RESOURCES FOR
GRAVESTONE STUDIES
One section of Ludwig's forthcoming collec-
tion of essays will consist of an annotated
bibliography which attempts to be as com-
prehensive as possible. It is described as follows
in the book proposal as accepted by the
publisher.
This list of resources represents all
materials pertinent to research in early
American stonecarving. There is, first,
a bibliography which identifies and an-
notates studies of the carvers; the
technology of stonecarving;
examinations of representative styles;
considerations of iconography and of
artistic intent; interpretations of the
role of the stone in American fold art;
reviews of the history of tomb
sculpture; emd articles which serve
primarily as pictorial resources. There
are, too, materials which describe
methods of stone reproduction, of stone
restoration, and of graveyard
preservation. Multidiciplinarian ap-
proaches are included as well as studies
on methodology.
Many citations are of studies
which do not have New England
antecedents. These include
publications and collections on
English, Dutch, Canadian,
Yugoslavian, and other traditions,
while in the United States citations will
be given for the literature dealing with
carving in Pennsylvania and the
South-west. In addition to the
bibliography there is a list of the major
photographic archives, their contents
and locations.
Contributions of citations (and copies of
manuscripts where possible) of relevant sources
are welcomed. In particular I am anxious to in-
clude references to and descriptions of as many
manuscript texts and newspaper articles and
sources of photographic archives that can be
identified. I'm working with a June, 1978
deadline.
In the course of my research during the past
two years I have collected scores of cemetery
records which will probably be too numerous to
include in that text. It is possible that these may
be published as a separate annotated listing or
as an ongoing contribution to this pubUcation.
N.B.
DUBLIN SEMINAR
PURITAN
GRAVESTONE ART II
"Puritan Gravestone Art II," the third Dublin
Seminar on New England Folklife, will be held
June 24-25, 1978, at Dublin, New Hampshire.
Field, studies are being offered this year, in ad-
dition to reports of current research on religious
and secular symbolic studies, and discussions
of individual stone cutters, their tools and
quarrying techniques, and progress in stone
conservation. These will allow participants
'hands on' experience in rubbing, daubing, cas-
ting, and cemetery recording.
Further details will be published in the
Newsletter or can be obtained by writing Peter
Benes, Dublin School, Dublin, New Hampshire,
03444 (603-563-8025) or the American and New
England Studies Program, Boston University,
725 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, Mas-
sachusetts, 02215 (617-353-2948). Suggestions
for program topics and participants may be ad-
dressed to Nancy Buckeye, Seminar Program
Chairman, Park Library, Central Michigan
University, Mount Pleasant, Michigan, 48859,
or to the AGS editorial address.
CONTRIBUTORS
Carmine Prioli is Assistant Professor,
Department of English, North Carolina State
University/Raleigh.
Harriot Tuttle's research was conducted in sup-
port of her Senior Essay in the History of Art at
Yale University.
Mary-Ellen Jones is Manuscript Cataloger,
Bancroft Library, University of
California/ Berkeley.
The Newsletter of the Association for Gravestone
Studies.
Published at the University Museum, State
University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony
Brook, New York 11794.
Editor: Nancy Buckeye
1210 Bruce St.,
Mt. Pleasant, Michigan
RECENT PUBLICATIONS OF INTEREST TO MEMBERS
The Old South Hadley Burial Ground, 1976
includes 650 pages of photographs, castings,
and rubbings. Each stone in the graveyard is
depicted and accompanying text specifies its
shape, dimensions, material of composition,
and condition, and the carving on the stone.
This book is a useful example of what can be ac-
complished through group efforts. Copies of
this limited edition are available for $15.00 from
James B. Allen, South Hadley Historical
Society, 55% North Main Street, South Hadley,
Massachusetts 01075.
Another Bicentennial effort, "The Newtown
(Connecticut) Bee Gravestone Study" appeared
as a supplement to "Antiques and the Arts
Weekly," November 19, 1976. Although the
Photographic illustrations are sometimes too
poorly reproduced to be read, there is an abun-
dance of useful maps, graphs, and text that
cover relevant historical, sociological, and
styUstic data.
Thomas Zaniello has pubhshed "American
Gravestone: An Annotated Bibliography" in
Folklore Forum, 9:3-4 (December 1976). pp.
115-137. It includes material relating to local
history, folklore, popular culture, art history,
sociology, and geography. Topical divisions
emphasize regional studies, epitaphs, and
methods of field studies.
A stunning photo/essay "Silent Art of Our
Past" by Francis Y. Duval and Ivan B. Rigby
appeared in American Art Review, 3:6
(November/December 1976), pp. 70-85. Over 25
illustrations, some full-page, capture the
variety and beauty of these early examples of
American Craftsmanship. Text emphasized the
history of the art and calls for stone
preservation.
A new study by Jean lipman co-authored with
Helen M. Franc, Bright Stars: American
Painting and Sculpture Since 1776 (E .P.
Dutton, 1976), gives only the briefest attention
to the work of early carvers. The Polly Combes
stone (Bellingham, Massachusetts, ca. 1795) is
the single example illustrated and discussed.
CALIFORNIAN'S PHOTOGRAPHIC FIELOWORK
I have visited over 150 cemeteries in some 30 counties and have photographed about 1000
tombstones including those signed by 95 individual carvers or companies. My primary archive con-
sists of 2 '^" X 2 Va" black and white negatives made with a RoUeiflex, supplemented for the last year or
80 by a secondary archive of 35mm color slides made with a Canon FTb.
In addition to field work, I am gathering data concerning stonecutters and marbleyards.
Virtually no published information exists; primary source materials such as probate records, tsix
records, newspapers, and church and cemetery records must be used almost exclusively. In the Ban-
croft Library at the University of California at Berkeley and the Califormia State Library at
Sacramento, I have gathered information relating to about 25 carvers. In addition, I have created a
file of all stonecutters and marbleyards listed in all pertinent county directories in Bancroft (the
largest collection extant). I am currently examining contemporary newspapers for ads and other
data. Research based on documents found in courthouses and other repositories, without which my
study cannot be completed, is quite slow because their hours coincide with my working hours.
Fortunately, I work at Bancroft and usually devote lunch hours and such to my project.
Information gathered to date is obviously far too sketchy to draw valid conclusions-only a few
general observations. While the stonecutter was a necessary citizen of the community, he did not
seem to become a prominent one. Many changed locations fairly often within a town or area and also
changed partners a great deal. Changing locations within a town was probably due, at least in part, to
the frequent fires that repeatedly destroyed entire blocks if not towns. Changing locations within an
area was probably due to the rapid growth and decline of many mining towns. Changes in
partnerships were perhaps due partly to the transitory nature of mining town populations.
I feel a deep sense of great urgency (bordering on panic) to photograph as many tombstones as
possible as rapidly as possible! This will accomplish one thing of increasingly vital importance, that
is, the preservation on film of tombstones whose future in the original is far from assured. They are
vanishing rapidly and permanently as the result of vandEdism, theft, normal disintegration
accelerated by air pollution, and urban expansion. Califormia is a large state; often I must drive much
of the weekend to photograph in only one or two cemeteries which makes field work costly and time-
consuming. I sometimes used to sleep in cemeteries for economic reasons and to be there early in the
morning when the light is usually ideal, but fear of being vandalized along with the stones has driven
me to safer quarters. Mary-Ellen Bancroft University of California/Berkeley
Questions & Answers
To encourage the dissemination of information, tiie newsletter will print inquiries and replies
on matters related to early gravestones. Please send such correspondence to the editor
My main interest at the moment is the stonecarving of the Lamson family of Charlestown, Mas-
sachusetts. If I were not at school most of the time, I would undoubtedly be doing most of my
"research" in the cemeteries themselves. However, because of lack of time, transportation, and funds,
I have done most of my work at Yale. My studies related to this paper thus far have included the
following: reading books and articles at Yale; taking an American Art History course and a pre-
Revolutionary History course last semester; studying the photograph collection of gravestones given
to both Yale and the American Antiquarian Society by Mr. Daniel Farber; corresponding with Dr.
Allan I. Ludwig, Ms. Nancy Buckeye, Mr. Peter Benes, Mr. Daniel Farber, the New York State His-
torical Society at Cooperstoen, and the Rev. Ralph Tucker; discussing my project and collecting
valuable advice from Mr. Daniel Farber, Rev. Ralph Tucker, and Mr. David Stannard; and finally,
visiting the cemeteries of Andover, North Andover, Concord, and Boston during my short visits at
home.
The results of my work are still in note form. My goals for this paper are to illustrate the style and
decorative motifs of Joseph Lamson, to relate his work to that of the Old Stonecutter of Boston, and to
show the similarities and differences in Lamson stones over either two or three generations.
Hopefully, the designs of these stones will have recognizable parallels in furniture and other
decorative arts of corresponding periods as well. Harriot Tuttle Yale University
The following note was received in response to
Tom Zaniello's query from a Mr. Benjamin
John Lloyd, Great Bedwyn, Marlborough,
Wilts, United States. Mr. Lloyd identifies
himself as a Master Mason.
"The development of the WEEPING WILLOW
TREE can be traced in the megalithic tombs of
Brittany of some 4,000 years ago. Everything
on it is in threes, suggesting that the deceased
professed Godliness but was in fact otherwise
interested as you can see by the shape of the
tree. He grew up. He laid down and died and
then descended into the bottomless pit."
The Spring 1976 issue of the Journal of the
New Haven Colony Historical Society (24:1) in-
cludes a discussion by David J. Corrigan of
"Symbols and Carvers of New Haven Graves-
tones," pp. 3-15. Corrigan identifies the work of
the Johnson family(8ee Caulfield, Bulletin,
Connecticut Historical Society, 21:1 January
1956, pp. 1-21), Michael Baldwin (AGS,
New^sletter 1:1, "Questions and Answers." p.
5), and Thomas Gold.
Irma Melin of Fairview Park, Ohio, is interested
in making contacts with others who wish to
make field trips to gravestone sites in Ohio and
nearby states. Of particular interest to her are
stones in Central to Southwestern area.
SEMINAR PROCEEDINGS AVAILABLE
Proceedings of the first Dublin Seminar for
New England Folklife are now available.
Contents include the presentations of seminar
faculty and discussion sessions of the first meet-
ing devoted solely to Early American graves-
tone studies, which was held on June 19-20 in
Dublin, N .H . A selected bibliography which
reflects the specialized interests of that seminar
and its participants is appended. Copies may be
secured for $6.00 either through Boston
University or by contacting Peter Benes at the
Dublin School, Dublin, New Hampshire, 03444.
Suggestions for future newsletter contents and submission of brief articles, reviews, and reports of
research in progress are welcome. Manuscripts should be typed, double spaced, and sent to' the editor
at 1210 Bruce Street, Mr. Pleasant, Michigan, 48858 for review.
AGS LOGO
The figure of the EUzabeth Smith stone (Williamstown. MA, 1771) prominently displayed on this is-
sue of the Newsletter has been adopted as the AGS logo. Members present at the June 1977 meeting
selected it over several proposed designs as reflective of the broad appeal of gravestone art. They
wished an emblem that would not be tied to any specific location or any particular period of stone art
such as Puritan or Neoclassical.
The carver of the Smith design has not yet been identified although stylistic and historical
evidence supports the possibility that it is the work of Samuel Dwight (Vermont History, 43:3
[Summer 19751, PP- 208-216). Nonetheless, it reflects the artistic elements in these early stones and
underscores their folk origins. The logo will appear on official stationery and on all publications of
AGS.
A READING OF THE RUTH CARTER STON E / GRANARY, BOSTON
In her interpretation of the significance of
the skeletons flanking the Ruth Carter stone,
Harriet Forbes speculates that one of the
skeletons depicts the deceased as she lay in her
coffin. The other, Mrs. Forbes contends, shows
her "walking away with an upraised hand and
a jaunty air as if, freed from confinement, she
was going forth for a new life and a new work."
(Gravestones of Early New England and
the Men Who Made Them, 1655-1800 [1927;
New York: Da Capo Press, 1967,] pp. 36-37 and
plate opposite p. 24).
Upon close examination of the skeletons,
however, it becomes apparent that they are
personifications of Death rather than bony ren-
ditions of the deceased. As Allan Ludwig
rightly points out, the skeletons are both stan-
ding. (Graven Images: New England
Stonecarving and Its Symbols, 1650-1815
[Middletown, Conn., 1966,] p. 300). Moreover,
the carver's attempt at modelling half-rounded
forms creates a "new spatial effect" that
represented a sophisticated advance over
earlier Boston area stonecarving.
If we look at the skeleton on the left
(Ludwig, plate 168), we can see that the figure is
standing upon a pedestal or, more likely, a
sarcophagus. The cai^er's efforts at conveying
a sense of depth are apparent in his
arrangement of the skeleton's feet, the left
angled outward, positioned slightly behind the
right. Moreover, the right foot is well extended
over the edge of the sarcophagus, and has the
effect of leading the viewer's eye into the scene.
Once captured, the viewer's attention is then
brought upward toward the skeleton's right
hand which exhibits an attempt to carve a
forefinger pointed at the viewer. Crooked
outward from the thumb, the finger appears
only to be bent awry.
Despite this unsuccessful attempt at
foreshortening, the initial objective has been
achieved: the viewer's attention is captured, is
led left to right through the maze-hke floral
patterns and Uly representing the risen soul of
Ruth Carter, and is brought to rest in the right
panel where the skeleton is seen again.
(Ludwig, plate 169). This time, however, he is in
motion, turning in the direction of the
imaginary depths of the grave.
As he turns. Death also beckons with his
arm-the same he used in the opposite panel to
point to the viewer. As he does so, the
significance of both skeletons becomes clear:
they are personifications of Death acting out a
bizarre but familiar pantomime. It is a simple,
two-step sequence in which the image evokes
more than a sense of perspective and volume.
Rather, what we have is a sense of movement, a
lilting rendition of the danse macabre, the
Dance of Death. And the carver's ac-
complishment is that he has conveyed in purely
visual terms a message whose expression by
1698 had become something of a verbal redun-
dancy: "Prepare for Death and Follow Me."
Carmine Prioli
University of North Carolina/Raleigh
Membership Application
Association for
Gravestone
To: The
Studies
Dublin School, Dublin, N.H. 03444
Name Address
Enclosed is my membership for the As-
sociation for Gravestone Studies:
Active/$ 10.00
Student/$5.00
Sustaining/$25.00
Institutional Sub8cription/$5.00
I would like to participate on the following
committees:
Archives Publications
Grants Conservation Education
'ai^^ ywncnt) 6uyfiynu ,nrdij7v)i^-ii0:i '1911 'ummiuifQ:TQns79-ip^0Vn)q
^i5iii^.'^ ri^
University Museum
Anthropology Department
State University of New York at Stony Brook
Stony Brook, New York 11794
Nonprofit Org.
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
Stony Brook, N.Y.
Permit No. 65
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2011 with funding from
Boston Library Consortium IVIember Libraries
http://www.archive.org/details/newsletterofasso113asso
V
NEWSLETTER of the Volume 1. Sumhcr 1
ASSOCIATION for GRAVESTONE STUDIES Spring 1977
THE ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES
Early gravestones are important.
They are disappearing rapidly.
These two sentences are a summary of the situation which has brought forth the
Association for Gravestone Studies, an organization proposed to promote the study and
preservation of early American gravestones. The Association seeks a diverse group of
persons interested in the study of grave markers - amateurs and professionals, students of
archaeology, anthropology, history, genealogy, art history, iconography, and other fields -
who share an appreciation of the importance of gravestones and a concern for their
preservation in the face of the many forces that threaten them today.
The idea for the Association was first put forth at the Dublin Seminar on Early New
England Stonecarving in June 1976. A consensus was reached among seminar participants
concerning the need for an organization that would work to bring wider public attention \o
the significance of early gravestones, encourage conservation efforts, and promote study in
the field. A preliminary meeting was held in Boston on December 20, 1976. to begin the
planning; a temporary executive committee was established of those volunteers who
attended, and a tentative statement of purpose was formulated for discussion at this summer
summer's organizational meeting. (Text of the statement on page two).
The members of this committee believe that such an association will be able to
accomplish a number of important tasks. By facilitating communication among students of
the subject, and by compiling and disseminating information, the Association can accelerate
progress in the field. More importantly, perhaps, by working together Association members
will be able to work more effectively for the preservation of this vanishing resource; hose
who are familiar with the damage caused by wind and rain, by the bulldozers of developers,
by vandals with spray paint and zealous groundskeepers with power mowers will understand
the need for immediate action.
s,
MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION
Membership in the Association tor Gravestone Studies is open to all who are
interested in the study and preservation of early gravestones. Along with a subscription to
the Newsletter, members will receive red ced rates on admission to all Association confer-
ences and seminars, and reduced costs for Association publications, including the soon-to-be
published Proceedings of the Dublin Seminar on Early New England Stonecarving. Members
will be able to avail themselves of all other facilities of the A.G.S. as they are developed.
Annual membership dues are as follows: SIO.OO - Active; $25.00 - Sustaining; $5.00 -
Student. A membership application is supplied in this issue of the Newsletter.
NEWSLETTER of the Voliwie I. \umhcr I
ASSOCIATION for GRAVESTONE STUDIES Spring 1977
THE ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES
Early gravestones are important.
They are disappearing rapidly.
These two sentences are a summary of the situation which has brought forth the
Association for Gravestone Studies, an organization proposed to promote the study and
preservation of early American gravestones. The Association seeks a diverse group of
persons interested in the study of grave markers - amateurs and professionals, students of
archaeology, anthropology, history, genealogy, art history, iconography, and other fields -
who share an appreciation of the importance of gravestones and a concern for their
preservation in the face of the many forces that threaten them today.
The idea for the Association was first put forth at the Dublin Seminar on Early New
England Stonecarving in June 1976. A conserisus was reached among seminar participants
concerning the need for an organization that would work to bring wider public attention \o
the significance of early gravestones, encourage conservation efforts, and promote study in
the field. A preUminary meeting was held in Boston on December 20, 1976, to begin tile
planning; a temporary executive committee was established of those volunteers who
attended, and a tentative statement of purpose was formulated for discussion at this summer
summer's organizational meeting. (Text of the statement on page two).
The mem.bers of this committee beHeve that such an association will be able to
accomplish a number of important tasks. By facilitating communication among students of
the subject, and by compihng and disseminating information, the Association can accelerate
progress in the field. More importantly, perhaps, by working together Association members
will be able to work more effectively for the preservation of this vanishing resource; hose
who are familiar with the damage caused by wind and rain, by the bulldozers of developers,
by vandals with spray paint and zealous groundskeepers with power mowers will understand
the need for immediate action.
MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION
Membership in the Association for Gravestone Studies is open to all who are
interested in the study and preservation of early gravestones. Along with a subscription to
the Newsletter, members will receive red- ced rates on admission to all Association confer-
ences and seminars, and reduced costs for Association publications, including the soon-to-be
published Proceedings of the Dublin Seminar on Early New England Stonecarving. Members
will be able to avail themselves of all other facilities of the A.G.S. as they are developed.
Annual membership dues are as follows: SIO.OO - Active; S25.00 - Sustaining; $5.00 -
Student. A membership application is supplied in this issue of the Newsletter.
c
ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING
Tlic first full mcctinj; ot the Associ;ition tor Gravestone Studies will bu luid on
Saturday, July 2, and Sunday, July 3, 1^)77, at tlic Dublin School in Dublin, New Hampshire.
This will be an orjiani/ational meeting; officers will be elected, and workshops are
proposed on the following topics:
Preservation and restoration of gravestones and graveyards: technology, legal aspects,
community involvement, funding, etc.
Development of archives: collections of books, papers, gravestone photos and
reproductions, and so on.
Research: on all facets of the field.
Public education: on the importance of gravestones as art and artifact, on the
problems of erosion, vandalism, etc.
Publications: the establishment of a newsletter and a journal on the subject
Organization and finaiue: constitution and bylaws of the Association, dues, grants
available, and so on.
'This meeting will be an opportunity for those interested to set the course of the
Association for Gravestone Studies. No matter what direction your interest lies in - :imaleur
or professional, expert or novice - if you have ever wandered through an old burying
ground reading inscriptions, if you have marveled at the carving on the stones, if you have
traced your ancestors' gravesites or made rubbings of old stones - tb< :n you know the value
inherent in early gravestones, and your participation will help to make the Association for
Gravestone Studies a more effective advocate for their preservation. ^
The cost of this meeting will be S40.00 per person, and will include meals and
lodging at the Dublin School. Cost for students and those wishing to arrange their own
accomodations will be S30.00. The membership application included in this issue can be
used to indicate interest in attending the meeting; anyone interested in leading, participating
in or suggesting specific workshops should specify on the membership form.
PROPOSED STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES:
Early grave markers are important as memorials, as historic and genealogical docu-
ments, as art objects, and as material expressions of cultural attitudes. The value of these
markers is not now widely appreciated, however, and natural erosion, the pressure of
development, and vandalism in all its forms threaten to obliterate in a short time many
monuments that have stood for centuries. In recognition of the need for immediate
corrective action, the Association for Gravestone Studies has been organized as an el fort to
encourage the study and preservation of this endangered cultural resource.
The Association for Gravestone Studies will endeavour to educate the public on the
historic and artistic importance of early gravestones and graveyards, and will encourage
communities to protect, restore, and record their burying grounds. The Association will
promote research into the technology of gravestone preservation, and will work toward the
creation of model laws that would aid their protection. The Association for Gravestone
Studies will cooperate closely with other organizations devoted to similar goals, and will
provide guidance and assistance to individuals or groups interested in the study and preserva-
tion of funerary art.
To promote the study of gravestones, the Association will gather, record, and
disseminate information through publications and meetings. The Association will publish a
newsletter and plans to establish a journal devoted to gravestone studies; it will hold meetings
and seminars where ideas and information may be exchanged. Finally, the Association will
work toward the foundation of a center for gravestone studies, which will serve as a clearing-
house for information on the subject and will house collections of books, papers, photo-
graphs, and reproductions.
NEWS
-Two forthcoming publications promise to be valuable contnbinions to tiie Held ol"
gravestone studies. One, a photographic record of tiie stonecutter's art. rellects the work
and travels of Francis Y. Duval and Ivan B. Rigby. Frequent contributors of photo essays to
journals. Duval and Rigby have mounted a number of impcrtant exhibitions, including major
bicentennial displays. Some of these have been subsidized by foundations including both
the New York and the Ohio Councils of the Arts. Of great interest to students of gravestone
art is a technique they have developed for making three-dimensional replicas of important
and endangered examples in hundreds of cemeteries.
The book will include 220 pictures with captions that display specific styles and
motifs, identifying the work of known stonecutters and the locaition of lesser-known
examples. A bibliography is also projected. Specifics as to title, publisher, and price are not
yet available, but will be announced in a forthcoming issue. Publication is expected for the
fall of 1977.
The second publication of note is tentatively titled Collecled Papers on Anglo-
American Stonecarving: Origins. Symbolism. Morphology. Preservation, and Methods:
1500 — ISOO. Edited by Allan I. Ludwig. whose earlier book Graven /mages (Middletown.
Conn.. 1966) is the seminal contribution to gravestone studies, its publication is projected
for 1978. This comprehensive volume will bring together the work of several authors
currently working in this muki-disciplinary field. The text will include examinations of
iconology. iconography and morphology, methods, historical preservation, and an annotated
bibliography.
Further details, including the names and topics of contributors, will be available in
the near future.
—The Dublin Seminar for New England Folklife is a continuing series of conferences
devoted to the study of vernacular and folk culture in the northeastern United States. Last
year's Seminar, dealing with the gravestones of New England, was the first large gathering of
students of the topic, and provided the major impetus for the foundation of the Association
for Gravestone Studies. The 1977 Seminar will be held on Saturday. June 25. and Sunday.
Jime 26^at the Dublin School. Dublin, New Hampshire. The title ot' this year's Seminar will
be "New England Historkal Archaeology, 1977," and the stated purpose is to "bring
together everyone who has sought clues to New England's past by digging below the soil."
Talks, photos, and displays will focus on rural New England domestic sites, farmsteads,
historic sites, and battle grounds. 1620 - 1850. A registration fee of approximately S40 -
S50 will cover meals and lodging at the school. For further information, contact Peter Benes.
History Instructor. Dublin School, Dublin. New Hampshire 03444, (603) 563-8025.
.The 1978 Dublin Seminar will once again concentrate on early New England stone-
carving. Those interested in presenting papers, placing exhibits, or otherwise participating
are also invited to contact Mr. Benes.
—Published recently was Journals from the Ghjucester Experiment, an account of a
community project involving the restoration of a colonial Massachusetts burying ground.
The work includes eight journals detailing the project from a number of viewpoints -
archaeological, educational, preservationist, legal, and others, in paperback, the 86-page
book can be obtained for S5.00 from the Gloucester Community Development Corporation,
P. O. Box 15. Gloucester. Massachusetts 01930.
-3 -
Bennington Gravestones by William E. Harding, Jr.
(unpuh. ms.), Benninglon Centre Cemetery Associa-
tion, 1^75. 123pp, 18pp,') pp. lllus.,biblio.
(Available at the Genealogical Library, Bennington
Museum, Bennington, Vermont.)
This study reports the results of a two month pro-
ject undertaken with the financial support of the
Bennington Centre Cemetery Association. Its
purpose was to document and record photo-
graphically the stones in the Bennington Centre
Cemetery and to identify the stonecarvors. To
accomplish this, the author visited and studied
graveyards throughout Bennington County,
Vermont.
Harding's research convinced him that the combi-
nation of spiritual and geographic independence
enjoyed by Vermont, along with its newly dis-
civered marbles, allowed the full development of
gravestone design there. This idea is particularly
exemplified in the work of Zerubbabel Collins and
Samuel Dwight. The former was able to refine his
skull-like angels heavily weighted with scrolls into
softer cherubs surrounded with flower baskets,
while the latter continued to carve his angel designs
well beyond the date that they had been replaced
by urns and willows elsewhere in New England.
Such independence in design is especially striking
considering the brief period of time (approximately
25 years) during which stonecarving flourished in
Vermont - after its late settlement and before the
introduction of machine-produced gravestones.
In his essay Harding carefully examines, identifies,
and locates Collins' work and establishes the iden-
tity of the stonecutter known as his apprentice
through a variety of stylistic evidence. Other
carvers receiving similarly detailed study include
Roger Booth (eariier mentioned by Forbes) and
Asa t^aldwin, whose signed work is located in the
Dorset, Vermont, graveyard. Charts and graphs
denoting stone shapes and chronological and geo-
graphical distribution of stones are provided. A
chapter is also devoted to the development of
stonecarving as an industry and its demise as a craft.
There arc three appendices. The tlrst identifies and
documents, by means of signed stones and probate
records, 36 stonecarvers who worked in Bennington
County. The second is a catalogue of gravestones
in Bennington County pertinent to this study
listing name, date, carver if known, and style. For
ease of use, Harding has included a chart of 63
"stone types." The last appendix is a list of photo-
graphs deposited with the paper. A selected biblio-
graphy is included, and finally, following this,
Harding provides 62 photographs which exemplify
major styles and carvers. - N.B.
Death in h'.arlv America: Tlie History and Folklore
of Customs and Supcrsiiiions of Early Medicine,
Funerals, Burials, and Mourning, by Margaret .M.
Coffin. Thomas Nelson. Inc. 1976. LC 76-7513.
252 pp., illus., biblio.. index. S7.95.
This is a popular text that simply attempts to
cover too broad a scope. In the space of 229 pages,
Margaret Coffin ( ! ) deals with funeral customs.
coffins and hearses, gravestones, epitaphs, mourn-
ing customs, and memorials. The result is a dis-
appointing hi' '.^lepodge of generalities. It is of
little value tu liie student of gravestone art who
will certainly require a more scholarly text; yet
neither will it excite the curiosity of the uninitiated
or expose them to the multiplicities and complexi-
ties of the studies in this field.
The initial chapter superficially examines the
causes of early death - its concluding sentence
gratuitously states "Insurance companies today
tell us that we should expect to live to be over
70" — while chapter two is an overlong series of
excerpts from the family letters of a 19th century
doctor. Although they do reiterate the constant
confrontation with death the earlier Americans
faced, they reflect a much later period in our his-
tory than do the many illustrated gravestones from
New England burying grounds. Even aside from
the lateness of the letters. Coffin's choice of what
is "early" may surprise some readers. Included in
the book are a number of illustrations and dis-
cussions of Victorian monuments and memorials
along with a photograph of the funeral train of
Abraham Lincoln.
Gravestone illustrations are sometimes of poor
quality and there is no specific reference to them
in the text. Captions often omit the name of the
deceased and never provide the date of death. This
is especially unfortunate since Coffin includes
many intriguing photographs of stones in southern
states which show evidence of parallelism to the
development of New England designs. There is
even an example of a wooden "bed post" monu-
ment such as that discussed b\ Peter Benes in his
"Additional Light on Wooden Grave Markers"
{Essex Institute Historical Collections. 111:1.
January 1975, pp. 53 - 64). The bibliograph> is
also disappointing — a number of easily located
sources are not provided, including the works of
Parker and Neal, Deetz, and the Tashjians.
Perhaps the most useful sections of the book are
those on mourning customs, coffins, and hearses.
Illustrations included there are copious and will
provide a good overview for readers unfamiliar
with these artifacts.
Those who wish to maintain complete collections
in this field will, of course. bu\ this book. Others
will probably tmd it superfluous. - N.B.
-4
QUESTIONS AND ANSWIIRS
To encourage the dissemination of infonnation, the newsletter will print incjuiries and replies
on matters related to early gravestones. Please send such correspondence to the editor at
1210 Bruce St., Mt. F'leasant, MI. 18858. Answers will be forwarded or printed as space
permits.
—Thomas Zaniello of Northern Kentucky State College, Highland Heights. Ky.. is currently
writing a paper on the use of Masonic symbols on gravestones, particularly during the period
of transition from cherub/face designs to classic revival urn and willow styles. He is
especially interested in central and southern Vermont, and would be glad to correspond with
anyone who has information on the subject.
- Robert Mackreth of Ridge, N.Y., would be interested in information on a Connecticut
stonecarVer, Michael Baldwin. Although his name does not seem to appear in the literature
on Cqnnecticut carving, the signature "Michael Baldwin. N. Haven" occurs on the 1775
Martha Landon stone at Southold, N.Y. The marker is made of red sandstone, and displays
a "hook and eye"-style cherub, similar to some Caulfield attributes to Peter Buckland.
Are any other Baldwin stones known?
MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION
To: THE ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES
Dublin School. Dublin. N.H. 03444
Name: . \
Address:
. Enclosed is my membership fee for the Association for Gravestone Studies:
.Active S 10.00 Sustaining S2S. 00 Student $5.00
. V would like to attend the organizational meeting at Dublin. N.H. - July 2 and 3. 1977
Enclosed is my fee:
.With accomodations $40.00 Without accomodations - $30.00
Student $30.00
1 would like to participate in the following workshop(s): ^-
Make checks payable to the Association for Gravestone Studies.
- 5 '
The Newsletter of the Association for Gravestone
Studies;
Copyright 1977 by the Association for Gravestone
Studies; all rights reserved.
Pubhshed at the University Museum.. State
University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony
Brook, New York 11794.
Submissions and suggestions for future issues
are welcomed; send to the editor at 1210 Bruce St.,
Mt. Pleasant, Michigan 18858.
Editor: Nancy Buckeye
Associate Editor: Robert W. Mackreth
The Association for Gravestone Studies
Address: Dublin School
Dublin, N.H. 03444
Temporary Executive Committee;
Peter Benes. Dublin. N.H.
Nancy Buckeye. Mt. Pleasant, Mich.
Gay Levine. Wading River, N.Y.
Jessie Lie, South Hadley, Mass.
Robert W. Mackreth, Ridge, N.Y.
Rev. Ralph L. Tucker, West Newberry, Mass.
University Museum
Anthropology,' Department
State University of New York at Stony Brook
Stony Brook. New York 11794
Nonprofit Org.
U.S. POST.'\GE
PAID
Sfony Brook, N.Y.
Permit No. 65
■W
THE ASSOCIATION FOR
oiro^^ GRAVESTONE STUDIES
Tl
CKQS
letter
Volume 2, Number 2
Spring 1978 ISSN: 0146-5783
AGS ESTABLISHES ARCHIVE AT NEW ENGLAND
GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY
James A. Slater and Peter Benes of the archive committee are pleased to report that they will present to
the AGS meeting at Dublin, New Hampshire a proposed agreement with the New England Historic
Genealogical Society for the formation of a photograph and field note archive to be housed at the NEHGS
Library at 101 Newbury Street, Boston, Massachusetts, 02116. The Association for Gravestone Studies
Archive, as the collection will be called, will centralize in one location copies of all published materials on
gravestone studies; unpublished BA, MA, and Ph.D. theses; unpublished surveys and conservation reports;
negative, color-slide, and print collections of gravestones; probate and field research notes; site maps and
drawings; and any other materials which will aid and encourage the study and preservation of early grave
markers.
As seen by its organizers, the principal purpose of this archive will be to re-create in a retrievable and
condensed form, iconographic and genealogical data that is presently available only in the field, and which is
subject to yearly attrition. To this end, the archive seeks to attract collections presently in the care of local
libraries, state and local gravestone associations, and state and local historical societies, as well as those
collections which are still in private hands. At the same time, it hopes to encourage individuals and groups to
begin their own collections or to strengthen and develop ones they already have, with a view to transferring
them to the AGS archive at some time in the future. The archive is seen as a cooperative, grass-roots effort
which will be successful to the extent that it will attract widespread support.
The latest archival and storage techniques (acid-free folders and containers) will be used to store these
materials. Peter Drummey, who is the curator of manuscripts at the New England Historic Genealogical
Society library, will supervise the storage and filing of the materials in consultation with the Association for
Gravestone Studies. Because of space and storage limitations, the Association will not encourage gifts of
rubbings unless they have b6en photographed on 35 mm or 120 mm film.
In addition to collecting gravestone materials, the Association archive will attempt to systematize and
distribute these materials for use elsewhere. Except for major special collections (those gathered by
individuals over an entire lifetime of work) all photos and field notes will be arranged in a general location file
arranged by state, county, town, and site. It is hoped that this will reproduce in an accessible form what
actually exists or existed in the field, and that a researcher will be able to use the archive much as he might
when going on a field trip. Resources permitting, specialized major collections owned by the archive will be
reproduced and the duplicates incorporated into the general location file. In time, the principal file will be
miniaturized on microfilm or microfiche and made available to other research and genealogical libraries
across the country.
An important benefit of the Association archive is the mutuality of interest shared by AGS and NEHGS
members. Just as the epitaph collection at the NEHGS library will assist students of the historical and
cultural aspects of early grave markers, the AGS gravestone archive will assist genealogists in reconstructing
family ties where such epitaph collections are incomplete. The gravestone archive in effect will be a visual
complement to the NEHGS epitaph records and will strengthen the library's genealogical resources.
Continued on page 5
AGS AND DUBLIN SEMINAR
SPONSORS "PURITAN GRAVE-
STONE ART II"
As reported in our last newsletter, the 1978 annual meeting of the Association for Gravestone
Studies is being held the day before a two-day conference on gravestone art sponsored jointly by
the AGS and the Dublin Seminar for New England Folklife. The three day event will be held at the
Dublin School June 23 — 25, 1978; and both will have events and programs interspersed
throughout the three days.
Plans for the Dublin Seminar portion of the program are moving ahead rapidly. Strong interest
from individuals and from academic, community, and antiquarian groups is again accompanying
the announcement of thi9 confv,ience, and we hope to be able to equal the 1976 attendance figures.
We are receiving numerous suggestions for papers, exhibits, and presentations, so we look
forward to a fine program. Our belief that two years is a proper interval between large-scale
conferences on gravestone art appears to be justified.
To date, twenty-three spjeakers and demonstration leaders have accepted invitations to make
presentations. The featured speaker will be Dickran Tashjian, co-author with Ann Tashjian of
Memorials for Children of Change, published by Wesleyan University Press
in 1974. Dickran was present at the 1976 conference, but he did not have the opportunity to make a
formal presentation. Another paper is being given by James A. Slater, Ralph Tucker, and Daniel
Farber. The three have been working for the past year locating, recording, and photographing Lt.
John Harshorn's stones in both Massachusetts and Connecticut. Dan Farber has promised a
"roomful" of Hartshorn photographs. A report on Canadian stones will be given by Deborah Trask
of Halifax, Nova Scotia. Harriot Tuttle will give a talk on the Lamson carvers of Charlestown. Bill
Hosley will speak on the Rockingham, Vermont, stonecarvers. Peter Benes will describe 17th and
18th century stones he has found in the Maidstone area of Kent, England. Carmine Prioli and Lance
Meyer will address themselves to the recurrent problems of Puritan iconography. Allan Ludwig and
David Hall will discuss aspects of early epigraphy. Joanne Baker will discuss how gravestones
reflect popular attitudes toward death.
Special emphasis is being given this year on carving technology, reproduction techniques, and
the physical nature of stone itself. Bob Drinkwater \vill give a talk on quarrying; David Serette on
slate-cutting tools; and Norman Weigs on stone chemistry. A demonstration of slate letter-carving
will be made by Frances Bunyard of Arlington, Massachusetts, who has taught herself how to
design and incise classical letters.
Three field demonstrations will be offered in the areas of photography, rubbings, and
reproduction. Ann Tashjian has agreed to take a group to a local burying ground and to
demonstrate her dry daubing technique. Ivan Rigby and Francis Duval will demonstrate their
model-making techniques. Daniel Farber will give a demonstration of the technique he so
successfully described at the 1976 conference, and at the July, 1977 meeting of the Association for
Gravestone Studies.
Participants are urged to pre-register. Tearsheets for registration and for field trip participation
appear on page 7.
REVIEW OF RECENT PUBLICATIONS
Benes, Peter, The Masks of Orthodoxy: Folk Gravestone Carving in Plymouth County
Massachusetts, 1689 - 1805. (University of Massachusetts Press, Amherst, MA, 1977)
Illustrated, 273 pages.
Uniformly facing west in the now-uneven rows of old New England burial grounds, colonial
gravestones are adorned with some incredible carved faces.
The vvinged skull is the common motif on these markers. With individual features fleshing out
this basic skeletal form, the faces become animated and energetic. Some glare, while others
actually grin. Stones dating from the difficult early days of the late 17th-century express a grim
malevolence. By the mid-lSth century religious revivals, however, the bared teeth and threatening
frowns give way to fancifully smiling spirit faces, which grin out from their slabs of slate or granite
with good will and apparent good cheer. Around the time of the Revolutionary War, these stone
faces become increasingly animated, and then transform into angel and fxjrtrait imagery.
These expressive stone faces have long attracted people interested in history or intrigued by folk
art. They have also, however, baffled scholars seeking to account for the faces' lively enthusiasm.
Now, a book published by the University of Massachusetts Press offers a plausible explanation
for the evolution of gravestone imagery. The Masks of Orthodoxy by Peter Benes focuses on
gravestones carved in Plymouth County in the years 1689-1805. Benes sees gravestone carving as
both a decorative art and a highly personal craft in old Plymouth and recognizes in these folk-art
images reflections of religious, spiritual and folk beliefs of the Plymouth Colony.
His presentation is scholarly: nearly one third of the 273 pages of The Masks of Orthodoxy are
devoted to Appendixes, Notes, Bibliography and Index. Yet Benes' subject matter is so fascinating
and his style so clear that the general reader is easily drawn in. The diagrams and photographs of
the gravestone faces are a real delight.
Skulls and Hearts
Benes interprets the basic skull images not as a symbol of death — as scholars have usually
defined it — but as the spirit that is released by death. He sees in the facial characteristics (even in
the fanciful caricature) a deliberate but oblique representation of the sophisticated concepts of
grace, salvation, and resurrection. (This is again a rejection of previous explanations which
consider the lively expressions to derive from a combination of the carvers' naivete and lack of
cutting technique.) Benes suggests that Puritan folklore and visual sign language is expressed in the
gravestone imagery.
A strange "mouth-mark" becomes the key to explaining the facial expressions on gravestones.
Though the original meaning of the mark remains unknown, it was first used in 1675 by an artisan
identified only as "The Stone Carver" of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Above the bared teeth on
a standard winged skull, "The Stone Cutter" added lines in the shape of a triangle. This suggested a
second mouth set in a mild frown though its original purpose may have been as an element of
design. Whatever "The Stone Cutter" meant by it, this additional mouth, or mark, was widely
imitated. Extremely flexible, its shape and expression altered according to the times.
Jacob Vinal was the first stone carver in the Plymouth Colony known to have used the mouth-
mark on his gravestone designs. He was the patriarch of the Vinal family carvers, who worked for
generations in the Scituate area. Around 1720, Jacob Vinal added the mouth-mark; gradually, he
re-worked the mark so it changed its suggestion of a mild frown to a gleeful smile.
This seems a bizarre apparition on a gravestone in Puritan New England, but with Benes'
explanation, the strangeness disappears. Benes interprets Vinal's smiling skulls as blissful spirits
awaiting, or pjerhaps even experiencing, resurrection. The faces on these stones are confident of
salvation because their patrons — the Plymouth Colony — were increasingly confident of their
own state of grace and ultimate salvation. Anxious frowns and gloomy spirits no longer suited the
optimistic religious attitudes of the Colony.
Another family of gravestone carvers developed a different iconography based on the mouth-
mark, but built around the shape and significance of the heart motif.
Nathaniel Fuller worked in the Middleborough school of stone carvers and developed a style that
was far more geometric than that used by the Vinals. Initially only on children's stones. Fuller
curved the ends of the mouth-mark up and around to form a heart-shaped mark. This, suggests
Benes, may have been a device to draw attention to children's stones and to show the child as being
especially beloved. But he also offers a theological interpretation. The heart was a symbol of eternal
life. On the gravestone, the heart symbolized confidence in an eternal after-life and optimism about
salvation and resurrection. Later, heart-shaped skulls and heart-derived decorative designs
appeared on adults' gravestones.
Late in his own life, Fuller came up with another innovation in gravestone design. Little faces
were placed within the mouth-mark. Benes suggests a link between these tiny faces and the
symbols of evangelicalism. At the time Fuller was creating these images, the fervor of the Great
Awakening religious revivals was at its peak. Fuller was undoubtedly affected by the revivalist
emotions and the small faces may be interpreted as the "corporeal eyes" which re-animate the soul
at resurrection. A complex religious concept is summed up and expressed in iconographic
shorthand.
While Benes' explanation of gravestone symbolism challenges previous scholarship, he seems
well-prepared to issue those challenges. He has studied gravestones for a long time and from
several perspectives. Founder and co-director of the Dublin (New Hampshire) Seminar for New
England Folklife, he is also co-founder of the Association for Gravestone Studies.
The research on which he bases his theories of gravestone symbolism seems exhaustive. In
addition to delving into the history of the Plymouth Colony, Benes went through parish and
probate records and took 4,000 photographs of New England gravestones. Using this information,
he is able to attribute the gravestones (which in Plymouth Colony were always unsigned), identify
three main families of carvers in the Plymouth Colony, examine the evolution of their carving styles
and their symbolism and link the evolution of these, symbols to historical and ecclesiastical
developments.
Laura Holland
Reprinted with permission of
The Valley Advocate, Amherst, MA.
Stannard, David E., The Puritan Way of Death: A Study in Religion, Cuhure and Social
Change (Oxford University Press, New York, New York, 1977). 236 pages including illustrations,
notes and index.
David E. Stannard, Director of Undergraduate Studies in the American Studies Program at Yale
University, has written a book which should be of great interest to members of the Association of
Gravestone Studies. Turning to the study of Puritan death rituals from the point of view of lite'-ary
and cultural history Stannard interprets the physical evidence of the gravestone as to suggest a
decline in that 'old time religion' beginning almost simultaneously with the rise of the symbolic art.
This attitude is, of course, the opposite of the one taken by such students of the subject as Forbes,
Ludwig, Dethlefson and Deetz, the Tashjians, and Benes, although it comes closer to the implicit or
explicit position put forth at various times by Caulfield, Foster, and Hall. Stannard's position has
much to recommend it and it is well argued and documented throughout. On the other hand, to put
forth such a provocative thesis concerning the interpretation of the physical evidence of the
gravestones and then not take on the opposition seems to me a rather curious manner of
composing a book. Moreover, the rich body of visual material is not used in disciplined manner and
the author could use some boning up on art historical methods. I would strongly recommend the
book for all those who wish to read about all the arguments we are currently having over Puritan
modes of death.
Allan !. Ludwig
Trent, Robert F., Hearts and Crowns: Fold Chairs of the Connecticut Coast 1720 — 1840
as viewed in the Kght of Henri Focillon's Introduction to Art Populaire. (New Haven Colony
Historical Society, New Haven, Connecticut, 1977). 101 pages and 81 plates.
While this book has nothing to do with gravestones as such, it is highly recommended to serious
students of gravestone art as one of the most intelligent and lucid treatments to date of an
American folk art topic. Beginning with a much-needed theoretical discussion of folk art, the author
goes on to take a sharply critical look at the treatment of folk craftsmanship by American
decorative arts scholars. The body of the book is very thorough, well-documented history of a style
of chairmaking which can be traced back to a provincial English joiner who came to Stratford,
Connecticut around 1719. In his treatment of this topic, Mr. Trent has been much influenced by the
great French scholar cited in the title, who emphasized the "primacy of formal series and the
disjunction of form and content" (p. 92) in folk art, an approach which might find him in violent
disagreement with a number of writers on New England gravestones.
Lance R. Mayer
AGS ARCHIVE STORY continued from page 1
If approved by AGS, the Association archive will be ready to receive materials after Jurrc, 1978. In an effort
to standardize the format of materials in the collection, the AGS education committee is preparing a booklet
outlining recommended procedures and a form for listing data from individual stones. A working draft of this
document will be available at the June AGS meeting.
No time or geographical limitations have been put upon this collection, but emphais is being given to early
sites and early marke-rs which, in the judgement of the Association, are culturally important, and sites of any
age which are endangered by rapid attrition. For further information please contact Peter Benes, Treasurer,
AGS, Dublin, New Hampshire, 03444 (603 563-8025), or Peter Drummey, Curator of Manuscripts,
NEHGS, 101 Newbury Street, Boston, Massachusetts, 02116 (617 536-5740).
UNPUBLISHED SOURCE OF INTEREST TO MEMBERS
Butler, Pat. H. Ill, This World and the Next in Old Deerfield, unpub. ms. Heritage Foundation,
1966. 58pp. Biblio. (Available at the Memorial Libraries, Deerfield, Massachusetts.)
Butler is concerned with the changing attitude towards death in Old Deefield from one of
overridng preoccupation with the life to follow to a more worldly-directed interest in the "here and
now." As background to his text he briefly traces the religious history of New England, drawing
upon sources in antiquity. He reminds us of the views of colonial ministers and divines regarding
death, and especially discusses on Solomon Stoddard. That divine is of concern here because the
religious community of Old Deerfield was founded upon his principles, as exemplified in the
Hampshire Association.
The remainder of the text predominantly deals with Deerfield's first two ministers, John Williams
(The Redeemed Captive) and Jonathan Ashley. These men, Stoddarian in outlook, influenced the
local understanding of the religious meaning of death.
Relying on William's diaries and the books in his personal library as well as upon the diary of his
son Steven (himself a minister), Butler provides ample evidence of the dread preoccupation with
death characteristic of that time. Excerpts from the funeral sermon for Williams further
corroborate Butler's judgements and aptly summarize prevailing attitudes to man's destiny.
One of Butler's greatest achievements in this essay is his ability to weave such documents into
narrative. His conclusions rely on another group of wills which were completed after Ashley's
death. They clearly indicate changing thought and provide yet another example of the local refusal
to accept Johathan Edwards' New Calvinism.
Also included in this essay is a limited discussion of funeral practices in Deerfield. Following that,
Butler devotes some attention to the graveyard there and relates stone design to changes in
religious attitudes both throughout New England and to the changing ministry in Deerfield itself.
This is a manuscript copy which has several typographical errors. It is nonetheless readable, and
an interesting discussion of religious change in a specific New England community.
Nancy Buckeye
LEGISLATION ON GRAVEYARDS
Increasing interest in the value of old cemeteries has brought about recent legislation. Mary
Emhardt reports that the following have been added to the New Hampshire Revised Statutes
Annotated:
RSA 289:27 STONE RUBBINGS. No person shall make gravestone rubbings in any cemetery
without first obtaining the permission of the selectmen or cemetery trustees. Any person who
violates the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a violation.
RSA 289:28 LOGGING DEBRIS. Any p»erson who leaves debris in any cemetary as a result of a
logging operation shall be guilty of a violation.
RSA 289:5 UNCARED FOR CEMETERIES. Every town may raise and appropriate annually a
sufficient sum to provide for the suitable care and maintenance of deserted and abandoned
cemeteries within its confines which are not otherwise provided for, including family plots in cases
where there are no surviving descendants. Such appropriation shall be expended under the
direction of the selectmen of the town.
REGISTRATION — Dublin Seminar — Puritan Gravestone Art II
n I wish to register for the Dublin Seminar, June 24, 25.
I enclose a check for:
n Resident $40.00 (program, meals, dormitory accomodations)
D Non-resident $30.00 (proram and meals)
I wish to register for the combined AGS Meeting/Dublin Seminar, June 23, 24, 25.
I enclose a check for:
D Resident $55.00
n Non-resident $40.00
Make checks payable to the Dublin Seminar.
Name
Address
Zip Phone
Mail to Dublin Seminar, American and New England Studies Program, ~
Boston University, 725 Commonwealth Avenue, CLA223, Boston, MA 02215
REGISTRATION — Field Practicums
1 wish to participate in the following field experience(£)
D Casting — Duval and Rigby
D Photography — Daniel Farber
D Rubbing — Ann Tashjian
Name
Address
Zip Phone
Mail this portion to Joanne Baker, 64 N. Main Street, Concord, NH 03301
The Newsletter of the Association
for Gravestone Studies
®1978 by the Association for Gravestone Studies;
all rights reserved.
Published at the University Museum, State
University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony
Brook, New York 11794
Submissions and suggestions for future issues are
welcomed; send to the editor at the Dublin School.
Guest Editor: Joanne Baker
The Association for Gravestone Studies
Dublin School
Dublin, New Hampshire
Executive Board
President: Ralph Tucker, West Newbury, MA
Vice President/Grants: Gay Levine, Wading River, NY
Vice-President/Conservation: Edwin Connelly, Newport, RI
Vice President/ Archives: James Slater, Mansfield Center, CT
Vice President/Education: Joanne Baker, Concord, NH
Vice President/Research: Thomas Zaniello , Highland Heights, KY
Secretary: Jessie Lie, South Hadley, MA
Treasurer: Peter Benes, Dublin, NH
Regional Coordinators:
Mary Emhardt, Barrington, NH
Jo Hanson, San Francisco, CA
Mary-Ellen Jones, Orinda, CA
Robert MacKreth, Sequoia Natl. Park, CA
Jane Schoonmaker, Niverville, NY
Sally Thomas, New London, NH >■
University Museum
Anthropology Department
State University of New York at Stony Brook
Stony Brook, New York 11794
«
Mary Anne Mrozinski
1+7 Hammond Road
Glen Cove, N.Y. 115^2
ISSN: 0146-5783
THE ASSXIATIQI FOR GRAVESTOC STUDIES
NEWSLETTER
anne g. gieseckey i^evjsletter editor archaeological research services
University of Mew Hampshire^ Durham^ NH 03824
Volume 3 Number 1 Winter 1979
NEWSLETTER
With this issue of the Newsletter, we are changing our format to
reduce publishing costs and increase the amount of information we can
present.
We thank the people who have contributed and we are requesting con-
tributions in any category from professionals and non-professionals.
Please send material according to the following deadlines:
Issue Editor's Deadline for Receipt of News
April 1979 May 1, 1979
July 1979 June 1, 1979
October 1979 September 1, 1979
January 1980 December 1, 1979
CONFERENCES AND WORKSHOPS
The Dublin Seminar for New England Folklife with the co-operation
of The Currier Gallery of Art presents a Conference and Exhibition:
NEW ENGLAND MEETING HOUSE AND CHURCH: 1630-1850. Conference: Dublin
School, Dublin, NH, Saturday, June 23 and Sunday, June 24, 1979. Exhi-
bition: The Currier Gallery of Art, Manchester, NH, May 19. 1979,
through July 15, 1979.
NEW ENGLAND MEETING HOUSE AND CHURCH: 1630-1350 is a combined con-
ference and exhibition designed to explore the larger cultural, social,
and sacramental world of the New England meeting house during the colo-
nial and federal periods. Based on the premise that traditional know-
ledge has survived in a local context in families and in community and
church groups, the conference and exhibition will attempt to pool the
written, oral, and material resources of private individuals, church
historians, town and parish librarians, as well as the expertise of pro-
fessional historians, museum curators, and musical performers, in an
effort to recreate and interpret the New England meeting house and church
of the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries.
The exhibition at the Currier Gallery of Art has been awarded a
grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Designed to com-
plement visually the lectures and presentations given at the confe3cet\.ne.
-2-
the exhibition will open May 19 and will continue for approximately eight
weeks. On display will be objects which were originally part of early
meeting houses or were used within them - pulpits, pew doors, wainscotting,
communion services, tithing sticks, and signal drums; paintains, prints,
written records, or other period artifacts or documents which illustrate
meeting houses; photographs and other contemporary visual resources.
Conference lectures and presentations will deal with (1) architectural
topics such as framing and raising techniques, porch and belltower designs,
and exterior colors; (2) sacramental topics such as psalmody, communion
furniture, and religious practices; (3) social topics such as seating cri-
teria, pew societies, and site controversies; and (4) community topics
such as horse-shed rights, Sabbathday houses, and public signboards. Con-
ference participants will be encouraged to put up informal displays of
their particular areas of expertise. Choral groups trained in 17th and iSth
century psalmody and hymnody vrlll be invided to perform accompanied by
instruments such as the bass-viol and melodeon. Interpretive field trips
to meeting houses surviving in the Connecticut and the Merrimack valleys
will be scheduled on the Friday of the conference weekend.
Program and speakers at the conference to be announced in early 1979.
Projected registration fee: $45-$55, which includes lodging, lunch and
dinner Saturday, breakfast and lunch Sunday. Friday night lodging will be
available .
The Dublin Seminar for New England Folklife, Inc., is a continuing
series of conferences devoted to the study of vernacular and folk culture
in the northeastern United States. It is jointly sponsored by the Boston
University American and New England Studies Program and by Dublin School,
Dublin, New Hampshire. An edited transcription of papers given at each
conference is published annually as the Proceedings of the Dublin Seminar.
Peter Benes, DireatOT
Philip D. Zimmerman, Associate Director
THE DUBLIN SEMINAR FOR NEW ENGLAND FOLKLIFE, DUBLIN, NH 03444
REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION
APT Bulletin Editor SUSAN BUGGEY is compiling a list of courses of-
fered in the history of building technology. She would like to know of
all available courses and correspond with the instructors. Write to:
Ms. Buggey, Head, Priority Sites Section,, Research Division, Parks Canada,
Ottawa, Ontario KIA 0H4, CAN.
CAROLE WHEELER would like information on American cemeteries (I'd
send along info on those in other countries as well) presently undergoing
preservation/restoration. Ms. Wheeler intends to publish a pamphlet con-
taining specific information on cemeteries involved in preservation/resto-
ration and interpretive endeavors. A short survey questionnaire is availa-
ble. Contact Ms. Wheeler, Historic Oakland Cemetery, Inc., 248 Oakland
Avenue SE, Antanta, Georgia 30312, USA; (404-688-0733).
PHYLLIS McKOWN, 1651 D Iowa Street, Costa Mesa, California, is taking
a leave of absence this year from her Colonial America social studies
teaching to complete a book on old gravestones, mainly photographs, with
the principal theme being "history in stone". She would love to corres-
pond with anyone whose interests are similar.
South Carolina is recently devoting a great deal of time to the
study and preservation of old gravestones. The S.C. State Department of
Archives has written several times asking us for information about legal,
restoration, community involvement, preservation, etc. aspects of old
cemeteries, ans we also have word from the Greenville Chapter of the South
Carolina Genealogical Society that they are in the process of doing a com-
-3-
prehenslve survey of all cemeteries in their county.
BARBARA BENOIT, RFD 1, Box 105, Centre Harbor, NH 03226 is interested
in locating graves of the Hawkins family, moved from the Hawkins family
graveyard in Center Harbor probably before 1900. Clement Hawkins, b. April
1, 1770 died ?. Married Mehitable ? . Also, Jacob Davis, a Revolu-
tionary War pensioner for Centre Harbor, married Deborah Tuttle of Centre
Harbor. Died in Chelsea, Vermont about 1845. Need grave location and dates
from stone.
The Conservation Committee of AGS is planning a booklet, "The Care of
Old Cemeteries", which is intended to serve as a guide for those entrusted
with the care of old cemeteries, and for anyone who is interested in helping
to preserve, old gravestones. A first draft has been t^ltten, and comments
and criticisms by those with experience or expertise in this field are in-
vited. A copy of the draft may be obtained by writing to the author at the
following address; Lance Mayer^ Conservation Department ^ Cincinnati Art
Museum^ Eden Parkj Cinoinnatij OH 45202. In addition, the Conservation
Committee seeks information from readers about successful or unsuccessful
restoration projects, and any general comments or ideas about the kinds of
problems that AGS members would like to see addressed in a publication like
this.
ITEMS OF INTEREST
The Rock County Historical Society, of Janesville, Wisconsin, writes
to tell us that they are now completing an inventory of all gravesites and
public and private burial grounds in their county.
As a Bicentennial project, the Colonial Philadelphia Historical Society,
financed, under the auspices of the National Park Service, the restoration of
Philadelphia's oldest Jewish cemetery, Mikveh Israel. This cemetery was
established by a grant from John Penn. In it are buried Revolutionary sol-
diers and patriots, among them Nathan Levy, whose ship brought the Liberty
Bell to America, and Haym Solomon, considered to be the financier of the
American Revolution.
The members of the Trinity Lutheran Church in Augusta County, Virginia,
whose church . records date from 1772, are presently involved in a project to
identify and restore all the old stones in their graveyard.
The newly formed Johnson County Historical Society in Wrlghtsville,
Georgia, will soon publish a book containing the cemetery records of the
county. Their publication will contain many items of interest concerning
burial .
The Association For Gravestone Studies. Early gravestones are part of
our heritage. They are disappearing radidly. These facts prompted the for-
mation of the Association For Gravestone Studies. Organized at Dublin, NH,
in 1977, and incorporated a year later, the Association creates awareness of
the importance of gravestones in a variety of ways. It encourages local groups
to preserve their gravestone heritage, promotes research into all aspects of
gravestones, supports a program of public education through publications and
conferences, and fosters liaisons with county and state genealogical societies.
The AGS Newsletter, which all members receive, contains feature articles,
book reviews and items of general Interest.
In the summer of 1978 an agreement was made with the New England Histo-
ric Genealogical Society for the foundation of a photographic and field note
archive to be housed at the NEHGS library in Boston. This will be known as
the Association for Gravestone Studies Archive, the principal purpose of v/hich
will be to recreate, in a retrievable and condensed form, iconographic and
-4-
genealogical data that is presently available only in the field and which is
subject to yearly attrition. All AGS members will have access to this col-
lection.
The Association seeks a diverse group of persons interested in the study
of grave markers — amateurs and professionals, students of anthropology,
history, genealogy, art history, religion and other fields — who share an
appreciation of the importance of gravestones and a concern for their preser-
vation in the face of both the natural and artificial forces that threaten
them.
AGS invites your membership and your active participation in the Asso-
ciation.
MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION
Association for Gravestone Studies
Mrs. Philip D. Thomas, Treas.
82 Hilltop Place
New London, NH 03257
Date
19
Name
Address
City/Town
Please check one;
_Individual $10 . 00
__Institutional 10.00
^Sustaining 25.00
Student 5.00
(full-time)
State
Zip
I am interested in owrking on the
following committee(s) :
Archives Education
Grants Conservation
Research Publications
"Tombstones Designed To Show Trademarks Of People They Honor" (from
the New York Times, February 18, 1979, Charleston, IL - Wendell Adams and
Bale Lawyer use their artistry to design and prodii<-« t-om^sLones that pre-
serve the trademark of the people who lie beneath them.
"We've put on everything from trucks and trains to telephones and a
Studebaker," Mr. Adams said. "It couldn't be just any Studebaker, either;
it had to be a '63."
He does his work in a small shop that he opened in this central
Illinois community in 1975, A third-generation stonecutter, he began work-
ing with his father at the age of 15. He is now 28. He estimated that
150 of every 1,000 tombstones produced in his shop were custom designs.
One of the most recent creations was a highly detailed steam locomo-
tive belching smoke and roaring down the tracks. The tombstone was done
for Bradford Parker, a former railroad engineer. "I can't draw from memo-
ry," Mr. Adams aaid. "I sent my wife to find a picture of the right loco-
motive."
The shop has also done a jeep, , animals for hunters and several tractor-
trailer rigs for truckers.
-5-
One of the most difficult projects was for a woman who wanted a tomb-
stone vd.th a boy on a motorcycle.
"It couldn't be just any boy," Mr. Adams said. "It had to be her son.
He was killed in a motorcycle accident." He did the boy's face from a photo-
graph.
Mr« Adams was also commissioned to make a double tambwtone for a woman
who ijcrked for the telephone company.
BOOK REVIEWS
John D. Combes, 1972, Ethnography, Archaeology and Burial Practices
Amon^ Coastal South Carolina Blacks. Canfeicenoe on Eisiox-ic Sites Arohaeo-
logy Papers 7:52-61. Describes Black burial practices in the Southeast that
are characterized by irregular grave orientation, frequent absence of grave
markers, and presence of grave offerings on the surface. The article also
discusses associated beliefs and customs.
Lance Mayer, 1972, The Churchyards Handbook; Advice on their Care
and Maintenance. Second edution: revised for the Council for Places of
Worship by !-he Rev. Henry Stapleton, FSA, and Peter Eurman, FSA. CIO Pub-
lishing (Church House, Dean's Yard, London SWIP 3NZ) . Price $2.40.
136 pp., 22 plates, bibliography.
VJhile of limited interest, this book deserves mention because it seems
to be virtually unknown in North America. It Is intended primarily for
clergymen of the Church of England, and many of the civil and ecclesiastical
regulations discussed will be unfamiliar to American readers. For example,
we are told that any alteration to a churchyard or its tombstones must be
approved in writing by a Diocesan Advisory Committee, which concerns itself
with aesthetic and historic as well as legal and practical problems.
Introductory chapters dealing with the history of England churchyards
and gravestones provide a few Interesting facts V7hich may be little known
to American readers, such as the tradition in Cheshire and Lancashire of
using flat tombstones which eventually pave over the entire churchyard (p. 31)
or the custom in the Home Counties, from the late eighteenth century on, of
placing a "body stone" (in the shape of a corpse) between the headstone and
the footstone (p. 31). It is said that the practice of erecting painted
wooden grave boards, or rails, persisted in remote areas of the southeast
until the last quarter of the nineteenth century (p. 32), and that in Shrop-
shire, cast iron memorials were a substitute for local stone of mediocre
quality (p. 11). Unfortunately, these tantalizing clues are undocumented and
may prove frustrating to the serious echolar.
The most important lesson of the book is one which cannot be over-
stressed — this is the "duty to preserve" (pp. 30 ff .) for future genera-
tions. Some might object to the authors' discrimination between monuments
of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, which they say should all be
preserved, and those of the nineteenth century', which only "may also be
worth preserving" (p. 68). The suthors do point out, however, the value of
even badly damaged gravestones (p. 65), and emphasize that careful considera-
tion and consultation must be given to any proposed change or restoration
in a churchyard. A procedure is suggested which would include announcing
the plan in a local newspaper to encourage comments or criticism (p. 69).
The importance of recording cemetery data is righly stressed, and a
model form given. Information about ttfees and shrubs is mostly applicable
to England J but the book's approach, which points out the importance of
sensitive landscaping to the beauty of a churchyard, is noteworthy. Keep-
ing grass cut uniformly short may not be the best solution, economically
-6-
or aesthetically, and the a
includinc keeping sheep or
The authors lament the
craft, and encourage a revi
iirith meaningful epitaphs,
the erection of monuments i
polished surfaces, birdbath
More than in any of it
the American reader as an e
are facing the problem of c
to hi^gh standards. Some re
lack of "how to'' informatio
other authorities, but your
caution may be necessary fo
of knowledge of many aspect
importance of the task.
uthors suggest sev
geese in the churc
present poor stat
val of well-design
They even encourap;
n poor taste, such
s, or open books (
s specific advice,
xample of how peop
emetery care with
aders may be frust
n and frequent ins
reviewer believes
r the present, giv
s of cemetery cons
eral alternatives,
hyard (p . 56) !
e of the stonecutter's
ed, hand-cut gravestones
e clergymen to prohibit
as stones with mirror-
p. Ill) .
the book is useful to
le in another country
unsvjerving dedication
rated by the relative
tructions to consult
that this kind of
en the limited state
ervation, and the
REGIONAL NEWS
Clippings From^ Th^ _Gr
Although tlie ASSOCIAT
folk-art oriented, it embr
the value of old graveston
individuals and organizati
From Maine to Califor
of dedicated people, ^^fith
inscriptions from gravesto
and, in some cases, restor
wide groups engaged in the
pressive collections of tr
genealogical societies hav
gravestones which are bein
are a few state-wide organ
scribing gravestone record
care of the old burying ya
STUDIES welcomes all these
that through this column i
and achievements ..v«'^Llg;i;;;^us
a comprehensive listing ca
referred .
In this issue of The
of the state-wide Old Grav
known to exist in New Engl
1. VERMONT OLD CEMET
The acknowledged
the restoration and preser
and often abandoned cemete
among a state coordinator,
Membership has grown to ov
in various locations, and
is published. Over the ye
establish a fund, the inte
modest matching grants-in-
ance and/or encouragement.
assroots by Mary C. Emhardt, 1973.
TON FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES is primarily
aces all disciplines which appreciate
es, and it welcomes the input from all
ons interested in preserving them,
nia there are any number of small groups
little or no funding, busily copying
nes, locating abandoned burying yards,
ing them. There are also many county-
same effort which have com.piled im-
anscript ions . Likewise, state-v;ide
e chapters searching out records from
g carefully indexed. And then there
izations exclusively devoted to tran-
s and encouraging the restoration and
rds. The ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE
people into the fold and anticipates
t will keep abreast of their identities
hear from your particular group so that
n be compiled to which inquiries will be
AGS Newsletter re
eyard/Cemetery As
and , viz .
ERY ASSOCIATION (
leader, establish
vation of the sta
ries,' it has div
county chairmen,
er 1000. Two mee
a quarterly newsl
ars more than $50
rest from which e
aid to restoratio
cognition is made only
sociations presently
VOCA)
eu in 1958 "to encorage
te's many old negleqted
ided this responsibility
and town reporters,
tings are held each year
etter. The VOCA BULLETIN,
00 has been raised to
nables VOCA to offer
n groups needing assist-
Dues ? only $1.00 are payable by November 1 to:
Ethel M. Billings, Treas .
R.D. 3
Middlebury, VT 05 75 3
2. MAINE OLD CEMETERY ASSOCIATION (MOCA)
Established in 1969, it nov\r boasts over 1000 members in
forty states. Its stated purpose is 'the stimulation of discovery,
restoration, and maintenance of old cemeteries, and the preservation
of records and historical information relating to them''. There are
three raeetinfjs a year in various sections of the state, and a News-
letter is published quarterly. Its three ongoing projects merit
national acclaim:
MIP (MOCA Inscription Project) to date has amassed eight large
volumes of cemetery inscriptions listed alphabetically by over 2000
towns: SIP (Surname Indexing Project) has information sheets of over
150,000 individuals living in Maine between 1650 and 1970; and BIP
(Bicentennial Index Project) has indexed by computer the names and
related information of more than 6000 veterans of the American Revo-
lution who died in Maine. Another 1,500 submitted names are being
researched. Information on 111? , SIP, and BIP may be obtained from:
MOCA, P.O. Box 324, Augusta, ME 04330.
Dues @ $3.00 are payable by December 31 to:
Mrs. Amanda L. Bond, Treas
8 Greenaway Street
Soringvale, ME 040S3
3. NEW HAMPSillRE OLD GRAVEYARD ASSOCIATION (NHOGA)
Organized in April, 1976, its purpose, as stated in its
bylav^s, is similar to the preceding. The New Hampshire Historical
Society in Concord (open v;eekdays only from 9-4:30 and Wednesdays
from 9-8) is presently serving as repository for NH cem.etery records.
NHOGA has three meetings a year in various locations and issues a
newsletter, NHOGA RUBBINGS, a month in advance of each meeting.
Dues @ $3.00 are payable in April to:
Mrs. Milton Pineo, Treas.
84 North Main Street
Star Route 1
Vifolfeboro, NH 03894
These organizations merit your support. If you have Rev. War
ancestors buried in Vermont, Maine, or New Hampshire, a memorial
gift in their names or active memberships in your own would make a
fitting bicentennial gesture.
Nev; Hampshire Old Graveyard Association will m.eet in July at Hinsdale,
please contact sir. Burnham, Box 77, Hinsdale, NH 03451.
Vermont Old Cemetery Association will meet May 5th, 10 a.m. at
Dum-merston Center Congregational Church on the corner of East West
Road. Contact Rev. Charles Parker, BoiS5201, R.F.D., Putney, VT 05346
ARTICLES
THF. ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES
RECOHMENDATIONS FOR JHE CARE OF GRAVESTOj-JES
A serious interest in acquiring useful inforriation about preser-
vation and restoration of gravestones should begin with a careful
reading of Lance Mayer's "THE CARE OF OLD CEMETERIES.''
Mr. Mayer, conservator for the Cincinnati Art Museum, welcomes
inquiries and is eager to assist individuals concerned with grave-
yard care. Address him at the Cincinnati Art Museum, Eden Park,
Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
The follov/ing brief overview of the problem can only point the
reader in the right direction for dealing with this important and
complex subject. Jessie Lie Farber
Experts all agreed that the science of gravestone conservation
is in its infancy; that further testing and better date are required
before thoroughgoing recommendations, for ^reservation and repair
can confidently be made; and that i>fel 1- intended , amateur efforts to
repair and restore often contribute to the destruction of old grave-
stones. For these reasons, the first recommendations for graveston
care are DON'TS.
1. DON'T APPLY ANY FOREIGN HATTER such as enoxies, cleaners
and sealers to the stones. There are not yet any time-proven materials
one can safely apply for mending, preventing deterioration or even
cleaning gravestones.
2. DON'T USE ANY PROCEDURE WHICH CANNOT BE UNDONE, such as
using metal bolts and braces, sinking stones into cement, or setting
them into granite. 'Permanence' often means only that a harmful or
inadequate procedure cannot be replaced by a new and better one.
3. DON'T DO ANYTHING ABRASIVE TO THE STONES. Even careless
brushing or rubbing the surface can damage some stones.
IJHAT CAN YOU DO? A GREAT DEAL.
1. BRING SOME STONES INDOORS. Bring damaged stones and fragments
indoors for safe storage until better procedures for mending are
available. Select for special protection any stone that is unusually
important historically or artistically. Investigate the legal and
financial aspects of replacing such a stone with a replica and housing
the original in a museum, or historical society. Ask for information
and advice about this procedure from museums in your area. They share
your concern for the survival of these irreplaceable examples of early
American folk sculpture. AGS can advise you about replicas.
2. STORE ALL^ FRAGMENTS: DISCARD NOTHING. Fragments should be
stored in labeled plastic bags ivith others from the same stone.
3. DOCUMENT YOUR STONE and fragm.ents. Acquaint yourself with
information about collecting and recording gravestone data so that
the time and money invested in the effort will be best spent. (V/rite
to AGS for 'Recording Cemetery Data' by Joanne Baker.) A good
document will contribute to the well-being of the stones in several
ways. Lost and stolen stones can be identified and claim.ed.
As the stones inevitably deteriorate and disappear, the docu-
ment remains as a friend.
A document- - especial ly if it is part of a publicized com.-unity
ef fort--inforras , creates interest in and encourages respect
for the stones ,
A document will aid researchers in a variety of studies relating
tothewelfareofthestones.
4. EDUCATE THE PUBLIC TO APPRECIATE your graveyard. A major
factor in the maintenance of an old graveyard is the attitude of the
community toward it. The behavior of the uninformed but well-meaning
public can be as damaging as deliberate vandalism, for neglect and
carelessness encourage vandals. Pride and appreciation are also
-9-
contajious . Follov/ing are suggestions for promoting good behavior
in your old burial ground:
['lend v;alls and fences, but do not use them to keep the public out.
Usually a locked graveyard restricts the law-abiding citizen and
creates a protected meeting place for vandals.
Provide good lighting.
Post signs telling the public v/lio is in charge and what is per-
mitted so that the visitor is informed and understands tltat the
t^W%e¥3-id .«ls;^!g3.rred£^for.
Prune dead tree limbs: trim or remove overgroi\fn bushes and vines.
This concerns more than appearance. Dead limbs fall on stones;
overgroivn trees and shrubs r)ush over and break stones; roots of
vines damage the surface of stones.
Keep the grass neat but take care to avoid damaging the stones
with lawnffiowers . Use edgers that cannot hurt the stones. Some
communities avoid raov/ing by planting a lov; growth grass or ground
cover which gives the graveyard a charming rural but not a
neglected appearance.
Keep the grounds clean. Acculated broken glass, beer cans and
other trash invite vandalism. Provide trash cans.
. Encourage neighborhood alertness to undesirable behavior and
enlist pojLdce cooperation when acts of vandalism are reported.
Encourage visiting. Publicize the graveyard's treasures, welcoming
researchers, photographers, geneologists , rubbers (Send for the
AGS Information Sheet dealing with the controversia- activity,
gravestone rubbing) and others v/ho will be respectful of the
stones. Municipal clubs, historical societies and school, college
and church groups are all potential assistants in your efforts
to care for your old graveyard. Isolation invites trouble.
Project Director Anne Armstrong
This is a preliminary repor t on the restoration and recording
B.,f tae jSncftfeii^ bulial g^r^jufedf X^^Sted iil Haverhill and Bradford,
Massachusetts. The project is being conducted by the Haverhill
Historical Commission and the field work was done during the summ.er
and fall of 1973 under a CETA Title VI Grant. This $56,000 grant
provided tvjelve laborers, two recorder/mappers, and a recorder/typist
for fourteen v/eeks of work. It also funded all equipment and asso-
ciated costs.
The Commission was concerned with achieving two goals. First,
we wished to put the burial grounds in good physical condition so
that they could be maintained by routine mowing and trimming. Years
of neglect had resulted in their being overgrown v;ith brush, vines,
and poison ivy as well as filled with dead trees and stumps. Ue
wanted to clean them up thoroughly including digging out stumps,
filling holes ana seeding new grass. We also wished to set up fallen
stones, straighten leaning stones^ and repair and preserve stones.
Second, we wished to make maps of the two burial grounds and
record information about each stone. !7e were primarily interested
in meeting the need for the type of information sought by genea-
logists - who was buried in each place and where the headstone was
located. However, because of the age of the burial grounds and the
nature of their stones, we felt that data regarding them would be
of interest to a voider audience.
Dating from the 1660' s, the Pentucket and Bradford Burial
Grounds contain a large number of stones by local carvers. These
include John Hartshorn and the Hullican family v;ho were instrumental
in creating and spreading the Essex County style, as well as the v^ork
of the Marble's, the Park's, and other carvers of later periods.
Bradford contains 712 identifiable graves and just over 700 headstones
Pentucket in Haverhill contains 1091 headstones representing over
1200 burials.
On August 21, the labor crew went to work in the Bradford Durial
ground. As soon as a sufficient area had been well cleared, the
clerical crevi? entered the field and began laying down a 5 meter grid.
This vjas done by driving wooden stakes into the ground and stringing
ropes betv/een them to create a pattern of 5 meter squares which
eventually covered the entire burial ground. Each head and footstone
as well as all Bhysical features such as trees, raised plots, stone
walls, steps, fences, etc., v;ere then mapped in relation to the 5
meter grid. A map of each burial ground was drawn on graph paper
using a scale of 5 centimeters to 5 meters. General mapning conven-
tions used were those suggested by The Association for Gravestone
Studies .
A gravestone record sheet was developed using suggestions from
the Association. Each sheet contained the name of the burial ground,
its location, the number assigned to the gravestone on the map, and
the name on the stone.
The material of the stone was recorded (schist, slate, sandstone,
marble, or other plus the color of the stone). The size (height,
width, and thickness) of each stone was recorded in centimeters.
The height was measured from the top of the stone to the base of the
carved area or bottom border if one was present, whether that was
considerably below or above the ground level. The thickness and
width ivere recorded at a point where the least erosion was apparent.
The shape of the stone and its primary design were recorded.
lie developed a consistant method of identifying stone shape and pri-
mary design and felt it would be useful and possible to standardize
such vocabulary as well as a vocabulary for dealing with secondary
design features. Obviously, such standardization of vocabulary
needs to utilize data from a much larger number of burial grounds.
iJext, the condition of the stone v\/as recorded
fe selected the
following catagories: broken, stained, flaking, lichen or moss
growth, as well as a blank space for other data. He later felt it
would have been useful to add chipped and weathered (this last
particularly as it related to the wearing-away of the face of marble
stones) .
A space was provided for indicating the presence or absence of
a footstone and the inscription on the footstone. VJe later felt
that we should have provided sttace to indicate the shape and design
of the footstone.
-11
Next, the direction the headstone faced was indicated and space
was giiven to indicate the carver. \Ie du.-^ at the base of each stone
to see if it was si,'^ned by the carver and if the price was given
since this data is often below ground level. The carver of some
stones has been identified from probate records or other documentary
sources. Others we could recognize from design and lettering
characteristics. The source of the carver's name was also indicated
on the sheet as well as the price, if found.
At the bottom of the sheet a space was provided for giving the
name of the person completing the sheet (recorder) and the date on
which the material was recorded.
Finally, the inscrintion was copied, EXACTLY AS IT IMS ON THE
STONE. VJe soon discovered that no natter how careful we thought we
were being, we all had certain charateristic«»methods of making letters
and numerials, e.vjen la^fthe-. ca^iVeirsphad characteristics methods of
carving letters and numerials. IVe tried to develop the attitude
that we were copying a paicture rather than letters but each inscrip-
tion, along v/ith all other data recorded, was checked four times
to be sure that it vjas recorded pricisely as carved. Where inscrip-
tions were difficult to read, we observed them in varying light,
used mirrors to highliglit the carving, and in the case of some
marble stones, did rubbings of sections to aid deciphering.
Ue are also checking our record sheets against all other known
recordings of these inscriptions, principally against the 1901
publication of the Essex Antiquarian of all inscriptions in these
burial grounds on stones dated prior to 1300. We are also checking
our data against the vital records (many of v;hich were taken from
the headstone) . Where we feel that an error has been made in an
earlier recording and we select to stand by our transcription, this
fact has been noted.
After the hand-written sheets have been carefully checked,
the data is being typed on clean record;, sheets , checked again, and
filed in notebooks numerically. The data is also being typed on
5'' X 3' index cards v^rhich are filed alphabetically. All Bradford
data is currently typed and the Pentucket data is in process.
The maps which ivere hand-drawn in the field were copied on clean
graph paper and photographed by Advanced Reproductions of North
Andover. This provided us with a full-scale map on m.ylar of each
burial ground from which reproduction can be made on a blueprint
machine. It also yielded a photographic negative of each map from
which smaller copies can be made. In both sizes, these are made by
Shawsheen Press of Andover.
It was decided that the best method of preservation of stones
currently available to us was to photograph each headstone and all
significant footstones. This is currently being done using 35 mm.
Minolta with Kodak Tri-X black and white film. A telephoto lens is
being used because it produces a sharp image of the stone against
a blurred background. The photos will be Ih' x 3's"' and printed
on archival quality paper (Kodak Kodabromide light weight - A).
The negatives will be cut in series of five frames and placed in
plastic storage sleeves.
Currently, all field data has been collected and analysis of
this data coupled v/ith data from documentary sources has begun.
iJe are exploring the possibility of computerizing our data so that
it may not only be more easily retreived and analysized but so that
it can be more readily comoared with data from other burial grounds.
As i: '■ ' ' i. •■••"::■'.■"
-12-
As soon as the Conimission knew funding for the project was
availablCj we began to seek advice about what sort of data we should';,
gather and how best to go about it. We also consulted Norman VJeiss
about the best steps to take in repairing and conserving the stones.
His advice was to initiate some selective testing if possible but
generally to await developments in this area.
In regard to the type of data we might hope to retrieve from
the burial grounds^ we sought the advice of Anne Giesecke. Vie also
asked her to consider conducting an archeological dig in the Brad-
ford Burial Ground during tlie spring of 1973. She organized and
supervised this effort using students from her class at Bradford
College as well as assistance from UNH and MECCO, Test pits were
dug across the front of the burial ground where records indicated
the first two meeting houses^ the first school, and the first town
pound had been located. Soil samples were taken from a variety of
locations to study patterns of disruption in the area. Data from
this dig is now becoming available and a similar dig is planned for
the Pentucket Burial Ground in 1979.
lis. Giesecke also nlans to use data from our project in her
T)hysical anthropology class at Bradford College during the spring of
1979. .-' ■ . '
The Commission asked the Rev. i'?r. Ralph Tucker to help us learn
about the carvers of our area and how to recognize their v;ork. Ke
shared with us his wide knowledge of this field as well as his :■..■•;■
methods of gathering and analysizing data, and his technique of
photographing stones. lie is currently supplying us with documentary
data from Essex County Probate records indicating what carvers were
paid for which stones and advising us on the handling of our data.
As work progressed, pieces of broken stones were (after seeking
permission from the Secretary of State's Office) removed from the
burial grounds for safekeeping. Pieces which contained designs
or lettering were stored for study and identification; pieces with-
out designs or lettering were turned over to John Roberts, the
geologist on the faculity of Bradford College, for study. In each
case, the piece of stone was labeled as to the location in which it
was found. If we could identify the actual stone from whcih the
piece came this data was attached to the stone. Mr. Roberts hopes
to identify areas in Nev\r England from vi/hich the materials used in
making these headstones came, We have provided him with the avail-
able data from documentary sources on the location of early stone
quarries .
Data gathered from the burial grounds is being supplemented
by a large body of information from documentary sources. The
Commission Chairman, Hov;ard VJ . Curtis, has done extensive research
in the local records and family histories. Although not yet complete,
the scope of this work may be indicated by noting that we can
currently shov/ the family relationships of all persons buried in
the Bradford Burial Ground prior to 1300. This includes 371 persons
for whom stones are still extant plus a number of early settlers
for whom no markers exist.
i/e hope that analysis of our data on the ancient burial gounds
of Ilverhill and Bradford will yield a wide range of data and look
forward to sharing it with you as it emerges.
TH^ASSPCIATIOi, FOR L-RAViLS'lOiii; STUDIES
1! fi I'/ S L EJ T T E R
A;.MkE L.. uIESEClCE, i.E./S LETTER EDITOR Al^CHAEOIDuICAL RiiSEARCH SEffyiGES
UiiTvERSITY OF uiM HAi'iPSHIRE, DURHAi-i, i.H 0382^)-
v'olume 3 Lumber 2 Spring, 1979
GOi\FEREi.GES AlD i<ORKSHOJ:-S
..ew En; land iieetinf. House and Church 1630 - 1850
The Dublin Seminar for r.ew En{^land Folfclife with the cooperation of The
Currier uallery of Art Dublin School, Dublin, liH, Saturday, June 23 and Sunday,
June 24, 1979- Contact 1-eter Jienes =
THE iiSSOClATIOx, FOR t:RAVjiS TO i-.E STUDIES
THE 1979 AiiifUAL OOiiFEREi.CE OF THE /iSSOCIATIOi, FOR L:RAVI£TOi:E STUDIES,
i-;E¥PORT, RHODE ISLAi'D, JULY 7-8, 1979. Two dajrs (11a.m. July 7 through lunch
July 8) in historic x.ewport, on the beautiful ocean front campus of Salve Retina
ColleA^e. 1 ear 7 important t.raveyards and the John Stevens Shop, where t^.raves tones
are still beinf-. cut by hand, hake a vacation weekends Arrive a day early and
stay over a day after the conference.
Conference Sites i.ewport, Rhode Island, on the oceanftont campus of Salve
Retina Colle(.,e. The college offers comfortable, inexpensive housing and excellent
facilities for our meetings, films, slide shows, exhibits, and informal ^atherin^s.
Conferences will have the opportunity to visit nine i.evfport burying grounds, to
study some of i'ew En£:lands finest stones, and to visit the John Stevens Shop
where gravestones have been cut by hand since the beginning of the eighteenth
century. Scenic i;e>rport offers additional attractions to visitors — historic sites,
the I.ewport mansions, antique shopping,,, excellent dining, and ^ood beaches.
Conferees will be housed in a modem dormitory ^^[here the dining, hall and
exiiibit space are also located. Conference presentations vrill be held in the
modern college classroom building,, lieals will be seirved cafeteria style and will-
include choices of entrees, salads, desserts, and beverages. Assure yourself of
accommodations by making- your reservations early. See the enclosed pink regis-
tration sheet for details .
J'ho Attends Al.S Conferences? Anj^one with an interest in f^raves tones . AC^
encourat_es the study of .gravestones from all points of view, vfe have tried oo
desicn the procram so that it will appeal to persons xiith a variety of interests.
Equally welcome are the academician and the layman, the professional and the
amateur, Ue appreciate the questions and the fresh perspective of the new
enthusiast with yet unfocused interests as well as the knowledge and expertise
of the scholar. And, we welcome the varied perspectives that come with a broad
geographic representation.
The Conference Pro r ram The conference planning committee has made a commit-
ment to satisfy members' requests for time to meet each other informally, for
time to visit exhibits, and to talk with the exhibitors, and for more hands-on.
-2-
workshop experiences. At the same time, we feel it is vital for the conference
to provide a platform for those who have work to report, ideas and opinions to
share, and q_uestions to ask. To accoitunodate all these needs, we haves
..e Limited the nuiriher of featured speakers to four. They are iirs, John Howard
Denson of the John Stevens Shops Jonathan Fairbanks, Curator, Department of
American Decorative Arts, the huseuiu of Fine Arts, Boston^ James Slater,
Professor, University, of Connecticuts and Mwin Connellj'-, Cemeteries Director
for the State of i:iliode Island.
...Offered a Saturday night program of short papers and slide presentations.
Tliis program, will begin at 9 P«m. and continue as long as there are both
presenters and audience. If you have slides to share, or if you have an
inquiry, a discovery, a theoxy, or research findings to report briefly, you
should ask for a segment of the Saturday night program.
. . .Scheduled time for visiting exhibits and for meeting conferees with similar
interests in an informal, workshop setting. i-Jhatever your interest may be —
conservation, attributions, docuiiientation, rubbing, photography, geneology —
there will be opportunities to explore it with others.
. . .Scheduled visits to the John Stevens Shop and to local graveyards where
resource people will be available to explain the graveyard's significance
and. to hell? you discover its treasures.
Saturday idght Speakers. \Ie have had excellent response to this segment of
the conference program. The following papers will be presented!
iiitchell Alagre, "Youth, Conservation, Cemeteries s Using Cemetery
Hestoration to teach Conservation."
John Braunlein, i.iadison County (i:Y) Historical Society, will use the material
collected ''oj Frank ncKelvey, Curator of the wechanical Arts Eleuthesian iiills,
to discuss the work of Peter Jcaies, an 05 ye&r stonecutter from Cooperstown,i-iY
Robert Pc liJnlen, Bhode Island Historical Society? Problems connected with
private and institutional collection of actual stones 5 including legal and
ethical aspects, and the need for preservation vs. the collectors* greed.
Becky Hoskins, "liautical Spibols on gravestones" (if ready)
G. H. Jones, i;ex\r York State Historical Association, Gooperstowns "Ithamar
Spaulding, Stonecarver of Concord, iiassachusetts, l^yO's."
Blanche Linden, Instructor, Boston Architectural Center, and graduate
student, Harvard University, "The iJilloxf Tree and Urn iiotif."
Vincent F. Lute, "The ijarragansett School(s) of Stonecarving.'= (the Stevens,
the Aliens, the i.evjs, the Hartshorns, John Anthony Angel, an unlisted Bristol
carver, and others , )
William iicC-reer, '-uethods of Replications Care of the Stones in liaking
Replicas and Rubbings."
Daniel Patterson, Gurriculura in Folklore, University of r:orth Carolines
"Eighteenth Century Presbyterian Stone Carving in i-^orth Caroline."
James Mcharc).son, Chainaa;.i, Department of Anthropology, University of
Pittsburgh, and Chief Curator, Carnegie nuseui;;, of iiatural Historys "The
Archaeological Significance of iiausoleujnsg An Example from the Allegheny
and Homewood Cemeteries of Pittsburgh."
James Tibensky, "Colonial Stone ilotifs in Connecticut" (if ready)
David Watters, Un^^ersity of Uew Hampshire! "Tlie J. ii. Carver, His Identity
anf the Themes of His liork."
-3-
iielvln L . Williams, "Use of the Local Lrraveyard as a Source of Hands-On
Historical Hesource for School Gliildren.'-
Paul Y. Z\il^asj "Oriir,in and Development of Central Connecticut Stonecutting
Styles? 1720-1800."
iiost of the papers will be illustrated VTith slides. At this time, vre have only
two presentations of slides alone. Tliey are offered by Ruth Cowell and by Francis
Duval and Ivan Pdgby. Others are welcome. Use the enclosed pinl^ sheet to volun-
teer a short slide presentation.
A strict order and time schedule will be established and followed so that you
can studjr ,the offerings in advance and select the presentations which most
interest j/'ou. life expect to publish a conference proceedin^is which could cut^Tn
more complete findinQ:s. Speakers vrho wish to have their work cons.iriprp'5 for
inclusion in this voluiae should prepare a typescript to be submitted by the
close of the conference.
Exhibition Hij-^hlif^ts (many of the esdiibited works will be for sale.)
Rubbin£,s and photographs, always a conference higlildfiht, will again dominate
the exhibits. Of special interest are rubMngs of Pennsylvania Lerman stones
by Aileen Sechler and photographs of iiorth Carolina stones pierced through by
their decorative carvings. These photographs are the viork of Ivan Pdgby and
Francis Duval, whose beautiful new book. Early American (_ raves tone Art^Jx
Photog-raphs. will be on display and available for purchase, and for autographing
by the authors. An unusual rubbing technique will be seen in the works of helvin
G. viilliams, well known for his courses in rubbing, iir. i/illiams, a professor of
English at American International College, Springfield, liA, and author of The Last
Uord, raay also exl:iibit books and Oldstone rubbing materials. Others who have
volunteered photograph and rubbing exhibits are Dan Farber, who has 7000 E^ave-
stone photographs in museums 5 i.ichael Cornish, vrhose work is currently exhibited
at the iiassachusetts School of Art? Susan Kelly and Anne liilliams, partners in
the enterprise, A L.PtAVE BUSIi.ijBSs and Paul v. Zucas, ^^^hose exhibit of photographs
and rubbings will support his paper. A new exhibitor, IJilliam Sargent, will show
bisque molds, viilliam ncueer will again bring an exliibit of his castings, which
now include two large composites of the works of several stone carvers
ASSOGIATIOi: FOR C-MViIBT0i:S STUDIES
1979 COivFEREi.CE SCHEDULE
Salve Regina College, ilei-rport, PJ
Saturday, July 7 - Sunday, July 8
FRIDAY July 6 Check in for persons who will spend a day and a night
in iiewport before the conference begins.
SATURDAY July 7
9 5 00 a.m. Pre-conference meeting of AL-S Executive JBoard.
9 s 00 - 11 8 00 Check into rooifis.
Set up ejdiibits.
Registration for those not pre-registered by mail.
llsOO - lls'^5 Opening Session. Ralph Tucker presiding.
Speakers ri3:s . John Howard Lenson of the
John Stevens Shop, i-eTiport.
12s 00 - Is 00 Lucch (Several tables xiill be designated by interest
subjects so that conferees with the same interests may
sit together.)
Is 15 Bus leaves for Common Burying Ground.
Is 30 - 38 35 Introduction to the Common Burying Ground by Edwin
Connelly, Cemeteries Director for the State of RI.
.1^-
lOO ~ 305 l.uided visits to four I;e>rport frraveyards . You may
elect to visit all four or stay at any one.
Luided visits to the John Stevens Shop.
305 Bus retunis to confez'ence headquarteax .
4s00 - ^■i^■5 Films "The Art of the Stonecutter" (tentative title of
this film alxjut the John Stevens Shop, the- work of two
cinematographexB at the Miode Island School of Design.)
kil-'S - OS 00 Free time to visit the exhibits and the conference book
sales table, to meet with interest groups, and to ejcplore
the Salve Regina campu?.
5s 15 - 6s 00 Gash bar
6s 00 - 7s 00 Dinner
7s 00 - 7530 Free
7530 Presentation of the 1979 Harriette lierrifield Forbes
Award for Outstanding Contribution to Cravestone Studies
to Peter iienes, Dublin School, Dublin, .i';H. ur, Benes,
author of significant publications on the iconography of
gravestones, is founder and Director of The Dublin Seminar
for i,ew iUngland Follilife, Inc., the pa.r^Ilt organiization to
the Association for Gravestone Studies.
8s 00 p.m. Speakers Professor James Slater, University of Connecticut.
Subjects Color ^n Lravestones (a spoof with a moral.)
9s 00 on... iiember's iiarathon. Short papers, slide presentations and
coffee breaks, continuing as long as there are presenters
and audience.
Sm.!DAy July 0
9s00 a.m. Second General Session. Speakers Edwin Connelly,
Cemeteries Director for the State of lihode Island.
Subjects The Ehode Island Cemeteries Program, including
recent legislation, documentation and conservation
techniques ,
10s 00 - 105^!'5 AGS Annual aeetlng. lilection of officers. The Association
welcomes new blood. Tills is the time to make knoT'in your
ideas for the organization,
lis 00 into the lunch hour
Informal meetings with interest groups for technique and
idea sharing.
Interest goraup leaders
Conservation - Lance i layer
Documentation - Edwin Connelly
Teaching Resources - Gaynel Levine
i;ewsletter talent search - Jessie Lie Farber
Photography - Francis Duval and Ivan Piigby
Public Jid.ucation - Joanne Baker
Attributions - Ralph Tuclcer
lobbing - Glo Klrby
Archives - Jim Slater or Peter Lenes
iiolds and castings - iJilliam iicl.,eer
Others? Suggestions welcome.
12s 00 - Is 00 Lunch
Is 00 Third., final general session. Election results announced!
new officers installed.
Speakers Jonathan Falrbanlcs , Curator, Department of American
Decorative Arts, iiuseuia of Fine Arts, Boston, inc. Fairbanlsis
will relate the carving on gravestones to other early American-
art.
-5-
liEiiBfilBHIP POM PRli;_REC.ISTPATIOi': FOffii fiOOil & liEAL RESER'ATIOi.S
liail this form with a check made out to Association for Gravestone Studies tos
Joanne Baker
AC'S Conference Chair
6k i'-Jorth Lain Street
Concord, i<H O33OI
liEllBEllSHIP lb THE ASSOCIATIOii FOR G RAVES TOliE STUDIES
Dues are :j)10. Conferees must be ACtS raerabers.
( ) 1 want to join ACS.
( ) Please brini^ my membership up to date. $
( ) I am a iaeraber in cood s "banding.
COi^FEREl^CB Rlil.ISTMTIQi-! FEE
( ) I want to pre-rec,ister at $9 • $
( ) I expect to register at the conference at $12.
COKFEREIiCE HOUSIIjC- Al.D iJEAIS (Rooms are not available without meals 1
meals are available without room . )
( ) Please reserve a room and meal tickets for the conference
(lunch, dinner and overni/^ht July 7s breakfast and lunch
July 3 ) ' $
Single occupancys room and 4 meals - $29-25
Double occupancys room and U- meals - $24.25
( ) I expect to share my double room T'dth
I'd like you to assign a roommate,
I do not need housing but want to take my meals at the
conference dining room, four meals for $13« ... ......••.•• • •$
PRE Al-iD POST COi:FEREr.CE HOUSILl- (no meals included)
Send $10 deposit or full payment.
Please reserve a room for the nights of
( ) Friday^ July 6 ( ) Single ( ) Double... $
( ) Sunday, July 8 ( ) Single ( ) Double. ........... .$
Single occupancy - $16
Double occupancy - $11 TOTAL Eli CLOSED $_
r.AiiE ^
ADDRliBS ____^_
IhSTITUTIOi-i (if any)_
COl-ulEKTS? SUGGjSTIOiS? PAl-^EiS, SLIDES, EXIilBITS TO COiJTRIBUTE?
-o-
SUGGESTIOi-iS FOR POST COi'.FEEiiEGE ACTIVITY
Continued work with interest {^roups
Visits to nine Hex-rport graveyards. A mai? and visitors' £^;uide will be provided.
Visits to Kevrport's liansions and other aites.
Chamber of Gonmerce inforraation will be provided.
An interview with Mwin <J. Connelly of hewport, Rliode Island by Ilary C. Emhardt.
1. How and when did the office, Cemeteries, Director For The State of iiiiode Island
come into beinj^:?
The Graves Re£;istration Unit of the State Office of leterans Affairs, since 19579
was directed; to record, and mark with a siyi the burial grounds of JRIiode Islands
to record the £rave sites of war veterans.
In 1975 state af.encies were directed by the governor to exaiaine potential areas
vrhich could influence iHhode Island's celebration of the Bicentennial, iiany volun-
teer efforts in burial ground clean-up began throughout the State. The office of
Veterans Affaiis because the central clearing house for these volunteers efforts.
The docuiv.entation and restoration of the Common Buryint, C-romid, Newport, because
the model for a state wide effort. In 1975 Edwin l/ilmot Connelly was hired to
coordinate this state wide effort and clean-up projects by boy and girl scout
troops, Army Reserve Units, CETa employees, local groups and individuals were
begxin.
2. When were you appointed Director and what are your state duties?
The Rhode Island Cemeteries Program became a unit of the Office of Veterans Affairs
in 1977. The duties of the Cemeteries Director include:" The Docmuentation and
Restoration of Rliode Island Historical Cemeteries, The Craves Registration Unit,
and The Rhode Island Veterans Cemetery. '■-■ •;, ;■/.■ '■■■.■;
llork-time Allotment of Rhode Island Cemeteries Director
a. l^Oya Historical Cemeteries
b. kCf/b Rliode Island Veterans Cemetery, Exeter, RI
c. 20^;; Graves Registration
a. ^■0r- - Historical Cemeteries s The State does not have a maintenance department
for cemeterir management, i/e, however, assist cities, toims and private owners
with their management problems when requested, lie often are informed of
problems by individual citizens and will attempt problem solving though volun-
teer help as well as CElA, Public Work Department emploj^ees.
With over 2000 recorded cemeteries located throu£;Jiout the state of Rhode
Island, it would require a large full time staff of .over 50 employees just to
cut the grass and do some minor maintenance tasks. A basic question to the
problem iss uhen does tax exempt private property become the responsibility
of the government? Is management of abandoned and neglected property the
responsibility of the tax payers?
b. kOfo - Rliode Island veterans Cemetery, Exeter s The state Veterans Cemetery
was dedicated in 1974 and has become a major responsibility of mine. In
five years ^^re have recorded 1400 graves ites and average six interments per
week. The development and management of the 65 acres. Rhode Island veterans
Cemetery is an irapor-tant segjuent of the Rhode Island Cemeteries Program.
-7-
3. How laxge is your staff?
State employ ^ , CETA 5 i Volunteer varies
4. How many hours do you spend per vreek on this work? 50 hours
In the office 25 In the field 25
5. How have you set up liaison betwen your office and the towns?
And is funding from the state available for town i/orkers?
Through? Town clerk, Public Works Department, iiayors, Police.
No state funds are available,
6. How many cemeteries have been recorded to date?
Communal 120 Private I9OO iCst, number of stones 22.000
7. What percentage of these cemeteries receive annual upkeep?
Private money 10% Est, Tomi/City 2% Est, State money \.% jUst.
8. Are there any of these cemeteries being restored? Yes
If so J hovf funded?
Federal, State, City, and Private liHinding
9. Viihat will be the final disposition of the records amassed in your vrork,
and will they be available to the general public?
Records are hoiised at the state Office of Veterans Affairs, 46 Aborn Street,
Providence, HI O2903. Tliese records are open to the public with staff assistance.
10. Give some of the details leading to the enactment of House j3ill -,t^WL2,
being an ACT relating to Cliineteries , etc.
79H-54I2 - The intent of this J3ill is the protection of recorded cemeteries
through the placing of the symbols CiOii on the tax plat or any instrument the
cities and toxms use in establishing property omiership. uTnen property is trans-
fered from the present oirner to the buj'-er. The buif^er will be made aware of the
presence of a historical cemeteiy located within the property being sold,
10a, In this ACT xrhat, specifically, constitutes a "historic" cemetery?
■ The state of Phode Island in recording the burial grounds has designated each
burial ground "Historical Cemetery''. The designation Historical is based on:
people of the past showing the development or evolution in a chronological order.
The biirial grounds provide a historical account of Iiihode Island.
10b, ufhy weren't all cemeteries included?
All record.ed Rhode Island Burial t rounds are classed '-Historical".
-8-
The John Steveiis bhop, i..ewf)OTt, liliode Island by Anne C iesecke
John Stevens s ''But somethinG happened as he began to use the chisel in the
native Levrport stone. He began to invent with it. Since certain kinds of lines
and- curves are the most natural ones to carve, these lines and curves becarae his
vocabulary. A series of brisk, easy strokes forra a flowered Ixirder. Stems and
platforms create a natiiral letter form. He had a strong innate design sense
perfectly suited to his nevf medium; birds and floTfeiB came out of his fingers;
an hourglass to fill the arch of a headstone top; placid cherubs to replace the
chattering death's heads of the early stones."
The Stevens worked in the shop from the early I700's until 192? when the shop
wets bought by John Howard Benson, xiensons have continued the tradition of hand
letterin{; in stone from the Boston Public Library to the John and Robert Kennedy
l.emo rials in Arlington Cemetery.
According to the current Hohn Benson «=There only are twenty-six letters, or
fifty- two counting both upper and lower case, and ten numerals, Sven throwing
in punctuation vre can only get a total of about seventy characters, Seventjr little
mariis, dominating the lives of nine generations of hard-working people for nearly
three hundred, years. It aLmost seems like some sort of dementia. But, of course,
there is a catch. Just vrhat is a good, letter? That's the rub. Letters are lilie
any other article of applied design. Their excellence depends, at any time in
history, on their fulfillment of a series of requirements within a more or less
rigidly structured framework. It is an interesting aspect of the field that,
over the years, this framevrork has become less and less well-defined. iJe have
reached a point toda3'- where the art directors of i.adison Avenue, or the sign
mariners of Las Vegas have at their disposal an almost infinite variety of letter
forms; any on of vrhich, depending upon the cleverness of its user, can be made,
by context and application, into a workable letter. This is the main reason why
large-scale lettering of our time is in such a chaotic state. The framework is
too wide. It's like opening one's closet and having to pick from a thousand pairs
of shoes,"
See the shop when you attend the conferxiece or during any visit to liewport.
Conversations with Katharine Brskine by Jessie Farber
Katliarine iirskine is the daughter of Harriette i.errifield Forbes, She lives in
the house, and sleeps in the ver^r room in which she i^as born 89 years ago. Dan -
and Jessie Lie Farber have been tallying with her about her famous mother, and
recording her remarl^ on tape. A transcription of these conversations will be
for sale at the lievrport conference at a nominal price.
Here are excerpts from some of her stories s
Oftentimes someone would come buzzing up to mother and say "Oh, lirs,
Forbes, I know how interested you are in gravestones and you might
like this epitath." And then they'd recite one of those supposedly
amusing ones, and they very often xfere amiisiug. uy mother couldn't
care less. iCverybody was interested in epitaths and. she iras almost
the only one \<iho had got onto the idea that the early gravestones
were really irorlis of art,
I think she appreciated humor, but I don't thinJc she was one to
repeat anecdotes, i.y father would do that. He'd be the one to tell
some kind of a tale. I remember many a time people saying to me that
they liked to sit beside my father at a, say, d.inner party because he
was so interesting to tall?: to. They never said that to me about my
mother.
-9-
I'irs. Ersklne tells about the tine Teddy Roosevelt came to Worcester to tallt, and
so many people came to i;echanics Hall to hear him that there was no room for all
of then, so the women, x\rho hacl no vote were told to wait outside. Harriett e
Forbes, alon^^ with all of those other women, hung around on liain Street, without
money to even buy a soda, because in those days the men carried the cash. iirs.
Erskine recalls, "r'o, we weren't mad at my father because we linderstood that he
and my brother wanted to be sure they c,ot in. iJe were mad that they thought
women didn't count. . .Liother always believed in suffrare. She was staunch for
votes for women, thou^i she wasn't the kind that went out and smashed windows."
She related that her parents had. the tjrpical standards that you associate with
the New England family. "They took it for granted that you never told a lie.
That you never stole. You did good to the poor and went to church and looked
after your nei{:,hbor if the neighbor need it....iJe were i^rimarlly not an emotional
farnil^. . .That was a i^ew England tradition".
In answer to a question about physical appearance, she said, "hy mother vras short
and little, a very dainty type of build... She was very white-haired...! can't
remember when she ever had gray hair. It was alwaj^ white. I remember her
saying one time that she found her first white hair when she was, I thijjl^, 16...
I thinic she was about five feet, or five feet two.«=
For breakfast, she said, the family usually had tripe or liver or creamed codfish
on toast. Eggs and bacon or ham were not usual breaJcfast foods. Surprisingly
enough, for breakfast my mother only had a little dish of trapenuts . She ate
them with no sugar or cream. That was her whole breakfast. . .hy mother never
took meat. She ate everything in the vray of vegetables though."
She tells s I remember one time mother had a d.ress made and it cost about $100.
That wasn't as much as it may seem because dresses were all made by hand and vrith
all the trimming and. the underlining and whatever, it was a work of many, many
hours, iiy father said, "VIell, Its a lot of money to put into one dress," and my
mother said, ''Yes, but I'll get a lot of wear out of it." 'So then, being tjrpical
of her, she kept a record. Eyery time she wore the dress, she made a mark, and
eventually it got to where she'd worn the dress enou^ji times so that it was down
to 50 cents a tine, out of the $100. It must have been 200 times she'd worn the
dress, and she was still x-rearing it.
And many, many more stories~25 pages of them.
Biogra,phy of Peter Benes
A doctoral candidate in the American and Liexj England Studies Program at Boston
University, Peter i3enes teaches history at the Dublin School in Dublin, i.iew
Hampshire, and at Keene State College. He is the founder and co-direc-tor of the
Dublin Serainar for i;ew England Follclife, a conference series sponsored jointly
by the Dublin School and Boston University, and a co-founder of the Association
for Gravestone Studies. His articles on kew England his'tory and material culture
have appeared in Old Time i:ew Bnr:land. Historical i'iew Hampshire, ifesex Institute
Historical Collections. Connecticut Historical Society Bulletin, and Proceedinf-s
of the Dublin Seminar for J-'ew Eligj^ajid^qjjy^ife. He is currentn.y editing the
gravestone papers of Dr. Ernest Caulfield of Connecticut.
ITBiiS OF Il'iTEREST
Forbes negatives by Daniel Farber
-10-
Harriette iierrifield Forbes made her photorraiDhs of gravestones on 5 x ?
f;:lass negatives, which are in the possession of the Araerican Antiquarian Society.
In order to insure their perraanence, the Aiat Antiqu. Soc, has had them copied
onto modern film, and are offering the £;lass originals for sale. Hie Association
for Gravestone Studies will have a numher of these on display, -and. for sale, at
the i^ewport conference. The price will be $10,00, half of which £,oes to the Am.
Antiqu. Society, and half for L raves tone Studies.
iiost of the negatives are still in Harriette Forbes' envelopes, marked in
her handxncitinr; with the najiie, of the deceased, location and date of death, and
the date on which she mad.e the picture.-
iiews letter brief item by Lance i^ayer
A nationally-circulated antiques newsletter recently featured an advertise-
ment in which a iiew York dealer offered, for sale a fragment of an eighteenth-
century gravestone, laounted on a lucite base, presumably foT display as a coffee
table ob.jet d'art. This writer had heard ixuiiors of dealers looking for grave-
stones to sell, but was franJ<;ly shocked, by this exaraple, and is afraid that it
could be the beginning of a dangerous trend.
So many early stones are stolen each year that the private posgssion of any
gravestone or fragment is obviously a very dubious ethical proposition. ALS
believes that every effort should be made, in such cases, to return stones to
the cemeteries from which they came, or, in the case of frag^aents or untraceable
stones, to deposit them in appropriate public institutions.
Action on the local level, by individuals who are concerned about problems
lil'ce this, can malie a difference. If cemeteries are properly documented, stolen
stones can be identified and returned. Interested groups can reset loose, easily
stealable stones, and consider the possibility of storing fragments in a safe
place, such as a church or historical society. (Local laifs should always be
investigated firstJ) Tliese topics are discussed further in an AGS pamphlet,
Recomiaendatlon.s for the Care of l:ravestones, and, at greater length, in an AGS
handbook on cemetery care which ia in preparation,
lastly, the voice of the x^ublic can be brought to bear upon those who would
mal<:e a profit from the sale of part of our cultural heritage. Several years ago,
a proposed auction of privately-owned gravestones in Lew England had a happy
ending when public outcry was such that the sale wais cancelled and the stones
donated to a museuju. Cases like this and the- i:ew York example may become more
frequent, and their outcome will be determined by whether ind.ividuals can make a
concerted effort to resist them. •
The Venanr,o iiaster by i,alcoLm A. r:elson
The quiet glow of antiquity, and. our mortal respect for the survivors of
tliiie and. mutability, make an appreciation of uJarly American gravestones natural
to thoughtful people. A pleasant adjunct to this is the study of unusual modem
stones.
Lost modern memorials are, of course, mass produced, and uninteresting, as
representative of modem thought and art cis loaves of IJonder Bread. Tlie occa-
sional distinctive stone is delightful for its rarity as well as for its character
or beauty. As we often do, we stopped at a graveyard to look for early, good,
rubbable stones. Our local area (ifestem Lew York state and Lorthem Pennsyl-
vania) is not a particularly good site for fine stones of an3'' vintage. Thus,
thougli we have had occasional good luck, we never expect much. We stopped in a
very small tox-m called Venango, Pennsjrlvania, and poked, about until we found
the graveyard. After an hour or so of m.oderately interesting looking, we were
ready to leave.
-11-
Then, in the last and newest comer of the graveyard, we saw a dazzling,
heart shaped pink stone inscribed with the Boy Scout Insignia, and apparently
given by Pack 236, Den 2, to its former Den hother, Gertrude Lewis iicClearn.
We enjoyed it somewhat irreverently, ajid the hcCleam stone by itself would have
made the sidetrip worthwhile. But Serendipity led us from it to another imme-
diately behind it, and thus to one of the most unusual modem stones we have seen.
It is a large (more than two by three feet), severe, dark memorial to Gerald
("Jerry") Armel, I93O-I974, presumably placed there by his still living wife,
Dorothy ("Kitty"), 1931- • Its decoration is simple and stark, only two
conventional flower motifs, except for its astounding central device: a perfect
eighteen-irich replica of a steel-hauling, five-axle, diesel semi-trailer, chisel-
led in bas relief, with "Diamond Reo" proudly emblazoned on the hood.
We know no more than this. It pleases us to attribute it to "the anonymous
Venango haster, " as we do some hedieval plays. We intend to investigate Venango
and other nearby towns to discover the identify of the stonecutter, and to find
other examples of his work. There are a few other unusual stones in Venango
which may also be his work, but they are not necessarily unique, as this must
siirely be.
When we ask ourselves what of beauty or wit or originality will survive
from the cookie-cutter memorial art of recent decades for students of American
art and folk culture a century from now, we like to think they will be nearly
as intrigued by stones of this sort as we are by the folk art of Puritans l>iew
England. We would welcome information on other unusual modem stones.
Practical Experience In Archaeology . "
Session I s July 9 - 20, I979
Session II: July 23 - August 3, 1979
A field school for amateurs or paraprofessionals: Be part of the coastal
Zone survey of bew Hampshire - course will include one week of excavation deter-
mining parameters and significance of an historic site in Exeter, NH. Week two
will offer opportunities for archival research, site survey, mapping
or laboratory methods. A background lecture will be presented on
Sunday evening (July 8/22. Field work will begin on Monday morning
(July 9/23) .
Course will offer 2 graduate or undergraduate credits/inservice
training for teachers/audit.
For further details contact: Billee M. Hoornbeek, archaeolo-
gical reasearch services. Department of Sociology § Anthropology,
Horton Social Science Center, University of New Hampshire, Durham,
New Hampshire. Phone: (603) 862-1547
REGIONAL NEWS
Clippings ^rom the Grass roo^ts by MajnLJ?^'- ^i^l^A^u^t.
As it turns out I have only the dates for Maine Old Cemetery
Association (MOCA) spring meeting as yet: Registration 9 a.m. @
$2.00 per person at Maine Maritime Academy in Castine, Maine in the
Magaret Chase Smith Gymnasium.
Saturday, May 19 Program
9:00 a.m. Registration, Coffee and donuts
10:00 Announcements
10:30 Eastern New England Historical Backgrounds
Dr. Gardner E. Gregory of Castine
11:30 Business Meeting
1:15 p.m. "The Penobscot Expedition Re-reenactment"
Col. Eugene R. Johnson of Stockton Springs
Sandwiches for sale - Free coffee and donuts. Baby-sitting service.
BOOK REVIEWS
12-
Duval, Francis Y. and Ivan B. Rigby. Early American Gravestone Art
in Photographs . New York: Dover Publications, 1978. 133pp.
Th
article
work is
201 pho
motifs ,
19th ce
So
usual m
example
the aut
Later,
attribu
a black
are art
emphasi
Stevens
ments o
as that
the Kil
effect .
On
the cho
picture
of the
The tec
present
graphy
her inv
ose who
s of Fr
now av
tograph
and a
nturies
me of t
eticulo
s , howe
hors de
a three
tes of
backgr
forms
zed and
II pea
f the c
used o
burn ch
hace admired the stunning photogra
ancis Duval and Ivan Rigby will be
ailable in book form. Their Dover
s, a list of burial grounds, a list
list of documented stonecarvers of
he photograph
us attention
ver, are phot
scribe a proc
dimensional
the original,
ound under st
in themselves
subtle detai
cock is visib
arver's work,
n a crowned e
ildren stone
s were ta
to lighti
ographs o
ess where
replica c
is produ
udio ligh
In som
1 made ev
le, for e
In othe
ffigy fro
(cover ph
ken
ng a
f ca
by t
onta
ced
t .
e ca
iden
xamp
r ca
m Ha
oto)
in t
nd d
stin
hey
inin
and
The
ses ,
t.
le,
ses ,
dley
ere
he fi
etail
gs.
make
g all
photo
resul
ston
Every
revea
bott
, Mas
ates
phic exhibits and
delighted that their
publications contain;
of gravestone
the 17th, 18th, and
eld with the author':
The most dramatic
In the Forward,
a mold in the field.
the textural
graphed against
ting photographs
e texture is
feather of a John
ling the refine-
om lighting, such
sachusetts oy on
an almost surreal
e might argue that extreme lighting distorts reality or that
ice of only the most unique examples gives an incomplete
of gravestone art. Such observations, however, lose sight
book's purpose: to interest the reader in gravestone art.
hnical excellence of the photographs and their striking
ation accomplish this magnificently. Moreover, the biblio-
and various lists give the reader the tools to continue his/
estigation.
NHPRC Directory:
Commiss
and Man
ion announc
u script Rep
The N
es th
osito
tion on 3,250 instituti
historical records, was
of more than 11,000 lib
institutions. The 905-
contain documents, phot
interviews, and other s
alphabetically by state
ing includes name of re
service, availability o
descriptions of the ins
of historical source ma
graphic references. Ot
hensive index to subjec
tutions by type (such a
and state historical so
records programs within
The Directory, may
Archives and Records Se
Branch (NEPS) , National
20408
ationa
e publ
ries .
ons th
compi
raries
page D
ograph
ource
, town
posito
f copy
tituti
terial
her f e
ts and
s corp
cietie
each
be or
rvice .
Archi
1 Historical
ication of i
The Directo
roughout the
led by means
, archives,
irectory rep
s, architect
materials .
, and reposi
ry, address,
ing faciliti
on ' s acquisi
s, and citat
atures of th
proper name
orate archiv
s) , and desc
state .
dered for $2
Fund, from
ves and Reco
Publications and Records
ts 19 78 Directory of Archiver
ry , which contains informa-
United States housing
of a nationwide survey
museums, and similar
orts on repositories that
ural drawings, oral history
Entries are arranged
tory name. A typical list-
telephone number, hours of
es, restrictions on access,
tion policy and holdings
ions to published blblio-
e volume include a compre-
s, special lists of insti-
es, religious archives,
riptions of local public
5, payable to the National
the Publications Sales
rds Service, V/ashington , DC
-13-
ARTICLSS
Making Photographic Records Of Gravestones by Dciniel Farber, for Association
for Gravestone Studies
Photographs of gravestones should be made only in bright sunlight. Hazy and
cloudy conditions produce inferior pictures. The sunlight should fall across the
face of the stone at a raking angle, that is, from the side or top, at an angle
of no more than 30 degrees. ^i^^
^ ^<-ac<^ <rf \\c-r<C-
If the sun is in front of tne stone, instead of to the side or top, the
details of the stone ♦s design will not show prominently.
Jo'
C-^
-Y-V^;^, »v-.c^^x<;. ^ fOOr- j^iC-Vuv^c
The sunlight strikes any one stone at this favorable angle for a period of about
1-2 hours each day, so the photographer must know when to be there. In most New
England burying grounds the stones face West, so that they are in position for
photography ?t about 1200 to 1:30 P.M. standard time. Stones that face South are
in favorable position all day in midsummer, but are lighted from the front at all
other seasons. -^Jli"
A.
<^.C^ 5.' .../•>
Dependance on the postion of the sun can be avoided by the use of a mirror.
Sears Roebuck sells a 20"x60" float-glass door mirror for $22.99 which is tall
enough to light most stones. If you are interested in photographing only a por-
tion of the gravestone a smaller mirror, perhaps one from your home, is sufficient.
To prevent breakage the mirror should be framed. The frame can be made of plain
pieces of lumber — framing with picture frame by a custom framer is expensive. The
frame should cover the bevels of the Sears mirror, otherwise they will produce
difficult lighting effects. The mirror can be used to light any shaded stone,
provided the mirror is in bright sixnlight. For stones shaded by trees, etc., the
mirror can be positioned as far away as 100 feet.
For best results, plate glass mirror should be used.
Good pictures can be made with a 35 mm. camera. For black-and-white Tri-X
can be used at i/250 or 1/500 second. For color Ektachrome ASA 200 can be used
at 1/250. At these speeds a tripod is not necessary. To make closeup details a
+1 portra lens, costing about $5.00, can be attached to the front of the camera
lens.
The camera should be positioned so that the sides of the stone are seen pa-
rallel with the sides of the viewer. If the camera is pointed upward or downward
the picture of the stones will be distorted. The camera should be positioned close
enough to the stone so that it fills the whole picture. Bird-dimg should be washed
off with brush and water. Wire brush will damage the stone and should not be used.
Irrelevant and disagreeable objects in the background can be eliminated by
the use of a backboard. Formica in any medium color is suitable. Gray should be
avoided, as it will tend to merge with the color of the stone. The formica should
be mounted on t" plywood. The plywood should be enough wider than the formica on
one side so that a hand -hole can be cut into it. The backboard should be cut as
large as will fit through your car door, and as wide as your car will accommodate.
For a shop to make this boazrd, look under "Kitchen Counters" in the yellow pages
of the phone book.
Cu^'i>^'''Of\
■CXKf^i
t e.P'C^iz
^-jfyi tCf^
If you have a companion, he/she can hold the backboard in place. If alone,
it is wedged in place with a light angle iron 48" long, A cushion is placed bet-
ween stone and board to prevent scratching of the board. Stains and scratches
can be removed from the board with furniture polish. A piece of urethane foam
can be used as the cushion, and be secured from the scrap pile of an upholstery
shop, probably at no cost.
Pictures cannot be made when snow is on the ground. Reflection of the sun-
light from the snow destroys the raking effect on the face of the stone.
Please note that all the above information applies to only the documentation
of gravestones. For artistic photography there are no rules, other than your own
taste and judgement.
USE OF LIGHT MTER— If a hand meter is used, it should be brought close to
the stone while leading, so that only the stone and none of the backgroimd is
included. If your camera is equipped with a meter, while making the reading the
camera should be brought close to the stone in the same way.
Essex County Probate Records by Ralph Tucker
Harriette Forbes went thixiugh various county probate records seeking infor-
mation relating to tombstone. Recently her notes were given to the American Anti-
quarian Society and from these we have extracted the notations relating to named
or known carvers as well as the prices paid for the stone and in some cases other
related costs. In a few instances the names were uncertain and hence placed in
parentheses. In some cases dates were uncertain so the range of dates contained
in the given volume of records are given. Prices up until 1796 are given in lbs.,
shillings, pence. At the conclusion of the Essex County records we will publish
the Middlesex County records and then others.
ESSEX COUNTY PROBATE RECORDS
Volume 304 Robt. Savory Bradford I69I
p. 422 To Robert iiulligan 2.19.0
Volume 3O8 Mis. Ann Woodberry Beverly I703
p. 37 To stones for my father & mother's grave OI.I9.O
Volume 309 i'trs. Mary Shute ? 1708 (Buried in
p. 341 To 2 grave stones Salem) 0.^5.0
Volme 310 Samuel (Bradle) Salem 1708
p. 14 To a grave stone 2.10.0
Voliome 311 Joshua Woodman 1714
p. 172 To grave stones O.36.O
Volume 315 John Currier ' ' Haverhill (1722-31)
p. 45 John I'iullakin 0.5. 6
-15-
Volume 315
p. 233
p. 284
p. 294
p.374
p. 396
Volume 321
p.98
p.103
P»129
p. 271
p. 290
P«338
p. 369
Volume 327
p. 474
Volume 329
p,144
p,l70
p,205
p. 339
Po401
p. 441
p. 488
Volume 335
p. 39
p. 260
Volume 339
p. 68
p. 95
P«137
p. 234
p. 265
Hannah Smith
Funeral Charges & gravestones
Nathaniel Newhall
1 pr. gravestones
John (Haixaden)
To wath. Emmes
John Knight
To gravestones
Rev, Thomas Symmes
Robert hullikln & John Mullikin
Joseph Ashton
John Hollaman
V/m Gage
To a pr gravestones
Francis Richardson
To a pr. of gravestones
Caleb Hopkinson
John ilullikin & Robert Mullikin
William Jones
To gravestones
vailiam Butler
To gravestones
John Conajit
John Holland for Gi^vestones
Samuel Sedden
To the gravestones
Thomas (West)
Gravestones
Boanerges Rayment
To John Holliman
John Kimball
Robert hulliken & other liullikins
Richard Palmer
John Holliman
Samuel Osgood
A pr. gravestones
Ipswich (1722-31)
10.15.9
Lynn 1725
0.60.0
Gloucester 1725
0.80.0
Newbury (1722-31)
0.25.0
Boxford 1726
0.8.4 & 0.51.2
harblehead I726
0,60.0
Ipswich 1731
2.10,0
Harblehead 1730
3.10„0
Biadford 1732
6.13.4 & 0,40.0
? 1734
0.65.0
Ipswich -
2,17=0
I'iarblehead 1746
10,0,0
Wenham
0.45.0
Beverly 1747
5»1.10
Beverly 1749
9.8.0
Bradford 1750
12.18.6
Salem 1750
0.60.0
Andover 1750
35.O0O
Beverly 1750
2.15.0
Beverly 1750
Robert Woodberry
To Wm. Codner for a pr, gravestones
Jonathan Gonant
Funeral charges to John Orne & gravestones 17»9«0
Gideon (Rea) Salem 1750
To Henry Emmons for gravestones 1.6,8
John Basset liarblehead 1757
Gravestones 0.83.4
Abel Huse Newbury (1757-58)
To 2 pr, of gravestones for father A mother 1.12.0
John Weed Newbury I762
John Homer 0,3.4
Benjamin Thurston Bradford I762
To Robert Mullikin 3.10.0
John Sawyer Haverhill (1764-5)
Joseph Lamson 1,12.0
Capt, James Basson Gloucester 1762
To a pr. of gravestones for sd Dec»d widow 2, 5 •4
John Stone Beverly (1764-5)
For gravestones 1,12.0
-16-
Volume 339
p.339
Volime 350
Po2l
P0I6O
p. 209
P.319
Volume 352
P0I33
P0I69
p. 197
p. 255
p. 3^
Volume 35^
P»35
p. 249
Volume 360
P.174
p. 174
Po260
Volume 361
p. 69
P.85
p. 168
p. 228
Po279
p. 304
p. 328
P037
p. 362
p. 366
P.374
p. 399
Ifon. John Turner, Esq.
To Holliman work at tomb
Thomas Carlton
Joseph iiarble
Ezekiel Woodward
Giraves tones
Jacob Kewhall
Pd for gravestones
Stephen Bartlett
Salem I762
3.l2o0
Bradford 1773
0,10.0
Gloucester 1773
0.60.0
Lynn 1773
2.0.0
Ames bury 1774
Newbury 1776
0.24.0
Haverhill 1776
1.4.0
Manchester I776
3.12.0
Bradford 1777
2.14.0
Beverly 1777
To pad for gravestones & carrying them from Newburyport
1.6.0
John Homan
Pd Joseph Marble
Edward Barnard
To pd Joseph Marble for gravestones
Dea. John Tewkbury
To pd James Ford
Abraham Burbank
To pd. Joseph tlarble for Gravestones
for the deceased and his wife
Rev . John Chipman
To a pr. of gravestones 6.13.4
To pd. freight from Boston & setting the same 0.6.8
Capt. Thomas Saunders Gloucester 1779
To pd for gravestones & hauling 0.60,0
Ebenezer Webster Bradford I78O
Pd, Joseph Marble 0,20.0
John Ela Haverhill I789
To pd. John Marble for gravestones 0,88.0
Johnathan Frye Andover 1789
To pd, James Woodberry for gravestones 1,14,0
William Babcock Manchester I789
To pd. James Woodberry 11.0,0
Elizabeth Byles Beverly 1790
To pd Thomas Park for gravestones 0,18.0
William Atkins Newbury 1790
To 2 pr gravestones fior self and brother 4,18.0
Capt. Joseph Newman Newburyport 1791
To pd Paul No yes for gravestones 3«9'0
Richard Ober Beverly 1791
To pd Thomas Barker for gravestones 0.27«0
James Brown
To pd Joseph Marble for gravestones
Jedidiah Holt
To pd John Dwight for gravestones
Josiah Breed
To pd TheophiliAs Batchelder for gravestones
Thomas Gage Rowley 1791
To pd John Marble for gravestones 0.54.0
Abigail Brown Salem I79I
To pd John Homer's a/c for gravestones 3' 0.0
Hugh Smith Salem 1791
To pd Hosea Roberts for gravestones 2,6,0
Dea. Joshua Beckford Salem 1791
To pd Aaron Woodbury for gravestones 1,4.6
Joseph Hardy Bradford 1791
To pd John Marble for gravestones 0,3^.0
Newbury I79I
Andover I79I
Lynn 1791
2.8.0
3.12.0
2,4,0
-17-
Volume 361
p. ^27
P.515
Volpme 362
p. 22^
p. 403
P.^13.
p. 460
p.494
Volume 363
p. 2
p. 21
p. 210
p. 2^
p. 272
P.367
p. 368
p. 374
p. 385
p. 453
p. 460
. p. 481
p. 509
p. 529
P.543
P=543
p. 553
Volxime 364
P.43
p. 142
p. 165
Aaron Day
To pd John Marble for gravestones
Zebulon Reed
To pd Caleb Lamson
Aj na Poor
To pd Paul Noyes for gravestones
John Lovell
To pd Thomas Park for gravestones
Ralph Cross
To John Park 3 pi". gravestones
Isaac liansfield
To lir. Park for gravestones
John Newman
To pd Paul Noyes for gravestones
Jacob Stevens
To pd Joseph Marble for gravestones
Ezra Upton
To pd Mr. Park for gravestones
John Fletcher
Sept 10 to Paul Noyes 1 pr. gravestone
Zebadiah Abbot
To pd Caleb Lamson for gravestone
John Burrage
To pd Mr. (Martin) for gravestones
Nathaniel Balon
Ipswich 1791
lol6,0
Gloucester 1792
0.15.10
Newbury 1792
1.14.8
Beverly 1793
2.0.0
Newburyport 1793
16.10.0
Marblehe^d 1793
2,8.0
1.13.6
Salisbury 1793
1.17.6
Danvers 1793
0.30.0
Newburypori, 1794
0.52.0
Andover 1794
3.12.0
Lynn 1794
2,10,0
Newburyport 1794
Pd, Mr. Noyes for gravestones & for setting
1.11.6
Ipswich 1794
7,10,0
5»18,9
Newburyport 1794
0.57.9
Salem 1794
0.40.6
Rowley 1795
0,36,0
Ipswich 1795
0.36.0
Ipswich 1795
Michael Farley
To pd Abraham Martin
To pd Abraham Martin
John Stone
To pd Paul Noyes
Joseph Sampson
To pd Levi Maxey for gravestones
Mary Jewett
To pd« Paul Noyes for gravestones
Jacob Goodhue
To pd Thomas Park for gravestone
John Appleton
To pd Thomas Park for Gravestones & for setting up 2.9.6
Solomon Parsons Gloucester 1795
To pd for gravestones, freight from Boston & setting up 9. 0.0
Thomas Lambert Rowley 1795
To pd John Marble for gravestones 3«3.6
Hannah Treadwell Ipswich 1795
To pd Mr. Park for gravestones 2.8.0
Phebe Upton Danvers 1795
14 May 1793 for cash pd ThonEtS Park his a/c 1,7.0
vailiam Dodge Ipswich 1795
To pd Thomas Park for gravestones O.36.O
William Gage Bradford 1795
To pd John Marble for gravestones 2«2.0
William Chapel Mrblehead 1796
To pd Paul Noyes for gravestones 7»0»0
John Choate Ipswich 1?95
To pd Thomas Park for gravestones 0,30.0
-18-
Volume 36^
p. 272
, . p. 307
: p.355,
p.390
p. 399
p. ^13
p.it60
P>467
p. 480
p.481
Voliime 365
p. 12
p*188
p. 217
P-237
p. 3^2
P.345
p. 384
p. 420
p. 449
p,488
p. 494
p. 537
p. 538
Isaac Spofford
To pd Thomas Park for gravestones
Benjamin Fellovfs
To pd Thomas Park for gravestones
Joseph (Slocter?)
To pd Levi Maxey for gravestones
William Hoyt
To pd Daniel ¥eed for gravestones
Abraham Day
To pd John Marble for gravestones
Beverly 1796
$12.00
Ipswich 1796
$7.92
Lynn I796
$16.00
Ames bury 1796
$16.00
Bradford 1796
$20.83
Topsfield 1796
Anna Gummings
To pd Jacob Kimball acct for a pr of gravestones $6.50
Cristopher (Bubier?) Harblehead I796
April 1790 to cash pd the sexton setting gravestones .56
Edmund Kimball
To pd John I-iarble for gravestones
Dr. Samuel Haseltine
To pd John Marble for gravestones
William Kimball
To pd John Marble for gravestones
Sarah Ober ■
To pd Thomas Parks for gravestones
Abner CSieever
To pd Mr. Lamson for gravestones
Wigglesworth Toppan
To pd Paul tiloyes for gravestones
Patty Day
To pd i'ir. Marble for gravestones
John Baptiste Dutan
To pd Paul Wo yes for gravestones
Joseph Titooms
Pd. Paul No yes
Bradford I796
$13.00
Methuen I796
$8.50
Bradford 1796
$12.00
Beverly 1797
$4.83
Lynn 1797
$10.00
wewbury 1797
$10.00
Bradford 1797
$6^00
IMewburyport 1797
$4.00
wewbuiryport 1797
$8.00
Gloucester 1797
Thomas Griffin
To pd Paul No yes for 6 pr gravestones ageable to wjll 25.97
Tabitha Barnard Ames bury 1797
To pd Paul No yes for gravestones $6.00
Henry Titcomb - Newburyport 1797
2 January 1787 to pd for 1 pr gravestones to
Joseph Lamson ' 3 "600
James Parsons Gloucester 1797
( ) $12.50
To pd Thomas Gage for carting gravestones from Ipswich $2.76
Peltiah Kinsman
To pd Thomas Park for gravestones
James Lovett
Pd Thomas Park for gravestones
Rebecca Lovell
To pd Thomas Park for gravestones
Ipswich 1797
Beverly 1798
Beverly 1798
$21.00
$3.33
3
$3.75
Essex County Probate
Robert Mulligan
John Mulligan
Nath. Emmes
Henry Emmes
John Holliman
Jn Holland
Mr. Lamson
1691,1726,32,50,62
1722-31,1726,32
1725
1750
1726,49,50,62
1746
1734/1797,97
-19-
Caleb Lamson 1792,9^
Jos Lamson 1764-5
VJm. Codner 1750
Jn, Homer 1762,91
Jos Marble 1773,76,76,77,77,80,91,93
Jn Marble 1789,91,91,95,95.96,96,96,96
Mr. Marble 1797
Thos Park 1790,91»93,95,95,'95,95,95,96.96,97,97,98,98
Jn Park 1793,93,93
Mr. Park 1793,93,95
Paul Noyes 1791, 92, 93,94,9'+,94,95.96, 97,97,97,97 (6), 97
Jas. Woodberry 1789,89
Aaron Woodbury 1791
Thos, Barker 1791
Theophilus Batchlor 1791
Hosea Roberts 1791
Abraham Martin 1794,9^,9^
Dan. Weed 1796
Levi Maxey 179^,96
Jacob Kimball 1796
Jn Dwight 1791
Jas Ford 1776
1)
NEWSLETTER of the
ASSOCIATION for GRAVESTONE STUDIES
Volume 3, Number 3
Fall 1979
ISSN: 0146-5783
CONTENTS
Heavenly Imps / Evil Demons / Little Men. An article 1
by Ralph Tucker
STONECUTTERS AND THEIR WORKS. First Installment of a series 3
Jonathan and John Loomia of Coventry , Connecticut .
by James Slater
BOOK REVIEWS 5
Life How Short Eternity How Long.
by Deborah Trask
Reviewed by Francis Duval
Stones: 18th Century Scottish Gravestones.
by Betty Willsher and Doreen Hunter
Reviewed by Peter Benes
REGIONAL NEWS .' 7
ITEMS OF INTEREST 8
REQUESTS (for information, materials, what-have-you?) 9
NEWSLETTER deadlines, etc 9
CONFERENCES AND WORKSHOPS 9
AGS OFFICERS AND CONFERENCE PARTICIPANTS 10
AGS MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION 11
HEAVENLY IMPS / EVIL DEMONS / LITTLE MEN
Ralph Tucker
^-J
In the Boston area there are forty-one tombstones located by the author
whose borders contain apparently naked figures, each performing a death-related ac-
tivity. These stones were carved by the "Old Stonecutter" (5 stones dated 1671 to
1688) and by Joseph Lamson (36 stones dated 1686 to 1712). What do these figures
represent?
Harriette Forbes, the first person to seriously study the carvings on co-
lonial tombstones, simply refers to them as "little men" and as some sort of Heavenly
creatures who "...help the soul on its way to Paradise." While she states that they
all have wings, only twenty-eight of the one hundred and ten figures do. Even this
number, however; would justify the figures as representing some sort of Heavenly being.
On the other hand, the overwhelming majority of the figures are engaged in activities
usually associated with human burial rites; some carrying palls (cloth coverings for
caskets), some carrying or lifting/lowering caskets, some carrying arrows, scythes or
hourglasses.
Allan Ludwig, the contemporary scholar, refers to these figures as "evil
demons armed*with arrows of death" (actually only 10 of 110 figures have arrows), as
"imps of the underworld," "imps of death," and "the demons of New England symbolism."
While the figures are undoubtedly associated with death, the underworld or demonic
association is not obvious from the stones themselves. As for being "imps," a care-
ful survey shows that only four of one hundred and ten creatures are identifiable as
being diminutive in size. One also must stretch one's imagination to see cup id-like
putti in these strange characters, who are neither chubby nor coy.
More recently, authors Ann and Dickran Tashjian used the term "messengers
of death," which seems closer to the facts, and "...man in his nakedness..." which,
while accurate in noting the absence of clothes, ignores the presence of wings.
A survey of the stones shows that there are six varieties of creatures:
(1) Twenty-six stones have wingless figures carrying or supporting palls. This type
is not only the most frequent, it is also the earliest used and the only style to
survive after 1706. It is the only type used by the "Old Stonecutter." It was then
used sparingly by Lamson until 1706, when in a burst of popularity it shines forth
on nineteen stones dated to 1712.
(2) Six stones have figures carrying caskets or holding cords as they either raise,
lower or carry caskets. The figures on four of these stones are winged while the
others are not. The time range of these stones is 1689 to 1703.
- 2 -
(3) Two early stones (1686 & 1688) have these figures atop winged skulls with ar-
rows pointed at the top of the skull. These examples are the only ones which make
it clear that the figures are to be seen as "tiny" or diminutive. In the previous
types the figures were apparently intended to be life size in comparison with the
size of the caskets or palls they are handling. While these "head punchers" are
the most nearly malevolent, they are all looking directly out of the stone at the
viewer with an expression that does not appear to the author to be at all demonic.
These two stones are the earliest by Joseph Lamson, and while the two are nearly
identical, Lamson never returned to this style in his numerous works.
r
(4) Another pair of early and atypical stones (1691 & 1692) have wingless figures
in the side panels, full length and in profile, measuring about one foot in actual
carved height. Each figure holds in one hand an hourglass or scythe and in the
other an arrow (a "dart of death"?). These crudely carved figures, while strange
in appearance, seem more sjmibolic than overtly evil. It may be significant that
these stones and those of Type 3 appear shortly before the witchcraft of 1692, and
neither is ever found again, reflecting perhaps an association of these figures
with the spirits and witches of the day.
(5) A late style (1701 to 1705) used on only five stones has the figures supporting
a central hourglass, a somewhat neutral activity, being neither demonic nor Heavenly.
These stones are the first to appear after the witchcraft craze (with the exception
of two in 1694 of the earlier Type 2). The earliest four are winged, but that of
1705 is not.
(6) A single stone of 1706 has a pair of these wingless figures facing each other
holding spears. A small stone for an infant daughter, this stone is unlike all the
rest .
An overall view is now in order. The Type 1 stones are by far the most
common, having started in 1671 (although this first stone may be backdated) with
the five early stones of the "Old Stonecutter" and continued by Lamson up to 1692.
The style is then discontinued for eleven years, when it resumes abruptly. Then
after a prolific flourish they cease in 1712, ten years before Joseph Lamson's death.
Stones of Types 3 and 4 were apparently experimental and quickly discontinued, per-
haps because these types may have seemed more obviously associated with the nega-
tive aspects of death or with the demonic. The Type 2 stones were also experimental,
but their dates extend over a longer period. The carver's inability to decide
whether to use wings and his indecision as to whether to carry/lower/raise the cof-
fins is reflected in this type. Type 5 stones appear briefly following a notable
near-absence of stones with these figures during the witchcraft period, ^nd the
single Type 6 stone appears to be another unfruitful attempt for a new style. Re-
verting to the original Type 1, Lamson ends with a burst of enthusiasm, producing
the bulk of his overall output of stones on which are found these curious figures.
As in much religious art and symbolism, we find not only ambiguity but
ambivalence. We have "little men" who are also life sized; sometimes winged, yet
engaged in human tasks of the current burial rites; symbolic in their attitudes,
yet mistaken by some as representations of Indians! It is perhaps best to withold
judgment as to exactly what was in the carver's mind except to speculate that he
may have been "impish" when he carved these stones.
A study in depth of these carvings and others when discovered may give
sufficient data to enlighten us concerning colonial beliefs and folk customs — be
they Heavenly or demonic — and release interpretative clues to some of their meanings.
The Rev., Ralph Tuoker is Past president of the Association
for Gravestone Studies. He lives in West Newbury, Massachusetts .
D
Following is the first installment of a
Newsletter feature identifying
STONECUTTERS AND THEIR WORKS
JONATHAN AND JOHN LOOMIS OF COVENTRY, CONNECTICUT
James Slater
One of the fascinating aspects of gravestone study is the attempt to
discover who carved the old colonial stones. In addition to the famous carvers
whose work is well known, widespread and much appreciated, there are many more car-
vers whose work is relatively little known and is usually restricted to a limited
geographical area.
The Loomis family of Coventry, Connecticut, is such a group. While I
was studying the work of eastern Connecticut's early master carver, Obadiah Wheeler,
I was struck by the presence in several cemeteries of stones that had somewhat the
appearance of Wheeler stones but were obviously not the work of his hand and were
also dated somewhat later.
When one is interested in discovering who carved Connecticut gravestones,
one always turns to the great wealth of unpublished material accumulated by the late
Dr. Ernest Caulfield, and one usually finds that Caulfield had important information.
Thanks to the generosity of Peter Benes, Caulfield ',s information was made available
to me. The biographical data given below and the first identification of the carvers,
as is so often the case, was painstakingly worked out by Dr. Caulfield.
In the two major Coventry cemeteries there are seventy-one schist stones,
often of large size, with rather sleepy, half-closed eyes, that Caulfield, in his
usual, inimitable way, called "hybrid -stones. " The "hybridization" is due to the
stones usually incorporating a face pattern in the lunettes and a horizontal border
below the lunette consisting of a central heart and lateral six-rayed rosettes that
BARTLETT BORDER WITH "DOUBLE ANCHORS"
WHEELER 'DERIVED HEART AND ROSETTES
are obviously derived from the style of Obadiah Wheeler. At the same time, the stones
have a series of three to six curl-like wings in the lunette (see figure at the top
of this page) and frequently a series of what I somewhat facetiously refer to as dou-
ble anchors in the border panels. These last motifs are just as obviously derived
from the style of Gershom Bartlett,, the famous "hook and eye" carver. Indeed, the
earliest of these stones (in the Coventry South Cemetery) have somewhat swollen noses,
even further strengthening their resemblance to the stones of the old "hook and eye"
man. Dr. Caulfield was able to establish by probate evidence from the stone for
Joseph Miner (1774) that the carver of most of these "hybrid" stones was Jonathan
'Loomis of Coventry, Connecticut.
Jonathan Loomis was born (1722) and raised in Lebanon, Connecticut. He
moved to Coventry in 1744 with his wife Margaret, and there his three children were
born. In 1750 he bought an acre of quarry land in Bolton "at a place commonly cal-
led the notch of the mountain." Interestingly, this land was purchased from Edmund
Bartlett, brother of the carver Gershom Bartlett. Gershom owned adjacent land and
Dr. Caulfield believed that Jonathan Loomis probably worked for him. Little else is
known about Jonathan Loomis other than land purchases he made in the Coventry area.
He died in 1785 and his son John inherited the quarry. r
There is no probate evidence nor any signed stone to directly prove that
John Loomis was a stonecutter. His probate papers indicate that he surely was. When
he died in 1791 his estate contained compasses, chisels, two stone hammers, a stone
pick and six pairs of gravestones. Dr. Caulfield believed he was also a woodworker
as his estate contained eighty feet of maple boards and some joiner's tools.
Evidence from the Coventry stones themselves support the belief that John
Loomis succeeded his father as a gravestone carver. Loomis-style stones continued
to be carved after the father's death in 1785 until 1790, when production abruptly
stopped. A total of eight stones were made in that five year period, three of them
in 1790. Loomis stones began to change stylistically in the 1770' s, when serrated
UNDULATING ROPE-LIKE BORDER
HAIR-LIKE
STREAKS
SNOWFLAKE-LIKE DESIGNS
and undulating rope-like borders began to supersede the double anchor, and strange
hair-like streaks appeared above the face and snowf lake-like designs below the
lunette, all indicating that a second carver (presumably John) had entered the
trade with his father.
John's widow Irene sold the quarry to John Walden, jr. John's son
Amasa was left the stone hammers, compasses and chisels. Amasa also became a well
known carver, who will be discussed in a subsequent article.
The graves of Jonathan Loomis and John Loomis are both in the South
Street Coventry Cemetery. Their stones appear to have been carved by Thatcher
Lathrop. It is difficult to understand why John Loomis did not carve his father's
stone. That he did not suggests that both stones may have been produced after
John's death in 1791. His son Amasa, born about 1773, may not have been an active
carver by 1791. Stones attributable to Amasa show no stylistic influence from
Jonathan or John but are influenced by the Manning School.
I am in the process of studying these stones in detail to trace the
evolution of style and, if possible, to separate the work of Jonathan from that of
his son John. As always, interesting problems of attribution arise with certain
stones. Also involved may be an additional and as yet unidentified earlier carver
who appears to have influenced Jonathan Loomis. Possibly this carver was Julius
Collins, the son of Benjamin and brother of Zerubbabel Collins.
Loomis stones occur in eastern Connecticut in Scotland, Colchester,
Columbia, Lebanon, Andover, Storrs, Mansfield (three cemeteries: Pink Ravine,
Mansfield Center and Storrs), Tolland, Hebron, Windham Center, Hanover and New
London.
The probated Joseph Miner stone is in poor condition in a small cemetery
on Silver Street, Coventry, just south of the junction with Route 44a.
Bv. Slater is Professor of Entomology at the University of Connecticut , Storrs.
Angels discovered recently by Daniel and
Jessie Lie Farber in Moosup, Connecticut.
BOOK REVIEWS
Life How Short Eternity How Long: Gravestone Carving and Carvers in
Nova Scotia.
By Deborah Trask
Illustrated. 100 pp. Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada:
The Nova Scotia Museum. 1978, Hardcover $10.85; softcover $6.50.
Review by Francis Duval
Gravestone art buffs and scholars alike will delight in this illustrated
study. Its publication is most welcome because data on and photographs of Nova
Scotia gravestones were previously unavailable in book form. Author Trask, an Assis-
tant Curator in the History Section of the Nova Scotia Museum, photographed exten-
sively throughout the Province and its environs; her diligent research of probate re-
cords and historical documents resulted in the identification of several families of
stone carvers, of their styles, and of the whereabouts of their shops. She further
enlightens the reader on the points of origin of gravestones found within the Province,
stones that were in fact imported from the American Colonies before and after the
Revolutionary War. Among the many illustrated sections are those devoted to primi-
tive carving, Scottish and German stones. Masonic imagery and to the still unidenti-
fied "J. W. " carver , whose initials appear prominently on many stunning memorials. The
near-square format volume contains 130 photographs of gravestone art in addition to
several reproductions of period advertisements pertaining to local gravestone-making
and allied trades. Maps, a listing of local and foreign carvers as well as a bib-
liography are also included.
The book's underwriting by the Nova Scotia Provincial Government in co-
operation with the Nova Scotia Museum should inspire all U. S. state governments to
likewise sponsor a comprehensive documentation of their respective early gravestone
art before it vanishes altogether.
The volume may be ordered from the Nova Scotia Government Bookstore,
Post Office Box 637, Halifax, N. S. B3J 2T3, Canada. The prices quoted above include
postage but not exchange, which would lower the price about 15%. Make checks pay-
able to: Minister of Finance.
Fvanois Duval is co-author with Ivan Rigby of American Gravestone Art in Photographs.
Stones: 18th Century Scottish Gravestones
By Betty Willsher and Doreen Hunter
Illustrated. 140 pp. New York:
Taplinger Publishing Company, 1979. Softcover $7.95.
Reviewed by Peter Benes
Stones, whose modest subtitle A Guide to Some Remarkable Eighteenth
Century Gravestones does not reflect the true scope of the book, is the most impor-
tant work on early Scottish gravestones since the 1902 publication of D. Christison's
"Carvings and Inscriptions. . .of the Scottish Lowlands." An American edition of a
book published in England in 1978, Stones brings modern photographic recording to
bear on what its authors call Scotland's unrecognized "national treasure." The re-
sult is impressive, indeed, and a fine contribution to the field of gravestone stud-
ies and to local history.
To read the introduction is to recognize at once that the struggle for
gravestone preservation is not confined to New England. We learn with some shock,
for example, that there are cases of Scottish kirkyards being bulldozed by land de-
velopment work. The destructive effects of weather and tampering are visible on
numerous of the illustrated stones, as are the effects of lichen and heavy moss.
Following the introduction, chapters are arranged by emblems: one is de-
voted to mortality themes ("The King of Terrors," "The Coffin"); the second to themes
of immortality ("The Crown," "The Winged Soul"); the third to emblems of trade ("Ham-
mermen," "Weavers," "Bakers"). Additional chapters deal with epitaphs and multi-sym-
symbol stones. As we read, we begin to discern the essential features of Scottish
gravestone making of the eighteenth century — a trade whose features share some par-
allels iffiith its counterpart in New England. As a rule, Scottish stones of the per-
^ iod are more "plastic" or dimensional than we find them here. Much of the artwork —
the emblems, decorative borders and S3nnbolic motifs — is articulated through remaining
stone rather than incised grooves. (The authors note with some regret that making a
rubbing is impossible under these circumstances.) This technique required consider-
ably more professional skill than many New England carvers could have commanded. It
reinforces our perception of Scotland as a stone-oriented culture, and of New England /
as a wood-oriented culture.
As a rule, too, a greater degree of uniformity is found in Scottish carv-
ings than those in New England. Most of the angel heads illustrated in the section
titled "The Winged Soul and The Angel" have identical eyes and mouths; even the wings
have a "Scottish" look to them. The wide stylistic and artistic differences found,
for example, between a Hartshorne-derived design in Essex County, Massachusetts, and
the work of the Stevens family in Newport, Rhode Island, simply do not appear to ex-
ist. Nor, regrettably, does the naive and captivating wit of rural New England mark-
ers, as found in the work of the "Indian Man" of Hampton, Connecticut, or of Samuel
Dwight of Arlington, Vermont.
Conversely, the entire body of trade-related emblems that are so rare in
New England are present on virtually every stone illustrated in this book. The
Plympton, Massachusetts, carver Nathaniel Fuller, who produced upward of three hun-
dred gravestones in his lifetime, was known to have included only one trade emblem
in his designs (a pair of scissors on the stone of a Middleborough, Massachusetts,
physician). By way of contrast, the trades of beer-brewers, gardeners, millers,
tailors, soldiers, fishermen, farmers, shoe-makers and school teachers are routinely
identified on eighteenth century Scottish headstones in a variety of conventionalized
s3Tnbols worked into the larger design framework of the stone.
Aside from its value as a guide to gravestones in Scotland, the strongest
contribution of Stones is its superb photographs. These were made without the bene-
fit of the mirror techniques pioneered in New England by Daniel Farber. They are so
good that one suspects they represent the best of what must have been many, many
years of effort by Betty Willsher, who did the photography. Most are taken with the
sun casting oblique lights and shadows on the face of the stone, a technique which
requires patience and a repeated willingness to come back when the sun is "just right."
The publication suffers from a number of weaknesses, the most important of
which is a lack of maps. While the names of most Scottish counties and parishes may
be household terms to English and Scottish readers, few Americans will be able to dis-
tinguish Kirkcudbrightshire from West Lothian, or know from memory the unique struc-
ture of Scottish geo-topography which inevitably played a key role in the dissemina-
tion of styles and motifs. A serious reading of this book requires the continual
assistance of an atlas that contains a detailed map of Scotland. A second drawback
is the lack of what might be termed a scholarly underpinning to the work. Footnotes
are rare and do not specify pages; the bibliography is incomplete and needs a com-
mentary. The absence from the bibliography of Angus Graham's brilliant monograph,
"Headstones in Post-Reformation Scotland," {Prooeedings of the Society of Antiquaries
of Scotland 1957-58) is a serious omission; New England gravestone studies, whose
methodology after 192 7 has always been well in advance of those of European grave-
stone studies, is represented only by Edmund Gillon's Early New England Gravestone,
Rubbings.
More serious still, th^ authors have made no real attempt to identify the
carvers of the stones other than to suggest that the men buried under stones bearing
mason's emblems probably were stone carvers. Without knowing the accessibility or
organization of Scottish probate and inventory records of the eighteenth century, we
cannot assume that the research methods pioneered by Harriette M. Forbes and Dr. Ermest
Caulfield could have been put to use successfully here. However, the attempt does not
appear to have been made.
Lastly, one would wish that the authors had developed more systematically
their demonstrated sensitivity to geographic regionalism: we are charmed to learn that
Angus was named by them "Coffin Country," and Kincardineshire "Heart Territory," but
we are left dangling. The only motif to which the authors applied any real methodol-
ogy was the Adam and Eve symbol, which held a special fascination for them. ' The date
and location of every such stone in Scotland is listed in the back of the book. Of
"Heart Territory" and "Coffin Country," however, we are told little.
Despite these flaws, there are major pleasant surprises in store for those
who read Stones from an American or New England background. Page 17 illustrates a
1724 grave marker whose winged effigy is held between two bird-like serpents. We are
reminded immediately of the disputation between the bird and serpent interpretations
of Hartshorne designs, and the existence of a Scottish de&ign with both on the same
stone makes the interpretation of the Hartshorne image all the more problematic. Page
110 reveals a 1756 portrait stone that is remarkably similar to portraits executed
by William Park of Groton, Massachusetts, 1770-1780. William Park's move from Scot-
land to Groton in 1756 and the arrival of his sons in the following decade assumes a
new significance. Page 48 illustrates a winged angel-head which is similar in almost
every detail to those of Noah Cushman, a carver active in Middleborough, Massachusetts,
1765-1770. Future studies of New England gravestone art cannot ignore the implications
of these parallels and the likelihocrd of pattern-borrowing across the Atlantic in both
directions.
Stones is moderately priced and is well worth the investment.
Vetev Benes is author of Masks of Orthodoxy and is the 1979 recipient of the
Harriette M. Forbes award for outstanding contributions to gravestone studies.
CORRECTIONS
The authors of The Churchyard Handbook: Advice on their Care and Maintenance, which
was reviewed on page 5 of the winter Newsletter (Vol. 3, No. 1), are Henry Stapleton
and Peter Burman. Lance Mayer, conservator for the Cincinnati Art Museum, was in-
correctly listed as the author. Mr. Mayer wrote the review.
The Book Review Section of the spring Newsletter (Vol. 3, No. 2, page 12) omitted
the name of the reviewer of Francis Duval and Ivan Rigby's book, Early American
Gravestone Art in Photographs. The reviewer was AGS President, Dr. Joanne Baker.
REGIONAL NEWS
Introductions to THREE WESTERN GRAVESTONE PHOTOGRAPHERS
NANCY WARREN, 537 Hillside, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501
Nancy Warren is making a photographic record of the primitive designs
on early gravemarkers in New Mexico and "looking into their meaning." She is par-
ticularly interested in the wood markers in her area, some of which are ornately
carved and painted. Ms. Warren has a background of experience with gravestones
of the east; she lived in Delaware before moving to New Mexico, and she has family
in Boston.
PHYLLIS McKOWN, 1651 D Iowa Street, Costa Mesa, California 92626
In 1978 Phyllis McKown, then a Colonial America Resource Teacher, came
east on a grant to photograph New England gravestones and to attend the AGS Con-
ference. She subsequently changed careers and is now a professional color photo-
grapher and also a teacher of photography in a secondary school alternative edu-
cation program. Her gravestone photography is presently concentrated on the stones
of northern California. According to Ms. Warren, New Englanders settled along the
northern California coast and there they carved designs that are both similar to
and different from those in the northeast United States.
JAMES MILMOE, 14900 Cactus Circle, Golden. Colorado 80401
James Milmoe's interest in gravestone photography goes back to 1952 in
Ohio. Now he has written his Master's Thesis (1978, University of Colorado, Denver)
on the cemetery as a source of photographic imagery, and he is on the faculty there,
teaching photography and the history of photography. He estimates that he has photo-
. graphed markers in two hundred cemeteries around the world, including eleven in
Mexico, six in France, five in Ireland, ten in Italy, four in Scotland, five in
Switzerland, one in Bermuda, and five or six in Barcelona and Spain's Balearic Is-
lands. Of special interest to him in this country are the wooden gravemarkers in
the ghost towns of Colorado. According to Professor Milmoe, these markers, which
date to the late 1800 's, were originally painted. Erosion has textured the wood
slabs, etching around the painted areas so that the lettering and other areas that
were protected by paint have been left standing in relief.
Gravestone photography for Milmoe is a form of self-expression. His
interest is in the sculptural qualities of markers rather than in epitaphs or in
the persons for whom the markers were made.
