MARKERS XIV

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Edited by Richard E. Meyer

Markers XIV

Annual Journal of the Association for Gravestone Studies

Edited by Richard E. Meyer

Association for Gravestone Studies Greenfield, Massachusetts

Association for Gravestone Studies

278 Main Street, Suite 207 Greenfield, Massachusetts 01301

ISBN: 1-878381-07-5 ISSN: 0277-8726 LCN: 81-642903

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of

American National Standard for Information Sciences - Permanence of

Paper for Printed Library materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.

Cover illustration: Gravestone maker Merry E. Veal, Jackson, Mississippi. Photograph by Barbara Rotundo.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

Cemetery Symbols and Contexts of American Indian Identity:

The Grave of Painter and Poet T.C. Cannon 1

David M. Gradwohl

Gravemarkers of the Early Congregational

Ministers in North Central Massachusetts 34

Tom and Brenda Malloy

A Modern Gravestone Maker:

Some Lessons for Gravestone Historians 86

Barbara Rorundo

The Remarkable Crosses of Charles Andera 110

Loren N. Horton

The Pratt Family of Stonecutters 134

Ralph L. Tucker

Under Grave Conditions:

African-American Signs of Life and Death in North Florida 158

Robin Franklin Nigh

The Year's Work in Gravemarker/Cemetery Studies 190

Richard E. Meyer

Contributors 217

Index 219

in

MARKERS: ANNUAL JOURNAL OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES

EDITORIAL BOARD

Richard E. Meyer, Editor Western Oregon State College

Theodore Chase Barbara Rotundo

Editor, Markers V-IX State University of New York at Albany

Jessie Lie Farber James A. Slater

Mount Holyoke College University of Connecticut

Editor, Markers I

Dickran Tashjian Richard Francaviglia University of California, Irvine

University of Texas at Arlington

David Watters Warren Roberts University of New Hampshire

Indiana University Editor, Markers II-IV

Wilbur Zelinsky The Pennsylvania State University

Markers XIV, with articles focusing on a range of ethnic, historical, and artistic issues, with a time frame which spans three centuries, and with a geographical spread which includes four major regions of the United States, comes the closest to date towards achieving the balance in empha- sis which I envisioned as the primary goal for the journal when I assumed its editorship five years ago. Individual contributors to the current issue bring a variety of disciplinary perspectives to bear on matters as far rang- ing as the material commemoration of Congregational ministers in early New England and the work of a folk gravestone maker in contemporary Mississippi. In these, as well as its other essays, Markers XIV continues its efforts to provide its readers with the best and most current examples of the type of broad-based and balanced examination of gravemarkers, their makers, and the places where they are found which define this special- ized area of folk art and material culture. Finally, in its ongoing efforts to

iv

establish the standards and outline the boundaries of this important and emergent microdiscipline, the current issue offers a greatly expanded ver- sion of its annual bibliographic survey, "The Year's Work in Grave- marker /Cemetery Studies."

Any scholarly publication's merits are determined largely by the qual- ity of its manuscript submissions and the subsequent efforts of its editor- ial review board, and in both these regards my work as editor has once again been greatly aided by the high standards and conscientiousness dis- played by contributors and members of the editorial board. I thank them all, and hope that readers with scholarly projects in mind will consider submitting their best work for publication consideration in future issues of Markers.

Others deserve thanks as well, in particular Western Oregon State College, which, through such efforts as the release time provided to the editor by its Faculty Development Committee, continues to generously support this publication in a variety of manners; staff members - most especially Fred Kennedy - at Lynx Communication Group, Salem, Oregon, and Patti Stephens of Philomath, Oregon, all of whom, through their design and production skills, make my job a lot easier and this vol- ume a lot more handsome; the officers, board members, staff, and gener- al membership of the Association for Gravestone Studies, who make it all possible in the first place; and, finally, Lotte Larsen, my inspiration, my conscience, my best friend, alongside whom, in the words of poet Wilfred Owen, I go on "quietly shining in her quiet light."

Articles published in Markers are indexed in America: History and Life, Historical Abstracts, and the MLA International Bibliography. Information concerning the submission of manuscripts for future issues of the journal may be obtained upon request from Richard E. Meyer, Editor, Markers: Annual journal of the Association for Gravestone Studies, English department, Western Oregon State College, Monmouth, Oregon 97361 (Phone: (503) 838-8362 / E-Mail: meyerr@fsa.wosc.osshe.edu) For information about other AGS publications, membership, and activities, write to the Association's Executive Director, Lois Ahrens, 278 Main Street, Suite 207, Greenfield, Massachusetts 01301, or call (413) 772-0836.

R.EM

American Indian Identity

Fig. 1. Bronze bust of T.C. Cannon, Kiowa/Caddo Indian painter and poet, at the National Hall of Fame for Famous American Indians, Anadarko, Oklahoma.

VI

CEMETERY SYMBOLS AND CONTEXTS OF AMERICAN INDIAN IDENTITY: THE GRAVE OF PAINTER AND POET T.C. CANNON

David M. Gradwohl

Introduction

A bronze image of T.C. Cannon (Kiowa /Caddo) stands among other sculptures at the National Hall of Fame for Famous American Indians in Anadarko, Oklahoma (Fig. I).1 Among the forty Native Americans presently included in this Hall of Fame, located some fifty miles south- west of Oklahoma City, are such historical Indian luminaries as Sitting Bull (Sioux), Will Rogers (Cherokee), Sacajawea (Shoshoni), Sequoyah (Cherokee), Cochise and Geronimo (Chiricahua Apache), Jim Thorpe and Black Hawk (Sac and Fox), Chief Joseph (Nez Perce), Charles Curtis (Kaw), Oceola (Seminole), Tecumseh (Shawnee), Pontiac (Ottawa), and Pocahontas (Powhatan). Honored for his achievements in twentieth-cen- tury art, the late T.C. Cannon is among the youngest individuals selected for the Indian Hall of Fame. His memorial plaque and the associated lit- erature distributed by the Hall of Fame note that Cannon is buried in Anadarko' s Memory Lane Cemetery. Sources indicate that he was laid to rest with full American military and traditional Kiowa honors.

T.C. Cannon's gravestone (Fig. 2) reflects the ethnic and historical identity of one Native American; however, this case study has implica- tions for the understanding of ethnicity in general and Native American ethnic identity in particular. In an attempt to interpret this specific tangi- ble representation of T.C. Cannon's identity, it is necessary to consider the symbols of certain immediate and broader mortuary contexts: additional gravestones in the Memory Lane Cemetery, and various general burial patterns of American Indians across time and space. To achieve these goals, this essay first outlines the life of T.C. Cannon and his accomplish- ments. Second, it reviews selected burial patterns in native North America to demonstrate some of the many different modes in which American Indians have materially expressed their identities across several thousand years. The third portion of this discussion deals with some general pat- terns and exemplary gravestones of non-Indians in the Memory Lane Cemetery. Fourth, there is a focus on the symbols associated with American Indians who are buried at Memory Lane. The fifth, and final, analytical section centers on the mortuary monuments of T.C. Cannon

American Indian Identity

and his parents. In conjunction with parallel studies I am conducting on the gravestones of American Jews and Lativian-Americans,2 I conclude that the study of T.C. Cannon's gravestone and its contexts contributes to our understanding of the relationship of material culture and ethnicity. Cemeteries and gravemarkers provide an important basis for exploring the dimensions of individual and group identities through time.

T.C. Cannon the Artist

Tommy Wayne Cannon was born on September 27, 1946, at the Indian hospital in Lawton, Oklahoma. His mother, Mimi ("Mamie") Ahdunko Cannon, was of Caddo Indian ancestry, while his father, Walter Cannon, was a member of the Kiowa tribe. The Cannon family (which included older children Vernon and Joyce) lived in the vicinity of Anadarko, first at a farm near Mountain View and later at Gracemont, where Tommy com- pleted his secondary schooling. Tommy was always interested in art, and in his early teens began entering his work in art shows. He won some prizes and sold some of his paintings. As a child, Tommy was given the

Fig 2. T.C. Cannon's gravestone (front side) in Memory Lane Cemetery, Anadarko, Oklahoma.

David M. Gradwohl

Kiowa name Pai-doung-u-day, which means "One Who Stands in the Sun." This was the Indian name of Walter Cannon's deceased maternal uncle. According to Kiowa cultural protocol, Walter Cannon formally sought permission to use the name from his uncle's son, who had the hereditary right to give the name to someone else.3 This is just one of many ways in which Kiowa historical traditions and American Indian values in general were brought to bear on the young Tommy Cannon. Some years later, Cannon had this to say concerning these early traditional influences on his personal identity as an American Indian:

I believe that there is such a thing as Indian sensibility. . .This has to do with the idea of a collective history. It's reflected in your upbringing and the remarks that you hear every day from birth and the kind of behavior and emotion you see around you. It's probably true of any national or racial group that's sort of inbred; in other words, where Italians marry Italians and live in an Italian community and eat Italian food you can't very easily turn out to be Chinese.4

Following graduation from high school in 1964, T.C. (as he subse- quently would be known) studied at the newly-founded Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In the words of one art historian, "Under instructors including Allan Houser and Fritz Scholder, a new definition of Indian art evolved there, and Cannon helped author much of it".5 A volume celebrating three decades of the Institute of American Indian Arts includes the statement that T. C. Cannon "... is per- haps the best known of the I ALA graduates".6 Exemplary of this period is a work which demonstrates the artist's sense of humor as well as skill. This piece, entitled "Mama and Papa Have the Goin' Home to Shiprock Blues," portrays a Navajo man and woman waiting, presumably for a bus, to return to their Dineh homeland.7 The man - wearing a traditional headband, black velvet shirt, and beaded necklace - sits cross-legged and dreamily waves a cigarette in his left hand, while his wife rests solidly next to him, huddled in a red and white striped blanket and sporting large sunglasses.

In 1966, Cannon was awarded the Governor's Trophy at the Scottsdale National Indian Art Exhibition. That year he also studied briefly at the Art Institute of San Francisco. In 1969, following his military service, Cannon attended the College of Santa Fe and then transferred to Central State University in Edmond, Oklahoma, where he graduated with an art major in 1972. During this period Cannon was married to (and then divorced

American Indian Identity

from) Barbara Warner, a Ponca Indian from Oklahoma. Maturing as an artist while at Central State University, Cannon not only learned but com- bined the idioms of the Western European and American Indian painting traditions. For example, his painting entitled "Collector #5," or "Osage With Van Gogh," depicts an elaborately-costumed Indian dandy seated in a wicker chair which in turn is placed on a Navajo rug.8 On the wall behind the seated figure is a perfectly-executed representation of Vincent Van Gogh's painting "Wheatfield."9 Influences of Art Nouveau and the decorative style of Henri Matisse can be seen in the painting Cannon charmingly called "Grandmother Gestating Father and the Washita River Runs Ribbon-Like".10 In this image, an abundantly pregnant woman bounces along a meandering multicolored strip holding a bright red umbrella. In addition to calf-high beaded moccasins, a concho belt, and a floral shawl around her waist, she wears a dress with large yellow-bor- dered red polka dots. Banded dots also embellish the surrounding topog- raphy and are repeated on the painted border that frames the scene.

While studying in San Francisco, T.C. Cannon enlisted in the U.S. Army and volunteered for the paratroops. He spent 1967 and 1968 in Viet Nam with the distinguished 101st Airborne Division. During this time he filled notebooks with drawings and poetry about war and his comrades in arms. The U.S. government awarded Cannon two Bronze Stars for his bravery in Viet Nam, and upon his return to Oklahoma the Kiowa induct- ed him into their elite Black Leggings Warrior Society. This modern Kiowa warrior sodality has its roots in the ranked male military societies which were prominent among the Kiowa and many other High Plains Indian cultures during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.11 In former times, members of the Kiowa's Tonkonko, or Black Leggings Society, danced with black-painted lower legs and forearms.12 They wore horse- hair roach headdresses and carried eagle tail feather fans. Their unique military emblem was a curved "no-retreat" staff which, when planted in battle, signified a fight to death. In 1958, the Black Leggings Warrior Society was formally re-established.13 Members of this prestigious con- temporary society must have served in the armed forces and are selected by invitation based on their high moral and ethical character. At pow- wows and Veterans' Day observances, members of the society dance in black knee socks, black buckskin leggings, or with their bare legs painted black.

Much of Cannon's art deals with war and warriors. A hero of epic pro-

David M. Gradwohl

portions is depicted in his painting entitled "His Hair Flows Like a River," in which a warrior with face paint is shown attired in a bright robe, floral scarf, bone bead choker, and wolf skin headdress.14 Cannon captured the tragedy of all wars in paintings such as "Big Foot in the Snow," which shows the horrifying image of the Sioux chief's frozen body on the bat- tlefield following the Wounded Knee massacre of 1890.15 Finally, he depicted the folly and irony of war in various representations of General George Armstrong Custer, in particular the one he dubbed "Zero Hero".16

It is worth noting here that T.C. Cannon was among the more than 42,000 American Indian military personnel with the U.S. armed forces in southeast Asia during the Viet Nam War. Historically, American Indians have served in the national armed forces in numbers exceeding their per- centage of the general population.17 Recent estimates suggest that there are now some 160,000 American Indian veterans, representing ten percent of the living Native American population.18 American Indians are three times as likely to have served in the armed forces as other American citi- zens during the twentieth century. Approximately 25,000 American Indians served in World War II; included in this number were at least 400 Navajo "code talkers" who contributed greatly to the U.S. victory in the Pacific theater by using their indigenous language to baffle Japanese cryp- tographers.19 The personal problems and identity issues of American Indian veterans returning to the United States have been on-going themes in contemporary literature, for example Ceremony by Leslie Silko (Laguna Pueblo), House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday (Kiowa), and From Sand Creek by Simon Ortiz (Acoma Pueblo). T.C. Cannon's art, especially when considered with his various journals and poems, reflects these cen- trifugal forces in the contemporary life of Native Americans. In a recent- ly-published American Indian encyclopedia, Arthur Silberman points to this matter in commenting that Cannon "... identified strongly with tra- ditional values. He also used contemporary mainstream styles and made personal statements with wit, anger, and affection about the dilemmas and paradoxes of maintaining a sense of Native American Identity."20

During 1973 Cannon served as an artist-in-residence at Colorado State University; in 1975 he was a visiting artist at Dartmouth College. In the late 1970s, Cannon received a number of large commissions. The Santa Fe Opera Company engaged him to create paintings to advertise their 1977 and 1978 seasons. The painting for the poster and program cover for the 1978 opera season, entitled "A Remembered Muse (Tosca)", juxtaposes a

American Indian Identity

number of Euro-American and American Indian symbols.21 Behind the two American Indian figures dressed in elaborate traditional garb is an American flag banner with the images of the martyred John F. Kennedy and Robert Kennedy. The painting is at the same time puzzling, provoca- tive, and poignant. A larger-scale endeavor, completed in 1977, was a huge mural, eight feet high by twenty-two feet long, for the Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Educational Center in Seattle. The title of the mural is "Epochs in Plains History: Mother Earth, Father Sun, the Children Themselves." Among the mural's figures are representations of the moon, a group of Old People from the primordial world, Mother Earth, an owl, a sacred eagle, a herd of bison, an equestrian warrior, the fabled White Buffalo, a skewered Sun Dancer, a shield-like sun, tipis, and a Peyote Man seated near some peyote buttons and a crescent-shaped altar. Moving off the right side of the image is a Gourd Dancer in blue jeans, a brightly pat- terned shirt, blanket, western hat, and "shades." In the center of the mural are T.C. Cannon's hand prints in red and yellow P-

Whether or not some of the symbolism in the above-mentioned paint- ings is prescient of the artist's tragically early death can be debated. Nonetheless, T.C. Cannon was killed in a one-car accident near his home in Santa Fe on May 8, 1978. Although only thirty-one years old, Cannon had garnered many honors and was known not only throughout the United States but in Europe as well. In 1972, while he was still an under- graduate student, he was featured with Fritz Scholder in an exhibition entitled "Two American Painters," mounted by the Smithsonian's National Collection of Fine Arts. This two-man show toured Berlin, Belgrade, Skopje, Istanbul, Madrid, and London. Cannon's one-man shows included exhibitions at the Southern Plains Indian Museum in Anadarko (1971), Larkin Gallery in Santa Fe (1972), Pickard Galleries in Oklahoma City (1974), Beaumont-May Gallery in Hanover, New Hampshire (1975), and the Wheelwright Museum in Santa Fe (1976). In 1979, the Aberbach Gallery in New York, which had served as Cannon's agent and dealer, mounted a posthumous show entitled "T.C. Cannon: A Memorial Exhibition." From New York this exhibition toured to the Museum of New Mexico in Santa Fe, the Heard Museum in Phoenix, and the Buffalo Bill Cody Cultural Center in Cody, Wyoming. Cannon's work was also included in more than twenty group exhibitions that not only toured the United States but Europe as well. Throughout 1990 and 1991 an extensive retrospective one-man show was exhibited by the National

David M. Gradwohl

Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center in Oklahoma City and the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indian and Western Art in Indianapolis.

The evaluation of T.C. Cannon's skill and position in the art world is outside the scope of this essay and beyond the expertise of this author, but one historian of contemporary art puts his work in perspective with the art of others of "the most successful Indian painters" - Fritz Scholder, Earl Bliss, Kevin Red Star, and Grey Cohoe:

Their eclectic stylistic combinations of the expressive, the decorative, and the ironic have formed an ambivalent repertoire of recognizable but dis- torted images. Thus, at least an attempt is made to transform the stereotype into the archetype by its simultaneous acceptance and negation. An analy- sis of this development in Indian art might finally demonstrate that the artistic expression of minorities within majority cultures is based on a com- mon structural principle. This principle includes (a) the combination of myth and history, (2) the attempt to purify the cliche, and (3) the search for art forms that concentrate, intensify, and generalize motifs, images, and rhythms, first in symbolic, then in ironic, and, perhaps, finally in a playful popular mode".23

It is safe to say that T.C. Cannon's art epitomizes the above principles. Only time will tell whether his artistic contributions will have a continu- ing impact not only on American Indian art per se but contemporary art in general.

Cannon was not only well aware of his blending of traditional American Indian aesthetic forms with modern Western art modes, he was also able to articulate it clearly and eloquently. In 1970 he wrote the fol- lowing in connection with the preparation of his first one-man exhibition at the Southern Plains Indian Museum in Anadarko:

Contemporary Indian painting is an ever-expanding field full of infinite directions and countless rewards and dreams. In these few works, I have tried to align myself along the lines and codes of my ethnic background. I have not shut out my tradition, nor have I attempted to sacrifice or negate the traditional idiom from where I started ... I lean toward a more abstract idiom which I feel suits my situation more ideally. The contemporary Indian of today is a much more open-minded individual than ten years ago, especially the young people with their sensitive and revealing out- looks on the present day world.24

Put in this straightforward manner, Cannon's art is a paradigm of his life in general.

American Indian Identity

Selected Burial Patterns in Native North America

During the thousands of years that they have inhabited North America, Native Americans have disposed of their dead in a variety of ways. A full discussion of these various patterns is obviously beyond the bounds of this essay. A few examples, however, will suffice to demon- strate two points. First, there is no one American Indian mortuary pattern, historically or today, but rather a number of differing modes. Second, these disparate burial practices are expressive of diverse group and indi- vidual identities.

In the eastern United States, between approximately 800 BC and 800 AD, people of the archaeologically-defined Woodland Tradition cultures, including Adena, Hopewell, and others, constructed large conical burial mounds over log tombs or pit inhumations.25 Flexed inhumations in cir- cular pits, of course, had been the primary burial mode for some six thou- sand years back into the Archaic Tradition.26 In the Upper Mississippi Valley, by at least 800 A.D. certain prehistoric Indian groups were build- ing mounds in the shapes of animal effigies.27 Although these Effigy Mounds may have served more than one purpose, many of them do include disarticulated "bundle burials." In the Great Plains, numerous historic tribes placed their dead on above-ground scaffolds where the eventual disarticulated bones either fell to the ground or were gathered to be deposited in sub-surface pits. In the 1830s, artist George Catlin record- ed this practice at a Mandan village: burial scaffolds can be seen outside the community of earth lodges beyond the defensive stockade.28 During the same time period, Swiss artist Karl Bodmer was hired to illustrate the western journals of traveler-scientist Prince Maximilian von Wied Neuwied. Bodmer's exquisite and detailed paintings document funeral scaffolds among the Sioux and human mortuary displays among the Mandan.29 In the American southwest other mortuary patterns obtained. Some groups in the Hohokam Tradition practiced cremation, with the burial of ashes and burned bones in sub-surface pits.30 Other groups, par- ticularly those in the Anasazi-Pueblo Tradition, often buried their dead below the floors of their stone or adobe houses, while Native Americans in western Canada and southern Alaska build separate "spirit houses" in which the dead are buried.31

To differing degrees today, many southwestern Indian groups have been converted to Christianity. This is certainly apparent at the cemetery of Taos Pueblo in northern New Mexico, where visitors are, for good rea-

David M. Gradwohl

sons, not allowed within the burial grounds. Still, from outside the peripheral wall, one can observe among the crosses several probable Native American carry-overs in the form of bird motifs painted on grave- markers and several mortuary offerings of beads (not rosaries). The Tohono O'odham or Papago have long been missionized at San Xavier del Bac in Tucson, Arizona. The adjoining cemetery has many characteristics of Hispanic Catholic cemeteries elsewhere and is abundantly decorated with mass-produced artificial floral bouquets and other mortuary orna- ments. Within that melange, however, can be seen offerings of jewelry and food which may represent traditional Indian mortuary patterns. Similar multi-cultural practices have been reported for the Zuni and Navajo.32 Similar processes also exist in the Inuit (Eskimo) native cemetery at Nome, Alaska. Particularly striking is the white painted wooden cross gravemarker of Aloysius Pikonganna, to which has been attached a stone amulet. The horizontal crossbar exhibits a black silhouette-like drawing rendered in an Arctic art style which goes back at least several centuries in engraved ivory.33 The scene depicts boats, the hunting of a bird, walrus, and seal, along with dancers and a drummer with a tambourine. Finally, many contemporary American Indian burial practices are not open for observations from outsiders. At the Meskwaki Indian Settlement in cen- tral Iowa, for example, access to the cemetery is halted by a sign that reads "Private Cemetery. Tours of any kind are strictly prohibited. We have no chiefs, no agents, no delegates authorized to sell our cornfields, our homes, our trees, or the bones of our dead. Signed by The People."

General Observations on Anadarko's Public Memory Lane Cemetery

As Anadarko's public cemetery, Memory Lane presented a pleasant, tidy, and well-maintained appearance when I entered it. Judging from the names and /or symbols on gravestones, I assumed that American Indian and non-Indian burials were generally intermixed rather than being placed in separate sections of the cemetery. That impression was inde- pendently verified by a maintenance worker and a monument dealer with whom I spoke during my two visits to Anadarko.34 The gravestone styles, source materials, epitaphs, and mortuary or decorative symbols here do not differ markedly from most other small town public cemeteries I have observed in the Great Plains. The changes in these forms from the late nineteenth century to the late twentieth century are also essentially pre- dictable. Among the monuments erected during the last twenty years,

10 American Indian Identity

however, one can observe increasing numbers of idiosyncratic symbols pertaining to occupations, favorite avocations, and other pursuits. The carved motif on the reverse side of Pat and Joan Anderson's monument, for example, records the family's participation in Oklahoma's oil boom. Similarly, carved scenes on the Francis family monument suggests that their wealth came not only from oil but also cattle. The double marker for the Vaughns has designs indicating that Shirley spent a lot of time with yarn and a crocheting needle while James was a handy-man with a ham- mer and screw driver. The monument of George Hector exhibits a chis- eled image of his personal airplane, specifically a Cessna 210-D Centurion. The epitaph on Bart Harrison's monument announces that he is "Going Home"; the image of a dove in flight emphasizes this message, while the likenesses of a trumpet and musical notes probably indicate the deceased's avocational or professional pursuits. Two other monuments attest to the individualistic interests of gravestone customers in addition to the vibrant virtuosity of monument dealers in central Oklahoma. One of these, the stone for Bill and Virginia Tallent, bears an epitaph pro- claiming "What beautiful memories we have" along with a complex chis- eled and /or laser-cut scene that includes large hills, trees, a barn, lots of livestock, a stream, and a family of six enjoying a plentiful picnic on a blanket next to their automobile, a Lincoln Mark IV coupe with optional sun roof and Continental rear end kits. The other, a recent pyramidal col- umn monument for Virgil O. Williams, recalls the taller obelisk form pop- ular seven to eleven decades ago. This column, however, has three cast bronze geese departing from its apex; and within its granite shaft is a glass-fronted niche that affords a view of a large porcelain or metal-lidded pitcher decorated with German inscriptions and folk figures.

Gravestones of American Indians at Memory Lane Cemetery

Gravestones of American Indians buried at Memory Lane Cemetery follow the characteristics outlined above for the monuments of non- Indians. Many gravestones include general floral designs or Christian symbols. Their association with American Indians lies solely with identi- fiable family names: examples include the monuments of Noah and Viola Spotted Horsechief (Fig. 3), Alexandra and Bertha Curley Chief, Lois J. Snake Blackwolf, Stephanie Buffalohead, and Jerry Scott Spotted Horse. Other monuments, though displaying no overt symbols of Native American identity, exhibit names of families from which prominent

David M. Gradwohl

11

Indian personalities have come. Mammedaty, for example, was the tradi- tional name of the paternal grandfather of N. Scott Momaday, the Kiowa Pulitzer prize- winning novelist and poet.35 Nevaquaya is the family name of well-known Comanche painter and flute player Doc Tate Nevaquaya.36 The name Ahpetone (or Ahpeatone) appears on two small pyramidal columns dating from the early twentieth century as well as an adjacent contemporary large horizontal monument. "Apeahtone" was the last fed- erally-recognized chief of the Kiowa Tribe; a statue in his honor is sched- uled for dedication at the Indian Hall of Fame during the summer of 1996. The monument of Frank Kodaseet exhibits an image of Christ with the Sacred Heart and a symbol for the Knights of Columbus (Fig. 4). Also included on this monument is Frank Kodaseet's Indian name, Taime-Day. Interestingly enough in terms of traditional beliefs, the word Tai-me refers to the most sacred single image or fetish in the Kiowa Indian religion. Tai-

Fig. 3. Monument of Noah and Viola Spotted Horsechief. The family name is the only specific indication of American Indian

identity. The praying hands and open book or Bible motifs are

general Christian symbols found on a number of American Indian

and non-Indian gravestones in Anadarko and elsewhere.

12

American Indian Identity

me was the central figure of the Kiowa's K'ado, or Sun Dance, ceremony.37 Gravestones of other Native Americans are revealed by the employment of their Indian names, most often rendered in a hyphenated translitera- tion into English. For example, one may note the monument for A-On- Hote-Baw and Ke-He-Gould-Da Keah-Tigh (Fig. 5). The gravestone's other side identifies these people as Margaret Jane and KM. Keah-Tigh (presumably the additional rendering of their nicknames as "Mom-O" and "Pop-O" is an extension of the hyphenation principle!). The beveled column monument of Zos-Sah-Ane, who died in 1903, suggests that this individual was known by a traditional single name rather than by "first" and "family" names. Zos-Sah-Ane' s gravestone style, epitaph ("Gone But Not Forgotten"), and Christian mortuary symbols (crown of glory, stars, mansions in the sky, and gates of heaven) are typical "stock" forms found

"*>»LiV.

m

TA1ME DAY

FRANK KODASLh.

^gks£*far?fa

jmIPRt*
Wr^^

Fig. 4. Monument of Frank Kodaseet exhibiting Christian symbols,

including Christ with the Sacred Heart and the Knights of Columbus

emblem. His Indian name, Taime-Day, reveals an association with

Tai-me, the most sacred single object in Kiowa traditional religion.

David M. Gradwohl

13

in turn-of-the-century cemeteries in the American midlands. Finally, one observes Tsait-Kope-Ta's monument, which is topped by a large sculpted angel pointing heavenward. Although such sculpted angels are a com- mon Victorian form elsewhere, this monument is strikingly unique in Anadarko, Oklahoma.

The American Indian identities represented on numerous other grave- stones in Memory Lane Cemetery are considerably more obvious. For example, the monument of Lilly Catherine Botone Kodaseet (a.k.a. Ahkee'n Tih'n, or "White Rower") specifies her as a "Kiowa Prayer Woman" and further signifies her Indian identity by a tipi motif (Fig. 6). Another monument identifies Frank Waldon Jones as a member of the

Fig. 5. Monument of A-On-Hote-Baw and Ke-He-Gould-Da Keah-Tigh,

whose traditional Indian names are transliterated into English

in a hyphenated manner characteristic of the rendering of many

Native American names in Memory Lane Cemetery.

The reverse side of the monument identifies these individuals as

Margaret Jane ("Mom-O") and F.M. ("Pop-O") Keah-Tigh.

14

American Indian Identity

"Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma," while his wife, Cecilia Belgarde Jones, is a designated member of the "Chippewa Tribe of North Dakota." Enoch Hoag's gravestone specifies him as the "Last Chief of the Caddo Tribe / Grandson of Chief Jose Maria" (Fig. 7). An oval porcelain photograph of Hoag in traditional garb further emphasizes his American Indian identi- ty. The small, wedge-shaped monument of Perry Arthur Keah-Tigh "Woman Heart" exhibits an inscription identifying him as an "Educational Indian song dance lecturer / A true credit to his father's people." Other than the family name, there is no symbol of Indian identi- ty on the front of Lois and Stacy Pahdopony's monument; cut and paint- ed portraits on the back of the gravestone, however, show Lois Tooahimpah Pahdopony's hair parted and braided in a traditional fash- ion. On one side of the Newkumet family monument is an engraved feather (Fig. 8). On the other side of the monument, and also on the indi- vidual markers for Vynola Beaver Newkumet and Phil J. Newkumet, is a

Fig. 6. Monument of Lilly Catharine Botone Kodaseet.

Her American Indian identity is revealed in three ways:

her traditional name, Ahkee'n Tih'n, or White Flower; a tipi motif;

and an inscription that identifies her as a "Kiowa Prayer Woman".

David M. Gradwohl

15

fire and rising smoke motif (Fig. 9). This emblem may represent the Sacred Fire or the New Fire ceremonies known throughout the Native American southeast.38 Indian symbols in the form of a feather headdress, arrow, quirt, and trade bugle embellish the double marker of Clarence (Set'-Tain-Te) and Maggie Sankadota. The front side of the double monu- ment for Michelle A. Yackeyonny (almost 29 years old) and Dominic A. Reyna (8 years old) is decorated with Christian symbols including the praying hands motif and books (presumably the Bible or the Book of Life). On the reverse side, however, are two traditional feather dance or prayer fans. Dominic's epitaph reads "My canoe is small, the ocean wide / May the Great Spirit be my Guide" (Fig. 10). For Michelle - on her portion of the monument - there are the words "It's so hard to say 'goodbye' to yes- terday." The cultural metaphors are additionally mixed, however, as

Fig. 7. Enoch Hoag's gravestone, which specifies him as "The Last

Chief of the Caddo Tribe / Grandson of Chief Jose Maria". His

American Indian identity is further expressed by the traditional

clothing and hair style in his photograph on the monument.

16

American Indian Identity

Dominic is depicted playing soccer and his ephemeral grave offerings include toy cars, dinosaurs, and various commando and soldier dolls. The front of Leonard and Eve Silverhorn's monument exhibits no Indian sym- bols; but on the reverse side one observes the chiseled image of a wood- en flute, perhaps the courting flute employed by most Plains Indian tribes (Fig. 11). The double monument for Bessie Hunter Snake and Willie Snake has separate symbols for these two individuals. Bessie is commemorated by the image of a turtle; Willie by two dominoes. The meanings of these symbols are not immediately clear. The turtle could represent a clan or family totem, the "turtle island" of myths, or even a zoomorphic marker for the Indian dice game. While dominoes did not originate in American Indian tradition, Native Americans had a large array of games of chance and gambling.39 Bingo halls and casinos are modern institutions, but gam- bling had independent roots among the first inhabitants of North America.

More obvious, and in many ways more unique among the American Indian symbols observed at the Memory Lane Cemetery, are motifs which represent the Native American Church. This religious organization syn-

Fig. 8 Newkumet family monument (back side) showing feather motif, a sacred symbol in many American Indian religions.

David M. Gradwohl

17

cretizes rituals of the traditional Peyote Cult and Christianity.40 The Native American Church was incorporated in Oklahoma in 1918 and there are still many practitioners there today. Adherents of this religion ritually ingest buttons of the spineless peyote cactus (Lophophora william- sii) as a sacrament and a curative medicine. In this context peyote is non- habit forming but produces visual, temporal, and other sensory sensa- tions which are an ingredient of the ceremonies of the church.41 The mon- ument of Mable Mahseet Weryavah identifies her as a member of the Native American Church (Fig. 12). Here we see the symbol of the tipi (in

		EL- r if'ii ^^^ii vi	■ -1	• *
*""-• •'	n	■M jji
1	Newkumet I

gin \|

Fig. 9. Newkumet family monument (front side) showing a fire and

rising smoke motif. This emblem, repeated on the individual markers

for Vynola Beaver Newkumet and Phil J. Newkumet, may symbolize

the Sacred Fire or New Fire ceremonies known in many American

Indian religions in the southeastern United States.

18

American Indian Identity

which the ceremonies are traditionally held), a peyote rattle made from a small gourd, and an image of the aquatic spirit bird or water bird, "usu- ally depicted with neck and wings extended as if in flight".42 Worshipers in the Native American Church entrust their prayers to the aquatic spirit bird to be conveyed to the all-powerful guardian forces. Peyote rattles are typically decorated with bright beads and horsehair. One small gourd rat- tle in the collections of the Nebraska State Historical Society exemplifies the combination of Peyote Cult iconography (tipi, star, cactus plant, sun /peyote button, and crescent moon /altar) with Christian symbols (cross, prayer words) in the Native American Church. Another Native American Church member buried at Memory Lane Cemetery, identified by the tipi and aquatic spirit bird symbol, is Thomas Hugh Eckiwaudah. The double monument of N. Hazel Palmer and Earl Palmer, Sr. has no American Indian symbols on its front side; but the reverse side exhibits the symbol of a peyote tipi. Paul Kenyon Littlechief's monument promi- nently displays the aquatic spirit bird icon of the Native American Church

Fig. 10. Detail of double monument for Dominic A. Reyna and

Michelle A. Yackeyonny. In particular, note the engraved image

of a traditional feather dance or prayer fan.

David M. Gradwohl

19

(Fig. 13). The accompanying inscription, "He had the heart of an eagle," refers to another bird that has much broader meanings in traditional American Indian religions. Eagle tail feather dance or prayer fans and individual feathers, for example, have a number of symbolic connotations to Native Americans. Since eagles soar high in the skies, they are wit- nesses to everything around them. In the words of Jordan Paper, "Eagle has varying symbolic functions that differ from culture to culture, but in all cases is a major spirit. Eagle may represent Sun or West Wind. Eagle also represents the sending of our messages to the spirits."43 Finally, in regard to symbols of the Native American Church, we may observe the monument of Tom Little Chief. A close inspection of the oval porcelain photograph affixed to his gravemarker reveals his association with the peyote religion (Fig. 14). He is wearing a tie tack in the form of a "sun- burst," which, it is said, "symbolizes the peyote button dispersing its benevolent rays to all humanity".44 Little Chief's portrait also shows him garbed in a beaded bandolier with a sunburst medallion and attached aquatic spirit bird pendant.

/

iJfri*JT:

Fig. 11. Monument of Leonard and Eve Silverhorn exhibiting the

symbol of a wooden flute. Among most Plains Indian tribes,

young men used flute music to court their girlfriends.

20

American Indian Identity

Mortuary Monuments of the Cannon Family- Two dark pink granite monuments represent the Cannon family in Memory Lane Cemetery. A rectangular horizontal block marks the grave of Mimi Cannon, who was born in 1913 and died in 1989, and the future resting place for Walter Cannon, who was born in 1911 and is still living (Fig. 15). Portraits of T.C. Cannon's parents have been cut into and paint- ed upon the front surface of the stone. Their marriage date in 1942 appears below their images. An inscription on the back of the monument records the fact that Walter and "Mamie" Cannon are the parents of Vernon, Tommy "Tee Cee," and Joyce (Fig. 16). The elder Cannons' tribal affilia- tions, respectively Kiowa and Caddo, are cut into the stone (Fig. 17). In addition there are two round Plains shield-like symbols. One (adjacent to the word "Kiowa") depicts an Indian man, presumably a warrior, riding a horse and carrying a shield and possibly a bow. The other (adjacent to the word "Caddo") shows a leaf and two small circles. The iconographic asso-

Z\i% GRANCMA

MAK1 MAHSEET WERYAVAf ( PEAKNEX)

1884 ~ J973

FORGET ME NOT

■:'.;i*m

Fig. 12. Gravestone of Mable Mahseet Weryavah displaying symbols

of the Native American Church: a tipi, an aquatic spirit bird, and

small gourd rattle used in peyote rituals.

David M. Gradwohl

21

ciations of these motifs are not clear. They could represent family crests, clan, or tribal symbols, but, if so, they appear to be idiosyncratic.

