Cave Hill Cemetery, Ben Smith Mausoleum, Cave Hill Cemetery, Louisville

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS KY,56-LOUVI,11C-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

One of the oldest mausolea in Cave Hill Cemetery, the Ben Smith is also the largest. It is the only purely Greek Revival mausoleum in the cemetery. PART I. HISTORICAL INFORMATION A. Physical History 1. Date of erection: Circa 2. Architect: Possibly E. E. Williams, who designed the family's town house in Louisville using the Greek Revival style. 3. Original and subsequent owners (occupants): Name Date of Interment Irene Smith October 3, Alexander C. Bullitt June 6, Benjamin Smith, Jr. January 8, Prances Smith Bullitt March 14, The burial lots were purchased October 14, from Cave Hill Cemetery according to records in the office at the Cemetery. B.

Historical Context: The Ben Smith family was a prominent Southern family, owning extensive amounts of land and property, including Longwood and Basin Plantations in Washington County, Mississippi; "Ever May" Plantation in Louisiana; acres in Boone County, Missouri; and a twenty-tw room summer home in Louisville, Kentucky, Benjamin Smith, Sr. died August 31, and is interred elsewhere. His wife, Irene, is buried in the family mausoleum in Cave Hill Cemetery. A son, Benjamin F. Smith, served as a private in Company B of the Kentucky volunteers during the Civil War. Following his death in battle he was interred in the family mausoleum. A daughter, Frances Elizabeth, who was married,died in and was interred in the family mausoleum.

CAVE HILL CEMETERY BEN SMITH MAUSOLEUM HABS No, (Page 2 ) PART II. ARCHITECTURAL INFORMATION General description: The entrance has a portico: a pediment supported by a pair of reeded Doric columns. A gable roof with a pediment on either end shelters the rectangular mausoleum of stone blocks. Antefixes sit atop the pediments. PART III. SOURCES OF INFORMATION A. Bibliography 1. Primary and unpublished sources: Record files in Cave Hill Cemetery office. Will of Irene Smith, County Clerk's Office, Will bock 8, p. 2. Secondary and published sources: Johnston, J. Stoddard, Memorial History of Louisville from its First Settlement to the Year Chicago: American Biographical Publishing Co. "Old Homes and Landmarks" notes compiled by Neville S.

Bullitt, on file at the Filson Club, later written as newspaper articles. Prepared by: David Arbogast Architectural Historian National Park Service August, PART IV. PROJECT INFORMATION The project was undertaken by the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) in cooperation with the Preservation Alliance of Louisville and Jefferson County, Inc. Under the direction of John Poppeliers, chief of HABS, the project was completed during the summer of at the HABS Field Office in Louisville by Prof. John Haggard, (Syracuse University), project Supervisor; David Arbogast (Columbia University), Project Historian; Mary Oehrlein, Project Foreman; Bayer Lee (City College of New York) , Architect; and Mary M.

Herd (University of Tennessee) and Charles Raith (University of Cincinnati) , student assistant architects. Susan McCown, a HABS staff historian in the Washington, office, edited the written descriptive data in the spring of for transmittal to the Library of Congress. HABS staff photographer Jack E. Boucher took the photographs of the structures in