PLEASE NOTE
Regional Representatives are needed to help AGS keep its continent-wide
orientation. Representatives function as clearing houses for information from their
geographic areas, reporting to the Newsletter and to the AGS Board their areas'
gravestone-related activities and concerns. If you wish to serve as a Representative
of your region, please send your name and address with any current items of interest
from your area to the Newsletter before December 1, 1979. Names and addresses of AGS
Regional Representatives will be listed in the next issue of the Newsletter.
ITEMS OF INTEREST
Artist Jo Hanson has produced a slide-tape presentation, Western Graveyards, which is
available on loan from Mary Anne Mrozinski, 47 Hammond Road, Glen Cove, New York 11542.
$6.50 plus return postage.
r
Persons interested in Martha's Vineyard's gravestones 1688-1804 are advised to get a
copy of the Dukes County Intelligencer, February, 1979, Volume 20, Number 3, from the
Dukes County Historical Society, Cooke and School Streets, Edgartown MA 02539. It con-
tains Joseph J. larocci's interesting historical study about the stones of that period.
We also have come across a 1908 book entitled The Story of Martha's Vineyard, published
by Hine Brothers, New York. We were surprised to find in it pictures of gravestones in
the West Tisbury Cemetery protected by "hats" of what appear to be malleable sheets of
lead foil. We encountered these in person some six years ago while making rubbings in
Chillmark but had no idea that they had been used for so long. It is refreshing to
know that conservation is not a new idea to the "Islanders."
Contributed by Ruth Cowell, Corresponding Secretary
Roberta Halporn invites readers to write for her bibliography on Death and Dying. In-
cluded is her own work. Lessons from the Dead: The Graveyard as a Classroom for the
Study of the Life Cycle. The book is illustrated with Ms. Halporn 's rubbings. Write
her at 228 Clinton Street, Brooklyn, New York 11201 mentioning any specific interests.
Lewis Decker, 187 Bleeker Street, Gloversville, New York 02178, has a grant to record
the inscriptions on the stones in ten towns and two cities in New York State's Fulton
County. He and his workers have completed their recording in the two cities and in
four of the ten towns, and he has distributed copies of the data thus far compiled to
area libraries and to historical and genealogical societies. Mr. Lewis reports that
he used CETA youth for some of the recording, with results that required some check-
ing and correction of errors.
The Newsletter has had requests for a listing of back issues. Here it is.
Available (25c) from Jessie Lie Farber
Spring 1977 (Vol. 1, No.
Fall 1977 (Vol. 1, No.
Spring 1978 (Vol. 2, No.
Winter 1979 (Vol. 3, No.
Spring 1979 (Vol. 3, Nq.
Fall 19 79 (Vol. 3, No.
1)
2)
2)
1)
2)
3)
Available (25c) from Anne Giesecke
Available (25c) from Anne Giesecke
Available (25c) from Jessie Lie Farber
Other available AGS materials (see page 10 for addresses):
Two-page Information Sheets on four subjects @ 25c each from Ruth Cowell.
Making photographic Records of Gravestones
Recommendations for the Care of Gravestones
Gravestone Rubbing for Beginners
S3rmbolism in Gravestone Carvings
Bumper stickers (brown and white)
$1.30 from Sally Thomas.
"I Brake for Old Graveyards."
The AGS logo design is taken from
Massachusetts
the carving on a Williamstown,
footstone.
L
REQUESTS
REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION
Readers are asked to send information about
The symbolic meaning of the shell
design on gravestones
Ms. A. Toplovich & Mr. V.Hood
TO Tennessee Dept. of Conservation
4721 Trousdale Drive
Nashville TE 37220
Canadian gravestone studies
[Does anyone know how to reach
Canadian gravestone photographer
Berryll (or Derryll) White?]
TO Anne Giesecke, Editor
AGS Newsletter
Archaelogical Research Services
University of New Hampshire
Durham NH 03824
REQUESTS FOR ARCHIVAL MATERIALS
Have you books, published or unpublished papers, photographs, negatives,
transparencies, drawings, transcriptions from stones, field notes or other materials
that might be useful additions to our Association archives? See the next issue of
the Newsletter for more information about the kinds of items needed and about the
procedure for making your tax deductible contribution to the AGS collection.
Members are invited to use as well as contribute to the archives. Our
collection is housed by the library of the New England Historic and Genealogical
Society (NEHGS) , 101 Newbury Street, Boston. Show your AGS membership card to the
NEHGS receptionist to have the library's $3 admission fee waived.
REQUESTS FOR NEWSLETTER CONTRIBUTIONS
Contributions to all sections of the Newsletter are welcome. Especially
welcome is information about gravestone markers outside the New England area. Send
information, news, ideas and suggestions to Anne Giesecke, Editor.
Readers interested in contributing a piece for the Newsletter's new
feature which introduces carvers and their work (page 3 this issue) should write
a note to the Newsletter Editor (1) mentioning the carver of your interest, and
(2) Asking for a copy of the guidelines to be followed.
Another feature series scheduled to begin in the next issue will offer
information about the work of unidentified carvers. Send your suggestion for
WHO IS THIS CARVER? to the Newsletter Editor.
A future issue of the Newsletter will focus on research and recording
programs currently being conducted in old graveyards. Please write us about work
in your area.
The next deadline for contributions is December 1^ 1979.
Other deadlines are Majcoh 1^ June 1 and September 1^ 1980.
CONFERENCES AND WORKSHOPS
The 1979 Annual Meeting of the Association for Gravestone Studies was
held July 8 in conjunction with the Association's two-day (July 7,8) conference at
Salve Regina College, Newport, Rhode Island.
The membership voted to accept the bid from Bradford College, near
Eaverhill, Massachusetts , to host the 1980 conference. Watch for the dates of
this THREE-DAY event.
The names of AGS officers elected at the Annual Meeting and the names
of one hundred and nineteen Conference participants, with addresses, are listed on
the following two pages. The Conference Planning Committee was pleased with the
representation from seventeen states and Canada. Because of the gasoline shortage
that existed prior to and during the Conference, the Committee anticipated a seri-
ous drop in attendance, which, fortunately, we did not experience.
AGS OFFICERS, elected at the 1979 Annual Meeting of the Association
r
President
Vice-president/
Archives
Vice-president /
Conservation
Vice-president /
Education
Vice-president/
Grants
Vice-president/
Publications
Vice-president/
Research
Recording
Secretary
Corresponding
Secretary
Treasurer
JOANNE BAKER 51 South St., Concord NH 03301
(603) 228-0680 (home) (603) 271-3747 (business)
PETER BENES Dublin NH 03444
(603) 563-8025
LANCE MAYER Conservation Dept. Cincinnati Art Museum, Eden
Park, Cincinnati OH 45202
(513) 721-5204 (home) (513) 321-9456 (business)
MARY ANNE MROZINSKI 47 Hammond Rd., Glen Cove NY 11542
(516) 759-0527
GAYNELL LEVINE rr 2, Box 205, Wading River NY 11792
(516) 929-8725
JESSIE LIE FARBER 11 Moreland St., Worcester MA 01609
(617) 7557038
ANNE G. GIESECKE 173 Kingsley St., Nashua NH 03060
(603) 883-6428.
RALPH TUCKER 928 Main St., W. Newbury MA 01985
(617) 462-4244
RUTH COWELL 21 Dogert PI., Westwood N 07675
(201) 664-3618
SALLY THOMAS 82 Hilltop PI., New London NH 03257
(603) 526-6044
1979 CONFERENCE PARTICIPANTS:
Bethany CT 06525
Mitchell R. Alegre, 33 Brooklyn St., Warsaw NY 14569
C. Vance Allyn, Box 186, Charlestown RI 02813
William F. Alsop, Jr., 1 Exeter Rd., Rutland VT 05701
Janet S. Aronson, 50 Barnsbee Lane, Coventry CT 06238
Norbert S. Baer, 1 East 78th St., New York NY 10021
Joanne Baker, 51 South St., Concord NH 03301
Peter Benes, Dublin NH 03444
Margaret Berg, 1956 Hobron Ave., Glastonbury CT 06033
Charles Bergeron, 1917 Main St., Glastonbury CT 06033
Pat Bernard, Mattapoisett Neck Rd., Mattapoisett MA 02739
Richard Birdsall, 9 Winchester Rd., New London CT 06320
James P. Black, 4 Newbrook Dr., Barrington RI 02806
Judy Boss, 10 B Rolling Green, Newport RI 02840
Alice B. Bunton, c/o Geraldine Hungerford, Hilldale Rd.,
Frankie Bunyard, 791 Tremont St. W-111, Boston MA 02118
John & Rosemary Cashman, 315 Marlborough Rd., Brooklyn NY 11226
Theodore Chase, 74 Farm St., Dover MA 02030
Dale Clement, c/o Mark Pride, RFD #5, Drew Rd., Derry NH 03038
Josephine Cobb, 6 Hunts Point Rd. , Cape Elizabeth ME 04107
Edwin & Beverly Connelly, 67 Coggeshall Ave., Newport RI 02840
Michael Cornish, 62 Calumet St., Roxbury MA 02120
Ruth 0. Cowell, 21 Bogert PI., Westwood NJ 07675
Robert Drinkwater, 30 Fort Hill Terr., Northampton MA 01060
Francis Duval, 405 Vanderbilt Ave., Brooklyn NY 11238
Barbara & Linda Ellis, 417 Washington St., PO box 79, N. Pembroke MA 02358
Mary C. Emhardt, Star Route, Barrington NH 03825
Rob & Julia Emlen, 110 Benevolent St., Providence RI 02906
Jonathan Fairbanks, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston MA 02115
Daniel & Jessie Lie Farber, 11 Moreland St., Worcester MA 01609
Lynn E. Farnsworth, 191 Park Dr., Boston MA 02217
Peggy Friedland, 20 Temple St., Apt. 4, Boston MA 02114
Edward & Joan Friedland, RFD #3, Ross Hill Rd., Lisbon CT 06351
Claudette Gendreau, 55 Alice Rd, Raynham MA 02767
Anne Giesecke,- 173 Kingsley St., Nashua NH 03060
Mary Hocken Goar, 137 Fairview Way, Amherst MA 01002
Sheila Godino, 56 Christy Hill Rd., Gales Ferry CT 06335
Ruth Gray, 70 No. 4th St., Old Town ME 04468
Carol A. Grisson, Box 1105, Washington University, St. Louis MO 63130
Barbara & Edward Hail, 220 Rumstick Rd., Barrington RI 02806
(
Roberta Halporn, 228 Clinton St., Brooklyn NY 11201
Dr. & Mrs. Thomas J. Hannon, Geography Dept., Slippery Rock College, Slippery Rock PA
Elizabeth G. Haskell, 85 Jarolembn St., Brooklyn NY 11201 16057
Eugene T. Horton, PO box 102, 130 Blue Point Ave,, Blue Point NY 11715
Bert Hubbard, Box 84, Gibbsboro NJ 08026
Geraldine Hungerford, Hilldale Rd., Bethamy CT 06525
Mr. & Mrs. Robert Janssen, PO box 55, Peacham VT 05862
C.R. Jones, New York State Historical Assn., Cooperstown NY 13326
Sue & Philip Jones, 913 Mt. Vernon Ave., Haddonfield NJ 08033
Mary Lou Kelley, PO box 34, Charlestovm MA 02129
Barbara M. Kelly, 231 Feustal St., West Babylon NY 11704
Susan Kelly, 83 Haywood Rd., Darien CT 06820
Jym Knight, 3312 Long Blvd., Apt. C-1, Nashville TN 37203
Patricia C. Lane, 9924 Cherry Tree Lane, Silver Spring MD 20901
Rufus Langhans, 228 Main St., Huntington Long Island NY 11743
Gaynell S. Levine, RR 2, Box 205, Wading River, NY 11792
Blanche M. G. Linden, 11 Peabody Terr. #802, Cambridge MA 02138
Vincent F. Luti, Box 412, Westport MA 02790
Lane H. Mann, 7 Carriage Lane, Hamilton MA 01982
Annette Marquis, 48 Michael Rd., Raynham MA 02767
Nancy G. Martino, 10804 Pearson St., Kingsington MD 20795
Lance Mayer, Eden Park, Cincinnati OH 45202
Julaine A. Maynard, 617 demons Ave., Madison WI 53704
William McGeer, 48 Harwood Ave., Littleton MA 01460
Thomas & Deborah McGraft, 36R West St., Beverly Farms MA 01915
Sheila McNally, Dept. of Art History, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis MN 55455
Anna T. Merz, 7 May St., Hartford CT 06105
Mary Anne Mrozinski, 47 Hammond Rd., Glen Cove NY 11542
Jane Northshield, 226 Mt . Airy Rd., Croton-on-Hudson NY 10520
Don & Betty Odle, 30765 Adair Center, Franklin MI 48025
Daniel W. Patterson, 309 Briar Bridge Valley, Chapel Hill NC 27514
Charlotte Pattison, 7 Carriage Lane, Hamilton MA 01982
Pauline Pero, 6 Hunts Point Rd. , Cape Elizabeth ME 04107
Anna V. Pustello, 1200 Prospect Ave., Hartford CT 06105
Judith S. Pyle, 245 Baltimore St., Gettysburg PA 17325
Richard S. Reed, Prospect Hill Rd. , Harvard MA 01451
x^Ivan Rigby, 405 Vanderbilt Ave., Brooklyn NY 11238
Mr.& Mrs. Allen G. Sechler, Jr., 3 Johnson Dr., Apt. 5, Gettysburg PA 17325
Virginia Shepherd, 636 Douglas Pike, RFD #1, No. Smithfield RI 02895
Miriam Silverman, 300 West 55 St., Apt. 16 V, New York NY 10019
James & Elizabeth Slater, 373 Bassettes Bridge Rd., Mansfield Center CT 06250
Carolyn E. Smith, 22 Brentford, Berwick Ledyard CT 06339
Robert & Anne Smith, 107 Woodland Rd., Madison NJ 07940
Mary & Rick Stafford, 26 Wadsworth St., Allston MA 03134
Ona C. Street, 40 Westfair Drive, Westport CT 06880
Philip & Sally Thomas, 82 Hilltop Place, New London NH 03257
Deborah Trask, 1747 Summer St., Halifax NS B3H 3A6 Canada
Jerry & Selma Trauber, 142 Langham St., Brooklyn NY 11235
Robert Trim, 116 R Trim St., Rehoboth MA 02769
Ralph Tucker, 928 Main St., W. Newbury MA 01985
Trish Walsh, 10 B Rolling Green, Newport RI 02840
David Watters, Dept. of English, Hamilton-Smith Hall, University of N.H. , Durham NH
Linda Wesselman, 41 Main St., Somerville MA 02145 03824
,,^''Eloise P. West, 199 Fisher Rd, Fitchburg MA 01420
Betsy Widirstky, Box 523, 140 Founders Path, Southold NY 11971
- Jane Wilson, 62 Calumet St., Roxbury MA 02120
Anne Williams, 83 Haywood Rd. , Darien CT 06820
Louise Williams, 178 Pond Hill Rd., Rochester NH 03867
John Wilson, 15 New Hampshire Ave., Natick MA 01760
Anita C. & H. Merritt Woodward, Box 51, Thompson Rd., Princeton MA 01541
Robyn C. Zimmerman, 2101 Cascade Rd. , Silver Spring MD 20902
Please send name and address corrections and additions to Anne Giesedke, Editor^
before the next Newsletter deadline, December 1.
AGS MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION
AGS membership runs from annual conference to annual conference. Please check your
records to see if you have overlooked paying your 1979-80 membership fee, due in
July 1979. The Association's mailing list is being brought up to date. Be sure
your name is not removed! If you are not paid up, use the membership form on the
reverse and mail your dues today. If you are paid up, pass the form on to a pros-
pective member. Dues and other contributions to AGS are tax deductible.
r
OLf ON IILU-^d
a I V d
aovisod s 'n
3ivii >nna
<7Z8eO HN 'uiBqana
aaTqsduiBH JvtsN Jo X^xsjaATun
seoTAjas qoaBasa^ jFOTSoxoaBiioav
aoajpa 'a^ioasaTa -g auuy
sajpn^s auo^saABjg joj uot^bxoossv
aq^ JO aaa^arsMa^ aqx
EARLY GRAVESTONES ARE PART OF OUR HERITAGE,
THEY ARE DISAPPEARING RAPIDLY.
These facts prompted the formation of the Association for Gravestone
Studies. Organized in 1977 and incorporated a year later, the Association creates
awareness of the importance of gravestones by encouraging local groups to preserve
their gravestone heritage, promoting research into a wide variety of gravestone-
related areas, supporting a program of public education through publications and
conferences, and fostering liaisons with county and state historical and genealo-
gical societies and cemetery associations. Members receive the AGS NEWSLETTER,
which contains feature articles, book reviews and items of general interest.
Through an agreement with the New England Historic & Genealogical Society
the AGS archives are housed in the NEHGS Library in Boston. This archive recreates
in a retrievable and condensed form iconographic and genealogical data that is
otherwise available only in the field. AGS members have access to this collection.
The Association seeks a diverse group of persons interested in the
study of gravemarkers — amateurs and professionals, students of anthropology, his-
tory, genealogy, art history, religion and other fields — who share an appreciation
of the importance of gravestones and a concern for their preservation in the face
of both the natural and the artificial forces that threaten them.
AGS invites your membership and your active participation.
MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION
Association for Gravestone Studies
Mrs. Philip D. Thomas, Treasurer
82 Hilltop Place
New London, NH 03257
NAME
ADDRESS
CITY /TOWN
STATE
ZIP
Please check one;
I am interested in working on the
Individual
$10
t
□ixowing commit
i;ee(.s; :
Institutional
$10
Archives
Education
Sustaining
Student [f"l^
time
$25
$ 5
(Includes AGS Journal) —
Grants
Conservation
Research
Publications
^
NEWSLETTER of the
ASSOCIATION for GRAVESTONE STUDIES
Volume 4, Number 1
Winter 1979-80
ISSN: 0246-5783
CONTENTS
ARTICLES: Using the computer to study gravestones
MOCA 'a Computerized Data Project 1
by Ruth Gray
The Evolution of Motife on Colonial Graveetonea in Central
and festers Connecticut 3
by James Tibenski
PHOTO-ESSAY
Pennsylvania : Adame County Colonial Stonecarving 4
by Francis Duval and Ivan Rigby
BOOK REVIEW
English Churchyard Memorials 5
by Frederick Burgess
Review by Peter Benes
FILM / SLIDES / TAPES 7
EXHIBITIONS 8
NEWSPAPER and MAGAZINE ITEMS 9
FEATURES
CEMETERY CITATIONS 9
STONECUTTERS AND THEIR WORKS. Second of a series
William Young of Tatnuck, Massachusetts 10
by Mary and Rick Stafford
WHO IS THIS CARVER? 11
REGIONAL NEWS, VIEWS 11
REQUESTS 13
MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS OF INTEREST 14
ASSOCIATION NEWS, Conferences, Workshops, Meetings 15
NEWSLETTER NOTES Corrections, Amplifications, Deadlines .... 16
AGS MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION 18
MOCA's COMPUTERIZED DATA PROJECT
INDEX TO REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIERS BURIED IN MAINE
Ruth Gray
Maine Old Cemetery Association (MOCA) undertook as its Bicentennial
Project the locating of burial places of Revolutionary War soldiers in Maine. A num-
ber of lists of these soldiers have been compiled, but no attempt has been made before
to combine these lists and check for burial places, or to include all soldiers known to
have settled in Maine. This work entailed the study of published obituaries, pension
records, town records, and various lists, including those developed by Flagg, House,
Porter, the D.A.R., S.A.R., and others. It also required checking cemeteries for
names of men whose ages made them likely participants in the Revolution, and search-
ing to discover if they had military records.
This ambitious project was undertaken by volunteers. The State was di-
vided by counties with a chairman and helpers to search each town within the county.
All data was sent to a central collection point. As this data came in, it was apparent
that duplication was inevitable with the many changes in county and town lines since
Revolutionary War days. It was decided that all locations would be translated into towns
as presently delineated. There were a number of men with the same names. A method
was needed to delete duplication. It was necessary to record as many vital records and
wives' names as could be found. Many soldiers had no gravestones, or the stones had
been lost, and many were buried in family plots long since obliterated. As the project
progressed, it became clear that the actual burial places for many of the men would
never be found. It seemed reasonable, nevertheless, to include their names in the
study, listing the town in which they either died or were last recorded.
A deadline was set for compiling the data in a usable form, with a plan to
incorporate additional data as it became available.
The MOCA researchers' project, then, was to identify a man as a soldier
in the Revolutionary War and to find his burial place or last residence in Maine. They
Soldier's name:
county
born : date, piece
died; date, place, cemetery
mnrried: (!) date, place, wife's name
(3)
Service record;
Sources:
additional data
ide
needed a system for recording this information, presenting it in usable form, and
for making additions and corrections.
The information found on each soldier was recorded on a 4"x6" card
with a designed format.
It was obvious that with limited
resources it would be impossible to print all
the information on these cards. The decision
was made to computerize an index of the sol-
diers and place the original cards in the Maine
Collection of the Fogler Library of the Uni-
versity of Maine, in Orono. Here the cards
could be viewed by those who might like to
know more about a soldier and the sources of
the information.
A computer was used to present this information because of its versa-
tility. The computer makes possible the accumulation of knowledge and its syste-
matic arrangement. Here information can be recorded, stored, compared, and repos-
sessed with accuracy and speed. An index of .soldiers by name only would not pro-
perly present MOCA's project to the public. It was essential to computerize enough
data on each soldier to clearly identify him.
For data to be accepted by the computer it is key-punched on a special
card which has spaces for eighty characters, divided into zones. Similar information
for each soldier is punched within a specified zone: code number, name, birth date,
birthplace, death date, place of death, cemetery name and town, marriage date and
place, and his wife's name. With all this information gathered, coded, and stored
in the computer, a method of retrieval is formulated. This is done by writing direc-
tions which say how the information is to be handled. The computer then prints out
this information according to the instructions.
When MOCA started this project, it was estimated that between 3,000 and
3,500 soldiers would be identified. The first computer printout contains 6,115 names.
Another 1,000 soldiers needed further research before they could be included. Six
copies were made of the INDEX to REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIERS BURIED in MAINE. Four of
these went to libraries, where they are available to the public: the Fogler Library at
the University of Maine in Orono, the State Library in Augusta, the Maine Historical
Society in Portland, and the Library in Farmington. The remaining two copies are
used by those working on additions and corrections. Included with each copy are
pads of Addition Slips with the request that additional information known to the reader
be sent to MOCA to be included in an up-dating
of the INDEX . Additions are easily made by
using a punch-card to key-punch the soldier's
identifying number and the new information.
The computer is then programmed to add the
new information in the appropriate place. The
Addition Slip is then filed with the original re-
search card in the Fogler Library.
ADDrrilHI- ILIP
You] Noma & Addmi
The response from the public has been gratifying. With the public's help
and the continuing work of MOCA researchers, the data for another 2,000 soldiers is
ready to be added to the INDEX. It is hoped that funds will be available to update the
INDEX in 1980.
This computerized index offers many opportunities for further studies.
It is of particular value to historians and genealogists. With so much of a soldier's
vital records in the computer, one is able to program the computer to print a list of
all men born in a certain town in New England and find where they settled in Maine ,
thus establishing migratory patterns. Should anyone want to know the origins of
soldiers settling in a particular town or district in Maine, it is possible to write a pro-
gram to get this information. A genealogist searching a Revolutionary soldier's family
would find this index invaluable. By adding recipients of Bounty Lands in the State
to the computer, a match could be made to see if a soldier settled on his land or moved
elsewhere. If a soldier's war records included the battles in which he fought, these
records could be added to his computerized data. It would then be possible to create
a battle list. Likewise, a list of men who fought in a certain battle could be programmed
into the computer to find if some of the men settled in Maine.
These are only a few of the many studies made possible by MOCA's com-
puterized INDEX to REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIERS BURIED in MJ/l/fi" together with the original
research cards filed at the University of Maine.
Ruth Gray serves on the Executive Board of MOCA
and is active in volunteer work in Old Town^ Maine.
THE EVOLUTION OF MOTIFS ON COLONIAL GRAVESTONES , ^., ,
IN CENTRAL AND WESTERN CONNECTICUT '^^^^ iit^ensKy
My study concerns gravestones in Litchfield, Middlesex, New Haven,
Hartford, and Fairfield counties in Connecticut. Every pre-1800 stone in every major
cemetery except the Grove Cemetery in New Haven was photographed, and the name
of the deceased, the stone material, date of death, and orientation of the stone was
recorded. One hundred and thirty-nine cemeteries were covered. Computer codes
were devised for style-motif, epitaph, preface, stone material, cause of death, sex,
kinship, titles, and exit statement. These factors were compared to each other in
various ways, such as motif to year. The Statistical Analysis System was used. Of
the over 12,000 stones surveyed and photographed, 10,493 were coded for computer
analysis.
Earlier studies of New England gravestones have suggested that there
was an evolution of motifs from skull image to soul image , with an intermediate , tran-
sitional design combining some aspects of both. This progression has been described
as being both stylistic and chronological.
In central and western Connecticut, this motif change occurs, but not in
a regular, chronological pattern. The combination or part-skuH-part-soul motif
reached its peak of popularity between 1750 and 1780, the same time period in which
the soul images reached their peak of popularity.
Examples of intermediate or transitional part-skull -part-soul motifs
in central and western Connecticut dpowings by Benes
Most of the combination style motifs in the study were produced by only
three workshops. Of the approximately 400 such stones, about half were produced
by the Bartlett workshop, about seventy by the Buckland workshop, and another
forty by an unidentified shop in Windsor. It is only in this Windsor shop that a
chronological evolution occurs from skull to a transitional, combination design to a
winged angel face or soul motif. The other two workshops seem to have made com-
bination style designs either out of preference for the particular motif (in the case
of Bartlett) , or (in the case of Buckland) as an alternative to the more popular soul
images.
James Tibensky is a U.S. Pretrial Service Officer in the U.S. Courts Chicago.
AGS Research Committee Makes Recommendation
After a one and one-half year study of computer programs suitable for
use in gravestone analysis, the AGS Research Committee recommends as a landmark
a paper by Bill Mayhew, Director of the Center for Advanced Public Computing for
The Children's Museum, Boston. Mayhew's thirteen page paper, "Computerized
Museum Information Management," describes the Museum's investigation of "tra-
ditional" approaches to catalog computerization, its finding that a new approach
was required, and its far-reaching decision to design and implement an inter-
active system appropriate for use by cultural organizations. Anne G.Giesecke,
AGS Vice-president /Research, believes that members interested in developing com-
puter programs for gravestone study will find this article useful. For a copy, send
75<f to AGS Publications, c/o American Antiquarian Society, Worcester MA 01609.
Readers with questions about writing programs for computer analysis of gravestone
data are invited to communicate with:
James Tibensky 1510 S. Lombard Avenue, Berwyn IL 60402
Gaynell Levine RR 2, Box 205, Wading River NY 11792
Anne Giesecke 9224 Oklahoma Drive, Fairfax VA 22031
Ruth Gray 70 North 4th Street, Old Town ME 04468
PENNSYLVANIA: ADAMS COUNTY COLONIAL STONECARVING
Francis Y. Duval and Ivan B. Rigby
0
Hrrr I'./esx/"' fV)d\'Qf land
XYki^i W'fi' ) VX: 'm\c:(\ ll'iis
;ije-N'1a,v is^'r^p in
Ai;>,'\/f^ar
f
r • I
I
/:/"
Xi ''
^h ^J*
^ f .
Jane Waugh, 1770
A unique 18th century carving style can be found on gravestones near
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania: in Hunterstown and, New Chester to the northeast, in
Abbottstown to the east, and in Fairfield to the southwest. The burial yard of the
Lower Marsh Creek Presbyterian Church, near Fairfield, offers more examples of
this style than the other locations combined, and all the stones illustrated here are
from that location. Fortunately, the gravestones are for the most part in excellent
condition, and all the churchyards are well worth a visit.
Samuel Reynold, 1758
James Ramsey, 1757
Abraham Agnew, 1753
John Leard, 1776
7rrr \\7\ ]\r if)fy]
of i^^^'/i 1 '> wuIfI
< ;iii .yi'in'iih;/
.M
Jean Brownfield, 1760
These mid-eighteenth century-
slate carvings are probably the work of
a local carver or family of carvers. A
different talent may have been responsible
for the 1770 Jane Waugh stone.
With a few exceptions, the up-
right memorials are small and without
borders. The horizontal edges are rolled
back, and each stone has an overall con-
tour different from the others. The five
mid-century stones shown here are boldly
carved on a dark slate with intricate de-
tailing. The later light gray Jane Waugh
stone displays a more delicate touch, sim-
ilar to the lightly incised carvings found
in southern Vermont.
The designs consist mostly of
bird, animal, flower , foliate , coat-of-arms ,
and effigy motifs. In addition, the Jane
Waugh memorial offers an unusual rendi-
tion of a formally attired gravedigger
performing his duties, and the John Leard
stone presents an amorial shield , gruesome
in its depiction of the severed limbs which
caused Leard's demise while lumbering.
A distinct similarity in the
carving style is seen in the inscriptions
of the earlier examples shown here : an
elaborate uppercase alphabet style, with
an unusual mix of uppercase ("capital")
and lowercase ("little") letters. When
the inscription is lettered in lowercase,
the first letter of each word is often
carved in the handsome, elaborately
decorative uppercase alphabet, but in
the same size as the lowercase letters
(j{£f£,) . When the inscription is carved
in uppercase, the letters used are very-
simple in style, with the first letter of
most words somewhat larger in size
(Here:) . Swash letters are used oc-
casionally, as well as a playful letter d
(* O) ^^d numeral six «5» ) , the latter
sometime united with the following nu-
meral(^^). The inscriptions are always
introduced with "Here Lyes" or "ly's"
and each passing is noted with the phrase
"who departed this life." YE is used al-
most exclusively for THE, while the use
of the long S is inconsistant . On the
whole, the orthography is excellent.
The masterpiece of this area
is the Jane Waugh memorial, a definite
"must see" for gravestone art devotees.
Lower Marsh Creek Presbyterian
Church is located some five miles southwest
of Gettysburg on Rt. 116. The yard, how-
ever, is about four miles from the church.
One should proceed from the church's
historic marker on Rt. 116, bear right,
that is, north, on Fairfield Road to its
end; bear right again at the junction,
eastward, until a small, handpainted sign
(easily missed) indicates a left turn to the
yard. That semi-private road leads to a
farmhouse where to the left of the barn
one gains access to the old burial yard
behind the farm. Good hunting!
Francis Duval and Ivan Righy
are frequent contributors to
AGS activities.
BOOK REVIEW
ENGLISH CHURCHYARD MEMORIALS
By Frederick Burgess
Illustrated with drawings and photographs. 325 pages.
Hardcover, London: 1963; softcover, London: SPCK, 1979 i7.50.
Review by Peter Benes
A recent item that should interest serious students of gravestone art is
the softcover re-publication of English Churahyard Memorials by Frederick Burgess,
which has been out of print for many years but which is now available through an
English publisher. First printed in 1963, Burgess's generously annotated and illus-
trated work represents a continuation of a centuries-old tradition of genealogical and
historical studies of English tombs and memorials . These studies date as early as
John Weever's Ancient Funerall Monuments (1631), written in response to widespread
Puritan vandalism of memorials, and continue through Richard Cough's Sepulahural
Momonents of Great Britain (179^) and Charles Stothard's Monumental Effigies of
Great Britain (1812) .
Burgess, who wrote and published widely in the general field of English
antiquities and antique objects, undertook the field work for his study in the post-
war years 1948-1963. As we re-read this seventeen-year-old work of scholarship, we
are impressed by the chronological range and depth and sophistication of Burgess's
interests. At the same time, however, it is easy to see how far gravestone studies
have come from the early 1960's and how much we owe to recent students such as
James Deetz and James Slater, who put the study of gravestones into an anthropo-
logical and systemic framework. Like his predecessors. Burgess approached English
churchyard memorials from the conventional viewpoint of an art historian. He offers
what is essentially history of English monument-making from the prehistoric period
to the nineteenth century. He traces the origin and meaning of symbols and contrasts
the varieties of ornamentation and lettering found on them. His final chapter deals
with masonry as a craft, apprenticeship systems, and quarries. An index, list of
English carvers and masons, and a glossary of terms are appended at the conclusion.
Every page is a tightly-written, informative mine of knowledge concerning English
cultural, burial, and memorial practices. Each chapter is supported by a copiously
detailed body of notes whose detail rivals that of James G. Frazier's Golden Bough.
Lacking, however, are the cultural, geographic, and ethnic perspectives
that characterize the best of American and European folk studies, which were pio-
neered by men such as Sigurd Erikson, founder of the Swedish periodical Folk-Liv.
Burgess's focus is on the best or most curious tombstones rather than on culturally
relevant groups or schools; he fails to perceive that naive folk traditions, such as
those followed by the Maidstone carvers* are at work concurrently with educated,
high-style mannerisms.
This aaveat aside, English Churchyard Memorials remains the most im-
portant study of grave markers in the British Isles, and its availability is a signi-
ficant publishing event. For those who for many years have had available to us
only the Boston Public Library's non-circulating copy of this fine book, and who
made copies of entire chapters on the Library's coin-operated copy machines, the
paperback edition comes as a welcome contribution to the field. At the same time,
it will strengthen our perception of English iconography and our use of English pre-
cedents and practices to understanding early American gravestone art. The Burgess
book is a fitting companion to the study of Scottish stones by Betty Willsher and
Doreen Hunter, which was reviewed in the Fall, 1979, NEWSLETTER.
The copy read by this reviewer was made available through the courtesy
of the author's widow, who actively lectures about her husband's work. The book
may be obtained by writing SPCK, Holy Trinity Church, Marylebone Road, London
NWl 4DU.
Peter Benes is Director of the Dublin Seminar for New England Folklife. This
summer he will lead a three-week institute at Boston University on early New
England folk culture.
*Editor's note: See Bene's Masks of Orthodoxy, pages 118-190, for information about
the Maidstone carvers, referred to above.
f
^
0
FILM / SLIDES / TAPES
A Slide-and-Tape Program Reviewed
"Burial: Western Style"
Script and Photography: Jo Hanson and Ellen Jones; Voice: Ruth Tepper
Production: Jo Hanson, 1979
Time: 22 minutes; Rental fee: $6.50 plus return postage
Review by Mary Anne Mrozinski
While Joseph Lamson III and Amasa Loomis were carving in New England,
folks were also dying and being buried in the West. The graveyards of California
are filled with markers that relate the stories of pioneers and immigrants.
Jo Hanson and Ellen Jones begin their fascinating and revealing program
with slides of stones and bronze markers from the cemetery at the Mission Delores in
San Francisco. They also show some rare examples of the wooden markers that were
common in the. early days of California's settlement.
They turn then to the story of the Gold Rush, written in the markers at
the cemetery at Coloma, east of Sacramento. Many of the motifs on the stone and
metal markers are Victorian and quite stylish for the period, due to Coloma's prox-
imity to Sacramento and the Sacramento River trade. With these stones is a marker
that captures the character of the Old West, a wooden obelisk with a glass-enclosed
window that displays a paper memorial identification.
The presentation ends with slides of contemporary California memorial
parks, a striking contrast and a statement of our time.
"Burial: Western Style" is a professional production presenting eighty color
slides assembled in a Kodak Carousel Tray with a cassette tape (pulsed on a WoUensak
sync tape recorder with inaudible beep) . A transcript is included to give the operator
cues for changing slides if a sync tape recorder is not available. In the absence of an
ordinary tape recorder, the operator can read the transcript aloud.
The program is excellent for use by historical societies and is also suitable
for use at the high school and college level. This slide-and-tape program, a gift to
AGS from Jo Hanson, is available to members. Address this reviewer at 47 Hammond
Road, Glen Cove, New York 11542.
Mary Anne Mrozinski is AGS Viae-ipresident /Education.
She teaches art at Sagamore Junior High School, Eoltsville, L.I.N.Y.
A Request for Slides
The AGS Committee for Public Education is preparing a slide-and-tape pre-
sentation which will be made available to individuals and organizations for introducing
gravestones as an important and rapidly disappearing national heritage. A collection
of excellent slides is vital to this project, and Mary Anne Mrozinski, the Committee's
Chair, urges the membership to contribute to this good cause. Please send to her the
best color slides from your collections which illustrate the use of gravestones to study:
"calligraphy trade networks names from the past symbolism
genealogy early occupations carvers and carving styles education
archaeology stone conservation sources of design elements linguistics
geography cemetery upkeep death, attitudes toward customs
art history literature /poetry cemetery landscape designs dress
folk art political views rhetoric /spelling /demography disasters
folklore wit and wisdom social status of men, women religion
wars immigration patterns movement of settlers
medical history /research: common diseases, epidemics, life expectancy, childbirth
effects on gravemarkers of weathering, pollution, ignorance and neglect, and vandalism
One or two quality slides from each AGS member would do much to give this
project the diversity and scope that is needed. Please do not send original slides: have
a duplicate made for your contribution, and remember that contributions to AGS are tax
deductible.
Send slides, questions, and comments to Msiry Anne Mrozinski, 47 Hammond Road, Glen
Cove, New York 11542.
A New Film
"Final Marks: The Art of the Carved Letter," was premiered by the Newport
Art Association on September 21, 1979. This is the documentary film that was origi-
nally scheduled to premier at the AGS conference last July. It is an excellent work
by two Rhode Island School of Design film makers, Frank Muhly, Jr. , and Peter O'Neill,
who spent two years developing this ninety minutes of sensitive documentation of the
art of stone carving as practiced by the John Stevens Shop of Newport, Rhode Island.
The film, which is in color, rents for $75 and sells for $525. We hope the AGS Con-
ference Committee can arrange to show it at the 1980 conference in Haverhill, Mass.
EXHIBITIONS
The Rhode Island Historical Society plans a multi-faceted exhibition.
The Rhode Island Historical Society is. preparing an exhibit of Dan Farber's
photographs of Narraganset Basin gravestones. It will open March, 1980, in the John
Brown House, 52 Power Street, Providence. According to Rob Emlen, Associate Curator
of the Society, the show has generated several tangent offerings: the showing of "Final
Marks," a film about stone carving; an exhibition of the archives of a nineteenth century
monument company, including account books and original drawings of carved designs; a
demonstration of stone cutting; and a display of the 1642 Sara Tefft stone, thought to be
New England's oldest existing gravestone with decorative carving. (It was placed in the
Society's museum over 100 years ago, and the replica which replaced it in the graveyard
has since disappeared.) Brown University graduate students will undertake a study of
the stones in the exhibited photographs — the history of the deceased, the carving tra-
ditions and styles, and the symbolism. This broad and thorough approach to the exhi-
bition is expected to draw "all sorts of people who might never have noticed us without
the diverse elements we're beginning to assemble," says Emlen.
Art Resources of Connecticut sponsors shows exhibiting the work of Anne Williams and
Susan Kelly.
A full page illustrated story in the Arts Review Section of the Hartford
Courant (September 16, 1979) relates the adventures and achievements of Anne Williams
and Susan Kelly, who traveled the length of the Connecticut River by canoe to make rub-
bings of the eighteenth and nineteenth century art on gravestones. The results of this
410 mile, two-year intermittent adventure are being shown in two separate Connecticut
exhibitions. Twenty-six rubbings were exhibited in "Three Centuries of Folk Art," a
major show at Hartford's Wadsworth Atheneum, which opened in September. The show
left Hartford in late November and is now traveling to museums in Bridgeport, New
London, New Haven, and Litchfield. Another 130 of the Williams and Kelly rubbings,
presented as "A Grave Business," opened at the newly restored Old State House in
Hartford in late October.
Joseph MacLaughlin, Director of Art Resources of Connecticut, which spon-
sored both shows, writes that he views the early gravestone carvings as an integral part
of Connecticut's folk art and is "excited at how effectively they can teach as well as de-
light the eye . "
Alexandra Grave, curator for the Atheneum exhibition, spent two years search-
ing for outstanding folk art and organizing the show of 250 works, which includes early
tavern signs, weather vanes, portraits, quilts, needlework, and the twenty-six grave-
stone rubbings. She comments that gravestone carvings are our earliest folk art form
and that rubbing, besides being a graphic art, has the advantage of showing the actual
size and texture and character of the stone.
The Maine State Commission for the Arts and Humanities sponsors a touring show.
Peter Finlay and Betty Daniel are preparing an exhibit of fifty New England
gravestone rubbings for a touring show sponsored by the Wider Activities Program of
the Maine State Commission for the Arts and Humanities. Reproductions in the form of
note cards, post cards, silk screen fabrics and some larger prints for framing will be
offered for sale. The exhibiting institutions keep 50% of the income from the sales.
Free to viewers will be an illustrated booklet. An Art of the People , which explains
the historical, artistic, and sociological implications of the work exhibited. Artists
Finlay and Daniel will arrange exhibition bookings for schools, libraries, historical so-
cieties, and museums in Maine and elsewhere in New England.
Address Betty Daniel, National Institute for Transition, 22 Monument Square,
Suite 601. Portland, Maine 04111. Telephone (207) 773-7123.
NEWSPAPER and MAGAZINE ITEMS
Richard F. Welch is the author of "Folk Art in Stone on Long Island," a
photo-essay in the June, 1979, issue of Early American Life, the Magazine of the
Early American Society. The article features excellent color and black and white photo-
graphs of Long Island gravestones and an enlightening test. Back issues of the pub-
lication may be ordered for $2.00 from the Early American Society, P.O. Box 1J31,
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17105. Welch, a new AGS member, teaches History at Glen
Cove High School and is a doctoral candidate at the State University of New York at
Stony Brook.
George B, Griffin, a reporter for the Worcester Telegram and Gazette,
wrote a one-page article for his paper's Sunday magazine section, October 28, 1979.
His piece quotes a few typical and a few amusing epitaphs and offers some simple phi-
losophy about the subject matter of the decorative carving. From the article it is not
possible to determine if Griffin has a serious or merely a cursory interest in grave-
stones, but his- article reached a large audience, wJiich was educated by the article to
view the old stones as "books that, with a little study, tell volumes in a few brief lines.
Articles of this sort, while superficial, can nevertheless open doors to the public's in-
terest in early gravestone study. We sent Mr. Griffin a NEWSLETTER.
mGHlVSP€CMLIZ€D
PRQjIOTIOfiS
228ajmaisrR8€r
DgC>0KLVri.f1.V11901
(Q12;UL8-30Q6
RODOTIH/ILPORn
According to Time Magazine reporter
Melvin Maddocks, "Death education courses now abound
all over the country for college and high school and ele-
mentary students." In the lead article of the December 3,
1979 issue of Time, Maddocks describes the activities of a
group of Gainesville, Florida, ten year olds as they visit
a local graveyard with their teacher, Judith Shaak. Ms.
Shaak wrote her master's thesis on the way children's
books deal with death ("Grandfather's gone on a long trip").
For courses on dying, the article mentions Death Out of the
Closet as one of the standard texts.
Time ' s article prompts us to mention again
the book by AGS member Roberta Halporn, Lessons from
the Dead: The Graveyard as a Classroom for the Study of
the Life Cycle, published by Highly Specialized Promotions
and illustrated with gravestone rubbings from the author's
collection.
CEMETERY CITATIONS
for
EXEMPLARY CARE
NEGLECT
ENFIELD, CONNECTICUT
DORCHESTER, MASSACHUSETTS
Readers are invited to recommend cemeteries for citation. Address NEWSLETTER,
c/o American Antiquarian Society, Worcester MA 01609. CONSIDERATIONS WHEN MAKING
YOUR RECOMMENDATION : scattered stone fragments, debris, lawnmower damage to stones,
unpruned trees and broken limbs on ground, overgrowth of vines and bushes, stones
upright, attempts at conservation/restoration, general maintenance of grounds and
fences and walls, a sign or signs to instruct public.
STONECUTTERS AND THEIR WORKS
Second of a Series
Rev. David Thurston, Auburn 1777
Drawing by M.J. Spring
WILLIAM YOUNG OF TATNUCK. MASSACHUSETTS
Marij and Rick Stafford
The Man. William Young came to Worcester from Ireland in 1718 at the age of seven
with his parents David and Martha, and his paternal grandparents John and Isabel.
The family settled in nearby Tatnuck and prospered. William grew up, became ac-
tively involved in the political life of Worcester, married and raised a family, which
was to number twelve children, of whom eight were alive when he died in 1795 at age
84. His active profession was farmer; he acted as head of many Revolutionary com-
mittees and was a Justice of the Peace after the Revolution. He was Worcester's
Town Surveyer and Moderator of the Town Meetings. His gravestone cutting seems
to have been an avocation rather than a true profession, but it was a lifelong interest .
His Work. The earliest stone that can be attributed to him is that of Joseph Ayres of
Brookfield, 1740; the latest is that of Irenna Wiswall of Worcester, 1792. The latter
is among those dug up in 1968 (see Editor's note, next page) and placed in a little en-
closure on Worcester Common. More than 145 stones in the Worcester County area
have been attributed to him, although there may in some cases be a stylistic con-
fusion between the work of Young and that of the Soule family.
TOWNS WITH WILLIAM YOUNG GRAVESTONES
In general, characteristics of Young's carving style are: round-faced effigies with
simple, almost helmet-hke hair (men's effigies wear a wig; women's a bonnet); round,
staring eyes; straight-line mouths; frequent use of thistle-like floral designs to the
sides of the effigies; and, in the text, a capital A with a "v" for its cross-bar .Young
was an unusually creative carver. There is a great deal of variety in his designs; no
two are alike. In addition to stylistic points, the stones of William Young can often be
recognized by the quality of the stone: a rough, rusty slate that breaks easily.
Authentication Three wills show payment to Young for gravestones. One is that of
Samuel Crawford of Rutland, and the stone can still be seen there in the small neg-
lected yard behind the Fire Station. The other two are James Tanner of Worcester,
whose stone was dug up and reburied; and Robert Goddard of Sutton, where the
graveyard seems to have been lost to industrialization.
Sources of Additional Information. Harriette Forbes documents the life of Young ad-
mirably in her book, Early New England Gravestones and the Men Uho Made Them, and
in a monograph delivered to the American Antiquarian Society. Given the prominence
of the man in his time and the relative lack of mention of him in any later historical
works, some extended research in diaries of the area at his period would be of interest.
Another source of information could be probate wills of all those gravestones presumed
to be of his hand. Although payment -is probably not recorded, Young often acted as
executor or surveyor of the decedent's property. Much information on his life and
friendships might be amassed from this research.
Mary Stafford is Administrative Assistant for the Surgical Residency Program at
University Hospital , Boston. Rick is photographer for the Fogg Museum, Harvard.
Editor's note: In 1853 the gravestones on Worcester Common were laid flat and cover-
ed with earth. In 1968, when a portion of the Common was excavated to make way for
a shopping center, the Wiswall and Tanner stones were among those exhumed. The
Wiswall stone and a few others were re-erected on the Common. The others, includ-
ing the Tanner stone, were moved to Hope Cemetery and reburied. While above ground,
the Tanner stone was photographed by Daniel Farber, and a copy of that picture can
be seen at the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester. The photograph confirms
Harriette Forbes' identification of Young's work.
WHO IS THIS CARVER?
The "Springfield Carver" was a skilled, prolific, relatively unimaginative
carver whose work is found in abundance in graveyards in and around Springfield,
Massachusetts. His spare, clean-cut effigies are handsome in their simplicity. The
designs are characterized by oval faces, almond-shaped eyes, and curved, linear
headdresses and wings. Overhead are scalloped, cloud-like shapes. The most fre-
quent border design is a stylized vine motif.
Although the majority of the Springfield Carver's stones are incised with
a strong line in low relief, many are carved in a very high relief. The orthography--
lettering, spelling, grammar, spacing, punctuation — is exceptionally good, and the
straightforward dignity of his designs make up for what they may lack in wit and in
naive charm. The stones are of a rich, red sandstone and they tend to be somewhat
larger than those of other cutters in the area at that time. The majority date from
the I790's into the first decade of the nineteenth century, after which a nicely shap-
ped urn and willow design replaced the effigy.
Carvers are identified by signature, by carving style, and through probate records
which show, for example, payment by an estate to a named stonecutter for a grave-
stone. Is there a carver you would like to have identified? Send us a description
of his work. Have you information which might lead to the identification of the
Springfield Carver? Address: AGS Newsletter, c/o American Antiquarian Society,
Worcester MA 01609.
REGIONAL NEWS
AGS has established ties with a number of regional cemetery associations.
Our members are encouraged to support regional association activities and to make use
of regional associations' resources. The simplest methods for exchanging information
and encouraging cooperative efforts among associations are to:
Join our newsletter exchange. Regional cemetery associations which place
AGS on their mailing lists will be put on the AGS mailing list. Send your
regional newsletters and announcements to AGS Publications, c/o The
American Antiquarian Society, Worcester MA 01609.
Contact AGS Regional Representatives or AGS Corresponding Secretary, Ruth O.
Cowell, 21 Bogert Place, Westwood NJ 07675.
REGIONAL NEWS
Some Varied Approaches to Gravestone Studies
From North, East, South, West
LAWRENCE R. HANDLEY, Department of Anthropology and Geography, University
of New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana 70122.
Professor Handley has two interesting research projects in progress. He
is writing his dissertation on the role of the cemetery in urban evolution and its re-
lationship to the way the city developed, as seen in transportation patterns, physical
size, population, racial and ethnic groupings, and urban renewal. He is, he says,
"looking at the city using the cemetery as criteria." Among the cities studied are
San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, St. Louis, Rock Island Illinois, Pittsburgh,
and New Orleans. As part of this research he has developed a bibliography which
is more complete than any other he has found on cemeteries.
Handley 's other project, a study of the cemetery as a cultural institution
in the Ozark Mountains, began when he was teaching at the University of Arkansas.
After two years of "mulling and puttering," Handley sees these burial grounds as
cultural ties between isolated areas, bringing people together and strengthening loy-
alties and family ties.
DAVID LAWSON, 460 North 6th Street, Laramie, Wyoming 82070
David Lawson, a member of the English faculty of the University of
Wyoming teaching American Folklore, has completed a 150 page manuscript, a com-
prehensive collection of and sensitive commentary on Wyoming gravestone epitaphs .
The AGS Publications Committee has asked Professor Lawson's permission to use a
section of this work, titled The Final Voice, in the 1980 AGS Jovamal.
BEN J. LLOYD, Bedwyn Stone Museum, Great Bedwyn, Nr. Marlborough, Wilts, England
and
JOHN HOPKINS , The Stoneyard, Mill Street, Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, England
Ben Lloyd is a practicing stonemason who has made a life study of grave-
stones. He has been a member of AGS since the organization was formed, and he hopes
one day to attend an AGS conference. Mr. Lloyd writes that if one of our members is
traveling in England, he would be pleased to show him/her around in exchange for
hospitality in the United States. Perhaps there is a member in the Haverhill area who
could offer housing to him next June 20-22, our 1980 conference dates.
Corresponding Secretary Ruth Cowell reports that AGS has a new inter-
national member, Mr. John Hopkins of Gloucestershire, England, who writes, "I am
a working stonemason. Past President of the Stone Federation, which is our national
trade body, a lecturer for Bristol University Historical Department in Saxon and
Norman Architecture, and a member of our local archaeological society."
JOHN J. (JACK) CASHMAN, 315 Marlborough Road„ Brooklyn, New York 11226
Last spring a story in the Bew York Times introduced us to New York Police
Department Sargent Jack Cushman arid his extraordinary collection of slides of the
gravestones of celebrities. Now a member of AGS, Cushman writes, "Although we
Association members share the same general interest in cemeteries, some of us have a
specific interest in the people interred as well as in their gravestones . I have a slide
collection of the gravestones of famous (and infamous) Americans. If any AGS mem-
ber has photos or slides of well-known personalities' gravestones, please contact me."
CHARLES E. MOHR, Lake Club Apartments B-26, Dover, Deleware 19901
"My interest in cemeteries is essentially that of a naturalist," says Dr.
Charles Mohr, Past President of the American Nature Study Society (and also of the
National Speleological Society!). Mohr has for two decades presented Audubon lee- —
tures in the United States and Canada, and he is the recipient of the National Science
for Youth Foundation's Distinguished Naturalist Award. For the National Science for
Youth Foundation he developed "View from the Bus: an Environmental Awareness Pro-
gram for School Bus Riders," which is distributed by the Deleware Audubon Society
in support of its Operation Cemetery Discovery. Through this program, Mohr encour-
ages the exploration of the sanctuary /open space resources of the cemeteries. Survey
sheets to be filled out by youthful participants ask for observations about the age,
number and kind of trees and other growth, including lichen, about animal life in
the cemetery, the degree of audio distraction or noise, as well as the more usual ob-
servations about the stones and cemetery maintenance. Ruth Cowell, AGS Corres-
ponding Secretary writes that Mohr's survey sheets inspire us to "tuck your Peter-
son's Field Guide in your kit of rubbing or photographic material on your next ceme-
tery excursion. Let's not forget the live experience that can await us there."
For more information about Operation Cemetery Discovery, write Deleware Audubon
Society, John Shield, Presider:-; , 9 Croyden Rd. Newark DE 19702. Or write Dr. Mohr.
AGS REGIONAL -REPRESENTATIVES
Canada
Maine
Massachusetts
DEBORAH TRASK
1747 Summer Street
Halifax NS B 3H 3A6
Canada
RUTH GRAY
70 North 4th Street
Old Town, Maine 04468
ANITA C. WOODWARD
Box 51, Thompson Road
Princeton MA 01541
New Hampshire MARY C. EMHARDT
Star Route
Barrington NH 03825
New York MITCHELL R . ALEGRE
138 W. Buffalo Street
Warsaw NY 14569
and
JANE NORTHSHIELD
226 Mt. Airy Road
Croton-on-Hudson NY 10520
Oklahoma CATHERINE H. YATES
303 S . Mercedes
Norman OK 73069
Pennsylvania Dr. THOS. J. HANNON
Geography Department
Slippery Rock College
Slippery Rock PA 16057
New Jersey ROBERT F. VAN BENTHUYSEN Wisconsin
147 Wall Street
West Long Branch NJ 07764
JULAINE A.MAYNARD
617 demons Avenue
Madison WI 53704
Members willing to collect and report news from unrepresented areas, please volunteer to
AGS Newsletter c/o American Antiquarian Society, Worcester MA 01609.
Report from Massachusetts : Share Genealogical Information .
Nearly everybody in the western states can trace his/her genealogy to New
England. Ron Bremer of Utah is interested in publishing genealogies and wants the
names of New England genealogists. His address: P.O. Box 1644, Salt Lake City, Utah
84416.
Closer to home, genealogists should consider exchanging information with
Downeast Anaestry, P.O. Box 398, Machias, Maine 04654, and the Vermont Genealogi-
cal Society, Mrs. Carol Church, Westminster West, RFD #3, Putney, Vermont 05346.
Contributed by Anita Woodward, Regional Representative for Massachusetts
Report from New York : A Restoration Project and a Record of Inscriptions.
The village of Medina, New York, sponsored a 2^ month project this past
summer to rebuild foundations for gravestones and repair broken monuments in the
oldest section of the village cemetery. The project utilized CETA personnel. Tentative
approval has been received to continue and complete the project during the summer of
1980.
Over thirty years ago the Wyoming County (New York) Historian's Office
launched a quarterly local history magazine entitled Histovioat Wyoming. One of the
most popular sections of each issue is the record of gravestone inscriptions from local
cemeteries. This is especially helpful to genealogists and has provided a written rec-
ord to insure the preservation of the content of gravestone inscriptions.
Contributed by Mitchell Alegre, Regional Representative for New York State
AUTHORS' (AND OTHERS') REQUESTS
for Inf ormati on , Papers ,What-have-you?
Gina Santucci, a graduate student in historic preservation at Columbia
University, is gathering information for her thesis, A Model Financial Program for
Restoration of a Large Victorian Cemetery. She says that because her field of re-
search is so small and so specialized, she would like the NEWSLETTER to "spread the
word about the project." She asks readers to let her know of studies pertaining to
the financial management and restoration of historic cemeteries. Address: Ms. Gina
Santucci, 500 Riverside Drive, #511, New York NY 10027.
A note in the Newsletter of the Vermont Old Cemetery Association reads:
"I am a graduate student working on my doctorate at Indiana University in the field
of folklore. I am working on a project dealing with the symbols found on gravemark-
ers. . .Any information you may be able to provide me with will be very much appre-
ciated." Address: Mr. Ricardas Vidutis, 1106 North Jackson, Bloomington IN 47401.
( Requests continued )
A request forwarded to the NEWSLETTER from the State House, Concord,
New Hampshire, is from Linda J. Eversole, a Canadian Government employee who is
"researching legislation concerning historic cemeteries, particularly in regard to their
designation as historic sites." She wants to know how other governments have dealt
with this and what problems may have been encountered regarding criteria for des-
ignation, maintenance, etc. Address: Ms. Linda J. Eversole, Research and Planning
Division, Ministry of Provincial Secretary and Government Services, Victoria, B.C.,
Canada.
AGS members Dr. Diana Hume George (Pennsylvania State University) and
Dr. Malcom A. Nelson (State University of New York at Fredonia) are chairing a panel
session on Gravestone Studies at the American Culture Association conference, April
16-19, in Detroit. If you have a paper to submit for presentation, send it to: Diana
George and Mac Nelson, 120 West Main Street, Brocton, New York 14716. Topics are
open: carvers, carving styles, epitaphs, conservation, symbols, etc. Suggested
length: 10-12 pages, 20-25 minutes presentation time. Deadline for submission:
March 1, 1980. You are encouraged to send letters of inquiry which describe your
proposed paper or presentation by January 30, earlier if possible. Other things be-
ing equal, preference will be given to those who respond early.
Donna N. Carlson asks if anyone knows of any stones carved by J. B.
Slutson. She says that Slutson carved and signed stones in the Fredonia, New York,
area in the 1820's, but that he may well have migrated west from New England.
Address: Ms. Donna N. Carlson, P.O. Box 142, Fredonia, New York 14063.
#
Roberta Halporn is eager to get in touch with "the creative woman who
described, informally, how to take rubbings with melted craypas and airplane paper"
at the Newport conference. She says that the method is so seductive that she does
not want to do anything else, but she needs to know "how to keep the melted waxes
from shattering after they cool, so they will stay in the nice neat cake she had."
She asks for the name of the Crapas Rubber or a description of the technique.
Address: Roberta Halporn, 228 Clinton Street, Brooklyn, New York 11201.
ITEMS OF INTEREST
Information about New York City Area Graveyards
Roberta Halporn has completed a "moderately thorough" study of the Colo-
nial cemeteries in the New York City vicinity, all of which can be reached without a
car. There are eight, she says, all in remarkably good condition, and she will send
her compilation of information about them to members who send her a 28<t stamped en-
velope. Address her. at 228 Clinton Street, Brooklyn, New York 11201.
member
AGS
I BRAKE FOR OLD GRAVEYARDS
G
AGS Bumper Stickers
Color, brown and white.
Price, $1.30
Available from AGS Treasurer, Sally Thomas, 82 Hilltop Place, New London NH 03257
Post Script
As this issue of the NEWSLETTER was going to press, we learned from Edward
Bryant, Director of Colgate University's Picker Gallery, that the subject of the annual
conference of The College Art Association concerns problems in conservation of American
art, and it focuses on works of national interest that are not being given prop'er con-
servation attention. The Association convenes January 31-February 3 in New Orleans.
On February 1, Mr. Bryant will read his paper, "Some (almost) but not (quite) Forgot-
ten Problems of Art in Our Cemeteries." On the same panel is Mary Louise Christovich,
who spearheads the Save Our Cemeteries movement in New Orleans. Bryant's personal
interest is in nineteenth and turn-of-the-century cemetery art. He and his wife and
son lived nine months of his last sabbatical in a trailer, traveling down the Alleghney,
Ohio, and Mississippi Rivers and back, studying cemetery art along the way. He has
approximately 3000 photographs, some of which will illustrate the book he is working
on. We asked him to report to the NEWSLETTER on the conference.
•^» Cory your AGS Membership Card. It is useful when cemetery aaretdkers , *^
oity offiaials, potiae^ or interested neighbors I
question your activity in their burial grounds.
(Items of Interest continued)
ANNOUNCING "Grave Faces," a broadside poem by Martin Booth
During the summer of 1979, the young British poet
Martin Booth spent two weeks visiting in New Hamp-
shire. On one of his excursions, he came upon the
old cemetery in Jaffrey Centre, where the faces on
the stones first impressed, then haunted him. The
masterful poem "Grave Faces" is the result of that
encounter.
Booth, who has won several major awards, is one of
the best writers working in England today. He has
published four volumes of poetry and one novel. A
second novel and two additional volumes of verse are
due for publication in 1980.
"Grave Faces: was published to accompany the fall
1979 issue of the Friends of the University of New
Hampshire Library NOTES. A collectors' edition of
100 numbered copies signed by the poet have been
printed on special paper (9"xl2") and are suitable
for framing. The stone design is by Joann Brady.
S has been able to reserve fifty of these for its members. They are being offer-
on a first come, first served basis at $15 plus $1.50 for postage and handling.
order, send your check or money order to Mrs. Philip D. Thomas, Treasurer,
Hilltop Place, New London, New Hampshire 03257. Make checks payable to AGS.
AG
ed
To
92
ASSOCIATION NEWS
Conferences, Workshops, Meetings, and other Activities & Business
AGS BOARD MEETING
The AGS Board, which is comprised of the ten elected officers of the Association, met
in Boston on November 2, 1979. Two items on the adjenda are of special interest to
NEWSLETTER readers.
The recommendation of the Conference Planning Committee
concerning dates, location, and program for the 1980 an-
nual conference.
The recommendation of the Publications Committee concern-
ing a new Association publication.
The Board's decision on each of these items is announced below.
AGS CONFERENCE 1980
The 1980 Annual Conference of the Association for Gravestone Studies will
be held at Bradford College, Haverhill, Massachusetts, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday,
June 20-22, 1980. The conference theme will center on "Above Ground Archaeology,"
"with special attention given to the carvers of the Merrimack River Valley School. The
conference site will have the special appeal of an historical area which has recently
been restoring, documenting , and integrating its historic buildings and sites, includ-
ing shoe factories, a tavern, as well as two seventeenth century graveyards. The two
burial grounds have been cleaned, mapped and intensively studied. There has also
been extensive research into the five families of stone carvers having their origins in
the town. These carvers are all of the folk art tradition and their relationships and
comparative styles will be of interest to AGS members.
The conference program will include sessions on mapping, data recording,
and other archaeological techniques, stone repair, geneology, as well as rubbing and
photography. Emphasis will be given to "hands on" activities, field tripes, and dem-
onstrations. It is hoped that speakers will introduce work from the western United
States and from Scotland, and that wooden as well as stone markers will be studied.
The Bay State Historical League will hold its annual conference at the same
time and place, and the two groups may share some sessions. It is expected that the
organizations will find a creative overlap of interest among their members, and that
they will use the opportunity to enlarge their perspective.
Reserve June 20-22, 1980, for an engoyahle weekend with others
who are interested in and knowledgeable about gravestones.
NEW AGS PUBLICATION
AGS will produce a yearly publication to be called MARKERS: The Journal
of the Association for Gravestone Studies. It will present the most interesting and
significant papers written during the year. The 1980 issue of MARKERS will be ready
for sale at the 1980 conference in Haverhill, Massachusetts, June 20-22. Details for
placing advanced orders will be announced in the next (Spring) issue of NEWSLETTER.
AGS Publications Committee: Chair Jessie Lie Farber
MARKERS Review Board. . Joanne Baker, Dan Farber,
James Slater
Design Francis Duval, Ivan Rigby
SOCIETY FOR HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY Annual Conference, Gravestone Symposium
The annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology will be held
in Alburquerque , New Mexico, January 8-11, 1980, at the Hilton Sun. As is the cus-
tom, the Conference on Underwater Archaeology will convene at the same time and
place. Room rates have been discounted for those attending, and a wide variety of
tours of the area have been arranged. Of speqial interest to AGS members is the
symposium, "Gravestones as a Material Culture Data Base." A description of this
symposium subject states that early gravestones provide information not available
from other sources and are therefore a valuable resource for a variety of disciplines
and that the multidisciplinary use of this unique source of cultural information sug-
gests that a photographic recording of this body of information before it disappears
should be a national priority. The need for a suitable system for recording wide re-
gional variations and for the retrieving of information will be discussed by Gaynell
Stone Levine, Anthropology Department, State University of New York at Stony Brook.
For reservations and information, write: American Anthropological Association
Society for Historical Archaeology
1073 New Hampshire Avenue, NW
Washington DC 20009
THE DUBLIN SEMINAR FOR NEW ENGLAND FOLKLIFE (AGS's Parent Organization).
The 1980 Dublin Seminar will be held June 28-29 at the Dublin School,
Dublin, New Hampshire. The subject of this year's meeting will be: Maps, Place
Names, and the Historical Landscape. More information about this meeting in the
Spring issue of the NEWSLETTER.
NEWSLETTER NOTES
Corrections, Amplifications, Deadlines
The AGS logo was taken from the carving on the 1771 Williamstown, Massachusetts,
headstone for Elisabeth Smith, not, as reported in the last issue of the NEWSLETTER,
from the footstone. Both stones, which are white marble, are shown below.
XJ^Mi
The first reader to call our attention to the error was Francis Duval, who noted an-
other error, the omission of the first word of the title of the book. Early American
Gravestone Art in Photographs, v/ritten by himself and Ivan Rigby. Our thanks and
our apologies to Mr. Duval, who has also called our attention to two photographs on
page 111 of Allan Ludwig's Graven Images. They show angels like the "Moosup angels'
illustrated in the Fall NEWSLETTER. Ludwig's angels are in Plainfield, Connecticut.
Since publication of the Fall NEWSLETTER, another "Moosup /Plainfield angel" has been
discovered in faraway Granby, Connecticut. Does anyone know where home base for
this carver is?
(Corrections, Amplifications, Deadlines Continued)
The Fall NEWSLETTER lists the names and addresses of AGS members who attended the
AGS conference in Newport. Some readers misread this to be a list of all AGS members,
Because there is an interest in membership statistics, we will publish a membership
statement (not a list of names and addresses) in the Spring NEWSLETTER itemizing the
number of members in each catagory: Regular, Student, Institutional, and Sustaining.
There are a few errors and some changes in the list of conference participants. You
may want to note them on your list. The correct listings are:
Mitchell R. Alegre, 138 West Buffalo Street, Warsaw NY 14569
Ruth O. Cowell, 21 Bogert Place, Westwood NJ 07675
Anne G. Giesecke, 9224 Oklahoma Drive, Fairfax VA 22031
(703) 323-6502 (home) (703) 273-3166 (business)
Lance Mayer, Cincinnati Art Museum, Eden Park, Cincinnati OH 45202
(513) 321-9456 (home) (513) 721-5204 (business)
Aileen P.. Sechler, 3 Johnson Drive, Apartment 3, Gettysburg PA 17325
We have had reports from several readers that they cannot find Willsher and Hunter's
book. Stones: A Guide to Some Remarkable Eighteenth Century Gravestones, which was
reviewed by Peter Benes in the Fall NEWSLETTER. According to the publishers, Stones
is available at all B. Dalton Bookstores. Also, it can be ordered direct from Taplinger
Publishing Company, 200 Park Avenue South, New York 10017. It comes in both hard
cover ($14.95) and paperback ($7.95). Add 81<t postage. NEWSLETTER readers will be
interested to know that Betty Willsher has slides she is willing to show or have shown
at the 1980 AGS conference. Her address, for members who may want to communicate
with her, is Orchard Cottage, Greerside Place, St. Andrews, Fife, Scotland KY 169 U.
Contributions to AGS Archives ^
The last issue of the NEWSLETTER stated that the Winter issue would give you details for
making (tax deductible) contributions to the AGS archives, which are housed at the
New England Historic and Genealogical Society in Boston. We now ask you to wait for
the Spring issue for this information. The development of an excellent collection of re-
trievable data is so important and so complex that the AGS Archives Committee requires
more time to formulate its long-term policies and procedures. Meanwhile, we are very
grateful for contributions we have received. We repeat our request to members to
look and think through materials you are willing to contribute, but we ask you to wait
for the Committee's announcement before putting any contributions in the mail.
NEWSLETTER Editor, Anne Giesecke has left the Archaeological Research Services of the
University of New Hampshire to become Chief of Service, Historic Archaeology, for the
Iroquois Institute. Her new address is listed above.
Because almost every issue of the NEWSLETTER has involved a change of address, and
because our new publication MARKERS (see page 16) needs an address, we have arrang-
ed with the American Antiquarian Society for a permanent, easy-to-remember address
for both publications . We hope this will make it easy for our members to respond and
contribute.
k\)\i?.^SS NEWSLETTER and MARKERS COMMUNICATION to
AGS Publications
c/o American Antiquarian Society
Worcester MA 01609
THE DEADLINE FOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO TEE SPRING NEWSLETTER IS MARCH 1.
01.^ ON i!UJJ3<j
a I V d
30ViSOd s "n
3iva >nna
60910 Vn ^3:;saoao^
suoTiBDiiqnj SOV
S3ipnq.s ^uo:^s^AHJ:r) joj uoir^Bpossy
•s:;q.asnLj3BSSB|ft| 'puB[:tny '9uo:ts 09ZT P-^io^mbuq S9u6\/ 9Lj:^ puB 's:;:^9snLjOBSSBW
'PLaLi>|ooja '9uo:iS ign J^L:^n^ t^uaqoy aqt^ uiojj. u9>|b:^ suS.Lsap puiq 6unoA iublll.lM
S9NIi33y9 S.yV3A M3N
^L 0861
^
■ MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION
Membership in the Association for Gravestone Studies supports the study of an important
and rapidly disappearing heritage. Other benefits of membership are subscription to the
NEWSLETTER , waiver of the $3 fee for admission to the library of the New England Historic
and Genealogical Society, and a reduced advanced-order price for the journal,. ^•ff-S^^'fl-S'.
The membership year extends from annual conference to annual conference . Membership
is required to attend the conference.
Rates are tax deductible: Individual $10; Institutional $10; Student $5; Sustaining $25.
Sustaining membership includes MARKERS.
Tear and send with membership fee to Mrs. Philip D. Thomas, AGS Treasurer
82 Hilltop Place, New London CT 03857
Name
Address
Special interest(s) and/or organizational affiliation, if any.
NEWSLETTER
OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES
Volume 4, Number 2, Spring 1980. ISSN : 01U6-5783
CONTENTS
ASSOCIATION NEWS : 1980 Conference Information
EXHIBITS, FILM, SLIDES, NEWSPAPER S MAGAZINE ITEMS
REGIONAL NEWS; AGS REPRESENTATIVES
WORKS IN PROGRESS / AUTHORS' REQUESTS
STONECUTTERS AND THEIR WORKS. Third & fourth installments
John Hartshorne and the Muh'cken Family
by Ralph Tucker
• illiiliiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
CEMETERY CITATIONS
REVIEWS
"^ ■■■iillllllllllilliiiilllltliillilililllliiiililllliliill
Souls in Stone. Review by David Watters
"Leaving No Stone Unturned" and id- u, i ^;l „^
,, , ? ^ X ^ ^- ] Review by Lance Mayer
Manual for Gravestone Conservation.
Here Lies America. Review by Nancy Eills £ Parker Hayden
Lessons from the Dead. Review by Anne Giesecke
WHO IS THIS CARVER?
iiiiiiliiiiiliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii*
1
5
8
11
13
14
15
19
By Susan Kelly and Anne Williams
NEWSLETTER corrections, additions, deadlines , , , , 20
A CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT TO POST
iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiii
21
A MESSAGE FROM AGS PRESIDENT JOANNE BAKER
This year, AGS is holding its conference concurrently with the Bay State
Historical League, There will be several speakers who will address joint sessions
of both groups. The balance of each organization's program will be held separate-
ly. Essex County, Massachusetts, our conference site, is an area rich in material
culture. It contains numerous fine houses, early mills and factories, and was the
working place of five important gravestone carving families. Joint conference ses-
sions will focus on the importance and uses of our material culture; the AGS pro-
gram will feature the carvers of the area and the model restoration of two important
burial grounds in Bradford.
The Bradford and Pentucket burial grounds are among the finest examples
of community restoration efforts in the country. Not only have the graveyards
been cleaned and the stones recorded but the yards have been mapped and com-
plete genealogical profiles have been assembled for each person buried there. These
restoration efforts will be described by Anne Armstrong, the Director of the An-
cient Cemetery Project, in a talk entitled "Restoration of Historic Bradford Ceme-
tery: Organization and Implementation." Anne Giesecke, AGS Vice-president for
Research, will speak on "Archeology in the Bradford Cemetery." To continue the
theme of restoration and preservation, Norman Weiss, a world authority on stone
conservation, will speak on "Resetting and Repair of Gravestones in Historic Ceme-
teries. "
Conference participants will have ample opportunity to become personally
familiar with the Bradford graveyards. The Association is planning to have shut-
tle transportation to them during a large portion of the conference. Moreover,
Saturday afternoon is being devoted to a series of hands-on workshops and dem-
onstrations in the graveyards. Sessions will be held on rubbing, recording in-
formation, making a measured and gridded diagram, making archeological tests,
and photography. Norman Weiss and Lance Mayer will demonstrate the repair of
a stone, and Frankie Bunyard will show the art of letter carving.
- 2 -
The Essex County gravestone carvers will receive major conference at-
tention. Ralph Tucker, whose particular interest has been the Essex County
carving tradition, and Francis Duval, noted author and photographer, are pre-
paring a major presentation on the carvers of the region and the dissemination of
their styles.
Peter Benes, Director of the Dublin Seminar for New England Folklife,
parent organization of ACS, will speak on "Plagues, Earthquakes, and Doom in
Merrimack Valley Craveyards."
The cultural and historical significance of the American graveyard will be
addressed by one of the keynote speakers, Edwin Dethlefsen, Professor of Anthro-
pology, The College of William and Mary. Dethlefsen's address will formally open
the conference Friday night, June 20, in a joint session on "Material Culture and
Human Beings: Messages from the Crave." Another joint session will feature Thomas
Schlereth, Director of the Craduate Program in American Studies, University of
Notre Dame, who will consider the significance of our material heritage in general.
Finally, there will be a series of discussion groups on how persons in particular
disciplines such as genealogists, demographers, art historians, and educators may
best utilize the material objects of the past.
A regular feature of the ACS conference has been the presentation of new
and relevant information in all areas of gravestone study. This year, Pamela Burgess,
wife of the late Frederick Burgess, author of the definitive work on English grave-
stones, will speak of "English Churchyard Memorials." Also, Betty Willsher, author
of Stones: 18th Century Scottish Gravestones, will present an illustrated lecture on
"Scottish Stones." Michael Cornish will offer new information in his talk, "Joseph
Barber and Ebenezer Winslow : Newly Discovered Carvers." Charles Mohr will give
a talk entitled, "An Audubon-inspired Study of Craveyards." Francis Duval and
Ivan Rigby will show slides of twentieth century Swiss stones.
Other regular conference events are again scheduled — the evening slide
presentations in which members show slides from their collections, mini talks about
research In progress, and the presentation of The Harriette Merrlfield Forbes Award
for outstanding contribution to the field of gravestone studies. The exhibit space
at Bradford College is superior to that of our previous sites. Mary Ann Mrozlnskl,
ACS Vice-president for Education, who is directing the exhibits, reports that the
displays will be outstanding. The ACS sales table will again offer a complete selec-
tion of literature on gravestone study.
Finally, there will be opportunities to explore the area. For early arrivals,
there will be a Friday, 10 am to 4 pm bus trip/box lunch to significant seventeenth
century burying grounds in the Merrimack Valley area: Ipswich, Rowley, and Newbury.
Friday afternoon a local bus will circulate to and from the Haverhill graveyards.
There are also tentative plans for a Friday afternoon boat trip up the Merrimack
River.
The first formal session will begin at 8:15, Friday evening, June 20. We
look forward to seeing you there.
CONFERENCE PRE-REGISTRATION FORM
To pre-register for the conference, reserve room and meals, and renew your AGS
membership, return this form with your check made out to Association for Grave-
stone Studies to
Rev. Ralph Tucker, Conference Chair
928 Main Street
West Newbury, MA 01985
Registration for the THREE DAY AGS CONFERENCE, Bradford
College, Haverhill, Ma. (Registration at the conference will be $20) $15
1980-81 AGS membership (required for attending conference sessions) $10
NOTE: Accompanying family members who will not be attending
conference sessions are not required to pay registration fee or
to join the Association.
Conference housing and meals
FULL CONFERENCE: 3 days, 2 nights, 6 meals
Single occupancy - $60 $
Double occupancy - $50 per person $
Triple occupancy - $40 per person $
[ ] I plan to share a room with
[ ] Please arrange a roommate for me.
PARTIAL CONFERENCE: one night lodging, 3 meals
Single - $35 $_
Double - $30 per person $_
Triple - $25 per person $_
[ ] Friday
[ ] Saturday
I will not be staying at the College but would like meals
as specified below.
[ ] Friday dinner - $8 per person $_
[ ] Saturday lunch & dinner - $12 per person $_
[ ] Sunday lunch - $5 per person $^
[ ] I would like to participate in the Friday afternoon trip to Haverhill graveyards.
[ ] I would like to take the Friday afternoon Merrimack River Boat Trip.
[ ] I would like to take the Friday 10 AM - 4 PM bus trip with box lunch to important
area graveyards in Rowley, Ipswich, and Newbury.
^ I
OJ TO W >. ^
%-^lH NAME
ct^^^^ ADDRESS
^ ll I '^ - INSTITUTION (if any)
— O 0) "U 3 O
— -^ u ^ cr-Q Comments? Suggestions? Papers, slides, exhibits
rn <u E 2! .;i! to contribute?
h- E S >■ ^ .E
OTHER ASSOCIATION NEWS
FUNDING NEEDED. Gaynell Levine, Vice-president/Grants, is looking for financial
backing for AGS publications. In addition to the NEWSLETTER , AGS is publishing
MARKERS , a handsome illustrated journal which will present the year's best writing
on gravestone studies. The American Cemetery Association is among the organiza-
tions Levine hopes will help support these publications. She would welcome funding
suggestions from readers. If we depend entirely on sales to finance our publications,
the purchase prices will be too high to reach the wide audience we want to reach.
Send ideas to Mrs. Gaynell Levine, RR 2, Box 205, Wading River, NY, 11792, or to
AGS Publications, c/o American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, MA 01609.
ACS ARCHIVES. The development of the best procedures for collecting, storing,
and retrieving our archival materials is proving to be a complicated and time-con-
suming operation. Readers with experience and interest in this area are urged to
volunteer their expertise. Also, inexperienced, Boston-based readers willing to
give time to cataloging are also needed. Write or telephone Dr. Joanne Baker, AGS
President, 51 South Street, Concord, NH 03301, (603) 271-3747. Meanwhile, the
Association gratefully acknowledges receipt of contributions of important materials.
We trust that many more of you have materials you are willing to contribute to the
Association archives. Please know that AGS needs and will be asking for your
contributions as soon as we have our storage and retrieval systems ready to go.
EXHIBITION SPACE. A popular feature of AGS conferences is the exhibition area.
Members' exhibits of their work are an integral part of the conference, and the work
of amateurs and professionals is equally interesting and welcome. Items may be la-
beled "for sale." To reserve space, drop a note or card to Mary Ann Mrozinski, 47
Hammond Road, Glen Cove, NY 11542, telling her what you will show and what kind
of space you need. The Bradford College exhibit area is exceptionally good, so
that conferees who show up with exhibit items without having reserved space will
be able to show. But dropping Ms. Mrozinski a line will help her organize the over-
all presentation.
MARKERS, The Journal of the Association for Gravestone Studies. The first issue
is scheduled to be ready for the ACS conference in June. It is full of interesting
and informative articles and illustrations that you will want for your library. This
first issue is being printed in a limited edition of only 500. In order for us to get
the books from the printer and binder and into your hands, we need to raise some
prepublication funds. A prepublication investment from you will help AGS initiate
this new publishing venture and at the same time be a savings to you. Save $U (may-
be more; the final price is not settled) by ordering now at the prepublication price
of $8. This issue of MARKERS is something you will not want to miss. Make checks
payable to AGS Publications, c/o Worcester Antiquarian Society, Worcester, MA 01609.
AGS SALES. (Postage is included in prices.)
Notecards. Photos of gravestone carvings by Dan Farber. The photo on page 5 is
a life-size example. Order from AGS Publications, c/o American Antiquarian Society,
Worcester, MA 01609. Packet of 24 cards and envelopes, each card of a different
stone, $5.50. Packet of 8 cards and envelopes, all Rhode Island stones, $2.50.
Bumper Stickers reading, "I BRAKE FOR OLD GRAVEYARDS/ Member Ass'n Grave-
stone Studies." $1.30. Order from Sally Thomas, 82 Hilltop PI. New London, NH 03257
Information Sheets. "Photographing Gravestones," "Gravestone Symbolism," and
"Gravestone Rubbing for Beginners." 25C each. Order from Ruth Cowell, 2t Bogert
PI., Westwood, NJ 07675.
Illustrated Broadside with poem, signed by English poet Martin Booth. Limited one-
time edition, size 9" x 12", suitable for framing. $16.50. Order from Joanne Baker,
51 South Street, Concord, NH 03301.
NEWSLETTER Back Issues. We have exhausted our supply of back issues except for
the last issue. Winter '79/80 vol. 4, no. 1. This is available for $1.00 from Ruth
Cowell, 21 Bogert Place, Westwood, NJ 07675.
EXHIBITIONS
Detail of the David Melvill gravestone, 1793
Newport, Rhode Island
The Rhode Island Historical Society opened its show entitled "'Sacred
to the Memory' , Early Rhode Island Gravestones" on Sunday, March 2, 1980, at the
Aldrich House, 110 Benevolent Street, Providence. According to Ann LeVeque, Rob
Emien, and Candace Heald, who organized the show, attendance has been excellent
and enthusiastic. The exhibit features 30 photographs of early Rhode Island grave-
stones by Dan Farber, with several actual stones from the Society's collection as il-
lustration. Vincent Luti and Brown University provided consulting and research as-
sistance in the preparation of the excellent notes which accompanied the exhibits.
Two featured performances were presented in conjunction with the open-
ing. A demonstration by Robert Lamb, graduate of Rhode Island School of Design
and former employee of the John Stevens Shop in Newport, provided first hand ex-
posure to the art of carving letters in stone. The award winning film, "Final Marks:
The Art of the Carved Letter," was shown twice, each time to capacity attendance.
Also on exhibit are photographs and other documents from the archives of the Smith
Granite Company of Westerly, Massachusetts, which operated from 1846-1954.
This exhibit continues into October. The hours are: Tuesday through
Saturday, 11am-4pm; Sunday, 1-4pm. Admission is free.
Peabody Museum of Salem. Last summer, inmates at the Salem House of
Correction made a series of gravestone rubbings in three of Salem's historic ceme-
teries. Its purpose was to give inmates a means for creative seif-expression while
providing the community with a valuable record of Salem history, framed in the folk
art of gravestone imagery. Ordinarily rubbing is not permitted in the city's ceme-
teries, but in this case special permission was granted. The rubbings are now on
exhibition in the Garden Gallery of the Peabody Museum. Seventeenth, eighteenth,
and nineteenth century gravestone styles are represented in the fifteen exhibited rub-
bings, which were selected for their beauty as folk art, for the symbolic significance
of their motifs, and their importance as memorials to some of Salem's most prominent
families. The exhibition will continue through mid-May. Museum hours: Monday
through Saturday, 10am-5pm; Sundays and Holidays, 1-5pm. Admission: $1.50 for
adults; 75C for children, for students with I.D., and for senior citizens.
A Grave Business. This exhibition, sponsored by Art Resources of
Connecticut, is a survey in wax crayon rubbings on rice paper of the art of Connec-
ticut gravestone carving from the late seventeenth to the early nineteenth century.
In the show are 125 rubbings by Anne C. Williams and Susan H. Kelly. An illustra-
tive catalog is available. Rental dates available through Art Resources, 85 Willow
Street, New Haven CT 06511.
Three Centuries of Connecticut Folk Art is a smasliing show which ex-
amines the folk art of Connecticut from earliest times to the present — a history lesson,
a civics lesson, and a social lesson, all exuberantly illustrated by 300 objects, includ-
ing gravestone rubbings by Anne C. Williams and Susan H. Kelly. A comprehensive
catalog accompanies the show. This show is completely booked. It showed at the
Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, September 20 to November 18; at the Museum of Art,
Science and Industry, Bridgeport, November 29 to January 13; and at the Lyman
Allyn Museum, New London, February 3 to March 15. Ahead are showings at the New
Haven Colony Historical Society's Creative Arts Workshop, New Haven, March 30 to
May 11; and the Litchfield Historical Society, Oliver Wolcott Library, Litchfield, June 4
to July 12.
"Historic Westwood," an exhibit of early Americana from the collection of
the Historical Society of Westwood, Massachusetts, opened January 8 in Westwood at the
William Underwood Gallery, According to a news item from Westwood's Daily Transcript,
"visitors to the exhibit saw some of Westwood's past through the camera lens of Daniel
Farber of Worcester. Farber is a businessman who pursues photography as a serious
avocation. More than 23,000 of Farber's photographs are in the collections of 115 mu-
seums, including the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Metropolitan Museum in New
York, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Library of Congress. Farber and his wife,
Jessie, came to Westwood about 20 months ago and photographed some of the gravestones
in Westwood's cemetery. They donated these photographs to the Historical Society, and
they are part of the Underwood exhibit. The Farbers work as a team, producing photo-
graphs on eight by ten negatives. By using a full length mirror, they manipulate natu-
ral light to bring out the most expressive textural qualities of the stones."
FILM
"Departed This Life" is a fifteen minute documentary film about New
Jersey gravestones, combining history, the humanities, and the arts of New Jersey.
It was produced in October, 1977, for New Jersey public TV by Louis Presti and Al
Kochka. Mr. Kochka is executive Director of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts,
27 West State Street, Trenton NJ 08625.
SLIDES
Rehoboth illustrated lecture. "Gravestones Vividly Chronicle New England
History" is the heading for a story by Carolyn Otterson, correspondent for the Provi-
dence Journal about ''an elegantly illustrated slide show and lecture on the art of an-
cient New England gravestones presented by Mr, and Mrs. Daniel Farber at this month's
meeting of the Rehoboth Antiquarian Society .. .The speakers made a plea for towns, es-
pecially towns like Rehoboth which are rich in history, to take active steps to preserve
their old cemeteries from the ravages of neglect, weather and vandalism."
Dan and Jessie Farber have presented their illustrated lecture to a number
of organizations this winter, contributing their lecture fees to AGS.
AGS Slide Show. Mary Anne Mrozinski is disappointed by the response
she has had to her request for slides (Winter 1979/80 NEWSLETTER) . She needs a
large selection for the AGS slide program she is developing for distribution to schools,
clubs and community groups. We know you have the slides she needs, and we think
you are willing to contribute to this good cause. It is asking a lot of you — to select
the slides, get copies made (and paid for!) and into the mail to her — so she is alter-
ing her request. Please select from your collections your most interesting and beauti-
ful slides. Have them copied and bring them with you to the conference in Haverhill,
where Ms. Mrozinski will reimburse you for the cost of having them reproduced. She
needs slides illustrating many areas of gravestone study. We hope you will help AGS
develop this project. Address Mary Anne Mrozinski, 47 Hammond Road, Glen Cove NY.
The NEWSLETTER thanks Peter Benes for permission to use
drawings from Masks of Orthodoxy of carvings in the Haverhill area.
Boston by Foot. Laurel Cabel is working on a three session slide pre-
sentation and walking tour of Boston, area burying grounds in connection with Jubilee
350, Boston's birthday celebration. Mrs. Gabel is a docent for Boston by Foot, a non-
profit educational organization founded in 1976 to promote public awareness of Boston's
architectural and cultural heritage. Boston by Foot docents, all graduates of an in-
tensive training program, offer regularly scheduled walking tours of the "Heart of the
Hub" and "Beacon Hill," as well as a participatory children's tour, called Boston by
Little Feet. The Boston by Foot course on area graveyards (to be called Boston by Six
Feet) will feature a slide lecture followed by walking tours of King's Chapel, Granary
and Central Burying Grounds and the Mt. Auburn Cemetery. The class will be held
on October 18th and 25th and November 1st from 2:00 to 3:30 pm. Tuition is $15 for
members of Boston by Foot and $20 for non-members. Enrollment is limited.
Mrs. Gabel is eager to hear from members willing to contribute copies of
slides for the initial lecture. She hopes to use 80 slides in a presentation that details
the progression from the Puritan's earliest wooden graveboards through the ornate
memorials of the Victorian garden cemetery. Examples of the best work of the Boston
area carvers, unique motifs, or stones that make some statement of the social, political,
or religious attitudes of the time would be especially welcome. If you have slides she
may copy, write Laurel Gabel, 323 Linden Street, Wellesley MA 02181. 617-237-3828.
NEWSPAPER AND MAGAZINE ITEMS
"Acid from the Skies." This article in the Environment Section of Time
Magazine, March 17, 1980, tells of "a newly recognized and increasingly harmful kind
of pollution, invisible and insidious: acid rain, a corrosive precipitation that actually
consists of weak solutions of sulfuric and nitric acids... Acid precipitation is apparent-
ly caused largely by sulfur dioxide emissions from coal-burning power plants, smelters
and factories. . .The acids fall to earth in the form of rain or snow that can damage any-
thing from monuments to living organisms. .. It can also corrode stone statues. .. Para-
doxically, one tactic in the fight against air pollution has contributed to the increase
in acid rain. To keep the air clean in the immediate neighborhoods of factories, indus-
try has been building ever taller smokestacks. These belch gases that are out of sight—
and out of mind — for local communities, but not for those downwind. The farther the
gases go, the more time they have to combine with moisture and form acids. The Clean
Air Act of 1970 gives states a liberal hand in controlling their own emissions to meet
federal air quality standards. But it does not assign any responsibility for blights one
state may inflict on another. The result has been a see-no-evil attitude that may well
require more federal intervention. . .and the problem is likely to worsen as the country
turns increasingly to its vaunted ace in the energy hole, coal."
The oldest rubbings. An old (1978) news item has come to our attention.
It is from the Arts Section of The Trib, New York, and features Cecily Barth Firestein,
and her collection of rubbings of New York City tombstones. Mrs. Firestein, accord-
ing to the article, traced the historical background of the graphic art of stone rubbing.
The oldest rubbings, she found, date back to 300 BC in China, where ancient journal-
ists carved the news in stones, which were rubbed by travelers who in turn posted
the rubbings. The rubbing bug, says Mrs. Firestein, made its way to America via
England, where rubbing the Medieval monumental brasses is a national pastime.
For a 1970 exhibition of her rubbings at the Museum of the City of New
York, she wanted to include all ingredients that made up the New York melting pot, and
to accomplish this she set about finding a Chinese tombstone. "I asked my Chinese
doorman and he didn't know. I called the Chinese Benevolent Association, and they
couldn't understand what I wanted. Finally, the director of Evergreen Cemetery in
Queens took me to a corner of the cemetery, and there were Chinese stones." Among
other ethnic stones rubbed for this exhibit are some seventh century Dutch stones, em-
bossed with cherubs and rosettes, which mark the passing of New York's earliest
settlers.
An Associated Press release, dateline Providence, features Edwin
Connelly, Cemeteries Director for the State of Rhode Island. In the article Connelly
says there is a growing need to protect burial grounds from vandalism, natural ero-
sion and from being uprooted by companies wanting to put the land to commercial use.
"It is time," he says, "for New Englanders to fight for the right of still another neg-
lected group: the dead." Connelly is "pushing for a Bill of Rights for the Deceased,'
but politicians tell him there are no votes in cemeteries. "Laws to protect the dead
are especially needed in New England," he says, "because there are so many small
family graveyards." He says he has been contacted by about a dozen states for ad-
vice for protecting cemeteries. (Ed Connelly was one of the group which met in Dublin,
New Hampshire, in 1977 to organize AGS.) His address: 67 Coggeshall Ave., New-
port, Rl 02840.
REGIONAL NEWS. VIEWS
FROM CALIFORNIA
After ten years on the West Coast, Ann and Dickran Tashjian, authors
of Memorials for Children of Change , will return for a short stay in New England.
Mr. Tashjian has been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, and the family will live in
New Haven, Connecticut, from July, 1980, to January or February, 1981, before
going on to Paris. Although the Tashjians arrive East too late to attend the AGS
conference in Haverhill, Massachusetts, Ann does expect to get into the Connecti-
cut graveyards this summer. Many ACS members will remember her demonstration
at the 1979 conference of the sensitive rubbing technique she used to take the
beautiful rubbings which illustrate Memorials. The Tashjians are now busy "trying
to find housing in New Haven."
FROM ENGLAND
Ben J. Lloyd of Great Bedwyn, Wiltshire, England, is a practicing
stonemason who has erected edifices in city squares all over Britain. He contributes
the following information about the early British stonemason: "A mason first served
an apprenticeship and then went as a journeyman on different sites until he made
enough money and fell in love. He then either became a monumental mason in a small
town or became the maintenance mason on an estate where, during inclement weather,
he made gravestones. Vi/hen a wealthy landowner's son had some improper love affair
or otherwise became an embarrassment to the family, it was customary to make him
emigrate, and with him he would take some of the younger estate hands. Thus have
the sons of many English masons come to America. Generally speaking, the young
mason was a copier of his father's designs and also of designs that had been destroy-
ed during the Reformation." Lloyd adds, "However, I see very few well known English
mason's names in your lists of carvers, except EMMS, Harry Emms was a journeyman
who started a fine carving business in Exeter around 1850 and exported all over the
world." (Editor's note: In Gravestones of Early New England, Forbes lists three
Boston carvers named Emmes — Henry, d. 1716, Joshua. 1718-1792, and Nathaniel,
1690-1750.)
MORE FROM ENGLAND
Ruth Cowell, ACS Corresponding Secretary, forwarded to the NEWSLETTER
a letter from Colin R. Chapman, General Secretary of Britain's Federation of Family
History Societies. Mr. Chapman writes, "We are the main organization in the British
Isles concerned with monumental inscriptions and the memorials on which they appear.
With our membership are the major family history societies interested in British ances-
try, both in this country and overseas, and such bodies as the Ancient Monuments
Society, Local Population Studies groups, and others are also Member Societies of the
Federation. In August, Mr. Chapman will speak in Salt Lake City. He asks for infor-
mation about AGS "in order to establish some links between the two organizations in-
terested, I believe, in a common cause." Persons requesting information from the
Federation, he adds, should enclose a self-addressed envelope and two international
Postal Reply coupons. Address Federation of Family History Societies, The Drovers,
Cambridge, Gloucester GL2 7AN, England.
FROM DELAWARE
According to The Winterthur Newsletter, the Friends of Winterthur have
voted financial support for staff research trips to Germany to prepare for a 1982 ex-
hibition and catalog of Pennsylvania German arts being developed in cooperation with
the Pennsylvania Museum of Art. We wonder if the organizers of this exhibition and
catalog will overlook a particularly interesting Pennsylvania German folk art form:
gravestone carvings. These carvings are probably the only examples of early Penn-
sylvania German folk art which are all in their original locations and dated.
Another item from Winterthur: One of three recipients of fellowships
from the National Endowment for the Humanities doing research at the V\/interthur
Museum and Library is Neil R. Grobman. Mr. Grobman is a folklorist and Assistant
Professor of English at the University of Kentucky. His research is in ethnic and
religious folk art and he is looking at religious art and its alteration by the ethnicity
of community or region of the country. We hope he is studying the gravestones of
communities and ethnic groups he is investigating. In any case, his research when
complete should be of interest to students of gravestones.
FROM MASSACHUSETTS
Anita Woodward reports that over 4000 tombstone inscriptions from
Provincetown burying grounds have been recorded, indexed, and mapped and that
this information will be published in book form by Heritage Books, Inc., of Bowie,
Maryland. The introduction to the book. Cemetery Inscriptions. Provincetown,
Massachusetts , begins, "Nowhere is one struck more tangibly by a sense of one's
FROM NEW YORK
Mitchell R. Alegre reports that Family Heritage, a history and genealogy
magazine issued out of New York City, is beginning its third year of publication. He
suggests that AGS members may find the June, 1978, issue of particular interest for
the article by Karen Stinehelfer entitled, "Finding Your Ancestors in the Cemetery."
For more information, write Family Heritage, P.O. Box 1809, New York NY 10001.
MORE FROM NEW YORK
David Watters, who reviewed Souls in Stone for this issue of the NEWS-
LETTER, reports that Bart C. Ferrell, a student at the University of New Hampshire,
has completed a survey of the Point of Graves cemetery, Portsmouth's oldest burying
ground. Ferrell studied 105 stones, with death dates ranging from 1682 to 1802. A
copy of his survey can be consulted at the University of New Hampshire Library or
at the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities.
Watters plans to study gravestone iconography in England this summer
and has a request concerning these plans. See page 12.
FROM OHIO
We have been sent an illustrated article from the Cincinnati Enquirer
about Adele Blanton, who is recording information on tombstones in Montgomery. The
shapes of the old stones shown in the newspaper photograph are interesting. We in-
vite readers to write to us about the markers in that area. Mrs. Blanton's address:
10495 Deerfield Road, Montgomery 45242.
FROM OKLAHOMA
Catherine H. Yates writes about Oklahoma stones: "Although the markers
here are much later in time than those in New England, there are several interesting
aspects of markers in this state. . .Problems dealing with ethnic group acculturation
are especially applicable to this area because there are communities still in existence
that began as settlements of separate cultural groups. There are all-black communities
begun by freed slaves (both those who emigrated from the east and those who had
been held by Indian farmers in Indian Territory), there are settlements of most of the
Indian tribes found originally in the southeast and midwest; and there are Europeans,
particularly German, Czech, and Italian. There are also Mennonite settlements in the
western part of the state and isolated Mexican-American influences, although not as
wide-spread as in Texas. Missionaries from almost every Christian group were active
among the Indians from the early nineteenth century. Although most of the markers
show this Christian influence, many retain aspects of the original burial practices of
the group that erected them. For example, the southeastern groups who had origi-
nally interred the deceased with gravegoods continued to do so. However, instead of
placing dishes with food, drink, etc., along with weapons, tools, or items of adorn-
ment inside the grave, they began to put these articles on top of the ground over the
deceased and then, to prevent theft, built a house over the mound and offerings.
This practice is still carried on today. Now, however, the houses are often made
with stone tablets with a headstone on the top and at one end. The markers here are
generally of marble, sandstone, or granite, with a surprising number of zinc memori-
als...Our markers are similar to the ones in Texas, Arkansas, parts of Kansas, Mis-
souri, Nevada and New Mexico. The Southern Plains seem to share a lot of tradition,
both prehistorically and historically...! have a number of slides and black and white
photographs as well as field notes from Texas and Oklahoma that I would like to put
in the archives. . .After living here for a year, I am finally finding people with some
interest in gravestones. I have recorded a number of cemeteries in Oklahoma that
did not appear on U.S.G.S. maps... These have all been assigned site numbers and
included in the site files in the office of the State Archeologist. . .Going back to fully
document the located cemeteries is difficult because settlements are spread out. Lo-
cal participation would be ideal for collecting this sort of data, and I am trying to
get some sort of organized program going here. I would be interested in corre-
sponding with anyone who has tried to set up such a program as there is a chance
that the Oklahoma Historical Society might back the program." Ms. Yates adds that
she was pleased to attend the symposium on gravestones at the Society for Historical
Archaeology in Alburuerque. (See page 10.) Ms. Yates' address: 303 Mercedes,
Norman, OK 73069.
FROM TEXAS
Beverly A. Kremenak is a graduate student and teaching assistant in
College of Geosciences at Texas A&M University. She became interested in grave-
stones four years ago while studying art history and iconography as an undergraduate.
Her interests in iconography expanded to keeping records of the maintenance, or-
ganization and landscaping of the cemeteries she visits (mostly in East and Central
Texas, but also in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Iowa, Ohio, and Virginia), which in turn de-
veloped into a thesis topic. (See page 11.) Although her interest is focused on the
community relationships associated with cemetery associations, she is interested in a
variety of gravestone studies and is eager to find others with this interest in her area.
To write, address Geography Dept., Texas A&M University, College Station 77843.
own mortality than when standing alone in a quiet cemetery," and concludes, "As
individuals we have ties of blood and /or affinity with these past generations of
Provincetown. When they were laid to rest in these cemeteries, it was certainly
with a hope of lasting remembrance, a hope that today seems to be threatened by
the passage of time. By preserving these cemetery inscriptions we are trying to
extend that remembrance into the future." For more information about this pub-
lication, write Lurana H. Cook, author and one of the four recorders: P.O. Box 54,
Cooper Road, Truro MA 02666.
FROM MICHIGAN
We have a paper by Sandra A. Poneleit which will interest a special
segment of our membership. Ms. Ponteleit is a consultant for Interpretive Associ-
ates, a company which "Assists Partes, Zoos, Aquariums, Museums, Industry, His-
torical Societies and Interpretive Centers." She is also a graduate student and a
Teaching Assistant in the Department of Park and Recreational Resources at Michi-
gan State University. The title of her excellent paper is, "The Recreational and
Interpretive Potential of Urban Cemeteries." She can be reached at Box 95, East
Lansing Ml 48823.
FROM NEW MEXICO
Anne Giesecke and Gaynell Levine organized and chaired Session 2 of
the program for the Society for Historical Archaeology, which convened January 9-11
in Alburquerque, New Mexico. "Gravestones: Material Culture Data Base," examined
one item of material culture — early gravestones — as they are analyzed from various
perspectives to elicit cultural information. The abstract of the session states that
"multidisciplinary use of this unique source of cultural information suggests that the
photographic recording of this invaluable body of information before it disappears
should be a national priority, and that a system suitable for recording wide national
variation and retrieving a breadth of information is essential." Papers were read by:
Thomas J. Hannon, Slippery Rock State College: "The Cemetery as a Data Base in an
Assimilation Study." While preparing a doctoral dissertation entitled, "The Process
of Ethnic Assimilation in Selected Rural Christian Congregations, 1800-1976: A Western
Pennsylvania Case Study," Hannon found the cemetery an invaluable alternate data
base in the absence of published material.
Anne Yentsch, Brown University: "Gravestones Revisited." This paper, written with
James Deetz, University of California at Berkley, uses information from buryinggrounds
to analyze the varying English cultural identities of early settlers of Massachusetts,
Maine, and Rhode Island. It assesses evidence that regional variation in gravestones
was linked to regionally based English subcultures.
Anne G. Giesecke, University of New Hampshire: "Settlement Pattern: The First Meet-
ing House, Cemetery, School and Pound." Giesecke analyzes the spatial relationships
between a cemetery and other town structures to study the population structure of the
period.
Gaynell S. Levine, State University of New York, Stonybrook: "Gravestones: Material
Culture Data Base." Levine introduces a system for analyzing and recording grave-
stone data from photographs of the stones. The system assures a uniform categoriza-
tion format suitable for analyzine any gravestone of any period.
James Tibenski, University of lllinios: "The Evolution of Motifs on Colonial Gravestones
in Central Western Connecticut-" A report on the computer analysis of data from 10,493
stones in 139 cemeteries in 5 Connecticut counties. Style-motif, epitaph, preface, stone
material, cause of death, sex, kinship, titles and exit statement are compared in var-
ious ways.
The Alice Hart stone^ 1682, Ipswiah, Massachusetts,
from a rubbing by Ann Tashjian, page 296, Memorials for Children of Change.
Used with permission- of Mrs. Tashjian.
TWO NOTICES:
Regional associations. Readers are asked to report to their Regional
Representatives the names and addresses of associations they may know to be concerned
with gravestone repair, restoration, preservation, study, and cemetery care — on the
community, state, or national level. ACS wants to coordinate its efforts with those of
other interested organizations.
Laws concerning gravestones. Is there a member who would like to take
on the job of compiling the existing laws concerning gravestones? ACS recognizes the
need for this research. The NEWSLETTER will help find regional volunteers to look up
the laws on the books in their states. Readers interested in this important project,
please write ACS Publications, c/o American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, MA 01609.
RECIONAL REPRESENTATIVES
CANADA Deborah Trask 1747 Summer St., Halifax NS B 3H 346
MAINE Ruth Cray 70 N . 4th St. , Old Town, 04468
MASSACHUSETTS Anita Woodward Box 51, Thompson Rd., Princeton, 01541
NEW HAMPSHIRE Mary Emhardt Star Route, Barrington, 03825
NEW JERSEY Robert Van Benthuysen 147 Wall St., W. Long Branch, 67764
NEW YORK Mitchell Alegre 138 W. Buffalo St. , Warsaw, 14569
Jane Northshield 226 Mt. Airy Rd., Croton-on-Hudson, 10520
OKLAHOMA Catherine Yates 303 Mercedes, Norman, 73069
PENNSYLVANIA Thomas J. Hannon Slippery Rock College, Slippery Rock, 16057
RHODE ISLAND Joseph J. larocci Box 2127, Brown Univ., Providence, 02912
TEXAS Beverly A. Kremenak Ceography Dept., Texas ASM, College Station,
WISCONSIN Juliane A. Maynard 617 demons Ave. , Madison, 53704 77843 ^
Regional Representatives function as clearing houses for bringing news and views of
their areas ' problems and successes to the attention of the membership. Representa-
tives may spearhead projects in their areas and promote membership in AGS and other
cemetery associations. Members willing to serve unrepresented areas are encouraged
to volunteer by writing Dr. Joanne Baker^ President, 51 South Street, Concord, NH
OSSOl, or c/o American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, MA 01609. The views of Re-
gional Representatives are needed at the Executive Board Meeting to be held during
the AGS conference in Haverhill, Massachusetts , June 20-22, 1980. Try to be there.
WORKS IN PROGRESS / AUTHORS^ REQUESTS
Beverly A. Kremenak is studying cemetery associations in the south
and southwest as a thesis topic. These associations, organized in many rural com-
munities, function to finance the care of their cemeteries, and, Ms. Kremenak reports,
they also serve a social function by drawing people together for homecomings, even
years after they have moved away from the area. Her address: Dept. Ceography,
Texas A&M University, College Station TX 77843.
For the past several years Sherry Stancliff has been studying the carv-
ings on Connecticut gravestones, especially those carved by members of the Stancliff
family. She has information about the Stancliff family carvers to share and at the same
time welcoms information from members. Write Mrs. Robert C. Stancliff, 7415 Fourwinds
Drive, Cincinnati OH 45242.
Cina Santucci is collecting plans of Victorian tombstones (does she mean
graveyards?) for her thesis topic at Columbia University. Her advisor is Norman
Weiss. (Weiss was a featured speaker on stone conservation at the 1978 ACS confer-
ence, and he will speak also at the 1980 conference in June.) Ms. Santucci's address:
500 Riverside Drive, #511, New York NY 10027.
Brad Dunbar, on the staff of the American Antiquarian Society in Wor-
cester, Massachusetts, is indexing the Society's collection of 3000 photographs of early
gravestones. Dunbar is identifying each stone in the collection by date, location, car-
ver, and subject matter. When the index is complete, researchers will be able to re-
trieve and compare photographs of stones from these four catagories.
Vincent Luti has documented over 650 stones in the course of his study
of the family of John and James New of Wrentham, Massachusetts. He would welcome
information about this family of carvers. Address Box 412, Westport MA 02790.
The February 28 Providence Journal published a lengthy article about
Mr. Luti and his work on early Rhode Island cutters, from which the following ex-
cerpts are taken: "Luti speaks passionately about these stones and the men who
carved them back in the late 1600's and early 1700's. He says it is a period of un-
usually rich artistry, but one that has been neglected by experts in the fairly spe-
cialized field of gravestone study... In the past year or so, though, Luti has spent
more hours than he cares to count, poring through records at City Hall, trying to
piece together the puzzle of who carved the earliest stones... To date he has un-
covered a half-dozen important carvers — one a creator of carvings with crazy-eyed
figures and ornate columns. . .Luti said he finally unmasked the identity of this mys-
terious carver after stumbling upon the will of a German immigrant, John Anthony
Angel. The document specified that Angel's stonecutting tools were to be given to
his brother-in-law Seth Luther, and with a bit of cross-checking, Luther did indeed
turn out to be the eccentric stonecutter."
Luti's findings on Seth Luther will be published in an article in the
Spring issue of Rhode Island History, available from the Rhode Island Historical So-
ciety, 110 Benevolent Street, Provicence 02906. Anthony Angel is another stone-
cutter recently authenticated by Luti. We have asked him to introduce Angel to
NEWSLETTER readers in a future installment of "STONECUTTERS AND THEIR WORKS."
The NEWSLETTER is pleased to pass on to its readers Luti's suggestion
for researchers working with probate records: Copy and file all records found of
payments for gravestones , even records which do not give the name of the person
to whom the payment was made. Just the date of the payment can be a valuable tool.
For example: A researcher is seeking the name of a carver. He finds a record of
payment by an estate for a gravestone, but the recipient's name is not mentioned.
Instead of passing over the record, he copies and keeps it with other similar data.
He or someone else may subsquently look for and find the stone to which the payment
refers and on it may be carving of interest to the researcher. Having both the date
on the stone and the date from the probated record of payment establishes time limits
for determining when the stone was carved. A stone can not have been carved earlier
than the date on the stone (though it might well have been carved years later) , and
it would not have been carved later than the date of payment. Having these two dates
can help to establish the working period of its carver and be significant in identify-
ing him or his work. Luti would like to see ACS develop a clearing house for filing
data of this kind — another project for the AGS Archives Committee.
Michael Cornish is gathering information about the work of Ebenezer
Winslow of Uxbridge, For examples of Winslow's work, see plates 133 and 137b in
Early New England Gravestone Rubbings by Edmund Gillon. Cornish says Winslow's
work proliferates in Uxbridge, Douglass, Milford, and Mendon and is also found in
Franklin and South Bellingham, all in Massachusetts. He has located two signed stones:
an angel design in Douglas and twin setting suns in Mendon.
Cornish has authenticated another carver--the ingenious and inventive
"Polly Coombes Cutter." For examples of this carver's work, see plates 3U and U4 and
179b in Gillon's book, or page 90 in Tashjian's Memorials for Children of Change. The
"Polly Coombes Cutter" will be the subject of a paper to be delivered by Cornish at
the conference in Haverhill, Massachusetts, June 20-22. Cornish's address: 62 Calu-
met Street, Roxbury MA 02120.
Christopher Clemens and Mark Smith are writing a book for Harlin Quist
and The Dial Press entitled The Death Catalog: A Guide for the Living, to be published
later this year. The book will be a miscellany of information about persons and groups
with special interests relating, however obliquely, to death and dying. Mr. Smith
asked us for information about AGS "for the benefit of readers who might not be aware
of the organization and who share an interest in gravestone study I' For more infor-
mation about The Death Catalog, write Christopher J. Clemens/Mark Smith, P.O.Box
88, Milton PA 17847.
David Watters will be in London this summer researching English seven-
teenth century backgrounds of New England iconography. He wants to hear from
"anyone who will also be in England this summer, or who can offer leads for investi-
gation in England of this topic." Address Prof. Watters, English Department, Uni-
versity of New Hampshire, Durham NH 03824.
Nancy Bethune has attributed a stone to Samuel Hinsdale. She would
welcome information about this cutter and his work. Address: 295 North Street, Med-
field MA 02052.
13
STONECUTTERS AND THEIR WORKS
Third of a Series
The carvers featured in this segment were chosen
because they worked in Essex County, Massachusetts,
where the 1980 ACS Conference will be held, June 20-22.
LT. JOHN HARTSHORNE (1650 - 1738)
Ralph Tucker
Born in Reading, Massachusetts, and an early settler of HaverFiill,
Massachusetts, John Hartshorne was a weaver, a tailor, and a clerk. He became a
lieutenant in the militia and was active in the Indian Wars. A step-brother of the
carver Joseph Lamson, John at about the age of fifty began carving gravestones in
Haverhill, where he was that town's first carver. His early stones all have elon-
gated unframed faces in the top of the stone, with solid bars of varied design on
Elongated unframed Bell-like
face /solid bars shapes
Framed face with
segmented bars
"Rabbit-ear"
bars
THE MERRIMACK RIVER VALLEY
either side of the face. The side border design is usually a series of crude bell-
like shapes. About 1708 the faces become more round and are framed, and the bars
become segmented and more delicate. The side borders also become more varied and
lighter. Large circled rosettes then enter the top alongside the face and the seg-
mented bars are pushed to the corners.
About 1723, Hartshorne went to Connecticut where his work is de-
void of the rosettes and the face is decorated with either halo-like bars or "rab-
bit-ear" bars, for the most part.
His work is interesting in that it does not portray a death-head (skull
with wings) but is simply a face or "soul-mask" and thus is not a copy of the tradi-
tional gravestone design of his day. His best work is found in Haverhill and Ipswich,
Massachusetts, and in Lebanon, Connecticut.
The probate authentication and further
details about this carver and his work can
be found in three articles:
Slater, James, and Ralph Tucker, "The
Colonial Gravestone Carvings of John Hart-
shorne," Puritan Gravestone Art II: The
Dublin Seminar for New England Folklife
Annual Proceedings, 1978, Boston Univer-
sity Press, pp. 65-79.
Benes, Peter, "Lt. John Hartshorn: Grave-
stone Maker of Haverhill and Norwich, Es-
sex Institute Historical Collection, April,
1973. pp. 152-161.
Caulfield, Ernest, "Connecticut Gravestones
XII," The Bulletin of the Connecticut His-
torical Society, July, 1967. pp. 65-79.
BOSTONB
^
See Hartshorn and Muliaan carvings in Haverhill,
the site of the 1980 AGS Conference, June 20-22.
STONECUTTERS AND THEIR WORKS, continued from preceding page.
THE MUUCKEN FAMILY:
Robert, 1665-1741; Robert Jr., 1688
Ralph Tucker
1756; John, 1670-1737; Joseph, 1701-1768.
The Bradford (now Haverhill), Massachusetts family of Robert Mulicken
learned carving from Lt. John Hartshorne* and filled the Merrimack Valley towns with
their stones for over fifty years. After the Indian raid in 1708, when Hartshorne's
wife, son, and three grandsons were killed, Hartshorne removed to Salisbury, and
while he occasionally made stones for the Haverhill-Bradford area, the Mulicken fam-
ily became the prominent cutters. Their stones resemble Hartshorne's with a cen-
tral framed face. They add a connecting band from the top of the face to the border
of the stone and a variety of tree shapes immediately under the chin.
They do not use segmented bars as Hartshorne did, but they do use
rosettes and other emblems in circles on either side of the face. The
corners of the tympanium usually have some simple decoration. They
rapidly develop a variety of side borders. While their stones are omni-
present in the Merrimack valley and are easily recognized, the Mulic-
kens occasionally produced an atypical stone recognized only by a border design or
the lettering. Some of the earlier lettering is quite good, but some of the late letter-
ing is a confused mixture of upper and lower case letters with abominable spelling.
In the 1740's, a winged variety of face appears in both a round and an
inverted pear-shaped variety. This is apparently an effort to copy the popular Bos-
ton style of death- head, but it remains more like the folk style than the sophisticated
work of the urban carvers.
Mulicken stones can be found from Concord, New Hampshire, downstream
to the Atlantic and on the North Shore south to Hamilton, Massachusetts. While pro-
bate records documenting this family have been found, the research is incomplete,
and articles about the Mulickens have yet to be written.
The Rev. Ralph Tucker is Past-president of ACS. He lives in Newburyport, Essex
County, Massachusetts, where the work of John Hartshorn and the Mulicans abounds.
"^Editor's note: It -is oorrmon to find move than one spelling of aotonial surnames.
Hartshorn is spelled both with and without the E, and Mulioan is spelled Mulioken-
and also Muliakon.
CENETERY CITATIONS
for
EXEMPLARY CARE
BERCSTRASSE LUTHERAN
CEMETERY, EPHRATA, PA.
ROCKINGHAM, VT.
NEGLECT
EASTERN CEMETERY, PORTLAND, ME.
PLAINFIELD, CT.
BELLINGHAM, MASS.
SOUTH BELLINGHAM, MASS.
Readers are invited to recommend cemeteries for citation. Address NEWSLETTER,
c/o American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, MA 01609. When making your recommen-
dation, consider: scattered stone fragments, debris, launmower damage to stones,
unpruned trees and broken limbs on ground, overgrowth of vines and bushes, stones
leaning rather than upright, general maintenance of grounds and fences and walls.
BOOK REVIEWS
SOULS /A/ STONE: European Graveyard Sculpture
Photographed by Anne de Brunhoff; Introduction by Thomas B. Hess. 95 pages.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978. Softcover. $7.
Review by David H. Walters
Souls in Stone contributes to the rediscovery of Victorian art, which was
swept out of fashion by Modernism early in this century. In ninety-three exquisite
photographs, Anne de Brunhoff demonstrates her sympathy not only for the art but
also for the sentiment of Victorian graveyard sculpture, as the lugubrious tones of
her photographs recall the physical, if not erotic, image of the dead during the Vic-
torian era.
Americans are familiar with the excesses of Victorianism through John
Morley's Death, Heaven and the Victorians , which catalogs the paraphernalia of death,
from mourning cards to photographs of dead children, and through Michael Lesy's
journey into the grotesque, Wisconsin Death Trip. The strength of de Brunhoff's
book lies in its unprejudiced presentation of the art that appealed to middle class
Europeans. We see good sculpture and bad, but what impresses is the variety of forms
present, from the expected angels to eclectic architectural fantasies and to the trou-
bling realism of family groups sculpted in granite down to the most minute detail of
lace, corduroy and button. The cover identifies what is both attractive and troubling
about this art. The angel Gabriel, carved by Guilio Monteverde, attracts the viewer
with its adolescent fleshiness, evoking an awakening of life and sensuality, only to
startle us with the stare of the eyes of an old man with heavy, grief-stricken lids.
And there are photographs of the overtly sensual sculptures of women lying half-naked
on beds of death, and of the impassioned kissing of a new corpse.
Another strength of the book is the focus on the middle class, which helps
American readers place their Victorian sculpture in perspective. While there are great
American moments such as St. Gaudens' tomb for Marian Hooper, Henry Adams' wife,
more commonplace art dots the Rural Cemeteries of New England. Thomas B, Hess'
short introduction is informative, but the book's weakness lies in its lack of documen-
tation. There is only the briefest listing of location for most of the plates, a regret-
table omission. Nevertheless, at the price this is a good visual introduction to a gen-
erally neglect area of study.
Professor Waiters is on the English faculty. University of New Hampshire , Durham.
Excerpts from another review of Souls in Stone
Under the heading, "Sculpture is in Graveyards," Souls in Stone was
reviewed by Joyce Saenz, staff writer for the New York Tribune, July 23, 1978.
Saenz writes: "Here is what must certainly qualify as one of the more unusual art
books you will ever see. Though its subject is graveyard sculpture, it is not a ghoul-
ish or macabre collection, nor is it even especially solemn. The sculptures are largely
in the Beaux-Arts monumental style; nearly all were photographed in the churchyards
of Paris, Milan and Genoa. Some are statements of profound mourning. . .But others
seem to be memorials to moments, saying: 'This is how we remember him. '...This sort
of art book is obviously not for everyone. But those who find graveyards peaceful
rather than terrifying may find Souls in Stone a peculiar celebration : a monument to
epic funereal splendors from an era gone by."
"LEAVING NO STONE UNTURNED: Procedures for Cleaning and Restoring a Grave-
yard," an article published in Pioneer America Society Transactions , 1979. pp. 81-95.
by Marian Krontz
MANUAL FOR GRAVEYARD CONSERVATION
by Gordon Kinsman, Deborah Trask, Harry Nelson, and Leslie Blackburn
Illustrated with 12 figures and 4 plates. 20 pages.
Published by the Colchester Historical Museum. 29 Young St., Truro, Nova Scotia. 1979.
Review of two publications by Lance Mayer
Both these publications are responses to the growing demand for "how-to"
information by a public which realizes that old cemeteries have been neglected and
which wants to do something about it. This is an area in which there is virtually no
published information, and about which it is difficult to find advice because there are
too few experts, and often many different opinions. In such a new field there is a
danger that popular enthusiasm for doing something may race ahead of consciousness
of proper conservation principles, or may lead to the oversimplification of /-S^^T"^*-,
complex issues. The issues are so important that 1 hope the authors will forgive me
for what may seem a very picky review, and trust that the criticisms are meant in
the best spirit of sharing and discussing ideas.
Marian Krontz begins her article by properly stressing documentation
as a first step in a restoration project. However, this is such an important principle
of modern conservation that "it is worth while and perhaps even necessary" (page 84)
should be changed to, "it is necessary" to document any work done with written rec-
ords and photographs.
On page 86, Ms. Krontz suggests that monument dealers be consulted
for advice on the cleaning and repair of gravestones. Although monument dealers
are of course very familiar with the problems of modern types of granite gravestones,
a museum conservator would probably be more knowledgeable about problems involv-
ing the deterioration of old gravestones, or could recommend someone with that kind
of expertise. The problem remains, however, that at this point there is a severe
shortage of stone experts in America.
Cement is recommended, on page 86, for the resetting of gravestones.
This is a drastic step, one which cannot easily be undone if, for instance, further
conservation treatment were necessary. I have talked with enough conservators and
other knowledgeable people who have strong reservations about the use of cement
to believe it should not be recommended.
Ms. Krontz writes that the advice or assistance of a professional con-
servator should be sought for "ambitious" projects (page 87). I would go somewhat
further: Ideally, several conservators should be consulted. There are many shades
of opinion about stone repair, and in a completely unlicensed profession like conser-
vation, one finds that some experts are more knowledgeable than others. The conse-
quences of an improper treatment may not show up for five or ten years, so the in-
tegrity of the conservator is extremely important.
Advice on cleaning gravestones (page 87) is a little contradictory. The
author writes that dirt removal may not be necessary, and she is properly cautious
in warning against the use of detergents, but she advocates the use of scouring
cleanser, which may contain detergents and bleaches as well as abrasives which could
remove a little of the stone's surface along with the grime. Even more serious is the
recommendation of wire brushes and putty knives for lichen removal (pages 87-88).
These instruments could easily scratch a smooth slate stone, or detach pieces from a
sandstone or marble marker. Water and wooden sticks are much safer, if slower,
materials for removing lichen, if removal is judged to be necessary. Whether lichen
removal is advisable is a controversial question in itself.
On pages 91 and 92, Ms. Krontz repeats a common misconception by im-
plying that rubbings are as good or better than photographs as documents of grave-
stones. A good photograph is a much more objective and valuable document. More-
over, it is not mentioned that some stones are so fragile that they should not be
rubbed.
The concluding paragraph (page 92) makes the important point that a
conservation project is not complete until a continuing maintenance program has been
drawn up.
The manual published by the Colchester Historical Museum is very clear-
ly outlined and divided into short chapters. The section on photography (page 2)
rightly stresses the importance of the negative as a permanent archival record.
Chapters three through five are very informative in their discussion of
the construction of various kinds of nineteenth and twentieth century monuments.
The methods used to attach the components of modern granite markers, with lead
pads and an unidentified "setting compound," are discussed, as are techniques for .
safely moving the heavy blocks with pry bars. Curiously, the type of old grave-
stone with which most of us are familiar, made of a single slab of stone and having
a "tail" below ground level, is not mentioned. As discussed above, I have reserva-
tions about the use of cement, which the authors recommend for both resetting
gravestones (page 12) and encasing badly-broken fragments (page 14).
Metal straps, which are recommended for repairs (page 13), have a
number of disadvantages. Drilling into an already damaged stone is always danger-
ous, the straps are disfiguring, and even galvanized straps and bolts can even-
tually rust and stain a stone.
Epoxy repairs (pages 13 and 14) are perhaps more difficult and complex
than the Colchester manual indicates. A mistake, such as dripping epoxy onto the
stone surface, is easy to make and often difficult to correct. Choosing a proper
masking material to protect the face of the gravestone is therefore important, as is
choosing an appropriate adhesive, for epoxies vary widely in their properties. Re-
search on epoxy stone adhesives is presently being conducted by several individuals .
One of them is Norman Weiss, who "will speak at the ACS meeting in June, 1980, about
his work in this area.
In the section on cleaning memorials, the authors give conflicting advice.
On the one hand, wire brushes (page 15) and acids (page 16) are condemned, but em-
ery paper, which is an abrasive, is recommended. Worst of all is the recommendation
of sandblasting (page 16). By removing a layer of stone from the surface, sandblast-
ing will make a gravestone look clean, but at the cost of softening the contours of the
carving, possibly changing the texture of the surface, and exposing fresh layers of
stone to the forces of deterioration. The authors warn of possible damage from sand-
blasting, but these warnings are weak considering the serious danger involved, and
they assume an unlikely degree of understanding of old gravestones on the part of the
company contracted to do the work.
A minor point compared to the previous one is the reference on page 16 to
diluted ammonia and to household bleach and water as if they were the same thing,
which they are not. In fact, if ammonia and bleach are mixed, they can produce chlo-
rine gas, which is poisonous.
The Colchester manual concludes, as does the Krontz article, by stress-
ing the importance of following up any conservation project with a maintenance program.
Both papers are sincere efforts to encourage groups to take an interest
in the proper care of old cemeteries, a goal which all will agree is an extremely im-
portant one. My concern is that these publications may leave readers with the impres-
sion that the solutions to conservation problems are simpler than they actually are. On
the other hand, the forthcoming ACS handbook. The Care of Old Cemeteries , which I
authored, may displease readers by reflecting the variety, the complexity, and fre-
quently the uncertainty of current conservation opinion . It is my hope that it will pro-
vide a groundwork which will be built upon in the future. In the meantime, most pro-
fessional conservators would agree that a cautious approach to the treatment of old
gravestones is in order. In fact, an important alternative which neither of the review-
ed publications mentions is to bring some of the most important and fragile old grave-
stones indoors until there is more solid information about their best care.
Lance Mayer, AGS Vioe-pvesident/Consei'vation, is conservator for the Cincinnati
Museum of Art. Be and Norman Weiss will demonstrate stone repair at the AGS con-
ference in Haverhill, Massachusetts, June 20-22.
HERE LIES AMERICA: A Collection of Notable Craves
By Nancy Eills and Parker Hayden
Illustrated with photographs. Paper. 179 pages.
New York: Hawthorn Books, 1978
Excerpted from a review by John Maass published by the Pennsylvania Magazine of
History and Biography, a publication of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. 1978.
There is growing interest in the history of cemeteries; about ten books
on the subject have appeared in the past decade. The topic can be discussed from
the viewpoints of ritual, thanatology, sociology, economics, local history, iconography,
art history, landscape architecture, and perhaps others as well. This aptly titled
book has no thesis and makes no claims to scholarship. The authors have simply en-
joyed looking up the burial places of some American notables and folk heroes. They
point out that "a cult of death exists" and attracts hords of admirers to the tombs of
celebrities.
The volume pictures the graves of eighty-two persons. They range in
date from 1809 to 1974, in location from Maine to California. ,.A few of the tombs are
in accord with our mental image of the occupant: Thoreau rests beneath a stark stone
with the single word "Henry"; Luther Burbank is buried under a big tree in his gar-
den; the gaudy financier and ladies' man Jim Fisk is memorialized by an obelisk and
four nude statues of voluptuous women. Most monuments could not be predicted: we
are surprised to find that F. W. Woolworth of the five-and-ten lies within an imposing
mausoleum in the ancient Egyptian temple style; Samuel Morse, one of the most famous
Americans of his time, has only a marker with his initials "S.F.B.M," Some burial sites
are also surprises: Bat Masterson, the western gunfighter, is buried in The Bronx...
That sophisticated New Yorker, Cole Porter, rests in his birthplace of Peru, Ind...
Thomas Wolfe, the son of a tombstone carver, could go home again to Ashville, N.C.
The authors had the notion to show the graves of some noted teams:
Chang and Eng Bunker, the Siamese Twins, share a headstone in North Carolina; we
also see the tombs of Wells and Fargo (both in Upstate New York), Currier and Ives,
the bearded Smith Brothers, and Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner S Beane (Merrill and
Lynch were two men despite the absence of the comma between their names).
The breezy mini-biographies facing the pictures are in the featherweight
class but the handsome photographs display a nice sense of time and place. These il-
lustrations also demonstrate that the ancient and noble art of designing and carving
memorials has virtually died out. Most of the newer specimens are of remarkable ba-
nality and ugliness. This reviewer awards the booby prize to the tomb of Babe Ruth:
the deceased is portrayed as a small boy who is being patted on the head by Jesus.
This album barely qualifies as a historical study but it provides some
more evidence for the endless variety of total unpredictability of Americana.
LESSONS FROM THE DEAD: The Graveyard as a Classroom for the Study of the Life
Cycle.
By Roberta Halporn
Brooklyn: Highly Specialized Promotions, 1979.
Review by Anne G. Giesecke
Death and graveyards are difficult subjects to discuss in twentieth
century America. We abstract death. The questions of how we are to deal with
the dying and the dead are important to us and will be important to those who follow
us and make decisions about us. Lessons From the Dead is an attempt to use the
art and understanding of the past to help us deal with death in the present.
The book is divided into three sections. The first deals with what can
be learned in a cemetery. An introduction reviews past and present attitudes and
symbolism. The graveyard is then used as a classroom to study demography and
individuals. Topics include: life expectancy, child mortality and death awareness,
medical information, family conflicts, death as a leveller, and our roots. The sec-
ond section describes "How to Rub Gravestones." Some caution in dealing with
weathered stones is advised, but is not adequately stressed. The third section is
a discussion guide which develops topics such as: the life cycle, burial and crema-
tion, history, causes of death, concepts of after-life, epitaphs, and art. Discussion
questions are presented and written exercises are suggested. The bibliography is
excellent and is divided by topical subheadings, including: background, historical
attitudes, funerals, cross cultural customs, cemeteries, gravestones, and others.
Lessons From the Dead could be used as a text by middle or high
school students and would be a good guide for elementary school teachers. Educa-
tors and parents trying to help young people understand life and death will find
this book a useful tool and reference.
MORE ABOUT BOOKS
Cordelia Rose, Exhibitions Coordinator for Art Resources of Connecticut,
asks us to inform our readers that an exhibition catalog for the Kelly-VVilliams travel-
ing exhibition of rubbings (see page 5 ) is available. The forty-two page softbound
publication, illustrated with ten line drawings and twelve handsome rubbings, has an
interesting and informative text. Its title: A Crave Business. Order from Art Re-
sources of Connecticut, 85 Willow Street , New Haven, CT 06511. Price: $3.75 plus
$1.50 postage and handling.
How to Record Graveyards, written by British archaeologist Jeremy Jones,
edited by Philip Rahtz, and published by the Council for British Archaeology and
RESCUE (The Trust for British Archaeology) in 1976, is an important discovery for
many American students of gravestones. Little known, we think, m this country, the
publication was brought to our attention by Blanche M.G. Linden, American Studies
Department, Brandeis University, who will review it for a future Newsletter issue.
The editor's preface calls the reader's attention to "a crisis in gravestone archaeol-
ogy" and points out that most recording does not "meet the needs of archaeological
research, which demands a total record." Distributed by the Council for British Ar-
chaeology, this forty page booklet, illustrated with twelve diagrams and charts, is
available from the Council, 7 Marylebone Rd., London NW 1 5HA, or from RESCUE,
15A, Bull Plain, Hertford.
Two additional publications which have recently come to our attention:
1. Discovering, Restoring and Maintaining Old Cemeteries, an eight page, illustrated
publication by Theodore L. Brown, edited by Jonathan D. McKallip, and published
by the Maine Old Cemetery Association. Available from MOCA, P.O. Box 324, Au-
gusta, ME 0U330. $1.30.
2. The Cemetery, an Outdoor Classroom, a thirty-one page, illustrated student work-
book by Edward L, Stranix, published in cooperation with Project KARE. It is avail-
able from Con-Stran Productions, River Park Building, Suite 2108, 3600 Conshohocken
Avenue., Philadelphia, PA 19131.
SUSAN KELLY & ANNE WILLIAMS ASK
WHO IS THIS CARVER?
This is a Connecticut carver whose wide and unusual distribution of work has caught
our fancy. There are 28 of his stones in Montville, and we have noticed others in
Ledyard, New Milford, Greens Farms, Ansonia, Seymour, and Hampton, to cite a few
diverse locations. Works we have found so far have been dated between 1729 - 1750's.
The following are characteristics of his work:
1. Rather small stones, simple in shape. 2.
Light incising on two basic types of
stone: one a tan /pinkish stone (pos-
sibly feldspar) , the other a dark but
rather fine-grained granite/fieldstone.
Many are in terrible condition and al-
most illegible.
Frequent use of a simple vine/
leaf border design. We have
noted occasional use of a sim-
ple 6-pointed asphodal.
3, Predominantly lower
case lettering with
fair spelling, the in-
scription area often
set off by lines.
5. A spirit design on the tympanum as illustrated above.
We are doing some research on the identity of this carver, and we would be grat
to learn of the specific locations of other examples of his work. Address respons
to Susan Kelly and Anne Williams, 83 Maywood Road, Darien, CT 06820.
Editor's note: The Winter 1979/80 NEWSLETTER asked readers for clues to the iden-
tity of the "Springfield Carver." Dr. James Slater of Mansfield Center, Conn.,
tells us that the Springfield Carver is probably John Ely of Springfield, Mass.
Slater says that records and notes kept by the late Dr. Ernest Caulfield include
a photograph of a Suf field. Conn., stone for John Rowe, 1795, carved in the Spring-
field Carver's style. Caulfield' s notes say that there is a probate record of pay-
ment by the estate of John Rowe of Suffield, Conn., for this stone "to John Ely
for Grave Stone 1 - 10 sh - 0."
WOULD YOU LIKE FOR US TO SEND AN ISSUE OF THE NEWSLETTER to a friend who
might be a prospective AGS member? Give us the names and addresses before June 1.
.5f^2£^_^^_rf*5^?2_!^2_d?^_?"5^'^£^^'^'^"^j e/o American Antiquarian Society ,__WorcesterJ4A_0 160 9
[ ] Please send introductory NEWSLETTER to:
Individual(s) or
Organization (s)
Address(es)
[ ] Please reserve a copy of MARKERS at the prepublication price of $8.00. Your
prepublication investment helps ACS initiate this publishing venture and is a
savings to you. Make your check payable to ACS.
Your name Address
DEADLINE
for contributions to
NEWSLETTER NOTES "^^* '""^- -"""^ ^•
CORRECTIONS^ ADDITIONS^ DEADLINES
The winter issue of thie NEWSLETTER asked for tfie name of the woman who
used melted craypas to take rubbings at the Newport conference. Corresponding
Secretary Ruth Cowell writes that the Mystery Rubber is Margaret Berg, and that
Mrs. Berg will demonstrate the technique as part of the 1980 conference program in
Haverhill, Massachusetts, in June. Meanwhile, she can be reached at 1956 Hebron
Avenue, Glastonbury, CT, 06033.
In the article on stonecutter William Young on page 10 of the winter issue
of the NEWSLETTER, Rick and Mary Stafford write that the will of Samuel Crawford
of Rutland shows payment to Young for a gravestone. By curious coincidence, there
happens to be another Samuel Crawford stone, also obviously the work of William
Young. Dated 1770, this stone stands in the nearby Oakham cemetery. Since in
those days Oakham was part of Rutland, and the 1770 date is closer to the date of
the probate record, it is likely that the Oakham stone is the one referred to in the
record. This note comes from Dan Farber, 11 Moreland St., Worcester, MA 01609.
The winter NEWSLETTER erred twice in its story about the Sara Tefft stone,
thought to be New England's oldest gravestone, which is now on exhibit at the Rhode
Island Historical Society (see page 5 ). We said it was the oldest stone with decora-
tive carving in New England. The Tefft stone has no decorative carving — just prim-
itive lettering. This stone was placed in the Society's museum for safekeeping over
100 years ago and a replica was erected in its place in a small burying ground at
Mark Rock, in Rhode Island. Our NEWSLETTER story said the replica had since
disappeared. We should have said it has been destroyed. Actually it is there,
on the ground in four pieces, evidently the victim of vandals.
How many prospective members were frustrated, we wonder, by a crucial
misprint in the last issue of the NEWSLETTER. Under the heading, MEMBERSHIP
INFORMATION, there were typographical errors in both the state and the ZIP code
of the address given for joining the Association. Below is the item as it should have
read .
MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION
The winter NEWSLETTER promised to give readers some membership sta-
tistics. Sally Thomas, Treasurer, reports that membership has grown from 81 in
1977, the year AGS was formed, to 221 paid memberships in 1979. Addtothis several
member cemetery associations with whom AGS swaps newsletters. Our 1977 organi-
zational meeting in Dublin, New Hampshire, was attended by 37 people; the 1978
meeting in Dublin and the 1979 meeting in Newport were attended by 93 and 119
members, respectively.
Just to put this in perspective, however, consider the following member-
ship figures given in newsletters from regional associations: The Madison County
Historical Society has "over 1000" members, and the Maine Old Cemetery Associa-
tion's membership now totals 1100!
Recent new members: Mrs. Paul B. Mossman, 1713 Lafayette Dr., NE,
Albuquerque, NM 87106; Mrs. Robert C. Stancliff, 7415 Fourwinds Dr., Cincinnati,
OH 45242; and the Huntington Historical Society, Ted Corbett, Director, P.O.Box
506, Huntington, NY 11743.
Membership in the Association for Gravestone Studies supports the study of an im-
portant and rapidly disappearing heritage. Other benefits of membership are sub-
scription to the NEWSLETTER, waiver of the $3 fee for admission to the library of
the New England Historic Genealogical Society, and a reduced advanced-order price
for the Association's journal, MARKERS. Membership for persons joining now extends
to the date of the 1981 conference. To receive the next NEWSLETTER, new member-
ship dues must be received by June 1. Rates are tax deductible: Individual $10;
Institutional $10; Student $5; Sustaining (includes Af/4«/<:E/?S) $25.
Tear and send with membership fee to Mrs. Philip D. Thomas, AGS Treasurer -^"^
82 Hilltop Place, New London, NH 03257 /^=-^
Your name Address _^">-.^ —
Special interest(s) and/or organizational affiliation, if any.
NEWSLETTER
OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES
Volume 4, Number 3, Summer 1980 ISSN: 0116-5783
CONTENTS
CONFERENCE PROGRAM j
WORKS IN PROGRESS / AUTHORS' REQUESTS -j
EXHIBITIONS / ARTICLES / PAPERS 3
BOOK REVIEW 4
■ llllliili
■ ■•iiiiiiiiiiil
Camposantos: A Photographic Essay
by Dorothy Benrimo
Review by Michael Cornish
REGIONAL NEWS 5
STONECUTTERS AND THEIR WORKS Fifth installment .... 7
John Anthony Angel
by Vincent Luti
ASSOCIATION NOTICES 8
CEMETERY CITATIONS . 9
NEWSLETTER NOTES 9
LIST OF CONFERENCE EXHIBITORS 10
WORKS IN PROGRESS / AUTHORS^ REQUESTS
Allan Ludwig is collecting hymnals and trying to link the poetry of Watts
with the kind of epitaphs found on so many late eighteenth century New England
stones . He is "surprised to find so much taken from Watts. The hymnal collection
just keeps growing, as does the collection of books of poetry by Watts. One day 1
will put it together."
Mr. Ludwig is also studying "Naive and Visionary Art"--wild and wonderful
twentieth century environmental creations built by inspired laymen. Ludwig's inter-
est in this poorly documented, little studied area of American folk art began with
his discovery of Holy Land U.S.A. on Pine Hill in Waterbury, Connecticut, a creation
of John Greco, which Ludwig photographed. His article, "Holy Land U.S. A, A Con-
sideration of Naive and Visionary Art," was published in the Summer, 1979, issue (pages
28-39) of The Clarion: America's Folk Art Magazine, an organ of the American Museum
of Folk Art in New York. Ludwig plans to write on this subject for the 1981 issue of
MARKERS. This area of folk art is a kissing cousin to gravestone art. It can offer
a new viewpoint from which to study gravemarkers.
For readers who may not be familiar with Ludwig's seminal work on grave-
stone art. Craven Images, New England Stonecarving and its Symbols 1650-1815 was
published in 1966 by Wesleyan University Press. Most of the research for the book
was done while he was studying at Yale. About this early work of his, Ludwig, now
a professor of the History of Art at Bloomfield College, Upper Montclair, New Jersey,
writes :
/ tried very hard in those years to do the best job I could, but I did not
have very much money and there were many loose ends. The project cost
me about $25,000 out of my own pocket in spite of the many grants I had.
Having started out with it at about 22 years of age and working over the
next 10 years you can see why things were not done better! I am over-
joyed, however, that I did have a part in the revival of interest in old
gravestones. Lots of the younger people are taking pot shots at Graven
Images, but they don't understand that history is a developmental thing
and that one book builds upon another. Moreover, they forget that Graven
Images was the first big book on the subject in over 30 years. Save for a
few of us, the Forbes book was literally forgotten. And so I see my work
as a key to the revival of interest in the subject beginning in the 1960's.
Anneliese A, Pontius, Assistant Clinical Professor in Psychiatry, Harvard
Medical School, asks two questions: 1) What percentage of eighteenth century stone-
cutters are known by name? 2) Is it true that some of the deceased had their grave-
stones engraved and stored them under their beds as Roy M. Kahn (Fogg Museum
Library FA 5388. 1.5) claims? Dr. Pontius is working on gravestone-related research;
we do not know the specific area. Address 115 Mill Street, Belmont, MA 02178.
Wanted to purchase, for an educational presentation: Slides that illustrate
any of the following:
Above-ground burial vaults in Louisiana
Eighteenth century Masonic stones with a good variety of symbols
Recut or reused gravestones
Defaced soul effigies and portrait stones
Representative examples of the work of carvers: Stevens, Bull, Soule,
Allen, Emmes.
Unique markers or unusual motifs from anywhere in the United States.
Telephone Laurel Gabel, collect, at (617) 237-3828, or write her at 323 Linden Street,
Wellesley, MA 02181. Or see her at the conference in Haverhill.
Mitchell R. Alegre, Regional Representative for New York State, makes this
request for Mary L. Shedlock, a researcher for the Rochester Museum & Science Cen-
ter. Ms. Shedlock is interpreting the cultural history of the Cumming Nature Center
in South Bristol, New York, researching the family that owned the property. Her
search began with the discovery of a solitary tombstone dated 1865 and inscribed
with the name of the property owner. There is a community cemetery nearby. Ms.
Shedlock would like to know how common a single grave would have been in 1865,
whether it would have been fenced off or in some other way isolated, and to what
extent religious services would have been involved in a secular, private burial. She
also seeks information concerning mid to late nineteenth century rural burial prac-
tices, cemetery layout and appearance, and any sources of information pertaining
to gravestones, graveyards, and burial customs in western New York State. Her
address: Rochester Museum & Science Center, Box 1480, Rochester, NY 14603.
Diana Hume George, Pennsylvania State University-Behrend College, and
Malcom A. Nelson, State University of New York-Fredonia, are completing the manu-
script of a book which is tentatively titled "A Field Guide to the Old Burying Grounds
of Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket." The book is intended for both the
scholar and for the interested tourist. AGS members may recall George's and Nelson's
paper, "Alms for Oblivion: The Old Burying Ground in Brewster, Massachusetts,"
read at the 1978 AGS conference. In a different form this paper is being published
in Kentucky Folklore Record. Another George-Nelson publication has been devel-
oped from a Phi Beta Kappa address delivered at SUNY-Fredonia in February. An
extended form of the address is being published in The Journal of American Culture
under the title, "Grinning Skulls, Smiling Cherubs, Bitter words."
r
Tombstone Inscription
Brings Award for Libel
BALTIMORE, Feb. 22 (UPI) — Ber-
nard Gladsky has been ordered by a Su-
perior Court jury to pay $2,000 dam-
ages to his sister for an inscription that
he ordered carved on their father's
tombstone.
The inscription reads, "Stanley J.
Gladsky, 1895-1977, abused, robbed and
starved by his beloved daughter."
The daughter, Gloria Kovatch, who
discovered the inscription when she
visted her father's grave, had asked for
$500,000 in a libel suit that charged her
brother had sought to cause her public
ridicule.
Mr. Gladsky said that the inscription
was in jest but conceded he should have
used words that were less harsh. He
said that his sister once sent his father
to the hospital on a bus and that a hospi-
tal doctor had told him his father suf-
fered from malnutrition and dehydra-
tion.
ICirby L. Smith, who carved the in-
scription, agreed to pay Mrs. Kovatch
$3,000 as part of a settlement of her suit
against him.
EXHIBIT-IONS / ARTICLES / PAPERS
A Time to Mourn: Expressions of Grief in Nineteenth Century America
is, as stated in its catalog, "tine first major exinibition to trace comprehensively
the development and decline of nineteenth century American mourning traditions."
The exhibit runs through November 17, 1980, at The Museums at Stony Brook, on
Long Island, New York, and from January 17 to May 17, 1981, at the Brandywine
River Museum, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania.
The collection of extraordinary and unusual objects exhibited includes
costumes, mourning jewelry, paintings and drawings by American artists Charles
Wilson Peale and William Sidney Mount, memorial lithographs by Currier and Ives,
elaborate silk embroideries, books on ettiquette, hearse design (and a hearse!),
and photographs. But alas, only a few photographs are of gravemarkers. Never-
theless, this excellent exhibition "provides a broad historical and cultural context
in which to interpret" the nineteenth century attitudes toward death, and it pro-
vided this viewer with additional insight into the gravemarkers and cemeteries of
the period.
The exhibition catalog may be ordered through The Museum Store, The
Museums at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY 11790. Cost per copy is $11.95 (plus
$2.50 postage and handling). New York State residents add 7% sales tax.
This review was contributed by Mary Anne Mrosinski^ AGS Vice-President /Eduoation.
"Folklore and Graveyard Design" is a fascinating article by John R. Stilgoe,
whose field is landscape architecture at Harvard University. The article was pub-
lished in Landscape , Summer, 1978, Volume 22, Number 3 (pages 22-28), and we re-
commend it to all students of gravestones, especially those with a special interest in
burial s/tes. Professor Stilgoe traces the customs and beliefs and the physical de-
velopment associated with places of burial from prehistoric sites to nineteenth cen-
tury cemeteries, places "designed not really for remembrance but for forgetting."
For the reader whose interest is primarily in markers there are a few tantalizing
references to unusual markers, such as hand carved wooden markers found only in
tiny New Mexico villages, Chinese stones capped with fluttering banknotes, and rural
Pennsylvania graves dressed with greens and ribbons at Christmas.
Carmine A. Prioli has written "A Review Essay: Early New England Grave-
stone Scholarship," published in Early American Literature, Volume XIV (pages 328-
336). Mr. Prioli reviews Ludwig's Craven Images, the Tashjian's Memorials for
Children of Change, and Benes' The Masks of Orthodoxy , and he gives each a good
mark — for good reasons, we think.
Sue and Philip Jones have sent the NEWSLETTER a mind-boggling article
about old gravemarkers in Hungary. "The Sign Language of Hungarian Graveyards"
by Tunde Zentai was published in Folklore, Volume 90, Number 2, 1979 (pages 131-
140). It describes practices used in a number of rural regions of Hungary where
gravemarkers without epitaphs make known the sex, age, family relationship, occu-
pation, religion, and manner of death of the deceased by way of their size, shape,
carving, color, and placement in the graveyard. An interesting facet of the piece
is the discussion of the symbolism of some of the designs. Despite the great dif-
ferences in their shape, color, and materials from those used in American markers,
the two countries' old markers do have some common symbols. Seventeen Notes ref-
er the reader to what should be interesting source material, for examples,
L. Timaffy's "Anthropomorphic Headboards and Crosses in Small Plain Graveyards"
and K.Kos's "Love and Death in the Folk Art of Szilagysag,"
An article by James M. Smith of the Medical College of Virginia will be of
interest to students of gravestone symbolism. "Puritanism: Self Image Formation
Through Gravestone Form, Style, and Symbols" was published in the Daughters of
the American Revolution Magazine, April 1980 issue (pages 470-486) and sent to
us by AGS Corresponding Secretary, Ruth Cowell. Symbolism, an area fraught with
broad conjecture and flights of the imacination, is given a scholarly, matter-of-fact
treatment by Smith. A good bibliography is included.
BOOK REVIEW
CAMPOSANTOS: A Photographic Essay
Photographed by Dorothy Benrimo
Commentary by Rebecca Salsbury James; Historical Notes by E. Boyd. 76 pages.
Fort Worth, Texas: The Amon Carter Museum of Western Art, 1956. Out of print.
Review by Michael Cornish
Camposantos: A Photographic Essay is the catalog for an exhibition of photo-
graphs of nineteenth and early twentieth century wooden, iron, and stone Spanish-
American grave crosses found in the "blessed fields" of northern New Mexico by
Dorothy Benrimo.
For this catalog, E. Boyd, curator of the Spanish Colonial Department of
the Museum of New Mexico, has written a short history of the memorial crosses. He
attributes the development of the craft of making these crosses to factors such as
fortified protection, which allowed for outside burial without fear of desecration by
Indians (previously, burials had been made exclusively beneath the floors of churches),
and to the importation of pig iron and of better stoneworking and woodworking tools
by traders from the East. Some vague attributions to individual woodworkers are
made.
Rebecca James' commentary is essentially romantic. Her description of the
honesty and integrity of the crosses shows her Plastic Age Primitive Bias; her descrip-
tion of their weathered beauty ignores the fact that inevitable aging has altered
the original conception; and her admiration of their appropriateness to their environs
does not recognize that this is a coincidence, if Boyd's speculation that the cross form
was introduced to the region by Eastern traders marking their dead en route is correct.
She writes of the metaphysical quality she feels Benrimo has captured in the photo-
graphs. James' view is basically a nostalgic one, with no insight into the original
motivation. She is simply attracted by the melancholy spectre of these ramshackle,
laboriously and naively worked memorials standing in the parched desert crust,
surrounded by barbed wire, under skies which are attuned to her poetic vision.
But what the book is really about is photographs. Alas! They intimate a
great deal more than they deliver. Although a handfull of the sixty-five plates are
truly wonderful, many more are simply frustrating as documents. Some are com-
pletely out of focus. Some crosses and many of the cerquftas , or picket enclosures,
are badly composed, rendering them baseless and robbing them of an understand-
able space in the photographic composition, which is hard to accept in view of the
book's avowed intention to show these artifacts in relation to the landscape. Dusty
prints have been ineptly retouched, which in this type of publication I find inex-
cusable. Most of the skies have been burned in, giving them a dramatic and un-
natural darkness, a befitting background, perhaps, for the stark white wooden
crosses, but tiresome when repeated page after page. Most of the crosses on which
there is carving or relief decoration are presented in a good, raking light.
The inadequacy of these photographs as documents is especially tragic
because, according to Boyd's notes, these "crude" markers had been almost wholly
replaced by new concrete ones by the time the catalog was published. Benrimo's
pictures, taken fifteen to twenty years previously, are probably in most cases
unique records. The austere beauty of the crosses, the astute sense of design
often exercised in their manufacture, the holy purpose which clearly shines through
their shabby forms, the astounding settings in which they are found--all are reasons
the camposantos deserve a better recording than this. The frontispiece of a sprawl-
ing camposanto mysteriously illuminated under a dark sky cannot help calling to
mind the similar composition by Ansel Adams, and the comparison is sorry. One
can only wish that this project had been undertaken instead by Adams.
Michael Cornish is a Boston picture framer. His research on a newly attributed
Massachusetts carver will be featured in the fall Newsletter.
Editor's note: Camposanto is Italian for holy field, that is, a oemetery.
REGIONAL NEWS
FROM CONNECTICUT
Connecticut State Police are seeking information concerning a red sandstone
grave marker with this inscription: In Memory of Mr. Gideon Gale, Jr., who died
October 8, 1786, aged 32 years. The marker is FOR SALE by a Connecticut antiques
dealer, and the police have asked for assistance in determining the stone's home base.
We think the stone is carved by Thatcher Lathrop, who worked in the Somers, Conn.,
area. The following is excerpted from the letter written by Dan Farber to Police Com-
missioner Donald J. Long (Box 306
Uncasville, CT 06382), who asked for
information about the Gideon stone:
It seems to us that the posession of a
gravestone with intent to sell is a prima-
facie crime, and further evidence is not
needed. Antiques dealers are just be-
ginning to realize the bonanza which
awaits them in the historic graveyards,
and it is important to stop these first
violations before these important pieces
of American history disappear.
From a police snap-shot
of the Gideon Gale stone.
FROM MASSACHUSETTS
An item in the Boston Herald, April 5, 1980, reports that a gang of youths
desecrated at least two graves in Copp's Hill Burial Ground, Boston's second oldest
cemetery. Four police cruisers responded to a call from a resident near the burial
ground, scattering about 20 young men at the grave site, one of whom was caught
and arraigned in Boston Municipal Court. The gang had dug through four feet of
soil over the red bricks that form the roof of tunnel-connected burial chambers in
which members of more than one family were buried. The gang had crawled 22 feet
to get to the chamber they desecrated and then dug their way up through a second
grave site. Alfred Morelli, superintendent of the city's ten historic burial grounds,
said the vandals could easily have been buried alive by a cave in.
According to the newspaper account, "it was not clear whose ancient bones
were disturbed because more than 200 years of weather have worn out the names on
the slate markers."
FROM MICHIGAN
Presenters at a session on Gravestone Studies at the American Culture
Association conference in Detroit, April 17, were: James Tibensky, "The Evolution
of Motifs on Colonial Gravestones in Central and Western Connecticut;" David Taylor,
Ohio Historic Preservation Office, "The Necrogeography of the Allen Springs, Kentucky
Quadrangle;" Maureen Otwell, Minnesota Historical Society, "Gravestone Art in Minne-
sota, 1840-1920." The session was chaired by Diana George and Mac Nelson. This
is the second year that gravestone studies have been represented. The Chairperson
for next year's panel will be David Taylor, Ohio University, 1425 Newark Road,
Zanesville, Ohio, 43701. Write to him if you are interested in reading a paper.
FROM NEW HAMPSHIRE
The spring issue of the New Hampshire Old Graveyard Association's news-
letter. Rubbings , announced NHOGA's annual meeting, held at Franklin Pierce College,
in Rindqe on April 26. The program featured papers by two Franklin Pierce Department
of Anthropology professors: Howard R. Sargent, "Historical Archaeology in New Hamp-
shire," and Dennis Wright, "Research Potentials in Colonial Graveyards."
Rubbings is edited by Mary Emhardt, who is active in AGS. We appreciate
her announcing the AGS conference dates to NHOGA members.
Also in Rubbings is a short report from Philip A. Wilcox (Old Landing Road,
Durham, NH; telephone (603) 868-7433) about a graveyard /cemetery mapping project
begun by Wilcox in 1978. Using an 1892 Atlas of New Hampshire, he traced the town
maps, had them reduced to 8^"x11" size, made four copies of each, and on the reverse
listed known yards from each town — these lists acquired from a variety of sources.
The maps were sent to key people in the towns, with a request that they locate the
burial grounds on the map and answer a series of questions about the yards' size,
location, condition, and age. Wilcox reports that to date 2332 graveyards and ceme-
teries have been recorded, with, however, many towns yet to be heard from.
FROM NEW JERSEY
Bert Hubbard sends us an article by Carlton Brairton from the September/
October, 1979, New Jersey Outdoors. "The Historical Legacy of Three Village Hj^^
Churches" describes the historic Zion Lutheran Church in Oldwick, the First
Presbyterian Church in Mendham, and the Presbyterian Church in Basking Ridge.
Near each of the churches is an old burying ground. Oldwich's oldest legible mar-
ker date is 1761. Mendham's oldest is 1777/78, marking the graves of twenty-seven
smallpox victims. Basking Ridge's oldest legible stone is dated 1739. Brairton's
description of the three graveyards does not mention the iconographic carving on
the stones. We would like for readers who know these burial grounds to tell us
about the carving, stone material and shapes of these markers.
FROM NEW YORK
The Department of Anthropology at SUNY-Albany is offering a nine weeks
summer program in Historic Demography. The purpose of the program is to intro-
duce students to the methods and theory of demography as the discipline is used by
anthropologists, to formulate a series of testable hypotheses relating to demographic
patterns in small populations, and to gather and analyze data necessary to test the
hypotheses. Part 1 is a three week pre-session, June 2-20, which introduces the
basic concepts and methods. Part 2, June 23-August 1, will be devoted to field
trips to local historic sites and cemeteries and to the collection and analysis of data.
Although it is too late to enroll in the course, there may be Newsletter readers who
want to know more about this course. Write Richard C. Wildinson, Department of
Anthropology, SUNY-Albany, NY 12222; or call (518) 457-8404.
MORE FROM NEW YORK
"A Cemetery Garden Calls for Volunteers" is the heading for a New York
Times item (April 17, 1980). According to the article, Edwin Casey, manager of the
138 year old Trinity Church Cemetery, which stretches between Riverside Drive and
Amsterdam Avenue at 155 Street, feels that "Cemeteries shouldn't be just places that
people walk by and bow their heads and feel sol mn and glum about." He plans to
put the site to horticul ral use and make the area "central to the community." The
exotic trees there are being identified, money is being supplied by the church, and
volunteers and professionals are hard at work. "This is an experimental thing,"
says Casey. "We'll see how it goes." His telephone: (212) 285-0837.