Finally, we reach the monument of T.C. Cannon, which has a smooth- ly-cut, rectilinear-shaped form of a cross along one edge while the oppos- ing border is irregularly curvilinear and roughly hewn (Fig. 2). This gravestone form may well be the shape of a "stock" item available at the monument dealer engaged by the Cannon family; the company name "Bill Willis, Granite, Ok." is engraved at the lower right hand side of the front of the monument. On the other hand, one could speculate that these opposing borders are a formal metaphor for the contrasting and complex dimensions of T.C. Cannon. From one viewpoint - that of his paintings, poetry, music, reading interests, and general intellect - Cannon comes off as very polished and sophisticated. From the opposite perspective - Cannon's simple tastes, modest lifestyle, and to-some-extent shy person- ality - he appears to be more simple and uneven. In words written in

Fig. 13. The aquatic spirit bird emblem of the Native American

Church depicted on the monument of Paul Kenyon Littlechief.

His epitaph refers to the eagle, a bird with widespread

significance in American Indian religions.

22

American Indian Identity

I

II!

■*i%

K

I .?

Fig. 14. Detail of the gravestone of Tom Little Chief.

In addition to a feather and traditional braided hair style,

his photograph shows symbols of the Native American Church:

a peyote button or sunburst tie tack, and a bandolier with a

sunburst medallion and attached aquatic spirit bird pendant.

David M. Gradwohl

23

1973, Cannon portrayed himself as the latter: "I am not sophisticated. I am not a man of letters ... I am nothing but a young man ... I have learned to accept myself as nothing more and nothing less".45 The prominent sym- bol of the cross on T.C. Cannon's monument is also somewhat enigmatic. Cannon's former wife, Barbara Warner Cannon Ross, has stated that "On all the applications at school which listed what religion you were, he always put 'universalist.' ... I think he had strong religious feelings, but they weren't structured in the church or anything like that".46 A statement by Sherman Chaddlesone, Cannon's close Kiowa friend, is even more emphatic: "T.C. wasn't a member of the Native American Church, and he didn't go to Christian churches either. He despised organized religion".47 His most recent biographer, Joan Frederick, commented that "T.C. did not belong to an organized church, but was a deeply religious person. His upbringing combined a belief in the mystical Indian religion of his ances- tors with basic Christian tenets".48 The observations of Elizabeth Dear, whom Frederick identifies as "T.C.'s best female friend in Santa Fe during

Fig. 15. Front side of monument of Walter and Mimi (Mamie) Cannon, parents of T.C. Cannon.

24

American Indian Identity

the last two years of his life," suggest that Cannon had even broader and more eclectic leanings: "He considered himself a religious person and was deeply interested and involved in his traditional Indian beliefs, along with several other religions, including Judaism. This fascination led him to read as much as he could about it ..."49 These statements are interest- ing in terms of the fact that T.C. Cannon normally wore a silver Star of David on a leather thong. That Star of David was recovered along with Cannon's body from the wreckage of his truck on May 7, 1978.50

Cut into and painted on the front surface of this gravestone is a hand- some and rather detailed portrait of T.C. Cannon - a proper memorial to a man who produced many self-portraits during his career. He is repre- sented informally by the name "Tee Cee" and formally as "Tommy Wayne Cannon." An inscription records the fact that he is the "Son of Walter and Mamie Cannon, Brother of Vernon and Joyce." This kinship reference, when taken together with the inscription on his parents' monument, iden- tifies T.C. Cannon as an American Indian of Kiowa and Caddo tribal affil-

Fig. 16. Back side of the elder Cannon's monument listing the names of their children (Vernon, Joyce, and Tommy "Tee Cee").

David M. Gradwohl

25

iation. His dates of birth and death are noted: Sept. 27, 1946 and May 8, 1978. In between those two dates is carved the logo of the 101st Airborne Division in which Cannon served in Viet Nam (Fig. 18). The logo incor- porates the image of an eagle upon a shield. Recently I was informed that members of this elite American combat unit are known as the "Screaming Eagles."51 Not only is the eagle a totemic avian symbol of the United States but, as alluded to previously, "Eagle is the winged spirit of the day sky, of the Sun" in most American Indian religions.52 Among Cannon's paintings is one entitled "On Drinking Beer in Viet Nam in 1967."53 This painting captures Cannon enjoying a brief interlude from war with his close friend, Kirby Feathers, a Ponca Indian from Oklahoma.54 In the painting both men are wearing military uniforms, and the artist went to some little effort to clearly include the 101st Airborne' s logo shoulder patch. Cannon shows his hair as below shoulder length while his buddy

Fig. 17. Detail of the back side of the elder Cannon's monument

showing two round Plains shield-like symbols and the

American Indian tribal affiliations of Walter Cannon (Kiowa)

and Mamie Cannon (Caddo).

26

American Indian Identity

is depicted as sporting traditional braids - neither of which, I suspect, would have been expedient or tolerated in the U.S. military. Both men are wearing feathers in their hair. Quite evidently these are two American sol- diers; more obviously they are two American Indian warriors. For these reasons my hunch is that the shield and eagle on T.C. Cannon's grave- stone may have at least two sets of meanings, as they do in his painting from Viet Nam. Cannon was an American military hero with two Bronze Stars and a member of an elite combat unit with a proud and distin- guished history; he was also Pai-doung-u-day, a member of the Kiowa Black Leggings Warrior Society.

The back of T.C. Cannon's monument also presents some food for thought (Fig. 19). The overall design shows a palette with paint, a con- tainer of brushes, and an artist's easel holding a rectangular form, sug- gesting a stretched canvas, upon which is written a poem (for T.C.

f 1 X M. X ■ 1

Fig. 18. Detail of the front side of T.C. Cannon's gravestone

showing the logo of the 101st Airborne Division,

the military unit in which Cannon served in Viet Nam.

The eagle and shield symbols probably have additional

meanings in terms of American Indian religious iconography.

David M. Gradwohl

27

Cannon was a writer of poetry and music too). The easel and other images convey the idea that Cannon was a contemporary painter. The poem is entitled "Remember Me Blues" and is written in Cannon's individualistic manner:

When the bright lights of the morning

Have faded from the land

And the ghosts of countless friendships

Have all shifted with the sand

And the chimes of farewell's melody

Blows outward to the sea

I'll be standing here r'memberin

Hopin you r'member me.

The poem is signed "T. Cee, Artist - Composer - Poet." The verse is cer- tainly poignant, but I must confess that I can find no absolutely certain

' I BLUtS

«K'>

•- «

Fig. 19. Back side of T.C. Cannon's gravestone.

The epitaph and engraved images refer to Cannon's endeavors

as a contemporary artist, composer, and poet.

28

American Indian Identity

threads of American Indian identity in its lines. The first time I viewed the monument I was so busy trying to comprehend its overall design and so engrossed in reading the poem that I almost overlooked the small but important icon identifying T.C. Cannon's Native American links which is situated in the lower left corner of the framed poem on the easel (Figs. 19 and 20). It consists of the representations of three ceramic vessels deco- rated in the bichrome and polychrome styles in which pots have been painted in the American southwest by Anasazi-Pueblo Tradition artists for nearly two thousand years. It is this long tradition of conceptualizing forms and painting designs which must have stirred in T.C. Cannon as a child and carried him into his stellar career as a leading definer and expo- nent of contemporary American Indian art.

4 q p vn

, TV * \

Fig. 20. Detail of the back side of T.C. Cannon's gravestone

showing three small ceramic vessels painted in the style of

Anasazi-Pueblo artists in the American Southwest for nearly two

thousand years. These small images are important symbols of

Cannon's prowess as a painter and his connections to the long-standing traditions of painting among American Indians.

David M. Gradwohl 29

Conclusions

This study has shown that there are some demonstrable relationships between material culture and ethnicity. In this case we have seen many gravemarkers that express both individual and group ethnic identities of American Indians on the contemporary scene and back through time. The data presented in this essay illustrate several points. First, over the course of North American prehistory and history, American Indians have employed a number of different and distinctive burial practices. Second, some of these kinds of variations exist today among Native Americans despite Euro-American attempts at forced assimilation and religious mis- sionization. Third, a number of specific mortuary symbols are expressive of American Indian identities in the Memory Lane Cemetery in Anadarko, Oklahoma. These ethnic indicators include particularistic names, hyphenated format of transliterating names into English, epi- graphic indications of tribal affiliation, references to political and religious roles, photographs portraying traditional hair and clothing styles, and design motifs such as a feathered headdress, individual feathers, dance or prayer fans, fire and smoke, a flute, an arrow, and zoomorphic forms. The cemetery exhibits a notable degree of individuality and virtuosity in the modern gravestones of both American Indians and non-Indians. Particularly distinctive is the iconography of the Native American Church as expressed on mortuary monuments. Key symbols here include the cer- emonial tipi, Peyote rattle, aquatic spirit bird, sunburst or Peyote button symbol, and portrayals of "Peyote jewelry" in photographs attached to the gravestones. Fourth, the gravestones of artist T.C. Cannon and his par- ents specifically exhibit symbols of American Indian identification. It is significant, I think, that all three are represented by gravestone portraits. The tribal affiliations of Walter and Mamie Cannon are indicated and there are shield-like motifs which may be further material expressions of their particularistic identity. T.C. Cannon's monument includes a military emblem with a shield and an eagle - insignias with probable bicultural meanings. From documented records we know that Cannon was laid to rest with both U.S. military and traditional Kiowa honors. Furthermore Cannon's link to the heritage of American Indian art, particularly paint- ing, is represented by the symbol of three painted Puebloan pots on his gravestone. In an interview in 1975, T.C. Cannon reflected on this linkage: "From the poisons and passions of technology arises a great force with which we must deal as present-day painters. We are not prophets - we are

30 American Indian Identity

merely potters, painters, and sculptors dealing with and living in the later twentieth century".55 These words are characteristically modest for a man of T.C. Cannon's stature. By the same token, the diminutive images of painted pots on Cannon's gravestone are significant but understated sym- bols for the man upon whom was bestowed the honored Kiowa name that means "One Who Stands in the Sun."

NOTES

I gratefully thank the following individuals for assistance in preparing this paper: Gretchen M. Bataille, Paul C. Brooke, Hanna R. Gradwohl, Benjamin R. Kracht, Terry and Nancy Lauritsen, Richard E. Meyer, Paul C. Nelson, Nancy M. Osborn, Stephen W. Pett, Helen H. Schuster, Don Van Sickle, and John L. Weinkein. All of the photographs were taken by the author. A briefer version of this paper was presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Culture Association in Las Vegas, Nevada, March 25-28, 1996.

1. This memorial bust was sculpted by Kiowa artist Sherman Chaddlesone, a close friend of T.C. Cannon from their mutual days at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

2. David M. Gradwohl, "World View and Ethnicity: A Perspective From Latvian- American Gravestones in Lincoln, Nebraska," paper delivered at the Annual Meeting of the American Culture Association, Chicago, Illinois, April 6-9, 1994; David Mayer Gradwohl, "Intra-Group Diversity in Midwest American Jewish Cemeteries: An Ethnoarchaeological Perspective," in Archaeology of Eastern North America: Papers in Honor of Stephen Williams, ed. James B. Stoltman (Archaeological Report No. 25, Mississippi Department of Archives and History, Jackson, MS, 1993), 363-382; David M. Gradwohl, "The Jewish Cemeteries of Louisville, Kentucky: Mirrors of Historical Processes and Theological Diversity Through 150 Years," Markers X (1993): 116-149; David Mayer Gradwohl and Hanna Rosenberg Gradwohl, "That is the Pillar of Rachel's Grave Unto This Day: An Ethnoarchaeological Comparison of Two Jewish Cemeteries in Lincoln, Nebraska," in Persistence and Flexibility: An Anthropological Perspective on the American Jewish Experience, ed. Walter P. Zenner (Albany, NY, 1988), 223-259.

3. Joan Frederick, T.C. Cannon: He Stood in the Sun (Flagstaff, AZ, 1995), 12; Mildred P. May hall, The Kiowas ( Norman, OK, 1971), 140.

4. Quoted in Jamake Highwater, Song From the Earth: American Indian Painting (Boston, MA, 1980), 177.

5. David Rettig, "T.C. Cannon," American Indian Art Magazine 21:1 (1995): 56.

6. Rick Hill, Nancy M. Mitchell, and Lloyd New, Creativity Is Our Tradition: Three Decades of Contemporary Indian Art of the Institute of American Indian Arts (Santa Fe, NM, 1992), 88; see also W. Jackson Rushing, "Authenticity and Subjectivity in Post-War Painting:

David M. Gradwohl 31

Concerning Herrera, Scholder, and Cannon", in Shared Visions: Native American Painters and Sculptors in the Twentieth Century, ed. Margaret Archuleta and Rennard Strickland (Phoenix, AZ, The Heard Museum, 1991), 12-21.

7. William Wallo and John Pickard, T.C. Cannon, Native American: A New View of the West (Oklahoma City, OK, National Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Arts Center, 1990), 55; Frederick, T.C. Cannon: He Stood in the Sim, 31.

8. Wallo and Pickard, T.C. Cannon, Native American, 111; Frederick, T.C. Camion: He Stood in the Sun, 143; William Benton, "T.C. Cannon: The Masked Dandy," American Indian Art Magazine 3:4 (1978): 34-39.

9. Referring to the late 1970s and early 1980s, Gerhard Hoffman, Professor of American Studies at the University of Wiirzburg in Germany, stated that this painting by Cannon was "among the most widely produced Indian works of the last decade" ("Frames of Reference: Native American Art in the Context of Modern and Post-Modern Art," in The Arts of the North American Indians: Native Traditions in Evolution, ed. Edwin L. Wade (New York, NY, 1986), 267).

10. Wallo and Pickard, T.C. Cannon, Native American, 99; Frederick, T.C. Cannon: He Stood in the Sun, 131.

11. Mayhall, The Kiowas, 136-140; Benjamin R. Kracht, "Kiowa Religion: An Ethnohistorical Analysis of Ritual Symbolism 1832-1987" (unpublished PhD Dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX, 1989), 223-225.

12. Kracht, "Kiowa Religion," 236-239.

13. Ibid., 968-975; also Benjamin R. Kracht, personal communication to author, May 3, 1996.

14. Highwater, Song From the Earth, 176; Frederick, T.C. Cannon: He Stood in the Sun, 137.

15. Wallo and Pickard, T.C. Cannon, Native American, 94; compare with the actual field pho- tograph in Ralph K. Andrist, The Long Death: The Last Days of the Plains Indians (New York, NY, 1969), facing page 183; or Dee Brown, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (New York, NY, 1972), Fig. 48.

16. Wallo and Pickard, T.C. Cannon, Native American, 95; Frederick, T.C. Camion: He Stood in the Sun, 127.

17. Alison R. Bernstein, "Military Service", in Natme America in the Twentieth Century: An Encyclopedia, ed. Mary B. Davis (New York, NY, 1994); Arlene Hirschfelder and Martha Kriepe de Montaho, The Native American Almanac: A Portrait of Native America Today (New York, NY, 1993), 227-236.

18. Bernstein, "Military Service," 341.

19. Ibid.; Hirschfelder and de Montano, The Native American Almanac, 233-234.

32 American Indian Identity

20. Arthur Silberman, "Painting", in Native America in the Twentieth Century: An Encyclopedia, ed. Mary B. Davis (New York, NY, 1994), 421.

21. Wallo and Pickard, T.C. Cannon, Native American, 115; Frederick, T.C. Cannon: He Stood in the Sun, 163.

22. Wallo and Pickard, T.C. Cannon, Native American, Fig. 213; Frederick, T.C. Cannon: He Stood in the Sun, front and end papers.

23. Hoffman, "Frames of Reference," 266.

24. Quoted in Frederick, T.C. Cannon: He Stood in the Sun, 28-29.

25. Jesse D. Jennings, Prehiston/ of North America (Mountain View, CA, 1989), 230-247.

26. Ibid., 125-131.

27. Clark R. Mallam, The Effigy Mound Manifestation: An Interpretive Model (Report 9, Office of the State Archaeologist, Iowa City, I A, 1976).

28. Harold McCracken, George Catlin and the Old Frontier (New York, NY, 1959), 31.

29. William H. Goetzmann, David C. Hunt, Marsha J. Gallagher, and William J. Orr, Karl Bodmer's America (Omaha, NE, Joslyn Art Museum, 1984), 184-185; 293-294.

30. Jennings, Prehistory of North America, 299.

31. H.S. Cosgrove and C.B. Cosgrove, The Smarts Ruin, A Typical Mimbres Site in Southwestern New Mexico (Papers of the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University 15:1, 1932), 23-25. Spirit houses in the Northwest were discussed by Macel M. Wheeler in her paper, "Cemeteries Along the ALCAN," presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Culture Association, Las Vegas, Nevada, March 25-28, 1996.

32. Keith Cunningham, "The People of Rimrock Bury Alfred K. Lorenzo: Tri-Cultural Funerary Practice," in Ethnicity and the American Cemetery, ed. Richard E. Meyer (Bowling Green, OH, 1993); Keith Cunningham, "Navajo, Mormon, Zuni Graves; Navajo, Mormon, Zuni Ways", in Cemeteries and Gravemarkers: Voices of American Culture, ed. Richard E. Meyer (Ann Arbor, MI, 1989); Stephen C. Jett, "Modern Navajo Cemeteries," Material Culture 28:2 (1996): 1-23.

33. cf. Dorothy Jean Ray, Artists of the Tundra and Sea (Seatle, WA, 1980), 31-97.

34. Field observations were recorded and photographs taken on November 1, 1994 and November 3, 1995. Hanna R. Gradwohl and Nancy M. Osborn assisted in this endeavor.

35. cf. N. Scott Momaday, The Names: A Memoir (New York, NY, 1976).

36. Rosemary Ellison, Contemporary Southern Indian Plains Painting (Anadarko, OK, Indian Arts and Crafts Cooperative, 1972), 28; 51; 74.

David M. Gradwohl 33

37. Mayhall, The Kioivas, 147-151; 157.

38. Thomas M.N. Lewis and Madeline Kneberg, Tribes That Slumber: Indians of the Tennessee Region (Knoxville, TN, I960), 176-180.

39. Steward Culin, Games of North American Indians (New York, NY, 1975), originally pub- lished as the Twenty-Fourth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, Smithsonian Institution, 1907.

40. Weston LeBarre. The Peyote Cult (New York, NY, 1969); J.S. Slotkin, The Peyote Religion: A Study of Indian-White Relations (New York, NY, 1975); Edward F. Anderson, Peyote: The Divine Cactus (Tucson, AZ, 1980); Omer C. Stewart, Pei/ote Religion: A History (Norman, OK, 1987).

41. Stewart, Peyote Religion, 3.

42. Rosemary Ellison, Contemporary Southern Plains Indian Metahvork (Anadarko, OK, Indian Arts and Crafts Cooperative, 1976), 14-19; Rosemary Ellison, "The Artistry and Genius of Julius Caesar", American Indian Art Magazine 3:4 (1978): 56-61; 75.

43. Jordan Paper, Offering Smoke: The Sacred Pipe and Native American Religion (Moscow, ID, 1988), 82.

44. Richard Cronn, Circles of the World: Traditional Art of the Plains Indians (Denver, CO, 1982), 136; 150.

45. Quoted in Frederick, T.C. Cannon: He Stood in the Sun, vii.

46. Ibid., 147.

47. Ibid.

48. Ibid.

49. Ibid.

50. Ibid., 175.

51. I am indebted to Richard E. Meyer, a veteran of the 101st Airborne Division, for this fas- cinating and enlightening fact.

52. Paper, Offering Smoke, 61.

53. Rettig, "T.C. Cannon," 57; Frederick, T.C. Cannon: He Stood in the Sun, 46.

54. Wallo and Pickard, T.C. Cannon, Native American, 20-21.

55. Quoted in Highwater, Song From the Earth, 119.

34

Early Congregational Ministers

Fig. 1. Towns with markers of early Congregational ministers

in northwestern Middlesex County and

northern Worcester County, Massachusetts.

35

GRAVEMARKERS OF THE EARLY CONGREGATIONAL MINISTERS IN NORTH CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS

Tom and Brenda Malloy

Introduction

The Massachusetts Bay Colony was established in 1630 as a Puritan theocracy. Within the first year of settlement six towns were laid out. In the ensuing years the Bay Colony experienced rapid population growth to the point that it would become Britain's most populated colony in North America. Consequently, a new county was established to the west of Boston. When Middlesex County was organized in 1643, it had eight towns, and by 1700 there were twenty-two.1

The town structure was viewed as a means by which control could be maintained over a rapidly growing population and, at the same time, ensure Puritan economic and religious domination. A town could only be formed when permission was given by Massachusetts' central govern- ment, known as the General Court. When a town was incorporated, the inhabitants cleared land to be used in common, i.e., the town common, and the next step was to build a meeting house. The structure was called a meeting house because both town and church meetings were held with- in the building inasmuch as towns were also legally considered parishes. As one town historian has stated, "A history of a New England town without an ecclesiastical chapter would surely be like the play of Hamlet with the part of Hamlet left out."2

The established church in Puritan Massachusetts was Congregational and, because the church was supported by the government, as late as 1800 towns could be fined for not hiring a minister. The town provided the minister's salary and other various benefits, such as land and his year's supply of cord wood. The last benefits to be bestowed were his funeral expenses and the erection of his headstone.

In some cases, a minister's marker might be a well-ornamented stone that was of the style found generally, throughout his congregation's burying ground. However, because of his high status in a church-state communi- ty, the minister's grave would normally be designated by the most impressive marker in the graveyard. In most instances the marker would be a portrait stone or a table stone. Frequently, if the grave was marked by a table stone, which was considered symbolic of a tomb, it was the only

36

Early Congregational Ministers

such marker in a cemetery. Portrait stones were carved not necessarily to reveal the individual's likeness, but to symbolize his position by the inclu- sion of clerical tabs. Also, if for some reason a minister's grave was not marked until some years after his death, it appears that an obelisk mark- er was normally chosen.

In addition to being one of the most distinctive gravemarkers in a cemetery, a minister's marker normally contained a generous amount of documentation within the epitaph. Consequently, by using this informa- tion in conjunction with other historical sources, the role of the Congregational minister within a church-state community can be demon- strated. For the purposes of this study, this will be done through the analysis of ministers' markers in twenty-one towns of north central Massachusetts, eight of which are in the northwestern section of Middlesex County, and the remainder in northern Worcester County (see Fig. 1).

Fig. 2. Reverend Samuel Whiting, 1719, Billerica.

The epitaph on the Whiting stone, carved by Joseph Lamson,

reveals that the Congregational clergy were provided with

the genteel title of mister as well as that of reverend.

Tom and Brenda Malloy 37

Stones of the Ministers

Examples of three different types of ministers' stones can be found at the South Cemetery in Billerica, which was incorporated as a town in 1655. At the front of the cemetery is a stone for Samuel Whiting, the town's first pastor. Carved by Joseph Lamson, the headstone is orna- mented with a winged skull, gourds and finial faces (Fig. 2). The inscrip- tion reads:

HERE LIES YE BODY

OF YE REVEREND MR.

SAMUEL WHITING,

PASTOR OF YE CHURCH

OF CHRIST IN

BILLERICA, AGED 80

YEARS, DECEASED

FEBRUARY YE 28 1719

Whiting, whose father was the pastor in Lynn, Massachusetts, was a 1653 graduate from the Puritan theological institution known as Harvard College. He arrived in Billerica three years after its incorporation. However, it would be two years after his ordination before the town could afford to build a meeting house. This meeting house, built for Whiting, was a thatched-roof structure with rough boards for siding, a primitive structure compared to the white-steepled churches that were eventually constructed on New England commons. Samuel Whiting preached the sermon in Billerica for fifty-six years before his retirement in. 1714, and the stone that marks his grave indicates that he died five years after his retire- ment.

In near proximity to the Whiting stone is the headstone of Billerica's second minister, Samuel Ruggles (Fig. 3). Ruggles graduated from Harvard in 1702, and was teaching in Hadley, Massachusetts when, in 1708, he was selected to assist the aging Whiting. Succeeding Whiting as pastor, Ruggles served until his death in 1749, at which time the town voted 150 pounds for his funeral expenses.3 His headstone is a large por- trait stone carved by William Park which was not erected until some years after the minister's death.4 Features at the top of the stone include a por- trait with clerical tabs, an hourglass, the ubiquitous "Memento Mori," and the phrase "From deaths Arrest no age is free." The epitaph (on the lower portion of the stone) is inscribed in Latin. Translated, it reads in part:

38

Early Congregational Ministers

Under this rock of a tomb are found the ashes of Reverend Mister Samuel Ruggles recently pastor of the Billerica church who by the course which God had given completed at AD 1749. He took to death on the 3rd day of March when he had lived about 68 yrs.5

Upon the death of Samuel Ruggles, John Chanler became the third pastor in Billerica. He was a recent Harvard graduate who had grown up in the nearby town of Andover. However, he would only serve as pastor for eleven years before being dismissed for "indulgence in spiritual con- solations which were not from above."6 It was known that he kept these "spiritual consolations" stored in his cellar. Two years after his dismissal he died at the early age of 38. The brevity of Chanler's tenure is referred to within the epitaph of his portrait stone, which reads:

HRfe , '/.v wkimiLi i^r^ s'S V'-^y \\ :■■■:/

Fig. 3. Reverend Samuel Ruggles, 1749, Billerica.

The clerical tabs on the Ruggles portrait are typical of the neckwear

worn by the Congregational clergy, and are considered symbolic of

the tablets that contained The Ten Commandments.

Tom and Brenda Malloy

39

Here lye the Remains of the Revd. Mr. John Chanler Some time Pastor of the Church in Billerica who departed this life November the 10th AD 1762

The Chanler stone (Fig. 4), which is located to the rear of the South Cemetery, was carved by the same artisan who cut his predecessor's stone.7 Although, it is only about one-third the size of the Ruggles stone, both markers display a very similar style of portrait.

Henry Cumings was Chanler 's successor, becoming the fourth pastor in Billerica. At the age of twenty he graduated from Harvard, which later bestowed on Cumings an honorary doctorate. He has been described as a man who "was six feet and upwards in height, finely proportioned, with silvery flowing locks and a pleasant smile."8 Cumings' pastorate lasted for sixty-one years until his death in 1823 at the age of eighty-four. He

Fig. 4. Reverend John Chanler, 1762, Billerica. Like the Ruggles

portrait, the figure on the Chanler stone has details of clerical tabs

plus buttons and pleats on the coat.

40

Early Congregational Ministers

would be the last minister to have his funeral expenses paid for by the town, probably because within a decade after his death church and state would be separated in Massachusetts. Cumings is buried in a family plot where a table stone, the only marker of its type in the South Cemetery, covers his grave (Fig. 5). The epitaph, which is on the surface of the stone, reads:

Beneath this stone

rest the remains of the

Rev. Henry Cumings D.D.

late Pastor of the Church and Christian

Society in Billerica

Born Sept. 16th 1739

ordained Jan. 26 1763

died Sept. 6th 1823

Incorporated the same year as Billerica, the town of Chelmsford bor- ders it to the west. Behind the First Parish Church is the Forefather's

Fig. 5. Reverend Henry Cumings, 1823, Billerica. The Cumings table

stone consists of a slate top supported by granite legs. Next to the table stone are the headstones of Cumings' daughter and three wives.

Tom and Brenda Malloy

41

** ¥

8HA8l.SUfFfflJt.eO)

THE

tftl

a

PISKE-

, j- /: - ■■

rSfif

*>

->A

Fig. 6. Reverend John Fiske, 1676, Chelmsford.

Truncated obelisks such as the Fiske cenotaph became popular

markers during the late nineteenth century.

42

Early Congregational Ministers

Burying Ground, and here can be found the markers of the town's first four ministers. Because the exact site of the first minister's grave is not known, a memorial cenotaph in the form of a truncated obelisk was erect- ed by his descendants in 1899 (Fig. 6). The inscription reads:

This cenotaph is erected by the Fiske Family of Chelmsford to the memory of the Rev. John Fiske First Pastor of Chelmsford who was born at South Finham Suffolk County England about the year 1601. In 1637 he came to New England In 1644 he gathered a church at Wenham Mass. and continued as its pastor until 1656 when he removed with the greater part of his church to Chelmsford where he ministered both as pastor and physician. Greatly respected and beloved until his death January 14, 1676 at the age of 76 years.

The Reverend John Fiske, as his cenotaph notes, was born in England, where he was educated for the Anglican clergy. Eventually adopting Puritan theology, he fled England in 1637 in order to avoid persecution.

tier ^_^j;?^-^ ^^^•3j!^^Lv"1 ** : ;

^pfejWlWl ^>v1»0W^ "Iv^OcV;

' ^ust^rVs rfimii. qui -filve

Fig. 7. Reverend Thomas Clark, 1704, Chelmsford.

In many cases the Latin epitaph on a ministers's stone

was written by a surviving colleague.

Tom and Brenda Malloy

43

Fiske lived in Cambridge and then in Salem before moving to Wenham, Massachusetts, where he became the first minister of that town's church. After thirteen years he accepted the pastorate at the new church in Chelmsford, where he settled with a majority of the members from the Wenham parish. John Fiske died in the twentieth year of his ministry after an infirmity that required him to be carried in a chair to church services.9

Upon Fiske's death, Thomas Clark, who was born and reared in Cambridge, became Chelmsford's second minister. Town records perti- nent to Clark reveal how members of the early Puritan ministry might be compensated. Initially, he received provisions and meat as part of his salary. In 1680 he asked the town for, and received, ten acres of land. Three years later he claimed that thirty cords of wood was insufficient to heat his house, and was granted ten additional cords. Then, in 1688, he was given a yearly cash salary increase from eighty to one hundred pounds and an allotment of corn.10

In his twenty-seventh year in Chelmsford, Thomas Clark died of a

Fig. 8. Reverend Samson Stoddard, 1740, Chelmsford.

The sandstone cover on Stoddard's tomb has an inscription

for his wife, Elizabeth, but not for him.

44

Early Congregational Ministers

fever after attending a funeral. Like the Whiting marker in Billerica, Clark's grave is graced by a winged skull stone carved by Joseph Lamson (Fig. 7). However, the top of the Clark stone also features an hourglass flanked on each side by imps carrying a burial pall. On the left, the imps are flanked by the phrase "Memento Mori" and on the right by the phrase "Fugit Hora." Also, in comparison to the Whiting stone, the finial faces on the Clark marker are accented with clerical tabs, thus symbolizing that the stone was erected for a member of the ministry. Further, Clark's epitaph is entirely in Latin. Translated, it reads:

Here to the dust are committed the remains of the Reverend Mister Thomas Clark, the distinguished pastor of the flock of Christ in Chelmsford, who, in the faith and hope of a blessed resurrection, breathed forth his soul into the bosom of Jesus the 7th of December, in the year of the Lord 1704, and the 52nd of his age.11

Just a few feet from the Clark stone is the only box tomb in the Fore- father's Burying Ground. It marks the interment site of Chelmsford's third minister, although there is no inscription to designate it as such (Fig. 8).

Fig. 9. Reverend Ebenezer Bridge, 1792, Chelmsford.

Whereas the portrait stones in Billerica were carved by William Park,

Bridge's portrait stone was carved by William's son, Thomas Park.

Tom and Brenda Malloy 45

Samson Stoddard was born in Boston in 1681 and graduated from Harvard in 1701. Five years after his graduation he was invited by a vote of a town meeting to serve as the pastor for the First Parish Church. Stoddard remained as the pastor for the next thirty-four years, during which time he won the reputation of being a plain and practical preacher. In the last three years of his ministry, Stoddard became so ill that he was unable to perform his duties, yet the town continued to pay his salary. Then, after he was found dead in his well on August 30, 1740, the town paid 132 pounds for his funeral expenses.12

Stoddard was succeeded by Ebenezer Bridge, whose portrait stone (Fig. 9) stands as a prominent marker in the town's burying ground. In addition to the portrait, with clerical tabs, the top of the stone is decorat- ed with draped urns. The inscription reads:

By the Church of Christ

In CHELMSFORD

In Testimony of their esteem and veneration

This sepulchral stone erected, to stand

as a sacred memorial of their late worthy Pastor

The Rev. EBENEZER BRIDGE,

who after having officiated among them

in the service of the Sanctuary

for more than a year above half a century

the strength of nature being exhausted

sunk under the burden of age

and joined the congregation of the dead,

Oct. 1, 1792, AE 78.

During his fifty-two year tenure, Bridge was considered to be an excel- lent speaker whose sermons kept the full attention of the congregation. As a person, he is described as being "large and commanding" while being a "communicant friend and a pleasant companion."13

The first minister in the neighboring town of Westford also, like the Reverend Bridge, had a fifty-two year ministry, and his table stone is the only marker of its type in the town's East Burying Ground (Fig. 10). Originally, Westford was a western precinct of Chelmsford. In 1729, resi- dents of the precinct received a charter of incorporation from the General Court. Of course, in colonial Massachusetts the partitioning of a town also meant forming a new church. Consequently, in preparation for the parti-

46

Early Congregational Ministers

tion, the Reverend Willard Hall was ordained two years prior to incorpo- ration. As was customary in those days, ministers from surrounding towns were invited to ordination ceremonies, and attending the Willard ordination was Samson Stoddard, Chelmsford's third minister.14

Under Hall's leadership the Westford congregation expanded and prospered. During his tenure 274 people were admitted to the church, 280 marriages were solemnized, and 1,535 children were baptized. However, as the Revolutionary War approached, many of the town's people became antagonized by Hall's criticism of the Colonial cause. As a result, in 1776 Hall was dismissed by a vote of both the congregation and a town meet- ing.15 Reverend Hall died three years after his dismissal, and the inscrip- tion on the surface of his table stone reads:

ERECTED IN MEMORY OF

THE REVEREND WILLARD HALL,

FIRST PASTOR OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST

In Westford.

Fig. 10. Reverend Willard Hall, 1779, Westford.

Whereas the Cumings table stone in Billerica has granite legs,

the Hall table stone is supported by three granite pedestals.

Tom and Brenda Malloy

47

DIED MARCH 19, 1779,

AGED 77 YEARS,

and in the 52nd year of his

Ministry.

While the pale carcass tho'tless lies

Among the silent graves,

Some hearty friend shall drop his tear

On our dry bones and say,

These once were strong as mine appear,

And mine must be as they.

Thus shall our mouldering members teach

What now our senses learn;

For dust and ashes loudest preach

Man's infinite concern.

On the southwest border of Westford is the town of Littleton, which was incorporated in 1714. Here, in the town's First Cemetery, can be

Fig. 11. Reverend Daniel Rogers, 1782, Littleton. Rogers' table stone

stands in back of an obelisk that marks his family plot. At the foot of

the table stone are headstones for his first two wives, Mary and

Elizabeth, and for other members of his family.

48 Early Congregational Ministers

found a small monument for the first minister, the Reverend Benjamin Shattuck. Shattuck was born in Watertown, Massachusetts, where he taught grammar school while attending Harvard. He was ordained in Littleton on Christmas Day, 1717, but the town's new meeting house was not completed until five years later. The assignment of pews, called "lay- ing out the pew ground," in the Littleton meeting house was typical for Massachusetts towns. Those who paid the highest taxes sat at the front nearest the pulpit, with women on one side of the house and men on the other, and Black parishoners were assigned seats to the rear.16

Thirteen years into his ministry, it appears that Shattuck fell into dis- favor with his congregation, because in 1730 the town forced his retire- ment by not continuing his salary. Shattuck continued to live in Littleton, but as a person of reduced status. This is evident by the 1742 laying out of the pew ground for a new meeting house. At that time Shattuck was assigned a pew to the rear and on the women's side. Also, the present monument that marks his interment site was not erected until many years after his death.17 The inscription reads:

Here sleeps

until the resurrection morn

THE REV.

BENJAMIN SHATTUCK

son of

William Shattuck

of Watertown

the first ordained minister

of Littleton

Born July 30, AD 1687

Died AD 1763

AEt. 76

According to a report given in the 1894-95 "Proceeding of the Littleton Historical Society," the birth date and parentage on the Shattuck monu- ment, written about seventy-five years after his death, were incorrect.18 However, the inscription quoted above does provide the correct informa- tion, indicating that the present marker is a second monument erected some time after the errors became evident.

Daniel Rogers replaced Shattuck as Littleton's minister. His table stone (Fig. 11) stands as the only marker of its type in the town's First Cemetery.

Tom and Brenda Malloy 49

Rogers was born in Ipswich, Massachusetts and graduated from Harvard, where his grandfather had been president. In 1731, six years after receiv- ing his degree, he was offered the pastorate in Littleton. However, he refused the first offer at a salary of 100 pounds, later accepting the posi- tion when the salary was raised to 140 pounds. The people of Littleton must have been very pleased with Rogers' acceptance because at the ordi- nation ceremony the town entertained generously, paying forty-one pounds for the expenses.19

After more than forty years in the pulpit, Rogers came into conflict with his congregation. Like the Reverend Willard Hall in neighboring Westford, Daniel Rogers did not support the Colonial cause against England as did his parishoners. This conflict came to a head on Thanksgiving Day, 1775, when, during a service, the pastor concluded a proclamation with "God save the king." The congregation rose in protest and demanded a retraction, causing Rogers to flee to his house, where they called upon him to declare his position. When the pastor refused, they fired a volley into the door of his house. After this incident, as tem- pers cooled, Rogers was forgiven for his transgressions, and he remained in Littleton until his death, which occurred a year before the end of the Revolutionary War.20 Like his colleagues Willard Hall of Westford and Ebenezer Bridge of Chelmsford, Rogers' ministry lasted for fifty-two years.

