The Great Bibliopole

 This large granite headstone with its little carved flowers in located in a very obscure corner of the Rural Cemetery, just up a grassy steep path from a wildly overgrown row of charity plots.  It's a hilly area just west of the South Ridge and labelled Summit Ridge on some older maps of the grounds.

While it's not carved deeply and a little difficult to read, the epitaph on this monument caught my eye.  Maybe the light was at just the right angle, but the words, YE OLDE BOOK MAN stood out and certainly required a closer look.

1834 Joseph McDonough 1917 - Ye Olde Booke Man - Here lies McDonough The Great Bibliopole.  Shall he be forgot?  Oh no.  He no promise broke, served no private end.  Unblamed through life, lamented in the end.  A wise old sage was he but not severe.  His manly sense checked no decent joy.  A graceful looseness he could put on, Enjoying life's enchanted cup to the brim.

McDonough was a well-known seller of used books in downtown Albany, beginning in 1870.  He was a native of Ireland who sold books in Liverpool before continuing that trade here.  He did business at a number of different locations in downtown Albany;  over the years, various ads and directories place him at 53 and 55 State Street, 98 State Street, 30 North Pearl Street, and 39 and 41 Columbia Street.  Later, he had a shop on Hudson Avenue.  An ad in The Literary Collector for Ye Olde Booke Man, offers "libraries, or odd lots, or remainders of editions purchased" and "monthly catalogues of second-hand books mailed free on application."  He was also a publisher;  one of the more noteworthy local titles he produced was Players of A Century which traced the history of theatre in Albany and was authored by Henry P. Phelps who also wrote The Albany Rural Cemetery - Its Beauties, Its Memories.

He died on April 8, 1917 following what the Albany Evening Journal described as "a three weeks illness." The newspaper noted he had a "wide circle of friends"  He was survived by a married daughter and a son, Paul Arthur McDonough, who was described as "an actor in London."  Also buried with him are his wife and an eighteen year old daughter, Jane, who died of tuberculosis on Christmas Day, 1881.

Some Thoughts For 2014

Growing up, I was only familiar with Albany Rural Cemetery in passing.  It was just “that cemetery where a Presidentis buried.” I pictured it as being a fairly ordinary modern cemetery with long, even rows of polished granite headstones and little bronze plaques. 

It wasn't until the year that Ironweed was filmed locally that I took an interest in seeing the Rural Cemetery. Area news stations did features on the filming locations and, since, some scenes were shot there (though the book actually sets those scenes in the adjacent St. Agnes Cemetery), Albany Rural Cemetery was among those places profiled on TV. In one of those news segments, I caught a glimpse of a stunning monument. It was Erastus Dow Palmer's Angel At The Sepulchre and I just had to see it in person.

The Burden Vault

In a cemetery filled with beautiful monuments and vaults, the Burden vault is one of the most spectacular. 

Henry Burden was one of the area's best known industrialists and its said he selected this spot on the east slope of the Middle Ridge because, from here, one could look across the Hudson River and see his Iron Works with its massive waterwheel. 

Just opposite the vault is a large marble book.  On its open pages, there are lengthy inscriptions in honor of Henry Burden and his wife, Helen.

SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF HENRY BURDEN
He was born in Stirling Shire, Scotland, April 22nd, 1791.  Died, Troy, Jan. 19th, 1871.  Endowed by Providence with an intellect marked by strength and originality, he early evinced a taste for the study and application of the forces of Nature and became the author of several mechanical inventions, which have served to lighten human toil and promote human happiness.  The results of his creative genius are known in all parts of the civilized World, and have secured him a place among the Benefactors of the Race.  Commanding in person:  Honest in his dealings with his fellowmen:  Affable in social life:  Liberal in his benefactions:  Refined and loving in his family, with a simple Faith in the Redeemer, he closed his useful life on Earth and entered into the Rest which remaineth for the people of God.

SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF HELEN, WIFE OF HENRY BURDEN
She was born in Stirling Shire, Scotland, Febr'y 13th, 1803, and died in Troy, March 10th, 1860.  Noble in person:  Refined in manners:  Prudent in counsel:  Faithful in friendship:  Generous in benevolence:  Sincere in religion:  With all the virtues in happy combination.  She beautifully adorned the relation of Daughter, Sister, Wife, and Mother, and has left an example worth of study and imitation.
“A perfect woman nobly planned –
To warn, to comfort, and command;
And yet a spirit still and bright
With something of angelic light –“
Her children rise up and call her blessed; and her husband also, and he praiseth her.
   

The vault was built in 1850 and some of the early histories of the Cemetery attribute the design to Helen Burden herself.  The ornate facade includes a woman's face above the door; it's said to be an idealized portrait of Helen herself.  The dogs atop the vault were modeled after family pets.

One can peek around the wooden panel covering the iron gate and see the marble-covered burial niches of Henry, Helen, and other members of the Burden family.

Doctor William L. Mastin

A simple marble headstone with a carved Bible marks the grave of one William L. Mastin on the Cemetery's North Ridge. 

The 1850 Census lists him as a physician residing at 40 Franklin Street with his wife, Ocelia, and eighteen year old Eve Magill (probably a servant). Interestingly, Ocelia Mastin is listed in the 1858 city directory as an astrologist!

The name is listed Masten in both the Census records and the city directory so the headstone's inscription appears to have been misspelled by the carver.