Forest Lawn Cemetery - Table of Contents

Francis W. Tracy Monument
Section 3 Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo, New York
Illustrations Beneath Text

Francis W. Tracy:

1837-1886
Monument commissioned by his wife, Agnes Ethel, a celebrated actress

Architect:

Stanford White of McKim, Mead, & White

Sculptor:

Augustus Saint-Gaudens

Style:

Neoclassical ... Renaissance Revival
Sarcophagus

TEXT Beneath Illustrations


Click on photos for larger size

Sarcophagus


Bas-relief carving by Augustus Saint-Gaudens



Fret (Greek key) ornamentation

Stanford White

Augustus Saint-Gaudens

     

Agnes Ethel Tracy (Wikipedia)

     

In October 1898, an oil portrait of Francis W. Tracy was presented to the Buffalo Catholic Institutes's new building on Main and Virginia. Mr. Tracy left $10,000 as a legacy to the Institute (part of the $100,000 bequested to the city) and the portrait, painted by John Rother, was a gift of Mrs. Tracy.

Agnes Ethel Tracy
By Patrick Kavanagh
History of Women in Forest Lawn Lawn Cemetery

Section 3, Lot 17
Date of Death: 5/26/1903
(Actress)

Mrs. Tracy was a celebrated actress both in the United States and abroad.

After the death of her husband, Francis Walsingham Tracy, in 1886, at the age of 47, Mrs. Tracy had this most elegant memorial made for him; a Neoclassical style sarcophagus. She contracted with two great American artists: the architect, Stanford White, and the sculptor, August St. Gaudens.

To her husband she penned these words: "Tears to thee far below the earth. Tears do I bring to thee among the dead."

The memorial incorporated a bronze bas-relief sculpture of Mr. Tracy by Saint Gaudens.

Mrs. Tracy disappointed many fans as the result of her departure from her acting career. For seventeen years following her husband's death she lived between New York and Buffalo, having a very active social life.

Mrs. Tracy died in New York City.



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Photos and their arrangement © 2002 Chuck LaChiusa
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