Gravestone of the Day: Isabella Wildrage

Isabella Wildrage, 1789, Portland, ME

In Memory of

Mrs Isabella Wildrage

Consort of

Capt. James Wildrage,

who was born at the Island

of South Ronaldsha North Britain,

in the Year 1740,

& departed this Life

Septr. 23d 1789,

Aged 49 Years.

I think that the island is South Ronaldsay, pop. 854. 

Isabella Wildrage would be a good name for Fanny Forward's rancorous friend.

Gravestone of the Day: Jonathan Felt

Jonathan Felt, 1800, Wrentham, MA

In memory of

Capt, JONATHAN FELT

who departed this life Nov. 5th

1800

in ye 53d, Year of

his Age.

Thro wars & fiery Battles safe I've fled,

Yet slow disease has lodg'd me mongst ye dead,

Mourn not ye loss my friends in tears and sighs

Since we shall meet again beyond ye skies.

This cumbersome verse makes reference to Jonathan Felt's extensive service during the Revolutionary War. He responded to the Lexington Alarm on April 19, 1775 and served through the war until the Yorktown campaign. After the war, Felt returned to Wrentham, where he served as a Justice of the Peace until dying of consumption in 1800. He was a member of the the Society of the Cincinnati.

Also of note: Jonathan's mother's name was Lovewell Wells Felt. Let me say that again: she was born Lovewell Wells and became Lovewell Felt. Is there room for her in my novel?

Gravestone of the Day: Farnum Chickering

Farnum Chickering, 1824, Providence, RI

In Memory of

Mr.

Farnum Chickering

son of

Capt. Dean & Sarah Chickering

of Andover, Mass.

He died Dec. 1, 1824.

in the 37th year

of his age.

The Tingley family carving machine strikes again. I'm sure we can find a place for Farnum Chickering in The Memoirs of Fanny Forward.

Dramatis Personae +1

Let us add

Captain Ponsonby Molesworth

to our dramatis personae.

UPDATE:
Read more about Captain Molesworth over at Boston 1775.

Name of the Day

For my novel:

Mr. Quintin Crymble

via Benjamin Drew's Burial Hill, Plymouth, Massachusetts

see also:
Miss Fanny Forward
Captain William Wanton

How Much Did Gravestones Cost?

This is one of those basic factual questions that should be relatively easy to answer, but isn't. I have a few data points from different times, workshops, and styles of stone that suggest that the answer is, unsurprisingly, "it depends."

The records of the John Stevens Shop in Newport, RI provide some of the best information. During the 1730s, the Stevens shop charged £12-15 for a table-like "Tomb Stone," £1-3 for pairs of upright gravestones, and 2 pence per letter for inscriptions.

Thus, the heirs of Captain William Wanton paid £17, 5 shillings, and 6 pence for his elaborate tombstone on December 24, 1733 — £15 for the stone and the rest for 273 letters.* A year earlier, Samuel Lindon paid £3, 8 shillings, and 4 pence for a pair of gravestones with a 40-letter epitaph "for Priscilla."

Name o' the Day

From Old Deerfield Cemetery in Deerfield, MA:

Fanny Forward.

That would be a great name for a gregarious, flirtatious (and doomed) young lady in a 19th-century cautionary tale.