Gravestone of the Day: Titus Wells Tuttle

In Memory of

Mr. TITUS

WELLS TUTTLE

who died

Sepr. 18 1795

In the 29 year

of his age.

Death is a debt

To nature due

Which I have paid

And so must you

Titus Wells Tuttle, 1795, Holyoke, MA

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: William Taylor

William Taylor, Holyoke, MA, 1761

WILLIAM Son of

Mr EBENEZER & Mrs

RUTH TAYLOR

died of ye small Pox

April ye 8th 1761 in

His 23d Year

Jopsephely and the Sinking Apostrophes

Here's another stone from a Connecticut River Valley carver, though I'm not sure which one. The carver owes a lot to the Stebbins Family and William Holland for the crown and scroll motif, but this stone looks rougher than the others I've seen from the Stebbins workshop or Holland. Might it be an early stone by John Ely? I don't know the western Massachusetts carvers very well, but there is an extensive website dedicated to their work for anyone who is interested in the subject.

I was most interested in the lettering on this stone. Not only does the carver misspell "Joseph" (and Mary?) and employ idosyncratic capitalization, he uses commas as apostrophes in several instances. The words "died, " "April," "daughter," and "months" are rendered "di,d" "Apr,l" "daugh,r" and "mont,s." I've never seen anything quite like it. He also seems to place a tittle over his capital is, just like John Stevens I.

Marei Ely

d. 1771

and Lovice Ely

d. 1763

Holyoke, MA