Gravestone of the Day: Jerusha Pond Fisher

Jerusha Pond Fisher, 1812, Wrentham, MA

In memory of

Jerusha Pond,

Daughter of

Mr. Paul Fisher &

Mrs. Artemissa his wife

who died April 21st,

1812 In the 6th

Year of her Age.

If I ever write any Redwall fanfic, I'll know what to name my otters.

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: Emely Whitney

Emely Whitney, 1813, Wrentham, MA

In memory of

Emely Whitney, Dautr. of

Mr. Nathan & Mrs. Priscilla

Fischer; who died April 14th.

1813. Aged 13 Weeks.

Why so hasty, little stranger,

To be gone from earth away?

True, it is a world of danger,

Many ills attend thee here;

Yet maternal love solicits,

And invites thy longer stay.

Google cannot find any other instances of this verse, meaning that it may be an original composition. If it is, it is one of the better efforts I have seen lately.

Gravestone of the Day: William Metcalf Mann

William Metcalf Mann, 1817, North Burial Ground, Providence, RI

That Life is long which answers Life's great End.

Erected in Memory of

the Virtues which distinguished

the Life of

MR. WILLIAM METCALF MANN,

Printer,

who died March 2, 1817,

in the 23d Year of his Age.

He was the second Son of

Mr. ALFRED MANN, of Smithfield,

and by his Enterprise, Integrity

and Intelligence, promised to reward

[the] Hopes of kindred Affection.

--- was assailed with a deceitful

--- which prematurely removed

--- Joys and Activities

--- of Life,

--- hence where Virtue

--- eternal Reward.

I wish I could find a transcription of this epitaph. I really want to know what is deceitful.

This epitaph caught my eye because it purports to be a monument to William Metcalf Mann's virtues, rather than to the man himself.

Gravestone of the Day: Whitman Fisher

Whitman Fisher, 1814, Wrentham, MA

Erected

In memory of

WHITMAN, Son of

Mr. Timothy & Mrs. Sally

Fisher; who was killed at

the Battle of Chippewa

in upper Canada, July 5th.

1814. In the 15th. year

of his Age.

Tho' the brave youth,

With love of virtue fir'd;

Who bravely in his Country's

----------

The final lines of this epitaph were destroyed when the stone was set into a concrete base that keeps it in a straight line with the other stones in its row. It appears to be a quotation from Act 4 of Joseph Addison's play, Cato: A Tragedy (1712):

There the brave youth, with love of virtue fired,

Who greatly in his country's cause expired,

Shall know he conquered.  The firm patriot there

(Who made the welfare of mankind his care)

Though still, by faction, vice, and fortune, crost,

Shall find the generous labour was not lost.

I know nothing about the Battle of Chippewa. I was somewhat surprised by Whitman Fisher's youth — his gravestone indicates that he was 15, but the only records I have been able to find list his birth date as August 15, 1800, making him 14 at his death on July 5, 1814.

 

Gravestone of the Day: Anthony Rebola

Behold, a rare cross motif:

Anthony Rebola, 1817, Arlington, MA

In Memory of

ANTHONY J.B. REBOLA,

Son of Mr, LAZARO & Mrs, ANN

Rebols, who died Aug. 28.

1817 Aged 14. Mon.

Here lies the fairest bud of hope,

To which the fondest wish was given

If thou wouldst know its happyer state

Repent and seek the flower of heven.

I am going to go out on a limb and speculate that there is a chance that Lazaro Rebola was Catholic.

Gravestone of the Day: Patience Borden

Patience Borden, 1811, Providence, RI

PATIENCE BORDEN,

commonly called Sterry,

A free woman of Colour, and

humble disciple of JESUS,

She gave to the first Baptist

Church in this Town,

of which she was a member,

230 dollars, as a fund for

the relief of the Poor of Colour

of that Church;

She died

April 1st, 1811,

in the 33d year of

her age.

J.J.F.

This is one of my all-time favorite gravestones. It is an excellent example of the kind of gravestone that free African Americans commissioned for themselves in the first decades after emancipation. Patience Borden's gravestone highlights her spiritual, financial, and charitable accomplishments (rather than her dependence) and allows her to claim sovereignty over her name.

Gravestone of the Day: Henry W. Green

Henry W. Green, 1819, Providence, RI

Henry W. Green

Son of Mr. Thomas

and Ann Green.

he died October

13th 1819, aged

1 Year 9 Months

& 24 Days.

Weep not for babes for they are blest,

And in their saviors arms do rest.

Gravestone of the Day: Ruth Mason Sheldon

Ruth Mason Sheldon, 1818, Providence, RI

In Memory of

MRS. RUTH MASON SHELDON,

the beloved Wife of

MR. DANIEL SHELDON,

and Daughter of the late Aaron Mason, Esq.

who, in full Assurance

of inheriting the Divine Promises,

fell asleep in Jesus on the 23d Day

of June, 1818, aged 39, 1 Month,

and 23 Days.

"Blush not, recording marble, to proclaim

Whate'er was mortal of a spotless name,

Here lies entombed; the immortal spark above

Glows unextinguished in the realms of love.

And in new worlds enjoys the enraptured bliss,

That crowns the virtues of the just in this,

And just she was, if e'er imperfect man,

By Heaven's kind aid, accomplish'd Heaven's plan:

Each human virtue triumph'd in her soul,

And faith's ennobling signet stamped the whole."

"Blessed are they which do hunger and 

thirst after Righteousness: for the shall 

be filled."

TINGLEY, SO.

The Tingley & Sons monument company of Providence, RI had an engraving machine that could produce different fonts. They were not shy about using several styles on a single gravestone. I don't have precise statistics, but I imagine that mechanizing the process made long epitaphs cheaper (the Stevens shop charged by the letter until at least the 1780s). The new process made it easy to churn out stones with lengthy epitaphs.

This is also another example of the use of the term "marble" as a synonym for "monument," even when that monument is made of slate.