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MARKERS  XX 


jftNlEt  T,  &  >US!v:M 


CiY 


\\  kX.V 


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Edited  by 
Richard  E.  Meyer 


Markers  XX 


Annual  Journal  of 
the  Association  for 
Gravestone  Studies 


Edited  by 
Richard  E.  Meyer 


Association  for  Gravestone  Studies 
Greenfield,  Massachusetts 


Copyright  ©  2003  by 

Association  for  Gravestone  Studies 

278  Main  Street,  Suite  207 

Greenfield,  Massachusetts  01301 

{"The  Woodmen  of  the  World  Monument  Program"  ©  Annette  Stott] 


All  rights  reserved 
Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


ISBN:  1-878381-13-X 
ISSN:  0277-8726 
LCN:  81-642903 


The  paper  used  in  this  publication  meets  the  minimum  requirements  of 

American  National  Standard  for  Information  Sciences  -  Permanence  of 

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


Cover  illustration:  Gravestone  ofBetsie  C.  Nickerson,  Congregational  Church 
Cemetery,  Harwich,  Massachusetts.  Photograph  by  James  Blachowicz. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


Page 


The  Woodmen  of  the  World  Monument  Program  1 

Annette  Stott 

Mourning  in  a  Distant  Land:  Gold  Star  Pilgrimages  30 

to  American  Military  Cemeteries  in  Europe,  1930-33 

Lotte  Larsen  Meyer 

Eighteenth  Century  Gravestone  Carvers  of  the  76 

Upper  Narragansett  Basin:  Gabriel  Allen 

Vincent  F.  Luti 

Do-It-Yourself  Immortality:  Writing  One's  Own  Epitaph  110 

Karl  S.  Guthke 

The  Thomas  Foster  Mausoleum:  Canada's  Taj  Mahal  154 

Sybil  F.  Crawford 

The  Old  Gravestone  192 

Hans  Christian  Andersen 

The  Origins  of  Marble  Carving  on  Cape  Cod,  Part  II:  196 

The  Orleans  and  Sandwich  Carvers 

James  Blachowicz 

'...  do  not  go  and  leave  me  behind  unwept  ...':  280 

Greek  Gravemarkers  Heed  the  Warning 

Gay  Lynch 

Poets  Among  the  Stones  302 

Kenneth  Pobo 

Mormon  Temple  Reproductions  on  Cemetery  Markers  312 

Jacqueline  S.  Thursby 

The  Year's  Work  in  Cemetery/Gravemarker  Studies:  333 

An  International  Bibliography 

Richard  E.  Meyer 

Contributors  391 

Index  395 


in 


MARKERS:  ANNUAL  JOURNAL  OF 
THE  ASSOCIATION  FOR  GRAVESTONE  STUDIES 

EDITORIAL  BOARD 

Richard  E.  Meyer,  Editor 

Western  Oregon  University 

Gary  Collison,  Assistant  Editor 
The  Pennsylvania  State  University,  York 

Jessie  Lie  Farber  Julie  Rugg 

Mount  Holyoke  College  University  of  York  (United  Kingdom) 

Editor,  Markers  I 

James  A.  Slater 

Richard  Francaviglia  University  of  Connecticut 

University  of  Texas  at  Arlington 

Dickran  Tashjian 

Laurel  K.  Gabel  University  of  California,  Irvine 

Barbara  Rotundo  David  H.Watters 

State  University  of  New  York  University  of  New  Hampshire 

at  Albany  Editor,  Markers  II-IV 

Wilbur  Zelinsky 
The  Pennsylvania  State  University,  University  Park 

More  than  a  decade  has  now  passed  since  I  first  assumed  the 
editorship  of  Markers,  marvelous  years  for  me,  filled  with  joys,  discover- 
ies, and  immense  satisfactions.  With  the  current  issue  I  shall  bring  this 
period  to  a  close,  as  new  editor  Gary  Collison  begins  his  duties  in  prepa- 
ration for  the  publication  of  Markers  XXI.  I  feel  both  privileged  and  hon- 
ored to  have  had  the  opportunity  to  work  with  this  journal  and  the 
splendid  organization  which  stands  behind  it.  Over  the  years  I  have  ac- 
cumulated a  massive  debt  of  gratitude  to  the  many  who  have  helped 
and  assisted  me  in  this  task,  from  the  technical  support  of  persons  such 
as  Fred  Kennedy  and  Patti  Stephens,  to  the  meticulous  evaluative  efforts 
of  the  members  of  the  editorial  board,  to  the  scholarly  and  creative  ef- 
forts of  those  dozens  of  contributors  whose  work  has  graced  and  en- 

iv 


hanced  these  pages.  And  above  all,  let  me  say  one  last  time,  as  I  have  so 
often  before,  that  it  is  Lotte  Larsen  Meyer,  my  wife  and  closest  friend, 
who  has  provided  the  love,  the  inspiration,  and  the  emotional  support  I 
have  found  so  critically  essential  to  my  work.  I  thank  you  all  more  than  I 
can  ever  say. 

Markers  XX  represents,  in  my  view,  all  the  very  best  of  which  this  fine 
journal  is  capable.  In  its  pages  you  may  travel  from  the  American  mili- 
tary cemeteries  of  France  and  Belgium  to  the  funerary  landscapes  of  an- 
cient and  modern  Greece,  explore,  respectively,  the  fraternal  and  religious 
iconography  of  Woodmen  of  the  World  and  Mormon  gravemarkers,  ex- 
amine the  work  of  gravestone  carvers  from  two  seminal  periods  in  the 
history  of  American  memorial  style,  marvel  at  the  splendor  of  a  truly 
unique  example  of  mausoleum  architecture,  and  experience  in  a  variety 
of  ways  the  creative  element  in  funerary  literature.  It  is  such  diversity, 
underscored  by  the  very  highest  standards  of  research  and  creativity, 
which  has  made  and  continues  to  make  this  annual  journal  unique  among 
scholarly  publications. 

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  jour- 
nal may  be  found  in  the  "Notes  for  Contributors"  printed  at  the  conclu- 
sion of  this  issue.  Address  queries  concerning  publication  in  forthcoming 
issues  to:  Gary  Collison,  Editor,  Markers:  Annual  Journal  of  the  Association 
for  Gravestone  Studies,  Penn  State  York,  1031  Edgecomb  Avenue,  York,  PA 
17403  (Phone:  717-771-4029  /  E-Mail:  glc@psu.edu).  For  information  con- 
cerning other  Association  for  Gravestone  Studies  publications,  member- 
ship, and  activities,  including  the  Annual  Conference,  write  to  the 
Association's  offices,  278  Main  Street,  Suite  207,  Greenfield,  MA  01301, 
call  413-772-0836,  or  email  info@gravestonestudies.org.  Readers  are  urged 
as  well  to  visit  the  AGS  web  site  at  www.gravestonestudies.org. 

R.E.M. 


Woodmen  of  the  World 


Mm 


A     WOODMAN    MONUMENT. 

On  and  after  Aug.  16,  1892,  such  a 
monument  is  to  be  placed  upon  the 
grave  of  every  beneficiary  member  of 
the  order  who  was  in  good  standing  at 
the  date  of  his  death. 

Fig.  1.  The  Pacific  Jurisdiction  Woodmen  of  the  World 

announced  its  new  monument  program  in  1892  with  this 

standard  draped-urn  Woodman  marker. 


VI 


THE  WOODMEN  OF  THE  WORLD  MONUMENT  PROGRAM 
Annette  Stott 

Introduction 

A  fair  amount  of  attention  has  been  paid  to  the  large  number  of  stone 
trees  scattered  among  real  ones  in  Nineteenth-Century  cemeteries.  Au- 
thors have  noted  in  passing  that  many  of  these  monuments  carry  an 
inscription  to  the  Woodmen  of  the  World  and  owe  their  existence  to  that 
fraternal  organization's  commitment  to  marking  the  graves  of  its  deceased 
members.1  A  fuller  exploration  of  Woodmen  of  the  World  monuments 
reveals  a  wide  variety  of  forms,  and  imagery  rich  in  symbolic  and  social 
significance.  Because  these  markers  were  not  erected  to  heroes  and  fa- 
mous people,  but  to  everyday  workers  in  towns  and  cities  throughout 
the  country,  an  examination  of  the  Woodmen  of  the  World  monument 
program  provides  a  clearer  understanding  of  one  of  the  roles  that  sepul- 
chral sculpture  played  in  the  lives  of  ordinary  people  at  the  turn  of  the 
twentieth  century.  Such  a  study  also  provides  the  opportunity  to  focus 
on  an  aspect  of  gravestone  studies  too  often  taken  for  granted  -  patron- 
age. This  is  the  story  of  what  was  perhaps  the  largest  corporate  patron  of 
cemetery  sculpture  in  the  United  States  at  the  turn  of  the  century.2 

Any  serious  discussion  of  Woodmen  monuments  must  take  into  con- 
sideration the  complex  history  and  organizational  structure  of  the 
Woodmen  of  the  World.  In  this  article  I  have  chosen  to  focus  on  the 
oldest  regional  branch  of  the  order,  the  Pacific  Jurisdiction.  By  studying 
the  archives  of  this  Denver-based  branch  and  analyzing  the  monuments 
it  produced,  a  solid  understanding  of  Woodmen  patronage  and  of  the 
social  and  cultural  function  of  the  monuments  emerges. 

History 

Joseph  Cullen  Root,  a  dedicated  fraternalist,  was  already  a  member 
of  the  Freemasons,  Odd  Fellows,  Knights  of  Pythias,  and  similar  broth- 
erhoods when  he  started  a  new  fraternal  order  in  1883.  After  hearing  a 
sermon  about  the  pioneers  chopping  down  trees  to  build  cabins  for  the 
protection  of  their  families,  he  named  his  organization  the  Modern 
Woodmen  of  America.  Its  main  purpose  was  to  protect  families  through 
a  life  insurance  plan,  and  most  of  its  symbolism  derived  from  the  image 
of  the  pioneer  woodsman.  Neither  it,  nor  its  successors,  had  anything  to 
do  with  the  lumber  industry. 


Woodmen  of  the  World 


Within  the  first  decade,  a  divisive  struggle  for  power  emerged  be- 
tween Root  and  the  order's  Head  Physician,  both  of  whom  were  eventu- 
ally expelled  from  the  Modern  Woodmen  of  America.  In  addition,  the 
state  charter  granted  by  Iowa  prohibited  the  organization  from  spread- 
ing beyond  specified  states  in  the  West  and  Midwest.  Early  in  1890,  Root 
met  in  Denver,  Colorado  with  F.A.  Falkenburg,  an  active  organizer  of 
the  Modern  Woodmen  in  Colorado,  to  discuss  the  creation  of  a  new  or- 
ganization that  would  eventually  be  called  the  Woodmen  of  the  World. 
They  conceived  of  it  as  a  worldwide  fraternity  that  would  absorb  the 
Modern  Woodmen  of  America,  thus  giving  Root  back  control  of  his  or- 
der and  overcoming  the  legal  restriction  on  growth  that  the  Modern 
Woodmen  faced.3 

The  Woodmen  of  the  World  incorporated  at  a  meeting  in  Omaha, 
Nebraska  in  June,  1890. 4  They  planned  to  have  12  regions,  or  jurisdic- 
tions, in  the  United  States,  with  others  abroad.  Each  region  would  be 
financially  and  governmentally  independent,  but  tied  to  the  Omaha  head- 
quarters, known  as  the  Sovereign  Camp,  through  shared  rituals  and  com- 
mon goals.  The  first  region  to  organize  was  the  Pacific  Jurisdiction,  with 
its  headquarters,  or  Head  Camp,  in  Denver.5  F.A.  Falkenburg  assumed 
charge,  as  Head  Consul,  of  this  region  that  embraced  the  states  of  Mon- 
tana, Wyoming,  Nevada,  Washington,  Oregon,  California,  and  Colorado, 
and  the  territories  of  Utah  and  Idaho.  The  Canadian  region  was  orga- 
nized in  1893,  and  the  Woodmen  began  operating  in  Mexico  two  years 
later.  No  other  regions  were  ever  chartered.  The  Head  Camp,  Pacific 
Jurisdiction  claimed  10,000  members  by  1895,  while  the  Sovereign  Camp 
in  Omaha,  which  included  all  the  rest  of  the  United  States  and  Mexico, 
numbered  only  twice  that  many. 

The  Woodmen  of  the  World,  like  other  fraternal  orders,  was  orga- 
nized into  local  camps  that  held  regular  meetings  filled  with  secret  ritu- 
als. Membership  was  limited  to  white  males  between  the  ages  of  21  and 
50,  who  were  encouraged  to  purchase  life  insurance  for  the  protection  of 
their  dependents.'1  Upon  the  death  of  any  beneficiary  member,  the  en- 
tire membership  of  the  jurisdiction  was  assessed  a  payment  to  fulfill  that 
insurance  obligation.  In  this  way  Woodmen  were  meant  to  be  like  the 
pioneers,  ensuring  the  support  of  their  widows  and  children  after  their 
deaths  through  neighborly  aid.  The  Sovereign  Camp  Woodmen  of  the 
World  went  a  step  further  by  including  in  its  1890  constitution  the  state- 
ment that  every  member  would  also  receive  a  monument  at  his  death. 
Although  the  Pacific  Jurisdiction  did  not  amend  its  constitution  to  fol- 


Annette  Stott 


low  suit  until  two  years  later,  it  too  decided  that  a  monument  should  be 
part  of  the  ritual  of  remembering  members.7 

The  Monument  Program 

Delegates  from  each  camp  throughout  the  Pacific  Jursidiction  met  in 
an  annual  Head  Camp  Session  to  revise  laws  and  discuss  the  growth  of 
the  order.  The  official  record  of  the  1892  Head  Camp  Session  in  Pueblo, 
Colorado  makes  it  clear  that  Falkenburg  and  the  delegates  intended  to 
implement  the  same  monument  plan  that  the  Sovereign  Camp  was  us- 
ing. The  Jurisdiction  announced  in  the  next  issue  of  its  paper,  The 
Woodman:  "On  and  after  Aug.  16,  1892,  such  a  monument  (Fig.  1)  is  to  be 
placed  upon  the  grave  of  every  beneficiary  member  of  the  order  who 
was  in  good  standing  at  the  date  of  his  death."  The  same  illustration  had 
appeared  earlier  that  year  in  the  Sovereign  Visitor,  the  journal  of  the  Omaha- 
based  Sovereign  Camp.  It  depicted  a  draped  urn  monument  on  the  grave 
of  Sovereign  Camp  member  William  Leeds  Graham,  in  Ontario.8 

Despite  this  beginning,  the  Pacific  Jurisdiction  monument  program 
rapidly  took  a  different  direction  when  a  Denver  monument  business 
approached  Head  Consul  Falkenburg  with  a  proposition.  The  firm  of 
Helmbrecht  and  Farrington  suggested  that  they  provide  a  monument 
valued  at  $100  for  every  deceased  member,  including  shipping  and  set- 
ting anywhere  in  the  territory.  They  offered  to  provide  one  free  monu- 
ment for  every  ten  purchased,  so  that  members  who  had  died  before  the 
constitutional  amendment  could  also  be  recognized  with  markers.  In 
return,  the  Pacific  Jurisdiction  Woodmen  of  the  World  would  give 
Helmbrecht  and  Farrington  its  business  and  a  free  advertisement  to  run 
in  The  Woodman  for  as  long  as  the  contract  remained  in  force.  According 
to  Helmbrecht's  proposal,  each  camp  would  be  allowed  to  choose  be- 
tween two  different  designs:  a  six-and-a-half-foot  monument  consisting 
of  a  shaft  surmounted  by  a  draped  urn  "of  same  stone  and  style  as  erected 
by  the  Sovereign  Jurisdiction,"  or  a  seven-and-a-half-foot  tree  trunk  with 
the  Woodmen  of  the  World  emblems  carved  in  high  relief  (Fig.  2).  The 
Head  Managers  authorized  the  contract  and  appropriated  $1,500  for  the 
first  fifteen  monuments.9 

This  contract  removed  each  camp's  power  to  work  with  a  local  stone 
carver  and  limited  its  choice  to  two  designs,  but  the  Head  Managers  be- 
lieved that  their  contract  with  Helmbrecht  and  Farrington  would  ensure  a 
consistently  higher  quality  of  carved  monuments.10  The  end  results,  they 
stated,  justified  any  deviation  from  the  letter  of  the  constitution,  and  their 


Woodmen  of  the  World 


W.  R.  FARRIVCTON  &  CO., 

Successors  to 

DELMBRERHT  &  FARRINCTON, 

Dealers  in 
MONUMENTS  &.  STATUARY. 


All  Kinds  of  American    and    Importe 
Granite,  Marble  and  Oolitis  Stone. 

1533- 1539  TREMONT  ST 

Opposite  the  Court  House, 
TEL.  624,        DENVER,  COLO 

Fig.  2.  When  Helmbrecht  and  Farrington  received  the 

Woodmen  monument  contract,  they  added  the  option  of  a 

hand-carved  tree  trunk  as  depicted  in  this  advertisement  in 

The  Woodman.  Note  that  the  typesetter  incorrectly  set 

Henry  Helmbrecht's  last  name  in  the  advertisement. 


Annette  Stott 


Fig.  3.  Robert  H.  McKelvey  tree  trunk  monument,  1893,  limestone. 
Fairmount  Cemetery,  Denver,  Colorado. 


Woodmen  of  the  World 


plan  remained  within  its  spirit.  Thus,  the  Sovereign  Camp,  Woodmen  of 
the  World  was  the  first  fraternal  group  to  provide  a  monument  for  each 
member  upon  his  death,  and  the  Pacific  Jurisdiction  was  the  first  to  man- 
date a  specific  provider  and  to  offer  the  tree  trunk  option. 

Helmbrecht  and  Farrington  erected  the  first  draped-urn  and  tree  trunk 
monuments  between  February  and  June  of  1893.  By  all  accounts,  the  mem- 
bers of  the  local  camps  receiving  the  monuments  were  thrilled  with  the 
beauty  of  these  memorials."  The  Robert  H.  McKelvey  Monument  (Fig. 
3)  demonstrates  the  high  quality  of  the  early  work.  The  bark  is  rendered 
as  a  believable  texture;  the  ferns  at  the  base  of  the  tree  stump  stand  out 
clearly;  and  the  insignia  of  the  order  are  carved  in  such  high  relief  as  to 
be  nearly  full  round.  McKelvey  had  died  of  apoplexy  at  the  time  of  the 
second  Head  Camp  meeting.  Delegates  were  informed  by  telegram  and 
appropriate  remembrances  were  spoken,  but  because  he  died  before  the 
delegates  had  voted  on  the  monument  program,  he  did  not  automati- 
cally receive  one.  Instead,  his  was  the  first  free  monument  provided  by 
W.R.  Farrington  &  Co.,  successors  to  Helmbrecht  and  Farrington. 

Camps  of  Woodmen  throughout  the  Northwest  reported  their  de- 
light with  the  impressive  carved  stones  as  the  first  monuments  were 
shipped  to  them.  However,  there  were  some  concerns  with  the  proce- 
dure. Many  camps  counted  a  carver  or  monument  dealer  among  their 
members  and  wanted  to  allow  him  to  design  and  create  memorials  for 
their  members.  The  first  official  change  in  procedure  occurred  at  the 
Head  Camp  meeting  in  August,  1894,  when  the  program  was  two  years 
old.  That  year  the  constitution  was  amended  to  allow  local  camps  to 
erect  a  monument  through  their  own  choice  of  monument  firms,  pro- 
viding that  the  widow  or  family  agreed.  Upon  seeing  proof  that  a  monu- 
ment worth  at  least  $100  had  been  erected,  the  head  office  would 
reimburse  the  monument  maker.  This  policy  change  resulted  in  a  greater 
variety  of  designs,  and  monument  companies  from  Portland,  Oregon  to 
Boulder,  Colorado  now  advertised  in  the  Pacific  Woodman}2  But  the 
struggle  among  central  administration,  local  camps,  and  heirs  for  con- 
trol over  the  monuments  continued. 

In  1896,  a  group  of  delegates  to  the  annual  meeting  requested  that  all 
money  for  monuments  be  paid  directly  to  the  local  camps  and  that,  when- 
ever possible,  the  camps  engage  a  local  carver.  Instead,  the  constitution 
was  changed  to  give  the  widow  or  heir  decision-making  power  over  the 
choice  of  provider  and  design.  The  local  camp  continued  to  order  the 
work  on  behalf  of  the  family.13  Sometimes  dissatisfaction  with  the  pro- 


Annette  Stott 


:*ALKEl*Btm£* 


-.. 


****.,!  4&V/ -i    2#:~ 


Fig.  4.  F.A.  Falkenburg  monument,  1907,  bronze  and  granite. 

Fairmount  Cemetery,  Denver,  Colorado.  The  base  was  originally 

decorated  with  a  relief  carving  of  a  man  chopping  down  a  tree. 


Woodmen  of  the  World 


Fig.  5.  Duane  McKercher's  small  granite  marker  (top) 
was  designed  to  match  that  of  his  wife  (bottom). 


Annette  Stott 


cess  resulted  in  both  family  and  Woodmen  putting  up  a  monument.  Ironi- 
cally, this  was  the  case  when  Head  Consul  Falkenburg  died.  His  daugh- 
ter erected  a  sarcophagus  monument  to  the  memory  of  both  her  parents 
in  1906.  The  Woodmen  erected  a  life-size  bronze  statue  in  the  same  cem- 
etery in  1907  (Fig.  4).  Falkenburg  was  buried  in  the  family  plot  at  the 
insistence  of  his  daughter,  who  was  angered  by  the  order's  refusal  to 
allow  her  to  be  buried  with  her  parents  in  the  Woodmen  plot  where  the 
bronze  memorial  stands. 

As  families  became  more  involved,  and  inflation  reduced  the  value 
of  a  $100  monument,  adjustments  were  made  to  accommodate  the  de- 
sire for  bigger  and  better  memorials  than  the  Woodmen's  $100  appro- 
priation could  buy.  Soon  the  monument  program  was  functioning  in 
many  camps  as  a  subsidy  to  the  family's  purchase.  For  this  reason,  the 
wording  required  on  the  monuments  changed  in  August,  1898  from 
"Erected  by  the  Woodmen  of  the  World"  to  "Here  Rests  a  Woodman  of 
the  World." 


Fig.  6.  The  elaborate  relief  carving  on  Jonathan  Schaeffer's 

large  monument  cost  considerably  more  than  the 

$100  contribution  made  by  the  Woodmen  of  the  World. 


10  Woodmen  of  the  World 


Examples  of  the  wide  variety  of  Woodmen  memorials  that  resulted 
from  this  loosening  of  the  procedures  can  be  seen  in  the  McKercher  (Fig. 
5,  top)  and  Schaeffer  (Fig.  6)  monuments.14  Duane  McKercher  and 
Jonathan  Schaeffer  died  within  two  weeks  of  one  another  in  1902.  Both 
of  their  monuments  were  provided  by  the  Denver  Marble  and  Granite 
Company,  one  of  the  oldest  monument  makers  and  dealers  in  Denver. 
McKercher 's  wife  had  predeceased  him,  so  his  mother  received  his 
Woodman  insurance  benefit  and  it  was  probably  his  mother  who  or- 
dered the  low  granite  draped-urn  marker  to  match  that  of  Duane's  wife 
(Fig.  5,  bottom).  Jonathan  Schaeffer's  widow,  Anna,  ordered  a  more  am- 
bitious design  for  her  husband,  a  man  who  had  for  eighteen  years  been 
foreman  of  Hallack  &  Howard  Lumber  Company.  The  die  of  this  large 
granite  sarcophagus-style  memorial  is  nearly  covered  with  a  relief  carv- 
ing of  the  interior  of  a  carpenter's  shop.  On  the  back  wall,  the  Woodmen 
of  the  World  seal  is  joined  by  the  seal  of  the  Brotherhood  of  American 
Yeomen.  The  high  relief  table  holds  a  saw,  plane,  chisel,  and  hammer, 
while  lumber  is  piled  under  the  table  and  in  a  corner  of  the  room.  Both 
monuments  are  unique.  The  Schaeffer  relief  references  the  fact  that 
Jonathan  was  a  woodman  by  profession  as  well  as  fraternal  affiliation. 

Other  monuments  erected  by  the  Woodmen  of  the  World  assume  a 
variety  of  popular  forms.  The  George  A.  Pullen  monument  (Fig.  7)  is  a 
large  granite  stone  with  a  rock  face  treatment  giving  way  to  the  refined 
carving  of  a  corner  column  entwined  with  roses.  It  is  further  decorated 
with  a  cross,  crown,  and  lily.  This  nationally-known  design  was  especially 
popular  in  Denver's  Fairmount  Cemetery.  The  Pullen  monument  is  inter- 
esting because  the  inscriptions  all  appear  on  the  back.  Under  the  notice, 
"Here  Rests  a  Woodman  of  the  World,"  are  the  names  of  George  and  (so 
far)  eleven  other  members  of  his  family.  He  died  in  November,  1908,  more 
than  eight  years  after  the  Woodmen  had  mandated  that  this  inscription 
and  the  order's  seal  must  appear  on  the  face  of  each  monument. 

The  emphasis  on  representing  the  order  on  the  face  of  the  memorial 
came  about  owing  to  a  desire  to  advertise.  When  Falkenburg  first  argued 
for  the  monument  program  in  the  fall  of  1892,  he  had  declared  that  per- 
manent memorials  carved  with  the  name  of  the  order  would  help  build 
up  membership.  Thereafter,  the  Woodmen  regularly  cited  its  monuments 
as  a  major  factor  distinguishing  it  from  other  fraternal  orders  and  from 
mainline  insurance  companies.15  But  an  Idaho  Woodman  complained 
that  the  required  inscription  "looks  too  much  like  advertising  to  be  at  all 
in  place  ...  If  there  is  any  place  where  a  violation  of  good  taste  strikes 


Annette  Stott 


11 


one  more  glaringly  than  elsewhere,  it  is  on  a  gravestone  ...  I  would  as 
soon  advertise  the  Woodmen  of  the  World  on  my  gravestone  as  the  Ma- 


Fig.  7.  George  A.  Pullen's  family  erected  this  elaborately 

carved  granite  marker  in  1908,  placing  the  Woodmen  inscription 

on  the  back.  Fairmount  Cemetery,  Denver,  Colorado. 


12  Woodmen  of  the  World 


sons,  or  Pear's  Soap."16  Cemetery  superintendents  in  Denver  pronounced 
a  ban  on  names  appearing  on  monuments  for  the  purpose  of  advertise- 
ment at  the  same  time  that  the  Woodmen  mandated  a  more  prominent 
location  for  their  name.17  The  cemeteries  lacked  a  means  of  enforcing 
the  ban,  however,  so  inscriptions  and  insignia  continued  to  appear  on 
Woodmen  memorials. 

By  1905,  the  Pacific  Jurisdiction  Woodmen  of  the  World  had  erected 
2,385  stone  and  zinc  monuments  throughout  the  Northwest.  During  that 
time  the  program  evolved  through  a  variety  of  rules  and  procedures  as 
its  constituent  groups  struggled  for  control,  but  the  most  influential  as- 
pect of  the  program  in  determining  the  appearance  of  Woodmen  sepul- 
chral sculpture  was  the  organization's  attention  to  the  financial  bottom 
line.  One  hundred  dollars,  no  more  and  no  less,  would  be  appropriated 
for  each  monument  throughout  the  thirty-six-year  existence  of  the  pro- 
gram. This  adherence  to  a  single  price  resulted  in  a  steady  decline  in  the 
size  and  complexity  of  the  monuments. 

Ironically,  the  Pacific  Jurisdiction  Woodmen  of  the  World  based  many 
of  their  decisions  about  the  monument  program  on  their  desire  for  high 
quality.  The  1892  agreement  with  Helmbrecht  and  Farrington  had  been 
justified  on  the  grounds  of  maintaining  control  over  quality.  In  1896, 
when  questions  arose  over  the  value  of  a  monument  erected  by  the  Bills 
Brothers  company  in  Florence,  Colorado,  the  head  managers  sent  one  of 
their  number  to  investigate.18  The  claim  was  paid,  but  the  managers' 
ongoing  fear  that  camps  were  not  getting  their  money's  worth  led  to 
another  change  in  procedure.  Thereafter,  the  head  camp  requested  that 
builder's  specifications  and  a  drawing  be  sent  to  Denver  headquarters  to 
prove  that  each  proposed  monument  would  be  worth  one  hundred  dol- 
lars. Monument  proposition  forms  were  provided  by  the  head  camp  for 
this  purpose.  In  addition,  the  head  managers  required  that  officers  of 
the  local  camp  inspect  each  monument  in  the  cemetery  for  quality  and 
report  to  the  head  finance  committee  before  any  payment  could  be  made. 
The  awareness  that  these  memorials  would  be  seen  by  visitors  to  the 
cemetery  and  would  represent  the  order  to  the  world  underlay  the  de- 
sire to  present  only  the  highest  quality 

Despite  the  popularity  of  the  monument  program,  it  was  an  economic 
burden  almost  from  the  start.  The  officers  had  never  called  an  assess- 
ment for  the  monuments,  but  had  attempted  several  times  to  initiate  a 
special  fee.  Finally  in  1913,  new  members  wanting  the  monument  ben- 
efit were  required  to  pay  a  small  monthly  sum  into  a  monument  fund. 


Annette  Stott  13 


The  benefit  from  the  fund  could  be  put  toward  a  monument  or  toward 
funeral  expenses.  After  1928,  no  insurance  certificates  were  issued  with 
a  monument  benefit,  and  in  1932,  with  no  new  money  going  into  the 
monument  fund,  it  was  decided  to  distribute  to  each  member  still  hold- 
ing a  monument  agreement  the  exact  amount  that  they  had  paid  in,  plus 
interest.  That  ended  the  program. 

Stone  Trees 

By  the  1894  head  camp  meeting,  Helmbrecht  and  Farrington  and  its 
successor,  W.R.  Farrington  Co.,  had  erected  twenty-four  monuments,  two 
of  them  free  ones  for  members  who  died  before  the  monument  program 
was  started.  Since  the  monuments  are  scattered  throughout  the  nine  states 
of  the  Pacific  Jurisdiction,  it  is  difficult  to  determine  which  of  the  two 
Helmbrecht  and  Farrington  designs  was  more  popular,  the  draped  urn 
or  the  tree. 

In  any  case,  the  tree  stump  model  was  a  particularly  fortuitous  sym- 
bol of  the  order,  suggesting  both  the  name  "Woodmen"  and  the  notion 
of  woodcraft.  Woodmen  of  the  World  dedicated  themselves  to  a  creed  of 
self-improvement  and  neighborliness  that  included  these  objectives,  ac- 
cording to  the  1890  constitution:  "to  promote  true  neighborly  regard  and 
fraternal  love;  to  bestow  substantial  benefits  upon  the  widows,  children 
and  relatives  of  deceased  members;  . . .  and  to  comfort  the  sick  by  neigh- 
borly ministrations  in  times  of  sorrow  and  distress."  Woodmen  referred 
to  this  creed  of  moral  development,  charity,  and  good  works  as  Wood- 
craft. 

Adolph  Munter,  a  member  of  a  Pacific  Jurisdiction  camp,  delivered 
a  speech  in  1896  entitled  "The  Stump  of  the  Tree,  An  Emblem  of  Wood- 
craft." He  likened  the  growth  of  an  acorn  or  pine  burr  into  a  beautiful 
and  mighty  tree  to  the  growth  of  an  infant  into  "beautiful  womanhood 
or  mighty  manhood,"  and  noted  that  "it  therefore  behooves  us,  in  view 
of  this  stump,  this  emblem  of  our  order,  to  pledge  ourselves  to  cultivate, 
by  correct  lives,  the  grain  in  our  moral  development  and  growth,  per- 
mitting no  knot  holes  and  no  rot."19  Monthly  Woodmen  rituals,  held 
around  a  tree  stump  in  the  middle  of  the  meeting  house,  were  part  of  the 
means  of  teaching  woodcraft.  So  were  the  unveiling  rituals  held  around 
the  funerary  monuments. 

One  of  the  earliest  examples  of  a  Woodman  tree  trunk  monument, 
erected  for  Andrew  H.  Lamb  in  1893  (Fig.  8),  demonstrates  the  high  qual- 
ity of  the  carving  and  materials  in  the  first  monuments.  The  Indiana 


14 


Woodmen  of  the  World 


Fig.  8.  Andrew  Lamb  tree  trunk  monument,  1893,  limestone. 
Fairmount  Cemetery,  Denver,  Colorado. 


Annette  Stott 


15 


Fig.  9.  This  detail  of  the  Lamb  memorial  reveals  the 
intricacy  of  carving  on  the  earliest  Woodmen  markers. 


16  Woodmen  of  the  World 


limestone  was  intricately  carved  with  a  detailed  ivy  vine  winding  up  one 
face,  three  fern  fronds  spreading  out  from  the  base,  and  rough  bark.  On 
the  face  of  the  tall  tree  trunk,  a  high-relief  still  life  reveals  the  insignia  of 
the  order:  the  axe,  beetle  (mallet),  and  wedge  are  carved  from  a  single 
block  of  stone  to  look  as  if  stuck  into  a  log  placed  crosswise  on  the  tree 
trunk  (Fig.  9).  As  was  most  common  on  these  early  tree  trunks,  the  carv- 
ing mimicked  bark  peeled  away  to  reveal  the  inscription  carved  into  the 
"wood."  No  two  monuments  are  exactly  alike  in  their  details,  but  all 
follow  quite  closely  the  general  design  published  in  The  Woodman.  Henry 
Helmbrecht  was  a  dealer,  not  a  carver,  and  it  is  almost  certain  that  the 
first  tree  trunks  were  carved  in  Indiana  and  shipped  to  Colorado. 

By  1895,  a  change  in  the  quality  and  design  of  the  stones  can  be  seen. 
It  is  not  clear  whether  this  was  due  to  Farrington's  use  of  a  different 
supplier  or  simply  a  different  grade  of  stone.  Unlike  the  Lamb  tree,  the 
William  E.  Carter  memorial  (Fig.  10)  shows  considerable  erosion  and 
flaking.  Enough  remains  to  reveal  that  the  still  life  arrangement  of  axe, 
beetle,  and  wedge  was  carved  on  a  much  smaller  scale  and  in  a  different 
position  than  on  the  earlier  examples.  Tree  bark  is  peeled  above  and 
below,  and  the  tree  branches  are  treated  differently  as  well.  Farrington 
was  a  trained  carver,  but  no  evidence  has  yet  surfaced  to  reveal  whether 
he  or  his  staff  carved  any  of  the  Woodmen  monuments  he  supplied.  Lime- 
stone was  not  yet  readily  available  in  Colorado,  but  there  were  a  few 
sources,  and  other  local  stone  carvers  imported  limestone  and  sold  it 
wholesale.  A  few  feet  away  from  the  Carter  monument,  the  Robert  C. 
Seymour  tree  trunk  (Fig. 11),  also  erected  in  1895,  has  eroded  so  badly 
that  all  inscriptions  and  much  of  the  bark  are  obliterated.  What  remains 
suggests  the  same  hand  as  the  Carter  memorial. 

By  the  end  of  the  century,  Helmbrecht  and  Farrington's  original  tree 
trunk  design  had  been  replaced  by  much  shorter,  "stumpier"  models. 
The  three-foot  granite  example  erected  in  1904  for  Clayton  Tammany  is 
fairly  typical  (Fig.  12).  The  inscriptions  are  carved  into  the  stone's  smooth 
top  surface  and  a  smooth  rectangle  below,  instead  of  attempting  the  illu- 
sion of  peeling  bark.  An  incised  seal  replaces  the  high-relief  still  life  of 
earlier  monuments,  and  uniform,  stylized,  shallowly-carved  bark  replaces 
the  realism  of  earlier  efforts.  The  greater  hardness  of  granite,  as  opposed 
to  limestone  or  marble,  combined  with  the  rising  cost  of  labor,  meant 
that  monument  makers  had  to  cut  costs  in  order  to  meet  the  Woodmen's 
price  of  $100.  This  resulted  in  the  smaller,  simpler  designs  and  shallower, 
less  detailed  carving. 


Annette  Stott 


17 


Fig.  10.  William  E.  Carter  tree  trunk  monument,  1895,  limestone. 
Fairmount  Cemetery,  Denver,  Colorado. 


18 


Woodmen  of  the  World 


Fig.  11.  While  trees,  water  sprinklers,  and  other  factors  play  a  role 

in  erosion,  they  cannot  explain  the  severe  deterioration 

of  this  tree  trunk  memorial  for  Robert  C.  Seymour. 

It  stands  a  short  distance  from  the  Carter  and  Lamb  stones. 


Annette  Stott 


19 


Fig.  12.  Both  the  harder  composition  of  granite  and  changing 

economic  conditions  caused  the  monuments  of  Clayton  Tammany 

and  his  contemporary  Woodmen  of  the  early  Twentieth  Century 

to  assume  the  shape  of  short,  shallowly  carved  stumps. 


20 


Woodmen  of  the  World 


As  the  Woodmen  organizations  grew,  so  did  the  demand  for  tree 
stump  tombstones.  Statues  in  the  form  of  cut  and  stacked  logs,  some- 
times carrying  a  globe,  sometimes  supporting  a  tree  stump,  also  became 
popular.  Stone  carvers'  manuals  typically  included  instructions  for  carv- 
ing the  Woodmen  of  the  World  seal,  and  all  the  major  monument  com- 
panies carried  one  or  two  designs  for  Woodmen  monuments.  It  should 
be  noted  that  the  official  seal  of  the  Pacific  Jurisdiction  (Fig.  13)  varied 
from  that  of  the  Sovereign  Camp,  and  both  changed  over  time.  The  Sov- 
ereign Camp  also  regulated  the  appearance  of  their  monuments  more 
rigidly.  For  example,  they  specified  in  their  1907  Constitution  that  the 
circles  and  letters  of  their  seal  must  be  carved  with  a  "V"-shape  cut  not 
less  than  one-eighth  of  an  inch  deep,  and  that  the  image  of  the  stump 
must  be  raised  not  less  than  three-eights  of  an  inch.20  The  Pacific  Juris- 
diction, while  concerned  about  quality,  did  not  go  to  quite  such  lengths 
to  ensure  uniformity.  In  both  cases,  however,  variations  on  the  official 
seal  appeared  as  carvers  created  their  own  interpretations.  In  general, 
neither  local  nor  national  monument  companies  understood  the  differ- 
ences in  the  two  Woodmen  monument  programs'  requirements. 


- ."'     ..,^<*^""    V---,      \'".      ■-":■■  ;>\    :" ■ 


'•"  m  s  :"#8bl»*  ~;  - l'*   #  't*'^^"1^ 


Fig.  13.  The  Pacific  Jurisdiction  seal  can  be  seen  in  this 
detail  from  the  Tammany  marker. 


Annette  Stott 


21 


THIS   STURDY,  GRAND   TRUNK    OF   A  TREE    FOR  $28.75 

AND     UPWARDS 


Catalogue  Nos.  22P900   to  22P905       See    opposite    page   for  full  description. 


Fig.  14.  The  rectangular  shape  of  the  original  stone  block  can  be 

seen  by  examining  the  base  of  this  Sears,  Roebuck  and  Co. 

carved  tree  trunk,  where  it  meets  the  square  base  block. 


22  Woodmen  of  the  World 


In  1902,  Sears,  Roebuck  and  Co.  advertised  a  tree  stump  monument 
in  three  sizes,  ranging  from  a  four-foot  blue  marble  stump  for  $28.75 
(Fig.  14)  to  a  four-foot  ten-inch  white  marble  stump  for  $48.57.  Carved  at 
a  quarry  in  Rutland,  Vermont,  the  Sears,  Roebuck  monuments  represent 
the  ultimate  reduction  in  quality  and  price  in  order  to  accomplish  a  demo- 
cratic distribution  to  people  of  lesser  means.  Unlike  the  Helmbrecht  and 
Farrington  tree  trunks,  mail-order  company  sculptures  tended  to  retain 
the  shape  of  the  original  block  of  quarried  stone.  These  tree  stumps  of- 
ten look  more  rectangular  than  cylindrical.  They  did  not  meet  the 
Woodmen  criteria  for  quality,  and  would  not  have  been  accepted  for 
reimbursement.21  They  do,  however,  represent  the  widespread  popular- 
ity of  rustic  monuments  among  the  general  populace. 

Tree  stump  funerary  sculpture  carried  associations  with  the  tree  of 
life,  a  symbol  recognized  by  most  world  religions  as  signifying  conti- 
nuity of  life  after  death.22  The  majority  of  Woodmen  were  Christians 
and  Jews,  whose  religions  invested  in  the  symbolism  of  the  tree  of  life. 
The  family  tree,  an  image  of  particular  importance  for  Woodmen,  with 
their  well  developed  sense  of  family  obligation,  was  referenced  in  some 
monuments  as  well.  Names  of  individuals  were  sometimes  carved  onto 
individual  branches  and,  though  rarely  used,  the  opportunity  existed 
to  suggest  a  branch  of  a  family  tree  cut  off  and  other  such  genealogical 
notions.  These  significations,  together  with  the  general  turn  toward  na- 
ture seen  in  the  change  from  churchyard  and  secular  burial  grounds  to 
rural  park-like  cemeteries,  had  made  tree  stumps  popular  motifs  in 
cemetery  sculpture  well  before  the  Woodmen  of  the  World  existed.23 
As  a  contemporary  landscape  gardening  manual  pointed  out,  "cut  stone 
is  more  permanent  and  needs  less  care  than  shrubs  and  flowers,  which 
are  not  only  difficult  to  select  to-day,  but  liable  to  perish  to-morrow."24 
Stone  tree  stump  monuments  furnished  the  cemetery  with  imperish- 
able botanicals.  Tree  stump  monuments  gained  popularity  for  all  of 
these  reasons. 

The  Woodmen  invested  these  popular  tree  trunk  sculptures  with  the 
additional  meaning  of  the  central  enterprise  of  their  order.  Carved  with 
the  name  Woodmen  of  the  World,  the  tree  trunk  monument  was  meant 
to  suggest  the  basic  premise  that  men  must  die  and  leave  unprotected 
their  widows  and  children,  unless  they  joined  together  fraternally  for 
mutual  aid  and  the  protection  of  their  family  obligations  after  death. 
Each  time  the  woodmen  gathered  at  a  cemetery  to  carry  out  the  Woodman 
funeral  rites,  they  were  reminded  of  this  special  meaning  of  the  tree  stump 


Annette  Stott  23 


in  the  words  of  the  camp's  Adviser  Lieutenant,  whose  duty  it  was  to 
recite: 

Like  the  trees  of  the  forest  our  Neighbor  has  sprung  into  life  -  a  prattling 
babe,  a  tiny  shrub  -  has  grown  to  be  a  man,  like  the  vigorous  sapling,  around 
which  the  ivy  and  the  vine  have  loved  to  cling  and  find  a  safe  protection,  and 
now,  like  the  tree,  he  is  cut  down  and  the  ivy  and  the  vine  feel  the  crushing 
blow.  The  tree  can  never  on  earth  be  their  support  again;  but  in  that  better 
life,  toward  which  we  cast  our  longing  eyes:  there  shall  be  no  parting  there.25 

One  might  wonder  how  a  widow  and  her  children  felt  at  the  burial,  be- 
ing referred  to  as  clinging  ivy  without  support,  but  no  doubt  the  image 
of  the  man  as  a  solid  tree  trunk  was  a  comforting  one  to  the  deceased's 
fellow  Woodmen.  It  certainly  embodied  late  Nineteenth-Century  defini- 
tions of  masculinity.  Historian  Mark  C.  Carnes  has  theorized  that  a  ma- 
jor purpose  of  fraternal  ritual  was  to  reassert  manliness  in  an  era  of  change 
and  doubt.26  The  stone  trees  of  the  Woodmen  accomplished  the  same 
goal. 

The  tree  stump  allowed  for  all  kinds  of  additional  references.  F.A. 
Falkenburg  once  gave  an  address  entitled  "The  altar  of  Woodcraft  is  a 
Stump,"  in  which  he  stated  that: 

a  plain,  old-fashioned,  every-day,  North  American  stump  . . .  fitly  symbolizes 
the  fallen  neighbor  who  is  carried  to  his  last  resting  place  by  loving  hands, 
but  it  also  means  much  more  ...  It  was  from  that  platform,  the  stump,  that 
the  Puritan  Father  spoke.  It  was  from  that  rostum  that  was  first  announced 
upon  this  soil,  under  the  silent  skies,  the  inalienable  rights  of  man  and  his 
absolute  equality  with  his  fellow  man.27 

Such  patriotism  also  suited  the  Woodmen's  notions  of  moral  fiber  and 
American  manhood. 

Women  of  Woodcraft,  the  female  auxiliary  of  the  Pacific  Jurisdiction 
Woodmen  of  the  World  since  1898,  also  maintained  a  monument  pro- 
gram.28 Woodmen  who  purchased  additional  insurance  through  the 
Women  of  Woodcraft  were  expected  to  place  the  emblem  of  that  organi- 
zation on  their  monuments,  along  with  the  Woodmen  of  the  World  in- 
signia. Women  of  Woodcraft  also  erected  monuments  to  their  sisters,  of 
which  the  Bertha  Wolff  monument  (Fig.  15)  is  a  strong  example.  It  is  not 
as  tall  as  the  earliest  Woodmen  trees  and  bears  a  seal  rather  than  high 
relief  emblems.  While  tree  stump  monuments  erected  by  Women  of 
Woodcraft  for  their  sisters  could  certainly  reference  "perfected  wood- 
craft," all  association  with  masculinity  or  support  of  women  and  chil- 
dren was  obviously  lost  in  these  monuments. 


24 


Woodmen  of  the  World 


Fig.  15.  The  Bertha  Wolff  monument  of  1906  is  a  good  example 

of  the  monuments  erected  by  the  Women  of  Woodcraft.  They 
assumed  the  same  forms  as  those  of  the  Woodmen  of  the  World. 


Annette  Stott  25 


Social  Significance 

Although  the  tree  stump  and  other  Woodman  memorials  stand  si- 
lent and  largely  forgotten  today,  they  once  played  an  active  role  in  the 
life  of  the  community.  On  June  4th,  1900,  the  Rocky  Mountain  News  re- 
ported: 

Every  person  in  Denver  knew  that  yesterday  was  Memorial  Sunday  for  the 
Woodmen  of  the  World.  Four  thousand  followers  of  woodcraft  marched 
through  the  business  streets  in  the  afternoon,  accompanied  by  bands  and 
flags  and  flowers  and  later  the  cemeteries  were  thronged  with  members  of 
the  camps  decorating  the  graves  of  over  150  deceased  neighbors  of  the  order 
who  sleep  in  Mount  Olivet,  Fairmount,  and  Riverside.  There  are  fourteen 
camps  and  5,300  Woodmen  in  the  city.  Nearly  every  member  of  the  order 
appeared  with  his  comrades  to  pay  respects  to  the  dead. 

The  streets  of  the  business  section  were  crowded  with  spectators  and  the 
long  procession  was  greeted  frequently  with  applause.  At  Fourteenth  and 
Champa  streets  the  parade  was  reviewed  by  Governor  Charles  S.  Thomas, 
Mayor  Henry  V.  Johnson  and  the  resident  head  officials  of  the  Pacific 
Jurisdiction  of  the  order  . . .  The  parade,  headed  by  a  platoon  of  police  under 
Sergeant  Means,  formed  at  Sixteenth  and  Welton  Streets  . . .  followed  by  the 
Denver  City  band.  Denver  Camp  No.  1,  which  included  1,400  members, 
followed,  the  drill  team  uniformed  in  attractive  suits  of  black  and  scarlet, 
leading  the  way  with  its  handsome  silk  banner,  which  they  won  as  champion 
team  of  the  city.  A  second  team  of  Camp  No.  1  was  resplendent  in  white 
duck  suits  trimmed  in  red.  Rocky  Mountain  camp  No.  7  was  followed  by  the 
drill  team  of  Colorado  camp  No.  13,  whose  uniforms  of  white  duck  trousers 
and  caps  with  red  military  blouses  were  especially  pleasing  to  the  spectators. 
At  this  point  Lohmann's  band  furnished  music  for  the  marchers  . . . 

This  parade,  which  had  grown  every  year  until  it  reached  the  major  event 
described  above,  was  merely  the  prelude  to  the  primary  activities  of  the 
Woodman's  Memorial  Day,  the  unveiling  and  dedication  of  all  monu- 
ments erected  since  the  previous  June  and  the  decoration  of  graves.  While 
the  woodmen  paraded  through  the  streets  and  struggled  for  an  hour  at 
Union  Station  to  get  loaded  on  the  rail  cars  that  would  take  detachments 
of  them  to  the  cemeteries,  the  Women  of  Woodcraft  and  families  of  the 
deceased  had  gone  ahead  to  the  cemeteries  with  additional  flowers. 

When  a  procession  arrived  at  a  cemetery,  it  went  to  each  new  monu- 
ment in  turn  to  perform  the  unveiling  ritual.  The  Woodmen  formed  a 
wedge  shape  encompassing  the  monument  at  its  point.  Only  officers,  a 
designated  orator,  the  camp  quartet,  and  relatives  were  allowed  to  stand 
inside  the  wedge.  After  the  quartet  sang  an  appropriate  hymn  or 
Woodman  song,  the  Consul  Commander  of  the  camp  recited  a  speech 
reminding  everyone  that  what  they  did  now  was  "the  fulfillment  of  an 


26  Woodmen  of  the  World 


obligation  which  all  Woodmen  have  taken,  to  protect  the  good  name  of 
each  other  while  living  and  mark  well  his  grave  when  dead."  More  mu- 
sic and  poetry  preceded  the  unveiling  of  the  monument,  which  had  pre- 
viously been  draped  in  a  black  cloth  or  the  American  flag.  Finally,  the 
Woodmen  dedicated  the  monument  with  a  series  of  rituals  involving 
tree  branches,  salt,  oil,  water,  and  recitations.29  Every  year  thereafter,  the 
Woodmen  would  revisit  the  grave,  decorating  it  and  the  monument  with 
flowers.  The  magnitude  of  the  Woodmen  Memorial  Day  and  the  pomp 
and  ceremony  surrounding  the  unveiling  ritual  suggests  the  important 
role  the  monuments  played  in  the  lives  of  Woodmen. 

The  motto  of  the  order,  Dum  Tncet  Clamat,  appeared  on  each  monu- 
ment and  was  referenced  in  the  unveiling  ritual.  Usually  translated 
"though  silent  I  speak,"  the  motto  also  bears  testimony  to  the  impor- 
tance of  the  monument  as  a  silent  representation  of  what  the  Woodman 
stood  for  in  life.  One  part  of  the  ceremony  proclaimed:  "The  passer-by 
will  pause  and  read  the  name  of  a  good  man  and  a  true  Neighbor.  It  will 
be  an  inspiration  to  emulate  his  life,  that  the  passer-by  may  become  wor- 
thy of  such  a  tribute."30 

While  the  motto  and  the  monument  were  silent,  the  ritual  was  not. 
Not  only  were  thousands  of  Woodmen  descending  on  the  cemeteries  at 
once,  but  these  parades  attracted  crowds  of  followers.  It  was  often  im- 
possible to  avoid  trampling  a  wide  path  across  other  graves  in  attempt- 
ing to  gather  everyone  around  the  monument  to  be  dedicated.  By  the 
end  of  the  century,  cemetery  superintendents  in  Denver  had  joined  to- 
gether in  an  effort  to  ban  fraternal  rituals  at  the  gravesite. 

When  in  a  speech  Falkenburg  had  likened  Woodmen  to  "plain,  old 
fashioned  everyday  North  American  stumps,"  he  evoked  an  image  of 
middle-class  America.  Some  Woodmen  were  leaders  in  their  communi- 
ties -  doctors,  lawyers,  and  politicians.  Most  were  blue  collar  workers, 
not  the  people  to  whom  society  normally  erected  public  monuments. 
Membership  in  Woodmen  of  the  World  made  ordinary  people  special.  It 
lifted  them  through  ritual  and  display  to  become  the  focus,  for  a  short 
time,  of  the  community.  The  monument  marked  the  graves  of  ordinary 
people,  testifying  to  their  character  and  to  their  worthiness  of  remem- 
brance. 

As  a  patron  of  cemetery  art,  the  Woodmen  of  the  World  sponsored 
visual  symbols  of  the  community  values  it  espoused.  Each  monument 
served  as  a  memorial  to  an  individual,  an  advertisement  for  the  order, 
and  the  physical  embodiment  of  Woodmen  beliefs,  upon  which  those 


Annette  Stott  27 


beliefs  were  reaffirmed  annually  through  rituals.  The  Woodmen  of  the 
World  attempted  to  promote  high  quality  in  their  sepulchral  art  through 
centralized  administration  of  the  program,  but  they  were  ultimately  foiled 
by  the  economics  of  their  endeavor. 

NOTES 

I  am  very  grateful  to  Mr.  David  Wilson,  President  of  the  Woodmen  of  the  World  of  Denver,  to 
Mr.  Frank  Hegner,  President  of  the  Fairmount  Cemetery  Association,  and  to  the  Omaha 
Woodmen  of  the  World  Insurance  Association  for  allowing  me  to  examine  their  old  journals, 
records  of  annual  meetings,  and  other  documents.  Without  such  generous  access,  this  article 
would  not  have  been  possible.  Figure  14  is  reproduced  courtesy  of  the  Winterthur  Library, 
Printed  Book  and  Periodical  Collection,  whose  staff  was  wonderfully  helpful  with  my  research. 
All  photos  of  monuments  in  situ  are  by  the  author. 

1 .  See,  for  example,  Warren  E.  Roberts,  "Notes  on  the  Production  of  Rustic  Monuments  in 
the  Limestone  Belt  of  Indiana,"  Markers  VII  (1990),  173-193;  Susanne  S.  Ridlen,  "Tree- 
Stump  Tombstones:  Traditional  Cultural  Values  and  Rustic  Funerary  Art,"  Markers  XIII 
(1996),  44-73;  and  Susanne  S.  Ridlen,  Tree-Stump  Tombstones:  A  Field  Guide  to  Rustic 
Funerary  Art  in  Indiana  (Kokomo,  IN:  Old  Richardville  Publications,  1999). 

2.  Other  major  patrons  of  cemetery  markers  include  the  U.S.  government,  which  places 
simple  (rarely  sculptural)  markers  on  the  graves  of  military  personnel,  and  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  and  its  orders. 

3.  Early  accounts  vary  on  the  events  leading  to  the  creation  of  the  Woodmen  of  the  World 
from  the  Modern  Woodmen  of  America,  but  all  cite  Root's  own  account  about  the  sermon 
reference  to  pioneers  inspiring  the  names.  See  W. A.  Northcott,  The  Woodman 's  Handbook: 
A  Comprehensive  History  of  the  Modem  Woodmen  of  America  (Modern  Woodmen  of 
America,  1894);  Modem  Woodmen  of  America,  The  Complete  Revised  Official  Ritual  (Chicago, 
IL:  Ezra  A.  Cook,  1925);  Este  E.  Buffum,  Modem  Woodmen  of  America:  A  History,  2  vols, 
(n.p.:  Modern  Woodmen  Press,  1927);  Leland  A.  Larson  and  James  R.  Cook,  The  Woodmen 
Story:  Our  First  100  Years  (Omaha,  NE:  Woodmen  of  the  World  Life  Insurance  Society, 
1991);  Alvin  J.  Schmidt,  Fraternal  Organizations  (Westport,  CT:  Greenwood  Press,  1980); 
"The  Woodmen  of  the  World,"  a  brief  history  included  in  all  early  issues  of  Tlie  Woodman 
(1890-1891).  Woodmen  of  the  World  never  absorbed  the  Modern  Woodmen  of  America 
entirely,  although  the  latter  eventually  went  out  of  business.  The  take-over  effort  was 
more  successful  in  the  West  than  elsewhere.  In  Colorado,  all  but  two  camps  of  MWA 
joined  WOW  at  its  inception. 

4.  When  the  new  group  first  organized  in  Omaha,  it  called  itself  the  Sovereign  Camp  of  the 
World,  Modern  Woodmen  of  America.  Threat  of  a  legal  battle  with  the  Iowa  group  led  it 
to  change  its  name  to  Sovereign  Camp,  Woodmen  of  the  World. 

5.  The  Pacific  Jurisdiction,  Woodmen  of  the  World  was  authorized  at  the  same  meeting  as 
the  Sovereign  Camp.  For  more  information,  see  Woodmen  of  the  World,  Fundamental 
Laws  of  the  Woodmen  of  the  World  for  the  Government  of  Head  and  Local  Camps  (Denver, 
CO:  W.W.  Slack,  1890). 


28  Woodmen  of  the  World 


6.  The  age  requirements  later  changed,  but  this  was  the  rule  recorded  in  Fundamental  Laws, 
p. 11.  Many  high-risk  occupations  were  prohibited  from  membership  in  order  to  make 
the  insurance  scheme  feasible. 

7.  This  constitutional  change  is  recorded  in  Proceedings  of  the  Second  Session  of  the  Head  Camp, 
Pacific  Jurisdiction,  Pueblo,  Colorado,  August  11-16, 1892  (Denver,  CO:  Merchants  Publishing 
Company,  1892):  18;  54;  97-98. 

8.  The  Woodman  2  (1892):  2.  "Unveiling  a  Monument,"  Sovereign  Visitor  2  (1892):  1. 

9.  "Meeting  of  the  Head  Managers,"  The  Woodman  3  (1893):  5.  The  article  reproduces  part 
of  the  contract  proposed  by  Helmbrecht  and  Farrington. 

10.  See  articles  in  The  Woodman  3  (1892):  3;  and  3  (1893):  5.  See  also  the  Proceedings  of  the 
Third  Session  of  the  Head  Camp,  Pacific  Jurisdiction,  Woodmen  of  the  World  held  at  Portland, 
Oregon,  Aug.  14-21,  1894  (Denver,  CO:  Merchant's  Publishing  Co.,  1894),18;  46;  60. 

1 1 .  Descriptions  of  monuments  and  grave  side  ceremonies  regularly  appeared  in  Tlie  Woodman 
(after  1894  called  The  Pacific  Woodman).  Typically,  Sequoia  Camp  of  Sacramento  reported 
that  the  monument  erected  for  Ernest  Rupa  "far  surpassed  the  expectations  of  our 
members,  who  were  one  and  all  delighted  with  it.":  5:  4  (1895). 

12.  Between  1894  and  1896,  the  Head  Camp  recorded  90  payments  for  monuments,  about 
one  third  of  them  to  D.B.  dinger,  successor  to  W.C.  Farrington.  The  rest  went  to 
monument  companies  throughout  the  jurisdiction.  About  one-third  of  eligible 
beneficiaries  were  also  reported  as  not  having  ordered  a  monument,  many  because  they 
had  not  yet  decided  whether  to  accept  the  $100  monument  or  build  a  more  expensive 
one.  See  The  Pacific  Woodman  5  (1895):  2;  and  Proceedings  of  the  Fourth  Session  of  the  Head 
Camp,  Pacific  Jurisdiction,  Woodmen  of  the  World  at  Helena,  Montana  (Denver,  CO:  The 
Merchants  Publishing  Company,  1896),  82-84. 

13.  Proceedings  of  the  Fourth  Session,  179-181;  and  Constitution  of  the  Head  Camp,  Pacific 
Jurisdiction,  Woodmen  of  the  World  . . .  adopted  at  Fourth  Biennial  Session,  August  20,  1896  at 
Helena,  Montana,  62.  After  the  fifth  Biennial  Session  in  San  Francisco  and  after  executive 
council  amendments  in  1898,  the  constitution  went  even  further  and  required  families  of 
deceased  members  to  file  application  for  monuments. 

14.  When  each  member  died  and  the  membership  was  assessed,  the  notice  of  assessment  in 
the  Pacific  Woodman  carried  his  name,  age,  camp,  date  of  original  membership,  date  and 
reason  for  death,  name  of  attending  physician,  beneficiary,  and  the  amount  and  date  of 
insurance  payment.  Schaffer  [sic]  and  McKercher  both  appeared  in  "Assessment  No.  142 
for  the  Month  of  May,  1902,"  Pacific  Woodman  12  (1902):  4.  Payment  for  the  Shaeffer  and 
McKercher  monuments  to  Denver  Marble  and  Granite  is  recorded  in  Pacific  Woodman  12 
(1902):  4;  and  13  (1903):  7. 

15.  The  Woodman  reported  that  the  eleven  Denver  camps  had  chosen  a  plot  at  Fairmount 
Cemetery  and  were  incorporating  the  Woodmen  Cemetery  Association  in  order  to  provide 
burial  space  at  no  cost  to  members.  "This,  in  addition  to  the  beautiful  monument  which 
the  head  camp  erects  upon  each  neighbor's  grave,  completely  refutes  the  charges  of  old 
line  life  insurance  companies,  that  the  Woodmen  of  the  World  is  nothing  more  than  an 


Annette  Stott  29 


insurance  organization."  3:  8  (1893):  1.  For  unknown  reasons,  the  Woodmen  Cemetery 
Association  was  never  incorporated,  and  Fairmount  has  no  record  of  its  plot. 

16.  J.M.  Aldrich,  "Respecting  Monuments,"  The  Pacific  Woodman  8  (1901):  3. 

1 7.  Rule  #85,  "Monumental  firms  and  others  are  prohibited  from  placing  their  names  on  any 
work  with  a  view  to  advertising":  Rules  and  Regulations  Governing  the  Cemeteries  of 
Fairmount  and  Riverside  and  Suggestions  to  Lot  Owners  (Denver,  CO:  n.p.,  1900). 

18.  The  dispute  over  the  Wetmore  monument  was  reported  in  The  Pacific  Woodman  7  (1896):  4. 

19.  Adolph  Munter,  "The  Stump  of  the  Tree,  An  Emblem  of  Woodcraft,"  a  speech  delivered 
July  27,  1896  at  Camp  99  and  reported  in  The  Woodman,  6  (1896):  3. 

20.  Monumental  News  25  (1913):  54. 

21.  Sears,  Roebuck  and  Co.,  Tombstones  and  Monuments  (Chicago,  IL:  1902),  56-57. 

22.  For  a  general  overview  of  the  tree  as  a  sign  in  world  cultures,  see  Roger  Cook,  The  Tree  of 
Life:  Image  for  the  Cosmos  (London,  England:  Thames  and  Hudson,  1974).  Of  course,  each 
use  of  the  tree  as  a  monument  carried  its  own  symbolic  significance  and  it  would  be  a 
mistake  to  assume  that  all  meanings  applied  in  any  instance. 

23.  Some  of  the  earliest  imagery  on  tombstones  and  mourning  pictures  of  the  late  Eighteenth 
and  early  Nineteenth  Centuries  was  the  weeping  willow.  Although  an  image  of  a  tree,  it 
carried  different  signification  than  later  tree  stump  monuments.  The  weeping  willow 
was  meant  to  evoke  emotions  of  grief  and  mourning;  it  did  not  reflect  the  tree  of  life  or 
the  family  tree.  It  also  did  not  suggest  moral  fiber  or  manly  support  of  women  and  children 
the  way  later  Woodmen  tree  stump  monuments  did.  Weeping  willows  had  lost  popularity 
in  sepulchral  imagery  by  the  1860s. 

24.  Samuel  Parsons  Jr.,  Landscape  Gardening  (New  York,  NY:  G.P.  Putnam's  Sons,  1891;  1900), 
303. 

25.  Ritual  of  the  Pacific  Jurisdiction  Woodmen  of  the  World  (Omaha,  NE:  Beacon  Press,  1897), 
79-80.  ' 

26.  Mark  C.  Carnes,  Secret  Ritual  and  Manhood  in  Victorian  America  (New  Haven,  CT:  Yale 
University  Press,  1989). 

27.  F.A.  Falkenburg,  "The  Altar  of  Woodcraft  is  a  Stump,"  The  Woodman  11  (1900):  1. 

28.  C.C.  van  Orsdall,  The  Story  of  Woodcraft:  Women  of  Woodcraft  (Leadville,  CO:  Leadville 
Publishing  &  Printing  Co.,  1903),  5-23,  tells  how  the  Pacific  Circle  Women  of  Woodcraft 
became  officially  recognized  at  the  5th  Head  Camp  Session  in  San  Francisco,  August  26- 
September  2, 1898,  after  a  5-year  history. 

29.  Ritual  of  the  Pacific  Jurisdiction,  63-72. 

30.  Ibid. 


30 


Gold  Star  Pilgrimages 


^yVftS-        *3  s^4»  "it  Ix^oU^.  4^U^    Ltw^  fen,  (j  /u    +    |wv»«-i| 


iMU«^i'««r;   ;q(/.       5*4,  "U*    j^o,  **^  J|H«{«  ;\ 
~U    Xl*    Qjinr**r^"<flj*^     *H*ej»*      Cv*\^>\  *W-J>,^     ^  ctAf"^ 


A-A-^-^H 


I    OtXljvV^      £.«•*. 


^»v 


Fig.  1.  Marion  Brown's  diary  entry,  August  11,  1931, 
during  her  Gold  Star  Pilgrimage  to  France. 


31 


MOURNING  IN  A  DISTANT  LAND:  GOLD  STAR  PILGRIMAGES  TO 
AMERICAN  MILITARY  CEMETERIES  IN  EUROPE,  1930-33 

Lotte  Larsen  Meyer 

Looking  at  her  husband's  grave  in  northern  France  for  the  first  time 
on  August  11,  1931,  Marion  Brown  wrote  in  her  diary  (Fig.l),  "The  most 
beautiful  spot  on  earth  . . .  row  upon  row  of  marble  crosses  each  exactly 
like  the  other.  The  order  and  simplicity  make  for  it's  greatest  beauty." 
Facing  his  grave,  she  copied  the  words  inscribed  on  his  cross,  "  Louis  C. 
Brown,  1  Lieut,  7  Engineers  5  Div.  Ohio  Oct  18,  1918,"  and  went  on  to 
describe  the  landscape  she  saw  to  the  right,  left,  and  opposite  of  the 
grave.  And  she  noted,  "the  government  gave  each  a  wreath  for  grave. 
Pictures  taken."1 

Background 

Marion's  trip  from  Shreveport,  Louisiana  to  the  Meuse-Argonne 
American  Cemetery,  located  near  the  village  of  Romagne-Gesnes,  was 
part  of  an  unprecedented  and  emotional  journey  of  mourning  called  the 
Gold  Star  Pilgrimage.  U.S.  Congressional  legislation  passed  in  March, 
1929  invited  16,486  unmarried  widows  and  mothers  of  American  sol- 
diers, sailors,  and  marines  interred  in  American  military  cemeteries  in 
Europe  to  travel  abroad  between  1930  and  1933  as  guests  of  the  United 
States  government.2 

Their  final  destination  was  the  grave  of  a  son  or  husband  located  in 
one  of  the  eight  World  War  I  American  military  cemeteries  in  Europe 
(see  Fig.  2)  :  six  in  France,  and  one  each  in  England  and  Belgium.  A  few 
women  were  also  escorted  to  isolated  graves  in  Sicily,  Romania,  Ireland, 
Gibralter,  and  southern  France.  Over  $5  million  was  appropriated  ($850 
per  person)  to  cover  transportation,  lodging,  meals,  medical  needs,  and 
touring  costs  of  the  four-week  round  trip  from  New  York  (including  rail 
expenses  from  a  woman's  home  town)  .  The  U.S.  Army's  Quartermaster 
Corps,  which  had  gained  considerable  experience  supplying,  transport- 
ing, and  providing  logistical  support  for  the  American  Expeditionary 
Forces  (AEF)  during  the  war,  was  directed  to  organize,  guide,  and  man- 
age the  Pilgrimage. 

Widows  like  Marion  in  their  40s,  and  mothers,  mostly  in  their  mid- 
605,  formed  a  community  of  mourners  on  a  unique  tour  that  took  them 
from  the  far  corners  of  America  to  Europe.  Over  a  period  of  four  years, 


32 


Gold  Star  Pilgrimages 


6,674  women  from  all  walks  of  life,  with  varying  health  problems,  some 
of  whom  had  never  traveled  before  or  who  spoke  no  English,  shared 
seasickness,  sightseeing,  and  new  foods,  roomed  together  in  first-class 
accommodations,  stood  at  the  grave  (Fig.  3)  of  a  son/husband  for  the 
first  time,  and  took  away  a  wide  variety  of  memories.  For  each  woman 
it  was  a  personal  mission,  and  for  the  government  that  funded  it,  and 
the  Army  that  directed  it,  the  first  opportunity  to  showcase  their  nearly 
completed  war  cemeteries  and  monuments  overseas  to  a  large  group 
of  civilians. 

Marion's  diary  entries,  along  with  letters,  scrapbooks,  and  souvenirs 
from  Bessie  Shellenbarger,  a  Nebraska  stepmother,  and  Alvaretta  Taylor 
and  Caroline  Short,  mothers  from  Washington  and  Oregon,  shed  light 
on  how  women  recorded  the  Pilgrimage.  Together  with  thousands  of 
other  women's  voices  recorded  in  newspaper  stories,  magazine  articles, 
congressional  testimony,  government  reports,  and  photographs,  these 
materials  capture  a  largely  forgotten  chapter  in  Depression-era  history 


.ENGLAND 


Aisne-Marne 


i(flL  Jfa  Meuse-Argonne 

St.  Mihiel 


Fig.  2.  Map  of  WWI  American  military  cemeteries 

(marked  with  crosses)  in  France,  Belgium,  and  England 

visited  during  Gold  Star  Pilgrimages,  1930-1933. 


Lotte  Larsen  Meyer 


33 


Fig.  3.  Caroline  Short  by  the  grave  of  her  son,  Lloyd  Short, 

at  the  Oise-Aisne  American  Cemetery, 

near  Fere-en-Tardenois,  France,  July,  1930. 


34  Gold  Star  Pilgrimages 


about  how  the  nation  commemorated  its  war  dead  in  an  organized  Pil- 
grimage and  how  the  pilgrims  themselves  reacted  to  it.3 

Gold  Star  History 

Marion  Brown  was  a  Gold  Star  Widow,  but  more  than  95%  of  the 
pilgrims  were  Gold  Star  Mothers,  so  subsequent  references  in  this  essay 
to  "Gold  Star  Mothers"  will  mean  both  mothers  and  widows.  "Gold  Star" 
meant  that  a  husband,  son,  or  daughter  died  serving  in  the  American 
armed  forces.  The  idea  originated  with  the  Women's  Committee  of  the 
Council  for  National  Defenses,  who  suggested  to  President  Woodrow 
Wilson  in  the  Fall  of  1918  that  a  gold  star  be  added  to  the  traditional 
black  mourning  armband  to  honor  those  who  had  made  the  supreme 
sacrifice  for  their  nation.  The  gold  star  complimented  the  already  exist- 
ing blue  star  service  flag  which  hung  in  home,  school,  and  business  win- 
dows to  indicate  that  someone  was  on  active  duty  in  the  armed  forces. 
As  soldiers  died,  the  gold  stars  replaced  blue  ones  on  the  service  flag.  In 
1919,  it  was  the  image  of  a  Gold  Star  Mother  that  the  Victory  Liberty 
Loan  Committee  chose  for  a  fund-raising  poster  (Fig.  4).  Praying  to  her 
service  flag  (which  in  this  instance  depicted  his  grave  as  well),  she  im- 
plored the  nation  to  make  sure  "that  that  boy,  and  those  other  thou- 
sands, shall  not  have  died  in  vain." 

Between  1918  and  1929,  mothers  of  living,  deceased,  or  disabled  vet- 
erans founded  organizations  to  remember  their  sons'  heroic  actions,  care 
for  the  disabled,  and  promote  the  needs  of  their  mothers.  Groups  such 
as  American  War  Mothers  (AWM),  Gold  Star  Association  of  America 
(GSAA),  and  American  Gold  Star  Mothers  (AGSM)  promoted  the  erect- 
ing of  war  monuments  in  the  United  States  and  encouraged  the  care  and 
maintenance  of  American  military  cemeteries  overseas.  Veterans  orga- 
nizations such  as  the  American  Legion  and  Veterans  of  Foreign  Wars 
supported  the  work  of  all  these  groups,  and  during  the  Pilgrimage  they 
gave  mothers  hundreds  of  wreaths  to  place  on  France's  Tomb  of  the 
Unknown  Soldier  on  behalf  of  Legion  chapters.  Mothers  were  honored 
when  Legion  or  VFW  chapters  chose  their  son's  name,  if  he  had  been  the 
first  soldier  from  their  city  killed  in  the  war,  for  post  names  (such  as,  for 
example,  the  Delbert  Reeves  Post  of  Silverton,  Oregon). 

Various  commemorative  activities  were  sponsored  in  the  1920s  by 
war  mothers,  as  members  of  these  groups  were  often  called.  Doughboy 
statues  and  other  war  monuments  were  erected  across  the  country  by 
AWM  chapters,  such  as  one  in  Salem,  Oregon  (Fig.5),  J.  Paulding's  "Over 


Lotte  Larsen  Meyer 


35 


otwr  of  the  Gold  Stars 


"My  star — that  turned  to  gold  when  my 
boy  laid  down  his  life  to  defend  his 
mother,  and  all  mothers.  My  golden  star 
that  my  old  eyes  will  always  see  shining 
in  God's  sky.  And  always  when  I  lift  my 
face  to  ask  the  Heavenly  Father  for 
strength  to  bear  my  burden,  1  see  my 
boy's  face  smiling  back  to  me  across 
the  grave. 


"He  did  his  duty!  And  how  I  prayed 
God  that  he  might  be  strong  even  to 
the  end." 

Oh,  Americans,  make  sure,  by  your  self- 
sacrifice,  that  that  boy,  and  those  other 
thousands,  shall  not  have  died  in  vain. 
Do  your  duty,  too,  in  an  overwhelming 
subscription  to  the  Victory  Liberty  Loan. 


I  vl*  lirv.  «*» 

VICTORY  LIBERTY  LOAN  COMMIT 


Fig.  4.  1919  Poster,  "In  Honor  of  the  Gold  Stars/ 
for  the  Victory  Liberty  Loan. 


36 


Gold  Star  Pilgrimages 


Fig.  5.  Doughboy  statue,  "Over  the  Top  to  Victory/ 
Salem,  Oregon.  Sculpted  by  J.  Paulding. 


Lotte  Larsen  Meyer  37 


the  Top  to  Victory."  Dedicated  on  Armistice  Day,  November  11,  1924, 
the  names  of  Marion  County's  war  dead  were  engraved  around  the  ped- 
estal. Surrogate  gravestones,  these  statues  became  community  grieving 
places,  draped  with  wreaths  and  flags  on  Memorial  Day  and  Armistice 
Day.  The  mothers  of  Delbert  Reeves  and  Fay  Walling,  two  of  those  named 
on  the  pedestal,  went  on  the  1930  Pilgrimage,  along  with  several  other 
Marion  County  mothers.  In  May  of  1925,  AWM  began  it's  annual  tradi- 
tion of  commemorating  Mother's  Day  by  laying  a  wreath  at  the  Tomb  of 
the  Unknown  Soldier  in  Arlington  National  Cemetery,  and  the  following 
year  they  were  given  the  right  to  fly  a  service  flag,  with  a  blue  and  gold 
star,  over  the  U.S.  Capitol  on  Armistice  Day.  During  the  same  time  pe- 
riod, District  of  Columbia  Gold  Star  Mothers  decorated  the  Tomb  of  the 
Unknown  Soldier  on  Memorial  Day  (Fig.  6).  The  GSAA  raised  funds  in 
1924  to  rebuild  a  school  in  Bony,  France  (Fig.  7)  in  memory  of  the  sol- 
diers that  had  fought  or  died  in  the  1918  Somme  offensive  (many  of  whose 
remains  lie  nearby  in  the  Somme  American  Cemetery).  In  1925  they  or- 
ganized a  tour  for  15  Gold  Star  Mothers  to  see  American  cemeteries  and 
battlefields  in  Europe. 

Pilgrimage  Legislation 

The  Pilgrimage  bill  enacted  in  March,1929  (Public  Law  592)  ended  a 
decade  of  congressional  debate  on  the  topic.  From  1919-1927,  represen- 
tatives from  New  York  and  Pennsylvania  (where  large  numbers  of  Gold 
Star  Mothers  lived)  introduced  several  different  bills  in  the  House  Com- 
mittee on  Military  Affairs,  most  of  which  died  in  committee  for  lack  of 
consensus  over  questions  of  need,  costs,  who  to  include  as  pilgrims,  and 
whether  the  Red  Cross  or  the  Army  should  organize  it.  The  success  of  a 
bill  introduced  in  September,  1927  and  passed  in  March,  1929  owed  ev- 
erything to  timing.  Testifying  in  1928,  one  mother  urged  that  the  Pil- 
grimage not  occur  "  'till  all  the  marble  crosses  are  up  in  place."4  By  early 
1929,  when  the  legislation  was  passed,  work  and  landscaping  on  the  eight 
American  military  cemeteries,  which  had  begun  in  1920,  was  nearly  com- 
plete; unfinished  were  non-sectarian  chapels  at  each  one,  on  which  the 
names  of  the  missing  in  action  were  to  be  engraved  on  interior  walls. 
Cemetery  property  was  located  on  the  same  battlefield  grounds  Ameri- 
can troops  had  fought  and  died  on,  and  the  nearby  eleven  war  monu- 
ments, honoring  particular  campaign  victories,  were  well  along  in  their 
construction,  though  not  all  were  completed.  From  the  government's 
point  of  view,  and  probably  most  importantly  from  the  Army's  point  of 


38 


Gold  Star  Pilgrimages 


view,  since  it  had  predicted  ten  years  earlier  that  overseas  battlefield 
cemeteries  would  become  pilgrimage  sites,  the  Pilgrimage  was  not  only 
about  visiting  cemeteries.  It  was  equally  a  pilgrimage  to  see  the  battle- 
fields themselves,  as  was  noted  on  the  back  of  the  Medal  given  to  moth- 
ers when  they  sailed  to  France,  and  about  honoring  and  paying  respect 
to  the  mothers  of  fallen  heroes. 

The  names  of  Mathilda  Burling,  Ethel  Nock,  and  Effie  Vedder  are 
long  forgotten,  but  they  were  eloquent  spokeswomen  for  AWM  and  GSSA, 
lobbying  Congress  relentlessly  for  a  decade  to  fund  a  trip  for  all  moth- 
ers, like  themselves,  who  had  left  a  son  overseas,  many  of  whom  were 
too  poor  to  afford  European  travel.  The  trip  was  cast  as  a  debt  the  nation 
owed  mothers  for  having  saved  taxpayers  millions  by  not  repatriating 
bodies,  and  for  the  suffering,  sacrifice,  and  sorrow  mothers  endured  in 
the  name  of  national  defense.  Burling  testified  that  "it  was  the  mothers 
who  had  won  the  war.  America  would  not  have  had  men  and  women  . . . 
to  go  forth  if  it  had  not  been  for  mothers."5  Mothers  were  curious  about 


Fig.  6.  District  of  Columbia  Gold  Star  Mothers  shown 
placing  wreath  on  Tomb  of  the  Unknown  Soldier, 
Arlington  National  Cemetery,  Memorial  Day,  1927. 


Lotte  Larsen  Meyer 


39 


what  the  country  their  sons  had  fought  for  looked  like,  and  they  be- 
lieved that  their  presence,  together  with  the  war  mothers  of  France,  would 
be  a  powerful  catalyst  for  peace  and  the  improvement  of  foreign  rela- 
tions with  France. 

Mothers  who  had  already  been  abroad  testified  as  to  their  feelings. 
One  recalled  that,  upon  seeing  her  son's  grave,  "I  felt  sorrow  drop  from 
me,"6  while  another  noted  that  when  "I  looked  at  those  14,000  crosses  of 
young  men,  I  thought  surely  our  country  must  have  been  purified  by 
their  sacrifice,  and  I  believe  every  mother  will  feel  that."7  In  1924,  Mrs 
Vedder  pointed  out  "the  mothers  see  all  the  time  in  the  papers  about  the 
graves  not  being  taken  care  of,"  and  testified  that  they  needed  to  verify 
that  the  government  had  not  "broken  faith"  with  them  in  caring  for  the 
graves  of  their  sons.  Congressmen  vowed  that  the  trip  shouldn't  be  a 
"junket,"  and  in  response  to  that  point  Mrs.  Vedder  suggested  a  very 
simple  itinerary:  "I  would  like  her  to  rest  two  nights  at  the  cemetery  and 
to  have  one  night's  rest  in  Paris,  and  then  be  brought  back  again.  They 
do  not  care  about  the  fine  things  of  Europe;  they  never  heard  of  them, 
most  of  them."8 


Fig.  7.  School  (now  the  City  Hall)  built  in  Bony,  France  with  funds 
raised  by  the  Gold  Star  Association  of  America  in  1924. 


40  Gold  Star  Pilgrimages 


Outnumbering  widows,  Gold  Star  Mothers  clearly  saw  themselves  as 
the  rightful  beneficiaries  of  a  pilgrimage.  Mrs.  Nock  questioned  whether 
remarried  widows  remained  loyal  to  the  memory  of  those  who  had  died, 
and  stated  "...  widows  are  not  worthy.  They  married  at  the  last  moment. 
I  fear  that  many  of  the  widows  are  going  with  the  thought  of  Paris." 
Explaining  why  widows  had  been  left  out  of  the  1924  bill,  one  congress- 
man implied  that  wives'  relationship  with  husbands  "paled  by  compari- 
son with  the  ones  mothers  had  with  their  sons."9 

These  derogatory  remarks  about  widows  reflect  the  continuing  influ- 
ence in  America  of  the  "cult  of  motherhood."  When  Mother's  Day  be- 
came an  official  holiday  in  1914,  mothers  were  raised  on  a  pedestal,  and 
their  stature  only  increased  during  the  war,  as  motherhood  and  patrio- 
tism were  linked  in  numerous  ways.  Many  popular  wartime  songs  -  e.g., 
"I'll  Return  Mother  Darling,  to  You"  (1917),  "A  Mother's  Prayer  for  Her 
Soldier  Boy"  (1918),  etc.  -  stressed  the  importance  of  mother  love,  and 
General  John  J.  Pershing  reaffirmed  the  sanctity  of  motherhood  by  or- 
dering all  500,000  AEF  troops  to  send  a  Mother's  Day  letter  home  in 

1918.  Even  the  organizational  names  of  AWM,  GSAA,  and  AGSM  stressed 
mothers  (not  wives,  parents,  or  families),  and  their  special  observances 
at  Arlington  National  Cemetery  on  Mother's  Day  (and  later  on  Gold  Star 
Mother's  Day)  connected  mothers  and  war  dead. 

Restrictions  in  the  1929  bill  disqualified  remarried  widows,  anyone 
who  had  traveled  to  the  grave  before,  fathers  or  those  in  loco  parentis, 
and  the  families  of  aviators,  army  nurses,  and  the  unknown  and  "miss- 
ing in  action"  who  died  on  land  or  were  buried  at  sea  (in  ships  that  were 
torpedoed).  The  servicemen  must  have  served  in  the  American  Expedi- 
tionary Forces  and  died  between  April  5,  1917  and  July  1,  1921  (corre- 
sponding to  the  wartime  service  dates  used  to  calculate  WWI  veterans 
benefits).  The  mother  of  American  war  poet  Alan  Seeger,  who  died  in 
1916  fighting  with  the  French  Foreign  Legion  at  the  Battle  of  the  Somme, 
was  ruled  out  of  the  pilgrimage  by  these  means.  Amendments  passed  in 
1930  and  1931  added  most  of  the  disqualified  groups  back,  though  not 
remarried  widows. 

Cemetery  Construction 

Never  before  had  the  U.S.  Congress  paid  for  relatives  to  visit  the  dis- 
tant graves  of  servicemen.  Until  the  First  World  War,  servicemen  who 
died  abroad  were  routinely  returned  to  the  United  States  for  burial.  In 

1919,  however,  the  War  Department  gave  families  of  the  78,000  U.S.  war 


Lotte  Larsen  Meyer 


41 


^■^gnW 


Fig.  8.  Bronze  plaque  on  gravemarker  of  G.R  Cather, 
East  Lawn  Cemetery,  Bladen,  Nebraska. 
Note  the  gold  stars  flanking  the  portrait. 


42 


Gold  Star  Pilgrimages 


dead  a  choice  between  repatriation  or  final  burial  overseas,  resulting  in 
a  spirited  national  debate  between  the  two  factions,  often  referred  to 
respectively  as  the  "Bring  Back  the  Dead  Soldier  League"  and  the  "Field 
of  Honor  Association."10  Between  1919  and  1922,  46,000  (or  sixty  per- 
cent) of  the  fallen  were  returned  and  reburied  across  America,  with  the 
government  funding  all  repatriation  costs,  estimated  to  be  between  $500 
and  $1000  per  body.  Gravestones  erected  by  families  for  repatriated  bodies 
in  hometown  cemeteries  ranged  from  simple  to  considerably  elaborate, 
as  for  example  the  granite  and  bronze  monument  (Fig.8)  for  G.  P.  Cather, 
cousin  of  author  Willa  Cather,  who  served  as  the  model  for  the  hero, 
Claude  Wheeler,  in  her  Pulitzer  Prize- winning  1922  novel  about  WWI, 
One  of  Ours.  The  monument  for  Cather,  the  first  Nebraska  officer  to  be 
killed  in  action,  features  a  large  bronze  plaque  with  a  bust  of  Cather  in 
uniform,  inscribed  with  specific  information  about  how  and  where  he 
died. 

Families  chose  to  let  the  other  30,792  (forty  percent)  remain  overseas, 
often  citing  former  president  Theodore  Roosevelt's  decision  to  let  his 
son  Quentin's  body  remain  in  a  French  field  where  he  died  when  his 


Fig.  9.  Memorial  Stone  for  Private  Charles  J.  Moser,  Riverview 

Cemetery,  Portland,  Oregon.  Moser's  body  is  buried  in  the  Meuse- 

Argonne  American  Cemetery,  near  Romagne-Gesnes,  France. 


Lotte  Larsen  Meyer 


43 


Fig.  10.  Marble  crosses  at  Suresnes  American  Cemetery, 
near  Paris,  France,  as  seen  in  the  1990s. 


44 


Gold  Star  Pilgrimages 


airplane  went  down,  saying  "where  the  tree  falls,  let  it  lie."  His  grave 
became  a  pilgrimage  site  to  returning  veterans,  and  later  to  the  Gold 
Star  Mothers.11  Though  a  body  was  left  overseas,  many  families  still 
erected  memorial  stones  in  U.S.  homeland  cemeteries  (e.g.,  Fig.  9),  indi- 
cating how  important  it  was  to  have  a  designated,  accessible  spot  for 
mourning  and  remembrance.  Edith  Moser,  mother  of  the  fallen  soldier 
commemorated  in  Figure  9,  ultimately  made  the  1930  Pilgrimage  to  his 
real  grave  in  the  Meuse-Argonne  American  Cemetery. 

The  "beautiful"  cemeteries  (e.g.,  Fig.  10)  that  the  Gold  Star  women 
visited  in  the  1930s  took  ten  years  to  complete.  Work  was  initially  carried 
out  by  the  Army's  Graves  Registration  Service  (GRS),  a  division  of  the 
Quartermaster  Corps.  Between  1919  and  1923,  2,400  hastily  erected  battle- 
field cemeteries  were  consolidated  into  eight,  each  grave  marked  by  a 
wooden  cross  painted  white  (see  Fig.  11).  In  1923,  the  American  Battle 
Monuments  Commission  (ABMC)  coordinated  the  final  design,  construc- 
tion, and  administration  of  the  military  cemeteries  and  nearby  war  monu- 
ments. Ranging  in  size  from  the  largest  with  14,000  graves 
(Meuse-Argonne  in  northern  France)  to  the  smallest  with  366  (Flanders 


Fig.  11.  Wooden  markers,  painted  white,  that  were  adopted 

by  a  French  woman  (standing  right).  Suresnes  American 

Cemetery,  near  Paris,  France,  Memorial  Day,  1919. 


Lotte  Larsen  Meyer 


45 


Fig.  12.  Upright  tablet  gravemarker  for  WWI  soldier  in  Fort 
McPherson  National  Cemetery,  Maxwell,  Nebraska. 


46 


Gold  Star  Pilgrimages 


Field  in  Belgium),  they  serve,  in  the  words  of  General  Pershing,  as  a  "per- 
petual reminder  to  our  Allies  of  the  liberty  and  ideals  upon  which  the 
greatness  of  America  rests."12 

Seeing  rows  of  "pure  white  crosses"  left  a  dramatic  and  indelible  image 
upon  the  pilgrims,  who  had  never  seen  any  cemeteries  like  these  before. 
Initially,  the  ABMC  had  planned  to  use  the  upright  tablet  design  of  the 
type  used  to  mark  war  dead  in  domestic  U.S.  military  cemeteries  (e.g., 
Fig.  12),  but,  under  pressure  from  various  groups,  in  1924  they  selected 
the  cruciform  shape.  This  configuration  was  deemed  appropriate  for  its 
strong  symbolic  value,  both  patriotic  and  religious,  denoting  sacrifice, 
suffering,  resurrection,  and  redemption.13  The  crosses  (Fig.  13),  or,  in  the 
case  of  Jewish  soldiers,  Stars  of  David,  were  over  three  feet  high  and 
carved  from  white  Carrara  marble,  with  known  graves  inscribed  with  a 
set  of  uniform  information  and  the  crosses  of  unknown  dead  inscribed 
with  the  phrase  "Here  rests  in  honored  glory  /  An  American  solider  / 
Known  but  to  God." 

Care  and  maintenance  of  the  graves  was  the  responsibility  of  the  GRS 
until  1923,  after  which  date  it  was  continued  by  the  ABMC.  At  the  same 
time  many  graves,  especially  at  the  Suresnes  American  Cemetery  near 


Fig.  13.  Cararra  marble  crosses,  with  Star  of  David  marker  behind 
to  the  left.  Suresnes  American  Cemetery,  near  Paris,  France. 


Lotte  Larsen  Meyer  47 


Paris,  were  "adopted"  by  French  women  (see  Fig.  11),  schoolchildren,  or 
whole  towns.  In  1920,  a  non-profit  group  in  Paris,  the  American  Over- 
seas Memorial  Day  Association,  began  soliciting  funds  to  decorate  over- 
seas graves  and  monuments  with  wreaths  and  flags.  Nevertheless,  as 
Mrs.  Vedder  pointed  out  in  the  Congressional  hearings  cited  earlier,  con- 
cern about  cemetery  neglect  was  a  very  real  worry  for  relatives  far  away. 
Throughout  the  1920s,  Gold  Star  relatives  visited  the  cemeteries 
(which  until  1930  would  have  been  in  various  stages  of  construction  and 
reburial),  obtaining  exact  burial  plot  and  location  information  from  the 
Paris  headquarters  of  the  GRS:  seven  decades  later,  their  database  of  war 
dead  can  be  accessed  on  the  ABMC  website  (www.abmc.gov).  Doing 
research  for  her  novel  One  of  Ours  in  France  in  1920,  Willa  Cather  photo- 
graphed her  cousin's  grave  ten  miles  from  Cantigny,  so  that  his  mother 
could  see  the  location  before  his  repatriation.  She  stayed  in  a  home  reg- 
istered with  the  Society  for  French  Homes,  a  group  which  helped  Ameri- 
cans find  lodging  in  areas  where  there  were  no  hotels.14  The  Paris  branch 
of  the  YWCA,  concerned  that  American  women  would  be  fearful  of  trav- 
eling alone  and  unable  to  find  lodging  in  rural  France,  offered  their  ser- 
vices as  guides  and  operated  several  lodging  facilities,  called  rest  houses, 
near  the  cemeteries;  these  also  served  light  meals. 

Certain  visitation  similarities  existed  in  the  case  of  other  Allied  na- 
tions following  the  war.  British  relatives  made  numerous  pilgrimages  to 
the  graves  of  their  war  dead,  all  of  whom  had  been  interred  in  a  large 
number  of  small  cemeteries  near  where  they  fell.  They  were  aided  by  the 
St.  Barnabas  Society,  founded  in  1919,  which  ran  inexpensive  hostels  near 
cemeteries  and  drove  pilgrims  to  and  from  graves.  A  1928  tour  led  by 
the  British  Legion,  attracting  10,000  mothers  and  widows,  was  one  of  the 
largest.15  The  French  veterans  ministry  provided  free  transportation  for 
any  French  war  mother  or  widow  to  see  the  graves  of  their  loved  ones. 

Pilgrimage  Concept 

As  early  as  1919,  the  War  Department  predicted  that  the  new  Ameri- 
can military  cemeteries  in  Europe  would  become  "...  a  shrine  which  will 
be  the  object  of  pilgrimages  for  thousands  of  Americans  now  living."16 
But  early  pilgrimage  bills  used  the  phrase  "transport  for  mothers,"  or 
called  on  the  Secretary  of  War  to  "arrange  tours,"  and  not  until  1927  did 
"to  make  a  pilgrimage"  become  part  of  the  language  of  the  bill.  Shortly 
before  the  legislation  was  introduced,  the  term  "pilgrimage"  was  widely 
used  in  conjunction  with  the  25,000  American  Legionnaires  who  came 


48  Gold  Star  Pilgrimages 


to  Paris  in  1927  for  their  annual  convention.  General  Pershing  called  it 
"the  greatest  good  will  pilgrimage  in  history,"  while  others  termed  it  a 
"pilgrimage  of  remembrance."17 

The  pairing  of  the  word  "pilgrimage"  with  Gold  Star  Mothers  added 
religious  and  patriotic  associations  that  "transport"  and  "tour"  lacked. 
In  articles,  speeches,  photograph  captions,  and  editorial  cartoons,  the 
Pilgrimages  were  often  called  "holy"  or  "sacred  ";  the  graves  were 
"shrines"  or  "sacred  dust";  soldiers  were  "heroes";  and  the  cemeteries 
were  "hallowed"  or  "consecrated"  grounds.  The  noble  mothers  were 
"pious  pilgrims"  in  "solemn  procession,"  on  a  "journey  of  devotion"  or 
"journey  of  hope."  More  importantly,  "pilgrimage"  captured  the  notion 
of  quest  and  longing. 

War  grave  pilgrimage,  according  to  Tony  Walter,  is  "less  a  religious 
experience  and  more  an  emotional  catharsis."18  But  the  preceding  ex- 
amples show  that  war  graves  and  military  cemeteries  do  take  on  sa- 
cred overtones,  a  form  of  "civic  religion"  honoring  the  sacrifices  of  the 
war  dead.  Pilgrimage  implies  a  powerful  longing  to  see  something,  a 
separation  and  journey  away  from  home,  a  shared  experience  and  wid- 
ening of  horizons  in  a  foreign  setting,  and  a  catharsis  or  relief  that  heals 
the  longing.  Individually,  each  mother  just  wanted  to  see  a  grave,  but 
collectively,  in  a  community  of  mourners  grieving  for  soldiers  who  died 
in  an  Allied  victory,  she  represented  much  more  to  the  nation.  In  this 
sense,  mothers  were  pilgrims  "remembering  and  honoring"  the  fallen 
heroes.19 

The  Pilgrimage  occurred  in  three  stages:  (1)  departure  by  train  to 
New  York  and  ocean  voyage  to  France;  (2)  arrival  and  realization  of  the 
quest  via  sightseeing  in  Paris  and  visiting  cemeteries  and  battlefields; 
and  (3)  return  home.  As  it  was  intended  to  be  a  "pilgrimage  of  remem- 
brance," the  army  insured  that  throughout  the  trip  ceremonies  would 
honor  and  remember  all  the  fallen  heroes  of  the  United  States  and  France, 
and  also  that  itineraries  would  include  sites  associated  with  the  war  and 
show  how  the  war  was  being  commemorated  by  the  U.S.  and  France  for 
generations  to  come.  Except  for  Brookwood  (in  England)  and  Suresnes 
(just  outside  of  Paris),  all  the  cemeteries  lay  in  the  former  battle  zones,  so 
each  group  was  able  not  only  to  see  the  spots  where  their  sons  or  hus- 
bands fought  and  died,  but  also  places  such  as  Verdun,  The  Sacred  Way, 
and  the  battleground  of  The  Lost  Battalion,  legendary  WWI  pilgrimage 
sites  in  northern  France.  The  primary  goal  was  always  remembrance  and 
honoring  the  dead,  individually  and  collectively,  with  sightseeing  sec- 


Lotte  Larsen  Meyer  49 


ondary.  But  in  the  way  the  trips  were  organized,  the  two  became  inter- 
twined and  blurred,  so  that  sightseeing  formed  a  necessary  step  in  mak- 
ing the  Pilgrimage. 

Pilgrimage  Itineraries 

In  February  of  1930,  Congress  appropriated  more  than  $5  million  for 
the  trips.  A  random  drawing  by  President  Herbert  Hoover's  wife  deter- 
mined which  state  delegations  would  leave  first,  and  the  Quartermaster 
Corps  began  final  preparations  for  the  pilgrimages  to  begin  May  7,  1930. 
First-class  accommodations  in  trains,  hotels,  and  passenger  liners  were 
booked,  and  more  than  fifty  army  officers,  drivers,  interpreters,  guides, 
nurses,  and  doctors  were  specially  selected  for  tact,  courtesy,  and  pa- 
tience to  accompany  the  groups. 

All  pilgrimages  followed  the  same  itinerary.  State  delegations  trav- 
eled by  train  from  their  hometowns  to  New  York  City,  where  they  en- 
joyed a  day  of  sightseeing.  They  were  combined  with  other  state 
delegations  to  form  parties  of  100-250  pilgrims  and  boarded  passenger 
ships,  owned  by  the  United  States  Lines,  that  sailed  from  Hoboken,  New 
Jersey  to  Cherbourg,  France  (or  Southampton,  England,  if  going  to 
Brookwood).  In  1930,  ships  left  the  U.S.  every  two  weeks  from  May 
through  August.  At  Cherbourg,  trains  took  them  to  Paris,  where  they 
were  divided  into  smaller  groups  of  14-30  based  on  cemetery  destina- 
tion. Five  to  seven  days  of  ceremonies,  sightseeing,  and  resting  in  Paris 
were  interspersed  with  five  to  seven  additional  days  spent  visiting  cem- 
eteries and  battlefields.  Returning  by  train  to  Cherbourg,  they  boarded  a 
ship  back  to  New  York,  and  from  there  caught  trains  home.  Not  count- 
ing train  travel  in  the  U.S.,  the  trip  lasted  about  one  month.  Twenty  pil- 
grimage trips,  also  called  parties  or  contingents,  and  identified 
alphabetically  A  through  T,  were  taken  in  1930;  succeeding  years  had 
fewer  trips  as  fewer  women  participated. 

Tender,  loving  care  went  into  packing  treasured  objects  that  would 
be  left  at  the  graves.  Advised  in  advance  that  cemetery  regulations  did 
not  permit  artificial  flowers,  many  mothers  brought  flowers  with  them, 
knowing  they  would  wither  and  fade,  but  would  be  a  reminder  of  some- 
thing "from  home."  One  brought  flower  seeds  to  plant,  only  to  be  disap- 
pointed later  upon  learning  that  cemetery  regulations  prohibited  grave 
personalization  in  this  way.  Some  mothers  also  took  letters  from  their 
sons'  former  girlfriends,  or  framed  mottos  and  photographs,  and  women 
from  Minnesota  brought  tiny  boxes  of  state  soil,  as  did  pilgrims  from 


50 


Gold  Star  Pilgrimages 


Florida.  One  widow  brought  a  flask  of  water  from  her  husband's  favorite 
swimming  hole. 

The  women  became  celebrities  in  their  hometowns.  Local  papers  gave 
substantial  front  page  coverage  to  their  departures  and  returns,  and  of- 
ten published  their  pictures  standing  at  graves.  At  bon  voyage  parties, 
sponsored  by  groups  like  the  American  Legion  Auxiliary,  they  received 
travel  gifts,  such  as  diaries  and  money  to  purchase  additional  flowers 
for  graves.  In  her  diary,  Marion  Brown  noted  the  gifts  she  had  received  - 
money,  several  flower  bouquets,  fresh  fruit,  a  wristwatch,  stationary,  and 
a  "box  of  gifts  to  be  opened  each  day  from  the  'Goldfinch  Club.'"  Women 
in  Minneapolis  were  advised  at  a  luncheon  on  what  to  wear,  and  to  bring 
cameras,  keep  diaries,  and  save  souvenirs. 

Wearing  special  Gold  Star  identification  badges  (Fig. 14),  mothers 
boarded  trains  for  New  York,  embarking  on  the  first  stage  of  the  Pil- 
grimage. Many  were  accompanied  by  younger  relatives  -  daughters, 
daughters-in-law,  sweethearts  of  their  sons  -  who  paid  their  own  way. 
Alvaretta  Taylor  noted  that  "twelve  of  us  mothers  from  Spokane  occu- 
pied one  sleeping  car  ...  and  we  enjoyed  every  bit  of  scenery."20  Marion 


Fig.  14.  Gold  Star  Pilgrimage  ID  Badge  (left), 
and  commemorative  medal  (right). 


Lotte  Larsen  Meyer 


51 


Fig.  15.  Floral  anchor  wreath  honoring  all  servicemen  lost  at  sea, 
dropped  in  the  Atlantic  ocean  May  30,  1930  from  the  S.S.  Roosevelt. 


52 


Gold  Star  Pilgrimages 


Brown  described  how  "the  city  of  New  York  gave  each  one  of  us  -  one  at 
a  time  -  a  small  silk  American  flag." 

The  week-long  ocean  voyage  to  France  was  filled  with  entertainment 
and  ceremonial  occasions.  Marion  described  how  each  woman  was  pre- 
sented with  a  medal  (see  Fig. 14),  a  gift  from  the  U.S.  Lines,  with  the 
words  "Mrs.  ...  it  is  an  honor  to  present  you  with  this  medal."  Designed 
by  Tiffany,  the  front  of  the  medal  shows  a  gold  star  above  a  ship  sailing 
between  the  Statue  of  Liberty  and  the  Eiffel  tower,  as  well  as  the  year  of 
the  pilgrimage.  Wording  on  the  reverse  side  reads,  "Gold  Star  Pilgrim- 
age to  the  Battlefields  of  the  World  War."  Earlier  Marion  had  sung  hymns 
such  as  "Onward  Christian  Soldiers"  and  "Holy  Holy"  and  listened  to 
prayers  and  a  bugler  playing  taps  at  a  ceremony  honoring  all  service- 
men lost  at  sea.  "Impressive"  was  Alvaretta's  reaction  to  the  same  cer- 
emony on  her  ship,  and  she  saved  a  photograph  (Fig. 15)  of  the 
anchor-shaped  poppy  wreath  that  was  dropped  in  the  ocean  by  the  old- 
est mother.  Many  mothers  missed  activities  because  of  seasickness,  but 


w?% 


Fig.  16.  Gold  Star  Mothers  at  the  wreath-laying  ceremony  at 
France's  Tomb  of  the  Unknown  Soldier,  Paris,  1933. 


Lotte  Larsen  Meyer 


Fig.  17.  Completed  in  1923,  the  Memorial  Cloister  in  the 

American  Cathedral  of  the  Holy  Trinity  in  Paris 

commemorates  the  services  of  all  Americans  who  served  in  WWI. 


54  Gold  Star  Pilgrimages 


others  enjoyed  concerts,  masquerades,  movies,  and  festive  dinners  with 
the  captain. 

Disembarking  at  Cherbourg  for  a  train  to  Paris,  they  began  the  sec- 
ond stage:  ceremonies,  receptions,  sightseeing,  and  cemetery  and  battle- 
field visits.  On  the  train  through  Normandy,  Caroline  Short  was  amazed 
that  the  "scenery  was  beautiful,  so  unlike  anything  I  had  seen"  and  that 
she  got  "glimpses  of  the  red  poppies."21  Bessie  Shellenbarger  received  a 
picture  of  her  party  laying  a  wreath  at  France's  Tomb  of  the  Unknown 
Soldier  at  the  Arc  de  Triomphe  in  Paris  (Fig.  16)  on  behalf  of  the  Gold 
Star  Mothers  of  America,  a  ceremony  repeated  by  every  party.22  Marion 
Brown  described  the  ceremony:  "we  stood  in  a  rectangular  formation 
while  it  was  done  ...  everything  was  very  quiet  and  dignified."  At  an 
official  welcoming  reception  at  Cafe  Laurent,  where  Alvaretta  Taylor  says 
"French  war  mothers  met  us,"  each  mother  was  given  a  tiny  parcel  of 
French  soil  wrapped  in  flags  of  the  United  States  and  France.  Caroline 
wrote  that  various  American  and  French  dignitaries  "spoke  to  us  with 
touching  gratitude  of  our  boys."  Speakers,  including  General  Pershing 
and  the  American  ambassador,  thanked  them  for  leaving  their  sons  and 
husbands  overseas,  reassuring  them  that  graves  were  well  cared  for,  and 
that  the  Pilgrimage  would  bring  France  and  America  closer  together, 
thereby  echoing  themes  aired  at  earlier  hearings  for  the  Pilgrimage. 

In  addition  to  the  cemeteries,  the  tour  itinerary  was  carefully  selected 
to  promote  understanding  of  America's  role  in  the  War,  and  to  illustrate 
the  long-standing  Franco-American  friendship.  They  saw  the  railway  car 
near  Compiegne  where  the  armistice  was  signed,  the  Hall  of  Mirrors  in 
Versailles,  where  President  Wilson  signed  the  Peace  Treaty,  and  they 
toured  restoration  projects  financed  by  John  D.  Rockefeller, 
Fontainebleau,  Rheims  Cathedral  (which  had  been  heavily  damaged  in 
the  War),  and  Versailles.  In  Paris,  they  were  given  a  tour  of  the  Memorial 
Cloister  (Fig.  17)  at  the  American  Cathedral  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  viewing 
the  plaques  dedicated  to  all  the  American  troops  and  volunteers  who 
had  served  in  WWI,  and  they  were  driven  past  a  monument  that  sym- 
bolized the  beginning  of  Franco- American  friendship  -  Bartholdi's  1873 
statue  of  General  Washington  and  General  Lafayette  shaking  hands. 

About  Paris,  Bessie  wrote:  "Paris  is  great  -  no  wood  buildings  ... 
Everything  is  lovely  ...  but  everything  here  is  strange  and  any  way  it 
isn't  home."  Like  their  sons  and  husbands  before  them,  as  tourists  the 
mothers  saw  all  the  major  sights,  but  as  Alvaretta  lamented,  "we  just 
had  two  hours"  at  the  Louvre.  Caroline's  complaint  that  "they  don't  serve 


Lotte  Larsen  Meyer 


55 


our  kind  [of  coffee]  in  France.  I  can't  drink  it"  was  very  common,  leading 
to  one  headline  which  read,  "U.S.  Mothers  can't  Stand  Paris  Coffee."23  In 
Rheims,  located  in  the  center  of  the  Marne  Valley's  champagne-produc- 
ing area,  both  Bessie  and  Marion  walked  in  the  champagne  cellars,  but 
since  the  Pilgrimage  years  occurred  during  Prohibition,  many  other 
women  rejected  the  champagne  tour,  as  they  did  wine  and  desserts  laced 
with  rum.  However,  as  had  been  predicted  in  the  hearings,  the  sights 
and  shops  of  Paris  were  not  really  important:  as  one  mother  put  it,  "I'm 
not  here  to  buy  clothes.  I  came  here  to  see  the  grave  of  my  boy  ..."24 

Seeing  that  "special"  grave  was  the  highlight  for  most  of  the  pilgrims. 
Organized  into  small  groups  of  14-30  mothers  whose  sons  were  buried 
in  the  same  place  (Fig.  18),  they  were  driven  by  cars  (accompanied  by 
nurses,  guides,  and  army  officers)  to  the  American  cemeteries  whose 
names  they  had  long  been  trying  to  pronounce:  Oise-Aisne,  Suresnes,  St. 
Mihiel,  Meuse-Argonne,  Flanders  Field,  Somme,  and  Aisne-Marne.  Stay- 
ing in  hotels  near  their  cemetery  destination,  each  mother  was  given 


Fig.  18.  Gold  Star  pilgrims  who  accompanied  Bessie  Shellenbarger 

(far  left,  second  row)  to  the  Somme  American  Cemetery, 

near  Bony,  France,  in  1933. 


56  Gold  Star  Pilgrimages 


four  to  five  visits  to  the  cemetery.  Afterwards,  tea  or  lunch  was  served  at 
hostess  houses  constructed  at  three  of  the  cemeteries  or  at  a  nearby  cafe. 
Some  towns,  like  St.  Quentin,  near  the  Somme  cemetery,  held  receptions 
for  each  group  and  presented  each  mother  with  a  souvenir  certificate 
such  as  the  one  Bessie  pasted  in  her  scrapbook  (Fig.  19).  Besides  seeing 
their  "special"  graves,  most  groups  visited  several  other  American  mili- 
tary cemeteries,  and  many  were  driven  to  the  village  of  Chamery,  where 
they  picked  wild  poppies  and  placed  them  on  Quentin  Roosevelt's  iso- 
lated grave. 

