Hiawatha Kansas May 30

I made it to Hiawatha and I was not disappointed.  One word of caution.... do not go to a cemetery on Memorial Day.   I had to park outside the cemetery and walk in, since mom and I needed the exercise it wasn't an issue.

The reason for my wanting to go to Hiawatha's Mt Hope Cemetery was the Davis Memorial.  I had read enough information on Mr. John M Davis that it convinced me that my ex husband (as controlling as he was) was nothing in comparison to Mr. Davis.

The most famous attraction in Hiawatha, Kansas is a 1930's tomb sitting in Mount Hope Cemetery near the southeast edge of town. John Milburn Davis came to Hiawatha in 1879 at the age of 24. After a short time, he married Sarah Hart, the daughter of his employer. Needless to say her family did not approve. Sarah and John started their own farm, prospered and were married 50 years.

Some stories say it was a love story. Most stories insist that Davis never treated his wife as royally in life as he did in death. When she snuck out to visit a neighbor someone from town would come out to let her know John was on his way home so she can be there before him. Later when they moved into town it was reported that marriage was so bad they barely spoke to each other. The residents of Hiawatha suspected this monument he built was intended more as a slap in the face to his wife's heirs than it was a tribute to Sarah. And resentment lingers over Davis' refusal to be a benefactor to Hiawatha in its hour of need.

After Sarah died in 1930, John spent $200,000 to create this monument. He died years later a pauper. Everything dime he had was spent on this.

The memorial began with a typical grave stone, but John worked with Horace England, a Hiawatha monument dealer, making the gravesite more and more elaborate. There are 11 life size statues of John and Sarah Davis made of Italian marble, many stone urns and a marble canopy that is reported as weighing over 50 tons. The last addition to the tomb was marble granite wall surrounding the memorial to keep people from entering.  The statues show Mr. and Mrs. Davis through various stages of their lives.

Did he spend every dime he had on a memorial to his wife out of love and devotion? Did he build this to spend every cent he had so no one else could lay claim to it? It is a mystery. BTW – the county had to pay for his burial.