Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Jacob Lakin Stone, 1758


The Old Burying Ground in Groton, MA is home to several beautiful Park workshop gravestones from the 1750s. Of these, the most impressive is the Jacob Lakin stone. Its unusual shape, intricate detail, and elevated position (on top of a tomb mound) make this stone an eye-catcher.


Like many of these early Park stones, the Lakin stone has unusual text spacing. Most New England gravestones have one major text field and a few words woven into the tympanum (memento mori, fugit hora, etc.). Some of the early Park stones have multiple text segments for the epitaph, with verses above or on either side of the main epitaph. Some even have the border verse in reverse order. The Lakin stone has a verse before the main text, another below, and a third around the edge.

Halt Passenger as you go past
Remember time it runeth fast
My dust in narou Bounds do lie
Remember man that thou must die

Here lies the Body of
Mr. Jacob Lakin
who was Born in Groton
Decmber ye 7th 1700
and departed this Life
August the 29th 1758
Aged 57 Years
8 Months &
22 days

This dust revive it Shal again
And in a grave no more remain
When trumpet Sounds I Shal arise
And Selebrat my God his prase


From Deaths Arrist
no Age is Free

1 comment:

Robert J. said...

Lakin is a fairly unusual name, but it was one of the founding names in Groton and the place is full of them. There is a good genealogy of all the early generations. It's a fair bet that anyone in the U.S. named Lakin is a descendant of William of Groton who died in 1672.

This Jacob Lakin is #17 in the above genealogy. His wife was Eunice (Lakin) Lakin, who after his death married Ebenezer Lakin, making her Eunice (Lakin-Lakin) Lakin.