Gravestone of the Day: Edward Thurber

Edward Thurber, 1795, NBG, Providence, RI

In Memory of

Mr. EDWARD THURBER,

Son of Mr. Samuel

and Mrs. Hopestill Thurber;

who died July 6, 1795,

aged 34 Years, 4 Months,

and 15 Days.

He was honest, industrious & humane,

Early in life, he by accident

lost his left hand in military service.

Being a Manufacturer & Tr[adesman?]

he was on to the Carolinas, where, p-----ly,

he inhaled the cause of his exit:

on his return passage, was taken sick,

& in six days after his arrival home

fell a victim to Death,

leaving a Wife & Six Children to lament

the premature loss of an esteemed Husband

& affectionate Father.

Gravestone of the Day: Catherine Greene

Catherine Greene, NBG, Providence, RI

Hear in hope of the

resurrection of the just

are deposited, the

mortal remains of

Mrs. CATHERINE

GREENE, wife of

Mr. JABESH

GREENE who

departed this Life

May the 9 AD 1793, in

the 39 Year of her age.

Happy Decmber!

Marcy Winsor, 1771, Providence, RI

 This message brought to you by Seth Luther.

Gravestone of the Day: William Holroyd

William Holroyd, c. 1828, North Burial Ground, Providence, RI

THIS MONUMENT

Is erected to the Memory of

MR. WILLIAM HOLROYD.

He was born on the 28th of March,

A.D. 1746. —

In all the relations of life, he maintained

A fair and unblemished character.

He was an affectionate husband and parent,

A sincere friend, active merchant, useful citizen,

And an honest man.

For more than half a century, he was an efficient,

Benevolent, exemplary, and pious member of the

FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH in thsi Town.

His religion was not merely in name,

But being of the heart, it enabled him to endure

Frequent and severe trials with holy fortitude;

And in his last long course of debility

And pain, having CHRIST and His 

Righteousness as his only hope, 

He submitted

With unshaken confidence and resignation,

and came to his grave full of years

I assume that the epitaph continues in similar fashion at some length below the ground line. I have not yet found a transcription, which is a shame, as I imagine the the author probably came up with a delightfully prolix synonym for "died."

I think this was probably the same William Holroyd who served as a trustee of Brown University from 1789 to 1826 and died in 1828.

Gravestone of the Day: Edward Thurber

Edward Thurber, 1768, North Burial Ground, Providence, RI

IN MEMORY OF

Edward Thurber Late

Deacon of the Baptiss Church

in prouidence Who Departed

This Life June 10th 1768 in

the 67th Year of his Age.

Young and old Booth Grate & Small,

A Word of Caution unto you all

In time of Helth prepair For Death.

Before it be too late

For ---

This verse appears to be original — I can't find any other example of it online (including spelling variations). 

The carver is Seth Luther. He also carved the Samuel Winsor stone, spelling Baptist as "Baptis."

Gravestone of the Day: Allin Brown

Allin Brown, 1778, North Burying Ground, Providence, RI

To the Memory of

Capt. ALLIN BROWN,

who was captured by a

British Ship and carried in

to the Harbor of Newport,

where he was infected

with the Small Pocks of

which he died May 4th,

1778: in the 57th Year of

his Age; and his Remains

were interred on the Neck.

This monument is erected

--- affection ---

Allen Brown was born on August 25, 1721 and grew up to be sheriff of Providence County and a pilot in Providence harbor. I haven't found too many details about his capture, but it looks like he was put in charge of a captured British ship during the war. The vessel was recaptured and Brown was imprisoned as mentioned on the gravestone. A report printed in the records of the Rhode Island Historical Society blames his death from smallpox on "the inhuman practice of confining the sick and well prisoners indiscriminately."

Gravestone of the Day: Judith Greenleaf Dummer

Judith Greenleaf Dummer, North Burying Ground, Providence, RI

To the Memory of

Judith Greenleaf

Dummer, Twine

Daughter of 

Mr. Nathaniel Dummer

and his Wife Mary.

Gravestone of the Day: Sylvanus and Freelove Jenckes

Sylvanus and Freelove Jenckes, 1780-1, North Burial Ground, Providence, RI

In MEMORY of

Capt. SYLVANUS JENCKES,

who died in Petersburg, in

VIRGINIA NOV. 25, 1781, aged

35 Years, 2 Mo. and 3 Days.

ALSO

Of his truly amiable Lady,

Mrs. FREELOVE JENCKES,

who died the 19th. of FEB.

1780, AGED 31 Years, 10 Mo.

and 26 Days. She was of

an antient and HON. Family,

and Daughter of Captain

JAMES FENNER. She

Possessed evry Grace, and

Virtue, both of Body and

Mind, which exalt Humane

Nature; and was a bright

Ornament to her Soul.

