The Lemp Family Mausoleum

Sitting on top of the highest point in Bellefontaine Cemetery is the Lemp Family’s Mausoleum.  Built in 1902 for the staggering cost of $60,000, equivalent to over $2.1 million today.  The Lemp Family Mausoleum is the largest in Bellefontaine Cemetery, with a total capacity of thirty-two internments, of which eighteen are currently occupied.  

In keeping with the Lemp Family tradition, their mausoleum was equipped with modern amenities.  Their family’s mausoleum had electric lighting and an electric heater for comfort when visiting during those cold and blustery St. Louis Winters.  Just having electricity in 1902 made the Lemp Family Mausoleum a technological marvel.   Electricity was removed from the mausoleum in 1970 by Edwin Lemp because of the financial drain it placed on the family’s mausoleum endowment with Bellfontaine Cemetery.   The mausoleum also features a specialized ventilation system that allows air to flow freely throughout the structure, preventing the buildup of noxious fumes caused by decomposition.  

The construction of the Lemp Family Mausoleum was rushed due to the untimely death of Frederick Lemp.  Fredrick was ordained by his father, William Lemp Senior, to be his successor to the Lemp brewing empire.  Fredrick’s death from heart failure in 1901 sent his father into a spiraling depression from which he never recovered, which culminated in his death by a self-inflicted gunshot wound on February 13, 1904.  William Lemp Senior picked a very special place in the Lemp Family’s mausoleum for his son Frederick to be laid to rest.  William Lemp Senior wanted his place of internment so that his son, Frederick, would be to his left, and his wife, Julia Feickert Lemp, would be to his right.  Possibly signifying that William Lemp Senior started to contemplate his own demise by suicide after the sudden death of his most beloved son, Frederick.

As in all things Lemp, the mausoleum is a testament to the family’s greatness, shrouded in tragedy.  The Lemp Family Mausoleum sits in Bellefontaine Cemetery’s famed monument row, and occasionally is opened for tours.

A large part of the information presented in the blog is credited to Daniel Fuller, Bellefontaine Cemetery Historian and Docent, learned while attending one of his cemetery tours.  The Photo is from The Missouri State Historical Achieves.