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MARKERS XVI

Edited by
Richard E. Meyer

Markers XVI

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: 1-878381-09-1
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: Detail from gravestone of Rev. Samuel Brown, 1749
(backdated), Abington, Massachusetts. Photograph by Vincent F. Luti.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

Obituary: Daniel Farber (1906-1998) 1

James A. Slater

Eighteenth Century Gravestone Carvers of the

Narragansett Basin: John and James New 6

Vincent R Luti

Eternal Celebration in American Memorials 104

Jonathan L. Fairbanks

Joshua Sawyer 138

John Fitzsimmons

'I Never Regretted Coming to Africa': The Story

of Harriet Ruggles Loomis' Gravestone 140

Laurel K. Gabel

'Fencing ye Tables': Scotch-Irish Ethnicity and

the Gravestones of John Wight 174

David H. Watters

Murder in Massachusetts: It's Written in Stone 210

Tom and Brenda Malloy

The Year's Work in Gravemarker/Cemetery Studies 242

Richard E. Meyer

Contributors 264

Index 267

MARKERS: ANNUAL JOURNAL OF THE
ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES

EDITORIAL BOARD

Richard E. Meyer, Editor
Western Oregon University

Theodore Chase Barbara Rotundo

Harvard University State University of New York at Albany

Editor, Markers V-IX

James A. Slater
Jessie Lie Farber University of Connecticut

Mount Holyoke College

Editor, Markers I Dickran Tashjian

University of California, Irvine
Richard Francaviglia
University of Texas at Arlington David Watters

University of New Hampshire
Warren Roberts Editor, Markers II-IV

Indiana University

Wilbur Zelinsky
The Pennsylvania State University

Markers XVI was delayed for several months this year owing to a vari-
ety of factors, for which I apologize to readers, with the added assurance
that the unique blend of circumstances which caused this delay are most
unlikely to recur in the future. That said, I hope readers will agree with
me that the wait has been worth it. This year's issue presents a number of
highly significant studies, including several more seminal carver explica-
tions and a fascinating demonstration of the multi-layered narrative capa-
bilities of a single gravestone. New features include an obituary (occa-
sioned by the sad loss of AGS stalwart Dan Farber) and an example of the
power of old gravestones to inspire the creative process. The annual bib-
liographic roundup on matters relating to gravemarker and cemetery
study ("The Year's Work..."), a standard feature in the last several issues
of Markers, appears this year in a greatly expanded format.

The untimely death earlier in the year of my friend and fellow folk-
lorist Warren Roberts (an obituary will appear in Markers XVII) has neces-
sitated my seeking a replacement for his invaluable scholarly expertise
and sound judgement on the journal's editorial board. I am pleased to
announce the appointment of Dr. Julie Rugg, University of York (United
Kingdom), to this position. Director of the Cemetery Research Group at
the University of York since 1991, Dr. Rugg is also the author of a number
of highly significant scholarly articles dealing with cemetery and memor-
ial practices in the UK and is editor of the recently published CBA
Directory of Cemeteries and Crematoria in the UK. Her special expertise and
international perspective add new and important dimensions to the
board's collective wisdom.

As ever, my thanks go out to the current year's contributors for the
high quality of their submissions, and also to the individual members of
the journal's editorial review board for their dedicated efforts, good
judgement, and consistently high standards. Fred Kennedy of Lynx
Communication Group, Salem, Oregon, and Patti Stephens of Philomath,
Oregon again deserve special praise for the production and design skills
which make Markers the handsome volume it is. The officers, executive
board members, staff, and general membership of the Association for
Gravestone Studies are what make it all possible in the first place, and
Lotte Larsen Meyer remains my personal motivator and inspirational
model of creative scholarship.

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 found in the "Notes for Contributors" printed at the conclusion of
this issue. Address queries concerning publication to me: Richard E.
Meyer, Editor, Markers: Annual Journal of the Association for Gravestone
Studies, P.O. Box 13006, Salem, OR 97309-1006 (Phone: 503-581-5344 /
E-Mail: meyerr@wou.edu). For information concerning other AGS publi-
cations, membership, and activities, write to the Association's offices, 278
Main Street, Suite 207, Greenfield, MA 01301, or call 413-772-0836.

R.E.M.

Daniel Farber (1906-1998)

OBITUARY: DANIEL FARBER (1906-1998)
James A. Slater

A friend of mine once said, "When a man dies it is like a library burn-
ing down; all is lost". This was certainly not true with the death of Daniel
Farber, for he left a wonderful legacy, not only in the works that he accom-
plished but also in the memories of his many friends and of those who
benefited from his kindness and generosity.

To those of us who knew him chiefly through his activities as one of
the founders and leading members of the Association for Gravestone
Studies he will, of course, always be held in special esteem for the mag-
nificent photographs that he made and accumulated through decades of
work. In a great many instances these pictures made us aware, as nothing
else could, of the genius of the old gravestone carvers. If he had done
nothing else but take these wonderful pictures we would always treasure
him as one of our leading figures.

Dan's genius as a photographer was appreciated by gravestone stu-
dents even before AGS existed as a formal organization. Most of us think
of Daniel Farber as the first recipient of the Association's Harriette
Merrifield Forbes Award, presented annually for outstanding achieve-
ment in the field of gravestone studies, but actually this is not precisely
true. His award, not yet known by its present name, was bestowed at the
founding meeting of AGS in Durham, New Hampshire on July 2, 1977.
Written and presented by the first president of AGS, the Reverend Ralph
L. Tucker, it read as follows:

To Daniel Farber - outwardly a practical and successful American, whose
inner eye captures nature and man, who sees beauty and strength, in the
stones of the past, reflected in celestial light - The Association of
Gravestone studies presents its HONOR AWARD in recognition of his
many contributions.

It certainly is a tribute to the affection and appreciation we all had for
Dan that his award led directly to the establishment of the Harriette
Merrifield Forbes Award, which in all the years since has come to none
more worthy of it than was the recipient of its predecessor.

It says something about Dan Farber's devotion to gravestone studies
that in the last years of his life he and his wife, Jessie, devoted thousands
of hours to organizing all of the Farber gravestone pictures, as well as

Daniel Farber (1906-1998)

those taken by Harriette Forbes in the 1920s and by Dr. Ernest Caulfield
in the 1950s, onto CD-Rom format, a legacy that alone will keep his name
alive far into the future.

Dan, however, was much more than an artist of gravestone photogra-
phy. His illustrations of pewter for the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and
the book he published of his nature photographs, some surprisingly
abstract, others hauntingly elegaic, are further testimony not just to his
technical skill but particularly to his feeling for the object he was pho-
tographing.

The difficulty of writing about a man like Dan Farber is in trying to
express the essence of what he was. As I mentioned earlier, he was much
more than a great gravestone photographer, or, for that matter, a photog-
rapher of any sort. He was, as a human being, the epitome of kindness
and consideration to everyone who knew him.

His charitable contributions to the city of Worcester, Massachusetts,
were many. Young people who play on the soccer fields he donated and
old people who ride the wheelchair natural area he created will some-
times be aware of what he did, but more often will not. To Dan it mattered
little whether people knew of his generosity or not, as long as they were
enjoying what would not have been available to them except for his sen-
sitivity and responsibility.

I am not technically qualified to discuss Dan's striking photographs of
nature, both naturalistic and abstract. Many of us are aware of his won-
derful notecards, each filled with the nostalgia of the seasons. What I do
vividly remember, however, is Dan in the last year of his life, in the mid-
dle of winter and hampered by his inability to travel far from home, busi-
ly taking wonderful pictures of the small things of his garden - of a tuft
of dried grass bending in the snow before the wind, of a rock with the sun
shimmering on its surface, of the last garden flower seeding among the
fallen leaves. To the end he had that ability to search for beauty all around
him. It was perhaps this sense that made him such a special person to
those who knew him well.

He was also a man of strength of conviction, a man confident of his
abilities and not afraid to express his point of view. He had little patience
for cant and pomposity. As an example of his confidence, I will always
recall, while on a trip with Dan and Jessie to the Broads in East Anglia,
watching Dan return early one morning with his camera and tripod slung
over his shoulder as the mist was just rising above the masts of the

James A. Slater

moored sailboats. "Did you get any pictures?" I asked. "Yes," said Dan,
"some good ones, but only one great one".

Before he "invented" the now ubiquitious mirror technique (some-
thing of which he was very proud), going into the field with Dan Farber
was quite an experience, and sometimes a nerve-wracking one.
Gravestones come into perfect light for photographing for only a few
moments. Dan would be working with a giant plate camera, behind
which he was hidden completely from view beneath a black cloth. In
those days he used a large blue formica board as background. Things
were tense: from under the hood would come shouts of "that background
isn't covering the whole area, move it left," or, "Reverend Tucker, please
make that cloud go away!".

Even with the mirror there were experiences that I treasure and which
must not be allowed to sink from memory. The most memorable of these
occurred very late one afternoon in a small churchyard near Leicester,
England, where we had come upon a treasure of magnificent stones. The
sky was mostly cloudy, a raw wind was blowing, the sun was playing
hide and seek in a patch across a field many yards away where my wife
Betty was directed to place the inadequately small mirror we had avail-
able, while Jessie cleaned stones and I shot slides over Dan's shoulder.
The sun would come out, and Dan would shout, "more rake, more rake!".
Betty couldn't hear him over the blowing wind, so "more rake!" would
come yet more loudly across the lawn. Finally, "Great, got it!" I am not
going to tell you of some of the mumbles that came from Betty Slater, but
they were less than complimentary to Daniel Farber's relentless quest for
perfection, even though they were admiring of his persistence.

His was a life that I think any of us would be proud to have lived. He
came from the background of the great migration of Europeans who
flooded into the United States a century ago, making a success of their
lives by numbing hard work and intelligence. Dan never forgot that. One
wonders how many charitable contributions he made that we will never
know about. We do know they were many and even extended into the
middle of Africa.

Dan was the third child of Louis and Rose (Barsky) Farber, both of
whom emigrated to the United States from eastern Europe. Louis found-
ed the L. Farber Co., which, when sold in 1981, was the largest supplier of
leather parts for shoes (shoe insoles and leather shoe welting) in the
United States. He had four brothers and two sisters (one brother and one

Daniel Farber (1906-1998)

sister have survived him). His father was killed in a streetcar accident,
and the four remaining brothers (one had died in infancy) took over the
business and carried it to its most successful productive period. Dan's
first wife, Juanita (Dill), the mother of his two sons, died in 1978. He mar-
ried Jessie Lie the following year and together they became the rock upon
which the early success of AGS was built.

What Dan Farber meant to AGS will vary in everyone's mind, but that
his contribution to its success was substantial I am sure all will agree
upon. In my mind I have the strong conviction that it is very doubtful
whether we would have an AGS today without him. It certainly would
not be the same organization that it has become. Without Dan and Jessie
one wonders if there would be a Markers, if there would be an Executive
Director and an office, whether there would have been a Newsletter, and
whether there would ever have been a research base like that so impor-
tantly directed by Laurel Gabel. Dan was, after all, a successful business-
man, and he was concerned not only with AGS as a bringing together of
people with a common interest but also with the financial security of the
association. He served as the President of AGS with its financial situation
as one of his chief concerns. He was pleased that we were more than just
a group who came together and talked. He wanted to see research going
on, and he wanted always an aesthetic appreciation of the old stones.

Fortunately, Dan has left us some recollections of his early years. I
think we find in them the sensitivity that is shown in both his gravestone
and his nature photography. This is a young man taking long walks deep
into rural New England, aware of the loneliness of existence at its heart
but also of the beauty that was all around him. Most of his adult life he
was confined to a hard, competitive business which he really never loved.
His heart was always with nature and the out-of-doors, and he escaped
there whenever possible. His gravestone enthusiasm in fact originated
through his interest in the striking winter silhouettes that his perceptive
eye was always seeing.

What many of us admired most about Daniel Farber, in addition to his
kindness, consideration, hospitality, and devotion to quality and beauty,
was his ability to face reality. He seemed never to shy away from the
frailty of life and the inevitability of its ending. Almost from the begin-
ning, his photographs carried a printed notice that "after the death of

Daniel Farber the original of this print will be placed in the ". In the

last year of his life, he could talk of his failing health in a dispassionate

James A. Slater

manner. He was the ultimate realist, and to have this combined with a
sense of the wonder of this world was a combination of extreme rarity.

Sometimes it may sound trite to hear it said that "we shall never see
his like again," but in Dan's case we have indeed had the rare pleasure of
knowing an individual for which this may be true.

For his gravestone friends, and I am sure his many other friends, his
death is a sadness only in that we shall not see him again: but to have
known him is to have known a unique man.

Indeed, as Chaucer said of his most ideal character, "He was a verray,
parfit gentil knyght".

New Family Carvers

Frontispiece. Peter Jacob, 1764, Weymouth, Massachusetts.

EIGHTEENTH CENTURY GRAVESTONE CARVERS OF
THE NARRAGANSETT BASIN: JOHN AND JAMES NEW

Vincent F. Luti

Introduction

Some years ago I began a simple study of an area almost totally
ignored by earlier scholarship. This work has developed into a very large
and complex project covering old gravestones found within a natural geo-
logical structure called the Narragansett Basin, around which lies the
State of Rhode Island and its bordering lands in Massachusetts.

My project, through the examination of primary documents and
exhaustive stylistic analysis of the stones, would bring to light the previ-
ously anonymous eighteenth century stonecarvers of the Narragansett
Basin and identify their work. A series of monographs has resulted, which
I hope will eventually be brought together in two volumes.

The work of the New family was the first and largest study. It started
very simply from a curious desire to know who carved a stone which was

Fig. 1. Deacon Josiah Cushing, 1787, Rehoboth, Massachusetts.

New Family Carvers

one of my very first rubbing finds, that for Deacon Josiah Cushing, 1787,
in Rehoboth, Massachusetts (Fig. 1). The design was startlingly original
and also evocative of the resurrection-in-glory theme that very early on
supplanted the grim predestination themes of Boston carvers (almost
having been non-existent in any event) in the Narragansett Basin, a haven
for all the non-conforming misfits in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. I feel
now that I have done due justice to a heretofore unknown but great folk
carver, in the process of which I hope that I have not overstepped the
bounds of propriety. Perhaps future research by other scholars will refine
my work and reduce it to more manageable proportions. Still, the dia-
logue has to begin somewhere, and I am satisfied to have had the oppor-
tunity to do that.

John New: A Biographical Sketch

Harriette Merrifield Forbes did some brief, conjectural work on the
New family which is at once perceptive, tentative, and somewhat confus-
ing, but she only presented a few stones in the Worcester, Massachusetts
area and those only of James New, the son of John.1 I do not believe she
realized either the extent and variety of their work or who did what.

Contrary to Forbes, I have not found any evidence to suggest that the
first James New - the father of John - was ever a carver.2 In fact, in one
deed it says "James New, his mark," suggesting that he may have been
illiterate.3 Opposing that notion is another fact that, as constable for the
town of Wrentham, Massachusetts, he was at one point in his life a tax col-
lector and thus must have had some literacy4. Furthermore, there is a
small group of crudely lettered gravestones in the Wrentham area that is
not yet associated with any known carver. For the purposes of this study,
I am going on the assumption that he was not involved in the carving of
any stones under consideration here.

James New senior's origins are obscure at present. He married Mary
Shuttleworth in Medfield (now West Medway), Massachusetts on
February 19, 1719 /1720.5 They migrated over the line into Wrentham's
west precinct (now Franklin) in 1720 to a point south of the junction of
Long Walk Brook and the Charles River (probably on what is now
Partridge Street), where he was awarded over the years a good deal of
land.6 He was also an original proprietor of the Wrentham West Precinct.7
It was there that their son, John, was born on July 8, 1722.8

The next information we have on John New is his marriage to Marcy

Vincent F. Luti

Adams, March 1, 1742/43 in Wrentham, he then being twenty-one, she
twenty-seven.9 Where they lived or what he did for a living is not
known.10 Later records refer to him as "laborer," "yeoman," and "stone-
cutter."11 Eight years after his marriage, the records show the beginning of
turmoil in his life.

On June 13, 1751, his father, out of "love and affection," gave him
twenty-four acres of land and the west half of his home.12 On September
3, 1751, a fourth child, James, was born to John and Marcy (he also became
a stonecarver).13 Several months later, on December 23, 1751, John sold his
father's gift to Elijah Farrington and bought from the latter fifty acres of
land in modern North Attleboro, Massachusetts.14 There is no mention in
the transaction of a house being present on these fifty acres, which is most
likely the case since New would not live there until some twenty years
later.15 There is no explanation for this odd transaction.16

There are a few gravestones by the hand of John New dating from 1745
to 1752, certainly not enough to support a good sized family. He must
have been in a bind - four children and a wife, no real home, and very lit-
tle work and income - for in February of 1752 money was being request-
ed to maintain his children as wards of the town of Wrentham.17

Wherever he may have been living and working, large numbers of
gravestones appear in the years 1753 to 1755, some sixty in the
Massachusetts towns of Wrentham, Medfield, Sherborn, and Holliston.
This coincides with outbreaks of epidemics in that region and then in 1756
in the towns north and east of Worcester, where some dozen stones also
suddenly appear.18 There is strong evidence that a middleman was
involved in their sale and distribution.

Now with five children, a wife, no home of his own, and with epi-
demic deaths all around, overwork and a general inability to manage
things led to a crisis, for on January 14, 1757 Judge Thomas Hutchinson,
upon representation by John New's family that he was non compos mentis,
ordered the selectmen of Wrentham to make inquisition into said New's
condition.19 The judge decreed him non compos, and on March 4, 1757
appointed Benjamin Shepard to be his guardian.20 It is in this document
that New is first called "stonecutter." His meager inventory was taken:
"armer and beding," tableware, woodenware, horsecart, "Ingraving &
Tuckers tools," watch, "Horse and furneture," and fifty-five acres of
land.21 No house is mentioned. The critical document requested of the
town selectmen by Judge Hutchinson would possibly reveal the nature of

10 New Family Carvers

New's non compos condition, but a diligent search has not yet turned it up.

Not until August of 1761 do we hear from him again, but in the mean-
time his mother died August 31, 1760.22 His father remarried, to Mrs.
Sarah Blake Fisher, in December, 1760,23 and sold all his large land hold-
ings in West Wrentham Precinct, moving elsewhere, probably to South
Wrentham Precinct.24

At one point in these years of his early guardianship (1757-1761), John
New ran away and had to be retrieved.25 Once more his wife and children
were farmed out. He was poor and barely working,26 if at all (there are
eight stones dated 1757 and seven dated 1758, but some of these are like-
ly backdated). There is mention of some laborer's wages in doing odd jobs
and running errands.

In 1761 and 1762, Benjamin Shepard submitted various bills to the
Court to account for his guardianship.27 Even with the expenses of main-
taining John, boarding out his wife and children, and the selling of some
estate goods, the figures are not as high as one would expect. Only a very
small parcel of New's land holding in Attleboro had to be sold. A series of
questions now arise. First and foremost, where was the money coming
from? At thirty-five years of age, was his "condition" physical, mental, or
both? Was he able to continue carving and earning some living? After
1762, his guardian, Benjamin Shepard, submits no more expenses to the
Court. Why?

It is in these questions and from these conditions that we can make the
connection to John New of the astonishing and large body of exuberant,
sometimes very ornate, and probably costly stonecarvings that appear
quite suddenly around 1758-1760 in the shoreline and interior towns
south of Boston (hereafter "South Shore," a common designation of
today). Careful stylistic comparison shows them to be, indeed, from the
hand of John New. Why does he suddenly appear in that area of
Massachusetts? A creative fever must have struck him at the time of his
"illness." Prior to this crisis in his life his output had mostly been simple
skulls and foliate work (often in ornate settings, however). At the time of
his non compos crisis, on the other hand, there appear dramatic changes in
his work as he moved toward effigies and greater complexity. Perhaps his
illness was one of blossoming genius or creative fever.

What drew him unexpectedly away from the interior north-south axis
of Wrentham-Worcester to the towns of the South Shore? The answer
apparently hinges on three Blake sisters of Wrentham and a Doctor David

Vincent F. Luti 11

Jones, who was originally from the Wrentham area but moved to
Abington in the South Shore about 1747.28 Esther Blake, the sister of John
New's future stepmother, Mrs. Sarah Blake Fisher, had married David
Jones before the departure. A third sister, Hepzibah, was married to
Benjamin Shepard.29 John New acquired his stepmother in 1760, just at the
time his work appears in the South Shore. However he got to the South
Shore (Dr. Jones' influence?), John New found a wealthy, eager clientele
there for his innovative modern style, and he carved elaborate, inventive
work for them from circa 1758 to 1768 on a rich, red slate, often very large
and very thick, until the Pratt family of Abington took over in the carving
trade at the very end of the sixties.

So despite whatever brought him to a non compos state, John New was
able to continue working and help pay the bills back home (there is no
evidence that he brought his family with him to the South Shore). We now
know why his guardian sold very little of his estate and submitted sur-
prisingly small accounts to the Court, none in fact after 1762. A petition by
Benjamin Shepard around 1762-63 to sell all of New's real estate was
never granted.30 It was not needed. Perhaps Shepard was up to no good
while New was away. The next, and last, appearance of Shepard in the
records as guardian was in 1770 (about the time New returned to carve in
the Attleboro area).31 Oddly enough, John New did not carve Shepard's
gravestone.

Leaving Boston's South Shore communities around 1768, John New
gathered up his family again and was eventually welcomed as a resident
of Attleboro (modern North Attleboro), where he set up in business carv-
ing his gravestones for the rest of his long life in the house, shop, and barn
he must have built there, all of which are referred to in later deeds.32

But once again tragedy struck, and in the 1770s he lost three of his chil-
dren. When his wife died in 1788, he remarried to Esther Day.33 He had
even run for governor of Massachusetts in 1782, but received only one
vote.34 The 1790s saw a long, steady decline into illness and poverty again.
The Attleboro Town Records show in detail a long, sad litany of losing his
home and property, becoming destitute and a ward of the town by 1797,
declining in health and meeting his death on February 10, 1811 at the age
of eighty-nine.35 His remains lie in the Kirkyard Cemetery of Attleboro,
surrounded by dozens of his own stonecarvings, only a few feet from the
shattering vibrations emanating from the railroad tracks of the Boston-
New York line: distress, even in death. His homestead is now under the

New Family Carvers

waters of the man-made Greenwood Lake, all traces of his presence there
wiped out.

For John New, carving had to have been something more than just a
laborer's trade. The imaginative inventiveness and originality of his
designs, their individualization, his own copious epitaphs of pious senti-

Fig. 2. Joseph House, 1756, Lancaster, Massachusetts.

Vincent F. Luti 13

merit and homely admonitions - all attest to this. His indomitable will in
the face of personal struggles was indefatigable, as we can see even in
1798 when, with the carver at age seventy-seven and a destitute ward of
the town, the Town Treasurer paid Darias Brigs for carting one-half ton of
gravestones to John New. Two pathetic stones of 1799 are sad reminders
of a long and remarkable folk carving career come to an end.

The Work of John New: Part I - Overall Classification

What follows is an attempt to organize the vast output, variety of
design, and extensive distribution of John New's work. This presentation
should not and cannot be considered definitive nor rigid. Stones spill out
and over the concentrated areas, and strays occur.

Period I: Locus - The Interior Towns, 1745-1756

Classification A: Foliate and Floral Tympani/Borders

Very commonly found is a design with two facing, reverse double
coils with tongues (a configuration which does not appear in later years).
The earliest versions are often thickly and crudely done, raising the ques-
tion as to whether they are by John New at all. However, with the 1756
stone for Joseph House (Fig. 2) in Lancaster, Massachusetts (probated
only one month later), the design appears with many other John New ele-
ments, assuring the attribution of this odd - but not original - design to
our carver.

Next most common in this period is a broken pediment effect of two
facing foliate mounds rising up and capped by tightly coiled fronds (cre-
ating triskelions). The interstices may contain a flower and, after 1756 and
to the 1790s, a "bundle of wheat." This is the one most persistent tympa-
num design in all of John New's output. It probably derives from George
Allen, who used it only on footstones.

Three stones in this period are worthy of special note for their intrica-
cy - those for Gamaliel Beaman, 1745, Sterling, Massacusetts; Addington
Gardner, 1754, Sherborn, Massachusetts; and the three children of
Nathaniel Davenport (Figs. 3 & 4), 1745, 1753, Boylston, Massachusetts.
Singular stones exist bearing scraggly trees, seashell, hourglass, rose, and
"stone heaps" designs.

Lettering in this period is usually heavy and thick, with some filagree
decoration of capitals (e.g., Fig. 5).

New Family Carvers

"■>.*

■■**•*

Fig. 3. Davenport Children, 1745, 1753, Boylston, Massachusetts.

Vincent F. Luti

Fig. 4. Davenport Children (detail), 1745, 1753,
Boylston, Massachusetts.

New Family Carvers

Classification B: Winged Skulls

This design is profuse, often employed on a soft, eroded, pale teal
slate. It is a unique design used by no one else (actually a third-rate skull)
and is very simple, with no relief modeling, and featuring a round or
pointed jaw with serrated teeth and squinty eye sockets. The skull always
sits in a "rolled V collar."

The James Eager Stone (Fig. 5), 1755, Northboro, Massachusetts, is an
example decorated with gracious, frilled capital letters and featuring ele-
gant side borders as well. The Solomon Park stone, 1754, Holliston,
Massachusetts, comes with a bold, baroque acanthus frame, and the
Richard Temple stone (Fig. 6), 1756, Concord, Massachusetts, is signed.

Transition (The Troubled Years): Locus - The Interior Towns, 1757-1758

This brief, difficult time in John New's life is hard to unscramble. With
the death of Jonathan Worcester in 1754, as Forbes states, there was room
for a carver in central Massachusetts.36 But with the arrival of William
Park in 1756 to central Massachusetts, if Forbes is correct in her date, John

til

.ID.'TT

re r if/^

4\ w i o J led ime y: #

Fig. 5. James Eager, 1755, Northboro, Massachusetts.

Vincent F. Luti

New found himself in stiff competition with new ideas. Indeed, some
Park carver may be mixed up in all of what follows.

Also, at the same time, influences were emanating from the George
Allen workshop to the south in old Reheboth, Massachusetts. Caught up,
literally, in the fever of the epidemic, with new styles infusing stonecarv-
ing from Boston to Newport, Rhode Island around 1758-1760, and with
terrible financial pressures at home, John New turned from the depress-
ing skulls to the more prosperous, resurrectionary images of secular mate-
rialism which translated the virtues of the Protestant work ethic into
heavenly rewards, a confusion not unknown even to this day. Powerful,
heavily carved male winged effigies dramatically appear just about out of
nowhere to express these new ideas of rich, material piety.

An unresolved question is whether this effigy style was begun just
before his non compos of January, 1757, say in 1756, or whether all of the
transition came with and / or just after his non compos. Could the non com-
pos be a miscalculation on the part of his family and the courts? It would

Fig. 6. Dr. Richard Temple, 1756, Concord, Massachusetts.

New Family Carvers

Fig. 7. John Bush, 1757, Boylston, Massachusetts.

not be the first time creative fever was mistaken for madness.

Besides their high relief carving, these male winged effigy stones
exhibit curly wigs, bulging eyes, round faces (sometimes with fat jowls),
a frowning mouth, a neck pedestal filled with feathers or a trace of cos-
tume, and arched, thick-ribbed wings with heavily etched feathers. A fine
example is the marker for John Bush (Fig. 7), 1757, Boylston,
Massachusetts. Some appear to be prototypes for further development at
a later time. Eyes come in two design types that are rather similar (with
and without upturned extremities):

**>**,

Fig. 8. Tabitha Eager, 1755,
Northboro, Massachusetts.

^&"

Fig. 9. John Bush, 1757,
Boylston, Massachusetts.

Vincent F. Luti

A third distinct type, appearing later with regularity in the 1760s and
thereafter, features upturned extremities with simple round pupils:

Fig. 10.

The lettering on these markers is consistently the same, and sur-
rounding detail is always from the New repertoire seen on stones from
Period I. For a more detailed discussion of their chronology, see Figure 30.

Period II: Locus - South Shore Towns, 1758-1768

Classification A: Foliate and Floral, Celestial and Other

Stones with only foliate / floral designs in the tympani are extremely
rare in the South Shore towns below Boston, but are not so in the interior
towns. This might possibly be an indication of the iconophobia of a con-

Fig. 11. Constance Fisher, 1764, Swansea, Massachusetts.

New Family Carvers

servative rural population vs. the attitudes of a more progressive middle
class society of the South Shore. Foliate and floral work, on the other
hand, some of it very ornate, often accompanies the heads, effigies, and
cherubs of each of the other classifications of this period. Another feature
of the backgrounds to these human configurations is a pattern of wavy
and scalloped lines bearing hatchmarks or zig-zags.

Appearing in this period for the first time is the use of sun, moon, and
stars, either as the main tympanum design (often suggesting the heaven-
ly spheres), as in the stone for Constance Fisher (Fig. 11), 1764, Swansea,
Massachusetts, or as background and nimbus to the effigy heads. One of
the best from this period was placed in Norfolk, Massachusetts for Mrs.
Ann Blake, 1767 (Fig. 12). Stubby rising suns also make their first appear-
ance as a tympanum design.

Classification B: Winged Skulls II

Closer to his home base in the Wrentham / Attleboro area there are a
few examples of a half-hearted new skull design with round eyes and the

Fig. 12. Ann Blake, 1767, Norfolk, Massachusetts.

Vincent F. Luti

usual weak jaw. Of special interest, however, are several of these skulls
from the interior as well as several from the South Shore in which the
skull has the pear-shaped outline of a cherub head with skull features
inside. Those for John and Martha Fales, 1754, 1758, Franklin (formerly
West Wrentham), Massachusetts, are good examples of the pear-shaped
skulls and make a direct connection to the South Shore stone for Obadiah
Gross, 1750, Hingham, Massachusetts (discussed in detail later).

Classification C: Winged Bald Cherubs

These cherubs share the same carving technique and facial details with
the next two classifications, D and E: bulging, modeled eyes, fat nipple
noses, and mouths with severely frowning, dimpled hooks at each end.
The wings are like those of the previously discussed I-B skull type, but
they all now lack the "rolled V collar" of the skulls. They may have been
modeled on the cherubs of George Allen of old Rehoboth (though they do
not approach his draughtmanship and execution), who developed this
type in the late 1730s. New's figures, the work of an unsophisticated
hand, do have a vigorous conception, and are often surrounded by a rich-

Fig. 13. Esther Jones, 1758, Abington, Massachusetts.

New Family Carvers

ness of supporting detail that gives them a one-of-a-kind status.
Interesting examples are the stones for John Cobb, 1743, Abington,
Massachusetts; Esther Jones (Fig. 13), 1758, Abington, Massachusetts (a
relative); and Embrous Beal, 1759, Hingham, Massachusetts. This design
appears to cease in 1765, but re-emerges in Period III upon New's return
to the Attleboro area after 1768.

Classification D: Winged Effigy Heads with Wigs or Bonnets

These winged effigy heads are richer versions of those found in II-B
and have a portrait-like quality. An excellent example is found on the
stone for Deborah Lincoln (Fig. 14), 1760, Hingham, Massachusetts.
Oddly, they do continue the use of the "rolled V collar" characteristic of
the skulls of I-B. They literally replace the skull with an effigy head.37
Peter Benes was correct in making this chronological relationship
between skull and winged effigy head. They appear to cease suddenly in
1762, only to re-emerge in Period III without the scroll collars and the
excessively high modeling. Also at this time their settings become simpler.
Other impressive examples of these Period II effigies in the South Shore
are found on the stones for Laben Cushing, 1761, Hingham,

i:'S^^'x

Fig. 14. Deborah Lincoln, 1760, Hingham, Massachusetts.

Vincent F. Luti

Fig. 15. Mary Pratt, 1767, Abington, Massachusetts.

New Family Carvers

Massachusetts (with a stacked scalloping background unlike anything
else); Abel and Hannah Cushing, 1761, Hingham, Massachusetts (with an
infant tucked between them); and Moses Reed, 1757, Whitman,
Massachusetts (soaring aloft on elegant tracery). The imperious Ensign

'■'■>v«: ■ - ■ :■■:■■

HHHMHBHHHHHHHnlinKi
Fig. 16. Capt. Joseph Phillips, 1767, Marshfield, Massachusetts.

Vincent F. Luti

Fig. 17. Rev. Samuel Brown, 1749 (backdated),
Abington, Massachusetts.

New Family Carvers

Andrew Ford stone, 1750, Abington, Massachusetts, and the formidable
Elizabeth and John Beal marker, 1731, Hingham, Massachusetts are worth
investigating also. Special note should be made of the bonneted effigy for
Mrs. Sarah Pratt, 1761, Hingham, Massachusetts, with its accompanying
seventeen small, peeking bald heads. She died at the age of one hundred
and one and was formerly the wife of Stephen Garnett, "by whom she
had a Numerous Posterity Running to ye 5th Generation in Number they
are 187."

Classification E: Costumed Male/Female Torso Figures

Abandoning all winged, heavenly-borne images, John New eliminat-
ed the wings from his portrait effigies (II-C) and went right into costumed
figures or torsos, creating an entirely secular image that sometimes shows
the class and /or occupation of the deceased. It can also be argued, for pro-
priety's sake, that all these bewigged men and bonneted women in their
rich garments signify the regal robes and jewels of their heavenly reward.
This design continues non-stop until the end of New's career, ceasing in
the South Shore but - in February, 1768 - continuing on without missing
a beat in the interior towns around Attleboro during Period III. It is here

Fig. 18. Nathaniel and Ruth White, 1758, Weymouth, Massachusetts.

Vincent F. Luti

we find a probate payment, the only stone confirming this design as John
New's. Some fine examples of this type found in the South Shore are the
stones for Ann Niles, 1732, Braintree, Massachusetts; Mary Pratt (Fig. 15),
1767, Abington, Massachusetts (a relative); Ephraim Jones, 1762,
Hingham, Massachusetts (smug in a heavenly vineyard); John
Wadsworth, 1766, Milton, Massachusetts (in clerical garb, "a sudden
death"); Ens. Joseph Wales (Fig. 38), 1767, Randolph, Massachusetts
(proud standard bearer); Capt. Joseph Phillips (Fig. 16), 1767, Marshfield,
Massachusetts (also a bewigged, proud standard bearer, replete with
starched uniform and knee britches, atop a foliate framed heart tablature);
and the two finest works of John New, the markers for Reverend Samuel
Brown (Fig. 17), 1749, Abington, Massachusetts, and for Dr. Nathaniel and
Ruth White (Fig. 18), 1758, South Weymouth, Massachusetts, the latter
accompanied by a fully carved footstone as well.

Constituting a sub-species of this group are the effigies surmounting a
large tablature heart where the torso or bust is reduced to just a "V" seg-
ment of the chest. A further division of this sub-classification is found in
stones with nothing but wigged or bonneted heads and no torso at all.

Fig. 19. Hannah Dyer, 1760, Whitman, Massachusetts.

New Family Carvers

Fig. 20. Mehitable Vinton, 1761, Braintree, Massachusetts.

Vincent F. Luti

Lastly, there is the important group of stones with profile heads.
Examples of both sub-species are the markers for Hannah Dyer (Fig. 19),
1760, Whitman, Massachusetts (set in a grape arbor), and for Mehitable
Vinton (Fig. 20), 1761, Braintree, Massachusetts (in a Van Gogh heaven),
each of these being of the heart tablature type. The stone for Peter Jacob
(Frontispiece), 1764, Weymouth, Massachusetts, wreathed in celestial
splendor, represents the profile type.

Period III: Locus - Attleboro, 1769-1799

Classification A: Foliate and Floral, Celestial and Other

Not at all popular in the towns south of Boston, these iconophobic
designs return again in this last period to balance with Period I, i.e., use
in the interior towns. As in Period I, the most common design is the ris-
ing acanthus mound surrounded by facing coiled fronds (triskelion-like).
Quite often now, a bundle of "wheat" fits between the fronds, and occa-
sionally a rose insert appears. One example occurs with the sun, moon,
and stars design. In its most developed form, this type appears even with

Fig. 21. Deborah House, 1762, ¥

dXIUVc

r, Massachusetts.

New Family Carvers

Fig. 22. Joseph Lane, 1786, Mansfield, Massachusetts.

Vincent F. Luti

an effigy head in the interstice, as on the stone for Deborah House (Fig.
21), 1762, Hanover, Massachusetts. At times there are strange tree-like
motifs, and even a double trumpeting sun. Architectural columns for the
side panels are not uncommon.

Classification B: Skulls

There are several skull carvings that might be the work of John New
as there seems to be no one else to whom they might be attributed.

Classification C: Bald, Winged Cherubs

After a lapse of these Period II designs, they make their reappearance
in the mid-1 770s, ten years after they ceased in the South Shore. There are
very few and they are quite simple.

Classification D: Winged Effigy Heads with Wigs or Bonnets

These are a continuation from Period II, but never with the "rolled V
collar." They cease in 1762, not to be taken up again until the mid-1 770s,
which seems odd. More occur in the 1780s, but without the elaborate

Fig. 23. Sarah Taylor, 1785, Barrington, Rhode Island.

New Family Carvers

background settings of the South Shore style. In the 1790s they become
very simple indeed, John New's energies running out, and five of them
even have the anachronistic "rolled V collar" of Period I skulls.

Classification E: Costumed Torso Figures, Male/Female

This is the most common design of this period. The men are wigged,
the women bonneted. Sometimes only the head appears. This design is a
continuation from Period II, the only difference being - in the later years
especially - an increase in heads that have gaunt oval outlines and pointy
chins, although the majority still display the same proportions as in
Period II. The execution at times is poor, especially towards the end, when
lapses in skill occur. The backgrounds are not as elaborate as in Period II.
Good examples of this type are Lydia Bliss, 1785, Rehoboth,
Massachusetts, framed by swirling, plumed trees; Deacon Josiah Cushing
(Fig. 1), 1787, Rehoboth, Massachusetts, truly radiant in his bonnet and
gown (a very unusual, inexplicable usage); and ten year old Joseph Lane
(Fig. 22), 1786, Mansfield, Massachusetts, with two "little mates" looking

Fig. 24. Dr. Thomas Monro, Bristol, Rhode Island.

Vincent F. Luti

up at his effigy in awesome fear of the mystery of death, addressed by the
familiar epitaph:

My Little Mates
Behold and see, as you Pass By,
As you are now, so once was I,
As I am now, so you must Be,
Prepare for Death & follow me.

There are a handful of charming profile heads in this group, two good
examples being those found on the stones for Sarah Tyler (Fig. 23), 1785,
Barrington, Rhode Island, and Job Wheaton, 1785, Rehoboth,
Massachusetts. There is also a famous profile torso view of Dr. Thomas
Monro (Fig. 24), 1785, Bristol, Rhode Island, decked out in peruke, frills,
and jacket, reaching out joyfully for his heavenly reward.

Classification F: Urn and Willow

There is one pathetic example of this type - the marker for Chloe
Caswell (Fig. 25), 1799, Attleboro, Massachusetts.

Fig. 25. Chloe Caswell, 1799, Attleboro, Massachusetts.

New Family Carvers

The Work of John New: Part II - Analysis and Attribution

An Expanding Design Repertoire for Attributing
Periods I and II Work to John New

Starting with a signed John New stone of 1756, the following discus-
sion will build up a body of design evidence based upon it. This basic set
of design elements is then used by association and linkage to reasonably
authenticate other stones from which, in turn, further design elements are
taken to enlarge the original body of design evidence.

SKULL 5ERIES

coiledvitf torso profilt
jfr •* starve

Fig. 26.

Vincent F. Luti 35

The signed stone - "John New, Wrentham" - is for Richard Temple (Fig.
6), 1756, Concord, Massachusetts, who died in his eighty-third year,38 and
is probably one of his very last from the first skull series (Period I-B). The
first eight design elements (see Fig. 26) drawn from that stone are associat-
ed solely with similar skulls to form the foundation of the series. The skull
itself, which is so characteristic as to be a signature (no other carver used it),
can be said to be the singular creation of John New, albeit a third-rate one
at that. It is most likely the result of bad copying of skull details on stones
out of Boston. However, as long as this skull is present, I feel quite secure in
attributing a stone to him and adding to the expanding repertoire other
supporting design features that this unique skull design generates. This all
becomes a design vocabulary, a language, for reading other stones for attri-
bution. Eventually, we will want to remove the skull and replace it with
other main tympanum features that are confirmed by a multiple of these
accumulating design elements that form an associative set. All the first of
these skull stones are found in John New's home town of Wrentham,
Massachusetts, or other Massachusetts towns to the northwest as far as
Lancaster and Leominster, north and northeast of Worcester. As this first
referential set of eight design elements grows, like accretions around the
original signature skull design, we use the numbers of the design items to
verify secondary authentications, which in turn add their contributions,
numbered as well, to enlarge the expanding, authenticating, referential set.

Period I and Transition: Prime Authenticating Design Elements (See Pig. 26)

1. The rolled moulding around the tympanum is found in both strong and
weak relief.

2. The "rolled V collar" derives as a segment of #3 and is always append-
ed to the chin of the skull.

3. The rolled parchment tablature contains the vital information.

4. The pointed, egg-shaped skull always has the squinty almond-shaped
eyes, the "pugnose," frowning mouthmark, and a row of serrated teeth,
double or single, in the jaw area.

5. The three-tiered, heavily etched wing is thickly cut and has the charac-
teristic bell-shaped curve of all John New wing styles.

6. Zig-zag filler is peculiar to John New in Massachusetts (did he invent
it?). A few other carvers elsewhere used it, and in the nineteenth centu-
ry it was quite popular and extensively employed.39 It appears to be exe-
cuted by alternate wedging strokes of the chisel.

7. Stiple is another punching technique carefully done and densely
packed. It is the most common background filler.

8. The uncommon lower corner acanthus spray is quite elegant.

New Family Carvers

From the end of John New's carving career comes the only other fully
authenticated stone, that for Ezekiel Carpenter (Fig. 27), 1790, East
Providence, Rhode Island, verified by a probate payment in 1791. In ret-
rospect, it too offers some important design elements for secondary
authentication accretions (see Fig. 28), primarily for stones from Period II
(South Shore, 1758-1768) and Period III (Attleboro, 1769-1799), where the
designs occur with greatest frequency. A few examples are rare at the end
of Period I in Wrentham.

Fig. 27. Ezekiel Carpenter, 1790, East Providence, Rhode Island.

Fig. 28.

Vincent F. Luti 37

38. Etched tripartite scalloping is a major feature of all periods, whether
occurring in the tympanum arch as border design or as a side panel
design in its own right.

39. The coiled frond (triskelion) with foliage is likewise a New family trade-
mark, but of Periods II and III.

40. The blunt double coil, encompassing stubby "fleur-de-lis" fingers, has
innumerable variants, some quite elaborate and elegant. It is found only
in Periods II and III.

41. The finial, a single layered rose, is a recurrent figure in all periods.

The Carpenter effigy is badly worn, but there is useful evidence for
Period II and III effigies:

42. The costume - a jacket with buttons.

43. The flared wig with crest.

44. The eyes, nose, and mouth.

These facial features (element 44) have lost their fine surface details from
wear, but the eyebrows and eye outline sweep up and the eyeballs bulge,
all characteristic of New's effigy faces. The outline of the remaining nose
is peculiar, but is exactly that of a nose design which would have nostrils
and a pendant nipple between, as is seen on almost every one of the effi-
gy faces carved by John New.

Second Generation Elements Accruing to Design Items 1-8 in the Skull Series
(See Fig. 26)

The Silas Livermore stone, 1756, Northboro, Massachusetts, displays
the signature John New skull and elements 1, 2, 5, 6, and 7, so with this
confirmation we can add by derivation these second generation elements
as well to the expanding repertory:

9.Whorled rosette in the finials.

10. Lacy cyma scroll with simple coils.

11. Large scale vertical, raked ribbing (ribbing, derived from Boston mod-
els, is a common feature in New's work, whether straight or curved).

The John Morse stone, 1750, Norwood, Massachusetts, has the signa-
ture skull and elements 2 and 5, contributing as well the following:

12. Dense, low relief scrollwork, commonly the principal border type in
Period I.

The David Lawrence stone, 1754, Franklin, Massachusetts, features the
signature skull as well as elements 2 and 4, and further contributes these

38 New Family Carvers

elements:

13. Filled in, scrolled V collar (vertebrae in this case).

14. Tongue and grooved tiered wing, usually without etching.

15. The precursor of a style of swollen, broadly conceived, foliate scroll bor-
der (in Period II).

The Timothy Harrington stone, 1749, Lancaster, Massachusetts, has
the signature skull and elements 2 and 5, contributing these new ele-
ments:

16. Beaded-bud edging work.

17. A very small-detail version of raked lines, straight or curved.

18. Chunky leaf cyma scroll.

19. Coiled frond and chunky cyma scroll.

20. Decorated letters.

The Abigail Sawyer stone, 1753, Lancaster, Massachusetts, displays
the signature skull and elements 2, 7, and 14, with these additional con-
tributions:

21. Fat axil bud or terminal bud, usually enclosed in double leaf.

22. Multi-tiered rose with etching.

The John Fisher stone, 1752, Needham, Massachusetts, has the signa-
ture skull as well as elements 2, 4, and 14, also contributing a rare:

23. Hourglass.

The Ithamar Pond stone, 1754, Franklin, Massachusetts, shows the sig-
nature skull with elements 1, 2, 4, 6, and 8, and further contributes:

24. Fish scales, and heart tablature (more popular in Period II).

Other heart-shaped tablatures occur with skull stones, e.g., the
Hannah Clark stone, 1747, Millis, Massachusetts, with elements 2, 4, and
9, and contributing:

25. Heart-shaped leaves.

Also, the John Adams stone, 1754, Franklin, Massachusetts, with ele-
ments 4, 13, and 14, and contributing:

26. Scalloped heart vine (taken directly from George Allen).

Vincent F. Luti

Deeply cut and ribbed foliate drape (element 27) is uncommon but
very important for linking widely disparate stones, e.g. a marker for

Fig. 29. Dr. John Dunsmoor and children, 1747 (backdated),
Lancaster, Massachusetts.

New Family Carvers

Jerusha Billings, 1751, from the interior town of Sharon, Massachusetts,
linked with markers for Sarah Adams, 1766, in the South Shore town of
Milton, Massachusetts, and Ensign Andrew Ford, 1750, Abington,
Massachusetts, with a winged effigy.

Facing coils with tongue projections (element 28) comprise the foot-
stone design, taken from Boston models, for the James Eager stone, 1755,
Northboro, Massachusetts, which on its headstone has the signature skull
with eight supporting elements. New employed this design quite fre-
quently on headstones in Period I, after which it's use ceases.

With these twenty-eight (Fig. 26, "Skull Series") plus seven (Fig. 28)
design elements, plus a mental catalogue of lettering idiosyncracies and
an eye to stone shape, material, and color, it is possible to reasonably
attribute well over one hundred stones to John New during this first
period.

There is a very unusual, singular, Period I stone that draws its attribu-
tion to John New from the design repertoire list. Every detail of the John
Dunsmoor stone (Fig. 29), 1747, Lancaster, Massachusetts, except for the

PERIOD

6$E) $

Richard TempW
Concord,

TRANSITION

tatkanuL Ltwis \13L
Morwood-
Solomoi\Pa.rK.i''JJ

,, Holli-storx,

Tai)Lthato.aer ass

Morthboro

-If

(Ma.ry (Wrett I7J;5) ?

Concord.
rtfrty Moore nst, ,

3oihv(L Smith l7Si

Shrewsbury

JbhaPreiit I7J6

Lancaster

MaryTonei nsb

Ho ILLS ton.
Edward Rice nsibwi)^ ~

"PEAR'outUae/ 7
source'-Geo./ULeru !

/ — S^, — ■y- — s. Mary Pond <

► f stltr
Jones

nse

Abincjto

obaAuih Carpenter -+
types I7«4 ' ^VP6

/760-/76S Attleboro 1740-/762.

South Shore Sooth. Shore

ironcLcevL Cyza_(r)

Jaber G-orham.

/7£4
Wastport,Conn.

Sarah
Cushlnd
/76S ^
rimgharrL

Kalherinc
Sooer

1747
Milton.

A SUGGESTED DEVELOPMENT OF PERIOD JE. EFFIGIES

Fig. 30.

Vincent F. Luti 41

angels, and including the lettering, is identical to the elements of the list,
and there are four of the signature skulls on it as well. Did New also carve
these remarkable angels? He certainly had the necessary skills by now (I
estimate this was a very late stone in Period I) and only needed a model
to copy from. The figures never occur again on his work.

Transition from Skull to Period II Effigy: A Suggested Development with
Some Geographical Linkages (see Fig. 30)

With only two tympanum types in Period I, the winged skull and the
foliate mound, the question looms large as to how within just a few years
there appear many other design types, particularly effigies, without any
seeming precedent. With a shorter time span, the question becomes even
more difficult. Up to the end of 1756, there is no evidence at all - dis-
counting a few backdates and the Dunsmoor stone - that would suggest
John New could carve anything but the skulls and foliate mounds. Then
three effigy stones suddenly appear, accompanied by established John
New design elements. It would not appear, being so singularly isolated in
time from each other and from the bulk of the effigies which they pre-
date, that they were carved in or around the deathdate years they list.
Where to put them?

