The Weeping Woman of Logan City Cemetery

The Legend:

If you stand in front of the Weeping Woman in the middle of the night during a full moon and say “Weep woman, weep” the statue will cry tears.

The legend says that the woman is weeping over the loss of her children, only 3 of 8 lived to adulthood.  Depending on what version you hear she will cry only during full moons, or she will cry on the anniversary of each of her children’s deaths.

The History:

This monument was erected by Olif Cronquist in honor of his wife Julia Cronquist, who died on January 8th, 1914 from valvular heart disease, most likely caused by scarlet fever.  Olif was one of the first county commissioners in Cache County and was also a well-known dairy farmer.

Their first child, Margaret was born in 1880, quickly followed by twins Olif and Oliver in 1883. Orson was born in 1888 and everything seemed fine until the first bout of scarlet fever hit the family in March 1889.  By March 22, 1889, the twins Olif and Oliver were both dead, succumbing to the effects of scarlet fever. They were 5 years old.  This was also when Julia contracted scarlet fever which would cause her problems for the rest of her life, and would ultimately lead to her death.

Another child, Elam, was born in 1891 and things were starting to look up for the Cronquist family.  In 1894, Lilean was born and it’s unclear whether she was stillborn or only lived for a short period of time. In a matter of 5 years, the Cronquist family has lost 3 of their 6 children.

Julia and Olif had another daughter in 1896 named Emelia, and in 1899 Inez was born.  Happiness was again short lived and scarlet fever struck their family for the second time in late February 1901. On March 1st, 1901 their two daughters died from scarlet fever.  Emelia was 4 and Inez was 2. They were buried together in a specially built casket.

In a matter of  12 years, five of their 8 children had died.  According to family history, Julia was inconsolable and would often visit the graves of her children. Passersby would remark that they often saw Mrs. Cronquist weeping at the graves. She progressively got weaker from the damage done by scarlet fever and passed away at 3 am on January 14th, 1914.

In her obituary she was remembered as “a splendid type of woman, tender, loving, patient and true, bearing her great burden without complaint and always seeking the happiness and comfort of those about her. She was adored by the members of her family.”

Visit the Weeping Woman

Olif had the impressive monument constructed and erected in the cemetery in 1917.  You can find the Weeping Woman and the Cronquist family plot at the Logan City Cemetery which is located at 1000 N 1200 East, Logan, on the campus of Utah State University.  The plot number is A_ 100_ 45_ 4.