Arriving  at  the  cemetery  for  the  first  of  several  visitations,  an  officer 
gave  each  woman  a  complimentary  wreath,  saying  to  her,  "I  have  the 
privilege  of  presenting  you  with  this  wreath  in  the  name  of  the  U.S.  gov- 
ernment in  honor  of  the  services  of  your  son,"  and  then  escorted  her  to 
the  appropriate  grave,  which  already  had  been  decorated  with  French 
and  American  flags.  Camp  chairs  were  available  to  sit  by  the  grave. 
Mothers  paid  for  subsequent  wreaths  or  used  those  given  to  them  at 
receptions.  Bessie's  group,  for  example,  was  given  flowers  by  the  King  of 
Belgium,  and  her  group  "asked  to  have  the  flowers  from  the  King  placed 
on  some  of  the  unknown  graves."  Each  woman  was  photographed  at 
her  grave  as  a  souvenir,  and  these  photos  appeared  in  numerous  U.S. 
newspapers.  Aside  from  photographers,  and  nurses  and  officers  dis- 
creetly standing  in  the  background,  women  were  left  alone  to  pray  and 
place  treasured  objects  from  home  upon  the  grave.  The  multiple  visits 
were  appreciated  because  at  the  first  visit  they  were  overcome  by  grief, 
but  in  subsequent  visits  were  better  able  to  appreciate  the  time  spent 
there.  The  bittersweet  nature  of  the  last  visit  was  noted  by  Marion  -  "our 
last  trip  to  the  Argonne  Cemetery"  -  and  Bessie  -  "it's  hard  to  think  it 
would  be  for  the  last  time  -  which  it  will  -  for  the  most  of  us." 

The  superintendent  at  each  cemetery  gave  a  tour.  At  the  Meuse- 
Argonne  Cemetery,  Alvaretta  learned  that  "at  present  trees  and  shrubs 
are  planted  among  the  graves,  but  when  the  Pilgrimage  is  all  over,  they 
are  going  to  remove  them,  for  fear  that  the  constant  shadow  might  cause 
the  marble  to  turn  grey."  In  1931,  Marion  saw  unfinished  chapels  "  where 
all  the  names  of  the  unknown  [i.e.,  those  missing  in  action]  will  be  in- 
scribed, "  but  by  1933  Bessie  saw  completed  chapel  walls  (e.g.,  Fig. 20) 
"with  the  names  of  the  unknown  soldiers  carved  in  gold  on  the  walls." 

"A  part  of  each  day,"  Alvaretta  noted,  "we  spent  driving  over  some 
of  the  battlefields,  viewing  shellholes,  trenches,  and  dugouts.  We  saw 
acres  of  land  with  the  barbed  wire  entanglements  still  up."  Bessie  wrote: 


Lotte  Larsen  Meyer 


57 


H 


omm; 


*S£ 


1917-1933 
i  a  i .trt  rrS" 

"  hi  lit  WE  .fA'A" 


;uix    (jrolcl    Otar    JVLothers 


an  J    WicI 


O  W5 


M". 


<Je  leur   pawaje    .   Saint.Q« 

;^    a&aai£   a. . .. 

jet.vur    Jit:,-  Heb. 


Fig.  19.  Bessie  Shellenbarger  (top)  at  grave  of  her  stepson, 

Abraham  Shellenbarger,  in  the  Somme  American  Cemetery, 

near  Bony,  France.  A  certificate  (bottom)  was  presented 

to  her  by  St.  Quentin's  City  Hall. 


58 


Gold  Star  Pilgrimages 


Fig.  20.  The  names  of  soldiers  missing  in  action  engraved 

on  the  chapel  wall  at  the  Aisne-Marne  American  Cemetery, 

near  Belleau,  France. 


Lotte  Larsen  Meyer  59 


"passed  by  the  battlefield  yesterday  where  Abie  [her  stepson,  Abraham 
Shellenbarger]  was  killed,  saw  the  monument  erected  in  honor  of  First 
Division.  His  name  is  on  the  monument."  Marion  described  driving  past 
the  place  where  her  husband  had  been  mortally  wounded:  "Captain  Lake 
told  me  just  where  Andom  Creek  is  and  knew  all  about  the  work  of  the 
7th  Engineers  on  October  16,  1918  [two  days  after  her  husband  was 
wounded,  and  two  days  before  he  died]  . . .  that  bridge  [where  he  had 
been  wounded]  was  in  Romagne  near  the  road  we  traversed." 

Photographs  and  drawings  of  Gold  Star  Mothers  standing  or  kneel- 
ing at  crosses  became  the  dominant  image  associated  with  the  Pilgrim- 
age. Even  on  the  covers  of  contemporary  sheet  music,  such  as  that  for 
the  1930  song,  "Gold  Star  Mother"  (Fig.  21),  the  image  appeared,  and  in 
this  instance  it  was  repeated  in  the  lyrics,  sung  by  a  deceased  son  to  his 
mother:  "Mother  of  mine,  kneel  beside  my  cross  and  whisper  love  as  of 
old."25  Numerous  editorial  cartoons  published  either  in  early  May  at  the 
beginning  of  the  Pilgrimage,  or  near  the  Memorial  Day  weekend,  also 
depicted  solitary  kneeling  mothers  at  a  cross,  or  in  some  cases  a  group  of 
standing  women  approaching  crosses  with  wreaths  in  their  arms. 

As  the  hearings  had  predicted,  the  Pilgrimage  brought  about  renewed 
pleas  for  peace.  The  sight  of  so  many  crosses  led  many  mothers  to  urge 
women  everywhere  to  visit  the  cemeteries  to  understand  the  devasta- 
tion of  war,  and  they  felt  that  the  acres  of  graves  were  a  statement  for 
peace.  Alvaretta  was  shocked  by  what  she  saw:  "No  one  has  any  idea 
what  those  French  people  suffered  unless  you  go  and  see.  My  heart  ached 
for  them."  Seeing  crowds  of  French  war  mothers  weeping  at  Cherbourg 
when  they  disembarked  helped  Gold  Star  Mothers  realize  a  common 
bond.  Two  poems,  published  in  newspapers  near  Memorial  Day,  1930, 
also  included  peace  themes.  Edward  Markham's  "Our  Pilgrim  Mothers 
in  France"  ends  with  the  lines  "swear  now  that  battle  bells  shall  cease  / 
swear  in  his  name,  whose  name  is  Peace!"  Another  poem,  "To  Kiss  the 
Cross," concludes  with  a  couplet  emphasizing  the  same  pair  of  rhymed 
words:  "And  on  all  lips  a  silent  prayer  that  war's  grim  toll  shall  cease  / 
that  men  will  tend  with  watchful  care  the  precious  doves  of  peace."26  For 
others,  the  Pilgrimage  was  a  signal  for  isolationism.  As  one  Memorial 
Day  editorial  stated: 

...  too  many  acres  of  white  crosses  ...  .too  many  mothers  ...  each  mother 
must  come  home  leaving  there  her  son  killed  in  a  quarrel  America  did  not 
start  in  a  war  that  was  not  our  war . . .  our  country  wants  no  traitorous  nonsense 


60 


Gold  Star  Pilgrimages 


about  'guaranteeing  the  peace  of  Europe'  which  could  mean  killing  the  sons 
of  other  American  mothers  in  the  quarrels  of  foreigners.27 


OSIARP1R 


WORDS  AND  MUSIC 
RUSSELL  BRUTTEQ 


Fig.  21.  Sheet  music  cover  for  song 
'Gold  Star  Mother",  written  in  1930. 


Lotte  Larsen  Meyer  61 


Even  before  the  War  was  over,  crosses  and  poppies  had  become  inex- 
tricably linked  as  symbols  of  the  soldier  dead  with  the  lines  "In  Flanders 
Fields  the  poppies  blow  /  between  the  crosses,  row  on  row"  from  John 
McCrae's  famous  1915  poem.  Familiar  with  the  poem  and  the  paper 
"buddy  poppy"  sold  on  Memorial  Day  since  the  early  1920s  to  benefit 
disabled  veterans,  mothers  were  delighted  to  actually  see  real  poppies. 
Caroline  saw  them  from  the  train,  as  did  Bessie,  who  noted:  "nice  fields 
of  poppies  everywhere  -  no  wonder  they  call  this  Flanders  Field."  At 
cemeteries,  they  picked  poppies  to  take  home  as  pressed  souvenirs  or  to 
place  on  Quentin  Roosevelt's  grave,  and  during  the  battlefield  tour 
Alvaretta  noticed  that  "wild  poppies  abound  throughout  this  section  of 
the  country."  Those  mothers  that  left  home  before  Memorial  Day  wore 
paper  poppies  on  their  coats,  were  given  poppy  wreaths  by  delegations 
that  met  their  trains,  watched  airplanes  drop  thousands  of  paper  pop- 
pies over  the  first  ship  to  depart  on  May  7,  1930,  and  laid  poppy  wreaths 
from  hometown  veterans  organizations  at  France's  Tomb  of  the  Unknown 
Soldier.  Inevitably,  newspaper  headlines  such  as  "Row  on  Row,  They 
Await  the  Pilgrims"  linked  the  Pilgrimage  with  the  poppies  as  well.28 

For  a  few,  the  quest  was  not  to  be  realized.  Some  died  on  the  way  to 
France,  or  were  hospitalized  immediately  after  arriving,  returning  home 
without  having  visited  the  cemeteries.  One  mother's  last  wish  was 
granted:  before  falling  into  a  coma  and  dying,  she  told  doctors  she  hoped 
to  die  in  the  country  where  her  son  lay.  Even  for  those  who  achieved 
their  goal,  a  few  had  heart  attacks  or  died  within  days  of  seeing  the  grave, 
while  others  fractured  bones  and  ankles.  Supported  by  a  nurse  and  an 
officer,  one  woman  visited  her  son's  grave  the  day  after  a  heart  attack. 

Return  and  Aftermath 

The  return  voyage  marked  the  final  Pilgrimage  stage:  review  and  as- 
sessment of  what  the  experience  had  meant.  Sailing  back,  mothers  fre- 
quently distributed  and  read  poems  about  what  the  Pilgrimage  had  meant 
to  them,  and  Caroline  saved  an  untitled  poem  (Fig.  22)  that  someone  in 
her  group  had  written.  Just  before  returning,  she  wrote  to  a  relative, 
"I'm  so  glad  I  came  and  so  is  everyone  else  they  did."29  At  the  same  time, 
like  most  tourists  after  a  hectic  tour,  Alvaretta  reflected:  "we  had  seen  so 
much  . . .  were  eager  to  be  home  again,  just  to  rest,  we  were  so  tired." 

Treasured  souvenirs  were  carefully  unpacked.  From  gravesites  they 
took  away  pressed  flowers,  grass,  stones,  soil,  and  flags.  All  received 
official  photographs  taken  during  their  visit,  and  many,  like  Caroline, 


,,->  Gold  Star  Pilgrimages 


Written  for  the 
Gold  Star  Mothers  of  Group  K.,  No.  11. 

As  a  band  of  Gold  Star  Mothers 

We  crossed  the  deep  blue  sea, 
To  view  the  spot  of  our  loved  ones 

Who  sleep  in  France  so  peacefully. 

Our  boys  were  ours  for  a  few  short  years 
They  were  so  manly,  true  and  brave, 

Strong  minded,  alert  and  quick  to  perceive 
Their  help  was  needed,  our  Country  to  sa- 

As  the  cry  of  war  rang  o'er  our  land 
Our  hopes  and  fears  within  us  grew, 

We  prayed  alone  to  God  above 
That  he  might  spare  our  boys  so  true. 

We  watched  them  in  their  eagerness 

To  volunteer  to  go  and  fight, 
To  save  the  homeland,  which  they  loved 

From  cruel  power  as  dark  as  night. 

And  as  we  neared  the  sacred  spot 

Of  those  we  held  so  dear, 
We  prayed  to  God  to  give  us  strength 

And  help  us  now  our  grief  to  bear. 

We  placed  a  wreath  of  lovely  flowers 

Upon  the  sod  which  covers  o'er 
A  youthful  form  in  memory 

Now  gone  from  us  for  evermore. 

As  we  leave  behind  us  beautiful  France 

The  land  where  the  Poppies  grow, 
Our  hearts  and  minds  will  ever  be 

With  the  people  there,  we  learned  to  know 

This  Pilgrimage  was  planned  for  us 

By  the  courtesy  of  Uncle  Sam, 
And  we  want  to  thank  him  heartily 

For  all  the  eggs  and  bacon  and  ham. 

So  let  us  be  joyful,  as  home  we  go 

Remember  our  boys  used  to  say, 
"  We'll  go  Over  the  Top  with  a  big  hurrah 

For  the  proud  old  U.  S.  A." 

Poetry  written  by 

Mrs.  Sophia  Harrison  York,  Pine  River,  Minnes 
Gold  Star  Mother. 

On  Board 
S.  S.  PRESIDENT  ROOSEVELT 

Fig.  22.  Untitled  poem,  "Written  for  the  Gold  Star  Mothers 
of  Group  K,  No.  11,"  by  Mrs.  Sophia  Harrison. 


Lotte  Larsen  Meyer  63 


brought  back  a  packet  of  postcards  from  the  places  they  had  seen.  In 
Paris,  they  might  have  purchased  a  souvenir  doughboy  tin  hat  that  said 
"Souvenir  of  the  Gold  Star  Visit."  Marion's  souvenirs  included  her  diary, 
unidentified  flowers  she  pressed  in  her  diary,  and  a  postcard  from  Verdun 
where  she  had  stayed  (Fig.  23).  In  the  diary  she  listed  gifts  she  bought  in 
Paris  for  friends  and  relatives  -  twelve  handkerchiefs,  two  spoons,  five 
bottles  of  perfume,  and  two  dolls. 

Grateful  mothers  returned  home  to  write  thank  you  letters  to  Presi- 
dent Herbert  Hoover  (and  President  Franklin  D.  Roosevelt  in  1933),  the 
Quartermaster  Corps,  and  the  Secretary  of  War  about  their  "wonderful, 
unforgettable,  and  grandest  time  of  my  life"  experiences.  Marion's  hand- 
written letter  to  Secretary  of  War  Patrick  Hurley  speaks  for  them  all: 

I  cannot  refrain  from  expressing  my  thanks  and  appreciation  individually. 
Nearly  three  months  have  passed  since  our  return  ...  I  realize  more  the 
benefits  -  both  to  my  spirit  and  health  -  received  from  that  sacred  journey. 
Those  of  you  who  planned  and  executed  it  all  made  it  ever  delightful  and 
interesting  beyond  my  greatest  expectations  ...  I  should  like  to  . . .  praise  . . . 
the  officers  of  our  army  who  were  our  escorts  . . .  they  left  nothing  undone 
for  our  welfare  and  seemed  always  alert  to  do  all  possible  for  our  interests 
and  pleasures  as  well.30 

Eager  to  share  their  memories,  they  were  featured  speakers  at  chap- 
ter meetings  of  AWM,  and  submitted  articles  to  the  organization's 
monthly  magazine,  American  War  Mother.  Local  newspapers,  anxious 
to  cover  local  heroines,  published  numerous  accounts.  One  of  the  few 
mothers  to  be  personally  escorted  to  a  remote  grave  in  southern  France 
was  Mrs.  Mary  Walling.  Her  son,  Fay,  whose  name  is  inscribed  upon  the 
Salem,  Oregon  Doughboy  monument  (Fig.  5),  had  married  a 
Frenchwoman  and  was  buried  in  her  town.  Mrs.  Walling's  "wonderful 
but  sad  "  trip,  as  recounted  in  a  local  newspaper,  "was  all  very  new  and 
very  strange  ...  there  was  much  sadness  in  it  all  ...  [France]  is  so  far 
behind  us  ...  I  would  rather  live  in  Oregon."31  Mrs  Fred  Reeves,  whose 
son's  name  is  also  inscribed  upon  the  base  of  the  Salem  Doughboy,  was 
pleased  at  "seeing  the  places  in  France  which  in  her  imagination  she  had 
so  often  pictured,"  and  the  cordial  reception  where  "[we  were]  received 
with  open  arms  and  tears  of  love  from  a  kindred  sorrow  in  the  hearts  of 
mothers  of  France  ,.."32 

Participation  and  press  coverage  dropped  dramatically  afterl930.  Of 
the  6,674  women  that  went  on  the  Pilgrimage,  3,600  went  in  1930,  1,766  in 
1931,  566  in  1932  and  712  in  1933.  In  1930,  only  those  whose  sons  had  an 


64 


Gold  Star  Pilgrimages 


Fig.  23.  Souvenirs  from  Marion  Brown's  1931  Gold  Star  Pilgrimage: 
postcard  from  Verdun,  and  unidentified  pressed  flowers. 


Lotte  Larsen  Meyer  65 


identified  grave  participated;  but  beginning  in  1931,  eligibility  rules 
changed  to  allow  for  mothers  whose  sons  had  no  marked  graves  (the  miss- 
ing at  sea  or  on  land)  or  whose  aviator  sons  were  buried  at  the  Lafayette 
Escadrille  monument  to  aviators.  Of  the  total  eligible  for  the  Pilgrimage,  a 
greater  number  declined  than  participated,  and  it  is  interesting  to  specu- 
late as  to  why  9,812  women  chose  not  to  go.  Factors  might  have  included 
health,  not  wanting  to  reopen  painful  memories,  and  economic  issues  such 
as  not  being  able  to  afford  a  month  away  from  a  job  or  being  the  primary 
breadwinner  or  caregiver  for  older  husbands  or  disabled  sons.33 

The  Pilgrimage  was  not  without  protests  and  complaints.  Just  as  black 
soldiers  had  been  segregated  during  the  war  into  separate  divisions,  their 
mothers  suffered  similar  treatment.  Of  the  forty-eight  individual  pilgrim- 
ages, six  were  made  up  exclusively  of  black  mothers.  The  Army's  deci- 
sion to  transport,  house,  and  give  them  "separate  but  equal"  tours 
damaged  race  relations  and  led  to  many  cancellations,  a  protest  petition 
to  President  Hoover,  and  considerable  press  attention  and  criticism.  The 
situation  inspired  black  poet  James  Weldon  Johnson  to  dedicate  a  new 
poem,  "St.  Peter  Relates  an  Incident  at  the  Resurrection  Gate",  to  the 
Gold  Star  Mothers.  In  the  poem,  St.  Peter  discovers  that  the  Unknown 
Soldier  buried  at  Arlington  National  Cemetery  is  black.34 

Critics  of  the  Pilgrimage  charged  that  mothers  could  have  repatri- 
ated bodies  like  everyone  else,  and  during  the  1929  hearings  called  it  "a 
flagrant  misappropriation  of  public  funds,"  arguing  that  "Our  govern- 
ment should  not  attempt  to  perform  so  sentimental  and  questionable  a 
service  which  is  highly  objectionable  to  American  ideals."35  In  1930,  one 
mother  said,  "many  of  us  feel  that  we  would  be  better  off  if  we  just  had 
the  money  instead  or  part  of  it,"  alluding  to  a  failed  suggestion  to  give 
$850.00  to  mothers  who  chose  not  to  go.36  Other  failed  amendments  would 
have  included  trips  for  Gold  Star  Mothers  whose  loved  ones  were  bur- 
ied in  distant  graves  in  the  United  States  or  for  mothers  of  disabled  vet- 
erans to  compensate  them  for  their  loss.  The  Gold  Star  Mothers  who 
brought  their  sons  home  -  and  who  greatly  outnumbered  the  ones  who 
went  on  the  Pilgrimage  -  received  no  compensation  whatsoever.  In  let- 
ters to  the  editor,  writers  condemned  money  spent  on  mothers  instead 
of  disabled  veterans,  and  in  1933,  at  the  height  of  the  Depression,  asked, 
"Is  there  no  way  to  stop  this  squandering  of  public  funds?  Many  of  us 
are  actually  hungry  and  insufficiently  clothed."37 

The  Gold  Star  Pilgrimages  ended  in  1933.  That  summer  the  phenom- 
enon was  reexamined  through  the  lens  of  Hollywood.  John  Ford's  film 


66 


Gold  Star  Pilgrimages 


Fig.  24.  Peace  Monument  dedicated  to  the  Gold  Star  Mothers, 
Greenwood,  Wisconsin.  Sculpted  by  Ernest  During. 


Lotte  Larsen  Meyer 


67 


Pilgrimage,  adapted  from  a  1932  short  story  with  the  same  title,  showed, 
in  soap  opera  fashion,  how  the  Pilgrimage  transformed  and  redeemed 
one  Gold  Star  Mother's  life.38  In  1936,  Congress  designated  the  last  Sun- 
day in  September  as  Gold  Star  Mothers  Day,  allowing  members  of  the 
AGSM  to  continue  the  commemoration  they  had  held  unofficially  since 
1930  of  placing  a  wreath  on  the  Tomb  of  the  Unknown  Soldier  in  Arling- 
ton National  Cemetery  on  behalf  of  the  Unknown  Mother.  Residents  of 
Greenwood,  Wisconsin  dedicated  a  Peace  Monument  (Fig.  24)  to  the  Gold 
Star  Mothers  in  1937.  When  the  U.S.  Postal  Service  issued  the  Gold  Star 
Mothers  stamp  on  September  21,  1948,  to  coincide  with  Gold  Star  Moth- 
ers Day,  some  first  day  covers  recalled  the  facts  of  the  Pilgrimage  on  a 
gold  star  service  flag  (Fig.  25).  Two  new  organizations,  The  Blue  Star 
Mothers  of  America  (1942)  and  Gold  Star  Wives  (1945),  were  founded  to 
address  constituencies  without  organizations.  However,  by  the  1990s 
membership  in  AWM  and  AGSM  had  dwindled  to  850  and  2,000  for  the 
respective  organizations. 

Conclusion 

Besides  being  pilgrims,  the  mothers  had  been  tourists,  much  like  their 
sons  were  "as  much  tourists  as  soldiers  . . .  "39  Just  as  Mrs.  Wheeler,  the 
fictional  Gold  Star  Mother  in  Willa  Cather's  One  of  Ours,  learned  from 
her  son's  letters  that  "France  [was]  better  than  any  country  can  ever  be,"40 


1 

GOLD     STAR 

A  pilgrimage  for  mothers  and  widows 
of  soldiers,  sailors   and   marines  now 
interred   in  the  cemeteries  of  Europe 
was    provided    by    Act    of    Congress, 
March   2,    1929.     Under  this  act  the 
mothers    and    wlve4   of    service    men 
who   met    death    Hj  the    World    War 
and    whosfcj^^fiCJi^aJWaK^hurled    In 
Europe  were'en',i*l«d   to   90  there  as 
guests  of  the  UdrUtf  Stites  government 
and    visit   the  sravei   in    which    the 
fighting    men<'  lie.      OT    the     11,630 
mothers     and    wives     invited     about 
5,500  actually  went.    The  cost  to  the 
government    averages   $840    for    each 
person.   The  last  Sunday  In  September 
Is  designated  Gold  Star  Mother's  Day. 

MOTHERS 

qiMHi.STfflBBS 


srr       \                         srXn 

"■—  '.MuiTTi.Ttb 

'^*          f              MOTHERS     '•      ■ 

Sa'Ss^ss^- 

corn 

STAR 

MUTHIKS 


EfoMgfl  EfaaSfl 


Fig.  25.  First  day  postal  cover  for  Gold  Star  Mothers 
commemorative  stamp,  issued  Sept.  21,  1948. 


68  Gold  Star  Pilgrimages 


real  Gold  Star  Mothers  like  Bessie  Wells  of  Portland,  Oregon  first  learned 
about  France  from  her  sons  letters:  "...  The  French  worship  the  Ameri- 
cans ...  I  can  speak  enough  French  to  get  a  good  square  meal  ...  last 
night  I  had  a  delightful  time  ...  investigate^]  a  beautiful  chateau  ..."41 
Twelve  years  later,  Mrs.  Wells  discovered  France  on  her  own  in  the  1930 
Pilgrimage. 

"The  most  beautiful  spot  on  earth."  Over  and  over,  words  similar  to 
what  Marion  Brown  had  written  were  echoed  by  other  women  in  other 
WWI  American  military  cemeteries.  "This  cemetery,"  said  one,  "so  beau- 
tifully and  carefully  tended,  is  worthy  of  the  government  for  which  he 
died.  I  want  to  send  a  message  to  all  Mothers  in  America  that  I  am  proud 
of  the  place  where  my  son  lies."42  It  is  important  to  remember  that  most 
mothers  had  never  seen  a  cemetery  anything  like  St.  Mihiel  (Fig.  26)  or 
any  of  the  other  American  military  cemeteries  overseas.  The  "order  and 
simplicity"  that  Marion  noted  did  make  them  stand  out  as  dramatic  state- 
ments. Back  home  in  America,  cemeteries  were  a  visual  hodgepodge  of 
gravestone  designs  and  types  of  stone,  and  while  marble  stones  were 
common,  they  were  seldom  carved  in  the  form  of  crosses.  Nor  were  lush 
green  lawns  and  carefully  planned  landscaping  and  fountains  always 
found  in  American  small  town  cemeteries.  Comparing  the  cramped  rows 
of  tightly  packed  thin  wooden  crosses,  laid  out  in  rows  back  to  back  at 
Suresnes  American  Cemetery  in  1919  (Fig.  11),  with  the  spacious  layout 
of  marble  crosses  in  the  same  cemetery  in  1930  (Fig.  10),  it  is  clear  that 
had  the  pilgrimage  bill  passed  before  the  cemeteries  were  complete  pil- 
grims would  not  have  been  impressed  nearly  so  much. 

The  "wonderful,  though  sad"  act  of  finally  standing  at  graves  they 
had  longed  to  see  for  twelve  years  or  more  brought  solace,  and  satisfac- 
tion that  their  sons  were  not  forgotten  and  would  receive  perpetual  care 
in  a  dignified  setting.  And,  it  provided  relief,  in  the  poetic  words  of  Sophia 
Harrison  (Fig.  22)  "to  let  us  be  joyful  as  home  we  go."  The  Gold  Star 
Pilgrimages  of  the  1930s  were,  from  the  pilgrims'  point  of  view,  a  stun- 
ning achievement,  ending  a  decade-long  quest.  Both  the  concerns  and 
desires  aired  in  the  Congressional  hearings  were  dealt  with.  What  moth- 
ers said  to  reporters,  wrote  in  diaries,  or  put  in  thank  you  letters  to  the 
government  showed  that  they  returned  relieved  that  the  cemeteries  were 
"in  lovely  shape,"  as  Bessie  Shellenbarger  put  it,  that  the  government 
had  not  "broken  faith"  with  them,  and  that,  by  seeing  France,  they  were 
satisfied  to  know  where  a  son's  last  months  or  years  were  spent.  As  pil- 
grims had  done  for  centuries,  they  achieved  their  quest  by  seeing,  walk- 


Lotte  Larsen  Meyer 


69 


»i.  JRthtei  American  (Eemeieru 

>       c_  >-> 


The  American  Battle  Monuments  Commission 


Fig.  26.  Brochure  for  the  St.  Mihiel  American  Cemetery, 
Thiaucourt,  France. 


70  Gold  Star  Pilgrimages 


ing,  meeting  new  people,  and  being  tested.  They  saw  the  waste  of  war, 
and  many  monuments  commemorating  their  sons'  heroic  victories.  All 
the  mothers  walked  to  the  graves  of  their  sons,  and  were  tested  by  strenu- 
ous scheduling,  new  foods  and  beverages,  seasickness,  different  sur- 
roundings and  customs,  endless  ceremonies,  and  by  being  surrounded 
by  strangers  in  a  land  many  of  them  called  strange.  While  having  satis- 
fied the  desire  to  see  a  grave,  the  pilgrimage  would  never  erase  the  pain 
of  having  lost  a  loving  son  or  beloved  husband. 

As  unifying  symbols  of  a  country,  flags  played  an  important  sym- 
bolic role  throughout  the  Pilgrimage.  In  New  York,  flags  were  lowered  to 
half  mast  when  the  mothers  arrived  at  City  Hall  to  receive  tiny  silk  Ameri- 
can flags.  Official  photographs  on  board  the  passenger  liners  show  all 
mothers  waving  large  U.S.  flags.  Arriving  at  Cherbourg,  they  noticed 
buildings  and  train  stations  decked  with  French  and  American  flags  and 
bunting.  The  Cafe  Laurent  in  Paris,  where  all  mothers  went  for  their  first 
official  reception,  was  "flag  draped."  As  they  arrived  at  each  cemetery, 
mothers  would  have  seen  an  American  flag  flying  on  a  central  flagpole, 
and  the  grave  they  walked  to  was  marked  by  French  and  American  Flags. 
When  Oregon's  Mrs.  Reeves  returned  from  the  Pilgrimage,  she,  like  oth- 
ers, sent  a  form  to  the  Quartermaster  Corps  to  receive  an  eleven  by  five 
inch  complimentary  U.S.  flag. 

"All  honor  to  the  mothers  of  victory"43:  General  Pershing's  remarks  to 
the  Gold  Star  Mothers  at  the  first  official  Paris  reception  combined  three 
words  that  reflected  the  government's  goals  during  the  pilgrimage  - 
honor,  mothers,  and  victory.  Since  1919,  the  War  Department  had  wanted 
to  design  overseas  cemeteries  that  would  honor  the  dead,  recognize 
American  victories,  and  attract  pilgrims,  and  in  the  Gold  Star  Pilgrim- 
ages they  realized  their  goals  of  showcasing  their  achievements  for  the 
first  time  to  a  large  audience.  And  credit  should  be  given  to  General 
Pershing,  who  like  most  of  those  in  the  Army  opposed  repatriation,  and 
who,  by  moving  from  being  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  AEF  to  Chair- 
man of  the  ABMC,  played  a  large  role  in  shaping  the  War  Department's 
dream.  In  another  speech  at  the  same  reception,  the  mothers  were  prom- 
ised that  "Our  government,  rendering  homage  to  the  sacrifices  that  you 
have  made  . . .  wishes  to  do  all  in  its  power  to  make  your  welcome  wor- 
thy of  your  noble  efforts."44  The  government  showered  the  pilgrims  with 
gratitude  for  the  sons  and  husbands  who  had  died  in  a  victorious  war,  in 
a  multitude  of  ways  that  made  them  feel  like  special  dignitaries:  through 
speeches  like  those  cited  above  that  recognized  the  sacrifices  the  moth- 


Lotte  Larsen  Meyer  71 


ers  made;  by  including  the  word  "honor"  in  official  ceremonies;  by  hon- 
oring their  fallen  sons  or  husbands  with  impressive  cemeteries  and  monu- 
ments; through  the  provision  of  first-class  travel  arrangements;  and  by 
providing,  courtesy  of  the  Quartermaster  Corps,  the  highest  quality  of 
attentive  care.  The  French  also  honored  the  women,  telling  them  over 
and  over  how  grateful  they  were  that  their  sons  or  husbands  had  helped 
to  save  France. 

Although  Congress  never  introduced  another  pilgrimage  bill,  the  legacy 
of  the  Gold  Star  Pilgrimages  continues,  albeit  not  to  see  graves,  since  over- 
seas military  burial  has  not  been  practiced  since  the  aftermath  of  World 
War  II.  Working  with  the  American  Gold  Star  Mothers,  various  private 
donors,  including  many  Vietnam  veterans,  have  financed  trips,  such  as 
Operation  Gold  Star,  to  allow  a  small  number  of  Gold  Star  Mothers  to  tour 
Vietnam  or  visit  the  Vietnam  Veterans  Memorial  in  Washington  D.C. 

Though  Marion,  Caroline,  Bessie,  Alvaretta,  and  all  the  other  Gold 
Star  pilgrims  died  long  ago,  their  words,  descriptions,  and  souvenirs 
have  remained,  allowing  them  to  share  with  generations  to  come  a  story 
about  an  unforgettable  Pilgrimage.  Together,  these  women  formed  a 
unique  community  of  mourners  in  a  distant  land  -  pilgrims  from  cities 
and  small  towns  all  across  America  who  came  together  to  stand  beside 
the  graves  of  their  loved  ones  who  had  died  in  this  country's  first  large- 
scale  commitment  to  a  war  waged  upon  foreign  soil. 

NOTES 

This  article  is  dedicated  to  my  husband,  Richard  Meyer,  whose  work  on  and  travels  to  World 
War  One  cemeteries  in  France  and  Belgium  inspired  my  own  interests  in  the  Gold  Star 
Pilgrimages,  and  to  the  Gold  Star  women  who  carefully  recorded  their  observations  and  saved 
valuable  souvenirs  of  an  unforgettable  experience.  I  am  deeply  appreciative  of  Richard's 
unwavering  support  and  enthusiasm  for  turning  what  began  as  a  conference  paper  into  a 
lengthy  research  article,  his  generosity  in  locating  source  material  such  as  medals,  sheet  music, 
and  posters,  and  his  thoughtfulness  in  making  me  aware  of  the  diary  owned  by  Sam  Harper, 
all  of  which  have  been  critical  in  expanding  and  developing  my  focus.  The  author  wishes  to 
thank  the  following  individuals  or  institutions  for  their  permission  to  quote  from  or  use 
photographs  from  the  Gold  Star  Pilgrimage  diaries,  scrapbooks,  letters,  and  other  materials  in 
their  collections:  Sam  Harper  of  Tullahoma,  Tennessee,  for  Marion  Frost  Brown's  diary  and 
letters  of  her  1931  Pilgrimage,  shown  in  Figures  1  and  23;  Arleen  Weaver  of  Salem,  Oregon, 
for  Bessie  Shellenbarger 's  scrapbook  of  her  1933  Pilgrimage,  shown  in  Figures  16,18,  and  19; 
the  Norwegian-American  Historical  Association  (St.  Olaf  College,  Northf ield,  Minnesota),  for 
Caroline  Short's  letters  and  photographs  of  her  1930  Pilgrimage,  shown  in  Figures  3  and  22; 
the  Northwest  Museum  of  Arts  and  Culture  /  Eastern  Washington  State  Historical  Society 
(Spokane,  Washington),  for  Alvaretta  Taylor's  typed  "My  Trip  to  France  May  23, 1930"  and 
the  photograph  shown  in  Figure  15;  the  American  Battle  Monuments  Commission,  for 


72  Gold  Star  Pilgrimages 


photographs  and  brochures  shown  in  Figures  11  and  26.  Thanks  as  well  to  Richard  E.  Meyer 
for  his  photos  shown  in  Figures  5  and  17,  and  for  permission  to  use  the  Gold  Star  Mothers 
sheet  music,  poster,  and  first  day  stamp  cover  from  his  personal  collection.  I  am  indebted  to 
Sue  Payton  of  Western  Oregon  University's  Instructional  Media  staff  for  her  excellent  work  in 
producing  a  number  of  the  photographs  associated  with  these  materials.  All  other  photographs 
are  by  the  author.  I  would  also  like  to  recognize  the  kindness  and  attention  that  all  the 
Superintendents  of  the  American  Military  Cemeteries  in  France  and  Belgium  showed  me  in 
the  Summer  of  1995  during  tours  of  their  cemeteries.  Gabrielle  Mihaescu,  Administrative 
Assistant  at  Suresnes  American  Cemetery,  was  especially  thoughtful  in  locating  a  photograph 
that  showed  French  women  at  their  adopted  American  graves  (Figure  11).  Earlier  versions  of 
this  article  appeared  as  conference  papers  at  annual  meetings  of  the  Popular  Culture  /  American 
Culture  Association  (1996)  and  The  Association  for  Gravestone  Studies  (2000). 

1.  Entry  of  August  11,  1931,  from  Diary  of  Marion  Brown  (Shreveport,  Louisiana)  of  her 
1931  Gold  Star  Pilgrimage  to  France.  All  subsequent  references  to  Marion's  words  are 
from  the  same  diary. 

2.  Several  good  summaries  of  the  Gold  Star  Pilgrimage  (and  its  legislative  history)  are 
available.  See  for  example,  Charles  A.F.  Hughes,  "Pilgrims,"  Quartermaster  Revieiv  (May- 
June,  1931),  29-40;  John  J.  Noll,  "Crosses,"  American  Legion  Monthly  (September,1930), 
14-17;  G.  Kurt  Piehler,  "The  War  Dead  and  the  Gold  Star:  American  Commemoration  of 
the  First  World  War,"  in  Commemorations:  The  Politics  of  National  Identify,  ed.  John  R. 
Gillis  (Princeton,  N.J.:  Princeton  University  Press,  1984),  168-183;  William  Stevens  Prince, 
"Gold  Star  Legislation,"  in  Crusade  and  Pilgrimage:  A  Soldier's  Quest,  A  mother's  Pilgrimage 
and  a  Grandson's  Quest  (Portland,  OR:  Oregon  Historical  Society  Press,  1986),  73-85;  Louis 
C.  Wilson,  "The  War  Mother  Goes  'Over  There,"'  Quartermaster  Review  (May-June,  1930), 
21-25. 

3.  In  addition  to  the  four  primary  sources  cited  above  in  the  acknowledgments  (at  head  of 
Notes  section),  other  sources  consulted  include  Records  of  the  Office  of  the  Quartermaster 
General,  RG  92,  National  Archives,  College  Park,  Maryland;  and  Henrietta  Llaug's  Gold 
Star  Mothers:  A  Collection  of  Notes  Recording  the  Personal  Histories  of  the  Gold  Star  Mothers 
of  Illinois  (Brussels,  IL,  1941).  Newspapers  browsed  for  the  yearsl930-33  included  Billings 
(Montana)  Gazette;  Ironwood  (Michigan)  Daily  Globe;  Minneapolis  Journal;  Minneapolis 
Tribune;  New  York  Herald  (Paris  edition);  Neiv  York  Times;  (Portland)  Oregon  Daily  Journal; 
(Portland)  Oregonian;  (Salem,OR)  Capitol  Journal;  (Salem,OR)  Oregon  Statesman;  Seattle 
Times;  Seattle  Post-Intelligencer;  as  well  as  the  issues  of  American  War  Mother. 

4.  The  final  bill,  referred  to  as  Public  Law  592,  passed  March  2,  1929.  Testimony  made  at 
U.S.  Congress.  Senate  Subcommittee  of  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs,  To  Authorize 
Mothers  and  Unmarried  Widows  of  Deceased  World  War  Veterans  Buried  in  Europe  to 
Visit  The  Graves:  Hearing.  70th  Congress,  First  Session,  May  14, 1928,  9. 

5.  Statement  read  by  Mathilda  Burling:  Ibid.,  Second  Session,  February  12, 1929,  26. 

6.  Testimony  by  Mrs.  John  Gallagher:  Ibid.,  First  Session,  May  14, 1928,10. 

7.  Testimony  by  Ethel  Nock:  Ibid.,  9. 


Lotte  Larsen  Meyer  73 


8.  Testimony  by  Mrs.  Effie  Vedder:  U.S.  Congress.  House  Committee  on  Military  Affairs, 
To  Authorize  Mothers  of  Deceased  World  War  Veterans  Buried  in  Europe  to  Visit  the  Graves: 
Hearing.  68th  Congress,  Second  Session,  Feb.  19,  1924,  15-16.  Neglect  at  U.S.  military 
cemeteries  was  cited  in  numerous  1923  documents,  including  a  letter  published  in  the 
U.S.  Congressional  Record,  March  3,  1923,  5521-5523,  and  several  newspaper  stories: 
"Belleau  Wood  Cemetery"  [editorial],  New  York  Times  (October  7, 1923),  II,  6;  "War  Graves 
Well  Tended,"  New  York  Times  (October  24,  1923),  32;  and  "Few  Flowers  on  Graves  of 
Dead  in  France,"  New  York  Times  (November  4, 1923),  IX,  6. 

9.  Testimony  about  widows  by  Ethel  Nock:  U.S.  Congress,  Senate  Subcommittee  of  the 
Committee  on  Military  Affairs,  To  Authorize  Mothers  ...  Hearing.  70th  Congress,  First 
Session,  May  14, 1928, 10.  Additional  anti-widow  remarks  cited  in  Piehler,  The  War  Dead 
and  the  Gold  Star,"  177. 

10.  For  a  summary  of  arguments  over  repatriation  see  Mark  Meigs,  "A  Grave  Diggin'  Feelin' 
in  My  Heart':  American  War  Dead  of  World  War  I",  Chapter  5  of  Optimism  at  Armageddon: 
Voices  of  American  Participants  in  the  First  World  War  (New  York,  NY:  New  York  University 
Press,  1997),  143-187;  241-245,  and  Piehler,  "The  War  Dead  and  the  Gold  Star." 

1 1 .  After  Qu  en  tin's  older  brother,  Theodore,  Jr.,  died  during  the  1 944  Normandy  invasion, 
Quentin's  body  was  reburied  next  to  his  brother  in  the  Normandy  American  Cemetery  at 
Omaha  Beach.  The  stone  that  marked  his  grave  in  Chamery,  seen  by  many  Gold  Star 
mothers,  was  moved  to  the  Roosevelt  Home  at  Sagamore  Hill,  New  York. 

12.  For  an  excellent  summary  of  the  creation  of  WWI  cemeteries  see  Richard  E.  Meyer, 
"Stylistic  Variation  in  the  Western  Front  Battlefield  Cemeteries  of  World  War  I  Combatant 
Nations,"  Markers  XVIII  (2001),  188-253;  General  Pershing's  quote  is  found  in  "Leave  our 
War  Dead  in  France,  Advises  General  Pershing."  New  York  Times  (August  21, 1919),  15. 

13.  The  cross  controversy  is  summarized  in  G.  Kurt  Piehler,  Remembering  War  the  American 
Way  (Washington,  D.C.:  Smithsonian  Insitution  Press,  1995),  101. 

14.  Cather's  trip  is  cited  in  James  Woodress,  Willa  Cather:  A  Literary  Life  (Lincoln,  NE: 
University  of  Nebraska  Press,  1987),  311. 

15.  Further  information  on  British  pilgrimages  can  be  found  in  Tony  Walter,  "War  Graves 
Pilgrimage,"  in  Pilgrimage  in  Popular  Culture,  ed.  Ian  Reader  and  Tony  Walter  (Basingstoke, 
England:  Macmillan,  1993),  63-91;  and  Jay  Winter,  Sites  of  Memory,  Sites  of  Mourning:  The 
Great  War  in  European  Cultural  History  (Cambridge,  England:  Cambridge  University  Press, 
1995),  52. 

16.  "France  Bars  Moving  all  Soldier  Dead,"  Neiu  York  Times  (July  30, 1919),  15. 

17.  Pershing's  remark  is  cited  in  William  Pencak,  For  God  and  Country:  The  American  Legion, 
1919-41  (Boston,  MA:  Northeastern  University  Press,  1989),98;  the  other  remark  is  found 
in  "Legionnaires  Guests  at  Farewell  Lunch,"  New  York  Times  (September  24, 1927),  3. 

18.  Walter,  "War  Grave  Pilgrimage,"  82. 


74  Gold  Star  Pilgrimages 


19.  Civic  Religion,  as  part  of  a  "cult  of  the  war  dead,"  is  discussed  in  Antoine  Prost, 
"Monuments  to  the  Dead,"  in  Realms  of  Memory:  Tlie  Construction  of  the  French  Past:  Volume 
II:  Traditions,  ed.  Pierre  Nora  (New  York,  NY:  Columbia  University  Press,  1997),  328. 

20.  The  account  by  Alvaretta  Taylor  (Spokane,  Washington)  of  her  1930  Pilgrimage  was  typed 
as  "My  Trip  to  France."  All  subsequent  references  to  Alvaretta's  words  are  from  the  same 
account. 

21.  The  handwritten  notes  and  letters  by  Caroline  Short  (Portland,  Oregon)  of  her  1930 
Pilgrimage.  Unless  noted  otherwise,  all  subsequent  references  to  Caroline's  words  are 
from  the  same  notes. 

22.  The  scrapbook/diary  by  Bessie  Shellenbarger  (Beaver  City,  Nebraska)  of  her  1933 
Pilgrimage  included  many  photographs  and  postcards  saved  from  her  trip.  All  subsequent 
references  to  Bessie's  words  are  from  the  same  scrapbook. 

23.  "U.S.  Mothers  Can't  Stand  Paris  Coffee,"  Seattle  Times  (May  17,  1930),  1. 

24.  Nancy  Mattox,  "Mother  Recounts  her  Experiences  in  Reaching  Paris,"  New  York  Herald 
[Paris  Edition]  ( May  18,  1930),  Section  II,  1. 

25.  "Gold  Star  Mother,"  lyrics  and  music  by  Russell  B.  Rutter  (Uniontown,  PA,  1930). 

26.  Poems  published  in  newspapers  during  the  Pilgrimage,  as  in  the  examples  quoted  here, 
frequently  touched  on  peace  themes:  Edward  Markham,  "Our  Pilgrim  Mothers  in  France," 
Seattle  Post-Intelligencer  (May  30, 1930);  Isabel  Rothrouk,  "To  Kiss  the  Cross,"  [Portland] 
Oregonian  (May  25, 1930),  Magazine  Section,  1. 

27.  Editorial,  Seattle  Post-Intelligencer  (May  30, 1930),  26. 

28.  "Row  on  Row,  They  Await  the  Pilgrims,"  New  York  Times  (May  1 1, 1930),  5:4. 

29.  Caroline  Short,  letter  dated  July  20, 1920. 

30.  Marion  Brown,  letter  to  Secretary  of  War  Patrick  Hurley,  dated  November  24, 1931. 

31 .  '"Wonderful,  but  Sad'  is  Description  of  Visit  to  France  by  War  Mothers,"  [Salem]  Oregon 
Statesman  (August  5,  1930),  5. 

32.  "War  Mother  Given  Flag,"  Silverton  [Oregon]  News  (October  10, 1930),  3. 

33.  The  number  of  eligible  pilgrims  varies  in  different  sources  from  11,000  to  17,000. 1  have 
cited  information  from  the  Quartermaster  Corps  final  figures  printed  in  "War  Pilgrimage 
Ends,"  New  York  Times  (August  25, 1933),18.  The  initial  document  of  eligibility,  Pilgrimage 
for  the  Mothers  and  Widozvs  of  the  Soldiers,  Sailors  and  Marines  of  the  American  Forces  now 
Interred  in  the  Cemeteries  of  Europe,  as  Provided  by  the  Act  of  Congress,  of  March  2,  1929 
(Washington,  D.C.:  Government  Printing  Office,  1930)  listed  11,000,  but  figures  cited  in 
1933  total  17,389,  so  between  1929  and  1933,  more  eligible  pilgrims  must  have  been 


Lotte  Larsen  Meyer  75 


located.  In  addition,  not  all  women  who  said  they  would  go  during  a  specific  year  actually 
did.  For  example,  many  sources  say  that  over  5,000  would  go  in  1930,  but  only  3,600 
actually  went. 

34.  Two  articles  focus  on  the  trip  made  by  a  black  mother:  see  Constance  Potter,  "World  War 
I  Gold  Star  Mothers  Pilgrimages,  Part  I,"  Prologue:  Quarterly  of  the  National  Archives  31:2 
(1999),  140-145;  and  Constance  Potter,  "World  War  I  Gold  Star  Mothers  Pilgrimages, 
Part  II,"  Prologue:  Quarterly  of  the  National  Archives  31:3  (1999),  210-216. 

35.  U.S.  Congress.  Senate  Subcommittee  of  the  Committee  On  Military  Affairs,  Hearing. 
70th  Congress,  Second  Session,  February  12, 1929,  23. 

36.  Giving  mothers  $850.00  if  they  didn't  want  to  go  was  raised  by  an  Oregon  mother  in 
"Gold  Star  Mother  Starts  on  Trip  to  Grave  of  Son,"  Woodburn  [Oregon]  Independent  (July 
17, 1930),  1;  the  issue  was  also  raised  in  a  Boston  Post  editorial  that  was  inserted  into  the 
Congressional  Record  (April  9, 1930),  6765. 

37.  Letter  to  the  Editor,  "War  Mothers  Pilgrimage,"  New  York  Times  (January  17, 1933),  18. 

38.  Pilgrimage,  directed  by  John  Ford,  20th  Century  Fox,  1933;  adapted  from  the  short  story 
by  I.A.R.Wylie,  "Pilgrimage,"  American  Magazine  (November  1932),  44-47. 

39.  Soldier  tourism  is  discussed  in  David  Kennedy,  Over  Here:  the  First  World  War  and  the 
American  Society  (New  York,  NY:  Oxford  University  Press,  1980),  205. 

40.  Willa  Cather,  One  of  Ours  (New  York,  NY:  Vintage  Books,  1971),  390. 

41 .  Mrs.  Frank  Wilmot,  Oregon  Boys  in  the  War  (Portland,  OR:  Glass  and  Prudhomme,  1918), 
63. 

42.  "Mothers  Kneel  at  Graves  of  Sons  in  Belleau  Wood,"  Neiv  York  Herald  [Paris  edition] 
(May  22,  1930),  9. 

43.  "Mothers  of  War  Dead  Bow  at  Unknown  Soldier's  Tomb,"  New  York  Herald  [Paris  edition] 
(May  18,  1930),  10. 

44.  Ibid. 


76 


Gabriel  Allen 


Frontispiece.  Joseph  Lake,  1770,  Newman  Cemetery, 
East  Providence,  Rhode  Island. 


77 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  GRAVESTONE  CARVERS  OF  THE  UPPER 
NARRAGANSETT  BASIN:  GABRIEL  ALLEN 

Vincent  F.  Luti 

Biography 

Gabriel  Allen  was  born  of  George  and  Mrs.  Sarah  Spring  in  Rehoboth, 
Massachusetts  (now  East  Providence,  Rhode  Island)  on  April  20,  1749. ] 
Soldier,  merchant,  stonecutter,  public  official,  he  died  a  respected  mem- 
ber of  the  Providence,  Rhode  Island  community  on  April  3,  1824.2 

The  first  reference  to  Gabriel  Allen  in  the  Providence/Rehoboth  area 
that  I  could  find  was  that  a  Gabriel  Allen  served  in  Major  Peck's  Com- 
pany in  1762  during  the  French  and  Indian  Wars.3  If  this  is  the  same 
Gabriel  Allen  who  was  to  become  a  stonecutter,  then  he  was  only  thir- 
teen years  old  at  the  time.  No  other  Gabriel  Allen  appears  in  records  of 
this  area  of  the  Narragansett  Basin  during  the  Eighteenth  Century.  There 
was  a  Gabriel  Allen  in  Connecticut  whose  son's  stone,  oddly  enough, 
was  probably  carved  by  Gabriel  Allen  of  Providence.  At  best,  these  two 
Gabriels  might  have  been  cousins.  The  Connecticut  Gabriel  was  born  in 
1753,  making  him  but  nine  years  old  in  1762.  I  think  the  1762  Gabriel 
was,  indeed,  the  Rehoboth,  Massachusetts  figure  serving,  perhaps,  not 
as  a  fighting  soldier  but  in  some  other  hometown  capacity.  Gabriel  Allen, 
the  stonecutter,  did  lead  a  distinguished  military  life  in  later  years. 

The  next  appearance  of  Gabriel  Allen  in  public  records  is  on  May  11, 
1771,  when  the  following  advertisement  appeared  in  the  Providence 
Gazette: 

The  Subscribers  beg  leave  to  inform  the  Public,  they  have  just  set  up,  and  are 
now  carrying  on,  in  all  its  Branches,  the  stone-cutting  Business,  at  the  Sign  of 
the  Stone-Cutter's  Arms  on  the  West  Side  of  the  Great  Bridge,  in  Providence 
. . .  Gabriel  and  William  Allen. 

Apparently  they  did  not  deal  solely  in  stonecutting,  for  on  June  6,  1772, 
in  the  same  paper,  they  ran  an  advertisement  as  follows: 

Gabriel  and  William  Allen  at  the  shop  on  the  West  side  of  the  Great  Bridge, 
in  the  House  of  Samuel  Butler  Esq.:  a  compleat  Assortment  of  English  India, 
and  Hardware  . . .  Goods,  which  they  are  determined  to  sell . . .  NB  said  Aliens 
carry  on  the  STONE-CUTTING  BUSINESS,  as  usual . . . 

Gabriel's  father  died  January  20,  1774,  leaving  no  will.  On  October  14, 
1774,4  Sylvester  Allen  relinquished  his  part  of  the  inheritance  to  his  broth- 


78 


Gabriel  Allen 


ers,  including  Gabriel,  and  sister;  and  they  in  turn  sold  off  all  the  land 
and  buildings  of  their  father  to  Humphrey  Palmer  on  April  27,  1778. 5 

Beginning  on  June  16,  1774,  when  he  is  listed  as  a  member  of  a  Mili- 
tary Club,6  Gabriel  Allen  shows  up  in  many  military  records:  1776,  sec- 
ond lieutenant;  1776,  first  lieutenant;  1778,  captain;  1781,  ensign;7  and, 
according  to  a  biography  of  1860,  a  commission  of  major  in  the  state 
militia.8  Curiously,  he  does  not  appear  in  the  Revolutionary  War  Pension 
Records  in  the  National  Archives,  but  these  records  were  destroyed  by 
fire  around  1800  and  apparently  his  widow,  Nancy,  did  not  have  them 
reconstituted  as  was  the  case  with  other  pensioners  and  their  widows 
after  the  fire. 

In  the  Congregational  Church  Records  "of  the  West  side  of  the  River," 
we  find  a  listing  of  Gabriel's  marriage  to  Nancy  West,  daughter  of  Ben- 
jamin West,  December  17,  1775.4  This  Benjamin  West  was  a  prominent 
figure  in  Providence,  postmaster  and  amateur  scientist.  Gabriel  Allen's 
name  also  appears  on  tax  records,  deeds,  birth,  death  and  marriage 
records,  and  in  a  good  number  of  probate  records  in  Providence  and 
Warwick,  Rhode  Island,  and  in  Bristol  County,  Massachusetts  he  is  listed 
as  receiving  payments  for  gravestones.10  On  April  26,  1787,  he  placed  an 
advertisement  in  the  Charleston  (South  Carolina)  Morning  Post,  in  which 
city  he  had  opened  for  two  months  a  temporary  shop  to  take  orders  for 
all  kinds  of  stoneware,  including  slate  tombstones  and  gravestones  (of 
which  there  are  extant  a  fair  number).11  In  1802,  at  a  time  when  his  grave- 
stone production  dropped  off,  he  was  appointed  Assistant  Postmaster 


Fig.  1.  Harriet  Allen,  1790,  Swan  Point  Cemetery, 
Providence,  Rhode  Island. 


Vincent  F.  Luti  79 


in  Providence  under  his  father-in-law,  Benjamin  West,  Postmaster.  In  1813 
he  became  Postmaster  himself. 

A  son,  George,  was  born  and  died  in  1776.  Another  son,  George  Wil- 
liam, was  born  in  1780  and  died  in  1814. 12  Six  children  lived  only  months, 
as  their  gravestones'  death  dates  attest  in  Swan  Point  Cemetery,  Provi- 
dence: Benjamin,  1783;  infant,  1787;  Harriet,  1790  (Fig.  1);  Polly,  1791; 
Sally,  1792;  Maria,  1794.  Gabriel  Allen  was  outlived  by  his  wife,  Nancy, 
and  his  daughter,  Nancy,  wife  of  Christopher  S.  Carpenter.  His  grave- 
stone, carved  by  David  Bolles,  is  in  Swan  Point  Cemetery.  His  obituary 
appeared  in  both  the  Providence  Gazette  and  the  Providence  Journal.13 

The  Work  of  Gabriel:  Laying  to  Rest  "G.  Allen" 

There  are  a  good  number  of  gravestones  in  New  England,  and  a  few 
elsewhere,  that  are  signed  "G.  Allen."  No  one  has  yet  found  a  stone  where 
this  "G"  is  spelled  out,  yet  any  number  of  scholars,  following  Hariette 
Forbes  blindly,  have  not  hesitated  to  assign  the  name  "George"  to  the 
"G."  George  Allen  (Senior)  did  sign  three  of  his  markers  with  a  "G,"  but 
after  his  death  the  "G.  Allen"  continued  to  appear  on  stones.14  Forbes 
did  find  a  probate  payment  for  gravestones  to  George  Allen,  Jr.  From 
this  she  must  have  deduced  that  all  "G.  Allen"  stones  thereafter  referred 
to  George  Allen,  Jr.  What  she  didn't  know  was  that  George,  Sr.  had  an- 
other son  called  Gabriel,  another  "G,"  in  fact.  There  are  at  least  fourteen 
stones  that  bear  the  name  Gabriel  Allen  in  probate  payments.  Upon 
checking  closely  the  work  on  these  stones,  we  find  they  are  identical  in 
style  and  execution  to  all  the  stones  signed  "G.  Allen,"  those  attributed 
by  Forbes  to  George,  Jr.  If  father  and  two  sons  were  all  carving,  why  is 
"G.  Allen"  sufficient  to  identify  the  carver  to  the  populace  of  the  time? 
My  answer  is  simply  that  only  one  was  living  and  carving  at  any  given 
time,  hence  no  real  confusion  could  arise.  The  only  possibility  of  this 
arises  between  1770-1774  when  George,  Sr.  and  Gabriel  were  both  alive 
and  carving  (George,  Jr.,  I  believe,  must  have  been  dead  or  removed 
from  the  scene).  But  the  father  was  now  seventy-five  years  old  and  carv- 
ing very  little.  It  is  also  most  likely  that  those  stones  signed  "G.  Allen" 
between  1770  and  1774  were  carved  by  Gabriel  after  the  death  of  George, 
Sr.  and  backdated,  hence  not  causing  any  confusion  at  all  as  to  whom 
the  "G"  referred  to  in  the  minds  of  the  public  of  the  time. 

So,  what  about  George  Allen's  other  son,  George,  Jr.,  for  whom  there 
is  one  gravestone  payment  and  one  general  payment  in  probate  records? 
My  calculations  are  that  George,  Jr.  most  surely  died  about  1764  (see  V.  F. 


80 


Gabriel  Allen 


Luti  ms.  paper  on  "The  real  George  Allen  Jr.").  So  after  1770-1774,  "G. 
Allen"  was  an  understood  in  the  Providence  community:  Gabriel  Allen. 
Was  he  just  a  middleman?  No,  for  in  his  biography  of  1860  he  is  called 
"stone  cutter"  (see  Appendix  A). 

Style 

Gabriel  Allen  had  what  amounts  to  only  two  effigy  designs.  There 
were  also  a  few  other  designs,  and  at  the  end  of  his  career  some  very 
elegant  urn  work.  His  work  is  very  easy  to  identify  given  so  many  spe- 
cific and  general  probate  payments,  at  least  twenty,  and  a  good  number 
of  signed  stones  (see  Appendix  III).  That  might  be  the  sum  total  and  end 
of  it  were  it  not  for  the  disconcerting  fact  that  another  carver  produced 
what  appears  to  be  the  exact  duplicate  of  his  effigy  II  designs.  This  was 
Levi  Maxcey  of  Attleboro,  Massachusetts.  The  connection  between  the 
two  men  is  still  to  be  explained,  as  is  the  reason  Maxcey  would  duplicate 
another  carver's  work.  Fortunately,  Maxcey  did  not  copy  Gabriel  Allen's 
very  fine,  elegant  lettering  style,  which  helps,  but  not  in  every  single 
case,  to  make  attributions.  Did  Maxcey  buy  Allen's  cut  effigies  and  then 
do  the  lettering  himself?  The  fact  that  he  apparently  copied  other  carv- 


ttfll 

"    '  l|f|Mjjp^H)ry     of 


Fig.  2.  Nathaniel  Metcalf,  1775,  Swan  Point  Cemetery, 
Providence,  Rhode  Island. 


Vincent  F.  Luti 


81 


ers'  work,  besides  Allen's,  adds  to  the  mystery.  Further  research  on  Levi 
Maxcey  has  been  undertaken  by  Laurel  Gabel  and  Theodore  Chase.15 

Effigy  TlJPe  I 

When  we  look  at  the  late  work  of  George  Allen,  Sr.,  we  see  the  details 
of  a  new  effigy  design  emerging,  which  might  be  collaboration  with  an- 
other hand  (see  Frontispiece).  Someone  was  working  with  him,  prob- 
ably Gabriel,  who  was  then  about  twenty-one  years  old.  It  is  quite  possible 
that  his  elderly  father,  in  his  seventies,  initiated  or  helped  initiate  a  new 
effigy  type  for  his  son,  for  when  Gabriel  does  go  into  business  for  him- 
self, his  design  is  fully  realized  and  fixed  for  mass  production  and  unlike 
his  father's. 

We  might  describe  George  Allen,  Sr.'s  work  as  baroque  in  its  dra- 
matic realism  and  aggressive  relief  style.  The  Type  I  effigy  of  Gabriel 
Allen  is  a  complete  reversal:  stylization  as  opposed  to  naturalism,  low 
relief  as  opposed  to  deep  relief,  etc.  His  rather  classical  disposition  of 
stylized,  low  relief  detail  on  a  flat  architectural  surface  suggests  the  term 
rococo.  I'm  sure  Gabriel's  work  appeared  very  modern  for  the  time  and 
sold  well.  It  has  a  cold,  formal  look  today.  The  Type  II  effigy  that  comes 


Fig.  3.  Jamima  Carpenter,  1775,  Dexter  Street  Cemetery, 
Cumberland,  Rhode  Island. 


82 


Gabriel  Allen 


later  would  considerably  change  this  character.  These  later  stones  have  a 
charming,  cherubic  face  in  high  modeling. 

Type  I  effigies  were  mass  produced  in  the  decade  of  the  1770s  and 
hardly  vary  in  detail.  The  Nathaniel  Metcalf  stone,  1775  (probated  1775), 
represents  them  all,  stylized  in  every  aspect:  the  tight,  coiled  peruke,  the 
upswept  eyebrows,  the  severely  cut,  almond-shaped  eyes  with  button 
pupils,  the  triangular  nose,  and  the  pinched  mouth  (Fig.  2).  The  wings 
usually  sweep  out  from  a  feathered  neck  collar.  The  border  panels  for 
the  Metcalf  stone  represent  a  typical  column  design,  entwined  with  a 
floral  vine.  An  even  better  example,  though  not  probated,  is  the  1775 
marker  for  Jamima  Carpenter  (Fig.  3). 

The  most  popular  border  design,  however,  was  a  floral  scroll  with 
"carrot"  flowers  in  the  axils.  Sometimes  this  scrollwork  is  richly  described 
with  relief  and  etch  work;  other  times  it  is  very  flat,  plain  and  stylized,  as 
on  the  1773  stone  for  Stephen  Rawson  (Fig.  4).  Rarely,  a  remarkably  skilled, 


■fyin  the  tfo.r#r  -XpJT  °  H 


7 


Fig.  4.  Stephen  Rawson,  1773,  Oakland  Cemetery, 
Cranston,  Rhode  Island. 


[its  ^^'c 


Vincent  F.  Luti 


83 


Fig.  5.  Elizabeth  Thurston,  1776,  North  Burial  Ground, 
Providence,  Rhode  Island. 


Fig.  6.  Molly  Manning,  1770,  Swan  Point  Cemetery, 
Providence,  Rhode  Island. 


84 


Gabriel  Allen 


raised  stippling  fills  the  tympanum  background  (Fig.  5).  I  know  of  no 
other  carver  except  Gabriel's  father  who  achieved  the  skill  for  this  ex- 
traordinary texture.  A  few  tympani  are  filled  solely  with  a  bound  acan- 
thus spread  (e.g.,  Fig.  6).  The  lettering  on  these  stones  is  always 
exceedingly  well  done,  with  the  most  delicate,  slanted,  slightly  hooked 
serifs  (sometimes  just  barely)  that  are  best  observed  in  rubbings,  since  in 
photographs  or  first  hand  observation  they  can  be  all  but  invisible.  This 
is  where  the  work  of  Levi  Maxcey  critically  differs.  His  lettering  is  very 
square,  mechanical,  and  always  has  flat  serifs. 

In  the  early  1780s,  there  appeared  signs  of  change  in  the  effigies:  softer, 
rounder  cherubic  qualities  in  greater  relief,  and  new  wig  types  of  less 
severe  design.  Examples  may  be  seen  in  the  signed  stones  for  Mary  Parker, 
1781  (Fig.  7)  and  Rosabellah  Chace,  1781  (Fig.  8),  both  in  St.  John's  Cem- 
etery, Providence,  as  well  as  the  1785  marker  for  Mary  Handy  in  Newport's 
Common  Burial  Ground  (Fig.  9). 

Wsv  Type  u 

From  1782  to  1804  the  dominant  design  from  Gabriel  Allen's  shop  in 
Providence  is  a  cherubic  effigy  often  highly  modeled,  with  softer,  plumper 


Fig.  7.  Mary  Parker,  1781,  St.  John's  Cemetery, 
Providence,  Rhode  Island. 


Vincent  F.  Luti 


85 


Fig.  8.  Rosabellah  Chace,  1781,  St.  John's  Cemetery, 
Providence,  Rhode  Island. 


Fig.  9.  Mary  Handy,  1785,  Common  Burial  Ground, 
Newport,  Rhode  Island. 


86 


Gabriel  Allen 


# 


wfC" 


...f  -$Lm 


N3OTJnWj»ftJ 


ft;    >    .:;.": 


Fig.  10.  Sarah  Hunt,  1799,  Newman  Cemetery, 
East  Providence,  Rhode  Island. 


Fig.  11.  Elizabeth  Godfrey,  1793,  St.  John's  Cemetery, 
Providence,  Rhode  Island. 


Vincent  F.  Luti 


87 


Fig.  12.  Joseph  Bucklin,  1790,  North  Burial  Ground, 
Providence,  Rhode  Island. 


X?Js!a&.\i& 


Fig.  13.  George  Corliss,  1790,  Bluff  Street  Cemetery, 
Cranston,  Rhode  Island. 


88 


Gabriel  Allen 


:>z* 


0        '  jF' 


!/ 


li  m 
ii 


i>< 


■w? 


Fig.  14.  Parssis  Bacon,  1795,  Oakland  Cemetery, 
Cranston,  Rhode  Island. 


Fig.  15.  Nathan  Miller,  1784,  North  Burial  Ground, 
Warren,  Rhode  Island. 


Vincent  F.  Luti 


89 


P 


t: 


Fig.  16.  Chad  Brown,  1665  (stone  erected  in  1792), 
North  Burial  Ground,  Providence,  Rhode  Island. 


90 


Gabriel  Allen 


1/.         >    /^IBS 


flip 


%iMM 


\^y 


f.    .-A 


h  iii  !'V)|fen  May  ^Hi||J 


Fig.  17.  William  Checkley,  Esq.,  1780, 
Swan  Point  Cemetery,  Providence,  Rhode  Island. 


-A 


& 


.-.  YY 


Fig.  18.  William  Corliss,  1789,  North  Burial  Ground, 
Providence,  Rhode  Island. 


Vincent  F.  Luti 


91 


fAUl  McnWy  of  SyK-kjM ' 


lilallyviton  arid    Mrs. 


Ifi'llpBeii  his.  w)fc)|ft* 

Fig.  19.  Sylvia  Blackinton,  1790,  Woodcock  Cemetery, 
North  Attelboro,  Massachusetts. 


Fig.  20.  Thomas  Andrew,  1769  (backdated), 
Pontiac  Cemetery,  Rte.  5,  Cranston,  Rhode  Island. 


92  Gabriel  Allen 


features,  livelier,  somewhat  more  naturalistic  eyes,  and  natural  looking 
hair  in  bangs.  Quilting  is  often  seen  in  the  space  where  the  wings  join  at 
the  chest.  Examples  are  provided  by  the  signed  1799  stone  for  Sarah 
Hunt  (Fig.  10),  and  the  markers  for  Elizabeth  Godfrey,  1793  (Fig.  11), 
Joseph  Bucklin,  1790  (Fig.  12),  George  Corliss,  1790  (Fig.  13),  and  Parssis 
Bacon,  1795  (Fig.  14).  In  the  latter  instance,  note  the  reversion  to  Type  I 
style  and  the  zig-zag  in  the  wings. 

On  rare  occasions  he  turns  the  head  rather  credibly  to  a  slight  three- 
quarter  position,  as  may  be  seen  on  the  1784  stone  for  Nathan  Miller 
(Fig.  15)  and,  as  well,  on  the  1792  marker  for  Seth  Paine  in  Brooklyn, 
Connecticut.  Border  designs  are  the  same  as  in  previous  work. 

The  next  most  common  design  in  this  period  is  a  tiny,  exquisitely 
detailed  rising  sun  (see  Fig.  16).  There  are  also  a  few  rose  sprig  tympani, 
including  one  on  a  signed  1793  marker  for  Mary  Crowell  in  West 
Yarmouth,  Massachusetts.  There  is  one  very  handsome  1780  heraldic 
stone  (see  Fig.  17)  for  William  Checkley,  Esq.  in  Swan  Point  Cemetery, 
Providence,  Rhode  Island;  another  elaborate  one  for  Richard  Atwell,  1767 
(backdated),  in  Attleboro,  Massachusetts;  and  yet  another  for  David 
Cheesebrough,  1782,  in  Stonington,  Connecticut.  The  1789  William  Corliss 
stone  is  a  good  example  of  his  elegant  urn  and  fauna  design  (Fig.  18). 
The  unique  1790  Sylvia  Blackinton  stone  (Fig.  19)  should  probably  be 
attributed  to  Gabriel  Allen  based  on  the  lettering  and  skill  of  the  design 
work,  an  interlaced,  trellis  grapevine  running  up  the  borders  and  filling 
the  tympanum. 

A  follower,  apprentice,  or  even  son,  produced  a  Gabriel  Allen  Type  II 
cherub,  but  with  much  less  elegance  and  with  very  peculiar  nostrils  cut 
as  circles.  The  wing  feathers  often  have  zig-zag  veining  (Figs.  20  and  21). 
They  occur  rarely,  mostly  in  the  immediate  Providence  area  from  1790- 
1802.  No  work,  as  far  as  I  know  of,  has  been  done  on  this  carver. 

William  Allen 

In  this  light  I  would  like  to  address  the  question  of  whether  William 
Allen,  son  of  George  Allen  and  brother  to  Gabriel,  born  March  27,  1752, 
was  a  stonecarver.  He  is  not  to  be  confused  with  another  William  Allen, 
contemporaneous  and  living  in  Rehoboth,  who  died  in  1791  and  is  the 
probable  author  of  the  fine  account  book  in  the  Rhode  Island  Historical 
Society  library.  The  William  Allen  who  died  in  1815  is  listed  as  "gen- 
eral," which  suggests  a  military  career  parallel  to  his  brother  Gabriel's, 


Vincent  F.  Luti 


93 


and  his  obituary  in  the  August  19,  1815  edition  of  the  Providence  Patriot 
and  the  Columbian  Phenix  says  he  continued  his  service  up  to  the  "resto- 
ration of  peace,"  suggesting  he  was  occupied  in  that  service  rather  than 
carving  stones,  even  though  earlier  in  1771  and  1772,  as  we  have  seen, 
his  name  was  associated  with  Gabriel's  in  two  newspaper  advertisements 
for  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  gravestones  along  with  dry  goods.  He 
was  also  sheriff  of  Providence  County  for  a  while.  In  the  account  for 
estate  number  A  1546,  Providence,  1795,  a  William  Allen  is  listed  as  re- 
ceiving payment  for  funeral  charges,  and  on  another  paper  of  1797  in 
the  same  account,  Gabriel  is  listed  in  connection  with  funeral  expenses. 
In  any  case,  William's  name  is  quite  often  linked  with  Gabriel's  in 
what  was  apparently  a  partnership  relationship,  as  indicated  in  the  two 
advertisements  and  various  deeds  dealing  with  business  properties  in 
Providence.  However,  no  stone  is  ever  signed  "W.  Allen"  or  "William 
Allen,"  and  no  probate  payment  for  gravestones  bears  his  name,  nor  is 
his  name  included  in  the  South  Carolina  advertisement.  I  suspect  from 
all  this  that  his  function  in  the  partnership  was  reserved  for  the  dry  goods 
or  stoneware  part  of  the  business.  If  indeed  William  did  have  a  hand  in 


Fig.  21.  Unknown  (stone  damaged),  1796, 
Manton-Tripp  Cemetery,  Johnston,  Rhode  Island. 


94 


Gabriel  Allen 


_ . \S.^^L^^^mL^J  ^ 


^S  tf  /^~   QZP  f*r-    W^O    '/3rn^- 

-  r~\  0'       '     /  a  J~l 


/,  ^ — 

'/A 


:—s?6~ 


m 


r  *  _     ^r-~—       /ft**-*-  ~ 


c? 


4-2/ i^^- 


c 


/y/^/-^/^:^-^i)/f 


" ~  iMV&rcD 


"O  ;'""" 


a 


05,/  4  >r£Ui  ci*>  ^  %orr,  PU  ■-  ^//  -//-  /fc^'    9  -  3 "  ^ 

QtuiJCaA'L  i^ttuAl  j 

/A 


"/" 


■to  . 


Fig.  23.  Gabriel  Allen's  invoice  to  Nicholas  Brown 
for  family  gravestones. 


Vincent  F.  Luti  95 


the  gravestone  production,  there  is  not  a  shred  of  evidence  to  indicate 
what  it  was  he  did. 

Conclusion 

Special  mention  should  be  made  of  the  number  of  Gabriel  Allen  stones, 
many  signed,  in  the  cemeteries  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  as  docu- 
mented in  Dianne  Williams  Combs'  dissertation  (see  Note  14)  but  unfor- 
tunately attributed  to  a  mythical  "George  Allen,  Jr."  Effigies,  urns,  floral 
designs,  borders,  etc.  are  just  as  in  the  work  described  above,  but  in 
some  instances  quite  elaborately  done,  more  so  than  in  the  New  England 
versions.  Otherwise,  Gabriel  Allen's  stones  are  distributed  mainly  in  the 
cities  and  towns  around  the  Narragansett  Basin,  with  a  major  concentra- 
tion in  Providence.  Others  have  been  reported  in  eastern  Connecticut.16 

Gabriel  Allen's  work  is  in  great  part  done  on  fine-grade  gray  slates 
and  is  mostly  in  very  good  condition,  though  not  always.  He  did  try  to 
introduce  marble  to  his  clients,  and  there  are  documented  examples  ap- 
parently beginning  as  early  as  the  1780s.  Others  are  probated  for  the 
Aborn  family  at  the  Arnold  Cemetery  in  Warwick,  Rhode  Island,  and 
some  are  billed  to  Nicholas  Brown,  Providence  (see  Fig.  22). 17 


NOTES 

This  paper  was  originally  delivered  in  abbreviated  form  at  the  1984  Association  for  Gravestone 
Studies  Annual  Conference,  Trinity  College,  Hartford,  Connecticut.  Photos  are  by  the  author. 

1.  Rehoboth  Toivn  Records,  2:190. 

2.  Gravestone  in  Swan  Point  Cemetery,  Providence,  RI. 

3.  H.  M.  Chapin,  List  ofRI  Soldiers  and  Sailors  in  the  old  French  and  Indian  War,  1755-1762 
(Providence,  RI,  1918),  26. 

4.  Bristol  County  Deeds  (Taunton,  MA),  60:320. 

5.  Ibid.,  60:317. 

6.  Publications  of  the  RI  Historical  Society,  3:187. 

7.  Bartlett,  Colonial  Records  of  Rhode  Island,  8:79, 404, 408, 512;  9:399, 404;  10:24;  and  Benjamin 
Cowell,  Spirit  of '76  in  Rhode  Island  (Baltimore,  MD,1973),  356. 

8.  See  Appendix  II. 


96  Gabriel  Allen 


9.     James  Arnold,  Vital  Record  of  Rhode  Island,  Town  and  Church  (Providence,  RI:  Narragansett 
Historical  Publishing  Co.,  1898),  X:197. 

10.  See  Appendix  III. 

1 1 .  The  advertisement  reads: 

The  subscriber  respectfully  informs  the  public,  that  he  has  for  sale,  at  his 
shop,  no  92  Meeting  Street,  Charlston,  a  variety  of  Slate  and  Marble  Slabs, 
suitable  for  hearth  stones  and  tables,  printers,  painters,  curriers  stones,  and 
also,  a  few  Slate  Tomb  Stones  and  Gravestones,  of  an  excellent  quality,  which 
he  will  finish  with  inscriptions  only,  or  ornament  with  coats  of  arms,  crests, 
or  other  sculpture,  in  an  elegant  manner,  and  on  reasonable  terms.  And  having 
lately  discovered  a  new  quarry  of  fine  marble,  consisting  of  black,  white 
variegated  and  dove  colored,  is  ready  to  contract  for  any  sort  of  inside  or 
outside  work  for  houses,  as  well  as  every  kind  of  monument  to  be  done  in 
any  of  the  above  stone.  Constant  attendance  will  be  given  at  his  shop  for  two 
months  from  the  date  hereof,  for  the  purpose  of  receiving  orders  and  finishing 
the  above  work.  G.  Allen  April  26th,  1787.  [Note  that  it  only  says  "G.  Allen," 
not  George  or  Gabriel] 

Amanda  Burdan  in  her  paper,  "In  an  Elegant  Manner  and  on  Reasonable  Terms:  Gabriel 
Allen's  Gravestones  in  the  North  and  South"  [ms.  sent  to  this  author],  reports  another 
advertisement  in  the  Charleston  Morning  Post,  31  March  1786,  and  the  Daily  Advertiser, 
31  March  1786,  of  a  similar  nature  but  dated  from  his  shop  "Providence  Rh.  Island,  Feb. 
1786,"  i.e.,  before  he  left  for  Charleston. 

12.  Arnold,  Vital  Record  of  Rhode  Island  (1903),  XIII:114. 

13.  Providence  Gazette,  April  7,  1824: 

Died  in  this  town  Gabriel  Allen  Esq.  Postmaster,  in  his  seventy-fifth  year.  He 
was  a  patriot  of  the  Revolution  and  a  highly  respected  member  of  the 
Cincinnati  Society.  For  fourteen  years  he  discharged  with  approved  fidelity 
the  duties  of  Postmaster  in  this  town.  In  private  life  he  was  deservedly  beloved 
and  respected  for  his  many  virtues. 

14.  Harriette  Merrifield  Forbes,  Gravestones  of  Early  New  England  and  the  Men  ivho  Made 
Them  1653-1800  (New  York,  NY:  Da  Capo  Press,  1967),  98-99.  Dianne  Williams  Combs, 
in  Eighteenth  Century  Gravestone  Art  in  Georgia  and  South  Carolina  (Emory  University, 
1978,  dissertation)  elaborates  on  Forbes'  error  even  further  by  compounding  it  with 
another  from  Alan  Ludwig,  Graven  Images:  New*  England  Stonecarving  and  Its  Symbols, 
1650-1815  (Middletown,  CT:  Wesleyan  University  Press,  1966),  322-325.  All  the 
biographical  information  and  attribution  work  is  seriously  flawed  in  all  three  authors. 
Unfortunately,  all  the  documentable  evidence  exists  and  is  readily  available,  but  none  of 
these  authors  apparently  sought  to  dig  it  out,  simply  relying  on  each  other  or  their 
imagination.  It  is  also  unfortunate  that  Forbes'  important  pioneering  book  has  no  citation 
or  documentation  to  bolster  many  other  conclusions,  particularly  regarding  Narragansett 
Basin  carvers,  neither  in  the  book  itself  nor  in  her  notes  collection  at  the  American 
Antiquarian  Society  Library,  Worcester,  MA.  For  the  life  and  work  of  George  Allen  (Sr.) 
see  V.F.  Luti  ms.  paper  "George  Allen." 


Vincent  F.  Luti  97 


15.  Theodore  Chase  and  Laurel  K.  Gabel,  Gravestone  Chronicles  II:  More  Eighteenth-Century 
Nezo  England  Carvers  and  an  Exploration  of  Gravestone  Heraldica  (Boston,  MA:  New  England 
Historic  Genealogical  Society,  1997),  434-495. 

16.  By  1774,  a  brother,  Sylvester,  was  living  in  Voluntown  in  eastern  Connecticut,  as  indicated 
in  Bristol  County  Deeds,  60:320.  Further  evidence  of  trade  with  Connecticut  is  seen  in 
Genealogies  of  Rhode  Island  Families  from  Rhode  Island  Periodicals  vol.  II  (Baltiimore,  MD: 
Genealogical  Publishing  Co.,  1983),  846,  footnote  1 7:  "Gabriel  Allen  of  Providence  Rhode 
Island  who  learned  the  gravestone  trade  from  his  father,  that  superb  'sculptor'  of  Rehoboth 
made  the  horizontal  tombstone  for  the  grave  of  Godfrey  Malbone,  Jr."  A  bill  in  the 
Malbone  Papers  shows  that  the  cost  of  the  stone  was  £50-10-04,  plus  £4-00-06  for  crating 
and  transportation  charges  from  Providence  to  Pomfret,  Connecticut.  The  Providence 
Sunday  Journal  of  9  November  1947  shows  a  picture  of  this  tomb  in  an  article  entitled 
"Church  built  by  Godfrey  Malbone." 

17.  Lance  Mayer,  "Gabriel  Allen  of  Providence  and  the  Beginnings  of  Marble  Gravestone 
Carving  in  New  England,"  paper  delivered  23  June  2000,  Association  for  Gravestone 
Studies  Annual  Conference,  Brown  University,  Providence,  RI.  Mayer's  research  also 
turned  up  a  sillouette  profile  portrait  of  Gabriel  Allen  which  does,  indeed,  bear  a 
resemblance  to  George  Washington  (see  Appendix  II).  The  Aborn  probate  is  at  the 
Warwick,  R.  I.  town  hall  in  Wills:182. 1  am  indebted  to  Amanda  Burdan  and  to  Robert 
Emlin,  curator  and  senior  lecturer  at  Brown  University,  for  the  copy  of  Allen's  bill  to  Mr. 
Nicholas  Brown  (Fig.  22)  for  family  gravestones,  the  John  Carter  Brown  Library,  Brown 
Family  Papers,  box  846,  folder  10.  It  is  reproduced  here  by  kind  permission  of  the  John 
Carter  Brown  Library  at  Brown  University. 

18.  It  is  almost  certain  from  a  probate  record  to  deduce  that  Asa  Fox  was  an  apprentice  or 
helper  in  Gabriel  Allen's  shop.  In  the  Providence  City  Hall  Archives,  case  #A1363,  the 
account  of  John  Foster,  Esq.,  died  1791,  is  registered.  In  the  probate  papers  of  John  Foster, 
July  25, 1795,  Asa  Fox  is  paid  for  "one  pair  of  Grave  Stones  for  Mrs.  Rachel  Fox  4-16-0." 
Another  entry  says  "1795  cash  paid  to  Grave  Stones  and  Setting  . . .  4-3-9."  John's  stone  is 
a  Gabriel  Allen  cherub,  Rachel's  stone  (by  Fox)  is  a  pallid  Gabriel  Allen  imitation,  probably 
erected  upon  John's  death. 

19.  Chase  and  Gabel,  Gravestone  Chronicles  II,  434-495. 


98 


Gabriel  Allen 


X 


D 
Z 

C 

o 

1  «3 

ULJ 

QJ 

Ph 

> 

Ph 

£_ 

< 

U3 

^ 

£ 

l£ 

c 

<u 

Vincent  F.  Luti  99 


APPENDIX  II 

An  account  of  the  Seventy-first  Anniversary  of  the  Providence  Association  of 
Mechanics  and  Manufacturers,  held  Feb.  28,  I860,  prepared  by  Edward  M. 
Stone  (Providence,  RI:  Anthony  Knowles  &  Co.  printers,  1860),  58-59: 

Gabriel  Allen  was  the  son  of  George  Allen,  who  emigrated  from  England  to 
Boston,  at  the  age  of  about  21  years,  and  opened  a  writing  school.  He 
afterwards  removed  to  Seekonk,  and  practiced  stone  cutting.  He  also  engaged 
in  a  project  to  produce  perpetual  motion.  He  died  and  was  buried  in  this  last 
chosen  home.*  Gabriel  came  to  Providence  from  Seekonk,  and  established 
himself  in  the  business  pursued  by  his  father.  He  married  a  daughter  of  Dr. 
Benjamin  West,  and  acted  under  him,  as  assistant  postmaster.  After  Dr.  W."s 
(sic)  decease,  in  1813,  the  office  was  given  to  Mr.  Allen,  which  he  held  until 
his  death.  Mr.  Allen  became  a  member  of  the  Mechanics  Association 
December,  14, 1789,  and  in  1795,  was  chosen  Secretary.  In  person,  he  was  tall 
and  commanding,  and  is  said  to  have  borne  a  strong  resemblance  to 
Washington.  He  was  a  man  of  active  habits,  and  took  a  prominant  part  in 
political  affairs.  He  held  the  commission  of  Major  in  the  State  militia.  His 
death  occured  April,  3, 1824,  in  the  75th  year  of  his  age. 

A  writer  on  the  Journal  of  April  5,  says:-  'He  was  one  of  the  few  surviving 
patriots  of  the  revolution.  He  was  an  honorable  and  highly  respected  member 
of  the  Cincinnate  Society,  and  for  about  14  years  past  he  held  the  office  of  the 
postmaster  in  this  town,  which,  like  the  many  offices  of  importance  which  he 
held  during  the  revolution,  he  has  filled  with  honor  to  himself,  and  fidelity  to 
his  country  ...  By  his  death,  the  loss  of  an  affectionate  husband  is  deeply 
lamented;  an  only  surviving  daughter  is  deprived  of  a  kind  and  provident 
father,  and  society  mourns  the  departure  of  one  of  its  brightest  ornaments 
and  most  valuable  citizens 


This  Seekonk  was  originally,  in  Allen's  lifetime,  part  of  Rehoboth,  Massachu- 
setts, only  to  become,  eventually,  the  modern  city  of  East  Providence,  Rhode 
Island.  Part  of  this  state  land  swapping  is  still  called  Seekonk,  Massachusetts. 


100 


Gabriel  Allen 


APPENDIX  III 


Documented  Stones 


Signed  "G.  Allen"  stones  (sometimes  with  word  "sculpt") 


Name 

Moses  Cohen 
Mary  Munro 
Hannah  Spalding* 
Nathaniel  Sessions 
Ebenezer  Lamed* 
Esther  Wayne 
Elizabeth  Angell 
Mary  Parker 
Rosabella  Chace 
Mary  Dagget* 
Anne  Hopkins 
Benjamin  Cady* 
Mary  Smith 
Jane  Postell 
John  Savage 
Seth  Paine* 
Mary  Crowell 
Mary  Smith 
Daniel  Trowbridge* 
Sarah  Hunt 
Richard  Savage 
Richard  Warham 
Chloe  Wilkinson 


Died 

1762 
1770 
1771 
1771 
1779 
1780 
1780 
1781 
1781 
1781 
1782 
1783 
1785 
1786 
1789 
1792 
1793 
1795 
1795 
1799 
1789 
1779 
1795 


Location 

Old  Jewish  Cem.,  Charleston,  SC 

New  London,  CT 

So.  Killingly,  CT 

Pomfret,  CT 

Putnam,  CT 

St.  Philips  Churchyard,  Charleston,  SC 

No.  Burial  Ground,  Providence,  RI 

St.  John's  Cem.,  Providence,  RI 

St.  John's  Cem.,  Providence,  RI 

Tower  Hill  Burying  Ground,  Edgartown,  MA 

No.  Burial  Ground,  Providence,  RI 

Putnam,  CT 

Prince  George  Cem.,  Georgetown,  SC 

St.  Philips  Churchyard,  Charleston,  SC 

Congregational  Churchyard,  Charleston,  SC 

Brooklyn,  CT 

West  Yarmouth,  MA 

Congregational  Churchyard,  Charleston,  SC 

Abington,  CT 

Newman  Cem.,  E.  Providence,  RI 

Congregational  Churchyard,  Charleston,  SC 

Congregational  Churchyard,  Charleston,  SC 

Swan  Point  Cem.,  Providence,  RI 


•■from  Sue  Kelly  and  Anne  Williams,  "  And  The  Men  Who  Made  Them':  The  Signed  Grave- 
stones of  New  England,"  Markers  II  (1983),  1-103. 


Probate  Payments  to  Gabriel  Allen  for  gravestones 


Name 

Died/PP 

Location 

Nathaniel  Metcalf 

1775 

1775 

Swan  Pt.  Cem.,  Providence,  RI 

James  Brown 

1775 

1775 

Oakland  Cem.,  Cranston,  RI 

Joseph  Olney 

1777 

1784 

No.  Burial  Ground,  Providence,  RI 

John  Bucklin 

1791 

1791 

Newman  Cem.,  E.  Providence,  RI 

John  Bullock 

1788 

1791 

Little  Neck  Cem.,  E.  Providence,  RI 

Johnathan  Ellis 

1785 

1794 

Swan  Pt.  Cem.,  Providence,  RI 

Joseph  Comstock 

1795 

not  located 

Sebelah  Olney 

1796 

not  located 

William  Dexter 

1796 

not  located 

Samuel  Aborn 

1761 

1801 

Arnold  Cem.,  Warwick,  RI 

Thomas  Aborn 

1763 

1801 

Arnold  Cem.,  Warwick,  RI 

Vincent  F.  Luti 


101 


Name 

Phebe  Aborn 
Sarah  Rhodes 
Mary  Aborn 
Co.  Samuel  Aborn 
Samuel  Warren,  Jr. 


Died/PP 

1770  1801 
1777  1801 
1797  1801 
1801  1801 
1803 


Location 

Arnold  Cem.,  Warwick,  RI 
Arnold  Cem.,  Warwick,  RI 
Arnold  Cem.,  Warwick,  RI 
Arnold  Cem.,  Warwick,  RI 
not  located 


Unspecified  probate  payments  to  Gabriel  Allen 


Ebenezer  Fuller 

1773 

1775 

William  Dexter 

1778 

Gov.  Nicholas  Cook 

1786 

Family  stones 

George  Allen 

1774 

infant  daughter 

1787 

Harriet  Allen 

1790 

Polly  Allen 

1791 

Harriet  Allen 

1792 

Maria  Allen 

1794 

Palmer  River  Cem.,  Rehoboth,  MA 
not  located 
not  located 


Newman  Cem.,  E.  Providence,  RI 
Swan  Pt.  Cem.,  Providence,  RI 
Swan  Pt.  Cem.,  Providence,  RI 
Swan  Pt.  Cem.,  Providence,  RI 
Swan  Pt.  Cem.,  Providence,  RI 
Swan  Pt.  Cem.,  Providence,  RI 


Gabriel  Allen's  bill  to  Nicholas  Brown  (see  Fig.  22)  lists  stones  for: 


Hope  Brown 
Chad  Brown 
Joanna  Brown 
Moses  Brown,  Jr. 
Rhoda  Brown 


Jenckes  Brown 
Nancy  Brown 
John  Brown,  Jr. 
Nicholas  Brown,  Esq. 


102  Gabriel  Allen 

APPENDIX  IV 
List  of  Gabriel  Allen  stones  documented  for  this  study 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  among  the  Type  II  effigy  stones  I  am 
attributing  to  Gabriel  Allen's  shop  that  are  not  documented,  there  is  the 
very  real  possibility  that  Levi  Maxcey  had  a  hand.  He  was  born  in  1770, 
in  Attleboro,  Massachusetts,  a  short  distance  north  of  Providence,  the 
city  in  which  Allen  had  set  up  shop  around  1770.  Not  until  1782  did 
Allen  develop  his  Type  II  effigy  that  Maxcey  would  copy.  If  Maxcey  ap- 
prenticed to  Allen,  it  would  be  in  1782  at  the  earliest,  at  age  twelve.  Maxcey 
opened  his  own  shop  in  Salem,  Massachusetts,  a  good  distance  away,  in 
1792  at  age  twenty-two.  If  Maxcey  carved  Allen  "fakes,"  they  would  ap- 
pear, probably,  only  after  the  late  1780s  the  period  in  which  attributions 
would  become  uneasy,  especially  where  the  stone  did  not  adhere  to  the 
well  documented  stereotypical  work  of  Allen. 

However,  I  am  assigning  Type  II  effigy  stones  to  Allen,  no  matter 
who  actually  carved  them,  if  they  have:  a  charming,  soft-contoured,  che- 
rubic effigy  with  bangsy  hair;  elegant  slant  serifs  on  very  well  done  let- 
tering; no  use  of  "ye;"  and,  other  than  occasional  border  columns  or  a 
design  taken  from  his  father's  work,  a  flat,  low-relief,  cyma  curve  of  coil- 
and-spray  foliate  material  in  the  side  panels.  There  are  ample  documented 
stones  of  this  description  to  make  further  detailed  analysis  unnecessary 
as  no  other  carver  did  work  like  Allen's,  except  Maxcey  (and  one  bland 
documented  imitation  by  Asa  Fox  for  Rachel  Foster,  1784,  Providence, 
Swan  Point  Cemetery).18  Maxcey's  Salem  period  work  in  the  manner  of 
Allen  is  hard  and  metallic  in  the  effigy  and  lettering  (see  Chase  and  GabeP 
for  further  biographical  material  and  production). 

Around  the  solid  body  of  Allen  stones  there  is  a  fringe  of  a  number  of 
stones  that  have  Allen-like  effigies  not  up  to  what  one  would  expect  of 
him:  distortions  of  facial  features,  flat-ruled  serifs,  border  designs  not 
remotely  his  or  his  father's,  and  an  occasional  "ye."  Perhaps  these  are 
Maxcey's  or  another  apprentice  in  Allen's  shop,  or  some  unkown  copier. 

For  the  sake  of  demonstration,  I  am  listing  a  few  of  these  Type  II 
effigy  stones  that  defy  clear-cut  attribution  to  either  Allen  or  Maxcey, 
along  with  some  annotations.  Oddly  enough,  all  the  towns  are  nearer  to 
Maxcey's  North  Attleboro  than  to  Allen's  Providence: 


Vincent  F.  Luti 


103 


Smith  Maxcey 
Nathan  Tyler 

Hopestill  Corbett 


Nathan  Adams 
Ezekiel  Adams 

Silvanus  Braman 


David  Razey 
Sarah  Emerson 

Thomas  Rawson 


1791  North  Attleboro,  MA 

1790  South  Attleboro,  MA 


1768  North  Bellingham,  MA 

(back- 
dated) 


1794  Medfield,  MA 

1777  Medfield,  MA 

(back- 
dated) 

1782  Norton,  MA 


1783  Cumberland,  RI 

1778  Cumberland,  RI 

1802  Mendon,  MA 


face  not  cherubic 

huge  flanking  frond  coils  in  the 
tympanum  that  are  startlingly 
non-Allen 

effigy  is  clearly  Allen,  border 
design  is  a  copy  from  George 
Allen,  Sr.,  but  it's  the  flat- 
ruled  serifs  that  are  troubling  - 
Maxcey's  hand? 

the  little  border  trees  are 
foreign  to  any  Allen  work 

beady-eyed  face,  not  cherubic, 
and  text  contains  a  Maxcey  "ye" 
(deduced  from  his  Salem 
production) 

beautifully  done  face,  but 
squashed  and  metallic  looking, 
borders  unusual  but  can  be 
traced  back  to  a  George  Allen, 
Sr.  design,  serifs  flat-ruled  as  in 
later  Maxcey  work 

beady-eyed  face,  not  cherubic, 
serifs  flat-ruled,  Maxcey  "ye" 

beady-eyed  attempt  at  3/4  view 
with  mashed  face,  Maxcey  "ye," 
flat-ruled  serifs 

beady-eyed  non-cherubic  face, 
weak  lettering  neither  Allen  nor 
Maxcey 


An  aforementioned  and  illustrated  beautiful  small  stone  with  grape 
trellis  borders  and  grape  arbor  tympanum  for  Sylvia  Blackinton,  1790, 
North  Attleboro,  Massachusetts  (Fig.  19)  is  unique.  A  nearly  duplicate 
border  grape  trellis  is  found  on  a  stone  by  Allen's  father,  George,  for 
Mary  George,  1730,  South  Attleboro,  Massachusetts.  I  would  easily  at- 
tribute it  to  Gabriel  Allen  for  its  conception,  handsome  lettering  and, 
especially,  its  tiny  grape  clusters  made  of  meticulously  raised,  rounded 
dots  (the  same  dots  used  as  raised  background  stipling  on  known  Allen 
work),  except  for  the  disturbing  "ye,"  but  not  the  Maxcey  type.  How- 
ever, in  Allen's  much  earlier  Type  I  effigy  period  it  does  occur  a  couple 
of  times,  after  which  it  is  dropped  entirely  for  "the."  For  now,  the  lovely 
Blackinton  stone  can  provisionally  be  attributed  to  Gabriel  Allen,  until 
further  evidence  to  the  contrary  comes  to  light. 


104 


Gabriel  Allen 


A  number  of  factors  could  account  for  these  "impure"  Allen-derived 
stones:  Allen  himself  having  a  bad  day  or  trying  a  design  element  of 
someone  else;  some  other  young  carver  apprenticing  in  his  shop  (Asa 
Fox  comes  to  mind);  or  collaboration  on  a  stone  with  an  apprentice-carver. 
There's  even  the  very  remote  possibility  that  his  brother,  William,  did,  in 
fact,  do  some  carving.  It's  unlikely  we'll  ever  know  the  answer  to  these 
questions. 


Died  Name 

1760  JabezLyon 

1761  Samuel  Aborn 

1762  Moses  Cohen 

1763  Thomas  Aborn 

1 763  Mary  Waterman 

1 763  Elizabeth  Ormsbee 

1765  Hannah  Martin 

1765  Nancy  Bacon 

1 765  Samuel  Westcot 

1 767  Alexander  Black 

1767  Richard  Atwell 

1768  Hope  Brown 

1768  Hopestill  Corbett 

1 769  Sarah  Goulding 
1769  Thorn.  Nightingale 

1 769  Mary  Mawney 

1770  Phebe  Aborn 

1 770  Gordon  Ledyard 

1770  Deborah  Richmond 

1770  Molly  Manning 

1 770  Benjamin  Mason 

1770  Thomas  Peck 

1 770  Elizabeth  Kingsley 

1770  MaryMunro 

1770  Mary  Brown 

1770  Nath'l  Gladding 

1771  Jerusha  Trowbridge 
1771  Isaac  Cushing 

1 77 1  Nehemiah  Ward 

1771  Nancy  Bennett 

1771  Nathaniel  Sessions 

1771  Elisabeth  Sabin 

1771  Robert  Stonehouse 

1 771  Hannah  Spaulding 

1772  Henry  Paget 
1772  Eunice  Hills 
1772  Abigail  Angel 
1 772  Cyprian  Sterry 
1772  Alice  Page 


Town 

Woodstock,  CT 
Warwick,  RI 
Charleston,  SC 
Warwick,  RI 
Providence,  RI 
Warren,  RI 
Swansea,  RI 
Cranston,  RI 
Providence,  RI 
Cranston,  RI 
Attleboro,  MA 
Providence,  RI 
Bellingham,  RI 
Midway,  GA 
Charleston,  SC 
Providence,  RI 
Warwick,  RI 
Groton,  CT 
Little  Compton,  RI 
Providence,  RI 
E.  Providence,  RI 
Swansea,  RI 
Swansea,  RI 
New  London,  CT 
Providence,  RI 
Providence,  RI 
Abington,  CT 
Providence,  RI 
Cranston,  RI 
Westport,  CT 
Pom  fret,  CT 
Providence,  RI 
Providence,  RI 
So.  Killingly,  CT 
Providence,  RI 
E.  Providence,  RI 
Providence,  RI 
Providence,  RI 
Providence,  RI 


Cemetery 

Arnold 

Old  Jewish 

Arnold 

No.  Burial  Ground 

Kickemuit 

Old  Baptist 

Oakland 

No.  Burial  Ground 

Oakland 

Peck 

No.  Burial  Ground 

Oak  Hill 


No.  Burial  Ground 
Arnold 

Commons 
Swan  Point 
Newman 
Old  Baptist 
Old  Baptist 

No.  Burial  Ground 
Swan  Point 

No.  Burial  Ground 
Oakland 


No.  Burial  Ground 
St.  John's 

St.  John's 

Newman 

No.  Burial  Ground 

No.  Burial  Ground 

No.  Burial  Ground 


Vincent  F.  Luti 


105 


1772 

Thomas  Westcot 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1773 

Mary  Hoppen 

Cumberland,  RI 

Dexter 

1773 

Stephen  Rawson 

Cranston,  RI 

Oakland 

1773 

Ebenezer  Fuller 

Rehoboth,  MA 

Palmer  River 

1773 

Joanna  Child 

Warren,  RI 

Kickemuit 

1773 

Rebecca  Demount 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1773 

Abigail  Crawford 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1773 

Sarah  Comstock 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1773 

Elisabeth  Westcot 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1773 

Barbara  Frothingham 

Providence,  RI 

Swan  Point 

1774 

Mary  Taylor 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1774 

Benjamin  Bacon 

Cranston,  RI 

Oakland 

1774 

Samuel  Watson 

W.  Thompson,  CT 

- 

1774 

George  Allen 

E.  Providence,  RI 

Newman 

1774 

Joseph  Carpenter 

Charleston,  SC 

St.  John's 

1775 

Sarah  Creighton 

Charleston,  SC 

St.  Philip's 

1775 

Jamima  Carpenter 

Cumberland,  RI 

Dexter 

1775 

Nathaniel  Metcalf 

Providence,  RI 

Swan  Point 

1775 

James  Brown 

Cranston,  RI 

Oakland 

1775 

Mary  Millard 

Rehoboth,  MA 

Burial  Place  Hill 

1775 

John  Brown 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1775 

Aaron  Walker 

E.  Providence,  RI 

Newman 

1775 

Mary  Bacon 

E.  Woodstock,  CT 

— 

1776 

Nathaniel  Chace 

Providence,  RI 

St.  John's 

1776 

Elisabeth  Thurston 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1776 

Mary  Angel 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1776 

Sarah  Semple 

E.  Providence,  RI 

Newman 

1776 

Ephraim  Hunt 

Rehoboth,  MA 

Village 

1776 

Sarah  Waterman 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1776 

Timothy  Balch 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1776 

Lydia  Jackson 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1777 

Sarah  Rhodes 

Warwick,  RI 

Arnold 

1777 

Joseph  Olney 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1777 

Amey  Ellis 

Providence,  RI 

Swan  Point 

1777 

Zeriah  Bucklin 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1778 

Sarah  Emerson 

Cumberland,  RI 

Abbott  Run 

1778 

Thomas  C.  Wayne 

Charleston  SC 

— 

1778 

Martha  Brown 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1778 

Chad  Brown 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1779 

Sarah  Mathewson 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1779 

Martha  Jacobs 

Providence,  RI 

Swan  Point 

1779 

Sarah  Howland 

Providence,  RI 

Swan  Point 

1779 

Samuel  Rhodes 

Providence,  RI 

Swan  Point 

1779 

Anne  Greene 

Warwick,  RI 

Cem.  #66 

1779 

Ebenezer  Larned 

Putnam,  CT 

— 

1780 

John  Dexter 

Lincoln,  RI 

Spring 

1780 

Elisabeth  Angel 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1780 

William  Checkley 

Providence,  RI 

Swan  Point 

1780 

Esther  Wayne 

Charleston,  SC 

St.  Philips 

1780 

Thomas  Wayne 

Charleston,  SC 

St.  Philips 

106 


Gabriel  Allen 


1780 

Mary  Smith 

Providence,  Rl 

Swan  Point 

1780 

Lucillah  Barton 

Cranston,  RI 

Oakland 

1781 

Joshua  Bicknall 

Barrington,  RI 

Prince  Hill 

1781 

James  Hawkins 

Cranston,  Rl 

#36 

1781 

Mary  Parker 

Providence,  RI 

St.  John's 

1781 

Rosabella  Chace 

Providence,  RI 

St.  John's 

1781 

Keziah  Angel 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1781 

Patience  Thurber 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1781 

William  Cranston 

Warren,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1781 

Mary  Daggett 

Edgartown,  MA 

Tower  Hill 

1782 

Sylvanus  Braman 

Norton,  MA* 

— 

1782 

Anne  Hopkins 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1782 

Samuel  Wiswall 

Edgartown,  MA 

— 

1782 

David  Chesebrough 

Stonington,  CT 

Wequetewock 

1782 

Polly  Mathewson 

Cranston,  RI 

Oakland 

1782 

Betsey  Jones 

Cranston,  RI 

Oakland 

1782 

Coomer  Haile 

Providence,  RI 

St.  John's 

1782 

Sylvanus  Martin 

Rehoboth,  MA 

Burial  Place  Hill 

1782 

Henry  Tillinghast 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1783 

David  Razey 

Cumberland,  RI 

Abott  Run** 

1783 

Amy  Russell 

Providence,  RI 

St.  John's 

1783 

Freelove  Winsor 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1783 

Benjamin  Cady 

Putnam,  CT 

- 

1783 

Israel  Stillwell 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1783 

Samuel  Angel 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1783 

Nancy  Brown 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1784 

Uranah  Thompson 

Lincoln,  RI 

Great  Rd. 

1784 

Ruth  Allin 

Barrington,  RI 

Bay  Spring 

1784 

David  Kennedy 

E.  Providence,  RI 

Newman 

1784 

Sarah  Brayton 

E.  Providence,  RI 

Newman 

1784 

Nathan  Miller 

Warren,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1784 

Mary  Smith 

Georgetown,  SC 

- 

1784 

Benjamin  Bowen 

Providence,  RI 

St.  John's 

1785 

John  Carr 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1785 

Gardner  Gibbs 

Providence,  RI 

Swan  Point 

1785 

Polly  James 

Providence,  RI 

Swan  Point 

1785 

Stephen  Jenks 

Pawtucket,  RI 

Mineral  Spring 

1785 

George  Gray 

Providence,  RI 

St.  John's 

1785 

Gilbert  Deblois 

Providence,  RI 

St.  John's 

1785 

Hannah  Green 

Providence,  RI 

Swan  Point 

1785 

Ezra  Ide 

E.  Providence,  RI 

Newman 

1785 

Mary  Handy 

Newport,  RI 

Common  Burying  Gr. 

1785 

Mary  Smith 

Georgetown,  SC 

Prince  George 

1785 

Jonathan  Ellis 

Providence,  RI 

Swan  Point 

1785 

Joanna  Brown 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1785 

Sylvanus  Gladding 

Providence,  RI 

Swan  Point 

1785 

Asa  Lyon 

E.  Woodstock,  CT 

- 

1786 

Abigail  Winsor 

Gloucester,  RI 

#33 

1786 

Jane  Postell 

Charleston,  SC 

St.  Philip's 

1786 

Nathaniel  Gladding 

Providence,  RI 

Swan  Point 

Vincent  F.  Luti 


107 


1786 

John  Cross 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1787 

Ann  Handy 

Providence,  RI 

St.  John's 

1787 

Allen  infant 

Providence,  RI 

Swan  Point 

1787 

Alexander  Sessions 

Brimfield,  MA 

— 

1787 

Rhoda  Brown 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1787 

John  Carpenter 

Providence,  RI 

Swan  Pt. 

1787 

Wm/Mary  Sutton 

Charleston,  SC 

— 

1787 

John  Angell 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1787 

Polly  Cross 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1787 

Mary  Gibson 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1787 

Mrs.  Russell  Hoskins 

Providence,  RI 

St.  John's 

1787 

Ann  Handy 

Providence,  RI 

St.  John's 

1788 

John  Bullock 

E.  Providence,  RI 

Little  Neck 

1788 

Mary  Salsbury 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1788 

Stephen  Westcot 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1788 

Sally  Bowen 

Providence,  RI 

St.  John's 

1789 

William  Corliss 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1789 

Samuel  Smith 

Warren,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1789 

Mary  Taylor 

Newport,  RI 

Central  Burial  Ground 

1789 

Richard  Savage 

Charleston,  SC 

Congregational 

1789 

Charlotte  Allen 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1789 

Christopher  Smith 

Providence,  RI 

Swan  Point 

1789 

Freelove  Bozworth 

Cranston,  RI 

Oakland 

1789 

Anna  Thurber 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1789 

Robert  Carr 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1789 

John  Savage 

Charleston,  SC 

Congregational 

1789 

Metcalf  Bowler 

Providence,  RI 

St.  John's 

1790 

Harriet  Allen 

Providence,  RI 

Swan  Point 

1790 

Mary  Remington 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1790 

Joseph  Bucklin 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1790 

Sanf  ord  Mason 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1790 

George  Corliss 

Cranston,  RI 

Bluff  St. 