If we look at the time span from January, 1757 well into 1758, we find
only a very small output by New of any type of stones. This was the time
of his non compos and guardianship actions. Some of these few stones are
even clearly backdated, i.e., carved after 1758. Apparently he was produc-
ing few stones for sale in those two years, or, alternatively, this could be the
time when he was working out his first effigy productions (at the expense
of supporting his wife and children?). Assuming the latter, it is possible that
the three stones referred to above - those for Nathaniel Lewes, 1752,
Norwood, Massachusetts; Solomon Park, Jr., 1753, Holliston, Massachu-
setts; and Tabitha Eager, 1755, Northboro, Massachusetts - were done as a
group in 1757, concurrently with, or followed immediately by, a unique set
of six for Mercy Moore, 1756, Rutland, Massachusetts; Joshua Smith, 1756,
Shrewsbury, Massachusetts; John Preist, 1756, Lancaster, Massachusetts;
Mary Jones (Fig. 31), 1756, Holliston, Massachusetts; Edward Rice, 1756,
Rutland, Massachusetts; and John Bush (Fig. 7), 1757, Boylston,
Massachusetts. Given this scenario, all of these stones would have to be
labeled backdates if indeed they were carved after 1757, say in 1758. The
Mary Barrett stone, 1755, Concord, Massachusetts, is too incomplete to

New Family Carvers

convincingly add to either group.

It is now that we draw very heavily upon the repertoire of design ele-

life ]i;ii4e^\|:(i60x73^

h Hi

1 6 •

**> f'H

y*^

Fig. 31. Mary Jones, 1756, Holliston, Massachusetts.

Vincent F. Luti 43

merits from the skull period to verify the continuity of John New's work:
that is, each of these nine (three plus six) stones has a sufficient number of
recognizable design elements from the skull series, items 1 through 28, to
say it is his work even though the central tympanum image is no longer
a skull (see Fig. 30).

A fully realized face emerges on the badly worn Nathaniel Lewes
stone (see Fig. 26, Effigy Series, #30). The Solomon Park, Jr. stone (see Fig.
26, Effigy Series, #s 31, 32, 33) displays unique fish scale wings, some
respectable modeling in the face - especially the bulging eyes, a New
trademark - and a standardized wig design. A very interesting feature is
in the cleft of the rolled collar. Carved in very fine detail is a pleated shirt
and buttoned vest, This will emerge shortly as a fully formed, costumed
torso design-
Within six miles to the northeast of the homestead of John New's
father, James, lived the Joneses of Mendon, Massachusetts, a prominent
family in the area. The stone for Mary Jones (Fig. 31) is badly deteriorat-
ed even in this old photo taken by Harriette Forbes. It is nonetheless rich-
ly conceived and executed and very clearly points ahead to the work of
John New in the 1760s. The effigy series elements #s 35, 36, and 37 (coiled
wig, costumed torso, and profile head) will be exploited fully in the South
Shore work of Period II. Note the base corner acanthus spray, the heart
leaves, the ribbing, the rolled molding, the zig-zag filler, and the three-
tiered etched wings - all authenticated design elements from the skull
series.

The figurative work of the remaining group of six "Transition" stones
mentioned above is heavily immersed in supporting John New design
elements, but the stones also have some features never to be found again:
the head on a pedestal with scoop and arch wings; the thick double out-
lined wing rib (occurs but once later - for Obadiah Carpenter, 1764,
Attleboro, Massachusetts); and the appended vest or feathered bib below
the chin. Not without significance is the appearance in other interior
towns around 1760 of the same general tympanum design in a half dozen
stones, possibly the work of George Allen, Jr. but certainly not that of John
New. They are much more sophisticated and rich in Allen workshop style
and details.40

Another approach to the problem would be to argue that all of these
nine stones were carved by New before his non compos, that is, in 1755 and
1756, as proto-typical explorations. This would accommodate the three

44 New Family Carvers

and six stone sets even better under the theory that, after his "break-
down" or crisis in December of 1756, he was unable to carve much for a
year or more, and, when he regained his energies to begin his Period II
work in the South Shore, he came out with a somewhat different effigy
and more mature, varied designs developed out of this "Transition"
repertoire.

It is in the set of six thick-ribbed effigy stones that the question arises
as to their design source and the possibility of another hand altogether
being involved (which I feel unlikely). It is possible that New saw some
isolated effigy stones of George Allen, Sr. that are built along the same
lines. Then again, there is later Park family work built up in the same way,
although in both cases, Allen and Park, the details in the method of effigy
construction and in the supporting design evidence are quite distinctly
different from the work of New. Allen, Park, and New are without ques-
tion three very different hands. They simply do not detail and finish their
work in the same way. Each has a unique, total "surface," which is learned
from seeing hundreds of their stones. This could be called the "surface
signature" gestalt.

What is more clearly derived from Allen is the bald, winged cherub
effigy. Within this cherub group (see right side of Fig. 30) there is the
amusing appearance of three or four stones on which skull features are
carved into the outline of the cherub head. The John Fales Stone, 1758,
Franklin, Massachusetts, has important new design elements that become
staples in the Period II South Shore work: a hooked "d" stem, even scal-
loping, and the important border feature of an impressive coiled cyma
vine. An important linkage is to the Obadiah Gross stone, 1750 (backdat-
ed), Hingham, Massachusetts, which has the identical skull in pear-
shaped head design, and to the Jabez Gorham stone, 1764, Westport,
Connecticut, which has the identical border as well.

The hooked "d" stem may not seem much, but it is very efficient in
confirming identity and locating much of John New's work. Moreover,
nearly 100% of the stones in the South Shore have it after 1758, and a few
at the start of the period have both the older non-hooked form - exclu-
sively used up to about 1756 - as well as the hooked form on the same
marker. After 1768, in all of Period III, he used either form of "d" indis-
criminately, sometimes both on the same stone. His son James never used
the hooked form.

A last word about the mouth designs. For some reason John New used

Vincent F. Luti

Fig. 32. (top) John Burrell, 1754 (backdated), Rockland, Massachusetts;
(bottom) Alexander Balkcom, 1759, Attleboro, Massachusetts.

New Family Carvers

three types freely: severe, straight across; severe, straight, only with dot-
ted hooks downward in a deep frown (they wear off easily and look like
the first type); and dotted hooks turned upward into a smile. They all
appear in Period III as well, although the smiling version is never very
common at any time.

Period II: Attributions Derived from the Design Repertoire and their Linkages

The backdated John Burrell stone (Fig. 32), 1754, Rockland,
Massachusetts, hearkens back strongly to the skull effigy on the marker
for Alexander Balkcom (Fig. 32; also Fig.26, Skull Series, # 29), 1759,
Attleboro, Massachusetts, with its slit, bulging eyes, broadish nose, and
vestigal mouth-mark. All other details are familiar from the design reper-
toire list, including the arch decorations, which are nearly identical:

Fig. 33. Alexander Balkcom (left), 1759, Attleboro, Massachusetts;
John Burrell (right), 1754, Rockland, Massachusetts.

New's property abutted that of the Balkcoms.

An interesting stone, not illustrated here, is that for Susannah Randle,
1761, Weymouth, Massachusetts, featuring a heavy frown and wrinkled
forehead. The wig is probably how it looked on the badly deteriorated
Mary Jones marker (Fig. 31). It's etched tri-partite scalloping, which will
now become a frequent element in New's work, first appeared at the end
of Period I on the stone for John Fales, 1759, Franklin, Massachusetts.

The previously-mentioned Deborah Lincoln stone (Fig. 14) is wonder-
fully rich in familiar New design elements and features an impressive,
bonneted effigy head which stares out boldly at the living. An interesting
new feature is the plaid work which will be fairly common after this. The
arch decoration is of great importance for linkage, and will be referred to
again as regards a very late Period III work.

The least sacred of all John New's works must certainly be the previ-
ously-mentioned stone which he carved for Dr. Nathaniel and Ruth White

Vincent F. Luti

(Fig. 18). The two appear in the tympanum decked out in their finest frilly
clothes and elaborate perukes, she holding her fan, he the tools of his
trade. The marker is impressive for its height and thickness as well. Many
of New's stones in the South Shore are simply huge, overwhelming dis-
plays of wealth and status.

Two unique stones elaborating the manner of death are those for John
Stockbridge (Fig. 34), 1768, Hanover, Massachusetts, who died "from the
fall of a tree," and Joseph Studley (Fig. 35), 1766, also Hanover,
Massachusetts, upon which it says "the Lord spake and it was dun." I
rediscovered this latter one some years ago behind a dense shrub, and it
has since become rather famous. Upon it, the Hand of Fate is shown aim-
ing a bolt of lightning at Joseph's head.41

To show further linkages in the work of John New, there are two pair-
ings of stones for women which, when compared, demonstrate how he
took his South Shore bonneted effigy type back to the interior towns
around Attleboro, where he spent the rest of his life: (a) Elizabeth Beal,
1767, Highham, Massachusetts, and Mehitabel Lane, 1774, Norton,
Massachusetts (Fig. 36); (b) Ruth White, 1767, Holbrook, Massachusetts,

Fig. 34. John Stockbridge, 1768, Hanover, Massachusetts.

New Family Carvers

and Sarah Day, 1767, Attleboro, Massachusetts (Fig. 37). Additionally, two
stones with male figures may be compared in the same manner: Ens.
Joseph Wales (Fig. 38), 1767, Randolph, Massachusetts, and Thomas
Brastow (Fig. 39), 1770, Norfolk, Massachusetts.

Border Designs: A Closer Look

Perhaps no other carver of the Narragansett Basin had as rich a vari-
ety of border designs as John New. Each period saw new innovations.
Certain border designs tie together works of disparate dates, seemingly
unrelated geography, and differing tympanum designs. Some are the
products of drifting, i.e., degenerate or misunderstood application, espe-
cially in Period I. Skill and drawing ability improved rapidly, utilizing
better models (perhaps from the Allen workshop), and New's borders
began to exhibit elegance as his imagination worked variations to create
lively arrays from stone to stone. There are, nonetheless, lapses into poor,
uninspired, even sloppy work: his craft, like his life, was uneven.

Plump, dense, stubby cyma scrolls in the borders - if indeed they even
rise to the dignity of that form - are common in Period I, but not exclu-

Fig. 35. Joseph Studley, 1766, Hanover, Massachusetts.

Vincent F. Luti

Fig. 36. (top) Elizabeth Beal, 1767, Hingham, Massachusetts; (bottom)
Mehitabel Lane, 1774, Norton, Massachusetts.

New Family Carvers

Fig. 37. (top) Ruth White, 1767, Holbrook, Massachusetts; (bottom)
Sarah Day, 1767, Attleboro, Massachusetts.

Vincent F. Luti

Fig. 38. Ens. Joseph Wales, 1767, Randolph, Massachusetts.

' _ ;- ■■■

Fig. 39. Thomas Brastow, 1770, Norfolk, Massachusetts.

New Family Carvers

sively (see Fig. 26, Skull Series, #s 12 and 19). By 1755-1756, New had seen
and mastered a George Allen border which presents a thin, elegant,
sweeping cyma curve suspended from a rose-ring, with lily-like flowers
in the axils which coil back around their own stems, ending in plain
curled knobs (as, for example, in Fig. 40, a, b, and c). He took this border
design en toto to the South Shore, but replaces the plain curled knobs with
tightly coiled small fronds ("triskelions"). A most impressive example of
this form is found on the previously-mentioned stone for the Reverend
Samuel Brown (Fig, 17), which shows a death date of 1749 but is backdat-
ed some ten years. This triskelion design then, in turn, had migrated
down from the tympani of Period I, where it had been the large facing
caps surmounting acanthus mounds. Brought down into the border pan-
els, these large-sized coiled fronds of the tympani then rapidly expanded
to create an open interstice which became, after 1760, an interesting shape
to fill in with various background elements - stipling, hatching, flow-
erettes, zig-zag, and ribbing:

L plain, Mcrtlons ahnunA. ujith '■nm.-trM.lien," coll* J

l* John Harding ;782 Mi His
JobWheaton 178S Rekoboth
JatobWhite 1791 Mansfieli

Ho
STID.\

thboro

"orw

B05T0N If*

.'-.ihrMK

A.b

*ffUa.'*' I

PRWIKHCt

•ffnuiKkn

\ .Koiton.

nrtckoth\

"" ""^

'**?' barren.

ol,«

BmgWiKL ^Jiboro

wales
hammond
. '780
Avon

Select Cyma- curve, * u/itA coiled, -/rvad
and Comparative Distribution *~ p

BlaKe

.-747

•folK

Fig. 40.

Vincent F. Luti 53

Fig. 41. Coiled frond border panels with various filler designs:

(from left) Abigail Beal, 1742 (backdated), Hingham, Massachusetts;

Ruth Cushing, 1761, Hingham, Massachusetts; Laben Cushing, 1761,

Hingham, Massachusetts; Sarah Linkorn, 1770, Attleboro,

Massachusetts; Ephraim Randell, 1759 (backdated),

Easton, Massachusetts.

Other border types, some singular, are the flower stem, ribbed swirls,
flower-entwined architectural columns, the tripartite scallop with etching,
and, in the South Shore exclusively, broad, too loosely designed leafy
cyma scroll borders that became corrupted even further when borrowed
by the Pratt I carver.

These Period II border types are found right through Period III,
although they are not so numerous. Instead, new designs were devel-
oped, one of which originated with Gabriel Allen around 1771 only to
appear shortly thereafter (ca. 1772) on John New stones. Carvers, at least
in the Narragansett Basin, kept up to date with the times and fashions.

Select Cyma Curve Linkage in Period II (see Fig. 40)

The stones for Obadiah Carpenter, 1764 (probated 1765), Attleboro,
Massachusetts. Samuel Read, 1765 (probated 1766), Attleboro, Massachu-
setts, and Jabez Gorham, 1764, Westport, Connecticut, as mentioned ear-
lier, are part of a small group of cherub effigies that, considered together
for their internal evidence, help support the attribution to John New of
this effigy type (with the upswept eyes) in the following way: besides the
same head, they all have in common nearly identical borders, a long
sweeping cyma curve with leaves framed by tightly coiled fronds. This
same border appears on the Asa Richardson stone, 1764 (probated 1768),
Millis, Massachusetts, only with a skull tympanum. It appears also, quite
handsomely, on the previously-mentioned Constance Fisher stone (Fig.
11), with its remarkable celestial spheres landscape tympanum.42

This identical cyma curve border design found on the Constance
Fisher marker turns up in the South Shore towns as well, on stones with

New Family Carvers

Fig. 42. Bethia Thatcher, 1793, Attleboro, Massachusetts.

Vincent F. Luti 55

portrait-like costumed torso effigies (some in profile), in the very same
years - 1764-1765 - thus tying together disparate designs and geography.
They link John New, west of Plymouth county in the interior towns, with
John New plying the carriage trade in the South Shore, over forty miles to
the east. The most impressive evidence of this relationship is found on the
previously-mentioned Reverend Samuel Brown stone (Fig. 17), 1749 (but
backdated some ten years), which shows in very high relief the bewigged
and clerically-garbed minister in his pulpit with two deacons below. The
panel is also identical to that on other stones of the South Shore with this
cyma curve border design: Peter Ripley, 1765, Hingham, Massachusetts;
William Tirrell, 1764, Whitman, Massachusetts; Alexander Turrel, 1764,
Weymouth, Massachusetts; and John Bates, 1760, Weymouth,
Massachusetts.

Period III and a Final Note

As was pointed out in my earlier discussion of Period III, the designs
of Period II continue to prevail, but, for the most part, in simpler, modi-
fied form. Likewise, New returns to the use of gray and black slates as
found in Period I. There are red slate outcrops in the Attleboro-Wrentham
area, but why he never chose to use it for his gravestones carved there is
a mystery. Perhaps red was too daring for the conservative rural taste.

Besides the odd stone for his first wife, Marcy, with its palms-forward,
raised hands, and the delicate, sensitive double stone for his two children,
John and Mary (regardless whether carved by him or by his son, James),
there is one other important stone - the previously-discussed Ezekiel
Carpenter marker (Fig. 27) - that serves for attribution purposes.

There is one other stone that merits particular mention since it recalls
so many earlier design elements, and this is the marker for Bethia
Thatcher (Fig. 42), 1793, Attleboro, Massachusetts. A veritable clutter of
John New design elements, some from the first period and some from the
second, it sums up forty years' work. We find, for instance, the recurrence,
after some thirty years, of the scroll collar. Most remarkably, the stone has
a tympanum border design nearly identical to not only the Period I skull
stone from north of Worcester for Mercy Gates, 1765, Sterling,
Massachusetts, but also to the Period II winged effigy marker from the
South Shore for Deborah Lincoln, 1760, Hingham, Massachusetts, once
again confirming the far-ranging stylistic and geographic dispersion of
New's work (see Fig. 43).

New Family Carvers

Mercy
G-ates

sterling

Deborah.
Line o In.
17fcO
HiagKam

BetKLah.
Thacher
J793
Attteboro

Fig. 43

Health and fortune continued their decline. By 1797, John New was
seventy-five years old and a ward of the town. Yet, always active in the
craft he pursued with vigor and imagination for fifty years, I like to think
that with the stone he carved for Chloe Caswell (Fig. 25), 1799, Attleboro,
Massachusetts, he made one last sad attempt at the age of seventy-seven
to keep up to date with the times. Always in the vanguard - if not a leader
- of the new fashions and styles in his folk art medium, he produced this
one urn and willow stone, a sad, pathetic rendering, and then was heard
from no more.

A Select Design Element Chart for Periods
I, II, and III with Chronological Display (see Fig. 44)

The chart presented as Figure 44 tracks a number of key elements in
John New's work:

pinwheel
fish scales

double coil and tongue
squint-eye skull
rolled V collar
stubby scroll
rolled molding
tongue and groove wing
three-tiered, etched wing
simple, plain wing
corner acanthus
heart tablature

m. rolled parchment tablature

n. zig-zag

o. tri-partite scallop

p. lacy cyma stem

q. plain coil cyma stem

r. frond coil cyma stem

s. dense frond with cyma axil flower

t. scalloping

u. roses

v. sun, moon, and stars

w. open "triskelion"

x. two-tiered wing (not shown)

Vincent F. Luti

"~> f» 00 _, 0-
S* <0 v> «o

_§MS1'* !: sJ = 1— T

i£«*> -- -■ = _

(^)® 3 1 = -= - = . I -- = . = ..- =

rrv^» +> = - = s _[_

Iggli* -» .= s... . -I : -

^fj- _ __ i = ,

(^^tf • - ---Hi -. -■

^S^^ - = m

d&Sx ° . _ _3 =.. = .== = H.iiiii-. = - 1 = -- -- - -

§ C - | ; !_, |1-1 = . s£i-.--

i^.rarC . _

£> - . .. . I T 1

^^ ;.|-j - ei::4:.-""??----j

^P- . jb.

^x _ |s __ =

^ -- --1.I ... 1.- - - - -— -

^g- ;_..._.i.._... :......

£* .t...t.i!if. .:

(&- _.i.....iliL

4- .

^H*

«i ix oo £

"Eh

-5

d
o

. A

73
O

-d

d
50

0)
T3

58 New Family Carvers

This represents only a random sampling of some of John New's design
elements and is for a limited number of stones. In no way is the chart
comprehensive. It's purpose is to show how some elements appear and
disappear, associated with only one or two periods, and how others, in
turn, link two or three periods together to show that stones from seem-
ingly unrelated areas bear the style of New's hand. There is no question,
given just these few elements, that his work was greatly varied and inven-
tive. The density of each design is only general since the sampling choice
was limited to less than half his output and surveys a large part, but not
all, of his design elements. Arrows at the bottom of the chart indicate con-
tinuation into the 1790s.

It is curious to note the large time gaps for the reappearance of a (pin-
wheels), e (rolled V collars), m (rolled parchment tablatures), p (lacy cyma
borders), and just wings in general. This may be due in part to missing or
undocumented stones and, in the case of wings, the intrusion of a very
popular design such as non-winged effigies.

Note the progressive overlap of wing styles from h to i to /, and then
the wingless torso effigies gap followed by a new type, x, as wings reap-
pear on effigies after 1775. Also, note how p (lacy cyma) is immediately
superseded by elaborate, denser cyma curve versions q and r, to be super-
seded by an even denser form (taken directly from the Allen workshop).
It is also true that scroll border designs themselves are taken apart and re-
assembled variously to make an infinite variety of borders. Those shown
are only generalized versions of my own.

An important source of New's designs may possibly be the Park fam-
ily of carvers, although this may not be definitely asserted without further
study. For now, we can assume, as was noted earlier, that he was also
familiar with the designs of Boston carvers and of the Aliens of Rehoboth,
Massachusetts.

A Special Problem of Attribution: New or Pratt?

A necessary part of the present study is to make a convincing argu-
ment that certain work quite disparate in style and distribution is in fact
carved by the hand of John New. His style did influence other carvers,
such as the Pratt family of Abington, Massachusetts, and the early work
of William Throop of Bristol, Rhode Island.43 But these carvers developed
their own idiom, and very few of their stones can be confused with John
New's work. My interpretation of this attribution problem thus differs

Vincent F. Luti 59

from that of several other commentators, such as Peter Benes and Martha
Campbell.44

There are a good number of red slate stones in the South Shore towns
near Boston that appear to be related, whether the work of one carver or
more. They begin and end quite distinctly in the years 1758-1768 and
average eleven per year. They have been variously attributed to Nathaniel
Pratt, to his son, Noah, to the "unknown South Shore carver," and now -
by me - to John New. I have weeded out what appears to be the work of
the first Pratt carver from that which I call New's. The "unknown carver"
(Benes' term) probably does not exist, since all the remaining stones of the
group, radiating out from a locus in Brockton, Massachusetts, are surely
the beginning work of James New, John's son, in the years circa 1770-1776,
when he was in his twenties. I would not at this time know who the first
Pratt carver was: Nathaniel, or Noah his son.

It should be made quite clear that there is no direct documented evi-
dence that proves John New - or any other carver for that matter - carved
any of the stones in the South Shore towns: hence, the need to go into
great detail on design and lettering linkages to authenticated New stones
or to others within a five-mile radius of his workshop in Attleboro which
are surely his.

It is not always clear in Harriette Forbes' notes that some of the pay-
ments to suspected stonecarvers are documented as unspecified, meaning
they may, in fact, be for something other than gravestones.45 Hence, under
Noah Pratt, she attributes stones solely on the basis of a general probate
payment. Ironically, checking out these stones -unspecified payments to
Noah Pratt in the 1760s - shows them to be the work of John New. The
first payment to a Pratt that specifies gravestones was in 1769, after New
had left the area. It, too, is a work by John New (Ebenezer Beal, 1761,
Hingham, Massachusetts). Other probate payments to a Pratt after this
date, 1769, are in fact for Pratt stones.

It is most likely that Noah was acting as agent in the sale of these John
New stones. New could not have received payment during this period
because he was under guardianship. It turns out also that this Noah Pratt
was distantly related to John New by marriage. Dr. David Jones' sister,
Mary, was Noah Pratt's wife.46 The wives of both men, David and Noah,
have stones carved by John New. I would conjecture that John New lived
with Dr. Jones or the Pratt family in Abington during his "exile" years.
Martha Campbell says that the Pratts had a shop on their property.

New Family Carvers

Perhaps New carved there.

If, as Benes, claims, the first Pratt carver is Nathaniel (1702-1779), then
he was sixty-five years old when he first started carving in the John New
style (ca, 1767). The problem is, why was he "paid for gravestones" that
are John New's? If, as Campbell believes, the first Pratt carver was
Nathaniel's son, Noah (1731-1807?), whose own two sons are known to be
carvers after 1777, then he was thirty-six years old when he started imi-
tating New.

In any case, it is this Noah Pratt who is the middleman in the sale of
John New stones. Payments to him cease abruptly with the departure of
John New from the South Shore.

So the carving chains look like this:

Benes: Lt. Nathaniel ... Noah, Jr. and Robert ... unknown Pratt

Campbell: Noah, Sr. ... Noah, Jr. and Robert ... Cyrus Pratt

Luti: First Pratt Carver ... Noah, Jr. and Robert ... Cyrus Pratt

Fig. 45. Sarah Garnett, 1767, Hingham, Massachusetts.

Vincent F. Luti 61

The question arises as to whether John New personally taught the
Pratts to carve, and any answer is completely conjectural. What is all too
apparent, on the other hand, is the degree to which the Pratts copied John
New designs. The examples populate the cemeteries of the South Shore,
and a few will shortly be illustrated. The impressive backdated stone in
Abington, Massachusetts by John New for Reverend Samuel Brown (Fig.
17) is without peer, and we read in the Abington Town Records of March
16, 1772 that when "the Town votes to get the late Mr. Dodge
Gravestones" they called upon a Pratt carver. The stone that he produced
mimics all of the Reverend Brown stone, in second-rate fashion, even to
its gigantic size and the use of red slate. Reverend Izekial (sic) Dodge died
June 5, 1770: that John New was not asked to carve his stone is testimony
to my theory that he had already left the area to return to and work in
Attleboro.

A Quick Guide to Distinguishing John New from the First Pratt Carver

Careful scrutiny of many stones and their details, some suggested
here, makes it possible to separate the red slate stones of the 1760s into
two distinct bodies of work, as shown below. The exceptions exist, but
they are rare.

First Pratt Carver (see Figs. 45, 47, 49) John New (see Figs. 16-21; 46, 48)

Overall, the work bunches around Overall, the work spreads evenly
1767-1770. Earlier dates are most over period 1758-1768. Earlier

likely backdates. dates are backdates. Work drops to

0 in 1769.

1. Crude handling of the chisel; 1. The chisel is used to sculpt and
used to draw rather than to create model.

relief; hence, flat pancake planes to
the effigies and border designs.

2. Lack of control over chisel; poor 2. Chisel under control at all times;
drawing, often random, decent drawing sense; designs
meaningless. understood.

New Family Carvers

Most Relevant Elements

1. Crude owl eyes, no modeling.

2. Tiny, flat-surfaced heads.

3. Pinched, tiny necks.

1. Eyes and pupils are modeled for
volume effects. May be owlish.

2. Modeled face and hair.

3. Necks are always correct width.

Other Details

1. The number 2.

2. Stipling random, not dense.

3. Lowercase m for Mr. on occasion.

4. Flat serifs toward the end of the
decade. Lettering not always
under control, scratchy, poor
spacing, often leans to the right.

5. Three forms of ye.

6. Crude to only fair foliate designs,
often just curlicues or geometries.

7. Pinwheels common.

8. Little or no punctuation.

1. Decorated capital letters.

2. Dense, even stipling.

3. Uppercase M for Mr.

4. Lettering mostly consistent and
reasonable, controlled, although
sometimes not much better than
Pratt. Serifs always slant.

5. --

6. Foliate work perhaps abstracted,
but knowingly cut, in control,
acanthus-like.

7. Unique zig-zag filler.

8. Apt to punctuate, sometimes
excessively.

For further illustration of differences in the technique and skill levels
of these two carvers, compare the two groups of paired stones represent-
ed by (a) Figures 45 [First Pratt] vs. 46 [John New] and (b) Figures 47 [First
Pratt] vs. 48 [John New]. The stone for Sarah Garnett (Fig. 45), 1767,
Hingham, Massachusetts, exhibits flat modeling, crude foliate work, ran-
dom stipling, shaky lettering, and a tiny head and neck, whereas that for
Sarah Adams (Fig. 46), 1766, Milton, Massachusetts, features relief mod-
eling in the face and in gracious scrollwork borders, signature zig-zag,
decorated letters, dense stipling, and control of lettering and spacing.
Similarly, the stone for William Torrey (Fig. 47), 1770, Weymouth,
Massachusetts, displays no relief carving, a tiny head and neck, curlicues,
and pinwheels, but good lettering because carved after 1770 (late period
Pratt I), as compared to the stone for Caleb Marsh (Fig. 48), 1763,
Hingham, Massachusetts, which is notable for its modeled, sculpted face
(hair, chin, eye-balls, pupils), correct width, modeled neck, dense and

Vincent F. Luti

Fig. 46. Sarah Adams, 1766, Milton, Massachusetts.

New Family Carvers

even stipling, reasonable acanthus and fan design, elegant raking line
filler, and careful, controlled lettering. As a final example of early letter-
ing, sloppy stipling, and other weak design and skill qualities of the First
Pratt carver, see the stone for David Rice (Fig. 49), 1767, Weymouth,
Massachusetts.

James New: A Biographical Sketch

James New was born September 3, 1751, in Wrentham, Massachusetts,
to John and Marcy (Mercy) Adams New.47 Nothing more appears in the
records until his enlistment in the military.48

In his own words, James was living with his father in Attleboro when
he enlisted on May 1, 1775, in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, in a company
made up of men from that and neighboring towns. He served in
Cambridge, Massachusetts until the end of 1775 and then re-enlisted for a
year. This lasted only two months, however, as he took ill and obtained a
furlough to go home. We can only assume this meant back to Attleboro for
the rest of 1776. With the Resolves of 1777 he was drafted, in November
of that year. However, he did not go, "not being in fine health," and hired

Fig. 47. William Torrey, 1770, Weymouth, Massachusetts.

Vincent F. Luti

a substitute, as was allowed. These details for 1775-1777 are important for
trying to collate the stone carvings from his hand dated in these years and
for understanding the special nature of their distribution.

The records in Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War
are not entirely reconciled with New's own deposition, but it is clear that
up to May 1, 1775, he could have been at home in Attleboro carving, and
that from May to December of 1775 he could not have been carving, as he
was then stationed in Cambridge. For the greater part of 1777 (at least
March to November) he was at home and could have been working on
stones. On October 23, 1777, he married Anna Perry of Attleboro. For a
week in July of 1780 he served in Freetown, Massachusetts, his wife
remembering staying up late at night to knit socks for him to take along.

It can be certain that he was in fact carving before May 1, 1775 (his
enlistment date) since there is a probate payment for gravestones within
the time frame 1773-1775 (death date and probate date).

Though I can offer no explanation, there are two things that lead me to
suspect James New had some connection with the Bridgewater,
Massachusetts area before the war broke out: (1) he enlisted from

Fig. 48. Caleb Marsh, 1763, Hingham, Massachusetts.

New Family Carvers

Bridgewater, not Attleboro, his hometown; (2) his earliest work before
1775 is distributed in a north-south band of territory from Bridgewater
north to Milton, Massachusetts, i.e., the very towns which were contained
in his first military company of 1775.49 This area is a void left between his
father's territory in the South Shore towns to the east and the interior
towns in the Wrentham-Attleboro area to the west. Furthermore, this rela-
tionship to the Bridgewater area is evident in the fact that many of the
family names of members of his company and regiment are those found
on the stones he carved in this region throughout the 1770s. After his
enlistment in 1775 there are even more of his gravestones found in this
area.

By his own account, New lived for fourteen years after 1777 in
Attleboro, but exactly where or with whom we do not know. His work
and style is kept reasonably separate from that of his father during this
period, and to some degree the distribution as well, even though it is pos-
sible they lived and carved together on John New's property, with its
house and shop mentioned in several deeds.50 This homestead was locat-
ed in modern North Attleboro, Massachusetts, on what is now in part the

Fig. 49. David Rice, 1767, Weymouth, Massachusetts.

Vincent F. Luti 67

National Fish Hatchery and in larger part is under the waters of the man-
made Greenwood Lake. There are no deed records for James until 1791,
which could indicate he was living at his father's home.

James New moved to Grafton, Massachusetts in 1791, where he lived
thirteen years, then fourteen in Bellingham, Massachusetts, four in
Franklin, Massachusetts, one again in Bellingham, and four in Medway,
Massachusetts. His final move was to Holliston, Massachusetts, where he
finished out his life and died (according to data inscribed on his grave-
stone in Bellingham) on August 28, 1835. His wife, Anna, died in 1849 and
is buried next to him. They had eight children, six of whom reached adult-
hood and married. None appears to have become a stonecarver.

The Work of James New

I cannot say with any precision when James New began carving.
When James was age sixteen - a not uncommon time for apprenticeship
or production - his father was living and working in the Abington,
Massachusetts area, but we do not know if his young family was with
him. There is reason to believe they were not. Despite the variability in
execution of John New's work at this time, I do not think this is attribut-
able to the hand of a fledgling son (a few of the stones are even hard to
distinguish from those of the Pratt I carver). I would only suggest that
James probably began his apprenticeship and production under his father
when John returned to live in what is now North Attleboro around 1769
or 1770. James would then have been about eighteen.

The Repertoire of James New Designs

I- A. Costumed Torso Figures, Male and Female, to 1772

These are awkward, outright attempts to imitate his father's torso
design. Principal details include the following: nipple nose, coil and leaf
mound elements, and scalloping, as in the Joanna Dean stone, 1772,
Easton, Massachusetts; lacework edging to the gown, as in the Sarah
Kingman stone, 1771, Brockton, Massachusetts; sun, moon, and stars, as
in the Richard Faxon stone, 1772, Braintree, Massachusetts; and wavy
lines edged in zig-zag (with sun, moon, and stars), as in the backdated
Caleb Thayer stone, 1759, Braintree, Massachusetts. Halfway down the
Nathaniel Thayer stone, 1768, Braintree, Massachusetts, a wavy band
across the stone employs a tiny fleur-de-lis figure which was not used by

New Family Carvers

Fig. 50. Benjamin Hayward, 1773, West Bridgewater, Massachusetts.

Vincent F. Luti

John New but becomes a signature element right into James' later years.51
The faces are standing-on-end eggs with pinched eyes and noses placed
very high.

The wide borders of this early period exude nervous energy in the
wrinkly, shallowly incised lines that design a variety of loose, leafy foliate
work - such as the excessively busy filler between odd, unbound flower-
like rounds on the Richard Faxon stone - and show that the carver does
not always know what it is he is representing. The flattened-out rose of
the Silence Pratt stone, 1771, Easton, Massachusetts, will emerge as a con-
sistent element in James' work, but more sculpturally done in later years,
with double-edged petals. The expanding, coiled frond of the Josiah
French stone, 1768, Braintree, Massachusetts, was taken from his father's
work. All these stones, then, lead up to their style authentication in the
Benjamin Hayward stone (Fig. 50), 1773 (probated February 6, 1774), West
Bridgewater, Massachusetts, with its costumed male torso and with the
identical panels found on the Josiah French stone. As is evident from the
illustration, the Hayward marker is in quite poor condition.

Fig. 51. Capt. Moses Curtis, 1763 (backdated), Brockton,
Massachusetts.

70 New Family Carvers

I-B. Costumed Torso Figures, 1773-1775

Three stones that come immediately after the I-A group show a strong
tightening up of the scratchy border work and exhibit coherent, simple,
but strongly articulated designs. Details of face and clothing are not so
loutish and now have tiny, refined figurations. The eyes are still very
pinched, but not as ropey in outline as before. The three stones in ques-
tion are for Capt. Moses Curtis (Fig. 51), 1763 [backdated]; Sarah Packard,
1773; and Constant Southworth, 1775, all in Brockton, Massachusetts. This
tympanum design now ceases and does not reappear in this form again.

II. Winged Bald Effigies

Five stones - those for Abner Phillips, 1747; Timothy Keith, 1761;
Abigail Packard, 1763; a second Abner Phillips, 1766, all of Brockton,
Massachusetts; and Mehetabel Howard, 1770, West Bridgewater,
Massachusetts - likewise show their debt to a John New design, the
winged bald effigy. They even display the etched, bell-curve wing of John
New, and the stone for Mehetabel Howard has a finial directly traceable
back through James' father to George Allen, who in turn took it from John
Stevens I. Given that the border panel designs are coherent foliate and
flower work, these five stones may be co-extensive with the I-B set in exe-
cution and type. This tympanum design ceases at this point and will not
reappear in this form again.

I1I-A/B. Skulls

There is a set of winged skull stones that, from their similar border
techniques and design elements, shows a co-extension with I-A /I-B (to
1775). It is a skull design that John New developed after 1756. The skull
on the Anna Hay ward stone, 1776, West Bridgewater, Massachusetts, is
remarkable in that it incorporates a Plymouth County cat- whisker mouth-
mark between two sets of teeth.52 Other examples of the skull are found
on the stones for Nathaniel Hammond, 1770, Brockton, Massachusetts;
Benjamin French, 1772, Braintree, Massachusetts; and Katherine South-
worth, 1775, Brockton, Massachusetts. This skull design never appears
again.

IV-A/B/C. Foliate Work Tympani

These stones are harder to date, but based on the cruder lettering and
the relationship of border designs and techniques, I'd conclude that this

Vincent F. Luti

set covers the years of I-A/I-B (to 1775) as well. Those tympani
designs that are out of control and make no sense (set A) are prob-
ably the earliest of the group: John Lothrup, 1774, West Bridgewater,
Massachusetts; Nathaniel Hammond, 1749; Reuben Keith, 1762; and
Silence Hammond, 1770, all of Brockton, Massachusetts. The B set of
stones (1773-1775) are those for Mark Perkins, 1756; Susannah Packard,
1773; and Damarais Cary, 1775, all of Brockton, Massachusetts. The C set
of stones (1775ff.) appears to directly follow the B set and includes the
somewhat elegant examples for Mary Cary, 1768, and Huldah Cary (Fig.
52), 1775, both of Brockton, Massachusetts; Sarah Hayward, 1776, West
Bridgewater, Massachusetts; and Nathaniel Southworth, 1778, Brockton,
Massachusetts. Foliate tympani designs will continue in James New's
repertoire all the way into the 1790s. Although there are various forms
used throughout this period, the most prominent is one taken
from his father in which facing foliate mounds are capped with coiled
fronds.

, — .

Fig. 52. Huldah Cary, 1775, Brockton, Massachusetts.

New Family Carvers

V. Arched Wing, Severe Effigies

(a) The 1773-1775 Set
These effigies have little or no hair and the panel work relates to I-A
(to 1772). The arched wing, severe effigies are done in adult proportions
with thin noses and ovoid faces. They must have come into being with, or
shortly after, the beginnings of the costumed torso effigies. They are either
bald or have only the slightest trace of a haircap. The high wings are flop-
py and barely incised within their outlines with a few scratchy, wiggly
lines. Peculiar, bladder-shaped wings appear. They appear to go through
four phases in this early period, and, if nothing else, display imaginative,
though crude, individuality. This set is represented by the stones - all 1773
and in Brockton, Massachusetts - for Moses Curtis (bladder wings
incised with curlycues on a pile of fish scale rocks in an electrified
zig-zag background), Eliphalet Phillips (riding vertical heat waves on
bladder wings), and Elisha Dunbar (floppy wings on a quilted back-
ground).

Fig. 53. Luke Perkins, 1776, Brockton, Massachusetts.

Vincent F. Luti

Fig. 54. Luke Perkins, 1776, Brockton, Massachusetts.
Detail of border panel.

New Family Carvers

(b) The 1773-1776 Set

This group features narrow, curly wigs and borders more like I-B and
is represented by several stones found in Brockton, Massachusetts. The
marker for Luke Perkins (Figs. 53 and 54), 1776, is notable for its thick,
staring wigged head supported by heavily-cut bladder wings and also for
what are perhaps the wildest, most incomprehensible, and bizarre border
panels of any stone in New England. Other include the markers for Moses
Curtis, 1769, steely-faced, with lettering and decorated, needle-etched
capitals not a bit worn after two hundred years; Theophilus Curtis, 1771;
and Marthas Snell, 1776, a companion piece to Luke Perkins, but with
handsome, swirling borders topped with tulip rounds for finials.

This set is characterized by an odd, ribbed cap (hairpiece?), and a few
carved on an extremely metallic-like stone with designs that have a glassy,
almost neoclassic serene frontality. Examples include the markers for
Ruth Allen, 1770, and Robert Allen, 1778, Walpole, Massachusetts; and
Thomas Wales, 1776, Avon, Massachusetts. The well-preserved Abigail
Hayward stone (Fig. 55), 1776, West Bridgewater, Massachusetts, dis-

IBM

Fig. 55. Abigail Hayward, 1776, West Bridgewater, Massachusetts.

Vincent F. Luti

plays, in addition to interesting tympanum background plaidwork (a
quilt?), very elegant borders of open, coiled fronds encompassing finely-
etched, dotted flower bursts which may be, along with the lettering, the
work of John New. A hierarchic rendering occurs on the double stone for
John and Silence Burr, 1777, West Bridgewater, with a crown situated
between and above the two effigies.

(d) The 1779-1784 Set
In this set are nine stones which have, variously, minimal haircaps and
arched wings, as, for example, on the marker for Rebekah Sweet, 1784
(probated 1785), Attleboro, Massachusetts. Further authentication for
these stones comes from the marker for Samuel Robinson (Fig. 56), 1779
(probated 1784), Attleboro, Massachusetts, and also from that for
Nathaniel Hammond, 1781 (probated 1782), Avon, Massachusetts.53

VI. Plump, Moon-Faced Effigies

Very rapidly, after 1783, type V evolved into round faces with a cheru-
bic cast - plump noses, flat, button pupils in stylized almond eyes with
ropey outlines (but not pinched together as earlier), and fat cheeks. They
have either a peaked bonnet or a bangs-like haircap. Some are quite sweet.
The famous Sarah Allen stone (Fig. 57), 1785, Bristol, Rhode Island, has

Fig. 56. Samuel Robinson, 1779, Attleboro, Massachusetts.

New Family Carvers

Fig. 57. Sarah Allen, 1785, Bristol, Rhode Island.

Vincent F. Luti

Fig. 58. Mary Croade, 1784, Warren, Rhode Island.

Fig. 59. Deacon Abner Stow and Mary Stow, 1785, Grafton, Massachusetts.

New Family Carvers

rising suns accompanying this design. Charming examples are the mark-
ers for Mary Croade (Fig. 58), 1784, Warren, Rhode Island, and Darius
Sawyer, 1789, Lancaster, Massachusetts. From this style also comes the
stone for Deacon Abner Stow and his wife Mary (Fig. 59), 1785, Grafton,
Massachusetts, holding hands in their winged ascent to heaven (note the
signature fleur-de-lis and scalloping). The arched, drooping wings in this
group are more solidly cut than ever before and have lost their nervous
scratchings.

VII. Chevron-Winged Moon Effigies in Flight

In the last stage of the effigies, 1790-1800, the heads start out much like
those of type VI, but the wing feathers reach out horizontally on either
side of the head or curve upward above the head. They are no longer
earthbound (drooping). The sweetest of all is the Elizabeth Adams foot-
stone, 1790, Grafton, Massachusetts; the most winsome is the marker for
Solomon Peck (Fig. 60), 1794, Sutton, Massachusetts; the most flighty is
that for Susannah Perkins (Fig. 61), 1789, Brockton, Massachusetts; and
the most hierarchic that for Charles Lincoln (Fig. 62), 1794, Brockton,
Massachusetts.

Fig. 60. Solomon Peck, 1794, Sutton, Massachusetts.

Vincent F. Luti

Fig. 61. Susannah Perkins, 1789, Brockton, Massachusetts.

Fig. 62. Charles Lincoln, 1794, Brockton, Massachusetts.

New Family Carvers

Then, around 1800, the effigy goes rigid, cast in steely technique and
mass produced in boring repetitions. But one is startling - the stone for
Margaret Hill (Fig. 63), 1804, Holliston, Massachusetts, which for all the
world looks like something from a 1930s aviator film with helmet, gog-
gles, and strutted wings in an electrified, quilted, zig-zag sky.

This group is authenticated by the Eunice Willis stone, 1797, Brockton,
Massachusetts, which is signed, as is the Gardner Waters stone, 1793,
Sutton, Massachusetts. The design is used for children as well as for
adults.

VIII. Torsos, Portraits, and Winged Torsos

This diverse group picks up on the earlier abandoned costumed fig-
ures (I-A/I-B), but is influenced in design by the more cherubic styles of
the winged effigies. Torsos, with or without little shoulder wings, are gen-
eralized figures. The eeriest is the spider-winged depiction of Martha
Dean (Fig. 64), 1788, Attleboro, Massachusetts, peering hypnotically for-
ward in a flame-like arch. Of others, Hannah Tiffany, 1785, Atleboro,
Massachusetts, is famous for having "sought and found him"; Reverend

Fig. 63. Margaret Hill, 1804, Holliston, Massachusetts.

Vincent F. Luti

Fig. 64. Martha Dean, 1788, Attleboro, Massachusetts.

Fig. 65. Benjamin Morse, 1796, Sutton, Massachusetts.

New Family Carvers

Elisha Fisher, 1795, Upton, Massachusetts, is quite pious; Margaret Cole,
1792, Sutton, Massachusetts, points heavenward; Benjamin Morse (Fig.
65), 1796, Sutton, Massachusetts, leans on a ledge in utter sweetness,
dressed in a stipled shirtdress and wearing neat bangs, while two broken
trees appear on either side in a quilted background; and Charles Brigham,
1781, Grafton, Massachusetts, a portrait, has been celebrated in Harriette
Forbes' book.54

IX. Moon-in- Arch Effigies

This design, and often its accompanying border panels, has too much
in common with the work of the Park family - even to the use of the pro-
file "bird in the vine" borders - not to wonder what the connection was.
They are signed, so we know James New carved them. They date
throughout his carving career from the 1770s to the 1790s. The gowned
figures, with perfectly round moon-cherub faces (a few not so round), fit
tightly into a roman arch. Some are more portrait-like or individualistic
than others. Simple trees stand guard left and right of the image, fre-
quently in a quilted zig-zag background. The border panels are often

Fig. 66. Edward Goddard, 1777, Shrewsbury, Massachusetts.

Vincent F. Luti

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84 New Family Carvers

either a column or a simple two-leafed vine. Other types occur. The stone
for Reverend Daniel Perkins, 1782, West Bridgewater, Massachusetts, is
nicely stylized, and the well preserved, signed Edward Goddard stone
(Fig. 66), 1777, Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, is especially handsome.

X. Urn and Willow

There are numerous James New stones in this design, thickly drawn
and executed and well lettered, but I have not made a study of them.

Geographic Distribution of the Work of John and James New (See
Figs. 67-69) and the Collaboration Issue

As of this writing, I have catalogued some eight hundred and eighty-
five gravestones that in all likelihood were carved by the New family. This
does not represent all that there are. The number could rise to close to one
thousand. Between father and son, the time span of the documentation is
of some sixty-five years, from circa 1745 to 1810. Plotting the distribution
of these gravestones (Figs. 67, 68, and 69) produced block-like demo-
graphics that flow with epidemics, prosperity, war, and familial ties. At
the center, or home base, of all this wide demographic distribution were
the areas around old Wrentham, Massachusetts, where John New was
born, and old Attleboro, Massachusetts, where he died. These areas are
most consistently represented by all the styles.

The distribution reflects the epidemics in towns around Worcester, the
rising prosperity of the South Shore towns below Boston in mid-century,
the Revolutionary War that brought James to the area of the Bridgewaters,
John New's acceptance into the town of Attleboro, and James New's
remove to the Worcester area, closing the circle begun there many decades
earlier by his father.

The following observations of some importance are worth noting on
the chart representing the temporal /geographic distribution of the New's
work (Fig. 67):

1. The non compos break in 1756, after the epidemic years, is clearly
shown in the distribution of the stones in the first two columns of the
chart. The continuity in columns three and four shows the allegiances in
the towns to the immediate north of the old West Wrentham Precinct
(now Franklin, Massachusetts) where John New grew up and married.

2. The shift in John New's work to the South Shore is dramatically
shown in the columns headed Hingham/Abingtom. His abrupt depar-

Vincent F. Luti

ture is also clearly seen.

3. James New's first period begins strongly, as seen in the columns
headed Avon/Bridgewater, and drops off sharply in 1790-1791 when his
work shifts to his Grafton residency, the columns headed Bellingham/

/BoylsWv/^^Nofthb'on

WORCESTER „ '////•//»•"/'

<* „ Grafton
** Mill bury a

*kuburn H

r ^

r Upton?

** Sutton y

r >

BOSTON
0

| FroftKlin.

HiittUI1!!

North
Mftcboro

AttkWo

thAu,

Mans-
field

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south

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-I/5"6 JbhivNew
|lJ{j[} 1758-/768 John New
J7b?-/799 John New

j, I tyO-lffO JomesNey/

PTr3 2792 - James Ne*/

ti.J-i.Ll ' '

Fig. 68. Distribution map of New stones.

New Family Carvers

Sutton/ Auburn. The work before 1790 in the last three columns is mostly
backdated material of James New. A few in the Bellingham column are
correctly dated works of John New.

4. John New's Attleboro period covers the columns headed
Attleboro/ Mansfield /East Providence / Barrington. Here it is quite inter-
esting to note that with the passing of time John's distribution zone

Wrenth(Lm_ t Boston

Klorth

Attleboro

Nlortoa.

4, rn.

Providence*

Percent of New stones -J770 — 1799- in*
select cemeteries £L*icb their rc\a!t\oru
to distances -from the. Mo. Attleboro sKop

Fig. 69.

Vincent F. Luti

shrinks regularly in the geographic direction of North Attleboro, his
home. First to go are the distant Rhode Island towns of Barrington,
Bristol, and Warren; then East Providence, Rehoboth, and Swansea closer
to home; and lastly Attleboro's neighboring towns of Mansfield and
Norton. Plainville, once part of South Wrentham, abuts North Attleboro
only a few miles from New's workshop. The final stones are simply in
Attleboro.

