Stories Among The Stones

08/23/2026

For decades, Ida Alice Shourds Flagler was remembered largely for her mental illness and the controversial divorce that allowed Henry Flagler to marry another woman. But what happened to Ida after the headlines faded? Her story did not end with the divorce, and the life she lived afterward may surprise you.

Click here to read her story: https://wix.to/66Bi8P5

08/11/2026

Few Americans have inspired as much admiration, anger, controversy, and debate as Madalyn Murray O’Hair. From the Supreme Court battle that made her a national figure to her mysterious disappearance, brutal murder, and final resting place in an unmarked grave, her story is far more complicated than the label once given to her: “The Most Hated Woman in America.” Our newest story is now on Stories Among The Stones.

https://www.storiesamongthestones.net/post/madalyn-murray-o-hair-the-most-hated-woman-in-america

07/21/2026

Behind one of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's greatest treasures lies the remarkable story of a German immigrant banker, a visionary collector, and a Renaissance courtyard rescued from a Spanish castle. Discover how George Blumenthal helped shape one of the world's greatest museums, leaving behind a legacy that millions admire without ever knowing his name.

https://www.storiesamongthestones.net/post/the-legacy-of-george-blumenthal

07/13/2026

The Sloane Mausoleum at Vanderbilt Cemetery. Staten Island, New York.

07/10/2026

Anne Rice gave the world immortal vampires, but her own life was a story of love, faith, devastating loss, and extraordinary reinvention. From the cemeteries of New Orleans to the Rice Family Mausoleum where she now rests, discover the remarkable woman whose grief, imagination, and brilliance changed gothic fiction forever.

Read the story of her amazing life here: https://www.storiesamongthestones.net/post/anne-rice

Explore Storiesamongthestone, uncovering biographies and genealogy insights, preserving fascinating histories.

07/05/2026

Theodore Montgomery Davis was born on May 7, 1838, in Springfield, Otsego County, New York, USA, to Rev. Richard Montgomery Davis (1796 to 1842) and Catherine Hubbell Titus Davis (1812 to 1900). He had at least one sibling, Arthur Tappan Davis (1835 to 1843), and later half siblings through his mother's second marriage.

He was raised in New York and pursued a career in law and business. He established himself professionally in the United States, building a successful career that provided him with financial stability.

On March 7, 1878, he married Anna F. Buttles Davis (1835 to 1916). The couple later made their home in the United States.

In later years, Davis developed an interest in antiquities and traveled to Egypt. On his first trip in 1890, he was introduced to antiquities dealer Muhammad Mohassib through fellow Rhode Islander Charles Wilbour. This experience marked the beginning of his involvement in Egyptian archaeology.

Beginning in 1902, Davis privately sponsored excavations in Egypt's Valley of the Kings under the authority of the Egyptian Antiquities Service. Early work uncovered several tombs and important finds, including KV45 and artifacts from KV36. Encouraged by these discoveries, he continued to fund annual excavations.

Over the following years, his expeditions were conducted by archaeologists including Howard Carter, Edward R. Ayrton, E. Harold Jones, and Harry Burton. These excavations resulted in the discovery of numerous tombs, including KV46, KV55, KV57, and KV54. Most of the recovered artifacts were sent to the Cairo Museum, with additional objects given to institutions in the United States. Davis also published multiple volumes documenting the work.

By 1913, Davis concluded that the Valley of the Kings had been fully explored and ended his sponsorship of excavations. He died on February 23, 1915, in Miami, Miami-Dade County, Florida, at the age of 76. His remains were cremated and interred at Island Cemetery in Newport, Newport County, Rhode Island.

His wife, Anna F. Buttles Davis, died in 1916 and was buried with him. The inscription on their memorial reads: "Theodore M. Davis, 1837 to 1915. His wife Annie Buttles Davis, 1836 to 1916."

07/05/2026

Mary Smith, a "knocker-upper" who earned sixpence a week shooting dried peas at windows to wake people for work in East London.

07/05/2026

Peter Hill Beard (1938–2020) was an American artist and photographer known for his work documenting African wildlife and his distinctive mixed-media journals.

He was born on January 22, 1938, in Manhattan, New York. At the age of seventeen, he traveled to Africa with explorer Quentin Keynes, the great-grandson of Charles Darwin, an experience that would shape his lifelong connection to the continent. He later attended Yale University, originally pursuing pre-med studies before switching to art history. While at Yale, he was a member of the secret society Scroll and Key, and he graduated in 1961.

After graduation, Beard returned to Africa, where he photographed wildlife and the effects of environmental change, including the decline of elephant populations. These experiences formed the basis of his book *The End of the Game*.

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Beard developed his artistic practice in New York, exhibiting his work at venues including the Blum Helman Gallery and the International Center of Photography. His work was also later exhibited internationally, including a 1996 retrospective at the Centre National de la Photographie in Paris.

Beard was married three times: first to Minnie Cushing in 1967, later to model Cheryl Tiegs from 1981 to 1983, and then to Nejma Khanum, with whom he had a daughter, Zara, born in 1988.

In addition to his photographic work, Beard maintained friendships and collaborations with a number of prominent artists, including Andy Warhol, Francis Bacon, Salvador Dalí, and Truman Capote.

In 1996, he survived being trampled and speared in the leg by an elephant while in Africa.

On March 31, 2020, Beard, who had been suffering from dementia and the effects of a prior stroke, wandered away from his home in Montauk, New York. Despite extensive searches, he was not located immediately. His body was later found on April 19, 2020, in Camp Hero State Park in Montauk Point, New York. He was 82 years old.

Peter Beard is buried at Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Catholic Cemetery in Southampton, Suffolk County, New York.

07/04/2026

The story of how a nation was born, told through the men who shaped it and the stones where they now rest. A new post on Stories Among The Stones: Our Founding Fathers...The Birth of America!

https://www.storiesamongthestones.net/post/our-founding-fathers

07/03/2026

How does a boy who left school at twelve become one of the most powerful figures in the American energy industry?

Henry Latham Doherty began his career selling newspapers and working for a gas company in Columbus, Ohio. Through determination, self-education, and an insatiable curiosity, he built Cities Service, helped transform the petroleum industry, earned more than 100 patents, and continued working even after severe arthritis left him confined to a specially designed motorized bed.

Today, he rests beneath a simple marker at Woodlawn Cemetery, a quiet ending for a man whose ideas helped shape the modern world.

Read the remarkable story of Henry Latham Doherty, the self-taught engineer who never stopped learning.

Click here: https://www.storiesamongthestones.net/post/henry-latham-doherty