1790 

Martha  Westcot 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1790 

Sally  Richmond 

Providence,  RI 

Swan  Point 

1790 

John  Bucklin 

E.  Providence,  RI 

Newman 

1790 

Phoebe  Hoar 

Warren,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1791 

Josiah  Love 

N.  Attleboro,  MA 

Woodcock 

1791 

Polly  Allen 

Providence,  RI 

Swan  Point 

1791 

Elisabeth  Allen 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1791 

Moses  Brown 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1791 

Thomas  Quarterman 

Midway,  GA 

- 

1791 

Anne  Andrews 

Cranston,  RI 

#34 

1791 

Hannah  K.  Smith 

Providence,  RI 

Swan  Point 

1791 

Betsey  Gladding 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1791 

James  Warner 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1791 

Sarah  Gibbs 

Providence,  RI 

Swan  Point 

1791 

William  Allen 

E.  Providence,  RI 

Newman 

1791 

Ann  Graves 

Providence,  RI 

St.  John's 

1791 

Jerusha  Trowbridge 

Abington,  CT 

- 

1792 

Sally  Allen 

Providence,  RI 

Swan  Point 

108 


Gabriel  Allen 


1792 

James  Hull  Allen 

Westport,  CT 

— 

1792 

Mary  Smith 

Providence,  RI 

Swan  Point 

1792 

Israel  Stillwell 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1792 

Harriet  Arnold 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1792 

Gregory  Dexter 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1792 

Charles  Freeman 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1792 

Priscilla  Jenckes 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1792 

James  Holroyd 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1792 

Israel  Sheldon 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1792 

Seth  Paine 

Brooklyn,  CT 

- 

1793 

Molly  Humphrey 

E.  Providence,  RI 

Newman 

1793 

Sarah  Bently 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1793 

Susannah  Pell 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1793 

Edward  Dexter 

Providence,  RI 

St.  John's 

1793 

Benson  Mitchell 

Providence,  RI 

St.  John's 

1793 

Andrew  Thornton 

Cranston,  RI 

#34 

1793 

Lydia  Tillinghast 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1793 

Deborah  Paget 

Providence,  RI 

St.  John's 

1793 

Elisabeth  Godfrey 

Providence,  RI 

St.  John's 

1793 

Lydia  Dexter 

Providence,  RI 

Swan  Point 

1793 

Sally  Low 

Warwick,  RI 

Carder 

1793 

Marcy  Crowell 

W.  Yarmouth,  MA 

- 

1793 

Abijah  Learned 

Putnam,  CT 

- 

1794 

Nathan  Adams 

Medfield,  MA 

** 

1794 

Maria  Allen 

Providence,  RI 

Swan  Point 

1794 

James  Sayles 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1794 

Thankful  Penniman 

Medfield,  MA 

** 

1794 

John  W.  Low 

Warwick,  RI 

#28 

1795 

Esther  Bowen 

Providence,  RI 

St.  John's 

1795 

Daniel  Trowbridge 

Abington,  CT 

— 

1795 

Reuben  Winslow 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1795 

Mary  Smith 

Charleston,  SC 

Congregational 

1795 

Sally  Arnold 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1795 

Mary  Vanderlight 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1795 

Sabrina  Hunt 

Providence,  RI 

Swan  Point 

1795 

Parssis  Bacon 

Cranston,  RI 

Oakland 

1795 

Josiah  Bowen 

Warren,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1795 

Phillip  Carr 

Warren,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1795 

Daniel  Trowbridge 

Abington,  CT 

- 

1796 

Harriet  Allen 

Providence,  RI 

Swan  Point 

1796 

Joshua  Winsor 

Gloucester,  RI 

#33 

1796 

Lydia  Carr 

Warren,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1796 

Huldah  Arnold 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1797 

David  Franklin 

Huger  (?),  SC 

— 

1797 

Mary  Aborn 

Warwick,  RI 

Arnold 

1797 

Martha  Townsend 

Newport,  RI 

Common  Burying  Gr. 

1797 

John  Gibbs 

Providence,  RI 

Swan  Point 

1797 

Pardon  Bowen 

Warren,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1797 

James  Arnold 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1797 

Joseph  Arnold 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

Vincent  F.  Luti 


109 


1797 

Lois  Bacon 

Sturbridge,  MA 

— 

1798 

Sally  Gladding 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1799 

Sarah  Hunt 

E.  Providence,  RI 

Newman 

1799 

Thomas  Rawson 

Mendon,  RI 

Old  Burial  Ground 

1800 

Jemima  Field 

Providence,  RI 

St.  John's 

1801 

Col.  Samuel  Aborn 

Warwick,  RI 

Arnold 

1801 

Whitmore 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1801 

Mary  Everett 

Norwood  (?),  MA 

— 

1803 

Sarah  Low 

Warwick,  RI 

BPOE 

1803 

Benjamin  Gladding 

Providence,  RI 

No.  Burial  Ground 

1804 

Abigail  Wakeman 

Westport,  CT 

- 

1806 

John  Hunt 

E.  Providence,  RI 

Newman 

The  lettering  is  definitely  Levi  Maxcey,  and  the  effigy? 
**Maxcey? 


110 


Writing  One's  Own  Epitaph 


Fig.  1.  Marker  covering  ashes  of  Carl  Sandburg,  Galesburg,  Illinois, 
with  epitaph  "...  for  it  could  be  a  place  to  come  and  remember." 


Ill 


DO-IT-YOURSELF  IMMORTALITY: 
WRITING  ONE'S  OWN  EPITAPH 

Karl  S.  Guthke 


Many  reasons  make  it  necessary  for  the  wills  of  deceased  persons  to  be  literally 
observed,  tho'  some  instances  of  this  kind  do  little  honour  to  the  deceased. 

Samuel  Richardson,  Familiar  Letters,  no.  155. 


Let  no  man  write  his  epitaph. 

Gravemarker  of  Will  Kemna, 
Queen's  Park  Cemetery,  Calgary 


I 

"It  is  always  Judas  who  writes  the  biography."1  There  must  be  some 
truth  in  Oscar  Wilde's  quip,  or  else  autobiography  would  hardly  exist. 
Much  the  same  may  be  said  about  the  epitaph,  that  "seed  of  biography," 
as  the  Atlantic  Monthly  called  it  long  ago.2  Old-fashioned  biographies, 
whether  of  writers  or  of  statesmen,  tend  to  culminate  not  in  the  descrip- 
tion of  the  death  scene,  as  modern  life-writing  seems  to  prefer,  but  in  the 
citation  of  the  epitaph  featured  on  the  subject's  grave,  suggesting  that  it 
is  the  last  word  on  the  life  described.3  No  wonder,  therefore,  that  since 
the  dawn  of  time,  or  shortly  thereafter,  thoughtful  examplars  of  our  spe- 
cies have  written  their  own  epitaph  and  done  their  utmost  to  get  it  chis- 
elled on  their  gravemarker.  There  is,  to  be  sure,  an  inherent  contradiction 
in  this  effort  to  secure  the  precise  nature  of  one's  own  survival  after  death. 
For,  on  the  one  hand,  it  is  a  time-honored  conviction  that  a  person's  true 
self  is  revealed  only  at  the  very  end  of  life,  when,  as  we  like  to  think,  its 
pattern  has  been  completed  and  the  self  has  fully  come  into  its  own;4 
hence  any  self-devised  epitaph  would  almost  by  definition  be  prema- 
ture and  therefore  inaccurate.  Yet,  on  the  other  hand,  this  conviction  has 
been  accompanied  throughout  by  that  ubiquitous,  peculiarly  and  touch- 
ingly  human  desire  for  survival  after  death  in  the  form  of  remembrance, 
recognition,  fame,  or  "immortality."  One  of  the  earlier  voices  testifying 
to  this  urge  is  Cicero's,  who,  in  his  Tusculan  Disputations,  relates  it  to  burial 
monuments  and  epitaphs  (1.14.31  -  1.15.35).  Benedick  in  Shakespeare's 
Much  Ado  about  Nothing  took  the  cue:  "If  a  man  do  not  erect  in  this  age 
his  own  tomb  ere  he  dies,  he  shall  live  no  longer  in  monument  than  the 


112  Writing  One's  Own  Epitaph 


bell  rings  and  the  widow  weeps"  (V:  2,  79-82).  Thomas  Gray's  "Elegy 
Written  in  a  Country  Church- Yard"  is  a  prime  exhibit,  and  in  the  Twen- 
tieth Century,  Paul  Tillich  has  reminded  us  that  the  fear  of  death  is  at 
bottom  the  fear  of  being  "eternally  forgotten."5 

Be  this  as  it  may,  the  contradiction  between  a  widely  shared  convic- 
tion and  an  equally  common  desire  has  not  stopped  all  future-conscious 
individuals  from  formulating  their  epitaphs  well  before  their  last  words. 
Some  have  given  this  project  all  the  serious  attention  it  deserves.  After 
all,  as  Jonathan  Swift  warned,  "it  is  dangerous  writing  [epitaphs]  on 
marble,  where  one  cannot  make  errata,  or  mend  in  a  second  Edition,"6 
except  perhaps  after  Resurrection,  when,  of  course,  it  would  hardly  matter 
much  longer.  This  finality  has,  however,  its  brighter  side,  which  in  turn 
reinforces  the  endeavor  to  articulate  one's  epitaphic  legacy  with  abso- 
lute accuracy,  completeness,  and  perfection  of  style.  That  is  the  histori- 
cal fact,  which  humanity  must  have  been  aware  of  since  a  very  early 
date,  that  we  are,  more  often  than  not  perhaps,  remembered  by  our  epi- 
taphs. The  genre  of  anthologies  of  epitaphs,  flourishing  ever  since  An- 
tiquity, is  ample  proof  of  this;  everybody  knows  some  epitaphs  of  the 
great  and  good  and  famous,  be  it  Thomas  Jefferson  or  John  Keats, 
Jonathan  Swift  or  John  Gay,  Robert  Louis  Stevenson  or  William  Butler 
Yeats  -  all  of  whom,  incidentally,  composed  their  epitaphs  themselves. 
And  with  how  many  general  readers  would  the  neo-Latin  poet  Giovanni 
Pontano  ring  a  bell  if  it  were  not  for  Dr.  Samuel  Johnson's  quoting  his 
self-chosen  epitaph  ("I  intreat  thee  to  know  thyself")  in  The  Rambler.7 
Articulating,  in  the  more  fortunate  cases,  the  sum  total  of  a  life's  charm 
and  wisdom,  epitaphs  tend  to  become  quotable  quotes,  "winged  words": 
it  is  not  uncommon  for  collections  of  familiar  quotations  -  reference 
works,  after  all  -  to  contain  a  section  on  epitaphs.8 

When  in  1631  John  Weever  published  his  magisterial  collection  of 
British  epitaphs,  Ancient  Funerall  Monuments,  in  an  effort  to  preserve  es- 
sential documents  of  national  history,  he  included  in  his  lengthy  intro- 
duction a  discussion  of  "the  reasons  wherefore  so  many  have  made  their 
owne  Monuments  in  their  life-time"  -  monuments  being  inscribed 
gravemarkers  of  one  sort  or  another.9  Oddly  enough,  the  reasons  Weever 
cites  do  not  include  the  fear  of  being  buried  without  an  epitaph  -  which 
for  some  might  be  the  ultimate  curse  (as  it  was  assumed,  to  cite  just  one 
example,  after  the  restoration  of  the  monarchy,  in  a  Royalist  ditty  wish- 
ing Oliver  Cromwell  "this  Epitaph;  that  he  has  none").10  For  others,  to  be 


Karl  S.  Guthke  113 


sure,  the  missing  grave  inscription  might  be  the  ultimate  blessing:  Irish 
Revolutionary  Robert  Emmet's  remark  in  his  speech  on  his  conviction 
for  treason  in  September,  1803,  is  by  now  proverbial: 

Let  there  be  no  inscription  upon  my  tomb.  Let  no  man  write  my  epitaph.  No 
man  can  write  my  epitaph.  I  am  here  to  die.  I  am  not  allowed  to  vindicate  my 
character;  and  when  I  am  prevented  from  vindicating  myself,  let  no  man 
dare  to  calumniate  me.  Let  my  character  and  motives  repose  in  obscurity 
and  peace,  till  other  times  and  other  men  can  do  them  justice.11 

Though  Weever,  then,  ignored  the  possibility  of  the  absence  of  an 
epitaph  (which  in  our  days  seems  to  be  growing  in  popularity  with  the 
increasing  frequency  of  ashes  being  scattered  to  the  winds,  on  the  sea  or 
flower  beds),  he  nonetheless  had  the  motivation  for  "Let  no  man  write 
my  epitaph"  in  mind  when  he  stated  what  he  believed  had  since  time 
immemorial  been  the  primary  reason  for  devising  one's  own  grave  in- 
scription: fear  of  misrepresentation  by  posterity.  "Persons  of  especiall 
ranke  and  qualitie,"  he  says,  have  set  up  their  own  tombs  and  monu- 
ments "because  thereby  they  thought  to  preserve  their  memories  from 
oblivion"  (p.  18).  Absalom  is  his  earliest  "case,"  but  Absalom  is  only  an 
example,  as  "every  man  like  Absolon  desires  a  perpetuity  after  death"  (p. 
18).  Weever  cites  Tertullian  as  his  authority  for  this  view  and  refers  to 
the  mausoleum-building  of  Roman  emperors  as  well  as  to  King  Henry 
VII,  who  built  "that  glorious  faire  Chappell  at  Westminster,  for  an  house 
of  buriall,  for  himself,  his  children,  and  such  onely  of  the  bloud-royall, 
as  should  descend  from  his  loynes"  (p.  20).  Unfortunately,  however,  his- 
tory teaches,  Weever  reports,  that  trusted  heirs  and  executors  will  "interre 
both  the  honour  and  memory  of  the  defunct,  together  with  his  corps: 
perfidiously  forgetting  their  fidelity  to  the  deceased"  (p.  19).  In  support 
of  this  worldly  wisdom,  he  cites  no  spiritual  authority  but,  among  oth- 
ers, the  more  down-to-earth  testimony  of  an  "old  inscription  depicted 
upon  a  wall  within  S.  Edmunds  Church  in  Lumbard-street,  London": 

Man,  the  behovyth  oft  to  haue  yis  in  mind, 
Yat  thow  geueth  wyth  yin  hond,  yat  sail  thow  fynd, 
For  widowes  be  sloful,  and  chyldren  beth  vnkynd, 
Executors  beth  couetos,  and  kep  al  yat  yey  fynd. 
If  eny  body  esk  wher  the  deddys  goodys  becam, 

Yey  ansquer 
So  God  me  help  and  halidam,  he  died  a  poor  man. 
Yink 
On  yis     (p.  19) 


114  Writing  One's  Own  Epitaph 


This  is  followed  by  examples  of  sepulchres  erected,  according  to  their 
inscriptions,  during  the  life-time  of  the  persons  interred  in  them,  some- 
times with  the  stipulation,  chiselled  in  stone,  that  their  wives  or  heirs 
should  not  share  the  last  resting  place  with  them:  the  self-chosen  epi- 
taph will  have  no  rivals. 

Weever  does  not  quote  any  of  the  self-chosen  epitaphs  of  the  high 
and  mighty  who  successfully  warded  off  post  mortem  misrepresentation. 
No  doubt  he  thought  that  the  need  for  such  precaution  was  self-evident 
and  that  the  fashioners  of  their  own  (and  reputable)  immortality  were 
not  necessarily  paranoid.  For  deprecation  was  not  unheard  of  at  the  time 
on  gravemarkers  written  by  survivors,  and  the  practice  was  to  continue 
for  centuries,  as  any  representative  anthology  of  epitaphs  will  demon- 
strate all  too  embarrassingly.  Some  of  these  collections  will  gather  such 
nasty  if  probably  truth-loving  parting  shots  in  separate  chapters,  where 
they  function  like  an  avalanche  burying,  if  that  is  the  word,  all  belief  in 
the  justice  of  history.  (One  example  is  Ernest  R.  Suffling's  Epitaphia  [Lon- 
don: L.  Upcott  Gill,  1909],  with  its  chapter  on  "Denunciation  and  Invec- 
tive"). In  other  anthologies,  epitaphic  deprecations  of  the  dead  are  spread 
over  the  entire  volume,  where  they  form  islands  of  possible  truth  in  a  sea 
of  sepulchral  eulogy,  or  else  sand  banks  of  egregious  viciousness  in  set- 
tling life-long  accounts.  Only  rarely  are  such  epitaphs  tempered  with 
what  may  pass  for  humor.  Here  is  one  example  of  posthumous  denun- 
ciation that  did  not  make  it  onto  a  gravestone  but  illustrates  the  motiva- 
tion for  do-it-yourself  epitaph-writing  all  the  more  persuasively.  It  comes 
from  Nicholas  Rowe's  "Account"  of  the  life  of  Shakespeare,  prefixed  to 
his  1709  edition  of  Shakespeare's  Works  and  then  reprinted  by  several 
Eighteenth-Century  editors  of  Shakespeare.  Among  the  gentlemen  in  his 
Warwickshire  neighborhood  whose  friendship  Shakespeare  enjoyed, 
Rowe  tells  us,  there  was  a  certain  Mr.  Combe,  "an  old  Gentleman  noted 
thereabouts  for  his  Wealth  and  Usury,"  with  whom  he  "had  a  particular 
Intimacy": 

It  happen'd,  that  in  a  pleasant  Conversation  amongst  their  common  Friends, 
Mr.  Combe  told  Shakespcar  in  a  laughing  manner,  that  he  fancy'd,  he  intended 
to  write  his  Epitaph,  if  he  happen'd  to  out-live  him;  and  since  he  could  not 
know  what  might  be  said  of  him  when  he  was  dead,  he  desir 'd  it  might  be 
done  immediately:  Upon  which  Shakes-pear  gave  him  these  four  Verses. 

Ten  in  the  Hundred  lies  here  ingrav'd, 

'77s  a  Hundred  to  Ten,  his  Soul  is  not  sav'd: 

If  any  Man  ask,  Wlio  lies  in  this  Tomb? 

Oh!  ho!  quoth  the  Devil,  'tis  my  John-a-Combe. 


Karl  S.  Guthke  115 


But  the  Sharpness  of  the  Satyr  is  said  to  have  stung  the  Man  so  severely,  that 
he  never  forgave  it.12 

It  is  not  known  whether  the  hapless  Mr.  Combe  saw  to  it  that  his 
eventual  funeral  monument  proclaimed  that  his  methods  of  acquiring 
his  wealth  were  god-fearing  and  his  soul  worthy  of  heaven.  But  among 
the  many  who  did  ensure  their  posthumous  reputation  in  this  lapidary 
manner  there  are  some  rare  birds  indeed.  Some  of  the  more  telling  cases 
have  been  saved  for  posterity  by  an  anonymous  historian  of  human  self- 
perpetuation  and  self-delusion,  in  an  article  entitled  "Preparing  for  the 
End/'  published  in  Chambers's  Journal  of  Popular  Literature  in  1872.  Not 
one  of  these  insurers  of  their  posthumous  reputation  takes  to  heart  the 
quizzical  admonition  of  an  epitaph  one  finds  in  this  or  that  anthology: 
"Prepare  to  be  forgotten."  On  the  contrary,  they  take  the  normal  desire 
for  memorable  closure  to  an  extreme  that  may  strike  some  as  flirting 
with  absurdity: 

Sure  of  his  reward  was  William  Huntington,  the  once  notorious  "inspired 
coal-heaver":  when  he  felt  the  end  drawing  near,  Huntington  took  his  pen  in 

hand  and  wrote:  "Here  lies  the  coal-heaver,  who  departed  this  life in  the 

year  of  his  age;  beloved  of  his  God,  but  abhorred  by  men.  The  Omniscient 

Judge,  at  the  Great  Assize,  shall  ratify  and  confirm  this,  to  the  confusion  of 
many  thousands;  for  England  and  its  metropolis  shall  know  that  there  hath 
been  a  prophet  among  them.  -  W.H.,  S.S."  and  these  vain-glorious  words 
were  duly  placed  above  the  resting-place  of  the  Sinner  Saved  at  Lewes. 


Job  Orton,  son  of  the  inventor  of  Stilton  cheese,  an  innkeeper  at 
Kidderminster,  put  up  a  tombstone  in  the  churchyard  there,  inscribed: 

Job  Orton,  a  man  from  Leicestershire, 
When  he  dies,  he  will  be  buried  here.13 

Apparently  Mr.  Orton  took  it  for  granted  that  the  world  would  always 
know  that  his  surname  is  inextricably  linked  to  one  of  the  few  delights  of 
British  cuisine.  And  then  there  was: 

a  worm-doctor  named  Gardner  [who]  built  himself  a  tomb  in  the  churchyard 
of  St  Leonard's,  Shoreditch,  on  which  passers-by  could  read  "Dr  J.  Gardner's 
last  and  best  bedroom."  Those  who  saw  it  naturally  concluded  that  the  doctor 
was  taking  his  last  long  sleep  there,  and  he  soon  found  patients  grow  scarce 
in  Norton-Folgate.  This  was  paying  too  dearly  for  his  joke,  so  he  set  matters 
right  by  amending  the  inscription  by  the  addition  of  the  word  "intended." 
Pat  Power  of  Kilkenny,  we  suppose,  had  no  customers  to  lose,  when,  confident 
in  his  prophetic  instinct,  he  chose  his  grave  in  the  chapel-yard,  and  set  up  a 


116  Writing  One's  Own  Epitaph 


headstone,  twelve  months  before  date,  upon  which  appeared:  "Erected  in 
Memory  of  Patrick  Power,  of  Maudlin  Street,  Kilkenny,  who  died  in  1869, 
aged  73  years.  May  his  soul  rest  in  peace.  Amen!"  Pat  paid  regular  visits  to 
the  place  to  say  his  prayers  over  his  own  grave;  but  whether  his  presentiment 
was  fulfilled,  or  whether  he  lives  to  laugh  at  it,  is  more  than  we  know.  The 
poor  Irishman's  simplicity  excused  his  folly;  but  there  was  no  question  of 
simplicity  in  the  egregious  absurdity  perpetrated  by  one  who  was  a  statesman, 
if  filling  offices  of  state  entitles  a  man  to  be  so  called.  This  vain  specimen  of 
humanity  had  his  monument  put  up  in  the  church  of  St  Helen's,  Bishopsgate, 
four  years  before  his  death  and  sculptured  thereon  a  deed,  signed  and  sealed, 
running  thus:  "To  all  Christian  people,  to  whom  this  present  writing  shall 
come,  know  ye,  that  I,  Julius  Dalmare,  alias  Julius  Caesar,  Knight,  Doctor  of 
Laws,  Judge  of  the  High  Court  of  Admiralty,  and  one  of  the  Masters  of 
Requests  to  Queen  Elizabeth;  Privy  Councillor  to  King  James,  Chancellor  of 
the  Exchequer,  and  Master  of  the  Rolls,  have  confirmed  or  granted  by  this 
my  personal  writing,  that  I  will,  with  the  Divine  assistance,  willingly  pay  my 
debt  to  nature,  whenever  it  shall  please  God.  In  witness  whereof  I  have  set 
my  hand  and  seal.  Dated  the  27th  of  February  1635."  (p.  231) 

Not  all  such  best-laid  plans  do  succeed,  unfortunately,  or  fortunately: 

Farrazine,  the  shrewd  button-maker  of  Ghent,  who,  in  1697,  took  the 
quartering  and  provisioning  of  Marlborough's  army  off  the  hands  of  the 
troubled  authorities  of  the  city,  to  their  immense  relief,  and  the  making  of  his 
own  fortune,  had  a  soul  above  buttons,  his  ambition  taking  the  unusual  shape 
of  a  desire  for  posthumous  rather  than  present  honour.  He  erected  a 
magnificent  monumental  tomb  for  himself  in  the  church  of  the  Capuchin 
Friars,  and  when  it  was  finished,  Farrazine  resolved  to  rehearse  his  obsequies, 
so  that  there  might  be  no  mistakes  or  shortcomings  when  they  were  celebrated 
in  sad  earnest.  For  a  handsome  consideration,  the  holy  brotherhood  consented 
to  act  their  share  in  the  mock  ceremonial.  The  button-maker  provided  a 
sumptuously  adorned  coffin,  for  which  the  friars  found  bearers  in  their 
novices,  while  they  themselves  marched  in  solemn  procession  before  it.  It 
was  a  proud  day  for  Farrazine  when  he  took  part  in  his  own  funeral  rites, 
amidst  a  profusion 

Of  velvet,  gilding,  brass;  and  no  great  dearth 
Of  aught  save  tears. 

Tears  were  necessarily  lacking:  the  hero  of  the  hour,  although  officiating  as 
chief-mourner,  was  too  elated  to  shed  them,  as  he  walked  triumphantly  to 
the  tomb  and  saw  his  coffin  deposited  in  the  place  it  was  intended  to  occupy 
when  a  more  serious  performance  came  off.  Alas  for  the  hopes  of  vanity! 
Farrazine  had  not  measured  the  rapacity  of  his  Capuchin  friends  aright;  and 
although  he  did  not  forget  them  in  his  will,  the  legacy  he  bequeathed  fell  so 
mu  ch  below  their  expectations,  that,  in  angry  disgust,  the  brethren  demolished 
the  monument,  and  bundled  coffin  and  all  out  of  their  church;  refusing  even 
to  perform  a  single  mass  for  the  poor  fellow's  soul,  whose  body,  after  all  his 
pains,  found  a  grave  in  the  yard  of  an  obscure  chapel,  (p.  231) 

Whether  contaminated  with  involuntary  comedy  or  not,  all  such  sto- 
ries about  efforts  to  ensure  meaningful  closure  point  to  a  distinguishing 


KarlS.Guthke  117 


and  not  ignoble  characteristic  of  our  species:  the  desire  for  a  personal 
final  assessment  and  for  the  preservation  of  that  assessment  "forever." 
This  is  indeed  not  only  a  significant  facet  of  the  culture  of  homo  sapiens 
but  also  a  feature  of  popular  culture  -  then  and  now.  Writing  epitaphs 
for  oneself  "before  need/'  as  a  more  or  less  serious  literary  exercise,  must 
have  been  well  established  by  the  Middle  Ages,  at  the  latest.  Francois 
Villon,  famously,  wrote  a  poem  purporting  to  be  his  "Epitaphe":  "Ci  git 
et  dort  en  ce  solier  /  Qu' Amour  occit  de  son  raillon  /  Un  pauvre  petit 
ecolier  /  Qui  fut  nomme  Francois  Villon  [...]".  (Here  in  this  place  lies  and 
sleeps  one  whom  love  killed  with  its  arrow,  a  poor  little  scholar  named 
Francois  Villon).  Not  surprisingly,  Humanists  took  up  the  convention  of 
preparing  one's  own  grave  inscription,  sometimes  drawing  on  classical 
antecedents.14  Nor  was  it  uncommon  in  orthodox  (or  at  least  god-fear- 
ing) Christian  circles  to  seal  one's  life  with  a  self-chosen  (sometimes  self- 
important)  epitaph  (see  Note  55),  though  much  care  was  normally  taken 
to  expire  with  a  pious  last  word  as  well. 

In  Restoration  England,  on  the  other  hand,  writing  one's  own  epi- 
taph became  a  parlor  game,  a  frivolous,  if  witty,  sport.Yet  considering 
how  undignified  and  unmemorable  a  closure  real  life,  or  rather  real  death, 
would  so  often  impose,  even  on  the  deserving,  there  may  have  been  some 
seriousness  behind  the  facade  of  levity.  "In  some  cases,  [...]  the  compo- 
sition of  personal  epitaphs  was  considered  as  necessary  a  task  as  writing 
a  will"15  in  the  Seventeenth  and  Eighteenth  Centuries.  The  fashion  of 
writing  "Premature  Epitaphs"16  for  oneself  continues  to  this  day.  Discre- 
tion is  required  about  spirited  conversations  in  the  faculty  clubs  of  vari- 
ous respectable  universities,  but  one  may  surely  mention  the  universally 
known  cases  of  Dorothy  Parker  ("Excuse  my  dust")  or  Franklin  Pierce 
Adams  ("Pardon  me  for  not  rising").  These  have  the  ring  of  the  party- 
game  about  them,  and  a  party-game  epitaph  writing  surely  was,  in  some 
circles,  in  the  Twentieth  Century: 

For  a  long  time  Hollywood  has  been  the  centre  of  America's  glittering  society 
life  and  hostesses  there  have  spared  no  expense  to  entertain  their  guests. 

During  the  1930s  one  bright,  twittering  society  dame  thought  up  the  idea 
of  amusing  her  guests  by  commissioning  a  witty  author  to  compose  humorous 
epitaphs  for  them.  The  hostess,  who  had  been  an  actress  herself  and  much 
married,  set  the  ball  rolling  by  having  her  epitaph  written.  As  it  was  read  out 
by  the  author  at  one  of  her  famous  parties,  however,  the  hostess's  face  was 
seen  to  change  colour  for  he  had  written: 

At  last  she  sleeps  alone!17 


118  Writing  One's  Own  Epitaph 


A  potentially  significant  feature  of  present-day  culture,  popular  or 
otherwise,  is  the  habit,  widespread  at  least  in  Anglo-Saxon  countries,  of 
asking  the  old  and  the  young  and  those  in  between  not  only  about  their 
prospective  last  words  but  also  about  their  preferred  epitaph.  Sometimes 
a  press  interview  does  not  seem  to  be  complete  without  an  answer  to 
that  question.18  More  seriously,  American  school-children  are  nowadays 
required  in  some  schools  to  write  their  own  epitaphs  (also  wills  and  even 
suicide  notes).  This  caused  a  considerable  stir  on  the  Internet  in  1999/ 
2000  when  it  was  related  to  the  terrorist  shooting  spree  in  a  high  school 
in  Columbine,  Colorado.19  But  the  worthwhile  educational  purpose  of 
the  exercise,  at  least  of  writing  one's  own  grave-inscription,  cannot  be 
denied:20  it  amounts  to  a  self-assessment  of  one's  individuality,  which 
must  be  salutary  and  constructive  at  any  age.  How  better  to  become  aware 
of  one's  unalienable  selfhood  than  by  looking  at  oneself  from  the  ulti- 
mate perspective.  Indeed,  even  other  people's  gravemarkers  may  have 
the  educational  function  of  opening  one's  eyes  to  one's  own  life  pattern 
that  one  would  so  dearly  like  to  see  completed.  "There  are  epitaphs  we 
would  choose  for  those  we  know,"  says  William  Henry  Beable  about  his 
ramblings  among  the  graves,  and  then  there  are  "epitaphs  we  would 
perhaps  like  to  have  inscribed  on  our  own  tombstones."21  This  brings  up 
the  delicate  question  of  whether  stealing  someone  else's  epitaph  is  theft 
-  or  a  sort  oifiirtum  honestum,  like  lifting  a  passage  out  of  the  Bible  (which 
still  leaves  us  with  the  quandary  of  whether  the  theft  of  a  Gideons'  Bible 
from  a  hotel  room  is  lawful  or  not).  Alexander  Pope,  master  extraordinaire 
of  the  premature  epitaph,  stumbled  upon  this  problem  in  a  letter  to  Henry 
Cromwell:  "I  fear  I  must  be  forc'd,  like  many  learned  Authors,  to  write 
my  own  Epitaph,  if  I  wou'd  be  remember 'd  at  all;  Mons.  de  la  Fontaine's 
wou'd  fitt  me  to  a  hair,  but  'tis  a  kind  of  Sacriledge  [. . .]  to  steal  Epitaphs?"22 

II 

Be  this  as  it  may,  what  has  been  said  about  the  role  of  epitaph-writing 
in  popular  culture  suggests  that  a  more  important  distinction  than  that 
between  first-hand  and  second-hand  epitaphs  (original  and  "stolen") 
should  be  made.  That  is  the  distinction  of  status:  epitaphs  written  upon 
oneself  in  the  spirit  of  a  party-game  or  conversational  culture  cannot  be 
mentioned  quite  in  the  same  breath  as  those  self-designed  epitaphs  that 
actually  do  appear  on  gravestones  (where,  of  course,  the  epitaphic  "I"  is 
not  necessarily  that  of  the  deceased  himself).  More  often  than  not,  to  be 
sure,  the  author  of  his  own  epitaph  may  in  fact  not  have  control  over  the 


Karl  S.  Guthke  119 


wording  that  appears  on  his  gravestone,  especially  if  his  chosen  text 
should  be  somewhat  unconventional,  or  (God  forbid)  humorous,  or  even 
offensive  to  others  (who,  in  the  worst-case  scenario,  might  prefer  a  form 
of  deprecatory  commemoration).  Epitaphic  legacies  and  even  deathbed 
requests  are  known  to  have  been  ignored.  Conversely,  a  self-chosen  epi- 
taph may  be  revoked,  reduced  from  public  to  private,  or  from  authentic 
to  literary  status  (Matthew  Prior  specifically  ruled  out  one  of  his  epi- 
taphs on  himself  as  the  text  for  his  actual  sepulchral  marker.)23  It  was  Dr. 
Johnson  who  perceived  the  larger  problem  of  private  vs.  public  com- 
memoration involved  here.  In  his  essay  on  John  Gay's  self-chosen  epi- 
taph that  was  actually  inscribed  on  his  sepulchral  memorial  in 
Westminster  Abbey,  Johnson  said: 

Matters  of  very  small  consequence  in  themselves  are  often  made  important 
by  the  circumstances  that  attend  them.  Little  follies  and  petty  weaknesses,  of 
no  moment  in  common  life,  may,  when  they  enter  into  the  characters  of  men 
in  high  stations,  obstruct  the  happiness  of  a  great  part  of  mankind.  A  barbarous 
inscription  or  disproportioned  busto  deserves  no  notice  on  account  of  the 
statuary  who  carved  it  or  the  writer  who  composed  it;  they  were  only  private 
follies  in  the  study  or  the  shop;  but  erected  in  a  temple,  or  engraved  on  a 
column,  they  are  considered  as  public  works,  and  censured  as  a  disgrace  to  a 
nation.  For  this  reason  I  have  been  often  offended  with  the  trifling  distich 
upon  Mr  Gay's  monument  in  Westminster  Abbey: 

Life  is  a  jest,  and  all  things  show  it; 
I  thought  so  once,  but  now  I  know  it. 

[...].  If  I  might  be  indulged  in  making  conjectures  on  a  question  of  such  weight, 
I  should  conceive  it  to  have  been  a  drunken  sally,  which  was  perhaps,  after 
midnight,  applauded  as  a  lively  epigram,  and  might  have  preserved  its 
reputation  had  it,  instead  of  being  engraved  on  a  monument  at  Westminster, 
been  scribbled  in  its  proper  place,  the  window  of  a  brothel. 

There  are  very  different  species  of  wit  appropriated  to  particular  persons 
and  places;  the  smartness  of  a  shoeboy  would  not  be  extremely  agreeable  in 
a  chancellor,  and  a  tavern  joke  sounds  but  ill  in  a  church,  from  which  it  ought 
to  be  banished,  if  for  no  other  reason,  at  least  for  that  which  forbids  a  drunken 
man  to  be  introduced  into  sober  company.  [...] 

A  childish  levity  has  of  late  infected  our  conversation  and  behaviour,  but 
let  it  not  make  its  way  into  our  churches.  Irreligion  has  corrupted  the  present 
age,  but  let  us  not  inscribe  it  on  marble,  to  be  the  ruin  or  scorn  of  another 
generation.  Let  us  have  some  regard  to  our  reputation  amongst  foreigners, 
who  do  not  hold  either  fools  or  atheists  in  high  veneration,  and  will  imagine 
that  they  can  justify  themselves  in  terming  us  such  from  our  own  monuments. 
Let  us  therefore  review  our  public  edifices,  and,  where  inscriptions  like  this 
appear,  spare  our  posterity  the  trouble  of  erasing  them.24 


120  Writing  One's  Own  Epitaph 


Literary  auto-epitaphs  or  authentic  ones,  private  or  public 
memorialization  -  the  matter  comes  up  in  our  own  days  whenever  a 
recently  deceased  prominent  person  is  said  to  have  expressed  a  wish  for 
a  particular  epitaph.  In  The  New  York  Times  of  15  May  2001,  for  example, 
Robin  Pogrebin  reported  the  passing  of  Jason  Miller,  the  playwright  and 
actor,  in  a  lengthy  article  which  did  not  spare  the  reader  this  tidbit: 

The  Associated  Press  reported  that  Mr.  Miller  described  his  own  epitaph  last 
year  in  an  interview  with  Electric  City,  a  free  entertainment  weekly,  for  the 
Pennsylvania  Film  Festival:  "On  my  tombstone  I'll  put,  'It's  all  [only?]  a  paper 
moon.'  All  the  philosophies  and  all  the  -isms  and  all  the  religions  are  contained 
in  that."25 

Interesting  -  but  was  the  text  (a  widely  known  popular  American  song) 
eventually  put  on  his  gravestone,  if  any?  Did  it  remain  private  and  liter- 
ary, or  did  it  become  public  and  authentic,  a  part  of  cultural  life  and  the 
cultural  heritage?  In  some  cases  one  does  know.  Let  us  look  at  the  nega- 
tive answers  first.  For  they  too,  have  their  light  to  throw  on  this  curious 
facet  of  cultural  history  -  the  do-it-yourself  epitaph  designed  to  guaran- 
tee custom-made  immortality. 

Not  on  the  gravestone  were  most  of  those  self-chosen  memorial  texts 
(usually  witty)  that  certain  anthologies  of  epitaphs  will  feature,  some- 
times in  a  special  section.26  It  would  be  humorless  to  check  whether  Em- 
peror Joseph  II  really  got  his  supposed  wish  for  an  epitaph  realized:  "Ich 
wunschte,  man  schriebe  auf  mein  Grab:  'Hier  ruht  ein  Fiirst,  dessen 
Absichten  rein  waren,  der  aber  das  Ungliick  hatte,  alle  seine  Entwurfe 
scheitern  zu  sehen'"  (I  would  like  to  have  written  on  my  gravestone: 
"Here  rests  a  prince  whose  intentions  were  pure,  though  he  had  the  mis- 
fortune to  see  all  his  plans  come  to  nothing")  or  whether  Baudelaire  was 
immortalized  in  stone  with  his  couplet  "Ci-git  qui,  pour  avoir  par  trop 
aime  les  gaupes,  /  Descendit  jeune  encore  au  royaume  des  taupes"  (Here 
lies  one  who  for  having  been  too  much  in  love  with  streetwalkers,  de- 
scended into  the  realm  of  moles  at  a  young  age).  Nor  does  Lloyd  George 
sleep  under  his  suggested 

Count  not  my  broken  pledges  as  a  crime, 

I  MEANT  them,  HOW,  I  meant  them  at  the  time. 

(There  is,  incidentally,  no  inscription  at  all  on  the  huge  boulder  that  serves 
as  his  tombstone  on  the  bank  of  River  Dwyfor  in  the  village  of 
Llanystumdwy).  And,  of  course,  neither  did  George  Gershwin  or  Michael 
Arlen  or  Jacob  Epstein  get  their  jocose  epitaphs  realized: 


KarlS.Guthke  121 


Here  lies  the  body  of 

George  Gershwin 

American  Composer. 

Composer? 

American? 


Here  lies 

Michael  Arlen 

As  usual. 

***** 

From  life's  grim  nightmare  he  is  now  released 

Who  saw  in  every  face  the  lurking  beast. 
A  loss  to  All',  say  friends  both  proud  and  loyal, 
A  loss',  say  others,  'to  the  Cafe  Royal'.  (Epstein) 

Still,  these  humorous  self-epitaphists  who  failed  to  perpetuate  them- 
selves -  Dorothy  Parker,  buried  in  the  Memorial  Garden  at  the  NAACP 
national  headquarters  in  Baltimore,  is  another  one,  of  course,  as  is  Gloria 
Swanson  ("She  paid  the  bills")  -  are  not  all  that  unfortunate:  their  unre- 
alized epitaphs  "live"  in  the  epitaph  books  of  popular  culture.  Famously, 
the  most  enduring  lines  of  Eighteenth-Century  dramatist  and  satirist 
Alexis  Piron  are  "Ci-git  Piron  qui  ne  fuit  rien,  /  Pas  meme  academicien" 
(Here  lies  Piron,  who  was  nothing,  not  even  an  academician):  they  made 
it  into  the  Oxford  Book  of  Death,  but  they  did  not  adorn  his  grave.27  This 
failure  is  shared  by  many  renowned  authors  who  wrote  (and  rewrote) 
well-known,  thoughtful,  and  often  poetic  or  witty  last  words  for  their 
gravestones:  Ariosto,  Thomas  More,  John  Donne,  Andreas  Gryphius, 
Robert  Herrick  (whose  grave  is  unknown,  anyway),  Alexander  Pope, 
Walter  Savage  Landor,  H.  L.  Mencken,28  etc.,  etc.,  and,  in  a  sense,  even 
Thomas  Gray  (Gray  was  buried  in  the  family  vault  in  1771  and  com- 
memorated by  an  unobtrusive  tablet  on  the  exterior  wall  of  Hastings 
Chapel  in  the  Stoke  Poges  churchyard;  a  hundred  yards  outside  the 
churchyard,  a  monument,  erected  in  1799,  features  verses  from  the  "El- 
egy," but  not  from  its  concluding  "Epitaph"29). 

Some  cases  of  "opportunity  spumed  or  missed"  by  posterity  are  more 
poignant  than  others.  Joshua  Scodel,  in  his  standard  work  on  the  literary 
epitaph  (see  Note  4),  discusses  the  epitaph  that  Robert  Grosseteste 
(Groshead),  the  renowned  scholar  and  bishop  (t  1253),  "commanded  [...] 
to  be  engraven  on  his  Tombe,"  according  to  William  Camden's  Remaines 
Concerning  Britaine  (1605).  It  was  "Quis  sim  nosse  cupis?  Caro  putrida,  nil 
nisi,  vermis;  /  Quisquis  es,  hoc  de  me  sit  tibi  scire  satis"  (You  want  to  know 


122  Writing  One's  Own  Epitaph 


who  I  am?  Nothing  but  rotten  flesh  for  worms;  whoever  you  are,  this  is  all 
you  need  to  know  about  me)  -  the  very  model  of  Christian  self-effacement 
(p.  56).  All  the  more  shocking  the  sorry  truth  which  Scodel  does  not  need 
to  reveal,  since  his  is  a  purely  literary  study:  Camden  confides  that  the 
searcher  for  anonymity  was  actually  buried  (in  the  south-east  transept  of 
Lincoln  Cathedral)  under  a  gravemarker  recording  his  full  name  (p.  43). 
But  even  if  one  succeeds  in  reverting  to  self-chosen  epitaphic  nameless- 
ness  in  death,  the  epitaph  may  flaunt  the  anonymity  so  intriguingly  or 
teasingly  that,  sooner  or  later,  the  identity  will  be  revealed,  even  in  an- 
thologies. Beable  (see  Note  21)  discloses  that  the  anonymus  buried  in  1713 
in  Shottesbrooke,  Berkshire,  under  the  words  "Hie  Jacet  Peccatorum  Maxi- 
mus,"  as  he  had  stipulated  (Here  lies  the  greatest  of  sinners),  was  "a  Mr. 
Francis  Cherry"  (p.  229);  and  he  also  tells  us  that  the  famous  self-chosen 
"Miserrimus"  in  the  Cloister  of  Worcester  Cathedral,  immortalized  by 
Wordsworth's  poem,  was  (if  only  allegedly)  "a  Rev.  Thomas  Morris,"  a 
staunch  Jacobite  (p.  228).  Queen  Elizabeth  I  fared  little  better.  Of  course, 
she  could  not  very  well  have  hoped  for  anonymity,  nor  would  she  have 
seriously  wanted  it.  Still,  in  1559,  more  than  forty  years  before  her  death, 
she  concluded  her  first  speech  to  Parliament  with  a  request  for  an  even- 
tual epitaph:  "And  in  the  end,  this  shall  be  for  me  sufficient,  that  a  marble 
stone  shall  declare  that  a  Queen,  having  reigned  such  a  time,  lived  and 
died  a  virgin."  She  was  in  fact  commemorated  as  a  mother,  on  her  £765 
monument  in  Westminster  Abbey,  ordered  by  James  I:  the  Latin  inscrip- 
tion calls  her  "the  mother  of  this  her  country,  the  nurse  of  religion  and 
learning;  for  perfect  skill  of  very  many  languages,  for  glorious  endow- 
ments, as  well  of  mind  as  of  body,  a  prince  incomparable."30 

The  most  celebrated  American  case  is  the  nearly  proverbial  one  of 
Benjamin  Franklin.  Sixty-two  years  before  need,  the  printer  in  him  wrote 
his  famous  and  frequently  imitated  epitaph  by  which  he  is  universally 
remembered: 

The  body  of 

B.  Franklin,  Printer 

(Like  the  Cover  of  an  Old  Book 

Its  Contents  Torn  Out 

And  Stripd  of  its  Lettering  and  Gilding) 

Lies  Here,  Food  for  Worms. 

But  the  Work  shall  not  be  Lost; 

For  it  will  (as  he  Believ'd)  Appear  once  More 

In  a  New  and  More  Elegant  Edition 

Revised  and  Corrected 

By  the  Author. 


Karl  S.  Guthke  123 


But  when  he  died  in  1790  at  the  age  of  eighty-four,  he  was  buried  in 
Philadelphia's  Christ  Church  Burial  Ground,  his  tomb  bearing  the  unas- 
suming wording  he  provided  for  in  his  will:  "Benjamin  and  Deborah 
Franklin:  1790."31 

However,  the  non-plus-ultra  in  reductive  brevity  must  be  Bertolt 
Brecht's  "Bertolt  Brecht"  on  the  rough  boulder  marking  his  burial  place 
in  Berlin's  Dorotheen-Friedhof,  where  he  had  wanted  to  be  interred. 
Whether  he  had  wanted  the  simple,  even  dateless,  inscription,  is  another 
question  entirely.  In  a  poem  of  ca.  1926,  "Verwisch  die  Spuren,"  he  opted 
for  total  anonymity,  rejecting  a  tomb  that  "verrat,  wo  du  liegst  /  Mit  einer 
deutlichen  Schrift"  (reveals  where  you  lie,  in  clear  lettering).  On  the  other 
hand,  his  proposed  epitaph,  written  shortly  before  his  death  in  1955, 
runs  in  its  final,  much-revised  wording: 

Ich  benotige  keinen  Grabstein,  aber 
Wemi  ihr  einen  fur  mich  benotigt 
Wiinscbte  ich,  es  stunde  darauf: 
Er  hat  Vorschlage  gemacht.  Wir 
Haben  sie  angenommen. 
Durch  eine  solche  Inschrift  waren 
Wir  alle  geehrt.32 

I  need  no  gravestone,  but 
If  you  need  one  for  me 
I  wish  it  would  say: 
He  made  suggestions.  We 
Accepted  them. 
Such  an  inscription 
Would  honor  us  all. 

In  these  and  similar  cases,  whatever  message  the  deceased  had  hoped 
to  perpetuate  as  a  lasting  memorial  to  beliefs  or  achievements  is  cat- 
egorically negated.  Brecht's  actual  inscription  even  anticipates  or  exem- 
plifies the  withdrawal  of  epitaph-writing  into  that  silence  and 
non-communication  that  is  believed  to  be  a  striking  feature  of  present- 
day  cemeteries.  Contrary  to  his  final  -  modest  -  wishes,  there  is  not  even 
a  hint  of  that  celebration  of  human  values  that  constituted  the  classical 
epitaphic  heritage,  which  was  ignored  during  the  Christian  Middle  Ages, 
only  to  be  revived  by  the  Humanists  and  finally  placed  on  the  pedestal 
of  epitaphic  propriety  by  Dr.  Johnson.  Johnson  did  not  fail  to  pronounce 
on  the  moral  impact  that  a  properly  epitaphed  forbear  might  have  on 
the  living: 


124  Writing  One's  Own  Epitaph 


The  design  of  epitaphs  is  rational  and  moral,  being  generally  to  celebrate  the 
virtues  of  the  dead,  and  to  excite  and  awaken  the  reader  to  the  imitation  of 
those  excellencies  which  he  sees  thus  honoured  and  distinguished,  of  which 
kind  almost  every  sepulchral  monument  affords  us  an  example.33 

Ill 

But  what  about  the  luckier  ones  among  self-epitaphists  -  those  whose 
self-formulated  wisdom  of  a  lifetime  did  in  fact  end  up  on  their 
gravemarkers?  Alexander  Pope,  already  mentioned,  may  serve  as  an  in- 
troduction to  the  complexity  of  what  might  otherwise  seem  to  be  a 
straightforward  state  of  affairs.  Throughout  his  life,  Pope  wrote  numer- 
ous poetic  epitaphs  not  only  for  friends  and  associates  but  also  for  him- 
self: "epitaphic  self-portraits"34  inspired  by  concern  for  a  posthumous 
image  undistorted  by  slander  or  flattery.  But  when  it  came  to  dying,  Pope 
preferred  to  have  none  of  these  engraved  on  his  tombstone.  He  directed 
instead  in  his  will  that  his  body  be  interred  near  the  monument  to  his 
parents  in  Twickenham  Parish  Church  and  that  the  only  commemora- 
tion, apart  from  his  death  date  and  age,  should  be  an  "et  sibi"  (and  to 
himself)  to  be  added  to  the  epitaph  of  his  father  and  mother,  and  in  due 
course  this  was  done: 

D.O.M. 

ALEXANDRO  POPE,  VIRO INNOCUO 

PROBO,  PIO,  QUI  VIXIT  ANNOS  LXXV,  OB.  MDCCXVII. 

ET  EDITHAE  CONJUGI INCULPABILI,  PIENTISSIMAE, 

QUAE  VIXIT  ANNOS  XCIII  OB.  MDCXXXIII. 
PARENTIBUS  BENEMERENTIBUS  FILIUS  FECIT,  ET  SIBI. 

To  God  the  Creator  and  best  of  Beings,  /  To  Alexander  Pope,  a  Gentleman  of 
Honesty,  Probity  and  Piety,  Who  Liv'd  LXXV.  Years,  died  M.  DCC.  XVII.  / 
And  to  Editha,  his  Excellent  and  truely  Pious  Wife,  who  lived  XCIII.  Years, 
died  M.  DCC.  XXXIII.  /  To  his  well-deserving  Parents  the  Son  erected  this, 
and  to  himself.35 

Scodel  comments:  "Pope  proclaims  to  the  public  that  no  matter  how 
they  might  define  him,  he  will  affirm  unto  death  his  humble  role  as  a 
dutiful  son."36  However,  in  1761,  seventeen  years  after  Pope's  death  in 
1744  at  the  age  of  fifty-six,  William  Warburton,  bishop  of  Gloucester, 
had  a  medallion  portrait  and  the  following  lines  placed  on  a  monument 
to  Pope  on  the  north  wall  of  the  Twickenham  Parish  Church: 

For  One  who  would  not  be  buried  in  Westminster  Abbey 

Heroes,  and  kings!  your  distance  keep: 
In  peace  let  one  poor  Poet  sleep, 
Who  never  flatter'd  Folks  like  you: 
Let  Horace  blush,  and  Virgil  too.37 


Karl  S.  Guthke  125 


Early  biographers  unanimously  condemned  the  verses  as  a  prime  ex- 
ample of  episcopal  "bad  taste,"  adding  that  "parading  these  careless  and 
petulant  lines  on  the  walls  of  a  church,  near  the  poet's  grave,  is  too  glar- 
ing to  require  comment.  Any  such  inscription  was  a  direct  violation  of 
the  wishes  and  feelings  of  Pope  as  expressed  in  his  will."38  This  condem- 
nation is  a  little  curious:  was  it  not  known  that  "Epitaph.  For  One  who 
would  not  be  buried  in  Westminster  Abbey"  is  one  of  Pope's  several  epi- 
taphs on  himself?  Pope  published  it  in  1738.  Scodel  discusses  it  exten- 
sively with  a  view  to  its  literary  merit,  its  covert  references  to  the  literary 
English  epitaph  culture  of  the  time,  and  its  reaction  to  the  classical  liter- 
ary heritage  (pp.  264-274).  But  as  a  literary  historian  he  does  not  need  to 
point  out  the  fact  of  interest  to  the  cultural  historian:  that  these  lines 
appear  near  the  poet's  place  of  burial,  thereby  establishing  an  image  of 
Pope  that  is,  in  effect,  somewhat  different  from  the  self-effacing  one  of 
the  dutiful  son  and  modest  parishioner  that  he  ultimately  chose  for  him- 
self. Habent  sua  fata  epitaphia.  There  is  no  modesty  in  those  presumptu- 
ous lines;  how  would  Pope,  given  his  will,  which  was  surely  not  written 
as  an  exercise  in  false  modesty,  have  felt  about  this  poem,  which  "was 
never  allowed  by  the  poet  to  be  a  self  epitaph,"  being  paraded  as  "the 
last  word?39  Here,  then,  we  have  the  sorry  case  of  refusing  one's  own 
epitaph  and  having  it,  too. 

From  here  it  is  only  a  small  step  to  burial  under  an  epitaph  com- 
posed not  by  the  deceased  but  at  his  suggestion.  This  was  what  the  neo- 
classical poet  Matthew  Prior  requested  in  his  will,  made  out  shortly  before 
his  death  in  1721.  Much  to  the  satirical  delight  of  his  contemporaries,  he 
left  £500  for  a  sepulchral  monument  in  Westminster  Abbey  which  was  to 
bear  an  inscription  by  Dr.  Robert  Freind  -  a  florid  accolade  that  tourists 
can  still  cringe  at  as  "a  sad  instance  of  pride  beyond  the  grave"  (Samuel 
Richardson).  It  is  this  text  that  Pope  probably  had  in  mind  when  he  wrote 
his  near-proverbial 

Friend!  For  your  Epitaphs  I'm  griev'd, 
Where  still  so  much  is  said, 
One  half  will  never  be  believ'd, 
The  other  never  read. 

Prior's  enduring  document  of  vanity  is  all  the  stranger  as  Prior  was  an 
accomplished  epitaphist  himself.  He  had  even  composed  more  than  one 
sepulchral  last  word  for  himself,  including  the  amusing,  if  arrogant  lines 
that  may  have  inspired  Pope's  own  "Heroes  and  kings": 


126  Writing  One's  Own  Epitaph 


Nobles,  and  Heralds  by  Your  leave, 
Here  lyes  what  Once  was  Matthew  Prior, 
The  Son  of  Adam  and  of  Eve, 
Can  Stuart,  or  Nassaw  go  higher.40 

By  not  having  this  self-appraisal  engraved  on  his  tombstone  but  direct- 
ing someone  else  to  heap  fulsome  sepulchral  praise  on  him,  Prior  con- 
trived to  achieve  on  his  own  what  was  accorded  to  Pope  contrary  to  his 
expressed  wish. 

Pope's  posthumous  misadventure  may  give  us  the  cue  for  a  brief 
excursus  on  those  writers  who  rest  under  lines  from  their  own  works 
without  having  expressly  chosen  them  as  their  epitaph  -  which  obvi- 
ously raises  questions  about  how  appropriate  posterity's  choice  was.  There 
is,  famously,  Heinrich  Heine  in  Montmartre  Cemetery,  Paris,  whose  white 
marble  monument  of  1901,  topped  by  his  bust,  features  his  poem  "Wo?": 

Wo  wird  einst  des  Wandermiiden 
Letzte  Ruhestatte  sein? 
Unter  Palmen  in  dem  Siiden? 
Unter  Linden  an  dem  Rhein? 

Werd  ich  wo  in  einer  Wiiste 
Eingescharrt  von  fremder  Hand? 
Oder  ruh  ich  an  der  Kiiste 
Eines  Meeres  in  dem  Sand? 

Immerhin!  Mich  wird  umgeben 
Gotteshimmel,  dort  wie  hier, 
Und  als  Totenlampen  schweben 
Nachts  die  Sterne  iiber  mir. 

Where? 

Wander-weary,  where  will  I 
Find  that  final  rest  of  mine? 
Where  the  Southern  palms  soar  high? 
Under  lindens  on  the  Rhine? 

Will  I  die  in  some  wild  land 
Buried  by  a  stranger,  or 
Will  I  rest  beneath  the  sand 
Of  some  distant  ocean  shore? 

Well,  no  matter?  God's  same  sky 
Will  be  round  me,  there  as  here, 
And  at  night  the  stars  on  high 
Will  be  lamps  to  light  my  bier. 

On  Willa  Cather's  simple  white  tombstone  in  the  old  cemetery  at  Jaffrey 
Center,  New  Hampshire,  there  is  a  sentence  from  My  Antonia  (1918) 
(which  she  had  finished  in  her  beloved  Jaffrey):  "That  is  happiness;  to  be 


Karl  S.  Guthke  127 


dissolved  into  something  complete  and  great,"  identified  as  "from  My 
Antonia."  Thomas  Wolfe,  in  Riverside  Cemetery,  Asheville,  North  Caro- 
lina, is  buried  under  two  citations,  one  from  Look  Homeward,  Angel:  "The 
Last  voyage,  the  longest,  the  best,"  and  one  from  The  Web  and  the  Rock: 
"Death  bent  to  touch  his  chosen  son  with  mercy,  love  and  pity,  and  put 
the  seal  of  honor  on  him  when  he  died."  Karl  Marx  lies  under  an  impos- 
ing monument  in  London's  Highgate  Cemetery  proclaiming:  "Workers 
of  all  Lands  Unite"  -  rather  too  obvious  a  choice  perhaps.  Carl  Sandburg 
was  a  great  oracle  of  folk  wisdom,  but  the  words  on  the  rock  marking  the 
interment  of  his  ashes  (Fig.  1)  in  his  birthplace  in  Galesburg,  Illinois, 
though  taken  from  his  novel  Remembrance  Rock,  are  somewhat  disappoint- 
ing: "...  for  it  could  be  a  place  to  come  and  remember."  Emily  Dickinson, 
in  the  West  Cemetery  in  Amherst,  Massachusetts,  was  "Called  back," 
according  to  her  headstone  -  words  from  her  last  letter,  to  her  cousins 
Louise  and  Frances  Norcross.  In  their  original  context,  the  words  do  not 
appear  to  be  in  any  way  symbolical  ("Little  Cousins,  Called  back.  Emily" 
is  the  complete  text  of  the  letter)  -  unless  one  wants  to  assume  that  the 
writer  had  the  title  of  one  of  her  favorite  books  in  mind,  a  novella  by 
Hugh  Conway,  with  the  reclusive  protagonist  of  which  she  is  believed  to 
have  identified.  Such  a  private  allusion  would,  of  course,  make  the  in- 
scription doubly  esoteric  and  inaccessible.  How  much  wiser  the  choice 
of  "Quand  meme"  (all  the  same)  for  Sarah  Bernhardt  in  Paris'  Pere 
Lachaise:  it  was  her  motto,  "a  phrase  her  stationery  also  bore."  How 
much  more  telling  also  the  words  chosen  for  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson:  his 
rose  quartz  tombstone  in  Concord's  Sleepy  Hollow  Cemetery  features 
the  lines  from  his  poem  "The  Problem":  "The  passive  Master  lent  his 
hand  /  To  the  vast  soul  that  o'er  him  planned"  -  which  his  biographer 
Ralph  L.  Rusk  called  "fitting  symbols  of  only  two  of  the  many  discor- 
dant elements  which  [...]  were  harmonized  in  Emerson."  The  list  goes 
on  and  on:  Edith  Sitwell,  T  S.  Eliot,  F.  Scott  Fitzgerald,  Paul  Robeson, 
etc.41  Sometimes  a  favorite  quotation  will  do  better  than  an  excerpt  from 
the  deceased's  own  writing;  after  all,  the  quotation  was  self-chosen,  if  not 
as  an  epitaph,  and  may  therefore  be  considered  to  be  of  equal  rank  with 
a  self-chosen  "last  word."  Thus  Klaus  Mann,  Thomas  Mann's  son,  was 
buried,  in  exile  in  the  south  of  France,  under  a  biblical  quotation  he  was 
fond  of  citing  in  defense  of  suicide,  which  was  his  way  of  leaving  the 
world.  And  Martin  Luther  King,  Jr.  is  commemorated  on  his  sepulchral 
monument  (Fig.  2)  with  lines  from  the  slave  spiritual  that  was  the  culmi- 
nation point  of  his  most  famous  speech.42 


128 


Writing  One's  Own  Epitaph 


Before  turning  to  the  cases  of  well-known  intellectuals  who  expressly 
penned  the  lines  for  their  burial  monuments,  one  more  aspect  of  the 
complexities  of  posthumous  self-perpetuation  needs  to  be  considered. 
Some  of  the  best-known  epitaphs  adorning  the  graves  of  truly  major 
figures  cannot  be  shown  with  absolute  certainty  to  have  been  authored 
by  the  persons  commemorated,  nor  can  their  wish  to  have  that  particu- 
lar text  on  their  gravemarker  be  documented  by  anything  more  than 
time-honored  hearsay. 

Let's  start  with  a  local  celebrity,  Dr.  John  Caius,  co-founder  of  Gonville 
and  Caius  College,  Cambridge,  a  self-assured  Humanist  who  died  in  1573. 


Fig.  2.  Monument  of  Dr.  Martin  Luther  King,  Jr., 

Atlanta,  Georgia,  with  epitaph,  "Free  at  last,  Free  at  last,  / 

Thank  God  Almighty  /  I'm  Free  at  last." 


KarlS.Guthke  129 


Nikolaus  Pevsner  reports  in  his  volume  on  Cambridgeshire  (London:  Pen- 
guin, 1954)  that  Caius's  epitaph  on  his  monument  in  the  college  chapel  - 
a  lapidary  statement  of  almost  unChristian  pride  harking  back  to  an- 
cient times:  "Fui  Caius"  (I  was  Caius),  accompanied  by  "Vivit  post  funera 
Virtus"  (virtue  lives  on  after  burial)  -  was  "chosen  no  doubt  by  Caius 
who  was  always  more  interested  in  honour  than  in  humility"  (p.  66). 
"No  doubt,"  because  Caius  was  known  to  be  a  proud  man  and  therefore 
likely  to  be  interested  in  his  survival  after  death  in  a  classical  rather  than 
a  Christian  sense?  Scodel  is  probably  right  in  transforming  Pevsner's 
conjecture  into  a  statement  of  fact:  Caius  died  "after  designing  his  tomb 
and  composing  his  inscription."  "The  audacity  of  this  brief  epitaph  [noted 
around  1600  by  the  Society  of  Antiquaries]  lies  in  its  implication  that 
Caius's  name  alone  is  praise  enough,  that  nothing  more  specific  need  be 
said  about  him  since  the  passerby  will  know  upon  reading  'Fui  Caius' 
just  how  much  greatness  was  lost  and  how  much  glory  remains  upon 
the  death  of  this  very  successful  academic"  (p.  53-54).  In  Cambridge, 
this  may  be  true  to  this  day,  but  was  it  Caius  himself  who  was  so  self- 
assured  about  his  afterlife?43 

In  any  case,  Caius  would  have  been  flattered  to  know  that  he  shares 
such  vagaries  of  posthumous  fame  with  the  greatest  of  the  great:  Virgil, 
Petrarch,  Shakespeare.  Virgil's  ashes  were  buried  along  a  roadside  out- 
side Naples,  as  was  the  custom  at  the  time:  his  tomb  and  the  road  have 
long  since  subsided  and  slipped  into  the  sea;  but  the  epitaph  is  recorded 
in  his  biography  known  as  the  Vita  Donatiana,  which  is  the  source  (based 
on  a  lost  account  by  Suetonius)  of  all  later  biographies,  and  it  is  beyond 
dispute: 

Mantua  me  genuit,  Calabri  rapuere,  tenet  nunc 
Parthenope;  cecini  pascua  rura  duces.44 

Mantua  bore  me,  Calabria  tore  me  away,  Naples  now 
Holds  me;  I  sang  meadows,  fields,  leaders. 

At  issue  is  whether  this  distich,  whose  concluding  words  sum  up  the 
poet's  three  main  works  (including  the  Aeneid,  which  he  wanted  de- 
stroyed), was  authored  by  "some  friend"45  or  by  Virgil  himself.  "The  se- 
pulchral distich  Virgil  is  said  to  have  composed  himself"46  is  as  far  as 
scholars  are  now  willing  to  commit  themselves.  Not  a  word  on  whether 
the  poet  wanted  it  on  his  sepulchre. 

Petrarch,  foremost  among  post-classical  writers  to  emulate 
Antiquity,was  destined  to  a  similar  posthumous  predicament.  When  he 
died  in  1374,  he  was  first  buried  in  the  parish  church  of  Arqua;  six  years 


130  Writing  One's  Own  Epitaph 


later,  his  son-in-law  had  a  sumptuous  tomb  built  just  outside  the  church. 
It  bears  the  hexametric  inscription  which  was  still  legible  in  the  early 
Twentieth  Century: 

Frigida  Francisci  lapis  hie  tegit  ossa  petrarce 
Suscipe  virgo  parens  animam  sate  virgine  parce 
Fessaque  iam  terris  celi  requiescat  in  arce.47 

This  stone  covers  the  cold  bones  of  Petrarch. 

Receive  his  soul,  virgin  mother;  forgive  it,  [Jesus]  born  of  a  virgin; 

And  may  it,  weary  of  the  earth,  rest  in  high  heaven. 

But  is  this  Petrarch  himself  speaking  from  his  grave?  C.L.  Fernow  in 
1818  would  merely  concede  that  the  inscription  "was  said"  to  be  his  own 
words  (p.  311),  which  of  course  leaves  moot  the  further  question  of 
whether  Petrarch  wanted  them  to  be  on  his  grave,  no  matter  who  might 
have  composed  them.  Another  early  biographer  does  not  even  mention 
an  author,  but  it  seems  unlikely  that  he  would  attribute  to  the  master 
those  "bad  Latin  lines,  the  rhyming  of  which  is  their  greatest  merit."48 
Somewhat  more  recently,  however,  at  least  one  biographer  has  flatly  stated 
that  the  triolet  on  Petrarch's  grave  monument  was  "composed  by  him- 
self," though  he  too  did  not  seem  to  think  much  of  its  "jingling  Latin."49 
Still,  two  later  life-writers  revert  to  "presumably  written  by  Petrarch," 
without  commenting  on  the  quality  of  the  verses.50 

Finally,  Shakespeare.  He  was  honored  with  what  is  generally  agreed 
to  be  one  of  the  most  distinguished  literary  epitaphs  in  the  language,  by 
John  Milton: 

What  needs  my  Shakespeare  for  his  honoured  bones, 

The  labour  of  an  age  in  piled  stones? 

Or  that  his  hallowed  reliques  should  be  hid 

Under  a  star-ypointing  pyramid? 

Dear  son  of  memory,  great  heir  of  fame, 

What  need'st  thou  such  weak  witness  of  thy  name? 

Now  in  our  wonder  and  astonishment 

Hast  built  thyself  a  life-long  monument. 

For  whilst,  to  th'  shame  of  slow-endeavouring  art, 

Thy  easy  numbers  flow,  and  that  each  heart 

Hath,  from  the  leaves  of  thy  unvalued  book, 

Those  Delphic  lines  with  deep  impression  took, 

Then  thou,  our  fancy  of  itself  bereaving, 

Dost  make  us  marble  with  too  much  conceiving; 

And  so  sepulchred,  in  such  pomp  dost  lie 

That  kings  for  such  a  tomb  would  wish  to  die. 

"Piled  stones"  the  bard  did  receive,  or  at  least  one,  the  slab  (not  marble, 
though)  in  the  chancel  by  the  north  wall  of  Holy  Trinity  Church  in 


Karl  S.  Guthke  131 


Stratford-upon-Avon,  where  he  was  laid  to  rest.  It  proclaims  the  much- 
quoted  preventive  malediction: 

GOOD  FREND  FOR  JESUS  SAKE  FORBEARE, 
TO  DIGG  THE  DUST  ENCLOASED  HEARE: 
BLESTE  BE  YE  MAN  YT  SPARES  THES  STONES, 
AND  CURST  BE  HE  YT  MOVES  MY  BONES.51 

As  for  authenticity,  a  popular  anthology  of  familiar  quotations  may  con- 
fidently state  that  the  words  were  chosen,  though  probably  not  written 
by  Shakespeare.52  Scholarly  caution,  however,  advises  no  more  than  "Sev- 
eral reporters  in  the  late  seventeenth  century  affirm  that  Shakespeare 
himself  devised  this  epitaph,  and  ordered  it  to  be  cut  on  his  tombstone," 
and  "whether  or  not  actually  written  by  Shakespeare,  the  malediction 
has  effectively  accomplished  its  purpose,  for  no  sexton,  clerk,  or  crank 
has  moved  the  bones  enclosed  there."53 

IV 

Turning  now  to  the  successful  organizers  of  their  own  posthumous 
fame  or  image,  one  quickly  notices  that  not  all  of  them  chose  a  personal- 
ized "last  word"  worth  enduring.  Popular  culture  yields  its  share  of  quaint 
examples  that  may  be  of  passing  "human  interest."  They  include  Ameri- 
can poet  Sara  Teasdale's  wish  that  her  marker  should  read  "Sara  Teasdale 
Filsinger,"  as  it  indeed  does  on  her  grave  in  St.  Louis's  Belief ontaine  Cem- 
etery, even  though  she  had  divorced  Ernst  Filsinger  four  years  before  her 
death  in  1933  on  grounds  of  extreme  cruelty.54  Minor  players  may  speak 
interestingly  to  us  effusively  from  their  gravestones,55  while  historical  fig- 
ures do  not  necesssarily  see  the  writing  of  their  own  epitaph  as  an  oppor- 
tunity for  originality.  Thus,  Alcuin,  the  renowned  master  of  Charlemagne's 
palace  school,  was  buried  underneath  a  bronze  tablet  engraved  with  a 
Latin  epitaph  of  his  own  creation  which  hardly  differs  from  the  standard 
Christian  sepulchral  sentiments  of  the  time.56  Among  later  high-ranking 
dignitaries,  Sir  William  Temple,  the  statesman  and  patron  of  Jonathan  Swift, 
may  come  to  mind.  He  stipulated  in  his  will  that  he  be  buried  in  the  west 
aisle  of  Westminster  Abbey,  alongside  his  family,  "with  this  Inscription," 
which  merely  states  that  he  had  this  monument  erected: 

Sibi  suisque  charissimis  [sic], 

DIANAE  TEMPLE  dilectissimae  Filiae, 

DOROTHEAE  OSBORN  conjunctissimae  Conjugi, 

Et  MARTHAE  GIFFARD  optimae  Sorori, 

Hoc  qualecunque  Monumentum 

Poni  curavit 

GULIELMUS  TEMPLE,  Baronettus. 


132  Writing  One's  Own  Epitaph 


Not  much  to  write  home  about,  or  is  the  implication  that  posterity's 
memory  will  not  need  to  be  jogged  to  remember  in  perpetuity  who  Sir 
William  was?  In  any  case,  his  instructions  were  followed  meticulously; 
the  memorial  was  set  up  exactly  as  specified  in  1722,  after  the  death  of 
his  sister,  Lady  Giffard.57 

Other  famous  statesmen  did  appreciably  better,  notably  Thomas 
Jefferson,  as  is  well  known  on  one  side  of  the  Atlantic.  He  left  a  note, 
preserved  among  the  Jefferson  Papers  in  the  Library  of  Congress,  in  which 
he  expressed  his  wish  to  be  buried  under  an  obelisk,  with  "the  following 
inscription,  and  not  a  word  more,"  "because  by  these,  as  testimonials 
that  I  have  lived,  I  wish  most  to  be  remembered": 

Here  was  buried 

Thomas  Jefferson 

Author  of  the  Declaration  of  American  Independence 

of  the  Statute  of  Virginia  for  religious  freedom 

and  Father  of  the  University  of  Virginia.58 

Jefferson's  request  was  honored.  The  epitaph  can  still  be  admired  in  the 
family  cemetery  on  the  hillside  at  Monticello.  As  most  American  school 
children  know,  the  most  interesting  aspect  of  this  self-assessment  is  that 
Jefferson  did  not  bother  to  mention  that  he  served  twice  as  President  of 
the  United  States.  This  curious  circumstance  makes  it  appropriate  to 
mention  Sherwood  Anderson  in  the  same  breath.  For  he,  too,  when  it 
came  to  summing  up  his  life  in  his  Memoirs,  failed  to  mention  what  is  by 
common  consent  his  greatest  accomplishment,  his  novel  Winesburg,  Ohio. 
The  paragraphs  entitled  "For  the  End"  in  his  unfinished  Memoirs  char- 
acterize his  career,  in  which  he  had  been  "panned  and  praised  by  crit- 
ics," as  "what  has  seemed  to  me  a  very  good  life."  This  comes  as  a  surprise 
from  the  man  who  for  decades  after  Winesburg,  Ohio  bedevilled  himself 
with  the  fear,  fuelled  by  critics,  that  he  was  "finished."  The  final  self- 
assessment  focuses  instead  on  his  having  been  "healthy  and  strong," 
enjoying  "thoroughly  my  friends,  women,  food,  drink,  sleep,"  indeed 
"persistent  youth."  It  culminates  in:  "When  I  die  I  would  like  this  in- 
scription put  on  my  grave:  LIFE  NOT  DEATH  IS  THE  GREAT  ADVEN- 
TURE." By  the  time  Anderson  died  -  suddenly  and  in  the  prime  of  life, 
in  Panama  in  1941  while  on  a  good-will  tour  of  Latin  America  -  he  would 
not  have  wanted  to  change  a  word  of  this  legacy.  It  was  duly  engraved 
on  his  tombstone  in  Round  Hill  Cemetery  in  Marion,  Virginia.59 

Not  unexpectedly,  poets  can  be  less  prosaic  about  such  consequen- 
tial business.  Several  conveyed  their  wishes  for  a  memorial  in  poems  in 


Karl  S.  Guthke  133 


which  their  own  grave,  complete  with  epitaph,  is  described  in  sufficient 
detail  to  leave  no  uncertainty  in  the  minds  of  friendly  survivors  about 
what  had  to  be  done  -  even  though  there  was  no  formal  testamentary 
request.  The  poem  was  the  "last  will."  A  famous  "botanical"  example  is 
Alfred  de  Musset's  entreaty,  in  his  poem  "Lucie:"  "Mes  chers  amis,  quand 
je  mourrai,  /  Plantez  un  saule  au  cimetiere"  (My  dear  friends,  when  I  die, 
plant  a  willow  in  the  cemetery).  The  request  was  honored  in  Pere  Lachaise, 
Division  4,  even  though  the  sandy  soil  there  is  unsuitable  for  willows,  so 
that  the  struggling  tree  has  to  be  replaced  periodically.  But  even  this 
mismatch  has  been  thought  to  be  eminently  fitting,  on  a  symbolical  level. 
"De  Musset  certainly  never  got  anything  that  he  wanted  in  life,"  Willa 
Cather  has  written,  "and  it  seems  a  sort  of  fine-drawn  irony  that  he  should 
not  have  the  one  poor  willow  he  wanted  for  his  grave."60 

The  least  problematic  case  among  those  testamentary  poems  that 
specify  text,  rather  than  vegetation,  is  the  well-known  one  of  Robert  Frost. 
His  poem  "The  Lesson  for  Today,"  published  in  his  collection  A  Witness 
Tree  (New  York  1942),  ends  with  the  testamentary  lines: 

And  were  an  epitaph  to  be  my  story 
I'd  have  a  short  one  ready  for  my  own. 
I  would  have  written  of  me  on  my  stone: 
I  had  a  lover's  quarrel  with  the  world,  (p.  52) 

The  final  verse  appears  indeed  on  the  slab  marking  the  resting  place  of 
Frost's  ashes  in  the  Old  Bennington  Cemetery  in  Vermont  (Fig.  3).  Of 
course,  a  lover's  quarrel  is  a  spat  that  is  quickly  made  up  with  hugs  and 
kisses.  So  those  of  Frost's  biographers  who  felt  that  he  was  a  "monster" 
might  snicker;  but  there  are  others,  and  Frost  may  have  had  the  last 
word  after  all.61 

The  grave  of  the  prolific  satirical  poet  Charles  Churchill,  famous  in 
his  lifetime  and  then  largely  ignored  after  his  death,  is  a  more  intricate 
case  in  point.  His  final  resting  place,  the  "humblest  of  all  sepulchres,"  is 
perhaps  remembered  from  Lord  Byron's  poem  "Churchill's  Grave"  (1816), 
with  its  quotable  final  lines  on  the  transitoriness  of  renown:  Churchill's 
was  a  life  "in  which  there  was  Obscurity  and  Fame,  /  The  Glory  and  the 
Nothing  of  a  Name."62  His  gravestone,  in  the  churchyard  of  St.  Mary  the 
Virgin  in  Dover,  where  he  was  buried  in  1764  after  his  short  life  was 
ended  in  Boulogne  by  "a  military  fever,"  bears  an  inscription  to  suit  his 
libertine  life  and  writing  (if  not  his  earnest  political  pursuits  articulated 
in  his  poetry):  "Here  lie  the  Remains  of  the  celebrated  C.  Churchill.  Life 
to  the  last  enjoy'd,  Here  Churchill  lies."63  As  the  epitaph  rather  academi- 


134 


Writing  One's  Own  Epitaph 


MARJOR1T:  FROST  fRA^RR    I 

MAR.  29.  1909  —  NA/\Y   2,1954 

CAROL   FROST 

MAY  27,  1902  —  OCT.  9,  1940 

ELLIOTT  FROST 

SEPT.  26,  1.8-96     -  JULY  2o,  1900 

ELINOR  BO  UNA  fRQSt 

JUNE   20,  1901        ,U 


.    .0,  \0C)T 


uu 


A    k 


i 


J 


' 


Fig.  3.  Grave  slab  marking  ashes  of  Robert  Frost  (and  also 

commemorating  others  of  his  family),  Bennington,  Vermont, 

with  epitaph  "I  had  a  lover's  quarrel  with  the  world." 


Karl  S.  Guthke  135 


cally  reminds  the  forgetful,  the  second  sentence  is  a  line  from  Churchill's 
poem  The  Candidate  (1764),  a  satire  on  a  Cambridge  University  non-event 
in  which  he  anticipates  his  own  sepulchral  glorification  by  proposing 
that  these  words  be  his  epitaph.64  The  text  stands  in  striking  contrast  to 
Churchill's  reported,  but  also  disputed,  last  words,  "What  a  fool  I  have 
been!"65  -  thus  demonstrating  the  sorry  truth  that  one  cannot  choose 
one's  epitaph  too  late!  Even  more  embarrassing  is  the  context:  the  epi- 
taphic  line  "tells  only  half  the  story."66  For  poor  Churchill's  vanity,  un- 
derstandable enough  in  one  so  idolized,  raises  its  ugly  head  in  the  lines 
that  follow  "Here  Churchill  lies"  in  The  Candidate;  they  in  effect  mandate 
Churchill's  immortality:  "Whilst  (O,  what  joy  that  pleasing  flatt'ry  gives) 
/  Reading  my  Works,  he  [a  passer-by]  cries  -  here  Churchill  lives."  Still, 
who  would  look  up  the  context? 

Robert  Louis  Stevenson  was  rather  more  circumspect  in  his  testa- 
mentary poem,  "Requiem,"  written  ten  years  before  his  death  when  he 
was  seriously  ill: 

Under  the  wide  and  starry  sky, 
Dig  the  grave  and  let  me  lie 
Glad  did  I  live  and  gladly  die, 
And  I  laid  me  down  with  a  will. 

This  be  the  verse  you  grave  for  me; 
"Here  he  lies  where  he  longed  to  be; 
Home  is  the  sailor,  home  from  sea, 
And  the  hunter  home  from  the  hill." 

When  he  died  on  Samoa  in  1894,  he  may  well  have  considered  his  life  as 
well-rounded  and  well-achieved  as  the  "Requiem"  anticipates.  The  two 
stanzas  are  indeed  to  be  found  on  the  plinth  that  was  placed  on  his  grave 
on  the  summit  of  Mount  Vaea  three  years  after  his  death.67  For  the  man 
who  roamed  to  the  ends  of  the  earth  in  search  of  a  congenial  life  and 
habitat  and  who  let  his  imagination  roam  farther  still,  the  notion  of  com- 
ing "home"  to  a  remote  island  far  removed  from  his  homeland  is  a  poi- 
gnant final  word  indeed.  And  it  generated  a  touching  echo.  A  second 
plaque  on  the  plinth  bears  the  words  of  Ruth  to  Naomi,  in  Samoan,  "thy 
people  shall  be  my  people,  and  thy  God  my  God;  where  thou  diest,  will 
I  die"  -  a  welcome  to  "Tusitala,"  as  Stevenson  was  called  in  Samoa,  from 
the  destination  of  this  memorable  homecoming  (Ruth  1:16-17). 

One  of  the  most  famous  testamentary  poems  in  the  language  is  W.  B. 
Yeats's  "Under  Ben  Bulben,"  written  on  4  September  1938,  less  than  half 
a  year  before  he  died,  and  revised  as  late  as  "two  days  before  death"68: 


136  Writing  One's  Own  Epitaph 


Under  bare  Ben  Bulben's  head 

In  Drumcliff  churchyard  Yeats  is  laid. 

An  ancestor  was  rector  there 

Long  years  ago,  a  church  stands  near, 

By  the  road  an  ancient  cross. 

No  marble,  no  conventional  phrase; 

On  limestone  quarried  near  the  spot 

By  his  command  these  words  are  cut: 

Cast  a  cold  eye 
On  life,  on  death. 
Horseman,  pass  by! 

Yeats  died  in  the  South  of  France  on  28  January  1939.  He  was  buried 
there,  in  Roquebrune,  though  there  was  never  any  doubt  that  he  would 
eventually  find  his  final  resting  place  in  Drumcliffe  Churchyard.  But  it 
was  not  until  1948  that,  in  a  national  ceremony,  his  remains  were  re- 
interred  there,  in  his  ancestral  ground  in  County  Sligo,  under  Ben  Bulben's 
head.64  His  epitaphic  legacy  was  duly  carved  on  his  gravestone.  A  strange 
epitaph  it  is.  Instead  of  the  expected  "Stranger,  stop  and  cast  an  eye,  /  As 
you  are  now,  so  once  was  I,"70  that  is,  instead  of  the  usual  appeal  to  a 
"viator"  to  stop  and  read  the  epitaph,  to  mourn  the  deceased  and  appre- 
ciate his  merits  or,  for  that  matter,  to  use  the  occasion  for  a  contempla- 
tion of  mortality,  Yeats  addresses  a  horseman.  He  thereby  evokes  the 
noble  and  "heroic  past"71  of  his  literary  world,  the  "heroic  centuries"  of 
"Under  Ben  Bulben."  More  importantly,  he  chooses  an  admonition  that 
inverts  the  "conventional  phrase":  do  not  remember,  he  implies,  "pass 
by!"  The  paradox,  then,  of  Yeats's  epitaph,  self-chosen  through  the  word- 
ing of  his  testamentary  poem,  is  that  it  presents  the  poet  as  one  who 
wants  to  be  remembered  as  not  wanting  to  be  remembered.  If  this  is  a 
final  withdrawal  from  the  vulgar  world  of  the  "pedestrian"  present 
("Scorn  the  sort  now  growing  up"  [line  70]),  then  it  is,  perversely,  also  a 
very  public  withdrawal  -  which  does  communicate  something  memo- 
rable, in  spite  of  "pass  by!" 

Other  major  writers  did  not  resort  to  the  medium  of  poetry  to  indi- 
cate their  wishes  concerning  their  epitaph.  Fulke  Grenville,  Jonathan 
Swift,  John  Gay,  Samuel  Taylor  Coleridge,  John  Keats,  Edward  Fitzgerald, 
Rainer  Maria  Rilke,  and  Nikos  Kazantzakis,  among  others,  all  chose  more 
straightforward,  but  equally  effective  directives  for  the  wording  of  their 
epitaphs.  Testamentary  statements  saved  them  the  need  to  write  testa- 
mentary poetry.  The  result  ranges  from  the  sublime  to  the  ridiculous,  or 
at  least  to  the  would-be  humorous. 


Karl  S.  Guthke  137 


To  start  with  the  latter,  Will  Rogers,  whose  sense  of  humor  made  him 
a  national  figure,  was  entertaining  until  the  last.  The  Boston  Globe  re- 
ported his  wishes  on  16  June  1930: 

When  I  die,  my  epitaph  or  whatever  you  call  those  signs  on  gravestones  is 
going  to  read:  'I  joked  about  every  prominent  man  of  my  time,  but  I  never 
met  a  man  I  didn't  like.'  I  am  so  proud  of  that,  I  can  hardly  wait  to  die  so  it  can 
be  carved.  And  when  you  come  to  my  grave  you  will  find  me  sitting  there 
proudly  reading  it.72 

His  final  resting  place,  in  the  Will  Rogers  Memorial,  in  Claremont,  Okla- 
homa, bears  the  inscription:  "I  never  met  a  man  I  didn't  like."  Marcel 
Duchamp,  of  "ready-made"  art  fame,  was  predictably  more  sophisti- 
cated and  intriguing.  His  ashes  lie  in  the  family  vault  in  Rouen's  Cimetiere 
Monumental.  He  "wrote  his  own  epitaph,  which  appears  on  the  flat  head- 
stone: "D'ailleurs  c'est  toujours  les  autres  qui  meurent"  (Besides,  it  is 
always  the  others  that  die).73  One  would  have  expected  no  less  from  the 
master  of  puns  and  double-entendres  who  often  elevated  wordplay  to 
the  very  substance  of  his  works  and  revelled  in  paradox,  such  as  the 
two-way  door  in  his  rue  Larrey  apartment  which  was  always  both  open 
and  closed.  Others  die,  but  the  dead  Duchamp  lives  in  his  works:  not  for 
nothing  was  he  obsessed  during  his  final  years  with  the  preservation, 
distribution,  and  optimal  accessibility  of  his  works,  with  his  posthumous 
life,  in  other  words.  More  notorious,  indeed  near-proverbial  was  John 
Gay's  previously  mentioned  announcement  from  his  sepulchral  monu- 
ment in  Westminster  Abbey: 

Life  is  a  jest,  and  all  things  show  it; 
I  thought  so  once,  but  now  I  know  it. 

It  raised  more  than  a  few  eyebrows,  not  only  on  account  of  its  lack  of 
piety  but  also  because  of  its  "buffoonery"  or  "childish  levity."  Thus  the 
criticism  of  Dr.  Johnson,  who  felt  such  frivolous  lines  to  be  more  appro- 
priate for  "the  window  of  a  brothel"  than  for  "temples  and  [...]  tombs" 
where  we  would  expect  to  have  our  thoughts  turned  to  solemnity  and 
epitaphic  wisdom.74  Yet,  the  levity  is  Gay's  own,  a  levity  mixed  with  bit- 
terness, to  be  sure  -  which  may  make  it  worthier  of  the  author  of  The 
Beggar's  Opera.  For  when  Gay  wrote  to  Alexander  Pope  several  years  be- 
fore his  death,  asking  him  to  see  to  it  that  these  words  would  appear  on 
his  gravestone,  he  was  dejected  about  his  failure  to  secure  a  satisfactory 
position  at  the  court.75  Pope  was  a  reliable  friend,  but  he  must  have  fore- 
seen the  embarrassment.  So  he  added  an  epitaph  of  his  own  to  Gay's 


138  Writing  One's  Own  Epitaph 


monument,  which,  as  Scodel  has  shown,  attempts  to  forestall  criticism 
by  presenting  Gay  as  a  man  of  "Simplicity,  a  Child,"  fully  deserving  the 
esteem  of  "the  Worthy  and  the  Good."  Even  so,  it  is  curious  that  critics 
should  have  been  so  harsh  on  "self-inflicted"  levity  at  a  time  when  satire 
and  downright  buffoonery  on  epitaphs  was  entirely  acceptable.76 

If  Gay  appeared  to  his  contemporaries  to  be  too  lighthearted  about 
such  grave  matters  as  one's  own  epitaph,  Jonathan  Swift  was  taken  to 
task  at  the  time  for  being  too  severe  in  his  judgment  of  both  himself  and 
mankind  in  the  epitaph  he  carefully  crafted  in  his  will  and  "desired"  to 
be  "deeply  cut,  and  strongly  guilded"  on  "a  black  marble"  to  be  "fixed 
to  the  wall"  near  his  grave  under  the  great  aisle  of  Dublin's  St.  Patrick's 
Cathedral,  "on  the  south  side."77  What  caused  offense  in  this  inscription, 
written  some  five  years  before  Swift's  death  in  1745  and  still  to  be  seen  in 
St.  Patrick's,  was  the  very  "indignation"  about  life  and  mankind  that, 
according  to  a  Cambridge  undergraduate  in  one  of  Yeats's  plays,  makes 
it  "the  greatest  epitaph  in  history":78 

HIC  DEPOSITUM  EST  CORPUS 

JONATHAN  SWIFT,  S.T.P. 

HUJUS  ECCLESIAE  CATHEDRALIS 

DECANI, 

UBI SAEVA INDIGNATIO 

ULTERIUS  COR  LACERARE  NEQUIT. 

ABI,  VIATOR, 

ET  IMITARE,  SI  POTERIS, 

STRENUUM  PRO  VIRILI LIBERTATIS  VINDICEM. 

Or,  in  W.  B.  Yeats's  free  translation: 

Swift  has  sailed  into  his  rest; 
Savage  indignation  there 
Cannot  lacerate  his  breast. 
Imitate  him  if  you  dare, 
World-besotted  traveller;  he 
Served  human  liberty. 

In  an  analysis  spelling  out  the  subtle  references  to  Swift's  passionate  fight 
for  freedom,  his  classical  satirical  heritage,  and  his  moralist  persuasion, 
Maurice  Johnson  (see  Note  77)  has  shown  the  complex  ways  in  which 
these  widely  familiar  lines  are  a  sincere  "epitome"  of  the  author's  career 
and  life-long  concerns.  While  Gay,  as  at  least  Pope  saw  it,  through  his 
posthumous  flippancy  missed  his  chance  to  do  justice  to  himself,  Swift, 
a  man  of  many  moods,  not  all  of  them  pleasant,  succeeded  in  formulat- 
ing a  monument  to  himself  that  preserves  what  was  worthiest  about  him 
-  without  that  mendacious  flattery  that  is  so  endemic  in  epitaphs  writ- 


Karl  S.  Guthke  139 


ten  by  survivors.  At  the  same  time,  the  final,  no  doubt  bitter  lines  make 
his  life  a  legacy  to  posterity:  "imitare,  si  poteris."  Surely  a  fitting  closure 
to  a  life  well  (if  not  always  admirably)  lived. 

Swift  was  a  man  of  the  cloth,  buried  in  his  church  -  yet  one  would  be 
hard  pressed  to  hear  any  specifically  Christian  overtones  in  his  epitaph. 
The  opposite  is  true  of  three  writers  who,  like  Swift,  wrote  the  epitaphs 
that  appear  on  their  graves:  Samuel  Taylor  Coleridge,  Edward  Fitzgerald, 
and  Edith  Wharton,  none  of  them  a  cleric,  of  course.  Coleridge,  with 
whom  theology  was  no  more  than  the  passing  obsession  of  his  earliest 
student  days,  took  great  interest  not  only  in  the  design  of  his  own  tomb- 
stone but  particularly  in  the  lines  to  be  chiselled  on  it.  "Aware,  with  the 
strange  clairvoyance  that  he  seemed  to  possess,  that  this  would  be  his 
last  winter,"79  he  composed  them  on  9  November  1833.  He  died  the  fol- 
lowing July,  and  his  "epitaph  can  now  be  found  gravely  incised  on  a 
memorial  flagstone  in  the  nave  of  St  Michael's  Church,  Highgate  [Lon- 
don], where  it  is  regularly  walked  over  by  numerous  schoolchildren,  a 
circumstance  which  would  have  surely  pleased  him."80  The  surprise  is 
that  the  man  of  "this  world,"  to  whom  humility  did  not  come  naturally, 
chose  devoutly  Christian  sentiments  for  his  summing  up: 

Stop,  Christian  passer-by!  -  Stop,  child  of  God, 

And  read,  with  gentle  breast.  Beneath  this  sod 

A  poet  lies,  or  that  which  once  seem'd  he. 

O,  lift  one  thought  in  prayer  for  S.T.C.; 

That  he  who  many  a  year  with  toil  of  breath 

Found  death  in  life,  may  here  find  life  in  death! 

Mercy  for  praise  -  to  be  forgiven  for  fame 

He  ask'd,  and  hoped,  through  Christ.  Do  thou  the  same! 

The  self-effacement  is  remarkable,  unless,  of  course,  "life  in  death"  would 
also  refer  to  the  afterlife  of  his  writings  -  which  would  be  Coleridge's 
own  afterlife,  comparable  to  that  of  Duchamp,  whose  epitaph  left  dying 
to  "the  others"  (the  delicious  ambiguity  of  "for"  in  the  penultimate  line 
-  meaning  "for"  or  "instead  of"  -  may  suggest  that  the  worldly-wise 
Christian  had  it  both  ways).81 

A  similar  surprise  is  offered  by  the  pointedly  religious  signet  over 
the  grave  of  Edith  Wharton,  who  had  made  her  mark  as  a  novelist  fea- 
turing an  unambiguously  worldly  society.  She  was  laid  to  rest  in  the 
Cimetiere  des  Gourds  at  Versailles  in  1937  under  a  self-designed  marble 
cross  bearing  the  self-chosen  inscription:  "O  crux  spes  unica"  (O  cross, 
my  only  hope).  Grace  Kellogg  alone  among  biographers  is  not  "baffled 
as  to  [the  words']  meaning": 


140  Writing  One's  Own  Epitaph 


They  had  nothing  to  do,  I  think,  with  her  exploration  into  the  dogma  of 
Catholicism. 

We  may  perhaps  tie  them  in  with  something  Grandma  Scrimser  says  in 
The  Gods  Arrive  -  that  final  novel  which  contains  so  much  of  the  author's 
own  inner  experience. 

The  old  lady  has  always  preached  the  doctrine  of  not  trying  to  evade 
pain.  On  her  deathbed  she  is  left  alone  with  Vance,  who  has  come  many  miles 
to  bid  her  farewell.  As  he  kneels  by  the  bed,  his  face  on  her  hands,  her  voice 
comes,  hardly  audible,  "Van,  there's  something  I  wanted  to  say  to  you  . . . 
Maybe  -  we  haven't  made  enough  of  pain  -  been  too  afraid  of  it  -  don't  be  - 
afraid  of  it."  It  is  her  last  word.  I  think  it  was  Edith  Wharton's  last  word. 

It  was  the  note  which  the  writer  had  sounded  repeatedly  in  her  fiction.  In 
the  woman's  long  and  self-contained  life  it  was  the  dominant  one.  Suffering 
courageously  borne  -  the  only  hope  for  human  beings.  This  is,  I  believe,  the 
true  interpretation  of  her  epitaph. 

O  crux  spes  unicaF- 

Edward  Fitzgerald,  one  might  extrapolate  from  his  spectacularly  suc- 
cessful translation  of  The  Rubdiydt  of  Omar  Khayyam  (1859),  would  be  likely 
to  sleep  his  last  sleep  under  an  exuberant  admonition  to  drink  and  make 
merry.  But  the  words  that  greet  the  viator  to  his  grave  in  tiny  St.  Michael's 
Churchyard  in  the  village  of  Boulge,  Suffolk,  is  even  more  self-effacingly 
Christian  than  Coleridge's  at  least  seems  to  be.  Like  many  others,  rang- 
ing from  Charles  Lindbergh  to  Ellen  Glasgow,83  the  man  whose  fame 
rests  on  what  are,  strictly  speaking,  not  his  own  words,  chose  someone 
else's  words,  rather  than  his  own,  for  his  ultimate  testament  in  stone.  It  is 
the  third  verse  of  Psalm  100,  engraved  on  a  granite  slab:  "It  is  He  that 
hath  made  us,  and  not  we  ourselves"  -  a  text  "which  had  always  ap- 
pealed forcibly  to  [Fitzgerald],  and  which  he  often  used  to  quote."84  In 
fact,  Fitzgerald  -  a  modest  man  of  simple  tastes,  relishing  his  retired  life 
in  the  country,  whom  only  posterity  draped  in  the  garb  of  the  sophisti- 
cated libertine  -  "not  long  before  his  decease  [in  1883],  expressed  a  wish 
[to  his  friend  Francis  Hindes  Groome]  that  if  any  text  were  put  upon  his 
tombstone,  it  should  be  one  which  (as  he  said)  he  did  not  remember  ever 
to  have  seen  similarly  used,"  whereupon  he  quoted  the  lines  just  cited.85 
As  one  stands  at  Fitzgerald's  grave  in  austere  East  Anglia,  one  wonders 
about  the  relationship  of  the  self-willed  image  of  pious  modesty  to  the 
icon  of  cultured  hedonism  that  Fitzgerald  had  become  in  the  minds  of 
his  readers. 

Less  surprising,  in  fact  strikingly  consistent  with  his  lifelong  icono- 
clastic attitudes,  is  the  Cretan  novelist  Nikos  Kazantzakis's  self-chosen 
and  self-composed  epitaph.  It  is  engraved  on  a  starkly  minimalist  rect- 
angular slab  marking  his  grave  on  the  ramparts  of  the  imposing  fortress 


Karl  S.  Guthke  141 


above  Iraklion:  "I  hope  for  nothing.  I  fear  nothing.  I  am  free."  What  could 
be  more  fitting  for  the  man  (tl957)  whom  the  Greek  Orthodox  clergy 
refused  a  funeral  mass,  whose  novel  The  Last  Temptation  (1955)  was  put 
on  the  Index  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  and  whose  Zorba  the  Greek 
(1946)  was  an  exhilarating  experience  of  liberation  for  millions  of  read- 
ers and  movie-goers.86 

The  ultimate  in  such  consistency  in  life,  death,  and  epitaphic  afterlife 
may  be  Rainer  Maria  Rilke's  self-chosen  inscription  on  his  gravestone  by 
the  old  church  in  Raron,  in  the  Swiss  canton  of  Valais.  On  27  October 
1925,  over  a  year  before  his  death,  he  penned  a  testamentary  statement 
in  which  he  requested,  among  other  things,  that  on  his  gravestone,  an 
"old"  one  as  he  specified,  the  following  lines,  previously  unknown,  should 
appear,  along  with  his  name  and  the  Rilke  family  crest: 

Rose,  oh  reiner  Widerspruch,  Lust, 
Niemandes  Schlaf  zu  sein  unter  soviel 
Lidern. 

Rose,  oh  pure  contradiction,  delight 
in  being  nobody's  sleep  under  so  many 
eyelids. 

Taken  as  a  legacy,  this  poem  has  been  analysed  most  extensively.  It  does 
indeed  bring  together  key  words  of  the  poet's  life-work,  where  the  image 
of  the  rose  functions  as  the  "comprehensive  symbol  of  his  poetry,  his 
being,  and  his  world."  No  more  fitting  summary  of  Rilke's  poetic  exist- 
ence, and  its  enigmas,  could  be  imagined.87 

What  Kazantzakis  and  Rilke  (and  many  others)  share  with  most  of 
the  successful  self-epitaphists  discussed  in  this  essay  is  the  urge  to  shape 
their  posthumous  image.  In  a  sense,  Yeats  is  the  exception:  he  chose  the 
paradox  of  wanting  to  be  permanently  remembered  as  wanting  not  to  be 
remembered,  an  unspoken  "Prepare  to  be  forgotten"  hanging  eerily  and 
provocatively  about  his  boulder  in  Drumcliffe  Churchyard.  The  para- 
dox is,  in  fact,  not  as  unusual  among  self-epitaphs  as  one  might  assume. 
Sir  Fulke  Greville,  first  Baron  Brooke  (1554-1628),  was  not  only  a  re- 
spectable poet  but  also  a  major  figure  at  the  courts  of  Elizabeth  and  James 
I,  as  well  as  a  satellite  of  the  stars  of  cultural  life,  such  as  Bacon,  Sidney, 
and  Camden.  Such  prominence  has  earned  him  a  considerable  entry  in 
the  Oxford  Companion  to  English  Literature  -  complete  with  the  citation  of 
his  epitaph  (which  is  a  rare  distinction  indeed,  in  any  reference  work). 
Some  three  years  before  his  slow  death  from  a  stab-wound  inflicted  by  a 
servant,  he  had  had  a  modest  tomb  built  in  St.  Mary's  Church  in  Warwick, 


142  Writing  One's  Own  Epitaph 


a  stone's  throw  from  his  castle,  and  "his  last  piece  of  writing  was  the 
brief  epitaph  on  his  tomb,"  which,  as  a  recent  biographer  tells  us,  "sum- 
marized the  vision  of  his  life."38  One  would  expect  as  much  of  a  self- 
written  epitaph,  of  course.  But  a  strange  epitaph  it  is: 

FVLKE  GREVILL 

SERVANT  TO  QVEEN  ELIZABETH 

CONCELLER  TO  KING  JAMES 

AND  FREND  TO  SIR  PHILIP  SIDNEY 

Etched  in  "a  sombre  and  weighty  black  stone,"  these  words  capture  "the 
most  illustrious  relationships  of  his  earthly  life."  Fair  enough,  but  they 
are  followed  by  "TROPHAEVM  PECCATI"  -  a  monument  (or  indeed  a 
trophy)  of  sin.  The  two  words  are  a  verdict  on  a  life  epitomized  by  the 
lines  preceding  them:  a  statement  of  glory,  power,  and  accomplishment 
on  the  face  of  them,  these  lines  are  taken  back  forthwith  in  the  spirit  of 
Christian  "omnia  vanitas."  This,  then,  is  summing-up  at  its  severest,  a 
reminder  of  the  transitoriness  of  life  and  its  putative  triumphs,  and  yet 
the  self-congratulatory  wording  was  carefully  planned  and  executed  to 
last  forever.  Conceptually,  the  epitaph  on  the  monument  is  a  self-de- 
structing artifact,  but  materially,  it  is  a  permanent  marker  of  the  self- 
confessed  sin  of  vanity.  A  contemporary  of  Greville  got  it  right:  "The 
inscription  condemneth  the  tomb,  the  words  despise  the  deeds."89 

John  Keats'  well-known  self-willed  epitaph,  also  recorded  in  the 
thumbnail  biography  in  the  Oxford  Companion  to  English  Literature,  is 
comparable  in  its  paradox.  True,  it  does  not  feature  a  similar  internal 
contradiction  in  so  many  words;  rather,  the  paradox  rests  in  the  con- 
trast between  the  message  and  its  medium:  "Here  lies  one  whose  name 
was  writ  in  water,"  engraved  in  the  stone  of  Keats's  sepulchral  monu- 
ment in  Rome's  Protestant  Cemetery.  Hard  to  say  whether  the  poet,  as 
he  lay  dying  in  the  house  at  the  foot  of  the  Spanish  Steps,  "listening 
night  after  night  to  the  constant  play  of  water  in  the  fountain  outside,"90 
actually  intended  the  paradox  when  on  14  Februaryl821,  a  little  over  a 
week  before  his  death,  he  asked  his  friend,  the  painter  Joseph  Severn, 
to  ensure  that  this  line  be  engraved  on  his  tombstone  in  the  camposanto 
that  he  knew  would  be  his  final  resting  place.91  To  be  sure,  Keats  had 
apparently  also  told  Severn  that  he  did  not  want  his  name  on  his  tomb92 

-  but  is  one  really  to  believe,  and  could  Keats  really  have  believed,  that 
his  nameless  tomb  would  not  be  known  as  his?  Only  if  this  question  is 
answered  in  the  affirmative  would  the  teasing  paradox  be  non-existent 

-  Keats  wishing  to  be  remembered  as  the  non- remembered.  Be  this  as 


Karl  S.  Guthke  143 


it  may,  the  inscription  placed  on  the  gravestone  by  Severn  two  years 
after  Keats's  death  runs  as  follows: 

This  Grave  contains  all  that  was  Mortal  of  a  Young  English  Poet,  Who  on  his 
Death-Bed,  in  the  Bitterness  of  his  Heart,  at  the  Malicious  Power  of  his 
Enemies,  Desired  these  Words  to  be  engraven  on  his  Tomb  Stone 

"Here  lies  One  Whose  Name  was  writ  in  Water."93 

No  name  -  but  the  paradox  is  there  for  anyone  to  see;  the  implied  chal- 
lenge to  inquiry  does  not  go  unheard.  Had  the  desire  for  anonymity  been 
uncompromising,  it  might  have  occurred  to  the  dying  poet  to  have  his 
ashes  scattered  over  the  sea  or  in  the  campagna.  As  it  is,  Keats's  paradox 
remains  one  of  the  most  intriguing  and  moving  indications  of  the  power 
of  a  poet's  words  to  survive  time  and  place  against  all  odds. 

V 

If  awareness  of  mortality  is  the  defining  characteristic  of  homo  sapi- 
ens, the  desire  to  circumvent  the  inevitable  is  a  trait  that  is  just  as  consti- 
tutive of  human  nature.  Such  attempts  to  outwit  death  take  many  forms. 
Most  prominent  among  them,  and  of  great  interest  to  the  historian  of 
(popular)  culture,  are  self-written  epitaphs,  whether  they  actually  ap- 
pear on  gravestones  or  not,  which,  as  some  of  the  "case  histories"  indi- 
cate, occurs  more  often  than  the  unsuspecting  morituri  imagined.  On  the 
other  hand,  if  self -written  epitaphs  do  appear  on  gravestones  in  Western 
cultures,  there  is  often  a  nagging  doubt  whether  they  were  in  fact  either 
self-composed  or  intended  -  and  intended  when?  -  to  be  chiselled  in 
stone,  or  both.  Many,  to  be  sure,  succeeded  at  epitaphic  self-commemo- 
ration, some  well-known  figures  of  Western  cultural  history  among  them. 
What,  then,  are  their  "last  words"?  A  summation  is  usually  intended, 
and  posterity  may  be  delighted  by  the  "truth"  of  such  self-assessment 
from  the  ultimate  perspective  -  or  surprised  by  the  unexpected  self-im- 
age. One  way  or  the  other,  the  final  summing  up  should  be  an  incentive 
to  look  again:  what  is  it  that  really  mattered  in  a  life  that  ends  with  the 
chosen,  and  surely  well-considered,  last  words? 


144  Writing  One's  Own  Epitaph 

NOTES 

The  photos  used  in  this  essay  are  by  Richard  E.  Meyer. 

1.  Quoted  in  Richard  Ellmann,  Oscar  Wilde  (London,  England:  H.  Hamilton,  1987),  170. 
The  second  motto  quoted  above  is  from  Nancy  Millar,  Remember  Me  as  You  Pass  by:  Stories 
from  Prairie  Graveyards  (Calgary,  Alberta,  Canada:  Glenbow  Museum,  1994),  66. 

2.  "Epitaph  and  Biography",  Atlantic  Monthly  97  (1906),  430. 

3 .  Compare,  for  example,  the  older  Pope  biographies  cited  in  Note  37  with  Maynard  Mack's 
compendious  Alexander  Pope:  A  Life  (New  Haven,  CT:  Yale  University  Press,  1986),  or 
Ralph  L.  Rusk's  Emerson  (see  Note  41)  with  Robert  D.  Richardson,  Emerson:  The  Mind  on 
Fire:  A  Biography  (Berkeley,  CA:  University  of  California  Press,  1995). 

4.  Karl  S.  Guthke,  Last  Words:  Variations  on  a  Theme  in  Cultural  History  (Princeton,  NJ: 
Princeton  University  Press,  1992),  ch.  2.  Joshua  Scodel,  The  English  Poetic  Epitaph  (Ithaca, 
NY:  Cornell  University  Press,  1991),  251-252,  cites  Samuel  Johnson  and  Alexander  Pope 
on  this  point  -  which  explains  why  last  words  will  not  infrequently  appear  on  gravestones. 

5.  Paul  Tillich,  The  Eternal  Now  (London,  England:  SCM  Press,  1963),  24.  On  Cicero,  see 
Scodel,  The  English  Poetic  Epitaph,  355. 

6.  Letter  to  Philip  Chamberlain,  24  May  1731:  The  Correspondence  of  Jonathan  Swift,  ed.  Harold 
Williams,  vol.  3  (Oxford,  England:  Clarendon,  1963),  469. 

7.  No.  28;  I  owe  this  information  to  Scodel,  The  English  Poetic  Epitaph,  343. 

8.  One  example:  Franklin  Pierce  Adams,  FPA  Book  of  Quotation  (New  York,  NY:  Funk  and 
Wagnalls,  1952). 

9.  John  Weever,  Ancient  Funeral  Monuments  (London,  England:  Thomas  Harper,  1631),  18- 
20. 

1 0.  I  am  indebted  to  Scodel,  The  English  Poetic  Epitaph,  209,  for  this  information. 

1 1 .  Emmet's  words  may  be  found  in  most  dictionaries  of  familiar  quotations.  Robert  Southey's 
poetic  paraphrase  is  entitled  "Written  Immediately  after  Reading  the  Speech  of  Robert 
Emmet  on  his  Trial  and  Conviction  for  High  Treason,  Sept.  1803"  (Poems,  ed.  Maurice  H. 
Fitzgerald  [London,  England:  Oxford  University  Press,  1909],  396-397). 

12.  Shakespeare,  Works,  ed.  Nicholas  Rowe  (London,  England:  J.  Tonson,  1714),  vol.  1,  xxxvi- 
xxxvii. 

13.  Chambers's  Journal  of  Popular  Literature,  no.  433,  13  April  1872,  229. 

14.  Iiro  Kajanto,  Classical  and  Christian:  Studies  in  the  Latin  Epitaphs  of  Medieval  and  Renaissance 
Rome  (Helsinki,  Finland:  Suomalainen  tiedeakatemia,  1980),  50;  Richmond  Lattimore, 
Themes  in  Greek  and  Latin  Epitaphs  (Urbana,  IL:  University  of  Illinois  Press,  1942),  227- 
228.  These  are  cases  of  inscriptions  on  grave  monuments  erected  during  the  lifetime  of 
the  future  occupant  of  the  grave. 


Karl  S.  Guthke  145 


15.  Raymond  Lamont  Brown,  A  New  Book  of  Epitaphs  (Newcastle-upon-Tyne,  England:  Frank 
Graham,  1973),  78.  See  also  John  McManners,  Death  and  the  Enlightenment  (Oxford, 
England:  Clarendon,  1981),  329.  Among  the  better  known  instances  is  Charles  II's  playful 
epitaph  on  himself,  written  in  reply  to  Rochester's  (Geoffrey  N.  Wright,  Discovering 
Epitaphs  [Princes  Risborough,  Bucks.,  England:  Shire,  1996],  76).  Entire  monuments,  too, 
would  at  that  time  be  "set  up  by  the  people  commemorated  or  in  accordance  with  their 
detailed  instructions"  (Ralph  Houlbrooke,  Death,  Religion,  and  the  Family  in  England,  1480- 
1750  [Oxford,  England:  Clarendon,  1998],  369);  cp.  Scodel,  The  English  Poetic  Epitaph,  16; 
Nigel  Llewellyn,  Funeral  Monuments  in  Post-Reformation  England  (Cambridge,  England: 
Cambridge  University  Press,  2000),  118-119.  The  practice  dates  back  to  Antiquity  (see, 
e.g.,  Hieronymus  Geist  and  Gerhard  Pfohl,  Romische  Grabinschriften  [Munchen,  Germany: 
Heimeran,  1969],  17;  cp.  Note  14  above).  Philippe  Aries  claims  it  was  still  very  much 
alive  in  the  mid-1900s  (The  Hour  of  Our  Death  [New  York,  NY:  Random  House,  1981], 
600). 

