Gravestone of the Day: Lisley Pallmer

Lisley Pallmer, 1682/3, Granary Burying Ground, Boston, MA

HERE LYES BURIED

Ye BODY OF LISLEY

PALLMER AGED 33

YEARS DEPARTED

THIS LIFE FEBRUARY

Ye 12

1682/3

Gravestone of the Day: Lydia Meriam

Lydia Meriam, 1690, Lexington, MA

 LYDIA

MERIAM AGED

32 YEARS DIED

DECEMBER 29

1690

It is somewhat unusual to see an epitaph with so little supporting text.

Gravestone of the Day: Anne Whipple

Anne Whipple, 1720, Newport Common Burying Ground, Newport, RI

Here lyeth Interred

the Body of Anne

the Wife of Ioseph

Whipple, who dyed

Decembr: ye: 28th:

1720: Aged about

25 years.

Gravestone of the Day: Frankey and Judey

Frankey and Judey, 1732, NCBG, Newport, RI

Here lieth two

Negro Sarvants

to Mr Edward Baner

Frankey died Sepr:

ye 14th 1732 & Judey

died ye [22?]

Gravestone of the Day: Samuel Mumford

Samuel Mumford, 1769, NCBG, Newport, RI

In Memory of Mr. Samuel

Mumford, son of Mr Benjamin &

Mrs. Ann, who died July 16th, 1769,

in ye 46th year of his Age.

Who, equal, steady, sirene, in temper liberal,

hospitable, social, humane, in Deportment,

first in friendship; catholic & benevolent

in principle, patient and persevering in

every duty; who liv,d the man

and died the Christian __

With sighs, his friends recall him but in vain,

when no pretence, a longer stay could gain;

Farewell, they cry dear charming friend; with thee

- - - - - - - -

Gravestone of the Day: Nathaniel Appleton

Nathaniel Appleton, 1726, Cambridge, MA

Here Lyes ye Body of

Nathaniel Appleton

onely Son of ye Revernd.

Mr. Nathaniel Appleton

& Ms. Margaret His Wife

Who Suddenly Departed

this Life Decembr. 1st Anno

Dom: 1726. Aged 21 Mo

Nathaniel's brother, Jose, is buried nearby.

Gravestone of the Day: Eunice Tullock

Eunice Tullock, 1807, North Cemetery, Portsmouth, NH

FUGIT HORA, MEMENTO MORI.

Sacred

to the memory of

MRS. EUNICE TULLOCK

the late belovid Consort of Capt.

WILLIAM TULLOCK

5th. daughter of the late Mr. James

Tuttell, who after enduring a painful

and rapid decline, with Christian

patience fortitude, and resignation.

departed this life in the well grounded

hope of a better, Feby. 4th. 1807.

AEt. 27.

Favour is deceitful and beauty is

vain; but a woman that feareth

the Lord, she shall be praised

Eunice Tuttle Tullock?

Gravestone of the Day: Daniel Whitcomb

Daniel Whitcomb, 1746, Stow, MA

HERE LIES BURIED

Ye BODY OF DANIEL

WHITCOMB SON OF

CORNEl EPHRAIM &

MRS PARTHAIANS

WHITCOMB WHO

DECd SEPTMbr 13th

AD 1746

AGE 1 YEAR

2 M & 2 DS

"Parthaians" is Parthias Wheeler, who married Ephraim Whitcomb in 1731. Her name is also recorded as "Parthiana," but she may well have been named Parthians, as the stone suggests. Any guesses as to why an 18th-century New Englander is named after an ancient kingdom in Iran are welcome. The Parthians are mentioned once in the Bible (Acts 2:9), but the story is about Pentecost, and it is clear that "Parthians" are people from Parthia – it isn't a given name. Is there another Parthia/Parthias/Parthiana in classical literature?

Gravestone of the Day: Abraham Fits

Abraham Fits, 1714, Ipswich, MA

HERE LIES Ye BODY

OF Mr ABRAHAM

FITS WHO DIED

AUGUST

Ye 18

1714 AGED

59 YEARS

Gravestone of the Day: James Smith

James Smith, 1678, Phipps Street, Charlestown, MA

HERE LIES Ye BODY OF IAMES

SMITH AGED 28 YEARS DECEASED

SEPTEMBER Ye 18 1678

Prepare to Waste the Rest of Your Day

This nifty little tool lets you graph the frequency of a word or phrase in GoogleBooks over time.

