Milmore Memorial at Forest Hills Cemetery

Back in 1940, when Tichnor Bros, an old Jamaica Plain postcard company that was once located on Amory Street (where Community Servings is located in 2021) published this card of the Milmore Memorial it showed the original location of the Memorial. It was then just off Walk Hill Street - with the Soldier’s Monument visible to the left of the tree.

When Martin Milmore died (age 39) on July 21, 1883 his family buried him within their lot at Forest Hills Cemetery. The Milmore family lot was located opposite the Roxbury Soldiers’ Monument - a sculpture that Milmore created in 1867. After Martin’s death his family commissioned Daniel Chester French to design a monument. Martin had actually left money in his will to create a sculpted monument to honor his brother Joseph (1841-1886). Since Joseph had taught his younger brother Martin the art of sculpture. French went on to create a monument that showed a sculptor caught by surprise in the middle of his work by the allegorical figure of Death.

This sculpture Death Arresting the Hand of the Sculptor was placed in August 1893 to honor the two sculpting brothers. Originally, it had three pedestals designed by C Howard Walker. French never cared for this original surround. The second, which is shown in this postcard, was designed by French’s long time architectural collaborator Henry Bacon. Their most famous work together being the Lincoln Monument on the Mall in Washington DC, which they completed in 1914.

The Milmore Memorial stayed in its original location on Cypress Avenue for nearly 50 years. However, in 1943 Joseph’s son Oscar Milmore (1884-1972) wanted a more dramatic site and he sold the family lot of 453 square feet to the cemetery for just $5. Indeed, on January 24, 1945 Oscar bought a 14,400 square foot sloping lot just inside the main gate. The Milmore Memorial, along with all the family members, were relocated on November 1, 1945. A new pedestal for the Memorial was designed by Andrew, Jones Briscoe and Whitmore and the grounds of the lot were landscaped by Arthur and Sidney Shurcliff between 1946 and 1947. 

This picture is a close-up of an 1893 photograph which shows the sloped site of the future Milmore Memorial - just inside the gates.

By Richard Heath, January 2021       

Photographs are from the Digital Commonwealth

Source: Monument Man The Life & Art of Daniel Chester French, Harold Holzer, Princeton Architectural Press, 2019