As with the Cumings table stone in Billerica, the Daniel Rogers table stone consists of a slate top supported by four granite legs. However, unlike any other table stones in our sampling, the surface of the Rogers marker includes epitaphs in addition to his. The first epitaph on the stone is for Rogers' third wife, who predeceased him by three years. The last epitaphs are for Rogers' son and his previous two wives. In the middle of these inscriptions can be found Rogers' own epitaph which reads:

Here lies buried the body of the Revd. Mr. Daniel Rogers who died Nov. ye 22nd 1782, In the 77 year of his age and in the 52nd year of his ministry.

A learned and faithful Minister is God's delight.

North of Westford and Chelmsford is the town of Tyngsborough, where in the Thompson Cemetery can be found a headstone for the first

50

Early Congregational Ministers

minister. Tyngsborough, originally a district of neighboring Dunstable, was not incorporated as a town until nearly a quarter of a century after the conclusion of the American Revolution. Similar to the separation of Westford from Chelmsford, a new congregation was formed in prepara- tion for the partition. Thus in 1790, a year after the district was estab- lished, Nathaniel Lawrence was ordained as the pastor of the First Parish Church.21

Nathaniel Lawrence is buried in a family plot next to his wife and two of his children. His term of office extended well beyond the date of sepa- ration of church and state in Massachusetts and well into the mid-nine- teenth century. Consequently, the tympanum of his slate stone is decorat- ed with a willow and urn, a common motif for that period (Fig. 12). The stone's epitaph provides a good documentation of Lawrence's life as well as the circumstances of his death:

Fig. 12. Reverend Nathaniel Lawrence, 1843, Tyngsborough.

The weeping willow on Lawrence's stone is symbolic of sadness

and sorrow, while the urn symbolizes the soul and mortality.

Tom and Brenda Malloy 51

In Memory of

Rev Nathaniel Lawrence

Who died on Lords Day Feb 5 1843 AEt 77 1/2 Mr. Lawrence was a native of Woburn Mass. He graduated at Harvard College in 1787, and on Jan. 6, 1790 was ordained Pastor of the Congregational Society in Tyngsborough, which relation continued 49 years. On the morning of Feb. 5, He attended church as usual, in apparent good health, but on returning to his dwelling, very suddenly expired. His death was that of the righteous; and his last end like his.

B. Day, Lowell

The town of Groton, which borders Tyngsborough to the west, was incorporated in 1655, over a century and a half before Tyngsborough. There is only one table stone in the town's Old Burying Ground and it is for the fifth minister, the Rev. Caleb Trowbridge, who was ordained in 1714 (Fig. 13.) A search of the cemetery as well as an 1878 publication of the cemetery's epitaphs revealed that there are no existing markers for the earlier ministers.22 The epitaph on Trowbridge's stone provides informa- tion on his family background, graduation from divinity school, and peri- od of service, as well as his personal qualities. In full the epitaph states:

UNDERNEATH THIS STONE LIES THE BODY OF THE REVD CALEB TROWBRIDGE, LATE PASTOR OF THE CHURCH of Christ in Groton, born of reputable Parents in the Town of Newton, educated at Harvard College in Cambridge New-England; of such natural and acquir'd Endowments as

52

Early Congregational Ministers

rendered him an Ornament and Blessing in the several

Relations which he sustained: he was a good steward over the

House of God and discharged the Duties of his Pastoral

relation with Prudence and Impartiality; Diligence and

Fidelity. He was a tender and loving Husband; an affectionate

and kind Parent; an agreeable and faithful friend and a Useful

Member of Society. He was much beloved and respected while

he lived, and dyed greatly lamented, the 9th day of Septr,

AD 1760 in the 69th year of his Age and the 46th of his Ministry

and is we trust receiving the reward of his Labours in the

Kingdom of his Lord: and in Honour to his Memory his loving People

have erected this Monument over his Grave.

Blessed are the Dead that die in the Lord for they rest from their

Labour and their works do follow them.

The Memory of ye just is Blessed.

Fig. 13. Reverend Caleb Trowbridge, 1760, Groton.

In contrast to previously illustrated table stones,

Trowbridge's employs brick supports.

Tom and Brenda Malloy

53

Bordering Groton to the north is the town of Pepperell. Here the only table stone in the Walton Cemetery (Fig. 14) is for the town's first minis- ter. It stands next to the matching box tombs of William Prescott, the Colonial commander at Bunker Hill, and his wife. In 1747, when Pepperell was a precinct of Groton, Joseph Emerson was ordained as the pastor. He was the twenty-two year old son of a minister in Maiden, Massachusetts, and had recently served as a chaplain on a British expedi- tion against the French at Louisburg.

According to a town history, Emerson's sermons did not deal with the depravity of human nature as did those of many Puritan ministers. Rather, his sermons dealt with people's needs relative to their worth in the eyes of God. In one particular sermon, delivered in 1760, he talked about the "Pepperell Fever", a disease which in four years had killed 103 members of the parish. In another sermon, given on Thanksgiving Day in 1766, he rejoiced at the repeal of the Stamp Act and held up the Glorious Revolution of 1688 as a warning to George III.23 Thus, unlike his col-

Fig. 14. Reverend Joseph Emerson, 1775, Pepperell.

Standing next to the Prescott box tombs, Emerson's

table stone provides a good illustration of how table stones

were considered symbolic representations of tombs.

54 Early Congregational Ministers

leagues in Westford and Littleton, Emerson became an ardent supporter of the American Revolution.

Joseph Emerson died in 1775, the year that Pepperell became a town and the first year of the Colonial resistance against England. As a patriot, it is fitting that Emerson is buried next to the American commander of the battle at Bunker Hill. The epitaph on the surface of his table stone, which was erected by the town, is highly complimentary:

Erected

by the Town of Pepperell

to the memory

of the Revd Joseph Emerson

1st Pastor of the Church here

who deceased Oct. 29th 1775

in the 52nd year of his age

and 29th of his Ministry

Steadfast in Faith

once delivered to the Saints

Fixed and laborious

in the cause of Christ & precious souls

Exemplary

in visiting and sympathizing

with his Flock

Diligent in improving his talents

A kind Husband, a tender Parent

A faithful Reprover a constant Friend

and a true Patriot

Having ceased from his Labours

his works follow him

Bordering Pepperell to the west is the town of Townsend, which was incorporated in 1732. Three years after incorporation the first interment took place in the town's Old Burying Ground. Among the burials to fol- low were those of the first two ministers. The marker for Townsend's first pastor, Phinehas Hemenway, is a portrait stone. Hemenway was ordained in 1734, and remained as the town's pastor until his death twenty-seven years later, at which time the town paid for his funeral expenses and for the erection of his gravestone.24 The portrait at the top of the stone (Fig. 15) features clerical tabs and, in contrast to the portraits

Tom and Brenda Malloy

55

of other ministers in this survey, is framed by cherub wings. The stone's inscription reads:

Erected by the Town to the

Memory of the Revd, Mr Phinehas

Hemenway the first Pastor of the

Church here, who departed this

Life May 20th 1760 AE 55 27th

of his ministry

Sound in Faith, Zealous in

the Cause of God, meek and patient

under Trials, Faithful to his Lord,

and to the Souls of his People.

At the bottom of the stone is inscribed the warning, "From deaths arrows no age or station is free."

A few feet away from the Hemenway gravestone is the marker of his successor, Samuel Dix. Dix served the town until his death in the thirty-

Fig. 15. Reverend Phinehas Hemenway, 1760, Townsend.

Hemenway's portrait stone was carved by William Park,

the same carver who executed the Billerica portrait stones.

56

Early Congregational Ministers

sixth year of his ministry. At the services for Reverend Dix, the funeral ser- mon was given by the pastor of the church in New Ipswich, New Hampshire, in which he stated that Dix's preaching provided "earnest- ness and pathos of address."25 In the summer following the funeral, the town voted to establish a committee "to obtain a suitable stone to be erect- ed at the grave of Rev. Samuel Dix."26 The committee selected a portrait stone (Fig. 16), but, unlike other ministers' portrait stones, this portrait did not include clerical tabs. The epitaph on the marker states:

Erected by the Town To the memory of the Rev Mr. Samuel Dix, the 2d Pastor of the Church of Christ in Townsend, who departed this life Nov. 12th 1797: in the 62 year of his age and the 36 of his ministry

Fig. 16. Reverend Samuel Dix, 1797, Townsend. The portrait on the Dix stone is considered a common image carved by John Dwight, whose shop was located in Shirley, Massachusetts.

Tom and Brenda Malloy 57

Sound in faith, lover of souls Humble, meek and patient under trials, kind charitable and benevolent to all

At the bottom of the stone is the verse:

Ye living mortals take a solemn view, Of this my silent dark and long abode; Remember you were born like me to die; Therefore prepare to meet the righteous God.

Lying to the west of Middlesex County is Worcester County. Of the sixty towns located within Worcester County, Harvard is the most north- easterly. The town's original cemetery is located just south of the com- mon, but there are no markers for the town's first two ministers. This is because they were both dismissed. The first minister, a married man, was discharged for suspected transgressions with a wealthy resident's maid, and the second minister proved to be unsatisfactory because of a speech impediment.27

Harvard's third and fourth ministers proved to be more acceptable and, even though their periods of service were relatively short, their graves are marked by two of only three table stones in the cemetery (Fig. 17). The table stone for Daniel Johnson is the only one in our sampling that also features a portrait. The portrait is located in a crescent-shaped indentation on the upper surface of the marker. Because Thomas Park lived and worked in Harvard and was known to have carved stones sim- ilar to Johnson's, this table stone is more than likely his work.

Considering that his period of service was only from 1769 to 1777, Johnson's epitaph is lengthy and highly complimentary. Also, the inscrip- tion documents that his death was caused by dysentery while serving as a chaplain for American forces during the Revolutionary War. The epi- taph reads in full:

Sacred to the memory

of the Rev. Daniel Johnson

Late Pastor of ye Church of Christ in Harvard

Early in Life

He entered ye ministerial office,

58

Early Congregational Ministers

Fig. 17. Reverend Daniel Johnson (foreground), 1777;

Reverend Ebenezer Grosvenor (background), 1788, Harvard.

These table stones for Harvard's third and fourth pastors, respectively,

represent two of only three table stones in the cemetery.

Tom and Brenda Malloy 59

and during his continuance therein,

Shone with a brilliancy, and Lustre,

Surpassing the most of his order

For the God of Nature had endowed him

with Powers of mind

uncommonly sprightly and active.

A copious invention & ready utterance

made him, in extemporaneous Performances,

greatly to excel.

In his Sermons he was orthodox & elegant;

In his delivery Zealous, popular & engaging;

So that when he ascended the desk,

a peculiar attention

marked the countenances of his auditory,

To his Friends he shewed himself Friendly,

who had frequent Pleasing experience

of his generous hospitality

He was formed for action & Possessed

of a martial Genius

which lead him to accept ye office of a Chaplain

in the American Army

just on his entrance into which

He was seized with a malignant Dysentery,

which put a period to his valuable Life,

(disappointing the expectations

of his family, friends & Flock)

on the 23d of Sept. 1777,

In the 30th year of his age and 8th of his Ministry

All flesh is as Grass & all ye glory of man as the flower of Grass.

Daniel Johnson was not replaced by a permanent pastor for the next five years, at which time Ebenezer Grosvenor was ordained as the town's fourth pastor. He had previously been the pastor in Scituate, Massachu- setts, and, unlike most of his colleagues in central Massachusetts, he was educated at Yale rather than at Harvard College. Even though Grosve- nor's pastorate lasted for only six years until his death, the epitaph on his stone, like that of his predecessor, is lengthy and highly complimentary:

60 Early Congregational Ministers

To the memory of the

Rev. Ebenezer Grosvenor

late Pastor of the Congregational Church

in Harvard; descended from respectable parents in Promfret Connecticut; educated at Yale College

in New Haven; of such endowments as rendered him an ornament & blessing in the various relations which he sustained; he was a good steward in the house of God, and discharged the duties of his pastoral office with prudence & impartiality, care & fidelity; he was a man of polite address, and peculiarly formed for social life, a tender & loving husband, an affectionate & kind parent, an agreeable friend & pleasing companion; he was much beloved & respected in life, in death greatly lamented, and is we trust receiving the reward of his labours in the kingdom of his Lord; his bereaved & grateful people have erected this stone the monument of his virtues,

& their affection, He was the beloved pastor of the first church in Scituate 17 years, and in Harvard 6 He died May 28, 1788. Aged 49

Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord

for they rest from their labours & their works

do follow them

Two towns to the northwest of Harvard is Lunenburg, which was incorporated in 1728, four years before Harvard. At Lunenburg's South Cemetery there is a cluster of three table stones, all of which are for min-

Tom and Brenda Malloy

61

isters (Fig. 18). However, the grouping does not include a marker for the first minister because he was dismissed for "predilection for hunting wild turkeys on the Sabbath and his levity of manner."28 Consequently, the table stones are for his successors, the first of whom was David Stearns.

Stearns was born in Watertown, Massachusetts and graduated from Harvard in 1738. Five years after his graduation he was ordained in Lunenburg, where he won a reputation for being "a man of good ability, a faithful and devoted minister, a friend of the people, and labored for the public good."29 Further testament to the Reverend Stearns' twenty-eight years of service can be found within the inscription on his table stone, which reads:

This Monument

erected by the Town of Lunenburgh

Is sacred to the Memory

of the Reverend David Stearns

Fig. 18. Reverend David Stearns (background, left), 1761;

Reverend Samuel Payson, (background, right) 1763;

Reverend Zabdiel Adams (foreground), 1801, Lunenburg.

The town of Lunenburg provided its second through

fourth pastors with identical table stones.

62 Early Congregational Ministers

their much beloved and respected Pastor

who departed this Life

in the joyful Expectation of a better

on the 9th day of March A D 1761

and in the 52d year of his Age

In his private capacity

He was a kind Husband, a tender Parent

an affectionate Brother and a faithful friend

In his Ministerial Character

his Conversation was pure entertaining

and instructive:

His Doctrines plain and Scriptural:

and his Life truly exemplary:

He was adorned

with Hospitality with Singular Prudence

and a most endearing Benevolence, with

a good Knowledge of men and things, with

a fervent Zeal for the Glory of Christ and the

salvation of souls and was governed by the

United Influence of the Accomplishments

Help Lord for the Godly man ceaseth.

About a year and a half after Stearns' death, Samuel Payson, whose father was a minister in Chelsea, Massachusetts, was ordained as Lunenburg's third pastor. Unfortunately, he died five months later at the early age of twenty-four. Despite Payson's brief tenure, the town erected a matching table stone for him next to that of his predecessor. The stone's inscription not only refers to the brevity of Payson's tenure, but also doc- uments his cause of death as atrophy. Translated from Latin, the full epi- taph reads:

Here rest, within this tomb the remains of the Rev. Samuel Payson A.M. the beloved and exemplary Pastor of the Church of Lunenburg. He was a man of superior abilities and of an amiable disposition, more distinguished for virtues than for length of days. He died of an atrophy in February A.D. 1763, aged 24.30

Tom and Brenda Malloy 63

The year following Samuel Payson's death he was succeeded by Zabdiel Adams of Braintree, Massachusetts. Zabdiel Adams was a double cousin to President John Adams, that is, their fathers were brothers and their mothers were sisters. On at least two occasions Reverend Adams was known to have had visits in Lunenburg from his famous cousin. Probably because of his cousin, Zabdiel Adams seems to have developed some political associations. For instance, in 1782 he gave the sermon at the inauguration of Governor John Hancock.31 Reverend Adams died in the thirty-seventh year of his ministry. His table stone is identical to the other two and stands in line with that of David Stearns'. The inscription reads:

This monument is erected by the Town as a tribute of affectionate respect to the memory of their deceased Pastor the Rev.

ZABDIEL ADAMS who died universally esteemed and re- spected March 1st 1801, in the 62 year of his age and 37th of his ministry. An active and capacious mind nurtured by a publick education, rendered him an acceptable, instructive, and useful minister. The asperities of his constitution were softened by the refining influence of Religion. With a heart, and understanding formed for social life, he seldom failed to interest and improve all, who enjoyed his communi- cations. In his ministerial performances, in ready utterance, commanding eloquence and elevated sentiments, made him en- gaging and profitable. A catholic belief of the Gospel, a respect and love of the Saviour, and a confidence in the faithfulness of God, disarmed death of its terrors and inspired a rational and certain hope of a glorious resurrection.

He was a burning and shining light and we rejoiced for a season in his light.

64

Early Congregational Ministers

In 1764, nearly 18,000 acres of the western portion of Lunenburg were separated to form the new town of Fitchburg. In Fitchburg's South Cemetery there stands only one table stone, and it marks the grave of the first pastor, the Reverend John Pay son, brother of Lunenburg's third min- ister (Fig. 19). Payson was ordained in 1768, four years after the town's incorporation. The later years of his ministry were marked by ecclesiasti- cal disputes. These disputes arose among members of the parish over the selection of a new meeting house site, as well as from dissenters such as Methodists and Baptists, who no longer wanted to provide financial sup- port for the state-endowed Congregational church. The conflict caused the minister so much stress that in 1802 he was dismissed for "mental infirmities," and two years after his dismissal he committed suicide.32 The epitaph on the surface of his table stone, like that of his brother's in Lunenburg, is inscribed in Latin. In translation, it reads:

Under this Tomb

the Remains

of Rev John Payson A.M.

K^S

Fig. 19. Reverend John Payson, 1804, Fitchburg.

Payson's table stone is flanked by his son John's headstone

on the left and by his wife Anna's on the right.

Tom and Brenda Malloy

65

Once the Pastor of the Congregation

of Fitchburg

Who on the day of the 23rd of May

In the Year 1804 A D

died

At the Age of 59

and in the 36th Year of his ministry

A man with an outstanding talent

and very kind spirit

Endowed with knowledge and by divine

order faithful to the study and training

of theology, given to friendly advice and

deeds rather than eager for

greed and corruption.33

' -"\ktG<fcd'l)V(l2

(ol\i\c\ Jonnfh, V-2 \Ulhrivlirfl jV^MovoclPaflor.NAho (]( v W^d this 1 !|r oVC<iilN

|7 jlntlv: 5i'-\c;ar ol Ins,,,,, j^y 8°l hjs MiniHrx l,<J

Fig. 20. Reverend Jonathan Winchester (left), 1767, Ashburnham.

In comparison to Winchester's finely carved clerical tabbed portrait,

which was executed by William Park, his wife Sarah's stone (right)

displays the simple image of a face.

66 Early Congregational Ministers

Bordering Fitchburg to the northwest is the town of Ashburnham. Here, at the Meeting House Hill Cemetery, the portrait stones for the town's first minister and his wife stand as prominent markers (Fig. 20). Jonathan Winchester was ordained in 1760, which was five years prior to the town's incorporation from a district known as Dorchester-Canada. At the time of his ordination he was forty-five years old and had previously been a school teacher in Brookline, Massachusetts. Winchester died after serving only seven years of his pastorate. An obituary in a contemporary newspaper, The Boston Post Boy and Advertiser, referred to him as "a sensi- ble and worthy man."34 Winchester was also described as a man of gen- erosity and compassion. For instance, it is claimed that he bought a slave girl for the express purpose of setting her free. However, even after his humanitarian act, the slave girl, Anne Hill, chose to remain with Winchester as his servant.35

Probably the greatest testament to Winchester's brief tenure is the epi- taph on his stone, which the town provided for in 1772. It reads:

This Stone

Erected by the People of Ashburnham is in Memory of Jonathan Winchester A. M. their first & much beloved Pastor, who de- parted this life greatly lamented Nov. 26 1767 In the 51st year of his age and 8 of his Ministry

The Gentleman, the Scholar &

the Christian in him were

conspicuous

As a preacher He was acceptable

As an Husband tender, as a parent affectionate

As a neighbor kind, as a friend sincere

For candor, meekness, Patience & modesty (remarkable)

Several feet away from the Winchester marker is a table stone for Ashburnham's second pastor (Fig. 21). At the age of twenty-four, John Cushing succeeded Jonathan Winchester and remained as Ashburnham's

Tom and Brenda Malloy

67

second pastor for over fifty-five years until his death in 1825. According to a town history, "the most fitting tribute to the memory of Mr. Cushing can be found in his works."36 These works included the performance of 987 baptisms and 312 marriages. Unfortunately, the granite table stone

Fig. 21. Reverend John Cushing, 1825, Ashburnham. Cushing's table stone stands on top of his family tomb.

68 Early Congregational Ministers

marking his grave does not provide a lasting tribute. It is so covered with lichen that very few of the family names are readable. Also, even though John Cushing's name is legible, there is no discernible epitaph.

As with many of early Massachusetts' pastors, the ministry for John Cushing was a family tradition. In the town of Shrewsbury, Mass- achusetts, in southeastern Worcester County, can be found a replacement gravestone for his father, Job Cushing. At the time of John's birth, his father was the pastor of this community. Job Cushing was originally from Hingham, Massachusetts, and had graduated from Harvard exactly fifty years before his son's graduation.37 The epitaph on his stone reads:

Here lies interred the remains of the Rev. Job Cushing A. M. and first pastor of the first Church of Christ in Shrewsbury who after 37 years laboring in the work of the Ministry suddenly expired Augt. 6 1760 in the 67 year of his age Vigilans, prudens, patiens

Incorporated two years after the American Revolution, the town of Gardner was formed from a portion of Ashburnham and parts of other surrounding towns. In the town's Old Burying Ground can be found the vandalized table stone of the first minister. It is broken in half and is now just a remnant of the cemetery's only table stone. It was erected for Jonathan Osgood, who arrived in the town in 1791 and remained as the pastor until his death in 1822. The stone's epitaph is simple:

Rev Jonathan Osgood

The first minister of Gardner

Born at Andover Mass Sept 21 1761

Died May 26 1822

In the 31 year of his ministry

Bordering Gardner to the west is Templeton, which was another one of the towns from which Gardner annexed a portion for its incorporation. Ebenezer Sparhawk was ordained here in 1760, the same year that Jonathan Winchester was ordained in Ashburnham and more than thirty

Tom and Brenda Malloy

69

years before Jonathan Osgood arrived in Gardner. The table stone that marks his grave stands in the middle of a family plot, and is the only marker of its type in the town's Pine Grove Cemetery (Fig. 22). Sparhawk was ordained when Templeton was still a township known as Narragansett No. 6, and he succeeded a pastor who served only four years. Consequently, he was the second pastor of the township but the first pastor of the town, a position he held for forty-five years. The lengthy epitaph on his table stone reads:

This monument is raised to the memory

of the

Rev. learned & pious Ebenezer

Sparhawk A. M. Pastor of the Congregational

church in Templeton who expired Nov. 25 A D 1805

Fig. 22. Reverend Ebenezer Sparhawk, 1805, Templeton.

Sparhawk's table stone stands in the midst of markers for his

immediate and extended family. To the left of his marker is the

gravestone of the minister's first wife, Abigail, and to the right

is that of his second wife, Naomi.

70 ° Early Congregational Ministers

In the 68 year of his age & 45 of his ministry Early in life he devoted him- self to the service of his God & Saviour Endu'd with good powers of mind, improved by liberal Education & sanctified by Grace, he proved a burning & shining Light. In the Pulpit he was clear & pungent rightly divining the word. In the circle of his acquaintance, he was ever a welcome guest: his conversation being ever pleasant & improving. From a child he knew the Holy Scriptures & was mighty in them. In Faith he was sound & Evangelical. In rectitude pure & exemplary A strict adherence to the order & discipline of the Churches, was a distinguishing trait in his Character. As a Husband he was affectionate; as a Father tender. He ruled his own house well & his children arise up and call him blessed with assiduity & fidelity, he persevered in his Work until called to receive his Reward.

Bordering Templeton to the northwest is Royalston, and here in the town's Old Centre Cemetery a single table stone, the only marker of its type in the cemetery, sits in the family plot of the Reverend Joseph Lee (Fig. 23). Lee was born in Concord, graduated from Harvard in 1765, and was

Tom and Brenda Malloy

71

ordained in Royalston on October 19, 1768, three years after the town's incorporation. He served as the first pastor for half a century, his half cen- tury sermon being his last. At Lee's funeral on February 22, 1819, the pas- tor from the neighboring town of Athol delivered the sermon, in which he quoted the words from the last chapter of Genesis: "So Joseph Died."38 The epitaph on Joseph Lee's table stone is covered with lichen to the point that the inscription is almost illegible. However, through the efforts of a member of the Village Improvement and Historical Society of Royalston, the inscription has been largely deciphered:

In Memory of

Rev. Joseph Lee

Pastor of the Church in Royalston

was born in Concord

May 12th 1742 O.S. (illegible)

Graduated Harvard College

ordained Oct 19th 1768

Deceased Feb 16th 1819

Q* ^3^'^%^ *v*

Fig. 23. Reverend Joseph Lee, 1819, Royalston.

Lee's table stone is flanked on the right by the headstones

of his three wives, Sarah, Lucy, and Hannah.

72

Early Congregational Ministers

in the 77th year of age and 51st

of his ministry

As a man he was

studious, prudent, and sincere

As a Christian

fervent humble and devout

and as a minister

faithful to the soul of men

to his Lord and Master

He lived in uninterrupted harmony

with his people

and was abundantly blessed

in his labours.

The inscription concludes with an elaborately-rhymed epitaph:

i t

P--'""	*&$■	..;. '
1 : -' ?•-•		.
	••-
K<	•~	S-*-..'

Fig. 24. Reverend Aaron Whitney, 1779, Petersham.

Whitney's sandstone table stone has five fluted supports, and is

flanked by the headstone of his first wife, Alice. The gravestone for

his second wife, Ruth, is located in Keene, New Hampshire.

Tom and Brenda Malloy 73

While servile flattery spreads the Hero's fame

and pours her lavish praise on the wise

Jesus, tis on love of thy name

the Christian's faith and hope of heaven relies

Thy precious blood be all thy servant's plea the merits Lord above shall all speak for thee.39

Aaron Whitney was one of the pastors who participated in Joseph Lee's ordination ceremony. He was the first pastor in Petersham, which is situated two towns to the south of Royalston. Like Lee, Sparhawk, Cushing, and many of the previously mentioned pastors, his represents the only table stone in the town's cemetery (Fig. 24). However, unlike the table stones erected for the previous ministers, the Whitney marker is constructed of sandstone, a material more common for gravemarkers in western Massachusetts.

Reverend Whitney was born in Littleton, Massachusetts in 1714, the year of that town's incorporation and three years before Benjamin Shattuck became Littleton's first pastor. Whitney was ordained in 1738 when Petersham was still a township and sixteen years before it received full status as a town. In the thirty-seventh year of his ministry, Whitney fell into disfavor with the town because of his Loyalist politics, and in May of 1775 he was forbidden to preach from the pulpit. However, he continued to preach in his own home to members of the congregation who sympathized with his politics. Then, upon his death in 1779, his lands were confiscated and sold by the town.40

Even though Aaron Whitney was dismissed by a vote of the town in 1775, the years of his ministry that are stated on his table stone show that his tenure was considered until his death. Also, in view of the circum- stances of his dismissal, the rhyming epitaph which follows the factual inscription reflects a great respect for the town's first minister:

In Memory of

The Revd. Aaron Whitney A.M.

the First Pastor of ye Church of Christ

In Petersham

Who on ye 8th of September 1 779

In the 66th Year of his Age & 41 of his Ministry

Closed this varied Scene of Mortality

In sincere Hope of eternal Rest.

74 Early Congregational Ministers

A faithful Father, Friend & Parent too

Just to mankind & to his country true

Fixed in his faith free from Bigotry

Lover of Peace & Foe to Tyranny

In manners pure & to his Friends sincere

Candid to all; only to vice severe

Watchful to shun prompt to forgive fault

Was what he seemed & seemed what he ought

Such was the man who now from Earth removed

Enjoys the Peace & Liberty he loved.

Translated from Latin, the last portion of the epitaph reads:

If we would imitate the holy life of Christ

Then we must do what we proclaim

Monumentum

On Petersham's southern border is situated the town of Hardwick, which was incorporated in 1738, the same year that Aaron Whitney was ordained in Petersham. Two years prior to Hardwick's incorporation, David White was ordained as the town's first minister. In 1786 the town paid 7.18 pounds for the erection of his and his wife's double stone, 4.1 pounds of which went to the stonecutter "Mr. Sikes."41 The gravestone still stands as the most prominent marker in Hardwick's "old burying place" (Fig. 25). Measuring nearly six feet in height, its borders are deco- rated by stylized vines with leaves and flowers, while the top of the stone features a double tympanum with symbolic portraits on each side.

The wigged portrait in the left tympanum, which is surmounted by the phrase "MEMENTO MORI," is representative of the Reverend White, who graduated from Yale College six years before his ordination in Hardwick. The town's history states that "His talents were respectable, but by no means brilliant," and that "His success in giving satisfaction to his people depended not so much on the energy of his mind, as on the meekness, simplicity, and purity of his heart."42 Even though the congre- gation did not seem favorably impressed by White's intellectual ability, he was retained as their pastor until his death, forty-eight years after his ordination. Further indication of their respect is the fact that the congre- gation agreed to provide gloves to the ministers who acted as his pall- bearers.43 At that time, tokens of this type were a common practice for

Tom and Brenda Malloy

75

funerals of prominent individuals.

The bonneted portrait on the right portion of the stone, which is sur- mounted by the phrase "Tempus Fugit," represents White's wife, Susanna. Susanna's death preceded her husband's by six months, and she is remembered "by all who survived her, as brilliant and good."44 She is further recalled as being "remarkable not only for her lady-like and Christian deportment, but for her intellectual power, in which she was far superior to her husband."45

Just below each of the portraits are individual inscriptions that com- memorate the couple's separate virtues:

Sacred to the Memory of the Rev'd David White who died Janry. 6th 1784 in the 74 year of his age He was the first Minister

Sacred to the Memory of Mrs. Susanna White Consort of the Rev'd David White; who died July ye 17th 1783 in the

> / 0,-i.r z\>U'.r\\ .V7;rJVfbe frl'jK

. / -r :•{ \'.r / ' ■ ','; .m\rn\\y

,' r. , i. • ' i-

:, ■', ifi '.

Fig. 25. Reverend David White (left), 1784, Hardwick.

Although Elijah Sikes carved many figures similar to those in the

double tympanum of this stone, it is obvious that the images are

intended to be symbolic of portraits of White and his wife, Susanna.

76

Early Congregational Ministers

settled in the Town and faithfully and conscienti- ously performed the sacred functions of his office for almost 50 years to the great edification and enlargement of his church and the uni- versal Peace & Tranquility of the Town

69th year of her age She lived a life of unex- ampled Piety and Virtue and of the greatest Patience and Resignation under her long continued bo- dily indisposition & died in the firm hope of a Glorious immortality

Beneath these descriptive lines are separate rhyming verses:

Adieu to sickness and death With Heartfelt Joy I yield my breath

Adieu to vanities and cares; And quit a life of pain and woe

Submissive I resign my breath Rejoicing pass the scene of death

And rise to Bliss beyond the stars To live where Joys forever flow

Almighty Father hear my prayers And send salvation to this land May this my People be thy Care And ever dwell at thy right hand

And, at the very bottom of the stone:

New Transports now inspire my

frame

With Joys Celestial and sublime

O may you catch the Heavenly flame

And soar beyond the reach of time

Hail kindred spirits of the eternal skie

We come to visit your devine abode

To spend a long Eternity on high

And love, adore, and bless, our Saviour God.

Two towns to the northeast of Hardwick is Hubbardston, which was incorporated in 1767. Here, just to the right of the main gate of the Parish Cemetery, can be found the gravestones of Nehemiah Parker, the town's first pastor, and his wife (Fig. 26). At the top of the considerably larger minister's stone is a clerical tabbed portrait which is framed by an arch. As added decoration, the tympanum also contains a sprig of willow.

Three years after Hubbardston's incorporation, the Reverend Parker was ordained under an oak tree on the town's common. The ordination came seven years after his graduation from Harvard, where, by his own account, he "was somewhat given to college pranks."46 A reference to Parker's abilities states that "He seems to have been a man of decided the-

Tom and Brenda Malloy

77

ological convictions, though not of superior intellectual gifts."47 After a twenty-year struggle for a decent salary the first minister, at his own request, was dismissed by a town meeting. He died the following year, and now "his remains sleep in the old burial ground, among the voiceless congregation to which he ministered."48 Upon Parker's death the town paid 18 dollars and 58 cents for his funeral expenses, and erected the stone upon his grave.49 The primary inscription on the marker reads:

Sacred to the memory of the Revd NEHEMIAH PARKER first Pastore of the Church of Christ in Hubbardston, Ordained to the Sacred office June 13th 1770 and deceased Aug 20th 1801 in the 60th Year of his age much lamented In him were united the kind

'**%

	: j
: ?li	.. ?VVV,Y. :
	.-• f tu-.
	>V nYvvA I
	-u i.^.t^:'1: :
>V^'"

?m

Fig. 26. Reverend Nehemiah Parker, 1801, Hubbardston.

While Parker was provided with a portrait stone for his gravesite,

his wife Mary received a smaller willow and urn marker.

78

Early Congregational Ministers

l-

Vv. jo^H! Biirk\ii\sTiT

m \re than soYepix Palkv of "m1 (iflpl in ft

iiMIIIH

■

~;'

'V-h . (»!*n\ s'

w	n	lon^.	(Thu
	f <".-	uk fi; (?)i
1	in,-!	IK In	" )
Y ^

Fig. 27. Reverend Joseph Buckminster, 1792, Rutland. The epitaph on Buckminster's stone reveals that he died of a "cancerous complaint."

Tom and Brenda Malloy 79

Husband the tender and

indulgent Father - the eloquent orator

and benevolent Christian

Hubbardston was created out of a northeasterly section of Rutland, a town that borders it to the south. In Rutland's Old Burial Ground can be found a commemorative marker with the inscription "IN MEMORIAM KILLED BY INDIANS IN RUTLAND." Listed on the marker are the names of six men who were killed in two separate raids in 1723 and 1724. The first name listed is that of Reverend Joseph Willard. Willard came to Rutland from Sunderland, Massachusetts in 1721, a year prior to the town's incorporation. He arrived with the intent of becoming the first par- son. However, just a month prior to his ordination, while working in his fields, Willard was killed and scalped by an Indian raiding party.50

Because Joseph Willard died before his installation, his name does not appear on a second commemorative marker for Rutland's early ministers. The inscription on this marker states: "IN MEMORIAM TO THE PAS- TORS OF THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF RUTLAND INTERRED ON THESE GROUNDS." The inscription continues: "THE FIRST FIVE PASTORS OF THE CHURCH, SERVED 118 YEARS CON- SECUTIVELY." The first name on the marker is that of Thomas Frink, who served as the first pastor for thirteen years until asking to be dismissed in 1740. The second name listed is that of Joseph Buckminster, whose por- trait stone is located directly behind the ministers' commemorative mark- er. Like the Parker portrait stone in Hubbardston, Buckminster 's features clerical tabs and is framed by an arch (Fig. 27).

Joseph Buckminster was born in Framingham, Massachusetts and came to Rutland in 1742, three years after his graduation from Harvard. According to the epitaph on his stone, Buckminster remained as Rutland's second pastor for half a century. In full, the epitaph reads:

In memory of the

Rev Joseph Buckminster

for more than 50 Years Pastor of

the Church in Rutland who departed

this life Nov 3 1792 in the 73d Year of his age. He was distinguish- ed for intellectual ability and ministerial fidelity and zeal

80

Early Congregational Ministers

and endured for a long time the distresses of a cancerous complaint which termina- ted his days

Bordering Rutland to the east is the town of Holden, which was incor- porated in 1740 from a northern portion of the present city of Worcester. In Holden' s oldest cemetery stands the portrait stone of Joseph Davis, the town's first pastor (Fig. 28). Like the Buckminster stone in Rutland and the Parker stone in Hubbardston, the Davis portrait displays clerical tabs and is framed by an arch. Also, as on the Parker stone, Reverend Davis' portrait is surmounted by the design of a willow sprig.

Joseph Davis was born in Concord and graduated from Harvard the same year that Holden was incorporated. Two years later, in 1742, he was ordained as the town's first pastor, which was the same year that Joseph Buckminster was ordained in neighboring Rutland. However, unlike Buckminster 's pastorate of fifty years, after thirty-one years of service

i

Fig. 28. Reverend Joseph Davis, 1799, Holden. The portrait on the

Davis stone, as well as those on the Buckminster and Parker stones,

are the work of Paul Colburn of Sterling, Massachusetts.

Tom and Brenda Malloy 81

Davis requested dismissal. Although relieved of his clerical duties, the first pastor remained in the town until his death in 1799.51 The epitaph on his gravestone reads:

This monument is erected in memory of the Revd Joseph Davis who was born at Concord July the 16 1720. Graduated at Harvard College in 1 740. Ordained first Pastor of the Church in Holden Dec 22d 1742 Where he laboured many Years in the work of the gospel Ministry. He was a man of Science and a Zealous; pungent Preacher. The affe- ctionate husband. The tender parent The kind Neighbor, and the cordial friend. Died March 4th 1799

Conclusions

It is obvious that portrait and table stones were the gravemarkers of choice for the Puritan ministry. In this sampling, which includes thirty- three ministers' markers in twenty-one towns of north central Massachusetts, twenty-five - or about three-fourths - were either portrait or table stones. Also, in most cases a minister's table stone was the only marker of its type in a town's cemetery, and most of the portrait stones were distinguished by the inclusion of clerical tabs on the image.

