Page 10 - Middletown Magazine Issue 3 Autumn 2023

The Alsop-Chauncey-Mütter crypts at the Indian Hill Cemetery make up the most impressive mausoleum
in Middletown, designed in a combination of Romanesque and Egyptian Revival styles and constructed of
Portland brownstone. (Photo credit: Alain Munkittrick)

and the Alsop-Chauncey-Mutter Crypt

by Alain Munkittrick

n 1991 a tip provided to Middletown police led them to discover a human skull in a wood-
Ied area behind a Cromwell car wash. It was later determined that it had been used as part
of an occult, satanic ritual. Where did it come from?
Shortly thereafter, State Archaeologist Nick four Chaunceys and their splintered coffins,
Bellantoni was called in to investigate the Bellantoni was able to prove that the Crom-
desecration of a crypt at Middletown’s Indi- well cranium was, in fact, that of Lucy Al-
an Hill Cemetery. There a vandal had broken sop Chauncey, the 56 year old wife of Hen-
into the Chauncey family tomb. Items of val- ry Chauncey. Her skull was stolen from the
ue had not been stolen from the tomb, and crypt!
with other leads, investigators concluded
that the motive for the vandalism was sin- The Chauncey crypt is one of three, side-by-
ister. Forensically reconstructing the scene side, connected tombs for three inter-related
of the crime and the desecrated remains of families. To the left of the Chauncey tomb is
that for the Alsop family, while to the right
stands that for the Mütters. Built into the
side of Indian Hill near its summit, this is
Middletown’s most architecturally impres-
sive funerary mausoleum. It is composed
of three giant portals of ashlar brownstone
set off from rusticated retaining walls which
gracefully curve outwards to each side. This
grand Alsop-Chauncey-Mütter mausoleum
is eclectic in its design. Romanesque influ- Dr. Thomas Dent Mütter (1811-1859), interred at
ence is seen in the round-arched door open- Indian Hill Cemetery, was also a charismatic teacher
ings, framed by receding colonettes, beauti- at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, where
fully carved. The three pylons that enflame he was known for introducing advanced teaching
the iron-clad doorways are in the Egyptian methods, but also his flamboyant haberdashery.
Revival style. Their heavy entablatures have
cavetto (or rolled) moldings, typical of this were responsible for the masonry of many of
style. The Egyptian Revival, which had a Middletown’s buildings (especially church-
flowering in the mid-19th century, was es- es), and also sculpted many of the cemetery’s
pecially suitable for cemetery gates and monuments.
monuments. This is Middletown’s only ex-
ample of the exotic style. The designer of the A diverse range of people now repose at In-
Dr. Mütter was renowned for his plastic surgery mausoleum is yet unknown, but the builder dian Hill Cemetery (opened in 1850), but in
on patients with physical deformities. The may have been Thomas Collard Canfield, the 1800s it was mostly the resting place for
macabre poster highlights some of his more the Irish stone mason who constructed the the city’s elite families. Alsop family mem-
famous medical cases and accomplishments. Russell Chapel nearby (see the related arti- bers interred here (or in the underground
(Credit: Mütter Museum). cle in this issue on page 18). The Canfields tomb in the forecourt) include Richard Al-

10 Middletown Magazine - Autumn Issue 2023