The stone for Lot 79 is a little hard to read nowadays, but it was bought by a one Lawrason Riggs, a native of Georgetown, Washington, DC, way back when Bellefontaine Cemetery was just opening up.
After marrying and outliving two wives, who are buried in this plot, he left St. Louis, never to return, and eventually was buried in Greenmount Cemetery, in Baltimore, Maryland, where he died. One of his wives was from the Crittenden family. In the future, I will detail much more about Mr. Riggs and his connection to a very famous family here in St. Louis.
It is located in the valley coming up from the entrance to the cemetery.
Both of the wives’ names have eroded due to the soft limestone, but they are legible.
I wonder when the last time a member of the family from the East Coast came to visit this grave.
It looks like marble to me. Either way, both types of stone are quite susceptible to acid rain and other forms of pollution. And there just is not enough money or political/civic will to undertake the huge project of conserving all the historic monuments in Bellefontaine or St. Louis’s other cemeteries.
This is not to pick on just St. Louis, as it is far from alone in having large, beautiful cemeteries full of marble tombstones and monuments that are basically melting from pollution with nothing being done about it.
On closer examination, I believe the lower portion may be marble, but the top still looks like limestone to me.
Let’s try to remember that nearly all the damage due to “pollution” was caused decades ago, it is hardly a problem today. In other words, it’s not getting any worse.