AND MORE FROM NEW YORK
Gaynell Levine, SUNY-Stoney Brook, has sent us a Long Island newsletter
which quotes a couple who bought a seventeenth century house on the Island.
"When we pulled up the floorboards in the east parlor we also lifted the huge mar-
ble hearthstone that was part of the fireplace in that room. This turned out to be
the gravestone for the first Elisha Mulford to own the house. We realized that the
fireplace in the east bedroom also had a marble hearthstone, so we rushed upstairs
to investigate this stone and found that it was the original tablet for Elisha's wife
Damaris. There is a family monument erected in the village cemetery which lists all
the Mulford family members, including the two whose tablets we found in the Old
House. We conjecture that the gravestones were taken up when the family monument
was erected — but they were saved — taken home, as it were. Later on, when work
was done on the fireplaces, the stones were utilized... I cannot help wondering how
many other such hearthstones there are on eastern Long Island. Was this a one-of-
a-kind situation or were there other families who were equally frugal in using
whatever was at hand to do a job? Have you looked under your hearthstone?" This
account is signed by Elinor Latham Williams, Old House at Oysterponds.
FROM OHIO
The Fairfield County District Library has received a grant from the Ohio
Program in the Humanities, a state based agency of the National Endowment for the
Humanities. The grant has funded an exhibit of Fairfield County gravestone rub-
bings and two public programs about the area stones, Sarah Long is the library
director. Charles Goshen, historian, naturalist, and author, selected the stones
for rubbing. Alan Govenar, Columbus College of Art and Design, made the rub-
bings. Mr. Govenar is a member of the Ohio and the American Folklore Societies,
has served as sponsor of the Ohio Arts Council, and has taught courses in grave-
stone significance and stone-rubbing technique at Ohio State University. The ex-
hibit opened in May and closed June 14.
FROM PENNSYLVANIA
John Francis Marion is featured in an illustrated story in the Philadelphia
Courier Post, April 26, 1980. Marion, author of Famous and Curious Cemeteries
and several books about historic cities and houses, is teaching a summer course for
the University of Pennsylvania called "Legacies of the Past; Old Cemeteries around
Philadelphia." Classes will meet in Philadelphia cemeteries. Marion's address is
1836 Delancy Street, Philadelphia.
STONECUTTERS AND THEIR WORKS
Fifth of a Series
Composite of characteristic Angel lettering
and design styles
JOHN ANTHONY ANGEL (1701-1756)
Vincent F. Luti
In her book. Early New England Gravestones, Harriette Forbes speaks
briefly of John Anthony Angel, a stonecarver of Providence, Rhode Island. At the
time her book was published in 1927, Mrs. Forbes had seen Angel's will, but she
did not know his work. Today the man himself remains somewhat obscure but his
work is fairly easy to identify.
From his own gravestone in the North Burial Ground in Providence, we learn
that he died April 6, 1756, at the age of fifty-five. He carved the design of this stone
himself, and his epitaph states that he came from the "Citty of Coplins in ye Electore
of Trear," which would be the modern city of Koblenz, Germany, His will calls him
a stonecutter, and the inventory of his meager estate lists tools and gravestones.
His tools were left to Seth Luther, his "brother-in-law," a clue that led to the dis-
covery that Luther, too, was a stonecarver.
Most of Angel's stones date from the 1750's. A few, some of which may be
backdated, have dates in the 1740's. We do not know when he arrived from Germany.
His unusually clumsy lettering and spelling, which single his stones out, indicate that
he struggled with the English language.
The identification of Angel's carving style is based on the carving on two
probated stones* and on the design carved on his own marker. A significant aid in
spotting his work is his poor spelling and his lettering style, which mixed upper and
lower case letters at random. His stones are found principally in Providence. Others
radiate to surrounding towns as far north as Medfield, Massachusetts, and extend
south to Bristol, Rhode Island.
f^i
The typical New England "bedboard" tripartite shape | fis uncommon m
Angel's work. His usual overall stone shape is either rectangular or has sloping,
curved shoulders. Occasionally the outline of the stone shape is Baroque in style.
Generally, the stones are carved in a very low to medium relief with little
or no modeling, which in combination with the peculair, crumbling, black bituminous-
like stone he used, make them easy to overlook. But they are decidedly distinctive.
One striking characteristic of Angel's stones is the almost complete absence of fig-
urative effigies, human and angelic. On the other hand, his stones do share a com-
monality with the designs of other carvers in the Narragansett Basin and New England
in general. A handful of his stones have helmet-like skulls in profile, usually in flat
relief. In Providence there are a few — less than a dozen — stones with heraldic designs.
But what relates his work most closely with that of his contemporaries in the Basin is
his taste for foliate material in his designs. A curled, unfolding acanthus leaf pre-
dominates in the borders and often around the tympanum arch. Another floral motif,
occuring often at the top or bottom of the stone, is one or more large, spread, rough-
ly triangular acanthus leaves, suggesting wings. Sometimes the border design is a
8 -
kind of tulip vine. Heavily cut petaled rosettes, often within a ring, occur regu-
larly in the upper areas of the stones. Simple classical Creek foliate undulations or
"crimping" is not uncommon around the edges of the stones.
Helmet-like skull Spread, triangular
in profile acanthus leaf
Tulip vine
border
Petaled rosettes
within a ring
* The estates of John Edwards, Attleboro, and of Peter Maroney, Providence, show
payment to Angel for gravestones.
Vincent Luti is on the music faculty at Southern Massachusetts University.
ASSOCIATION NOTICES
AGS committees need you. Think about what the Association is doing or is not
doing in the area(s) of your interest and volunteer your ideas, your time, your
skills, your leadership — or your followership! Areas of work:
Conference '81 planning Archives
Keeping an Association Historian's record Education /promotion
Publications Crants-finding funds
Conservation Awards committee
Research
Regional Representatives who could not attend the conference should write to ACS
President Joanne Baker (51 South Street, Concord NH 03301) about your area and
any projects and problems you may know about. For ACS to represent a wide geo-
graphic area, your views are needed. Members willing to represent areas not yet
represented should volunteer to Dr. Baker. We have representatives for Canada,
Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania,
Rhode Island, Texas, and Wisconsin.
If your name is not on our paid member list, it is not on the NEWSLETTER mailing
list. ACS membership runs from July 1 to June 30. Those who attended the con-
ference paid the membership fee when they registered. Others must join or renew
membership by mail. To receive the Fall issue of the NEWSLETTER , get your name
on the new membership list right away by sending your $10 membership fee to:
Mrs. Philip Thomas, ACS Treasurer, 82 Hilltop Place, New London, NH 03257.
Corresponding Secretary Ruth Cowell reports that her Diesel Rabbit was stolen and
that in its trunk was a briefcase of ACS correspondence. If you are waiting for a
reply from Mrs. Cowell, it may be that your letter was among those lost.
CEI^ETERY CITATIONS
EXEMPLARY CARE
Highland Cemetery*
DOVER, MASSACHUSETTS
The Old Burying Place
WALPOLE, MASSACHUSETTS
"Excellent caretaker"
WELLINGTON, CONNECTICUT
Cemetery on Ciderville Road
TOLLAND, CONNECTICUT
NEGLECT
The Old Town Cemetery
UPTON, MASSACHUSETTS
"Smashed stones in the woods"
CHARLESTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS
NORWOOD, MASSACHUSETTS
'Hangout for beer-drinking vandals'
*We had three nominations for this "pristine cemetery. " Thanks to Professor Paul
Tedesco, Northeastern University, for the following specifics: Cemetery Commis-
sioners Philip Luttazi, Harry Bertschey , and Charles Reheault have had a short
history of the cemetery published and distributed to all townspeople. Mr. Bertschey ,
who wrote the history, has taken the responsibility for personal upkeep of the grounds,
particularly that portion containing the pre-1830 stones. The cemetery has been sur-
veyed by Dr. Tedesco and filed by him with the Massachusetts Historical Commission .
NEWSLETTER NOTES
Not getting your NEWSLETTERl The Post Office does not forward bulk-rate mail,
so be sure we have your current address. And be sure your membership is current.
AGS membership is from July 1 through June. The person to check with about your
address and your dues is Mrs. Philip Thomas, AGS Treasurer, 82 Hilltop Place, New
London, NH 03257. Telephone, (603) 526-6044.
Would you like for us to send the Fall issue of the NEWSLETTER to a friend who might
be a prospective AGS member? Give us the names and addresses before September I.
Address AGS Publications, Jessie Lie Farber, editor, c/o American Antiquarian Society,
Worcester, MA 01609.
We call your attention to our new masthead, first used on the Spring 1980 issue. It
was designed by Francis Duval, who altered the old logo to show the shape of "our
logo stone" (Elisabeth Smith, 1771, Williamstown, Massachusetts).
In the Fall 1979 issue of the NEWSLETTER are illustrations of three trumpeting angels
by an unknown gravestone cutter. James Slater now reports finding a bevy of these
angels in the Plainfield, Connecticut, area, two of which are signed "F. Warren, sculpt.
Warren is a carver with a bold and imaginative style; we look forward to learning who
the man was. Have we a reader who is interested in this research? Write James
Slater, Bassettes Bridge Road, Mansfield Center, Connecticut 06250.
The Spring 1980 Newsletter mentioned on page 12 that Dial Press is publishing The
Death Catalog, A guide to the Living and that authors Mark Smith and Christopher
Clemens asked us for information about AGS, which we sent. We were amused to
receive a further request from Mr. Clemens, for permission to use an illustration of
one of the Association items. Which item? Our masthead or our logo? No. The cover
of MARKERS '801 A photograph of a stone? Guess again . They want to reproduce
our BUMPER STICKER! They have our permission. For more information about The
Death Catalog, address the authors: P.O.Box 88, Milton, PA 17847.
The deadline for contributions to the Fall NEWSLETTER is September 1.
^IIIOISMIN
Ol.t' ON Jl'^-'^d
a I V d
3DViSOd s n
•9^0 lldoyd NON
60910 sspw JSjsaDJoM
■X4apos u\?!Jtnb!4uv uiJDuaaivo/D
suouPDiiqnj SDV
EXHIBITORS
AGS Conference 1980, Bradford, Massachusetts
Margaret Berg
1956 Hebron Avenue
Glastonbury, CT 06033
Gravestone rubbings
Michael Cornish
62 Calumet Street
Roxbury, MA 02120
"Continuity and Invention":
Gravestone designs of Joseph
Barber, Jr., West Medway, MA.
Roberta Halporn
Highly Specialized Promotions
228 Clinton Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Rubbings of New York City
Colonial gravestones
Susan Kelly and Anne Williams
83 Maywood Road
Darien, CT 06820
Rubbings of signed stones
Peter Finlay and Betty Daniel
National Institute for Transitiot
22 Monument Square, Suite 601
Portland, ME 04101
Gravestone rubbings and Finlay graphics.
For sale: postcards, notecards, matted
prints, silk-screened T-shirts and tote
bags, and an illustrated booklet.
Francis Y. Duval and Ivan B. Rigby
405 Vanderbilt Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11238
Photographs of exhibits from previous
AGS conferences
Glo Kirby
250 West 94th Street
New York, NY 10025
Two-toned gravestone rubbings
Lance Mayer
Conservation Department
Cincinnati Art Museum, Eden Park
Cincinnati, OH 45202
Photographs: "Deterioration of
Connecticut Gravestones"
Daniel Farber
11 Moreland Street
Worcester, MA 01609
Photographs of New England
gravestones
NEWSLETTER OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR
GRAVESTONE STUDIES
This rs Part II of the Fall, 1980, NEWSLETTER. Mitchell
Alegre will be guest editor of the Winter, 1981, issue.
Address NEWSLETTER contributions to ACS Publications,
in care of The American Antiquarian Society, Worcester,
Massachusetts 01609.
A RESTORATION PROGRAM FOR YOUTHS, Mitchell R. Alegre
Wyoming County, New York
A gang of teenagers armed with axes and shovels invade a rural pioneer
cemetery. This could mark the beginning of a nightmare of destruction. In Wyoming
County, New York, however, teenagers in cemeteries have become a welcome sight
because for two recent summers they came to restore rather than destroy.
During the summers of 1977 and 1978, one hundred young men and women
from the ages of fifteen through eighteen restored nearly a dozen neglected burial
grounds from this six hundred square mile agricultural heart of Western New York State.
These young people were employed for up to eight weeks each summer as part of the
federally funded Youth Conservation Corps administered locally by the Community Re-
source Development program of the Wyoming County Cooperative Extension.
Administered by the United States Department of the Interior, the Youth
Conservation Corps (YCC), funded under the Environmental Education Act of 1970,
focuses on accomplishing needed conservation work on public lands, providing youth
employment, and developing an understanding and appreciation of the nation's natural
environment and heritage. The Wyoming County program sponsored not only cemetery
restorations but also forest and stream management projects.
One of the reasons for Wyoming County's decision to include cemetery res-
toration in the YCC program was that it could be easily adapted to fulfill both the en-
vironmental and historical components of the federal guidelines. The restorations would
also give the program high public visibility.
There also was public pressure to clean up the pioneer burial grounds. The
townships, which have the responsibility for care of the old cemeteries, had neglected
that charge, leaving the graveyards to the ravages of the elements and of vandals. The
county historian was receiving requests from local historians and genealogists to have
the early cemeteries preserved. He was able to persuade the Cooperative Extension to
include the restoration of cemeteries in their YCC plan. With the help of the town his-
torians, cemeteries in need of work were identified throughout the county.
It is easy for historians and genealogists to recognize the importance of pre-
serving cemeteries and gravestones. For teenagers, though, a cemetery is often little
more than a convenient hang-out. To successfully mobilize them to restore a cemetery,
it is necessary to educate them to the importance of burial grounds.
This process began by training the staff responsible for supervising the
YCC enrollees. Supervisors and crew leaders were introduced to local history, the
history of burial practices and cemeteT"ies, the value of the gravestones, restoration
techniques, and the reasons for the project. Staff members did their own additional
research, which included consultations with historians and preservationists.
ThVyoung people were then introduced to local and cemetery history and
given reasons for preserving cemeteries. This introduction was supplemented with in-
formal talks at work sites by historians and YCC staff. Although the enrollees found
these sessions enlightening, their enthusiasm did not blossom until actual restoration
work began. It was then that they came to appreciate what they had learned. The
element of discovery played an important role in keeping enthusiasm high. Staff, en-
rollees, and the public were all surprised when a small cemetery hidden by decades of
wild growth was discovered only ten feet from a well-traveled highway. In another
long forgotten graveyard, a buried stone was discovered by accident. Soon rows of
lost markers were uncovered.
Conservation ethics and techniques were taught throughout the project.
Upon arriving at a site, workers identified the flora. They learned what growth was
to be removed and what was to remain, and why. The only trees removed were those
threatening markers. Stumps, brush, and small trees that were removed were used
to create animal habitats. The workers were taught weed and pest control, the ef-
fects of various pesticides, erosion control, and soil analysis. A session on tree dating
proved helpful in determining the age of a cemetery fence that had become partly en-
veloped by an aged tree.
The YCC enrollees gained a respect for historic preservation. They
learned what information can be extracted from cemeteries by studying tlie inscriptions
on tine stones, the type of stone used, and the relationship of the markers to each other.
The enrollees repaired stones, made rubbings, and recorded inscriptions. To simplify
and standardize the recording of inscriptions in the field, forms were printed that pro-
vided space for recording names, dates, and epitaphs for each stone , as well as other
information, such as descriptions of decorative carving, fences, or other features of the
grave site. The locations of stones were mapped. This data was deposited with the
Cooperative Extension and is being used by students and by researchers.
Community involvement was encouraged. There was never a shortage of
curious visitors of all ages at the work sites. The workers enjoyed sharing their know-
ledge with the visitors, while old-timers contributed background information and folklore
about the grounds and the deceased buried there. Neighbors brought refreshments.
One grateful neighbor of a restored cemetery took on the maintenance responsibility of
mowing the cleaned up site.
The most difficult task was to interest town governments or private organi-
zations in maintaining the restored grounds. The enrollees find it discouraging to see
any of their hard labor quickly undone by nature. Although not all the renovated ceme-
teries are being maintained, the project has had a lasting impact. Genealogists, who
eagerly followed the workers from cemetery to cemetery, uncovered new information.
Through the wide publicity that the project received, the public was made more aware
of the heritage contained in our burial grounds. A few students extended their in-
volvement after returning to school, focusing on their summer's work as subjects for
term papers. And ail the Youth Conservation Corps participants came away with a
greater appreciation of cemeteries and what can be learned from them.
Mitchell alegre, an editorial consultant in Warsaw, New York, will be guest editor of
the Winter issue of the ACS NEWSLETTER. Address P.O. Box 266, Warsaw, 14569.
CEMETERY CITATIONS
EXEMPLARY CARE NEGLECT
ALBANY RURAL CEMETERY^ CROTON, NEW YORK
Menands, Albany County, N.Y. Photographs sent with the
HUNTINGTON (L.I.), N.Y. 2
recommendation confirm
this citation
OLD BURYING GROUNDS
BEAUFORT, NORTH CAROLINA HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT**
Beautifully maintained by the Old burying ground
Beaufort Historical Society
OAKWOOD CEMETERY^
WACO, TEXAS
1 This 467 acre cemetery founded in 1847 has recently been listed with the National Regis-
ter of Historic Places. The Newsletter of the Preservation League of New York State
(January, 1980) describes it as "one of the most beautiful expressions of the Rural Ceme-
tery Movement. . .an outstanding example of nineteenth century landscape design. . .given
added significance by the high architectural quality of buildings and the artistry of
monuments. . . "
2 John Plackis (who will be remembered from the AGS conference for the "Support Your
Local Cemetery" buttons he and Mark Coscia wore) reports that in July, 1980, the town
of Huntington, New York, amended its zoning and designated forty-six cemeteries as
Historic Sites. Plackis hopes AGS members will be encouraged to take similar steps in
their communities.
3 We thank Walter O'Connell for three newspaper stories and other published materials
describing this remarkable cemetery. According to the cemetery bylaws, only women
serve on the board of directors, "one reason Oakwood is so beautiful." It contains over
20,000 grave sites, many of celebrities. The squares of plots and the life-size sculptured
human figures, obelisks, and mausoleums have been compared to a giant chessboard and
chessmen. The 147 acre cemetery, established in 1878, is maintained by a crew of twelve
men. One of the newspaper articles sent by Dr. O'Connell (3406 Yalkum Blvd., Houston,
77006) includes a photograph of a sculpture of Dr. O'Connell, with the caption, "Monument
in Advance. Dr. Walter E. O'Connell still alive." No explanation accompanied this statement.
4 James O'Brien recently wrote an article for The Hartford Courant lamenting the condition
of the stones in the Hartford burying ground and the poor uses to which the area is cur-
rently being put. His address: 135 Bloomfield Avenue, Windsor, CT 06095. Thanks to
Michael Cornish, AGS Vice-President/Archives, for this item.
CONSERVATION
PUBLICATIONS^ PROJECTS^ NEWS ITEMS
Acids deluge earth on dry days, too. This is the caption for an article from the East
Lansing State Journal , June ^9. 1980, sent to the NEWSLETTER by Sandra Ponteleit.
The news item states that scientists are finding that acid failing to earth on dry days
may be as damaging as the more publicized "acid rains" because dry particles, once they
become wet, have more penetrating power than do the acids falling in rain. It is esti-
mated that at least half of the sulfuric and nitric acids that collects on the ground fell
in dry particles rather than in rain. (See other items about acid rain on page 9, Part I
of this NEWSLETTER and on page 7 of the Spring, 1980 issue.)
Museum care for endangered stones. The complexity of the problem of preserving an
important and endangered gravemarker is illustrated by a letter written by the director
of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission to Francis Duval (co-author with
Ivan Rigby of the Dover publication. Early American Gravestone Art in Photographs) .
Mr. Duval had written urging the removal to a museum of the 1797 Maria Catharina
Stahlneckerin stone. The letter he received in response explains that all objects in the
museum's collections must be given or purchased, and acquisition of gravestones is ob-
structed by questions of legal title. The letter commended Duval and Rigby for making
a cast of the Stahlneckerin stone before its carving is lost through deterioration.
Is this stone eligible for museum care? We have learned that the gift shop in the base-
ment of Boston's Faniuel Hall houses the 1778 Sara Hooker stone. The owner of the shop
explains that the stone was left there by the proprietor who preceded him. It is a nicely
carved stone by a Boston carver. Perhaps a reader can tell us where it came from. As
for where it belongs, we suggest that the gift shop present it to the Boston Museum of
Fine Arts.
Gravestone destruction in Pennsylvania and Michigan.
Charles E. Mohr has sent us an item from the Philadelphia Bulletin about mass de-
struction in the Montefiore Cemetery, a seventy acre Jewish cemetery in Abington Town-
ship, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. There appeared to be no anti-Semitism in the
desecration of 110 stones that were pushed over and smashed, just pure vandalism. A
list of the damaged stones was compiled and the families were notified. We were interest-
ed in a quoted comment by one of the cemetery officials that damage to gravestones is
covered by most homeowners' insurance policies.
From Sandra Ponteleit comes a similar news clip, this one about a "senseless smash-
ing" of fifteen stones in North Cemetery, a small, remote burying ground in Lansing,
Michigan. "What time and weather failed to do in more than a hundred years, vandals
accomplished in one night... and the history of the community and of the pioneer North
family was lost," said the director of the city parks, which administers the graveyard.
A follow-up article on this story suggests that some of the damage to the stones may
have been the work of careless work crews who were trimming trees and vegetation In
and around North Cemetery at about the same time that the cemetery was vandalized.
Cemetery census, Chatauqua County, New York. Mac Nelson, State University of New
York-Fredonia, reports that the Chatauqua County (New York) Genealogical Society in
Dunkirk will conduct a census of the county's graveyards. Professor Nelson, who Is
helping the Society plan the project, spoke at its June meeting.
Documenting the headstones of the Defenders of New London. The Ledyard (Connecti-
cut) Historic Commission and Ledyard's Town Historian, Helen Vergason, are compiling
a book to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Groton Heights and the
burning of New London, September 6, 1781. To be Included are photographs of as
many of the headstones of the defenders as can be located. Fifty percent of the stones
have now been photographed. The majority are of schist and Connecticut Valley red
sandstone. The schist stones are thought to be the work of Josiah Manning or of his
sons, Rockwell and Frederick, from the Norwich, Connecticut, vicinity. Many of the
sandstone headstones are probably the work of Thomas Johnson of Chatham. Further
research Is needed to locate probate evidence that will confirm or deny these attribu-
tions. Serious deterioration of the sandstone has made identification difficult. Many
stones can be identified only by comparing the deteriorated stone with sketches of the
defenders' stones from a book published in 1881. The project is scheduled to be com-
pleted In the fall of 1981. For this item the NEWSLETTER thanks Carolyn Smith (22
Brentford-Berwich, Ledward, Connecticut 06339), Rob Schlssler, and Sheila Godlno.
Columbia University training program in conservation. "Learning about tine Real
World" is the title of an illustrated article by Kay Holmes published in a recent issue
(we do not have the date) of Historic Preservation . It describes Columbia University's
pioneer program in historic preservation in that institution's Graduate School of Arch-
itecture and Planning. Two dictums of good preservation basic to the program are
Don't do anything irreversible, and Repair rather than replace. One of the School's
research projects that is applicable to gravestone conservation involves the use of
acrylic polymers for consolidation of deteriorating brownstone. An aspect of the
article of interest to us is a photograph of Assistant Professor Norman Weiss, who was
a featured speaker at the AGS conference in Haverhill, Massachusetts, in June, 1980.
Four MOCA documenting projects. The Maine Old Cemetery Association (MOCA) is
conducting four long-term projects. The Surname Index (SIP) is an alphabetical list-
ing of over 214,000 persons who lived and died in Maine. The Bicentennial Project
(BIP) is a listing of graves of Revolutionary veterans who lived in Maine (see AGS
NEWSLETTER, Winter 1979, Volume 4, Number 1, Pages 1,2). The Marble Records
is an index of the ten volumes of inscriptions used on the gravestones cut by the
Victorian stonecutter Edwin W. Marble, and of the business records of the three gen-
eration Marble family business. The MOCA Inscription Project (MIP) is an orderly
listing of all stones in any given cemetery in the state. Thus far, 13,000 cemeteries
have been catalogued. Work on these projects is done by unpaid volunteers. The
body of information developed is shared through cooperation with the Maine State
Library, historical societies, and town and university libraries. For more information
about MOCA projects, write Hilda M. Fife, 6 Sherwood Drive, Eliot, ME 03903.
Landmark Status, Massachusetts. As a step in applying for Historic Landmark Status
for an old burial ground, Massachusetts residents ask for and fill out "Form E — Burial
Grounds," obtained from the Massachusetts Historical Commission, Office of the Sec-
retary, State House, Boston. The one-page form is simple. It asks for information
such as dates of the earliest and most recent stones, condition, and a map showing
the graveyard's location, and where and what kind of further information is available.
Filling out this application is uncomplicated if the graveyard has been carefully re-
corded, as has the old burial ground in South Hadley, Massachusetts. James B. Allen,
of the South Hadley Historical Society, who was a key person in the documenting of
that town's graveyard in 1976, reports that with the help of their graveyard record,
getting the site included in the town's inventory of old and important buildings and
places, a precondition to receiving Landmark Status, was a smooth procedure.
A big undertaking. Best wishes to Mrs. Donna McBride of Eaton Rapids, Michigan,
who (according to a newspaper item in the July 16, 1980, Lansing State Journal) has
volunteered to help the local Historic Commission index the fifty-four cemeteries in
Eaton County. Eighteen have been indexed and filed previously with the Commission.
Mrs, McBride has completed five. This leaves her with thirty-one to go!
Canadian conservation. Mrs. Lorraine Folds Crawford of Toronto, Ontario, writes of
her "amateur interest" in old gravestones and of her special concern for stones crafted
by Samuel Gardner in the mid- to late 1900's in the Southern Ontario region. She tells
us that the carved surfaces of most of these slate stones are in remarkably good con-
dition but that the center layers of the stones are deteriorating and the faces are be-
coming detached. She plans to make a photographic record and welcomes advice. We
referred her to two articles which appear in the 1980 issue of MARKERS : "The Care
of Old Cemeteries and Gravestones," by Lance Mayer, and "Recording Cemetery Data."
The latter article, written by Joanne Baker, Dan Farber, and Anne Ciesecke, contains
a section on gravestone photography. Mrs. Crawford's interest in the conservation
of Canadian stones has been met with indifference and she seeks contact with Cana-
dians who share her concern. Write: 7 Crescent Place, Apartment 2118, Toronto,
Ontario M4C 5L7. See Page 3 for the address for ordering MARKERS. The AGS
Regional Representative for Canada is Deborah Trask, 1747 Summer Street, Halifax
Nova Scotia B3H 3A6.
TREE MARKERS, a follow-up. James Slater, whose paper about tree-shaped monuments
intrigued members at the AGS conference, writes that he has received photographs of
similar tree design markers in Ohio cemeteries, and also that The Hartford Courant
recently published a story about markers of this type. Despite the wide disbursement
of these markers. Slater suspects that they were all carved in a single location, prob-
ably Bedford, Indiana.
WORKS IN PROGRESS
Photographic record of documervted stones. Kevin M.Sweeney, a doctoral candidate
at Yale University and the new Administrator-Curator of the Webb-Deane-Stevens
Museum in Wethersfieid, Connecticut {ZIP 06109), met on July 11, 1980, with the
Friends of Historic Deerfield (Massachusetts) in that village's old burial ground,
where Sweeny talked about the Deerfield stones and their carvers. As a result of
this meeting, he and museum photographer Dan Farber, who heard Sweeney's talk,
have made plans to work together to produce a photographic record of documented
stones in the Northampton-Hatfieid-Deerfield area of Massachusetts. Also, NEWS
LETTER editor, Jessie Lie Farber, has asked Mr. Sweeney to write a piece about tTie
man who carved the handsome slates which dominate the Northfield, Massachusetts,
burial ground. "The Northfield Carver, "Sweeney says, is in all probability Ebenezer
Janes II (c, 1730-1810), a noted gravestone carver and a lifelong resident of Northfield.
The monument industry on conservation. Elyse Bass, public relations representative for
the monument industry (SuTte 1600, 444 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60611)
is preparing an article for publication by the industry on preservation and conservation
of gravemarkers. She requested information about AGS's position in these areas and
was referred to Lance Mayer, ACS Vice President/Conservation, and to his position
paper published in the 1980 issue of the Association's journal, MARKERS.
Eastern Connecticut carvers. James Slater has organized information about eastern
Connecticut gravestones, their distribution, and their carvers, and he is combining
this information with a guide to the eastern Connecticut burial grounds. Slater's grave-
stone scholarship is well known by AGS members, who will surely look forward to this
contribution to gravestone studies.
REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION
Melvin Williams, Professor of English, American International College, Springfield,
Massachusetts, is collecting a list of rubable stones of ministers for a show he is
preparing. He welcomes suggestions.
Ben J. Lloyd of the Bedwyn Stone Museum, Wiltshire, England, asks for information
to fill out this story:
After the Crimean War, the middle of the last century, the Houblon family of
Hartford, England, who owned the Bank of England, arranged with their cousins
Heublein of Hartford, Connecticut, to export goods to England, and the amount
of merchandise exported was so large that Connecticut adopted the Houblon crest,
three vines growing up poles. (Originally the vines were hops; Heublein means
hops.) Stone was too heavy a commodity for a very large trade in it to develop,
but token quantities were sent back to the old country. Thus we find that the
people of New London, Connecticut, floated a block of slate colored stone with one
white vein running through it, weighing about H tons, down the river Thames
and across the Atlantic and up the original river Thames, where it was unloaded
at Pimlico Warf. From there it was delivered to Ruddocks, the stonecarvers of
Edbury Street, Victoria, where William Lloyd carved a font. Mr. Ben Lloyd tells
us that he has a plaster model of this font and that the design was taken from West
Wellow, the home of Florence Nightingale of Crimean War fame. The font is still to
be seen at St. George the Martyr at Southward, which is in the older part of London
where Shakespeare had the Globe Theater.
One detail of this story remains to be filled in: the name and location of
the Connecticut quarry the stone came from. Readers with information about
this should write to Mr. Lloyd at the address above. Also, Mr. Lloyd plans
to attend the 1981 ACS conference and would like to arrange housing in the
University of Connecticut area with a member.
CALL FOR PAPERS: Session on American grave-
stone studies at American Culture/Popular Cul-
ture Association meetings, March 25-29, 1981,
Cincinnati. Short (15-20 minute) papers dealing
with gravestones and /or graveyards from geo-
graphical, literary, sociological, folkloristic, etc.,
perspective. Abstracts by 1 February to David
Taylor, Ohio University, 1425 Newark Road,
Zanesville, Ohio 43701.
Detail from a Pennsylvania fraktur.
- 18 -
INTERPRETATION: Stepping Stone to Public Awareness Sandra A . Poneleit
Communicating with the general public is often much like crossing a brook —
some steppingstones may be needed. The physical and psychological distances between
the public and the work of the ACS are being bridged in part by education. Annual
conferences, the Association's journal Markers, newsletters, and a planned slide/tape
program are educational activities and materials that can help span the gap. Inter-
pretation, an ally of education, is another communication link which can be used. It
can promote public sensitivity, awareness, appreciation, enthusiasm, and commitment
with respect to the Association's work and the cultural/historical resources represented.
Many agencies and organizations are involved with interpretation in such
diverse settings as parks, historic sites, museums, zoos, and even industrial sites.
Interpretation, in this context, refers to:
A communication process designed to reveal meanings and
relationships of our cultural and natural heritage to the
public through [primarily] first-hand involvement with an
object, artifact, landscape, or site (Pearl, 1978:5*) .
Professional and volunteer interpreters (spelled with an "or" to distinguish him/her
from the foreign language translator) use first-hand involvement to motivate interest
in an environment or subject matter (Scanlon, 1971; Cherem, 1975). Though based
primarily on-site, interpretation is also used to extend a site into the community through
outreach services. As an informal type of education, interpretation serves voluntary,
non-captive audiences "who are in a leisure frame of mind and who anticipate an enjoy-
able experience" (Cherem, 1975; 1977:6).
The main intent of interpretation is not instruction, but rather provocation
based on factual information (Tilden, 1967:9). Interpreters use the technique to com-
municate messages to the public in a provocational manner. Both personal services
(such as illustrated talks, conducted walks or hikes, living history or cultural programs,
demonstrations, etc.) and nonpersonal services (such as signs, labels, exhibits, pub-
lications, self-guided facilities and tours, etc.) are subject to this approach (Sharp, 1976)
The key elements of interpretive technique are Tilden's ]_nterpretive Principles, or the
tip's:*
1. Provoke the attention or curiosity of your audience.
2. Relate your message to the everyday life of your audience.
3. Reveal the essence of your subject through a unique viewpoint.
U. Address the whole: that is, show the logical significance of an
object to a higher level, concept, or story line.
5. Strive for message unity: that is, use a sufficient but varied
repetition of cues to create and accentuate a particular mood,
theme, aura, or atmosphere.
*Modified from Tilden (1967) by Cherem (1977).
Active or figurative language and nonverbal languages are also important components of
interpretive technique. Training in the skillful use of these communication tools together
with a knowledge of the topic(s) and audiences involved can help to maximize the effec-
tive and benefits of interpretation.
Whether in the form of personal or nonpersonal interpretive services, in-
terpretation can play a major role in promoting public awareness of ACS programs and
the cultural resources its members seek to study and preserve. In concert with the
Association's objectives, varied interpretive services/techniques could complement and
be incorporated into the educational activities and materials available. For example, in-
terpretive brochures, leaflets, and talks could further extend the work of ACS into
local, national, and international communities. Encouraging the involvement of museums,
parks, historic sites and centers, and cemetery associations in resource interpretation
through interpretive programming,exhibits, publications, demonstrations, etc. is an-
other avenue with good potential. These and other practicable approaches could aid
in sparking public interest in historic preservation, conservation, artistic/cultural,
and other aspects of early gravestones and graveyards. Interpretation is just one of
many steppingstones which can be used to bring public interest and support to ACS
programs.
Sandra Poneleit and her husband John Veverka are interpretive consultants for
Interpretive Associates, P.O. Box 95, East Lansing, Michigan 48823. She is editing
the papers presented at the 1980 conference and preparing a Conference Proceedings,
*Space did not allow our printing Mrs. Ponteleit's bibliography for this piece. It
can be obtained by writing either her or the NEWSLETTER.
WHO IS THIS CARVER?
THE JB TAUNTON RIVER BASIN CARVER
Vincent F. Luti
There is a group of gravestones in Massachusetts' Taunton River Basin
on three of which are the initials JB. Are they the work of John Bull (1734-1808) of
Newport, Rhode Island? Circumstantial evidence points to him although on casual ob-
servation the rpugh-hewn designs do not look much like Bull's later elegant work. Is
it possible thafthese stones are his missing early work as an apprentice in Newport?
The biography of John Bull's son Henry says that his father, John, was
apprenticed at an early age to the William Stevens Shop in Newport, where he was a
stonecarver and part-time helper in the grocery store. According to Henry's bio-
graphy, John ran away and went to sea, returning between 1762-4, when he was 28-30
years old. The earliest of the stones generally attributed to John Bull date about 1770,
when John was in his late 30's. Are the JB stones the work of his early 30's?
The JB-type stones in the Taunton Basin date from ca . 1750 to 1761, at
which time John Bull would have been 16-17 years old and, according to Henry's
account, away at sea. So the theory does not jibe with Henry Bull's record.
Stones from Newport, easily shipped by water to Taunton River Basin
towns, predominate in the Basin area until about 1760, when a native carving school
takes over. For this period, we know of no local craftsman who could have been the
carver of these stones; there was one minor (but interesting) skull carver who worked
in this area at the time, but his stones bear no resemblance to those of the man signing
himself JB .
The rugged JB stones probably would not have suited the sophisticated
Newport trade, but they found a ready market in the rural inland. The wonderfully
rjch, aggressive, bold designs, heavily cut in strong light and shade, appear to be
struggling adaptations of William Stevens' basic tympanum and pilaster designs (of
which there are in the Taunton Basin fine examples and ample documentation) . The
lettering on the stones has the same uninhibited creativity that John Benson speaks of
in referring to the work of John Stevens I. Not until an accurate biographical chro-
nology is established for John Bull, will we be able to see whether these JB stones of
1750-61 fit neatly into Bull's apprentice period in the William Stevens Shop.
Vincent Luti, a member of the music faculty of Southern Massachusetts University, is
presently studying the New family, cutters of eighteenth century gravestones. His
address: P.O. Box 412, Westport, Massachusetts 02790.
A NEW NEWSLETTER FEATURE? A story in the June 3 Holyoke (Mass.) Transcript
about Melvin Williams describes his introduction to old gravestones. In 1962 he was
working on a photo story about old churches. Backing away from the churches to
make his photographs, he often found himself in an old graveyard, studying the
stones. He has been studying them and photographing and rubbing them and lectur-
ing and writing about them ever since.
The NEWSLETTER wogld like to hear from ACS members about their introduction to
gravestones. In a few short paragraphs, tell us how you got interested. Maybe we
will start a series. We would also like to have your accounts of unusual experiences
you have had while in the graveyard pursuing your interest.
20
THE FATE OF PETER NITY
James Slater
Students of eighteenth century gravestone carvers consider the discovery
of a signed stone by a previously unidentified carver to be a high point of their work.
These signed stones become the "platinum rods" with which other stones are compared
when attempting to establish the correct carver attributions of unsigned and non-pro-
bate-recorded stones.
It was my good fortune some years ago, through my interest in discovering
the identity of Allan Ludwig's enigmatic "Collins Master," to make the acquaintance of
the late master of Connecticut stonecarver students. Dr. Ernest Caulfield. I had writ-
ten Dr. Caulfield to ask him about comments he had made in an article on Benjamin
Collins, published in The Bulletin of the Connecticut Historical Society ("Connecticut
Gravestones IX", page 23). He had stated, "In those towns where Collins stones are
found most frequently, one also finds a few stones. . .that appear... to have been cut
by someone else, probably Obadiah Wheeler." I told Dr. Caulfield that his descrip-
tion of the work of Obadiah Wheeler sounded to me like the work of the "Collins Master."
This brought a rapid reply inviting me to come for a visit which eventually resulted in
our collaboration on a paper about Wheeler (a paper not complete when Dr. Caulfield
died in 1972 while I was engaged in field work in Austrailia).
Dr. Caulfield was nearly blind when I first met him, but his mind was razor
sharp. On my second visit he loaded me down with manila envelopes full of Obadiah
Wheeler information. Included was a pile of 3x5 cards with sketches and notes on in-
dividual stones. On many, probably most, of these cards was scribbled, "Peter Nity"
or "Peter Nity stone" or "Probably a Peter Nity." The name also appeared here and
there in various pieces of his manuscript. But wherever Dr. Caulfield discussed
Wheeler in his notes and manuscript, Peter Nity's name never seemed to appear. I
finally began to feel that Dr. Caulfield had originally thought that the "Collins Master"
was Peter Nity and later decided he was wrong and that the "Collins Master" was
really Obadial^ Wheeler. Now this was important to me because the work of this car-
ver is quite varied and I had spent many hours of study before reaching the conclu-
sion that these variations are an evolution of the style of a single carver. If two
carvers were involved, my theory would be knocked into a cocked hat. Also, I was
puzzled that nowhere in Dr. Caulfield's notes could I find any reference to the source
of the Peter Nity attributions — no mention of a signed stone nor of any probate rec-
ord indicating that Peter Nity had been paid for one of the gravestones under con-
sideration.
The next, and unfortunately the last, time that I saw Dr. Caulfield I
asked him about this curious situation. He assured me that only a single carver
was involved, that the documentation for Obadiah Wheeler was solid and I was not
to worry at all about Peter Nity. I remember the rather elfish grin that came over
his face at that point as he said, "If you will go to the old Colchester burying ground
and look near a big mound of earth, you will find a small stone for Mary Jones, 1729.
If you can visualize the left side of this stone, below the face, with dirt and lichen
on it, you will understand the story of Peter Nity."
Thus, one raw early March day Betty and I drove to Colchester and
found the old cemetery with its gigantic ancient spruce tree sighing in a blustery
wind. In a short time we found the Mary Jones stone — clean and pristine, without
a trace of lichen left on it. It was a perfect example of Obadiah Wheeler's simple
stones for children. We both stared at it briefly. Then I began to laugh. There,
sure enough, was "Peter Nity," but like the Chesire cat, the more you stared at him,
the more he disappeared.
James Slater, Professor of Entomology,
University of Connecticut, Storrs, is
a frequent contributor to gravestone
scholarship.
SAVE JUNE 26-28
for the
1981 ACS CONFERENCE
Storrs, Connecticut
ri-CTCD
M I'
MISCELANEOUS
Want to buy an old gravemarker? It's legal. The Monument Builders News, June, 1980,
carries a photo-story about a 5'6" handcarved sculpture of a young female "beautifully
gowned in classical attire, holding a torch over her head... She is enclosed in a new
wooden crate, ready for shipping, along with an extra arm, in case the original is
broken." The marker was cut in 1910 along with three duplicates which are set on
graves in Aberdeen, Scotland. This example of Victorian cemetery art is owned and
for sale by Mr, James D. Rust, Boxord Property Co., Ltd., 60 Kings Gate, Aberdeen,
Scotland AB2 6BP.
New Zealand stones . Also from the Monument Builders News, September, 1980, is a
story about Hugh Francis, Executive officer of New Zealand Master Monumental Masons
Association, who described NewZealand's stones. The modern stones are set along a
common foundation or berm which runs down a line of lots, making a very regimented,
uniform, formal appearance. The stone material is usually African black granite or
Scandinavian granite. Brightly colored fiberglass markers are popular in certain eth-
nic sections. New Zealand markers often bear enameled photographs of the deceased,
and they use quite a bit more gilding in their lettering than one sees in the U.S. Al-
though the stones are significantly smaller than those in the U.S., there is usually
much more lettering. "When I look at a typical upright monument in New Zealand,"
says Francis, 'M know much more about the deceased person."
Modern stones, U.S.A. We thank Francis Duval and Robert Van Benthuysen for clips
of an Associated Press story from The New York Times and The Asbury Park (III.)
Press, July 27, 1980, about changes in the faces of America's gravestones. "It is a
rebellion against getting lost in the shuffle," said David Quiring of Quiring Monuments
of Seattle, whose assembly line and two computer-run sandblasters can turn out twenty
"personalized" markers a day. According to the article, John Dianes of Evanston, III.,
and Executive Vice-president of the Monument Builders of North America, feels that
personalized gravestones are reminders of the gravestones of American Colonists. "We
are going back to epitaphs that said something about the person, that he was a farmer
or that she was a teacher and a mother." He estimates that of the markers produced in
the United States each year, ten percent are "customized."
(Mr. Duval, 105 Vanderbilt Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11238, is Artistic Director for
MARKERS . Mr. Van Benthuysen, Monmouth College Library, West Long Branch, NJ,
is AGS Regional Representative for New Jersey.)
Connecticut promotes its burial grounds. "Far from being a goulish experience, a tour
of graveyards can often yield a wealth of historic information and prove a fascinating
diversion. One state in particular, Connecticut, has outlined a tour of cemeteries and
other burial sites. . .Further information on Connecticut cemeteries, other state attrac-
tions and a free map are available from the Department of Economic Development, 210
Washington Street, Hartford 06106." This item was excerpted from the July 27 New
York Times travel section.
INERNHOJSEILEREHEHERELIESJOHNRENI
NERNHOJSIELEREHEIEHERELIESJOHNREN
ERNHOJSEILEREHEINIEHERELIESJOHNRE
RNHOJSIELEREHEINENIEHERELIESJOHNR
NHOJSIELEREHEINERENEIHERELIESJOHN
HOJSEILEREHEINERNRENIEHERELIESJOH
OJSEILEREHEINERNHNRENIEHERELIESJO
JSEILEREHEINERNHOHNRENIEHERELIESJ
SEILEREHEINERNHOJOHNRENIEHERELIES
EILEREHEINERNHOJSJOHNRENIEHERELIE
ILEREHEINERNHOJSESJOHNRENIEHERELI
LEREHEIMERNHOJSEIESJOHNRENIEHEREL
EREHEINERNHOJSEILIESJOHNRENIEHERE
REHEINERNHOJSEILELIESJOHNRENIEHER
EHEINERNHOJSEILERELIESJOHNRENIEHE
HEINERNHOJSEILERERELIESJOHNRENIEH
EINERNHOJSEILEREHERELIESJOHNRENIE
HEINERNHOJSEILERERELIESJOHNRENIEH
EHEINERNHOJSEILERELIESJOHNRENIEHE
REHEINERNHOJSEILELIESJOHNRENIEHER
EREHEINERNHOJSEILIESJOHNRENIEHERE
LEREHEINERNHOJSEIESJOHNRENIEHEREL
ILEREHEINERNHOJSESJOHNRENIEHERELI
EILEREHEINERNHOJSJOHNRENIEHERELIE
SEILEREHEINERNOHJOHNRENIEHERELIES
JSEILEREHEINERNHOHNRENIEHERELIESJ
OJSEILEREHEINERNHNRENIEHERELIESJO
HOJSEILEREHEINERNRENIEHERELIESJOH
NHOJSEILEREHEINERENIEHERELIESJOHN
RNHOJSEILEREHEINENIEHERELIESJOHNR
ERNHOJSEILEREHEINIEHERELIESJOHNRE
NERNHOJSEILEREHEIEHERELIESJOHNREN
INERNHOJSEILEREHEHERELIESJOHNRENI
A curiosity in the churchyard of
Priory Church, Monmouth, Gwent,
England, is the stone for John Renie,
1932. "Here lies John Renie," can
be read horizontally and vertically.
It also reads correctly when the read-
er changes directions at any letter.
This item was published with a photo-
graph of the stone in the May 1 issue
of Country Life, sent to the NEWS-
LETTER by Sue and Philip Jones.
HI1131SM3N
sseyy 'j3]S33jo^
OL^ ON iiuijaj
a I V d
3DViSOd s n
3iva >nn9
60910 ssvw J3;saDJO/v\
■A43POS uvjjvnbnuv u\?D!Jaujvo/D
suouPDliqnj SDV
- 22
Three organizations with concerns similar to those of AGS
The Society for Folk Arts Preservation, Inc. (SFAP) is a new preservation society
whose aims parallel some of AGS's. Founded in 1977, SFAP is a non-profit tax ex-
empt, educational organization which acts as a repository for visual craft techniques
that are in danger of disappearing. By means of film and tape produced by SFAP,
it seeks to document and preserve and disseminate these techniques for use by
artists, scholars, and the interested public. The Society welcomes contributions
to its newsletter. Write SFAP, 308 East 79th Street, New York, NY 10021.
Another organization with similar concerns is Saving and Preserving Arts and Cul-
tural Environments (SPACES). Nationwide, SPACES is devoted to the recognition
and preservation of America's folk art environments such as Simon Rodia's Towers.
For more information, write SPACES, 1804 North Van Ness, Los Angeles, CA 90028.
The International Society for the Study of Church Monuments aims to promote the
study, care and conservation of funerary monuments and related art of all periods
and countries. Their flyer, sent to us by Pamela Burgess, who showed slides of
English churchyard memorials at the 1980 AGS conference, reads: "Church monuments
commemorate the dead, but they are also part of a living past which is our heritage.
They fascinate those interested in the history of art, dress, religion or society it-
self, those who are practising masons and sculptors, and those who study heraldry
and genealogy, lettering or petrology. These people have often been unknown to
each other, but now at last a society has been formed to bring them together. . .The
Society holds a Symposium every two years and keeps its members in touch with
recent publications and research through the medium of a Bulletin. . .Material for
inclusion should be sent to the Editor, Mr. Nigel Ramsay, 15 Charlbury Road,
Oxford 0X2 6UT." The membership fee is ^2.50. Overseas members are asked to
send sterling drafts payable in London to ISSCM, The Membership Secretary, Mr,
Philip Lankester, c/o Museum and Art Gallery^ Kelvingrove, Glasgow G3 SAG.
Graveyard nature study. The March and April, 1980, issues of The Audubon Journal,
published by the Delaware Audubon Society, include articles by Charles Mohr which
could open new facets of gravestone study. One article calls attention to special photo-
graphic opportunities and to the variety of photographic subjects provided by nature
in cemetery settings. The Delaware Camera Club's assigned subject, "Cemeteries,"
generated a heightened awareness of graveyards and proved to be one of th6 most pop-
ular subject assignments in the club's long history. Mohr offers many pertinent photo
tips Among them: Repeat visits to the same cemetery (each visit brings new discoveries;
and. Beware of distracting backgrounds (distracting backgrounds, an ever-present
hazard, are at their worst in cemeteries).
Dr. Mohr's other piece concerns a study of the wildlife potential of cemeteries. He
says the next step will be to enlist the support of local committees, establish coopera-
tion with responsible cemetery officials and public and private school personnel, and
initiate inventories of the varied historical and natural history features of the best
wildlife sites. Preliminary findings will help to formulate evaluation procedures and
guidelines for organized visits and studies. Materials developed will be shared with
other Audubon chapters and similar interested groups. Dr. Mohr's address: LakeClub
Apartments B-26, 400 North DuPont Highway, Dover, DE 19901.
NtWbLtTTtR
OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES
Volume U, Number 4 Fall 1980
ISSN: 0146-5783
CONTENTS
The NEWSLETTER has mofe material than can be used in one mailing.
PART I
This ie:
Markers
1
2
2-k
3
5
A LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT about our new journal
INTERESTING EPITAPHS (a new feature?)
ASSOCIATION NEWS
ASSOCIATION ADDRESSES
BOOK REVIEW
Famous and Curious Cemeteries
by John Francis Marion
Review by Edwin Dethlefsen
MORE ABOUT BOOKS 6
RECENT RESEARCH, MEETINGS, AND PAPERS 7.9
EXHIBITIONS 10
STONECUTTERS AND THEIR WORKS. Sixth installment U
James Standi ft, 1630-1712
by Sherry Stancliff
PART II will be mailed to members in November
A Restoration Program for Youths. An article
by Mitchell Alegre
CEMETERY CITATIONS
CONSERVATION. Publications, projects, news items
WORKS IN PROGRESS / REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION . . . , ,
Interpretation: Stepping Stone to Public Awareness. An article
by Sandra Poneleit
WHO IS THIS CARVER?
by Vincent Luti
The Fate of Peter Nity. A short, sweet story
by James Slater
MISCELANEOUS
13
14
15.15
17
18
19
20
21.22
Dear AGS Members,
One of the most important accomplishments of the Association during the
previous year has been the publication of MARKERS , the handsome, soft-bound
journal which not only presents the latest scholarship and new gravestone "finds"
but also sets forth the official position of the Association on conservation, record-
ing, and museum custody of gravemarkers. One hundred and eighty two beauti-
fully and profusely illustrated pages of interesting articles dealing with many fa-
cets of gravestone study, it is a valuable contribution to gravestone literature.
The book is the result of the hard work of a number of skilled and dedi-
cated persons who volunteered their talents in the service of the Association. We
are now in the process of marketing the publication. Because the printing of this
first issue is small (only 500 copies), our primary concern is to get the copies into
the hands of those who will make the best use of the book, such as historic and
genealogical societies, museum and college libraries, and of course individuals with
a serious interest in gravestone scholarship.
If you have not already purchased your copy, we urge you to do so without
delay. The member's non-profit price is $15, postage included. Others pay $25.
Please spread the news about MARKERS. Mention it at meetings of your historic
or genealogical society. Order it for your departmental or college library. Ask
for it at museum and historical society bookshops. Show your copy to interested
colleagues and organizations.
We are mailing descriptive brochures to professional organizations and
libraries. If you would like several of these to distribute, they are available
upon request from :
AGS Publications
c/o The American Antiquarian Society
Worcester, MA 01609
The above is, also, the address for ordering MARKERS.
When people know of the book's existence, it will
sell
Thanks for your help,
itself.
Sincerely,
Joanne Baker, President
INTERESTING EPITAPHS
A New Feature
When you behold this stone Epitaph on the stone for Samuel Osborn 1756,
That guards my sleeping dust who died in his 72 year. East Windsor, Conn.
Prepare to come and lie with me. Contributed by James Slater, Mansfield Center,
Perhaps you'l be the first Connecticut.
Readers are invited to send the NEWSLETTER their favorite epitaphs. Please
include location of the marker and the name and death date of the deceased.
ASSOCIATION NEWS
THE ANNUAL MEETING
The annual meeting of the Association for Gravestone Studies was held at Bradford
College in Haverhill, Massachusetts, June 22, 1980. Items on the agenda included:
1) Reports from the officers; 2) Announcement of the site for the 1980 conference;
3) Election of officers to fill vacancies on the Executive Board.
^» The following are excerpts from President Baker's Annual Report:
The Constitution of the Association for Gravestone Studies charges the organi-
zation to promote the study and preservation of old gravestones, to inform the
public about their importance through conferences and publications, and to es-
tablish a repository where information can be available to all interested persons.
In the three years since the founding of the Association, important steps have
been taken toward these goals. Among them are:
The establishment of an AGS Archive at the New England
Historic Genealogical Society.
The regular publication of a newsletter.
The publication of a journal.
The development of Association position statements on stone
conservation, the recording of cemetery data, and the role
of the museum as repository of endangered stones.
The holding of annual conferences.
The production of a slide-tape program on Western graveyards.
Growth of the membership from just over 30 to nearly 300.
This is encouraging progress. Much needs to be done, however. The Executive
Board has reviewed the status of the Association and developed a list of activi-
ties which will receive priority time and funds.
To continue publication of the NEWSLETTER and MARKERS.
To continue holding an annual conference in varying locations.
To involve a large percentage of the membership in the
work of the 'Association.
To actively solicit material for the Association Archive.
To make ACS recommendations known to the general public. In particular,
to have a positive impact on community restoration programs by festering
orderly and systematic recording practices.
To secure funding for AGS programs,
I invite AGS members to take part in these activities. Send your ideas and vol-
unteer your services directly to me, Joanne Baker, 51 South Street, Concord,
New Hampshire 03301.
^^ The site announced for the 1981 conference is the University of Connecticut, Storrs.
(Annual Meeting continued on following page)
•V Association officers comprising AGS's 1980-81 Executive Board:
President JOANNE BAKER 51 South St., Concord NH 03301
(603) 228-0680 (home) (603) 271-3747 (business)
Vice-President MICHAEL CORNISH 62 Calumet St., Roxbury MA 02120
Archives (617) 731-5919
Vice-President LANCE MAYER Conservation Dept., Cincinnati Art Museum,
Conservation Eden Park, Cincinnati OH 45202.
(513) 321-9456 (home) (513) 721-5204 (business)
Vice-President MARY ANNE MRQZINSKI 47 Hammond Rd., Glen Cove NY 11542
Education (516) 759-0527
Vice-President ANNE ARMSTRONG 327 South Main St., Bradford MA 01830
Grants (617) 374-8945 (home) (617) 373-5663 (business)
Vice-President JESSIE LIE FARBER 31 Hickory Dr., Worcester MA 01609
Publications (617) 755-7038
Vice-Presidents RUTH GRAY 70-B Fourth St., Old Town ME 04468
Research (207) 827-3508
JAMES TIBENSKY 1510 South Lombard Ave., Berwyn IL 60402
(312) 795-7680
Recording RALPH TUCKER 928 Main St., West Newbury MA 01985
Secretary (617) 462-4244
Corresponding RUTH COWELL 21 Bogert Place, Westwood NJ 07675
Secretary (201) 664-3618
Treasurer SALLY THOMAS 82 Hilltop Place, New London NH 03257
(603) 526-6044
PLEASE NOTE : AGS has no physical headquarters. Correspondence should be
addressed to the appropriate board members listed above, or, depending on the
nature of your AGS business, to one of the following
AGS ADDRESSES
To join AGS, send dues directly to AGS Treasurer, Sally Thomas. Address above.
$10 - Individual $5 - Full-time student $10 - Institutional
$25 - Sustaining (includes MARKERS , the AGS journal).
To change your mailing address, drop a card giving your name and both your old
and new addresses, with ZIPS, to Sally Thomas, AGS Treasurer.
Address above. Because we use third and fourth class mail to
sendyour journal and newsletters, these items are not forwarded.
Keep your address current with us!
To contribute to the NEWSLETTER, address Jessie Lie Farber, editor, AGS Pub-
lications, c/o American Antiquarian Society, Worcester MA 01609.
Publication deadlines: Dec.1, March 1, Junel, and Sept. 1.
To order MARKERS (the AGS journal), send check to AGS Publications, c/o The
American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, MA 01609. Prices:
$15 to members; $25 to non-members.
To contribute to MARKERS , address David Watters, editor, English Dept., Hamilton-
Smith Hall, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824.
Manuscripts will be accepted until March 1, 1981.
To contribute materials to the AGS Archive at the New England Historic Genealo-
gical Society, Address AGS Archives, c/o American Antiquarian
Society, Worcester, MA 01609.
To order bumperstickers ("I brake for old graveyards"); notecards (with photos
by Dan Farber); signed and numbered broadsides by English
poet, Martin Booth, suitable for framing. Address AGS Pub-
lications, c/o American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, MA 01609.
Bumperstickers $1.30; 1 doz. cards $5; broadsides $15.
To request general AGS information, or to order information sheets (three titles:
"Conservation," "Photography," and "Symbolism"-25<;: each) ,
address Corresponding Secretary Ruth Cowell. Address above.
To contribute to, inquire about, and order the 1980 ACS Conference Proceedings,
address Sandra Poneleit, P.O. Box 95, East Lansing, Ml 48823.
THE 1980 CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS. Many conferees asked when the Proceedings
would be available. The answer at the time of the conference was that no publi-
cation of the conference presentations was planned, that a newsletter and journal
are the Association's present publication limit. We are therefore pleased indeed to
report that, thanks to the initiative of one of our new members, a conference pro-
cedings will be published. Sandra Poneleit felt so strongly that the papers read at
the conference should be made available that she volunteered to gather and dup-
licate and distribute them. V/atch the winter NEWSLETTER for announcements
about the progress of Poneleit's Proceedings. Any conference presentations not
now in her hands should be sent immediately, please, to Sandra Poneleit, P.O. Box
95, East Lansing, Michigan 48823. Papers published in the Proceedings are auto-
matiaally reviewed for vubliaation in MARKERS .
AGS SLIDE SHOW/LECTURE. Mary Anne Mrozinski, Vice-President/Education, is
develoJDing a slide show toacquaint the public with old gravestones, their cultural
importance, their beauty, and the threats to their survival. She needs all kinds
of help from every section of the United States. Can you help her gather repre-
senative slides from your area? She needs a narrator, and she needs help with a
few legal considerations, such as drafting release forms, and obtaining a copyright.
If you are interested in this project, Ms. Mrozinski would like to hear from you.
Write her at the address given on page 3 . ■
MEMBERSHIP PROMOTION. If you have friends or colleagues who are interested in
gravestone studies, send us their names and we will mail them a sample NEWSLETTER.
AGS depends on its members for Association work and for financial success of its
projects.
DUES ARE DUE . Past due. It gives us pain to remove anyone's name from the
NEWSLETTER mailing list — we feel sure that most of our members intend to renew.
But please get your dues to Sally Thomas right away.
LIST OF MEMBERS. Last year the NEWSLETTER published the names and addresses
of members who attended the 1979 conference. This list was useful, but Pmcomplete,
because it ignored those members who did not attend the conference. As a result,
we have had numerous requests to publish the names and addresses of the entire
membership. We have decided not to use the limited NEWSLETTER space that way.
However, members who would like to have a list of the names of ACS members and
their addresses may order the list from AGS Treasurer Sally Thomas, 82 Hilltop Place,
New London, NH 03257. Price, $3.00.
AGS ARCHIVES ARE READY to receive contributions. The small AGS collection in
the library of the New England Historic Genealogical Society has been indexed. Con-
tributions are now being solicited. To build the collection into a useful reference
library, we need ;
1) An exhaustive bibliography of gravestone-related books and articles, preferably
annotated. Members interested in working on this, please contact Michael Cornish,
AGS Vice-President/Archives . Address below.
2) Published literature. Please donate your duplicate copies of published books,
articles, monographs, cemetery records.
3) Unpublished literature, photographs .
4) Help with indexing. Volunteers should be from the Greater Boston area. (NEHGS
is an elegant library in a handsome part of Boston. It should be a pleasure to work
in such a setting. )
Address contributions to: Address inquiries, descriptions of
Association for Gravestone Studies materials, etc., to:
c/o American Antiquarian Society Michael Cornish
Worcester, MA 01609 62 Calumet Street
Roxbury, MA 02120
Please Note: ^^ ^^^ ^^^^ materials or letters directly to NEHGS.
^g^^\ Make photocopies on archival, acid-free paper.
■HT"' ) Contributions are tax-deductible.
BOOK REVIEW
FAMOUS AND CURIOUS CEMETERIES
By John Francis Marion
Illustrated with 256 photographs and prints, xii + 256 pages
New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1977. Hardcover $12.95
Review by Edwin S. Dethlefsen
I have often thought that the key to American culture is somewhere in the
second half of the 19th century, all mixed up with industrialism and the emergence of
a competitive middle class. FAMOUS AND CURIOUS CEMETERIES reminds me that the
cultural evolution game continues throughout our kind, and that graveyards may be use-
ful for keeping score. The book won't lead the reader anywhere near eternal truth, but
a trip through its pages can't help but reward even the most sophisticated of graveyard
buffs with a good selection of experiences in the best known post-medieval and contem-
porary cemeteries of the western world.
Full of pictures (most of them not artistically distracting nor printed with
disturbing clarity) , the large-format volume is also full of descriptive and anecdotal
verbiage. It has a pleasing lack of intellectual pretension (although the reference to
somebody's "in-depth studies" somewhere in the Acknowledgements is painful) , freeing
the reader to explore a gamut of stimulating tidbits of graveyard gossip and to spin the
most outrageous of generalizations, or just to wander visually among the plethora of pleas-
ant places this collection represents.
I had lots of fun wallowing in this book. It would have been much nicer with
bigger and better illustrations, but then it would have cost more. As it is, the text is
just right, and it's really a terrific book at half the price, which is what most discount
houses are charging for it. One needn't even feel cheated to pay the marked price.
Part III impressed me the most, perhaps because I tend to think of military
cemeteries as dull places. "American Military Cemeteries Overseas" is an extensive re-
minder of a little known and less understood, but uniquely significant aspect of American
culture history. It makes me curious to know what post-WWII military graveyards are
like. The reader is toured to WWI and WWII cemeteries in England, Belgium, France, Italy,
Luxembourg, Netherlands, Tunisia, Mexico and the Philippines. It was interesting to read
that Lindbergh flew The Spirit of St. Louis over Flanders and dropped poppies on the Me-
morial Day ceremonies in 1927; I wonder what that meant to Americans and Belgians in 1927,
and how that meaning might have been conveyed today. It is hard to imagine such poppy-
dropping on a similar scene in modern Korea or Vietnam, but the institution must have out-
lasted whatever function it had, even if the function has changed faster than the institution,
The military cemeteries are spectacular masterworks of landscape and architec-
tural design. They are not really "better" esthetically than other cemeteries I have known,
but they are distinctively and categorically different. The photographs and descriptions
leave no doubt that military cemeteries were poc/coged- -deaths, landscapes and monuments —
which gives food for thought about the real cultural function of these packages. Here
alone is a good afternoon's worth of speculation.
Part IV, "A Selection of Other Interesting Cemeteries," is unabashed author's
whimsey. So is the whole book, but this is even less abashed than the more organized
pages that precede it. The choices are intriguing, and I shall never forget that in vault
16 of St. Peter's Churchyard, in Salzburg, are the bones of the Mozart family's landlord.
If that does not impress you, bear in mind what we learn about the Straschnitz Cemetery,
in Prague, which contains the mortal remains of Franz Kafka and his parents. We are told
that the dying Kafka called to his doctor, "Don't leave me," and that on the doctor's re-
assurance that he would not, Kafka retorted, "But I am leaving you." That is all we are
told of Straschnitz Cemetery, but perhaps it is enough.
Many of the cemeteries in this section are listed only as devices on which to
hang anecdotes, so while there are few pictures here, there are plenty of pretty good
stories. One photograph, selected to represent St. Philip's Churchyard, Charleston,
South Carolina, is of a schisty green death's head from mid-18th century eastern Massa-
chusetts (the deceased is James Legare) , which is a reminder that some of us ought serious-
ly to be collecting data on exportation of New England gravestones outside New England.
In Part IV the accent ranges from a photo of Alexander Hamilton's gravestone
in St. Croix, to the fact that Janis Joplin bought Bessie Smith a gravestone 33 years after
Bessie was laid in her unmarked grave. That was a highly anecdotal thing to do.
The "substance" of this book is in Parts I ("Europe and the West Indies")
and 11 ("The United States"). The illustrations, including plenty of old photographs and
prints as well as recent photos, are from a variety of commercial and archival sources; it
is uncertain and probably irrelevant how many of the cemeteries the author actually visited.
The collection of cemetery and funeral -related local anecdotes really sets the tone of the
book. The introduction avows the author's purpose is to recall for us the time before me-
morial lawns and parks made anomie the western way of death. I take issue with the remark
that in the latter, "We all represent the least common denominator," because it is non-
sense: but the remark is made in the introduction, where authors should be allowed some
indefensible emotional license. The book is deliberately non-historical, the author's goal
being to give us glimpses of the cultural role of cemeteries in the recent past, mostly after
1850. In all this he has shown fair to above-average resistance to pedantry.
In Parts I and II the time- and space-begotten differences in practically every
aspect of the illustrations is a constant prick to the anthropoloqical imagination. The In-
dustrial Revolution and its consequent social phenomena lambaste us here all the more be-
cause the author did not purposefully arrange these contrasts. And just compare Parts
I and II with the handiwork of "Big Brother" in Part ill.
There are few photos and anecdotes of the colonial period, but nevermind; a
more than adequate supply of those can be found elsewhere. FAMOUS AND CURIOUS
CEMETERIES , by its emphasis on anecdotal interests in the 19th and 20th centuries, pro-
vides us a rare perspective on the latter-day ideosyncratic, the "unique," and it circum-
scribes some vague outlines around the limits of cultural permissiveness as these bound-
aries change from time to time. It is easy to idle through this book and close it again
feeling that one has moved closer to what the term "folk" ought to mean — "everybody."
Turning the pages, the reader can meander in imagination from one country
to another, back and forth between centuries, and often from one small geographical region
to another, looking at cultural differences and similarities in the cemetery that are often
striking, as in the differences between Russian and Italian gravestone styles, or between
New England and Louisiana, or the similarities among Anglican cemeteries everywhere.
I recommend FAMOUS AND CURIOUS CEMETERIES as the most eclectic and
entertaining book about cemeteries-in-general to be found on any current coffee-tables.
It may not be expensive enough for some tastes, nor scholarly enough for others, but it
is good, stimulating involvement for anyone with the slightest mortuary inclinations.
Dr. Dethlefsen, professor of anthropology at The College of William and Mary, Williams-
burg, Virginia, and a pioneer in gravestone scholarship, was Keynote Speaker at the
1980 AGS oonference.
nORE ABOUT BOOKS
NEW PUBLICATIONS
Die Laughing by Larry Kane, Murray Stein, and Kristi Kane is an indescribable
collection of sixty cartoons depicting fictional gravestones for well known person-
alities, both living and dead. Published by Doubleday in February, 1980, this
little book is sure to give you some good laughs unless your interest in grave-
stones is entirely too serious. The price is a modest $4.95. You will enjoy it, we
think, and you will also have a chance to be creative yourself: In anticipation of
the sequel to Die Laughing , the authors offer a reward of $25 in cold cash for
each entry used in Volume II. You can send your ideas directly to the authors,
but we suggest NEWSLETTER readers send them instead to the NEWSLETTER,
which will offer them to Die Laughing II and, if you are a winner, keep your $25.
Seriously, it is a great way to contribute to AGS, which is a needy, non-profit,
organization, contributions to which are, of course, deductible. Doubleday has
kindly given the NEWSLETTER permission to reprint cartoons from Die Laughing.
For starters, we offer these:
^52«f^^^S^^^^^
,1 tiA'di, ' \ f,«-H>;«y'''
NEW PUBLICATIONS
Churchyards is an attractive booklet written by Pamela Burgess "as an introduction
to the subject of churchyards and grave memorials for the uninitiated." It is a well
illustrated fifty-five page pocket-size publication, obtainable for seventy-five shillings
from SPEC, Holy Trinity Church, Marylebone Road, London NW1 4DU (which is also
the publisher of the 1963 classic, English Churchyard Memorials by Frederick Burgess.
Death: Grim Realities and Comic Relief by Christopher Clemens and Mark Smith will be
released in October, 1980, by Harlin Quist Books (The Dial Press, 1 Dag Hammarskjold
Plaza, 245 East 47th Street, New York, NY 10017). Topics which touch on gravestone
studies: a tour guide to the "best cemeteries," funeral customs through the ages, and
unusual monuments. 192 pages with 150 illustrations. $9.95 paperback.
IN PRESS
The Archaeology of Us: The Cemetery and Culture Change, edited by Richard Gould
and Michael Schiffero, will be published in April, 1981, by Academic Press. This book
contains a chapter by Edwin Dethlefsen, "What Can Gravestones Tell Us about Com-
munity?" In this chapter, Dethlefsen looks at the shape, the material, the design motif
size, inscription, and the geography of gravestones in north central Florida, dividing
them into five time periods from the Federal period to the 1960's. He sees in the exam-
ination of a community cemetery a remarkable array of available cultural data, and he
makes general, cultural-historical interpretations of the data. He concludes that, "We
may begin to give very practical attention to the historical and philosophical applica-
tions of data such as these from the graveyard." The reader is intrigued by questions
he poses (for example, "Why does the Southeastern Irish gravestone almost inevitably
include the town of the deceased's nativity, while American gravestones hardly ever
do except for foreigners! What does this observation have to do with understanding
differences in our ways of seeing community?"). The imagination is stimulated by his
"miscelaneous observations" concerning gravemarkers made of wood, hollow cast metal,
cast concrete, pottery, and metal stakemarkers; also gravemarkers decorated by flag-
decked iron standards, plastic flowers, mason jars (which "breed mosquitoes among
the brown stalks of last year's geraniums"), children's toys, seashells, periwinkles,
and marbles or colored pottery pressed into homemade concrete. Dethlefsen observes
that "practically all of it is meaningful in terms which reflect the cognitive systemic
evolutionary history of the community."
RECENT RESEARCH
Stone deterioration in Prague. Attention is called by Gaynell Levine (RR 2, Box 205,
Wading River, NY 11792) to a paper entitled, "Determination of the source of surface
deterioration on tombstones at the Old Jewish Cemetery in Prague," by Jirf Sramek,
published in Studies in Conservation, the Journal of the International Institute for
Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works, May, 1980, Volume 25, Number 2, Pages
47-53. The address of this journal: 11C, 6 Buckingham Street, London WC2N 6BA.
Children's stones. Deborah Smith, a graduate student in the V\/interthur Museum's
advanced study program (in Winterthur, Delaware, ZIP 13735), completed a Master's
thesis which examines Victorian perceptions of childhood and death. She used eighteen
churchyard cemeteries in northern New Castle County as her primary resource, gather-
ing a statistical sample of 911 children's tombstones, plus other funeral forms of the
material culture of the period.
Bird sanctuary, recreational area. The March, 1980, Audubon Journal mentions a study
by two U.S. Forest Service researchers. They studied fifty cemeteries in southeastern
Massachusetts, recording twenty types of recreational use of the areas. They also made
records of bird habitation, which show a tremendously varied count — 95 species!
Two Rhode Island studies. "Seth Luther, Stonecarver of the Narragansett Basin" by
Vincent Luti, and "From the Collections: Rhode Island History Carved in Stone" by
Robert Emien are excellent, beautifully illustrated articles published in the February,
1980, issue of Rhode Island History. Luti's piece identifies a previously overlooked
carver who worked in and around Providence, Seth Luther; EmIen gives the background
events concerning three early Rhode Island stones which, fortunately, have found their
way into the collection of the Rhode Island Historical Society. Both articles are of un^
usual interest to students of gravestone iconography and conservation. Rhode Island
History is published by the Rhode Island Historical Society, 52 Power Street, Providence.
Forbes papers transcribed and indexed
Serious students of gravestone iconography know that the notes made by
Harriette Forbes of probate records she found while preparing her 1927 book.
Gravestones of Early New England and the Men Who Made Them, are in the library
of the American Antiquarian Society, available to scholars. Unfortunately, these
valuable records have been little more than a frustration to those who would like to
use them. Being handwritten, personal notes, they are difficult to read. More im-
portant, they are not indexed or arranged in an easily usable order.
In 1979, the NEWSLETTER published Mrs. Forbes' records from Essex county,
Massachusetts ( Spring issue. Volume 3, Number 2). Transcribing and organizing
this list was the work of Ralph Tucker, past President of AGS. Now we have an
important addition to Tucker's work. With the Reverend Tucker's moral support
and the help of her daughter. Laurel Cabel of Wellesley, Massachusetts, has tran-
scribed from the handwritten notes Mrs. Forbes' collection of references to grave-
stones, stonecutters, funeral expenses, etc., from the Middlesex county (MA) pro-
bate records. Volumes 1-79. To facilitate use of the compilation, Mrs. Gabel has
organized the records by township and has indexed the work alphabetically by the
name of the deceased.
Bound copies of this fifty-three page compilation of 566 probated records have
been given to the AGS Archives and to the American Antiquarian Society. The work
is an outstanding personal achievement and an important contribution to gravestone
studies.
Gravestone Iconography in the Carolinas. A grant of $35,000 from the National
Endowment for the Humanities will support a two-year investigation of gravestone
iconography in the Carolinas by Ruth Little-Stokes and Charles G. Zug of the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The existence of rich iconographic
traditions in North Carolina has already been established by Bradford Raushenberg
for one German community and by Daniel W. Patterson for three localities settled
by the Scotch-Irish. Zug and Little-Stokes will extend this work by systematically
scouting for, photographing, and documenting stones imported from eighteenth-
century Northern workshops into the coastal region, early stones carved locally
in the Piedmont counties, and twentieth-century folk markers of pottery and on
concrete. Ms. Little-Stokes has previously carried out extensive fieldwork on
North Carolina housing and historic preservation and has published three books
and other studies of this field. Professor Zug is currently completing a book on
North Carolina pottery and teaching a course on material culture for the University
of North Carolina Curriculum in Folklore.
Cemetery prairies. The following item is reprinted from the 1975-76 Biennial Report of
the Illinois Nature Preserves Commission, sent to the NEWSLETTER by James Slater,
University of Connecticut, Storrs. For a copy of a more detailed report of this study,
send $1 to AGS Publications, c/o American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, MA 01609.
CEMETERY PRAIRIES
The pioneers established many small cemeteries
in the prairie before the natural vegetation was
destroyed by farming. Pioneer cemeteries that
have been left alone through the years contain
some of the finest examples of prairie vegetation
left in the State. .Jh^^^j^y^Jj^se^g^J^
^jT^jj^^Jaiin^ig^,4jijjjjxa^t^p
rte
ecolo^^^^Ugg^Ui^^^^^lUi^j^^.
^"^fie best prairie is in cemeteries that were
fenced off from cultivation and grazing and were
left unmowed. Even some mowed cemeteries still
have good quality prairie vegetation that would
ifecover if mowing were stopped.
These small remnants of the once vast prairies
of Illinois are all that remains of the original
vegetation in some highly agricultural counties.
They represent the only native prairie found on
some soil types, and they provide refuge for many
rapidly vanishing prairie plants, insects, birds,
and small mammals.
During 1976, the Illinois Natural Areas Inven-
tory project checked almost 3,000 cemeteries
throughout the State to locate cemetery prairies.
Volunteers visited cemeteries located from maps
and made a list of the prairie species present.
Volunteers worked over 2,900 hours and travelled
over 35,000 miles in search of these remnants. In
addition, the Inventory compiled information on
935 cemeteries surveyed by Dr. Robert Betz of
Northeastern Illinois University.
The inventory discovered 27 cemeteries with
intact prairie vegetation and an additional 111
areas with high potential for rehabilitation.
These small remnants are only a few acres out of
the vast acreage that once covered much of the
State, but are precious because of the extreme
rarity of prairie.
Three cemetery prairies have been dedicated as
nature preserves: Beach Cemetery, Ogle County;
Weston Cemetery, McLean County; and Prospect
Cemetery, Ford County. Prospect Cemetery, a 6-
acre tract of some of the best black-soil tall-
grass prairie in east-central Illinois, was de-
dicated as a nature preserve by the Patton Town-
ship Cemetery Trustees as part of Ford County's
bicentennial observance.
The Nature Preserves Commission is continuing
to contact owners of cemetery prairies to discuss
making them nature preserves as memorials to the
pioneers who are buried there.
ACID RAIN. The following item is reprinted from the May, 1980, issue of Environment,
Volume 22, page 11.
WHA T CAN WE LEARN FROM THE STONES?
EPA 's Office of Research and Develupment is currently participating in an
interagency and international study of the effects of acid precipitation on
stone monuments aiul statuary, and ways to protect against such damage.
Because of the many variables associated with material damage to stone,
the evaluation of field data and its correlation with atmospheric pollutant
levels is very difficult. The ideal subjects for analysis should be uniform
materials produced under controlled conditions, placed in a variety of
climates and environments over a continuous period of time, and accom-
panied by accessible, high quality documentation. All of these conditions
are met by the marble headstones and markers placed nationwide under
the direction of the Veterans Administration ( VA).
wm^
Since an 1875 Act of Congress, the VA has provided over 2.5 million
tombstones to various National Cemeteries. These tombstones have been
relatively standardized, being of just a few basic shapes, and arc made
from stone taken from only three quarries. These nearly ideal conditions
offer researchers an excellent opportunity to document the effects of
acid precipitation on stone. Approximately one dozen National Cemeteries
have been selected in three climate zones for initial study: Appalachian,
Far West, and Northeast. Tombstones will be examined for such effects
as measurable loss of detail, rounding of edges, and surface erosion to
develop quantitative estimates of damage. This damage will then be
correlated with data on the stone's history from Veterans Administra-
tion records and data on air pollution and meteorological patterns from
the National Weather Service.
from EPA Research Summary : Acid Rain
ft'PA-600/8-79-0281
MEETINGS AND PAPERS
Society of Historical Archaeology. Edwin Dethlefsen (Department of Archaeology, College
of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia) will be chairing a session on "Interpreting
Material Culture" at the Society of Historical Archaeology meeting in New Orleans next
January. He welcomes contact with persons who have been interpreting gravestones in
cultural context.
NHOGA's summer meeting. The summer issue of Rubbings, the newsletter of the New
Hampshire Old Graveyard Association, contains a report of NHOGA's summer meeting at
Franklin Pierce College in Rindge. The faculty of the Franklin Pierce Archaeology Depart-
ment spoke about the importance of gravestone records to the archaeologist. According to
Dr. Dennis Vi/right, gravestone records were often superior to those he found in town offices
in his demographic studies of four early Connecticut towns. Professor Howard Sargent,
whose subject was New Hampshire historical archaeology, told of the tragic loss in the
United States to the bulldozer of about 200 Indian burial sites every week. (For informa-
tion about NHOGA and Rubbings, write Mrs. William Emhardt, who edits Rubbings, at
Star Route, Barrington, NH 03825. Mrs. Emhardt, who has served on ACS' s executive
board, comments in Rubbings that when she arranged furniture in her new house, she,
"quite without conscious thought," placed the headboard of her bed toward the west so
that when she rises she will face east.)
College Art Association. The following is excerpted from the College Art Association
Newsletter, New York, April, 1980.
For the first time at an annual meeting of the College Art Associa-
tion, (New Orleans, January, 1980) there was a session devoted to the
conservation /preservation of works of art.
Several specific cases were presented: nineteenth-century American
cemetery sculpture (Edward Bryant, Colgate University, and Mary Louise
Christovich, Save Our Cemeteries, Inc.), the Simon Rodia Towers in Watts,
Los Angeles (Seymour Rosen, Committee for Simon Rodia's Towers), and
several murals in Harlem Hospital (Gerta Berman, Metropolitan Museum of
Art).
Throughout the session, discussion returned to the preservation of
works in the public domain, be they murals, bronze sculpture or cemetery
art. The concern of Edward Bryant that we document nineteenth-century
sculpture as a major resource for the taste, sentiment, and values of the
period was reiterated by Mary Louise Christovich, who argued that ceme-
teries should be for the living and maintained as public parks.
Both speakers underscored the unstated: that greater public aware-
ness and ultimately more dollars are needed for preservation of this fast
disappearing aspect of our artistic and cultural heritage.
EXHIBITIONS
ENGLISH BRASSES
A collection of rubbings of English monumental brasses opened this summer
at the Woodstock Opera House near Chicago. It is now on a two year tour of uni-
versities and museums, sponsored by the International Exhibition Foundation. The
collection of 75 rubbings dating from 1277 to 1631 is the work of Mark Horowitz, a
doctoral candidate in English history at the University of Chicago, and his wife,
Barbi, done while studying abroad in 1976. The largest rubbing in the collection
measures eight feet. Horowitz's research gives the exhibition unusual depth; for
each rubbing, the historical background of the deceased is detailed.
Monumental brasses are plaques with images carved by amorers, secured to the
floor, altar, or a wall of the church in which the deceased is buried. They are
usually countersunk in marble or other stone. The earliest English brass, from the
fourteenth century, is considered to be the finest, according to Horowitz. England
imported the art from Germany and Flemish centers.
Of an estimated 40,000 to 100,000 monumental brasses once thought to have
existed in English churches, and perhaps another 100,000 in France, only about 4000
remain today. Most were vandalized or removed and melted down during religious
wars. In recent years, brass rubbing in England has become so popular that churches
with the best and most popular brasses now refuse to allow further rubbing. As a re-
sult, centers have opened in England and also in some cities in the United States where
the public can rub replicas.
According to a news story in the East Lansing (Michigan) State Journal (sent to
the NEWSLETTER by Sandra Poneleit, P.O. Box 95, East Lansing, Ml 48823), Horowitz
declines to place a dollar value on his collection, though others have estimated its
value at $250,000 or higher. He says simply, "it's worth a lot of money."
"A GRAVE BUSINESS" '
This is a traveling show of 125 wax rubbings by Anne V/illiams and Susan Kelly
which will open at the Old Lyme Historical Society, Old Lyme, Connecticut, October .
(See the winter 1979 and spring 1980 NEWSLETTER , Volume 4, Number 1, page 8, and
Volume 4, Number 2, page 5.) AGS members who saw the Kelly-Williams rubbings of
signed stones exhibited at the Association's 1980 conference in Haverhill, Massachusetts,
can appreciate the treat in store for those able to attend "A Grave Business." Accom-
panying this show will be seven photographs of Old Lyme stones made for the Historical
Society by Daniel Farber.
"IMAGES IN STONE, IRON, AND CLASS"
The Greater Ridgewood Historical Society, Ridgewood (Long Island), New' York,
with the help of funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, has organized a
traveling exhibit, "Images in Stone, Iron, and Glass." The subject of the show is the
ethnic cemeteries of Greater Ridgewood, whose monuments of Greek, Roman, and
Egyptian style. Tiffany windows, wrought iron gates and doors, and sculptured land-
scapes are an index of the artistic taste of the period. Featured in the exhibit are a
photo essay by Hazel Hamilton and an interpretive narrative by Barbara Lekalsas.
Gaynell Levine and Marvin Schwartz are the exhibit consultants, and Shirley Margolin
is exhibit coordinator. The exhibit will travel throughout Queens and Long Island.
STONECUTTERS AND THEIR WORKS
Sixth of a Series
The Richard Smith Jr. Stone
1703, Glastonbury
JAMES STANCLIFT 1639-1712 Sherry Standi ff
The Man
James Stanclift was the first permanent settler of East Middletown, Connecti-
cut, lateir named Portland. He is listed on the Middletown records as an English stone
mason. James first lived in Lyme, Connecticut, about 1676. He married the widow
Mary (Tinker) Waller about 1685. Mary was born July 2, 1653, in Boston, the daugh-
ter of John and Alice (Smith) Tinker, James and Mary had two daughters and two sons.
Both of the sons, William, born 1686, and James, born 1692, became stonecutters.
In an effort to attract artisans to their area, the selectmen of Middletown of-
fered James Stnaclift a grant of land "upon the rocks in est Middletown" in return for
his services to the town. James purchased additional land adjacent to the grant and
opened the Stanclift Brownstone Quarry in 1690.
The earliest date I have found on a stone cut by James is 1676. This stone
was cut for Lt. Reynold Marvin and is located in the Duck River Cemetery in Lyme, Con-
necticut. James continued to cut gravestones until the time of his death in 1712 at age 73.
The Characteristics of His Work
James Stanclift preferred a simple rounded arch shape with a chamfered back
edge on his brownstones. Occasionally he used a square shoulder, sloping shoulder,
and the traditional tripartite shape. He always used large capital letters with serifs
and covered the entire face of the stone. He frequently made dots or tiny diamonds
Canopy on the A
No hook on J
Curved leg on R
Diagonals on M
intersect high
THE, never used
the thorn y^
■Slanted 6 and 9
Crossed
Wide N "^
Chopped off C
Op T^ G.OS PEUr' -Nested double L
"' \/p P " Chopped off G
Combined ■
letters
XRlD PAST VR.E"
RCH
OF CHRIS
wide H
Awkward S
The George Denison Footstone
1694, Hartford
between the words. The letter A is the most distinctive of his letters, having a hori-
zontal bar or canopy at the top. James abandoned the canopy on a few stones cut be-
tween 1700 and 1711, but most of his work bears this mark. Additional identifying
points are found on the sketch of the stone of the Reverend Thomas James in East-
hampton. Long Island, New York.
According to Dr. Ernest Caulfield, James Stanclift was the first Connecticut
artist to depict a skull. At first glance, these skulls seem primitive, but study of his
work as a whole reveals a surprising sophistication of design. The decorations used
by James were an integral part of the shape or over-all design of each stone. The
skull on the stone of Richard Smith, Jr., 1703, in Glastonbury, Connecticut, creates
an almost abstract effect with an admirable economy of line. The footstone for George
Denison, 1694, in Hartford is badly deteriorated, but the initials G.D. are formed in a
way that suggests a skull with wings. His decorative carving designs were not limited
to skulls. He used a portion of the Howell coat-of-arms on the stone for John Howell,
1692, in Southanpton, Long Island. On the tablestones for Lt. Col. John Ailyn, 1696,
in Hartford and for Joseph Conklyn, 1694, in Southold, Long Island, James used the
inscription to form a border around the outside edge of the stone and finished the in-
scription in the center in the usual way.
V11111SM3N
Ol.f ON m^^d
a I V d
30ViSOd s n
OUO lUO^d NON
60910 VW 'JaisaojOM
Xjapos uBuenbiiuv ueouaoiv o/d
suoiiBDiiqrid SDV
12
Suffteld
Wethersf ield
Middle town
MASSACHUSETTS
, Windsor
CONNECTICUT
T(7) Glastonbury v
The Amount and Location of His Work
To date, I have found about sixty
stones cut by James Stanclift. The majority
of these are in the Middletown and Hartford
area. A number are in Lyme, Glastonbury,
and Wethersfield, Connecticut, and in South-
old, Southampton, and East Hampton, Long
Island, New York. There are single stones
in Suffield, Preston, Saybrook, Stonington,
and Windsor, Connecticut.
Authentication of His Work
Research to provide authentication
of the work of James Stanclift has been dif-
ficult. James used agents to conduct his
business: in Middletown it was John Hamlin
and in Lyme it was Matthew Griswold. I
have found entries in the diary of Manasseh
Minor of Stonington that provide further
evidence that James did cut the stones at-
tributed to him. Minor wrote "March 12.
1702 Rebeccah Minor died. . . Apraill 29, 1702
Saciant (an Indian) brote Grave Stons, . .Apraill 30, 1702 We sat grave Stones on Rebeka
her grave. ..June 17, 1703 payed Stancleef . " The stone for Rebbecah Minor is located
in the Wequetequock Cemetery, Stonington, Connecticut. It is typical of stones cut by
James Stanclift.
James Stanclift used the mark i- to sign his documents and to identify the stone
boundarymarkers of his land. I have searched without success, but hope one day to
find this mark on one of his gravestones.
Mrs. Stanaliff's study of her husband's family genealogy lead her to the study of the
stones out by the Stanoliff carvers. James Stanclift is her husband's seventh great
grandfather. She says she has found the gravestone research "as addictive as the
genealogy . " She lives at 7415 Fouruinds Drive, Cincinnati, Ohio 45242.
NEWSLETTER
OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES
Jessie Lie Farber, editor
Guest editor - Mitchell Alegre
Volume 5, Number 1
Winter 1980/81
ISSN: 0146-5783
CONTENTS
Modern Markers by Pitassi. An article 1
by Robert Prestlano
ASSOCIATION NEWS 3
BOOK REVIEW 4
How to Record Graveyards
by Jeremy Jones
Review by Lance Mayer
MORE ABOUT BOOKS 5
WORKS IN PROGRESS / REQUESTS 6
DISTINCTIVE COLLECTIONS IN THE ACS ARCHIVES - #1 7
Old Tombstones
by C. A. Weatherby
STONECUTTERS AND THEIR WORKS. Seventh installment 8
Daniel Hastings of Newton, Massachusetts
by Dan Farber
REGIONAL NEWS ^'10
EXHIBITIONS 11
CONSERVATION NEWS 12
INTERESTING EPITAPHS 13
CEMETERY CITATIONS 14
NEWSLETTER NOTES, deadlines 14
ACS 1981 CONFERENCE, Storrs, Connecticut, June 26-28 15
MODERN MARKERS BY PITASSI
Robert Prestiano
Unfortunately, most contemporary cemetery memorials lack the individuality
and creative expression apparent in many older stones. Because of the desire for large
volume sales, the approach to memorial art has generally degenerated into a process of
selecting stock patterns and arranging them in an uninspiring and often arbitrary man-
ner on a flat stone surface. Such an approach essentially denies the three dimensional
nature of sculpture and ignores the opportunity for individualized symbolic design and
emotive power.
Regardless of this trend, designer and sculptor D. Aldo Pitassi has, through-
out his career, sought creative alternatives within the capabilities of the local monument
company for people of ordinary means. Pitassi's early work is located in Pittsburgh,
where he established himself as a memorial artist. He now lives in the Southwest and is
chief designer for Birk Monumental MFC. in San Angelo, Texas.
A recent example of his work, the Hubbard Memorial in the Belvedere Ceme-
tery of San Angelo will be used here to introduce the handsome modern style of his de-
signs. The forms of this memorial are related to the stele or traditional slab shape, but
they have been significantly reinterpreted. Pitassi calls this style "modified traditional."
As one approaches the Hubbard Memorial, its most singular innovative fea-
ture immediately becomes apparent. Each of the six markers, four of which are located
in front of and two behind the surname-piece, is carried above ground on a centrally
placed stainless steel post measuring one and one-half inches in diameter. Since the posts
are firmly imbedded in concrete foundations hidden below ground, the markers seem to
challenge gravity. Yet, the memorial is actually more secure than its more traditional
neighbors, and the narrow posts allow for easier ground maintenance.
The resultant feeling of weightless, air-borne liberation is reinforced by
the upward tapering lateral contours of each die. In addition, the front of each mar-
ker is slanted slightly back. This additional "shaping" of the stones encourages the
viewer to draw closer and increases an awareness of the interplay between forms.
Symbolically, each marker represents an individual family member, head raised, as it
were, in dialogue with the others.
Larger dimensions, a wider support, and the singular use of white Sierra
granite were reserved for the central surname-piece, establishing it as the formal ma-
trix of the dialogue. The lower contour of the die complements this concept by gradually
angling upward from the center, as if reaching out in a protective embrace.
The arrangement of the stones implies a sense of family bond; the incised
designs give each an individual symbolic meaning. The designs were sandblasted into
the granite under the artist's supervision. Though some of the designs were borrowed
from publications of the Carnegie Institute, the final versions have a sensitivity of
expression and a clarity of execution not present in the originals. Further, all are
articulated brilliantly with goldleaf, a decorative approach to memorial art largely pio-
neered by Pitassi. By using previously existing symbols but individualizing their
expression, Pitassi has in his work associated himself with the traditional carver. The
epitaphs are intimately related to the symbols, also as in traditional work.
At the lower section of the surname die, a singular line reads, "THERE ARE
MANY WAYS TO TRAVEL FROM ONE POINT TO ANOTHER," and because railroading
had been the family's major occupation for three generations, an image of a steam lo-
comotive was worked into the base below the die. To animate this image, Pitassi added
a trail of billowing smoke. It was the intention of the artist and the clients to extend
the meaning of the train into a symbol of modern-day pilgrimage. Its significance,
therefore, becomes transcendental as well as personal, traditional as well as individual.
William Hubbard, the head of the family, spent most of his life working for
the Santa Fe Railroad in West Texas. The stylized image of a locomotive is engraved
onto the front face of his marker, and on the simplified map of
Hubbard's railroad route.
Train imagery pervades the entire ensemble. One can imagine the repeti-
tion, shape, and seeming suspension of the individual markers as stylized boxcars
speeding along with the locomotive. This was Pitassi's intention, as was the choice of
coal-grey colored granite as an abstract reference to train smoke.
During those early days, when a job applicant would call in for work on the
railroad, the train-master would turn over an hourglass, and no other candidate would
be considered until the sand ran out. In reference to this, the inscription on the front
of William Hubbard's marker reads, "TIME IS CROWING SHORT," above a stylized hour-
glass design. The implication goes further, of course, for the train may be seen as a
symbol of the journey of life and the hourglass as the traditional memento mori.
Naomi Hubbard's marker occupies the prominent position at the right of the
foreground pieces. She is the wife and mother who nurtured the family, and it is her
marker which contains the most extensive symbolism. The central image is of a plant,
the blossom of which resembles the rising sun. To the left of the plant are the male
and female symbols, and to the right, raindrops. Although these images imply fruitful-
ness, the latter two are also bittersweet in connotation, for there is a disparity in the
placement of the male/female signs, and the shape of the raindrops is also that of tears.
Two more symbols complete the imagery of this stone. The more surprising is that of
a crouching frog. Its eye peers intensely, curious and cautious, but the stylized limbs
remain taught, tense, and unpredictable. The consequent tension draws one to the
back of the marker on which is cut the image of a bird with wings drawn forward in a
hurried embrace. While the frog reflects the calculating wit of the woman, the bird
expresses her exuberance. (continued, next page)
The second marker from the left of the foreground pieces represents the
only deceased member of the family, Guy Hubbard— son, teacher, and part-time railroad
employee. Representing him on the front of his stone, inserted almost as in a contem-
porary reliquary, is a small, oval .brass relief of an elephant from Guy Hubbard's col-
lection of sculptured elephants. Also representative is the epitaph below it, "STRENGTH
POWER-INTELLIGENCE." In a sense, these qualities have become the fruit of Naomi's
garden and the goal of William's many journeys.
Dr. Prestiano is Associate Professor of Art in the Department of Art and Music, Angelo
State University, San Angelo, Texas.
ASSOCIATION NEWS
Information Sheets: Mimeographed material on the following subjects is
available: 1) Gravestone Rubbing for Beginners; 2) Making Photographic Records
of Gravestones; 3) The Care of Old Graveyards and Gravestones; 4) Symbolism in
Gravestone Carving. Others are being prepared and will be announced In the
NEWSLETTER when they are available. Please address requests for information
sheets to Ruth 0. Cowell, Corresponding Secretary, 21 Bogert Place, Westwood, NJ
07675, and enclose one dollar per copy to cover mailing and duplicating costs.
A limited number of copies of the 1979-80 MARKERS, the AGS journal,
is still available. This handsome 182 page softbound volume includes the year's
most significant papers dealing with gravemarkers, illustrated with over one hun-
dred photographs and drawings. The cost per volume is $25 ($15 to AGS members),
postage included, and should be sent to AGS Publications, c/o American Antiquarian
Society, Worcester, MA 01609.
It's confusing. The American Antiquarian Society, the oldest national
historical society in the United States, allows AGS to use the Society's address for
our publications. AGS has no physical headquarters and the addresses of our edi-
tors and officers change frequently, so we are grateful to the Society for providing
us with a permanent address — and such a good one! The address is AGS's only
official connection with the Antiquarian Society. It is in Worcester, Massachusetts.
The AGS archives are housed by the New England Historic Genealoqical
Society. NEHCS is located in Boston at 101 Newbury Street, and your AGS membership
gives you the privilege of using the NEHGS library without paying their non-member's
fee of three dollars. Both AAS and NEHGS are distinguished institutions with col-
lections of interest to students of gravestones. The AAS provides our address.
The NEHGS houses our archive. It is confusing, and especially when we ask you
to send contributions to our archival collection to ACS, in care of AAS in Worcester
rather than directly to NEHGS!
The National Trust for Historic Preservation will include information
about ACS in its new publication. The Whole Preservation Catalogue, to be released
by Preservation Press. The book will include a section on cemeteries, listing pub-
lications, organizations, and other information of interest to our readers.
Wanted: Enthusiastic person who likes to write letters and meet new
people, to act as membership chairperson for AGS. The activities of the person
holding this position include writing letters of welcome to new members, informing
members when their membership is due for renewal, sending information about AGS
to prospective members, and answering requests for membership information. We
estimate that this job will take three or four hours per month. Interested members
please contact Joanne Baker, 64 North Main Street, Concord, NH 03301.
The Assooiation 's most important oonaern right now is its 1981 aon-
ferenoe, to he held at the University of Conneatiaut, in Storrs, June 26-28.
Plan now to he there. Use the registration form on page 15 , or, if you have
already registered, please post the extra form at your local museum, historical
or genealogical society or college campus. If you will not he attending the
conference , remember that our membership year is from conference to conference,
and all members' fees are due before July 1.
„, ( ) beqin .^-. . . . in time for me to receive the spring NEWSLETTER.
^'^^^^ ( ) renew ""^ ^^^ membership ^^ j^,y ^ ^^ ^^^^^ .^ ^^ j^^^3,^ .^ ^^^^ip^ ^fNSLTR.
Membership - $15 Sustaining membership (thank you!) - $25
NAME ADDRESS
Detach and mall to Mrs. Philip Thomas, 82 Hilltop Place, New London, NH 03257
BOOK REVIEW
HOW TO RECORD GRAVEYARDS
By Jeremy Jones
Illustrated with 11 line drawings, vii + 40 pages. Bibliography.
London: The Council for British Archaeology, 7 Marylebone Road, London NW1 5HA. 1976.
Obtainable from the publisher or from RESCUE (The Trust for British Archaeology),
15A Bull Plain, Hertford. Softcover, /0.75.
Review by Lance Mayer
Serious students of gravestones will want to use Jeremy Jone's booklet to
complement the recent ACS publication on recording (Baker, Farber and Ciesecke,
"Recording Cemetery Data," MARKERS, 1979/80, pages 99-117). Jones is an historian
and archaeologist interested in demographic, religious, and other information to be
gleaned from gravestones, and the strengths of this publication lie in his descriptions
of precise archaeological methods for recording and analyzing data.
Some parts may be confusing to American readers. Jones assumes that his
readers know that most English gravestones are under the control of the Church of
England and that, unlike United States practice, their care is governed by various
church laws. A serious recent problem there is "redundancy," that is, if a church is
no longer in use, ecclesiastical authorities may permit the church and the associated
churchyard to be destroyed and the land used for other purposes.
This explains the urgency of Jones's pleas for the preservation of old
gravestones and for extremely thorough recording of those that still remain. The
author recognizes, however, that the demanding procedures he recommends may not
be feasible in some situations, as when a churchyard is threatened with imminent de-
struction. In such circumstances, he recommends an "emergency survey" consisting
of only a sketch map and photographs of each monument (pages 27-28).
But when circumstances permit, Jones recommends very thorough surveying
and recording methods. He gives detailed instructions for laying out a survey grid
(pages 10-12) and instructions for making maps using plastic film and drawing pens
(pages 13-15).
The section on photographs is less useful, primarily because the recom-
mended methods of lighting (flash, photofloods with extension cords, and aluminum
foil reflectors) are made obsolete by the development of a procedure using mirrors to
reflect and control sunlight, as described by Baker, Farber and Ciesecke (page 111).
Although Jones recommends the use of color film in some instances (page 16), he does
not warn that color photographs are not true or permanent and suggest that black-
and-white photographs and detailed color notes (or Munsell references) should there-
fore be taken as well. Finally, I regret that he advocates the attachment of numbers
to gravestones (page 15) and the application of papier mache to weathered inscrip-
tions to facilitate reading them (page 22). Either procedure can injure a fragile
stone's surface.
Jones stresses that records should be made on printed forms to ensure
thoroughness and standardization of information.. He gives a sample recording form
and another which was adapted for a particular churchyard, as well as a sample
"persons index form" to aid in the collating of demographic data. I have only one
criticism of this section: his failure to mention that records which are intended to be
permanent should be made on good quality paper, either all-rag or buffered wood-pulp
(for example, Permalife) , which can be obtained from an archival products company.
A four page section entitled "After the survey" gives detailed lists of
topics worthy of research. These would be of great use to a team trying to decide
which gravestone characteristics should be recorded during a survey. A number of
tips are also given for the use of computers to analyze data (pages 33-36).
As a bonus, a few nuggets of information not bearing directly upon re-
cording are scattered throughout the text, such as the references to polychrome stones
in Wales (page 16), and to varying orientations of burials in churchyards (page 7).
The bibliography lists some intriguing titles as well, including articles by A.A. S.Butler
on regional schools of medieval gravestone carvings and J. Birmingham on nineteenth -
century Austrailian monuments.
How To Record Graveyards is a generally excellent publication on a most
important topic. As gravestones continue to deteriorate, the need to record will be-
come even more urgent, and as our knowledge of old gravestones expands, so does
the need for sophisticated analysis as described by Mr. Jones.
Lance Mayer, a conservator and ACS Vice President/Conservation, welcomes readers'
comments and questions. Address him at the Cincinnati Art Museum, Eden Park,
Cincinnati, OH ^5202. The editors thank Blanche Linden, American Studies Dept. ,
Brandeis University, for bringing How to Record Craveyards to our attention.
MORE ABOUT BOOKS
AND OTHER PUBLICATIONS
Readers are reminded that publications reviewed in the NEWSLETTER
are available at the advertised prices plus postage from
Highly Specialized Promotions, 395 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11217.
NEW PUBLICATION
A Celebration of Death , by James Stevens Curl, offers information on every
design aspect of the sculpture, architecture, and planning of large cemeteries and smaller
private burying places. A New York Times review praises the 404 page illustrated volume
as "one of the most detailed books on the subject." Published by Charles Scribner's
Sons, the book sells for $35.
FOR YOUR INFORMATION
Laughter and Tears, by Robert E. Pike, is a 120 page privately printed (1971)
volume consisting of 112 (generally poor) photographs of gravestones with unusual in-
scriptions and carvings. A few lines of text accompany each photograph. The markers
included are from thirty-six states and three foreign countries. A Minnesota stone reads,
"None Of Us Ever Voted For Roosevelt Or Truman," and an Illinois marker states, "Talked
to death by Friends." Selling for $10 postpaid, this hardcover book may be ordered
from H-H Press, 365 Pine Street, Eatontown, NJ 07724.
The Folk Classification Newsletter is now available for a $5 annual subscrip-
tion. The publication "seeks an interchange of diverse perspectives on the processes
and substance of human conceptual organization as it is abstracted from or imposed on
the world of experience in the earth's cultures. Folk classification in this sense in-
cludes cultural objects, natural phenomena, etc," Subscription fees should be sent to
The Folk Classification Newsletter, c/o Dr. Eugene Hunn, Rt. 1, Box 1554, Toppenish,
WA 98948.
"Discovering, Restoring and Maintaining Old Cemeteries," by Theodore L.
Brown, is issued by the Main Old Cemetery Association to aid Maine residents in doing
what the title states. The eight page pamphlet may be obtained for $1.30 from MOCA,
P.O. Box 324, Augusta, ME 04330.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Puritan Gravestone Art II , edited by Peter Benes, is familiar to many ACS
members, but the appearance of two recent reviews of the book (in News & Notes from
The Connecticut Historical Society, volume 6, number 1, 1980, and in Folklore, volume
91, number 1, 1980) prompts us to introduce this publication to those who have not yet
seen it. The volume is a collection of papers presented at the 1978 conference co-
sponsored by ACS and The Dublin Seminar for New England Folklife. The transcripts
are organized under the headings, "Cultural Interpretations," "Studies of Individual
Carvers," and "Abstracts of Conference Papers and Bibliography." The Connecticut
Historical Society review calls the publication "an excellent compilation of readable
text, clear photographs, and useful diagrams and maps" and commends Benes "for fit-
ting the output of this joint venture. . .between the covers of a most informative and
attractive little book." Folklore reviewer Emily Lane opens her review by noting that
"The subject of Puritan gravestones is attracting attention from scholars in the United
States and Canada," and concludes a critical analysis of each paper with the comment
that "the volume as a whole is a valuable addition to our knowledge. . .Gravestones
offer such a direct and vivid glimpse into religious belief at the vernacular level that
a question like that which exercises so many of the authors — whether they 'can ac-
curately be construed as folk art'--really ceases to matter." Puritan Gravestone Art II
is published by and may be obtained from Boston University Scholarly Publications,
25 Buick Street, Boston, MA 02215. Softcover, $7.
This is a good time to mention to NEWSLETTER readers that Puritan Grave-
stone Art I , the proceedings of the first (1976) Dublin Seminar, is available from the
same source, also for $7. For about a year it has been out of print.
NOTECARDS
Illustrated here is one of four New England gravestone rubbings by Barbara
Moon that decorate 4^" x 5^", two-tone tan notecards.
On the back of each card is a "history." The price is
$3 plus 50<;: mailing charge per package of twelve cards
with envelopes, or $13 for four packages, mailing cost
included. Send check with order to: Barbara Moon,
1936 Stony Hill, Hinckley, OH 44233.
Polly Coombes, 1795, Bellingham, Massachusetts
- 6 -
WORKS IN PROGRESS / REQUESTS
Ann Parker and Avon Neal, who have published in a wide variety of folk
art areas, are preparing a book on gravestone art for Sweetwater Editions, a New
York publishing house that limits its publications to three fine-arts books a year.
The Neals' book will be printed in an edition limited to five hundred leather bound
copies containing fifty rubbings, each one accompanied by a photograph of the stone
and about five hundred words of text. The volume will have to sell at a very high
price, but the Neals hope that a less expensive edition will follow the first small
edition.
The Neals' rubbings, works of art in their own right, are in the permanent
collections of many museums. The NEWSLETTER has the address of an ACS member
who owns three of their signed, framed rubbings which, because of a long and com-
plicated move, must be sold. Prospective purchasers should write for further in-
formation to AGS Publications, c/o American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, MA 01609.
Ralph Tucker (928 Main Street, West Newbury, MA 01985)- is analyzing
photographs of stones attributed to an unknown carver in the Boston area. Someone
living in that locale, knowledgeable about carved letters, is needed to help identify
the carver. Frankie Bunyard, a professional carver, has the knowledge but not the
time. She has offered to instruct a volunteer in the fundamentals of carving and
lettering techniques so that he/she can help Rev. Tucker. Interested readers please
write to Rev. Tucker (who is Past President of ACS) or apply to Frankie Bunyard,
Bunyard Studio, 791 Tremont Street, Boston, MA 02118.
In a local burial ground in western Kentucky, Thomas E. Finley, Jr.
(P.O. Box 87, Windsor, CT 06095) found a group of small, circular gravemarkers
made of cast concrete and bearing unusual and seemingly meaningless arrangements
of letters. Mr. Finley would like to hear from anyone who may know the meaning
of the inscriptions.
Charles Bergenqren (505 South U5th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104) is
collecting photographs, especially early ones, of traditional graveyard types around
the world. He would welcome readers' contributions.
Kirsten Mullen, editor of the Society of Architectural Historians, Texas,
is seeking information about black (ethnic) gravestones or Mexican-American stones.
Please contact her at SAH/TX, Capitol Station, P.O. Box 12392, Austin, TX 78711.
One of our English members plans to attend the 1981 ACS Conference in
Storrs, Connecticut, June 26-28. He wonders if one of our readers is interested in
entertaining him while he is in this country, and he offers to reciprocate by sharing
his house for a two week vacation. For further details, write to Sally Thomas, 82
Hilltop Place, New London, NH 03257.
Every year, the American Antiquarian Society invites applications from
qualified scholars for several short- and long-term Visiting Research Fellowships.
The stipends range from $1000 to $22,000. Recipients are expected to be in regular
and continuous residence at the Society's library during the periods of the grants,
which vary from six weeks to a year. Gravestone study would be an appropriate
subject for consideration for some of these awards.
The deadline for the receipt of completed applications is February 2, 1982.
Announcements of the awards will be made by March 16, 1982. If you think you are
interested, write for a flyer. Address John B. Hench, Research and Publication
Officer, American Antiquarian Society, 185 Salisbury Street, Worcester, MA 01609.
For a forthcoming bibliography of gravestone studies, Nancy Jean Melin
seeks citations and copies of unpublished and other manuscript materials as well as
descriptions of slide, photographic and other collections. Reports which may not
yet have appeared in any bibliography or in an AGS notice are especially welcome,
as are papers given at ACS meetings and on deposit at the ACS Archives. The bib-
liography will be serial in nature, available on subscription, and will include all
known items on both popular and scholarly gravestone-related subjects. It will be
thematically organized and fully annotated. The final cumulation will contain over
six hundred items. "Part One: Studies of Stonecutters" will be available for pur-
chase at the 1981 ACS converence. Inquiries are welcome. Address Nancy Jean
Melin, 215 West 75th Street, #10E, New York, New York 10023.
George Kackley, superintendent of the Oak Hill Cemetery Company in
Washington, D.C. , (and a new member of ACS) has been asked to prepare a list of
cemeteries for inclusion in a guide of gardens open to the public. The guide will be
published by the American Horticultural Society. Criteria for his list: cemeteries
designed by a notable landscape architect; cemeteries that could qualify as arboreta;
and cemeteries that employ a gardner trained in ornamental horticulture. Send your
DISTINCTIVE COLLECTIONS IN THE AGS ARCHIVES
To acquaint readers with the AGS Archives, Michael Cornish has offered
to describe, from time to time, items of special interest in the collection.
#1 OLD TOMBSTONES, by C. A. Weatherby
This collection , assembled in the 1920's, consists of original gravestone photographs
with transcriptions of epitaphs and comments by the author, mounted in eight loose-
leaf notebooks labeled: "Death's Heads," "Winged Cherubs" ( 2), "Wingless Cherubs,"
"Portrait Stones, " "Designs and Willows, " and "Index. " It is composed of non-archival
materials and is in poor-to-fair condition. NEHCS catalog number: 7815732.
Mrs. Weatherby made this collection of New England gravestone photo-
graphs at the same time that Harriette Forbes was making her collection. That the
latter woman's work was selected for publication is appropriate and fortunate, for it
is vastly superior.
The photographs in the Weatherby collection suffer a wide variety of tech-
nical ills, including bad focus, poor contrast, cockeyed framing and double exposure.
A handful are beautifully sharp, though, and the majority are legible. Compounding
the distressing state of these photographs is the fact that the mounting adhesive has
dried and become brittle so that many of the pictures have loosened or detached from
the pages. In places the glue has bled through, creating ugly brown blotches. Many
photographs were imporperly "fixed" and have yellowed.
It sounds like a mess, but it is, at the same time, a fascinating collection,
the document of a pioneer. Mrs. Weatherby was obviously obsessed for a number of
years with her study, and the result is a body of work well worth study by students
of gravestones, and deserving of storage and maintenance by the Association for
Gravestone Studies.
Mrs. Weatherby's choices of gravestones to document can only be described
as eclectic; they tend toward the odd, the unique, and the photogenic. She shows a
bias for the less sophisticated country product and includes a good selection from
Connecticut and up the Connecticut River through Massachusetts. Her commentary
tends to be judgmental, making subjective appraisals of the carvings' relative quality.
Often a comment offers no more than a defense of a stone's being placed in a partic-
ular catagory of the overall organization. With our hindsight, we can see that she
consistently missed obvious connections between related gravestones in the collection,
and just as often she jumped to wholly unlikely ones. The text is, in fact, made up
of slightly informed speculations and imaginative theories. The value of the text is
not in its scholarly contribution, which is minimal, but, like a curiosity cabinet be-
tween covers, the collection as a whole is of interest as the record of a woman who
pursued her admiration of an overlooked American craft at a time when no systema-
tic study had yet been published.
The Weatherby collection's usefulness to the AGS is twofold: first, as a
pioneer document and a forerunner of current research; second, and much more im-
portant, as an index of gravestone attrition and erosion. By tracing Mrs. Weatherby's
itineraries and making comparisons site-by-site, it should be possible to determine
which stones in her collection have disappeared and which have suffered defacement
through natural causes or vandalism in the fifty-odd year interim. M.C.
Mr. Cornish is ACS Vice President / Archives. He says that it is unfortunate but
almost inevitably true that much if not most of America's gravestone sculpture is
destined to be lost. The most logical solution to this situation, but the least likely
to be implemented, he believes, is museum storage of important endangered stones.
There is a valuable alternative to saving the stones themselves. Collections of
photographs, castings, and rubbings are of great value as a record of this vast
body of stonecarving, as are published and unpublished studies and other grave-
stone literature. The ACS Archives can become a viable repository of such a record.
Cornish points out that early investigations like that of Mrs. Weatherby preserve
some of what we have already lost, and he urges readers to contribute to the ACS
holdings. Address inquiries and descriptions of contributions to Michael Cornish,
62 Calumet Street, Roxbury, Massachusetts 02120.
From Memorials for Children
of Change, by Tashjian
a rubbing of the ,^ii
Sarah Hart 1752 stone.
East ford, CT,
near Storrs.
STONECUTTERS AND THEIR WORKS
Seventh of a Series
Capt. Nathaniel Maynard, 1779
DANIEL HASTINGS OF NEEDHAM, MASSACHUSETTS
Daniel Farber
Daniel Hastings of Newton, Massachusetts, made gravestones from about
1770 to about 1797. In her book. Gravestones of Early New England, Harriette Forbes
shows as his work the stone for John Holyoke, 1775, of Newton. From that likeness,
a large group of gravestones in central and eastern Massachusetts has been attributed
to Hastings. Some doubt exists as to the credibility of these attributions, all based on
resemblances to that one stone. However, in 1980, Laurel Cabel discovered that con-
cealed on the back of many of these stones are what appear to be initials, in two forms.
One form is a large, roughly cut capital letter "H" hiding among the chisel markings.
The other is a combination of the lower case letters "d" and "h" placed sideways, as
shown, next page, in a detail from the back of the gravestone for Capt. Nathaniel
Maynard, 1779, Wayland, Massachusetts. If these letters are accepted as Hasting's
signatures, they confirm many attributions credited to him.
Effigies on stones for John Holyoke, 1775, (left) and Hannah Rice, 1794, (right)
Mystery surrounds Hastings' late work. Suddenly, in 1790, his typical
carving disappears, and a new design which could be described as "lowbrow" appears.
There is considerable evidence that "lowbrow" stones are not the work of Hastings:
the appearance of the design is different, a geometric border is often used which
never before was employed by Hastings, and the stone itself is a much lighter color
and a finer grained slate. However, probate records found by the writer and Charles
Bouley show that payment for the stone for Hannah Rice, 1794, Millbury, Massachusetts,
was made to Daniel Hastings. The Rice stone is a typical "lowbrow" design.
( continued, next page)
Hastings' signature
Hastings' stones are concentrated in the Newton area and have been seen
by the writer as far north as Ipswich, Massachusetts, and as far west and south as
North Brookfield, Massachusetts and West Woodstock, Connecticut.
Nothing has yet been published about Hastings the man. It would be good
to know the personal and professional background of the individual responsible for
those large, beautifully executed stones, those handsome faces with their furrowed
brows and powerful dignity, and those earnest, straight-haired, wide-eyed angels.
Dan Farber is a retired Worcester, Massachusetts, businessman. For pleasure, he
photographs art objects, including gravestones, for the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
He also prooofs copy for the NEWSLETTER.
REGIONAL NEWS
FROM DELAWARE
Charles E. Mohr, an AGS sustaining member, wrote an illustrated "Cemetery
Survey Supplement" to the October, 1980 Audubon Journal, published by the Delaware
Audubon Society. The supplement illustrates the value of cemeteries in the study of
art, archaeology, botany, landscape architecture, orinthology, and other wildlife areas.
(One photograph is of "a scholarly tour being conducted by the Association for Grave-
stone Studies.") Dr. Mohr tells us that there is a big overrun of the supplement and
that NEWSLETTER readers who send a supply of mailing labels can have this eight page
publication sent direct from The Delaware Audubon Society, P.O. Box 1713, Wilmington,
DE 19899. Dr. Mohr is a photographer, lecturer, and former Chief Naturalist for Dela-
ware. He spoke about cemeteries at the 1980 annual meeting of the Photo Ecology Foundation,
FROM MAINE
Among the 1981 officers of the Maine Old Cemetery Association are two AGS
members. Evelin Grover is MOCA president, and Hilda Fife is corresponding secretary.
MOCA is dedicated to the preservation of Maine's neglected cemeteries. Membership is
three dollars yearly. Dues are paid to Mrs. Amanda L. Bond, 8 Greenaway Avenue,
Springvale, ME 04083.
MORE FROM MAINE
Eighty-one-year old Orland "OIlie" Mayberry has devoted his retirement
years to the care of Dunstan Cemetery in West Scarborough, ME. Actually, Mayberry
says, "I retired twenty years ago and haven't found it out yet." His cemetery work
was featured in the Portland Evening Express. The cemetery's earliest marker dates
back to 1757.
FROM MASSACHUSETTS
The Boston Globe (September 2, 1980) reported that the trustees of historic
Mt. Auburn Cemetery are having the 1844 iron fence surrounding the grounds replaced
with a vinyl-coated chain link fence. A Globe editorial termed the decision an act of
"desecration," and an angry exchange followed in the paper's letters to the editor (Sep-
tember 14, 1980). Mt. Auburn is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It
contains monuments to such notable Americans as Mary Baker Eddy, Henry Wadsworth
Longfellow, Charles Bulfinch, and Oliver Wendell Holmes. The park-like burial ground
was founded in 1831 by Dr. Jacob Bigelow in collaboration with the Massachusetts Horti-
cultural Society.
FROM NEW YORK
The cover story for the January-February, 1980, issue of Small Town maga-
zine features the Wyoming County cemetery restorations accomplished by county youths.
An article about this project appeared in the Fall, 1980, NEWSLETTER. AGS member,
Mitchell R. Alegre wrote and illustrated the article for Small Town, a national publica-
tion of the Small Towns Institute.
AGS members Evelyn C. Hansen and Jean Cann have, over the years, made
rubbings of all the old markers in six cemeteries around Southampton and Water Mill.
Twelve of their rubbings have been sent to the John Judkyn Memorial in England as a
gift from the Southampton Historical Museum, A letter from Ms. Hansen explains that
"the John Judkyn Memorial is associated with the American Museum in Bath, England,
whose work is to send exhibits all over the United Kingdom and, I believe, sometimes
to the Continent, where displays of things pertaining to American history are wanted.
I understand that a great many exhibits go to schools. . .Jean and I were asked if we
would do rubbings for them, and we did." She adds that she recently alphabetized
a 1920's record of the epitaphs in Southampton's largest cemetery and put copies in
the local library, village office, the Southampton Museum, and the Suffolk County His-
torical Society. Both women teach museum-sponsored summer classes on gravestone
rubbing.
AND MORE FROM NEW YORK
Trinity Church Cemetery in New York City was recently awarded an Apple
Polisher Award from WOR-TV in cooperation with the Association for a Better New York.
The cemetery was cited for opening its grounds to the community for historical, horti-
cultural, and educational uses. The cemetery issues a newsletter entitled "Pilgrim."
To be added to the mailing list, write Trinity Church Cemetery, Mausoleums and Crema-
tory, 74 Trinity Place, New York, NY 10006.
Further indication of the public spiritedness of this cemetery association
comes from Ruth Cowell, AGS Corresponding Secretary, who tells us she received an
invitation to attend a Christmas concert of the cemetery's Annual Caroling Procession
to the grave of Clement C. Moore, author of "T'was the Night Before Christmas."
FROM NEW JERSEY
AGS Corresponding Secretary Ruth Cowell, who is also a New Jersey
Executive Director of Community Mental Health Services, has learned that the Essex
County Center for Environmental Studies (612 Eagle Rock Avenue, Roseland, NJ)
sponsors a program called "Cemetery Investigation: an environmental study of a
cemetery involving the traditional disciplines of art, geology, geography, social and
cultural history, math, science, religion, and health." A telephone call from Mrs.
Cowell to their program director, Michael Ware, was enlightening to both and will
result in several cooperative ventures.
FROM OHIO
A little-publicized issue that faces President Regan is the care of Presi-
dent's Cemetery near Lancaster, Ohio. Nathaniel Wilson, III, (d.1839), who "deserves
mention in the annals of American eccentricity," according to an item in the Columbus
Dispatch, deeded a portion of the Wilson family burial plot to President James Monroe
"and his successors in fee simple forever in trust." AGS member Francis Duval, who
has visited the President's Cemetery, tells us that the plot is circular and about forty
or fifty feet in diameter, and that its most interesting aspect is its monumental twelve-
sided stone wall. Monroe and his successors have ignored both their opportunity to
use and their responsibility to see to the care of the cemetery. What care it now gets
comes from the Fairfield County Heritage Association, no thanks to the men in the
White House.
FROM WISCONSIN
On September 14, 1980, the people of Montello gathered in Greenwood
Cemetery graveyard to celebrate Truth Day in honor of a boy who died a violent death
in 1851. Eight-year old Emmanuel Dannan witnessed his foster father slay an itinerant
peddler. The story goes that when Emmanuel refused to abide by his foster father's
instructions to lie about what had happened, the man whipped the boy until the boy
uttered, "Pa, I'm so cold," and died. The man was convicted of first degree man-
slaughter and imprisoned. A 1950's story in the Milwaukee Sentinel noted the hun-
dredth anniversery of Emmanuel's death and prompted the Bittman Monument Company
of Milwaukee and the Montello Granite Works to join together and build a red granite
memorial to Dannan's life. Inscribed to "The Boy Who Would Not Tell A Lie," the
monument inspired the first Truth Day Ceremony. This item from the September 14,
1980 Milwaukee Journal was sent by AGS member, Bert Hubbard.
THE NEW YORK TIMES. SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1980
2 Cemeteries in Illinois Reflect Past Political Feud
tury. The Carlock family joined the Re-
publican Party and even buried one
member of the family on the Republi-
can side of the road
CARLOCK. III. Nov. 1 (UPI) — Most Carlock. a staunch Democrat who dis- trust fund for its care was established. There are few burials in the ceme-
people in the quiet bedroom com- liked Republicans. John Benson, a Republican rival. teries now. The most recent ones were
munity of Carlock know nothing of the "He took his politics very seriously quickly offered land for a new grave- in the larger, more elaborate, lakeside
days when Democrats and Republicans and didn't feel any need to talk with Re- yard. grounds where once only Democrats
feuded so fiercely that they refused to publicans." said Donald E. Carlock, a The village people took it, and for were buried. Mr. Carlock said resi-
bury their dead together. descendant of the founder and lifelong years Democrats were buried in the dents "just kind of laugh" now when
The cemeteries in this central UUnois resident of the town of 450 people. "He first cemetery while Republicans w^e they hear about the cemetery's history,
town. 10 miles northwest of Blooming- made only one exception. When Abra- buried a quarter of J mile! dawn the "Anybody buries there now," he
ton, offer evidence that the two parties ham Lincoln was an attorney running road In the second. When Mr. Carlock added,
literally took ttieir political battles to the Illinois circuit, he used to put Lin- died in 1889, he was buried in the land
the graveyard: Republicans were coin up for the night." He had donated, and this inscription
buried on one side of the road. Demo- There was only one cemetery then, a was chiseled on his monument: "Here
crats on the other. The battle began parcel of laftd donated by Mr. Carlock. sleeps the Ql4Qfiinoc«at."
with the town's founder. Abraham W. But when he refused to expand it until a A lot has changed since the 19th cen-
EXHIBITIONS
CONNECTICUT SHOW PLANNED,
The Windham Historical Society, Windham, Connecticut, is developing an
exhibition, "Windham Gravestone Carvers of the 18th Century." Tentative plans are
to run the exhibit from May 1st, 1981, through November, 1981, at the Jillson House
Museum in Willimantic, Connecticut. An experienced research team is gathering bio-
graphical information on the carvers and has located a wealth of information which will
become part of the exhibit and exhibition catalog. Stonecarvers from the surrounding
areas whose works are found in Windham will also be included. Representative grave-
stone rubbings and photographs are being collected. Another segment of the exhibi-
tion will feature the cemetery as a source of primary reference material.
According to Alfred M. Fredette, a serious student of Connecticut grave-
stones and a member of ACS, "The major purpose of the exhibition is to educate the
general public and students to the fact that our early cemeteries are museums worthy
of our attention on an esthetic and historic level, and also worthy of preservation
before they, too, become the deceased." Mr. Fredette's address: R.F.D. #1, Baltic,
Connecticut 06330.
SHOWING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MAINE
"New England Gravestones," a one-man exhibition of forty-four photographs
by Daniel Farber in the permanent collection of the University of Maine, Orono, is be-
ing shown there through March. Farber has had numerous one-man shows of his nature
and gravestone photographs, 23,000 of which are in the collections of 11 5 American
museums.
THE MEDICAL COLLEGE OF OHIO
"Graven Images," an exhibition of gravestone art and epitaphs, showed at
the Mulford Library of the Medical College of Ohio in Toledo through February. The
exhibition was organized by Carol Perkins, artist in the college's department of audio-
visual services, and the items on display are the work of three AGS members. Photo-
graphs by Daniel Farber of Worcester, Massachusetts, and rubbings by Barbara Moon
of Hinckley, Ohio, were arranged to coordinate with epitaphs collected by Ms. Perkins.
Gravestone literature, including Perkins' collection of epitaphs, was available in the
library's rare book room during the period of the exhibition.
WILMINGTON, DELAWARE
In November and December, the Delaware State Arts Council and the Dela-
ware Camera Club co-sponsored a one-man show of Charles Mohr's work, in Wilmington
at the State Arts Building. The exhibit was comprised of sixty-eight cemetery photo-
graphs and four large panels presenting teaching resource materials, one of which
featured the AGS journal, MARKERS. Also presented were Mohr's slide shows, "Ceme-
teries are Forever" and "Cherubs, Skulls and Crossbones: A Tour of Old Cemeteries."
Tree Silhouette in Stone, by Charles Mohr.
Dendritic formation, Berks County, Pennsylvania
(The "trees" are rust stains on a marble stone
which has eroded around the iron support pins
at its base. )
- 12 -
CONSERVATION NEWS
Professor Norbert S. Baer of the Conservation Center of the Institute of
Fine Arts, New York University, has been awarded a contract by the Environmental
Protection Agency to study the deterioration of marble gravestones in Veterans Ad-
ministration cemeteries. Because the marble was taken from only three quarries and
cut in a few standardized shapes, these cemeteries provide an almost perfect labora-
tory for measuring the rate of damage from environmental factors.
For the past two years the cemetery of the Greenwich (New Jersey) Presby-
terian Church has been under restoration by some fifty student members of the Jersey-
men Club. ^r\ article by Robert C. Davis, pastor of the church and a Research Asso-
ciate of Princeton Theological Seminary, describes the project, which involved the re-
pair and cleaning of stones and the creation of a marker which will display a map of the
cemetery with the locations of all of the gravestones. Funding came through a grant
from the New Jersey Historical Commission. Completion of the project is scheduled for
late August. Thanks to Robert Van Benthuysen for this item from the Cumberland
Patriot, a publication of the Cumberland County Historical Society, Greenwich, NJ.
Harry Person, one of the founders of the large Worcester, Massachusetts,
firm. Person Monuments, Inc., has designed and hand carved many gravestones in his
long career. Today, when there is an occasional order for hand carving (as opposed
to sandblasting), Mr. Person, who is semi-retired, takes on the job himself. In his
office is a first edition copy of Harriette Forbes' Gravestones of Early New England,
which he thumbs through when helping a customer select a lettering style.
We invited Mr. Person to attend the AGS conference. He had to decline,
but a paragraph from his letter to us will interest our readers. He wrote: "The best
reason for going [to the conference] happened in a local cemetery two weeks ago.
Because of my deafness I did not hear a loud bang, but my partner did and we looked
over at a large power mower that had knocked down a small headstone. As we helped
reset it, the mower operator said, 'It's nothing, only an old headstone.'"!
Angered by excesses, the city of Boston recently posted warning signs to
protect time-worn gravestones in historic Granary Burying Ground, which dates back
to 1660. Careless tourists have defaced stones when rubbing impressions to take home
as mementos; graphic artists have monopolized certain stones by rubbing whole editions
of prints to sell; and vandals have destroyed and even stolen some of the ancient markers.
The signs read :
VISITORS. . . PASSERS-BY NOTICE
PLEASE REPORT NO
ANY PERSON WORKING ON. GRAVESTONE RUBBING
HANDLING OR REMOVING
ANY HEADSTONE IN THIS VIOLATORS SUBJECT TO ARREST & MAX. FINE
HISTORIC CEMETERY. - POLICE TAKE NOTICE
CALL 911 • pq^ order Anthony Fordione, Commissioner
ARE YOU IN DEBT?
If you asked to be billed when you ordered MARKERS _, please ahesk to
see if you ever paid. Thebill you asked for was included with the book you re-
ceived. We can bill you again^ but AGS has no paid staff and no wish to squander
Association time and money by getting iyito monthly billing procedures. So make
sure you paid, and if you didn't, please COME ACROSS. , .,
"^ An unpavd message from
lour friendly publications staff
A GEWIBE GENEALOGICAL OFFER
Betty Willsher, author (with Doreen Hunter) of STONES, writes that she
"is busy with family research" and adds, "If you hear of anybody I could do some
for, please give them my address. " Here it is: Orherd Cottage, Greerside Place,
St. Andrews, Fife KY 169TJ, Scotland.
INTERESTING EPITAPHS
Many books of epitaphs mention one inscribed "I told you I was sick,"
but the epitaph is never substantiated. Now, from Francis Duval, author (with
Ivan Rigby) of Early American Gravestone Art in Photographs , we have a news-
paper story and two photographs of the headstone on the grave of Mary Pearle
Warren in the Harrison Township Cemetery near South Bloomfield, Ohio. Accord-
ing to a niece quoted in the news item, Mrs. Warren talked a lot about being sick,
but neither her husband nor anyone else took her seriously until one morning he
found her dead in bed. She had told him to inscribe "I TOLD YOU I WAS SICK"
on her gravestone, and he did.
From a tablet in St. Andrew's Church, Plymouth,
Devonshire. Contributed by Richard H. Brown,
54 Fletcher Avenue, Valley Stream, NY 11580.
To the precious memory of that truly virtuous gentlewoman
Mrs. MARY SPARKE
daughter of Jonathan Sparke of this town, Esq.
Who departed this life XXX day of December
anno domini 1665
Life's but a sparke, a weak uncertain breath
No sooner kindled than put out by Death.
Such was my name, my fame, my fate, yet I
Am still a living sparke, though thus I dye.
And shine in Heaven's orbes a star most bright
Though death on Earth so soon eclipst my light.
From the old burial ground behind the fire
station, Claremont, NH. Contributed by
Robert Dakin, 3 Hodgkins Terrace, Clare-
mont, NH 03743.
In memory of
Chester an Elisha Putnam
Sons of the late Capt. Solomon
Putnam who, on the morning of
the 29th of JanV 1814 in the same
bed were found suffocated
a kettle of common coals having been
placed in their room for comfort proved
the fatal instrument of their death.
The former in the 27th, the latter in
the 19th year of his age.
How many roses perish in their bloom
How many suns, a, lass, go down at noon.
From the gravestone of Solomon
Holbrook (d. 1807), Wellfleet Old
Burying Ground, Wellfleet, MA.,
this variant on "Stranger Stop
and Cast an Eye" includes a bit
of probably undeliberate humor,
at least for the contemporary
reader. Sent by Diana H.George,
The Pennsylvania State University,
The Behrend College, Station Road,
Erie, PA 16563.
Now he's dead and cannot stir.
His cheeks are like the fading rose:
Which of us next must follow him
The Lord Almighty knows.
Fr^nm Hid I piinhinn h\/ Knnp '^tpi'n and Knnt^. A nnuhle^Hnu Dnlnhi'n Rnnk
EXEMPLARY
- 14 -
CEMETERY CITATIONS
for the excellence of the
publications that have been
produced about them
GROVE STREET CEMETERY
New Haven, Connecticut
FAIRMOUNT CEMETERY
Denver, Colorado
THE CEMETERIES OF
HOUSTON, TEXAS
"THE OLD BLACK CEMETERY"
Haitom City, Texas
History of Grove Street Cemetery , edited and il-
lustrated by David L. Daggett IV; produced and
researched by the Junior League of New Haven
in cooperation with the Proprietors of the New
Haven Burying Ground and Malcolm Munson,
superintendent. Brief, scholarly. Thanks to the
New Haven Historical Society for acquainting us
with this publication.
Walk into Historic Colorado, a description of monu-
ments commemorating Denver's celebrated men and
women of its historic past and a walking tour guide
through the cemetery; written by the cemetery's
professional historian, David E. Halaas; published
by the Fairmount Cemetery Association, 1976. This
cemetery is the only natural arboretum in Colorado.
There is so much interest in it that Historic Denver
(the largest local non-profit preservation organiza-
tion in the country) holds an annual picnic there
and offers tours and instruction in stone rubbing.
This citation was recommended by Roy Erickson
of the Erickson Memorial Co., Speer Boulevard at
Ninth Avenue, Denver, CO 80204.
Our Ancestors' Craves: Houston's Historic Cemeteries,
a 28 page, handsomely illustrated, slick-paper pub-
lication written by Douglas Milburn; one of a series
of publications prepared by the Houston Public Li-
brary's Learning Library Program, 1980. Excellent
descriptions of 53 cemeteries plus information about
a number of lost burial grounds. Thanks to Sue and
Philip Jones and Tory Schmitz for this publication.
Approximately twenty acres of collapsed graves
with markers hidden in dense, shoulder-high vege-
tation at the busy intersection of Twenty-eighth and
Beach Streets, in sight of downtown Ft. Worth. Jim
Trinkle and Don Harrison of the Ft. Worth Star-Tele-
gram have written about its condition without suc-
cess in improving its care. Recommended for our
citation by Phil Kallas, who sent documentary photo-
graphs to be contributed to the AGS archives.
NEWSLETTER NOTES
Thanks to Mitchell Alegre for his fine work as guest editor of this issue
of the NEWSLETTER. Because working with a guest editor was a pleasure and the
result good, we are encouraged to experiment again. Richard Welch will be guest
editor of the spring issue. Send NEWSLETTER items and suggestions to him at 55
Cold Spring Hills Road, Huntington, New York 11743; or address AGS Publications,
c/o American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massachusetts 01609. Deadlines for
the spring, summer, and fall issues are March 15, June 1, and September 1.
The NEWSLETTER is eager to publish an index by subject and author of
the items from its previous issues and from MARKERS . A member who is eminently
qualified to prepare such an index has indicated an interest in taking on the job,
but we do not have a definite commitment. Cross your fingers.
NtWbLLTTtK
OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES
Editor, Jessie Lie Farber
Guest Editor, Robert F. Welch
Volume 5. Number 2, Spring 1981 ISSN: 01U6-5783
CONTENTS
ACS Conference Update .1 •
by President Joanne Baker
ASSOCIATION NEWS
Memorial Images in Three Presbyterian Yards,
Charlotte, North Carolina. A photo-essay , . . .
by Francis Y. Duval and Ivan B. Rigby
Preserving Early Sandstone Markers. An article
by Robert T. Silliman
CONSERVATION
EDUCATION
RESEARCH AND WRITINC
BOOK REVIEW
The American Life Collector, Funerary Art
Edited by Larry Freeman
Review by Michael Cornish
CEMETERY CITATIONS
STONECUTTERS AND THEIR WORKS. Eighth installment . . .
Samuel Dwight: Vermont Gravestone Cutter
by Nancy Melin
INTERESTING EPITAPHS
An Introduction to Gravestone Study. A true life adventure
by Diana Hume George
MISCELANEOUS
NEWSLETTER NOTES, corrections, additions, deadlines . . .
CONFERENCE REGISTRATION FORM
1
2
3.4
5
6.7
7
8.9
10
10
11.12
13
m
m
15
15
AGS CONFERENCE UPDATE
The site of the 1981 AGS Conference, the University of Connecticut, Storrs,
is located in the center of one of the richest regions for the study of early gravemarkers.
This is the area in which Ernest Cauifield carried on his research in the 1950's and the
1960's, and the one in which James Slater is now working.
Appropriately, a number of conference activities will take advantage of this
superb location. A field trip on Friday, June 26, will feature the work of the granite
carvers of eastern Connecticut. James Slater will introduce the trip with a short slide
preview before guiding participants through selected burying grounds of the region.
Three major papers relating to the region will be read. Mr. Slater will pre-
sent "The Mannings and Their Influence in Eastern Connecticut: A Study in Dominance."
David Watters' subject is "Eleasar Wheelock's Lebanon Crank Congregation." Kevin M.
Sweeney will present "Where the Bay Meets the River: An Analysis of Gravestone Carv-
ings and Carvers in Six River Towns in Massachusetts, 1680-1800."
Two major exhibits will also concentrate on the gravestones of eastern Con-
necticut. Susan Kelly and Anne Williams will show a selection of their rubbings of stones
from the area. Janet Aronson's exhibit will document the Old Storrs Burying Ground,
which is located near the conference site. Her exhibit includes photographs and rub-
bings of each stone, a grid of the burial sites, a catalog, and an index. Not specifi-
cally connected with the conference, but available to conferees, will be a show of Dan
Farber's 16" x 20" photographs of eastern Connecticut stones, which will be in progress
at the University of Connecticut library at the time of the conference.
As in the past, the 1981 conference will also present studies and exhibition
materials from regions outside the conference area. Among these will be displays by
Ruth Cowell and Roberta Halporn of items related to old Jewish cemeteries, and an ex-
hibition by Carol Perkins of her photographs and epitaph collection. Norman S. Baer,
conservator at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, will speak about "The
National Cemetery as Environmental Laboratory." Charles Bergengren will discuss the
differences between academic and folk gravestone carvings of the seventeenth and the
eighteenth centuries in a talk entitled, "The Folk Aesthetic in Gravestones: The
Glorious Contrast." Vincent Luti will bring conference participants up to date on his
continuing study of Rhode Island Carvers in a paper, "Stonecarvers of the Narragan-
sett Basin: The New Family." Laurel Gabel and Barbara Rotundo will speak on "The
Effect of the Colonial Revival on Gravestones." Mrs. Gabel will also show photographs
initialed by Daniel and Nathan Hastings, and a group of unattributed stones she is study-
ing. Frankie Bunyard will show slides illustrating stonecarving techniques, after
which she will demonstrate letter cutting and offer instruction to those who would like
to try their hand at it.
An important purpose of this conference will be the gathering of information
from AGS members regarding the future of the organization. The Association has been
in existence since July, 1977, when a group of about thirty-five persons met in Dublin,
New Hampshire, to formulate the organization and chart its direction. Now, four years
later, it is time to examine our accomplishments, reassess our purposes, and set goals
for the future. Members' opinions will be sought at an open meeting.
For three years, AGS conference planners have been promising conference
programs with blocks of unscheduled time for the informal sharing of mutual interests
and for exploring local burying grounds. Past conference committees have been frus-
trated in their efforts to allocate this time by the quantity and quality of papers offered
and the resulting temptation to overschedule the number of speakers and slide shows.
This year we are making a determined effort to provide the long-promised free time.
A final mailing, which will give last-minute program information and travel
and check-in directions, will be sent to those whose registrations are received by Junel.
CONFERENCE DATES: June 26-28, 1981
Address inquiries and registrations to:
Dr. Joanne Baker, Conference Director,
64 North Main Street, Concord, NH 03301
Conference Exhibition Space
A highlight of each AGS conference has been the exhibition area. Members' exhibits of
their work are an integral part of the conference, and the work of amateurs and profes-
sionals is equally interesting and welcome. "For Sale" items are welcome and may be so
identified by the exhibitors. There is good exhibit space for showing as many displays
as are offered, and reservations for space are not required. It will be helpful, however,
if exhibitors will take the time to drop a note describing their exhibit material to Exhibit
Coordinator Mary Anne Mrozinski so that the choice spaces can be reserved and a logical
overall arrangement planned. Address Ms. Mrozinski at 47 Hammond Road, Glen Cove,
New York 11542.
Notes to Connecticut Members
1. For those who plan to commute to the conference, individual lunches and dinner tickets
may be purchased at the door of the dining hall. Lunches, $5.25; dinners, $6.75. (The
box lunch for the field trip is included in the $12 trip-fee.)
2. This year conferees will again enjoy the privilege of meeting one of our English mem-
bers. Ben J. Lloyd of the Bedwyn Stone Museum, Great Bedwyn, Marlborough, Wilts,
England, will arrive at Bradley Field on Thursday, June 25. We need a volunteer to
meet him and to escort him to the campus. We also need someone to take him to the air-
port the following Monday. If you can help on either of these days, please contact
Joanne Baker at the address above.
ASSOCIATION NEWS
Correction. The fee for AGS membership is still $10, not $15 as was erroneously stated
in the last issue of the NEWSLETTER. To keep your membership in good standing and
avoid interruption in the receipt of your NEWSLETTER , send fees, before July 1, to:
AGS Treasurer, Mrs. Philip Thomas, 82 Hilltop Place, New London, New Hampshire 03257.
Membership promotion. A newsletter published by the Friends of Mt. Hope Cemetery in
Rochester, New York, included an item about AGS, mentioning the Association's purposes,
its two publications, and giving membership information. Carol Perkins of Toledo, Ohio,
is responsible for acquainting the Rochester organization with AGS. We encourage other
members, particularly those who lecture and teach, exhibit, or hold office in related or-
ganizations, to introduce AGS to individuals and groups with similar or allied interests.
We still need a membership chairman to organize membership promotion. Volunteer to:
AGS President Joanne Baker, 51 South Street, Concord, New Hampshire 03301.
e%3
n^
FIRST SUGAW CREEK CEMETERY, 1790: high relief carving of the Campbell
family arms, with lateral lions over a banner calling for familial fortitude.
J
MEMORIAL IMAGES IN THREE PRESBYTERIAN YARDS, CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA
Francis Y, Duval and Ivan B. Rigby
Three Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, cemeteries contain the carving
styles illustrated on this and the following page. These cemeteries are: the Settlers
Cemetery in downtown Charlotte, which functions also as a park, and two of the three
burial grounds of the Sugaw Creek Presbyterian Church, founded in 1755. The Second
Sugaw Creek Cemetery faces the church across Tyron Street, while the First (Craighead)
Cemetery hides on Craighead Road, a short distance away. Although these two yards
are chain-linked and padlocked, any serious gravestone researcher may obtain access
by applying at the church office.
These fascinating memorials are far from abundant — at these three locations
there are only about a dozen examples — but for the student of gravestone art consider-
ing a visit, their rarity is offset by their unusual beauty. Unfortunately, other carv-
ing styles found alongside them are of relatively little artistic interest.
Generally, the stones are incised lightly and present the tripartite configura-
tion typical of early New England markers, except for the absence of border designs.
The alphabet characters are beautifully handled, with utmost care given to letterforms
and orthography. A mixture of uppercase and lowercase lettering predominates. Epi-
taphs, when used, are placed low, often near the ground line. The heights of the stones
vary from two to five feet, and widths and thicknesses vary with the heights. They
are fashioned out of a pale, gray stone, slightly granular in texture, similar in appear-
ance to steatrite, which facilitated the development of the openwork style used in
Davidson County (see MARKERS, the Journal of the Association for Gravestone Studies,
volume I, pages 62-75, Duval-Rigby, "Openwork Memorials of North Carolina").
The stones date from the 1780's to the first decade of the nineteenth century.
Their carvers and /or workshops remain unidentified. The area in which they are found
was settled during the 1750's by Scotch-Irish immigrants from Ulster who trekked to the
area via Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and other Middle Atlantic Colonies, and for
whom Presbyterianism formed a cherished heritage.
Some of the memorials show worrisome symptoms of natural erosion in the
form of fissures and splitting. The writers urged the church authorities to move the
threatened stones to indoor safety. Although we were assured that the matter would be
given consideration, our experience leads us to expect that the memorials will probably
remain in their outdoor locations until further natural deterioration or an unfortunate
act of vandalism either destroys them or prompts belated action. ^ ^. •,
' I- r- Continued >
SETTLERS CEMETERY, 1798: flanking stags compliment the McComb arorial swords,
crested with a unicorn bead. The Latin motto croclaims the righteousness ot virtue.
SECOND SUGAW CREEK CEMETERY, 1801: the only ettigy carving in the area bears this late date, on the Isabella Shields
marker. SECOND SUGAW CREEK CEMETERY, 1798: an eagle ntotit, rendered here as the Federal emblem, adorns
William Wylie's memorial.
SECOND SUGAW CREEK CbMHTERY, 1786: modiiiea tlywl designs appear on the shoulders o( this high reliet
carving of the Alexander family emblem.
- a -
CONSERVATION
PRESERVING EARLY SANDSTONE MARKERS Robert T. Silliman
What does one do when faced with an accelerating rate of deterioration of
our beautiful seventeenth and eighteenth century sandstone gravemarkers? i began
by visiting most of the old cemeteries in north-central Connecticut to compare the con-
dition and the rate of deterioration of the early stones. I was amazed by the dramatic
difference between those cemeteries located in heavily populated areas and those in less
densely populated areas, away from heavy highway traffic. This seemed to confirm the
widely held belief that air pollution is a major cause of gravestone deterioration.
To my limited knowledge, the only way to prevent the disintegration of sand-
stone markers is to coat them with a commercial sealer. I directed my inquiries about
such an approach to the Raylite Company, Wilmington, Delaware. After much corres-
pondence and telephone conversation, Raylite recommended a two-coat treatment. The
actual chemical product used in the treatment was made by the Permagile Corporation,
Plainview, New York. This is an epoxy bonding material that proved to be very con-
venient to mix and use on location.
To clean the stones I experimented with high pressure hot and cold water
and with steam cleaning. Steam cleaning proved superior. A small truck was purchas-
ed and fitted with water tanks containing four hundred gallons, an electric generator,
pump, steam cleaner, pressure garden sprayer to apply the cleaner, and an airless
spray gun and numerous small tools. A cleaner containing trisodium phosphate, hydro-
clorite, and detergent was sprayed on the surface of the stone and allowed to pene-
trate a few minutes before the steam cleaning operation began. The entire operation
consisted of four steps:
1. The application of the cleanser
2. The steam cleaning.
3. A pause of 72 hours to permit drying, then the application of an under-
coat sealer with an airless spray gun.
4. Another 24 hour wait, after which the finishing coat of sealer was
applied.
The most important part of the whole operation was the thorough cleaning of the stones
before the first coat of sealer was applied.
We started our work in the summer of 1978 at the Old Poquonock Burying
Ground, Windsor, Connecticut, and from there moved on to the Old Burying Ground
in the rear of the Palisado Cemetery, also in Windsor. Another section of the Palisado
Cemetery was completed in the fall of 1979, and the entire project was completed in the
fall of 1980. All together, we cleaned and treated over 1100 gravestones in the two
cemeteries.
As part of the first project, at the Old Poquonock Burying Ground, I re-
corded all work done on each and every stone, including how it was found and the
steps taken in treatment, from the initial cleaning to the final application of sealer. In
addition, I prepared a map of the entire cemetery, numbered each stone, and listed
each marker both numerically and alphabetically. Inscriptions were copied and re-
corded. My research turned up newspaper clippings describing major preservation
efforts dating to 1915 and 1930. Photographs were taken throughout the work period
and these were included with the other material to form a complete record of the pro-
ject, which was presented to the Windsor Historical Society. I personally financed the
first part of the project; a local trust paid for the work in the larger Old Burying
Ground in the Palisado Cemetery.
Anyone interested in our preservation project is invited to visit the ceme-
teries on Palisado Avenue (Route 159) and Marshall Phelps Road (off Route 75), both
in Windsor. I can be reached at 1207 Poquonock Avenue, V\/indsor, Connecticut 06095.
Telephone (203) 688-2756.
Mr. Silliman is President of the Windsor Historical Society. He will be available for
questions and discussion of this project at the 1981 ACS conference ^ Storrs, Connecticut.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The NEWSLETTER welcomes information about other aonservation efforts
as well as comments on the procedures used in Windsor.
CETA cuts strike home. AGS members who attended the 1980 conference will remember
John Plackis, who sold "Support Your Local Cemetery" buttons to raise money for a
cemetery restoration program in Huntington, New York. This program, initiated by
Town Historian Rufus Langhans, provided for the clearing, mapping, cataloging and
restoration of sixty-nine historic burial grounds. With town funds obtained through
CETA, Langhans hired Plackis on a full-time basis to work on the project. Now, re-
cent CETA program cuts have forced Langhans to let Plackis go, with only thirty of
the cemeteries explored and mapped. Though Plackis is finishing up some of the work
on a voluntary, unpaid basis, the large project has been effectively halted. Langhans
hopes the town's innovative "Adopt a Cemetery" program may take up some of the slack.
Through this program, local groups and individuals agree to assume the responsibility
for restoring and maintaining a cemetery. So far, fifteen have been "adopted." Para-
doxically, at the same time that Huntington had to cut back on its cemetery restoration
program, one of its cemeteries, the Old Town Burial Ground, located just behind the
Historian's office, was chosed for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places.
Greenwood Cemetery. Gina Santucci reports that the New York City Landmarks Preser-
vation Commission has begun a series of hearings dealing with the proposed designation
of Brooklyn's Greenwood Cemetery as a City Landmark. Greenwood, founded in 1834,
is considered to be one of the nation's "top three" Victorian cemeteries, the others
being Mt. Auburn, in Boston, and Laurel Hill, in Philadelphia. Greenwood Cemetery's
gates, designed by Richard Upjohn and Son in 1861, were designated Landmarks in
1966. The recommendation of the entire cemetery as a Landmark was precipitated by
the report that the 1911 Gothic Revival chapel was in danger of imminent demolition.
Wisconsin State Old Cemetery Society. Wisconsin appears to be the most active Mid-
western state in the areas of gravestone study and gravestone preservation. The
major vehicle for this activity is the Wisconsin State Old Cemetery Society. With a
membership of 800, the Society is engaged in the restoration /maintenance of the state's
small, neglected cemeteries. It also encourages the preservation of Indian burial mounds
not protected by state or federal statues. The Society maintains a listing of all state
cemeteries and keeps a file of the location of the records of each of these cemeteries.
Inquiries should be directed to the Society's president, F. Winston Luck, U357 North
74th Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53216. Prospective members contact Julaine Maynard,
617 Clemens Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin 53704.
Gravestone thieves apprehended. With gravestone theft an increasing problem, readers
will be heartened to know that not all such thieves go uncaught. According to a news
item in the March 21, 1981, Asbury Park (N.J.) Press, when two Manalapan, N.J. men
were stopped in the early hours of March 20 for a traffic violation, the police officer
observed two old gravestones with early nineteenth century dates on the back seat of
the men's car. The stones had been illegally removed from Old Scott's Burial Ground
in Manalapan Township, and the two men were charged with theft and malicious damage.
What they intended to do with the stones was not reported. We hope Robert Van Ben-
thuysen, who sent the clipping, will report to us the final disposition of this case.
Conservation research. New York University. Professor Norbert S. Baer, of the Con-
servation Center of the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, has been awarded
a contract by the Environmental Protection Agency to study the deterioration of marble
gravestones in Veterans Administration cemeteries. Because the marble was cut from
only three quarries and fashioned into standardized shapes, these cemeteries provide
an almost perfect laboratory for measuring the rate of damage from environmental fac-
tors. (For another item about this research, see the AGS NEWSLETTER, volume 4,
number 4, page 9. )
Maine Old Cemetery Association featured. The Maine Old Cemetery Association, a prime
mover among advocates of cemetery preservation, was spotlighted in the November, 1980,
issue of Down East magazine. The nine-page, illustrated article details the history of
the organization from its founding in 1969 by Dr. Hilda M. Fife, to the present. MOCA
boasts 1200 members, described by one of them as "forward- (as well as backward-)
looking people." Down East recounts MOCA's tireless activity in the discovering and
preserving of abandoned burying grounds, as well as its development of an inscription
list and a surname index, both housed in the Maine State Library at Augusta, and avail-
able there to researchers.
AGS Archives. Michael Cornish reports good progress with the Association's archive col-
lection at the New England Historic Genealogical Society. Jim Green, NEHGS curator of
rare books, is purchasing two copies of the major works of available gravestone litera-
ture, using a bibliography prepared by Cornish. The NEHGS Library is at 101 Newbury
Street, Boston; presentation of the AGS membership card waives the $3 fee otherwise
charged non-NEHGS members. Readers are urged to contribute to the AGS collection.
Write Michael Cornish, 62 Calumet Street, Roxbury, Massachusetts 02120, about art or
literature you can offer (tax deductible) to the collection.
J
CONSERVATION:, aontinued - 7 -
Laser cleaning. The December 28 issue of Parade magazine features an article describing
physicist John Asmus' spectacular success in cleaning historical monuments with a laser.
Asmus, who works at Maxwell Laboratories in San Diego, has restored such diverse arti-
facts as vandalized American Indian pictographs in Utah and Rennaissance architecture
in Venice. He uses lasers (an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of
Radiation) to produce an intense burst of light which, according to the article, "heats
the surface it is directed toward and vaporizes any material that absorbs the heat. In
the case of the Venetian statuary, the black crust absorbed the energy and vaporized,
but the white marble surface underneath reflected the laser beam, so it remained un-
affected by the intense heat." We read of this new technique with interest in the pos-
sibility of its being applied to the conservation of important gravemarkers .
Gravestones for sale. Those who have read MARKERS , volume 1, will be interested to
learn that the advertisement for the fragment of a Connecticut Valley stone shown on
page 146 originally appeared in the March, 1979, issue of Main Antique Digest. Its ap-
pearance in that publication prompted Douglas M. Doughty of Saginaw, Michigan, to
write to the Digest a letter of protest, warning that "this kind of advertising will lead
to even more plundering of our early cemeteries." The accuracy of this prediction was
born out in the August, 1980, issue of the same publication, which contained a photo-
graph of a gravestone carved with a dove symbol to be offered at auction in Morrisville,
New York. The caption beneath the photograph read, "We know there is a controversy
about gravestones and grave ornaments being on the market. Trouble is, once they
are on the market, what do you do about them?" The Digest answered its own ques-
tion. The "...dove in marble brought $165." The NEWSLETTER thanks Fred Fredette,
Box 37, Scotland, Connecticut 0626U, for these news items.
EDUCATION
High school in the cemetery. One of the most positive results of gravestone studies in
recent years is the growing appreciation of gravestones and cemeteries as teaching re-
sources. A story in the Monument Builders News, January, 1981, tells of the use made
by Nancy Roll and Robert Manly of the local cemetery in Seward, Nebraska, as a primary
resource. Dr. Manly, historian and former professor at the University of Nebraska,
Lincoln, led Ms. Roll's American history class through the Seward cemetery, pointing
out significant inscriptions and epitaphs and explaining that the story told by the stones
is the story of the town, and a reflection of the nation's history as well. By interesting
coincidence, one of the photographs illustrating the article showed a tree marker simi-
lar to thoise discussed by James Slater at the 1980 ACS conference.
ACS slide program for public education. The ACS slide program for public education
is developing admirably, thanks to education committee members Sandra Poneleit, Mary
Stafford, Richard Welch, Eloise West, Miriam Silverman, Juliane Maynard, and Deborah
Trask, who actively solicited slides from the membership. The committee extends its
thanks to those who donated slides to this important Association project. For readers
who have color slides to contribute, it is not yet too late. For more information, write
Mary Anne Mrozinski, ACS Vice President/Education, 47 Hammond Road, Clen Cove,
New York 11542.
Slide program for rent . Is your historical or genealogical society looking for an in-
teresting program? Would you like a glimpse of gravemarkers west of the Mississippi?
Burial: Western Style, a 22 minute slide/cassette tape program is available to members
on request for $6.50 plus return postage. Order from Mary Anne Mrozinski at the
address above.
