Mother (Catherine Michael) Monument
Location: Area H/Lot 397
Date of Placement: after 1858
Decedents: Catharine (Bernhart) Michael
Monument inducted into the Hall in September 2023 (Class #3)
Location: Area H/Lot 397
Date of Placement: after 1858
Decedents: Catharine (Bernhart) Michael
Monument inducted into the Hall in September 2023 (Class #3)
This monument has been featured in Mount Olivet FaceBook posts on Mother's Day for good reason as it is a memorial ode to a maternal figure. The sentiment near the base of this stone reads "Rest Sweet Mother Rest." Above this, a bible passage (Philippians 1:21) is featured in which the apostle Paul said: "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." Another verse appears beneath but is difficult to make out.
The decedent here is a woman named Catharine Michael (born Catharine Bernhart on January 4th, 1804). Catharine was married three times. Her first husband was John Coe. The couple wed in 1820 and apparently lived in the Mechanicstown area. Coe died in 1833 and is buried at Israel's Creek Meeting House Cemetery in Walkersville. She next married John Baker in 1835 and had daughters Caroline (Baker) Mory (who is also buried in H/397), and Sarah. They lived in the Middletown District.
The decedent here is a woman named Catharine Michael (born Catharine Bernhart on January 4th, 1804). Catharine was married three times. Her first husband was John Coe. The couple wed in 1820 and apparently lived in the Mechanicstown area. Coe died in 1833 and is buried at Israel's Creek Meeting House Cemetery in Walkersville. She next married John Baker in 1835 and had daughters Caroline (Baker) Mory (who is also buried in H/397), and Sarah. They lived in the Middletown District.
After John Baker died in 1837, Catharine served as executor and sold his 78.5-acre farm and a second 42-acre farm. She then bought a half-lot in Middletown located just east of the Lutheran Church on Main Street. In time she would purchase a half-lot at what is now 108 W. Main Street. In 1850, Catharine married Isaac Michael, a farmer in the Middletown Valley, who is shown on the 1858 Bond Atlas map living on Burkittsville Road.
Catharine Michael died at age 54 on February 28th, 1858. It is highly likely that Catharine's daughter, Caroline (Baker) Mory (1836-1896), is the one responsible for the kind sentiment on the gravestone's face. A draped urn completes this monument as the vessel itself is a representation of those used to carry the remains of the dead, while the fabric symbolizes the veil separating the living and the dead and the thin line that separates them.