More from Jezebel.

Gravestone of the Day: Katharine Chauncy

Katharine Chauncy, 1667, Cambridge, MA

MRS

KATHARINE CHAUNCY

AGED LXVI DYED IAN XXIII

ANo: DOM MDCLXVII

Gravestone of the Day: Thomas Burroughs

Thomas Burroughs, NCBG, Newport, RI

Here lies ye bodye of

Thomas Burroughs

Who died deceer ye 16th

1722 aged 37 years

& 5 months

Note the thorn used as a y.

Gravestone of the Day: Peace Cazneau

Peace Cazneau, 1767, Granary Burying Ground, Boston, MA

Here lies buried

the Body of

Mr. PEACE CAZNEAU

who departed this

Life March 23

1767

Peace Cazneau was either a felt maker or a tavern keeper or both. He came from a family of Huguenots and is sometimes listed in the records as Paix Cazneau.

Gravestone of the Day: Orinda Carpenter Hyde

Orinda Carpenter, 1812, East Bridgewater, MA

In Memory of 

ORINDA CARPENTER

Daught. of

Mr. Ephraim &

Mrs. Mary Hyde,

died Dec. 14, 1812;

Aged 7 Years

& 5 Months.

Orinda Carpenter Hyde was named for her maternal grandmother, Orinda (Carpenter) Dresser (b. 1738). Though little Orinda's mother bore the prosaic name of Mary, Orinda the elder had an ecclectic naming style – English, German, biblical, classical/literary, and puritan virtues. Her children were:

• Elfreda (b. 1759)
• Huldah (b. 1761)
• Serena (b. 1764)
• Esther (b. 1766)
• Thomas (b. 1767)
• Nathan (b. 1769)
• Mary (b. 1772)
• Abel (b. 1775)
• Comfort Carpenter (b. 1777) named for Orinda's father, Capt. Comfort Carpenter
• Sally (b. 1779)
• Jonathan (1782)

Orinda was the pseudonym of the 17th-century English poet Katharine Phillips. I do not know why an 18th-century New England family decided to name their daughter after a high-society, Anglican, pastoral poet whose work is best known for its celebration of passionate female friendships. Classical names were all the rage in 1800, but not so common in the 1730s.

Gravestone of the Day: Elizabeth Haiden

Elizabeth Haiden, 1680, Phipps Street, Charlestown, MA

[HERE] LIES Ye BODY

[OF] ELIZABETH HAIDEN

AGED ABOUT 76 YRS

DECD OCtOBER 31

1680

Colonial American Names That Would Cause Trouble for a 21st-Century Child

Freelove

Mehitable

Dorcas

Gravestone of the Day: Peter Hart & Jubaafford Greenhill-Hart

Peter Hart & Jubaafford Greenhill-Hart, 1763 & 1755, NCBG, Newport, RI

In Memory of

Peter Son of

Michael &

Jane Hart

died Novr ye

5th 176[3] in ye

[10?]th Year of

his Age

In Memory

of Jubaafford

Daughter of 

Harford Green

hill & Jane

Hart died Janr

[5th 1755]*

Peter and Jubaafford were the children of Jane Hart, a slave in Newport, Rhode Island. I don't know for sure which Newport slaveowner owned Jane and her children, but he/she was probably a member of the extensive Hart family, one of the largest and oldest Jewish merchant families in Newport.

The name that caught my eye here was Jubaafford. Google reveals no other Jubaaffords, Jubaffords, Jubaafords, or Jubafords whose records have made it to the internet. Juba is a tricky word to pin down; it is variously a term associated with African-American music, dance, and performers, a name for leftover food, and the Akan name for girls born on Mondays.

It is probably impossible to know for certain how Jubaafford Greenhill-Hart came by her name, but I will venture a tentative speculation. If her father's name was Harford, it seems possible that Jubaafford may be a compound name: Juba + Harford = Jubaafford. Venturing even further out onto the overreaching tendrils of conjecture, it is possible that Jane could have been the slaveowner-given name of an African-born woman named Juba, in much the way that Phibba was often mangled into Phoebe. Even if Jane Hart was named Jane at birth, any name containing "Juba" would be read as a link to West African cultural continuity in a city where many of the most prominent slaves (Newport Gardner/Occramar Mirycoo, Jack Mason/Salmar Nubia) were African-born. To me, Jubaafford seems like a name that is meant to do a lot of work by linking a child to West African language and culture, as well as preserving a link to a paternal name even when slavery prevented the establishment of legally-recognized families and surnames.

Thoughts? Other explanations?

*According to the Rhode Island Historical Cemeteries Transcription Project, Jubaafford was born around 1749 and died in 1755.

Gravestone of the Day: Elizabeth Reed

Elizabeth Reed, 1803, Phipps Street, Charlestown, MA

 Sacred to the Memory

of Elizabeth Reed

Daut of Mr JOSEPH

& Miss ELIZABETH REED

died Septr 1st 1803

I love this tree. These carvings are usually so rigid, but this one has a sense of movement. It truly looks like the tree is mourning. The Farber Collection attributes a similar stone dedicated to another Reed daughter to the Lamson shop, though it does not differentiate between the work of Joseph, Caleb, and David Lamson.  Other carvings may be more precise, but this one is special.

Gravestone of the Day: Samuel Epes

Samuel Epes, 1760, Cambridge, MA

I am too lazy to transcribe this myself. Here is the William Thaddeus Harris' transcription:

Samuel Epes was a promising young lawyer and politician who died of consumption in 1760. His mother married Harvard President Edward Holyoke after the death of Samuel's father in 1741, when Samuel was eight years old. Holyoke considered Samuel a son — his diary contains entries such as "August 20 [1746] Sons John Holyoke and Samuel Epes first attended school in Boston."

I have not been able to find a translation online. My high school Latin is rusty, but this also looks like another way to say died: "Animam sjus in Jesu sinum expiravit." That must be something along the lines of "His soul expired in Jesus." Sinus means a curve or fold, so maybe something like Jesus' embrace? Does maceratus mean "to chew"? Tabesco means "to waste away," which makes sense because he died of consumption, but "to chew" seems a little graphic.

Gravestone of the Day: Elizabeth Lathrup

Elizabeth Lathrup, 1730, Norwich, CT

HERE LIES Ye BODY

OF MRS ELIZABETH

LATHRUP LATE WIFe

TO MR JABEZ LA-

THRUP WHO DIED

APRIL Ye 14 1730

AGED 79 YEARS 6

MONTHS & 9 DAYS

Gravestone of the Day: Anna Holyoke Cutts

Anna Holyoke Cutts, 1788, North Cemetery, Portsmouth, NH

Here lies (mix'd with the clods of the

valley) the Dust of Anna Holyoke Cutts

2d: daughr: of Samuel Cutts Esqr:

she cherfully resin'd her Soul to God

who gave it 28th of Augst: 1788. AE 20

With Life contented as in death resin'd

To sea's congenial flow the unspoiled mind;

Attending Angels hail'd her to that shore

Where Times dull [winter?]

Does this count as another way to say died? Number 60 is "Resigned His Soul to God" — do you think that "cherfully resin'd her Soul to God who gave it" is substantially different? I usually have no trouble booting a gravestone from 101 Ways to Say Died when I find a more interesting version of the phrase, but #60 is the gravestone of Yarrow, which is one of the few gravestones of African Americans in the series.

Gravestone of the Day: Munings Sawin

Munings Sawin, 1722, Watertown, MA

Here Lyes ye Body

of Mr MUNINGS

SAWIN; Who

Decd Novembr ye

28th, 1722 in ye 68th

Year of His Age

Munnings Sawin, town clerk and treasurer of Watertown, was named for his mother's family.

Gravestone of the Day: Hannah Dodge

Hannah Dodge, 1773, Ipswich, MA

HERE lies Buried the

Body of Mrs.. HANNAH

DODGE, second amiable

Consort of CAPT: THOMAS

DODGE & 2d: Daugtr.. of Mr:

DANIEL STANIFORD; She de–

parted this Life Janr: 29th..

1773: In the 27th.. year

of her age.

Unblam'd through life lamanted in her end

A pleasant daughter, sister, wife, & friend.

Gravestone of the Day: Zibeah Sweat

Zibeah Sweat, 1791, Wellfleet, MA

In Memory of

Miss Zibeah Sweat,

who Died

June 27th 1791. in

the 28th Year of her

Age.

Another obscure name from the Bible — Zibiah was the mother of King Joash. Zibeah Sweat's mother, Zibah, is buried nearby. The divergent spellings make me wonder how the family pronounced this name.

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Caitlin and Mark, 14 July 2007

Gravestone of the Day: William Warland

William Warland, 1708, Cambridge, MA

WILLIAM

WARLAND SON

OF WILLIAM

& TABITHA

WARLAND WAS

BORN OCTOBR Ye

3RD 1706 & DIED

AUGUST 23RD

1708 AGED 1 YEAR 10

MO & 17 DAYES

This is not the first stone I have found that has the year added in as an afterthought. Since the year of death seems to be crucial information, I think that these stones might offer some clues about the time that elapsed between a death and the carving of a gravestone. I think that it would be easier to leave off the year if the stone were carved in the same year as the death — to the person who carved this stone, young William died in August, not August of 1708. I would venture that this thought is easiest to have between August of 1708 and the spring of 1709. It's not hard evidence, but it is suggestive.

Gravestone of the Day: John White

John White, 1690, Copp's Hill, Boston

HERE LYETH BURIED

Ye BODY OF

JOHN WHITE

AGED ABOUT 30 [edit: 50]

YEARS DECD Ye 6

OF AUGUST 1690

This stone has been vandalized to make it appear that the date is 1620, rather than 1690. If you look closely, you can see that the bottom line of the the 2 has been scratched in. Also, 1620 is an implausible date — there was no Boston, let alone a burying ground at Copp's Hill in 1620. No New England gravestone survives from the pre-1650 period, and I strongly suspect that some of the 1650s stones are backdated. I suppose someone could have erected a drastically backdated stone at Copp's Hill to honor an ancestor who had died in 1620, but that's more of a 19th-century thing, while this is clearly a 17th-century stone.

Gravestone of the Day: Thomas Webb

Thomas Webb, 1769, Granary Burying Ground, Boston, MA

Here lies deposited the Remains

of Mr. THOMAS WEBB

who Died Very suddenly much

lamented ye 8th July 1769

Aged 33 Years.

He was born in the City of

Glocester in England.

This Stone the Hand of Social friendship rears

Whose generous Griefs supply a Parents Tears

Could friendly wishes stay ye Transient Breath

A kind Companion had not tasted Death.

Happy Decmber!

Marcy Winsor, 1771, Providence, RI

 This message brought to you by Seth Luther.

Gravestone of the Day: Asenath Tinkham

Asenath Tinkham, Nemasket Hill Cemetery, Middleboro, MA, 1806

Miss Asenath Daughter

of Mr James

Tinkham and Mrs

Chloe his wife

Died the 12 of April

1806 aged 22 years

and 11 Months

Another Asenath.

Gravestone of the Day: William Tarbell

William Tarbell, Groton, MA, 1757

Here Lies Ye Body of

Leut William Tarbell Who

Departed This Life Desmbr Ye

26th AD 1757 in Ye 69th Year

of His Age

Here lies intomb'd in this grave here

A Husband kind, a parent dear

A Neighbor good, the poor man's friend

Whom death hath brought unto his end.

It looks like the "AD" was added in after the rest of the line was finished.

Also, this is one of the more pathetic original verses I've seen.

Gravestone of the Day: Sarah Lamson

Sarah Lamson, Granary Burying Ground, Boston, MA

SARAH DAUR

OF EBENEZAR &

SARAH LAMSON

AGED 5 MO

& 23 D

DIED SEPT ye

This stone looks like it was carved by the same carver who made the "She that lies here needs no vercifying" gravestone in Malden.

Gravestone of the Day: William Waters

William Waters, 1691, Copp's Hill, Boston

HERE LYETH BURIED
Ye BODY OF
WILLIAM WATERS

Ye SON OF 

SAMSON & REBECCA

WATERS AGED 21

YEARS 3. MO. & 12 DS

DECD JUNE Ye 15

1691

Gravestone of the Day: Mary Soule

Mary Soule, Nemasket Hill Cemetery, Middleboro, MA, 1777

In Memory of Mrs

Mary Soule

Widow of Mr.

Zachariah Soule

of plymton who

Decd May ye 14th

1777 in ye 74th year

of her Age

This stone looks like  it was carved by a member of the Soule family. I'm not sure how Zachariah and Mary were related to the carvers, but it doesn't seem presumptuous to assume that there was some connection.

Gravestone of the Day: Katherine and Shem Drowne

Katherine and Shem Drowne, 1774, Copp's Hill, Boston, MA

HERE LIES BURIED

THE BODY OF

Mrs. KATHERINE DROWNE

WIFE TO

DEACON SHEM DROWNE

DAUGHTER OF THE LATE

TIMOTHY CLARKE ESQr.

& SARAH HIS WIFE
WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE

APRIL 21st, 1754.

AGED 67 YEARS & 4 DAYS

The REMAINS

of

Deacon SHEM DROWNE

who departed this Life

JANUARY 13th:

1774.

AGED 90 YEARS

1 month & 9 days.

For if we beleive [sic] that JESUS

died & Rose again even so

them also who Sleep in Jesus,

will GOD bring with him.

I don't know why the carver decided to go with all caps on the left and a mix of upper and lower cases on the right. Since 20 years elapsed between the deaths of Katherine and Shem, it seems possible that the two sections of this stone may have been carved at different times.

Shem Drowne was a coppersmith/tinsmith in 18th-century Boston. He is best known for making the grasshopper weathervane for Faneuil Hall (1742). He made other weathervanes, too: the Indian Archer for the Province House (1716), a rooster for the First Church of Cambridge (1721), and the swallowtail banner for Old North Church (1740).

Gravestone of the Day: Dyer Family

Dyer Family, 1786-1837, Plymouth, MA

Cap. CHARLES DYER,

died at Sea, March

1786; aged 46 yr.s.

BETHIAH, his wife

died June 8, 1837;

aged 87 yr.s.

Their son CHARLES,

died May 7, 1822:

aged 46 yr.s.

Happy Birthday, Brighid!

Mom, Biddie, and Wheeler, 1996, Gettysburg, PA

Gravestone of the Day: Susanna Quailes

Susanna Quailes, Groton, MA, 1775

Memento mori

Here lies ye Body

of Mrs: Susanna

Quailes wife of

Mr: Charles Quailes

who departed this

life Augt: 28th: 1775.

Aged 25 years, 9

mons: & 25 days.

Sign:

SUSANNA QUAILS

ONE OF COMPANY OF WOMEN

WHO CAPTURED A TORY

CARRYING DISPATCHES TO

BRITISH ARMY AT BOSTON

According to the Samuel Abbott Green transcription of Groton gravestones, local legend claimed that Susanna Quailes was one of the women who arrested Capt. Leonard Whiting in 1775. J.L. Bell of Boston 1775 wrote a series of posts about this alleged incident in August.

For no particular reason,
the Quails house:

Gravestone of the Day: John and Mary Pitman

John and Mary Pitman, 1711, NCBG, Newport, RI

Here lyeth

the Body of

John Pitman,

WHo dyed

Novemr: ye 21st:

1711: Aged 48 Years.

Here lyeth

the Body of

Mary ye Wife

of John Pitman

Dyed Decembr:

the 1st: 1711

Aged 45 Years

This is a lovely stone in wonderful condition. I wonder why John Stevens decided to use "ye" in "Novemr: ye 21st," but use "the" in "Decembr: the 1st."

Gravestone of the Day: Elisabeth and James M[c]hard

Elisabeth and James McHard, 1736, Haverhill, MA

HERE LYES BURIED

the BODY OF

ELISABEth DAUGh

tER OF MR JAMES

& MARGEt

MttHARD WHO

DIED IULY Y 31

1736 & IN the 14

MONth OF HER AGE

JAMES the SON

OF MR IAMES &

MARGEt MttHARD

WHO DIED IULY

[the 31] 1736

IN the FEFH [fifth?] YEAR

OF HIS AGE

I don't know what letters those are supposed to be in the surname. Two lowercase ts? Does anyone know if this is an obsolete way of writing the "Mc" prefix?

The vital records of Haverhill transcribe this name as McHard or Mackhard:

As you can see from these records, the Mackhard family lost four children within two weeks in July of 1736. The others, John and Whitely, are buried near Elisabeth and James, but I don't have a very good photo of their gravestones:

Close, But Not Quite

This week, Andrew Sullivan published a 19th-century photo (c. 1870s) submitted by a reader who claimed that it depicts "a would-be transsexual." The person in question (far left) has not been positively identified, but he/she has short hair and the photo is labeled, "Howard."

Another reader wrote in to make the eminently reasonable point that we should not jump to conclusions when we view historical materials with 21st-century eyes:

Sometimes viewing things through a 21st century lens can be very misleading. I think there is a pretty good chance this young man is just a late bloomer and not a transsexual.  Most noticeably, he does not appear to be making any attempt to actually look like a girl.  He's just in a dress.  Of course I may be wrong, as I'm not an expert on the history of the practice of breeching, but I remember seeing pictures of my grandfather in a dress when he was at least five or six and nobody assumed he was a transsexual.

Close, but not quite.

First, dresses were for children — boys were breeched when they were kindergarten age. The person in the photo is an adolescent, not a child. Victorian boys sometimes wore military-style tunics over blousy pants until age 10 or 12, but this person is wearing an adolescent girl's dress.

Second, the reader is wrong when he/she says that there is no "attempt to actually look like a girl." As we've seen before, hair parted in the center is a strong indicator that the subject is female. The other adolescent in this picture has a more cutting-edge hairstyle: bangs. The prop, a parasol, is also a strong signifier of femininity.

The second reader makes a good point about the conclusions drawn by the first, but his/her supporting evidence falls short. Still, I am inclined to be skeptical about the possibility that the photo depicts a young boy. The original poster just makes too many assumptions. For instance, the person on the left looks like a boy to us because he/she has short hair. Yet, Victorian girls sometimes sported brutally short haircuts, particularly when they were recovering from serious illnesses. When you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras.

Could this be a photo of a boy in a dress? Sure. But I wouldn't bet on it.

Gravestone of the Day: Elijah Doubelde

Elijah Doubelde, 1750, Granary Burying Ground, Boston, MA

Here lyes Buried

the Body of Mr.

ELIJAH DOUBELDE;

Who Departed this Life

July 2d, AD. 1750. in ye

45th Year of His Age

Gravestone of the Day: John and Zebina Montague

John and Zebina Montague, 1803, Hadley, MA

In Memory of

Lt, JOHN MONTAGUE.

who died

14th, June 1803.

Aged 753 Years.

Also ZEBINA his

son was Born

18th, Novr, 1786

& died Aged 10 mon-

ths.

Here's another example of a father and child buried together.

Zebina is really scraping the bottom of the Biblical names barrel. He is only mentioned once (Ezra 10:43) — he is one of the many, many Israelites who took a foreign wife in Babylon.

See also Noadiah. Apparently, the citizens of Hadley had a thing for obscure names.

Gravestone of the Day: Joseph Vaughan

Joseph Vaughan, Nemasket Hill Cemetery, Middleboro, MA, 1734

HERE LYES BURIED

THE BODY OF CAPt

JOSEPH VAUGHAN

WHO DECEASED

MARCH Ye 2D

1733/4 IN

Ye 81ST YEAR

OF HIS AGE

JOB Ye 14 CHAP

& Ye 10th 11th & 12th VS

For those of you who do not have the Book of Job memorized, the relevant verses are:

10: But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?

11: As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up:

12: So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.

Gravestone of the Day: Ruth Heaton

Ruth Heaton, 1781, Sheldonville, MA

In memory

of Mrs. Ruth,

wife of Mr.

Isaac Heaton;

who died

March ye 26th,

1781. in

ye 61st year of

her age.