| Originally published: Keeping Current Bangor Hydro Employee Newsletter Volume 6, Issue 8 October 2008 If you’re ever in need of respite from workday toil, and you’re not of the morbid kind, a haven can be found a short distance from Telcom Drive. At the northeast intersection of 14th and Ohio Streets, Mount Pleasant Cemetery is a pleasant place indeed. Flanked by stream, city forest, and quiet neighborhood, the landscape is a blend of grassy knolls and manicured lawns where narrow lanes wind through granite rows without particular regard. Maple and elm offer shaded environs to loved ones amid fragrant lilac bushes and cedar trees. Founded midcentury before the last, this necropolis was originally the final resting place for Bangor’s earliest Irish Catholics, including many of those disinterred from a tract previously situated at the corner of Buck Street and West Broadway. Although Interstate 95 slices through Mount Pleasant’s heart with an incessant drone, a mass exhumation of graves never occurred as rumored since the new highway followed an empty gully once coursing through. At least this appears evident according to an old aerial photo hanging in the superintendent’s building. However, DOT survey lines do appear to impinge on a few suspect landmarks? My family and I venture regularly beyond wrought iron gates to dine on lunchtime fare. As plump woodchucks graze on blades of grass while envious ravens look on, we like to stroll. Studying names and dates etched on stone facades, we’re left to wonder about those interred. On a far hillock sits the grand mausoleum of the Cassidy Family. With a fortune accumulated during Bangor’s heyday of pine logs and river drives, this lumber baron guaranteed elegant trappings in which to spend eternity with his closest kin. This ostentatious tomb was constructed for nine with ample room leftover for marble benches, a pew, and a private room for the priest to change into his funeral garb. So long ago was this chamber built, it has undergone at least one renovation, courtesy of a generous endowment, for its perpetual upkeep. From what I’m told, a single vacancy is still available. If my genealogy was researched, could an affiliation be found to establish a familial connection? Perhaps, a maid, harlot, or mistress in my family tree captured Mr. Cassidy’s roving eye, and an illegitimate heir resulted. Although, the prospect is unlikely, I’ll remain hopeful and covet this prized real estate unless my spouse is still set on Mount Hope. In a corner opposite Mr. Cassidy’s lavish digs, the tiny marker of Paul E. Ramsey (1936-38) lies under a scarred pine. Though we searched all over, my wife and I could not find his dear mother and father. Did they begin their family anew after a reasonable period of mourning, or did they leave for parts unknown to escape their terrible grief? We hope they were eventually reunited in the great beyond. Though not yet discovered in the labyrinth of earthen mounds, Myrna Fahey (1933-1973) lies in eternal repose. Born not far from here, she was a raven-haired beauty, who appeared in many television series of the 1960’s such as Perry Mason, Bonanza, Batman, and Gunsmoke, my personal favorite. If you’re a movie aficionado like me, you've probably seen her big screen triumph in the Vincent Price classic “House of Usher”. Certainly, one of the most poignant of family plots belongs to the Whitcomb’s. Five modest footstones in a row tell of a tragic house fire in 1954: Irving (1951), Alan (1949), Howard (1948), Dinah (1947), and John (1944) all perished. Next to his children, Norman (1923-1976) was finally laid, and next to him, another stone awaits Theresa (1925- ). Presumably, Mrs. Whitcomb is alive somewhere, and even after such a lingering passage of time, I’ll wager that dark night is not far gone from memory. So, if you ever have occasion to visit Mount Pleasant during a noontime sojourn, enjoy the picturesque scenery and quiet solitude. If you find this place of special appeal, feel free to make inquiries about burial amenities. However, leftover accommodations in the Cassidy tomb are held in reserve for me. The End Originally published: Keeping Current Bangor Hydro Employee Newsletter Volume 6, Issue 9 November 2008 Recently, I received a call from Ray Fournier, who has been the caretaker for the Cassidy Mausoleum for over 40 years. Ray was alerted by a former employee to the story I did on the cemetery recently, and took the time to call me with some additional information. Ray visits the Cassidy Mausoleum every year around Memorial Day to plant flowers in the stone urns and do some cleaning. Except for some past vandalism, the tomb doesn’t require a lot of care. Constructed a century ago, it took a team of six horses to haul the granite blocks to the cemetery’ s highest vantage point. A cable runs across Kenduskeag Stream to supply electric service. Some time ago, the crypt was heated, and oriental rugs used to adorn its stone floors. The endowment established for its upkeep has grown to at least $1,000,000. Two spaces await surviving Cassidy grandchildren, who are in their eighties. Although reserved for blood relatives only, Ray said there might be room in the storage closet for one’s cremated remains. Mr. Fournier is a longtime Bangor resident and Husson alumnus who worked as an accountant for Getchell Ice for 30 plus years. The End |
| Mount Pleasant Musings |
| Maine Travels by John R. Cobb |
| Cassidy Mausoleum |
| No Vacancy |
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