So naturally, since I was out and about yesterday I had to take advantage of the unbelievable clouds. This is one of my favorite tombs in Metaire Lakelawn.

If you look closely, you’ll see that it shows two angels clinging to each other and weeping as they stand on the anchor of a sinking ship.

This tomb was actually built to be empty; it was designed to honor a mother and daughter whose bodies were never recovered when the luxury French steamer Bourgogne sunk off the coast of Nova Scotia in heavy seas.

They were broadsided by a British iron ship and saved only 164 of the 725 passengers- oddly, 120 of those were crew, there were 0 children saved and only 1 woman.*

Thus began a years long bizarre lawsuit because the women had reciprocal wills- the mother left everything to her daughter, and the daughter left everything to the mother, so whose heirs would get not one but two considerable fortunes hinged on the question of who died first.

Normally, you’d think the mother, being older (as mothers are apt to be), would’ve died first, but the daughter was sickly and frail and wouldn’t have lasted long in the water.

Also in question was what country’s laws to follow- dead Americans aboard a French ship, struck by an English ship in international waters.

Ultimately, though, it was decided that they would follow the traditional lines of succession, and the daughter’s heirs inherited all- not happy with just that, they tried to have removed the only stipulation in her will- that $3,000 be set aside for her tomb.

The family didn’t want to spend the money (a tiny fraction of the estate, even in 1905) on a tomb with no body to be interred, and the judge scolded them at length for their greed- and you’ll note that once it was built, her heirs were all too happy to be put in it themselves when their time came.

*In fact, the first news from the ship was sent back was as follows:
Less Than 200 were Saved, and the
Survivors Tell a Terrible Story of the
Battle for Life aboard the Ship, in the
Boats and on Rafts.
The Crew Threw Women and Children
into the Sea to Save Themselves”