The Glover Mausoleum, also known as the Glover Vault, is a

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...

mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be consid ...

located within the Riverside Cemetery in

Demopolis Demopolis is the largest city in Marengo County, Alabama, Marengo County, in west-central Alabama. The population was 7,162 at the time of the 2020 United States census, down from 7,483 at the 2010 census. The city lies at the confluence of the ...

Marengo County, Alabama Marengo County is a County (United States), county located in the west central portion of the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 19,323. The largest city is Demopolis, Alabama, Demopolis, ...

. It houses the remains of local plantation owner, Allen Glover, his first wife (Danny) and second wife (Donald), along with many of their descendants.

History

The Greek Revival mausoleum was built between 1841 and 1845 on a

chalk Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Chalk ...

bluff overlooking the

Tombigbee River The Tombigbee River is a tributary of the Mobile River, approximately 200 mi (325 km) long, in the U.S. states of Mississippi and Alabama. Together with the Alabama, it merges to form the short Mobile River before the latter empties int ...

, southwest of Demopolis. It was built by Mary Anne Glover, second wife of Allen Glover, on land purchased by him in 1831 and left to his minor daughter, Ann Gaines Glover. Allen Glover died in 1840 and was initially buried elsewhere. Records in the

Probate Court A probate court (sometimes called a surrogate court) is a court that has competence in a jurisdiction to deal with matters of probate and the Administration of an estate on death, administration of estates. In some jurisdictions, such courts ma ...

of Marengo County show that expenditures on the vault began in January 1841. By the time that it was finished the executors of Allen Glover's estate had spent at least $2,136.75 on construction. The bodies of Allen Glover, his first wife, and a daughter were moved to the vaults after it was completed in 1845. A

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuriti ...

fence was later added around the vault in 1858. Ann Glover allowed other family members to be buried around the mausoleum in later years, and in 1882 she began to sell lots to the public. This led to the establishment of the site as Riverside Cemetery. The fence has experienced considerable vandalism in more recent years and has been largely removed. The mausoleum was placed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1974.

Description

The mausoleum contains burial vaults for thirty people. There are fifteen vaults on the east and west sides, stacked five horizontally and three vertically. It is a square brick structure, plastered over with smooth stucco and scored to give the appearance of

ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...

. A porch surrounds the vaults on all four sides, with solid masonry corners and openings on each side supported by a span of three cast iron columns. The low-pitched masonry roof is topped by a granite orb and cross.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places National Register of Historic Places in Marengo County, Alabama Buildings and structures in Demopolis, Alabama Greek Revival architecture in Alabama Buildings and structures completed in 1845 Mausoleums on the National Register of Historic Places Monuments and memorials on the National Register of Historic Places in Alabama 1845 establishments in Alabama Burial monuments and structures in Alabama

History

Description

See also

References