Newton's educational blockbuster. The historical society in Newton, Massachusetts
(called The Jackson Homestead) has organized a very ambitious series of events, all
dealing with gravestone-related subjects. Between May 2 and 13 the open-to-the-public
offerings scheduled include a walking tour, an open house and exhibition of mourning
clothes and accessories, an exhibit of photographs of distinguished Newtonians, a slide
presentation, a lecture, "Mourning Customs of Different Faiths and the Philosophy Be-
hind the Customs," and a slide-lecture, "Eighteenth Century Stone Cutters of Newton."
The photographs are by Dan Farber; the lecturer is Rabbi Murray Rothman; the slide-
lecture is presented by Laurel Cabel. Publicity for the series has been excellent. Our
compliments and best wishes for Newton's success with this fine educational venture.
Cood show. The exhibition of photographs, rubbings and collected epitaphs recently
shown at the library of the Medical College of Ohio broke the attendance record for ex-
hibits there, which have included a display of portraits by Karsh. According to Carol
Perkins, who organized the show, the response to the items exhibited was excellent,
although there was some questioning comment concerning the showing of tombstones at
a medical school!
- 8
RESEARCH AND WRITING
Jewish gravestones. AGS members with an interest in Jewish gravemarkers will want
to study D. DeSola Pool's Portraits Etched in Stone: Early Jewish Settlers, 1682-1831 ,
published by Columbis University Press in 1952. The book is based on a history of
the Sephardic Chatham Square Cemetery in New York City. Though long out of print.
Portraits can sometimes be found through second hand book dealers.
Regicides' gravestones. Increased research continues to unearth previously published
material relating to early gravestones. Robert Emien, associate curator of the Rhode
Island Historical Society, calls our attention to John Warner Barber's Connecticut
Historical Collections, containing a General Collection of Interesting Facts, Traditions,
Biographical Sketches, Anecdotes, etc.. Relating to the History and Antiquities of
Every Town in Connecticut, published in 1836.
The section on New Haven. (pp. 150-157) re-
counts "traditionary anecdotes" about the two
judges, or "Regicides," who sentenced Charles I
to death and who, by this account, fled to the
New Haven area after the Restoration. Illus-
trating the piece are four line drawings of sim-
ple, initialed fieidstone markers believed by the
author to be the Regicides' gravestones. They
are described as standing in the rear of the
Center Church in the old burying ground in
New Haven where, in former times, they were
"threatened by numerous sycophantic crown
dependents with indignity and ministerial ven-
geance." Mr. EmIen sent the NEWSLETTER a
Xerox copy of the complete story with the sug-
gestion that an interested reader with access
to the New Haven burial ground sort it all out —
it is filled with marvelous detail — and present
the story together with information concerning
the authenticity of the Regicides' gravemarkers at the AGS conference in Storrs. For
a copy, address the NEWSLETTER editor, c/o American Antiquarian Society, Worcester,
Massachusetts 01609.
Presumed gravestone of the
Regicide Edward Whalley ,
New Haven, Connecticut
"Winged Skulls and Weeping Willows," by Virginia Warren Allen, originally appeared in
the June, 1936, issue of Antiques. It is more recently available in a 1979 anthology
published by Antiques entitled Folk Art in America. The most interesting part of the
article is the photograph of the stone of Sidney Breese, which stands in Trinity Church-
yard, New York City. Breese, a stonecarver by trade, fashioned the marker before
his death in 1767 and inscribed it thus: Sidney Breese June 9 1767 I Made by himself I
Ha Sidney Sidney I Lyest thou here I I Here Lye I Till time is flown / To its Extremity.
In the tympanum is carved a winged skull, now badly damaged. The entire stone has
been encased in concrete. Folk Art in America includes also Daniel Farber's photoessay,
"Massachusetts Gravestones."
Long Island gravestones. "New York - New Jersey Gravestones on Long Island," by
Richard F. Welch, is featured in the winter, 1981, issue of the Journal of Long Island
History. The twenty-two page article with sixteen photographic illustrations treats
the markers and carvers of the Lower Hudson Valley school of gravestone carving.
Copies can be obtained from: The Seated Indian Shop, Long Island Historical Society,
128 Pierrepont Street, Brooklyn, New York 11201.
A Grave Business project. Anne Williams and Sue Kelly, whose rubbings of Connecticut
gravestones have been widely exhibited by Art Resources of Connecticut (42 page cat-
alog available from Art Resources of Connecticut, 85 Willow Street, New Haven, 06511),
are deep into a new project, which grew out of their exhibit at the 1980 AGS conference.
That exhibit featured rubbings of signed eighteenth century stones. Mrs. Williams and
Mrs. Kelly now have collected data on 226 signed stones, representing the work of sixty-
nine carvers, and they are making rubbings of the best of these for publication in AGS'
MARKERS, volume II, and for a book they are preparing. They seek the help of read-
ers who have found signed stones. Send the name of the deceased, the date, location
(town and cemetery), stone material, and condition (excellent, good, poor) to A Grave
Business, 83 Maywood Road, Darien, CT 06820.
Wisconsin gravestones. The December, 1980, issue of Wisconsin Academy Review con-
tains Phil Kallas' article, "Images Graven in Stone." Focusing on memorials found in
Wisconsin, Kallas discusses the evolution of gravestone symbolism from colonial times
to the present. The article is illustrated with several fine photographs of nineteenth
century and contemporary memorial designs.
RESEARCH AND WRITING, sont-inued
- 9 -
Research and hokum. Serious cemetery research and historical hokum are curiously
combined in the old cemetery of "ghost town" Calico, California. Thanks to Francis
Duval and Ivan Rigby for calling to our attention the following item from the A/eiv York
Times, March 22, 1981.
Old Graveyxird Yields
Only Part of Its Secrets
To Coast Researchers
0»J-/ .
' I — A i.fflfUl y S0D.
Oaotey iwr Cmae w c-
ShC» D a b«aer ptace -j>i
Laser dCBcr rac^n w-
talk af :
jearssm Xr
:«B. t&e place so
' 1 carreHCcr gun-
-'^ i: 1 potaer ufite.
vi£ •arrw^. :2e CaiMO
N«« Martsrs lad EstLfti&s
. ~: - : r-: : .- 1 :
■.:-.--. ::yj:.
- ; ; i: ■ ; - _ : -
± zt
i ^- z -- — L ~-^■■
: -.«*
:: ^' t - 1 ;-: -
' ■ u :z
i^T ^T- ; ~- 1 - .
- - - ■ - :.-^
i-:;: i:"j^-::- -
-~ "--:: —
icn^ ^i li-— iT ■
: r : - . - ^-1
_£g-r:C£ s=c - ^ 1 7
- T ;- XSZ -JC
Ca^cc *-.-^ r.z: .
: - - ri ,-:gr*. x,-
QtKfe; jmS [ dCUT VBC tc go fidv^ a**** ^ji
pBck SBpsisseadeac.
Tuft »tm.\ «j>^»f p»— .i|p..-^, -.p.^p|f.>-^
Tie? ire rera^r zf tie -wric-^ejcus
lad cer.r.z^s rf 3C.7 « cf ■j:e laC — rrses
in-.-- 7!» rxss wer« -Jier^ rrrr Jie
cayctes frani -ji^rg-i-p; ^ t^e g-a ..-Ta
sere i,-:--- :
zaa :3*r Ae£ 9
Dc . * is. '-".-^ ~;~ j^ ~i im Gf**'*-
Mas :f -.^cas ^uris: j:
-i Mr
£e>
■ escic Ting a 3a 3
a sac ^Lisraic- wtd tuaj ■i ■''■ •* 3
A photo-story with a somewhat similar theme was featured in Republic Airlines' in-
flight magazine. Republic Scene, August, 1980, pages 62-65. One of the photographs
showed wooden markers in Boot Hill Cemetery, Dodge City, Kansas, which appeared
to us to be reproductions or fabrications. This suspicion is given weight by the story,
according to which the original Boot Hill Cemetery was bulldozed to make space for a
new city hall, and the present Boot Hill was developed to interest tourists.
Pretty Polly Coombes. From Ann Parker we have an interesting item about the Polly
Coombes stone in Beliingham, Massachusetts. Published in the Bellingham Historical
Society's "Crimprill Comments," the article tells of Polly's "discovery" by Ann Parker
and Avon Neal and its subsquent fame through the wide distribution of the Seal's rub-
bings and photographs of the carving. Polly has been shown in exhibitions, hung in
permanent museum collections, used to decorate postcards and notecards and to illus-
trate numerous articles and books. Perhaps its most impressive appearance is in the
catalog (written by Jean Lipman and Alice Winchester) for the 1974 show, "The Flower-
ing of American Folk Art, 1776-1876," at the Whitney Museum of American Art. From
the Bellingham article we have a new wrinkle in the story of this stone. Polly is the
nickname of the deceased; the "real" name, listed in the vital records, is not mentioned.
Polly Coombes' stone was carved by Joseph Barber, authenticated in 1980 by Michael
Cornish. (For a look at Polly, see Ann Tashjian's rubbing on page 90 of the Tashjians'
Memorials for Children of Change. Barbara Moon's rubbing of the Coombes' tympanum
was illustrated on page 5 of the previous issue of the SEiVSLETTER. We take this op-
portunity to apologize to her and to our readers for the too-black printing of it, which
obliterated much of its detail, including Polly's charming smile. The Moon notecards
are available for $3.50, including postage, from Ms. Moon, at 1955 Stony Hill, Hinckley,
Ohio 44233.)
Long Island cemetery study. A superb example of the possibilities offered by grave-
stone research is found in Constance KopF>elman's "Dead Men /Women Do Tell Tales,"
published in Long Island Forum, XLIV, 1, January, 1981. The article is the result of
research conducted by Ms. Koppelman in conjunction with the Suffolk County Museum's
"A Time to Mourn" exhibit. Working with the Smith Rudyard burial ground, situated
on the Museum's premises, Koppelman used the gravestones, dating mostly from the late
eighteenth to mid-nineteenth century, to trace family history, social and familial relation-
ships, mortality rates, and changes in attitudes toward death. The article provides a
clear illustration of the detailed and significant information which can be extracted from
even a small burial ground.
The book, .4 Time to Mourn. The exhibition, "A Time to Mourn: Expressions of Grief
in Nineteenth Century America" (reviewed in the \EliVSLETTER, volume 4, number 3,
page 3), was accompanied by the publication of a volume of the same name treating
death and funerary customs in Victorian America, This book, strongly recommended to
both the serious student and the interested layman, will be reviewed in the summer
issue of the NEWSLETTER. It sells for $11.95, softbound, and is available from The
Museums at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, New York, or from Highly Specialized Promo-
tions, 391 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn, New York 11217.
Reader's are rem-indsd that ALL publ-iaat-Cons I'evieued have ax-e available
from HSPj axaeTpting, of course^ any that may be out of prnnt. Note that
the address is 391 (not 395} A.tlanti-a Avenue^ BTK/oklifn, Sew lopk 11217.
10
BOOK REVIEW
THE AMERICAN LIFE COLLECTOR, FUNERARY ART, Number 10
Edited by Larry Freeman
Illustrated with photographs and engravings. 120 pages.
Watkins Glen, New York: The American Life Foundation and Study Institute. 1970.
Review by Michael Cornish
The American Life Collector is, or was, an annual journal published by
the American Life Foundation and Study Institute. Prior to this single-subject issue,
this journal had endeavored to treat a wide variety of areas of American decorative
arts, especially Victorian Americana. The concentration on Victorian antiques is
evident in the volume considered here, as most of the artifacts and "collectibles"
featured in the issue are of the nineteenth century. The works treated are, for the
most part, manufactured items, products turned out en masse, with elaborate over-
decoration, collectible only by virtue of their surviving eighty or a hundred years.
Among the subjects dealt with are funeral customs (New England) , the tombs of
American presidents, engraved designs for cast iron memorial enclosures, coffins,
coffin plates, mourning jewelry, and mourning garb.
Funerary Art is decidedly amateurish in quality. The text is full of typo-
graphical and grammatical errors; epitaphs, for example, are sometimes referred to
as epithets. Illustrations are frequently misidentified, and rubbings from Edmund
Cillon's Early New England Gravestone Rubbings and Allan Ludwig's Craven Images
are uncredited. Freeman's material contains some black humor of questionable taste
and his comments about gravestones are often seriously misinformed, as in his state-
ment that the earliest gravestones were ordered from Europe. In other instances.
Freeman demonstrates an unfamiliarity with his subject, as seen in his description of
Colonial carving styles. His material on early gravestones appears to have been taken
from Graven Images, but while he adopted Ludwig's terminology and nomenclature, he
clearly lacks an understanding of his subject and is unable to provide his reader with
a coherent synopsis of Ludwig's thesis.
Some of the problems with this volume can be excused in that they reflect
the generally poor understanding of the subject common among devotees of related
decorative arts as recently as 1970. Nevertheless, The American Life Collector,
Funerary Art cannot be recommended except as a novelty. It does contain many very
good old engravings of Gothic style mausoleums and photographs of some extraordin-
ary nineteenth century mourning jewelry using woven and embroidered hair. A
short, incisive history of American Rural Cemeteries entitled "Weep Willow Weep,"
by John Crosby Freeman, is a cut above the balance of the text.
Michael Cornish, AGS Vice President I Archives, is active in attribution research and
has exhibited his gravestone rubbings and photographs.
CEMETERY CITATIONS
EXEMPLARY CARE
NEGLECT
Hopewell Cemetery
MONTGOMERY, OHIO
(Greater Cincinnatti)
South End Burying Grounds
EAST HAMPTON, NEW YORK
Basking Ridge Presbyterian Churchyard
BASKING RIDGE, NEW JERSEY
Readers may have observed that the
drawings used to illustrate Cemetery
Citations are taken (with permission
and thanks) from Peter Benes' The
Masks of Orthodoxy. The two used
here are of the work of eighteenth
century Connecticut carvers William
Congressional Cemetery
WASHINGTON, D. C.
This cemetery was the subject of a short
program on PBS, Channel 13,. New York.
It is overgrown, overcrowded, completely
untended. The last appropriation for its
upkeep was made in 1951.
Riker Cemetery
ASTORIA, QUEENS, NEW YORK CITY
Apparently abandoned by both the Rikers
and the City (though it adjoins a New
York City landmark), this burying ground
is a jungle of seeds, saplings, trash and
broken and disintegrating stones. (^
Buckland and Ebenezer Drake, whose work may be seen in the 1981 conference site area.
11
STONECUTTERS AND THEIR WORKS
Eighth of a Series
Jedediah Aylesworth, 1795, Arlington, Vermont
SAMUEL DWIGHT: VERMONT GRAVESTONE CUTTER
Nancy Jean Melin
Discovering the identity of the witty and imaginative carver of the 1771
Elisabeth Smith gravestone has been an intriguing challenge to students of gravestone
art, particularly since 1977, when AGS adopted the effigy carving from this Williams-
town, Massachusetts, marker as the Association's logo design. Although no probated
data has yet been found which links the Vermont carver Samuel Dwight with this stone,
a great deal of factual and circumstantial evidence does. Whether or not the distinc-
tion belongs to Dwight, his place of importance among early gravestone carvers is
secure, and his story as a stonecutter is an interesting one.
He grew up in Thompson, Connecticut,
the grandson of one Josiah Dwight, who
played an important role in the town history
of nearby Woodstock. That part of eastern
Connecticut is just north of the region where
stonecutters Obadiah Wheeler and Benjamin
Collins adapted and fostered the Essex Coun-
ty Style, brought there by John Hartshorn
from Massachusetts' Merrimack River Valley.
Characteristics of this inventive and ingen-
ious style are prominent in Dwight's work.
The Dwight family genealogy notes that
Samuel was a twin and that through his
grandfather, Josiah, he was related to Timo-
thy Dwight, a president of Yale. Samuel was
himself a student at Yale College, graduating
In 1783, in the class with Nathan Hale. Fol-
lowing his graduation, Dwight remained in
the New Haven area. His activities there are
for the most part unknown, although he is supposed to have composed a song for a later
graduating class. Records show that during this period he married the widow of one
Michael Todd, and Dexter' s Biographical Sketches of the Graduates of Yale College re-
cords with an admonition that he "absconded" and left her in New Haven when he moved
to Vermont.
His name appears in the Vermont census for 1790, the same year he an-
nounced in the Bennington Vermont Gazette the "reopening of Clio Hall, an academy for
youth." He described that institution as offering training in Greek, Latin, logic, arith-
metic, grammar, and "all other branches which are usually taught in academies." Dwight's
career as a schoolmaster there was brief; before 1792 the school was closed again. Aside
from a signed gravestone in Manchester, Vermont, another one further north in Rutland
County, Vermont, and a notice in the 1800 Vermont Gazette disavowing further associa-
tion with a second wife, few certain signs of him remain other than his charming yet so-
phisticated stonecarving in the graveyards of Bennington County. The greatest con-
centration of his mature work is in the Arlington and Shaftsbury, Vermont, burial grounds.
- 12 -
Dwight's work is identified by its distinctive lettering style and tiie repetitive
use of symbolic heart, hand, vine, and flower motifs. His stones are of white marble,
large in size, excepting those for children, and the tympanums are usually cut in a char- _.
acteristic double S curve configuration. This tympanum contour may have been borrowecf^
from Zerubbabel Collins, another prominent carver working in the area. Dwight's earliest
effigy carvings (1790-1796) resemble the simple stick and cylindrical figures common to
children's drawings. Some of his stones are back-dated, evidenced by his frequent use
of two dates on a stone, one the death date and the other presumed to be the date of the
stone's commission. Dwight's second phase (1796-1800) was characterized by the use of
f 4
iNy^EMO^^'OF x:;
r !\
ir
■ I >
■>,.t N
Shaftsbury Center, Vermont, 1801
Arlington, Vermont, 1796
rounded, more developed portrait-like effigies, the addition of border designs, and the
continued use of the tympnaum contour described previously. Dwight's work entered a
third phase (1800-1810) in which he further simplified his style while retaining his fa-
vorite symbolic motifs. His last markers, which date to the 1820's, are noteworthy ex-
amples of the popular urn and willow genre.
I believe the Elisabeth Smith stone to be a back-dated example of Samuel
Dwight's early period. My attribution of this stone to Dwight is based largely upon
lettering pecularities, the distinctive ampersand sign, and the elaborate AD (Anno Domini)
used with the birth and death dates. The Smith stone bears a resemblance to other stones
in the same northwest Massachusetts area. One of these is the South Williamstown stone
for Dwight's brother. Captain Hamlin Dwight, who died in 1786, the year Samuel left
Connecticut for Vermont. That stone's lettering and its unusual effigy design — a profile
portrait — are carved in the characteristic Dwight style.
The last probated record of Samuel Dwight is in the Vermont Census of 1830,
where he is listed as a resident of Sunderland, Vermont. Town records note that he
signed over his property — one red cow, one feather bed and bedding — to the township
in exchange for continued public support. Dwight appears to have died a single man,
childless and destitute. Ironically, despite his formidable contribution to gravestone
art, no stone marking his gravesite has yet been found.
Nancy Jean Meli'n is Chief Serials Librarian at the City University of New York Graduate
School. She has agreed to compile for the NEWSLETTER a much needed subject-author
index of items that have appeared in this publication. Mrs. Melin is also preparing an
annotated bibliography of gravestone related literature, for which she welcomes con-
tributions concerning books and articles which have not been noted in any previous
bibliography in this field or in the NEWSLETTER. Her address: 215 West 75th Street,
Apartment #10E, New York, New York 10023.
The photographs in this issue of the NEWSLETTER are from the Duval-Rigby collec-
tion, 405 Vanderbilt Avenue, Brooklyn, New York 11238. The rubbing on the previous
page is taken, with permission, from MEMORIALS FOR CHILDREN OF CHANGE, by
Dickran and Ann Tashjian.
For a photograph of the Elisabeth Smith headstone and footstone, see NEWSLETTER
volume 4, number 1, page 16.
e%5)
- 1:$
INTERESTING EPITAPHS
Behold Me here as you Pass By
Who bled and dy'd for Liberty
From British Ty rents now am free
Nicholas Parcell, 1780, Shorthills,
New Jersey. Parcell was killed in
an encounter with Hessian troops
at the Battle of Connecticut Farms.
This Life is a Dream
and an empty Sho
Into the Wide World
We must go
Richard Lawrence, 1781,
Steinway, New York.
Contributed by Cyril Bassett,
Manhasset, New York.
She lived
A dutiful child, a virtuous wife, a tender
Parent, a faithful Friend, a pious Christian,
and died
In chearful hope of everlasting bliss.
"Henceforth my Soul in sweetest union join
The two supports of human happiness.
Which some erroneous think can never meet;
True Taste of Life, and constant thought of Death! "
Phebe Corham, 1775, Lothrop Hill Burying Ground,
Barnstable, Massachusetts. Contributed by Diana
Hume George, who seeks a literary source for the
poem. Address her at the Division of Arts and Hu-
manities, Pennsylvania State University-Behrend
College, Stanton Road, Erie, Pennsylvania 16563.
Behold vain mortals
Poor feeling worms
Beneath this clay cold sod
Here lies a prey to nauseous worms
the noblest work of God.
Col. John Sands, 1811, Sands Point,
New York. Contributed by Anthony
J. Miracolo, Jr. , Plainview, New York
Cone to be an angle.
Gertrude Walker, White
Horn, Tennessee.
From Quesf Magazine, April, 1981
Lord, she is Thin!
Susannah Ensign,
Cooperstown,New York
Here lies Jane Smith,
Wife of Thomas Smith, Marble Cutter
This monument was erected by her
husband as a tribute to her memory
and a specimen of his work.
Monuments of this same style are
two hundred and fifty dollars.
John Cowan died 1856
R. C. Russell 1808-1872
Abigail
Their Wife
1813-1909
From Prescott, Massachusetts, one of several Massachusetts villages removed in the
1930's to make a site for the Quabbin Reservoir. Gravestones removed from the vil-
lages are now in Quabbin Cemetery, near Belchertown. The above two and other
epitaphs recorded in the book, Quabbin — The Lost Valley, were contributed by Larry Hott.
m r t r
Amasa and Amy West's three children, 1755. Signed, "Made by W' ' Buckland. lu. Harfo "
Detail of a rubbing of the whole stone by Williams /Kelly
14
AN INTRODUCTION TO GRAVESTONE STUDY Diana Hume George f
In 1972 I was a high school teacher looking for a way to attract my less
academically motivated students to the beauty and loveliness of language. The local
burying grounds in Fredonia, New York, seemed a good prospect for such a purpose.
By taking my students there, I could give them a sense of local history, a look at
some fine artifacts, and an understanding of how stunning and effective a few words
can be. I decided to do some preliminary research, driving through the grounds in
my car. I stopped frequently and took notes. Gradually, I became aware that the
groundskeeper was watching me, and had been for quite a while. I was stunned when
he ordered me to leave. The burial ground was open and I was not violating any regu-
lations. I explained what I was doing, to no avail, and I left, frustrated and angry.
I parked my car out of sight, hopped the fence, and went back to work copying epi-
taphs in another part of the cemetery. The wasted time meant I had to hurry because
it would soon be too dark to see. I sped down the hill toward the fence at a run,
carrying my large bag-type purse containing my notepad. Just as I took off in a jump
I was blinded by flashing blue lights (Cops? Cops! ) and a single, unflashing spot
aimed directly into my face. "Hold it right there!" (no kidding, that's what the man
said). I could not comply immediately, but as soon as I landed, I held it right there.
Again I explained that I was a teacher at the high school, that they could telephone
the principal for verification. They wanted to know what I had buried. After an
exchange of the "Sure you were, lady" variety and considerable misunderstanding,
I learned that this was the night of the biggest drug bust in this college town's his-
tory. The cemetery groundskeeper had reported a person with a case engaged in
suspicious activity. To the police it added up to a frightened drug dealer trying
to bury the evidence. I was ordered to stay away from the cemetery, presumably un-
til I would be obliged to enter it permanently. I have not followed these orders, of
course. But now, when I visit any graveyard, I am quick to flash identification and
neighborly smiles, and I tend to seek out the authorities before they seek me out.
Perhaps all of this defensive action has been unnecessary. I have never had any
trouble since.
Diana George, a frequent contributor to gravestone studies, teaches at The Pennsyl-
vania State University, Erie, Pennsylvania. She has received a National Endowment
for the Humanities fellowship to aid the research for her second book on William Blake,
effectively delaying her gravestone research on Cape Cod epitaphs. She has, however,
volunteered to serve as guest editor of the winter NEWSLETTER (see NEWSLETTER
NOTES, page 5 ;.
Readere are invited to oontribute half-page accounts of their unusual experiences
or of their initiation to qravestone study.
jf their initiation to gravestone study.
MISCELANEOUS
Gravestone insurance . The Monument Builders News, November, 1980, contains a brief
piece explaining the Monument Builders of North America (MBNA) vandalism and theft
program. These policies, sold at $1 per $100 of protection, insure gravemarkers against
vandalism and theft for a five year period. Presumably, this is renewable. The upper
limit of coverage is $2000 with a $25 deductible. This insurance is available through
MBNA retailers only.
The ultimate epitaph? According to an item in Newsday, March 3, 1981, a California
electrical engineer, Stanley Zelazny, has developed a sound system to be built into
gravemarkers. The system allows the deceased to deliver a recorded message. Adver-
tised as "weather and vandal proof," the system runs on solar power. Zelazny deve-
loped the recording device because "Everyone has his say at funerals except the
mournied one. "
Cast monuments. The January, 1981, Monument Builders News features an article
celebrating the hundred year old tradition of monument carving by members of the
Cast family of Chicago. Engelbet Cast, a Bavarian immigrant, founded the business
in 1880,and it has continued as a thriving family concern. The Casts are responsible
for the Mies Van der Rohe and the Richard J. Daley ledger stones, and for the Stackley
mausoleum, considered by some to be among the finest of its kind. The accompanying
photographs attest to the Cast's skill and creativity and demonstrate that contemporary
funerary art need not be mediocre and unappealing. ^
■NEWSLETTER NOTES
CORRECTIONS. ADDITIONS. DEADLINES
We are indebted to Richard F. Welch for his enthusiastic and thoroughgoing
work as guest editor of this issue of the NEWSLETTER. Mr. Welch, who is
in the graduate program in history at the State University of New York at
Stony Brook, teaches history at the secondary level at Glen Cove on Long
Island, and does free-lance writing for popular historical magazines and for
historical journals.
Summer issue. The guest editor of the summer issue of the NEWSLETTER is Cina Santucci,
a 1980 graduate of Columbia University's program in historic preservation, now landmarks
preservation specialist in the Survey Department of the New York City Landmarks Pre-
servation Commission. Ms. Santucci's issue will feature Victorian Rural Cemeteries and
Victorian monuments and mausoleums of the 1835-1895 period. She invites readers' con-
tributions to all the regular NEWSLETTER features. Articles on memorials and landscape
design of the period that she is featuring are especially welcome. The deadline for the
receipt of contributions is June 1. Address Cine Santucci, 8 Gramercy Park, #4H , New
York, New York, 10003 (telephone 212-228-1587), or use the permanent NEWSLETTER
address: AGS Publications, c/o American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, MA 01609.
Fall issue. Donna N. Carlson, assistant curator/photographic archivist for an historical
museum in Fredonia, New York, will be guest editor for the fall NEWSLETTER. The dead-
line for that issue is September 1, 1981. Her address; P.O. Box 142, Fredonia, NY 14063.
Winter issue. Diana George and Mac Nelson, professors at Pennsylvania State University-
Behrend College, and State University of New York, Fredonia, respectively, will be
guest co-editors of the winter ' 81-' 82 NEWSLETTER, in which they will feature the epi-
taph. Contributions to that issue are due before December 1, 1981. Address contribu-
tions to George/Nelson, 120 West Main Street, Brocton, New York 14716.
Corrections. (1) The address given in the previous issue of the NEWSLETTER for Betty
Willsher, author of Stones, should have been: Orchard Cottage, Greerside Place, St.
Andrews, Fife KY 16 91 J Scotland. She offered to do research for readers interested
in Scottish geneology. (2) The correct address for Highly Specialized Promotions, Inc.,
through which readers can order books reviewed on these pages, is 391 Atlantic Avenue,
Brooklyn, New York 11217. (3) The fee for joining or renewing membership in AGS is
still $10. Send it before July 1 to Sally Thomas, 82 Hilltop PI., New London, NH 03257.
Response. In response to the NEWSLETTER piece on stonecutter Daniel Hastings (volume
5, number 1, page 8), Vincent Luti has sent probated data on another Hastings stone.
We forwarded it to Laurel Gabel, who is preparing a paper and an exhibition of Hastings'
work. Luti is studying Rhode Island carvers and has sent a NEWSLETTER contribution
on the carver William Throop.
BRIEFLY NOTED
AS WE GO TO PRESS
A show of rubbings by Anne Williams and Sue Kelly is being shared by the New Canaan
and the Wilton, Connecticut, historical societies, where Williams and Kelly have recently
lectured and will offer rubbing workshops in May.
Art history professor Robert Prestiano, whose article about the contemporary work of
D. Aldo Pitassi was featured in the previous issue of the NEWSLETTER , would like to
Rear from readers who know of other good contemporary gravestone work. Prestiano's
address: 1105 North Van Buren, San Angelo, Texas 76901. On the same subject is a
letter from Francis Duval calling our attention to the fine "and honest" contemporary
work of Jerry Trauber, 142 Langham Street, Brooklyn, New York 11238.
William Hosley, whose research on the Rockingham, Vermont, carvers was published in
the proceedings of the 1978 AGS/Dublin Seminar, is now adjunct curator at the Wadsworth
Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut. We want him to write a piece for us on those carvers.
Preservation News has asked Elizabeth Morse Cluley, on the English faculty of the Uni-
versity of Rhode Island, to write a piece about gravestones for that publication.
New Jersey's Wayne Adult School offers a course, "Gravestones, Epitaphs and History,"
taught by Bill Moir. Mr. Moir's rubbings were shown in September at the Israel Crane
House, Montclair, New Jersey, where he is curator of exhibits, and in March he present-
ed a slide/lecture at the Maplewood (New Jersey) Historical Society. Moir is a delegate
to the Museums Council of New Jersey and the League of Historical Societies.
We have just received a full report of the accidental destruction and subsquent cutting
of replicas of many eighteenth century stones in Shaftsbury Center, Vermont. This
story--both shocking and heartening — will be reported in the summer NEWSLETTER.
f
Olf ON I'U'J^d
a I V d
30ViSOd s n
-OHO XUOdd NON
)111131SM1N
60910 ss^w Ja^saDJOM
•X43IDOS upuvnbijuv uvDUdujvo/D
•suou^3!|qnj SDV
Name.
Address
Town _
State
Zip
Institution (if you represent one)
Please reserve the following (circle appropriate amounts)
Room and Meals
Double occupancy (Friday, Saturday), 2 breakfasts, 3 lunches, 2 dinners
Single occupancy (limited number, first come, first served)
Room only (no meals) Thursday night
Tour — Granite Carvers of Eastern Connecticut
Registration
Registration if paid by May 1
Membership
Sustaining Membership
75 ea.
85
5
I have
color slides I would like to show at the Members' Slide Show.
1981 AGS CONFERENCE
UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT^ STORRS
JUNE 26-28
MAIL REGISTRATION TO
DR. JOANNE BAKERy CONFERENCE DIRECTOR
ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES
64 NORTH MAIN STREET
CONCORD^ NEW HAMPSHIRE 03301
C
NEWSLETTER
OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES
Editor, Jessie Lie Farber
Guest Editor, CIna Santucci
Volume 5, Number 3, Summer 1981 ISSN: 0146-5783
CONTENTS
DISCOVERING ROMANTIC FUNERARY MARKERS AND LANDSCAPES 1
by Blanche M.G. Linden
THE VICTORIAN GARDEN CEMETERY 3
by George Kackley
VICTORIANS AT HOME IN THEIR CEMETERIES 5
by Barbara Rotundo
THE MOUNT AUBURN CEMETERY FENCE CONTROVERSY 6
by Patricia Casler
THE VANDERBILT CEMETERY AND MAUSOLEUM 7
by Nancy Coeschel
BOOK REVIEW 8
A Time to Mourn
Edited by Martha V. Pike & Janice Gray Armstrong
Reviewed by Gina Santucci
VICTORIAN ERA MEMORIAL ART IN RURAL CEMETERIES, a photo essay. , , 9'
by Francis Y. Duval S Ivan B. Rigby
MANHATTAN'S RURAL CEMETERY, Trinity 11
byJay Shockley
STONECUTTERS AND THEIR WORKS. Ninth installment 12
Crawford, Saint-Caudens & Frencli
by Dorothy L. Cogswell
SOME 19th-CENTURY REFERENCES; books, articles, associations 13
CONSERVATION. Lance Mayer responds 1^1
For a variety of reasons, eighteenth century New England gravestones have been given more space in this publication than
have the markers of all other periods and geographical areas combined. This issue is a welcome change. It features grave-
stones and cemeteries of nineteenth century America, a period of special interest to Gina Santucci, guest editor of this issue.
Ms. Santucci is a 1980 graduate of Columbia University's program in Historic Preservation , now working for the New York City
Landmarks Preservation Commission. Her enthusiasm and diligence in preparing this NEWSLETTER elicited a landslide of
contributions which overwhelmed your regular editor, who spent too much of her summer exploring French cemeteries to deal
promptly with this deluge and get the issue to press on schedule. Because of the wealth of nineteenth century material con-
tributed, we ore saving for the fall issue our report on the Association's annual conference, held in June, as well as most of
the news items we have on hand. We were obliged to make another hard choice: either cut the number of articles we could
use or cut the length of each article. We opted for the latter and ask our authors to accept our apologies.
Donna Carlson, P.O. Box 142, Fredonia, New York 14063, is guest editor of the fall NEWSLETTER. Send contributions to her
or to : ACS Publications, do American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massachusetts 01609.
DISCOVERING ROMANTIC FUNERARY MARKERS AND LANDSCAPES
Blanche M. C. Linden
he creation of the "rural" or garden cemetery in the three decades be-
fore the Civil Vifar hastened changes in gravestones which began in the
late eighteenth century. This new institutional and landscape form be-
came national in scope. The imagery of the willow tree and urn motif
from gravestones and mourning pictures became reality as Americans
adapted the commemorative, melancholy landscape of the English country garden to
the functional act of burying the dead of their increasing urban population.
Nineteenth-century Americans consciously wanted to create new cultural forms
and material evidence of a past derived from the Revolution rather than Colonialism.
Marble became the new stone of choice, followed at mid-century by granite. The trus-
tees of Boston's Mount Auburn, the country's first rural garden cemetery, actually
banned slate slabs placed in the traditional vertical position. Individual stones became
three dimensional. The messages engraved on many stones exhorted the viewer to
remember the identity of the deceased rather than to remember death- -memento mori —
the lesson of the Colonial stone. Proprietors of family plots often erected major monu-
ments before burials took place. The stones became tributes to family, including in
their inscriptions the names of the living members as well as the deceased. Often they
bore the names and dates of ancestors who were not even buried on the site. They
served as genealogical documents, much like the family Bible, and also as symbols of
status.
Complex factors determined choice of monument form. The diversity of styles re-
flected varied economic means, religious views, ethnicity, and "taste cultures." The
origins of the various monument styles were eclectic, and many had generalized historic
associations, favoring most often the neo-classical styles of Greece and Rome along with
Egyptian and Gothic styles. Both the stones and the cemetery landscape had a literary
basis, related to. the new notions of death.
Consequently, most of the old gravestone motifs disappeared or were greatly al-
tered. Proprietors of lots in the new pastoral cemeteries rejected the death's head along
with the use of slate. The cherub became a sculptural, three-dimensional motif, even-
tually evolving into the full-length allegorical figure. Occasionally bas reliefs of angels
bearing the deceased to heaven appeared. Statues of women and children, either singly
or together, can be considered variations on the "spirit portrait" of the previous cen-
tury. With the growth of artistic training, individual portraiture became more refined.
Portraits ranged from busts to full-size statues, some of the first products of patronage
of the professionalized artist in America. The willow tree and urn motif recurred on
stones and on ornate cast iron gates, urns, and fences; and it recurred in the landscape
itself as proprietors of family plots, recapitulating the gravestone motif, planted willows
and other weeping trees over their neoclassical monuments.
New and varied iconography appeared on gravemarkers, indicating the symbolic
consciousness of the times. Occupational symbols and lodge emblems added a new de-
gree of personalization. The anchor of hope was used more frequently than the hour-
glass, the symbol of mortality. Butterflies appeared as a new symbol of the soul and as
evidence of growing taste for Nature. Plant motifs bore complex significance. Cut flow-
ers, particularly the morning glory, the rose, and the lily, indicating a life cut short,
were used frequently on women's stones. Laurel joined carvings of military gear to sig-
nify victory. Motifs served to differentiate the sexes and ages of the deceased. A
sheaf of wheat represented death of the mature or the aged. Treestones in the form of
a severed oak trunk and limbs indicated either the death of the individual or cumulative
cuttings from the family tree. This intricately sculptured form was especially prevalent
in cities with a strong German heritage, and its meanings can be traced to Teutonic folk-
lore. Stones in the form of open books or scrolls provided a surface for epitaphs, scrip-
tural quotations, and melancholy verse like that found in popular periodicals of the roman-
tic era. The motif of the finger pointed heavenward testified to faith, especially among
Baptists and Methodists, and the cross, a sign rejected by the Puritans as papist, re-
appeared with the rise of Episcopalianism. Inverted torches harmonized well with neo-
classical styles favored by Unitarians.
Taste varied from city to city. Bostonians favored simple styles with minimal icon-
ography. Philadelphians filled Laurel Hill Cemetery with rows of opulent mausolea and a
forest of obelisks, each vying to be tallest. German sculptors and craftsmen in Cincin-
natti and Louisville created elaborate statuary for Spring Grove and Cave Hill Cemeteries.
Adolph Strauch, superintendent of Spring Grove after 1855, formulated the "lawn
plan," which stipulated that each family plot could have only one major monument, with
individual markers nearly flush with the level of the sod. Thereafter, families invested
in the central monument, making it large enough to combine information formerly dis-
tributed among a number of smaller, individual gravestones. Other cemeteries tried to
implement similar guidelines, but few fully succeeded in subduing the trend toward
overcrowding of monuments, fences, and mausolea. By the end of the Civil War, the
garden cemetery landscape had become as "thingy" as the cluttered Victorian parlor.
The cultural wealth of the "rural" cemetery is perhaps even more endangered
than that of the Colonial graveyard. Marble, especially vulnerable to acid rain, deter-
iorates more rapidly than other gravestone materials, and much of the fine craftsman-
ship of romantic gravestones has already been lost to time and the elements. Vandal-
ism and neglect, resulting from lack of interest in Victorian monuments and lack of
funds for their upkeep, are also responsible for the deterioration of these cemeteries.
Much remains intact, however, inviting the attention of the modern scholar and the
gravestone connoisseur just as strongly as it appealed to the public of the nineteenth-
century, when the garden cemetery served the double purpose of burying ground and
pleasure ground and was one of the city's chief attractions.
MAJOR EXAMPLES OF THE "RURAL" CEMETERY
Mount Auburn
Laurel Hill
.Creen-Wood
Mount Hope
Greenmount
Rosehill
Cypress Grove
Woodland
Rural
Allegheny
Spring Grove
Swan Point
Holly-Wood
Green Lawn
Cave Hill
Cambridge, Mass.
1831
Philadelphia, Pa.
1836
Brooklyn, N.Y.
1838
Rochester, N.Y.
1839
Baltimore, Md.
1839
Syracuse, N.Y.
1841
New Orleans, La.
1841
Dayton, Ohio
1813
Albany, N.Y.
isat
Pittsburgh, Pa.
iBnn
Cincinnati, Ohio
1845
Providence, R.I.
1846
Richmond, Va.
1847
Columbus, Ohio
1848
Louisville, Ky.
1848
Sleepy Hollow
Tarry town, N.Y.
1848
Forest Lawn
Buffalo, N.Y.
1849
Oal< Hill
Washington, D.C.
1849
Bellefontaine
St. Louis, Mo.
1849
Magnolia
Charleston, S.C.
1849
Evergreen
Savannah, GA.
1850
Oak Hill
Minneapolis, Minn.
1850
Woodland
Cleveland, Ohio
1851
Elmwood
Memphis, Tenn.
1852
Evergreen
Portland, Me.
1852
Green Mount
Montpelier, Vt.
1854
Sleepy Hollow
Concord, Mass.
1855
Mount Olivet
Nashville, Tenn.
1856
Lone Mount
San Francisco, Ca.
1859
Graceland
Chicago, III.
1860
Crown Hill
Indianapolis, Ind.
1863
Blanche Linden is an Instructor of American Studies at Brandeis University and a doc-
toral candidate in the Program of History of American Civilization at Harvard
THE VICTORIAN GARDEN CEMETERY George Kackley
In the history of artistic conservation, the Victorian garden cemetery is
sadly neglected. Those of us who are responsible for the care of nineteenth-century
garden cemeteries are custodians of works of art more important than is generally
recognized. Our nation's great city parks are extensions of these cemeteries, which
were, in fact, our first public parks.
The Romantic Movement.
To appreciate these cemeteries, we must understand the mood of the
nineteenth-century Romantic Movement. The Romantic Movement is best understood
through familiarity with its major products: the poetry and novels of Wordsworth,
Scott, Byron, Shelley, Keats, Bryant, Pushkin, Cooper, Poe, Hugo, Lermontov,
Sand, and Melville (it is no accident that the first of these cemeteries got its name.
Mount Auburn, from Wordsworth); paintings by Watteau, Blake, Turner, Delacroix,
and the Hudson River school; the music of Rossini, Weber, Berlioz, Chopin, Verdi,
Wagner, and Liszt; and the informal, natural-style gardens modeled after the English
estate gardens.
The Victorian romantics valued the emotional experience. The art of the
period displayed the domination of heart over head, of emotion and instinct and im-
agination over intellect and reason, of Dionysus over Appolo. In harmony with these
values, landscape architects preferred the wild to the cultivated, the lush to the
trimmed, the profuse to the sparse, the exuberant to the restrained, the mystic to
the rational, and the "spooky" to the explicable. They loved the "ivy-covered ruins
and cold moonlight." They were rapt by deserted cemeteries.
The romantics were fascinated by the past, searching for historical and
mythic roots in fairy tales, folk dances, and other folklore. They glorified their
heroes. The past was exotic, and the charm of the exotic brought Egyptian, Japanese,
and other styles to the architecture and art of the period. Romantic taste was unbound;
it was eclectic.
Victorian romanticism rejected urban civilization in favor of a "return to
nature," glorifying the uncivilized landscape of Rousseau's "noble savage." Nature
was acclaimed as the ultimate source of reason. The better romantic paintings are
apt to be landscapes or seascapes featuring small human figures overwhelmed within
stupendous or eerie natural settings. Romantics were prone to bathos, to meglomania,
to the macabre, to "saccharine pornography." Almost all of these characteristics are
found in America's Victorian garden cemeteries, of which Washington's Oak Hill, in
the care of this writer, is a fine example.
Oak Hill Cemetery.
Oak Hill Cemetery was established in 1849 as a gift of the national Capitol's
major nineteenth-century philanthropist, William Wilson Corcoran. He later gave us
the Corcoran Gallery, setting the pattern for privately built public art collections for
the nation. Corcoran obviously intended his cemetery to be another kind of gallery,
exhibiting the finest and latest in landscape architecture, in buildings, and in sculpture.
William Corcoran copied the ideas and profited from the experiences of the
first of the Victorian garden cemeteries, the seminal Mount Auburn, built outside of
Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1831. An interesting example of the influence of Mount
Auburn on Oak Hill concerns their fences. In the 1860's, the management of Oak Hill
tried unsuccessfully to discover the origin of the magnificent cast-iron fence sur-
rounding Oak Hill. One hundred and ten years later, the writer discovered that it
is the same fence that enclosed Mount Auburn, designed by Jacob Biglow, the creator
of Mount Auburn, and cast in Boston.
It has been supposed that Oak Hill's handsome gate piers and gates were
brought from the Smithsonian Institution or from the Capitol grounds, but recent
research uncovered in the Smithsonian archives the plans for Oak Hill's piers and
gates. They are the work of James Renwich, architect of the Smithsonian "Castle."
Renwich rebuilt Corcoran's mansion on Lafayette Square, and he later designed the
original Corcoran Gallery. His versatility is proved by the antipodal church build-
ings he produced, from St. Patrick's Cathedral opposite Rockfeller Plaza to the chapel
at Oak Hill.
Oak Hill's grounds and gatehouse were constructed by a latter-day I'Enfant,
George Francis de la Roche. Circumstantial evidence suggests that both were designed
by or at least strongly influenced by Andrew Jackson Downing, who had the commission
to lay out the Smithsonian grounds. A search of Corcoran's papers should prove or
- u
disprove this thesis and might also identify the artist responsible for the chapel
windows.
Problems of Preservation.
Because we of the twentieth century have chosen to discredit the Vic-
torians, and because we are confused by the similarity of the garden cemeteries of
the nineteenth century to the memorial parks of the twentieth century, we tend to
ignore the Victorian garden cemetery. When well designed, twentieth-century memo-
rial parks do have some of the features of their nineteenth-century progenitors, the
Victorian garden cemeteries. Both are major contributions of landscape architects.
Both can be arboreta and beautiful parks, where the public can enjoy nature and be
edified. Both display some fine sculpture and architecture. Those twentieth-century
cemeteries which are designed as gardens are a clear continuation of some of the Vic-
torian cemeteries. It is therefore something of a paradox that the survival of the
Victorian garden cemetery is threatened because important differences between these
two types of cemeteries are largely ignored. The Victorian masterpieces are being
destroyed by attempts to treat them as though they were memorial parks.
In a very significant sense, the design of the twentieth-century memorial
park is a direct result of the demands and neeids of twentieth-century mechanization.
When the industry that designed equipment for the care of golf courses needed new
markets, new markets were created to satisfy the industry. Our twentieth-century
memorial parks were planned to facilitate the use of the new lawnkeeping equipment.
Their sites were chosen to suit the turf-keeping and automatic grave-digging ma-
chinery. The Victorians were not limited by these restrictions; they chose sites for
their beauty and dramatic impact. Green-Wood in Brooklyn and Laurel Hill in Phila-
delphia, for examples, were built on promontories, high points of land and rock.
Almost all of the graves in Oak Hill are on narrow terraces of steep hills. The ver-
ticality of this dramatic high-rise cemetery is pure romanticism. Its favorite monu-
ment is the tall obelisk. Its trees are tall and spectacular. These are sites on which
most of the new lawnkeeping equipment is destructive. Mowers bruise and kill dog-
wood. They destroy moss and other groundcovers. Professional groundskeepers,
souls sold to daemon grass, hate that most difficult weed, the violet. But violets
provide a long-lasting greenness that rivals grass, and they join with the spring
beauty, claytonia, to provide a gorgeous show that lasts for weeks. Vinca minor,
which combines with daffodils to produce the nicest of all groundcovers, is featured
in song in the description of a graveyard clearly influenced by the garden cemetery —
the wild-west burial place of "My Darling Clemantine."
In the graveyard, in the canyon, (The dramatic site)
Where the myrtle doth entwine, (That's vinca minor)
There grow roses and other posies
Fertilized by Clemantine.
Groundskeeping experts are agreed that the most expensive plant to
maintain per square yard is grass. On the theory that the more a bureaucrat spends,
the more he is apt to be paid, managers of Victorian cemeteries have been eager to
become captains of lawn maintenance crews with their array of foul-smelling, ear-
splitting, destructive machinery. With the advent of power mowers, all the steep
banks of Oak Hill were mowed, and much of this beautiful garden is now at the bot-
tome of the Potomac. Victorian cemeteries displayed the novelty of closely clipped
lawn only at the entrance gates; they had more sensible plantings elsewhere. When
the writer put a stop to some of the ruthless mowing at Oak Hill, ferns, hosta, day-
lilies, and spring bulbs, which had survived the decades of mutilation, reappeared.
When they were allowed to mature. Oak Hill got a springtime reward: hillsides blue
with scilla, polka-dotted carpets of crocuses, snow drops, wild tulips, Dutchman's
breeches. When allowed to go to seed, these beauties spread and thickened. Against
their greenery, the grasses are forlorn. But to many, the masses of ferns, hosta,
and day-lilies that come back when the mowing stops are ragged and disorderly.
Many mourn the loss of the crew-cut cemetery.
Grass is our twentieth-century fetish, and grass is destroying the Vic-
torian cemetery. Grass brings erosion to hilly sites, the most deplorable consequence
of which is the uprooting of our healthiest old white oaks after they lose the weight
of the topsoil that anchors them. Crass does not like shade, so trees are sacrificed.
The picturesque trees in Victorian cemeteries present other problems, and there has
been a great pressure to remove them. Fallen limbs and fallen trees damage and
destroy irreplaceable monuments. Maintenance of large trees is complex and expen-
sive. And twentiety-century culture abhors funeral shade. (While Victorians could
not bring themselves to speak of sex, they found death and its symbols fascinating.
We are reticent where they were loquacious; we avoid their favorite subject and are
glib about their taboo.)
Twentieth century culture has so conditioned us that many people will
never appreciate the flamboyance, the disorder, the avoidance of symmetry, and the
extravagance of Victorian taste as expressed in nineteenth-century garden ceme-
teries. Others whose tastes are more catholic would like to see the Victorian
cemeteries restored to reveal again the taste and exuberance of our forefathers, to
renew the flair and the spirit of Victorian romanticism.
George Kackley is superintendent of Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, D.C.
VICTORIANS AT HOME IN THEIR CEMETERIES
Barbara Rotunda
In the first decades of the nineteenth century, Americans came to accept a
new concept of the family. With the growth of cities, the church and community lost
some of their influence on everyday life; instead, social and emotional ties were centered
in the family. The Victorians glorified the role of mother and saw the home as the source
of the finest moral conduct, a blessed haven from the wickedness of the competitive out-
side world. This new importance of the family was reflected in every aspect of nineteenth
century life and, not surprising to readers of this bulletin, it was reflected also in the
artifacts and rituals connected with death.
In Colonial America an individual death was a loss to the community, which
shared the mourning and made room for the burial in the often crowded community burial
ground. This emphasis on community loss was diminished with the advent of the large
rural or garden cemetery, which developed in part as a response to the shift in thinking
about the family.
Today, the nineteenth century garden cemetery is an oasis of green in an ur-
ban area, but in its beginning it was truly rural. The charter obtained from the Massa-
chusetts legislature for America's first rural cemetery. Mount Auburn, across the river
from Boston on the outskirts of Cambridge, stated that the purchasers of plots would
own the land in perpetuity. This legal provision was a radical departure from the cus-
tomary procedure used by church and community graveyards. Soon legislatures in all
the eastern states were writing similar stipulations in charters, as towns and cities rushed
to establish one of the popular, innovative rural cemeteries. With perpetual ownership,
the familv — or the patriarch of the family — could provide for the interment of all descend-
ants without fear of removal later, or of thesubsequentburial of strangers above the
original graves of family members, long an accepted practice in both Europe and the New
World.
Visitors to twentieth century cemeteries are accustomed to seeing open, mani-
cured green lawns with an occasional garden, tree, or clump of shrubbery, and with mar-
ble or granite gravestones rising in rows or irregular patterns. Far different was the
view of visitors one hundred or more years ago. At that time most of the family plots were
surrounded by a fence or a hedge or retaining wall. The enclosure not only signaled that
the land so marked was private property, but when the hedge grew tall enough, or the
woodbine or climbing roses covered the fence, there was even a physical privacy for the
family visiting its lot. Families often chose land in forested areas, where their lots were
as darkly romantic and mysterious as their houses with their heavily draped windows,
and their gardens in which they planted hanging evergreens, erected trellises, and
trained vines ud the sides of their summer houses (those charming gazebos that have all
but disappeared). The isolation provided by their houses and gardens protected family
life, preserving its privacy from the outside world. They treated their cemetery lots ex-
actly as they treated their gardens, with trellises as well as fences. Often the cemetery
had a large gazebo for a well or pump-house that served as a shelter in case of a summer
shower. Garden nurseries developed a large variety of weeping trees, considered appro-
priate for cemetery planting. The same cast-iron furniture used in gardens was used in
cemeteries; benches, chairs, tables, and urns filled with flowers. These secluded lots
were outdoor sitting rooms where the family met to talk about the past and plan the future.
Victorians knew how to enjoy their cemeteries, making them popular goals for
family outings in the country. These same outdoor sitting rooms, though usually without
their handsome fences and furniture, are there for us to enjoy and study today, offering
the visitor a unique view of nineteenth century family life.
Specializing in nineteenth-century New England, Barbara Rotundo teaches American
literature at the State University ^r*^^ of New York at Albany.
,iA< •AlAi«/*l
I^.A^ i'lVVvvv
ASHES TO ASHES, RUST TO RUST: Patricia Caster
The Mount Aubuhn Cemetery Fence Controversy
If any Cambridge property seemed secure from disfigurement, it was Mount
Auburn Cemetery, America's first rural garden cemetery. Founded in 1831 by the
Massachusetts Horticultural Society, it offered a romantic landscape alternative to the
neglected, crowded urban burying grounds then prevalent. At the dedication of the
cemetery. Judge Story warned the board of trustees that Mount Auburn was "...a sacred
...an eternal trust. It is consecrated ground. May it remain forever inviolate."
- — This mandate had been faithfully fulfilled by a long succession of trustees from
Boston's most respected families. Thus, when demolition of Mount Auburn's 1844 peri-
meter cast iron fence began in early August of 1980, many onlookers assumed that the
work was part of a restoration program. In fact, the fence was being replaced by vinyl-
clad chain-link fencing.
Although the cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
in 1975, no governmental constraints existed to prevent the trustees from demolishing
the fence. Located along a busy and poorly controlled intersection, it had been peri-
odically hit by cars, accelerating the deterioration already existing due to deferred
niaintenance. Facing increased operating costs and a shrinking endowment, the trus-
tees voted to remove the fence and redesign the entrance gates.
Demolition was well under way when the Cambridge Historical Commission
(CHC) learned of the action. Together with the Society for the Preservation of New
England Antiquities (SPNEA), the Commission contacted cemetery officials and local
preservationists in an attempt to halt demolition.
It soon became apparent that the public interest in the fence was not clearly
understood by the trustees. The fence itself is an intricate combination of Egyptian
emblems including winged globes, inverted lotus flowers and torches, and banded cyl-
inders. Standing ten feet high and running 2,600 feet along Mount Auburn Street, it
is a strong physical and visual boundary seen and appreciated by laymen, motorists,
pedestrains, and joggers, as well as by scholars.
By the time public pressure and the threat of a lawsuit temporarily halted
demolition, half of the fence had been demolished. A September 2 Boston C/obe editorial
listed the trustees by name and commented that "the extraordinary thing about the trus-
tees' action is that, during the decade they have been pondering this problem, and de-
spite the national standing of the facility they hold in trust, the cemetery's guardians
have never sought help from the city; they have never applied for a federal grant, nor
have they considered raising private funds or consulted the 1200-1500 proprietors who
receive their annual report... It is high time they opened the door and called for help."
The trustees did open the door at their September 16 meeting, reviewing a
proposal presented by SPNEA and CHC proposing interim stabilization of deteriorated
portions of the fence, installation of bollards and a traffic signal, restoration of a sam-
ple stretch of the fence, and investigation of long-term fund raising for general re-
storation needs. The trustees agreed to undertake interim stabilization and take the
other proposals under consideration.
In the short run, the fence has been saved from further demolition and a
communications link established between the trustees and concerned preservationists.
The more important questions, however, concern the long-term preservation of the ceme-
tery. The fence is only the first impact of the financial problems faced by the trustees
which will determine Mount Auburn's future. The trustees' initial solution to this prob-
lem has been reoriented, and they are more acutely aware of the value placed on the re-
source they manage.
From the Boston Clobe, October 9, 1980
Mt. Auburn Fence, Mt. Auburn Fence,
Brave barrier of consequence.
Your straight, symmetric, sculptured style
Is mecca for the fenceophile.
You spark in him a primal lust.
Bleeding flakes of foundry rust
From auto grilles you've bashed and slaughtered.
Which left you somewhat drawn and quartered.
And that, old friend, is the awkward nub —
Your deshabille; for us the rub
Is not your worthiness or grace;
You're too expensive to replace.
Or so we thought until your friends
Began to run our Trusteed ends.
By press, by moil, they came in waves
Uprooting votes, old friendships, graves.
Charging WASP benign neglect
Causes your bones to lie there, wrecked.
Reprise:
Old friend, accept this, we're contrite.
Somehow, some way, we'll set you right.
Francis W. Hatch, trustee
Mount Auburn Cemetery
Response :
0 Mr. Hatch, 0 Mr. Hatch,
1 have to answer with dispatch
Your Paean to Mount Auburn's fence.
For us it is some recompense.
Although one half is gone already, ,
To know the rest will soon be steady.
Rust and flake con be subdued.
Battered surfaces renewed.
Help with funding can be found
To fence with grace your ancient ground.
Mount Auburn's charm is more than trees.
Or lakes, or monuments, but these
Must all be well enclosed, we think.
Cast iron is better than chain link.
However smoothly clad with vinyl.
That choice, we trust, will not be final.
The fence's friends have come in hordes —
It's nice to know they con reach Boards.
We urge you to complete your mission
With the help of the Cambridge
Historical Commission.
Cynthia Zaitzevsky , President
Cambridge Historical Commission
Before her recent move to Chicago, Patricia Caster was Assistant Director of the
Cambridge Historical Commission.
THE VANDERBILT CEMETERY AND MAUSOLEUM Nancy Coeschel
In 1884, an aging and ailing William Henry Vanderbilt decided to create a
private family cemetery. He had retired from business the previous year, having
headed the vast railroad empire founded by his father. Commodore Cornelius Vander-
bilt. The Commodore had died seven years earlier at the age of eighty-three and had
been buried on his native Staten Island in the Moravian Cemetery at New Dorp. William
H. at first thought to enlarge the Vanderbilt family plot within that cemetery, but the
owners of the adjacent plots demanded such extortionate prices that he purchased,
instead, fourteen acres just above the Moravian Cemetery, high on a hillside, command-
ing a panoramic view of New York Harbor's Lower Bay. He engaged the foremost land-
scape architect of the day, Frederick Law Olmsted, to design the grounds as a pic-
turesque park. Richard Morris Hunt, at the time emerging as the favored architect of
American millionaires, was selected to design a massive family mausoleum, which Vander-
bilt wanted "roomy and solid and rich." In early December of 1885, Vanderbilt traveled
to Staten Island to survey the work in progress. Only a week later, while at home in
his recently completed Fifth Avenue mansion, he suffered a stroke and died. He was
buried on Staten Island at a temporary gravesite, and it was not until several years had
Passed and the mausoleum was completed that he came to his final rest in the luxurious
setting he had planned.
In selecting this site for the family tomb, Vanderbilt had probably been in-
fluenced by two circumstances — first, the family's Staten Island heritage, dating back
to the early eighteenth century, and second, his desire for security. In 1878, the re-
mains of the New York City merchant prince, A.T. Steward, had been stolen from a
church graveyard and held for ransom, and Vanderbilt feared a similar desecration.
V\/hile the vast majority of New York's wealthy residents were content with family plots
within the city's large rural cemeteries, such as Green-Wood in Brooklyn and Woodlawn
in the Bronx, Vanderbilt desired a site not publicly accessible. Originally, the Vander-
bilt Cemetery and Mausoleum was guarded around the clock.
Although it is much smaller than the Romantic rural cemeteries which had
become increasingly popular in nineteenth-century America from the 1930's on, the Van-
derbilt Cemetery and Mausoleum belongs within that tradition. Olmsted and Hunt con-
ceived a naturalistic park which for the most part conforms with the original topography
of the site. A rather steep winding road leads up from the entrance gates to a relative-
ly level area with gently sloping grassy lawns. Tree and shrub planting was in the
picturesque English park manner which Olmstead favored. The single formal element in
the design is the large terraced setting for the Mausoleum, which also serves as a van-
tage point for the splendid bay view. Since the mausoluem was restricted to family mem-
bers with the Vanderbilt surname, married daughters and their husbands and offspring
are buried at other sites within the cemetery, reached by curving paths.
Vanderbilt probably selected Hunt as architect on the evidence of the re-
cently completed Fifth Avenue mansion of his son, William Kissam Vanderbilt. This house
introduced the sumptuous Francois I chateau style to America and caused a popular as
well as critical sensation. Hunt's first submitted plans for the mausoleum must have
called for an elaborate structure indeed, for William H. fired off this reaction:
You entirely misunderstand me; this will not answer at all. We
are plain, quiet, unostentatious people and we don't want to be
buried in anything as showy as that would be. The cost of it is
a secondary matter and does not concern me... I don't object to
appropriate carvings or even statuary, but it mustn't have any
unnecessary fancy work on it.
Hunt's revised plan nevertheless called for a distinctly imposing building, a Romanesque
Revival design executed in Quincy granite with limestone facings on the interior and
elaborate wrought-iron gates. The church-like facade is composed of three round-arched
portals punctuating two "superimposed" temple fronts. The crypt has two main bays
surmounted by large domes on pendentives, lit by stone fish-scale roofed cupolas which
project from the hillock, under which the crypt is buried. The "appropriate carvings"
which Vanderbilt was willing to concede are executed in a very shallow relief and are
simultaneously rich and subdued. Intricate floral moldings and column capitals surround
the portals, and a diaper work of squares encloses foliate panels on the wall surface sur-
rounding the center portal. The three tympana have acanthus leaf "peopled scrolls,"
more Byzantine than Romanesque in spirit. Although these depict subjects appropriate
to a funerary context — Christ in Majesty, a butterfly-winged soul arising to heaven, a
soul in heaven — the overall effect is more decorative than iconographic.
Vanderbilt's youngest son, George Washington Vanderbilt, oversaw the work
after his father's death. By the time the cemetery and mausoleum were completed, in
1889, he had come to admire both Olmstead and Hunt, and he subsquently commissioned
additional work from both, culminating in the Biltmore estate in Ashville, North Carolina,
for which Olmstead planned the 6000 acre grounds and Hunt designed an enormous chateau.
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission is currently consider-
ing the Vanderbilt Cemetery and Mausoleum for Landmark status. While the Vanderbilt
descendants recognize the architectural significance of their property, their representa-
tives oppose official designation, fearing that such designation would attract the attention
of not only lovers of architecture but of decidedly less sympathetic individuals. Although
the cemetery is now surrounded by a high cyclone and barbed wire fence, vandals are a
continuing problem, recalling the fears expressed by William H. Vanderbilt nearly a cen-
tury earlier. Regardless of how the question of Landmark designation is resolved, the
Vanderbilt Cemetery and Mausoleum remains one of America's most interesting and beauti-
ful nineteenth-century private Romantic cemeteries.
Nancy Coeschel fs an architectural historian with the New York City Landmarks Preser-
vation Commission Research Department.
BOOK REVIEW
A TIME TO MOURN : Expressions of Grief in Nineteenth Century America
Edited by Martha V. Pike and Janice Gray Armstrong
Profusely illustrated in black and white, some color. 192 pages
Published by The Museums at Stony Brook, New York, with a grant from the National
Endowment for the Humanities, 1980. Softcover $11.95 + $2.50 postage and handling.
Review by Cina Santucci
"Nineteenth century Americans mourned well." Thus begins A Time to Mourn,
a sumptuous exhibition catalog* and an illuminating series of essays on the Victorian way
of death. The book is divided into three sections. The first, "Customs and Change,"
investigates the socio-economic and cultural changes affecting Victorian attitudes toward
death. The second, "The Cemetery and the Funeral," discusses "the rural cemetery as
an institution of symbolic importance," using Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New
York, as a case study. The rural cemetery as a precursor of the public parks movement
is also examined. The third section, "In Memoriam," introduces the vast material culture
that flourished as a result of Victorian mourning practices. Fashion, portraiture, jewel-
ry and related decorative arts are thoroughly examined. The essays are the work of
seven authors, among them American studies professor David Stannard, historian Harvey
Green, anthropologist Lawrence Taylor, and costume historian Barbara Dodd Hillerman.
To mourn well may not mean to mourn wisely. It can be argued that the best
way of coming to terms with grief is the twentieth-century way — to put it behind us quick-
ly, to hurriedly shove it into a dark corner to be steadfastly ignored. Perhaps the Vic-
torians had the healthier way. By creating a blanket of practices with rituals and objects
to surround it, the natural process of healing and resolution of grief was allowed to take
place in its own time, with the sanction of society. However little we choose to express
our grief publicly in 1981, privately we may be as lavish and involved in our reactions to
death as the Victorians were. To understand their perspective on this subject can be an
edifying experience.
A Time to Mourn provides a solid background of information for anyone in-
terested in Victorian attitudes toward death. What really distinguishes this book, how-
ever, is the quality, quantity and significance of its illustrations. Full color reproduc-
tions include Currier and Ives lithographs and mourning portraits by American naive
painters. There are nineteenth century photographs of mourners and tombstones and a
number of wonderful engravings of rural cemeteries produced in 18U7 by James Smillie
and Nehemiah Cleveland. All the mourning necessities and accessories that were display-
ed at the exhibition are handsomely illustrated and described in full. Included also is a
selected reading list of eighteen widely available publications used in the preparation of
the exhibition.
For those seeking a well written, well illustrated primer on the Victorian way
of death, A Time to Mourn is an excellent place to start.
* Published for the exhibition of the same name which ran at The Museums at Stony Brook
May 24 through November 16, 1980, and at The Brandywine River Museum, Chadds Ford,
Pennsylvania, January 17 through May 17, 1980.
Cina Santucci, gtiest editor of this issue of the NEWSLETTER, lives and works in New
York City (see page 1).
Mystic symbols often seen on Masonic memorials. Maysville, Kentucky, 1895
VICTORIAN ERA MEMORIAL ART IN SMALL RURAL CEMETERIES
Francis Y. Duval & Ivan B. Rigby
The Victorian era memorial style is well represented outside the landscaped settings
of urban cemeteries. While such expanses at Mount Auburn in Cambridge, Green-Wood
and Woodlawn in New York City, Laurel Hill in Philadelphia, and other nineteenth cen-
tury cemeteries in our large cities are justly famous for their impressive statuary,
mausoleums, crypts, and chapels, many modest rural burial grounds offer a fine samp-
ling of some of the simpler and more honest funeral art of the period.
Nineteenth century cemeteries, both urban and rural, display seemingly endless
rows of impersonal, lackluster marble tablets influenced by the period's antiseptic
attitude toward death. And few of them escaped the memorial bombast of oversized
oblisks and over-carved tombs that confirm the ostentatiousness of the wealthy who
knew the price of everything and the value of nothing. On closer scrutiny, however,
one is often rewarded by the discovery of inspired images, some similar in their sim-
plicity and charm to those of the eighteenth century.
Nineteenth century memorials present configurations and sizes different from
those of the preceding century. Most are carved of Vermont or Georgia marble rath-
er than the slate and sandstone popular in the eighteenth century, although limestone,
sandstone, granite and even metal are used occasionally, depending on locale. The
alphabets are more elaborate, the epitaphs longer and often lachrymose. When used,
the imagery consists of urns, willows, lambs, doves, roses, wreaths, sleeping babes.
The Divine Hand, and other motifs of similar sentiment. Often depicted is professional
status, cause of death. Masonic symbolism, as well as military emblems for those who
fell during the Civil War.
From our extensive photographic collection of Victorian cemetery art, we have
selected for the NEWSLETTER photographs of seven unusual rather than typical me-
morial carvings of the period, which we hope will generate further interest in and
study of this often misunderstood and unappreciated facet of the memorial art form.
t^* ■ tf iPiffi liftwiin-imwtfii^iitt
.di ^O"'
, j^£^/*«*^/]yf-'
The split-second moment before the night-time collision that killed
a young railroad engineer. Near Rural Retreat, Virginia, 1892
Left A lighthouse, symbolic beacon of survival , erected to the memory of a seafaring family. Essex, Conn., 1880
Right A symbolic tankard and cups for partaking of the sacramental wind. Signed. "A. Cory. " Barre, Mass., 1850.
Military emblems, with rare carving of sentry and field artillery piece, memorializing a Civil War hero.
Brownsville, Ohio, 1861.
■i Y -^
> /
-li-.S
"*%«
^e/t A superb, unscathed example of a reposing infant and symbolic, canopied shell. Kutztown, Penn., 1891.
MANHATTAN'S RURAL CEMETERY Jay Shockley
Manhattan has its own "rural" Victorian cemetery--Trinity Cemetery —
located between Amsterdam Avenue and Riverside Drive from 153rd to 155th Streets.
Under the auspices of Trinity Church in lower Manhattan, the creation of Trinity
Cemetery came out of practical necessity in the early nineteenth century. Lower
Manhattan had suffered a number of epidemics, and there was concern that a link
existed between places of burial and disease. As a result, an 1832 ordinance forbid-
ding burials south of Canal Street closed the graveyards of both Trinity Church and
St. Paul's Chapel. To establish a cemetery away from the city. Trinity Church a-
greed to purchase part of Green-Wood cemetery, founded in 1838 in Brooklyn, but
this agreement was withdrawn, possibly due to the distance. In 1842, Trinity Church
purchased its own land, a hilly twenty-three acre tract of farmland along the Hudson
River in the area then known as Charmanville. This tract, which adjoined the farm
of John James Audubon, was the site of a redoubt that had been constructed by the
American Army in 1776 and defended under George Washington in the Battle of Wash-
ington Heights.
The first burial in the new Trinity Cemetery took place in 1843, and in
1844, the cemetery was advertised as open to all denominations. In time. Trinity
Cemetery became the favored resting place of different classes of New Yorkers, in-
cluding many prominent families of New York society. Among the better known who
are buried there are John Jay Audubon, John Jacob Astor, Mme. Eliza Jumel, and
Clement Clarke Moore. It became a popular visiting place, and regularly scheduled
coaches and steamboats conveyed visitors to the site.
In 1868, Broadway was extended northward, bisecting the cemetery, and
in 1871, the highly esteemed architectural firm, Calvert Vaux, Frederick C. Withers,
and Company, was hired to construct a Gothic Revival suspension bridge to link the
two halves. The English-born Vaux had worked with Frederick Law Olmsted, the
foremost landscape architect of the period, in designing Central and Prospect Parks.
For Trinity Cemetery, working with a number of partners including George K. Radford,
also an English-born architect and engineer, Vaux was responsible for the landscap-
ing of the grounds, in 1881; for designing a decorative stone and iron fence-wall and
gates, most of which were built from 1872 to 1875; and for the design of a gate lodge,
built in 1882-83
The twentieth century has brought a few changes. The suspension bridge
was removed in 1911. In 1912-14, the Gothic Revival Chapel (now Church) of the
Intercession was constructed by Cram, Goodhue, and Ferguson, the foremost twen-
tieth century Gothic Revival architects in the United States, who also designed
Manhattan's Church of St. John the Divine. And a modern, functioning mausoleum
building was added in the early 1970's. With the above exceptions, the appearance
of Trinity Cemetery today is much as it was in the nineteenth century. The eastern
half is mostly flat, with a small hill to the south side and curvilinear looping roads.
This section contains the Church, gate lodge, the small gravestones of the parish
ground, and a number of prominent mausoleums set around the hill. The western
division is characterized by a hill sloping steeply from the river and a road snaking
back and forth to create a series of terraces. Mausoleums are set into the earth lin-
ing the road, and monuments are regularly spaced in between.
Although Trinity Cemetery is on a small and compact site, it displays most
of the features of the traditional rural cemetery: the hill site with river views, curved
paths and roads, the arboretum aspect, and the pattern of social stratification. And,
with its surrounding fence-wall and gates, its monuments, sculpture, gravestones,
and mausoleums in a wide variety of styles, its fine iron fencing and curbstones a-
round the plots, and a number of surviving cast-iron seats and urns. Trinity Ceme-
tery is also a veritable treasure- trove of Victoriana.
Jay Shockley is a member of the Survey Department of the New York City Landmarks
Preservation Commission, speciah'zing in the preservation of historic landscapes.
Editor's note: For earlier NEWSLETTER references to Trinity Cemetery ^ see
volume 4, nwriber S, summer, 1980, page 6, and volvme 5, number 1, winter, 1980/81,
page 10.
STONECUTTERS AND THEIR WORKS
Ninth of a Series
THREE NINETEENTH CENTURY SCULPTORS:
Thomas Crawford (1814-1857), Augustus Saint-Gaudens
(1848-1907), and Daniel Chester French (1850-1931)
by Dorothy L. Cogswell
In the latter part of the nineteenth century some of
America's most distinguished sculptors were commission-
ed to design and execute sepulchral monuments. The open
landscaped areas of the Victorian cemetery formed ideal
backgrounds for the shift in fashion from gray slate
markers to finely carved white marble statues.
Among the gifted sculptors using the Neo-
classic style, derived from study in Rome, was
Thomas Crawford. Although he is remembered
primarily for his bronze equestrian statue of
George Washington for Capitol Square in Rich-
mond , Virginia, and for his huge figure of
"Freedom" for the dome of the United States
Capitol in Washington, cemetery monuments
were important and lucrative commissions for
Crawford.
Another important nineteenth century
sculptor whose work includes fine sepul-
chral monuments is Augustus Saint-Gaudens.
The epitome of sorrow is seen in his brooding
"Grief," shown on this page. It was commis-
sioned by Henry Adams for his wife in 1886
and dedicated in 1891 in the Rock Creek Ceme-
tery, Washington, D.C. As a universal concept
for the personal funeral monument, it embodies in
its flowing bronze drapery the majesty of Michelangelo, and in the shadowed face of
Grief, the mystery of eternity. Saint-Gaudens' skill developed at an early age from
cameo cutting to advanced study in Europe, where the French influence for bronze
was stronger than the Italian one for marble. A particularly American strength is
realized in Saint-Gaudens' rugged standing figure of Lincoln, 1886, for Lincoln Park,
Chicago, and in the sculpture of the stern Deacon Samuel Chapin, 1887, known as "The
Puritan," now standing near the library of the Museum Quadrangle in Springfield, Mass-
achusetts. Very moving, both in sentiment and design, is his bronze memorial for Ro-
bert Gould Shaw and his black regiment (1884-1897). This large work in low relief
standing on Boston Common, across from the State HoQse, has been in the news recent-
ly because of the high cost of its needed restoration. In 1964, Saint-Gaudens' studio
and home, "Aspet," in Cornish, New Hampshire, was designated a National Historic
site and is maintained as a memorial.
For pure sentiment and sheer beauty, perhaps the outstanding monument of
the Victorian era was designed by Daniel Chester French. This monument was initiated
by a will written by another sculptor, Martin Milmore (1844-1883). Milmore (with his
brother, Joseph) had executed "The American Sphinx" in 1872 for Mount Auburn Ceme-
tery in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and French conceived for Martin Milmore's memorial
the idea of the Angel of Death moving in to stay the hand of the young sculptor finish-
ing his sphinx. Although French's sculpture is a relief panel, he modeled the figures
of the Angel and sculptor almost in the round, but showed the profile of the sphinx in
very low relief. The plaster model of the work was sent to Paris to be cast in bronze. It
was exhibited there in the Salon de Champs Elysees of 1892, where it won a medal. In
1893 it was displayed at the World's Columbian Exposition, again to great acclaim. After
four casts were made, the original bronze was placed in the Forest Hills Cemetery, Jam-
aica Plains, Massachusetts. French is remembered for many works, from his early 1875
Minuteman of Concord, Massachusetts, to the great Lincoln Memorial in Washington. He
was elected to membership in the National Academy of Design in 1901 and was made a
chevalier of the French Legion of Honor in 1910. Today his home and studio, "Chester-
wood," can be seen in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, where five hundred casts and models
of his work are available for study.
Dorothy Cogswell is Professor Emeritus of Art History, Mount Holyoke College, South
Hadley, Massachusetts.
Editor's note: AGS members who attended the 1979 oonferenoe in "Newport, Rhode Island,
saw examples of Saint-Gaudens' work in the Victorian cemetery adjoining the Common
Burying Ground.
SOME REFERENCES OF INTEREST
to Students of Nineteenth Century Gravestones and Cemeteries
A three-page annotated bibliograpliy of landscape design and planting references for
American rural cemeteries, by landscape architect C. Michael Hubartt. The books,
articles and essays were all published in America between 1839 and 1902. In his
introduction to the bibliography, Mr. Hubartt writes:
The rural cemetery was probably the most influential man-made landscape
of the nineteenth century in America. An expression of the Romantic tra-
dition, these planned landscapes combined nature and art to evoke a sense
of natural beauty and contemplative solitude. The progressively evolved
designs of these rural cemeteries may be classified "wooded," "garden" and
"lawn."
Most of the references are available Columbia University's Avery Architectural Li-
brary. Photostats of some of them may be obtained from the compiler, 20 Vesey
Street, New York City 10007. The bibliography is available at the same address,
or from AGS Publications, American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, MA 01609.
Books
Inventing the American Way of Death, 1830-1920, a 287 page book by James J.
Farrell published by Temple University Press, Philadelphia, 1980. This history
traces the ways in which middle-class Victorians rejected the harshness of the
Puritan way of death and describes their attempt to assuage their fears by making
death natural, beautiful, and, finally, inconspicuous. The author analyzes the in-
fluence of scientific naturalism and religious liberalism on changes in funeral practices.
A Time to Mourn: Expressions of Grief in Nineteenth Century America, edited by
Martha V. Pike and Janice Gray Armstrong. This book is reviewed on page 8.
The Victorian Celebration of Death, by James Stevens Curl, published by David
& Charles, Newton Abbot, 1972. (Curl's most recent book, the widely acclaimed
A Celebration of Death , published by Charles Scribner's Sons, 1980, will be review-
ed in a forthcoming NEWSLETTER.)
Souls in Stone: European Graveyard Sculpture, by Anne de Brunhoff; 96 pages of
photographs published by Alfred A. Knopf. (Reviewed by David Watters in the
NEWSLETTER, Volume 4, Number 2, Spring 1980, page 15.)
Victorian Cemetery Art, by Edmund V. Gillon, Jr.; 173 pages of photographs pub-
lished by Dover Publications, 1972.
Articles
"At rest in Mount Auburn," a four-page illustrated article by Shirley Moskow, pub-
lished in Garden magazine, November /December 1978.
"Stone Cemetery Sculpture: A Survival Crisis," a three-page illustrated article by
Edward Bryant published in 19th Century magazine. Volume 5, Number 4, 1979.
"The Rural Cemetery," a four-page illustrated article by Naomi R. Remes, curator
of American decorative arts at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, published in 19th
Century magazine. Volume 6, Number 2, 1980.
"The Rural Cemetery Movement" by Barbara Rotundo, a ten-page article published
in the Essex Institute Historical Collection , Essex institute, Salem, Massachusetts.
Victorian cemetery preservation organizations (For its exchange mailing list, the
NEWSLETTER would like to have the names and addresses of other such organizations.)
The Friends of Mt. Hope Cemetery, 791 Mt. Hope Avenue, Rochester, New York.
A $15 membership fee (or ten hours of volunteer service) includes a newsletter.
The Friends of Laurel Hill Cemetery, 3822 Ridge Avenue, Philadelphia. The $15
membership includes a newsletter and guided cemetery tours.
CONSERVATION
Lance Mayer Responds
The spring issue of the NEWSLETTER (Volume 5, Number 2, Page 5) asked
for reader comment on an article, "Preserving Early Sandstone Markers," by Robert T.
Silliman. In this article, Mr. Silliman describes a procedure which involves cleaning
and sealing the surfaces of sandstone gravemarkers. Lance Mayer, Associate Curator
for the Cincinnati Art Museum and AGS Vice-president for Conservation, in a response
to the NEWSLETTER, expresses serious concern that the NEWSLETTER, by publishing
the article without editorial comment, "publicized a method which will almost certainly
not work and which may, in fact, do harm to the gravestones."
Protecting sandstone and similar materials, Mr. Mayer writes, is a problem
which has vexed scientists and conservators for decades. When dealing with a problem
^IIIIIS/WIN
Otf ON l!"JJ»d
a I V d
30ViSOd s n
-0^0 lldOiJd NON
60910 ssi?W ■Ja4sa3JOM
X^apos uvupnbijuv u\?du3ujvo/d
suo!4^D!|qnj SDV
of this complexity, it is not, he points out, better to do something than nothing. Too
often the unproved, experimental procedure accelerates decay, the ill effects showing
up years or even decades later. He cites the experience of the British Commonwealth War
Graves Commission, which found, after treating half a million headstones with surface
sealers over a period of thirty years, that the stones which had been treated were gen-
erally in worse condition than those which had not.
Mr. Mayer takes issue also with the cleaning procedure described in the
article, noting that it is directly opposed to recommendations in conservation literature.
He explains that the chemicals used to clean the stone could attack the calcareous bin-
der in sandstone as it is known to do in marble. The procedure for allowing the chemi-
cals to soak into the stone and then applying steam would probably drive the chemical
substances into the stone's interior, where they might produce destructive salts which
would be very difficult to remove.
But Mayer's most serious reservation comes back to the use of a surface
sealer, which, he tells us, often intensifies deterioration instead of affording protec-
tion. "This is because water and salts can be concentrated behind the hardened surface
if their exit is blocked [by the sealer], eventually causing large pieces of crust to be-
come undercut and ultimately detached." Moreover, he cautions, some epoxy sealers
form a white chalky surface or turn yellow upon long exposure to sunlight, and, more
serious, some epoxy sealers actually increase the stone's reactivity to carbon dioxide and
sulfur dioxide gases, common air pollutants.
Mr. Mayer emphasizes that the procedure described in the article is not en-
dorsed by ACS. Sympathizing with Silliman and others who are eager to protect early
gravemarkers, he urges those in charge of the care of old cemeteries, "impatient as
they may be with the slow pace of conservation research," to direct their energies toward
expediting proper research projects which involve the guidance of professional stone con-
servators, rather than toward isolated experimentation. He concludes: "It has been the
primary purpose of the Conservation Committee of AGS to help facilitate such information-
sharing by inviting recognized specialists to speak at AGS meetings, by reviewing con-
servation publications in the AGS NEWSLETTER, and by publishing a basic article in
MARKERS, which contains an extensive annotated reading list."
The full six-page text of Lance Mayer's response includes a wealth of detailed, fully
documented information on stone conservation. It is available, free of charge; from
ACS Publications
c!o American Antiquarian Society
Worcester, Massachusetts ol609
Address questions to Mr. Mayer at 47 Elm Street, Stonington, Connecticut 06378.
MARKERS, the 182-page journal of the Association for Cravestone Studies, may be or-
dered from the ACS Publications address above for $15. it contains fifteen excellent
articles on a wide variety of gravestone-related subjects. Besides Lance Mayer's divi-
nitive article, "The Care of Old Cemeteries and Cravestones," we recommend to those
interested in saving gravemarkers, "Protective Custody: The Museum's Responsiblity
for Cravestones," by Robert P. Emien , and "Recording Cemetery Data," by Joanne
Baker, Daniel Farber, and Anne Ciesecke. .
t
NEWSLETTER
OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES
Editor, Jessie Lie Farber
Guest Editor, Donna N. Carlson
Volume 5, Number ^,
Fall 1981
ISSN : 0146-5783
CONTENTS
ACS CONFERENCE INFORMATION 1-5
ACS EXECUTIVE BOARD, ACS ADDRESSES 3
AGS ITEMS FOR SALE 4
CONSERVATION, PRESERVATION . . . , 5-/
EDUCATION 7
RESEARCH AND WRITINC. New publications. Authors' requests , 8-10
BOOK REVIEW H
September 6, 1781. North Groton's Story
by Carolyn Smith and Helen Vargason
Reviewed by James A. Slater
WORKSHOPS, CONFERENCES, LECTURES 11,12
STONECUTTERS AND THEIR WORKS. Tenth installment 13
Stonecutter of the Narragansett Basin: William Throop
by Vincent F . Luti
JOHN STEVENS, JR.: A signed stone, an 1787 advertisement , , 14
A POEM by Louis Phillips 14
MISCELLANEOUS 15
NEWSLETTER NOTES, deadlines 15
CEMETERY CITATIONS IB
AGS CONFERENCE INFORMATION
THE FIFTH ANNUAL ACS CONFERENCE was held at the University of Connecticut,
Storrs, June 26-28, 1981. For readers with an interest in AGS's brief history, the
previous four conference sites were:
1977 - Dublin, New Hampshire (to organize the Association)
1978 - Dublin, New Hampshire (held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the
Dublin Seminar for New England Folklife)
1979 - Newport, Rhode Island
1980 - Haverhill, Massachusetts (held in conjunction with the annual meeting of
the Bay State Historical League)
THE 1982 CONFERENCE WILL BE HELD JUNE 25-27 AT WILLIAMS
COLLEGE, WILLIAMSTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS. Details will be
announced in the winter and spring issues of the NEWSLETTER.
PAPERS READ AT THE 1981 CONFERENCE
David Watters, "Eleazer Wheelock's Lebanon Crank Congregation"
Kevin Sweeney, "Where the Bay Meets the River"
Charles Bergengren, "The Folk Esthetic in Gravestones: The 'Glorious Contrast'"
Barbara Rotundo and Laurel K. Gabel, "The American Centennial and its Effect
on New England Gravemarkers"
Norbert Baer, "The National Cemetery as Environmental Laboratory"
James A. Slater, "The Mannings and Their Influence on Eastern Connecticut
Carving: A Study in Dominance"
Vincent J. Luti, "Stonecarvers of the Narragansett Basin: The New Family"
Ben J. Lloyd, "Comparisons of American and British Gravestone Design"
Frankie Bunyard, "Stonecarving Techniques"
(Conference Information)
ALLAN I. LUDWIG NAMED RECIPIENT OF THE HARRIETTE M. FORBES AWARD.
Dr. Ludwig's Graven Images: New England Stonecarving and its Symbols, 1650-181 5,
published in 1966 by Wesieyan University Press, is a contribution to gravestone studies
upon which all subsequent study in this field has drawn heavily. The first book pub-
lished on the subject in the thirty years following Forbes' seminal work, Ludwig's Graven
Images inspired the current surge of scholarship in early American gravestone art and
is largely responsible for the many fine contributions which have followed it. AGS mem-
bers, and the very existence of the Association, owe much to Allan Ludwig and his im-
portant contribution.
Previous recipients of the Harriette M. Forbes Award are:
Daniel Farber, whor? gravestone photographs are in the collections of numerous
museums and historical societies, including the Yale University. Art Library and
the American Antiquarian Society, which house duplicate sets of the complete
collection of approximately 6000 photographs of 3700 stones.
Ernest Caulfield, pioneer researcher of Connecticut gravestones, much of whose
work is published in the Bulletin of the Connecticut Historical Society.
Peter Benes, author of The Masks of Orthodoxy , editor of Puritan Gravestone Art I
and Puritan Gravestone Art II, and organizer, in 1976, of a conference for students
of gravestone art, out of which AGS developed.
OTHER CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS were James Slater's excellent guided tour of the
Storrs area graveyards; two fine and varied evenings of members' slide presentations,
organized by Michael Cornish; Joanne Baker's qoal-setting session; and, as always, the
exhibits, organized again this year by Mary Anne Mrozinski.
Presenting slides were: Michael Cornish (the carvings of Joseph Barbur, Jr.), GayneM
Levine (ethnic immigrant gravestones), Julaine Maynard (Wisconsin tree stones), Carol
Perkins (Ohio tree stones), Charles E. Mohr (environmental and recreational aspects of
the city cemetery), Barbara Rotundo (Mount Auburn Cemetery), Ann Parker (campo-
santos of New Mexico), and Deborah Trask (Nova Scotia cast and wrought iron markers).
The exhibits were popular and book sales were brisk, in spite of cramped quarters which
barely accommodated the sixteen displays. The exhibitors were:
Books Highly Specialized Promotions, Inc. HPS had on exhibit and for sale most
of the available gravestone literature.
Ruth Cowell : Books about Jewish Cemeteries in Prague and New York City.
Roberta Halporn : Books about Jewish stones from early America to the present.
Magazine Peggy Anne Campbell: Information about Stone in America.
Leaflets Ben J. Lloyd: British gravestone design interpretations.
Documents Janet S. Aronson : Grid, catalog and index of stones in Old Storrs Burying
Ground. Photographs and rubbings of each stone.
Photographs Michael Cornish : Local stones.
Charles E. Mohr: Illuminated transparencies of stone designs showing
the occupation of the deceased.
Laurel K. Gabel : Daniel/Nathan Hastings quarry marks and signatures;
also stones by unidentified carvers.
Carol Perkins: Photographs of the 1980 AGS conference; also of an Ohio
show of photographs and epitaphs she organized.
Ann Parker and Avon Neal : A photo essay of Old Norwich Town graveyard.
Dan Farber: Fifty New England photographs
Rubbings Susan H. Kelly and Anne C. Williams: Eastern Connecticut stones.
Clo Kirby: The Kirby two-tone rubbing technique.
Selma and Jerry Trauber: Assorted collection.
Barbara Moon: Rubbings on notecards.
(Conference Information) - 3 -
An election of AGS officers was held to fill openings on the executive board. Appointed
positions were filled at two board meetings held since the conference, the first, im-
mediately following the conference, at Storrs, and the second, held October 3, 1981,
at the library of the New England Historic and Genealogical Society, Boston.
THE 1981-81 ACS EXECUTIVE BOARD
President SALLY THOMAS 82 Hilltop Place, New London CT 03257
(603) 526-6044
Vice President MICHAEL CORNISH 62 Calumet St., Roxbury MA 02120
Archives (617) 731-5919
Vice President LANCE MAYER 47 Elm St., Stonington CT 06378
Conservation (203) 535-4051
Vice President JOANNE BAKER 51 South St., Concord NH 03301
Education (603) 228-0680 (home) (603) 271-3747 (business)
Vice President JERRY TRAUBER 142 Langham St., Brooklyn NY 11235
Grants (212) 743-9218
Vice President JESSIE LIE FARBER 31 Hickory Drive, Worcester MA 01609
Publications (617) 755-7038
Vice Presidents RUTH GRAY 70-B Fourth St., Old Town ME 04468
Research (207) 827-3508
JAMES TIBENSKY 1510 South Lombard Ave., Berwyn IL 60402
(312) 795-7680
Directors-at- THEODORE CHASE 74 Farm Road, Dover MA 02030
Large (617) 785-0299
MARY ANNE MROZINSK! 47 Hammond Road, Glen Cove NY 11542
(516) 759-0527
Corresponding ELOISE WEST 199 Fisher Road, Fitchburg MA 01420
Secretary (617) 342-0716
Recording ANITA WOODWARD Box 51, Thompson Road, Princeton MA 01541
Secretary (617) 464-2320
Membership CAROL PERKINS 1233 Cribb St., Apt. 204, Toledo OH 43612
Secretary (419) 476-9945
Treasurer NANCY JEAN MELIN 215 West 75th St., Apt. 10E, New York NY 10023
(212) 496-9140
Historian HAZEL PAPALE 105 Wallace Ave. , Auburn MA 01501
*************
1982 Conference ELIZABETH HAMMOND 34 Old Connecticut Path, Wayland MA 01778
Chairman (616) 358-2517
MARKERS II DAVID WATTERS Department of English, Hamilton Smith Hall,
Editor University of New Hampshire, Durham NH 03824
(603) 659-2925 (home) (603) 862-1313 (business)
MARKERS BETTY SLATER 373 Bassettes Bridge Road, Mansfield Center CT 06250
Sales Manager (203) 455-9668
Please note that ACS has no physical headquarters. Correspondence should be addressed
to the appropriate board members listed above, or, depending on the nature of your ACS
business, to one of the following.
ACS ADDRESSES
MEMBERSHIP DUES and CHANGES OF ADDRESS: Nancy Jean Melin, Treasurer,
215 W. 75th St., Apt. 10E, New York, NY 10023. Dues are $10 for
individual membership; $25 for sustaining membership.
MARKERS I ORDERS: Betty Slater, 373 Bassettes Bridge Road, Mansfield Center, CT
(Volume 1) 06250. Prices are $15 to members; $25 to non-menbers,
NEWSLETTER CONTRIBUTIONS AND CORRESPONDENCE: Jessie Lie Farber, editor,
AGS Publications, c/o American Antiquarian Society, Worcester MA 01609.
ALL OTHER CORRESPONDENCE AND ORDERS: Eloise West, Corresponding Secretary,
199 Fisher Road, Fitchburg, MA 01420.
(Conference Information) - 4 -
ASSOCIATION GOALS
A lively and productive session at the 1981 AGS Conference was centered around planning
for future AGS activities. Conference participants were divided into small groups and
asked to brainstorm a list of answers to the question: "If AGS has been an effective or-
ganization, what will it have accomplished by 1990? Each group was then asked to select
and report the four most important items on its list. A tabulation of these items indicated
that the following are considered high priority goals by those participating in the session.
Many threatened gravestones will be preserved, possibly by placing some of
the most important stones in museums.
Gravestones will be better protected by law.
Data on gravestones will be recorded in an easily retrievable form.
AGS will have a much larger membership.
The public will recognize the importance of gravestones and the information
they bear.
AGS will be financially solvent.
There will be greater Association involvement with its members through
programs involving local groups.
At its October meeting, the AGS executive board discussed these priorities and selected
realistic targets for the 1981-82 membership year. The following actions were taken by
the board to address priority areas.
In order to expand institutional memberships in AGS and to educate the public,
a letter will be sent to historical societies and libraries offering a packet of
informational materials for public distribution.
The board agreed that before sample legislation can be drafted which witll
either provide for the removal of stones from graveyards or for the protection
of gravestones in graveyards, more information is needed concerning existing
laws. A major project of the board will be to gather this information.
In order to improve the Association's financial status, two actions were taken.
The board voted to raise regular membership dues to $15, beginning June, 1982.
Sustaining memberships will remain at $25, but will not include a copy of the
Association's journal, MARKERS . Action will be taken to seek support from
small private endowments, from various agencies, and from businesses within
the monument industry.
In order to educate the public, AGS will actively advertise in magazines which
attract those interested in historical artifacts. In addition, the board voted
to expand the circulation of its slide-tape of Western burial practices and to com-
plete a planned slide-tape on gravestone preservation.
AGS PUBLICATIONS AND OTHER ITEMS FOR SALE
Order from Corresponding Secretary Eloise West
199 Fisher Road, Fitchburg MA 01420
"The Care of Old Cemeteries and Gravestones" by Lance R. Mayer. 23 pages. . .$2.75
Four information sheets by Dan and Jessie Lie Farber $1.00 ea,
"Symbolism in the Carvings on Old Gravestones" 3 pages
"Making Photographic Records of Gravestones" 2 pages
"Gravestone Rubbing for Beginners" 2 pages
"Recommendations for the Care of Gravestones" 2 pages
Back issues of the NEWSLETTER. Available only from Vol. 5, #3 ."$1.00 ea.
"Grave Faces," an illustrated poem by Martin Booth: 9"x11" broadside,
signed and numbered, suitable for framing. $15.00
AGS patch, 3i" diameter. See illustration page 16 $3.00
$1.50
AGS Bumper stickers
'"aGS^'^ I BRAKE FOR OLD GRAVEYARDS
MARKERS: The Journal of the Association for Gravestone Studies.
182 pages, softbound. 15 articles, 100 illustrations.
Non-member's price, $25; AGS member's price $15
Order this item from Sales Manager Betty Slater,
373 Bassettes Bridge Bd. , Mansfield Center -CT 06250.
(Conference Information) - 5 -
NOVA SCOTIA FOR THE 1983 CONFERENCE?
With the announcement that the site of the 1982 AGS Conference is Williams College,
Wiliiamstown, Massachusetts, we should begin to ask ourselves when we are going
to venture outside New England for our annual meetings. Are we ready? Specifi-
cally, are we ready for Nova Scotia in 1983?
For two years now, the Association has received enthusiastic invitations to hold its
conference in this beautiful easternmost province of Canada.
Nova Scotia was settled in the seventeenth century by farmers from France. As
these settlers gradually became a threat to the English colonies in the south, and as
the French and Indian War got underway, the French "Arcadians" of Nova Scotia were
unceremoniously shipped off, mainly to Louisiana, there to be immortalized by Long-
fellow. No grave markers are known to remain from the pre-expulsion period.
To Insure that the French never return. New Englanders swarmed into the vacated
province, and the area abounds with their early stones. A few of these markers were
imported from New England, but most were carved by the settlers .
in addition to the lure of interesting gravestones and the historic interest of this pro-
vince, the magnificence of the area itself tempts us to consider meeting there, combin-
ing an early summer vacation or an extended field trip with our conference, either on
an individual or a group basis.
There are a number of universities where we may be agreeably and inexpensively housed
and fed, and the provincial government has generously offered to partially subsidize
our visit. However, because the provincial government prepares its budget a year in
advance, it will be necessary for us to indicate to them by next June our probable ac-
ceptance of their offer. Therefore, we must have a response from ACS members in-
dicating interest and probable attendance. If the decision is then made to schedule
the 1983 conference in Nova Scotia, we will investigate the possibility of booking charter
flights or busses.
AGS member Deborah Trask is Assistant Curator of the Nova Scotia Museum in Hali-
fax, as well as author of an excellent book about the stones of that area*. She has of-
fered to answer questions from members. Address her at the Nova Scotia Museum,
1747 Summer Street, Halifax, Canada B3H 3A6, or telephone (902) 429-4610.
Please notify Corresponding Secretary, Eloise West (199 Fisher Road, Fitchburg, MA
01420) as soon as possible and no later than next June, of your interest in a Nova
Scotia meeting in 1983.
* Life How Short Eternity How Long: Gravestone Carving and Carvers in Nova Scotia.
100 pages, illustrated. Published by the Nova Scotia Museum. $10.85 Hardcover; $6.50
Softbound.
Obituary : Mary C. (Mrs. William H.) Emhardt of Barrington, New Hampshire.
Mrs. Emhardt, a widely recognized historian, served as librarian for the Barrington
Public Library. She was a founding member of AGS. The family suggests that memorial
gifts be made to the Barrington Public Library.
CONSERVATION. PRESERVATION
Professional help available. Before you inventory /research /document /restore your
historic burying ground, discuss your plans with a professional. With even a small
amount of professional guidance, you will avoid mistakes and save time and effort
and money. With professional help the efforts of voluntary workers will be more pro-
ductive and satisfying, and your completed project will be more valuable and useful.
You won't go wrong if you begin your work by writing or telephoning both Lance R
Mayer, a conservator and AGS officer, and Elizabeth Durfee Hengen, a consultant
in historic preservation. Both have a special interest in historic graveyards.
Lance R. Mayer, 47 Elm St., Stonington CT 06378, (203) 535-4051,
Elizabeth Durfee Hengen, 45 Cabot St., Winchester MA 01890. (617) 729-1042.
(Conservation, Preservation)
6 -
Cemeteries and Gravestones included in survey. Caynell S. Levine (RR 2, Box 205,
Wading River NY 11792) reports success in her efforts to persuade the New York City
Landmarks Preservation Commission to include cemeteries and gravestones in its com-
puterized Urban Cultural Resources Survey. Tlie Commission will use her recording
and retrieval system and has written applications for grants to enable her to work
part-time as a consultant for recording and entering the data in the Commission's data
bank.
The Congressional Cemetery. The Congressional Cemetery, a small, nearly forgotten
burial ground a mile east of the Capitol, dates to the Republic's early years when, in
effect, it became the first National burial ground. Its prominence faded a century ago
with the opening of Arlington National Cemetery, but, according to an article in the
May 20, 1981, New York Times, its headstones and 225 four-feet-high commemorative
cenotaphs have long been required reading for knowledgeable tourists. The article
covered the May 19 dedication of a cenotaph to Louisiana Representative Thomas Hale
Boggs, Sr., who disappeared in 1971 in Alaska.
In late September, vandals roamed through historic Congressional Cemetery des-
troying more than 120 tombstones and monuments and causing an estimated $30,000
damage. This story, reported in Preservation News, November, 1981, points out that
the cemetery, burial place for architects Robert Mills and William Thornton and composer
John Philip Sousa, was the object of a restoration fund drive at the time of the desecration,
Editor's note: The Congressional Cemetery received the NEWSLETTER'S Cemetery
Citation for Neglect in the Spring , 1981, issue.
Cemetery found. Bernard Young of Little Valley, New York, literally uncovered the
first established cemetery in the Town of Dayton while searching for the grave of an
ancestor, a Revolutionary War soldier. Mr. Young located the abandoned cemetery,
with several of its marble markers sunk into pastureland, five hundred feet off an inter-
section. In response to a letter from Mr. Youmg, the Town of Dayton has assumed res-
ponsibility for the proper care of the cemetery, including fencing and adequate access.
Stupidity. American Cemetery Magazine, April, 1981, carries an article about another
gravestone mystery solved. A backhoe operator turned up several gravestones in
Turlock, California. Police traced the markers to Turlock Memorial Park, from which
the stones had been legitimately removed, replaced with more elaborate memorials, and
then used for fill. The Detective Sergeant involved on the case was prompted to ask,
"Do you know how much time and money it cost the taxpayers and the City of Turlock
for us to drop everything and go out and investigate something as stupid as that? There
ought to be a law."
Gravestone returned. While serving a search warrant on a case in Manchester, Connecti-
cut, police found the gravestone of a two-year-old girl who died in 1794. The Glaston-
bury (Connecticut) Historical Society, thanks to a 1930's New Deal WPA project, has the
records of names, inscriptions and locations of pre-1930's gravestones and was able to
return Emelie Risley's stone to its proper place in Old Eastbury Burial Ground. It will
be reset after removal of the orange, black and green paint that had been applied to
make the stone more decorative in the Manchester house-.
Gravestones in the front yard? Robert Van Benthuysen of West Long Branch, New
Jersey, sends an article from the Shrewsbury (N.J.) Sunday Register describing the
efforts of a group of Port Monmouth, New Jersey, residents to prevent a developer
from building a subdivision on the site of a 170-year-old graveyard. The developer
claims that he has never intended to disturb the burial ground and that it would be
fenced. We will report on this development if Mr. Van Benthuysen keeps us informed.
Replicas of Collins, Dyer and Dwight stones. Anne Williams and Susan Kelly (A Grave
Business, 83 May wood Road, Darien, Connecticut 06820) contribute a full-page feature
article with photographs which appeared in the Bennington (Vt.) Banner in April, 1981.
The article describes an unfortunate winter automobile accident in which a car swerved
off Route 7A and plowed through the oldest section of the Center Shaftsbury Cemetery.
Eleven historic stones were irreparably smashed into a 1500-piece puzzle. Two addi-
tional stones were badly damaged but could be joined and pinned. Exact replicas of
the eleven, carved 200 years ago by stonecutters Zerubbabel Collins, Benjamin Dyer
and Samuel Dwight, were commissioned from Dino and Derno Ambrosini of the McCue
Memorial Company in Rutland, Vermont. After the pieces were assembled, the Italian-
trained Ambrosini brothers began cutting the replicas. According to the Banner story,
when the replicas are erected, the originals (the youngest of which is dated 1809) will
be mounted in wooden frames and displayed in the historical society, housed in the
meetinghouse adjoining the cemetery. Ranney Galusha, coordinator of the replacement
project, points out that they will last longer there than outside. Mrs. Williams and
Mrs. Kelly, who have visited the graveyard twice since the accident, are impressed
with the care and attention being given the restoration, and also with the enthusiasm
of Mr. Galusha, who refers to the accident as an "intrusion."
See "Samuel Duight: Vermont Gravestone Cutter, " by Nancy Jean Melin, NEWSLETTER,
Spring, 1981, page 11.
(Conservation, Preservation) - 7 -
Save Our Cemeteries: New Orleans Cemeteries are national treasures. The July, 1981,
issue of Preservation News features'an article by Mary Louise Christovich about New
Orleans cemeteries. New Orleans' below sea-level water table prevented secure burial
throughout most of the eighteenth century. As a result. New Orleanians built above-
ground tombs designed and used for single burials until yellow fever epidemics forced
multiple burials within existing crypts. Unfortunately the brick masoieum walls with
vaulted three- and four-"story" high crypts, graceful masterpieces of space-saving
ingenuity, were built without foundations on loamy soil. Can they still be used? An
organization one thousand strong and calling itself Save Our Cemeteries (SOC) says
yes. SOC was founded in 197U to initiate the protection, preservation and restoration
of all New Orleans cemeteries, which record the city's history from the 1870's to the
present. The organization, using its slogan, "Cemeteries are for the living," is trying
to awaken in both the monsignors and the secular Orleanians an interest in cemetery
preservation. Preservation strategies proposed include reuse of deserted tombs, con-
struction of new tombs in complementary styles, and legislation to prevent demolition.
The President of SOC is Mary Louise Christovich, an architectural historian and co-
author of several volumes in the series New Orleans Architecture. Membership dues
for SOC (900 Amethyst Street, New OrleansLA 7021U) are $2.00 and include a copy of
"The Care and Maintenance of Ancient Tombs" by New Orleans architect Henry Krotzer.
Another MOCA project. The Maine Old Cemetery Association (MOCA) is updating
and revising its listing of graves of all known Revolutionary War veterans living
in Maine before, during or after the War. A January, 1982, date is targeted for
publication. See the AGS NEWSLETTER, Fall, 1980, Part II, page 16, for other
MOCA documenting projects.
Living gravestones . Elizabeth McClave, Bicentennial Chairman, Stephentown, New
York 12168, writes us that the Stephentown Historical Society has recorded all in-
formation available from deeds, wills, letters, diaries, assessors, etc., about persons
buried in local cemeteries. This "Living Gravestone" file is open for use by the
interested public.
EDUCATION
N.Y.U. to offer a Master's in Folk Art. The Museum of American Folk Art and New
York University have announced a Master's Degree program in folk art studies, to
be offered in 1981 by N.Y.U.'s Department of Art and Art Education. It is the first
American university program of its kind. The two-year program is intended to help
fill a need for knowledgeable curators and critics of folk art collections and will at-
tract students who want to work with folk art as both an academic endeavor and a
visual art. Dr. Robert Bishop, the Museum's director, defines folk art as material
made by a self-taught artist. "The objects are usually practical things," he says,
"made beautiful by embellishment."
Center for Historic Preservation. Mary Washington College, in Fredericksburg,
Virginia, has recently established a Center for Historic Preservation which will serve
the degree program in historic preservation instituted by the College in 1979 as well
as the broader preservation public throughout Virginia. According to Associate Di-
rector Philip D. Spiess, II, the Center will maintain reference files on preservation
organizations and on other national organizations in fields related to preservation.
Address inquiries to Mr. Spiess at Mary Washington College, Center for Historic
Preservation, 915 Monroe Street, Fredricksburg, Virginia 22401.
Spread the word. Mention AGS. Richard Welch is the author of an article, "Early
American Gravestones: A Folk Art Legacy," published in The Spinning Wheel, Novem-
ber/December, 1981. The five-page illustrated article represents the best of its genre:
writing for the general public. It introduces early American gravestone carving as folk
art, describing the origins and decline of the dominant designs. It mentions the key
literature and notes areas of needed study. Welch does an admirable job of describing
the threats to the survival of these artifacts, lists select graveyards in nine states for
his readers to visit, and recommends AGS to those with a serious interest. Anyone
concerned with introducing gravestone art to the general public will find this article
extremely useful. AGS should request reprints for distribution.
Richard F. Vleldh edited the Spving, 1981, issue of The NEWSLETTER, and this is
a good time to apologize belatedly to him for getting his name wrong on the mast-
head of that issue. JLF
8 -
RESEARCH AND WRITING
NEW PUBLICATIONS
Stonington graveyards . The Stonington (Connecticut) Historical Society announces
the publication of Stonington Graveyards, a 18U-page guide locating and describing
sixty seven burying grounds. It names the 12,000 townspoepie buried there between
1649 and the mid-1930's, identifies veterans and the wars in which they served, and
includes local history, lore of gravestone designs and their carvers, pen-and-ink
illustrations and maps. The sewn, softcover edition is printed on acid-free paper and
sells for $14.75 plus $1.00 postage. Order from Stonington Historical Society, Post
Office Box 103, Stonington, Connecticut 06378.
Welcome Joy. Of interest to students of gravestones is the April, 1,981, publication.
Welcome Joy: Death in Puritan New Enalgnd, by Gordon E. Geddes. This study of
the way New England Puritans experienced death is based on evidence from diaries,
sermons, poetry and epitaphs. It explores the Puritans' response to pain and suf-
fering, and it shows how they prepared for death and how they behaved when faced
with death. Partial contents include: Ideas of Death, The Funeral (in two parts).
The Mourners' Cordial, Boundaries of Death, and Bibliography. The 270-page book
is available at $39.95 from Research Press, an imprint of University Microfilms Inter-
national, Box 1467, Ann Arbor Ml 48106. Research Press carries numerous other
books on American history and culture.
Iconography. UMI Research Press announces the publication of "With Bodilie Eyes":
Eschatological Themes in Puritan Literature and Gravestone Art, by David H. Watters.
The announcement in UMI's publication New Books in the Arts, says that "by dealing
with texts, sermons and carvings, Watters' insights illuminate an important connec-
tion between the printed and spoken word and the visual image." The 250-page book
has 62 plates and is tentatively listed at $37.95 by UMI Research Press, 300 N. Zeeb
Road, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106. David Watters was a contributor to Volume I of
the ACS Journal MARKERS and editor of the forthcoming MARKERS II.
A beautiful book. A handsome, lavishly illustrated prospectus from Sweetwater Editions
(114 East 72nd Street, New York, New York 10021) announces the publication of " A
limited edition devoted to a unique American art form, which is only now being recog-
nized and studied as a significant chapter in our national heritage." The book is Ann
Parker and Avon Neal's EARLY AMERICAN STONE SCULPTURE Found in the Burying
Grounds of New England. It is a big book, and stunningly beautiful. The pages meas-
ure 11"x32". There is a double page spread for each of the forty-two stones included,
with a rubbing of the tympanum on one page. On the facing page is the full epitaph
from the stone, text giving information about the stone and its carver, and a photo-
graph of the whole stone in situ. The complete edition of 475 copies is comprised of
smaller editions, each differing in the binding, in boxing, and in the number of origi-
nal, signed rubbings and photographs included. The Grand Extra-Illustrated Edition
of 75 copies, for example, "contains the complete text and illustrations of the 42 grave-
stones bound in full calf with raised bands on the spine, which also carries a gilt leather
label. A bas-relief gravestone carving is embossed into the front cover in blind stamp-
ing. The volume is encased in a cloth-covered folding box, which also houses: One
original gravestone rubbing taken directly from the stone and signed by Ann Parker
and Avon Neal, and two original photographs (selenium-toned silver prints) processed
and mounted by Ms. Parker to museum archival standards and signed by her on the
mount." In early December, 1981, The Gallery of Graphic Arts, Ltd., (1601 York Ave.,
New York City 10028) presented two editions of the Neal's book in conjunction with an
exhibition of the Neal's "Rubbings From Around the World." The prices of these editions
are $650 and $475.
Rubbing from headstone of
MRS. KATHERINE BARTLET
Haverhill. Mass,
1761
(Research and Writing)
Gravestone studies called isolated. Three books well known to our readers have been
reviewed by The Journal of American Folklore:
The Masks of Orthodoxy by Peter Benes was reviewed by Ormond H. Loomis
in the January-March, 1980, issue, pages 96-98.
Early American Gravestone Art in Photographs by Francis Y. Duval and Ivan
B. Rigby, and Puritan Gravestone Art II, edited by Peter Benes, were re-
viewed by Gerald L. Pocius in the July-September, 1981, issue, pages 381, 382.
The final paragraph of Pocius' review deserves careful thought. He writes that "much
needs to be done in other regions [than New England] and with other cultural groups.
Several of the essays in Benes' book address symbolic issues, but overlook the large
body of recent work in semiotics and anthropology dealing with artifacts. These lacks
point to the isolation of much gravestone research even today, an isolation that must
end if the study of these particular objects is to advance beyond its frequent anti-
quarian associations." (Thanks to Susan Jones of The Institute for Scientific Informa-
tion [iSI], Philadelphia, for finding these reviews for THE NEWSLETTER. )
American attitudes toward death. The Spring, 1981, issue of The Journal of Popular
Culture was guest-edited by Diana Hume George and Mac Nelson (who are currently
editing the next issue of the NEWSLETTER) . The issue of JPG is devoted to essays,
interviews, poems, cartoons, and editorial pieces on American Attitudes Toward Death.
Included are several articles of interest to our readers: "Ideologies in Stone: Meanings
in Victorian Gravestones," by Kenneth Ames; "Grinning Skulls, Smiling Cherubs,
Bitter Words," by George and Nelson (the written version of their presentation at the
Popular Culture Association conference in March, 1981); and "Poetry as Epitaph in
Emily Dickinson," by Karen Mills Campbell. Other items in this issue which may be
of peripheral interest include a briefdiscussion of infanticide by Leslie Fiedler, an
examination of newspaper memoriams by Richard L. Sandler, an article on image
making and advertising in the funeral industry by Robert A. Armour and J. Carol
Williams, and an endpiece on the hospice movement by Thomas T. Frantz. This issue
of The Journal of Popular Culture is available for $6.00 from The Popular Culture
Center, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio 43403.
America's native sculpture fights for life. An article in the July/August, 1981, issue
of Historic Preservation is by Elizabeth Morse-Cluley of Kingston, Rhode Island, who
teaches rhetoric at the University of Rhode Island and is a free-lance writer and artist.
The article, "Cemetery Art Fights for Life," focuses on preservation efforts of Edwin
Connelly, the Rhode Island State Cemetery Director and one of the founders of AGS,
and on AGS itself. Photographs document recent restorations and the conditions that
made them necessary. Connelly's words in the final paragraph sum up the article:
"...who in hell is going to be responsible for protecting these very fragile works that
reflect our heritage?" Reader response (through letters to the editor. Historic Pre-
servation, September/October, 1981) to the Morse-Cluley piece was enthusiastic, calling
the article timely and asking for more information about AGS.
Historic Preservation and Preservation News are publications of the National Trust for
Historic Preservation, 1785 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20036.
Long Island Indians. Gaynell S. Levine (RR 2, Box 205, Wading River NY 11792)
sent us a copy of an impressive publication of the Suffolk County (N.Y.) Archaeolo-
gical Association, Languages and Lore of the Long Island Indians, which she edited.
This 320-page, illustrated book, which is Volume IV of the series Readings in Long
Island Archaeology and Ethnohistory, contains several entries of interest to students
of gravemarkers.
Wisconsin Indians. From Phil Kallas (308 Acorn St., Whiting, Stevens Point Wl 54481)
we have copies of two articles concerning protection of archaeological sites, epecially
Indian burial sites, which are applicable to gravestone study. They are:
"Cemetery or Burial Site, Equal Protection for Wisconsin's Indian Heritage," by Gene
Connor of the Burnett County (Wisconsin) Historical Society.
"Protecting Archaeological Sites," by William Green, Staff Archaeologist, Historic
Preservation Division, State Historical Society of Wisconsin.
Both items appeared in Exchange (March/April, 1981), a bimonthly publication of the
State Historical Society of Wisconsin.
For a future issue about burial sites and markers of Amerioan Indians ^ we welcome
additional contributions.
(Research and Writing) - 10 -
Martha's Vineyard gravestones . From Elsa Slocum (RFD, Vineyard Haven MA 02568)
we have a copy of The Duke's County Intelligencer^ February, 1979. The 35-page
lead article is an excellent one entitled "Martha's Vineyard Gravestones from 1688 to
1804: An Historical Study," by Joseph J. larocci (381 Old Boston Road, Topsfield,
Massachusetts 01983). Three cemeteries were used for his study: Tower Hill in
Edgartown; the West Tisbury Cemetery; and Chilmark Cemetery. Included is a dis-
cussion and timeline of Vineyard stonecutters (and/or those whose work is on the
Vineyard), photographs of gravestones and graphs of seriations using data from the
three cemeteries, as well as a combination graph. Mr. larocci concludes that the
death's head reached its peak of popularity there from 1730-34 and that the rise in
popularity of the cherub correlates with a change in orthodox Puritanism. He des-
cribes interior and off-island influences and thoroughly documents the the means by
which "gravestones can be projected against known historical data, detailing the
dynamics of change."
Joseph larocci, a June graduate in anthropology from Brown University, wrote this
paper in 1977. Back issues of The Duke's County Intelligencer may be obtained at
cover price ($1.25) from the Duke's County Historical Society, Inc., Cook and School
Streets, Edgartown, Massachusetts 02539. The Intelligencer is published quarterly
by the Historical Society, and subscription is through membership in the Society.
Segregation in death. "Segregation in Life, Segregation in Death: Landscape of an
Ethnic Cemetery," is the title of an article by Yvonne J. Milspaw in the Autumn, 1980,
issue of Pennsylvania Folklife. The article describes the development of the town of
Steelton, Pennsylvania, which grew from a community of six families in 1866 to an
ethnically diverse city of more than 13,000 people from more than ten ethnic cultures
by 1920. The Baldwin (the original name of Steelton) Cemetery, according to the
author, clearly reflects the ethnic development of the city through the locations of
the graves, the kinds of markers used, and the upkeep provided. The landscape of
this early twentieth century cemetery "emerges with ethnic, racial and religious seg-
regation as its major premise." Six photographs illustrate the interesting Bulgarian-
Macedonian Feneri (lanterns), small, hand made metal boxes which house candles and
occasionally other grave offerings. Ms. Milspaw points out that everyday life con-
tinued the ethnic isolation begun by language and culture, that death was no leveler
and was not permitted to erase ethnic identifications.
Yvonne Milspaw is an Associate Professor of Folklore and American Studies at the :
Pennsylvania State University, Capitol Campus. She has assisted with the production
of a television series, "Ethnic Minorities in the Keystone State."
AUTHOR'S REQUESTS
Civil War monument. For an article about the ubiquitous Civil War monument of a
soldier at rest atop a granite shaft, Mary E. Dimock is seeking information about the
carver, designer, producer, seller and the model. James G. Batterson of New Haven
supplied the granite; Darius and Cyrus Cobb developed the design; W. N. Mossman
and the Ames Works in Chicoppee, Massachusetts, cast a bronze version. Send in-
formation to Ms. Dimock, 14 Monroe Street, Northborough, Massachusetts 01532.
North Carolina stonecutters. A project of the University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill being funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities is entitled "The North
Carolina Cemetery as Cultural Artifact." Ruth Little-Stokes is conducting fieldwork
in selected areas of North Carolina to obtain a statistical sampling of the major ethnic
and religious gravestone traditions. She finds that in the eastern part of the state,
where no native stone exists, the markers in wealthy cemeteries and private burying
grounds were imported, and often signed. The stonecutters she is interested in worked
c. 1800-1850. They are:
Abner Sweetland, Connecticut Witzell & Cahoon, New York
Ebenezer Price, New Jersey F. Price 6 Son, Norwalk, Connecticut
R. Hart ? New York Thomas Norris, 417 Bowery, New York
Readers with information about these or other early cutters who may have worked in
North Carolina are asked to write : Dr. Ruth Little-Stokes, 7408 Ebenezer Church Rd.,
Raleigh, North Carolina; or c/o The Curriculum-in-Folklore, Department of English,
Greenlaw Building, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill NC 17514.
Southern studies. For an investigation of gravestone carving executed in the South
prior to 1820, Catherine H. Roe, a Field Researcher for the Museum of Early Southern
Decorative Arts (MESDA, Salem Station, Winston-Salem NC 27108), asks if there are
any active studies being conducted in the South other than MESDA's and the work of
Dr.'s Patterson and Little-Stokes at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Address her at 133 West End Street, Chester, South Carolina 29706.
- 11 -
BOOK REVIEW
SEPTEMBER 6, 1781: NORTH GRO TON'S STORY
By Carolyn Smith and Helen Vergason
Illustrated with maps and photographs. 227 pages. Softbound. $11.50.
New London, Connecticut. Funded by the Ledyard Historical Society and the
Ledyard Historic District Commission; printed by New London Printers, Inc.
Review by James A . Slater
September 6, 1781 North Croton's Story contains gravestone information far more
important than the title suggests. The Smith-Vergason books gives a detailed ac-
count of the massacre of the defenders of Fort Griswold and the burning of New
London (Connecticut) by British troops under Benedict Arnold on September 6,1781.
Anyone who has spent time in the old burial grounds of southeastern Connecticut is
aware of the bitterness engendered by the British attack. The stones from those
burial grounds bear grim and biting statements, such as "killed by traitor Arnolds
murdring corps," "fell victim to British inhumanity," "inhumanly massacred by
British troops," and "does not my blood for vengeance cry?"
The book is exhaustively researched, well organized and concisely written. It is a
pleasure to read. It is much more than an account of the battle and its aftermath.
Included are photographs of the houses of the families involved in the battle, de-
tailed genealogical information, and extensive accounts of some of the historical areas
in the Groton-Ledyard area.
The primary importance of the book to gravestone studies is the extensive treatment
of the markers of the men killed at Fort Griswold and of the burying grounds where
the stones are found. A valuable feature is a legible map and detailed directions to
nineteen early, difficult-to-locate graveyards. The illustrated material is extensive —
four general cemetery views and eighty-five individual stones. Each stone pictured
has a complete accompanying text which is particularly valuable since many markers
made from Connecticut Valley sandstone are now partially or completely illegible.
There is an additional three-page discussion of stone deterioration, stone origin, and
stone carvers, particularly the Manning and Johnson families and Jonathan Loomis.
Of interest, also, is a list of all Fort Griswold soldiers engaged in the battle, arranged
by cemetery, and a valuable bibliography. AGS readers will be pleased to find the
address of the Association given as a source for further information, and MARKERS
cited as a valuable resource.
This well-written book sold out within a month of its publication and is, unfortunately,
unavailable for purchase. More unfortunate, copyright litigation may prevent addi-
tional printings. However, it is available in libraries, and it is recommended to every-
one interested in Connecticut gravestones or in American Revolutionary War history.
James A. Slater, Professor of Entomology at the University of Connecticut, Storrs,
is currently organizing information about eastern Connecticut gravestones and deve-
loping a guide to that area's historic burial grounds.
Readers ave reminded that all pubtioations reviewed on these pages are
available from Highly Specialized Promotions (HSP)^ excepting any that
are out of print. Address ESP, 392 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn NI 11217.
WORKSHOPS. CONFERENCES. LECTURES
Federation of Historical Services. In June, 1981, the Federation of Historical Services
in Old Chatham, New York, offered a workshop, "Theories and Methodology of Ceme-
tery Research." Speakers were Gaynell Levine, Teaching Assistant, Anthropology De-
partment, State University of New York, Stony Brook; Margaret Coffin, Historical So-
ciety of Early American Decoration; Warren Broderick, New York State Archives; Kay
Burgess, Chatham Town Historian; and Clinton Merrow, Sr., Investigator, New York
State Division of Cemeteries.
Conference of New York State History. Gaynell Levine presented a paper, "Ethnicity
and Ideology in Stone: Queen sborough. New York, Immigrant Gravestones, 1880-1980,"
at the Conference of New York State History held at the State University of New York,
New Paltz, in June, 1981.
Quincy Historical Society. In May and June, 1981, the Quincy (Mass.) Historical Society
offered a series of five illustrated lectures, "The Folk Tradition: Art of America's Com-
mon People." Lecturers for the session on early New England gravestone carvings were
Dan and Jessie Lie Farber. Other subjects treated in the series included figureheads
and sternboard carvings, itinerant painters, Yankee weathervanes, and quilts.
(Workshops, Conferences, Lectures) - 12 -
American Culture and Popular Culture Associations. In March, 1981, the combined
conference of the American Culture and Popular Culture Associations sponsored a
session on Gravestone Studies in Cincinnati. Chaired by David Taylor of the Ohio
Historic Preservation Office and Lance Mayer of the Cincinnati Art Museum, the ses-
sion included papers covering many facets of gravestone study. Speakers were
George Ceib, Butler University, Indianapolis, Indiana; Glen M. Johnson, University
of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky; Diana Hume George and Mac Nelson, Pennsyl-
vania State University /Behrend College and The State University of New York,
Fredonia; Thomas J. Hannon, Slippery Rock State College, Slippery Rock, Pennsyl-
vania; and Pamela Miller, , Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania.
Gravestone studies and related studies of death are now a regular offering of the two
associations. Send suggestions for papers to be read at the Spring, 1982, conference
to ''Pamela Miller, Department of English, The Pennsylvania State University, Univer-
sity Park, Pennsylvania 16802.
Cemeteries in context. From Robert L. Schuyler, Associate Curator, American His-
torical Archaeology Section of the University Museum, University of Pennsylvania,
we have the abstract of a symposium to be held at the annual meeting of the Society
for Archaeology in January, 1982. The symposium, "Cemeteries in Context," was
organized by Schuyler and Dr. Elizabeth A. Crowell of The University of Pennsylvania
Abstract:
Archaeologists, historians, geographers and other scholars have been investi-
gating American historic mortuary art for nearly two decades. Almost all of
these studies had a common starting point — the individual gravestone. It was
expectable and logical that initial research on mortuary patterns would be in-
itiated on the level of individual artifact, but more recently the scope of "grave-
stone studies" has been expanded by placing the data preserved on monuments
in a much broader context. The presentations in this symposium suggest two
important aspects of this expansion. First, the primary focus of field research
is shifting from the grave marker, either as a single object or as an item in a
statistical count, to the entire cemetery as part of the cultural landscape.
Cemeteries, as part of the overall settlement pattern, rather than isolated
gravestones, are the natural unit of field work. Second, the raw data de-
rived from both stones and the internal and external arrangements of ceme-
teries are being analysed within a contemporary cultural setting that takes
into account the impact of class, ethnicity and denomination. Questions of
general style or specific information, such as the origin of Individual carvers,
continue to be significant as subjects in themselves, but such data can also
serve on a broader level as preliminary steps toward chronological control
and establishment of specific historic reference points. Cultural context in-
volves much more, including the basic economic, social and ideological sys-
tems which controlled mortuary practices at specific points in time and space.
Eventually, even such a complete cultural matrix will, when adequate case
studies are available, be viewed as partial reflections of the evolution of
traditional and industrial societies in the modern 01500-1980) world.
The symposium will be comprised of thirty-minute presentations. The NEWSLETTER
has abstracts of each of these preseintations, which we may be able to include in our
next issue. Or you may write for a Xerox copy to ACS Publications, c7o American
Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massachusetts 01609. Please enclose 50<: handling
and postage. .
The presentations:
"Cemeteries in the Cultural Landscape: an Example from the Desert West,"
by Robert L. Schuyler, University of Pennsylvania.
"Ethnicity in the Graveyard," by Conrad M. Goodwin, The College of William
and Mary.
"Cross-Cultural Variation in Modern Cemetery Assemblages," by Edwin S.
Dethlefsen, The College of William and Mary.
"Cape May: Uncarved Images and Migratory Gravestones; Problems In
Cemetery-Gravestone Studies," by Elizabeth A. Crowell, University of
Pennsylvania .
Discussant, James Deetz, University of California, Berkeley.
A catalog of the AGS collection at the New England Historic Genealogical Society,
newly compiled by archivist Michael Cornish, is available from him upon receipt of
60C in U.S. postage to cover printing and mailing costs. Address: 62 Calumet St.
Roxbury, Massachusetts 02120.
13 -
STONECUTTERS AND THEIR WORKS
Tenth of a Series
Betse Burr, 1792, Warren,
STONECUTTER of the NARRACANSETT BASIN:
WILLIAM THROOP Vincen
In the Massachusetts and Rhode Island towns bordering the head of the Narragansett
Bay stand a considerable number of stones carved by William Throop. Throop, son of
Thomas and Mary, was born June 13, 1739. He was married twice, first to Althea Fales,
and then to a Mary. A son, William, born 1771, probably carved stones in the early
nineteenth century.
From 1776 to 1781, Throop served in the Bristol, Rhode Island, company of militia, earn-
ing the rank of lieutenant. He died February 26, 1817. A Bristol deed refers to him
as "yoeman." His stonecarving career seems to have begun after his military service.
Documentation for Throop's markers is found on signed stones for Elizabeth Bullock,
1786, Rehoboth, Massachusetts, and Hanna Thomas, 1790, Swansea, Massachusetts.
Probate records show payment to Throop for gravestones for:
Mary Allen, 1786, Rehoboth, Massachusetts. Probated 1788.
Lois Martin, 1787, Rehoboth, Massachusetts. Probated 1789.
Abigail Burr, 1803, Warren, Rhode Island. Probated 1806.
Caleb Barton, 1809, Warren, Rhode Island. Probated 1813.
The death date on a stone and the probate date fix the period during which each of
these stones was carved.
Hannah Thomas
I'/ I
El izabeth
Bullock
Mary Al len
Hannah
Thomas
Lois Martin
The signed Elizabeth Bullock stone and the probated Mary Allen stone clearly show
Throop to be working with or copying the designs of John and James New, of Grafton,
Massachusetts. The similarity of Throop's work to the News' work led me to question
my attribution of half a dozen other stones which had seemed, on first impression, to
be the work of the News. Even before my discovery of William Throop, the design
and lettering on these stones had led me to surmise that the News may have had an
imitator. Confined to Rehoboth, Massachusetts, these New-type Throop markers
are for: Annah Bullock, 1771 ; Hannah Moulton, 1778; Simon Burr 1783; Daniel Barney,
1784; and Seth Bullock, 1784.
In time, Throop developed his own characteristic designs, one of which strongly resem-
bles the "Brillo hair" design used by John Stevens, Jr., of Newport.
Vincent F. Luti, the foremost researcher of Narragansett Bay area gravestone car-
vers, is professor of music at Southeastern Massachusetts University, Articles by
him have appeared in the NEWSLETTER [Summer, 1980) and Rhode Island History
(February, 1981).
14
Stonecutter John Stevens, Jr., of Newport, Rhode Island. Robert P. Emien, Asso-
ciate Curator of the Rhode Island Historical Society, has forwarded to us an adver-
tisement placed by John Stevesn, Jr., in an issue of the 1772 Newport Mercury.
According to Mr. EmIen, Stevens' advertisements are very rare. We reproduce it
here, together with a copy of a rubbing of a Newport stone signed by Stevens.
J
0 H N S r E F E N :S, jun.
STONE-CUTTER,
In Thames- Smet, near L I BE R 1' Y - T R E E,
Hereby informs the' P U B L I C^
^Tp HAT he carries on tb.e Ston e-Cutteks buli-
J. nefs in all its branches, (generally carried ou iri
Ameiica) in the neateft manner. All perfons who
pleafe to favour him vvich iheir cullom, raay depend up-
on being fervcd with iidelity and deipatch, ac a reaiou-
ble rate. — All favours received will be melt gr;Ueiuily
acknowledged by laid STEVENS.
N. B. Any one at a dillance IhaU be as well fer-
vcd, by letter, as if prefent. — (349 — )
Above: Advertisement from The Newport
Mercury, Monday, October 26, 1772.
Right: Newport, Rhode Island gravestone
signed by John Stevens, Jr.
rV T^l.<s r>oH Ti^\ iciht^PT.'^nf:
, tliR J\g>^;; ■ 1 0^4ATJrlAN
--eft part of her y/cyy. ufe =.
fliPwl l^ite . She died 8it NlanvP
'■'■■•'^'. ; .-.-.v-..'.; • ■,.. '.■■■ ■ >'vi. .■■•■
its eve rLeulVin rt l\eni cinbr^ricie
W
M^:?^
CRAVE RUBBING FROM THE
OLD GRANARY BURYING GROUND
by Louis Phillips
We tape rice paper to the face
of the dead.
One infant, 8 months old, the
doctor bled.
If there are underground souls.
They enter through our knees.
My hands, black from coal.
Take life from stone. Infant & old folks.
Life chokes us at both ends.
Sarah Potter. God bless measles.
Whooping cough, all diseases
That plague these mosses in a round.
Such a stalwart name. Potter.
We carry it away with us.
In our car, dates & ail.
From All That Clows Sees ^ Poems by Louis Phillips, published by Prologue Press j
447 East 14th Street, New York, New York 10009, 1981. Used here with permission
from and thanks to Louis Phillips, who spent his youth in Lowell, Massachusetts,
sometimes doing rubbings. Now living in New York City, Mr. Phillips is a poet,
playwright, novelist, and author of numerous books for ahildren.
The two rubbings reproduced on this page are by Susan H. Kelly and Anne C. Williams.
- 15 -
.MISCELLANEOUS
Artists and architects create urban cemetery. The Saturday Review, March, 1981,
carried a review of a New York Architectural League show, "Collaboration: Artists
& Architects," which opened in March at the New York Historical Society. Among
the eleven projects (rendings, models, bits of buildings), was one designed by
trompe-l'oeil painter Richard Haas and architect Edward Mills. Their plan for a mas-
sive urban cemetery, a necropolis for Roosevelt Island, was shown in counterpoint
to the Manhatten skyline in the background. The catalog essay compares the Haas-
Mills design to Detroit's Renaissance Center.
Bargain-price tombstone. Earl Rife, a former coal miner from West Virginia, found a
new occupation when he was taken out of the mines because of black-lung. He saw
a need in his Appalachian area for inexpensive gravemarkers. According to a story
by Garret Mathews in the Bluefield, West Virginia, Do /Vy Telegraph , reprinted in the
Dunkirk, New York, Even /ng Observer, Rife mixes his own concrete and pours it into
hand-made molds. When the concrete is nearly set, he inserts plastic letters from
Hong King to form a birth and death record in "lettering more or less straight and in
spelling more or less correct." At first Rife did not charge families for the tombstones.
Later he began charging a small fee, and as the cost of concrete has increased, his
prices have gone up. He gets $60 for a large marker and $35 for a smaller one. Most
of his stones are simple and rounded on top, but he has added a few crosses, and
once a tintype of a husband and wife. Says Rife, "I even add a little limestone dust
if someone wants me to get fancy." Any poetry? He says he has not been asked but
he'd squeeze the space to get it on. The only thing he says he won't do is deliver.
An innovative proposal. The April 27, 1981, Rochester, New York, Times Union
features an illustrated front page story about Rochester's Mt. Hope Cemetery. Because
of the cemetery's landmark designation, the city cannot demolish or drastically alter
the cemetery buildings, and at the same time, it cannot afford to restore them. Ac-
cording to the story, the 120-member Friends of Mt. Hope Cemetery, organized a year
ago to help preserve the cemetery where Susan B. Anthony is buried, plans to hire a
consultant to suggest ways to run it in a business-like fashion that will turn its op-
erating deficit into a surplus. An innovative step slated for approval by the City
Council is the leasing of the vacant second floor of the office-crematory building to
23 year-old Paul Knoke for $1 per month for three years. Knoke, a graduate of the
University of Rochester with a degree in art history, restores and tunes musical in-
struments for a living. He says the arrangement will facilitate his work in the areas of
his major interests, music and history. He will be provided with an historic place to
live and he can use the cemetery chapel to house his collection of antique musical in-
struments, in return, Knoke will install plumbing and electrical facilities and redec-
orate the apartment. He will begin restoration of the Gothic revival chapel built in
1862-63, and will keep an eye out for vandals. The city estimates his services to be
worth $7200, fair market value for the rent, and sees the arrangement as part of a
long-term effort to improve the cemetery at low cost to the financially strapped city.
NEWSLETTER NOTES
I wish to express my personal thanks to Donna Carlson for her fine work as guest
editor of this issue. Her copy was so thoroughly and expertly prepared that I
had only to read and en^oy it and pass it on to the printer. Mrs. Carlson, who
is Assistant Curator and Photograph Historian for the Historical Museum of the
D. E. Barker Library, Fredonia, New York, has expressed an interest in editing
an issue which concentrates on gravestone conservation. Send contributions for
an issue with this emphasis to AGS Publications, c/o American Antiquarian Society,
Worcester, Massachusetts 01609. JLF
Guest editors of the AGS NEWSLETTER Winter issue are Diana Hume George and
Mac Nelson. Dr. George is on the English faculty of The Pennsylvania State Uni-
versity/Behrend College, Erie, Pennsylvania, Dr. Nelson is Professor of English
at The State University of New York, Fredonia.
Deadline immediately. Readers who have information about epitaphs, or interesting
(that is, meaty, tough, funny, profound, angry, or just plain awful) examples of
epitaphs are invited to send them to Diana George and Mac Nelson, 120 West Main
Street, Brocton, New York 14716. Please identify your epitaph's location and the
name and death date of the deceased. Short pieces about individual epitaphs — dis-
cussions of meanings or of literary sources, for example — or about the epitaph as
genre are also welcome. Because the NEWSLETTER is running behind schedule
(and trying to catch up!), we are working on the "epitaph edition" now, so send
your contributions without delay.
VlllllSMIN
sseyy 'JS|S93JOy^
Oi.fr ON l!UJj»d
a I V d
30ViSOd s n
'0^0 lldO^d NON
60910 ss>?W JajsdDJOM
■y^jspos u\?!J\?nbnuv uvDuauuvo/D
suo!4P3!|qnj SOV
CEMETERY CITATIONS
EXEMPLARY CARE
GREEN-WOOD CEMETERY
BROOKLYN, NEW YORK
Frequently cited for its natural beauty,
historical importance and monumental
splendor, Green-Wood is cited here for
the excellence of its care and supervision.
(Contributed by John Cashman of Brooklyn,
who volunteers time to conduct cemetery
tours and show slides to those unable to
visit Green-Wood. )
Founded in 18S8 and sometimes called "the
queen of Amevioan Cemeteries , " Green-Wood
has been recommended for official land-
mark status by the New York City Land-
marks Preservation Commission.
AGS Patch, designed
by Carol Perkins. $3.
See page 4.
NEGLECT
MOUNT PROSPECT CEMETERY
NEPTUNE TOWNSHIP, N.J.
Once admired for its beauty and its in-
novative underground water system,
this cemetery's graves are now over-
grown with ragweed and honeysuckle
vines and its monuments are broken.
It has financial problems, and its early
records were destroyed in an 1890 fire.
The Township claims no responsibility
for its care. (Contributed by Robert
Van Benthuysen of Long Branch, N.J.)
THE AGS NEWSLETTER is published four times a year as a service to members of the Association for Gravestone Studies.
The membership year is from June to June. Send membership fees (Regular Membership, $10; Sustaining Membership, $25)
^o ACS Treasurer Nancy Jean Melin, 215 West 75th St. . Apt. WE. New York, NY 10023. Order MARKERS, The Journal of
the Association for Gravestone Studies (Members' price, $15; Non-members' price, $25) from Betty Slater, 373 Bassettes
Bridge Rd., Mansfield Center, CT 06250. Address NEWSLETTER contributions to ACS Publications, do The American
Antiquarian Society, Worcester, MA 01609. Address all other Association correspondence to ACS Corresponding Secretary
zioise West, 199 Fisher Rd., Fitchburg, MA 0U20.
NEWSLETTER
OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES
The following index to the first five volumes of the AGS Newsletter was
compiled by George Kackley, Baltimore MD. Spanning the years 1977 -
1981, the first five volumes are from a formative period of the Association.
Back issues of the AGS Newsletter are available from
Rosalee Oakley
Executive Director
Association for Gravestone Studies
46 Plymouth Road
Needham MA
02192
U.S.A.
VOLUMES 1 - 3
VOLUMES4-7
VOLUMES 8 - 9
$8.00 (for the whole package, including postage)
$10.00
$12.00
-a
0)
c
o
a
>i
u
0)
^—
-p
^—
0
1
e
<N
Q)
• •
O
■^ .
>i
C
a\ -^
0)
O T-
Xi
1 1
Cn
tN V-
0)
«• ••
H
•^ in
i-l
<
IX> CTi
1
T- o
1 1
.C
^— T—
tn
•■ •■
U
■"a" in
0
X)
M
m T-
■P
T- o
4J
1 1
■rH
T- '^
cu
c
u
•H
g
(N
m
V—
o
CN
■q"
f^
•^
QJ
-
QJ W
X
•
m
x: la
tl)
QJ
,-^
tn
0
0)
0
4-1 15
!h Ti x:
T3
c
-P
to
y—
!-l
-H
• •
c
0 c
4-1
QJ
to
a
to
<u
•V
a
x; x:
4-1
to
m -H
a
Q) TJ
QJ
.H
tn
(U
QJ
QJ
-P 0
(TJ
tn
a
QJ
e
QJ
tn
CM
3
•
4J
-H
X!
JH
u
•H -H
x;
QJ
QJ tn
(0
•H
iH
ty
X
to
y—
TJ
Q)
i-i
p4
H
0)
IS x:
4-1
U
M -H
x;
.5<;
(0
0
QJ
04
a)
0
to
>i
[5
S
(0
3
tn
a
TJ
Ti x;
C
a
•
xi
QJ
Ti x; <X3
CN
13
!::
MH
c
u
Q)
n
•
-P
Cn -
• ^ •
o
QJ O
w
-
(N
0
-H
0
to
tn
M
0
^—
13
tJi
(C
•
Ifl 'S'
CO -P
y—
x: -H
QJ
to
c
QJ
•»
C
c x;
^-^
P4
QJ -H
u x;
tn
3:
+
-t-
TJ
c
■.
a
y—
Ti HH
4-1
QJ
-1-
(tJ
-rH
-P Ti
U
m
T3
tn g
(0
n
lO
Q)
0
T—
01
C
tn
•>
QJ
Q) QJ
w a
a
Cu
o
(0
U
4-1
x;
0
c
(0
C
5
tn x;
x; X!
QJ 0
to
Ti -
r-
Ti
T3
Ti
s:;
*.
0
U
•H
a
Ti
0
<-i
i-i
m
4-1 g
u
QJ Q)
0)
QJ
y—
QJ
QJ
-1-
4-1
0
(0
QJ
rH
i-i
QJ
•H
;:}
T3 T!
(y\
x; o
■
QJ
h
U
(N
Si
U
(0
y—
4-1
0
TJ x;
M
O
0
X!
.H
- C Ti QJ
o c
o
tn
QJ
Q)
0
QJ
4-1 00
Q)
4-1
Q)
O
14-1
XJ
>l
to 4-1
tn
(0 Q)
•
lO
X!
X
tn
to
4H
•
Ti
tn
to
O^
x:
•H
%
p
D
U -
c
Q)
•P u
tn
a
e
QJ
4-1
C (N
Q)
QJ
^—
tn
5
>l
QJ
c
a,
4-1 ^
Di-H
tn 4-1 OJ Tl
tn
3
3
tn 4-1
0
CM
p
tnTi
•H
X!
i!
C
C M
to
to MH
fi
QJ
4-1
C
c
to
to
U
c
10
QJ
QJ
rH
tn
a
-P
QJ
-P
QJ OJ
■H a
P4
c
(0
u
=i
a
c
Pu
Ti
-H
Cu
4-1
x;
X
4-1
c
'd
Si
O
c
rH
Ti O
t!
X
+
3
3
Ti
0
C
4-1
to
-p
3
U
3
+
-1-
(U
'M
4-)
C
QJ 3
•H !-l
-1-
+
QJ U
ITi
Ti
QJ CO
to
C
C
a to
+J
o
x; -H
to QJ
■
-p
to
>.
■.
•
4-1
tT>
0
•
-H
m
4-1
*-
m
.H
m
4-1 0
e X!
tn
to 00
tn
tn
tn
tn
tn
tn
to
^—
*r~
u
tn
tn 0
tn
tn
tn
tn
ttl
tn
u
M
rH
tC
>
tn
m
Q)
i^ [^
QJ
tn
QJ
QJ
QJ
QJ
0)
C
CN
QJ
(0
Q)
QJ
QJ
QJ
QJ
m
+J
fti
^
MH
Q) 3
OJ
QJ
tn
•H cr.
tn
G
tn
tn
tn
tn
tn
•H
QJ
tn
a
m
tncN
tn
tn
tn
tn
a
W
o m x; c
tP
tn
to
tn^
(0
■H
to
to
to
lO
to
tn
Si
tn
to
G
4-1
to
to
to
to
to
(1)
■H
QJ
T—
o
4-1
to
to
a
to
arH
a
P.4
a
a
a 10
4-1
0)
c
a 3
C
a-p
a
a
a
a
W
tn
M
t3
Q)
a
a
a QJ
■H
a
tn
•H
QJ
IH
C
(C
V4
C (N
w tn
o
c x;
tn
to
(N
o
CN
00
CM
n
MH
to
CM
a
>
CM
to
^
^
■=3-
\£>
^
0
QJ
QJ r-
C to
^
>£>
y—
:3 +J
to
e
y—
(N
T-
y—
CM
3
0
a
Q)
T—
to
0)
CN
a
^—
^—
t—
T—
Ul
o
Q) .Ci
■H a
4J
+)
tn
e:
QJ QJ
to
■H
c
•^
QJ
3
x; C14-1 ro
Sh
(U
•
T!
c
4J (3
c
••
• •
..
;.
.•
0
!5
.<
.*
^—
>>
<<
• •
e
OJ
QJ
■Jp
P4
0 QJ
r~-
r~-
00
CTv
O^
a\
00
0
0
0
00
^—
T—
^—
(U
tn
^v*
>.
4-1
u >
r-
r~-
!-■-
r~-
t~-
r-
^^
CO
..
00
00
^-^
CO
00
00
M
rd
(U
4-1
CM
n3 0
to
o^
<j\
(T\
a^
o-i
c^
en
cn
00
!y\
tj^
0
o^
cn
tj\
(U
a
13
C
to
x:
Q)
"x;
tn
r—
^
^
^
^
^
r^
^
QJ
^
'^
00
^
'^
^~
d)
•H
4-1
e
M iC
C >i
tn
tn
U
tn
U
tJi
tJ>
!h
M
tn
U
Q)
1
D
CO
O rH
C
C
QJ
C
0)
C
to
Q)
QJ
G
QJ
h
m
UJ
rH
QJ T)
•H nH
■H
i-i
•H
4-1
■H
rH
4-1
■H
a
.H
4-1
-H
C
rH
.13
nJ
TJ
O
& c
4-1 (0
M
vH
!h
C
M
rH
C
U
R
rH
C
IH
g
rH
+J
u
C
>
pj to
O P
a
ni
a
-H
a
to
H
a
tn
3
to
■H
a
3
to
Q)
-
ta
(C —
0) m
t;^
U^
CO
S
0:1
frl
|tj
i^
0
t/3
fn
:5
tn
CO
Pm
Q)
.Q
c
4-1
•
M 13
>
^
0
M
QJl
:: U
■^
•-
.K
•.
•^
-.
•^
>.
Ti
V
^
>..
-
•^
*•
(0
:3
■rH
M
+ QJ
0 -P
y—
CM
<N
■^—
CM
n
y—
(N
c
ro
■^
^—
CM
ro
■^
x;
c
4-1
(d
OJ
T3
-Hi
S 0
4-1 C
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
QJ
.
,
,
,
,
,
U)
o
C
(0 3
0
o
0
0
0
0
0
0
Q)
0
0
0
0
0
0
0)
■•
•H
3 T3
c
C tn
s
23
z
S
s
P3
p^
^
x;
f-*
s
s
2;
2;
o
rH
Q)
in
•H QJ
4-1
c
X!
^
x;
Q) 4-1
0
k.
-.
^
•^
»^
>.
>.
^
h.
»»
>.
*.
».
"-
(U
J!"
3
Q)
m
> U)
TJ Tl
y—
y—
fNJ
ro
m
ro
■^
"^
4-1
-*
-*
in
in
in
in
M
cu
X
■H
QJ QJ
QJ
<
QJ
5
QJ
rH
M x;
iH QJ
•
•
•
■
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
m
rH
QJ
Ti XI
0) Di
■H tn
rH
fH
M
M
rH
rH
.H
rH
rH
.H
rH
iH
rH
.H
(U
0
x;
C
D
x: -H
(0 to
0
o
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Pi
>
H
■H
Dj
S X!
c a
>
>
>
• >
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
t—
r-i
VO
fN
(N
o
1
o
O
1
O
1
1
T—
<U
1
1
r-
1
•
1
1
>1
C
>1 ••
• •
• •
• •
^
I*
u
(U
■H
U CN
ro
T
in
<u
in
0)
c
(d
<u
pq
4J
■H
■p
-p
a>
3
>i c
(1) ^
o
O
in
CN
1
VO
B
>.
^ o
e o
T—
V-
o
T—
o
0)
TD
0) 4H
Q) 1
1
1
1
1
m
1
0
C
■P Q)
U <N
(N
ro
T—
n
-p
r-
m
0) iH
■ •
• ■
• •
■ *
• •
m
■ •
rH
M
e r-i
OJ <^-
(N
ro
in
^
M
in
rH
CQ
Q) Q)
U
x:
•H
u m
01
Cb
S
1
13 <N 00
00
T—
^-
T—
M
ro
x; 1
OJ O
O
O
r-
T—
o
o
4J
73
u
> 1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
0
n
(d w
rH (N
(N
n
cn
ro
T
ro
0
0
0) -H
0) ••
• -
»•
• •
• •
• •
<0
• •
DQ
Cu
<u
m D
m T-
CN
n
M"
■<»'
in
•rH
'J'
*-"
o
c
1
in
0
1 ij
1
in
in
ro
n
o
^
>
CO
>i
'b
m
.(J
10
>i •
O O
o
o
o
o
CN
o
rH
o
+)
-a
0
"O
4J 4-1 .H 1
1
1
1
1
1
1
>1
1
•H
rd
1
c
c w
Q) <N
(N
ro
m
CN
fN
CN
M
ro
U
x:
ITJ
3
Cn ••
• •
• •
• •
• •
• •
• •
c
• •
0
..
c CO
0 1
C--
r\i
o~i
T
n
M"
in
c
>i
ro
0)
in
0
u
<
OJ
u
Di
1
•w 1
•iH
Dh
Q)
-a
•p
o>
Q) >-(
C >^
M"
ro
T—
•q-
00
CN
•q*
U3
-p
ro
ro
0
rd
00
n) en
T—
tno
(0 O
W 1
o
1
o
1
(N
o
1
o
1
o
1
1
o
1
OJ
E
o
o
1
Q
■H
C
T
0 ffl
(N
O U)
1 ••
(N
ro
CM
T—
(NI
CNJ
V.
T;
(1)
rN
ro
1
rd
>
CN
• •
•rl -H
n
1 -H
s
(N
n
■*
■^
m
n
■^
in
c
'^
in
rd
rH
>1
■"J-
CD (U
■P 4J
w ^
(C
>i (0
cn
cn
CD Id
n
r^
ro
o
•rH
X 'J-
n
a\
n
n
M-
(N
O
o
)H
^H
cn
CN
CN
CT>
t^
r--
in
CTi
r~
c
in
"*
r~-
00
•0*
in
C
0
CN
00
ro
ro
^
y—
ro
in
^
D S
^—
V-
T-
Y—
O OJ
0) O
o
o
\—
o
o
o
^—
V-
0)
0)
o
r—
O
o
O
o
V—
o
o
rd
T—
0
0
0
0
0
c
^—
0
0
r—
0
T—
^—
r—
0
0
1
1
1
1
C 0)
H 1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
■p x:
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
«
1
1
1
1
1
1
CD
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1 1
•q-
■a-
OJ
■^r
Y.
(N
(N
CM
t—
n
(N
T3
ro
ro
0)
g
4J
13
ro
CN
CN
'^^
'^
M"
CN
r<j
■7;
^^
T—
<N
T—
ro
ro
04
■"a-
CN
CN
Y.
OJ
■^
■^
■7
■7^
•^
cn cn
in
■^
in
LD
l-l
OJ
T—
(M
ro
M"
ro
■<3<
ro
U
ro
M>
0) iJ
^
"d"
T—
in
ro
in
M-
"a"
ro
Q)
-a-
r-
M-
in
T
•a"
•^a*
ro
in
"S-
T—
•"T
in
in
•^
■"a-
u u
w
H >,
0)
w
(d
u
(U
Q)
0) (U
:3
S-l
m
w
S
0)
Ul
CU
MX
.H
(U
CN
M'
r\! a\
3
o
c
w
ro
cn
u u
■H
•
(U
-p
O
o
o o
O
T3
K
m
(0
tn
^—
(0 (0
j:: o
0)
Q)
>i
1
1
1 1
Eh
Vh
OJ
n
cd
1
•
>1
•
s s
0
0)
m
Q)
0)
E
fN
CM
CM M-
w
>
•^
(13
x:
o
rH
Q)
x;
4J
!h
+J
in
U
ro
S
CD
■rl
rH
0)
-p
C
0
g
rd
■rl
Id
■rl
C
CD
u
•
►-5
C
Id
o
CN
n
M" in
ro x:
5
O
in
rH
.
M
0)
C
K
CD
CD
1-1
£
E
>1
(U
^
M
-P
E
t^ -p x;
13
U
>1
XI
(U
-p
in
Q)
i-q
0)
tH
Q)
r-\
cn
U
x;
>i
0
u
Xi
U
CD
CD
XI
■l^
tH
(u
U Q)
g
m
O
Q)
U
^q
(d
u
O
x:
u
0)
rH
E
C
4J 0
rH
U
3
0
0
CD
^
rd
u
0
|^
cn
(U
S-l
h)
0) c
(U !-l
o
X!
u
C
•
U
ffi
c
>i
U
-p
Q)
J
Q)
Id
(U
■rl
u
0
U
rd S
E i^
C
cn
3
S
rd
T!
^
0)
>i
^
-p ---t
U 0)
^1
0 x;
m
(0
*-
0)
rd
x:
(d
W XI
13 T3
u
-P
0)
fe
cd
U
CD
T3
C «
•-{
x:
0
*.
r3
w
■a
^1
».
0) Id
-P
2
(C
Q
O
u
tP C
w
■•
S
a
^^
0
•-
<:
c
U
XI
x;
CD
E
•»
■H
0
<
0
rd
*.
u
CD T!
CD
U
>i
0)
C
g -p
Q) 0)
O
PQ
h]
S
U
(U
w
>1
rd
-
a
c
rd
rH
(d
0
>H
u
».
C
c
w
pe;
&H
u
■rl
^
■rl
x:
rH
c
<-\
•*
T3
o
QJ C
Vl CU
Eh
«.
(6
SH
Id
Q)
».
U
».
w
u
■».
£
rH
2J
PC
PQ
■
C
■rl
«.
■H
w
u
u
Di
H
CD
0
•h
w
4J
n^
m
U O
(1)
O
^
o
•>>
^
S
in
n
x;
0)
CJi
S
cn
».
3
d
l<2
■rl
*.
H
0
S
cn
CD
*.
*.
x:
0
■rH
■rH
-p
C
-P
Q)
u
M-l
T! -
2
+J
g
d
C
C
-p
u
c
0
0
C
axi
0
X
».
fc.
2
>1
■p
>i CD
r-t
CD
in
Eh
cn
-p
U
^
^
l*H
cn
O
^
0)
i:
Q) ^ a)
0) Ul
H
■H
■H
0
0
*.
0)
w
Ul
;3
•H
H
■rl
o
M
+j
•.
x; x; 0
CD
».
U T3
cn
c
cn
CD
K
•rl
U
CD
C
c
C
C
+J
0)
en
u
-P
O H
> 0)
S
o
M
U)
w
tJi tJi
tn
HJ x:
r-\
d)
rH
x;
U
a T3
-P
■p
4J
H
rH
T)
■H
C
cn
0
CD
g 0
■P
■rH
Tl
^
s
S
S
u
w
w
-p
4->
(C rH
rH C
S
c
C
C
c
!h
!h
^H
^H
+J
X!
Ijl rH
M
(C
(d
c
0
0
0
CO
=1
>i rd
Id
rd
rd
CD
CD
H
■H
>
0
0
0
0
0
(0
nJ
n)
rti
(t!
Q) 0)
0) Q)
w
OJ
Q)
(U
Q)
Q)
(U
OJ
Q)
OJ
■rl
■rl
■rl
■rl
rH
rH
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
^H
u
U
^H
U
^H cc;
Sh
M
Vh
M
Vj
M
m
CO
m
PQ
CQ
m
m
ffl
pq
pq
m
PQ
pa
PQ
pq
m
m
pq
pq
pq
PQ
pq
pq
pq
pq
CQ
m
PQ
PQ
CQ
CQ
CQ
CQ
pq pq
PQ
m
m
CQ
pq
1
CQ
CQ
CQ CQ
pq
■=i> in
(^
■r- OI
ro
ro
in
ro
in ro
0
0 0
0
0
0
0
^ 0
CN
rN -^
'3'
-*
T- «*
a\ <D
ro
-*
OJ 0
CN
■sj-
CO
ro
■5-
CO
in
0 0
1 1
0
0
I
0 r-
1 1
0
1
0
I
0
1
0
0
1
0
1
ro CN
1
1 1
OJ ro
1
f
1
1
10
t
1
ro
ro
1
rsi
in
4-1
cn CD
ro in
01 -a-
in
M-
U ■rl
CD 0
■* r~
<r>
<D
r- ^—
^—
ro
0
^
■sr
•^
■^
u 0
0 0
0
1
0
0 OJ
1 1
0
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
t
1
■rl W
1+4
MH d
0 0
i 1
01 T-
ro
og
E t
T- 01
■^
•>*
1
ro
CN
1
rsi
OJ
ro in
"^
•^
OJ ■=)■
in
-^
ro
vl>
■=!■
ro
in
X!