Though there are slight admixtures of the work of father and son, it is
interesting to note how they carved out and respected each other's terri-
tories.

Despite the dilemma caused by one stone for Marcy New (Fig. 70), the
wife of John and mother of James, 1788, Attleboro, Massachusetts, with
"James N" scratched into the unfinished part of the stone below ground,
it would appear that John and James New may not have collaborated in
the years 1770-1790 quite as much as I once thought. James lived with his
father up until his marriage in November, 1777, at least as far as can be
deduced from his own deposition for his Revolutionary War pension.
Distribution of his first period stones, roughly up to 1778, do not, except

Fig. 70. Marcy New, 1788, Attleboro, Massachusetts.

New Family Carvers

very rarely, overlap with any town where his father was placing stones.
By his own account, he lived in Attleboro for fourteen years after his mar-
riage in 1777, but we do not know where or with whom. There are no
deeds for James New until 1791. If he lived with his father and carved in
his shop, the two men managed to keep their styles, design repertoire,
and distribution relatively separate, as appears to be the case over the
larger time span of 1770-1790. A count of their output shows about an
equal number of stones carved by each. Out of a sampling figure of 235
stones carved by James New in the period 1770-1790, only some 50, or
21%, are placed in towns where John New was distributing his work. Or,
put another way, 79% of James New's work is carefully placed in towns
where his father's appears rarely, if at all.

The baffling mystery of the Marcy New stone centers about that
"James N" mentioned above, scratchily etched in script on the rough,
unfinished portion of the marker meant to be covered by the ground (i.e.,
not in the usual, above-ground advertising position of signed stones).
Neither the lettering nor the design work found on this marker is charac-
teristically that of James New: in fact, it is all in the continuous develop-
mental line of John New. Why would James need to sign a stone below

JIVI *-1 I,

Fig. 71. John and Mary New, 1774/1778, Attleboro, Massachusetts.

Vincent F. Luti 89

ground in a town where he and his father were very well known and had
a monopoly on stonecarving already? The effigy and its details are just
not compatible with the bulk of stones associated with authenticated
works of James New leading up to the 1780s. If it is a case of copying ver-
batim his father's style, then there might be a larger number of stones in
the 1770-1790 (1778-1790 might be a tighter frame) time period that raise
the question as to the authorship of either man. If James was copying his
father's costumed, bust effigy design, why does it never appear in towns
where known James New work is exclusively and densely located? Is the
Marcy New stone a singular, bizarre, unexplained occurrence?

To be totally safe - that is, if we are to assume that James did produce
exact copies of his father's style - it might be advisable to lump the cos-
tumed bust effigy stones in the tighter frame of 1778-1790 all together
under "collaboration" and allow for the fact that the lettering on all of
them appears to be in John New's more consistent style. This "collabora-
tion" would involve lettering probably by John New, with typani work
either by John or James, for distribution strictly in John New's territory -
an uneasy hypothesis at best. It should be recalled that early 1770s docu-
mentable bust effigies by James New were rather crudely hacked out, and
it might not be until the very late years of the decade that his skill would
equal that of his father. The "John New workshop" might be a better attri-
bution label for this specific classification and period, since it is John's sin-
gular bust effigy design that is being produced by both men.

But the uneasy problem nevertheless still remains, as may be seen in
the striking differences between the Marcy New stone (Fig. 70) and anoth-
er marker, that for Martha Dean (Fig. 64), both dated 1788 and both locat-
ed in the same cemetery in Attleboro. It is hard to believe that the hand
that carved the Dean stone - which relates closely in technique and design
details to James New's authenticated work - is the same that produced
the Marcy New stone when this very Marcy New face is related directly
in form and content not only to the South Shore effigies of John New
carved from 1758 to 1768, and, as well, to one carved for Abigail Lane,
1792, in the Pine Street Cemetery near John New's home in Attleboro
(when James was living far away in Grafton), but also to one probated to
John New in 1791 for Ezekiel Carpenter that, though badly worn, shows
the same conception in the head design.

I would point out several details of the two stones that are invariant
nearly 100% of the time in the work of father and son:

90 New Family Carvers

Tohn New Tames New

Marcy New, 1788 Martha Dean, 1788

1. Modeled eyeball and pupil 1. Flat stylized eye, button pupil

2. Pronounced "nipple nose" 2. Correct nose tip

3. Exaggerated frown 3. Straight, placid mouth

The bonnets should also be examined carefully for their striking details
and the stylistic differences which are characteristic of each carver.

That John New always modeled the eyeball and pupils is consistent.
James was also consistent in producing flat, almond eyes with flat, round
button pupils. There are two prominent stones - and apparently no more
in James' output - that clearly show a skill at modeled eyeballs and
pupils: both date from the 1790s and are located in Sutton, Massachusetts,
near Grafton where James lived. One is for Gardner Waters, 1793, signed
"J New Sc": the other is the utterly winsome winged effigy for Solomon
Peck (Fig. 60), 1794, which is in no way very different from the charming
head of John New (Jr.) found on a double stone with his sister, Mary (Fig.
71), 1774 and 1778, in Attleboro. But following the development of James'
designs and skills, particularly the latter, the documented work shows
that up to as late as 1778 he had not even approached his father's design
skills. How could a carver in what was essentially an apprentice stage
have created the exquisite and sensitive stone for the two New children?
I do not feel that he did. The only other explanation is that the New chil-
dren stone is substantially backdated, which, if true, changes the picture
altogether,

It might appear that from 1770-1790 James deliberately did not (or
could not, in his early work) imitate aspects of his father's style while he
was working out of the workshop in Atleboro. Perhaps this was out of
deference, but, whatever the case, this imitative ability was certainly pre-
sent later - as shown in the two examples just mentioned in Sutton -
when at a respectable distance and during a time when his father's work,
health, and fortunes were rapidly declining. Even if James did carve the
Marcy New stone - and possibly even that for John and Mary New, his
brother and sister - he would have been making exact replicas of his
father's work, and, on such a basis, they would reasonably deserve attri-
bution to John New on design merit. It could, of course, turn out that the
enigmatic signature on the Marcy New stone is there for some entirely dif-
ferent reason.

Vincent F. Luti

Whether the decision of father or son, a powerfully devout epitaph
appears on the base of the gravestone for Marcy New, who died in her
seventy-second year:

Abigail Lane 1792.

Ebere-Ltr Lane 1792.
r

SoLomoaSKirmer 1787

/*"%

To<U i5n'

RhodaTodd I784

A a— ^

Abel Bng§5 779^-

Beajdm-in, SKinner 1782_

Mary ^\j§ " Stephen

SKinner M 4 Pofui ,776

1754 '(ll u „

I 54 '

wife: deccmtr ^

Hannah SKinaer 1776

Daniel White. 1796

Fig. 72. Prominent John and James New carving elements on stones in
the Pine Street/Wading River Cemetery, Mansfield, Massachusetts.

92 New Family Carvers

A guilty weak & helpless worm
On thy kind arms I Fall:
Be thou my strength & righteousness
My Jesus & my all.

A Postscript: The Pine Street/Wading River Cemetery, Mansfield,
Massachusetts

Late in the research for this study, a small cemetery was found only
two miles from John New's home and workshop. All of the eighteenth
century stones in the cemetery (17 total) are from the New workshop and
confirm a great number of New design details and techniques. This area,
in the second half of the eighteenth century, was an isolated pocket in
what is now the northeastern corner of North Attleboro, Massachusetts. It
had a small settlement of farms at the juncture of two country roads -
Mansfield Road and Linsey street - that ran from Attleboro to Mansfield,
on the banks of the Bungay River, where mills once stood. All of the per-
sons interred in this cemetery were neighbors of John New. There were no
other stonecarvers available in the area. Two of the stones are by James
New, and the rest, apparently, represent the work of John New exclusive-

Design elements on these markers confirm stone attributions as far
north as old Lancaster, north of Worcester, east to the towns of the South
Shore, and south to Newport, Rhode Island. There is no reason not to call
all these stones a source of primary authentication for both men.

The accompanying chart of selected stones from that cemetery (Fig.
72) draws attention to some of the most prominent and characteristic ele-
ments in John and James New's carving vocabulary:

John New Stones

Abigail Lane,. 1792 Rhoda Todd, 1784

1. zig-zag edging on the gown 1. both forms of d

2. general bonnet shape (lacing details 2. floppy wings
were not inscribed) 3. wispy wig

3. ovoid head shape 4. palm frond cyma borders

4. bulging, upswept eyes 5. suffix superscript to age numbers

5. nipple nose 6. frown mouth

6. deep frown with dots Abel Briggs, 1792

7. finial pinwheel 1 . both forms of A

8. etched drape in tympanum arch 2. hooked S

9. tri-partite scalloping in panels 3. zig-zagged scalloping

Vincent E Luti

10. fish hook t

11. hooked d

12. excess of punctuation, usually commas
Ebenezer Lane, 1792

1. general bald, winged effigy;
pear-shaped head

2. plain wing style

3. frown mouth
Solomon Skinner, 1787

1. lumpy, disfigured head type of John
New's declining years

2. looped crossbeam on A

3. frown mouth
Jacob White, 1791

1. winged wig effigy

2. tendrils hooking around the stems

3. regular d

4. frown mouth

4. frown mouth
Mary Skinner, 1784

1. deep relief, tri-partite scalloping
with ribbing

2. cyma vine with flowering axil
borders

3. lower case for months (variable)
Benjamin Skinner, 1782

1. facing coil frond mounds with
wheat bundle
Stephen Pond, 1776

1. suffix superscript to age

2. stubby cyma vine borders

Tames New Stones

Hannah Skinner, 1776 (backdated)

1. half rose finial, double-edged

2. freeform foliate tympanum

3. colon use and excessive punctuation
in general

4. backward commas

5. lowercase for month (variable)

6. short arched t

Daniel White, 1786

1. moon-faced winged effigy

2. buttons for pupils

3. sweet, smiling mouth

4. torso suggestion

5. arched wing design

6. (the wig seems to be a singular
use of this design)

NOTES

With the exception of those noted below, all photographs, rubbings, and line drawings
found in this article are by the author. The photographs shown as Figures 7 and 16, taken by
Daniel and Jessie Lie Farber, and Figure 26, taken by Harriette Merrifield Forbes, are used
with the kind permission of the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massachusetts.

1. Harriette Merrifield Forbes, Gravestones of Early New England and the Men Who Made
Them, 1653-1800 (New York, NY, 1967), 87-88.

2. She may have read the garbled account of the Newe family, in Mortimer Blake's History
of the Town of Franklin (Franklin, MA, 1879), 264: "he is said to have been a gravestone
cutter, as was also his son John."

3. Suffolk County Deeds, Boston, MA, 81:83.

4. Tax records at the Wrentham Town Hall list James New, constable, as tax collector for

94 New Family Carvers

the West precinct: March, 1740; December, 1741; and February, 1743. Forbes' list of pay-
ments to James New from probate accounts may be just for taxes. The years fit. He was
given a list of names and rates, which suggests that he could read.

5. William Smith Tilden, History of the Town of Medfield (Boston, MA, 1887), 534. Mary's
father, Vincent Shuttleworth, Sr. (d. March 23, 1719), an early settler of Medfield,
became, with his daughter, wards of the town. Upon Shuttleworth's death, James New
took the thirty- seven year old daughter as his wife (he was about twenty-eight). She
was forty years old when her son, John, was born (apparently there were no other chil-
dren). Her brother was eventually declared non compos mentis and became a ward of the
town also. Her son, John New, would in turn meet these same fates. Upon her death in
1760, James married Mrs. Sarah Blake Fisher. John New's gravestones for both his par-
ents are remarkably plain throwbacks to early skull designs. The 28th Report of the
Record Commissioners, 1833, Boston Marriages 1700-1751, shows James New and Mary
Shuttleworth married by Joseph Baxter, Medfield, February 19, 1919, whereas Tilden
gives 1720.

6. Record Proprietors Selectman 1718-1822, Town Clerk's Office (TCO), Wrentham, MA, 52,
54, 81, 108, 131, 155; and Layout of Land 1743-44, 26,29.

7. Town Records Second Precinct Wrentham 1736-1824, TCO, Franklin, MA, 2.

8. Births, Marriages and Deaths 1668-1764, TCO, Wrentham, MA.

9. Ibid.

10. Town Records 1739-1760, TCO, Wrentham, MA. 363, lists a payment of March 7, 1747/8
to John New for digging the grave of widow Maccaney.

11. Suffolk County Deeds, Boston, MA, 81:83, 105:141, give "husbandman": Bristol County
Deeds, Taunton, MA, 43:252, "husbandman"; 62:247, "yeoman"; 76:276, "yeoman":
Suffolk County Probate, Boston, MA, file #11462, "labourer" (1757), and "stonecutter"

(1757).

12. Suffolk County Deeds, 81:83.

13. Births, Marriages and Deaths 1668-1764, TCO, Wrentham.

14. Bristol County Deeds, 43:252.

15. Vincent F. Luti, "Study of the Early Land History of the North Attleboro U.S.
Department of the Interior Fish Hatchery, 1700-1828" in manuscript and map form
includes John New's land. Copy of the study available at the Hatchery office.

16. Other than a tax assessment, 1746, Wrentham Tax Office, in a box of unfiled papers, and
a rebate, 1758 (see note 26), there are no tax records for John New until 1771 in Attleboro
(see note 32). This suggests he had no taxable personal or real estate, or wasn't in
Wrentham from 1758 to 1770. In turn, this suggests he was based elsewhere (South
Shore).

Vincent F. Luti 95

17. Town Records 1730-1760, TCO, Wrentham, MA, 398, 401, 403, 418.

18. Interesting accounts of the epidemics are found in "a Discourse ... delivered ... October
31, 1756 at the west Parish in Lancaster: On the Occasion of the late Mortality in that
and the neighboring places by John Mellen A.M. Pastor of the Church there," American
Antiquarian Society, Worcester, MA. See also Rev. Abner Morse, A Genealogical Register
and History of the Towns ofSherborn and Holliston (Boston, MA, 1856), 328-329; and Ernest
Caulfield, "The Pursuit of Pestilence," American Antiquarian Society Proceedings, April,
1950.

19. Suffolk County Probate, file #11462.

20. Ibid.

21. Ibid.

22. Gravestone in the Wrentham Congregational Church Cemetery, Wrentham, MA.

23. Births, Marriages and Deaths, TCO, Wrentham.

24. Suffolk County Deeds, 86:130, 95:105, Thomas Fisher, grantee, October 24, 1760. That he
lived in the South Precinct from 1759-1776 is deduced from the fact he was taxed in
those years from that precinct. There are no deeds, however, placing him there (mod-
ern Plainville, Massachusetts).

25. Suffolk County Probate, file #11642, Benjamin Shepard's guardianship account of
expenses, April, 1762.

26. Town Records 1730-1760, TCO, Wrentham, 481. John New's assessment for the year 1757
was rebated to him May 24, 1758.

27. Suffolk County Probate, file #11642.

28. Martha Campbell, Abington and the Revolution (Abington, MA, 1975), 90.

29. Almira Gendrot, Blake and Torrey Genealogy (Boston, MA, 1916), 24.

30. Superior Court of Judicature 1760-62, Superior Court Building, Boston, MA, 235, 399.

31. Bristol County Deeds, 54:368. This actually deals with a real estate action of 1762. So, in
fact, 1762 is the last we hear of New's guardianship, which suggests he was on his feet
by then. In Betty H. Pruitt, The Mass. Tax Valuation List of 1771 (Boston, MA, 1978), 550,
John New of Attelboro is shown as owning a house (whole real estate worth £1-0-0), no
horse, two cows, six goats and sheep, no pasturage acres, five acres of tillage, and ten
bushels of grain per year.

32. Tax Assesor's Office, Wrentham, unfiled box of old records has a memo from the
Selectmen of Attleboro to those of Wrentham: "we for divers good causes and consid-
eration have received John New as a legal inhabitant ... and of consequence you need

96 New Family Carvers

not be at any more trouble about sd New," March 3, 1776. Also entered in the Records
Town of Attlebow 1757-1778, Attleboro Town Hall: "We [selectmen] do ... promise to
indemnify the Town from any cost or charge that may arise on account of receiving the
sd New and his family into sd Town/' March 30, 1776. However, he was living there
before 1776. The Massachusetts State Archives, Boston, MA, note in 132:66, September
24, 1771, in the Valuation Lists for Attleboro, 66: "John New's polls not rateable ... annu-
al worth of whole real estate 1-0-0, 2 cows, 6 goats or sheep, 5 acres tillage, 6 bushels
grain."

33. Rachel, died 1773, Wrentham Vital Records; Mary, died 1774, gravestone, Attleboro;
Esther Day, married 1788, Attleboro Vital Records.

34. Records Town of Attlebow 1757-1778, City Hall, 188. However, he was appointed Hog
Reave in 1778: Ibid., 95.

35. Bristol County Deeds, 76:276: "...being reduced to such low circumstances. ..in need of
support of the town." The sale includes "my part of the Dwelling House, the whole of
the Hay barn...." There is no indication as to who owned the other part of the house and
no mention of the shop (recorded in other deeds). Records Town of Attlebow 1797-1822
begin recording town payments for New's support in 1798 on p. 12 and run in great
detail to p. 398 in 1818. The history of he New property from 1700 to the present has
been documented in detail by the author.

36. Forbes, Gravestones of Early New England and the Men Wlio Made Them, 77.

37. Peter Benes, The Masks of Orthodoxy: Folk Gravestone Carving in Plymouth County,
Massachusetts, 1689-1805 (Amherst, MA, 1977), 144. Some revision is needed on this
material in light of new research: re-examine the influence of the Stevens shop; correct
Forbes' view that Samuel Tingley I or II were carvers; make George Allen more central
and earlier (1730); and remove the Norton carver influence (there is none, nor a Norton
carver involved). The arguments of James Deetz and Edwin S. Dethlefsen (articulated
in several articles, e.g. "Death's Heads, Cherubs, and Willow Trees: Experimental
Archeology in Colonial Cemeteries," American Antiquity 31 (1966): 502-510), generally
correct but overly broad, is weak (though it is neat and linear). The contemporary
interactions from many directions are ignored: Allen received influences from Boston;
the News from central Massachusetts (Parks?). These are hardly stages in an inexorably
linear momentum up from Newport to Boston via the interior towns.

38. There is an Isaac Temple Stone, 1765, Marlboro, Massachusetts, by George Allen, Jr. that
appears to be lettered by John New. I have elsewhere theorized George Allen, Jr's death
to be just about 1765.

39. This zig-zagged textured background filler is common on nineteenth century stones:
see Francis Y. Duval and Ivan B. Rigby, Early American Gravestone Art in Photographs
(New York, NY, 1978), 100. John New seems to be the only Massachusetts or Rhode
Island carver to begin using it in the mid-eighteenth century. What appears to be zig-
zag also shows up in mid-eighteenth century Connecticut - see Allan I. Ludwig, Graven
Images: New England Stonecarving and It's Symbols, 1650-1815 (Middletown, CT, 1966),
plates 2a and 2d - and Vermont - see Duval and Rigby, Early American Gravestone Art

Vincent F. Luti 97

in Photographs, 30. The fact that three disparate rural carvers used this unique filler
starting in the mid-eighteenth century is somewhat puzzling.

40. Vincent F. Luti, "Gravestone Carvers of the Narragansett Basin: The Real George Allen,
Jr." Paper presented at Annual Conference of the Association For Gravestone Studies,
Hartford, Connecticut, 1984.

41. Martha Campbell has generously supplied the following from the papers of Cyrus
Nash, 1846: "About the year of 1756 Mr. Joseph Studley of Hanover came with his
father to E. Abington with a team to take a load of tanner's bark to Hanover... before
they got their bark loaded there came up a thunder shower & both of them took shel-
ter under the loaded cart soon the water run down through the cart & young Studley
left and took shelter under a large sloping pine tree by &c The lightning struck at the
top of the tree & run down the upper side of the tree &c took off a strip of bark in its
descent & when the Lightning came down as opposite of his head it passed round the
tree & took off a strip of bark thence onto his head thence down his body, melted the
buttons on his clothes & run down & split open his shoes & killed him dead upon the
spot."

42. Three celestial design elements - sun, moon, and stars - themselves make a powerful-
ly convincing linkage of South Shore work to that of the interior towns. They are used
knowingly and usually in some kind of multiply layered design. Also, zig-zag is used
not just for decoration, but in some kind of private meaningful way, as if it were radi-
ant energy. This is dramatically obvious in the Deacon Josiah Cushing stone (Fig. 1),
1787, Rehoboth, Massachusetts, where the zig-zag forms rays shooting out from the
effigy head, or on the James Packard stone, 1765, Brockton, Massachusetts, where the
head floats in a nimbus charged with zig- zag magnetic energy. For this linkage of sun,
moon, and stars with zig-zag, compare: (a) in the South Shore, Mehetabel Vinton, 1761,
Braintree, Massachusetts, Peter Jacob, 1764, Weymouth, Massachusetts, and Samuel
White, 1766, Braintree, Massachusetts; with (b) in the interior towns, Constance Fisher,
1764, Swansea, Massachusetts, Ann Blake, 1767, Norfolk, Massachusetts, and William
Palmer, 1775, Norton, Massachusetts. All are unquestionably the work of the same
hand.

43. Vincent F. Luti, "William Throop," AGS Newsletter 5:4 (1981): 12. The New /Pratt con-
nection is clear. The first bunching of Pratt I stones occur in 1767. Stones before that
occur very scattered, singly over dates spanning twenty-five years. The collaboration is
most apparent on the Hannah Lovell stone, 1767, North Weymouth, Massachusetts,
where the tympanum arch design, the border panels, and the lettering are explicitly in
New's hand, while the two pancake heads hacked out of the remaining tympanum area
are clearly Pratt I. The rest of the stones for that year are entirely in Pratt I's hand and
are very shaky, student work. Shortly thereafter, New left the area and ceded the trade
to the Pratts.

44. Benes, The Masks of Orthodoxy, 142-147; Campbell, Abington and the Revolution, 85-87.

45. This problem also occurs in Forbes' dealing with Jeremiah Fisher, included in her list of
stonecarvers. Checking out her list of Fisher attributions (at the American Antiquarian
Society, Worcester, Massachusetts) turns up explicit evidence that almost all her grave-

98 New Family Carvers

stone and general probate payments to Fisher, when tracked down, turn out to be the
works of John New and, in a few instances, other carvers. I'm certain Fisher was New's
agent (performing that same service for other carvers as well): first, Fisher's sister-in-
law married James New, the father of John; second, a deed (Suffolk Co. 186:130) records
James New selling land and homestead to Jeremiah Fisher, "trader."

46. George F. Jones, Family Records of the Jones Family of Mil ford, Mass. (Philadelphia, PA,
1884); also, Vital Records of Wrentham and Abington, Massachusetts.

47. Wrentham Vital Records.

48. Except where noted, all of the following biographical material comes from extensive
documents within the Revolutionary War Pension file on James New at the National
Archives in Washington, D.C. Gratitude goes to Paul Merrill, Frederick, Maryland, for
the diligent research and transcribing.

49. Bradford Kingman, History of North Bridgewater (Boston, MA, 1766), 232-237.

50. Bristol County Deeds, Taunton, Massachusetts, 63:75, records in 1784 a debt to Dr.
Mann and an indenture on the estate of John New including the "east half of the
house...." James might have had possession of the west half. That things were not going
well for father and son can be seen in numerous tax abatements recorded in Records
Town of Attleboro 1782- 1791, p. 126; 1783, John New, Town rate; 1784, James New "for
povertys sake." In 1788, both men had Town, County, and State rates abated.

51. See the photo of the Lt. Nathaniel Thayer stone in Duval and Rigby, Early American
Gravestone Art in Photographs, 43. Other New stones are also well illustrated in Duval
and Rigby's book: John Dunsmoor (p. 23), Charles Brigham (p. 61), Dr. Thomas Munro
(p. 64), Peter Bancroft (p. 68), and Margaret Cole (p. 76). See also Forbes, Gravestones of
Early New England and the Men Wlio Made Them, 2; 87-88. These latter are all the work of
James New, son of John (the backdates confused her).

52. See Benes, The Masks of Orthodoxy, 111-112.

53. Forbes misread this probate as to "James Nace."

54. Forbes, Gravestones of Early New England and the Men Who Made Them, 88; fig. 119.

Vincent F. Luti 99

APPENDIX I

The Documentation: John New

F=Forbes / L=Luti

J. Probated Stones [data listing, L-R: name;death date; modern location; payment date; type
(if specified); source]

Probate Payment to John New:

Ezekiel Carpenter; 03-09-1790; E. Providence; 1791; gravestone; L

David Hardin; 04-11-1792; Mansfield; 1794; general; L

Aaron Fuller; 05-02-1789; Rehoboth; 1797; to Ephraim New for GS; L
Unspecified, General Gravestone Probate Payments Only - Found to be in John New's
Style:

John Morse; 11-22-1750; Norwood; 1754; F

Mercy Gates; 01-14-1756; Sterling; 1756; L

Joseph House; 07-27-1756; Lancaster; 1756; L

Edward Rice; 09-27-1756; Rutland; 1758; L

Nathaniel White; 11-23-1758; Weymouth; 1767; F

David Whipple /Joseph Whipple (2 pr.); 10-??-1762/07-18-1762; Cumberland, RI;

1769; L

Asa Richardson; 07-15-1764; Millis; 1768; F

Ichabod Haws; 12-18-1777; W. Medway; 1779; L
Probate Payments to Jeremiah Fisher ("trader") - Found to be the Work of John New:

Caleb Ellis; 06-27-1740; Dover; 1745; general; F

Mary Gates; 04-04-1752; Stow; 1770; general; F

Josiah Richarson; 09-01-1752; Sterling; 1752; F

John Fairbanks; 05-10-1754; Franklin; 1760; gravestone; F

Benjamin Hawes; 11-01-1754; Wrentham; 1756; general; F

Stephen Kingsbury; 04-23-1754; Franklin; 1764; gravestone; F

Cornelius Fisher; 04-22-1754; Wrentham; 1754; gravestone; F

Ebenezer Fales/Sarah Fales; 07-19-1755/07-14-1755; Walpole; 1756; 2 pr. gravestones;

Jonathan Billings; 05-18-1763; Sharon; 1768; general; F

Samuel Read; 09-29-1765; Attleboro; 1766; gravestone; L
Probate Payments to Noah Pratt - Found to be the Work of John New:

Ebenezer Beal; 09-23-1761; Hingham; 1762/69; GS; F

Samuel White; 03-29-1766; Braintree; 1767; general; F

Joseph Studley; 06-18-1766; Hanover; 1769; general; F

II. Signed Stones [data listing, L-R: name; death date; modern location; signed name]

Richard Temple; 11-02-1756; Concord; "John New Wrentham"

Burpee children; 09-06-1756; Sterling; name "John" appears below ground

Jeremiah Millard; 01-08-1776; Attleboro; "J. New, Ingraver" [most likely John]

III. Family and Related Stones [data listing, L-R: name; death date; modern location;
relationship]

Sarah Day; 03-26-1767; Attleboro; cousin to second wife

Constance Fisher; 11-19-1764; Swansea; via Jeremiah Fisher, trader, a distant relative

100 New Family Carvers

Mary Pratt; 03-28-1767; Abington; sister to step-uncle

Rachel Pond; 08-25-1754; Franklin; sister-in-law

Esther Jones; 09-28-1768; Abington; sister to step-mother

Mary New; 08-29-1760; Wrentham; mother

James New; 11-02-1781; Wrentham; father

Marcy New; 07-28-1788; wife

John New/Mary New; 02-04-1776; attleboro; son/daughter

APPENDIX II
The Documentation: James New

F = Forbes / L = Luti

I. Probated Stones [data listing, L-R: name; death date; modern location; payment date; type
(if specified); source]

Probate Payment to James New:

Benjamin Hayward; 12-15-1773; Bridgewater; 1775; gravestone; F

Samuel Robertson; 09-09-Attleboro; 1784; gravestone; L

Nathaniel Hammond; 02-??-1782; Avon; 1782; gravestone; F

Moses Wales; 05-03-1781; Avon; general; L

Rebecca Sweet; 06-26-1784; Attleboro; 1784; gravestone; L

Isaac Parker; ??-??-????; Grafton; 1798; gravestone; F
Unspecified, General Gravestone Probate Payments Only - Found to be in James New's
Sty;e

Nathaniel Perry/ wife; 08-13-1768/11-27-1771; E. Providence; 1782; 3 pr GS; L

Anthony Perry; 04-27-1781

II. Signed Stones [data listing, L-R: name; death date; modern location; signed name]

Marcy New; 07-28-1788; Attleboro; "James N" [below ground]

James McClallan; 09-11-1794; Sutton; "James New Sc 1796"

Ralph Pope; 01-01-1750; Stoughton; "J New" [most likely James]

Robert Lathe; 05-26-1774; Grafton; "J N" [most likely James]

Edward Goddard; 10-13-1777; Shrewsbury; "J New" [most likely James]

Thomas Drury; 12-??-1783; Grafton; "J N" [most likely James]

Mary Monk; 05-19-1784; Stoughton; "J New" [most likely James]

Eunice Willis; 02-11-1787; Brockton; "J New" [most likely James]

Edy Clark; 05-21-1792; Bellingham; "J N" [most likely James]

Gardner Waters; 07-24-1793; Sutton; "J New Sc 1796" [most likely James]

John Goulding; ??-??-1791; Grafton; "JN" [most likely James]

Joseph Bacheller; ??-??-1779; Grafton; "JN" [most likely James]

///. Family and Related Stones [data listing, L-R: name; death date; modern location;
relationship]

Enos New; 08-12-1788; Attleboro; son

Vincent F. Luti 101

APPENDIX III

Probate Records for the Pratt Family*

[data listing, L-R: name; death date; modern location; probate date; notation]

**David Wright; 1743; Dedham; 1743; paid Noah Pratt, gen'l

**Ebenezer Beal; 1761; Hingham; 1762; paid Noah Pratt; gen'l

**Samuel White; 1766; Braintree; 1767; paid Noah Pratt, gen'l

**Ebenezer Beal; 1761; Hingham; 1769; pd Noah Pratt for gravestone

**Joseph Studley; 1766; Hanover; 1769; paid Noah Pratt, gen'l
Edmund Laurance; ????; Dedham; 1770; pd Noah Pratt for gravestone
Joseph Lewis; 1767; Hingham; 1770; pd Noah Pratt for gravestone
Hezekiah Leavitt; 1768; Hingham; 1770; pd Noah Pratt for gravestone
Richard Faxon /wife and son; 1768/1769; Braintree; 1772/1772; pd Nathaniel Pratt for two
sets of gravestones

Alexander Nash; ????; Weymouth; 1774; pd Nathaniel Pratt for gravestones
David Lapham; ????; Marshfield; 1774; pd Nathaniel Pratt (gen'l?)
Samuel Reed; ????; Abington; 1777; pd Lt. Pratt for gravestones
John Hobart; ????; Abington; 1779; pd Robert Pratt for gravestones

*taken from Benes, Forbes, and Luti
**these stones have unambiguous John New work on them: stones after the 1769 probate
date will have Pratt family work on them

102

New Family Carvers

APPENDIX IV

Cemeteries Containing Works of John and/or
James New Surveyed in this Study

Unless otherwise noted, locations are in Massachusetts

Abington

Mt. Vernon
Attleboro

Woodlawn

Kirk

Hillside

Newell
N. Attleboro

Woodcock

Robinson
Auburn

Center
Avon

Rte. 28
Barrington, RI

Tyler Point

Prince Hill

Bay Spring Ave.
Bellingham

Rte. 140, #3

Oak Hill

Scott
Boylston

Common
Braintree

Elm St.
Bridgewater

Old South

Keith

Cross & Vernon Sts.
W. Bridgewater

South St.
Bristol. RI

East Burial Ground

Juniper Hill

North Burial Hill
Brockton

Snell

Ashland St.

South Main St.

Canton

Center
Concord

Old Hill Burial

Ground
Cumberland, RI

Dexter

Peck

Ballou
Dover

Highland
Easton

Church St.

Mill St.

Elm St.
Foxboro

Brown
Franklin

Green St.

Union St.
Grafton

Rte. 122
Hanover

Center
Hingham

Ship Church

School & Short Sts.

High St.

Liberty Plain
W. Hingham

Fort Hill
Holbrook

Union
Holliston

Center

Rte. 16 South
Hopkinton

Center
Lancaster

Founder's

Old Common

Lunenburg
Mansfield

Center

Pine St.
Marshfield
Medfield

Center
W. Medway

Evergreen
Mendon

Pine Hill

Old Mendon

Manly St.
Millbury

Rte. 122
Millis

Bare Hill
Millville

Chestnut Hill
Milton

Canton St.
Natick

Rte. 27
Needham
Newport, RI

Common Burial

Ground
Norfolk

Center

Pondville
Northboro

Center
Northbridge

Lackey
Norton

Common

Newcomb

Plain St.
Norwood

Old Parish

Vincent F. Luti

103

Plainville

Rutland

Walpole

Shepardville

Center

Old Burial Place

Gerould

Sharon

Plains

Plymouth

West

Upton

Burial Hill

Sherborn

Indian

Portland. ME

Center

Warren, RI

Providence, RI

Old South

Kickemuit

North Burial Ground

Shrewsbury

North Burial Ground

East Providence

Center

Westford

Newman

Sterling

Rte. 225

Little Neck

Center

Westport, CT

Ouincv

Stoughton

Green Frams Rd.

St. John's

Center

Wevmouth

Randolph

Stow

Old North

North St.

Center

S. Weymouth Rte. 18

Rehoboth

Sutton

Whitman

Burial Place Hill

Center

Mt. Zion

Peck

Dodge

Wrentham

Village

Armsby Rd.

Sheldonville, West St.

Rockland

Swansea

Central Congregational

Maplewood

Old Baptist
Thomas

104

Eternal Celebration in American Memorials

T1\7&E7\J7DIL TS
Mat hen icwe laws:, printer
HR 7 OHM FOST.VPx

VGEJXXoKE A~RS RID' ^tP-Tf &.

!vu

•An n„ i os v ' i -^V^

- ' i (i 1 1 i n t'>nri m urn u ?i i_ [ , fT~~

Fig. 1. Slate Headstone for John Foster (d. 1681). Attributed to the

Charlestown Stonecutter. From Dorchester, Massachusetts Burying

Ground, Boston Parks and Recreation Commission, on loan to the

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. H (of carved area): 25 5/8";

W (of carved area): 23 3/8"; D (of headstone): 2 3/16".

105

ETERNAL CELEBRATION IN AMERICAN MEMORIALS
Jonathan L. Fairbanks

"In the beginning was the Word."1 Without written or spoken words,
mankind would surely fail to share and transmit complex ideas about
memories from one generation to another. About ten generations ago, in
1681, the first printmaker in North America, an astronomer, mathemati-
cian, and book printer named John Foster, died at the age of thirty-three.
Foster, from Dorchester, Massachusetts, succumbed to a disease that pro-
gressed slowly enough to permit him to correspond with his minister,
Increase Mather. Both the minister and this ingenious printer wrote to
each other in Latin. The text of this correspondence is carved on Foster's
headstone (Fig. 1). Mather to Foster: "ASTRA COLIS VIVENS; MORIENS
SUPER AETHERA FOSTER SCANDE, PRECOR: COEEUM METIRI
DISCE SUPREMUM." Roughly translated, Mather observed that "Living
thou studiest the stars; dying, mayest thou, Foster, I pray, mount above
the skies and learn to measure the highest heavens."

Foster replied in Latin: "METIOR, ATQUE MEUM EST: EMIT MIHI
DIVES JESUS NEC TENEOR QUICQUAM, NISI GRATES, SOLVERE,"
which translates "I measure it and it is mine; the Lord Jesus has bought it
for me; now I am held to pay aught for it but thanks."

Foster's footstone is more prosaic. It states clearly in English for all the
unlearned to read that, "SKILL WAS HIS CASH."2 These writings reveal
two extremes of the New England mind: the headstone contains elevated
or learned thoughts; the footstone represents the practical or ordinary
viewpoint. The ideal concepts of the headstone contrast with the realities
expressed in the footstone. The tombstone can also be read as the orna-
mental versus the plain. Such polarities of thought (e.g., the ideal versus
the real, or universal versus particular) are echoed in various mutations
throughout most of the history of American sculpture. Pictorially, the
tympanum of Foster's headstone shows a carved image of Father Time,
who stays the hand of Death - represented as a skeleton - who, in turn,
reaches out to extinguish the flame of life. This is an image that the
Boston /Charlestown stonecutter adopted from an early English emblem
book authored by Francis Quarles.3 The carver used it on many New
England headstones. Without explanation, the viewer probably could not
guess that Father Time stays Death in wait for the right moment.

106 Eternal Celebration in American Memorials

Most sculpture is mute and hence requires interpretation through
words, particularly when the image is emblematic. The printed word was
commonly shared in the highly literate world of Bible-reading Puritans.
In seventeenth-century New England there was a high rate of literacy.
Popular learning through memories transmitted by recitation was anoth-
er way to know history and the Bible, and to transfer knowledge among
New England's common-folk. Regretfully, oral history concerning seven-
teenth-century New England is infrequently encountered and is unreli-
able today. Oral traditions do not survive a dozen generations of modern
society as well as they typically do in folk and native cultures.

In 1664, toward the end of her life, the early New England poet Anne
Bradstreet (ca. 1612-1672) put her thoughts down in a small manuscript
(now at the Houghton Library of Harvard University) entitled Meditations
Divine and Morall.4 She did not live to complete the manuscript. In the
front page she wrote to her son, Samuel, reminding him that he had once
asked his mother to leave something upon which he could look and
remember her after she was gone. Bradstreet hoped that her thoughts
would be treasured for their author's sake as they were her own ideas and
not the ideas of others.

The Bradstreet manuscript's beautiful preamble reveals that the busi-
ness of art and history is mostly inspiration and memories] A passage from
the manuscript explains the nature of the journey of earthly life. The read-
er is advised that pilgrims, or travelers, should not want to become too
comfortable in this life lest he or she lose the way, destiny, or place of
belonging, when change from life to death comes to all. Bradstreet' s little
sayings are easily memorized. That is part of the miracle of her booklet.
Through the word, visual experiences are transformed into brief sayings
that are easy to remember. Passages recalled from the Bradstreet manu-
script even today engage the imagination with their originality and sim-
plicity. Internal and external worlds are frequently referenced by her.
There seems to be only a thin veil between the invisible and the visible,
the spiritual and the material worlds:

The eyes and the ears are the inlets or doores of the Soule, through which
innumerable objects enter, yet is not that Spacious roome filled neither
doeth it ever Say it is enough, but like the daughters of the horGlass, crys
give give & which is most strange, the more it receives the more empty it
finds itself, and sees an impossibility ever to be filled, but by him, in whom
fullness dwells.5

Jonathan L. Fairbanks

107

The Word was extremely important to Pilgrims and Puritans - to
reformers who were searching for patterns to illuminate God's ways.
Patterns, essential for mankind to observe and understand, involved the
cosmic order of things. Order, for the seventeenth century mind, was of
two sorts. The century looked both backward and forward. The late
medieval astrological man of science represented by John Foster's wood-
cut, Man of Signs (1678 ),6 looked backward (Fig. 2). At the same time there
was another, more rational, view of mankind, as illustrated in a figure of

'JW^

A&l

Tss it

VIS SL^SCBft

Fig. 2. John Foster, Man of Signs, 1678, Boston. Wood block print.
H: 1 7/8"; W: 1 3/4".

108

Eternal Celebration in American Memorials

Vr'mXdjor Rahh Matt t^y

Fig. 3. John Bate, The Mysteries of Nature and Art, 1635.
H: 6"; W: 4 1/16".

Jonathan L. Fairbanks 109

the proportional man pictured in a book issued by John Bate in London in
1634 entitled, The Mysteries of Nature and Art (Fig. 3)7 This was the first
illustrated handbook in the English language for understanding studio
practices in art. It was also a philosophical text that dealt with cosmic
order. This book was being read in or before 1670 by Increase Mather, the
distinguished New England divine. It plagiarized an earlier book written
in sixteenth-century Italy. This work, often called the "Bible of
Mannerism," was Giovanni Paolo Lomazzo's Tratato delta Pittura (1584).8

It may seem remarkable that a Puritan minister studied Italian/
Catholic ideas about the divine order of the universe. But Mather may
have been unaware of this fact. Access to world knowledge through
books was much broader and deeper in seventeenth-century New
England than most people realize today. The concept of the proportional
body of mankind helped, in part, to unravel the magical world of astrol-
ogy of the late seventeenth-century Puritan world. Portents and magic
signs were replaced by symmetry, logic, and mathematical order,
expressed through new concepts of natural theology. Sight was a primary
instrument through which new rational systems could be understood.
Rational order crept into mankind's consciousness slowly. In 1686, minis-
ter Charles Morton (1626/7-1698), who was invited to come to Boston
from Oxford, England, observed in his Compendium physicae (the first
physics textbook of Harvard University, completed ca.1680), that "sight to
the mind doth bear a near relation, more matter then, affords much con-
templation."9

Towns settled in colonial days close to the edge of harbors and water-
ways soon became crowded with markets, homes, and commerce. God's
plot for burial, what was once believed to be ample, became crowded in
the eighteenth century. By the early nineteenth century, urban graveyards
overflowed. Graveyard crowding was blamed for the great epidemics in
the late eighteenth century: the yellow fever epidemics of Philadelphia of
the 1790s and the cholera plague of 1832 that spread through the coastal
states and out onto the frontier. Period literature cites the noxious effluvia
of the dead as the source of such inexplicable diseases.

Within a generation, poet William Cullen Bryant (1794-1818) pub-
lished his great poem about death, "Thanatopsis," in 1816, expressing a
new attitude toward death. Death was no longer represented by the grim
reaper or the skull; it was viewed as a time of sleep or sweet dreaming.
Recall the last part of "Thanatopsis":

110

Eternal Celebration in American Memorials

So live that when thy summons comes to join
The innumerable caravan, which moves
To that mysterious realm, where each shall take
His chamber in the silent halls of death,
Thou go not, like the quarry-slave at night.
Scourged to his dungeon, but, sustained and soothed
By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave,
Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch
About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams.10

This change in regards to death and life illuminates the new approach
to cosmic order and the measure of mankind. Early in the nineteenth cen-
tury the measure for sculpture is by rule and divider. A drawing in the
Peabody Essex Museum's collections by Samuel Mclntire (1757-1811),
architect and carver of Salem, Massachusetts, demonstrates this system
(Fig. 4). It is a practical method based upon provincial academic neoclas-
sicism.

Fig. 4. Samuel Mclntire, Drawings of the Proportion of the Human
Figure, verso #34. H: 11 5/8"; W: 15 3/8".

Jonathan L. Fairbanks 111

Neoclassicism may be closely linked to a search for picturesque quali-
ties in the American landscape and paintings. Many events fired the
search for the picturesque and the revival of art of the ancient classical
world in America. While the cholera epidemic of 1832 prompted citizens
to reform urban plans, they also discovered that the people of ancient
times buried their dead outside city walls. That fact, linked with a grow-
ing interest in horticulture and the search for beauty in Nature, prompted
the removal of burial to cemeteries located in rural areas or town suburbs.
At the outskirts of major cities, the well-to-do were simultaneously build-
ing suburban villas, both here and abroad. A convergence of popular
interest, the revival of ancient classical style, new sanitation concerns, and
horticulture were but three forces at work.

The rural cemetery movement was also driven by profit motives. Joint
stock companies were formed and land for rural cemeteries was secured.
Shareholding companies were run by speculators. They were a success. In
1831, Mount Auburn, the suburban, picturesque cemetery in Cambridge,
Massachusetts, became the first rural cemetery in America. Next, Laurel
Hill was established in Philadelphia in 1837. Green- wood in Brooklyn,
New York, opened in 1842, and Forest Hills in Jamaica Plain near Boston
was operating in 1848. n These rural cemeteries provided bread and but-
ter commissions for American sculptors of the romantic and classical gen-
erations.

Gates to cemetery entries suggested passage to a special place. The
Egyptian style was adopted at Mount Auburn to imply permanence.
Egyptian architecture, with its heavy, battered walls, symbolized not only
death, but also power and eternity to the Victorian mind. Prisons and
reservoirs were also constructed in the Egyptian style. Victorians were
attuned to symbolism. The Philadelphia architect, John Notman (1810-
1865), won the competition for the Laurel Hill Cemetery and designed a
classical gateway and a Gothic-style chapel within the grounds.12

All of the three earliest rural cemeteries contained chapels. The pres-
ence of a Gothic-style chapel defused potential criticism by churchmen
who might complain that cemetery company land was not sacred ground,
and hence not fit for Christian burials. All early guidebooks to garden
cemeteries stress a special consecrated quality of the shaded dells and
glades of God, of nature's handiwork, altered slightly by man. The visitor
to Green-wood entered past an arched gate with a belfry - a suitable
emblem of mourning. Such designs thwarted criticism that these ceme-

112

Eternal Celebration in American Memorials

teries were merely commercial. After passing through the arched gate of
Laurel Hill, the visitor first views a structure sheltering a group of life-size
stone figures: one depicts a bust of the celebrated novelist Sir Walter Scott
(1771-1832) and the other Old Mortality (Fig. 5) and his horse. Old
Mortality is a central figure in a Waverly novel by Scott of the same title.
Old Mortality was a pilgrim whose personal mission was to restore or
recut eroding inscriptions on tombs of Presbyterian martyrs throughout
Scotland. This sculpture is genre art, carved in Philadelphia by an immi-
grant Scottish stone-mason, James Thorn (1799-1850), who, although
famous in his time, remains today uncelebrated in American sculpture
history.13

Bodies of famous individuals who died before Laurel Hill was estab-
lished were exhumed and reburied at the new cemetery. This added the
respectability of age to the site and encouraged sales of lots.
Philadelphia's famous Gothic novelist, Charles Brockden Brown (1771-
1810), who died twenty-seven years before Laurel Hill opened, is buried

Fig. 5. James Thorn (1799-1850). Old Mortality, c. 1840.

Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, PA. Brownstone figure:

dimensions - life-size.

Jonathan L. Fairbanks 113

under a finely cut stone with an urn and drape. The remains of military
hero General Hugh Mercer, a native of Scotland who died at the battle of
Princeton in 1771, were placed beneath what was then called a Roman-
style memorial after 1840, when his body was moved from the Christ
Church yard on Second Street to Laurel Hill. The Saint Andrews Society,
a powerful Scottish organization in Philadelphia, sponsored this removal
and memorialization of Mercer's remains as a tribute to their brother.

Figurative sculpture began to flourish in American garden cemeteries
when American sculptors started training abroad in Italy. The earliest
example at Mount Auburn is Thomas Crawford's (1813-1857) Amos
Binney Monument (Fig. 6). Dr. Binney (1803-1847) was a naturalist, a
patron of the arts, and president of the Boston Society of Natural History.
He died in Rome, but his mortal remains were returned and buried beside
his parents at Mount Auburn. The Binney Monument, fashioned from
white Italian marble in the neoclassical style, stands today seriously erod-
ing. Marble of this type, though expensive and poorly suited for today's
New England climate, was frequently used at Mount Auburn. When new,
visitors appreciated the striking visual effect of the marble's whiteness
against its garden cemetery backdrop.14 It is difficult and expensive to
save marble out-of-doors from dissolution by acid rain. Shelter seems to
be the only sure remedy. For the Binney monument that probably means
disassembly and potential replacement with a polyester resin replica.
Despite erosion, Crawford's carving on the Binney monument can still be
discerned. In reference to this work, Crawford wrote, "It is very elaborate,
and contains two figures in alto-relievo; one representing the Spirit of the
deceased ascending in Heaven, the other a female figure of Sorrow."15 The
iconography of the sorrowful, hooded female carrying a jar of ashes
recalls Benjamin West's (1738-1820) painting now in the Yale University
Art Gallery collection, Agrippina Landing at Brundisium with the Ashes of
Germanicus. This famous work was painted in London in 1768 and was
probably known to Crawford.16

In contrast to American sculptors who established their reputation
with classical training in Italy, Clark Mills (1810-1883) was a self-taught
sculptor and foundryman who modeled and cast in bronze the first
equestrian memorial produced in the United States. It was made in 1852-
53 in Washington, D.C., at a furnace and studio at Fifteenth Street on
Pennsylvania Avenue. The sculpture represents Andrew Jackson on a
lively, rearing horse. The bronze is mounted on a high, stone pedestal at

114

Eternal Celebration in American Memorials

Lafayette Square (Fig. 7). In 1860, Mills produced a similar composition of
General George Washington on horseback for Washington Circle, also in

Fig. 6. Thomas Crawford, Sculptor, Amos Binney, M.D., Died at Rome,

February 18, 1847, Age 41. Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, MA.

Base of marble - L: 90 1/2"; D: 73".

