Mountain Grove Cemetery,

Bridgeport, Connecticut Bridgeport is the List of municipalities in Connecticut, most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut and the List of cities in New England by population, fifth-most populous city in New England, with a population of 148,654 in 2020. Loc ...

, United States, was laid out in 1849 in the then popular

rural cemetery A rural cemetery or garden cemetery is a style of cemetery that became popular in the United States and Europe in the mid-19th century due to the overcrowding and health concerns of urban cemeteries, which tended to be churchyards. Rural cemeter ...

design in a park-like, rural setting away from the center of the city. The cemetery was founded by showman

P. T. Barnum Phineas Taylor Barnum (July 5, 1810 – April 7, 1891) was an American showman, businessman, and politician remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and founding with James Anthony Bailey the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. He was ...

, who himself is buried there. "The original grounds were surveyed and designed by Horatio Stone and Mr. ohnMoody," the cemetery's first superintendent.Ernest Stevens Leland
"Mountain Grove Cemetery in Bridgeport,"
''Park and Cemetery and Landscape Gardening'', Chicago, vol. 30, no. 10 (December 1920), p. 260. Tomthumbgravemountaingrove

Notable interments

Notables interred here include: *

Neal Ball Cornelius "Neal" Ball (April 22, 1881 – October 15, 1957) was an American baseball shortstop who played seven seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the New York Highlanders, Cleveland Naps, and Boston Red Sox from 1907 to 191 ...

, baseball player *

, showman and entrepreneur * William D. Bishop, politician *

Fanny Crosby Frances Jane van Alstyne (née Crosby; March 24, 1820 – February 12, 1915), more commonly known as Fanny J. Crosby, was an American mission worker, poet, lyricist, and composer. She was a prolific hymnist, writing more than 8,000 hymns and go ...

, gospel hymn composer, poet *

Vernon Dalhart Marion Try Slaughter (April 6, 1883 – September 14, 1948), better known by his stage name Vernon Dalhart, was an American country music singer and songwriter. His recording of the classic ballad " Wreck of the Old 97" was the first country son ...

, country singer and songwriter *

Anselm Franz Anselm Franz (January 21, 1900—November 18, 1994) was a pioneering Austrian jet engine engineer known for the development of the Jumo 004, the world's first mass-produced turbojet engine by Nazi Germany during World War II, and his work on turb ...

, aviation pioneer, developer of the

Jumo 004 The Junkers Jumo 004 was the world's first production turbojet engine in operational use, and the first successful axial compressor turbojet engine. Some 8,000 units were manufactured by Junkers in Germany late in World War II, powering the Mess ...

Lycoming T53 The Lycoming T53, (company designation LTC-1) is a turboshaft engine used on helicopters and (as a turboprop) fixed-wing aircraft since the 1950s. It was designed at the Lycoming Turbine Engine Division in Stratford, Connecticut, by a team he ...

, and

Honeywell T55 The Honeywell T55 (formerly Lycoming; company designation LTC-4) is a turboshaft engine used on American helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft (in turboprop form) since the 1950s, and in unlimited hydroplanes since the 1980s. As of 2021, more than ...

jet engines. * Robert Lawson, the

Caldecott Medal The Randolph Caldecott Medal, frequently shortened to just the Caldecott, annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Service ...

and

Newbery Medal The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the author of "the most distinguished contr ...

winning author and illustrator. * John E. W. Thompson, an

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

minister resident of

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

and ''chargé d'affaires'' to

San Domingo Hispaniola (, also ) is an island between Geography of Cuba, Cuba and Geography of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and the second-largest by List of C ...

. *

General Tom Thumb Charles Sherwood Stratton (January 4, 1838 – July 15, 1883), better known by his stage name "General Tom Thumb", was an American with dwarfism who achieved great fame as a performer under circus pioneer P. T. Barnum. Childhood and early ...

, the little person, whose monument includes a life-size statue of him at the top of a tall obelisk; and his wife Lavinia Warren *

Kathleen Moore Kathleen Moore ( – 1899), also known as Catherine Moore, Kathleen A. Moore, Kathleen Andre Moore, Kate Moore, and Catherine A. Moore, was a lighthouse keeper. She was employed by the United States Lighthouse Service, which was a precursor agenc ...

, precursor to USCG, United States Lighthouse Service; credited with saving 21 lives as a light housekeeper.

USCGC Kathleen Moore USCGC ''Kathleen Moore'' is the ninth United States Coast Guard Cutter, cutter by Bollinger shipyards delivered to the United States Coast Guard. She was delivered to the Coast Guard, for pre-commissioning testing, on 28 March 2014. The first ...

was named after her in her honor. * Samuel Russell Wilmot, (1829-1897) prolific inventor with over 150 domestic and international patents including a portable steam saw, the spring steel hoop for hoop skirts, the cold rolled steel process, and the screw micrometer; founder of Bridgeport Brass (originally named Wilmot & Kissam in Brooklyn, NY-moved to Bridgeport at P. T. Barnum’s request) and founder of American Tube & Stamping (originally Wilmot & Hobbs) in Bridgeport, CT.

Civil War monument

The cemetery includes a

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

monument, Pro Patria. The granite stele monument with bronze plaque, raised in 1906 by the Bridgeport

Elias Howe Elias Howe Jr. (; July 9, 1819October 3, 1867) was an American inventor best known for his creation of the modern lockstitch sewing machine. Early life Elias Howe Jr. was born on July 9, 1819, to Dr. Elias Howe Sr (1792–1867) and Polly (Be ...

Grand Army of the Republic The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army (United States Army), Union Navy (United States Navy, U.S. Navy), and the United States Marine Corps, Marines who served in the American Ci ...

post and the

State of Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

, is dedicated "IN LOVING MEMORY OF THOSE WHO DID NOT RETURN". The monument, by the Bridgeport sculptor Paul Winters Morris (1865–1916) includes bas-relief figures of soldiers with heads bowed. The monument is at the front of a plot marked by pyramids of cannonballs that contains the graves of about 83 Civil War veterans.Pro Patria: Civil War monument of Connecticut

References

{{reflist Geography of Bridgeport, Connecticut Connecticut in the American Civil War Cemeteries in Fairfield County, Connecticut Tourist attractions in Bridgeport, Connecticut Rural cemeteries Cemeteries established in the 1840s 1849 establishments in Connecticut

Notable interments

Civil War monument

See also

References