16.  This  is  the  title  of  a  volume  of  fictitious,  "literary"  epitaphs  on  the  famous  still  living  at 
the  time,  by  a  joker  who  called  himself  Kensal  Green,  subtitled  "written  mostly  in  malice" 
(London,  England:  Cecil  Palmer,  1927);  the  victims  are  an  odd  lot:  Churchill,  Lady  Astor, 
Charlie  Chaplin,  Theodore  Dreiser,  Mussolini,  Albert  Einstein  ("Here  Einstein  lies;  /  At 
least  they  laid  his  bier  /  Just  hereabouts  -  /  Or  relatively  near,"  31),  Calvin  Coolidge  of  "I 
do  not  choose"  fame  ("His  name  was  Calvin.  /  What  would  you  expect  /  From  one  whose 
namesake  /  Was  of  God's  elect?",  22),  the  Bishop  of  London  ("Here  Dr.  Ingram  lies 
removed  /  From  all  he  so  much  disapproved,"  13).  The  volume  concludes  with  "Kensal 
Green,  his  skin  to  save,  /  Here  takes  refuge  in  the  grave"  ( 63). 

17.  Raymond  Lamont  Brown,  A  New  Book  of  Epitaphs,  82. 

18.  Royal  Gazette  Magazine  (Hamilton,  Bermuda),  Nov.  1999, 14.  The  classic  case  is  that  of  W. 
C.  Fields,  who  was  asked  that  question  by  a  writer  for  Vanity  Fair  ("Here  lies  W.  C.  Fields. 
I  would  rather  be  in  Philadelphia");  see  John  Francis  Marion,  Famous  and  Curious  Cemeteries 
(New  York,  NY:  Crown,  1977),  71. 

19.  www.google.com:  "Epitaphs  and  suicides." 

20.  Abraham  Blinderman,  "My  Students  Write  Their  Epitaphs,"  Humanist  XXXVIII:  2  (1978), 

4-5. 

21.  William  Henry  Beable,  Epitaphs:  Graveyard  Humor  and  Eulogy  (New  York,  NY:  Thomas 
Y.  Crowell,  1925),  7. 

22.  The  Correspondence  of  Alexander  Pope,  ed.  George  Sherburn,  vol.  1  (Oxford,  England: 
Clarendon,  1956),  87  (17  May  1710). 

23.  Francis  Bickley,  The  Life  of  Matthew  Prior  (London,  England:  Isaac  Pitman,  1914),  283. 

24.  Samuel  Johnson,  ed.  Donald  Greene  (Oxford,  England:  Oxford  University  Press,  1984), 
51-53. 

25.  www.nyfimes.com/2001/05/15/obituar. .. 


146  Writing  One's  Own  Epitaph 


26.  An  example  is  Raymond  Lamont  Brown's  A  New  Book  of  Epitaphs  (see  Note  15),  78-84, 
from  which  I  am  taking  the  epitaphs  (cited  in  this  paragraph)  on  Lloyd  George,  Gershwin, 
Arlen,  Anderson,  and  Epstein;  Joseph  IFs  comes  from  Eduard  Burckhardt,  Kaiser  Joseph 
der  Zweite  in  seinem  Leben  und  Wirken  (Meiben,  Germany:  F.  W.  Goedsche,  1835),  399 
(Joseph's  tomb  in  the  Vienna  Capuchin  Vault  merely  identifies  him);  Baudelaire:  see 
Oeuvres  completes,  ed.  Claude  Pichois  (Paris,  France:  Gallimard,  1961),  198.  See  also  E.  K. 
Shushan,  Grave  Matters  (New  York,  NY:  Ballantine,  1990),  193-204.  As  early  as  1712  Andre 
Francois  Deslandes  complained  about  the  "mauvais  gout"  of  Persian  king  Darius,  who 
on  his  deathbed  asked  for  this  epitaph:  "J'ai  pu  boire  beaucoup  de  vin  &  le  bien  porter" 
(Reflexions  sur  les  grands  hommes  qui  sont  mort  en  plaisantant,  nouvelle  edition,  [Amsterdam, 
Netherlands:  Wetstein,  1732],  110).  One  of  the  probably  very  few  cases  of  self-willed 
epitaphic  humor  that  actually  made  it  to  the  gravestone  is  that  of  Major  Charles  Childe- 
Pemberton,  whose  punning  ("It  is  well  with  the  child")  is,  to  be  sure,  of  biblical  inspiration. 
See  my  discussion  in  "Laughter  in  the  Cemetery,"  Fabula  43  (2002).  Beable,  Epitaphs,  11: 
"Perhaps  the  best  pun  -  a  touching  and  beautiful  pun  -  ever  achieved  in  a  self-epitaph  is 
that  on  a  grave  in  South  Africa.  On  the  night  before  Spion  Kop,  Child,  of  South  African 
Horse,  gave  instructions  that  when  (not  if)  he  fell  on  the  morrow  the  words  'It  is  well  with 
the  Child'  should  be  graven  on  his  tombstone." 

27.  The  Oxford  Book  of  Death,  ed.  D.  J.  Enright  (Oxford,  England:  Oxford  University  Press, 
1983),  324;  Paul  Chaponniere,  Piron  (Geneve,  Switzerland:  Jullien,  1910),  104. 

28.  Ariosto:  Renaissance  Latin  Verse:  An  Anthology,  ed.  Alessandro  Perosa  and  John  Sparrow 
(Chapel  Hill,  NC:  University  of  North  Carolina  Press,  1979),  182:  "never  inscribed  on 
A.'s  tomb,"  which  is  preserved  in  the  Biblioteca  Communale  of  Ferrara.  Mencken:  Marion, 

Famous  and  Curious  Cemeteries,  235. 

29.  Robert  L.  Mack,  Thomas  Gray:  A  life  (New  Haven,  CT:  Yale  University  Press,  2000),  7;  15. 
For  a  photo,  see  Douglas  Greenwood,  Wlio's  Buried  Wliere  in  England  (London,  England: 
Constable,  1999),  244. 

30.  Elizabeth's  wish  is  cited  from  Scodel,  The  English  Poetic  Epitaph,  53;  for  the  epitaph  in  the 
Abbey  and  its  cost,  see  Paul  Johnson,  Elizabeth  I:  A  Study  in  Power  and  Intellect  (London, 
England:  Weidenfeld  and  Nicolson,  1974),  441. 

31 .  Benjamin  Franklin:  His  Life  as  he  Wrote  It,  ed.  Esmond  Wright  (Cambridge,  MA:  Harvard 
University  Press,  1990),  274-275.  His  well-known  literary  epitaph  is  preserved  on  a  tablet 
near  his  burial  site;  for  a  photo,  see  Jean  Arbeiter  and  Linda  D.  Cirino,  Permanent  Addresses 
(New  York,  NY:  M.  Evans,  1993),  150. 

32.  Bertolt  Brecht,  Gesammelte  Werke  in  20  Bdnden  (Frankfurt,  Germany:  Suhrkamp,  1967), 
vol.  8,  268;  vol.  10,  1029.  For  a  photo  of  Brecht's  grave,  see  Marianne  Resting,  Bertolt 
Brecht  in  Selbstzeugnissen  und  Bilddokumenten  (Hamburg,  Germany:  Rowohlt,  308.-315. 
Taus.,  1983),  148. 

33.  Samuel  Johnson,  "On  Gay's  Epitaph,"  in  Samuel  Johnson,  ed.  Greene  (see  Note  24),  52. 
Similar  statements  are  found  in  Johnson's  "An  Essay  on  Epitaphs"  of  1740. 

34.  Scodel,  The  English  Poetic  Epitaph,  252;  see  Scodel,  ch.  8,  for  Pope's  lifelong  concern  with 
epitaphs. 


Karl  S.  Guthke  147 


35.  Ibid.,  p.  257;  translation:  Pope,  The  Prose  Works,  II,  ed.  Rosemary  Cowler  (Oxford:  Blackwell, 
1986),  505. 

36.  Scodel,  The  English  Poetic  Epitaph,  257;  259. 

37.  Alexander  Pope,  Minor  Poems,  vol.  6  of  the  Twickenham  edition,  ed.  Norman  Ault  and 
John  Butt  (New  Haven,  CN:  Yale  University  Press,  1954),  376.  For  the  circumstances  of 
the  poem's  appearance  on  Pope's  gravemarker,  see  George  Paston,  Mr.  Pope:  His  Life  and 
Times  (London,  England:  Hutchinson,  1909),  697;  Robert  Carruthers,  The  Life  of  Alexander 
Pope,  2nd  ed.  (London,  England:  Bohn,  1857),  403-404. 

38.  Carruthers,  The  Life  of  Alexander  Pope,  404;  cp.  Paston,  Mr.  Pope,  697:  "tasteless." 

39.  Pope,  Minor  Poems,  376. 

40.  Bickley  The  Life  of  Matthew  Prior,  281;  Scodel,  The  English  Poetic  Epitaph,  273-274;  Samuel 
Richardson,  Familiar  Letters  on  Important  Occasions,  ed.  Brian  W.  Downs  (London,  England: 
Routledge,  1928),  211. 

41 .  Wolfgang  Hadecke,  Heinrich  Heine:  Eine  Biographic  (Mlinchen,  Germany:  Hanser,  1985), 
531-532;  translation:  Heine,  The  Complete  Poems,  A  Modern  English  Version  by  Hal  Draper 
(Boston,  MA:  Suhrkamp,  1982),  806;  James  Woodress,  Will  a  Cather:  A  Literary  Life  (Lincoln, 
NE:  University  of  Nebraska  Press,  1987),  505;  Nancy  Eills  and  Parker  Hayden,  Here  Lies 
America:  A  Collection  of  Notable  Graves  (New  York,  NY:  Hawthorn,  1978),  7  (Wolfe); 
Arbeiter  and  Cirino,  Permanent  Addresses,  134  (Sandberg;  confirmed  by  "The  Carl 
Sandberg  Birthplace,"  Galesburg);  An  Emily  Dickinson  Encyclopedia,  ed.  Jane  Donahue 
Eberwein  (Westport,  CT:  Greenwood,  1998),  38,  and  Letters,  ed.  Thomas  H.  Johnson 
(Cambridge,  MA:  Harvard  University  Press,  1965),  vol.  3,  1046;  Alfred  Habegger,  My 
Wars  Are  Laid  Away:  The  Life  of  Emily  Dickinson  (New  York,  NY:  Random  House,  2001), 
625-626;Tom  Weil,  The  Cemetery  Book  (New  York,  NY:  Barnes  and  Noble,  1993),  56 
(Bernhardt);  Emerson,  Works,  The  Standard  Library  Edition  (Boston,  MA:  Houghton 
Mifflin,  1883-1893),  vol.  9,  17;  Rusk,  The  Life  of  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson  (New  York,  NY: 
Scribner's,  1949),  508;  Lynn  F.  Pearson,  Discovering  Famous  Graves  (Princes  Risborough, 
Bucks.,  England:  Shire,  1998),  84, 97  (Sitwell,  Eliot);  Robert  B.  Dickerson,  Final  Placement: 
A  Guide  to  Deaths,  Funerals,  and  Burials  of  Notable  Americans  (Algonac,  MI:  Reference 
Publications,  Inc.,  1982),  73, 200  (F.  Scott  Fitzgerald,  Robeson).  Other  cases  include  Arno 
Holz,  who  is  buried  under  a  stone  inscribed  with  the  final  lines  of  his  Phantasus:  "Mein 
Staub  verstob;  wie  ein  Stern  strahlt  mein  Gedachtnis"  (Stadtischer  Friedhof  Heerstrabe, 
Berlin;  see  Klaus  Hammer,  Historische  Friedhofe  und  Grabmdler  in  Berlin  (Berlin,  Germany: 
Stattbuch,  1994),  173).  George  Du  Maurier's  gravestone  in  Hampstead's  St.  John's 
churchyard  features  the  closing  lines  of  Trilby  (1892),  the  novel  he  is  famous  for:  "A  little 
trust  that  when  we  die  /  We  reap  our  sowing!  And  so  -  good-bye."  See  Michael  Kerrigan, 
Wlxo  Lies  Where?  A  Guide  to  Famous  Graves  (London,  England:  Fourth  Estate,  1998),  273; 
see  ibid.,  371  for  Felicia  Hemans's  grave  in  St.  Ann's  churchyard,  Dublin  ("Calm  on  the 
bosom  of  thy  God  . ..").  On  Walter  Benjamin  and  Heinrich  von  Kleist,  see  Karl  S.  Guthke, 
"Epitaphs  on  Suicides,"  Grenzgdnge:  Festschrift  fitr  Hans-Jorg  Knobloch,  eds.  Helmut 
Koopmann  and  Manfred  Misch  (Paderborn,  Germany:  Mentis,  2002),  433-459. 


148  Writing  One's  Own  Epitaph 


42.  On  King,  Harry  Harmer  reports:  "On  his  gravestone  were  the  words  of  the  old  slave 
song,  the  words  with  which  he  had  concluded  his  most  eloquent  speech:  'Free  at  last,  free 
at  last;  thank  God  Almighty,  I'm  free  at  last'"  (Martin  Luther  King,  [Stroud,  Gloucs., 
England:  Sutton,  1998],  101);  the  speech  is  the  address  at  the  Lincoln  Memorial  given  as 
part  of  the  March  on  Washington  in  August  1963.  On  Klaus  Mann,  see  Guthke,  "Epitaphs 
on  Suicides." 

43.  For  a  similar  (if  witty,  rather  than  ponderous)  case  of  humanist  pride  expressed  in  a 
"probably"  self-written  epitaph  (John  Marston),  see  Scodel,  The  English  Poetic  Epitaph, 
57. 

44.  Vergil,  Landleben  [...],  Vergil-Viten,  ed.  Karl  Bayer  (Miinchen,  Germany:  Heimeran,  1970), 
224;  transl.:  Theodore  Ziolkowski,  Virgil  and  the  Moderns  (Princeton,  NJ:  Princeton 
University  Press,  1993),  28. 

45.  Tenney  Frank,  Virgil:  A  Biography,  (New  York,  NY:  Holt,  1922),  193. 

46.  Bayer,  ed.,  Vergil-Viten,  674. 

47.  Ugo  Dotti,  Vita  di  Petrarca  (Rome,  Italy:  Laterza,  1987),  439;  C.  L.  Fernow,  Francesco 
Petrarca,  ed.  Ludwig  Hain  (Altenburg  and  Leipzig,  Germany:  Brockhaus,  1818;  rpt. 
Amsterdam:  Netherlands:  Gruner,  1972),  311.  "Still  legible":  H.  C.  Hollway-Calthrop, 
Petrarch  (London,  England:  Methuen,  1907),  303. 

48.  Thomas  Campbell,  Life  of  Petrarch  (Philadelphia,  PA:  Carey  and  Hart,  1841),  406. 

49.  Hollway-Calthrop,  Petrarch,  303. 

50.  Ernest  H.  Wilkins,  Petrarca's  Later  Years  (Cambridge,  MA:  The  Medieval  Academy  of 
America,  1959),  271;  Dotti,  Vita  di  Petrarca,  439:  "che  si  vuole  dettati  dallo  stesso  poeta" 
("presumably  dictated  by  the  poet  himself"). 

51.  Samuel  Schoenbaum,  William  Shakespeare:  A  Compact  Documentary  Life  (New  York,  NY: 
Oxford  University  Press,  1977),  306. 

52.  Adams,  FPA  Book  of  Quotations  (Note  8),  296. 

53.  Schoenbaum,  William  Shakespeare,  306;  307.  R.  W.  Ketton-Cremer,  "Lapidary  Verse," 
Proceedings  of  the  British  Academy  45  (1959),  242:  "May  not  the  modest  quatrain  have 
been  Shakespeare's  own?  Need  we  suppose  that  when  it  was  time  to  contemplate  his 
own  tomb,  he  felt  like  composing  another  exercise  in  elegiac  sophistication  like  The  Phoenix 
and  the  Turtle,  or  another  melodious  lyric  such  as  the  dirge  in  Cymbeline?  May  he  not  have 
rejected  the  splendours  of  'defunctive  music',  and  written  something  perfectly  plain  and 
simple  -  commonplace  perhaps,  but  perhaps  a  cry  from  the  heart?  I  think  it  may  be  so; 
and  indeed  it  was  pointed  out,  by  that  fine  scholar  John  Semple  Smart,  that  the  lines 
agree  perfectly,  in  rhythm  and  cadence  and  rhyme,  with  the  epilogue  to  The  Tempest,  the 
last  lines  of  Shakespeare's  last  play." 

54.  William  Drake,  Sara  Teasdale:  Woman  and  Poet  (San  Francisco,  CA:  Harper  and  Row,  1979), 
259;  293.  For  other  cases,  see  John  Gary  Brown,  Soul  in  the  Stone:  Cemetery  Art  from 
America's  Heartland  (Lawrence,  KA:  University  Press  of  Kansas,  1994),  20;  36;  129;  Frederic 


Karl  S.  Guthke  149 


W.  Unger,  Epitaphs  (Philadelphia,  PA:  The  Perm  Publishing  Company,  1905),  163;  Bertrand 
Beyern,  Guide  des  cimetieres  de  France  (Paris,  France:  Le  Cherche  midi,  1994),  201;  Willi 
Wohlberedt,  Verzeichnis  der  Grabstdtten  bekannter  und  beriihmter  Personlichkeiten  in  Grob- 
Berlin  und  Potsdam  mit  Umgebung,  4.  Teil  (Berlin,  Germany:  privately  publ.,  n.d.  [1952]), 
preface  and  368;  see  also  Klaus  Hammer,  Historische  Friedhofe,  148.  In  the  Cimiterio  de 
Staglieno  in  Genoa,  there  is  the  sumptuous  monument  erected  by  a  peddler,  Caterina 
Campodonico,  with  the  following  inscription,  in  the  Genoese  dialect: 

By  selling  my  wares  at  the  sanctuaries  of  Acquasanta, 

Garbo,  and  St.  Cipriano,  defying  wind,  sun  and  rain 

in  order  to  provide  an  honest  loaf  for  my  old  age  I 

have  also  put  by  enough  to  have  myself  placed,  later  on, 

with  this  monument,  which  I,  Caterina 

Campodonico  (called  the  Peasant)  have  erected  while 

still  alive. 

1881.  Oh,  you  who  pass  close  to  this  my  tomb,  if  you 

will,  pray  for  my  peace.  (Marion,  Famous  and  Curious  Cemeteries,  34). 

55.    The  self-written  epitaph  of  Anthony  Kingscote,  who  "fell  a  sleepe  in  the  Lord"  in  1654, 
on  his  sepulchral  monument  in  Kingscote,  Gloucs.,  reads: 

Mistery  of  Misteryes,  thou  art  hee: 
Whose  like  was  not,  nor  ere  shall  bee: 
That  Maiesty  divine  was  ioyned  in 
With  loathsome  carkess  of  sinn: 
That  God  of  glory  dayned  to  take 
Curse,  death  and  torments  for  our  sake. 
Hee  did  refuse  the  Angells  state 
And  Abrahams  seed  upon  him  take. 
To  dye  for  enimyes  and  those 
Who  were  becomde  his  utter  foes: 
To  dye  for  us  to  make  us  good 
Who  all  in  curst  corruption  stood 
To  rayse  us  out  of  graves  and  hell 
With  him  in  light  and  life  to  dwell 
Tremble  with  joy  to  thinke  upon 
This  most  misterious  union 
Glory  to  God  mercy  to  man 
Is  Heavens  proclamation 

Anto:  Kingscot 

So  thought 

So  wrote 
Which  doth  declare  his  faith  and  prove 
His  part  in  God's  eternall  love: 

Quoted  from  Kenneth  Lindley,  Of  Graves  and  Epitaphs  (London,  England:  Hutchinson, 
1965),  165.  For  other  cases,  see  Llewellyn,  Funeral  Monuments  in  Post-Reformation  England, 
118-120  (1566,  1623);  Wright,  Discovering  Epitaphs,  85  (1927);  Maeve  Friel,  Here  Lies:  A 
Guide  to  Irish  Graves  (Dublin,  Ireland:  Poolbeg,  1997),  60;  209;  224  (1845,  1889,  1798); 
Silvester  Tissington,  A  Collection  of  Epitaphs  and  Monumental  Inscriptions  (London,  England: 
Simpkin,  Marshall,  1857),  495  (1837);  Thomas  F.  Ravenshaw,  Antiente  Epitaphes  (London, 


150  Writing  One's  Own  Epitaph 


England:  Joseph  Masters,  1878),  132;  174  (1689, 1793);  Charles  L.  Wallis,  Stories  on  Stone 
A  Book  of  American  Epitaphs  (New  York,  NY:  Oxford  University  Press,  1954),  225  (1891); 
H.  P.  V.  Nunn,  Christian  Inscriptions  (New  York,  NY:  Philosophical  Library,  1952),  29  (ca. 
150). 

56.  Translation: 

Here,  I  beg  thee,  pause  for  a  while,  traveler, 

And  ponder  my  words  in  thy  heart, 

That  thou  mayest  understand  thy  fate  in  my  shadow: 

The  form  of  thy  body  will  be  changed  as  was  mine. 

What  thou  art  now,  famous  in  the  world,  I  have  been,  traveler, 

And  what  I  now  am,  thou  wilt  be  in  the  future. 

I  was  wont  to  seek  the  joys  of  the  world  in  vain  desire: 

Now  I  am  ashes  and  dust,  and  food  for  worms. 

Remember  therefore  to  take  better  care  of  thy  soul 

Than  of  thy  body,  because  that  survives,  and  this  perishes. 

Why  dost  thou  look  for  possessions?  Thou  see'st  in  what  a  little  cavern 

This  tomb  folds  me:  Thine  will  be  equally  small. 

Why  are  thou  eager  to  deck  in  Tyrian  purple  thy  body 

Which  soon  in  the  dust  the  hungry  worm  will  devour? 

As  flowers  perish  when  comes  the  menacing  wind, 

So  also  thy  flesh  and  all  thy  glory  perish. 

Give  me,  I  beg  thee,  O  reader,  a  return  for  this  poem, 

And  pray:  "Grant,  O  Christ,  forgiveness  to  thy  servant." 

I  implore  thee,  let  no  hand  profane  the  holy  rights  of  this  tomb, 

Until  the  angelic  trumpet  announces  from  Heaven  high: 

"Thou  who  liest  in  the  tomb,  rise  from  the  dust  of  the  earth, 

The  Mighty  Judge  appears  to  countless  thousands." 

My  name  was  Alchuine,  and  wisdom  was  always  dear  to  me. 

Pour  out  prayers  for  me  when  thou  quietly  readest  this  inscription. 

From  Luitpold  Wallach,  Alcuin  and  Charlemagne  (Ithaca,  NY:  Cornell  University  Press, 
1959),  264-265.  For  the  original  Latin,  see  256-257;  for  the  tablet  (now  lost),  255. 

57.  The  Works  of  Sir  William  Temple,  Bart,  in  Tivo  Volumes.  Volume  the  First.  To  Winch  is  prefixed, 
The  Life  and  Character  of  Sir  William  Temple.  Written  by  a  Particular  Friend  (London,  England: 
J.  Round,  1740),  vol.1,  xii. 

58.  Noble  E.  Cunningham,  Jr.,  In  Pursuit  of  Reason:  The  Life  of  Thomas  Jefferson  (Baton  Rouge, 
LA:  Louisiana  State  University  Press,  1987),  349. 

59.  Sherwood  Anderson's  Memoirs:  A  Critical  Edition,  ed.  Ray  Lewis  White  (Chapel  Hill,  NC: 
University  of  North  Carolina  Press,  1969),  560;  Arbeiter  and  Cirino,  Permanent  Addresses, 
123. 

60.  Quoted  from  Weil,  The  Cemetery  Book,  51 .  On  the  willow  on  the  grave,  see  Bertrand  Beyern, 
Guide  des  tombes  d'hommes  celebres  (Paris,  France:  Le  Cherche  midi,  1998),  141. 

61 .  See  the  account  of  the  vicissitudes  of  Frost's  image  in  Jay  Parini,  Robert  Frost:  A  Life  (New 
York,  NY:  Holt,  1999),  449-458.  An  amusing  instance  of  using  the  epitaph  as  the  last 


Karl  S.  Guthke  151 


word  in  a  longstanding  controversy  is  that  of  American  poet  John  A.  Joyce  (t  1915).  Even 
though  Ella  Wheeler  Wilcox  had  published  the  much-quoted  lines  "Laugh  and  the  world 
laughs  with  you  /  Weep  and  you  weep  alone"  in  her  poem  "Solitude"  in  1883,  Joyce 
claimed  priority  of  oral  authorship.  He  had  the  text  engraved  with  the  by-line  "Joyce"  on 
his  tombstone  in  Oak  Hill  Cemetery,  Washington,  D.C.,  well  in  advance  of  his  demise. 
See  Eills  and  Hayden,  Here  Lies  America  (Note  41),  38-39. 

62.  Byron,  The  Complete  Poetical  Works,  ed.  Jerome  J.  McGann,  vol.  4  (Oxford,  England: 
Clarendon,  1986),  2. 

63.  Wallace  Cable  Brown,  Charles  Churchill:  Poet,  Rake,  and  Rebel  (Lawrence,  KA:  University 
Press  of  Kansas,  1953),  196;  Raymond  J.  Smith,  Charles  Churchill  (Boston,  MA:  Twayne, 
1977),  13. 

64.  The  Poetical  Works  of  Charles  Churchill,  ed.  Douglas  Grant  (Oxford,  England:  Clarendon, 
1956),  355. 

65.  Ferdinand  Putschi,  Charles  Churchill:  Sein  Leben  unci  seine  Werke  (Wien,  Austria,  and 
Leipzig,  Germany:  Braumiiller,  1909),  20. 

66.  Brown,  Soul  in  the  Stone,  216. 

67.  Frank  McLynn,  Robert  Louis  Stevenson  (London,  England:  Hutchinson,  1993),  505.  On  the 
date  and  circumstances  of  the  composition  of  the  "Requiem,"  see  Rosaline  Masson,  The 
Life  of  Robert  Louis  Stevenson  (New  York,  NY:  Stokes,  1923),  223-224. 

68.  I  cite  the  text  from  The  Variorum  Edition  of  the  Poems  ofW.  B.  Yeats,  ed.  Peter  Allt  and 
Russell  K.  Alspach  (New  York,  NY:  Macmillan,  fifth  printing,  1971),  640.  Yeats  dated  the 
poem  himself,  thereby  making  the  date  an  integral  part  of  the  text.  On  Yeats's  revision  of 
the  poem  shortly  before  his  death,  see  A.  Norman  Jeffares,  W.  B.  Yeats  (Dublin,  Ireland: 
Gill  and  Macmillan,  1996),  273. 

69.  Keith  Alldritt,  W.  B.  Yeats  (London,  England:  Murray  1997),  356-357. 

70.  As  seen,  for  example,  with  recognizable  variants,  on  literally  hundreds  of  gravemarkers 
from  the  Seventeenth  Century  onwards.  See,  as  well,  e.g.,  Shushan,  Grave  Matters,  viii. 
G.  Walker  Jacobs  entitles  his  "Guide  to  Gravestones"  Stranger  Stop  and  Cast  an  Eye 
(Brattleboro,  VT:  Greene,  1973).  One  thinks  also  of  Nancy  Millar's  title  Remember  me  as 
You  Pass  by  (Note  1).  Closer  to  Yeats  is  an  epitaph  in  Kersey  Churchyard,  Suffolk: 

Reader  pass  on  nor  waste  thy  time 

On  bad  biography  or  bitter  rhyme 

For  what  I  am  this  humble  dust  enclose, 

And  what  I  was  is  no  affair  of  yours.  (Kerrigan,  Wlio  Lies  Where?,  145) 

A  similar  one  is  recorded  by  Wright,  Discovering  Epitaphs  (note  15),  85;  yet  another  by 
Janet  Greene,  Epitaphs  to  Remember  (Chambersburg,  PA:  Alan  C.  Hood,  1993),  34. 

71 .  Scodel,  The  English  Poetic  Epitaph,  410.1  am  indebted  to  Scodel's  discussion  of  the  inversion 
of  the  conventional  epitaphic  pattern. 


152  Writing  One's  Own  Epitaph 


72.  Bryan  B.  Sterling  and  Frances  N.  Sterling,  Will  Rogers  and  Wiley  Post:  Death  at  Barrow 
(New  York,  NY:  M.  Evans  and  Co.,  1993),  267.  For  the  actual  epitaph,  see  Dickerson,  Final 
Placement,  204. 

73.  Calvin  Tomkins,  Duchamp:  A  Biography  (New  York,  NY:  Holt,  1996),  450;  ill.:  Beyern, 
Guide  des  tombes  d'hommes  celebres,  opp.  p.  133.  On  the  next  sentence,  see  Tomkins,  3; 
221;  231;  461,  and  (concerning  the  door)  277;  395;  400. 

74.  Samuel  Johnson,  ed.  Greene  (Note  24),  51-53  (see  the  citation,  above);  Scodel,  The  English 
Poetic  Epitaph,  302,  n.  94,  on  contemporary  criticism  of  the  epitaph,  which  includes  Myles 
Cooper's  "Be  never  merry  more  than  wise"  (Poems  on  Several  Occasions  [Oxford,  England: 
W.Jackson,  1671],  23). 

75.  Scodel,  The  English  Poetic  Epitaph,  301.  The  letter  is  from  1727  or  1729  (Scodel,  301-302, 
n.  90);  Gay  died  in  1732. 

76.  See  Karl  S.  Guthke,  "Laughter  in  the  Cemetery,"  Fabula  43  (2002). 

77.  Maurice  Johnson,  "Swift  and  'the  Greatest  Epitaph  in  History,'"  PMEA  68  (1953),  814- 
827;  the  will:  818;  criticism:  818;  820. 1  quote  the  epitaph  from  818,  Yeats's  "translation" 
from  The  Variorum  Edition  (Note  68),  493. 

78.  William  Butler  Yeats,  The  Words  upon  the  Window-Pane,  in  Wieels  and  Butterflies  (London, 
England:  Macmillan,  1934),  45. 

79.  Walter  Jackson  Bate,  Coleridge  (New  York,  NY:  Macmillan,  1968),  235.  On  the  date,  see 
James  Dykes  Campbell,  Samuel  Taylor  Coleridge  (Highgate,  England:  Lime  Tree  Bower 
Press,  1970),  276.  On  Coleridge's  interest  in  his  tombstone,  see  Richard  Holmes,  Coleridge: 
Darker  Reflection,  1804-1834  (London,  England:  HarperCollins,  1998),  556. 

80.  Holmes,  Coleridge,  557. 

81 .  Ibid.:  "For  all  his  self-doubts,  Coleridge  had  some  confidence  that  his  work  would  now 
endure."  This,  however,  is  not  offered  as  an  interpretation  of  the  epitaph.  The  "Epitaph" 
is  quoted  from  The  Complete  Poetical  Works,  ed.  Ernest  Hartley  Coleridge  (Oxford,  England: 
Clarendon,  1912),  vol.  1, 491-492.  Commenting  on  the  penultimate  line  of  the  epitaph  in 
an  undated  letter  to  J.  G.  Lockhart  (5  November  1833),  Coleridge  wrote:  "N.b.  -  'for'  in 
the  sense  of  'instead  of."  See  Collected  Letters  of  Samuel  Taylor  Coleridge,  ed.  Earl  Leslie 
Griggs,  vol.  6  (Oxford,  England:  Clarendon,  1971),  973,  Note  2. 

82.  Grace  Kellogg,  The  Two  Lives  of  Edith  Wharton:  The  Woman  and  Her  Work  (New  York,  NY: 
Appleton-Century,  1965),  308. 

83.  Lindbergh,  a  meticulous  planner  of  his  funeral  and  his  burial  place,  chose  Psalm  139:9: 
"If  1  take  the  wings  of  the  morning,  And  dwell  in  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  sea."  The 
words  appear  on  his  marble  tombstone  in  the  Kipahulu  Churchyard  on  Maui,  Hawaii  (A. 
Scott  Berg,  Lindbergh  [New  York,  NY:  Putnam's,  1998],  557).  Ellen  Glasgow  chose  as  her 
epitaph  the  lines  from  Milton's  "Lycidas":  "Tomorrow  to  fresh  woods  and  pastures  new" 
(Hollywood  Cemetery,  Richmond,  VA;  see  Susan  Goodman,  Ellen  Glasgow:  A  Biography 
[Baltimore,  MD:  Johns  Hopkins  University  Press,  1998],  250). 


Karl  S.  Guthke  153 


84.  Thomas  Wright,  The  Life  of  Edward  Fitzgerald  (London,  England:  Grant  Richards,  1904), 
220;  see  also  Alfred  McKinley  Terhune,  The  Life  of  Edward  Fitzgerald,  Translator  of  The 
Rubdiydt  of  Omar  Kayydm  (London,  England:  Oxford  University  Press,  1947),  345. 

85.  John  Glyde,  The  Life  of  Edward  Fitz-Gerald  (Chicago,  IL,  and  New  York,  NY:  H.  S.  Stone, 
1900),  314. 

86.  On  Kazantzakis'  wish  for  his  epitaph,  see  Peter  Bien,  Kazantzakis:  Politics  of  the  Spirit 
(Princeton,  NJ:  Princeton  University  Press,  1989),  xxiv. 

87.  For  the  "testament,"  see  Rilke,  Briefe  an  Nanny  Wunderly-Volkart,  vol.  2  (Frankfurt, 
Germany:  Insel,  1977),  1192.  For  the  actual  gravestone,  see  Rilke,  Werke,  ed.  Manfred 
Engel  et  al.,  vol.  2,  (Frankfurt,  Germany:  Insel,  1996),  853;  for  critical  analyses,  see  ibid., 
853  and  772-775.  Quotation:  774  ("umfassende[s]  Dichtungs-,  Daseins-  und  Weltsymbol"). 
Translation:  Donald  Prater,  A  Ringing  Glass:  Tlie  Life  ofRainer  Maria  Rilke  (Oxford,  England: 
Clarendon,  1986),  383. 

88.  Ronald  A.  Rebholz,  Tlie  Life  ofFulke  Greville,  First  Lord  Brooke  (Oxford,  England:  Clarendon, 
1971),  317  (date  of  the  tomb);  xxv  ("last  piece");  312  ("vision").  The  wording  of  the  epitaph 
is  taken  from  Rebholz,  318;  the  quotations  following  the  epitaph  are  from  317. 

89.  Quoted  by  Rebholz,  Ibid.,  318,  from  a  ms.  among  the  Greville  papers. 

90.  Walter  Jackson  Bate,  John  Keats  (London,  England:  Oxford  University  Press,  1967),  694. 

91.  Robert  Gittings,  John  Keats  (London,  England:  Heinemann,  1968),  428;  Douglas  Bush, 
John  Keats  (London,  England:  Weidenfeld  and  Nicolson,  1966),  198.  On  the  possible  sources 
of  the  wording  (Elizabethan,  ancient  Greek),  see  Tlie  Keats  Circle,  ed.  Hyder  Edward  Rollins 
(Cambridge,  MA:  Harvard  University  Press,  1948),  vol.  2,  91,  N.  72,  and  Oonagh  Lahr's 
note  in  the  Keats-Shelley  Journal  21-22  (1972-73),  17-18. 

92.  Bate,  John  Keats,  694;  Andrew  Motion,  Keats  (London,  England:  Faber  and  Faber,  1997), 
564-565.  Like  Gittings,  both  of  these  authors  state  that  Keats  wanted  only  the  by  now 
famous  line.  This  may  be  implied,  but  is  not  explicitly  stated  in  Severn's  letter  to  Charles 
Brown  of  14  February  1841,  which  is  the  "foundational"  text  in  this  respect  (The  Keats 
Circle,  vol.  2, 91);  but  this  is  apparently  not  the  only  version  of  this  letter  (The  Keats  Circle, 
vol.  2,  89,  n.  69). 

93.  Bush,  John  Keats,  200.  Bate,  John  Keats,  694  summarizes  the  controversy  among  Keats' 
friends  about  the  wording.  For  a  photo  of  the  grave,  see  Motion,  Keats,  fig.  72. 


154 


Thomas  Foster  Mausoleum 


Fig.  1.  Thomas  Foster  Memorial,  Uxbridge,  Ontario,  Canada, 
as  viewed  from  entrance  gates. 


155 


THE  THOMAS  FOSTER  MAUSOLEUM:  CANADA'S  TAJ  MAHAL 
Sybil  F.  Crawford 

Introduction 

Unless  forewarned,  first-time  visitors  to  the  Uxbridge,  Ontario  coun- 
tryside will  have  little  reason  to  suspect  they  are  about  to  see  a  mauso- 
leum (Fig.  1)  that  has  emerged  as  a  veritable  tourist  attraction  for  which 
visitors  are  willing  to  pay  an  admission  charge.  Located  approximately 
75  miles  from  Toronto,  the  mausoleum  is  situated  on  property  adjoining 
Zion  Cemetery,  where  its  rural  location  belies  its  metropolitan  grandeur 
(Fig.  2).  Driving  eastward  from  Toronto  on  Highway  401,  north  on  High- 
way 38,  and  east  again  on  Highway  37,  motorists  will  reach  Uxbridge. 
Turning  north  on  Durham  Regional  Road  1  and  driving  about  6.5  miles 
in  the  direction  of  Leaskdale,  the  dome  of  the  mausoleum  will  soon  be 
glimpsed  above  the  treetops  to  the  right. 

The  mausolea  of  such  tycoons  as  F.  W.  Woolworth,  Louis  Sherry,  and 
the  Getty,  Belmont,  and  Wainwright  families  (to  name  but  a  few)  have 
long  been  publicized  as  architectural  gems,  yet  they  seem  relatively  un- 
ostentatious and  somewhat  dwarfed  when  compared  with  the  mauso- 


Fig.  2.  Panoramic  view  of  the  Foster  Memorial 
and  adjoining  Zion  Cemetery. 


156 


Thomas  Foster  Mausoleum 


leum  of  the  lesser  known  Foster  (Fig.  3).  Researching  memorials  (simple 
or  grandiose)  leads  to  the  discovery  of  how,  when,  where,  and  why  per- 
sons were  memorialized  as  they  were  -  and  by  whom.  While  descrip- 
tions of  memorials,  their  material,  size,  ornamentation,  and  symbolism, 
have  their  place,  determining  if  there  is  any  correlation  between  the 
"man"  and  the  "memorial"  can  be  a  far  more  fascinating  exercise.  Dis- 
section of  a  personality  often  leads  us  toward  an  answer,  as  is  the  case 
with  Thomas  Foster,  whose  memorial,  at  first  glance,  contradicts  almost 
everything  known  about  this  complex  individual. 

The  Man 

Born  near  Toronto  on  July  25,  1852,  Foster  spent  his  early  years  in 
Scott  Township,  York  County,  where  his  father  and  a  brother  ran  the 
Leaskdale  Hotel.1  After  the  death  of  his  mother,  the  young  man  was  sent 
to  live  with  an  uncle  in  1867.  For  three  years,  he  served  an  apprentice- 
ship at  the  butcher  shop  of  Richardson  Brothers  in  Toronto,  then  opened 
his  own  shop.  Learning  quite  by  accident  that  the  owner  of  the  property 
was  about  to  sell  it,  he  bought  his  own  building  -  a  fortuitous  introduc- 
tion to  the  opportunities  abounding  in  real  estate.  After  eighteen  years 
in  the  butcher  business,  he  retired  at  age  39,  a  rich  man,  and  entered 


Fig.  3.  Close-up,  angled  view  of  the  mausoleum. 


Sybil  F.  Crawford  157 


politics  at  the  municipal  level.  In  1893,  at  age  41,  the  comfortably-settled 
Foster  married  Elizabeth  McCauley.  The  couple's  daughter,  Ruby,  their 
only  child,  died  in  1904  at  age  10. 

Foster's  "Honest  Tom"  nickname,  earned  during  his  butchering  days, 
resulted  from  his  reputation  for  fair-dealing  with  shop  customers.  It 
stayed  with  him  for  the  balance  of  his  life  -  no  small  feat  for  a  politician. 

First  elected  a  Toronto  alderman  in  1891,  the  year  of  his  retirement 
from  trade,  he  appeared  at  his  initial  City  Council  meeting  in  formal 
evening  attire  -  striped  trousers  and  white  tie  -  at  10  a.m.2  While  this 
was  almost  certainly  rented  garb,  he  is  known  to  have  owned  a  short,  ill- 
fitting  velvet  coat  for  wear  on  state  occasions.  This  coat  disappeared  some- 
what mysteriously  (or  was  discreetly  withdrawn  from  service)  after  the 
Queen  Victoria  Diamond  Jubilee  celebrations  of  1897,  perhaps  prompted 
by  a  stinging  reference  by  Alderman  O.  B.  Sheppard  to  "Solomon  in  all 
his  glory."3  Foster  was  described  as  "a  vain  man,  keenly  conscious  of  his 
success."  As  a  young  man,  he  had  an  unusually  luxuriant  head  of  hair, 
made  even  more  noticeable  by  the  great  quantities  of  hair  oil  he  applied. 
His  desire  to  be  noticed  was  also  evidenced  by  his  use  of  what  has  been 
described  as  a  "flaming  red"  silk  handkerchief  flowing  casually  from  his 
breast  pocket.4 

He  was  frequently  elected  alderman  from  1891  until  1909,  when  he 
returned  to  City  Hall  as  Controller,  serving  from  1910  to  1917.  During 
this  time,  he  was  involved  in  countless  civic  debates,  not  the  least  of 
which  was  the  May,  1913  debate  concerning  the  granting  of  more  Cana- 
dian civil  knighthoods.  On  a  less  exalted  plane,  he  was  in  favor  of  day- 
light savings  time  and  suffrage  for  women!  A  great  supporter  of 
hydro-electric  power,  he  quite  rightly  recognized  cheap  electricity  as  being 
an  important  requirement  for  promotion  of  Ontario's  industry.5  Closer 
to  home,  one  of  his  most  valuable  contributions  to  Toronto's  growth  was 
his  promotion  of  a  street-paving  program. 

Moving  up  in  the  political  world,  he  was  elected  to  serve  as  East  York's 
representative  in  the  Federal  House  of  Commons  and  served  there  from 
1917  (as  a  Conservative)  until  1921  (when  he  was  defeated  as  an  Inde- 
pendent). After  his  wife  died  in  1920,  he  sought  solace  in  outside  activi- 
ties and,  with  the  federal  service  behind  him,  he  returned  to  Toronto, 
serving  as  Controller  for  another  three  years.  In  1925,  Foster  ran  a  suc- 
cessful first  race  for  the  mayor's  post  and  served  in  that  capacity  in  1925, 
1926,  and  1927.  Given  Toronto's  role  as  one  of  Canada's  major  cities,  the 
mayoral  post  was  not  insignificant. 


158  Thomas  Foster  Mausoleum 


In  his  capacity  as  Toronto's  mayor,  Foster  was  often  called  upon  to 
take  a  prominent  part  in  the  visits  of  dignitaries  such  as  the  Prince  of 
Wales  or  the  homecomings  of  sports  figures  such  as  George  Young,  the 
marathon  swimmer  hailed  as  a  hero  upon  his  return  from  a  swimming 
victory  at  Catalina.  A  social  faux  pas  which  gained  considerable  public 
notice  occurred  when  Viscount  Willingdon  paid  a  visit  to  Toronto.  Greet- 
ing the  Viscount,  Foster  asked  quite  bluntly  and  with  a  total  disregard  of 
his  pronunciation,  "Are  you  the  vice-count?"  We  can  only  wonder  if  he 
was  unaware  of  proper  dress,  conversation,  and  protocol  or  was  know- 
ingly making  "newspaper  copy"6 

Frugality,  learned  in  his  youth,  was  one  of  his  lifelong  traits  and  gives 
rise  to  a  bit  of  oft-repeated  Foster  lore.  He  had  been  saving  money  for 
quite  some  time  when  a  circus  came  to  town.  Rather  than  treat  himself 
to  a  circus  outing,  as  might  be  expected  of  any  typical  teenager,  he  and 
three  friends  (Will  Ryrie,  Jack  Reid,  and  Johnny  O'Neill)  invested  their 
savings  in  a  peanut  stand  near  the  entrance.  Shortly  after  setting  up  the 
booth,  it  was  knocked  over  by  a  rampaging  loose  elephant  and  the  entire 
stock  of  peanuts  eaten.7  This  was  said  to  be  his  first  and  last  "foolish" 
investment.  (Like  Foster,  his  three  young  friends  would  later  enjoy  suc- 
cess. Ryrie  would  become  a  famous  Canadian  jeweler,  Reid  a  prominent 
lumberman,  and  O'Neill  a  prospering  manufacturer  and  hotelier.) 

Foster's  penchant  for  thrift,  which  began  at  home,  would  eventually 
make  him  famous,  and  stories  of  his  penny-pinching  are  legion.  When 
butter  was  required  for  home  use,  Foster  walked  more  than  a  half-mile 
to  a  dairy,  insisting  on  purchasing  a  half-pound  only.  The  dairy  oblig- 
ingly catered  to  his  whim,  refrigerating  the  other  half  in  anticipation  of 
his  return  when  more  was  needed.8 

Sam  Lee,  his  houseboy  of  many  years,  worked  for  $40  per  week,  but 
had  his  wages  cut  to  $35  during  the  1930s,  "hard  times"  being  his 
employer's  excuse  for  doing  so.9  A  1959  newspaper  article  claimed  that  a 
former  chauffeur  had  an  even  less  pleasant  experience  and,  in  1947,  sued 
the  Foster  estate  for  back  wages.10  If  taken  at  face  value,  it  is  difficult  to 
envision  the  tight-fisted  Foster  having  a  chauffeur  in  his  employ,  and 
our  instincts  would  be  correct.  After  investigation  of  the  Foster  estate 
records,  it  is  clear  that  the  newspaperman  gave  only  half  the  story  and 
was  somewhat  less  than  accurate  in  his  reporting.  The  "chauffeur"  was, 
in  fact,  Foster's  nephew,  Robert  Foster,  Jr.,  and  he  filed  a  $25,000  claim 
(not  a  suit)  against  the  estate.  The  claim,  later  withdrawn,  outlined  ser- 
vices young  Foster  rendered  his  uncle  from  1914  until  his  death.  While 


Sybil  F.  Crawford  159 


an  essentially  simple  document,  a  reading  of  the  claim  is  valuable  for  the 
additional  insights  it  offers. 

By  1914,  Foster  had  purchased  an  automobile  of  his  own,  and  his 
nephew  taught  him  to  drive  that  year.  Robert,  Jr.  drove  his  uncle  about  the 
City  of  Toronto  on  many  occasions  during  his  campaigning  days  and  also 
distributed  election  literature  and  posters.  On  occasions  when  Foster  was 
absent  from  the  city,  he  collected  rents  and  mortgage  money,  but  was  never 
paid  for  doing  so.  For  a  period  of  fourteen  years  (1920  to  1934)  Foster  was 
frequently  driven  to  his  nephew's  farm,  always  returning  home  with  great 
quantities  of  fruit  and  vegetables.  As  construction  of  the  Memorial  got 
under  way,  Foster  made  frequent  visits,  and  his  nephew  claimed  that  he 
drove  Foster  to  Uxbridge  on  no  less  than  twenty  occasions  each  year  for 
the  next  ten  years.  As  age  began  to  take  its  toll,  Foster  placed  his  car  in 
storage  and  nephew  Robert  acted  as  his  driver,  using  his  own  automobile 
and  bearing  all  the  expense  of  gas,  oil,  tires,  and  general  wear  and  tear  on 
the  vehicle.  A  single  reimbursement  is  evidenced  by  a  receipt  for  $163  "on 
account  of  automobile  expenses  in  1943."  We  might  at  first  suspect  that 
Robert,  Jr.  was  a  favorite  nephew,  as  he  accompanied  Foster  on  various 
outings  over  the  years  and  was  in  constant  attendance,  day  and  night,  at 
the  time  of  his  uncle's  last  illness  (of  seven  weeks'  duration).11  This  is  not 
supported  by  the  terms  of  his  uncle's  will,  however,  as  young  Robert  seem- 
ingly fared  little  better  than  his  siblings  and  cousins. 

Not  one  to  waste  money  on  a  rental  agent,  Foster  collected  the  rent 
from  his  many  tenants  himself.  If  plumbing  problems  or  the  need  for  a 
paint  touch-up  were  reported  on  such  occasions,  he  stepped  out  to  his 
car,  located  the  appropriate  tools,  and  handled  the  matter  personally 
and  on  the  spot.12 

His  frugality  was  quite  as  much  in  evidence  in  public  life  as  in  his 
personal  enterprises,  and  during  his  three  years  as  mayor  it  is  said  that 
his  economies  saved  the  city  $2,000,000.  Annexation  was  a  pet  peeve, 
and  none  occurred  during  his  term  of  office,  probably  because  he  fore- 
saw it  as  a  drain  on  city  resources.13  One  of  his  ploys  was  to  have  all 
municipal  vehicles  boldly  marked  with  "City  of  Toronto"  to  ensure  they 
were  not  used  for  non-business  purposes.  During  one  of  his  campaigns, 
he  was  accompanied  by  a  singer  who  chanted,  "He's  a  daisy,  he's  a  daisy, 
he's  a  watchdog  just  now."14  Whatever  its  obscure  meaning,  the  phrase 
somehow  seemed  to  send  a  positive  message  to  the  voters. 

In  spite  of  all  his  saving  ways,  Foster  was  never  predictable.  When 
Toronto  City  Hall  was  new,  it  lacked  a  flagpole,  a  shortcoming  he  rem- 


160  Thomas  Foster  Mausoleum 


edied  out  of  his  own  pocketbook  "and  hang  the  cost."  A  gift  of  $1,000  to 
a  war  widow  was  another  of  his  unexpected  generosities,  made  after  the 
woman's  claim  for  her  husband's  city  insurance  was  disallowed.  As  he 
wrote  the  check,  he  noted  that  "the  poor  woman  has  had  enough  troubles 
and  litigation."  He  was  no  stranger  to  litigation  himself  and,  paradoxi- 
cally, had  just  been  awarded  that  exact  amount  in  a  libel  action.15  C.  Alfred 
Maguire,  an  ex-mayor  of  Toronto,  observed  that  on  a  trip  to  New  York 
City  to  inspect  its  harbor,  Foster  bought  expensive  cigars  and  entertained 
members  of  the  delegation  "lavishly."16  If  true,  it  was  certainly  most  un- 
characteristic. 

For  one  who  appeared  to  be  a  product  of  this  none-too-kind  world 
and  continually  obsessed  with  money,  many  were  surprised  to  find  that 
he  had  quite  another,  gentler  side.  During  his  days  as  Toronto's  mayor, 
his  office  was  almost  always  fragrant  with  bouquets  of  fresh  flowers  from 
Allan  Gardens.  A  snip  of  geranium  (his  favorite  flower)  was  seldom  ab- 
sent from  the  buttonhole  of  his  coat.  When  the  pavilion  at  Allan  Gar- 
dens burned,  he  was  quick  to  push  for  rebuilding  it  as  an  elaborate 
greenhouse.  He  is  also  credited  with  being  the  promoter  of  the  Royal 
Winter  Fair.17 

Life  was  never  dull  if  Foster  was  around.  He  had  an  unsuspected  flair 
for  showmanship  and  publicity,  and  even  the  most  ordinary  occasion 
could  be  turned  into  a  newsworthy  event.  The  ideas  were  ostensibly  his 
own,  as  he  did  not  have  a  public  relations  man  (nor  would  he  have  paid 
the  price)  to  think  up  quirky  attention-getters.  When  he  took  his  first 
airplane  flight  in  September  of  1927,  not  content  to  simply  enjoy  his  lofty 
view  of  the  city  below,  he  dropped  ten  $1  bills  with  Union  Jack  flags 
attached.  Persons  finding  these  bills  were  instructed  to  return  them  and 
have  them  redeemed  for  a  brand-new  $5  bill.18 

A  Toronto  City  Clerk,  James  W.  Somers,  recalled  Foster  donning  a 
cowboy  suit  and  wide-brimmed  hat  and  riding  on  horseback  from  the 
Canadian  National  Exhibition  grounds  to  City  Hall  with  performers  from 
a  visiting  rodeo  in  tow.  The  horse  was  ridden  up  the  City  Hall  steps  and 
back  down  before  Foster  dismounted  and  placed  a  wreath  on  the  City 
Hall  Cenotaph.19  Another  Somers  recollection  tells  of  a  journey  the  two 
took  to  Ottawa  on  official  city  business,  with  Foster  carrying  his  "ward- 
robe" in  a  paper  sack  (he  apparently  believed  an  ample  supply  of  throw- 
away  celluloid  collars  made  a  change  of  shirts  unnecessary).  A  slip-on 
tie  was  another  of  his  inexpensive  time-savers  and,  until  he  became  mayor, 


Sybil  F.  Crawford  161 


Foster  never  owned  a  suit  of  formal  wear.20  Somers  was  on  this  same  trip 
vigorously  upbraided  by  the  mayor  for  booking  two  separate  rooms, 
thereby  doubling  the  cost  of  the  stay.21  For  his  later  international  travel, 
he  made  the  slightest  of  bows  to  convention  and  carried  a  single  piece  of 
luggage.  His  few  items  of  travel  apparel  included  two  hats  -  a  black 
derby  for  land  excursions  and  a  peaked  cap  for  wear  at  sea.22 

Always  expecting  to  reign  victorious  and  accustomed  to  having  his 
own  way,  he  could  become  belligerent  if  thwarted.  On  one  occasion, 
during  his  stint  as  City  Controller,  he  was  fined  $20  for  assaulting  an 
alderman  (after  calling  the  alderman  a  liar,  Foster  invited  him  to  step 
outside  the  Council  chambers  for  an  exchange  of  fisticuffs).23 

Foster's  political  ambitions  and  promotion  of  civic  frugality  were 
greatly  aided  by  a  newspaper  photo  taken  by  a  Telegram  reporter  show- 
ing W.  W.  Hiltz,  the  incumbent  mayor  and  seeker  of  another  term,  with 
his  long,  sleek,  city-furnished  limousine  and  liveried  chauffeur.  Hiltz  was 
an  ardent  temperance  advocate  and  Foster  let  it  be  known  that  he  him- 
self was  somewhat  more  flexible  on  the  liquor  question.  Given  his  stand 
on  these  two  issues,  Foster's  appeal  to  the  electorate  and  his  election  to 
office  were  assured. 

"Fighting  Sam"  McBride  was  Foster's  opponent  in  his  1928  (and 
fourth)  bid  for  the  mayor's  post,  and  what  a  contest  it  was!  The  Telegram, 
backing  Foster,  deftly  drew  public  attention  to  a  judicial  inquiry  into  the 
sale  of  $296,000  worth  of  lumber  to  the  Toronto  Harbor  Board  by  Samuel 
J.  McBride  Lumber  Company  while  McBride  was  a  City  Council  mem- 
ber. The  Star,  on  the  other  hand,  supported  McBride,  making  Foster's 
refusal  to  increase  the  size  of  the  police  force  a  major  issue.  During  the 
1920s,  when  Toronto's  municipal  politics  were  in  disarray,  Foster  led  a 
businessmen's  revolt  against  such  an  increase,  suggesting  tongue-in-cheek 
that  it  would  be  far  less  expensive  for  the  city  to  reimburse  individuals, 
banks,  or  businesses  that  were  robbed  than  to  add  further  to  what  he 
perceived  to  be  the  city's  already  bloated  law  enforcement  payroll.24  There 
was  one  element  of  the  citizenry  that  may  actually  have  been  pleased 
with  the  shortage  of  police  officers.  A  Star  staff  writer  of  later  years,  John 
Brehl,  reported  that  there  was  no  tally  of  how  Toronto's  mobsters  voted 
in  1928,  but  McBride  nevertheless  won  by  15,500  votes.  In  describing 
Foster's  last  day  in  office,  the  Star  relented  a  little  and  generously  pro- 
nounced Foster  an  imposing  figure,  "looking  like  a  retiring  Roman  con- 
sul giving  his  valedictory  to  the  conscript  fathers  ..."2 


162  Thomas  Foster  Mausoleum 


The  Inspiration 

Defeated  by  "Fighting  Sam"  McBride  in  his  1928  bid  for  the  mayor's 
post,  and  finding  his  life  empty,  Foster  surprised  his  friends  by  announc- 
ing that  he  intended  to  seek  escape  in  travel.  In  1931,  he  made  the  first  of 
three  trips  around  the  world.  The  trips,  made  when  he  was  in  his  late 
seventies  and  older,  included  a  visit  to  India's  Taj  Mahal.  Located  on  the 
Jumna  River  in  Agra,  the  famous  structure  was  built  by  Shah  Jahan,  who 
succeeded  his  father  as  Mughal  emperor  and  ruled  from  1652  to  1658,  as 
a  mausoleum  for  his  beloved  and  favorite  wife.26  One  of  the  world's  most 
stunning  buildings,  it  is  said  to  represent  the  throne  of  God  in  Paradise. 
Although  construction  was  begun  in  1631,  shortly  after  his  wife's  death, 
it  was  not  completed  until  seventeen  years  later  and  required  the  work 
of  more  than  20,000  laborers.  It  soars  some  187  feet  from  its  platform, 
featuring  domes  and  high  portals.27  Its  pure  white  marble  contrasts  pleas- 
antly with  its  red  sandstone  neighbors,  and  the  mausoleum's  beautiful 
proportions  and  lush  landscape  obviously  caught  Foster's  eye.  With  a 
fortune  at  his  command,  he  promptly  decided  he  wanted  a  similar  me- 
morial for  his  wife  and  daughter,  both  of  whom  were  originally  buried 
at  St.  James  Cemetery,  located  on  Parliament  Street  in  Toronto.  His  devo- 
tion seemingly  called  for  something  on  a  grand  scale,  and  upon  his  re- 
turn to  Toronto  he  wasted  no  time  in  making  the  vision  become  a  reality. 

The  Planning  and  Construction 

The  principal  architect  for  the  project  was  J.  H.  Craig  (1889-1954), 
who  worked  with  architect  H.  H.  Madill  (1889-1988).  Classmates  at  the 
University  of  Toronto's  School  of  Architecture,  from  which  both  received 
degrees  in  1912,  they  later  formed  the  architectural  firm  of  Craig  &  Madill. 
James  Craig  was  born  in  Owen  Sound,  Ontario,  rendered  service  in  World 
Wars  I  and  II,  and  was  president  of  the  Ontario  Association  of  Architects 
in  1931  and  1932.  He  succumbed  to  a  heart  attack  at  age  65.  Henry 
Harrison  Madill  was  born  in  Beaverton,  Ontario,  and,  like  Foster,  grew 
up  in  the  Uxbridge  area.  Later  moving  to  Toronto  with  his  family,  he, 
too,  served  in  World  Wars  I  and  II.  As  second  head  of  the  University  of 
Toronto's  School  of  Architecture,  he  taught  there  for  23  years,  until  his 
retirement  in  1957,  aged  68.  Madill  was  still  alive  and  a  wonderfully  alert 
97-year-old  when  the  mausoleum  was  rededicated  in  1986. 28  The  original 
architectural  drawings  for  the  Memorial,  once  believed  lost,  have  been 
found  and  the  Friends  of  the  Thomas  Foster  Memorial  plan  to  repro- 
duce them  (suitable  for  framing)  and  sell  them  as  a  fund-raiser.29 


Sybil  F.  Crawford 


163 


#?  «. 


Fig.  4.  Central  floor  design,  a  mosaic  depiction 
of  the  mythical  River  Styx. 


Fig.  5.  Gold-lettered  inscription  on 
shaded  blue  mosaic  field  encircles  dome. 


164 


Thomas  Foster  Mausoleum 


General  contractors  for  the  Memorial  were  Messrs.  Witchall  and  Son 
of  Toronto,30  and  firms  and  residents  of  the  local  area  were  employed 
whenever  possible  -  a  boon  to  the  lagging  economy.31  Constructed  over 
a  three-year  period,  the  Memorial  cost  approximately  $250,000.  The  origi- 
nal estimate  had  been  $100,000,  but  Foster's  frequent  add-ons  quickly 
escalated  the  cost.  When  interviewed  years  later,  Madill  laughingly  said 
Foster  "wanted  everything"  but  did  not  want  to  pay  for  it.  One  scholarly 
study  of  the  archaeological  significance  of  mausolea  has  stated  that  the 
cost  for  pre-1930  mausolea  ranged  between  $15,000  and  $25,000.32  The 
cost  of  the  Foster  mausoleum  (a  product  of  the  mid-1930s)  obviously 
exceeds  these  figures  many  times  over,  and  is  made  even  more  impres- 
sive by  the  absence  of  inflation  during  this  Depression  period.  When 
compared  to  the  "averages,"  the  cost  itself  suggests  size  and  ornamenta- 
tion far  exceeding  the  norm.  If  built  today,  it  has  been  estimated  that  the 
Memorial's  cost  would  range  between  $4,500,000  and  $5,500,000.  At  the 
same  time,  we  must  also  recognize  that  it  would  be  virtually  impossible 
to  secure  craftsmen  capable  of  workmanship  equal  to  the  original.33 

While  the  Taj  Mahal's  beauty  was  appealing  to  Foster  and  the  archi- 
tects, they  felt  its  Mogul  architecture  was  not  suitable  to  the  Ontario  lo- 


Fig.  6.  View  into  dome,  showing  pendentive 
heavily  decorated  with  floral  and  geometric  designs. 


Sybil  F.  Crawford  165 


cation,  and  it  was  translated  into  something  more  Christian,  employing 
forms  of  the  Byzantine  Empire,  with  an  all-new  and  original  design.  Both 
interior  and  exterior  were  accorded  equal  attention,  although  true  Byz- 
antine architecture  tends  to  downplay  the  importance  of  exterior  ap- 
pearance and  enriches  the  interior.  While  the  architecture  of  the  Foster 
mausoleum  may  be  Byzantine-inspired,  faint  traces  of  the  Taj  Mahal  can 
nevertheless  be  perceived  even  by  the  untrained  eye. 

More  than  a  private  mausoleum,  the  structure  was  planned  to  serve 
as  a  community  chapel  for  funeral  services  as  well.  The  enduring  mate- 
rials of  the  Foster  Memorial  were  intended  to  express  the  beauty  and 
permanence  of  the  Christian  faith,  and  the  Indiana  limestone  exterior  is 
beautifully  complemented  by  a  white  marble  interior. 

The  Interior 

Steel-reinforced  doors  covered  with  tile  were  chemically  treated  to 
produce  a  permanent  green  surface,  and  the  floors,  of  terrazzo  and 
marble,  are  embellished  with  symbolic  designs.  Visitors  entering  the 
mausoleum  find  themselves  crossing  a  mosaic  depiction  of  the  River 
Styx,  treading  lightly  over  water-lilies  and  lily  pads  (Fig.  4). 

Circling  the  lower  part  of  the  dome,  above  the  arches,  the  words  "Take 
this  my  body  for  it  is  done  and  I  have  gained  a  new  life,  glorious  and 
eternal"  are  inscribed  in  gold  letters  on  a  field  of  shaded  blue  mosaics 
(Fig.  5).  Under  the  great  dome,  the  Greek  "Alpha  and  Omega"  letters 
flank  "IHS"  (standing  for  "In  Hoc  Signo  [Vinces]"  and  used  as  a  Chris- 
tian symbol  and  monogram  for  Jesus).  Translating  into  "By  this  sign  thou 
shalt  conquer,"  it  takes  its  meaning  from  the  story  that  before  the  Battle 
of  the  Milvian  Bridge,  just  north  of  Rome,  in  312,  the  Roman  Emperor 
Constantine  claimed  he  saw  a  cross  in  the  sky  emblazoned  with  this 
inscription.  When  he  was  victorious  in  battle,  he  took  it  as  a  sign  that  he 
should  free  the  Christian  religion  in  the  Roman  Empire.  The  Edict  of 
Milan  in  313  gave  Christians  rights  of  worship,  and  the  sign  is,  therefore, 
essentially  a  symbol  of  the  cross.  The  central  motif  is  enclosed  by  a  laurel 
wreath,  perhaps  representative  of  victory  over  death.  The  mosaic  tiles 
were  handcrafted  by  Italian  artisans  commissioned  to  produce  them 
specifically  for  this  job. 

A  handsome  dado  of  Bois-Jourdain  marble,  shot  with  red  and  inlaid 
with  gold  mosaic,  surrounds  the  interior.  The  pendentives  under  the  dome, 
soffits,  and  returns  of  the  arches  feature  glass  mosaics  in  floral  and  geo- 
metric patterns  executed  in  brilliant,  harmonious  colors  (Figs.  6  and  7). 


166 


Thomas  Foster  Mausoleum 


Fig.  7.  A  soaring  pendentive,  flanked  by 
multi-colored  marble  columns. 


Sybil  F.  Crawford 


167 


The  marble  altar  and  pulpit  (Fig.  8)  are  approached  from  the  raised 
apse  by  three  travertine  steps  and  add  to  the  temple-like  qualities.  The 
marble  reredos,  emblazoned  with  gold  cross  and  "IHS,"  is  a  departure 
from  the  canopied  altars  of  early  church  forms,  but  more  appropriate  to 
present-day  services.  The  pulpit  of  Rochester  marble  features  a  carved 
frieze  and  inlay  of  gold  mosaic.  The  southern  transept  contains  three 
crypts,  holding  the  remains  of  Foster,  his  wife,  and  his  daughter  (see  Fig. 
9).  Above  each  crypt  is  a  window  bearing  a  modest  memorial  shield. 

The  ceilings,  with  exceptional  acoustical  qualities,  are  azure  blue.  It 
is  this  feature  that  has  made  the  mausoleum  so  appropriate  for  present- 
day  classical  music  concerts  and  is  not  the  only  such  acoustical  master- 
piece credited  to  the  architects  Craig  and  Madill.  Toronto's  Canadian 
National  Exhibition  Bandstand  is  their  work  as  well  and  was  constructed 
at  about  the  same  time  as  the  Foster  Memorial. 

The  mausoleum's  original  pump  organ  remains  in  place,  although  an 
electric  organ  has  since  been  donated  by  Uxbridge's  lady  mayor,  Gerri- 
Lynn  O'Connor.  Manufactured  by  Heintzman  and  Co.,  Ltd.  in  Toronto, 
the  pump  organ  is  identified  as  their  "Vocalion"  model. 


Fig.  8.  Marble  altar  and  pulpit  backed  by 
marble  reredos  and  emblazoned  with  gold  cross. 


168 


Thomas  Foster  Mausoleum 


Fig.  9.  Marble  crypt  of  Ruby,  ten-year-old  daughter 
of  Thomas  Foster,  in  south  transept. 


Fig.  10.  Temporary  storage  crypts  in  mausoleum's  sub-structure. 


Sybil  F.  Crawford  169 


There  are  no  light  fixtures  on  the  exterior  of  the  mausoleum  and,  as 
a  consequence,  outdoor  evening  events  are  seldom  scheduled.  The  in- 
terior was  wired  for  lighting  at  the  outset,  the  60-ampere  system  call- 
ing for  300-watt  bulbs  with  bases  having  a  diameter  of  nearly  1  3/4 
inches.  With  the  passage  of  time,  as  bulbs  burned  out,  it  became  diffi- 
cult, and  then  impossible,  to  find  replacements.  It  was  eventually  nec- 
essary to  adapt  the  original  large  sockets  to  accommodate  modern 
large-base  100-watt  high-intensity  bulbs.  One  of  the  few  old  300-watt 
bulbs  that  was  salvaged  whole  is  said  to  be  a  prized  memento  of  an 
electrician  who  worked  on  revamping  the  light  sockets.  In  updating 
the  electrical  system,  some  of  the  building's  original  commercial-grade 
copper  wiring  has  been  replaced.  Decorative  rood  screens  such  as  were 
used  in  medieval  times  were  intended  to  divide  the  areas  designated 
for  the  general  public  and  the  priests  and  dignitaries.  These  designs 
were  adapted  in  brass  to  cover  the  old-style  bulbs  above  the  interior 
arches.34 

Harsh  Ontario  winters  often  prevent  immediate  burial,  and  six  un- 
der-floor  crypts  (see  Fig.  10)  were  included  in  the  plan  to  accommodate 
temporary  storage.  Three  removable  floor  slabs  facilitate  the  lowering 
and  raising  of  the  caskets  from  the  main  floor.  There  is,  however,  an 
entrance  to  the  sub-structure  which  provides  an  alternate  access  from 
the  outside.  A  cable  and  pulley  system,  operated  from  this  area,  permits 
opening  and  closing  of  the  windows  in  the  dome.35 

The  mausoleum  is  heated  throughout  the  winter  season,  but,  because 
of  its  naturally  pleasant  summer  temperature,  air-conditioning  has  never 
been  considered  necessary.  A  unique  air  circulation  system  keeps  the 
temperature  constant  within  the  mausoleum:  air  slots  (about  the  size  of 
today's  conventional  air  registers)  are  connected  behind  the  walls  of  the 
building  from  the  basement  upward  to  the  top  of  the  dome.36 

Not  intended  to  be  simply  ornamental,  the  Memorial  was  designed 
to  be  used,  and  so  it  has,  although  until  recently  relatively  few  local  resi- 
dents had  ever  been  inside.  The  wooden  rush-seat  chairs  are  the  origi- 
nals, the  attached  kneelers  adding  a  "high  church"  touch.  For  concerts 
and  similar  public  events,  there  is  a  seating  capacity  of  approximately 
155.  If  a  performing  group  requires  an  unusual  amount  of  up-front  space 
on  the  main  floor,  chairs  can  be  added  in  two  raised  areas  just  off  the 
front  entrance  and  in  the  north  transept37  (the  three  identical  Foster  fam- 
ily crypts,  with  the  names  and  dates  incised  thereon,  are  situated  in  the 
south  transept). 


170 


Thomas  Foster  Mausoleum 


The  Heraldic  Devices 

Under  each  of  four  great  arches,  a  marble  screen  separates  the  cross- 
ing from  transepts,  apse,  and  nave.  Sixteen  marble  columns,  four  to  each 
screen,  support  the  arches  with  pierced  marble  tympana  above.  The  col- 
umns of  vari-colored  Italian  marble  have  carved  Devon  stone  capitals.38 
H.H.  Madill  stated  that  the  marble  used  atop  the  columns  was  imported 
from  England  and  hauled  from  the  Uxbridge  railway  station  by  oxen. 
Each  capital  is  unique,  utilizing  the  heraldic  symbol  of  a  Saint  or  Apostle 
(Fig.  11).  Among  the  Memorial's  archival  documents  is  a  listing  of  the 
heraldic  devices  and  their  symbolic  meaning.39 

Simon  Peter  is  symbolized  by  two  keys  crossed  in  the  form  of  the 
letter  "X."  The  keys  take  their  meaning  from  a  promise  made  by  Jesus  to 
Simon  Peter  in  Matthew  16:19,  "I  will  give  you  the  keys  of  the  Kingdom 
of  heaven,  and  whatever  you  bind  on  earth  shall  be  bound  in  heaven, 
and  whatever  you  loose  on  earth  shall  be  loosed  in  heaven."  One  key  is 
gold  and  the  other  silver,  the  two  keys  representing  the  power  to  bind 
and  absolve  (loose).  They  also  represent  the  spiritual  authority  of  the 
church,  as  referenced  in  Matthew  18:18. 


Fig.  11.  Columns  are  topped  by  Devon  marble  capitals  sculpted 
to  depict  symbols  of  various  Saints  and  Apostles. 


Sybil  F.  Crawford  171 


Symbolizing  Phillip  is  a  cross  with  two  loaves  of  bread  on  each  side. 
The  cross  is  representative  of  his  successful  missionary  journeys  among 
the  barbarians  in  Upper  Asia  and  Phrygia,  where  he  spread  knowledge  of 
Christianity  and  the  cross  of  Christ.  The  loaves  of  bread  (as  noted  in  John 
6:5)  recall  a  remark  made  by  Phillip  to  Jesus  when  confronted  by  a  hungry 
multitude,  "How  are  we  to  buy  bread,  so  that  these  people  may  eat?" 

Andrew  was  a  fisherman,  as  was  his  brother,  Simon  Peter.  The 
martyred  Andrew  was  bound  to  a  cross,  rather  than  nailed,  in  order  to 
prolong  his  suffering.  The  most  common  symbol  of  Saint  Andrew  is  a 
cross  shaped  like  an  "X,"  and  two  fish  with  their  tails  turned  upward  are 
often  placed  thusly  to  form  the  design.  Illustrations  frequently  show 
Andrew  with  the  two  fish  in  his  hands,  identifying  him  as  a  fisherman, 
and  it  was  he  who  asked  the  boy  with  two  fishes  and  a  loaf  of  bread  to 
give  them  to  Jesus.  After  being  blessed  by  Jesus,  the  two  fishes  and  single 
loaf  were  multiplied  sufficiently  to  feed  five  thousand  in  the  wilderness. 

Thomas  is  symbolized  by  a  carpenter's  square  and  a  spear.  He  is  said 
to  have  built  a  church  in  India  with  his  own  hands  and  was  later  perse- 
cuted there,  killed  with  a  spear  wielded  by  a  pagan  priest. 

A  Bible  and  flaying  knife  are  the  symbols  of  Bartholomew.  According 
to  Biblical  tradition,  Bartholomew  won  the  King  of  Polymus  of  Armenia 
to  Christianity,  but  so  angered  the  king's  brother  that  he  had  him  flayed, 
crucified  with  his  head  facing  downward,  then  beheaded.  The  flaying 
knife  refers  to  his  martyrdom,  and  he  is  often  pictured  with  an  open 
Bible  and  a  flaying  knife  pointed  upward. 

The  symbols  of  the  writers  of  the  Gospels  have  received  attention  as 
well:  Matthew,  the  evangelist,  is  portrayed  as  a  winged  man,  it  being 
thought  that  his  Gospel  dwells  more  on  the  human  side  of  Jesus  than 
those  of  the  other  Gospel  writers.  Mark  is  symbolized  by  a  winged  lion. 
The  lion,  as  king  of  the  beasts,  represents  the  royal  character  of  Jesus  and 
refers  to  the  opening  verses  of  the  Gospel  according  to  Saint  Mark.  The 
eagle  represents  John,  soaring  heavenward  to  the  throne  of  God.  Because 
Luke's  Gospel  opens  with  the  sacrifice  of  Zacharias,  he  is  symbolized  by 
a  winged  ox,  emphasizing  the  sacrificial  death  of  the  Savior. 

The  Stained  Glass  Artist 

The  drum  of  the  dome  features  twelve  magnificent  stained  glass  win- 
dows through  which  the  light  filters  brightly.  Unlike  what  one  might 
expect,  the  windows  are  handpainted  and  fired  leaded  glass,  not  con- 
ventionally crafted  colored  glass.  An  east  window  is  particularly  fine, 


172 


Thomas  Foster  Mausoleum 


taking  the  form  of  a  gold  cross  on  a  rich  blue  ground.  Because  of  their 
situation  within  the  dome,  more  than  fifty  feet  above  eye  level,  few  pho- 
tographs are  available  of  the  windows.  Both  these  windows  and  the 
mosaic  floors  utilize  various  symbols  as  decorative  features.  The  mas- 
sive, compartmented  stained  glass  window  above  the  entrance  doors 
features  geometric  designs  with  a  striking  use  of  red  (Fig.  12). 

Yvonne  Williams,  designer  of  the  Memorial's  windows,  was  born  in 
Trinidad,  where  her  parents  were  in  business.  A  graduate  of  Ontario 
College  of  Art,  her  early  emphasis  was  on  sculpture  but  she  later  turned 
to  stained  glass.  While  a  student,  she  was  awarded  the  Governor  General's 
Gold  Medal  for  excellence  in  drawing  and  design.  Finding  instruction 
unavailable  in  Toronto,  the  twenty-two-year-old  set  off  for  Boston,  where 
she  studied  in  a  glass  studio  for  two  years.  Upon  her  return  to  Toronto  in 
1930,  she  set  up  a  studio  on  her  own  and  enjoyed  great  success.  Some 
150  churches  and  chapels  in  Canada  feature  her  work.  Still  alive  in  1986 
when  the  mausoleum's  50th  anniversary  took  place,  the  octogenarian 
remained  active  and  was  experimenting  with  the  effect  of  light  through 
layers  of  glass  and  the  possibility  of  promoting  its  thermal  qualities  for 
commercial  purposes.  "Church  Windows,"  designed  by  Williams,  was 


Fig.  12.  Stained  glass  windows  above  main  entrance  doors  bear 
strong  red  and  turquose  geometric  designs  on  an  opaque  field. 


Sybil  F.  Crawford 


173 


used  by  Canada  Post  in  1976  for  its  Christmas  stamp.40  Assisting  the 
artist  in  the  leading  of  the  windows  was  George  London. 

The  Exterior 

"Built  for  the  ages,"  the  Memorial  has  a  reinforced  concrete  frame, 
clad  in  limestone.  Laid  in  a  17V2-inch-wide  course,  the  main  blocks  are 
33  to  50  inches  wide  and  range  from  83A  to  17  inches  deep.41 

Viewed  from  the  outside,  the  eye  is  first  drawn  to  the  domed  cupo- 
las, roofed  in  patterned  copper,  a  product  of  Anaconda  Brass  Company 
(Fig.  13).  A  curved,  segmented  ladder  was  cleverly  designed  for  storage 
within  the  roof  area,  allowing  workmen  easy  access  to  the  finial  which 
tops  the  dome.  Local  residents  whose  memories  extend  into  the  distant 
past  seem  to  recall  that  the  finial  was  once  topped  by  a  gold-plated  ball. 
If  so,  it  has  not  yet  been  located.42 

The  Memorial's  octagonal  terrace,  upon  which  the  building  rests,  is  87 
feet  wide  and  92  feet  long.  The  building  itself  is  55  feet  wide  and  60  feet 
long.  From  the  ground  below  the  terrace  to  the  top  of  the  finial  on  the 
central  dome  is  a  height  of  60  feet  (as  a  frame  of  reference,  it  is  about  one- 
third  as  tall  as  the  Taj  Mahal).  The  inside  diameter  of  the  dome  is  23  feet. 


Fig.  13.  Domed  cupolas  are  roofed  in  patterned  copper, 
weathered  to  a  soft  green  patina. 


174 


Thomas  Foster  Mausoleum 


Foster  did  not  hesitate  to  offer  suggestions  or  make  his  opinions 
known.  An  entrance  arch  was  designed,  originally  intended  for  place- 
ment at  the  main  entry  to  the  Memorial  property.  Foster  was  quick  to 
veto  this  location,  anxious  that  nothing  detract  from  the  building's  ini- 
tial impact  upon  visitors.  The  arch  was  instead  erected  at  the  southwest 
property  corner  (Fig.  14). 

The  Public's  Reaction 

Dubbed  "Foster's  Folly"  by  vocal  critics,  its  expense  was  ridiculed  by 
those  who  felt  the  money  might  have  been  better  spent  to  meet  a  com- 
munity need  -  notably  a  hospital  -  and  some  are  said  to  remain  embit- 
tered to  this  day.  Shortly  after  the  Memorial  was  completed,  perhaps 
about  1937,  a  now-deceased  Toronto  resident  (and  one  of  Foster's  fel- 
low-Presbyterians) visited  the  Memorial  with  his  family.  A  son  recalls 
that  his  father  labeled  it  "sheer  lunacy."  There  were  others,  however, 
who  were  extremely  grateful  for  the  employment  opportunities  the  Me- 
morial offered,  particularly  those  engaged  in  manual  labor  and  the  class 
hardest  hit  by  the  depressed  economic  conditions  of  1935  and  1936.43 


Fig.  14.  Decorative  fencing  and  cast  iron  arch, 
originally  intended  for  use  at  main  entrance  to  the  property. 


Sybil  F.  Crawford 


175 


The  Dedication 

On  Sunday,  October  25,  1936,  the  Memorial  was  dedicated  at  3:00 
p.m.with  more  than  2,000  in  attendance.44  In  planning  the  program,  a 
large  number  of  local  clergymen  were  involved.  The  invocation  was  given 
by  Rev.  P.  T.  Meek,  followed  by  a  hymn,  "O  God  Our  Help  in  Ages  Past." 
The  chairman's  address  by  Rev.  P.  G.  Powell  preceded  a  scripture  read- 
ing by  Rev.  W.  Murray  and  a  prayer  offered  by  Rev.  E.  S.  Bishop.  Foster, 
then  in  his  eighties,  made  a  brief  address  before  a  second  musical  selec- 
tion, "O  God  of  Bethel."  The  dedicatory  address  by  Rev.  John  Gibson 
Inkster,  B.A.,  D.D.,  climaxed  the  activities  of  the  afternoon.  The  corner- 
stone (Fig.  15)  reads,  "This  stone  was  laid  /  by  Thomas  Foster  /  October 
22nd,  1935  A.D."  A  third  and  final  hymn,  "Abide  With  Me,"  preceded 
the  benediction  by  Rev.  J.  C.  Robinson,  closing  this  well-attended  event. 

In  1986,  the  fifty-year-old  Memorial  was  rededicated. 

The  Community  Effort 

In  the  years  immediately  following  its  dedication,  the  Memorial  was 
left  unlocked,  open  to  visitors  at  all  hours  and  entirely  without  supervi- 
sion. After  Foster's  death  in  1945,  the  Memorial  fell  into  a  state  of  gradual 


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Fig.  15.  Mausoleum  cornerstone  set  in  place  on  October  23,  1935. 


176 


Thomas  Foster  Mausoleum 


disrepair  and,  as  funds  dwindled,  maintenance  was  sharply  curtailed. 
The  doors  were  then  locked  and  remained  so  for  several  decades.  By  the 
1980s,  however,  the  public's  awareness  of  preservation  tactics  and  resto- 
ration technologies  was  growing,  and  it  was  this  knowledge  that  kindled 
the  desire  of  local  preservationists  to  step  forward  boldly  and  save  this 
national  treasure. 

In  1992,  the  Township  of  Uxbridge  assumed  stewardship  of  the  Me- 
morial, the  property  on  which  it  was  built,  and  the  adjacent  Zion  Cem- 
etery, from  the  trust  company  Foster  entrusted  with  funds  for  their 
maintenance.  The  cemetery,  though  small,  remains  in  use  for  occasional 
burials.  A  handsome  iron  fence,  with  a  fleur-de-lis  motif  decorating  the 
top  of  each  slender  post,  divides  the  Memorial  and  cemetery  properties. 
Restoration  of  the  cemetery  and  the  fence  were  paid  for  by  Foster  during 
his  lifetime.  "Thomas  Foster  Memorial  Cemetery"  appears  on  current 
signage  (Fig.  16).  The  $80,000  legacy  he  made  for  maintenance  of  the 
Memorial  must  have  seemed  a  very  large  sum  at  the  time,  but  inflation- 
ary pressures  were  at  work  in  the  years  following  his  death  and  this 
amount  seriously  underestimated  the  cost  of  its  upkeep  in  perpetuity. 
When  the  interior  of  the  dome  required  attention  in  the  early  1990s,  it 


jFo0t*r 


CEMETERY 


Decoration  Day  3rd  Sunday  July 
for  information  call  905  852-5423 


Fig.  16.  Current  signage  at  Zion  Cemetery, 
adjoining  the  Thomas  Foster  Memorial  property. 


Sybil  F.  Crawford  177 


was  discovered  that  the  trust  company's  funds  for  that  purpose  had  been 
depleted.  Friends  of  the  Thomas  Foster  Memorial  was  subsequently  or- 
ganized (in  1993)  for  the  purpose  of  raising  funds  for  repairs.  By  the  end 
of  2002,  the  Friends  had  spent  more  than  $150,000  on  repairs,  with 
signficant  additional  expenditures  anticipated.  The  community  has  been 
quick  to  respond  to  the  organization's  call  for  monetary  assistance,  and 
in-kind  gifts  have  been  welcomed  as  well.  A  precast  concrete  company 
donated  attractive  stone  planters  for  the  site,  and  a  merchant  donated 
the  soil  and  plants.  Two  matched  iron  candelabra  add  a  touch  of  warmth 
to  the  interior,  contributed  by  a  local  gift  shop.45 

In  spite  of  years  of  disuse,  the  interior  was  in  remarkably  good  condi- 
tion. Roof  leakage  was  first  believed  to  be  the  cause  of  discoloration  of 
the  domed  ceiling,  but  upon  investigation  proved  to  be  the  result  of  con- 
densation. This  was,  fortunately,  a  less  serious  and  far  easier  problem  to 
remedy.  Master  craftsmen  employed  to  handle  needed  repairs  are  up- 
holding today's  high  standards  of  building  preservation.  More  mundane 
work  was  required  as  well.  The  original  oil  furnace  was  inefficient,  and 
lingering  soot  and  oil  odors  have  since  been  eliminated.46 

Working  toward  making  the  Memorial  self-sufficient,  the  Friends  now 
produce  revenue  from  private  functions,  weddings,  and  classical  music 
concerts.  The  latter  are  held  on  Sunday  afternoons,  tastefully  handled 
and  well  attended.  There  is  a  standard  charge  (as  of  2002)  of  $150  plus 
deposit  for  use  of  the  chapel  for  weddings.  Rules  have  been  established 
for  such  occasions,  forbidding  the  use  of  nails,  tacks,  or  any  materials 
not  in  keeping  with  the  ambience  of  the  surroundings.  Special  events  on 
the  landscaped  mausoleum  grounds,  sponsored  by  the  Friends,  have 
included  strolling  minstrels,  chamber  music  ensembles,  artists  painting 
and  sketching,  and  the  act  of  a  magician  (in  top-hat  and  tails)  has  been  a 
great  favorite  with  both  children  and  their  elders.  Reasonable  admission 
charges  make  it  possible  to  attract  a  large  audience.  The  organization's 
outreach  has  been  accomplished  with  minimum  cash  outlay  and  all-vol- 
unteer help.  When  a  "festival"  was  held  by  the  Friends  in  1994,  Members 
of  Parliament  (Federal)  and  Members  of  the  Provincial  Parliament 
(Ontario)  were  invited,  and  200  invitations  sent  to  architectural  firms 
alone.47 

Open  for  general  visitation  on  the  first  and  second  Sundays  of  June, 
July,  August,  and  September,  from  1:00  to  5:00  p.m.,  there  is  a  small  ad- 
mission fee  for  adults  ($2  in  2002);  children  are  admitted  free  if  accom- 
panied by  an  adult. 


178  Thomas  Foster  Mausoleum 


On  September  21,  1996,  the  mausoleum  received  a  special  historical 
designation,  with  the  Local  Architecutral  Conservation  Advisory  Com- 
mittee (LACAC)  unveiling  a  plaque  from  the  Province  of  Ontario  that 
focuses  on  the  mausoleum's  uniqueness. 

On  December  31,  2000,  a  "Time  Capsule  Program"  was  held  at  2:00 
p.m.,  sponsored  by  the  Friends.  As  at  the  1936  dedication,  music  was  an 
important  part  of  the  program.  The  processional  was  piped  by  Deborah 
Clements  and  Jason  Stewart  and  Todd  O'Connor  served  as  drummer,  all 
members  of  the  Royal  Canadian  Legion  Pipe  Band,  Branch  170,  of 
Uxbridge.  Town  crier  Bill  McKee  alerted  the  guests  to  assemble  for  the 
official  welcome  by  Sylvia  Robb.  The  assigned  crypt  (located  in  the  sub- 
structure) was  opened  by  Brad  Shortt  and  Howie  Herrema  for  storage  of 
the  memorabilia.  Three  youngsters  -  Brigitte  Herrema,  Mathew  Jones, 
and  Derek  Gould  -  placed  the  box  of  memorabilia  into  the  millenium 
time  capsule,  which  was  then  placed  in  the  crypt.  The  three  have  prom- 
ised to  remain  in  touch  with  Uxbridge  Township  and  preside  at  the 
capsule's  opening  on  December  31,  2050.  After  remarks  by  Uxbridge's 
mayor,  Gerri-Lynn  O'Connor,  the  time  capsule  was  closed  and  she  placed 
a  plaque  thereon.  Elsie  Wood  pronounced  the  benediction,  and  an  offi- 
cial toast,  offered  by  Uxbridge  Township  Councillor  Beverly  Northeast, 
brought  the  ceremony  to  a  formal  close.48 

The  Last  Years 

After  Foster's  retirement  from  public  life,  he  gradually  dropped  from 
sight,  and  by  the  1940s  the  name  was  no  longer  familiar.  His  scrimping 
ways  were  no  secret  in  the  neighborhood  but,  until  his  death,  when  his 
will  was  made  public,  few  of  even  his  closest  neighbors  knew  that  he 
was  once  Toronto's  millionaire  mayor. 

There  is  a  prevalent  theory  among  cemetery  and  gravestone  research- 
ers that  the  deceased's  memorial  (in  size,  magnificence  of  materials,  and 
ornamentation)  often  mimics  the  residence  he  occupied  in  life.  In  Foster's 
case,  his  Victorian-styled  eight-room  brick  residence  at  20  Victor  Av- 
enue in  Toronto's  Riverdale  area  was  entirely  adequate  for  his  family's 
needs  but  certainly  far  from  mind-boggling.49  The  3,465  square  feet  of 
living  area  were  spread  over  three  floors.  The  lots  in  Toronto's  middle- 
class  neighborhoods  of  the  early  1900s  were  woefully  small  and  the 
cramped  Foster  homesite  failed  to  showcase  the  home's  few  distinctive 
features  (several  bow  windows  and  a  turret)  to  best  advantage.  His  me- 
morial obviously  makes  a  far  bolder  statement  than  his  residence.  His 


Sybil  F.  Crawford  179 


neighborhood,  where  the  Don  Jail  is  located,  was  (and  is)  far  from  styl- 
ish. In  his  last  years,  he  would  spend  no  money  on  the  house  and  it 
became  something  of  an  eyesore.  Draperies  faded  in  the  sun,  wallpapers 
were  soiled,  and  springs  and  stuffing  protruded  from  the  upholstered 
furniture.  He  constantly  argued  with  his  Chinese  houseboy  about  the 
high  cost  of  food  and  urged  that  he  purchase  in  sufficiently  large  quan- 
tities to  assure  the  best  price.  Those  who  had  known  Foster  when  he  was 
in  the  public  eye  no  longer  recognized  him  when  he  made  one  of  his  rare 
appearances  on  the  street  in  his  patched  clothing,  his  trousers  held  up 
with  the  aid  of  a  huge  safety-pin.50 

Ill  only  briefly,  Foster's  death  occurred  at  his  home  on  Victor  Avenue 
on  December  10,  1945.  The  funeral  was  held  from  the  Ralph  Day  Funeral 
Parlors  on  Danforth  Avenue,  Toronto,  on  Thursday,  December  13,  at  1:30 
p.m.,  conducted  by  Foster's  long-time  friend,  Rev.  John  Gibson  Inkster, 
pastor  emeritus  of  Knox  Presbyterian  Church,  Toronto.51  Foster's  will 
had  called  for  Inkster  and  Rev.  F.  E.  Powell  of  St.  Barnabas  Church  (Epis- 
copal) to  officiate,  but  Powell  predeceased  Foster,  leaving  Inkster  to  act 
alone  (receiving  $50  as  an  honorarium).  The  will  called  for  the  funeral  to 
take  place  from  Foster's  residence,  but  it  was  undoubtedly  so  dirty  and 
shabby  by  the  time  of  his  death  that  it  was  not  considered  fitting  to  honor 
his  request.  The  simple  service  was  attended  by  civil  officials,  friends, 
and  four  former  mayors.  The  dark  mahogany  casket  was  then  transported 
to  Uxbridge  and  placed  in  the  Memorial's  waiting  crypt  in  the  presence 
of  a  small  group  of  family  and  friends.  Listed  among  the  chief  mourners 
were  Robert  Foster  (a  half-brother),  nephews  Robert  Foster,  Jr.,  William 
R.  Foster,  and  Frank  Foster,  and  a  niece,  Mrs.  Myrtle  Kellickey.  Also  seated 
with  the  chief  mourners  was  Foster's  houseboy,  Sam  Lee.  Pallbearers  were 
either  kinsmen  or  close  friends:  William  R.  Foster,  Gus  Poynton,  Albert 
Kellickey,  Percy  Dallimore,  A.  L.  Smoke,  and  W.  D.  Robbins  (a  former 
Toronto  mayor).52 

The  Amazing  Will 

The  reading  of  Foster's  will  is  said  to  have  evoked  a  variety  of  re- 
sponses -  laughter,  tears,  and  considerable  celebration.53  The  will  was 
described  in  an  undated  newspaper  clipping  as  "not  the  work  of  an  ec- 
centric," but  "legally  sound  and  carefully  scripted."  Executors  named 
were  Canada  Permanent  Trust  Company,  represented  by  W.  L.  Knowlton, 
Manager,  and  Arthur  L.  Fleming,  K.  C.,54  of  Smoke,  Fleming  and 
Mulholland.  This  same  newspaper  source  states  that  the  will  was  writ- 


180  Thomas  Foster  Mausoleum 


ten  by  Foster  just  eight  weeks  prior  to  his  demise,  a  statement  contra- 
dicted by  the  recorded  copy  of  the  will  itself,  which  bears  the  date  of 
May  23,  1939,  some  six  years  earlier.55  It  would  seem  that  a  careless  re- 
porter confused  the  issue  by  mistakenly  referring  to  the  date  of  a  codicil 
executed  October  4,  1945. 

When  probated,  the  estate  was  inventoried  at  slightly  in  excess  of 
$1.5  million.  While  not  a  great  deal  in  today's  dollars,  it  was  a  truly  im- 
pressive sum  at  the  time.  To  better  understand  this  figure  in  present-day 
terms,  an  Ontario  historian  has  suggested  that  the  inventory  valuation 
might  be  multiplied  by  twenty,  translating  into  an  estate  of  $30  million. 
Given  the  fact  that  much  of  his  estate  consisted  of  real  property,  subject 
to  inflationary  spirals,  he  further  speculates  that  this  multiplier  is  likely 
far  too  conservative.56  The  estate  consisted  of  $191,000  in  mortgages  held 
by  the  deceased,  $571,000  cash  on  hand  and  in  the  bank,  $404,000  in  real 
estate,  composed  of  sixty-five  properties  (most  in  Toronto's  East  End), 
and  $1,600  in  book  debts.  For  reasons  not  clarified,  the  Foster  Memorial 
was  assigned  a  market  value  of  $1.  Certainly,  if  added  even  at  its  book 
value,  the  inventory  valuation  would  have  been  significantly  higher. 

It  is  Foster's  will,  perhaps  more  than  any  other  single  document  or 
action,  that  tells  us  most  about  the  man,  his  priorities,  and  varied  inter- 
ests. Its  provisions  are  well  worth  noting. 

Thirty-seven  family  members  were  remembered  with  modest  be- 
quests, a  total  of  $175,000  in  all.  Half-brother  Robert  received  $5,000; 
nephew  Robert,  Jr.,  $5,000,  plus  $500  per  year  for  overseeing  mainte- 
nance of  the  Foster  Memorial;  other  of  Robert's  children  (including  niece 
Myrtle  Kellickey)  received  $1,000  each.  Frank  and  William  Robert  (sons 
of  the  late  George  Foster,  another  half-brother)  received  $5,000  each.  The 
will  makes  mention  of  unnamed  living  children  of  two  sisters,  Eliza  Blythe 
and  Susan  Foster,  who  were  to  receive  $5,000  each,  but  does  not  indicate 
if  the  sisters  were  still  living.  The  children  of  brother  John  T.  Foster  were 
left  $5,000  each,  with  the  exception  of  nephew  Russell,  whose  share  was 
$1,000.  No  reason  is  given  for  the  uneven  hand  with  which  he  made  gifts 
to  the  nephews  and  nieces.  Possibly  some  had  received  gifts  during 
Foster's  lifetime  and  the  smaller  legacies  simply  equalized  the  distribu- 
tions. Also  to  receive  $500  per  year  for  monitoring  maintenance  of  the 
Memorial  was  the  son  of  his  oldest  friend,  the  late  William  Percival 
Dallimore.  Gus  Poynton,  a  special  friend,  received  $2,000.  Sam  Lee, 
Foster's  Chinese  houseboy  was  not  mentioned  in  the  will,  perhaps  hav- 
ing been  provided  for  previously  in  some  alternate  manner.  In  his  usual 


Sybil  F.  Crawford  181 


no-nonsense  fashion,  Foster  directed  that  any  individual  who  contested 
the  will  would  be  automatically  disinherited  (no  one  did  so). 

During  Foster's  lifetime,  the  younger  Dallimore  performed  numer- 
ous unreimbursed  services  for  him,  and  a  claim  for  $4,500  was  presented 
to  the  estate  on  August  22,  1946.  He  had  often  driven  the  latter's  automo- 
bile or  his  own  and  acted  as  secretary-treasurer  and  a  trustee  of  the  Tho- 
mas Foster  Memorial  Cemetery  during  Foster's  lifetime.  For  serving  in 
this  latter  capacity,  he  was  promised  $500  per  year,  but  his  claim  indi- 
cates that  1939  was  the  only  year  in  which  he  received  such  a  payment, 
although  additional  payments  were  continually  promised. 

The  remaining  bequests  ranged  from  the  sublime  to  the  ridiculous, 
but  none  was  quite  such  an  oddity  as  the  cash  award  to  be  given  to  the 
Toronto  woman  bearing  the  most  children  in  a  decade,  with  the  winner 
receiving  $1,250.  Prizes  of  $800  and  $450  were  stipulated  for  the  second 
and  third  place  contestants,  respectively.  Most  of  the  winners  produced 
either  nine  or  ten  infants  in  any  given  ten-year  cycle.  Echoing  his  sense 
of  morality,  the  births  had  to  be  formally  registered  and  the  children 
were  required  to  be  born  "in  lawful  wedlock."  Called  a  "Stork  Derby"  by 
detractors,  the  event  attracted  much  attention.  Although  the  idea  was 
not  new,  this  was  seemingly  his  way  of  encouraging  an  increase  in  the 
local  birthrate,  Canada's  population  having  dropped  significantly  dur- 
ing the  World  War  II  years.  Awards  were  given  in  1955,  1958,  1961,  and 
1964,  in  compliance  with  his  wishes.  While  one  would  guess  that  Foster 
intended  the  prize  money  to  add  a  bit  of  sunshine  to  the  winning  mother's 
life,  one  winner  reportedly  used  the  proceeds  (perhaps  with  a  little  coer- 
cion) to  purchase  a  gravestone  for  her  recently  deceased  mother-in-law. 

Other  gifts  are  more  easily  understood,  and  he  clearly  wanted  to  re- 
member the  people  of  Toronto,  a  city  that  had  been  good  to  him.  As 
though  he  felt  compelled  to  explain  his  gift-giving,  he  states  in  his  will 
that  the  bequests  were  "to  mark  my  appreciation  of  my  citizenship  in 
Toronto  and  to  place  in  the  way  of  some  citizens  or  their  children  oppor- 
tunities for  health  and  advancement  which  might  not  otherwise  be 
theirs."57 

Thousands  of  dollars  were  given  to  various  churches  and  Sunday 
School  classes,  often  with  unusual  provisos  and  attendant  confusion. 
Gifts  of  $5,000  each  were  made  to  an  Anglican  and  a  United  Church.58 
The  will  called  for  sites  for  both  the  Anglican  Mission  for  Eskimos  and 
the  Northern  Ontario  United  Church  Mission  to  be  selected  by  Dr.  W.  J. 
Cody  (an  Anglican)  and  Dr.  J.  G.  Inkster  (Presbyterian).  No  one  could 


182  Thomas  Foster  Mausoleum 


quite  understand  why  the  locations  for  Anglican  and  United  Church 
missions  were  to  be  selected  with  the  assistance  of  a  Presbyterian  minis- 
ter, but  Dr.  Inkster  speculated  that  Foster  "was  just  trying  to  be  funny." 
He  found  little  humor  in  it  personally  but  it  was  he  who  had  the  last 
laugh  as  he  died  before  it  came  time  to  make  the  site  selection.  The  An- 
glican mission  was  ultimately  built  at  Tuktoyaktuk,  an  Arctic  settlement 
northeast  of  Aklavik.  The  United  Church  mission,  built  in  1948,  was  lo- 
cated at  Virginiatown  in  Ontario's  Larder  Lake  District.59 

Set  aside  for  pupils  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  Sunday  School  at 
Leaskdale,  near  his  birthplace,  was  $2,000,  to  be  doled  out  as  "the  Tho- 
mas Foster  Prizes  ...  to  be  distributed  after  a  short  address  describing 
how  and  by  whom  the  said  prizes  have  been  provided."60  Every  child 
who  attended  Sunday  School  at  this  church  was  given  a  Bible  as  a  Christ- 
mas gift,  each  with  Foster's  name  stamped  therein.  It  should  by  now  be 
evident  that  Foster  wanted  the  provenance  of  all  his  gifts,  of  whatever 
nature,  to  be  made  known  publicly  and,  whenever  possible,  with  his 
name  attached,  inscribed,  or  stamped  thereon. 

Some  gifts  did  not  find  ready  takers.  The  executors  had  great  diffi- 
culty finding  boys  at  Toronto's  Knox  Presbyterian  Church  on  Spadina 
Road  who  were  not  theology  students,  were  over  18,  regular  church  at- 
tendees, and  methodically  memorizing  scripture  passages.  There  was 
also  an  unexplained  lack  of  interest  on  the  part  of  the  city's  newsboys  in 
the  money  available  to  them  for  setting  up  a  business.  These  funds  re- 
mained untouched  in  1958. 61 

The  $5,000  Elizabeth  McCauley  Foster  and  Ruby  Foster  Scholarship 
was  created  in  memory  of  Foster's  wife  and  daughter  to  provide  educa- 
tional training  in  domestic  or  household  science  in  the  vocational  or  tech- 
nical schools  of  Toronto.  Scholarships  for  public  school  children  were  to 
be  funded  by  a  $15,000  trust,  with  prizes  to  be  presented  by  Toronto's 
mayor  and  the  Chief  Inspector  of  Public  Schools. 

Each  of  Foster's  forty-two  tenants  who  had  been  on  his  rent  roll  for 
five  years  or  more  received  one  month's  free  rent.  He  made  it  clear  that 
this  was  a  perk  intended  for  month-to-month  tenants  only,  not  those 
occupying  their  premises  under  a  lease  agreement. 

A  fund  of  $3,000  was  left  to  be  divided  among  the  charwomen  who 
cleaned  Toronto's  office  buildings  at  night.  Recipients  were  to  be  selected 
by  the  Toronto  branch  of  the  Canadian  Red  Cross  Society,  regardless  of 
race,  color,  or  creed,  yet  we  sense  a  mixed  agenda  in  his  add-on  that  "not 
less  than  50%  shall  go  to  gentiles."62 


Sybil  F.  Crawford  183 


A  gift  of  $500  was  made  to  the  Canadian  Red  Cross  Society,  Toronto 
Branch,  without  any  restrictions  as  to  its  use. 

The  Riverdale  Salvation  Army,  Canada  East,  located  on  Toronto's 
Broadview  Avenue,  received  $500  to  buy  or  repair  musical  instruments 
for  their  band. 

A  man  somewhat  ahead  of  his  time,  Foster  obviously  had  some  envi- 
ronmental priorities:  a  gift  of  $5,000  was  made  for  the  feeding  of  Toronto's 
wild  bird  population,  administered  by  the  Toronto  Humane  Society  at 
the  main  feeding  grounds  on  Centre  Island  and  the  Toronto  lakeshore.  A 
$500  gift  to  this  same  organization  was  given  without  restrictions  as  to 
its  use.  Money  from  the  $15,000  wildlife  fund  established  by  the  will  was 
intended  to  prevent  wanton  destruction  of  wild  animals,  wild  birds,  and 
game  fish.  Some  of  this  money  was  spent  for  the  counting  of  woodland 
caribou  and,  by  1960,  part  of  the  money  was  being  used  to  pay  Indians 
for  collecting  information  on  the  movement  and  habits  of  these  animals63 
(the  survey  indicated  their  numbers  to  be  on  the  increase).  The  Jack  Miner 
Migratory  Bird  Fund  was  given  $2,000,  entirely  consistent  with  the  donor's 
wildlife  interests. 

Many  of  the  trees  seen  today  along  Highway  401  can  be  credited  to 
Foster,  purchased  from  a  $100,000  trust  fund.  He  thought  it  important 
that  visitors  enter  and  leave  Toronto  with  a  good  impression  of  "his" 
city.  Who  else  would  have  gone  so  far  as  to  designate  the  precise  species 
of  trees  to  be  planted  and  exactly  where?  Foreseeing  that  some  trees  would 
be  lost,  he  even  made  provision  for  replacements. 

There  is  good  reason  to  believe  that  children  held  a  special  place  in 
Foster's  heart  and  his  philanthropies  to  local  orphans  knew  no  denomi- 
national bounds.  The  Loyal  Orange  Lodge's  True  Blue  and  Orange  Home 
at  Richmond  Hill  received  a  $500  gift  accompanied  by  a  meddling  sug- 
gestion that  they  reconsider  their  policy  of  refusing  to  place  their  wards 
in  foster  homes64  (the  Loyal  Orange  Lodge,  an  organization  unfamiliar  to 
many  non-Canadians,  had  some  subtle  religious  and  political  overtones 
dating  back  to  the  days  of  William  of  Orange).  A  like  sum  was  left  to  the 
Catholic  Children's  Aid  Society  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul  in  Toronto. 

Toronto's  Central  Technical  School  was  remembered  with  a  45-foot 
wooden  flagpole  at  a  cost  of  $3,500.  He  ordered  that  it  be  constructed  of 
Canadian  timber  of  the  best  and  most  permanent  quality  "with  a  suit- 
ably inscribed  plate  attached  thereto."  In  spite  of  being  known  for  his 
great  attention  to  detail,  he  was  seemingly  unaware  that  the  school  did 
not  have  a  flag. 


184  Thomas  Foster  Mausoleum 


A  gift  of  $10,000  to  the  Toronto  Hospital  for  Incurables  (Parkdale)  was 
for  the  purpose  of  providing  automobile  outings,  motion  picture  projec- 
tors, radios,  and  similar  entertainment  for  its  patients.  Independent  him- 
self, Foster  encouraged  independence  in  others  as  well.  A  $5,000  gift  to 
this  same  institution  was  slated  for  division  among  patients  without  in- 
come, stipulating  that  the  money  "be  spent  as  they  may,  in  their  absolute 
discretion,  see  fit."65  Known  locally  as  the  "Home  for  Incurables"  at  the 
time,  being  condemned  to  go  there  was  regarded  as  a  death  sentence. 
Today,  this  institution  is  called  Queen  Elizabeth  Hospital,  evidencing  con- 
siderably more  sensitivity  to  the  feelings  of  patients  and  their  families. 

A  $25,000  trust  fund  was  created  for  the  maintenance  of  Thomas  Fos- 
ter wards  in  a  Toronto  hospital,  exclusively  for  the  treatment  of  con- 
sumptives. The  ward  was  to  have  a  minimum  of  250  beds,  available  to 
such  patients  at  no  charge.  If  no  hospital  of  this  sort  existed  at  the  time, 
such  wards  were  to  be  maintained  in  the  interim  at  Toronto  Free  Hospi- 
tal for  Consumptives,  Weston.66 

The  "Tommy  Foster  Picnic"  for  Toronto  school  children  is  still  an 
annual  affair.  He  made  a  specific  plea  that  Toronto's  mayor  or  a  clergy- 
man be  there  whenever  possible  to  make  the  principal  address,  a  re- 
quest the  mayors  continue  to  honor.  They  were  instructed  to  explain  "by 
whom  and  in  what  manner"  the  picnics  were  provided.  Perhaps  recall- 
ing a  bleak  childhood,  he  asked  that  the  picnic  event  include  ice  cream, 
hot  dogs,  milk,  music,  clowns,  and  pony  rides,  all  to  be  paid  for  from  a 
$100,000  trust  fund.  In  conjunction  with  the  picnic,  he  requested  that  a 
10-mile  race  be  run,  the  winner  to  receive  a  "Foster  Memorial  Cup."67 
While  a  joy  to  the  children,  no  doubt,  these  picnics  could  not  have  been 
popular  with  the  city's  Parks  Department  personnel  who  were  respon- 
sible for  the  advance  preparations,  monitoring  of  the  event  itself,  and, 
worse  yet,  the  massive  cleanup. 

