The Cotting-Burke Mausoleum near the visitor center in Atlanta's historic Oakland Cemetery is adorned with two bronze biographical plaques of former Confederate Col. Joseph F. Burke and former Confederate States Vice President Alexander Stephens, two surprising figures in post-civil war reconciliation.
Col. Burke is buried here, while Mr. Stephens was only temporarily interred in this mausoleum.
The mausoleum is made of blocks of gray granite, with a flat concrete roof. COTTING-BURKE is engraved in bas-relief over the doors. The windowed doors are made of bronze, decorated with wreaths and small floral accents. Window wouldn't s in the doors give a view of the crypt, but are reinforced with interior bars and plexiglass for security.
Two bronze plaques are affixed to the front of the museum, which read as follows:
"[L plaque]
COLONEL JOSEPH E. BURKE
November 2, 1845-April 24, 1927
Here rest the remains of Colonel Joseph F. Burke. In 1861, at age 16, he was in the Confederate States Forces defending Charleston, SC, when it was invaded and attacked by Union Forces attempting to reach Fort Sumter. As Commander, Colonel Burke led the Gate City Guard of Atlanta on a goodwill tour of northern cities in 1879 and organized a meeting of Union and Confederate veterans in Atlanta in 1880, which was sponsored by both Union General William T. Sherman and former Confederate States Vice President Alexander H. Stephens. His leadership and dedication resulted in the erection in 1911 of the monument to peace in Piedmont Park, Atlanta, by the Old Guard of the Gate City Guard.
Dedicated and placed by the Old Guard of the Gate City Guard September 7, 2003"
and on the other side of the mausoleum:
"[R plaque]
ALEXANDER HAMILTON STEPHENS
1812-1883
Vice President of the Confederacy, 1861-1865, died while Governor of Georgia on March 4, 1883 and was first buried in this fault. In 1884, he was reinterred at his home, "Liberty Hall," at Crawfordville Georgia.
Though small in stature, "Little Aleck" was a giant among men and an impassioned order of great renown. Following the failure of his peace commission meeting with Lincoln and Seward, he returned to "Liberty Hall" and was arrested there on May 11, 1865. His frail body sickened during his imprisonment, but sheer determination led him to serve as a US Congressman and finally as Governor of Georgia.
Placed by
Alfred Holt Colquitt chapter, U.D.C."
From the Southern Graves blog: (
visit link)
"18 September 2016
Residents of the Cotting–Burke Mausoleum: David and Frances Cotting
The Cotting – Burke sarcophagus type mausoleum stands in Oakland Cemetery at Atlanta, Georgia. It contains a couple of prominent individuals, and also temporarily housed another. Today, I'd like to share the obituaries for David and Frances Cotting. He was Secretary of State for Georgia, and she was a "leading social light." They both died of pneumonia, though 29 years apart.
Savannah Daily Advertiser (Georgia)
Friday, 9 October 1874 -- [via GenealogyBank]
Death of David G. Cotting.
Mr. David G. Cotting, who has been suffering for sometime [sic] from a complication of disorders, died on Sunday night. The immediate cause of his death was pneumonia.
Judge Cotting was born in Delham, Massachusetts, on the 28th of September, 1812, and was, therefore, over sixty years of age.
After graduating he devoted four years to the study of Greek and Latin. He moved to Washington, Wilkes county, in this State, where, for a short while, he engaged in school teaching. He was the editor for several years of the News and Planter, published in Washington, Ga.
In the early part of the war he was one of the editors of the Augusta Chronicle and Sentinel, and in 1861 became one of the editors of the Augusta Evening Dispatch.
In 1860 and 1861 Judge Cotting, while conceding the right of secession, contended that to secede was suicidal and against our best interests. At the close of the war he advocted the holding of a convention by the white people, urging that the negroes would hole one and make a constitution inimical to us. Most of the present constitution was, we are informed, framed by him. In 1868 he was elected by the legislature Secretary of State. Gov. Bullock, however, never consulted Judge Cotting on any of his measures, except when he was called as a member of the State Board of Education to decide upon text books. The Judge Cotting voted against the books of Northern publishers which contained in them allusions to the "rebel Lee," "the rebel Johnson," etc.
Judge Cotting was a man of ripe scholarship and strong integrity of purpose. During his life his honesty and uprightness were never questioned, for all who knew him had the fullest confidence in him.
He leaves behind him a stricken family who mourn his loss as indeed irreparable, and scores of his friends throughout the country who will revere his memory. -- Atlanta Constitution
Union Recorder (Milledgeville, Georgia)
1 December 1903 -- pg. 1 [via Georgia Historic Newspapers]
Mrs. Frances L. Cotting Dead.
From the Atlanta Journal, 28th.
Mrs. Frances L. Cotting, wife of the late Judge David G. Cotting, Secretary of the state of Georgia from 1868 to 1873, died yesterday afternoon at the residence of her son-in-law, Captain J. F. Burke, 1 Peachtree Place.
Mrs. Cotting had been ill with pneumonia for seven days and this was the cause of her death. She was 79 years of age.
Mrs. Cotting and her husband came to Atlanta from Washington, Ga., when the latter was elected secretary of state. For many years she was one of the leading social lights of Atlanta, although of late years she had been unable to attend to her social duties on account of feeble health. She was widely known, and has hundreds of friends over the state, who will regret to learn of her death.
Relatives and friends of Mrs. Cotting and Captain and Mrs. Burke are requested to attend the funeral, which will take place tomorrow afternoon at 2:30 o'clock at the residence of Captain and Mrs. Burke. The following gentlemen are requested to meet to-morrow afternoon at 2:16 at the residence: Ex-Governor R. B. Bullock, Judge L. E. Bleckley, B. B. Crew, L. E. O'Keefe, Judge George Hillyer, Dr. R. D. Spalding, General A. J. West, and Dr. W. L. Wilson.
...The interment will be at Oakland cemetery.
This mausoleum is featured in Atlanta's Oakland Cemetery: An Illustrated History and Guide, and it is listed in Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons."