Chicago North / Graceland Cemetery / Eternal Silence - by Lorado Taft

Eternal Silence - by Lorado Taft


Eternal Silence - by Lorado Taft

1909

Loaction: Graceland Cemetery

The statue of Eternal Silence is alternatively known as Dexter Graves Monument or the Statue of Death. It features a bronze sculpture of a hooded and draped figure set against a backdrop of black granite.

Eternal Silence - by Lorado Taft

Dexter Graves (1789-1844) was a hotel owner and one of the first settlers in the area. He brought  a colony of 13 families to Chicago from Ohia in 1831.  

Dexter Graves died in 1844, 75 years before the creation of this statue and 16 years before the Graceland Cemetery was found. His body was presumably relocated from the original resting place at the old City Cemetery (the present site of Lincoln Park).

The will of Grave's son Henry, who died in 1907, provided $250,000 in funnds for this monument. The monument was designed by Taft and cast by Jules Bercham.