
Waymark Code: WM8R6F
Location: New York, United States
Date Posted: 05/05/2010
Views: 6
According to the July 12th, 1872 issue of the Buffalo Commercial Advertiser & Journal, "Josiah Letchworth has erected what will be, when finished, the most elegant mausoleum in the country. The outside walls are of Medina and Connecticut brown sandstone. The inside walls and ceiling are of the most beautiful varieties of Italian and Egyptian marble finished in elegant and appropriate style."
The mausoleum was built to resemble a Greek temple, and contains three levels: a basement, an entry and a balcony. The balcony contains an elegant sarcophagus with the remains of Josiah Letchworth's wife, Mary. The crypts and urns of Josiah and other family members, totaling 32, are located in basement crypts. There is an elegant marble stairway leading to the basement. On the interior back wall of the mausoleum is an inscription which reads: "In memory of whom this monument and mausoleum have been erected by her husband whose unbounding love could not bind to earth the immortal spirit of her who was its most cherished object whose presence made earth a paradise, whose virtues, accomplishments and nobility of heart while they won the homage they deserved were excelled by a living Christian faith which even in her death taught the heart to say, 'even so father, for so it seemed good in thy sight'."
Source: Buffalo Architecture & History website