1 13
ro -*
r—
-=1<
^ [--
KD
■5- ro
^_
in
CO
00
r^
^_
ro
-*
• 13
0 0
t 1
0
1
0
1
0 0
1 1
1
0 0
1 1
0
1
0
0
1
(_)
1
0
1
0
1
0
Ul <
1 1
1
I
CN
i )
01 •5-
1
1 1
CN CN
1
ro
CN
1
CN
OT
1
1
1
■3"
C_5 CD
• ^4
<; Id
ro -q-
in
■q*
cn ro -^
C
-^r
T- M-
in
-*
rN
ro
■^
ro
"^
in
id
^ ro
'a"
■=!■
■H ro ■*
CO
CM ^
0
T—
■^
T—
^
ro
1^
ro
■^
a>
ro
ro
CD
rH
0 0
0
^—
-Poo
0
0 0
r—
r—
0
CD 0
0
0
r—
0
0
0
0
0
CD
CD
cn 1 !
1
1
CD 1 1
1
1 1
1
1
1
cn 1
1
1
j
1
1
1
1
1
cn
Q
CD r\j •^'
rvj
r-
CD ■^ OJ
ro
•r- r<i
CN
ro
r^
0 og
01
^—
V-
■a*
rN
ro
^—
^—
■rl .. ..
• •
..
•cr* ,, ,,
.•
». ..
• •
• •
• •
a ••
• ■
c.
..
*.
■ ■
c.
>•
>•
1
13 OJ 'd'
ro
-S'
ro ro
ro
T- ^
in
ro
ro
M T-
ro
ro
-^
in
^—
-a-
ro
-*
CD
:3
CD
13
CD CD
+j
1
cn
CU
4-> Sh
03 CN CN
>*
^—
CO
01
0
in
^ in
r—
^—
in
'~o
OJ
in
■^
in
■*
LO
01
01
^
4-1 rd V-
^—
0
0 T-
0
0
0
0
DjO
0 1-
0
0
^—
1 0
0
0
^—
0
0
^—
0
0
0
■ri S ^
^—
^—
CD 1 1
1
1
1
1
U
1
1 1
1
1
1
Pj
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
E Id 1
1
1
C v- CN
ri •■ ■■
01
01
ro
c/) CD T-
. CD ••
3
rvj
'- ■^
01
^
OJ
3
0
Ui ••
■^
■<-
ro
r—
01
'd'
^
■<-
OJ
5 rH ro
0 CD "
01
^
u •• ••
-P ^ -a-
ro
^—
ro
CD 4J T-
^—
■^ 'J-
in
^—
in
U
• T—
CD
r—
^—
LO
^—
-*
in
^—
^—
ro
U Q in
in
^
cn
• -P
1
tnO
(D
CD
Kt; ■rl (D
•
-P
CD
> ■*
a
E (U
•
o^
■^
Ovl
cn
<
^
+J
■a-
ro
r^
■=!>
CD
> CD
A
Id 0
3
S ■p
Ui
0
0
0
tn
^—
■H
0
0
^—
0
CD
•rl CD
CO
rd
M 1
0
CD
0 +J
^
1
1
1
C
1
P
1
1
1
■P
4-1 cn
CD
•H
CJ5 01
M
CD
U ■rl
CJ
00
'S-
CM
■H
CD
■=!•
^
^
^~■
^—
"3"
-P
3 g 13
• •
tjl
U
cn
E
•
• •
• •
• *
-P
CU
• •
0
■
• •
at
• ■
■H
a 0 id
CD
U -a"
CD
C E
<
ro
■^
in
cn
cn
in
U
in
in
"*
in
g
P
CD 1-q 1-:) 13
0
cn
M
0 0
Id
cn
K
p
0
X <
CD
IH
C
0
U
■H
cn ■H u
CD -P
CD
a
u
cn
>
C
0
M
Eh
6
u
U
tn
ct; x;
1^
c
■H
-P
iJ rd C
Q)
•H
13
CD
a
■rl
1^
H
>iD 0
■•
(D
0 cn
-p
CO
c 0
m
cn
x:
C
> in
Id
-P
a
W
x:
CO
Sh 0 i-D
x:
cn
■H CD
13
CD > ■H
tJi
cn
rd
■rl sh
Sh
Id
w
i-q
CD
0
tn rd 1-0
4-1
0
-P >
X!
cn
U
!h M -P
C
u
-P CD
Di
0
«
m
cn
Sh
C
Sh
S4
1-2
Id -H
■rl 13
CD
(D CD rd
w
■rl
CD
cn
0 0
x;
0
■H
«
12
0
Id
■H
0 s C
0
■H £
Jh
M
a,4H cn cj
rH
0
H-l
i
13
CD tH
u
-P
rH
i
W
a 0)
X!
ao 0
3
*.
u 0
-P
rd
g
C C =i
rd
D
CD
rH
■r-iMH
■p
0
r-\
S
Sh
m
x:
g CQ X!
CO
CO
0 M
■P
S
3
0 0 13
0
0
CD
CD
0
XI MH
rd
x:
3
0
CD
^
CD D =i
CD
CD
cn <
< <
CQ
U U K
iS)
iJ
^
^
2;
0 0
Cu
p»
CM
1
1
CM
Pi
A
Eh Q 13
r-\
Sh
m
D 3
>^
>
<: 1
1
1
1
1
1 1
1
1
1
1
1
i
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
<
<c
<
<
•V
T- \D
0
T— T—
01
ro CN
ro
■^ in
^ 00
•^ ro
0 0
0 0
■^ r-
CM •q-
in ro
■^ in
\D 0
•<- 01
0 •<-
0 0
rN rN
CN ■^
in rv) -^ in
CTN
o
T- 00
1.D
r\i
0
0 0
0
CN rM
CN
ro
in CN
^
in
•q*
01 OJ
0
ro
■*
^_
r^J
ro
ro
^ 0
T—
0
0
Os)
0
0
0
T- 01
CO
■a-
01
OJ
"a-
OJ
ro
in CN
ro
■^
^
■a-
in
T
ro
o^— r-rN-^rinaocNrNicTirororoinoo
•i-OOOOOOOt-^-t-OOOO
I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I
rooiro-a-T-T-ojcNrorM'^'T-rOT-^ti'
ro
T—
ro
rN
1
0
1
T- in -^ M- ro
ID Sh
in
-=!•
ro ^ in
CD
rN
"S-
C i-:i
a
g -I
•
t.
*•
r4 u
0
13 0 Sh
C^
ro
■a-
<D rd
rd g x; x: cn
•-\
x;
cn
C x: CD
3 cn x;
4-1
Q)
x: a a rd
CD
^
E Sh 4-1
u
C
rd
CJ C CD CD E
•H
u
13 CD Id
0)
C
CO
■rl 4:: [0 CO 0
c
n
pq CJ «
XI
rd
<
S 0 0 0 x;
Id
[5
u
CI
1-1 1^ 1-2 Eh
u
•.*.».
0
J3
1-1
■rl
^
4-1
CD
4J +J 4-1
44 +J +4
CD CD CD
^
■rl h Sh ^ H
>i
^
)H
15
S CD CD CD CD
0)
rH
^ ,-\ T-\
!h
CD
13 13 X! X! X! .V
c
4J
4-1 4-1 4J
<i)
.y
rH
rH M !h M Sh
Sh
Sh
^4 Sh ^
Id
rd
rd
rd Id rd Id Id
Id
Id
rd rd rd
pq
CQ
m
CQ m pa CQ m
CQ
pq
CQ pa pq
in
o
C
o
(NJ
(N
in
o
o
CM
1
>1
O
QJ
1
1
O
1
o
1
n
■*
QJ
H
-p x;
•fc
ro
M"
"S"
T—
ro
g*
■ •
+J
M (d
td
+J
13
c>
• *
«■
..
n
^
(U
g
0)
■H P
C H
u
0
rH
0
C
Id
H
■3'
in
in
ro
'*
■^
t—
u
0 >
4J
>i
00
o
00
rvi
00
a\
1
1
iH
■H tH
-P Ti
U
H
QJ
■p
o
u
■P
1
:
o
1
o
1
1
o
1
r~
^
M
ra c
x;
Id
w
C
CM
<^
rM
^—
tN
.•
»■
■rH
N H
ft-p
=i
• I
es
• •
• •
• ■
a*
■=!•
W
■^
K
•H
rH
td
m
Ti
o
u
'a-
in
in
ro
"*
in
Q
0)
rC •
cn rd
G
n
r-
in
m
>
•H Cn
O
Id
ta
00
^ ro
^
r^
l~-
in
OVJ
V-
o
^—
<J
T-
fd
^J C
OJ >w
H
r—
o o
r—
o
o
^—
Osl
1
1
l_^
1
u
0 H
tJi o
cniH
1
1 1
1
1
1
1
cn
1
^
■a*
■a"
O
CM
QJ td
g QJ
H
0)
g
G
0
ro
ro ■!-
V-
CM
■^
rNj
G
•H
a
'T
'd'
ID
LD
•^
'
QJ
in
in -jf
in
G
in
^
■ST
■a>
0)
XJ
0)
Id
■-
g
lO
a
E
iH
M
x:
G
Id
rd
H
Id
0-.
T—
W
1^
ro
M
O tn
+j
13
G
o
(Tr
ro
ro
o
ro
^ CTl
o
13
r—
C
ro
r-~
g
r^
o
O
M
^—
O
■H
•H
QJ
td
r-
O
o
o
T—
o
• o
T—
G
x:
O
o
r-
o
o
1
H
1
1
>
-p x:
iH x;
G
QJ
1
1
1
1
1
1
O 1
1
H
tn
1
-H
1
1
u
ro
•=r
O
■=3-
ro
•H
H +J
Q)
-p
to
u
x;
-p
ro
^
ro
ro
rsi
Y
-P ^
Q) •.
"a-
U
QJ
■H
15
(N
-P
^
G
^
ro
ID
o
in
ro
3
O ^
c x;
■3"
in
in
in
'^
in
ro
-*
S
QJ
in
U
"*
in
^
w
0
a QJ
3
-P IH
u
-.
(^
hi
CO
0
cn
m
w
^A
QJ T(
■r-l
0
0
=
G
G
■P
C
o
(U
m
n
LT]
w
CM
<y\
-a c
Ti
^
KD
<X1
<-D
'^
1^
CX)
o
T—
tn 00
"3*
1
1
vo
QJ
Id
IX)
in
in
ro
in
■H
IN
^ ^
e s
o
^—
K
^—
o
1
3
Q)
QJ
».
O
o
o
^—
o
o
^—
CN
•P o
o
o
13
■H
o
r-
QJ
o
o
>l
T—
T- O
1
o
1
1
H
1
1
.H
U
tyi
u
13
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
G 1
1
tn
tn
1
U
M
1
1
!h
1
1
QJ
1
1 1
(Nl
c
H
^—
CN
^—
CNJ
>i
rd >i QJ
G
G
G
■=r
(N
rvi
^—
^—
■^
^
•=)>
QJ •<-
ro
QJ
01 ro
to
0 ro -=r
IN
■^
>
^—
00 ^
,,
..
fa
■ •
..
^
!-J .H
-P
■H
H
rO
• •
>•
>•
■ •
i>
.*
• •
• •
13 ••
• •
tH
•rH
• <
Cn +J
• ■
.-•
13
>•
• •
Sh
• •
• k •■
(M
0)
H
n
in
CnO
■=3'
ro
O
QJ -H
G
G
>
H
in
in
tn
in
in
in
QJ 'T -a-
■3"
H ro
•^
u
u
in
O in
-!f
G
ro
in
3
in
^ in
o
Z
C
3
C M
QJ
G
0
Q)
G
tn
O
QJ
QJ
tn
■H
Id
cn
c
H
■H
•
J-1
3 rfl
■H
u
^
O
rd
0
+J
-P
rt:
>
OJ
■H
H
M-
LT)
>
•
1^
o
1^
-=r
ro
c
in
MH M
Q)
Cn ftH
KO
•H
<y\
^
IX)
X!
o
p-
r\l
ro
Id o
LD
tD
01
ro
■*
ro
^
cn
■=r
1
in
CM rN in
o
1
>
0
U
1
O
1
rd
•
o
1
Y
o
1
o
1
1
o
1
-P
Sh
Id
QJ
to
Xi
o
1
g
-P
Id
o
1
o
1
o
1
Id
T
o
1
1
O
1
1
O
1
g
01
g
QJ
o
1
1
1
o
1
o
1
0
•H
o
1
o
1
CO
o
O IN r-
1 1 1
(N
!-l
^
^—
(N
U
W
n
n
ro
rxl
^—
^—
O X)
■P
(N
rd
U
^
^—
ro
-p
IN
■*
•!3<
ro
^CM
T—
u o
ro
CO
tn
ro
T—
-P
T—
ro
QJ
'^
rvj M" ■=)>
.■
Oi
E
■ •
• •
s
• •
• *
t*
It
• •
• ■
>H
tn
>1>H
u
*t
^-1
0)
^*
• •
• ■
td
• •
• •
>•
g ■•
a*
■ •
QJ
QJ
• •
<■
Id
• •
*•
H
■ >
(N
fe
tn
■^
^—
1
o
-=)■
ro
in
^—
in
0)
in
QJ rfl
QJ
1-1
0
0
CN
Cni3
^
in
'3'
13
■=»•
"^
in
■=r
tn rM
ro
in
•H
•r)
in
ro
00
in
u
-*
<^ ^ LT)
O
O
(D
H
QJ
U
■r-l
+.1
s
O
-H
■H
0
Vl
Sh
>
QJ
m
■H
m
H
CO
(d 13
M
G
*.
U
tn
QJ
tn
.H
tn
QJ
QJ
u
-P
iH
H
S-4
U
eu
(N
ffi .H QJ
Q)
QJ
0
h^
Da G
U
■p
Id "^
H
+J
-P
<])
00
in
OJ
tC
U
0)
Q)
H
O
Eh
a ^
-P
<
tn
O
P
G
13 o
to
QJ
Q)
tn
o
o
g
3
JJ
y.
p;
1
>1
<
Q)
QJ
x;
QJ
>i U
■P
to
+J
G
g
g
OJ
1
1
QJ
(D
kC
QJ
■
u
u
-P ■*
i-l
W
>i-P
g
o
w
rH
U
.H
G
CO
X
to T
-
QJ
QJ
QJ
U
^—
^—
U
G
0)
S
g S
s
w
•
fd
U) ••
QJ
Q
C G
QJ
td
•
IC
QJ H
P
g M
QJ
>
•
QJ
U
U
cn
a
<•
..
•rH
m
H
0)
S
s
In
■rH
0) in
x;
-P
< 0)
U
QJ
D S
■P
td
U
QJ
M
-P
— Cm
tn
G
00
in
Eh
o
rtJ
H
u
C
+j
QJ
fa
QJ
u
M
Id
G
0
•H
».
QJ
>1
S
c
C
■H
M
rU
g
O
g
H
ifl
H
a
O
C -H
QJ
a
QJ
QJ
13 tn
H
13
C Xi
(U
Q
fi x;
u
W
(D
QJ
QJ
tn G
-P
tn
Id
QJ
13
0
O -P
QJ
01
0
tn
3 s:
<^
M
o
-P
OJ
S
•H
0
-p
Xi
O
^
13
U
0
lO
QJ
G
•H
H
0
U
■H lO
cn
01
G
-p a
^
O
p
3
U)
<
S ^o
(ti
-
o
tn
QJ
1
H
H
iH
QJ
u
Sh
•H
Id
H
-P -P
.^
to
>i to Id 13
DS
T)
ft
T3
m
rH
H
Q)
C
lO
o
13
0
13
QJ
H
H
>i iC
U G
m
G
cn
u
U OJ
Q
4-1
>.
Ui
w
^
rH
0
rH
Eh
■H
0
1
QJ
G
XJ
yt
+J
rd X! X
yt
G
^i QJ
U
tn
C
13 x;
QJ
G
to
01 Cn tn
3
0
a
*..
tP
O
G
*.
(U
H
^
M
13
+J
to
H
u
Id
to
^^
13
o
J3
Cn M g
•H
QJ
OJ
G
CO
-P
•H
■p
MOO
fC
<;
o
M
a
S
•k.
(C
u
■rH
m
ffi
QJ
G
04X1
!h
to
Cng
a a M
•P
H
-P 13
G
o
13
13
■H
G
a
H
3 -p a
T3
(D
(fl
(U
■H
H
>iB
<D
m
(D
m
-P
Id
o
O
QJ
p
iH
CO
tn u
x;
G
U
0
^
■H
aiH
-POO
(TJ
§
U
H
-P
>
>
0) xi
M
M
in
QJ
w
QJ
XI
13
M
g
tn
U}
to
tn
tn
x:
J3
QJ
QJ 0
+j
01
Id
h
QJ
to
Id
■H
Id XI ^^
G
ra
M
u
u
PtJ
m
m
M
=1
0
>
hq
g
<
<
!<
<C
<«: <;<!;<; o
U
Q
Q Q
w
fa
tj
O In S
s
g S ft CM
n3
< o
nJ
m
rd
<;
to
(«
rd
(0
(0
nJ
fa
QJ
O
u
z
O
u
U
O
U
o
U
u
u
U
u
ILJ
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1 1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1 1 1
o
I
o
I
OM
O
1
OvJ
00 \o
r- O
I I
00 T-
in 1-
O LO
00
•<- o
^
^ ■;-
OM
^ •a'
T- O
I I
00 in
o o
I !
o r\i a^ (T» ro 00
■^ o o t- <^ ■!-
I I I I I I
ON] T— T— ^ ^ -^
in
00 LO ^ in in
OJ
a
g
ffl
in
OJ
■H
13
-P
en
QJ
G
O
-P
CO
QJ
>
Id
u ■
tj
u
o
MH
G
O
■H
-P
00 td
T~ -H
I o
-sj- O
•• to
in cn
1-0
13 >i
U O
Ifl G
S Id
13 S
W
- 01
-P >i
C 01
rd X
>i U
u a
m m
a
o
x; u
CO 01 H H
-i.^ -P rH H
g g to
lO tfl 0)
13 13
C G
lO Id
H rH
u o
CQ CQ
13 13
G G
Ifl Id
H H
M ^
U O
a 3
u
G Id
Id x;
CO o
3 G
w -x:
x; o
- u In
>i G
0) -H ~
Cnm H
CnH H
0 3
ra CQ PQ cq m
x:
■p
0)
X!
x; Ifl
to N
G -H
G H
<; H
u o
o o
3 3
CQ CQ
I
ro
o
I
OM
O
I
r^j
I
00
U
x: QJ
-p ^
QJ O
M -H
-P
^ in
O QJ
H a
-H g
3 3
IN
I
OM
I
o
I '
I
00
OM
I
o t- rvj
T— o o
I I I
rN -sJ" rsi
r\i in ^
r^ IN iX) T— CM '^
o o o v~ o o
I I I I I I
CvJ IN T- "^ ON r—
IN in '^i' in ■* ^—
•H QJ
QJ X!
x; -P
-P
x;
!h -P
QJ -H
13
G
3 Cn
G
13 -H
QJ -P
0)
O
G
U -H
10 "
-P
tn
to 0)
. x;
HH -P
O
Sh
01 QJ
U 13
Id G
H 3
a
QJ
u
QJ Id
Sh mh
10
QJ
13 x:
G
O
?~i
Id
u
U -P
Ifl G »
QJ i<
in cn
QJ 01 D
o x;
Id -p QJ
H x;
a ' -p
G
O
>
O
!h
ax
-p
01
-p
o
a
01 QJ
SH g
to
QJ G
U
Id
td
O 13
C
Id
o
I M
T- O
tn •• -H
QJ in )H
u QJ
QJ Id
g 3
QJ 13
tJ -H
Id
G
Id
Sh
fa
13
!h
ITJ
>i
G
3
CQ
tn
cn
01
Cn
!h
3
CQ
QJ
Ifl §
ti; ft
to
to 01
U -P
O 10
H -P
in
u
•H
X
aMH 13
rd O G
U rfl
Cn QJ H
O g cn
QJ td G
Cn G H
OJ OJ
U U
QJ QJ
• 13
>i QJ
U -P
10
G
O
in
u
OJ
in a
-p
G -P
01 tn
g U
3 -H
G iw
Id tn
-H
m
0 G
O
01 CO
E !H
Id QJ
G a
s: QJ
x;
-p
QJ U
g QJ
Ifl 13
G G
3
tn
r- in
o o
I I
ro 00 00 VD
T- v- T- o
I I I I
■a- M- -a* rvj
-a> 00 in in in CN
13
G 01 QJ
O S-i x;
tn QJ -p
-P
G MH
Sh
01
a QJ o
o
-p
tn
3
» ^ u
tn tn
to in H
QJ 01 10
Cn cn-rH
!h Sh M
3 3 3
CQ CQ CQ
W
^A
>H
Eh
cn
■z
Pi u
fa OJ
H -P
CO QJ
fa ft
iJ G
«; 10
D 3
CQ CQ
-H
Ifl QJ
Cn in
■H -P
X! QJ
< pq w
Sh
QJ
Sh M S-i H
IH Sh Sh -P
0 :i a :i
CQ PQ CQ CQ
Ovl
I
OM
o
I
00
o
I
o 00 00 r^ o r~- ON)
v- o o O T- o 1-
I I I I I I I
■a* OM Osl ^- ^3* 00 T—
in
in -a* ^ 00 ^
kD ro
o o
I I
■a' r-j
>iin in
Sh
ONJ
o
I
■a>
in
CM
O
in
o
J
00
<
tn
cn
fa
o
H
ft
cn
0)
10
H
G
c o
QJ G
Cn Sh lO
01
-P
QJ
g
QJ
U
■P
G
3
O
tn
>1
10 G
O MH rH H
O -H Ifl O
x; H u u
Ifl Ifl
U (J I I
. . QJ
<: x; fa
■p
M c
O rfl
S cn
a;
QJ O H
G O H
0 H 01
1-q Sh X!
3 Pj
1 Eh g
I I I
CI
01 o
G ^
G O
< X
ft
>i
Cnr<;
Sh Cn
to « ••
« ft cn
O
- ^EH
H H 3
H H <
QJ OJ cn
X! XI O
a aft
g g s
Id Id r=t;
o o u
n
oo
"-
o
(N
rsi
(N 00
CO
T- o
t—
(N CN
(N
in
r~
in
r-M
o
■3'
CN
in
o
CM
O
^
'd'
I
fM
I I
\o
(Ti
00
o
M"
vn
T-
lO
r~-
ro
VD
CN
in
00
TT
■q. ..J.
o
O
1
o
CM
1
o
1
o
1
o
1
o
1
1
O
T-
1
o
1
r—
1
«- O
1
(N
1
(N
1
in
in
•>*
in
-3'
rv4
in
rv)
c
O
•H
TT
■^a-
in
1
(N
1
^ CN
'J-
in
in
in »-
in
(N
n
'S'
^
fN
CN
'S'
00
00
ro
to
tn
^_
r^j
ID
o
1
1
o
1
o
o
1
1
>i
1
Y
o
1
o
1
■rl
1
1
1
>>
(N
n
>i
ro
(N
"a-
4-1
Q)
■>3>
>*
•^
■^
rsi
o
■^
-a"
'"
4J
>
'a-
■3'
4-1
3
■=r
Tl
V
•rH
ro
in
■^
•H
U
0
■^
-a-
•q"
•"a"
^
u
4-1
■P
■a-
•^
■^
■H
o
0
TI
c
3
4J
C QJ
QJ ■rl
T- CM
in
^
en
O
n
in
'a'
c
■"a-
U
ro
rg
3
r-
r-
o>
o
ro
T—
W
VD
(J\
o^
^
^—
ro
■<a'
^
a^
o
0) ro
■Xl
•a'
ro
r—
c^^
ro
t/5
0
> CJ
1 1
o
1
O
1
1
•rH
o
1
o
o
1
J3
0
o
1
O
o
o
1
0
1
o
1
o
1
1
o
1
1
r-{
1
1
1
o
1
1
o
1
o
1
o
1
T—
■H
U
■rl
o
o
1
o
1
o
1
O
1
1
1
O
1
rH
(H
(0 o
a en
■* !N
n
n
CN
u
(Ni
(N
ro
M ro
ro
'S-
o
-jj-
^—
T—
c^
^
^
td
r—
tN
<N
ro
^
T—
ro
ro
rg
4-1
O
^—
■a-
ro
T—
■^a-
rvi
ro
td
>i
c
O
rH
rd
u
■H
in
■H
CD
0
■H
Id
Sh
0
S -1
0 Id
^ ro
■*
n
■a"
n
(N
n
m
ro
^
r~\
^
in
■a-
in
"^
•^
■*
'3'
'S-
m
'a-
■*
ro
ro
•^
"=t-
?i
in
ro
^
•a-
^
ro
c
Cn
u
rd
M
tJ
£
Q
rH
U
^
■H
4J
2 u
o
C
■H
•H
o
C
p
Id
0)
o
Sh
(U
■H
CO
o
■H
M
SH
4-1
D
(U
O
u
4-1
4-1
3
e
UH Sh
1
14-1
>1
0
3
>i
m
■rl
O
^4
tl)
tn
■r4
Sh
>1
4-1
tD
E
>i
in
■rt
m
0)
0 O
4J
CN
o
3
m
hj
m
1L5 x;
3
>i
0
0
C
(U
4-1
E
r*
Q) tn
..
pa
■rH
>i
d
4-1
o
+J
4J
4-1
3
ID
C
T)
4J
3 ■rl
x;
^3"
m
X
M
3
>i
Oi< tE
C
CO
tn
0
3
c
M
Q)
cjip::
a
0)
S-i
U
3
0
u
tn
c
3
•H
■H
U
U
O
Id
3
(U
Id
Q)
0
(D
-P
O
X!
u
>1 3
g
•H
X!
0
O
K
K
0)
U
rd
x:
H
QJ c
8^
M
IM
4J
13
w
•P
^H
X!
M
>i4-i
4-1
U
Ti
>
U
C
C
c
u
4J
J QJ
3
OJ
m
0
T)
w
Tl
3
C
td
U
>H
Id
T3 Ti
<-A
■H
Q) Ti
X
S
QJ
td
It)
c
OO
>
I-) 0
0
+J
Q)
(S
•rH
>,
C
>i
cd
T3
rH
X!
O
Ph
Ti
3
O
4-1 XI
U
Sh
0)
Pi
4-1
rH
Q)
0
rH
Id
u
(1)
u
M Id
o
U
tC
w
r-l
.H
m
x:
•H
-P
U
•H
S-l
w
c
M
T3
OJ
a
4J
c
U
u
PQ
s
CO
U
C
■n
rd
td
■rl
tn
(U
tn
4-1
rH
c
>
0)
(U
0 E
^ -M
Q)
•H
(U
(C
(0
Q)
0
n
0
+J
f:^
3
M
O rH
•H
o
M
>1
tn
o
Q)
0
tn
0
C
o
h
>i
>lMH
X.
Q)
■r4
0)
(U
•rl
Qa Id
s
rd
4-1
>
■H
C -P
>
c
«
M
-P j:: -H
"g
0)
C
X! 'O
0) M-t
(U
X
MH
4-1
rd
X)
c
4J
> m ■n Ti
Ti
m
o
c
rd Tl Ti x:
u x: ^
rH
r-<
>
3
o
01
E
c
o
c s
>i o
0
o
+J
M
u
o
:3
c
(1)
-P
+J
rH
-P
+J
•H
OJ
Sh
tn
rH
c
tu
04 O
4-1 r-t
td
r-\
4-1
u
rd
>i (U
0)
0
<U
3
u
tn
T3
TI
4-1
tn
z
OJ
^
3 Q)
iH a)
Ti
w
+J
C
rd
iH
u
M
c
>
tn
m
o
W
tn
MH
W
•H
td
o
rd
(U
a
!h O g
o
M
Xi
X!
Ti
h:|
1-H
4-1
g
Q
c
c
TJ
T3
C
o
S
5 O O h) S
y. c
C
c
h
(U
O
0
0
0
0
(d
rd
td
td
a
tn
td
rH
M
u
rd
rd
td
td
(1)
0)
tu
■H
>
td
rd
■H
■rl
o
o
(D
(U
0 o
o u
< < <:
u
U
U
1
u
o
O
H
H
1
H
w
u
W
h
o
1
I^
o
E
X
K
1
1
1
p:
X
i-:i
i-:i
1
1
J
i-q
1
2 S
s
S
s
;g
S
1
s
1
1
1 1
1
i
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
CM
CM
1
Cn
1
M
^
G
3
u
•rl
c
XI
■H
C
o
tn
T)
G
•p
4^
Sh
td
cn
u
td
rH
c
■H
X!
04
•rl
M
a
MH
x:
QJ
OJ
0
Ti
w
Ti
CO
G
Id
QJ
>l
Id
[2
'a-
U
1
r~ Tl
^—
ID
o
!
ro
fo
d
o 3
i 4J
O
1
O
1
QJ
Sh
1
^_
1
ro
1
Id
4J
■a- CO
ro
'a'
3
(d
-H
in
• •
Id
4J
in QJ
■^
in
U
^
in
■H
td
x:
QJ
G
xl
+4
4-1
3
T—
o
T—
jC
CTi
■^
00
■rl
G
rsi
o
r-
CTl
CM
^
■rl
rH
^—
T—
y—
&10
o
^—
Di
Id
o
^ U
o
O
^—
V-
x;
O
1
1
1
3
1
!
1
Sh
^
1
1 0
[
1
1
1
u
u
■a-
^
ro
0
U
^
CM
CM
■H
>
1
rvj
■3" MH
s
^
•"a-
CM
■*
^
MH
in
in
^
4-1
in
■a-
^
QJ
SH >1
CM
■=3" >4
4-1
QJ
H
tN)
<
■^
^a"
in
LO
MH
0
o
44
rsi
■a-
c
en
o
^—
tu
QJ
0 Sh
^ ■rl
CD
CTi
^—
■=!>
V—
ro
o
U >,
o
o
Id
o
^—
O
W
Ui
>H QJ
T- U
^
O
T—
4J
^—
T—
O
rH
T—
•H S4
1
1
■rl
1
1
.1
QJ
+J
1 0
I
1
QJ
1
1
1
0
>i
!
Sh QJ
^
^—
Sh
^
ro
ro
r-l
S Q)
e,
r- cn
ro
^
•M
^—
^—
ro
O
rH
CM
4-1 +J
• •
«•
0
>•
• ■
..
a
rH
QJ e O
B
• •
.1
Sh
.*
«•
.c
rH
in QJ
in
in
4-1
U
■H
in
^
in
"qj
td
O
o
■rl
4-1
O
t_)
S QJ
U
[-4
0)
rd
C
<
■a-
in
rtJ
•^
in
ro
>1
u
CO
0
CM
CM
■H E
Q QJ
U
o
^ m
ro
>
o
y—
K—
VD
ro
14H
o
o
Id
G
00
ro
QJ
QJ
h^
in
O
r-
in
o
^i
lr>
rvj
o
o
^
rvi
1
o
o
ro
^T
r~-
!h
QJ
in
•^
ro
1
o o
1 1
o
1
I
1
1
CM
1
O
1
T
■rl
■rl
Sh
K
CO
>
IH
0
4J
o
1
o
1
01
to
Sh
Id
<
H
o
i
■rl
44
o
1
o
1
1
O
o
1
1
V-
1
o
1
T
tn
OJ
CM
1
o
1
O
1
o
1
QJ
4-1
4-)
Id
o
1
to
QJ
o
1
01
QJ
(d
^^l
^a- ro
ro
tn
^
OJ
^
^
•<-;
Sh
QJ
OJ
<
QJ
tn
f-i
^a-
3
re;
ro
rd
QJ G
vr
^
•^
t;
CM
CN
>1'=J"
'a-
r—
ro
0)
^
'^^
ro
'-
ro
QJ
3
TI
'-
X!
^
tn
c
S-i
O v--*
QJ
V-'
--- ^
lO ^
in
QJ
in
■^
tJi
■sj-
in
^
0
t^
1-q
QJ
■H
■a-
in
>.co
^
ro
tn Sh ^ ro
in
CO
T—
^
rH
in
in
V—
in
y
G 'a-
^
ro
r—
ro
QJ
td
ro
O
^
■rl
TI
■rl
C
MH
tJ
Sh
x:
Sh
H
■H OJ
3
!h
0
U
u
O
>i tn
tu
IH
■H
»•
P4
to
QJ E
^
3 4J
<<
rH
Id
■H
o
O
u m
3
QJ
Dj
in
C
a
:s
4-1 rd
0 G
>C
U
Sh
U
•
^
4-1
4-1
IT)
vA
QJ QJ
!:; tn
+J
Cj
4-)
0
o
U
QJ x:
^
i-:i H
O
tn
H
QJ
•
h-T
td
rH
G
>1V-
td
44 U
■rl 0)
QJ
tn
td
x;
■rl
o
■H
>i
E HJ
H
o
4-1 K
x;
0)
2^
■H
QJ
3
4-1 1
QJ
•H
0) cn
4-1 tn
E
c
e
ijl4-l
Q
Sh
u
•
QJ Id
CJ
>i -
ffl
G
fa
a CO
>i QJ
U
G
X!
O
•rl ^
QJ
rH
tn
E G
C 3
C
QJ
C
o
■H
td
H
O
td
Pti
u x;
S
Sh tn
Q
QJ
§
x:
o
Sh
4-1
x:
QJ
0
z
•rl
td
^
tn ••
to
rH
E
QJ 0
O
4-1
■H
U
■rl
■rl
Ti
6h
■rl
P
4-1
21
Q)
o
5
rd +4
;:^
e
4-1
4-1
0
QJ
44
tn
tn
u
e
tn
X5
IH
Sh ■a'
•
•H
Id
U U
U rH
!=;
4J
c
O
O
tn
C
U
QJ
•
S G
n:
3
QJ
tn
!h
o
tn
QJ
Id
3
X!
•rl
QJ
Q
'^
Sh
— rd
QJ
E
C
U
td
4-1
o
■rl
•H
0
SH
u
Q
QJ
m
G
•^
XI
■H
Id
u
<
4-1
■ro
■H
3
Id
>
>i
tJlrH
C
p^
tn
QJ
0
C
Sh
tn
^
K
rH
Ti
Id
- s
0
w
Id
Sh
w
tji O
tn
tn
G
rH
Sh
&4
•H
G
rH
rd
0
Id
0
Pm
■H
QJ
■H
3
tj>
c <;
tn
<c
O
0
3
h
-
x; 3
to
CO
E E
N
x:
QJ
tn
3
S4
a
OJ
4-1
iS
QJ
3
01
G
x;
rH
G
Sh
C
tn tH
0 x;
u
tn
+J
14H
c
Id
<
!h
u
QJ
D'
o
G
U G
Q
Q
B
■H
u
Q)
3
■rl
rd
:-\
Sh
2
pa
l-D
ISl
1
D
0
o
rd
D
O
QJ 4-1 rH U
■rl
td
■H
■H
>1
■*
O
x;
CO
0
■H 0
K
Qi
!h
rH
in
Sh
M
^
■•.
Xi
<
1-0
cu
•rl
•rl
■H rd
QJ Sh
4-1
tnrH
>i
Sh
Sh
>1>4
14H
-.
H
s
tn
> s
<
<
Id
>.
H
•.
>i Id
rH
■rl
tn
^
^
*^
0
Sh
td
Q
Sh
tn
>H Q)
> Id
C
,-\
0)
Id
QJ
tn
tn
O
QJ
Sh
Pi
G
E
H
■H
0
>-i
»
:s E3
tn
U
Q
-.
rH
4-1
QJ
C
tn
tn
tn Ti
QJ
•rl
-
h.
QJ
tn
(U Sh
QJ tu
td
Id
Sh
■rl
>
Sh
QJ
4-)
4-1
QJ
H
IH
td
»•
td
D5
4J
4-1 x:
n:
K
o
«.
G
>1
G
QJ
O
in
■rl
c
C
G
Id
>
■g
tn
tn
^
4-1
QJ
4-1 o Ti tn
E
Sh
Cn
o
Sh
3
Dj o
01
■P
B
QJ
e
QJ
x;
Q
tn
tn u
o
U
rH
H
y
QJ
QJ
>.
>.
■rl
>
QJ
01
<~-\
■rl
■rl
■H
Sh
G
0)
QJ
tn
3
Sh
QJ Q)
Q) QJ
0
3
QJ
o
3
O
>
Crl
E
QJ
H
4-1
a
tn
4-1
i-q
■H
■rl S4
tr;
PS
■H
Pi
u
ru
rH
X!
XJ
IH
tn
rH
rH
rH
rH
rH
rH
0
QJ
;ij
X!
X5
^
a Cn
i4 Pi
K Di
Pi
c;
tfl
CO
Cfl
H
H >
0)
E
^
G
Id
td
td
H
S4
Sh 3
D
D
>
<c
Id
S
3
X!
X!
m
Di
rH
,-1
0
rH
rH
•-\
rH
Q
rH
E
E
E
E
G
QJ
u
QJ
H
QJ
x;
x*
x:
m
x;
x; x:
E
E
■H
hj
rH
rH
rH
O
O
0
0
O
0
o
O
0
0
0
0
0
O
o
0
0
U 1
1 1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
-
U
ILJ
U
CJ
u
u
u
o
O tj
tj
U
U
o
U
U
U
U
u
u
CJ
U
O
u
CJ
CJ
o
1
U
U
(J
u u
CI
1
(N
■p
Q)
>
•*
g
O
!-l
O
00
U
CN
a\
o
(T\
o
1
H
1
o
1
O
1
CM
•r-l
'=!<
Q)
M<
r^j
^
'S'
K
IT)
a
in
CM
in
C
r-~
CN
15
r-
00
r-
^
o
O
o
r—
1
1
o
1
o
1
1
•*
CQ
i
•^
..
>■
• •
-a
■ ■
r
Bt
■!J<
Ln
1
■*
c:
to
in
Q)
x;
■=f
o
^—
■H
un
OJ
u
CTl
r-
in
in
CN
CN
1
o
1
0
o
1
1
o
o
o
1
1
o
1
1
ro
og
diro
■a-
5
^—
■*
!N
CN
rd
^
..
.,
CC
>>
..
Q)
*•
•t
• •
• •
1*
..
ro
in
C
■=}'
LO
S
•*
■*
•St
CM
-P in
'S'
m
Sh
■H
1
<
CO
o
^—
1X>
o
xs
■^
[^
ro
o
OJ
rsi
ro
ro
CTi
00
o
00
o
o
CTl
^—
o
1
Y
1
1
1
H
1
1
1
1
rd
o
1
1
1
o
1
O
1
o
1
1
o
1
Ph
pa
1
QJ
1
O
1
1
ro
Y
ro
<^
CM
1
T—
<=)■
ro
ro
rd
■H
■*
ro
ro
ro
ro
^3"
CM
ro
H
^a
ro
o
+J
rsi
■^
T—
ro
in
LD
■^
■sr
(T3
'a-
'S'
in
•=j>
■rH
3
in
^
in
in
■*
in
rM
ro
pa
Pi
cn
ro
CO
QJ
>
^
'S"
in
■sr
n
ro
ro
00
o
(N
OJ
n3
LD
rsi
^
00
o
r-
M-
ro
■g-
00
o'
ro
rM
in
rvi
"sj"
CTl
<-D
u
S
CO
r~
(d
^
a^
r^
T- ID T- VD
1
1
o
1
o
1
1
1
1
1
•rH
C
o
1
1
o
1
1
J
o
1
r—
1
1
T
o
1
Y
O
1
Y
^~
1
o
o
1
-
o
1
H
s
<
H
o
1
o
M
O
o
1
o
1
.H
o
1
■5- O T- O
1 1 1 1
■=J<
CM
CM
■^r
'-
Y
ro
■=f
(U
O
■rH
Y
^
ro
T.
Q)
^
Y
Y,
CM
T.
Y
T—
Y
rvj
CO
■rH
CM
Y
P
<
T—
c
rd
CM
o
o
Pi
O
H
ro
■a"
T—
'j^
•rH
O
^
■!- ro ■3' CM
■3"
in
ro
■3"
C
■vT
'a'
IS)
LO
ID
ro
ro
^
■a-
in
in
u-i
^
in
ro
in
■sj*
■^
^
>3'
^^l
ro
■3-
C
■a-
in
>1
■y
in •=!• ■* ■*
0
U
:i
m
u
yA
Q
O
Ph
0
H-l
3
w
m
0)
(U
a
c
O
O
s
H
O
•rH
QJ
O
0
T3
(U
g
o
(d
S
EH
•rH 'V
< >
H-l
•H
u
tn
M
CO
<; cu
>l
u
< H
H
m
u
>i
•rH
U
M
O
•
J-l
>
fc
U
W
0
(d
en
pa
<c
Xi
0
CO
00
<u
h
<
-
-^
Q)
H
H
•^
O
^
15 pa K g
CO
(d
cn
-p
U
o
Pm
>1
c
a
M
-P
0)
Pi
H
►■a
o
H
H
QJ
h
U
>i
■H
1
0)
X3
u
o
0
C
0)
■»
tn
w
3
O M-l
-p
EH
2
>
Eh
c <
-P
iH H
00
13
c;
-p
0)
■rH
■rH
QJ
•
g
•
•
QJ
M
o
H
Q <:
rd
o
C
O Ph
• ■
C
■H
.H
m
0)
4J
4J
-P
> W
Q)
h^
Id
.H
•
C
o
^
S
H
w
i-a
s
B
U
en
X!
QJ
3
H-l H
^a-
(13
m
rO
(U
(0
^
0)
rt3
(C
0)
U
QJ
o
C
QJ
<;
ffi
CO
QJ cc <:
H
t7i+J
P
H-)
o
W QJ I-a
Q)
M
P
g
g
■rH
■rH
-P
T3
•p
as
13
Ti
3
<
o
><
Eh
Eh
H-> TS
pa
Pi
Sh
T3
rd
u
•H Cn
(U
C
M
g
0
N
QJ
U
U
m
M x:
^
Q)
T^
■rH
H-l
M
>i c
+J
O
i-a
H
U
3
Pi
s
D
CO
MH O
3
H-l
x; iH cn
^
S^
P
Cn O
US x:
•H
o
0
O
(c
tt3
Q)
>
r^''
>
U
(d
H->
(d
J2
u
•.
»»
O
Pi
Pi
Ph
Q)
+j
M
CM
•rH
0
cn
<; cn
Q)
C OH
u
C
-P
X3 < ^ W H
rH
M
w
m
5
0
£1
O
(d
(d
QJ x;
H->
P
O
Q) M-l
QJ iJ <
D
O
^tH g >
15
QJ
QJ
rH
O > Q) ffi
n3
x;
:3
Ti
w
H
CO
U)
QJ
0
S
0
M
>
Q ja
u
Q)
^
U
XI
MH
x: <:
pa
CM
CO
H-)
H
<^
pa
QJ
a
>
QJ
0)
-P
H-l >iO iri
S
o
Pi
O
•h
^
*.
*.
iH
<; <
g
K
Pi
O
0
o
•H
pa
w
rd
0
O
0
H
Eh <c 4J Pi pa m i-a
0
•H
rd
iH
U
CO
01 x;
Id
O T3 T3 T) T(
*.
■rH
rtS
•fc
M
QJ
^
rt
K
Id Pi x;
o <:
s
S
D
rd
o
ffi
B
•H
H-l
Id
QJ
rd
rd
rd
c a -Q
*.
*
O
U
U
M
M
■-I
K
0)
(U
Id
*
c
*.
CO
CO
3
+j
w
^
C
Pi
U
H
H
o
-
^
H-l
(d
iH
15
s
O
•H rd fi pq
(0
M
0
o
0
0
.H
M
u
m
(U
M
CO
0
Cn
■p
^
^
iH
c
^
^
3
x;
».
•h
^
«.
yt
(d
h
^
rd
rd
rd
g iH O H
■ri
c
iH
w
m
M-l
4-1
M-l
(P
C
J3
=3
^
■rH
g
Q)
Q)
s:
td
QJ
c
>i QJ
rd
CO
CD
!-l
rd
ffi
K
III
X
■P X!
ffi
m
K
QJ
u
o
N
15
iH
.-H
S
M cn CO Pi
u
(C
<u
g
S
S
S
s
S
S
+J
■P .H
+J
x;
iH
U
o
!h
tn^H
Q)
■H
C
■rH
■rH
pa
iH
B
Eh
H
Eh
(d
■P
Eh
Eh
H
>;
o
u
+J
rd
QJ
Q)
QJ
•H o •H <;
m
:5
s
Its
(d
d
(0
n3
0
0
iH
rH
U
M
w
H-l
11
QJ
ft
tn^
M
C
G
>
>
*< <[;
«:
r<
QJ
Id
rt; <
<
u
0
QJ
Q)
H
Q
Q
2
S g C 04
0
0
0
u
!-l
U
n
M
M
^H
3
13
3
3
3
3
>i
N
Id
(d
(d
Id
rd
rd
ITS
QJ
QJ
H
pa
W
W
Q
QJ
pa
W
pa
QJ
QJ
Q
QJ
QJ
QJ QJ pa
U
u
o
u
O
u
u
u
u
u
U
U
u
U
u
u
O
U
1
Q
Q
Q
Q
Q
Q
Q
Q
Q
Q
Q
Q
Q
=
Q
Q
Q
Q
Q
Q
=
Q
O
1
1
1
1 Q Q Q
■<* ID
o o
ro r-
to
ft
•^ in
in
UJ
ft
^ ^
o
1
o
1
iH
o
1 1
CM
:og
(d
rvi -a"
in
ro
c
0
■H
+4
c
o
■* ^
CM
ID
f^
Id
a> 44
CN "a"
o
1
,
O
1
o
1
c
u
o to
1 O
T- O
1 1
■ •
&
CM
CM
Q)
44
rg pa
rM "J"
IT)
4-1
QJ
E
'a'
ro
c
H
in 1
^ -jT
[^
CTl
CO
(N
CM
^ ^
in
^
in
in ro
00 •<-
c^
^
to
in 4-1
rsi ro ro
1
O
1
o
1
1
O
t
o o
1 1
1
1
QJ
U
0
13
Id
CO
o
O T-
o o
O
CO
u
O +4
1 QJ
<^ CO
o o o
'ir
ro
■3"
■3'
M*
CM (N
1
CM
1
1
CM
f 1
CM CM
1 1
rg CM
1
■a-
1 1 1
r\] ^ ^
■q-
^
in
■a-
in
in in
in
in
in
■• •• Ph
in -a O
in ro
in
0
•• 3
in x;
o
rd
■a- -a" in
cn
u
in
■*
r—
a\
ro
o
tN
■H
pa
00
r~-
■H
r-
CM CO
ro
o rvj rM
Y
Y
O
1
o
1
o
1
r—
1
1
iH
(d
H
Pi
o
cn 1
o
4-1
CO
o
1
T- CO
1 rd
o
1
r- T- a>
III
Ml
CM
hj
rsi
ro
■^
Y
■*
ft
13
C
p
Eh
2
2 CM
O ••
H rvi
rvi
■H
44
iH
■jf
CM 2
13
C
ro
ro ro "S-
"a-
-*
(U
in
^
■sT
in
M"
MH
■a>
^
•a"
in
ro -a in
■H
>i
0
3
pa
H
«:
QJ
3
o
13 H-l
>,
4-1
0
= o
U
QJ
0
ro -a^
CTi
ro
^—
O
lO
r\i
^^^
^
o^
CM
0
^
a 3
rv]
•a-
C3^
cr\
O
CM
H-l
QJ -a-
ro
U
iH
H
pa ^
o
C3^
u
9
ro CO
iH
ro •<- o '=''
o o
^~
o
^~
^~
^~
T—
r—
o
^—
^—
cn
o
3 O
^—
o
O
o
T—
t—
01
■H O
O
Id
O
H pa
ha o
o
c
y>
o
o
o-^o
1 I
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
0 •H
1
1
1
1
1
1
•H
O 1
1
QJ
X pa
i-a 1
1
1
rd
0
1
1
1 1 1 1
T— ro
rM
CM
^
■a
^—
'J'
•a"
ro
r^j
■a*
r-{
>iCO
!h H-l
■a-
ro
ro
r^j
r^j
vl>
O
0 ro
^—
iH
Cn
Pi
O rM
ro
■=r
MH
rvi
tN 13
iH
rM ro rM 1"^
(continued)
County 4 :
I 3:
^"
••
••
••
••
••
■•
rd
U
• •
O U
• •
• •
• •
■ •
t*
E
o
cn ••
..
-^ —
C
CO a:
O ••
,,
,,
U
•• C
rd
c
•'
'J-
%r-
in
in
•^
•a-
'T
ro
•a-
'a-
U
0) ro
QJ
'J-
ro
M"
in
CM
^
3
cn
ro
■=r
■H
Q) Eh
ro
in
■H
01
^
r- 3
■H
O
ro ^a- in '^
•H
■P
D^ a
01
rH
13
>i
c
t-a ^
iH
44
0
iH
to
iH
QJ
c c
CD
M
Id
C
iH
>^ 0 -
<
O
3
u
3
rH
0
g
-H O
3
Id
U
3
3
M 4-1 Eh
u
■a^
H-l
+J
CJ
pa
■H
O CT>
H-l
Q)
>,o
12
u
•H
O
CQ
QJ to Pi
H
O
m
■H
s
■<- o
CO
U
h
■H
iH
!h
H-l QJ fiC
Pi
1
■H
H-l
rH
rH
1 1 '
•H
3 M-l
QJ
!h
o
O M
QJ >
o
ro
m
to
rd
rH
E
ro rM I")
K
^
CQ O
X
CO
0
44 l-l
O
g rd K
Eh
c.
C
■H
-H
Id
rH •• ••
U
U
3
4-1
M Q)
Cn 0
QJ iH ^a
cn c
ro
MH
H
.
!h
K
■H
QJ "a- in 13
C
C
0
to >,
0
13
0
W
■H H-l
C
C
U O O
M ■H
0
a:
>i 3
rH
(d -H
13
0
Xi
iH
QJ
-H
M-l
o
3
U H-l
H-l
tH
U
MH
■H
K C
■H
o
Ph
K 15
•H pq
rH
x; >
H-l C 0
!h
H-l
c
JJ
cr
IH ■H
C
to
Q)
•H
K
QJ
>i 3
O 4J
U
01
c
rd
.H
■H
O "5
0
0
o
tn
QJ
0 CO
0
K
■H
4-1
c
g U
iH
CJ'li 3 Eh
Eh pa
C
0
c
0 rH
[2
■H C3
D QJ U
mh
in
X
Ti
HJ
C
H-l
H-l !h
Tl
4-1
0
MH
c
o
C
3
O
rd U D
p
QJ
■H
rd
ft •-!
^
U > C
rH
C
O A
c
0
C
U
Cn^H
QJ
cn QJ
-H
13
tT> 0
C
CO
ns
CO
0
p
-C g
in
m
ft
CO -H !J
CJ »
CJ
4-1
i-l
■H
^
•■
•H rd 0
■H
15
iH
o
0
rd
0
C
C
3
to
>
QJ
C
C
12
!h
iH
g
■H C
4-1
r3
xs Id
0
•H 4J tH
H >i
Id
3
^ K
p;
C
-p a: i-a
u
0) S 15
^
O
x:
rd
C
■p
iH rH
0
■H
O
G' in T3 •H
■H
rd
■H
Q)
QJ
■H
.H O
rH
x:
C X!
w
13 T( rH U H
Eh .H
».
>
ha
CO
rd
■^ 1
-P
H-l
J5
■H
CO
X!
-P
g
C
H-l
QJ
u
M a
Mh
iH
rH
HJ
H-l x: -H
•H 4-1
■H IS
■H U 1!
iH
rH
rd QJ U
CJ iH
IH
u
QJ to
i-l
to tn
s
>
Vh
iH
rd
QJ
>i O
>i
0
cn
12
0
O D
m
iH
.H
CO
CO
4-1
l-l
Id -h
g:
CSC
C
o
O
ft c ta
pa 0)
0
0)
^
E ft
0 ft
0
■H -H
C QJ QJ
QJ
QJ
o
0
iH
iH
rd
U
QJ
4J
p
3
0
ru
0)
QJ
QJ
■H
•H
H
■H
■H
C 2
2 C
c
CO
^
CJ
c >-<
0
U 1 1
2
2 Z 2
ft
ft
cn
cn
cn
cn
1
1
cn
1 1
cn
Eh
s s s
S
S
1 S
i
S
1 s
S
1
1
1 0 2
2 C
c
c
0
i-t
s u
U O
O 0
o
0
0
0 0
0
0 r°,
'
'
'
1
1
1
1
1
I
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
= O
U U
o
o
u
O U
u
CJ o
c»
o
o
T-
T-
1
1
CO
ro
o
in
T—
o
•^
T—
I
•»
<N
o
1
O
Y
o
1
o
o
o
1
o
1
1
n
in
<N
1
(N
CN
ro
ro
(N
1
1
ro
CN
>i
..
>•
• ■
• •
>■
■ ■
<*
• I
M"
M
>i
■"T
CO
ro
•V
in
T—
ro
in
Eh
Q) >i >•<
s
a
•P >4
(1>
(U
>i
^
<
CO
(U a)
+J
£
Vh
o
vo
o
^—
IT.
T—
tvi
U
Y
g 4J
0) (U
a)
g
4J
0)
-P
^
T-
O
(N
1
O
1
o
CM
rs
CN
u C
0)
T3
0)
"c
tN
n
(N
^—
IN
^—
t*
o
• •
Q)
u
C
•H
• •
••
• •
••
• ■
• •
<•
-a-
C U
OJ
0) C
c
0)
to
tn
U
n5
•p
•H
CN
ro
■<T
in
ro
in
CN
T—
>
•^
h 0)
(U
u
4-1
V4
0^
^
'S>
<Ti
U)
CO
r-
T—
CN
^
o
en tU
(4
c
c
CQ
O
O
O
o
QJ
O
r-
1
1
1
>H ^
Di
o
0
1
1
1
1
P
1
1
fM
(N
o
r-
tl) Cn Jh
+J
g
4J
(N
ro
CN
r—
3
CN
-a-
• •
• *
> M
(U
Ifl
M
to
• •
• •
■ •
• ■
rH
• •
• •
'3'
■"a*
Q
2
<
T—
u tu
>
1 w
>
«
0)
>
to
•rH
to
U
O
CN
CO
•^
in
0
>
CO
•^
CN
VD
ro
1
h
o
<TN
in
r-J
"a-
in
CO
T—
o
T
ro T-
O
o
1
1
x; 1
to
in
o
T
1
O
1
14H
o
o
1
o
1
1
o
1
o
1
Y
5
4-1
O
1
1 1
CN
T—
-a-
D
c c
to to
c
OJ
-a
c
to
CO
u
OJ
>
CN
•V
<N
CN
CN
Y
•<*
4J
tn
CN
•q. ■<T
«*
■^
M-
m
■"d"
IM
■a"
CN
ro
•q-
in
in
ro
•>3' in
w
> -H
3
rH
c
0
u
W
z
to 4-1
O
tJi
CJ
•^
00
00
^
o
(-M
CN
o
1^
ro
E-i
o
10 >H
C
"d"
D
c
T
1^
^
r~
CN
<4H
CJ^
\0 CO
o
1
o
1
O
1
1
1
1
o
1
1
o
H
H
o
1 (Ij
1
W
o
1
1
o
■H
o
1
1
1
1
o
1
c
O
1
O O
(N
Ol
^
^
^
+J CN
■H in
(N
^
r—
a\
x:
2;
<
u
H
to 1
■rH
0
5
2
tN
o
4J
to
Sh
CN
(N
Y
"^r
T
•H
CN
CN •<T
'S*
■<a>
M"
in
vl-
CN
■a"
in
^
O
^
CO
^
•^
in
QJ CN
■^r in
IS
IH
0
IT)
4-1
H
O
>H
to
S-l
QJ
en
•H
J
CO 00
00
00
CM
o
«.
CN
t~-
o
T—
w
ro
•H
"3-
ic
00
K
O
O -H
s
^
C
C^)
O
^^
QJ
w
r—
o
T—
o
00
CO
ir> T-
^ o
^—
o
O
^—
x:
o
t—
T—
rsi
^
r—
4J
a
T—
o
o
D
OJ to
0)
T—
o
o
rH
rH
U^
M
o
T—
r-
T—
o
QJ
o
1- o
1 1
1
1
1
1
in
1
1
1
1
1
O
H
i
1
1
Oj
H
o s
s
1
■rH
1
O
to
«
1
1
1
1
1
•H
1
1 1
(N <N
(N
CN
(N
•• rH
in Id
3
0
CN
'^
CN
-3"
H
o
CN
<
■^
■<-
CN
H
'-
■rH
13
t-M
u
U
•H
X}
tn
QJ
CN
CN
'-
■^
CN
tn
tn
QJ
CN
T- ■^
en "^
n
'3'
CN
CM
'a'
CM
■a-
^
x;
in
c !c
1
in
•3<
CO
QJ
■a-
ro
^
CO
"a-
■3"
in
CM
•a- in
•rH
>i 0 3
0)
u
s
0
O,
m
P2
0)
to
tt)
0
•H
P"^
1-2
u
+J
XI 0)
M
i-4
H
•H
(C
h
t;i
O
in
Sh
QJ
•rH
4J
H
— '
O
0
•H
rH m
CN
■^
3
SI
4J
4J
0)
M
tH
tH
en
Sh
QJ
U
CTi
CO
CN
r-
t—
o ^
^—
g e
W
M 3
O
f-^
x;
(0
•rH
,i<;
§
w
a
QJ
■rH
O
o
T—
o
O
T- O
U) 1
3 (U
u
ITJ S
1
"m
u
Q
u
O. M
tu
w
H
>i
■
44
to
a
u
cn
1
1
1
1
QJ
1
1 1
0) ■5J'
0) S
>
c
CN
C
0
>
M
Pi
3
W
w
lO
•H H
ffi
Q)
+1
1-2
Sh
x;
44
to
U
QJ
^-'
o
O
H
CN
Y
to
CN
•H
i-a
CN
CO ro
B, •=»*
CN
rtJ
xi
w
to
w
CO
■a'
'a-
in
^
ro in
•H
w
S -H
C
c o
Q)
3 E
C
(U
U
to
J
Eh
Q)
Tl
X
c
4J
o
>,pi
r-(
QJ
(C
c
^
P
>1-p
Q
0)
O
C
iH
a)
Q)
>i 3 x: <
D
g
c
fH
0
QJ <C
Sh
D
QJ
-H
>l =1
(0
C ^3
S w
• —
M ff;
cc
to
W
0)
o
Cn+J
u
H
<U
■rH
0
l-D
g
H
0
U
•rl
M
M x; x;
>i
(D
(C 13
.H
XI
d)
T3
D
M
4-1
w
Pi
•rH
fO
H
H
O
1-a
Pm
QJ
H
4-1
C
m
a m
■P
M
OJ
O 1-2
0
0) c
C
x;
x;
c
K
3
a
in
1^
o
Eh
-
U
Pi
in
Q
to
(U
ai 0
(U
M
M
•rH
■H
-P
pq >i
o
4-1
4-1 < U W
Q)
M
*.
o
CO
c
*.
C
m
H
■H
S
Q
Id
K >-:>
s
to
M C
o
M
5
C
-p
3
3
g Si
tn
c
«.
«.
i-a
s
CD
Q)
to
M V ta tc <
tn
TS
^ Q) x;
+J
•H
4-1 T3
0
U)
0
0
•
m
*.
c
a
x;
0
c
0) o
H
0)
.H
QJ
G
C
^
•*
>• h.
«.
cn C
-■^ g 0
t^ '^^ ^T,
U)
M
(C CU
4J
Xi
T3
e
g
4-> W
G
0
to
a
tn
o
c
H
U
0
a
to
O
><
>(C/3
U
U
m en
m
«.
C 08
•rH
m
(u pa
c
c
•H
r^
>iW
H
1T>
u
u
(0
.y
tn
■rH
<c
X
Cn
in
0
X!
g
hJ
rH
D
QJ
<a
0) CD
0)
tn
0 rH
d
SH
M
OJ
0
fd
0
fH
t-:i
W
•H
Cr>
4J
u y M
E
w
M
Sh
Sh
u
^H
H
•rH
O X!
Xi
P £
C
G
g in
ca 1 1
m
1
U 1
i^
i-a
^^
2
eu
1
O
■rH
>
•rH
■H
■rH
•rH
m
u
I^
Q)
(D
3
■H
•rH
3
g
S
U
u
M S
^
c
E C
^
c
G
a
a
H
i-l
u
en
w
>
>
W
to
to
to
^
to
to
H W
H
H
W
M
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
H
H
H
H
w
H
w
w
w
H
H
w
Ph
h
Ph
P4
Pn
fcj
h
1X5
in
CN
CO IX) o
r-
CO
r^ in CO
O
I
o
1
o
O ^ T-
1 1 1
o
1
!>■
o
o o o
>*
^—
CN
1 i 1
t-M T- t-
1
ro
1^
PLI
Cm
O
to
1 1 t
rN -a- rN
^a"
in
CN
ro -a- in
ro
ro
ro in in
>i
in
CN
(N
-a"
en ^ ■!-
CN
CM
^
M
^D o^ r^
o
1
1
1
o
rH 1
O O CN
r 1 1
Y
en
Q
1
o
1
4-1
o o o
1 1 1
^
CN
CN
O CN
O ••
CN T- 'a'
CN
P
rN
CN
QJ
E
CN ^ ^a"
■a"
ro
O
CN 'a' ■a'
ro
o
oi
-a-
ro
01
u
ro 'a- 'a'
T—
pq
CN
CN
CN o in en
VD
ro
i^
ro
in
T)
cT> in in
1
H
Pi
1
C o
•H 1
o ■<- ^ o
1 1 1 1
O
1
o
1
o
1
o
1
o
1
o
o
o o o
1 1 1
CO
W
pq
Eh
CN
H CN
X! ••
CN CO 'a' -a-
^
CM
H
>^
ro
t-M
t^
i
tn
+4
CN CO CM
-^
a
H
Pi
H
pq
ro
o
txi
Q
CM ro ^ in
in
ro
Pi
D
pq
ro
ro
ro
H
pq
c
QJ
g
CN -a- ■*
o
o
U
^
to
•rH
<:
o
1 CO
kD
^^ r^ CN CTv
^—
en
<ys
CN
1
QJ
00 T- 00
1
Eh
H
Q
o
1
o
1
44
to
G
0
H
1
o
G 1
1
o o •<- o
1 1 1 1
1
pq
CM
o
1
O
1
in
rH
QJ
o ^ o
1 1 1
to
O
^q
o
^
ro
+4
C
■H
4-1
s
s
ro
•H ^
rH ••
Y
t-M CO CO CO
r»
t
Y
EH
CN
■H
x:
c
CN CN t-
'a'
Pm
in
QJ
in
QJ
n3
o
CO
£X ^
■a-
r- ro ^a- in
in
CJ
^
Z
to
en
a tJicN -a- ■a'
pq
o
O
g
+4
Q
3
o
H
H
g
■rH
Di
s
■r^
3
C
Q
H
en
s
QJ
tn
■<- og
H
o
>
CN
CN
O
QJ
CM
1 to
o
in
CN
T—
ro in o in
in
O
D
00
1^
o
r-
o
2^
QJ
ID ro o
CM ^
1 1
Eh
H
1
QJ
o
1
1
0
Q
%
1
o
Q) 1
1
o
1
1 O
1
o
1
o o ■>- ^
1 1 1 1
o
1 ,
•X.
P4
Z
D
o
1
Z
H
1
o
1
en
1
a
O r- r-
1 1 1
CN -a-
H
Pi
<
0
CN
PO
ro
ro
1
O
0
CN
G ro
■rl ••
CN
CN
QJ T-
■a"
rN ro ro CN
rj
^-'
_
O
■a-
pq
PQ
CN
CN
>
QJ
1
CM T- ro
^ in
U
<3
4-1
in
tn
in
in
Q
CO
to in
CN
CN
•H T-
to
^ ro 'a- in
^—
H
H
in
D
CN
in
g
QJ
tn
CN -a- to
t/1
H
o>
T3
tn
2^
x;
to
H
Pi
tn
M
D
rdl
c
U
QJ
1
tn
H
o
Pi
o
tn
QJ
CN cr^
<JN
•-D
o
S
^
■H
0
^
■H
(~~
o
CN
T—
a^
^—
T—
to CN T- cr>
a^
CN
"a- i£)
Pi
CTl
•H
D
W
en
CO
00
r-~
QJ
U.
■!- O CM
o o
1 1
O
1
O
1
1
^
Q
x;
tn
O
QJ
o
1
Sh
QJ
Sh
o
1
QJ
QJ
1
O
1
o
1
g o
o
1
1
O ^ CN o
1 1 1 1
1
1
o o
1 1
<;
o
1
t3
0
&4
Z
O
o
1
o
1
1
X
en
1
G
c
U
to
O T- o
1 : 1
CN -^
■^
^
■a<
a
3
^
to
Sh
Pi
■^
4-1
QJ
g
QJ
Sh
CN
tn
CN
CN
CN
K ^
f-^i
CN
T- CN CM CN
CN
CN
T- "a"
pq
O
■vT
•H
QJ
i-q
D
O
H
en
pq
V-
CN
H
Eh
Eh
<-M
Q)
2^
rsi ro CN
^a* -^
in
^
in
<H ^
Xi
in
in
G
in
CM
CN
3 T—
ro
■^
•<- ro ^ in
ro
in
■!- in
in
in
,_
■a'
■a-
T- ro ro
cc a
1
QJ
c
QJ
to
tn
-- O
QJ
Eh
aen
>
O
Q)
S
4J
to
>iO
21
0)
rH in
Z
en
Q
U
Q)
QJ
[-~-
a
H
to
QJ
u
■rH
to y
T—
^ CN CO
W
u>
pq
z
K
<T.
en
QJ
in
T^ ■*
o
>
Pi
■H
E
tn
>t
0)
Sh
■
o u
o
O O T-
>
T—
Pd Z r< o
o
tn
1
H
o
^
0)
QJ
Sh
4J
tt)
0
S
•H to
+4
QJ
1
• 1 1 1
^
1
Ph
O
nq
1
>H
1 1
C ^
X
tH
U
>
QJ
QJ
QJ
4-1
T3 1^
Sh
QJ
T—
>H CN CN ^
H
H
o
Q
Di
tn
CN 'a'
•rH •■
>.
u
cn
3
■H
4-1
g
in
■H
tn
0
QJ
in
• •
ej
,.
a
en
z
;3
Sh
.,
O
>1
QJ
• .* • .*
S ^
rH
•
Pi
9
rH
H
XJ
0)
OJ
in
to
■^ 5
U sx
to
tn ro ^ in
•a-
pq
<t;
0)
•a-
H
U
G
tj ro PL, in
13
■H
pq
<:
Pi
0
to
o
6 U
0
H
Sh Q)
QJ
0
U
U
■H
C
rH C
S
s
z
I-q
^
Z
QJ
O
pq
g
(J
c
u
QJ
c
a
Cr>
QJ Sh
N
Pi
QJ
rH tO
U
•H
Q) ■H
<
< rf
CJ
to
H
+4
+4
>1 4-1
PJ
O
>1p4
*■
0
<; o ^
0
Q)
3
ais
QJ
44
0 G
Xi
G
G
rH
3 E
CJ
u
u
Z
PQ
U
>i QJ
M
Sh U
•*
2
u
o
tj MH
■H
Q)
■H
Sh
0
" G
G
*.
QJ
0 •H
to
to
x;
E
E to
H
H
H
pq
U
E
to QJ
C
••
H
to
2
O
tn
rH
H
QJ
+J
Q
<
QJ
U
Ch
x: g
u
Sh
O
to
to ■1-1
Pi
Pi
Pi
>^
pq
c
QJ
C
g X!
tl)
c
m
s;
>H
H
tn
to
H
SH
to
tn
H
A
OJ
U 0)
P3
fn
^
X
tn G
pq
H
pq
g
U
G
Eh
to
U
0
0
tn
0
o
Pi
Pi
+J
QJ
C
•H
U
+4
4-1
*.
cn -.
H
+4
^
en en
QJ
<1j
•?:*
pq
to
0
z
z
Pi
MH
m
D
-
o
pq
u
u
o
rn
c
G
>!< Di
to
>i
^
^
^
^
- m
^
S <i
g
•H
H
Ti
tn
4-1
QJ
C < ^ B >
•H
tji
■H
X
QJ
Q)
44
pq G
-•
3
0)
G c
u.
H
+4
44
44
44
pq
^
O
g
Ti
rH
QJ
i-q
u
u o
Sh
G
+4 .y
tJ
E
£
x:
■H
Q) M.
n
■H ■H
to
H
x; x: x; -
>H
>i
>H
>H
^
to
H
in
O
QJ
!h C
x:
X
0
pq
U
4-1
0
to
to
0
3
3
tJiS G .V
G
^
rH H
X!
to
tji
eji iji ^
t-q
^
hq
J
>i
O
Pi
H
3
rH
to tl)
+4
O
pq
g
Pi
w
tn
u
2
o
Pi
U
u
3
S 5
to
■r\
3
■a^
G
>
■H
•H
■H QJ
Pi
Pi
Pi
■a
3
ej
H
X!
X: rH
QJ
■H
H
•H
H
H
•H
0
O
0
O 0
Sh
U
M
3
3
3
3
3 >1
<
< <C
kC t3 T3
H
•H
rH
E
g E
Q
Q
Q
Q
Q
Q
Q
1
1
:
1
Q
Q
Q
Q
Q
Q
Q
Q
Q
Q
Q
Q
Q
Q
Q Q
pq
pq
pq
pq
pq
pq
pq
pq
pq
pq
pq pq
o o
ro
CN T-
o] rs]
(N 1-
in
T- O
(N (N
ro ^
00 r- o-j (N
II III
n ■5J'
in ^ tri
T- n T— o CN <n
o O T- T- o o
I I I I I I
(N r— n n n ■=3'
n •* -^ ■* -a" in
(N <N o a^ ^ in
T- ^ T- o ^ T-
I I I I I I
T- n n IN r- (N
m m ■^ ■^ ^r in
ovo';r-q'oorMT-or-no'5'r-
T— T— T-T— Ot-Ot— cNt— T— T— <N
I I I I I I I I I I I I I
Ln-^LDLnLninmro'Tf^cMLn-*
(T^ 00 ro
Or- T-
I I I
W
rH -P
0) S-l
3 0)
S ^ Ti
rtJ >iiH !-l
W rH 0) O
•H tJiO
- e C
(U M-l
C
T3 4-1
M tn
O
C (U
o c
(D C
U
o -
w u
"0) »t4
+J Ti XI W
W ■r) -iH -H
(C 0) 0) 0)
a
(0
•rH
>iQ
CD
O -
iH (U
n3 tji
rH
Q)
O
CM
o
I
ro
O
I
Q)
QJ
B
0)
U
Ti
(d rt3 fC
-P
0)
e
u
o o o o o o o
0) 0)
-P rH
- (C c ^
0) -H (0 (C tC
Cn D1--I O >
M iH 4-) <a
o o <; I w
Q) Q)
O O I I
I
ro
ro
o
ro
O
o
CN
I
CN
-*
o
0) O
•H I
O ro h
O ••
W ro W
«
D
O
In
ITJ
o
■rH
O
4-)
W
I
>i
^H
0)
4-1
(D
e
Q)
O
c
iH
0)
O
tC
o
o
u
•rH
u
w
o o r- ^
T- 1- o o
1111
\- ro ro rM
CM ro vD r^
r- r- o o
I I I I
•=r CM ro ^
-* ro LD '
4->
C
c
(D
0)
tn >
0)
O
0) u
w
tn
4J
^ o
> P^
H
Ti 04
C X
3 H
C g
O T) «
in W H
£ » CO
C H
O
I S I -H
o
D
O
C3 O
4-1
U n3
tt) .H
X! -H
O 0)
M O
to c
-a --4
O O
>1
u
c
fd tn
s m
g
- o
^ x;
tu H
u ^
tn tj
0) iH
o o
C3 O
tn
0) T)
rH "H
u to
ttj x;
x; u
U -H
a;
O
I
00
o
I
CM
ro
I
CO
o
I
ro
00
tn
(1) ^
■rH o
4-1 I
■rH ■:3'
c ••
X o
0) I
x: -^
4J ..
U
o
m 00
4-1 I
C (N
Q) •■
6 "^
in
o
I
OM
00
o
o
cTi CM "ri in
o r- C o
I I H I
O 00 tn
C
■rH
ID rH 1^ 00 1^
O iH O O O
I H I I I
00 ro r— r—
in in 'S' -a" -vf
Q)
0)
C g
fd dJ
C -
-4 g
[5 (d
Td x;
o u
o o
tn
U tn
<: c
T) <:
> c
!h fd -
rH g tn
(D fd 4J
u x; a
fd fd td
M >H M
fd
C
(U
>
o
G -
(U Ti
X
tn 3
o o
O C3 C5 O O C5
fd T
a
o
•H oo
4-1 O
fd I
S oM
d) ro ro in
0)
0
tn
M
00
o
I
-^
in 00
r- o
I I
fd
u
■a
in fd
o
>
K
<<
O
w
o
t/l 0^
o
Q
<
XI
o
s
W 00
o
g I
H 00
S ••
in
in
T—
o
CM
CM
OM W
Q
Ci) M
O OJ
Eh y.
U 0)
fd rH
dJ
>
fd
erf C5
(1) w
> >
C3 O
o
S
H
w
H
Q
X)
w
00
o
I
0\1
o
I
o
I
O 00
in r- o
tu I I
■ri ro ^
U •• ••
(U 00 in
Ovl
o
I
-3"
00
00
o
OM
OSI
o
I
O O
I I
O
0)
OM
CU S
H tn
tn
w tu
s
4-1
0)
o
in
>i 00
g
00
lU
rH
h-l o
d)
O
X
Id
tti 1
CJ
1
H
<; 'a'
■=r
a)
H ••
• •
^
0)
"*
(1)
■^
m
tn
h
a)
c
O
tn
■H
C
t/2 tn
H (U
> >
a, fd
« u
in X
■n 4J
sh :3
fd «
>i
tu -
> >i
fd fd
u ^1
C fd
fd rH
rH +J
en O
C o fd
W t/3 X
u
!h
PQ
C ■H
tu fd
J<; 4-1
fd ■H
? !h
< pa
4-1 4-1
fd fd
Q) (U
!h M
13 O
C
O
U
c
Hi
o
00
o
I
OM
CQ
4-1
MH
o
in
0)
■H
4J
(U
■H
U
O
tfl
>iOO
U T-
O I
-P oo
in ••
■H in
in
o
I
OM
00
o
I
^ <j\ cy\ ^
o o o r-
I I I I
T— OM ^ <^
o
OM Pi
•• W
in E-i
Eh
H
O^ XI
O
I Q
T- H
•• >
in rt
«;
o
Eh ■
■H
g •
fd |^
U
4J
in fd
apa
!^1 1^ t-^
^ O O
I I ;
oo 1- CN
T in ■»
tn -^r in "^r h
O
EH
W
E-<
4-1 rH
fd •-<
u tu
0) Sh
T3 'rl
tu fd
fd 1^
rH «
rH M tr; s
rH 0)
IP rH -hJ]
h T! tu <
Sh (U IH S
tu -H -H M
I^ Pm Ii4 PL)
X
• -P
u u
1-D fd
CQ
• >1
H rH
•H
in o
fd tu
g O
o
X -
Eh C
in
4-1
u
tu
a
m
Id
4-)
fd
O
r- in o
o o T-
I I I
'a* CN ro
fd
U
=)
4-)
H
U
c
fd
<
G
O
•H
4-1
(d
>
iH
tu
tn
tu
u
c
fd
w
!h
tu
X 0-
Sh o Cn
fd I G
S ■=»• -rl
^ OM "^ in fd
0
tn
^ tu fd X
CTt T— tn
O OM O
I I I
CN rf 1-
in -a- m
>i >,+J T3 4J rH
11) tn T
rH tu !h
G Sh O
2
M ■H -rl -H rH
PH |J4 fl4 CL) pLi I
■rl M
U rH
O O
in (U
g Q)
fd tn
U
C-i
O G
U O
a-rl
+J
u fd
■H >
g !h
(U tu
tJ tn
Id (U
u Vl
fd cu
00
o
I
4-) OM
G ••
(U in
g
C
O
M <C
■H U
> H
c «
+j pc;
<; tu w
-H F^
4H O Eh
O O W
w i-a
G -S
rl G W
Sh O Z
I
H
XI
P4
O
w
o
I
d
o
w
<:
o
H
o
4-1 Z
fd o
> M
Sh M
tu <C
tn u
(U M
ft H
w
in <Ji
4-1 <
!h XI
< o
rH XI
o o
h fH
O
I
tn
o
I
00 00
o o
I I
00 00
00
00
I
IN
CO
o
!
OM
tn
o
1
OM
oo
o
I
T3
o
IJH
in
g
rH
<u
r;
b
Pi
o
H
tl
H
Q
-a; (U
K Sh
Eh O
G S
Cn<
■H U
in H
tu Pi
Q H
U
tu ti
+1 o
tu
g X
0) <t;
u s
Pi
G o
fd 1^
00 rO
O rH
I cu
OM ■H
.. IH
1- ■H
M
Sh
tu
g
[~-. CTv OM
O r- ■<-
I I I
00 OM .^
^ oo uo
■H
ffi
4-1
in
tu .
Sh G
O S
h fd
XI
I
4-1
w in
G tu
■H ^1
fd O
■H Cu
ft
I
fd
o o
•H rH
fd fd
g MH
fd m
CQ
G
p
o
u
CD .^;
u
en o
C >H
■rl
Sh tu
t~-
o
I
OM
OM 1^
T- o
I I
00 00
in 00
S (U
r- r- o^ •.^ o
O OM o r- T-
I I I I I
00 "a* -* T— OM
^ C?i ■=!• O
o o o T-
I I I I
OM '3' r- OM
r- ro 'ij' in in tn
tu
tu ■
4-1
4-1 ■
S (U
XI ■H
ei Sh ■
O Sh
h fd
■rl tu 4-1
X X
X rH
o o
tn
tu
g
fd
1^
>i >i
G Sh
o :=i
X CQ
4-1
< in
u
- tu
tu x:
G 4J
« X!
X u
o o
h P4
G
OJ
rH 5 rH
■rl id 0)
m X K
4-1 +4 -
tn tn u
tu (U G
Sh Sh fd
O O
[X4 |i4 tn [i( p4
X tn
Cn fd
3 g
x: o
X
en
tu -rl -
U U N
a a c
fd fd fd
(-4 Sh Sh
fH [>j Ph
(U
IH
14H
OM
SH
tu
x>
tn
tu
X r-i
U (U
>irH C
Sh tu fd
Sh -H X
fd G P
X fd Id
Q S
(U ^
+4 G - -
44 fd X Sh
tu g O <U
t3 01 G rH
tu tu (U rH
h M H 3
[n [ij h Cti
in ■
in
r-
o
I
CM
o
I
CN
00
o
I
00
o
1
OM OM
O O
I I
00 ■g-
^ in
vo r— tn ^
o o o o
I I I I
OM ■=!• oo ■*
•=r in -"3" un
1
OM •
• M
in 1-0 >i
tu
rH
- G
EH
CU
G C
cc;
M
0 fd
<:
:3
tu Pi
fd
Tl
in >i
X
-H ~
^ Pi
O fd
fd <;
«.
X
iH f2
rH
^ in
tu w
(U
(U P
C 53
X
X rH
3 D
Id
fd fd
h Cu
C5 ■
C5 C5
S-4
1
.
P
T—
>i
XI
••
U
w
"3"
<U
X
•P
u
0)
>1 >1
•H
(Ti
s
u u
M
O
5)
Q) <U
0)
1
u
4J 4J
T3
■^
Q) QJ
0)
• •
-0
e E
S-(
■a-
o
QJ QJ
tn
0
CJ U
0^
1
o
OJ ■-<
o
1
rO
1
rH
O QJ
■q*
•H
C
C
<N
o
QJ
IT]
■rH
0
■rH
-P
■a-
'
g
1 a-
o
U K
<o
■H
tfl
O-i
V£>
^—
n
-0
O
Q)
VD
tn
•^
o
r~-
O 00
1
>
>
U
o
1
1
1
1
c
0
X
4-1 1
tn
O
1
1
o
1
1
1
•^ o
1 1
"O"
OJ
(N
^—
•^
T—
1
>H
QJ >i
T—
CM
T—
T—
T—
-a- -^
..
0)
(«
• •
*•
>*
• >
0)
U U
• ■
• •
• •
>• •■
■"S"
m
Q)
CM
'T
^
tn
«*
u
■H
o
U QJ
o g
S 0
in
tn
tn
tn
T
in tn
VD
r-~
,— ^
u
•^
CTv
4-1
tp
o
(X3
tn
VO
ro T— o
CN
00
^—
o
.H
u
o
u
o
M
o
1
O
4J
1 4-1
r—
T—
o
O
T— T— T—
o
o
1
1
CO
o
■rH
o m
O
1
1
QJ
c
1
1
1
1
1 1 1
1
(
'=1'
'a-
o u-i
!-H
U-l
m
ro
fd
t—
rH
w 0
(N
CM
n
T—
T- CN (N
n
■<r
• •
• •
■rH
0
>1
• •
■H
• t
4-1
XI S
• *
• •
• •
• •
• •
• •
•^a-
in
T)
u
+J
>i-p
C
CM
c
tn
U
4-1
C
CM
^
^
-a-
tn ^ CM
in
■a-
O
Q)
Ul
-p
0)
o
■H
to
QJ 1
to
•H
H->
■H
<u
■rH
■rH
^-^
tJl
PQ
tn
U
M
C
ffi
•rH
u
4J
^ ro
ro
oo
00
u
1^
ex)
CF\
o
tn
0 0
CM
T—
o
■rH
CM
t-M
ro
T—
n ,-
m
tn
t^
tn
00 CN
o o
CN
0)
CD
u
o
fd
M r-
o
^—
^—
■H
^—
o
^—
r—
^—
X! ■rl
r—
^—
^—
Sh
O
O
^—
T—
V- T—
o
o
o
o
o o
r- T—
T—
ChU
!-(
o
CO
^H
O 1
1
1
1
>
1
1
1
1
QJ
1
u x:
1
1
1
QJ
1
1
1
1
1 1
1
1
1
1
1 1
1 1
1
13
^^
O
w
0)
0)
X T-
(N
CM
CN
'3'
'-
CM
n
QJ
m
^
Id o
tn
tn
^
O]
•^
g
CM
CM
CM
Q
^
n n
n
■<-
m
ro
n (M
n ,-
'-
3
C
^
QJ
S lK
CM
n
n
0)
M-
tn
m
n
'S"
•=r
m
■=r
<
ri
CM
tn
•"S-
tn c^
"*
tn
LO
n
: n CM
■=3' tn
•^
-P
o
o
M
>i u
[■4
0)
(U
rH
ra QJ
^
a
M
>i
m
C
H
■H
Q)
D'
;3
S
tn
rH
z
S QJ
>i
<
O
U
>i
-P
0
E-i
■P
4-1
0
■p
*.
Q)
u
tn
4J
X
tn
■rl
QJ
Sh
U)
•H
m
<
(0
C
i-H
u
W
T!
QJ
•
QJ
H
rH
■rH
tn
JJ
QJ
-P
Cj
>
>
0)
o
(U
(D
o
>i
c
>
QJ
s
■H
>
0)
Sh
•
QJ
4-1
X
fC
(^
«
(-1
U
Q)
-p
U
s c
u
(U
Sh
Q)
>i
u
^
tC
Sh
tn 1-1
g
^
S^
>
U
W
Q)
(0
■rH
■rH
H O
Q)
s
(0
tn
M
QJ
0
X
0
td
QJ
e
(a
S-1
tT>W
U)
1
x: x;
>
s e
4-1
o
QJ
QJ
W
g
tj
u
r.
5 X
U
(U
^
0)
0
w
0)
u
u
U
o o
(C
C
Q)
)H
+4
rH M
>i
(d
■rl
C
ft
>i
o
m
M
p:;
u
M
S-l
Q)
>H rH
SH
a
x:
g
0)
C
QJ
>i 01
C
rH
U
rH
X
■H
Q
S 4-1
Ti
0)
M (U
4-1
TI
>1
c
0)
Djflj
Ch
rfl rt!
W
IS o
13
x:
0
OJ
> X
>i
rd
^ g
X
■H
iS
ffl
U
rH
Pi
d
M
QJ
U
01
tn
C
C
4-1 4-1
(0
u
w
(C
o
tn
a
>1
■rl
0
G
QJ
U
QJ Q)
0
PQ
r^
!h
QJ
rH
>iO X
• QJ
C
(d
U
3 0 >i
D
to
c o
rH
eu u o
u
rH
rH
H
ij
J
^^
(Tj
rH
1-3 X
(0
4J U
1-1
=1
m
■H
Sh
U
O
u m
QJ X
o
0 1^ x:
0
rH
O QJ
■rH
H
■H
(C
(0
(0
< -
•«.
T3
M
o
0
T!
W
0)
-
*.
+J
^
U
H
1-3
Di O
o
>i ft
u ^
0
QJ
O ft
0
o
g a
n
U
o
u
U ^i
•.
•^
c
0
>>>.
In
•
a
g rH
h.
X
N
rH
*.
tC
«
- *.
=i
■rl
- td
tn
u
Cr.
U
U tn
■H
•H
(U
o
0
•rH
■H
■H
H 0 TS T3
rtj
o
^
^
Q)
>
nJ
».
QJ rH
tn
QJ
4-1
P
tn
«.
iJ
*.
+J Ti
>iH K
«.
T3 ■H Sh
■H
QJ O
td
to
0
!h
h
Tl
H
-p
M
Sh
Vh
rt 0
C
c
e
3
W
tfl
^
^
Sh
O QJ
C
QJ
■H
0
c
>,
O
rH
4J h
^H
IH
rH (J tn o
C rH
u
u
Tl Sh
0
o
to
w
m
o
0
0
O U
fC
m
■H
>i
(U
0)
^
M
•h
>;
01
s
■H
Xi
5
■rl
■rl
Q)
k.
H
rH
Sh ftj
(d
*.
*.
01
0 U 0
c
0 Sh
■rl
o
Sh a
-P
-p
U
H
■H
-p
4-1
4-)
H XI
rH
rH
rH
rH
g
g
>i QJ Ti
o
X
01 QJ
^
C
0
44 X
^
4-1
Q)
m X!
Ui
C
4-1
4-1
4-1 0 C
■rl
0 td
X
0
tn
w
<
a:
K
m
m
M
W rH
rH
rH
rH
rH
rH
rH
rH
g
O
o
o
a ft
ft M
Sh
U
tn
w
+J S
S XI X3
C
c
C
c
U 0
rH
PQ U
u
1
^ 1
■H
•H
■H
-rH
■H
H O
O
0
O
O
O
0
O
o
0
x;
0
0 o
0
0
0
0
0
0
o
O
5
3 3
3
3
P
D
H td o
^
K
ffi
1
1
1
K
X
ffi
K W K
ffi
K
m
ffi
E
tc
K
K
ffi
m
ffi
ffi
m
ffi
K
ffi
K
ffi
ffi
ffi
ffi X
K
K
E
x:
: H M
H
1 1
1
1
>i
CN
t^
>i
Sh
^—
o
!h
QJ
>i
-P
1
1
0)
4-1
S4
QJ
m
>ltN
4J
QJ
0)
QJ
..
Sh ■•
>i QJ
g
+4
U
^
0) in
Sh g
QJ
Q)
+J
4-J
0) 4-1 QJ
(D
g
m
QJ
4-1 C O
0)
00
CM
00
CN
T—
g tn
0) 3
4-1
U
o
o
QJ
V-
y—
T—
QJ o
g O Ti
a
1
1
>
1
[
1
O !
QJ :;; o
=1 Ti
n
n
O
CM
M"
CM
o o
o
0
• ■
>•
U
«■
,.
Ti ••
c s
g
0
tn
■a*
O
■3*
in
in
C in
C QJ 1
a
?
tn
to
S QJ C
01
c
1
C
rH
to Sh QJ
QJ
Q)
00
'3-
O
^—
I--
•^ CM
CD
x; CM
h:i O QJ
Sh
QJ
o
c
r-
■rl
^—
o
■<- O
O
tn^
M
O
U
1
QJ
1
+4
1
1
1 1
1
•rl 1
!^ 1 CD
O
CM
>
^—
o
CM
CN M-
m
tn m
QJ
1
»•
=
fd
• ■
3
• •
c.
QJ U 1
1
tn
tn
E
^
Ti
'a-
^
-a- in
m
1 ^
U QJ
0)
TJ
0
o -rl a
Sh
0
U
3
h
Sh
rH >,
0
rH
en
0
QJ
tji
P^
o
00
en in
in
QJ <J>
1 0) rH
g
rH
o
IS
2
O
t—
o
^— ^—
o
> o
Dj^
■H
QJ
1
1
Ti
1
1
1 1
1
O 1
tn 4-1 0
4-1
4-1
t^
M
1
^—
0)
CM
n
CN CN
-
CN
Q ^
P C 0
rH
c
• •
QJ
• •
N
■ •
r.
.. ••
Ti
.•
XI O S4
to
o
'a'
4-1
4-1
^
■H
^
m
■* in
C
CN
1 -^r
g S PQ
PQ
^
44
P
rH
to
3
■H
0
to
rH
tn
rH 1 1
1
1
PQ
■H
o
T—
■rl
ro
oo
•^
^
O CM
CM
4-1
in
4-1
0
<
+4
T—
T—
U
^—
o
o
o
■<- o
O
o
o
4J
(J 4-1 4^
Ti
c
U
•-
U
1
1
QJ
1
1
;
1
1 1
1
O
1
0)
C M
c
■H
H
tn
QJ
CM
(-0
ft
T—
CN
^—
n
CM CN
■3"
CO
"^
tn
1 O O
to
tn
<X,
XI
C
• •
■ •
CO
• •
• •
..
>■ c*
.,
,.
3
g ><
rH
c
w
3
C
CM
n
•^
CM
^—
n
CM in
in
c
m
JZ
0 ^
>1
o
§
M
0
>i
0
CO
CJ
■H QJ 3
Sh
o
QJ
u
CN
^
■rl
Pti
to tn
X > QJ
ix>
(^
Id
tn
^—
<3^
x:
CM
CX3
<y\
in
^
CN
oo
O
x:
o
CM
n
CN
o o
^—
o
I^
<M
CM 00
CM
CD
en
r~-
4-1
in
M
r-~
in
r-
tn c CN
CN
O S
o
1
o
1
S
■H
1
O
1
o
1
O
1
QJ
o
1
1
1
O
1
o
1
1
■H
1
1
o
1
1
1 1
o
1
1
o
1
o
1
o o
1 1
O
1
O
1
o
1
1
to
g
o
1
<
X
1
1
1
tn 0 o
10 -H !
1
QJ
CM
^
CM
D
T—
CTl-*
CM
0)
r-
^
^—
CN
f~0
PC
'd-
'^
■tr
^—
1^ "^
CM
CM
^—
<N
CM 1-
CN
cn
^—
CN
u
tN
CJ
CM
CM
-jf
S 4-1 ■ST
CM
QJ
0)
QJ
••
"
0)
"
Eh
■ •
c
••
'•
tn
..
• •
■ •
• •
• •
• •
• >
• •
.. ..
.*
■
..
..
.. ..
..
0
QJ
O ••
QJ
tn
QJ
in
tn
QJ
QJ
n
3
^
■H
^
■ja"
tn
in
in
CM
m
in
^
^
in
■a"
f^ in
T—
Sh
■=!■
in
n
tN in
in
in
en
^
14H
'S-
Q
QJ
^
■^
•=!•
E in
^
tn
in
tn
Q)
H
rH
0
i-D
QJ
Xi
IIH
QJ
0
tn
U
■rl
>•
tn
Pi
o
Sh
01
in
>i
e
Sh
T—
rH
•
•k
1
t.
P
tn
pij in
>, M >i
>i
•
K
w
QJ
O
td
Pi
•
4-1
Q
^—
Sh 01 Sh
u
>i
H
H
•
4-1
1
X
W
tn
..
TJ 1
QJ 4-1 QJ
QJ
Sh
S
PQ
•^
15
QJ
CM
QJ
+4
QJ
• •
■
0
CO
X <:
>i QJ CM
+4 0) +J
44
QJ
Sh
W
tn
QJ
•
g
•
to
• •
QJ
QJ
0
1^ U
(-4
>i
rH
si;
g:
Pu
^
44
CJ
Sh N "
rH
QJ g QJ
QJ
4-1
QJ
w
QJ
rH
X
Pi
0)
H
4J
in
tn
•-{
X
C
td
rH
C QJ
Id
Is
QJ
M
.
>.
01 ■H in
QJ
g QJ g
g
g
QJ
C
H
tT> rH
4-1
O
C
U
0)
(0
QJ
tn c
■H
■H
x; -H
x;
tn
>1 )H
C
QJ
o
X
Pt^
P3
^
+4 M
a
QJ O 0)
(0
QJ
g
Ti
W
u
13
4-1
rH
■H
Ti
T3
0)
N
N
U
to >,
rH
g
0 a
+4
■H
■-\
QJ
■H
O
Pli
to
M
■H
QJ to
g
U O
■H
O
QJ
Sh
s
o
M
lO
■H
+J
rH
U
■rl
X
to
ii;
■H
5
g rH
^
td
1^ to
Id
O
■rl
X
fd
CJ
tN]
%
cn
g
g -H
f3
4-1
rH
U
td
H
QJ
Ul
X
0)
QJ
QJ
to
>
Ti
0
X
X
<-A
to
0 QJ
c
■H
QJ
^
MH
Q
^
!::
g
U
tn
T5
-H
td
to
0) CJ
CO
c; c Ti
g
rH
44
O
3 O
s
QJ
>
x;
(d
■H
Pi
o
H
Xl
X >
0
3^
U
"fd
fd
td
td
QJ
fi
Q
rH
g
tJH
O 0)
S 3 0
■rl
■rl
C
Ti
tT'
-
Sh
w
o
Q
>
«.
1^
H H
l-J
■H
Sh
C
c -
«.
Sh
in
PlH
C
lu
2
H
CO
O
ft
«.
td 0 o
^
3^
=i
O
»»
s
*.
C TI
-^
4-1
•H
(0
•»
c
•>
•.
h.
rH
td
!h
U tn
tn
Hh
0 O <
H
x;
C
T3 00
QJ
XI S g:
0
0
>lH
c
■H
rH
a
1X1
»-
pt;
*.
Q
c
0
>.
Ti
>1
>. «.
-
tjirt; 1/)
0
0 en
D^
tn
*.
44
•>
H
H
•H
c
rH
1
-
*■
g
3
Sh
■rt
C
0
to
Sh
tn
Sh
4-1
c
C
01
c c;
c
c
X x; c
C
-
C
rj
tn
«.
cn
C
XI
0)
to >i
Id
c c c
c
c
c
c
0
[J4
MH
C
IS
g
Q)
QJ
•^
fd
*.
O
I—\
■H
0
•H
0 QJ
o
■H
-
«»
tn
tn -H
■rH
X
■H
QJ
Ti Ti
H
0)
^
rH
rH ^
Ti
QJ 0) QJ
0)
QJ
QJ
Q)
CnH
t»H
■H
tn
X
>
>
tn
fd
rH
ft
■rl
rH
£■
Ti
c tn
tn Ti
4-1
+4
44
44 4-1
44
CJ
X
Ti
to
rH
pii
Cnpq
tn
X
X X
tn
01 QJ QJ
QJ
0)
QJ
QJ
QJ
H
■rl
M
■H
0
0
0
Id
rH
rH
rH
G
E
g
c
c c
a
M
Sh
Sh
M
!h tn
tn
44
15
>1
QJ
to
<
s::
Pi
tn
P
cn Cn
C
h IH !h
Sh
S4
Sh
!h
Sh
pt;
Sh
CJ
u
u
Sh
Sh
Id
to
fO
fd
fO
fd
to
Id
fO fd
fd
to
to
td
td
to fd
td
fd
io
td
E
QJ
H
QJ
w
QJ
QJ
■rH •H
■H
O
CJ3
O
U
U
O
O
tJ
o
o
-
t_T
ID
V)
O
X
X
X
X
X
K
X
K
X X
X
X
MH
X
E
X X
X
X
X
X
X
K
hJH
K
X
K
X
K
X
00
CM
c
rH
T
O
o
■H
rH
■H
d
•41'
-p
(d
W
■>*
in
>
u
rH
(U
Sh
KO
in
n
to
3
O
T
Y
(U
Id
CM
CM
CM
a
"* tn
•^
t3
C
fd
(tJ
•rl
in
OO
CM
00
rM
x:
o
1
O
O
1
1
o
i
(U
u
a,
rH
CNl
(N
■^
04
ro
01
t3
"3"
in
in
ro
ro
-p
td
rH
•H
a^
00
^—
CM
^—
o
T-
c
x:
o
o
1
o
1
f-
1
1
o
1
•H
td
s
ft
1
1
1
ro
1
CM
1
1
ro
1
LT)
"*
in
<*
•>*
rn
ro
1
fd
■H
tn
n
CX3
a>
o
o
CTl
(>1
CN
T—
cn
o\
CM
CTl
o
•-D
u
td
o
1
o
1
o
1
1
Y
1
O
1
O
1
1
o
i
o
1
o
1
1
O
1
0)
X
>
rH
ro
(N
Ol
ro
■a-
CM
CO
ro
ro
CM
rM
CM
CM
^
CM
u
td
cn
in
ID
in
ro
"^
^
in
M"
"^
in
■*
CM
ro
«*
in
21
\S> CM
•^
1X>
KO
n
CM
'^
in
CTl
^s
CTl
in
■*
in
^
ro
in
r-
o
in
^
CT^
T
r^
in
in
o
o
rn
Q)
ro
in
in
OJ
ft ro og
■!;r
o o
1 1
Y
o
1
o
1
o
1
1
1
o
1
O
1
o
1
T
1
o
1
1
o
1
O
1
1
o
1
o
1
o
1
T
o
1
o
1
o
(U
o
1
1
1
CM
1
(1)
tn
O
1
o
I
o
1 1
o
1
1- n
'-
^
'a-
CM
n
-*
n
ro
■^
r\l
rM
CM
>*
rM
ro
rsi
•a-
r\i
CM
CM
CM
04
Y
T—
!h
Y
ro
ro
■=r
CM
ro
Y
OJ
0)
cn
rn T-
Y
in "^
IT)
^
^
ro
'3'
in
:
"T
in
in
§
ro
^
ro
in
■3-
■=r
"S-
in
rn
■=r
^
ro
T—
'=!"
^_
in
ro
ro
^
Q) ro
■a-
in
in ■=3'
ro
>i
Sh
>i
O
CU
C
M
(D
IH
O
rH
0
0)
cr\
<D
>
(D
H
Q)
•
13
-P
>i
-p
^—
o
U
+J
cc;
U <<
H
O
cn
Sh
■
0)
1
1
(0
(D
C
H
cn
1/1
OJ
^^
S
CN
-^
u
g
H
(d
>i
H
•
OjMH
M pc;
-P Tl
0)
■ •
>•
0)
rt
+J rH
c
O
•rl
o
CU
<
Q) U
0)
o
■*
in
cn
cn
U
o
C
cn
U
».
•rl
cn
rH
x:
W
g td
Di
g
tp
h:i X!
O
C
d)
C
>i
x3 x:
Id r;
td
3
•H
tn
u
H
0) x:
M
iH
nJ
C
rH
i<
O Ti
0
>
(d
Sh
0)
>iX!
Ch 04Xi
-P
•rl
m
.C
c
-p
U U Tj
O •
rH
-H
S-irH
C
•H
•rl
CD rH
iJ
O
u
U
CD
■H
C
M
-P
rH
0)
CD
0)
4-1
■rl
0
3
CM
•rl
fd
Q
■rl •H
0)
0) a
■rH
-P
>i
-p
•H
fC
rH
M
rH
•H
CU
O
(d
o
1 — 1
PQ
Sh
«
o
U
•H
rH
in
cn
M
s
>1-H
Pi
c
x;
3 M « >
rH
o
x;
cn
IH
•H
K
M
rH
ftrH
E
rH
fa
1^
o
O
P
r-\
«.
iS
ffi
c
(U
6
fd
0
0
td
rH
!h
-.
fd
H <;
rH td
fd
>i^
■rH
!h
u
3
•rH
cn
■H
rH
C
rH
ta
<
c
■..
SI
CU
XI
td
u
1-2
In
S
(1)
•rl
•P
^
Jh
(U Q
•rl -Q
Q
- 0
!h
ftJ
-P
w
S
>1
>
0)
■r{
U >i
w
^
CJ
P^
rd
X
h.
h^
0
MH
D.g
td
cn
(D rH ct;
•«.
Pi
K 0)
>i«
*.
«
1-^1
Q)
O
1
X
C
W
>
>
0) « rH
a
^
•
g
fd
>.
!h
rt
•..
K
■.
td
H
ft
C
-p
o O
aw
U •■
^
OJ
M
cn
&i
0
-
>i o
(D
•H
lU
cn
-P
O ^
cfl
>..
^
td
K
rH
c
N
(U
k.
C
c
c
c
C
u
Id
cn
:s
0
Eh rH C C
M
nH ^
fd
».
*.
fd
Td
m
>1
rH
0
rH
3
o
>i
tn
P
n3
g
>1
Q)
X
(D
0)
-P
N
X
^
o
o
0
0
o
cn
•h
•.
x:
CD
M
Sh
K
0) 0) o
Q)
a; c
.-)
0)
0)
w
0
iH
rH
+J
rH
0
rd
Q) Eh X)
cn
xi M s:
a g
c
-P
■H
o
tn
cn
tn
cn
TJ T!
QJ
CD
o^x
(U H
x:
O
M !h cn
>i
u si
rH
c
c
a
Q
1
rH
0)
c
<
h^
1
S
J2
s
g
C
u
0
o
cn
tt
(D
0
0
s
^
^
g
g
g
a
c
C
a
c
c
cn c/3
■p
D
3 s s
15
ta ra
d
m
I«
(C
01
fci
(U
w
■H
■rj
■ri
C
0 vO
o
!h
Sh
u
:3
td
fd
td
td
td
fd
td
td
td
td
td
td <:
fd <C
Id fd fd
td
fci «
«
t^
«
i<
1
t<
=
K
1
1
1
1
t<
!^
M
«
t^
td
1^
n:;
«
t^
«
«
^A
^^
h3
iJ
iJ
I-:]
yA
h^
J
ij
h^
J
i-q
i-:i
hJ
iJVq i-:|
h^
cn
■*
•rl
x;
-P
ro
cn
c~-
CJ> CT^
u
^—
•rl
o
o o
<
ro
QJ
1
1 1
'a- 'S" G
13
»•
Id
■ •
H
G
cn
in
x:
^
in in X
fd
4-1
cn
1
13
C
G
•H
„ :=>
T-
0
O
QJ
S
o
00
^ '^'^ro Id
o
1
C
td
•rl
•rl
§
QJ
1^
•H
G
o
1
tv?^
•^
■H
fd
4J
in
cn
G
0
4-1
C
0
1
x;
4-1
CM
^ '"^ X
.. •• .. o
-*
c
c x;
•H
cn
S
H
OJ
in in t- tD
•H
OJ
Dj iH
•H
o
cn
M
g
td
0)
K
.G
OJ
QJ
1
1
o
0)
3
4J
-P
U
<y\
•H
00
ro
T— ^—
T-
1
u
o
•H
QJ
MH
0
Sh
3
1
iH
QJ
in
u
o
1.
O
Ol Ol x;
1 1 4-1
^
Q
w
h^l
x:
o
4-1
QJ
OJ
^ "^ Id
• •
1
G
o
ro
QJ X
••
• ■
•• •• CQ
'S' --^
1
1
1
O
00
g
iH
■*
^—
"O" -^
01
in
•rl
MH
^—
OJ
fd
M 1
c
OJ
in
in
cn
+4
o
U S
2
00
■H
•H
<~sl
U
u
M
td
CX3
«.
■^
00
o
^
CM
CO ro H '■0
o o S G
o
ITJ
M
O
OJ
QJ
QJ
>
>1
y—
E
o
o
^—
o
O
1
s
0)
1
X
.y
.y
M
T!
1
Eh
1
QJ
1
1
1
1
1 1 H Id
^
cn
-p
OJ
ro
u
td
td
in
fd
QJ
tn
44
'a'
ro
QJ
cn
OJ
ro
rsj
ro ro Pi rH
.. .. H cn
'3'
cn cn
fd K
rH pq
g
OJ
o
in
^
<:<
S
C
0
u
cn
0)
■^
Q
•^
cn
ro
ro
in
^~
■=!• "^ ft C
H
00 c
00
rM
O H
o
1X>
VD
tj^
OJ
r-
x;
o
O
CTl
I~~
[~~
O^
CM
^—
r~-
^—
U
<^ ^
^—
OJ
in
Ol
cb
o
^—
CM
o o
o 0
o
r—
Q
T—
o
T—
o
QJ
Sh
o
4J
^—
O
o
O
O
t—
^—
^—
0)
o o
^—
^—
o
^—
o
O
T- ^ Pi OJ
1 •H
1
1
13 J
1
0)
1
1
1
in
0
1
1
>H
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
,y
1 1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1 1 W QJ
■a- tn
^
T—
G O
ro
QJ
ro
■=1'
■=!•
MH
■a"
Jh
OJ
<
OJ
ro
ro
^
(M
^
•a-
ro
S4
OJ OJ
CM
"^i
M<
OJ
OJ
T
OJ
CM
ro ro Eh in
•• tn
• •
••
td CO
• •
in
• •
••
• •
.*
0
• •
S
..
..
..
fd
•■ •• cn
'T •H
■3-
^
^
ro
M-
>iin
in
QJ
■^
MH
•a-
'^
ro
ro
^
ro
>i'=J'
■^
ro
g
ro ■!-
ro
in
■*
ro
^
^
^—
ro
ro ro H
g
C >H
Sh
u
4-1
S
U
O rH
^■^
§
O Di
cn
QJ
01
3
>i
<C
3
T!
O fd
Ti
o
Sh <
13
4J
X
4-1
4-1
O
X!
G
1-^ ■H
flj
>iU
H S
G M
01
u
•H
cn
OJ
H
cn
H
td
o u
3
u
>l
O
3 QJ
g
fd
4-1 X
•rl
Pi
r-\
H
■
o
C
0) QJ
U
' H
O >
0)
g
in
U
U
H
td
in
a
Pi
G
H g
■rl
■P >
0)
OJ t^
M M
u
C
O
O
§
cn
>.
01
0
•
QJ
K 01
-P
>i 0) Sh
4-)
C D
Cr> fd
G
H
:s
cn
Sh
-H
X
QJ
S
in
r-{
Eh S
C
■P g OJ
OJ
0 1^
u
cn
rH
0
G
td
01
+J
Sh
C-T >i
G
td
rH
0
C 0) tn
>! g 'a
-P o
rH
•rl
^
rH
rH
O
H
-
E
u
cn
rsi
Sh
0)
rH
ttJ
c
g
>i
H
a s -
tJ
0 U CU
-p
OJ
c
cn >
td =
H
•H
cn
Id
fd
■rl
a:
u
Sh
u
td
QJ
QJ
4-1
cn ■H
CJi
01
0
*
g
1
U
■H O G
0 Sh
c
u
Id
H
■H G
o
w
01
C
c
C
4-1
H
QJ
QJ
OJ
g
G
X!
QJ
s g
D
r-\
X
Oi
QJ
>i
>i
OJ rH Pi x;
u c; ft
3
rH
c rt
iH fd
a,
13
0
0
o
td
>
> X!
0
OJ
O
g
QJ id
U
CJ
Eh
U
M
U
4J
■H QJ pL, O
0
o
x;
in
■H
D g
13
fd
c
■H
•rl
•H
■H
4-1
o
U
U
QJ
si
X)
K
QJ
> MH
•
OJ
td
td
QJ X 3 Id
tn
C ■P 0)
u
u
H
o
X3
Sh
c
s
U
4->
4-1
44
QJ
s
Id
Hi
«
Eh
W
U
0)
>.
■*
^
o
i-:i
S
5^
ft
ft cn cn
■H
to cn Sh
td
in Eh
C
fd
0
fd
0
■H
Q
td
fd
u
H
13
u
O
>.
4-1 G
G
c
G
1^ -
0
01 Q) 3
0)
OJ
-i<;
OJ
G icJ
C MH
•H
u
-P
■H
G
G
an
G
>„
•«
..
C
x;
cn o
0
o
0
>.
»,
^
^
^
- -<: c
c
iJ S +1
rH
m
0
tJiX
td
td ■H
fd
13 13
o
C
U
Sh
Sh
Sh
B
ITJ
>,
•
•
CO
CO
in
0)
tn
cn
tn
cn
in
in
cn
cn
tn
cn
cn in 3 ■rl
■H
O td
Di
S
td w
■rl
•rl 13
•H
QJ
G
fd
U
OJ
OJ
01
W
lU
r-{
rH
CQ
S
OJ
CD
QJ
tn
•rl
G G
G
G
G
QJ
QJ
01
QJ
QJ
QJ QJ Pi a;
rH
S 1 2 O
1
PC
g Q T3 ■n c
Ti
m
M
1
MH
cn
4-1
4-1
4-1 >
•s-
OJ
Id
G
c
s
x; si
x; x;
X
C
C
G
G
G
G C P 13
rH
H S
G
C H
G
G
G
G
G
c
S
0
u
4-1
ITJ
1-:)
fD
ro
fd
fd
01
0 o
0
0
o
0
0
0
0
0
O 0 O 3
H
1 1
1
1
= H
H
H
=
H
1
1
M
H
H
M
H
H
H
H
H
1-0
1^
1^
^3
f^
1^ ^
1^
1^
Id
1-3
Id
Id
Id
Id
Id Id Id Id
u
•^
0)
(0
(0
■p
00
<U
0) CO
Q)
r-
•H
•H
o
g
1
u
M
(U
CN
■
•y
■p
^
CJ
■ •
c
c
••
(0
■pH
^
0)
(U
T
r~
c
C
rH
00
V
CM
o
•H
•H
O
O
o
O
^
1
n)
(tJ
V—
C
1
1
1
T
g
g
1
Cn
T—
T—
CM
••
CN
(fl
t*
• ■
• •
w
in
• ■
^^
1
-a"
•<r
n
^
(0
(0
(0
tn
ro
Q)
4J
Q)
u
c
•rl
CO
T—
r-
en
VO
^
^
•V
U
N
o
1
c
o
Y
o
1
o
o
1
0)
>
>
O
1
U
C
""^
!N
4-1
en
(N
^a"
Q
n
7.
u
(d
^4
(0
CN
0
o
(1)
CN
1-t
Ul
m
tn
^
•«*
in
u
u
CO
^
Q)
P
N
c
u
(U
W
MH
MH
QJ tfl
o
T—
m o
•H
t~~
^
^—
■^
00
in
>
VO
C
^—
o
0
o
C
u
o
x: -r-
-P
o
o
r—
T—
o
T-
M
T-
0
T—
T—
0 TI
a
1
U 1
•rH
1
1
1
1
1
1
K
1
■H
1
tn
tn
1
-P
C
U
CM
1 ■•
'^
CN
■^
CN
^
<N
^
T—
4J
ro
QJ
g
0)
CM
tn
Id
■1^
4J
0)
p
r-
•a-
c
n
in
in
^
■^
■"a"
<
"3"
u
OJ "S"
ITJ
to
CN
4J
c
tn
•H
(C
3
0
M
C
C
tn
0
CO x:
c
K
h
■H
.
U
X
^
td
u
rH
2
[^ ^
•H n
IX)
r~
o^
CM
<y\
T—
O
in
O
Sh
U)
ro
(d
O
u
VD
U
CM
U
M
CM
=
O O
1 1
rH T-
O 1
o
1
o
1
o
1
O
1
o
1
o
1
>i
o
1
1
QJ
4-1
■p
QJ
o
r
g
1
■H
c
o
1
•H
C
O
1
,
1
1
n T-
fd ••
(N
CNl
rd
C
'^^
ro
m
4-1
Y
T
B
Pi
o
■^
CM
0)
Q
CM
CM
1
ro
•a
T—
tJ
CM
tn
tn
tn
tn
n V-
O 'If
x:
in
in
m
-p
>H
O
•rH
in
0)
in
>i
<
in
in
H
<
EH
O
'T
CN
1
1
W
^
tn
S-j
QJ
^
c
td
in
c
Id
rM
cd
•rl
rH
td
•rH
CO
•H
rH
10
•H
tn
CO
u
(N LD
00
cy\
-p ^
ro
<
nj
in
c
U
Q)
r~-
V—
n
in
in in
>
Pi
CJ^
uo
a\
CJ^
o
>-D
ro
M
ro
S-i
^—
<J\
,y
'J'
tn
o
tn
T—
Sh
Sh
Sh
Sh
•H
o o
o
o
0 O
T—
-rl
o
•H
0)
x:
o
O
o
T—
^— ^—
Pi
H
^—
T—
^—
t—
T—
O
o
Sh
T—
QJ
o
o
^
o
ti)
T—
Q)
o
QJ
Q)
QJ
QJ rH
1 1
1
1
O 1
1
0)
u
1
(d
4J
4-)
1
1
1
1
1 1
W
Q
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
QJ
1
^
1
1
jd
1
g
1
g
1
P
P
P
p
a
T— T—
■^
■<-
W T^
V—
x:
0
m
r—
S
a)
g
0)
Sh
0
rM
CN
ro
■^
■* 'S"
O
CN
M"
CM
CM
■^
ro
rvj
Sh
rd
CM
Sh
g
CN
rvj
tf-.
CN
td
ro
Id
c
'S"
Id
Id
CO
5
S
n ■r-
'S'
"*
■^
n-{
■^
in
m
in
in
ro
«a>
-a- -qi
W
ro
'a'
ro
ro
-=i"
-3<
^
in
^_
in
ro
c
'^
in
S <i< -s*
^-1
QJ
fC
Eh
)H <
o
U >,MH
O
H
g
QJ
o
0
, —
1
1
1
1
1
(U
0
CO
o
^ u
H
QJ
tn
tn
>1
w
•H
>H
W
MH
>i'X>
>.
C 0)
C
>i
Q «
W
ro
QJ
tn
rH
rH
XJ^\D
tn
tn
tn
tn
tn t^
x:
T3
Pi
o
U
^—
-p
>H4J
0
Sh
Pi
o
•rH
O
QJ
Q)
(d
(d
0
o
M
u
u
u
u o
ft
O
H
H
» <
(D
1
■rH
0) (U
•H
x;
QJ
,y
<
H
u
1
QJ
U]
rH
1
QJ
QJ
QJ
QJ
(D 1
0)
>i
•r)
W
Q
o
+J ^
w
■^ E
w
Cn 4-1
u
rH
>H
H
>i C
r—
M
4-1
QJ
QJ
0
^—
^ U.
^
y. it.'=r
4J
m
C
M
M
H
-rH
d)
• •
IH
m QJ
M
P
Q)
■rH
<-t
w
W
•
Q)
(d
• •
C
QJ
QJ
QJ
c
• •
U
U
U
U
SH ••
m u
o
■iH
0)
OJ
U
H
m
g
M-
QJ
(CU
•rl
O
g
iH x: QJ > o
&
rH
Sh
^—
0
.ii
tn
tn
£
in
Id
td
to
lO
« 'T
-rH q)
t-:!
>
-p
as
D
m
0)
>
H
£
M
QJ
>irH
QJ
CC 15
<
CM
X^
h
&H
C
Sh
>1
Sh
u
g
■;:•
g
g
g
-H X!
rH
0)
■ —
< a
•rl
u
•H
, C
g
O
O
4-1
rH
0
XI
•rH ^
Pi
W
>i C
a
•H
0
Di
0
x;
Id
C
QJ
rH O
>.
Q)
g
H
£
C
1 0)
0
Xi
Sh
•H
O
QJ
W U
o
Pi
rH
■rH
!=;
QJ
x:
C
C MH
a
g
O
4J
tn
>i«
C
•er*
0)
H
EH
B
^
Ti
D
(D
u
(H
a
QJ
g x;
u
0 0
•rl
•>
x:
(/]
Cfl
x:
c
•H
td
•rl
—
QJ
-
Si
■H
u
w
w
S
O rH
'a sh
(d
nj
X!
tfl
CJ
&H
1^ Pi
Pi
H
g T3
o
o
0
■rH
tn
^
u
tn
4-1
QJ
c
CM -
rH
-
<:
-< <;
u O
1
C tn QJ
u
4-1
0
MH
M
o
CM
tC
w
i-n
1^
>.
1-:)
(d
■H
tn
tn
Q)
13
tn
tn
tn
QJ
x: ^
m
rO
w
H
m u
4-1
w
W
a
-
k^ ih
Cm
H
MH
c
M
4-1
rH
o
3 X!
u
C
Sh
-+j
Cn^
•r4
H
(U
(U
O
rH QJ
n3
C
Dl
tn tr> tri tTi
Pi
*.
«.
•*
•H
*.
cn
!h
Id
•rl
tn
tr^H
QJ
•rH
T3
C 0)
3
u
rH
s
s
S
c
c
c
4-1 > -P
4-1
1=1
>..
c
a
c
G n
1-^
u
QJ
Q)
0)
QJ
rH
c
Sh
T!
QJ
g
rH
P
•H
Sh
>
>
4-1
rH
•: !h
(C
0
0 0)
IS
s
H
-rl
•H
0
U H
W
m
Q
>i
•H
•H
•rH
■rH •rH
<
w
rH
rH
rH
rH
0
o
OJ
■H
>
•H
X!
Di-P
4J
U
Sh
tn
•H
0 «
►^
TJ
C C
o
o
<C
rti
m
!h
0
0
rH
C
C
a
C C
D
D X! X! XI -Q
tn
•r(
X
0
Ti
c
•H
0
a
4-1
(d
Id
Id
x;
tij O
U
-ri
tJi-H
Q
Q
^
;^
•cr'
O
CM 1
1
S
1
C
c
c
c
C C
2
Z
Sh
Sh
Sh
Sh
!h
Sh
Sh
<
< <:
CQ
PQ <: <
u
u
U
o
U (0
m
d
to rtJ
(0
rtJ
cd
rfl
.TJ tfl
§ <:
tC
(0
rd
(d
(d
Id
td
^ S
S
g
S
s
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
s
s
s s s g
s!
g
2]
g
g
•^
g g
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
o ■<-
CM
CN
r- in
CO
•^ ■<-
O
G
o
oo
1 1
O
1
1 1
ro c^
1
CO
!5
O
P
1
P
G
roCM
ro
ro '=}'
in
C
QJ
x;
in
0
g
'
CO CM
^
•sr \D
^—
^—
a
VD
(U
O CN
r-
ro
o o
1 1
1
o
1
QJ
p
O
1
QJ
G
rH
X!
•t- o
1 1
o
1
1
CM ro
■vf
ro
CO
^
O
CO
P
CM '-
ro
■=?
ro -^
in
in
1
in
tn
C
Sh
CM CM
■=!•
LD
c
[
^—
CX3
o o
eJ^
in CO
s
t~-
O
to
r^
in CN
rM
T—
T—
1
1
1 1
o
1
o ■<-
1 1
o
p
i
u
in
PQ
o
1
o o
1 1
1
o
I
CM
CN
■51'
CN CN
-^
■^ CM
in ^
c
0)
x:
■=1'
■=r
•rl
0
c
1
tn
^3-
in
CN <=r
T- in
CM
in
n
CO
■*
CN ^
in
a
to
4->
QJ
Sh
P
r-
a\
CO ■ST
KD
in o
P
CO
ti
QJ
r-~
'a-
^ o
r-
in
in
■^
o
1
o
1
O O
1 1
o
1
o •!-
1 1
CO
o
1
G
in
3
o
1
1
o rsi
1 1
o
1
o
1
1
o
1
r\i
CM CM
"^
ro ro
1
CN
to
tfl
x; Ti
■^
Y.
CM 'S'
'a*
CM
CM
CM
^
^
CM '3'
tn
ro ro
^
■cr
CO
3
in
^
^^ ^
■^
^
in
ro
Sh
1
tn
o
O
tn
Sh
in '^
00
^ \D
CM
QJ
CM
o>
o
>H
rM
to
C3^
i^
'3'
^
to
CJ
^
rxi
C
^^J ro
r-
T—
rsi
^—
ro
00
•s- O
1 1
o
1
1 1
O
1
•rH
o
1
o
1
1
5
1
•H
C
o
1
o
1
o
1
o
1
«^
tn
1
o
1
0
•rH
o o
1 1
o
1
1
o
1
1
o
1
T
CM CN
CO
^
Q)
•H
CJ CVJ
S ••
O ro
r^j
^
01
p
Sh
0
MH
7
■^
ro
ro
QJ
QJ
C
•H
>i
7
ro
P
to
N
CM ro
ro
ro
CM
CN
CM
rsi
•^ ro
ro
r- «;r
in
in
in
'S'
in
■^
ro
ro
^
•t- ■3'
^
ro
in
ro
ro
■a-
tn
^
Q)
•H
tn
Sh
•H
tn
QJ
•rl
rH
13
G
-=!■ \D
o
in
in
ro
o
ro
QJ
S:
ro
00
QJ
o
^CM
r-
Id
«3
'a-
ro
ro
en
CQ
CM
to
IX>
ro •<-
rvi
CN
en
<y\
r-
>x)
r-
T
CN
CM
O = O
^—
o
o
^—
O
lO
O
O
o
tn
0
oo
^—
O
O
x;
o
o
O
o
Ti
^—
tno
O O
r—
o
^—
o
^~
*~
o
O
O
O
1 Ti 1
1
1
1
1
1
1
m
1
1
CO
1 1
1
I
p
1
1
1
1
G rH
1
>i U
1
1 1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
T- tU CN
^
CM
rvi
^a-
^—
^
CM
■^
<N^
^
ro
SH
ro
ro
ro
'^
13 rH
T—
!h
O
rM
r- CO
CN
CM
M"
ro
CM
•q-
■y
CN
CN
CM
•• c ••
,.
..
.*
..
■ •
*•
u
>H
..
..
QJ rH
g* '•
• •
QJ
■ •
o
• •
• •
• •
• •
0
•rl
• •
QJ
••
• 1 ••
• •
• ■
• •
• •
■•
•"
"
tn
••
'•
*•
■=r Sh CM
^
-=)■
■a-
■=!■
■=)>
ro
QJ
Eh
^_
■=!<
•-A to
■r-^
^
QJ
^
>;>
ro
ro
CO
in
Sh
•x.
"a-
P
in
in
T- ■=?
"3"
CO
■^
'a-
■a"
^
in
■H
in
ro
CO
3
X5
H
•rH U
M
th
U3
OJ
QJ
s
P
Q
0)
!h
E3 •
MH •rl
T3
Ph
g
•H
QJ
•
C
<C
C '-
r~-
Id
Pi O
!h
G^
td
tn O
QJ
U
iXl
r-~
1-a
Q
D
H
0 ^
o
h
w
x;
: 0
x: o
>.
Is
G
M
U
QJ
^—
o
G
Id
Q
p 1
1
H •
p
QJ P
0 1
Sh
■rl x;
p
1
1
x;
OJ
Q)
to
CO CO
-3"
W g
=1
C in
l-D ^
Q)
>i
■
>l4-l
QJ
QJ
v
^a-
4-1
T!
C
Sh
H
.*
QJ
Ci
0 -H
p
Sh
G
K
M
0
>
g
G
• •
•
• •
Q)
3
g
x;
O
to
T,
rH ro
^
QJ
-. QJ
p K
C in
QJ
G
lO
3
.•a
O
QJ
0
■=r
lil ^
a
X!
S-i
p .V
P
XI
Fh
T-\
tn
Eh x;
>.
tn
•rl
g
g
QJ
x;
Ti
pa
Sh
U
p
•rl
10
to
P r-l
to
to c
w
Sh
rH
0)
Pi u
tn
QJ
g
CO
QJ
pa
Id
p
C
tn
O
in
C
P
rH
c
N
Sh '
QJ
•H
C 10
Id
"^
QJ
C
a
G
o c
G
QJ
>
to
•rl
U
w
to
G
O
rH
G
Sh
G
CO
x:
G
•rl
c
•H
QJ
3
i—\
O SH
C 0 c
pa
o
Id
C
>i
to
QJ
•X, to
CO
^
to
•ro
rH
x:
^
to
G x:
g
rH
to
in
3
•H
rH
p
QJ
-G
0
rH
CJ
g
,—{
1-1 Pm
x: 3 0
<A
x;
<c
Id
x:
•H
CO rH
Q)
0
Sh
G
,-{
P
cd
5
P
o
O
Sh
■rl
QJ
in
O
^
rH
QJ
U
CM
C
Q
W
CO
•rl
IS
O •H
^
Cm
u
tjj
p
in
pa
i-D
P
O
QJ
•rl
G
u
0
f^
^
^
O
pa
to
rH
QJ
<
to
G
x;
*•
CO
a >i
^D tn P
tn
•H
to
tn
s
CO
pa
S
3
Id
,--\
c
u
Sh
QJ
•
•H
*•
0
^
-
C
G to
Id
t/J
QJ
.^
s
a)
o -
..
1
tn
O
CO
r-\
«,
».
«.
».
a
to
o
a >
6h
-
-
>
•rl
In
QJ
QJ
Sh
■•
-
•rl QJ
^ •rH M
tn
S
3
QJ
t^
E G
C
QJ
G
^
>k
^
QJ
tn
tn
in
tn
o
•H
>i to
tn
Sh
tsl
XS
>
to
^
IH
rH >
T3 > in
rH
o
^
tr c
^
QJ
CO
rH
•rl
Ti
T3
MH
•H
•H
•rH
•H
Sh
tn
5 u
CO
•H
QJ
-
to
h.
•H
to
QJ
g
QJ r-l r-l
Sh lO •H
to
tn
>,
QJ
•H
>1
h
W Ti
g
p
>
>i
>
Q)
tJ^ tn g
e
g
g
x:
•rl
QJ
^
s
x;
•H
P
tn
Sh
•-t
rH
0
QJ
to ttJ
to QJ tnjy:
tn
tn
>
>
>
QJ
fn G
ap
•H
0
O
G
G
c
0
o
O
o
p
3
S
1
1
O Ti
P
P
P
to
pa
U
O
u
CJ
QJ i-q QJ
QJ
H
QJ
QJ
QJ
QJ
•rl
H •H
•rl
•H
(•q
^-\
rH
0
0
o
0
0
0
o
0
O
3
3
3
3
3
S
o
U
U
u
0
o o
a- yA
J
a
ij
J
a
a
J
ha 1-a
J
J
na
na
na
i-a
1-a
1-a
1-a
1-a
hJ
1-a
J
1
1-a
1-a
na
1-a
1-a
g
g
^
T*
g
g
g g
1
n
C3^
o
n
LT)
o
I
n
I
CM
CN
!
!N (N
CN
00
O O
o
o
■* -a-
■a-
(N
■^
■^
(N -^
vo
V-
O T-
o
o
m r\j
(N
^
00
^
C3^
0
T- ro
■sj-
■^
o
0
1
0
1
0
r—
1
S
itaphs
4:3-0
5:2-1
0
1
0
1
1
n
rM
^
■r^'
1
CN
!
ro
1
CO
ro
in
in
'3'
M-
'^f
•*
IT)
CTl
T—
cr.
r-
CM
I~~
CO
4-1 ftin T^
0
00
o
O
^
0
1
0
1
1
0
1
0
elemen
rs - E
3:3-0
5:2-0
1
0
i
n
I
m
■q"
ro
'a'
1
1
CM
1
CM
m
in
^
in
in
in
^
■=r
"3"
■=!<
O
>*
^_
0
n
0
CM
r^4
^_
CN
CN
in
in
CN
T3 '^
0)
a ^ 0 CO
r-
CO
<3^
CTl
r-- ro
1
o
1
o
1
1
0
1
1
0
1
0
1
Y
Y
0
1
0
1
1
1
a> 0
ft 1
•H tO 1 1
0
1
0
1
0
0
1
0 0
1 1
n
Y
■^
0-)
^
ro
ro
^
CN
CN
r^!
ro
'a-
ro
ft IN
to ••
U ro
M S OJ T-
Q) .. ••
Q CN in
CM
CM
CM
^—
•q' CM
LD
n
in
in
■tj"
in
'a-
in
ro
in
ro
■*
-*
^
■*
in
■*
«*
in CM
CJ
CD
en
1 CD
a\ ^
ro
V—
CN
00
CN
t~~
VD
■sr
rsi
eJ^
1X1
c^
■^
ro
CTl
ro
ro
CM
^
CM
0
•51-
CO
CM
0
■sj-
r~
LO
CO
<T\
CM
r--
0
en
CM in
r-
0
t~-
r^
0
r—
o o
1 1
o
1
o
O
1
"c
o
1
O
1
o
1
O
1
O
1
o
o
1
o
0
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
1
0
1
0
1
c T
0
0
1
0
1
1
0
I
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
1
tn 00
M 1 1
0
1
Y
0
1
0
1
'-
0
1
n 1-
(N
ro
CN
0
■H
n
•^
^
cn
■^
•^
i>i
n
CO
CN
rM
ro
^
CN
r^j
CN
'^^
0 ro
-rH ..
Y
ro
CN
Y
CM
T—
ro
r^j
ro
ro
04
en CN
U ■•
CD >icsi v-
ro
M"
CM
CN
CM
■=f
in n
<N
ro
n
in
a
•a'
Ln
in
m
m
in
in
ro
n
in
rv)
in
-3-
■=r
^
in
in
4-) 'T
to
ft
ro
'3'
ro
■*
^~
in
ro
in
in
M-
■=!■
CD CM
X
U ftcN in
to to
ro
in
in
<^
CN
in a
•rH
m
m
rH
^-^
3
T—
to
Cn ^
in
cn
cr^ T3
g
G
cu
to
CD
0
0
g
•H CN
T—
0
0 CD
0)
n
4-)
U
0
U
1
CD
ft 1
1
1
m
1 tn
.H
m
CUA^
•rH
>,
en
to
0
X!
CM
CD
CD M>
■^
-^l
4-1
CM m
i2
Q)
^ —
Q)
a
XI
CD H-l
3
rH
• •
CD
en
• •
• •
0
•■ OJ
g
M
tn
ftj
to
•H
— ^
U
rH
rH
a
in
CD
C
13 'a-
in
in
CD
tn u
Q) CD
^
P
c
0
4-1
XJ
bi
CD
CD
^-^
CD
3
3
0
en
0
C
ft
ft
iH
u
tn
o
M
0
en
■H
^
0)
a
CD
x;
0 M
C
■H
•H
a (0
en
X
>i 0
as
■H
M
•rH
Xi
-P
T}
a
CO
cnM-i
tfl
en
•H
rH
u
en
eo
0
4-1
4-1
0
to
CD
M >i g
M-l
(0
-P
T!
•H
4-1
to
o
u
C
M-l
lO
>
to
•H
lO
T! to
en
(H
to U
0
(C
0)
to
C
o
M
0
■H
CD
g
g
•?
Ti 13 ^3 x;
4-1
u
CD 4-1
M x; en
x:
tn
4-1
CD
-P M £ T!
-rH
a^
■p
U
CD
u
TJ
m
r-i
.H
a,
T3
Cfl
CD
M
a
0
0)
CD
CD
4J
0
0
Ti G
Cn ftx;
tn
CD
M
U
•H 0
-P
Q)
-P
3
cC
d
-P
aH
a
CD
m
rH
QjrH
CD
r-{
rH
u
U
1J CD
0
•rH
rH
en
CP
tn to
3
•H
M CD
c: lO ft
U
•H
C
to
0
M -P
3 ^
3
o
■P
to
>H
u
•H
•rH
tn
■H
CD
•H
:i
CD
3
3
C
0
to
to CD
3 rH
C
tyirH
a
c
C
CD
U
u
to g
•H M fO
•H
S
•H
rH
-H 0
0
to
(C
u
CU
rH
0
0)
lO
to
0
o £ 4:: ^
0
0
3
15
CD
^ U
M
3
U
•H
■H
•H
•H
•H
u
4-1
0)
0 3
5 Cn4J
c
Q) s: X
M
X s
2
z
o
P^
P^
CM
en
K
K
K
m
m
W
m
w
CO
CO
en
tn
H
H H
B
H
D :s s
s
s
S
Is
cn
4-1
en U
to •H -H
x;
f^
0 M
rH
CD
CD
•H 0
M ft ft
4-1
0
0
1 1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
Q
Q
Q
Q
Q
H
H
w
1
1
Cn
Ph
I i
1
CD
ft I
to
X; rH
en to
^^ •H
Jh
g CD
M 4-1
O to
en
x;
ft
lO I
u
tn cn
O CD
4-1 M
O >,
x; -p
a, en
C
o
•H
4-1
to
>
^1
CD
tn
CD
U
ft
T3
C
to
0)
U
to
G
CD
en tn
U U
CD eu
^ ^ a;
CM Sh !h
I to to
en tn
CD 0)
rV ^;
!h !h
to to
G
tn
•H
tn
CD CN 4-1
Q o G
I •H
I CM to
• • "^
en ro
Sh I
CD
M cn
X
o
I
ro
o
I
1
ro
I
C3>
O
I
I
CN
O
CO
o
I
CSl
CN
O
I
00
*; —
I
tTi O
O 1-
I I
O
CD
O
I
O
ro
ro
in o
o T-
I I
CN ^
CTl
o
I
CO
CM
o
1
ro
in
•sj-
Q) U
• ^ O
en M a
lO
CM CM CO
000
I I I
ro (N ro
iX)ro\x)coin^T— in^o
000000^—00^—
I I I I I I I I I I
rorocMror-T— cmt— rOT—
in c^ (N in o
o o o O T-
I I I I I
•t- T- ■<- ro ro
r~ CTl
o o
I I
r- ro
CD
3
C
■H
4-1
G
O
'3'ro'^rocov-"a<'^roco"*ro^'*inmroin
0)
tn
3
g
X!
n
u 0
>
— -H
en
0
•H
4-1
cn en
iH in
X
CD lO
w
X rH
u
u u
2
to
H
S 1
CDl >H
CD CD
tnU
to
C X
o
Cn^H
C 4-1 CD
•H to CD
4-1 > tn
o u
CD CD
rH tn to
rH C 4-1
0 O to
U U Q
1 I I
o
-!3< 4-1
o G .
in
o
I
ro
.. X .. ..
ro 4-1 in in
to
CU
o
I
CM
'*^-in-=3''^incM-'*
00000000
I I I I I I I I
CMCOt— CMCNt-t-t—
rM
o ^
O t- o
! I I
t- CM ro
in CM ro
-^ in
o o
I I
vxi T— T- ■* in cn o
000000^
I 1 I I I I I
ro ^— ro r- ro ro ro
inrO'^inin'=rinroM''a'roinrororoinin
tn
o
I
I
tn
4-1
G
CD
g
CD tn
tn
CD
rH 3
G
CD x:
CO
M
T>
4-1
C)
CD
G G
g
r^
U
tn to
to
CJ
lO
■H 0
T!
G
MH
tn r<
<
«:
fl)
CD
Q
a 1
1
1
x:
ft
u
o
g
o
ft to X!
en O -H O
.H M Sh g
CD x; O O
tn 4-1 g 4-1 T3 !h !h
G C ^ 3 to •■
tn to
CD
tnT) 13
QJ CD
ftrH
Sh to
0) g
to CD
MH
Ti -^
G
X3
to
4-1
G
O
C
T3 •H
3 MH
O MH
o
<<t;<i;<i:cQPQeQcqocjutjo
o
Ti
CD to
U CD
c x:
to
Q tn
•\-
G x; x;
S 4-1 4J CD
O 10 to >
!h 0) CD O
U Q Q Q
tn
c
tn
0)
0)
13 to
: 13
4-1 G
O to
MH
rH rH tD tn >1 4J
tn -H U lO rH O
to > to iH tn O
W W tM fu : h
en
Sh
CD
4-1
c
3
x;
MH
o
tn CD
o g
U to
CU
cn
tn
■H
13
tD
> 13
to G
Sh to
CJ X
in
tn
to
rH
tn
tn
U
O
Sh
Sh
CD
Eh
MH
O
tn
tn ft G X2
ft CD •H g
U
3
O g CD feS to •rH
E H l-D : \A ^^
^ x;
■p
fO
CD
13
MH
o
tn
u
CD
u tn
tn tn
to CD
I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I
I
I I I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I
M> r~
o
^
T
T—
vo
o o
1 1
I
to
1
O
1
r^J
1
o
f
1 1
1
1
CN
1
ro
m -^
iri
to
J?
ro
T
•«
in
n vD
o
dJ
n
•«r
^_
•^
in
o o
T—
Xi
CU
u
en
o
I
'-
o
1
*—
o
I
I 1
1
1
n
,4
■^
1
CN
CN
1
ro
ro -3"
^
in
in
CN
■^
in
CM LO
(-SJ
-p
o
^
(T.
(Tl
^
o>
r>)
^_
ro
o o
^
0
1
O
1
O
o
1
o
1
1
O
o
1 1
CN CM
1
1
ro
1
1i
1
OJ
1
CM
1
r-j
ro
n q-
M-
in
in
in
^
in
in
-a-
m
U)
>1
<j\ -v
y—
00
0)
<n
t—
r-
OJ
fN
ro
in
in
<J^
in
in
-P
OJ
CN
O T-
■ 1
^
o
O
o
1
o
1
o
1
o
1
1
1
o
1
O
1
o
1
o
•H
U
r-
1
o
1 1
1
•a"
Ol
in
1
1
•^
1
w
1
'J'
1
•
I
1
CN
1
ro
o)
I
ro
•H
i.
o
en
(N «*
■*
Ln
M
in
in
■V
in
in
in
'»
in
in
'S'
(N
ro
in
0
M
0)
m
M
e
rH
<D 00
^
(N
■*
ro
y£i
o
2
o
in
CO
Q)
fN
ro
■^
r^
in
ro
T—
00
<J\ CN
o o
1 1
o
1
o
1
in
1
O
1
o
1
^
ct
1
1
o
1
rH
O
1
o
1
1
o
1
o
1
u
•H
1
1
O O
1 1
fN ■<-
n
'S-
•rH
^^
-P
rsi
T—
(N
fN
1
(-0
r\i
CN
In
ro
ro
rvi
>i
0)
r\i
OJ
en
0
rH
Y.
T—
T- -a-
rsi M-
■=r
in
in
'If
in
CN
■=r
"a-
in
in
'J'
-a
■^
•=3'
^—
ro
'a-
in in
c
tn
in
•H
c
$
■H
ro
0)
0-
M
in
3
U
T)
Q)
(N 00
o
in
lo
(-M
m
1—
o
(N
0)
n
r-
T—
ro
0) o>
ro r-
ro
o
o
0
o
Cn
ro
n
0
n •
C
in
c
kD
a^
o
o
o
ro
o o
<N
V-
a
o
o
^-
V—
o a: o (N
«^
o
Q ^
T— T-
o
rJ-
r—
K
r-
ro
T-
o
en
o
3
^—
0)
O
o
T—
t—
r—
^—
1 1
1
1
■rH
1
1
1
1
1
u
1
1
1
1
1 1
1
1
1
o
1
3
1
1
O
1
T)
o
1
1
1
1
1
1
(N n
<N
CM
g
■=r
ro
0)
'-
IH
0
rvj
<N
ro
^
CN
ro
1 (N
•q. •.^t'
CN
<N
^-
)~n
ro
CM
CN
rH
ro
o
ro
C5
■"a-
C
3
O
0
CN
T—
ro
CM
■<-
>,ro
Q) in
(N ro
■a-
LT)
LO
-^
in
n
CM
•"J-
M"
•^
■*
in rrt
in ■>*
>1CN
"3"
'T
C in
r-{
in
^
ro
«3'
in
ro
•rr
OJ
■^
o
-P
0)
tfl
u
U
•H
ro
•H
rH
u
^H
■p
M
w
.M
•rH
0)
0)
0)
>i
Jh
ro
o
0
0)
^
00
(N
M
>, M
W
0)
<T>
M
-p
>H
0
>i
0
•rl
-p
ro
OJ
E OJ
^ o
V—
^—
(C
w
«
>.
in
O
u
0)
3
•H
u
-p
U
en
w
o
CM
Q) ^
Ti 1
1
1
*TJ
rH
1
(d
E >H
m
u
Q)
en
3
C
•rl
1
1
U 1
(U rn
CM
^—
(U
■ri
(0
>!
"a-
S
Qi
X
0
-p
•rH
03
•H
E
r—
OJ
r<5
P
• *
• 1
0)
G
C
u
03
r
«•
U
O
iH
-p
0)
E
rH
>i
• >
• •
C ••
a m
-*
ID
w
J3
(1)
(0
■p
OJ
-a
in
e
Ti
8
rH
(n
E
rH
.H
Sh T)
in
■^
Sh in
•H
O
OJ
w
■H
(U
<u
(0
rH
-P
'H
'rl
0)
E
rH
ro
3
c
3
-P
M
w
r-l
■H
n
N
C
(U
X!
i 6
C
E
W
a:
»
c
o
ro
■H
X
m
ro
^
c
—
(0
E
u
•H
ns
to
ro
c* C
3
EH
■P
0)
s
E x;
K
rH
T3
o
C
u
0)
(0
e
■H
e
u
•H >,
o
O
«
■P
rH
a,
a)
o
c
ro
tji
rH
>i en
rH
0) <
o w
T3
>i tP W
O
•H
s:
3
0
U
in
XI
0 ro
M
E o
0)
•§
o
•p
-p
•rl
x;
C
in
OJ
M
C
T3
Sh
0)
en
— Cn
Q)
H
G
3
•p
u
D'
+)
0
•H
w < J rt
0
c
in
u
ro
U Xi
en
•H
-
J
ro
H
U
Q)
■rH
Tl
-P
c
a fd
■H
O
CO
w
C
in
UI
-P
rH
r-H
'O
6
0)
fe
3
c
+J
X3
■p
0) XI
c
rH
C
a
•H
c
0
-P
MH
■r)
c
m -H
04 -P ^
■<-{
C
•H
0)
0)
0)
0)
3
U
0
0 ^
•i V
c
■H
m
O
x:
M
to
-p
(U
en
x:
ro
■H
H
O
CU
C
ro
3:
m
U)
^
^
3
^1 XI
fd
•M
fd
U
■H
4J rH
c
C
H
U
■H
XI c
c c
ro
+J
u
u
3
d
o
M
u
3 iH
0)
•P
0
ro
u
(U
-a
3
0
^
0
0) X!
M
M
0)
3
10
IC
0
0
O
>f
>
"i g -H
•iH -H
rH
rH
ID
en
ro
■B
>H
ij
M
>|rH
OrH
m
tn
U Hh
o s
ro
0)
o
£
2
^ P
u
O
a a<
4J
+J
-P
+J
■P
■P
>1
>1+J
•P >
&
ro
t^
tn
ro
ro
ro
<u
0)
o
Sh
u
u
ro
u rt
w
w
w
W
cn
W
W
w
w
W
1
1
w
CO M
u u
m
1
en
W
fiC m
1
m cQ
m
1
m
1
m
1
1
1
1
m
m
m
u
1
(C
It)
ro ro
ro
^
ro
g 1
1
1
r
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
^
S g
S
1
g
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
rN»^
CTt
■•f ro
O r-
1--
T-
^
V£)
c o
O
r- T-
1 1
o
1
1
[
O
I
1 1
CN ^
"* in
1 1 1
T^ ^ rt
• • •• ••
ro T in
1 1
CM CM
1
OJ
ro
ro
■a'
-a-
tn
ro -ir
in
r- <N
00
T- r-
CO kD
^
ro
r—
tn
C) t-
O TJ" o
o o
1 f
o
1
1
OJ
1
1
1 1
■ • *•
rt in
l«
ro
ro CN
•• ••
■<!• in
Ol (N
OJ
Ol
ro
OJ
■a-
"a-
ro ^
tn
CN
00 Ol
ro
ID in
p~
t-~
ro tn
^
,_
tD
^
o
o o
O
T- o
o
1
o
1
o o
1 1
r—
[
1
o
1
I I
r- (N
1
•* in
1
(N
■q-
CM CN
^
c
o
■rl
-P
OJ
OJ
tn
«• ••
ro
in
"T
ro ^
tn
ro
^
Ol
OJ
r^
t- <D
O
in r~
^_
tn
m
^
^
CN 00
t^
CTi
■*
ro
>
tn
r^
1
o
1
«- O
1 1
1
'- o
t 1
CN
1
1
Y
o
1
o
1
o o
1 1
o
1
o
1
1
u
Q)
1
o
1
G
ro
CN
(N
Ol V-
■^
>*
ro
ro
ro
r— T—
T—
r\j
"a"
tn
OJ
OJ
0
in
in
■ < .i
ro in
•^i
tn
••
tn
tn
■=r
ro -^
tn
Ol
•=1"
0)
Sh
•a-
ro
-rH
Ol
•* in
-p
Q.Ol
ro
o
u
■a- V-
lo
o »-
00 r~
CTv
tn
r»
CN
in
o
r- t~-
^ r^
OJ
CM
CM
Xi 1
T—
Ol
o ^
O CM
r- CN
O t-
O
o
o
O
CJ
T—
o o
1 1
o o
1 1
1
o
1
O
1
coo
ro ■•
CM
0)
u
o
1
o
1
4J O
CO 1
CN -IT
1
CM I-
1 1
ro •*
1
1
CO
i
•a-
i
1
1 1
•* ro
1 1
rvj ro
■a-
Ol
ro
Ol
Ol
0) ri
Sh ••
in -^
"^
C*0 T
PO ■>3'
in
1"
'V
in
in «3"
•«r ro
T- ro
'J'
CN
<;r
■^
ro
^
C
0)
c
X3
0
C
ro
G
ro
^
^~D
r-
CM
t)
•sr
CNtii
CN
■H
** VD
t—
o o
o
O
o
^x
rt O
♦-
r-
o
o
•^^^
a>
r—
ro 1^
rvj
Ol
C o
ro
Ol
ro Ol
o
"O o
O
o
T—
O 1-
o
■p
O r-
o
r- T—
tJ-
■P
•H
(N
O T-
CN
o
r—
r-
o
a OJ
o o
T—
o
(U T-
o
^—
o
1
Sh I
1
1
1
1
I
1 1
ro
1 1
1
1 1
1
tn
•P
1
1 1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1 1
1
1
-p 1
1
1
U 1
ro
ro ^
o ••
X3 ■^
ro
rvj
ro
CN
(N ■=1'
ro
> OJ ^
-=!■
rM CN
^
ro •P
tn
ro
'T
ro OJ
•^i
M"
•=1'
OJ
C T-
Ol
•^
r- ro
ro
■a-
tn
(U
IJH
0
G OJ
G
0
^~
Ol
■H m
ro ••
■a*
in
.. Q) ..
■a- sm in
■=3>
in
CM "^i
•=J"
H
ro "a-
in
Ol CO
■a-
•*
•"J- OI
^
<=!■
M-
CM
in
•^
r- PO
■=r
tn
ro CM
•<-
•^
a-=r
Ti
3
W
tn (U
04
•H
3
C
^
■H
Q)
ro
-P
<U
Sh
N
CT
o
-P
K
^ ^
0)
a
pr
^~
^H
rM in
in
u
•— -
Ol
•q"
oo
•rl ■a'
•H
ro tn
t3
K
rH
3
^—
CUO ^
o
Q) C
(U
T—
o
o
C O
-P
0)
Sh ^
0)
3
C
1
r 1
1
O O
0)
£
1
1
1
X 1
•H
<u
O 1
Q)[
3
U
ro
ro
■lJ CN T
-!l'
tn 0
tn
r-i
0)
Ol
ro
Ol
U T-
in
tn
4J ^
0)
C
0)
tn
Q
C
^* 4*
0)
ts)
C MH ••
• •
■ •
0) ■•
•rl
m •■
tn
■H
0)
E
•=r
ro ro ■=!•
in
^
O
G
•rl
O ro
"d"
in
-P tn
3
0) -a-
-P
M
X)
>1
0) 0)
tn
•P
O
C? C
Sh
c
T) C
-p
(U
Q)
c c
tn
tn
tu
U
tn
tn
>.
U
0
G
0
Ti
Sh
Sh 3
u
Sh
o o
ro
c
XI
,c
x;
x:
ro
■rl
Xi
0
u
M -p
ro
ro 0
0)
0)
Cn
c
3
tn
-p •p
rH
01
u
u
>i o
a a,
Dj
-P
G
-rl
ro M
^
o n
>
u
C
tn
ro
•P
rH
in tn
tn
-P
O 0)
■rH
u
■p
0
ro
ro
ro
xi
ro tn
ro
tn
x;
-P
O 0
3
XI 1
Sh
c
'H
3
C
O
ro
tn
c
U
•rl
i-H
•p
Q)
tn
0)
■P
M
Sh
Sh
0)
> Q)
ro
u
ro
XI a o
tJ rH
3
0)
ro
u
O
(U
ro •P
■rH
tn
5 -p
(U
c
C XI
tn
-P T!
4J
•H tJ
Ci
tP
en
0)
Sh ■h
Sh
u
Sh
Sh
w
m
XI TS
Sh
ro rH
U
0)
M
0)
f-<
•P
m (1)
Sh
ro
o tn
XI
ro
0 u
ro
-P
C
ro
g8
•
o
O
0
d
d) U
■rH
■H
ro
0 0)
Sh
E
(1) 0)
■H
CU 3
1
M
3
■p
0)
c
3 X
OJ
Sh
u ro
•H
Sh
Sh ro
i-{
O
ro
rH
tn
•p
■P
+J
1
m U
ro
rH
(U
-P M
0)
u
ca ffi
o
m pn
en
B
tn
■p
XI
•rH
C M
+J
oa
m u
tn
'J
H g
P4
Ph
en
tn
= g •p
o
o
O
0)
0) ro
a,
a
m
tn 3
Mi
0
C
Q)
■H
ro
ro ro
ro
lU x: x;
x:
IH
Sh 3
0)
Q)
(D
Q) (D
ro
h
1
1
1
1 1
1
1
H
hq
^4
•j^
s a
1
1 1
1
1
i 1
1
'
1
1
1 1
a<
fo
ft
eu
ft
ft
a K
oi
cc;
Di
K
I I I I
I I
en
o
I
^—
o
^
(N
'3'
CN
o o
I I
(N CM
T
I
O
I
1^
n
00
■=3"
>1
CTi
a\
CD-
^D
,-
■r-
o
1
1
1
T3 4-1
C (D
3 •H
1
o
1
1
1
1
1
CN
1
1
I
CM
1
^
1
*.
• •
• •
o o
• •
• •
Ti
• •
-•
• •
>1
• •
•51'
4-1
LD
^
^
S-l o
O en
>^
'J'
c
3
O
in
'T
■^
CD
■H
^
CN
■* n ro
CO
m
CD
<D
CN
o
in
ID
■=3-
n
o
CN
iH .H
CN
O
^—
o
ro
O'
crs
(Ti
CN
o
00
U O
CO
C3^
in
1X>
in
O
o
^—
O
O CM
^—
O O T-
o
^—
■H
O
o
T—
o
O
V—
o
^—
^—
CO cd
r—
^—
^—
^—
^—
T—
o
O
^—
^—
o
o ^
o
O
o
o
o
^—
O
^—
^—
^— r—
— 1
1 1 1
1
1
D
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
■H 0
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
I
1
1
1
1
W
1
1
1 1
13 ^
CM (N CN
CN
CM
O
CN
C^J
'-
CN
CN
CN
CN
»-
CM
M -H
m o
CN
^
^
■^
■^
■'^
CO
ro
CN
r-
■<-
C51^
■H ■*
ro
^
CN
CN
C-J
r—
c
cd
■<-
'-
t- CN
CD ••
CN CN LD
^
in
■si-
^
'S'
'a*
•=3'
■JJ-
CM
-a"
^
in
^
-*
•*
in
■^
'S-
^
■*
•cr
in
ro
in
■*
•vf
^
'J
M-
"*
^ M*
C
rH
4-1
Q)
>l
■H
•H
rd
>i CO
c
>.
U
h
!h
-P
0
CD -H
C
■rH
!^
cd
3
cd
^D
C
G
■H
M m
^
CD
4J
•-\
pq
3
O
o
0
K
g
g
'O
O
Id
W
ft
W
1
£
>1
O
>1 >1
o
P
cd
rd >i4-i
m
^4
Ti Ti
■H
r-
>1
^
4-1
' — -
a -P
4-)
CD
xi
E CD
en
CD
Oi
.H H
y.
4-1
• •
u
0
G
O C
W
m
en
M
g
u
O
S
O CD
u
ii; in
0)
o
3
-H P
G
•H
P
C
>ix; 13
cd
Q)
•rH
•H
>i 0
c
<:
44
O
C]
0 O
:5
K
•rH
CD 4-1 cd
■H
T3
>
a
>1
44 MH
U
4J
3
(D
M
L)
■p
u u
O
>1^
.H 3 K
iH
n-l
•H
3
u
CD ^;
3
C/1
O
c
g
CD
-P 4-1
-P
>i
>i >i
S4
M T3 O
iH
0)
«
0
3
4-1
0) o ^n T!
4-1
U
cd
CD
4-1
U
0) CD £ x: -p
0)
O Si
'C
h
0)
3
(D
cd w £
•H
•H
Eh
CD
m
CD rH O
m
0
>lTi
W
CD
u
O
W
(U g
tn M
-P 4-) -P
o
a
c
4->
Ti
o
3
4-1 X! m
K 4-1 S
M
14-1
Cd
X
c
tn
(D
T)
CD MH Sh
■H
O rH
0
g
4-1
■H
CD
4-1 cd
0 o
P P 0
c
■H
>i
■t-i
O
>i c:
Xi
X!
(d
w
13 3
CD
Cn
C
(D
o
0
Ti 13
rH
Ti
G
C
iH
M m
Eh
s
iH
o
Cd
CO
Sh
(D
0
m xi
si P
0 0 u
■H
X!
o
P x>
CD
m
g
cd
en
3
s ^ x; th 0
^
(J
C
0
m
3
4J
c; .H
■H
o
iH
CD
cd
MH
H
<U
15
■rH
CD
(D
a M
CD 4J
U -P
e g w
> £
a o
0
.H
rH
(D
CD
■r4
4-)
CD
4-1
4-1 O W
4-1
c
•rH
4-1
a
c
c
0
O
u
ao
U
iH
i-H
CD -P
4-1
4-1
4-1
4-1
rH
0
0
0
u c
cd q
>i >i 0)
0
(C
■H
s:
:5
4-)
H
fij
r-\
■r4
M
=1
3
3
CD
M
4-1
cd
4-1
3 4-1
Xt
H
M
>iiH S tn
en
M
cn
to
^
U
f^
m
IS
Sh CD
W CD
M .-1 Vl
M
p
3
CD
o
3
Id
Cd
U £
0
O
O
a a p
5
Cd
cd
a
X
cd
cd
cd
CD
CD
CD
CD
CD
(D
•H
0
O U
ca
Pj CU cu
ft
oa
1
oi
m
Pi
W
1
CZl
03
en
W
W 1 1
03
w
w
W
w
H
H
D
'
D
IS
'
5 S:
s
1 :3
^
Is
s
f^
S
s
1
'
1
S IS
I I I I
I I I I I
I I I I I I I I
I I I I
I
CN
o
r
ro
I
CN
o
CN
M'
o
I
CM
ro
o
I
CN
■a"
^
00
O
o
CM
T—
I
ro
I
CM
O
I
CM
00
l£)
o
o
ro
CO
CM C^
O 1-
I I
CN CM
O 1-
^ CN
I I
CM
r-~
<j\
o
o
CN
CN
CN
-
ro
00
a
u
o
■5)'
■*
in
■^
in
in
CN
o
o
CN
r-
o
■^l-
u
in
ex3
o
oo
r\i
'S'
IX)
O CT>
r^ <j\
o
O
1
1
1
o
1
1
4-1
1
V-
4-1
T—
o
1
1
1
o
1
1
o
1
T- o
o o
1 1
1
CN
CN
Ti
in
in
CO
in
^
^
CD T
■H ••
CJ in
CM
ro
(D
g
a
^
in
CN
in
00
in
oo
CN
•^
CO
00
oo r-
CM •(-
oo
■nT in
in in
G
0
0
3
en
rH
CM
^
O
00
CM
ID
CTi
CM
en
CN
CN
00
CD
ro
kD
^
(~-
C!^
•<-
OM
o
00
OM
ri
^ 00
rvj
00
r^j
00
OvJ 00
,o r-
CJ\
o o
o
o
O
O
o
O
o
O
T—
o
l-{
T—
T—
o
>
T—
O
r—
T—
O
o
o
^—
o
^—
O
o o
^—
o
o
o
o o
^_ ^_
o
^_ ^_
^—
^_
-— ' 1
1
O
1
1
>i
1
1
1
1
It
1
1
1
CD
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
t
1 f *
1
I
1
1
1 1
1 1
[
1 1
[
1
Ti 00
CN
CO
CN
U
CN
^—
CM
ro
u
CN
T—
Q
•tj"
00
OM
^
^—
^
CN
>1T-
00
r^i
CN
CN -JT
OM
c^
T—
CN •!-
T— ^
oo
CD ••
T—
in
G
Cnro
CO
CD
4-1
CN
^
•^
■3"
■H
!h
>,ro
■^
;:
>iin
00
'^f
■cr
00
in
^
u ••
CD '^
CO
■a-
^
CN ^
^
in
^
in
■^ in
3 ^
"^ ^
«^
^ ^
'^
•^
C
■H
C
(D
0
U
4-1
4-1
tj
•H
>i
■H
g
>i
4-1
CD
■rl
CD
cd
4-1
M
4-1
CD
U
en
4-1
G
o
g
CD
G
3
en
O
CD
■H
CD
3
0)
T!