Jonathan L. Fairbanks

115

the District of Columbia.17

Historical figures, modeled posthumously, are necessarily recollected
or reconstructed by sculptors who make memorials. If the artist has not
seen the person he or she commemorates during the subject's lifetime,
then the memorial is based upon research and /or imagination. Early
handbooks in art observed that the reason that the art of painting and
sculpture was invented was to "record and perpetuate the effigies of
famous men." Representation of famous deeds were likewise worthy to
record in order to "stirre up men's minds with the emulation of like
Glorious enterprises."18 While this viewpoint may seem narrow today, it
is not entirely forgotten in the world of public art. The most effective
memorialization in sculpture conveys not just a record of the past; it also
inspires the viewer with magnificent forms and symbols.

No matter how symbolic or imposing was Horatio Greenough's (1805-
1852) Phidian-inspired figure of Washington, dated 1841 and now dis-
played in the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History,
Washington, D.C., it nonetheless failed to meet the needs of most
Americans who wanted their heroes represented in proper contemporary

Fig. 7. Clark Mills, Sculptor and Founder, Jackson Monument, 1852-53.
Bronze. Washington, D.C. Scale: heroic.

116 Eternal Celebration in American Memorials

clothing. Idealization of this sort seemed to many viewers at odds with
the current real world. Average Americans, unversed in classical visual
symbols, were puzzled by Greenough's semi-nude Washington. Yet
Americans who understood the language of classical antiquity continued
to order or produce ideal marble images in Italy throughout the era of the
great turmoil of the American Civil War.

Nathaniel Hawthorne helped popularize the style of romantic neo-
classicism in his novel, Transformation: The Romance of Monte Beni (Leipzig,
1860), a book which soon became known as The Marble Faun. For
Hawthorne, the mood or presence of the deep past in Rome was felt far
more urgently than anything modern. He introduced the reader to his
novel by commenting on the mood visitors felt in Rome - a sense of pon-
derous remembrances of the past, "At the ruins, Etruscan, Roman,
Christian, venerable with a threefold antiquity, and at the company of
world-famous statues."19 Hawthorne visited American sculptors in Italy,
most notably Harriet Hosmer and William Wetmore Story. Both inspired
The Marble Faun.

William Wetmore Story's sculptural career came about directly as a
result of a commission given to him by officials of Mount Auburn
Cemetery to create a memorial to his father, Chief Justice Joseph Story
(1779-1845), which is now in the Law Library at Harvard University. Prior
to that commission, he had been admitted to the Boston bar and had pub-
lished a treatise on the law contracts, as well as a biography of his father.
Now best remembered for his long career abroad as a productive sculp-
tor, Story was also known during his lifetime as a poet and classicist. The
diversity of his talents makes the assessment of his contributions difficult,
a condition complicated by the fact that he outlived the era in which his
style of antiquarian classicism was popular.20

The Civil War brought a new aesthetic to American sculpture. A young
sculptor from Boston, Martin Milmore (1844-1883), chose to portray the
common foot soldiers of the Civil War in vigorously modeled, realistic
terms. His commission from the city of Roxbury resulted in an impres-
sively simple memorial to the Union soldiers (Fig. 8). Milmore's realistic
style referenced late-republic Roman genre sculpture from 60 to 30 B.C.
The monument, cast at the Ames Foundry in Chicopee, Massachusetts,
was placed in Forest Hills Cemetery in 1867 and surrounded with burials
of Civil War soldiers. On the base were chiseled Lincoln's words at
Gettysburg in November, 1865: "From these honored dead we take

Jonathan L. Fairbanks

117

S-

Fig. 8. Martin Milmore, Union Soldier Monument, 1867. Forest Hills

Cemetery, Jamaica Plain, MA. Ames Foundry, Chicopee, MA.

Inscribed: "Erected/By/The City of Roxbury/In Honor of/Her

Soldiers,/Who Died For Their Country/In the Rebellion/of/1861-1865."

Base of bronze - L: 32 1/2"; D: 29 1/2".

118

Eternal Celebration in American Memorials

increased devotion to the cause for which they gave their last full measure
of devotion." Another inscription ensures that the reader will know that
the monument was erected by the city of Roxbury "In honor of her sol-
diers who died for their country in the rebellion of 1861-65." Citizens were
proud of Milmore's achievement. A granite version of the foot soldier was
soon placed at the center of the crossroads in Jamaica Plain. Hundreds of
monuments throughout the United States imitated Milmore's work. His
success with realism did not, however, prevent him from also entertain-
ing allegorical and symbolic concepts.

Milmore's most enigmatic work is the great granite Sphinx of 1872
which he and his brother, Joseph, carved and placed at Mount Auburn

Fig. 9. American Union Monument. Mt. Auburn Cemetery,

Cambridge, MA. Granite. L: 186"; D: 73".

Signed: MARTIN MILMORE

SCULPTOR

BOSTON 1872

Inscribed: " AMERICAN UNION PRESERVED

AFRICAN SLAVERY DESTROYED

BY THE UPRISING OF A GREAT PEOPLE

BY THE BLOOD OF FALLEN HEROES"

Jonathan L. Fairbanks

119

Cemetery (Fig. 9). This memorial also commemorated the Union dead.
The sphinx makes reference to Africa and Africans and, more particular-
ly, draws upon Victorian notions of eternal memorialization through this
symbol of Egypt. The modern viewer may not understand that message,

Fig. 10. Chickering Monument. Mt. Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, MA.
Marble, signed T. Ball, Sc. 1872. Base at ground: W: 85"; D: 76".

120 Eternal Celebration in American Memorials

but its meaning was clear to Victorians who were sensitive to symbolic
associations. Milmore's Copenhagen Tomb (1874) in Mount Auburn is a
more old-fashioned expression with a conventional angel holding a trum-
pet. A similar concept is expressed by Milmore's teacher (from 1858 to
1863), Thomas Ball (1819-1911), whose marble monument to the piano
manufacturing family of Chickering, The Realization of Faith (Fig. 10), also
depicts an angel. This angel holds a down-turned torch, symbolizing that
the flame of life has been extinguished, and uncovers the head of a dying
Christian in order to release her to heaven.

Death as pleasant dreams had become an outmoded concept by the
Civil War. Managers of garden cemeteries and thanatologists tried to
sweeten death with the beauty of picturesque landscape. However, the
brutal reality of unexpected death as a part of nature and the natural
process was clearly becoming recognized in both sculpture and poetry. In
a poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson entitled "Hamatreya," the reader can
sense a new attitude toward death:

Bulkeley Hunt, Willard, Hosmer, Meriam, Flint,
Possessed the land which rendered to their toil
Hay, corn, hemp, flax, apples, wool and wood.
Each of these landlords walked amidst his farm
Saying, "Tis mine, my children's and my names.
How sweet the west wind sounds in mine own trees!
How graceful climb those shadows on my hill!
I fancy these pure waters and the flags
Know me, as does my dog : we sympathize;
And, I affirm, my actions smack of the soil.'
Where are these men? Asleep beneath their grounds:
And strangers, fond as they, their furrows plough.
Earth laughs in flowers, to see her boastful boys
Earth-proud, proud of the earth which is not theirs;
Who steer the plough, but cannot steer their feet
Clear of the grave. 21

This realistic view of death is not unlike that which is seen in Milmore's
realistic work. Milmore's greatest effort, the Soldiers' and Sailors'
Monument, dedicated in 1877 on the Boston Common, mixes ideal, sym-
bolic female figures among realistic soldiers and sailors around the base.22
The central towering shaft is crowned by a figure of Liberty. By the third
decade of the nineteenth century, towered figures had become a conven-
tional device that the next generation of gifted sculptors would avoid.

Jonathan L. Fairbanks

121

Fig. 11. Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Farragut Monument, 1879-80.

Central Park, NYC, as displayed at Museum of Fine Arts, Boston,

Feb. 26-May 11, 1985. Scale: heroic.

122 Eternal Celebration in American Memorials

The mid-1870s marked a dramatic new wave of talent arriving in New
York City. Boston was becoming outmoded as a center for sculptural
innovation and creativity; New York dominated the art scene. Sculptors,
schooled in Paris, often at the Ecole des Beaux- Arts, brought to New York
a new approach to sculpture. The premier figure to emerge was Augustus
Saint-Gaudens (1848-1907), who in 1876 received the commission for The
Farragut Monument (1879-1880), placed in New York City (Fig. 11). The
monument consisted of a bronze figure elevated above a bluestone base.
The memorial celebrates brave action in the face of danger. It marks an
important transition in the history of memorial sculpture. The figure rep-
resents Admiral David Glasgow Farragut, and is both heroic and con-
vincingly real. Its composition is as dynamic and alive as its surface.
Profound understanding of the Renaissance sculptors Michelangelo and
Donatello are evident in the composition and pose of this work that
launched Saint-Gauden's career.23 The Farragut Monument does not make
the mistake of elevating the central figure on a shaft too high for ordinary
mortals to see. The base contains idealized female figures in low relief,
while the compositional focus remains centered on the realistically por-
trayed Admiral. At least partial credit for the success of this composition
is due to Saint-Gaudens' collaboration with architect Stanford White
(1853-1906), who provided the design for the base.

Undoubtedly, the most moving collaboration between Saint-Gaudens
and White is the disarmingly quiet Adams Memorial (1890-1891) in Rock
Creek Cemetery, Washington, D.C. (Fig. 12). After the death of Henry
Adams's wife, Marion, artist John LaFarge and Adams traveled to Japan
and studied Oriental art and philosophy. On their return, Adams asked
LaFarge to arrange for Saint-Gaudens to create a suitable memorial to his
wife. Adams offered no instructions to the sculptor and apparently did
not wish to see it until it was completed. Saint-Gaudens struggled with
this unusual problem of creating a worthy memorial without consultation
with the client. After five years, the masterpiece was finished. It chal-
lenges, but defies explication.24 The sculpture must be experienced in its
place and setting to understand its emotional power. It was sparely sited
and surrounded by shrubbery. The sculpture's solitude and pensive mood
was enhanced by both plantings and a simple architectonic setting, which
regretfully were recently altered to discourage illicit activities within the
clandestine enclosure.

Jonathan L. Fairbanks

123

Fig. 12. Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848-1907), Untitled Memorial

for Adams Family. Rock Creek Cemetery Washington D.C.

Commissioned 1886. Scale: heroic.

124

Eternal Celebration in American Memorials

In contrast to the private yet universal sculptural commission for
Henry Adams, by 1884 Saint-Gaudens had already embarked on his
greatest masterpiece - a public memorial for Boston. This was to com-
memorate, in high relief, the heroism of the Fifty-fourth Volunteer
Infantry Regiment of Free Blacks in a monument known as the Memorial
to Robert Gould Shaw (Fig. 13). Completed in 1897, this thirteen-year pro-
ject recalls the lives sacrificed by the regiment at Fort Wagner, near
Charleston, South Carolina. Robert Gould Shaw is the central figure in the
composition. On horseback, he leads his troops, as they parade down
Beacon Street, off to war. They are guided by a hovering, symbolic female
figure. At the dedication of the monument, some thirty years after the bat-
tle, Saint-Gaudens witnessed the return of the balance of the troops. They
were then aged, mounted on horseback, marching in the opposite direc-
tion of their departure. Saint-Gaudens proclaimed that witnessing this

Fig. 13. Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848-1907), Shaw Memorial to the

Fifty-fourth Volunteer Regiment, 1897. Facing the State Capitol

Building, Beacon Street, Boston, MA. Bronze and Stone. Scale: heroic.

Jonathan L. Fairbanks

125

was, for him, a consecration. The sculpture magnificently expresses the
solemnity of the event, with many figures in both high and shallow relief.
It is arguably the finest piece of memorial sculpture in America today.25

Daniel Chester French's Milmore Memorial, erected at Forest Hills
Cemetery in 1893 (Fig. 14), probably would not have looked the same
without some knowledge of what was taking place with the Shaw
Memorial. Yet, unlike the Shaw Memorial, the figures are fully three-dimen-
sional, seeming almost detached from the relief. Here, the iconography is
accessible to the modern viewer. The figure of Death is represented as a
great, hooded female with sleep-inducing poppies in one hand, while the
other hand stays the chisel of an idealized, young Milmore as he works on
Mount Auburn's Sphinx.26 The figure of Death touches the hand of the

Fig. 14. "Milmore" Memorial, Forest Hills Cemetery,

Jamaica Plain, MA. Bronze and granite. Scale: life size.

Bronze signed: D.C. FRENCH Stor 1891

E. GREUT Ine

FONDEUR . PARIS .

Setting signed: proper right: proper left:

I HOWLAND JONES Arthur A. Shurcliff

ARCHITECT 1943 Sidney N. Shurcliff

Landscape architects 1948

126 Eternal Celebration in American Memorials

sculptor and invites him to rest. William Cullen Bryant's poem
"Thanatopsis" of nearly eighty years prior foreshadowed this motif of
death as gentle sleep. The notion of an imagined Death figure staying the
work of the living can be traced back to the previously-discussed 1681
headstone of John Foster. However, on the earlier gravemarker Death
appears as a skeleton extinguishing the flame of life and inspiration,
while Death's hand is restrained by Father Time until the appropriate
moment. By the end of the nineteenth century, the emblem of death has
been refigured as an angel rather than a skeleton. Passing from this world
was sweetened as sleep, brought on by the gentle but firm touch of a
female figure.

Saint-Gaudens and French both inspired at least three subsequent gen-
erations of American sculptors who either knew them personally, were in
touch with them, or were moved by their works. Studio assistants, clients,
materials, equipment, and casts of works by French and Saint-Gaudens
also disseminated their influence across the nation and abroad. Many of
the next generation of sculptors came from the Far West.

Memorialization also extended to species at risk at that time and to
what was believed to be the vanishing races of the world, such as the
Native Americans. Examples of this genre were Alexander Phimister
Proctor's (1862-1950) great bronze bison of 1914/1915 at the ends of
Dumbarton Bridge in Washington, D.C., and the impressive works that
Solon Borglum (1868-1922) made for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition at
St. Louis, Missouri, in 1904. Borglum's sculpture represented universal-
ized figures rather than portraits of particular individuals. Cyrus Edwin
Dallin (1861-1944), who, like Borglum, was born in Utah, also modeled
idealized Indians. His most famous bronze is the Appeal to the Great Spirit
(1909) (Fig. 15). This equestrian work, standing at the Huntington Avenue
entrance to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, represents a mounted
Native American, looking skyward while holding outstretched arms
toward the unseen. It is one of the most photographed bronze monu-
ments in the nation.27

The next generation of sculptors whose works grace the building of
the Museum of Fine Arts includes Richard H. Recchia (1888-1983), of
Rockport, Massachusetts. He was encouraged and assisted in his career
by Daniel Chester French. Recchia's mastery of modeling is demonstrat-
ed by a private study taken from life. It is a bronze relief of 1910 depicting
his father, Frank C. Recchia, who was a stone carver (Fig. 16). Recchia

Jonathan L. Fairbanks

127

made this piece in the same year he modeled an equally masterful relief
of Bela Lyon Pratt, a fellow sculptor and mentor whose work, with
Recchia's, ornaments the Museum's Evans Wing. Recchia became some-
thing of a recluse in his old age, but through the advice of the sculptor

■■■■.' , ■■■•;.■.
;

"..■•..•- ;i

Fig. 15. Cyrus Edward Dallin (1861-1944), Appeal to the Great Spirit,

1909. Signed: C.E. Dallin 1913; Foundry Mark: Gorham Co.

Founders OPN. Huntington Avenue, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Gift of Peter C. Brooks and others. Bronze. Scale: heroic.

128

Eternal Celebration in American Memorials

Fig. 16. Richard H. Recchia (1888-1983), Bronze Relief of Frank C.

Recchia, 1910. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA.

Bequest of Richard H. Recchia. Signed: R.H. RECCHIA/1910.

Foundry: ROMAN BRONZEWORKS, N.Y. H: 21 1/2"; W: 13 3/4".

Jonathan L. Fairbanks 129

Walker Hancock he made it possible for some of his finest works to come
into the collections of the Museum.28

My late father, Avard T. Fairbanks (1897-1987), was another sculptor
who came from the West. In 1933, as my father's works were gaining
recognition worldwide, his massive A Tragedy of Winter Quarters memori-
al was dedicated in Florence, near Omaha, Nebraska. This bronze (Fig. 17)
was erected to remember the trials and demise of many Mormon pioneers
at their winter encampment of 1846 after their removal from Nauvoo,
Illinois.29 The two windswept bronze figures burying their child com-
pellingly recalls the high infant mortality in that year of decision to relo-
cate to the Far West. Several Fairbanks family members perished at
Winter Quarters. All the pioneers are buried in unmarked graves, but they
are identified by name today in handsome bronze relief panels at the foot
of the monument. This sculpture and the memorial reliefs were commis-
sioned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Other heroic
memorial sculpture by Fairbanks includes the 91st Division Memorial at
Fort Lewis, Washington (1930); Pioneer Family, Bismarck, North Dakota
(1947); and the Albert Woolson portrait memorial, a tribute to the last sur-
vivor of the Grand Army of the Republic, which was modeled when the
veteran was 107 years old. Two versions of this bronze were cast: one was
placed at the Gettysburg Battlefield and another at Duluth, Minnesota.
This writer met Mr. Woolson and spent the summer of 1957 in Salt Lake
City making molds for his sculpture.

Conventional histories too often forget the thousands of craftsmen-
artists who served the needs of sculptors as casters, modelers, chasers,
carvers, and many others who aid the sculptors' work. Pietro Caproni of
Roxbury, Massachusetts, who came to Boston from Italy in 1879, was the
leading member of a great plaster-casting dynasty, with galleries located
on Washington Street in Boston. He was not to be forgotten. His imposing
granite tombstone, designed by architect Ralph Adams Cram (1863-1942)
and set at Forest Hills Cemetery in 1929, endures (Fig. 18). A sleeping
granite lion guards one side and an awake lion the other. Clearly
Italianate in composition, the tomb lions are direct models after Antonio
Canova's tomb to Pope Clement XVIII in Rome, Italy.

The Caproni Monument is an effective memorial for person, family, and
nation of origin. Not so effective, however, are many later monuments in
cemeteries today. Sadly, picturesque cemeteries of the nineteenth century
began to change in the 1940s. With the war years, a decline engulfed gar-

130

Eternal Celebration in American Memorials

Fig. 17. Avard Tennyson Fairbanks (1897-1987), The Tragedy at Winter

Quarters. Dedicated on September 20, 1936, at Florence, Nebraska, the

"Mormon" burial grounds on the trail from Nauvoo to the Great Salt

Lake Valley, Utah, 1846-47. Bronze on granite base. Scale: heroic.

Jonathan L. Fairbanks

131

den cemetery aesthetics. The nation's romance with technology and
industrialization encouraged a faith in efficiency and economy rather
than in humanistic expression. Profit-making tendencies in those years
encouraged the crowding of many old, dignified cemeteries with undis-
tinguished and uniform stones. Tablets began to line plot upon plot like
decks of cards. Mechanized design eroded even the overall layout of gar-
den cemeteries. Yet memorials of high artistic merit do occasionally con-
tinue to be made.

Walker Hancock (b. 1901) was the sculptor who, in 1950, made the
Pennsylvania Railroad War Memorial at 30th Street Station, Philadelphia
(Fig. 19). In a fitting coincidence of history, Hancock celebrated his nine-
ty-seventh birthday in the summer of 1998 on the same day that Forest
Hills Cemetery turned one hundred and fifty. As part of its anniversary
celebration, Forest Hills Cemetery installed an outdoor sculpture exhibi-

Fig. 18. Ralph Adams Cram, Caproni Monument. Forest Hills

Cemetery, Jamaica Plain, MA. Granite. At base - L: 140"; D: 63'

"PIETRO PAULO CAPRONI

NOV. 18, 1862 - OCT. 1, 1928

& HIS WIFE GEATRUDE BRINKAUS

CAPRONI, JANUARY 13, 1876-MARCH 30, 1959"

Inscribed: RALPH ADAMS CRAM ARCHITECT

132

Eternal Celebration in American Memorials

Fig. 19. Walker Hancock, Plaster Model for the Pennsylvania Railroad

War Memorial Thirtieth Street Station, Philadelphia, PA, 1948-1952.

Scale of finished work: colossal. Final bronze - H: 40 ft.

Jonathan L. Fairbanks

133

Fig. 20. Walker Hancock, Flight Monument. West Point Academy,
New York. Bronze. 1989-1990. Scale: heroic.

134

Eternal Celebration in American Memorials

tion, including Hancock's scale model for another famous monument, the
Flight Memorial. In 1989, Hancock began work on this memorial for The
United Military Academy at West Point to honor graduates who, in pur-
suing their careers, perished in flight (Fig. 20). In his memoirs, Hancock
wrote of this monument:

I was commissioned to design the Flight Memorial for the United States
Military Academy. This was to pay tribute to all alumni of the academy
who while in service had lost their lives flying, whether during combat or
not. Naturally, there were at first several very divergent ideas about the

Fig. 21. Photograph of Avard T. Fairbanks and Daniel Farber, 1980.

Jonathan L. Fairbanks 135

form that should be adopted for the representation. My suggestion was to
make a symbolic, nude figure, rising from flames and smoke and reaching
upward. As nothing of the kind had ever been done at West Point, it was
necessary to undertake some persuasion. But once we had reached a basic
agreement, I found the committee that was involved - composed mostly of
retired Air Force officers - to be appreciative, helpful, and understanding
as any with which I have ever worked.30

Hancock's West Point figure is an ascending, lyrical work with an elo-
quent message.

Eloquent memorial sculpture, both public and private, can and should
lift the human spirit with new expressions, drawing upon the timeless
and universal theme of human mortality and memory. It is hoped that the
few examples cited and illustrated here will serve to link the golden chain
of memories to future generations and sculptural possibilities.

NOTES

I would like to dedicate this printing of "Eternal Celebration in American Memorials" to the
memory of my friend and mentor, Daniel Farber, who asked me to republish this paper in
Markers. Dan and I shared a profound appreciation of memorial art and a great sense of con-
nectedness to the past through its study (Fig. 21). I have been closely associated with Dan
for many years. As a result of our friendship, Dan volunteered his photographic skills on
numerous projects at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Several of his superb photographs
of burial markers are on view in our seventeenth-century American decorative arts galleries.

This text has been adapted from Remove Not The Ancient Landmark: Public Monuments and
Moral Values with the permission of its editor, Donald Reynolds. Assistance with additions,
editorial changes, and corrections were performed by Joanna Michelson, an intern in the
Department of American Decorative Arts and Sculpture, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and
Rebecca Reynolds, the Jean S. and Frederic A. Sharf Fellow of American Sculpture, also in
this department at the museum.

Thanks are extended to the following for permission to reproduce their photographs in this
essay: Fig. 1, Daniel Farber and the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, MA; Figs 8, 14,
Daniel Farber; Fig. 2, American Antiquarian Society; Fig. 3, the Houghton Library, Harvard
University; Fig. 4, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA; Fig. 16, the Museum of Fine Arts,
Boston; Fig. 19, Colonel James F. Frakes.

1. 1 John 1.

2. Jonathan L. Fairbanks and Robert F. Trent, New England Begins: The Seventeenth Century.
3 vols. (Boston, MA, 1982), 2:318-320.

136 Eternal Celebration in American Memorials

3. Francis Quarles, Hieroglyphiques of the Life of Man (London, England, 1638).

4. See Fairbanks and Trent, New England Begins, 3: 533, 569.

5. Ibid., 3:422.

6. Ibid., 2: 346, cat. no. 363.

7. Ibid., 3: 423.

8. A citizen of Milan, Lomazzo (1538-ca. 1600) was a painter and keeper of Cosimo de
Medici's picture gallery in Florence. His monumental Tratato della Pittura summed up
precepts of cosmic harmony and mannerist art theories which were translated into
English by Richard Haydocke of Oxford in 1598.

9. Fairbanks and Trent, New England Begins, 3: 448. Morton's original manuscript book, his
Compendium, has not been discovered. However, it is known through several manu-
script copies made by Harvard students, one of which, the Metcalf mss., is in the
Dedham Historical Society Collections. See Samuel Eliot Morison, "Charles Morton,"
in Collections of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, vol. 33 (Boston, MA, 1940).

10. George F Whicher, ed., Poetry of the New England Renaissance, 1790-1890 (New York and
Toronto, 1959), 15. "Thanatopsis," though a youthful work published in 1816, has long
been regarded by many as one of Bryant's finest poems.

11 . Period guidebooks for visitors to the first three rural cemeteries offer insights into the
salesmanship and original intentions of the founders: Jacob Bigelow, A History of the
Cemetery of Mount Auburn (Boston and Cambridge, MA, 1859, reprint, Chester, CT„
1976); R.A. Smith, Smith's Illustrated Guide to and through Laurel Hill Cemetery
(Philadelphia, PA, 1852); and N. Cleveland, Green-wood (New York, NY, 1847).

12. At least two architects competed against Notman for the Laurel Hill commission. Both
William Strickland (ca.1787-1854) and Thomas U. Walter (1804-1887) proposed gate-
ways in the Egyptian style. Their proposal drawings are preserved in the collections of
the Library Company, Philadelphia, PA.

13. The figure of Old Mortality was carved abroad, but the pony and Scott were cut from a
redstone obtained in New Jersey. According to contemporary accounts, these works by
Thorn attracted more praise than sculpture by celebrated sculptors John Flaxman,
Joseph Nollekens, or Francis Chantrey. This may, of course, be marketing hyperbole.
Thorn went on to execute stonework for Richard Upjohn (1802-1878) at Trinity Church,
New York City, completed in 1846.

14. Lauretta Dimmick, "Thomas Crawford's Monument for Amos Binney in Mount
Auburn Cemetery, 'A Work of Rare Merit'," Markers IX (1992): 167.

15. Ibid., 168.

Jonathan L. Fairbanks 137

16. Theodore E. Stebbins, et al., The Lure of Italy: American Artists and the Italian Experience,
1760-1914 (Boston, MA, 1992), 152-153; fig. 2.

17. Mills also cast two additional versions of the Jackson Memorial - one for New Orleans,
LA, in 1856, and another for Nashville, TN, in 1880. See James M. Goode, The Outdoor
Sculpture of Washington, D.C. (Washington, D.C., 1974), 377-378.

18. John Elsum, The Art of Painting after the Italian Manner (London, 1704), 9.

19. Nathaniel Hawthorne, Transformation: the Romance of Monte Beni (Leipzig, Germany,
1860), 2.

20. Jan Seidler Remirez, "A Critical Reappraisal of the Career of William Wetmore Story
(1819-1895), American Sculptor of Letters." Ph.D. diss, Boston University, 1985.

21. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Poems (Boston, MA, 1895), 35.

22. Kathryn Greenthal et al, American Figurative Sculpture in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
(Boston, MA, 1986), 192-195.

23. For an assessment of Saint-Gaudens and the sculpture of his times, see Kathryn
Greenthal, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Master Sculptor (New York, NY, 1985).

24. The subject is handled well by Greenthal, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, 130-131.

25. The most moving publication about this memorial is Lincoln Kirstein, Lay this Laurel
(New York, NY, 1973). See also Lois Goldreich Marcus, "The Shaw Memorial by
Augustus Saint-Gaudens: A History Painting in Bronze," Winterthur Portfolio 14:1
(1979): 1-23.

26. The development of the design of the Milmore monument is complex but superbly doc-
umented by Michael Richman, Daniel Chester French: An American Sculptor (New York,
NY, 1976), 48-49.

27. Rell G Francis, Cyrus E. Dallin: Let Justice Be Done (Springville, UT, 1976), 48-49.

28. Greenthal et al, American Figurative Sculpture, 416-426.

29. Ibid., 450-454.

30. Walker Hancock, A Scidptor's Fortunes (Gloucester, MA, 1997), 244-245.

138

Joshua Sawyer

139

JOSHUA SAWYER
John Fitzsimmons

I doubt I'd ever have taken this road

had I known how fallen it really was

to disrepair: driving comically,

skirting ruts and high boulders, grimacing

at every bang on the oil pan.

I tell you it's the old road to Wendell -

that they don't make them like this anymore.

We're bound by curious obligations,

and so stop by an old family plot

walled in by piles of jumbled fieldstone,

cornered to the edge of what once was field.

The picket gateway still stands intact,

somebody propped up leaning on a stick,

an anonymous gesture of reverence.

Only nature disrespects: toppling stone,

bursting with suckers and wild raggedness.

A gravestone, schist of worn slate, leans weathered:

Joshua Sawyer Died Here 1860

Another stone, cracked, has fallen over.

I reset the stone, and scrape the caked earth

as if studying some split tortoise shell,

and have keyed in to a distant birth -

His wife Ruth died young; so I picture him

stern with his only daughter, only child -

speaking for a faith which could defy her.

There' d be no passing onto when she died -

twenty-two, more words beside her mother.

Still these stones and fields you kept in order,

long days spent forcing sharp turns on nature,

accepting the loose stone and thin topsoil.

A Wendell neighbor must have buried you

whispering a eulogy which is as lost

as your daughter, your wife, and this farm:

'Joshua Sawyer'

I've never been down this road before.
I would like to speak with you of faith.

140

Harriet Ruggles Loomis' Gravestone

Fig. 1. Gravestone of Harriet Ruggles Loomis (1824-1861),
Newbury, Vermont.

141

'I NEVER REGRETTED COMING TO AFRICA':
THE STORY OF HARRIET RUGGLES LOOMIS' GRAVESTONE

Laurel K. Gabel

Scholars who focus on the iconography, inscriptions, or collective
demographics of American gravestones may forget that the stones are
also documents, records of individual lives and personal events that com-
prise our country's collective history. The following narrative is a result of
research inspired by fragmentary data found on a single gravestone in
Newbury, Vermont, that of Harriet Ruggles Loomis, 1824-1861 (Fig. 1).
Harriet's story is presented here to illustrate the value of gravestones as
documents and to demonstrate the type of information that ordinary
research may reveal about long-forgotten people and the world they lived
in. Words and phrases that are highlighted in bold in the following text
appear on the Loomis gravestone.1

"I never regretted coming to Africa." Harriet's voice was halting and
indistinct. Her husband, Chauncey, was forced to bend down close to hear
the barely audible words that escaped in a series of forced exhalations. For
almost a month an especially malignant form of African fever2 had
pinned her - spiraling in and out of delirium - to her cot. And now,
exhausted and weak, Harriet had no more strength to resist: she knew
that she was dying and that her final farewells would be here, in the fra-
grant, heavy air of Evangasimba, on the West African island of Corisco,
half a world away from her home in Vermont.

Harriet Ruggles Loomis had always longed to be a missionary, to
teach the heathen in some distant, alien corner of the world. "Ten years I
prayed for this privilege," she said. And she firmly believed that the
many hardships and sorrows of Evangasimba were but an "answer to
prayer."3 But now this long-prayed-for Christian duty was ending with-
out any of the rewards she had always imagined. In fact, the missionary
experience at Evangasimba had involved mostly physical labor and few
opportunities to spread God's word among the heathen. She and
Chauncey were often incapacitated by recurring fevers and, although sur-
rounded by other Christian missionaries, were oddly alone in their dis-
content. They felt unwelcome. The situation was cruelly disappointing to
them both, but most especially to Chauncey, who railed silently against
every injustice. Poor Chauncey. Harriet knew that he would yoke himself

142

Harriet Ruggles Loomis' Gravestone

with the responsibility for this misadventure, for the recent death of their
infant son, and now for her final illness. Disturbingly thin and despon-
dent as a result of all that had befallen them, Chauncey himself was in
fragile health. Please, she whispered, "Don't grieve for me: it is all right.4
There the weary are at rest.5 The bitterness of death is not bitter,"
Harriet again tried to reassure him.6 But she alone knew the depth of
Chauncey' s bitterness - and that he would not be consoled by her dying
words. Death would bring her the longed-for rest, but oh, what would
become of Chauncey?

Harriet Elisabeth Ruggles was born at Newbury, Vermont, on
December 29th, 1824, six months after her father, Perley Ruggles, died in
a rafting accident at Turner's Falls in Montague, Massachusetts.7 Perley
had been only twenty-eight when he drowned, leaving a young wife,
Betsey, then three months into her second pregnancy, and an eighteen
month old son named Henry. After her husband's premature death,
Betsey Ruggles went to live and raise her fatherless children with the help
of her parents, Deacon William (1777-1835) and Betsey (Peach) Burroughs
(1781-1856), who lived in Newbury, Vermont.8

Harriet and her brother, Henry, were raised in Deacon Burroughs'
household. Both were well educated and both appeared to be equally
dedicated to teaching and missionary work.9 Each attended the local
Newbury Seminary before leaving to teach, first at Lyndon Academy in

WEhWmM (G -H) & &. M I

Fig. 2. View of Adelphai College, Boonville, Missouri, 1855.

Laurel K. Gabel 143

Vermont and then at Ball Seminary in Hoosick Falls, a thriving communi-
ty near Troy, New York.10

At the end of the 1848 academic year, when Harriet was approaching
her twenty-fourth birthday, she left the Seminary in Hoosick Falls to take
a teaching position at Boonville Female Institute - later Adelphai College
(Fig. 2)11 - in far away Boonville, Missouri.12 Harriet was part of the grow-
ing exodus of well-educated New England women who, in the mid nine-
teenth century, sought teaching positions on the frontier.13 Boonville, with
its wealth generated by river traffic and Santa Fe Trail trade, was, like
other developing frontier communities, establishing first-rate private
schools to meet the demands of progress.14 The founder and president of
Adelphai College was Professor Joshua L. Tracy (1809-1879), from the
state of Kentucky. He later went on to launch Arrow Rock Female
Academy, where Harriet also taught drawing and painting for a time.15
The 1850 Federal Census includes Harriet Ruggles in the large household
(school) of J. L. Tracy, Boonville City, Missouri. Harriet's age is recorded
as twenty-two (she was actually twenty-five). No occupation appears
next to her name, although she is the only young woman in the house not
enumerated as a boarding student.16 By 1856, surviving records show that
Miss H. E. Ruggles was the assistant principal of Saline County Institute,
another academy located near Boonville.17 The Institute was then enjoy-
ing acclaim as one of the state's leading schools for young women.

Chauncey Loomis, after graduating from Western Reserve College in
1846,18 also found his way to Boonville to head up the faculty and to teach
at Adelphai.19 The 1850 Federal Census indicates that Chauncey L.
Loomis was living alone in Boonville, a single male, thirty years of age,
occupied as a school teacher.20 One of Chauncey's early students (1853-
1855), Harriet Clayton of Los Angeles, revisited the school in reminis-
cences written many years later. Her letters describe the Adelphai class-
rooms, the living quarters, and the large but minimally landscaped cam-
pus grounds where, in a little side yard, "Mr. Loomis would set up his
telescope for the astronomy class."21 Others recalled how the girls tried
Chauncey's patience with their conspiratorial intrigues and frequent
diversions from the serious tasks at hand. They had called him an "old
bachelor" and believed "he had great disgust for the female sex." He was
hard on the girls, and they, in turn, tormented him all they could - and
that, said one of his students, "was a plenty."22 His nature was perhaps
too solemn to instill a love of mathematics, languages, and astronomy in

144

Harriet Ruggles Loomis' Gravestone

young girls who did not share his fascination with the subjects, yet he
tried earnestly and endlessly to inspire a love of learning in every student,
no matter their aptitude. Chauncey Loomis wanted to make a real differ-
ence in the lives of others: he wanted to change things and, like fellow
teacher Harriet Ruggles, he wanted to serve God as a missionary. After
four more years of study, first at New York's Union Theological Seminary
and then at the New York Medical College and Bellevue Hospital,
Chauncey Loomis added "Reverend" before his name and the letters
"M.D." after it.23 And, at the age of forty, the "old bachelor" took a wife.
Rev. Chauncey Luke Loomis, M.D. and Miss Harriet Elisabeth
Ruggles were united in marriage at her home in Newbury, Vermont, on

Fig. 3. The sailing ship "Ocean Eagle."
Carved detail from Harriet Loomis gravestone.

Laurel K. Gabel 145

September 7, 1859. Chauncey, who was almost six years older than his
new bride, was born in Barkhampsted, Litchfield County, Connecticut in
1819, the second son of Leister (1791-1859) and Emily (Filley) (1791-1862)
Loomis.24

Within weeks of their marriage the couple embarked on the "Ocean
Eagle," a two-masted, square-rigged brigantine bound for the trading
ports and mission stations in Equatorial West Africa (Fig. 3).25 Harriet
recalled how she and Chauncey had rejoiced in Christian purpose and
missionary zeal as they prepared for their new life together in Africa. She
was to be his help meet, his missionary bride. They were both well
beyond the bloom of youth, but strong in body and spirit, hardened to the
anticipated deprivations, and conscientious about maintaining their
robust good health. Both were eager for this opportunity to spend the rest
of their time on earth as God's servants in Africa. Their assignment was
the Evangasimba outpost, one of the newly established stations at
Corisco, a tiny island barely three miles wide and less than five miles
long, fifteen miles off the coast of West Africa at N[ORTH] LAT. [0].55';
E[AST] LONG. 9.17' 30" (Fig. 4).26

In 1859, Corisco supported three small mission settlements, all situated
along the broad white beaches and long reefs that fringe the western coast-
line of the island. The principal outpost at Evangasimba included the
island's main church and adjacent graveyard, the girls' school, a small
thatched-roofed hospital, and two semi-permanent mission houses posi-
tioned a few hundred yards apart. The remaining native huts flanked a nar-
row path lined by two long rows of fruit-bearing pineapple trees (Fig. 5).27

A single ancient mangi tree, known to the missionaries as "the light-
ning rod tree," towered 200 feet above the clearing and served as a navi-
gational landmark to help guide ships through the difficult shoals in the
bay.28 The original native name for the island of tall trees was Mangi.

The Evangasimba settlement was overseen by the Rev. James L. Mackey,
who had established it as Corisco's primary mission station in 1850. Two
miles to the south, the Ugobi outpost housed a boys' school for the island's
native Benga population, under the leadership of Rev. George McQueen
and then Rev. Cornelius DeHeer. Because of the long-standing tribal wars
in the region, most native populations did not mix. Thus, boys from the
mainland tribes were schooled at Alongo, the third mission station, located
at the northern end of the island. Both Rev. DeHeer and a Rev. William
Clemens were responsible at various times for the success of Alongo.29

146

Harriet Ruggles Loomis' Gravestone

Harriet and Chauncey Loomis arrived at Evangasimba aboard the
Ocean Eagle on 21 January 1860, after a voyage of more than three
months, ... "thankful for safe carriage across the great deep." ...30 In his let-

Equatorial
Guinea

Atlantic
Ocean

South Africa-

Fig. 4. Map showing location of Corisco Island,
North Lat. 0.55'; East Long. 9.17' 30".

Laurel K. Gabel

147

ter of 6 February I860, Rev. James Mackey (head of the mission station)
wrote from Corisco to Rev. Wilson of the Mission Board in New York City:

My present impression of Mr. & Mrs. Loomis is that they will be a very
valuable accession to our mission. At present they are living with us, on
account of Mr. Ogden's absence we have not had a meeting of the mission
since Mr. Loomis' arrival. Should Mrs. Mackey & I go home the present
year as talked of, Mr. & Mrs. Loomis will probably take our place at
Evangasimba.31

In a letter to Rev. Wilson three months later, Chauncey noted that he
was "busy building the new church and assisting in teaching,"32 but that

Fig. 5. Evangasimba Mission Station.
Carved detail from Harriet Loomis gravestone.

148 Harriet Ruggles Loomis' Gravestone

he and Harriet were still without a meaningful missionary assignment.
They were also without a permanent place to live, remaining as "trav-
ellers, sojourning in an upper room, awaiting better accommodations."
Extremely anxious to be under their own roof and integrated into the mis-
sion, Chauncey suggested, in this same letter, that he would "undertake,
without expense to the mission,"33 the building of a modest house, if only
the mission would supply the appropriate lumber and materials.

Chauncey's early correspondence also confirms that he and Harriet
were genuinely fond of the local children and enthusiastic about their still
unrealized chance to teach among the natives:

These children show the discipline of their former teachers, one of whom
has gone to his rest. The rapidity with which they commit to memory large
portions of scripture, difficult lessons in Geography History Arithmetic, in
a tongue unknown and barbarous is remarkable. Their regard for religion,
their love of truth, their general sobriety [and] [C]hristian deportment are
cheering.34

In addition to attending regular religious meetings at Evangasimba
station, the children often walked miles to attend pr[a]yer meetings at
Ugobi and Alongo, going & returning after sunset.35

After six difficult months of hard labor at Evangasimba, Chauncey's
regular letters to the Board, while cordial, hinted at germinating feelings
of real discontent. He clearly felt that he and Harriet had remained out-
siders. Frustrated, often ill, despondent, and lacking any rational
recourse, Chauncey and Harriet found themselves trapped in what they
perceived as an increasingly hostile environment. The promised lumber
for their house - an important consideration in their decision to come to
Evangasimba - had been appropriated by others; they were still denied
any meaningful (by their account) missionary involvement; they lacked
any sense of belonging to the established mission settlement. Instead,
Chauncey saw himself, and Harriet as well, as slaves to the wants of the
already established brethren - working "into the hands of others." Finally,
after an apparently secretly prearranged council vote burdened them with
even more of the group's unwanted responsibilities, Chauncey penned an
embittered summary of their situation at Evangasimba and included it in
his official 23 July 1860 report to the Mission Board in New York:36

Laurel K. Gabel 149

I have never been invited to take any part in the doings, nor has any regard
been paid to my wishes. I protested against it [the added responsibilities
newly assigned by the vote of the other brethren], stating my unfitness for
the office of Treasurer, my ignorance of the Language, that we had made no
preparation for keeping such a house [he and Harriet were called upon to
board students and their teachers], recalled my frequent fevers, and begged
the privilege of building a house, were it by ten feet square, of the lumber
which was brought out for me, I would be content.

The "Brethren" said nothing; then glared at each other a few moments,
called for the question, and carried it unanimously. (I never had an enemy
whom I could treat in such a manner.)

The mover, Mr. Mackey, then added, "Mr. Loomis will, of course, furnish
board for the teachers of the girls' school." Mr. Loomis was also appointed
to superintend the building of a church at Ugobi, and a dwelling at
Ilandaluku.

The meeting then adjourned with prayer, thanking God for the great una-
nimity and harmony which prevailed among the "Brethren."

The day of sailing arrived [the Mackey's were returning to the United
States for a visit] and amid the hurry of departure, with no knowledge of
the goods on hand [Chauncey and Harriet were to be in charge of the only
store or commissary at the station], Little idea of his manner of keeping
book, I was nearly overwhelmed with business. They who might have
made them lighter stood aloof. The "plan" is a little plainer now.

Let us look at our situation. There are fourteen girls, living in our yard, and
sleeping in our house, for whom I must provide daily food, who require
our constant care, day and night, save in school hours, and then, also when
the teacher is absent.

You Sir, know well the Argus Eye needed to watch African girls.37

We have also to board the Superintendent, Matron, Teachers and her col-
ored assistant. We are not often both well at the same time. Our toils never

I must procure, each day, food without a market, or a knowledge of the pro-
ducers, for my unexpected large household, receive and pay off orders
from the Missionaries from 5 cents to 5 dollars & upwards, pay my work-
men, Superintend the two buildings, oversee repairs at the station,
Administer medicine to an average of ten patients per day, Take charge of
Books, mails, general Mission property, all under the disadvantage of being
a foreigner, speaking with a people of an unknown tongue.

I have already thirteen attacks of fever, lasting from three to nine days. Mrs.
Loomis has fever, but more severe. My weight is reduced thirty one
pounds.38

The hardships of the climate I call pleasant.
The Semi-monthly fever I cheerfully bear.
The privations are not to be counted burdens.

150 Harriet Ruggles Loorrtis' Gravestone

The loathsome diseases of savages are what I came to cure.
Their depravity is but the call for the Gospel - pleasant to answer.
The Solitary life is a happy one while doing good.
My "Burdens" are laid on by "Brethren."
"Their tender mercies are cruel."

I have left, far away, a happy home of law, of social restraint, of courts of
Justice. I have fallen into a "bad palaver"39 where the power of life and death
is in the power of three.40 1 am trembling on the verge of the grave, yet will
they not abate a tithe of their demands.

It is hard, after devoting the flower of youth, and the strength of manhood
to preparation, to be compelled to spend this first and perhaps last year of
Missionary life, in selling guns, cutlasses, knives, tobacco, and powder [at
the company store], and in incessant toil, which natives can do far better
than I, while the direct preaching of the Gospel is almost crowded out.

The Pastor urges, "you don't need much preparation to preach to such peo-
ple!" Is that so? Nay, let me never draw at a venture. Every shaft is worthy
of an accurate aim. Every hour is worthy of a careful sermon every Sabbath.
To aim well one must mingle with the people, and mark their vulnerable
points. To be successful, when the mark is found, the shaft must be of the
polished steel, which forms the sword of the spirit, guided by the wings of
a manifest, love.

Six months have passed. My promised lumber lies untouched in the store,
while the unpaid labor I have done for others would have built my
dwelling, cleared, fenced, and planted my farm. Not a foot of boards can I
get, not a rod of ground where land is literally without money and without
price.

Now Brethren Secretaries, pray be mindful after the end of this year, my
broken constitution will be hardly needed here for hard, bodily toil. Please
give me permission to go to Ilobi41 or any where else you please, to do
Missionary work. A harder place than this on earth I do not fear to find. The
cost of my house shall not exceed $250 and this I will pay, if you require it,
and never ask a Missionary to help me build it or the Board to pay for
building. Pray let me have a roof of my own. Then, if God wills, I will turn
my whole attention to teaching the way of life to the heathen. But if your
decision be adverse, I must acquiesce and work out my inexorable sentence
until a happy release shall come, permission to lay my bones beneath the
burning sands, on which you have directed me to toil. Let none then write
upon my tomb, "a victim to climate," or "a sacrifice to the trials of
Missionary life," But a victim of incessant toil, keeping a factory under dif-
ficulties and "working into the hands of the "Brethren."'

Chauncey's increasingly emotional pleas were ignored. Others were
not complaining; was this man simply a troublemaker, a malcontent, per-
haps too rigid and uncompromising to adapt to life in the closely knit mis-
sion community? After nine months at Evangasimba, his grievances

Laurel K. Gabel 151

remained unchanged - and seemingly unaddressed: He and Harriet
needed a place to live and the freedom to work as missionaries. Chauncey
wished to "visit the natives in their towns, to learn their language and
preach from house to house." He believed that by gaining the confidence
of the people by kindness and by the practice of medicine he could better
serve the mission. There was frustration and obvious tension between
those in control of the outpost, particularly Rev. James Mackey, the
founder of the station, and the Loomises, who were still, outwardly,
politely chaffing at their lack of voice in the decisions which directly
affected them. Chauncey was increasingly ill-tempered and "morose."

Although his wife's health is seldom mentioned directly in any of
Chauncey' s letters to the Mission Board, Harriet was struggling under the
added burden of pregnancy during the first half of 1861. There is little to
indicate whether this was viewed as a happy circumstance by the couple,
but maternity was, at that time in Africa, considered to be a terrible risk
for white women. It was believed by many, both in and out of the mis-
sionary field, that in Africa "white maternity was necessarily fatal." A
husband who thus jeopardized his wife ["by allowing his wife to become
a Mother"] was, by some, considered a "murderer."42 It must have been
an especially anxious time for Chauncey and Harriet. The Loomises con-
tinued to meet the constant demands of their situation, however, and
between the now familiar bouts of fever and despondency, remained
hopeful that things would change. God was surely testing them, asking
much in the way of patience, forgiveness, dedication, and faith.

In 1861 a new female teacher, Miss Mary Latta (Fig. 6), arrived to assist
with the girls' school at Evangasimba. Surviving correspondence of Miss
Latta and other new arrivals appears to indicate that they, unlike the
Loomises, found happy fulfillment in the missionary life at Corisco and
would "not exchange places with any one I know ...."43:

I suppose everyone's ideas of missionary life must change after being for a
few months on missionary ground, but it seems to me I did not expect to
find so much of human passions prevailing here. The privations I expected
are not to be found or do not deserve the name. We have all the necessaries
most of the comforts and some of the luxuries of life - perhaps a few per-
sons might differ in the application of the last term. [Was she referring here
to the Loomises?]44

While failing to mention the sad outcome of Harriet's confinement a
month earlier, Mary Latta ended her letter with current news of

152

Harriet Ruggles Loomis' Gravestone

Chauncey's wife:

Mrs. Loomis is dangerously ill, very little hope of her recovery, but with God
all things are possible. We all wish she could be spared to her husband.45

Fig. 6. Mary Cloyd Latta (1837-1870), missionary at Corisco.

Photograph from Crowned in Palm-Land, by Mary C. Latta,

published 1874.