Besides being the most distinctive marker in a cemetery, the ministers' stones provide for a greater amount of documentation than that found on the average monument. For instance, many of the inscriptions note that the marker was erected by the town, demonstrating the church-state rela- tionship in early Massachusetts. All of the epitaphs use the title of Rev- erend, and in a few instances the additional title of Mister. Beyond simply supplying the dates of life, most of the markers provide the year of ordi- nation, sequence of the pastorate, tenure of the pastorate, and the year of graduation from divinity school, which was usually Harvard and in some instances Yale. In addition, several of the markers note the place of birth or previous positions. Further, in some instances the cause of death is stat- ed, such as "atrophy," "dysentery," and a "cancerous complaint."

82 Early Congregational Ministers

Because of the ministers' eminent position in a town, many of the epi- taphs included lengthy descriptions of their qualities as husbands, fathers, and pastors. Relative to the roles of husband and father, terms such as "affectionate," "tender," and "loving" were frequently used. In relation to their pastoral abilities, it is clear that great value was placed on the ministers' competence to deliver a sermon, and some epitaphs describe this talent as "eloquent," "elegant," "pungent," and "accept- able." Consequently, all of this data, along with the distinctive styles of these stones, demonstrates that markers of the early Congregational min- istry remain as valuable and revealing material documents of a crucial era in New England history.

NOTES

All of the photographs for this article were taken by the authors. The authors would like to extend their appreciation to Laurel Gabel, Association for Gravestone Studies Research Clearinghouse Coordinator, for her input on carver identification.

1. William Wheeler and Susan Decker, Discovering the American Past (Boston, MA, 1994),

52.

2. Lilley B. Caswell, History of the Town of Royalston, Massachusetts (Royalston, MA, 1917),

52.

3. Henry Hazen, History of Billerica, Massachusetts (Boston, MA, 1883), 182.

4. Charles Stearns, "Billerica Mass. Cemetery," unpublished paper, 4.

5. Translation provided by Katherine Sullivan, Foreign Language Director, Oakmont Regional High School, Ashburnham, Massachusetts.

6. Hazen, History of Billerica, Massachusetts, 182.

7. Stearns, "Billerica Mass. Cemetery," 4.

8. Hazen, History of Billerica, Massachusetts, 261 .

9. George Adams Parkhurst, "The Story of the First Parish Church Chelmsford 1655- 1980," unpublished paper, Adams Library, Chelmsford, MA, 3.

10 Ibid., 5-7.

11. Ibid., 7.

Tom and Brenda Malloy 83

12. Ibid., 8.

13. Ibid., 9.

14. Edwin R. Hodgman, History of the Town of Westford (Lowell, MA, 1883), 256-57.

15. Ibid., 265-66.

16. Herbert Harwood, "An Historical Sketch of the Town of Littleton," 10.

17. Ibid., 12.

18. Edward Frost, in the "Proceedings of the Littleton Historical Society, 1894-95," points out that errors in birth date and parentage were made in Shattuck's inscription, which was written seventy-five years after the minister's death. However, the present inscrip- tion has these errors corrected, thus lending credence to the assumption that the pre- sent monument was erected after 1895.

19. Harwood, "An Historical Sketch of the Town of Littleton," 11-12.

20. John Sykes, "A History of Littleton, Massachusetts for Use in the Junior High School." M.Ed, thesis, Boston University, 1950, 42.

21. Elias Mason, A History of Dunstable, Massachusetts (Boston, MA, 1877), 151-3.

22. Samuel Abbot Green, Epitaphs from the Old Burying Ground in Groton, Massachusetts (Boston, MA, 1878).

23. A Pepperell Reader, 27-29.

24. Ithamar Sawtelle, History of the Town of Townsend 1676-1878 (Fitchburg, MA, 1878), 90.

25. Ibid., 98.

26. Ibid.

27. Henry S. Nourse, History of Harvard (Clinton, MA, 1894), 194; Abijah Perkins Marvin, History of Worcester County Massachusetts , Vol. I (Boston, MA, 1879), 560.

28. Nelde K. Drumm and Margaret P. Harley, Lunenburg: The Heritage of Turke]/ Hills 1718- 1978 (Lunenburg, MA, 1978), 38.

29. Ibid., 55.

30. George Cunningham, Cunningham's History of the Town of Lunenburg (Lunenburg, MA,1866), 634.

31. Drumm and Harley, Lunenburg, 57.

84 Early Congregational Ministers

32. Doris Kirkpatrick, The City and the River (Fitchburg, MA, 1971), 129.

33. See note no. 5.

34. Ezra S. Stearns, History of Ashburnham, Massachusetts (Ashburnham, MA, 1887), 254.

35. Tom Malloy, Profiles of the Past (Athol, MA, 1984), 27.

36. Stearns, History of Ashburnham, Massachusetts, 263.

37. Ibid.

38. Caswell, History of the Town of Royalston, Massachusetts, 55.

39. The authors express their appreciation to Patricia Poor for her efforts in deciphering the Reverend Joseph Lee's epitaph.

40. Mabel Cook Coolidge, The History of Petersham, Massachusetts (Petersham, MA), 87.

41. Lucius Page, History of Hardivick, Massachusetts (New York, NY, 1883; rpt. Bowie, MD), 193.

42. Ibid., 192.

43. Ibid., 193.

44. Ibid., 537.

45. Ibid., 193.

46. J.M. Stowe, History of the Town of Hubbardston (Hubbardston, MA, 1881), 90.

47. Ibid., 88.

48. Ibid., 90.

49. Ibid.

50. Ellery Bicknell Crane, History of Worcester County, Massachusetts , Vol. I (New York, NY, 1924), 67.

51. David Foster Estes, The History ofHolden, Massachusetts (Worcester, MA, 1894), 255.

Tom and Brenda Malloy

85

APPENDIX Ministers' Markers: North Central Massachusetts

Town	Inc.		Minister	Tenure	Marker
Ashburnham	1765	1st	Jonathan Winchester	1760-1767	Portrait
		2nd	John Cushing	1768-1825	Table Stone
Billerica	1655	1st	Samuel Whiting	1658-1714	Winged Skull
		2nd	Samuel Ruggles	1714-1749	Portrait
		3rd	John Chanler	1749-1760	Portrait
		4th	Henry Cumings	1763-1823	Table Stone
Chelmsford	1655	1st	John Fiske	1656-1776	Obelisk
		2nd	Thomas Clark	1676-1704	Winged Skull
		3rd	Sampson Stoddard	1706-1740	Box Tomb
		4th	Ebenezer Bridge	1740-1792	Portrait
Fitchburg	1764	1st	John Payson	1768-1802	Table Stone
Gardner	1785	1st	Jonathan Osgood	1791-1822	Table Stone
Groton	1655	5th	Caleb Trowbridge	1717-1760	Table Stone
Hardwick	1738	1st	David White	1738-1784	Dual Portrait
Harvard	1732	3rd	Daniel Johnson	1769-1777	Table Stone
		4th	Ebenezer Grosvenor	1782-1788	Table Stone
Holden	1740	1st	Joseph Davis	1742-1773	Portrait
Hubbardston	1767	1st	Nehemiah Parker	1770-1801	Portrait
Littleton	1714	1st	Benjamin Shattuck	1717-1730	Obelisk
		2nd	Daniel Rogers	1731-1783	Table Stone
Lunenburg	1728	2nd	David Stearns	1743-1761	Table Stone
		3rd	Samuel Payson	1762-1763	Table Stone
		4th	Zabdiel Adams	1764-1801	Table Stone
Pepperell	1774	1st	Joseph Emerson	1747-1775	Table Stone
Petersham	1754	1st	Aaron Whitney	1738-1775	Table Stone
Royalston	1765	1st	Joseph Lee	1768-1819	Table Stone
Rutland	1722	2nd	Joseph Buckminster	1742-1792	Portrait
Shrewsbury	1727	1st	Job Cushing	1723-1760	Urn
Templeton	1762	1st	Ebenezer Sparhawk	1760-1805	Table Stone
Townsend	1732	1st	Phinehas Hemenway	1734-1760	Portrait
		2nd	Samuel Dix	1761-1797	Portrait
Tyngsborough	1809	1st	Nathaniel Lawrence	1790-1839	Willow & Urn
Westford	1729	1st	Willard Hall	1727-1779	Table Stone

86

A Modern Gravestone Maker

Fig. 1. Merry E. Veal in February, 1995.

87

A MODERN GRAVESTONE MAKER: SOME LESSONS FOR GRAVESTONE HISTORIANS

Barbara Rotundo

Introduction

This essay will introduce a black craftsman whose work is unique; yet the study of his methods and of the development of his designs can reveal much about other craftsmen in contemporary and earlier eras. How I first noticed his work and what I did in trying to identify him are all part of the story, so let me begin at the beginning.

After retirement, I taught for one semester in 1990 at Tougaloo, a small, private, black liberal arts college near Jackson, Mississippi. The many novel experiences made for an exciting and rewarding time. I treasure the memories of "good morning" from everyone I met, fresh shrimp at $2.99 a pound, and camellias in blossom in January when I had left snow and glacial temperatures up north. But the experience relevant to this essay was driving on back country roads to find dozens of small cemeteries. I started in Rankin County because the Rankin County Historical Society had produced a publication that listed every burial place in the county. It gave the number of gravemarkers, the number of people buried, and its exact location on the Mississippi State Highway Department maps. It also identified which were black cemeteries, a great help to a field worker who had lived in the northeast all her life.

It so happened that the fifth stone1 I saw in the first cemetery I visited was one that I would see duplicated in several other cemeteries I visited that first day. It was professionally finished, yet obviously homemade. I was intrigued. I continued to see them throughout the county. Toward the end of my stay, I finished all the Rankin cemeteries that had ten or more stones and began exploring Hinds County. I found that markers by "my man," as I was soon thinking of him, were a sure signal that I was in a black cemetery. I thought the maker must be a man because it was unlike- ly that a woman could handle the finished gravestones and equally unlikely that an amateur would have specialized machinery for help in handling heavy material. As it is, I later found out that "my man" calls on a second man to help him free the stones from their forms and to place them in a cemetery.

88 A Modern Gravestone Maker

By the time the semester was over, I had photographed about a dozen of the special stones and included several slides showing them in a talk I gave at Tougaloo College just before I left. A colleague said her Uncle Bob was one of the men memorialized on the stones by "my man." Only months later did I think to ask her to find out the carver's name. By that time her grandmother, the only family member who kept in touch with the widow, had died. My search for the time being had literally come to a dead end.

On a brief visit to Tougaloo a year later, I explored more of Hinds County and up into Madison County, where some churchyards had as many as ten examples of these special stones. Never was I in one when another visitor was present, nor did any adjoining church list a minister's name that I could find in the thick Jackson telephone directory. (Smith and Young were little better than anonymous.) In 1993 I made yet another visit to the area and found a cemetery across the road from St. Paul's Church in Tinnin, Mississippi that had twenty-eight of those special markers, and also a minister with a distinctive name. Copying four names from recent stones, I called the Reverend Paul Luckett to see if he could find related parishioners or if he knew the maker himself. He didn't know but said it should be easy to find out. However, he did not answer when I called back at the agreed time, and I left the next morning. He never responded to the letters I sent him in the following months with a self-addressed stamped postcard.

Then in January 1994, 1 wrote that I would be in Jackson on a specific weekend in February. I would call and if he had not yet found out the name, I would stand on the church steps on Sunday to see if someone couldn't help me. Apparently the thought of a crazy lady outside his church roused him at long last. When I reached him in February, he had the name and a phone number. "My man" was Merry E. Veal, and he lived in Jackson. I immediately called Mr. Veal, and he invited me to come around the next morning when he would be working "out there." The fol- lowing day I found "out there" was his backyard.

Merry E. Veal 1919-

Merry Veal (Fig. 1 ) was born and brought up in a rural community just north of Jackson, Mississippi, where his family belonged to Pine Grove Church, which is the church he still belongs to. Although he did not attend high school, Veal is certainly literate, but shares certain character-

Barbara Rotundo

89

istic non-standard grammar forms common to blacks raised in a segre- gated community, north or south. Without any special training or educa- tion, he has provided a comfortable living for himself and his family. He served in the United States army during World War II and is now retired from his job in the mail room of the Veteran's Administration in Jackson. He lives in a house on a corner lot on a tree-lined residential street on the northern edge of the city. Reading his character from events he has described and thoughts he has expressed, I see him as a good neighbor and a thoughtful friend - thrifty, reliable, wise, and amused by the foibles and weaknesses he observes in his fellow men and women. He is what his brothers and sisters at Pine Grove would call a good Christian, generous and forgiving when it is appropriate, doing unto others as he would like them to do unto him.

An Accidental Side-Line

Veal began his gravestone "career" as a result of the traits described above. A neighbor asked him to put a name on a rock that she felt would make a nice gravestone for the unmarked grave of her sister. Veal told her

Fig. 2. The backyard workshop with the shed and many examples of the tablet in a base, Veal's most frequently used model.

90

A Modern Gravestone Maker

the name would not fit, but he thought he could make a gravemarker for her. That was in 1966. Other people heard about his work and asked him for similar help. He soon found himself moonlighting on a regular basis, and began to keep records. He has now made more than 300 of these cemetery gravestones. Of the 122 stones I have photographed, 103 are tablets with a rounded top set in a base (Fig. 2), eight are what I call mush- rooms, with a curved top but set on a narrow column (Fig. 3), six are con- structed in the shape of a cross (Fig. 4), and five are flat stones (Fig. 5). Since the total represents a good third of his production, it seems a fair sample that would give an accurate picture.

Is this just another example of those cement markers found on the graves of poor people all over the United States, or do these markers rep- resent special talent and a controlled design that would place them in the category of folk art?

I needed to acquire a background in folk art, a field new to me, in order to place Veal's work for scholars and critics. However, as I began to

■

Fig. 3. Mushroom-shaped marker with leaf design.

Barbara Rotundo

91

read, I discovered that I had opened Pandora's box. I should have sus- pected there might be problems. I knew that colonial carved gravestones are highly valued as antiques, but museum curators do not accept them as "Fine Art," and they are not included in the Inventory of American Sculpture. Originally, gravestones were not included in SOS! (Save Outdoor Sculpture!), but the early reports and pictures sent by field work- ers refusing to follow instructions and perhaps the indignant letters from gravestone enthusiasts softened the SOS! prohibition to allow a limited number of restricted styles to be included.2

The bibliography that I started to develop was overwhelming, and the contents confusing. One writer's folk art was another's material culture. One author's art is beneath the notice of another. They toss around words like "innocence," "mainstream," "ethnic," and "naive." I particularly like "naive." When a painter who is considered naive produces dozens of sim- ilar paintings that are snapped up at high prices, is it the painter or the buyers who are naive?

After reading four books and a dozen articles,3 I have decided to be naive myself. I will simply describe Merry Veal at work and show pictures

****!

—a——

SIS. KATTIE BRACEY

WflO 1884- OCT. 15 193$

A\/

Fig. 4. Cross-shaped marker with heart design.

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A Modern Gravestone Maker

Fig. 5. Veal working on a flat marker. Tablet in background has rough space for later date to be added.

Barbara Rotundo 93

of the stones he produced over time. Readers can have the freedom to decide for themselves how they would define the gravestones pictured on these pages. Mine will be the same wary innocence shown by most men and women who are enduring or enjoying the attention of critics or who are reaping the benefits of new and wider markets for their products. Like them I know there is a lot going on outside my world, but I choose to ignore it.

The Process

At the back of his yard, Merry Veal has a shed (see Fig. 2), and the land between the shed and the house is his workshop. He works only when it is not too cold or wet. In Mississippi there are many warm months, though rain can come at any time. In the shed he keeps all the supplies and equipment he needs for making the gravestones: a barrel of sand, a barrel of pebbles, tubs for mixing the cement, the forms and putty knives, and a wall of annual licenses from the city of Jackson allowing him to make "Ornamental Products." There is not one piece of machinery involved in the production of the stones. They are truly handmade. This also means the workshop is a benign neighbor. The greatest noise would be a few bangs of the hammer as he puts the forms together or some squeaks as he pulls the boards apart after the concrete has set. The straight sides of the forms are easy to make with boards. He ingeniously uses wide industrial belting to form the curved tops of the stones. Only when I saw a number set up close together in front of the shed did I notice that the thickness front to back varies. We are accustomed to look at memorial markers from the front because that is where the information is. For arma- ture he thriftily picks up the display stands from cemeteries when the funeral sprays have withered and turned brown. He snips off the legs, which make a perfect framework and are strong yet not too heavy.

Veal does the lettering and designs freehand. He does not do a draft beforehand nor does he measure, except with his eye. When the cement has started to set, he takes a large nail, about 14-penny size, and inscribes the name, dates, and anything else the customer has ordered or that he feels is suitable. For instance, he sometimes chooses an appropriate cita- tion from the Bible when he has known the person being memorialized. At this point he can wipe out the inscription and start over if he has made a real error; however, he is not a perfectionist and will leave a wavering line, slightly irregular spacing, etc. It is interesting to note that his spacing

94 A Modern Gravestone Maker

and lettering have improved over the years.

After the cement has hardened, he goes over the lines with the point of a beer can opener. Then he goes over them with a knife and smooths the flat surfaces with a putty knife (Fig. 6). He paints the stones a light gray with what he assured me is the most expensive acrylic latex house- paint. The most popular and expensive style has a base with holes for vases. The two holes are made by sinking a pair of large beer cans in the wet cement. When I asked him how he removed the flat markers from their forms, he went into the shed and came out with a plastic-covered cushion such as one finds on porch furniture - undoubtedly recycled. The man who helps him load and unload the stones that he sets in cemeteries comes to lift one side while Veal lifts the other, and they flip it onto the pil- low.

Although he still works very much like an amateur, he has adopted a few commercial customs. He now asks for a deposit before he begins work. Two of the stones in the rows before his shed he repossessed from the cemetery where he had placed them because the woman who ordered them had made no payment in two years. In recalling this incident, he commented, "I had trouble tracking her down. Guess she isn't any better at paying her rent than she is at paying me." I asked if he set a certain per- centage of the final price for his deposit. He said he let them offer an amount and if it seemed right, he did nothing further. He has also adopt- ed the commercial dealers' custom of providing markers pre-need, mean- ing before death. He leaves a rough cavity for the second date (see Figs. 5 and 6), to which fresh cement will adhere, and when it starts to set he can trace in the death date. Just a nail will do; he doesn't need the thick rub- ber stencil and the sandblasting equipment of commercial monument craftsmen.

When he first began making the stones, Veal charged $57. His latest prices, shown in Figure 7, have hardly covered his costs. Furthermore, he will install the stone for an additional $15. When I scolded him for not charging more for installation, he smiled and said, "\ like to do it cheap- er." He really makes the gravestones to oblige people. Although his cus- tomers are not always his friends, they have found him through personal contacts. When he takes the trouble to make a stone he wants to be paid for his efforts, but he did not go into the business to make a profit. When I presented a paper on his work at the annual conference of the Association for Gravestone Studies in 1994, 1 wrote to ask his permission

Barbara Rotundo

95

Fig. 6. Smoothing the surface of a base.

96

A Modern Gravestone Maker

M/iK.10 18 So

SEPT. % 19£6

MOTHER

2."Wfi -32," ACROSS

-jw 6

FLAT 5TQNe-SlNGLa 07? DOUBLG

"1

33. L0W6 a 0 " WfDS 3A, THICK

All stones are $110.00 except BP. 7 it is $120.00. tory are Hwdn of oftay

concrete only.

K. E. Veal - '4505 Naadcw lane, Jackson, KS 39206 - Telephone no. 366-4734

(Guaranteed) Mo. 4041 Licensed operated

Fig. 7. Merry Veal's price sheet.

Barbara Rotundo

97

for the office to send out a press release and a picture to the Jackson Star- Ledger. He immediately wrote back a negative reply, saying he had never wanted to make his work public and at his age surely he did not.

Design Development

A comparison of early stones with recent ones shows increasingly attractive designs and proves Veal's good taste and aesthetic sensitivity or

•

i»<

JUNES'^

Fig. 8. Scalloped edge on early stone.

98

A Modern Gravestone Maker

- in the view of art critics who can't believe untrained workers control their product - his good luck. His choices were directed toward simplifi- cation and ease of vision. At first he used a scalloped edge (Fig. 8) but now has settled on a plain curved top. He eventually came to accept, as first he did not, the convention that the first date listed is for the birth and the sec- ond for the death. Notice also that he used "Born" and "Death" where conventional usage would require two verbal forms or two nouns (Fig. 9). Instead of the earlier completely outlined cross, which seems skimpy and a bit crowded (Fig. 10), he developed a cross with the second line sweep- ing out from the sides, thereby giving an impression of spaciousness yet a satisfactory closure as the two ends accent the curve of the name (Fig. 11). He eliminated the busy effect of too many words in the center of the stone and now puts all extra words below the dates, adding visual weight to the bottom, where one's eye would naturally tend to pull it. I do not believe he thought through all these decisions with words and arguments in sentence form. He has the creative eye. I am trying to verbalize what his instincts told him to do. It was his felicity in design that caused me to remember the first example I saw and finally to focus on his work to the exclusion of everything else.

Fig. 9. Early stone with dates identified.

Barbara Rotundo

99

The inscriptions on his stones follow the normal English language pat- tern, according to linguist Scott Baird,4 since the two semantic items that always appear on a gravestone before any others are the name and date of death. However, Veal does something nearly unique in gravestone design. Look again at the pictured stones: he separates the name and the date by the image. In the thousands of stones I have observed in Europe, Australia, Canada, and the United States, the image is above the name, dates and any other semantic material, with the exception of brief apho- ristic phrases like "Gone home" and "Till we meet again" or introductory works like "Here lies" and "In memory of." On the 111 stones by Veal that I have photographs of and that have an image, the central focus might seem to be on the image, yet the name is not obscured and receives addi- tional grace as it curves with the top of the stone. Why have no other gravestone designers used this pattern? If nature abhors a straight line,

° FATHER

FEB.ZO 1863 MAR30 \W

Fig. 10. Early stone with completely outlined cross.

100

A Modern Gravestone Maker

why must gravestones use that stiff, horizontal line? Conventional mon- ument designers are missing out by being blind to the pleasing charm of the curve.5

In addition to developing what we might call the surface design, Veal, who had never before worked with cement, needed to find the best meth- ods for handling his medium. He confesses that at first he didn't use any pebbles in the mix nor provide any structural frame. His more recent stones will obviously weather better than the earliest work. He also dis- covered the benefits of a wide base for the upright tablet. This design (see item no. 7 in Fig. 7) is more expensive than the single basic price for all the others, and rightly so since he makes the two pieces in separate molds and must wait till the tablet is completely dry before setting it into its base. Once he has the base, he puts in the holes for vases (at first these were placed in front of the tablet but eventually became one on each side, where flowers put in the vases will not obscure the epitaph). He ends with

Fig. 11. Later cross design with accenting curves.

Barbara Rotundo 101

a design that has a professional layout and is conservatively attractive.

Influences

Except for the mushroom shape, Veal uses the popular American gravestone forms. For his choice of imagery, the chief influence seems to be the Christian religion. He employs the cross more frequently than other images, and he can shape the entire stone like a cross if his customer requests it. Most of the stones are found in church-connected graveyards, and an informed guess would be that word about his handsome but inex- pensive stones probably traveled over the churches' networks. Certainly his lifetime of church-going enables him to choose the appropriate bibli- cal text for the friends he knows well.

When I first saw the branch and leaf design, I though of my research in religious symbolism and said with confidence, "Ah, the tree of life." I asked him the meaning of that (pointing) design. He answered, "It does- n't mean anything. It's just a nice pattern — and it's a lot easier to do than the other one" (the cross). I asked him where he got the idea for it. " I saw it in a cemetery. Yes I did." Here again, his instinctive aesthetic taste picked up this image over all the others he might have seen in a cemetery. And he might have been unconsciously influenced, as we all are, by his background, which in his case would have included the tree of life, green pastures, and all the other nature symbolism in the Bible. Yet the green of the plant world is a universal image: for life, for immortality, for life ever- lasting, from the laurel leaves crowning the Greek victor to the tree plant- ed on the African grave6 to the Greenpeace movement.

African influence should certainly be checked in this day when blacks have become proud of their African heritage, and scholars are eager to fol- low Alex Haley and trace black culture back to its African roots. They are often too eager and use isolated examples of black gravemarkers to make sweeping statements that extensive fieldwork in black cemeteries can not support. For instance, John Michael Vlach relies on only historic evidence to claim that the pattern of African grave decoration follows the east to west and south to north movement of slaves with the result that "grave- yard offerings occur wherever black churches are found."7 His evidence is four pictures taken in the 1930s. That a custom existed sixty years ago is no proof that it exists today. He says he saw a 1973 grave in Conway, North Carolina, with a glass pitcher that had its bottom knocked out and was set on a conch shell.8 This is the single example he gives of modern

102 A Modern Gravestone Maker

African-derived grave decoration. I have been looking intensively at rural cemeteries in Louisiana and Mississippi and casually in Alabama, Florida, and Georgia, as well as asking local people whenever I get the chance. I have yet to find a single plot decorated with African-derived gravegoods. I have seen them decorated with artificial flowers, empty jars or vases, and mechanical toys, but not with containers having bottoms symbolical- ly broken nor personal items such as medicines and the last cup used.

North and south, black and white, I have found toy cars, trucks, and airplanes on children's graves. A child's death at whatever age and in whatever region evokes an extreme emotional response, and gravegoods are a common reaction. In addition to toys there are frequently seasonal decorations - Easter bunnies, Christmas trees, and jack-o-lanterns. Their birthdays are more likely to be remembered with flowers than are adults', and they are more likely to have porcelainized portraits on their stones.

Robert Farris Thompson discusses many of the same African traits, but when he is concerned with their appearance in the work of particular folk artists, he is on much firmer ground. It is easy to accept his statement about Henry Dorsey's constructions and decorations that used unrelated industrial products. Dorsey might never have heard about Kongo tradi- tions and heroes, Thompson says, "But I suggest that he was their proge- ny by virtue of the culturally open and responsive spirit of his imagina- tion."9 Thompson admits that Dorsey's creation of unusual decorations is partly idiosyncratic but claims it is also partly the work of an African- derived sensibility that decorates graves and sets up bottle trees. But the idiosyncratic part is all important in one of the only two gravestones that Dorsey ever made. When he made and placed a gravestone on the grave of his sister in 1963, "the other members of the family quietly purchased a commercially rendered granite marker."10 The point I would like to make about the work of Merry Veal in the light of the claims by these two most famous experts on African influence is that there may be evidence of that influence in visionary folk artists, in the eccentric, but the center of the black community, the mainstream, if you will, wants conventional Anglo-American memorialization. And that is precisely what Veal's gravestones provide. A picture that Thompson printed earlier in his book provides the same evidence. While he does not give a date, I suspect it is more recent than the pictures Vlach was using. It shows a grave with the typical cups and other porcelain objects, but in the background are four conventional commercial gravestones.11 His one example produced four

Barbara Rotundo 103

examples to support my claim. The single example I have seen of unusu- al grave decorations that may or may not be in the African tradition was in Holt Cemetery in New Orleans. This is a municipal cemetery for black burials, containing hundreds and hundreds of marked graves. To the left of the entrance but not all the way in the far corner are two adjoining graves on which are piled boxes, carpets, garden edging, and what looked like racks from stoves or refrigerators. They were piled haphazardly and were very conspicuous, not at all like the graves with pottery and other gravegoods scattered on them. Black families who were tending other graves expressed great disgust with these two.12 There were some com- mercial gravestones in Holt, but there were dozens of wooden and metal markers and hundreds of homemade cement markers. A few had, on the grave itself, homemade decorations, and some were outlined in materials such as cement blocks: all seemed well within the Anglo-American tradi- tion and none with a particular African stamp.

This is not to deny the existence of African-derived black material cul- ture, but to urge modernation in making claims. As a reaction to the long- time white denial of any black culture, scholars today are often too apt to make sweeping statements. Some of the customs they attribute to African heritage have other possible sources as well. The decorative use of shells, for instance, seems to be a universal custom. European and Amerindian as well as African customs include decorating graves with shells. Since Terry Jordan presents a balanced discussion of these in his Texas Graveyards: a Cultural Legacy, I will not duplicate it here.13 Some more dis- tinctive customs have alternative sources. For example, archaeologists in Florida have found that mound-building Indians in western Florida broke the bottoms of pots to be buried with the dead,14 whereas Kongo custom in Africa was to place the broken pot on top of the grave. Henry Glassie offers an explanation that I can accept whole-heartedly: "African practices and material with non- African analogs stood a better chance of survival than did that which would have appeared totally alien to old marster."15

What about the influence of the customer on Veal's work? This inter- action has long been a question for historians and art critics. How much influence did the patron have, and how much did the creative ability of the artists control? Only a foolish critic would claim total influence for one or the other. Both sides, in this case the customer and Veal, have been influenced by the world they live in, and despite any lingering African influence both live in twentieth-century United States. What they have

104 A Modern Gravestone Maker

seen, heard, and learned in the United States will influence their taste, goals, and ideas.16 Veal may not be a typical artisan because his craft developed in response to the customers' demands. However, no customer can demand what is outside the ability of the craftsman to produce. Since most of Veal's gravestones appear in church-connected cemeteries, it is not surprising that his customers wanted a cross. It is the refinement of the design that is Veal's artistic contribution. His selection and rendition of a leafy branch was inspired, even if it was copied from another grave- stone. Its implication of nature and immortality would make it acceptable to churchgoers, yet it has no special Christian tie for people with a differ- ent religious faith. The heart that shows in Figure 4 represents a rare use of that image. The heart as a decorative device has a long history in European folk art, but its modern use connects it to valentines and bumper stickers as well as love, so I doubt that it would ever become pop- ular with Veal's clientele.

The one element that I didn't mention in my discussion of the design of these gravestones is the persistent use of a title for each person, usual- ly Mr. or Mrs., sometimes Sis. or Bro. The only exception is when the name is very long. This inclusion of the title by Veal may very well be what has attracted so many potential buyers. A title is very important to blacks, especially to older men and women who have too often been called by nothing but first name by all the whites whom they are expect- ed to address by title. During the interview I tried to ask a question that would elicit this information in Veal's own words. Instead, he took the use of the title so much for granted that in response to my question, "What about the way you always use a title before the name?", he said, "Yes, but I tell them if the name is too long." In other words, he was explaining (and excusing) the few times he did not use a title. Interestingly enough, other markers in the cemeteries rarely give titles.

When I asked if he had ever made any stones for whites, Veal answered, "Yes, a couple for people I worked with, the rest for colored." I have used the term "black" throughout this essay because I am writing for a modern audience, but Veal is in his mid-seventies and grew up when the polite term was "colored." He grew up like the rest of his community, wanting but not yet daring to demand that he be granted the dignity and the right to share what was best and most desirable. His cement markers are unique and not copies of commercial gravestones, yet their design is solidly in the tradition of Anglo-American, mainstream gravestones. In

Barbara Rotundo 105

this the standards of the customers match those of the craftsman. John A. Milbauer, who has done extensive research in southern cemeteries, states what everyone with wide field experience knows:

Blacks provided their own markers largely because of indigence, not due to a preference for folkways. With increasing affluence blacks are choosing commercial tombstones over those made by themselves. The transition from folk to mass culture manifests itself in the Afro- American cemetery, where one can observe a commercial tombstone juxtaposed to a homemade marker on the same grave.17

To amend that statement slightly, we could say that Veal's markers manifest the transition from folk to mass culture, that perhaps in Mississippi the black affluence has not yet reached the stage where they can afford the commercial prices, but are beyond expecting a relative to do the best he can with wood, metal, or cement.

Other Gravestone Craftsmen

With more than 300 gravestone to his credit, Merry Veal's work has no match. Only a few colonial slate carvers (and no modern craftsmen of whom I have heard or read) can come close to that number. In Holt Cemetery and in the cemeteries of the three-county area in Mississippi that I studied, there were a few examples of a repeated pattern in cement markers; at the most there would be half a dozen I would be sure were made by the same hand. No one of them was as neatly finished or as care- fully designed as those by Veal. In these different cemeteries I saw sever- al markers made by pressing colored glass into cement to form the shape of a necklace. These were very attractive, but not very satisfactory as a memorial since only one had a name inscribed and none gave a date. They resemble two stones that Ruth Little reported in her article, "Afro- American Gravemarkers in North Carolina."18 One had pieces of mirror pressed into cement, the other had colored glass, and neither had a name inscribed. Little's is the only writing I have found that describes contem- porary folk gravestone carvers. She found two groups of stones and learned the names of the men who made them. One had already died, but she was able to interview his widow and two children. Renial Culbreth had been a blacksmith and acted sometimes as an undertaker. He con- structed four different molds and made the markers by pouring cement into these molds. The epitaphs he fashioned by pressing commercial let-

106 A Modern Gravestone Maker

ters and numbers into the wet cement. All told, he made about twenty of these markers.

The other craftsman she described was Issaiah McEachin. He also has built molds for the poured cement and forms the names and dates by pressing metal letters and numbers into the cement. For decoration he outlines each stone with marbles pressed into the top and side margins. He is proud that the marbles can't be pried out because he inserts them more than halfway into the cement. He had made about eighteen such markers when he was interviewed in the 1980s.

Descriptions of two other black craftsmen from the recent past have been published. One is Cyrus Bowen, who carved highly individual wooden sculpture for the graves of some family members. The WPA field workers who were studying black customs in coastal Georgia heard about him and went in search of him.19 They apparently never found him because they describe the Sunbury, Georgia burial ground where they found his gravemarkers but never quote from an interview with him or with anyone close to him. They did, however, take a picture of the sculp- ture, and that picture appears in Vlach, Thompson, and others who have written about black craftsmen and artists. The picture dates from 1939, yet no one ever returned to ask Bowen about these unusual carvings before he died in 1960.

Another twentiety-century craftsman is William Edmondson, who received much public notice. Edmondson, a native of Nashville, Tennessee, was born in the 1880s and died in 1951.20 A black man without education or training, Edmondson in middle-age started carving blocks of granite that he was able to acquire, often discarded granite curbs. The original shape of the block controlled his sculpture. A few of these were bought and used as gravestones. Discovered in the 1930s by artists who were rebelling against conventional academic standards for fine art, Edmondson received several exhibitions in major cities because of the critical interest aroused by enthusiastic artists. His reputation was also helped by the fact that most people came to know his work through the pictures taken by the famous professional photographer, Edward Weston. The work is crude, but the imagery is strong. Edmondson told interview- ers that he carved what God told him to do. A sincere visionary artist, he was not at all a man who could have worked to customers' orders as Merry Veal has done.

Barbara Rotundo 107

Conclusions

This essay has shown why Merry Veal's work is unique, but so far it has only glanced at resemblances between his work and that of other gravestone craftsmen, present and historical. The similarities between Veal and colonial American carvers are basic, especially those for whom gravestones were a sideline as they were for him. They all belonged to a homogeneous, strongly bonded community. Reading and learning were oriented toward the Bible, and religion was ever-present in their lives, whether or not they themselves were deeply religious. Their visual train- ing came not from museums and art books but from the popular press, and the work of other carvers.

Veal chose only the leafy branch from all the symbols he would have seen in the cemetery, and he assigned no conscious meaning to it. Students of colonial carvers should be a little cautious about assigning deep significance to the images chosen by the men they are studying. Instead of selecting on the basis of religious belief or geographic location, they may simply have liked a particular form and decided that they could reproduce it.

Veal has lived and worked in Jackson all his life, yet you can see his gravestones in other cities in Mississippi and in Chicago, Illinois. He also told me he thought one had gone to Tennessee. In each case that he described, people had come "home" to Jackson on vacation or a family visit, ordered a gravestone, and picked it up the next time they were in town. The eighteenth century had no concept of a vacation from work, yet people made trips to distant markets, and visited possible new locations for settling. A few markers found in cemeteries far from the carver's usual base do not necessarily mean that he had moved his base or even that he had visited that area.

Even trickier is any definitive statement about the customer's control over the design. Customers exercise control when they choose one crafts- man over another, but especially in a rural community there may be only one possibility. Cost can also limit choice. Those who choose Veal must also decide whether they want to spend the extra ten dollars for the tablet on a base. After that decision, do they specify the image they want and any addition to the epitaph? Veal's answer when I asked him whether his customers picked out the symbol is instructive. He smiled and said, "It depends. Some do and some don't." Let that stand as a warning. When we write about work done in the past, we can interpret but not speak with

108 A Modern Gravestone Maker

assurance about reasons and motivations as though we were giving fac- tual information. That is the lesson provided by Merry Veal.

NOTES

All photographs in this essay are by the author.

1 . Although the gravemarkers I am discussing are all cement, I have used "stones" as a generic term throughout this essay.

2. Sculpture by established artists would be included regardless of setting, another exam- ple of "Fine Arts."

3. For those who may share my lack of awareness, I recommend the book based on a sym- posium at Winterthur Museum in 1977 because it covers a wide range of viewpoints: Ian M.G. Quimby and Scott T. Swank, eds. Perspectives on American Folk Art (New York, NY, 1980). See also Henry Glassie, The Spirit of Folk Art (New York, NY, 1989).

4. Baird gave the information in a paper at the annual conference of the Gravemarkers & Cemeteries section of the American Culture Association, Toronto March 7-10, 1991, but see also his "Language Codes in Texas German Graveyards," Markers IX (1992): 251, note 32.

