Adventures in Formatting

The Solomon Taylor stone in Stowe, MA (1773) is a hodge-podge of weird lettering (the w in "who"), awkward spacing (throughout), and bad spelling ("mus," "Prepar," etc.). I can almost convince myself that the carver just hacked away free hand, without any sort of draft, but the visible ruling lines indicate at least some forethought.

It took me quite a while to figure out this inscription:

If you try to read it straight across, it makes no sense. What might "Tombs a doleful Sound must be your Bed" mean? Instead, you have to read it in columns:

Hark from the

Tombs a doleful Sound

my Ears attend

the Cry

ye living men com

view the Ground

where you must shortly lie

Princes this Clay

must be your Bed

in Spite of all

your Tow,rs

The tall the wise

the Rev,rend Head

must lie as low

as ours

These verses are from a hymn by Isaac Watts.

Hannah Sabin of Windham, CT

Here's another example of "widow and relict," which is an example of a "legal lexical doublet" (thanks for the suggestion, RJO). Briefly, a legal lexical doublet is the use of two synonyms — one from Old English and one from Old French — in a legal context. This is an artifact of efforts to span the transition from French to English as the official language of law in the 15th century. Examples include "widow and relict," "goods and chattels," "will and testament," etc.

Hannah Sabin, Windham Center, CT, 1757

carved by Gershom Bartlett

Genealogical Information Gone Wild

When Mary Alleine (or Allen) died in 1727, Obadiah Wheeler carved an extensive genealogy on her gravestone. Whether by design, oversight, or lack of space, he neglected to mention Mary's death date (September 18, 1727) and her age.

Here lies ye body of mrs

Mary Alleine ye wife

of mr joshua Alleine

of Mansfield by whom

she had seven Sons & thre

daughters john joshua

Geideon Yalberton [?] Samuel

George Eleazar Miriam

Mary Sary After he dyed 

she married mr william

Moore of Windham

William Moore's stone exhibits a similar commitment to naming as many people as possible.

A nearby footstone reiterates some of this information:

Mrs Mary Alleine

Aleios Moore she

had ben ye wife of

Mr joshua Alleine

& then of Mr Wm

Moore Dye

172

Mary Alleine, Windham Center, CT, 1727

carved by Obadiah Wheeler

Seven Dollars

Here's an old favorite — one that should be familiar to anyone who has read Graven Images. This stone is about five miles from my parents' house, just down the road from Horace W. Porter School, home of the Panthers. The Porter Panthers are the arch-rivals of my alma mater, Windham Middle School (home of the Wildcats).

Zerubbabel Collins carved this stone after he moved to Vermont. He sent it home to Columbia, where it both memorialized Mrs. Bennitt and advertised Mr. Collins' wares.

Mount Auburn Angel

Horace and Sarah Breed, Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, MA

Seashell Coat of Arms

Richard Hawley, Marblehead, MA 1698

I looked up the Hawley family crest — this isn't it. Still, it's a lovely coat of arms. I wish I knew what it symbolized. It looks right at home on Old Burial Hill in Marblehead, overlooking the sea.

Studiis, Docilitas, Bonitas Cura, & Formositas

It's the end of the semester, so I've been pretty busy. I don't want this blog to feel neglected, so I'll continue posting a gravestone every day without too much comment.

John Browne, Marblehead, MA, 1703

My Latin is more than a little rusty, but it sounds like John was a well-beloved child and gifted student.

Happy Birthday, Pete!

Metamorphosis

Gravestones often feature symols that indicate rebirth, ascension, or metamorphosis. These include soul effigies, hands pointing toward heaven, and rising suns. This obelisk in Mount Auburn takes a somewhat different approach — it shows a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis.

I'm not really sure whether that flame-like thing is supposed to be a leaf or some sort of silk — maybe it is actually fire. It looks like the carver made an effort to make this image look realistic — the stick is knobby, the little leaf has veins — but I've never seen a chrysalis erupt in fire. Also, that butterfly is not exactly the most graceful, elegant butterfly I've ever seen.

Hannah Tyler of Providence

Here's another original composition — at least, the power of Google cannot find another example and I've never encountered it elsewhere:

SACRED

To the memory of

Miss HANNAH TYLER,

daughter of

Ebenezer & Ann Tyler.

She died Sept. 20, 1824,

aged 74 years, 2 months

and 9 days.

TRAVELLER,

If you have tears for one whose mind

felt for every human woe;

and whose alms as well as prayers

ascended daily;

for one whose nature was formed for friendship

and in whose soul dwelt at home,

FAITH, HOPE and CHARITY;

you may freely shed them over this

MONUMENT.

How do alms ascend? Isn't the point to keep them here on earth for the relief of the poor?

Hannah Tyler, Providence, RI, 1824

"When God ye Fatal Dart He Sends"

When I plug Mary Brown's epitaph into Google, the only hits are references to her gravestone in Providence's North Burial Ground. That doesn't necessarily mean that this is an original verse, composed especially for Mary Brown, but it may be. It's certainly clumsy enough.

