The John Henderson Core Mausoleum
In the middle of downtown Norfolk stands an impressive mausoleum that holds the remains of John Henderson Core and his wife Martha Anne. Only they are interred within as they had no children. The cost of the mausoleum, built in 1915, was $100,000. In 2021 that would be roughly equivalent to $2,578,950.
Core raised and bred hogs, and made most of his money as a wholesale broker and merchandise agent, but his most significant achievement was as a real estate tycoon. In an interview with Virginia Pilot Correspondent, Bob Ruegsegger, the Norfolk County Historical Society archivist, Robert Hutchings stated, “Mr. Core made his money in real estate. Core Street between Colley Avenue and Hampton Boulevard was named for him. He more or less owned all of the farmland that is now West Ghent.” [1]
The mausoleum[2] was designed by Harold Van Buren Magonigle, an American architect, and brother-in-law to one of America’s most famous actors, Edwin Booth (brother to one of America’s most infamous actors, John Wilkes Booth). The design shows the influence of the Greek Revival that was immensely popular in Europe and America in the late 18th and 19th centuries. Many symbolic flourishes like the phoenixes and scarabs are artistic references to eternal life.
In the center of the space inside is a sarcophagus made of bronze where John and Martha rest side by side. In 2007 grave robbers broke into the mausoleum and sarcophagus, scattering the remains. The vandalism and desecration has been repaired.
[1] https://www.pilotonline.com/history/vp-nk-mausoleum-0110-20210115-drq3iwalurbfllj22yxfmgmprm-story.html
[2] What’s the difference between a mausoleum, crypt, and tomb? A mausoleum is an independent aboveground structure built to hold the remains of a person or persons. A crypt is a burial spot, built to hold a casket in a concrete or stone chamber. And a tomb is a container which holds the deceased’s remains.
I wonder who placed the flowers on the sculptures?
On a personal note I can’t help but think of how the public “morality” and social code of that time would frown on a woman wearing a skirt or dress that would show her ankle, but here we see a lot more than that.
Note that every little flourish - butterfly, phoenix and scarab - uses Egyptian symbols of resurrection and eternal life as opposed to those of Christianity, which one would assume was the reigning religious influence of the era.
These bronze sculptures were designed by Edward Field Sanford Jr. and cast at the Roman Bronze Works in New York city in 1915. Established in 1897 by Riccardo Bertelli, it was the first American foundry to specialize in the lost-wax casting method, and was the country's pre-eminent art foundry during the American Renaissance (ca. 1876-1917)
An eternal love. Martha Anne’s inscription says that her, “affection for her husband was unbounded.” John’s inscription states that he loved his wife with “all of his strength” as well as all of his heart, soul, and mind.