5. Some nineteenth-century marbles have the name on a raised or enclosed surface resem- bling a ribbon, as though the drape of the ribbon required the name to be curved.

6. Robert Farris Thompson, Flash of the Spirit: African and Afro-American Art and Philosophy (New York, NY, 1983), 138.

7. John Michael Vlach, The Afro-American Tradition in Decorative Arts (Cleveland, OH, 1978; rpt. Athens, GA, 1990), 149.

8. Ibid., 143.

9. Thompson, Flash of the Spirit, 147.

10. Ibid., 154. Yet the design for his sister was conservative, a rectangular piece of metal with her name and dates, the rectangle attached to two legs that were stuck in the ground.

11. Ibid., 133.

12. This seemed to be an honest indignation, not just seeking the approval of the white observers.

13. Terry G. Jordan, Texas Graveyards: A Cultural Legacy (Austin, TX, 1982), 21-25.

14. "Bottom of Vase Broken at Death," American Cemetery, February 1989, 5.

Barbara Rotundo 109

15. Henry Glassie, Patterns in the Material Folk Culture of the Eastern United States (Philadelphia, PA, 1968), 117.

16. Veal has had foreign experience thanks to the US army, and probably some of the men he memorialized had been in Africa, Italy, France, and Germany with him. They did not, however, have much exposure to the culture of those countries, although they probably learned more than they wanted about the geography.

17. John A. Milbauer, "Folk Monuments of Afro- Americans: A Perspective on Black Culture," Mid-America Folklore 19:2 (1991):104.

18. M. Ruth Little, "Afro-American Gravemarkers in North Carolina," Markers VI (1989): 102-134.

19. Georgia Writer's' Project, Drums & Shadows: Survival Studies Among the Georgia Coastal Negroes (rpt. Athens, GA, 1986), 116-117. The pictured sculptures have now disap- peared.

20. All the information about Edmondson comes from Edmund L. Fuller, Visions in Stone: The Sculpture of William Edmondson (Pittsburgh, PA, 1973).

110

Crosses of Charles Andera

^.C*

Fig. 1. Cast metal cross typical of Charles Andera's artistry. St. Wenceslaus Cemetery, Verdigre, Nebraska.

Ill

THE REMARKABLE CROSSES OF CHARLES ANDERA Loren N. Horton

Introduction

From the limestone bluffs of northeast Iowa to the plains of east Texas to the sandy shores of Long Island, New York, visitors to cemeteries may observe the elegant artistic legacy of Charles Andera. This Bohemian immigrant designed and produced some of the most beautiful grave- markers that can be found in the United States (Fig. 1). These cast metal crosses were created in a multitude of sizes, shapes, and designs, and are mounted on a variety of bases. Found almost exclusively in Roman Catholic churchyards, the majority of inscriptions are in the Czech lan- guage. A few are in English and in German.

The Andera crosses are much more ethnic specific than they are geo- graphically or chronologically restricted. The earliest date found on one of these crosses is 1875 and there are dates as late as 1938. These later dates are a bit puzzling because Andera died in 1929, and the business, as such, was not carried on by any of his family. One explanation may be that Andera produced the crosses in his own lifetime, and only the inscrip- tions had to be added later. Some inscriptions plates are in fact markedly different in composition and material.

From Bohemia to Iowa

Frantisek Andera, son of Vaclav Andera and Marie Anna Veselova, was born in Hrobska Zahradka, Pacov, Bohemia in 1804. The translation of the name of the village means "Garden at the Graveyard". He first married Anna Balounova and they had seven children, of whom three - Frantisek, Vaclav, and Marie - lived to be adults. He then married Katerina Cekalova and they had two sons, Josef and Karel. It is the youngest child, Karel, who grew up to become the cross maker of Spillville, Iowa under his anglicized name, Charles (Fig. 2). Charles Andera married Barbara Dostal in 1875 in Spillville, and they were the parents of ten children, of whom eight lived to be adults.1 Descendants of four of those children helped to provide valuable information in the search for the explanations of how, where, and why Charles Andera got involved in the production of cast metal gravemarker crosses.

112

Crosses of Charles Andera

Fig. 2. Portrait of Charles Andera in 1875.

Loren N. Horton

113

Charles was baptized in the parish church at Cetoraz, near Tabor, Bohemia, and immigrated with his parents first to Canada and then to Sumner Township, Winneshiek County, Iowa in 1862 or 1863. Andera's whereabouts between 1862 and 1875 are not clear. His name does not appear in the 1870 federal decennial census in any of the logical locations. He is not listed in his parents' household, as is his brother, Josef. He is not listed with either of his half-brothers or his half-sister, all of whom lived in Floyd County, Iowa. There is in fact no documentary evidence of his existence until his marriage to Barbara Dostal in 1875. Thereafter, he is regularly listed in most of the available federal and state censuses. In 1880 he is recorded as a carpenter, in 1885 again as a carpenter, in 1895 as the proprietor of a furniture store, in 1900 as a furniture dealer, in 1915 as retired, in 1920 as head of the household, and in 1925 the census mentions only that he owned his own home.2 In the state gazetteer in 1882-1883, Andera is listed as a furniture dealer, and this same designation is contin- ued in the 1884 and the 1889-1890 editions. In the 1897-1898 gazetteer he is listed as a furniture dealer and cabinet maker.3

Fig. 3. Andera furniture store and workshop, Spillville, c. 1890. The photography study sky-light is visible at the back of the top floor.

114

Crosses of Charles Andera

Other Trades and Activities

Somewhere, sometime during this twelve-year "mystery" period Charles Andera must have learned his crafts of cabinet making and gen- eral wood working because he opened his furniture workshop and store in Spillville (Fig. 3) shortly after his marriage. We have no indication of where or from whom he learned these trades, nor where he got the finan- cial assistance to open a store. Possibly Barbara Dostal's father, Jan Nepomucky Dostal, was partially responsible for both things. Family tra- dition is mute on the matter, and no records have been found to shed any light on it.

During his career as a businessman in the furniture store, Andera made a great deal of furniture and other fine cabinet and wood work. Among his products were church furniture and other furnishings, includ- ing altars, rood screens, reredos, brackets, and other types of ornamental wood work and decorations for Roman Catholic churches in his area. Attributed to Andera are the side altars in St. Wenceslaus Church in Spillville, the high altars in St. John's Church in Fort Atkinson and Holy Trinity Church in Protivin, all in Iowa, and St. Wenceslaus Church in Tremont, Missouri, where the family lived from c. 1902 to c. 1905.4 A let-

Fig. 4. Andera family group portrait, 1899.

Loren N. Horton

115

ter from his daughter, Sister Sidonia (Emma Andera), confirms this. She also noted in that same letter that he could paint with a brush in one hand and at the same time sketch with the other hand. She recalled that, as a child, she would often say tatinek spravi, meaning Dad will fix it, and he could fix anything that broke, including toys and dolls.5

Charles Andera was also a photographer. It is the local understanding in Spillville that he took a portrait of the famous Bohemian composer, Antonin Dvorak, in 1893.6 That he did take photographs is undoubted, and a studio was located at the back of the top floor of the furniture store. His daughter, Mary Andera Klimesh, remembered a room with a sky- light in the furniture store where her father would take pictures.7 His grandson, William Andera, recalls playing with the photographic equip- ment on the farm west of Spillville after the death of his grandfather.8 It is the family tradition that, after the birth of each child, Andera would take a new family group portrait and include himself in it. He devised a remote control apparatus and would trip the shutter after he resumed his seat in the family group. Mary Andera Klimesh wrote that her father stud-

*¥&p*&&g^

■i

Fig. 5. Drayman named Seim in front of the

Andera furniture store in Spillville with wagon load of crosses

crated for shipping, date unknown.

116

Crosses of Charles Andera

ied photography on his own. When taking family group pictures, he used a long rubber hose and a bulb to trip the shutter, all hidden under a rug. There are existing illustrations of Andera family group portraits (e.g., Fig. 4) as well as other photographs which Andera took of his business estab- lishment and his crosses.9

Andera was an organizer and charter member of the first Catholic Workman chapter in Iowa, a founder of the Western Bohemian Union insurance cooperative, a trustee of St. Wenceslaus Roman Catholic parish, and he sang in the church choir. As a part of his furniture store business, Andera routinely built coffins, a normal combination activity at that time. His daughter, Mary Andera Klimesh, recalled that when he made coffins he lined the bottom with shavings and then tacked down a fancy white cloth over the bottom and sides.10 Family members recalled that Andera mentioned the lack of large trees in the area when he arrived. He had to haul large logs from a distance for his work.11

The Andera Crosses

Despite these numerous activities, this busy man still managed to find time to make hundreds of cast metal gravemarker crosses. It is important

Fig. 6. Drayman named Seim (and others) in front of the railroad

depot in Conover with a wagon load of crosses

crated for shipping, date unknown.

Loren N. Horton 117

to bear in mind that the cross manufacturing was only a sideline for him. Among the local young men who helped him in the making of crosses were Leopold Pohusta, Martin Soukup, John Dostal, and John Andera (his nephew, not his son).12 There is one bit of evidence that his son, Albert, also helped in this enterprise. In an issue of a local newspaper there is an article noting that Albert Andera delivered a load of cast iron grave mon- uments to the railroad freight depot in Conover for shipment to points in various states (cf. Figs. 5 and 6).13

Construction and Distribution

Mary Andera Klimesh mentioned in a letter that her father made and sold grave monuments. He made the crosses out of wood and sent them to the foundry as a pattern. They fabricated the crosses and sent them back to him. Andera then trimmed them off, painted them, and added the crucifixes. She recalled that he had six or seven patterns. Albert Andera, a grandson, recalled seeing at least four wooden corpus figures and a cross packed in a wooden box in the shop at the house in Spillville. Cyril M. Klimesh, another grandson, remembers two wooden corpus figures hang- ing behind the shop door.14

Where the casting was done is yet another mystery. There is no record that there was ever a foundry in Spillville or Conover. However, there were foundries in nearby Decorah and in Fort Atkinson, where the fami- ly lived for a few years when they moved back from Missouri (see Fig. 7). Some suggestions have been made that foundries in Nora Springs, Iowa or Winona, Minnesota or La Crosse, Wisconsin were used. The church his- tory in Tremont, Missouri states that the molds he made there were sent to Rockport, Illinois for casting.15 Any of these are possible, but none are a certainty at this time.

The previously mentioned newspaper notice about Albert Andera brings to mind the question both of distribution and of advertisement. Spillville was located three and a half miles from the nearest railroad depot at Conover. Many of the places to which crosses were shipped were not on a railroad line either. Horses and wagons would have been the only means of transporting the crosses to the cemeteries. And the crosses were heavy. One clue about this is a "SAFE DELIVERY GUARANTEE" announcement signed by Andera:

If it should happen that any part reach you broken or in any way dam- aged, be sure to have the Railroad agent mark the notation of such damage

118

Crosses of Charles Andera

on the expense bill, which he gives you when you pay the freight. On receipt of this bill I will make a claim against the Railroad company for the damage, and furnish you new part or parts, as may be the case in place of the damaged one without charge. Unless I have these facts written across the expense bill, I can not make a claim for damages and therefore only in this way I can guarantee safe delivery.

Prices include ordinary inscriptions, but do not include verses which are charged extra at the rate of 1 1 /2 c for each letter.

Chas. Andera Spillville, Iowa.16

Andera' s connection with the Catholic Workman is important to the study of his crosses. We know that he was an organizer of Chapter 33 on 14 February 1897 in Spillville. He was probably also a member of the pre- decessor organizations, the First Central Union and the Western Czech Catholic Union. These memberships are significant in understanding the sale of the gravemarker crosses because the only advertisement yet found for the crosses is in a 1916 history of the Catholic Workman, noting that Karel Andera of Spillville, Iowa made iron crosses.17 Because of the wide distribution of the crosses, there had to be some method of letting people

Fig. 7. Barn at the farm near Fort Atkinson showing crosses and bases leaning against the wall, c. 1908.

Loren N. Horton 119

know of their availability. Searches of other Czech-language newspapers and magazines have not revealed additional advertisements for them. Yet people as far apart as Texas, North Dakota, and New York not only knew of them but ordered and installed them.

Family information sheds some light on the type of person Charles Andera was and how some of the work was done. Mary Andera Klimesh wrote that her father made most of the crosses found in the cemetery in Spillville. He also dressed the stone and made the bases for them. He had a room in the barn where this work was done. She also noted that her father made a pattern for a cross, carved it out, and then sent it to the foundry to have the crosses cast. Additionally, he carved the figure of the body of Christ and encased it in plaster of paris, thus making a form. Mary also wrote that her father carved a statue of the Blessed Virgin and crucifixes for the grave monuments that he sold.18

When the trustees of St. Wenceslaus Church decided to have a clock installed in the steeple, it was Charles Andera who did the remodelling and installation. He also constructed small outdoor chapels in the church- yard which were used during the annual Corpus Christi processions.19

Post Office records in Spillville indicate that Charles Andera received twelve pieces of registered mail prior to 1902, the time of his move to Missouri. These included:

31 August 1894, Tripp, South Dakota

7 April 1896, Fayetteville, Texas

8 April 1896, Oakdale Station, New York 18 June 1897, Creighton, Nebraska

13 May 1898, St. Louis, Missouri 8 June 1898, North McGregor, Iowa 17 June 1898, Prague, Nebraska 30 October 1899, Bryan, Texas 21 March 1900, Bryan, Texas 4 October 1900, Bryan, Texas 23 April 1900, Mincie, Wisconsin 29 June 1900, Geranium, Nebraska

Since we know that Andera crosses exist in about half of these places, we might assume that the other locations are also prime places to search. Without this clue the cross on Long Island, New York would not have been found.20

120 Crosses of Charles Andera

In an attempt to determine whether or not Andera advertised in Czech-language newspapers and magazines, his grandson, Cyril M. Klimesh, has read through the relevantly dated issues of Hospodar, Hlas, and Slavie and found no such evidence.21 There are, of course, additional periodicals to check, but it now seems more likely that the entry in the Katolicky Delnik Inkorporovany ve satu Minnesota in 1916 may be the only such reference we are likely to find.

Composition

Another important question which naturally arises is from what mate- rial were these extraordinary crosses made? To answer this question, I submitted a sample of the material to the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Iowa State University. Professor John D. Verhoeven examined a fragment in a scanning electron microscope, and his analysis indicated that the particular cross in question was composed of 94.5% FE, 3.2% Si, 1.4% P, and 0.9% Mn. Translated into common language, this means the cross was made of iron with a high content of silicon and sig- nificant amounts of phosphorus. Professor Verhoeven stated that this would lead to good corrosion resistance. He also suggested further con- ventional chemical analysis.22

Following this suggestion, I arranged for a fragment to be submitted to the Chicago Spectro Service Laboratory, with the following results: car- bon 3.27%, manganese 0.62%, phosphorus 1.02%, and silicon 3.06%. 23 All of this analysis aroused the curiosity of Professor William L. Larsen of Iowa State University. With the assistance of Francis Laabs, Larsen stud- ied the cross fragment further and concluded that it was high phosphorus cast iron. Phosphorus has two main effects upon cast iron: (1) it makes the iron very difficult to machine because it forms hard particles which tend to wear or break cutting tools; (2) it contributes fluidity to the molten iron, allowing it to fill tiny crevices in the mold. Old fashioned radiators with ornate surface patterns and other decorative iron items commonly used this type of alloy. The two men did further study with an optical stereo microscope using a variable magnification up to 35X. This latter test was mainly concerned with surface features, rather than the composition of the substance of the cross.24

Professors Verhoeven and Larsen followed up their responses to my initial enquiry by suggesting that the lack of corrosion on the Andera crosses was probably the result of their being painted.25 Since family

Loren N. Horton

121

information suggests that Andera did paint the crosses before he shipped them, and since most of the crosses that I have observed myself have been painted, this seems to be a reasonable conclusion (see Fig. 8). There are some crosses in Minnesota which show a brownish surface, not resem- bling corrosion, and yet do not seem to have been painted in the recent past. Additional analysis will need to be done in order to answer the materials questions more completely. Andera apparently initially painted many of the crosses black with gold trim (e.g., Fig. 8), although all of the crosses located in my survey that are painted at all are now done in a solid silver color.

Styles

Despite these considerations, it seems that questions of manufacture, advertisement, and distribution pale in comparison with the manner in which one is struck by the visible beauty of these cast iron gravemarker crosses. The crosses are indeed monuments of rare artistic beauty and exhibit a large number of subtle variations in their design and ornamen-

Fig. 8. Painted cast iron gravemarker crosses and

carved wooden church furniture photographed by Charles Andera,

precise date unknown, probably 1880s.

122

Crosses of Charles Andera

tation. There are at least eight different basic cross designs, with the pos- sibility of one or two more. Further, there exist at least six and possibly seven styles of bases for the crosses. A variety of ornamental features could be added to any one of the several basic cross designs, and I have located at least twenty-two different ways in which Charles Andera marked the crosses on the back (see Figs. 9, 10, and 11).

Fig. 9. Styles of Andera cast iron gravemarker crosses, 1897.

Loren N. Horton

123

Some crosses have the inscription cast on the form itself. In other instances, the inscription plates were cast separately and then attached to the cross. Sometimes the inscription plate is of a different material entire- ly than that of the cross itself. There are crosses with botonee lobes, with patee lobes, with heart-shaped facing plates, with front views of angels, with profile views of angels, and with skull and crossbone emblems. Others feature a Crown pierced by a Cross, a Lamb of God surrounded by sunburst rays, winged faces, a Chalice, the Sacred Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a praying Madonna (either in head only or with full body), and at least eleven different versions of the Corpus figure.26 There are instances of identical crosses side by side, one marked on the back by Andera and the other not marked. Only two models for molds have been found: Robert Balik of Spill ville has located models for the Lamb of God and for the Chalice (see Figs. 12 and 13).

Andera crosses range in weight from 108 to 318 pounds, in height from five feet eight inches to ten feet tall, and in original purchase cost from $10.50 to $47.00 each. While the weight and the height might have

Fig. 10. Styles of Andera cast iron gravemarker crosses, 1904.

124

Crosses of Charles Andera

added to the difficulty of transporting the crosses, the low cost should cer- tainly have made them an attractive choice for a cemetery monument. In comparison, a 1902 mail order catalog lists a granite marker four feet four

Fig. 11. Styles, prices, and heights of Andera cast iron gravemarker crosses, date unknown.

Loren N. Horton

125

inches tall and weighing 800 pounds at $26.70. Additionally, they list ship- ping costs at $1.00 to $1.50 per 100 pounds.27

The arms of Andera crosses are sometimes pierced by trefoil or qua- trefoil cusps as well as by a variety of either Gothic or Art Deco lattice or grill work, and some feature fleur de lis cresting. Very occasionally the arms are solid and plain. Crosses similar to these were manufactured by the Badger Wire and Iron Works of Milwaukee, Wisconsin,28 and by the Kohler, Hayssen & Stehn Company of Sheboygan, Wisconsin.29 The Andera crosses should not be confused with these alternatives. It is nonetheless possible that Charles Andera was a dealer for one or both of these companies, and actually sold a number of crosses he did not make.

Neither are the Andera crosses to be confused with the wrought or forged iron cemetery crosses of the German Russians, found in plentiful quantity in North Dakota and in Kansas. Blacksmiths made strap iron crosses in many areas. There are even some of these in the St. Wenceslaus Cemetery in Spillville, the town in which Charles Andera lived and

I

Fig. 12. Clay model for foundry mold of Lamb of God.

126

Crosses of Charles Andera

worked (Fig. 14). They are easily distinguished from the cast iron crosses of Andera and the other suppliers. Julaine Maynard, in an article which appeared in Volume I of Markers, discussed metal crosses in the Kenosha, Wisconsin area where there are Czech settlements: these are not Andera crosses either.30

Fig. 13. Clay model for foundry mold of Chalice.

Loren N. Horton

127

Conclusions

The remarkable crosses of Charles Andera remain to this day artifacts of intricate, ethno-specific beauty (Figs. 15, 16, and 17). They are also found in large quantities: to date, examples have been found in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, Michigan, and New York. They seem to be most numerous in Texas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Minnesota, and, of course, in Iowa. There are without doubt more to be found, and thus the search goes on. One hundred years ago, a craftsman from the small town of Spillville, Iowa struck such a chord in the hearts of his fellow Bohemian immigrants that they were willing to purchase these cast iron gravemark- er crosses even when they lived at considerable distance. The strong eth- nicity and fierce retention of culture by the Bohemian immigrants allowed for, or caused, this example of material culture to be perpetuated. We can value and treasure the Andera crosses for these and many other reasons.

Upon Charles Andera's death in 1929, the Reverend W. A. Dostal wrote a letter of condolence to Andera's daughter, Anna. In it he rendered a great tribute to the man: "He was a genius. But because of his great humility he was unknown to the world."31 I think he deserves to be

(o* >'i>~£^ & !*iL<A*'&A/ — <X2/t <JV*si£/4^'' %M

Fig. 14. St. Wenceslaus Church and Cemetery, Spillville, 1906, showing crosses of varying types in the churchyard cemetery.

128

Crosses of Charles Andera

A

Fig. 15. Andera cross model #3, with base model A, St. Wenceslaus Cemetery, Verdigre, Nebraska.

Loren N. Horton

129

Ifcr >tltl»l»t»j|l>lll|iX - I lltlll'--

^

Fig. 16. Andera cross model #5, St. Wenceslaus Cemetery, Verdigre, Nebraska.

130

Crosses of Charles Andera

known by the world. I think he deserves more than that, but at the least I would hope that through this essay the world will learn somewhat of this man and his many achievements, most particularly his remarkable cast iron gravemarker crosses which stand today as eloquent testimonials to his artistry and sense of ethnic community.

Fig. 17. Detail of inscription plate on Andera cross illustrated in Fig. 16, St. Wenceslaus Cemetery, Verdigre, Nebraska.

NOTES

The photographs found in Figs. 1, 12-13, and 15-16 were taken by the author. Those in Figs. 3-11 and Fig. 14 were taken by Charles Andera. The photographer who took Andera's por- trait (Fig. 2) is unknown.

1. Cyril M. Klimesh, Letter to Loren N. Horton, 17 November 1994; Cyril M. Klimesh, Letter to Loren N. Horton, 9 June 1996; The Decorah Journal, 2 October 1929.

2. Manuscript schedules of United States Census for 1880, 1900, 1920; Manuscript sched- ules of State of Iowa Census for 1885, 1895, 1915, and 1925.

3. Iowa State Gazetteer and Business Directory (Chicago, IL, 1882-83, 1884-85, 1889-90, 1897- 98), Vol. II, 713; Vol. Ill, 925; Vol. V, 1040; Vol. IX, 1059.

Loren N. Horton

131

4. The Quasquicentennial History Book, 1860-1985 (Spillville, IA, 1985), 182.

5. Sister Sidonia (Emma Andera), Letter to Sister Martha (Andera), July 1971.

6. The Quasquicentennial History Book, 1860-1985, 181; Mary Andera Klimesh, Letter to Sister Martha (Andera), 5 July 1971.

7. Mary Andera Klimesh, Letter to Sister Martha (Andera), 5 July 1971.

8. Personal interview with William Andera, 6 May 1996.

9. The Quasquicentennial History Book, 1860-1985, 181; Mary Andera Klimesh, Letter to Sister Martha (Andera), 5 July 1971.

10. Cyril M. Klimesh, Letter to Loren N. Horton, 2 December 1994, quoting Mary Andera Klimesh, Letter to Cyril M. Klimesh, 21 May 1979; The Quasquicentennial History Book, 1860-1985, 181-182.

11. Cyril M. Klimesh, They Came To This Place: A History of Spillville, Ioiva and Its Czech Settlers (Sebastopol, CA, 1983), 32.

12. The Quasquicentennial History Book, 1 860-1 985, 1 81 .

13. The Decorah Republican, 9 April 1908.

14. Mary Andera Klimesh, Letter to Cyril M. Klimesh, 1979, quoted in Cyril M. Klimesh, Letter to Loren N. Horton, 2 December 1994; Mary Andera Klimesh, undated and unpaged autobiographical sketch; Mary Andera Klimesh, Letter to Sister Sidonia (Emma Andera), 5 July 1971; The Quasquicenntennial History Book, 1860-1985, 181.

15. History of St. Wenceslaus Church (Karlin, MO, nd.), unpaged; Cyril M. Klimesh, Letter to Loren N. Horton, 12 November 1895, quoting from an unattributed 1902 newspaper clipping.

16. Original clipping in the possession of Cyril M. Klimesh. Some models were cast in parts, which then had to be bolted together prior to installation.

17. Katolicky Delnik Inkorporovany ve statu Minnesota (np, 1916), unpaged.

18. Cyril M. Klimesh, Letter to Loren N. Horton, 2 December 1994, quoting Mary Andera Klimesh letter to Cyril M. Klimesh, 1979; Mary Andera Klimesh, undated and unpaged autobiographical sketch.

19. The Quasquicentennial History Book, 1860-1985, 181.

20. Cyril M. Klimesh, Letter to Loren N. Horton, 10 January 1995.

21. Cyril M. Klimesh, Letters to Loren N. Horton, 4 October 1994; 8 January 1995; 23 May 1995.

132 Crosses of Charles Andera

22. John D. Verhoeven, Letter to Loren N. Horton, 28 June 1995.

23. Richard Goldblatt, Letter to Loren N. Horton, 3 October 1995.

24. William L. Larsen, Letter to Loren N. Horton, 10 October 1995.

25. John D. Verhoeven, Letter to Loren N. Horton, 30 October 1995; William L. Larsen, Letter to Loren N. Horton, 2 November 1995.

26. Cyril M. Klimesh, Letter to Loren N. Horton, 23 September 1995.

27. Consumers Guide No. Ill (Chicago, IL: Sears, Roebuck and Company, 1902), 809.

28. Catalog N, Iron Grave Crosses (Milwaukee, WI: Badger Wire and Iron Works, 1920).

29. Catalog, Cast Iron Crosses (Sheboygan, WI: Kohler, Hayssen and Stehn, 1901).

30. Julaine Maynard, "Wisconsin's Wrought Iron Markers", Markers I (1980): 76-79. See also Timothy G. Anderson, "Czech-Catholic Cemeteries in East-Central Texas: Material Culture and Ethnicity in Seven Rural Communities", Material Culture 25:3 (1993): 1-18; Karen S. Kiest, "Czech Cemeteries in Nebraska From 1868: Cultural Imprints on the Prairie", in Ethnicity and the American Cemetery, ed. Richard E. Meyer (Bowling Green, OH, 1993), 77-103; Nicholas Curchin Vrooman and Patrice Avon Marvin, Iron Spirits (Fargo, ND, 1982); and Timothy J. Kloberdanz, "Iron Lilies, Eternal Roses: German- Russian Cemetery Folk Art in Perspective," Journal of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia 6:3 (1983): 27-31.

31 . Cyril M. Klimesh, Letter to Loren N. Horton, 12 November 1995, quoting The Reverend W. A. Dostal, Letter to Anna Andera, October 1929.

Loren N. Horton

133

APPENDIX

Locations of Andera Crosses Presently Identified

IOWA Clayton, Dubuque, Fayette, Hancock, Howard,

Johnson, Linn, Pocahontas, Tama, Washington, and Winnishiek counties

Rawlings County

Leelanau and Schoolcraft counties

Hennepin, McLeod, Mower, Renville, Rice, Scott, and Steele counties

KANSAS

MICHIGAN

MINNESOTA

MISSOURI NEBRASKA

NEW YORK NORTH DAKOTA OKLAHOMA SOUTH DAKOTA TEXAS

WISCONSIN

Polk County

Box Butte, Butler, Colfax, Fillmore, Knox, Richardson, Saline, Saunders, Thayer, and Valley counties

Suffolk County

Walsh County

Lincoln County

Bon Homme, Brule, and Yankton counties

Austin, Brazos, Burleson, Fayette, and Lavaca counties

Kewaunee, LaCrosse, Richland, and Vernon counties

134

Pratt Family of Stonecutters

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135

THE PRATT FAMILY OF STONECUTTERS Ralph L. Tucker

Introduction

Gravestones displaying portraits are rare in the pre-revolutionary period in New England. The earliest type of decorated gravestone gener- ally featured winged skulls; later, these gave way to winged faces (or cherubs), which were not really portraits. To find a significant number of realistically rendered full human figures, half figures, or even heads with- out wings, one generally has to look in the post-revolutionary period. It was only then that there was a noticeable shift from winged skulls and/or faces to other styles. Exceptions to this general pattern are found on Boston's south shore in the work of John New and the Pratt family, who are among the first to use realistic faces and figures.

John New

John New (b. 1722) carved a number of gravestones in various styles in the interior Massachusetts towns, and then came to the coastal towns near Abington where he carved portraits and other interesting figures in the 1758-1768 period. His work in the Abington, Massachusetts area is executed on an unusual dark red slate of conspicuous size and features full figures of people holding occupational tools in their doll-like hands (Fig. 1).

These styles pioneered by John New were also carved by Noah Pratt, Sr., who before 1767 seems to have been New's apprentice. Stones of this type up to 1767 were either carved by John New alone or with the assis- tance of Noah, Sr. Only a detailed study, however, enables one to distin- guish the work of John New from that of Noah Pratt, Sr. The 1767 Hannah Lovell stone in North Weymouth, Massachusetts provides a case in point. It features a well carved three-dimensional foliate border and good letter- ing by John New, but also incorporates two "engraved" heads in the tym- panum which were probably carved by Noah Pratt, Sr. in a "flat" manner. New was better at rounding out his work, especially the foliate borders and the figures, while Pratt used an engraving technique which gave a "flat" result. Noah Pratt, Sr. at this time had a shaky hand with a chisel which only time would improve.1 Aside from John New and members of the Pratt family, no other carver's work is even vaguely similar.

136 Pratt Family of Stonecutters

Although a competent carver, John New was throughout his life an unstable character and came under the guardianship of Benjamin Shepard in 1 767, perhaps because of alcoholism or mental troubles, which caused his removal to the Worcester, Massachusetts area at this time2. This may account for the fact that probate records say Noah Pratt, Sr. was paid for several stones which were actually carved by John New - a case where an apprentice as a middleman was paid for the work of his master.

John New and his works were never found in the Abington area after 1767, and while his son James New (1751-1832) would became a carver in the 1770s, he was located in Attleboro and later at Grafton, Massachusetts and employed an altogether different style from that of his father. His work is not found in the Abington area at all. It is thus a clear inference that stones in this style in the Abington area dated after 1767 were made by one of the Pratts.

The Pratt Family

There are several probate references wherein it is noted that Nathaniel Pratt and his son Noah, Sr. and grandson Robert Pratt were paid for gravestones3. Peter Benes, on the basis of this evidence, theorized that Lt. Nathaniel Pratt was the carver of the earlier Pratt stones, and that his grandsons Noah Pratt, Jr. and Robert Pratt took over the trade in 1779 when Nathaniel was in his eighties.4 Recent study, however, seems to indicate that it is more probable Nathaniel was a middleman for his son Noah, Sr., who was the first Pratt carver, and that Noah, Jr. and his broth- ers Robert and Seth carried on the trade in the next generation. An addi- tional Pratt carver, unknown to Benes, was Cyrus Pratt, the son of Noah, Jr., who carved in the 1800s, although in a different style altogether.

Throughout discussions such as these, it should always be kept in mind that there often exist backdated stones by a carver where his later styles and skills appear to have been employed at an earlier date than when the stones were actually carved. The 1738 Benjamin Hayden stone in Braintree (Fig. 2) is an example of a marker most certainly carved by Noah Pratt, Sr., but obviously not when he was seven years old. The stone probably was made after 1770.

The early Pratt stones of the 1760s and 1770s were carved by Noah Pratt, Sr. (1731-1781), with his sons as apprentices perhaps contributing to the trade as they grew old enough. Robert (1753-1791), the oldest son, may have carved as early as the late 1760s, Noah, Jr. (1758-1825) by the

Ralph L. Tucker

137

1770s, and Seth (1762-1838) by the late 1770s. Their early gravestones in the Abington area were carved on the unique dark red slate, shaped with chamfered edges, wide finials, and high tympanums. The large size and the unusual red slate make the stones stand out in any burial ground.

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138

Pratt Family of Stonecutters

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Fig. 3. Nehemiah Randal, 1790, Freeport, Maine. Carved by Noah Pratt, Jr.

Ralph L. Tucker 139

They are significantly larger than the usual gravestones of the period and are usually found in the vicinity of Abington, although a few are found as far afield as Boston's Copp's Hill Burial Ground and Portland, Maine. After the 1770s the stones displaying full figures are rare, and their stereo- typed heads are more commonly found.

Noah Pratt, Sr.

Noah Pratt, Sr. the son of Lt. Nathaniel Pratt of Abington, was born there on October 19, 1731 and married Mary Jones in Abington on January 11, 1753. Revolutionary war records list eighteen entries for "Noah Pratt" - one from Abington and others from surrounding towns. It is unclear which references refer to Noah, Sr., which to Noah, Jr., or, for that matter, which to other Noah Pratts, of whom there were several. Little is known of the senior Noah's life, but local evidence in Abington indicates that he was something of an alcoholic. In the post-revolutionary period he removed to the Skowhegan area of Maine, but no evidence of his work has been located there.

Noah Pratt, Jr.

Noah Pratt, Jr. was born in Abington on July 20, 1758 and was married there to Alice (or Elsie) Jenkins on November 24, 1780. The next year, together with his relation Thomas Bicknell, he purchased fifty acres of land on Pleasant Hill in North Yarmouth (now Freeport), Maine from Benjamin Parker. The purchase price was £60.5 The deed reads "... Thomas Bagnell (sic) & Noah Pratt, yeoman, both of N. Yarmouth...", thus indicating Pratt's residence there by 1781. In 1784 he purchased addi- tional land in North Yarmouth, and in 1785 he signed a petition for a road near his residence on what is now Pleasant Hill Road, Freeport. Noah is listed in the Militia of North Yarmouth, Cumberland County, Maine, which would be before 1789 when North Yarmouth became Freeport. In 1789 the town made him a hog reeve and field driver. He then appears in the 1790 census as being located in Freeport and as having within his househole one white male over sixteen, four white males under sixteen, and two white females. His name does not appear in the Maine census in 1800 because, upon the death of his older brother Robert in 1791, he returned to Abington, where he took over the family gravestone business. In that same year he sold his Freeport property to Thomas Bicknell6, and in the deed he referred to himself as "... Noah Pratt of Freeport, stone-

140

Pratt Family of Stonecutters

cutter..." No other records relating to Noah, Jr. have been found in the Freeport vital records or other papers there. Much later, in 1824, he moved from Abington to Hanover, Massachusetts together with his wife and son David. His wife's will in 1836 mentions eight living children. His son, Noah Pratt 3rd, was married in Abington in 1818 to Nancy Reed, but later

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Fig. 4. Jacob Silvester, 1776, Freeport, Maine. Carved by Noah Pratt, Jr.

Ralph L. Tucker

141

moved to Skowhegan, Maine, where in 1842 he married Lydia Eaton. He is not known to have been a stonecarver.

Over forty gravestones have been located in the Freeport and Brunswick, Maine areas which can be attributed to Noah Pratt, Jr. These stones may be used to study his particular lettering and style and distin- guish them from the work of his father and two brothers. All of these gravestones are carved on a poor grade of black or gray slate, and three of them are eroded to the point of being barely identifiable as Pratt stones. There are few variations in the markers. All feature a symmetrical halo of leaves surrounding a head in the tympanum. The heads are of three basic types: 1) a male head facing the observer, with the head sitting upon a nar- row neck and displaying hair in a wig-like style (Fig. 3); 2) a head facing the observer, with a narrow neck and the head featuring a hood of the type used to cover the hair of women and children (Fig. 4); 3) a male head in profile showing his shoulders (Fig. 5).

All the Pratts carved unusual eyes which are curved upwards . The side borders have fat foliage, which on occasion extends into the finial. In many cases a six pointed star can be found in the finial, as well as at the top cen- ter of the foliate halo. The inscription is situated in a rectangular frame beneath the tympanum. Only one stone departs from this rule: the 1788

Fig. 5. Samuel Bartoll, 1786, Freeport, Maine. Carved by Noah Pratt, Jr.

142

Pratt Family of Stonecutters

marker for Zilpha Curtis, aged thirteen, in Mast Landing Burial Ground, Freeport, places the inscription within a large heart-shaped border (Fig. 6). Some of the markers have epitaphs below the inscription, but the stones usually are sunken to a point where the lettering can only be seen partially. The lettering on these stones shows only a few idiosyncrasies: an upper-case "P" is often used where the lower case is called for; the long,

Fig. 6. Zilpha Curtis, 1788, Freeport, Maine. Carved by Noah Pratt, Jr.

Ralph L. Tucker

143

old fashioned "s" resembling the letter "f" is used; and one sees an unusu- al lower case "g" which has large flattened loops. Noah, Jr. often uses a lower case "m" on "Mr." Nearly all the inscriptions start with "In memo-

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144 Pratt Family of Stonecutters

ry of . . .", only two stones saying "Here lyes ....". In the inscription, rather than the words "...who died...", the carver says"... he died...". Noah, Jr. often makes the numerals 3, 5, 6, and 8 to the height of upper case and drops numerals 4, 7, and 9 below the base line, leaving only numerals 0, 1, and 2 within the lower-case lines.

