The tallest Monument: The Booth Family plot

At the highest point in Beechwood stands the Cemetery’s tallest monument. This monument marks the Booth Family plot, which is in a section of its own just north of the Mausoleum.

This monument is a magnificent column of red granite on a cube-shaped base of the same rock. The granite is highly polished and sparkles and shines splendidly in the sunshine. The column is also in effect a gigantic sundial, its long narrow shadow a moving pointer to mark the passing of the sun, the days and decades.

There are eleven small stones across the plot marking individual burials. John Rudolphus Booth  lived for almost a century, 1827 – 1925, a long life attributable to an active outdoor lifestyle in the Ottawa Valley forests of yesteryear. Beside him is his wife Rosalinda  who predeceased him in 1886. Other graves are indicative of the fragility of life a century ago – children who died at the ages of 2 years, 5 years, 15 months and 23 years.

J. R. Booth was the epitome of the Lumber Barons who dominated the Ottawa Valley in the 19th Century. The only photograph I have seen of him presents a towering man beside a huge load of stacked timber, on what looks like a bitterly cold January day. He has a fearsome look. One could speculate that the toughness and size of this granite marker are representative of the man.