The Legend of the iron dog

From the Richmond Dispatch: Saturday, February 8^th, 1862:

“DIED, On the morning of the 7^th inst., of scarlet fever, FLORENCE BERNARDIN, an infant daughter of T.B. and E.S. Rees, age 2 years, 7 months, and 14 days. The funeral will take place this (Saturday) afternoon, at 3 o’clock, from their residence on Main, between 9^th and 10^th streets. Relatives and friends are invited to attend without further notice.”

The legend of the Iron Dog located in Hollywood Cemetery has more than one origin story attached to it, but one thing we do know is that it has stood near the grave of Florence Bernardin Rees faithfully for over 130 years. This is my theory on what happened…

Florence Bernardin Rees was born to Thomas B. and Elizabeth S. Rees, her father had a brother named Charles R. Rees who was a photographer. He had been working in New York from 1853-1855, his gallery aptly named “Rees & Co.” with 2 locations listed at various times on Broadway (289 & 385). In 1859 Rees & Co. was listed at 139 Main Street, Richmond. The dog is rumored to have been cast in the 1850’s in Baltimore and then purchased to stand outside of Rees & Co. when it was moved to Richmond…

*insert stereotypical record scratch here* Y’all… this is where it all went off the rails and I had to scrap this big long thing that I’d been working on tirelessly. My own personal theory I formed after going as far as digging through Civil War Military Records… only to take a chance on one sentence I found in another web entry and never saw again. I left some of the above information honestly because it was interesting and gives a little more background into the family who owns the plot. Ada R. Bailey is the granddaughter of Charles R. Rees, who owns the family plot where the Iron Dog is placed. Her father was his son James, and the Iron Dog is claimed to be there for her uncle Charlie, not Florence. Below is the Letter to The Editor that I tracked down through newspaper archives (Richmond Times-Dispatch; May 16^th, 1949):

After more rabbit holes into ancestry records, Ada R. Bailey is indeed the granddaughter of Charles R. Rees. Her uncle Charlie (Charles R. Rees Jr.) passed in 1905 at the age of 35, which means he was born in 1870, 5 years after the dog was placed on the plot. My guess is that the dog was actually the favorite of the eldest brother, Eddie, who was born in 1856, or even her father James himself who was born in 1860 (which makes the most sense). When Ada wrote this letter her dad was 89 and she herself was 49, I know from experience that family stories can get misconstrued over the years and this may be the case. Regardless, I think we can say that the general gist of the story is that the dog was owned by a store here in Richmond and because one of the children loved it so, Charles Rees Sr. bought it. It was then placed in the cemetery in 1865 to avoid being melted down by the confederates. It somewhat melds a couple of the theories floating around together which makes sense. The main theories were that it was given to her after she passed. Was the person who wrote into the paper actually Ada R. Bailey? As far as I could research Ada was an active member of her community in Petersburg, being mentioned in the newspapers numerous times for her involvement, and I believe would’ve promptly corrected the newspaper if they had published something false with her name attached to it. Take it with a grain of salt of course, but I think this is probably the closest we’ll get to knowing the actual truth.

Many people say that when you go to visit little Florence the Iron Dog will growl, keeping her safe from those that choose to get a little too close, and that the eyes of the dog follow you no matter what direction you go. Others claim to see it change direction, heard barking, or even seen it walk around at night. While I don’t have the definitive answer, and I’m sure as fuck not a historian, that’s my thought on the whole thing. Whoever the dog was placed in the cemetery for, it will be forever tied to Florence and if you’d like to go visit her and the rest of the Rees family they’re located on Black Dog Hill, where Western Ave and Cedar Ave meet. Feel free to bring a gift to add to the many trinkets left by those who stop by to pay their respects.