4J
0
O
pa
cd
4-1
K
g
1
O
U
>1
>1
en Ti
O
">
ID
CD
ft
00
cd
CD
4-1
CD r-t
■
-
0
g
>iU
0
>•
en
en
>i
rH
G
g CD
en
rH
(D
4J
O
■^
G rH-
(U
rH
X 3
O-rl
in
en
rH
U
C
rH
>i
■H
rH
C
Cd
tT> 0
X MH
if)
G
CD
a;
0
3 rH
44
u
cd
•H
•rl
>
3 O
X G
4-1
3
Ti
-G
!h
X
Ti
o
■H
G
u
CD
,H
X
>
0
COO
4-1
O
U
4-1
CD
O
^
TJ
U
G
c
O
E
3
CD
4-1
rH
ft
u
^
Sh X
4-1
0 O 4-1
CD Ti
4-1
0
cd
CD
"^
M
>irH
CD
en
cd
3
0
G
4J
en
c
Ti
rH
4-1 CD
en
u
0 CD
>i
CD
en Sh a
K O
in
m
MH
a
cd Ti
a
CD
4-1
en
rH
0
en
K
U
•H
en
CD
G
0
rH
■rl
x;
Id
en 4-1
cd
XI en
Ti
Sh
^
g
>i
^ ffl g
Ti
3 U
CD
en
CD
a
en
g
IH
CD
■H
en
cd
X
+J
CD
CD
rH
CD
U
0
C
4-1
(D Si
u
u
CD en
cd
C
g
CD (U
Sh
3
U
cd
Sh G
U Id
0
g Ti
G
c;
x;
r-t
g
Sh
0
(D
rH
0
CD
4H
(D
rH
Sh
Iji u
^^
3-
X X
u
0
4-1
O
l-{
■H
u
■rl
•H
M CD X
0
■H
,-i rH
O
XI
3
X
3 O
cd X X
0
Cd Sh
0
3
U CD
Cd Q,
u
rH
O
o
g
r->
U rH
)H
o
ijl
CD
■H
cd
3
o
<D
G
3
rH
MH
4-1
■H
MH
CD
•?
Cd
0 o
4-1
Ti
u
Ti Ti MH rH
+4
Ti
X! 4-1
H) 4-1 4-1
15 X 0
4-1
X
cd
CD
h
■H
"^
•rl
C
w
CD
Sh
3
>
K
iJiQ
H
en
Cd
O
ID
cd
0
g
4-1
>
en
g lij ■rl
Sh
C
u
Ti TJ
rH
rH
G
CD
3 13
Sh Sh
Sh >! MH
X
rH
m cd
Si
-G
x;
x:
o
CD
O
0
0
Ti
en
U
^
^
U
cd
to
rd
a cd
CD
cd
CD
Q)
•H -H
■rl
•H
cd
CD
CD Q)
O 0
0
cd X
■Id
CD
en o
cd
CJ
1
U
1
1
1
1
1
o
1
1
Q
1
Q
1
D
1
Q
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
q
1
1
1
1
n
1
Hi
1
\ lA ^. S.
1 1 1
1
1 1
1
1
1
1
1 1
1 S 23
1 1
1
O O
1 1
ft
1
ft
c
>i
ro
•^
T
I
<N
a\
in
a\
M
U
■P
0
t—
T—
•P
^
0
T—
0
3
(U
c
1
1
1
ro 0
1
1
1
1
XI
+J
3
ro
•
fM
OJ
U
CM
^
T
01
>1
3
QJ -P
0
■ •
••
••
MH CO
■ •
■•
• •
.•
M
<
e QJ
^
T
T
■<r
0
n
If)
'J'
T
(U
ttJ >
«
+J
■P
U -H
1
(U T3
0)
C
rH
vn
ro
e c
•
CO
r^
in
e
3
QJ O
ft
0
0
rd rd
0)
0
0
T—
0)
O
ft
•rl
1
1
C rH
§
1
1
1
u
2
0 -p x;
r^j
'd-
'
01
'I'
T
ro
ffi c
w
• •
• •
u
QJ a
c
• •
• •
!•
<<H
c
1
3
c
■^
in
h>
x: u
•<r
c
T
T
0
(0
4J 0
3
JJ
>1
0
•H
(U
c a
0
*■
^
IH
•rl
a
tN
>
t3-> P
H
rj
rg
x;
4->
x: rd
■p
0
<^
tn
ro
01
(N
0
O
1
t3
•H
0 1
2;
OJ
0
1
0
1
0-.
OJ
u
QJ
4J -a
•rl Id
c
3
1
0
1
tn
■r4
0
1
1
0
1
•H
-p
^
0
M
QJ
C
rsi
•^
tfl
.D
s c
0
04
r—
1
T—
T
ro
(0
.,
1
1 H
3
..
.•
0
0
Id
0
.•
*•
• >
• t
..
>
in
^
•-\
+J
>3"
LO
t-)
V,
C710
rM
ro
0
LO
rr
-T
u
U -H
ft
c
rd
u
(U
1
U
0) >
QJ
•H HH
0)
a^
en
■P A
S
(Ti
r-
r^
4J 0
U
in
VD
r—
00
■<3'
in
(U
0
o
1
a
M
o
1
1
ui in
OJ rd
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
u
rd QJ
0
-a
V4
0
1
1
0
1
1
1
ft
Y
(N
o
"*
m
A 3
<N
T—
OJ
4-1 0
*
0
OJ
ro
•V
r—
■^
fM
.1
Q
4-1
u
>i
• •
>•
• •
tn c U
u
.•
C
■ •
• •
• ■
>•
Q)
••
LD
►:»
m
0)
S'
QJ
in
-^r
in
•rl
« >
c
rd
;
QJ
in
0
■rl
■V
tn
'T
in
x;
4J
in
5J
m
QJ
Jh
QJ 0 rH Tl
tn
4J
y—
s
in
d
1 QJ
QJ
r^
0
OJ
■^
•"a"
•V
■rl U
QJ
c
00
QJ TJ
ro
i/j
rd
O)
fN
0
OJ
(N
ro
ro
M
^—
^—
x;
tn
Id
0
^—
0
^—
T—
T—
>H ft M
rd
0
•r4
c
0
QJ
>
0
0
T—
^—
0
Y—
T—
0
1
1
1
U ^ U)
1
1
1
1
1
1
4-1
H
r-^
1
4-1
rd
1
0
M
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
tJH
^—
CM
fd
M QJ
3
n
ro
rM
rsi
CM
OJ
C rd
d.
T—
■rl
T—
rd
QJ 01
•<T
CM
■d-
OJ
•^
•<r
• >
^
*•
tn
0 c
s
• >
• >
• >
• *
• •
• •
QJ
x:
c
• •
c
tn
■ •
,-\
tn
• •
• •
• •
■ •
• *
• ■
>1
LO
!h
in
w
>i a
^-1
>i^
ro
in
M"
'a'
•a"
^
4-1
H
-3-
rd
a
ro
ft
QJ
•»
in
ro
in
LO
in
in
4J
to
0
(d
QJ
(H
QJ <
u
e
0
u
QJ
0
>H
r-t
S B
QJ
E tfl
0
s
3
•rl
0
ft
•H
2
LTl
o
in
in
n
o
n
QJ
QJ
4J
'^r
ro
00
-a"
CO
vo
1^
>XI
C»
CO
00
■a-
rd D 3
QJ
rM
E
4-1
■H
a^
r~
in
0
a^
OJ
ro
04
CJ
H
o
1
1
!5
QJ
o
1
1
1
1
1
(U
QJ
QJ
W
QJ
g
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
0
1
0
1
1
Y
1
1
C
1 QJ
^
S
0
1
QJ
rd
0
0
0
•rl
tn
0
1
0
1
1
1
0
!
0
1
1
T
0
^—
v~
2^
ro
(N
ro
^
'S"
Q)
QJ
QJ
^—
(M
ro
■=)■
T—
r^
ro
T—
rM
rM
rM
T—
QJ .x;
tn
>i
OJ
.C
•H
4J
u
QJ OvI
CN
01
OJ
•^
rM
OJ
OJ
3
«
• •
• t
>■
• •
.<
• •
W
QJ
tn
U
.>
• •
• •
• •
■ t
• •
• 1
c
• •
• •
• •
• •
C
>■
U 4-1
QJ
rH
• •
4-1
rH
tn
0
•H
• •
• •
■ •
>■
• •
• •
• •
■ ■
*.
in
ID
'S-
^
^
in
in
in
OJ
>i
^—
(N
ro
"^r
■jj"
^
•^
01
in
ro
ro
ro
QJ in
rd
rH
U
ro
XI
■H
4-1
^4
in
in
-=!■
OJ
in
ro
•^
■3"
in
(D
4-1
tn
M
4-1
Ai
X
^ 4H
rd
rd
M
3
K
in
QJ
QJ
u
0)
0)
>i
>i
QJ
U
U
0
ft 0 5 W
0
ft
QJ
•r4
4J
•rl
2
U)
42
QJ
>i QJ
4-1
01
QJ
ft
QJ
C
ro
0
■H
rH
•H
rH
h QJ
^
C
^
MH
rH
U
•H
MH
0
K
QJ
g
0
in
4-1
•H
0
N
-P
!h -P
c
in
C
1
rH
rH
QJ 4-1 T!
•rl
0
4J
rd
>
!h
QJ
1
•
1
3
CO
•
>i
■H
QJ
QJ QJ
QJ
0
<
^
•
3
4-1
3
•n rd
c
0
C
0
Sh
!h
0
0
^—
<
OJ
cr
H
o
S-l
T3
rH
e
+) e
U
U
tn
• •
!h
tn
rr|
>i
M
S
C 4-1
rd x;
x:
<u
•H
QJ
QJ MH
• •
*■
•rl
1
Q)
Q)
W
>i
Xi
QJ
OJ QJ
ft
e
>^^
1^
•H
rd
C
r-\
C
QJ
e
3 in
'-\
4-1
u
g
^4
W
4-1
C
in
e
in
4-1
+J
4->
U
0)
•
(0
U
g 0
4-1
0
u
u
x:
QJ
•rl
x;
XI
rH
rd
tn
3
0
tn
4-1
•rl
r-^
C
<i
c
0)
iw
•^
rH
ss
C
QJ
U
-p
rd
■«.
rd
tn
QJ
4-1
g
0
0
QJ
0
QJ
0
4J
v*
■H
w
>1 0
<
0
u
0)
C
rH
c
>i Sh
C
C
u +J
QJ
tn
^
^
g
•H
01
tn
rd I-)
A
QJ
u
QJ
Q
4-1 T3
tn
SH
tP 3
>1
u
0
rd
g
OJ
< ^
0)
■H
•
rd
M
QJ
ft
3
a
rd
^
tn
)H
MH
tn
rH
QJ
-P
c
•rl
rd
QJ
IH
T3
u
t-\
T3
Q
X!
QJ
u
o
rH
x;
12
E
=i
QJ >
w
0
a
^
rd
Q
w
•H
*.
k.
m
tn
T3
QJ
w
r-i
ft
C«
H
3
C
rd
td
>i tn
C
2
<
U
tH
1-0
3
LO
XJ
&-r|
0
U
>i
u
«
C
c
C
<ij
C
tn
4-1
0
■X.
^
<-\
QJ
C
rd
'0
U
c
^
rH
•^
•.
3
0 rH
^4
CJi
(d
M.
[n
•.
>.
c
QJ
QJ
QJ
C
Id
c
rH
rH
rH
rH
rH
in
>
rd
TJ
•H
g
x:
rH
1-^
ffl
(T3
•»'I
■^
CJ
^
c
C <
m 0
cu
c
g
tn
■C 13
QJ
«.
-i<; ^
X
rd
».
tn
rd
rd
rd
rd
rd
rd
< M
U
«.
>.
g
rd
0
xy
0
».
•H
iH
>1
1
!5
fti
0
•H
C
•h
Sh
u
^
s
u
U
U
Cn
c
g
U
iji
C
C
C
C
c
OJ
tn
rd
c
c
td
Id
Id
C
2
-
0)
>
rH
0)
Q)
O
e
-p
-P
-P 4-1
4-1
c
x^
•H
>i 0
0
U
QJ
•rl
•H
•r4
•H
0
3
•H
rd
0
0
0
0
0
M
k.
rd
5
0
0
MH
H
W
c
M
(C
0)
r-t
W
,V
M
rH
C
c c
c
M
4-1
N
rH
Uh
144
■rl
rH
rH
rH
rH
rH
tn
QJ
in
>H
■rl
•rl
•H
•rl
■H
3
rH
u
s
tn
tn
1.
-
0
0
S-l
u
U
U
in
in
3
P
3 3
3
3
3
0
x:
rH
rH
rH
rH
r-\
rH
^
rH
C
in
3
!h
4-1
4-1
4-1
4-1
4-1
4-1
rd
X!
CO
rH
rH
3
•^
3
3
^
o
O
0
o
0
o
_g
O
0
0
0 0
0
0
0
!h
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
S
rd
rd
rd
5
rd
rd
rd
QJ
QJ
QJ
QJ
QJ
QJ
Q)
QJ
H
^
;^
^=-<
«^
X
s
V
^
*r<
g
•rH
s s
^
^
•=^
g
■^
*.^
s:
S
2
^
T,
Z
Z
2
1
Z
z
2
2
2
2
00
in
ro
0
^—
V-
OJ
ro
ro
•a-
in
in
^
^
0
^—
0
OJ
ro
■a*
in
ro
ro
0
0
0
fM
^
I I
ro OJ
ofNo-ia^rMooin
^— Ov— OOv-v— o
I I I I I I I I
rOfNfNjT— OJfMfO'^
01
o
in
r--
o
I
o
I
OJ
1
fM
1
ro
OJ
fM
^
^
^
in
0
^
rM
ro
0
T—
T—
OJ
ro
ro
^
OJ
ro
^
in
'S'
o
I
ro
ro
0
0
^a'
ro
0
^
0
01
rM
ro
in
OJ
Q
2
t—
<
T—
H-l
1
t'J
fM
2
>>
W
W
in
0
rOT— co^H'^ism
Ov-oo2ooo
I I I I III
•<-ro^r- -rM'!-oj
2
o
I
ti "a" ro
CJ
'^roroinrMro^in-^roin
QJ
U
3
4-1
3
U
Ti
C
rd
U QJ
r4 O CJ
> C
01 ^ td
^1
- !h ~
O >i Q) >H
tn 01 X! QJ
3 X >i >i
rd td rd rd
^ [^ ro
<D V- (O)
I I I
OJ CM ^
ro ^ LO
tn
g
3 iA
QJ
^ 3
■H Id
PQ
-T3
15 U
QJ rd
x; c
>1 >1
rd rd
QJ
■H
td '-^
x; u
4-1 rd
td H
D
u
Q
2
in ^
in ro
W
w
D fd
o g
rd
Id t3
2
W
« •
Q U
>A W
H
s: -
~ 01
!H ■rl
rd O
G ■H
(d 01
!h
M
O
2
H C
H ■H
H rH
W 01
>i >
o (d
c a
rd
d ■rl
■rl >
tXl tj
1-5
I
o
o
u
o
•rl
Sh
o
4-1
tn
-H
QJ QJ H QJ QJ
>i
4-1
C
3
O
U
C
rd C
iji O
■rl 4-1
Si rd
O pq
■H
g I
x:
rd
>
■rl
rd
-H
X!
ft
rH
QJ
-a
rd
I4 IH
rd
I 4-1
to
•H
C
rd
>
rH
>1
tn
C
QJ
ft
in
QJ
•r)
!h
QJ
4-1
01
'=!• g rM
^ QJ
^ QJ r-
1 QJ
! U 1
■sr in
1^ -=1"
o
1
ro
niX)t~~oJoroojrMin
t-OOt-t— Ot-t— o
I I I I I I I I I
"^"•a'roro^ro^'a'ro
>i
Sh
0)
4-1
QJ
g
QJ
U
tnx;
C -P
■H U
in o
a 2
rd
i-:i I
I
in
Q)
>1
QJ
!h
tn
QJ
4-1
QJ
tn
inininrOLninro-=i<M'"=f
QJ tn
U td
> X
X rH
■H ■H
Sh
0)
4-1 rd
01 rH
g 0^
o ro
ft
>i
u -
rd Sh
4-1 QJ
Ti 4J
U U
rd QJ
3 X
Xi O
in 4-1
QJ !h
g to
td g
Id
~ 0
QJ u
O O
g g
QJ x:
C QJ
a x; tn
o ft tn
> QJ Id
>i in c
o td
-Id a
to - '
ft !H ^4
tn QJ o
■rl ■rl ■H
fM ro
O 1^
I I
ro fM
in in
^4
Id
>i
U -
QJ Id
4J
Q) >1
tn
■H
o x:
o ■H
OJ Id ftK
Pi 4-1 to
o
tn
0)
c •.
•H
g I
td
•H
Sh
3
G O U O
Id in
01 -^ rH
C to o
O!
CM
in
I
ro
o
I
ro
01 OJ
o o
I I
ro OJ
OJ
>i I
U ^
OJ ..
4-1 "a-
QJ
g
QJ
U
QJ V-
C • ••
•rl H in
I
to
4-1
C
in o
■H ip Sh
3 0) to
O
QJ
• m
4-1
10
tn
QJ
x:
o
QJ
x:
-p
c
0
T!
>1
Q)
4-1
W
a
(d
3
OJ
0
CJ
u
OJ
■o
>i
!
u
MH
(U
0
e
0
Q)
en
6
-P
td
C U3 G
0 0
g
4-1
T-
in
1
u
c
rd
2
I I
T- 01
>
<C
rH >,EH
>i
>i Sh H
Sh
■
in 01 Pi
4-1
4J
C 4J CQ
G
G
G QJ
QJ
QJ
QJ g B
^
ft QJ <:
G
3
u w
■rl
G
PS
to
0
Q)
QJ 0
g
g
fl)
!h
tn
tn
0 fc.
!h
QJ
■rl 0
Ql
QJ
MH
.y
in
>, QJ CO
Sh
Sh
+4 W
fO
QJ
I
u
-G
O
QJ
4-1
0)
g
QJ
U
r-{ QJ
rH Sh
•H O
P3 ■H
MH
- 01
Sh 4-1
■H G
O O
g rH
X3
rd
4-1
O
C
kC tn
EH 4-1
G
in
4-1
G
W QJ 0)
g g g
0 3 3
2 G G
000
y. n a
CM
o
CN
o
CN
in
o
I
O
I
in
T —
I
r-
o
in
o
I
>1
+J
0)
■H
u
O ro
W r-
iH CN
ta ••
O in
■rH
tn
O (^
rH O
rc I
(D IN
C ••
0) ro
O
I
4->
<P
•rH
o
o
w
I
(N
i
00
o
I
CM
00
o
I
ro 00
o o
I I
n CM
■* in
>i
-P
(D
■H
o
o
w
Hi
o
•H
o
m
I
(N
U3 lO
o o
I I
CM CM
in in
0)
a -p
■rH
H-1
o u
u
:?
o
3 -p
CJ' en
(« 0)
■p a
nJ vo CM
O o T-
■rH ! I
JH -a" ^
o •• ••
4J in -a"
w
•H
(D
4J
CO
t3 "^
3 I
O t-
CO "a" o
o •<- CN
I I I
n -^ CM
ro -sf -a*
fO
£ O
S U U
0)
c
o
-p
a
E
(li
o
-p HJ
>, m
Q H
I I
en
•H
>|
M
D
CQ
Tl
G
W
x; -H
pa
G c
O 15
-p o
tJiEH
G
•H Ti
J-i -P H-1 rH
■H O G O
3 M 3
fe O K I
>i
-P
G
O
U
G
O
CTi o^
o o
I >1 I
T- Jh CN
.. O ••
M- -P in
M
o K
G
O
o
T —
I
in r- t-
T- o T-
I I I
■=1' CM ro
in in in
I Ti
CM G
.. m
r~j iH -H
H e cd
3 S
ti U
G O
O Cn
T)
MH G
-r) o CO
G rH
tC M M (J
iH m
W G
H S-i CP o +J
3 C w cd
!7> o o -H x:
C Id iJ Ti G
O lO (0
iJ 1 I s s
!
>1
-p
G
o
G
IT)
G -P
o m
•^- o
I I
T- CN
in in
CM
o
I
r-~ in r- ix>
o 1- o o
I I I I
«^ «^ '^ ^
Q)
+J
d) 0)
3 g
bi CD
lO o
0)
S-)
.H lO
(0 P
!-i tr
-p
(D S
-P ,c
o 00
t- o
I I
T- CM
in in
(^ r-
o o
I I
n ro
CM
(T, CO
O T-
I I
CM T-
O
■^ S-l U
U £
^H U
-a:
0
^ -H
U T)
O M
>H cd
x;
(U (U
3 m
^ in ^
Ti
0) x; g
+J o
(U u
g 3
(u x;
o u
Ti
G
CO >i
rH S-l
tfl >i 0)
H i-l -P
cu (u
G -P g
QJ 0) Q)
■ U
I -P
-P
cd 0)
-p a
w
I s
C -H
(0 X!
■H M
> (U
lO Ti
U G
0 cd
s >
1 I
-p
•• (U -H
■^ pq H-1
fO
>
0)
w
in uo in in
cd
Q)
1^
w
0)
•H
<yi u
>lO OJ
(U I -P
> CO CD
U •• B
3 in CD
ip
o
!-l
O
M-l CD
U
>i G CU
-P O
•H -H tn
O H-) ^
Cd s-i
^ -H Id
M u g
o o '3
>i W G
en Id
(D
S
O CO
3 >l
G -P +J
Id u -H
O CD M
■H -P
M -H
0) x:
M-l
o ^ ^
u u
goo
3 >H >l
(D
w S 5
3 (D (D
S S S
G
o
I I I
w
U
u
o
en m
(D >l-H
a U >
CD -H
.H -P Q
cd CD
g CD
CD H-l
u cd
G W
cd ^
G r-l M
CO Ti O
XI O >H
M O
D S S
(D
I I Z
I
o
I
CM
cn
Qi
u
■H
>
u
d)
in
CO
u
■H
o
-p
Ul
•H
ffi
M-J
O
G
g O
10 -H
x; -p
-P CO
CO U
x; 0)
(J T3
a)
Ti Cm
H->
(D
-H
U
O
Id
u
O
TJ
O
O
(D
>i
U r-
Q) V-
-P I
(D -^ TS
g .. -H
(D in Pi
(J
M
(D
-P
Id
CD
U
x; o
3 I
I
CO
CM
O
1
ro
CN
o
I
O
U
o
XI
cn
G
(D cnx:
(D Ti U
3 -H O
I
•a-
I
-P
(D
■H
O
O
w
Id
o
•H
!-l
O
■P
cn
■H
o I a o Pi Pi
CM
>iin
CD
-p
CD
g
CD
o
Q)
ft-p
O G
m -H
o
-P Pa
c
3 cn
O Ti
S G
Id
o •<-
I I
ro -a-
I I
'=f rM
g
m
G
s
O
+J
G
CD
x:
Oi
CD
4-1
w
I
H C
O O
-P C -P G
cn O a 15
■H HJ g O
M a Id Ti >iH-)
pq g x; ^ cd G
Id -P O S CD
x: x: 3 x: G x;
HJ -p o -p -H a
3 3 to 3 CD (D
O O H-) H-1
W CO I CO !/! cn
I I
I I ! I
I I
I I
CN
o
CTi
O
tn
HJ
U
HJ 0
■*
in
in
(D cn
cn
3 M
o
o
1
'-
CN
1
ro
1
x; cd
■ ■
■ •
»•
u o
T—
^
in
Id -H
cn Cnin ro
CN
r~
CN
o
M"
cn 0
o o
O
o
T—
r-
o
Id H
1 1
1
1
1
1
1
S. Id
CD
G
ro T-
CN
'^
^
T.
ro
■3< ro
T—
ro
in
in
in
CD
(D
0)
O
cn
ro
r-
ro
in
^ —
00
o
CN
in
in
IN
CN
CM
u
T—
o
o
^—
T—
o
T—
T—
o
o
O
O
o
■H
1 Ti
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
>i M
^ U
T—
^—
^—
rv]
G
rM
CM
^—
rM
ro
■sf
ro
CO
HJ 0
.. Id
'•
>•
• >
• >
0
■ •
• >
>!
«k
.B
°.
.•
t.
CD HJ
■=!• >1
ro
V-
'^f
ro
•H
in
in
HJ
in
in
-a;
in
in
in
■H 0]
CD
-P
CD
in
0 -H
>
CO
■H
CD
0 ffi
^ Id
^ ro
CM
^—
•H
o>
in
in
U
■H
m
in
^
ro
^
in
CM
cn
r- U
o o
O
o
U
o
o
o
O
Ti
^—
T—
o
o
^—
o
o
T)
1 C5
1 1
1
1
0
1
1
1
cn
3
1
1
i
1
1
1
!
-H G
Id Id
O M
rM
•• >i
ro r-\
"^ ^
Y.
■^
cn
cn
<
rN
CM
ro
rH
Id
HJ
cn
>i
rg
"3-
ro
ro
■^
rM
ro
ro v-
T—
ro
CD
^
^
<a-
in
in
<a<
^
«*
in
in
■H Cn
■H
M
u
.H
CD
tn G
e
•H
Ti
•H
Id
HJ
TI
Xl
O H
in CO
ro
^
^—
rM
r-
T—
x:
in
!-l
CM
a^
K~i
ro
CM
I-l
HJ
CD
C
U
in
ro
in
r-
ro
^
O
M
O [t|
^—
T—
o
o
O
o
CO
^—
Id
O
o
I-l
^—
^—
0
G
E
3
P
>i
o
^—
^—
o
^—
^—
10 5
1
1
1
1
HJ 1
1
1
a
1
>
1
1
CD
1
1
HJ
CD
CD
O
3
P
1
1
1
1
1
1
cu CD
CM cn
T—
CN
rM
U ^
^—
rM
g
V-
(D
CN
CM
HJ
T—
M-
cn
g
U
!-l
x;
CD
cj
"a*
rM
CM
ro
>.
CN
>
G S
■• G
■ •
<•
< ••
• •
■ '
CO
• ■
>
• •
■ •
CD
• •
tg
■H
C
O
CJ
HJ
'u
o*
>t
• •
P
• •
p
CD
rM -H
in
^
v~
V—
T—
ro
K
^
cd
■*
^
E
^
x;
in
K
0
x;
CD
P
in
in
in
CO
^
CD
in
>i
CD
O 1
IP
0
5
Cj)
CD
U
u
S-l
>,
•H
r-:
cd
G
CO
CD
cn
E
CD
3
x;
HJ
(D
P
HJ
CD
U G
lO
T—
CD
3
HJ
>
3
a-H
■H
3
U
u
rH
g
HJ
e
•H 0
K
>i
cn
o
S
Ti
in
x;
>i
c
c
x:
-H
^1
P
O
0
CD
CD
CD
!h HJ
i-l
!-l
1
H
>i
CD
u
HJ
3
H
o
x:
3
CD
K
anJ
G
O
O
,-~^
>i
g
U
0 cn
1
CD tH
Id
V-
M-H
o
CD
>
G
0
cn
cq
HJ
•H
O
Id
x;
cn
P
CD
HJ 0
rH 0
G
• •
0
(D
rH
lO
c
3
U
IH
G
G
>i
CD
x;
CD
p
u
.H
G
CD
O
G
m P3
U
-H 0
■H
m
S-I
CD
M
S-l
CD
10
0
0
cd
3:
cn
X!
G
CO
a
CD
x:
LO
CO
CD
HJ
;5
■H
0
cd x;
g
>lHJ
I-l
CO
o
Cn
•H
O T3
>iip
■H
0
.
cn
lO
c
in
x;
HJ
P
CD
CD
Ti
CO
►G
CD X5
o cj
CD
HJ
G
-H
>
T5
I-l
G
HJ
u
H
HJ
CD
p
i>
0
HJ
3
HJ
3
3
E
0
i-q
S-l U
CO
cn
-H
CD
x;
x:
ip
•H
CD
Ti
Id
G
CD
HJ
u
CJ
0
p
3
o
CO
rH
Pi
O
CD
0
Ti
•H CO
HJ
M
cn
O
cn X
HJ
o
Pi
HJ
G
.H
3
M x;
-P
G
o
ft
P
B P.
i-q
g
rH
3
O
r^
HJ
C
x; K
C
cu G
c
^H
a u
3
>1
>i >i CO
h
0
CD
o
^
Id
o
■H
rH
G
rH
Ti
O
>i
G
cn
CO
cn
0
Ti
•H -H
-H
CD
>i E
rfl
0
HJ
CD
tnxi
Id
.H
CD
O
HJ
•H
X!
Oj
cn
g
+J
Id
CD
CD
+j
M
G
O
-H
fiC
U
G
Id
P
>
G
0
CD
iH
a CD
E
!-C
G
^1 M
M
g
>
CD
lO
E
E
C
cn
G
cn
•c^
P
X>
G
5
cn
Id
Id
cn
rH
lO
G
c
O
O
|t!
x;
■H
M
>
lO
■p
CD
rH
CD
rH
p
tn
g u
CD
O
•H
^ X!
^
CO
■H
U
K
•H
cn
■H
u
■H
CD
CD
g
X
CD
c
CD
rH
Ti x;
P
o
p
3
3
•H
•H
HJ
CD
X
P
G
X!
p y.
M
0)
Cd
o
C
Id HJ
U
U
.H
3 3
x:
G
ip
!-l
HJ
O
CD X
U
CD
1
3
CD
U
CD
P
CO
.H T3
■H
HJ
cn
HJ
0
;j
N
HJ
P
G
CD
0
Id rH
o
•H
O
P
ip
fM
W
m c
lO
G
X)
CJ Q
Q
u
D
ip
:3
!-l
U
fli
f3
cn
Ot
a
U
cn
CD
ft
G
o
G
Fn
G
H
a
Ti
P
O
>i
•=,-<
>^ X! i<
HJ Pi
0
C5
>p
CD
.H
0
3
3
10
CD
CD
o
10
cd
3
cn
U
S
Q)
0
CD
rH
O
x:
Id
rH
cn
p
3
15
5 o
U
O
Q
1 1
1
Q
1
1-:) S S ft
1
S
CQ
1
o
U
1
W
1
O
I
1
1
s
1
r^
1
O
1
P-i
cn
r^
S
S <
1
<i
1
P3
1
pq
1
CD
CD
CD
CD
CD
S
S 1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
SS
1
1
1
i
1
1
1
1
1
1
!
1
1
2
S
1
!
1
1
o
I
>l
U
4J
0)
e
o
••
0
0)
LD
■■d
rd
n
3
o
•rH
00
O
n
rH
o
V—
>lO
1
(0
1
1
TJ
1
,—
a<
"■S*
•"a*
O fO
■ •
• •
• •
^
■ •
in
1
in
m
<0
0)
ft
■T
>i
Sh
ro
U
n
(M
O
(N
00
00
c\ ^
1
(0
)H
o
1
O
1
w
-O
o
o
1
o
1
O T-
1 1
C
^—
ja
(W
^
c
•q"
T
e
fM
m (N
0
• •
•H
.*
• •
•rl
• •
0)
• •
QJ
• •
• • ••
■H
in
y^
T—
n
f^
in
4^
■<r rH
•^
in -^
•p
Vh
rd
fa
T)
1
(C
W
(N
r\i
in
•rH
o
o
ro
H
a^
T—
CO
r^
CO
o^
P4
T—
m
ro
O
o
1
o
1
u
o
1
1
o
1
0
m
o
1
o
1
o
1
o
o
1
a
4-1
=1
o
1
U
1
1
1
o
1
n
n
n
to
■^
(N
Y;
(Nl
n
(N
r^
'y^
o
•H
U
•H
(N
■rl
rH
m
4J
■^
(-0 >1
in
in
M"
(U
LD
in
■^
>i
UJ
'9'
Q
2
n
n
in
"d"
M
•H
>
4-1
u
0)
in
a
n
4-1
QJ
'T
'a- QJ
-P
0)
tri
0-1
QJ
-
m
D
'a-
-H
vo
CM
ro
in
c
n
oo
(Ti
en
a^
>X)
KO
r-
og
D
n
"a-
■q"
o
e
itJ
o
■P
o
^—
O
o
Q
^—
O
^x
o
c
o
^—
f—
^—
^—
o
o
o
w
o
r-*
o
o
O
T—
(U
-p
1
m
Q)
•H
1
rt
1
w
1
1
I
1
o
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
<:
1
u
1
1
1
1
u
■H
<N
-P
E
^
^—
o
(N
i-H
^
■sj"
•<3'
M"
n
u
■=r
(N
(N
CN
<N
n
T—
T—
(N
fd
CM
^-
T—
•"J-
u
>1
*>
^H
QJ
O
• *
«-
fC
O
• •
• ■
• ■
• ■
• •
• •
■ •
■ ■
• •
• •
• •
••
1
U)
• •
U)
• •
• •
• •
• •
c
>i
QJ
u
'a*
<
U
-=!■
1-^!
^—
•H
Sh
•a-
^
in
M-
LO
in
n
n
n
n
in
n
>;
n
w
ro
■^
"3"
in
fO
U
QJ
MH
<
h
IS
rd
QJ
U)
u
m
M
OJ
>i
-P
>i QJ
04
0
H
QJ
rd
QJ
Q)
0)
rO
S
g QJ
-P
^-1
>i
QJ
S-l
£
•H
«
4-1
hJ
en
UJ
•H
ft
•
p x:
(U
QJ
-P
g
QJ
+J
£
QJ
D
rd
QJ
^4
S
QJ 4.)
g
4->
>i
C
QJ
4J
TJ
M
tJi
CQ
g Ai
Cti
Q)
O
ttJ
u) :3
^-^
a)
QJ
-P
3
U
QJ
U-l
.H
C
QJ
r
u
>i
m
4-1
•H
rH
QJ
=3 t^
T3
o
g
C
O
g
0
QJ
s
fH
>i
u
Cn
•rH
ni
^
(0
QJ
rH
OJ
Ul
III]
(U
QJ
13
O
m
Q)
•H
0
I— 1
H
QJ
c
M
<V
C
QJ
rH
w
g
XI
•H
OJ
=1
c;
O
O
U
•-i
^H
H
O
i-:i
+J
•rH
Q)
u
(d
rH
QJ
4-1
O
QJ
QJ
3
c
>i
Tl t3 W
C
13
U T3
■p
•rH
g
U
Q -P X! T3
QJ
C
Q)
H
QJ
QJ
rH x;
g
<-\
U
ft
ra
g
C
4-1
Sh
C tn
-H
S
T3
r— 1
c
>iM
U
O
c
<
0
X!
QJ
4-)
(0
C
3
•rH
Sh
g
QJ
o
w
(C
Sh
Q
0
rd
s
C
O
•rl (tl
-P
h^
C
T3
QJ
U
0)
S-i
iH
C
0
o
M
m
U
3
^
QJ
U
u
g
(T3
13
Q)
N
•rl
>i
(0
-rH
C
(TJ
QJ
■H
o
0
fa
>1 4-1
C
m
n3
iH
•rH
QJ Ti
Q)
QJ
3
rH
w
rO
01
M
Ph
Pn
QJ
(d
tJl
iC
O
n3
P3
rH
C
g
r--\
c x;
Q)
••
CO
c
4-1
0
o
13
e.
^
QJ 14-1
-P
■H
g
s
0
m
•iH
O
K
c
M
x:
w
•H
^r4
X
•rH
x;
0
rH
<:
U
QJ
c
3
re
m
u
C
m
Ti rd UJ
u
^
QJ
c
T3
•^^
U
U)
M
0
QJ
U
H
o
•rH
ta
&H
o
QJ
«.
«.
Its y.
4-1
^
0
•.
g
o x;
•rH
w
o
> 4-1
■rl
-
C 4-1 tn
g
0)
o
O
m
•rH
(C
QJ
tJi
a
x;
u
T3 T3
g
D
-p
C 'Ti
i-H
o
s
Sh
3
•>
•*
T)
•^
rH
(0
1-2
EH
s
•-
•-
U)
>irH
4-1
w
S TJ
rd ra M
D
!h
-p
O
M
(C
u
!-l
4-)
0
O
+j
fd
QJ
QJ
0
O
w
O
QJ
rH
•H
(C
rd
o
c
rH
(d
QJ
rH
MH
u
U
S4 TJ
>i O
p
TJ
13
Sh Sh QJ
.H
o
>1
s
■rH
Cm
c
P4
C
w
•rH
3
ffi
M
x:
W
4->
4-1
•rH
u
4-1
eu
en
Sh
•»
rH
Ul
rH
Q)
*.
•^
Q)
Q)
w
QJ
O
ifl XI
fd
^
ra
m X pq
o
o
(TJ
n3
(C
O
x:
o
O
10
-a
U)
W
Q)
(TJ
4-)
O
W
QJ
•H
m
u ^
^
.V
^
^
^
^
4J^
C XI Ti
rd
x;
a
•H
o
1
Q
1
fa
1
i-:i
1
S
1
o
w
1
E-i
1
t-\
Q
rH
TJ
g
s
4-1
O
1
1
X!
■H
S
rH
a Sh
M
Sh
Sh
Sh
Sh
Sh
u
4-J
rd
C < <C
m
u
i W 1
£
X
J
O
iH
iH
c
en
4J
4-1
(0
d
(0
(0
(C
n3
(C
(0
(d
rd
ra
Q)
QJ
O
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
o
O
o
o
o
o
1
O
O
O
flj
Oi
c^
ft
ft
ft
ft
ft
ft
ft
ft
ft
ft
I
1
1
1
1
o
rH
>1
1
■rl U
ro
>1
a: QJ
4-1
in
Q)
4-1
QJ
M QJ
ra g
O QJ
n
g
n
CN
u
o
1
QJ
o
1
Y
1
rH
n
x;
CM
CN
O -H
■*
4-1
0
in
■=r
in
4-1 H
tn
u
fM
O
s
o
^—
o
•H ro
QJ
O
1
O
1
1
1
1
1
"a-
x: o
to
4-)
QJ
CM
^
tn
^
CM
ra 1
g
QJ
n
in
•H
CO
in
M-
in
CO
1 •rl
U
C
in
QJ
rH Ti
00
a\
o
o
C!^
in
C o
^
^
o
•rl
CO
ro
(N
in
la o
O
o
1
o
1
■rl
4-1
1
O
1
o
1
la T-
i-^l 1
1
!
1
U
QJ
4-J
1
o
1
1
•H p^
o ra
O
15
r\i
OJ
ra
■rl
^
"T;
r-
1 ••
-*
'a-
-a-
4J
QJ
<
Y;
^
CM
g QJ
3 C
ra
CM
m
u
o
w
in
in
in
in
C
ra
^
^
in
e
QJ
U
QJ
>
•H
^
in
"^
O -H
O S
o
1
VD
to
4J
(?Hl
CO
Cnf»
4-1
^—
o
in
C\J
CM
O
1
<:
Q)
•H
o
1
1
■H O
X 1
X
u
fd
Sh
1
1
o
i
MH 1
0
o
u
o
1
o
1
CM
T3
C
rH
ra
U
o
n
^
'—
U <3"
■H ••
ra
3
O
O
ro
t^
ro
g
ra
4-1 4-1
■5
■3-
CO
T—
3
u
w
in
^
U
S '^
>iT3
C
X
0)
ro
ro
CO
3
u o
in
in
O
•H
o
4-1
C
■H
u
Q
01
■H CO
1
Sh
CPrH
w
QJ
3
rH
U}
Sh QJ
^
O
o
ra
(M
o
ro
^—
CT\
o
o
QJ
CM
•H
O
o
ro
c
G
r^
o
in
3
en
4-1 C
CO ^
■3-
CTN
CM O
O
1
rH
rH
O
o
•H
o
1
>i
Y
1
CM
1
4-1
O
CM
1
1
0)
w
O
1
U
O
Sh
Sh
ra
o
1
fd
■rl
0)
1
1
o
1
fc^
1
■rl •H
10 ^
X 1
1
o
1
o ^
: 1
■^
ra
-rH
QJ
ra
!h
O
n
QJ
'^
■^
■=J>
•H
^
-*
VI-
tN
cn
tp
U
(N
!h
QJ
X
4-1
•^
ro
ro
rH
CM
Q a
QJ M-
■d-
CM
>1
!h
CO CO
T—
Sh
x;
4-1
in
4-1
in
•3'
'S'
E
in
'=!•
in
>lPO
rH
C
x;
in
4-1
3
>^
ro
ro
o
ro
■=r
-*
'^
0)
in in
3
u
M
QJ
M
ra
•H
4-1
>i
O
g
■H
QJ
4-1
--^
g a
Sh
-rl
>i
g
•
QJ
u
>1
Sh
>i
.Q
cn
3
u
QJ
a)
OJ
>i
Xi
3
<
K
rHi
QJ
C
4-1
•rl
^
O
Sh
>1 CO
QJ
0
CO
QJ
g
U
0)
QJ t3
Q)
tj
a
m
QJ
Sh
3
s
OJ
4J
QJ
>i
z
CO
4-1
CO
0)
0)
3
w
M
>i
>1
4J
0
^
g
0
P
4-1
C
Sh
rH
S4
3
CO
u
4-1
c
3
ra
4J
4-1
QJ
:5
o
^
Q)
4-1
MH
QJ
3
ft
Sh
QJ
0)
SI
•rl
>1
Sh
QJ
•H
g
>i >i C
c
e
O
>1
—
■H
U
m
t;
O
g
o
rd
>
c
K
Sh
>1
OJ
Q)
rr;
44
IJ
4-1
d
3
QJ
rH
4-1
Sh
•H
rH
QJ
O M
g
fa
U
fd
ra
QJ
M
4-1
>
QJ
c
>, =1
c
O
O
U
rH
C
M
O
CO
^ la
K
o
>1
O
0)
0)
fd
t-D
■rl
u
4-1
OJ CO
^
0
U
0
M V
a
3
U
U
O
P
H
g
ra
>i c
rH
4J
en
QJ
rH
MH
o
+4
QJ
QJ
4-1 QJ
ro
Sh
0)
0
O •H
o
rH
n^
rH
0
Eh
QJ
g
rH -H
4-)
4-1
rH
■H
m
Sh
U
ra
O
>^
o
4-1
g
QJ g
^
■rl
O
Ti rH
"■ — ■
O W \LJ
X ,y
rH
r^
rH
U T!
O
g
iH
O
■H rH
H
M
•H
tn
QJ
u
3
O
en
^3
T3
ra
o
CO
r-{
01
g ro
+4
T!
C rH
U U
rH
rH
QJ
•rl
>
>,-H
c
Z
ai
x:
g O
4-1
o
o
E
Sh
4-1
QJ
.Q
g
r-\
rH
•rH
en
QJ
3
O
QJ 1-::
k.
ra
tJi
*-l
ro ■rl
m 0) x: ^
0
o
W
r-;
r)
a
tlH
tji
ra
^1
4-1
bi
ra u
U
m
MH
QJ
4-1
rH
C
5
c
3
QJ
01
4J
X
r]
ra
U
rH
c
C
3 rH >
y
>
4-1 rH
14H
MH
3
"qj
■p
Q)
C
r-\
Q
Ql
QJ
MH ra
o
3
3
rH
>
O
4-1
01
ra
o
QJ
•H
-rl
O
ra
la
O
ft
rH
rH
c
■rl
rH T3 to
Sh
>rH
-rl
o
UH
MH
U
tn
>
QJ
u
•rl
m
IS
aft
k-
— u
MH
ra
ra
QJ
■rH
■-t
4J
f-\
tri4-i
U)
MH
X
U
MH
>
o
rH
rH
Ti C
QJ
•H
!h
0)
o c
o
C C
g
14H
3
3
ra
o
u
•-i
QJ
g
QJ <C
ra
CO
3
01
01
P4
c
U
01 ^
3
m
3
X
U)
cn
■H
o
Sh
O
w
•H
O QJ
C
u
a
•^
o S
>H
0 D W MH
w
W
u
Di
Sh
w
4-1
O
N
0,
».
•H
x; x;
ra
o
m
ra
p
ra
m
u
en
c
'«;,'*
•p x:
rH
z
3
u
CO
K
O ■rl
C
d
en
Q) S O
4-1
3
>1
rd
flj
>i
W
m
>i U
4-1 4-1
QJ
x;
X
0)
•rl
u
4-J
ra
ra
U
QJ
s n
o
O
•rl
rH
M
S W 1
1
w
1
1
w
1
H
1
^
s
3:
■^
S
44
S4
Sh Sh
m
1
I
u
1
u
;
^
1
t-i
1
o
Sh
>
K
1
H
1
>i
.y
>:: m
u
■rl
u
1
u
1 m
QJ
0
s
QJ
•H
o
O O
s
o
o
O
ra
10 -
x:
2;
1
}
1
1
1
1
S
2
f-^
S
s
r^
^.
1
1
1
1
1
z 2;
1
1
s
o
o
o o o
1
1
1
c
-P
^
Q)
(N
10
r~-
u
e
O
u
o
o
C
>1
1
o
1
c
0
SH
M"
4J
•'I'
o
u
tn
Q)
»•
in
••
3
■H
_
+J
in
fl)
•"a-
t?
>
■p
0)
u
0
a
c
g
^
0
H
0)
TJ
o
O
in
o
13
CN
T3
•rH
rH
■rl
1
1
rd
1
r— 1
-P
c
(iJ
W
n
+J
r—
rvi
o
n3
>
o
■H
H-1
in
H-l
0)
!h
0)
^
u
0)
ft
tn
in
C
O
•iH
•P
M-
S-i
M
>
=1
1
o
o
n
(d
o
o
(P
S-i
u
^—
u
^—
>
Y—
m
^1
(D
^^
1
(^
1
Sh
c
1
13
a w
T3
tC
tN
CN
0)
o
r-j
C
0)
C
0)
• •
1
• •
m
■rl
• •
•rH
TJ
h
It!
u
CM
■^
0)
-p
■*
S
C
a
nJ
>i
Sh
(d
ITJ
M
—
H-)
ft Sh
1
13
■P
rsi
C
rv)
rsi
n
I--
o
T-
in
oo
0)
c
Vh
M
o
=1
o
o
o
o
tn
^
-p
o
o
^—
-P
o
rd
<
(1)
1
o
1
1
1
1
ItJ
Q)
tn
1
1
1
13
c
C
V
rv]
o
^
CM
ro
ro
o
!J
QJ
^—
OM
'=!•
O
IB
0)
o
Di
tn
• •
• •
-•
• •
■ ■
•H
C
^1
.*
• ■
■rH
C
CJ
■H
C
n3
CN
T3
in
CM
^
in
rH
Id
'^r
■y"
in
-P
0)
C
H-1
■rH
U
U
ft C 13
U
-P
(C
(0
>
c
o
QJ
QJ
C
(1)
C
C
>
u
d
in
in
[14
in
(N
00
00
Pi
H-)
Id
^
T—
c
■rH
0)
M
QJ
ij
^—
o
o
O
o
o
C
O
o
c
m
+J
Q)
Ul
1
1
1
1
1
=
U
1
1
1
•rl
^1
^-^
1
1
o
e.
c
in
(U
1
(N
CM
T—
CM
a
O
'S"
^—
Id
■rl
QJ
OM
•cr
u
1
•rH
u
a,
o
•H
in
-
tn
■H
o
c
in
-
o
■rl
H-)
UH
■=)-
ro
tn
Sh
OJ
g
Id
ft
0)
•H
(d
ro
in
(D
m
T3
si
c
0
ttJ
T)
y.
Pi
g
0)
CX)
0)
1
w
C
o
VD
T—
O
o
og
■rl
O
•rl
in
g
n
ro
T— '
^ t» CM
■=*
O
in
CO
<T\
00
V-
00
u
to
r--
—
■0"
-^
o
OM
m
o
1
•rH
U
w
-p
u
(C
O
1
o
1
r—
1
Y
o
i
rH
rH
1
-P
to
o
1
^H
o
Y
1
CM
^ ^ <N
1 1 1
o
1
ja
o
1
o
o
1
Y
CM
1
o
1
ItJ
s
QJ
•rl
1
o
1
tn
o
1
O
1
rM
1
O
1
13
'd'
(U i-l
(P ^
<
a
■rH
0)
Q)
w
(N
Y;
^
■=!■
(N
H
^
u
T3
H
H
H
(N
Ph
^
Y
"3"
n CM ■*
Y
c
Q)
rH
r<i
CM
ro
00
•^
00
^1
Q)
4J
tn
u
QJ
00
Id
Sh
Y
og
Ovl
OM
-^
^
■^
in
in
in
^*
'T
(M
QJ in
in
M-
in "^ 'a-
•jj-
in
<
in
■*
in
M-
in
Q)
in
•=]•
ro
"3"
in
:3
g
S-I
rH
>
a)
W
H
H
tJi
o
Eh
Q)
QJ
.y
QJ
0
(U
nj
0
ta
tl)
Pi
rt
rt!
4-> 13
<
tn
g
u
4J
!h
u
g
h
w
>1
tn
<
<; <Ti
K
g
tn
u
Q
QJ
Id
QJ
(7^
C
O
M
QJ
O
Eh
HH
o
•
U
^
>
o
•rl
QJ
C
QJ
a
W 1
<
■
m m
>H
U
tn
1
tn
tP
w
4-)
H-)
O
>i
tn
s
s ■*
H
MH
«
0 13
Pi
tn
^
0)
M
■If
Id
C
0)
CD
!h
W
u
o
o ••
Q
rH
nJ
W
QJ
a
QJ
tn
Id
..
m
■rH
U3
w
g
OJ
!h
(D
Q)
Eh
Eh in
Q)
Sh
Q)
tn Vh
>lEH
rH
•
■k.
O
QJ
4->
s
,-t
in
>1
+J
OJ
ja
0) T3
C
H-l
tn
t^
U}
Ph
W
(tJ
Q)
Ti
Cn
C PQ
C
W
M
Pi
tn
4J
tn
tn
Q)
4-)
H
C
o
tn
O
N
C
■rl
QJ
<-^
H
W
O
X
+J
■H
U ftrH
tn
•rl
(TJ
s
ItJ
0)
tn
■rl
>1 3
4J
3
fS
fi
•rH
K
0)
(t)
^
g
to
0
>
>
• •
tn
tn
>
O ■rl QJ
0)
13
■h.
ftW
x:
■r^
C
u
g 13
QJ
pq
a
0
m
3
C
%^
Q)
y.
o
^
>H
g
•rl
QJ
(0
QJ rH tjl
rH
Cn g O
u
g
a
fo
MH
c
0
Id
Id
C
M
to
e
■H
*
O
^
(U
^
ttJ
O
u
x:
PQ
<
tn
rH
•C
Q
tJ ■rl •rl
fD
0
U
O
0 Xi
1-0
O
o
■rl
c
03
fd
O
c
^
<D
H-)
+J
ij
O X!
•
o
ttj
o
O
U
S
•rl
W
o
^ z 1-3 -d
Q)
U O
tn
•^
ItJ
o
•rl
-P
o
r-^
o
Id
U
^
(fl
c
C
H
fo
H-)
ft tn
c
^
-Ai
X!
s
Q)
•P s
1-3
V
tn
4->
U
•rl
w
Pi
tn
O
>
Q)
^
(tJ
h.
U
2
s
2
tC
^
».
tn
13
».
».
C
Q)
H
13
r-]
,y
ftJ
Id
QJ
4J 13
H
Id
c
■rH
M
T!
•H
■rl
^
^
■rl
QJ
u
u
<
<c
<
-p
g
g
C
U - >1 >, g
QJ
+J
Q
■rl
0
».
«.
o
o
M
n
13
,-A
^^
)H
0
u
(1)
•H
-P
H-)
Q)
tl) rH
ft
■rl
•rl
Eh
Eh
Eh
•H
TO
fd
■H
0 N ttJ
QJ
O X,
■rl Pi
u
ItJ
to
0)
•rl
•rl
o
Sh
rH
O
QJ
u
Sh
13
•rH
w
tn
tn
tn
O
U
O
tn
•-\
rH
H
H
H
)H
c
c
u
HH H-> tn
tn
m
tn
rH O
■rl
QJ
Q)
■H
>
rH
+J
P
O
C 13
Id
Id
W
d
0)
0)
(U
0)
•rH
■rl
■rl
o
Xl
X!
Pi
ce;
Pi
:3
•p
4-1
■rl
13 £ g
g
a
a
>1U
tnx:
g
C
c
ft
tn
in
>
>i 0
g
Z
O
M
M
M
^1
^
U
M
M
u
=i
:=i
P
D
D
Pj
s
13
3
ftJ n3 fti
to
(t3
tfl
ItJ
W
Q)
QJ
QJ
0)
QJ
QJ
0)
QJ
ttJ
QJ j=;
CU
CI)
Pu
0)
CU
CM
Pn
(Ij
P4
a^
(^
04
Oj
Pj
Pj
:
Pi
Pi
a
a; Pi P5
Pi
Pi
Pi
Pi Pi Pi
Pi
PJ
p; Pi
Pi P^
Pi
Pi « Pi
1
1
00
0
■H
o
44
Id
o
<■
tn
1
i>«i
QJ
rsi
in
Sh
OJ
in
in
t-- r^
CO
CO
o
•t- o
1
1
t
1 1
CM "*
-
x;
44
1
CO
•*
'i'
00
o
1
00
00
OJ
o
1
ro
■* in
o
CM
tn
QJ
to
4-1
3
o
g
tn
44
u
0
01
•rl
Sh
0)
+4
QJ
g
Osl
^—
1
og
•X}
•■
• •
^<
b.
3
3
Pj
0)
• •
C
00
in
in
m
tr QJ
U
■*
3
>^
•rl
g
1
O
m
c
01
M
tn
>H^
rv] ovi
CM
o
O Pl OM
x;
rH
QJ
0)
in
CM
O
T—
4-1
o
o o
^—
^—
t- <; o
u
QJ
U
QJ
T-
T—
1
QJ
1
1 1
1
1
1 K 1
CO
3 4H
QJ
•rl
tn
1
1
rH
Id
■H
•^
■rl
U
0
00
r\i oo
'^
«*
•q* O rM
.. o ••
in H in
x;
ft
Id
•H
0
4J
3
tn
•rl
tn
ft
■=>•
-a-
■=!<
in
00 in
"^
in
to
tn
>i
tn
'a-
in
IH
W
m
Sh x: .£; x;
tn
g
QJ
S
tn
ft ft ft
01
Id
>1
•rl
m
in
Id
Osl
o
00
o
os:
o
CM
O
Y
S o
o
4-1
Id
U
Id
Id
U
Q
in
o
ffi
U
QJ
IH
OJ
CM
o
^ o
c
fi
1
O
1
1
1
1
Y
^<: 1
0
tn tn tn
1
1
1
15
44
44
T—
1
1 1
Id
0
-a-
■rl
00
V
>ir<i
0^
r<i
rH CM
X.
O
o
O
0^!
rvi
QJ
0)
QJ
1
■ji*
T- "^f
•H
■H
••
Sh
• •
• •
U ••
X
• •
Id >H ••
Pj
44
4-1
44
tn
..
..
2
g
g
CM
■ •
.. .<
M
in
■*
O
in
00
QJ 00
00
oo
tj Pi in
O
o
o
u
•=)•
in
QJ
QJ
••
"a-
•^ in
QJ
tn
4-1
4-1
■rl O
1
x; x: x;
d)
O
tJ
^
+J
■rl
tn
QJ
>i
13 Eh
Pj
Pi
Pi
X
0)
'S' >i-=r
g
M-
o
o
■=)■
vo
•H
CO
OVl
g
U
o
o
O cn r-
r^j
M"
tn
Sh 00
in
r^
T—
■*
cy^
OJ
tn
3
o
OVl
00
O XI
o
^
o
T—
T-
o
o
K
o
^—
QJ
<3)
^—
^—
•H H T-
^—
^_
QJ
1
1
1
Id
O
o
o
o
T—
o
tn
OJ
•H
T—
o
o
3 Cn
1 tn
1
o
1
1
1
1
1
>H 1
1
U
+4
1
1
U ffi 1
1
1
•rl
a
1
1
1
1
1
1
>
1
1
1
O O
^^ M- QJ
^—
o
^—
ro
ro
^—
00
Id
Sh r\i
■*
QJ
0^1
OM
QJ T-
r-
«*
Sh
to
to
tn
00
T—
T—
^—
■*
■^
Id
3
rv)
00
OVl
■rl
13 •• M
• •
• •
• •
.«
• *
..
■rl
>i QJ •■
• •
>i
g
ft&H ••
0)
u
u
M
■ •
.*
■ •
■ •
• •
>i
Sh
O
• •
• ■
• •
44 X\
QJ ■=)- P)
-=!•
g
"a"
in
in
>i'*
-*
x:
U
4-1 -*
in
C
0)
00
■*
^ O in
in
in
4-1
OJ
0)
0)
QJ
in
in
ro
>iin ^
in
u
<Si
•H
■=!'
■^
in
Id a.
3
p
!h
ft Q)
QJ
QJ >i
U
QJ ^ ^ ^;
01
4-1
QJ
cn
■n 3
a M
Q)
QJ
rH
4J
g
g .r; !h
>1
W H
g
h
n
Sh
tn
QJ
44
MH
3
z.
•
0 Pi
■H QJ
tn
4-1
QJ
QJ
QJ
3
tn 01
U
c
&H 2
•JD
0)
m
Id
Id
•rl
QJ
O rH
)H
<
O D
4-1 QJ
3
>i Q)
13
g
U
QJ
QJ 4-1
QJ
•rl
H H
T—
U
•=7^
V
O
g
u
QJ
•
to O
C M
•rr^
-P
g
Id
QJ
tn
rH QJ
44
•>
i-:| is:
i
tn
3
0
QJ
4J
X
44 <:
QJ
tn 1-3
O U
Id
C
OJ
r^
U
rH +J
3
rH g
QJ 13
^
QJ
O
CO
■
O
3
01
44
to
<
O
QJ 13
3
o
■rl
QJ Sh
a
<; QJ
g
,-{
J O
"•
QJ
3
4J
0
XI
•H
3
Id
QJ
*■
— x;
U
C
0
X
rH
Id <;
o
QJ
Id
O <
IXi a rH
in
tn
QJ
0
•
•
t-t
Id U
tn
o
>1
U
Sh
•rl
Id
QJ H
to
Id
Id
!D
01
Id
Pj
rH
M
>1
1
O
P3
•rl
to
4-1
>
H
•H
U rH
13
Q)
pj
44
13
r-\
^
Sh Pi
!h
C
Sh
Sh
•H
•rl
tn 4H
44
>1
o
>i 3
tn
g
•rl
<:
3
f-t
>
!h
in
3
OJ
O
3 P
Id Id
tnrH
3
>i O
QJ X; rH
m
H o
■H
•c; c 13
1
<; <; Sh
i-i
O
Id
4J
Sh
x;
Id
Id
Id
QJ
Id
3
to
44 H
■H 13 a
U
Id
o
Sh
■H
4J
ft Id
to
tn QJ
O
H H Id
U
Xl
>1
3
x:
U
•
0)
(
o
u
Sh
ft
XI
CO
3
QJ
rH nil
C rH
J3
o
+J
C
a)
MH
tn
i-{
•rH
i-t
x: g
^H
Sh r^
O
c
2 2 U
Id
X!
o
+4
OJ
to
Q
1-3
Q)
CJ
1
e
<
P
3 D
Id QJ Sh
X!
■H
tn
C
S
g
QJ
QJ
Q)
C
QJ
Id 3
QJ
3 tn S
o
O
c < <:
EC
^
ft
u
X!
U
<C
o
r-i
0
^
O tJ
> ■H QJ
tn
Vh
M
O
o
0
4J £ 13
O
U
> Q)
> X! QJ
OJ
44
tn Sh > > «
tn
Id
tn
Id
O
^
>.
1+4
Id
u
+4
K
■
rH l)H 15
>i o
QJ
C
4-1
tn
a
U
Id
<-{
3 .i; tn
■rl
tn rH
g
rH
fi
QJ
i-:i 1-^ tn
^
ft u
0)
a
Pi
Sh
•rt
to
>.
0
u
•rH
tn
Q
U Pi
>i Sh O
■p
4J
4-1
ItJ
N
4J
o
rH
o
Id
■rl 3
c
44 rH
o
QJ
Id
+4
>H >H C
fl
•rl
tn
u
•h
QJ
tn
•rl
to
•H
>i
QJ
3
Id <
tn ■H H^
4-1
tn
C
X!
4-1
C
fc^^
3:
•H
u
1^
a a
D
4-1 < K
QJ
C
tn
CO en •rl
O rH
O
3
■.
•*
o
QJ
tn X
3
+4
44
rH
>-\
•H
••
rH XI
C Id
m
•rl
3
QJ
3
O
QJ
x:
•rl
4-1
OJ
OJ 2 is ^
tn
rH
4-1
4-1
QJ
0)
u
3
Id
u
•rl
3
•rl
rH
QJ
4-1
rH
3 D
C Ph I
O
K
E
tA
«
g
1
S
P)
i
1
1 1
1
P4 1
1
CO
>
S 2 S )H
u
•H
O
O
X
M
3
O
4-1
Id
o
■•-i
rH
O
3
3
O
ftPi
QJ
W W OJ
QJ x;
X!
•rl
•rl
•rl
•rl
•H
•rl
rH
o
O
0
Pj
O
O
O
O O
P) 1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
Pi Pj Ph
(h
Pi
Pi
Pj
CU
Pi
Pn
Oi
p.
Pj
Pj
Pj
Pj
=
PL,
P)
Pj
Pj Pj
V-
0)
(N CTi
r-
S
^
I
Rj
■4J
.
O O
1 1
o
1
o
Si
ro
•H
CN (^
<N
0 0
•H
rH
•a-
tn
C
u
n ■q'
m
>iO
cn
IB
U
•H
^—
o
VI
o CO
^—
ax
1
CT>
m
Oi
CN
1
H
1 1
o
1
CD
CD >t
.i<:
O
1
0
1-H
CN
C
(0
4J
■p
<N (M
CN
CO (u
o
o
•*
ro
(0
(U
■^
fd
rH
CO
(N •5)'
in
Qi
1 ^-^
CO
u
■*
in
c
T—
(N
rO
o
v£>
1
OO ^
o
T)
CN
>1
O
in
r-j
1
O
1
1
o
1
(U
1
(N
1
U 1
0
Y
c
o
T
Y
o
1
<0
c
n
fSl
I^t
•^
'-j
H-l
■P
o
CN T-
■<3>
u c
O 0
CN
CO
CN
CN
•^
•H
rH
o
-^
^
1
in
"^
CN -a"
"a"
in
-a-
"T
o
rH
U 4-1
1
u
>i
U
>1
(0
o
r^
0)
, — ^
fd
CN IX)
r~
1 Sh
X—
T—
I^
^
T—
KO
a
<X)
<N
o
1
o
1
CO
s:
x;
u
o o
1 1
1
U
cn fd
1
V—
1
o
1
u
o
CN
1
1
o
1
O
1
x:
o-i
n
dJ t3
-p
n3
r-
CN •r-
■^
4J Eh
4-1
TT
CN
^
>H
T
»-
E-i
a*
^
cn
CO
(D
4-1
3
f^ '^
1
^
n
O
CD
a
f^
(d
CN "a-
M>
CD 1
in
in
in
M'
5
CD
2
•^
■^
•"a-
in
>
•H
x;
o
CO
T—
03
lO
s
O
r^
C
H
O
■rl
ro
n
r^
T— T—
<^
T—
x: !h
cy.
in
in
VD
a\
CO
in
U IM CN
1
o
1
o
1
rH
1
■rl
g
1
rH
o
o
1
1
o
1
O T-
1 1
1
Y
u o
fd >H
o
o
1
1
1
o
1
CD
c
>i
Q
o
1
<
O O
1
fN
<N
n
■H
U
^^
c
o
■H
H
pq
CN
u
Id
u
CM
C^
CN
CM ro
M'
•q*
cn 15
fd CD
Y_
CN
•>3>
Y
r<^
CD
in
o
■H
4-1
0
rH
<
>H
r—
144
o
U T-
(D ..
4-1 m
^
<N
n
M"
<N
^
in
in
CM cn
■=r
in
in
'=)'
'a-
'3'
•V
n
3
■1-1
a T.
(C
O
u
CD
a
m
rC
EH
x;
13
>
0
>
4-1
4J
(d
in CM
M-
T—
o
<N
in
Tl
n
b-><
CM
4-1
CJS
CN "*
^—
in
T—
cn
T- n
CN
CN
^
r—
r^
in
cn
(n
CNl
T—
cn
C
Sh
tC
m
o
<
CN
(D in
c
.c
^ o
T—
o
r—
^—
o
c
to
o
Q)
w
O
u
o
O O
T-
o
^—
o
o o
o
o
CD
T—
X—
o
o
o
T—
^—
r-
^—
3
(D x:
o
T—
tX.
o
e
o
0
u
1 1
1
1
1
1
1
=1
_
1
>H
Pi
1
o
1
1 1
1
1
1
1
1 1
1
1
CD
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
O
W
u
1
1
o
1
(U
1
B
fd
■g- <N
'-
(N
■d"
•=!•
n
o
u
4-)
■P
0
CN
bid
CN
s
^—
n CM
n
CN
n
■=}■
CM cn
•*
•=!•
cn
'-
m
■=r
CN
m
CN
CN
'a-
CN
Sh
C5
CD
U
Sh
<
^
'-
<
T—
u
»-
CD
rH
^ ■q-
LO
T-
■^
in
n
(-0
CD
en
tn
CN
^
"^ in
in
4J
in
n
in
V- cn
'O'
in
■^
m
M-
T—
'»'
in
■q-
M"
tn
cn
T
m
cd cn
0
O
CD
in
>i
rH
^
rH
w
•rl
Ql^rl
H
w
■.
CD
fd
U
fd
>^
fd 13
cn
Id
(1<
rH
CU
> >1
.
■H
Ti
CD
C/3
en
di
J
o
o
o
CD
4-1
U
■rl
C
fd
,
•rl
Sh
Sh
fd
4-1
Sh
O
■H
§
0
c
Q
C 4J
CD CD
hJ
M
rH
■rH
S
M
tn
1
1
1
CD
■n
Oa
Sh
3
>^<
M
D
Di
0
0 •H
m
Q)
P
o
(J
w
>i
• cd
3
p
x;
CN
cn
■a-
g
0
g
•
l-D
CQ
13
o
H
m
4-1
h u
5
C
C
-P
CQ
2^
)H
hq rH
O
4-1
m
4-J
• •
a*
>•
CD
■H
o
W
x;
3
M
4-1
^
fd
C5 0
u
(0
■rH
S-l
1
C
c
D
CD
rH
)-l
■H
(D
m
■=r
in
U
u
u
4J
•
•-
13
0^
rH
CO
<*
4-1
CO
Si 0
i-D
>
0)
^-^
cu
■H
S 13
4-1
>1 CD
m
CD
M
X!
•
CD
c x;
(D S
13
Sh
0
■H
w
fd
1
CO
1
0 sz
^
i-l
-Q
>i
(U
O
■rl
CD
si
U Si
>i O
£!
■rH
fd
CO
!5
pa
a, CD
>i fd X!
M
cn
(d
Pm
K
g
2
c
X Eh
i-l
>.
d
0
rH
rH
c
g
>
e
4-1
fd fd
fd
Q
•^
N
CD
0
4-1 rH
Sh
fd
w
rd
cd
>i
>i
>iO
■rl
c
1
0
0
S-l
S rt
■H
■rl
0
(0
CD
■H
S cn
l-D
4-1
b;
■rl
^
•
■H
0
0
N
CD
CD
^
x;
g 13
Sh
Sh
fd
^
H
rH
0
rH
« V
H
0)
e
rt:
■rl
iJ
Q
O
13
H
^4
^
rH
fu
,-i
1-2
S
C
u
Xi
■rl
g
C
u
u
o
3
0
O
K
■rl
CO
0
4-1
fd
rH
!-l Si
,y
^
•k
to
■P
^
3
>.
•.^
<
^
c
H
Id
O
s
fd
fd
CD
•-\
fd
fd
(d
■rl
r-"
0^
4H
m
t^
Sh
W rH
-rl
■H
0 -U
*.
(13
N
l-(
T) >«
*.
(0
*.
en
i-:i
A1 -
>l
c
m
E
«.
o
Sh
CJ
Q
w
t^
t^
a
CC
H
>■
fO
s
fd
CD
fd
.Q
>
-^ 0
N
6
4-1
0)
C
—
M
DiK
CD
u
0 cn
CD
4J
fd
e
*.
-.
c
H
tj
^^
>i >i d m
H
tj rH 4-1
g
c
w ^^
4J
G
M
.H
fC
CD
CD
O
-P
CD
•-
0 T!
rH
a
S
!h
M
Sh
>i
o
K
^
-
-
^
«■
».
4-1
4-1
o
M
in
3
0
'J] 0
■rH
0
rd
>l^
H-)
rH
Sh
^q
+J
rH
>; rH rH ^
CD
■rl
CD
CD
CD
tt
cn
hj x;
x;
x: x; .c: x; x: ji: x;
x;
(D
CD
g
CD
CO
x:
rd
fd
rH
0
■rH rH
g
0
S
D
-P
H-l
x;
tTiD
CD
4-1
(d ti CD
O
^
rH
>
4-)
4-1
CD
4-1
vS\
4J
4-1
4-1
4-1
4-1
4-1
+J
+J
4-1
■p
■H
■rl
o
rH
iJ
4-1
x;
O
0
u
-" ^
SZ
r^
^
0
0
u
CD
Ph
U
4-)
(d
CD -H
0
■rl
rH
rH
(d
fd
CD
3
t
■H
■rH
•rl
■H
■H
•H
■rl
•rl
■rl
•H
U
U
r-{
3
D
3
CJ CLJ
CJ
iD
u u
t3
u
o
O
U
U
cu
cn
H
*
CD
j3 x; x; x:
Cfl
■H
•H
rH
rH
rH
^
g
g
g
g
g
S
g
g
g
g
o
O
0
0
O
0
•J2 W
w
CO
en
'Ji
W
W
Cfl
=
tn
cn
C/]
w cn
m
=
cn
en
cn
Vi
cn
cn
cn
cn
CO
CO
CO
cn
CO
CO
CO
CO
CO
CO
CO
cn
CO
cn
cn
1
1
1
1
o
cn ^ cTi
in
CO
cn
0
•H
Sh
CN
1
O CM o
1 1 1
M
o
o
1
0
4-1
(N
CN V- ^
U
0
CN
m
0
g
•=r
rn ^ in
Pi
1
u
0
>*
in
0
CJ
^
CN
r-
CT\ >£> CTi
4-1
CM
^—
U
T—
1
Y
o
1
O ■(- o
1 1 1
o
0
g
O
1
o
1
3
O
CN
1
■cf
CN
-a-
CN t- m
>,
4J
Cn
0
u
<^
cn
0
^
in
^^
^
CM -^ in
u
0
4-1
C
■rl
x;
rH
in
Sh
0
CD
in
>
rd
CO
^
in cn
in
in
CM ^ CTi
0
in
•H
^—
4-1
0
in
1 1
o
1
Y
o o o
1 1 1
g
0
_td
x;
0
o
1
0
g
o
1
1
4-1
c
■ CN -^
r^j
CN
CM 1- (N
u
i
in
0
-3"
0
-p
tn
CN
in
0
g
-^ in
^
■3*
CM ^ in
!h
0
fd
■H
Pi
in
C fd
0
>
fd
in
rd
0
rH
c
o
u
in CO cn
(X5
CN
kD o in
■rl
i
ri
cr\
rd Sh
u
to
Sh
•rl
o o o
o
^—
o ■^ •<-
Pi
0
T—
o
■rl 3
o
o
O
>
1 1 I
1
1
1 1 !
3
in
1
1
^ Pi
1
c
CM (N CN
^
CN
CM cn ^
1
rH
0
3
o
m
^g-
0
4-1 1
13
C
CN
1
H
^ cn m
^r
■a-
■<- cn ■=1'
Cd
■H
u
M-l
fd
u
in
^
U
■rl >1
> C
fd
rH
in
in
1
rH
fd
u
^ ^
CN
1^
cn r~- (N
o
0
CO
in
in
IT!
cn
H
CN
^—
CTl
3
o o
>i
O
o
O O T-
4-1
o
o
1 X!
^—
V—
^—
o
rd
4-1
1 :
4-1
1
1
1 1 1
in
4-1
1
1
[
rH
1
0
1
1
1
C rH
rg (N 13
0
m
<N
, — ,
CM m m
<
U
m
tn
rn
CO <
m
13
r~i
CM
^
Hi
3
•• •• C
■rl
'•
• •
r-\
■H
,y
bi
0
O
• •
• •
• •
•rl
O
<Ti m ':i
O
in
cn
rd
t- cn ^
1
!H
Sh
in
C
^
■H 1
in
r*
in
■3"
^
tn
o
0
u
4-1
0
•H
Sh
Pi
•rl
13
Sh
to
■H
^
in
>H
X!
0 X
3
C
^ CD
m
13
<»
CN
in
m CM ^
u
>-D
CT\
CN
■H
r^1
o
o
r~-
n
00
o
i~-
CN
X!
r-
4-1 U
r—
>im
cn
tn
r-)
in
m
0
rd r-
o
^-\
^—
O
o
O
^—
O r- CM
o
o
^—
V—
Q
u
V—
T—
o
o
^—
15
^—
o
O
3
^—
0 0
tN
rH
^—
o
T—
r—
o
o
r-1
o
1 tn
fd
1
•H
1
1
1
1 1 1
>l
1
1
;
0
1
1
1
1
1
0
1
1
1
Pi
1
g >H
1
!h
1
1
1
1
1
1
tn 1
— CN C
C.1
C
■^
!h
V-
CN
^
■^ CN CN
■^
CM
^—
4-1
^
M-
CN
ro
CN
S
^
CN
CN
^
0
:
^
fd
CM
•a-
(N
T—
m
CN
4-1 -a-
13 ■• -rl
■rl
u
0
■H
0
0
0
0
0
g
1
0
4-1
c
H
0
0
Sh ••
>i
un
in
C<\
in
T— m ^:r
in
o-i
cn
"^^
in
in
in
^
^
in
in
1
-q-
^
^^
cn
in
in
^
^
m
3 U
o
Sh
cn
-■ ■
<i
tn
0
0
in
2
0
• •
3
in
C Qj 3
4-1
0
■rl
o
0
u
.—^
0
g
>.
4-1
tn
■rl 0 m
cn r-
4-1
>
>i
^ CM
cn
0 rH
0
0
Sh
cn
C
4-1 .C
•rl o
0
■H
Pi
o o
0
>i
^
^
fd
tn
0
>
O
3
•
in
•H
c cn c
'sX \
g
Q
O
1 1
0
Sh
0
Sh
u
, — ,
0
o
g
tji^q
■
0
> rH
0 0
m
0
^1
W
CN CN
in
0
0
■
4-1
>i
fd
•H
m
cn
a
0
3
Pi
•rl
Sh 0
o cn g
13 ••
U
>i
CO
0
• • ••
4-1
IH
►-1-1
C
Sh
rd
13
^4
in
kC 13
g
Sh
0 d
— eg
C -=1'
!h
H
r-i
n ^
0
u
0
0
>i U
0
0
0
>
Sh
13
in
0
in x:
0 0
rd
4-1
0
'X.
rd
>i
0
fd
g
0
g
ICi
4-1
!h
fd
fd
•rl
>
■H >,
u
•
0
>.
fd
ITJ
Sh
•rl
4-1
0 U
> u
rH
c
4-1
1^
Sh
■rl
0
g
0
C
0
•rl
0
3
Sh
X!
0
Sh
Sh
Sh U
0
Q
x:
cn x;
C
fd
r-\
0
Sh •h
'■3 0
0
cn
•H
0
s -^
0
rH
cn
u
c
■H
>
rH
g
O
Sh
U
0
0
nj
0 0
4-1
4-1
0
c
U
•H
15
•-{
c^
CU a
C 4J 4J
u
H
0
e
rd
•>.
C
4-1
0
0
0
0
Sh
>i
_o
0
0
g
3
fd
in
0.,
O
4J 4-1
0
in
u
0
•rl
n
CJ
O
•H
0
fd cn Sh
c
Tm
0
<:
C
C rH
fd
0
g E
1-3
.y
g
0
U
13
O
>ia m
■— -
0 0
g
0
0
>..13
Pi
x;
a
IS o
13 -
rH 4-1 0
0
0
o
1^
C
O
u
>
g
H
0
■rl
x;
C
u
0
g g
0
g
4-1
0
3
o
-.
C 0
cn Sh a Dj
13 13
c
C
CO
fd
in
fd
H
0
>.
>.
0
cn
4-1
fd
o
O
rH
cn
^
■»
to
cn
tn
0 0
u
Id
<^
fd
».
1^
•rl
-
--
u
rd Sh
H o x; s
■H
0
d
0
0
H
U^
13
H
U
^
tn
cn
Sh
fd
S
■rl
U
rH
C
0
tn
CD
X
u u
t75
13
o
Sh
O
4-1
4-1
3
0
a 0 0
> x:
s
4-1
Sh
Sh
>.
>|4-)
4-1
O
V
o
4J
•rl
«.
rd
13
C
2
0
rH
0
•-
:
0
■-
U
c
c
O
tnMH
0 S In 2
0
Pi
CO
rd
Sh
W
*.
fd
>t
Sh
0
U
U
fd
»•
C
•*
r;
c
1-;
C
■H
H
0
rH rH
rd
-
Sh
N
4-1
r-i
in
3
0
0
C m
13 0
^4
4-1
10
Q
0
^
0
X}
0
^
0
0
^
■H
h.
^
fd
0
0
0
x;
3
Xi
CQ 13
fd rd
Sh
4-1
U
s::
C 13
13
4J
tn
tn
0
•rl -rl
0 S 1 I
Oi
!
1
CO
;s
O
u
u
144
tjl
.y
m XI
Xt
U
13
0
rH
c^
CO
CO
CO
4-1
4J X!
pq
13
Sh Sh
3
in
fd
0
■rl
C
C
C
!h
SH
>
> x:
<-\
Ix;
■rl
■H
■rl
•H
■rl
■rl
o
0
0
O
0
o
0
O
O
0
o
O
3
D
3
3 3
Pi
3
cn
rd
fd
-d
fd
rd
fd
fd
fd
rd O
K !
1
I
1
Pi
rs;
Pi
Pi
Pi
Pi
Di
05
«
Pi
Pi
Pi
Pi
Pi
Pi
Pi
Pi
Pi
Pi
pa
Pi
Pi
Pi
Pi
=
Pi
=
cn
on
cn
cn
tn
CO
CO
CO
CO CO
o
m
M<
U3
n
(^
T—
o ro
T—
o
1
O
1
o
1
o
1
1
T3
U
rd
T— \—
1
CM
ro
1
1
-=5"
ro
1
CN
r^ CM
-=!>
■^
in
in
M"
'l'
•^
Ol ^
>ix:
ro
u u
00
CN
IX)
>i
m
in
^—
(U M
00 Ol
O
1
1
o
1
o
1
o
1
<
U
V-
-P 3
ru ji:
o o
1 1
OJ
(N
"\,
u
X!
"*
en
H
P5
'•
g u
CN CM
^
-a-
in
■rH
'a-
M"
1
^
OJ
■p
OJ •51'
rd
>itH
T—
OD
en
U
1^
o
o
[--
T—
ro
x:
4-) c
rvi o
kD O
o
1
O
1
IT!
■H
.H
o
1
1
i
o
1
■^
o
1
m
•H •H
a iH
o T-
1 1
O t-
1 1
n
OJ
■H
Sh
0
X3
:3
ft
CM
ro
CN
Eh
■a-
ro
■^
(U
0)
iH
■H Eh
iH
EH 1
CM ro
T- OJ
n
•^
CN
n
'S-
in
ro
in
CM ro
in r^
-P
w
B
m
c
o
1 C
o
CT^
^—
CN ■
CN
■M
^
0
^—
^
m
LTi
(N
OJ
1
rd
^ ^
ro CM
1
O
1
o
1
1
o
1
ffi
1
-p
in
o
I
_
o
1
o
x;
-p
H
O
O
1
o
:
g
C ■P
Cd -P
o o
1 1
o o
1 1
CN
CM
ro
•^
m
T—
:3
O
^
T3
H
0)
T—
■^
CTi
3
H
H
r^l
■*
T
o
-P rd
■p x;
rd C
OJ ro
•^ CM
(N
in
n
in
in
in
in
ro
•^
^^
n
in
in
T- ro
•^ OJ
J3
■H
s
u
x; rd
+J
*..
MH
H
s
1
C S
■>- <y\
r^
o
r-~
o
CN
^o
O
g
^
iH
CO
ro
CN
<
o
r~
in-
CM
(C
t- 'a'
T- M-
T- O
o
y—
^—
CN
O
>i
o
CD
CC
T—
Q)
o
T—
O
h
T—
o
T—
O
m
S 1
o T-
■5- O
1 1
1
1
1
C
1
1
M
1
-P
>i !-i
1
OJ
1
1
1
H
fo
1
1
1
1
u
1 1
1 1
v- OJ
■^
CM
^
0
4-)
CN
n
0)
-p
Q)
^
•H
x;
u
(D
■P
Q
CN
^
CN
H
O
rM
OJ
CM
M-
(D
X
u
1 X
!h
^ O
rM CM
ro CM
■a< (N
Ln
CN
■^
M-
in
in
u
^
OJ
^ Ti
CN
in
n
H
rsi
in
in
in
T- ro
■^ T-
(ti
e
M
OJ
ft
-p
.H
O
rd
U >H
U
OJ
<
g
0)
O
h
Z
s:
O
O <N
n
CN
cr,
in
0 cn
CO
>iU
r~i
CT,
0)
>i g
n
T—
V£)
in
O
o
o
ro
o
00
<
cy^
OJ
VD
o
o
in
>H 15
o
\o -^
O CM
T- O
1 !
o
1
O
1
o
o
1
Ti O
W 1
o
1
0)
+j
1
O
1
0
U
H
cC
0)
o
C
■rH
1
o
1
o
1
1
1
1
1
O
CO
o
1
O
1
o
1
1
1
1
0)
o
1
0)
Y
o o
1 1
T- o
1 1
^ CM
m
CN
CN
m
c^
^
-P
0)
>
•rH
CM
CM
-p
0
X!
•H
>1
CD
-P
X
■=j"
CN
■a-
CM
Y;
CN
■Jf
ro
o
H
ro
Eh
S
H
ro
OJ
-=)■
CO
ro
(D
M
OJ
0)
0)
T—
T- OJ
ro rvi
^ (N
'S'
<N
LO
^
<U
'^r
■=r
in
'^
in
^_
in
in
■3"
CM
T
■a"
in
ro
OJ
^
ro
ro
CM
in
t- CO
■a> .^
Q)
(1)
iH
(U
H
l-q
(U
-p
OJ
w
•^
(U
03
U
o
■H
P3
T!
a)
2
w
^
w
(U
m
CNJ
r-
O
tn
d)
e
C^
n
H
(3-1
in
-p
(U
CM
M-
^—
o
^
-p
O t3
C
>
0)
Q)
o
o
«
o
Q
^—
c
M
V—
^—
1
1
m
0
a
W
rH
•rH
rH
u
x:
1
1
ft
1
S
1
Q)
T(
1
1
(N
"T;
0
3:
3
0
m
O
iH
0)
CQ
T3
-p
■*
g
(d
■=!■
rM
<
CM
,
iH
>i rd
^
OJ
■^
M
in
■H
e
^
(0
1
(C
0
Ti
in
■rH
g T3
m in
m
in
W
"3-
C
Ph
M >,
ro
^ +j
X
M
rH
X
cu
1
o
c x;
H
(d
■rH
0)
>
■ •
ct;
x:
>i rd
0
0) x;
0
m C
o
Ti
d) i-l
W
1
Q)
>ih:i
:5
(0
(C
>i
H
•H
>
0
3
<c
•
rd
iH
g
g
-P
-P o
s:
•H
0) C
•H
■H
-P P
C
Eh
4J
0
,V
C
H
■H
H
rd
rd
'U
ff;
o <:
M
U
H
U
d) ^H
Ch
iH
e <
Q
>
cd m
iC
1
OJ
M
•rH
1
rH
(0
Ti
C
H
S:
rH
Q
1^
c
•
p
o
0)
<D 'O
0)
g 3
tH
M
(0
(C
e ft
)H
M
O
1
U
QJ O
H
cd
(d
•H
•rH
J
o
w
Xi
1-1
W
CD XI
(u x;
Cd
Id
1-1 -
«.
Q
(C
0)
m
rH
K
c
tn
u
K
w
*.
IS
*.
«.
[2
1^
m x;
OJ
a o
u u
>iK
E
a
C
tn -
CQ
Q)
■H
•H
a
g
o
c
1
0
c
C
>i
H
O
Q
».
>.
Id
K
rd
- rtj
tti
^
C 0
m
x:
>
(D
•rH
o
-p
<;
s
«.
>.
o
^
O X
>i >iO
■H
iH
U
x:
>i >iQ
>.
•k
U -H
•H
U
■H u
».
w
&^ J-l
-P
-p
M
0
Ul
ra
■p
&-P
m
C UH
B^
*.
>
•i
Q)
0)
m
•-
-p -p
in
Ql
<D -n
•I— I
0
£ m
+J
OJ
g
tn
■H
m
M
iH
3
a
0
tn
rd
cd
c
0
m
C
(d
ip
w
0
X
X!
X5
1
-P
■rH tH
x:
Q)
rH
c x;
x;
M
U Q)
m
C
0
rd
i
CO
13
(0
0
cC
fd
•H
g
g
U
o
u
0)
MH
(d
w
m
rH
w
3
3
(D
C
c c
-P
X
-P
C M
W
>1
(B ^a
m
c
^
2
X
«;
X
K
w
s x;
0
0
0
M
3 X)
HH
g S
a, rd
rd
(d
(U
CU
■H •H
3
0
-P
tc ta
ca
(0
0) (U
0)
01
OJ
Eh
x:
x;
X! x: x;
•rH
•rH
•H
H
o
o
u
iH
u
U
n
H iH
iH
3
3
H H
H
H
H
H
EH
Eh
1
1
1
H
1
1
[
1
1
=
H
Eh
Eh
Eh
&^
Eh
Eh
H
Eh
Eh
Eh
bi
Eh
Eh
Eh
H
Eh
Eh
Eh
^
H
1
Ovj
OJ
1
M"
1
-P
Id
•H
g
a
0
(U
(D
ro
r^
■H
ft
H
>
o
^—
H
(d
O
1
1
o
a
w
J
CN
'j;
CD
rd
rd
!5
c
~
rvj
•^
x:
O
cn
o
W
tn
-p
•p
-P
c
X
1
tn
U
•rH
o o
tn
u
■P
C <
M
CM CM
o
o
^H
0)
•H
ft
1 1
1
MH
O
0
1
(D
>
•H
■P
W
1
CN OJ
ro
ro
>1
-P
CD
(D
a
CD
13
•H
rd
rd
•H
>i
•rH
tD ^
>
C
U
-P
[^ ■!-
in
OI
IX)
C
CM
u
tn
CD
0 T-
T—
•rH
O
cd
O ^
r—
^—
o
O
o
o
(D
iH O
OJ
H
U
fi
1 1
1
1
1
rH
1
tn
tn
M
ft !
1
o
(U
C
CM ro
•sj-
■*
ro
0
^a- cn
CD
O
•a-
CM
iH
rd
Q
•rH
O
u
in 3
H
Id
•rH
iH
1 J,
in ro
>*
■*
ro
3
in
■*
U
C
iH
■rH
>l
rd
O
Eh
0
CD
-p
rd
tJi
13
x:
CD
r~-
r^
U
^— ^—
^—
CM
CM Cvl
00
■^r
m 00
cn
•H
CD
3
iTi ^
CM
■p x:
o
o
r— y—
r-
^—
T— ^—
o
T—
O
PJ
■P
g
CO
H o
O
iH
-P
1
1
1
1 1
1
1
1 1
1
1
tn
1
>
rtJ
CD
en 1
1
0
3
^
•^
T— ^—
'a"
■=!•
^ ^
CM
•sj-
■p -^
<
C
CJ
1
H OJ
OI
s
0
0
■H
•P
CD
(D
in
in
M* ■=)■
^
'^
'a' -^
ro
in
in
X
>i
(D in
"^J-
X
nJ
tn
-P
U
■P
13
0)
>i
o
e.
3
— E
C
u
C
0
^ CD
H
T—
r--
ro
OI
o
T—
r-
^ O O
•rH
T—
^—
T— Y—
in
in
VD OJ
CJ^
ro
cn
r-~
ro err
x:
VO
H CO
<D
00
o
H
3
3
■=!•
X 1^
o
r-
1
!h
rd
1
o
1
1
o
1
rH
(D
1
1
o
O r- t-
1 1 1
iH
(0
1
Y
T 1
o
1
o
1
o o
1 1
■^
1
1
o
:
o o
1 1
u
rd
T
m H
O Eh
o
1
1
1
^
X
U
0
U
o"
01 r-
1
1
o
1
■a-
• • en
in -P
H
ro
ro
■^^
OJ
(d
U
■H
CD
in
■<-
■^
■^
CM 1- T—
X
■p
rd
OJ
■*
^ ^
OJ
■<-
'a- OJ
'a"
■*
■=!<
ro
ro OJ
en
tn
IT!
OJ
■H Eh
13 O
0 U
■^
OI
ro
tn
-p
C
rd
tT)
in
■^
■=!•
^
ro
UH
^
ro
in
ro
^
■^
"^
1- -^ ^
^
^
^ ^
OJ
c^
^ ro
•=3-
in
^a-
in
^ ^
OJ
^
^
^
^_
(D "•
CD
■*
in
ro
u
0
13
u
^
■H CO
CD
■H
3
en
<
H
0
>i
•
cn
iH
iH XJ
g
H
■H
iH
Z
lo
u
(D
Q
tU >H
p
CD
C
0)
3
C
iH
(D
u
■H
1-1
x;
M
ftK
c
-P
CD
>i
ft >
CD
0
U
*.
O
-p
<D
in
•
•
C -P <
— D
•
0
>irH
!h
■H ■H
m
■H
rd
•
ft (D
>
Id
>1
•^ TO
W
iH
eu
>H
C
H
m
iJ
g^
X! X
CD •
rH -P
3
-P
g
Q
—
g
in
*=:^
U
en
en -H
>l
H
1^
E
• M
MH
H
0
rtl S
(D
tn
(D
-p s;
i-\
■iH rd
g;
rd
rd
CD
rd
13
U
Q)
(D H 13
u
rd
C« 0
0 >
g
U W
rH 13
CO
x:
(U
s;
tu
0)
X IH
-P
x:
ftj
U
O
■rH >,X
•-
Q)
g
g -H
•rH
C
>i
tn
-
■H
■
fc^
<
O
H O
in
u
CD
u
!h
g c
c
ft 0
C
-p
■H
H
> iH 0
c
X
rd
rd tH
>
(D
>iH
CD
a
H
Eh
C
u
K
H
K
rd
rd
H
^H
ft
en
CD ■H
5
u
rd
>lH
rH
W
CD
Id
T3
•H
rd rd ■H
•H
en
1^
1^ IS
113
:n
cd ■rH
g x;
H
<-> ^
CD
C5
0
H x;
x;
5
iH
3
C
U >
C (D
H
M
■H
K
>
H
^H
Q s ct;
iH
Q
^ g
Id
0
■H
•
0 h
-p
tn
< CO
u
13
n3
x:
X
O
CD
13
X Q
a
rd
*■
x:
^2
0
•
0)
•H
0)
h.
«.
»■ »■
-
iH (0
1-1
1-1
S
< ^1 CD
-p
S
H
x;
o
CD
■rH
■P «
*.
C
0
5^
CPft
!h
*^
■H
t-1
K *. *.
X MH
-P
-P -P
-
c
3 MH
MH
3
o
*.
T—
».
u
CD
-P
C
13
rd
1^ c
Ti
c
O
O
UH
T) 13 13
O
MH
MH
MH MH 13
o
^
>■
•^
«.
>.
^ H
U
t^
13
^
13
«.
MH
iH
•H
•H ^
G H
u
H
».
■H
*.
z
*.
cr.
»-
M ^H M
CD
■H
■rH
•H -H
U
■p
w
en
en
tn
13
CD (D
O
iH
H ••
in
X
*.
0
O
■P
0 >i rd
U
- (D
0
Q) TJ
en
H
Cn
tJl
C
X
ITJ 0 0
c
H
H
H H
(d
(U
- i=;
C
C
c
iH
0 X
(D
E3
Id
tn
rd
■rH
CD
en
ft CD
H
0)
rd X
x;
C
^
H
en
s
C
c
■H
CD
C UH UH
H
U
U
U U
c
H
C (D
CD
CD
(D
rd
(31 CD
C
H
13
H W
x;
c
c
>i
^
M
C
-P
N
U] ■P
-p
■H
iH
3
<D
2
•H
■rH
iH
g
C MH MH
X
c
c
c c
c
ft
•H >
>
>
>
S
H C
0
g
13
2 z
-P
(C
o
13
rd
<D
C CD
CD
■P
3 3
3
rd
rd
(d
•H
H
!h
U
ft rd
rd rd rd
rd
rd
rd
rd Id
Id
rd
CD (D
Q)
CD
ID
(U
•H •H
-P
o
0
o o
0
iH
u
3
C!i
ft
rd CD
CD
■H
0 0
O
a a ft ftft
ft
ftw
M
-P -P -P
■P
-P
-P
■p -p
-p
-P
-P -P
-P
■P
■P
-P
■P ■P
cn
t^
-P
H H
-P
-p
-p
-P
3
3
S •:
S
S:
CD CO
en
en
W
w
en
en
m
tn
=
cn
en cn cn
cn
cn
cn
CO tn
cn
cn
cn'oT
cn
tn
on
cn
cn cn
CO
tn
CO tn
tn
cn
CO
CO
CO
cn
CO
cn
CO
cn
s^
S
5;
s; s s
m
(D
PJ
a p P)
n
H
M
H M M
M
h
t-i
fD ITT CL
(D
(T)
(D
~ (D (D
ti
3
3
hj 3
^
^
"
P
<->
' r;
►^
0 a ch
fu
(1)
.
3- fD 0
p
t-(
BJ f-S 3'
n
Iw^
ft) rt 3
^<
M t-< ~
TJ
C
(D
CL Q
!D
fD f-!
M
•
U) Ul it^ Ul Ul UJ
U) — * LJ — * N) U)
I I I I I I
o -» o -^ -^ o
-J NJ >X) O Ul CO
1
1
i
1
<
<
<
<<<<<<<
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
<
<
<
< <
< G C
H-
H-
H-
H-
M
H
H
H
CD
n
fD
fD
OJ
BJ
01
flJ
t-( n
» 1
V
^
> t-i
3
3
a 0 n
n
0
rt
s
<
W
1
W
W
W
JO
1
^'
'T*
0
cn
1
1
1
1
CO >
t-i
t-i
C
3
3
3
a-
LJ.
c
P
M
c
in
B)
B)
c
H
h9
1-3
H
fD
fD
C
3-
C
0
0
0
bT
0
fD
fD
1-1
3in
X
a
BJ
0
h •X
n
ft) in
p-
(-■
H'
n-
0 0
0
0
H
0
Pi
3
n
01
rt
n
0
0 3
3
t-i
3
in 03
m
a
3
M
0
BJ
fD
Qi
CD
3
3-
^ 0
3- a- c:
3
•-
H-
?3
W
PO
w
»
a
3
Q. fD
t-tl
M
x ?r
P(
rt
0
tn
3
(D
fD
fD
3
H-
3
tn
t-i
fD
fD
3
M M
3
(D
m
H-
Hi
in
H
H
H
H
3
H
0
fD
3
rt
BJ
p-
p-
fD HD
3-
0
P-
3
3
3
3
P-
3
rt
0
0
cr
1-1
3
a
M
0
1-1
rt
BJ
<-i
BJ
•«
> > > >
U)
3
1^
rt
(fl
3
3
3
fD
fD
fD
rt
3
fD
3
3
3
3
in
3
BJ
p-
rt
fD
?d^-^
3
M-
0)
Di
3
Z Z
z
a
K
rt
(-'
fD
cr
QjlQ
in
3
*-•
cn
iQ
BJ
p-
p-
p. in
rt
I-'
M
»
3-
<
?0
(T) :^
a. 0
0
H-
»
w
>
M
BJ
t-i
c
3- 3-
P-
rt
rt
!-• 3
3
^
ft
0
<
ft
0.
C
fD
P-
rt 0
>^ n
0
M
H-
■«
a
n
n
§-
W
0 3
t-<
n
B)
BJ
*'■'
fD
fD
0
0 <n iQ
in
0
3
a-
fD
'<
I-' n
n 0
m
0
D-'<
0
M
M
n
1^
pj
a
WK
0
3
3
0
t-1
f-i
3
in
rt
rt
rt
3
fD
►^
0
fD
in
0
3-
(D D.
cr
C
BJ
D >
^*
t-i
P-
0
a
3-
c
C
p-
0
0
0
I-'
rt
fD
^
fD tJ
OJ
01
c
3
f-i
W
H
n
n
3
W
BJ
3
0
3
0
0
3
3
3
f~)
fD
3
3
3
l-i
rt n
i-<
rt
d > m
H
M
p-
K
n
l-ti
rt
0
rt
0
BJ
fD
3
< fD
'•
Ln
fD
a
(D
iQ
'■<
BJ
1-3
w
^
U)
fD
rt
t<^
C
C
I-'
li:
n n 3
OJ
n-
H-
3
3
Ul
a:
H
w
rt
^
3
(fl
3
0
3
c
fD
fD
rt
3
fD
fD
£>
?0
rt
CD
1
•*
^
K
1-3
M -D
fD
cr
rt
fD
rt
f cn
3
3
t-(
& t-<
(n
1
0
BJ
rt
H
H
BJ
fD
rt
c
t<;
3
>■<
p-
fD
rt
rt
fD
fD <<
0 cr
3
(D
'^
K 13 >
0 rt
i-(
fD
i-i
fD
cr
C
H
t-i
Pi
cri (D
a
i-i
0)
M
3
a
P-
P-
P(
^
rt
p(
3
fD
fD
cr
l-I
k:
l-(
>
»^
0
0 ^
fD
BJ
p-
W
rt
w
(Ji
'<
OJ
^
M
M
4:^
<
J^
0
3
p-
>
Ln
n
fD
Ln
Ln
to
J:^
Ln
— ^
Ln
h
*<
n
fD
n
fD
Ln
—x
^
Ln
rt
fD
fD
Ln
Ln
^
4^
0
3
1
01
— ^
1
1
1
NJ
1
a
to
1
D
0
fD
n
flj
tn
tn
1
3
fD
to
1
to
to
1
to
to
1
1
to
1
BJ
3
fD
3
fD
to
1
1
1
1
0
to
1
1
0
01
0
0
0
0
-^
>
— *
M
3
M 0
— :i
rt
-A
— ^
0
— i
— ^
0
— ^
rt
rt
rt
0
fD
z:
_k
UD
3-
U)
^
UJ
bJ
U)
a
Ln
> CD
— '
0
— ^
fD
—A
— i
to
J^
— ^
>c>
— ^
fD
fD
—A
Ln
Ln
— k
3
fD
£>
CJ^
to
H-
D
H
rt
p-
t-i
00
t-(
•-<
fD
s:
3
a:
fD
BJ
k^;
fD
►< •<
ft
Ul
rt
H
m
Ln
P-
—^
rt
p-
Ln
Ln
to
to
Ln
3
3
~x
>
Ul
fD
Pi
0
Js.
Ln
1
0
3
M
1
fD
W
M
1
0
3
to
1
to
1
to
1
to
1
1
P-
3
1
Ul
01
1
'<
t-i
1
to
1
0
— i
0
— i
— ^
— ^
0
0
in
0
0
_^
0
M
0
0
M
CD
(D
1
Ul
U)
to
1
Ul
1
ro
Ln
Ln
— ^
1
0
to
Ln
1
0
CTl
Ln
0
to
Ln
to
1
Ln
to
rt
0
3
^
C
w
fD
P
3
*»
0
p-
BJ
It
P-
0
3
1
0
-jt
1
fD
s:
D
0
-a
rt
BJ
rt
LJ
to
1
a^
*.
1
]
.b.
0
1
0
1
0
i
IV)
-J
Ln
_^
.(^
fD
3
H
tn
M
Bl
3
Ln
NJ
1
^
1
0
1
0
1
CJl
^
Di
to
O
I
O
Ln
to
to
I
o
2
D
n
X
r+
O
<
O
I-'
c
3
fD
Ul
rt
3*
t-i
O
c
n
O
O
&
BJ
i-i
3
ft
Bl
O O P-
O O rt
Oj Dj N
!-■ cr fD
BJ fD M
3 PI !-■
Dj Pi
^ BJ
n- 3
fD a.
3 '^
fD BJ r:i
rt 3 PJ
fD fD M
t-i M 3^
^ O
s s: 1 i
I
I S s
Lo O O to *^
I 3^ 3" 1 I
O O O LO O
H cn S
m S P-
fD m
m M o
0 P-' o
D- 3
H in
Ir^ H p-
M P! 3
a fD
3 C/5
W 3 rt
k; flj p
H rt
m fD
o
P-'
&
01 *. n
" ■' (ij
Ji ->• 3
; ! fD
o -^ rt
00 o fD
I
rt O
BJ no
rt Jd ?r hi
fD O fD
o n fo
ffi ?^ O 3
P- c
in n 3
rt O
o
Pi
P- rt
O ^
Bl
P-
co in
O rt
O O
p- p|
fD p-
rt o
t«-4 0)
O
rt O
C i< Cb
3
O
fD
3
fD
rt
fD
p;
LJ
•• 0
n
^ Bl
t-'
1 K
fD
-^ rt
<
OJ 0
fD
3
I-'
BJ
J^ 1
3
• •
&
to s;
i 0
1
0 f)
00 Qj
s;
M
0
BJ
()
*. 3
Cb
.. Uj
M
to
Bl
1 n
3
to (D
ti
to q
fD
fi
rt
fD
un fD
H
•• P|
fD
J:^t<
rt
J
fD
0
K
Ul
*<
•• CO
-^ o
I o
_^ p-
-^ fD
rt
o
m n
•• p-
^ fD
1 rt
o'<
LD
I
o
LO
to
1
o
S I
O
3 ?d
rt O
fD o
M ?s-
M
O O
O
3
rt
p-
in
rt
O
Pi
p-
o
01
cn
O
O
p-
fD
rt
Cd
tt) h
s
p- p- p-
cn 3 3
O in o
c:
P| fD
3 rt
P- fD rt
rt
rt n
O
n c
O 3
0 rt
3 ><
rt
p- p-
o
LJ
tn
rt
O
t-i
p-
O
Bl
W
O
O
P-
fD
rt
M 3-
O fD
C W
' rt
fD
td Pi
cr-
fD
3 >
fD I-'
N P-
fD O
P! fD M ^
fD
rt
ft
Ull-<
Si a s
333
cn in in
S c-i
fD O
M 3"
< 3
O
M P- l-J
P- I-'
BJ P-
3 Bl
cn 3
- cn
3 3
Ln j:^
^ LO
I I
o ^
Pj P
Ji
Ln
to to
I I
LO to VD
I
O
BJ
LnLoLJtoLnLn*>tol-j
<
*» U> LO (D
I ! P!
to Ul
I I
-i o
Ln Ln
to 10 4i
I I I
O O O -» -i
Ul CTi iXJ 4i to
« s;
P- K
O
O t-<
O M
X
Id M
3" m
p- td
<
-73 >
H
> H
• O
23
O
>
*. >
•• t-i
LJ O
I O
o G
Ln td
3- 3"
P- fD
rt fD
fD \-'
- O
o
Cid ■?<
^ <£, ^ ^
3" 3" 3" fD
fD fD pJ in
fD fD M rt
M !-• M O
fD fD fD 3
Pi Pi ^<
, , , n
fD
o r:i Cd 3
cr p CL fD
pj Pi s: rt
Di O pi fD
P- M Pi t^
pJ CD DjI-<
s
td fD fD
cn m cn
1-3 rt rt
td - -
2: td >
^ ^ i:. Sl
- ■ ■ - fD
P-
cn
in
CD O pJ
M p- cn o
> cn BJ k;
< fD
td BJ
k; ft) 3
Q P'
a
^
V 2
'• O
o p;
3- 3
pi pi
Pi 3
&
s s s
fD fD pi
fD pj C
CL rt in
- 3' 3-
fD -
D Pi
pj cr c_,
3 '< fli
fD
►fl
a
pj
rt
rt
o
P!
cn
D
<
to
I
o
rt
LJLnLOLOLnHLoL03'Lnjito^LOLn*.4iLnio
M •• •• t1 ..
LOLOtD ^--^tO— ^10— ^— ^LOibtO
I I fD 1 I I I I I I I I I
o-^ oooo-^oooo-^
CXl-^O OOVDtOCriLO^Ji— ^-^o
3"
LO to LJ -^ to M
I I i I I P-
000003
li3 -^ LO to CO O
cn
Ln Ji Ln ^ Ji
to tv) — ^ -^ Ji
II I II
o -^ -^ o ->•
00 to O Ol ^
to to
I I
o -^
LJ <^
I
o
LO
Ln Ji
Ji *.
I I
o to
-^ o
Ln Ji
Ji to
I I
o to
to — ^
Ji
I
Ln Ji
to -i
I I
o o
Ln 00
Ji
Ji
to
to to
0
0
0
0 0
^
IX)
to
00 Ln
to
to to
to
-^ 0
-^
Ln a\
*>.
Ln Ji
LO
Ji to
0 -i
— i
to 00
1
^
Ln to
LO p;
to to
13
1
fD
1 1
0
— ^
3
0 -»
r
— ^
-^ 0
fD
0
fli
Hi
3
Ln
Ln Ji
0
10
to to
0
1
1 1
C
0
0 0
3
-J
~-J -^
rt
^<
Ln
Ln
Ln Ji
1
Ji
to
to to
•^
1
1
1 1
fD
0
— ^
0 to
cn
LO
U)
00 -^
rt
0
3
Ln Ji
0
to Ul
CD
1 1
3
— i — ^
fD
Ln -i
rt
fD
Pi
Ln Ji
k;
■' •■
Ln LO
.fc. to
I I
o o
LO to
Ln LO
Ji LO
I I
o -^
00 o
Ji •&.
I I
o -»
to
I
o
1X3
to
1
to
1
>
>
<
c
c
td
p -
- n
fU hi
c
[SI ISJ
t< I--
rt tu
Bj n
- o
w Id
c: M
D rt
fD D
tsi N k; K k;
OJ 0) o o o
D H- C C C
H- rt rt P D
0) N D"a3 in
MO) ~ '
n
o
(D
f-i
•a
o
UJ 4^ U> -f^ Ln
fD
i-i
P
i-(
&
INJ J:^ -i
I I I
o o o
U) 00 to
U) to
I I
o ^
p-
o n <
3 |< 0)
£u P rt
tn rt H-
p- O
H- p
n
O
-^ uilD *. Ln
.. .. U) .. ..
I I
o o
K ^<
(D £U
P rt
rt (D
U) ui
O »
p-
- n
> rt
O
3
H-
P
^
O H-
C iQ
lQ p-
p- rt
rt ^
B
I
-1 o
o <y^
I
to UJ
I I
to n s
I I
-» o
to J^
to *. -^
I I I
o -^ -^
^ (jj 00
to
I
o
to
I
o
to
1
o
00 -
lo
I
to
I
to
o
to
I
o
I
p
ti-
i-d fD
fD t-(
P P-
n (D
fD M
tn
I
o
p
p
&
CQ
rt
fD
fD
1
o
uo
rt
p-
H
O
Association for Gravestone Studies,
c/oAmerican Antiquarian Society,
Worcester, Mass. 01609
NON PROFIT ORG.
U. S. POSTAGE
PAID
Permit No. 410
Worcester, Mass.
NEWSLETTER
Ms. Beth Rich
43 Ryhary HilLMJAy
Needham. MA 02192
:+:
"^
NEWSLETTER
OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES
Editor, Jessie Lie Farber
Guest Editors, Diana Hume George
Malcolm A . Nelson
Volumes, Number 1, Winter 1981/82 ISSN: 0146-5783
CONTENTS
A CONFERENCE REMINDER and two Williamstown epitaphs 1
ASSOCIATION NEWS , 2
Epitaphs with Literary Sources, an article , , i . i i 3
by Diana Hume George
Gravestone Inscriptions : Their Unappreciated Beauty, a photo essay 5
by Francis Y. Duval and Ivan B. Rigby
BOOK REVIEWS
The Hour of Our Death ,,,.,, i ,,,, i ,,, i i i ■ ■ i J
by Philippe Aries
Review by Malcolm A. Nelson
Over Their Dead Bodies and Sudden and Awful • • • 8
by Janet Greene and Thomas C. Mann
Review by Avon Neal
How I Carve a Headstone • • • . ■ ■ • 9
by Frankie Bunyard and Robert B. Stephenson
RESEARCH AND WRITING. Requests, published articles, current research 11-13
Bay Colony Tendril Carvers, a report i t ■ . 13
by Michael Cornish
MISCELLANEOUS 14,,16
NEWSLETTER NOTES , 15
The first mailing of details about the
1982 AGS CONFERENCE
will arrive in early February. Watch for it and
mark your calendar
JUNE 25-27, WILLIAMS COLLEGE, WILLIAMSTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS
"Since creation was spake into existence, have not
all ages, sex or condition been constantly maturing
for the shafts of death ..."
— from the Ezekiel Buck stone,
Williamstown, Massachusetts, 1812
Her bereaved husband has caused this stone to be
erected to designate the spot where she reposes,
and not in the unnecessary attempt to commemorate
her worth; for with those who knew her (and perhaps.
Reader, thou art one) her virtues need no remembrancer,
and with those who knew her not, the simple Records
of truth would be mistaken for the language of
panegyric.
— from the Rachel Talcott stone,
Williamstown, Massachusetts, 1817
- 2 -
ASSOCIATION NEWS
Conference inquiries and contributions. The 1982 Conference Chairman is Elizabeth
Hammond. Direct inquiries concerning program participation, exhibit space, hous-
ing, etc., to her at 3U Old Connecticut Path, Wayland, Massachusetts 01778.
Two hours needed. Laurel Gabel, who is handling registration for the June confer-
ence at Williams College, needs volunteers for two hours Friday morning, June 25,
two hours Friday afternoon, and two hours Saturday morning, June 26. Registering
conferees is a good way to meet your fellow members, as well as to contribute to the
conference. Please offer your two hours of service by dropping a line to Mrs. Gabel
at 323 Linden Street, Wellesley, Massachusetts 02181.
Speaking of help. Want to help ACS and don't know how? Let us count the ways.
Solicit members. If you lecture or publish or belong to a gravestone-related or-
ganization such as a historical or preservation society, mention ACS. Carol Per-
kins, AGS Membership Chairman ( 1233 Cribb Street, Apt. 204, Toledo, Ohio 43612),
will send you information for distribution.
Pay your dues on time. Membership is from June to June. AGS has no foundation
grants or other outside funding. It supports itself, with modest dues. Dues for
1982/83 are $15. Pay them in June to Nancy Melin, Treasurer, 215 West 125th St.,
New York, New York 10023. Better yet, push yourself a little and take out a $25
Sustaining Membership, which amounts to contributing $10 over and above the bare-
bones membership fee.
Participate. Respond when you can to requests published on these pages. (For
example, write Mike Cornish, 62 Calumet Street, Roxbury, Massachusetts 02120,
about books, articles, photographs, records or rubbings you may be willing to
place in the AGS archives.) Or make suggestions to us that will help AGS bet-
ter serve your needs.
Get to the grass roots. Take AGS philosophy and principles to your community
through activity in your local educational institutions and community organiza-
tions, and then report your activity' — successes and failures — through AGS pub-
lications and conferences.
And finally, really try to make a financial contribution. AGS publications, con-
ferences, and consulting services either pay for themselves or require contribu-
tions— or they fail. Markers II, for example, is ready for press, but we are
still raising the necessary publication funds. A $5 gift is welcome (so is $5000),
and it is tax deductible. For it you receive a heart-felt thank you letter which
you can file for the IRS. Besides that, you will have a nice feeling, we think.
AGS officers and staff are all voluntary and unpaid. There are no physical head-
quarters to pay for. All our budget goes into our projects. This is one organiza-
tion in which you get back 100% of what you put in. Contributions go to the AGS
treasurer, Nancy Meiin, 215 West 125th Street, New York, New York 10023 — the
same place you send your dues.
Speaking of gifts, AGS recently received two gifts which are of unusual interest. One
was a $5000 donation made by a member who has made other annonymous contributions.
The other gift is, one might say, priceless: two numbered first edition copies of Har-
riette Merrifield Forbes' Gravestones of Early New England and the Men Who Made Them.
We assume that everyone seriously interested in gravestone art knows that copies of
this edition of the Forbes book are much sought after and are, actually, almost impos-
sible to come by. The books were discovered in Worcester, Massachusetts, last summer
by Margaret Erskine, who is the wife of Linwood Erskine, Harriette Forbes' grandson.
The Erskine's were preparing to move into the house in which Mrs. Forbes wrote the
book, and during these preparations, the two volumes turned up. Margaret Erskine, an
active antiquarian and herself an author, was well aware of the importance of this find,
and that libraries and booksellers are eager for copies of the book. AGS is delighted
to be the recipient, and word of the gift has traveled speedily in the New England area,
where there is much speculation concerning the use to which they should be put. One
copy, it seems obvious, will go to the ACS archives at the New England Historic Genea-
logical Society Library. But the other? Among our membership are the persons who
would most appreciate owning the Forbes book; we know of individuals who have had the
title on the search list of antiquarian book stores for years. Should we auction it at the
conference--perhaps taking write-in bids from members unable to attend? Or conduct a
raffle? Or present it to a recipient of the Harriette Merrifield Forbes Award (Ludwig,
Benes, or a future recipient?) If you have a suggestion, send it to AGS Publications,
c/o American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, MA 01609. We welcome your ideas.
- 3 -
EPITAPHS WITH LITERARY SOURCES Diana Hume George
It is often difficult to trace the literary source of a fine epitaph. Sometimes, however,
the carver lends direct assistance, as did the carver of the Samuel Jones, Jr. stone in
Concord, Massachusetts. This is a large, elaborately carved neoclassical stone with
the following epitaph:
"Men drop so fast, 'ere life's mid-stage we tread
Few know so many friends alive as dead. "
Young
The carver has simplified the search for a literary source by supplying both quotation
marks and an attribution. "Young" is Edward Young, author of The Complaint and the
Consolation; or Night Thoughts . Young was a member of the so-called "Graveyard
School" of English poetry, which also includes Blair's The Crave. Apropos, to be sure,
but does it tell us anything useful? Indeed it does. Night Thoughts was written in the
lyiO's, and before 1844 it had been translated into twelve languages. Young's name was
a household word in much the same way as were Milton's and Shakespeare's. By the mid-
nineteenth century. Young had fallen into deserved disfavor, and Night Thoughts is
saved now only by a few examples of fine poetry among its more than 10,000 blank verse
lines, most of which sound maudlin and banal to the modern ear. For a century, how-
ever, he was counted among the great. Young's text is a pious exhortation to the liv-
ing to live properly and to think seriously on death. His theology was attractive to the
early American audience, partly because it eschewed the pleasures of the flesh, and
partly because its piety is tempered by a lively regard for the delights of life; and, per-
haps most significantly, because it includes an unabated remonstrance against the hypo-
crisy of institutionalized religion and government. Night Thoughts sold very well in
America, and gravestone researchers should be aware that more than the occasional in-
stance of graveyard iambic pentameter may have its source in Young's text. See, for
instance, Forbes' discussion of stonecarver William Young's book collection in Grave-
stones of Early New England and the Men Who Made Them, page 81. William Young owned
a number of books on various subjects, but only one book of poetry, Edward Young's
Night Thoughts . According to Forbes, Young used Young (no relation) as a source
both for epitaphs and for verse of his own.
Evidence of borrowings from literature in early American epitaphs is not limited to lit-
erature that is no longer counted great, nor is it limited to the work of poets cum theo-
logians. The Abigail Adams stone in Truro, Massachusetts, records her death "in Child-
bed" at the age of twenty-four, and concludes with this short epitaph:
Oh death all eloquent you only prove
What dust we dote on when we creatures love
This couplet has a literary ring that led us to search for its source. There are no help-
ful quotation marks or other indications of attribution, but the couplet is full of literary
devices. Certainly our articulate forefathers could have written this fine couplet, but
precisely because many were fairly well-read, we can assume a familiarity with literature.
In this case, the epitaph is from a somewhat surprising source: Alexander Pope's E/o/se
and Abelard, lines 335-336, which read: "Oh death all eloquent you only prove / What
dust we dote on when 'tis man we love." The adaptation of Eloise and Abelard to the
gravestone of a New England woman who died "in Childbed" presents interesting ironies.
We have seen similar adaptations of these lines on other New England stones.
The Jedidiah Dewey stone in Bennington, Vermont, (1778) records that the "First Pas-
tor of the Church in Bennington .. .Resigned his Office in God's Temple For the Sublime
Employment of Immortality" at the age of sixty-five. Expect great things from a stone
that begins so well. (The phrasing is not by any means unique. Similar puns occur
on many stones and stand as delightful testimony to the good humor that was one ele-
ment of our forefathers' celebrated piety.) The epitaph proper follows:
Of comfort no Man Speak!
Let's talk of Craves and worms,
and Epitaphs. Make dust our
Paper, and with Rainy eyes.
Write Sorrow in the bosom
of the Earth.
The line-breaks and punctuation are skewed, and "of worms" is changed to "and worms,"
but the quotation from Shakespeare's/?/c/iorcf the Second (Act III, scene ii) is nearly ex-
act, and as effective in stone as on stage — perhaps more so since the words of Shakes-
peare's rhetorical King Richard are here turned to their ultimate literal use.
The interplay of epitaphs carved in stone, and literature printed in texts is complete and
- 4 -
Epitaphs with Literary Sources, continued
subtle, and we do not hope or need to separate them. Poets have always written epi-
taphs, some meant for carving in stone, more meant to be set in type. These epitaphs
often borrow from literary sources. The relationship is reciprocal and happy, even
when it presents difficulties for the researcher.
For discussions of other stones with literary sources, see Diana Hume George and Mal-
colm A. Nelson, "Resurrecting the Epitaph," in MARKERS. 1979-80, pages 85-98.
This is one of several short pieces that Diana Hume George, guest editor of this
NEi\SLETTER issue, contributed for publication in future issues. She and her co-
editor, Mac Nelson, objected on principle to editors using their ovM writings in
publications they edit. However, the piece is so good and so appropriate for this
issue featuring the epitaph that I could not resist using it anyway. JLF
Another reference to Edward Young's verse comes from Josephine Cobb of Cape Eliza-
beth, Maine. It reads:
She sparkled, was exhaled, and went to heaven.
The line was taken, almost verbatim (the original used "exhai'd") from Edward Young's
Night Thoughts, published in 17U5, Book V, line 600, and Ms. Cobb sent along a photo
copy of the printed page to verify this. The two-foot stone on which the epitaph is in-
scribed is set in the village yard in Detroit, Maine; the order for it, reproduced here.
\
is from the order books of E. W. White Marble Company, Skowhegan, Maine. As this
record shows, the order for the stone was placed by Thomas Pray of Detroit for his
ten-year old daughter, M. Frances, who died in 1859. The order specifies the size of
the marker, the material to be used (Italian marble), and it gives the inscription to be
cut, including the line of verse. It notes that it is to be "Del at Shop," and although
the stone is charged to "T. Pray, Detroit," there is a "no chg" notation in the margin.
Ms. Cobb, who sent this item, is chairman of the Maine Old Cemetery Association's
Marble Research Project. Her committee indexed the ten volumes of inscriptions cut
by Edward W. Marble, plus the business records of the three-generation Marble family
business. The index and order books are on deposit in the Maine Historical Society,
a 1976 gift from MOCA .
^
There is a finished feeling She laid her docile Crescent down
Experienced at Cravss— And this confiding Stone
A leisure of the Future— Still states to Dates that have forgot
A Wilderness of Size. The News that she is gone—
By Death's bold Exhibition So constant to its solid trust,
Preciser what we are The shaft that never knew—
And the Eternal Function It shames the Constancy that fled
Enabled to infer. Before its emblem flew
--Emily Dickinson, Pome # 856 —Emily Dickinson, Poem #1396
GRAVESTONE INSCRIPTIONS: THEIR UNAPPRECIATED BEAUTY
Francis Y . Duval and Ivan B. Rigby
Gravestone studies too often overlook an important constituent of the memorial art
form: the inscription and the many beautiful lettering styles it exhibits. Occasion-
ally lettering style is mentioned when its pecularities contribute to the identification
of a carver, but it is almost never examined on the basis of its intrinsic worth. This
discriminatory attitude in the field of gravestone research reflects a pervasive in-
sensitivity to the cultural importance of the letter carving, and we deplore it.
As avowed typophils we attach tremendous significance to the many and varied
stylistic manifestations of the lettered inscription, and as graphic designers we are
as sensitive to the beauty of the inscribed, visible language of the stone as we are
to its iconography. Inscriptions and letterforms are essential components of nearly
every gravestone; often they supply the focal point of the marker, and many other-
wise lackluster carvings owe their impact to the inventiveness and unfaltering hand
of the master letter carver.
Such a rich legacy should not go unnoticed. We urge students of gravestone art to
look beyond the iconographic aspect of gravestone carving to the sheer beauty and
cultural contribution of the letterforms.
-5 ^Atei^^
1^.
4
.2
r
jm
*
FERE ires #&(>fv/
4^ ^^£AR'Ori-HS
AGE ' ^^'-
'^-r^^
WjhO
u. krc: HlS AGE
TOP LEFT: Maiden, Mass., 1678. Carved by the unidentified "Boston Stonecutter" in elegant upper-
case (capital ) letters , this inscription illustrates the then-common use of ligatures (two or more p
letters united); several abbreviations (JUNiR for junior, Y'^-S for years, DEC^ for deceased, NOUE'^
for November); the U-shape for V; carets (A); the thorn (symbol Y for the th sound, now often in-
correctly pronounced as a Y sound); a correction (a 4 over a 7) ; and the carver's typical 7 with de-
corative coils. TOP RIGHT: Charlestown, Mass., 1694. Handsome uppercase letters carved by
Joseph Lamson using ligatures (HE, Ti, ND), an abbreviation, and a caret (DEC^). BOTTOM LEFT:
North Andover, Mass., 1725. Carved by Robert Mulican, whose interesting primitive alphabet jux-
taposes upper and lowercase letters and employs the crossed I (to distinguish it from the J, which
was then an uncrossed I) and the ampersand (&),as well as an abbreviation and a thong. BOTTOM
RIGHT : Glastonbury , Conn. , 1728. Carved by William Stanclift, who adapted the bold style upper-
case letters favored by his father James, quarrier I founder of the famous East Middlebury workshop.
Note the interesting ligature combining the T, H, and E.
-6-
^■jamwA''
LEFT: Rehoboth, Mass., 1736. A footstone masterpiece signed (lower left corner just
out of view in this photograph) by George Allen. Its beautiful heart-shaped inscrip-
tion area displays ornamental Gothic, Roman and script elements. RIGHT: Kreiders-
ville, Penn . , 1777. A unique German inscription serving the duel function of memo-
rializing a mother (top) and her children (bottom).
'■j^)cro(\ nrt r.\\o. riK'ivvory or
Hu}yyj)l)}'oy Mount
'.'-rr^n r-onorf^onr;fon or CrarV]
1 ) r I r y wh C) (\ (J r p a fvj i^ p p r: ' ± 7T
/llj T^'OI in nv^ ,'/>' ypar, or
Fciiin iIh I iJfl !m<I of' liimilfi 'l/iv
l<'(-.\(Ii-r (.1 ^,'nii I I \-y
\'(iiii- •unic -f-. fisiiii in-ili' rid dp),;
IVp,
y
j,rr.,,,nT.
ID l\tO
^
^¥^^
J) rummtonrJj
TOP LEFT: Cranbury, N.J., 1801. Beautifully detailed capital, lowercase and italic
characters by carver Jonathan Hand Osborne. TOP RIGHT: Lithopolis Township,
Ohio, 1835. A typical example of carver J.W. Jungkurth's inscriptions, featuring a
carefully laid-out and masterfully executed combination of capital letters in relief
and incised lowercase letters. BOTTOM LEFT: Liberty Township, Ohio 1852. A bold
cursive style used by a popular unidentified Ohio carver. BOTTOM RIGHT: Heavy
block uppercase characters carved in high relief, a style found on countless marble
memorials of the Civil War period.
- 7 -
'book reviews
THE HOUR OF OUR DEA TH
By Philippe Aries; translated by Helen Weaver
Illustrated with photographs. 651 pages.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1981. Hardcover
Review by Malcolm A . Nelson
Philippe Aries spends only a few of the more than six hundred pages of The Hour of
Our Death on American attitudes toward death, and the material he presents there
will not be new to AGS members. In spite of that, this is the most important book on
the subject of death in years and is required reading for anyone interested in our
changing attitudes toward death.
The jacket blurb describes the book as "a monumental work, an architectural plan in-
to which all other current writings on death fit," and this is a fair, if ambitious, claim.
Ari^s is the same scholar who taught us that our views on childhood are a cultural cre-
ation and a modern invention, not a timeless truth (in Centuries of Childhood , 1962).
The Hour of Our Death is a vast expansion of his early lectures, published as Western
Attitudes Toward Death (Johns Hopkins, 1974). Through exhaustive scholarship and
broad, strong cultural synthesis, he has given us a work which, for a generation at
least, many will quarrel with but none can ignore. And he has had the Adamic pleas-
ure (and the great scholarly advantage) of naming the terms of the game, of establish-
ing the structure of academic and popular debate. En route to this considerable a-
chievement, he tells us hundreds of obscure, illuminating details about attitudes to-
ward death and European funerary customs for the last thousand years.
His structure and his nomenclature imply his thesis. Western Christendom at the end
of the first millenium A.D. saw death as a natural and familiar part of life — unpleasant,
even to be dreaded, but, as he names it, "Tame." As Europe moved toward the High
Middle Ages, death increasingly became what he calls "The Death of the Self:" person-
al, poignant, abrupt, and hence resented in an increasingly materially successful and
individual age. As there was more reason to lament the end of the individual self, so
there was less sense of community to sustain the individual in the hour of his or her
death.
Despite the increasing rationalism and control of nature in the next few centuries,
death became, Aries says, more wild and savage, even as it became more "Remote and
Imminent." As familiarity with death ebbed, even as men were encouraged to regard
the body as transitory and death as a meaningless event (was not the soul immortal?),
so death was charged with immense savage power. By its very remoteness, it became
(as it is for us), terrible and powerful.
Aries' reading of romantic (nineteenth-century) attitudes is less convincing, but im-
pressing and consistent. He sees the age as characterized by violent and unchecked
emotion and sensation, and its view of death as first pathetic, then desirous (Keats'
"Half in love with easeful death"). Aries terms this "The Death of the Other," and
claims that "Death was no longer familiar and tame, as in traditional societies, but nei-
ther was it absolutely wild. It had become moving and beautiful like nature, like the
immensity of nature, the sea or the moors." What we may see as avoidance and euphe-
mism, Aries sees as the myth of "The Beautiful Death." He also clearly demonstrates
the hitherto latent erotic content of death.
Finally, Aries labels modern attitudes "The Invisible Death," no longer ritualized ex-
cept through the professional rituals of the undertaker, medicalized and technologized
almost out of existence, manipulated, hidden; thus all the more dangerous and power-
ful for being so covert and repressed. He sees signs that this may be changing — es-
pecially in America — and yet sees it as a logical development from the emotionalism of
the nineteenth century, denying even to the dying the fact of imminent death. His
irony in describing the lies and technological flummery of modern hospitalized death
is especially powerful and effective. He calls for a new humanization of death, an at-
tempt to "reconcile death with happiness. Death must simply become the discreet but
dignified exit of a peaceful person from a helpful society that is not torn, not even o-
verly upset by the idea of a biological transition without significance, without pain or
suffering, and ultimately without fear." In this, the last sentence of his book, he de-
monstrates his desire to influence as well as chronicle. In Huxley's phrase, "the end
of life is not knowledge, but action."
The knowledgable reader will find many ideas and assertions to quarrel with. The un-
speakably powerful advent of the Black Death, for example, does not fit neatly into
his chronological development, and he may underrate it as an attitude^changer; but
he does not ignore it, preferring to emphasize other events and developments. We all
still struggle to understand both the Romantic movement and our relationship to it;
Aries takes perhaps too much of his evidence from visual sources (paintings and tombs
and sculpture) and from a great number of sub-literary verbal sources, chiefly wills.
- 8 -
particularly in the period before the eighteenth century when the will was a major lo-
cus not only of financial distribution but also of attitude and opinion. The book's il-
lustrations are good, but too few. One longs for visual confirmation of many key items
of evidence.
Another problem is the culture-bound nature of his vast material, mostly French, most-
ly urban. There is not only not much about America here — there is not much about
England either. Despite his insistence (and some good evidence) that what held true
in Catholic France was also largely true of Anglican England and Protestant America,
Anglo-American readers will have very different ideas about the shift in sensibility
from the eighteenth century burying ground to the rural cemetery of the nineteenth
century, and to the modern memorial park.
Yet none of this matters very much. The book is compelling, even stunning, in the
amount and the interest of the material he has made available. And even if we will not
finally accept all of his assertions and conceptualizations, we will make our rejections
with a grateful awareness of the structure he has provided for us to relate our own
areas of interest to the great sweep of European history.
The Hour of Our Death is ably, and usually idiomatically, translated by Helen Weaver.
She is particularly good at the difficult task of turning mediocre epitaphs into accept-
able English verse. Considering the vastness of the subject and the mass of material,
the book is well and clearly organized, though a bit repetitive, it occasionally ap-
proaches eloquence and is often apt and witty. If it were half as large and half as
conceptually daring, it would still be indispensable to the serious student of grave-
stone iconography and the epitaph.
Note: For a review of this book from quite a different point of view, see "Philippe Aries's
Latest--The Hour of Our Death" by Frederick C. Vogel, in American Cemetery, November,
1981, pages 28-31.
«
Malcolm Nelson is a eo-editor of this issue of the NEWSLETTER. See page 15.
OVER THEIR DEAD BODIES: Yankee Epitaphs & History. 1962. 103 pages.
SUDDEN & AWFUL: American Eptiaphs & the Finger of Cod. 1868. 99 pages.
Compiled by Janet Greene and Thomas C. Mann
Illustrated with line drawings
Brattleboro, Vermont: The Stephen Greene Press. Hardcover, $7.95 each.
Review by Avon Neal
These two lively collections of American gravestone inscriptions present in a terse and
pithy, highly readable manner the commemorative sentiments that place our ancestors
within the context of their times. Both books are attractive and designed to be enjoyed
by even the most casual readers. Anybody with an interest in off-beat Americana, par-
ticularly gravestone rubbers and other thanatolithologists, will find them a valuable aid
in exploring early New England burying grounds, as well as more far-flung cemeteries
included in the latter book. The authors have done much to encourage a now thriving
study of this esoteric folklore, and their books are well worth the modest price.
Two additional Stephen Greene Press publications of interest to NEWSLETTER readers:
G. Walter Jacobs, Stranger Stop and Cast an Eye: How to Make Cravestone
Rubbings and Castings and Interpret Their Imagery. Softbound, $5.95.
trated with photographs, drawings and rubbings. Softbound, $5.95.
Andrew Kull, New England Cemeteries: A Collector's Cuide. 1975. 253 pages
directing the reader to interesting graveyards and gravestones. Illustrated
with photographs. Hardcover, $10.95; softbound, $5.95.
Avon Neal and his wife Ann Parker write and illustrate hooks and articles on, folk
art, including the carving on early American gravestones .
5QP
Here are deposited the remains of a
most beautiful machine not made
by mortal hand nor polished by
human art but curiously & elegantly
made by the Great JEHOVAH
From the Abigail Parker
stone (d. 1804), Norton, Massachusetts.
Contributed by Vincent F. Luti.
HOW I CARVE A HEADSTONE Frankie Bunyard and Robert B. Stephenson
Some idea of how a present-day artisan goes about fashioning a head-
stone along traditional lines is useful knowledge for anyone interested
in either the cultural-historical aspect of old burying grounds or the
artistic and technical aspects of markers and memorials. With this in
mind, Frankie Bunyard (the carver) and Robert B. Stephenson pre-
pared this article for THE NEWSLETTER. Mr. Stephenson made the photographs.
I like to think of myself as a Letter Carver, rather than as a Stonecarver or a Wood-
carver. The material is less the thing than what is carved into it. The joy is in the
bringing out from a blank surface the rhythmic forms of the letters. When I was first
asked to make a headstone, in 1977, I hesitated. I knew nothing of grave markers,
their lore or design, the symbols used or their development over time. But my client
persisted, and in the end I took the commission. The finished stone is now in the
Congregational Cemetery in Andover, Massachusetts The shallow-cut slate design
is a rather free interpretive copy of several ancient stones in Lexington.
With this introduction to carving headstones behind me, I was less reticent when a
second opportunity came my way in 1980. The client, an architect and the nephew of
the deceased, had conceived and developed the design himself. This early planning
stage is certainly as important and often as time-consuming as the actual carving, for
the final effect grows out of decisions made at the outset: the choice of stone, its size,
shape and proportions, the lettering face, the layout and spacing, the text itself, the
decorative flourishes. Each choice takes time and thought and careful research. And,
for the end result to be pleasing, each has to be consistent with the others.
For this particular stone, the motif had, in a sense, been researched by the deceased
herself. She was a keen antiquarian, the author of Art and the Anglo Saxon Age,
which was published in 1964. In that book is pictured "one of the few surviving ex-
amples of early Saxon ornamental sculpture in the south of England," an intricate bit
of carving on a church portal in Britford, Wiltshire — not too far, incidentally, from
where I grew up. I used a somewhat adapted version of a portion of this for the inter-
locking circular device that is the prominent feature of the stone. An adaptation was
called for, less on artistic grounds than because of technical problems presented by
rendering in slate what had originally been carved in limestone.
This is how I set about my task: After perfecting and refining the design, I made a
full-scale pencil mock-up on tracing paper. As this mock-up would later be transfer-
red to the surface of the stone, it had to be precise and definite. Once I start carv-
ing, opportunities for revision rapidly diminish.
The next step was to obtain and prepare the stone. For this project I chose a Penn-
sylvania dark gray slate, two inches thick, with a natural cleft finish back and a
smooth surface on the front. The quarry cut this to my specifications: 47 by 20^ in-
ches, with a rounded top flanked by the traditional rounded shoulders. This slate
and its preparations cost about $U50; no doubt it would be more today. I allowed for
at least a foot of stone below ground level, which left nearly three feet of carving
surface.
With the stone still in its wood packing frame, I set it flat on a turtle, which is a sturdy
rolling cart used in type foundries. It is perfectly suited as a base on which to posi-
tion work. It also keeps the carving surface at elbow height, which is for me the most
convenient placement. Some carvers prefer having the stone in either a sloping or an
upright position.
The next task was to transfer the design to the stone. This is quite simple, really,
just a matter of placing transfer paper (a form of carbon paper) between the slate and
the mock-up tracing, firmly securing the transfer and mock-up to the slate with mask-
ing tape, and retracing the designs and the lettering. 1 was now ready to start carv-
ing. For this stone I used three differently sized chisels, the widest being 3/8ths of
an inch. AM the lettering — which is Baskerville Old Face, traditional and elegant — was
cut with a single 3/16ths chisel. The right chisels are very important, and for the most
part they are unavailable in this country, so I have them sent from England, where tra-
ditional stone carving is still a common craft. I use chisels with carbide tips, which
hold a good edge and lengthen the time between sharpenings. Each has a double edge,
that is, it is sharpened equally on both sides, and a straight, slender shaft--not at all
complicated or impressive looking.
I guide the chisel with my left hand, tapping its head with a small, steel -wrapped, con-
ically shaped mallet called a dummy. The idea is to work up a rhythm of constant tap-
ping while always inching forward with the point of the chisel. I could not guess how
many taps this stone absorbed, but it must have been in the hundreds of thousands.
Headstone carving, continued
1 start with a small groove down the center of the letter, using gentle taps to avoid
large chipping. I then widen and deepen the cut, on both sides equally, with heav-
ier strokes until I reach almost the desired width. To cut the serif, I roll the chisel
up to the surface at the end of the stem and widen it into a fan shape. Last, I use
a series of rhythmical, uninterrupted minute taps down the entire length or curve of
the letter. The angle of cutting is always constant, even in the serifs. As a result,
the narrower parts of a letter are also the shallower, and this creates an interesting
condition at the conjunction of a T, for instance, and a roller-coasting effect in an O.
The slightest irregularity of angle or depth creates a shadow which catches the light
differently and distracts from the whole.
Sooner or later I make a slip or two. Minor chipping or flaking can usually be repair-
ed either by deft recarving or by using a mixture of stone dust and epoxy . Big mis-
takes are best not thought about!
In all my work I invariably start slowly and pick up speed as the project nears its end.
This headstone was no exception: I probably spent an hour on each letter at the out-
set, getting the time down to perhaps twenty minutes later on. The letters M and W
take the most time. My least favorite are the lower case e's, and the most fun are the
j's.
With the basic carving complete, the final touch was to add my mark at the foot of the
stone — my initials joined back-to-back. Unlike some carvers of times past, I did not
add the price!
A good washing down with water was all that was needed before transporting the finish-
ed stone to its final resting spot. I would have preferred to set it myself, but the ceme-
tery. Forest Hills in Boston, would have none of that, presumably because of union re-
ulations. They did not even want me on the scene. And so it was not until a bright
autumn day shortly afterwards that I was able to see the stone in place, standing there
in line with others. There is where the final pleasure lies: in the feeling that one's crea-
tive efforts have been made as close to permanent and enduring as is perhaps possible.
Franki'e Bunyard, a Boston based sculptor (791 Tremont Street) who specializes in
letter carving, has demonstrated her carving technique at two ACS conferences. Ar-
chitect Robert B, Stephenson is a City Planner for the Boston /Fenway Program. He
lives in Jaffrey^ Center, New Hampshire.
And I could love to die.
To leave untasted life's dark bitter dreages.
By thee as erst in childhood lie
And share thy dreams
From the Amanda Whitney stone
(d. 1819, aged 11), Old Jonesboro Ceme-
tery, Jonesboro, Maine. Contributed by
Kim Carpenter.
- 11
RESE-ARCH AND WRITING
AUTHOR'S REQUEST concerning symbolism, from Deborah A. Smith
Researchers using cemetery data to document social attitudes must refrain from imposing
twentieth century interpretations on the symbolism of an earlier century. Victorian era
gravestones, for example, are rich in both iconography and inscription, and the period
is so close to our own that their symbolic interpretation often seems obvious. However,
it is dangerous to assume that Victorian logic parallels our own, and it is therefore in-
finitely better to allow the stones to talk for themselves concerning nineteenth century
attitudes and symbols. Tombstone inscriptions, like old letters, wills, account books,
probate records, and the literature of the period, are valuable sources of information a-
bout the period's symbols and social attitudes. An inscription is, in fact, sometime the
sole or the best source available to the researcher. In any event, a stone whose inscrip-
tion interprets its iconography is a godsend. With this kind of help, the researcher can
make reasonable assumptions concerning the symbolism of the iconography of the stone,
and also of the same symbolism when it appears unaccompanied by related, interpreta-
tive data. On occasion, the researcher who has this background of information may be
able to conclude that the survivor or carver responsible for selecting a marker's design
and inscription was intentionally making two separate statements, one visual, the other
verbal .
Following are examples of gravestone inscriptions that relate to the iconography with
which they appear.
ANGEL MOTIF
Her voice was music her motion grace
An angel beauty was in her face
And she seemed an angel here
Eva Eriella Haines, 1857, 3 years
New Street Cemetery, Newark, Delaware
Our babe shines brighter than a star
In that sweet place where angels are
And there no sin or pain can come
Tis better than in mother's home
Canby Nichols, 1884, 14 months
Lower Brandywine Presbyterian Church
Centerville, Delaware
DOVE MOTIF
Sleep on in thy beauty
Thou sweet angel child
By sorrow unblighted
By sin un defiled
Like the dove to the ark
Thou hast flown to thy rest
From the wild sea of strife
To the home of the blest
Hattie Golden Pearson, 1890, 20 months
Friendship Community Church, Alvaton
Alvaton, Kentucky
FLOWER MOTIF
A little flower of love
That blossomed but to die
Transplanted now above
To bloom with God on high
A floweret snatched from earth
to bloom in heaven
Infant daughter Doughty, 1875, 1 month
Fairview Cemetery
Bowling Green, Kentucky
Annie (Ashton?), no date, 7 years
Christiana Presbyterian Church
Christiana, Delaware
Readers who know of stones whose inscriptions relate to their iconography are asked to
communicate with me at the address below. Please include the name of the deceased, age,
year of death, and the location of the stone.
Deborah A. Smith, Museum Registrar
The Kentucky Museum
Western Kentucky University
Bowling Green, Kentucky 42101
- 12 -
Research and Writing, continued
"Terror Vanquished: From Graveyard to Cemetery" is an article by John R. Stilgoe,
whose field is landscape architecture (at Harvard University) and whose special in-
terest is cemetery landscape architecture. Stilgoe's article, published in American
Cemetery , October, 1981, pages 28-39, traces briefly but superbly the evolution of
customs, superstitions, and attitudes toward burial places in the Western world in the
last thousand years. The piece might be seen as "Aries in miniature," (see page 7 )
and is particularly useful for its concentration on British and American practices.
"The Personality of Cemeteries" is an article by Phil Kallas which appears in the De-
cember, 1981, issue of The Pinery, the publication of the Portage County (Wisconsin)
Historical Society. Kallas located and studied many of Portage County's seventy-five
burial grounds, and his article describes their changing character as they relate to
other cultural changes. He concludes, "The cemetery is a quiet peaceful place that is
not just a parcel of land where the dead are buried; it is a place where one can achieve
a deep sense of profound, eternal quiescence and spiritual exaltation ... it represents
continuity, a sensitive record of successive generations, each with their own set of
values. It represents open space and beauty... On a warm summer eve, or in a gentle
spring rain, or on a crisp autumn morn when the colors are radiant, or during a win-
ter's gentle snowfall a cemetery achieves a quality singularly its own. How can death
be feared here?"
Request for probated attributions. For the past year Laurel Gabel has been compiling
lists of probated gravestones for individual carvers. When complete (the target date
is June), the known probated stones of many seventeenth-and eighteenth-century car-
vers will be listed alphabetically by name, with date and location of probate. The ma-
jority of the references Mrs. Gabel now has have been taken from the notes of Harriette
Forbes in the collection of her papers at the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester,
Massachusetts, and they pertain mostly to Eastern Massachusetts carvers. The entries
are being cross-checked with References to Gravestones, Stone Cutters, Funeral Ex-
penses, etc. in the Suffolk, Middlesex, and Essex County, Massachusetts, Probate Re-
cords compiled in three volumes in 1981 by Laurel and Lisa Gabel and the Rev. Ralph
Tucker from the Forbes material. NEWSLETTER readers who have found probate re-
cords of payment for gravestones made to a specific, named seventeenthi-or eighteenth-
century carver are asked to send them to Mrs. Gabel, who would very much like to in-
clude them in this volume. Please send name of deceased, date of death if known, date
of probate if known, and the name of the carver to whom the payment was made. The
plan is for this work to be an ongoing project with information added each year as it is
found. Address probate payment findings to Mrs. Laurel K. Gabel, 323 Linden Street,
Wellesley, Massachusetts 02181.
Farber collection index. The first large scale project to be served by Laurel Gabel 's
not-yet-complete collection of probate records, mentioned above, is the index to the
Farber photograph collection at the American Antiquarian Society (A duplicate collection
is housed at the Yale University Art Library). This collection now contains photographs
of 4000 gravestones, presently filed alphabetically by name of deceased. Filed this way,
the photographs are not conveniently retrievable for research, and Jessie Lie and Dan
Farber are indexing the collection by date, location, subject, and carver, as well as
name of deceased. When the index is complete, a researcher will be able to retrieve
photographs and also related materials in the AAS Library from these five categories.
With the generous help of nine knowledgeable researchers, the photographs have been
sorted by carver, and probate references taken from Laurel Gabel 's collection of pro-
bate records are now being noted on the photographs of those stones for which pro-
bates are known. The Farbers join Mrs. Gabel in urging readers who have found pro-
bate records which establish carver attribution to send them promptly to Mrs. Gabel
to be included in her important collection.
Pattern books sought. Joan 1. Unsicker, P.O. Box 56, Wrightstown, New Jersey
08562, would like to have information about nineteenth-century motif pattern books
containing patterns and stencils used by individual stonecutters or stonecuttihg
companies.
Stoop down, my thoughts that
used to rise
Converse awhile with death
Think how a gasping mortal lie^
And pants away her breath
From the Mary Poole stone
(d, 1809), Old Burying Ground, Ben-
nington, Vermont. From a collection
compiled by Bill Harding.
13
Research and Writing^ aontinued
BAY COLONY TENDRIL CARVERS: Some Early Notes from a
Study of a Large and Important School of Gravestone Carving
in Southeastern Massachusetts.
Michael Cornish
There exists in the area between Easton and Taunton,
Massachusetts, a number of gravestones, dating from
about 1750 to 1800, whose principal decoration consists
of various arrangements of stylized scrolling vegeta-
tion. These tendrils flank or complement neither effigy
nor mortality symbol, nor any of the other symbolic ele-
ments commonly associated with gravestone carving at
this time, but comprise the entire design of the tym-
pana. Elaborate displays of scrolling tendrils often in-
corporate tulips, hearts, segmented half-circles, scal-
lops, arches, unidentifiable flaring elements and other
odd, nonrepresentational shapes and are typically punc-
tuated with numerous drill-holes or tiny chips. Often
the central element is a shape defined by the intersect-
ing and overlapping of opposing sets of "vegetation."
The single feature found on every carving of this group
is the frond illustrated here.
The carvings were executed by at least seven men, in-
cluding Jabez Carver, David Lincoln, Ebenezer Winslow,
Barney Leonard, Leonard Dean, Cyrus Deane, and, to
the north with his own idiosyncratic version, Joseph Barbur. They are found in signi-
ficant numbers in Berkley, Taunton, Norton, Mansfield, Easton, Stoughton, Bridge-
water, Canton, and West Medway, Massachusetts. In all cases, the craftsmen made
gravestones with other designs as well, most often setting/rising suns, but also a few
effigies and animated death's heads.
To date I have logged close to five hundred tendril carvings and documented close to
four hundred. In the future I hope to report on the ancestry of these unique designs
and present a profile on the life and work of each of the artisans in this "school."
(?ARV£t>
ft AT- No
C^
of MC^ MARY MCHARD,
the virtuous & amiable Consort of
CAPT. WILLIAM MCHARD,
of Newbury-Port, who amidst the
laudable exertions of a very useful
& desirable life, in which her
Christian Profession was well adorned
and a fair copy of every social vir-
tue displayed, was in a state of
health suddenly summoned to
the skies & snatched from y eager
embraces of her friends, (and the
throbbing hearts of her disconso-
late family confessed their fairest
prospects of sublunary bless were,
in one moment, dashed) by swal-
lowing a Pea at her own Table,
whence in a few hours she sweetly
breathed her Soul away into her
SA VIOURS arms, on the 8th day
of March A.D. 1780 AEtatis 47
This mournful stone, as a faithful
Monument of Virtue fled to realms
above & a solemn Monitor to all below
the Stars, is erected by her Husband
Newburyport, Massachusetts
HERE LYES THE BODY
OF YOUNG SAMUEL
WORN OUT WITH STUDY
INTO DUST IT FELL WHO
DID IN KNOWLEDGE & IN
VIRTUE SHINE A LEARNED
SCHOOLAR & A GOOD DIVINE
HE DEPARTED THIS LIFE
IN A HOPEFULL PROSPECT
OF A BETTER ON f 27^^ OF
MAY 17 5 2 AETATIS
XXII. SAMUEL FRENCH
BACHELOR OF ARTS
Hingham, Massachusetts
Samuel French lies under a winged
skull slate. Look again at the epi-
taph— it's a poem that rhymes.
- 1U -
MISCELLANEOUS
A new look at Old Mount Auburn Cemetery. Sculptor Richard Duca won a competition
and was commissioned to cast a massive sculpture for Willow Pond Knoll in Old Mount
Auburn Cemetery. His graceful, powerful ten-ton solid iron composition now rises
twenty-one feet above a granite base. The sculpture was dedicated on June 3, 1981,
as part of the 150th anniversary celebration of America's first rural cemetery. (From
American Cemetery, November, 1981, pages 24-25.)
Bookseller. Mary E. Dimock, of Northborough, Massachusetts, recommends a helpful
source of out-of-print books relating to gravestone studies: Tuttle Antiquarian Books,
Inc., P.O. Box 541, Rutland, Vermont 05701.
Donald H. Rex, New Bedford, Massachusetts, gravestone designer. Vincent F. Luti
sends a marvelous article from the Providence Journal-Bulletin , January 2, 1982, about
the work of Donald H. Rex, fifth generation carver and president of Rex Monumental
Works, in New Bedford. Rejoice — the days of inventive and unique gravestones are
not dead. Witness Rex's stone, commissioned by the widow of Louis Vieira for her hus-
band, a man whose "second love" was gambling: the ace and queen of hearts with two
dice reading eleven (on top) and seven (on the side) . Another, for a trucker, with
an eighteen-wheeler rolling toward the Gates of Heaven, is inscribed "MOVING ON TO
A BETTER PLACE." Pine Grove Cemetery in New Bedford and many other New England
burying grounds are the richer for Mr. Rex's creativity and his clients' adventurousness,
Headstones upset in Jewish cemetery. According to an article which appeared in the
September 17, 1981 Daily Register, Red Bank, N.J., unidentified youths pushed over
more than a dozen headstones in the Monmouth Field cemetery in West Long Branch.
Monmouth Field is a Jewish cemetery and was the location of anti-Semitic vandalism
earlier in 1981 when Nazi graffiti was spray-painted on one of the mausoleums. THE
NEWSLETTER thanks Robert Van Benthuysen for this item.
Cemetery Santa . Chicago area resident James Tibensky sends an article from the De-
cember 18, 1981, Chicago Sun-Times, which introduces readers to Larry Anspach, the
third generation of his family to operate the Cedar Park Cemetery. Anspach, who says
his philosophy of cemeteries is "a little different from other people's," believes cemeter-
ies are for the living and sees nothing wrong with celebrating Christmas in a cemetery.
This season his staff fixed up a Santa's house in the office where the cemetery usually
sells plots, and in a two week period over 1000 visiting children had their photos made
with Santa before being given bags of peanuts for the cemetery's nineteen reindeer.
Pheasants, swans, squirrels and ducks also roam the grounds. Anspach conducts death
education classes in the schools and encourages nature and art field trips. "We look
upon the cemetery," says Larry Anspach, "as a learning resource."
Genealogy magazine. Rota-Cene, published by the International Genealogy Fellowship
of Rotarians, is an international magazine for Rotarians and others interested in geneal-
ogy. The thirty-two page publication contains free queries, news, book reviews, tips
and data, and it sells for $15 for six issues yearly. Sample copy, $2.50. Address:
Charles D. Townsend, I.F.R. Genealogy, 5721 Antietam Drive, Sarasota, Florida 33581.
Spreading the word about AGS. Barbara Moon is an AGS member who collects and sells
"unique and historically significant" gravestone rubbings in her shop, "Atmosphere An-
tiques," in Hinckley, Ohio. In an interview/feature article about her on the front page
of The Medina County (Ohio) Gazette, December 9, 1981, she not only discusses the im-
portance and fragility and beauty of gravestone folk art but also describes her techni-
ques for making and framing her rubbings. She also gets in a fine plug for AGS.
Ohio publications. Francis Duval and Ivan Rigby have been at work on three articles a-
bout Ohio markers. A double-page spread in the arts section of the October, 1981, Ohio
Magazine entitled "Lilies of the Field: Ohio's Memorial Art," pages 84,85, shows seven
handsome mid-nineteenth-century Ohio markers. The text names eight Ohio carvers of
the period. The Clarion, the organ of the Museum of American Folk Art, will publish a
photo essay on Ohio gravestone art in April, in preparation is a piece for Ohio Antiques.
(If it isn 't too late, Ivan and Francis, how about mentioning AGS in this one?)
A three-session mini course, "Gravestones, Epitaphs and History," will be offered by
Wayne Adult School (N.J.) beginning April 15, 1982. The lecturer is historian Bill
Moir (42D Union Avenue, Little Falls, New Jersey), who will use slides, rubbings, and
a walking tour to present information about New Jersey history and gravestone conser-
vation, preservation and art.
- 15 -
NEWSLETTER NOTES
Guest editors . Diana George and Mac Nelson are guest editors of this issue of The
Newsletter and, as it Inas developed, of the spring issue as well. When we discovered
that they had assembled enough material for two newsletters, we decided that two is-
sues with an emphasis on their area of special interest, the epitaph, makes sense. It
will help balance our treatment of gravestone art, which has dealt almost exclusively
with iconography.
There were a number of tough decisions made in the preparation of this issue, and I
am grateful to Diana and Mac, not just for their good work and the time and effort it
involved, but also for their flexibility and cooperation and good will. Diana Hume
George and Mac Nelson are on the English Department faculties of The Pennsylvania
State University /Behrend College, Erie, Pennsylvania, and The State University of
New York, Fredonia, respectively. JLF.
Guest editor for the summer issue is Ruth Little-Stokes, Ph.D. candidate in art his-
tory. University of North Carolina /Chapel Hill. She particularly welcomes Newsletter
contributions which focus on gravestones in the southern United States. Her address:
3408 Ebenezer Church Road, Raleigh, North Carolina 27612. The fall issue will give
readers a look at midwest memorials, including Indian markers. Phil Kailas, county co-
ordinator of the Wisconsin State Old Cemetery Society will edit the issue. His address:
308 Acorn Street/Whiting, Stevens Point, Wisconsin 54U81. Or send any NEWSLETTER
contribution, or inquiry or correction to AGS Publications, c/o American Antiquarian
Society, Worcester, Massachusetts 01609.
Two corrections. In the fall issue we messed up again on the address of AGS president,
Sally (Mrs. Philip) Thomas. It is 82 Hilltop Place, New London, NEW HAMPSHIRE 03257.
And the telephone number for conference chairman, Elizabeth Hammond is 617-358-2517.
Another correction. A note from Janet Aronson in Coventry, Connecticut, sets us
straight on the location of the Abigail Otis stone illustrated in the previous issue of
THE NEWSLETTER. Although it is a Newport, Rhode Island, stone, cut and signed by
Newport stonecutter John Stevens, it is not located there. It stands in Storrs, Connec-
ticut, where Abigail Otis died. It is probably the northernmost of the Stevens stones.
Back issues of THE NEWSLETTER have become a bittersweet problem. Our conservative
habit of ordering only enough copies of each issue for the membership, plus a very few
extras for our files and the AGS archive, is backfiring as more and more new members
including libraries, are asking for a copy of "all the back issues." We are pleased that
back issues are wanted, but we just do not have them. However, beginning with the
summer, 1981, issue, we have been ordering enough extra copies to accommodate re-
quests for back issues. For a back issue or additional copies, beginning with the sum-
mer, 1981, issue, address Eloise West, Corresponding Secretary, 199 Fisher Road, Fitch-
burg, Massachusetts 01420, and enclose $1. For anyone seriously interested in having a
complete file, we are willing to Xerox and mail all 14 back issues. Sorry, but this will
cost you $15.00.
Free. Do you want an introductory copy of THE NEWSLETTER for an interested indivi-
dual or organization — a prospective AGS member? No problem. Write the name, ad-
dress and the v;ords, "Introductory Newsletter" on a card addressed to AGS Publica-
tions, c/0 American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massachusetts 01609. A complemen-
tary NEWSLETTER will be mailed to you with the bulk mailing of the issue following the
receipt of your request.