Here lies Inter'd ye

Body of Mary Brown

Widow & Relict of James

Brown, Decd. August ye 18th

1736. in ye 66th Year of her Age

Old Age being come her race here ends

When God ye fatal Dart he sends.

I always thought that "widow" and "relict" were synonyms, but apparently, you can be both a widow and a relict at the same time.

Also, isn't it usually Death who sends the dart, not God?

Alma-America Wyman

In 1801, Oliver Cromwell Wyman and his wife, Nabby Hinds Wyman had a baby daughter. In celebration of the new nation, they named their little girl "Alma-America," which could be translated as "Nourished by America" or "Spirit of America." Alma-America Wyman died on October 2, 1802.

Anonymous Baby

This Victorian baby's stone in Grove Hill Cemetery in Waltham, MA, is probably for a still-born or miscarried child. No name appears on the stone (front, back, or top), which stands only a few inches tall.

Massachusetts Archives and Commonwealth Museum

Today, I visited the Massachusetts Archives out by the JFK Library. I had been to the JFK library before, but never to the Archives. I'll definitely be going back — the reading room is crammed with probate records, vital statistics records, and loads of other useful resources.

I was there to see the probate records pertaining to Robert Cuming of Concord, MA. He died in 1754, leaving his entire estate to his wife, Helen, who later divided it among their three grown children, John, Ame, and Elizabeth. John graduated from Harvard, became a respected doctor, and earned the honorific "Colonel" for his service on the Committee of Correspondence during the Revolution. Ame and Elizabeth became shopkeepers in Boston, where they refused to abide by the nonimportation agreements. Eventually, they fled to Canada and were charged with treason in absentia. Oh, to be a fly on the wall at family gatherings.

When I was finished in the reading room, I stopped by the Commonwealth Museum, which is really just a timeline of Massachusetts history aimed at students in grades 4-8. The displays are eye-catching and there are several interactive features, but practically no artifacts. What display cases there are are filled with reproductions of documents, playing cards, quill pens, etc.

I wandered through these exhibits for about five minutes before getting bored and making a beeline for the "Treasures Gallery" at the back of the museum. This darkened chamber holds six priceless artifacts:

• the original copper plate produced by Paul Revere depicting the Boston Massacre
• the 1629 charter for the Massachusetts Bay colony
• the re-issued 1691 charter
• a Goddard broadside of the Declaration of Independence
• Massachusetts' copy of the Bill of Rights
• John Adams' copy of the Massachusetts Constitution

Since it is an archive, this is obviously a document-heavy collection, but even I, a lover of material culture, was very impressed. The 1629 charter (pictured above) looks so strangely medieval, and it's always fun to read the original Bill of Rights, in which our First Amendment is really #3.

"A Man of his Word"

This Lamson shop stone from 1723 is unusual for its pithy, personal epitaph. During this period, the Lamson shop carved two general types of epitaphs: a short version consisting of name, date, age, and occasionally a one-line verse such as "Ye Memory of Ye Just is Blessed," and a long version that's more personal and usually dedicated to ministers or other eminent public men. Robert Anyan's stone in Waltham conforms to the short version, but commemorates one of the deceased's admirable qualities, rather than employing a stock phrase.

Here Lyes Buried

the Body of Mr.

Robert Anyan

Who Decd. Decmbr.

ye 12th 1723. Aged

about 68 Years.

A Man of his Word.

Thank You, Winterthur!

I'm back from Delaware, where I had the honor of presenting my paper on Pompe Stevens at the Winterthur Museum. I got great feedback and a lot of enthusiastic praise, which was very reassuring. I was nervous about speaking slowly and clearly, but it all went well.

I had never been  to Winterthur before and I was duly impressed. During one of the breaks, I was able to take a tour of the house, which is crammed with 80,000 amazing artifacts — furniture, paintings, china, textiles, silver, architectural features, etc. I enjoyed the Society of the Cincinnati china and the giant punchbowls near the formal staircase. If you like Early American material culture — particularly when it takes the form of high-end decorative arts — this museum is truly a must-see.

Stone Turned Upside Down

Of the many intriguing gravestones currently in the possesion of the John Stevens shop, this little footstone caught my eye. The carver originally intended to letter the other end of the stone, but he broke off a piece of the corner. Instead of wasting the stone, he merely flipped it over and finished the other side. The blemished stone became ballast.

Ironically, the flawed side, which remained buried for two centuries, is in nearly pristine condition, while the new top is pretty battered.

This reminds me of the recycled stone at Copp's Hill.

Little Annie

"Out Little Annie"

Newport Common Burying Ground

Newport, RI

Like the sculpture dedicated to Willie, Mary, and Charlie, this early Victorian child's gravestone characterizes the deceased child as an angelic creature with only one name, rather than as a dependent of earthly parents.