The  first  of  the  annual  picnics  for  Toronto  school  children  (both  pub- 
lic and  parochial  school  students)  were,  in  fact,  held  before  Foster's  death, 
and  he  always  made  it  a  point  to  be  in  attendance.  At  one  such  event, 
Foster's  fragile  ego  suffered  some  slight  but  unintentional  damage  when 
City  Clerk  James  W.  Somers  playfully  suggested  that  the  youngsters  try 
to  guess  their  host's  age.  Foster  was  hoping  they  would  think  him  to  be 
about  40:  the  more  generous  pegged  his  age  at  55  or  60;  some  thought 
about  90;  others  supposed  that  he  was  100.  This  picnic  was  reportedly 
shorter  than  customary.68  The  1953  picnic  was  held  at  the  Canadian  Na- 
tional Exhibition  grounds  and  attended  by  over  5,000  children,  trans- 


Sybil  F.  Crawford  185 


ported  to  their  destination  in  fifty  chartered  street  cars  paid  for  from  the 
trust  fund.  Because  of  the  city's  heavy  school  enrollment,  students  from 
different  sets  of  schools  were  invited  each  year. 

A  trust  fund  of  $1,000  was  set  aside  for  the  Royal  Canadian  Humane 
Association's  use  in  providing  medals  for  honoring  persons  who  had 
saved  a  human  life.69 

Foster  instructed  that  the  balance  of  his  estate  (approximately  $600,000 
and  his  largest  single  bequest)  be  granted  the  Banting  and  Best  Institute 
at  the  University  of  Toronto  to  fund  a  search  for  a  cancer  cure.  In  1958, 
the  $600,000  fund  was  throwing  off  approximately  $20,000  in  income 
per  year  and  $250,000  had  already  been  expended  for  research  purposes.70 
Like  all  mankind,  hopeful  that  a  cancer  cure  was  imminent,  he  stipu- 
lated that  any  funds  remaining  after  such  a  discovery  be  directed  to  the 
Canadian  Medical  Association  or  a  similar  medical  body  for  educational 
training  of  doctors  and  nurses  in  the  more  remote  parts  of  Canada.71 

The  Assessment 

Having  considered  the  Memorial,  its  component  parts,  and  Foster 
himself,  we  have  to  ask,  "Why?" 

Perhaps  not  nearly  so  eccentric  an  individual  as  he  has  been  charac- 
terized, Foster  was  one  of  those  persons  seldom  plagued  with  indeci- 
sion. Fortunate  enough  to  know  exactly  what  he  wanted,  he  also  had  the 
means  to  bring  his  dreams  to  fruition.  Living  nearly  another  ten  years 
after  the  Memorial's  dedication,  he  doubtless  derived  a  sense  of  pleasure 
therefrom.  This  might  also  serve  as  a  reminder  that  placement  of  a  me- 
morial is  not  necessarily  something  that  need  await  our  demise. 

The  Memorial  is  a  very  visible  embodiment  of  the  Foster  enigma. 
Was  his  love  for  his  wife  and  daughter  so  great  that  only  the  very  best 
would  do,  or  did  he  crave  the  Memorial's  splendor  for  his  own  aggran- 
dizement as  well?  After  Elizabeth's  death,  he  did  not  marry  again,  but 
does  that  necessarily  signify  ongoing  devotion?  Given  his  disinclination 
to  spend  money,  he  may  have  considered  a  second  marriage  a  luxury  he 
could  easily  forego.  Had  his  wife  lived  on,  would  she  have  tempered  the 
eccentric  spending  habits  of  his  later  years?  We  observe  that  his  penuri- 
ousness  was  countered  by  generosity,  particularly  toward  those  less  for- 
tunate. Outside  of  the  not  unexpected  bickering  with  political  adversaries, 
he  was  seemingly  loved  by  all.  Did  his  hardened  outer  shell  enclose  a 
gentle  heart,  just  as  the  Memorial's  limestone  exterior  gives  little  hint  of 
the  hidden  beauty  within? 


186  Thomas  Foster  Mausoleum 


Grandiose,  the  Memorial  was  constructed  with  an  eye  for  economy. 
A  beautiful  structure,  it  was  built  with  the  intent  that  it  also  be  enduring. 
Though  economy  was  his  lifelong  trademark,  at  his  death  he  was  "moved 
to  generosity  both  by  caprice  and  design."72  It  could  not  have  been  said 
better. 

Both  the  man  and  the  Memorial  defy  easy  explanation  but,  whatever 
his  rationale  for  desiring  such  a  lavish  memorial,  how  many  individuals 
are  still  remembered  kindly  and  often  150  years  after  their  birth?  The 
Foster  Memorial,  his  monumental  legacy,  has  kept  his  name  alive,  and 
generations  yet  unborn  will  continue  to  wonder  at  his  singular  story. 
This  may,  indeed,  have  been  the  old  gentleman's  intent. 

NOTES 

Special  thanks  are  due  Dale  Armstrong  for  all  of  the  photographs  accompanying  the  text.  A 
graduate  student  at  Carleton  University,  Ottawa,  Ontario,  Canada,  his  work  has  appeared  in  a 
number  of  Canadian  journals.  Beverly  Northeast,  an  Uxbridge  Town  Councillor  and  a  leader 
in  the  Friends  of  Thomas  Foster  Mausoleum  effort,  was  generous  in  sharing  her  considerable 
knowledge.  Ruth  M.  Burkholder  of  Stouffville,  Ontario,  a  friend  and  professional  records 
researcher,  cut  through  a  mass  of  bureaucratic  red  tape  in  securing  a  copy  of  the  Foster  will 
without  delay.  Knowing  of  my  long-time  interest  in  gravestone  studies,  it  was  Dr.  Fred.  H. 
Armstrong,  Professor  Emeritus  of  History,  University  of  Western  Ontario,  London,  who  first 
brought  the  Thomas  Foster  Mausoleum  to  my  notice.  He  later  directed  my  attention  to  printed 
materials  in  various  Toronto  library  collections  and  took  time  from  a  busy  schedule  to  critique 
the  preliminary  manuscript.  Two  very  useful  sources  for  biographies  of  Canadians  who  lived 
in  the  first  half  of  the  20th  century  are  sets  of  scrapbooks  containing  newspaper  clippings.  One 
was  kept  by  William  S.  Wallace,  who  was  for  many  years  the  librarian  of  the  University  of 
Toronto  and  one  of  Canada's  most  respected  historians.  Originally  called  "The  Wallace 
Necrology,"  it  is  now  maintained  in  the  Reference  Room  of  the  Robarts  Library  at  the  University 
and  designated  as  "Canadian  Biographies."  The  second  set,  known  as  the  "Biographical 
Scrapbooks,"  was  kept  by  the  Toronto  Public  Library  staff  and  is  now  maintained  in  the  Baldwin 
Room  of  the  Metropolitan  Toronto  Library  (MTL)  on  Yonge  Street.  Both  collections  are 
accompanied  by  a  card  index,  a  fortunate  circumstance  as  the  order  in  which  the  clippings 
were  mounted  is  not  readily  apparent.  In  three  or  four  instances,  the  quality  of  the  microfilming 
made  newspaper  issue  dates  illegible.  Despite  what  would  appear  to  be  a  common  purpose 
and  a  reliance  upon  the  same  Canadian  newspapers,  the  two  collections  are  surprisingly  unlike, 
and  neither  pretends  to  be  complete.  As  an  aid  to  future  researchers,  the  conventional  endnote 
material  which  follows  is  accompanied,  where  appropriate,  by  the  location  of  the  individual 
entries. 

1.  Star  (Toronto),  undated  clipping.  Scott  Township  became  part  of  Uxbridge  Township  in 
the  1970s. 

2.  Globe  and  Mail  (Toronto),  1 2  Dec  1 945,  Vol.  31,  p.  1 20.  (Robarts) 

3.  Star  Weekly  (Toronto),  5  Jan  1925,  Vol.  5,  p.  657.  (MTL) 


Sybil  F.  Crawford  187 

4.  Ibid. 

5.  Globe  and  Mail  (Toronto),  12  Dec  1945,  Vol.  3,  p.  662.  (MTL) 

6.  Star  (Toronto),  1  Feb  1966,  Vol.  51,  p.  143.  (MTL) 

7.  Star  (Toronto),  5  Jan  1925,  Vol.  5,  p.  657.  (MTL) 

8.  Weekly  Globe  (Toronto),  18  Apr  1958,  Vol.  19,  p.  355.  (MTL) 

9.  Telegram  (Toronto),  28  Jan  1959,  Vol.  19,  p.  359.  (MTL) 

10.  Ibid. 

1 1 .  Exhibit  "A"  to  the  affidavit  of  Robert  Foster,  Jr.,  filed  with  Surrogate  Court  of  the  County 
of  York  [Ontario],  23  Aug  1946.  The  claim  was  abandoned  in  its  entirety  18  Oct  1946. 

12.  Star  (Toronto),  12  Dec  1945,  Vol.  31,  p.  120.  (Robarts) 

13.  Star  Weekly  (Toronto), Dec  1945, Vol..  3,  p.  659.  (MTL) 

14.  Star  Weekly  (Toronto),  3  Feb  1968,  Vol.  53,  p.  257.  (MTL) 

15.  Star  Weekly  (Toronto) Dec  1945,  Vol.  3,  p.  659.  (MTL) 

16.  Globe  and  Mail  (Toronto),  12  Dec  1945,  Vol.  3,  p.  662.  (MTL) 

17.  Globe  and  Mail  (Toronto),  12  Dec  1945,  Vol  31,  p.  120.  (Robarts) 

18.  Star  Weekly  (Toronto), Dec  1945,  Vol  3.,  p.  659.  (MTL) 

19.  Ibid. 

20.  Star  Weekly  (Toronto) Dec  1945,  Vol.  3,  p.  659.  (MTL) 

21.  Star  Weekly  (Toronto),  1  Feb  1966,  Vol.  51,  143.  (MTL) 

22.  Globe  and  Mail  (Toronto),  12  Dec  1945.  (MTL) 

23.  Star  Weekly  (Toronto) Dec  1945.  (MTL) 

24.  Star  Weekly  (Toronto),  29  Jun  1953,  Vol.  3,  p.  661.  (MTL) 

25.  Star  (Toronto),  3  Feb  1968,  Vol.  53,  p.  257.  (MTL) 

26.  1995  Grolier's  Multimedia  Encyclopedia,  Version  7.0.2;  Keyword:  Taj  Mahal. 

27.  Illustrations  of  the  Memorial  and  brief  descriptive  text  available  at: 
http://www.uxbridge.com/org/tfosterc.html 


188  Thomas  Foster  Mausoleum 


28.  Uxbridge  Times-Journal  (Uxbridge),  16  Jul  1986,  p.  39. 

29.  Letter  dated  6  Mar  2001  from  Beverly  Northeast,  Township  of  Uxbridge  Councillor,  Ward 
1,  to  author. 

30.  Uxbridge  Times-Journal  (Uxbridge),  16  Jul  1876,  p.  39. 

31.  Details,  a  Friends  of  Thomas  Foster  Memorial  handout,  Special  Edition,  18  June  1994,  p. 
4.  Employed  in  their  various  areas  of  expertise  were:  Heritage  Consultant  -  Ian  Woods, 
FRICS,  a  principal  of  I.  K.  Woods  &  Partners,  Inc.,  Chartered  Surveyors,  Unionville, 
Ontario;  Historical  Consultant  -  Allan  McGillivray  Curator,  Uxbridge  Museum;  Uxbridge, 
Ontario;  Roofing  Coppersmiths  -  Heather  &  Little,  Ltd.;  Stonemasons  -  Everett 
Restorations;  Electricians  -  Paynel  Electric,  Ltd.;  Fencing  -  Doug  Woods;  Coating  and 
Paint  Consultant  -  Craig  Bell  of  Sherwin-Williams;  Property  and  Landscaping-  Parks 
and  Works  Department,  Township  of  Uxbridge. 

32.  J.B.  Richardson  III  and  R.  C.  Carlisle,  "The  Archaeological  Significance  of  Mausoleums," 
Markers  I  (1980),  162. 

33.  Details,  p.  4. 

34.  Letter  dated  6  Mar  2001  from  Beverly  Northeast,  Township  of  Uxbridge  Councillor,  Ward 
1,  to  author. 

35.  Details,  p.  2. 

36.  Letter  dated  6  Mar  2001  from  Beverly  Northeast,  Township  of  Uxbridge  Councillor,  Ward 
1,  to  author. 

37.  Ibid. 

38.  A  detailed  description  of  the  interior  and  exterior  of  the  Foster  Memorial  appeared  in  an 
unidentified  newspaper,  the  clipping  dated  Uxbridge,  22  Oct  1936  (at  the  time  of  the 
Memorial's  original  dedication). 

39.  A  copy  of  the  referenced  listing  accompanied  a  letter  dated  6  Mar  2001  from  Beverly 
Northeast,  Township  of  Uxbridge  Councillor,  Ward  1,  to  author. 

40.  Undated  clipping  from  unidentified  newspaper  under  Isobel  St.  John  by-line  (based  on 
content  of  the  article,  it  was  almost  certainly  from  an  Uxbridge  newspaper  and  dated  just 
previous  to  the  1986  rededication  of  the  Memorial).  St.  John  is  mentioned  as  being  an 
Uxbridge  resident  and  a  relative  of  the  Foster  family. 

41.  Details,  p.  2. 

42.  Ibid.,  p.  3 

43.  Star  (Toronto),  11  Jul  1986,  p.  9. 


Sybil  F.  Crawford  189 


44.  Star  (Toronto),  undated  clipping,  but,  based  on  content,  after  1993  formation  of  "Friends" 
group. 

45.  Donors:  Newmarket  Pre-Cast  Concrete,  Uxbridge;  Canadian  Tire  Store,  Uxbridge; 
Presents,  Presents,  Presents  Gift  Shop,  Uxbridge. 

46.  Details,  p.  3. 

47.  Uxbridge  Weekender,  11  Jun  1994,  p.  12. 

48.  A  booklet  entitled  "Thomas  Foster  Memorial  Time  Capsule  Program"  was  distributed  to 
attendees  on  31  Dec  2000;  Uxbridge  Tribune  (Uxbridge),  5  Jan  2001,  p.  3.  Robb,  Wood,  and 
Northeast,  participants  in  the  Time  Capsule  Program,  were  all  members  of  the  Friends  of 
the  Thomas  Foster  Memorial  executive  committee.  Directors  identified  in  the  printed 
program  were  Maureen  Mayr,  Hilary  Balmer,  Barbara  Johnson,  and  Faith  Neumann. 

49.  The  size  of  Foster's  Victor  Avenue  residence  was  reported  variously  in  the  press:  in  the 
inventory  and  valuation  of  his  estate,  signed  by  the  executors,  Foster's  personal  residence 
was  described  as  consisting  of  eight  rooms. 

50.  Star  (Toronto),  undated  clipping. 

51.  Star  (Toronto), Dec  1945,  Vol.  3,  p.  659.  (MTL) 

52.  Globe  and  Mail  (Toronto),  15  Dec  1945,  Vol.  3,  p.  660.  (MTL).  The  "Kellickey"  surname 
appears  in  some  records  as  "Kellackey." 

53.  Weekly  Globe  (Toronto)  18  Apr  1958,  Vol.  19,  p.  355.  (MTL) 

54.  For  non-Canadian  readers  who  may  not  be  familiar  with  the  term  "K.C.,"  it  identifies  the 
individual  as  an  attorney  with  certain  special  rights  to  practice  and  stands  for  King's 
Counsel.  When  a  Queen  reigns,  as  at  the  present,  such  persons  are  designated  as  a  "Q.C." 

55.  Archives  of  Ontario,  York  County  Surrogate  Court,  Estate  File  #11292,  probated  15  Mar 
1946,  Thomas  Foster  (Microfilm  #MS  584,  Reel  628). 

56.  Dr.  Fred.  H.  Armstrong,  Emeritus  Professor,  History,  University  of  Western  Ontario. 

57.  Globe  and  Mail  (Toronto) Dec  1945,  Vol.  3,  p.  662.  (MTL) 

58.  The  United  Church  of  Canada  was  the  result  of  a  1925  merger  of  all  of  Canada's  Methodists 
and  Congregationalists,  and  some  Presbyterians  (the  latter  being  far  from  unanimous  in 
their  support  of  union). 

59.  Weekly  Globe  (Toronto),  18  Apr  1958,  Vol.  19,  p.  355.  (MTL) 

60.  Ibid. 

61.  Ibid. 


190  Thomas  Foster  Mausoleum 

62.  Star  Weekly  (Toronto) Dec  1945,  Vol.  3,  p.  659.  (MTL) 

63.  Star  Weekly  (Toronto),  5  Mar  1960,  Vol.  19,  p.  360.  (MTL) 

64.  Star  Weekly  (Toronto) Dec  1945,  Vol.  3,  p.  659.  (MTL) 

65.  Star  Weekly  (Toronto) Dec  1945,  Vol  3,  p.  662.  (MTL) 

66.  Ibid. 

67.  Ibid. 

68.  Star  Weekly  (Toronto), Dec  1945,  Vol.  3,  p.  659.  (MTL) 

69.  Ibid. 

70.  Star  (Toronto),  18  Oct  1958,  Vol.  19,  p.  357.  (MTL) 

71.  Star  Weekly  (Toronto), Dec  1945  ,  Vol.  3,  p.  659.  (MTL) 

72.  Star  (Toronto),  18  Oct  1958,  Vol.  19,  p.  357.  (MTL) 


Sybil  F.  Crawford 


191 


APPENDIX 

Important  to  a  proper  understanding  of  ecclesiastical  architecture  are 
the  meanings  of  a  number  of  terms  which  appear  in  (or  relate  to)  the 
foregoing  text. 


Apse  a  projecting  part  of  a  building  (as  a  church)  that  is  usually 

semicircular  in  plan  and  vaulted. 

Chancel  the  part  of  a  church  containing  the  altar  and  seating  for 

clergy  and  choir. 

Clerestory        an  outside  wall  of  a  room  or  building  that  rises  above  an 
adjoining  roof  and  contains  windows. 

Frieze  a  sculpted  or  richly  ornamented  band  (as  on  a  building  or 

item  of  furniture). 

Nave  the  main  part  of  the  interior  of  a  church  and,  more  par- 

ticularly, the  long,  narrow  central  hall  in  a  cruciform 
church  that  rises  higher  than  the  aisles  flanking  it  to  form 
a  clerestory. 

Pendentive      one  of  the  concave  triangular  members  that  supports  a 
dome  over  a  square  space. 

Reredos  an  ornamental  or  stone  screen  or  partition  wall  behind  an 

altar. 

Rood  a  crucifix  on  a  beam  or  screen  at  the  entrance  to  a  chancel 

of  a  church. 

Soffit  the  underside  of  a  part  or  member  of  a  building  (as  of  an 

overhang)  or  an  interior  curve  of  an  arch. 

Transept  the  part  of  a  cruciform  church  that  crosses  at  right  angles 

to  the  greatest  length  between  the  nave  and  the  apse  or 
choir. 


192 


The  Old  Gravestone 


Old  gravestone,  cut  in  half  and  used  as  step,  Ebeltoft,  Denmark. 
Photo:  Richard  E.  Meyer 


193 


THE  OLD  GRAVESTONE 
Hans  Christian  Andersen 

In  a  house,  with  a  large  courtyard,  in  a  provincial  town,  at  that  time 
of  the  year  in  which  people  say  the  evenings  are  growing  longer,  a  family 
circle  were  gathered  together  at  their  old  home.  A  lamp  burned  on  the 
table,  although  the  weather  was  mild  and  warm,  and  the  long  curtains 
hung  down  before  the  open  windows,  and  outside  the  moon  shone 
brightly  in  the  dark  blue  sky. 

However,  they  were  not  talking  of  the  moon,  but  rather  of  a  large,  old 
stone  that  lay  below  in  the  courtyard  not  very  far  from  the  kitchen  door. 
The  maids  often  laid  the  clean  copper  saucepans  and  kitchen  vessels  on 
this  stone,  that  they  might  dry  in  the  sun,  and  the  children  were  fond  of 
playing  on  it.  It  was,  in  fact,  an  old  gravestone. 

"Yes,"  said  the  master  of  the  house,  "I  believe  the  stone  came  from 
the  graveyard  of  the  old  church  of  the  convent  which  was  pulled  down, 
and  the  pulpit,  the  monuments,  and  the  gravestones  sold.  My  father 
bought  the  latter:  most  of  them  were  cut  in  two  and  used  for  paving 
stones,  but  one  stone  was  preserved  whole  and  laid  in  the  courtyard." 

"Anyone  can  see  that  it  is  a  gravestone,"  said  the  eldest  of  the  chil- 
dren. "The  representation  of  an  hour-glass  and  part  of  the  figure  of  an 
angel  can  still  be  traced,  but  the  inscription  beneath  is  quite  worn  out, 
except  for  the  name  Treben/  and  a  large  'S'  close  by  it,  and  a  little  far- 
ther down  the  name  of  'Martha'  can  be  easily  read.  But  nothing  more, 
and  even  that  cannot  be  seen  unless  it  has  been  raining,  or  when  we 
have  washed  the  stone." 

"Dear  me,  how  singular!  Why  that  must  be  the  gravestone  of  Preben 
Schwane  and  his  wife." 

The  old  man  who  said  this  looked  old  enough  to  be  the  grandfather 
of  all  present  in  the  room. 

"Yes,"  he  continued,  "these  people  were  among  the  last  who  were 
buried  in  the  churchyard  of  the  old  convent.  They  were  a  very  worthy 
old  couple.  I  can  remember  them  well  in  the  days  of  my  boyhood.  Every- 
one knew  them,  and  they  were  esteemed  by  all.  They  were  the  oldest 
residents  in  the  town,  and  people  said  they  possessed  a  ton  of  gold,  yet 
they  were  always  very  plainly  dressed,  in  the  coarsest  stuff,  but  with 
linen  of  the  purest  whiteness.  Preben  and  Martha  were  a  fine  old  couple, 
and  when  they  both  sat  on  the  bench  at  the  top  of  the  steep  stone  steps  in 


194  The  Old  Gravestone 


front  of  their  house,  with  the  branches  of  the  linden  tree  waving  above 
them,  and  nodded  in  a  gentle,  friendly  way  to  passers  by,  it  really  made 
one  feel  quite  happy.  They  were  very  good  to  the  poor:  they  fed  them 
and  clothed  them,  and  in  their  benevolence  there  was  judgement  as  well 
as  true  Christianity.  The  old  woman  died  first.  That  day  is  still  quite  viv- 
idly before  my  eyes.  I  was  a  little  boy,  and  had  accompanied  my  father  to 
the  old  man's  house.  Martha  had  fallen  into  the  sleep  of  death  just  as  we 
arrived  there.  The  corpse  lay  in  a  bedroom,  near  to  the  one  in  which  we 
sat,  and  the  old  man  was  in  great  distress  and  weeping  like  a  child.  He 
spoke  to  my  father,  and  to  a  few  neighbors  who  were  there,  of  how  lonely 
he  should  feel  now  that  she  was  gone,  and  how  good  and  true  she,  his 
dead  wife,  had  been  during  the  number  of  years  that  they  had  passed 
through  life  together,  and  how  they  had  become  acquainted,  and  learnt 
to  love  each  other.  I  was,  as  I  have  said,  a  boy,  and  only  stood  by  and 
listened  to  what  the  others  said:  but  it  filled  me  with  a  strange  emotion 
to  listen  to  the  old  man,  and  to  watch  how  the  color  rose  in  his  cheeks  as 
he  spoke  of  the  days  of  their  courtship,  of  how  beautiful  she  was,  and 
how  many  little  tricks  he  had  been  guilty  of,  that  he  might  meet  her.  And 
then  he  talked  of  his  wedding  day,  and  his  eyes  brightened,  and  he  seemed 
to  be  carried  back  by  his  words  to  that  joyful  time.  And  yet  there  she 
was,  lying  in  the  next  room,  dead  -  an  old  woman,  and  he  was  an  old 
man,  speaking  of  the  days  of  hope,  long  passed  away.  Ah,  well,  so  it  is: 
then  I  was  but  a  child,  and  now  I  am  old,  as  old  as  Preben  Schwane  then 
was.  Time  passes  away,  and  all  things  change.  I  can  remember  quite  well 
the  day  on  which  she  was  buried,  and  how  old  Preben  walked  close  be- 
hind the  coffin." 

"A  few  years  before  this  time  the  old  couple  had  had  their  gravestone 
prepared,  with  an  inscription  and  their  names,  but  not  the  date.  In  the 
evening  the  stone  was  taken  to  the  churchyard  and  laid  on  the  grave.  A 
year  later  it  was  taken  up,  that  old  Preben  might  be  laid  by  the  side  of  his 
wife.  They  did  not  leave  behind  them  wealth;  they  left  behind  them  far 
less  than  people  had  believed  they  possessed.  What  there  was  went  to 
families  distantly  related  to  them,  of  whom,  till  then,  no  one  had  ever 
heard.  The  old  house,  with  its  balcony  of  wickerwork  and  the  bench  at 
the  top  of  the  high  steps  under  the  linden  tree,  was  considered  by  the 
road  inspectors  too  old  and  rotten  to  be  left  standing.  Afterwards,  when 
the  same  fate  befell  the  convent  church,  and  the  graveyard  was  destroyed, 
the  gravestone  of  Preben  and  Martha,  like  everything  else,  was  sold  to 
whomever  would  buy  it.  And  so  it  happened  that  this  stone  was  not  cut 


Hans  Christian  Andersen  195 


in  two  as  many  others  had  been,  but  now  lies  in  the  courtyard  below,  a 
scouring  block  for  the  maids,  and  a  playground  for  the  children.  The 
paved  street  now  passes  over  the  resting  place  of  old  Preben  and  his 
wife:  no  one  thinks  of  them  any  more  now." 

And  the  old  man  who  had  spoken  of  all  this  shook  his  head  mourn- 
fully and  said:  "Forgotten!  Ah,  yes,  everything  will  be  forgotten!"  And 
then  the  conversation  turned  to  other  matters. 

But  the  youngest  child  in  the  room,  a  boy,  with  large,  earnest  eyes, 
mounted  upon  a  chair  behind  the  window  curtains  and  looked  out  into 
the  yard,  where  the  moon  was  pouring  a  flood  of  light  on  the  old  grave- 
stone -  the  stone  that  had  always  appeared  to  him  so  dull  and  flat,  but 
which  lay  there  now  like  a  great  leaf  out  of  a  book  of  history.  All  that  the 
boy  had  heard  of  old  Preben  and  his  wife  seemed  clearly  defined  on  the 
stone,  and  as  he  gazed  on  it,  and  glanced  at  the  clear,  bright  moon  shin- 
ing in  the  pure  air,  it  was  as  if  the  light  of  God's  countenance  beamed 
over  His  beautiful  world. 

"Forgotten!  Everything  will  be  forgotten!"  still  echoed  through  the 
room,  and  in  the  same  moment  an  invisible  spirit  whispered  to  the  heart 
of  the  boy,  "Preserve  carefully  the  seed  that  has  been  entrusted  to  thee, 
that  it  may  grow  and  thrive.  Guard  it  well.  Through  thee,  my  child,  shall 
the  obliterated  inscription  on  the  old,  weather-beaten  gravestone  go  forth 
to  future  generations  in  clear,  golden  characters.  The  old  pair  shall  again 
wander  through  the  streets  arm-in-arm,  or  sit  with  their  fresh,  healthy 
cheeks  on  the  bench  under  the  linden  tree  ,  and  smile  and  nod  at  rich 
and  poor.  The  seed  of  this  hour  shall  ripen  in  the  course  of  years  into  a 
beautiful  poem.  The  beautiful  and  the  good  are  never  forgotten:  they 
live  always  in  story  or  in  song." 


196 


Origins  of  Cape  Cod  Marble  Carving  II 


LU 


Fig.  1.  Josiah  Sparrow  II,  1847,  Orleans,  Massachusetts. 
Carved  by  Oliver  N.  Linnell. 


197 


THE  ORIGINS  OF  MARBLE  CARVING  ON  CAPE  COD, 
PART  II:  THE  ORLEANS  AND  SANDWICH  CARVERS 

James  Blachowicz 

In  Part  I  of  this  study,  which  appeared  in  Markers  XIX  (2002),  I  exam- 
ined the  work  of  William  Sturgis,  his  son  Josiah,  his  son-in-law  Jabez  M. 
Fisher,  and  his  grandson  William  S.  Fisher.  These  men,  as  well  as  Ebenezer 
D.  Winslow  of  Brewster,  established  the  marble  carving  industry  on  Cape 
Cod.  I  now  move  to  the  nine  carvers  who  emerged  in  Orleans  and  Sand- 
wich, Massachusetts  in  part  because  of  Sturgis'  influence.  Although  the 
work  of  these  carvers  settles  into  rather  undecorated  conventionality,  it  at 
least  affords  us  a  more  complete  picture  of  the  directions  in  which  mid-to- 
late  Nineteenth-Century  designs  were  proceeding.  Further,  we  shall  find 
more  evidence  of  important  changes  in  the  stonecutting  trade  itself. 

Introduction 

In  the  1830s,  Cape  Cod  was  divided  into  three  carving  zones,  with 
Nathaniel  Holmes  of  Barnstable  taking  the  lion's  share  in  the  center, 
Ebenezer  D.  Winslow  established  to  the  near  east  of  Holmes  (Brewster 
and  beyond),  and  William  Sturgis,  for  a  time,  providing  stones  to  the  far 
east  (Orleans)  and  the  far  west  (Sandwich,  Falmouth).  By  1850,  there 
were  still  more  or  less  three  zones,  but  with  somewhat  different  bound- 
aries and  different  proprietors:  the  Fishers  now  occupied  the  middle  (but 
based  at  Yarmouth,  not  Barnstable),  with  Winslow's  clientele  now  claimed 
partly  by  the  Fishers  to  the  west  and  partly  by  a  new  group  of  carvers  in 
Orleans  to  the  east,  and  Sturgis'  former  customers  now  served  partly  by 
these  Orleans  carvers  and  partly  by  the  Sandwich  monument  shop  which 
succeeded  him  in  the  west. 

In  the  late  1840s  and  early  1850s,  there  were  no  fewer  than  thirteen 
carvers  on  the  Cape,  some  ending  their  careers  and  some  just  beginning. 
This  was  in  sharp  contrast  to  just  forty-five  years  earlier,  when  the  Cape 
had  no  resident  carvers  at  all.  With  growing  populations,  some  towns 
acquired  their  own  carvers  where  before  they  had  none;  and  some  could 
now  support  more  than  one  shop,  or  at  least  more  than  one  carver  in  a 
given  shop.  Under  these  new  circumstances,  we  begin  to  find  true  com- 
petition, not  only  among  stonecutters  from  neighboring  towns,  but  be- 
tween local  carvers  and  the  larger  firms  in  more  distant  towns  such  as 
Boston,  Providence,  and  Taunton.  We  also  find  a  growing  sharing  and 


198  Origins  of  Cape  Cod  Marble  Carving  II 


standardization  of  design,  stretching  across  wide  regions  of  New  En- 
gland and  extending  west  into  the  younger  states.  We  find,  in  short,  a 
commercial  situation  increasingly  like  that  which  had  enveloped  other 
trades  earlier  and  which  has  much  more  in  common  with  Twentieth- 
Century  business  than  with  the  craft  system  of  earlier  times.  Beyond  the 
scope  of  this  study  lies  an  even  later  stage  of  this  development  -  the 
growing  dominance  of  very  large  manufacturing  firms  in  the  largest  cit- 
ies and  the  decline  of  local  production. 

The  Orleans  Carvers 

Josiah  Sparrow  II:  Biography 

Josiah  Sparrow  II  was  born  in  Orleans  on  December  28,  1817,  the 
eighth  of  ten  children  of  Isaac  Sparrow  and  Mercy  Snow,  who  were  mar- 
ried in  Eastham  on  December  31,  1801. 1  Isaac,  who  may  have  been  Josiah 
Sturgis'  agent  in  Orleans  for  a  time  (it  may  also  have  been  Josiah's  brother 
Isaac),  died  in  1843,  and  Josiah  Sparrow  bought  part  of  his  father's  estate 
from  his  sister  Emeline.2 

Josiah  Sparrow  II  is  listed  as  a  "tombstone  cutter"  in  both  his  mar- 
riage and  death  records.  On  February  3, 1842,  he  married  Lucinda  Linnell 
in  Eastham.  She  was  the  daughter  of  Josiah  Linnell  and  Elizabeth 
Nickerson  and  a  younger  sister  of  Oliver  Nickerson  Linnell,  another  carver 
whose  work  I  shall  consider  shortly.  Lucinda  died  nine  months  after  their 
marriage,  however,  and  Josiah  remarried  three  years  later,  to  Hannah  S. 
Stephens,  on  June  7,  1845,  in  Orleans.3 

It  was  in  October  of  1844  that  Josiah  Sparrow  ran  his  ad  for  his 
stonecutting  shop  in  East  Orleans  and  Chatham  (see  Part  I,  in  Markers 
XIX,  Fig.  28).  His  competition  with  Jabez  Fisher,  as  we  have  seen  (Part  I, 
Fig.  29),  lasted  a  brief  three  years  before  Josiah  Sparrow  died  "of  con- 
sumption" in  Orleans  on  October  22,  1847,  not  quite  thirty  years  of  age. 
Two  months  before  his  death,  he  sold  a  portion  of  the  upland  abutting 
his  own  property  to  an  Azariah  Snow;  this  record  lists  his  occupation  as 
"wheelwright."4  His  gravestone  in  Orleans,  carved  by  Oliver  Linnell,  is 
broken  and  lying  flat  on  the  ground  (Fig.  1).  The  year  after  his  death,  his 
property  was  sold  at  auction.5 

Josiah  Sparrow  had  owned  one-eighth  of  a  grist  mill  in  common  with 
a  Daniel  Higgins  and  some  others.  This  may  be  the  father  of  Daniel 
Higgins,  Jr.,  another  Orleans  carver  who  died  at  an  early  age  (to  be  dis- 
cussed below).  The  1858  Wallings  map  of  the  Cape  shows  a  "marble  shop" 
on  the  west  side  of  Monument  Road  just  south  of  Uncle  Vicks  Way  (on  a 


James  Blachowicz  199 


modern  map).  Just  north  of  this  marble  shop  is  the  property  of  a  D. 
Higgins  -  perhaps  the  Daniel  Higgins  mentioned  in  the  deed.  This  may 
have  been  the  location  of  Josiah  Sparrow's  shop. 

Simeon  Deyo's  1890  history  of  the  county  reports  that  Sparrow's  busi- 
ness was  continued  by  Thomas  A.  Hopkins.6  Hopkins  in  turn  sold  the 
shop  to  Winthrop  M.  Crosby  in  1862  (Deyo,  p.  762),  and  Crosby  later 
passed  it  on  to  his  son  Orville.  Yet  Oliver  N.  Linnell  must  have  played  a 
part  in  this  story  -  a  part  about  which  Deyo  is  silent. 

Josiah  Sparrow  II:  Gravestones 

I  uncovered  three  probate  records  with  payments  to  Josiah  Sparrow 
for  gravestones:  the  first  two,  dated  1844,  are  for  stones  in  Eastham  and 
Yarmouth,  and  the  third,  dated  1848,  is  for  a  marker  in  Harwich.  In  ad- 
dition, I  found  two  signed  stones  (see  Appendix  Ha). 

I  have  not  been  able  to  determine  exactly  when  Josiah  Sparrow  began 
carving.  It  was  certainly  by  February  of  1842,  for  his  marriage  record  of 
that  year  records  him  as  a  "tombstone  cutter."  One  of  his  probated  stones, 
for  John  F.  Anderson,  is  dated  1835,  but  this  was  a  full  nine  years  before 
the  probate  settlement.  Anderson  died  in  Boston  and  it  may  have  taken 
some  time  to  settle  his  affairs;  and  so  the  stone  is  probably  backdated. 
The  modest  willow  and  urn  (Fig.  2)  are  cut  rather  shallowly,  and  with 
the  encrusted  lichen  it  is  not  easy  to  make  out  all  the  details,  but  the 
lettering  is  at  least  consistent  with  what  Sparrow  was  to  provide  on  later 
stones. 

Early  on,  Sparrow  cut  a  few  reddish  slate  stones,  such  as  his  signed 
markers  for  Jeremiah  Newcomb  (1842)  and  Hannah  Freeman  (1844).  Some 
have  solitary  willows  and  others  feature  small  urns  as  well.  In  the  later 
(1843)  probated  stone  for  Joshua  P.  Atwood  (Fig.  3)  in  Eastham,  how- 
ever, we  find  the  very  palpable  influence  of  William  Sturgis.  Besides  the 
obvious  debt  we  see  in  the  urn,  compare  the  drapery  on  this  stone  with 
that  on  Sturgis'  stone  for  William  J.  Freeman  (1840)  in  Sandwich  (Part  I, 
in  Markers  XIX,  Fig.  19).  Sturgis  had  placed  at  least  twenty-three  grave- 
stones in  this  area  of  the  Cape  (Orleans,  Chatham,  Harwich)  dated  be- 
tween 1825  and  1841,  and  so  Sparrow  could  have  simply  picked  up 
Sturgis'  style  from  what  he  had  observed  in  these  burial  grounds,  but  it 
is  more  likely  that  he  was  trained  by  Sturgis.  One  of  these  twenty-three 
Sturgis  stones  was  for  Josiah  Sparrow's  older  brother  Richard,  who  died 
in  1830,  when  Josiah  was  thirteen;  and  there  are  two  other  Sturgis  stones 
for  other  members  of  the  Sparrow  family. 


200 


Origins  of  Cape  Cod  Marble  Carving  II 


Fig.  2.  John  F.  Anderson,  1835,  Chatham,  Massachusetts. 
Early  stone  probated  to  Josiah  Sparrow. 


James  Blachowicz 


201 


Fig.  3.  Joshua  P.  Atwood,  1843,  Eastham,  Massachusetts. 
Probated  to  Josiah  Sparrow;  carved  in  the  style  of  William  Sturgis. 


202 


Origins  of  Cape  Cod  Marble  Carving  II 


1  •  J^fT  t-<  i  t'r  11      rfrtr  t-    J'Vf  t»  r'j) 

:'i  i  T it     i  fn  #t  ft ^i" ' .  t'7  i  <■  -t-jT'f't  7 ' 

%  \ .  J  7->  ft  ■  7 jVrW  ji  i  -f>tf)  'fjfjjfli  1 
-7>  rjirrrffji: J  ft*      »**  tr  "7-  if»-tt  1 W, 


US 


Fig.  4.  Mulford  Kendrick,  1846,  Harwich,  Massachusetts. 
Probated  to  Josiah  Sparrow. 


James  Blachowicz 


203 


mm 


1 


:l 


X  -S3  it 

FeK  G.  |ii|i 


a> 


V      ..{Kit*  r>t  *  ni"V    Ft-*  •■»  rl  <.  isrryt  j^iyffc  f><>  i-    n»  "  ■ 

"Put*!*".'    rrcfrr-mYT    fv>w   >  »j^  ju*ii  *»<:*    : 

Fig.  5.  Isaac  Sparrow,  1843,  Orleans,  Massachusetts. 
Carved  by  Josiah  Sparrow  for  his  father. 


204  Origins  of  Cape  Cod  Marble  Carving  II 


We  should  recall  at  this  point  that  when  Josiah  Sturgis  advertised  his 
Harwich  shop  in  1839,  he  included  as  his  Orleans  agent  Isaac  Sparrow  - 
either  Josiah  Sparrow's  father  (who  would  have  been  sixty-four)  or  his 
brother  (who  would  have  been  thirty-one).  Further,  a  property  transac- 
tion between  Jabez  Fisher  and  William  Sturgis  in  1840  lists  William  as 
"of  Orleans."  It  was  during  this  brief  stay  in  Orleans  that  William  Sturgis 
probably  taught  Josiah  Sparrow  to  carve.  Sparrow  was  already  twenty- 
two  in  1839,  only  eight  months  younger  than  Josiah  Sturgis.  Josiah  Spar- 
row may  even  have  been  Josiah  Sturgis'  real  agent  in  Orleans,  acting 
under  his  father  Isaac's  name.  It  would  have  been  natural  for  him  to 
have  been  tutored  by  Sturgis  rather  than  Holmes:  Holmes  was  the 
slatecarver;  Sturgis  worked  in  marble,  and  marble  was  obviously  the  fu- 
ture of  the  business. 

The  third  probated  stone  we  have  for  Josiah  Sparrow,  the  1846  marker 
for  Mulford  Kendrick  (Fig.  4),  shows  a  plainer  style. 

It  is  difficult  to  ascribe  very  many  more  stones  to  Sparrow  before 
1847,  the  year  of  his  death,  because  they  are  so  much  like  the  early  stones 
of  his  brother-in-law  Oliver  N.  Linnell.  While  they  undoubtedly  exist  in 
greater  numbers,  I  have  not  attempted  a  more  comprehensive  survey  of 
Sparrow's  body  of  work.  We  are  probably  safe  in  giving  to  him,  however, 
the  two  markers  for  his  parents,  Mercy  Sparrow  (1846)  and  Isaac  Spar- 
row (1843)  (Fig.  5).  We  have  the  Sturgis-type  drapery  again,  but  this  time 
hanging  over  a  nicely  carved  branch.  Josiah  Sparrow's  mother,  Mercy, 
died  in  December  of  1846;  Josiah  himself  was  to  die  less  than  a  year  later. 

Oliver  N.  Linnell:  Biography 

Oliver  Nickerson  Linnell  was  born  in  Orleans  on  August  5,  1816,  the 
second  of  eight  children  of  Josiah  Linnell  and  Elizabeth  Nickerson.7  Josiah 
was  listed  as  a  carpenter  in  the  1850  U.S.  Census.  Oliver  married  Adaline 
G.  Rogers,  the  daughter  of  Freeman  Higgins  Rogers  and  Margery  Crowell, 
in  Eastham  on  November  30,  1843.  They  had  nine  children.8  As  we  have 
seen,  Oliver's  sister  Lucinda  married  Josiah  Sparrow  II  in  January  of  1842, 
but  she  died  the  following  November.  It  is  after  Josiah  Sparrow's  death 
in  1847  that  Oliver  Linnell's  gravestones  begin  to  appear.  It  is  not  clear, 
however,  whether  Linnell  had  any  part  in  his  former  brother-in-law's 
business,  for  Deyo  (1890)  tells  us  that  it  was  Thomas  A.  Hopkins  who 
continued  Sparrow's  business  after  his  death  (p.  762)  and  Sparrow's  wife 
(Linnell's  sister)  had  died  five  years  before.  While  it's  possible  Linnell 
may  have  learned  carving  from  Sparrow,  it  seems  more  likely  that  he 


James  Blachowicz  205 


had  learned  with  Sparrow  from  William  Sturgis.  In  any  case,  Linnell  ul- 
timately opened  a  shop  of  his  own  in  South  Orleans. 

I  uncovered  twenty-one  probate  payments  for  gravestones  to  Oliver 
Linnell:  one  in  Dennis,  seven  in  Harwich,  including  the  earliest,  dated 
1849,  and  the  other  thirteen  in  Chatham,  the  last  dated  1867  (see  Appen- 
dix Ha).  I  did  not  search  these  records  past  1870.  A  sales  receipt  for  an- 
other stone  (in  Chatham)  is  in  the  possession  of  the  Chatham  Historical 
Society.  In  addition,  I  found  thirty  signed  stones,  dated  1845  through 
1875.  His  house  (and  his  shop  as  well?)  is  shown  on  the  1858  Wallings 
map  of  the  Cape  in  Namequoit,  in  South  Orleans  -  today  on  the  east  side 
of  Rte.  39,  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  south  of  the  junction  with  Rte.  28. 
Although  he  lived  in  South  Orleans,  Linnell's  clientele  was  concentrated 
in  Chatham.  The  1852  Massachusetts  Register  lists  a  "Geo.  Linell"  as  a 
marble  manufacturer  in  South  Orleans:  this  is  either  an  error  or  perhaps 
a  reference  to  Oliver's  younger  brother,  George  Washington  Linnell,  born 
March  17,  1824.  George  married  an  Elizabeth  Kelley  and  died  in 
Olneyville,  RI.  Perhaps  Oliver  let  his  younger  brother  run  the  shop  at 
this  time.  But  in  the  1855  state  census  (p.  4),  the  1856  Massachusetts  Busi- 
ness Directory,  the  1865  state  census,  and  the  1871  New  England  Business 
Directory,  it  is  Oliver  who  is  listed  as  a  marble-worker. 

Oliver  was  involved  in  a  controversy  in  1884  concerning  the  han- 
dling of  his  brother  Josiah's  remains  after  his  death.  Josiah,  who  was  two 
years  older  than  Oliver,  had  died  on  December  1st  in  the  town  almshouse 
after  having  resided  there  for  twenty  years.  The  selectman  Freeman  Doane 
informed  Oliver  of  the  arrangements  for  his  brother's  funeral,  but  then 
changed  the  time  because  of  another  funeral  that  had  been  scheduled. 
Doane's  notification  of  this  change  was  sent  to  Oliver  in  the  mail,  but 
Oliver  did  not  collect  it  in  time.  The  Cape  Cod  Item  of  December  19th 
published  a  letter  from  Oliver  and  two  others  complaining  of  the  town's 
neglect.  Selectman  Doane  responded  by  explaining  the  circumstances, 
wondering  where  Oliver  had  been  while  his  brother's  remains  were  be- 
ing prepared  and,  more  generally,  "where  has  he  been  for  the  last  twenty 
years  that  he  has  not  made  at  least  one  visit  to  the  almshouse  to  see  that 
his  brother  was  properly  cared  for  and  made  as  comfortable  as  possible 
in  his  unfortunate  position."  Oliver  responded  to  Doane  a  week  later, 
noting  that  his  brother  Josiah  traveled  freely  from  the  almshouse,  and 
had  visited  Oliver  once  and  sometimes  twice  a  week. 

Oliver  Nickerson  Linnell  died  (of  cirrhosis)  in  Orleans  on  May  4, 1892, 
not  quite  seventy-six.  His  son,  Oliver  Herbert  Linnell,  who  was  executor 


206 


Origins  of  Cape  Cod  Marble  Carving  II 


Fig.  6.  Oliver  N.  and  Adaline  Linnell,  1892,  Orleans,  Massachusetts. 
Obelisk  possibly  carved  by  their  son,  Oliver  H.  Linnell. 


James  Blachowicz  207 


of  his  father's  estate,  was  also  a  marble-worker.  Deyo's  (1890)  history 
records  that  Oliver  Herbert  was  born  in  1849  and  took  up  the  trade  in 
1869.  There  are  three  stones,  dated  1864,  1871  and  1872,  signed  "Linnell 
&  Son,"  indicating  that  he  and  his  father  were  in  business  together  for  a 
time  (the  first  stone  is  probably  backdated).  Oliver  Herbert  opened  a 
shop  in  Wellfleet  in  1873  (Deyo,  p.  820)  and  is  listed  as  a  marble- worker 
in  his  marriage  that  year  to  Augusta  Knowles.  I  found  four  stones  signed 
"O.  H.  Linnell";  one  of  these,  dated  1879,  includes  "Orleans"  after  his 
signature.  But  he  moved  to  another  location  in  Wellfleet  in  1879,  adding 
an  undertaking  business  (Deyo,  pp.  806-7).  In  1885,  he  bought  a  new 
place  of  business,  which  was  still  in  operation  in  1890.  He  signed  the 
thick,  sculpted  marble  marker  for  Thankful  Snow  (1883)  in  the  Method- 
ist Cemetery  in  Truro;  and  perhaps  he  carved  the  marble  obelisk  for  his 
father  and  mother  that  marks  their  graves  in  Orleans  Cemetery  (Fig.  6). 

Oliver  N.  Linnell:  Gravestones 

As  was  the  case  with  Josiah  Sparrow,  I  have  not  determined  exactly 
when  Linnell  started  to  carve  gravestones.  He  was  a  year  older  than  Spar- 
row and  might  have  learned  to  carve  at  the  same  time,  perhaps  also 
from  William  Sturgis.  He  carved  Josiah  Sparrow's  own  1847  gravestone 
(Fig.  1)  while  still  in  his  twenties.  We  can  see  how  close  his  design  and 
lettering  are  to  those  of  Sparrow:  compare  his  stone  for  Sparrow  to 
Sparrow's  marker  for  his  father  Isaac  Sparrow  (Fig.  5).  Although  it  is  not 
very  evident  on  these  two  stones  in  particular,  one  subtle  difference  be- 
tween Sparrow's  and  Linnell's  draperies  may  be  in  the  space  each  carver 
allows  below  the  left  and  right  rings:  Sparrow  tended  to  straighten  out 
the  left  and  right  drapes,  that  is,  resume  a  vertical  line,  earlier  than  did 
Linnell. 

Besides  what  looks  like  a  tree  branch,  Linnell  also  used  a  more  plant- 
like (ivy?)  sprig  for  his  main  decorative  feature,  as  on  the  1851  probated 
stone  for  Lumbert  Nickerson  (Fig.  7).  Note  also  the  curved  serif  at  the 
top  of  the  "1":  this  is  also  helpful  in  distinguishing  Linnell's  from 
Sparrow's  lettering,  where  a  straight  serif  is  used. 

Linnell's  large  1854  stone  for  Lusha  Snow  (Fig.  8)  in  Orleans  is  ini- 
tialed (Linnell  would  initial  or  sign  many  of  his  stones).  Besides  the  very 
carefully  carved  features  and  long  epitaph,  it  bears  a  rather  simplified 
Sturgis-style  urn,  a  plain  willow,  Linnell's  characteristic  drapery,  and  a 
rectangular  panel  for  the  deceased's  name  which  has  a  border  that  re- 
sembles stitching.9  This  border  is  a  common  feature  on  his  stones,  but 


208 


Origins  of  Cape  Cod  Marble  Carving  II 


Fig.  7.  Lumbert  Nickerson,  1851,  Chatham,  Massachusetts. 
Probated  to  Oliver  N.  Linnell. 


James  Blachowicz 


209 


Tlian  hfi.fi,  lr.fi,  nr.Wnl  hr.  rf  aa.rli  ?m  n  rliinrA, 
ft  ml,  fi  rrtl  of'f  Jillrr  f.lt.ttlJii'i.th-m  fii/r  r<  iirT-  • 
1  hi  tieh  n  in-Iiir.w.i'fiR  fi,1,1h]i  rlvpm-ltrvclilirerli 

lh  a  1 1  Jiff  tf  7  rff  i*.t  «■/  Ti  Tlfjh.i.  r.ir.tfwplr.  ruifl  a,* 
n  i-j'jir  F.1j-i>n,fTn'*ti'i44i1v1il\tnnif._itiliif.i't>.  n  « 

i-ii'lr  /)  ff  n  rf  fi  )•  /irf.j  .'  Ji  i,i«i/f  rrrn  roni  rjf«ti« 
i:/ifi-f  l/imi  f.ii-t  fifrr.  f'i'4i%it  f.(ii'r(ni]i«ni  i 
mi.rl,  rl.rnili  ,ir  I  7l.ly  rji/il*lav  11  nil?  sf»j'«  ur f  fl 
Di.rrifi  no  i<  Hi. fir  nr,n,rli  ilfiilJtp  jji  n  l-itin.tifjftflhr 
i-r  t  is.vi-c.r  iifi  1 1,  rivruzii  rtf. frill,  <>  IJl  <??:  i4i,fiiC.ri,iw  ti,. 

frfiiir.  ri'ntin   rt.lt  ri.  ni  i ,.^f.  11'1,'n'if,  riiilf 
If.  th^ll  wJlrfailc,:<lf;JJy,rti.: 
Tf"h,iT,r.  rtfj,i,-i-l,if'r.!?:ffl.ti'i'W<'tji<'t^ 
JtMTi^ii*imiihT,i<'r*'<1ilT,,hJi\'i<i,iilAi:}> 
T1trii:<nli4,  Jn/Jq;itiii';f1i^fi/)'  n. 


'*;%: 


Fig.  8.  Lusha  Snow,  1854,  Orleans,  Massachusetts. 
Signed  (initialed)  by  Oliver  N.  Linnell. 


210 


Origins  of  Cape  Cod  Marble  Carving  II 


;,;.;-::„,i;c 


BBH 


& 


5?  * 


?  *N  f?T>  n*Ht*r7,rjh 


r   >  >  r-A 


Fig.  9.  Esther  Nickerson,  1851,  Chatham,  Massachusetts. 
Linnell  stone  with  positive-relief  lettering. 


James  Blachowicz 


211 


Fig.  10.  Abner  Rogers,  1878,  Orleans,  Massachusetts. 
Late  Linnell  willow. 


212 


Origins  of  Cape  Cod  Marble  Carving  II 


m 


X 


Fig.  11.  Cecelia  Lewis,  1848,  Chatham,  Massachusetts. 
Probably  carved  by  Oliver  N.  Linnell. 


James  Blachowicz 


213 


Fig.  12.  Augustus  H.  Eldridge,  1864,  South  Chatham,  Massachusetts. 
Probably  carved  by  Oliver  N.  Linnell. 


214  Origins  of  Cape  Cod  Marble  Carving  II 


Thomas  A.  Hopkins  also  uses  it.  We  saw  that  Jabez  Fisher  carves  a  simi- 
lar urn  and  willow  on  at  least  two  stones  around  1839;  while  I  assume 
that  Linnell  was  here  imitating  Sturgis'  style  directly,  it  is  not  impossible 
he  was  under  Fisher's  influence. 

It  is  difficult  to  distinguish  Linnell's  work  from  that  of  Thomas  A. 
Hopkins,  as  we  shall  shortly  see.  What  may  be  a  help  is  the  horizontal 
device  Linnell  uses  to  separate  the  date  from  the  epitaph  on  the  Lusha 
Snow  stone  as  well  as  on  many  others. 

On  a  great  many  of  his  gravestones,  Linnell  does  not  chisel  out  the 
lettering,  but  chisels  the  stone  away  from  the  letters,  leaving  the  entire 
inscription  in  high  (positive)  relief,  such  as  on  the  1851  stone  for  Esther 
Nickerson  (Fig.  9)  (William  Sturgis  had  produced  a  few  such  stones  as 
well).  This  certainly  produces  a  distinctive  effect,  but  it  also  involves 
considerably  more  work  -  which  may  explain  why  he  abandons  this  tech- 
nique later.  We  can  also  note  the  nice  symmetrical  willow  he  places  on 
this  stone,  another  Sturgis-inspired  design.  He  uses  this  willow  frequently, 
even  on  some  differently-shaped  later  stones,  such  as  that  for  Abner 
Rogers  (1878)  (Fig.  10),  which  he  carved  at  the  age  of  sixty-two.  The  shape 
of  this  marker  closely  resembles  that  which  Jabez  Fisher  had  used  in  the 
1850s,  such  as  on  the  1857  stone  for  Samuel  S.  Crocker  (Part  I,  in  Markers 
XIX,  Fig.  43).  We  also  find  this  type  of  tree  on  the  1857  marker  for  Daniel 
Higgins,  Jr.  (see  Fig.  16).  Linnell  shares  with  Jabez  Fisher  the  distinction 
of  having  carved  the  gravestones  for  at  least  two  other  stonecutters: 
Holmes  and  Sturgis  in  the  case  of  Fisher;  Sparrow  and  Higgins  (and 
possibly  Winslow  as  well)  in  the  case  of  Linnell. 

From  time  to  time,  Linnell  used  additional  decorative  devices  in  his 
work:  he  has  a  quite  realistic  human  hand  on  his  1848  stone  for  Cecelia 
Lewis  (Fig.  11),  an  American  flag  with  six  stars  (but  no  stripes)  on  his 
1864  marker  for  a  Civil  War  soldier,  Augustus  H.  Eldridge  (Fig.  12),  and 
a  flag  on  the  signed  1864  stone  for  Benjamin  F.  Bassett,  another  Civil  War 
casualty,  in  Chatham.  He  may  also  be  responsible  for  the  fine  masted 
sailing  vessel  on  the  marker  for  Capt.  Samuel  Eldridge  (1850)  in  Harwich. 
His  final  stones  into  the  1880s,  however,  tend  to  be  plain,  with  fewer 
decorative  features. 

Thomas  A.  Hopkins:  Biography 

Thomas  Arey  Hopkins  was  born  in  Orleans  in  1826,  the  third  of  at  least 
four  children  of  Elisha  Hopkins  and  Sukey  Arey,  who  were  married  in 
Orleans  on  March  2,  1815. 1()  Thomas  married  Ezildah  Taylor11  in  Orleans 


James  Blachowicz  215 


on  December  11,  1848.12  They  had  at  least  three  children.13  Deyo  tells  us 
that  Hopkins  continued  Josiah  Sparrow's  marble  factory  after  Sparrow's 
death  in  1847  (p.  762).  Hopkins  would  have  just  turned  twenty-one  and 
was  ready  to  assume  principal  responsibility  for  his  own  business.  The 
1850-51  Massachusetts  State  Directory,  the  1852  Massachusetts  Register,  and 
the  1856  Massachusetts  Business  Directory  each  list  Thomas  Hopkins  as  a 
marble  manufacturer  in  Orleans  -  the  latter  two  entries  specifying  "East" 
Orleans.  In  the  1855  state  census,  Hopkins  is  a  "mechanic." 

It  is  strange  that  Deyo  does  not  also  mention  Oliver  N.  Linnell.  The 
fact  that  Linnell's  style  is  so  close  to  both  Sparrow's  and  Hopkins'  sug- 
gests a  professional  relation  among  these  three  men.  Since  Hopkins'  de- 
signs owed  much  to  Linnell,  it  may  have  been  Linnell  who  took  over 
Sparrow's  shop  rather  than  Hopkins,  at  least  at  first.  Perhaps  Deyo,  writ- 
ing forty  years  after  the  fact,  did  not  quite  get  the  whole  story. 

The  1858  Wallings  map  of  the  Cape  shows  the  house  of  T.  A.  Hopkins 
on  the  south  side  of  Tonset  Road,  about  an  eighth  mile  west  of  the  junc- 
tion with  Hopkins  Lane.  In  1861,  however,  Thomas  Hopkins  bought  an 
acre  of  land  with  a  house,  barn,  and  other  buildings  from  his  father  for 
$2,100  -  today  just  south  of  Main  Street  and  about  an  eighth  mile  south- 
east of  Tonset  Road.14  This  was  probably  the  family  homestead.  It  was  in 
1861  that  Hopkins  also  served  as  town  clerk,  according  to  Deyo  (p.  759). 

In  the  1860  U.S.  Census,  Hopkins,  listed  as  a  marble- worker,  is  shown 
as  living  with  his  wife  and  his  children  Eldora  and  Nathaniel;  in  this 
household  as  well  is  Winthrop  M.  Crosby,  aged  twenty,  also  a  marble- 
worker  (Deyo,  p.  874).  In  1862,  Deyo  reports  (p.  874)  that  Hopkins  sold 
his  marble  factory  to  Crosby.  Although  my  sampling  of  Hopkins'  mark- 
ers was  not  very  large,  it  is  perhaps  significant  that  the  latest  of  his  stones 
I  have  listed  is  dated  1860.  Hopkins  may  in  fact  have  given  up  stonecutting 
altogether  after  he  sold  his  shop  to  Crosby. 

In  1865,  Thomas  Hopkins  mortgaged  his  home  for  $1200. 15  This  was 
only  about  a  quarter  mile  north  of  the  marble  shop  shown  on  the  Wallings 
map.  In  1866,  he  appears  to  have  mortgaged  it  again  to  a  Reuben 
Chapman,16  and  the  same  year  yet  again  to  James  F.  Eldridge,17  selling  it 
outright  to  Eldridge  in  1899.18  In  this  last  transaction,  Hopkins  signed 
the  documents  in  Brockton,  Massachusetts.  I  have  not  determined 
whether  he  was  residing  there  at  the  time. 

Thomas  A.  Hopkins  died  in  1909  at  the  age  of  eighty-three  and  is 
buried  with  his  wife  beneath  a  granite  monument  in  the  newer  section  of 
Orleans  Cemetery. 


216  Origins  of  Cape  Cod  Marble  Carving  II 


Thomas  A.  Hopkins:  Gravestones 

I  found  eleven  payments  to  Thomas  A.  Hopkins  in  Barnstable  County 
probate  records  through  1870  (see  Appendix  Ha).  Five  of  these  stones 
were  in  Orleans,  four  in  Truro,  and  one  each  in  Brewster  and  Wellfleet. 
These  records  are  dated  from  1849  through  1862.  I  was  able  to  find  eight 
of  these  stones,  and  located  ten  signed  stones  as  well. 

It  is  apparent  that  Hopkins'  work  is  very  much  like  that  of  Sparrow 
and  Linnell.  Hopkins  was  ten  years  younger  than  Linnell,  however,  and 
may  not  have  been  old  enough  (thirteen)  in  1839  to  have  had  a  chance  to 
learn  stonecutting  from  William  Sturgis.  Yet  I  think  it  was  probably 
Hopkins  who  carved  the  stone  for  Joanna  Smith  (1842),  which  is  very 
similar  to  his  probated  stone  for  Knowles  Smith  (1849).  The  Joanna  Smith 
marker  features  a  symmetrical  willow  very  like  Linnell's  and  lettering 
that  could  be  either  Sparrow's  or  Linnell's.  It  seems  almost  too  well  carved 
to  have  been  made  by  Hopkins  in  1842,  when  he  was  sixteen;  perhaps  it 
is  backdated. 

Hopkins'  membership  in  the  Sturgis-Sparrow-Linnell  school  of  de- 
sign is  obvious,  however,  in  his  probated  1854  stone  for  Sarah  Doane 
(Fig.  13).  Besides  the  drapery,  the  urn  and  willow  seem  almost  a  copy  of 
Linnell's  work  on  his  1854  marker  for  Lusha  Snow  (see  Fig.  8),  dated  the 
same  year  -  suggesting  that  Hopkins  worked  most  closely  with  Linnell. 
The  same  features  reappear  on  Hopkins'  1853  probated  stone  for 
Archelaus  Smith  (Fig.  14).  The  squared-off  bottom  of  the  "7"  here  is  also 
found  in  Linnell's  work. 

The  very  close  similarity  in  their  styles  of  carving  and  lettering  is  evi- 
dent from  a  comparison  of  Linnell's  probated  Lusha  Snow  stone  (Fig.  8) 
with  Hopkins'  probated  Sarah  Doane  stone  (Fig.  13):  without  the  probate 
documentation,  one  would  easily  judge  both  stones  to  have  been  the  work 
of  the  same  man  (of  course,  it  is  also  possible  that  one  of  the  two  carvers 
lettered  a  number  of  the  other's  stones).  One  small  element  that  might  be 
used  as  a  means  for  distinguishing  Linnell  from  Hopkins  is  the  horizontal 
design  element  each  carver  uses  beneath  the  date:  on  most  of  Linnell's 
stones  (such  on  the  Lusha  Snow  marker),  this  device  is  made  up  of  a  drill 
point  flanked  on  the  left  and  right  by  a  kind  of  horizontal  tear-drop;  on 
Hopkins'  stones  (such  as  on  the  marker  for  Archelaus  Smith),  on  the  other 
hand,  we  find  two  small  diamond-shaped  incisions  connected  by  a  hori- 
zontal line  that  extends  both  left  and  right  beyond  the  diamonds. 

Hopkins  also  used  the  symmetrical  willow  Linnell  favored;  we  find  it 


James  Blachowicz 


217 


Fig.  13.  Sarah  Doane,  1854,  Wellfleet,  Massachusetts. 
Probated  to  Thomas  A.  Hopkins. 


218 


Origins  of  Cape  Cod  Marble  Carving  II 


Fig.  14.  Archelaus  Smith,  1853,  Truro,  Massachusetts. 
Probated  to  Thomas  A.  Hopkins. 


James  Blachowicz  219 


on  two  of  Hopkins'  signed  stones.  In  general,  Linnell's  willow  is  wider 
(squarer)  than  Hopkins',  with  thicker  branches. 

Daniel  Higgins,  Jr.:  Biography 

Daniel  Higgins,  Jr.  was  born  in  Orleans  on  May  6,  1837,  the  youngest 
of  four  children  born  to  Daniel  Higgins  and  Elizabeth  Sparrow.19  Daniel, 
Sr.  appears  in  a  few  records  as  a  carpenter,  but  in  the  1855  state  census 
(p.  12)  he  is  listed  as  a  farmer,  and  Daniel,  Jr.,  aged  eighteen,  is  listed  as  a 
marble-worker.  Daniel  Jr.  did  not  marry  and  died  on  October  8,  1857  - 
the  only  fatality  among  the  twenty-two  passengers  aboard  the  schooner 
Harriet  Maria,  which  was  rammed  by  the  steamer  Niagara  in  Boston 
harbor.  The  Boston  Herald  of  October  9th  reported  the  incident  (see  Fig. 
15).  Daniel  was  twenty  years  old.  The  Jesse  Sparrow  who  was  also  a  pas- 
senger on  the  schooner  may  have  been  Daniel's  brother-in-law,  who 
married  Daniel's  sister  Betsy;  and  Elisha  Hopkins  was  probably  either 
the  father  or  brother  of  the  stonecutter  Thomas  A.  Hopkins.  The  Orleans 
record  of  Daniel's  death  lists  his  occupation  as  "stonecutter."  His  grave- 
stone in  Orleans  Cemetery  (Fig.  16)  was  carved  by  Oliver  Linnell. 

Daniel  Higgins,  Jr.:  Gravestones 

I  uncovered  a  single  probate  payment  to  Daniel  Higgins  for  grave- 
stones -  this,  despite  the  fact  that  he  was  under  twenty-one  at  the  time 
(unless  it  was  his  father  who  was  being  paid  for  his  work?).  I  also  found 
three  signed  stones  (see  Appendix  Ha). 

The  1855  probated  stone  for  Thomas  Watkins  (Fig.  17)  bears  no  deco- 
ration. His  signed  1855  marker  for  Thomas  Higgins  (Fig.  18),  dated  only 
about  one  week  after  the  Watkins  stone,  is  more  carefully  carved.  Note 
the  shape  of  the  rectangular  panel  in  which  the  deceased's  name  is  in- 
scribed and  compare  this  to  the  panel  used  by  Thomas  Hopkins  on  his 
stone  for  Sarah  Doane  (Fig.  13).  All  of  these  stonecutters  were  living  in 
Orleans.  It  is  quite  likely  that  young  Daniel  Higgins,  Jr.,  only  eighteen  in 
1855,  had  studied  with  Linnell  and/or  Hopkins.  Higgins  signed  the  fairly 
large  marble  obelisk  for  Lottie  M.  Howes  (1856)  in  Chatham.  While  the 
monument  itself  is  fairly  simple,  there  is  a  mourning  drapery  carved  in 
high  relief  on  one  of  the  sides  of  the  base. 

Winthrop  M.  and  Henry  T.  Crosby:  Biography 

The  1860  U.S.  Census  records  that  Withrop  M.  Crosby,  then  twenty 
years  of  age,  was  living  in  the  household  of  Thomas  A.  Hopkins;  and 


220  Origins  of  Cape  Cod  Marble  Carving  II 


AFFAIRS  ABOUT  HOME. 

Bad  At^ldont  la  the  Harbor* 

On*  Mah  Dhowhed  ato  Tytzsty-owr  Res- 
cued. Tb*  schooner  Harriet  Maria,  Capt.  8.  N. 
Smith,  from  this  port  yesterday  afternoon  for 
Orleans,  Capo  Cod,  was  struck  amidships  when 
wlCbip  a  mile  of  the  outer  light,  by  the  steamer 
Niagara,  on  1«jt  way  to  thiB  port  from  Halifax, 
causing  her  to  Biuk  in  a  few  minutes.  There 
were  twenty-two  persons  on  board  the  schooner, 
all  of  whom,  with  the  exception  of  Mr.  Daniel 
Higginfc,  of  Orleans,  wcro  saved.  The  names  of 
those  saved  are  Jonathan  Higgins,  Elisha  Hop- 
kins, Jonathan  Young,  Rev.  Mr.  Atkinson, 
Je6sc  Sparrow,  Josiah  Knowles  and  wife,  Jesse 
C.  Snow,  and  Jesse  C.  Snow,  Jr.,  all  of  Orleans; 
Mrs.  Lucy  Snow  and  daughter,  and  Henry 
Knowles,  of  Eastham;  Solomon  Croby,  stew- 
ard; Sylvanus  Freeman,  seaman;  and  David 
King.  They  saved  nothing  but  what  they  stood  in. 
At  the  time  of  the  collision  the  passengers,  for 
the  most  part,  were  in  bed,  and  the  shock  threw 
them  violently  from  their  berths.  Isaac  Lcu- 
nell,  mate  of  the  schooner,  immediately  lower- 
ed the  boat  and  took  them  all  aboard.  It  is  said 
that  Capt.  Smith  had  no  light  out  at  the  time  of 
the  disaster.  His  vessel  was  about  05  tons  bur- 
then, ami  two  years  old.  She  was  owned  by 
various  parties  at  Orleans,  and  was  not  insured. 
The  cargo  was  valued  at  $5000,  and  was  unin- 
sured. The  steamer  did  not  see  the  schooner 
until  quite  upon  her.  The  engines  wero  at  once 
reversed,  and  every  effort  that  the  circumstances 
required  was  made. 

Fig.  15.  Notice  of  the  shipwreck  which  took  the  life 
of  Daniel  Higgins,  Jr.,  1857. 


James  Blachowicz 


221 


Fig.  16.  Daniel  Higgins,  Jr.,  1857,  Orleans,  Massachusetts. 
Carved  by  Oliver  N.  Linnell. 


222 


Origins  of  Cape  Cod  Marble  Carving  II 


<m 


m 


Fig.  17.  Thomas  Watkins,  1855,  Truro,  Massachusetts. 
Probated  to  Daniel  Higgins,  Jr. 


James  Blachowicz 


223 


■•Mii^r^ 


"    '    •*»  ' 


^  AT 


^\e rl    (Yrt.     K;'.tS,~.-: 


Fig.  18.  Thomas  Higgins,  1855,  Orleans,  Massachusetts. 
Signed  by  Daniel  Higgins,  Jr. 


224  Origins  of  Cape  Cod  Marble  Carving  II 


Deyo,  as  we  have  seen,  reports  that  Thomas  A.  Hopkins  sold  his 
stonecutting  shop  in  Orleans  to  his  apprentice  Crosby  in  1862  (p.  762). 
At  the  time  of  the  sale,  Hopkins  would  have  been  only  thirty-six,  while 
Winthrop  would  have  been  twenty-two  and  his  brother  Henry  seven- 
teen. Winthrop  was  born  in  1840,  the  eldest  of  at  least  three  children  of 
Joshua  Crosby  and  Thankful  Baker,  who  were  married  on  November  3, 
1829.20  Joshua  was  born  November  22,  1809.  According  to  Deyo,  his  fa- 
ther and  grandfather  were  also  named  Joshua  -  the  father  having  served 
with  Commodore  Perry  on  Lake  Erie.  Winthrop  Crosby  married  Etta 
(Marietta)  F.  Ryder,  who  was  born  in  1846;  as  of  1890,  according  to  Deyo, 
they  had  one  son,  Orville  W.  (p.  768),  who  was  born  in  1867. 

Winthrop  Crosby  had  been  in  the  marble  and  granite  business  in 
Orleans,  Deyo  says,  since  I860,2'  that  is,  from  the  time  he  was  living  with 
Hopkins.  Perhaps  Hopkins  took  Winthrop  on  in  1857,  when  Winthrop 
was  seventeen,  in  order  to  replace  Daniel  Higgins,  Jr.,  who  had  died  tragi- 
cally that  year  at  the  age  of  twenty.  Crosby  lived  near  Hopkins,  buying  a 
right-of-way  across  Hopkins'  land  in  1870  from  the  same  man  Hopkins 
had  earlier  mortgaged  his  property  to.22 

Winthrop  Crosby  remodeled  the  shop  in  1886  and  it  was  still  there  in 
1890  (the  year  of  publication  of  Deyo's  history).  We  also  learn  from  Deyo 
that  Winthrop  served  as  town  selectman  from  1882  through  1891  and 
that  he  passed  on  his  marble  shop  to  his  son  Orville  (p.  759).  Winthrop 
Crosby  died  in  1912  at  the  age  of  seventy-two  and  is  buried  in  Orleans 
Cemetery. 

Winthrop's  younger  brother,  Henry  Thomas  Crosby,  born  in  Orleans 
on  September  21, 1845,  was  also  a  stonecutter.  In  1873,  according  to  Deyo, 
he  moved  to  Harwich  and  opened  a  marble  and  granite  shop,  a  business 
in  which  he  was  engaged  since  1866  (pp.  850;  870).  The  Harwich  shop 
was  located  on  Great  Western  Road  a  little  west  of  the  lane  that  runs 
north  into  Island  Pond  Cemetery.  It  is  still  in  operation  today  at  672  Main 
St.  and  still  bears  the  name  "Henry  T.  Crosby  &  Son"  on  its  front. 

Henry  married  Eliza  Doane  Snow  in  1870  and  had  three  sons:  Wilfred 
Henry,  Bertram  D.,  and  Orwell  S.  In  1896,  Henry  mortgaged  for  $1,800.00 
a  property  in  Harwich  that  included  a  lot  with  a  house  and  other  build- 
ings, a  second  lot  that  included  his  marble  shop,  a  cranberry  bog,  and  a 
third  lot  in  the  village  of  Whitman.23  Henry  Crosby  died  on  March  7, 
1915,  not  quite  seventy,  and  is  buried  in  Island  Pond  Cemetery  in 
Harwich.24  There  is  a  payment  for  his  monument  in  his  probate  papers 
to  his  son  Bertram,  who  himself  became  a  stonecutter. 


James  Blachowicz  225 


There  is  a  stone  dated  1876  which  is  signed  "Crosby  Bros.,  Harwich" 
(see  below):  this  does  not  necessarily  mean,  however,  that  Winthrop  had 
come  to  join  Henry  in  Harwich.  They  could  still  have  been  partners  run- 
ning two  shops,  one  in  Harwich  and  one  in  Orleans. 

Winthrop  M.  and  Henry  T.  Crosby:  Gravestones 

I  found  four  probate  payments  to  the  Crosbys,  three  to  Winthrop  and 
one  to  a  "B.  Crosby,"  probably  Henry's  son  Bertram,  for  the  monument 
for  Henry's  own  grave.  One  of  the  first  three  probated  stones  is  also  signed 
by  Winthrop;  this  is  the  1861  marker  for  Capt.  Stephen  Collins  (Fig.  19) 
in  the  Methodist  Cemetery  in  Truro.  I  also  found  fifteen  other  markers 
signed  by  the  Crosbys  -  enough  to  get  a  fairly  good  idea  of  their  work. 

Henry  Crosby  signed  the  stone  for  George  W.  Nickerson  (1864)  in 
Chatham;  this  features  a  nicely  sculpted  anchor.  Henry  must  have  carved 
it  at  about  the  time  he  turned  twenty-one.  There  is  a  rather  plain  1874 
marble  stone  for  Levi  Long  (Fig.  20)  in  the  burial  ground  adjoining  the 
Congregational  Church  in  Harwich  which  is  signed  "Crosby,  Harwich" 
-  evidently  the  work  of  Henry.  This  features  an  Old  English  letter  "L" 
within  a  medallion  at  the  top  -  the  same  device  used  on  the  1876  marker 
for  Albert  F.  Wixon  in  Dennis  Port's  Swan  Lake  Cemetery.  But  the  Wixon 
stone  is  signed  "Crosby  Bros.,  Harwich."  Henry  also  signed  the  marble 
obelisk  for  Capt.  Davis  Wixon  (1875)  in  Harwich  and  the  large  granite 
monuments  for  Nathaniel  Doane  (1895)  in  Harwichport  and  William 
Handren  (1897)  in  Dennis  Port. 

According  to  a  late  Nineteenth-Century  advertisement  for  the  Or- 
leans Monumental  Works  in  a  celebratory  volume  for  the  town,  Winthrop 
was  responsible  for  the  large  Civil  War  monument  (a  bronze  statue  of  a 
soldier)  erected  near  the  town  hall  in  Orleans  in  1883  (Fig.  21).  No  doubt 
he  fashioned  only  the  large  stone  base,  and  was  not  responsible  for  the 
bronze.  The  business,  the  ad  informs  us,  is  now  run  by  Orville  W.  Crosby, 
Winthrop's  son. 

I  only  recently  came  across  three  marble  markers  signed  "E.  E.  Crosby" 
in  Harwich  and  Chatham.  Two  of  these  signatures,  on  stones  dated  1863 
and  1878,  designate  "H.  Port"  (no  doubt  Harwichport),  while  the  third, 
dated  1879,  shows  "Orleans."  There  was  an  Elijah  E.  Crosby  born  to  Elijah 
Crosby  of  Chatham  and  Emeline  Taylor  after  1841  (Deyo,  p.  611),  but  I 
have  not  determined  whether  this  is  the  carver  or  how  he  might  be  re- 
lated to  the  earlier  Crosbys. 


226 


Origins  of  Cape  Cod  Marble  Carving  II 


Fig.  19.  Capt.  Stephen  Collins,  1861,  Truro,  Massachusetts. 
Signed:  "W.  M.  Crosby,  Orleans". 


James  Blachowicz 


227 


Fig.  20.  Levi  Long,  1874,  Harwich,  Massachusetts. 
Signed:  "Crosby,  Harwich";  probably  Henry  T.  Crosby. 


228 


Origins  of  Cape  Cod  Marble  Carving  II 


Fig.  21.  Soldiers  Monument,  1883,  Orleans,  Massachusetts. 
Stone  base  made  by  Winthrop  M.  Crosby. 


James  Blachowicz  229 


The  Sandwich  Carvers 

James  Thompson:  Biography 

A  "}.  Thompson,  Sandwich"  signed  the  stone  for  Abby  P.  Linnell  (1851) 
in  the  Congregational  Church  Cemetery  in  Centerville,  on  the  Cape. 
Another  stone  in  Centerville  shows  "J.  T.,  Sandwich."  There  are  also  thir- 
teen probate  citations,  dated  1851  through  1866,  which  pay  James  Th- 
ompson: eight  in  Dukes  County  records  are  for  stones  on  Martha's 
Vineyard,  three  in  Barnstable  County  records  are  for  stones  in  Falmouth, 
and  two  in  Plymouth  County  records  are  for  a  stone  in  Plymouth 
(Chiltonville)  and  another  in  Kingston  (see  Appendix  Ha;  as  we  shall 
see,  however,  not  all  of  these  stones  were  carved  by  Thompson  himself). 
The  1856  Massachusetts  Business  Directory  includes  a  listing  for  a  marble 
shop  in  Sandwich  belonging  to  James  Thompson.  Other  records  con- 
firm that  this  was  the  James  Thompson  born  in  Kingston  on  September 
5,  1826.  His  younger  brother  Harris  was  also  a  stonecutter,  but  he  died  in 
Kingston  in  1849,  having  just  turned  twenty-one  (he  is  included  in  my 
discussion  of  the  carvers  of  Kingston,  which  appeared  in  Markers  XVIII). 
James  and  Harris  were  the  fourth  and  fifth  of  at  least  eight  children  of 
Solomon  Thompson  and  Harriet  Thompson  (same  surname),  who  were 
married  in  Halifax  on  November  2, 1817.25  Harriet  was  the  youngest  child 
of  the  Middleboro  carver  Isaac  Tomson/Thompson  and  the  sister  of  the 
carver  George  Thompson.  She  gave  birth  to  twins  in  1833;  they  died  two 
weeks  later,  and  Harriet  died  three  weeks  after  that.  Solomon  Thompson 
remarried  less  than  a  year  later,  in  Plympton,  on  July  20,  1834,  to  Mary 
MacLauthlen,  widow  of  Peleg  Simmons. 

I  have  not  determined  from  whom  James  and  Harris  Thompson 
learned  to  carve.  It  may  have  been  from  their  uncle  George  Thompson 
in  Middleboro;  but  as  far  as  I  can  tell,  the  brothers  were  residents  of 
Kingston.  It  is  quite  possible,  therefore,  that  Hiram  Tribble  of  Kingston 
was  their  teacher. 

The  fact  that  Harris  signed  a  stone  in  Kingston  (dated  1848,  but  prob- 
ably carved  in  1849  just  before  he  died),  despite  being  only  twenty-one 
and  two  years  younger  than  James,  indicates  that  James  had  already  left 
for  Sandwich  in  or  shortly  before  1849.  This  is  confirmed  by  James'  prop- 
erty transactions  in  Sandwich,  as  we  shall  see.  Yet  James  is  still  shown  as 
officially  residing  in  his  father's  house  in  Kingston  in  the  1850  U.S.  Cen- 
sus (where  he  is  listed  as  a  "stonecutter";  p.  49).  He  would  not  legally 
transfer  his  residence  to  Sandwich  until  1852.  It  is  possible  that  James 
was  accompanied  by  some  or  all  of  his  family:  his  younger  sister  Harriet 


230  Origins  of  Cape  Cod  Marble  Carving  II 


would  marry  in  Sandwich  in  1856,  and  his  older  sister  Maria  Louisa  would 
die  there  in  1903.  Or  perhaps  they  joined  him  later. 

It  was  also  in  1849  that  the  New  England  Mercantile  Union  Business 
Directory  included  a  listing  for  "John  Sturgis  &  Co."  in  Sandwich  -  the 
only  listing  for  a  marble  shop  in  the  town.  As  we  saw  in  Part  I  of  this 
study  (Markers  XIX),  it  was  William  Sturgis  who  had  a  marble  shop  in 
Sandwich  from  about  1840  through  1845.  William's  son  John  and  John's 
partner  Elisha  Eveleth  of  Bridgewater  probably  took  possession  of  this 
shop  (or  at  least  its  stock)  afterwards,  but  neither  man  very  likely  re- 
sided in  Sandwich.  It  was  probably  James  Thompson  who  first  ran,  and 
then  bought,  this  shop.  Some  weak  evidence  for  this  is  found  in  the  fact 
that  the  stone  for  Elisha  Gifford  (1849),  while  it  bears  a  Sturgis-type  urn, 
perhaps  carved  by  William,  is  nevertheless  probated  to  James  Thomp- 
son. There  is  a  transaction  dated  December  3,  1849  in  which  James  Th- 
ompson ("of  Sandwich")  mortgages  for  a  year  to  the  firm  of  Hyde,  Fuller 
and  Hyde  of  Castleton,  Vermont,  125  marble  slabs  ("all  the  marble  in  the 
shop  used  and  occupied  by  me  in  Sandwich").26  This  transaction  was 
witnessed  by  Elisha  Eveleth,  more  evidence  that  Thompson  was  run- 
ning the  Sturgis/Eveleth  shop.  Although  he  does  not  appear  on  the  Sand- 
wich tax  rolls  until  1852,  he  could  have  been  operating  the  shop  in 
Sandwich  as  an  employee  with  no  taxable  land  of  his  own. 

Nye's  (1920)  description27  of  the  Dexter  Grist  Mill  on  Mill  Pond 
(Shawme  Lake)  in  Sandwich  adds  one  more  important  fact  to  this  ac- 
count. It  mentions  the  erection  in  1800  of  a  woolen  mill  (the  "old  fuling 
mill")  on  the  east  side  of  the  grist  mill.  This  was  taken  down  in  1830;  but: 

. . .  later  somewhere  about  1849  the  present  building  was  erected  on  the  site 
of  the  old  fuling  mill  by  James  Thomas  [sic]  for  marble  works.  In  the  basement 
large  blocks  of  marble  were  sawed  in  shape  for  tombstones  and  polished  and 
lettered  in  the  room  above.  This  discontinued  about  1859  or  1860.  After  a 
short  time  it  was  leased  to  L.  B.  Nye  who  carried  on  the  business  of  a 
wheelright.  (p.  7). 

The  1858  Wallings  map  of  the  Cape  shows  this  "marble  shop"  at  the 
junction  of  Grove  and  Water  Streets,  at  the  northernmost  point  of  Mill 
Pond,  just  north  of  the  old  burying  ground,  and  near  the  town  hall.  This 
account  also  affirms  that  Thompson  built  the  marble  shop,  no  doubt 
bankrolled  by  John  Sturgis  and  Elisha  Eveleth.  This  implies  that  William 
Sturgis  may  have  earlier  had  only  a  modest  shop  in  Sandwich  (at  an- 
other location?). 


James  Blachowicz  231 


James  Thompson  married  Abigail  T.  Faunce  in  Sandwich  on  April 
29,  1852;  this  is  also  the  first  year  that  he  appears  on  the  Sandwich  tax 
rolls.  Abigail  died  in  Sandwich  two  years  later,  on  May  8,  1854.  It  was 
also  in  1854  that  James  Thompson  was  taxed  for  one  half  of  a  "marble 
factory":  he  had  apparently  by  this  time  become  able  to  buy  half  of  the 
Sturgis/Eveleth  property.  In  1855,  James  mortgaged  to  his  cousin  Zebulon 
Thompson  in  Rochester  (for  $600.00)  "my  shop  for  working  marble  with 
the  waterwheel  and  machinery  connected  therewith."28  This  money  ap- 
parently enabled  James  to  open  the  shop  under  his  own  name,  for  the 
following  year,  he  was  taxed  for  the  entire  property,  having  acquired  the 
rest  of  it,  most  likely,  from  the  other  of  the  two  partners.  Zebulon  was 
himself  a  marblecarver,  as  we  shall  see. 

From  October  20,  1855  (six  months  after  the  mortgage),  James  Th- 
ompson advertised  himself  in  the  Cape  Cod  Advocate  and  Nautical 
Intelligencer  as  a  "manufacturer  of  Tomb  Stones  &  Monuments,  and  Dealer 
in  American  &  Italian  marble,  near  the  Town  House,  Main  St."  The  ad 
continued  through  1857.  He  also  ran  an  ad  in  the  (Martha's)  Vineyard 
Gazette  in  1855,  informing  its  citizens  that  he  had  "taken  a  Shop  near  the 
Steamboat  Wharf,  in  Edgartown,  where  he  is  prepared  to  furnish  all  kinds 
of  Monumental  work  of  the  best  of  Italian  marble."  He  notes  that  orders 
may  be  left  at  the  shop,  or  with  his  agent,  S.  L.  Pease.  It  is  possible,  there- 
fore, that  this  "shop"  was  more  than  just  a  contact  point  for  shipping  his 
work  from  Sandwich. 

James'  younger  sister  Harriet  may  have  come  down  with  him  to  Sand- 
wich when  she  was  eighteen  in  1848.  She  married  Joshua  T.  Faunce, 
brother  of  James'  deceased  wife,  in  Sandwich  in  1856.  Joshua  came  to 
work  in  his  brother-in-law's  shop.  In  the  1856  Massachusetts  Business  Di- 
rectory, the  only  marble  shop  listed  for  Sandwich  belongs  to  James  Th- 
ompson. He  remarried,  to  Lucy  Hyde  Bassett,  in  Sandwich  on  June  26, 
1856.  He  appears  on  the  Sandwich  tax  rolls  as  a  resident  for  the  last  time 
in  1857.  On  August  11,  1857,  James  and  Lucy,  "now  or  recently  of  Sand- 
wich," as  well  as  some  of  Lucy's  siblings,  sold  a  number  of  small  tracts  of 
land  in  Harwich  that  they  had  apparently  inherited  from  Lucy's  mother, 
Lucy  Fessenden  Bassett.29  James  and  Lucy  signed  this  document  in  Bristol, 
Rhode  Island  on  September  1,  1857.  They  must  have  either  just  moved 
or  were  in  the  process  of  moving  to  New  Bedford,  Massachusetts,  for 
their  first  child,  Harris,  was  born  there  about  a  month  later.  Their  sec- 
ond and  third  children  were  also  born  in  New  Bedford,  in  1860  and  1865. 30 


232  Origins  of  Cape  Cod  Marble  Carving  II 


In  each  of  these  three  children's  birth  records  in  New  Bedford,  James 
Thompson  is  listed  as  a  marble  worker.  He  is  also  listed  as  such  in  New 
Bedford  city  directories  for  1859  and  1865  and  in  the  1860  U.S.  Census 
for  New  Bedford  (p.  710).  The  census  entry  includes  his  wife,  his  young 
son  Harris,  a  John  Bassett,  hatter,  aged  seventy-six  (probably  his  father- 
in-law),  and  an  Isaac  Carlton,  aged  nineteen,  who  is  listed  as  a  "marble 
worker's  apprentice." 

He  continued  to  advertise  his  product  late  in  1859  to  the  residents  of 
Martha's  Vineyard  with  almost  the  same  language  as  in  his  earlier  ad  in 
1855,  including  a  reference  to  his  Edgartown  "shop."  After  three  years 
in  New  Bedford,  James  Thompson  finally  put  his  Sandwich  marble  works 
up  for  sale.  In  an  ad  placed  on  January  21,  1860  in  the  Cape  Cod  Advocate 
and  Nautical  Intelligencer  (Fig.  22),  he  invites  any  interested  party  to  con- 
tact Joshua  T.  Faunce,  who  was  apparently  operating  the  shop  at  the 
time.  This  ad  is  also  noteworthy  in  that  it  describes  the  size  of  the  build- 
ing and  the  power  of  the  water  wheel  which  drove  the  marble  saws.  He 
notes  that  the  machinery  had  been  in  use  "about  6  years";  this  would 
date  it  back  to  about  1853,  that  is,  to  the  time  James  Thompson  began  to 
be  listed  on  the  Sandwich  tax  rolls.  Had  the  shop  been  built  in  1849,  and 
then  refurbished  with  new  machinery  in  1853? 

Foe  sale  at  a  Mgain ! 

■Thv.au b.-rri  her  oilers  lor  &uks  *>n  the  mot 
/avoW^le  term*,  the  valuable  properly  i a 
Mijg/i  iil.i«i'c*Vf4 Saiuiwu-h,  Uht,d  a*  a  Mkrbte  iWan- 
i if a e tor y ,  v o n*i >'t uig  v f  a  b ill J d t it g  J tt  e out p I e t e 
onh  r,  iit'hy  ^f^-f.vv  it  h  water  whirl  of  8  hwm 
power,  The .wheel I'tuiii  other  j>rop*vMy  is  in  good 
working  ottier,  having  ouly  beeu  in  use  about  C 
yc a ?&"'■*■■  /.-.,. '    ..    .        "■-'."-%  y 

■  For  rvtrth^^rUj^lii^  Yrtquire  of  JOSHUA 
TV44VW  \  V  ft*  mr  t  lie-:prtryioi>Ty;>,or  /C 

r-r,         ■*^^Ttt(naPS0N7 ' 


New  IKdford, : J"«n.  21:1999;  mM 

Fig.  22.  James  Thompson's  advertisement 
for  the  sale  of  his  Sandwich  marble  shop,  1860. 


James  Blachowicz  233 


Early  in  1861,  Thompson  issued  a  new  ad  in  the  Vineyard  Gazette,  list- 
ing his  address  as  "the  corner  of  William  and  Bethel  Sts.,  New  Bedford." 
His  ad  in  the  Gazette  in  1863  and  1864  is  headed  with  "Steam  Marble 
Works/'  at  the  same  location.  Finally,  he  announces:  "From  this  date, 
April  17,  1865  [three  days  after  Abraham  Lincoln's  assassination],  I  shall 
sell  all  kinds  of  marble  work  at  reduced  prices."  By  April  of  1868,  a  T.  W. 
Cole  informs  the  residents  of  the  Vineyard  that  he  has  taken  over 
Thompson's  New  Bedford  shop. 

James  Thompson's  carving  career  in  Sandwich  lasted  only  about  eight 
years;  and  he  had  apparently  spent  about  the  same  number  of  years  in 
New  Bedford  afterwards.  A  cursory  examination  of  New  Bedford  cem- 
eteries did  not  reveal  his  signature  on  any  gravestones.  His  move  there 
was  probably  not  very  wise:  he  arrived  at  about  the  same  time  that  oil 
was  discovered  in  Pennsylvania,  a  development  which  would  lead  to  the 
end  of  New  Bedford's  whaling  industry.  He  and  his  family  would  move 
on  to  western  New  York  shortly  after  1865.  He  is  not  listed  in  New  Bedford 
city  directories  for  1867-68. 

Lucy  Bassett  Thompson  died  in  Evans,  New  York  (now  "Evans  Cen- 
ter," on  Lake  Erie,  about  twenty-five  miles  south  of  Buffalo)  on  June  19, 
1876.  Her  obituary  in  Sandwich's  Seaside  Press  reports  that  she  was  the 
wife  of  James  Thompson,  "late  of  New  Bedford,  and  formerly  of  Sand- 
wich." One  of  Lucy's  brothers,  Gustavus  Bassett,  was  listed  as  a  resident 
of  Buffalo  in  the  deed  in  which  they  sold  their  Harwich  properties;  per- 
haps it  was  Gustavus,  twelve  years  older  than  Lucy  and  James,  who  in- 
vited his  sister  and  her  family  to  western  New  York,  an  area  that  had 
developed  quickly  after  the  opening  of  the  Erie  Canal.  James  Thompson 
may  have  worked  at  the  Gates  Marble  Works  in  Evans.  I  have  not  deter- 
mined whether  he  carved  any  gravestones  there. 

The  obituary  in  the  Sandwich  Independent  for  James  Thompson's  sister 
Harriet  Faunce,  who  died  in  Sandwich  on  April  16,  1909,  reports  that 
she  is  survived  by  a  "brother  James,  of  Chatham."  Thus,  James  had  ap- 
parently made  his  way,  shortly  after  1865,  from  New  Bedford  to  Evans, 
New  York,  and  then,  sometime  after  1876,  from  Evans  to  Chatham,  Mass- 
achusetts. According  to  the  town  clerk's  records  of  Chatham,  he  died 
there  (a  resident  of  the  town)  on  October  5,  1909  of  "apoplexy"  (stroke) 
at  the  age  of  eighty-three.  This  record  confirms  that  he  was  a  marble- 
worker  and  that  his  parents  were  Solomon  and  Harriet;  it  also  states  that 
he  was  buried  in  Kingston,  his  birthplace.31  His  name  appears  below  his 
parents'  on  the  stone  which  marks  his  family  vault  in  Kingston's  Old 


234 


Origins  of  Cape  Cod  Marble  Carving  II 


E-Vk  V  i;fe«.-,t^,  t  C    i 


It«itm  0,  i.^o.l 


M?ftS'fV¥V^^M^     -:l    <• 


Fig.  23.  Elisha  Gifford,  1849,  Falmouth,  Massachusetts. 

Willow  and  urn  probably  carved  by  William  Sturgis; 
probated  to  and  probably  inscribed  by  James  Thompson. 


James  Blachowicz  235 


Burial  Ground.  A  stone  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  vault  door,  which 
James  carved,  commemorates  his  brother  Harris. 

James  Thompson:  Gravestones 

There  is  a  problem  in  identifying  Thompson's  work.  I  suspect  that 
another,  younger  man  working  in  his  shop,  Edwin  B.  Nye  (to  be  dis- 
cussed below),  may  have  been  responsible  for  most  of  the  gravestones 
the  shop  produced,  even  most  of  those  probated  to  (and  signed  by)  Th- 
ompson. There  is  also  some  question  as  to  whether  Joshua  T.  Faunce, 
who  apparently  took  over  Thompson's  shop  briefly  after  Thompson  left 
for  New  Bedford,  was  himself  a  carver,  as  we  shall  see. 

We  can  probably  attribute  to  Thompson  the  inscription  on  the  1849 
stone  for  Elisha  Gifford  (Fig.  23),  probated  to  him.  Although  Thompson 
might  have  imitated  a  Sturgis  urn  here,  this  marker  was  most  likely  carved 
by  William  Sturgis  and  then  left  behind  when  he  went  back  to  Lee.  This 
part  of  William's  stock  was  no  doubt  acquired  by  his  son  John  when  he 
and  Elisha  Eveleth  formed  their  partnership  and  began  their  Sandwich 
operation.  But  the  letters  are  not  William's;  that  it  was  James  Thompson 
who  carved  the  inscription  is  made  more  likely  by  the  resemblance  be- 
tween the  few  letters  on  this  stone  and  those  on  the  1849  marker  for 
James'  brother  Harris  Thompson  (Fig.  24)  in  Kingston,  one  which  James 
no  doubt  carved  himself.  These  two  gravestones  are  dated  only  a  day 
apart,  and  James  Thompson  probably  carved  them  at  about  the  same 
time.  We  find  a  characteristic  uneven  spacing  of  some  of  the  letters  and 
numerals,  and  a  "2"  which  differs  somewhat  from  that  of  some  other 
contemporary  carvers.  These  features  are  also  present  on  two  other  stones 
probated  to  Thompson,  those  for  Francis  Johnson  (1850)  in  Kingston  and 
George  Bramhall  (1853)  in  Plymouth.  Neither  of  these  markers  bears  any 
decoration.  This  is  precious  little,  of  course,  on  which  to  establish  a  style. 
The  later,  probated  stone  for  Frederick  Davis  (1862)  in  Falmouth  is  also 
undecorated.  Since  Thompson  was  in  New  Bedford  well  before  1862,  it 
is  likely  that  the  Davis  stone  is  the  work  of  Edwin  B.  Nye,  with  Thomp- 
son (still  the  owner  of  the  shop  in  1862)  being  paid  for  it.  I  located  four  of 
the  eight  stones  on  Martha's  Vineyard  for  which  Thompson  was  paid  in 
probate  records:  three  of  them  may  well  have  been  carved  by  Edwin  B. 
Nye  (and  the  fourth  may  not  be  the  stone  for  which  Thompson  was  paid). 

Even  Thompson's  signed  1851  stone  for  Abby  P.  Linnell  (Fig.  25)  in 
Centerville  is  suspect.  The  letters  here  do  resemble  those  on  the  other 
two  Thompson  stones  mentioned  above,  but  the  panel  containing  the 


236 


Origins  of  Cape  Cod  Marble  Carving  II 


Fig.  24.  Harris  Thompson,  1849,  Kingston,  Massachusetts. 
Probably  carved  by  James  Thompson. 


James  Blachowicz 


237 


Fig.  25.  Abby  P.  Linnell,  1851,  Centerville,  Massachusetts. 
Signed:  "J.  Thompson,  Sandwich." 


238  Origins  of  Cape  Cod  Marble  Carving  II 


"ABBY  P."  in  positive  relief  closely  resembles  a  type  Edwin  B.  Nye  used 
later,  such  as,  for  example,  on  Nye's  signed  stone  for  Sylvia  L.  Quinnell 
(1851).  While  it  is  possible  Nye  executed  the  panel  and  name,  and  Th- 
ompson completed  the  inscription,  I  will  keep  it  in  Thompson's  column. 
Thompson's  other  signed  stone,  dated  1849,  also  in  Centerville,  displays 
a  leafed  flower  -  again,  of  a  type  Nye  was  to  execute  many  times  later. 

But  the  Abby  Linnell  stone  was  signed  by  Thompson.  Why  should 
we  suspect  the  authorship  of  a  signed  stone?  As  we  move  to  the  mid- 
Nineteenth  Century,  a  signature  on  a  stone  may  serve  more  as  a  shop- 
manufacturing  mark:  that  is,  the  man  who  carved  the  stone  may  have 
been  working  in  the  shop  of  the  man  who  signed  it.  Such  vicarious  attri- 
bution sometimes  occurs  in  the  case  of  probate  payments  (seven  stones 
carved  by  the  Kingston  carver  Bartlett  Adams  in  the  1790s,  for  example, 
were  probated  to  his  master  Bildad  Washburn);  now  we  seem  to  see  it  in 
the  case  of  signatures  -  even  where  the  man  who  carved  the  stone  is  over 
twenty-one.  There  was  the  similar  case  of  Josiah  Sturgis  signing  a  stone 
carved  (and  perhaps  inscribed  as  well)  by  his  father  William  -  that  for 
Walter  Baxter  (1838)  in  Hyannis. 

We  face  another  problem  with  the  1850  stone  for  Sylvanus  Hammond 
(Fig.  26),  probated  to  James  Thompson.  It  is  difficult  to  relate  the  letters 
here  to  those  on  Thompson's  other  stones  since  they  are  block-capitals 
and  italics  with  no  Roman  lower-case  letters  at  all.  But  this  marker  does 
have  a  distinctive  upward-pointing  hand.  Very  much  the  same  sort  of 
hand  appears  on  at  least  six  other  stones  in  the  area.32  The  lettering  on 
the  later  four  of  these  six  stones  closely  resembles  that  on  Edwin  Nye's 
signed  stones.  And  so  I  suspect  that  the  hand  on  the  stone  probated  to 
Thompson  may  have  been  carved  by  Nye,  even  if  Thompson  did  letter 
this  stone  (which  is  itself  not  certain). 

Note  also  the  series  of  dots  (or  drill-points)  at  the  very  bottom  of  the 
Hammond  marker.  I  found  this  device  on  three  other  stones  -  those  for 
Prince  L.  Dimmick  (1850),  also  in  Falmouth,  and  for  Lois  Swift  (1850)  in 
Cedarville  and  Elisabeth  Quinn  (1851)  in  Sandwich.  The  decoration  on 
this  last  stone,  which  features  a  Catholic  "IHS"  and  cross,  is  the  same  as 
that  on  the  marker  for  Susan  McAlinney  (1856),  nearby,  which  displays 
unmistakable  Nye  letters.  I  would  guess,  therefore,  that  this  entire  set, 
including  the  Hammond  stone  probated  to  Thompson,  was  really  carved 
and  lettered  by  Nye.  This  must  remain,  however,  an  unconfirmed  hy- 
pothesis. 


James  Blachowicz 


239 


Fig.  26.  Sylvanus  Hammond,  1850,  Falmouth,  Massachusetts. 
Probated  to  James  Thompson. 


240  Origins  of  Cape  Cod  Marble  Carving  II 


The  stones  of  Edwin  B.  Nye  are  rather  numerous  and  easy  to  spot  around 
Sandwich:  his  lettering  is  fairly  distinctive.  The  same  cannot  be  said  for 
Thompson,  for  whom  I  was  unable  to  find  any  stones  with  lettering  simi- 
lar to  that  on  the  two  or  three  markers  we  can  attribute  to  him.  There  are 
also  two  or  three  Nye  stones  in  James  Thompson's  home  town  of  Kingston: 
is  it  possible  that  Nye  was  also  responsible  for  the  Kingston  and  Plymouth 
stones  that  looked  to  be  safe  for  Thompson?  Nye  was  about  sixteen  when 
the  earliest  of  these  stones  was  carved  -  perhaps  old  enough. 

Thompson  continued  to  be  listed  as  a  marble  worker  even  in  New 
Bedford.  But  when  such  listings  may  indicate  little  more  than  that  the 
man  mentioned  owned  or  ran  a  shop,  it  becomes  difficult  indeed  to  in- 
sure that  the  products  of  that  shop  were  the  work  of  the  owner/operator 
and  not  his  employees. 

Joshua  T.  Faunce:  Biography 

Joshua  T  Faunce  was  born  in  Sandwich  on  October  21,  1833  to  James 
H.  Faunce  and  Mary  Tobey,  who  were  married  in  Sandwich  on  October 
27,  1828.33  He  would  have  been  sixteen  in  1849,  when  James  Thompson 
built  and  ran  the  new  marble  shop  (still  partly  owned  by  Sturgis  and/or 
Eveleth);  perhaps  that  is  when  he  joined  Thompson  as  an  apprentice.  As 
we  have  seen,  Thompson  had  married  Joshua's  sister  Abigail  in  1852, 
but  she  died  in  1854.  Joshua  married  James  Thompson's  sister  Harriet 
Marinda  Thompson  in  Sandwich  on  October  23,  1856.  He  signed  the 
stone  for  James  P.  Lawrence  in  Falmouth,  dated  the  same  year.  Joshua 
and  Harriet  had  at  least  three  children,  all  born  in  Sandwich  between 
1859  and  1864.34 

Joshua  Faunce  is  listed  as  a  marble-worker  in  the  1855  state  census; 
Faunce's  father  and  brother  Robert  appear  as  masons  in  this  census  (p. 
19).  It  is  Faunce  who  is  still  operating  the  shop  in  1860,  the  year  that 
James  Thompson  advertizes  it  for  sale  and  refers  prospective  buyers  to 
Faunce  "on  the  premises."  Yet  it  is  only  Nye  and  not  Faunce  who  is  listed 
as  a  marble-worker  in  the  1865  state  census  and  in  an  1871  business  di- 
rectory. In  the  1870  U.S.  Census,  Joshua  Faunce  and  his  father  James  are 
both  listed  as  masons  (#332). 

The  1880  U.S.  Census  lists  Joshua,  his  wife,  his  son  Robert,  and  also 
his  father  James  and  aunt  Mary  Bourne  Faunce  all  living  with  him.  Joshua 
T.  Faunce  died  in  Sandwich  on  December  9,  1893,  at  the  age  of  sixty.  His 
wife  Harriet,  buried  with  him  in  Sandwich's  Old  Burying  Ground,  died 
on  April  16,  1908. 


James  Blachowicz  241 


Joshua  T.  Faunce:  Gravestones 

The  only  stones  that  could  possibly  be  ascribed  to  Faunce  are  his 
signed  1856  marker  for  James  P.  Lawrence  (Fig.  27)  in  Oak  Grove  Cem- 
etery in  Falmouth  and  his  probated  stones  for  Isaac  Ewer  (1861)  and  his 
two  wives  in  Osterville.  But  there  is  practically  nothing  on  these  stones 
to  suggest  that  they  had  been  carved  by  anyone  but  Edwin  B.  Nye.  I 
think  the  explanation  may  be  the  same  as  before:  because  it  was  Faunce 
who  was  apparently  running  Thompson's  shop  between  1857  and  I860, 
it  was  his  name  that  appeared  on  the  stone  and  in  the  probate  records, 
even  though  it  was  probably  Nye  who  was  the  actual  carver.  Although 
two  of  Nye's  fourteen  signed  stones  are  dated  1851,  the  remaining  twelve 
are  dated  1861  through  1869.  It  is  possible,  therefore,  that  the  first  two 
are  backdated  and  that  Nye  didn't  really  sign  any  stones  until  1860,  the 
year  that  Thompson  put  his  shop  up  for  sale;  it  was  this  move,  perhaps, 
that  took  Faunce  out  of  the  picture  and  allowed  Nye,  finally,  to  sign  his 
own  work  in  his  own  shop. 

Edwin  B.  Nye:  Biography 

While  I  didn't  find  any  probate  payments  to  Nye  in  Barnstable  County 
records,  I  did  find  fourteen  gravestones  signed  "Nye,  Sandwich"  or  "E. 
B.  Nye,  Sandwich"  (see  Appendix  lib).  He  is  listed  as  a  marble- worker  in 
the  1855  (p.  15)  and  1865  Massachusetts  state  censuses  (in  the  latter,  he 
and  his  family  are  shown  as  living  with  his  parents),  as  well  as  in  the 
1871  New  England  Business  Directory.  He  is  also  listed  as  a  stonecutter  in 
two  of  his  children's  birth  records. 

Edwin  Bourne  Nye  was  born  in  Sandwich  on  August  25,  1834,  the 
eldest  of  four  children  of  Lemuel  Bourne  Nye35  and  Eliza  Sears.36  He 
married  Susan  M.  Woodward  in  Sandwich  on  October  21,  1856,  and  they 
had  at  least  three  children  born  between  1858  and  1871. 37  Susan  died  in 
1885,  and  Edwin  remarried  to  Susan  M.  Gale  of  Wareham. 

James  Thompson  erected  his  marble  works  on  Shawme  Lake,  beside 
the  old  mill,  in  1849.  The  fact  that  it  is  only  James  Thompson  who  is 
listed  in  an  1856  business  directory  as  having  a  marble  shop  in  Sand- 
wich suggests  (as  I  said  earlier)  that  both  Joshua  T.  Faunce  and  Nye,  who 
were  each  listed  as  marble  workers  in  the  1855  state  census,  were  em- 
ployed in  Thompson's  shop.  Faunce  would  have  been  only  twenty-three 
and  Nye  only  twenty-two.  Nye,  like  Thompson,  acquired  one  of  William 
Sturgis'  late  stones  and  inscribed  it  in  1856. 


242 


Origins  of  Cape  Cod  Marble  Carving  II 


Fig.  27.  James  P.  Lawrence,  1856,  Falmouth,  Massachusetts. 
Signed:  "J.  T.  Faunce,  Sandwich";  but  possibly  carved  by  Edwin  B.  Nye. 


James  Blachowicz  243 


Thompson's  shop  was  apparently  discontinued  sometime  after  he  left 
the  area  in  1857.  The  Sandwich  source  that  reports  this  fact,  as  well  as 
Deyo's  history  of  Barnstable  County,  both  agree  that  this  building  was 
later  leased  by  an  L.  B.  Nye  -  Edwin's  father  Lemuel  -  where  "he  carried 
on  wheelwrighting  and  pounding  clay  for  the  Cape  Cod  Glass  Works 
until  1871"  (Deyo,  p.  270).  It  is  likely  that  Edwin  retained  some  part  of 
this  building  for  stonecutting,  for  in  May  of  1870  he  advertised  his  marble 
shop  in  the  Cape  Cod  Gazette  as  "near  the  Town  Hall,"  which  is  where 
Thompson's  shop  was  located.  He  advertised  again  in  The  Weekly  Review 
in  February  of  1882  (Fig.  28),  his  location  once  more  given  as  "near  the 
Town  Hall."  However,  in  1874  (between  these  two  ads)  a  Howard  K.  Swift, 
who  had  himself  recently  dissolved  his  partnership  with  Robert  Clark  of 
Plymouth,  their  Plymouth  shop  having  been  advertised  from  1871 
through  1873,  announced  that  he  had  taken  over  the  shop  "formerly  oc- 
cupied by  E.  B.  Nye."  Does  this  mean  that  Swift  and  Nye  were  simulta- 
neously in  business  at  different  shops,  or  had  Nye  left  the  stonecutting 
business  for  a  time,  giving  his  shop  (the  former  Thompson  shop)  over  to 
Swift,  only  to  get  it  back  again  in  the  late  1870s  or  early  1880s? 

Edwin  B.  Nye  died  of  "consumption"  on  October  25,  1889  at  the  age 
of  fifty-five.  His  obituary  records  that  he  lived  on  River  Street  in  the 
village  of  Sandwich. 

E.    B.   JTYBr        " 

MARBLE  WORKER, 

S^Ali  THE  TOWN  HALL* 

Bftndwiohj  Mats* 


Monument*,  Headstones,  Tablets,  and  all  kinds 
of  Cemetery  work  furnished  at  short  notice* 

btonca  Cleaned,  Reset,  and  Lettered  at  the  yard, 

tiMisfaction  guaranteed.    Terms  Cosh* 

Fig.  28.  Advertisement  for  Edwin  B.  Nye's  marble  shop,  1882, 
Sandwich,  Massachusetts. 


244  Origins  of  Cape  Cod  Marble  Carving  II 


Edwin  B.  Nye:  Gravestones 

The  most  interesting  of  Nye's  fourteen  signed  stones  is  his  1860  signed 
marker  for  Lott  Crocker  in  Hyannis  (Fig.  29).  The  sculptural,  almost  three- 
dimensional  modeling  of  the  flower  recalls  similar  stones  of  Jabez  M. 
Fisher  of  Yarmouth:  they  point  ahead  to  a  style  of  marble  funerary  art 
that  was  to  develop  in  the  following  decades.  The  flower  here  is  a  bud, 
since  the  stone  was  for  a  three-year  old  child.  A  fully  bloomed  flower 
appears  on  the  1855  stone  for  Mary  Hatch  (Fig.  30)  in  Falmouth,  which  is 
also  probably  Nye's  work.  Jabez  Fisher  had  also  placed  a  few  stones  in 
Hyannis  with  similarly  sculpted  flowers.38  Three  of  these  are  contempo- 
raneous with  Nye's  stones  and  it  is  somewhat  difficult  to  tell  them  apart. 
I  have  relied  on  the  following  clues:  Nye's  leaves  are  rounder;  Nye  ends 
the  strokes  on  his  "2"  and  "5"  with  a  curl,  whereas  Fisher  ends  them 
with  a  drill  point;  the  top  serif  on  Nye's  "1"  is  horizontal,  whereas  Fisher's 
usually  has  a  slight  curve;  the  "ear"  on  Nye's  "g"  is  positioned  more  at 
the  top  center  of  its  upper  loop;  Nye's  lettering  also  seems  a  bit  shorter 
vertically  (more  squashed)  than  does  Fisher's.  These  features  also  sug- 
gest that  it  was  Nye  who  lettered  the  stone  for  Daniel  Weston  (1856)  in 
Sandwich,  whose  decorative  features  -  a  bible  and  two  small  willows  - 
appear  to  be  the  work  of  William  Sturgis.  Nye  no  doubt  acquired  this 
stone  from  Sturgis'  old  stock  (through  Thompson). 

Nye  also  has  two  stones  which  feature  doves  bearing  cut  flowers  as 
their  principal  decorative  elements.39  He  carved  and  signed  the  family 
obelisk  for  Maj.  Charles  Chipman  (1864),  which  bears  a  sculpted  Ma- 
sonic symbol.  Among  other  decorative  features  found  on  Nye's  stones 
are  lilies  on  the  stone  for  Sarah  Freeman  (1852),  an  upward-pointing  hand 
on  the  markers  I've  already  described,  and  a  Catholic  "IHS"  with  cross 
and  heart  on  the  stone  for  Susan  McAlinney  (1856).  The  majority  of  his 
markers,  however,  appear  to  be  undecorated. 

Nye's  first  signed  stone  is  probably  the  one  dated  1860  (the  two  1851 
signed  stones  are  very  likely  backdated),  when  he  was  already  twenty- 
six.  Yet  he  was,  as  I  have  already  explained,  probably  responsible  for 
many  stones  in  the  area  from  the  early  1850s,  including  the  stone  pro- 
bated to  Joshua  T.  Faunce  and  the  stone  signed  by  Faunce,  as  well  as 
most  of  the  stones  probated  to  James  Thompson. 

Although  I  found  no  very  late  signed  stones,  Nye's  newspaper  adver- 
tisements indicate  that  he  continued  carving  through  the  1880s,  up  to 
the  time  of  his  death. 


James  Blachowicz 


245 


lOTTi 

son   of 

§t&*£vlx     Crockett 
diet!  "'Srpt.ilO.IS'fiO.: 


S*/rrn  >.  n  rleni  Loft  if  jiu'J  twite  f  ft.y  j^xK 
(.•-,rV  rnff«w'  .lir-  ftonio  .1*  I Vo ««.,'» f  .f  S'Vif: 
T7irr«  i.i"f'i  7/>v  v.\Nr  »n  lu-ivfii  tatin^ff.' 
'  I'll  it  i  II    '     i  ■>'    cletlJT.sl     iiiir    f~?rr  t,-o?f . 


Fig.  29.  Lott  Crocker,  I860,  Hyannis,  Massachusetts. 
Signed  by  Edwin  B.  Nye. 


246 


Origins  of  Cape  Cod  Marble  Carving  II 


m&Jv 


. 


.  ■ .  •  •  .  *«%      ■■•■■■■»■ 


■^6 


Fig.  30.  Mary  Hatch,  1855,  Falmouth,  Massachusetts. 
Probably  carved  by  Edwin  B.  Nye. 


James  Blachowicz  247 


Other  Thompson  Family  Stonecutters 

There  are  two  probate  records  in  Plymouth  County,  dated  1830  and 
1833,  that  pay  a  James  Thompson  for  gravestones.  These  are  too  early  to 
attribute  to  the  James  Thompson  born  in  Kingston  in  1826.  One  of  these 
probated  stones  (1824)  was  for  Eunice  Bumpus  (Fig.  31)  in  the  Little  Neck 
Cemetery  in  Marion.  The  letters  on  this  stone  can  be  linked  to  those  on 
many  others  in  the  area  from  Rochester  to  Falmouth,  as  well  as  to  many 
we  find  on  Nantucket  in  the  1810s  and  1820s.  At  present,  I  attribute  a 
total  of  175  stones  to  this  carver  (there  are  undoubtedly  more):  about 
fifty  are  on  Nantucket,  and  about  seventy-five  are  in  the  Rochester/ 
Wareham  area.  This  work  is  of  high  quality,  with  fine  lettering,  nice  deco- 
rative features  and  some  imaginative  components  including  anchors,  an 
upward-pointing  hand,  two  very  detailed  doves,40  and  in  four  instances, 
including  the  1817  stone  for  Judith  Folger  (Fig.  32)  in  Nantucket's  Old 
North  Cemetery,  a  willow  and  urn  and  a  large  flying  angel  with  an  open 
book.  Especially  important  in  identifying  his  lettering  style  are  the  "i," 
"y,"  and  an  occasional,  unusual  ampersand  in  which  he  places  a  "v"-like 
sign  within  a  small  circle. 

Because  these  stones  seem  to  disappear  in  the  late  1820s,  and  many 
are  found  on  Nantucket,  it  is  tempting  to  identify  the  carver  as  the  James 
Thompson  born  (according  to  his  gravestone  on  Nantucket)  on  March  1, 
1782.  According  to  property  records,  Lakeville  was  the  location  of  his 
family  homestead.  He  moved  to  Nantucket,  perhaps  with  his  brother 
Isaac,  in  about  1815.  He  died  on  Nantucket  at  the  age  of  fifty  on  April  23, 
1832  and  is  buried  there  in  Prospect  Hill  Cemetery.41 1  have  not  been  able 
to  determine  his  lineage  beyond  his  parents.  He  was  probably  a  brother 
both  to  the  Nathaniel  Thompson  III  who  married  Joanna  Tinkham  in 
Middleboro  in  1805  and  to  the  Isaac  Thompson  II  who  married  Sally 
Robinson  in  Middleboro  in  1808.  Four  other  siblings  were  probably 
Samuel,  who  died  as  a  child,  Amasa,  and  two  unmarried  sisters,  Phebe 
and  Sarah.  These  seven  were  most  likely  all  children  of  the  Nathaniel 
Thompson  I  who  married  Phebe  Jones  in  Middleboro  in  1767.  Although 
it  may  seem  unlikely  that  these  Thompsons  would  not  be  part  of  the  vast 
Thompson  family  whose  members  lived  mostly  in  Halifax  and 
Middleboro,  neither  Charles  Hutchinson  Thompson's  (1890)  comprehen- 
sive genealogy  of  this  family  nor  Wood's  (1996)  more  recent  account  con- 
tains any  of  these  nine  individuals,  and  vitals  records  in  the  area  contain 
none  of  their  births.42  Perhaps  the  loss  of  records  from  the  church  in  that 
part  of  Lakeville  known  as  Precinct  accounts  for  these  gaps. 


248 


Origins  of  Cape  Cod  Marble  Carving  II 


Fig.  31.  Eunice  Bumpus,  1824,  Marion,  Massachusetts. 

Probated  to  a  James  Thompson,  but  possibly  carved 

by  Isaac  Thompson,  Jr. 


James  Blachowicz 


249 


Fig.  32.  Judith  Folger,  1817,  Nantucket,  Massachusetts. 
Possibly  carved  by  Isaac  Thompson,  Jr. 


250  Origins  of  Cape  Cod  Marble  Carving  II 


Despite  the  apparent  good  fit  between  this  James  Thompson's  vital 
facts  and  our  mystery  carver,  there  is  powerful  counter-evidence.  There 
is  another  stone  that  is  part  of  this  body  of  work,  that  for  Silence  Burt 
(1818)  in  Rochester,  whose  probate  pays  an  Isaac  Thompson  for  grave- 
stones. Further,  the  second  of  the  two  stones  for  which  James  Thompson 
is  paid  in  probate  records,  that  for  William  Boles  (1827)  in  Marion,  was 
carved  by  George  Thompson  of  Middleboro.  To  make  matters  even  more 
complicated,  there  is  another  stone  probated  to  Isaac  Thompson,  that 
for  Salsbury  Blackmer  (1825)  in  Acushnet,  which  was  also  carved  by 
George  Thompson.  Although,  as  we  shall  see,  there  is  some  evidence 
from  Isaac  Thompson's  estate  record  that  he  was  a  stonecutter,  more 
research  will  be  necessary  to  determine  whether  it  was  he  or  James  Th- 
ompson of  Nantucket  who  was  responsible  for  this  substantial  and  sig- 
nificant body  of  work.  I  should  add  that  George  Thompson  himself  is 
not  a  candidate,  for  he  can  be  tied  through  many  probated  stones  to  an 
extensive  body  of  work  that  is  closely  related  to  the  stones  in  question, 
but  is  distinct. 

The  Isaac  Thompson  cited  in  these  records  was  most  likely  not  the 
Isaac,  brother  of  James  of  Nantucket,  but  the  Isaac,  brother  of  George  of 
Middleboro.  This  latter  Isaac,  who  came  to  settle  in  Rochester  and 
Fairhaven,  was  the  son,  the  brother,  and  the  father  of  gravestone  carv- 
ers. His  father  was  Isaac  Thompson,  Sr.  (1746-1819)  and  his  brother  was 
George  Thompson  (1788-1865),  both  of  Middleboro.43  Isaac,  Jr.  was  born 
in  Middleboro  on  November  7,  1781;  he  was  thus  only  four  months  older 
than  James  Thompson  of  Nantucket.  He  married  Abiah  Haskell  in 
Middleboro  on  November  30,  1808.  Isaac  and  Abiah  had  at  least  eight 
children  between  1809  and  1824.  Their  third  child  was  Zebulon  Haskell 
Thompson,  born  (either  in  Middleboro  or  in  Rochester),  in  February  of 
1813.  Zebulon  would  later  become  a  very  productive  carver  in  the  Roch- 
ester/Carver area.  Isaac  Thompson,  Jr.  died  in  Rochester  on  March  26, 
1835,  not  quite  fifty-four,  and  is  buried  in  Rochester's  Center  Cemetery. 
The  inventory  of  his  estate  (#20564)  includes  "four  hundred  seventy  feet 
of  marble"  valued  at  $170.00  (the  most  valuable  item  of  the  estate).  The 
estate  also  includes  a  "slate"  valued  at  $5.50  and  a  payment  to  "Richard 
Gurney  for  freight  of  marble:  22.50."  This  entry,  and  his  concrete  con- 
nections with  other  family  stonecutters,  probably  makes  Isaac,  Jr.  a  bet- 
ter candidate  for  our  mystery  carver  than  James  Thompson  of  Nantucket. 

I  have  not,  however,  been  able  to  identify  any  marble  stones  that  may 
be  Isaac,  Jr.'s  work.  It  is  possible  that,  by  the  time  of  his  death  in  1835,  his 


James  Blachowicz  251 


son  Zebulon,  who  would  have  been  twenty-two,  had  already  taken  some 
major  responsibility  for  the  family  business.  Zebulon  appears  to  have 
carved  exclusively  in  marble.  Or  perhaps  Isaac,  Jr.  helped  supply  his 
brother  George  in  Middleboro:  George's  marbles  are  widely  distributed 
over  the  region.  Although  Isaac,  Jr.  was  the  older  brother,  it  seems  that  it 
was  George  who  inherited  his  father's  clientele  in  the  Middleboro/Carver/ 
Wareham  area,  while  Isaac,  Jr.  supplied  stones  mostly  to  Rochester, 
Martha's  Vineyard,  and  Nantucket. 

I  cannot  discount  the  possibility  that  James  Thompson  of  Nantucket 
was  involved  in  some  way  in  the  stonecutting  business.  He  was,  after  all, 
paid  for  gravestones  twice  in  probate  records,  even  if  he  didn't  carve 
them  (I  should  note  that  I  found  no  other  James  Thompson  living  in  the 
area  who  could  have  been  a  recipient  of  these  payments).  And  there  is 
also  the  fact  that  many  of  these  gravestones  -  and  the  most  intricately 
carved  ones  at  that  -  are  found  on  Nantucket.  James  died  in  1832  and 
Isaac,  Jr.  died  in  1835;  whichever  of  them  was  the  carver  of  this  signifi- 
cant body  of  work,  his  death  opened  up  the  markets  on  the  islands  and 
allowed  William  and  Josiah  Sturgis  to  establish  themselves  there. 

Isaac,  Jr.'s  son  Zebulon,  of  course,  filled  the  vacuum  left  in  the  Roch- 
ester area.  Zebulon  is  listed  as  a  marble-worker  in  Rochester  in  the  1850 
U.S.  Census44  (p.  265),  and  as  a  marble  manufacturer  in  Rochester  in  the 
1852  Massachusetts  Register  and  the  1856  Massachusetts  Business  Directory. 
He  was  a  first  cousin  to  young  James  Thompson,  the  Sandwich  carver, 
through  James'  mother,  and,  as  we  have  seen,  had  some  financial  deal- 
ings with  James  as  well.  I  found  twenty-six  probate  payments  to  Zebulon. 
His  marker  for  Charles  Bonney  (1834)  in  Rochester  features  an  open  bible; 
those  for  Huldah  Thatcher  (1836)  and  Elnathan  H.  Haskell  (1845)  have 
willows  with  rather  thick  boughs;  and  his  probated  stone  for  Samuel 
Shaw  (1858)  displays  a  broken-obelisk  figure.  According  to  a  short  his- 
tory of  Fairhaven  (Spinner  Publications,  p.  61),  Zebulon  in  turn  trained 
an  Edward  Greenleaf  Spooner,  who  moved  to  Fairhaven  in  1885  and 
opened  a  marble  works  at  Middle  and  Bridge  Streets. 

Table  1  shows  the  relationships  among  the  nine  known  stonecutters 
of  the  Thompson  family.  I  include  the  branch  of  the  Thompsons,  not  yet 
connected  to  the  main  family,  which  contains  James  Thompson  of  Nan- 
tucket; I  also  include  Cephas  Thompson,  later  a  prominent  portrait 
painter,  who  inscribed  the  stone  for  Robert  Strrobredge  (1790)  in  Lakeville 
with  "Cephas  Tomson,  sculpt." 


252 


Origins  of  Cape  Cod  Marble  Carving  II 


John  Thomson  (1614-1696);  Plymouth/Middleboro 
John  (1649-1725);  Middleboro/Middleboro 

Shubael  (1686-1733);  Middleboro/Middleboro 

John  (1717-1766);  Middleboro/Middleboro 
Isaac  (1746-1819);  Middleboro/Middleboro 

Isaac  (1781-1835);  Middleboro/Fairhaven 

Zebulon  (1813-1896);  Middleboro/Rochester 
George  (1788-1865);  Middleboro/Middleboro 

Harriet  (1795-1833);  Middleboro/Kingston 

James  (1826-1909);  Kingston/Chatham 


Harris  (1828-1849);  Kingston/Kingston 
Harriet  (1830-1909);  Kingston/Sandwich 

Jacob  (1662-1726);  Plymouth/Middleboro 

Caleb  (1712-1787);  Attleboro/Middleboro 

William  (1748-1816);  Middleboro/Middleboro 

Cephas  (1775-1856);  Middleboro/Middleboro 

William  H.  (1807-1837);      /Savannah,  GA 
Cephas  Giovanni  (1809-1888);  Middleboro/ 

Charles  F.  (1816-1839);     /Effingham  Co.,  GA 
Nathaniel  II  (1750-1833);  Middleboro/Rehoboth 

Caleb  (1752-1821);  Middleboro/ 


m.  Mary  Cooke 

m.  Mary  Tinkham 

m.  Susanna  Parlour  1713, 

Middleboro 

m.  Lydia  Wood 

m.  Lucy  Sturtevant  1774, 

Halifax 

m.  Abiah  Haskell  1808, 

Middleboro 

m.  Deborah  P.  Clarke  1826, 

Middleboro 

m.  Solomon  Thompson  1817, 

Halifax 

m.  Abigail  Faunce  1852, 

Sandwich 

rm.  Lucy  Hyde  Bassett  1856, 

Sandwich 

unmarried 

m.  Joshua  T.  Faunce  1856, 

Sandwich 

m.  Abigail  Watsworth  1693, 

Middleboro 

m.  Abigail  Crossman  1736, 

Taunton 

m.  Deborah  Sturtevant  1770, 

Halifax 

m.  Olive  Leonard  1802, 

Bridgewater 

m.  Mary  G  Ogden  1843, 
Bridgewater 

m.  Hannah  Thomas  1775, 

Middleboro 

m.  Mary  Perkins 


(this  branch  perhaps  related  to  the  above) 

Nathaniel  Thompson  I  (      -aft  21  Aug  1815) 
Samuel  (1773-1774);      /Middleboro 
Sarah  (aft  1774-aft  1815) 
Phebe  (cl777-1850);     /Middleboro 
Nathaniel  III  (cl 778-1 856);      /New  Bedford 

Isaac  II  (1778-bt  1840/1850);      /Nantucket 


Amasa  (aft  1774  -      ) 

James  (1782-1832);      /Nantucket 


m.  Phebe  Jones  1767,  Middleboro 

unmarried 

unmarried 

m.  Joanna  Tinkham  1805, 

Middleboro 

m.  Sally  Robinson  1808, 

Middleboro 

rm.  Deidamia  Elliot  1811 

m.  Diana  Clark  Gibbs  1813/1814 


Different  generations  are  in  different  columns;  those  mentioned  as  stonecutters  in  various 
records  are  in  bold;  places  of  birth  and  death  follow  birth  and  death  dates;  not  all  siblings  are 
shown. 


Table  1.  The  Thompson  Family 


James  Blachowicz  253 


Other  Cape  Carvers 

There  were,  of  course,  a  number  of  other  carvers  working  on  Cape 
Cod  independently  of  the  traditions  established  by  William  Sturgis  and 
his  family.  I  have  already  mentioned  Ebenezer  D.  Winslow  of  Brewster, 
who  came  to  the  Cape  from  Berkley  in  about  1814.  I  provide  an  account 
of  his  life  and  work  in  a  forthcoming,  more  comprehensive  treatment.45 
A  few  others,  such  as  the  five  I  include  below,  either  carved  very  few 
stones  or  worked  well  beyond  1870,  which  is  the  chronological  limit  of 
my  study. 

In  Yarmouth,  there  is  a  very  plain  stone  in  Woodside  Cemetery  for 
Prince  Howes  (1841),  probated  to  an  Edward  Hallet.  He  may  also  have 
carved  the  three  other  similar  stones  for  other  members  of  the  Howes 
family  nearby,  the  latest  of  which  is  dated  1851. 46  This  may  have  been 
Edward  B.  Hallet,  born  in  1798,  the  oldest  of  nine  children  of  Ansel  Hallet 
and  Anna  Eldridge.  Edward  married  a  Rebecca  and  had  nine  children  of 
his  own,  dying  in  Yarmouth  in  1878.47  This  man  advertises  his  hardware 
store  in  the  Yarmouth  Register  in  1857;  still,  as  we  have  seen  in  other  cases, 
stonecutting  may  have  been  a  sideline.  I  doubt  that  the  Fishers  had  much 
competition  in  Yarmouth  once  they  opened  their  shop  there  in  1844.  In 
Hyannis,  there  is  a  J.W.  Macy,  who  advertises  his  marble  shop  in  the 
Barnstable  Patriot  in  1873. 

In  West  Dennis,  James  H.  Jenks,  born  in  Providence  in  1832,  operated 
a  marble  shop  just  off  Main  Street,  from  at  least  1866.48  The  stone  for 
Paulina  B.  Edwards  (1864)  in  Swan  Lake  Cemetery  in  Dennis  Port  is  signed 
"J.H.  Jenks,  Prov."  -  indicating  that  he  was  working  in  Providence  as  late 
as  1864.  Among  a  number  of  other  stones  in  the  area,  he  signed  the  1869 
marker  for  Betsie  C.  Nickerson  (Fig.  33)  in  the  Congregational  Church 
Cemetery  in  Harwich.  James  Jenks  died  in  1915.  His  son  J.  Harvey  Jenks 
(that  is,  J.H.  Jenks,  Jr.),  born  in  Providence  in  1858,  continued  his  father's 
shop.  Although  most  of  the  stones  signed  by  the  Jenks  family  carvers 
have  only  the  word  "Jenks,"  there  is  a  stone  in  the  same  Dennis  Port 
Cemetery  for  Elizabeth  Howes  (1878)  signed  "H.  Jenks,  Jr.,  W.  Dennis"  - 
a  stone  made,  perhaps,  as  the  son  turned  twenty-one.  Deyo  (1890)  tells 
us  that  in  1889  J.H.  Jenks,  Jr.  was  postmaster  of  West  Dennis  (p.  532)  and 
secretary  of  the  Odd  Fellows  (p.  533).  He  died  in  West  Dennis  in  1933. 

J.  Harvey  Jenks,  Jr.  in  turn  came  to  employ  Robert  Clinton  Baker, 
born  in  West  Dennis  in  1867;  it  was  either  Jenks  or  Baker  who  was  re- 
sponsible for  the  Civil  War  obelisk  in  Chatham  Green.49  Baker  and  Jenks 
are  pictured  in  their  workshop  in  about  1890  in  a  family  photograph 


254 


Origins  of  Cape  Cod  Marble  Carving  II 


Fig.  33.  Betsie  C.  Nickerson,  1869,  Harwich,  Massachusetts. 
Signed  by  James  H.  Jenks. 


James  Blachowicz 


255 


Fig.  34.  J.  Harvey  Jenks  (right)  and  Robert  Clinton  Baker  (left) 
in  their  West  Dennis,  Massachusetts  shop  in  about  1890. 


256  Origins  of  Cape  Cod  Marble  Carving  II 


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James  Blachowicz  257 


(Fig.  34)  supplied  to  me  by  Robert  Clinton  Baker's  great-grandson,  Bur- 
ton Derick.  Robert  C.  Baker's  father  was  Nathan  Foster  Baker,  a  sea  cap- 
tain, but,  according  to  Derick,  Robert  loathed  the  sea  and  preferred 
working  with  his  hands.  Robert  C.  Baker  married  Hattie  Barstow  in  1887 
in  Harwich;  he  died  in  1956  and  is  buried  in  West  Dennis,  his  grave 
marked  by  a  gravestone  he  had  cut  himself. 

It  is  significant  that  in  Swan  Lake,  a  post-Civil  War  cemetery  in  Den- 
nis Port,  there  are  no  fewer  than  eleven  gravestones  signed  by  the  Jenks 
family  carvers,  but  there  are  eighteen  signed  by  "Burt"  or  "D.  A.  Burt"  of 
Taunton  -  as  can  be  determined  from  Burton  Derick's  (1993)  detailed 
record  of  Dennis  Cemetery  inscriptions.50  Burt's  signed  stones  are  in  fact 
found  throughout  the  Cape;  they  are  a  sign  that,  with  improved  roads 
and  railways,  local  carvers  who  had  faced  limited  competition  from  dis- 
tant marble  shops  in  previous  decades  needed  to  be  alert  to  market  de- 
mands as  the  century  drew  to  a  close.  The  elaborate  nature  of  an 
advertisement  (Fig.  35)  placed  by  J.  H.  Jenks,  Jr.  in  the  Yarmouth  Register 
in  December  of  1898  is  evidence  of  the  predicament  of  these  later  marble 
shops  which  had  to  deal  with  greater  competitive  pressures. 

Conclusion 

The  purpose  of  this  study,  presented  over  the  last  two  issues  of  this 
Journal,  has  been  twofold:  First,  to  bring  to  light  the  remarkable  contri- 
bution of  William  Sturgis  to  the  development  of  mid-to-late  Nineteenth- 
Century  marblecarving  in  eastern  Massachusetts.  This  man,  in  a  period 
of  only  ten  years,  as  he  aged  from  sixty-two  to  seventy-two,  directly  in- 
fluenced both  the  careers  and  carving  styles  of  no  less  than  eleven  sub- 
sequent stonecutters  on  Cape  Cod.  Secondly,  to  uncover,  in  the  Sturgis 
family  and  in  the  development  of  the  distinct  regional  marble  shops  it 
affected,  evidence  of  important  changes  in  the  nature  of  the  stonecutting 
trade.  There  are  at  least  four  aspects  of  this  development  that  can  be 
distinguished: 

(1)  The  transition  from  slate  to  marble  gravestones. 

(2)  The  move  from  tablet-shaped  gravestones  (first  slate,  then  marble) 
to  monuments  with  more  three-dimensional  modeling.  We  find  this  not 
only  in  the  obelisks  of  the  Fishers'  Yarmouth  shop,  but  also  in  those 
smaller  stones  which  were  inscribed  and/or  sculpted  on  both  front  and 
back. 

(3)  A  growing  standardization  of  design.  Willows,  flowers,  pointing 
hands,  and  other  common  decorative  motifs  seem  to  be  less  and  less 


258  Origins  of  Cape  Cod  Marble  Carving  II 


individualized  as  we  move  past  the  1850s.  Further,  many  if  not  most  of 
these  stones  bear  no  decoration  whatsoever.  This  may  indicate  a  decline 
in  creativity  in  part  caused  by  the  rise  of  very  large  gravestone  manufac- 
turing centers  in  the  largest  cities.  More  study  will  be  needed  to  confirm 
this  possibility. 

(4)  Finally,  and  perhaps  most  importantly,  we  find  in  the  period  from 
the  1830s  through  the  1850s  evidence  of  the  transformation  of  the  nature 
of  labor  itself,  with  the  craft  apprentice  system  giving  way  to  more  rec- 
ognizably contemporary  forms  of  business  activity.  It  is  probable  that 
neither  John  Sturgis  nor  Elisha  Eveleth  actually  worked  at  the  Sandwich 
marble  shop  they  established;  their  partnership  was  apparently  directed 
toward  ownership  and  profit  without  any  hands-on  operation.  Further, 
we  found  at  least  two  and  perhaps  three  cases  in  this  study  of  signatures 
on  gravestones  in  all  probability  representing  not  the  man  who  actually 
carved  the  stone,  but  the  man  who  owned  and  ran  the  shop  in  which  the 
carver  was  employed.  That  is,  the  more  abstract  concept  of  ownership 
was  coming  to  replace  the  older  concept  of  mastership  as  the  directing 
force  of  the  trade.  Owners  no  longer  needed  to  be  craftsmen  involved  in 
the  physical  operation  of  the  business.  It  was  no  longer  the  stone  arti- 
facts but  the  marble-carving  shops  themselves  which  became  commodi- 
ties, to  be  quickly  bought  and  sold  -  tokens  in  a  game  of  shifting  and 
often  brief  "partnerships."  Business  in  a  contemporary  sense  was  thus 
forming  at  a  level  distinctly  above  that  of  the  manufacture  of  the  mate- 
rial product:  the  medium  of  the  businessman  was  not  so  much  the  prod- 
uct itself  as  the  process  of  marketing,  supplying,  and  expanding.  Earlier 
craftsmen  made  artful  objects;  businessmen  made  sales.  And  because  it 
was  in  sales  that  real  money  was  to  be  had,  it  was  inevitable  that  busi- 
nessmen would  ultimately  hold  the  real  power  in  manufacture. 

The  logic  of  business  becomes  more  entrenched,  of  course,  as  cen- 
tralized suppliers  begin  to  dominate  the  stonecutting  trade.  Toward  the 
end  of  the  century,  customers  were  even  able  to  obtain  their  monuments 
from  Sears,  Roebuck  and  Co.  through  mail  catalogs.  By  1905,  according 
to  David  L.  Cohn,  Sears  and  Roebuck's  "tombstone  business  was  already 
so  important  that  its  memorial  department  issued  a  special  tombstone 
catalog,  while  gravemarkers  were  listed  in  the  general  catalog."51  "As  we 
have  often  seen  on  other  occasions,"  Cohn  continues,  "the  catalog  and 
the  local  dealer  indulge  in  violent  battles,  and  now  we  find  them  wres- 
tling for  life  in  the  cemeteries  of  the  dead."52  I  found  no  such  advertise- 
ments in  the  1897  Sears  catalog,  but  in  the  1902  catalog  Sears  informs  its 


James  Blachowicz  259 


customers  that  "We  offer  you  the  handsome  Marble  Markers  shown  on 
this  page  at  half  the  prices  you  can  buy  them  at  your  nearest  marble 
dealer"  (p.  809).  These  monuments  were  all  sent  via  rail  from  Sears'  quarry 
in  Vermont  and  the  buyer  could  select  four  different  kinds  of  stone  ma- 
terial. The  catalog  also  emphasized  that  its  monuments  were  made,  not 
on  a  piece-work  basis,  but  by  "day  labor,"  that  is,  not  by  independent 
contractors,  but  by  workers  employed  as  needed  by  the  company.  In  the 
1910  catalog,  the  competitive  language  is  fierce:  "A  revolution  in  prices 
and  a  revelation  to  you,  telling  you  how  memorials  in  granite  and  marble 
have  heretofore  been  a  fat  field  for  profit  for  those  doing  business  under 
the  old  fashioned  selling  methods,  with  their  large  selling  expenses  and 
long  profits,  who  for  a  century  past  have  found  the  highest  of  high  prices 
to  be  essential  to  their  methods."53 

I  have  not  explored  this  phenomenon  in  the  present  study.  These  larger 
manufacturers  were  corporate  businesses  in  a  more  contemporary  sense, 
and  no  doubt  were  able  to  supply  markers  to  individual  customers  and 
local  retailers  at  reduced  cost,  undercutting  the  local  shops.  If  this  prac- 
tice followed  the  same  pattern  we  have  witnessed  in  more  recent  history, 
where  local  pharmacies,  bookstores,  clothing  and  hardware  stores  have 
been  forced  out  of  business  by  the  more  efficient  larger  chains  and  fran- 
chises, then  we  should  expect  to  see  fewer  independent  monument  shops 
as  we  move  into  the  Twentieth  Century,  as  well  as  a  marginalization  of 
local  craftsmen.  This,  as  well  as  new  production  methods,  such  as  the 
introduction  of  the  stone-planer  in  the  1890s,  no  doubt  significantly  re- 
duced the  number  of  stonecutters  or  at  least  caused  their  numbers  to  lag 
behind  population  growth. 

But  there  is  another  side  to  the  marginalization  phenomenon.  Truly 
individualized  and  creative  stonecutting  could  survive  by  providing  what 
mass-production  methods  could  not  -  more  elaborate  and  uniquely 
sculpted  marble  monuments,  which  would  only  be  available,  however, 
to  wealthy  customers.  This  is  also  true  today,  of  course,  where  "designer" 
fashion  and  "hand-crafted"  jewelry,  pottery,  furniture,  and  architecture 
are  marketed  to  those  select  few  who  can  afford  to  pay  for  them.  In  this 
context,  the  artisan  is  less  a  local  craftsman  serving  a  town  and  more  an 
artist  with  a  wider  upper-class  clientele.  While  some  aspects  of  this  phe- 
nomenon were  also  present  from  the  earliest  times  in  the  American  colo- 
nies, there  were  always  colonial  craftsmen  marketing  their  goods  to  a 
fairly  broad  economic  spectrum  of  society.  Mass-production  methods 
had  not  yet  reduced  their  number  and  the  variety  of  their  designs. 


260  Origins  of  Cape  Cod  Marble  Carving  II 


It  is  in  search  of  some  relief  from  both  the  homogeneity  of  the  stan- 
dardized products  of  Twentieth-Century  manufacture  and  the  "art"  of 
the  privileged  classes  that  many  of  us  have  looked  to  the  past,  to  the 
historical  study  of  earlier  crafts  -  even  the  craft  of  gravestone  carving. 
For  here  we  can  find  more  diverse  and  individualized  forms  of  human 
design  whose  excesses  were  kept  in  check  by  a  more  democratic  market. 


NOTES 

My  acknowledgment  of  various  individuals  who  contributed  to  this  study  was  provided  at  the 
beginning  of  the  Notes  for  Part  I  in  Markers  XIX.  However,  because  Part  I  had  gone  to  press,  I 
was  not  able  to  include  my  thanks  to  Ernest  Rohdenburg  III  of  the  Chatham  Historical  Society, 
who  located  three  stones  signed  by  Oliver  Linnell  in  the  Union  Cemetery  of  Chatham,  a  fourth 
in  Peoples  Cemetery  in  Chatham  and  a  sales  receipt  paying  Linnell  for  another  Chatham  stone. 
And  I  am  grateful  to  Bonnie  Snow  of  the  Orleans  Historical  Society  for  the  information  she 
provided  both  on  the  houses  owned  by  some  of  the  later  Cape  carvers  and  on  a  published 
controversy  involving  Oliver  N.  Linnell.  Photo  in  Fig.  34  with  permission  of  Burton  Derick. 
All  other  photos  in  this  installment  are  by  the  author. 

1 .  Orleans  vital  records  have  these  children,  all  born  in  Orleans:  Marcy  (25  Nov  1803  -  ?); 
Mercy  (25  Jul  1806  -  ?);  Isaac  (15  Apr  1808  -  ?);  Isaac  (16  Mar  1810  -  ?);  Mary  (11  Aug  1812  -  ?); 
Richard  (26  May  1813  -  30  June  1830);  Phebe  (2  Nov  1815  -  ?);  Emeline  (13  Sep  1820  -  ?); 
Susan  (12  July  1823-?). 

2.  $54.00  from  Thomas  S.  and  Emeline  S.  Snow;  Vol.  41,  p.  482.  This  involved  part  of  the 
Sparrow  homestead  in  Orleans  as  well  as  a  woodland  in  Brewster. 

3.  Orleans  vital  records. 

4.  Vol.  43,  p.  319. 

5.  Vol.66,  p.  179. 

6.  Simeon  L.  Deyo,  ed.,  History  of  Barnstable  County,  Massachusetts,  1890  (New  York,  NY:  H. 
W.  Blake  &  Company,  1890). 

7.  Other  children,  all  born  in  Orleans:  Josiah  (29  Oct  1814  -  ?),  married  Naomi  Allen  Harding 
in  1840;  Elizabeth  (16  Feb  1819  -  5  Jan  1838),  married  Franklin  Gould  in  1837;  Lucinda 
(17  Jun  1821  -  24  Nov  1842),  married  Josiah  Sparrow  in  1842;  George  (1823  - 1823),  died 
as  an  infant;  George  Washington  (17  Mar  1824  -  ?),  married  Elizabeth  Kelley,  died  in 
Olneyville,  RI;  Julia  Maria  (24  Aug  1827  -  Dec  1910),  married  Warren  Dill  in  1846,  then 
Alden  Rogers,  died  in  Maiden  MA;  Jerusha  (Elizabeth)  (20  Nov  1830  - 1909),  married 
Franklin  Skinner  in  1853,  died  in  Boston  (this  information  gathered  from  Orleans  vital 
records  and  from  Burton  Derick). 

8.  Lucinda  Adelaide  (29  Sep  1845  -  ?),  married  Zebena  Harrison  Higgins  in  1862  and  lived 
in  Boston;  Hercelia  Gibbs  (11  Oct  1846  -  5  Nov  1848);  Israel  Mayo  (19  Sep  1848  -  8  Oct 


James  Blachowicz  261 


1848);  Oliver  Herbert  (28  Sep  1849  -  ?),  married  Augusta  Knowles  of  Wellfleet  in  1873; 
Cecilia  Marie  (21  Mar  1852  -  ?),  married  Alberto  Sylvester  Nickerson  in  1871  and  lived  in 
New  Bedford;  Adelaide  Elsie  (20  Aug  1854  -  30  Jun  1861);  Walter  Chester  (25  Aug  1856-4 
May  1898),  married  Laura  Merrick  Rogers  in  1877;  Arthur  Ellsworth  (11  Jul  1862  -  ?), 
married  Eva  May  Snow  in  1881  and  settled  in  Quincy;  and  Addie  Bell  (21  Apr  1864  -  ?), 
married  Weston  Linnell  Taylor  in  1882  (from  Orleans  vital  records  and  Burton  Derick). 

9.  Similar  urns  and  willows  are  found  on  Linnell's  stones  for  Ezra  Nickerson  (1837),  Mary 
Ann  Taylor  (1854),  Patrick  McDonald  (1858),  and  Amanda  Kelley  (1860).  I  assign  these 
to  him  rather  than  to  Fisher  because  of  the  lettering  -  the  curved  serif  on  Linnell's  "1,"  for 
example. 

10.  Orleans  vital  records.  Other  children:  Elisha,  Jr.  (ca.  1822  -  ?),  married  Mehitable  Walker 
in  Orleans  in  1847;  John  M.  (ca.  1825  -  ?),  married  Catharine  Snow  in  Orleans  in  1848; 
Silvester  (19  Jul  1833  -  2  Oct 


1 1 .  Daughter  of  Bangs  Taylor  and  Olive  (Orleans  vital  records). 

12.  Orleans  vital  records. 

13.  Eldora  Josephine  (27  Jan  1850  -  ?),  who  married  Dean  Taylor  of  Boston  in  1871;  Irene 
Thomas  (19  Jul  1853  -  2  Jul  1858)  (these  two  listed  in  Orleans  vital  records);  and  Nathaniel 
W.  (ca.  1856  -  ?),  listed  in  the  1860  U.S.  Census. 

14.  Vol.  86,  p.  311. 

15.  To  an  Ensign  B.  Rogers;  Vol.  86,  p.  312;  Vol.  89,  p.  157. 

16.  May  14th;  $1500.00;  Vol.  90,  p.  454. 

17.  June  5th;  $1200. 

18.  November  19th;  Vol.  241,  p.  428. 

19.  Orleans  vital  records.  Daniel  Higgins,  Sr.  married  Elizabeth  Sparrow  in  Eastham  on 
January  3,  1826.  Besides  Daniel,  Jr.,  their  other  three  children  were:  Eliza  H.  (23  Aug 
1829  -  22  Sep  1858),  married  a  Crosby(?);  Mary  B.  (10  Feb  1832  - 1890),  married  Edmund 
Crosby;  and  Clara  Ann  (14  Sep  1834  -  ?).  Another  sister  may  have  been  Betsy  S.  (ca.  1827  - 
11  Dec  1852),  who  married  Jesse  Sparrow  in  1848.  Elizabeth  Sparrow  Higgins  died  on 
January  15, 1839  (gravestone  in  Orleans),  and  Daniel,  Sr.  then  remarried,  to  Mercy  Smith 
in  Eastham  the  following  April  12th.  Mercy  died  December  27, 1869.  Although  the  records 
for  Daniel,  Jr.  and  the  other  three  children  mention  Mercy  as  their  mother,  she  was  their 
stepmother.  Daniel  Higgins,  Sr.  died  on  February  19, 1876  at  age  seventy-six  (gravestone 
in  Orleans). 

20.  Besides  their  sons  Winthrop  and  Henry,  they  also  had  a  daughter,  Abigail,  born  October 
25,  1842.  The  Crosby  brothers'  grandfather  Joshua  was  born  in  Orleans  on  January  6, 
1779,  and  married  Sally  Freeman;  their  great-grandfather  Joshua  had  married  Thankful 
Cole. 


262  Origins  of  Cape  Cod  Marble  Carving  II 


21.  Marietta  Crosby  died  in  1926.  Winthrop  and  Marietta's  son  Orville  married  a  Celia  H. 
(1868  - 1948)  and  died  in  1929.  Much  of  this  vital  information  was  provided  by  Burton 
Derick  from  cemetery  records  of  Orleans  Cemetery. 

22.  Barnstable  Co.  Deeds,  Vol.  126,  p.  402.  This  was  obtained  from  Ensign  B.  Rogers  for  $50.00 
on  September  3rd. 

23.  Barnstable  Co.  Deeds,  Vol.  221,  p.  412.  The  four-year  mortgage  was  to  Lenora  P.  Crowell, 
wife  of  Emmett  H.  Crowell  of  Dennis.  The  mortgage  was  paid  off  on  January  12,  1905 
(Vol.  270,  p.  218);  Lenora  Crowell  then  a  resident  of  Taunton. 

24.  Henry's  wife  Eliza  was  born  June  16,  1845  and  died  July  4,  1923;  she  is  also  buried  in 
Island  Pond  Cemetery,  Harwich.  Their  son  Wilfred  was  born  January  2, 1872  and  died 
August  18, 1937  (also  buried  in  Island  Pond).  They  also  had  another  son,  Ray  Causten, 
born  October  24,  1890  (when  Eliza  was  forty-five)  and  died  the  following  April  11th 
(buried  in  Island  Pond).  This  information,  taken  from  cemetery  records  of  Island  Pond 
Cemetery,  Harwich  Center,  was  also  provided  by  Burton  Derick. 

25.  Other  children  of  Solomon  and  Harriet,  besides  Harris,  James,  and  Harriet  were:  Maria 
Louisa  (13  Aug  1818  -  8  Nov  1903),  unmarried,  who  died  in  Sandwich;  Elvira  (29  Aug 
1821  -  ?);  Albert  (26  Nov  1824  -  ?);  and  the  twin  girls  Lucy  (13  Aug  1833  -  Aug  1833)  and 
Lydia  (13  Aug  1833  -  Aug  1833). 

26.  For  $200.00;  Chattel  Mortgages;  Vol.  1,  p.  352.  This  information  uncovered  by  Barbara 
Gill  of  the  Sandwich  archives. 

27.  Provided  me  by  Barbara  Gill  of  the  Sandwich  archives. 

28.  Barnstable  County  deeds;  Vol.  57,  p.  446.  This  mortgage,  dated  March  2,  1855,  also 
mentions  that  James  Thompson  was  leasing  the  land  occupied  by  his  shop. 

29.  Barnstable  County  deeds;  Vol.  66,  p.  100.  These  properties  were  sold  to  William  Fessenden, 
who  was  probably  Lucy  Fessenden  Bassett's  uncle. 

30.  Lucy  was  born  in  Sandwich  to  John  Bassett  and  Lucy  Fessenden  on  July  26,  1826.  The 
New  Bedford  Clerk's  office  has  Harris  born  in  "October,  1857"  (no  day),  a  female  born 
October  8, 1860,  and  Frank,  born  December  26, 1865.  The  Mormon  Church  IGI  database 
lists  three  children  of  James  and  Lucy,  namely,  Harris  (3  Nov  1857  -  ?),  Helen  Maria  (8 
Oct  1860  -  ?)  and  Franklin  Herbert  (26  Dec  1865  -  ?);  but  their  birthplace  is  incorrectly 
listed  as  Sandwich.  There  is  no  record  of  these  births  in  the  Clerk's  office  at  Sandwich. 

31 .  The  informant  for  this  record  was  a  Gertrude  P.  Thompson  of  Hopedale,  Massachusetts 
(about  twenty  miles  southeast  of  Worcester).  Perhaps  she  was  a  granddaughter.  I  have 
not  determined  with  whom  James  Thompson  may  have  been  living  in  Chatham. 

32.  Prince  L.  Dimmick  (1850)  and  Hannah  Hammond  (1854),  near  the  probated  Hammond 
stone  in  Falmouth,  and  those  for  Hatsel  K.  Handy  (1851)  in  Hyannis,  Shadrach  Freeman 
(1854)  in  Sandwich,  Thomas  Richardson  (1855)  in  Hatchville,  and  Fear  Jones  (1861)  in 
Falmouth. 


James  Blachowicz  263 


33.  James  and  Mary's  other  children  were:  Abigail  Tobey  (3  Jan  1830  -  8  May  1854);  married 
James  Thompson;  Elizabeth  (8  Aug  1831  -  22  Jun  1833);  and  Robert  T.  (11  Jan  1836  -  5 
Mar  1857). 

34.  These  were:  Robert  H.  (17  Jan  1859  -  25  May  1908),  who  was  a  physician;  Abby  T  (16  Jul 
1860  -  16  Jul  1860);  and  Lucy  A.  (21  Nov  1864  -  18  Jul  1866).  This  information  from 
Sandwich  vital  records  and  the  family  tombstone  in  Sandwich's  Old  Burial  Ground. 

35.  Lemuel  Bourne  Nye  was  himself  the  son  of  Levi  and  grandson  of  Thomas  Nye. 

36.  His  siblings:  Sarah  Delia  (May  12, 1837  -  ?),  William  Lapham  (15  Sep  1839  -  ?),  and  Levi 
Stephen  (26  May  1842  -  ?),  who  married  Martha  Ann  Bracket  in  1867.  This  and  other 
genealogical  information  was  gathered  from  A  Genealogy  of  the  Nye  Family,  1907,  compiled 
by  George  Hyatt  Nye  and  Frank  E.  Best,  edited  by  David  Fisher  Nye  and  published  by 
Nye  Families  of  America  Association. 

37.  William  E.  (5  Sep  1858  -  ?),  married  Annie  M.  Heffernan  in  1886;  Franklin  H.  (17  Jan  1862  -  21 
Aug  1862),  who  died  in  infancy;  and  Lizzie  A.  (4  Sep  1871  -  ?). 

38.  The  signed  stone  for  Mary  Bearse  (1844),  and  those  for  Sophia  H.  Bearse  (1850),  Sally  S. 
Hallet  (1852),  Nella  P.  Baxter  (1854),  and  Eliza  H.  Hallet  (1857). 

39.  Elizabeth  Baker  (1855)  and  Eliza  Baker  (1859). 

40.  Anchors  adorn  the  stone  for  Mary  Swain  (1810),  the  hand  is  on  the  stone  for  Irad  Jenkins 
(1820),  and  the  doves  are  on  the  marker  for  Priscilla  Stubbs  (1822)  -  all  on  Nantucket. 

41 .  His  gravestone  is  now  broken  in  half.  His  death  in  Nantucket  is  reported  in  the  Nantucket 
Inquirer.  The  Columbian  Centinel  (erroneously?)  reports  his  age  as  46.  He  died  intestate 
and  his  estate  was  administered  by  his  widow  (Vol.  13,  p  325).  Three  years  after  his  death, 
she  also  petitioned  the  court  of  probate  to  allow  her  to  sell  "several  pieces  of  meadowland" 
in  Polpis  and  Pocomo  (Vol.  14). 

42.  Charles  Hutchinson  Thompson,  A  Genealogy  of  the  Descendants  of  John  Thomson  of 
Plymouth,  Mass.  (Lansing,  MI:  Darius  D.  Thorp,  printer  and  binder,  1890).  A  more  recent 
update  can  be  found  in  Ralph  V  Wood,  Francis  Cooke  of  the  Mayflower:  The  First  Five 
Generations  (Rockport,  ME:  Picton  Press,  1996). 

43.  Peter  Benes  provides  a  very  brief  discussion  of  the  these  two  men  in  The  Masks  of 
Orthodoxy:  Folk  Gravestone  Carving  in  Plymouth  County,  Massachusetts,  1689-1805 
(Amherst,  MA:  University  of  Massachusetts  Press,  1977). 

44.  Besides  his  widowed  mother,  Abiah,  this  census  includes  two  other  individuals  living  in 
Zebulon's  household:  John  C.  Dexter  and  John  C.  Scott,  both  eighteen  years  of  age,  and 
both  listed  as  marble-worker  apprentices  (Dexter  born  in  Rochester;  Scott  born  in 
Charleston,  SC). 

45.  An  American  Craft  Lineage:  The  Gravestone  Carving  Traditions  of  Plymouth  and  Cape  Cod: 
1770-1870,  forthcoming. 


264  Origins  of  Cape  Cod  Marble  Carving  II 


46.  These  other  stones  are  for  Prince  and  Abigail  Howes  (1832, 1833),  Patience  Howes  (1834), 
and  Capt.  Ebenezer  Howes  (1851). 

47.  Yarmouth  vital  records.  This  Edward  B.  Hallet  was  born  March  16,  1782  and  died 
September  9, 1874  (gravestone  in  Woodside  Cemetery,  Yarmouth). 

48.  James  H.  Jenks,  son  of  Stephen  B.  and  Cynthia  Jenks,  married  Emeline  Crowell  in  Dennis 
on  February  8, 1855.  He  is  listed  as  a  marble-cutter  in  an  1856  Providence  city  directory. 
His  son,  J.  Harvey  Jenks,  was  born  in  Providence  in  1858.  He  apparently  did  not  reside  in 
Dennis  until  at  least  October  15,  1866,  when  his  son  was  born  there.  His  son,  James  H. 
Jenks,  Jr.  (or  J.  Harvey  Jenks),  married  Clara  A.  Crowell  in  West  Dennis  on  June  30, 1881; 
he  is  listed  as  a  "marble  worker"  in  the  marriage  record.  All  this  information,  taken  from 
Dennis  vital  records,  was  provided  to  me  by  Burton  Derick. 

49.  Burton  Derick  reports  that  his  great-grandfather  Robert  Clinton  Baker  often  pointed  out 
the  Chatham  obelisk  as  they  rode  past  it,  proud  of  what  was  the  most  challenging  carving 
he  had  executed  up  to  that  time.  Yet  the  money  for  this  monument  was  appropriated  in 
1869  (when  Baker  was  only  two  years  old),  and  it  is  signed  by  Jenks.  Still,  if  it  was  erected, 
say,  eighteen  years  after  the  appropriation,  it  is  just  possible  that  Baker  did  carve  it. 

50.  Burton  Derick,  Cemetery  Inscriptions  of  Dennis,  Massachusetts  (Bowie,  MD:  Heritage  Books, 
1993). 

51.  David  L.  Cohn,  The  Good  Old  Days:  A  History  of  American  Morals  and  Manners  as  Seen 
through  the  Sears,  Roebuck  Catalogs:  1905  to  the  Present  (New  York,  NY:  Simon  and  Schuster, 
1940),  233. 

52.  Ibid. 

53.  Ibid.,  134-135. 


James  Blachowicz 


265 


APPENDIX  I 


Relevant  Burial  Grounds 


All  are  in  Massachusetts. 

For  locations  of  burial  grounds  on  Cape  Cod,  see  Marjorie  Hubbell 
Gibson,  Historical  and  Genealogical  Atlas  and  Guide  to  Barnstable  County, 
Mass.  (Cape  Cod),  1995,  (Falmouth:  Falmouth  Genealogical  Society). 


NOTE:  These  burial  grounds  are  numbered  differently  from  those  in 
Appendix  I  of  Part  I  (in  Markers  XIX). 


Hyannis  (Universalist) 
Kingston  (Evergreen) 
Kingston  (Main  St.) 
Orleans  (Meeting  House  Rd.) 
Osterville  (Hillside) 
Plymouth  (Chiltonville) 
Provincetown  (Old) 
Sagamore 

Sandwich  (Bay  View) 
Sandwich  (Freeman) 
Sandwich  (Mt.  Hope) 
Sandwich  (Old) 
South  Chatham 
South  Harwich 

Truro  (First  Cong.  Ch.  &  Snow) 
Truro  (Old  North) 
Truro  (Methodist) 
Truro  (Pine  Grove) 
Wellfleet  (Duck  Creek) 
West  Harwich  (Baptist) 
West  Tisbury  (West  Tisbury) 


1. 

Brewster  (First  Parish) 

23. 

2. 

Cedarville  (Herring  Pond  Rd.) 

24. 

3. 

Centerville  (Beechwood) 

25. 

4. 

Centerville  (Congregational) 

26. 

5. 

Chatham  (People's) 

27. 

6. 

Chatham  (Seaside) 

28. 

7. 

Chatham  (Union) 

29. 

8. 

Chilmark 

30. 

9. 

Cotuit  (Old  Mosswood) 

31. 

10. 

Dennis  Port  (Swan  Lake) 

32. 

11. 

Eastham  (Evergeen) 

33. 

12. 

East  Harwich  (Evergreen) 

34. 

13. 

East  Harwich  (Union) 

35. 

14. 

East  Sandwich  (Cedarville) 

36. 

15. 

Edgartown  (Westside) 

37. 

16. 

Falmouth  (Oak  Grove) 

38. 

17. 

Falmouth  (Old  Burying  Ground) 

39. 

18. 

Forestdale  (Rte.  130) 

40. 

19. 

Harwich  (Cong.  Ch.) 

41. 

20. 

Harwichport  (Mt.  Pleasant) 

42. 

21. 

Hatchville  (East  End) 

43. 

22. 

Hyannis  (Baptist) 

266 


Origins  of  Cape  Code  Marble  Carving  II 


APPENDIX  II 


Probated  and  Signed  Gravestones 


The  entry  after  each  name  is  the  volume  and  page  number  of  the 
probate  record,  followed  by  years  of  death  and  probate  settlement.  If 
the  date  of  death  is  not  given,  the  stone  was  not  located. 


^Records  which  specifically  mention  gravestones. 

(a)  The  Orleans  Carvers: 

Josiah  Sparrow  II: 

Probated:  (Barnstable  Co.) 


*Joshua  P.  Atwood  (61:511;  1843,  1844), 

Eastham 
'John  F.  Anderson  (61:528;  1835,  1844), 

Yarmouth 

Signed: 

Jeremiah  Newcomb  (1842),  Wellfleet 


"Mulford  Kendrick  (77:143;  1846, 1848), 
Harwich 


Hannah  Freeman  (1844),  Wellfleet 


Oliver  N.  Linnell: 

Documented:  (sales  receipt  in  possession  of  Chatham  Historical  Society) 
*Lt.  Franklin  D.  Hammond  (1864),  Chatham 


Probated:  (Barnstable  Co.) 

'John  Bassett  (77:210;  1848,  1849),  Harwich 
Jesse  Nickerson  (77:306;  1848, 1850), 

Chatham 
*Sabina  Nickerson  (77:365;  1841, 1851), 

Chatham 
'Benjamin  Nickerson  (77:460;  1850, 1852), 

Chatham 
Lumbert  Nickerson  (77:518;  1851,  1853), 

Chatham 
'Nathan  Rogers  (85:87;  1853, 1854),  Harwich 
'Christopher  Smith  (85:131;  1854,  1855), 

Chatham 


'Enoch  Smith  (85:194;  1854, 1856),  Chatham 
'Enoch  Bassett  (85:199;  1854,  1856), 

Chatham 
'Susan  Berry  (85:370;  1856, 1858),  Chatham 
'Sylvanus  Chase  (#4072;     ,  1861),  Harwich 
'James  Baker  (#4392;     ,  1862),  Harwich 
'Benjamin  G.  Bearse  (#4538;  1862,  1863), 

Chatham 
'Jacob  Crowell  (#4560;     ,  1864),  Harwich 
'James  Hawes  (#4592;  1862, 1864),  Chatham 
'Mary  A.  Chaffee  (#4845;  1865,  1866), 

Chatham 


James  Blachowicz 


267 


Signed: 

(infant)  Nickerson  (1845),  E.  Harwich 
Stephen  Turner  (1848),  E.  Harwich 
Eliza  Tripp  (1852),  Harwich 
Nathan  Rogers  (1853),  E.  Harwich 
Edmund  Long  (1854),  E.  Harwich 
Lusha  Snow  (1854),  Orleans 
Benjamin  B.  Smith  (1858),  Chatham 
Polly  Chase  (1859),  Harwich 
Rhoda  Crowell  (1859),  E.  Harwich 
Woodbury  Norcross  Gardner  (1859),  E. 

Harwich 
Flora  Jan  Tripp  (1860),  Chatham 
Otis  Allen  Cahoon  (1861),  E.  Harwich 
Benjamin  G.  Bearse  (1862),  Chatham 
'Benjamin  F.  Bassett  (1864),  Chatham 
Elijah  Lincoln  (1865),  E.  Harwich 

'"Linnell  &  Son" 


Mabel  C.  Cahoon  (1866),  E.  Harwich 
Deborah  Nickerson  (1867),  E.  Harwich 
James  F.  Gould  (1868),  Chatham 
Henry  Leonard  (1868),  Chatham 
Patia  Nickerson  (1868),  E.  Harwich 
Job  Kelley  (1869),  Dennis  Port 
Polly  Ann  Baker  (1870),  Harwich 
Martha  W.  Gardner  (1870),  Chartham 
'Josiah  F.  Linnell  (1871),  Chatham 
'Joseph  A.  Taylor  (1872),  Chatham 
Charles  E.  Gross  (1873),  Chatham 
Gershom  Jones  (1873),  Chatham 
Sylvanus  Baker  (1875),  Harwich 
Isaiah  C  Basset  (1875),  Chatham 
Abijah  Crosby  (1875),  Chatham 


Oliver  H.  Linnell: 

Signed: 

Elisha  Howes  (1853),  Chatham  (Seaside) 
Joseph  Whorf  (1872),  Truro  (Snow) 


Anna  Higgins  (1879),  Eastham  (Soldiers) 
Thankful  Snow  (1883),  Truro  (Methodist) 


Thomas  A.  Hopkins: 

Probated:  (Barnstable  Co.) 


*Fanny  Crosby  (77:247;  1821?,  1849), 

Brewster 
*Franklin  Hopkins  (77:362;  1851, 1851), 

Orleans 
Joshua  Small  (77:486;  1850, 1852),  Truro 
*Sarah  Doane  (85:113;  1854, 1855), 

Wellfleet 
*Archelaus  Smith  (85:118;  1853,  1855), 

N.  Truro 


*Atkins  Dyer  (85:210;  1854,  1856),  Truro 
*Knowles  Smith  (85:240;  1849, 1856), 

Orleans 
Henry  Kingman  (97:180;     ,  1860),  Orleans 
*Matthew  Kingman  (#4132;     ,  1860), 

Orleans 
*Allen  Hinckley  (#4300;  1861,  1862),  Truro 
*Solomon  Hurd  (#4305;     ,  1862),  Orleans 


Signed: 

Capt.  Thomas  W.  Shaw  (1831),  Truro 
Mehitable  Anderson  (1851),  Truro 
Abijah  Gill  (1853),  Eastham 
Chloe  Kemp  (1853),  Wellfleet 
Ephraim  D.  Rich  (1853),  Truro 


Matilda  K.  Atkins  (1854),  Truro 
Capt.  Isaiah  Cole  (1854),  Wellfleet 
John  N.  Kemp  (1854),  Wellfleet 
Samuel  Kemp  (1856),  Wellfleet 
Volney  Rider  (1858),  Truro 


268 


Origins  of  Cape  Cod  Marble  Carving  II 


Daniel  Higgins,  Jr.: 

Probated:  (Barnstable  Co.) 

Thomas  Watkins  (85:317;  1855,  1857),  Truro 

Signed: 

Thomas  Higgins  (1855),  Orleans 
Lottie  M.  Howes  (1856),  Chatham 


Thankful  M.  Newcomb  (1856),  Wellfleet 


Winthrop  and  Henry  Crosby: 

Probated:  (Barnstable  Co.) 

'•Stephen  Collins  (#4408;  1861, 1863), 

Truro 
'Elnathan  Snow  (#5118;     ,  1867), 
Orleans 


'*Daniel  A.  Knowles  (#5546; 
2*Henry  T  Crosby  (#17420; 
Harwich 


,  1869),  Truro 
1915), 


'payment  to  Winthrop  Crosby 

2payment  to  "B.  Crosby,"  probably  Henry's  son  Bertram 


Signed: 

Mercy  Crosby  (1842),  Chatham 
2Capt.  Stephen  Collins  (1861),  Truro 
'George  W.  Nickerson  (1864),  Chatham 
'Thankful  Nickerson  (1866),  Truro 
"Polly  Doane  (1868),  Harwichport 
'Harriet  N.  Smith  (1870),  Chatham 
'Sarah  Eldredge  (1871),  Chatham 

'"Crosby  Orleans" 
2"W.  M.  Crosby,  Orleans" 
3"Henry  T.  Crosby" 
4"Crosby,  Harwich" 
5"Crosby  Bros.,  Harwich" 


'Essie  May  Howes  (1871),  Chatham 
'Huldah  A.  Atkins  (1872),  Truro 
4Cyrus  Weeks  (1872),  Harwichport 
4Levi  Long  (1874),  Harwich 
5Albert  F.  Wixon  (1874),  Dennis  Port 
4Cambyses  Philips  (1875),  Harwichport 
'Nathaniel  Doane  (1895),  Harwichport 


E.  E.  Crosby: 

Signed: 

Temperance  Nickerson  (1863),  Harwichport  [Mt.  Pleasant] 
Cyrus  C.  Gould  (1878),  Chatham  [Seaside] 
Hannah  Allen  (1879),  Harwichport  [Mt.  Pleasant] 


James  Blachowicz 


269 


(b)  The  Sandwich  Carvers: 
James  Thompson  (of  Sandwich): 

Probated:  (Barnstable  Co.) 

'Sylvanus  Hammond  (77:356;  1850, 1851) 

Falmouth 
*Elisha  Gifford  (85:99;  1849, 1854), 

Falmouth 

Probated:  (Dukes  Co.) 

'Ephraim  Pool  (21:252;  1854,  1856), 

Chilmark 
'Elijah  Luce  (21:340;    ,  1856),  Tisbury 
'Josiah  Tilton  (21:463;  1856, 1858), 

Chilmark 
*Shubael  Norton  (21:537;  1842?,  1858), 

Tisbury 
''Daniel  Fellows  (21:551;  1832,  1858), 

Edgartown 

'carved  by  William  Sturgis 
Probated:  (Plymouth  Co.) 

'Francis  Johnson  (#11482;  1850, 1851), 
Kingston 

Signed: 

Abby  P.  Linnell  (1851),  Centerville 


"Frederick  Davis  (#4418;  1862, 1866), 
Falmouth 


"William  Stewart  (22:119;  1859,  1860), 

Chilmark 
"Almira  Jernegan  (22:146;  1860,  1861), 

Edgartown 
"Charlotte  Norton  (22:172;    ,  1861), 

Tisbury 


"George  Bramhall  (#2661;  1853, 1857), 
Plymouth 


Charlotte  Lewis  (1849),  Centerville 


Joshua  T.  Faunce: 

Probated:  (Barnstable  Co.) 

'-'Isaac  Ewer  (#4091;  1859, 1861),  Osterville         Thomas  L.  Swift  (#4200;  1860,  1862), 
3*Wendall  Lewis  (#4140;  1859, 1862),  Falmouth 

Barnstable 

Signed: 

2James  P.  Lawrence  (1856),  Falmouth 

'payment  also  for  two  additional  gravestones  for  his  wives 
2probably  carved  by  Edwin  B.  Nye 
3stone  not  located 


270 


Origins  of  Cape  Cod  Marble  Carving  II 


Edwin  B.  Nye: 
Signed: 

Abby  B.  Nightingale  (1851),  Cedarville 
Sylvia  L.  Quinnell  (1851),  Sandwich 
Lott  Crocker  (1860),  Hyannis 
Isaac  Hodges,  Jr.  (1861),  Osterville 
Ellis  Nightingale  (1862),  Cedarville 
George  H.  Bearse  (1863),  Centerville 
Maj.  Charles  Chipman  (1864),  Sandwich 


Joseph  C.  Scudder  (1864),  Osterville 
Betsey  Nye  (1865),  E.  Sandwich 
Fanny  Nickerson  (1866),  Cotuit 
Capt.  Daniel  B.  Nye  (1866),  Sandwich 
Abby  S.  Thayer  (1867),  Sandwich 
Zebiah  C.  Richards  (1868),  Sandwich 
Zenas  Nye  (1869),  E.  Sandwich 


(c)  Other  carvers  Relevant  to  this  Study: 
E.  Busby: 

Signed: 

Capt.  Ezra  and  Sally  Nickerson  (1837, 1877),  Harwich  (Congregational  Church);  "E.  Busby, 
H-Port" 

Edward  Hallet: 

Probated:  (Barnstable  Co.) 

*Prince  Howes  (77:370;  1841, 1851),  Yarmouth  (Hillside) 


James  H.  Jenks  and  J.  Harvey  Jenks: 

Signed: 

'Pauline  B.  Edwards  (1864),  Dennis  Port 

(Swan  Lake) 
Betsie  C.  Nickerson  (1869),  Harwich 

(Cong.  Church) 
Remark  Wixon  (1870),  Dennis  Port 

(Swan  Lake) 
Thomas  Howes  (1871),  Dennis  Port 

(Swan  Lake) 
Susanna  Sears  (1874),  Dennis  (Quivet) 
Elizabeth  Howes  (1878),  Dennis  Port 

(Swan  Lake) 
Zephaniah  Eldredge  (1880),  Chatham 

(Peoples) 


Frances  Harding  (1881),  Chatham  (Seaside) 
2Sarah  A.  Rogers  (1881),  Harwichport 

(Mt.  Prospect) 
Elisha  Hammond  (1882),  Chatham 

(Seaside) 
William  W.  Cole  (1897),  Harwichport  (Mt. 

Prospect) 
William  T.  Handren  (1899),  Dennis  Port 

(Swan  Lake) 
Emma  Chase  (1901),  Dennis  Port 

(Swan  Lake) 
Ann  Kelly  (1904),  Dennis  Port  (Swan  Lake) 


James  Blachowicz 


271 


Sidney  A.  Sears  (1905),  Dennis  Port 

(Swan  Lake) 
Mary  A.  Howes  (1908),  Dermis  Port 

(Swan  Lake) 
Mary  Elizabeth  Sears  (1914),  Dennis  Port 

(Swan  Lake) 


Emelyn  L.  Hart  (1918),  Dennis  Port 

(Swan  Lake) 
Polly  Chase  (1925),  Dennis  Port 

(Swan  Lake) 
Samuel  L.  Robbins  (1939),  Dennis  (Quivet) 
3[Civil  War  obelisk,  Chatham  green] 


1  "}.  H.  Jenks,  Pro  v." 

2  "H.  Jenks,  Jr.,  W.  Dennis" 

3  Signed  by  Jenks;  probably  carved  by  Jenks,  but  possibly  carved  by  Jenks'  assistant 

Robert  Clinton  Baker,  according  to  a  family  tradition. 


George  Thompson: 

Probated:  (Bristol  Co.) 

"Edward  Paull  (66:135;  1826, 1828), 

Taunton 
"Martin  Dean  (68:260;  1828,  1830), 

Raynham 
Nathan  King  (69:296;  1828,  1831), 

Taunton 

Probated:  (Plymouth  Co.) 

*John  Fuller  (43:437;  1809,  1811), 

Middleboro 
*Irad  Thomas  (43:449;     ,  1811), 

Middleboro 
"Israel  Thomas  (43:449;  1809, 1811), 

Middleboro 
"Ebenezer  Vaughn  (43:460;  1810, 1811), 

Middleboro 
"William  Bennet  (44:92;  1809, 1812), 

Middleboro 
*Susanna  Cobb  (45:246;  1813,  1814), 

Middleboro 
*Philip  Bennet  (45:408;  1810, 1814), 

Middleboro 
"Elisha  Cox  (45:502;  1813,  1814), 

Middleboro 
*Martha  Darling  (45:529;  1812,  1814), 

Middleboro 
*Nathan  Darling  (45:530;  1812,  1814), 

Middleboro 
"Ebenezer  Thomson  (47:141;  1813,  1815), 

Halifax 


"Abel  R.  Caswell  (69:218;  1826, 1831), 

Taunton 
"Joseph  Tisdale  (72:114;  1831, 1832), 

Taunton 


"Nathan  Weston  (47:395;  1814,  1815), 

Middleboro 
"Patience  Tinkham  (47:403;  1814,  1815), 

Middleboro 
"Edmund  Weston  (48:29;  1814, 1816), 

Middleboro 
"John  Soule  (48:391;  1815,  1817), 

Middleboro 
Jeremiah  Bennet  (49:100;  1815,  1817), 

Middleboro 
"Israel  Thomas  (49:283;  1814 ,  1818), 

Middleboro 
"Joseph  Bump  (49:360;  1817,  1818), 

Middleboro 
"Abraham  Miller  (49:364;  1817,  1818), 

Middleboro 
"Daniel  Darling  (49:367;  1814, 1818), 

Middleboro 
"John  Murdock  (49:523;  1817,  1818), 

Middleboro 
Peter  Shurtleff  (50:251;  1818,  1819), 

Carver 


272 


Origins  of  Cape  Cod  Marble  Carving  II 


*Hushai  Thomas  (50:388;  1818, 1819), 

Middleboro 
*Josiah  Vaughn  (50:409;  1814, 1819), 

Middleboro 
*Elisha  Thomas  (53:84;  1814, 1820), 

Middleboro 
*George  Vaughn  (53:194;  1816,  1820), 

Middleboro 
*Thomas  Nelson  (53:408;  1819,  1821), 

Middleboro 
*Levi  LeBaron  (54:432;  1820,  1822), 

Middleboro 
*Silvanus  Tillson  (57:30;  1822, 1823), 

Middleboro 
*Zachariah  Weston  (58:59;  1819, 1824), 

Middleboro 
•Jonathan  Phinney  (58:100;     ,  1824), 

Middleboro 
*Mercy  Bennet  (63:422;  1826,  1827), 

Middleboro 
*Greenleaf  Pratt  (67:431;  1824  ,  1829), 

Middleboro 
*John  McCully  (69:496;  1829,  1830), 

Middleboro 
* Alvan  Makepeace  (76:320;  1833, 1834), 

Middleboro 
*James  Cobb  (77:203;  1833,  1835), 

Middleboro 
*Barnabas  Bates  (79:191;  1835, 1837), 

Wareham 


*Ebenezer  Leach  (79:455;  1834,  1837), 

Bridgewater 
*Silvanus  Thomas  (80:146;  1814?,  1838), 

Middleboro 
*Obed  McCully  (81:524;  1838, 1839), 

Middleboro 
*Unite  Kinsley  (82:162;  1833,  1840), 

Middleboro 
*Elkanah  Cook  (83:21;  1839, 1841), 

Kingston 
^Benjamin  Shaw  (84:202;  1837,  1842), 

Carver 
*William  Canady  (84:355;  1836,  1842), 

Middleboro 
*Josiah  C.  Reed  (85:317;  1842,  1843), 

Rochester 
Barnes  Jackson  (86:205;  1840,  1844), 

Middleboro 
*Edward  Thomas  (87:463;  1844, 1845), 

Middleboro 
*Dr.  Joseph  Clarke  (88:462;  1843,  1846), 

Middleboro 
*William  W.  Nelson  (89:297;  1844, 1847), 

Middleboro 
Thomas  Steles  (89:302;  1835,  1847), 

Middleboro 
*Francis  Atwood  (#584;  1853, 1855), 

Middleboro 


Signed: 


Joseph  Hale  (1813),  Raynham 
Capt.  Noble  Canedy  (1829),  Lakeville 
Andrew  Cole  (1830),  Lakeville 
Lydia  Murdock  (1830),  Carver 


Anna  W.  Shaw  (1830),  Carver 
John  Townsend  (1835),  Lakeville 
Joshua  Haskins  (1849),  Lakeville 
Thomas  Savery  (1856),  Middleboro 


James  Blachowicz  273 

Harris  Thompson: 

Probated:  (Plymouth  Co.) 

*  Abigail  Lucas  (#13313;  1849, 1849),  Carver 

*Samuel  W.  McLauthlen  (#13852;  1848, 1849),  Kingston 

Signed: 

Samuel  McLauthlen  (1848),  Kingston 

Isaac  Thompson,  Jr.: 

Probated:  (Bristol  Co.) 

wSalsbury  Blackmer  (67:160;  1825, 1829),  Fairhaven 

probably  carved  by  George  Thompson  of  Middleboro 
Probated:  (Plymouth  Co.) 
*Silence  Burt  (50:129;  1818, 1819),  Rochester  (old  parish,  N.  Rochester) 

James  Thompson  (of  Nantucket): 

Probated:  (Plymouth  Co.) 

"William  Boles  (69:181;  1827, 1830),  Marion 
JCaleb  Cushing  (69:490;  1829, 1830),  Wareham 
2*Eunice  Bumpus  (74:173;  1824, 1833),  Rochester 

!probably  carved  by  George  Thompson  of  Middleboro 
2possibly  carved  by  Isaac  Thompson,  Jr.  of  Middleboro/Rochester 


274 


Origins  of  Cape  Cod  Marble  Carving  II 


Zebulon  H.  Thompson: 

Probated:  (Plymouth  Co.) 

*Charles  Bonney  (78:223;  1834,  1836), 

Rochester 
* Alpheus  Barrows  (78:300;  1834, 1836), 

Rochester 
*Hallett  Swift  (78:428;  1835,  1836), 

Wareham 
*Huldah  Thatcher  (81:417;  1836, 1839), 

Rochester 
*Galen  Bennet  (82:393;  1839,  1841?), 

Rochester 
*Seth  Hammond  (84:370;  1841,  1842), 

Rochester 
Samuel  Mandall  (85:247;  1841, 1843), 

Rochester 
^Oliver  Allen  (86:342;  1843,  1844), 

Bridgewater 
Ebenezer  Ellis  (87:513;  1845,  1845), 

Rochester 
*Elnathan  H.  Haskell  (88:144;  1845,  1846), 

Rochester 
*Achsah  Bumpus  (88:343;  1845, 1846), 

Wareham 


*William  D.  Boodry  (89:225;  1838, 1847), 

Rochester 
*Reuben  Dexter  (89:478;  1846,  1847), 

Rochester 
*James  Gammons  (90:94;  1846,  1848), 

Middleboro 
Wilson  Barrows  (#1141;  1853, 1854),  Carver 
John  Bent  (#1937;  1853,  1855),  Carver 
Lucy  Sherman  (#18154;  1854,  1855),  Carver 
Joseph  Shaw  (#17972: 1855,  1856),  Carver 
John  C.  Vail  (#21488;  1859, 1859),  Carver 
*Joseph  Alden  (#290;    ,  1860),  Marion 
Lothrop  Barrows  (#1118;  1857,  1860), 

Carver 
Rebecca  Atwood  (#614;  1863,  1864), 

Middleboro/Carver 
*Samuel  Shaw  (#18027;  1858,  1864),  Carver 
Asaph  Atwood,  Jr.  (#575;1864, 1866), 

Middleboro/Carver 
Elizabeth  Colby  (#4644;    ,  1868),  Carver 


James  Blachowicz 


275 


APPENDIX  III 

Gravestones  of  the  Orleans  Carvers  (partial  list) 

The  number  in  parentheses  following  each  entry  indicates  the  burial 

ground  (See  Appendix  1). 
Probated  stones  are  in  bold.  Signed  stones  are  in  italics. 
Years  in  parentheses  are  dates  of  probate,  not  death  (stones  not 

examined). 
For  stones  with  multiple  burials,  the  name  of  the  person  with  the  latest 

date  of  burial  is  listed. 

Josiah  Sparrow  II: 


1835  Anderson,  John  F. 

1841  Newcomb,  Joanna 

1841  Rider,  Dea.  David 

1842  Atwood, 
Deliverance  H. 

1842  Newcomb,  Jeremiah 
1842  Sparrow,  Josiah  [son 
1842  Swett,  Thankful 


Chatham  (7) 
Wellfleet  (41) 
Provincetown 
(29) 
Wellfleet  (41) 

Wellfleet  (41) 
Orleans  (26) 
Wellfleet  (41) 


1843  Atwood,  Joshua  P. 

1843  Small,  Huldah 

1 843  Sparrow,  Isaac 

1844  Freeman,  Hannah 
1846  Atkins,  Josiah  D. 
1846  Kendrick,  Mulford 
1846  Snow,  Joseph 
1846  Sparrow,  Mary 


Eastham(ll) 
Truro  (39) 
Orleans  (26) 
Wellfleet  (41) 
Truro  (39) 
E.  Harwich  (13) 
Truro  (39) 
Orleans  (26) 


Oliver  N.  Linnell: 


1837  Nickerson, 
Capt.  Ezra 
1841   Nickerson,  Sabina 

1844  Hurd,  Polly 

1845  [infant]  Nickerson 

1845  Nickerson, 
Rebeckah  J. 

1846  Taylor,  Lucretia 

1847  Sparrow,  Josiah 

1847  Wixon,  Heman 

1848  Bassett,John 
1848  Eldridge,  Betsey  H. 
1848  Lewis,  Cecelia 
1848  Linnell,  Hercelia 
1848  Linnell,  Oliver  [son] 
1848  Nickerson,  Jesse 
1848  Nickerson,  Simeon 
1848  Small,  Mercy  B. 
1848  Turner,  Stephen 


Harwich  (19) 

Chatham  (5) 
Orleans  (26) 
E.  Harwich  (13) 
Chatham  (5) 

Chatham  (5) 
Orleans  (26) 
W.  Harwich  (42) 
Harwich 
S.  Harwich  (36) 
Chatham  (5) 
Orleans  (26) 
Orleans  (26) 
Chatham  (5) 
Chatham  (5) 
Chatham  (5) 
E.  Harwich  (13) 


1849  Crowell,  Bethiah 

1850  Eldridge, 
Capt.  Samuel 

1850  Hopkins,  Walter  A. 

1850  Nickerson, 
Benjamin  F. 

1851  Doane,  Mary  Ann 
1851  Nickerson,  Esther 
1851   Nickerson,  Lumbert 
1851  Taylor,  Christopher 

[son] 

1851  Taylor,  Lucretia 

1852  Eldredge, 
Betsey  Ann 

1852  Hopkins,  Susan  J. 
1852  Kendrick,  Henry 
1852  Nickerson, 
George  H. 
1852  Tripp,  Eliza 


Chatham  (7) 
Harwich  (19) 

Orleans  (26) 
Chatham  (5) 

Harwich  (19) 
Chatham  (6) 
Chatham  (5) 
Chatham  (6) 

Chatham  (5) 
S.  Chatham  (35) 

Orleans  (26) 
Chatham  (5) 
Chatham  (7) 

Harwich  (19) 


276 


Origins  of  Cape  Cod  Marble  Carving  II 


1853  Batchelor,  Lenora 

1853  Rogers,  Nathan 

1854  Bassett,  Enoch 
1854  Long,  Edmund 
1854  Smith,  Christopher 
1854  Smith,  Enoch 
1854  Smith,  Polly 

1854  Snow,  Lusha 
1854  Taylor,  Mary  Ann 
1856  Berry,  Susan 

1856  Chase,  Elizabeth  P. 

1857  Higgins,  Daniel 

1858  Harding,  Sally 
1858  McDonald,  Patrick 
1858  Smith,  Benjamin  B. 

1858  Taylor,  Elizabeth 

1859  Baker,  Thankful  Y. 
1859  Chase,  Polly 

1859  Crowell,  Rhoda 

1859  Gardner, 
Woodbury  N. 

1860  Bassett,  Emily  L. 
1860  Kelley,  Amanda 
1860  Small,  Melinda  E. 

1860  Tripp,  Flora  Jane 

1861  Cahoon,  Otis  Allen 

(1861)  Chase,  Sylvanus 
1861  Darling,  Lydia 
1861   Eldridge,  Elizabeth 

1861  Eldridge,  Joseph  F. 

(1862)  Baker,  James 

1862  Bearse, 
Benjamin  G. 

1862  Hawes,  James 


Chatham  (5) 
E.  Harwich  (13) 
Chatham 
E.Harwich  (13) 
Chatham  (7) 
Chatham  (6) 
S.  Harwich  (36) 
Orleans  (26) 
W.  Harwich  (42) 
Chatham  (5) 
S.  Harwich  (36) 
Orleans  (26) 
Chatham  (7) 
W.  Harwich  (42) 
Chatham  (7) 
Chatham  (5) 
Orleans  (26) 
E.Harwich  (13) 
E.Harwich  (13) 
E.  Harwich  (13) 

Harwich  (19) 
W.  Harwich  (42) 
S.  Harwich  (36) 
Chatham  (6) 
E.Harwich  (13) 
Harwich 
Orleans  (26) 
S.  Chatham  (35) 
S.  Harwich  (36) 
Harwich 
Chatham  (7) 

Chatham  (7) 


1862 

1864 

(1864) 

1864 

1864 

1865 
1865 
1866 
1867 
1868 
1868 
1868 
1869 

1869 
1870 

1870 
1871 
1871 
1872 
1873 
1873 
1875 

1875 
1875 
1878 
1881 
1885 


Winslow, 
Ebenezer  D. 
Bassett,  Benjamin  F. 
Crowell,  Jacob 
Eldridge, 
Augustus  H. 
Hammond, 
Lt.  Franklin  D. 
Chaffee,  Mary  A. 
Lincoln,  Elijah 
Cahoon,  Mabel  C. 
Nickerson,  Deborah 
Gould,  James  F. 
Leonard,  Henry 
Nickerson,  Patia 
Kelley,  Job 

Taylor,  Christopher 

Baker,  Polly  Ann 

Gorham,  Martha  W. 
Linnell,  Josiah  F. 
Rogers,  Lucy 
Taylor,  Joseph  A. 
Gross,  Charles  E. 
Jones,  Gershom 
Baker,  Sylvanus 

Bassett,  Isaiah  C. 
Crosby,  Abijah 
Rogers,  Abner 
Linnell,  Josiah 
Linnell,  Solomon 
Nickerson,  Catherine 


Brewster  (1) 

Chatham  (5) 

Harwich 

S.  Chatham  (35) 

Chatham  (7) 

Chatham  (5) 
E.  Harwich  (13) 
E.  Harwich  (13) 
E.  Harwich  (13) 
Chatham  (6) 
Chatham  (6) 
E.Harwich  (13) 
Dennis  Port 
(10) 

Chatham  (5) 
Harwichport 
(20) 

Chatham  (6) 
Chatham  (7) 
Orleans  (26) 
Chatham  (7) 
Chatham  (5) 
Chatham  (6) 
Harwichport 
(20) 

Chatham  (5) 
Chatham  (5) 
Orleans  (26) 
Orleans  (26) 
Orleans  (26) 
Chatham  (7) 


Daniel  Higgins,  Jr.: 

1855  Higgins,  Thomas  Orleans  (26) 

1855  Watkins,  Thomas  Truro  (38) 

1856  Howes,  Lot  tie  M.  Chatham  (5) 


1856  Newcomb, 
Thankful  M. 


Wellfleet(41) 


James  Blachowicz 


277 


Thomas  A.  Hopkins: 


1821 '  Crosby,  Fanny 

Brewster  (1) 

1853 

Rich,  Hannah 

Truro  (40) 

1831   Shaw,  Capt. 

Truro  (37) 

1853 

Smith,  Archelaus 

Truro  (38) 

Thomas  W. 

1854 

Atkins,  Matilda  K. 

Truro  (37) 

1842  Smith,  Joanna 

Orleans  (26) 

1854 

Cole,  Capt.  Isaiah 

Wellfleet  (41) 

1849  Paine,  Hannah 

Truro  (37) 

1854 

Davis,  Apphia 

Truro  (37) 

1849  Smith,  Knowles 

Orleans  (26) 

1854 

Doane,  Sarah 

Wellfleet  (41) 

1850  Small,  Joshua 

Truro  (38) 

1854 

Dyer,  Atkins 

Truro  (37) 

1851  Anderson,  Mehitable 

Truro  (37) 

1854 

Kemp,  John  N. 

Wellfleet  (41) 

(1851)  Hopkins,  Franklin 

Orleans 

1856 

Kemp,  Samuel 

Wellfleet  (41) 

1851  Winslow,  Chauncey 

Truro  (37) 

1858 

Smith,  Winslow 

Truro  (39) 

1852  Dyer,  Ebenezer 

Truro  (37) 

1858 

Rich,  Sally 

Truro  (40) 

1853  Gill,Abijah 

Eastham  (11) 

1858 

Rider,  Volnei/ 

Truro  (37) 

1853  Kemp,  Chloe 

Wellfleet(41) 

1860 

Paine,  Sally 

Truro  (40) 

1853  Rich,  Ephraim  D. 

Truro  (40) 

1861 

Hinckley,  Allen 

Truro  (37) 

'probate  is  dated  1849;  stone  is  weathered;  perhaps  carved  by  Ebenezer  D.  Winslow 


Winthrop  M.  Crosby  and  Henry  T.  Crosby: 


1842  Crosby,  Mercy 

1861  Collins, 

Capt.  Stephen 

1864  Nickerson,  George  W. 

1866  Nickerson,  Jltankful 

1868  Doane,  Polly 

1870  Smith,  Harriet  N. 

1871  Eldredge,  Sarah 
1871  Howes,  Essie  May 


Chatham  (6) 
Truro  (39) 

Chatham  (5) 
Truro  (37) 
Harwichport 
(20) 

Chatham  (6) 
Chatham  (6) 
Chatham  (6) 


1872  Atkins,  Huldah  A. 

1872  Weeks,  Cyrus 

1874  Long,  Levi 

1875  Philips,  Cambyses 

1875  Wixon,  Capt.  David 

1876  Wixon,  Albert  F. 
18831  [Soldiers  monument] 
1895  Doane,  Nathaniel 
1897  Handren,  William 


Truro  (39) 
Harwichport 
(20) 

Harwich  (19) 
Harwichport  (20) 
W.  Harwich  (42) 
Dennis  Port  (10) 
Orleans 

Harwichport  (20) 
Dennis  Port  (10) 


'near  the  Town  Hall;  identified  as  Winthrop's  work  in  an  advertisement  for  the  Orleans 
Monumental  Works  in  a  celebratory  volume  (undated)  published  by  the  town.  No 
doubt  Winthrop  produced  only  the  elaborate  stone  base,  not  the  bronze. 


278 


Origins  of  Cape  Cod  Marble  Carving  II 


APPENDIX  IV 

Gravestones  of  the  Sandwich  Carvers  (partial  list) 

The  number  in  parentheses  following  each  entry  indicates  the  burial 

ground  (See  Appendix  1). 
Probated  stones  are  in  bold.  Signed  stones  are  in  italics. 
For  stones  with  multiple  burials,  the  name  of  the  person  with  the  latest 

date  of  burial  is  listed. 


James  Thompson: 

18491  Gifford,  Elisha 

Falmouth  (17) 

1854  Pool,  Ephraim 

Chilmark  (8) 

1849  Lewis,  Charlotte 

Centerville  (3) 

1855  Luce,  Elijah 

W.  Tisbury  (43) 

1849  Thompson,  Harris 

Kingston  (25) 

1856  Tilton,  Josiah 

Chilmark  (8) 

1850  Johnson,  Francis 

Kingston  (24) 

(1858)  Fellows,  Daniel 

Edgartown  (15) 

1851  Linnell,  Abby  P. 

Centerville  (4) 

1859  Stewart,  William 

Chilmark  (8) 

1851   Norton,  Shubael 

W.  Tisbury  (43) 

1860  Jernegan,  Almira 

Edgartown  (15) 

1853  Bramhall,  George 

Plymouth  (28) 

(1861)  Norton,  Charlotte 

W.  Tisbury  (43) 

'probably  carved  by  William  Sturgis  and  inscribed  by  James  Thompson 


Joshua  T.  Faunce: 

Although  there  is  a  stone  with  Faunce 's  signature  and  three  more  for  which  he  is  paid 
in  probate  records  (see  Appendix  1),  these  stones  may  really  have  been  carved  by 
Edwin  B.  Nye;  they  are  listed  under  Nye,  below. 


Edwin  B.  Nye: 

18311  Ewer,  Mercy 

Osterville  (27) 

1853  Mayhew,  Parnel  A. 

Chilmark  (8) 

1836'  Ewer,  Hannah 

Osterville  (27) 

1854  Fish,Chloe 

Forestdale  (18) 

1837  Baker,  Emma  Jane 

Hyannis  (22) 

1854  Freeman,  Shadrach 

Sandwich  (32) 

1850  Dimmick,  Prince  L. 

Falmouth  (1 7) 

1854  Hammond,  Hannah 

Falmouth  (17) 

18502  Hammond, 

Falmouth  (17) 

1854  Tilton,  Joseph  E. 

Chilmark  (8) 

Sylvanus 

1855  Baker,  Elizabeth 

Hyannis  (22) 

1850  Swift,  Lois 

Cedarville  (2) 

1855  Hatch,  Mary 

Falmouth  (17) 

1851   Handy,  Hatsel  K. 

Hyannis  (22) 

1855  Richardson,  Thomas 

Hatchville  (21) 

1 851  Nightingale,  Abby  B. 

Cedarville  (2) 

1856  Dunham,  John  T. 

Chilmark  (8) 

1851  Quinn,  Elizabeth 

Sandwich  (34) 

1 8563  Lawrence,  James  P. 

Falmouth  (16) 

1851   Quinncll,  Sylvia  L. 

Sandwich  (31) 

1856  Lawrence,  Thomas 

Falmouth  (16) 

1852  Freeman,  Sarah 

Sandwich  (32) 

1856  McAlinney,  Susan 

Sandwich  (33) 

1852  Pratt,  Mary  T. 

Kingston  (25) 

1857  Swift,  Cynthia 

Sagamore  (30) 

1853  Bagnell,  Mary  E. 

Kingston  (25) 

1859  Baker,  Eliza 

Hyannis  (22) 

1853  Hayden,SarahA. 

Plymouth  (28) 

1859'  Ewer,  Isaac 

Osterville  (27) 

James  Blachowicz 


279 


1859  Winslow,  Hattie  F. 

Falmouth  (16) 

1864  Chipman, 

Sandwich  (32) 

1860  Crocker,  Lott 

Hyannis  (23) 

Maj.  Charles 

1860  Man  waring,  Nancy 

Falmouth  (17) 

1864  Scudder,  Joseph  C. 

Osterville  (27) 

I8601  Swift,  Thomas  L. 

Falmouth  (16) 

1865  Nye,  Betsy 

E.  Sandwich  (14) 

1861  Hodges,  Isaac  Jr. 

Osterville  (27) 

1866  Nickerson,  Fanny 

Coruit  (9) 

1861  Jones,  Fear 

Falmouth  (16) 

1866  Nye,  Capt.  Daniel  B. 

Sandwich  (32) 

18622  Davis,  Frederick 

Falmouth  (16) 

1867  Thayer,  Abby  S. 

Sandwich  (33) 

1862  Nightingale,  Ellis 

Cedarville  (2) 

1868  Richards,  Zebiah  C. 

Sandwich  (32) 

1863  Bearse,  George  H. 

Centerville  (3) 

1869  Nye,Zenas 

E.  Sandwich  (14) 

'although  probated  to  Joshua  T.  Faunce,  these  stones  were  probably  carved  by  Nye 
:although  probated  to  James  Thompson,  this  stone  was  probably  carved  by  Nye 
^although  signed  by  Joshua  T.  Faunce,  this  stone  was  probably  carved  by  Nye 


280 


Greek  Gravemarkers 


/. ./■";/  ,.;■; 


Fig.  1.  Detail  of  Myceneaen  funerary  stele 
depicting  chariot  race  in  honor  of  the  deceased. 


281 


"...  DO  NOT  GO  AND  LEAVE  ME  BEHIND  UNWEPT  ...": 
GREEK  GRAVE  MARKERS  HEED  THE  WARNING 

Gay  Lynch 

Introduction 

Since  "the  mists  of  time"  gravemarkers  and  other  funerary  artifacts 
in  Greece  have  articulated  the  full  language  of  lament  ritual  practices. 
These  practices  are  advocated  in  numerous  literary  works.  For  example, 
Elpenor  admonishes  Odysseus,  "do  not  go  and  leave  me  behind  unwept"1; 
Electra  cries  out  in  horror  at  her  mother's  crime,  "O  cruel,  cruel  /  all 
daring  mother  . . .  /  with  all  sorrow  for  him  forgotten  /  you  dared  bury 
your  unbewept  lord"2;  and  Margaret  Alexiou  offers  us  this  modern  Greek 
proverb,  "What  is  he  doing  in  Hades  unwept,  and  without  memorial?"3 

Lament  ritual  is  an  extremely  ancient,  rhetorically  complex  tradition 
of  funerary  practices  involving  multiple  expressions.  Among  these  ex- 
pressions are  lament  poetry,  the  oldest  recorded  type  of  song  in  Greece;4 
emotive  techniques  of  the  body;  and  prescribed  funerary  rites  in  a  tradi- 
tionally-approved sequence.  The  gravemarker  in  Greece,  from  Myceneaen 
times  to  the  present,  has  recorded  and,  in  a  sense,  has  ritually  inscribed 
these  practices.  Alexiou  has  noted  that  the  survival  of  each  funerary  act 
in  this  complex  tradition  has  depended  upon  the  collective  ritual  prac- 
tices of  which  it  is  a  part.5 1  would  add  that  the  gravemarker  contributes 
significantly  to  the  survival  of  this  tradition,  for  the  marker  has  instanti- 
ated these  vital  practices  for  3,500  years.  In  other  words,  Greek  funerary 
monuments  themselves  not  only  commemorate,  but  actually  perform 
funerary  ritual. 

Before  exploring  the  visual  evidence,  it  is  important  to  recognize  that 
at  some  level  there  must  exist  a  mutual  interdependence  between  ritual 
and  eschatology.  A  characteristic  feature  of  both  ancient  and  modern 
Greek  eschatology  is  the  belief  that  the  dead  are  reachable  by  the  living 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  grave.  The  gravemarker,  thus,  operates  within  a 
funerary  ideology  in  which  the  dead  are  capable  of  registering  ritual  acts 
addressed  to  them.  These  acts  assure  transition  of  the  soul  into  afterlife 
and  ensure  the  living  a  reprieve  from  the  wrath  of  the  dead.  This  is  to 
say  that  appropriate  funerary  ritual  practices  are  crucial  for  the  soul's 
safe  passage  and  to  the  health  of  the  living  community.  Gravemarkers  in 
Greece  encode  these  all-important  ritual  enactments:  noble,  simple 
funerary  practices  that  Aeschylus  calls  the  "heart's  food."6 


282 


Greek  Gravemarkers 


Fig.  2.  Funerary  amphora  with  geometric  patterning 
and  depiction  of  prothesis,  the  laying  out  of  the  corpse. 


Gay  Lynch 


283 


Representative  Artifacts 

Ancient  Greece 

Funeral  games  (agones)  are  noted  in  Hesiod,  Homer,  Plutarch,  and 
others,  but  are  also  clearly  depicted  in  this  detail  (Fig.  1)  from  a  Myceneaen 
limestone  gravemarker  [1550  B.C.E.].  In  the  visual  assemblage,  we  see  a 
man  standing  in  a  one-horse  chariot:  he  is  stooping  and  holding  the  reins, 
while  in  front  of  the  horse  a  male  figure  is  picking  up  an  object,  possibly 
a  shield.  Scholars  agree  that  this  is  a  chariot  race,  held  in  honor  of  the 
dead,  the  public  ritual  through  which  the  community  mourned,  valo- 
rized, and  commemorated  the  deceased.  Funerary  rites  were  the  first 
occasion  for  games  in  Greek  culture.7 

The  open-mouthed  amphora  shown  in  Figure  2  served  as  receptacle  of 
libation  offerings  and  had  a  distinctly  monumental  function  as  a 
gravemarker.  "Essential  stations"8  of  funerary  ritual  action  are  spread  out 
between  the  two  handles  of  this  geometric  funerary  artifact.  In  close-up 
(Fig.  3),  one  may  see  the  prothesis,  the  laying  out  of  the  corpse,  depicted  in 
the  center,  flanked  on  either  end  by  standing  mourning  figures.  These  are 
women  in  the  ritual  act  of  lamentation,  threnos,  iconographically  expressed 
in  the  rending  of  the  hair,  the  two-hand  mourning  attitude.  The  four  fig- 
ures under  the  bier  are  professional  mourners,  as  indicated  by  the  figure 
with  only  one  hand  raised,  who  is  the  leader  of  the  chorus.  At  the  prothesis, 
the  formal  lamentation  of  the  dead  begins.9  Gudrun  Ahlberg  notes  that 
"these  scenes  were  drawn  with  the  purpose  that  the  ritual  actions  should 
be  understood  by  the  contemporary  onlooker  . .  ."10  "for  whom  the  under- 
lying associations  were  fresh  and  active."" 


~;v-:;^anu^yxuyvw*^J*^'.*^ 


Iff  ^^^^^KK^^S^Sm 


mimmm 


lBBmSa 


imimm 


Fig.  3.  Central  detail  of  amphora  shown  in  Figure  2. 


284  Greek  Gravemarkers 


In  the  Archaic  Period  [650-500  B.C.E.],  the  loutrophoros,  a  vase  used 
for  pre-marital  bathing  rituals,  was  also  used  to  mark  the  graves  of  those 
who  died  unmarried  (see  Fig.  4).  Lament  ritual  practice  justifies  this 
marriage  vase  as  a  gravemarker,  for,  like  the  act  of  adorning  the  dead  in 
wedding  garment,  the  act  of  pouring  from  the  marriage  vase  was  a  ges- 
ture of  hope  for  a  life  of  wedded  happiness  in  an  unseen  world.  Both 
ancient  literature  and  modern  laments  develop  the  analogy  between  death 
rites  and  marriage  rites;12  gravemarkers  are  inspired  by  these  rites.  Al- 
though somewhat  difficult  to  distinguish,  the  detail  of  the  vase's  neck 
shown  in  Figure  4  illustrates  women  by  a  grave  mound  topped  by  a 
loutrophoros;  the  body  of  the  vase  shows  the  coffin  being  lowered  into 
the  ground. 

White-ground  lekythoi,  oil  vessels,  served  as  gravemarkers  during 
the  High  Classical  Period  [460s-410s  B.C.E.].13  With  a  marked  uniformity, 
scenes  on  many  of  these  lekythoi  gravemarkers  (e.g.,  Fig.  5)  are  realistic 
renderings  of  funerary  ritual  practices.  In  this  example,  we  see  the  de- 
ceased upon  the  bier,  a  heavily  mantled  man  who  stands  at  the  head  of 
the  bier,  and  in  the  center  a  woman  in  the  two-hand  mourning  gesture. 
Her  hair  has  been  cut  short  as  a  sign  of  mourning.  The  man  offers  re- 
spect and  conceals  his  grief;  the  woman  laments  openly.  Excluding  agones, 
since  earliest  times  responsibility  for  funeral  ritual  has  rested  with  women. 
Note  also  the  ribbons  dangling  from  the  sides  of  the  bier,  traditional 
signs  of  respect  and  reverence.  The  gravemarker  presents  us  with  a  vi- 
sual record  of  ritual  gestures. 

The  lekythos  gravemarker  shown  in  Figure  6  depicts  a  woman  on  the 
right  side  of  a  stele  who  has  fallen  to  her  knees  and  is  beating  her  breast 
with  her  right  hand  -  kommos  -  a  formalized,  ancient  ritual  gesture  of  the 
body  that  enables  the  expression  of  the  inexpressible  and  states  the  in- 
tensity of  relationship  to  the  dead.  Ritual  laments  are  encoded  with  spe- 
cific somatic  gestures.  Gravemarkers,  in  turn,  encode  these  gestures  and 
perpetuate  them. 

Elements  of  lament  ritual  are  symbolically  embedded  in  a  striking  late- 
Fifth  Century  sculpted  grave  monument  marking  the  deaths  of  a  sister 
and  her  younger  brother  (Fig.  7).  The  inscription  on  the  epistyle  tells  us  it 
was  erected  by  their  parents.  In  this  tableau,  the  sister  holds  out  a  bird  to 
the  small,  naked  boy.  Certain  genres  of  lament  poetry,  as  well,  narrate 
everyday  scenes,  such  as  this  one,  that  point  to  the  tragedy  of  death  and 
memorialize  the  sweetness  of  life.  The  marker,  in  this  case,  like  the  lament, 
poignantly  and  eternally  captures  the  lost  essence  of  the  loved  ones. 


Gay  Lynch 


285 


Fig.  4.  Three  views  of  a  loutrophoros,  used  for 
both  marriage  and  funerary  rituals. 


286 


Greek  Gravemarkers 


Fig.  5.  Lykthos  (oil  vessel)  gravemarker 
depicting  ritual  mourning  scene. 


Gay  Lynch 


287 


Fig.  6.  Lykthos  gravemarker  depicting  woman 
in  ritualized  mourning  gesture  before  a  stele. 


288 


Greek  Gravemarkers 


^^—wrr-r—-- -?.- .-  -*•—■""    --■ 


A   P(*s    '-    !  < 


>f 


Fig.  7.  Sculpted  grave  monument  commemorating 
a  sister  and  her  younger  brother. 


Gay  Lynch  289 


The  lekythos  illustrated  in  Figure  8  shows  that  part  of  lament  ritual  is 
to  beribbon,  to  bewreathe,  and  to  anoint  the  gravemarker.  These  two 
women  have  prepared  their  reed  baskets  and  are  proceeding  to  the  grave. 
Of  ritual  significance  are  the  tubular  fillets  (on  the  right)  which  were 
laid,  in  a  circular  position,  on  the  base  of  the  stele  like  a  wreath,  and  the 
flat  ribbons  (on  the  left)  which  were  wound  around  the  stele  and  then 
tied  into  a  knot  or  a  bow  (e.g.,  see  Fig.  9).  In  the  baskets  we  also  see 
lekythoi  intended  for  ritual  libations.  The  gravemarker  shows  us  that  the 
visit  to  the  grave  is  no  "token  pilgrimage,"14  but  a  carefully  controlled 
ritual  enactment. 

In  the  dramatic  scene  pictured  on  Figure  9,  the  woman  on  the  left 
dries  her  tears  and  presents  her  offering  as  she  stands  before  a  beribboned 
stele.  Visible  on  the  right  is  part  of  a  basket  brought  by  another  woman. 
In  the  field,  on  either  side,  hang  lekythoi.  When  garlanded  and  anointed, 
gravemarkers,  by  now,  served  as  objects  of  ritual  devotion,  that  is,  objec- 
tive correlatives  for  the  dead  themselves,  no  longer  accessible  to  touch 
or  communication.  Greek  gravemarkers  convey  a  treasury  of  ritual  atti- 
tudes toward  death  not  articulated  elsewhere. 

Figure  10  illustrates  another  lykthos  gravemarker  upon  which  we  see 
depicted  a  girl  holding  a  hydria  in  a  pouring  position  by  its  two  horizon- 
tal handles.  A  common  image  in  Greek  laments  is  that  of  the  cool  flow- 
ing water  the  dead  have  left  behind.  The  thirst  of  the  dead  is  a  well  known 
characteristic  of  Greek  eschatology.  As  much  a  part  of  funerary  rites  as 
wreaths,  ribbons,  and  oil  vessels  is  the  offering  of  water  at  the  grave.  The 
pouring  of  water  on  the  ground  or  on  the  grave  itself  plays  an  important 
part  in  Greek  death  rituals.  As  it  flows  from  the  world  of  the  living  to  the 
world  of  the  dead  it  mediates  the  opposition  between  life  and  death. 

Modern  Greece 

The  grave  has  been  perceived  as  the  house  of  the  deceased  since 
Myceneaen  times.15  This  perception  of  the  tomb  as  house  is  implicit  in 
the  earliest  Greek  epitaphs,16  is  stated  explicitly  by  Herodotus  in  Book  9 
of  The  Histories,  and  is  alluded  to  in  a  significant  number  of  laments.17 
We  know  that  funerary  practices  are  enduring  expressions  of  cultural 
continuity.  In  modern  day  Greece,  through  specific  ritual  practices, 
women  maintain  the  grave  as  an  extension  of  their  domestic  realm.  These 
ritual  practices  play  a  notable  role  in  the  configuration  of  the  gravemarker. 

Today,  one  often  sees  the  word  oikos  (house)  on  the  grave  monument 
(Fig.  11).  Women  are  known  to  sleep  next  to  it  and  cover  it  with  blankets 


290 


Greek  Gravemarkers 


Fig.  8.  Lykthos  gravemarker  depicting  women 
preparing  for  ritual  gravesite  decoration. 


Gay  Lynch 


291 


Fig.  9.  Lykthos  gravemarker  depicting 
female  mourner  at  gravesite. 


292 


Greek  Gravemarkers 


v^y 


~Y— -^ 


Fig.  10.  Image  on  Lykthos  gravemarker  of 
female  mourner  preparing  to  offer  water  at  gravesite. 


Gay  Lynch 


293 


3   ^. 


x#  ♦ 


■  ■■*    >     — 


Fig.  11.  The  word  oi/cos  (house)  inscribed  on  modern  Greek 
marker  identifies  the  grave  as  dwelling  place  of  the  dead. 


294 


Greek  Gravemarkers 


"  ■  '™"5i'i«v* 


;1  *H-?^*<rQ_ 


Fig.  12.  Example  of  roofed  enclosure  as  modern  Greek  gravemarker. 


Gay  Lynch 


295 


in  cold  weather.18  Such  behavior  supports  Loring  Danforth's  observation 
that  not  only  is  the  grave  the  house  of  the  deceased,  it  is  also  a  second 
home  of  the  bereaved  woman.19  In  Greece,  the  "good  death"  is  marked 
by  the  presence  of  mourners  at  this  house.  Roofed  enclosure,  in  the  form 
of  the  gravemarker  (Fig.  12),  indicates  the  erection  of  socialized  spaces. 
Again,  it  is  also  a  symbol  of  the  "good  death."  Women  gather  to  ritually 
wash  and  scrub  marble  gravemarkers  with  sponges  and  steel  wool.  Since 
these  items  are  used  with  regularity,  the  markers  are  often  designed  with 
glass  enclosures  for  their  easy  accessibility  (Fig.  13).  Danforth's  field  stud- 
ies have  revealed  that  through  these  practices  women  feel  they  are  "keep- 
ing the  dead  company;20  and,  on  the  gravemarker,  as  in  lamentation  song, 
the  dead  may  speak  back  to  the  living  (Fig.  14): 


Fig.  13.  Modern  Greek  marble  gravemarker 
with  front  glass  enclosure. 


Greek  Gravemarkers 


w^' 


0 


i '  -  m 


$ 


/ 


V 


<po% 


w 


V 


a 


VI 


c 


£K 


Fig.  14.  Modern  Greek  "speaking  stone"  epitaph. 


Gay  Lynch 


297 


Fig.  15.  "Sleepless  Lamp"  -  to  akimito  kantili  - 
in  contemporary  Greek  cemetery. 


298 


Greek  Gravemarkers 


Sto  Anthos  tis  Neotitos 
Me  arpaxe  o  Charos 
ke  tora  to  kormaki  mou 
Basta  tis  Gis  to  Baros 

[In  the  flower  of  youth 

Death  seized  me 

And  now  my  body 

Holds  the  weight  of  the  earth] 

One  of  the  most  striking  examples  of  the  gravesite  as  conveyer  of 
ritual  enactment  is  the  "sleepless  lamp"  -  to  akimito  kantili  (Figs.  15  and 
16).  The  maintenance  of  this  oil  lamp  is  a  well  known  ritual  in  modern 
Greece.  Some  of  these  are  like  doll-houses  with  gabled  windows.  The 
image  of  light  as  homecoming  has  ancient  roots  in  Greek  tradition.21  As 
she  lit  the  lamp  before  his  gravemarker,  this  woman  (Fig.  16)  in  Olympia 
told  me  that  this  was  the  house  of  her  husband.  And  then  she  added,  "As 
long  as  we're  together  in  the  house,  we're  together." 


Fig.  16.  Ritual  lighting  of  the  "Sleepless  Lamp. 


Gay  Lynch  299 


Conclusion 

From  the  examples  surveyed  in  this  essay,  we  may  see  the  close  con- 
nection between  funerary  ritual  and  gravemarker  that  has  existed  in 
Greece  from  the  earliest  times  to  the  present.  Gravemarkers  in  Greece 
concretely  and  performatively  represent  ritual  acts  that  are  linked  to  the 
oldest  and  longest  surviving  of  Greek  traditions  -  graveside  ritual  la- 
ment. From  this  brief  survey  I  hope  it  has  become  clear  that  these  funerary 
stones  or  vases  do  not  statically  commemorate,  but  rather  actively  con- 
tinue to  mourn  the  dead.  The  Greek  gravemarker  is  performative.  It  la- 
ments even  when  no  human  beings  are  present  to  do  so. 