Super service. We are a young organization, but we are clearly coming into our own.
Recently we received a letter addressed simply, "Association for Gravestone Studies,
Worcester, MA." As Worcester is Massachusetts' largest city after Boston, and AGS
has no physical headquarters there ( or anywhere else), we think it remarkable that
the letter found its way to our hands. Speaking of postal service, remember to keep
mailing addresses current with us. THE NEWSLETTER is sent by third class mail ,
which is not forwarded.
1 would like for
[ ] The 1983 conference to be held in Nova Scotia. (3 or 4 days)
[ ] The Association to arrange a group guided trip to Nova Scotia to visit the
old graveyards. (About 7 days)
I ij i_ i-i i_ 1-1 X ^0. _i Please indicate your present thinking
wou d probably be able to attend , ., ... \ ^ i * m ■ u; +
r 1 A ino-. t • k.1 c *• and mail, without delay , to Eloise West.
[ ] A 1983 conference in Nova Scotia. ,„„ r-- u n ^ tr* uu ua m/.^n
r 1 • ^ • X ki c- X- ?99 Fisher Road, Fitchburg MA 01420.
[ ] A group trip to Nova Scotia. ^
)I11111S/W1N
sseyy 'j9(sa3JO/^
Olt' ON ^"'■'•d
30VlSOd s n
•OaO lldOUd NON
60910 ssvw jajsaDJOM
Xjapos u»!Jvnb!4uv utDuaiuvo/D
•suou>?D!|qnj SDV
Folklife studies define a discipline. From Lynn Farnsworth we have a copy of Boston
University's newspaper. The World , January 20, 1982, which includes an article about
the University's scholarly publications. Featured in it are Peter Benes, a founder of
AGS, and The Dubh'n Seminar for New England Folklife Annual Proceedings, which he
edits. The Proceedings, the article points out, "is unique among the University's pub-
lications in that it is not so much contributing to a "discipline as it is defining one." The
Dublin Seminar began as a meeting of people interested in the folk art carvings on New
England gravestones, and two of the Seminar's Proceedings are treatments of Puritan
gravestone art (available for about $7 each from Boston University Scholarly Publica-
tions, 25 Buick Street, Boston 02215). The Seminar "takes on subjects that are ignor-
ed or haven't been discovered by academia," says Benes. We're able to explore the
back door and underside of New England folk life and the common man.: The subject
of the 1982 Seminar is early American foodways — the growing, harvesting, preparing,
eating, and celebrating of food--to be held in Deerfield, Massachusetts, on the same
weekend, unfortunately, as the AGS conference in Williamstown .
Summer course. From the catalog of the National Endowment for the Humanities comes
the following course description: Monuments to the Family: Tomb Sculpture in Europe
and America, 1700-1900. No group of works by sculptors, architects, and craftsmen
can focus thinking so pointedly on some of the most essential questions of human exis-
tence as monuments created to mark or contain the dead. The purpose of this seminar
is to study the last great flowering of tomb sculpture, devoting special attention to the
new sense of family expressed in eighteenth-and nineteenth-century tombs in Europe
and America, and considering the tombs in terms of their meaning as conveyed through
place, setting, style, and symbol. Visits will be made to the Boston Museum of Fine
Arts to view ancient tombs for an understanding of sources and background, and to
the burial grounds in and around Boston, especially Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cam-
bridge. The seminar is designed to serve art historians of the eighteenth and nine-
teenth centuries, as well as teachers from other disciplines — particularly cultural an-
thropology, religious studies, and literature — with interests related to the ropic. Teach-
ers in four-year colleges and universities are eligible to apply. Write for application
forms and further information to: Ruth A. Butler, Department of Art, University of
Massachusetts, Harbor Campus, Boston, Massachusetts 02125.
Francis Duval sends this epitaph from a horizontal stone which, he writes, "displays a
most inventive skull design, a kind of Picasso approach) two centuries before the fact."
It stands in Forest Hill Cemetery, East Derry, New Hampshire. Ca . 1745.
ALL MUST TO DUST
rHE ACS NEWSLETTER is published four times a year as a service to members of the Association for Gravestone Studies,
^he membership year is from June to June. Send membership fees (Regular Membership, $10; Sustaining Membership, $25)
o ACS Treasurer Nancy Jean Melin, 215 West 75th St., Apt. WE. New York. NY 10023. Order MARKERS, The Journal of
he Association for Gravestone Studies (Members' price, $15; Non-members' price, $25) from Betty Slater, 373 Bassettes
iridge Rd., Mansfield Center, CT 06250. Address NEWSLETTER contributions to ACS Publications, do The American
\ntiquarian Society, Worcester, MA 01609. Address all other Association correspondence to ACS Corresponding Secretary
■loise West, 199 Fisher Rd. , Fitchburg, MA 0U20. 82/83 membership, which begins in June, will be $15.
NEWSLETTER
OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES
Editor, Jessie Lie Farber
Guest Editors, Diana Hume Ceorqe
Malcolm A . Nelson
Volume 6, Number 2, Spring 1982
ISSN: 0146-5783
CONTENTS
THREE STONES FROM THE CONFERENCE AREA , , . ,
1982 ACS CONFERENCE REGISTRATION FORM
Wordsworth and Epitaph, an article
by Karen Mills-Courts
EDUCATION
Gravestones in the Classroom, an article
by Robert Behr
BOOK REVIEWS
The Search for Henry Cross
by W. Douglas Hartley
Review by James Tibensky
Poems on Stone in Stamford , Connecticut . . ■
by Jean Majdalany and Jean Mulkerin
Review by James Slater
Stranger . Stop and Cast on Eye, an article
by Dianna Hume George
STONECUTTERS AND THEIR WORKS. Eleventh installment
John Zuricher of New York City
by Richard F. Welch
Research in North Carolina, a project report
by Ruth Little-Stokes
CONSERVATION/PRESERVATION
NEWSLETTER NOTES and MISCELLANEOUS NEWS ITEMS . .
11
12
13. m
i-
'^
er
m^^^'^
J.
Wj^C^l^,
s?9j
The Sarah Branch stone, 1784, Sliaftsbury, Vermont. White marble. 41 x 26^
The Sarah Branch stone, illustrated above, and the Penelope Olin, 1795, stone,
illustrated on page 2, are located in Shaftsbury, Vermont, a short drive from the
Williamstown conference site. Each is typical of the work of its carver, Zerubbabel
Collins and Samuel Dwight, respectively, which is abundant in the area. In this in-
stance, Collins and Dwight used the same four-line verse: Ve? never let our Hearts
divide. I Nor Death diffolve the Chain. I For love & Joy were once alloy'd I & muft be
Join'd again. We do not yet know if these two stones survived the disastrous 1981
accident which destroyed many old Shaftsbury stones. For the story of this acci-
dent, see the Spring 1981 NEWSLETTER, page 6. In the same issue, see also "Samuel
Dwight, Vermont Gravestone Cutter," by Nancy Jean Mel in, pages 11, 12. The rub-
bing of the Collins stone is taken from Memorials for Children of Change, by Dickran
and Ann Tashjian, Wesleyan University Press, 1974. The drawing of the Dwight stone
is by Michael Cornish.
The "logo stone" on our masthead is thought to be the early work of Dwight. it
is for Elisabeth Smith, 1771, and stands in the Williamstown graveyard, near Williams
College, AGS's conference site. For a photograph of this marker and its unusual
footstone, see the Winter 1979/80 NEWSLETTER, page 16.
THE ASSOCIATION FOR
GRAVESTONE STUDIES
ANNOUNCING
The 1982 Annual Conference of
THE ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES
WILLIAMS COLLEGE, WILLI AMSTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS
June 25-27, 1982
FEATURING
A tour of the cemeteries of Southern Vermont.
William Hosley and David Watters will lead a Friday all day bus trip through graveyards in Bennington,
South Shaftsbury, Arlington and Manchester to view stones carved by Zerubbabel Collins, Samuel Dwight,
Solomon Ashley, Josiah Manning and others. The Manchester cemetery will be featured as a classic
park cemetery with its Victorian memorials and fine wrought iron work.
Speakers: Michael Cornish, Francis Duval and Ivan Rigby, Sidney Horenstein,
Rufus Langhans, Lance Mayer, David Watters, Richard Welch and others.
Short Papers Members' Slide Show Exhibits
Sales of current Hterature and materials
Association Reports and Elections
Three Museums in vicinity: Clark Museum in Williamstown, Bennington Museum,
Hancock Shaker Village and local graveyards.
Access to college swimming pool and tennis courts.
Tear off here and return
REGISTRATION — June 25, 26, 27, 1982
Membership only (Fill in top box below.)
Conference (Fill in top box plus other applicable boxes.)
AGS Annual Membership Dues (1982 Conference to 1983 Conference)
Regular $15
Sustaining $25
1982 Conference Registration Fee
Before May 1, 1982 : $12
After May 1, 1982 $15
Bus Tour and Box Lunch, Fri., June 25 $15
Room and Board (all singles in suites of 4 and 5)
Thursday lodging only $15
Friday dinner and lodging;
Saturday breakfast and lunch $35
Saturday dinner and lodging;
Sunday breakfast and lunch $35
Sunday lodging only $15
TOTAL ENCLOSED
PLEASE MAKE CHECK PAYABLE TO:
Name
Association for Gravestone Studies
Address
.State.
.EZZI
Mail to Laurel K. Cabel
323 Linden Street
Wellesley, MA 02181
Zip
I would like to give a paper. Title:
I would like to give a report on my work in progress. Subject: .
Please attach a one-paragraph abstract of your talk to this form for inclusion in the conference program.
I would like to participate in the informal slide show. Theme:
I have materials I would like to exhibit. Description:
In a letter to THE NEWSLETTER about the article which follows,
author Karen Mills-Courts aomments: "This essay is not easy read-
ing. There are probably no simple ways to express the human acti-
vities of using language and constructing icons... the making of art
is crucial to our humanity, but the act is enormously complex. I
hope your readers will gain at least a hint of how important the
study of epitaphs is to our understanding of literature and lan-
guage in general. I would be happy to suggest some further read-
ing in this area. "
WORDSWORTH AND EPITAPH Karen Mills-Courts
Every poet strives for a language which can incarnate, that is, "give body"
to ideas. Poets desire a language that can "present" rather than "represent" thought.
Yet fully incarnative language is not possible. Because words are signs, they always
stand in place of an object; they announce the object's "absence" even as they attempt
to show its "presence." Making a sign in order to present an object or idea that is
clearly not present is an enormously complex linguistic activity, yet it is taken for grant-
ed by those of us who study epitaphs. Carving an epitaph upon a gravestone seems to
us to be a natural, even a simple gesture. In fact, an epitaph is a visible symbol of
the way poets use language. Furthermore, it may be emblematic of the way the human
mind works in its attempt to assert itself as a living presence in the world. ^ An un-
inscribed gravestone represents a death, an absence, but it does not evoke a presence.
If an epitaph is carved on that stone, however, it gives a presence to the deceased. At
the same time, it announces his absence. He seems to be "here," in our presence, be-
cause of the very words that say he is elsewhere, no longer with us.
This is analogous to the situation poets face when they "inscribe" a poem upon
a blank page: they "present" themselves by announcing their absence. For a poet like
Wordsworth, writing is inherently epitaphic, and the epitaphic gesture is the "origin" of
poetry. His famous definition of poetry as "the spontaneous overflow of powerful feel-
ings recollected in tranquility" is clearly related to the mental act of carving an epitaph.
Wordsworth's The Prelude may be the most extensive "epitaph" in our language and it
is intended, as Wordsworth said all epitaphs are, to be
a record to preserve the memory of the dead as a tribute due to his
individual worth for a satisfaction to the sorrowing hearts of the Sur-
vivors, and for the common benefit of the living. ■?
In the case of The Prelude, Wordsworth is his own "sorrowing survivor" and the act
of inscribing the poem affirms his imaginative life even as it announces the "death" of
the writer.
Like all poets, Wordsworth desires an incarnative, life-giving language. None-
theless, his most extensive discussion of language as "body" occurs in his "Essays Upon
Epitaphs." This might seem ironic, but it is fully in keeping with the poet's intuitive
recognition that language "incarnates" an absent presence. For him, language incar-
nates in much the same way that a ruin incarnates: it marks a lost significance as well
as a residue of meaning still readable in the crumbling surface. 3
Wordsworth's lifelong insistence that poetic language be "natural" is closely re-
lated to his sense that the most poetic words, like ruins, lie somewhere between man
and nature. Like a ruin, words suggest human meaning, yet they are always on the
verge of re-absorption into the natural world. Words must, therefore, mark a signifi-
cance which escapes incarnation at the same time that they initiate incarnation. Poetry
offers "natural" hope, but that hope is meaningful only in relation to man-made ruins.
It is hope "plucked like beautiful wild flowers from the ruined tombs that border the
highways of antiquity J"'* If it offers immortality, it is an immortality wherein conscious-
ness is translated into that something rich and strange, the disembodied soul, leaving
behind only the sign of its having been. Incarnative language is rather like the body
in the grave; it marks the "it was" as a "this" which is "no longer."
In the "Essays Upon Epitaphs," Wordsworth explicitly identifies the notion of
presence within inscription as a "tender fiction." The "tender fiction" of presence is
then related to the "intervention of the imagination." And Wordsworth exposes both
writing and imagination as rooted in death:
Thus death is disarmed of its sting , and affliction unsubstantialized .
By this tender fiction the survivors bind themselves to a sedater sor-
row, and employ the intervention of the imagination in order that the
reason may speak her own language earlier than she would otherwise
have been enabled to do. This shadowy interposition also harmoniously
unites the two worlds of the Living and the Dead. ^
The "shadowy interposition" which Wordsworth speaks of here refers to both imagina-
II
- 4 -
Wordsworth and Epitaph. ^ continued
tion and the inscribed epitaph. The epitaph separates and unites man and nature,
life and death. It is located in an /nfer-position between them. It is a site, a "Place'
which imagination can inhabit, can "occupy," and wherein it can create a "tender fic-
tion" of presence. The epitaph is a ghostly ruin situated between mind and nature,
and in it the reader's mind reflects upon itself as much as it does upon the dead. As
a result, a kind of unity is created between the deceased and the living mind which
reads the epitaph. Just as important, the reader meditates upon his own meaning-
making activity. He is aware that the deceased is not present, even as he pretends to
the "tender fiction," and he becomes conscious of the fact that he is reflecting upon
himself, upon his own imaginative creation of presence within the inscription. Thus,
the epitaph is haunted by two "voices" : the voice of the dead which is a "tender fic-
tion" and the voice of the imagination which creates that fiction. The "tender fiction"
offers a "sedater sorrow" in two ways, then: it alleviates grief over the loss of the
dead by permitting the dead to pretend to presence; and the fiction of presence in
words allows a writer to behave as his own sorrowing survivor. Words serve as "skel-
etons" from which his living thought always escapes, but which mark a prior moment
when it inhabited them. Inscription allows a poet to meditate upon his own words, his
own imaginative acts, as if they were epitaphs' haunted by his former presence.
Wordsworth implicitly understood his own poetry as this "tender fiction" asso-
ciated with epitaph, and he explicitly identified it as a "speaking monument" (Sonnet
111, The River Duddon) . "A grave," he wrote in the "Essays Upon Epitaphs," is a
"tranquilizing object." Its tranquility results from its interposition between man and
nature and from the power of epitaph. For, according to Wordsworth, the grave would
sink into, be utterly absorbed by nature, except for its inscription. It is the epitaph
"by which it is defended" against nature. And it is poetry as epitaph which defends
the poet against the oblivion of natural death.
There is little wonder that ruins and poetry were so closely related in Words-
worth's imagination: Tintern Abbey, The Chartreuse, and the Ruined Cottage signify
lost meaning as well as the residue of meaning which remains balanced on the edge of
natural absorption. Such ruins are epitaphic, offering the kind of tranquility possi-
ble at the graveside, offering a site in which the poet can speculate upon his own mean-
ing-making activity. That activity always reveals the death of self as well as of the
other, but it also reaffirms the power of writing. And that power, whether it is placed
on stone or on the blank white of paper, is the power of the epitaph. Poetry and epi-
taph create a situation in which the absence of the writer is openly declared. At the
same time, they declare the power of imagination to summon its ghosts, to assert its
own living vitality as it creates its "tender fictions."
NOTES
1. For the most thorough discussion of how a sign announces absence, see Jacques
Derrida, Speech and Phenomena, trans. David B. Allison (Evanston: Northwestern
University Press, 1973).
2. William Wordsworth, "Essays Upon Epitaphs," in Literary Criticism of WiUiam Words-
worth, ed. Paul ZaII (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1970), p. 96.
3. See Jean Starobinski, The Invention of Liberty, trans. Bernard C. Swift (New York:
World Publishing Co., 1964), esp. pp. 179-180.
4. Wordsworth, "Reply to Mathetes," in Criticism, p. 86.
5. Wordsworth, "Essays Upon Epitaphs," p. 104.
Karen Mills (Campbell) Courts teaches English at The State University of New York,
College at Fredonia. Readers interested in Professor Courts' approach to epitaphs
should consult the following:
Karen Mills Campbell , "Poetry as Epitaph, " The Journal of Popular Culture, XIV :U,
Spring 1981 , pp. 651-6b8 (on Emily Dickinson).
Karen Mills Campbell, "'Every Poem an Epitcph': A Study of Representation and
Poetic Language, " Doctoral Dissertation, The State University of New York at Buf-
falo. Available through Dissertation Abstracts International.
EDUCATION
Gravestones in the American Lit class. An article in the Manchester, New Hampshire,
Union Leader (January 14, 1982) outlines some cultural and literary concepts that Eng-
lish Professor David Watters brings from the graveyard to his American Literature
classroom at the University of New Hampshire. Mirrored in New England's early grave-
markers, Watters sees the thinking of the people who originated them, e.g., the reli-
gious ethics of the Puritans, the fear of witchcraft, and the post Revolutionary War
nationalism. Among his sources for clues to the meanings in gravestone art are The
Bible, old sermons, hymns, and poetry. Waiters' book, With Bodile Eyes, recently
published by UMI Research Press, will be reviewed on these pages by Peter Benes.
GRAVESTONES IN THE CLASSROOM Robert Behr
Consider the college or high school student who can date a gravestone without look-
ing at the incised numbers. That student is making intelligent connections among
clues from religion, art, history, literature, and philosophy. New England grave
markers are a valuable supplement to a chronological study of early American life.
Rubbings, photographs, sketches, and field trips can contribute to a revelation of
the shifting tides of religious and social thought.
A student may not fully appreciate the Puritan prose of Bradford, Winthrop, Mather,
or Jonathan Edwards until he grapples with the symbolism of the Puritan gravestone.
Abstract religious concepts are made tangible by icons which emphasize man's fragile
existence. That God-fearing Puritans focused upon death itself is reflected in the
gravestone's prominent skull or death's head motif, sometimes augmented by bones,
picks and shovels. Small wonder, with the mortality rate so high. Puritans held lit-
tle hope of a corporeal afterlife, and students will note that epitaphs reflect this in
their references to worms, dust, and decay. "As you are now/ So once was I..."
does not hold out much hope. As Hawthorne put it at the conclusion of Young Good-
man Brown: "They carved no hopeful verse upon his tombstone, for his dying hour
was gloom..." The story's protagonist had discovered the pervasiveness of man's sin-
ful nature, and had no hope.
The austere Puritan stones will also remind students of the words of Jonathan Edwards:
"Death temporal is a shadow of eternal death. The agonies, the pains, the groans and
gasps of death; the pale, horrid, ghastly appearance of the corpse, its being laid in a
dark and silent grave, there putrifying and rotting and becoming exceeding loathsome
and being eaten with worms is an image of hell." However, the wings usually attached
to the carved skull suggest to students the Puritans' tenuous hope for the flight of
the soul to heaven. The concept of the "elect" is thus enhanced through the study of
gravestones. A few Puritans might be chosen for salvation.
The widely studied New England Primer reminded its readers that "As runs the glass,
our life doth pass." Time was a central feature of the Puritan view of mortality, and
the hourglass on gravestones, held by the Grim Reaper or the Angel of Death carry-
ing his familiar scythe, will reinforce the significance of this central concept for stu-
ents. The famous Tapping stone in King's Chapel yard in Boston provides an excel-
lent classroom example of the allegory of the time. The bearded Father Time is appar-
ently trying to hold off the hand of Death, preventing him from prematurely snuffing
out a life, symbolized by a candle. Time lost the contest, and Joseph Tapping died at
the age of twenty-three. "Out, out brief candle" in 1678.
As the seventeenth century passed and the sternness of the Puritan faith moderated,
many markers became less morbid. Students can see that by the middle of the eight-
eenth century, the decline of orthodox Puritanism coincided with the decline of the
death's head. The angel effigy represented the immortal part of the deceased, the
soul which could now more easily ascend to heaven. An afterlife seemed available to
all who were deserving. A carved crown sometimes symbolized the soul's victory over
death, and the sunrise represented resurrection. Epitaphs also echo the more positive
note, and by the late eighteenth century a verse such as the following was common.
Read this and weep but not for me,
Who wiUing was to part with thee.
My soul ascends to Christ above.
To praise my God in endless love.
In the burying ground students of history and literature can appreciate how the fear-
some, God-centered world of the Puritan had declined. In its place was a man-centered
world with self-determination a key concept, and it should be no surprise to find human
faces and stylized portraiture subtly replacing the angel-like countenance on many New
England gravestones.
The progression from death's head to soul effigy to human features parallels changing
cultural events. With the emphasis on man, the age of reason had arrived. The demo-
cratic ideals of independence and self-determination inspired the carving of this inscrip-
tion on a marker in Boston's Copp's Hill Burial Ground:
Here lies buried in
A stone grave 10 feet deep
CAPT DANIEL MALCOM MERCHT
Who departed this life
October 23^
1769
Aged 44 years
A true Son of Liberty a Friend to the Public
An Enemy to Oppression and One of
the foremost in opposing the
Revenue Acts on
America
Gravestones in the Classroom, continued
Since the emerging nation looked to the classic past for its concepts of democracy,
classical architectural motifs found their way to gravestones. Fluted pilasters flanked
many nineteenth century stones, creating symbolic doorways to the next life. And
the urn, an architectural accessory to Federal buildings and furniture, became a
dominating gravestone symbol at the turn of the century, not just because it (prob-
ably) represented the funereal container of ashes, but also because of its classic ori-
gins and clean, balanced lines. The weeping willow tree, signifying a more personal,
emotional response to death, was at first a minor supporting symbol; eventually, it
dominated the headstone. Students studying the romantic movement in literature and
art will recognize the willow as nature's agent of mourning, and see that the grave-
stone had become a comfort for the living, their means of sentimentally coping with
death. By the middle of the nineteenth century, the willow was by far the most pop-
ular symbol for mourning, and not just in the graveyard. Emotion had replaced lo-
gic, a change that students will have noted in literature. Even Edgar Allen Poe
could not resist the willow:
Alas! for that accursed time
They bore thee o'er the billow
From love to titled age and crime —
From me and from our misty clime
Where weeps the silver willow.
The gravestone is a primary source material, easily available to any student. As a
historic source it is unique in that it is dated, and it is in situ. From the evoking
of Cod-fearing awe to the evoking of tears, from the late 1600's to the mid-1800's —
and even to the impersonal machine-made twentieth century memorials — the evolution
of funeral art reflects important changes in the mind and heart of America. Students
who can recognize those changes will have a richer and more complete understanding
of American culture.
Robert Behr was until 1981 Chairman of the English Department at Tower Hill School,
Wilmington, Delaware. He is now Assistant Alumni Secretary , Williams College.
BOOK REVIEWS
THE SEARCH FOR HENRY CROSS
By W. Douglas Hartley
Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society Publications, Volume 23, #3. 1966
Review by James Tibensky
The Search for Henry Cross is the story of the author's evolution from curious passer-
by to serious gravestone researcher. In 1962, Hartley noticed an unusual sandstone
marker in an old cemetery in south-central Indiana. Unlike the ordinary white marble
stones so common in the midwest, this stone was grey and decorated with a beautifully
carved stylized willow tree. As a sculptor himself. Hartley recognized that the carver
of the stone was highly skilled. After charting the geographic distribution of all the
stones he could find that appeared to be made by the same hand. Hartley discovered
where the carver had worked and that his name was Henry Cross.
The story of Hartley's search includes all of the best parts of gravestone investigation-
visiting cemeteries, photographing stones, and interviewing local people who might know
something about the carver and his work. Eventually, Hartley located Cross's home and
the quarry he used. Part II of the pamphlet, titled "Who Was Henry Cross?" details the
family history of Cross. Hartley notes that the best stones made by Cross were prod-
uced in the three years following the death of his twin sons at the age of six days.
As Hartley says, "Henry Cross was one of the last of the old-time carvers." As late as
1854 he was decorating stones with flower rosettes, hourglasses, coffins, and drapes.
The publication includes seventeen photographs of stones carved by Cross or his son,
two of other objects he made (a doll and a road marker), and maps of the area in which
the stones are found. This region centers in Brown County, the "covered bridge coun-
ty. " Any gravestone researcher or person with an interest in folk art will find this
little booklet delightful reading.
James Tibensky, 1510 South Lombard Avenue, Berwyn, Illinois, is AGS Vice President for
Research. He has written a program for computer analysis of gravestone data.
Note: For another story about the drama and mystery involved in a similar search. The
NEVySLETTER recommends "Wanted: The Hook-and-Eye Man," by Ernest Caulfield, publish-
ed in MARKERS, The Journal of the Association for Gravestone Studies ^ 1980, pp. 14-49.
POEMS ON STONE IN STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT
By Jean Majdalany and Jean Mulkerin
Illustrated with 18 photographs. 188 pages. $7 softbound
The Stamford Historical Society, 713 Bedford Street, Stamford, Connecticut 06901
Review by James A . Slater
Poems on Stone in Stamford, Connecticut is a collection of gravestone poems. The three
hundred and seventy poems, some of which are repeated, were taken verbatim from the
stones in forty-five of the seventy cemeteries located in the original township of Stam-
ford, an area which includes what is today Stamford, Darien, and the Stamford side of
New Canaan. The research involved in just finding seventy cemeteries in one township
can be appreciated only by those of us who have attempted to discover elusive little
plots engulfed by vegetation, years of neglect, and legendary removal to other sites.
The poems are indexed alphabetically by the name of the deceased. Two appendices give
the sources of twenty-four of the verses and the names of the three carvers who signed
their work. Among the fourteen poets and hymn-writers whose work is represented are
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Isaac Watts, Charles Wesley, and
John Greenleaf Whittier. The three carvers' signatures are: "F. Mancini, New Canaan,"
"J.H.Smith, Port Chester, " and (Phineas) "Hill, Sculpt." (two stones).
The favorite stanziac form is the quatrain. The length of the poems varies from stringent
couplets to seven poems which have twelve lines, and the longest one, which has two
stanzas of nine and ten lines. The most popular meter is iambic tetrameter. The thoughts
expressed fall into six themes: the glories of heaven that await the dead; the vanity and
cruelty of this world, making one glad to depart; the moral lesson taught by death; ac-
ceptance of the death by the survivors; general mourning; and eulogy of the deceased.
It is beyond this reviewer's competence to evaluate the quality of the poetry. The au-
thors see some of the poems as the efforts of a family member, friend, or minister try-
ing to express himself poetically, often with results that "do not ring true as poetry,
but nontheless they do serve to give us touching insight " Majdalany and Mulkerin
illustrate the other end of the scale of the poems' quality by citing verses known for the
beauty of their imagery and the music of their lines, written by poets of world reknown.
The authors divide the poetry into five time-periods, giving the number of poems and
the dominating theme from each period. In the first, the eighteenth century, are thirty-
eight poems, most of which are grim warnings of death. In the second period, from 1800
to 1830, are forty-two poems, which tend to view the deceased as sleeping. The one hun-
dred and thirty-six poems in the third period, the mid-nineteenth century, are sentimen-
tal, extolling the beauties of life after death. The one hundred and fifty poems falling
into the fourth period, from 1860 to 1911, tend to stress loss, loneliness, and dependence
on Cod. In the fifth period, the twentieth century, gravestone poetry has largely dis-
appeared. Unfortunately, because the total number of stones in each time period is not
given, the reader cannot determine and compare the proportion of verse-bearing stones
that occur in each period. We do learn that in twenty-five of the seventy graveyards,
either the stones had no poetic inscriptions, or they were illegible.
For many of us, an important value of this little book lies in the large, detailed map and
accompanying set of directions for reaching each cemetery. An interesting feature is
the authors' evaluation of the present condition of the cemeteries. The number which
receive a "poor condition" rating is certainly no credit to the town of Stamford. The sad
state of some of these little burying grounds is evident in a shocking 1964 photograph
of the Shadrach Lockwood graveyard, which we are told is now in an even worse condi-
tion than that shown in the photograph. One wonders how this is possible.
Valuable information is included on the background and the removal or loss of several of
the graveyards. Of the books' eighteen photographs, eight are general views. The ten
photographs of individual stones indicate that both Boston area and Connecticut Valley
carvers were at work there in the eighteenth century.
Majdalany and Mulkerin note that an increasing number of studies are being made of the
folk art on gravestones while the poetry has received little attention aside from collections
of the humorous or the bizarre. They feel the verses are worth a full consideration and
that tracing the poetic lines to their sources will make a useful contribution to gravestone
study. Most of all, they conclude, "This entire study has been made largely in the hope
that others will be drawn into forming a sound, practical program for saving what little
is left, the few traces of the rugged, sincere people who built the foundations of our
large and prosperous city of Stamford." Jean Majdalany and Jean Mulkerin have perform-
ed a valuable service by analyzing this poetry and also by simply recording it before it
is destroyed. In addition, they have provided a ready means of locating many graveyards
in this southwestern Connecticut town.
James Slater, a frequent contributor to THE NEWSLETTER^ is writing a guide to eastern
Connecticut graveyards.
STRANGER, STOP AND CAST AN EYE Diana Hume George
Would you hear what man can say
In a little? Reader, stay.
— Ben Jonson
"Epitaph on Elizabeth, L. H."
The epitaph is among the oldest of formal literary genres. Early American grave-
stone epitaphs are the products of a tradition that extends into unrecorded history, and
begins in extant Western European history at least as early as the seventh century B.C.
The Creek Anthology (so named by later scholars) is a collection of four thousand epi-
grams, some anonymous, some written by the great names of Creek poetry. It consti-
tutes the earliest Creek literature we know, and a great portion of this earliest litera-
ture is epitaphs. The epitaph is in some senses the product, but in other respects the
parent, of two literary genres now called epigram and elegy. Epigram literally means
"inscription," and the earliest inscriptions that have survived are indeed tombstone
carvings.
Anonymous inscriptions from the period of 700 to 300 B.C. repeatedly address the
"stranger coming from elsewhere" (epitaph from Athens) who is walking "on your way
thinking of other things" (another from Athens). They exhort the passerby to "Stop,
man, and have pity," or to "Mourn for him a while." Students of American gravestones,
even if their major interest is in iconography, will immediately recognize the rhetoric
and tone of a motif they may have thought American. "Stranger, stop and cast an eye"
is perhaps a bit tougher in tone, but the Creeks had their own way of reminding the
passerby of his own mortality. "Someone is glad that I, Theodorus, am dead. Another
will be glad when that someone is dead."
In one form or another, then, the most familiar of New England epitaphs is prob-
ably as old as poetry. Ironically, it is connected directly with the classical carpe diem
tradition, the commonest theme and convention of classical poetry. "Carpe diem," liter-
ally, "seize the day," is a quotation from Horace's Odes. As an idea and a poetic theme,
it is much older. Its main thrust in English poetry was usually a warning that since life
is short, one must employ and enjoy the limited time one has, either to achieve great things
or to appreciate the joys of life. With this latter emphasis, carpe diem shades off into the
"vivamus" tradition, which is entirely erotic in nature. The emphasis in Christian funer-
ary poetry is on living well in this world to gain salvation in the next; or, in a Calvinist
interpretation, to reassure one's self of being among the elect. "Prepare for death and
follow me," in its very direct phrasing, reflects the theology common in such works as
Jeremy Taylor's great seventeenth century meditation on death. The Rule and Exercises
of Holy Dying, only one of many such works of the age which gave spiritual birth to the
American colonial experiment.
Although the American version of this convention could be said to be nearly anti-
carpe diem in its commonest form (/. e., it says "get ready to die," and we must usually
infer from the negative that the positive implication is to live right), a number of var-
iants on "Stranger, stop and cast an eye" suggests its connections with the carpe diem
convention, Hannah Punster's epitaph from Brewster, Massachusetts:
/ once the Craves of others view'd
as now to others I am Shew'd
Even more specifically carpe diem is, this variant from Truro, Massachusetts:
Seize the moments while they stay.
Seize them, use them.
Lest you lose them.
And lament the wasted day.
Throughout New England, a bewildering number of changes are rung on the "Stranger,
stop and cast an eye" motif. Some are tonally comforting, some bitter, some brutal, some
hopeful, some smug, some despairing. And those sharp tonal changes are usually deter-
mined in the last two lines, for although minor variants of the first two lines are very com-
mon, they remain relatively uniform in tone and theme. Perhaps one of the most basic tasks
for those interested in epitaph study would be the collection of these variants with an eye
to determining geographic distribution and concentration, relation of variants to particu-
lar carvers, and developmental trends over a period of time.
Author's note: There are several good editions of The Creek Anthology, most of which
include necessarily limited selections from the over four thousand epigrams of varying
length and quality. The best edition is Peter Jay, The Creek Anthology and Other An-
cient Creek Epigrams (New York: Oxford University Press, 1973).
This pieae was adapted for THE NEWSLETTER hy Diana Hume George from a longer arti-
cle she prepared for another publication. George's hook, Blake and Freud (Cornell Uni-
versity Press) , was named one of the outstanding academic books of 1980 by Choice , the
professional librarians' Qoumal, and was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.
STONECUTTERS AND THEIR WORKS
Eleventh of a Series
Signed, "lohn Zuricher Stone Cutter
JOHN ZURICHER OF NEW YORK CITY
Richard F. Welch
An indigenous gravestone carving tradition in the Lower Hudson Valley emerged in the
1730's when the New England form was already into its third generation. Despite its
late emergence, the New York-New Jersey school of carving soon produced craftsmen
who fashioned superb and distinctive versions of the basic winged-skull /soul-effigy pat-
terns. Among the most successful of the Lower Hudson Valley gravestone cutters, in
terms of both quality and quantity, was John Zuricher of New York City.
Information about Zuricher's origins and early life has not yet been found. He first ap-
pears in the historical record in 1746 when he and his wife, Elizabeth Ensler, were mem-
bers of the Dutch Reformed Church in Manhattan. The couple had at least seven child-
ren, two of whom died in childhood. Zuricher's house and shop probably stood on the
two lots he owned adjoining the Hudson Rivei — within easy walking distance of Trinity
Church, where many of his markers still stand.
Zuricher's occasional practice of signing his stones, usually "lohn Zuricher Stone Cutter,"
has greatly aided researchers in identifying his work. Although his stones bear dates
as early as 1696, it is unlikely that he carved any memorials before the 1740's. An oc-
casional eccentric death's head might be attributable to him on the basis of lettering
style, but only soul effigies can be definitely assigned to his workshop, Zuricher's
career falls into two phases which separate in the middle 1760's. The early phase is
characterized by less balanced and assured carving, bespeaking a novice cutter. The
possibility that these early markers were carved by another cutter after whom Zuricher
patterned his style cannot be discounted. On these early stones, the arched lines of
the wing often join and extend into the shoulder of the stone, curling into a concentric
spiral. [Figure 7) The face tends to bulge muscularly on each side at the jaws, which
meet in a strong, prominent chin. The wig is a narrow band cut with S-shaped stria-
tions. (.Figure 2) Over the head usually floats a never-quite-balanced coronet type
crown of righteousness. {Figure 3) The facial features are sometimes distorted, and
the eyes can look quite mad.
In contrast, Zuricher's later effigies are serene, symmetrical, and often beautiful — if
more predictable. His bulging jaws and chin have evolved into either jowls or an oval
face. A small pointed chin typically protrudes below. The bottom curve of the wings
has almost disappeared, and the wings lie flat. The faces are more uniform, either ex-
pressionless or softly smiling. The wig is now generally formed by a multiple series of
concentric {Celtic LeTene) curliques. {Figure 4) The coronets have developed into
stylized tulips and other flora. Border ornamentation is almost nonexistent on his more
modest markers; the expensive models have either his traditional spirals or startingly
- 10 -
Stoneauttev John Zurioher, continued
ornate and impressive floral and vine motifs.
A large number of Zuricher stones testifies to Zuricher's popularity. His markers
are common in all the surviving burial grounds in the New York metropolitan area, the
Lower Hudson Valley, and even in adjacent Connecticut and eastern Long Island, where
New England carvers had long enjoyed a monopoly. An occasional Zuricher stone was
exported as far away as Georgia. The Revolution seems to have ended his career. Few
stones are found with dates after 1776, the year the British occupied New York, and
the last dated stone seems to be 1778. Sometime during the British occupation, Zuricher
left the city and went to live on his son's farm near New City in what is now Rockland
County, New York. He died there in 1784. Unfortunately, the memorial for this master
gravestone carver has not been found.
NEW YORK CITY
Vea route
■* to Georgia
EXPECT TO FIND JOHN ZURICHER STONES IN
ANY EARLY GRAVEYARD WITHIN A SIXTY MILE
RADIUS OF NEW YORK CiTY- THEY ARE SPARSE
IN NEW JERSEY AND IN FAIRFIELD COUNTY.
CONNECTICUT, WHERE ZURICHER HAD STRONG
COMPETITION.
1 i c r La/ Jc.Hei; Lf ^K tian-
y/an I oil anaisS^V: ...
uint-lcrct'KoF Oyer
1757
'757, Fishkill, N.Y.
Hior Le)u-Ic Ik-r Lirli.i.TTrnMii
noFow-iirfIr Ii.\Nr>cn/:in)fii'
pn^li;I■,1pr^',^n■(lo\'oslu^fe■
0;iri;|.i.ij\--n ([oh-o'Vuc-ki'v:
7 765
7 765, Fishkill, N.Y.
AnanT7)j:T^ooej~;yA^^
February f|^e:^T6,T'r-,^
t
7 775
7 775, Huntington, N.Y.
w0SB^rmx^''-,
•vs.
S-^
7 778
7 775, German ds, N.Y.
Richard Welch, who guest-edited the Spring, 1981, issue of THE NEWSLETTER, lives
on Long. Island (55 Cold Spring Hills Road, Huntington, New York 11743). He teaches
history, writes for historical journals and popular magazines, and is presently prepar-
ing for his Ph.D. orals. His most recent article is "Early American Gravestones: A
Folk Art Legacy, " published in The Spinning Wheels October-November, 1981. We rec-
commend this article to AGS members concerned with introducing gravestone studies to
the general public.
Editor's note: For other examples of John Zuricher's work, see Emily Wasserman's
Gravestone Designs: Rubbings £ Photographs from Early New York and New Jersey
(1972, Dover Publications), plates 24-29, 88-91.
- n -
RESEARCH
The Fall 1981 issue of THE NEWSLETTER carried a request
for information from Ruth Little-Stokes, who is conducting
a research project in North Carolina. We asked her for a
more detailed description of her interesting work. Here it is.
I am deep into the first year of a project entitled "The North Carolina Cemetery as
Cultural Artifact," funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
This year I am conducting fieldwork in four carefully selected areas of North Carolina
to obtain a statistical sampling of the major ethnic and religious gravestone traditions.
The four areas are New Hanover County, containing Wilmington, the largest city and
the major port in the state before the Civil War; Cumberland County, containing Fayet-
teville, the major inland trading city in the state before the Civil War and the center of
a large eighteenth-century settlement of Scottish Presbyterians; Davidson County in the
Piedmont, where several generations of German Lutheran gravestone carvers worked in
soft local soapstone to create the most ornate markers in North Carolina from about 1810
to about 1850; and Lincoln and Catawba Counties in the western Piedmont, an area of
strong German settlement where German decorative traditions mingled with English and
Scotch-Irish taste to produce a wide variety of local gravestone idioms from the late
eighteenth century to ca. 1870.
My fieldwork is approximately halfway completed, although it is slow-going in the
hot, bug-infested cemeteries of Cumberland County where I worked last summer. Using
uses maps and consulting local historians and genealogists, 1 am attempting to locate
and photograph every cemetery in each of the four areas. Each cemetery is recorded
on a master information sheet. Each significant gravestone is recorded on a keysort
card which I designed specifically for this project. The card contains the exact loca-
tion, a complete transcription of the inscription, measurements, a photograph, a hand-
drawn sketch, and judgments on the type of stone and the status of the craftsman
(whether an inexperienced amateur with no artistic training, a semi-professional who
perhaps carved in his spare time, or a professional).
It is still too early to draw generalizations from my fieldwork, but the richness and
variety of the gravestones have exceeded even my expectations. One of the benefits
of studying eastern North Carolina, where no native stone exists,is that the imported
markers in wealthy town and church cemeteries and private burying grounds are often
signed by the carvers, probably as a means of long-distance advertising. I have found
signed examples of the work of such carvers as Abner Sweetland of Connecticut; Ebe-
nezer Price of New Jersey; R. Hart ? of New York; Witzell & Cahoon of New York;
F. Price & Son of Norwalk, Connecticut; and Thomas Norris, 417 Bowery, New York.
Most of the eighteenth-century imported gravestones are from New England, while New
York and Connecticut provided most of the gravestones imported from about 1800 to
1850. Of course such southern craft centers as Charleston, South Carolina, Peters-
burgh and Norfolk, Virginia, and Baltimore, Maryland, also contributed many signed
markers during the first half of the nineteenth century. By about 1880, most North
Carolina cities had local gravestone businesses producing gravestones, but these re-
flected national popular taste and are difficult to distinguish from one workshop to an-
other. By the 1930's and 19U0's, these businesses apparently succumbed to the mass-
produced gravestones shipped throughout the country by national firms located near
the marble and granite quarries, notably in Elbert County, Georgia. Local gravestone
carvers now merely cut inscriptions into stock gravestones.
In addition to the variety and beauty of the locally made sandstone, soapstone,
slate, schist and quartz gravestones which I have found, one of my most exciting dis-
coveries is a tradition of ephemeral grave decoration in Cumberland County, located in
the Sandhills section of the Coastal Plain. Many graves are covered with carefully
placed sea shells — clam and scallop shells highlighted by conch shells. Others have
plaster figurines, vases, oil lamps, and other ceramic, glass, or plaster objects on them.
The black cemeteries throughout the state are yielding delightful examples of folk
art. I have photographed a group of concrete markers decorated with children's glass
marbles, and another group decorated with relief designs made by imprinting pieces of
tools and machinery in the concrete. A concrete headstone and footstone with inset
blue stained glass is one of the most beautiful of these unique black gravestones found
so far.
In the second year of my study, I will search documentary records and interview
local residents to determine the identity of the unknown carvers and the careers of the
known carvers, and to compare the design traditions of these different ethnic and re-
ligious groups and their interaction. If anyone has information about the carvers whose
signatures are mentioned above, or about any who may have worked in North Carolina
whom I did not mention, I would appreciate hearing from you.
Ruth Little-Stokes is a PhD candidate in art history at the Universtiy of North Carolina,
Chapel Hill. Her address: 3U08 Ebenezer Church Road, Raleigh, NC 27612.
- 12 -
CONSERVATION/PRESERVATION
Museum custody of important stones. We all know that America's early gravestones are
threatened by neglett, the elements, and vandalism and that if they are left in their
original settings, they will, inevitably, all disappear in time. There is a relatively new
and serious form of vandalism which is particularly alarming in that it is directed at the
"best" stones — stones which have been singled out for their beauty or charm or histori-
cal significance. As the public becomes more aware, through exhibitions, publications,
and the educational efforts of groups such as ACS, of the importance and value of these
artifacts, unscrupulous collectors and dealers are simply walking off with many stones.
We see increasing evidence of this kind of vandalism, and the answer to it seems in-
creasingly clear to concerned persons: Enter some special, important, threatened stones
into rrtuseum collections "on permanent loan." The most recent instance of a successful
effort to save a valuable, threatened stone in this way has just reached us. To assist
similar efforts, we are preparing a story about this and other stones now in museum col-
lections. Please send us descriptions of museum-housed gravestones you know about,
with an account of the procedures (legal, public relations, replica-substitution, etc.)
used. If possible, include a good photograph. Address information to ACS Publications,
c/o The American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massachusetts 01609
STS: Stones to Save, or Save These Stones. From Michael Cornish, ACS Vice-President/
Archives, comes the following innovative plan, which needs member support.
I have initiated a list of gravestones possessing extraordinary artistic merit
or cultural /historic/iconographic importance, i.e., museum pieces, as a ref-
erence for that time when provisions are finally made to bring them into the
safety of public collections. I should like my list to reflect a consensus of
scholars in the field so that I can cite published references and authorita-
tive recommendations, possibly, ultimately, producing a list which the ACS
as an organization can endorse as desirable candidates for indoor preserva-
tion. This list would be constantly up-dated, adding also reports on the con-
dition of the selected artifacts, and kept on file in the Association's archives.
I intend this list to be a companion piece to Anne Williams' and Susan Kelly's
list of signed stones and Laurel Cabel's list of probated stones. I believe
that such a body of material, by supplying recommendations based on aes-
thetic criteria by informed specialists, will be of immense help in insuring
that the especially unique and important carvings are saved. I am calling
for suggestions, strengthened when possible by photographs and other do-
cumentation. Address meat 62 Calumet Street, Roxbury, MA 02120.
A serious loss. The importance of photographically documenting old gravestones and of
bringing selected ones indoors for safekeeping is drama-
tically illustrated by this little item from The American
Cemetery, January, 1982. To experience the full impact
of the loss, see "Openwork Memorials of North Carolina,"
an article by Francis Duval and Ivan Rigby published in
MARKERS, The Journal of the Association for Gravestone
Studies, Volume I, pages 62-75. Six striking photographs
of stones from the Abbotts Creek graveyard illustrate the
article, which concludes with a plea for removal of some of
the markers to the safety of museums. [MARKERS is available from Betty Slater, 373
Bassettes Bridge Rd., Mansfield Ctr., CT 06250; $15 to members, $25 to non-members.)
Improvement project. A progress report from Thelma Fleishman describes some unusually
good conservation and preservation procedures being used by the Newton (Massachusetts)
Historical Commission in improving their old burial ground. They have:
* Photographed and recorded their broken markers and stored them for safekeeping un-
til they can be properly restored. (Too often stones are "repaired" in ways that con-
tribute to their demise.)
* Established a "Craveyard Fund" to be used to clean and improve the site. "(Many pro-
jects fail because they depend entirely upon untrained, volunteer help. It is better
to raise funds so that some professional guidance can be obtained.)
* Collected historical information about their graveyard and the stones in it. They used
this to develop a guided tour for which a fee is charged, also to produce a slide show
which solicits donations from local organizations, and to produce a flyer which is dis-
tributed to libraries and other public places to educate the public to the importance of
preserving their old graveyard.
We look forward to further reports from Newton, and from others conducting graveyard
improvement projects. This is a good time to repeat for our readers the names of two ACS
members, professionals, who are willing to help you start off right.
Conservation: Lance Mayer, 47 Elm Street, Stonington, Connecticut 06378. (203) 535-4051.
Preservation: Elizabeth Hengen, 45 Cabot Street, Winchester, Massachusetts 01890. Mrs.
Hengen's telephone number was incorrectly printed in the Fall issue. It is: (617) 729-1092.
North Carolina
High Point — Church officials i
were stunned by the savagery with
which a group of vandals devastated
105 monuments and memorials in
Abbott's Creek Primitive Baptist
Church. Some of the demolished
stones were over 200 years old.
NEWSLETTER NOTES & MISCELLANEOUS NEWS ITEMS
Guest editors. This issue, the second of two with an emphasis on gravestone inscrip-
tions, leaves us with many interesting epitaphs yet unused. We appreciate the good
response and plan to select from the backlogged contributions for future issues. To
guest editors Diana George and Mac Nelson, a fond adieu; you made the job a very a-
greeable, pleasant one.
The Summer 1982 issue will be distributed at the Williamstown Conference. (It will of
course be mailed as usual to members not present.) Guest editor is Ruth Little-Stokes,
whose research report appears on page 11 of this issue. Ms. Little-Stokes worked ten
years with the National Registry of Historic Places doing historical architectural sur- '
veys in North Carolina and is the author of four books on historical architecture. Her
issue's focus will be southern gravemarkers. Send contributions to her at 3408 Ebene-
zer Church Road, Raleigh, North Carolina 27612,
The fall issue will have its first midwest editor. Phil Kallas, whose background is in
American History and American History Education, is active in the Portage County
(Wisconsin) Historical Society and the Wisconsin Old Cemetery Association and contri-
butes frequently to historical society publications. He is looking for contributions
concerning midwest markers, also Indian burial grounds. His address is 308 Acorn
Street/Whiting, Stevens Point, Wisconsin 54481. (Or send any NEWSLETTER contri-
bution to AGS Publications, c/o American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, MA 01609.)
Reader reaction. Some readers are telling us that THE NEWSLETTER is touching too
many bases. Others feel we are veering too far into the philosophical and intellectual.
Touche on both these points; we have noticed the trend ourselves. The trouble with
gravestone study, and the pleasure, too, is that it crosses many disciplines, geographi-
cal areas, social strata, and time periods. If we limit the publication's subject matter to
the few areas of the editor's special interests, we would be limiting our service to others,
so we feel breadth is an obligation. But more important, discovering a new approach to
gravestone study can introduce fresh new insights which enrich and strengthen develop-
ment and understanding in our preferred area of study. And who can better introduce a
new viewpoint than someone who is deeply involved in it? We therefore welcome both the
broad range and the depth of the contributions we receive. However, when we get too
broadly based or too deeply enmeshed in the esoteric, don't bear with us. And don't give
up on us. Keep telling us. Your reactions are heard.
Yorns, Yongs S Yings. A typing error on page 5 of our Winter 1 981 issue caused the word
"thorn" to read "thong." A thorn is the symbol Y used to abbreviate TH, as in "Ye" or
"y" for "the." "Ya*" and "Y^" are also seen on gravestones, but infrequently as the
words "that" and "this" are not much used in gravestone inscriptions. It is interesting
to us to speculate that the thorn may have played a part in the development of the word
"you" from "thou." Another interesting development in pronunciation which can be sur-
mised from gravestone inscriptions concerns the word "daughter," which may have been
pronounced "dafter." Seventeenth- and eighteenth-century stonecutters, who frequent-
ly spelled phonetically ("Hear Lyes the Boddie"), occasionally inscribed, "the dafter of"
for "the daughter of." Strange? Spell "laughter" phonetically.
Corrections. The old order book mentioned on page 4 of the Winter 1 981 issue came from
the E.W. MFrbleCo., Skohegan, Maine. Josephine Cobb, who sent the item, is chairman of
MOCA's Marble Records Project to index the inscriptions cut by Edwin W. Marble. (Sorry!)
Researcher's request. Laszio Kurti, a doctoral student in social anthropology at the State
University of New York, Stony Brook, is collecting data on Eastern European gravestones
and cemeteries in North America. He writes that he is in great need of help and wants to
hear from readers who have information or material of any kind (published or unpublished
studies and articles, church records, photographs, maps, etc.) about Eastern European
immigrant gravestones, their cutters, and the cemeteries in which they are found. Send
information to Mr. Kurti at 51-36 30th Avenue, #1C, Woodside, New York 11377.
Rare old advertisement. In the Troy (New York)
Public Library, Warren F. Broderick found this
1809 advertisement, which ran in The Lansing-
burgh Gazette, a weekly published in Lansing-
burgh, Rensselaer County, New York. Note
the comment, "Their sable [black] cast makes
them more congenial with the feelings of a sur-
viving friend than any other stone." Mr. Bro-
derick is a historian whose published research
includes articles on Bennington, Vermont, area
gravestones and the work of Samuel Dwight.
marble:.
From Jones' Q_i!arr\\ in Pills-
Jurd, \ I- 1; Ml. NT.
AVA RIETY nf TOMn STGNES,
elegantly wr'Upht, af left a. sam-
pies, in the care of Meffrs. Denisom U
Curtis, and are for f/ile. 'I'litlr f.ible
caft itiakee them more cnngeni.il uiih
tlie feelingi of a furviving tnciul, than
any oilier Hone. The cui I<ius, or tliufe
-'nclined to purchafe, aie defirej to call
and view ihem.
One elegant full ."l/owc.i/r.vr, <:i_^ feet
high, with Iblid pedcll,<l ^nd pyramid,
for fale ai above.
Laiii/n^'nirir/i^ y,i,i,iary IB, ISU"'- 40
milllSMlN
a I V d
govisod s n
-0^0 lldO^d NON
60910 5S\?v\/ Ja^saDJOM
■suou^Di.iqnj SDV
Material Culture in the Connecticut Valley is the subject of a colloquium announced by
Historic Deerfield [Massachusetts], Inc., for March 20, 1982. The attractive flyer we
received features papers by "three young scholars who have done substantial research
on the history and culture of the Connecticut Valley," two of whom are well known to
students of New England gravestones: Kevin M. Sweeney, Administrator /Curator of
the Webb-Deane-Stevens Museums in Wethersfield, Connecticut, and William N. Hosley,
Associate Curator of American Decorative Arts, The Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford,
Connecticut. The program also includes a tour of the Wells-Thorn House in Old Deer-
field and two thematic tours, one focusing on architecture and the other on furniture.
"Two Towns" exhibition and catalog. An elegant exhibition of every-day objects used
by the common people in two eighteenth-century New England towns opened February
20, 1982, at the Concord (Massachusetts) Antiquarian Museum, The "Two Towns,"
Concord, Massachusetts, and Wethersfield, Connecticut, were geographically islolated
from one another, and the purpose of the project was to compare them by studying
their artifacts, furniture, tools, toys, etc., — and of course their gravestones. Peter
Benes conceived and administered the project. Among- other ACS members who con-
tributed to it are Kevin Sweeney, who conducted much of the research, and Dan and
Jessie Lie Farber, whose gravestone photographs were exhibited in place of the stones
themselves. An illustrated 176 page catalog, prepared by Benes and published by the
Concord Antiquarian Museum, sells for $10.95. There will be three installations of the
exhibition: through June 6, the Concord Antiquarian Museum; July 5 to September 26,
the Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford; October 18 to January 14, 1983, the
Wethersfield Historical Society. The project was funded by the National Endowment for
the Humanities and the GenRad Foundation.
For calligraphers and letter carvers. From John Benson of the famed John Stevens Shop
in Newport, Rhode Island, comes the announcement of a summer course which will bring
together six lettering artists of extraordinary ability who will combine their skills in one
week (August 8-15) of intensive instruction in an atmosphere of aesthetic concentration.
The artists, besides Mr. Benson, are: Alexander Nesbitt, Raphael Boguslav, Howard
Glasser, John Hegnauer, and Kay Atkins. Room, board, and studio space will be provid-
ed at the beautiful campus of the Portsmouth Abbey School, minutes away from the resort
town of Newport. Lecture and studio classes will alternate throughout the week with open
work periods and daily field trips. Ample opportunity will exist within the curriculum for
specialized study in twenty-seven areas. Enrollment will be limited to one hundred par-
ticipants; a $725 fee covers all expenses. Write for details to Letter Arts Newport, 134
Spring Street, Newport, Rhode Island 02840, or telephone 401-849-2212.
THE AGS NEWSLETTER is published four times a year as a service to members of the Association for Gravestone Studies.
The membership year is from June to June. Send membership fees (Regular Membership, $15; Sustaining Membership, $25)
to ACS Treasurer Nancy Jean Melin, 215 West 75th St.. Apt. WE, New York, NY 10023. Order MARKERS, The Journal of
the Association for Gravestone Studies (Members' price, $15; Non-members' price, $25) from Betty Slater, 373 Bassettes
Bridge Rd. , Mansfield Center, CT 06250. Address NEWSLETTER contributions to ACS Publications, do The American
Antiquarian Society, Worcester, MA 01609. Address all other Association correspondence to ACS Corresponding Secretary
Eloise West, 199 Fisher Rd., Fitchburg, MA 0H20.
■"^
t NEWSLETTER OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR
GRAVESTONE STUDIES
This is Part II of the Summer, 1982, issue of the ACS
NEWSLETTER, Volume 6, Number 3. It is a report of
the Association's annual meeting, held June 25-27, 1982,
at Williams College, Williamstown , Massachusetts.
The Williamstown conference, the largest of the Association's five meetings, was at-
tended by 105 members from fourteen states and Canada. Nearly half were from
three states — Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York. The most distant states
represented were Ohio, Texas, Florida, and California. The semi-rural setting
was beautiful, the weather excellent. Sign-ups for the tour of area graveyards
exceeded the seating capacity of the tour bus. Everything exceeded expectations,
including the program, which, though exhausting, had something for everybody.
The Boston Globe sent a reporter and on June 2 published a front page, illustrated
story which resulted in a flood of inquiries about ACS.
Conference Chairman Elizabeth Hammond and her committee are already at work on
plans for the 1983 meeting which will be held June 2^-26 at Assumption College in
Worcester, Massachusetts. Mark your calendar.
A REPORT FROM THE PRESIDENT
This year — our fifth — finds AGS growing in size and distinction as we continue our
efforts to enlist the public interest in the study, preservation, and recording of our
early gravestones.
In an effort to develop public awareness of the real and immediate need to preserve
these vital historical and artistic records, we have this year directly contacted histori-
cal and genealogical societies throughout the east, enlisting their support and member-
ship. We have also developed a promotional packet of our several publications to be made
available to conferences, individuals, and organizations with similar interests. The ACS
Newsletter, published quarterly, and our slide-tape program "Burial Western Style," con-
tinue to expand our message and engender interest in AGS and its aims.
That we are more frequently utilized as a resource center in this field indicates the
growing success of our efforts, and we are responding with advice and suggestions re-
garding the preservation of markers and the recording of the genealogical and cultural
data contained on them.
The ACS archive at the New England Historic Genealogical Society has been the re-
cipient this year of several scholarly and valuable collections of photographs, books,
journals, and research material and is proving to be indeed the foundation for a concen-
trated storage area for the iconographic and genealogical data in this field.
Our membership ranks are increasing in number, in the variety of gravestone ori-
ented interests represented, and in geographical area. This year Germany has been ad-
ded to our international roster, which includes Canada, Great Britain, and South America,
We have been making a study of the cemetery laws throughout the states and hope to
offer model legislation appropriate to the goals of protection and preservation of these
valuable early markers.
Our development has been positive in most areas. However, a major disappointment
this year has been our inability to obtain funding for the publication of Markers II. We
continue to pursue this and hope soon to have good news. There is also a real need for
greater input to the AGS archive, and we strongly urge members to contribute their re-
levent photographs, research materials, and publications.
We encourage your positive support, your assistance, and your active participation
in any of these ongoing projects. 5^,,^ jhomas
HARRIETTE MERRIFIELD FORBES AWARD TO JAMES A. SLATER
Presentation Address by ACS President Sally Thomas
June 26, 1982
At the first annual conference of The Association for Gravestone Studies it
was resolved that an award should be made periodically to honor either an individ-
ual or an organization in recognition of exceptional service to the field of grave-
stone studies. This award, known as The Harriette Merrifield Forbes Award, rec-
ognizes outstanding contributions in such areas as scholarship, publications, con-
servation, education, and community service. Our recipient this year. Dr. James
A. Slater, is a noted and dedicated scholar who has approached the study of early
gravestones and their carvers in an innovative and scientific manner, with impres-
sive results.
Dr. Slater's early years were spent in the mid-west, where he was gradua-
ted from the University of Illinois and where he received his Ph.D. in entomology
from Iowa State College. From that time, however, he has been a Slew Englander.
He is Professor of Entomology at the University of Connecticut, where he has served
as Chairman of the Department of Zoology and Head of the Section of Systematic
and Evolutionary Biology. He now serves as national president of The Society of
Systematic Zoology.
Dr. Slater's interest in gravestones originated in an informal way, similar to
that in which many others have discovered the fascination of this area of study.
Some years ago, while in London on a sabbatical leave, he became interested in the
handsome monumental brasses that he saw being rubbed in English cathedrals,
and upon his return home in Connecticut, he made some experimental rubbings of
early stones in nearby graveyards. Allan Ludwig's Craven Images was published
shortly thereafter, and Ludwig's writing concerning the Collins master was parti-
cularly intriguing to Slater. Soon his new hobby had developed into a serious
commitment.
During the period that Dr. Ernest Caulfield was preparing a paper on Obadiah
Wheeler, whom Caulfield had identified. Slater made his acquaintance with Caulfield.
They collaborated for a year and a half on the Wheeler project, and after Caulfield's
death. Slater completed the paper and proceeded to seek a publisher, having no idea
who might be interested in publishing a paper on gravestones written by a "crazy
entomologist." The American Antiquarian Society was suggested as a possible pub-
lisher, and as fate would have it, the Antiquarian Society member who was asked
to review Slater's paper was an enthusiastic photographer of gravestones named
Daniel Farber. The Wheeler paper was published by the Society and illustrated by
Farber.
Another important contribution by Dr. Slater to gravestone studies is a study
of the carver John Hartshorne's work in Connecticut and Massachusetts. This paper,
developed in collaboration with the Rev. Ralph Tucker and illustrated by Mr. Farber,
was published in Puritan Cravestone Art II , The Proceedings of the Dublin Seminar.
It is a definitive work and a model for scholars conducting research in this field.
For the past five years Slater has been working on a detailed field guide to
the graveyards of eastern Connecticut. This guide will include a biographical sketch
of each of the carvers whose work is represented in eastern Connecticut's pre- 1800
graveyards; it will describe and give directions for finding the yards; and it will
identify the important stones as well as give the number of stones by each carver in
each graveyard. It is being written in a semi-popular style that will serve both the
layman and the serious scholar. Dr. Slater is also continuing his study of the Man-
ning family of carvers for a paper similar to his Hartshorne and Wheeler monographs.
In addition, he is a frequent contributor to genealogical and historical publications,
as well as to The ACS Newsletter. He serves on the review board for Markers.
Fortunately for gravestone scholarship, this dedicated scholar and creator of
literary treatises has not worked in solitary isolation. He has been unfailingly gra-
cious and generous, sharing his research findings and giving enthusiastic assistance
to the many who call on him for help with their various projects. Those who know Jim
personally or have heard him speak appreciate his warmth and his sense of humor;
we will not soon forget his carefully researched presentation at the Newport confer-
ence on "Color on Gravestones."
Dr. Slater's unique contribution to the field of gravestone research is his
development of a scientific and scholarly approach to the study of carving motifs.
In gathering and classifying data he has applied to gravestone study his experience
as a taxonomistin his lifelong vocation as an entomologist, setting a high standard
for other researchers in the classification of carving styles. His research is meticul-
ous, insightful, and voluminous. We are honored to have Jim Slater as a colleague
and happy to name him the recipient of The Harriette Merrifield Forbes Award.
- 15 -
THE CONFERENCE SPEAKERS
AND THEIR SUBJECTS
)
The program presentations were loosely categorized as (1) Major
addresses and research papers, (2) Reports of works in progress,
and (3) Informal slide showings.
MAJOR ADDRESSES AND RESEARCH PAPERS
Sherene Baugher-Perlin, Urban Archaeologist for New York City, The New York City
Landmarks Preservation Commission, 20 Vesey St., New York, NY 10007.
Cayneli Levine, Ph.D. candidate and Instructor, Anthropology Dept,, State University
of New York, Stony Brook; RD #2, Box 205, Wading River, NY 11792.
Gina Santucci, Landmarks Preservation Specialist, New York City Landmarks Preserva-
tion Commission; 8 Gramercy Park South, New York, NY 10003.
A SURVEY OF HISTORIC CEMETERIES IN THE FIVE BOROUGHS OF NEW YORK CITY.
A description of an important, standard-setting project being jointly funded by the
New York Council for the Humanities and the New York City Landmarks Preservation
Foundation. The project's goals: (1) to photo-record gravestones from 35 pre-20th
century cemeteries, with emphasis'on the large number of important and unrecorded
cemeteries in Queens and Staten Island; (2) to prepare slide lectures and walking
tours for community organizations, presenting gravestones as cultural resources; and
(3) to encourage community participation in recording data from and maintaining New
York City's, historical cemeteries. Explanation of strategies and methods being used
for recording and analyzing Colonial and Victorian stones.
John L. Brooke, Visiting Assistant Professor, American Studies Dept., Amherst College;
217 South Pleasant St., Amherst, MA 01002.
THE EARTH AND THE WATER: BURIAL AND BAPTISM IN CENTRAL NEW ENGLAND.
A discussion of some aspects of the opposing religious cultures of Congregational ists
and Baptists in 18th century New England. These two groups elaborated two central
religious rites of passage, one focusing on death and burial, the other on baptism by
immersion. These rites, both patterned on the type of Christ's death and resurrec-
tion, were explicitly analygous, and they summarized the drastically different social
and intellectual orientations of the two groups. An exploration of this thesis in a con-
sideration of human geography, gravestone symbolism, church membership, and ser-
mon literature.
Theodore Chase, Attorney (Retired partner. Palmer & Dodge, Boston),- 74 Old Farm Rd.,
Dover, MA 02030.
Laurel Gabel, Genealogist, Docent for Boston-by-Foot; 323 Linden St.; Wellesley, MA 02181.
STONECARVERS OF THE LANCASTRIAN TOWNS: JAMES WILDER OF LANCASTER,
MASSACHUSETTS, 1741-1794. Brief history of the Lancastrian area; genealogy and
background of James Wilder, stonecutter; methods and sources for research; slides
of Wilder stones; possible inspiration for Wilder style; a look at his quarry source.
Francis Duval, Designer/photographer; 405 Vanderbilt Ave. , Brooklyn, NY 11238.
Ivan Rigby, Professor of Art, Pratt Institute; 405 Vanderbilt Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11238.
GRAVESTONE REPLICAS FROM THE DUVAL-RIGBY COLLECTION. 70mm transparen-
cies of replicas of 17th, 18th, and 19th century gravestones. The molds were made on
location in New England, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Virginia.
The replicas were cast in New York City and photographed indoors under controled
lighting conditions.
GRAVESTONE STYLES FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY. 70mm transparencies of grave-
stones, photographed on location using sunlight, direct and reflected.
Rufus B. Langhans, Town Historian, 228 Main St., Huntington, NY 11742.
ADOPT A CEMETERY. The law in the state of New York as it refers to ownership of
abandoned cemeteries; the responsibilities of the town government in relation to such
ownership; some solutions to cemetery maintenance problems; methods for encourag-
ing organizations to assume maintenance responsibility; some successes and failures.
Warren E. McKay, Rockhound and member of the Old Abington Historical Society; 405
Lincoln St., North Abington, MA\)2351.
MASSACHUSETTS STONE QUARRIES.
Continued next page
J
- 16 -
Conference Speakers, continued
Lance Mayer, Conservator, Lyman Allyn Museum, New London, Connecticut; 47 Elm St.,
Stonington, CT 06378. (
SANDSTONE MONUMENTS: WHAT HOPE FOR THEIR FUTURE? A discussion of the
complexity of the problems connected with the deterioration of Connecticut Valley
gravestones; examples of unsuccessful preservation efforts; present research and
future approaches to gravestone conservation. Illustrated with slides.
Roberta Palen, Texas State Documents Librarian, Texas A£M University; Box 1178 Col-
lege Station, TX 77841.
THE TEXAS WENDS AND THEIR CEMETERIES. An examination of the background
and gravestones (to 1930) of the Wends, an ethnic group which migrated from Ger-
many to central Texas in the 1850's and continued as a tightly-knit community.
Robert Trent, Research Assistant, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA 02115.
NEW ENGLAND BEGINS. A presentation based on the current exhibition of 17th cen-
tury New England artifacts at the Museum of Fine Arts, focusing on gravestones.
Ralph Tucker, Rector, All Saints Episcopal Church, West Newbury, MA; 928 Main St.,
West Newbury, MA 01985.
MERRIMACK RIVER VALLEY GRAVESTONE STYLES . A survey of motifs and their
chronologies, with emphasis on exceptions to the skull-to-cherub-to-portrait-to-urn/
willow order.
David Watters, Assistant Professor of English, University of New Hampshire; Hamilton
Smith Hall, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824.
• DIVINE BREATHINGS: HYMNS, POEMS, AND DEATHBED VISIONS FROM THE BEN-
NINGTON PRESS. A description of late 18th and early 19th century Bennington Press
publications on death and dying; insights into the literary tastes of the communities
in which Collins, Dwight, and Manning gravestones were popular.
REPORTS OF WORKS IN PROGRESS
Warren Broderick, Public Records Analyst, New York State Archives; 695 4th Ave.,
Lansingburgh, NY 12182.
EARLY GRAVESTONES IN RENSSELAER COUNTY, NEW YORK. Geographical and his-
torical background of the county and its settlers; influence of trade routes from Ben-
nington County, Vermont, and Berkshire County, Massachusetts and settlement pat-
terns on Rensselaer County's early gravestones. A description of some early stones
and of some historic cemeteries. Illustrated.
Michael Cornish, Woodworker, AGS Archivist; 62 Calumet St., Roxbury, MA 02120.
BAY COLONY TENDRIL CARVERS. A study of a vocabulary of tympana designs
employing a highly stylized bouquet of natural vegetation and geometric elements:
buds, fronds, hearts, semi-circles, diamonds, stippling, and "tendrils." These
18th century designs were produced simultaneously by at least seven artisans, and
the typical tendrils are virtually identical from carver to carver, although no ar-
rangement of all the elements is repeated exactly. David Lincoln of Norton, Ebene-
zer Winslow in Uxbridge and his son in Berkley, Barney Leonard in Middleboro-
Bridgewater, Joseph Barbur in Medway, Jabez Carver, Leonard Dean, Cyrus Deane,
and others have left hundreds of shallow, delicate carvings in this style.
A NEW LOOK AT THE PHIPPS STREET BURYING GROUND, CHARLESTOWN. A des-
cription of this large, old Massachusetts graveyard, which is suffering from the twin
abuses of neglect and vandalism^ with emphasis on two bodies of high quality work
placed there by unidentified carvers. A progress report on the photographic record
being compiled by the speaker to document the important and also the lesser known
carvings which have been given little or no attention.
Barbara Rotundo, Associate Professor of English, State University of New York, Albany;
historian for Mt. Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts; 217 Seward Place,
Schenectady, NY 12305.
WHITE BRONZE VICTORIAN GRAVEMARKERS. Types, dates, location, prevalence,
and suppliers of these metal markers. Members are invited to report their findings.
Continued next page
- I / -
Conference Speakers, continued
James A. Slater, Professor of Entomology, University of Connecticut; 373 Bassettes Bridge
Rd., Mansfield Center, CT 06250.
THE STONECARVING TRADITION IN BEDFORD, INDIANA. A report on a survey of
tlie Bedford cemetery made August, 1981, by the speaker and Carol Perkins in tlieir
attempt to discover the source of the midwestern "tree stones." Illustrated.
JOTHAM WARREN, THE PLAINFIELD TRUMPETER. Evidence identifying Warren as
the carver of small trumpeters in the Plainfieid, Connecticut, area; also a progress
report on research into his family history; a description of the motifs on his stones,
and the evolution of his style.
James M. Smith, Graduate (M.S. , physiology) from Medical College of Virginia, entering
John Marshall Law School in August, 1982; MCV Station 447, Richmond, VA 23298.
THE EARLY YEARS: CHILDREN'S GRAVESTONES IN PURITAN NEW ENGLAND.
INFORMAL SLIDE SHOWS
Robert Drinkwater, 30 Fort Hill Terrace, Northampton, MA 01060
GRAVESTONE ART IN SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL BERKSHIRE COUNTY: A SCOUT-
ING REPORT.
Jessie Lie Farber, Professor Emeritus, Mount Holyoke College, 31 Hickory Dr., Worcester,
MA 01609.
CHINESE GRAVESTONES. Transparencies of burial markers made during the Farbers'
recent trip to The People's Republic of China.
Laurel Gabel, 323 Linden St., Wellesley, MA 02181.
HOW TO LOOK AT A GRAVESTONE. Transparencies showing different slates and
quarry marks, quarry initials, signatures, prices, practice doodles, practice let-
tering, footstone designs, etc., found on gravestones.
William E. Harding, Physician, St. Luke's Hospital; 65 Granger St. Woliaston, MA 02170
WILLIAMSTOWN AREA GRAVESTONES AND BENNINGTON COUNTY, VERMONT,
QUARRY GRAFFITI.
Charles E. Mohr, Adjunct Professor, Delaware State College; Lake Club Apartments,
B-26, Dover, DE 19901.
NOTABLE CEMETERY TREES. A look at some of the many large, handsome trees that
have survived in eastern cemeteries. Identification of three major periods through
cemetery trees and other plantings: the period from the first settlement to about 1840;
the period of the Victorian garden cemetery; and the period of the 20th century me-
morial park.
Jo Hanson, Artist, 201 Buchanan St., San Francisco, CA 94102. (The film-maker)
Mary Anne Mrozinski, Art teacher. Sagamore Junior High School, Holtsville, New York;
47 Hammond Rd., Glen Cove, NY 11542. (The presenter)
BURIAL WESTERN STYLE. A 22 minute slide-tape presentation with voice-over,
about burial grounds in the West; developed by Jo Hanson, who donated it to AGS.
Available for use by local groups for the cost of postage and handling, from Mary
Anne Mrozinski.
Ivan B. Rigby, Professor of Art, Pratt Institute; 405 Vanderbilt Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11238.
MEXICAN CHURCH ART. Transparencies made of folk art in the interior and exter-
ior of Mexican churches. Many details invite comparison with early gravestone design.
Miriam Silverman, Ph.D. candidate, archaeology. City University of New York; 300 West
55th St., New York, NY 10019.
NEW YORK CITY GRAVESTONES. Transparencies of early stones; focus on Trinity
Churchyard.
Deborah Trask, Assistant Curator, History, Nova Scotia Museum, Halifax; 1747 Summer St.,
Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 3A6, Canada.
SOME NOVA SCOTIA GRAVESTONES
Richard Welch, High School history teacher and Ph.D. candidate. State University of New
York, Stony Brook; 55 Cold Springs Hills Rd., Huntington, NY 11743.
NEW YORK, LONG ISLAND, NEW JERSEY GRAVESTONES
- 18 -
• GUIDED TOUR OF FOUR VERNONT CEMETERIES
Following is the text of a handout prepared by David Walters for ACS
members making the conference day-trip to four cemeteries in the area
of the Williamstown, Massachusetts, conference site. Waiters' sources
for the information sheet are Ann and Dickran Tashjian, Nancy Melin,
William Harding, and Allan Ludwig. Distributed with this text were two
maps and a complete list of cemeteries in the area with directions, pre-
pared by Ranney Calusha. Bill Hosley assisted Walters in guiding the
tour group. There were seventy participants.
THE CEMETERIES: Bennington, Shaftsbury, Arlington, Dellwood
People were drawn to the northwest frontier of New England settlement for re-
ligious and economic reasons. With the fall of Montreal in 1760, eastern New York State
and northern New England were finally free of the threat of Indian and French attack.
Thus the desire for new land among younger people in settled New England communi-
ties, which had been bottled up for some thirty years, led to a large-scale migration
northward. With the growing population, tradesmen and craftsmen began to open new
markets. Some, like stonecarver Josiah Manning, practiced their trades on an itiner-
ant basis; others, like Zerubbabel Collins, combined a radical religious persuasion and
an appreciation of the possibilities of marble carving in settling permanently in the area.
The founding of the church in Bennington, Vermont, however, can be attributed
to the lingering religious revival in southern New England. The Norwich, Connecticut,
township contained five parishes which were all powerfully affected by the Great Awak-
ening of the early 1740's, leading to the splitting off of Separate Baptist churches.
George Whitfield himself preached in Norwich in August, 1745. The third parish, called
Newent, now Lisbon, Connecticut, was lead by Thomas Denison in 1747, a Separate Con-
gregationalist minister with strong Baptist leanings. His successor. Deacon Joseph Saf-
ford, led nearly the entire church to Bennington, Vermont, in 1761. Thus began a pat-
tern of removal to Vermont of large numbers of religious radicals of the Separate Bap-
tist and Strict Congregationalist persuasions. There they were joined by families from
Amherst, Hardwick, and Sunderland, Massachusetts. The Bennington Church was es-
tablished in 1726, and it was joined by a large group of separatists from Westfield,
Massachusetts, led by Jedidiah Dewey in 1763. While the church, the first in Vermont,
began as a radical departure from traditional Congregational ecclesiology, it soon became
conservative and was itself the subject of separations. The church building was built
by Lavius Fillmore; below the church may be seen the graves of Robert and Elinor Frost.
The growth of Separate Baptist and Baptist sentiment led to the founding of the
Shaftsbury Church by Separates who became Baptists. Bliss Willoughby, former pas-
tor of the Newent Church which removed to Bennington, became a Baptist in the early
1760's and moved to Vermont in 1764. When the Shaftsbury Church was organized in
August, 1768, Willoughby and John Millington shared Jeadership of the church. The
church building now houses the Shaftsbury Historical Society.
Editor's note: Conferees had a box lunoh pianic in the Shaftsbury churchyard, where
the McCue Memorial Company of Rutland, Vermont, had set up a demonstration of the
techniques being used to reproduce the stones destroyed in an auto accident (cost,
over $23,000, or $2000 per stone). Inside the building several of the damaged orig-
inals were on display. It is interesting to consider the possibility that these
damaged originals, now housed indoors, may outlast their pristine reproductions in
the graveyard. JLF
Arlington, Vermont, was founded in 1763, and it was the home of such Vermont
pioneers as Remember Baker, Thomas Chittenden, and Ethan Allen, whose first wife,
Mary Brownson, and two of her children are buried in the cemetery. It was also a hot-
bed of Tory sympathizers during the Revolution, which explains the early presence of
Church of England sentiment in the town. The St. James Church (1829) is one of the
finest examples of early Gothic architecture in New England. Here is some of Samuel
Dwight's best work, as well as interesting neoclassical and masonic stones.
The Dellwood Cemetery, in Manchester Village, incorporates the old Manchester
cemetery in one of the finest rural cemeteries in New England. Laid out in the 1850's,
it is the work of Burton A. Thomas, a landscape architect from Albany. Italian stone
sculptures representing "Mourning" and "Resurrection" flank the entry to the ceme-
tery. Dellwood is arranged in the manner of other garden cemeteries, such as Mt. Au-
burn, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Although it has undoubtedly lost many of its Vic-
torian plantings, iron fencing, and related equipage, Dellwood successfully evokes the
feeling of a Victorian cemetery, complete with picturesque vistas, winding paths, two
ponds, and a brook. ^ ^. -,
Continued next page
- 19 -
Guided Tour^ aont-inued
THE CARVERS
Zerubbabel Collins (1733-97) was the son of Benjamin Collins, of Lebanon Crank
(Columbia), Connecticut. Both Benjamin Collins and his brother Julius were prominent
stonecarvers in southeastern Connecticut, practicing what Allan Ludwig called the Or-
namental Style of the region. The Collins' effigies bear a distinct resemblance to the
work of John Hartshorn and the carvings of Obadiah Wheeler, whose late stones are al-
most indistinguishable from those of Benjamin Collins. In the stones he carved in gran-
ite in Connecticut, Zerubbabel Collins developed his father's designs by adding decora-
tive motifs drawn from furniture carving, needlework, and woodcuts. He also departed
from the flat, limner-style presentation of earlier carvers by modeling the faces of his
cherubs. In this regard, his development was retarded by the nature of the granite
he worked; the dramatic burst of vitality and experimentation of his Vermont work is
due in part to the pliability of the Vermont marble. Collins moved to Shaftsbury, Ver-
mont, probably for professional as well as religious reasons. The marble quarries of
West Mountain were nearby. Shaftsbury was an early center for Vermont Separate
Baptists, and clearly Collins felt comfortable with a religious enthusiasm similar to that
which had gripped Lebanon Crank during his boyhood under the guidance of the evan-
gelical Eleazar Wheelock. Collins must have had several apprentices in Vermont, per-
haps counting among them Benjamin Dyer.
Samuel Dwight's work clearly reflects the influence of Zerubbabel Collins, but
the appeal of his stones lies in his eclectic borrowings from Connecticut River Valley
designs and from the symbolism of the Masons. Dwight, born in 174U in Thompson,
Connecticut, was a descendant of the famous Dwight family of Connecticut. He was
well educated, taking a Yale degree in 1773, which may explain his interest in poetic
epitaphs and the intellectual systems of the Masons. Dwight taught school in Con-
necticut, and married in 1779. He deserted his wife in 1786, taking much of her mon-
ey, and reappeared in Bennington, Vermont, as a gravestone carver. Dwight signed
the Desire Allis stone (1796) in Dellwood Cemetery; he died in 1826.
Benjamin Dyer (1778-1856) probably apprenticed to Zerubbabel Collins and may
have carved Collins' gravestone, which stands in Shaftsbury, Vermont. Dyer carved
Collins-style angels, but with the wings in a vertical configuration suggesting a body
for the cherub face. After 1801, however he turns to the fashionable neoclassical de-
signs gaining popularity throughout New England. A probated example of his later
work is the James Clark (1809) stone in Bennington, Vermont.
Josiah Manning (1725-1806) was the patriarch of the great granite carving fam-
ily of eastern Connecticut. His magnificent stone for the first minister of Bennington,
Jedidiah Dewey, is one of his few works in marble, and he clearly does not adapt to
the new material with the facility of his former rival, Zerubbabel Collins. Neverthe-
less, the Deweys show their family allegiance to eastern Connecticut by purchasing
a stone from the Manning family. The epitaph represents the first known quotation
from Shakespeare on a Vermont gravestone.
Roger Booth (d. 1849) placed many stones in Bennington, including probated
stones for EInathan Hubbel (1801), Ephraim Wood (1813), and Fay Robinson (1815).
He used a grayer marble than did Collins and Dyer.
Solomon Ashley (1754-1823) was the son of the minister of Deerfield, Massachu-
setts. He was primarily employed as a potter, but he also carved marble gravestones
in Deerfield. He carved semi-abstract effigies with flat, geometric bodies.
E. Cranston and T. and W. Brown signed numerous neoclassical and masonic
style stones in Shaftsbury and Arlington, Vermont.
David Watters, Assistant Professor of English, University of New Hampshire, is the
editor of Markers II .
Another tour. A short walking tour was conducted by Norman Weiss, Professor of
Historic Preservation, Columbia University. Weiss, whose specialty is architectural
conservation, led a group of about twenty conferees to selected eighteenth, nine-
teenth, and twentieth century buildings on the Williams College campus, identify-
ing many kinds of building stone used in the structures, explaining the character-
istic differences, and noting their present condition.
- 20 -
CARVING STYLES FROM THE CONFERENCE AREA
Photographs by Dan Farber
with data from papers by William Harding and Nancy Meli'n
Elnathan Hubbel stone, 1801, Bennington, Vt.
Probated to Roger Booth (1773-1849) of Bennington
Jane Webster stone, 1797, Bennington, Vt.
Attributed to Benjamin Dyer (1778-1856) of White Creek, N.Y.
Austin Seeley, jr., stone, 1796, Arlington, Vt. Rachel Burton stone, 1790, Manchester Center, Vt.
Attributed to Samuel Dwight (1744-1826) of Bennington Signed, "Z. Collins Sculp. Shaftsbury"
v^l^c:
Capt. Hamlin Dwight Stone, 1785, So. Wi 1 1 iamstown, Mass.
One of a small group of witty, primitive carvings
by the unidentified "AGS logo carver"
EXHIBITIONS AND SALES
Warren Broderick, 695 4th Ave.,
Lansingburgh, NY 12182
Theodore Chase, 74 Farm St.,
Dover, MA 02030
Michael Cornish, 62 Calumet St.,
Roxbury, MA 02120
Dan Farber, 31 Hickory Dr.,
Worcester, MA 01609
Alfred M. Fredette, RFD #1, Box 379,
Baltic, CT 06330
Roberta Halporn, 391 Atlantic Ave.,
Brooklyn, NY 11217
Libby Hammond, 34 Old Connecticut Path,
Wayland, MA 01778
Highly Specialized Promotions, Inc.,
391 Atlantic Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11217
C.R. Jones, P.O. Box 800 (NYSHA),
Cooperstown , NY 11326
Susan Kelly /Anne Williams, 83 May wood
Road, Darien, CT 06820
Charles E. Mohr, Lake Club Apts. B-26,
Dover, DE 19901
Mary Anne Mrozinski, 47 Hammond Rd.,
Glen Cove, NY 11542
Hazel & Nicholas Papale, 105 Wallace Ave.,
Auburn, MA 01501
Ann Parker and Avon Neal
Thistle Hill
126 School St.
North Brookfield, MA 01535
23 gravestone rubbings from early
Rensselaer County, N.Y.
10 gravestone rubbings
Carol A. Perkins, 1233 Cribb St.
Toledo, OH 43612
Bay Colony Tendril Carvers:
drawings from gravestones
12 16" X 20" mounted black and white
photographs of gravestones
"An Age of Angels": display and paper-
back published by Windham Historical
Society
Rubbings from Colonial gravestones
in New York City
Foil rubbings: relief impressions from
gravestones
Books
Photographs of gravestone offered at
auction: an inquiry into its origin
Rubbings of 20 whole stones
70 projected color transparencies of
cemetery scenes
Gravestones as a design source: exam-
ples of decorative arts using motifs
adapted from gravestone rubbings
Historian's album; projected slides
Gravestone rubbings from Vermont.
Also, a copy of the Delux Edition ($650)
of their new book. Early American Stone
Sculpture, a copy of which was pre-
sented to the AGS Archive by Sweetwater
Editions, the publishers (205 E 78th St.,
Suite ID, New York, NY 10021)
Apt. 204 Photographs and rubbings
Selma and Jerry Trauber, 142 Langham St.
Brooklyn, NY 11235
Geraldine Hungerford, Hilldale Rd.,
Bethany, CT 06525
Gravestone rubbings
AGS materials: information sheets, back
issues of the AGS Newsletter, AGS pins
and patches, bumper stickers. Markers
To order the following items, address Corresponding Secretary Eloise West,
199 Fisher Road, Fitchburg, Massachusetts 01420.
Information sheets $ 1.00 ea .
Titles: Recommendations for the Care of Gravestones
Gravestone Rubbing for Beginners
Making Photographic Records of Gravestones
Symbolism in the Carvings on Old Gravestones
Reprint from AGS journal, MARKERS. "The Care of Old Cemeteries and
Gravestones," by Lance Mayer. 24 pages $ 2. 75
Broadside, suitable for framing. "Grave Faces," a poem by Martin
Booth; illustrated, limited edition, signed and numbered $16.50
AGS patches $ 3.00
Bumper stickers. "I BRAKE FOR OLD GRAVEYARDS" $ 1.50
VlllllSMlN
sseyy 'j3(sa3JO/^
Oitr ON »!U)J»d
a I V d
30ViSOd s n
'0^0 lldO^d NON
60910 sspw jajsaojOM
■X4apos ui?!J\?nb!4uv up^uatuvo/^
suoi.jvDiiqnj sqv
THE ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES
1982-83
President
Vice President
ArcFiives and
Conservation
Vice President
Education
Vice President
Grants
Vice President
Publications
Vice President
Research
Directors-
at-Large
Corresponding
Secretary
Membership
Secretary
Recording
Secretary
Treasurer
SALLY THOMAS
MICHAEL CORNISH
JOANNE BAKER
GEORGE KACKLEY
JESSIE LIE FARBER
DEBORAH TRASK
THEODORE CHASE
MARY ANNE MROZINS:
ELOISE WEST
CAROL PERKINS
ANITA WOODWARD
NANCY JEAN MELIN
1983 Conference ELIZABETH HAMMOND
Chairman
MARKERS II
Editor
DAVID WATTERS
82 Hilltop PL, New London NH 03257
(603) 526-6044
62 Calumet St., Roxbury MA 02120
(617) 731-5919
51 South St., Concord NH 03301
(603) 228-0680
3001 R St. NW, Washington DC 20007
(202) 337-2835
31 Hickory Dr., Worcester MA 01609
(617) 755-7038
Nova Scotia Museum, 1747 Summer St.,
Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 3A6, Canada
' 429-4610 (office); (902) 429-8109 (res.)
I
rm Rd., Dover MA 02030
,7) 785-0299
47 Hammond Rd.
(516) 759-0527
Glen Cove NY 11542
199 Fisher Rd.
(617) 342-0716
Fitchburg MA 01420
Apt. 204, Toledo OH 43612
Box 51, Thompson Rd, Princeton MA 01541
1233 Cribb St.
(419) 476-9945
215 West 75th St., Apt.
(212) 496-9140
lOE, New York NY
10023
34 Old Connecticut Path, Wayland MA 01778
(617) 358-2517
Dept. of English, Hamilton Smith Hall, UNH,
Durham NH 03824. (603) 862-1313 (office);
(603) 659-2925 (res.)
THE ACS NEWSLETTER is published four times a year as a service to members of The Association for Gravestone Studies.
The membership year is from June to June. Send membership fees (Regular membership, $15; Sustaining membership, $25)
to AGS Membership Secretary Garol Perkins, 1233 Gribb St., Apt 204, Toledo OH 13612. Order MARKERS, The Journ?'
of The Association for Gravestone Studies (members' price, $15; non-members' price, $25), from Betty Slater, 373 Bassettel
Bridge Rd. . Mansfield Center CT 06250. Address NEWSLETTER articles and correspondence to Jessie Lie Farber, editor,
AGS Publications, do The American Antiquarian Society, Worcester MA 01609. Address all other Association correspondence
to ACS Corresponding Secretary Eloise West, 199 Fisher Rd. , Fitchburg MA 01420.
NEWSLETTER
OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES
Editor, Jessie Lie Farber
Guest Editor, Ruth Little-Stokes
Volume 6 Number 3 Summer 1982 ISSN: 0146-5783
This issue of The AGS NEWSLETTER is divided into two parts. Part I, edited by Ruth
Little-Stokes, is a report on gravestone research in the southeastern United States.
CONTENTS
TENNESSEE . ,
MISSISSIPPI , .
LOUISIANA . .
iillitiiilliiiiiiiiliiiiiiiiii
■ iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
DELAWARE
VIRGINIA .
UPLAND NORTH AND SOUTH CAROLINA CARVERS
NORTH CAROL
KENTUCKY , .
LOW COUNTRY
NA
• lllitlllllllilillililllllll
■ iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiaitiiii
OF SOUTH CAROLINA AND GEORGIA.
I t I I I
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
■ I 1 I I I I I I I I I I I I
iiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
i I I I I I I I I I I I I
NEWSLETTER REFERENCES to other Southern research
ADDRESSES OF RESEARCHERS
NEWSLETTER NOTES
ASSOCIATION ANNOUNCEMENTS
CONSERVATION /PRESERVATION: Model Legislation . ,
2
2
3
7
8
9
9
10
10
11
11
12
13
Part XI will report on the 1982 Annual AGS Conference held at Williams College and
will contain the usual news items, book reviews, and other features. It will be
mailed in August.
SOUTHERN TOMBSTONES
This issue of The AGS NEWSLETTER presents an overview of gravestone scholar-
ship in the Southern United States. The reports which follow indicate a number of
striking distinctions between New England and Southern markers. The ubiquity of the
headstone is not present in the South, where many other forms of grave markers —
ledgers, table tops, tombs, comb graves, decorated mounds — shared popularity with
the headstone in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. For this reason, and be-
cause much of the local stone was of inferior quality, the study of Southern tombstones
tends to be more morphological than the study of New England stones, which is pre-
dominantly iconographical . The Southern focus is as much on the shape, structure,
and condition of the stone as on the image carved into it.
With one exception, the area reports which follow were put together from in-
formation I gathered in direct communication with the researchers or from their
published or unpublished research, as well as from my own field research. The ex-
ception is the report on upland North and South Carolina carvers, which was written
by Daniel W. Patterson. The addresses of most of the researchers mentioned in the
reports are listed at the conclusion, on page 11.
Each report attempts to convey the special regional flavor of the markers in the
area reported on, though not every area offers flavor to compare with that of the mar-
ker for Rebecca Jones, 1822-1890, in the churchyard of Pleasant Grove Baptist Church,
near Raleigh, North Carolina. It is inscribed:
A devoted Christian Mother
Who whipped Sherman's Bummers
With scalding water while
Trying to take her dinner pot
Which contained a ham-bone.
Being cooked for her soldier boys. o /-c
DELAWAPxE
Delaware is, generally included in the Middle Atlantic region, but its border sta-
tus gives it usefulness in sneaking up on Southern tombstone characteristics. Ned
Cooke, a Ph.D. candidate in American Studies at Boston University whose current re-
search subject is western Connecticut folk furniture, did field research several years
ago in the Immanuel Episcopal Church Cemetery in New Castle, Delaware. He prepared
a report which reveals broad characteristics of tombstones on the Mason-Dixon Line.
Immanuel Church, founded in 1689, contains about 100 eighteenth century tombstones:
thirty-five headstones and sixty-five ledger and table top monuments. The earliest
markers, which predate 1750, are ledger stones, either set flat on the ground or
raised on legs (table top), or on solid bases (chest tomb) . One of the earliest has a
coat-of-arms. According to Cooke, the large number of table forms in Williamsburg,
Virginia's Burton Parish Church documents the popularity of this monument type in
Anglican cemeteries in the Middle Atlantic Colonies. The dominant headstone form he
found was the "scroll-top," featuring combinations of semi-circular and ogee (S-shaped)
profiles. The almost complete absence of carved decoration on the faces of the stones
and the plainness of their profiles differentiate these stones from their New England
contemporaries. Only one of the thirty-five markers, dated 1771, has any iconography:
a stiff-winged angel's head. By the 1770's a standardized tripartite headstone with smal
shoulders and a large central semi-circUlar tympanum became standard throughout Dela-
ware, southeastern Pennsylvania, and Maryland. It persisted as late as the 1850's in
New Castle, distinguished from earlier examples by its greater thickness and uncham-
fered rear edge. Cooke was surprised at the dearth of urn-and-willow markers in Im-
manuel Cemetery; the Anglican congregation continued to favor the plain scroll-top
headstone until 1850. After that date, the cemetery exhibits an increased variety of
forms, with more interest in height, more epitaphs, and the occasional use of carved
symbols.
r^
/Oi
X
1743-1850
1850-1890
VIRGINIA
Cary A. Schneider, a 1976 graduate of Washington and Lee University, wrote his
senior art history thesis on the gravestones of Rockbridge County, in Piedmont Vir-
ginia The results of his research appear in The Proceedings of the Rockbridge His-
torical Society, Vol. IX, 1975-79, published in 1982 by the Rockbridge Historical So-
ciety Box 415, Lexington, Virginia 24450. He identified some thirty-seven stone-
cutters through signatures on gravestones in the county. Most were from the towns
of Richmond, Norfolk, Lynchburg, and Staunton, several towns in Maryland, and
from Philadelphia. The earliest gravestone found was dated 1743. The only eight
eenth century carver identified is Nethaniel Evins, who signed the marker he made
for John Mcky, 1773, in the yard of Timber Ridge Presbyterian Church. This marker
is a larqe coffin-shaped slabstone with separate head and foot stones. Evins carved
a similar marker for his wife, Mary Evins, 1777. Evins must have been a part-time
carver, for he managed a large farm. Crave slabs were a common form of marker in
Rockbridge County in the late eighteenth century.
During the nineteenth century, the Donnelly, Hileman, and Pagan families of
Lexington produced nine outstanding stonecutters whose work can be found in grave
yards throughout the county. Schneider reports that advertisements placed in local
newspapers show that these families also produced marble mantels, table and counter
tops," and all types of stone work for public and private buildings.
John McKy, 1773,
slabstone
signed by
Nethaniel. Evins
G . D. Crawford,
headstone
signed by J. J. Hileman
Virginia research, continued
The names of the deceased on Rockbridge County stones indicate that the county
was settled predominantly by the Scotch-Irish. For information about the early grave-
markers in the German settlements in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, there are two sources.
Klaus Wust's excellent documentary. Folk Art in Stone: Southwest Virginia (published in
1970 by Shenandoah History, Post Office Box 98, Edinburgh, Virginia 22824), analyzes
the eccentric gravemarkers in Lutheran and German Reformed churchyards in four coun-
ties in Western Virginia dating between 1800 and 1835. Wust identified the master carv-
er Laurence Krone, who worked in the area from about 1815 to his death in 1836, carv-
ing handsome stones which feature the familiar hearts, flowers, sunbursts, etc., found
on German fraktur pieces. Most of these folk German markers are head and footstones,
similar to those in nearby Rockbridge County.
The second source of information about the gravemarkers of Virginia's Shenandoah
Valley German settlements is The National Register. Historic Landmark nominations of
German graveyards in this region were prepared and submitted by Dell Upton, research-
er for the Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission in the mid-1970's. Copies of these
nominations can be obtained by writing the Commission at Morton's Row, 221 Governor
Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219. Upton mentioned the gravemarkers in an article,
"Arts of the Virginia Germans," published in Notes on Virginia, Vol. 19, Summer 1979,
pages 2-7. According to Upton, a thesis on Tidewater Virginia tombstones was written
in the late 1960's by Pat Butler, a graduate student at the Winterthur Museum, Winter-
thur, Delaware, but attempts to obtain a copy of this thesis have not been successful.
UPLAND NORTH AND SOUTH CAROLINA STONECARVERS
A Report on Research in Progress by Daniel W. Patterson
Between 1765 and 1810, a Scotch Irish family named Bigham operated a major stone-
cutting workshop on the North and South Carolina line. The workshop was a sizeable
operation and produced skilled work. Its surviving output is from at least five hands
and numbers more than 800 stones scattered across ten counties of the two states. The
history of the shop extends back to the 1730's in Pennsylvania. The Bigham stonecut-
ters, however, were a remarkable exception to the usual pattern for stonecarving in
the South.
In a monograph now in preparation, 1 shall contrast the Bighams with craftsmen
like Hugh Kelsey (1754? - 1718) and Samuel Watson (1754 - ca.1840), carvers more typ-
ical of the region. Kelsey's surviving output numbers twenty-eight stones in a single
churchyard (and possibly ten more markers at two other sites) . Samuel Watson's pro-
duction was slightly larger — some forty-two stones in six cemeteries — but still quite mod-
est. For these men, stonecuttinq was apparently more a sideline than it was for the
Bighams. Legal documents at the time of Kelsey's arrival refer to him as a shoemaker
who made holsters, scabbards, and harnesses for the Revolutionary army. He died a
planter and left an estate that included tools for not only stonecutting but also shoe-
making, tanning, wood-working, spinning, weaving, and general farming. Watson was,
apparently, mainly a farmer, but not a particularly successful one. He probably came
with his parents from Pennsylvania to Carolina, farmed there for thirty years, and
then removed to Missouri, looking for the main chance.
Like the Bighams, Kelsey and Watson drew upon traditional Scotch-Irish motifs,
in particular the Dove-of-Promise, but their limited output affected their designs.
Watson demonstrably knew the Bighams' work and often took it as a model. However,
because his hand and eye were less practiced, his renderings of a Bigham motif, like
the eagle on the Allexander Cairns stone, is naive and experimental. Kelsey worked
in greater isolation, a situation which seems to have given him freedom from community
SAMUEL WATSON: Allexander Cairns stone (detail), 1801
- n -
Upland North and South Carolina Carvers, continued
HUGH KELSEY: Agnus Drennan stone (detail), 1783
expectations. He draws upon the Scotch-Irish repertory of motifs (the Dove, the
rosette, the Tree-of-Life) , but formulates unique combinations of them for many of
his designs. In the Agnus Drennan stone, his most complex flight of fancy (or re-
collection), Kelsey even introduces a male angel in knee breeches and a female an-
gel in ankle-length skirt.
Comparison of the stones of these two craftsmen with those of the Bighams
introduces a paradox that contradicts assumptions often made about folk art. Con-
stant communal selection and a frequent repetition of the same designs gave the
active craftsmen the conventionalism we expect of folk art, but it also developed
in them a stylish expertise and polish. The less practiced carvers are in finish
of execution much more distant from the canons of popular and elite taste. At
the same time, however, their designs are those of the inventive, idiosyncratic
artist.
Dr. Patterson is Chairman of the Currfculum-in~Folklore, Department of English,
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Editor's note: The introduction of the Bighorn's work to gravestone scholarship
occurred on two fronts at the 1979 meeting of AGS, in Newport, Rhode Island, and
the occasion illustrates the value of scholarly gathering and sharing. Daniel
Patterson's slide presentation of North Carolina stones and Eileen Sechler's and
Judith Pyle's exhibition of Pennsylvania gravestone rubbings resulted in these
three researchers ' discovery that the gravestone carvings they had introduced
at the conference appeared to be from the some workshop , a fact Patterson has
since documented. Among those who showed particular interest in these North
Carolina and Pennsylvania- stones were Ivan Rigby and Francis Duval, who were
inspired by them to travel to the sites and make photographs which were subse-
quently published on these pages YAGS NEWSLETTER Winter 1979, pp. 4,5; and
Spring 1981, pp. 3,4). The NEWSLETTER regrets its oversight in failing, in
connection with the two photo-essays , to make note of the pioneering work of
Patterson, Sechler, and Pyle in the study of the Bighorn stones. JLF
NORTH CAROLINA
My survey of gravemarkers in four North Carolina counties, funded by the
National Endowment for the Humanities, was outlined in the Spring 1982 AGS NEWS-
LETTER. At present, with ninety percent of the field work complete, I have travel-
ed approximately 9,000 miles, recorded about 550 graveyards, and documented 1,122
individual gravemarkers. As the chart on page 6 indicates, varying raw materials,
ethnic traditions, and proximity to urban centers resulted in a fascrnating diversity
of pre-1860 North Carolina gravemarkers.
In order to catalogue this information and insure that the collection will be
usable to future researchers, I designed the keysort card illustrated here. Using a
specially designed "knitting needle," researchers can sort the cards by many dif-
ferent categories and combinations of categories. One may select, for example, all the
wood markers, or all the Coastal Plain markers, or all of the markers with fraternal
symbols, or even all the markers with a given symbol from a specified location and of
a specified period. Since there is a code for retrieval of the cards from any indivi-
dual cemetery or any county, the cards do not have to be stored in any particular
order. The information could, of course, be stored in a computer, but in doing so
the most important characteristics of the markers— their visual appearance— would
North Carolina y continued
be omitted. The keysort card allows for a thumbnail sketch of the marker, a tiny
contact print, a transcription of the inscription, and a statement concerning the
marker's significance. The master information sheet for each graveyard, along with
the negatives and extra contact prints, is stored in a plastic sleeve filed in a ring
binder notebook.
I am currently searching the estate records of the four counties I surveyed
for the names of carvers. Although I have matched only a few names with grave-
stones so far, I have collected an extensive list of carvers in Davidson County and
in the Catawby River Valley. This fits my field work conclusion that gravestone
carving before 1860 in Piedmont North Carolina was a crowded sideline.
When I complete the study, the Archives of North Carolina Cravemarkers will
become a part of the Folklore Archives of the Library of the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill. I intend to publish a guide book to North Carolina grave-
markers which will demonstrate that graveyard sculpture is the largest body of
North Carolina folk art that has survived, and that without an active conservation
and museum acquisition program, it will disappear. It will be said of me, to quote
one of the most popular epitaphs on women's gravestones found in my field work,
"She Hath Done What She Could." (Mark XIV, 8.)
□ o
Is 3
CENTER jj
OUT
OF
STATE
'^S^^
ICONOGRAPHV
NORTH CAROLINA GRAVESTONE DESIGN
AME OF CEMETERY I ,
Atboif'sCreel'^^n^.'if'Ve'^aph^t Church
FIELD I
stone!
SOAP
STONE
SAND
STONE
CON-
CRETE I
CEMETERY MASTER CARD NO.
USGS CODE
LOCATION: (S.R., NEAREST INTERSECTION.
NEAREST COMMUNITY, CO.)
'rV>omasv,|l^ vicL • -povicisoM Co.
5/lv/Sl
DESCRIPTION:
DIMENSIONS:
COPY OF INSCRIPTION
l^ere Lies The ^odu <
Bovn Sop+erviber tH^3. ^^J
A.t?. \1S9. AM Pep^'ri^^
fX.p. \%\3
IE
,o ' )> > j>)
FIELD WORKER
DATE
/5
X O'' Z'
2^v
ILLE-
GIBLE I
FRAG- I
MEN -
TARV
w
DIRECTION FACING
REAR
I FOOTSTONE: n Q k^ €,
SIGNIFICANCE: ^^^6 O"fo>- QTOUD CTl €<Xrlu \^^ ^ ,•
SYy\a\{ soo-ps+one. heads-forces u>'ifU ddlccch^
1 Had ill on" ^ovYxi U^r-Q^
o
^
111
o
<
u.
CT
u
lU
_l
z
0)
©
©
©
©
©
©
©
©
®
©
©
©
©
©
©
®
©
Hod
ice
1''
^AA
B FESS-
VU lONAL
SKETCH
FRONT
SIDE
■ ^H-'ii^j, <ym^'
keysort card (actual size) filled out with sample information documenting
The David Manring stone. 1819. Abbott's Creek Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery
The carver of David
when a bewildering
on the tympanum is
yard also contains
These were first an
No. 3, publ ished by
Rigby treated them
In late 1981, vanda
However, according
ary Baptist Church
paired by individua
Manring's headstone is unknown. The carving style fits into the Folk Period of Davidson County,
variety of semi-skilled carvers worked in the soft soapstone native to the area. The eerie "mouth"
apparently a rudimentary sunburst, the German symbol of the resurrection. Abbott's Creek Church-
the finest collection of the pierced Baroque style headstones which are unique to Davidson County,
alyzed in 1977 by Bradford Rauschenburg in The Journal of Early Southern Decorative Arts, Vol. 3,
The Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts, Old Salem, North Carolina. Francis Duval and Ivan
in the 1979/80 issue of Markers, The Journal of the Association for Gravestone Studies, Vol. 1.
Is damaged 105 gravestones in Abbott's Creek {AGS mwSLETTER, Spring 1982, Vol . 6, No. 2, p. 12)
to the Reverend Roy Cantrell, pastor, most of the damage was in the nearby Abbott's Creek Mission-
Cemetery, and none of the Baroque style markers suffered damage. The broken markers are being re-
1 families. The vandals have not been apprehended.
,_.
-D
-o
-n\
no
m
J=>
•^o
CT>
?□
— j
o
1
m
-n
m
CO
CO
C/O
f »>
no
O
n
<— >
O
-^
KENTUCKY
Moving westward, we find the five year study by Marguerite Estep Carson of
gravemarkers along the Wilderness Road in east Kentucky, from the Cumberland Cap
to the Rockcastle River. There Carson distinguishes five periods of gravestone design :
The Period of the Family Craftsmen ( 17151 8'48) . Inasmuch as only one eighteenth cen-
tury stone was found, this period, for all practical purposes, covers the span from
1800 to 1848. Typically unornamented except for simple geometric designs, inscribed
with correct letter forms in flawless Chaucerian English, the gravestones of this per-
iod, each one a unique carving, appear to be the work of literate, reserved, untrained
cutters who made the markers for family members, out of necessity. According to Car-
son, the stones reveal this period as the one having the highest educational level.
The Period of the Skilled Craftsmen (1848-1865). This period is characterized by the
arrival in Appalachia of perhaps as many as twenty skilled professional cutters, some
six of whom traveled the Wilderness Road and its tributaries producing many elaborate
marble gravestones. The effect of the Civil War on the area's economy and culture
is seen in the disappearance of the work of these itinerant artisans by 1868.
The Mountain Folk Art Period (1865-1890). This was a period of marauding ex-soldiers,
family feuds, and isolation. With the professional stonecutters gone, many of the grave-
markers of the period were field stones in their natural state. At the same time, the
carvings that the amateur cutters produced were free and expressive, reaching a high-
er level as folk art than either the mid-century gravestones with their anonymous,
popular imagery, or the stones of the reserved Family Craftsmen.
The Transitional Period (1890-1900). Gravestone "blanks" of sandstone were shipped
into the region by rail and apparently were sold in the general stores and inscribed
by family members.
The Brought-On Period (1900 to the present). The sandstone markers of the Tran-
sitional Period were quickly superseded by marble markers which arrived either as pre-
carved blanks or as raw chunks of stone to be carved by local "monument" makers. Al-
though these markers do reflect aspects of the region's culture, they are not of moun-
tain origins and do not relate to the artistry of the common folk.
In addition to headstones, Carson found coffin-shaped gravestones apparently
similar to those described by Cary Schneider in Rockbridge County, Virginia. She
also discovered tin-roofed, miniature "soul houses" over some graves "to protect them
from evil spirits and other unwelcome visitors," several of which contain furniture,
carpets, and objects dear to the deceased.
Carson's findings are documented with rubbings and nearly 10,000 photographs.
The study was motivated by her desire to give Appalachians a pride in their cultural
background, and to this end she has presented her findings to audiences in schools,
colleges, and other cultural institutions, including the Smithsonian Institution, via a
dramatic two hour, computerized six projector program. A former Appalachian resi-
dent now living in Houston, where she operates an antiques business, she is looking
for the right publisher for her book on Appalachian stones.
^
-8-
O^
MM^WA
^ ' Bom
1
Q) 1) I
A
U^ —
^
-10'-
THE LOW (coastal) COUNTRY OF SOUTH CAROLINA AND GEORGIA
A 1978 Emory University dissertation by Diana Combs entitled Eighteenth Cen-
tury Gravestone Art in Georgia and South Carolina is available through University
Microfilms, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Combs approached the subject from an art his-
torical perspective rather than from the framework of cultural geography which was
utilized in most of the studies thus far discussed. Her study is limited to stones
carved with decorative imagery. This is an excellent survey of eighteenth century
decorated headstones in coastal church cemeteries in these two states. Combs found
that the work of New England stonecutters dominated both South Carolina and Georgia
in the eighteenth century, and she documented markers in these two states carved by
the following New England stonecutters: John Bull, John Stevens III, and George
Allen, Jr., of Rhode Island; Josiah or Rockwell Manning of Connecticut; John Just
Geyer, John Homer, William Codner, and Henry Emmes, of Boston; Nathaniel or Caleb
Lamson of Charlestown, Massachusetts; James Foster of Dorchester, Massachusetts;
John Zuricher of New York; and Ebenezer Price or his apprentice David Jeffries, of
New Jersey. Most of these carvers apparently exported their markers to the South,
but Bull and Allen temporarily migrated to Charleston, each remaining there a few
months before returning to New England.
Combs tell us that the first professional stonecutter to set up permanent resi-
dence in Charleston, South Carolina, was Thomas Walker, a silversmith from Edin-
burgh, Scotland, who settled in Charleston in 1793. Until his death in 1838, he was
the leading stonecutter in the city. Walker's stones are characterized by winged faces
individuated by age. At least two of his sons continued the business, as did his son-
in-law John White, who was descended from a family in the same trade. Walker worked
in sandstone in the early years, later switching to marble. He had little if any local
competition until the late 1790's, when George Rennie and J. Hall began to carve out
shares in the lucrative Charleston market. Combs describes these carvers as "lesser
talents." Rennie executed amateurish winged cupid mourning tableaux, but his ro-
sette finials were quite competent. Hall, who first appeared in the Charleston di-
rectory in 1803 and worked there until his death in 1823, frequently carved "grace-
ful if anatomically improbable mourners, generally with their legs crossed and often
in surprisingly scant drapery." Combs' conclusion is that a cultivated urban style
operated in the affluent Anglophile community of Charleston in the eighteenth century.
UPLAND GEORGIA
Patricia Cooper, an architectural historian interested in vernacular Georgia
material culture, has begun field work on Piedmont Georgia gravestones. She sent
the following comments and request:
I am studying the economics and esthetics of upland (Piedmont) Georgia
cemeteries, particularly of the 19th century. I am interested in the in-
cidence of local and of imported (marble) stones and in sources of the
lattet — Italy? Vermont? (Lack of transportation -apparently precluded
use of Georgia marble, although those quarries, located in the mountains,
opened in 1842. Stone brought into the Piedmont came from the east —
via Augusta, head of transportation on the Savannah River, and thence
by wagon or, later, railroad. ).., I am also particularly interested in the
housetombs and large discoid headstones, both made of local sericite
schists, that are found in and around southeast Lumpkin County (a
mountain county). These are illustrated and described in [my] article
in PAST 1981 (Pioneer America Society Transactions) . I am continuing
research on the sources and distribution of the discoid in the eastern
states; it is an old form found in several parts of Europe and the British
Isles. I would welcome information on graveyards containing such stones.
fiSL
- ^ -^ \|/U — 1*4^- — Discoid Headstones, Lumpkin County, Georgia
Leslie M. Thompson, Dean of the Graduate School, Georgia Southern College, has
recently completed a study, "Sexism in the Cemetery." Based on field work in six
cemeteries in and near Nacogdoches, Texas, and six cemeteries in and near Savannah,
Georgia, he compared tombstones for males and females and concluded that inscriptions
on men's stones convey aggressive, heroic images and contain a whole spate of asso-
ciational, vocational, and avocational allusions. Women's inscriptions, on the other hand,
represent them as persons with few societal ties and as vague, often nameless exten-
sions of their mates. Thompson has, at our request, sent us an article about his find-
ings, which will appear in a future NEWSLETTER issue, together with observations on
this subject from other readers (comments are invited).
TENNESSEE
In the Spring of 1981, Brent Cantrell of Bloomington, Indiana, surveyed ceme-
teries in the Cumberland Plateau-Highland Rim escarpment in Middle Tennessee as
part of the Tennessee State Parks Folklife Project. All of his field material will be
filed in the Tennessee State Library and Archives. An article written by Cantrell
about his study, "Traditional Grave Structures on the Eastern Highland Rim," was
published in The Tennessee Folklore Society Bulletin, XIVII: 3 (September 1981).
Cantrell found that a type of marker described by old-time residents as a "comb
grave," consisting of two rectangular sandstone slabs leaned together to form a gable
roof over the grave, is the oldest and most common type gravemarker in the area. He
recorded seventy-three cemeteries containing over 1104 comb graves. These markers
date from 1817 to the mid-twentieth century and often have head and foot stones shaped
like truncated isosceles triangles abutting the slabs at each end. The inscription is
either on the slabs or on the headstone. The most common explanation given by resi-
dents for the peculair form is protection of the grave from rain. Cantrell notes ref-
erences of similar structures in Alabama, Arkansas, and east Texas. He observes
with regret that this traditional folk form is being obliterated as the comb graves are
replaced by modern granite headstones, ostensibly to simplify cemetery maintenance.
Cantrell also found five "grave houses," which appear to be the same form termed
"soul houses" by Marguerite Carson. These vary from a small wood-frame shed with
a corrugated metal roof to a concrete block building covering two graves and includ-
ing a carpet, air vents, an iron door, and a fiberglass roof. Occasionally the grave
houses are enclosed with wooden lattice.
Comb Graves
Overton County, Tennessee
Editor's note: Like many Elizabethan Folktales and songs which survive only in
Appalaahia, these comb graves may be the last vestige of a medieval British grave-
stone tradition. The typology of gravemarkers published in Frederick Burgess '
English Churchyard Memorials (London: Lutterworth Press, 1963) contains no "comb
graves" as such, but the medieval "hogback," two stones which curve at the ends
and meet in a single seam down the spine, is similar. The "head, foot, and body-
stone" type, which is a coffin- shaped, rounded mound with a head and footstone,
is also similar and may be the form from which the Rockbridge County, Virginia,
"slabstone" evolved. R L-S
MISSISSIPPI
In 1974, Rolfe B. Chase, a Massachusetts genealogist and antiquarian, set out to
document the gravemarkers in Loundes County, Mississippi, where he was then living.
In 1976, he had compiled a three-volume report. Cemeteries of Loundes County, Miss-
issippi,' wh\ch is copyrighted and available from at least two sources: The Loundes
County Public Library, in Columbus, and the ACS archives in the library of the New
England Historic and Genealoaical Society, in Boston. The work includes directions to
thirty-five white and thirty-two black cemeteries; names and birth and death dates from
all the stones in the white cemeteries; and an alphabetical index of the names documented
The only white Loundes County cemetery Rolfe did not document before he moved from
the area is Friendship Cemetery in Columbus. According to Cheebie Ann Bateman, Dir-
ector of the Loundes County Public Library, this handsome Victorian cemetery, the
county's largest (and the setting for the nation's first Memorial Day celebration), has
since been documented by James"' W. Parker in two volumes published by the Loundes
County Department of Archives and History (1979).
Patti Carr Black, Director of the Mississippi State Historical Museum, and her staff
in the Department of Archives and History are in the planning stages of an exhibit en-
titled, "Cone but Not Forgotten," which will show the many ways a cemetery can be read
for local history.
10
LOUISIANA
The work of Lawrence R. Handley has been mentioned in an earlier issue of
The AGS NEWSLETTER (vol. 4, #1, Winter 1979, page 12). Handley is a Ph.D. can-
didate and part-time instructor in the Department of Anthropology and Geography,
University of New Orleans, who works full-time for the Department of the Interior,
Bureau of Land Management. His dissertation topic is the urban cemetery in the
United States as a microcosm of its urban setting and of the cultural characteristics
of the city's residents. Among the cities/cemeteries investigated in his study are
San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, St. Louis, Rock Island, Illinois, Pittsburgh,
and New Orleans. As a rural contrast to his urban field work, he has also inves-
tigated the cemetery as a cultural institution in the Ozark Mountains, Arkansas.
FROM THE PAGES OF EARLIER ISSUES
REFERENCES TO OTHER SOUTHERN RESEARCH
FLORIDA {ACS NEWSLETTER, Fall 1980, Vol. U, No. U, p. 7)
Edwin Dethlefson (who has made important contributions to New England grave-
stone research) studied the shape, size, material, design motif, inscription, and geo-
graphy of gravestones in north central Florida, dividing them into five time periods.
He found a remarkable array of cultural data, which he interpreted in a chapter of
The Archaeology of Us: The Cemetery and Culture Change, edited by Richard Gould
and Michael Schiffero (New York: Academic Press, 1982).
LOUISIANA [ACS NEWSLETTER, Fall 1981, Vol. 5, No. 4, p. 7 )
Mary Louise Christovich founded Save Our Cemeteries, an organization devoted
to the study and preservation of New Orleans cemeteries.
NORTH CAROLINA [ACS NEWSLETTER, Fall 1981, Vol. 5, No. U, p. 10)
Catherine Roe, now director of the Greensboro Preservation Society in Greensboro,
was a member of a research team investigating early (before 1820) Southern folk art. The
project, still in progress, is funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities and
by The Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA) in Winston-Salem.
To follow up on the MESDA research, we telephoned MESDA Director Frank Horton
and learned that the work is in its eleventh year. It includes, thus far, research in
Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Kentucky. The pro-
gram has two facets: field research (locating and documenting early examples of the
Southern decorative arts) and documentary research, (locating probate and other re-
cords relating to over 100 decorative arts and citing them for computer storage). Hor-
ton says that gravestone art is an important aspect of the study and that many fine
examples have been found and documented. In 1977, MESDA published Brandon L.
Rauschenberg's seminal study on the spectacular openwork carvings in North Caro-
lina's Davidson County: "A Study of Baroque- and Gothic-Style Gravestones in David-
son County, North Carolina," The Journal of Early Southern Decorative Arts, Vol.111,
No. 2, pp. 24-50. Rauschenberg was then a Research Fellow at the Museum. A copy
of this study has been contributed by Mr. Horton to the AGS Archives.
Horton referred us to another North Carolina project, an ongoing gravestone study
which should be of particular interest to genealogists. It is The North Carolina Survey
of Cemeteries being conducted by the recently (1978) created Commission for the Study
of Abandoned Cemeteries. Address inquiries to: Cemetery Survey, North Carolina
Division of Archives and History, 109 E.Jones Street, Raleigh, 27611. ji^p
KENTUCKY AND DELAWARE [ACS NEWSLETTER. Winter 1981, Vol. 6, No. 1, p. 11 )
For her master's thesis at The University of Delaware (while a fellow in the Winter-
thur Museum's graduate studies program in early American sculpture), Deborah A.
Smith studied children's stones dated 1842-1899. Now located in Kentucky, she is
studying children's stones of the same period in the south central part of that state.
She will report comparisons between the Delaware and the Kentucky stones. Smith
is also studying a Bowling Green carver, Hugh F. Smith, 1825-1887, whose stones,
she tells us, are characterized by elaborately decorated borders and lettering.
SOUTH CAROLINA Nancy Crocket, Lancaster, is investigating the stones in the old
Waxhow Presbyterian Church Cemetery, which, according to Catherine Roe (see North
Carolina, above), contains the oldest and most diversified stones in the Piedmont area.
ADDRESSES OF RESEARCHERS
MENTIONED IN THIS ISSUE
Patti Carr Black, Director, State Historical Museum, Old Capitol Restoration, The
Mississippi Department of Archives & History, Box 571, Jackson, Ml 39205.
Marguerite Estep Carson, 10782 Bell Aire Boulevard, Houston, Texas 77072 .
Business: (713) 495-5118; Home, Monday only (713) 270-0618.
Rolfe B. Chase, 2436 Saluda Street, Las Vegas, NV 89121.
Business: (702) 565-8901; Home: (702) 735-7743.
Mary Louise Christovich, 900 Amethyst Street, New Orleans, LA 70214.
Diana Combs, 430 Superior Avenue, Decatur, GA 30030.
Patricia Irvin Cooper, 145 Pendleton Drive, Athens, GA 30606.
(404) 548-3618.
Edward S. Cooke, Jr., 150 Freeman Street, Brookline, MA 02146.
Edwin Dethlefson, Department of Anthropology, The College of William and Mary,
Williamsburg, VA 23185.
Lawrence R. Handley, U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management,
New
Orleans Outer Continental Shelf Office, Hale Boggs Federal Building,
500 Camp Street - Suite 841, New Orleans, LA 70130-3391.
Daniel W. Patterson, Chairman, Curriculum-in-Folklore, Department of English,
Greenlaw Building, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 17514.
(919) 929-5180.
Bradford L. Rauschenberg, MESDA, P.O. Box 10310, Winston-Salem, NC 27108.
(919) 722-6148. (In England for the summer)
Catherine H. Roe, 1700 North Elm Street, Apt. T-8, Greensboro, NC 27408.
Business: (919) 272-5003; Home: (919) 275-1512.
Deborah A. Smith, The Kentucky Museum, Western Kentucky University, Bowling
Green, KY 42101. Business: (502) 745-2592.
Ruth Little-Stokes, 7408 Ebenezer Church Road, Raleigh, NC 27612.
(919) 781-4964.
Leslie M. Thompson, Dean, Graduate School, Georgia Southern College, Statesboro,
GA 30460.
Dell Upton, National Endowment for the Humanities Research Fellow, Winterthur
Museum, Winterthur, DE 13735. After September, 1982; Case Western Reserve
University, Cleveland OH 44106.
Klaus Wust, 350 Bleecker Street, Apt. 4-S, New York, NY 10014.
NEWSLETTER NOTES
JLF
Guest editors. It was a special pleasure to work on this issue with a fellow Southerner.
Ruth Little-Stokes is a very busy lady who gave me the feeling that she had an un-
limited supply of time, patience and understanding, not to mention information and
research expertise. She is a research and preservation consultant (American material
culture) and an art historian with a special interest in folk art and architecture who
has written several guides to vernacular architecture in North Carolina. A Ph.D.
candidate at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, she has for her disserta-
tion topic, "The North Carolina Cemetery as Cultural Artifact." Ms. Little-Stokes
teaches pottery at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics "when I'm
not working on the graveyard project." She writes that she enjoyed seeking out in-
formation about Southern gravestone study for The NEWSLETTER and that she "gained
a valuable perspective on the lack of research being done in the South." (Please note
that her address as given in previous issues is incorrect. It is listed correctly above.)
The Midwest issue of The NEWSLETTER will be edited '^y Phil Kallas, who welcomes
items about that region before September 1. Submit contributions to him at 308 Acorn
Street/Whiting, Stevens Point, Wisconsin 54481, or to AGS Publications, c/o The Ameri-
can Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massachusetts 01609.
Credits. The chart on page 6 and most of the line drawings in this issue are the work
of Ruth Little-Stokes. The illustrations on page 7 are used with the permission of
Marguerite Carson. Daniel Patterson's photographs on pages 3 and 4 have been re-
touched by the printer and may have picked up a few (slight, we trust) inaccuracies
in the process.
sseyy 'J3(sa3JO^
a I V d
30ViSOd s n
'OiJO lldOdd NON
)I31111SM1N
60910 ssvw J34sa3JOM
Xjapos u\?!J\?nb!}uv uPDuaaivo/D
suoutDUqnj SOV
IlviPQRTANT ASSOCIATION ANNOUNCEMENTS
Serious business. Your ACS membersinip and ACS NEWSLETTER subscription extend
from conference to conference — June to June. The new membership year begins now,
regardless of when you may have joined. Try not to feel too bad about it if you joined
in the middle or latter part of the membership year and received fewer than four is-
sues for your $10. Think of it as a contribution to a worthy (tax deductible) cause,
and stay up-to-date. ACS needs you. It also needs your dues, and it needs them on
time. Use the yellow form included with this issue, and enclose with it your check for
$15 for the coming year, quickly before you forget it or spend it on some inflated tri-
viality! One more thing: it costs money to take your name off mailing lists and put it
back on, and we cannot make up missed NEWSLETTER issues, so do keep your mem-
bership current and your A/f^lVSLETrEf? mailings continuous. Renew now. Many thanks
for your cooperation .
Proposed Legislation. At the request of the board of ACS, Theodore Chase, the As-
sociation's legal adviser and a member of the board, has drafted proposed model legis-
lation for the preservation of gravestones in ancient burial places. A copy of the pro-
posed legislation is enclosed (see white sheet) with this NEWSLETTER . In order to
assist Mr. Chase in perfecting this draft, the board asks you to give it careful con-
sideration.
It will be recognized, of course, that whatever model is finally adopted, it will have
to be tailored to meet the needs and existing legislation of each state in which it is pro-
posed. It must be made acceptable to a legislative body. For instance, the mandatory
language of Section 3 may have to be made permissive. You may want to seek the o-
pinion of a legal adviser in your state.
To emphasize the importance of this matter and to make it easier to reproduce and
distribute the draft, we have separated it from The NEWSLETTER pages, although you
will probably want to file it as page 13 of this issue.
Send comments to Theodore Chase, One Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02108.
Works of art are the property of mankind and ownership aaj'ries with
.it the obligation to preserve them. He who neglects this duty and
directly or indirectly contributes to their damage or ruin invites
the reproach of barbarism and will be punished with the contempt of
all educated people, now and in future ages. Tnpthp 17QQ
THE ACS NEWSLETTER is published four times a year as a service to members of the Association for Gravestone Studies.
The membership year is from June to June. Send membership fees (Regular Membership, $1 5; Sustaining Membership, $25)
to ACS Treasurer Nancy Jean Melin, 21 5 West 75th St., Apt. lOE, New York, NY 10023. Order MARKERS, The Journal of
the Association for Gravestone Studies (Members' price, $15; Non -members' price, $25) from Betty Slater. 373 Bassettes
Bridge Rd.. Mansfield Center, CT 06250. Address NEWSLETTER contributions to ACS Publications, do The American
Antiquarian Society, Worcester, MA 01609. Address all other Association correspondence to ACS Corresponding Secretary
Eloise West, 199 Fisher Rd., Fitchburg, MA 01^20.
NEWSLETTER
OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES
Editor, Jessie Lie Farber
Volume 6 Number 4 Fall 1982 ISSN: 0146-5783
Because recent I'ssues of THE ACS NEWSLETTER have had an area of
concentration — epitaphs, southern stones, the 1982 conference--we
have accumulated a large backlog of book reviews, articles , cemetery
citations, and miscelaneous news items, including many contributions
from readers. Some of these are long overdue for publication , but
they are, we think, no less interesting for their long wait. Therefore,
this and several issues following will be devoted to a catch-up on our
backlog, and plans for issues concentrating on middle-west and Nova
Scotia stones have been postponed.
CONTENTS
ASSOCIATION NEWS
CONSERVATION /PRESERVATION
EDUCATION
EXHIBITIONS
RESEARCH and WRITING
SOME MARKERS of INTEREST
STATE and LOCAL CEMETERY ASSOCIATIONS
MISCELLANEOUS
I I I I I
I I ■ I I I I I • I I
I I I I I I 1 • I I
2
3
5
5
7
9
11
12
ifl0
H. W. Janson. Not many AGS members knew him personally, but any serious student
of art history or funereal sculpture knows his name. New York University's Professor
Janson is the author of Art History*, the bible on the subject and the first book re-
commended to the college student by his/her art history professor. Janson's influence
is everywhere. Even in this issue of THE AGS NEWSLETTER, there are two items which
began with him. In her Art Bulletin artic\e (page 8) , Judith Hurtig credits Janson
for having suggested her investigation. And Germany's Central Institute for Sepul-
chral Culture, which produced the exhibit mentioned on page 6 , learned of AGS from
Janson and wrote for membership and Markers on his recommendation. We asked Dr.
Janson to write a piece for THE NEWSLETTER when he finished the book he was work-
ing on. That was last summer, and we did not know he was fighting a battle with can-
cer. He died September 30, 1982. The new book. Nineteenth Century Sculpture, is
being published by Harry Abrams. Mrs. Janson lives at 29 Washington Square West,
New York City 10011.
* The full title is. Art History: A Survey of the Major Visual Arts from the Dawn of
History to the Present Day.
ASSOCIATION NEWS
Geographical growth report. Membership chairman Carol Perkins reports that ACS
now has members in forty states and six foreign countries.
MARKERS II . The much delayed second volume of Markers: The Journal of the Asso-
ciation for Gravestone Studies is, finally, making speedy progress. It will be pub-
lished by New England Press. Information concerning its contents, price, and order-
ing procedure will be announced soon by its editor, David Watters. Markers I can be
ordered from Betty Slater, 373 Bassettes Bridge Road, Mansfield Center, CT 06250.
The 1983 conference and annual meeting, Worcester, Massachusetts, June 24-26.
Cuided tour. Dan Farber will lead a tour of graveyards and other gravestone-
related sites in the Worcester area. Central Massachusetts is rich with carvings
by William Young, Paul Colburn, Daniel Hastings, James Wilder, Joseph Barbur,
and the Worcester, Park, and New family carvers, fine examples of which will be
seen on the tour. The tour bus will swing past the home of the carver William
Young and the home of Harriette Merrifield Forbes, the first published scholar in
the field, and past the American Antiquarian Society, which has made important
contributions to gravestone studies and whose address AGS uses for its mailings.
Conferees are invited to visit the AAS at their leisure.
Exhibits and sales of gravestone-related art, materials, and literature. In addi-
tion to the Association's exhibitions, there will be an exhibition of gravestone
art at the Worcester Historical Museum and an exhibition of Dan Farber's work
in the gallery of his house. The Historical Museum has invited ACS members to
have wine and cheese at the Museum. Persons or organizations with materials to
sell or exhibit should address their inquiries or descriptions of exhibit submis-
sions to Mary Anne Mrozinski, 47 Hammond Road, Glen Cove, New York 11542.
Speakers. Papers on all areas of gravestone study will be considered for presen-
tation. Address inquiries or abstracts of submissions to Michael Cornish, 14 Cus-
ter Street, Apartment #1, Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts 02130.
Annual meeting. At this meeting policy-making procedures are established and
officers are elected. This is your opportunity to influence the future of AGS.
The Harriette Merrifield Forbes Award. Send nominations for this award to
Sally Thomas, president, 82 Hilltop Place, New London, New Hampshire 03257.
Help wanted. Early in 1983, detailed information about the conference will be
mailed to AGS members and to other interested individuals and organizations.
Members are encouraged to contribute names and addresses of interested persons
and institutions to conference chairman Elizabeth Hammond, 34 Old Connecticut
Path, Wayland, Massachusetts 01778. Also needed are volunteers for conference
work; No special talent or experience is required. Drop a line to Elizabeth
Hammond at the address above. Or telephone (617) 358-2517.
AGS Archives. Most of the papers mentioned on these pages are regularly forwarded to
the archives, which are housed in the library of the New England Historic Genealogical
Society, 101 Newbury Street, Boston. The NEHGS library is available for use by ACS
members at no charge. (The usual fee is $3 per visit.)
Call for donations. Have you a book, research paper, unpublished manuscript,
exhibition catalog, or a collection of rubbings, slides, or black-and-white photo-
graphs that you are willing to make available to others through our archives? If
you do, please describe what you are willing to donate in a note to Michael Cornish,
14 Custer Street, Apartment #1, Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts 02130.
Correction. A copy of the Delux Edition of Ann Parker's and Avon Neal's hand-
some new book. Early American Stone Sculpture j published by Sweetwater Edi-
tions ($650), has been given to the AGS archives by the authors. The previous
edition of THE NEWSLETTER incorrectly named the publisher as the donor of
this important gift. The Neals, incidentally, have been the subject of numerous
television and newspaper interviews connected with the promotion of the book,
and we hear that they always mention AGS. They are now wintering as artists-
in-residence in Altos de Chavon, a village perched on a cliff overlooking the
southeastern coast of the Dominican Republic. Altos de Chavon was created to
stimulate enthusiasm for the Country's cultural heritage by bringing native art-
ists into close proximity to the international artistic community. The Neals will
be working with rubbings, writing, photographing, and lecturing.
Membership dues. Dues are $15, payable yearly in June. The membership mailing
list is being revised to delete names of those not paid-up. Send payment to member-
ship chairman Carol Perkins, 1233 Cribb Street, Apartment 204, Toledo, Ohio 43612.
AGS F'82 P2
LUNSLKVAI ION/PRESERVATION
INVENTORIES^ RESTORATIONS^ CLEAN-UP PROJECTS
LEGISLATION^ INDOOR PROTECTION
Gravestone returned home. A few months ago a 1726 gravestone with Connecticut
characteristics was offered for sale, with a large reserve bid, at a public antique
and folk art auction in New York State. Several nearby historians expressed their
concern about the selling of gravestones because of possible thefts which it might
encourage. The stone was withdrawn from the sale.
An alert member of ACS recognized the stone and approached the Selectmen of
its hometown. A report was made to the State Police, and the stone was recovered
from the New York City dealer who had put it up for auction. The stone has been
returned to Connecticut and will be reinstalled in its proper place. Several lessons
were learned, however, from the incident.
First, it is not necessarily illegal to sell an old gravestone. In this case, we
found that the seller was sympathetic to our concerns about commerce in grave-
stones and publicity about prices. He bowed to public pressure from AGS and others.
This 1726 stone has been traced through five or six owners, and it is fxsssible
that it was removed from the cemetery as long as twelve years ago. It has been
assumed that it was stolen, but there is a question of proof if it was simply "picked
up" in a ditch or wherever by someone, whatever his motivation. Perhaps present
laws should put the burden of proof of ownership on the seller, or simply prohibit
such sales.
Only if we have good written and photographic inventories of our cemeteries is
there any hope of proving a stone's origin. And who will assume the responsibility
for checking remote graveyards periodically to determine if anything is missing?
This story had a happy ending, but many others do not. At this time it would
appear that we should attempt to prevent a market from developing by (1) develop-
ing public appreciation of the historical and artistic importance of old gravestones;
(2) encouraging good documentation of old graveyards; and (3) encouraging public
alertness to sales and other improper practices concerning old gravestones.
North Carolina legislation. North Carolina has enacted a bill which allows the De-
partment of Cultural resources to obtain access to abandoned cemeteries for the pur-
pose of recording and preserving information of significant historical, genealogical,
or archaeological value. For more information about this, contact AGS legal adviser
Theodore Chase, 74 Farm Road, Dover, Massachusetts 02030, or Dr. Dan McCurry,
Route #3, Box 95, Wadesboro, North Carolina 28170, who contributed a copy of the
bill to AGS.
Dr. McCurry also sent a copy of the form prepared for use by the Committee for
the Study of Abandoned Cemeteries, a body created in 1978 by the North Carolina
General Assembly to study the number, nature, and condition of North Carolina's
cemeteries. Inquiries concerning the study should be addressed to The Cemetery
Survey, North Carolina Division of Archives & History, 109 East Jones Street,
Raleigh, North Carolina 27611.
A third enclosure from McCurry consisted of clippings from The Charlotte Observer
reporting efforts, some personal and others sponsored by the above-mentioned Com-
mittee, to save North Carolina's old cemeteries, several of which date back 200 years
(for example, the Old Settler's Cemetery in the heart of Charlotte). Other clippings
give information about George Lauder, a nineteenth-century stonecutter working in
the Fayetteville area.
A first? Seven historic gravestones will be removed from the Old Burying Ground in
Huntington, New York, and donated to the Huntington Historical Society for protection.
The stones include "some of the most important and representative of Huntington's Colo-
nial markers," according to a news item in The Long Islander, December 12, 1982. They
are: three death's heads and a crossbone by unidentified carvers; a 1773 John Stevens
(II or III) carving; a 1775 John Zuricher carving; and a 1778 "Byzantine-like double ef-
figy" by John Bull. Over the years, an occasional marker has been moved by a town's
government to an indoor location for safekeeping, but this is, we think, the first time
such preservation action has been carried out on a scale so large and well organized.
Working with Town Historian Rufus Langhans, Richard Welch selected and photographed
the stones and drew up the rationale and proposal; Langhans presented the request to
the Town Board and won from the Board their unanimous affirmative vote.
Consewat'ion/pr'eservation, continued
New Jersey news. From New Jersey we have three newspaper items from Robert Van
Benthuysen, each illustrating a different reaction to cemetery vandalism and neglect.
The White Ridge Cemetery in Eatontown, one of the oldest in the area, was de-
faced by vandals, an increasingly common occurrence in the area. Because "it would
take round-the-clock surveilance to keep the kids out," the State Cemetery Board
will visit the site to investigate the problem and make recommendations.
Ocean Park, responding to a similar problem, organized a successful four-ceme-
tery clean-up project which could be used as a guide to other like-minded civic groups,
initiated by the Dover Township Rotary Club, it enlisted the cooperation of the Boy
Scouts, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, the Ocean City Historical
Society, the Township Committee, the Ocean Park Board of Freeholders, families who
own plots, and other community volunteers. The response was tremendous, and Alien
Halliday, who masterminded the project, plans to make it an annual tradition. Over
400 headstones, some weighing 1000 pounds, were reset. "Once a stone is pushed over,"
Halliday commented, "it begins to breed like a disease." His next step is press the
passage of a town ordinance imposing heavy fines on cemetery vandals. His hope is
that 200 years into the future the community's continued efforts will assure that the
stones remain to tell the town's history.
An item from Neptune, New Jersey, describes a more typical situation — a dying
graveyard. Mount Prospect, a thirty-three acre cemetery, no longer has the interest
of the community. Funds which have come to it over the years from perpetual care
payments and sales of land are exhausted. Being private, the cemetery is not eligi-
ble for the tax payer's money, and CETA grant money has dried up. The only per-
son voicing concern is the aged, retired former custodian, who mourns the condition
of the once beautiful cemetery.
/ A conservation resource. "Preserving Rural Burial Grounds" is the title of an article
' published in the fall issue of the Massachusetts Historical Commission's newsletter.
Written by James Parrish, Berkshire County Historic Preservation Planner (10 Fenn
1 Street, Pittsfield, Massachusetts 01210), the article describes the threats to Berkshire
/ County's old burial grounds and stresses the importance of studying, documenting,
^ and preserving them. Mr. Parrish's research on Berkshire County carvers is exten-
sive and includes attributions to numerous previously unidentified carvers. His ad-
vice concerning conservation is conservative (as is ACS's) . He warns that the repair
of broken stones "requires the expertise of a professional trained in conservation
\ methods," and he adds that "anyone considering this kind of work should contact the
Massachusetts Historical Commission, (617) 727-8470.
Boston clean-up. A crew of volunteer sailors from three navy ships stationed in
Boston took part in a one-day clean-up of three of the city's historic cemeteries.
The cemeteries getting a good mowing, raking and trimming were the Phipps Street
Burying Ground, the Old South Burying Ground, and Copp's Hill Burying Ground.
The action was sponsored by the Boston Burial Grounds Committee. In an illustrated
story about the project published in the August 8, 1982, Boston Sunday Globe, Com-
mander Herman O. Sudholz of the USS Constitution mentioned "a unique characteris-
tic of the Phipps Street Burying Ground." He said that the stones ".. .are arranged in
the same pattern as the streets of Old Charlestown, and the people were buried ac-
cording to where they lived on the street." Can anyone verify this?
Old Dutch gravestones dating to 1795 stand nearly at the center of the mall to be
built in Rotterdam, New York, and Regina Soria (1609 Ramblewood Road, Baltimore,
Maryland 21239) is making an effort to save them. Her interest stems from her hav-
ing written a biography of Elihu Vedder (1836-1923), an American Visionary Artist
whose family is buried in the threatened yard. Theodore Chase, AGS legal adviser,
has informed her that the matter can be settled only through litigation, which would
have to be precipitated by a concerned individual or group.
Threats from mining. Patricia Steele (10 Cherry Street, Brookfield, Pennsylvania
15825) reports that old cemeteries in Pennsylvania are being destroyed by coal min-
ing operations and that she needs advice that might aid her in her fight to deter
operations closer than 100 feet from cemeteries. Steele is the author of Tombstone
Hoppin', tvjo volumes of inscriptions from the 157 known cemeteries in Jefferson
County, Pennsylvania.
Congressional Cemetery restoration. According to an item from "Washington Talk"
The New York Times, August 10, 1982) sent by Jo Coeselt, the House, shamed by
the condition of the Congressional Cemetery, has voted to spend $300,000 to repair
and restore its monuments, roads, walls and lighting. The cemetery contains the
graves of J. Edgar Hoover, John Philip Sousa, 14 Senators, 42 Representatives, 2
Vice Presidents, 226 cynatophs for members of Congress. The action taken by the
House is probably in part the result of publicity given the cemetery's condition by
Preservation News. (See THE NEWSLETTER'S item about this in the Fall, 1981 issue,
page 6.) We wonder who is in charge of the stone repair and what procedures are
being used.
AGS F '82 P4
EDUCATION
New Jersey Crant-in-Aid. The New Jersey Historical Commission has provided
William Wraga with a grant-in-aid to develop a teaching project, "Gravestone Carv-
ings in Colonial Piscataway: Local Artifacts and Changing Puritan Beliefs." This
study will be the culmination of two preceding units, a survey of Puritan religion
and an introduction to historical archaeology. The project is intended to provide
high school sophomores enrolled in United States history courses with "hands on"
experience.
This is a teaching project with three basic objectives. The first is to enhance
student understanding of Puritanism. The second is to increase awareness, under-
standing, and appreciation of local artifacts. The third is to develop an apprecia-
tion of the concept that everything around us is what we are. Wraga will prepare
a teaching guide .
The project is divided into four stages. The students will first view and dis-
cuss a slide presentation illustrating the changing patterns of religious beliefs as
reflected in the gravestone carvings of Colonial New England. The presentation
will familiarize students with the dominant carving styles, their periods of popular-
ity, and with the suggested symbolism. Students will then learn techniques for
gathering relevant data. A field trip to an eighteenth-century burying ground
will be the third and major activity, followed, lastly, by an attempt to determine
and interpret the local stylistic patterns.
Mr. Wraga may be reached by writing him at Green Brook High School, 132
Jefferson Avenue, Green Brook, New Jersey 08812.
More gravestone study in the classroom. Gravestone study is "providing a valu-
able learning experience in a number of curriculum areas" for fifth and sixth grad-
ers taught by Candace Hunt in the Willimantic (Connecticut) Elementary School.
According to an article from The Willimantic Chronicle. June, 1982, sent by Fred
Fredette, Mrs. Hunt sees relevance in the study of the stones, their carvers, and
of the deceased's family background to learning in math, reading, language arts,
history, and art.
Special studies course. The 1982 special programs bulletin for Spring, 1982, an-
nounced by the University of Pennsylvania College of General Studies, Faculty of
Arts and Science, lists course #204, "Legacies of the Past: Old Cemeteries Around
Philadelphia, a "program repeated by popular demand." Explored were St. Peter's
Churchyard, the Old Pine Presbyterian Church graveyard, and Laurel Hill Ceme-
tery. The course description states that "an old cemetery is a window into the past
reflecting the cultures and values of previous generations." The course fee was
$20; the instructor, John Francis Marion, Philadelphia historian and author of
Famous and Curious Cemeteries.
Gravestone rubbing instruction. A course in rubbing techniques has been added
to the courses in jewelry making and lapidary offered in the crafts teaching pro-
gram at the Garvies Museum, Glen Cove, Long Island, New York. According to an
article in the Long Island monthly. The Sunstorm (October, 1982), the new course
will be taught by AGS board member, Mary Anne Mrozinski and will include field
trips, slide presentations, demonstrations, and hands-on experience.
Model interview. Ruth Cowell, who has served as corresponding secretary for AGS,
was the subject of an article by Sheri Danzig for The Pascak Valley Community Life.
We rate it as something of a model, from the point of view of educating the public
to appreciate gravestone studies. In it were not only concise and accurate state-
ments concerning varied aspects of gravestone study, but also an introduction to
AGS, stating its functions and giving its address. The piece briefly states major
differences in American and English burial practices, the philosophical significance
of the iconography of early American stones, the need for good preservation practices,
including the moving of outstanding, threatened stones indoors, and the relevation of
trade routes by the presence of New England stones in the coastal areas of the south
and north into Nova Scotia. Mrs. Cowell also described the technique she has deve-
loped for her rubbings, which have been exhibited at the American Museum in Eng-
land (the paper is silk-span; the rubbing material is craypas) . When asked if her
interest in gravestones reflects a preoccupation with death, Mrs Cowell said that
far from being morbid, gravestone study has more to do with custom and symbolism,
anthropology and archaeology, design, folk art, religion, historical preservation,
and interest in one's ancestors than it does with death per se.
AGS F '82 P5
EXHIBITIONS
Farber photos . An exhibit of gravestone art, "Remembrance of the Just: New England
Gravestones," was shown May 18 - October 31, 1982, at the Quincy (Massachusetts)
Historical Museum. Prepared by Will Twombly and Larry Yerdon and using Dan Farber's
photographs, the show was unusual in its breadth, presentation, and educational ap-
proach. The show featured a strikingly effective simulated graveyard set up in front
of a 6' X 7' photo-mural of an ancient burial ground. This exhibit, altered to feature
Worcester area stones, will move to the Worcester Historical Museum in the early sum-
mer of 1983 and will be available for viewing by ACS members during the 1983 confer-
ence, June 24-26. Following the Worcester showing, the Boston Historic Park Service,
a branch of the National Park Service, plans to show the exhibit in Boston (with Bos-
ton stones featured) as part of an effort to improve the care of Boston's historic Bury-
ing grounds.
Two other recent exhibits featuring Farber's work are "Memento Mori," shown at
the Wiggins Gallery, Boston Public Library, August 15-September 30, 1982, and the
large exhibition of seventeenth century art and artifacts, "New England Begins," at
Boston's Museum of Fine Art. The Wiggins Gallery show was given an excellent half-
page review in the Arts and Film section of the August 29, 1 982, Sundoy Boston Globe
by the Globe's art critic, Christine Temin.
Connecticut Valley exhibit. The Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut, is
planning a 1985 show, "Arts and Artifacts of the Connecticut Valley." To prepare for
it, William Halsey, working with Betsy Fox and a handful of consultants from other
museums and institutions, will be engaged in a program of research that will take them
to all the local historical societies and many private collections in the Connecticut Val-
ley. Halsey says that "everyone is now including gravestones in such studies," and
"although the objects themselves are not usually available for exhibition, photographs
serve well to stimulate interest." He and Kevin Sweeney and Peter Benes and others
will identify a dozen or more stones to illustrate the exhibition catalog.
Death theme in German exlibris . An unusual exhibit, prepared by the working pool
of the Central Institute of Sepulchral Culture and a team of art historians, was shown
in the Evangelical Church in Bonne, West Germany, October 22-November 26, 1982.
The exhibit, "Goodman Death and the Bibliophile," presented eighty-five exlibris (the
paper name plate identifying a book's owner) which relate to death. The exlibris, in
which one can see the book owners' concepts of death, were grouped by theme: Exlibris
of Medical Men, Death in Wars, Death and Modern Technics, Death and the Arts, and
Death and Eros. The exhibition offered the viewer the opportunity to compare the
death theme as presented in twentieth-century art with that theme seen in the personal,
intimate art of the exlibris. A striking catalog of the exhibition is available.
The primary focus of the Institute (Zentralinstitut fur Sepulkralkultur) is on se-
pulchral art. Its address is: Standeplatz 13, D-3500, Kassel, Germany.
Dutch gravemarkers. We have received the guide to an exhibition which "gives atten-
tion to the place to which we bring our dead and to the memorials we construct there."
The exhibition, entitled, "To Disguise Death" was shown in Amsterdam's Nieuwe Kerk,
May 14-September 19, 1982. Described in the guide are changes which occurred from
the Middle Ages to the present concerning the location of Europe's gravemarkers and
the location of the cemeteries themselves. These changes, together with changes in
the gravemarkers' inscriptions, forms, symbols, and materials used, and in the prac-
tice of cremation, are explained in relation to the attitudes, needs, and philosophies
which brought them about. A few items from the guide:
1st centuries - Both burial and cremation were practiced. Both took place outside
the city.
4th century -Churches were built on the graves of martyrs buried outside the city.
Because men wanted to be buried near these martyrs, the practice of
burial within the church was begun. Later the relicts were moved to
churches within the city, and thus began the practice of burying the
dead within the built-up city center and in the yards around churches.
17th century - Due to repeated outbreaks of the plague, some city churchyards were
closed down and some burials were made on the ramparts.
18th century - Private cemeteries were opened outside the city, also for reasons of
hygiene. The markers were first laid flat like a floor, as had been
the custom in the churches.
19th century The cemeteries were subdivided and became scenic, park-like areas.
Amsterdam churches contain markers dating back four centuries, but in the cemeteries
few pre- 1880 markers remain. Only one in ten of the stones is embellished with decora-
tive motifs. Cremation, popular in ancient times, fell into disuse with the introduction
of Christianity. It was revived in the nineteenth century, being considered more hygie-
nic than burial. The practice was illegal in Holland until 1968. In 96% of the cremations,
the ash is scattered and no memorial is raised.
ACS F'82 P6
RESEARCH AND WRITING
Cemetery Traditions. This is the title of an excellent article by Gregory Jeane, Assist-
ant Professor of Geography , Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama 36849, published in
American Cemetery , June, 1982, pages 18-22. Following is a brief, partly excerpted
summary of the paper. The full article, like most of the publications we review, is avail-
able to our readers at the AGS archives in Boston.
Upland South folk graveyards found in the hills and mountains of the southern
United States are characterized by hilltop locations, east-west grave orientation, scrap-
ing of the grounds, mounding of the graves, a preferred species of vegetation, and a
variety of decorative features.
The hilltop location for holy or sacred places is a tradition that has persisted
through millennia, though the original rationale has ceased to exist, and the phenome-
non is now rationalized by local residents as necessary to insure proper drainage. The
east-west (or what is perceived to be east-west) grave orientation places the head of
the deceased to the west, the feet east. Unwed mothers, suicide victims, and others
dying out of grace are often buried out of this alignment. The explanation that in this
orientation the faithful will rise to face their savior does not account for east-west bur-
ials dating back to the Neolithic Age. The Maya, Egyptians, Babylonians, and Celts
all organized their shrines with adherence to the path of the sun.
Scraping cemetery grounds is a perplexing practice associated with other culture
groups. Blacks probably brought the tradition from West Africa. This does not ex-
plain its use in traditional non-slave areas or the vestiges of the practice found in con-
tinental Europe.
Preferred vegetation shares a characteristic, beauty with little care required.
Evergreens symbolize immortality. Cedars, popular in the Upland South, are among
Europe's popular cemetery trees. Preferred decorations are shells--conch, bivalves,
and fresh water mollusks. Some mounds are completely covered with shells; others
have only a few, neatly arranged. Shells have a significant religious and sexual sym-
bolism of rebirth, which figures prominently in Creek and Roman funerary custom and art.
Other items placed on Upland South graves include personal items, such as eyewash cups,
spectacles, coffee mugs. Children's graves are adorned with marbles, dolls, figurines.
Artificial flowers and oddities, such as dishes, light bulbs, and telephone insulators il-
lustrate the make-do aspect of the grave site practices.
Crave shelters have been used in many cultures throughout the world, general pro-
tection being their prime function. Those still standing in the Upland South are of
simple design, with a picket fence. Mounding may be an alternative to using a grave
marker. Home-made cement markers and wood markers are sometimes used. The head
marker is round, the foot marker, diamond shaped.
On "graveyard day" families having kin buried in the cemetery gather to scrape
the plots, mound the graves, and straighten the markers. The gatherings are social
occasions, in the nature of family reunions, held in the late summer. The graveyard
traditions have altered considerably in recent years as the older generations have died
and the younger generations have moved from the area or have become reluctant to give
their time to cemetery care.
The author concludes that "There is an urgency to record and photograph the
Upland South folk cemetery before this particular landscape of the dead passes from the
visual scene to that of the memory." The article is illustrated with photographs of grave
sheds, mounded and decorated graves, a tree stone, and a map of the United States
showing counties known to have one or more old folk graveyards. According to this map,
the yards are found as far southwest as the Texas pandhandle, as far north as North
Carolina; the area of their greatest concentration extends from the Gulf Coast of Ala-
bama and Florida northward through Alabama and Georgia to the eastern boundary of
Tennessee.
Papers read in Ohio. Two papers, "Funerary art in the 1890's, by Susanne S. Ridlen,
and "New Thoughts on Tombstones," by Stephen M. Straight, were read at the annual
meeting of the Pioneer Society of America, October 1-2, 1982, in Marietta, Ohio. We have
the abstract of the Ridlen paper, which reports data from an examination of 200 stones in
four cemeteries (Washington, D.C.; Indianapolis, Indiana; Logansport, Indiana; and Easton,
Maryland) to compare funerary art with the art forms in architecture and other material
art objects. The paper concluded that gravestone shapes, materials, designs, symbols,
epitaphs, and kinsmanship emphasis reflected both changes in and the continuance of tra-
ditional patterns seen in societal patterns of the period. ~We have the full text of Straight's
paper, which we will review in a future issue.
Susanne S. Ridlen, (Adjunct Faculty, Folklore, University of Indiana at Kokomo) ,
613 Wheatland Avenue, Logansport, Indiana U69U7.
Stephen M. Straight, 431 North Kansas Avenue, Deland, Florida 32720.
ACS F '82 P7
Eesearah and Vlvxtxng, contvnued
English shroud tombs. Judith W. Hurtig has written a perceptive and well documented
paper on English shroud tombs — monuments which depict the shrouded body of the de-
ceased. The illustrated article, "Seventeenth Century Shroud Tombs: Classical Reviv-
al and Anglican Context," published in Art Bulletin (June, 1982, pages 217-228), traces ''
themes seen in these tombs from the Middle Ages to the Seventeenth century and relates
the themes to those found in the literature of that century.
In the Middle Ages, death was viewed as inevitable, gruesome, and frightening,
both spiritually and physically. Preparation for medieval death centered on deathbed
confession, absolution, and conversion. Tombs bore representations of the deceased as
dead and decaying; inscriptions stressed the horrible fate of the body while the soul suf-
fered in purgatory. Emphasis was upon the family as a dynamic unit, with all members
given identical iconographic representation In the fifteenth century there was some mod-
ification of this morbid pessimism with references in inscriptions and visual imagery to res-
urrection and salvation.
The late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries saw the introduction of the classic
concept of death as peaceful sleep, not to be feared. Reformation theologians taught that
a good death was prepared for throughout life, and a good life was lived in preparation
for death, which led to salvation and eternal life. The horrifying image of death gave
way to a gentler concept. New tomb types reflected Anglican ideas about death. Shroud-
ed tomb figures changed their emphasis from gruesome death to a lyrical evocation of a
lost beloved, and noblemen influenced a revival of classical literature and art. The shroud-
ed figures suggest a return to traditional issues of tomb iconography, such as resurrec-
tion and hope, and constitute the first indications of a new theme — grief and mourning —
which became a major eighteenth-century theme. [These themes have interesting paral-
lels in — and variations from — those seen in early American gravestone iconography.]
Almost incidentally, Hurtig makes the interesting observation that the depiction of
the deceased in peaceful sleep occurs only on tombs for women; the sleep /death metaphor
was evidentally not deemed appropriate for tombs of men, whose images were depicted in
a variety of other ways.
Judith Hartig's book. The Armored Gi'sant, published by Garland, is based on her
dissertation subject. She is presently studying changes in forms of funereal monuments
for women who died in childbirth. Her address: 305 Windsor Drive, Iowa City, Iowa 52240.
