Aquilla Willett Mausoleum

One of the most unusual finds Ritchey and I have made during our cemetery adventures is an old mausoleum found in the Old Millersburg Cemetery in Nicholas County, Kentucky.  Mausoleums are very common in large cemeteries, but in one as small, and old, as this cemetery, it is quite the oddity.

As you can see by the picture, the mausoleum is in bad shape.  The walls looks as if they could buckle at any moment.  The top of the wall looks almost like a turret on a castle.

This side view shows buckling, and also the interesting form at the top of the wall.

This stone is very hard to read – Aquilla Willett, died September 29, 1843, aged 55 years.  Aquilla Willett was the son of Edward Willett and Eleanor Fisher.  He was the first blacksmith in Bourbon County, and was appointment U.S. Postmaster January 23, 1841, for Millersburg, Bourbon County, Kentucky.

On December 20, 1837 Aquilla married Electra Francina Wilder Lane, daughter of Josiah Lane.  Electra was born June 19, 1817 and died less than two years after her marriage, December 20, 1837.  Was it for Electra that he built this unusual mausoleum?

Aquilla Willett married Louisa Alcott Snow April 13, 1843 in Cuyahoga County, Ohio.  She was born February 13, 1813, to Henry Holland Snow and Sarah Jameson in Piscataquis County, Maine.

Before the end of the year Aquilla had died, leaving Louisa a widow.  There is a burial stone at the entrance to the mausoleum for Aquilla and Louisa – Louisa’s reads “Louisa Snow, 2nd wife of Aquilla Willett, aged ___ years’.  No number of years is registered into the stone block – because she was not buried in Kentucky!

Louisa was a true pioneer woman – born in Maine, married in Ohio, lived in Kentucky.  But she moved westward – always westward!  In the 1900 census she is living in Alpine Township, San Diego, California.

Louisa died March 2, 1907, in San Diego, California, and was buried on her property which she named Mount Pisgah.  There is a modern stone with her name and dates of birth and death, along with two other names.  You can view that image on ancestry.com.  Louisa lived to the great age of 94 years!  Can you imagine the exciting events she lived through!  She lived history herself moving across country from Maine to California with several other places in between!  She lived through the Civil War, saw many new states be admitted through the years.  Just think of the new inventions at which she marveled.  Think of the many fashions that came and went during her time!  From full skirts, to fuller skirts with hoops, to bustles, the great sleeve fashions of the 1890’s and the lovely white dresses of the early 1900’s!

We all have that experience – perhaps in not quite as many years – but the time to go through this life and marvel at the wonders, the history, the experiences – and produce memories for those that come after us that will one day enjoy what their great-great-grandparents did in the wonderful year of 2014!