101 Ways, Part 18: Was Still Born

For a brief intro to the "101 Ways to Say 'Died'" series, click here.

At last! A competent photograph. That should be your first clue that I didn't take it. This example comes from commenter RJO's work at the South Street Cemetery in Fitchburg, MA.

In Memory
of a Daughter
(of the Rev. Mr.
John Payson
and Mrs. Anna
his wife,) who was
still born Augt.
16th 1775.

Unnamed infants seldom receive their own gravestones. I have seen some individual stones for 4- and 5-week-old babies, but this may be the first for a child born dead. Usually, very young infants do not show up on gravestones unless their mothers also died and the two (or three) are buried together. Occasionally, they will be buried along with other siblings and a single stone will stand for all. I agree with RJO that this baby may have received a stone because her father was a minister.

Another interesting thing about this stone is the tympanum design: a sort of bedraggled-looking plant. I've noticed that very young children's gravestones (and some women's and slaves') sometimes have abstract designs such as an acanthus or a geometric shape. I'm not entirely sure what the significance of this is.