Gravestone of the Day: Thomas Bancroft

Thomas Bancroft, 1718, Wakefield, MA

Here Lyes the Body

of Deacon THOMAS

BANCROFT Who Sarved

The Curch of Reding

in the Office of a Dec

Aged 69 Years Who

Deceased June ye 12th, 1718

One Earth He Purchised a good Degre

Grte Boldness in ye faith & liberty

And Now Poseseth Imortality

The Memory of the Just is Blssed.

This epitaph is kind of a mess. It's squished into the available space, the lines are all different sizes, the spelling is funky, and the composition is inelegant. That's somewhat unusual for the Lamson shop — their epitaphs are usually planned out pretty well. Compare to this stone, which has similar iconography, carved by the Lamson shop in 1717.

Gravestone of the Day: Amos Boardman

Amos Boardman, 1788, Wakefield, MA

IN

Memory of

MR. AMOS BOARDMAN,

who died Jan. 8, 1788:

in the 60 year

of his age.

Reader may this remind you

By the Grace of God

to prepare for a sudden Death.

Rev. Jonathan Pierpont of Wakefield

Here's another famous stone — the Rev. Jonathan Pierpont stone from Wakefield. It is best known for the beautiful little preachers on the finials. They hold tiny Bibles, wear tiny clerical collars, and have tiny waistcoat buttons. Ludwig says they are supposed to be portraits, but they are very stylized (unless Rev. Pierpont was a Peanuts character). The rest of the stone is beautiful too, but the little preachers are the real draw.