Could There Be Nobody (!) in Ludie’s Crypt?
Mike Brown - Editor
Rockdale Reporter - 2015-01-01
Could there be nobody (!) in Ludie’s crypt?
It’s ironic that a story which seems to have taken on a life of its own should involve a crypt in a cemetery.
Thanks to some great, forensic detective work by Rockdale native and historian Vicki Everhart. we now have more information about Alpha Louise “Ludie” Redding, whose impressive and unique crypt dominates Rockdale’s Old City Cemetery on Main Street.
It now appears there’s at least a possibility nobody is buried in the crypt, which has been the topic of a couple of Reporter feature stories — and some speculating and wild guessing — over the past couple of years.
Vickie has unearthed — oops, poor choice of words, Mike — Mrs. Redding’s death certificate.
Are you ready? She died in Los Angeles, California, and the death certificate lists her place of interment as a cemetery in that city. Not Rockdale.
So, where is Ludie?
To do this story justice, let’s go back to the summer of 2012 when a newspaper editor with more adjectives than sense decided the Rockdale area was just itching to see if somebody could find seven “wonders” in Milam County and compare them to the seven wonders of the ancient world.
So he took a photo of the Redding Crypt and paired it with the tomb of King Mausolus in Hallicarnassus. No, that’s not on the other side of Normangee.
The article noted the tomb had a metal door, with a keyhole, that opened onto nothing but a marble slab and pondered “is there actually a key and, if so, who has it?
Fast forward to fall, 2014.
Phillips & Luckey Funeral Home employee Stephen Jones, at the request of cemetery cleanup volunteer Jack Brooks, went looking through some old artifacts in a back room.
And found the key.
It’s an ornate folding key from a top-quality lock firm that’s still in existence and would be much prized by collectors.
But it doesn’t open the door to the Redding Crypt.
Almost nine centuries of time and weather have rendered that a task only for an expert. (You don’t want to go forcing any thin 86-yearold keys.)
Jones did say he thinks the crypt was constructed for two people, not one, but there’s no evidence of anyone else having been interred there.
And now Vickie has found Ludie Redding’s death certificate. She passed away June 25, 1928, which we knew.
But we didn’t know she died in Los Angeles. The certificate states she was buried in a vault in Forest Lawn. That’s LA’s most famous cemetery, one that contains the remains of hundreds of celebrities. Her funeral was held in a chapel at Forest Lawn.
So, is she actually in Rockdale?
We simply don’t know. It’s certainly possible her family could have moved Mrs. Redding to the splendid crypt off South Main.
Or did they build it, intending to do that and it was never used?
I would doubt that, but you never know.
Vickie has also found a death notice for Mrs. Redding in a 1928 Waco paper.
It, at least, answers one mystery, why there was no obituary for her in The Reporter in 1928.
It lists her only survivors as two sons, A. G. Redding and Roy Redding, both of Waco.
There was apparently nobody left in Rockdale to mourn Ludie Redding.
So why build a crypt here and bring her back?
Because her husband, John Nicholas Redding is here, under an obelisk in the family plot.
He died in 1887. She survived him by 41 years. According to her death certificate, she never remarried.
Wonder if we will ever know the full story?
mike@rockdalereporter.com
*****************************************************************************************
Ludie Crypt Mystery Solved; She’s in There
Mike Brown - Editor - Rockdale Reporter
2015-05-14
She’s in there. The biggest mystery concerning the Redding Crypt, which dominates Rockdale’s Old City Cemetery on South Main, has been solved.
Thanks to the tireless efforts of Rockdale historian Vickie Everhart we now know that Alpha Louise “Ludie” Redding was indeed buried in that granite crypt 85 years ago.
And we also know the circumstances. Mrs. Redding died in Los Angeles in 1928 and was buried in that city’s Forest Park Cemetery, final resting place of many celebrities.
Vickie has found a copy of the Oct. 30, 1930, Reporter which contains a short story telling how Mrs. Redding’s body was moved from Los Angeles to Rockdale and placed in the imposing mausoleum.
So, here’s what we know—thanks to Vickie’s research—and a couple of things we still don’t.
John and Ludie Redding were Rockdale pioneers.
He was a prominent merchant and, according to The Reporter, “foremost in civic and fraternal enterprises.”
