White Bronze

While working through photos to upload to my flickr site I came across this one that I meant to blog about last year.

In my walks through many cemeteries I have found zinc markers, also known as white bronze, only from the Western White Bronze Co in Des Moines, IA. I was happy to discover one, in a rural cemetery in the county next door, from the Detroit Bronze Co in Detroit Michigan. A lucky find? Perhaps. According to information found online this subsidiary only operated 4 years.

Now - can I add one from the Chicago subsidiary to my collection? Without going to the Chicago area? I hope so!

Hillside Cemetery
Mrs. Mary J. Allender
Wife of
David Allender
Born Sept 21, 1845
Died Dec 28, 1882
Aged 37 yrs, 3 mos, 7 dys

Ira T. Allender
Son of
Mr. & Mrs. David Allender
Born Sept 17, 1882
Died Jan 28, 1883
Aged 4 mos, 11 dys

Geneseo Cemetery
Anna Baldwin
Wife of Harvey B. Baldwin
Died Oct 18, 1891
Aged 55 ys, 6 ms

H. B. Baldwin
Born Sep 12, 1828
Died Jan 29, 1896
Aged 67 yrs, 4 mos, 17 dys

From the web site Zinc Markers is the following:

Monumental Bronze established subsidiaries throughout the U.S. in an attempt to expand their business. The first subsidiary was opened in Detroit, Michigan in 1881. Detroit Bronze operated until around 1885, when it closed. After the closing of the Detroit operation, two more subsidiaries opened in 1886, one in Chicago and one in Des Moines, Iowa. American Bronze operated in Chicago for twenty-three years, until it closed in 1909. Western White Bronze Company in Des Moines operated for twenty-two years, and closed in 1908. These subsidiaries did not do the original casting, instead they acted as final finishing stations for the monuments. All the original casting took place in Bridgeport.

Catalog B from the Monumental Bronze Company can be found on the web site of the Association of Gravestone Studies
 
Also on the AGS site is an article with information on the Monumental Bronze Company. Follow the link and scroll to the end of the page.