I enjoy walking and often during the warm months of the year, I spend my lunch hour walking through Riverview Cemetery. It is a good work out with its rolling hills, but it is also a feast for the eyes. I often refer to it as an outdoor museum because so many of the tombstones are works of art.
Standing by itself near a bend in a road is a stone that always catches my eye. It appears rather lonely, marking a single grave, and bears the name of Rachel Elliott Baldwin. It is quite distinctive. The scroll on which her name is written is attached to a tree trunk. Ivy twists and turns around the trunk and at the base are fern leaves. A smaller tree trunk sits alongside. In the world of gravestone symbolism, each of these icons have a deeper meaning.
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| Photo of gravestone from Find A Grave |
A tree is an enduring symbol of eternal life and protection. When only the trunk of the tree is used as a headstone, it represents the brevity of life. The scroll is a sign of life and time depending on how much of the scroll is unfurled. Rolled up ends indicate a past or future that is hidden. A scroll can also honor and commemorate the decedent’s life. Ivy indicates friendship, fidelity and immortality and fern leaves show the person’s humility and sincerity.
So, who was this woman that lies beneath this ornate stone? The headstone would indicate that the deceased was loved and honored, humble and friendly, and that her life was cut short. The rolled upper portion of the scroll indicates that perhaps part of her past was hidden. With my curiosity peaked, I decided to find out if the tombstone did in fact reflect Rachel’s life story.
Rachel A. Elliott was born in Poweshiek County, Iowa, the daughter of James and Margaret Elliott. She had eight siblings, including a twin brother, Elisha. Although her tombstone shows her year of birth as 1850, the 1850 census shows the age of the twins as one year old, so it is possible that she was born on February 27th in 1849. She spent her youth in Jasper County, Iowa, where her father was a farmer.
On July 1, 1866, at the age of 17, she was married to Orlando Salvadore Baldwin, who was ten years her senior. Census records reflect that through the years he was a farmer and a laborer and Rachel was a homemaker. Four children were born to their union: Anne, Fred, George and Cora.
Rachel Elliott Baldwin
Photo found on Family Search
By 1895, Rachel was operating a millinery store in Fort Dodge and living with Cora who was a seamstress. Anne was operating her own millinery business in Webster City and in 1897, newspaper articles show that Rachel was living with her. In 1899 Rachel moved to Algona and opened a millinery store just south of the courthouse, two doors west of the location where the new Durdall Hotel was being completed. Advertising indicates that she carried a full range of hats for all ages. A few months later, Cora joined her, locating a dressmaking parlor in the store. Throughout this period, there is no mention of Orlando or what happened to him. The 1900 census shows Rachel as head of household and a widow.
It appears that the business was going well, at least well enough for Rachel to purchase the store building in late 1899. The next year she even displayed merchandise in Mrs. Eddy’s gallery to make purchasing more convenient for shoppers in Wesley.
Near the close of 1902 Rachel suffered a stroke. She was left with some paralysis and began to lose her vision. Her eyesight faded slowly until she was totally blind. Her physical health followed the same decline. Despite her infirmities, it was said that Rachel was “patient and uncomplaining to a rare degree.” Cora provided her care the last years of Rachel’s life until she died on the 22nd day of February, 1907, just 5 days before her 57th or 58th birthday. Her obituary states that the funeral was held at Cora’s home in Algona and describes the scene as follows: “The home was filled with sympathetic neighbors. The casket was covered with beautiful floral wreaths, contributed by loving friends.”
So, were the clues on Rachel’s gravestone accurate? Cora’s devotion to caring for her mother certainly showed that Rachel was deeply loved and she demonstrated great humility bearing her final illness with patience and an uncomplaining attitude. The floral tributes and large gathering of friends and neighbors at her funeral speak to the close friends she made during her relatively short residence in Algona. And passing away in her late 50’s confirms that her life span was shorter than many. That leaves only the possibility of a hidden past represented by the partially rolled top of the scroll.
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| Photo of gravestone from Find A Grave |
What was Rachel’s secret? There is only one of which I am aware. Although Rachel had shown her marital status as “widowed” on the 1900 census, her husband, Orlando Salvadore Baldwin, was still very much alive at her death and lived until June 17, 1914. It is unknown if they were legally divorced or merely separated, but it is likely that due to the mores of the time, Rachel did not want to inform the census taker (or others for that matter) of the truth.
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| Orlando Salvadore Baldwin Found on Find A Grave |
Orlando listed himself as a “lecturer” in the 1905 Iowa census and a brief description of his life given on Find A Grave expands on that term stating that he was an evangelist who road a circuit in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, spreading the Good News to the rural churches of Hardin County. He is buried in the Radcliffe cemetery.
Perhaps Rachel Baldwin had a few more hidden secrets which accompanied her to the grave 114 years ago. They will likely remain a mystery. But her hauntingly beautiful tombstone lives on and, all things considered, tells her story quite well.
Until next time,
Jean
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