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Green Lawn Abbey is a grand
structure built in 1927 by the Columbus Mausoleum Company. It
was the finest and largest in the area with room for 654 interments.
The Columbus Mausoleum Company built numerous other mausoleums in the
surrounding area but Green Lawn Abbey was its largest and finest
creation, undoubtedly their showpiece.
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Built to last an eternity with 1½“ thick granite walls, marble
interior and an imported tile roof, the Abbey was built to inspire
awe. Marble fireplaces, stained glass windows and various religious
statues adorn this beautiful final resting place of many notable
figures in Ohio and local history. |
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One of the most famous residents of the Abbey is Howard Thurston,
a world-famous, world-class magician born in Columbus in 1869.
Thurston made a pact with close friends that he would try to
communicate with them from his grave on the one year anniversary
of his death. He was interred at the Abbey in 1936.
(For the full story see tab for Thurston) Unfortunately this
widely known legend has contributed significantly to the notoriety
and vandalism of the beautiful Abbey. |
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Other notable residents include George Karb (former Franklin County
police commissioner and five-time mayor of Columbus), Charles Foster
Johnson (first real estate tycoon in the area),
Isaac Collins (founder of Anchor Hocking), Edward Swisher (founder
of cigar company that manufactures the famous Swisher Sweet),
and H. R. Penney (brother of J.C. Penney of department store
fame). A special family crypt room holds members of the
Lewis Sells family (the Sell’s family owned the 2nd
largest traveling circus in America at the turn of the century).
Other locally prominent names include Dierdorff and Wildermuth.
Much research has to be done to reveal who else might “reside” in
the Abbey.
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