Beckman Mausoleum
Beckman Estate Building Mausoleum
The estate of E. H. Beckman will build a splendid mausoleum of white Colorado Yule marble in the Beckman cemetery just west of town. Two car loads of marble have been received and are being delivered to the grounds preparatory to the erection of the structure this summer. The mausoleum will be located in the central plat of the Beckman cemetery where the family has lots reserved since the cemetery was laid out.The mausoleum will be built of pure white marble throughout, and will be about fourteen by eighteen feet with a heighth of about twelve feet. The doors will be of bronze with plate glass winter closers. When completed the mausoleum will have a fair sized vestibule and twenty crypts, or burial vaults. The crypts will be arranged in tiers at the back. It is expected that the mausoleum will be completed this summer, as work will be started at once, and when it is finished the remains of E. H. Beckman and Mrs. H. S. Beckman will be transferred to their final resting place in the crypts.
The work is being done by the Colorado Yule Marble Co., under the direction of Mr. Archer of Chicago. The weight of the two car loads of marble was 130,000 pounds and the freight was about $534.00. One more car load is to come. The roof will be in seven pieces, each slab of marble weighing 4000 pounds. The slabs are so sawed that when placed in position they fit into each other and lock, the top piece being a keystone. When the mausoleum is completed it will add much to the appearance of the cemetery, as the setting is such as to lend itself easily to improvement.
--The Grundy Republican (Grundy Center, Iowa), 16 May 1912, pg 1
Beckman Family Erect Marble Mausoleum
Structure Will Be Made Of White MarbleWill Weigh 200,000 Pounds
The Beckman family will erect a new mausoleum on the family lots in the Beckman cemetery. The structure will be made of white marble both inside and out. Its inner capacity will contain twenty niches to accommodate that number of bodies. The outer dimensions will be 18x18 feet and the structure will be ten feet high. The Beckman family have five lots near the middle of the cemetery. The mausoleum will be erected on the lots fartherest west.
Three carloads of marble shipped here from Colorado will be required to complete the new structure. Its total weight will be nearly 100 tons or 200,000 pounds. Its cost when completed will be from $8000 to $10,000. It will be the only mausoleum near that size and cost in the county.
Nearly all of the material is here now and construction work will commence within a short time.
--The Grundy Democrat (Grundy Center, Iowa), 16 May 1912, pg 1
The new Beckman mausoleum has been completed. Work commenced on it in June and excepting the time the workmen had to wait for the arrival of material they were busy continually. It is a painstaking and most exacting piece of work. The mausoleum with its twenty different compartments is one of the largest private structures of its kind in Iowa.
--The Grundy Democrat (Grundy Center, Iowa), 21 November 1912, pg 1
The mausoleum as it looks today.
