Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Lux mausoleum

Here's another mausoleum among the many that dot Mt. View Cemetery.  Mr. Lux emigrated from Alsace to New York in 1838.  By 1853 he had migrated to San Francisco where he worked as a butcher.  Within a few years he joined in a partnership and ultimately became a cattle and land baron, said to own 1/7 of California.  Quite a story.  This mausoleum seems modest for someone who was fabulously wealthy.  For a more detailed biography, visit the above link.

And for more cemetery wanderings be sure and visit Julie's Taphophile Tragics.
Posted by Oakland Daily Photo at 8:13 AM
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16 comments:

  1. VioletSkyMarch 6, 2012 at 10:18 AM

    It is difficult to imagine any one person ever becoming so wealthy again from owning cattle!

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  2. Herding CatsMarch 6, 2012 at 10:43 AM

    Fantastic picture. It does seem rather understated.

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  3. Gemma WisemanMarch 6, 2012 at 11:17 AM

    The mausoleum looks a little like a masonic temple! It almost seems secretive for all its impressive structure!

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  4. Melbourne Australia PhotosMarch 6, 2012 at 12:27 PM

    Wow! It still looks quite grand to me. Bu then again all I want marking my burial site is a simple plaque.

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  5. Melbourne Australia PhotosMarch 6, 2012 at 12:28 PM

    PS: Jut thinking about Gemma's comment re: Masonic temple... "Lux" is light in Latin. I wonder if he was a mason?

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  6. DebMarch 6, 2012 at 1:17 PM

    Interesting picture. Wonder if the mausoleum is still used by the family?

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  7. JackMarch 6, 2012 at 4:23 PM

    Mountain View cemetery will give you great photographs for a year of Tuesdays! One seventh of California? I wonder why we don't hear of Lux millionaire heirs today.

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  8. SondraMarch 6, 2012 at 4:41 PM

    IT looks pretty spiffy to me...I cant imagine having something like that in my family cemetery!!

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  9. Ken MacMarch 6, 2012 at 5:37 PM

    an excellent find

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  10. hamiltonMarch 6, 2012 at 5:55 PM

    I like it. It is slightly understated, yet grand at the same time.

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  11. KathyMarch 7, 2012 at 7:47 AM

    I love your cemetery pictures so much that if I ever get to Oakland (and I will I've decided) Mt. View will be the first place I go!

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  12. OwenMarch 7, 2012 at 12:55 PM

    True, it's not excessively ornate, but it is still on a rather imposing scale. Perhaps luxuriously appointed on the interior ?

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  13. JulieMarch 7, 2012 at 5:11 PM

    Very droll, Owen!

    I find this gentleman's name to be fascinating, too. When I first saw your photograph without having read the text, I thought of the biblical 'lux aeterna', meaning eternal light.

    Perhaps it was not so much the cattle that made him wealth, as the land on which to range his cattle. There are so many wealthy people nowadays with a low profile. All we hear about are the ones who think that their wealth 'entitles' them to attention as well.

    To my eyes, this is still a most imposing mausoleum. It is just not ornate. I do hope that family members still take advantage of Mr Lux's far-sightedness.

    Thanks for this, Carolyn. I owe you an email. I am working my way through them.

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  14. CaTMarch 7, 2012 at 7:51 PM

    interesting... i still think too that it is pretty big! a stone would be sufficient...
    but from immigrant to butcher to fabulously wealthy is quite impressive!

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  15. UnknownMarch 8, 2012 at 9:13 AM

    1/7 of California?! I'm always very apprehensive regarding people who get this rich in such a short time... Well, at least, he was not a politician!

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  16. -K-March 12, 2012 at 5:16 PM

    1/7 of California? Could that be possible?

    And be virtually forgotten today?

    Fascinating.

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