All the footstones are similar, displaying an empty half circle in the tym- panum and employing straight lines for borders (Fig. 7). They are usually inscribed with the name and date of death. There are only sixteen of these footstones remaining, three of which have no corresponding headstones.

There exists a unique "sample" gravestone carved by Noah, Jr. which contains examples of the heads carved on his other stones, fifteen letters of the alphabet, the year "1787," and his name (Fig. 8). This stone, which is 14" x 7" in size, is easily transportable and the only such sample mark- er known to the author. In 1963 Colby College presented an exhibition entitled "Maine and Her Role in American Art," and the catalogue for the exhibition featured an illustration of the stone. Discovered in the attic of the Thomas Bicknell house where Noah had previously lived, and where the Bicknell family have lived to the present day, the provenance is unchallenged. This stone is now in the collection of The Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities.

Robert Pratt

Robert Pratt was born on December 18, 1753 in Abington, Massachusetts. He married Jane Bicknell there on January 27, 1775 and died, also in Abington, on February 22, 1791. Robert's work can be iden- tified by looking at the stones in the Abington area dating from 1781-1791 (the years Noah, Jr. was in Maine), and also by the unique lettering he employed. An example of the latter is found on one of his probated stones, the 1779 John Hobart marker in Whitman, Massachusetts, which features an unusual "curlicue" type of lettering (see also Fig. 9). From the war records, where three entries are found pertaining to Robert Pratt, it appears that he was a drummer who was present on the 19th of April 1775 at the battle of Lexington-Concord.

Seth Pratt

Seth Jones Pratt, the brother of Robert and Noah, Jr., was born on June 28, 1762 in Abington and married Hannah Hunt in March, 1784. He is referred to in the Abington records as a stonecutter, but his work cannot

Ralph L. Tucker

145

be distinguished from that of his brother Robert. There is uncertainty as to his place of residence during and after the war. Military records list

Fig. 8. Sample stone, 1787. Carved by Noah Pratt, Jr.

146

Pratt Family of Stonecutters

four entries for Seth Pratt, and it appears that he spent all of 1780 in the Continental Army as well as some other spells of duty. There is a pension application on file which notes his service in Colonel Bayley's and Colonel Sprout's Regiments.7 Later records indicate Seth's residence in Maine as well as his death there in 1838. He may also have carved there, but there are no reports of his work found in that area.

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Ralph L. Tucker

147

Cyrus Pratt

Cyrus Pratt, the son of Noah, Jr., was born about 1783, apparently in Freeport, Maine. On December 7, 1808 he married Cynthia Orcutt in Abington. About 1820 he moved to nearby Hanover, where he died in 1846. In the 1800s he carved some gravestones on slate bearing some Pratt-type faces, not as portraits, but as angels or cherubs with wings (Fig. 10). Most of his work, however, is unlike the other Pratt stones except for the distinctively distorted almond-shaped eyes, which clearly identify him as a Pratt carver. He used a type of rock which was rare, being what is geologically referred to as rhyolite (sometimes called "wacke"), a green- ish trap rock quarried in Hanover, Massachusetts, where he was located. This rock is quite different in aspect from that found in other gravestones, making them stand out to even the casual observer.

Conclusion

The changes in the cultural styles of gravestones during this period are

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148 Pratt Family of Stonecutters

well illustrated in the markers carved by the Pratt family. The stones of John New in the 1750s and 1760s, with their human figures and busts, were early examples of the shift away from the usual death heads and cherubs to themes less lugubrious. The Pratt family took up this style and used it through the 1790s. It would cease only when the still newer themes of neoclassical urns and weeping willow trees became increasingly preva- lent in the post-revolutionary period.

NOTES

Figs. 1, 2, 9 and 10 are from the Daniel and Jessie Farber Collection of Gravestone Photographs, American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, MA. Fig. 8 is from the collection of Nina Fletcher Little; originally published in the exhibition catalog, Maine and its Role in American Art (Waterville, ME: Colby College, 1963), the stone it illustrates is now in the col- lection of the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities. The photographs shown in Figs. 3-7 were taken by the author. In completing this essay, the following prima- ry and secondary sources proved particularly useful:

Abington Bicentennial Committee. Abington and the Revolution. Abington, MA, 1975. Benes, Peter, The Masks of Orthodoxy: Folk Gravestone Carving in Plymouth County,

Massachusetts, 1689-1805. Amherst, MA, 1977. Campbell, Martha (Mrs. Colin). Correspondence on genealogical and historical data as

well as notes on Abington gravestones. Cumberland County Registry of Deeds: 20:184; 20:485. Dunning, Col. Thurlow. Genealogies of Freeport Families. Mss at Bartol Library, Freeport,

ME. Forbes, Harriette Merrifield. Gravestones of Early New England and the Men Wlio Made

Them, 1653-1800. Boston, MA, 1927; rpt. New York, NY, 1989. Luti, Vincent. Correspondence on data relating to the New family and the early Pratts.

(Vincent has done significant work on the New family of carvers.) Nash, Cyrus. Manuscript diaries, 1804-1850, on old Abington, MA. Pratt, Francis Greenleaf. Genealogical Record ofMatthezv Pratt of Weymouth, Mass. and his

American Descendants , 1623-1888. Boston, MA, 1889. Rand, Sally (Mrs. John). Manuscript material on Noah Pratt, Jr.'s stones. Freeport

Historical Society, Freeport, ME. "There's No Place Like Home," Portland Sunday Telegram, 8 Sept. 1940. Thompson, Deborah, ed. Maine and Its Role in American Art. Waterville, ME: Colby

College, 1963. Thurston, Florence, and Cross, Harmon S. Three Centuries of Freeport, Maine. Freeport, ME, 1940.

1. According to the best authority on the New family of carvers, Vincent Luti, John New was the better carver: he carved eyes with modeled pupils and realistic necks; his stip- pling was even; his foliate borders were full and three dimensional; his serifs were slanted; he used extensive punctuation; and he decorated his capital letters. On the other hand, Noah Pratt, Sr. carved unusual almond-shaped eyes, skinny necks, random stippling, flat serifs, poor foliate borders, and employed little punctuation. In general,

Ralph L. Tucker

149

New's work is more realistic and full, while Pratt's is flat and uncertain. Compare John New's work in the 1766 Sarah Adams stone in Milton, Massachusetts with Pratt's 1767 Sarah Garnett stone in South Hingham to see the difference in abilities.

John New had several episodes of unusual behavior, being insolvent on several occa- sions and once running for governor of Massachusetts, where he received one vote.

There are several probate records for Nathaniel Pratt, two of which are specifically for gravestones. Eleven references involve Noah Pratt (no distinction as to which one), three of which mention gravestones. Three references cite Robert Pratt, two of which are for gravestones. See also, Peter Benes, The Masks of Orthodoxy: Folk Gravestone Carving in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, 1689-1805 (Amherst, MA, 1977), 142-146. A complete listing of relevant probate records follows:

PRATT PROBATES

Stones marked with. * were made by John New although paid to Noah

Suffolk County Probates

probate date

Dedham S37:121 £0.93.0 1744 Noah Pratt Weymouth S74:396 £1.16.0

stone date

1743 Wight, David

1774/5 Nash, Alexander

1774 Nathaniel Pratt, g.s.

1745 Pratt, Dr. Henry Med way

1745/6 Ellis, Caleb Dedham

1761 Beal, Ebenezer Hingham

1761 Beal, Ebenezer* Hingham

1766 White, Samuel* Braintree

1767 Lewis, Joseph Hingham

1768 Leavitt, Hezekiah Hingham

1769 Faxon, Capt. Richard Braintree

1769 Faxon, Anne

1770 Laurance, Edmund Dedham 1770 Dodge, Ezekiel Abington

S41:268 £1.10.0 1748 Noah Pratt

S38:22 £27.4.0 1745/6 Noah Pratt

S62:315 £2.6.8 1763 Noah Pratt

S67:405 £2.12.8 1769 Noah Pratt, g.s.

S66:123 £2.8.0 1767 Noah Pratt

S69:125 £2.8.0 1770 Noah Pratt, g.s.

S69:369 £1.13.0 1770 Noah Pratt, g.s.

S71:194 £3.6.0 1772 Nathaniel Pratt 2 g.s.

S69:369 £1.13.0 1770 see town records

Noah Pratt, g.s. Noah Pratt, Sr.

1766 Studley, Joseph*

1774 Lapham, David 1777 Adams, Samuel

1775 Hayward, Benjamin 1777 Reed, Samuel

Plymouth County Probates

Hanover P20:193 1769 Noah Pratt

Marshfield P21:350 1774 Nathaniel Pratt

P38:343 1793 Robt. Pratt

Bridgewater P21:414 1775 James New, g.s.

Abington P24:387 £1.4.0 1777 Robt. Pratt, g.s.

1779 Hobart, John/Huldah Whitman

£12.0.0 1779 Robt. Pratt, 2 g.s.

4. Benes, The Masks of Orthodoxy, 142-146.

5. See Maine's Cumberland County Registry of Deeds book 20:184.

6. See Maine's Cumberland County Registry of Deeds book 20:525

7. S.A.R., Fisher, Soldiers, Sailors, and Patriots of the Revolutionary War, Maine, 1982.

150 Pratt Family of Stonecutters

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159

UNDER GRAVE CONDITIONS: AFRICAN-AMERICAN SIGNS OF LIFE AND DEATH IN NORTH FLORIDA

Robin Franklin Nigh

"Let the Soul's of thy people be cool..."1

Introduction

Cemeteries are deliberately created and highly organized cultural landscapes.2 Studied collectively, they present miniaturizations and ideal- izations of larger patterns and social conditions. Studied individually, cemeteries and grave decorations provide visual texts that illustrate the belief systems of the living. In African-American cemeteries, they articu- late trends and customs of a diasporic people. This essay examines select cemeteries and grave decorations in relation to the development and structure of the black Christian Church in North Florida.

In order to understand the similarities and simultaneous uniqueness of African- American graves in relation to those of other groups in North Florida, a review of the commonalities in cemeteries is helpful. North Florida cemeteries are of the Upland South folk graveyard type. Cemeteries of this type are widely dispersed across the South and are identified by, among other things, their small size, hilltop location, east- west grave orientation, scraped ground, and preferred species of vegeta- tion.3 These cemeteries are typically found in or near rural communities. The Upland South type is a blending of the three cultures that have formed the present-day South: Euro-American, Native American and African- American. Because of this blending, a number of shared motifs or elements, such as east-west orientation, may have multiple origins and are thus subject to diverse interpretations. For instance, the European Christian tradition for facing east derives from the notion of facing Jerusalem and the direction of the second coming. In African traditions (namely those of Ghana and Central Africa), east/west is regarded as the direction of the earth and therefore positive. Alternatively, while certain customs have multiple origins and meanings, the scraped ground, and some of the grave adornments seen locally, seem unquestionably of African origin.4 This is not to say that adornment is not found in white cemeteries across the South, simply that, as stated by Zora Neale Hurston, "the will to adorn is one of the greatest contributions that the African-

160 African-American Graves

American has contributed to Southern culture."5

My fieldwork in North Florida includes several cemeteries of varying sizes and totals approximately one thousand graves. These cemeteries were in or near a three-county area that includes Leon, Jefferson and Gadsden Counties (study area outlined in Fig. 1). Most were of the tran- sitional-type defined within the Upland South criteria. This type, as described by D. Gregory Jeane, has grass within the cemetery, but not over the graves.6 In these instances, however, the above-ground granite or concrete covering seems to have replaced the raked /scraped ground upon the grave. Among those I interviewed were an African-American funeral director and several people who had family buried in these ceme- teries. I found many variants in grave adornment, and in the presumed origin of these decorations. Many African- Americans do not know why they decorate the graves, or what the ornaments might signify in their African heritage. Most assume the decoration or organization of the grave is derivative of white burial traditions.7 I postulate that the structure and adornments of North Florida graves and cemeteries are strongly connect- ed to the rise and development of the Black Church. As shall be discussed, the Black Church has been a consistently influential institution among African-Americans since the days of slavery. Additionally, it is the one institution that remains essentially segregated, and it is this segregation that has allowed Yoruba undercurrents to continue to thrive in North Florida.8

The Role of the Black Church

African-American churches in the rural South have a long and com- plex history that weaves together African and Euro- American traditions. While graves may be physically organized according to European influ- ence (headstone, casket, etc.), their function remains comparable to African altars and traditions.9 This is because many African-Americans view cemeteries, and consequently graves, as part of a living, active process. These graves are portals or crossroads where the living meet those ancestors who have passed on to the next state of being. The ances- tors will continue to play an active role within the family and may be included in such family traditions as reunions (where group photographs are taken by the headstones of the deceased) or the custom of passing an infant over the casket at the funeral.10 Both traditions present death as simply the other side of living, not as a terminal or permanent end.

Robin Franklin Nigh 161

Acculturation can generate innovations. One must acknowledge the simultaneous creativity and the cultural blending of the newly arrived Africans and their subsequent generations as they were forced to recode their faith. It would be inaccurate to suggest that the hardship of slavery destroyed the creative tendencies of the West Africans; it simply reconfig- ured or rechannelled the religious structure. Rules and parameters of the dominant white culture were superficially obeyed, not adopted. In the nineteenth century, slave funeral practices were largely dictated by whites in regards to when the funeral would be held.11 Christian practices were encouraged by the dominant white society, but the white society most likely stayed away from the personal lives of the slave community. This allowed African- Americans to reconfigure much of the traditional Euro- Christian imagery and practices and recode it with their own meaning. In doing this, they did not convert to God, they converted God to them.12 A new visual language - one of duality and complexity - brought forth new types of imagery that are represented in the form of grave decorations. The individuals creating this language are no longer African or European: they are part of a diasporic experience, and must come to terms with iden- tity and self-worth. As expressed by John Michael Vlach, African and European components merge within the African-American.13 This sug- gests a split identity which W.E.B. DuBois addressed in his The Souls of Black Folk:

... It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of theirs, of measuring one's soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity. One ever feels his twoness - an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder.14

DuBois expresses the plight of the African- American in evangelical lan- guage, evoking the image of an outraged preacher shouting from his pul- pit. For the African-American in the South, the notion of identity has always had a direct line to the Church because the role of the church has always been utterly different for the African-American than the Euro- American.15 To quote Paul Radin, "the white Methodist or Baptist was asked to prove that Christ had forgiven his sins; the black was asked to prove that Christ had recognized him and that he recognized Christ.16

Since reconstruction, the Church has continued to play an important role in the lives of African-Americans in the South.17 This role has tradi-

162 African-American Graves

tionally been different from that performed by the Euro- American church because the needs are different. As in Africa, the black minister was and continues to be priest, politician, and orator all at once.18 From its early days, beginning with the slave church, it has been associated with a strug- gle for human rights (though perhaps not always labeled as such).19 W.E.B. DuBois referred to the church as a sort of "Club House" serving the community with multiple functions.20 Additionally, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Jessie Jackson provide more recent examples of the priest- politician-orator initiating issues of civil rights through a church environ- ment. In Tallahassee, the Black Church is a powerful and influential pres- ence within the community. Within one block of Florida State University's Fine Arts Building there are two black churches. One church, Bethel Baptist, has secured expensive real estate on busy Tennessee Street and opened a family restaurant. While the restaurant feeds the body, and the church the soul, they both function to strengthen the community.21 All of this is to say that the role of the Church is emphasized within the com- munity and this I believe is clearly related to practices of grave decora- tion. Certainly not all African-Americans are devout church goers: how- ever it should be remembered that the graves seen in north Florida exem- plify these belief systems of the Black Church, belief systems that are recoded African traditions.22

African- American graves in North Florida are of significant interest because in many cases connections can be traced directly to West Africa. Roughly 75% of the individuals I interviewed were born and raised in Leon County. Most could trace their ancestors back to slavery in North Florida, although they could not say precisely when their ancestors were brought to this country or where they ultimately derived from in Africa. It is fundamental to acknowledge that the African- American community in North Florida is not a particular mobile community. Most have family members buried in cemeteries that include slave graves (though most of the slave graves no longer have their original wooden markers). Another reason why African-American graves in this area are worthy of study is because this region of the country, though not isolated, had the reputation of being backwards and having uneducated ministers. These false assumptions indicate black ministers learned from an oral, black tradi- tion.23

Like the Black Church, black graves in North Florida possess strong Kongo traditions that were orally perpetuated by plantation and runaway

Robin Franklin Nigh 163

slave settlements. From 1824-1860, the slave trade was a profitable busi- ness in Tallahassee, as this area was considered the heart of the cotton belt in Florida. Patterson and Hughes, a large slave trading firm, operated out of Tallahassee. T.R. McClintok, another slave trader, was extensively engaged in the slave trade in Leon County. These slaveholders and traders influenced the economic and religious affairs of the county very early in its history. Illegal importation of slaves in Leon County continued as late as 1828 (some through the port of St. Marks, just twenty miles South of Tallahassee). Some thirty years later, in the 1860 census, there were listed 75 large plantations with thirty slaves or more, and 73% of the total population in Leon County were indicated as slaves.24 These slaves were allowed to attend the White Church, though not in equal propor- tions to the white congregation. Some blacks would break away and form their own church with the congregation consisting of free blacks and slaves.

After the Civil War, during the reconstruction period, some African- Americans went north, while others moved to neighboring counties (Gadsden and Jefferson in particular). Many, however, remained in Leon County.25 The newly freed slaves would not automatically assimilate to white society, and they found themselves having to adjust to vastly dif- ferent social conditions.26 The role of the Black Church would play an increasingly important role in the development and organization of social rituals, including funerary and burial customs.

African-American Burial Patterns in North Florida

Like the markers used for early slave settlement graves, those found on many contemporary North Florida graves are not commercially pro- duced, but handmade. When commercial headstones are used, they are frequently of custom design and emphasize either personal loss or a bio- graphical statement. The handmade gravemarkers are usually made of concrete. These also make emotional statements. One assumption might be that the family was too poor to buy a commercial tombstone,27 but according to John Michael Vlach, the concrete gravemarkers form a neat intersection between commercial headstones and scattered burial offer- ings of the Kongo and nineteenth century America.28 Additionally, I have found the handmade, individualized gravemarkers to be a source of pride. On the Ayavalla Plantation, there is a cemetery that has been active since at least the early nineteenth century and is known to contain the

164

African-American Graves

graves of many slaves. I was told about the handmade, personalized gravemarker of a woman who died in 1987 and is buried in this cemetery

Fig. 2. Handmade headstone of Florence Holliday.

Robin Franklin Nigh 165

(Fig. 2). When I contacted him about this marker, the son of the deceased woman proudly and sincerely stated that "My Dad made that head- stone."29

This idea, that the prevalence of handmade gravemarkers is not an issue of economics but rather represents recoded traditions, is further borne out when graves of black military veterans are examined. At death, the government provides deceased veterans a headstone that commorates their service. However, in addition to this standardized marker, many graves of black military veterans in North Florida will display multiple forms of identification (Fig. 3). In some cases, the grave has three forms of identification - two headstones (one standard military, one handmade) and a footstone (frequently of cement with block letters).

This redundant identification, ultimately a form of respect and senti- ment for the "new ancestor," is in accordance with a number of other bur- ial customs honoring and respecting the dead. In the early decades of the twentieth century in North Florida (as in other black communities in the South), it was not uncommon for a week or two to pass before the deceased was actually buried. Newbell Puckett writes that many African- Americans thought it disrespectful that so many whites buried their dead so quickly30 Since the 1930s, there has been some shift in North Florida and South Georgia as funeral homes are playing a larger role and subse- quently influencing traditional funerary customs. Billy Hutchings, a third generation African-American funeral director in Macon, Georgia, said the average length now between death and burial is three to five days. Though he assumed most black funerary traditions were assimilated from white society, he does recognize two fundamental differences as possess- ing African origins. First, and foremost for Hutchings, is the music in the funeral services performed in the Black Church. This, he feels, represents a statement of rebellion against the White Church from which it derived - a church that allowed no music or dancing.31 Secondly, Hutchings notes that the ceremonies for the deceased are fundamentally different: "In the white church, it's like a memorial service. In the black church, it's like a regular church service."32 This is affirmed by Roberta Hughes Wright and Wilbur Wright III, who note that funeral sermons are never preached at a burial but rather afterward at church on a following Sunday.33

An 1887 drawing of an African- American burial on the banks of the St. Johns River (near Jacksonville, Florida) depicts other examples of Kongo death and burial traditions that have been recoded to the available mate-

166

African-American Graves

rials and conditions (Fig. 4). This drawing was first published in Hezekiah Butterworth's A Zig-Zag Journey In The Sunny South, and according to Robert Farris Thompson the image portrays several Kongo and Angola influences.34

Fig. 3. Multiple identifications are typical on the graves of African-American military veterans in North Florida.

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167

Fig. 4. This drawing, originally published in 1887, depicts the grave

of an African-American near Jacksonville, on the banks of the St. Johns River. Note the animal skin banner and the broken pots.

168

African-American Graves

For instance, placing broken crockery (or pots with the bottom punc- tured) on the grave of the deceased is a practice seen in parts of West and Central Africa and is also seen on some African- American graves (Fig. 5). Of course, interpretations vary as to what this practice may mean. One explanation is that the dishes are broken so that the chain is broken - i.e., that no one else in the family will follow the deceased too quickly. In West Africa, the pots are to assist the deceased in the next life. It has been false- ly presumed that they were broken to prevent theft. What is consistent is that the broken fragments are for the deceased and are not to be touched.35

Additionally, the hanging skin seen at the head of the pyre compares directly with the lifting-up of wildcat banners on Kongo graves and is associated with kings. It is also said to mean the arrest of evil.36 In the pho- tographic archives of the State of Florida, I have found what may be an extension of this tradition. In the archives, there are several post-mortem photographs of the deceased's casket placed on an animal skin rug or straw mat (mats are also associated with kings), including one striking example taken in the 1920s in St. Augustine, a town 20 miles south of Jacksonville (Fig. 6).37 This arrangement seems to have been an important part of black funeral practice in Florida in the 1920s and 1930s and coin-

Fig. 5. The grave of Eddie Wade in Greenwood Cemetery has broken pottery placed on the cement headstone.

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169

cides with a similarly important practice of placing the deceased on a cooling board.

Cooling boards were a practical method of preserving the body, allow- ing the deceased to "rest easy" and "be cool." This practice was actually used for both blacks and whites; however, certain African parallels would suggest the practice would be easily assimilated with African meanings. First is the notion of coolness. If the spirit is kept "cool," it is more likely to leave the living alone. Secondly, cooling boards often resembled beds. In some African areas, such as Senufo, beds function as catafalques whereupon the body is wrapped and displayed while formal mourning is observed.38 The bed is thus used for sleep in life and afterlife. The notion is echoed in the Black Church, where death is considered a type of sleep, and the correspondence is frequently articulated on handmade head- stones (e.g., Fig. 7). This association of sleep with death is, of course, com- mon in many mainstream religious practices as well. To say the deceased is sleeping suggests the potential of awakening, or resurrection. Again,

Fig. 6. This post-mortem photograph of an African-American woman was taken in St. Augustine in the 1920s. The animal skin rug has associations with kings in Yourba and denotes a form of respect.

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African-American Graves

however, this also specifically evokes one of the Yoruba concepts of the soul - that of breath, and the notion that breath leaves the body during sleep.39 Additionally, the graves themselves can recall the form and func- tion of a bed with a headboard /headstone and a footboard /footstone.

Other themes that may be read as African with a Christian overlay, or acculturated blendings, are illustrated by graves that possess sentimental offerings. For the West African, it is common practice to bury people with broken pottery (a point discussed earlier) and /or with the tools of their trade.40 In Africa, the tools or implements of a person's livelihood are placed upon their grave: they have now been rendered useless in the pre- sent life, as they belong to the essence of the deceased. While I did not find this exact tradition at work in North Florida, I did note a comparable com- memorative notion in cemeteries in Quincy and Tallahassee. On one grave, a truck driver is rendered standing alongside his truck; at another, a motorcycle is forever emblazoned on the grave of the deceased. Billy Hutchings recalled a similar example in Macon where a motorcycle is engraved on a grave covering because the deceased "was just crazy about

Fig. 7. Sleep and death have associations in many faiths, but may have an additional dimension in African-American Christian Churches.

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Fig. 8. The grave of Danilo Michielin, a former airline pilot,

is surmounted by an airplane propeller. The propeller indicates

his livelihood while also suggesting motion.

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African-American Graves

3e

rifc^

Fig. 9. The grave of former football player Willie L. Galimore.

Note the heart shape, the football, and the dates given

for his separate football careers.

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173

motorcycles."41 At Southside Cemetery, a former airline pilot is honored with a propeller atop his grave "for eternity and infinity" (Fig. 8). While recognizing the forms of livelihood is an increasingly common practice in all cemeteries, there seems to be a particular relevancy when considered in the context of African gravesite decoration. All of these decorative ele- ments - trucks, motorcycles, and airplanes - are associated with the deceased's living occupation or hobby, but they are also strongly sugges- tive of motion, an element important to the African concept of "blazing."42 Similarly, in Greenwood Cemetery, an elaborate granite gravemarker recounts the three lives of Willie Galimore - his life on earth generally, his life as a husband and father, and his life as a football player, first at the col- legiate level for Florida A&M University and ultimately as a professional with the Chicago Bears (Fig. 9). The heart shape, as seen on Galimore's monument, remains a popular motif in African- American cemeteries. In addition to its usual connotations, the heart shape also evokes the concept that the soul resides in the heart - it is at the center of the body.43

Fig. 10. A ceramic Christ figure and an angel are cemented atop

this grave in Quincy. The materials and placement

of these figures suggest an altar-like function.

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African-American Graves

Fig. 11. This Bible is wrapped in plastic and forms the center of a large red and white wreath. It is forever opened to the Twenty-Third Psalm.

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African- American graves in North Florida are frequently found deco- rated with mementos that seem more like offerings on altars (e.g., Fig. 10), supporting the notion that graves are an access point to the spirit world. The grave is considered to be an active "channel" or crossroads. In Quincy, I found a Mickey Mouse note taped to a headstone. Reading it, I found a simple message, "Mom I miss you and know I will see you again." This deep sense of mourning and personal loss is also filled with hope and promise. It continues the Kongo tradition of tomb decorations imposing multiple dimensions upon outwardly simple shapes and ges- tures.44 A Bible placed on a grave in a Monticello church cemetery is open to the Twenty-Third Psalm (Fig. 11). It is placed so as to form the center of a heart-shaped wreath of red plastic roses with a white dove, evoking, among other religious meanings, the red and white of Shango.4"1 While this paper Bible is undoubtedly wrapped in plastic for protection, it reminds one of the plastic Bibles frequently used in black cemeteries as part of the gravesite decoration (see, for instance, Fig. 20).

A consistent theme or metaphor found throughout these black ceme- teries is that of water. Articulated in various ways - through pipes, shells,

Fig. 12. Shells in a jar are placed on the grave of Anthony Oates.

176

African-American Graves

or overt suggestions - the notion of water has significant meaning to both Christian and Yoruba traditions.

Shells have broadly cross-cultural meanings throughout the South. For the Native American, shells are associated with death but not used in above-ground graves. For the Euro- American, shells evoke ancient tradi- tions associated with Venus, and ultimately the Virgin. But John Michael Vlach maintains that the practice of using shells as grave decoration amongst African-Americans is unquestionably of African influence.46 In Kongo, shells suggest immortality, and the spirals serve as a metaphor for the soul's infinite journey. The shell encloses elements such as water, earth and wind, and is believed to enclose as well the soul's immortal presence. It is a world in miniature. Of course, not all African- Americans are aware of these traditions. Billy Hutchings says that people put shells on the grave because "they look nice, and people will use what is available to them."47 He is right, of course, but there is also a recoding taking place here, a recoding that would also explain why shells are found on graves

Fig. 13. This grave is located near the "crossroads" of busy Highway 27 and Old Bainbridge Road. Note the four posts that surround the grave.

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that are well inland. Shells are associated with water, and the spirit world is deeply connected to water. The notion of water as a type of passage may be manifested in many forms of grave decoration. In particular, shells placed on or near the headstone (e.g., Fig. 12) create an image of a river bottom, the environment in African belief under which the realm of the dead is located.48 Bleached shells could symbolize both the whiteness and watery character associated with death.49 Robert Farris Thompson associates this phenomenon with spiritual return.50

An extension of the shell motif is the notion of a scaffolding structure (cf. Fig. 4) functioning as a mediation of the spirit.51 The poles intersect both worlds - the living and the spirit world - thereby creating a cross- roads. One grave in the cemetery of St. Mark's Primitive Baptist Church is surrounded by four posts (Fig. 13), suggestive of the "crossroads" struc- ture. In this instance, the deceased is also facing a literal crossroads, the busy intersection of State Road 27 and Old Bainbridge Road. This motif is reconfigured in a number of media such as pipes and poles (e.g., Fig. 14).

Fig. 14. This grave is located in a plantation cemetery

known to have slave burials. Note the iron pipe

bowed over the grave. Pipes are associated with water

and intersect the living world with the spirit world.

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African- American Graves

Fig. 15. Next to the grave of Bettie Dickey is a broken water pump.

The water pump assures that the spirit will be satisfied

and will not wander.

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Such sites, notes Thompson, "are grounded in dimensions where the flow of the spirit, and contact between worlds, becomes possible as through the passage of water."52

The spirit world travels through water and for water. A water pump (Fig. 15) placed near a grave at the Ayavalla Plantation Cemetery provides assurance that the soul will not wander. A stream runs through the east side of Greenwood Cemetery, providing similar assurance for the souls of those who rest there. Water also sparkles when it catches the light. Glittering objects in general embody the spirit, because, for the dead, the world is upside down. This also affects the concept of time. In the spirit world, it is noon at our midnight.53 Glittering objects, such as the blue glass placed beside and atop a marker at a Primitive Baptist Church ceme- tery (Fig. 16), the blue and yellow stone inlay on a headstone at Greenwood Public Cemetery (Fig. 17), and the purple and gold beads arranged atop a grave slab in Southside Cemetery (Fig. 18), all sparkle in the sun, when it is dark on the other side. Shiny and reflective objects share the likeness of the western mirror - they are all an index to the con- sciousness of spiritual proximity. The spirit can dwell in them.


		"O ~	A
<J	OS

Fig. 16. Blue glass sparkles in the sun on the grave of Sylvester Williams, Sr.

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African-American Graves

The "pool" which covers and outlines a gravesite in Monticello is fash- ioned of turquoise-colored stones and is surrounded by a white wooden border (Fig. 19). At night it glows; by day, it looks like a cool pool. This grave, so typical of many in my study, evokes the form and function of a Christian motif (a pool used for total submersion in baptisms and identi- fied with rebirth) and, simultaneously, a Yoruba river bed where spirits may dwell. It is completed with a wooden marker - the only (recent) example of a wooden marker found throughout my fieldwork. Carved into the wood are two interlocking birds (probably doves) with names written on each. Etched on the dove on the right is the name Wayans, while on the left dove is the name of Jesus. Below it reads "Soldier of Fortune." Behind the marker is a gardenia bush. As in a number of cul- tures, how well a plant does when planted at a grave is seen as an indica- tor of how well the spirit is doing in the afterlife. In African traditions, this notion is further extended as the tree or schrub's roots extend downward

Fig. 17. This headstone features yellow and blue stone inlay.

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Fig. 18. Purple and gold bows and beads are taped to the Moore family's grave slab.

182

African-American Graves

towards the deceased. Next to the gardenia there is a large anthill. Ants in African traditions are considered good luck when found near a grave. They not only turn the soil, but like the gardenia in this example, can cross between the spirit world below and the world of the living above.

Additionally, some African-American graves in these North Florida cemeteries recall the function of a nkisi (plural = minkisi). Minkisi are con- tainers made of various materials ranging from fabric to wood or metal, and they function in a fashion similar to Kongo cosmograms or charms. Included among the minkisi functions are their ability to serve as hiding places for people's souls and to keep and compose order to preserve life. They are filled with spirit-embodying materials including cemetery earth, which is considered at one with the spirit of a buried person. According to Robert Farris Thompson, graves are the ultimate charm in that they provide an effective medium for communicating with the dead.54 In this sense, all objects placed on the grave, and most especially those which bear particular relevance to the deceased, are similar in function to the objects placed in the minkisi (see Figs. 20 and 21).

The decorative border surrounding the graves, as illustrated in Figures 20 and 21, can be dually read as the perimeter of the minkisi and

Fig. 19. The Wayans gravesite in Monticello looks like a cool pool.

Turquoise stones are framed by a white wooden border.

Note the gardenia bush behind the wooden marker. An anthill -

another culturally relevant feature - is near the gardenia.

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183

as a luumbu. The luumbu is the protective enclosure that commonly sur- rounds Kongo graves and royal compounds. In African- American burials, the custom of surrounding the grave with a border or fence seems partic-

Fig. 20. The grave of a child. Artificial flowers, toys, and

plastic garden pinweels decorate the grave, and the plastic bible

in the center is inscribed with the name of the deceased.

Note also the border surrounding the grave.

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African-American Graves

ularly prevalent at the gravesites of children. It doesn't seem to matter what the grave covering is: what is important is that the grave itself is sur- rounded and protected.

Conclusions

The African- American graves found in North Florida are the embodi- ment of African and Euro-Christian traditions. There is a duality present, and an aesthetic that, acknowledged or not within the community, con- tinues to thrive. The graves function like living, dynamic altars - they pre- sent a channel or doorway through which the living and the spirit worlds can meet and commune. The grave decorators of North Florida are leav- ing individual doors open to communicate with the deceased. There is thus an ongoing exchange established between the living and the dead. The living must make the dead understand that they have lost nothing by dying since they receive mementos and offerings from those who are yet a part of this world. The dead, in turn, are expected to compensate

Fig. 21. Two graves of children. Note the mounded rocks, the

protective, surrounding border, and the garden planted for the child

on the left, where red and white garden pinwheels flank each side.

The grave on the right is protected by wire fencing.

Robin Franklin Nigh 185

through listening and understanding.55 This ancient cross-cultural tradi- tion is actively seen in North Florida's African-American cemeteries. It is fundamental, because there is still - and ever - interaction, even in death.

NOTES

I wish to acknowledge many enthusiastic discussions with Jehanne Teilhet-Fisk and Robert Farris Thompson on this topic. I am grateful for their encouragement. I am particularly indebted to Frank Hammaker, who not only told me about many of these cemeteries, but took the time to show me. And most especially I wish to express my gratitude to the fami- lies who spoke with me. Except for Figures 4 and 6, all photographs are by the author. Fig. 6 is reprinted with the permission of the Florida State Photographic Archives.

1. Line from a Neur Prayer. Quoted in Mechal Sobel, Trabelin' On: The Slave Journey to an Afro-Baptist Faith (Westport, CT, 1979), 11.

2. Richard Francaviglia, "The Cemetery as an Evolving Landscape," Annals of the Association of American Geographers 61:2 (1971): 501.

3. Gregory Jeane, "Rural Southern Gravestones: Sacred Artifacts in the Upland South Folk Cemetery," Markers IV (1987): 55.

4. Terry G. Jordan, Texas Grazm/ards: A Cultural Legacy (Austin, TX, 1982), 18. D. Gregory Jeane argues against this premise in his article, "The Upland South Folk Cemetery Complex: Some Suggestions of Origin," in Cemeteries and Gravemarkers: Voices of American Culture, ed. Richard E. Meyer (Ann Arbor, MI, 1989), 113-116.

5. Zora Neale Hurston, "Characteristics of Negro Expression," reprinted in The Sanctified Church (Berkeley, CA, 1981), 50. For examples of white decorated graves, see the Photo Archives of the State of Florida; see also Jordan, Texas Graveyards, 14. In reverse, it should be noted that not all African-American graves are decorated.

6. See Jeane, "The Upland South Folk Cemetery Complex: Some Suggestions of Origin," 116-118.

7. Billy Hutchings, Alfreddie Holliday Louis Henry, and Barbara Jones, personal com- munications. Just as I was surprised to find how different and personal African- American cemeteries are, I found it interesting that those I interviewed were equally surprised at my initial unawareness of the richness in these cemeteries.

8. See Robert Farris Thompson, Flash of the Spirit: African and Afro-American Art and Philosophy (New York, NY, 1984). See also Robert Farris Thompson, Face of the Gods (New York, NY, 1993); and Henry John Drewel, "Art and Divination Among the Yoruba: Design and Myth," African Journal 14: 2-3 (1983): 139.

9. Coffins, for instance, were introduced by the Portuguese to Africa in the late fifteenth century. For information on coffin development in Africa, see Thierry Secretan, Going into Darkness: Fantastic Coffins from Africa (London, England, 1994).

186 African-American Graves

10. The passing of an infant over the casket of the deceased assures that the infant will have the blessing of the deceased, and that the child will not suffer the same fate of the deceased. See William H. Wiggins Jr. and Douglas DeNatale, Jubilation!: African- American Celebrations in the Southeast (Columbia, SC, 1993), 53.

11. John Blassingame says that most slave funerals were held at night so as not to interfere with the work schedule. A second funeral would be held at a later date that allowed for more elaborate celebrations. These included dancing and singing. See Blassingame, The Slave Community: Plantation Life in the Antebellum South (New York, NY, 1972), 41-45. The notion of a second funeral is also a Yoruba tradition. Slaves were buried quickly (with no embalming) and typically in pine boxes. One gentleman I interviewed, Louis Henry, told me of an experience in which he had fallen into a rotted wooden coffin while out hunting. He spoke of how he went home, got the proper materials, and reburied the deceased - essentially giving the deceased a "second" (or third?) funeral.

