1. "Borden Monument"
Posted by Edisto on Aug-20th-02 at 1:05 PM

This is from an unknown newspaper, quoted in "Victorian Vistas."  The date of the item is January 12, 1895.
"On Aug. 4, 1892, Andrew J. Borden and his wife, Abby D Borden, met death by violence.  A few days later they were buried in Oak Grove Cemetery.  The Borden lot is in the north section of the cemetery.  Until Friday the graves were unmarked by any headstone to signify what bodies were buried beneath.  Now a monument stands above the graves.  It is built of Westerly granite and is about 10 feet in height.  The base is four by five feet, and the stone is artistic in shape and finish, without being in any way elaborate.  On the base facing the south is the inscription "A. J. Borden," in heavy letters standing in relief.  On a panel of the north side is the following inscription:
                          ANDREW JACKSON BORDEN,
                                  1822-1892.
                                   His Wife,
                      SARAH ANTHONY BORDEN, 1823-1863.
                                   His Wife.
                            ABBY DURFEE BORDEN,
                                  1828-1892.
The panel facing westward will bear the names of the children of Andrew J. Borden.  At present it reads:
                                Children of
                      ANDREW J. AND SARAH A. BORDEN.
                                ALICE ESTHER.
                                  1856-1858.
The stone was built by the Smith granite company, and the company's workmen set it in place under the supervision of superintendent Johathan E. Morrill.  Emma and Lizzie Borden, children of Andrew J. and Sarah A. Borden, visited the cemetery while the men were at work.  A small knot of curious spectators was hanging around at that time.  The sisters went to the cemetery in their carriage.  They alighted to view the work, Lizzie glancing at the stone and immediately re-entering the carriage.  Emma viewed it critically, gave directions to the workmen and soon rejoined her sister in the carriage, leaving the cemetery at once."
(It's interesting to note that in this situation Emma was apparently the activist - a role usually taken by Lizzie.)

Do you suppose they waited 2 and a half years to erect a headstone and monument to keep gawkers from succeeding in finding the graves?

Or, did it take that long to make the monument to go over the gravesite?  I've always been curious how long it takes to create one of those carved from stone markers and then to have lettering chiseled into it? 

In my experience (which certainly doesn't go back to 1892) graves are commonly marked with a temporary "sign" of some sort until the permanent monument is in place.  Thus people would have been able to find the Borden graves anyway, assuming the same custom was followed in the nineteenth century.  Also, I am assuming (maybe I shouldn't) that Sarah's and Alice Esther's graves were already in the family plot and were marked in some permanent fashion.  That would have been a clue to where the other Bordens were buried.  I doubt that it would have taken so long for the monument(s) to be created.  Perhaps the large obelisk was custom-made, but the smaller markers look to be fairly standard.