Laurel K. Gabel 153

Harriet's life, like that of her infant, would not be spared however. She
died in the early morning hours of that same August night, comforted at
the end by a requested hymn's promise of "rest for the weary." Chauncey
was with her when she finally found peace. Before informing the
Evangasimba missionary community of Harriet's death, Chauncey pre-
pared her body and then sat alone behind closed doors, writing a painful
summary of the events which led up to this final tragedy. Chauncey' s
description of the death of his infant son and of Harriet's last illness
proved to be the origin of the epitaph carved on her Vermont grave-
stone:46

Dear Brother,

I hasten to inform you that Mrs. Loomis has just departed this life, Aug.
20th 1861. She was confined on the 17th July. The labor being tedious, and
being fearful of harm to the mother if too long delayed, the child [a son]
was taken away, by instruments.47

The infant, sacrificed to save the life of its mother, was named Henry
Leister Loomis - Henry for Harriet's brother, Rev. Henry Ruggles, who
had died in 1856, and Leister for Chauncey's father, Leister Loomis. A bro-
ken rose bud48 and the word "emigravit" memorializes tiny Henry
Leister's partial birth and death on July 17, 1861 (Fig. 7). "Emigravit,"
from the Latin root "emigro," means roughly, to depart or to be removed
from a place. Chauncy continues:

i. *

« v* *

'. , •

>-J "XI

-1

|-#» i

V L

1?5i

'Vf*

VKjr

V ' .

^ 7\ ♦

Fig. 7. "Henry Leister, 1861 July 17."
Carved detail from Harriet Loomis gravestone.

154 Harriet Ruggles Loomis' Gravestone

She got along very well, and seemed to recover from the shock remarkably
fast. She after mourned for her little one.

It is hard for a father to be compelled to lift hand against his own child, yet
it was a professional duty. It [also?] seemed hard, to make the coffin & dig
the grave with my own hand. But it is done. I buried him with but one
white [friend?] (Miss Latta) But enough.49

While it may have seemed to Chauncey that his wife had recovered
and "seemed well," ten days later, on July 27th, she was stricken with
what he described as "malignant continued fever":

Her pulse ran rapidly up to 140 per minute. This continued thus one week.
The second week, the peculiar "rough" eruption, belonging to this fever,
appeared, and the pulse fell a little. The eruption continued nearly two
weeks and her person is still spotted as when one has had the measles.

The third week, on the 12th Aug, she had another chill, pulse was to near
150, tumultuous indeed. Three hours after, another, & when it yielded, we
both thought she was going.

She bid a farewell, saying "give my love to the family. It is all right - you

will all ." She went down into the valley of the shadow of death.

All grew dark, to her, but by [diligent] with , she revived, and after

two or three "exacerbations" of the fever, fell under another severe shock,
on the night of the 18th August. She was wild with delirium until 1 p.m.

20th. Every nerve giving & at the body. Then she became almost

palsied, with locked jaw also. But not yet did her Lord call her. She revived,
sufficiently to recognize me, and to drink, by prying apart the teeth.

She could say but little, but a few words, & these as palsied people talk. But
asking me to sing the hymn, "There is rest for the weary" (revival music,
book #2). She tried to join the chorus while the tear drops told her feelings.

She closed her eyes, for the last time, while singing it with much . When

the chill arose 24 hours before, I told her it was an unfavorable omen.
"Well," said she, "I have been praying to God for 10 years for the privi-
lege of laboring as a missionary and I felt this opportunity was in answer
to prayer. I think it was my duty to come. I have never regretted that I
came to Africa."50

Alone and grieving, Chauncey' s final paragraph describes his solace
in God's will and the prayers of a friend:

With constant watching, I am nearly worn out. I have passed through one
of my fevers while taking care of her. Pray for me Brother for I am lonely
and sad, yet cheerfully, do I say, "Thy will O God, be done."51

With his wife and child dead, his missionary dreams unfulfilled, and
his isolation finally unbearable, Rev. Loomis, overwhelmed by disap-

Laurel K. Gabel 155

pointment, withdrew from the mission. He summed up their missionary
experience in a rather damning indictment: "I looked for Christian cour-
tesy - I have not found it."52

A series of final letters communicate the litany of perceived abuses at
the hands of the "Brethren." Unlike previous correspondence, however, it
was in these letters that Chauncey clearly detailed his grievances.
Although he had mentioned many of these same problems over and over
in the past, this was perhaps the first time that the Board was made to
realize the full impact of his desperation:

We came to Corisco, unknown to the Missionaries, or to their personal
friends in America. Our reception could hardly be deemed cordial.
Cordiality is the fruit of friendship and ripens slowly. But even a stranger
might expect a stranger's due.

I came well accredited as a Physician, a graduate of the New York Medical
College, having also attended the full course of Lectures in the College of
Pharmacy, a special course in the practical Analysis of Poisons, an extra
course in demonstrative Anatomy, and Surgery, an attendance of 18
months at the hospital and a limited practice in connection with my City
Mission work. These facts, I was told, had some influence with the Board,
in determining my location here.

I was advised by Dr. Wilson [Rev. James Leighton Wilson, D.D., at
Presbyterian Mission Board in New York City], that I should need but few
medicines, as there was an abundant supply already out there. Yet was I
never invited into the medicine room (which was Mr. Mackey's study) to
see or to use the medicines or the instruments there; and when over-
whelmed with sickness, after his departure, knew not where to find them.
Even the medical books belonging to the Mission were barreled up by Mr.
Mackey before he left.

In that great trial, when one half hour in a New York Drug Store were
worth a fortune; when cupping glasses53 would have been worth their
weight in gold; they remained where he had stored them. He never invited
me to visit other Missionaries as a Physician, nor did he so recognize me....
It would be charitable to suppose that Mr. Mackey was uninformed of my
medical character. The evidence is, however, against the supposition.54

The evidence, for this and numerous other instances where Chauncey
and Harriet had felt a lack of consideration and basic "Christian cour-
tesy," is detailed in the remaining pages of Chauncey's despairing letter
of October, 1861: their services were demanded in the operating of the
mission store - which was only to be open on Mondays - every day of the
week, in spite of their constant fevers. No one ever came to visit them in
their sickness "except on business." Rev. Mackey left Chauncey orders "to

156 Harriet Ruggles Loomis' Gravestone

build three houses, ... repair his cistern, floor the cistern and kitchen with
cement, to build a boat-house and stable, to repair roofs, and renew those
needing it. ..." And the list goes on. perceived slights were not forgotten -
or forgiven.

Weary from the struggle to do what he felt was right and disappoint-
ed at the outcome, Chauncey ends his letter:

I came out here expecting to remain till death, if God will. His constituted
authorities have left me nothing but to leave the field. Perhaps it is best.
Health seems to demand it. To sacrifice me and mine is but a trifle if the
cause demand it. Is it the best plan of work?

I leave my tools, remaining outfit and some books to the mein cause, on the
main land. I intended to leave my Library Not accepted. I came with a joy-
ful heart to the field [to] which the Board had assigned me. The anticipa-
tions of a lifetime seemed about to realize. I threw myself with open heart
among Christians. I looked for Christian courtesy. I have not found it. I
begged for my rights as for a favor. I begged for my own life, and for that
which was dearer than my own, justly fearing the direct consequences from
severe toil. "That which I feared has come upon me." While life lasted, I felt
buoyant, hoping for a better policy in time. Life gone - all gone! Now Dear
Brother, if you have done me the favor to read this gloomy epistle, tell me,
How should I feel, when oppression has driven my good Missionary wife
into the grave and banished me, a wreck, from the field of my chosen life
work? The Lord judge between me and them and may God speed the
right.55

In his last report to the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions, writ-
ten on October 1, 1861 [perhaps written before the above letter, which is
dated only October, 1861], Chauncey Loomis provided a final eulogy to
his wife, Harriet Ruggles Loomis:

Tribute to the Memory of Mrs. Loomis -Missionary Fidelity
Yet these days of Leisure and rest from toil were saddened by the fact that
they doubled the cares of another, dearer than the sick one, for the duties of
the Treasurer still go on, though he is sick. But She who was so ready to
assist me in health, so efficient and prompt to relieve me from my duties in
sickness, forgetful of her own sufferings, sank, at last, under accumulated
ills, and fell a prey to malignant fever. Her cares were many; her sorrows
were multiplied, yet did she suffer and toil on alone, and without com-
plaint. She was happy to be a Missionary, and anxious to do all her duty in
the sphere assigned her (omit, though not what she had expected.) She did
what she could.

From sun to sun, she was never at rest, save on her sick bed. There was an
emphatic meaning in the words she desired to be sung, when she could no
longer speak. "There's rest for the weary." She, who had no home while

Laurel K. Gabel 157

here, has now a "Christian's home in glory." She met the first appearance
of death with joy, saying "it is all right." I responded, "Even so Father for
so it seemed good in thy sight. The Lord hath done all things well."

Let it not be said, I pray you, that our oft-repeated sickness and her untime-
ly death were the result of our imprudence. We were both accustomed to
fevers, and the means of cure. We came to the work with good health, and
strong constitutions. We made the most assiduous efforts to restore and
preserve health. We tried to be faithful here, in the discharge of the duties
laid upon us. We also tried to save health & life that we might be the more
useful. We could do no more under our circumstances. Would that our abil-
ity had been commensurate with our duties!56

The Loomises' heartfelt grievances appear to have had some basis in
fact, although perhaps the intensity of Chauncey's despair reflects in part,
as he himself says, "the misfortunes of a Missionary overwhelmed at the
threshold of his labors."57

It should be noted that there are two widely divergent versions of the
Loomises' experience on Corisco. James Mackey, Chauncey's nemesis, felt
that Chauncey's decision to leave was a prudent one:

[Dr. Loomis] has been here less than two years, but his health seems to have
suffered a great deal. It is not his purpose I believe to return [to Corisco].
Dr. Loomis is, I trust, a good man, but his goodness makes itself apparent
in very singular ways. His labors arise (?) sufficient but have not been such
as to promote our missionary work. I found in my return a very general
dislike among the natives towards him. ... I trust Dr. Loomis will be useful
in some other sphere of duty, but I think he never will be as a missionary
in Africa.58

Rev. Mackey went on to say, in a private letter to John C. Lowie, D.D.,
New York City, dated November 12, 1861:

Mr. Loomis is a very peculiar man. And since my return I cannot but
observe that his influence here has been deleterious to the progress of our
Missionary work. The people were repulsed[?] by his unkindness toward
them. ...

Mr. Loomis suffered a good deal from sickness and I think his moroseness
and his ill nature towards the other members of the mission and towards
the natives arose in a measure at least from his bad health.

The Mission all seemed relieved when he asked liberty to go home, and no
regrets either on the part of the natives or members of the Mission were
expressed at his departure. [.-..]59

In another letter to Rev. Lowrie, dated May 9, 1862, Rev. Mackey is
even more forceful:

158 Harriet Ruggles Loomis' Gravestone

Yours of February 14th last mail and although I have said all

I expected to say in regard to Mr. Loomis, one or two things in your letter
leave me to say a word more. You state in speaking of Mr. Loomis that you
"now fear that 'we did not properly appreciate him/" and you say further
that you "think Mr. Loomis feels chiefly aggrieved at the apparent want of
sympathy he met with at Corisco and if this were so it might be attributed

partly to the brethren thus having the impression which I had ."

You are greatly in error if you suppose that anything Dr. Wilson either
wrote or spoke about Mr. Loomis ever led to any member of this mission
forming an opinion prejudicial to him. He came here as a stranger person-
ally to all of us, but was received as a Christian brother and with all the
warm hearted cordiality which we are ever accustomed to extend to the
laborers you send us. ...

On our return from America, Mr. Loomis made many and very grievous
complaints to me about his labors and the want of sympathy which the
members of the mission have showed to him in his bereavement. His state-
ments were so contrary to what had always been the spirit of the mission
that I was much surprised. I made some inquiries and found there was no
[justification] whatever for the charges of want of sympathy. He told me
Mrs. Loomis died alone. He washed the body and laid it out with his own

hands and no member of the mission was in the for hours after

she died. I found on inquiry, that Mr. Loomis had put a [large] card

on his door forbidding us to go into the sick room (this was not for the
natives, but for members of the mission) to disturb the sick. This card was
still on the room door after my arrival. Mrs. Loomis died in the morning
about 4 o'clock. After daylight Miss Latta was in, and so was Mrs. Ogden.
He [Chauncey Loomis] passed through the room but did not stop to speak
to them. Mrs. Clemens came in. All were waiting but did not know Mrs.
Loomis was dead. Two little girls were in the house staying with Mr.
Loomis. Mrs. Ogden asked them if Mrs. Loomis was dead. They said they
did not know, but they thought so. Mr. Loomis did not let the members of
the mission know until nine o'clock, after he had closed the mail which he
was sending to Gaboon[?], when he opened the door and asked those who
were present to walk [or look?] into the room where Mrs. Loomis lay a
corpse. The members of the mission all felt that the mildest construction
that could be put on Mr. Loomis's conduct, was that [he] was not sane.

The impression is obvious among the people here that Mr. Loomis is not an
honest man. This is not confined to the heathen, but it is among the mem-
bers of the church who think they were wronged by him. I am sorry to have
to make the above statements. They are not made in bitterness of feeling. I

would write more, but would rather refer you to the brethren who

and who were here all the time of Loomis's stay. We all think it would be a
calamity to the mission for Mr. Loomis to return and I am sure you w[ould]
think so if you knew all his while in this mission.60

Regardless of how the events at Corisco actually occurred, Chauncey
Loomis left the island in November of 1861, a broken man. He went to

Laurel K. Gabel

159

Middletown, Connecticut, where he lived out the rest of his life, often
impaired by recurring attacks of African Fever. Still ill and demoralized a
year after his return, Chauncey made arrangements for his wife's body to
be brought back from the "place of hardship and sorrow" that had
destroyed them both. Harriet was reinterred in Newbury, Vermont, on
what must have been an exceptionally mild January 11th, 1865 (Fig. 8).
The depiction on her gravestone of the Evangasimba missionary station,
with the Ocean Eagle at anchor in Corisco Bay, was carved from one of
Harriet's own drawings done shortly before her death.61

Her marble gravestone was carved in Middletown, Connecticut, by
James Craig (1830-1886), a recent immigrant (1851) from Kilmarnock,
Scotland, whose stone carving shop, on the corner of Main and Church
Streets in Middletown, was near Dr. Loomis' home (Figs. 9 and 10).62
From Middletown, Harriet's gravemarker traveled more than two hun-

Fig. 8. "Jan. 11, 1865" and detail of Evangasimba Missionary Station,
from Harriet Loomis gravestone.

160

Harriet Ruggles Loomis' Gravestone

dred miles up the Connecticut River to its final destination in the Ox -bow
Cemetery, Newbury, Vermont.

One final word about the gravestone. At the bottom of the main epi-
taph there is an added inscription in what appears to be Benga, the
African tribal language once used on Corisco.63 Its message could have
been understood by only a handful of white missionaries - none of whom

Fig. 9. James Craig, stonecutter, Middletown, Connecticut.

Laurel K. Gabel

161

would, Chauncey knew, ever see it:

Ebe bobe ome. Ebe njuke nangebe.
O yenek o'buhwa. O ka bange vake.

Intentionally private, the final words are from Chauncey to Harriet.
Based on the manuscript dictionary compiled (circa 1855) by Rev. Mackey,
the Benga translation appears to say: "I am full of remorse for the evils
which you were forced to suffer in that place of sorrow. While today we
are parted, in the tomorrow we will be united forever."64 The first line of
the epitaph reveals Chauncey' s lingering resentment and private guilt
about the traumatic death of his wife and child in Africa; the last line
affirms a final healing belief in their heavenly reunion.

After returning to Connecticut, Chauncey preached and practiced
medicine as his health allowed.65 His love for the church and for teaching

JAMES CRAIG,

And manufacturer of

MONUMENTS,

&RAYESTOUES, te,

IN EVERY STYLE.

H In Italian and American Marble,

and Brown Stone.

Also, in Scotch and American

.-aS^SF Granites.

Having lately returned from Scotland, I am prepared to furnish Scotch.
Granite on the most favorable terms.

Church St., cor. Main, Middletown, Conn.

Fig. 10. James Craig advertisement, Middletown (Connecticut)
City Directory, 1871-1872.

162

Harriet Ruggles Loomis' Gravestone

Fig. 11. Loomis family monument, East Hartland, Connecticut.

Laurel K. Gabel 163

apparently never abated, and in his later years he became well known for
his "interesting" Sunday school classes. For a number of years he was also
an "efficient" member of the Middletown School Board and took great
interest in the welfare of the public schools. He was described as a "genial
and pleasant companion," and as a "Christian gentleman with a large cir-
cle of friends." Chauncey never remarried. In 1883 he suffered a debilitat-
ing stroke which left him partially paralyzed for the rest of his life. He
died on January 13, 1894 "in the 75th year of his age."66 The funeral was
held three days later from the home of his sister, Mrs. George N. Ward.67
According to the Penny Press newspaper of January 15, 1894, the inter-
ment was to be in East Hartland, Connecticut, which explains why the
body was given a temporary home in a receiving vault of Mortimer
Cemetery in Middletown.68 The May 7, 1894 issue of the same paper con-
tains a small three line notice: "The remains of Dr. Loomis, who died in
this city several weeks ago, were taken to Tariffville [East Hartland]
Monday morning for interment." The body of Chauncey Loomis was
buried in East Hartland Cemetery on May 5th, 1894. A large four-sided
brownstone monument adorned with an open Bible marks his final rest-
ing place (Fig. 11). Inscribed upon it are the words "In Memory of C. L.
Loomis/ 1819-1894 /Missionary /to Africa/ 1859-1861 /Harriet E./His
wife /And Infant son /Died in Africa /Buried /in Newbury, Vt." The open
Bible holds Chauncey Loomis' s epitaph taken from First Corinthians,
15:44: "It is sown a natural Body; It is raised a spiritual Body." On two of
the three remaining sides of the monument are inscriptions for
Chauncey' s mother and father, Leister and Emily Filley Loomis.

164 Harriet Ruggles Loomis' Gravestone

NOTES

I am grateful to the following individuals and institutions for their contributions to the
Loomis story research: Dione Boucher Ayotte, Western Historical Manuscript Collection,
University of Missouri / State Historical Society Columbia, MO; Malik Balla, Robert D.
Botne, and David J. Dwyer for their help in interpreting the Benga epitaph; Georgia Barnhill,
Andrew W. Mellon Curator of Graphic Arts, American Antiquarian Society; Edith
Beaumont, Louis Miller Museum, Hoosick Township (NY) Historical Society; Kathy
Borgman, Friends of Arrow Rock (MO) Historical Site; Jean Craig Brooks; Tony Burroughs;
Marie Concannon, The State Historical Society of Missouri; Ruth Duncan, Connecticut
Historical Society; Eastman School of Music, Rochester, NY; Dorothy Fay; Cynthia Frame,
Archivist, The Burke Library, Union Theological Seminary; Lyn Gardner, The Mariners'
Museum, Newport News, VA; Marion Gibson; Brian Hook; "Kate," Speer Library, Princeton
Theological Seminary; Dione Longley, Director, The Middlesex (CT) County Historical
Society; Mary Ellen McVicker; Madeleine W. Mullin, Rare Books and Special Collections,
Countway Library of Medicine, Boston; Michael North, New York Academy of Medicine;
Julian H. Preisler; M. Reid, Russel Library, Middletown, CT; Owen T. Robbins; Amy Roberts,
Archivist, Department of History and Records Management Services of the Presbyterian
Church; Wendy Schnur, G W. Blunt White Library, Mystic Seaport Museum of America and
the Sea, Mystic, CT; Margery Shane, Newbury (VT) Public Library; Judy Shield, Friends of
Historic Boonville (MO); Melanie Spencer, Boonslick (MO) Regional Library. Special thanks
to Jill Cunninghis, Laura Ettinger, Bob Miller, and Elizabeth MacDonell. The photographic
images shown as Figures 1, 3, 5, 7, and 8 are from the Daniel and Jessie Lie Farber Collection
of Gravestone Photographs, American Antiquarian Society, and are here used with their
kind permission.

1. PERLEY BETSEY

HARRIET ELISABETH RUGGLES.

WIFE OF

REV. C. L. LOOMIS. M.D.

PRES. MISSION-CORISCO-W.A.

N. LAT. 55'. E. LONG. 9 17' 30".

BORN AT NEWBURY, VT.

DEC. 29, 1824.

DIED AT CORISCO

AUG. 20, 1861.

AN HELPMEET FOR

A MISSIONARY.

SHE HATH DONE

WHAT SHE COULD.

I NEVER REGRETTED COMING TO AFRICA;

TEN YEARS I PRAYED FOR THIS PRIVELEGE.

THE BITTERNESS OF DEATH IS NOT BITTER.

DON'T GRIEVE FOR ME: IT IS ALL RIGHT

THERE THE WEARY ARE AT REST:

Laurel K. Gabel 165

HENRY LEISTER
1861 JULY 17
EMIGRAVIT

Ebe bobe ome. Ebe njuke nangebe.
O yenek o buhwa. O ka bange vake

J. Craig
Middletown Ct

2. African fever may describe any number of climatic fevers epidemic in Equatorial West
Africa in the nineteenth century. Between 1804 and 1825, for example, more than sixty
per cent of the men sent out (from England) by the Church Missionary Society suc-
cumbed to some form of African fever. Among the crews of the Royal Navy, to patrol
the Guinea Coast was to be on the "coffin squadron." Described as 'bilious remittent
fever,' 'malignant fever,' or 'African fever,' most of the fever deaths appear to have been
caused by what we now know as malaria. Yellow fever was also a frequent cause of
death. See Oliver Ransford, "A Victory for Empiricism," in Bid the Sickness Cease: Disease
in the History of Black Africa (London, 1983), 54-69.

3. Letter of August 20, 1861: Rev. Chauncey Loomis at Corisco, West Africa, to Rev. Dr.
Lowrie, Mission House, 23 Center Street, New York City. "Africa Letters, Corisco
Mission, 1858-1864." Vol. I (reels 67-68); #90. Department of History and Records
Management Services, Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

4. Ibid.

5. Adapted from the Christian hymn, "Rest for the Weary" (Revival Music Book No. 2) by
Rev. S. Y Harmer and Rev. William McDonald (no date):

In the Christian's Home in Glory

There remains a land of rest.

There my Savior's gone before me

To fulfil my soul's request.
There is rest for the weary, There is rest for the weary
There is rest for the weary, There is rest for you.

He is fitting up my mansion

Which eternally shall stand.

For my stay shall not be transient

In that Holy, happy land.
On the other side of Jordan, In the sweet fields of Eden,
Where the tree of life is blooming, There is rest for you.

6. Letter of August 20, 1861 (See note 3).

166 Harriet Ruggles Loomis' Gravestone

7. I am very grateful to Dorothy Fay and to Marion Gibson of Newbury, Vermont, for their
help with Newbury contacts and resources. See Frederic P. Wells, History of Newbury,
Vermont, from the Discovery of the Coos country to Present Time (St. Johnsbury, VT. 1902),
685. Although this account lists Perley's place of death as Millen Falls, there is no record
of a Millen Falls in Massachusetts in the nineteenth century. There is, however, a
Miller's Falls in Franklin County, Massachusetts, a place where several smaller tribu-
taries flow into the Connecticut River. The following account of Perley's death appears
in the June 15, 1824, issue of the Franklin Herald and Public Advertiser.

"Drowned. At Turner's Falls in Montague, last week [June 7, 1824],
(occasioned by the filling of a canoe) Mr. Pearly Ruggles, of Newbury,
Vt aged about 31 years. [He was actually 28 years old.] Several others
were in the canoe at the time, one of whom, (being grasped by the
deceased, who was unable to swim,) narrowly escaped a similar fate."

8. Perley Ruggles was born 27 March 1796, probably at Walpole, New Hampshire. He was
the eldest son of Ebenezer and Persis (Goodall) Ruggles. Betsey (Burroughs) Ruggles
was born 1 April 1800, the daughter of Deacon William and Elizabeth (Peach)
Burroughs. Betsey died in 1868. (International Genealogical Index records show the
marriage of an Elizabeth Ruggles and Thomas Richeson on January 6, 1848, at St. Louis,
Missouri. Could this be a second marriage for Betsey Burroughs Ruggles, whose chil-
dren, Henry and Harriet, both came to the St. Louis area in the same year? Or, perhaps
more likely, is it simply one of the intriguing coincidences so often found in genealog-
ical research?), cf. Wells, Ibid.

9. Henry Edward Ruggles (1822-1856) graduated (in 1845) from Dartmouth College before
going on to Union Theological Seminary in New York City (class of 1848), where he also
worked as a missionary among the poor. Until his health began to fail, Henry served as
pastor, first of a church in St. Louis, Missouri, and then at Eaton, New York, a small vil-
lage thirty miles south-west of Utica. Rev. Henry Ruggles died in 1856 at the age of thir-
ty four, leaving a wife, Julia Pierce Ruggles, and two young children, cf. Wells, Ibid.

10. Wells, Ibid. Newbury Seminary, which operated in Newbury, Vermont between the
years 1834 and 1868, was the first Methodist theological school in the country (The
Smithsonian Guide to Historic America. New York, 1989, 68-69). The corner stone of Ball
Seminary (Hoosick Falls, New York) was laid on the 4th of July, 1842, along with a time
capsule containing "the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United
States, the American flag, coins of the U.S. mint, a copy of the census of 1840, a relic
from the Bennington Battlefield, newspapers of the day, and a paper containing statis-
tics of the village." The school had an "able corp of teachers, the course of instruction
was of a high order and the institution ranked among the first in the state." Henry E.
Ruggles, Harriet's brother, served as principal of Ball Seminary in 1847, and both
Henry and Harriet are listed as instructors for the 1847-48 academic year. (Information
obtained from a report by Franklin B. Hough entitled, "Historical and Statistical Report
of the University of the State of New York during the century 1784-1884." Contributed
by Edith Beaumont, Director of the Louis Miller Museum, Hoosick Township Historical
Society, Hoosick Falls, NY), cf. Catalogue of the Officers and Students of Ball Seminary for
the Academic Year 1847-48, (Troy, NY, 1848), 1.

Laurel K. Gabel 167

11. Drawing included in the "Fifteenth Annual Catalogue of the Officers and Students in
the Adelphai College (Late Female Collegiate Institute), for the term ending June 21,
1855." The artist's rendition of Adelphai College (perhaps somewhat fanciful) is taken
from an early piece of sheet music (1855) entitled "College Waltz" and inscribed to the
students of the school by I. Maurice Hubbard, the composer and arranger.

12. Adelphai is the Greek word for "sister." H. E. Ruggles is listed as one of the nine found-
ing organizers of the Adelphai Society in 1850. The Society, whose stated purpose was
the "improvement of mind, manners and moral sentiment," published a literary mag-
azine called The Iris, and used membership dues to purchase books for the library
(which contained more than 700 volumes in 1854). cf. The Iris: A Literary Periodical
Consisting of Origirial Compositions by Members of the Adelphai in the Female Collegiate
Institute , Boonville, Missouri, Vol.l:4 (May 1855).

13. In the decade following 1846, the National Board of Popular Education alone recruited
some 600 teachers from New England and New York State for teaching positions on the
frontier. The largest number of these recruits came from Vermont. See Polly W.
Kaufman, Women Teachers on the Frontier (New Haven, CT, 1984), 226.

14. In 1850 there were more than 200 young women enrolled at Adelphai, some from as far
away as Kentucky, Wisconsin, California and Alabama. See Lyn McDaniel, "Private
Schools Flourish Before the Civil War," Bicentennial Boonslick History (1976): 82; Robert
L. Dyer, Boonville: An Illustrated History (Walsworth, 1987), 68: 74-76.

15. Charles Van Ravenswaay "Arrow Rock, Missouri," Missouri Historical Review (1959),
215. See also Wells, History of Newbury, Vermont, 685.

16. Seventh Federal Census (1850), Boonville City, Cooper County, Missouri. Microcopy
#432; roll 397; entry (household) 275.

17. Wells, History of Newbury, Vermont, 685.

18. Elias Loomis, LL.D., The Descendants of Joseph Loomis, Who Came from Braintree, England,
in the year 1638, and Settled in Windsor, Connecticut in 1639 (New Haven, CT, 1875), 288-
289. Western Reserve College, Hudson, Ohio, became (1882) Adelbert College of
Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio. Western Reserve University and Case
Institute of Technology merged in 1967 to become Case/ Western Reserve University.

19. In 1850 there were over 200 students enrolled at Adelphai College. A prospectus for the
school from the Missouri Register issue of March 11, 1841, announces that Joshua Tracy
"proposes to establish in this city, a school for the instruction of young Ladies, in all the
solid and ornamental branches of a finished education." The course of study included
"mathematics, astronomy, the natural sciences, geography, mental and moral philoso-
phy, French, the Greek and Latin classics ('if desired'), and weekly exercises in compo-
sition and criticism." The tuition was $75 per session, with an extra $20 for those who
had music and piano lessons. See Dyer, Boonville: An Illustrated History, 74.

168 Harriet Ruggles Loomis' Gravestone

20. Seventh Federal Census (1850), Boonville City, Cooper County, Missouri. Microcopy
#432; roll 397; entry (household) 22.

21. Cited in McDaniel, "Private Schools Flourish Before the Civil War," 82.

22. Ruth Ferris, "Betty Ragland at Adelphai College, Boonville, Missouri, 1854-1855."
Collection #995, folder #573, typed manuscript in the Western Historical Manuscript
Collection, State Historical Society of Missouri, University of Missouri-Columbia.

23. Alumni Catalogue of the Union Theological Seminary, 1836-1926, (New York, NY, 1926), 92.
Chauncey Loomis is listed with the Union Theological Seminary class of 1857. Later
there was some debate as to whether or not Chauncey Loomis was ever actually
ordained. The following correspondence occurred between [Rev] John C. Lowrie,
Presbyterian Mission Board, Mr. C. R. Gillett, Librarian of Union Theological Seminary,
and [Rev] A. W. Hazen of Middletown, Connecticut. From A. W. Hazen, July [1895]: "I
send you to-day a list of the graduates of the N.Y Medical College in 1858. You will see
that the name of Chauncey L. Loomis is one of them. After his graduation, Dr. Loomis
spent a year and a half in Bellevue Hospital, in medical and surgical practice, before
going as a medical missionary to the Coriscoes. Since he went to Africa as a physician,
I presume he was not ordained. He was for a time a member of the Hartford
(Connecticut) South Assoc, of Congregational ministers, but as he did not give evi-
dence of ordination, when he was asked for it, later, his name was removed from our
roll. Very truly Yours, A. W. Hazen, Middletown, Conn." [In January, 1894, Rev. A. W.
Hazen, D.D. officiated at the funeral of Rev. Chauncey L. Loomis, Middletown.] From
John C. Lowrie to C. R. Gillett, July 11, 1895: "After too long delay - as to Mr. C. L.
Loomis - He is reported in our publications as a Licentiate of the Presbytery of
Missouri, but his name does not appear in its statistical report to the General Assembly.
It is doubtful whether he was a Licentiate, and certain, I think, that he was not
ordained, but he was M. A. He was in city missionary work in this city - New York. He
was an earnest and good Missionary on Corisco, Western Africa, where his wife died.
No information as to the date or the place of his birth, but it was in Connecticut, I think;
and it was there he died, as there is reason to think, but when I cannot ascertain."
Chauncey L. Loomis is listed among the thirty-three graduates of New York Medical
College class of 1858.

24. Elias Loomis, The Descendants of Joseph Loomis, 288-289.

25. Although casual scrutiny may not reveal the badly worn initials, the letters "O. E."
appear on the mast flag of the ship depicted in the carved scene on Harriet's grave-
stone. The letters "O. E." stand for Ocean Eagle, the ship that brought the Loomises to
Corisco. cf. New York Marine NY, Register: A Standard of Classifications of American Vessels
(New York, NY, 1857), 165; American Lloyds' Registry of American and Foreign Shipping
(New York, NY, 1862), 323. Both of these ship's registers describe the Ocean Eagle as
being a two hundred thirty-three ton brigantine or hermaphrodite brig (square-rigged
foremast of a brig and mainmast of a schooner), built in Guilford, Connecticut in 1856.
The Ocean Eagle was constructed of oak and cedar with copper and iron fastenings and
was designed with a large cargo capacity, a poop cabin in the stern, and an overall size

Laurel K. Gabel 169

listed as 90.6 X 25.3 with a twelve foot draft. The owners were Yates, Porterfield and
Company of New York. Capt. Joseph Yates captained the brig on two early voyages:
Capt. Henry Fossett was the captain on several other crossings. The Boston Shipping List
confirms that Ocean Eagle made several voyages between New York and western
Africa. (See also note 30).

26. Corisco Island is slightly less than sixty miles north of the Equator. It has had a stormy
political history being claimed at various times by Portugal, Spain, Great Britain, and
France. It is currently part of the independent Equatorial Guinea. Shortly after the
Presbyterian mission station was established on Corisco in the early 1850s, a Spanish
war ship arrived there bearing a manifesto from the Spanish government ordering the
Presbyterians to abandon their mission. Functionaries of the Roman Catholic Church
then issued a second proclamation forbidding all public worship on the island except
that of the Roman Catholic Church. The protestant mission settlements, alarmed at the
implications of a Spanish claim and the establishment of Catholicism as Corisco's offi-
cial religion, wrote to the New York Mission Board and to United States officials for
help. The order was subsequently challenged, and a few newly imported priests and
nuns quickly left the island. The Protestant presence remained, and it was many years
before Catholicism finally dominated in the region. Today the island is predominately
Catholic. (See undated [1860] Board Committee letter #43 in "African Letters, Corisco
Mission, 1858-1864." Vol. 1 (reels 67-68). Department of History and Records
Management Services, Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.)

27. Rev. Robert Hamill Nassau, A History of West Africa Mission (Newark, NJ, 1919).
Manuscript on microfilm MS47; 8, 30-33.

28. The mangi tree was known locally as the "lightning rod tree" because it was badly
scarred by repeated lightning strikes, and yet survived, towering over all the other
trees in the area. It is clearly visible in the carved scene on Harriet's gravestone. See Rev.
Robert H. Nassau, A History of the Presbytery of Corisco (Trenton, NJ, 1888).

29. Ibid.

30. The Ocean Eagle, with Henry Fosset as master, left the port of New York on September
26, 1859, bound for "Monrovia and a market." Calling at several ports along the way,
she arrived at Evangasimba on January 21, 1860. (See note 25).

31. Letter of February 6, 1860: James L. Mackey, Corisco, to Rev. J. Leighton Wilson, D.D.,
Presbyterian Mission Board, New York City. "Africa Letters, Corisco Mission, 1858-
1864." Vol. 1 (reels 67-68); #10. Department of History and Records Management
Services, Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

32. Letter of April, 1860: Rev. Chauncey Loomis at Corisco, West Africa, to Rev. James
Leighton Wilson, D.D., Mission House, New York City. "Africa Letters, Corisco
Mission, 1858-1864." Vol. 1 (reels 67-68); #14. Department of History and Records
Management Services, Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

170 Harriet Ruggles Loomis' Gravestone

33. Ibid.

34. Letter of April 16, 1860: Rev. Chauncey Loomis at Corisco, West Africa, to Rev. James
Leighton Wilson, D.D., Mission House, New York City. "Africa Letters, Corisco
Mission, 1858-1864." Vol. 1 (reels 67-68); #16. Department of History and Records
Management Services, Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

35. The Alongo station was on the northern end of the island, three miles north of
Evangasimba. Rev. William Clemens established the station. Rev. Clemens made
numerous long boat journeys to the mainland and along the coast to recruit scholars
and to preach to the native tribes. He also helped to explore and chart future mission
sites.

36. Letter of July 23, 1860: C. L. Loomis to Rev. James Leighton Wilson, D.D. "Africa
Letters, Corisco Mission, 1858-1864." Vol. 1 (reels 67-68); #88. Department of History
and Records Management Services, Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

37. In Greek mythology, Argus was a giant with 100 eyes, a guardian. Thus, Argus-eyed
describes an alert and extremely observant person, a vigilant guardian. Tribal families
entrusted their daughters to the Mission School for both education and protection.

38. Recovering from yet another of the periodic fevers that both he and Harriet suffered
from, Chauncey, perhaps not in a state of mind to appreciate humor, reported the fol-
lowing anecdote as testimony of the missionary's lack of emotional support and callous
disregard for their suffering: "When lying veiy low, disease apparently baffling all
treatment, I informed my visitor that I had already lost thirty-one pounds in six
months. [The missionary] remarked, "Well, you can readily calculate how long it will
take for the remainder." Letter of October, 1861: C. L. Loomis, Corisco, West Africa, to
Rev. John C. Lowrie, Mission House, No. 23 Center Street, New York, U.S.A. "Africa
Letters, Corisco Mission, 1868-1864." Vol. 1 (reels 67-68); #89. Department of History
and Records Management Services, Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

39. Palaver: A parley between European explorers and representatives of local popula-
tions, especially in Africa; idle chatter; profuse talk intended to charm or beguile; insin-
cere. (The American Heritage Dictionary, 3rd edition, 1992.)

40. Reference to the Corisco mission council, the "Brethren": James Mackey, W. Clemens,
Cornelius DeHeer.

41. Ilobi was a neighboring island inhabited by "about three hundred people [branch of the
Corisco tribes] anxious to receive a Missionary. It is a place of growing importance,
being an anchorage of most of the ships which trade in Corisco Bay." (Letter of July 23,
1860).

42. A missionary husband who allowed his wife to "become a Mother" in Africa, with the
almost certain consequence of death to mother and child, was perceived as a killer.
["... and I would indeed be committing murder if I made myself party to that fatality":
Rev. Robert H. Nassau, A History of the Presbytery of Corisco, 127].

Laurel K. Gabel 171

43. Letter of August 19, 1861: Miss Mary C. Latta, Maluku, Corisco, West Africa, to Rev. J.
C. Lowrie, D.D., New York City. "Africa Letters, Corisco Mission, 1858-1864." Vol. 1
(reels 67-68); #77. Department of History and Records Management Services,
Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Mary Cloyd Latta (1837-1870) was
twenty-four years old when she arrived at Evangasimba. She later became the wife of
Robert Hamill Nassau, M.D. (1835-1921), a missionary at Corisco. Mary Latta Nassau
died by drowning in September, 1870.

44. Ibid.

45. Ibid.

46. Letter of August 20, 1861 (See note 3).

47. The child, "taken away by instruments," describes what would probably be referred to
today as a partial birth abortion. It is clear that Chauncey acting in his capacity as a
physician, took the life of his son in an attempt to save the life of his wife.

48. A broken stemmed bud is symbolic of the life which will never blossom or come into
flower. It is usually associated with the death of a child or of an unmarried young
woman and is a commonly-found motif on nineteenth century gravemarkers.

49. Letter of August 20, 1861 .

50. Ibid.

51. Ibid.

52. Letter of October, 1861 (See note 38).

53. Cupping glasses are small glass cups in which a partial vacuum is produced for a pro-
cedure, once believed to be therapeutic, called cupping. Cupping draws blood to the
surface of the body for producing counter-irritation or for blood letting. This was
thought to be beneficial in the treatment of numerous fevers. Webster's 3rd New
Dictionary (Springfield, Mass., 1966.)

54. Letter of October, 1861 (see Note 38).

55. Ibid.

56. Annual Report of October 1, 1861: C. L. Loomis, Corisco, West Africa, to The
Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions, New York City. "Africa Letters, Corisco
Mission, 1858-1864." Vol. 1 (reels 67-68); #91. Department of History and Records
Management Services, Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

57. Letter of July 29, 1863: Rev. C. L. Loomis to Rev. John C. Lowrie, D.D. "Africa Letters,
Corisco Mission, 1858-1864." Vol. 1 (reels 67-68); #87. Department of History and
Records Management Services, Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

172 Harriet Ruggles Loomis' Gravestone

58. Letter of October 27, 1861: Rev. James L. Mackey, Corisco, West Africa, to Rev. Walter
Lowrie, [New York City]. "Africa Letters, Corisco Mission, 1858-1864." Vol. 1 (reels 67-
68); #86. Department of History and Records Management Services, Presbyterian
Church, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

59. Letter of November 12, 1861: Rev. James L. Mackey, Corisco, West Africa, to John C.
Lowrie, D.D. [New York City]. "Africa Letters, Corisco Mission, 1858-1864." Vol. 1
(reels 67-68); #96. Department of History and Records Management Services,
Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

60. Letter of May 9, 1862: James L. Mackey, Corisco, West Africa, to Rev. J. C. Lowrie, [New
York City]. "Africa Letters, Corisco Mission, 1858-1864." Vol. 1 (reels 67-68); #113.
Department of History and Records Management Services, Presbyterian Church,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

61. Wells, History of Newbury Vermont, 685.

62. The Craig's first home in Middletown was in a Scottish enclave in the vicinity of River
Street and later Broad Street. In the 1860s the family lived at #18 Hubbard Street,
Middletown, and attended the First Congregational Church there. The Craig shop at
the corner of Church and Main Streets is now the site of the Odd Fellows Hall or bank
in Middletown. None of James and Elizabeth (Arbuckle) Craig's six sons followed their
father in the stonecarving trade. Craig family history was obtained through personal
correspondence (29 May, 1997) with Dione Longley Director of The Middlesex County
Historical Society, Middlesex, Connecticut. Ms. Longley supplied the name and
address of a Craig descendant, Jean Craig Brooks of Manchester, New Hampshire, who
provided additional family data and photographs from family papers as well as infor-
mation from her own recollections. I am deeply grateful to both of these women for
their interest and help.

63. There are at least twelve languages extant in the African coastal area now recognized
as Equatorial Guinea. Benga, which is related to the more wide spread Batanga lan-
guage, is thought to be the spoken language of fewer than 400 inhabitants on Corisco
Island. From information available at Ethnologue Websites http:/ / www.sil.org/ethno-
logue and http:/ / linguistlist.org/ask.html.

64. James L. Mackey, A Grammar of the Benga Language (New York, NY, 1855).

65. Chauncey Loomis is listed as the minister of one of the three churches which merged
in 1941 to form the United Church of Durham, Connecticut. The original congregations
were: The First Church of Christ in Durham (South Church), organized in 1708; The
North Church, organized in 1847; and the Methodist Episcopal Church, organized in
1836. Chauncey was minister 1865-1866. Information from Ruth Duncan, as contained
in Contributions to the Ecclesiastical History of Connecticut, Vol. II (Connecticut
Conference of the United Church of Christ, 1967), 230.

Laurel K. Gabel 173

66. Rev. Loomis died at the home of Martha Hubbard (perhaps a caretaker?) at West Long
Hill, an area of Middletown two miles south-west of the center. Information from the
obituary of Rev. Chauncey L. Loomis, M.D. printed in the Penny Press (Newspaper),
Middletown, Connecticut, January 15, 1894.

67. Chauncey had two sisters, Emily Cornelia (1827-1850) and Huldah Lucretia (1829- ),
both of whom were, at different times, married to George Nelson Ward. Chauncey's
funeral was from the home of George and Huldah Loomis Ward, 432 Main Street,
Middletown, Connecticut.

68. I would like to thank Ruth C. Duncan and Judith Johnson of the Connecticut Historical
Society for their help in establishing Middletown connections for Chauncey Loomis.
Duncan /Johnson /Gabel correspondence, July, 1987.

174

Gravestones of John Wight

Fig. 1. Milestone, ca. 1790, Chester, New Hampshire.

175

'FENCING YE TABLES': SCOTCH-IRISH ETHNICITY
AND THE GRAVESTONES OF JOHN WIGHT

David H. Watters

Settlements in the Merrimack River valley of New Hampshire sup-
ported a remarkable group of gravestone carvers in colonial times, includ-
ing the Hartshorns, the Mullickens, the Websters, and the Scotch-Irish set-
tler, John Wight. In eighteenth-century Londonderry, New Hampshire,
Wight cut stones in a distinctive ethnic style, for he found his patrons
among the Scotch-Irish who settled there beginning in 1719. In the Scotch-
Irish Presbyterian communities of the Londonderry area, which came to
include the towns of Derry, Chester, Londonderry, Windham, and
Bedford, religious rituals reinforced social, economic, and political dis-
tinctions between the "Irish" and the "English" from settlements down
the Merrimack River in Massachusetts. "Fencing off," a core concept
among the Scotch-Irish, kept the culture forged in the great Siege of
Londonderry in Ulster alive and those within God's covenant pure. The
evidence from the graveyards, confirmed by early town records, suggests
that gravestone designs, epitaphs, and fencing served to bolster the ethnic
identity of these southern New Hampshire communities at a time of pro-
found economic, religious, and political change from 1719 to 1775. The
distinctive rituals of the Scotch-Irish "holy fair," or revivalistic commu-
nions, including the "fencing" of the communion table, funerary prac-
tices, sermons, and even the core economic activity of linen manufacture
all provide a rich ethnic context for an analysis of John Wight's work.

Settlement in Londonderry began in 1719 under the Reverend James
MacGregor and in the part of Londonderry which became Chester in
1727-28. Chester was a mixed community of Scotch-Irish and English set-
tlers moving up from Massachusetts, and such mixing foregrounded dif-
ferences in daily life and world view. Benjamin Chase, the nineteenth-cen-
tury historian of Chester, notes, "The Irish ate potatoes and the English
did not; the Irish put barley into their pot-liquor and made barley broth,
the English put in beans and had porridge." Ralph Stuart Wallace's mod-
ern history provides a thorough analysis of these ethnic distinctions:
"They did not always get along; differences in dialect, religion, social cus-
toms, and diet forced the English and Scotch-Irish to eye one another sus-
piciously. [Scotch-Irish] . . . weddings and funerals were often drunken,

176 Gravestones of John Wight

boisterous affairs; and some of the possessions, particularly their funny
looking spinning wheels, were like nothing the English had ever seen
before."1

Early disputes between the Scotch-Irish families and residents of
Haverhill, Massachusetts, who coveted the rich lands up the Merrimack
River valley, reveal the willingness of the Scotch-Irish to resist intrusion.
The Scotch-Irish who settled Londonderry had a history of defending
their culture and faith against the English and the Irish Catholics stretch-
ing back 100 years to the Covenanters of the 1620s and to the settlement
of Antrim and Londonderry in Ulster. The defining moment was the great
Siege of Londonderry, in Ulster, in 1689, which lived in the memories of
many settlers in the wilds of New Hampshire, including that of the
Reverend James MacGregor, who fought heroically and was wounded as
a mere boy in the siege. MacGregor meant to establish pure, primitive
ecclesiology of Scottish Presbyterianism in Londonderry, New
Hampshire, and his flock quickly established the linen industry which
provided economic support for the community. MacGregor preached the
first sermon in town under an oak tree on April 12, 1719, taking his text
from Is. 32:2, "And a man shall be as a hiding-place from the wind, and a
covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place; as the shadow
of a great rock in a weary land." MacGregor protected the covenant com-
munity in the pulpit and in the field. When a party of Haverhill men came
to harvest grass in the great Beaver Meadow, MacGregor met them head
on:

The leader of the party immediately walked up to Mr. MacGregor, and
shaking his fist in his face, in an angry, threatening tone, exclaimed, allud-
ing to his clerical costume, 'Nothing saves you sir, but your black coat.' Mr.
MacGregor instantly replied, 'Well, it shan't save you, sir,' and throwing off
his coat was about to suit the action to the word, when the party, with their
boasting leader, beat a retreat.2

This veteran of the Londonderry siege carried his loaded musket into the
pulpit to be ready for any attack by Native Americans.

MacGregor died in 1729, but the spirit lived on in his son David, who
eventually succeeded him in the ministry. In 1755, David MacGregor
urged the community to remain united: "The Church in the present State
is like a Flock of Sheep among Wolves; she has her Situation among Lions
Dens, and the Mountains of Leopards."3 In the troubled year of 1765, he
preached about reliance on God's strength: "He can make you a fenced

David H. Waiters 177

and brazen Wall, against which, though your enemies should fight, yet
they shall not be able to prevail."4

The concern for fences and walls was not simply a metaphor for spir-
itual survival. Boundary debates over range lines and other surveys with-
in towns, as well as among towns, are notorious in early New Hampshire
history, for economic, political, as well as religious issues were at stake. As
Ralph Stuart Wallace has shown, the Scotch-Irish chose to settle in an area
of conflicting land claims, and after facing battles in Ulster and epidemics
and prejudice in Boston, they were ready to fight for their lands.5 Fencing
is a cultural practice which represents a way of knowing, a folk episte-
mology for setting one's place in nature, the community, the family, and
the spiritual world. Folklorists Henry Glassie and Robert Blair St. George
have establised a methodology for interpreting the use of artifacts to artic-
ulate folk boundary concepts.6 They argue that folkways from various
regions of the British Isles were used to define outsiders and insiders as
regional differences in shop traditions, speech, government, and farming
practices were reestablished in New England. In the case of the Scotch-
Irish, rather peripatetic boundary crossers from Scotland to Ulster to the
colonies, the culture is known as it is distinguished from that of the
English Congregationalists. Thus the outside and the inside define each
other. As Robert Frost wrote in his poem "Mending Wall," when he lived
just down the road from the Derry burying ground, "Good fences make
good neighbors," but a culture fascinated by fences is also acutely aware
of what breaks through or lies in wait outside the fence: "Something there
is that doesn't love a wall."

James MacGregor knew the symbolic, political, and economic effects
of setting a boundary in the Beaver Meadow, and mobs of his parishioners
knew the symbolic status of fences when they tore down wood and stone
fences built by Haverhill men on disputed ground in the 1720s.7
Boundary disputes were so intractable that they frequently became the
subject of debate at town meetings. For example, at the Chester town
meeting on March 6, 1766, the town established a committee: "This day
agreed upon by us the Subscribers, being Chosen by the Town of Chester
and Parrish of Raymond as Committee to settle the Debates about the
Highways and all things that was Debatabell from the Beginning of the
world to this Day."8 Some years later, the road between Chester and
Raymond was marked by a granite milestone, which alerted travelers and
townspeople to the spatial relatinship between the communities. Behind

178

Gravestones of John Wight

Fig. 2. Mrs. Ann Robie, 1755, Chester, New Hampshire.