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: Miriam Walton

Miriam Walton, 1732, North Burial Ground, Providence, RI

Here lies Inter'd (with her two

Infant Daughters) ye Body

of ye Vertuous & very Pious

Mrs. Miriam Walton, late

Wife of John Walton Gent.

she Gloriously Departed

this Life on ye 10th Day of

Novr. AD 17[3?]2. AEtatis

suae 29.

I don't know whether I've ever seen "Gent." as an honorific on a gravestone before.

Gravestone of the Day: Freelove Windsor

Freelove Windsor, 1783, North Burial Ground, Providence, RI

IN Memory of

Mrs. FREELOVE

WINDSOR,

the late amiable

Consort of

Mr. Olney Windsor,

who died Feby. 17th.

A.D. 1783, in the

28th. Year of her

Age.

Freelove was a fairly popular name in 18th-century Rhode Island, though I have not seen it much elsewhere. Freelove Windsor was the wife of Olney Winsor, whose gravestone appeared yesterday.

Gravestone of the Day: Olney Winsor

Olney Winsor, 1837, North Burial Ground, Providence, RI

Sacred to the Memory

of

OLNEY WINSOR, ESQ.

who died March 15, 1837,

in the 84th year

of his age.

He sustained through life

the character of a sincere Friend,

an affectionate Husband & Father,

an active & intelligent Citizen,

a true Patriot & an honest Man;

fuly believing

the truths of Divine Revelation,

his life was regulated by its precepts,

& his death

cheered by its promises.

The Tingley brothers stones in Providence don't have the same personality as the hand-carved stones, but I still find them appealing. The slate is so fine, the letters are so precise, and everything is so well preserved. They always draw my eye.

Gravestone of the Day: Jerusha Mitchell

Jerusha Mutchell, 1755, North Burial Ground, Providence, RI

In Memory of

Mrs Jerusha Mitchell

ye Wife of Mr James

Mitchell Decd Sep-

tember ye 22d 1755

in ye 47th Year of 

her Age.

Gravestone of the Day: Sarah Waterman

Sarah Waterman, 1776, North Burial Ground, Providence, RI

In Memory of

Mrs. SARAH

WATERMAN,

Wife of Mr.

Amaziah Waterman

She died Sept. 18th

1776, in the 64th

Year of her 

Age.

Amaziah is a name I haven't run across often, but I like it!

Gravestone of the Day: John and Esther Dunwell

John and Esther Dunwell, 1797, North Burial Ground, Providence, RI

A Memorial of

CAPT.

JOHN DUNWELL,

who died in Surinam in 1766,

aged 51 years.

MRS.

ESTHER DUNWELL,

wife of Capt. John Dunwell,

died Feb. 11, 1797,

aged 77 years.

Behold my night of death has come,

My flesh now rests beneath the tomb;

When the last trumpet shakes the skies,

Then shall my slumbering dust arise.

There is a sub-genre of cenotaphs in maritime communities that are dedicated to husbands who pre-deceased their wives by several decades. These men often died at sea or in far-flung ports. I have noticed a lot of these in Plymouth. In some of the most extreme cases, 50 or 60 years separate the deaths of husbands and wives.

The Dunwells died 31 years apart, but the gravestone still identifies Esther as the "wife of Capt. John Dunwell." I imagine that someone who died in Surinam probably wasn't home a lot even when he was alive. What does it mean to be the wife of someone who died three decades ago? This gravestone does some substantial imaginative work — it reunites two people across many years and many miles and restores the idealized version of their relationship: independent adult man and wife. The gravestone becomes a monument to a fiction that does not bear very much resemblance to day-to-day life.

I'm also trying to pay attention to is the chronology of resurrection imagery and allusions. This particular epitaph also appears on the Eleazer Nickerson stone (1796).

Gravestone of the Day: Rosabillah Sterry

Rosabillah Sterry, 1738, Providence, RI

Here lies Inter'd

ye Body of Rosabillah

Sterry; ye Wife of

Robert Sterry

Decd. March ye 2d

1738, in ye 28th

Year of her Age.

Another good name.

Gravestone of the Day: Samuel Westcot

Samuel Westcot, 1765, Providence, RI

Samuel, Son of

Mr. Jabez West-

cot & Anne his

Wife who died

March 24th AD.

1765. Aged 11

Months & 9 Days

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: Anne Sallisbury

Anne Sallisbury, 1775, Providence, RI

In Memory of

Anne the Daughter

of John Sallisbury

& Rebeckah his Wife,

Died Dec the 4 1775

Aged 17 Years 8 Mon

ths & 19 days.

the Sweet Remembrance

of the iust. Shall Flou

rish when thay Sleep in Dust.

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.