A 100-year-old white bronze angel that faithfully guarded the graves of Mary and Minnie Bentley in the Maplewood Cemetery has gone missing, and the Chenango County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the disappearance as a larceny, with a reward being offered by the Maplewood Cemetery Association for information leading to its recovery.
The praying angel, standing 40 inches tall and made of zinc cast metal, probably by a Bridgeport, Conn., company in the 1880s, is known as “Mary & Minnie.” It is from the Truesdale family plot and marked the graves of Mary and Minnie Bentley, daughter and granddaughter of George and Rhoda Truesdell.
The angel was noticed to be missing earlier this spring by a cemetery caretaker who said it was there the last time the cemetery was mowed in the fall.
The statue stood on a pedestal, weighing about 400 pounds. There were no tire tracks or trailer markings where the statue was removed, but there was a visible “square” where the pedestal had rested.
Anyone having information about the missing angel is asked to contact the Chenango County Sheriff’s Office at 607-334-2000.
Update: An antiques dealer from Maine was traveling in Connecticut when he picked up Antiques and the Arts Weekly and saw this article on “Mary and Minnie.” He called the sheriff’s number listed and reported that he believed he had purchased the angel and that it was in his shop in Maine. It has since been positively identified as the stolen cemetery angel. Watch for more details in an upcoming issue.