12. Paul Radin, "Status, Phantasy, and the Christian Dogma," in God Struck Me Dead: Religious Conversion Experiences and Autobiographies of Negro Ex-Slaves, Vol. 19 of The American Slave: A Composite Autobiography, ed. George P. Rawick (Westport, CT, 1971), x.

13. John Michael Vlach, The Afro- American Tradition in Decorative Arts (Cleveland, OH, 1978; rpt. Athens, GA, 1990), 1.

14. W.E.B. DuBois, The Souls of Black Folk (New York, NY, 1969), 45.

15. Radin, God Struck Me Dead, xi.

16. Ibid.

17. For further information on the developing and influential role of the church see: W.E.B. DuBois, "The Religion of the American Negro," New World, December 1900, p. 631; Zora Neale Hurston, The Sanctified Church; Joe M. Richardson, The Negro in the Reconstruction of Florida (Tallahassee, FL, 1965), 83-96; Mechal Sobel, Trabelin On; and Andrew P. Watson's essay "The Negro Primitive Baptist Church," in God Struck Me Dead.

18. Bennetta Jules-Rosette, "Creative Spirituality from Africa to America: Cross-Cultural Influences in Contemporary Religious Forms," Western Journal of Black Studies 4:1 (1980): 239.

19. Robert Hall, "Response," in Black and Wliite Cultural Interaction in the Antebellum South, ed. Ted Ownby (Jackson, MS, 1973), 45. This is borne out in the events surrounding Barnetts Creek Baptist Church in Thomas County, Georgia. Controversy erupted when the church asked the parents of a deceased infant to exhume the remains of their daughter and bury her elsewhere because her father was black. This story made nation- al news (NPR) and the front page of the Tallahassee Democrat, 28, 29, and 30 March 1996.

20. W.E.B. DuBois, "The Religion of the American Negro," p. 631.

Robin Franklin Nigh 187

21. This church was founded in 1869, during the reconstruction period. Reverend R. B. Holmes, the church's current leader, says of economic projects, "It will be a little Wall Street," and adds that "the next project will be a strip mall". See Penelope M. Carrington, "Restaurant to Feed Spirit of Church," The Tallahassee Democrat, 4 March 1996, Bl, 3.

22. This can also be seen in the length of the church services. Many churches meet fre- quently - some several days a week and for several hours at a time. The 1990 statistics for the Leon County area listed devotional Bible reading as a favorite pastime. This sta- tistic includes the entire population, and is not split on racial lines.

23. Language would undoubtedly be an important issue. African dialects were common on the plantations, with many slaves eventually learning a "pigeon english." Over the decades, one can image the linguistic blending of vocabularies and speech inflections that would impact the black community.

24. Larry E. Rivers, "Slavery in Microcosm: Leon County, Florida, 1824 to 1860," Journal of Negro History 66:3 (1981): 236. Leon County was created in 1828. Prominent individuals (bank and land owners) and church leaders (such as Francis Eppes, founder of St. John's Episcopal Church) all owned slaves.

25. Dr. Larry E. Rivers, Professor of History and African Studies at Florida A&M University, personal communication, 5 March 1996.

26. Robert Hall, "African Religious Retentions in Florida," in Africanisms in American Culture ed. Joseph E. Holloway (Bloomington, IN, 1990), 112.

27. Billy Hutchings, Director, Hutchings Funeral Home, Macon, Georgia, personal com- munication, 21 March 1996.

28. Vlach, The Afro-American Tradition in Decorative Arts, 145. For a contrasting interpreta- tion, see the essay by Barbara Rotundo in this issue of Markers.

29. Alfreddie Holliday, personal communication, 18 March 1996.

30. Newbell Niles Puckett, Folk Beliefs of the Southern Negro (New York, NY, 1969), 109.

31. Billy Hutchings, personal communication, 21 March 1996. Hutchings is most likely referring to Primitive Baptist.

32. Ibid.

33. Roberta Hughes Wright and Wilbur Wright III, Lay Down Body: Living History in African- American Cemeteries (Detroit, MI, 1996), 282.

34. See Hezekiah Butterworth, A Zig-Zag Journey In The Sunny South (Boston, MA, 1887); Robert Farris Thompson, personal communication, 13 March 1996; see also Robert Farris Thompson and John Cornet, The Four Moments of the Sun: Kongo Art of Two Worlds (Washington D.C., 1984), 191.

188 African-American Graves

35. See Vlach, The Afro-American Traidition in Decorative Arts, 141. During my fieldwork, I found several other graves that also had broken pottery; however, the placement of some of the broken crockery or glassware suggests inconclusive interpretations. In one instance, a broken flower pot had been placed behind a gravemarker. Though the flower pot seemed new and unused, its breaking and placement appeared accidental. Other graves had broken bottles near the grave, but none on the grave. This was seen at Greenwood Cemetery, where empty beer bottles were frequent; however, Greenwood is in located in an economically depressed area (Frenchtown) where van- dals are not uncommon.

36. Ibid.

37. This photograph is from the Richard Aloysius Twine Collection, Florida Photographic Archives. I do not know what type of animal skin is shown here, but is my guess is that it is sheepskin.

38. Roy Sieber, African Furniture and Household Objects (Bloomington, IN, 1980), 105.

39. See William Bascom, "Yoruba Concepts of the Soul," in Men and Cultures: Selected Papers of the Fifth International Congress of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences, ed. Anthony F.C. Wallace (Philadelphia, PA, 1956), 401. See also Babatunde Lawal, "The Living Dead: Art and Immortality Among The Yoruba of Nigeria," Africa 47:1 (1977): 51.

40. Thompson and Cornet, The Four Moments of the Sun, 202.

41. Billy Hutchings, personal communication, 21 March 1996.

42. See Thompson and Cornet, The Four Mo7nents of the Sun, 202-203.

43. Another configuration of headstone, more frequently seen in African-American ceme- teries than in those of other cultural groups in north Florida, is the diamond shape The diamond shape is a variant of the dikenga sign, or turning point. In Kongo, the diken- ga marks the crossroads, the tomb, the parting of the ways. The diamond points repre- sent birth, florescence, decline and renaissance. For further information on dikenga marks, see Thompson, Face of the Gods, 43.

44. Thompson and Cornet, The Four Moments of the Sun, 183.

45. Color symbolism for red and white is abundant. See Claude Levi-Strauss, The Savage Mind (Chicago, IL, 1966); and Thompson, Face of the Gods, 232-244.

46. Vlach, The Afro-American Tradition in Decorative Arts, 143.

47. Billy Hutchings, personal communication, 21 March 1996.

48. Vlach, The Afro-American Tradition in Decorative Arts, 143.

49. Jordan, Texas Graveyards, 24; and Vlach, The Afro-American Tradition in Decorative Arts, 124.

Robin Franklin Nigh 189

50. Thompson and Cornet, The Four Moments of the Sun, 184.

51. Ibid., 190-191. Thompson also cites other Bakongo sources who have suggested the scaf- folding was part of a mummification process.

52. Ibid., 194.

53. Ibid., 198. There is a conical-shaped gravemarker embedded with marbles at Southside Cemetery. The shape is similar to an African crown, perhaps recalling the concept of kingship. The argument that they function similarly might be furthered when the bril- liantly colored inlaid marbles are compared with the brilliant colored beadwork of the crown. Also, one notes the fact that they both come to a point, thus emphasizing ashe, and a location of spirit in Yoruba tradtion. The spirit writing on the surface may indi- cate that this is not associated with the Black Church.

54. See Thompson, Flash of the Spirit, 117. See also John M. Janzen and Wyatt MacGaffey, An Anthology of Kongo Religion: Primary Texts from Lower Zaire (Lawrence, KS, 1974).

55. Levi-Strauss, The Savage Mind, 31.

190

THE YEAR'S WORK IN GRAVEMARKER/CEMETERY STUDIES Richard E. Meyer

This annual feature of Markers, inaugurated in 1995, is intended to serve as an ongoing, working bibliography of relevant scholarship in the interdisciplinary field which is ever more consistently coming to be known as Cemetery and Gravemarker Studies. Entries, listed in alphabet- ical order by author, consist to a large extent of books and of articles found within scholarly journals: excluded are materials found in newspapers, popular magazines, and trade journals (though, as any researcher knows, valuable information can sometimes be gleaned from these sources), as well as genealogical publications and cemetery "readings," book reviews, video productions, electronic resources (e.g., World Wide Web sites), and irretrievably non-scholarly books (i.e., things along the order of the recently published, "revised" edition of a book with the grotesque title, The Definitive Guide to Underground Humor: Quaint Quotes about Death, Funny Funeral Home Stories, and Hilarious Headstone Epitaphs). Though not included here, it should be particularly noted that short but valuable crit- ical and analytical pieces are frequently published in the AGS Quarterly: Bulletin of the Association for Gravestone Studies (formerly - prior to 1996 - entitled the Newsletter of the Association for Gravestone Studies). New to this year's listing are a much larger selection of relevant foreign language materials in the field, the inclusion of formal master's- and doctoral-level theses and dissertations (important research often not published in the traditional manner but nonetheless frequently obtainable through interli- brary loan), and, in several instances, valuable unpublished typescripts on deposit in accessible locations.

With its debut listing in Markers XII, "The Year's Work" attempted to fill gaps in existing bibliographic resources by actually covering the year's 1990 through 1994 (for work prior to 1990, readers are advised to consult the bibliographic listings found at the conclusion of my Cemeteries and Gravemarkers: Voices of American Culture, first published in 1989 by UMI Research Press and reissued in 1992 by Utah State University Press). Since this first listing in Markers, additional materials have been identified from the earlier years of the decade which are worthy of inclusion. Realizing that, to a certain degree at least, this belated identification is likely to occur at any time, bibliographic listings will henceforth be presented

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under two headings: (I) materials from roughly 1990 through the previous year's listing which have not been previously cited in "The Year's Work"; (II) materials identifiable at press time from the year just completed. To help facilitate this ongoing process, the editor continues to welcome addenda from readers (complete bibliographic citations, please) for inclusion in future editions.

1. 1990-1995

Adler, Josef. Bernhmte Graber in Wien und Umgebung. 2d ed. Vienna, Austria: Verlag Perlen-Reihe, 1991.

Albisinni, Piero. II disegno delta memorial storia, rilievo, e analisi grafica del- V architettura fnneraria del XIX secolo. Rome, Italy: Kappa, 1994.

Anstead, Christopher J., and Bouchier, Nancy B. "The Tombstone Affair,' 1845: Woodstock Tories and Cultural Change." Ontario History 86:4 (1994), pp. 363-381.

Antoniazzo-Bocchina, Anita. Fiume, il Cimitero di Cosala. Padua, Italy: Bottega d'Erasmo, 1995.

Arbury, Andrew Stephen. "Spanish Catafalques of the Sixttenth and Seventeenth Centuries." Ph.D. diss., Rutgers University, 1992.

Ausel, Monika. Monumente des Todes - Dokumente des Lebens?: Christliche Friedhofs und Grabmalgestaltung Heute. 2d ed. Altenberge, Germany: Telos Verlag, 1990.

Bacino, Ezio. I golfi del silenzio: iconografie funerarie e cimiteri dTtalia. 2d ed. Poggibonsi, Italy: A. Lalli, 1991.

Baker, J. The New Burying Ground: The History of Clifton Street Cemetery. Belfast, Northern Ireland: Glenravel Local History Project, 1992.

Barkin, R., and Gentles, I. "Death in Victorian Toronto, 1850-1899." Urban History Review 19:1-2 (1990), pp. 14-29.

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Barrow, Julia. "Urban Cemetery Location in the High Middle Ages." In Death in Towns: Urban Responses to Dying and the Dead, 100-1600. Edited by Steven Bassett. Leicester, England: Leicester University Press, 1992, pp. 78-100.

Bartosik, Barbara. "Soteriological Iconography of the Annunciation in Two Renaissance Northern Italian Sepulchral Monuments." Master's thesis, University of Notre Dame, 1990.

Berg, Richard E. "An Investigation of Burials at the Scisson Family Cemetery in Gregory County, South Dakota." South Dakota Archaeology 14 (1990), pp. 36-92.

Berg, Shary Page. "Approaches to Landscape Preservation Treatment at Mount Auburn Cemetery." ATP Bulletin: The Journal of Preservation Technology 24:3-4 (1992), pp. 52-58.

Berger, Patrick. "Replanning of the Romantic Sector at the Pere Lachaise Cemetery." Domus 769 (1995), pp. 26-31.

Betterly, Richard D. "Using Historic Rural Church Cemeteries as a Material Culture Resource in Heritage Education." D.A. thesis, Middle Tennessee State University, 1991.

Bevans, Bruce W. "The Search for Graves." Geophysics 56:9 (1991), pp. 1310-1319.

Biddington, Ralph. "Death of the Old Melbourne Cemetery." Victorian Historical Journal 65:1 (1994), pp. 3ff.

Black, Jimmy. The Glasgow Graveyard Guide. New York, NY: State Mutual Book & Periodical Service, 1993.

Blakita, Paul M. "Rest in Peace." Civil Engineering 65:12 (1995), pp. 40-43.

Bloch, Maurice. Placing the Dead: Tombs, Ancestral Villages, and Kinship Organization in Madagascar. Rev. ed. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press, 1994.

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Bollet, Patrick. Lorient: le Cimitiere de Camel. Lorient, France: Association les Amis du Cimitiere de Carnel, 1993.

Booij, Kees. Grafmonumenten in de Grote of Sint-Gertrudiskerk te Bergen op Zoom. Bergen op Zoom, Netherlands: Geschiedkundige Kring van Stad en Land van Bergen op Zoom, 1993.

Brackner, Joey. A Walk Through Greenwood Cemetery. Tuscaloosa, AL: Heritage Commission of Tuscaloosa County, 1992.

Brasch, Rudolph. Permanent Addresses: Australians Down Under. Sydney, Australia: Angus & Robertson, 1995.

Bridges, Phyllis. The Honored Dead: The Ritual of Police Burial. Denton, TX: Center for Texas Studies at the University of North Texas, 1995.

Brinkman, Robert, and Dunlap, Sandi A. "The Centro Asturiano Cemetery: An Immigrant Landmark in Early Twentieth-Century Florida." Gulf Coast Historical Review 9:2 (1994), pp. 68-79.

Brock, James, and Schwartz, Steven J. "A Little Slice of Heaven: Investigations at Rincon Cemetery, Prado Basin, California." Historical Archaeology 25:3 (1991), pp. 78-90.

Brocke, Michael. Der Judische Friedhof in Soest: Tine Dokumentation in Text und Bild. Soest, Germany: Mocker & Jahn, 1993.

. Stein und Name: Die Judische Friedhofe in Ostdeutschland. Berlin,

Germany: Institut Kirche und Judentum, 1994.

Burley, David V. "Contexts of Meaning: Beer Bottles and Cans in Contemporary Burial Practices in the Polynesian Kingdom of Tonga." Historical Archaeology 29:1 (1995), pp. 75-83.

Buschmann, Hans-Georg. Der Nordfriedhof von Wiesbaden und seine Vorganger: Geschichte, Begrabnissitten und -riten, Grabmaler. Frankfurt am Main, Germany: P. Lang, 1991.

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Butterfield, A. "Social Structure and the Typology of Funerary Monuments in Early Renaissance Florence." Res 26 (1994), pp. 47-68.

Caba, Victoria Soto. Los catafalcos reales del Barroco Espanol: un estudio de arquitectura efimera. Madrid, Spain: Universidad Nacional de Educacion a Distancia, 1991.

Caillet, Jean-Pierre. La vie d'eternite: la sculpture funeraire dans I'Antiquite chretienne. Paris, France: Editions du Cerf, 1990.

Cardoso, Carlos Lopes. Esterlas funerarias dos Mbali: un caso de aculturacao. Coimbra, Portugal: Instituto de Antropologia, Universidade de Coimbra, 1991.

Chapel, David. "Cemeteries as a Lesson Resource." Social Studies Review 32:2 (1993), pp. 75-78.

Childs, Henry Clay. Gardens and Graveyards of the Southeastern Seaboard: A Photographic Journey. Washington, CT: Pointer Ridge Publications, 1994.

Clairmont, Christoph W. Classical Attic Tombstones. Kilchberg, Switzerland: Akanthus, 1993.

Claridge, John R. Landscapes for Eternity: Erie, Laurel Hill, and Wintergreen Gorge Cemeteries. Erie, PA: Erie Cemetery Association, 1995.

Cloulas, Annie. "La sculpture funeraire dans l'Espagne de la Renaissance: les commandes ecclesiastiques." Gazette des Beaux- Arts 121 (1993), pp. 139-163.

Coffman, Eileen Wilson. "Silent Sentinels: Funerary Monuments Designed and Executed by Louis Comfort Tiffany and Tiffany Studios." Master's thesis, Southern Methodist University, 1995.

Collins, Bobbie L. "Decoration Day at Higgins Chapel Cemetery in Unicoi County, Tennessee: A Time to Remember and to Celebrate Life." Bulletin of the Tennessee Folklore Society 54:3 (1990), pp. 82ff.

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Constant, Caroline. The Woodland Cemetery: Toward a Spiritual Landscape - Erik Gunnar Asplund and Sigurd Lewerentz, 1915-61. Stockholm, Sweden: Byggforlaget, 1994.

Cooke, R.V., Inkpen, R.J., and Wiggs, G.F.S. "Using Gravestones to Assess Changing Rates of Weathering in the United Kingdom." Earth Surface Processes and Landforms: The Journal of the British Geomorphological Research Group 20:6 (1995), pp. 531-546.

Copper, Cheryl. "A Heritage in Stone: The History of Norfolk's Burial Grounds and Customs, Seventeenth to Nineteenth Century." Master's Thesis, Old Dominion University, 1991.

Corbett, Katherine. "Belief ontaine Cemetery: St. Louis' City of the Dead." Gateway Heritage 12:2 (1991), pp. 58-67.

Cray, Robert E. "Memorialization and Enshrinement: George Whitefield and Popular Religious Culture, 1770-1850." Journal of the Early Republic 10 (1990), pp. 339-361.

Cross, David, and Bent, Robert. "Where Legends Lie." American Visions 7:5(1992), pp. 16-21.

Cross, Harold A. They Sleep Beneath the Mockingbird: Mississippi Burial Sites and Biographies of Confederate Generals. Murfreesboro, TN: Southern Heritage Press, 1994.

Cutler, Blayne. "A Spot in the Country." American Demographics 13 (1991), pp. 42-43.

Daniels, Karen L. "The Cemeteries of Chattanooga, Tennessee and their Design Influences." Master's thesis, Georgia State University, 1992.

Davies, Douglas. Reusing Old Graves: A Report on Popular British Attitudes. Crayford, England: Shaw & Sons, 1995.

Davies, Glenys. "The Language of Gesture in Greek Art: Gender and Status on Grave Stelai." Apollo 140 (1994), pp. 6-11.

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Davey, Frances E. The Outcast Artisan: The Struggles of Gravestone Carver Solomon Ashley. Deerfield, MA: Historic Deerfield Fellowship Program, 1991.

Day, Karen Elizabeth. "Cultural Landscape Report: Oakwood Cemetery." Master's Thesis, State University of New York - College of Environmental Sciences and Forestry, 1994.

DeRosa, Elizabeth Johnston. "Louis Comfort Tiffany and the Development of Religious Landscape Memorial Windows." Ph.D. diss., Columbia University, 1995.

Dethlefsen, Edwin. "Strange Attractions and the Cemetery Set." In The Art and Mystery of Historical Archaeology: Essays in Honor of James Deetz. Edited by Anne Elizabeth Yentsch and Mary C. Beaudry. Boca Raton, FL: CRC, 1992, pp. 149-164.

Devins, Driscoll P. Home of the Living: A Venetian Cemetery. Verona, Italy: Triton Press, 1991.

Dickenberger, Udo. "Poesie auf Grabern: Die Literarischen Inschriften des Hoppenlau-Friedhofs." Marbacher-Magazin 59 (1991), pp. 3-37.

Dinn, Robert. "'Monuments Answerable to Mens' Worth': Burial Patterns, Social Status and Gender in Late Medieval Bury St. Edmunds." The

Journal of Ecclesiastical History 46:2 (1995), pp. 237-255.

Donohue-Putnam, Barbara. "Patterns Behind the Images: Newton Gravestone Art, 1680 to 1820." Master's thesis, University of Massachusetts at Boston, 1990.

Dooner, Vincetta DiRocco. Seasons of Life and Learning: Lake View Cemetery, an Educator's Handbook. Cleveland, OH: Lake View Cemetery Foundation, 1990.

Dove, J. "A Comparison of Gravestones in Two County Churchyards." Proceedings - Geologists' Association 103:2 (1992), pp. 143-154.

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Dowe, Amy Patricia. "Finding the Children: An Archaeological Case Study from St. Phillip's Moravian Church and Parish Graveyard." Master's thesis, University of South Carolina, 1994.

Drozda, Robert M. "They Talked of the Land with Respect': Interethnic Communication in the Documentation of Historical Places and Cemetery Sites." In When Our Words Return: Hearing and Remembering Oral Traditions of Alaska and the Yukon. Edited by Phyllis Morrow and William Schneider. Logan, UT: Utah State University Press, 1995, pp. 98-122.

Echo-Hawk, Roger G. Battlefields and Burial Grounds: The Indian Struggle to Protect Ancestral Graves in the United States. Minneapolis, MN: Lerner Publications Co., 1994.

Elliott, John R. "Funerary Artifacts in Contemporary America." Death Studies 14:6 (1990), pp. 601-612.

Ell wood, Brooks B. "Electrical Resistivity Surveys in Two Historical Cemeteries in Northeast Texas: A Method for Delineating Unidentified Burial Shafts." Historical Archaeology 24:2 (1990), pp. 91- 98.

, et al. "Search for the Grave of the Hanged Texas Gunfighter,

William Preston Longley." Historical Archaeology 28:3 (1994), pp. 94- 112.

Etzold, Alfred. Der Dorotheenstadtische Friedhof: Die Begrabnisstatten an der Berliner Chausseestrasse. Berlin, Germany: Ch. Links, 1993.

Fairey, Wade B. "The Changing York County, South Carolina Tombstone Business, 1750-1850." Journal of Early Southern Decorative Arts 16:2 (1990), pp. 1-29.

Farhat, May. "The Funerary Complex of Qaytbay in the Eastern Cemetery: An Interpretation." Master's thesis, University of Victoria (Canada), 1990.

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Farr, Warner Dahlgren. "Resting Rebels: A Historical and Medical Study of the San Antonio Confederate Cemetery." Master's thesis, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, 1990.

Fendak, Janos. Monumental Tombs of the Hellenistic Age: A Study of Selected Tombs from the Pre-Classical to the Early Imperial Era. Cheektowaga, Canada: University of Toronto Press, 1990.

Ferguson, Robert. The Pioneers of Lake View: A Guide to Seattle's Early Settlers and Their Cemetery. Bellevue, WA: Thistle Press, 1995.

Filey, Mike. Mount Pleasant Cemetery: An Illustrated Guide. Toronto, Canada: Firefly, 1990.

Fitts, Robert K. "Gravestone Inscriptions as a Source for Colonial History: A Case Study on the Transition from Puritan to Yankee New England." Man in the Northeast 41 (1991), pp. 65-83.

. Puritans, Yankees, and Gravestones: A Linguistic Analysis of New

England Gravestone Inscriptions. Columbia, SC: South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of South Carolina, 1990.

Flores, Francisco Moita. Cemiterios de Lisboa: entre o real e o imaginario. Lisbon, Portugal: Camara Municipal de Lisboa, 1991.

Foley, David C.C. "The American Rural Cemetery: An Outgrowth of European Romanticism." Master's thesis, University of Notre Dame, 1991.

Frobish, Dennis. "The Cheyenne Cemetery: Reflections of the Life of a City." Annals of Wyoming 62:2 (1990), pp. 90-99.

Garfield, Linda. "Obelisks and Angels: A Social and Aesthetic History of Calvary Cemetery, Evanston, Illinois." Master's thesis, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, 1995.

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Gargiulo, Emy. "A Cemetery on Punta Delia Campanella, Sorrento." Master's thesis, Harvard University, 1991.

Garman, James C. 'Faithful and Loyal Servants': The Masking and Marking of Ethnicity in the Material Culture of Death. Columbia, SC: South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of South Carolina, 1992.

. "Viewing the Color Line Through the Material Culture of

Death." Historical Archaeology 28:3 (1994), pp. 74-93.

Goberman, David Noevich. Jewish Tombstones in Ukraine and Moldova. Moscow, Russia: Image Publishing House, 1993.

Golden, Gerald D. "Each in His Narrow Cell Forever Laid: An Investigation Into the Evolution of the American Cemetery Within the Central Connecticut Region." Master's thesis, Central Connecticut State University, 1995.

Gordon, William Ashley. "Style and Status: A Case Study of Competetive Display." Master's thesis, Arizona State University, 1995.

Greene, Janet. Epitaphs to Remember: Remarkable Inscriptions from New England Gravestones. Rev. ed. Chambersburg, PA: Alan C. Hood and Company, Inc., 1993.

Greenwood, Douglas. Wlio's Buried Wltere in England. Rev. ed. London, England: Constable, 1994.

Hagan, Christina Marie. "A Child's Sarcophagus in Raleigh." Master's thesis, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1994.

Hammer, Klaus. Historische Friedhofe und Grabmaler in Berlin. Berlin, Germany: Stattbuch Verlag, 1994.

Harbolt, Tami. "Too Loved to Be Forgotten: Pet Loss and Ritual Bereavement." Master's thesis, Western Kentucky University, 1993.

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Harrington, Spencer P.M. "Children of the African Burial Ground."

Archaeology 48 (1995), pp. 14-15.

Haubold, Barbara. Die Grabdenkmaler des Wiener Zentralfriedhofs von 1874 bis 1918. Munster, Germany: Lit, 1990.

Hawkins, David C. "Trees of Mid-Nineteenth Century Rural Cemeteries." Master's thesis, State University of New York - College of Environmental Sciences and Forestry, 1994.

Healy, Lisa Jo. "Attitudes Toward Children and Death as Reflected in Broome County Gravestones." Master's thesis, State University of New York at Binghampton, 1990.

Heyne, Maren. Stille Garten - Beredte Steine: Judische Friedhofe im Rheinland. Bonn, Germany: Dietz, 1994.

Holl, Augustin. "The Cemetery of Houlouf in Northern Cameroon (AD 1500-1600): Fragments of a Past Social System." African Archaeological Review 12 (1994), pp. 133-170.

Holliday, Peter James. "Processional Imagery in Late Etruscan Funerary Art." American Journal of Archaeology 94 (1990), pp. 73-93.

Hondo, Leszek. Epitaphs and Symbolism of the Gravestones at the Jewish Cemetery in Tarnow. Tarnow, Poland: Regional Museum of Tarnow, 1992.

Hoshower, Lisa M., and Milanich, Jerald T. "Excavations in the Fig Springs Mission Burial Area." Florida Anthropologist 44:2-4 (1991), pp. 214-227.

Hughes, Buckner, and Hughes, Nathaniel C, Jr. Quiet Places: The Burial Sites of Civil War Generals in Tennessee. Knoxville, TN: East Tennessee Historical Society, 1992.

Inglis, Ken. "Entombing Unknown Soldiers from London and Paris to Baghdad." History and Memory 5 (1993), pp. 7-31.

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Jamieson, Ross W. "Material Culture and Social Death: African-American Burial Practices." Historical Archaeology 29:4 (1995), pp. 39-58.

Jochens, Birgit. Die Friedhofe in Berlin-Charlottenburg: Geschicte der Friedhofsanlagen und deren Grabmalkultur. Berlin, Germany: Stapp, 1994.

Jumonville, Florence M. "The Wastebasket and the Grave: Funeralia in the South." Southern Quarterly 31:2 (1993), pp. 98-118.

Kerrigan, Michael. Who Lies Wliere: A Guide to Famous Graves. London, England: Fourth Estate, 1995.

King, Henry. Tar Heel Tombstones and the Tales They Tell. Asheboro, NC: Down Home Press, 1990.

King, Julia A., Bevan, Bruce W., and Hurry, Robert J. "The Reliability of Geophysical Surveys at Historic-Period Cemeteries: An Example from the Plains Cemetery, Mechanicsville, Maryland." Historical Archaeology 27:3 (1993), pp. 4-16.

Kippax, John R., ed. Churchyard Literature: A Choice Collection of American Epitaphs, with Remarks on Monumental Inscriptions and the Obsequies of Various Nations. Reprint of 1876 edition. Bowie, MD: Heritage Books, Inc., 1994.

Knobloch, Heinz. Berliner Grabsteine. 4th ed. Berlin, Germany: Morgenbuch Verlag, 1991.

Kohler, Rosemarie. Der Judische Friedhof Sclwnhauser Allee. Berlin, Germany: Haude und Spenersche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1992.

Kot, Elizabeth. U.S. Cemetery Address Book. Vallejo, CA: Indices Publishing, 1994.

Krajewska, Monika. A Tribe of Stones: Jewish Cemeteries in Poland. Warsaw, Poland: Polish Scientific Publishers, 1993.

202

Krepps, Karen Lee. "Black Mortuary Practices in Southeast Michigan." Ph.D. diss., Wayne State University, 1990.

Laffin, John. We Will Remember Them: Australian Epitaphs of World War I. Kenthurst, Australia: Kangaroo Press, 1995.

Lafontaine, E. Antonieta. En la memoria de la piedra: historia, creencias y mitos del culto a los muertos. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Grupo Editor Latinoamericano, 1995.

Lagree, Michel. Tombes de memoire: la devotion populaire aux victimes de la Revolution dans I'Ouest. Rennes, France: Editions Apogee, 1993.

Laqueur, T.W. "Cemeteries, Religion and the Culture of Capitalism." In Capitalism in Context: Essays in Economic Development and Cultural Change in Honor of R.M. Hartwell. Edited by John A. James and Mark Thomas. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994, pp. 138-155.

Latini, Luigi. Cimiteri e giardini: citta e paesaggi funerari d'Occidente. Firenze, Italy: Alinea, 1994.

Lawrence, Cynthia. "The Monument of Elisabeth Morgan: Issues and Problems in Late Renaissance Sepulchral Art." Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 45 (1994), pp. 324-349.

Leveillee, Alan D., and Glover, Suzanne. "An Archaeological Approach to a Suspected 18th and 19th Century Graveyard: Investigations Along the North River, Norwell, Massachusetts." Bulletin of the Massachusetts Archaeological Society 53:2 (1992), pp. 42-51.

Levenson, Rosaline. "Oroville's Jewish Cemetery: Enduring Legacy of the Gold Rush." Western States Jewish Historical Quarterly 23:1 (1990), pp. 3-14.

Litt, Paul. Death at Snake Hill: Secrets From a War of 1812 Cemetery. Toronto, Canada: Dundurn Press, 1993.

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Livengood, R. Mark. "Flagstaff, Arizona, Citizen's Cemetery Gravestones and Graves: Symbols of a Western Culture's Dialogue With the Land." Master's thesis, Northern Arizona University, 1990.

Livingston, R.A., and Baer, N.S. "Use of Tombstones in Investigations of Deterioration of Stone Monuments." Environmental Geology and Water Sciences 16:1 (1990), pp. 83-90.

Malikova, Milena Critz. "Tombstones in St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague." Master's thesis, San Jose State University, 1994.

Marwil, Milton. "The True Story of the Cemetery in the General Motors Parking Lot." Michigan Jewish History 33 (1992), pp. 30-32.

Masson, Ann Merritt. "The Mortuary Architecture of Jacques Nicolas Bussiere de Pouilly" Master's thesis, Tulane University, 1992.

Mateescu-Bogdan, Catalina. "Brancusi's Tirgu Jiu Funerary Ensemble: An Analysis of History, Form, and Meaning." Master's thesis, Tulane University, 1990.

McCain, Diana Ross. "Graveyards and Gravestones." Early American Eife 23:5 (1992), pp. 14-18.

McDannell, Colleen. "The Religious Symbolism of Laurel Hill Cemetery." Chap. 4 in Material Christianity: Religion and Popular Culture in America. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1995, pp. 103-131.

McGowan, Elizabeth P. "Tomb Marker and Turning Post: Funerary Columns in the Archaic Period." American Journal of Archaeology 99 (1995), pp. 615-632.

Melano, Oscar Pedro. II monumentale di Milano: guida all 'architettura e alle opere d'arte. Milan, Italy: Guerini e associati, 1994.

Menschen, Schicksale, Monumente: Doblinger Friedhof, Wien. Vienna, Austria: F. Csongei, 1990.

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Messer, Stephen C. "Individual Responses to Death in Puritan Massachusetts." Omega: Journal of Death and Dying 21:2 (1990), pp. 155-163.

Meyer, Elizabeth A. "Epitaphs and Citizenship in Classical Athens." The Journal of Hellenic Studies 113 (1993), pp. 99-121.

Miller, Mildred J. Time Is, Time Was: Burial Customs and History, Iredell County, North Carolina. Statesville, NC: Genealogical Society of Iredell County, 1990.

Misra, Ratanalala. The Mortuary Monuments in Ancient and Medieval India. Delhi, India: B.R. Publishing Corp., 1991

Moore, J. Roderick. "Decorated Gravestones of Wythe County, Virginia." Antiques 140:4 (1991), pp. 618-627.

Morawski, Karol. Warszawskie Cmentarze: Przezvodnik History czny. Warsaw, Poland: Wydawn, 1991.

Moriarty, Ellen. "A Cemetery, House, and Chapel in Mid-Town Jackson, Mississippi." Master's thesis, Mississippi State University, 1995.

Mosley, Erma Dianne. "The History and Social Context of an African- American Family Cemetery and Its Influence on Social Organization and Mental Health." Ph.D. diss., Texas Woman's University, 1991.

Mrozowski, Przemyslaw. Polskie Nagrobki Gotyckie. Warsaw, Poland: Zamek Krolewski w Warszawie, 1994.

Muller-Wille, Michael. Death and Burial in Medieval Europe. Philadelphia, PA: Coronet Books, 1993.

Munman, Robert. Sienese Renaissance Tomb Monuments. Philadelphia, PA: American Philosophical Society, 1993.

Murray, Hugh. This Garden of Death: The History of York Cemetery. York, England: Friends of York Cemetery, 1991.

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The York Graveyard Guide. Edinburgh, Scotland: Saint Andrew

Press, 1994.

Nadenicek, Daniel J. "Sleepy Hollow Cemetery: Philosophy Made Substance." Emerson Society Papers 5:1 (1994), pp. 1-2; 8.

Nakagawa, Tadashi. "Cemetery Landscapes of Ascension Parish, Louisiana." Geographical Bulletin 36:2 (1994), pp. 65-73.

. "Gravestone Landscape Evolution of A Japanese Rural

Cemetery." Geographical Bulletin 34:2 (1992), pp. 82-90.

. "Louisiana Cemeteries as Cultural Artifacts." Geographical

Review of Japan 63:2 (1990), pp. 139-155.

Nicolai, Julie Dell. "Augustus Saint Gaudens' Adams Memorial." Master's thesis, Washington University, 1992.

Nicolas-Gomez, Dora. La morada de los vivos y la morada de los muertos: arquitectura domestica y funeraria del sigh XIX en Murcia. Murcia, Spain: Universidad de Murcia, 1994.

Niewoehner, Elizabeth S. "Gender and Age Roles in Transition: Early Boston Gravestones as Indicators of Historical Change." Master's thesis, Harvard University, 1990.

Noonan, Peter V. "Ritual and Place: A New Urban Cemetery." Master's thesis, University of Maryland at College Park, 1992.

Norris, Malcolm. "Later Medieval Monumental Brasses: An Urban Funerary Industry and Its Representation of Death." In Death in Towns: Urban Responses to the Dying and the Dead, 100-1600. Edited by Steven Bassett. Leicester, England: Leicester University Press, 1992, pp. 184-209.

Noy, David. Jewish Inscriptions of Western Europe. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1995.

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Oliver, Vere L. Monumental Inscriptions: Tombstones of the Island of Barbados. San Bernardino, CA: Borgo Press, 1995.

O'Neil, Thomas E. Home at Rest: The Story of the West Point Cemetery. Brooklyn, NY: Arrow & Trooper Publishing, 1991.

O'Neill, Barbara. Cemetery Art in the Old Burying Ground. Beaufort, NC: Beaufort Historical Association, 1990.

Oy-Marra, Elisabeth. Florentiner Ehrengrabmaler der Fruhrenaissance. Berlin, Germany: Gebr. Mann, 1994.

Paine, Cecelia. "Landscape Management of Abandoned Cemeteries in Ontario." APT Bulletin: The Journal of Preservation Technology 24:3-4 (1992), pp. 59-68.

Paludan, Ann. The Chinese Spirit Road: The Classical Tradition of Stone Tomb Statuary. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1991.

Paonessa, Laurie J. "The Cemeteries of St. Eustatius, N.A.: Status in a Caribbean Community." Master's thesis, College of William and Mary, 1990.

Pereira, Jose. Islamic Sacred Architecture: A Stylistic History. Columbia, MO: South Asia Books, 1994.

Petrucci, Armando. Le scritture ultime: ideologia della morte e strategic dello scrivere nella tradizione occidentale. Torino, Italy: Giulio Eidaudi, 1995.

Pfeiffer, Susan, and Williamson, Ronald E, eds. Snake Hill: An Investigation of a Military Cemetery from the War of 1812. Toronto, Canada: Dundurn Press, 1991.