He died suddenly in 1887. That’s only 13 years after Rockdale was incorporated as a city.
Mr. Redding was buried in the old cemetery with a 12-foot-tall obelisk marking the site.
Mrs. Redding survived him by 41 years.
Her crypt, which was called a mausoleum in the old Reporter story, has been the topic of renewed interest since it was selected in 2012 as one of the “Seven Wonders of Milam County” in a tongue-incheek Reporter feature.
The crypt has a metal door, glassed in, with a lock leading only to the granite slab.
That begged all kinds of questions. Why a door to nowhere? Was there a key? If so, where was it? Who was actually interred in the crypt?
Then Vickie unearthed — okay, bad choice of words — Mrs. Redding’s death certificate showing place of death and interment as Los Angeles, California. Bit by bit, part of the pieces of the puzzle began to come together.
Steven Jones of Phillips & Luckey Funeral Home found the key. It had been given to the funeral directors of the time, handed down to Phillips & Luckey and was in their archives.
He tried to open the lock but it was simply too old to function any more.
But Jones looked at the crypt and pointed out the key and lock wouldn’t have given access to the solid granite tomb in the event of a reburial or if another person were to be buried there.
It’s big enough for two, Jones said.
The Sunshine Special train brought Mrs. Redding’s body from Los Angeles to Rockdale on Oct. 29, 1930, under escort of a granddaughter, probably Mrs. Charles Blind, whom the story identified as a “resident of Hollywood.” It was quite an event.
Mrs. Redding’s children, grandchildren, “pall bearers selected from members of old families and Rev. G. B. Carter, pastor of the Methodist Church,” were at the reburial ceremony.
The story lists the Redding children attending as: Minnie Thompson and Daisy Frederick of Dallas; Albert Redding of Waco; Rey Redding of Houston.
Grandchildren present were Mr. and Mrs Swift and Joe Thompson of Dallas and the aforementioned Mrs. Blind.
In 1930, Mrs. Redding’s mother, Ida Penn, was still living. In fact it appears she was also living in California.
Now, what we still don’t know. Why a door and a lock on a crypt that led to nothing but a wall?
Anyone know any descendants of the names listed above?
mike@rockdalereporter.com
.
Mike Brown - Editor
Rockdale Reporter - 2015-01-01
Could there be nobody (!) in Ludie’s crypt?
It’s ironic that a story which seems to have taken on a life of its own should involve a crypt in a cemetery.
Thanks to some great, forensic detective work by Rockdale native and historian Vicki Everhart. we now have more information about Alpha Louise “Ludie” Redding, whose impressive and unique crypt dominates Rockdale’s Old City Cemetery on Main Street.
It now appears there’s at least a possibility nobody is buried in the crypt, which has been the topic of a couple of Reporter feature stories — and some speculating and wild guessing — over the past couple of years.
Vickie has unearthed — oops, poor choice of words, Mike — Mrs. Redding’s death certificate.
Are you ready? She died in Los Angeles, California, and the death certificate lists her place of interment as a cemetery in that city. Not Rockdale.
So, where is Ludie?
To do this story justice, let’s go back to the summer of 2012 when a newspaper editor with more adjectives than sense decided the Rockdale area was just itching to see if somebody could find seven “wonders” in Milam County and compare them to the seven wonders of the ancient world.
So he took a photo of the Redding Crypt and paired it with the tomb of King Mausolus in Hallicarnassus. No, that’s not on the other side of Normangee.
The article noted the tomb had a metal door, with a keyhole, that opened onto nothing but a marble slab and pondered “is there actually a key and, if so, who has it?
Fast forward to fall, 2014.
Phillips & Luckey Funeral Home employee Stephen Jones, at the request of cemetery cleanup volunteer Jack Brooks, went looking through some old artifacts in a back room.
And found the key.
It’s an ornate folding key from a top-quality lock firm that’s still in existence and would be much prized by collectors.
But it doesn’t open the door to the Redding Crypt.
Almost nine centuries of time and weather have rendered that a task only for an expert. (You don’t want to go forcing any thin 86-yearold keys.)
Jones did say he thinks the crypt was constructed for two people, not one, but there’s no evidence of anyone else having been interred there.
And now Vickie has found Ludie Redding’s death certificate. She passed away June 25, 1928, which we knew.