David H. Waiters 179

the post, the cemetery's massive granite walls similarly bespeak commu-
nity definitions of what it means to be within the bounds and outside the
bounds of the communities (Fig. I).9 The charge to the Chester committee
reminds us to look at those boundaries set by words, artifacts, and cus-
toms. For the Scotch-Irish, speech, fencing, farming, linen manufacture,
food ways, revivalistic communion seasons, and the gravestones of John
Wight all contributed to the setting of ethnic community boundaries.
These boundaries made distinctions between insider and outsider, saint
and sinner, the living and the dead, children and adults, men and women,
speech and silence. Given the emphasis on boundaries, it is not surprising
that the Scotch-Irish community also celebrated transcendence and union
in the revivalistic holy fair and in boisterous wakes and funerals.

The history of the settlement of Londonderry provides clues about the
use of graveyards and gravestones to define community boundaries.
Communities in New Hampshire fenced graveyards from an early date.
In some early New Hampshire towns, custom and law required fences to
keep out roaming livestock; in others, sextons were permitted to graze
animals within the fenced burying ground. However, the elaborate fenc-
ing around burying grounds in this region, and, by the late 1700s the
ornate wrought iron gates, went beyond necessity. Many early New
Hampshire inland communities did not have ready access to carved
gravestones, nor did the cash-poor economy permit much importation
from Massachusetts shops, so settlers commemorated the dead by fencing
off both the town and the family burying grounds of the region with field-
stone or cut granite walls.

Early records show that deeds of gift or sale of lands for burying
grounds for town use were significant moments which established a his-
torical and symbolic center for a parish. For example, in Chester the town
expanded the burying ground and formed a committee in 1751 "to fence
the Burying place with Bords as they shall Judg Suitable and Hansom."10
A large, fenced graveyard near a large meeting house expressed confi-
dence in the growth and permanence of the town. Within the graveyard,
families chose stones to erect symbolic fences which affirmed ethnic and
religious vitality. When purchasing gravestones, Londonderry families in
the mid-eighteenth century could choose among shops down the
Merrimack River into eastern Massachusetts. Families rooted in
Congregationalist, English towns in Massachusetts tended to patronize
the effigy and face carvers in slate, such as the Fosters, the

180

Gravestones of John Wight

.. . ' •:..

.TfFV

C-l ""':•" c:z *:

Fig. 3. Richard Flagg, 1762, Chester, New Hampshire.

David H. Watters 181

Hartshorn /Mullicken shop (Fig.2), the Parks, and Abel and Stephen
Webster (Fig. 3). By the 1770s, the Colburn and Ball effigy and urn and
willow designs from their Hollis, New Hampshire shop were available.11
But the Scotch-Irish preferred to patronize one of their own, John Wight,
whom Peter Benes identified as the "hieroglyph carver of London-
derry."12 According to Benes, Wight immigrated in 1718 at the age of 16,
and he was among the founders of Londonderry in 1719. Benes attributes
to Wight some 250 stones and table slabs dating from 1733 nearly to the
time of his death in 1775, but variations in lettering on stones cut prior to
the 1750s call into question Benes' s claim that stones without Wight's dis-
tinctive symbols were carved by him alone. For example, the stone for
Hannah Barnet and Mrs. Jean Barnet presents lettering cut in 1753 in a
style with several differences, such as the tall "H" in "HERE," from the
lettering style of Wight at the bottom of the stone (Fig. 4). Wight's stone
for his own daughter provides a useful guide to his lettering style (Fig. 5).
It is likely that Wight worked with an older relative for a number of years,
and it is also possible that he developed his style carving wooden mark-
ers which have since been lost. While recognizing Wight's unique body of
symbolism, and his Scotch-Irish heritage, Benes did not explore the spe-
cific connections of the symbols to the community. Benes reads Wight's
imagery as part of the Anglo-American Puritan tradition at the time of the
Great Awakening, but he does not explore the Scotch-Irish contribution to
revivalism, the "holy fair," which provided a model for the Great
Awakening of the 1740s. John Wight's designs come alive in the context of
Scotch-Irish ethnicity. His designs are tokens of inclusion within the fence
of the community for whom communion fellowship transcended death.

Most of the early stones and table slabs, dated in the 1740s and 1750s,
which Wight might have carved, eschew imagery, or they place rosettes in
the capitals and leave the tympanum empty. In the East Derry burying
ground he saw, and perhaps assisted in carving, skulls and morturary
images on Derry table slabs for John Reid (Fig. 6), 1738, and Mary Barr,
1750, and stones, such as the one for Mrs. Sarah Barnet (Fig. 7), 1760, in
the deep relief carving of mortuary symbols of that era in Scotland. The
Scotch-Irish carvers even attempted portraiture on the marker for Mrs.
Elisabeth Willson (Fig. 8). By the mid-1750s, Wight and his patrons pre-
ferred a set of low-relief Scotch-Irish images, including coffins, rosettes,
spoked wheels, Scottish crosses, hearts, and a tripartite lobed image
which may be a fleur-de-lis. Some of these images are common to

182

Gravestones of John Wight

European and American decorative traditions, but Wight presented a per-
sonal repertoire of images which combined ethnic, regional, and religious
preferences. The compass-drawn rosettes, for example, are common dec-
orative devices on furniture and other household items, as well as on
gravestones. Like other early New England craftsmen, he responded to

Fig. 4. Hannah Barnet, 1753, and Mrs. Jean Barnet, 1773,
East Derry, New Hampshire.

David H. Watters

183

Fig. 5. Isobel Wight, 1768, East Derry, New Hampshire.

184

Gravestones of John Wight

W ¥h

■•'■

Fig. 6. John Reid, 1738, East Deny, New Hampshire.

David H. Waiters

185

the designs of other carvers, and to the wishes of patrons. He could and
did carve, after a fashion, winged soul effigies and skulls for some Scotch-
Irish clients, and some Scotch-Irish families patronized carvers from

Fig. 7. Mrs. Sarah Barnet, 1760, East Deny, New Hampshire.

186

Gravestones of John Wight

Fig. 8. Mrs. Elisabeth Willson, 1756, East Deny, New Hampshire.

David H. Watters

187

Massachusetts schooled in effigy- and face-carving styles. On the other
hand, families of English stock patronized Wight, especially in the early
years of settlement when it was difficult to obtain stones from
Massachusetts. Thus we find clusters of Wight stones for English families
in Concord and New Boston (e.g., Fig. 9).

The commission to carve a large and elaborate table slab for Mrs. Jean
Wilson, the wife of the minister of the Presbyterian parish of Chester, gave
John Wight the opportunity to display a full range of motifs. Though
badly eroded now, the stone must once have represented in robust sym-
bolic terms the values of the Scotch-Irish community. Wight richly deco-
rated it with rosettes, mortuary symbols, hearts, coffins, and an open book.
There is even a crudely cut winged effigy, but it is on the edge of the stone,

Fig. 9. Ezra Carter, 1767, Concord, New Hampshire.

188

Gravestones of John Wight

rather than centrally located and enlarged as in the Massachusetts tradi-
tion (Fig. 10). In the graveyard, Wight's motifs usually assert a dramatic
contrast to Congregationalist carvers' portraiture, angels, and soul effi-
gies. The Scotch-Irish took the Second Commandment injunction against
graven images seriously, and seem to have applied it to decorative arts
more consistently than did their neighbors to the south, as indicated in the
manuscripts of the Reverend John Wilson of Chester. At each communion
service Wilson debarred any who "are making false representations of
God in their minds," and any who worship "St or Angel."13 Such lan-
guage could serve to fence out Massachusetts effigy carvings, for their
images of departed souls could be considered to be "false representa-
tions." Wight's emblems - hearts, coffins, wheels, rosettes, and crosses -
presumably would not violate the commandment.14 Wight's core images
may illustrate the themes of the holy fair, a revivalistic, communal event
of celebration of the Lord's Supper, in which images of love, life, and
death were expressly presented as a preparation for death. Indeed, the
defining ritual of Presbyterianism of the Scottish rite was the mass com-
munion, or "holy fair," the biannual celebrations of the Lord's Supper at

Fig. 10. Mrs. Jean Wilson, 1762, Chester, New Hampshire (detail).

David H. Watters

189

which several churches would join together. It culminated in the so-called
"fencing of the tables," whereby the holy communicants were fenced in
and the non-communicants and sinners fenced out. When these cele-
brants gathered in a church, or, when crowds grew to the thousands, on
common lands adjoining the church, or in the graveyard itself, religious,
verbal, and artistic forms of fencing both symbolized and created unity.
Thus the rituals of these communion seasons had an eschatological force
by making visible those people who were within the covenant of eternal
life.

Leigh Eric Schmidt's Holy Fairs: Scottish Communion and American
Revivals in The Early Modern Period chronicles the development of the com-
munion seasons in Scotland and in America.15 Unlike the Congregation-
alists who observed the Lord's Supper monthly, or the Anglicans who
observed it weekly, the Scotch-Irish church held communion two or four
times a year. Schmidt's account of the intense preparations, both spiritual
and social, for the fairs is confirmed by the early historians of London-
derry and Chester, as well as by the manuscripts of the Reverend John

Fig. 11. Communion Token, 18th century.

Gift of First Parish Church, East Derry, New Hampshire.

Collection of the New Hampshire Historical Society. 1997.8.

190

Gravestones of John Wight

Wilson, the minister of the Presbyterian parish of Chester, New
Hampshire, who negotiated with neighboring clergy the setting of the
annual dates for the services.16 A week of meditation and prayer, a Friday
fast, and Saturday sermons culminated in the distribution of small leaden
communion tokens, stamped with the initials of the minister, church, or
with a biblical text. A token recently donated to the New Hampshire
Historical Society by the First Parish Church of East Derry is stamped
"LD" for Londonderry, and its style is that of the mid to late 1700s (Fig.
11). This uniquely Scotch-Irish artifact was employed to ensure that indi-
viduals in the crowds gathered from several area churches were indeed
qualified to come to the table the next day. The Sunday service was a feast

Fig. 12. Mr. Samuel Bartlet, 1762, Chester, New Hampshire.

David H. Waiters

191

for the senses as well as the spirit. Long tables covered with snowy linens
filled the wide aisles of the church, or were set in adjoining commons or
even in the adjoining burying ground if the crowds overflowed the
church. An elaborate ritual of fencing of the table sets the stage for cele-
brants to deliver their tokens, sit down, and partake of the bread and
wine, during which the minister exhorted the saints in joyful seriousness
about Christ's love and the oneness of the members of his body, while the
congregation sang psalms. Through repeated sittings, hundreds or thou-
sands were served. Monday's thanksgiving sermons closed the fair. As
Schmidt notes, "In the far-flung Presbyterian communities along the
edges of Congregational New England these evangelicals cultivated their
own traditions and often held aloof from the dominant religious culture."
Indeed, Schmidt cites Ned Landsman's observation that "the consolida-
tion of Scottish Presbyterian identity in the New World was often forged
out of confrontation with ethnic and religious diversity."17

John Wilson's manuscript book preserves the ritual "Concerning fenc-
ing ye Tables," to debar those unfit to "receive Cht himself" in the sacra-
ment, "an Exceeding great pledge & token of his Inestimable Love; name-
ly This Sacrament of his Supper." Wilson intones, "this is ye Childrens

■pf
\

Fig. 13. Mrs. Jean Rogers, 1755, East Deny, New Hampshire.

192

Gravestones of John Wight

bread; & must not be cast unto dogs; all ar not to partake of it; all those
who are openly scandalous and prophane, who live in ye practise of any
known Sin," which are then listed in his gloss on the Decalogue.18 If
parishioners affirmed their spiritual state and their Scotch-Irish ethnicity
through this ritual fencing, so too did they receive a seal of approval with-
in the fence of the burying ground when families placed John Wight
stones over their bodies. Each image on Wight's stones affirms Scotch-
Irish identity. The central design on many of his stones resembles the
Scotch cross and the crown of thorns design of Scottish tradition (Figs. 12,
13). The merging of semicircles into a unified design may symbolize the
oneness resulting from the fencing in of the community at the communion
table. It is useful to consider what might have been the similar effect of the
imagery on the stones and the imagery of the holy fair on the congrega-
tion, for both are, "'a visible Gospel'" and "'a Sacramental Dialect' . . ,"19
Scotch-Irish eyes might not have seen the images nor heard the epitaphs
in the same way that someone outside the fence might have experienced
them.

Fig. 14. Mr. John Moor, 1774, and Mrs. Jenit Moor, 1776,
East Derry, New Hampshire.

David H. Watters

193

For example, the heart, a relatively common image on stones in the
Anglo-American tradition of New England, evoked thoughts of Christ's
love, as well as the purity of heart of the saints. For Wight's neighbors, it
seems to have held special meaning as a symbol of the loving union in the
covenant manifested at the holy fair. David MacGregor preached that the
community fenced in is made one in love: "That love which unites true
believers to the head, cements them in the closest, and most cordial bonds
to each other. They regard one another, as the children of one common
father, who have one Lord, one faith, one baptism; who are one bread and
one body . . ."20 Indeed, there are surviving tokens from Scotland and
Pennsylvania in the shape of a heart and inscribed with the initials of the
minister. On the double stone for John and Jenit Moor (Fig. 14), Wight
places John Moor's initials within the heart, providing a visual analogy to
such tokens, tokens which Moor, a founder of the community, may have
distributed or collected as a deacon in the church. On the Moor stone, the

Fig. 15. Mr. William Chambers, 1757, Robert, Samuel, Samuel, and
James, East Deny, New Hampshire.

194 Gravestones of John Wight

heart evokes their earthly marriage and their heavenly marriage to Christ.
Possession of the token was a personal sign of inclusion in the covenant,
for "These leaden tokens were forceful symbols both of evangelical com-
munity and the boundaries that were drawn around it."21 Inscribed with
the initials of the minister or the parish, or with scriptural text, "The heart
was indeed a rich symbol: it evoked Christ's suffering, sacrifice, and love;
it suggested the loving relationship between the Bridegroom and his fair
one; it was an emblem of repentance and regeneration and a call for puri-
ty of heart; and it marked the sacrament as a love feast among the
saints."22 The heart image on the gravestone similarly marks inclusion in
the covenant, seemingly without exception appearing on those stones for
people admitted to the holy fair. An accompanying Scotch cross and cof-
fin may have linked Christ's death with the struggles of the Scotch-Irish
church and with the death of its members in the faith.

Wight's coffin image often stands in juxtaposition to the heart, and
multiple coffin images appear on stones which commemorate multiple
deaths in a family, such as that for Mr. William Chambers and four sons
(Fig. 15). Wight places diamonds in the image of coffins for adults and for
children old enough to have been brought into communion, a ritual
which occurred at a relatively early age in Scotch-Irish communities. The
diamond may represent the soul, that jewel or treasure once in the body
but now, by virtue of entrance into the communion of saints, in heaven.
The epitaph for Sarah Christy, buried with daughters An and Rebekah,
emphasizes the paradox between the mortality of the body and the
immortal qualities of the deceased, symbolized by the diamond: "A
BODYs HERE DEPRIVD OF LIFE / A lOVING CHASTE AND VIRTOUS
WIFE" (Fig. 16). The coffin contains the body, but the rhyme of "life" and
"wife" suggests the qualities which transcend death. The Rev. David
MacGregor of Derry, in a sermon preached in 1765, reminded a fellow
minister, "when the chief Shepherd shall appear, and you shall appear
with him in Glory; when you shall have a number of saved, glorified
Souls, all shining in the Beauties of Holiness, like so many radiant Gems
to adorn your Crown of Glory." The jeweled effect of these poignant
stones for the Chambers and Christy families might have visually
affirmed the inclusion of the deceased in the heavenly flock of their min-
ister.

The holy fair sacrament was a ritual reminder of death as well as life.
The great communion in Londonderry (now East Derry) of 1734, with

David H. Waiters

195

{ v> {

Fig. 16. Mrs. Sarah Christy, 1763, An, and Rebekah,
East Derry, New Hampshire.

196

Gravestones of John Wight

more than 700 participants, may have been held outside, possibly in or
adjacent to the burying ground.23 The coffins on Wight's tombstones seem
common enough memento mori motifs in the larger New England tradi-
tion, but their presence along with communion symbols points to the
Presbyterian emphasis on what Schmidt calls the re-presentation of
Christ's death in a communion ritual of mourning. "In reliving Christ's
crucifixion through ritual," he notes, "the saints were confronted as well
with their own death and the question of their salvific standing as they
faced eternity. This contemplation of death was enhanced at those com-
munions held outdoors in the churchyard where the saints worshipped
near or even upon the graves of their forebears."24 The fencing ceremony
itself invoked thoughts of an individual's judgment at the moment of
death as well as the general separation of sheep from goats at the Last
Judgement. A popular devotional work by John Willison urged medita-
tion on death at communion seasons: "'Now, if you would take time duly
to prepare for the Lord's Supper, . . . you should not be found unprepared
for death; for the same preparation is needful for both.'"25 In the East
Derry and Chester graveyards, the table tombs for elders and ministers

Fig. 17. Table Slabs, East Derry, New Hampshire.

David H. Watters 197

may have been resonant visual reminders of the tables at which they
served communion in life (Fig. 17).

Wight frequently combined coffin, star (or spoked wheel or cross), and
heart in a visual reminder of the revival message that true union with
Christ's love only came at death (Fig. 13). In a narrative from the great
Scotch-Irish communions in 1734, a woman confessed Christ made "it
known to me, that he has taken me (poor deform' d hell-deserving me) for
his Spouse, that he hath betrothed me to himself: and I now consider
Death as a messenger to come & call me home to my Lord and Husband
to be where he is: And . . . the thoughts of Death are as pleasant & delight-
ful to me, as a mesage would be to a Loving wife to come away home to
her Husband."26 On Wight's stone for Mary Patten of Bedford, the epitaph
reads, "ALL MUST OBEY WHEN DEATH SAYS COME / AND MAKE A
BED OF EARTH YOUR HOME" (1764, Bedford). Mary Patten leaves her
bed and home for the grave, but the placement of the cross and heart next
to the coffin on her stone suggests that from this bed of earth her soul has
arisen to enter the home and bed of Christ.

The juxtaposition of heart and coffin and the joyous tone of the com-
munion narrative recall the celebratory quality of the Scotch-Irish wake
and funeral, practices which seem to have been taken up during the years
in Ulster. The Rev. Mr. Parker recalled, "These night scenes often exhibit-
ed a mixture of seriousness and of humor which appear incompatible.
The Scriptures would be read, prayer offered, and words of counsel and
consolation administered; but ere long, according to established usage,
the glass, with its exhilerating beverage, must circulate freely; so that,
before the dawn, the joke and laugh, if not scenes more boisterous, would
'break in upon the slumbers of the dead.'"27 Drinks preceded prayers, fol-
lowed by drinks. Then there was a lengthy procession to the grave, where
toasts and prayers intermingled.

The carnivalesque features of the wake seem contradictory to the spir-
itual seriousness of the event, but this combination was central to Scotch-
Irish community life. As Schmidt notes, even the holy fair had its carni-
valesque side of worldly activities and drunkenness, as satirized in the
well-known poem, "The Holy Fair," by Robert Burns.28 On John Wight
stones in East Derry for Mrs. Margaret Steel, 1761 and for Matthew Taylor,
1770, the hourglass, a standard New England memento mori emblem, has
been transformed into an abstract image which may also represent the
communion cup. Death, life, and drinking are linked in the rituals of com-

198 Gravestones of John Wight

munion and the wake. The Reverend John Wilson himself blended the
sacred and the secular in his manuscript book by writing a drinking song.
In a parody of the communion celebration, the bartender serves as the
minister:

Wine will make us read as roses,

I our sorrows quite forget,

Come Let's fuddle all our noses,

drink our selves quite out of debt.

fa la ra, &c

When grim Death comes Looking for us,

We are looking at our bowls,

Ba[rky?] joyning in ye Charg;

Death, begone, here's none but Souls.

fa la ra

Godlike Ba[rky?] by thy Commanding,

trembling death away shall fly,

Ever after understanding

drinking Souls can never dye.

fa la ra &c.29

The members of a funeral procession in the cemetery had drunk away
death at the holy fair; the joyous communal celebration of the wake and
interment affirmed the oneness of the communities of the living and the
dead. This feature of Scotch-Irish spirituality climaxed in the forging of
Presbyterian holy fairs and camp meetings in the great Kentucky revivals
of 1801-1806. James McGready preached:

And when our Lord's table is spread in the wilderness, and he holds com-
munion with his saints, I think it is rational and scriptural to suppose that
the angels are hovering over the table and the assembly, rejoicing with
Christ over the dear bought purchase of his blood, and waiting to bear joy-
ful tidings to the heavenly mansions. And while they are sitting at this
table, and communing with their Lord, it is more than probable, that some
of their christian friends and brethren, who once sat with them at the same
table, and under the same sermons - with who they spent many happy
days and nights before, but now have left the world and gone home to the
church triumphant above; - I say it is more than probable, that some of
these will be mingling with the angelic band around the 'heirs of salvation.'30

If holy fair and wake fenced in the religious community, linen pro-
duction was a defining economic activity. Snowy linen was displayed on
the holy fair table, for linens were a tremendous source of pride and
wealth. The Scotch-Irish of Londonderry were famous for their linens,
and the community jealously guarded its reputation. Beginning in 1748, a

David H. Watters

199

special seal marked the cloth to ensure "the purchasers of our linens may
not be imposed upon, with foreign and outlandish linens, in the name of
ours . . . ."31 If John Wight's gravestone designs served like communion
tokens to mark inclusion in the community, then it is possible he also
acknowledged linen production in his imagery. Wight's six-pointed star
or rosette, a common design carved on wooden objects and English grave-
stones, is often replaced by variations on the Scottish cross.32 When John
Wight transforms his central rosettes into a spoked wheel within the
Scotch cross design, or when he sets a rosette in the capitals with what
appears to be a twist of thread running down the pilaster, he creates a
design unprecedented in the English gravestone tradition, a design which
recalls the flax wheel at the heart of the community (Figs. 13, 18). The
stone for Mrs. Susanna Eayrs (Fig. 18) is one of three examples in which

Fig. 18. Mrs. Susanna Eayrs, 1758, East Deny, New Hampshire.

200 Gravestones of John Wight

Wight replaces his usual grooves in the pilasters with such twists. These
stones are for young people. Mrs. Eayrs died at age 22; Mally Hills of
Chester at age 7, and Samuel Gilchrist of Chester at age 15. The thread of
life has been cut short, an image which evokes biblical texts and folktales
about spinning. The epitaph for the Eayrs stone reads, "AS QUICK IN
YOUTH I WAS CALD AWAY / WHEN GOD DOTH CALL ALL MUST
OBEY / AS HOLY WRITE IT DOTH RECORD / BLEST ARE THE DEAD
DIE IN THE LORD." On some stones, such as the one for Hugh Rogers,
1763, East Derry, Wight places the wheel at the bottom of the pilaster, so
the threads or grooves visually lead the eye up to the rosette in the capi-
tal, as if to connect the earthly wheel of toil to the rosette, which com-
monly represents the spirit and guardian angels. As Schmidt has shown,
the meticulous attention to the sacramental linens not only celebrated the
economic production of the community but also symbolized the spiritu-
ally clean clothing the spirit must wear to approach the communion table.
The saint must wear the fine "wedding garments" of the spirit, as well as
one's best clothes to the table, to be fit for marriage with Christ either in
the sacrament or at the Resurrection.

These images had a particular resonance for women, whose participa-
tion in the patriarchal rite centered on the provision of linens. As can be
seen in the case of Jane Walker of Bedford, New Hampshire, who traded
her linens as far away as Boston, women of the community were thrifty
and independent.33 In a story from the oral tradition, a Londonderry
woman made a symbolic gesture at the time of her husband's funeral: "It
is related on one of the early settlers of that part of Nutfield called Kilrea,
that she was a very industrious woman and that her natural bent of char-
acter was shown at her husband's funeral. While the corpse was awaiting
the rites of burial, she called out, impatient of delay: 'Hand me the spin-
ning wheel, and I will draw a thread while the crowd are gathering.'"34
John Wight's flax wheel design links spinning with holiness by running a
twist from wheel to wheel on his stones.

Fencing and serving the table, wakes and funeral processions, and
John Wight's gravestones were feasts for the ear as well as the eye. The
verbal features of Wight's epitaphs present a linguistic fence of folk
speech which reaffirms community boundaries. By its very nature, speech
crosses boundaries, and Wight's pithy epitaphs are similar to those of
other Merrimack River valley carvers. But his variants, and their laconic
compression, distinguish them from their English neighbors. If we take a

David H. Watters 201

cue from Richard Bauman's study of Quaker speech, we can read Wight's
gnomic epitaphs as a folk rebuke to the loquacious Congregationalists
and to carnal speech generally.35

The epitaphs of John Wight resemble those in the repertory of John
Hartshorn and his shop tradition in Essex County Massachusetts, but to
a Scotch-Irish ear they only make poetic sense when spoken in brogue.
For example, the rhyme of "Be" and "Die" causes English tongues to
stumble; the version of the traditional stabat viator epitaph on Massa-
chusetts stones rhymes "eye," "I," and "die," or "see," "be," and "me."
Thus the Wight epitaph is a verbal fence to outsiders:

Remember man as thou
Goes by as nou thou
Art so once was I as
Nou I am so must thou be
Remember man lo
Thou must die

(Samuel Bart, 1762, Chester)

Reader behold as thou goes by
As now thou art so once was I
As now I am so must thou be
Remember man lo thou must die

(Samuel Steel, 1761, East Derry)

One of the most popular Wight epitaphs in the Scotch-Irish dialect
rhymes "Arise" and "Praise," as in "My dust nou dead it shal arise / And
loudly sound Jehovah's praise" (Alexander McMurphy, 1763, East Derry).
The emphasis on singing Jehovah's praise reflects the central role of
psalm-singing in the church, as hymns and psalms were "deaconed" line
by line, to be communally repeated. According to Benjamin Chase, the
Scotch-Irish also used hymns to build a fence between themselves and the
English. They favored a Scotch translation over the standard English
translation by Tate and Brady, and they were slow to adopt the popular
hymns and psalms of Isaac Watts much before 1770. When the Chester
congregation decided to accept Watts, it used a hymn as part of the ritual
of fencing the table to reinforce the congregation's connection of sacra-
ment and community boundaries which separated the spiritually alive
from those spiritually dead. Chase remembered the visits to Chester of
Derry's "'Father Morrison' . . . with his broad Scotch brogue . . ." As com-

202 Gravestones of John Wight

mimicants filled the table, the choir sang Watts' s hymn beginning, "How
sweet and awful is the place, / With Christ within the doors."36 The hymn
continues:

'Why was I made to hear thy voice,

And enter while there's room;
When thousands make a wretched choice,

And rather starve than come?'

We long to see thy churches full,

That all the chosen race
May with one voice, one heart, one soul,

Sing thy redeeming grace.37

This singing in "one voice" in a Scottish brogue during a uniquely
Presbyterian rite points to the significance of the verbal forms of Wight's
epitaphs. In the graveyard, the epitaphs are "deaconed" out by the stone,
as if by the voice of the dead, to be repeated by the living voices of the
community. There is primary evidence in John Wilson's manuscript book
that his community was aware of the kinds and powers of speech. At the
fencing of the table, Wilson reminded his communicants of the many cat-
egories of verbal sin, from "perjury, Swearing rashly, breach of oaths &
vows," to prophane "discourses" on the sabbath, and to "quarrellers,"
and those with "unchast thoughts words or actions . . . obscene speeches
. . . not watching over their Senses heart words," and "those who are
guilty of slandering backbiting reviling, Lying."38 Indeed, silence is gold-
en. John Wight's blank spaces, which other carvers might have filled with
words, and expected families to pay for them, are visual silence. The
laconic speech for which Scotch-Irish yankees are still known is rooted
partly in religious principles. The deceased individual bears allegiance to
the community by subsuming his or her voice in the communal choir of
the epitaphs. In a genre known for its pithy economy, Wight's epitaphs
employ Scotch-Irish dialect to emphasize the conflicts between fate and
human will. For example, John Karr's epitaph puns on the various mean-
ings of "warning": "YOUNG MEN TAKE WARNING / LEARN TO DIE
/ I AM LAID IN GRAVE / SO MUST THOU BE" (1763, East Derry).
Young men "take warning" to avoid a course of action, but they also
receive a warning that all human life ends in the grave. For the aged Hugh
Ranken, death's language in message and call demand silent consent:

David H. Watters

203

"DEATHS MESSAGE ALL / MUST THEN OBEY / WHEN COMES THE
CALL / NO LONGER STAY" (1755, East Derry). The command of death
permits no "stay," in the legal definition of the word, nor can one linger,
or remain, or sojourn in a dwelling place, in another sense of the word. In
each case, death confronts social actions, so the epitaph emphasizes the
contrast between the powers of the body, which death undoes, and the
powers of the soul to move when the body stays.

Like the fencing of the table, the gravestones and the fenced graveyard
symbolize the social and spiritual life or death one experiences by remain-
ing within or leaving the community. The focus of the sacramental sea-
sons for the Scotch-Irish followed the seasons of folklife in rhythms of
deadness followed by renewal. The Scotch-Irish parishes in Londonderry
did part company on the issue of the Great Awakening in the 1740s, fur-
thering an earlier split between ministers David MacGregor of Derry and
James Davidson of Chester.39 David MacGregor opened his pulpit to
George Whitefield and supported the revival in his own preaching. For
him, the awakening must have confirmed the Scotch-Irish cycles of awak-
enings. In Chester, many families continued to turn to patronize Wight,

W*| -'.'.'if*.

W-i'

MW*}

.£)

Fig. 19. John Wight, 1775, East Derry, New Hampshire.

204

Gravestones of John Wight

**■ 1 • " !». „* »

... '£•■•♦.' -^

■fTi, ,.^;„*,.; *"":■«-,, ' "few- .■ ■-"'""■• --„J*C ~"

'-" > ■'■■■ : ■ \ ■ ■' ■"" >--**^X-

•H "• ! »

Fig. 20. John Holms, 1777 , East Deny, New Hampshire.

David H. Watters

205

Fig. 21. The Rev. David MacGregor, 1777, East Deny, New Hampshire.

206 Gravestones of John Wight

but others turned in the 1750s and 1760s to Abel and Stephen Webster,
who cut stones in Chester and Hollis in the Massachusetts style.
Boundaries also came down as the rest of the colonies, and then the states,
adopted the holy fair as the core of Second Great Awakening camp meet-
ings. The decisive role played by the Scotch-Irish revivalist James
McGready in Kentucky broke the fences around the Presbyterian com-
munity.

After the death of John Wight in 1775, John Ball and Paul Colburn of
Hollis blended Wight's motifs with their repertoire of soul effigies and
portraits to serve the Londonderry communities. An apprentice who
must have trained in Wight's shop cut a Wight-style stone for John
Wight's grave (Fig. 19), but he quickly moved away from his master's
work. Wight's rosettes and diamonds are shorn of death imagery on the
stone this apprentice cut for for John Holms in 1777 (Fig. 20); this abstract
design seems to exchange ecclesiastical and ethnic content for a decora-
tive program like that found on the pieced quilts which became popular
after the Revolutionary War.

The end of the Revolutionary War brought new waves of settlers
northward into New Hampshire and Vermont, so the Scotch-Irish popu-
lation was substantially diluted. Thus by the end of the eighteenth centu-
ry, many of the fences had come down, and mobility and modernization
diffused the folkways of the Scotch-Irish. In the words of Ralph Stuart
Wallace, "Over time these differences shrank. By the end of the century, if
not earlier, Ulster and England were at peace on the rocky slopes of New
Hampshire."40 After the death in 1777 of the Reverend David MacGregor,
the son of James MacGregor, the first minister, his family turned to
William Park, a Scottish-born carver based in Massachusetts, for an ele-
gant portrait stone of the kind favored by Massachusetts elites (Fig. 21 ).41
This choice represents the desire of the Scotch-Irish community leaders to
ally themselves during and after the Revolutionary War with the patriot-
ic cause. By choosing a portrait style and a large stone with a Latin
inscription, the MacGregor family symbolically identified with the gen-
teel culture of the new nation. Thus the story of John Wight becomes an
American tale of ethnic boundaries and assimilation.

David H. Waiters 207

NOTES

An earlier version of this article appeared in Historical New Hampshire 52: 1&2, (1997): 2-17.
It is reprinted with permission of the editor, Michael Chaney, to whom I offer thanks. I also
want to thank Donna-Belle Garvin and Hillary Anderson of the New Hampshire Historical
Society for their advice and assistance. Figure 11 is from the collection of The New
Hampshire Historical Society (1977.8) and is here reproduced with the kind permission of
the Society. All other photos are by the author.

1. Benjamin Chase, History of Old Chester, From 1719 To 1869 (Auburn, NH, 1869,), 26;
Ralph Stuart Wallace, The Scotch-Irish of Provincial New Hampshire (Ph.D. Thesis,
University of New Hampshire, 1984), 311-312. See Wallace's Chapter IX, "Potatoes and
Pumpkins: Ethnic Foods in Provincial New Hampshire," 311-326.

2. Edward L. Parker, The History of Londonderry, Comprising the Towns of Derry and
Londonderry, N.H. (1851; rpt. Londonderry, NH: Town of Londonderry, 1974), 137. For
MacGregor's early life and the settling of Londonderry, see Parker, 41-42.

3. David MacGregor, The Christian Soldier. A Sermon Preached at Newbury, At The Ordination
of the Reverend Mr. Alexander Boyd . . . (Boston, MA, 1755), 4.

4. David MacGregor, Christian UNITY and PEACE recommended. A Sermon Preached at
Rowley, May 9th, 1765 (Boston, MA, 1765), 23.

5. Chase, History of Old Chester, and Parker, The History of Londonderry, provide details of
the controversies over boundaries and lot divisions; the best history of the disputes is
in Wallace, The Scotch-Irish of Provincial New Hampshire, Chapter V, "Nutfield and
Londonderry: Boundary Problems in New Hampshire," 176-219, and in his " ' The Irish
Party' and the New Hampshire /Massachusetts Boundary Controversy, 1719-1741,"
Historical New Hampshire 49: 2 (1994): 97-119.

6. Henry Glassie, Folk Housing in Middle Virginia: A Structural Analysis of Historic Artifacts
(Knoxville, TN, 1975); Robert Blair St. George, "'Set Thine House in Order': The
Domestication of the Yeomanry in Seventeenth-Century New England," in New
England Begins, 3 vols., eds. Jonathan L. Fairbanks and Robert F. Trent (Boston, MA,
1982), II: 159-188.

7. See above, note 5.

8. Chase, History of Old Chester, 117.

9. According to Matthew E. Thomas, this marker and many others were placed in Chester
in the early 1790s. See The Old Photograph Series: Rockingham County, compiled by
Matthew E. Thomas (Bath, ME, 1994), 119.

10. Chase, History of Old Chester, 110. The best description I have found of the expression of
community values in setting up a graveyard in the mid-eighteenth century comes from
Hampton Falls, New Hampshire. Deacon Jeremiah Lane, a gravestone carver, offered
after the controversial building of a new meeting house, "Propose to give a deed of half
an acre of land off, across the westerly end of my Lott, by Benjamin Hilliard's for a
burying place for the use of the parish for the consideration of the sum of fifteen dol-

208 Gravestones of John Wight

lars, upon giving the deed, and the parish, or individuals making up the fence in decent
order, suitable with timber on the wall, and a good gate against the road to enter in at,
And likewise a good stone wall to separate it from my lott, after the crop is off, So to be
wholly enclosed, as a burying place ought to be" (Warren Brown, History of the Town of
Hampton Falls Neio Hampshire From the Time of the First Settlement Within Its Borders 1640
until 1900 [Manchester, NH, 1900], 307).

11. For the work of these carvers, see Harriette Merrifield Forbes, Gravestones of Early New
England and the Men who made them 1653-1800 (1927; rpt. New York, NY, 1989); Allan I.
Ludwig, Graven Images: New England Stonecarving and its Symbols, 1650-1815
(Middletown, CT, 1966); Peter Benes, "Abel Webster, Pioneer, Patriot, and Stonecutter,"
Historical New Hampshire 28: 4 (1973): 221-240; James and Donna-Belle Garvin, "Stephen
Webster, Gravestone Maker," Historical New Hampshire 29: 2 (1974): 93-104; Theodore
Chase and Laurel K. Gabel, "The Colburn Connections: Hollis, New Hampshire
Stonecarvers, 1780-1820," in Gravestone Chronicles: Some Eighteenth-Century New
England Carvers and Their Work (Boston, MA, 1990): 211-259.

12. Peter Benes, "John Wight: The Hieroglyph Carver of Londonderry," Old-Time New
England 64:2 (1973): 30-41.

13. John Wilson, "Sermons." 2 vols., New Hampshire Historical Society, ms. #1990-011, p.
C15.

14. The interpretation of the Second Commandment was a thorny issue among early New
Englanders, and scholars argue about the application of doctrinal debates to grave-
stone carving. See Ludwig, Graven Images; Dickran and Ann Tashjian, Memorials for
Children of Change: The Art of Early New England Stonecarving (Middletown, CT, 1974);
David H. Watters, "With Bodilie Eyes": Eschatological Themes in Puritan Eiterature and
Gravestone Art (Ann Arbor, MI, 1981). It should be noted that some Scotch-Irish fami-
lies did patronize "English" effigy carvers, perhaps signalling a desire for high-style
artifacts associated with urban taste.

15. (Princeton, NJ, 1989).

16. Ibid., 52-53, 71-76; Wilson, "Sermons," D 20; Parker, The History of Londonderry, 142-145.

17. Schmidt, Holy Fairs, 52-53.

18. Wilson, "Sermons," C 14.

19. John Willison, quoted in Schmidt, Holy Fairs, 74.

20. Christian UNITY, 8.

21. Schmidt, Holy Fairs, 109.

22. Ibid., 109. For token images and designs, see also Mary McWhorter Tenney, Communion
Tokens: Their Origin, History, and Use (Grand Rapids, MI, 1936).

23. Parker, The History of Londonderry, 142.

24. Schmidt, Holy Fairs, 86.

David H. Watters 209

25. Ibid.

26. Ibid, 166.

27. Parker, The History of Londonderry, 77.

28. Schmidt, Holy Fairs, 128.

29. Wilson, "Sermons," n. p.

30. Quoted in Schmidt, Holy Fairs, 101-102.

31. Parker, The History of Londonderry, 50; the best history of the significance of linen in
Londonderry is in Wallace, The Scotch-Irish of Provincial New Hampshire, Chapter X, "The
Fabric of Change: Scotch-Irish Linen Trade in 18th Century New Hampshire," 327-355.

32. For similar cross designs in Scotland, see Betty Willsher & Doreen Hunter, Stones: A
Guide to Some Remarkable Eighteenth Century Gravestones (New York, NY, 1978), 11; 52. It
is worth noting that a similar conjunction of rosette and Scottish cross occurs on some
of John Hartshorn's stones, as shown in Ludwig, Graven ImagesSj 129; 228.

33. For Walker's story, see Donna-Belle Garvin, "Two High Chests of the Dunlap School,"
Historical New Hampshire 35: 2 (1980): 170-74; the Dunlap Chest for which Walker
bartered her handiwork, as well as a reproduction of the stone for Mary Patten, can be
seen in the exhibit, "Through Many Eyes," at the Museum of New Hampshire History.

34. Jessie I. Beckley and Melvin E. Watts, The History of Londonderry Vol. 2: Excerpts from
Willey's Book of Nuffield by George F. Willey (Londonderry, NH, 1975), 88.

35. Richard Bauman, LET YOUR WORDS BE FEW: Symbolism of Speaking and Silence among
Seventeenth-Century Quakers (Cambridge, England, 1983).

36. Chase, History of Old Chester, 319; 336-337.

37. I. Watts, The Psalms of David, Imitated in the Language of the New Testament, And applied to
the Christian State and Worship (Boston, MA, 1787), 237.

38. Wilson, "Sermons," C 15.

39. Parker, The History of Londonderry, 150-151; See also Wallace, The Scotch-Irish of Provincial
New Hampshire, 266-268.

40. Wallace, The Scotch-Irish of Provincial New Hampshire, 312.

41. For the work of the Park carvers, see Theodore Chase and Laurel K. Gabel, "The Park
Family Carvers of Groton, Massachusetts," in Gravestone Chronicles II: More Eighteenth-
Century New England Carvers and an Exploration of Gravestone Heraldica, (Boston, MA,
1997), 287-353.

210

Murder in Massachusetts

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MURDER IN MASSACHUSETTS: IT'S WRITTEN IN STONE
Tom and Brenda Malloy

As historic documents, early American gravestones can reveal much
information both about the time period in which they were erected and
about the individuals for whom they were erected. One piece of informa-
tion that is not uncommon to find on an eighteenth or early nineteenth
century stone is what factor caused the interred's death. Causes of death
that are cited on stones run the range from various forms of disease and
plague to just about any type of accident that one could imagine.
However, for a cemetery's "passer by/' the cause of death that may elicit
the greatest interest is that of murder. The fact that a human being would
intentionally take the life of another stimulates curiosity as to the story
behind the stone - at least it did for us. In our travels through
Massachusetts' cemeteries, we have discovered twelve such stories, four
of which were documented on eighteenth century gravestones and eight
on early to mid nineteenth century stones (Fig. 1).

The earliest dated of the eighteenth century markers - one of three
such murder stones that are located in Worcester County - is a slate stone
that can be found at the Old Burial Ground in Rutland, a town in the hills
of central Massachusetts (Fig. 2). The inscription reads:

HERE LIES BURIED ye

BODY OF MR DANIEL

CAMPBELL BORN IN

SCOTLAND CAME INTO

NEW ENGLAND ANNO 1716

WAS MURDERED ON HIS

OWN FARM IN RUTLAND

BY ED FITZPATRICK AN

IRISHMAN ON MARCH

ye 8th ANNO Dm 1744

IN ye 48 YEAR

OF HIS AGE

MAN KNOWETH

NOT HIS TIME.

212

Murder in Massachusetts

This inscription documents not only the name of the victim but also
that of the murderer. Further, the nationality of each is stated as well as
the year of the victim's arrival from his homeland. Noted also are the loca-
tion and the date of the crime. However, according to a town history, the
murder did not take place on March 8th, as stated in the inscription, but
four days later, on March 12th.1

Soon after the named Ed Fitzpatrick was arrested for the murder of
Daniel Campbell, he fully confessed to the crime. Fitzpatrick, who was
employed as a farmhand by Campbell, stated that he had lured his
employer into the farm's barn on the pretense that some cows had broken
loose. Here he strangled Campbell and then carried the body to a
gravesite that he covered with logs. Fitzpatrick admitted that he perpe-

Fig. 2. Daniel Campbell, 1744, Rutland.
Carved by Jonathan Worster of Harvard, Massachusetts.

Tom and Brenda Malloy 213

trated the crime in order to take some of Campbell's personal possessions
such as shoes, jacket, buttons and a snuff box.2 In September, six months
after this confession, Fitzpatrick was put on trial in the nearby city of
Worcester. Found guilty, he was publically hanged in what today would
be the city's Lincoln Square. This became Worcester's first execution.3

Three towns south of Rutland is the town of Brookfield. In the
Brookfield Cemetery, just in back of the front stone wall, is a simple mar-
ble stone that documents a murder which took place thirty-four years
after the one in Rutland (Fig. 3). The stone reads:

Joshua Spooner

Murdered Mar. 1, 1778

by three soldiers of the

Revolution

Ross, Brooks, and Buchanan

at the instigation of his wife Bathsheba

They were all executed

at Worcester

July 2, 1778

Joshua Spooner, the victim, was a wealthy Brookfield resident who
was married to Bathsheba Ruggles, one of the conspirators listed on his
stone. Bathsheba's father, General Timothy Ruggles, had arranged the
marriage of his daughter. Timothy Ruggles was a Harvard graduate and
lawyer who had established a large estate in Hardwick, a town to the
northeast of Brookfield. Prior to the American Revolution, Ruggles was
involved in colonial politics, and during the French and Indian War he
became the highest ranking colonial officer. With the coming of the
American Revolution, Ruggles remained a staunch loyalist and was serv-
ing with British forces at the time that his daughter was on trial for
murder.

Bathsheba was twenty years old when she married Spooner in 1764.
During the next thirteen years, although the marriage appears to have
been an unhappy union, the couple had three children. Then, in 1777,
Ezra Ross, one of the three male conspirators listed on the stone, was
returning home to Ipswich, Massachusetts, after being discharged from
Washington's Continental Army because of illness. He collapsed near the
Spooner home and Bathsheba nursed him back to health. At this time,

214

Murder in Massachusetts

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Tin* v

flctiei'M of tlif
j»?iuL Hue liana 11. |

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J p. I,y

(

Fig. 3. Joshua Spooner, 1778, Brookfield. Because the Spooner
marker is constructed of marble, it is probably a replacement stone.

Tom and Brenda Malloy

215

Ross who was eighteen years old, and Bathsheba, who was now thirty-
three, became lovers. The liason resulted with a conception in January of
1778. Bathsheba and Ross now plotted with William Brooks and James
Buchanan to murder her husband. Brooks and Buchanan - the other two
conspirators listed on the stone - were British deserters passing through
Brookfield in an attempt to reach Canada. The plot was successfully car-
ried out, resulting in Joshua Spooner being struck with a log and his body
thrown down a well on his farm.4

All four of the conspirators were soon apprehended and put on trial in
Worcester, where they were found guilty and sentenced to be hanged. On
the day of the execution, July 2, 1778, five thousand people, which was
twice the population of Worcester, showed up for the simultaneous hang-
ing of the four. Bathsheba had requested a stay of execution to allow for
the birth of her child, but an examination by midwives could not confirm
a pregnancy. However, an autopsy after the execution did reveal a five
month old male fetus.5

drtflftfci&.<

JOSHUA SP00W«»
EXECUTED AT -

■ I -,s:l.

Fig. 4. Spooner Well, Brookfield. The top of the well
can be seen to the right, behind its historical marker.

216 Murder in Massachusetts

Although her husband's grave is marked, the location of Bathsheba's
remains are unknown. It is believed that her sister, Mrs. John Green, had
the body secretly buried in order to protect it from vandals.6 However,
another reminder of the Spooner murder was erected two hundred years
after the multiple executions. In the fall of 1978, the Brookfield Historical
Commission placed a historical marker at the well where the conspirators
deposited Joshua Spooner's body (Fig. 4). The marker reads:

SPOONER WELL

Joshua Spooner Murdered

And Thrown Down This Well

March 1, 1778 By Three

Revolutionary Soldiers

At The Urging Of His

Wife Bathsheba

All Four Were

Executed At

Worcester, July 2, 1778

Four towns to the north of Brookfield, and bordering Rutland to the
north, is the town of Princeton. Here, at the Meeting House Hill Cemetery,
is a third stone documenting an eighteenth century murder, one that took
place fifteen years after the Brookfield incident (Fig. 5). The stone's
inscription states:

In memory of

Capt. Elisha Allen

who was inhumanly mur

dered by Samuel Frost

July 16, 1793

Aged 48 Years

At the bottom of the stone a rhyming epitaph reads:

Passengers behold! my friends and view;
Breathless I lie; no more with you;
Hurried from life; sent to the grave;
Jesus my only hope to save;
No warning had of my sad fate;
Till dire the stroke; Alas! to late.

Tom and Brenda Malloy

217

|m;

CV- Elisiia An

who was /n/)(finan/ /'
c.'rrcd by ,yr/ ., I

M \b"' , I .

Fig. 5. Elisha Allen, 1793, Princeton. Allen's inscription refers to him
as being "inhumanly murdered" rather than "inhumanely" murdered.

218 Murder in Massachusetts

Elisha Allen, the victim, was a Revolutionary War veteran who held
the rank of Captain in the state militia. Samuel Frost, the stated murderer
on the stone, had been previously indicted for murder. In 1789, Frost
killed his father but was acquitted on the grounds of insanity. Soon after
the acquittal, Elisha Allen agreed to be Frost's guardian. However, Allen
was rewarded for his gesture by having his ward inflict a fatal blow to his
head with a rock while they were working in a garden. Frost was found
guilty of this murder and was sentenced to death. On October 31, 1793 he
was hanged in Worcester before two thousand spectators, his execution
drawing less than half the number of those who showed up for the exe-
cution of the Brookfield conspirators.7

The fourth eighteenth century marker to document murder can be
found at the Plain Cemetery in the southeastern Massachusetts town of
Taunton (Fig. 6). Located in the center of the cemetery, it is a slate stone in
rather poor condition bearing the following inscription:

Here lies ye Body of
Mrs Elizabeth McKinstrey
basely murdered by a
Negro Boy June ye 4th
1763 Aged 28

A warning at the bottom of the stone proclaims:

Watch
for ye know not ye
manner nor ye moment
of your Death

Elizabeth McKinstrey, the victim as listed on her stone, was the spin-
ster sister of Dr. William McKinstrey. Four years prior to the murder, Dr.
McKinstrey had built an impressive Georgian style home in Taunton,
which still remains as the rectory of the town's St. Thomas Episcopal
Church. Members of the doctor's household included his wife, his sister,
and a young slave by the name of Bristo.