Phillips, Mary Jane. "A Second Empire Memorial to Itself: Significant Aspects of the Funerary Monuments in Paris' Pere Lachaise Cemetery (1850-1871)." Ph.D. diss., University of California, Berkeley, 1993.

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Pinnau, Peter. Gruft Mausoleum Grabkapelle: Studien zur Sepulkralarchitektur des 19. und des 20. Jahrhunderts mit Besonderer Hinsicht auf Adolph von Hildebrand. Munich, Germany: Maander, 1992.

Podgarbi, Bronislaw. Cmentarz Zydowski w Lodzi. Lodz, Poland: Wydawn, 1990.

Precht-Banados, Hernan Alejandro. Cementerio General de Santiago. Santiago, Chile: Ilustre Municipalidad de Santiago, 1990.

Protsenko, Liudmyla. Kyivskyi Nekropol: Putivnyk-Dovidnyk. Kiev, Ukraine: Ukrainskyi Pysmennyk, 1994.

Rauschenberg, Bradford L. "A Study of Baroque and Gothic-Style Gravestones in Charleston and Its Environs." Journal of Early Southern Decorative Arts. 26:1 (1990), pp. 19-63.

Rees, Nigel. Epitaphs: A Dictionary of Grave Epigrams and Memorial Eloquence. New York, NY: Carroll & Graf, 1994.

Rhoads, Loren. Death's Garden: Relationships with Cemeteries. San Francisco, CA: Automatism Press, 1995.

Ridlen, Susanne S. 'Tree-Stump Tombstones: The Influence of Traditional Cultural Values on Rustic Funerary Art in Indiana in the 1890s." Ph.D. diss., Indiana University, 1992.

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. "'A Foothold in Europe': The Aesthetics and Politics of

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208

Ruuskanen, Leena. Der Heidelberger Bergfriedhof: Kulturgeschichte und Grabkultur. Heidelberg, Germany: B. Guderjahn, 1992.

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Schneider, Carlo. Die Friedhofe in Darmstadt. Darmstadt, Germany: E. Roether, 1991.

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209

Shannon, Edward J. "As Time Passes: Garden, Monument, Ruin." Master's thesis, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1992.

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210

Steines, Patricia. Mahnmale: Judische Friedhofe in Wien, Niederosterreich, und Burgenland. Vienna, Austria: H.H. Hitschmann, 1992.

Stjernquist, Berta, ed. Pre-Historic Graves as a Source of Information. Philadelphia, PA: Coronet Books, 1994.

Strutt, Michael. "Rediscovering the Dead: Practical Applications to Remote Sensing in Historic Cemeteries." Master's thesis, College of William and Mary, 1991.

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Turnbull, Michael. The Edinburgh Graveyard Guide. New York, NY: State Mutual Book & Periodical Service, 1991.

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Valimont, Kathleen Marie. "Air Pollution and Spatial Patterns of Marble Tombstone Weathering in Western Pennsylvania." Master's thesis, University of Deleware, 1990.

Vandervelde, Cecelia. La Necropole de Bruxelles: etude de V architecture et de la sculpture funeraires, des symboles et des epitaphes, inventaires. Brussels, Belgium: Commission d'histoire de l'Europe, 1991.

211

Veit, Richard. "Middlesex County Gravestones, 1687-1799: Shadows of a Changing Culture." Master's thesis, College of William and Mary, 1991.

Wapnish, Paula, and Hesse, Brian. "Pampered Pooches or Plain Pariahs?: The Ashkelon Dog Burials." The Biblical Archaeologist 56:2 (1993), pp. 55-80.

Wiggins, Deborah Elaine. "The Burial Acts: Cemetery Reform in Great Britain, 1815-1914." Ph.D. diss., Texas Tech University, 1991.

Willoughby, William Thomas. "A Theoretical Investigation in the Metaphysics of Architecture: A Design Study in Funerary Architecture." Master's thesis, Kent State University, 1991.

Wilson, David M. Awful Ends: The British Museum Book of Epitaphs. London, England: British Museum Press, 1993.

Woods, Ann Christine. "The Funerary Monuments of the Augustales in Italy." Ph.D. diss., University of California, Los Angeles, 1991.

Woronczak, Jan Pawel. Specyfika Kulturowa Cmentarzy Zydowskich. Katowice, Poland: Wojewodzka Biblioteka Publiczna w Katowicach, 1993.

Young, Mel. Wliere They Lie: Someone Should Say Kaddish. Latham, MD: University Press of America, 1991.

II. 1996

Archaeological Investigations and Restoration of the Old Pioneer Cemetery in Greenland, Washington County, Arkansas. West Fork, AR: SPEARS, Inc., 1996.

Baird, Scott. "The Taylor, Texas, Cemetery: A Language Community." Markers XIII (1996), pp. 112-141.

212

Bertram, Jerome, ed. Monumental Brasses As Art and History. Herndon, VA: Books International, Inc., 1996.

Broce, Gerald. "Juris: An Ethnic Cemetery on the High Plains." Plains Anthropologist 41:156 (1996), pp. 175-204.

Callahan, Leslie Abend. "Signs of Sorrow: The Expression of Grief and the Representation of Mourning in Fifteenth-Century French Culture." Ph.D. diss., City University of New York, 1996.

Carrington, Jill Emilee. "Sculpted Tombs of the Professors of the University of Padua, c. 1358 - c. 1557." Ph.D. diss., Syracuse University, 1996.

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Daniell, Christopher. Death and Burial in Medieval England, 1066-1550. New York, NY: Routledge, 1996.

Dayton, Kim. "Trespassers Beware!': Lyda Burton Conley and the Battle for Huron Place Cemetery." Yale Journal of Law and Feminism 8:1 (1996), pp. 1-30.

Dockall, Helen Danzeiser. Home Hereafter: An Archaeological and Bioarchaeological Ananysis of an Historic African-American Cemetery. College Station, TX: Center for Environmental Archaeology, Texas A & M University, 1996.

Edge, Kay. "The African Burial Ground." Master's thesis, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1996.

213

Esmonde-Cleary, A. Simon. Excavations at the New Cemetery, Rochester, Staffordshire, 1985-1987. Stafford, England: Staffordshire Archaeological and Historical Society, 1996.

Fanning, Kathryn. "American Temples: Presidential Memorials of the American Renaissance." Ph.D. diss., University of Virginia, 1996.

Felsen, Gregg. Tombstones: 80 Famous People and Their Final Resting Places. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press, 1996.

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Florence, Robert. City of the Dead: A Journey Through St. Louis Cemetery #1, New Orleans, Louisiana. Lafayette, LA: Center for Louisiana Studies, University of Southwestern Louisiana, 1996.

Franck, Michael S. Elmwood Endures: History of a Detroit Cemetery. Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press, 1996.

Huskinson, Janet. Roman Children's Sarcophagi: Their Decoration and Social Significance. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1996.

Jensvold, Angela. "Geophysical Methods of Locating Unknown Graves, Wyuka Cemetery, Nebraska." Master's Thesis, University of Nebraska - Lincoln, 1996.

Jett, Stephen C. "Modern Navajo Cemeteries." Material Culture 28:2 (1996), pp. 1-23.

Kaufman, Edward, ed. Reclaiming Our Past, Honoring Our Ancestors: New York's Eighteenth Century African American Burial Ground and the Memorial Competition. New York, NY: African Burial Ground Competition Coalition, 1996.

214

Kelly, Ann Christine. "History and Documentation of Five Major Local Cemeteries in the City of San Diego." Master's thesis, University of San Diego, 1996.

Knoblock, Glenn A. "From Jonathan Hartshorne to Jeremiah Lane: Fifty Years of Gravestone Carving in Coastal New Hampshire." Markers Xin (1996), pp. 74-111.

Konefes, John L., and McGee, Michael K. "Old Cemeteries, Arsenic, and Health Safety." Cultural Resource Management 19:10 (1996): pp. 15-18.

Lees, Hilary. Cornwall's Churchyard Heritage. Truro, England: Twelveheads, 1996.

. Hallowed Ground: The Churchyards of Wiltshire. Chippenham,

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Lewis, Simon. "Graves With a View: Atavism and the European History of Africa." Ariel: A Review of International English Literature 27:1 (1996), pp. 41-60.

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215

Peterson, Freda C. Over My Dead Body: The Story of Hillside Cemetery, Silverton, Colorado. 2d ed. Norman, OK: Levite of Apache Publishing, 1996.

Rankin-Hill, Lesley M. A Biohistory of 19th-century Afro- Americans: The Burial Remains of a Philadelphia Cemetery. Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey, 1996.

Reisem, Richard O. Forest Lawn Cemetery: Buffalo History Preserved. Buffalo, NY: Forest Lawn Heritage Foundation, 1996.

Ride, Lindsay. An East India Company Cemetery: Protestant Burials at Macao. Hong Kong, China: Hong Kong University Press, 1996.

Ridlen, Susanne S. "Tree-Stump Tombstones: Traditional Cultural Values and Rustic Funerary Art." Markers XIII (1996), pp. 44-73.

Robb, John E. "New Directions in Italian Burial Studies: A Disorganized Renaissance?" American Journal of Archaeology 100:4 (1996), pp. 773- 776.

Robinson, David, and Koontz, Dean R. Beautiful Death: The Art of the Cemetery. New York, NY: Penguin, 1996.

Schroeder, Marjorie B. "In a Box of Pine: Coffins from the Grafton Historic Cemetery." The Living Museum 58:1 (1996), pp. 3-5.

Shepardson, Ann F. "John Huntington, Gravestone Carver of Lebanon, Connecticut." Markers XIII (1996), pp. 142-222.

Slater, James A. "Jotham Warren: The Plainfield Trumpeter." Markers XIII (1996), pp. 1-43.

Solomon, Jack. Gone Home: Epitaphs from Alabama. Montgomery, AL: Black Belt Press, 1996.

Smith, Ronald G. The Death Care Industries in the United States. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., 1996.

216

Stump, Richard Edward. "Siting the Industrial Cemetery: New Burial Grounds and Crematory for Braintree, MA." Master's thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1996.

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217

CONTRIBUTORS

David M. Gradwohl, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at Iowa State University, lists as his principal research interest the relationship of eth- nicity and material culture. He was a co-founder and former chair of the American Indian Studies Program at ISU. A past president of the Plains Anthropological Society, he is currently a member of the Board of Editors of the National Association for Ethnic Studies. His article on Jewish ceme- teries in Louisville, Kentucky, appears in Markers X, and, with Richard E. Meyer, he co-authored an article on San Francisco's Presidio Pet Cemetery which appeared in Markers XII.

Loren N. Horton has retired after 24 years with the State Historical Society of Iowa, most recently in the capacity of Senior Historian. He is the author of numerous articles about 1 9th Century history and culture, and served as guest editor for the January, 1994 issue of the Journal of the West, to which he also contributed an article entitled "Victorian Gravestone Symbolism on the Great Plains." He has also published other articles concerning symbolism on Victorian gravemarkers, and has fre- quently presented papers at the annual meetings of the Cemeteries and Gravemarkers Section of the American Culture Association.

Tom Malloy is Professor of American History at Mount Wachusset Community College in Gardner, Massachusetts. Brenda Malloy teaches fifth grade in Westminster, Massachusetts, and serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Association for Gravestone Studies. Both have presented a number of scholarly papers on cemeteries and gravemarkers at annual meetings of AGS and the American Culture Association. Earlier articles by them have appeared in Markers IX and Markers XI.

Richard E. Meyer is Professor of English and Folklore at Western Oregon State College in Monmouth, Oregon. Besides serving as editor of Markers, he has edited the books Cemeteries and Gravemarkers: Voices of American Culture (1989, reprinted 1992) and Ethnicity and the American Cemetery (1993) and is co-author (with Peggy McDowell) of the book The Revival Styles in American Memorial Art (1994). He is a member of the editorial board of The Journal of American Culture, and from 1986-1996 chaired the Cemeteries and Gravemarkers section of the American Culture

218

Association. His articles on Oregon pioneer gravema'kers and (with David M. Gradwohl) on San Francisco's Presidio Pet Cemetery have appeared in Markers XI and Markers XII, respectively.

Robin Franklin Nigh is a doctoral candidate in Art History at Florida State University and the registrar for the Museum of Fine Arts, located on the campus of FSU. Her primary area of interest is contemporary non- western art. The essay which appears in this issue of Markers is an out- growth of a graduate seminar under the direction of professors Jehanne Teilhet-Fisk and Robert Farris Thompson.

Barbara Rotundo, Associate Professor Emeritus of English at the State University of New York at Albany, is a long-time member of the Association for Gravestone Studies and a recipient of the Association's Harriette Merrifield Forbes Award for excellence in gravestone studies. Her normal publishing mode includes articles on topics concerning Nineteenth-Century gravestones, cemeteries and literature: with her essay in the current issue of Markers she moves up to modern times.

Ralph L. Tucker is a retired clergyman who has been involved with genealogical research and the study of New England G ravestones since the early 1960s. He was the first president of the Association for Gravestone Studies and in 1992 received the Association's Harriette Merrifield Forbes Award for excellence in gravestone studies. He has authored previous articles on New England carvers in Markers IX, Markers X, Markers XI, and Markers XII.

219

INDEX

Boldface page numbers [in brackets] indicate illustrations

Aberbach Gallery, New York NY, 6 Abington, MA 134-137, 139-140, 144, 147 Adams, John 63 Adams, Sarah 149 Adams, Zabdiel 63, [61] African-American Church, role of 158-189 Andera, Albert (grandson of Charles

Andera) 117 Andera, Albert (son of Charles Andera) 117 Andera, Anna 127

Andera, Charles (Karel) 110-133, [112, 114] Andera, Frantisek 111 Andera, Josef 111, 113 Andera, John 117 Andera, Vaclav 111 Andera, William 115 Anderson, Pat and John 10 Apeahtone 11 "A Remembered Muse (Tosca)" (Cannon)

5-6 Art Institute of San Francisco, San

Francisco, CA 3 Art Noveau 4

Association for Gravestone Studies 94 Ayavalla Plantation Cemetery, Leon

County, FL 163-165, 179

Badger Wire and Iron Works, Milwaukee,

WI125 Baird, Scott 99 Balik, Robert 123 Balounova, Anna 111 Barnetts Creek Baptist Church, Thomas

County, GA 186 Bartoll, Hannah [143] Bartoll, Samuel [141] Beaumont-May Gallery, Hanover, NH 6 Benes, Peter 136

Bethel Baptist Church, Tallahassee, FL 162 Bicknell, Jane 144 Bicknell, Thomas 139, 144 "Big Foot in the Snow" (Cannon) 5 Black Leggings Warrior Society 4, 26 Blassingame, John 186 Bliss, Earl 7

Bodmer, Karl 8

Bowen, Cyrus 106

Bracey, Kattie [91]

Bridge, Ebenezer 45, 49, [44]

Brown, Samuel [134]

Buckminster, Joseph 78-80, [78]

Buffalo Bill Cody Cultural Center, Cody,

WY6 Buffalohead, Stephanie 10 Butterworth, Hezekiah 166

Caddo tribe 1-33

Cannon, Joyce 2, 20

Cannon Mimi Ahdunko 2, 20-21, 29,

[23, 24] Cannon, T.C. 1-33, [vi, 2, 26, 27, 28] Cannon, Vernon 2, 20 Cannon, Walter 2, 20-21, 29, [23, 24] Catholic Workman 116, 118 Catlin, George 8 Cekalova, Katerina 111 Central State University, Edmond, OK 3-4 Chaddelstone, Sherman 23, 30 Chanler, John 38-39, [39] Chicago Bears football team 172-173 Chicago Spectro Service Laboratory,

Chicago, IL 120 Clark, Thomas 42-44, [42] Cohoe, Gray 7 Colburn, Paul 80

Colby College, Waterville, ME 144 "Collector #5," aka "Osage with Van Gogh"

(Cannon) 4 Congregational Church 34-85 Conover, IA 117, [116] Conway, NC 101 Cooling Boards 169-170 Copp's Hill Burial Ground, Boston, MA 139 Culbreth, Renial 105-106 Cumings, Henry 39-40, [40] Curley Chief, Alexandra and Bertha 10 Curtis, Zilpa 142, [142] Cushing, Job 68 Cushing, John 66-68, [67] Custer, George Armstrong 5

220

Davis, Joseph 80-81, [80]

Day, B. 51

Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Educational

Center, Seattle, WA 6 Dear, Elizabeth 23-24 Dickey, Bettie [178] Dix, Samuel 55-57, [56] Dorsey, Henry 102 Dorstal, Barbara 111, 113-114 Dorstal, Jan Nepomucky 114 Dorstal, John 117 Dorstal, W.A. 127 BuBois, W.E.B. 161-162 Dvorak, Antonin 115 Dwight, John 56

East Burying Ground, Westford, MA 45-47

Eaton, Lydia 141

Eckiwaudah, Thomas Hugh 18

Edmondson, William 106

Eiteljorg Museum of American Indian and

Western Art, Indianapolis, IN 7 Emerson, Joseph 53-54, [53] "Epochs in Plains History: Mother Earth,

Father Sun, the Children Themselves"

(Cannon) 6 Eppes, Francis 187

Feathers, Kirby 25-26

First Cemetery, Littleton, MA 47-49

First Central Union 118

Fiske, John 41-43, [41]

Florida A&M University 172-173

Florida State Photographic Archives 168-

169 Florida State University 162 Forefather's Burying Ground, Chelmsford,

MA 40-45 Fort Atkinson, IA 117-118 Francis family 10 Frederick, Joan 23 Frink, Thomas 79

Gadsen County, FL 158-189 Galimore, Willie 173, [172] Garnett, Sarah 149 Gates, Pairlee [97] Glassie, Henry 103

"Grandmother Gestating Father and the Washita Runs Ribbon-Like" (Cannon) 4

Grant, Lurline W. [90]

Greenwood Cemetery, Tallahassee, FL 1 73, 179, 188

Grosvenor, Ebenezer 59-60, [58]

Haley, Alex 101

Hall, Willard 45-47, 49, [46]

Hancock, John 63

Hanover, MA 147

Hardwick, MA 74-76

Harrison, Bart 10

Harvard College 37-39, 45, 48-49, 51, 59, 61,

68, 70, 76, 80 Harvard, MA 57-60 Hayden, Benjamin 136, [137] Heard Museum, Phoenix, AZ 6 Hearsey, Benjamin [147] Hector, George 10 Hemenway, Phinehas 54-55, [55] Hill, Anne 66 Hinds County, MS 86-109 "His Hair Flows Like a River" (Cannon) 5 Hoag, Enoch 14, [15] Hobart, John 144 Holden, MA 80-81 Holliday, Florence [164] Holmes, R.B. 187

Holt Cemetery, New Orleans, LA 103, 105 Holy Trinity Church, Protivin, IA 114 Houser, Allan 3 Hunt, Hannah 144 Hurston, Zora Neale 159-160 Hutchings, Billy 165, 170, 173, 176

Institute of American Indian Arts, Santa Fe,

NM3 Inventory of American Sculpture 91 Iowa State University 120

Jackson, Jessie 162 Jackson, MS 86-109 Jeane, D. Gregory 160 Jefferson County, FL 158-189 Jenkins, Alice (Elsie?) 139 Johnson, Daniel 57-59, [58] Jones, Cecilia Belgrade 14 Jones, Frank Waldon 13-14

221

Jones, Isaac [146] Jones, Mary 139 Jordan, Terry G. 103

Kaiolicky Delnik Inkorporovany ve satu

Minnesota 120 Keah-Tigh, Margaret Jane and F.M. (A-On-

Hote-Ban and Ke-He-Gould-Da) 12, [13] Keah-Tigh, Perry Arthur 14 King, Martin Luther, Jr. 162 Kiowa tribe 1-33 Klimesh, Cyril M. 117, 120 Klimesh, Mary Andera 115-117, 119 Kodaseet, Frank 11, [12] Kodaseet, Lily Catherine Botone 13, [14] Kohler, Hayssen and Stehn Company,

Sheyboygan, WI 125

Laabs, Francis 120

Lamson, Joseph 36-37, 44

Larkin Gallery, Santa Fe, NM 6

Larsen, William L. 120

Lawrence, Nathaniel 50-51, [50]

Lee, Hannah [71]

Lee, Joseph 70-73, [71]

Lee, Lucy [71]

Lee, Sarah [71]

Leon County, FL 158-189

Littlechief, Paul Kenyon 18-19, [21]

Little Chief, Tom 19, [22]

Little, M. Ruth 105-106

Lovell, Hannah 135

Luckett, Paul 88

Madison County, MS 86-109

"Mama and Papa Have the Goin' Home to

Shiprock Blues" (Cannon) 3 Massachusetts Bay Colony 35 Mast Landing Burial Ground, Freeport, ME

142 Matisse, Henri 4 Maynard, Julaine 126 McClintok, T.R. 163 McEachin, Issaiah 106 Meeting House Hill Cemetery,

Ashburnham, MA 66-68 Memory Lane Cemetery, Anadarko, OK 1-

33 Meskwaki Indian Settlement, IA 9

Michielin, Danilo [171]

Middlesex County, MA 34-85, [34]

Milbauer, John A. 105

Mission San Xavier del Bac, Tucson, AZ 9

Momaday, N. Scott 5, 11

Moore family gravesite [181]

Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe, NM 6

National Collection of Fine Arts,

Smithsonian Institution 6 National Cowboy Hall of Fame and

Western Heritage Center, Oklahoma

City, OK 6-7 National Hall of Fame for Famous

American Indians, Anadarko, OK 1,11 Native American Church 16-19, 23 Navajo "code talkers" 5 Nebraska State Historical Society 18 Nevaquaya, Doc Tate 11 New, James 136, 149, 152 New, John 134-136, 148-149, 151-152, 155-

157 Newkumet family monument 14-15, [16,

17] Newkumet, Vynola Beaver and Phil J. 14-15 North Yarmouth (Freeport), ME 139

Oates, Anthony [175] Old Burial Ground, Rutland, MA 78-80 Old Burying Ground, Gardner, MA 68 Old Burying Ground, Groton, MA 51-52 Old Burying Ground, Townsend, MA 54-57 Old Centre Cemetery, Royalston, MA 70-73 "On Drinking Beer in Viet Nam in 1967"

(Cannon) 25 101st Airborne Division 4, 25-26, [26] Orcutt, Cynthia 147 Ortiz, Simon 5 Osgood, Jonathan 68

Pahdopony, Lois and Stacy 14 Pai-doung-n-day ("One Who Stands in the

Sun") 1-33 Palmer, N. Hazel and Earl, Sr. 18 Paper, Jordan 19

Parish Cemetery, Hubbardston, MA 76-77 Park, Thomas 44, 57 Park, William 37, 44, 55 Parker, Benjamin 139

222

Parker, Mary [77]

Parker, Nehemiah 76-77, 79, [77]

Patterson and Hughes, Tallahassee, FL 163

Payson, Anna [64]

Payson, John 64-65, [64]

Payson, John, Jr. [64]

Payson, Samuel 62-63, [61]

"Pepperell Fever" 53

Petersham, MA 73-74

Peyote Cult 17-19

Pickard Galleries, Oklahoma City, OK 6

Pikonganna, Aloysius 9

Pine Grove Cemetery, Templeton, MA 69-70

Pine Grove Church, nr. Jackson, MS 88-89

Pohusta, Leopold 117

Pratt, Cyrus 136, 147, 151-155, 157

Pratt, David 140

Pratt, Nathaniel 136, 139

Pratt, Noah, Jr. 136, 138-145, 147, 149-157

Pratt, Noah, Sr. 135-137, 139, 148-157

Pratt, Noah, 3rd 140-141

Pratt, Robert 136, 139, 144-146, 149-157

Pratt, Seth 136-137, 144-146

Prescott, William 43, [53]

Puckett, Newbell 165

Radin, Paul 161

Randal, Nehemiah [138]

Rankin County, MS 86-109

Rankin County (MS) Historical Society 87

Red Star, Kevin 7

Reed, Nancy 140

"Remember Me Blues" (Cannon) 27

Revolutionary War 46, 49, 54, 57

Reyna, Dominic A. 15-16, [18]

Rice, William [98]

Rogers, Daniel 48-49, [47]

Rogers, Elizabeth [47]

Rogers, Mary [47]

Ruggles, Samuel 37-38, [38]

Sankadota, Clarence and Maggie 15

Santa Fe Opera Company, Santa Fe, NM 5-6

Scholder, Fritz 3, 6-7

Scottsdale National Indian Art Exhibition 3

Shattuck, Benjamin 48

Shepard, Benjamin 136

Shrewsbury, MA 68

Sikes, Elijah 74-75

Silberman, Arthur 5

Silko, Leslie 5

Silverhorn, Leonard and Eve 16, [19]

Silvester, Jacob [140]

Sister Sidonia (Emma Andera) 115

Snake, Bessie Hunter and Willie 16

Snake Blackwolf, Lois J. 10

Society for the Preservation of New

England Antiquities 144 SOS! (Save Outdoor Sculpture!) 91 Soukup, Martin 117 South Cemetery, Billerica, MA 37-40 South Cemetery, Fitchburg, MA 64-65 South Cemetery, Lunenburg, MA 60-63 Southern Plains Indian Museum,

Anadarko, OK 6-7 Southside Cemetery, Tallahassee, FL 173,

179 Sparhawk, Abigail [69] Sparhawk, Ebenezer 68-70, [69] Sparhawk, Naomi [69] Spillville, IA 110-133 Spotted Horse, Jerry Scott 10 Spotted Horsechief, Noah and Viola 10, [11] St. Augustine, FL 168-169 St. John's Church, Fort Atkinson, IA 114 St. Johns River, nr. Tallahassee, FL 165-167 St. Mark's Primitive Baptist Church, nr.

Tallahassee, FL 176-177 St. Paul's Church, Tinnin, MS 88 St. Wenceslaus Cemetery, Spillville, IA 125,

[127] St. Wenceslaus Cemetery, Verdirgre, NE

110, 128-130 St. Wenceslaus Church, Spillville, IA 114,

119, [127] St. Wenceslaus Church, Tremont, MO 114 Stearns, David 61-62, [61] Stoddard, Elizabeth [43] Stoddard, Samson 43-46, [43] Sunbury, GA 106

Tallahassee, FL 162-163

Tallent, Bill and Virginia 10

Taos Pueblo, Taos, NM 8-9

Thompson Cemetery, Tyngsborough, MA

49-51 Thompson, Robert Farris 102, 106, 166, 177,

179, 182

223

Tichy, Vojtech [129, 130] Tougaloo College, Jackson, MS 87-88 Tremont, MO 114, 117 Trowbridge, Caleb 51-52, [52] Tsait-Kope-Ta 13

Upland South folk graveyard type 159-160

Van Gogh, Vincent 4

Vaughn, Shirley and James 10

Veal, Merry E. 86-109, [cover, 86, 92, 95]

Verhoeven, John D. 120

Veselova, Marie Anna 111

Viet Nam War 4-5, 25-26

Village Improvement and Historical

Society, Royalston, MA 71 Vlach, John Michael 101-102, 106, 161, 163,

176

Yackeyonny, Michelle A. 15, [18] Yale College 59, 74 Younger, Eli [99]

"Zero Hour" (Cannon) 5 Zos-Sah-Ane 12

Wade, Eddie [168]

Walton Cemetery, Pepperell, MA 53-54

Warner, Barbara 4, 23

Wayans marker 180, [182]

Weryavah, Mable Mahseet 17-18, [20]

West Africa, cultural influences 158-189

Western Bohemian Union 116

Western Czech Catholic Union 118

Weston, Edward 106

"Wheatfield" (Van Gogh) 4

Wheelwright Museum, Santa Fe, NM 6

White, David 74-76, [75]

White, Odell [cover, 95, 100]

White, Susanna 74-76, [75]

Whiting, Samuel 37, [36]

Whitney, Aaron 73-74, [72]

Whitney, Alice [72]

Whitney, Ruth 72

Willard, Joseph 79

Williams, Sylvester, Sr. [179]

Williams, Virgil O. 10

Williamson, Arthur Carl [166]

Willis, Bill 21

Winchester, Jonathan 66-67, [65]

Winchester, Sarah [65]

Worcester County, MA 34-85, [34]

Wounded Knee massacre 5

WPA (Georgia Writer's Project) 106

Wright, Roberta Hughes and Wilbur, III 165

NOTES FOR CONTRIBUTORS TO

MARKERS: ANNUAL JOURNAL OF

THE ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES

Scope

The Association for Gravestone Studies was incorporated as a non- profit corporation in 1978 as an outgrowth of the Dublin Seminar for New England Folklife. The first volume of the Association's annual scholarly journal, Markers, appeared in 1980. While the charter purposes of AGS are broad, the general editorial policy of Markers is to define its subject mat- ter as the analytical study of gravemarkers of all types and encompassing all historical periods and geographical regions, with an emphasis upon North America. Gravemarkers are here taken to mean above-ground arti- facts that commemorate the spot of burial, thereby in most instances excluding memorials or cenotaphs (exceptions may, however, be made to this latter prohibition and prospective authors are urged to consult the editor if they have any questions concerning this matter). Articles on death and dying in general or on other aspects of death-related material culture would not normally fall within the journal's purview unless clear- ly linked to the study of gravemarkers. Particular cemeteries may form the basis of study if a major focus of the article is on the markers con- tained therein and if the purpose of the article is more than simply a his- tory or description of the cemeteries themselves. Finally, articles submit- ted for publication in Markers should be scholarly, analytical and inter- pretive, not merely descriptive and entertaining. Within these general parameters, the journal seeks variety both in subject matter and discipli- nary orientation. For illustration of these general principles, the prospec- tive author is encouraged to consult recent issues of Markers.

Submissions

Submissions to Markers should be sent to the journal's editor, Richard E. Meyer, English Department, Western Oregon State College, Monmouth, OR 97361 (Telephone: (503) 838-8362 / E-Mail: Meyerr® fsa.wosc.osshe.edu). Manuscripts should be submitted in triplicate (orig- inal and two duplicate copies) and should include originals of any accom- panying photographs or other illustrations. Generally, articles in Markers run between fifteen and twenty-five 8 1/2 x 11 typescripted, double- spaced pages in length, inclusive of notes and any appended material.

Longer articles may be considered if they are of exceptional merit and if space permits.

Should the article be accepted for publication, a final version of the manuscript must be submitted to the editor in both a hard copy and com- puter diskette format. Most current word processing programs are com- patible with the journal's disk translation software, which is used for typesetting contributors' articles. Any questions on this matter should be directed to the editor.

Regular volumes of Markers are scheduled to appear annually in January or shortly thereafter. No deadline is established for the initial sub- mission of a manuscript, but the articles scheduled for publication in a given volume of the journal are generally determined by the chronologi- cal order of their acceptance and submission in final form.

Style/Notes

In matters of style, manuscripts should conform to the rules and prin- ciples enumerated in the most current edition of The Chicago Manual of Style.

Notes, whether documentary or discursive, should appear as end- notes (i.e., at the conclusion of the article) and those of a documentary nature should conform in format to the models found in the chapter enti- tled "Note Forms" of The Chicago Manual of Style. In manuscript, they should be typed double-spaced and appear following the text of the arti- cle and before any appended material. Separate bibliographies are not desired, though bibliographical material may, of course, be included with- in one or more notes. Any acknowledgements should be made in a sepa- rate paragraph at the beginning of the note section.

Any appendices should be placed following the endnotes and clearly labeled as such (e.g., Appendix I, Appendix II, etc.).

Again, the prospective author is encouraged to consult recent issues of Markers for examples of these principles in context.

Illustrations

Markers is a richly illustrated journal, its subject matter naturally lend- ing itself to photographs and other visual material. The journal encour- ages prospective authors to submit up to twenty photographs, plus any number of appropriate pieces of line art, with the understanding that these be carefully chosen so as to materially enhance the article's value

through visual presentation of points under discussion in the text. Photos should be 5x7 or 8x10 black and white glossies of medium to high con- trast, and should be of the highest quality possible. Maps, charts, dia- grams or other line art should be rendered as carefully as possible so as to enhance presentation. A separate sheet should be provided listing cap- tions for each illustration. It is especially important that each illustration be numbered and clearly identified by parenthetical reference at the appropriate place in the text, e.g. (Fig. 7).

Review

Submissions to Markers are sent by the editor to members of the jour- nal's editorial advisory board for review and evaluation. Every effort is made to conduct this process in as timely a manner as possible. When comments have been received from all reviewers, the author will be noti- fied of the publication decision. If an article is accepted, suggestions for revision may be made and a deadline for submission of a finalized man- uscript established. All accepted articles will be carefully edited for style and format before publication.

Copyright

Authors are responsible for understanding the laws governing copy- right and fair use and, where appropriate, securing written permissions for use of copyrighted material. Generally, if previously copyrighted material of more than 250 words is used in an article, written permission from the person holding the copyright must be secured and submitted to the editor. In like manner, permission should be obtained from persons who have supplied photographs to the author, and credit to the photog- rapher should be provided in captions or acknowledgement statement.

As regards articles published in Markers, copyright is normally given to the Association for Gravestone Studies, though requests for permission to reprint are readily accommodated. Offset copies of published articles are not provided to authors: each contributor, however, receives a com- plimentary copy of the volume.

AGS JOURNALS

MARKERS I Reprint of 1980 journal. Collection of 15 articles on topics such as recording & care of gravestones, resources for teachers, some unusual markers, & carvers Ithamar Spauldin of Concord, MA & the CT Hook-and-Eye Man. 182 pages, 100 illustrations

MARKERS II Signed stones in New England & Atlantic coastal states; winged skull symbol in Scotland & New England; early symbols in reli- gious & wider social perspective; MA carvers Joseph Barbur, Jr., Stephen & Charles Hartshorn, & carver known as "JN"; Portage County, WI carvers, 1850-1900; & a contempo- rary carver of San Angelo, TX. 226 pages, 168 illustrations

MARKERS III Gravestone styles in frontier towns of western MA.; emblems & epitaphs on Puritan markers; John Hartshorn's carvings in Essex County, MA.; & NH carvers Paul Colburn, John Ball, Josiah Coolidge Wheat, Coolidge Wheat, & Luther Hubbard. 154 pages, 80 illustrations

MARKERS IV DE children's stones, 1840-1899; rural southern gravemarkers; NY & NJ carving traditions; camposantos of NM; & death Italo- American style.

180 pages, 138 illustrations

MARKERS V PA German markers; mausoleum designs of Louis Henri Sullivan; Thomas Gold & 7 Boston carvers, 1700-1725, who signed stones with their initials; & Canadian gravestones & yards in Ontario & Kings County, Nova Scotia. 240 pages, 158 illustrations

MARKERS VI Carver John Dwight of Shirley, MA.; markers of Afro-Americans from New England to GA; sociological study of Chicago- area monuments; more on NM camposantos; hand symbolism in southwestern Ontario; an epitaph from ancient Turkey; & a review essay on James Slater's The Colonial Burying Grounds of Eastern Connecticut.

245 pages, 90 illustrations

MARKERS VII A trilogy on cemetery gates & plot enclosures; the Boston Historic Burying Grounds Initiative; unusual monuments in colo- nial tidewater VA; tree stones in Southern IN's Limestone Belt; life & work of VA carver Charles Miller Walsh; carvers of Monroe County, IN; Celtic crosses; & monuments of the Tsimshian Indians of western Canada. 281 pages, 158 illustrations

MARKERS VIII A collection of the pioneering studies of Dr. Ernest Caulfield on CT carvers & their work: 15 essays edited by James A. Slater & 3 edited by Peter Benes. 342 pages, 206 illustrations

MARKERS IX A tribute to the art of Francis Duval; the Mullicken Family carvers of Bradford, MA; the Green Man on Scottish mark- ers; the Center Church Crypt, New Haven, CT; more on Ithamar Spauldin & his shop; the Almshouse Burial Ground, Uxbridge, MA; Thomas Crawford's monument for Amos Binney; Salt Lake City Temple symbols on Mormon tombstones; language codes in Texas German cemeteries; & the disappearing Shaker cemetery.

281 pages, 176 illustrations

MARKERS X The markers carved by Calvin Barber of Simsbury, CT; Chinese markers in a midwestern American cemetery; stonecarving of Charles Lloyd Neale of Alexandria, VA.; Jewish cemeteries of Louisville, KY; 4 genera- tions of the Lamson family carvers of Charlestown & Maiden, MA; & the Protestant Cemetery in Florence, Italy. 254 pages, 122 illustrations

MARKERS XI Fraternal symbolism & grave- markers; regional & denominational identity in LA cemeteries; carvings of Solomon Brewer in Westchester County NY; Theodore O'Hara's 'The Bivouac of the Dead'; slave markers in colonial MA; the Leighton & Worster families of carvers; a Kentucky stonecutter's career; & pio- neer markers in OR.

237 pages, 132 illustrations

MARKERS XII Terra-Cotta gravemarkers; Adam & Eve markers in Scotland; a sociological examination of cemeteries as communities; the Joshua Hempstead diary; contemporary grave- markers of youths; San Francisco's Presidio Pet Cemetery; & The Year's Work in Gravemarker/ Cemetery Studies.

238 pages, 111 illustrations

MARKERS XIII Carver Jotham Warren of Plainfield, CT; tree-stump tombstones; 50 Years of gravestone carving in Coastal NH; language community in a TX cemetery; carver John Huntington of Lebanon, CT; & "The Year's Work."

248 pages, 172 illustrations