But we didn’t know she died in Los Angeles. The certificate states she was buried in a vault in Forest Lawn. That’s LA’s most famous cemetery, one that contains the remains of hundreds of celebrities. Her funeral was held in a chapel at Forest Lawn.
So, is she actually in Rockdale?
We simply don’t know. It’s certainly possible her family could have moved Mrs. Redding to the splendid crypt off South Main.
Or did they build it, intending to do that and it was never used?
I would doubt that, but you never know.
Vickie has also found a death notice for Mrs. Redding in a 1928 Waco paper.
It, at least, answers one mystery, why there was no obituary for her in The Reporter in 1928.
It lists her only survivors as two sons, A. G. Redding and Roy Redding, both of Waco.
There was apparently nobody left in Rockdale to mourn Ludie Redding.
So why build a crypt here and bring her back?
Because her husband, John Nicholas Redding is here, under an obelisk in the family plot.
He died in 1887. She survived him by 41 years. According to her death certificate, she never remarried.
Wonder if we will ever know the full story?
mike@rockdalereporter.com
*****************************************************************************************
Ludie Crypt Mystery Solved; She’s in There
Mike Brown - Editor - Rockdale Reporter
2015-05-14
She’s in there. The biggest mystery concerning the Redding Crypt, which dominates Rockdale’s Old City Cemetery on South Main, has been solved.
Thanks to the tireless efforts of Rockdale historian Vickie Everhart we now know that Alpha Louise “Ludie” Redding was indeed buried in that granite crypt 85 years ago.
And we also know the circumstances. Mrs. Redding died in Los Angeles in 1928 and was buried in that city’s Forest Park Cemetery, final resting place of many celebrities.
Vickie has found a copy of the Oct. 30, 1930, Reporter which contains a short story telling how Mrs. Redding’s body was moved from Los Angeles to Rockdale and placed in the imposing mausoleum.
So, here’s what we know—thanks to Vickie’s research—and a couple of things we still don’t.
John and Ludie Redding were Rockdale pioneers.
He was a prominent merchant and, according to The Reporter, “foremost in civic and fraternal enterprises.”
He died suddenly in 1887. That’s only 13 years after Rockdale was incorporated as a city.
Mr. Redding was buried in the old cemetery with a 12-foot-tall obelisk marking the site.
Mrs. Redding survived him by 41 years.
Her crypt, which was called a mausoleum in the old Reporter story, has been the topic of renewed interest since it was selected in 2012 as one of the “Seven Wonders of Milam County” in a tongue-incheek Reporter feature.
The crypt has a metal door, glassed in, with a lock leading only to the granite slab.
That begged all kinds of questions. Why a door to nowhere? Was there a key? If so, where was it? Who was actually interred in the crypt?
Then Vickie unearthed — okay, bad choice of words — Mrs. Redding’s death certificate showing place of death and interment as Los Angeles, California. Bit by bit, part of the pieces of the puzzle began to come together.
Steven Jones of Phillips & Luckey Funeral Home found the key. It had been given to the funeral directors of the time, handed down to Phillips & Luckey and was in their archives.
He tried to open the lock but it was simply too old to function any more.
But Jones looked at the crypt and pointed out the key and lock wouldn’t have given access to the solid granite tomb in the event of a reburial or if another person were to be buried there.
It’s big enough for two, Jones said.
The Sunshine Special train brought Mrs. Redding’s body from Los Angeles to Rockdale on Oct. 29, 1930, under escort of a granddaughter, probably Mrs. Charles Blind, whom the story identified as a “resident of Hollywood.” It was quite an event.
Mrs. Redding’s children, grandchildren, “pall bearers selected from members of old families and Rev. G. B. Carter, pastor of the Methodist Church,” were at the reburial ceremony.
The story lists the Redding children attending as: Minnie Thompson and Daisy Frederick of Dallas; Albert Redding of Waco; Rey Redding of Houston.
Grandchildren present were Mr. and Mrs Swift and Joe Thompson of Dallas and the aforementioned Mrs. Blind.
In 1930, Mrs. Redding’s mother, Ida Penn, was still living. In fact it appears she was also living in California.
Now, what we still don’t know. Why a door and a lock on a crypt that led to nothing but a wall?
Anyone know any descendants of the names listed above?
mike@rockdalereporter.com
.