Somehow Bristo had been convinced that he could gain his freedom
by killing a member of the family, and Elizabeth became his unfortunate
victim. On the morning of June 4, 1763, he struck the young woman on the

Tom and Brenda Malloy

219

'{rc\U"W^>Mi

•Cipro jig

6 ')

) A,^ of'' i/.c .hm

Fig. 6. Elizabeth McKinstrey, 1763, Taunton. Whereas the

Elisha Allen inscription states that he was "inhumanly murdered/

this describes the victim as being "basely murdered."

220 Murder in Massachusetts

head with a flat iron. He then pushed her down the cellar stairs, where he
killed her with an ax, throwing the body into a fireplace. After the mur-
der, Bristo fled to Newport, Rhode Island, where he was eventually
apprehended and returned to Taunton for trial. On December 1st, three
days short of a half year after the murder, Bristo was hanged. It is believed
that the execution took place in the town's "hanging lot," which was adja-
cent to the Plain Cemetery, and thus in view of Elizabeth McKinstrey's
grave8.

In the southwestern corner of Massachusetts there is a grouping of
three marble stones that document a nineteenth century multiple murder.
The three stones stand side by side in the shade of trees at the front of the
Otis town cemetery (Fig. 7). The larger stone to the left of the group reads:

EMILY L.

WIFE OF

GEORGE A. JONES.

MURDERED

Sept. 7, 1862

AE 27 Ys.

Neither can they die anymore for
They are equal unto the angels and are
The children of God being the children
of the resurrection. Luke 20 C. 36 V.

To the right, two smaller stones read:

George A. SARAH E.

son of daughter of

Geo. A. & Emily L. Geo. A. & Emily L.

JONES JONES

murdered murdered

Sept. 7, 1862 Sept. 7, 1862

AE 4 Ys. AE 2 Ys.

Tom and Brenda Malloy

221

On a Sunday during the late summer of 1862, George Jones left his
home in Otis to attend church while his wife and two children, the victims
whose names are inscribed on the stones, went berry picking. After
returning from the service, Mr. Jones became concerned over the nonap-
pearance of his family and began to search for them. Unable to locate his
wife and children, he elicited the aid of some of his neighbors in the
search, which continued without success until nightfall.9

The following day a more thorough search was initiated, which lasted
until mid afternoon when the bodies of the mother and children were dis-
covered about one-eighth of a mile from the family home. Each of the
bodies was separately concealed under brush and leaves, and the whole
area was covered with patches of blood. Investigation revealed that Mrs.
Jones had a broken jaw and cheekbone as well as a fractured skull, and

,» tf

<■:

* %

Fig. 7. Emily Jones and Children, 1862, Otis. Although barely

discernible on the two smaller markers, each stone for the Jones

family is inscribed with the word "murdered."

222 Murder in Massachusetts

each of the children had a crushed skull.10

Two Black men, a father and son by the name of Thomas and James
Calder (Callender), were eventually arrested for the murders. While jailed
in the nearby town of Lenox, James, the son, confessed to the crimes. He
stated that, on the day of the murders, he and his father had been drink-
ing whiskey and intended to go sheep stealing. En route to their intended
goal, they came upon Mrs. Jones and raped her and then, realizing the
severity of their crime, decided to murder the children in order to elimi-
nate any witnesses. James claimed that his father agreed to kill Mrs. Jones
if he would kill the boy and girl, who, during the assault and in terror, had
retreated a few yards from the scene. At this time, James stated that while
his father murdered Mrs. Jones he proceeded to crush the children's heads
against a rock.11

Although James fully implicated his father in the murders, the author-
ities felt that Thomas had a good alibi for the day of the crime.
Consequently, James was found fully responsible for the multiple mur-
ders and was eventually hanged at the Lenox jail. Just prior to the execu-
tion Thomas was reincarcerated at the jail for an assault on his wife,
James' mother, who was described as "a white Dutch woman." As a
result, Thomas was able to witness the execution of his son from a cell
window. Because no one claimed James' body, it was turned over to a
local medical college for dissection.12

Heading in an easterly direction in search of the rest of the ninteenth
century murder stones, we next come to the town of Agawam, which lies
on the Connecticut border. In Agawam' s Center Cemetery, many of the
marble stones are deteriorating from a condition known as sugaring.
Even though it is suffering from this condition, one of these stones still
has an inscription which is legible enough to document a murder (Fig. 8):

In memory of
Harriet

Who was Murdered
By her Husband
Samuel Leonard
Dec 14, 1825 AE 33
Also Delia, their
Daur. Died Dec.
23, 1825. AE 13 m.

Tom and Brenda Malloy

223

Fig. 8. Harriet Leonard, 1825, Agawam.

224 Murder in Massachusetts

A verse at the bottom of the stone reads:

O sacred source of everlasting light
Conduct the weary wanderer in her flight
Direct her onward to that peaceful shore
Where peril, pain and death are felt no more.

During the mid 1820s, many Massachusetts communities were experi-
encing the fervor of religious revival, and this was so as well for the town
of Agawam. During this period, the town's various church memberships
increased dramatically and it was reported that people were even ignor-
ing work to discuss religion. It appears that one individual who became
involved in this fervor was Harriet Leonard. Samuel, her husband and the
father of their seven children, was considered a good provider. In order to
take care of needs, in addition to working the family farm he took part-
time work at the Springfield Armory. However, when Harriet became
intense with salvation it appears that Samuel could not develop the same
interest.13

Depressed about the situation, Samuel Leonard began drinking and
quarreling with his wife. Fearing violence, Harriet went to stay with
friends, leaving the children with her husband. After some time Leonard
went to fetch his wife to treat one of their children who was ill. Could the
sick child be Delia, the thirteen month old daughter listed in the stone's
inscription? Returning home, Harriet treated the child and then began to
do laundry prior to again departing. This is when Leonard killed her with
an ax and then killed himself. While an overflow crowd attended
Harriet's funeral, Leonard was quietly buried by members of his family in
the corner of one of the town's other cemeteries.14

Several towns to the northeast of Agawam is the town of Pelham. On
Packardville Road, about one-tenth of a mile from Daniel Shay's
Highway, is the Knight Cemetery. In this small country cemetery's north-
west corner one finds a marble gravestone that documents a murder that
supposedly took place the year before the Civil War began (Fig. 9). The
inscription and accompanying epitaph read:

Tom and Brenda Malloy

225

*«.•**

•<

WARREN GI88S

P diedby arsenic poison
Mar. 23. i860.

/Ev 36 yrs. 5 mos.
23 ciys.

Fhiak in -j f {lends ■^■xen f/ii$ ^ou see

• JJfrein S,om^-oi^5v_er^dk( prepare
■ -Some poiSviHbrinu(a^aiUc gfyare
- Tften -Xt&fi&£ Samel did part a He

■

'-v. wind nature inefdeci ^o i/sfafe
§S&£' Before s&e rriq wife became
jj|£*-$? Mary Fee ton. was /ier name,
'%.%$ Erected l:y his Brother
WM. GIBBS.

P%tt

, - * -

.>',

Fig. 9. Warren Gibbs, 1860, Pelham. The epitaph on the Gibbs stone
uses rhyming verse to tell the story of a supposed poisoning.

226 Murder in Massachusetts

WARREN GIBBS
died by arsenic poison
March 23, 1860.AE. 36 yrs, 5 mos.
23 dys.
Think my friends when this you see
How my wife hath dealt with me.
She in some oysters did prepare
Some poison for my lot and share.
Then of the same I did partake
And nature yielded to its fate.
Before she my wife became
Mary Felton was her name.
Erected by his Brother
WM. GIBBS

The erection of this stone, which is locally known as the "poison
stone" or the "poisoned oysters stone," is surrounded by mystery. Many
sources feel that its placement was a hoax perpetrated by the author of the
epitaph, William Gibbs, who wanted to revive a long standing feud with
his sister-in-law's family, the Feltons. One factor that may support the
idea of a hoax was that the stone probably wasn't erected until some
twenty years after the death of Warren Gibbs, the supposed murder vic-
tim. Also, the doctor who treated Warren Gibbs stated that he had died of
a serious digestive disorder, but that there was no evidence of the nature
of the disorder.15

Incensed by the accusation on the stone, it is claimed the members of
the Felton family destroyed the original marker. Soon after, William Gibbs
had a second marker placed at the gravesite with a warning to the Feltons
that if anything happened to the new stone he would report the alleged
murder to the authorities. The replacement stone remained at the site for
many years, probably owing to the fact that William Gibbs outlived mem-
bers of the Felton family. Town records show that Mary Felton Gibbs, the
supposed murderess, died in the neighboring town of Belchertown in
1902. The cause of death is listed as catarrh, an early term for sinus infec-
tion. Her gravemarker is believed to be a stone that is located in that
town's Dwight Cemetery.16 It is a small marble stone with "MOTHER"
engraved on the top and simply states, "Mary Gibbs, May 14, 1827 - Jan
24, 1902."

Tom and Brenda Malloy 227

However, the saga of the "poison stone" continued well into the twen-
tieth century, when it disappeared from the Knight Cemetery. Many
rumors spread throughout the community as to the stone's fate. Then, in
1947, it was discovered during the restoration of a home in Palmer, which
lies two towns south of Pelham. The marker was turned over to the
Pelham Historical Society, where it remains as part of the society's collec-
tions. However, in the meantime, the town had a replica carved and erect-
ed. So the present marker at the Knight Cemetery is a second replacement
stone which could document nothing more than a vengeful, plotted
hoax.17

About a half hour's drive to the northeast of Pelham is the city of
Gardner. In this city's Old Burying Ground, which is located to the rear of
the First Congregational Church, is a gravestone that documents an
unsolved double murder (Fig. 10). Its inscription reads:

THIS MONUMENT

Is erected
In The Memory of

Miss.

Miriam Kneeland

AE 85 yrs. 10 mos. 6ds.

And her sister Mrs.

SARAH PHINNEY

AE 75 yrs. 11 mos. 12ds.

Who were found murdered

in their house

May 7, 1855

Miriam Kneeland and Sarah Phinney, the victims as listed on their
stone, were elderly sisters who had been living together for several years.
They were members of one of Gardner's original families. In 1771, their
father, Timothy Kneeland, settled on land which would eventually
become part of Gardner. In ensuing years he would serve as a
Revolutionary War soldier and become very involved with town affairs.
Consequently, the murder of two of his surviving daughters totally
shocked the community. According to one source, hardly any business
was conducted for a week after the incident, Also, so many people

228

Murder in Massachusetts

EU s -^ v r ^ f f Mn v. f* -1 s3

SKt'ni*MV,v

Fig. 10. "The Kneeland Maids," 1855, Gardner.

The supporting base of the Kneeland marker, not visible in the

photograph, is signed by "T. Hartwell - Fitchburg."

Tom and Brenda Malloy 229

showed up for the funeral that a second service had to be held at the town
hall for the overflow of the congregation.

The "Kneeland Maids," as the sisters were affectionately known, were
murdered on the evening of May 7, 1855 after someone gained access to
the interior of the Kneeland house by breaking a window. Then, while the
sisters were asleep in their beds, the intruder, without any apparent
motive, murdered both women by striking them on their heads with a
chair post. The incident was not discovered until the next evening, when
a neighbor investigated after noticing that two cows belonging to the sis-
ters were wandering uncared for.18

The Gardner selectmen offered a $500 reward to anyone who could aid
in bringing the murderer to justice. Subsequently, a young man by the
name of George Stacy was arrested and brought before the Justice of the
Peace. Here it was decided that there was evidence to show that Stacy had
perpetrated the murders and he was sent before the Grand Jury in
Worcester. The Grand Jury in turn handed down an indictment and Stacy
was placed on trial, but he was found not guilty. As a result, the double
murders still remain unsolved.19

Heading from north central Massachusetts it is about an hour's drive
southeast to the city of Dedham, which is located on Boston's southwest-
ern border. Dating from 1636, Dedham' s St. Paul's Cemetery was the
town's only burial ground for nearly a century. Here, amongst the grave-
stones of the community's early settlers, can be found this sampling's ear-
liest dated nineteenth century murder stone (Fig. 11). The inscription on
the slate stone reads:

SACRED to the memory of
Miss Elizabeth Fales
dau. of Mr. NEHEH. and
Mrs. SARAH FALES
who was found murdered
May 18th 1801, in the
19th year of her age

A rhyming verse at the bottom of the stone refers to the victim's untime-
ly death:

230

Murder in Massachusetts

Fig. 11. Elizabeth Fales, 1801, Dedham.

Tom and Brenda Malloy 231

Sainted shade of Heavenly birth,
Of matchless innocence and worth,
Since God decreed you should be slain,
Wee'l cease to mourn, nor dare complain
Guardian Angels, watch Thy swift career
Thy soul in Heaven will soon appear.

The murder victim, Elizabeth Fales, was a member of one of Dedham's
oldest and most respected families. At the age of fourteen Elizabeth began
a five year romantic liaison with sixteen year old Jason Fairbanks. The
Fairbanks, like the Fales, were an old Dedham family, and their home,
which still stands today as the oldest frame house in the United States,
was in proximity to the Fales' homestead.20 As neighbors, Jason and
Elizabeth had easy access to each other. However, the Fales family even-
tually disapproved of the liaison and the couple were forced to meet in
friends' houses and at the corner of a pasture near their respective
homes.21

Prior to a mid May 1801 rendezvous, at the pasture, Jason borrowed a
small penknife with a two and one-half inch blade. Later in the day he
appeared at the door of the Fales' home with the knife in his hand and
staggering from fourteen wounds. Gasping because of a long gash in his
throat, he declared to Mrs. Fales that Betsey had killed herself and that he
had killed himself too. Mr. and Mrs. Fales ran to the pasture, where they
found Elizabeth expiring from a cut throat and numerous stab wounds.
Because of the severity of his wounds, Jason was required to remain in the
hostile Fales' home while Elizabeth's body was bourne to St. Paul's bury-
ing ground.22

Two weeks after the incident, Jason, who had come under suspicion of
murder in the incident, was finally healthy enough to be moved by litter
to the Dedham jail, where he awaited his fate. The case was a model for
judicial expedience. The prisoner was indicted for murder on August 4th,
arraigned on August 5th, the trial opened on August 6th, all the evidence
had been presented by August 7th, and on August 8th the jury returned a
verdict of guilty. It was the first trial for a capital offense in Dedham's 165-
year history and, with emotion running high, the trial also took on a polit-
ical air. The prosecutor was the Republican state Attorney-General, James
Sullivan. Serving for the defense were two well-known Federalist
lawyers, Harrison Gray Otis and John Lowell. In presenting their case,

232 Murder in Massachusetts

Otis and Lowell stressed that Jason had a totally useless right arm and
was generally incapacitated due to a failed childhood smallpox inocula-
tion, and thus was physically incapable of committing the murder. They
also suggested that the incident, to Jason's later denial, was a murder-sui-
cide pact.23 Nevertheless, the jury was not convinced and Jason was sen-
tenced to be hanged.

While he was awaiting his execution, supporters broke into the
Dedham jail and helped Jason escape. He managed to flee to Lake
Champlain, where he had hoped to secure a boat to Canada. However,
with a one thousand dollar reward for his recapture, Jason was pursued,
apprehended, and returned for incarceration at the more secure Suffolk
County Jail in Boston. On the day of the execution he was escorted to
Dedham's common by two companies of cavalry, a detachment of
infantry, and a guard of 250 citizens. The population of the town swelled
for the event, with over seven hundred carriages passing through the
downtown area.24 Upon his arrival at the scaffold, Jason was blindfolded,
the rope was placed around his neck, and a handkerchief was placed in
his hand, which he was instructed to drop when he was ready. He
dropped it immediately.25

Jason Fairbanks was buried in St. Paul's Cemetery, several yards from
Elizabeth's grave. The inscription on his stone simply states:

Sacred
to the memory of
Mr. Jason Fairbanks
who departed this
life 10th Sept. 1801
aged 21 years

Orginally a part of Dedham, the town of Wrentham was incorporated
as a separate community in 1673. About ninety years after the incorpora-
tion, the town provided for additional burial space at the Plains Cemetery,
which is now known as the Gerould Cemetery. To the right side of the rear
of the cemetery can be found another example of spousal murder (Fig.
12):

Tom and Brenda Malloy

233

Fig. 12. Caroline E. Lewis, 1857, Wrentham.

As with the Leonard inscription (Fig. 8), that on the

Lewis marker places responsibility for death on the husband.

234 Murder in Massachusetts

CAROLINE E.

Wife of

George R. Lewis
Died Sept. 13, 1857
from wounds received at
the hands of her husband
Aged 21 yrs 3 mos
4 days

According to Wrentham town records, Caroline's age at death was twen-
ty years, not twenty-one as stated in the inscription.26 Also, it should be
pointed out that at the bottom of the stone there is an inscription for a
three month old female cousin of Caroline's who had died twenty-one
years earlier.

Caroline E. Lewis was described in the September 16, 1857 issue of the
Boston Post as having been a very attractive woman with blue eyes and
short, curly, blonde hair. The Dedham Gazette in its September 19th and
October 3rd issues described her husband, George R. Lewis, as a twenty-
two year old man with a "very mild and inoffensive appearance."
However, Caroline is described as a person of "bad reputation" and "dis-
solute conduct." 27

The incident documented in the inscription took place on a Saturday
at about 5:30 in the afternoon. At this time, George Lewis stopped by his
mother-in-law's house on his way to hunt woodchucks. Upon entering
the house, he found his wife, Caroline, in an act of "criminality" with
another man. After a physical confrontation with the man, George left the
house, pursued by his wife. During an ensuing argument he killed
Caroline by shooting her through the neck and crushing her skull with the
butt of his rifle. After the killing, George readily admitted responsibility
and two weeks later he was indicted for manslaughter, to which he pled
guilty. 28

Heading due south from Wrentham, it is about a half-hour's drive to
Oak Grove Cemetery in the seaport town of Fall River. The cemetery is
extensive and is best known as the burial place of the infamous Lizzie
Borden. However, in a far corner, amongst a cluster of slate and marble
markers, can be found a lesser known gravesite for Captain Henry
Brightman. His marker is a rectangular slate which is decorated at the top
with two urns and sprigs of willow (Fig. 13). The inscription states:

Tom and Brenda Malloy

235

'^l-!^1"u,;nP

Fig. 13. Captain Henry Brightman, 1827, Fall River.

The Brightman inscription does not merely state that the

captain was murdered, but that he was "massacred."

236 Murder in Massachusetts

Capt. HENRY BRIGHTMAN
Was massacred by the Pirates
on board brig Crawford
June 1, 1827, in the 30th year of
his age.

Just below the inscription is a rhyming verse that makes reference to
Captain Brightman's untimely death:

May this sudden call awake us all
And make us think of death
By this we see how frail we be
And how uncertain is our breath.

On May 28, 1827, the brig Crawford of Fall River, which is the ship
noted in the inscription, began its return voyage from Cuba with a cargo
for New York. Also on board were eight passengers. In the early morning
of the trip's fourth day, four of the passengers, a Frenchman and three
Spanish sailors, rose on the crew and the other passengers. The pirates, as
they are referred to in the stone's inscription, stabbed Captain Brightman
while he slept in his cabin and then threw his body overboard. They next
proceeded to kill everyone else on board except for three, including the
mate, who were spared to help navigate the ship.29

Once in control of the Crawford, the pirates destroyed the ship's colors,
obliterated the name on the stern, and substituted for ship's papers false
documents stating that the vessel was a Spanish ship en route to
Hamburg. They next prepared to put into Virginia in order to replenish
provisions for a European voyage. Having arrived on the Virginia coast,
the first mate, a Mr. Dobson, was able to escape and inform the local
authorities. The pirates, realizing that their conspiracy had been revealed,
abandoned the Crawford and headed for shore. Once there, all were appre-
hended except for one who cut his own throat and was buried on the
beach.30 The remaining three were put on trial in Richmond, where they
were found guilty of piracy and murder and sentenced to be hanged.31

It should also be pointed out that an additional inscription at the bot-
tom of Captain Brightman's stone reveals that his young wife was also
from a seafaring family and that she died just ten months after her hus-
band's murder. This inscription reads:

Tom and Brenda Malloy 237

Mrs. Phebe Brightman
(his widow & Daughter of
Capt. Robert Miller:) Died Mar.
15, 1828 in the 24th year of her
age.

Thirty years after the Crawford incident, murder was again taking
place on another ship from the Massachusetts south shore. In June of 1857,
the whaler Junior set sail for the South Pacific from the well-known whal-
ing port of New Bedford. The ship's twenty-seven year old captain,
Archibald Mellen, was a native of the nearby island of Martha's Vineyard,
also known for its long association with whaling. A marble marker at the
Pease Point Cemetery in Edgartown, Martha's Vineyard, recounts the
ship's tragic voyage (Fig. 14). The marker reads:

CAPT. ARCHIBALD MELLEN, JR.
born
at Tisbury June 5, 1830
and murdered
on board the Ship Junior of New Bedford
off the coast of New Zealand
Dec. 25, 1857: by Cyrus W. Plummer
who with others of his crew had
entered into a conspiracy to seize
the Ship and proceed to the
gold diggings of Australia
Thus at an early age, at the flood
tide of successful manhood an in-
telligent, honest, and worthy man
became the innocent victim to the
insatiable ambition of
these conspirators.

The inscription notes that Archibald Mellen was killed on Christmas
Day in 1857. During the evening of that day, the captain was in his cabin
with three of his officers when mutineers led by Cyrus Plummer dis-
charged firearms into the room. The captain died almost immediately
from the gunfire, and the third mate was decapitated with a spade. The

238

Murder in Massachusetts

07? hnTtj^rJ Sltjjr 'TtTj? jor of ITnrr JJrjrJforrT
\ . of T f It r sinn pi nf JVctt Zc?» I j*tjtT, -
J] r?r% SL£» J £ 5 7; Jrr Vjv-TTtf: W, PJihn m rtfr,
TrTTo TrfijTi ofJVcr? of JSis crcTr J7.pt. rT

ihn ^J?jp a,T7/I proceed To fire
jrojd rfj.g£j rt ,«? of A izs'fj'tfJf £r r
Thfif?/*rr,1, rjffi nrj/rhj rrut^/rfJ {.h.c'ff.nnn;
Hrlr, nf f!ir,r,nfi^^frjJ, jvt^ffijibrfd./an'. ttTr'6\
Irlfifjfijil, Ujftij.&gi,, rrjjtfrfaoriJtif. pi^lW
hi' i- tm f*> fjir iv nnC'iTf'il VI (' \ hit }hj< f)t^::
in ?fr I \ n hi r f( in h if in yi n 5y$

l\n>f(' r*n i yiTh'f'ffll'r

Fig. 14. Captain Archibald Mellen Jr., 1830, Edgartown,

Martha's Vineyard. As an historic document, the Mellen stone

provides a full chronicle of the captain's murder.

Tom and Brenda Malloy 239

conspirators then forced the second and first mate, who had received four
bullets in his shoulder, to navigate the ship towards the Australian coast.32

For over a week the Junior was under the control of the mutineers, dur-
ing which time they carried the bodies of the captain and his third mate
from the cabin, placed weights on their feet, and threw them overboard.
Then, on January 2, 1858, when the Australian coast was sighted, the ten
conspirators lowered two boats loaded with provisions. Before leaving
the ship's remaining thirteen crew members, half of whom were wound-
ed, the mutineers destroyed the navigational equipment. During the next
five days, the ship floated around attempting to sail into Sydney Finally,
on January 7th, the Junior, with distress signals flying, was sighted and
rescued by the British ship Lochiel.33

Cyrus Plummer and his co-conspirators were eventually apprehended
and put on trial. During the proceedings, Plummer and four of the muti-
neers admitted that they held no particular malice towards Captain
Mellen or any of the Junior's officers, but that on departing from New
Bedford they had planned to take the vessel. All of the defendants
received prison sentences, with Plummer eventually getting off for good
behavior.34

Within this sampling of twelve incidences of murder as recorded on
early Massachusetts gravemarkers, the Archibald Mellen stone provides
the most complete account of the crime. The Mellen inscription not only
tells a full story, but like those on eight of the other murder stones, it iden-
tifies those responsible. Only three of the inscriptions fail to list the per-
petrators. This omission can be explained in the case of the Gardner mur-
ders by the fact that there was no conviction, and with the Otis murders
by the fact that there was no indictment for several months after the
crime. Thus, the Otis stones may well have been erected before the con-
viction. Of the nine stones that do list those responsible, all but two pro-
vide specific names. The Fall Paver marker places responsibility on
"pirates," and the Taunton stone on a "Negro boy." Of course, one of the
markers that does list the perpetrator - the "oyster stone" - may well be
a false accusation. Nevertheless, it appears that the authors of these mur-
der inscriptions on early Massachusetts gravemarkers intended not only
to record a horrific act but also to enact a perpetual vengeance on those
responsible by writing their names in stone.

240 Murder in Massachusetts

NOTES

All of the photographs for this article were taken by the authors. The authors would like to
extend their appreciation to Nancy Leger and Janet Taylor for their research assistance.

1. Timothy Murphy History of the Town of Rutland (Boston, MA, 1928), 129.

2. "The Examination and Confession of Edward Fitz-Patrick." Collections of the
American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, MA.

3. Murphy, History of the Town of Rutland, 129.

4. Deborah Stone, Farmers Almanac, (1978): 156-161.

5. Ibid.

6. Pat Girard, The New Leader, (Nov. 10, 1978).

7. Francis Everette Blake, History of the Town of Princeton (Princeton, MA, 1915), Vol. 1, 407;
Vol. 2, 106.

8. Collections of the Old Colony Historical Society, Taunton, MA.

9. Berkshire County Eagle (Sept. 18, 1862): 2-3.

10. Ibid.

11. Berkshire County Eagle (Jan. 8, 1863): 3.

12. Pittsfield Sun (Nov. 2, 1863): 2-3.

13. Edith LaFrancis, Agaivam Massachusetts: A Town History (Springfield, MA, 1980), 131-
132.

14. Ibid.

15. Arthur Davenport, "Pelham's Curious Gravestone." Unpublished paper (Pelham
Historical Society), Pelham, MA, 2-4.

16. Ibid., 5.

17. Ibid., 4.

18. William D. Herrick, History of the Town of Gardner (Gardner, MA, 1878), 325.

19. Ibid.

Tom and Brenda Malloy 241

20. The Jonathan Fairbanks House, which is open to the public, remained in the Fairbanks
family for eight generations and was the ancestral home of Charles Fairbanks, vice
president under Theodore Roosevelt.

21. Ferris Greenslet, The Lowells and Their Seven Worlds (Boston, MA, 1946), 99.

22. Ibid., 102-103.

23. Robert Brand Hanson, Dedham, Massachusetts 1635-1890 (Dedham, MA, 1976), 178.

24. Ibid., 186.

25. Greenslet, The Lowells and Their Seven Worlds, 110.

26. Joseph Manganiello, "Caroline E.: A Mystery." Unpublished paper (Fiske Public
Library, Wrentham, MA, 1994), 4.

27. Ibid., 3.

28. Ibid., 6.

29. Fall River Monitor (June 23, 1827): 2.

30. Ibid.

31. Fall River Monitor Quly 28, 1827): 2.

32. Henry Franklin Norton, Martha's Vineyard (Hartford, CT, 1923), 38-39.

33. Ibid.

34. Ibid.

242

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 pamphlets 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 the majority of genealogical publications (there
are exceptions in instances where the publication is deemed to be of value
to researchers beyond a strictly local level) and cemetery "readings," book
reviews, electronic resources (e.g., World Wide Web sites), and irretriev-
ably non-scholarly books (i.e., things along the order of the recently pub-
lished, "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 critical and analyt-
ical 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). Beginning with Markers
XIV, the listing has included a much larger selection of relevant foreign
language materials in the field, formal master's- and doctoral-level theses
and dissertations (important research often not published in the tradi-
tional manner but nonetheless frequently obtainable through interlibrary
loan), and, upon occasion, valuable unpublished typescripts on deposit in
accessible locations. New to this edition's listing are publications on war,
holocaust, and disaster memorials and monuments (their essential func-
tion as cenotaphs relating them to the general field of gravemarkers), as
well as formal papers presented at academic conferences which are rele-
vant to the major themes covered by this bibliography.

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). This
same format was utilized in Markers XIII and again in Markers XIV,

243

adding in each instance previously unreported work from 1990 onwards
as well as the year just completed. Although a few references from the
1990-1995 period have undoubtedly gone unnoticed, it may at this point
be safely assumed that the bibliographic record covering these years is
largely complete. Starting with Markers XV, therefore, "The Year's Work"
has restricted itself to the two years immediately preceding the journal's
annual publication date (thus, in this instance, the years 1997 and 1998):
previously reported work from the earlier of these two years will not be
repeated. To help facilitate this ongoing process, the editor continues to
welcome addenda from readers {complete bibliographic citations, please)
for inclusion in future editions. Although every effort is made to insure
accuracy in these listings, the occasional error or omission may occur, for
which apologies are sincerely offered.

Abt, Josef. Melaten: Kolner Graber unci Geschichte. Koln, Germany: Greven, 1997.

Acklen, Jeanette T. Tennessee Records: Tombstone Inscriptions and Manuscripts. Baltimore, MD:
Clearfield Co., 1998.

Adams, John. Historic Guide To Ross Bay Cemetery, Victoria, B.C., Canada. Rev. Ed. Victoria,
B.C., Canada: Sono Nis Press, 1998.

Adams, Randy. "Culture: Lasting Rites." Canadian Geographic 118:6 (1998), pp. 48ff.

Aguilar-Moreno, Manuel. El Panteon de Belen y el culto a los muertos en Mexico: una busqueda
de la sobrenatural. Guadalajara, Mexico: Secretaria de Cultura, Unidad Editorial, 1997.

Alexander, James R. "Imago Mortis: The Portraiture of Death in The Italian Culture." Paper
presented at Annual Meeting of The American Culture Association, San Antonio, TX,
March 26-29, 1977.

Ambler, Cathy. "The New Deal's Landscape Legacy in Kansas Cemeteries." Markers XV
(1998), pp. 264-285.

. "WPA's Landscape Legacy in Kansas Cemeteries." Paper presented at Annual

Meeting of The American Culture Association, San Antonio, TX, March 26-29, 1997.

Andersson, Thorbjorn. "Appearances and Beyond: Time and Change in Swedish Landscape
Architecture." Journal of Garden History 17 (1997), pp. 278-294.

Aratna, Mohan Wijay. "Funerary Rites in Japanese and Other Asian Buddhist Societies."
Japan Review 8 (1998), pp. 105ff.

Artime, Rafael, et al. Havana's City of Marble: The Necropolis of Colon. Miami, FL: Perennial
Press, Inc., 1998.

Ashabranner, Brent K. Their Names to Live: Wliat the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Means To
America. New York, NY: Twenty-First Century Books, 1998.

Backo, Heather C. "Identifying Catastrophic Assemblages in the Burial Record." Master's
thesis, University of Cincinnati, 1998.

Bade, B. "The Dead are Coming': Mixtec Day of the Dead and the Cultivation of
Community." In Death, Burial, and the Afterlife. Edited by A. Cordy-Collins and G.
Johnson. San Diego, CA: San Diego Museum of Man, 1997, pp. 7-20.

244

Bado-Fralick, Nikki. "A Turning on the Wheel of Life." Folklore Forum 29:1 (1998), pp. 3-22.

Baird, Scott. "Gravemarker Inscriptions: The Problem of Authorship." Paper presented at
Annual Meeting of The American Culture Association, San Antonio, TX, March 26-29,
1997.

Baker, Joan, and Dockall, Helen. "Cemetery Archaeology: Confederate Veterans and the
Texas State Cemetery." Paper presented at Annual Meeting of The Society for Historical
Archaeology, Corpus Christi, TX, January 9-11, 1997.

Ball, Donald B. "Types of Early Grave Decoration in Middle Tennessee." Tennessee Folklore
Society Bulletin 58:3 (1997), pp. 117-127.

Bamberger, Naftali Bar-Giora. Memor-Buch: Die Judischen Friedhbfe in Wandsbek. Hamburg,
Germany: Dolling und Galitz Verlag, 1997.

Bate, John. Lanterns for the Dead: The Medieval 'Lanternes des morts' of Central and South-West
France. Hereford, England: Lapridge Publications, 1998.

Beable, William H. Epitaphs: Graveyard Humor and Eulogy. Detroit, MI: Omnigraphics, 1998.

Bennett, James R. "From Patriotism to Peace: The Humanization of War Memorials." The
Humanist 58:5 (1998), pp. 5-9.

. "Literature and War: The Literature of War Cemeteries." Paper presented at

Annual Meeting of The American Culture Association, Orlando, FL, April 8-11, 1998.

Bentivegna, Joseph J. "An Italian Cemetery in a Non-Italian Community." Paper presented
at Annual Meeting of The American Culture Association, San Antonio, TX, March 26-
29, 1997.

Bergemann, Johannes. Demos und Thanatos: Untersuchungen zum Wertsystem der Polisiun
Spiegel der Attischen Grabreliefs des 4. Jahrhunderts v. Chr. und zur Funktion der
Gleichzeitigen Grabbauten. Miinchen, Germany: Biering & Brinkmann, 1997.

Bigla, Philip. In Honored Glory: Arlington National Cemetery; The Final Post. 3rd Ed., Rev.
Arlington, VA: Vandamere Press, 1998.

Blachowicz, James. "The Gravestone Carving Traditions of Plymouth and Cape Cod."
Markers XV (1998), pp. 38-203.

. "The Last of the Plymouth Angel Carvers." Paper presented at Annual

Conference of The Association for Gravestone Studies, Leicester, MA, June 26-29, 1997.

Bonham, Jeanne Snodgrass. "No Stone Unturned: A Complete Inventory of Rockcastle, KY
Cemeteries." Paper presented at Annual Meeting of The American Culture Association,
San Antonio, TX, March 26-299, 1997.

Botwick, Brad. "Symbolic Functions of Southern Family Cemeteries During the Antebellum
Period." Paper presented at Annual Meeting of The Society for Historical Archaeology,
Corpus Christi, TX, January 9-11, 1997.

Boyang, Wang. Imperial Mausoleums and Tombs. New York, NY: Princeton Architectural Press,
1998.

Bradley, Richard. "Incised Motifs in the Passage-Graves at Quoyness and Culween,
Orkney." Antiquity 72:276 (1998), pp. 387-390.

. "Ruined Buildings, Ruined Stones: Enclosures, Tombs, and Natural Places in

the Neolithic of South-West England." World Archaeology 30:1 (1998), pp. 13ff.

245

Bradshaw, Rachel Margaret. "Tiffany Windows in Richmond and Petersburg, Virginia."
Master's thesis, Virginia Commonwealth University, 1997.

Brandes, Stanley. "Iconography in Mexico's Day of the Dead: Origins and Meaning."
Ethnohistory 45:2 (1998), pp. 181-219.

Broadhurst, Paul. "Different Professions, Different Landscapes: A Comparative Analysis of
the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and Kent State May 4 Memorial Competitions."
Masters thesis, University of Washington, 1997.

Brown, Randy. Graves and Sites on the Oregon and California Trails. 2nd Ed. Independence, MO:
Oregon-California Trails Association, 1998.

Bruce, Alex. Monuments, Memorials and the Local Historian. London, England: The Historical
Association, 1997.

Bruner, David. "Archaeological Investigation and Interpretation of the Judean Cemetry at
the Levi Jordan Plantation." Paper presented at Annual Meeting of The Society for
Historical Archaeology, Atlanta, GA, January 8-10, 1998.

Buckham, Susan. "Fashioning Death: An Archaeological Analysis of the Purchase and
Production of the Victorian Memorials in York Cemetery." Paper presented at Annual
Meeting of The Society for Historical Archaeology, Atlanta, GA, January 8-10, 1998.

Buckland, John A. "Practical Gravestone Conservation." Paper presented at Annual
Conference of The Association for Gravestone Studies, Leicester, MA, June 26-29, 1997.

Burstow, Robert. "The Limits of Modernist Art as a 'Weapon of the Cold War': Reassessing
the Unknown Patron of the Monument to the Unknown Political Prisoner." Oxford Art
Journal 20:1 (1997), pp. 68-94.

Byrne, Denis. In Sad But Loving Memory: Aboriginal Burials and Cemeteries of the Last 200 Years
in NSW. Hurtsville, New South Wales, Australia: NSW National Parks and Wildlife
Service, 1998.

Cabak, Melanie, and Wilson, Kristin. "Gender Differences Among African-American
Interments in the American South." Paper presented at Annual Meeting of The Society
for Historical Archaeology, Atlanta, GA, January 8-10, 1998.

Cancik-Lindemaier, H. "Corpus: Some Philological and Anthropological Remarks Upon
Roman Funerary Customs." Studies in the History of Religion 78 (1998), pp. 417-430.

Capasso, Nicholas J. "The National Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Context:
Commemorative Public Art in America, 1960-1997." Ph.D. dissertation, Rutgers, The
State University of New Jersey, 1998.

Carey, Amos C. Pioneer Burial Sites in Sacramento County, California. Foster City, CA: Mojo
Press, 1998.

Carney, Nancy Doerr. "'So Ancient Yet So New': Alberti's Creation of a Final Resting Place
for Giovanni Rucellai in Florence." Master's thesis, Rice University, 1998.

Carter, Joseph C, ed. The Choro of Metaporto: The Necropolis. Austin, TX: University of Texas
Press, 1998.

Carver, Martin. Sutton Hoo: Burial Ground of Kings. Philadelphia, PA: University of
Pennsylvania Press, 1998.

Cavanagh, William G. A Private Place: Death in Prehistoric Greece. Jonsered, Sweden: Paul
Astroms Forlag, 1998.

246

Cemeteries Heritage Study. Melbourne, Australia: National Trust of Australia, 1997.

Chao, Ch'ao. Chung-kuo ku tai shih k'o kai lun. Pei-ching, China: Wen wu ch'u pan she, 1997.

Charneau, Roger, and Stephani, Antoine. Les ailes et le sablier: le jardin-musee du Pere-Lachaise.
Paris, France: Cercle d'art, 1997.

Chase, Juliet B. "A Dude and His Duds: Burial Costume from an 1864 Gentleman." Paper
presented at Annual Meeting of The American Culture Association, San Antonio, TX,
March 26-29, 1997.

Cheyney, Melissa. "Age, Status, and Gender: Mortality Patterns and Mortuary Practice at
Umm El-Jimal, Jordan." Master's thesis, Western Michigan University, 1997.

Chow, Chun-Shing, and Teather, Elizabeth Kenworthy. "Chinese Graves and Gravemarkers
in Hong Kong." Markers XV (1998), pp. 286-317.

Cieslak, Katarzyna. Tod und Gedanken: Danzigen Epitaphien vom 15. bis zum 20. Jahrhundert.
Luneberg, Germany: Institut Nordostdeutsches Kulturwerk, 1998.

Cobb, Nathaniel T Maine Veterans Memorial Cemetery: History. Waterville, ME: American
Legion Department of Maine, 1998.

Codman, Ogden. Gravestone Inscriptions and Records of Tomb Burials in the Granary Burying
Ground, Boston, Massachusetts. Rev. Ed. Bowie, MD: Heritage Books, 1998.

Collison, Gary L. "German-American Gravestones in Trans-Susquehanna, Pennsylvania,
1750-1850." Paper presented at Annual Meeting of The American Culture Association,
San Antonio, TX, March 23-29, 1997.

. "Primitive and Baroque: German-American Gravestones and Carvers in York

County, Pennsylvania." Paper presented at Annual Conference of The Association for
Gravestone Studies, West Long Branch, NJ, June 25-28, 1998.

Constant, Caroline, Flora, Nicola, and Postiglione, Gennaro. "Malmo Eastern Cemetery:
Discovering the Absolute Value of Simplicity." Casabella 62:659 (1998), pp. 40-65.

Cooley, Francis Rexford. "Tablestones in Hartford's Congregational First Church of Christ."
Paper presented at Annual Meeting of The American Culture Association, San Antonio,
TX, March 26-29, 1997.

. "The Tablestones of the Beauchamps and Chenevards: French Huguenot

Merchants in Eighteenth Century Hartford, Connecticut." Paper presented at Annual
Meeting of The American Culture Association, Orlando, FL, April 8-11, 1998.

Corruccini, Robert S. "On Hawikku Cemetery Kin Groups." American Antiquity: Quarterly
Review of American Archaeology 63:1 (1998), pp. 161-163.

Cox, Margaret, ed. Grave Concerns: Death and Burial in England, 1700-1850. York, England:
British Archaeology Research Report 113, 1998.

Crawford, Sybil Card. "Cast Iron Gravemarkers: New Brunswick Style." Generations: The
Journal of the New Brunswick Genealogical Society 19:4 (1997), pp. 16-18.

Crueling, Marian C. "Finding Where The Bodies Are Hidden: Remote Sensing Methods."
Paper presented at Annual Meeting of The Society for Historical Archaeology, Atlanta,
GA, January 8-10, 1998.

Daniell, Christopher. Death and Burial in Medieval England. New York, NY: Routledge, 1998.

247

Davidson, James M. "The Old Dallas Burial Ground: A Forgotten Cemetery." Southwestern
Historical Quarterly 102:2 (1998), pp. 163ff.

de Boe, Guy, and Verhaeghe, Frans, eds. Death and Burial in Medieval Europe. Zellik, Belgium:
Instituut voor het Archeologisch Patrimonium, 1997.

Dennie, Garrey Michael. "The Cultural Politics of Burial in South Africa, 1884-1990." Ph.D.
dissertation, Johns Hopkins University, 1997.

Dickinson, Richard B. "Staten Island Cemeteries." Paper presented at Annual Conference of
The Association for Gravestone Studies, West Long Branch, NJ, June 25-28, 1998.

Dillon, Tammie. 'Tales of the Crypt': A Living History Project for the Preservation of Arkansas's
Historic Cemeteries. Little Rock, AR: Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, 1998.

Dinel, Paul. Repertoire des monuments des cimetieres de Mont-Laurier. Longueuil, Quebec,
Canada: Editions le Temps retrouve, 1997.

A Directory of Monumental Inscription Lists: Cemeteries in and Near the Province of Quebec. Rev.
Ed. Pointe Claire, Quebec, Canada: Quebec Family History Society, 1997.

Diseroad, Ann F. "Searching for Jack." Paper presented at Annual Conference of The
Association for Gravestone Studies, West Long Branch, NJ, June 25-28, 1998.

Divak, Yvonne. "The Obed M. Coleman Monument." Paper presented at Annual Conference
of The Association for Gravestone Studies, West Long Branch, NJ, June 25-28, 1998.

Dobinson, C.S. "Monuments of War: Defining England's 20th-Century Defence Heritage."
Antiquity 71 (1997), pp. 288-299.

Dobson, David. Scottish-American Gravestones, 1700-1900. Baltimore, MD: Genealogical
Publishing Co., 1998.

Doi, Takuji. Soso to haka no minzoku. Tokyo, Japan: Iwata Shoin, 1997.

Ducci, Teo. In memoria della deportazione: opere di architetti Italiani. Milano, Italy: Mazzotta,
1997.

Dusenbery, Elsbeth. The Nekropoleis. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1998.

Eckert, Eva. "Language and Ethnicity Maintenance: Evidence of Czech Tombstone
Inscriptions." Markers XV (1998), pp. 204-233.

. "The Vernacular of Tombstone Inscriptions: The Role of Diacritic Signs." Paper

presented at Annual Meeting of The American Culture Association, San Antonio, TX,
March 26-29, 1997.

Edgette, J. Joseph. "Atop The Grave: Its Goods vs. Its Decorations." Paper presented at
Annual Meeting of The American Culture Association, Orlando, FL, April 8-11, 1998.

. "Death Sites and Grave Sites: Bridging the Memory." Paper presented at Annual

Meeting of The American Folklore Society, Austin, TX, October 30-November, 1, 1997.

'Epitaphs: Everlasting Expressions of Empathy." Paper presented at Annual

Conference of The Association for Gravestone Studies, Leicester, MA, June 26-29, 1997.

. "Frozen Countenances: Form and Function of Cemetery Effigies." Paper pre-
sented at Annual Meeting of The American Folklore Society, Portland, OR, October 28-
November, 1, 1998.

. "Goodbye Aimee: Genesis of a Roadside Memorial." Paper presented at Annual

Meeting of The American Culture Association, San Antonio, TX, March 26-29, 1997.

248

Ekins, Ashley K. A Guide to the Battlefields, Cemeteries and Memorials of the Gallipoli Peninsula.
Canberra, Australia: Australian War Memorial, 1998.

Elmore, Charles J. An Historical Guide to Laurel Grove Cemeten/ South. Savannah, GA: King-
Tisdell Cottage Foundation, 1998.

Enderlein, Lorenz. Die Grablegen des Hauses Anjou in Unteritalien: Totenkult und Monumente
1266-1343. Worms am Rhein, Germany: Wernersche Vorlagsgesellschaft, 1997.

Engels, Johannes. Funerum Sepulcrorumaue Magnificemtia: Begrabnis- und Grabluxusgesetze in
der Griechisch-Roischen Welt mit einigen Ausblicken auf Einschrankungen des Funernlen und
Sepulkralen Luxux im Mittelater und in der Neuzeit. Stuttgart, Germany: F. Steiner, 1998.

Esch, Darcy. "Moravian Graveyards of Winston-Salem, North Carolina." Paper presented at
Annual Meeting of The American Culture Association, San Antonio, TX, March 26-29,
1997.

Evstrapov, A. A., Kurochkin, V.E., and Panina, L.K. "Using Reflective Spectrophotometry to
Determine the Biodegradation of Monuments Made From Marble.' Journal of Optical
Technology 65:5 (1998), pp. 350-353.

Ezzell, Patricia Bernard, and Ezzell, Timothy P. "Southern Crosses: Roadside Memorials in
the Upper South." Paper presented at Annual Meeting of The American Culture
Association, San Antonio, TX, March 26-29, 1997.

Fairbanks, Jonathan. "Stories Behind the Stones." Paper presented at Annual Conference of
The Association for Gravestone Studies, Leicester, MA, June 26-29, 1997.

Falk, Fritz Joachim. Die Glaubenszuversicht der Gronlandfahrer: die Glaubenszuversicht der
Grolandfahrer, Zeugnisse aus dem 18. Jahrhundert. Bredstedt, Germany: Nordfriesisches
Institut, 1997.

Farley, Ned William. "Maple Grove Cemetery 1900-1997: A Study of the Cemetery's Overall
Demography and the Change in Frequencies of One Hundred Randomly Sampled
Surnames." Master's thesis, Wichita State University, 1998.

Faust, Jurgen. Betahaim: Sefardische Graber in Schleswig-Holstein. Gliickstadt, Germany: J.J.
Augustin, 1997.

Fieloux, Michele. Les memoires de Bindute Da. Pais, France: Editions de l'Ecole des hautes
etudes en sciences sociales, 1998.

Finn, David. "The Korean War Veterans Memorial." Sculpture Review 46:4 (1998), pp. 22-25.

Formanek, Paula Anne. "An Assessment of Groundwater Contamination at Cemetery
Sites." Master's thesis, Queen's University at Kingston (Canada), 1998.

Foster, Gary S., Hummel, Richard L., and Adamchak, Donald J. "Patterns of Conception,
Natality, and Mortality from Midwestern Cemeteries: A Sociological Analysis of
Historical Data." Sociological Quarterly 39:3 (1998), pp. 473-490.

Francis, D. "Sustaining Relations in the Place of Death: Cultural Beliefs and Public
Performance in the English Cemeteries." Paper presented at Conference on The Social
Context of Death, Dying and Disposal, 1997, Cardiff, Wales.

Frank, Daniel. "A Jewish Tombstone from Ra's Al-Khaimah." The Journal of Jewish Studies
49:1 (1998), pp. 103-107.

Frazer, Harriet, and Oestreicher, Christine. The Art of Remembering. Manchester, England:
Carcanet, 1998.

249

Frey, Diane. "Contemporary Funerary Practices." Paper presented at Annual Meeting of The
American Culture Association, San Antonio, TX, March 26-29, 1977.

Friel, Maeve. Here Lies: A Guide to Irish Graves. Dublin, Ireland: Poolbeg, 1997.

Fry, Susan. Burial in Medieval Ireland. Portland, OR: International Specialized Book Services,
1998.

Gabel, Laurel K. "Working With the Farber Collection on CD ROMs: Findings and
Footnotes." Paper presented at Annual Meeting of The American Culture Association,
April 8-11, 1998.

. "Unsolved Mysteries and New Discoveries: Working with the Farber

Collection." Paper presented at Annual Conference of The Association for Gravestone
Studies, Leicester, MA, June 26-29, 1997.

Gaffney, Angela. Aftermath: Remembering The Great War in Wales. Cardiff, Wales: University
of Wales Press, 1998.

. "Monuments and Memory: The Great War." In Consuming the Past: History and

Heritage. Edited by J. Arnold, K. Davies, and S. Ditchfield. Shaftesbury England:
Donhead, 1998, pp. 79-90.

