A later date for dropped rs does not fit with the evidence I've been finding on my gravestones. The New England carvers have quite a problem with the word "departed," which is remarkable when you consider that it appears on at least a third of the 18th-century stones.
I found two more "depated" stones today. This brings my total up to six (more here and here).
The Abraham Gibson stone in Stow, MA dates from 1740:
The Francis Brown stone (1800) is in Lexington, MA:
5 comments:
Good suggestions.
So far, the "depated" stones I've found span a century, three colonies, and at least three workshops:
1707: William Pabodie, Little Compton, RI, carver: unknown
1740: Abraham Gibson, Stowe, MA, carver: Jonathan Worster
1741: Daniel Tyler, Brooklyn, CT, carver: Josiah Manning
1767: Manassah Fairbank, Harvard, MA, carver: Worster (possibly Moses)
1797: Ephraim Terry, Lebanon, CT, carver: Manning workshop
1800: Francis Brown, Lexington, MA, carver: unknown (urn and willow)
The only other r-deficient stone I can think of off the top of my head is an Obadiah Wheeler stone (c. 1720) in Lebanon, CT that says that the deceased died in "Novemba." I've been keeping my eye out for other Octoba/Novemba/Decemba mistakes, but I haven't found them. The months are often abbreviated. Do you have any suggestions for other common words that might have a spelling variant?
I'm also on the lookout for the added r phenomenon. So far, the only one I've seen is Annar Lawrence in Rumford, RI.
I've been going North and West in my travels, but I'm hoping to go South and East in the next few weeks. I spent four years in Rhode Island and know that it's a quirky place, so I've got my fingers crossed for some wild gravestones.
Also, I should add that the only other misspelling of "departed" I've seen is on the Elizabeth Stone stone (1751) in Lexington. This stone (by J. Worster) says "Dparted" with a tiny "e" superscript.
caitlin, you are amazing. and this is hysterical (in addition to interesting)
by the way, "corporation as family" is cate from am civ. i don't know how i got that name--perhaps something pasted accidentally from something else i was working on. but now i think it's pretty funny, so why change?
I'm so glad you stopped by!
And no need to change - just make up an AmCivvy-sounding definition for what it means.
What an interesting mystery. I'll certainly make an effort to get pics of these stones (I'll have to look through my Arlington pics to see if I have some already).
How were the stones different from the receipts? Were lines added/left out or was the wording different?
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