![]() A season of rest, however, which I long desired, and needed, has come to me at last, and I am improving it as well as I can by performing personal domestic and social duties which were neglected when I was engaged in the public service. My Dear Sir-I cannot doubt that I have long since made you understand, in our pleasant social intercourse, how lightly I appreciate the surgical skill and care with which you treated me in the year 1865 when I fell under the blows of an assassin, inflicted while I was lying helpless in my bed in my own house at Washington. Norris in July 1870 was read to the body and recorded for posterity: Here, a letter written by Secretary Seward to Col. This was found in the 1883 Journal of the Senate’s proceedings. Norris’ care of Secretary of State Seward. I found an official public commendation in the form of a resolution by the New York State Senate in regards to Col. Basil Norris was a minor celebrity, along with being a major cemetery lot-holder, why not tell his “Story not in Stone.” Besides, this blog’s initial publishing comes so close to April Fool’s Day, so what the heck. So, I apologize that it’s not a legitimate Mount Olivet “Story in Stone,” but since Col. Basil’s relationship to Otho and Sarah Ann Norris? Lastly, I still lament the fact that the famous doctor is not here as it would make such a great tie-in to Frederick’s Civil War Medicine legacy told so wonderfully at our downtown museum (National Museum of Civil War Medicine). Ever since, I have been curious as to why Basil bought 20 lots (2 full plots) in 1868, but was buried on the other side of the country. As a matter of fact, Basil the Civil War surgeon was the nephew, and namesake, of Basil the merchant, which was really all I needed to know for that story two years ago. Irony was certainly at play as our cemetery’s first monument, and likely that of our most famous “missing monument” are tied to gentlemen possessing the same name (Basil Norris), and in the same family. Shortly thereafter, I found a footnote in our records that said the same thing. (1828-1896) was buried in San Francisco’s famed national military cemetery-the Presidio. It’s generally a rarity that a lot-holder would not be buried in his or her plot, but this could possibly be a “dummy” read which would soon be confirmed. Once I read that fact, I sort of lost my focus on the Norris sisters and their inaugural monument, and took aim on Basil Norris, the surgical soldier. This individual was a noted surgeon during the conflict, and afterwards served in the capacity of presidential physician, or better put-a physician utilized by a few of our US presidents. Upon further review, I realized that I had seen the name of another Basil Norris who was a member of the Union’s Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War. Norris’ name seemed somewhat familiar to me in some fashion. The individual responsible for commissioning this outstanding grave marker was Basil Norris (1788-1865), the girls’ father and a successful grocery store operator that once stood in the first block of W. The beautiful twin-columned monument of Parian marble was placed on the new gravesite of two teenage sisters who had died a few years earlier, and had been originally interred at the All Saints Protestant Episcopal burying ground located along Carroll Creek. This event occurred in May, 1854, just a few weeks before the formal opening services of the cemetery and the first interment-Mrs. Back in January, 2017, I performed some research in an effort to locate the first monument erected in our cemetery. Norris sisters' monument in Area F/Lot 12 They are also invaluable to folks like me and countless other researchers in trying to decipher what happened during “the dash” that appears between those birth and death dates on the face of a stone. Gravestones are important touchstones to relatives and future generations to come. Regardless of your spiritual beliefs, the end of the respective “road” for the mortal remains of over 40,000 people is right here in Frederick’s Mount Olivet Cemetery. Meanwhile, there are others who perhaps never ventured outside of Frederick County. The particular individual’s journey could have taken them across the country, or to another continent. ![]() No matter how grand or petite, each grave marker stands as proof that a particular human being once walked this earth between the given birth date (or year) and death date carved upon its surface. Most are beautiful works of craftsmanship, some representing bonafide works of art and magnificent architecture. ![]() You can find them formed out of marble, granite, slatestone, and even white bronze. So the premise of our blog is clearly based on the “memorialization power” a gravestone, monument or plaque can wield.
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