WHAT IS A CENOTAPH?
A cenotaph is an empty grave. Three major types of cenotaphs can be found:
(1) A cenotaph memorializing a person whose body was lost or was buried at sea (examples: Amelia Earhart; Adoniram Judson; Oliver Cromwell)
(2) A cenotaph memorializing a person who was originally buried at that location, but later the body was moved to a different location (examples: John Quincy Adams, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart).
(3) A cenotaph simply memorializing a person of note as a gesture of respect and honor (many occurrences of this can be found at Westminster Abbey in London, England - Lord Byron, T.S. Eliot, Lewis Carroll, etc.)