Gallagher, Thomas E. "Integration of Old and New Burial Customs Among the Old Order
Amish of Southeastern Pennsylvania." Paper presented at Annual Meeting of The
American Folklore Society, Portland, OR, October 28-November 1, 1998.

Gaudet, Marcia. "The Graveyard at Carville: Memory and History Interred." Paper present-
ed at Annual Meeting of The American Folklore Society, Portland, OR, October 28-
November 1, 1998.

Geake, Helen. The Use of Grave Goods in Conversion-Period England, c.600-c.850. Oxford,
England: British Archaeological Reports, 1997.

Gelbert, Doug. American Revolutionary War Sites, Memorials, Museums and Library Collections:
A State-by-State Guidebook to Places Open to the Public. Jefferson, NC: Mcfarland & Co.,
1998.

. Civil War Sites, Memorials, Museums and Library Collections: A State-by-State

Guidebook to Places Open to the Public. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 1997.

Gentile, George. History of The Iwo Jima Survivors Association, Inc. and The National Iwo Jima
Memorial. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1997.

Gilbert, Donna. "Conjugal Couples in Etruscan Funerary Art of the Archaic Age." Master's
thesis, Tufts University, 1997.

Gottlieb, Freema. Symboly Zidovske Zivota: Mysticky Vyklad Ndhrobnich Reliefu. Praha, Czech
Republic, 1998.

Gradwohl, David Mayer. "Benditcha Sea Vuestra Memoria: Sephardic Jewish Cemeteries in the
Caribbean and Eastern North America." Paper presented at Annual Meeting of The
American Culture Association, San Antonio, TX, March 26-29, 1997.

. "Benditcha Sea Vuestra Memoria: Sephardic Jewish Cemeteries in the Caribbean

and Eastern North America." Markers XV (1998), pp. vi-29.
. "The Grave of Painter and Poet T.C. Cannon: Cemetery Symbols and Contexts

of American Indian Identity." Paper presented at Annual Meeting of The Society for
Historical Archaeology, Atlanta, GA, January 8-10, 1998.

250

. "Jewish Cemeteries in Germany: Antecedents and Parallels for American

Patterns." Paper presented at Annual Meeting of The American Culture Association,
Orlando, FL, April 8-11, 1998.

_. "Parakeet to Paradise: An Ethnoarchaeological Perspective on the U.S. Military

Pet Cemetery of The Presidio at San Francisco." Paper presented at Annual Meeting of
The Society for Historical Archaeology, Corpus Christi, TX, January 9-11, 1997.

Graves, Thomas E. "To Sing the Song of Death: Funeral Hymns on Gravestones." Paper pre-
sented at Annual Meeting of The American Culture Association, San Antonio, TX,
March 26-29, 1997.

Green, Jonathan. Famous Last Words. North Pomfret, England: Trafalgar Square, 1998.

Guidelines for the Conservation of Cemeteries in Western Australia. Canberra, Australia:
Australian Council of National Trusts, 1997.

Guilaine, Jean. Sepultures d'Occident et geneses des megalithmes: 9000-3500 avant notre era. Paris,
France: Editions Errance, 1998.

Halporn, Roberta. "African-American Gravestones in the Northeastern United States."
Paper presented at Annual Conference of The Association for Gravestone Studies, West
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Handler, Jerome S. "Problematical Glass Artifacts from a Slave Cemetery in Barbados, West
Indies." Paper presented at Annual Meeting of The Society for Historical Archaeology,
Atlanta, GA, January 8-10, 1998.

Harmon, Thomas J. "Old World Reflections: Ethnic Cemeteries of Pennsylvania's Shenango
Valley." Paper presented at Annual Meting of The American Culture Association,
Orlando, FL, April 8-11, 1998.

Harlow, liana. "Neighborhoods of the Dead: Cultures of Queens Cemeteries." Paper pre-
sented at Annual Meeting of The American Folklore Society, Portland, OR, October 28-
November 1, 1998.

Harvey, Bruce, and Upton, Dell. "The Urban Cemetery and the Urban Community: The
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Hass, Kristin Ann. Carried to the Wall: American Memory and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1998.

Hawass, Zahi. "Tombs of the Pyramid Builders." Archaeology 50:1 (1997), pp. 39-43.

Hecht, Lea. "Volga-German Iron Crosses and Commemorative Markers." Paper presented at
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Heege, Karen V. "Grave Decorations at Hill Grove Cemetery in South-Central Kentucky."
Paper presented at Annual Meeting of The American Culture Association, Orlando, FL,
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. "'They're Pretty, But They're Work': Shell-Decorated Graves as Community

Art." Folklore Forum 29:1 (1998), pp. 65-100.

Helsley, Alexia Jones. Silent Cities: Cemeteries and Classrooms. Columbia, SC: South Carolina
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251

Henderson, Desiree. "The Production of National Mourning: History, Cemeteries, and the
American Leisure Class." Paper presented at Annual Convention of The American
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Herrick, Linda M., and Uncapher, Wendy K. Cemetery Locations in Wisconsin. Janesville, WI:
Origins, 1998.

Heywood, Janet. "Draped Shapes: Concealing and Revealing." Paper presented at Annual
Meeting of The American Culture Association, Orlando, FL, April 8-11, 1998, and at
Annual Conference of The Association for Gravestone Studies, West Long Branch, NJ,
June 25-28, 1998.

. "'Eternally Enclosed': Defining Family Burial Space in Granite." Paper present-
ed at Annual Meeting of The American Culture Association, San Antonio, TX, March
26-29, 1997, and at Annual Conference of The Association for Gravestone Studies,
Leicester, MA, June 26-29, 1997.

Hiebert, Debra. Stories in Stone: A Sharing of the Lives of Some Wlio Rest in Topeka Cemetery.
Topeka, KS: Shawnee County Historical Society, 1998.

Hill, Erica. "Death As a Rite of Passage: The Iconography of the Moche Burial Theme."
Antiquity 72:277 (1998), pp. 528-538.

Hoffmann-Curtius, Kathrin. "Memorials for the Dachau Concentration Camps." Oxford Art
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Hofhansl, Ernst. "Kulturkundliche Beobachtungen zu Tod und Begrabnis in evangelisch-
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Hope, Valerie M. "A Roof Over the Dead: Communal Tombs and Family Structure." Journal
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. "Constructing Roman Identity: Funerary Monuments and Social Structure in

the Roman World." Mortality 2:2 (1997), pp. 103-122.

Horton, Loren N. "Cemeteries and Funerals as Subjects for the Arts." Paper presented at
Annual Meeting of The American Culture Association, Orlando, FL, April 8-11, 1998.

. "Stone Cutters and Monument Dealers in 19th Century Iowa." Paper presented

at Annual Meeting of The American Culture Association, San Antonio, TX, March 26-
29, 1997.

Hotz, Mary E. "On the Bodies of the Poor: English Representations of Death Rituals, 1835-
1865." Ph.D. dissertation, University of Chicago, 1997.

Hughes, Nathaniel Cheairs, Jr., and Ware, Thomas Clayton. Theodore O'Hara: Poet-Soldier of
the Old South. Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee Press, 1998.

Hughes, Ruth Anne. "Peonies and Luminaries: Southern Indiana's Memorial Day and
Louisiana's La Touisant." Paper presented at Annual Meeting of The American
Folklore Society, Austin, TX, October 30-November 1, 1997.

Huret, Joel. Le saillant de Saint-Mihiel, 1914-1918: sites et monuments de la region de Pont-a-
Mousson et d'Apremont-la-Foret. Metz, France: Serpenoise, 1997.

Husmann, John. "Monument to Civilization: Landscape of Nature." Paper presented at
Annual Meeting of The American Culture Association, Orlando, FL, April 8-11, 1998.

252

Inglis, Kenneth S. Sacred Places: War Memorials in the Australian Landscape. Carlton, Victoria,
Australia: Miegunyah Press at Melbourne University Press, 1998.

Ingram, Anne Marie, "The Dearly Not-Quite Departed: Funerary Rituals and Beliefs About
the Dead in Ukrainian Culture." Ph.D. dissertation, University of Virginia, 1998.

Inskeep, Carollee. The Graveyard Shift: New York City Metropolitan Area Cemeteries. Orem, UT:
Ancestry, Inc., 1998.

Jacob, Kathryn, and Remsberg, Edwin Harlan. Testament to Union: Civil War Monuments in
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Jacobsen, Werner. "Saints' Tombs in Frankish Church Architecture." Speculum 72:4 (1997),
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James, Jean M. A Guide to the Tomb and Shrine Art of the Han Dynasty, 206 B.C. - A.D. 220.
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Jenks, Peggy. "Two Modern Vermont Marble Gravestones." Paper presented at Annual
Conference of The Association for Gravestone Studies, West Long Branch, NJ, June 25-
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Jennings, Eric. T "Monuments to Frenchness? The Memory of the Great War and the Politics
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Johnson, Mark J. "Pagan-Christian Burial Practices of the Fourth Century: Shared Tombs?"
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Johnson, Yvonne. "A Tale of Two Cemeteries: Cherokee Removal and Material Culture."
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Johnston, Hank. Guide to the Yosemite Cemetery. Yosemite National Park, CA: Yosemite
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Jones, C.R. "Gravestones in American Folk and Popular Art." Paper presented at Annual
Conference of The Association for Gravestone Studies, Leicester, MA, June 26-29, 1997.

. "Where It All Began." Paper presented at Annual Conference of The Association

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Kamp, Kathyrn A. "Social Hierarchy and Burial Treatments: A Comparative Assessment."
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Kanawati, N., and Hassan, A. The Tei Cemetery at Saggar II: The Tomb of Ankhmattor. Oakville,
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Karamanski, Theodore J. "Memory's Landscape." Chicago History 26:2 (1997), pp. 54-72.

Karnos, David D. "Cyrillic Poetry in the Heart of Crow Country." Paper presented at Annual
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Karrick, Kathleen H, "The J.H. Wade Memorial Chapel: A Glittering Gem in Lake View
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Kay, Dianne H. "Cemetery Relocation: Emerging Urban Land Development Issue." Journal
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Keen, Mary. We Will Remember Them: The Lives Behind the Richmond Cenotaph. Richmond, B.C.,
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253

Kehoe-Forutan, Sandra. "Thursday Island Cemetery." Paper presented at Annual Meeting of
The American Culture Association, San Antonio, TX, March 26-29, 1997.

Keller, Manfred, and Wilbertz, Gisela. Spuren im Stein: Ein Bochumer Friedhof als Spiegel
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Kerrigan, Michael. Wlio Lies Wliere: A Guide to Famous Graves. London, England: Fourth
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King, Alex. Memorials of The Great War in Britain: The Symbolism and Politics of Remembrance.
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Kipnis, S.E. Novodevichii Memorial: Nekropol? Monastyria i Kladbishcha. Moskva, Rusia: Art-
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Kloberdanz, Timothy J. "Through the Leaves: Portrait of a Tri-Cultural Cross Maker." Paper
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Knipp, David. Christus 'Medicus' in der Fruhchristlichen Sarkophagskulptur: Ikonographische
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Kormushin, I.V. Tiurkskie Eniseiskie Epitafii: Teksty i Issledovaniia. Moskva, Russia: Nauks,
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Kosmopoulou, Angeliki. "A Funerary Vase from Kallithea: New Light on Fifth-Century
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Kduts, Eerik. Cross and Iron: Burial Wrought-lron Crosses from Northern Estonia Made by Village
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Kubarev, A.G. Kaliazinskii Nekropol?: Gorod Kaliazin Tuerskoi Gubernii. Sankt-Petersburg,
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Kuhn, Dieter. Die Kunst des Grabbaus: Kuppelgraber der Liao-Zeit (907-1125). Heidelberg,
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Kummerling, Ruthild. Rechtsprobleme Kirchlicher Friedhofe. Sinzheim, Germany: Pro
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Kushner, Alexsanrr. Russkaia Stikhotvornaia Epitafiia. Sankt-Petersburg, Russia:
Gumanitarnoe Agentstvo "Akademicheskii Proekt," 1998.

Kuttruff, Jenna Tedrick. "A Historical Exhumation Project in South Louisiana: Textiles and
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Society for Historical Archaeology, Atlanta, GA, January 8-10, 1998.

Lang, Jean-Michel. Ossuaries de Lorraine: un aspect oublie d culte des marts. Metz, France:
Editions Serpenoise, 1998.

Lannan, Robert W. "Anthropology and Restless Spirits: The Native American Graves
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Larkin, Gerard. A Guide to Abbey Cemetery. Loughrea, County Galway, Ireland: Abbey
Community Development Association, 1997.

Lassere, Madeleine. Villes et cimetieres en France de I'Ancien Regime a non jours: le territoire des
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254

Le Dinahet, M-Th. "Etrangers et commercants a Delos: Quelques enseignements des epi-
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Leisten, Thomas. Architektur fur Tote: Bestattung in Architektonischem Kontext in den Kern-
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Leon Leon, Marco Antonio. Sepultura sagrada, tumba frofana: los espacios de la muerte en Santiago
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Levinson, Sanford. Written in Stone: Public Monuments in Changing Societies. Durham, NC:
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Lindley, P. "Innovations, Tradition and Disruption in Tomb Sculpture." In The Age of
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Little, M. Ruth. Sticks and Stones: Three Centuries of North Carolina Gravemarkers. Chapel Hill,
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Lloyd, David W. Battlefield Tourism: Pilgrimage and the Commemoration of The Great War in
Britain, Australia and Canada, 1919-1939. Oxford, England: Berg, 1998.

Logan, Charles Rusell. 'Something So Dim It Must be Holy': Civil War Commemorative Sculpture
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Long, Carolyn Morrow. "Folk Gravesites in New Orleans: Arthur Smith Honors the
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Lorusso, Salvatoro, Marabelli, Maurizio, and Troilo, Massimo. "Air Pollution and the
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Lowe, Stephen Todd. "The Site of Mourning: Funerary Architecture and Ritual in the Edge
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Mack, Alastair. The Association ofPictish Symbol Stones with Ecclesiastical, Burial, and Memorial
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Mack, Mark E. "Listening to Voices of the Past to Inform the Future: The New York African
Burial Ground Project." Paper presented at Annual Meeting of The Society for
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Madel-Bohringer, Claudia. Die Inschriften des Eandkreises Gonzburg. Wiesbaden, Germany: L.
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Maher, Denise. Medieval Grave Sites of County Tipperary, 1200-1600 A.D. Oxford, England:
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Malloy, Brenda. "Markers of the Ministers' Wives in Northern Worcester County,
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Malloy, Thomas A. "Markers of the Congregational Ministry in Northern Worcester County,
Massachusetts." Paper presented at Annual Meeting of The American Culture
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. "Murder in Massachusetts: It's Written in Stone." Paper presented at Annual

Meeting of The American Culture Association, Orlando, FL, April 8-11, 1998, and (with
Brenda Malloy) at Annual Conference of The Association for Gravestone Studies, West
Long Branch, NJ, June 25-28, 1998.

255

Marckel, Greg. "A Metaphorical Landscape: The Primal Monument and the Cemetery
Space." Master's thesis, Kent State University, 1997.

Marino, Daniela. "Prayer for a Sleeping Child: Iconography of the Funeral Ritual of Little
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Marshall, }. Kent. "Contemplare: Mausoleum and Sanctuary." Master's thesis, Mississippi
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Martin, Frank. "'L'emulazione della romana anticha grandezza': Camillo Rusconi's Grabmal
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Martin, Geoffrey Thorndike. The Tomb ofTia and Tia: A Royal Monument of the Ramesside Period
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Masset, Claude. Les dolmens: societes neolithiques, pratiques funeraires: les sepultures collectives
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McCarthy, John P. "Material Culture and the Performance of Sociocultural Identity:
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. "Plates in the Grave: An Africanism?" Paper presented at Annual Meting of The

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McClure, Evelyn S. Sebastopol's Historic Cemetery: A Serendipitous Guide to the Pioneers and
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McGregory, Jerrilyn. "African-American Graveyards in Wiregrass Country." Paper present-
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. "My Soul Will Be Lifted on the Other Shore: An Investigation Into African-

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_. "The Rest Is Up to You and Me': African-American Burial Leagues." Paper pre-

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McKenzie, Maisie. Devil's Marble: The Story of John Flynn's Grave in Central Australia, and of the
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McLean, Ann Hunter. "Unveiling the Lost Cause: A Study of Monuments to the Civil War
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Mellink, Machteld, J. Kizibel: An Archaic Painted Tomb Chamber in Northern Lycia.
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Messimer, Claire. "Chubby Cherubs of the Pennsylvania Germans." Paper presented at
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Meyer, Richard E. "Cemeteries." In Encyclopedia of Rural America: The Land and People. Vol. 1.
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Michael, Jennifer. "(Web)Sites of Memory: Virtual Memorials on the Internet." Paper pre-
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Middleton, William D., Feinman, Gary M., and Villegas, Guillermo Molina. "Tomb Use and
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Mitford, Jessica. The American Way of Death Revisited. New York, NY: Knopf, 1998.

Moore, Kelley. "Death in Architecture." Master's thesis, North Carolina State University,
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Moriarty, Catherine. Sites of Memory: War Memorials at the End of the Twentieth Century.
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Morris, Richard. Sinners, Lovers, and Heroes: An Essay on Memorializing in Three American
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Murphy, Bernadette. "Remembrance Remembered, Remembrance Observed: An Irishman's
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Muttikambele, V.R.M., Owen, E., and Mtenga, L.A. "Capacity of Goats to Reach for Food
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Natale, Mauro. Sculptura Lombarda del Rinascimento i monumenti Borromeo. Torino, Italy:
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Nature's Choicest Spot: A Guide to Forest Home and German Waldheim Cemeteries. Oak Pari, IL:
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Naumann-Steckner, Friederike. Tod am Rhein: Begrabnisse im Friihen Koln. Koln, Germany:
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Niccolai, Foresto. L'urne de' forti: monumenti e iscrizioni sepolcrali. Firenze, Italy: Tipografia
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Nicol, Robert. Fairway to Heaven: The Story of Emfield, Australia's First Lawn Cemetery.
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Nigh, Robin Franklin. "Under Grave Conditions." Paper presented at Annual Meeting of
The American Culture Association, Orlando, FL, April 8-11, 1998.

Olivero, J.R., and Burns, Stanley B. Death in America: A Chronological History of Illness and
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Olsen, Susan. "Reading the Graves of American Authors." Paper presented at Annual
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Pavelchak, Ken. "The Western Front's Neighboring Dead." Paper presented at Annual
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Pearson, Lynn F. Discovering Famous Graves. Princes Risborough, England: Shire, 1998.

Peckmann, Tanya Rochelle. "Burials from a Historic Hudson Bay Company Cemetery at
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Pennucci, A. "Control of 'Garden-Escape' Weeds in New England Cemeteries." Proceedings
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Pentikainen, Juha (Producer). "We Still Remember." Film presented at Annual Meeting of
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Perera, Alec Suresh. "Cenotaph for Marcel Duchamp." Master's thesis, Texas Tech
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Peress, Gilles, et al. The Graves: Forensic Efforts at Srebrenica and Vukovar. New York, NY:
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Pesci, Giovanna. La Certosa di Bologna: immortalita della memoria. Bologna, Italy: Editrice com-
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Petrucci, Armando. Writing the Dead: Death and Writing Strategies in the Western Tradition.
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Pitts, Reginald H., and LaRoche, Cheryl Jarufer. "Artifacts and Gender at the African Burial
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Pope, Wiley R., and Pope, Juanita J. Minnesota Cemetery Locations. 2nd Ed. Saint Paul, MN:
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Portraits and Masks: Burial Customs in Roman Egypt. London, England: British Museum Press,
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Posey, Sandra Mizumoto. "Grave and Image: Holiday Grave Decorations in a Southern
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Powell, Leah Carson. "Folk Narratives, Archaeology, and Descendant Communities: A Case
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thesis, Texas A&M University, 1998.

Prade, Guy de la. Le Cimetiere de Passy et ses sepultures' celebres. Paris, France: Editions des
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Proceedings of the 1995 and 1996 Symposia, 'Death, Burial, and the Afterlife: Landscapes and
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Purcell, Trina. "Modern Stories in an Old Graveyard." Paper presented at Annual
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Purnell, Nanette Napoleon. O'ahu Cemetery: Burial Ground & Historic Site. Honolulu, Hawaii:
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Rabinbach, Anson. "From Explosion to Erosion: Holocaust Memorialization in America
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Rasic, Alexandra. "'City of the Dead' in the City of Angels." Paper presented at Annual
Meeting of The American Culture Association, San Antonio, TX, March 26-29, 1997, and
at Annual Conference of The Association for Gravestone Studies, Leicester, MA, June
26-29, 1997.

Ravenna, Paolo. Ancient Meadow of the Jews: The Jewish Cemetery of Ferrara. Ferrara, Italy:
Corbo. 1998.

Read, Esther Doyle. "The Episcopalians and the Paupers: Reflections of Social Values After
Death." Paper presented at Annual Meeting of The Society for Historical Archaeology,
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Reisem, Richard O. Field Guide to Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo, New York. Buffalo, NY: Forest
Lawn Heritage Foundation, 1998.

Resnick, Ben, Owsley, Douglas, and Frankenberg, Susan R. "Rather for the Sake of the Living
than of the Dead: A Civil War Battlefield Burial, Gettysburg National Military Park,
Pennsylvania." Paper presented at Annual Meeting of The Society for Historical
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Richardson, Milda B., Milius, Vacys, and Girininkiene, Vida. "Images of Tragedy and Hope:
Antakalnis Cemetery as Sacred Refuge." Paper presented at Annual Meeting of The
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Richman, Jeffrey I. Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery: New York's Buried Treasure. Brooklyn, NY:
The Green- Wood Cemetery, 1998.

Riordan, Timothy B. "The 17th Century Cemetery at St. Mary's City: Mortuary Practices in
the Early Chesapeake." Historical Archaeology 31:4 (1997), pp. 28-40.

Rogers, Katherine L. "Grave Goods from the Hampstead Hill Cemeteries." Paper presented
at Annual Meeting of The Society for Historical Archaeology, Corpus Christi, TX,
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Rotundo, Barbara. "Cenotaphs." Paper presented at Annual Conference of The Association
for Gravestone Studies, Leicester, MA, June 26-29, 1997.

Rubin, Nissan. Kets ha-hayim: tikse kevurah va-evel bi-mekorot Hazal. Tel Aviv, Israel: ha-Kibuts
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Rugg, Julie, ed. CBA Directory of Cemeteries and Crematoria in the UK. London, England:
Confederation of Burial Authorities, 1997.

.. "'A Few Remarks on Modern Sepulture': Current Trends and New Directions in

Cemetery Research." Mortality 3:2 (1998), pp. 111-128.

'The Origins and Progress of Cemetery Establishment in Britain." In The

Changing Face of Death. Edited by PC. Jupp and G. Howarth. Basingstoke, England:
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Saito, Tadashi. Kofun bimka to hekiga. Tokyo, Japan: Yuzankaku, 1997.

Santone, Lenore, and Irish, Joel D. "Buried in Haste: Historic Interments from Governor's
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Sapozhnikov, I.V. Kam?iani khresty stepovo'i Ukra'iny: XVIII persha polovyna XIX st. Odesa,
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Savage, Kirk. Standing Soldiers, Kneeling Slaves: Race, War, and Monuments in Nineteenth-
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Sborgi, Franco. Staglieno e la scultura funeraria ligure tra Ottocento e Novecento. Torino, Italy:
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Schmidt, R. Marilyn. "Churches and Graveyards." In Exploring the Pine Barrens of New Jersey.
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Scholten, Frits. "Francois Dieussart, Constantijn Huygens, and the Classical Ideal in
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264

CONTRIBUTORS

Jonathan L. Fairbanks is the Katharine Lane Weems Curator of American
Decorative Arts and Sculpture at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston,
Massachusetts. A graduate of the University of Utah, he has also received
advanced degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and the
Winterthur Museum through the University of Delaware. Selected publi-
cations include his co-authorship of American Furniture, 1620 to the Present
(1981) and Collecting American Decorative Arts and Sculpture (1991). He has
held teaching positions at Harvard University, Boston University, and
Wellesley College, is a trustee of Forest Hills Cemetery (Jamaica Plain,
Boston), and currently serves as President of The Decorative Arts Trust. In
1997, he was recipient of the Medal for Excellence in Craft, an award pre-
sented by the Society of Arts & Crafts.

John Fitzsimmons teaches woodworking at the Fenn School in Concord,
Massachusetts and works as a youth minister at Catholic churches in the
Concord area. A talented singer /songwriter, his CD Fires in the Belly was
released in 1996. Raccoon, a book of original poems, many with a New
England flavor, appeared in 1995.

Laurel K. Gabel, Research Clearinghouse Coordinator of The Association
for Gravestone Studies, has published a number of important articles on
early American gravemarkers, including a seminal study of fraternal
symbolism in Markers XI. Teaming with Theodore Chase, she has pub-
lished articles on early New England carvers in Markers III and Markers V,
as well as the two-volume Gravestone Chronicles: Some Eighteenth-Century
New England Carvers and Their Work (1997). In 1988 she was recipient of the
AGS' Harriette M. Forbes Award for excellence in gravestone studies.

Vincent F. Luti, 1997 recipient of the Association for Gravestone Studies'
Harriette M. Forbes Award for excellence in gravestone studies, has con-
tributed greatly to our understanding of early gravestone carvers of the
Narragansett Basin area, including studies of Seth Luther published in
Rhode Island History and of Stephen and Charles Hartshorn in Markers II.
He is Professor Emeritus of Music at the University of Massachusetts
Dartmouth.

265

Tom and Brenda Malloy have presented - both singly and jointly - a
number of scholarly papers on various aspects of cemeteries and grave-
markers at annual conferences of both the Association for Gravestone
Studies and the American Culture Association.. Tom is Professor of
American History at Mount Wachusett Community College in Gardner,
Massachusetts; Brenda teaches fifth grade in Westminster, Massachusetts,
and has served on the Board of Trustees of AGS as the Association's sec-
retary. Earlier articles by them have appeared in Markers IX, Markers XI,
and Markers XIV.

Richard E. Meyer is Professor Emeritus of English and Folklore at
Western Oregon University. Besides serving as editor of Markers for the
last seven issues, 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, a commissioner on
the State of Oregon's five-person State Pioneer Cemetery Commission,
and from 1986-1996 chaired the Cemeteries and Gravemarkers section of
the American Culture Association. His articles on Oregon pioneer grave-
markers and (with David M. Gradwohl) on San Francisco's Presidio Pet
Cemetery have appeared in Markers XI and Markers XII, respectively. In
1998 he was a recipient of the Association for Gravestone Studies'
Harriete M. Forbes Award for excellence in gravestone studies. Having
begun his career as a folklorist with studies of American outlaw folklore,
he has recently had the opportunity to revisit these interests by writing
the Introductions to two University of Nebraska books on Jesse James and
Cole Younger.

James A. Slater, Professor Emeritus of Biology at the University of
Connecticut, is a charter member of the Association for Gravestone
Studies and has over the years served that organization as both vice pres-
ident and member of the Board of Trustees. He has published a number
of books on the Systematics and Biology of Insects, as well as more than
250 journal articles. His numerous awards range from the Entomological
Society of America's L.O. Howard Award to the AGS's Harriette
Merrifield Forbes Award for excellence in gravestone studies, and he has
published studies of the work of early American gravestone carvers

266

Obadiah Wheeler, John Hartshorne, and Jonathan and John Loomis. His
1987 book, The Colonial Burying Grounds of Eastern Connecticut and the Men
Wlw Made Them, is considered a seminal work in the field. He was editor
of the papers of Dr. Ernest Caulfield in Markers VIII.

David H. Walters is the James H. Hayes and Claire Short Hayes Chair in
the Humanities at the University of New Hampshire, where he teaches in
the Department of English. The author of numerous studies of early New
England gravestone art, including "With Bodilie Eyes": Eschatological
Themes in Puritan Literature and Gravestone Art (1981), he also served as
editor of Markers II, Markers III, and Markers IV. With folklorist Burt
Feintuch, he is preparing for publication the Encyclopedia of New England
Culture.

267

INDEX

Boldface page numbers [in brackets] indicate illustrations

Adams, Elizabeth 78

Adams, Henry 122-124

Adams, John 38

Adams, Marion 122-123

Adams Memorial, Rock Creek Cemetery,

Washington, D.C. (Augustus Saint-

Gaudens and Stanford White) 122-124,

[123]
Adams, Sarah 40, 62, [63]
Adelphai College, Boonville, MO 143-144,

[142]
Adelphai Society 167
Agrippina Landing at Brundisium with the

Ashes of Germanicus (Benjamin West)

113
Albert Woolson Memorial (Avard T.

Fairbanks) 129
Allen, Elisha 216-218, [217]
Allen family carvers 43, 48, 58
Allen, Gabriel 53

Allen, George 17, 21, 38, 44, 52, 70
Allen, George, Jr. 43, 96
Allen, Robert 74
Allen, Ruth 74
Allen, Sarah 75-76, [76]
American Union Monument, Mount

Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, MA

(Joseph and Martin Milmore) 118-120,

[118]
Ames Foundry, Chicopee, MA 116
Amos Binney Monument, Mount Auburn

Cemetery, Cambridge, MA (Thomas

Crawford) 113, [114]
Andrew Jackson Monument, Washington,

D.C. (Clark Mills) 113-115, [115]
Appeal to the Great Spirit, Boston, MA

(Cyrus Edwin Dallin) 126-127, [127]
Arrow Rock Female Academy, MO 143
Association for Gravestone Studies 1, 4
Attleboro, MA 6-103

Balkcom, Alexander 46, [45, 46]
Ball, John 181, 206

Ball Seminary, Hoosick Falls, NY 143
Ball, Thomas 119-120

Barnet, Hannah 181, [182]

Barnet, Jean 181, [182]

Barnet, Sarah 181, [185]

Barr, Mary 181

Barrett, Mary 41

Bart, Samuel 201

Bartlet, Samuel [190]

Bate, John 109

Bauman, Richard 200

Beal, Abigail [53]

Beal, Ebenezer 59

Beal, Elizabeth 47, [49]

Beal, Elizabeth and John 26

Beal, Embrous 22

Beaman, Gamaliel 13

Benes, Peter 22, 59-60, 181

Benga 160-161

Billings, Jerusha 40

Binney, Amosll3, [114]

Blake, Ann 20, 97, [20]

Bliss, Lydia 32

Borden, Lizzie 234

Borglum, Solon 126

Boonville Female Institute, Boonville, MO

143
Bradstreet, Anne 106
Bradstreet, Samuel 106
Brastow, Thomas 48, [51]
Bridgewater, MA 65-66
Brigham, Charles 82
Brightman, Henry 234-237, [235]
Brightman, Phebe 236-237
Brigs, Darias 13
Bristo 218-220

Brookfield Cemetery, Brookfield, MA 213-216
Brooks, William 213-216
Brown, Charles Brocken 112-113
Brown, Samuel 27, 52, 61, [25]
Buchanan, James 213-216
Burr, John and Silence 75
Burrell, John 46, [45, 46]
Burroughs, Betsey Peach 142
Burroughs, William 142
Bush, John 18, 41, [18]

268

Calder, James 222

Calder, Thomas 222

Campbell, Daniel 211-213, [212]

Campbell, Martha 59-60

Canova, Antonio 129

Caproni Monument, Forest Hills Cemetery,

Jamaica Plain, Boston, MA (Ralph

Adams Cram) 129, 131, [131]
Caproni, Pietro 129, 131, [131]
Carpenter, Ezekiel 36-37, 55, 89, [36]
Carpenter, Obadiah 43, 53
Carter, Ezra [187]
Cary, Damarais 71
Cary, Huldah 71, [71]
Cary, Mary 71
Caswell, Chloe 33, 56, [33]
Caulfield, Ernest 2

Center Cemetery, Agawam, MA 222-224
Chambers, James 194, [193]
Chambers, Robert 194, [193]
Chambers, Samuel 194, [193]
Chambers, William 194, [193]
Charlestown Stonecutter 104-104
Chase, Benjamin 175, 201
Chaucer, Geoffrey 5
Chester, NH 174-209
Chickering Monument ("The Realization of

Faith"), Mount Auburn Cemetery,

Cambridge, MA (Thomas Ball) 119-

120, [119]
Christy, Sarah 194, [195]
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day

Saints 129
Civil War 116-120
Clark, Hannah 38
Clayton, Harriet 143
Clemens, William 145
Cobb, John 22
Colburn, Paul 181, 206
Cole, Margaret 82
Compendium physicae (Charles Morton)

109
Copenhagen Tomb, Mount Auburn

Cemetery, Cambridge, MA (Martin

Milmore) 120
Corisco, Equatorial West Africa 140-173,

[146]
Craig, James 159, [160, 161]
Cram, Ralph Adams 129, 131

Crawford 236-237
Crawford, Thomas 113
Croade, Mary 78, [77]
Curtis, Moses (d. 1763) 70, [69]
Curtis, Moses (d. 1769) 74
Curtis, Moses (d. 1773) 72
Curtis, Theophilus 74
Cushing, Abel and Hannah 24
Cushing, Josiah 8, 32, 97, [7]
Cushing, Laben 22, [53]
Cushing, Ruth [53]

Dallin, Cyrus Edwin 126-127

Davenport children 13, [14, 15]

Davidson, James 203

Day, Sarah 48, [50]

Dean, Joanna 67

Dean, Martha 80, 89-90, [81]

DeHeer, Cornelius 145

Derry, NH 174-209

Dodge, Izekial 61

Dunbar, Elisha 72

Dunsmoor, Jorvn 41-42, [39]

Dwight Cemetery, Belchertown, MA 226

Dyer, Hannah 29, [27]

Eager, James 16, 40, [16]

Eager, Tabitha 41, [18]

East Hartland Cemetery, East Hartland, CT

163
Eayrs, Susanna 199-200, [199]
Evangasimba mission settlement, Corisco,

Equatorial West Africa 140-173, [147, 159]

Fairbanks, Avard T. 129-130, [134]

Fairbanks, Jason 229-232

Fales, Elizabeth 227-232, [230]

Fales, John 21, 44, 46

Fales, Martha 21

Farber, Daniel iv-5, 135, [iv, 5, 134]

Farber, Jessie Lie 2, 4

Farber, Juanita Dill 4

Farber, Louis 3-4

Farber, Rose Barsky 3

Farragut, David Glasgow 121-122, [121]

Farragut Monument, New York, NY

(Augustus Saint-Gaudens) 121-122, [121]
Farrington, Elijah 9
Faxon, Richard 67, 69

269

Fifty-Fourth Volunteer Infantry Regiment

(Massachusetts) 124-125, [124]
Fisher, Constance 20, 53, 97, [19]
Fisher, Elisha 82
Fisher, Jeremiah 97-98
Fisher, John 38
Fitzpatrick, Ed 211-213
Flagg, Richard [180]
Flight Monument, United States Military

Academy, West Point, NY (Walker

Hancock) 133-135, [133]
Forbes, Harriette Merrifield 2, 8, 16, 43,

59,82
Ford, Andrew 26, 40
Forest Hills Cemetery, Jamaica Plain,

Boston, MA 111, 116-118, 125-126, 129,

131, 134
Fort Wagner, SD 124
Foster family carvers 179
Foster, John 105, 107, 126, [104]
French, Benjamin 70
French, Daniel Chester 125-126
French, Josiah 69
Frost, Samuel 216-218

Gabel, Laurel 4
Gardner, Addington 13
Garnett, Sarah 62, [60]
Garnett, Stephen 26
Gates, Mercy 55, [56]
George Washington Monument,

Washington, D.C. (Clark Mills) 114-115
Gibbs, Mary Felton 224-227
Gibbs, Warren 224-227, [225]
Gibbs, William 225-227
Gilchrist, Samuel 200
Glassie, Henry 177
Goddard, Edward 84, [82]
Gorham, Jabez 44, 53
Great Awakening, The 182, 203
Green, John 216
Greenough, Horatio 115-116
Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, NY 111
Gross, Obadiah 21, 44

"Hamatreya" (Ralph Waldo Emerson) 120
Hammond, Nathaniel (d. 1749) 71
Hammond, Nathaniel (d. 1770) 70
Hammond, Nathaniel (d. 1781) 75

Hammond, Silence 71

Hancock, Walker 129, 131-135

Harriette Merrifield Forbes Award 1

Harrington, Timothy 38

Hartshorn family carvers 175, 181

Hartshorn, John 201

Harvard University 109, 116

Haverhill, MA 176

Hawthorne, Nathaniel 116

Hayward, Abigail 74-75, [74]

Hayward, Anna 70

Hayward, Benjamin 69, [68]

Hayward, Sarah 71

Hill, Margaret 80, [80]

Hills, Mally 200

Holms, John 206, [204]

"Holy Fair, The" (Robert Burns) 197

"Holy Fairs" 175-209

Hosmer, Harriet 116

House, Deborah 31, [29]

House, Joseph 13, [12]

Howard, Mehetabel 70

Hutchinson, Thomas 9

Jacob, Peter 29, 97, [6]
Jones, David 10-11, 59
Jones, Emily L. 220-222, [221]
Jones, Ephraim 27
Jones, Esther Blake 11, 22, [21]
Jones, George A., Sr. 221-222
Jones, George A., Jr. 220-222, [221]
Jones, Mary 41, 43, 46, [42]
Jones, Sarah E. 220-222, [221]
Junior 237-239

Karr, John 202

Keith, Reuben 71

Keith, Timothy 70

Kingman, Sarah 67

Kirkyard Cemetery, Attleboro, MA 11

Kneeland, Miriam 227-229, [228]

Kneeland, Timothy 227

Knight Cemetery, Pelham, MA 224-227

LaFarge, John 122
Landsman, Ned 191
Lane, Abigail 89
Lane, Jeremiah 207
Lane, Joseph 32-33, [30]

270

Lane, Mehitabel 47, [49]

Latta, Mary [Nassau] 151-151, [152]

Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, PA

111-113
Lawrence, David 37
Leonard, Delia 222-224, [223]
Leonard, Harriet 222-224, [223]
Leonard, Samuel 222-224
Lewes, Nathaniel 41, 43
Lewis, Caroline E. 232-234, [233]
Lewis, George R. 232-234
Lincoln, Charles 78, [79]
Lincoln, Deborah 22, 46, 55, [22, 56]
Linkorn, Sarah [53]
Livermore, Silas 37
Lochiel 239

Loomis, Chauncey L. 140-173, [162]
Loomis, Emily Filley 145, 163
Loomis, Harriet Elisabeth Ruggles 140-

173, [140, 144, 147, 153, 159]
Loomis, Henry Leister 153-154, [153]
Loomis, Leister 145, 163
Londonderry, NH 174-209
Londonderry, Ulster 175-176
Lothrup, John 71
Lovell, Hannah 97
Lowell, John 231-232
Lowrie, John C. 157-158
Lyndon Academy, VT 142-143

MacGregor, David 176-177, 193-194, 203,

206, [205]
MacGregor, James 175-177, 206
Mackey, James L. 145-173
Man of Signs (John Foster) 107, [107]
Marsh, Caleb 62, [65]
Mather, Increase 105, 109
McGready, James 198, 206
Mclntire, Samuel 110
McKinstrey Elizabeth 218-220, [219]
McKinstrey, William 218
McMurphy, Alexander 201
McQueen, George 145
Meditations Divine and Morall (Anne

Bradstreet) 106
Meeting House Hill Cemetery, Princeton,

MA 216-218
Mellen, Archibald, Jr. 237-239, [238]

Memorial to Robert Gould Shaw, Boston, MA

(Augustus Saint-Gaudens) 124-125, [124]
"Mending Wall" (Robert Frost) 177
Mercer, Hugh 113
Merrimack River Valley 174-209
Milmore, Martin 116-120, 125-126, [125]
Milmore Memorial, Forest Hills Cemetery,

Jamaica plain, Boston, MA (Daniel

Chester French) 125-126, [125]
Milmore, Joseph 118
Mills, Clark 113-115
Monro, Thomas 33, [32]
Moor, John and Jenit 193-194, [192]
Moore, Mercy 41
Morse, Benjamin 82, [81]
Morse, John 37
Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, MA

111, 116, 118-120
Mullicken family carvers 175, 181
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA 2, 126-129,

135
Mysteries of Nature and Art, The (John Bate)

109, [108]

Narragansett Basin 6-103

New, Anna Perry 65

New, Esther Day 11

New, James (d. 1781) 8-9

New, James (d. 1835) 6-103

New, John 6-103

New, John and Mary 55, 90, [88]

New, Marcy Adams 8-9, 55, 87-92, [70]

New, Mary Shuttleworth 8

New, Sarah Blake Fisher 10

Newbury Seminary, Newbury, VT 142

Niles, Ann 27

91st Division Memorial, Fort Lewis, WA

(Avard T. Fairbanks) 129
Notman, John 111

Oak Grove Cemetery, Fall River, MA 234-237
Ocean Eagle 145-146, [144]
Old Burial Ground, Rutland, MA 211-213
Old Burying Ground, Gardner, MA 227-229
Old Mortality, Laurel Hill Cemetery,

Philadelphia, PA (James Thorn) 112, [112]
Otis, Harrison Gray 231-232
Otis Town Cemetery, Otis, MA 220-222
Ox-bow Cemetery, Newbury, VT 140-173

271

Packard, Abigail 70

Packard, James, 97

Packard, Sarah 70

Packard, Susannah 71

Palmer, William 97

Park family carvers 17, 44, 58, 81, 181

Park, Solomon 16

Park, Solomon, Jr. 41, 43

Park, William 16, 206

Patten, Mary 197

Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA 110

Pease Point Cemetery, Edgartown,

Martha's Vineyard, MA 237-239
Peck, Solomon 78, 90, [78]
Pennsylvania Railroad War Memorial,

Philadelphia, PA (Walker Hancock)

131-132, [132]
Perkins, Daniel 84
Perkins, Luke 74, [72, 73]
Perkins, Mark 71
Perkins, Susannah 78, [79]
Phillips, Abner (d. 1747) 70
Phillips, Abner (d. 1766) 70
Phillips, Eliphalet 72
Phillips, Joseph 27, [24]
Phinney Sarah 227-229, [228]
Pine Street /Wading River Cemetery

Mansfield, MA 89, 91-93
Pioneer Family, Bismark, ND (Avard T.

Fairbanks) 129
Plain Cemetery, Taunton, MA 218-220
Plains Cemetery [Gerould Cemetery],

Wrentham, MA 232-234
Plummer, Cyrus 237-239
Pond, Ithamar 38
Pratt, Bela Lyon 127
Pratt, Cyrus 60
Pratt family carvers 3, 58-64
Pratt, Mary Jones 27, 59, [23]
Pratt, Nathaniel 59-64
Pratt, Noah 59-64
Pratt, Sarah 26
Pratt, Silence 69
Preist, John 41
Proctor, Alexander Phimister 126

Quarles, Francis 126

Randell, Ephraim [53]

Randle, Susannah 46

Ranken, Hugh 202-203

Read, Samuel 53

Recchia, Frank C. 126-128, [128]

Recchia, Richard H. 126-129

Reed, Moses 24

Reid, John 182, 184

Revolutionary War 206, 213

Rice, David 64, [66]

Rice, Edward 41

Richardson, Asa 53

Robie, Ann [178]

Robinson, Samuel 75, [75]

Rock Creek Cemetery, Washington, D.C. 122-

123
Rogers, Hugh 200
Rogers, Jean [191]
Ross Ezra 213-216
Roxbury, MA 116-118
Ruggles, Betsey 142
Ruggles, Henry 142
Ruggles, Perley 142
Ruggles, Timothy 213
Rural Cemetery Movement 111-113

Saint Andrews Society 113

Saint-Gaudens, Augustus 121-126

St. George, Robert Blair 177

St. Paul's Cemetery Dedham, MA 229-232

Saline County Institute, MO 143

Sawyer, Abigail 38

Sawyer, Darius 78

Sawyer, Joshua 138-139, [138]

Sawyer, Ruth 139

Schmidt, Leigh Eric 189-191, 196-197, 200

Scott, Sir Walter 112

Shaw, Robert Gould 124-125, [124]

Shepard, Benjamin 9-11

Shepard, Hepzibah Blake 11

Shuttleworth, Vincent, Sr. 94

Siege of Londonderry 175-176

Slater, Betty 3

Smith, Joshua 41

Snell, Marthas 74

Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument, Boston, MA

(Martin Milmore) 120
Southworth, Constant 70
Southworth, Katherine 70

272

Southworth, Nathaniel 71
Spooner, Bathsheba Ruggles 213-216
Spooner, Joshua 213-216, [214]
Spooner Well, Brookfield, MA 213-216,

[215]
Stacy, George 229
Steel, Margaret 197
Steel, Samuel 201
Stevens, John 70
Stockbridge, John 47, [47]
Story, Joseph 116
Story, William Wetmore 116
Stow, Abner and Mary 78, [77]
Studley, Joseph 47, [48]
Sullivan, James 231
Sweet, Rebekah 75

Taylor, Matthew 197

Temple, Isaac 96

Temple, Richard 16, 35, [17]

"Thanatopsis" (William Cullen Bryant)

109-110, 126
Thatcher, Bethia 55, [54, 56]
Thayer, Caleb 67
Thayer, Nathaniel 67
Throop, William 58
Thorn, James 112
Tiffany, Hannah 80
Torrey, William 62, [64]
Tracy, Joshua L. 143
Tragedy of Winter Quarters, A, Florence,

NE (Avard T Fairbanks) 129-130, [130]
Transformation: The Romance of Monte Beni

[aka The Marble Faun] (Nathaniel

Hawthorne) 116
Tratato della Pittura (Giovanni Paolo

Lomazzo) 109
Tucker, Ralph 1, 3
Tyler, Sarah 33, [31]

Union Soldier Monument, Forest Hills
Cemetery, Jamaica Plain, Boston, MA
(Martin Milmore) 116-118, [117]

Vinton, Mehitable 29, 97, [28]

Wadsworth, John 27

Wales, Joseph 27, 48, [51]

Wales, Thomas 74

Walker, Jane 200

Wallace, Ralph Stuart 175-176, 206

Ward, Mrs. George N. 163

Waters, Gardner 80, 90

Watts, Isaac 201

Webster family carvers 175, 181, 206

Wheaton, Job 33

White, Nathaniel and Ruth 27, 46-47, [26]

White, Ruth 47, [50]

White, Samuel 97

White, Stanford 122-123

Whitefield, George 203

Wight, Isobel 181, [183]

Wight, John 174-209, [203]

Willis, Eunice 80

Willison, John 196, 198

Willson, Elisabeth 181, [186]

Wilson, J. Leighton 147-173

Wilson, Jean 187, [188]

Wilson, John 188-192, 202

Woolson, Albert 129

Worcester, Jonathan 16

Worcester, MA 2, 213, 215, 218

Wrentham, MA 6-103, 232-234

273

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 non-
analytical history or description of the cemeteries themselves. Finally,
articles submitted for publication in Markers should be scholarly, analyti-
cal and interpretive, not merely descriptive and entertaining. Within these
general parameters, the journal seeks variety both in subject matter and
disciplinary orientation. For illustration of these general principles, the
prospective author is encouraged to consult recent issues of Markers.

Submissions

Submissions to Markers should be sent to the journal's editor, Richard
E. Meyer, P.O. Box 13006, Salem, OR 97309-1006 (Telephone: 503-581-5344
/ E-Mail: meyerr@wou.edu). Manuscripts should be submitted in tripli-
cate (original and two duplicate copies) and should include originals of
any accompanying 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

274

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 (3.5") format. Most current word processing programs are
compatible 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. [A notice in earlier versions of this document that the journal
would be switching to the Modern Language Association (MLA) style
configuration commencing with the year 2000 should be disregarded as
the proposed change has been postponed for an indefinite period].

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 acknowledgments 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

275

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.

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 acknowledgment 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.

a mon ami

HAWTHORNE
(1985-1998)

un chat extraordinaire

"bon nuit, prince doux ..."

AGS JOURNALS

MARKERS I Reprint of 1980 journal. Collection of 15
articles on topics such as recording & care of grave-
stones, resources for teachers, some unusual mark-
ers, & 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 religious
& wider social perspective; MA carvers Joseph
Barbur, Jr., Stephen & Charles Hartshorn, & carver
known as "JN"; Portage County, WI carvers, 1850-
1900; & a contemporary 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 south-
western 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 colonial 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 stud-
ies 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 markers; 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 ceme-
teries; & 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 generations of the Lamson family
carvers of Charlestown & Maiden, MA; & the
Protestant Cemetery in Florence, Italy.
254 pages, 122 illustrations

MARKERS XI Fraternal symbolism & gravemarkers;
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; &
pioneer 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 gravemarkers 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

MARKERS XIV Amerindian gravestone symbols;
ministers' markers in north central MA; a modern
gravestone maker; Charles Andera's crosses; Pratt
family stonecutters; African- American cemeteries in
north Florida; & "The Year's Work."
232 pages, 107 illustrations

MARKERS XV Sephardic Jewish cemeteries;
Herman Melville's grave; carving traditions of
Plymouth & Cape Cod; Czech tombstone inscrip-
tions; Aboriginal Australian markers; Kansas ceme-
teries & The New Deal; Chinese Markers in Hong
Kong; & "The Year's Work."
350 pages, 166 illustrations

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