Finally,  the  gravemarker  in  Greece,  since  the  "mists  of  time,"  shows 
us  that  funerary  ritual  is  a  primary  resource  for  the  creation  and  dis- 
semination of  aesthetic  form:  community;  empathy;  poetry;  a  system  of 
continuous  dialogue  and  the  transformation  of  tears  into  song  -  this  is 
the  essence  of  lament  out  of  which  emerges  a  living  oral  tradition.  The 
markers  of  Greece,  whether  ancient  or  modern,  show  us  that  death  is  a 
cue  for  the  remarkable  achievement  of  aesthetic  creativity. 


300  Greek  Gravemarkers 


NOTES 

Grateful  acknowledgment  is  extended  for  permission  to  reproduce  the  following  illustrations: 
Figure  1  -  from  National  Museum:  Illustrated  Guide  to  the  Museum,  Ekdotike  Atheneon  S.A.; 
Figures  2-4,  6-7,  9  -  National  Archaeological  Museum.  Athens,  Greece;  Figure  5  -  The 
Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art,  New  York,  NY,  Rogers  Fund,  1907  [07.286.40];  Figure  8  - 
Elvehjem  Museum  of  Art,  University  of  Wisconsin-Madison,  Madison,  WI,  Edna  G.  Dyar  Fund 
and  Fairchild  Foundation  Fund  purchase  [70.2];  Figure  10  -  The  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art, 
New  York,  NY,  Gift  of  Julius  Sachs  Estate,  1934  [34.32.2].  All  other  photos  are  by  the  author. 

1 .  Homer,  Tlie  Odyssey,  trans.  Albert  Cook  (New  York,  NY:  W.W.  Norton  &  Company,  1967), 
book  xi,  line  72. 

2.  Aeschylus,  The  Libation  Bearers,  trans.  Richmond  Lattimore,  in  Greek  Tragedies,  vol.  2,  ed. 
David  Grene  and  Richmond  Lattimore  (Chicago,  IL:  University  of  Chicago  Press,  1960), 
lines  429-433. 

3.  Margaret  Alexiou,  The  Ritual  Lament  in  Greek  Tradition  (London,  England:  Cambridge 
University  Press,  1974),  36. 

4.  Ibid.,  xi-xii. 

5.  Ibid.,  xiii. 

6.  Aeschylus,  The  Libation  Bearers,  line  26. 

7.  Walter  Burkert,  Greek  Religion  (Cambridge,  MA:  Harvard  University  Press,  1985),  105- 
106. 

8.  Ibid.,  192. 

9.  Alexiou,  The  Ritual  Lament  in  Greek  Tradition,  6. 

10.  Gudrun  Ahlberg,  Prothesis  and  Ekphora  in  Greek  Geometric  Art  (Goteborg,  Sweden:  Elanders 
Boktryckeri  Aktiebolag,  1971),  286. 

11.  Ibid.,  287. 

12.  Arthur  Bernard  Cook,  Zeus:  A  Study  in  Ancient  Religion,  vol.  Ill  (Cambridge,  England: 
Cambridge  University  Press,  1940),  370-396. 

13.  Robert  Garland,  The  Greek  Way  of  Death  (Ithaca,  NY:  Cornell  University  Press,  1985),  108. 

14.  Ibid.,  119. 

15.  Emily  Vermeule,  Aspects  of  Death  in  Early  Greek  Art  and  Poetry  (Berkeley,  CA:  University 
of  California  Press,  1979),  48. 

16.  Donna  C.  Kurtz  and  John  Boardman,  Greek  Burial  Customs  (Ithaca,  NY:  Cornell  University 
Press,  1971),  261. 


Gay  Lynch  301 


17.  Loring  Danforth,  The  Death  Rituals  of  Rural  Greece  (Princeton,  NJ:  Princeton  University 
Press,  1982),  81. 

18.  C.  Nadia  Seremetakis,  The  Last  Word  (Chicago,  IL:  University  of  Chicago  Press,  1991), 
186. 

19.  Danforth,  The  Death  Rituals  of  Rural  Greece,  133. 

20.  Bid. 

21.  e.g.,  see  Aeschylus,  Agamemnon,  trans.  Richmond  Lattimore,  in  Greek  Tragedies,  vol.  1, 
ed.  David  Grene  and  Richmond  Lattimore  (Chicago,  IL:  University  of  Chicago  Press, 
1960),  lines  281-316. 


302 


Poets  Among  the  Stones 


^^P^|^jf^0M_a 

eft     "     */  '  v ' 

An  abandoned,  overgrown  cemetery,  Douglas  County,  Oregon. 
Photo:  Richard  E.  Meyer 


303 


POETS  AMONG  THE  STONES 
Kenneth  Pobo 

The  American  poets  perhaps  most  associated  with  graveyards  are 
two  Edgars:  Edgar  Allan  Poe  and  Edgar  Lee  Masters.  Many  of  Poe's  po- 
ems are  informed  by  a  direct  confrontation  with  death  -  usually  that  of  a 
beautiful  woman.  Poe  felt  that  a  beautiful  woman's  death  would  inevita- 
bly move  readers  (as  if  there  is  more  tragedy  in  a  woman's  death  if  she  is 
beautiful).  The  presence  of  death  turns  reality  upside  down;  the  real  can- 
not be  distinguished  from  the  dream,  or  as  Poe  says  in  one  of  his  lyrics, 
"Is  all  that  we  see  or  seem  /  But  a  dream  within  a  dream?" ' 

One  of  Poe's  gorgeous  dead  ladies  is  Annabel  Lee,  who  ends  up  "In 
the  sepulchre  there  by  the  sea,  /  In  her  tomb  by  the  sounding  sea."2  What 
remains  for  the  bereaved  lover  is  the  grave  and  nature.  For  him  there  is 
no  other  reality,  nor  will  there  ever  be.  Love  resides  in  a  tomb.  As  she  is 
in  the  grave,  he  lies  down  beside  it.  Only  the  earth  separates  them.  The 
lover  can  find  no  comfort  by  the  tomb  -  but  he  has  no  other  place  to  go, 
no  other  life  to  return  to.  Nearness  to  the  grave  is  all  he  understands. 

Edgar  Lee  Masters  lets  the  dead  finally  have  a  chance  to  speak  the 
truth  about  their  lives  in  his  collection  of  poetic  monologues,  Spoon  River 
Anthology.  Unlike  Poe's  more  formal  poetic  forms,  Masters  employs  free 
verse,  which  makes  the  individual  poems  sound  conversational,  as  if, 
somewhat  in  the  manner  of  the  old  "Hearken,  Stranger  ..."  epitaphs  of 
the  Colonial  period,  the  dead  are  directly  addressing  us.  The  dead  in 
this  Illinois  graveyard  are  itching  for  their  own  truths  to  come  out.  If 
Annabel  Lee  is  shut  up,  Master'  characters,  whose  monologues  bear  their 
names,  are  more  than  ready  to  speak.  The  often  sugary  epitaphs  found 
upon  their  stones  need  the  correction  that  only  the  dead  themselves  can 
provide.  Life  above  ground  was  based  on  lies  and  secrets;  the  cemetery 
is  their  liberator,  a  place  where  they  can  speak  without  fear  of  reprisal. 
They  exist  beyond  laws,  definitions,  and  roles.  In  Masters'  work,  death 
isn't  the  problem.  The  lives  of  his  characters  were  marked  by  appear- 
ances; many  of  them  still  seethe,  even  in  the  grave,  unable  to  rest  until 
they  can  reclaim  their  identities.  Ollie  McGhee  feels  "avenged"  in  death,3 
and  Amanda  Barker  in  eight  fierce  lines  implicates  her  husband  as  the 
one  who  caused  her  demise.4 

Contemporary  American  poets  often  remain  fascinated  by  death  and 
by  graveyards.  Annabel  Lee  feels  more  like  a  representative  beautiful 


304  Poets  Among  the  Stones 


woman,  though  supposedly  she  is  based  on  Poe's  wife,  Virginia  Clemm, 
and  Masters  based  many  of  his  portraits  on  former  residents  of  Lewistown 
and  Petersburg,  Illinois.  Many  contemporary  poets,  on  the  other  hand, 
are  less  interested  in  creating  these  types  of  representations  than  in  shar- 
ing with  readers  an  intimate  and  personal  portrait  of  loss  -  we  feel  we 
are  present  in  the  speaker's  mourning,  present  at  the  grave.  And  if  we 
are  not  present  at  the  grave,  we  may  be  present  in  the  graveyard  or  on 
the  journey  to  it.  Annabel  Lee  was  in  a  mythical  and  unnamed  "king- 
dom by  the  sea":  more  poets  today  create  myths  from  their  personal 
situations  and  observations,  constructing  kingdoms  out  of  their  daily 
lives. 

Three  contemporaries  who  have  woven  the  cemetery  into  their  work 
are  Jean  Valentine,  Gary  Soto,  and  Gregory  Orr.  While  all  three  prefer 
free  verse,  their  approaches  to  the  subject  of  the  cemetery  often  differ. 
The  poet  discloses  his  or  her  feelings  without  artifice.  Traditionally,  cem- 
eteries are  referred  to  as  a  final  resting  place.  A  picture  of  a  shady  place 
with  mowed  grass,  flowers,  and  birds  provides  comfort,  perhaps,  for  us. 
Such  an  image  is  preferable  to  Poe's  moody  "sepulchre  by  the  sea."  Yet 
even  a  graveyard  which  advances  this  relaxing  imagery  may  be  full  of 
surprises.  Masters'  cemetery  sound  like  a  final  resting  place  -  yet  the 
dead  who  reside  there  are  not  at  rest;  they  cannot  rest  without  getting 
the  truth  of  their  lives  out  into  the  open. 

The  visitor  to  the  cemetery  knows  the  dead  will  not  actually  speak: 
still,  it  is  our  fantasy  that  the  people  we  loved  will  somehow  be  able  to 
speak  to  us  if  we  visit  them  there,  in  their  final  resting  place.  Though  the 
finality  of  the  stone  is  daunting,  we  may  speak  to  them,  perhaps,  in  our 
imaginations,  recreate  them,  attempt  to  make  them  live  again,  if  only 
briefly.  Jean  Valentine  describes  a  visit  to  her  mother's  grave.  While  there, 
questions  come  to  the  surface.  The  speaker  is  not  looking  for  pity;  rather, 
she  feels  a  need  to  be  there  in  the  cemetery,  by  her  mother's  grave,  re- 
membering, wondering.  Gary  Soto's  poems  of  efforts  required  to  get  to 
cemeteries  suggest  that  the  cemetery  itself  is  not  just  a  place,  but  part  of 
a  journey,  one  that  is  often  not  easy,  but  one  which  we  do  not  turn  back 
from.  Gregory  Orr's  cemetery  raises  other  kinds  of  concerns.  Unlike 
Valentine's  poems  with  a  specific  mother  and  daughter  or  Soto's  poems 
where  the  cemetery  is  a  real  presence  even  if  difficult  to  get  to,  Orr's 
abandoned  cemetery  helps  us  to  confront  our  own  fears  of  abandon- 
ment in  death.  If  the  final  resting  place  disappears,  what  will  happen  to 
us?  At  least  in  Masters'  cemetery  the  dead,  angry  as  they  often  are,  can 


Kenneth  Pobo  305 


speak  -  they  are  present,  identifiable.  This  is  not  the  case  with  the  cem- 
etery Orr  describes  to  us. 

Jean  Valentine  writes  movingly  of  her  mother's  end  days  and  her 
struggles  with  letting  go  in  a  series  of  poems  found  in  her  1992  collec- 
tion, The  river  at  Wolf.  Most  of  these  poems  are  sonnets  in  free  verse. 
Form  helps  to  provide  meaning.  Only  after  the  speaker  visits  her  mother's 
grave  is  the  free  verse  sonnet  abandoned  -  and  then  just  for  one  five-line 
poem  about  going  through  her  mother's  things.  "Death's  Asphodel"  re- 
turns us  to  the  form  which  returns  and  fades,  returns  and  fades. 

Valentine's  subject  may  move  us  because  most  readers  feel  empathy 
for  a  daughter  writing  about  the  loss  of  a  mother.  However,  her  inten- 
tion is  not  to  evoke  pity.  Rather,  she  is  writing  to  better  understand  her- 
self in  relation  to  her  mother  -  and  her  mother's  death  -  and  the  proof  of 
that  death  which  is  the  grave.  The  events  which  surround  her  mother's 
death  come  to  us  almost  as  photographed  moments  of  the  soul:  the  morn- 
ing of  the  mother's  death,  the  mother's  body,  the  visit  to  the  grave. 

"At  My  Mother's  Grave"  begins  with  an  unnamed  voice:  someone 
has  told  the  speaker  to  "Go  away."5  Is  this  her  mother's  voice?  The 
groundskeeper  at  the  cemetery?  An  internal  voice  which  could  be  tell- 
ing her  not  to  be  in  the  cemetery  to  see  her  mother's  grave?  The  speaker 
does  not  go  away.  Instead,  she  ponders  what  remains  now  that  much  of 
her  own  experience  is  absence:  the  mother's  voice,  the  mother's  body. 
Gifts  the  mother  had  given  the  daughter  replace  a  "dark  space  on  the 
road"6  which  the  speaker  figures  was  a  deer.  The  memory  of  the  mother's 
"hazel  eyes"7  comes  to  her  by  the  grave,  something  to  hold  on  to,  some- 
thing no  grave  can  remove. 

In  the  third  stanza  the  speaker  asks,  "What  day  did  she  go  away?"8 
Here,  the  "go  away"  phrase  reappears  from  line  two.  Grief  has  broken 
down  the  speaker's  sense  of  time.  She  does  not  say,  "What  day  did  she 
die?"  "Go  away"  has  a  more  liquid  quality,  less  final.  It  is  too  soon  to  be 
able  to  let  her  go. 

In  the  graveyard,  the  living  are  unable  to  lift  the  speaker  beyond  the 
grief.  The  experience  focuses  upon  the  grave  and  the  speaker:  it  is  as  if 
no  other  graves  exist  or  that  others  could  be  sorting  through  similar  feel- 
ings elsewhere  in  the  cemetery.  Pain  carves  out  such  isolation. 

She  turns  to  three  poets,  all  dead,  Walt  Whitman,  Emily  Dickinson, 
and  Pablo  Neruda,  to  be  present  for  her.  Whitman  is  described  as  a  visi- 
tor, as  if  he  too  is  visiting  the  mother's  grave  with  the  speaker.  Dickinson 
offers  transportation,  "a  canoe  of  light."9  As  Dickinson  becomes  light, 


306  Poets  Among  the  Stones 


she  can  now  offer  others  a  place  in  her  canoe.  Neruda,  a  "radio  flier,"10  is 
a  transporter  as  well.  The  speaker  does  not  ask  to  be  flown  out  of  the 
graveyard.  Instead,  she  tells  Neruda  to  fly  her  in.11  Neruda,  Dickinson, 
and  Whitman  are  all  in  the  light.  That  is  where  the  speaker  wants  to  be. 
These  earlier  poets  can  perhaps  offer  a  comfort  that  the  living  cannot. 
Their  clarity,  their  words,  provide  a  way  in  darkness.  The  cemetery  roots 
the  speaker  to  earth,  to  loss,  but  this  triumvirate  of  poets  offers  hope  - 
which  comes  through  movement. 

As  Valentine's  speaker  wants  to  be  flown  in,  Gary  Soto's  speakers  in 
"Looking  for  a  Cemetery"  and  "Who  Will  Know  Us?"  are  on  journeys  to 
get  to  the  cemetery,  which,  in  the  first  of  these  two  poems,  is  tough  to 
find.  To  get  to  the  cemetery  and  then  to  find  a  specific  grave  is  like  a  test. 
The  speaker  and  someone  he  is  with  will  have  to  wander  for  a  while; 
they  can't  find  the  grave  too  easily.  In  the  "looking"  is  the  quest. 

The  setting  around  the  cemetery  is  hardly  beautiful,  marred  by  bro- 
ken asphalt,  barbed  wire,  and  fence  posts.  This  is  not  the  conventional 
final  resting  place  image;  it  is  neither  a  comforting  or  comfortable  land- 
scape. The  car  can't  get  them  to  it,  so  they  have  to  walk  on  gravel.  The 
sound  of  their  steps  on  the  gravel  comforts  them,  unlike  the  bottles,  cel- 
lophane, and  sheet  metal  around  them.  Gravel  is  of  the  earth.  The  sound 
introduces  other  images  from  Nature:  birds,  and  a  rabbit. 

They  believe  they  are  close  to  the  cemetery  and  continue  their  jour- 
ney. Still  lost,  they  feel  "cheated  by"  their  "dollar  map."12  The  map  has 
proven  useless;  to  get  to  the  cemetery  requires  entering  a  new  landscape. 
They  need  to  see  the  cemetery  not  as  something  mapped  -  a  place  that 
exists  as  much  in  the  imagination  as  it  does  in  reality.  The  speaker  takes 
comfort  in  the  fact  that  even  if  it  takes  a  long  time  to  find  the  cemetery, 
"The  dead  can't  get  up  and  just  go."13  We  may  be  lost,  but  the  cemetery  is 
a  fixed  point  for  the  dead. 

Finally,  the  cemetery  appears.  Again,  Nature  gives  them  a  strong  sense 
of  it.  Suddenly  they  feel  wind,  see  a  sparkling  leaf,  and  "guess"  three  oak 
trees.14  Manmade  objects  such  as  cellophane  and  maps  couldn't  help 
them.  Nature  provides  clarity. 

The  last  line  of  the  poem,  "The  grass  grew  tall  enough  to  whisper  at 
our  thighs,"15  echoes  Emily  Dickinson's  image  of  two  persons  who  died, 
respectively,  for  Beauty  and  Truth,  entombed  but  still  talking  to  each 
other.  What  they  say  cannot  stop  the  moss  from  ultimately  reaching  their 
lips  and  covering  up  their  names,  the  last  hold  they  had  on  life.16  Soto's 
grass  keeps  growing  as  they  move  through  it  -  and  into  the  graveyard. 


Kenneth  Pobo  307 


Its  whisper  reminds  them  that  they  too  shall  be  here,  that  the  journey 
they  are  on  today  will  lead  them  here  for  keeps.  However,  this  ending 
does  not  inspire  fear  or  a  desire  for  escape.  As  before,  where  the  three 
oak  trees  provided  location,  now  grass  provides  welcome  -  and  a  hint 
that  death  is  always  walking  nearby. 

Soto's  "Who  Will  Know  Us?",  written  for  Jaroslav  Seifert,  again  pre- 
sents a  journey  toward  a  cemetery.  The  speaker  here  is  not  on  foot,  but 
on  a  train.  The  dead  are  a  living  presence  as  they  "Breathe  through  the 
grass"  -  and  through  the  speaker.17  Perhaps  this  line  echoes  Carl 
Sandburg's  dramatic  monologue  employing  the  voice  of  the  grass  which 
covered  all.18  No  clear  dividing  line  between  living  and  dead  exists.  Stone 
and  breath  mingle. 

The  journey  in  "Looking  for  a  Cemetery"  required  movement  through 
the  detritus  of  civilization.  The  half  comical,  half  frightening  images  of 
the  conductor  in  "Who  Will  Know  Us?"  emphasize  the  speaker's  isola- 
tion. The  conductor  has  "loose  buttons"  and  a  "mad  puncher."19  The 
speaker  realizes  that  he  is  not  someone  who  can  provide  comfort. 

The  outside  world  is  winter-like,  with  a  "slate  of  old  snow,"  "icy  coal," 
and  a  "shivering  horse."20  Death  is  everywhere.  The  speaker  describes 
his  country  as  "white  with  no  words"  and  imagines  places  such  as  Paris 
or  Athens.  Those  cities  are  far  away,  while  the  visit  with  the  dead  is  here 
and  now.  Also,  Paris  and  Athens  have  for  centuries  been  the  home  of 
great  writers,  men  and  women  who  worked  with  words  -  unlike  the 
country's  white  wordlessness. 

As  he  fantasizes  of  other  places  and  that  someday  he  might  "open 
like  an  umbrella,"21  the  train  reminds  him  of  his  journey  to  the  cemetery. 
The  umbrella  image  is  rich  -  umbrellas  protect  from  rain  and  snow,  just 
as  grass  protects  the  coffin  in  the  cemetery.  According  to  popular  super- 
stition, umbrellas,  when  opened  indoors,  can  also  bring  bad  luck.  And, 
they  are  often  black,  the  color  of  mourning. 

In  the  poem's  concluding  lines  it  is  a  "Red  coat  of  evil.  /  We  are  its 
passengers  ..."-  We  cannot  get  off  this  train  until  we  arrive  at  the  desti- 
nation -  the  cemetery.  The  other  passengers  are  on  the  same  journey, 
"old  and  young  alike."23  The  shape  of  a  train  car  suggests  that  of  a  coffin. 
Its  movement  toward  the  cemetery,  then,  suggests  the  body  being  car- 
ried to  a  grave. 

The  reality  of  death  is  confirmed  once  again  for  both  speaker  and 
reader  in  the  last  line.  The  speaker  wonders,  "Who  will  know  us  when 
we  breathe  through  the  grass?"24  Soon  he  too  will  be  like  those  others 


308  Poets  Among  the  Stones 


who,  in  the  first  stanzas,  breathed  through  the  grass.  The  question  he 
poses  is  not  a  comforting  one,  as  one  answer  is  that  perhaps  nobody  will 
know  us.  The  train  will  move  along  and  we  will  be  forgotten.  Other  win- 
ters will  pile  up,  and  we  cannot  know  who  will  come  by  to  see  us  in  the 
cemetery  -  or  if  they  will  have  a  sense  of  our  own  breathing  as  they  visit. 
However,  the  question  comes  with  an  element  of  hope,  too.  We  cannot 
know  who  will  know  us.  Perhaps  people  we  do  not  or  cannot  know  will 
know  us.  And  like  us,  they  too  one  day  will  have  to  pose  the  same  ques- 
tion. Everyone  gets  on  board  the  same  train.  The  destination  is  certain. 

The  cemetery  in  Gregory  Orr's  "An  Abandoned,  Overgrown  Cem- 
etery in  the  Pasture  Near  Our  House"  is  more  easily  gotten  to  than  those 
in  the  Soto  poems.  Its  presence  is  inescapable  since  it  is  so  close  to  the 
house.  Orr  sets  the  poem  in  Virginia;  the  time  is  March,  when  Spring  is 
beginning  to  sweep  in,  though  the  seer  of  winter  still  remains.  Two  parts 
separate  the  poem,  each  with  a  single  stanza.  Cattle  "trample"  the  cem- 
etery, which  is  protected  by  a  "low  stone  wall."25  Cows  are  the  closest 
thing  to  visitors  that  this  cemetery  has. 

An  abandoned  cemetery  immediately  raises  questions.  What  hap- 
pened to  it?  Did  the  families  or  friends  of  those  who  were  buried  there 
care  enough  about  it,  or  had  they  long  ago  moved  on  to  new  lives,  for- 
getting those  left  behind? 

In  Orr's  poem,  as  we  have  seen  before,  the  image  of  the  cemetery  as  a 
place  of  rest  may  be  severely  challenged:  "...  vines  cover  the  five  /  small 
cherry  trees;  brambles  everywhere  ..."26  The  vine-covered  cherry  trees 
might  conceivably  be  beautiful  in  a  different  context  -  in  a  garden  or  an 
orchard,  perhaps  -  but  here  they  create  unease.  No  groundskeeper  will 
come  to  remove  those  brambles.  The  idea  of  an  "abandoned"  cemetery 
discomforts  because  of  the  fear  that,  in  death,  we  shall  one  day  be  aban- 
doned, too. 

Orderliness  in  a  space  for  burials  suggest  respect  for  the  dead,  but 
Orr's  cemetery  challenges  that  desire  for  order  with  "...  the  abyss  /  with 
its  lips  of  weather  ..."2V  Life  abandons  us,  and  what  survives  is  the  abyss. 
This  cemetery  brings  us  to  a  startling  confrontation  with  that  abyss.  The 
poet  implies  that  years  of  harsh  weather  have  made  it  impossible  to  read 
the  names  on  the  stones.  With  the  disappearance  of  those  names  go  the 
dead  ones'  last  hold  on  identity.  They  are  now  part  of  the  abyss.  The  "lips 
of  weather"  metaphor  has  a  sensuous  quality,  but  as  these  lips  kiss,  they 
also  erase.  The  kiss  is  without  feeling,  just  as  sunlight  or  rain  are  without 
feeling  even  if  poets  often  personify  them  and  make  them  seem  to  feel. 


Kenneth  Pobo  309 


After  the  image  of  the  erased  names,  the  first  section  of  the  poem, 
with  no  identifiable  speaker,  is  complete.  The  loss  of  human  names  re- 
flects the  abandonment  of  the  cemetery.  Section  two  begins  with  a  first- 
person  speaker  who  is  at  work  clipping  stalks  by  the  stone  wall.  He  will 
keep  his  wall  neat  even  if  others  have  let  the  cemetery  become  overrun 
by  vines  and  brambles. 

As  he  works,  he  is  coming  more  alive.  The  act  of  work  rejuvenates 
him  -  and  it  is  work  connected  with  nature,  and  with  ordering  that  which 
has  overrun  the  cemetery.  In  Winter,  the  speaker  describes  himself  as  a 
torpid  snake,  but  now  he  is  getting  free  of  that  state.  A  torpid  snake 
looks  almost  dead,  but  now  that  Spring  is  almost  here  life  is  returning. 
Skin  must  be  shed.  The  warm  day  contrasts  with  the  emptiness  and  aban- 
donment of  the  cemetery. 

In  work  comes  discovery:  the  speaker  finds  a  wren's  nest.  Like  the 
dead  in  the  cemetery,  we  have  no  idea  what  happened  to  the  wrens.  Did 
they  too  abandon  the  nest?  Abandoning  a  cemetery,  then,  resembles  aban- 
doning a  home.  Did  wind  steal  it  from  them?  This  particular  nest  is  one 
from  which  ghosts  drink.  The  cemetery,  before,  remains  alive.  Ghosts 
abound.  However,  this  awareness  of  present  ghosts  is  no  comfort.  The 
ghosts  live  on  human  tears.  The  cup  of  the  wren's  nest  offers  a  paradox: 
it  is  both  full  and  empty  at  the  same  -  just  like  the  cemetery,  which  holds 
the  bodies  of  the  dead  but  lacks  visitors.  These  ghosts  only  feast  on  tears. 

What  is  frightening  about  the  end  of  Orr's  poem  is  the  same  senti- 
ment that  frightens  at  the  end  of  Soto's  "Who  Will  Know  Us?"  Both  po- 
ems suggest  that  abandonment  may  be  our  ultimate  end.  Nothing  can 
stop  Soto's  train,  and  nothing  can  stop  Orr's  ghosts  from  sipping  human 
tears  from  a  wren's  nest. 

Valentine  asks  in  "At  My  Mother's  Grave,"  "So  what  is  left?"28  In  her 
poem,  a  daughter  remembers  her  mother.  She  is  left  at  the  grave  to  re- 
member and  to  answer  her  own  question.  Any  difficulty  in  getting  to  the 
cemetery,  if  indeed  there  was  any,  is  not  spoken  of.  The  dead  in  Orr's 
poem  could  easily  ask  the  same  question.  What  is  left  for  them  is  cattle 
watching  them  without  any  sense  of  who  they  were,  and  a  stranger  work- 
ing nearby  on  a  warm  Spring  day. 

The  question  of  "What  is  left"  informs  all  of  these  contemporary  po- 
ems as  well  as  Poe's  poem  of  the  lost  Annabel  Lee  whose  death  becomes 
a  definition  for  the  rest  of  the  speaker's  life.  Masters'  graveyard  teems 
with  life.  Only  in  death  and  joined  together  in  the  graveyard  can  the 
dead  rout  the  lies  told  about  them.  Valentine  swerves  us  painfully  close 


310  Poets  Among  the  Stones 


to  the  loss  of  a  mother,  inviting  us  into  a  private  moment.  Soto  postu- 
lates the  cemetery  as  part  of  a  journey,  a  destination  which  demands 
work  to  find.  Orr's  abandoned  cemetery  suggests  that  we,  like  the  ghosts, 
come  to  a  cemetery,  even  an  abandoned  one,  because  "...  it's  empty  / 
always  it's  filled  to  the  brim."29 


NOTES 

An  earlier,  and  shorter,  version  of  this  essay  appeared  on  the  poetry  web  site, 
www.ForFoetry.com. 

1.  Edgar  Allan  Poe,  "A  Dream  Within  a  Dream."  in  The  Complete  Tales  and  Poems  of  Edgar 
Allan  Poe,  ed.  Hervey  Allen  (New  York,  NY:  The  Modern  Library,  1938),  lines  23-24. 

2.  'Annabel  Lee,"  Ibid.,  lines  40-41. 

3.  Edgar  Lee  Masters,  "Ollie  McGhee,"  in  Spoon  River  Anthology:  An  Annotated  Edition,  ed. 
John  E.  Hallwas  (Urbana,  IL:  University  of  Illinois  Press),  line  11. 

4.  "Amanda  Barker,"  Ibid.,  lines  1-8. 

5.  Jean  Valentine,  "At  My  Mother's  Grave,"  in  The  River  at  Wolf  (Cambridge,  MA:  Alice 
James,  1992),  line  2. 

6.  Ibid.,  line  4. 

7.  Ibid.,  line  6. 

8.  Ibid.,  line  7. 

9.  Ibid. ,\meU. 

10.  Ibid.,  line  13. 

11.  Ibid.,  line  14. 

12.  Gary  Soto,  "Looking  for  a  Cemetery,"  in  New  and  Selected  Poems  (San  Francisco,  CA: 
Chronicle  Books,  1992),  line  22. 

13.  Ibid.,  line  20. 

14.  Ibid.,  line  24. 

15.  Ibid. ,Yme  26. 


Kenneth  Pobo  311 


16.  Emily  Dickinson,  "449  /  I  died  for  Beauty  ...,"  in  The  Norton  Anthology  of  American 
Literature,  vol.  1,  ed.  Ronald  Gottesman,  et  al.  (New  York,  NY:  W.W.  Norton  &  Company, 
1979),  lines  1-12. 

1 7.  Gary  Soto,  "Who  Will  Know  Us?",  in  New  and  Selected  Poems,  line  4. 

18.  Carl  Sandburg,  "Grass,"  in  Tlie  Norton  Anthologx/  of  American  Literature,  vol.  2,  ed.  Ronald 
Gottesman,  et  al.  (New  York,  NY:  W.W.  Norton  &  Company,  1979),  lines  1-11. 

19.  Soto,  "Who  Will  Know  Us?",  lines  9-10. 

20.  Ibid.,  lines  8, 11,  14. 

21.  Ibid.,  line  26. 

22.  Ibid.,  lines  37-38. 

23.  Ibid.,  line  39. 

24.  Ibid.,  line  40. 

25.  Gregory  Orr,  "An  Abandoned,  Overgrown  Cemetery  in  the  Pasture  Near  Our  House," 
in  Tlie  Morrow  Anthology  of  Younger  American  Poets,  ed.  Dave  Smith  and  David  Bottoms 
(New  York,  NY:  Quill,  1985),  lines  2,  4. 

26.  Ibid.,  lines  7-8. 

27.  Ibid.,  lines  9-10. 

28.  Valentine,  "At  My  Mother's  Grave,"  line  3. 

29  .  Orr,  "An  Abandoned,  Overgrown  Cemetery  in  the  Pasture  Near  Our  House,"  lines  23-24. 


312 


Mormon  Temple  Reproductions 


■WMARRIED  MAY  24,!933lCT" 

*%WII)III|II.BMWPW«|— H     I    |i|- I.ll. »|IHllllllWl  II1IMH    I  III1IKIHI       I  l.lll  J.lH»l|HWimmWWII.IIHI IIIIIII.IIUJJl      JtUMU— mi— mwJP^ 


Fig.  1.  Salt  Lake  City  Temple.  Salt  Lake  City  Cemetery, 
Salt  Lake  City,  Utah. 


313 


MORMON  TEMPLE  REPRODUCTIONS  ON  CEMETERY  MARKERS 
Jacqueline  S.  Thursby 

Introduction 

Cemetery  visitors  and  scholars  have  noted  an  increasing  number  of 
gravestones  depicting  Mormon  temples  (Fig.  1)  in  the  past  twenty  years. 
Though  the  temple  motif  has  been  used  occasionally  in  the  Western  states 
on  cemetery  markers  during  the  late  Nineteenth  and  early  Twentieth 
centuries,  it  is  now  appearing  in  cemeteries  world-wide  with  more  fre- 
quency. Folklorist  George  H.  Schoemaker  and  other  scholars  have  writ- 
ten about  symbols  in  Mormon  tombstone  art  in  the  Intermountain  West,1 
but  the  temple  image  itself,  which  has  become  a  presence  in  many  cem- 
eteries throughout  the  world,  has  received  little  specific  attention.  What 
does  the  image  of  a  Latter-day  Saint  temple  on  a  burial  stone  symbolize? 
Who  does  it  represent?  Why  the  variety  of  temples  represented?  Why 
are  such  stones  increasing  in  number?  The  following  discussion  will  ad- 
dress those  questions  and  also  examine  the  historical  background  and 


Fig.  2.  Manti  Temple  with  sealing  date.  Ely  Cemetery,  Ely,  Nevada. 


314  Mormon  Temple  Reproductions 


meaning  of  several  other  common  symbols  used  in  cemetery  markers  by 
members  of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-day  Saints. 

Mormon  Memorialization  and  Symbolism 

The  presence  of  a  temple  on  a  gravestone  has  deep  significance  to 
Latter-day  Saint  families.  The  temple  itself  represents  eternal  relation- 
ships and  a  link  between  heaven  and  earth.  The  Church  of  Jesus  Christ 
of  Latter-day  Saints  (nicknamed  "Mormons,"  after  the  Book  of  Mormon) 
was  founded  in  the  United  States  by  Joseph  Smith  in  1830.  It  now  has  a 
membership  of  nearly  eleven  million  worldwide,  and  the  temple  is  the 
location  for  the  central,  culminating  elements  of  "Mormon"  religious 
practice.  Mormons  believe  that  ordinances  performed  in  the  more  than 
one  hundred  temples  scattered  throughout  the  world  "seal"  (Fig.  2) 
couples  and  families  together  "for  all  time  and  eternity." 

The  intense  genealogical  research  engaged  in  by  Mormons  world- 
wide culminates  in  an  ordinance  performed  only  in  the  temple  and  called 
"  baptism  for  the  dead."  It  is  believed  that  vicarious  baptisms  performed 
in  the  temple  provide  an  option  for  membership  in  the  Latter-day  Saint 
faith  for  spirits  already  passed  from  mortal  life.  Because  of  the  firm  be- 
lief in  an  eternal  family  unit,  contracted  by  covenant  through  "sealings" 
in  the  temple,  the  message  of  hope  for  eternal  family  associations  is 
thought  by  some  members  to  be  symbolized  by  the  presence  of  a  temple 
on  a  gravemarker.  While  temple  stones  are  neither  promoted  nor  dis- 
couraged by  the  church  leadership,  the  temple  image  on  the  stone  none- 
theless represents  eternal  links  between  covenanted  family  members, 
past  and  present,  and  it  implies  that  family  members  "resting'  there  will 
be  resurrected  in  worthiness  and  reunited  with  their  families  upon  the 
return  of  Jesus  Christ  to  the  earth. 

People  who  choose  to  have  their  burial  place  marked  with  a  temple 
stone  believe  that  their  faith  and  commitment  to  the  religion  is,  there- 
fore, clearly  communicated  to  their  posterity.  The  temples  represented 
usually  have  various  personal  significance  to  the  deceased.  Perhaps  they 
received  their  first  sacred  instructions  there  (called  an  endowment).  Or, 
perhaps  a  couple  whose  names  are  written  on  the  stone  were  married  in 
the  particular  temple  represented  (Figs.  1  and  3);  that  temple  would 
thereby  hold  memories  held  sacred  throughout  their  lifetime. 

Though  most  temple  stones  mark  the  grave  of  deceased  couples,  there 
are  occasionally  other  occasions  when  it  may  be  used.  Children  who  are 
members  of  the  LDS  church  are  allowed  to  begin  performing  baptisms 


Jacqueline  S.  Thursby 


315 


for  the  dead  when  they  reach  the  age  of  twelve.  A  teen  or  young  adult's 
grave  may  be  marked  with  a  stone  representing  a  temple  where  they 
had  performed  vicarious  baptisms.  Young  missionaries  receive  their  en- 
dowments just  before  the  beginning  of  their  mission  training.  Most  young 
men  of  the  Latter-day  Saint  faith  serve  two-year  proselyting  missions  for 
the  church  beginning  around  the  time  of  their  nineteenth  birthday;  young 
women  may  choose  to  go  on  an  eighteen-month  mission  when  they  are 


"»        ,  TK- 


SEPT.  15, 1927 
SEALED 

nOU.  14,1950 

Fig.  3.  St.  George  Temple  with  marriage  and  sealing  dates. 
Milford  Cemetery,  Milford,  Utah. 


316  Mormon  Temple  Reproductions 


twenty-one.  If  the  young  missionary  should  die  while  serving  a  mission, 
the  family  may  choose  a  monument  representing  either  the  temple  where 
the  deceased  received  their  endowment  or  possibly  the  temple  closest  to 
where  he  or  she  were  assigned.  Rather  than  temples,  members  of  the 
Latter-day  Saint  faith  who  die  while  in  the  military  are  more  likely  to 
have  their  graves  marked  with  stones  or  bronze  plaques  adorned  with  a 
figure  representing  Moroni,  an  angel  whose  figure  enhances  the  central 
spire  on  many  Mormon  temples  (Fig.  4). 

Modern  technological  methods  have  increased  options  for  memori- 
alizing the  dead.  Monuments  ranging  from  imported  marble  to  durable 
granite,  in  all  their  varieties,  can  be  etched,  engraved,  sculpted,  hand- 
tooled,  sand-blasted,  and/or  photo-blasted  to  accommodate  almost  any 
request.  Computer  technology  and  transportation  practices  make  it  rela- 
tively convenient  to  replicate  individual  monument  designs  and  to  ship 
a  monument  almost  anyplace  in  the  world.  Monument  picture  books 
and  on-line  advertising  have  increased  accessibility  for  making  choices 
and  customizing  designs.  Memorial  stones  of  nearly  every  material  rep- 
resenting any  of  the  worldwide  temples  can  be  produced  and  shipped 
anyplace  in  the  world.  As  the  LDS  membership  and  the  number  of 
temples  increase,  it  is  likely  that  more  and  more  "temple  stones"  will 
appear  in  cemeteries  throughout  the  world. 

In  states  where  the  early  populations  were  predominately  Mormon, 
cemeteries  were  usually  arranged  in  a  grid-like  pattern.  Bodies  were  of- 


litlliiHi  w^:0w®^ 

RVJ     -!J5  ARWY: 
#UG  H6  1966      AUG  6:19*85 


Fig.  4.  Military  marker  with  image  of  the  angel  Moroni. 
Provo  City  Cemetery,  Provo,  Utah. 


Jacqueline  S.  Thursby 


317 


ten  buried  with  the  heads  pointed  toward  the  West  so  that  on  resurrec- 
tion morning  the  awakened  would  rise  and  face  toward  the  East.  Though 
some  temple  stones  can  be  found  in  the  old  cemeteries,  they  are  not 
common.  Most  gravestones  found  there  are  relatively  simple  and  have  a 
variety  of  symbols  on  them,  but  there  never  was  a  wide  use  of  familiar 
Mormon  icons  (all-seeing  eye,  beehive,  Book  of  Mormon  [although  see 
Fig.  5  for  a  contemporary  example],  seagull,  sego  lily)  on  gravemarkers. 
Occasionally,  on  older  stones  -  or  their  modern  replacements  -  verbal 
references  to  the  emigrant  experience,  along  with  appropriate  visual  sym- 
bols (handcarts,  pioneer  wagons,  etc.)  are  prominently  featured  (e.g., 
Figs.  6  and  16).  For  the  most  part,  however,  the  symbols  on  the  older 
stones  have  been  similar  to  those  common  in  the  United  States  as  a  whole 
at  that  time:  rose,  open  book,  cornucopia,  wheat  sheaf,  tree  of  life,  oak 
cluster,  lamb,  willow  tree,  and  most  particularly,  the  clasped  hands  mo- 
tif. The  depiction  of  the  angel  Moroni,  discussed  earlier  in  connection 


m 

mlFF* 

#      M 

jrf  I  » 

■ 

K4  f 

v  ,■ 

JjuL  , 

*m 

*  Jb* 

i 

1 

■v     *  - ' 

Fig.  5.  Book  of  Mormon  depicted  on  contemporary  marker. 
Idlewild  Cemetery,  Hood  River,  Oregon. 


318 


Mormon  Temple  Reproductions 


with  military  markers,  deserves  special  mention.  According  to  one  con- 
temporary scholar: 

Victorian  funereal  art  in  the  United  States  often  includes  a  side  view  of  an 
angel  flying,  although  such  are  not  found  on  Mormon  gravestones.  Pictures 
of  the  angel  Moroni  figure  used  on  the  Nauvoo  Temple  show  a  statue  carved 
in  a  horizontal  flying  position  [e.g.,  see  Fig.  7]  almost  identical  to  those  found 
on  headstones  of  the  time.  Don  F.  Colvin,  "Nauvoo  Temple'"  in  Encyclopedia 
of  Mormonism,  ed.  Daniel  H.  Ludlow,  4  vols.  (New  York:  Macmillan,  1992), 
3:1001-3,  claims  that  this  horizontal  position  was  'doubtless  inspired  by  the 
prophecy  in  Rev.  14:  6-7.'  This  prophecy  refers  to  another  angel  flying  in 
heaven  and  may  well  be  the  origin  of  the  idea  of  an  angel  flying,  but  the 
angel  Moroni's  remarkable  similarity  to  the  angel  Gabriel  (presumably  . . . 
and  angel  at  least)  on  headstones  of  the  region  may  be  an  equally  likely  source 
for  the  inspiration  of  the  artist  who  created  the  angel  on  the  temple. 
Completion  of  the  Salt  Lake  Temple  more  than  fifty  years  later  was  associated 
with  adoption  of  a  very  different  view  of  the  angel  Moroni,  who  now  appears 
in  a  standing  position  blowing  his  trump  [e.g.,  see  Fig.  8].2 

Mormon  Temple  Stones 

Before  1869  and  the  arrival  of  the  transcontinental  railroad  at  Promon- 
tory Point  in  Utah,  gravestones  were  locally  made  and  were  very  simple. 
After  that  time,  obelisks,  urns,  and  other  more  complex  markers  became 


Fig.  6.  Pioneer  wagon  with  LDS  and  emigrant  data. 
Wellsville  Cemetery,  Wellsville,  Utah. 


Jacqueline  S.  Thursby 


319 


popular.  Richard  H.  Jackson,  a  Professor  of  Geography  at  Brigham  Young 
University,  has  stated  that "...  with  the  completion  of  the  St.  George  Temple 
in  1877,  temples  began  to  be  used  as  a  symbol  on  Mormon  gravestones. 
Dedication  of  the  Manti  Temple  in  1888  augmented  the  use  of  temples  on 
headstones  in  the  southern  and  central  Utah  areas."3 

Folklorist  Carol  Edison  maintains  that  "gravestones  featuring  an  im- 
age of  a  Mormon  temple  .  .  .  began  to  appear  about  1910"  and  that  "the 
first  temple  stones  displayed  a  recognizable  Salt  Lake  Temple,  but  that 
for  the  next  fifty  years,  aside  from  an  occasional  metal  plaque,  the  image 
of  the  temple  was  not  commonly  used  on  gravestones."4  Jackson,  in  a 
discussion  concerning  the  predominance  of  the  Salt  Lake  Temple  on  early 
stones,  suggested  that: 

Not  until  the  last  half  of  the  twentieth  century  did  customizing  headstones 
with  the  temple  begin  to  dominate  [Mormon]  gravestone  art.  Early 
stonemasons  used  patterns  available  in  the  nineteenth  and  early  twentieth 
centuries,  patterns  that  depicted  traditional  Christian  funerary  art.  The  early 
use  of  the  temple  as  a  symbol  on  headstones  is  relatively  rare,  and  each 
depiction  of  the  temple  is  very  individualistic.5 


Fig.  7.  Image  of  the  angel  Moroni  as  used 
atop  original  Nauvoo  Temple. 


320 


Mormon  Temple  Reproductions 


Fig.  8.  Image  of  the  angel  Moroni  as  used 
atop  Salt  Lake  City  and  other  LDS  temples. 


Jacqueline  S.  Thursby  321 


Early  travel  in  rural  southern  Utah  was  difficult,  and  it  was  often 
easier  to  take  a  train  to  the  temple  in  Salt  Lake  City  than  to  attempt  travel 
to  St.  George  or  Manti  over  unpredictable  roads.  Therefore,  until  the 
road  improvements  of  the  mid-Twentieth  Century,  many  if  not  most  Utah 
Mormons  went  to  the  Salt  Lake  Temple  for  their  ordinances  and  sealings. 
Though  there  are  not  many  temple  stones  from  the  Nineteenth  Century 
and  early  Twentieth,  the  most  common  temple  among  those  depicted  is 
the  Salt  Lake  Temple. 

In  the  present  era,  memorialization  has  become  a  sensitive  part  of  a 
cemetery  stone  maker's  (or  memorialist's)  repertoire  of  skills.  In  an  in- 
terview with  Ryan  Walker,  a  third  generation  memorialist  in  Provo,  Utah, 
I  was  told  that  for  several  decades  stones  with  a  temple  motif  have  been, 
by  far,  the  most  popular  style  in  the  Utah  County  region.  Georgia  Grey  is 
the  most  popular  granite,  and  there  are  few  requests,  he  said,  for  un- 
usual motifs  or  even  epitaphs.6  When  the  family  of  a  deceased  person 
approaches  a  manufacturer  of  gravestones,  it  is  usually  at  an  emotional 
time,  and  it  is  often  with  concern  about  the  cost  and  durability  of  the 
marker  to  be  designed  or  chosen.  The  memorialist  sometimes  has  a  dif- 
ficult task  in  helping  the  bereaved  to  represent  and  honor  their  dead 
appropriately.  On  some  occasions  it  takes  several  months  for  a  family  to 
decide  exactly  what  way  is  best  to  memorialize  their  loved  one.  Mr.  Walker 
said  people  making  the  decision  often  spend  a  long  time  looking  at  pic- 
tures of  stones  which  represent  simple  to  elaborate  styles  and  also  vary 
widely  in  cost.  For  the  most  part,  he  said,  they  choose  simple,  durable 
stones  and  generally  avoid  any  custom  ordering. 

Some,  however,  do  design  very  personal  stones,  such  as  one  I  saw  in 
Ephraim,  Utah.  On  one  side  of  that  granite  marker  were  the  names  of 
the  deceased  couple  and  the  Salt  Lake  Temple  and  a  group  of  dates.  On 
the  other  side,  the  couple  was  pictured  dancing  and  there  was  a  picture 
of  a  man  on  a  horse  in  one  corner.  In  an  entirely  different  vein,  there  is  a 
stone  in  the  Provo  City  Cemetery,  literally  a  large,  uncarved  rock.  The 
story  associated  with  the  rock  is  that  a  farmer,  who  had  spent  much  of 
his  life  picking  stones  from  his  fields,  wanted  to  be  memorialized  with 
one  of  his  own  stones. 

As  regards  religious  symbolism,  one  scholar  has  noted: 

Symbols  form  bridges  between  the  material  experiences  of  the  senses  and 
that  which  lies  or  reaches  beyond. . . .  Religious  symbols  express  a  divine  or 
heavenly  reality  through  things  taken  from  a  created  world.  They  possess  a 
profound  capacity  to  reveal  the  meaning  of  something  that  outstrips  our 
capacity  to  frame  neatly  in  words.7 


322 


Mormon  Temple  Reproductions 


Not  unlike  belief  systems  around  the  world,  the  Latter-day  Saints  have 
many  symbols  that  extract  meaning  from  a  variety  of  relationships.  The 
beehive,  an  ubiquitous  symbol  in  the  state  of  Utah  (Brigham  Young's 
main  home  in  Salt  Lake  City  was  named  "The  Beehive  House"),  can  rep- 
resent industry,  harmony,  order,  and/or  frugality.  It  appears  occasionally 
on  gravestones  but  was  never  used  frequently.  The  clasped  hand  motif  is 
more  common  in  Utah  and  Idaho  stones,  but  it  is  also  seen  in  cemeteries 
across  the  United  States.  There  is  another,  more  specific  application, 
however.  The  Mormons  are  a  hand-shaking  people,  and  the  clasped  hands 


Fig.  9.  St.  George  Temple  with  clasped  hands  motif. 
Mountain  View  Cemetery,  Beaver,  Utah. 


Jacqueline  S.  Thursby 


323 


on  their  gravestones  (Fig.  9)  can  represent  covenant-making,  wholeness, 
completion,  and  even  perfection.  The  "All  Seeing  Eye"  appears  on  some 
early  stones,  and  it  is  a  representation  of  an  all-seeing/all-knowing  God 
and  a  reminder  to  behave  wisely  at  all  times.  Also,  many  markers  are 
partially  covered  with  a  graceful,  usually  draped,  veil.  The  veil  repre- 
sents separation  and  can  be  interpreted  many  ways:  possibly  it  repre- 
sents detachment  of  the  spirit  from  the  body,  the  sacred  divided  from 
the  profane,  truth  veiled  against  confusion,  or  perhaps  it  delineates  the 
afterlife  from  mortal  existence. 

It  is  common  to  see  the  words  "Families  are  forever"  carved  upon 
Mormon  tombstones  (Fig.  10).  Again,  this  is  representative  of  the  Mor- 
mon belief  that  the  family  unit  extends  into  the  eternities.  Ancient  lega- 
cies and  connections  are  believed  to  someday  be  restored,  and  huge  family 
assemblies  will  become  almost  like  nations  unto  themselves.  When  vi- 
carious work  for  deceased  spirits  is  performed,  they  are  the  same  as  or- 
dinances for  the  living:  baptism,  confirmation,  initiatory,  endowment, 


Fig.  10.  Salt  Lake  City  Temple  with  "Families  are  forever' 
inscription.  Elgin  Cemetery,  Green  River,  Utah. 


324 


Mormon  Temple  Reproductions 


and  sealing.  "In  the  temple,"  Richard  G.  Oman  has  stated,  "we  are  taught 
how  we  should  live."8  And  it  is  through  the  representations  of  the  temple 
on  gravestones  that  the  deceased  intend  to  communicate  to  posterity 
that  they  have  attempted  to  live  as  they  were  taught. 

There  are  also  cemetery  stones  in  Utah  that  represent  the  heritage  of 
converts  to  the  church.  It  is  difficult  to  abandon  ancient  beliefs  and  tra- 
ditions, and  converts  are  encouraged  to  treasure  and  preserve  the  beauty 
of  their  own  heritage.  Symbols  of  their  past  traditions  and  belief  systems 
are  used  in  some  contemporary  memorialization.  At  the  East  Lawn  Cem- 
etery, in  Provo,  Utah,  there  are  two  particularly  interesting  stones  which 
represent  earlier  traditions  of  converts.  On  one  stone,  ancient  Asian  cal- 
ligraphy is  combined  with  the  graceful  flying  seagulls  of  Utah.  The  other 
memorial  stone,  elaborately  engraved,  represents  a  Jewish  convert's  de- 
sire to  express  his  roots  as  well  as  his  belief  in  the  restored  gospel.  On  the 
upper  left  the  stone  says  "Judaism  is  the  foundation,"  on  the  upper  right, 


Fig.  11.  Logan  Temple.  Logan  City  Cemetery,  Logan,  Utah. 


Jacqueline  S.  Thursby 


325 


"Mormonism  is  the  continuation."  Hebrew  lettering  above  the  symbol 
of  the  Menorah  reads:  "Holiness  to  the  Lord."  The  Menorah  itself  has 
the  names  of  each  of  the  deceased  man's  children.  The  date  of  his  mar- 
riage ordinance,  performed  in  the  temple,  is  also  engraved  on  the  large 
granite  tombstone. 

As  I  traveled  around  the  state  of  Utah  and  visited  cemeteries,  I  found 
many,  many  temple  stones,  mostly  dating  from  the  1960s  onwards.  The 
style  became  more  popular  as  time  and  the  diamond  point  pneumatic 
drill  technique  advanced  and  became  more  accurate.  I  have  seen  vari- 
ous temples  represented:  Salt  Lake  (Figs.  1  and  10),  St.  George  (Figs.  3 


*«4 


,sv 


till  l|0  il 

#— - — ' 

•      4        • 


~J7~~ 


RLUJflVS 

T0GETHER 


Fig.  12.  Idaho  Falls  Temple.  Ely  Cemetery,  Ely,  Nevada. 


- 

>   | 


326 


Mormon  Temple  Reproductions 


and  9),  Logan  (Figs.  11  and  16),  Manti  (Fig.  2),  Alberta,  Hawaii,  Idaho 
Falls  (Fig.  12),  Los  Angeles  (Fig.  13),  Provo  (Fig.  14),  Arizona  (Fig.  15), 
and  Odgen,  and  I  know  there  are  others.  The  temple  most  represented, 
from  Smithfield  in  the  north  to  St.  George  in  the  south,  is  the  Salt  Lake 
Temple. 

Not  unlike  the  ordinances  performed  on  the  inside,  the  exterior  of 
temples  of  the  Latter-day  Saints  are  richly  symbolic.  For  instance,  the 
Salt  Lake  Temple  has  three  towers  in  the  east  and  three  towers  in  the 
west.  The  east  towers  are  higher  and  represent  the  Melchizedek  Priest- 
hood: those  offices  are  led  by  the  President  of  the  Church,  Gordon  B. 
Hinckley,  and  his  two  counselors.  The  west  towers  are  not  as  high,  and 
they  represent  the  Aaronic  Priesthood:  those  offices  are  held  by  the  Pre- 
siding Bishop  and  his  two  counselors.9  The  Salt  Lake  Temple  also  fea- 
tures replicas  of  the  Big  Dipper  (Ursa  Major)  on  the  west  central  tower 
and  also  the  North  Star.  There  are  other  heavenly  bodies,  including  the 
moon,  sun,  and  stars,  carved  into  granite  on  the  outside  of  the  Salt  Lake 
Temple.  I  did  see  one  stone  with  a  sun  but  I  could  find  no  cemetery 
stones  with  the  moon  or  stars  represented. 


Fig.  13.  Los  Angeles  Temple. 
Idlewild  Cemetery,  Hood  River,  Oregon. 


Jacqueline  S.  Thursby 


327 


Boyd  K.  Packer,  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  church,  has  stated: 

Much  of  the  teaching  relating  to  the  deeper  spiritual  things  in  the  Church, 
particularly  in  the  temple,  is  symbolic.  We  use  the  word  keys  in  a  symbolic 
way.  Here  the  keys  of  priesthood  authority  represent  the  limits  of  the  power 
extended  from  beyond  the  veil  to  mortal  man  to  act  in  the  name  of  God 
upon  the  earth.  The  words  seal  and  keys  and  priesthood  are  closely  linked 
together  ...10 

Mircea  Eliade  has  further  suggested  that  the  temple  represents  the  axis 
mundi,  the  center  of  the  world  around  which  the  earth  pivots.11  The  temple 
is  thus  a  place  where  Mormons  believe  that  heaven  and  earth,  in  a  sym- 
bolic sense,  meet.  The  temple  is  a  place  where  Mormons  go  for  sanctu- 
ary, and  the  replication  of  a  temple  on  the  cemetery  stone  also  represents 
a  presence  of  peace  and  an  absence  of  earthly  anxiety.  James  E.  Faust, 
another  Church  leader,  has  stated  that  "...  Our  temples  provide  a  sanc- 
tuary where  we  may  go  to  lay  aside  many  of  the  anxieties  of  the  world. 
Our  temples  are  places  of  peace  and  tranquillity.  In  these  hallowed  sane- 


Fig.  14.  Provo  Temple.  Logan  City  Cemetery,  Logan,  Utah. 


328 


Mormon  Temple  Reproductions 


tuaries  God  'healeth  the  broken  in  heart,  and  bindeth  up  their  wounds'" 
(Psalms  147:3).12 

Architectural  designs  of  the  temples  have  changed  over  course  of  the 
Twentieth  Century: 

As  design  concepts  and  building  technologies  changed,  so  did  the  designs  of 
Latter-day  temples.  The  most  noticeable  difference  was  the  absence  of  any 
towers  or  spires  [in  temples  built  in  the  early  Twentieth  Century],  a  design 
feature  reintroduced  in  mid-20th  Century  temples  . . .  today's  temples  continue 
to  utilize  the  finest  in  new  materials  and  technologies  as  they  become  available. 


1  \ R R i t D  JU LY  17,  )9v'.; 
StA'i  i  \h  rr  *,.  \\,  iyt> '. 

Fig.  15.  Mesa  (Arizona)  Temple.  Kanab  Cemetery,  Kanab,  Utah. 


Jacqueline  S.  Thursby  329 


Building  materials  used  in  recent  temples  include  reinforced  concrete,  steel 
superstructures,  precast  concrete  panels,  and  precast  fiberglass  for  decorative 
details.  In  the  1960s  escalators  and  elevators  were  early  signs  of  new 
technology  Today  new  electronic  systems  for  the  endowment  presentation 
are  used,  and  computers  prepare  ordinance  materials,  record  completed 
ordinances,  and  otherwise  simplify  record  keeping.13 

Further,  many  small  buildings  are  being  adapted  for  use  as  temples  be- 
cause of  the  rapid  growth  of  the  Church  and  the  need  for  the  member- 
ship to  attend  local  temples. 

Continuing  Belief 

Temple  symbols  on  new  cemetery  stones  of  members  of  the  Church 
of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-day  Saints  will  probably  continue  long  into  the 
future.  Rodney  Stark,  a  sociologist  from  the  University  of  Washington, 
has  done  studies  of  Mormon  growth  from  the  first  six  members  in  1830 
to  4,638,000  members  in  1980.  Stark  (non-LDS)  has  stated  that "...  it  wasn't 
patterns  of  past  Mormon  growth  that  drew  so  much  attention.  .  .  .  What 
stirred  up  interest  (and  controversy)  was  my  attempt  to  project  Mormon 
growth,  world  wide,  for  the  next  century:  1980-2080." 14  He  suggests  that 
if  the  Church  continues  to  grow  as  it  has  in  the  past,  by  2080  his  high 
estimate  is  a  membership  of  267,452,000  and  a  low  estimate  of  63,939,000. 
As  stated  earlier,  the  current  membership  of  the  Church  stands  at  around 
11,000,000. 

The  presence  of  temple  stones  in  cemeteries  around  the  world  repre- 
sent a  believing  people  who  want  to  boldly  testify  to  their  posterity,  and 
to  those  who  happen  by  their  grave,  that  there  is  eternal  significance  in 
their  religion.  These  temple  symbols  in  stone  represent  a  view  toward 
eternity  not  unlike  the  mirrors  that  hang  on  opposite  walls  of  the  sealing 
rooms  in  the  temples.  "The  stunning  effect  produced  by  these  mirrors," 
it  has  been  noted,  "is  a  reflection  that  seems  to  go  on  endlessly  in  both 
directions."15  The  mirrors,  and  the  iconographical  replications  of  the 
temple  on  Mormon  gravestones  (Fig.  16),  are  reminders  of  the  eternal 
goals  of  this  deeply  spiritual  and  symbolic  faith. 


330 


Mormon  Temple  Reproductions 


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I  1  A         y-~~ 

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flLEXflilDER 

6   DEC  '1853-30  DEC,  1919] 


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Fig.  16.  Logan  Temple  and  pioneer  wagon. 
Wellsville  Cemetery,  Wellsville,  Utah. 


Jacqueline  S.  Thursby  331 


NOTES 

All  photographs  in  this  essay  are  by  Richard  E.  Meyer.  The  drawings  in  Figs.  7  and  8  are  by  the 
author. 

1.  See  George  H.  Schoemaker,  "The  Shift  from  Artist  to  Consumer:  Changes  in  Mormon 
Tombstone  Art  in  Utah,"  in  The  Old  Traditional  Way  of  Life:  Essays  in  Honor  of  Warren  E. 
Roberts,  ed.  Robert  E.  Walls  and  George  H.  Schoemaker  (Bloomington,  IN:  Indiana 
University  Press,  1989),  130-145;  and  "Acculturation  and  Transformation  of  Salt  Lake 
Temple  Symbols  in  Mormon  Tombstone  Art,  Markers  IX  (1992),  197-213.  See  also  Carol 
Edison,  "The  Gravestones  of  Parowan,"  Folklore  Society  of  Utah  Newsletter  17  (1983),  1; 
"Motorcycles,  Guitars,  and  Bucking  Broncs:  Twentieth-Century  Gravestones  in 
Southeastern  Idaho,"  in  Idaho  Folklife:  Homesteads  to  Headstones,  ed.  Louis  W.  Attebery 
(Salt  Lake  City,  UT:  University  of  Utah  Press,  1985),  184-189;  "Custom-Made  Gravestones 
in  Early  Salt  Lake  City:  The  Work  of  Four  English  Stonecarvers,"  Utah  Historical  Quarterly 
56  (1988),  310-330;  and  "Mormon  Gravestones:  A  Folk  Expression  of  Identity  and  Belief," 
in  Dialogue:  A  Journal  of  Mormon  Thought  22  (1989),  88-94.  See  as  well  Austin  E.  Fife  and 
Alta  Fife,  "Gravestone  Imagery,"  in  Utah  Folk  Art,  ed.  Hal  Cannon  (Provo,  UT:  Brigham 
Young  University  Press,  1980);  and  "Western  Gravestones,"  in  Exploring  Western 
Americana,  ed.  Alta  Fife  (Ann  Arbor,  MI:  UMI  Research  Press,  1988).  Also  of  interest  are 
Hal  Cannon,  The  Grand  Beehive  (Salt  Lake  City,  UT:  University  of  Utah  Press,  1980);  Keith 
Cunningham,  "Navaho,  Morman,  Zuni  Graves:  Navajo,  Mormon,  Zuni  Ways,"  in 
Cemeteries  and  Gravemarkers:  Voices  of  American  Culture,  ed.  Richard  E.  Meyer  (Ann  Arbor, 
MI:  UMI  Research  Press,  1989),  197-215;  and  Richard  C.  Poulsen,  The  Pure  Experience  of 
Order:  Essays  on  the  Symbolic  in  the  Folk  Material  Culture  of  Western  America  (Albuquerque, 
NM:  University  of  New  Mexico  Press,  1982). 

2.  Richard  H.  Jackson,  "Mormon  Cemeteries:  History  in  Stone,"  in  Nearly  Everything 
Imaginable:  The  Everyday  Life  of  Utah's  Mormon  Pioneers  (Provo,  UT:  Brigham  Young 
University  Press,  1999),  405-498. 

3.  Ibid.,  All. 

4.  Edison,  "Mormon  Gravestones:  A  Folk  Expression  of  Identity  and  Belief,"  90. 

5.  Jackson,  "Mormon  Cemeteries:  History  in  Stone,"  412. 

6.  Ryan  Walker.  Personal  Interview.   Provo,  Utah.  15  January  1997. 

7.  Steven  Epperson,  "Symbolic  Stones  and  the  Salt  Lake  Temple,"  unpublished  paper  quoted 
by  Richard  G.  Oman  in  "Exterior  Symbolism  of  the  Salt  Lake  Temple:  Reflecting  the 
Faith  That  Called  the  Place  into  Being,"  Brigham  Young  University  Studies:  A 
Multidisciplinary  Latter-  Day  Saint  Journal  (1996-97),  7-68. 

8.  Oman,  "Exterior  Symbolism  of  the  Salt  Lake  Temple,"  28. 

9.  Ibid.,  15. 

10.     Boyd  K.  Packer,  "Temple  Blessings:  On  Earth  And  In  Eternity,"  in  The  Ensign  of  the  Church 
of  Jesus  Christ  ofLatter-Day  Saints  (June,  1997),  7-8,  and  Ensign  (February,  1995),  34. 


332  Mormon  Temple  Reproductions 


11.  Mircea  Eliade,  The  Myth  of  the  Eternal  Return;  or,  Cosmos  and  History,  trans.  Willard  R. 
Trask,  Bollingen  Series  XLVI  (Princeton,  NJ,  1991),  12. 

12.  James  E.  Faust,  "Temple  Blessings:  On  Earth  And  In  Eternity,"  in  The  Ensign  of  the  Church 
of  Jesus  Christ  ofLatter-Day  Saints  (June,  1997),  7-8,  and  Ensign  (May,  1992),  7. 

13.  Brad  Westwood,  "Houses  of  the  Lord, "  in  The  Ensign  of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  ofLatter- 
Day  Saints  (June,  1997),  9-17. 

14.  Rodney  Stark,  "So  Far,  So  Good:  A  Brief  Assessment  of  Mormon  Membership  Projections," 
in  Review  of  Religious  Research  (December,  1996),  175-178. 

15.  Paul  Thomas  Smith  and  Matthew  B.  Brown,  Symbols  in  Stone:  Symbolism  on  the  Early 
Temples  of  the  Restoration  (American  Fork,  Utah,  1997),  173. 


333 


THE  YEAR'S  WORK  IN  CEMETERY/GRAVEMARKER  STUDIES: 
AN  INTERNATIONAL  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

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.  Categorized  entries,  listed 
in  alphabetical  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  irretrievably  non-scholarly  books  (i.e.,  things  along  the 
order  of  the  recently  published,  "revised"  edition  of  a  book  with  the 
grotesque  title,  The  Definitive  Guide  to  Underground  Humor:  Quaint  Quotes 
about  Death,  Funny  Funeral  Home  Stories,  and  Hilarious  Headstone  Epitaphs). 
Revised  or  subsequent  editions  of  previously  published  works  are  noted. 
Beginning  with  Markers  XIV,  the  listing  has  included  a  much  larger  selec- 
tion of  relevant  foreign  language  materials  in  the  field,  formal  master 's- 
and  doctoral-level  theses  and  dissertations  (important  research  often  not 
published  in  the  traditional  manner  but  nonetheless  frequently  obtain- 
able through  interlibrary  loan),  and,  upon  occasion,  valuable  unpublished 
typescripts  on  deposit  in  accessible  locations.  In  addition,  from  Markers 
XVI  onwards,  it  has  included  publications  on  war,  holocaust,  and  disas- 
ter memorials  and  monuments  (their  essential  function  as  cenotaphs  re- 
lating them  to  the  general  field  of  gravemarkers),  as  well  as  formal  papers 
presented  at  academic  conferences  which  are  relevant  to  the  major  themes 
covered  by  this  bibliography.  Commencing  with  Markers  XVIII,  entries 
have  been  separated  into  several  large  categories  representing  basic  types 
of  publication  or  other  presentation.  Commencing  with  Markers  XIX,  a 
new  category  has  been  added  for  videotaped  material. 

With  its  debut  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 


334 


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,  add- 
ing 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  rela- 
tively 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  2001  and  2002): 
previously  reported  work  from  the  earlier  of  these  two  years  will  not  be 
repeated  (unless  the  original  publication  date  was  in  error).  To  help  fa- 
cilitate 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.  For  reviews  of  gravestone-  and  cemetery-specific 
books  and  other  materials,  the  reader  is  invited  to  consult  the  various 
issues  of  the  Association  for  Gravestone  Studies'  AGS  Quarterly. 

Books,  Monographs,  Pamphlets,  etc. 

Aiken,  Lewis  B.  Dying,  Death,  and  Bereavement.  4th  Edition.  Mahwah,  NJ:  Lawrence  Erlbaum 
Associates,  Publishers,  2001. 

Alagoa,  Ebiegberi  Joe.  Okpu:  Ancestral  Houses  in  Nerribe  and  European  Antiquities  on  the  Brass 
and  Nun  Rivers  of  the  Niger  Delta.  Port  Harcourt,  Rivers  State,  Nigeria.  Onyoma  Research 
Publications,  2001. 

Albery,  Nicholas.  Progressive  Endings:  Changing  Attitudes  to  Death,  Dying  and  Funerals.  London, 
England:  Natural  Death  Centre,  2001. 

Alcock,  Susan  E.  Archaeologies  of  the  Greek  Past:  Landscape,  Monuments  and  Memories.  Cambridge, 
England:  Cambridge  University  Press,  2002. 

Aldeeb  Abu-Sahlieh,  Sami  Awad.  Cemetiere  musulman  en  Occident:  bonnes  jitives,  Chretiens  et 
musalmanes.  Paris,  France:  L'Harmattan,  2002. 

Alden,  Maureen.  Well  Built  Mycenae:  The  Prehistoric  Cemetery.  Oxford,  England:  Oxbow  Books, 
2001. 

Alfoldy,  Geza,  and  Panciera,  Silvio.  Inschriftliche  Denkmiiler  als  Medien  der  Selbstdarstellung  in 
der  Romaschen  Welt.  Stuttgart,  Germany:  Steiner,  2001. 


335 


Amos,  Edward.  Gravesites  of  Southern  Musicians:  A  Guide  to  Over  300  Jazz,  Blues,  Country  and 
Rock  Performers'  Burial  Places.  Jefferson,  NC:  McFarland  &  Company,  Inc.,  2002. 

Angus,  Charlie,  and  Palu,  Louie.  Mirrors  of  Stone:  Fragments  from  the  Porcupine  Frontier.  Toronto, 
Ontario,  Canada:  Between  The  Lines,  2001. 

Anstatt,  Sandra,  and  Giegold,  Rolf.  Wetterfemsehen:  Telematische  Skulptur  der  XZ-Gedenkstdtte 
Neue  Bremm,  Saarbriiken  1999-2000.  Ostfildern,  Germany,  2001. 

Aurell  i  Cardona,  Jaume,  and  Pavon,  Julia.  Ante  la  muerte:  actitudes,  espacios  y  forrnas  en  la 
Espaha  medieval.  Pamplona,  Spain:  EUNSA  Ediciones  Universidad  de  Navarra,  2002. 

Baker,  Margaret.  Discovering  London  Statues  and  Monuments.  Princes  Risborough,  England: 
Shire,  2002. 

Ball,  Raymond  F.,  and  Miller,  Kevin.  Churches  and  Cemeteries:  History  ofMarcy,  N.Y.  Utica,  NY: 
Oneida  County  Historical  Society,  2002. 

Bateson,  Roy.  Dead  and  Buried  in  Dublin:  An  Illustrated  Guide  to  the  Historic  Graves  of  Dublin. 
Kilcock,  County  Meath,  Ireland:  Irish  Graves  Publications,  2002. 

Baxarias,  Joaquin.  La  enfermedad  en  la  hispania  romana:  estudio  de  una  necropolis  tarraconens. 
Zaragoza,  Spain:  Libras  Portico,  2002. 

Beliakov,  Vladimir.  Rossiiskii  Nekropol'  v  Egipte.  Moskva,  Russia:  Izd-vo  "Gumanitarii,"  2001. 

Bell,  Michael  E.  Food  for  the  Dead:  On  the  Trail  of  New  England's  Dead.  New  York,  NY:  Avalon 
Publishing  Group,  2002. 

Berman,  Judith  E.  Holocaust  Remembrance  in  Australian  Jewish  Communities,  1945-2000.  Crawley, 
Western  Australia,  Australia:  University  of  Western  Australia  Press,  2001. 

Beverly,  Trevia  Wooster.  At  Rest:  A  Historical  Directory  of  Harris  County,  Texas  Cemeteries  (1822- 
2001).  Houston,  TX:  Tejas  Publications  and  Research,  2001. 

Biggs,  F.  Susan  Brown,  and  Brown,  Shirley  Mae.  A  Location  Index  for  Missouri  Cemeteries.  Ozark, 
MO:  Dogwood  Printing,  2002. 

Bisconti,  Fabrizio.  Mestieri  nella  catacombe  romane:  appunti  sul  declino  dell'iconografia  del  reale 
nei  cimiteri  christiani  di  Roma.  Citta  del  Vaticano,  Roma,  Italy:  Pontifica  commissione  di 
archeologia  sacra,  2001. 

Bishop,  Charles  Lawrence.  Frederick's  Other  City:  Mt.  Olivet  Cemetery,  "Tlie  Cemetery  Beautiful". 
Frederick,  MD:  Mt.  Olivet  Cemetery,  2002. 

Blaha,  Josef.  Olomoucke  Hrbitovy  a  Kolumbdria.  Olomouc,  Czech  Republic:  Memoria,  2001. 

Blanton,  Dennis  B.,  and  Gary,  Jack.  Archaeological  Investigation  of  the  Ballard  Cemetery,  City  of 
Hampton,  Virginia.  Williamsburg,  VA:  William  and  Mary  Center  for  Archaeological 
Research,  2001. 


336 


Blight,  David.  W.  Beyond  the  Battlefield:  Race,  Memory,  and  the  American  Civil  War.  Amherst, 
MA:  University  of  Massachusetts  Press,  2002. 

Bonacasa  Carra,  Rosa  Maria.  La  catacomba  di  Porta  d'Ossuna  a  Palermo.  Citta  del  Vaticano,  Roma, 
Italy:  Pontifica  commissione  de  archaeologia  sacra,  2001. 

Bondeson,  Jan.  Buried  Alive:  The  Terrifying  History  of  Our  Most  Primal  Fear.  New  York,  NY: 
W.W.  Norton,  2002. 

Booth,  Donna  J.  Alabama  Cemeteries:  A  Guide  to  Their  Stories  in  Stone.  Birmingham,  AL:  Crane 
Hill  Publishers,  2002. 

Bower,  Virginia,  et  al.  From  Court  to  Caravan:  Chinese  Tomb  Sculptures  from  the  Collection  of 
Anthony  M.  Solomon.  New  Haven,  CT:  Yale  University  Press,  2002. 

Boyd,  Michael  J.  Middle  Helladic  and  Early  Mycenaean  Mortuary  Practices  in  the  Southern  and 
Western  Peloponnese.  Oxford,  England:  Archaeopress,  2002. 

Bravermanova,  Milena,  ans  Lutovsky,  Michal.  Hroby,  Hrobky  a  Prohrebiste  Ceskych  Knizat  a 
Krdlu.  Praha,  Czech  Republic,  Libri,  2001. 

Brocke,  Michael,  and  Miiller,  Christiane  E.  Haus  das  Lebens:  Jiidische  Friedhbfe  in  Deutschland. 
Leipzig,  Germany:  Reclam,  2001. 

Brooks,  Patricia.  Wliere  the  Bodies  Are:  Final  Visits  to  the  Rich,  Famous  and  Interesting.  Guilford, 
CT:  The  Globe  Pequot  Press,  2002. 

Brooks,  Philip.  Visiting  the  Holocaust  Today.  Chicago,  IL:  Heinemann  Library,  2002. 

Brown,  Adele  Q.  Wliat  a  Way  to  Go:  Fabulous  Funerals  of  the  Famous  and  Infamous.  San  Francisco, 
CA:  Chronicle  Books,  2001. 

Brown,  Elizabeth  A.R.,  and  Sauvageot,  Claude.  Saint-Denis:  la  basilique.  Saint-Leger-Vauban, 
France:  Zodiaque,  2001. 

Brown,  Roger  Lee.  The  Welshpool  Churchyards:  An  Essay.  Welshpool,  Wales:  Parish  of  Welshpool, 
2001. 

Buturovic,  Amila.  Stone  Speaker:  Medieval  Tombstones,  Landscape,  and  Bosnian  Identity  in  the 
Poetry  ofMak  Dizdar.  New  York,  NY:  Palgrave  Macmillan,  2002. 

Caligari,  Pietro.  //  mausoleo  di  Giulio  Ccsarc  nel  Campo  Marzio.  Roma,  Italy:  Vetera  edizioni, 
2001. 

Carmack,  Sharon  DeBartolo.  Your  Guide  to  Cemetery  Research:  For  Genealogists,  Researchers, 
and  Family  Historians.  Cincinnati,  OH:  F  &  W  Publications,  Inc.,  2002 

Castronovo,  Russ.  Necro  Citizenship:  Death,  Eroticism,  and  the  Public  Sphere  in  the  Nineteenth 
Century  United  States.  Durham,  NC:  Duke  University  Press,  2001. 


337 


Chambert-Loir,  Henri,  and  Reid,  Anthony,  eds.  TJie  Potent  Dead:  Ancestors,  Saints  and  Heroes  in 
Contemporary  Indonesia.  Honolulu,  HI:  University  of  Hawaii  Press,  2002. 

Chisholm,  Doug.  Their  Names  Live  On:  Remembering  Saskatchewan's  Fallen  in  World  War  II. 
Regina,  Saskatchewan,  Canada:  Canadian  Plains  Research  Center,  University  of  Regina, 
2001. 

Cinquanaquattro,  Teresa.  Pontecagnano:  11.6,  L'Agro  Picentino  e  la  necropoli  di  localita  Casella. 
Napoli,  Italy:  Instituto  Universitario  Orientale,  2001. 

Civil  War  Sites:  The  Official  Guide  to  Battlefields,  Monuments,  and  More.  Guilford,  CT:  Globe 
Pequot  Press,  2002. 

Confino,  Alon,  and  Fritzsche,  Peter  A.,  eds.  The  Work  of  Memory:  New  Directions  in  the  Study  of 
German  Society  and  Culture.  Urbana,  IL:  University  of  Illinois  Press,  2002. 

Connell,  Mark.  The  Great  War,  Memory  and  Ritual:  Commemoration  in  the  City  and  East  London, 
1916-1939.  Rochester,  NY:  Boydell  &  Brewer,  Inc.,  2002. 

Cooper,  Christopher,  and  Wagner,  Nena.  Finding  Brock's  Monument:  A  Report  of  the  Find  on 
Queenston  Heights.  Branton,  Ontario,  Canada:  March  Press,  2002. 

Cooper,  Martha,  and  Sciorra,  Joseph.  R.I. P.:  Memorial  Wall  Art.  New  York,  NY:  Thames  & 
Hudson,  2001. 

Cortez,  Martin  L.  Stones  of  Silence:  The  Architecture  of  Tombs  and  Monuments,  Their  Icons  and 
Crosses  in  Louisiana.  Raceland,  LA:  Cortez  Books,  2002. 

Cotterell,  Maurice  M.  The  Lost  Tomb  ofViracocha:  Unlocking  the  Secrets  of  the  Peruvian  Pyramids. 
London,  England:  Headline,  2002. 

Curl,  James  Stevens.  Death  and  Architecture:  An  Introduction  to  Funerary  and  Commemorative 
Buildings  in  the  Western  European  Tradition,  with  Some  Consideration  of  Their  Settings.  New 
Revised  Edition.  Stroud,  England:  Sutton,  2002. 

Curl,  James  Stevens.  Kensal  Green  Cemetery:  TJie  Origins  and  Development  of  the  General  Cemetery 
of  All  Souls,  Kensal  Green,  London,  1824-2001.  Chichester,  England:  Phillimore,  2001. 

Dansel,  Michel,  and  de  Lund,  Marie-Sophie.  Les  cimetieres  de  Paris:  Promenade,  historique, 
anecdotique  et  capricieuse.  Paris,  France:  Godefroy,  2002. 

David,  Bruno,  and  Wilson,  Meredith,  eds.  Inscribed  Landscapes:  Marking  and  Making  Place. 
Honolulu,  HI:  University  of  Hawaii  Press,  2002. 

David,  Helene.  Paleoanthropologie  et  pratiques  funeraires  en  Corse,  du  Mesolithique  a  I'dge  dufer. 
Oxford,  England:  Archaeopress,  2001. 

Davies,  Douglas  James.  Death,  Ritual  and  Belief:  The  Rhetoric  of  Funerary  Rites.  New  York,  NY: 
Continuum  International  Publishing  Group,  Inc.,  2002. 


338 


Derderian,  Katharine.  Leaving  Words  to  Remember:  Greek  Mourning  and  the  Advent  of  Literacy. 
Boston,  MA:  Brill,  2001. 

Donceel,  R.  Synthese  des  observations faites  enfouillant  les  tombes  des  necropoles  de  Khirbet  Qumran 
et  des  environs.  Cracow,  Poland:  Enigma  Press,  2002. 

Doran,  Glen  H.,  ed.  Windover:  Midtidisciplinary  Investigations  of  an  Early  Archaic  Florida  Cemetery. 
Gainesville,  FL:  University  Press  of  Florida,  2002. 

Dubois,  Muriel  L.  The  Vietnam  Veterans  Memorial.  Mankato,  MN:  Bridgestone  Books,  2002. 

Earp,  Charles  Albert,  and  Johnston,  Peter  Lowry.  These  Honored  Dead:  A  Roster  of  over  2500 
Maryland  Union  Soldiers  Buried  in  National  Cemeteries.  Westminster,  MD:  Willow  Bend 
Books,  2001. 

Echo-Hawk,  Roger.  Keepers  of  Culture:  Repatriating  Cultural  Items  Under  the  Native  American 
Graves  Protection  and  Repatriation  Act.  Denver,  CO:  Denver  Art  Museum,  2002. 

Eckert,  Eva.  Stones  on  the  Prairie:  Acculturation  in  America.  Bloomington,  IN:  Slavica  Publishers, 
Inc.,  2002. 

Edmondson,  J.C.,  Nogales  Basrrante,  Trinidad,  and  Trillmich,  Walter.  Imagen  y  memoria: 
monumentos  funerarios  con  retraltos  en  la  colonia  Augusta  Emerita.  Madrid,  Spain:  Real 
Academia  de  la  Historia,  2001. 

Effros,  Bonnie.  Caring  for  Body  and  Soul:  Burial  and  the  Afterlife  in  the  Merovingian  World. 
University  Park,  PA:  Pennsylvania  State  University  Press,  2002. 

Englehardt,  Isabelle.  A  Topography  of  Memory:  Representations  of  the  Holocaust  at  Dachau  and 
Buchemoald  in  Comparison  with  Auschwitz,  Yad  Vashem,  and  Washington,  D.C.  Bruxelles, 
Belgium:  Presses  Interuniversitaires  Europeennes,  2002. 

Escudier,  Alexandre,  Sauzay,  Bridgette,  and  Thadden,  Rudolf.  Gedenken  im  Zwiespalt: 
Konfliktlinien  Europiiischen  Erinnerus.  Gottingen,  Germany:  Wallstein,  2001. 

Ex,  Nicole,  and  Scholten,  Frits.  De  Prinsen  De  Keyser:  Restauratie  en  Deschiedenis  van  het 
Grafinonument  voor  Willem  van  Oranje.  Bussum,  The  Netherlands:  Thoth,  2001. 

Farrell,  David.  Innocent  Landscapes:  Sites  of  the  Disappeared  in  Ireland.  Stockport,  Cheshire, 
England:  Dewi  Lewis  Publishing,  2002. 

Farrington,  Susan  Maria,  and  Farrington,  Diana.  Sancti  Stones:  Parish  Memorials  ofWiveliscombe, 
Somerset.  Wiveliscombe,  Somerset,  England:  Colden  Publications,  2001. 

Feraudi-Gruenais,  Francisca.  Ubi  diutius  nobis  habitandum  est:  Die  Innendekoration  der 
Kaiserzeitlichen  Griiber  Roms.  Weisbaden,  Germany:  Ludwig  Reichert,  2001. 

Ferry,  Joseph.  The  Vietnam  Veterans  Memorial.  Broomall,  PA:  Mason  Crest  Publishers,  2002. 

Filmer-Sankley,  William,  and  Pestell,  Tim.  Snape  Anglo-Saxon  Cemetery:  Excavations  and  Surveys, 
1824-1922.  Ipswich,  England:  Environment  and  Transport,  Suffolk  County  Council,  2001. 


339 


Fiocchi,  Nicolai  Vincenzo,  Bisconti,  Fabrizio,  and  Mazzoleni,  Danilo.  The  Christian  Catacombs 
of  Rome:  History,  Decoration,  Inscriptions.  Regensburg,  Germany:  Schnell  &  Steiner,  2002. 

Fischer,  Hans.  Grdber,  Kreuze  unci  Inschriften:  ein  Friedhofin  Neuguinea.  Berlin,  Germany:  Dietrich 
Reimer,  2002. 

Fisher-Carroll,  Rita.  Mortuary  Behavior  at  Upper  Nodena.  Fayetteville,  AR:  Arkansas 
Archaeological  Survey,  2001. 

Francis,  Doris,  Kellaher,  Keonie,  and  Neophytou,  Georgina.  The  Secret  Cemetery.  Oxford, 
England:  Berg,  2002. 

Gabrielli,  Domenico.  Dictionnaire  historique  du  Pere-Lachaise:  XVIIIe  et  XIXe  siecles.  Paris,  France: 
Amateur,  2002. 

Gannon,  Thomas  Nelson.  A  Mortuary  Analysis  of  the  Vernon  Paul  Site  (3CS25):  Sociopolitical 
Organization  at  a  Late  Mississippean  Site  in  Cross  County,  Arkansas.  Fayetteville,  AR: 
Arkansas  Archaeological  Survey,  2002. 

Garcia  Huerta,  Rosario,  and  Morales  Hervas,  Javier.  Arqueologia  funeraria:  las  necropolis  de 
incineration.  Cuenca,  Spain:  Ediciones  de  la  Universidad  de  Castilla  -  La  Mancha,  2001. 

Garland,  Robert.  The  Greek  Way  of  Death.  Ithaca,  NY:  Cornell  University  Press,  2001. 

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Roberts,  Emma  E.  "Liberating  Form:  Barbara  Hepworth's  United  Nations  Memorial."  Sculpture 
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Ross,  Andrew.  "Wallace's  Monument  and  the  Resumption  of  Scotland."  Social  Text  18:4  (2001), 
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Vavouranakis,  G.  "Toward  an  Elemental  Approach  to  Early  Minoan  Funerary  Architecture: 
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Wouters,  Cas.  "The  Quest  for  New  Rituals  in  Dying  and  Mourning:  Changes  in  the  We-I 
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Wust,  Raphael  A.J.,  and  McLane,  James.  "Rock  Deterioration  in  the  Royal  Tomb  of  Seti  I, 
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Yockelson,  Mitchell.  '"Their  Memory  Will  Not  Perish':  Commemorating  the  56th  United  States 
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Dissertations,  Theses,  etc. 

Anguelova,  Vessela  Nikolova.  "Barracco  201:  Marriage  Ritual  on  an  Etruscan  Funerary  Relief 
from  Chiusi."  Master's  thesis,  Southern  Methodist  University,  2001. 

Atkins,  Lara.  "The  Amazon  Sarcophagus."  Master's  thesis,  Flodida  State  University,  2002. 

Barckhaus,  Rachel.  "Anglo-Saxon  Cemeteries  During  Conversion  Period  England."  Honors 
thesis,  Brandeis  University,  2002. 

Bartle,  Neville  Robert.  "Developing  a  Contextual  Theology  in  Melanesia  with  Reference  to 
Death,  Witchcraft,  and  the  Spirit  World."  Master's  thesis,  Asbury  Theological  Seminary, 
2001. 

Baur,  RW.  "Price  Setting  in  the  South  African  Coffin  Industry."  Master's  thesis,  Rand  Afrikaans 
University,  2002. 

Beckett,  Jessica  Faith.  "An  Analysis  of  the  Parknabinnia  Chambered  Tomb,  County  Clare, 
Ireland:  Ideology  and  Ritual  During  the  Early  Neolithic."  Master's  thesis,  San  Diego  State 
University,  2002. 

Beitman,  Michelle  K.  "Tatham  Mound:  A  Case  Study  of  Mortuary  Behavior  as  an  Indicator  of 
Cultural  Patterns."  Master's  Thesis,  East  Carolina  University,  2001. 

Carpenter,  Caroline  Elizabeth.  "Monument  to  Sentiment:  The  Discourse  of  Nation  and 
Citizenship  at  the  Oklahoma  City  National  Memorial."  Master's  thesis,  College  of  William 
and  Mary,  2001. 

Cassel,  Monika  Irene.  "Poetesses  at  the  Grave:  Transnational  Circulation  of  Women's  Memorial 
Verse  in  Nineteenth-Century,  England,  Germany,  and  America."  Ph.D.  dissertation, 
University  of  Michigan,  2002. 

Coford,  Nicholas  Hastie.  "Tombstones  and  Non-Elite  Self-Representation  in  Roman  Iberia." 
Ph.D.  dissertation,  Stanford  University,  2001 . 

Comilang,  Susan  C.  "English  Noblewomen  and  the  Organization  of  Space:  Gardens,  Mourning 
Posts,  and  Religious  Recesses."  Ph.D.  dissertation,  George  Washington  University,  2002. 

Cortright,  Kristofer  Lee.  "Equality  at  the  Viking  Age  Harbor  of  Frojel."  Master's  hesis, 
University  of  Minnesota,  2001. 

Davis,  Monica  Lynn.  "Symbolizing  the  Family:  Depiction  of  Infants  in  Classical  Attic 
Tombstones."  Honors  thesis,  College  of  William  and  Mary,  2002. 

de  Sola,  Megan  Vior.  "A  Review  of  Cemetery  Preservation  Strategies  in  Boone  County, 
Kentucky."  Master's  thesis,  University  of  Cincinnati,  2002. 

Deyo,  Patricia  H.  "More  Than  a  Burial  Ground:  The  Civil  War-Era  National  Cemetery."  Master's 
thesis,  University  of  Georgia,  2001. 


375 


Doubrava,  Matthew  Ray.  "Radiometric  Evaluation  of  the  Prehistoric  Mortuary  Practices  of 
the  Chinchorro  Culture  in  Northern  Chile."  Master's  thesis,  University  of  Nevada,  Las 
Vegas,  2001. 

Driscoll,  Elizabeth  Monahan.  "Bioarchaeology,  Mortuary  Patterning,  and  Social  Organization 
at  Town  Creek."  Ph.D.  dissertation,  University  of  North  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hill,  2001. 

Erdirisinghe,  Varunadatta.  "Exegi  Monumentum:  Remembrance  of  the  Dead  in  Roman 
Republican  and  Imperial  Grave  Monuments."  Master's  thesis,  Indiana  University,  2001. 

Evans,  Thomas  L.  "Burial  Rites  in  the  Upper  Seine  Basin  Between  the  Halstatt  Finale  and  the 
La  Tene  Moyenne."  Ph.D  dissertation,  Oxford  University,  2001. 

Ferry,  Fleur.  "Espace  sacre  en  devenir  profane?:  les  cimetieres  de  la  region  de  Quebec  des 
origines  a  nos  jours."  Master's  thesis,  Universite  Laval,  2001 . 

Fitts,  Mary  Elizabeth.  "Two  Eighteenth-Century  Seminole  Burials  from  Alachua  County, 
Florida."  Master's  thesis,  University  of  South  Florida,  2001. 

Flood,  Karen  Pomeroy  "Contemplating  Corpses:  The  Dead  Body  in  American  Culture,  1870- 
1920."  Ph.D.  dissertation,  Harvard  University,  2001. 

Frohne,  Andrea  E.  "The  African  Burial  Ground  in  New  York  City:  Manifesting  and  Representing 
Spirituality  of  Space."  Ph.D.  dissertation,  State  University  of  New  York  at  Binghampton, 
2002. 

Glasheen,  Peter  A.  "Residence  of  Memory."  Master's  thesis,  Rochester  Institute  of  Technology, 
2002. 

Green,  Ruth.  "Memorial  for  Flight  93,  Shanksville,  Pennsylvania."  Terminal  project  thesis, 
University  of  Massachusetts  at  Amherst,  2002. 

Greenhough,  Lynn  Valerie.  '"We  Do  the  Best  We  Can':  Jewish  Burial  Societies  in  Small 
Communities  in  North  America."  Master's  thesis,  Royal  Roads  University,  2001. 

Gunn,  Derek  S.  "Speaking  with  the  Dead:  The  Creation  of  a  New  Necropolis  for  Ritual  and 
Bereavement."  Master's  thesis,  Boston  Architectural  Center,  2001. 

Hanna,  Lori.  "Louis-Ernest  Barrias's  L'architecture:  The  Twilight  of  Allegory  in  Pere  Lachaise 
Cemetery,  Paris."  Master's  thesis,  University  of  Missouri  -  Columbia,  2002. 

Hanson,  Annabel  Fay.  "The  Pantheon  on  Nepean  Point?:  The  Canadian  War  Memorials 
Collection  in  Historical  Context."  Master's  thesis,  Queen's  University  at  Kingston,  2001. 

Harris,  Sarah  E.  "Burials  and  Peer  Polity  Interaction:  A  Case  Study  of  Burials  at  Metaponto 
and  Taras."  Master's  thesis,  University  of  Cincinnati,  2001 . 

Hawley,  Thomas  M.  "Practices  of  Materialization:  Bodies,  Politics,  and  the  Search  for  Soldiers 
Missing  in  Action  in  Vietnam."  Ph.D.  dissertation,  University  of  Hawaii,  2001. 


376 


Helms-Scholz,  Eva.  "Das  Verdi-Monument  in  Parma:  Hohe-  und  Endpunkt  des  Biirgerlichen 
Kiiunsterdenkmals."  Ph.D.  dissertation,  Universitat-GH-Essen,  2001. 

Henderson,  Desiree.  "Mourning  America:  Literature  and  the  Politics  of  Death,  1765-1865." 
Ph.D.  dissertation,  University  of  California,  San  Diego,  2001. 

Janney-Lucas,  Caroline  Elizabeth.  "Written  in  Stone:  Gender,  Race,  and  the  Heyward  Shepherd 
Memorial."  Master's  thesis,  University  of  Virginia,  2001. 

Johnson,  Leah  Danellen.  "Mausoleum:  Jackson,  Mississippi."  Master's  thesis,  Mississippi  State 
University,  2002. 

Kovacs,  Julie  L.  "A  Cultural  Landscape  Report  for  Historic  Lindenwood  Cemetery  in  Fort 
Wayne,  Indiana."  Master's  thesis,  Ball  State  University,  2002. 

Kuhlke,  Olaf .  "Body,  Nation,  and  Place:  The  New  Berlin  Republic  and  the  Spatial  Representation 
of  German  National  Identity."  Ph.D.  dissertation,  Kent  State  University,  2001. 

Laird,  Margaret  L.  "Evidence  in  Context:  The  Public  and  Funerary  Monuments  of  the  Severi 
Augustales  at  Ostia."  Ph.D.  dissertation,  Princeton  University,  2002. 

Lee,  Dong  Seon.  "A  Prophetic  Proposal  for  Cultural  and  Spiritual  Reformation  of  Korean  Burial 
Practice."  Ph.D.  dissertation,  Regent  University,  2002. 

Lerner,  Adam  J.  "The  Capital  City  and  Mount  Rushmore:  The  Place  of  Public  Monuments  in 
American  Political  Culture  of  the  Progressive  Era  and  the  1920s."  Ph.D.  dissertation, 
Johns  Hopkins  University,  2001. 

Levy,  Allison  Mary.  "Early  Modern  Mourning:  Widow  Portraiture  in  Sixteenth-Century 
Florence."  Master's  thesis,  Bryn  Mawr  College,  2001. 

Lohman,  Jonathan  M.  '"The  Walls  Speak':  Murals  and  Memory  in  Urban  Philadelphia."  Ph.D. 
dissertation,  University  of  Pennsylvania,  2001. 

Martin,  Rachel  Lee.  "Completing  the  Work  of  the  Guns:  Presidential  Rhetoric,  National 
Character,  and  World  War  II  Memorials."  Master's  thesis,  Texas  A  &  M  University,  2001 . 

McShane,  Kevin.  "A  History  of  the  Liberty  Memorial."  Master's  thesis,  University  of  Missouri 
-  Kansas  City,  2002. 

Newton,  Jennifer  Isabel  Mary.  "About  Time:  Chronological  Variation  as  Seen  in  the  Burial 
Features  at  Ipiutak,  Point  Hope."  Master's  thesis,  University  of  Alaska,  Fairbanks,  2002. 

Oliveria,  Luisa  M.  "Memorial  at  Wissatinnewag."  Master's  thesis,  University  of  Massachusetts 
at  Amherst,  2001. 

Parlatore,  Kacey  Harris.  "Bird  of  Pray:  Shaman  Figure  of  Paracas  Necropolis  Textiles."  Master's 
thesis,  University  of  Florida,  2002. 


377 


Petrovich,  Sophia  Nadezhda.  "Religious  Determinants  of  the  Spatial  Aspects  of  Mortuary 
Behavior  at  the  NAN  Ranch  Mimbres  Site."  Master's  thesis,  University  of  Texas  at  Austin, 
2001. 

Pollack,  Craig  Evan.  "Respecting  the  Wishes  of  Families:  Burial,  Mourning,  and  Politics 
Following  the  Massacre  at  Srebenica."  Master's  thesis,  University  of  California,  Berkeley, 
2001. 

Rakita,  Gordon  F.M.  "Social  Complexity,  Religious  Organization,  and  Mortuary  Ritual  in  the 
Casas  Grandes  Region  of  Chihuahua,  Mexico."  Ph.D.  dissertation,  University  of  New 
Mexico,  2001. 

Renaud,  Michael  A.  "Urban  Burial  Facility  for  Tampa,  Florida."  Master's  thesis,  University  of 
South  Florida,  2001. 

Riggs,  Christina.  "Art  and  Identity  in  the  Egyptian  Funerary  Tradition,  c.  100  B.C.  to  A.D. 
300."  Ph.D.  dissertation,  Oxford  University,  2001. 

Roberts,  Melissa  Augusta.  "The  American  Cemetery:  Future  Design  and  Cemetery 
Interpretation."  Master's  thesis,  University  of  Georgia,  2001. 

Sandoval  Zavala,  Zannie  Vanessa.  "Moche  Funerary  Practice:  Burial  Location  and  Its 
Relationship  with  Sociopolitical  Organization."  Master's  Thesis,  UCLA,  2002. 

Sarr,  Mouhamadou  Nissire.  "Funerailles  et  representations  dans  les  tombes  de  1'ancien  et  du 
moyen  empires  Egyptiens:  cas  de  comparison  avec  les  civilisations  actuelles  de  1' Afrique 
noire."  Ph.D.  dissertation,  Universitat  Hamburg,  2001. 

Schaller,  Wendy  M.  "Children  Born  Aloft:  Nicolaes  Maes's  Ganymede  Portraiture  and  the 
Context  of  Death  and  Mourning  in  the  Seventeenth-Century  Netherlands."  Ph.D. 
dissertation,  Ohio  State  University,  2001. 

Schroeder,  David  Lee.  "Death  Matters,  or  Death,  Land,  and  Landscape  Design."  Master's  thesis, 
North  Carolina  State  University,  2002. 

Schultz,  Lorena  Kathryn.  "The  Seventeenth-Century  Memorial  Cross-Slabs  at  the  Cathedral 
Church  of  St.  John  the  Evangelist  at  Brecon."  Master's  thesis,  Southern  Methodist 
University,  2001. 

Seefeldt,  W.  Douglas.  "Constructing  Western  Pasts:  Place  and  Public  Memory  in  the  Twentieth- 
Century  American  West."  Ph.D.  dissertation,  Arizona  State  University,  2001. 

Shumka,  Leslie  Joan.  "Designing  Women:  Studies  in  the  Representation  of  Femininity  in  Roman 
Society."  Ph.D.  dissertation,  University  of  Victoria,  2001. 

Simon,  Erica  Hendelman.  "De-memorialization  and  the  Lifespan  of  Memorials."  Master's  thesis, 
University  of  Texas  at  Arlington,  2002. 

Simons,  Jean.  "Celebrating  Death  in  the  Catholic  Tradition:  The  Order  of  Christian  Funerals." 
Master's  thesis,  St.  Norbert  College,  2001. 


378 


Smith,  Timothy  Brian.  "Shiloh  National  Military  Park:  An  Administrative  History  1862-1933." 
Ph.D.  dissertation,  Mississippi  State  University,  2001. 

Stovel,  Emily  Mary.  "The  Importance  of  Being  Atacameho:  Political  Identity  and  Mortuary 
Ceramics  in  Northern  Chile."  Ph.D.  dissertation,  State  University  of  New  York  at 
Binghampton,  2002. 

Sun,  Yan.  "Negotiating  Cultural  and  Political  Control  in  North  China:  Art  and  Mortuary  Ritual 
and  Practice  of  the  Yan  at  Liulihe  During  the  Early  Western  Zhou  Period."  Ph.D. 
dissertation,  University  of  Pittsburgh,  2001. 

Taylor,  Gregory  D.  "Environmental  Impacts  on  Soils  Within  Two  Northwest  Ohio  Cemeteries." 
Master's  thesis,  University  of  Toledo,  2001. 

Waterman,  Roderick  Clive.  "The  American  Monument  and  Its  Audience."  Ph.D.  dissertation, 
University  of  Virginia,  2001. 

Waxenbaum,  Erin.  "An  Analysis  of  a  'Royal'  Cemetery:  How  Can  Importance  Be  Assessed?" 
Honor's  thesis,  Brandeis  University,  2002. 

Welhausen,  Candice  A.  "Roadside  Crosses  in  New  Mexico."  Master's  thesis,  University  of  New 
Mexico,  2001. 

Zerr-Peltner,  Sharon  Arlene.  "Representations  of  the  Unrepresentable  in  Paper  and  Stone:  A 
Documentation  of  Holocaust  Memorials  from  the  Old  World  to  the  New  World."  Ph.D. 
dissertation,  University  of  Washington,  2001. 

Zhang,  Juwen.  "Falling  Seeds  Take  Root:  Ritualizing  Chinese  American  Identity  Through 
Funerals."  Ph.D.  dissertation,  University  of  Pennsylvania,  2001. 

Videotapes 

"A  Tale  of  Two  Hollistons:  The  Impact  of  the  Rural  Cemetery  Movement  on  Burial  Practices  in 
Holliston,  Massachusetts."  Robert  E.  Viator  and  Michal  Stump.  Holliston,  MA:  Holliston 
Historical  Society,  Inc.,  2002. 

"Death  and  the  Journey  to  Immortality."  David  deVries.  New  York,  NY:  A  &  E  Home  Video, 
2001. 

"Letters  to  the  Wall:  A  Documentary  on  the  Vietnam  Wall  Experience."  Christopher  Davenport 
and  Wes  Carey.  Poulsbo,  WA:  Galloping  Pictures,  2002. 

"Prairie  Crosses,  Prairie  Voices:  Iron  Crosses  of  the  Great  Plains."  Bob  Damblach  and  Timothy 
J.  Kloberdanz.  Fargo,  ND:  Prairie  Public  Broadcasting,  2002. 

"The  Sacred  Stones."  Sydney,  N.S.W.,  Australia:  SBS,  2002. 


379 


Conference  Papers,  Other  Presentations,  etc. 

Allen,  Michael  J.  "Naming  the  Unknown:  The  Privatization  of  Memory  After  the  Vietnam 
War."  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Society  for  Military  History  Madison,  WI,  April  4-7, 2002. 

Applegate,  Shannon,  Donovan,  Sally,  and  Meyer,  Mirra.  "At  the  End  of  the  Oregon  Trail: 
Protecting  Oregon's  Historic  Graveyards."  Annual  Conference  of  the  Association  for 
Gravestone  Studies,  Savannah,  GA,  June  25-30,  2002. 

Armer,  Jane.  "What  Is  a  War  Memorial?"  Conference  on  the  Care  and  Conservation  of  War 
Memorials,  London,  England,  January  31,  2001. 

Ashurst,  Nicola.  "Graffiti  Removal  and  Management."  Conference  on  the  Care  and 
Conservation  of  War  Memorials."  London,  England,  January  31, 2001. 

Austin,  Ryan  F.  "Neighborhoods  and  Necro-Geography:  Spatial  Connections  in  a  Rural  19th- 
Century  Cemetery."  Annual  Conference  of  the  Society  for  Historical  Archaeology,  Mobile, 
AL,  January  8-12,  2002. 

Baird,  Scott.  "Gravemarkers  vs.  Burial  Records:  Grieving  Families  vs.  Sleepy  Clerks."  Annual 
Meeting  of  the  American  Culture  Association,  Toronto,  Ontario,  Canada,  March  13-16, 
2002. 

Benton-Short,  Lisa  M.  "The  Brawl  Over  the  Mall:  Politics,  Parks  and  the  World  War  II 
Memorial."  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Association  of  American  Geographers,  Los  Angeles, 
CA,  March  19-23,  2002. 

Bishir,  Catherine.  "And  the  Women  Win':  Contingency,  Conflict  and  the  North  Carolina 
Confederate  Monument."  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Society  of  Architectural  Historians, 
Richmond,  VA,  April  17-21,  2002. 

Bodaya,  Mary  Ann.  "Customs  and  Celebrations:  Life  in  the  Cemetery."  Annual  Conference  of 
the  Association  for  Gravestone  Studies,  Savannah,  GA,  June  25-30, 2002. 

Brackner,  Joey.  "Alabama's  'Day  of  the  Dead':  Decoration  Day  and  the  Changing  Cemetery 
Landscape."  Annual  Conference  of  the  Society  for  Historical  Archaeology,  Mobile  AL, 
January  8-12,  2002. 

Bremborg,  Anna  D.  "The  Dead  Body,  Public  Spaces,  and  the  Professionalism  of  Swedish  Funeral 
Directors."  6th  International  Conference  on  the  Social  Context  of  Death,  Dying,  and 
Disposal,  York,  England,  September  5-8, 2002. 

Brown,  Ian  W.  "Aspects  of  Life  Revealed  in  Death:  A  Survey  of  Cemeteries  in  Northern 
Tuscaloosa  County,  Alabama."  Annual  Conference  of  the  Association  for  Gravestone 
Studies,  Savannah,  GA,  June  25-30,  2002. 

Buckland,  J.  Alexander.  "Conservation  of  Broken  and  Crumbling  Old  Gravestones."  Annual 
Conference  of  the  Association  for  Gravestone  Studies,  Savannah,  GA,  June  25-30,  2002. 


380 


Byrd,  Caroline.  "Links  to  the  Dead:  A  Hispanic  Cemetery  - 1."  Annual  Meeting  of  the  American 
Culture  Association,  Toronto,  Ontario,  Canada,  March  13-16,  2002. 

Calidonna,  Frank.  "Cemeteries,  Gravestones,  and  Kids:  Teachable  Moments."  Annual 
Conference  of  the  Association  for  Gravestone  Studies,  Savannah,  GA,  June  25-30,  2002. 

Carden,  Pam.  "Both  Sides  of  the  Coffin:  Spatial  Control  and  the  Discourse  of  'Dead'."  6th 
International  Conference  on  the  Social  Context  of  Death,  Dying,  and  Disposal,  York, 
England,  September  5-8,  2002. 

Cartier,  Robert  R.,  and  Morgan,  Christopher.  "The  Kell  Cemetery:  An  Historic  Cemetery  in 
San  Jose."  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Society  for  California  Archaeology,  Modesto,  CA,  March 
23-25,  2001. 

Cassaniti,  Jarrett  F.  "American  Ways  of  Death."  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Northeastern 
Anthropological  Association,  Hartford,  CT,  March  29-31,  2001. 

Chapman,  C.  Thomas.  "The  Madison  Family  Cemetery  at  Montpelier:  A  Founding  Father's 
Final  Resting  Place."  Annual  Conference  of  the  Society  for  Historical  Archaeology,  Mobile, 
AL,  January  8-12,  2002. 

Ciregna,  Elise  Madeline.  "From  Artisan  to  Artist:  America's  Garden  Cemeteries  and  Early 
American  Sculptors,  1825-1875."  Annual  Conference  of  the  Association  for  Gravestone 
Studies,  Savannah,  GA,  June  25-30,  2002. 

Clarke,  Anthony  O.  "The  Cult  of  the  Dead  in  Old  Europe  and  Related  Sacred  Space  in  Portugal." 
Annual  Meeting  of  the  Association  of  American  Geographers,  Los  Angeles,  CA,  March 
19-23,  2002. 

Coletta,  Charles  A.,  Jr.  "Lakeview  Cemetery  in  the  Millennium."  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Mid- 
Atlantic  Popular  Culture  /  American  Culture  Association,  Pittsburgh,  PA,  November  1- 

3,  2002. 

Collison,  Gary.  "Pennsylvania  German  Culture  in  Transition:  Gravestones  in  Berks,  Lebanon, 
and  Schuylkill  Counties,  1750-1850."  Annual  Meeting  of  the  American  Culture 
Association,  Toronto,  Ontario,  Canada,  March  13-16,  2002. 

.  "They  Bury  Horses,  Don't  They?"  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Mid-Atlantic  Popular 


Culture  /  American  Culture  Association,  Pittsburgh,  PA,  November  1-3,  2002. 

Cooley,  Francis  Rexford.  "A  Wit  and  a  Merchant:  The  Gravemarkers  of  Lemuel  Hopkins  and 
Jeremiah  Wadsworth."  Annual  Meeting  of  the  American  Culture  Association,  Toronto, 
Ontario,  Canada,  March  13-16,  2002. 

Corbett,  Joyce.  "The  'Merry  Cemetery'  of  Sarpanta,  Romania:  Folk  Expression,  Folk 
Phenomenon."  Annual  Meeting  of  the  American  Culture  Association,  Toronto,  Ontario, 
Canada,  March  13-16,  2002. 


381 


Coyle,  Kathy,  and  Krause,  Kari.  "Providing  an  Historical  Context  for  Archaeological 
Investigations  at  the  Former  Locations  of  the  Celeste  Plantation  and  the  Braziel  Baptist 
Church  and  Cemetery  Complex  (16IV49),  Iberville  Parish,  Louisiana."  Annual  Conference 
of  the  Society  for  Historical  Archaeology  Mobile,  AL,  January  8-12,  2002. 

Cutting,  Rose  Marie.  "Links  to  the  Dead:  A  Hispanic  Cemetery  -  II."  Annual  Meeting  of  the 
American  Culture  Association,  Toronto,  Ontario,  Canada,  March  13-16, 2002. 

Davies,  Douglas.  "Locating  Hope:  The  Dynamics  of  Memorial  Sites."  6th  International 
Conference  on  the  Social  Context  of  Death,  Dying,  and  Disposal,  York,  England, 
September  5-8,  2002. 

Davies,  Penelope  J.E.  "Creating  Memory  Museums:  Dynamics  and  Manipulation  in  Roman 
Republican  Tombs."  6*  International  Conference  on  the  Social  Context  of  Death,  Dying, 
and  Disposal,  York,  England,  September  5-8,  2002. 

de  Giorgio,  Joshua,  and  Mytum,  Harold.  "Colonist  and  Native  in  the  Mediterranean: 
Commemorative  Practices  in  Gibraltar  and  Malta."  Annual  Conference  of  the  Society  for 
Historical  Archaeology,  Mobile,  AL,  January  8-12,  2002. 

Desmond,  Jane.  "On  the  Margins  of  Death:  Pet  Cemeteries  and  Mourning  Practices."  Annual 
Conference  of  the  International  Society  for  Anthrozoology  London,  England,  August 
20-21,  2002. 

Donahue,  Katherine  C.  "Firemen  and  Bond  Traders:  Commemoration  and  the  Creation  of 
Heroes  after  September  11, 2001."  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Northeastern  Anthropological 
Association,  Bridgewater,  MA,  March  14-16, 2002. 

Edge,  Kay.  "The  Architecture  of  Atonement,  the  Space  of  Repentance."  Conference  - 
"Apologies:  Mourning  the  Past  and  Ameliorating  the  Future,"  Claremont,  CA,  February 
8-10,  2002. 

Edgette,  J.  Joseph.  "Back  to  'Titanic':  Death  Sites  of  Her  Rich  and  Famous."  Annual  Meeting 
of  the  American  Culture  Association,  Toronto,  Ontario,  Canada,  March  13-16, 2002. 

.  "Floaters  from  'Titanic':  Anatomy  of  their  Recovery  and  Documentation  Process." 

Annual  Meeting  of  the  American  Folklore  Society,  Rochester,  NY,  October  16-20,  2002. 

.  "Ninety  Years  Later:  The  Untold  Story  of  Titanic's  Victims."  Annual  Conference 

of  the  Association  for  Gravestone  Studies,  Savannah,  GA,  June  25-30,  2002. 

Emke,  Ivan,  and  Hunt,  Barb.  "'Attention  must  be  paid...':  An  Artist  and  a  Sociologist  Consider 
Rituals  of  Remembrance."  6th  International  Conference  on  the  Social  Context  of  Death, 
Dying,  and  Disposal,  York,  England,  September  5-8,  2002. 

Erasmo,  Mario.  "The  Poetics  of  Latin  Epitaphs."  6th  International  Conference  on  the  Social 
Context  of  Death,  Dying,  and  Disposal,  York,  England,  September  5-8, 2002. 

Fahey,  Kathy.  "How  to  Beautify  Your  Cemetery  Lot:  Historic  Landscape  Furnishings  at  Mount 
Auburn  Cemetery."  Annual  Conference  of  the  Association  for  Gravestone  Studies, 
Savannah,  GA,  June  25-30,  2002. 


382 


Farbes,  Kwali.  "Past  Potter's  Field  to  Cemeteries  in  the  'Dins  and  Shanties  of  the  Suburbs': 
Critical  Regionalism,  Community,  and  19th  Century  Philadelphia."  Annual  Meeting  of 
the  American  Folklore  Society,  Rochester,  NY,  October  16-20,  2002. 

Fenster,  Tovi.  "Belonging,  Memory  and  Spatial  Planning  in  Israel."  Annual  Meeting  of  the 
Association  of  American  Geographers,  Los  Angeles,  CA,  March  19-23,  2002. 

Flannery,  Colleen  D.  "Let  No  (Tomb)Stone  Go  Unturned:  Unearthing  the  Roots  and  Legacy  of 
Savannah's  Capt.  John  Flannery."  Annual  Conference  of  the  Association  for  Gravestone 
Studies,  Savannah,  GA,  June  25-30,  2002. 

Futch-Nash,  Jennifer.  "Death  in  the  Garden:  Bonaventure  Cemetery  and  the  Rural  Cemetery 
Movement."  Annual  Conference  of  the  Association  for  Gravestone  Studies,  Savannah, 
GA,  June  25-30,  2002. 

Gabel,  Laurel  K.  "First  Person  Narratives  of  Death,  Burial,  and  Memorialization  in  Colonial 
New  England."  Annual  Conference  of  the  Association  for  Gravestone  Studies,  Savannah, 
GA,  June  25-30,  2002. 

."Fraternal  Emblems  and  Grave  Markers."  Annual  Conference  of  the  Association 


for  Gravestone  Studies,  Savannah,  GA,  June  25-30,  2002. 

Gale,  Christopher.  "Pacemaker  Explosions  at  Crematoria."  Annual  Conference  of  the 
Cremation  Society  of  Great  Britain,  Bournemouth,  England,  July  11-13,  2001. 

Galley,  Janet  McShane.  '"If  You  Lost  Everything  You  Loved  the  Most  in  this  World':  Myths 
and  Realities  of  Laurel  Hill's  'Mother  and  Twins'  Monument."  Annual  Meeting  of  the 
American  Culture  Association,  Toronto,  Ontario,  Canada,  March  13-16,  2002. 

George,  David  R.,  and  Vanwert,  Kristin.  "Archaeological  Testing  and  Evaluation  of  the  Braziel 
Baptist  Church  and  Cemetery  Complex  (16IV49),  Iberville  Parish,  Louisiana."  Annual 
Conference  of  the  Society  for  Historical  Archaeology,  Mobile,  AL,  January  8-12,  2002. 

Godwin,  Luke,  et  al.  "Dating  of  Burial  Practices  in  Central  Queensland:  Continuity  and  Its 
Implications  for  Native  Title."  Australian  Archaeological  Association  Annual  Conference, 
Hervey  Bay,  Queensland,  Australia,  December  6-8,  2001. 

Goodall,  Maggie.  "The  Friends  of  War  Memorials  and  Its  Work."  Conference  on  the  Care  and 
Conservation  of  War  Memorials,  London,  England,  January  31,  2001. 

Gordon,  Bill.  "Coffin  Plates:  For  the  Dead  or  for  the  Living?"  Annual  Meeting  of  the  American 
Culture  Association,  Toronto,  Ontario,  Canada,  March  13-16,  2002, 

Gorman,  Rebecca.  "Religious  Contrasts  in  Mortuary  Behavior  and  Cultural  Ideology  of 
Nineteenth  Century  Cemeteries  in  St.  Augustine,  Florida."  Annual  Conference  of  National 
Collegiate  Honors  Council,  Salt  Lake  City,  UT,  October  30  -  November  3, 2002. 

Grainger,  Hilary  J.  "Building  the  Gates  to  Elysium:  The  Architecture  of  Post-War  British 
Crematoria."  Annual  Conference  of  the  Cremation  Society  of  Great  Britain,  Torquay, 
England,  July  10-12,  2002. 


383 


Graves,  Thomas  E.  "Remembering  the  Unknown:  Rural  Cemeteries  in  Central  Kentucky." 
Annual  Meeting  of  the  American  Culture  Association,  Toronto,  Ontario,  Canada,  March 
13-16,  2002. 

Greenfield,  Marienne.  "Gravestones,  Cemeteries,  and  Burial  Customs  of  Iceland."  Annual 
Conference  of  the  Association  for  Gravestone  Studies,  Savannah,  GA,  June  25-30,  2002. 

Groce,  W.  Todd.  "Historic  Cemeteries  of  the  South:  A  Photographic  Tour."  Annual  Conference 
of  the  Association  for  Gravestone  Studies,  Savannah,  GA,  June  25-30,  2002. 

Hailey,  Tommy  Ike.  "Snatched  from  the  Brink  of  Obscurity:  A  Comparative  Geophysical  Survey 
of  the  Sandiferd  Cemetery,  a  Rural  19th-Century  Burial  Site  in  North-Central  Louisiana." 
Annual  Conference  of  the  Society  for  Historical  Archaeology,  Mobile,  AL,  January  8-12, 
2002. 

Hall,  Danielle.  "Cemeteries  and  Grave  Markers  as  Historical  Documents."  Annual  Meeting  of 
the  American  Culture  Association,  Toronto,  Ontario,  Canada,  March  13-16, 2002. 

Hannibal,  Joseph  T,  et  al.  "Why  are  There  So  Many  Marble  Gravestones  in  the  Midwest?: 
Documenting  the  Rise  and  Fall  of  Marble  Use  in  Northeastern  Ohio  Cemeteries."  Joint 
Annual  Meeting  of  the  North-Central  and  Southeastern  Sections  of  the  Geological  Society 
of  America,  Lexington,  KY,  April  3-5,  2002. 

Harmon,  Thomas.  "Mistakes  in  Stone:  Reflections  of  Illiteracy  in  Frontier  Era  Pennsylvania," 
Annual  Meeting  of  the  American  Culture  Association,  Toronto,  Ontario,  Canada,  March 
13-16,  2002. 

Hanson,  Margery.  "The  Hour  of  Death  and  the  Victorian  Child."  6th  International  Conference 
on  the  Social  Context  of  Death,  Dying,  and  Disposal."  York,  England,  September  5-8, 
2002. 

Harrington,  Susan  J.  "A  Grave  Responsibility:  Publishing  Cemetery  Information  on  the  Web 
or  in  Print."  Annual  Conference  of  the  Association  for  Gravestone  Studies,  Savannah, 
GA,  June  25-30,  2002. 

Hecht,  Lea.  "A  Walk  Through  the  Cemeteries  of  Elmira,  Concord,  and  Salem."  Annual  Meeting 
of  the  American  Culture  Association,  Toronto,  Ontario,  Canada,  March  13-16, 2002. 

Heywood,  Janet.  "By  Their  Works  You  Will  Know  Them:  Professions  and  Passions  on 
Gravestones."  Annual  Conference  of  the  Association  for  Gravestone  Studies,  Savannah, 
GA,  June  25-30,  2002. 

.  "Eternal  Images  -  Stereoviews  of  Cemeteries."  Annual  Meeting  of  the  American 


Culture  Association,  Toronto,  Ontario,  Canada,  March  13-16,  2002. 

Hite,  Gerron.  "Historic  Buildings,  Historic  Cemeteries:  Similar  Materials  and  Problems." 
Annual  Meeting  of  the  Texas  Historical  Association,  Houston,  TX,  March  1-3, 2001. 

Hobbs,  June  Hadden.  "Angels  in  the  Home,  Angels  in  the  Cemetery."  Annual  Conference  of 
the  Association  for  Gravestone  Studies,  Savannah,  GA,  June  25-30,  2002. 


384 


.  "The  Cowboy  Cemetery  of  Kenton,  Oklahoma."  Annual  Meeting  of  the  American 

Culture  Association,  Toronto,  Ontario,  Canada,  March  13-16, 2002. 

Hodge,  Christina  J.  "Meaningful  Ambivalence:  Mimicry  and  Appropriation  in  Late  17th-  and 
Early  18th-Cenrury  Native  Christian  Burials  in  Southeastern  New  England."  Annual 
Conference  of  the  Society  for  Historical  Archaeology,  Mobile,  AL,  January  8-12,  2002. 

Howell,  Ann  Chandler.  "Funerary  Bronze  Portraits  of  Joseph  A.  Bailly."  Annual  Meeting  of 
the  Mid-Atlantic  Popular  Culture  /  American  Culture  Association,  Pittsburgh,  PA, 
November  1-3,  2002. 

Hughes,  Geoffrey.  "Towards  a  Practice  Theory  of  Salem's  [NC]  Gravestones."  Annual 
Conference  of  the  Society  for  Historical  Archaeology,  Mobile,  AL,  January  8-12,  2002. 

Hughes,  Michelle  A.  "St.  Phillip's  Graveyard  [Salem,  NC]  as  a  Reflection  of  an  Ideology  of 
Slavery."  Annual  Conference  of  the  Society  for  Historical  Archaeology,  Mobile,  AL, 
January  8-12,  2002. 

Hummer,  Mark  A.  "The  Ecclesiastic  Orientation  of  Churches  and  Cemeteries  in  Late  Nineteenth 
Century  Rural  Southwestern  Ontario."  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Association  of  American 
Geographers,  Los  Angeles,  CA,  March  19-23,  2002. 

Hunt,  Barb.  "Roadside  Memorials  in  Newfoundland:  Maintaining  'Living'  Links  with  the 
Dead."  6th  International  Conference  on  the  Social  Context  of  Death,  Dying,  and  Disposal, 
York,  England,.  September  5-8, 2002. 

Ingham,  Karen.  "Uncanny  Tomb  of  Memory."  6th  International  Conference  on  the  Social 
Context  of  Death,  Dying,  and  Disposal,  York,  England,  September  5-8,  2002. 

Ireland,  Tracy,  and  Mackay,  Richard.  "The  Rand  wick  Destitute  Children's  Asylum  Cemetery, 
Sydney:  Issues  Arising  from  the  Excavation  and  Re-Burial  of  Nineteenth  Century  Non- 
Indigenous  Human  Remains.  Annual  Conference  of  the  Australian  Archaeological 
Association,  Townsville,  Queensland,  Australia,  November  17-22, 2002. 

Katen,  Brian.  "Evolution  of  the  Confederate  Memorials  in  America's  National  Military  Parks." 
Annual  Meeting  of  the  Society  of  Architectural  Historians,  Richmond,  VA,  April  17-21, 
2002. 

Kavadias,  Dionisious  K.  "Trinity  Cemetery:  The  Living  Necropolis."  Annual  Meeting  of  the 
Council  for  Northeast  Historical  Archaeology,  Wilmington,  DE,  October  17-20, 2002. 

Kazmier,  Lisa.  "A  Symbolic  Space:  Rural  Myth,  The  Great  War,  and  the  Growth  of  Cremation." 
Annual  Conference  of  the  Cremation  Society  of  Great  Britain,  Bournemouth,  England, 
July  11-13,  2001. 

Kennedy,  Linda.  "Markers,  Carvers,  and  Cast  Iron  of  Columbus,  Georgia's  Linwood  Cemetery." 
Annual  Conference  of  the  Association  for  Gravestone  Studies,  Savannah,  GA,  June  25- 
30,  2002. 


385 


Krueger,  Vanessa.  "Mortuary  Archaeology  and  Sociopolitical  Boundaries:  An  Examination  of 
the  Maya  Burials  at  Copan,  Honduras."  Australian  Archaeological  Association  Annual 
Conference,  Hervey  Bay  Queensland,  Australia,  December  6-8,  2002. 

Kunesh,  Tom.  "A  New  Old  Thing:  The  Slot  &  Tab  Tombs  of  Northeast  Georgia."  Annual 
Conference  of  the  Association  for  Gravestone  Studies,  Savannah,  GA,  June  25-30, 2002. 

Lawrence,  John  W.,  Schopp,  Paul  W.,  and  Lore,  Robert.  "Raritan-in-the-Hills:  Salvage 
Archaeology  of  a  Pre-Revolutionary  War  German  Lutheran  Cemetery."  Annual 
Conference  of  the  Society  for  Historical  Archaeology,  Mobile,  AL,  January  8-12,  2002. 

Leader,  Jonathan  M.,  and  Marcil,  Valerie.  "The  Buzzard  Family  Cemetery:  Sealed  for  Eternity." 
Annual  Conference  of  the  Society  for  Historical  Archaeology,  Mobile,  AL,  January  8-12, 
2002. 

Leith,  Ian.  "Monumental  Art:  A  Context."  Conference  on  the  Care  and  Conservation  of  War 
Memorials,  London,  England,  January  31,  2001. 

Leonard,  Angela  M.  "Death  and  Memory  at  African  Slave  Gravesites."  Annual  Meeting  of  the 
Mid-Atlantic  Popular  Culture  /  American  Culture  Association,  Pittsburgh,  PA,  November 
1-3,  2002. 

Lesniak,  Matthew,  and  Philips,  Sharon  M.  "Forgotten  in  Life,  Forgotten  in  Death:  Rediscovering 
an  Almshouse  Cemetery  in  Albany,  New  York."  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Council  for 
Northeast  Historical  Archaeology  Wilmington,  DE,  October  17-20, 2002. 

Leveillee,  Adam.  "Discovery  and  Rediscovery  of  a  Remnant  17th  Century  Narragansett  Burial 
Ground  in  Warwick,  Rhode  Island."  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Northeastern  Anthropological 
Association,  Hartford,  CT,  March  29-31,  2001. 

Liebens,  Johann.  "Mapping  and  Managing  a  Historic  Cemetery  with  the  Help  of  a  Geographic 
Information  System."  Annual  Conference  of  the  Society  for  Historical  Archaeology, 
Mobile,  AL,  January  8-12,  2002. 

Linton,  Anna.  "German  Lutheran  Funeral  Verse  for  Bereaved  Parents  in  the  Seventeenth 
Century."  6th  International  Conference  on  the  Social  Context  of  Death,  Dying,  and 
Disposal,  York,  England,  September  5-8, 2002. 

Loran,  Shelby.  "Reconstructing  Cemetery  History  at  Akwesane."  Annual  Meeting  of  the 
Northeastern  Anthropological  Association,  Bridgewater,  MA,  March  14-16,  2002. 

Macaya,  Maria.  "Nadar  and  Death  in  Nineteenth  Century  Paris."  6th  International  Conference 
on  the  Social  Context  of  Death,  Dying,  and  Disposal,  York,  England,  September  5-8, 2002. 

Malloy,  Brenda.  "Identification  of  Children  in  Stone."  Annual  Meeting  of  the  American  Culture 
Association,  Toronto,  Ontario,  Canada,  March  13-16, 2002. 

Malloy,  Thomas  A.  "What  Was  Killing  the  Children  in  Agrarian  New  England."  Annual  Meeting 
of  the  American  Culture  Association,  Toronto,  Ontario,  Canada,  March  13-16,  2002. 


386 


Marchant,  Charles.  '"Stones  and  Bones':  Using  a  Cemetery  as  an  Educational  Resource."  Annual 
Conference  of  the  Association  for  Gravestone  Studies,  Savannah,  GA,  June  25-30,  2002. 

McCarthy,  John  P.  "African-Influenced  Burial  Practices:  Material  Expressions  of  'Magic'  and 
'Religion'  in  African-American  Spiritual  Life."  Annual  Conference  of  the  Society  for 
Historical  Archaeology,  Mobile,  AL,  January  8-12,  2002. 

Meli,  Frederick.  "Emergency  Grave  Site  Conservation."  Annual  Conference  of  the  Association 
for  Gravestone  Studies,  Savannah,  GA,  June  25-30, 2002. 

Meyer,  Richard  E.  "Oradour-sur-Glane:  A  Site  of  Memory  in  Southern  France."  Annual  Meeting 
of  the  American  Culture  Association,  Toronto,  Ontario,  Canada,  March  13-16,  2002. 

Miller,  Hanna.  "An  Investigation  of  Mexican- American  Graveyards  in  Santa  Cruz  County, 
Arizona."  Annual  Conference  of  the  Association  for  Gravestone  Studies,  Savannah,  GA, 
June  25-30,  2002. 

Mitchell,  Michael  J.  "The  War  Between  the  States:  Confederate  Burial  Customs."  Annual 
Conference  of  the  Association  for  Gravestone  Studies,  Savannah,  GA,  June  25-30,  2002. 

Murray,  Lisa.  "A  Place  of  Festive  or  Pensive  Resort':  The  Nineteenth  Century  Cemetery  as  a 
Public  and  Private  Space."  6th  International  Conference  on  the  Social  Context  of  Death, 
Dying,  and  Disposal,  York,  England,  September  5-8,  2002. 

Mytum,  Harold.  "From  Grave  to  Memorial:  Similarity  and  Difference  Below  and  Above 
Ground."  Annual  Conference  of  the  Society  for  Historical  Archaeology,  Mobile,  AL, 
January  8-12,  2002. 

Nance,  Cindy  Ann.  "Razing  the  Dead:  Cemetery  Abandonment  and  Changing  Burial 
Traditions."  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Association  of  American  Geographers,  Los  Angeles, 
CA,  March  19-23,  2002. 

Newton,  Jennifer  I.M.  "Death  at  Ipiutak."  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Alaska  Anthropological 
Association,  Anchorage,  AK,  April  4-6,  2002. 

Olsen,  Susan.  "The  Final  Break  of  the  Jazz  Greats  of  New  York."  Annual  Meeting  of  the 
American  Culture  Association,  Toronto,  Ontario,  Canada,  March  13-16, 2002. 

Palmer,  Mark  H.  "A  Fragment  of  Kiowa  Memory  Set  in  Stone:  Interpreting  the  Monument  at 
Cutthroat  Mountain."  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Association  of  American  Geographers,  Los 
Angeles,  CA,  March  19-23,  2002. 

Pantzer,  Denise.  "An  Index  of  Native  American  Burials  in  New  Hampshire."  Annual  Meeting 
of  the  Northeastern  Anthropological  Association,  Bridgewater,  MA,  March  14-16,  2002. 

Paraskevas,  Cornelia.  "Prestige  Assignments:  A  Comparison  Between  Greek  Cemeteries  and 
Their  U.S.  Counterparts."  Annual  Meeting  of  the  American  Culture  Association,  Toronto, 
Ontario,  Canada,  March  13-16,  2002. 


387 


Pate,  F.  Donald,  Owen,  Tim,  and  Lawson,  Ewan.  "AMS  Radiocarbon  Dating  of  Bone  Collagen: 
Establishing  a  Chronology  for  the  Swanport  Aboriginal  Burial  Ground,  South  Australia." 
Annual  Conference  of  the  Australian  Archaeological  Association,  Townsville,  Queensland, 
Australia,  November  17-22,  2002. 

Patrick,  Maureen.  "'Gone  from  Our  Home  But  Not  from  Our  Hearts':  Nineteenth  Century 
Epitaphs  from  Selected  Florida  Rural  Cemeteries."  Annual  Meeting  of  the  American 
Culture  Association,  Toronto,  Ontario,  Canada,  March  13-16,  2002. 

Pelletier,  J.B.,  Lowthert,  William.  "Remote  Sensing  of  the  Braziel  Baptist  Church  and  Cemetery 
Complex  (16IV49),  Iberville  Parish,  Louisiana."  Annual  Conference  of  the  Society  for 
Historical  Archaeology,  Mobile,  AL,  January  8-12, 2002. 

Pfeiffer,  Maria  Watson.  "San  Antonio's  Old  City  Cemeteries:  The  Evolution  of  Powder  House 
Hill  from  Spanish  Colonial  Lookout  to  National  Register  District."  Annual  Meeting  of 
the  Texas  State  Historical  Association,  Houston,  TX,  March  1-3,  2001. 

Poston,  Jonathan  H.  "Commemorating  a  Broader  and  More  Selective  Past:  Charleston 
Monuments  in  the  Post-Bellum  Period."  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Society  of  Architectural 
Historians,  Richmond,  VA,  April  17-21,  2002. 

.  "The  Material  Culture  of  Death  in  Early  Charleston:  Tombs,  Vaults,  and  Markers 

in  Charleston  Burial  Grounds,  1680-1830."  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Vernacular  Architecture 
Forum,  Williamsburg,  VA,  May  18,  2002,  and  Annual  Conference  of  the  Association  for 
Gravestone  Studies,  Savannah,  GA,  June  25-30,  2002. 

Prangnell,  Jon,  Smith,  Tarn,  and  Rains,  Kevin.  "University  of  Queensland  Archaeological 
Services  Unit's  Salvage  of  the  North  Brisbane  Burial  Ground."  Australian  Archaeological 
Association  Annual  Conference,  Hervey  Bay,  Queensland,  Australia,  December  6-8, 2001. 

Pravisani,  Roberto  L.  "Reclaiming  Death  As  Part  of  Life:  Rediscovering  the  Wholeness  of  the 
Funeral  Process."  6th  International  Conference  on  the  Social  Context  of  Death,  Dying, 
and  Disposal,  York,  England,  September  5-8,  2002. 

Rainville,  L.  "Relicts,  Amiable  Wives,  and  Tender  Mothers:  Critiquing  the  Accuracy  of  the 
'Cult  of  Domesticity'  as  Illustrated  on  18th-  and  19th-C.  American  Gravestones."  Annual 
Meeting  of  the  American  Anthropological  Association,  New  Orleans,  LA,  November  20- 
24,  2002. 

Ramsay,  Ronald.  "The  Architectural  Legacy  of  Life  and  Death  on  the  Northern  Great  Plains." 
Annual  Meeting  of  the  Society  of  Architectural  Historians,  Richmond,  VA,  April  17-21, 
2002. 

Rice,  Julie  A.  "Battling  the  Forces  of  'Deep  Regret':  Contemporary  Efforts  at  Memorializing 
Wounded  Knee."  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Association  of  American  Geographers,  Los 
Angeles,  CA,  March  19-23,  2002. 

Richman,  Jeff.  "The  Monumental  Bronze  Company's  Cast  Zinc  at  Brooklyn's  Green-Wood 
Cemetery."  Annual  Conference  of  the  Association  for  Gravestone  Studies,  Savannah, 
GA,  June  25-30,  2002. 


388 


Riley,  Sheila.  "Southern  Cemetery  Highlights."  Annual  Meeting  of  the  American  Culture 
Association,  Toronto,  Ontario,  Canada,  March  13-16, 2002. 

Riordan,  Timothy  B.  '"Carry  Me  to  Yon  Kirk  Yard':  Changes  in  Colonial  Burial  Practices 
Through  the  17th  Century"  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Council  for  Northeast  Historical 
Archaeology,  Wilmington,  DE,  October  17-20,  2002. 

Rotundo,  Barbara.  "Symbolism."  Annual  Conference  of  the  Association  for  Gravestone  Studies, 
Savannah,  GA,  June  25-30,  2002. 

Russell,  Joy.  "English  Heritage  Grants  for  the  Repair  and  Conservation  of  War  Memorials." 
Conference  on  the  Care  and  Conservation  of  War  Memorials,  London,  England,  January 
31,  2001. 

Russell,  Matthew  A.  "Preserving  an  American  Icon:  Continuing  Research  on  USS  Arizona, 
Pearl  Harbor,  Hawaii."  Annual  Conference  of  the  Society  for  Historical  Archaeology, 
Mobile,  AL,  January  8-12,  2002. 

Sabatos,  Terri  R.  "'Poor  Baby  Is  Gone':  The  Image  of  the  Empty  Crib  in  Victorian  Visual 
Culture."  6th  International  Conference  on  the  Social  Context  of  Death,  Dying,  and  Disposal, 
York,  England,  September  5-8,  2002. 

Sauers,  Richard  A.  "Another  December  Mourning:  The  Halifax  Explosion."  Annual  Meeting 
of  the  American  Culture  Association,  Toronto,  Ontario,  Canada,  March  13-16,  2002. 

Schafer,  Cyril.  "Multinationals,  the  Funeral  Industry,  and  Funerary  Practices  in  New  Zealand." 
6th  International  Conference  on  the  Social  Context  of  Death,  Dying,  and  Disposal,  York, 
England,  September  5-8,  2002. 

Seidemann.  Ryan  M.,  and  Seidemann,  Ericka  L.  "Folk  Art  and  Works  of  Necessity  in  the 
Predominantly  African  American  Indigent  Holt  Cemetery  in  New  Orleans,  Louisiana." 
Annual  Conference  of  the  Association  for  Gravestone  Studies,  Savannah,  GA,  June  25- 
30,  2002. 

Shlasko,  Ellen.  "Material  Culture  and  Cultural  Memory  in  South  Carolina."  Annual  Conference 
of  the  Society  for  Historical  Archaeology,  Mobile,  AL,  January  8-12,  2002. 

Sledge,  John.  "Cities  of  Silence:  Mobile,  Alabama's  Historic  Cemeteries."  Annual  Conference 
of  the  Association  for  Gravestone  Studies,  Savannah,  Georgia,  June  25-30,  2002. 

Smith,  Roger.  "Savannah's  Unique  City  Plan."  Annual  Conference  of  the  Association  for 
Gravestone  Studies,  Savannah,  GA,  June  25-30,  2002. 

Stewart,  David.  "Material  Culture  and  Remembrance  in  Anglo-American  Maritime 
Communities."  Annual  Meeting  of  the  American  Folklore  Society,  Rochester,  NY,  October 
16-20,  2002. 

Strangstad,  Lynette.  "Preserving  America's  Cemeteries:  A  Case  Study.  Colonial  Park  in 
Savannah."  Annual  Conference  of  the  Association  for  Gravestone  Studies,  Savannah, 
GA,  June  25-30,  2002. 


389 


Stringfield,  Margo  S.  "St.  Michael's  Cemetery:  A  Democracy  of  the  Dead."  Annual  Conference 
of  the  Society  for  Historical  Archaeology  Mobile,  AL,  January  8-12,  2002. 

Thorton,  Meg  L.,  and  Labadia,  Catherine.  "A  Preliminary  Assessment  of  Mortuary  Practices 
at  the  Braziel  Baptist  Cemetery."  Annual  Conference  of  the  Society  for  Historical 
Archaeology,  Mobile,  AL,  January  8-10, 2002. 

Thursby,  Jacqueline  S.  "Ghost  Town  Cemeteries  in  Utah:  A  Pioneer  Legacy."  Annual  Meeting 
of  the  American  Culture  Association,  Toronto,  Ontario,  Canada,  March  13-16,  2002. 

Trinkley,  Michael.  "The  Threat  to  African  American  Cemeteries  in  South  Carolina."  Annual 
Conference  of  the  Association  for  Gravestone  Studies,  Savannah,  GA,  June  25-30,  2002. 

Turner,  Robert.  "The  Conservation  of  Bronze."  Conference  on  the  Care  and  Conservation  of 
War  Memorials,  London,  England,  January  31, 2001. 

Van  Scoy  F.,  Jarrell,  J.,  and  Wagaman,  G.  "Cemetery  Preservation  and  Laser  Scanning." 
International  Conference  on  Virtual  Systems  and  Multimedia,  Berkeley,  CA,  October, 
2001. 

Varner,  Eric  R.  "Eternal  Rome  and  the  Semantics  of  Death  on  a  Season  Sarcophagus  in  the 
Michael  C.  Carlos  Museum."  6th  International  Conference  on  the  Social  Context  of  Death, 
Dying,  and  Disposal,  York,  England,  September  5-8,  2004. 

Vastokas,  Joan.  "St.  John's  Lithuanian  Cemetery  Toronto,"  Annual  Conference  of  the 
Association  for  Gravestone  Studies,  Savannah,  GA,  June  25-30, 2002. 

Veit,  Richard  F.  "Tn  Amerika  Komen':  lS^-Century  German  Language  Grave  Markers  in 
Northern  New  Jersey."  Annual  Conference  of  the  Society  for  Historical  Archaeology, 
Mobile,  AL,  January  8-12,  2002. 

Volkan,  Vamik.  "Mourning,  Linking  Objects,  and  Monuments:  When  Does  It  Become  Possible 
for  a  Society  to  Forgive  Its  Enemy?"  Conference  -  "Apologies:  Mourning  the  Past  and 
Ameliorating  the  Future,"  Claremont,  CA,  February  8-10,  2002. 

Walker,  Joseph  N.,  Jr.  "Ashes  to  Ashes  and  Dust  to  Dust:  Human  Skeletal  Taphonomy  at  Two 
Historic  Cemeteries  in  the  Northeastern  United  States."  Annual  Meeting  of  the 
Northeastern  Anthropological  Association,  Bridgewater,  MA,  March  14-16,  2002. 

Wayland,  Scott.  "Funerary  Poetry  and  Changing  Conceptions  of  Life  After  Death  in  Early 
Modern  England."  6th  International  Conference  on  the  Social  Context  of  Death,  Dying, 
and  Disposal,  York,  England,  September  5-8,  2002. 

Weir,  Daniel  R.  "No  Place  to  Die:  Roadside  Death  Memorials  in  Mexico."  Annual  Meeting  of 
the  Association  of  American  Geographers,  Los  Angeles,  CA,  March  19-23,  2002. 

West,  Sharon  Cook,  and  McKerns,  Joseph  P.  "Witch-Hunters  and  Funeral  Directors:  The  Political 
Backlash  Against  Jessica  Mitfords's  The  American  Way  of  Death."  Annual  Meeting  of  the 
Southwest  —  Texas  Popular  Culture  /  American  Culture  Association,  Albuquerque,  NM, 
February  13-17,  2002. 


390 


Westerhof,  Danielle.  "Resting  in  Pieces:  The  Politics  of  Aristocratic  Multiple  Burial  in  Late 
Thirteenth  Century  England."  6th  International  Conference  on  the  Social  Context  of  Death, 
Dying,  and  Disposal,  York,  England,  September  5-8,  2002. 

Willett,  Clara.  "The  Conservation  of  Stonework  and  Sculpture."  Conference  on  the  Care  and 
Conservation  of  War  Memorials,  London,  England,  January  31,  2001 . 

Wood,  Juliette.  "Giants  In  The  Earth:  Geoffrey  on  Monmouth,  Strange  Burials,  and  Ancient 
Monuments  in  Welsh  Folk  Studies."  Annual  Meeting  of  the  American  Folklore  Society, 
Rochester,  NY,  October  16-20,  2002. 

Zipf,  Catherwine  W.  "Perpetual  Victory:  The  Architecture  of  the  National  Cemetery  System." 
Annual  Meeting  of  the  Society  of  Architectural  Historians,  Richmond,  VA,  April  17-21, 

2002. 


391 


CONTRIBUTORS 

Hans  Christian  Andersen  (1805-1875),  Danish  poet,  novelist,  and  pro- 
lific writer  of  tales  and  sketches,  overcame  the  poverty  of  his  youth  to 
become  one  of  the  world's  most  beloved  and  well-known  writers.  Often 
called  the  "father  of  the  literary  fairy  tale,"  Andersen's  power  of  descrip- 
tion and  sense  of  fantasy  underlie  many  of  his  most  recognizable  tales  - 
"The  Little  Mermaid,"  "The  Ugly  Duckling,"  "The  Red  Shoes,"  "The  Snow 
Queen,"  "The  Emperor's  New  Clothes,"  "The  Princess  and  the  Pea,"  and 
"Thumbelina,"  among  others  -  but  his  interest  in  the  more  common- 
place elements  of  life  may  be  found  as  well  in  many  of  his  lesser-known 
works,  such  as  the  selection  reprinted  in  this  issue. 

James  Blachowicz,  Professor  of  Philosophy  at  Loyola  University,  Chi- 
cago, became  interested  in  early  American  gravestones  during  a  sum- 
mer in  Falmouth,  Massachusetts  in  1972,  but  didn't  discover  the 
Association  for  Gravestone  Studies  until  1994.  He  has  contributed  three 
papers  to  the  AGS  Quarterly,  and  four  of  his  studies  on  the  gravestone 
carving  traditions  of  Plymouth,  Kingston,  and  Cape  Cod  have  appeared 
in  Markers  XV  (1998),  Markers  XVII  (2000)  (in  collaboration  with  Vincent 
F.  Luti),  Markers  XVIII  (2001),  and  the  first  part  of  the  present  essay  in 
Markers  XIX  (2002).  He  has  recently  completed  a  book,  An  American  Craft 
Lineage,  which  greatly  expands  his  work  on  these  carving  traditions,  fo- 
cusing on  twenty-seven  stonecarvers  in  the  two  regions  active  from  1770 
through  1870.  His  book  in  philosophy,  Of  Two  Minds:  The  Nature  of  In- 
quiry (State  University  of  New  York  Press),  appeared  in  1998. 

Sybil  F.  Crawford  has  lived  in  both  the  United  States  and  Canada.  She 
attended  what  is  now  the  University  of  Arkansas  -  Little  Rock,  and  served 
as  documentation  coordinator  for  an  international  commercial  lender  in 
Dallas,  Texas  prior  to  retirement.  Her  interests  have  tended  to  be  eclectic. 
In  1993,  she  authored  Jubilee:  The  First  150  Years  of  Mount  Holly  Cemetery, 
Little  Rock,  Arkansas.  A  large  number  of  articles  and  books  have  been 
published  on  cemetery/gravemarker,  local  history,  Old  West,  and  fine 
arts  subjects.  In  1993,  she  received  the  Arkansas  Historical  Association's 
award  for  "Best  Biography"  and  placed  first  in  the  2001  F.  Hampton  Roy 
History  Award  competition  for  her  paper  dealing  with  the  faux  bois  sculp- 
tor Dionicio  Rodriguez.  A  completed  book  manuscript,  The  Veiled  Per- 
sona: Memorializing  Our  Legends  of  the  Old  West,  awaits  publication. 


392 


Karl  S.  Guthke  is  Kuno  Francke  Professor  of  German  Art  and  Culture  at 
Harvard  University.  Among  his  books  are  The  Last  Frontier:  Imagining 
Other  Worlds  from  the  Copernican  Revolution  to  Modern  Science  Fiction  (1990), 
B.  Traven:  The  Life  Behind  the  Legends  (1991),  Last  Words  (1992),  and  The 
Gender  of  Death:  A  Cultural  History  in  Art  and  Literature  (1999).  His  most 
recent  publication  is  Goethe's  Weimar  und  "Die  grosse  Offnung  in  die  weite 
Welt"  (2001),  which  discusses  the  growing  awareness  on  the  part  of  cen- 
tral Europeans  of  the  non-European  "other"  around  1800.  Having  pub- 
lished several  articles  dealing  with  various  aspects  of  epitaphs,  he  is 
currently  working  on  a  book  on  "Epitaph  Culture  in  the  West." 

Vincent  F.  Luti,  1997  recipient  of  the  Association  for  Gravestone  Stud- 
ies' Harriette  M.  Forbes  Award  for  excellence  in  gravestone  studies,  has 
contributed  greatly  to  our  understanding  of  early  gravestone  carvers  of 
the  Narragansett  Basin  area,  including  studies  of  Seth  Euther  published 
in  Rhode  Island  History  and  of  Stephen  and  Charles  Hartshorn  in  Markers 
II.  His  in-depth  analysis  of  the  carvers  John  and  James  New  appeared  in 
Markers  XVI,  and  he  contributed  to  James  Blachowicz's  study  of  carver 
William  Coye  in  Markers  XVII.  His  latest  major  publication  (2002)  is  Mal- 
let and  Chisel:  Gravestone  Carvers  of  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  in  the  Eighteenth 
Century.  He  is  Professor  Emeritus  of  Music  at  the  University  of  Massa- 
chusetts, Dartmouth. 

Gay  Lynch  completed  a  Master  in  Theological  Studies  degree  at  Harvard 
Divinity  School  in  1995,  the  same  year  in  which  her  article,  "Contempo- 
rary Gravemarkers  of  Youths:  Milestones  of  our  Path  through  Pain  to 
Joy,"  appeared  in  Markers  XII.  She  is  currently  a  doctoral  Student  in  the 
Cultural  and  Historical  Study  of  Religion  program  at  the  Graduate  Theo- 
logical Union  in  Berkeley,  California.  Her  research  is  in  ancient  and  mod- 
ern Greek  lamentation  ritual  and  in  Greek  funerary  monuments.  Her 
dissertation  is  focused  upon  showing  how  ancient  Greek  ritual  lament 
practices  are  directly  attested  through  and  vitally  encoded  by  archaeo- 
logical remains. 

Lotte  Larsen  Meyer,  Associate  Professor  Emeritus  at  Western  Oregon 
University,  holds  advanced  degrees  in  history  and  in  library  science,  and 
served  as  a  reference  librarian  and  head  of  university  archives  for  twenty- 
two  years  at  WOU.  In  1986,  she  founded  the  "Protest  Issues  and  Ac- 
tions" permanent  section  of  the  Popular  Culture  Association,  and  has 


393 


served  as  chair  of  the  section  ever  since.  Published  works  include  a  Peace 
Bibliography  and  an  article  about  the  use  of  Yellow  Ribbons  during  the 
Gulf  War  which  appeared  in  the  Journal  of  American  Culture.  She  is  cur- 
rently completing  a  book  about  the  popularity  of  French  Impressionist 
painter  Claude  Monet  in  the  United  States. 

Richard  E.  Meyer  is  Professor  Emeritus  of  English  and  Folklore  at  West- 
ern Oregon  University.  Besides  serving  as  editor  of  Markers  for  the  last 
eleven  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  has  served  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  editorial  board  of  The  Journal  of  American  Culture,  is  a  former 
president  of  the  Oregon  Folklore  Society,  and  from  1986-1996  chaired 
the  Cemeteries  and  Gravemarkers  section  of  the  American  Culture  As- 
sociation, which  he  founded  in  1986.  His  articles  on  Oregon  pioneer 
gravemarkers,  San  Francisco's  Presidio  Pet  Cemetery  (with  David  M. 
Gradwohl),  and  World  War  I  Western  Front  cemeteries  have  appeared 
in  Markers  XI,  Markers  XII,  and  Markers  XVIII,  respectively.  In  1998  he 
was  a  recipient  of  the  Association  for  Gravestone  Studies'  Harriete  M. 
Forbes  Award  for  excellence  in  gravestone  studies.  Besides  his  contribu- 
tion to  material  necrology,  he  has  published  a  wide  variety  of  scholarly 
materials  in  both  folklore  and  literary  studies.  He  is  currently  in  the  early 
stages  of  a  projected  book  on  America's  Tomb  of  the  Unknown  Soldier 
in  Arlington  National  Cemetery. 

Kenneth  Pobo  is  an  Associate  Professor  of  English  at  Widener  Univer- 
sity in  Chester,  Pennsylvania,  where  he  teaches  courses  in  creative  writ- 
ing, minority  literature,  and  contemporary  poetry.  He  writes  poetry,  short 
stories,  and  essays,  and  his  research  interests  include  gay  studies,  women 
writers,  and  contemporary  poets.  His  most  recent  (2001)  published  col- 
lection of  poetry  is  Ordering:  A  Season  in  My  Garden  (Higganum  Hills 
Books):  earlier  collections  include  Cicadas  in  the  Apple  Tree  (Palanquin 
Press),  Yes:  Irises  (Singular  Speech  Press),  and  Ravens  and  Bad  Bananas 
(Oscric  Press).  An  essay  on  May  Swenson  appeared  in  Heaven  Bone,  and 
another  on  British  writer  Jeanette  Winterson  will  be  featured  in  a  forth- 
coming anthology  published  by  Red  Hen  Press.  His  poem,  "Key  West 
Cemetery"  was  published  in  Markers  XIX. 


394 


Annette  Stott  serves  as  Director  of  the  School  of  Art  and  Art  History  at 
the  University  of  Denver,  where  she  is  an  associate  professor  of  art  his- 
tory. She  is  the  author  of  the  book  Holland  Mania:  The  Unknown  Dutch 
Period  in  American  Art  and  Culture  (1998)  and  numerous  articles  concern- 
ing Nineteenth-Century  American  art.  She  presented  an  earlier  version 
of  the  essay  found  in  this  volume  at  the  1999  Annual  Conference  of  the 
Association  for  Gravestone  Studies,  and  a  somewhat  expanded  version 
will  become  a  chapter  in  her  current  book  project,  Sculpture  Gardens  of 
the  West:  Denver's  Early  Cemeteries. 

Jacqueline  S.  Thursby,  Associate  Professor  of  English  and  Folklore  at 
Brigham  Young  University,  has  presented  numerous  scholarly  papers 
on  cemetery  and  gravestone  studies  at  annual  conferences  of  the  Ameri- 
can Culture  Association.  She  completed  her  graduate  studies  in  Folklore 
and  American  Studies  at  Utah  State  University  and  Bowling  Green  State 
University,  and  has  published  a  number  of  articles  relating  to  American 
Studies  and  Ethnography.  Her  first  book,  Mother's  Table,  Father's  Chair: 
Cultural  Narratives  of  Basque  American  Women,  was  published  by  Utah  State 
University  Press  in  1999.  She  is  currently  working  on  a  book,  underwrit- 
ten by  a  grant  from  the  Religious  Studies  Department  at  Brigham  Young 
University,  which  discusses  funerary  and  burial  practices  of  Utah  Mor- 
mons, past  and  present. 


INDEX 


Boldface  page  numbers  [in  brackets]  indicate  illustrations 


395 


"A  Mother's  Prayer  For  Her  Soldier  Boy" 

(song  /1918)  40 
"Abide  With  Me"  (hymn)  175 
Aborn  family  95 
Adams,  Bartlett  238 
Adams,  Ezekiel  103 
Adams,  Franklin  Pierce  117 
Adams,  Nathan  103 
Aeneid  (epic  poem  /  Virgil)  129 
Aeschylus  281 

agones  (funeral  games)  283,  [280] 
Ahlberg,Gudrun283 
Aisne-Marne  American  Cemetery,  near 

Belleau,  France  55,  [58] 
Alberta  Temple  (LDS  Church)  326 
Alcunin  131 

"All  Seeing  Eye"  (gravestone  symbol)  323 
Allan  Gardens,  Toronto,  Ontario,  Canada 

160 
Alexiou,  Margaret  281 
Allen,  Benjamin  79 
Allen,  Gabriel  (b.  1749)  76-109 
Allen,  Gabriel  (b.  1753)  77 
Allen,  George  77,  79 
Allen,  George  (b./d.  1776)  79 
Allen,  George,  Jr.  79 
Allen,  George  William  79 
Allen,  Harriet  79,  [78] 
Allen,  Maria  79 
Allen,  Nancy  West  78 
Allen,  Polly  79 
Allen,  Sally  79 
Allen,  Sarah  Spring  77 
Allen,  Sylvester  77, 97 
Allen,  William  (d.  1791)  92 
Allen,  William  (d.  1815)  77, 92-95 
"All  Seeing  Eye"  (gravestone  symbol)  317, 

323 
American  Battle  Monuments  Commission 

(ABMC)  44,  46-47 
American  Expeditionary  Forces  (AEF)  31, 40 
American  Gold  Star  Mothers  (AGSM)  34, 67 
American  Legion  34, 47-48 
American  Legion  Auxiliary  50 
American  military  cemeteries  (WWI)  30-75, 

[32-33,  43-44,  46,  69] 


American  Overseas  Memorial  Day 

Association  47 
American  Red  Cross  37 
American  War  Mother  (magazine)  63 
American  War  Mothers  (AWM)  34,  67 
"An  Abandoned,  Overgrown  Cemetery  in 

the  Pasture  Near  Our  House"  (poem  / 

Gregory  Orr)  308-309 
Anaconda  Bronze  Company  173 
Ancient  Fnnerall  Monuments  (book /John 

Weever/1631)112 
Anglican  Mission  for  Eskimos,  Tuktoyakruk, 

Canada  181-182 
Anderson,  John  F.  199,  [200] 
Anderson,  Sherwood  132 
Andrew,  Thomas  [91] 

"Annabel  Lee"  (poem  /  Edgar  Allan  Poe)  303 
Archaic  Period  (Greece  /  650-500  BG.E.)  284 
Archibald,  Alexander  [330] 
Ariosto  121 

Arizona  Temple  (LDS  Church)  326,  [328] 
Arlington  National  Cemetery,  Arlington,  VA 

38,40 
Armistice  (World  War  I)  54 
Armistice  Day  37 
Arnold  Cemetery,  Warwick,  RI 95 
Arlen,  Michael  121 
Arqua,  Italy  129 
"At  My  Mother's  Grave"  (poem  /  Jean 

Valentine)  305-306 
Atlanta,  GA  128 
Atlantic  Monthly  (magazine)  111 
Attleboro,  MA  80 
Atwell,  Richard  92 
Atwood,  Joshua  P.  199,  [201] 

Bacon,  Parssis  92,  [88] 

Baker,  Eliza  263 

Baker,  Elizabeth  263 

Baker,  Hattie  Barstow  257 

Baker,  Nathan  Foster  257 

Baker,  Robert  Clinton  253-257,  [255] 

Balmer,  Hilary  189 

Banting  and  Best  Institute,  University  of 

Toronto  185 
"baptism  for  the  dead"  (LDS  Church)  314 


396 


Barker,  Amanda  (fictional  character)  303 

Barnstable  Patriot  (newspaper)  253 

Bassett,  Benjamin  F.  214 

Bassett,  Gustavus  233 

Bassett,  John  232 

Bassett,  Lucy  Fessenden  231, 262 

Battle  of  the  Somme  (1916)  40 

Baudelaire  120 

Baxter,  Nella  P.  263 

Baxter,  Walter  238 

Beable,  William  Henry  118 

Bearse,  Mary  263 

Bearse,  Sophia  H.  263 

Bell,  Craig  188 

Bellefontaine  Cemetery,  St.  Louis,  MO  131 

Belmont  family  mausoleum  155 

Benjamin,  Walter  147 

Bernhardt,  Sarah  127 

Bills  Brothers  Monument  Company, 

Florence,  CO  12 
Bishop,  E.S.  175 

black  soldiers  in  World  War  1 65 
Blackinton,  Sylvia  92, 103,  [91] 
Blackmer,  Salsbury  250 
Blue  Star  Mothers  of  America  67 
Bluff  Street  Cemetery,  Cranston,  RI 87 
Blythe,  Eliza  180 
Boles,  William  250 
Bolles,  David  79 
Bonney,  Charles  251 
Bony,  France  37,  [37] 
Book  of  Mormon  314,  317,  [317] 
Boston  Globe  (newspaper)  137 
Boston  Herald  (newspaper)  219-220 
Bramhall,  George  235 
Braman,  Silvanus  103 
Brecht,  Bertolt  123 
Brehl,  John  161 

"Bring  Back  The  Dead  Soldier  League"  42 
Bristol  Counjty,  MA  78 
British  Legion  47 
Brookwood  American  Cemetery,  near 

Brookwood,  England  48-49 
Brotherhood  of  American  Yeomen  10 
Brown,  Chad  92,  [89] 
Brown,  Charles  153 
Brown,  Louis  C.  31 

Brown,  Marion  3-34,  50-61,  63-64,  67,  [30] 
Brown,  Nicholas  94-95 
Bucklin,  Joseph  92,  [87] 
"Buddy  Poppy" 61 


Bumpus,  Eunice  247,  [248] 
Burling,  Mathilda  38, 72 
Burt,  D.A.  257 
Burt,  Silence  250 
Butler,  Samuel  77 
Byron  (Lord  Byron)  133 

Cafe  Laurent,  Paris,  France  54, 70 
Caius,  John  128-129 
Camden,  WiUiam  121-122 
Campodonico,  Caterina  149 
Canadian  Medical  Association  185 
Canada  Permanent  Trust  Company  179 
Canadian  National  Exhibition  Bandstand, 

Toronto,  Ontario,  Canada  167 
Canadian  Red  Cross  Society,  Toronto  Branch 

182-183 
Canadian  Tire  Store,  Uxbridge,  Ontario, 

Canada  189 
Cantigny,  France  47 
Cape  Cod,  MA  196-280 
Cape  Cod  Advocate  and  Nautical  Intelligencer 

(newspaper)  231-232 
Cape  Cod  Gazette  (newspaper)  243 
Cape  Cod  Glass  Works,  Sandwich,  MA  243 
Carlton,  Isaac  232 
Carpenter,  Christopher  S.  79 
Carpenter,  Jamima  82,  [81] 
Carpenter,  Nancy  Allen  79 
Carnes,  Mark  C.  23 
Carter,  William  E.16,  [17] 
Cather  G.P  42,  [41] 
Cather,  Willa  42,  47,  67, 126-127, 133 
Catholic  Aid  Society  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul, 

Toronto,  Ontario,  Canada  183 
Center  Cemetery,  Rochester,  MA  250 
Central  Technical  School,  Toronto,  Ontario, 

Canada  183 
Chace,  Rosabellah  84,  [85] 
Chamber's  Journal  of  Popular  Literature 

(magazine)  115 
Chamery,  France  56 
Chaplin,  Charlie  145 
Chapman,  Reuben  215 
Charlemagne  131 

(Charleston)  Daily  Advertiser  (newspaper)  96 
Charleston  Morning  Post  (newspaper)  78, 96 
Chase,  Theodore  80 
Chatham  (Massachusetts)  Historical  Society 

205 
Chatham,  MA  198,  233 


397 


Checkley,  William  92,  [90] 

Cherry,  Francis  122 

Cheesbrough,  David  92 

Cherbourg,  France  49, 59,  70 

Child-Pemberton,  Charles  146 

Chipman,  Charles  244 

Christ  Church  Burial  Ground,  Philadelphia, 

PA  123 
Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-Day  Saints 

(LDS)  312-332 
"Church  Windows"  (Canadian  Christmas 

stamp  design  /  Yvonne  Williams)  172-173 
Churchill,  Charles  133, 135 
Churchill,  Winston  145 
"Churchill's  Grave"  (poem  /  Lord  Byron)  133 
Cicero  111 

Cimetiere  des  Gourds,  Versailles,  France  139 
Cimetiere  Monumental,  Rouen,  France  137 
Cimiterio  de  Staglieno,  Genoa,  Italy  149 
Claremont,  OK  137 
Clark,  Robert  243 
"Clasped  hands"  (gravestone  symbol)  322- 

323,  [322] 
Clements,  Deborah  178 
Cody,  W.J.  181-182 
Cohn,  David  L.  258 
Cole,  T.W.  232 

Coleridge,  Samuel  Taylor  136, 139 
Collins,  Stephen  225,  [226] 
Columbian  Centinel  (newspaper)  263 
Columbian  Phenix  (newspaper)  93 
Columbine,  CO  118 
Combs,  Dianne  Williams  95 
Common  Burial  Ground,  Newport,  RI 84 
Compiegne,  France  54 
Congregational  Church  Cemetery, 

CenterviUe,MA229 
Congregational  Church  Cemetery,  Harwich, 

MA  225,  253 
Constantine  (Roman  Emperor)  165 
Conway,  Hugh  127 
Coolidge,  Calvin  145 
Cooper,  Myles  152 
Corbett,  Hopestill  103 
Corliss,  George  92,  [87] 
Corliss,  William  92,  [90] 
Craig,  James  H.  162 
Craig  &  Madill  (architectural  firm),  Toronto, 

Ontario,  Canada  162, 167 
Crocker,  Lott  244,  [245] 
Crocker,  Samuel  S.  214 


Cromwell,  Henry  118 

Cromwell,  Oliver  112 

Crosby,  Abigail  261 

Crosby,  Bertram  D.  224-225 

Crosby,  Celia  H.  262 

Crosby,  Edmund  261 

Crosby,  Elijah  225 

Crosby,  Elijah  J.  225 

Crosby,  Eliza  Doane  Snow  224 

Crosby,  Eliza  H.  Higgins  261 

Crosby,  Emeline  Taylor  225 

Crosby,  Etta  (Marietta)  F.  Ryder  224 

Crosby,  Henry  Thomas  219,  224-228 

Crosby,  Joshua  1 224 

Crosby,  Joshua  II 224 

Crosby,  Joshua  III  224 

Crosby,  Mary  B.  Higgins  261 

Crosby,  Orville  261 

Crosby,  Orville  W.  224 

Crosby,  Orwell  S.  224 

Crosby,  Ray  Causten  262 

Crosby,  Sally  Freeman  261 

Crosby,  Thankful  Baker  224 

Crosby,  Thankful  Cole  261 

Crosby,  Wilfred  Henry  224 

Crosby,  Winthrop  M.  199,  215,  219,  224-228 

Crowell,  Emmett  H.  262 

Crowell,  Leonora  P.  262 

Crowell,  Mary  92 

Cumberland,  RI  103 

Dallimore,  Percy  179, 181 

Dallimore,  William  Percival  180 

Dalmare,  J.  Julius  116 

Danforth,  Loring  295 

Davis,  Frederick  235 

"Death's  Asphodel"  (poem /Jean  Valentine) 

305 
Delbert  Reeves  Post,  Veterans  of  Foreign 

Wars  (Silverton,  OR)  34 
de  Musset,  Alfred  133 
Denver,  CO  vi-29 
Denver  Marble  and  Granite  Company, 

Denver,  CO  10 
Derick,  Burton  257 
Deslandes,  Andre  Francois  146 
Dexter  Grist  Mill,  Sandwich,  MA  230 
Dexter,  John  C.  263 

Dexter  Street  Cemetery,  Cumberland,  RI  81 
Deyo,  Simeon  199ff. 
Dickinson,  Emily  127, 305-306 


398 


Dill,  Julia  Maria  Linnell  260 

Dill,  Warren  260 

Dimmick,  Prince  L.  238,  262 

District  of  Columbia  Gold  Star  Mothers  37, 

[38] 
Doane,  Freeman  205 
Doane,  Nathaniel  225 
Doane,  Sarah  216,  219,  [217] 
Donne,  John  121 

Dorotheen-Friedhof,  Berlin,  Germany  123 
Doughboy  statues  34,  37,  [36] 
Douglas  County,  OR  302 
Dreiser,  Theodore  145 
Drumcliffe  Churchyard,  Drumcliffe,  Ireland 

136,  141 
Duchamp,  Marcel  137 
Du  Maurier,  George  147 
During,  Ernest  66 
Dum  Tacet  Clamat  ("though  silent  I  speak") 

26 

East  Lawn  Cemetery,  Bladen,  NE  41 

East  Lawn  Cemetery,  Provo,  UT  324 

East  Orleans,  MA  198 

Ebeltoft,  Denmark  192 

Edict  of  Milan  (313  A.D.)  165 

Edison,  Carol  319 

Edwards,  Pauline  B.  253 

Eiffel  Tower,  Paris,  France  52 

Einstein,  Albert  145 

Eldridge,  Augustus  H.  214,  [213} 

Eldridge,  James  F.  215 

Eldridge,  Samuel  214 

"Elegy  Written  in  a  Country  Church-Yard" 

(poem  /  Thomas  Gray)  112, 121 
Eliade,  Mircea  327 

Elgin  Cemetery,  Green  River,  UT  323 
Eliot,  T.S.  127 

Ely  Cemetery,  Ely,  NV  313,  325 
Emerson,  Ralph  Waldo  127 
Emerson,  Sarah  1 03 
Emmet,  Robert  113 
Emperor  Joseph  II  (Austria)  120 
Ephraim,  UT321 
"Epitaph:  For  one  who  would  not  be  buried 

in  Westminster  Abbey"  (poem/ 

Alexander  Pope)  125 
Epitaphia  (book  /  Ernest  R.  Suffling)  114 
epitaphs  110-153 
Epstein,  Jacob  120-121 
Erie  Canal  233 


Evans  (Evans  Center),  NY  233 

Evelith,Elisha230 

Everett  Restoration  (Canada)  188 

Ewer,  Isaac  241 

Fairmount  Cemetery,  Denver,  CO  5,  7, 10-11, 

14-15,  17-18,  25,  28 
Falkenburg,  F.A.  2-3,  9-10,  23,  26,  [7] 
"Families  are  Forever"  (gravestone 

inscription)  323-324,  [323] 
FarrazineU6 
Farrington,  W.C.  28 
Faunce,  Abby  T.  263 
Faunce,  Elizabeth  263 
Faunce,  Harriet  Marinda  Thompson  240 
Faunce,  Harriet  Thompson  231,  233 
Faunce,  James  H.  240 
Faunce,  Joshua  T.  232,  235,  240-242 
Faunce,  Lucy  A.  263 
Faunce,  Mary  Bourne  240 
Faunce,  Mary  Tobey  240 
Faunce,  Robert  (brother  of  Joshua)  240 
Faunce,  Robert  (son  of  Joshua)  240 
Faunce,  Robert  H.  263 
Faunce,  Robert  T  263 
Faust,  James  E.  327 
Fernow,  C.L.  130 
Fessenden,  William  262 
"Field  of  Honor  Association"  42 
Fields,  W.C.  145 
Filsinger,  Ernst  131 

First  Division  Memorial  ( WWI  /  France)  59 
Fisher,  JabezM.  197-198 
Fisher,  WilliamS.  197 
Fitzgerald,  Edward  136, 139-140 
Fitzgerald,  F.  Scott  127 
Flanders  Field  American  Cemetery, 

Waregem,  Belgium  44, 46,  55 
Fleming,  Arthur  R.  179 
Folger,  Judith  247,  [249] 
Fontainbleau  Chateau,  France  54 
Forbes,  Harriette  Merrifield  79 
Ford,  John  65 
Fordham,  Elijah  [318] 
Fort  McPherson  National  Cemetery, 

Maxwell,  NE  45 
Foster,  Elizabeth  McCauley  157, 182, 185 
Foster,  Frank  179-180 
Foster,  George  180 
Foster.  John  T.  180 
Foster,  Rachel  102 


399 


Foster,  Robert  179 

Foster,  Robert,  Jr.  158-159,  179-180 

Foster,  Ruby  157, 182,  [168] 

Foster,  Russell  180 

Foster,  Susan  180 

Foster,  Thomas  154-191 

Foster,  WiUiam  R.  179-180 

Fox,  Asa  87, 102 

Fox,  Mrs.  Rachel  97 

Franklin,  Benjamin  122-123 

Franklin,  Deborah  123 

Fraser,  Marjorie  Frost  [134] 

Freind,  Robert  125 

Freeman,  Hannah  199 

Freeman,  Sarah  244 

Freeman,  Shadrach  262 

Freeman,  William  J.  199 

French  Foreign  Legion  40 

French  and  Indian  Wars  77 

Friends  of  the  Thomas  Foster  Memorial  162, 

176 
Frost,  Carol  [134] 
Frost,  Elinor  Bettina  [134] 
Frost,  Elinor  Miriam  White  [134] 
Frost,  Elliott  [134] 
Frost,  Lillian  Labatt  [134] 
Frost,  Robert  133,  [134] 

Gabel,  Laurel  80 

Galesburg,IL110,127 

Gallagher,  Mrs.  John  72 

Gardner,  J.  115 

Gates  Marble  Works,  Evans  (Evans  Center), 

NY  233 
Gay,  John  112, 119,  136-137 
George,  Mary  103 
Gershwin,  George  120-121 
Getty  family  mausoleum  155 
Gifford,  Elisha  230, 235,  [234] 
Glasgow,  Ellen  140, 152 
Godfrey,  Elizabeth  92,  [86] 
"Gold  Star"  (symbol  of  war  dead)  34 
Gold  Star  Association  of  America  34, 37, 39 
"Gold  Star  Mother"  (song  / 1930)  59,  [60] 
Gold  Star  Mothers  30-75 
Gold  Star  Mothers  Day  40,  67 
Gold  Star  Mothers  stamp  (1948)  67,  [67] 
Gold  Star  Pilgrimages,  1930-1933  30-75 
Gold  Star  Widows  34 
Gold  Star  Wives  67 
Gould,  Derek  178 


Gould,  Elizabeth  Linnell  260 

Gould,  Franklin  260 

Graham,  William  Leeds  3 

Gray,  Thomas  112, 121 

Great  Depression  65 

Greek  gravemarkers  280-301 

Grenville,  Fulke  136, 141-142 

Groome,  Francis  Hindes  140 

Grosseteste  (Grosheah),  Robert  121-122 

Gryphius,  Andreas  121 

Gurney,  Richard  250 

Hall  of  Mirrors,  Chateau  de  Versailles,  France 

54 
Hallack  &  Howard  Lumber  Company, 

Denver,  CO  10 
Hallet,  Anna  Eldridge  253 
Hallet,  Ansel  253 
Hallet,  Eliza  H.  263 
Hallet,  Edward  B.  253 
Hallet,  Rebecca  253 
Hallet,  Sally  S.  263 
Hammond,  Hannah  262 
Hammond,  Silvanus  238,  [239] 
Handren,  William  225 
Handy,  Hatsel  262 
Handy,  Mary  84 
Harriet  Maria  (ship)  219 
Harrison,  Sophia  62, 68 
Haskell,  Elnathan  H.  251 
Hastings  Chapel,  Stoke  Poges  Churchyard, 

Stoke  Poges,  England  121 
Hatch,  Mary  244,  [246] 
Hawaii  Temple  (LDS  Church)  326 
Head  Camp,  Woodmen  of  the  World  2 
Heather  &  Little,  Ltd.  (Canada)  188 
Heine,  Heinrich  126 
Heintzman  and  Co.,  Ltd.  (organ 

manufacturers),  Toronto,  Ontario, 

Canada  167 
Helmbrecht,  Henry  16 
Helmbrecht  and  Farrington  (monument 

dealers),  Denver,  CO  3-4,  6, 13, 16,  22,  [4] 
Heman,  Felicia  147 
Herodotus  289 
"Heroes  and  Kings"  (poem  /  Alexander 

Pope)  125-126 
Herrema,  Bridgette  178 
Herrema,  Howie  178 
Herrick,  Robert  121 
Hesiod  283 


400 


Higgins,  Clara  Ann  261 

Higgins,  Daniel  198, 219 

Higgins,  Daniel,  Jr.  198,  214,  219-223,  [221] 

Higgins,  Elizabeth  Sparrow  219 

Higgins,  Lucinda  Adelaide  260 

Higgins,  Mercy  Smith  261 

Higgins,  Thomas  219,  [223] 

Higgins,  Zebena  Harrison  260 

High  Classical  Period  (Greece  /  460s-410s 

B.CE.)284 
Highgate  Cemetery,  London,  England  127 
Hiltz,W.W.161 
Hinckley,  Gordon  B.  326 
Hoboken,  NJ  49 
"Holy  Holy"  (hymn)  52 
Holy  Trinity  Church,  Stratford-upon-Avon, 

England  130-131 
Holmes,  Nathaniel  197 
Holz,  Arno  147 
Homer  283 

Hoover,  Herbert  49,  63,  65 
Hopkins,  Catherine  Snow  261 
Hopkins,  Eldora  215 
Hopkins,  Elisha  214, 219 
Hopkins,  Elisha,  Jr.  219 
Hopkins,  Ezidah  Taylor  214-215 
Hopkins,  Irene  Thomas  261 
Hopkins,  John  M.  261 
Hopkins,  Mehitable  Walker  261 
Hopkins,  Nathaniel  215 
Hopkins,  Nathaniel  W.  261 
Hopkins,  Silvester  261 
Hopkins  Sukey  Arey  214 
Hopkins,  Thomas  Arey  199,  204, 214-219 
House  Committee  on  Military  Affairs  (U.S. 

Congress)  37 
Howes,  Abigail  264 
Howes,  Ebenezer  264 
Howes,  Elizabeth  253 
Howes,  Lottie  M.  219 
Howes,  Patience  264 
Howes,  Prince  253,  264 
Hunt,  Sarah  92,  [86] 
Huntington,  William  115 
Hurley,  Patrick  63 
Hyde,  Fuller,  and  Hyde,  Castleton,  VT  230 

I.K.  Woods  &  Partners,  Inc.,  Unionville, 

Ontario,  Canada  188 
Idaho  Falls  Temple  (LDS  Church)  326,  [325] 
Idlewild  Cemetery,  Hood  River,  OR  317, 326 


"I'll  Return  Mother  Darling,  to  You"  (song  / 

1917)  40 
"In  Flanders  Fields"  (poem  /  John  McCrae  / 

1915)  61 
Inkster,  John  Gibson  175, 179, 181-182 
Island  Pond  Cemetery,  Harwich,  MA  224 
Item  (newspaper  /  Cape  Cod,  MA)  205 

Jack  Miner  Migratory  Bird  Fund  (Canada)  183 

Jackson,  Richard  H.  319 

Jaffrey  Center,  NH  126-127 

Jefferson,  Thomas  112, 132 

Jenkins,  Irad  263 

Jenks,  Clara  A.  Crowell  264 

Jenks,  Cynthia  264 

Jenks,  Emeline  Crowell  264 

Jenks,  Fear  262 

Jenks,  J.  Harvey  253-257,  [255] 

Jenks,  James  H.  253 

Jenks,  Stephen  B.  264 

Johnson,  Barbara  189 

Johnson,  Francis  235 

Johnson,  Henry  V.  25 

Johnson,  James  Weldon  65 

Johnson,  Maurice  138 

Johnson,  Samuel  112, 119, 123-124, 137 

Jones,  Matthew  178 

Joyce,  John  A.  151 

Jumna  River,  Agra,  India  162 

Kanab  Cemetery,  Kanab,  UT  328 

Kazantzakis,  Nikos  136, 140-141 

Keats,  John  112,  136,  142-143 

Kelley  Amanda  261 

Kellickey,  Albert  179 

Kellickey,  Myrtle  179-180 

Kellogg,  Grace  139-140 

Kemma,  Will  111 

Kendrick.  Mulford  204,  [202] 

Kersey  Churchyard,  Kersey,  England  151 

King  Henry  VII  (England)  113 

King  James  I  (England)  122, 141 

King,  Martin  Luther,  Jr.  127,  [128] 

Kingscote,  Anthony  149 

Kingston  Old  Burial  Ground,  Kingston,  MA 

233 
Kipahulu  Churchyard,  Maui,  Hawaii  152 
Knowlton,  W.L.  179 
Knox  Presbyterian  Church,  Toronto,  Ontario, 

Canada  179, 182 
kommos  (funerary  ritual  /  Greece)  284,  [287] 


401 


Lady  Astor  145 

Lady  Giffard  132 

Lafayette  Escradille  Monument  (World 

War  I  /  France)  65 
Lake,  Joseph  [76] 
Lamb,  Andrew  H.  13,  [14-15] 
Lament  ritual  (Greece)  280-301 
Landor,  Walter  Savage  121 
Lawrence,  James  P.  240-241,  [242] 
Leaksdale  Hotel,  Scott  Township,  Ontario, 

Canada  156 
Lee,  Sam  158, 180 
lekythoi  (oil  vessels  /  Greece)  284,  [286-287, 

290-292] 
Lewis,  Cecelia  214,  [212] 
Lewistown,  IL  304 
Lincoln,  Abraham  232 
Lincoln  Cathedral,  Lincoln,  England  122 
Lindbergh,  Charles  140, 152 
Linnell,  Abby  P.  229,  235,  238,  [237] 
Linnell,  Adaline  G.  Rogers  204,  [206] 
Linnell,  Adelaide  Elsie  261 
Linnell,  Arthur  Ellsworth  261 
Linnell,  Augusta  Knowles  207 
Linnell,  Elizabeth  Kelley  205 
Linnell,  Elizabeth  Nickerson  198, 204 
Linnell,  Eva  May  Snow  261 
Linnell,  George  260 
Linnell,  George  (b./d.  1823)  260 
Linnell,  George  Washington  205 
Linnell,  Hercelia  Gibbs  260 
Linnell,  Israel  Mayo  260-262 
Linnell,  Josiah  198, 204 
Linnell,  Josiah,  Jr.  205 
Linnell,  Laura  Merrick  Rogers  261 
Linnell,  Naomi  Allen  Harding  260 
Linnell,  Oliver  Herbert  205, 207 
Linnell,  Oliver  Nickerson  198, 204-214,  [206] 
Linnell,  Walter  Chester  261 
Little  Neck  Cemetery,  Marion,  MA  247 
Llanystumdwy,  Wales  120 
Lloyd  George,  David  120 
Logan  City  Cemetery,  Logan,  UT  324, 327 
Logan  Temple  (LDS  Church)  326,  [324, 330] 
London,  George  173 
Long,  Levi  225,  [227] 
Look  Homeward  Angel  (novel  /  Thomas 

Wolfe)  127 
"Looking  for  a  Cemetery"  (poem  /  Gary 

Soto)  306-308 
Los  Angeles  Temple  (LDS  Church)  326,  [326] 


Lost  Battalion  (World  War  I)  48 
lontrophonos  (vase  type  /  Greece)  284,  [285] 
Louvre,  The  (Paris,  France)  54 
"Lucie"  (poem  /  Alfred  de  Musset)  133 
"Lycidas"  (poem/ John  Milton)  152 

MacyJW.253 

Madill,  Henry  Harrison  162. 164 

Maguire,  C.  Alfred  160 

Malbone,  Godfrey,  Jr.  97 

Mann,  Klaus  127 

Mann,  Thomas  127 

Manning,  Molly  [83] 

Manti  Temple  (LDS  Church)  319,  326,  [313] 

Manton-Tripp  Cemetery,  Johnston,  RI 93 

Marion  County,  OR  37 

Markham,  Edward  59 

Marx,  Karl  127 

Marne  Valley,  France  55 

Marston,  John  148 

Martha's  Vineyard,  MA  229ff 

Massachusetts  Business  Directory  205,  215, 

229,  231 
Massachusetts  Register  205,  215 
Massachusetts  State  Directory  215 
Masters,  Edgar  Lee  303ff 
Mayr,  Maureen  189 
Maxcey  Levi  80-81,  84, 102 
Maxcey,  Smith  103 
McAlinney  Susan  238, 244 
McBride,  Samuel  J.  ("Fighting  Sam")  161-162 
McCrae,  John  61 
McDonald,  Patrick  261 
McGhee,  Ollie  (fictional  character)  303 
McGillivray,  Alan  188 
McKee,  Bill  178 
McKelvey,  Robert  H.  6,  [6] 
McKercher,  Duane  10,  [8] 
McKercher,  E.  Lillian  10,  [8] 
Meek,  P.T.  175 
Medfield,  MA  103 
Memorial  Cloister,  American  Cathedral  of 

the  Holy  Trinity,  Paris,  France  54,  [53] 
Memorial  Day  37,  59 
Mendon,  MA  103 
Mencken,  H.L.  121 
Metcalf,  Nathaniel  82,  [80] 
Methodist  Cemetery,  Truro,  MA  207, 225 
Meuse-Argonne  American  Cemetery,  near 

Romagne-Gesnes,  France  31, 42, 44, 55-56 
Meyer,  Richard  E.  71 


402 


Milford  Cemetery,  Milford,  UT  315 

Miller,  Jason  120 

Miller,  Nathan  92,  [88] 

Milton,  John  130, 152 

Minneapolis,  MN  50 

Ministry  of  Veterans  Affairs,  France  47 

Modern  Woodmen  of  America  1-2 

Monticello  (VA)  132 

Montmartre  Cemetery,  Paris,  France  126 

More,  Thomas  121 

Mormon  (LDS  Church)  temples  312-332 

Moroni  (angel  /LDS  Church)  316-318,  [316, 

319-320] 
Morris,  Thomas  122 
Moser,  Charles  J.  [42] 
Moser,  Edith  44 
Mother's  Day  37,  40 
Mount  Olivet  Cemetery,  Denver,  CO  25 
Mount  Vaea,  Samoa  135 
Mountain  View  Cemetery,  Beaver,  UT  322 
Much  Ado  About  Nothing  (play  /  William 

Shakespeare)  111-112 
Munter,  Adolph  13 
Murray,  W.  175 
Mussolini,  Benito  145 
My  Antonia  (novel  /  Willa  Cather)  126-127 

NAACP  National  Headquarters,  Baltimore, 

MD121 
Nantucket,  MA  247ff 
Nantucket  Inquirer  (newspaper)  263 
Narragansett  Basin  76-109 
Nauvoo  Temple  (LDS  Church)  318-319 
Neilson,  Arnold  A.  [45] 
Neruda,  Pablo  305-306 
Neumann,  Faith  189 
New  Bedford,  MA  232ff 
New  England  Business  Directory  205 
New  England  Mercantile  Union  Business 

Directory  230 
New  York,  NY  49,  70 
New  York  Times  (newspaper)  120 
Newcomb,  Jeremiah  199 
Newman  Cemetery,  East  Providence,  RI 76, 

86 
Newmarket  Pre-Cast  Concrete,  Uxbridge, 

Ontario,  Canada  189 
Niagara  (ship)  219 
Nickerson,  Alberto  Sylvester  261 
Nickerson,  Betsie  C.  253,  [254,  journal  cover] 
Nickerson,  Cecilia  Marie  Linnell  261 


Nickerson,  Esther  214,  [210] 

Nickerson,  Ezra  261 

Nickerson,  George  W.  225 

Nickerson,  Lumbert207,  [208] 

Nock,  Ethel  38,  40,  72-73 

Norcoss,  Francis  127 

Norcoss,  Louise  127 

Normandy  American  Cemetery,  Omaha 

Beach,  France  73 
North  Attelboro,  MA  103 
North  Bellingham,  MA  103 
North  Burial  Ground,  Providence,  Pd  83, 87, 

89-90 
North  Burial  Ground,  Warren,  Pd  88 
Northeast,  Beverly  178 
Northern  Ontario  United  Church  Mission, 

Virginiatown,  Ontario,  Canada  181-182 
Norton,  MA  103 
Nye,  Annie  M.  Heffernan  263 
Nye,  Edwin  Bourne  235,  238,  241-246 
Nye,  Eliza  Sears  241 
Nye,  Franklin  H.  263 
Nye,  Lemuel  Bourne  230, 241 
Nye,  Levi  263 
Nye,  Levi  Stephen  263 
Nye,  Lizzie  A.  263 
Nye,  Martha  Ann  Brackett  263 
Nye,  Sara  Delia  263 
Nye,  Susan  M.  Gale  241 
Nye,  Susan  M.  Woodward  241 
Nye,  Thomas  263 
Nye,  William  E.  263 
Nye,  William  Lapham  263 

"O  God  of  Bethel"  (hymn)  175 

"O  God  Our  Help  in  Ages  Past"  (hymn)  175 

Oak  Grove  Cemetery,  Falmouth,  MA  241 

Oak  Hill  Cemetery,  Washington,  D.C.  151 

Oakland  Cemetery,  Cranston,  RI  82, 88 

O'Connor,  Gerri-Lynn  167, 178 

O'Connor,  Todd  178 

Ogden  Temple  (LDS  Church)  326 

oikos  ('house"  /  Greek)  289,  295,  [293-294] 

Oise-Aisne  American  Cemetery,  near  Fere- 

en-Tardenois,  France  33, 55 
Old  Bennington  Cemeteiy,  Bennington,  VT 

133-134 
Old  Burial  Ground,  Sandwich,  MA  240 
Old  North  Cemetery,  Nantucket,  MA  247 
Olinger,  D.B.  28 
Omaha,  NE  2 


403 


Oman,  Richard  G.  324 

One  of  Ours  (novel  /  Willa  Cather)  42,  47,  67 

Ontario  College  of  Art  172 

O'Neill,  Johnny  158 

"Onward  Christian  Soldiers"  (hymn)  52 

Orleans,  MA  196-280 

Orleans  Cemetery,  Orleans,  MA  207, 215, 

219,  224 
Orleans  Monumental  Works,  Orleans,  MA 

225 
Orr,  Gregory  304ff 
Orton,Jobll5 
Operation  Gold  Star  71 
"Our  Pilgrim  Mothers  in  France"  (poem  / 

Edward  Markham)  59 
"Over  the  Top  to  Victory"  (war  memorial  / 

Salem,  OR)  34,  37,  63,  [36] 
Oxford  Book  of  Death  121 
Oxford  Companion  to  English  Literature  141- 

142 

Pacific  Circle,  Women  of  Woodcraft  29 
Pacific  Jurisdiction,  Woodmen  of  the  World 

iv-29 
Pacific  Woodman  (periodical)  6, 28 
Packer,  Boyd  K.  327 
Paine,  Seth  92 
Palmer,  Humphrey  78 
Paris,  France  48-49, 54 
Parker,  Dorothy  117, 121 
Parker,  Mary  84,  [84] 
Parks  and  Works  Department,  Township  of 

Uxbridge,  Ontario,  Canada  188 
Paulding,  J.  34, 36-37 
Paynell  Electric,  Ltd.  (Canada)  188 
Peace  Monument,  Greenwood,  WI 67,  [66] 
Peace  Treaty  (World  War  I)  54 
Pease,  S.L.  231 

Peoples  Cemetery,  Chatham,  MA  260 
Pere  Lachaise  Cemetery,  Paris,  France  127, 

133 
Pershing,  John  J.  40, 46,  48,  54,  70 
Petersburg,  IL  304 
Petrarch  129-130 
Pevsner,  Nikolaus  129 
Pilgrimage  (film  /  John  Ford,  dir.)  65 
pioneer  imagery  on  gravestones,  317,  [318, 

330] 
Piron,  Alexis  121 
Plutarch  283 
Poe,  Edgar  Allan  303ff 


Poe,  Virginia  Clemm  304 

Pogrebin,  Robin  120 

Pontano,  Giovanni  112 

Pontiac  Cemetery,  Cranston,  RI 91 

Pope,  Alexander  118, 121, 124-126,  137 

poppies  61 

Powell,  F.E.  179 

Powell,  PG.  175 

Power,  Patrick  115-116 

Poynton,  Gus  179-180 

Presbyterian  Church  Sunday  School, 

Leaksdale,  Omtario,  Canada  182 
Presents,  Presents,  Presents  Gift  Shop, 

Uxbridge,  Ontario,  Canada  189 
Prior,  Matthew  119, 125 
Prohibition  (i.e.,  Volstead  Act)  55 
Promontory  Point,  UT  318 
Prospect  Hill  Cemetery,  Nantucket,  MA  247 
Protestant  Cemetery,  Rome,  Italy  142 
prothesis  (funerary  ritual  /  Greece)  [282-283] 
Providence,  RI  76-109 
Providence  Gazette  (newspaper)  77,  79 
Providence 'Journal  (newspaper)  79 
Providence  Patriot  (newspaper)  93 
Provo  City  Cemetery,  Provo,  UT  316,  321 
Provo  Temple  (LDS  Church)  326,  [327] 
Public  Law  592  (1929  /  re.  Gold  Star 

Pilgrimages)  37 
Pullen,  George  A.  10,  [11] 

Queen  Elizabeth  I  (England)  122, 141 
Queen  Victoria  Diamond  Jubilee  (1897), 

Toronto,  Ontario,  Canada  157 
Queen's  Park  Cemetery  Calgary,  Alberta, 

Canada  111 
Quinn,  Elisabeth  238 
Quinnell,  Sylvia  L.  238 

Ralph  Day  Funeral  Parlors,  Toronto,  Ontario, 

Canada  179 
Raron,  Switzerland  141 
Rawson,  Stephen  82,  84,  [82] 
Rawson,  Thomas  103 
Razey,  David  103 
Reeves,  Delbert  34, 37 
Reeves,  Mrs.  Fred  37,  63,  70 
Rehoboth,  MA  (East  Providence,  RI)  77 
Reid,  Jack  158 

Remembrance  Rock  (novel  /  Carl  Sandburg)  127 
Re7naines  Concerning  Brittaine  (1605  /William 

Camden)  121-122 


404 


"Requiem"  (poem  /  Robert  Louis  Stevenson) 

135 
Revolutionary  War  78 
Rheims,  France  55 

Rheims  Cathedral,  Rheims,  France  54 
Richardson  Brothers  Butcher  Shop,  Toronto, 

Ontario,  Canada  156 
Richardson,  Samuel  111,  125 
Richardson,  Thomas  262 
Rilke,  Rainer  Maria  136, 141 
River  Styx  163,  165 

Riverdale  Salvation  Army,  Canada  East  183 
Riverside  Cemetery,  Asheville,  NC 127 
Riverside  Cemetery,  Denver,  CO  25 
Riverview  Cemetery,  Portland,  OR  42 
Robb,  Sylvia  178 
Robbins,  W.D.  179 
Robeson,  Paul  127 
Robinson,  J.C  175 
Rockefeller,  John  D.  54 
Rocky  Mountain  News  (newspaper)  25 
Rogers,  Abner  214,  [211] 
Rogers,  Alden  260 
Rogers,  Ensign  B.  261-262 
Rogers,  Freeman  Higgins  204 
Rogers,  Julia  Maria  Linnell  260 
Rogers,  Margery  Crowell  204 
Rogers,  Will  137 
Roosevelt,  Franklin  D.  63 
Roosevelt,  Quentin  42,  44,  56,  61,  73 
Roosevelt,  Theodore  42, 44 
Roosevelt,  Theodore,  Jr.  73 
Root,  Joseph  Cullen  1-2 
Roquebrune,  France  136 
Round  Hill  Cemetery,  Marion,  VA  132 
Rowe,  Nicholas  114 

Royal  Canadian  Humane  Association  185 
Royal  Canadian  Legion  Pipe  Band,  Branch 

170,  Uxbridge,  Ontario,  Canada  178 
Royal  Winter  Fair,  Toronto,  Ontario,  Canada 

160 
Rubdiydt  of  Omar  Khayyam  (poem  /  Edward 

Fitzgerald)  140 
Rusk,  Ralph  L.  127 
Rutland,  VT  22 
Ryrie,  Will  158 

Sagamore  Hill,  NY  (Roosevelt  Home)  73 
Saint  Andrew  171 
Saint  Bartholomew  171 
Saint  John  171 


Saint  Luke  171 

Saint  Mark  171 

Saint  Matthew  171 

Saint  Peter  65, 170 

Saint  Phillip  171 

Saint  Thomas  171 

Salt  Lake  City  Cemetery,  Salt  Lake  City,  UT 

312 
Salt  Lake  City  Temple  (LDS  Church)  318- 

319,  321,  325-326,  [312,  323] 
Samuel  J.  McBride  Lumber  Company, 

Toronto,  Ontario,  Canada  161 
Sandburg,  Carl  127,  307,  [110] 
Sandwich,  MA  196-280 
Sandwich  Independent  (newspaper)  233 
Schaeffer,  Anna  10 
Schaeffer,  Jonathan  10,  [9] 
Schoemaker,  George  H.  313 
Scodel,  Joshua  121ff 
Scott,  John  C.  263 
Schwane,  Martha  (fictional  character)  192- 

195 
Schwane,  Preben  (fictional  character)  192- 

195 
"sealing"  (ceremony  /  LDS  Church)  314, 

[313,  315] 
Sears,  Roebuck  and  Co.  22,  258-259,  [21] 
Seaside  Press  [Sandwich,  MA]  (newspaper) 

233 
Seeger,  Alan  40 
Seifert,  Jaroslav  307 
Severn,  Joseph  142-143 
Seymour,  Robert  C.  16,  [18] 
Shah  Jahran  (India)  162 
Shakespeare,  William  111,  114, 129-131 
Shaw,  Samuel  251 
Shellenbarger,  Abraham  59,  [57] 
Shellenbarger,  Bessie  32,  54-61,  68,  [55,  57] 
Sheppard,  O.B.  157 
Sherry,  Louis  155 
Short,  Caroline  32,  54,  61,  [33] 
Short,  Lloyd  [33] 
Shortt,  Brad  178 
Shreveport,  LA  31 
Simmons,  Peleg  229 
Sitwell,  Edith  127 
Skinner,  Franklin  260 
Skinner,  Jerusha  Linnell  260 
Sleepy  Hollow  Cemetery,  Concord,  MA  127 
Smith,  Archelous  216,  [218] 
Smith,  Joanna  216 


405 


Smith,  Knowles  216 

Smith,  Joseph  314 

Smoke,  A.L.  179 

Smoke,  Fleming  and  Mulholland,  Toronto, 

Ontario,  Canada  179 
Snow,  Azariah  198 
Snow,  Emeline  S.  260 
Snow,  Lusha  207, 216,  [209] 
Snow,  Thankful  207 
Snow,  Thomas  S.  260 
Society  for  French  Homes  47 
Soldier's  Monument,  Orleans,  MA  225,  [228] 
Somers,  James  W.  160, 184 
Somme  American  Cemetery,  near  Bony, 

France  37,  55,  57,  [57] 
Somme  Offensive  (1918)  37 
Soto,  Gary  304ff 
South  Attelboro,  MA  103 
Southampton,  England  49 
Sou  they,  Robert  144 

Sovereign  Camp,  Woodmen  of  the  World  2 
Sovereign  Visitor  (periodical)  3 
Sparrow,  Betsy  Higgins  219 
Sparrow,  Emeline  198 
Sparrow,  Harvna  S.  Stephens  198 
Sparrow.  Isaac  198-199,  204,  [203] 
Sparrow,  Isaac  (b.  1808)  198-199 
Sparrow,  Isaac  (b.  1810)  260 
Sparrow,  Jesse  219 
Sparrow,  Josiah  260 
Sparrow,  Josiah  II 198-204,  [196] 
Sparrow,  Lucinda  Linnell  198 
Sparrow,  Mary  260 
Sparrow,  Marcy  260 
Sparrow,  Mercy  (b.  1806)  260 
Sparrow,  Mercy  Snow  198, 204 
Sparrow,  Phebe  260 
Sparrow,  Richard  199 
Sparrow,  Susan  260 
Spoon  River  Anthology  (collection  of  poems  / 

Edgar  Lee  Masters)  303 
Spooner,  Edward  Greenleaf  251 
St.  Ann's  Churchyard,  Dublin,  Ireland  147 
St.  Barnabas  Episcopal  Church,  Toronto, 

Ontario,  Canada  179 
St.  Barnabas  Society  47 
St.  Edmunds  Church,  London,  England  113 
St.  George  Temple  (LDS  Church)  319, 325, 

[315,  322] 
St.  James  Cemetery,  Toronto,  Ontario, 

Canada  162 


St.  John,  Isobel  188 

St.  John's  Cemetery,  Providence,  RI 84, 86 

St.  John's  Churchyard,  Hampstead,  England 

147 
St.  Leonard's  Churchyard,  London,  England 

115 
St.  Mary  the  Virgin  Churchyard,  Dover, 

England  133 
St.  Mary's  Church,  Warwick,  England  141- 

142 
St.  Michael's  Church,  London,  England  139 
St.  Michael's  Churchyard,  Boulge,  England 

140 
St.  Mihiel  American  Cemetery  Thiacourt, 

France  55,  68-69,  [69] 
St.  Patrick's  Cathedral,  Dublin,  Ireland  138 
"St.  Peter  Relates  an  Incident  at  the 

Resurrection  Gate"  (poem /James 

Weldon  Johnson)  65 
St.  Quentin,  France  56-57 
S.S.  Roosevelt  (ship)  51 
Stadtischer  Friedhof  Heerstrasse,  Berlin, 

Germany  147 
Star  [Toronto,  Ontario,  Canada]  (newspaper) 

161 
Stark,  Rodney  329 
Statue  of  Liberty  52 
Statue  of  Washington  and  Lafayette  (1873  / 

Bartholdi,  sculpt.),  Paris  France  54 
Stevenson,  Robert  Louis  112, 135 
Stewart,  Jason  178 
Strobredge,  Robert  251 
Stubbs,Priscilla263 
Sturgis,  John  230 
Sturgis,  Josiah  197-198, 238 
Sturgis,  William  197, 199, 230, 238,  257 
Suetonius  129 
Suffling,  Ernest  R. 
Suresnes  American  Cemetery,  near  Paris, 

France  46,  48,  55,  68,  [43-44,  46] 
Swain,  Mary  263 
Swan  Lake  Cemetery,  Dennis  Port,  MA  225, 

253,  257 
Swan  Point  Cemetery,  Providence,  RI  78-80, 

83,  90,  102 
Swanson,  Gloria  121 
Swift,  Howard  K.  243 
Swift,  Jonathan  112, 131, 136, 138-139 
Swift,  Lois  238 


406 


Taj  Mahal  (India)  162, 164-165 

Tammany,  Clayton  16,  [19-20] 

Taylor,  Addie  Bell  Linnell  261 

Taylor,  Alvaretta  32,  50-61 

Taylor,  Bangs  261 

Taylor,  Dean  261 

Taylor,  Eldora  Josephine  Hopkins  261 

Taylor,  Mary  Ann  261 

Taylor,  Olive  261 

Taylor,  Weston  Linnell  261 

Teasdale,  Sara  131 

Telegram  [Toronto,  Ontario,  Canada] 

(newspaper)  161 
Temple,  William  131 
Thatcher,  Huldah  251 
The  Beggar's  Opera  (play  /  John  Gay)  137 
The  Candidate  (poem  /  Charles  Churchill)  135 
The  Histories  (Herodotus)  289 
The  Last  Temptation  (novel  /  Nikos 

Kazantzakis)  141 
"The  Lesson  for  Today"  (poem  /  Robert 

Frost)  133 
"The  Problem"  (poem  /  Ralph  Waldo 

Emerson)  127 
The  Rambler  (periodical)  112 
The  River  at  Wolf  (collection  of  poems  /  Jean 

Valentine)  305 
"The  Sacred  Way"  (World  War  I  /  France)  48 
The  Web  and  the  Rock  (novel  /  Thomas  Wolfe) 

127 
The  Woodman  (periodical)  3, 16,  28 
Thomas,  Charles  S.  25 
Thomas  Foster  Memorial,  Uxbridge,  Ontario, 

Canada  154-191,  [154-156, 163-164, 166- 

168,  170,  172-176] 
Thomas  Foster  Memorial  Cemetery  (aka 

Zion  Cemetery),  Uxbridge,  Ontario, 

Canada  176,  [176] 
Thompson,  Abiah  Haskell  250 
Thompson,  Abigail  Tobey  Faunce  231 
Thompson,  Albert  262 
Thompson,  Amasa  247 
Thompson,  Cephas  251 
Thompson,  Charles  Hutchinson  247 
Thompson,  Frank  262 
Thompson,  Franklin  Herbert  262 
Thompson,  Gertrude  P.  262 
Thompson,  George  229,  250 
Thompson,  Harriet  229 
Thompson,  Harris  (b.  1828)  229-240,  [236] 
Thompson,  Harris  (b.  1857)  231 


Thompson,  Helen  Maria  262 

Thompson,  Isaac  229,  247,  250 

Thompson,  Isaac  II 247, 250 

Thompson,  James  (b.  1826)  229-240,  252 

Thompson,  James  (b.  1872)  247.  250-252 

Thompson,  Joanna  Tinkham  247 

Thompson,  Lucy  262 

Thompson,  Lucy  Hyde  Bassett  231-232 

Thompson,  Lydia  262 

Thompson,  Maria  Luisa  230 

Thompson,  Mary  MacLauthlen  Simmons  229 

Thompson,  Nathaniel  1 247 

Thompson,  Nathaniel  III  247 

Thompson,  Phebe  247 

Thompson,  Phebe  Jones  247 

Thompson,  Sally  Robinson  247 

Thompson,  Sarah  247 

Thompson,  Samuel  247 

Thompson,  Solomon  229 

Thompson,  Zebulon  231 

Thompson,  Zebulon  Haskell  250 

threnos  (ritual  act  of  lamentation  /  Greece) 

283,  [283] 
Thurston,  Elizabeth  [83] 
Tiffany,  Louis  50 
Tillich,  Paul  112 
to  akimito  kantili  ("sleepless  lamp"  /  Greece) 

298,  [297-298] 
"To  Kiss  the  Cross"  (poem)  59 
Tomb  of  the  Unknown  Soldier  (France)  34, 

54,  61,  [52] 
Tomb  of  the  Unknown  Soldier  (United 

States)  37,  65,  67,  [38] 
Tommy  Foster  Picnic,  Toronto,  Ontario, 

Canada  184-185 
Toronto,  Ontario,  Canada  154-191 
Toronto  Free  Hospital  for  Consumptives, 

Weston,  Ontario,  Canada  184 
Toronto  Hospital  for  Incurables  (Queen 

Elizabeth  Hospital),  Parkdale,  Ontario, 

Canada  184 
Toronto  Humane  Society  183 
Tribble,  Hiram  229 
True  Blue  and  Orange  Home,  Loyal  Orange 

Lodge,  Richmond  Hill,  Ontario,  Canada 

183 
Tusculan  Disputations  (Cicero)  111 
Twickenham  Parish  Church,  Twickenham, 

England  124-125 
Tyler,  Nathan  103 


407 


"Under  Ben  Bulben"  (poem  /  William  Butler 

Yeats)  135-136 
Union  Cemetery,  Chatham,  MA  260 
United  Church  of  Canada  189 
United  States  Lines  49 
University  of  Toronto  School  of  Architecture 

162 
U.S.  Army  Graves  Registration  Service  (GRS) 

44,46^ 
U.S.  Army  Quartermaster  Corps  30-75 
U.S.  Capitol  Building,  Washington,  D.C.  37 
U.S.  National  Cemetery  System  46 
U.S.  Postal  Service  67 
U.S.  War  Department  (World  War  I)  40, 47, 

70 
Uxbridge,  Ontario,  Canada  154-191 
Uxbridge  Museum,  Uxbridge,  Ontario, 

Canada  188 

Valentine,  Jean  304ff 

Vanity  Fair  (magazine)  145 

Vedder,  Effie  38-39, 47,  73 

Veterans  of  Foreign  Wars  (VFW)  34 

Verdun,  France  48, 63-64 

Victory  Liberty  Loan  35 

Victory  Liberty  Loan  Committee  34-35 

Vietnam  Veterans  Memorial,  Washington, 

D.C.  71 
Villon,  Francois  117 
Vineyard  Gazette  [Martha's  Vineyard,  MA] 

(newspaper)  231-232 
Virgil  129 
Vita  Donatiana  (biography  of  Virgil  / 

Suetonius)  129 
von  Kleist,  Heinrich  147 

Wainwright  family  mausoleum  155 

Walker,  Ryan  321 

Walling,  Fay  37, 63 

Walling,  Mary  37,  63 

Walter,  Tony  48 

Warburton,  William  124-125 

Washburn,  Bildad  238 

Watkins,  Thomas  219,  [222] 

Warwick,  RI 78 

Weekly  Reviezo  [Sandwich,  MA]  (newspaper) 

243 
weeping  willow  (gravestone  symbol)  29 
Weever,  John  112, 114 
Wells,  Bessie  67-68 


Wellsville  Cemetery,  Wellsville,  UT  318, 330 

West,  Benjamin  78-79 

Westminster  Abbey,  London,  England  113, 

119,  122,  124-125,  131,  137 
Weston,  Daniel  244 
West  Cemetery,  Amherst,  MA  127 

Wharton,  Edith  139-140 

Whatcott,  Jodi  Lyn  [316] 

Wheeler,  Claude  (fictional  character)  42 

Wheeler,  Mrs.  (Fictional  character)  67 

Whitman,  Walt  305-306 

"Who  Will  Know  Us?"  (poem  /  Gary  Soto) 

306-308 
Wilcox,  Ella  Wheeler  151 
Wilde,  Oscar  111 

Will  Rogers  Memorial,  Claremont,  OK  137 
Williams,  Yvonne  172-173 
Wilson,  Woodrow  34, 54 
Winesburg,  Ohio  (novel  /  Sherwood 

Anderson)  132 
Winslow,  Ebenezer  D.  197 
Witchall  and  Son  [contractors],  Toronto, 

Ontario,  Canada  164 
Wixon,  Albert  F.  225 
Wixon,  Davis  225 
"Wo"  (poem  /  Heinrich  Heine)  126 
Wolfe,  Thomas  127 
Wolff,  Bertha  23,  [24] 
Women's  Committee  of  the  Council  for 

National  Defenses  34 
Women  of  Woodcraft  23, 25,  [24] 
Wood,  Elsie  178 
Woodcock  Cemetery,  North  Attleboro,  MA 

91 
Woodman's  Memorial  Day  25 
Woodmen  Cemetery  Association  28 
Woodmen  of  the  World  iv-29 
Woods,  Doug  188 
Woods,  Ian  188 

Woodside  Cemetery,  Yarmouth,  MA  253, 264 
Woolworth,  W.W.  155 

Worcester  Cathedral,  Worcester,  England  122 
Wordsworth,  William  122 
World  War  1 30-75 
World  War  I  American  Military  Cemeteries 

30-75 
W.R.  Farrington  &  Co.  [monument  dealers], 

Denver,  CO  6, 13 


408 


Yarmouth  Register  (newspaper)  253, 257 

Yeats,  William  Butler  112, 135-136, 138, 141 

Young,  Brigham  322 

Young,  George  158 

YWCA,  Paris  (France)  Branch  47 

Zion  Cemetery,  Uxbridge,  Ontario,  Canada 

155,  [155, 176] 
Zorba  the  Greek  (novel  /  Nikos  Kazan tzakis) 

141 


409 


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  schol- 
arly journal,  Markers,  appeared  in  1980.  While  the  charter  purposes  of 
AGS  are  broad,  the  general  editorial  policy  of  Markers  is  to  define  its 
subject  matter  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  artifacts  that  commemorate  the  spot  of  burial,  thereby  in 
most  instances  excluding  memorials  or  cenotaphs  (exceptions  may  how- 
ever, 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  pur- 
view unless  clearly  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  contained  therein  and  if  the  purpose  of  the  article  is  more 
than  simply  a  non-analytical  history  or  description  of  the  cemeteries  them- 
selves. Finally,  articles  submitted  for  publication  in  Markers  should  be 
scholarly,  analytical  and  interpretive,  not  merely  descriptive  and  enter- 
taining. 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  re- 
cent issues  of  Markers. 

Submissions 

Submissions  to  Markers  should  be  sent  to  the  journal's  editor,  Gary 
Collison,  Perm  State  York,  1031  Edgecomb  Avenue,  York,  PA  17403  (Tele- 
phone: 717-771-4029  /  E-Mail:  glc@psu.edu).  Manuscripts  should  be  sub- 
mitted in  triplicate  (original  and  two  duplicate  copies)  and  should  include 
originals  of  any  accompanying  photographs  or  other  illustrations.  Gen- 
erally, 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 


410 


appended  material.  Longer  articles  may  be  considered  if  they  are  of  ex- 
ceptional merit  and  if  space  permits. 

Should  the  article  be  accepted  for  publication,  a  final  version  of  the 
text  of  the  manuscript  must  be  submitted  to  the  editor  in  both  a  hard 
copy  and  computer  diskette  (3.5")  format.  Most  current  word  process- 
ing 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  Janu- 
ary 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  endnotes 
(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  entitled 
"Note  Forms"  of  The  Chicago  Manual  of  Style.  In  manuscript,  they  should 
be  typed  double-spaced  and  appear  following  the  text  of  the  article  and 
before  any  appended  material.  Separate  bibliographies  are  not  desired, 
though  bibliographical  material  may,  of  course,  be  included  within  one 
or  more  notes.  Any  acknowledgments  should  be  made  in  a  separate  para- 
graph 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 


411 


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.  Pho- 
tos should  be  5  x  7  or  8  x  10  black  and  white  glossy  prints  of  medium- 
high  contrast,  and  should  be  of  the  highest  quality  possible.  Although 
black  and  white  is  without  question  the  preferred  format,  color  prints,  if 
they  are  of  exceptionally  high  quality,  may  be  submitted.  Neither  color 
transparencies  (i.e.,  slides)  nor  pre-scanned  photographic  images  sub- 
mitted on  computer  disk  are  acceptable.  Maps,  charts,  diagrams  or  other 
line  art  should  be  rendered  as  carefully  as  possible  so  as  to  enhance  pre- 
sentation. A  separate  sheet  should  be  provided  listing  captions  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 
journal's  editorial  advisory  board  for  review  and  evaluation.  Every  ef- 
fort 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  notified  of  the  publication  decision.  If  an  article  is  accepted,  sugges- 
tions for  revision  may  be  made  and  a  deadline  for  submission  of  a  final- 
ized manuscript  established.  All  accepted  articles  will  be  carefully  edited 
for  style  and  format  before  publication. 

Copyright 

Authors  are  responsible  for  understanding  the  laws  governing  copy- 
right and  fair  use  and,  where  appropriate,  securing  written  permissions 
for  use  of  copyrighted  material.  Generally,  if  previously  copyrighted  ma- 
terial 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  photogra- 
pher 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  permis- 
sion to  reprint  are  readily  accommodated.  Offset  copies  of  published 
articles  are  not  provided  to  authors:  each  contributor,  however,  receives 
a  complimentary  copy  of  the  volume. 


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  markers, 
&  carvers  Ithamar  Spauldin  of  Concord,  MA  &  the  CT 
Hook-and-Eye  Man.  [182  pp;  100  illus.] 

MARKERS  II  Signed  stones  in  New  England  &  At- 
lantic coastal  states;  winged  skull  symbol  in  Scotland 
&  New  England;  early  symbols  in  religious  &  social 
perspective;  MA  carvers  Joseph  Barbur,  Jr.,  Stephen  & 
Charles  Hartshorn,  &  "JN";  Portage  County,  WI  carv- 
ers, 1850-1900;  &  a  contemporary  carver  of  San  Angelo, 
TX.  [226  pp.;  168  illus.] 

MARKERS  III  Gravestone  styles  in  frontier  towns  of 
western  MA.;  emblems  &  epitaphs  on  Puritan  mark- 
ers; John  Hartshorn's  carvings  in  Essex  County,  MA.; 
&  NH  carvers  Paul  Colburn,  John  Ball,  Josiah  Coolidge 
Wheat,  Coolidge  Wheat,  &  Luther  Hubbard.  [154  pp.; 
80  illus.] 

MARKERS  IV  DE  children's  stones,  1840-1899;  rural 
southern  gravemarkers,  NY  &  NJ  carving  traditions; 
camposantos  of  NM;  &  death  Italo- American  style.  [180 
pp.;  138  illus.] 

MARKERS  V  PA  German  markers;  mausoleum  de- 
signs of  Louis  Henri  Sullivan;  Thomas  Gold  &  7  Bos- 
ton carvers,  1700-1725,  who  signed  stones  with  initials; 
&  markers/graveyards  in  Ontario  &  Kings  County, 
Nova  Scotia.  [240  pp.;  158  illus.] 

MARKERS  VI  Carver  John  Dwight  of  Shirley,  MA.; 
markers  of  Afro-Americans  from  New  England  to  G A; 
sociological  study  of  Chicago-area  monuments;  more 
on  NM  camposantos;  hand  symbolism  in  southwestern 
Ontario;  an  epitaph  from  ancient  Turkey;  &  a  review 
essay  on  James  Slater's  The  Colonial  Burying  Grounds 
of  Eastern  Connecticut.  [245  pp.;  90  illus.] 

MARKERS  VII  A  trilogy  on  cemetery  gates  &  plot  en- 
closures; 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  pp.;  158  illus.] 

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  Pe- 
ter Benes.  [342  pp.;  206  illus.] 

MARKERS  IX  The  art  of  Francis  Duval;  the  Mullicken 
Family  carvers  of  Bradford,  MA;  the  Green  Man  on 
Scottish  markers;  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  TX  German  cemeteries;  &  the  disappearing 
Shaker  cemetery.  [281  pp.;  176  illus.] 

MARKERS  X  Markers  carved  by  Calvin  Barber  of 
Simsbury,  CT;  Chinese  markers  in  a  mid  western 
American  cemetery;  carving  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  Cem- 
etery in  Florence,  Italy.  [254  pp.;  122  illus.] 

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  KY  stonecutter's  career;  &  pio- 
neer markers  in  OR.  [237  pp.;  132  illus.] 

MARKERS  XII  Terra-Cotta  markers;  Adam  &  Eve 
markers  in  Scotland;  a  sociological  examination  of 
cemeteries  as  communities;  the  Joshua  Hempstead 
diary;  contemporary  markers  of  youths;  San  Francisco's 
Presidio  Pet  Cemetery;  &  The  Year's  Work  in  Grave- 
marker /Cemetery  Studies.  [238  pp.;  Ill  illus.] 

MARKERS  XIII  Carver  Jotham  Warren  of  Plainf ield, 
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  pp.;  172  illus.] 

MARKERS  XIV  Amerindian  gravestone  symbols; 
ministers'  markers  in  north  central  MA;  a  modern 
gravestone  maker;  Charles  Andera's  crosses;  Pratt  fam- 
ily stonecutters;  African-American  cemeteries  in  north 
FL;  &  "The  Year's  Work."  [232  pp.;  107  illus.] 

MARKERS  XV  Sephardic  Jewish  cemeteries;  Herman 
Melville's  grave;  carving  traditions  of  Plymouth  & 
Cape  Cod;  Czech  tombstone  inscriptions;  Aboriginal 
Australian  markers;  Kansas  cemeteries  &  The  New 
Deal;  Chinese  markers  in  Hong  Kong;  &  "The  Year's 
Work."  [350  pp.;  166  illus.] 

MARKERS  XVI  Daniel  Farber  obituary; 
Narragansett  carvers  John  &  James  New;  celebration 
in  American  memorials;  "Joshua  Sawyer"  (poem); 
Harriet  Ruggles  Loomis'  gravestone;  Scotch-Irish 
markers  of  John  Wight;  murder  in  MA;  &  "The  Year's 
Work."  [281  pp.;  142  illus.] 

MARKERS  XVII  Warren  Roberts  obituary;  Italian- 
American  memorial  practices;  carver  William  Coye  of 
Plymouth,  MA;  "The  Quaker  Graveyard"  (poem);  de- 
veloping technologies  &  cemetery  studies;  carver  John 
Solomon  Teetzle  &  Anglo-German  markers  in  NJ;  carv- 
ers &  lettering  styles;  &  "The  Year's  Work."  [253  pp; 
150  illus.] 

MARKERS  XVIII  William  Quantrill  gravesites; 
Egyptian  Revival  at  Brooklyn's  Green- Wood;  "A  Cem- 
etery" (poem);  Kingston,  MA  carvers;  Czech-Moravian 
gravestones  in  TX;  WWI  battlefield  cemeteries;  &  "The 
Year's  Work."  [301pp;  160  illus.] 

MARKERS  XIX  James  Deetz  &  Ivan  Rigby  obituar- 
ies; samplers  &  gravestones;  Poland's  Remu  Cemetery; 
early  Cape  Cod  marble  carvers,  pt.  1;  Czech  accultura- 
tion in  TX  cemeteries;  "Key  West  Cemetery"  (poem); 
Rule  family  carvers;  flower  imagery  in  Victorian  cem- 
eteries; &  "The  Year's  Work."  [335pp;  126  illus.]