NSF grant award. Gaynell Levine has been awarded a grant by the National Science
Foundation in support of the research she is conducting for her dissertation: "Spatial
and Material Images in Culture: Ethnicity and Idealogy in Long Island Material Culture;"
Department of Anthropology, State University of New York at Stony Brook. Levine says
that this is the first time gravestones have been recognized by a national funding organ-
ization as a cultural resource data base.
Archeologists Search for a Chronicle of New York is the heading for a New York Times
(May 21, 1982) article about the large gravestone study initiated by the New York
City Land Preservation Commission. This program, described in detail at the 1982
ACS conference, is headed by Sherene Baugher-Perlin, the city's first official ar-
cheologist. Her post was created in 1980 after the Sladt Huys excavation in lower
Manhattan uncovered artifacts and foundations from the early Dutch occupation, con-
vincing the city government that New York City has an archeological heritage which
should be addressed. The gravestone project is financed by a $20,000 grant from the
New York Council on the Humanities. It will survey 2,000 Colonial gravestones from
twenty cemeteries in all five burroughs. According to the article, thirty-four year
old Dr. Baugher-Perlin, whose graduate degree is from The State Univestity of New
York at Stony Brook, was on the graduate faculty at Rensselaer Polytechnic Insti-
tute and the undergraduate faculty of Farleigh Dickinson University before her New
York City appointment.
The New York City gravestone study is also the subject of an article in Pilgrim,
the newsletter published by Trinity Church (74 Trinity Place, New York, New York
10006), which is one of the cemeteries being studied. .
Assisting Baugher-Perlin in the project are Cina Santucci and Gaynell Levine;
all three participated in the 1982 AGS conference presentation.
Guide books in preparation. Diana George and Mac Nelson have written a guide book.
Epitaph and Icon: A Field Guide to the Old Burying Grounds of Cape Cod, Martha's
Vinyard, and Nantucket, to be released by Parnassus Imprints, Orleans, Massachusetts
in May, 1983. Another guide book, James Slater's two-part guide to the yards of east-
ern Connecticut, is being edited for presentation to publishers. Both books are illus-
trated with photographs by Dan Farber, the authors, and others.
Book of Symbols. The American Monument Association has published a new book.
Symbols— The Universal Language. It is available from the AMA, 6902 North High
Street, Worthington, Ohio 43085, for $15.
AGS F '82 P8
SOPJE MARKERS OF INTEREST
Space limitations again prevent our including an installment
of "Stonecutters and Their Works. " The series will be con-
tinued in the next issue with a piece we have waiting: James
Wilder of Lancaster, by Laurel Cabel and Theodore Chase.
New York. We thank W. F. Broderick for photographs of four remarkable nineteenth-
century white marble stones depicting events. The carver is Michael Mullanny.
Saint Patric driving the snakes from Ireland. Stone for John Ryan, 1844,
Old Catholic Cemetery, Lansingburgh. Signed, "M:Mulianny W :Stockbridge"
Adam and Eve in the Garden. Stone for Edmond and Catherine Ratchford,
dates illigible in photograph. Old Catholic Cemetery, Lansingburgh.
Saint Patrick landing on the shores of Ireland. Stone for Margaret Hanni-
gan and Edmond Doran, 1811,183?, Old Catholic Cemetery, Lansingburgh.
EDf^Orm SOFT OF I
Death of a woodcutter. Stone for Edmond Crow, 1863, Old Catholic Ceme-
tery, Lebanon Springs (Columbia County, just south of Rensselaer County,
near the Massachusetts line, on an abandoned mountain road to Pittsfield) .
The photograph illustrated here was made in 1890. The stone is now broken
at the base and lies face up on the ground. Signed, "Mich'l Mullanny."
The verse reads: Myself I promised to live fourscore
Perhaps a hundred or something more
Never thinking my fate should be
In bloom to die beneath a tree.
Broderick, public records analyst for the New York State Archives, and Patricia
Clahassey, who teaches art education at The College of St. Rose in Albany, were
the subjects of a story in the (Albany, New York) Times Union, July 11, 1982. The
half-page story illustrated with four photographs and a rubbing, describes five more
interesting New York stones. It also reports the activities of the 1982 ACS conference,
which Broderick and Clahassey attended.
New Jersey. Francis Duval reports that graveyards in Tennent, Rahway, Cranbury,
Elizabeth, and Middletown contain stones of exceptional artistic interest. According
to Duval, the Elizabeth stones dating from 1720 to 1800 are beautiful but difficult to
photograph, except in winter months, and, he adds, "Rahway is a treasure containing
many fantastic details. Out of about 300 stones of the 1730-1830 period, about 100 are
signed." In Middletown, between Rahway and Elizabeth, he says there are only a few
stones, "but what stones" Gorgeous Zurichers — and a 'Cornish Tendril! '"
Virginia. Jessie Lie Farber, back from a trip to Virginia and points south, reports
seeing an interesting pair of markers in Mt. Hebron Cemetery, Winchester, Virginia
(Route 11, just over the Pennsylvania /Virginia line). These are the only eighteenth-
century stones in the cemetery. Sandstone. The headstone bore no lettering — only
an unusual and horrifying skull and crossbones design. The footstone was inscribed:
Here
Lays the Bod of
Martin Funk
On the theory that nearby there must be who end — his Pil
more stones by the same carver, this is grim life Octo 5
an area in need of further investigation. 1777 old 55 yrs
AGS F '82 P9
Some Markers of Interest^ continued
Mississippi. Dan C. McCurry has sent us pinotographs of clay jug gravemarkers
which were "created in an area of rural
Mississippi with a long tradition in clay
craftsmanship." They are intriguing
evidence of the interesting markers to
be found in another area from which
little gravestone research has been re-
ported. Dr. McCurry obtained the pho-
tographs from the Mississippi Depart-
ment of Archives and History, Jackson.
■ S^^^'<:.i^\'^
.:::^.^^K^'^>itM
^'- *^-^»
%tll
c
Massachusetts' Berkshire County . Of interest to those studying carvers and carving
styles in central Berkshire County is John Brooke's "A Descriptive Survey of Grave-
stone Carving in Central Berkshire County in the Late Eighteenth Century." This
survey, a four page section of a longer paper by Brooke, organizes the carving styles
into four categories: (1) naturalistic carving of both the baroque and new-classic styles,
(2) carving derived from the baroque abstract tradition of the Connecticut Valley, (3)
primitive abstract carving, and (4) impersonal urn and willow carving.
Known carvers whose style or actual work is represented are Coomer Soule, Abraham
Codner, Thomas Johnson, Nathaniel Phelps, the Sikes family, Richard and Lebbeus Kim-
ball, and John Zuricher. Several unknown carvers are also included. The longer paper
has a longer title: "Let Virtue be Your Practice Here / Till We Do Meet Again: A Case
Study in the Social Context of a Grammar of Gravestone Symbolism, Central Berkshire
County, Massachusetts 1770-1800." Dr. Brooks has agreed to contribute a copy of it
to the ACS archives, although he points out that his doctoral dissertation, already in
the archives, supersedes, and in some instances, corrects parts of the earlier paper.
Brooke's dissertation explores the social and religious context of the contrasting
political action taken during the Revolution by the yeomen, the gentry, and religious
dissenters in towns of southwest Worcester county, Massachusetts, between 1730 and
1820. At the same time, it examines the symbolism of death, e.g., on gravestones, of
this area and time period. The title of the dissertation is (are you ready?), "Society,
Revolution, and the Symbolic Uses of the Dead: An Historical Ethnography of the
Massachusetts Near Frontier, 1730-1820."
New Hampshire. In Pine Grove Cemetery, Harrington, is a willow-and-urn stone for
"Old Aggie," born i /4U, died 1840, the last slave in that state. An article in the Man-
chester Union Leader (January 28, 1982) says that an "unpublished, handwritten state-
ment written by Scales" describes Aggie as the slave of Capt. Mark Hunking, who trad-
ed rum for slaves in Africa, retrading them in the West Indies for sugar and molasses.
Those he could not dispose of thus, he brought to Portsmouth and sold to wealthy mer-
chants. But he must have kept Aggie, who was eleven years old when she came to
chilly New England. After Hunking's death in 1775, Aggie, then thirty-five, entered
the house of the Rev. Balch of Barrington's Congregational Church, beside whose grave-
stone her marker now stands.
Code. The stone for James Leeson, 1794, Trinity Churchyard, New York City, reads,
ITlEILLCIII^LJDm 3U2djn
which translates, REMEMBER DEATH. Can you break the code?
AGS F'82 P10
STATE AND LOCAL CEMETERY ASSOCIATIONS
We welcome the announcements, calendars of events, invitations to
functions, and news items that we receive from state and local ceme-
tery associations. Those which are institutional members of ACS and
receive our NEWSLETTER frequently publish ACS announcements in
their publications. ACS can both help and learn from these associa-
tions, many of which have memberships much larger than ours. ACS
members are encouraged to send us the names of associations in your
areas so that we can solicit their membership and their participation.
Joint meeting. MOCA, VOCA, and NHOCA are considering holding a joint meeting
in 198U or 1985. The ACS executive board, at its October, 1982, meeting, voted to
inquire into the possibility of scheduling the 1983 or 1984 ACS conference in con-
junction with these organizations' joint meeting.
Vermont laws studied. At their fall meeting, VOCA's board of directors reviewed the
state's cemetery laws as a first step toward getting them updated. Of special inter-
est at this time are the state's laws pertaining to right-of-way.
Wisconsin's laws to be streamlined. Robert Koerner, a member of the Wisconsin State
Old Cemetery Society, is working with David Prosser, a member of Wisconsin's State
Assembly (Legislature), to draft a bill making cemetery vandalism or theft a criminal
offense. Because the present cemetery legislation is scattered throughout the stat-
utes, WSOCS is advised that a specific law dealing with such offenses will be helpful.
The WSOCS newsletter. Inscriptions (edited by Phil Kallas, 308 Acorn Street, Whit-
ing/Stevens Point, Wisconsin 54481), calls for support for the legislation in the form
of newspaper articles reporting cemetery thefts and vandalism. Editor's note: A
section in eadh issue of American Cemetery Magazine reports such acts under state
headings. Address 1501 Broadway,, New York, New York 10036.
Pennsylvania resource. The Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society ("Over 1,350 mem-
bers, 5,000 visiting researchers, thousands of correspondents") , while not a ceme-
tery association, is an organized resource we would like to mention here. It is the
place to begin gravestone research in Pennsylvania. It is a major area research cen-
ter for Pennsylvania Mennonite and Amish history, genealogy, and theology, with
books, maps, and archival items, including an extensive listing of cemeteries by
county, as well as cemetery records, obituary scrapbooks, and a collection of the
Pennsylvania Cerman Folklore Society publications, all housed in their large, tempera-
ture and humidity-controlled archive. Non-members pay $2 per day to use the library.
The director is Carolyn C. Wenger; the address is 2215 Millstream Road, Lancaster,
Pennsylvania 17602-1499.
Maine Membership. MOCA membership has now reached over 1100. Dues of $3 are
paid to Amanda Bond, 8 Creenway Avenue, Springfield, Maine 04083.
According to the newsletter published by the Friends of Mt. Hope Cemetery in Roches-
ter, New York, William W. Woodward, Deputy Commissioner of Parks, who attended
the 1982 ACS conference, "returned impressed by the energy and breadth of interests
displayed by the members, who came from all over the country..." ACS Publications
are available to the Friends of Mt. Hope at the cemetery gatehouse.
Vermont addresses. Charles Merchant, who represented VOCA at the 1982 ACS con-
ference, gives these sources for information about Vermont cemeteries.
For southeastern Vernont: Himself, Box 132, Townshend 05353.
For southwestern Vermont: Ranny Calusha, Box 125, Route 1A, Shaftsbury 05262.
For northern Vermont: Ethel Billings, Route 3, Middlebury 05753.
We learned from Mr. Merchant that VOCA is the first such association in the U.S., founded
in 1958 by Leon Dean of the University of Vermont. Its efforts are directed to the
preservation of the state's neglected burial grounds, working through statewide ceme-
tery surveys and matching grants programs.
Vermont quote. VOCA's newsletter (edited by Vickie Harlow, 26 Porter's Point Road,
Colchester 05446) published an item taken from the newsletter's first issue. It is a
quotation from England's former Prime Minister Cladstone:
Show me the manner in which a nation or a community cares for the graves
of its dead and I will measure for you with mathematical exactness the tender
sensibilities of its people, their loyalty to high ideals and their respect for
the laws of the land.
AGS F '82 P11
FlISCELLANEQUS
The oldest burial ground. Do you know where it is? From Albert A. Doscher, we
have the program of a ceremony dedicating a memorial plaque to the oldest yard. ^
The bronze plaque, mounted on a granite base, a 1977 gift from the American Ceme- \
tery Association, reads:
Myles Standish Burying Ground is the oldest maintained cemetery in
the United States. This sacred ground has been cared for by the
town of Duxbury, Massachusetts, and takes it (sic) name from Myles
Standish, military leader of the Plymouth Colony, who was interred
here in October of 1656.
Mr. Doscher is Superintendent of Cemeteries in Duxbury. He tells us that John and
Pricilla Alden are also buried there.
Primitive art. Gravestone scholars who appreciate the primitive quality of many early
gravestone carvings will be interested in Hilton Kramer's discussion of primitive art
in his article ("The High Art of Primitivism, " The New York Times Magazine, January
24, 1982) about the new African art wing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New
York. Some excerpts: "[Primitive art] is the art of those peoples who have remained
. ..at an early technological level, who have been oriented toward the use of tools but
not machines. Traditionally, however... it is taken to refer to the art produced by
'backward' or 'undeveloped' cultures — by those societies that have existed at a great
distance, either in time or in spirit, from the centers of advanced and highly developed
cultures. .. [What appeals is] its genius for bold, simplified forms and its frank and
even ferocious statements of feeling. In its grotesque but highly imaginative distor-
tions and its emotive symbolism, primitive art offered the modern artist a vivid alter-
native to what was perceived to be the worn-out conventions of the Western classical
tradition. . .Our present appreciation of primitive art is... a direct outgrowth of the
radical transformation in artistic values brought about by the modern movement."
Among the objects exhibited in the new wing are elaborately carved Asmat mbis (me-
morial) poles, ranging up to twenty-one feet high, and an elaborately carved stone
panel from an eighth-century stele. Kramer quotes Douglas Newton, chairman of the
Metropolitan's department of primitive art: "When they see ]this primitive art] placed
in context with other cultures here, they'll realize it isn't a backwater, but a major
theme in art history."
Folk art. "Folk art stands still. It neither aspires upward, like academic painting,
nor advances forward, like the inventions of the modernist art movements. . .No one
is anyone else's forerunner, and the question of who did it first... does not arise.
All works of folk art exist simultaneously in the peaceable kingdom of individual im-
aginings and skill." This quotation introduces a story in The New Yorker magazine
about the jazz musician, Erroll Garner, but it was originally written by Harold
Rosenberg in a story about American primitive painters, tinsmiths, carpenters, fur-
niture-makers, potters, and wood-carvers of the eighteenth- and nineteenth-cen-
turies. You may not agree with this concept of folk art, but we think you will agree
it is an interesting one.
Request for information. Daniel ViSnich, Senate Representative to the California
Capitol Restoration Project, (address State Capitol, Sacramento 95814), seeks infor-
mation about the nineteenth-century sculptor, Pietro Mezzara, who produced work
for the California capitol building, now being renovated. A French citizen of Italian
parentage, Mezzara came to San Francisco in the early 1850's, began as a cameo cut-
ter there and later produced monumental works, including funeral monuments.
Another request. Michele Newton, Director of the Degenhart Paperweight and Glass
Museum, P. O. Box 112, Cambridge, Ohio 43725, writes that "the Cambridge area
has a unique glass tradition (at least 80 years old) --paperweight gravemarkers."
The museum wants to know if the practice was popular in other geographic areas.
Interesting! We hope our readers with information about "paperweight gravemarkers"
will inform THE NEWSLETTER as well as Ms. Newton.
Fellowships announced. The American Antiquarian Society, America's oldest national
historic society, announces short and long term Visiting Research Fellowships in four
categories. The fellowships are for the year June 1, 1983, to May 31, 1984. Appli-
cations with letters of reference are due February 1, 1983. Persons interested are
invited to write AAS for details. Address 185 Salisbury Street, Worcester, MA 01609.
Jacket carving. Did you notice the jacket on Mickelsson's ghosts, the new novel by
John Gardner? It is a photograph, or perhaps a rubbing, of a detail from a Vermont
gravestone carving, probably the work of Zerubbabel Collins. The illustration ap-
peared frequently during the book's promotion, but it takes the sharp eye of a grave-
stone researcher to recognize it as a gravestone design, (Gardner, only 49, was kil-
led in a motorcycle accident only three months after the book's publication in June.) '<>_
AGS F'82 P12
Miscellaneous 3 continued
A new carver. Harriette ForbesM927 book. Early New England Gravestones and the
Men Who Made Them, lists the names of 128 gravestone cutters, and since 1927, many
more have been identified. Yet there is surely an even larger body of cutters whose
names are not known. A new name is John Turner, who advertised his work in a Ded-
ham, Massachusetts, newspaper, Norfolk Repository, January 5, 1808. The item is on
file in the Dedham Historical Society; a copy was sent in by Electa Tritsch, the Society's
director. Tritsch is also project director of the Dedham Grant Historical Resources Sur-
vey, a research project conducted in conjunction with research for her Boston Univer-
sity dissertation. , ,
John Turner
Sculpture and Stone Cutter
Would respectfully inform the inhabitants of Dedham
and its vicinity, that he has taken a shop under the
Episcopal Church, where he proposes to carry on the
above business in all its branches and will be happy
to receive orders for the same. Those who have lost
Relatives and Friends, and would erect Monuments to
their memory, can be supplied with any kind on the
most reasonable terms, and be executed in a manner
which he trusts will be satisfactory.
The above drawing is taken from the catalog prepared
by the Quincy (Mass.) Historical Museum for its exhi-
bit, "An Extension of the Hand: Tools of the New Eng-
land Craftsman," March 1982.
White bronze markers. For a study of nineteenth-century white bronze gravemarkers,
Barbara Rotundo asks readers to note (1) the location (name of cemetery, town, state),
and (2) the type (see below) of these metal markers. If you see a signature, she would
like for you to note this, too. On your field trips, just take with you a card or small
notebook for your notes, and when you have collected several, send them to Dr. Rotundo
at 217 Seward Place, Schenectady, New York 12305. Once your eye is trained, we pre-
dict that you will find (at least, in New England) two or three in almost every cemetery
that has a collection of nineteenth-century stones. Report the type by letter:
.1 /Jit
A. Tablet B. Horizontal C. Obelisk D. Vertical base
1. Square top
2. Round top
3. Fancy top
(varied
heights)
1 . Topped w/urn
2. Topped w /figure
3. Base alone
■^ -Jr»-
E. Low block F. Other
(individual
rather than
family name)
Atlanta procedure. We are curious about the procedure being used by Historic Oak-
land, Inc., the agency which oversees the operation of Oakland Cemetery, Atlanta,
Georgia. The agency is trying to locate members of families of deceased whose graves
were damaged in a recent vandalism spree. According to a clipping from The Atlanta
Journal-Constitution sent to us by Patricia Abelard Andersen, P.O. Box 30, Frederick,
Maryland 21701, family members' permissions must be obtained before repairs can begin.
Is this a legal need or a financial one?
ACS F'82 P13
r
)illl31SM3N
Ol.fr ON Jji^Jad
a I V d
30ViSOd s n
•OyO lldOdd NON
60910 ssT?w JaiSSDJOM
Ajspos u\?!jpnb!4uv upDuatuvo/D
■suon\?D!|qnj s^v
It's free. 7'/7e Oregon Cemetery Survey has been compiled by the Oregon Department
of Transportation (121 Transportation Building, Salem, Oregon 97310, Attention Robert
W. Gorman). This survey, developed under provisions of a 1977 Oregon law, lists ev-
ery known cemetery in that state and gives for each its location (a map is provided),
the year established, its size and the approximate number of interments, and the per-
son in charge, as well as a variety of other information, it is available on request at
no charge.
Seminar topic announced. "American Speech: 1600 to the Present" is the topic for the
1983 meeting of The Dublin Seminar. Scholars and amateurs interested in historic and
regional dialects and other aspects of language development in America are invited to
submit papers to Peter Benes, 226 Lexington Road, Concord, Massachusetts 01742.
Gravestone epitaphs and probate inventories will be among the many language sources
examined. Unfortunately, the dates of this meeting conflict with those of the AGS con-
ference, but a selection of the papers presented at the Seminar will be made available
through Boston University's Program in American and New England Studies.
Educating the folk art enthusiast. Francis Duval and Ivan Rigby continue to produce,
at an astonishing rate, articles directed to persons interested in American folk art. Pub-
lished in Ohio Antique Review are two articles by this team, "While There is Still Time"
(April, 1982), and "A Neglected Legacy" (May, 1982). Profusely illustrated with ex-
cellent photographs of Ohio stones, the first article aquaints the reader with the impor-
tance of and the threats to Ohio's markers; the second outlines good conservation meas-
ures. More dramatic, though perhaps less, informative, is their photo-story, "Grave
Portraits: Early New England Gravestone Carvings," published in The Clarion, the strik-
ingly beautiful magazine published by the Museum of American Folk Art (47 West fifty-
third Street, New York, New York 10019; $4.50 per copy). A double-page spread of a
skull with imps-of-death is the most dramatically presented of the eleven fine photographs
illustrating the brief text about New England markers. A reading list is included. All
three articles mention AGS as a resource.
The border design on page 1 was taken from A Dictionary of Colonial American Printers'
Ornaments & Illustrations , by Elizabeth Carroll Reilly, published by The American Anti-
quarian Society. The 1765 original, printed in Boston, is in the Society's collection.
THE AGS NEWSLETTER is published four times a year as a service to members of The Association for Gravestone Studies.
The membership year is from June to June. Send membership fees (Regular membership, $15; Sustaining membership, $25)
to ACS Membership Secretary Carol Perkins. 1233 Cribb St., Apt 204, Toledo OH 43612. Order MARKERS, The Journaf-
of The Association for Gravestone Studies (members' price, $15; non-members' price, $25), from Betty Slater, 373 Bassettes^^
Bridge Rd. , Mansfield Center CT 06250. Address NEWSLETTER articles and correspondence to Jessie Lie Farber. editor,
ACS Publications, do The American Antiquarian Society , Worcester MA 01609. Address all other Association correspondence
to ACS Corresponding Secretary Eloise West, 199 Fisher Rd., Fitchburg MA 01420.
NEWSLETTER
OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES
Editor, Jessie Lie Farber
Volume 7 Number 1 Winter 1982/83 ISSN: 0146-5783
I I I ■ I
CONTENTS
ASSOCIATION NEWS ■
Untangling Terms, an article • . . . .
by James W. Bradley
CONSERVATION/PRESERVATION
STONECUTTERS AND THEIR WORKS. Twelfth installment
James Wilder of Lancaster, Massachusetts 17^1-1794
from a paper by Laurel Cabel and Theodore Chase
with photographs by Dan Farber
BOOK REVIEWS
Death: Grim Realities and Comic Relief • • ' •
by Christopher Clemens and Mark Smith
Review by Deanna Schultz
"With Bodilie Eyes" ' '
by David Watters
Review by Peter Benes
Early American Stone Sculpture ' '
by Avon Neal and Ann Parker
Reviews by Louis C. Jones and Rita Reif
TWO CONFERENCES • ' ' ■ • ■
RESEARCH AND WRITING
THREE EPITAPHS
1
2
2-5
5.7
I t ■ I I I
■ I I I I
■ ■■iiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
8.9
10
11
12
12-15
5.15
ASSOCIATION NEWS
Annual meeting and conference. The 1983 Conference Planning Committee reports
good response to its recent call for papers, and an excellent program is in the mak-
ing.*** The housing/dining, meeting, and exhibition facilities are compact and con-
venient, the food excellent, the setting handsome, and the area graveyards teeming
with treasures! A program announcement with a registration form will be mailed in
early April. Mark your calendar now, if you haven't already, and help make this AGS
conference and annual meeting the biggest and the best.
Dates: June 24-26, 1983
Location: Assumption College, Worcester, Massachusetts
Conference Chairman: Elizabeth Hammond
34 Old Connecticut Path
Way land, .Massachusetts 01778
*** It is not too late for your paper to be considered. Any subject of interest to the
ACS Membership is welcome, but topics dealing with Worcester County carvers, con-
servation, or epitaphs are especially encouraged. Paper length will be limited to a
firm twenty-minute delivery. Time will be made in the program for informal presen-
tations of work-in-progress and slide collections. Please submit full texts of formal
papers by April 1 to : Michael Cornish, 1U Custer Street, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130.
Addition to AGS Archives. To the collection of literature given to the archives by
Nancy Melin has been added the full text of many of the periodical articles which have
been referred to in The ACS NEWSLETTER. This material is being catalogued and
added to the index currently available.
UNTANGLING TERMS: The "Preservation" and "Conservation" James W. Bradley
of Historic Burial Grounds
The effort to protect historic burial grounds often raises issues that are both com-
plex and confusing. In part, the confusion arises from the variety of terms used to
describe what can and should be done. For example, what does it mean to "preserve,"
as opposed to "conserve," an old burial ground, and is the distinction of any importance?
In Massachusetts, these terms have fairly specific meanings which are reflected in the
Commonwealth's laws. A series of state statutes protects not only the cemeteries them-
selves, but also all gravestones, tombs, structures, fences and whatever else is intend-
ed to memorialize the dead. Most of these laws emphasize "preservation;" that is,
they are concerned primarily with protecting existing burial grounds from encroach-
ment or inappropriate use. For example. Chapter 111, section 17 prohibits a town
from appropriating "to any other use" any tract of land which has been used as a bur-
ial ground for more than one hundred years. A subsequent section of Chapter 114 em-
powers a town to "take charge" and "keep in good order" any abandoned or neglected
burial ground. In addition to insuring continuity of use, other sections of the law,
specifically Chapter 272, section 73, protect against vandalism and theft.
These laws can be viewed as "preservation" in that they seek both to protect the his-
toric setting and character of old burial grounds and to encourage community interest
and responsibility for their upkeep. In this sense, "preservation" is something in which
everyone — public or private, amateur or professional — can participate. Common pre-
servation goals and activities include:
1. Completing an Inventory: Recording the information from a gravestone, draw-
ing or photographing it, and mapping its location within the cemetery.
2. Conducting Research: This may be oriented toward the genealogical, historical
or artistic understanding of an individual stone or of an entire burial ground.
3. Improving Maintenance and Security: Working with the city or town parks de-
partment, cemetery commission, or other legally responsible body to insure
that routine grass-cutting and other maintenance do not cause damage.
4. Promoting Public Education: Explaining to the general public, school groups,
and other community organizations why historic burial grounds are important
and worth protecting.
Within the broad range of "preservation" possibilities, anyone interested in protecting
historic burial grounds can find a way to contribute.
By contrast, "conservation," a much more specialized and narrowly defined field, is
a technical science concerned with stabilizing, repairing, and restoring material ob-
jects. Extensive training is necessary to become a conservator, and considerable ex-
perience is required before one should initiate a restoration project. The repair of
gravestones in particular should not be undertaken without a conservator's advice
and assistance .
In 1973, Chapter HH8, section 272 of the Massachusetts General Laws was ammended
with a new section which set forth a procedure for the "repair or reproduction" of
gravestones under the authority of the Secretary of State. The Massachusetts His-
torical Commission, a division of the Secretary of State's office, has the responsi-
bility for reviewing these requests and issuing permits. This process insures that re-
pair and restoration work is done as the law stipulates — in a "community sponsored,
educationally oriented, and professionally directed" manner. The latter is particu-
larly important, as amateur efforts to repair broken stones, although well-intended,
usually cause more problems than they correct.
In summary, preservation and conservation are two distinct activities in the protec-
tion of old burial grounds. Massachusetts laws afford many opportunities for public
involvement in "preservation," and insure that technical repairs and other "conser-
vation" measures are conducted with professional expertise. For a balanced, effec-
tive program of burial ground protection, both approaches are essential.
James W. Bradley is Survey Director, Massachusetts Historical Commission. Direct
questions concerning conservation to him at the Commission's offices, 294 Washing-
ton Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02108.
AGS W '82/'83 P2
Conservation /TpvesewatioYij, continued
Neglect, vandalism, legislation. As. a result of unspeakably ghoulish vandalism in
neglected Mt. Prospect Cemetery, Neptune, New Jersey, Assemblyman Anthony M.
Villane, Jr., is introducing legislation that will make a crime of this magnitude tri-
able as an adult crime of the fourth degree and allowing release of the names of the
juvenile violators. Citizens of Neptune are outraged to learn that present New Jer-
sey legislation deals with cemetery vandalism as little more than malicious mischief.
Perpetual care funds for the upkeep of Mt. Prospect Cemetery, paid into by the ori-
ginal investors, have long been exhausted, so that the financially strapped cemetery
is in a deplorable physical condition, inviting repeated attacks of vandalism.
Asbury Park Press, January 18, 19, 20. Courtesy Robert Van Benthuysen.
Coffin-marker. The cast-iron coffin of a seven month infant (d. 1849) was found by
Girl Scouts cleaning the overgrown yard of the Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Ox-
ford, Scott County, Kentucky. Beautifully decorated with fruit and foliage in high
relief, the coffin has been left as it was found — and as some say it was originally placed —
its handsome top showing about six inches above ground level. Courtesy Laurel Cabel.
Perpetual trust. Citizens of Wadesboro, North Carolina, have organized the Eastview
Perpetual Trust in an effort to provide continuous maintenance of Eastview Cemetery,
the burial site of many of Wadesboro's founding fathers and "an historical and artistic
treasure." Previously, each family was responsible for its lot, and when "they can't
or won't maintain their lots, the weeds and trash build up." The cemetery is almost
200 years old; the oldest legible stone is dated 1802. Among markers needing restora-
tion is "a rare 'hogback' tomb of medieval design" similar to the Tennessee Comb graves
illustrated in the Summer, 1982, AGS NEWSLETTER, page 9. Courtesy Dan McCurry.
Public maintenance wanted. Salvatore J. Boccio has led residents of the Ozone Park
section of Queens Borough, New York City, in a ten-year fight to get official recog-
nition, refurbishing, public maintenance, and a small placque for a 300 year old Dutch
family burying ground. Hidden among the garbage and weeds and almost lost to view
(at Redding Street and 149th Avenue) are six tombstones for prominent early families.
New York Times, October 3, 1982. Courtesy Francis Duval.
Gigantic restoration. Indonesia's Borobudur ("temple on the hill"), the world's largest
Buddhist monument, has been rescued from decades of neglect. The 1200 year old ar-
chitectural jewel was abandoned in 1006, and for eight centuries it has been overgrown
by tropical vegetation and damaged by tremors, monsoon rains, and poor drainage. Algae,
fungi, and lichens were eating away at the porous gray-brown volcanic stone, which was
carved with two miles of bas-reliefs. To arrest the "stone cancer," UNESCO and twenty-
eight contributing nations and corporations, in a decade of work costing twenty-five
million dollars, have, with the help of a computer, removed, catalogued, then cleaned
and chemically treated and replaced 1,300,232 stones. The structure is engineered to
last another 1000 years and is expected to attract several million visitors a year to the
site, thirty miles from Jogjakarta, Java. Anyone interested in stone conservation ap-
plauds this feat, which, by comparison, reduces the enormity of conserving eroding,
lichen-covered gravestones. It also introduces questions: Who are the stone conser-
vators who mastermined this work? What cleaning and treating procedures were used?
Are any of the procedures applicable to use on slate, marble, granite, schist?
Borobudur story from Time Magazine, February, 1983, page 76.
Salute. In addition to innumerable other historically-oriented projects that she has con-
ducted for the town of Cromwell, Connecticut, Elizabeth Maselli singlehandedly restored
the town's old (established 1712/13) burying ground. Completing this work in time for
a rededication ceremony in 1976, Maselli, an eighty-four year old widow, not only map-
ped the yard pinpointing 995 graves, photographed most of the headstones, and made
rubbings of about twenty; she also got money from the Veteran's Administration to mark
the graves of Revolutionary and Civil War veterans whose headstones had disappeared.
The town now maintains the graveyard; it also allows Mrs. Maselli $1000 from the town's
annual revenue-sharing funds for major repairs and improvements. She writes, "It is
an endless problem to find anyone who knows how to preserve these brownstones. We
thought we had an expert, but now we are told we shouldn't have sprayed them with
silicone...! wish I could drive and attend the AGS conferences. With age come adjust-
ments." From the Hartford Courant; also from a personal letter to Francis Duval.
Cemetery sale. According to an article in the November 14, 1982, New York Times,
New York City wants to sell 100 year old Canarsie Cemetery in Brooklvn and get out
of the business of running a cemetery. To clear title to the land, the city is tracing
the survivors of the purchasers of plots that were never occupied. The buyer will
have to use the property as a cemetery.
Community involvement invited. Edwin Casey, manager of Trinity Churchyard, New
York City, has organized a cemetery improvement project. Seventy-five people res-
ponded to his call for volunteers to turn the site to horticultural use, using materials
bought from a fund supplied by the church. Walking tours and other community ac-
tivities are being scheduled in the park-like setting.
AGS W '82/'83 P3
Collectible!
GRAVESTONES
Newspaper item:
One might think that we were putting you on,
writing about gravestone collecting, but put your
fears to rest, it just confirms that almost every-
thing is collected. Not too many years ago, re-
storers of old homes decided that it would be pro-
per to create a typical family cemetery plot as this
was a fixture on early properties.
The family burial plot was just as much a part
of the homestead as the house and barn, so for
restoration it was only proper to make the restora-
tion as authentic as possible.
During the days of the construction of the
interstate highways, many cemeteries were dis-
turbed and headstones reached the black market
to satisfy the needs of decorators. In the 1950's
I owned properties which boasted 18 headstones
dating back to the early 19th century, and I was
offered $15 apiece and they would take them out.
Not wanting to disturb the spirits of the de-
ceased, we mode sure they were not touched, but
one wonders how many reached the black market
as a result of such offers.
Once in a while there is a report of a ceme-
tery being vandalized for them. And again, while
hunting grouse over the years, we have come up-
on many abandoned plots way out in the woods,
where stones could be dug at will, with none
being the wiser. So, the supply of stones has
been constant if not plentiful.
I am told that those with age are favored,
as well as those with the best carving and most
original epitaphs. Most consider this not to be
a good antique shop item, but I have seen them
from time to time at auctions in New Hampshire
and Maine. This is one step beyond the collect-
ing of rubbings.
From a syndi-cated feature, "Antiques and Ameriaana, "
by George Michael, P.O. Box 776, Merrimack, NH 0S054.
It Was printed in The Long Island Heritage , February
1983, page 25. Other collectibles described in the
article are Utopian Furniture, Lacy Glass, and Old
Bibles. Two photographs illustrated the piece, one
of a chair and one of a gravestone.
Response:
Mr. Tim O'Brien, Editor
Long Island Heritage
29 Continental Place
Glen Cove, N. Y. 11542
February 8, 1983
Dear Editor,
Let me assure you that anyone found removing a gravestone from any
of our seventy historic cemeteries in Huntington will be prosecuted to the
full extent of the law. This office has a list of every tombstone in each of
the seventy historic cemeteries and is in the process of distributing this
list to antique dealers in the Northeast.
We are also asking the state of New York to increase the penalty for
the theft of historic gravestones. Besides a heavy fine, we are asking for
a five-year jail sentence.
We are unhappy about the article on gravestone collecting in your Feb-
ruary issue since it was not clearly established that this practice is both
immoral and illegal. "Most consider this not a good antique item" (the under-
statement of the year).
If I am informed that anyone on Long Island is selling an antique
gravestone, I will personally start legal proceedings against that person.
"This is one step beyond the collecting of rubbings" and, hopefully, the
step is through the jailhouse door.
Sincerely yours.
Signed Rufus B. Langhans
Office of the Town Historian
228 Main Street
Huntington, N. Y. 11743
ACS W '82/'83 PH
Conservation/preservation continued
Two letters. Recently we received two letters we want to share because the writers
express so well some of ACS's concerns, and because their thinking is at the same
time fresh and innovative.
Peter McCarthy, General Manager of Almont Memorials in Pueblo, Colorado, is a
fifth generation member of his family memorial business. He asks why we do not
mention monument people as a source of help in our restoration projects. He points
out that there are experts in every community who could assist us and adds, "I would
rest easier at night if I knew the restoration of a cemetery or burial ground were in
the hands of one who made that his livelihood rather than a well-intentioned but inex-
perienced citizen... If your organization [Mr. McCarthy is a member of AGS, but we
think he does not feel it is his organization] is indeed interested in the continuing
study of gravestones, you would be well advised to talk to a man or woman who has
made this fascinating and wonderful field their livelihood. While it may very well be
appropriate for these older headstones to be the focus of your work, it is not ap-
propriate for these older headstones to be the entirety of your work." He advises
us to solicit the membership of Monument Builders of North America (MBNA), and we
are going to take his advice.
The other letter is from Casimer Michalezyk, a sculptor with degrees from the Rhode
Island School of Design and Yale (BFA). He writes: "I am very interested in the
preservation of early New England memorial stones, and since I am a sculptor, spe-
cializing in carving lettering and ornament in slate, 1 am very interested in dupli-
cating as well as restoring those old stones. . .Colonial furniture and paintings of the
same age as the old stones are cherished in museums, but the stones are left to the
weather and to vandals. My training in carving was received in the '30's from John
Howard Benson of Newport, at the old John Stevens Shop. To my knowledge I am
the only person in Connecticut specializing in hand-cut lettering and ornament as
well as portraiture using the old method of mallet and chisel. If you have any know-
ledge of anyone in Massachusetts doing this, 1 would like to know of it. He adds
that he has worked as an industrial sculptor for Pratt & Whitney and is familiar with
molds, and methods and techniques applicable to preserving and making replicas of
the most valuable and historically important early stones, and he asks about pend-
ing protective legislation "that might encourage us here in Connecticut."
Both writers asked for printed material they could pass on to interested parties.
Their addresses : Mr. Peter McCarthy Mr. Casimer Michalezyk
Almont Memorials 2095 Main Street
201 Santa Fe Drive Glastonbury, Connecticut 06033
Pueblo, Colorado 81006
Surface mining is a threat to old gravemarkers. Catherine H. Yates has carefully in-
vestigated the many facets of this threat and has sent an excellent file of information
identifying the problem and suggesting protective action. Basic recommendations:
1. Locate and document cemeteries, especially lands known to be underlain by
minerals. Mining is prohibited closer than 100 feet to a cemetery, and the Of-
fice of Surface Mining (OSM) reports the existence of cemeteries on land to be
mined. However, scatterings of markers in old, neglected yards have been
known to simply disappear.
2. Send documented data to OSM. Yates gives some specific requirements.
3. Protest the proposed change in protective legislation, which changes the defi-
nition of a cemetery to exclude individual burial sites and family plots. Yates
gives names and addresses of persons to write, also sample letters.
The Yates file is being studied by AGS legal adviser Theodore Chase and will be placed
in the AGS archives. New England Historic and Genealogical Society, Boston. To get
specific, detailed, useful help for protecting stones threatened by surface mining, con-
sult this file and/or write Catherine H. Yates, 303 Mercedes Drive, Norman, Oklahoma
73069, and/or Theodore Chase, 74 Farm Road, Dover, Massachusetts 02030.
Sacred to the Memory
of
J A RED BATES
Who died Aug the 6th 1800
His widow J aged 24, lives at
7 Elm Street, has every
qualification for a good wife,
and yearns to be comforted .
Lincoln, Maine. From a collection of epitaphs
in the Lowell (Massachusetts) Historical Society
Courtesy Elizabeth Durfee Hengen.
The grave hath eloquence.
Its lectures teach in silence
Louder than Devines can preach.
Hear what it says.
From the stone for Nancy Lamson,
1800, Charlestown, Massachusetts.
Courtesy Dan Farber.
STONECUTTERS AND THEIR WORKS
Twelfth of a Series
Abraham Moor, 1773, Bolton, Massachusetts
JAMES WILDER OF LANCASTER, MASSACHUSETTS 1741-1794
From material supplied by Laurel Cabel and Theodore Chase
A seven-month study of gravestones in forty-one central Massachusetts towns has
confirmed the identity of James Wilder as the cutter of a small body of handsomely
carved, often striking markers in the Lancaster-Sterling area. Tlie attributions
are derived from a search through probate records for 250 names of deceased whose
graves are marked by this cutter's stones. The search turned up fifty recorded
accounts of administration, only nine of which show payment to any known stone-
cutter. Those nine were all to James Wilder, in amounts appropriate to cover the
cost of gravestones.
James Wilder's work spans just over three decades, the most productive of which
was the 1770's, during which he produced close to 100 stones. He used a dark,
iron-stained slate from a quarry near his home, a material which has held up well.
In most of his tympanums he carved bold faces with detailed hair and open, staring
eyes. His designs are of four types (page 7): First were skulls, conventional but well
executed. Second, a youngish face with tightly-wound curls. The third style is a
longer, more stylized face with ringlets at the sides and straight hair on the top or
the head. The fourth style is an older face with a straight, rolled-back wig, a more
bulbous nose, and a rather stern expression. Characteristic elements are his use
of a double-eight knot as a filler, a six-petal flower in the shoulder finial, and some
distinctive letters and numerals, e.g., his 7's, 5's, and g's. Wilder's inscriptions
are professional, literate, and cleanly cut. He used an unusually varied combination
of upper and lower case Italic and Roman lettering styles. Wilder's work has simi-
larities to that of the Fisher/Farrington school (whose faces were more round and
were cut on a different slate), and to the work of William Codner, in whose Boston
shop Wilder may have apprenticed. Though one would not rank Wilder as one of New
England's leading cutters from the point of view of innovative style or quantity of
work produced, one respects the strong, clean work of this fine craftsman.
Wilder was a member of a large, and well-to-do family. He had eight children by his
wife, Jemima Johnson, and an illegitimate son by a distant cousin, March Wilder (who
sued him for support and got it). It is fairly certain that he served in the Revolu-
tion. While he did not achieve the prominence of some other members of his family,
he did serve his community in various capacities, including the boarding of indigents,
or town wards. He was a devoted Mason, serving as Lodge Secretary from 1785 through
1793. He is described in the Masonic records as quiet in manner, retiring in dispo-
sition, not ambitious, "nor endowed with those facilities through the exercise of which
money is added to the purse." Records written in his hand are preserved in the
Grand Lodge of Masons in Boston; his concise minutes are the work of an educated
man. Although he inherited considerable wealth from his father in 1780, it was about
this time that misfortune began to overtake him in the form of poor health, the deaths
of two sons, and a fire. His gravestone production dropped markedly. He died of
consumption in 1794 at fifty-three, insolvent. His fellow lodge members attended his
funeral "in regular procession" and voted "that the expense of attending Br Wilder's
funeral be discharged from the funds of the Lodge." He was buried within walking
distance of his house. His grave has not been found. ^ ^. ,
Cont%nuea next page
AGS W '82/'83 P6
THE CARVING DESIGNS OF JAMES WILDER
Photographs by Dan Farber
Style 7; Skull with circle eyes, down-
turned mouth, (not illustrated)
Style 2: Round, youthful face, with
tightly wound curls, purser!
mouth.
IJciC 1 1 itCITCCl, i]^
/;7"-.(S A', /(,/■;. m
uiiiKiK-'M^irc^
7 6)_in f oi'^yhirl
^^
<k ' 'iJlfc ■
Sfy/e 3: Jennet Crage, 1776, Princeton
Style 3: Combination design. Longer
face with hair straight-combed
on top, upswung eyebrows.
Style U: Older face. Straight, rolled-
back wig, stern expression.
Sfy/e 2; Julia Whitney, 1772, Northboro
Style 4: Mary Martyn, 1775, Northboro
Many fine Wilder stones will be seen on the graveyard tour sponsored by the ACS
conference to be held June 24-26, 1983, in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Theodore Chase is a Boston attorney; Laurel Gabel is a Wellesley, Massachusetts,
genealogist. Chase and Gabel, who introduced their research findings on James
Wilder at the 1982 ACS conference, have now completed a full report on this cutter,
to be published in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. The paper
is presently available in the ACS archives housed in the NEHCS library.
Couple Files Lawsuit
After Grave Discovery
When Charles and Sharon John-
son, Newport, Ark., learned that
their home had been built atop a
graveyard, they hauled the builder
and subdivider into Jackson County
Circuit Court in the hope of winning
$35,000 for the loss of value of their
home, $500,000 for mental anguish,
and $500,000 in punitive damages.
Mr. Johnson discovered the first
grave last summer while putting up a
fence in the backyard. The family
moved out of the house about a week
later. They later found four more
graves, all dating from the late
1800s.
The Johnsons' suit charges that the
subdivider intentionally obliterated
and hid the gravestones to "fraudu-
lently disguise the true character of
the land."
The couple purchased the home
through a Farmers Home Admin-
istration loan. The agency intends to
foreclose on the loan because the
Johnsons stopped making house pay-
ments last June on their attorney's
advice.
' ' I don ' t think they can foreclose , ' '
attorney Larry Hartsfield said.
The American Cemetery for February, 1983
AGS W 'SZ/'SS P7
gwaci^
BOOK REVIEWS
DEATH: Grim Realities and Comic Relief
By Christopher Clemens and Mark Smith
Profusely illustrated with black and white photographs,
drawings, and old prints. 189 pages.
New York: Delacorte Press. Softbound, $12.95.
Review by Deanna Schultz
For $40,000 John Dilks of English Creek, New Jersey, can provide you with a talking
tombstone. The invention of this computer expert, alert for new applications for com-
puter technology, would enable visitors to your gravesite to see your face on a video
screen (placed behind protective bullet-proof glass) and hear your recorded voice tell-
ing them whatever you wished to have them know about you and your life. The com-
puter brain of this stainless steel marker is powered by electricity from a solar collec-
tor with back-up generators activated by a proximity detector capable of picking up
ultrasonic waves produced by the approach of a visitor to the grave. Besides provid-
ing your picture and voice, the gadgetry would enable the tombstone to collect rain
water and sprinkle the grass around your grave during the dry seasons. Mr. Dilks
and his "tombstone team" at Creative Tombstones, Incorporated, feel that such a "talk-
ing, visual, responsive memorial might be far more effective than a statue or... any
hitherto existing type of memorial."
On the other hand, for slightly more than $50,000 Trans Time, Incorporated, in Berke-
ley, California, offers to eliminate the need for a gravemarker altogether through the
use of solid state hypothermia — freezing your body after death in the hope of a success-
ful thaw-out when medical science has a cure for whatever did you in.
If neither of these ideas appeals to you, you might be interested to learn how to write
a personalized obituary or a will, what kind of person studies to be a mortician, how
an autopsy is performed, where to obtain blueprints for building your own casket, and
interesting bits of trivia such as how a 1907 team of Boston physicians concluded that
the soul weighs between a half-ounce and an ounce. (They weighed dying persons be-
fore and after death.)
All this and much more is available to you in Christopher Clemens' and Mark Smith's
new book. Death: Grim Realities and Comic Relief. Although the title refers to reali-
ties, and the authors provide considerable factual information, including a wealth of
names and addresses, this reviewer suspects the book is not meant to be taken too
seriously. There is, for instance, no index, bibliography, or footnoting. The strik-
ing Madison-Avenue-pop-art page format, a mixture of black borders, putti, and a
text laid out in oversized newspaper-like columns (very readable), is consistent with
the book's overall irreverent approach.
This extremely eclectic book is divided into six chapters. The first includes articles
on the topic of honoring the dead, and among other things, the reader is introduced
to Jules Maitland, who will write a eulogy for your loved one after interviews with fam-
ily members and friends, evidently a marketable service. Chapter Two is devoted to
death in industry, treating subjects such as equipment for funeral directors, grave-
digging, transportation of bodies, and embalming. Chapter Three discusses various
methods of disposing of the dead, from cremation and air or sea burial to donation of
body and body parts to medical groups. Memorial societies aimed at beating the high
cost of traditional services are discussed in a relaxed, informal interview with Jessica
Mitford, who virtually invented the consumer movement in 1963 with her controversial
book. The American Way of Death. Chapter five covers the psychological aspects of
counseling the dying and providing hospice services as an option to spending one's
last days in a traditional hospital setting. In Chapter Six, "Contemplating Death,"
the reader is provided with a list of over 150 euphemisms for death in case he/she
wishes to avoid referring to the topic directly. Other sections of the chapter discuss
reincarnation, death education courses, death in the movies, and psychic studies. An
international pot pourri of death-related tourist attractions begins with an intriguing
description and a dramatic photograph of the granite quarries in Barre, Vermont.
"The highlight of any visit to Barre is its cemeteries," we are told, where one can see
the varied and handsome monuments that the town's artisans have, over the years,
created for themselves. Descendents of the original Italian sculptors are still working
in studios sprinkled about this town of 10,000. The best known of other tourist attrac-
tions discussed in this section are Lenin's Tomb, Cairo's City of the Dead, Green-Wood
Cemetery in Brooklyn, Boot Hill in Tombstone, Arizona, Pere Lachaise in Paris, and,
of course. Grant's Tomb. The book ends with a short presentation of how we might be
handling death in our culture in the year 2000.
Chapter Four, "Memorializing the Dead," is the one which has the most relevancy to
gravestone studies. One and a half pages, which include a photograph of toppled and
AGS W '82/'83 P8
Clemens / Smith review, continued
eroding gravestones, are devoted to ACS under the caption, "Save the Gravestones!"
Departing from their flippant (though good humored) approach, the authors present a
brief statement of the need to preserve gravestones and AGS' s efforts to educate the
public to view the stones as works of art and as research sources for information about
early American life. They mention the Association's desire to establish a permanent
center for gravestone studies and its growth since 1977. Features of AGS conferences
are enumerated, AGS publications are described with their prices given, and the basic
information concerning membership is presented in a straightforward and positive way.
Jessie Lie Farber is briefly quoted. The only laugh the authors went for in this sec-
tion is one we can share: "They manage to maintain a sense of humor about their acti-
vities. The Association's bumper sticker reads, 'I Brake for Old Graveyards.'" [edi-
tor's note: Available for $1.50 from Eloise West, 199 Fisher Road, Fitchburg, Mass.]
Also in Chapter Four, the reader will find twenty-three pages and seventeen illustra-
tions devoted to such diverse subjects as pet cemeteries ("Move Over, Rover"), infor-
mation on obtaining maps for locating graves of movie stars ("Take a Right at Betty
Grable"), mail order tombstones, the previously mentioned computerized tombstone,
and pieces about John Cashman ("The Cemetery Cop"), who collects photographs of
the markers of celebrities, and Cecily Barth Firestein ("The Cemetery Lady"), author
of Rubbing Craft. Despite its heading and a pun about a pet project, the treatment of
pet cemeteries and their operation is very respectful, the procedures seeming somewhat
more sensible and less exaggerated than many of those for humans. The section on mail
order markers will interest ACS members who are studying white bronze markers. As
late as 1947 Sears Roebuck and Company was advertising a selection of 100 marble and
granite and bronze markers at prices starting at $52.50, including delivery to the site,
plus cost of engraving. Local retailers were not uncreative in their retaliation, we
learn from a published poetic ditty attributed to them. In the words of a ghost:
That gravestone you gave me is really a sin;
It's painted like marble, but it is only tin;
O why did you send off to Searsbuck and Rose
For a slab for your granny, who'd turned up her toes?
One is interested to learn that John Cashman, who showed his slides at an ACS con-
ference, is still adding to his remarkable collection; and dismayed by Cecily Firestein's
views concerning not only the art of rubbing ("As an artist, I just don't think it's all
that original. . .Anybody can make an instant masterpiece.") but also of the carvings
themselves ("They all look like they have the mumps") and her students ("It's hard to
believe that all these crazy people will follow me around.") The rather lengthy treat-
ment of Firestein is disparaging, but it appears that this treatment is more her doing
than the authors'. This reviewer would have preferred to read more about artists
who, like Ann and Avon Neal or do Kirby, value gravestone art and have more res-
pect for their work than Firestein apparently does.
Is it a good book? Yes, for a general overview of the varied nature of death and dying
in United States culture; no, for serious research, except as a good source of sources.
Would most people want it in their personal library 1 I doubt it. Would a teacher want
it in the school libraryl Perhaps. Is it Fun to read? Yes, depending upon one's sense
of humor. Is it informative! Sure. Where else would any of us have learned that in
1926 in Spain there were burials in which the interred were supplied with telephones
connected to an external alarm for alerting cemetery attendants in case the burial was
premature? Is it the kind of book someone would give a friendl Certainly, if the friend
were a student at Boston's New England Institute of Anatomy, Sanitary Science, and
Embalming — oi — an active, card-carrying member of the Association for Gravestons Studies.
Deanna Schultz is a member of the psychology faculty, Ventura (California) Community
College. She teaches the course, "Death and Dying. "
AGS W '82/'83 P9
WITH BODILIE EYES: Eschatological Themes in Puritan Literature and Gravestone Art
By David H. Walters
Illustrated with 64 black and white photographs and old prints. 255 pages.
Ann Arbor: UMI Research Press, 1981. Hardcover, $35.
Review by Peter Benes
David Watters' book on Puritan New England literature and gravestone art culminates
a decade-long study by this scholar and represents a carefully prepared statement.
Viewed from the perspective of gravestone studies, the book addresses a point that
has never really been in doubt, but which can be easily overlooked in the discussions
and disputations about carver attributions, quarry sources, serifs, regional styles,
and baroque or neo-classical characteristics. This point is that Puritan gravestones,
like Puritan sermons and poetry, transmit the basic Christian teaching that resurrec-
tion comes after death and through the mediation of Christ, son of God. Watters takes
his title from a phrase that recurs in the sermons of the Boston minister Increase
Mather (1639-1723), who pointed out to his hearers that after the Resurrection, human
beings would see the beauty of Christ with "bodilie eyes" (that is, with human eyes)
and be confirmed in the Christian promise of re-uniting God with man. Therein lies
the point of the title: living in daily anticipation of the moment of resurrection. New
England Puritans (and by association New England gravestone carvers) privately
sensed, saw, heard, felt, and thought images of "bodilie" human beings assuming
saintly form. (Those familiar with Allan Ludwig's "realized eschatology" thesis will
find something familiar in Watters' argument.) According to Watters, then, the key
to understanding the emblemism, symbolism, and overall purpose of New England stone-
carving motifs lies in this private "world" of anticipatory images.
The approach has much promise. Advancing the premise that New England congrega-
tions understood the sermons delivered to them by their clergy, Watters sets out to
prove that the imagination of carvers and their everyday patrons teemed with visual
religious metaphors whose counterparts can be read in the literature of the educated
leaders. Stars, suns, heavenly spheres, peacocks, birds, hearts, pillars, temples,
fruits, trees, grapes, crowns, and flowers are just some of the larger allegorical vo-
cabulary of a common Christian message. At one point in the book we even approach
an understanding of the naivete that seems always to accompany the facial images that
appear on the stones: page 42 quotes the seventeenth-century English religious tract
writer Robert Bolton, who hypothesized that a resurrected saint had an
Amiableness of colour; a pleasing mixture of those two lively colours,
of white and red. . .a cheerful, lively, lightsome aspect. . .actuated by
a lively quickness and modest merriness of countenance.
Surely this is as close as any writer has come to describing the intent of Samuel Dwight's
afterlife carvings in southern Vermont. As we read further, however, the book be-
comes increasingly involved in the layrinthian issues, claims, and counter-claims of
current academic interpretations of Puritan religious thinking, and increasingly neg-
lects to make any real effort to put gravestone art closer to our understanding. To
cite one example: Watters devotes two or more chapters to the sermonic literature of
Increase Mather and his son Cotton as leading exponents of Puritan eschatological
themes. But the author neglects to point out to the reader that three generations of
Mather ministers and presumably their families were buried at the Copp's Hill burying
ground within a tomb that had no carved images and artwork, eschatological or other-
wise. More disconcerting, at least to the seasoned student of New England burying
ground art, is the lack of any attempt to introduce systematic method in the analysis
of gravestone motifs and other decorative-art themes. With the publication of the
Slater-Tucker-Farber study of John Hartshorne, which developed a model approach
to the study of motifs, impressionistic reactions are no longer appropriate for icono-
graphic studies. At various points in his argument, Watters imputes the existance
of three spheres of heavens on a Sikes stone, fruitful womanhood on Hadley chest
carvings, and giantesque Cyclopean eyes on a geometric stone by Wheeler. Unsup-
ported as they are by corroborating, systematically-culled evidence, these imputa-
tions are unjustified. The author, in short, uses gravestones much as David Stannard
does in his recent study of Puritan attitudes toward death, as a leitmotif or means of
"illustrating" a book about Puritan sermons and literature.
At times Watters borrows so heavily from the language of his sources that he obscures
communication. Readers may be familiar with terms such as "eschatological" (pertain-
ing to final things) or "exegetical" (interpretive), but terms such as "incarnation-
alism," "mediacy," "iconolatry," "christological," and "postmilienialism," are exclu-
sively the language of English and New England ecclesiastical history specialists.
Because of its unrelenting academic tone, too few readers will devote the time and
effort necessary to understand and appreciate its argument. This is a loss, for Watters
has selected some of the most pertinent and revealing passages of Puritan sermonic
and creative literature and made a determined effort to link these passages to the
images we so admire on Puritan stones.
Peter Benes, Director of the Dublin Seminar for New England Folklife, is author of
The Masks of Orthodoxy.
EARLY AMERICAN STONE SCULPTURE Found in the Burying Grounds of New England
By Avon Meal and Ann Parker
New York: Sweetwater Editions, 1982. Leatherbound and boxed. Printed in
editions of 175 and 300 differing in binding and in the number of
original prints included. $650 and $395.
Review by Louis C. Jones
For more than two decades the Parker/Nea! team has been researching and re-
cording our earliest sculptural tradition. Their early portfolios and manifold arti-
cles did more than anything else to make a large public aware of the riches of the
early graveyard. Whatever they did had the stamp of quality, whether it was
Parker's photographs and rubbings or Neal's research and writing. Now they've
done it again.
Their new publication is an exquisite, oversize (11" x 16") volume. Forty-two
stones have been selected for a thorough treatment, both verbal and visual. The
layout, by David Miller, includes a sharp, clear photograph of each gravestone, a
transcription of the epitaph, and a text which describes the stone's ambience and
gives information about its carvers. On the facing page is a fine print of the original
sepia rubbing from a detail of the stone's decorative elements.
The Preface and Introduction trace the Parker/Neal role in the growing awareness
of this area of American folk art and then offer a succinct and comprehensive sur-
vey of seventeenth-and eighteenth-century New England stonecarving. By placing
strong emphasis on the carvers and their backgrounds, the authors have contributed
to the growing movement which has been raising the curtain of anonymity that once
hid our early folk artists.
In every sense of the word, this is a beautiful book, and the libraries, the mus-
eums, and the private collectors who are purchasing it are adding to their collections
a remarkable work of art and scholarship.
Louis C. Jones is Divectov Emeritus, New Yovli State Historical Association, Coopers-
town, New York.
Early American Stone Sculpture was reviewed by Rita Reif in the January 9, 1983,
New York Times under the heading, "Antiques View: Books to Stimulate the Mind
and Eye." Reif comments that books on antiques whose words and pictures do jus-
tice to the subject matter "are as rare as a Sung vase" and that the Neals' book is
outstanding in this regard. She writes that "The graphics are exceptional .. .and. . .
the texts and captions are well honed, stating only what is necessary to satisfy the
most demanding readers." Other excerpts from Reif's review: "It is also one of the
costliest books ever published in the antiques field [but] however indecent high
prices may seem, especially in a time of deepening recession, it must be pointed out
that these editions are not overpriced. Nor is it inappropriate to publish a splendid
book on what seems to be an esoteric subject. First of all, the book is an art work
and should be regarded as such. Second, the volume of 18th-century gravestones
shown in rubbings executed jointly by the husband and wife team, and in photographs
by Miss Parker, and sensitively explained in Mr. Neal's lucid text, brings this native
American art form to a larger audience than would be possible. Cemeteries, after all,
cannot be packaged in traveling shows. Furthermore, the authors explain, overex-
posure over the centuries to the elements is slowly erasing the chiseled images and
lettering on these gravestones, impressions offering some insight into 18th-century
American views of life and death not found in other art forms. The rubbings, there-
fore, may one day be the only record of their existence. . .Starkly wrought figures
stare wide-eyed at the world, awesome in their intensity. Many appear to be rooted
in earlier sources, in Romanesque art, in Gothic and 17th-century sculpture. . .The
spareness of the native portraits of men and beasts, framed in some cases by an ico-
nography of 18th-century symbols, is bound to linger in the mind... If the art form
found in the burying grounds of New England is for the ages, so is this joyous document."
For additional details about this book, see The ACS NEWSLETTER, Fall 1981, page
8. A copy of the deluxe edition, a gift of the authors, is available for study in
the AGS archives at the New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston.
ACS W '82/'83 P11
TWO CONFERENCES
Milestone for gravestones. The Connecticut Historical Society is planning a 198U con-
ference/workshop to explore graveyard conservation and preservation. According to
Peter Malia, managing editor of the Society's publications, the areas being considered
for study are restoration and maintenance techniques, legal protection, and documen-
tation. The projected outcome of the meeting is the development and publicizing of re-
commendations in each of these areas. Readers with ideas for the program should com-
municate with Mr. Malia at the Society: 1 Elizabeth Street, Hartford, 06105. This event
promises to be of tremendous importance to everyone concerned with gravestone con-
servation and preservation. We urge your support.
Call for papers in Ontario. A two-day workshop, "Cemeteries as an -Historic and Cul-
tural Resource," is being jointly sponsored by the Ontario Historical Society and the
Grenville County Historical Society, May 6 and 7, 1983, in Prescott, Ontario.
The purpose of the workshop is to develop public awareness of the historic and
artistic importance of cemeteries and cemetery markers, and to share information on
topics such as the recording of cemeteries and gravemarkers, the preservation of ceme-
teries, and cemeteries as a heritage resource.
Persons who would like to make a ten to fifteen minute presentation are invited to
contact the Executive Director of the Ontario Historical Society. Participants will in-
clude members of historical societies, genealogical groups, museum organizations, heri-
tage groups, and other interested people. For further information about the workshop,
write the Ontario Historical Society, Room 207, 78 Dunloe Road, Toronto, Ontario MSP 2T6,
Canada; or telephone (416) 486-1232.
A cordial letter from David L. Newlands, the workshop director, tells us that
ACS board member Deborah Trask will be the keynote speaker; that Prescott, the con-
ference site, is in eastern Ontario on the north shore of the St. Lawrence not far from
the border crossing at Ogdensburg, New York; that accommodations are moderately
priced and in Canadian dollars; and that AGS members will receive a very warm welcome.
We applaud this fine project and encourage ACS participation.
RESEARCH AND WRITING
Graves of the famous. A vendor of discounted books (Publishers Central Bureau,
Department 205, One Champion Avenue, Avenel, New Jersey 07001) lists How Did They
Die? by Norman and Betty Donaldson. It contains 416 pages of "the last days, words,
afflictions and resting places (Italics ours) of 300 notables throughout history..."
Published at $12.95, the book is advertised at $5.98; order # 403021.
Markers displaying photographs. For his research concerning the social uses of photo-
graphy. Jay Ruby, Anthropology Department, Temple University (Philadelphia 19122)
seeks examples of tombstones from 1850-1983 which use photographs of the deceased.
NHOCA research project. The New Hampshire Old Graveyard Association has organ-
ized a committee to investigate the possibility of computer storage of the graveyard
data it is collecting. Chairman is Carlton R. Vance, who is also the Association's Cor-
responding Secretary and newsletter ("Rubbings") editor. According to an article in
the New Hampshire Historical Society Newsletter, the Society's graveyard collection,
accumulated since the turn of the century, will be copied by NOHGA. The NOHGA
collection effort is being addressed first to pre- 1900 cemeteries and stones. NOHGA
estimates that there are 7000 graveyards and one-half million gravesites in the state.
Thus far, the Association has collected information on 2000 graveyards.
Good information. Compiled to assist the local historian and genealogist in researching
Connecticut's past. The Connecticut Researcher's Handbook , edited by Thomas J. Kemp,
lists the name, address, and telephone number of every cemetery, genealogical society,
library, newspaper, probate court, and town clerk in the state. It brings together the
largest and most complete bibliography of articles, books, dissertations, microfilmed
records, and original records held in libraries and archives ever prepared for the state
of Connecticut. Published by Gale Research Company, 1981. Courtesy, "Rubbings."
AGS W '82/'83 P12
Research and Writing , continued
Long Island yards and carvers. Richard Welch continues to help Long Islanders ap-
preciate and protect "Long Island's most important, visible and accessible historical
treasures." QC: The Magazine of Queens County . December, 1982, published Welch's
article about eight Queens County graveyards, giving for each its location, some his-
torical background, a description of its most interesting stones, and a report of the
present condition of the stones and the site. We hesitate to mention the title the mag-
azine gave the article because Welch doesn't like it and we see his point; but for the
record, it is "The Great Gravestone Hunt." Welch's illustrations show handsome carv-
ings by Zurricher, the "Pencil Sketch Man," and other unidentified cutters. Another
article by Welch, "Careers in Stone: Ithuel and Phineas Hill, " was published in the
January, 1983, Long Island Forum. The piece introduces the brothers Hill, members
of a family of stonecutters which appeared on the Island, Ithuel in 1789 and Phineas
in 1820. They carved in white marble and often signed their work. The article quotes
an 1800 ad from the Danbury, Connecticut, Farmer's Journal in which Phineas states
that he has "on hand a large assortment of GRAVESTONES which will be lettered for
any person on shortest notice," confirming the practice of carving a supply of markers.
Because most of Long Island's stones were imported, it is interesting to see examples
of work produced on the Island — some lovely Gabriels and stylized portraits.
A student of slate. Judy Buswick of Chelmsford, Massachusetts, is writing a book
about slate, its varieties, where it is found, who uses it, how and why. Her research
has led to her interest in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century New England markers.
"Best yards" guide. Francis Duval is preparing an annotated list of fine old grave-
yards. His compilation will give:
Name of town
Name of graveyard
Location of graveyard (simple directions)
Description of yard, e.g., large, hilly, shaded, inscriptions facing west, etc.
Description of stones, i.e., predominating materials and periods represented
Names of carvers whose work predominates
This contribution to gravestone studies will surely be of inestimable value. Duval
warmly welcomes contributions from readers, though he will be the final judge — and
a competent one he is — of what is "best." His address: 405 Vanderbilt Avenue,
Brooklyn, New York 11238.
Grant proposal for B.U. Seminar. "Early American Attitudes Toward Death Through
Gravestone Studies" is the title of a grant application made by Mac Nelson, State Uni-
versity of New York/Fredonia, and Diana George, Pennsylvania State University, to the
National Endowment for the Humanities. George and Nelson are seeking funds for de-
veloping a summer, 198U, seminar at Boston University. The proposed seminar will
explore five major issues.
1. Early American attitudes toward death in a socio-historical context.
2. Review and evaluation of modern iconography studies.
3. Study of epitaphs, literary sources and analogues in literature.
4. Significance of "holistic" approaches to epitaphs and icons.
5. Theoretical questions pertaining to history, representation, and language.
George and Nelson expect to hear from the proposal in August.
Long Island funded study. P. C. Weigand and G. S. Levine, State University of New
York/Stony Brook, have been awarded a grant by the National Science Foundation to
support a study of Long Island gravestones: "Spatial and Material Aspects of Culture:
Ideology and Ethnicity in Long Island Material Culture, 16U0-1800." The research is
an examination of the Colonial culture of Long Island, whose social history has not
been systematically studied. The extant early English, Dutch, Quaker, Walloon, and
Huguenot gravestones--the major remaining form of Colonial material culture on the
Island— will be photo- recorded and computer analyzed for their evidence of behavioral
and cultural patterning. Each stone will be coded for 24+ categories of social and cul-
tural information (type, origin, size, time, location, type of cemetery, settlement hier-
archy, whether primary, secondary, tertiary, etc.) and the data entered into the SUNY
Stony Brook computer. Levine estimates the number of stones to be photo-recorded to
be in excess of 3000. This item amplifies and corrects a brief mention of this study in
the Fall, 1982, issue, page 8.
Massachusetts legislation. From James Brady, Massachusetts Historical Commission, we
have a copy of "Laws Protecting Burial Grounds and Markers in Massachusetts" and
"Rules and Regulations for Gravestone Repairs and Reproduction," issued by the Office
of the Secretary of State of the Commonwealth. Both are available at the AGS archives.
New England Historic and Genealogical Society, Boston.
AGS W •82/'83 P13
Research and Wv-tting^ continued
From the industry. Our readers should be acquainted with three magazines published
by the cemetery and monument industries. They are:
Stone in America, published monthy by The American Monument Company,
1902 North High Street, Worthington, Ohio U3085. $12 yearly.
American Cemetery, published monthly by Kates-Boylston Publications, Inc.,
1501 Broadway, New York, New York 10036. $12 yearly.
M B News, published monthly by the Monument Builders of North America,
1612 Central Street, Evanstown, Illinois 60201. $10 yearly.
These publications are addressed to a large and active readership (MBNA alone has
1052 members.) In the magazines, articles about memorial markers and architecture,
cemetery landscapes, stone conservation, stone quarrying, and the work of outstand-
ing monument designers are sprinkled among those which deal with public relations
and the financial and political concerns of the industries. From time to time an item
of AGS news is reported. Following is a sampling of articles and items of ACS interest.
"Frank Caylord, Barre's Gifted Sculptor Shapes Granite into Strong Statements of
Emotion and Feeling," by Lawrence Sanata. Stone in America, April, 1982, pp. 20-25.
"Lettercutting Expert," by Mark Youngkin. Richard Grasby, English stonecutter, will
teach his craft in six U.S. cities. Stone in America, March, 1982, pp. 30-32.
"Willing to Serve," by Lawrence Sanata. During its slack periods the J. R. Reynolds
Monument Company, Vienna, Illinois, has been repairing, free of charge, weathered
and vandalized markers; this work and the resulting publicity has won strong support
from communities and from the monument industry . Sfone in America, June, 1982, pp. 22-23.
"Monument or Monstrosity?" by Mark Youngkin. The controversy continues over the
Vietnam's Veteran's Memorial in Washington. Stone in America, May, 1982, pp. 38-40.
"Viet Nam War Memorial Condemned, Defended," (author not named). More about that
controversy. American Cemetery, April, 1982, pp. 25-26.
"Vietnam Memorial: 1,012 Polished Slabs," (author not named). Statistics concerning
the production of the memorial. American Cemetery, January, 1983, p. 41.
"Cemetery Traditions," by Gregory Jeane. Summarized in the Fall, 1982 AGS Newsletter,
p. 7. American Cemetery, June, 1982, pp. 18-22,
"Iron Graveboards Mark 12 Graves," (author not named). Short item giving information
(and photograph) about iron markers in St. Anne's Churchyard, Lewes, Sussex, Eng-
land, dated 1823-1871. American Cemetery, April, 1982, p. 18.
"Pettit Memorial Chapel," (author not named). The restoration of a 1907 chapel built by
Frank Lloyd Wright, Belvedere Cemetery, Belvedere, Illinois. American Cemetery,
April, 1982, pp. 20-22.
"In Review: 'With Bodilie Eyes'." Thomas E. Kelly reviews David Watters' book.
American Cemetery, January, 1983. pp. 14-15.
"Cemetery News Notes," edited by Thomas J. Sorahan, is a regular feature in American
Cemetery, It is comprised of two and three sentence news items categorized by state.
The forty to fifty items typically begin, "Vandals recently devastated. ..", "A local man
has been sentenced...", "Police are investigating the desecration...", "City officials
and local historians are incensed by..." etc. The reader's depression is occasionally
relieved by items such as these two, which appeared in the January, 1983, issue.
Idaho, Civens Springs — The Marsing-Homedale Cemetery District plans to restore
3. 8-acre Civens Hot Springs Cemetery , which contains the graves of early settlers
of the area.
Iowa, Marshalltown — Zion Lutheran Church Cemetery is using professional help in
the renovation of the grounds. This year the church is marking its centennial.
"A Brochure Guides Visitors through Lexington Cemetery," (author not named). A
description of a nineteenth-century cemetery visited by thousands annually. American
Cemetery, January, 1983, pp. 18, 19, 20, 41.
"The Figure in Holly Grove," by Paul Richard, reprinted from The Washington Post.
The story of Augustus Saint-Gaudins' sculpture for the gravesites of Henry Adams
(d. 1919) and his wife Marian (d. 1885) in Washington. MBNews, April, 1982, pp. 46-47.
"Valuable Program Becoming Popular in Canada," (author not named). Monument in-
surance available in the U.S. and Canada. MBNews, September, 1982, p. 39.
"MYTTE News," (editor not named) notes that MBNA has produced a series of Educator
Kits for use by educators using gravestones in the study of history, psychology and
the arts. MBNews, October, 1982, p. 22.
AGS W '82/'83 P 14
Research and Writing^ continued
"New Thoughts on Puritan Crave Stones" is the title of an extensively researched
paper read at the October, 1982, meeting of The Pioneer Society of America by
Stephen M. Straight. It presents both new and amplified interpretations of some
commonly-held theories concerning the symbols on early American gravemarkers.
A symbol is not an image, like a logo, chosen to symbolize. "We do not choose
a symbol; it chooses us," writes Straight. Its impact is on the subconscious. It
develops through the ages, so that man is continuously surrounded by camouflaged
symbols that only faintly echo their origins. Today's custom of carrying the bride
across the threshold of her new home, for example, is a vestige of primitive abduc-
tion. Many Christian symbols predate Christianity. Such development is often
present in Puritan gravestone symbols.
The skull is more than a mortality symbol. In primitive societies, the skull was
thought to be the soul or wisdom of the deceased and was preserved in the
belief that it imparted wisdom to the living, protected, and gave strength.
Skulls were kept in the home; also left on stakes to mark the site of the bur-
ied remains. Straight argues that the skull carved on the Puritan gravestone
is a vestige of this earlier concept of the skull housing the soul, giving lasting life.
Masks have always been with us, symbolizing religious
and magical powers. When the mask of the deceased is
worn by the living, the deceased lives. It gives supernatural
powers — the masked becomes what the mask symbolizes. The
first masks were skulls. The skull-like mask, like the skull
itself, can symbolize wisdom, protection, strength, and
everlasting life.
Cherubs derive from Eros (Cupid), Greek god of love.
Depicted first as a beautiful youth, later as a child, then
as winged infants, or Putti, cherubs
were replaced by adult angels in the
Middle Ages. They returned in the
Renaissance, accompanying Cupid,
from whom they derived. They became the cherubim carved
on Puritan gravemarkers, protecting man's soul and conducting it heavenward.
Medusa, a fair maiden whose luxurijant hair was turned into a wreath of snakes,
was a sight so frightening it paralyzed the beholder. Thus,
Medusa's head became a Creek symbol of the power to protect
against enchantment and to turn the enemy to stone. Puritans,
coming from the Creco-Roman traditions of England, carved on
gravestones a Medusa-like design, possibly as protection from
the "evil eye" and witchcraft.
Straight's paper presents interesting background information and fresh inter-
pretations of other symbols: the scythe, the heart, the hourglass, wings, the willow
tree, the urn, and stone itself. The full text of the paper is in the ACS archives.
New England Historic and Cenealogical Society, Boston. Mr. Straight is a New Eng-
lander who lives in Deland, Florida, 431 North Kansas Avenue.
Hail happy babe
How hasty was thy flight
Unseen disaster quench^ ,
The pleasant light
Joyful he leaves his house of clay.
On Cherubs wings is borne away
Surrounded by a glorious throng;
Each one prepares to join the song.
Pleasure like rivers springs anew.
Heaven wide opens to his view.
Hark how the victor sings above
O wondrous free & boundless love
Loud songs of praise to God alone.
Blessings to Christ upon the throne.
Replete with joy is every face.
On Jesus head the crown they place.
On flowery banks of Edens plain
Kings priests & heirs to Cod they reign.
From the gravestones for Deacon Joseph Holbrook, 1785, and his infant daughter,
Julia, 1785. Both were carved by Joseph Barbur, Jr., and stand in Oak Hill, or
"North" Cemetery, Bellingham, Massachusetts. The verse on Joseph's stone, be-
sides being a marvelous description of the soul's entrance into Heaven, spells out
his name with the first letter of each line. Courtesy Michael Cornish.
AGS W 'SZySS PIS
UlllilSMIN
Ott- ON 4IUJJ8(J
a I V d
3DViSOd s n
'OdO lldO^d NON
60910 ssvw jaisaDJOM
Xjapos u^uvnbijuv UVDU3UJVO/D
•suo!4\?D!|qnj SOV
Cryptogram code. The gravestone for James Leeson, 1791, in Trinity Churchyard,
New York City, is notable for its cryptogram.
which translates:
R
M
M B
R
D
E A
H
Here is the key to the cryptogram.
The reason the same symbol is used
for both the I and the J is that these
two letters were used interchange-
ably in early America.
A
B
C
D
G
E
IHl
F
IJ
K
L
M
N
0
P
Q
R
S
T
u
V
W
X
Y
z
one dot two dots no dots
Drawings on page 15 courtesy Peter Benes.
Drawing on page 2 courtesy Sue Jones. Our eagle-eyed proof reader sees a skul
in this drawing. Do you?
THE ACS NEWSLETTER is published four times a year as a service to members of The Association for Gravestone Studies.
The membership year is from June to June. Send membership fees (Regular membership, $15; Sustaining membership, $25)
to ACS Membership Secretary Carol Perkins, 1233 Cribb St. . Apt 204, Toledo OH 43612. Order MARKERS The Journal
of The Association for Gravestone Studies (members' price, $15; non-members' price, $25), from Betty Slater, 373 Bassettes
iJc^n u^' ' '^°"^f'^''^ Center CT 06250. Address NEWSLETTER articles and correspondence to Jessie Lie Farber editor
^^1;^^°''^°^'°"^' ^'° ^''^ American Antiquarian Society, Worcester MA 01609. Address all other Association correspondence
to ACS Corresponding Secretary Eloise West, 199 Fisher Rd., Fitchburg MA 01420
NEWSLETTER
OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES
Editor, Jessie Lie Farber
Volume 7, Number 2, Spring 19&i
ISSN: 01U6-5783
CONTENTS
ASSOCIATION NEWS ■.■■■•>■•■■ ii i • • • 1^ 2
Four Conference Area Carving Styles, photographs 3
by Dan Farber
Clo Kirby, a story about her 4
BOOK REVIEWS
Stonington Graveyards . ■ ■ . • • • • . • 5
by E. H. Lynch and B. M. Sindale
Review by James A. Slater
Funeral Customs the World Over 5
by Robert W. Habenstein and William R. Lamers
Review by Deanna Schultz
A Letter from Besa Soule', Stonecutter /
Transcribed by Robert Drinkwater
I Calendar Confusion , an explanation ........■>... 3
CONSERVATION/ PRESERVATION 9^ 10
Examples of Mail-order Advertising , from some old publications 10
CEMETERY CITATIONS H
T||j|i| MISCELLANEOUS 12-14
(Also included: Conference registration form and ACS Coupon-clip)
, Detail from the stone for Sarah Wheeler. 1775, Sudbury, Mass., by Thomas Park
PROGRESS REPORT
Members who are unacquainted with the Association's inner workings will be interested
to know that ACS is not only a non-profit organization. It is an organization which
puts all its funds into its productions — its publications, conferences, and its archives.
ACS has no physical headquarters, no paid personnel. Board members are not even
reimbursed for their traveling expenses to meetings (some members traveling to Boston
from as far as the District of Columbia, Ohio, and Nova Scotia). Membership develop-
ment and the sale of literature depend entirely upon The ACS Newsletter and word-of-
mouth promotion. Little outside funding has been solicited or offered.
Nevertheless, in the six years of its existence, ACS has been very productive. Its
growth has been steady, its leadership strong, and its financial situation so good that
we are looking forward to the possibility of employing a part-time, salaried person.
WANTED: Innovative sales and promotion person, competent
secretary, organized bookkeeper, able administrator, skilled
writer, and gravestone scholar with grant know-how. Flexi-
bility, versatility, and interest are the key ingredients.
In case we face facts and admit we will settle for a normal human being with a sprin-
kling of these attributes and skills, have you anyone you would like to recommend?
Send your suggestions to ACS, c/o The American Antiquarian Society, Worcester,
Massachusetts 01609.
Here's help for improving legislation. For the past year the ACS board, guided by
Theodore Chase, has been drafting recommendations for good legislation to protect
gravemarkers and cemeteries. A draft of the recommendations was submitted in the
summer ACS NEWSLETTER for comment and suggestions from the membership. The
revised recommendations are now complete and available to anyone involved with im-
proving protective legislation. For a copy of "An Act for the Preservation and Care
of Burial Places and Memorials for the Dead," write to Eloise West, 199 Fisher Road,
Fitchburg, Massachusetts 01U20.
ASSOCIATION NEWS
Annual meeting and election of officers. At the Association's annual meeting, to be
lield in Worcester, Massachusetts, in June, 1983, openings on the executive board
will be filled. AGS members unable to attend this meeting are encouraged to mail nom-
inations to Eloise West, 199 Fisher Road, Fitchburg, Massachusetts 01420. The fol-
lowing slate was prepared by a nominating committee comprised of Francis Duval (chair-
man), Ruth Cowell, and Mary Anne Mrozinski.
Nominated for two-year terms, beginning June 1983
President THEODORE CHASE, Dover, Massachusetts
Vice President LAUREL K, CABEL, Wellesley, Massachusetts) soon
Rochester, New York.
Secretary BETSY WIDIRSTSKY, Southold, New York
Directors- RUFUS LANCHANS, Huntington, New York (preservation)
at-Large CAROL PERKINS, Toledo, Ohio (membership)
CINA SANTUCCI , New York; New York (conservation)
MIRIAM SILVERMAN, Southold, New York (education)
SALLY THOMAS, New London, New Hampshire (Past
President)
Board members continuing in office
Treasurer, for one year, NANCY JEAN MELIN, Armonk, New York
Directors- MICHAEL CORNISH, Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts (archives)
,^ ^ JESSIE LIE FARBER, Worcester, Massachusetts (publications)
(for one '^
year) GEORGE KACKLEY, Washington, D.C (grants)
DEBORAH TRASK, Halifax, Nova Scotia (research)
Readers will note that there has been some revision in the structure of the board.
This is the result of the writing of by-laws of the constitution, a year-long pro-
ject guided by ACS legal adviser and board member Theodore Chase. The by-laws
have been approved by the six original incorporators, Peter Benes, Jessie Lie Farber,
Caynell Levine, Nancy Jean Melin, Jane Schoonmaker, and Ralph Tucker. Copies
of the ACS constitution are available from the corresponding secretary, Eloise West,
199 Fisher Road, Fitchburg, Massachusetts 01420
Welcome MOCA . The spring issue of the newsletter of the Maine Old Cemetery Asso-
ciation (membership 1090) includes an item encouraging MOCA members to write AGS
for information about membership and the 1983 conference in Worcester, Massachusetts.
We hope MOCA members will respond, especially this year, when MOCA's founder, Hilda
Fife, is being honored as recipient of the Harriette Merrifield Forbes Award at the AGS
conference in June.
Markers II . David Watters, editor of Markers, the Journal of the Association for Gravel-
stone Studies , volume 2, reports that the new volume will be ready in June, 1983, and
that, thanks to a grant from the University of New Hampshire, it will be handsomely il-
lustrated. The price, which is expected to be under $10, before postage and handling,
will be announced in the summer Newsletter. The table of contents:
Susan Kelly and Anne Williams, "The Signed Stones of Early New England"
David H. Watters, "The JN Carver"
Michael Cornish, "Joseph Barbour: The Frond Carver of Medway"
Vincent Luti, "Stonecarvers of the Narragansett Basin: Stephen and Charles
Hartshorn of Providence"
Phil Kallas, "The Carvers of Portage County, Wisconsin, 1850-1900"
Robert Prestiano, "D. Aldo Pitassi, Contemporary Stone Designer"
Betty Willsher, "The Winged Skull in Scotland"
Charles Bergengren, "Folk Art on Gravestones: The Glorious Contrast"
AGS Sp '83 P2
A FEW OF THE MANY WORCESTER AREA CARVING STYLES TO BE SEEN ON THE
1985 AGS CONFERENCE TOUR
Photographs by Dan Farber
Peter Bancroft, 1786, Aiiburn. Carved by James New.
' r.
Daniel King, 1773, Rutland.
Carved by Ebenezer Soule.
\
W'
Hannah Fletcher, 1737, Lancaster.
Carved by Jonathan Worcester.
Robert Cutler, 1761, Brookfield. Carved by William Young.
AGS Sp '83 P3
GLO KIRBY: Her Rubbings and Her Car and How It All Started ^JT^^ °c]rca^l978^'"
"Glo" Kirby lives at 250 West 94th Street in New York City and works for the Broad-
casting Foundation of America; but for years she has spent her vacations and week-
ends in the graveyards of New England. Glo is known among gravestone scholars
and buffs for the beauty of her rubbings. Also for the mighty van she drives. The
exquisite and sensitive rubbings are usually a combination of rust and brown on white.
The van looks like a Brink's delivery truck. Its interior is fitted with the comforts
of home and the necessities of an artist's studio.
We asked her what initiated her interest in gravestone rubbing. "I'm a little bit shy
about talking about it," she told us. "I've never shown my rubbings except to friends.
I've never written a book. For me gravestone rubbing is just a private pleasure."
Glo Kirby came East from San Francisco in 1957 to what has been called "the most cre-
atively prolific 400 acres in America," the MacDoweil Colony, in Peterborough, N.H.
According to an article about the Colony in the January 23, 1983, A/ew York Times
Book Review section, 35 Pulitzer Prizes and more than a dozen Prix de Romes have
been awarded for work done at MacDoweil, which is a subsidized community of up to
30 artists from different disciplines who are provided room, board, and separate work
places. The Colony, begun in 1907, is "a serious place where serious artists come to
do serious work" away from the struggles and necessities of the real world. More than
1000 artists apply annually for residence. On the walls of each MacDoweil studio hang
wooden plaques on which the resident artists write their names. The artists call these
plaques tombstones, for they function as intimations of immortality.
A heady setting. What source of inspiration would California's Glo Kirby find here in
rural New Hampshire? Yes of course, she found real tombstones. She found New Eng-
land's early gravemarkers, and they have given her pleasure ever since. She was fas-
cinated by the tympanum carvings, by "the infinite variety of wings," and by the let-
tering. "It's always been my contention that a depiction that ignores the lettering is
only half a depiction." She made several thousand rubbings, many of which she dis-
carded as she developed her technique, "which I very much regret. Not that they
were of any value artistically, but they had information on them, such as location.
There is a little stone somewhere that is one of my favorites, but I don't know where
it is. It just has one line across the bottom. It says, 'They lived and died.' For
most of us, that sums it up. I would love to have a rubbing of it."
After MacDoweil, Glo got a studio and a job in New York ("I couldn't afford to live there
and just paint."), and except for a few periods during which she returned to San Fran-
cisco, New York has been home. "I lived thirty years in San Francisco and adored it,
but I wanted to move and grow. I like everything about New York except the summer
heat. I can't stand it. I get away for three-day weekends."
In 1960, a friend gave her a copy of Harriette Forbes' The Gravestones of Early New
England, "number 47 of the original edition." Her interest and her exploration were
intensified. Slowly she developed her rubbing technique. "It took me a lot longer
than if I'd had help. I'd rub every weekend for a year and discard the whole lot be-
cause it wasn't what I wanted."
And the van? "I longed for something I could stand up in. Several times on my way
to or from Boston I'd seen this van in a parking place along Route 128. I yearned for
it, and every time I passed it I'd stop and look in its windows. A man in a nearby
service station noticed me doing this and told me he had heard it was for sale. The
owners had fitted the interior to display oceanographic instruments, but they were
selling it because they found they could sell the instruments without the display. But
they wanted an awful price for it, which I didn't have. I went back to New York and
gathered together all my savings and checking accounts and everything else, and I
had only half what they wanted. Well, I went back to see this man, so nervous, and
I said, 'I think people should have something in their lives they really want, and I real-
ly want that car, but I've only got this much.' He looked at me a while, and he said,
'I think so, too.' But 1 couldn't give him everything I had because I wouldn't have
had anything left for even a license. By this time he really wanted me to have the car
and he let me buy it. I got into it — I'd never driven a car this size before — and it was
pouring rain and I was crying because I'd wanted it so much and I got it."
Recently we learned that Glo has given her wonderful van to William McGeer, maker of
casts and molds of gravestones and other art objects. Her health is not good, she told
us, and she feels Bill can put it to better use.
In her years of "gravestoning" in her van, Glo Kirby developed some techniques for
safe on-the-road living. "Big and showey as that car was," she said, "I became a past-
master at not being noticed. At night I parked it in used car lots."
Glo Kirby plans to attend the AGS conference in Worcester, and we trust she continues
to view AGS conferees as friends to whom she doesn't mind showing her rubbings.
AGS Sp '83 P4
STONINCTON GRAVEYARDS, A Guide
Edited by E. H. Lynch and B. M. Sindale
Illustrated with line drawings. "170 pages, plus a 15" x 16" map.
Stonington (CT) Historical Society, 1980. Hardcover, $14.75 plus $1.00 postage
Review by James A . Slater
It is indicative of the growth of interest in New England burying grounds that within
the last two years three Connecticut towns* have produced publications about their old
yards and stones. The most recent contribution, Stonington Graveyards, is devoted to
the town's more than sixty burying grounds and to the persons known to have been
buried in them from 1649 to the mid-1 930's.
The book is exhaustively researched. One feels confident that no graveyard in Ston-
ington has been overlooked. There is a short background description of each yard,
including those which contain only a single surviving stone and a few in which not
a stone now stands. Of great value is the detailed map showing the location of each
graveyard. Directions to the cemeteries are given in excellent, sometimes wonderful
detail. For example, to reach the Warren-Palmer Cemetery one must "turn east on Tip-
ping Rock Road. Park where the road veers left at a culvert and take the path through
a narrow swampy meadow with a stone wall along its south side, go through an over-
grown barway in the wall, turn left and make your way through the thorns and tangles
of a dim pathway. When you reach a tumbledown wall at right angles to the wall you
have followed, climb over and you will be in the brush and tree grown acre... most of
the stones have disappeared." (Whew! But this reviewer will go, as the accompany-
ing description suggests there is a Manning stone there.)
Eight pages are devoted to an alphabetical listing of the 12,000 names of persons bur-
ied in Stonington, with the page on which the epitaph occurs listed beside the name.
Following this list are six pages of the names of veterans listed under the respective
wars in which they served (eleven wars to 1930 — can you name them?) This section
should be of great value to genealogists.
Despite the unquestionable value of this book, it has certain shortcomings. The sec-
tion on individual carvers is disappointing. The editors are apparently unaware of
gravestone literature published since Allan Ludwig's 1966 Graven Images. There is
no mention of the Tashjian, Benes, Duval/Rigby, or Watters books, or of Markers (or
of AGS). The failure to use the published works of Ernest Caulfield in the Bulletin
of the Connecticut Historical Society is particularly unfortunate. The editors follow
Ludwig in mis-attributing John Martshorne stones to Joshua Hempstead, and Obadiah
Wheeler stones to the "Collins Master." They state that David Lamb stones have not
been found in Stonington, but this is doubtful as there are Lamb stones in towns near-
by. There appears to be some understandable confusion between the work of Chester
Kimball, Charles Dolph and Isaac Sweetland. Manning stones are all attributed to Rock-
well Manning, which may be correct, but these attributions are premature as there is
not yet a verified distinction between the work of Rockwell, Frederick, and Joshua.
Indeed, there is a stone probated to Frederick as close as North Stonington.
It is also disappointing not to have more definitive statements concerning the age of
stones in the various cemeteries. This is touched on, but not in a sufficiently organ-
ized manner to allow the person looking for eighteenth-century stones to know, before
going to a burying ground, whether or not any stones of that century are present.
It is also unfortunate that the long list of names does not include the death date for
each name or the name of the cemetery in which each individual is buried.
The simple line sketches that ornament the text are charmingly executed and catch
the esthetic qualities of some of the small sites beautifully. The drawings of the
stones are less compelling. To illustrate the carving designs, either photographs or
rubbings would have served the reader better.
One hopes that this book will stimulate interest in the care and preservation of the
early Stonington gravestones and their yards. Their need for better care is noted in
a delightful, tongue-in-cheek comment that the Evergreen Cemetery "is well maintained
except for the area of the earliest graves where maintenance funds have run out." It
brings a wry smile to consider this example of Yankee frugality — Evergreen's immacu-
lately manicured lawn surrounding its small, overgrown center, which contains John
Stevens slates, early red sandstones, and Manning granites, all nearly buried in coarse
grass brush. But the funds have run out!
Despite a few shortcomings, this book is a valuable guide for anyone interested in early
eastern Connecticut graveyards. It is an aid that this reviewer wishes were available
for every New England town. For that matter, for the entire country!
* Ledyard, Stamford, and now Stonington. See the ACS NEWSLETTER j FaZ-Z 1981 and
Spring 1982, for Br. Slater's reviews of the Ledyard and Stamford books.
James Slater is Professor of Entomology, University of Connecticut, Storrs.
AGS Sp '83 P5
FUNERAL CUSTOMS THE WORLD OVER
By Robert W. Habenstein and William R. Lamers
Milwaukee: Buifin Printers, Inc., Third Edition, 1974 (out of print) . 866 pages.
Review by Deanna Schultz
Funeral Customs the World Over is what the title implies — a vast collection of the fun-
eral procedures of seventy-seven cultures and nationalities. It is a Herculian feat. The
book is divided into seven sections dealing with Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Oceania,
Europe, Latin America, and North America. The Appendix includes funereal procedures
of specific churches ranging in scope from the Baptist to the International General as-
sembly of Spiritualists. Also included in the Appendix are practices of various fra-
ternal organizations, again covering a wide range of groups.
The numerous people that the authors studied represent a variety of patterns of
death beliefs and burial procedures as practiced by the world religions of Christians,
Hebrews, Hindus, Buddhists, and Muslims. The religious attitudes and practices are
discussed with regard to primitive tribes, local folk groups, and modern urban groups.
For example, there are three chapters devoted to the United States. The first of these
discusses the Santee Sioux, the Salish, and the Navaho Indians. The second chapter
discusses the Amish, the Latter-Day Saints, and the American Gypsies, while the third
is a profile of the dominant funeral practices across our modern nation.
Although chapter format varies, it is fair to say that for each group studied an effort
was made to include information about attitudes regarding death and dying, mourning
practices, procedures for disposing of the body, funeral processions, funeral rites,
and beliefs about the soul or spirit of the deceased. Considering the breadth of cul-
tures studied, it is not surprising to note some differences in amount of detailed in-
formation provided for each group. Scattered throughout the book are numerous re-
ferences to caskets, coffins, cremation procedures, and embalming practices. It is
understandable that these topics would receive considerable attention as the original
edition (1960) was published by the Funeral Directors Association of the United States
and included a history of the organization, which was deleted from the 1963 and 1974
editions.
Unfortunately, the index does not have a topical listing which would be helpful to per-
sons looking for information pertaining to stones or markers. The reader is able to
find limited reference imbedded in paragraphs devoted to other topics, however. For
instance, in a section on "Distinctive Features of Funeral" in the Netherlands, the
authors state, "Graves are marked with headstones. These contain the name, birth
and death dates of the deceased and frequently a legend such as 'Rest in Peace.'" (p. 541)
Black and white illustrations are placed liberally throughout the text. As one might
expect, the photographs show a variety of things — tribal medicine men at work, fun-
eral processions, types of caskets, and cemeteries. It is from the photographs of
cemeteries more than from the text that one gains information about gravemarkers.
The illustration on page 164, for example, shows us that ^'loslem markers for men are
three to four feet high pole-shaped stones, about ten inches in diameter, round on
top, with considerable carving around the pole. Stones for women are approximately
the same height but are shaped more like a two-by-four or four-by-four piece of lum-
ber and are flat on the top. The photo also tells us that the stones are placed very
close together. The text devotes one sentence to Moslem stones: "The monuments
are not generally massive but are usually in the shape of a pole with an enlarged ball
on top or are flat like a board." The curious reader is, of course, left with unanswered
questions — What are the carvings telling us? — Are the women's stones also carved? —
How are the graves of children marked? — Do the stones have a directional facing? —
Are the markers in this photograph typical of the area and /or of a given time period?
And so on. One reads further in the text that the Tanala hill tribes of Madagascar
use large tombs for burial of entire family clans, and the illustrations show three types
of markers that one yearns (in vain) to have discussed in some detail.
Research for the book was conducted through the offices of the Foreign Service of the
United States and their counterparts in foreign lands, funeral directors in America
and funeral service functionaires abroad, scholars, and library sources, v/ith consi-
derable use of files at the University of Chicago. The book is an extremely valuable
resource for persons in the behavioral sciences as it provides a panorama of anthro-
pological, historical, and phychological information about death beliefs and practices
of the people of our planet. Although the book clearly was not written for the stu-
dent of gravestones, good information is there. Its primary value to gravestone stu-
dies is as a source of background material which enables one to better understand
the physical characteristics of gravemarkers the world over— characteristics one must,
however, discover through sources other than this book.
Deanna Schultz is on the psychology faculty at Ventura Community College, Ventura,
California, where she teaches the course, "Death and Dying. "
ACS Sp '83 P6
A letter from Beza. Robert Drinkwater made the following transcription of a letter
written by the stonecutter Beza Soule to his son, Isaiah, The handwritten original
is in the Swift Valley Historical Society, New Salem, Massachusetts, and a copy is
in the ACS archives. Beza Soule was a member of the large Soule family of itiner-
ant gravestone carvers (Ebenezer, Ebenezer, Jr., Ivory, Coomer, Asaph, and Beza)
whose work is found in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Vermont. Although Beza's
letter makes only passing mention of stonecutting, it offers some interesting insights
into the life and times of the Soule family.
Mansfield Connecticut Sep, 7^ 7820.
My dear and affectionate Children
An oppertunity I have to inform you that through the blefsing of
Cod we are in healthe, and I hope thefe lines will find you so,
rd
Your Hony-r mother & Ivory got home the next Day after they left
your house, well except worried with the heat, but have ben healthier
Since than before they took their Jornay.
/ wrote a l^ter meygot home, but I understand you never have got it.
Your Hon-r- Mother made a great recconing on your coming down in
This Month, & to have ate fruit with us but now we dont expect you
We have fruit of Almost all kinds this part of the Globe produces
Apples of most kind, a number of kind peaches pairs of different kind
Watermelons, Muskmelons, cantelopes, I raised one Muskmelon W- 13 tt
measure 17. Inches length & two feet round or 8 inches through. I have got
4. Watermelons larg now sav'd for you but we must eat them or give
i
)
Them away or they rot
Mt- Chapin and Susan Send their love to you Susan has
Healthier than she has ben for 4. Years, takes the whole care of
Cheese now She. 5. cowes and our one makes 6. when we make double
lb r
They weigh about 20 y-r M-jr Chapin's crops look very well parhaps they
Come and see you towards Winter. I must come up and see you and try to
at some stone down this winter It would be much easier for me then to
work out. So we conclude V- Mother & my self. Your Affectionate Parents.
Page damage
.. r , . Q- Miss ,
M - Isaiah^ &^Sarah
P.S.
C. Soule
le
Beza & Zerviah Sou
Excuse my writing and inditing for I have liv'd to age of Man
Three score & ten. Now in my 71 U- Year „ ^ ,
■^ Beza Soule
Your Mother came back by Stafford Spring
20. Miles from this She did not like the water
Shutes Berry Spring is her favourite .
^ f^ ^ Amen
Saffron for Carters
[or Garden]
Your Mother say you & Isaiah
muft go & drink of the Water
The back of the letter is addressed:
M — Isaiah C. Soule
Wendell, Massachusetts
Favour'd by M y Drury
Thomas Bates 1777, Thompson, CT
Signed "B. Soule"
Beza Soule signed at least three stones with designs similar to the one illustrated above.
Below are other typical Soule family carving designs (from drawings by Peter Benes.)
Examples of Ebenezer Sr.'s work will be seen on the 1983 ACS Conference graveyard tour.
Asaph/Ebenezer, jr.
Shop
Ebenezer
Beza
Coomer Asaph/Ebenezer, jr.
Shop
Calendar confusion. Have you wondered about the reason for death dates such as
1681/2 on some early stones? It is the result of a calendar change. To make a short
story long —
The Egyptians were the first to discover the 365 day year and, in turn, the first to
discover the remarkable indivisibility of that number. They created a year of twelve
30-day months, with the five extra days designated as feast days. The first Roman
calendar had 10 months (March through December) and totaled only 304 days. Perhaps
the Romans felt that the winter period was so depressing that it was not worth count-
ing, a view that has a certain amount of merit, in 46 B.C., Julius Caesar decided to
conquer time itself. He devised a calendar with a 365 day year and an extra day added
every fourth year. Although infinitely better than its predecessor, the Julian Calen-
dar was still off by 11 minutes and 14 seconds per year. By the sixteenth century
this difference added up to more than ten days, pushing the vernal equinox ten days
from its original "proper" date. To correct this. Pope Gregory, in 1582, made a minor
adjustment, cancelling one leap day every 400 years; and to adjust for the ten-day
gain, he issued a Papal Bull officially cancelling October 5 through 14, jumping the
calendar from October 4 to October 15. The lesson, perhaps, is that Caesar can giveth,
but only the Lord can taketh away. But to continue. The sixteenth century was a
period of schism in the Christian Church, and there were plenty of countries that
would not take the Pope's word on anything, including what day it was. The new cal-
endar was not adopted until 1700 by Germany, 1752 by Britain, 1918 by Russia, and
1923 by Greece.
Britain and her colonies held out until George II canceled the ten days by declaring
that the day after September 2, 1752, would be September 14. Thus, George Wash-
ington, born February 11, 1732, survived a change of birthdate during his lifetime.
After 1752 he celebrated it on February 22. In Colonial literature. Old Style (com-
monly abbreviated O.S.) means the Julian Calendar; New Style (N.S.) refers to the
Gregorian Calendar.
All very interesting, but not an explanation of the double year dates, so we went to
the American Antiquarian Society for help. We were referred to The Harvard Guide
to American History, edited by Frank Freidel (revised edition, 1974, pages 23-25).
Under a section headed "The Dating of Manuscripts," is this excerpt:
A further complication is the date of the New Year. In England from the
twelfth century to 1752, and in most other countries using the Julian
Calendar, the New Year began on March 25. All dates between January 1
and March 24 inclusive belonged to the old year. About 1670 it began to be
customary to hyphenate the old and new years between January 1 and
March 24 in some such manner as this:
March 14, 1732/33
3 February 1689-90
January 26, 17;r-r.
•"04
We could have saved space by using just the above excerpt, which answers our origi-
nal question, but we like having all the background information we came across and
decided to pass it along. Thanks to, Joseph B. Darby III from whose article in The
Worcester Magazine much of our calendar story was taken.
Genealogists study gravestones. We thank Arthur F. Sniffin, 4 Farmington Court,
Huntington Station, New York 11746, for sending us a copy of gravestone material
assembled by James Tibensky for publication in the proceedings workbook of the Fed-
eration of Genealogical Societies Symposium held in 1981 in Decatur, Illinois. The ma-
terial includes an overview of Tibensky 's computerized study of 12,000 Connecticut
stones, the first draft of "Recording Cemetery Data," by Joanne Baker and Anne Giesecke
(revised and published in MARKERS I), and a copy of AGS's promotion flyer and mem-
bership form. Mr. Tibensky, 1510 S. Lombard Avenue, Berwyn, Illinois 60402, has ser-
ved as AGS Vice President for research.
Mr. Sniffin is National Chairman for the First National Conference in the Northeast for
Genealogists, to be held in Hartford in July, 1983. The conference is sponsored by
the Connecticut Society of Genealogists, the Association for Professional Genealogists,
and the Federation of Genealogical Societies. Dan and Jessie Lie Farber will present an
introduction to gravestone iconography, symbolism, and conservation, plus some tech-
niques for reading and photographing gravestone carving. A paper prepared by Laurel
Gabel for AGS ( soon available as an AGS information sheet) will be published in the
conference proceedings. This paper describes research procedures for identifying ear-
ly gravestone carvers. The three sponsoring genealogical organizations have a combined
membership of over 5000, with 800-1000 expected to attend the conference.
AGS Sp '83 P8
CONSERVATION/PRESERVATION
Photographing deteriorating stone. S. Z. Lewin andM. E. Dunn, Department of
Chemistry, New York University, are the authors of an article explaining the con-
tribution of photographic records to determine the cause and the treatment of stone
decay. The article, "Photographing Architectural Decay," published in Technical
Photography (issue number not known) recommends the use of fine-grained film and
a long focal length lens for this work. While Lewin and Dunn are concerned primarily
with the stone used in architecture and do not mention gravestones in their article,
the kinds of stone and the threatening agents discussed are identical to those found
in early graveyards.
Acid rain, freeze-thaw cycling, salt crystallization, microbiological activity, and
water leaching are among the factors that damage stone. Which of these agents is
responsible for specific stone decay depends upon the nature of the exposed surface
and the substances with which it is in contact, such as auto emissions and other pol-
lutants, bird droppings, and salt-laden soil.
The "salt decay" phenomenon is due to the expansive forces generated by the
growth of certain crystals in the surface "skin" of the stone. When water contain-
ing crystallizable matter migrates through the stone and reaches the exposed surface,
the water evaporates, and its solvents crystalize in the open skin spaces. The "in-
fection" can come from the soil or the air. This kind of decay is proportional to the
freeze-thaw cycle.
Another infectious agent is the gypsum deposits which are produced when acid
rain flows over stone. The decay caused by the crystallization of the gypsum on
the surface of the stone is proportional to the wet-to-dry cycle.
Prevention and restoration measures clearly depend upon knowing the cause of
the decay in each specific instance. Photographing deteriorating stone at intervals
can elucidate the cause and the rate of deterioration and serve as a guide to treatment.
Here today. Cone tomorrow? This graphic account of a stone's deterioration is taken
from New York State Environment, published by the Department of Environmental
Conservation, December 24, 1981. Thanks to Caynell Levine, Wading River; New York.
-j Acid rain, or dry
-*- deposition falls
Crust fomis
Crust washes off
Layer of stone is
removed
Unmarked burial sites. Only peripherally related to gravestone studies is the strug-
qle by John Peters, Massachusettes State Commissioner of Indian Affairs, to protect
the burial sites of American Indians. The crux of the issue is, in fact, the obsence
of gravemarkers. Massachusetts State Archaeologist Valerie Talmage says that stat-
utes have not directly addressed the issue of the protection of unmarked burials, nor
have laws defined when archeological recovery is appropriate ... " According to Peters
and Talmage, other states have done more than Massachusetts to protect Iridian burial
sites notably Maine, Minnesota, Iowa, and North Carolina. Peters and Talmage and
State Representative Timothy Bassett are sponsoring a series of bills and ammendments
to prevent the ravaging of Indian burial sites. "Lonely fight for Indian burial sites,
by Marvin Pave for The Boston Globe. No date on the clipping. Courtesy Laurel Cabel.
ACS Sp '83 P9
Conservation /Tpresewation, continued
Aberdeen, Mississippi. The Tombigbee Chapter of the Daughters of the American Rev-
olution is restoring damaged stones in the Old Cemetery and placing markers to guide
graveyard tours. Long forgotten stones are being discovered as the brush is being
cleared. Among the unusual markers in this 147 year old graveyard are three "shell
graves" for deceased persons whose families could not afford stone markers. A marble
marker for Mary Points, who was burned to death, shows Mary standing, quite com-
posed, as flames envelop her skirt. Jo Miller of Aberdeen, after seeing rubbings of
New England stones and English brasses, made rubbings of many of the Aberdeen mar-
kers. "I realized this cemetery has graves just as interesting," she said. From an
illustrated article in the Cormeraial Dispatch, March 27, 1983. Courtesy O.W. Smith.
Mail order advertising. An item in the last issue of The AGS NEWSLETTER (Winter,
1982/1983, page 9 ) referred to the mail order sale of gravestones. Now we have word
that Barbara Rotundo has found a book. Rustic Monumental Designs: Design Book #3,
by John A. Rowe of Bedford, Indiana, and a pamphlet, John A. Rowe Rustic Monumen-
tal Works (1923), which advertise both completed monuments and cut stone "sawed two
sides and broken into size." We are trying to locate Design Books #'s 1 and 2 (and 4,
etc.). Readers with information are asked to contact the NEWSLETTER.
And from Judith Rivell Hufnell we have three
pages from the "Monument Department" sec-
tion of the 1902 and 1908 catalogs of Sears,
Roebuck & Co., "Cheapest Supply House on
Earth, Chicago," Advertised are stones of
"The World's Best Royal Blue Vermont Mar-
ble," "Our Best Barre Granite," and "White
Acme Rutland Italian" in a variety of styles
ranging in price from $4.90 for a 95 pound
12"x12"x6" marker of Barre Granite to $134
for a granite marker 5' 6" high weighing 8000
pounds. Cost of lettering: 2^<; to 18C per
letter, depending on size and style. The cata-
log urges the public to "Send Us Your Order
A Sloaplng Lamb,
a Beautiful Symbol
of Innocence,
SIO.OO Dark,
SI (.25 Wl'.lte.
ReLOinmerderf in Whif*
Acme kctlnnd Italisn at
SI 1.25, but v.r>- Vi.M'j'.'tu! in
At-ine lU'j-'I.'Ar.-: Vt-in M.ir^le,
aiSIOuO. OeUvLTrtl on The
cu.r.s at nm- \'orinont work".
anJ No.6IKo9l. T'>tJl lifi:h;.
2r. tndi'_s. li-Ui Ti b^i?-'.
IKxlOss IncliP.s- ljpr)'''r b.^^^
I4xr.\4 lnf.-!ifs. Trttilet and
l.Tinb. Il.\l_'.v4 IrT'hC'--. Ship-
pins; vol-':-!!. '27'' p-''inds.
Ho. 6 I K6D0 i'rice. Arm'^
Dnrk \ .^i-. Miri-l.-. .5 i 0-00
Ho. G ( K60 I rrlco. Whi-.c
Acme Uulhiistl Itiill-in .M:ir-
blf. 511 .25
Give us fo'.>r V eiiks to fin-
ish, letter nnd sh.p.
for any tombstone or monument shown on
these pages... and we will make it to your order for you, shaping, carving, polishing,
tracing and finishing it exactly as described, lettering it according to the inscription
you furnish us, boxing it carefully and shipping it from the works at Vermont to your
home station, with the distinct understanding and binding agreement that if it is not
more than we claim for it. . .you can hold it subject to our disposal at our own total loss,
and we will refund you the money you have remitted to us, together with any freight
charges you may have paid." Those who do not find what they want in the monument
section of the catalog are invited to send on a postal card their order "free for the ask-
ing" of Sears' 150-page "big, free, beautifully illustrated special catalog of monuments,
tombstones, grave markers, footstones, corner posts for cemetery lots, ornamental iron
and steel fencing for lawns and grave lot enclosures, wire grave guards, ornamental
lawn vases and settees. ..the greatest book of its kind ever issued. ..It tells you how much
profit other granite companies and other granite dealers try to make out of you, how
they take advantage of your total unfamiliarity with work of this kind to obtain from you
extraordinary high prices for the most ordinary material and workmanship. ..Our method
of doing business direct from quarry to cemetery is so modern our guarantee. . .so orig-
inal and daring. . .placing all risk on us... IT WILL BE A REVELATION. It will give you
such an insight into the methods commonly followed by others in this business, explain-
ing without reservation the present prevailing old fashioned long profit methods of hand-
ling, by which you must pay the profits and expenses of the wholesaler, the profits and
expenses of the retailer, and a commission to the salesperson who visits you and encour-
ages you to buy from him at his high prices. . .Vermont may seem a long distance from
your home but we guarantee safe arrival, . .and that you will save 50 per cent, even af-
ter you have paid the low freight... we deliver to our customers a class of cemetery
work such as is seldom seen in stocks of retail monument companies. . .We do not use ox-
ide and we employ only skilled artisans. We do not have our work done by the piece,
but only employ day labor, thus securing the best possible fineness in finish... All
marble work is. . .delivered on cars at our quarry in Vermont." And on and on and on.
This is an interesting view into the background of those monuments one sees in the
early twentieth-century sections of cemeteries. Judith Hufnel (R.D. # 2, Box A 108,
New Hope, Pennsylvania 18938) — who did not say where she found these catalog pages —
teaches gravestone rubbing in the Hunterdon County (New Jersey) Adult, Continu-
ing and Community Education program and is the author of A Legend in Stone.
AGS Sp '83 P10
CENETERY CITATIONS
Outstanding Care and Maintenance
FISHKILL, NEW YORK. The well-kept yard of the First Reformed Protestant Church
contains about forty nearly perfect Zurricher carvings.
Poor Restoration
PLYMOUTH, MASSACHUSETTS. "Restorers"
who put protective casing around the old stones valued only the lettered data; they
cut off the tops of the tympanums, well into the carvings.
Dangerous
ROXBURY, MASSACHUSETTS, Eustis Street
Burying Ground. The corner of Eustis Street and Washington Street is one of the most
dangerous in the city; robberies and attacks are routine at this frightening intersection.
The graveyard, behind a high retaining wall, is practically invisible from the street,
and one feels trapped working there. Access is gained from the back through an alley
of rubble between two abandoned commercial buildings. Remarkably, the burying
ground is little vandalized. The Fosters' work predominates, plus Mumford's and Geyer's.
Mike Cornish is cataloging the yard.
Interesting Stones
PERTH AMBOY, NEW JERSEY. Unusual 1687 skull, Scottish influence.
Vandalized
CHARLESTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS, Phipps
Street Burying Ground. ^For years, access has been through the pried-open bars of
an iron fence. Now the gates hang open, providing passage for vehicles. Surrounded
on two sides by housing projects, the yard is used as a neighborhood playground, and
the rate of vandalism has increased dramatically. Evidence of recent spray-painting,
smashing, scratching, hammering, and possibly shooting is plentiful. The ugly remains
of a matress fire decorates the front slope. Trash and broken glass carpet the ground,
and from the smashed stones and rubble near the perimeter it is obvious that lobbing
bricks and stones over the fence at the markers is a neighborhood sport. A concrete
slab has been dropped over the hole where a tomb was vandalized. The importance and
beauty of the carvings found in this burying ground, in the town where many of the
first stonecutters worked, cannot be overestimated; nor can the peril they are in.
Neglected
WEST ROXBURY, Westerly and Walter Streets
Burial Grounds. These yards are in the care of the Boston Parks & Recreation Depart-
ments. The former, which has permanent access through a broken wall, contains thirty-
five old headstones dating back to the seventeenth century, including an urn and mer-
maid carving.
Neglected
LEDYARD, CONNECTICUT . The numerous
small yards sprinkled through the town are unkept, the overgrowth higher than some
of the stones.
Trampled by Cattle
TINMOUTH, Rutland County, VERMONT. The
stones in the small burying ground in the center of town are being pushed over and
trampled by grazing cattle. The stones date from 1800-1945; faces are carved on the
oldest ones.
Neglected
PORTLAND, MAINE, Old Western Cemetery.
This is one of Portland's most interesting and distinguished landmarks, if one looks be-
yond the decay, neglect, and vandalism which has all but destroyed it. Gates are brok-
en and the yard is being used as a hang-out for vagrants, vandals, and dog-walkers.
One would not mind so much the beer bottles, plastic trash-bags, dog excrement or the
tall grass, weeds, brambles and poison ivy, but the wanton destruction of old stones
and guard rails is inexcusable. Portland is celebrating its 305th anniversary this year,
and everywhere are signs of urban reconstruction and civic pride, except in Western
Cemetery. How can Portland celebrate a proud heritage while that old cemetery dissolves
in ruins, a veritable indictment of disrespect for its distinguished past?
Isolated but Cared For
VERNON, CONNECTICUT. A picturesque, country burial ground. The granite stones
and handsome dry-wall stand straight and are in good condition.
For these citations, thanks to Mary C. LaRocca, Placentia, California, Francis Duval,
Brooklyn, New York, Michael Cornish, Jamaica Plain , Massachusetts, James Slater,
Mansfield Center, Connecticut, and Margaret Jenks, Kirkland, Washington.
ACS Sp '83 P11
MISCELLANEOUS
Promotion, three examples.
Ann Parker and Avon Neal, while publicizing their new book (see review, winter '82/'83,
p. 11) have been given a great deal of space in countless newspapers across the country
in the form of book reviews and interviews, which consistantly mention AGS. They have
also been interviewed on Camera Three and the Dick Cavett and Merv Griffin Shows.
A second exceptional boost to AGS was a lengthy illustrated article in the Connecticut
edition of the January 9, 1983, New York Times. The article was so oriented to AGS ac-
tivity that the response mail often referred to "the New York Times article about AGS."
Because seven AGS members were quoted, it took a bit of sleuthing to discover who had
masterminded the piece. It turned out to be Fred Fredette, from Scotland, Connecticut.
But the article that brought more AGS mail response than any other ever has came not
via news vehicles such as national television or the New York Times. The flood of re-
sponse was to an article, "..Ay, There's the Rub," published in the Winter, 1982-1983,
issue of Small World. Small Worldl We asked one of the letter writers for a copy. It
is a nation-wide (world-wide?) publication sent free to Volkswagon owners. The article,
written by J. Wandres, features full-color photographs of AGS member Roberta Halporn
(whose book-sales table is popular at AGS conferences) making rubbings and foil molds.
We have a vision of the parking lots at the 1983 AGS conference jammed with VW bugs
sporting "I BRAKE FOR OLD GRAVEYARDS" bumperstickers.
Authenticity of epitaphs. We have all read published "funny epitaphs" for which the
corroborating data is either vague or absent— and wondered about their authenticity.
Epitaphs published in The ACS NEWSLETTER are usually ones that our readers have
themselves discovered and sent to us. Occasionally we publish an epitaph whose cre-
dentials are less secure in that its contributor did not take it directly from the stone.
Such an epitaph was used in the Winter 1982/83 Newsletter, page 5: "Sacred to the
Memory of Jared Bates/ Who died Aug the 6th 1800/ His widow, aged 2H, lives at/ 7
Elm Street, has every/ qualification for a good wife/ and yearns to be comforted."
Sent by Elizabeth Hengen, who found it in a collection in the Lowell (Massachusetts)
Historical Society, this epitaph and variations on it have turned up before, and we
wondered if readers would respond with information about inscriptions voicing this
sentiment.
We did not have to wait long for a response. It was not a corroboration, however.
Ruth Gray, of Old Town, Maine, tells us that Lincoln's first settlers arrived in 1822,
that "it was a matter of decades before anyone by the name of Bates was in the town,"
and that "to this day Lincoln has no Elm Street."
In memory of
THOMAS RUCCLES ESQ.
who died suddenly
at Machi'as
Dec.'" 20. 1820
Aged 50 years.
In usual health
he fell to the floor
and instantly expired.
His remains were returned
to his family
and here interred.
In human hearts what bolder thought can rise.
Than man's presumption on tomorrow's dawn.
Columbia Falls, Maine (third cemetery off Route 1, toward Ellsworth) Willow and urn
motif; slate. Courtesy Kim Carpenter, Box 1575, Williams College, Williamstown, MA.
AGS Sp '83 P12
Request for epitaphs. Keven McQueen collects epitaphs that make the reader laugh.
Yes, funny epitaphs. His collection, housed in the library of Eastern Kentucky Uni-
versity, includes 100+ epitaphs from twenty-six states and Canada. He seeks contri-
butions and also welcomes photographs of the stones. We tend to discredit gravestone
data that is not identified as to exact location and name and date of the deceased, so
please include this information. Address General Delivery, Bond, Kentucky UOU07.
Or telephone (606) 364-3135.
Three unusual inscriptions, well known but worth mention on our pages:
Amasa Brainard was age 20 when he "received a Mortal wound on his head by the falling
of a weight from the Bell. . .as he was about to enter the Church to attend on devine
worship" on Sunday, the 22nd of April, 1798. East Haddam, Connecticut.
Cap" Moses Porter was "slain by the Indians near Crown Point in the Morning scout of
the 8th of Sepr 1755." Hadley, Massachusetts .
Twin stones, side by side, record the deaths of Lidia, the wife of Simeon Palmer, who
died in 1754 at age 35 and "Elizabeth who should have been the Wife of Mr. Simeon Pal-
mer who died Aug. 14, 1776 in the 64th Year of her Age." Little Compton, Rhode Island.
These inscriptions were cited by Ann and Avon Neal, "who have rubbed their way
around the world." Marlboro (Massachusetts) Enterprise, January 6, 1983. Courtesy of
Ruth Adam.
mmmm^ mmmm^, i o.o.i
' II ii :o
< «« -.3 «I I
>* *'• ^<
'I Jl [ I'; 1; ;{ i; btii^ |_ \[ [ .;oJU»||uw— » ;, Jum — -_ . ,..■""
-nr^irf^-i^ii^'' -■ ==:3r«i| — ■': 7r-,.:=— ^-^^cir-Tr^ li ■rrn'^^ " ~-~~-ri. r - r
. 'i miU-"^ — --.i — 11 — -^^~^L"' ■" ^"""^ ^-11 — II — ^r— ^ ^ — L" '"j-"-''^, -'z. — m~-. ~"-^* ' '° '■ ■'* I
: y ,^.-, --• - :! " inrir^.^, "-^ ^ ^.'^^XEI^C^-x^ <Js^ ^r-^ "•-•riil. ••::,. ."\; l
j! V. .!.> <.:. V ' •• •• '• " '• •", " " " :
I SI !; 11 ' / g \ *' « ! .1 . •• u I t» , " » 1.^ <•' i< la \
14 \ Jt ' ' Vi « ' *■ I. : !• I. « • M I, i; .
}Onc
1. II II Ij >■ il «/ /u»l] 11- no "" ;| I" II iM I ». 'f? '\>»i! "]. «i
_.jl ll ll_/ /I ^1 : Jt^LJI '-/ /\ VL'jSJL-— _l;
— II — ir — in ri; — ^i — <' — ni — 'i — ii — i /"N m — i" — > rouNc
, _ j! J; •-' ; ,: ..i— . : •■ ' v-^ ' S '; i„...|,>._ _^
I. II ' 1. a ' .* 110 'i ii< ii: 1"' ' 10, !; »• l! « 1 OS ' ' -• ; -n
— -,J. -J. L.._ .-^^—i II--,!. \S,- /jw^J,.^ MEN
I '; 1 ' Ul l| |.". U* I ■• --.^ *! !■ "u *» ... tS *• »k ...^^^ -.B '.9 GO . H . tl '. H ' ' ' '
(' 0 L L M B I S.
Mi.s.sfss/ri'f.
r«i.ii.i.-.t .nd ;o
The original of this diagram hangs in the offices of Gholson Hicks S Nichols, attorneys-
at-law, Columbus, Mississippi. Friendship Cemetery is the birthplace of Decoration Day,
now Memorial Day, begun April 25, 1866, when women of the town decided to decorate
the graves of both Northern and Southern soldiers of the War Between the States. Ac-
cording to James W.- Parker, who manages the cemetery, the old section is still arranged
in this pattern. The cemetery's oldest stone is dated 1849. Mr. Parker's extensive re-
cords show that many of the cemetery's elaborately carved monuments came from New
England and from France and Italy, but most were sculptured by skilled black artisans
working for the McCahey Marble Works, founded 1848, now the Columbus Marble Works.
Diagram courtesy of Hunter Gholson.
Cedar Lawn in Patterson, N. J. William Moer of Little Falls, New Jersey, a retired teacher
who conducts tours for the Great Falls Historic District and lectures on archaeology and
cemeteries for Wayne Adult School, was featured in a full page story in the North New
Jersey News , April 5, 1982. The story describes Cedar Lawn Cemetery, a nineteenth-
century "city of the dead," where the wealthy are located on broad avenues, the poor on
the side streets, says Moer. A garden landscape established in 1867, it contains 71,981
graves on 135 well-kept acres. Photographs illustrating the article show interesting and
unusual markers memorializing Patterson's famous and infamous citizens.
AGS Sp '83 P13
^llinSMlN
sseyv 'jajsaDJO^
a I V d
90ViSOd s 'n
-080 XldOUd NON
60910 ssi?W Jajsa^JOM
Ajapos uvijpnbuuv uvDiJauivo/D
suou^Dliqnj SOV
Midwest issue. Phil Kalias will be guest-editor of the summer, 1983, issue of
THE ACS NEWSLETTER . He welcomes items about midwest gravemarkers; also
midwest Indian burial grounds. Address him at 308 Acorn Street/Whiting, Stevens
Point, Wisconsin 54481.
NHOCA address. In an item about the New Hampshire Old Graveyard Association
(Winter, page 12), we neglected to include an address. Corresponding secretary
and newsletter {Rubbings) editor for NHOCA is Carlton R. Vance, 445 Greeley St.
Manchester 03102.
Credits. The drawings in this issue, excepting that of the Thomas Bates stone
(page 7) and the reproductions from a Sears, Roebuck, Inc.^ catalog and from New
York State Environment (pages 9 and 10), ar'e reproduced, with permission, from
published material by Peter Benes. The rubbings are taken from Edmond Gillon's
Early New England Gravestone Rubbings.
SEE YOU AT THE HUB OF THE RUB!
NEWSLETTER
OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES
Editor, Jessie Lie Farber
Guest editor, Piiil Kalias
Volume 7, Number 3, Summer 1983 ISSN; 0146-5783
CONTENTS
An Undisturbed Harbor: A Personal Reflection , , , , , , ,
by Justin Isherwood
BOOK REVIEWS
■ I I I I ■
Pioneer Cemeteries ■•■■■••■■
by John H. Kahlert and Albert Quinland
Review by Justin Isherwood
Memorial Symbolism and Symbols , , 3j L\
both published by The American Monument Company
Review by Peter McCarthy
MORE ABOUT BOOKS
iiiiiiillliliiiiliiiiiiiiiiilliiii
Ohio Memorial Images. A photo-essay , , , 5^ 6
by Francis Y. Duval and Ivan B. Rigby
A Scots Monument, Lamartine, Wisconsin. An article 7
by James A. Jones
ARTICLES OF INTEREST. A bibliography , 8
Graveyard Archaeology. Reprint of an article
by David L. Newlands
Getting Directions. Etiquette for the road , , ,
by the editor
NEWSLETTER NOTES
CONSERVATION CONFERENCE. A notice, . . .
iiiiiiiii«^y -LU
11
iiiiitiii
■ I I ■■ I I I I
I ■ ■ I I I I 1 ■
12
12
AN UNDISTURBED HARBOR: A Personal Reflection
Justin Isherwood
Is it anti-social to admit you like cemeteries? For a while it has been, and varied are
the reasons. We haven't had to visit them so often, sulfa and penicillin having altered
our way of life as well as death. Our lengthened life-span, together with our mobile
life style and the demise of many of our commemorative rituals, have fostered a disin-
clination of the living to think on death--a failing many of us have reason to demur.
I like cemeteries. I like them partly because they occasionally harbor an undisturbed
slice of the natural world. Aldo Leopole, in his classic ecological text, A Sand County
Almanac, tells us that big blue stem was once the supreme citizen of prairie plant life.
I had never seen big blue stem and knew not where to find it. The first specimen I
discovered was in, you guessed it, a rural burying ground. Subsequently, I've learned
that cemeteries often retain plants which have been mowed, weeded, and herbicided
out of existence in the outside world.
I've taken picnics in cemeteries: kids, wife, wool blanket, cheese, sausage, and wine.
One of my favorites gives residence to a white pine. The tree is of heroic girth, though
short in stature; a tree sometime describes and glorifies the gathered assembly in a way
that neither stone nor chisel can match.
Cemeteries are a chronicle of lives short-circuited. I once wrote a poem about the stones
in a cemetery down the road. Mary B. died at six years. Her graveyard neighbor,
Willie T. , died the same year, at eight. The substance of the poem imagined a different
fate. Would they have shared the township's courtin' nights? Would their children have
been born in time to be funneled into that European war to end all wars? Some vital in-
gredient seeps into our pores when we place ourselves among those who breathed brief-
ly before us.
I have a friend who is something of an historical bum — and a good photographer who de-
votes his life to the pursuit of images. Sometimes, when he doesn't have the money for
Continued next page
"A Personal Refteotion" continued
motel and breakfast besides, he unrolls his sleeping bag in the nearest cemetery in the
knowledge that his sleep will not be disturbed, even by the local gendarmes.
My town cemetery is near the river, across the road from mounds belonging to an In-
dian culture that produced people who, like my people, farmed corn and potatoes and
picked cranberries, and, like my people, died. My township and my fields are a richer
place to live because of those cemeteries. I take my children for walks there. Here is
great-grandpa, and those are the two brothers he saw lynched for murdering the sher-
iff. That's the sheriff over there. Yonder are the Indians. My children experience
an intimacy with life and crime and punishment that television cannot approach.
Near the blacktop road is a stone and a lilac bush. The granite is about the size of a
basketball, and the lilacs get cut back every other year by the town crew. A man used
to stop in the spring and sit a while with the stone. One year it was moved and he,
maybe eighty, slow 'n' easy rolled it back. Said it was his daughter's and that he used
to live up the road in a board shack. Said his wife had a hard birth one mean February
night and the girlchild breathed three times and died. Next day he took a mattock to
the frozen ground and buried the babe there in a horse blanket.
We're the more sane for cemeteries, and I suspect as long as we're a people we will have
them. Trace human-kind back into the mists, and somewhere near the first tools there
will be a cemetery.
BOOK REVIEWS
PIONEER CEMETERIES
By John H. Kahlert (text) and Albert Quinland (photographs)
Illustrated with black-and-white photographs. 206 pages
Meadow Land Publishers, Box 188, Baileys Harbor, Wisconsin, 1981. Paperback, $12.50
Reviewed by Justin Isherwood
Pioneer Cemeteries is specific to Door County, Wisconsin, but it captures profound
universal emotions. It is a history, with a history's pathos and tragedy, its irony,
bursts of comedy, and that characteristic which proscribes us as a species, survival.
Kahlert states his purpose in the Preface: to describe the cemeteries of a fragile lit-
tle peninsula jutting into a brooding northern sea; from the obscure family plots to
grand, groomed parish cemeteries. In describing them he delineates common sym-
bols on the stones of pioneers and narrates events in the lives of early settlers who
gave more than their names to the new-broken country.
The book opens with some delightfully macabre descriptions of funeral customs and
the impact of death in the pioneer community. It is quickly evident that in the mid-
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, death was often an abrupt phenomenon.
The Heilman family, for example, lost seven children to diphtheria in three weeks of
September, 1880. This was no historical anomaly; two years previous, the Senifit
family of the same village lost seven children. Kahlert's introduction creates a back-
ground for the descriptions of the cemeteries of Door County, one of the more famous
(and, incidentally, more scenic) counties of the nation. Kahlert inculcates in the
reader the sense of being a participant with Door County's courageous pioneers and,
ultimately, a reverence for their last resting places.
The author's accounts of events in the lives of those early settlers who rest in Door
County are not without humor. An example is the description of the adventures of
an ambitious young cleric, Joseph Rene Vilatte, who presented himself to an Episco-
pal bishop for acceptance into that church's priesthood, even though he was a Pres-
byterian. It was not Vilatte's first conversion, for between 1870 and 1885, he had
changed his church affiliation sixteen times and had entered ten different monastic
orders. Subsequently, he approached the Russian Orthodox Church and was even-
tually ordained as an archbishop of the Old Catholic Church of North America. But
Preacher Vilatte's faith continued to stray, and he was finally excommunicated in 1892.
Alas, the ill-fate of being born before the advent of "born-again. "
Black-and-white photographs of varying quality illustrate the book; their very lack
of Madison Avenue hype endorses the human vigor found throughout. Most of the
photographs are of representative marble, fieldstone, and granite gravemarkers.
Some photographs are of the yards. Pioneer Cemeteries is a worthy testament to
the American pioneer and a welcome addition to the collections of those who have an
interest in the gravestones and the history of the continent's middle north.
Justin Isherwood is a Town of Plover, Portage County, Wisconsin, farmer who is a
frequent contributor to regional publications. His ancestors were early settlers of
Portage County.
AGS Su '83 P2
MEMORIAL SYMBOLISM, Epitaphs and Design Types
Profusely illustrated with line drawings. 65 pages.
Published by the American Monument Association, 6902 North
High Street, Worthington, Ohio 43085, 1947. Out of print.
SYMBOLS: The Universal Language
Profusely illustrated with line drawings. 64 pages
Published by the American Monument Association, 6902 North
High Street, Worthington, Ohio 43085, 1982. Soft cover, $15
Reviewed by Peter McCarthy
Since 1947, the American Monument Association, a national trade association of quar-
riers and manufacturers of memorial stone products, has provided the retail monument
dealer with two design-and-epitaph books. Memorial Symbolism, published in 1947, has
become an industry classic. It offers the retail monument dealei — and others inter-
ested in monument design — illustrations with text and captions explaining the symbols
used in hundreds of design elements dealing with many themes, religious, floral, and
civil. It emphasizes the more classic elements of monument design. The book also con-
tains a collection of over three hundred epitaphs, of varied length and style, to help
the monument dealer and his customer make a satisfying selection. For the monument
dealer, the ideal situation exists when his customer comes to him with a suitable epitaph
in mind — it is awkward when the retailer and his customer must thumb through a book
for lines to remember a loved one by. But when help is needed. Memorial Symbolism
is a valuable source. The epitaphs are divided into categories under headings such as,
"Familiar Epitaphs," "Inspiration," "Prayers," "Immortality," "Patriotism," and "Rest,"
"Tribute," "Consolation," "Paradise," "Love," "Sorrow," and "Memory." The majority
of the epitaphs are quotations taken from literary sources, and the quotations are iden-
tified by author or Biblical chapter and verse.
Memorial Symbolism devotes a fifteen-page, finely illustrated section to a wide range of
monumental shapes and designs. I have not found this section particularly useful in my
dealing with customers because I, unlike many other retail monument dealers, prefer to
sell my customer a monument that is currently in my inventory. I prefer this because
it allows me to offer an earlier delivery date and to keep the customer's cost down. My
staff and I have, however, found this section very interesting and also very useful to
our background understanding of various monument traditions and the evolution of con-
temporary monument styles. Among the styles included are the ledger-stone, the tablet,
the obelisk and pedestal types, the columnar monument, garden-type memorials, the
cross, and mausoleums.
Finally, the book offers an excellent bibliography (and an index), an important feature,
I feel, for those with a professional interest in this field. However, too many retail mon-
ument builders tend to function as though their field exists in a vacuum and do not take
the time to study the available literature and discover the significance of their busi-
nesses as a part of a long tradition related to ecclesiastical art, sculpture, and archi-
tecture. Many of the titles included in the bibliography are out of print, but I have
found most of them in public libraries and through book-search services.
The recently published Symbols: The Universal Language is the American Monument
Association's attempt to update its first book and make it more relevant to the needs of
the contemporary monument retailer. Artistically, the book design is bold and modern,
in sharp contrast to the more delicate style of its predecessor. While I have no argu-
ment with the concept of offering updated monument designs and information presented
in a sleek format, I have not found this new edition to be as helpful or as useful as the
original volume. Symbols uses the same basic format. However, it includes only a small
fraction of the number of designs that the original book offers. Further, there is no
background text. The designs are presented by drawings only, with bare-bones cap-
tions to identify the symbol, e.g., "Crape and Leaves: Christian faith, Christ and his
followers," or "Ivy: Friendship, faithfulness, eternal life, undying affection. ", etc.
Symbols' section on epitaphs is where I find the book to be the least satisfactory. It
offers five pages of mostly one-and two-line familiar sayings ("Love is eternal," "Life
is not forever. Love is"), compared to fourteen pages in the earlier edition. Few are
identified as to source. For the most part it offers only the most basic, "assembly-line"
epitaphs, diminishing the importance of the personal epitaph, which 1 feel is the most
important and most personal of the monument's elements.
The area in which the new edition is superior to the old is its section on lettering styles.
Eight styles are presented in copy-book form that is easy for customers to examine and
for shop-people to use. Many monument retailers, including myself, tend to use the
same lettering style again and again, and this section is helpful in shaking us out of our
bad habits. r, ^- j
Continued next page
AGS Su '83 P3
Symbols' final section, "Memorial Shapes and Forms," is composed of illustrations of
thirty-eight monument types, under each of which is a title without further comment.
There is no text. In terms of its usefulness to the retailer, I cannot explain why this
section was included.
In summary, I find Memorial Symbolism an extremely helpful, informative, and satisfy-
ing publication on many levels, and I continue to use it in the day-to-day operation of
my business. In addition to the design and epitaph selections it presents, it gives the
monument retailer an insight into the various traditions and histories that influence his
work. Symbols, on the other hand, is smart and stylish in appearance but so simpli-
M5. The Acanthus; ij one of
the oldat of all omunoitai
metxfs in cituiul architecture
Authontics differ on the ongm
of thii conventionalized plant
fonn The theories range from
plana of the piralcy type to the
full grown cabbage Symbolo-
gists have aMocisied the plant
with the nxicy ground upon
which moct of the ancient Greek
cemetcnes were placed, hence,
the attributed symboliini "heav-
enly gardena."
Illustrations from the 1947 book (above)
and its 1982 counterpart (right).
Daffodil
Desire, beauty, deep
regard.
fled as to be reduced to little more than a pattern book. The two books may indicate an
uncomfortable trend in the monument industry: the lack of willingness to go very much
beyond the ordinary; the willingness to use and reuse the same cross, same roses, the
same epitaph. In strictly pragmatic terms. Symbols may serve some retailers as a help-
ful guide in acquainting their customers with the most common, popular, and simple de-
sign elements. But in our industry there is potential for much more than the common,
the popular, and the simple. And that is why Memorial Symbolism has been, is, and I
think will continue to be the more important and useful book.
Peter McCarthy is General Manager of Almont Memorials, Pueblo, Colorado. His ap-
proach to designing and retailing monuments was featured in an article in the April,
1983 issue of Stone in America.
MORE ABOUT BOOKS
The AGS Journal. Volume 2 of MARKERS, the Journal of the Association for Gravestone
Studiesvi'iW be ready for purchase in mid-July. Orders will be taken at the ACS Con-
ference, and mail-order blanks will be included with THE NEWSLETTER. Some orders
have already arrived from eager members, with $10 checks enclosed. These orders will
be honored. However, readers are asked to hold off on placing additional advance or-
ders until the exact price and ordering procedures have been established and published.
Editor David Watters is enthusiastic about the 220-page publication, which contains eight
articles and over 120 illustrations and an index. It will be issued in both hard and soft
cover editions. Dr. Watters is now calling for submission of papers for review for the
next volume, MARKERS III. His address: Department of English, Hamilton-Smith Hall,
University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire 03824.
Hot off the press. Epitaph and Icon: A Field Guide to the Old Burying Grounds of Cape
Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket, by Diana Hume Ceorge and Malcom A. Nelson,
is available (§ $12.95 from Parnassus Imprints. This eagerly anticipated volume will be
reviewed in the Fall NEWSLETTER by James A. Slater.
Midwest ethnic cemetery. Ricardas Vidutis, 2621 W. Pierce, #105, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
53204, recommends to us A Lithuanian Cemetery, edited by Algimantis Kezys and pub-
lished in 1976. According to Vidutis, the book is a high quality, large format publica-
tion with over 200 photographs of St. Casimar, an ethnic catholic cemetery on the out-
skirts of Chicago which serves the largest Lithuanian community in the United States.
Unpublished manuscripts. At our request, John Brooke has contributed to the AGS
archives two unpublished manuscripts dealing with historical anthropology and cogni-
tive archaeology (see page 10, Fall, 1982,A/£'M/SZ.Er7'E/?) . These will be reviewed in THE
NEWSLETTER by Peter Benes. Brooke^ who did this writing while earning his Ph.D.
at the University of Pennsylvania, has joined the American History faculty at Tufts
University, Boston. Another unpublished work we asked for and have received and
placed in the archives is Cemeteries and Graves of Madison County, Montana, compiled
in 1980 by Doris B. (Mrs. Henry) Townshend of New Haven, Connecticut, and Cameron
Montana. This 241-page, spiral bound volume describes and locates and records ver- (
batim all the markers in the twenty-three cemeteries in that Montana county.
ACS Su '83 P4
OHIO MEMORIAL IMAGES
Francis V." Duval & Ivan B. Rigby
^8'^H. St. Paul Lutheran Churchyard, Berne Township (Lancaster area), Fairfield County.
The willow motif, decorative pilasters, and inscription style are typical of the many flawless
memorials signed by carver John Strickler.
Pictured here are a few choice images extant in nineteenth-century
Ohio graveyards. For the most part, the memorial art form reached
its apogee during the 1830's and 1840's, when talented artisans mas-
tered the bountiful limestone and sandstone of the region. Aside
from a few unusual examples, these evocative representations reflect
the traditional symbolism of the times while remaining indigenous in
character. It is fitting that stonecarvers such as the Strickler
brothers, G. Meech, J. W. Junkhurth, W. P. Jeffries, C. Wilson,
and several others proudly signed their superbly crafted markers.
)1835. Oak Grove Cemetery, Delaware, Delaware County. Delicate willow carving is flanked
by symbolic and decorative motifs. By an unidentified carver.
AGS Su '83 P5
r
1830. Hopewell Cemetery, Montgomery (Cincinnati area), Hamilton County. Su-
perb symbolic rendition of the Holy Spirit. Attributable to carver J. Humble.
1848. Salem United Methodist Churchyard, Anderson Township (Cincinnati area),
Hamilton County. Unusual allegoric carving which displays refined craftsmanship.
Signed: "B. Reeves, Fulton, O."
1840. Small Roadside cemetery, near Westfield, Morrow County. An inspired varia-
tion on the willow and urn theme by an unknown carver.
AGS Su '83 P6
A SCOTS MONUMENT, Lamartine, Wisconsin
James A . Jones
Secure beneatin the towering pine and spruce and sheltered from the summer sun and
winter storms in the little cemetery near Rogersville in the Town of Lamartine, Fon du
Lac County, Wisconsin, stands a monument to the thrifty and sentimental Scots who
left their native land and arrived here in the mid-nineteenth century. The monument
is a miniature replica of a log cabin, made of Barre granite in the early twentieth cen-
tury by the skilled artisan, Robert Powrie.
The log cabin belonged to the pioneer James Fife, who, in June, 1846, arrived in
Lamartine with his wife Margaret and three year old son Jamie. In the following twelve
years, three children were born to the couple, and one child, Jamie, died, probably
of appendicitis. Twelve year old Jamie was buried in the nearby school yard, where he
used to play.
The schoolhouse, also a log cabin, was built in 1849 and stood in the center of what is
now Rogersville Cemetery. The few early graves were in the east end of the plat, far-
thest from the roadway. That is where the Fife cabin and later the Fife memorial, the
replica, were placed, on the bonnie brae overlooking a meadow. When a new school-
house was built of sawed lumber on another site in 1860, the old school yard became a
cemetery only.
Then Jamie was joined by his parents — Margaret in 1876 and James in 1901 — and the
surviving Fifes commissioned Powrie, a family friend, to carve the family monument.
Powrie was a master worker in stone who came from Scotland at age forty, and by the
time he was given this commission he was famed as a designer of marble monuments.
The business list of Fon du Lac in 1905 notes that he had created several outstanding
memorials, among them a monument to Wisconsin's Civil War Iron Brigade in Arlington
National Cemetery.
The original log cabin of James Fife was 12 feet by 18 feet and 8 feet high at the eaves.
The granite replica, now weathered and partly moss-covered, is 4 feet by 8 feet and
6 feet high, resting on a base of the same stones that supported the original. The
auld country theme predominates in the monument; it faces to the east, from whence
the Fifes came, with the Scotch thistle carved near the threshold and carved morning
glories peeking in at the kitchen window. No light shines through the simulated oil
paper windows, but the solid oak door simulated in granite has the latch string hang-
ing out — the sign of welcome to travelers.
In bold letters on the foundation is the name FIFE, and in small script at the back is
the signature of the artist — "R. Powrie." The lot is outlined by four small oak stumps
in granite, each carved with one of the letters: FIFE. On the back of the monument
is a scroll bearing the names of the three pioneer family members, who could see the
sunrise from their door.
Over the years, the log cabin has become a symbol of the hardy pioneers, not only of
the Fife family and the Scotsmen, but all those early settlers who passed this way and
started a new life in a new land, in a log cabin.
James A. Jones of Resendale, Wisconsin, is a World War I veteran, a long-time teacher,
and a retired high school principal. Another version of this article appeared in the
March 30, 1980, Fon du Lac Reporter.
A
Lake Winnebago
\
/
Pond du Lac W^
RogerBvlll* •
• Lamartine
Pond du Lac County
^ro
Sheboygan tf
\
To
Milwmuk**
J)
AGS Su '83 P7
ARTICLES OF INTEREST
To the Study of Midwest (loosely defined) Cravemarkers
With one exception, noted below, copies of these articles have
been placed in the ACS archives, 101 Newbury Street, Boston.
Engel, Bernard F. (Michigan State University). "Why So Doleful? The Funereal
Poetry of the Early Midwest," The Old Northwest, vol. 7, no, 2 (Summer 1981), pp.
147-159. A comparison between the funereal poetry of the nineteenth century in
Eastern and Midwestern United States, and between nineteenth-century American
poetry and the poetry of other periods and countries, with reasons for the differ-
ences and similarities. Gives insight into other funereal art forms and practices of
the period, including cemetery and monument design and epitaphs. An article of
substance, written with a light touch.
McDowell, Peggy. "New Orleans Cemeteries: Architectural Styles and Influences,"
Southern Quarterly, vol. 20 (Winter 1982), pp. 8-27. An overview of New Orleans
cemetery architecture. Circumstances and influences that produced the New Orleans
above-ground tomb style. Influence of international nineteenth-century trends on
funereal practices and monument design. Description of representative memorials in
three of the city's more than thirty cemeteries. Characteristics of the work of de-
signers Jacques de Pouilly and Newton Richards. Illustrated.
Moore, William B. and Davies, Stephen C. "The Art of Death: Nineteenth Century
Tombstone Carving in Crawford County," The Journal of Erie Studies, vol. 7 (Fall
1978), pp. 54-72. A summary of nineteenth-century attitudes toward death; their
development and their influence on gravestone and cemetery design. A description
of gravestones in Crawford County, Pennsylvania, by three periods: Sandstone,
Marble, and Granite. Description and illustrations of the work of several carvers
from each period. The most interesting is that of an unidentified carver of the Sand-
stone Period who carved floral and geometric designs in high relief. (Note: Although
Pennsylvania is not a Midwestern state, we include Crawford County as Midwest. Lo-
cated between Pittsburgh and Erie, it is west of the Appalachan Mountains, consi-
dered by some to be the eastern boundary of the United States Midwest. )
Moore, William B. and Davis, Stephen C. "Rosa is an Angel Now: Epitaphs From
Crawford County, Pennsylvania," Western Pennsylvania Historical Magazine, vol.58
(1975), pp. 1-51, 185-253, 327-394, 584. (Not in AGS archives) . Information about
gravestone carving, carvers, and types of grave monuments in Crawford County,
Pennsylvania. Selected epitaphs with annotations concerning their poetic form and
style, religious connotations, social commentary, etc.
Perret, Maurice E. (The University of Wisconsin/Stevens Point). "Tombstones and
Epitaphs: Journeying Through Wisconsin's Cemeteries," The Wisconsin Academy
Review, vol. 21, no. 2 (Spring 1975), pp. 2-6. A description of shapes, materials,
decorative carving, and epitaphs of Wisconsin gravemarkers, grouped by time period.
Evidence to be derived from gravestone design and inscriptions, e.g., the deceased's
religious affiliation, place of origin, occupation, war experience, cause of death, etc.
illustrated with photographs and epitaphs from representative stones, which are sur-
prisingly similar to New England markers of the same periods.
Perret, Maurice E, (The University of Wisconsin/Stevens Point). "Cemeteries: A
Source of Geographic Information," Transactions of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences,
Arts and Letters, vol. 63 (1975), pp. 139-61. An evaluation of the cemetery as a re-
search source, with particular attention given to its use in studying the ethnic his-
tory of V/isconsin. Geology, history, genealogy, demography, sociology, and art his-
tory are mentioned as fields that can make good use of this source; Perret concentra-
tes on the information to be used by the geographer, especially information concern-
ing pioneer settlers, their places of origin, their arrival and settlement in Wisconsin,
and the rate of their assimilation. Sections headed "How to Look for Information in
a Cemetery" and "Caution to be Taken in Conducting a Field Study" give guidelines
and examples of inaccurate reading of data. A unique aid is Ferret's glossary of
translations from fourteen languages of key gravestone words: born, died, age, years,
father, mother, son, daughter, husband, and wife. Good list of published cemetery
studies (not restricted to Midwest) . Illustrated.
PK & JLF
AGS Su '83 P8
c.
GRAVEYARD ARCHAEOLOGY: David L. Newlands
A Source of Historical and Cultural Evidance
Reprinted from the December 1982 issue of
Archaeolotical Newsletter, published by the
Royal Ontario Museum, TOO Queen's Park,
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M 5S 2C6.
The view that archaeologists are exclusively concerned with the uncovering of unknown
structures and objects from sites of great age is being changed by the study of sites
associated with the development of European colonial culture in North America. This
subject, called historical archaeology, is concerned with sites that may be less than a
century old, still visible on the landscape, and clearly identifiable. Why, then, is there
interest in these sites? And why do their researchers call themselves 'archaeologists'?
The answer to both of these questions lies in the growing interest in developing models
and other theoretical frameworks for explaining the processes by which things of ordi-
nary life become part of the historical and cultural landscape; or conversely, the pro-
cesses by which things are destroyed, consumed, modified or discarded. Each of these
changes has some effect on the landscape, and as such can be seen as part of the ar-
chaeologist's study. A recent book by Michael Thompson, summarizing some of theo-
retical aspects of the subject, is aptly titled Rubbish Theory.
Of the many artifacts and sites that record the development of European colonial culture
in Canada, burying grounds or cemeteries remain in great number and have a large num-
ber of artifacts that are easily studied. The graveyard has been described both as an
ideal source for the study of the cultural landscape, and as a phase of land utilization.
The graveyard has many of the features of a traditional archaeological site. For example,
it has a surface — the top layer. ThisI layer is datable by grave markers and each mar-
ker is an artifact with epigraphic evidence concerning who lies below. The changing
shape, decoration and location of grave stones through time is in a closely-controlled
context from which, as was shown by Dethlefsen and Deetz* in their studies of colonial
cemeteries in New England, a variety of archaeological methodologies and theories can
be developed and tested. Crave markers in their spatial, temporal and formal attri-
butes provide data for inferences on the patterning of cultural behaviour; and thus,
enable us to develop an understanding of the way people form, modify and discard ma-
terial things.
The title 'graveyard archaeology' is proposed for the study of burial sites so as to help
focus on the multi-disciplinary aspect of this form of research. It may also bring to
the attention of students and researchers of the field of European colonial culture, the
contributions that such studies can make to our understanding of historical and cultural
processes. The graveyard has been studied for its mortuary art, specialized architec-
ture, inscriptional art, genealogical data, evidence of religious beliefs, geographical
patterning and as a source of demographic data.
Graveyards have a diverse collection of funerary art. The earliest markers were pro-
bably of wood or field stone, and therefore of little, if any, artistic value. Most of
these markers have disappeared through the natural processes of decay, or through
the work of over- zealous caretakers. The earliest stone markers in Ontario were rec-
tangular marble slabs with variations in shape occurring on the upper part. These
stones were often produced by local craftsmen, many of whom put their name or sig-
nature on the base of the slab, both as an indication of their craftsmanship and as a
way to encourage more business. By the mid 19th century more elaborate markers in
the form of obelisks, pillars, and other geometric forms became prominent in urban ceme-
teries. In the 1880's, granite began to replace marble as the material used for markers
and by the 1930's virtually all markers were of granite.
Interesting exceptions to this general development were the iron crosses in Roman Catho-
lic cemeteries of German settlers in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo and in Bruce
County. They are an illustration of the transfer of traditional cultural forms from the
Old World to Ontario.
The form and decoration of grave markers reflects not only social differences, religious
practices and the carver's skill, but also the nature of the stone used. Marble slabs
were decorated with motifs such as the willow, lamb, cross, hand or flower. Granite,
being harder, was not as elaborately decorated. Thus the use of granite began the
process of increased uniformity in grave markers, now so noticeable in public ceme-
teries and memorial gardens.
Where stones have the name of the carver or merchant, this information can be used to
Continued next page
AGS Su '83 P9
Graveyard Ar'ahaeology , continued
measure diffusion rates of stone types and decorative motifs over a geographical region,
and to indicate the nature of trade in markers, particularly between Ontario and the /""
United States. A careful study of hand-carved stones should provide evidence of the
production technology, an unexplored area of artifact analysis.
The cemetery is a source of genealogical information, a record of names and kinship
data. The use of kinship terms illustrates social attitudes. During the years 1981 and
1982, I studied four Quaker burying grounds in Central Ontario, each going back to the
first decade of the 19th century. The earliest inscribed markers had adult males with
no kinship term, while children and women were consistently designated as 'son of,
'daughter of, or 'wife of. This practice continued until the 1920's, when the number
of burials and the use of harder granite markers resulted in the absence of any kin-
ship terms in the grounds.
Inscriptions on grave markers provide information on birth, death,. and migration, from
which data on the average age at death, longevity, seasonality of mortality, sexual dif-
ferences in mortality, marriage patterns, and the mean and range of family size, and its
effect on migration and population density are derived. This data can be used in con-
junction with other historical data to provide important data for demographic study. Mor-
tality in 19th-century Ontario is closely related to diet, medical practices, hygiene, fam-
ine, century pestilence, and occasionally, conflict.
The relationship of the burying ground to transportation routes, desirable land sites,
and population centres explains the number and distribution of many burial sites. Our
large cities have many long-forgotten or little-known cemeteries. The history and loca-
tion of these grounds will show how factors such as religious and national distinctions,
the need for accessible burial space, and changing decorative taste have in the past in-
fluenced the location and growth of cemeteries, and their relationship to the settlement
of the area.
Each graveyard is a replica of the living community which established and used the bur-
ial grounds. As in the living community, there are 'good' and 'bad' neighborhoods in
cemeteries; with preferred sites often more expensive than their less desirable counter-
parts. No one wants to be placed near a person who was considered disreputable in
the community. The process by which a burial ground is filled, the development of fam-
ily plots and the placement of individuals within these family plots, all illustrate and
duplicate aspects of the living community's practices and values.
Most of the 19th-century burying grounds were established when land was inexpensive
and readily available in or near urban centres. In the future, it may be necessary to
adopt practices now followed in parts of the United States and in Europe, of intention-
ally re-using old burial grounds, thus accelerating the destruction of historical and
archaeological evidence, to make space for new burials and new markers.
The deliberate removal of markers for new burials is not as great a threat to historical
and archaeological study as the natural decay of limestone, the effects of acid-rain,
vandalism, and the efforts of those interested in 'tidying'up' abandoned or rarely used
sites associated with religious congregations which are in decline or which have been
discontinued.
The urgent need is to record all late 19th century and early 19th century graveyards,
especially those which have been abandoned or 'closed' to further use. Recording con-
sists of preparing a detailed plan of the site, and transcribing and photographing every
stone. A standardized form, which would assist in the collection and analysis of data,
should be developed, tested and then widely promoted by all heritage groups interested
in graveyard archaeology in Ontario. With the use of this form there will be a standard-
ization of data collection among large numbers of recorders who are working individually
or in groups.
As pointed out by W. E. Warner in The Living and the Dead, the cemetery serves both
functional and emotional purposes. It is a place to dispose of corpses; but far more
significant, it is a place and a landscape where the living community maintains its psy-
chological and emotional contacts with the dead. The cemetery represents the most
fundamental values of the living community, including social distinctions, family relation-
ships, age and sex patterns, and religious beliefs — all of these change through time.
The ability of the graveyard to express our most profound relationships and beliefs make
it an important subject for the archaeologist, and an opportunity to develop through
inter-disciplinary research, new methodologies and theories in archaeology.
*Dethlefsen, E. and J. Deetz, "Death's Heads, Cherubs and Willow Trees: Experimental
Archaeology in Colonial Cemeteries", American Antiquity, Vol. 31 no. 4, April, 1966,
pp 502-510.
David Newlands is a Research Associate^ Canadiana Department, Royal Ontario Museum.
AGS Su '83 PIO
''^.
GETTING DIRECTIONS
or
Etiquette for the Road
You pull over to the curb, lower your window, maybe make a little beep with your horn,
and you call out to the local resident, "Can you tell me where your old graveyard is?"
If he knows where it is and shouts the directions back neatly, you're in luck. More of-
ten he walks over to your car and responds with a question:
"You mean the old Indian graveyard?" or, perhaps,
"You looking for any special name there?" or,
"Which graveyard? We have seventeen."
Or he may take off his cap, scratch his head and say, "Well, let me see..." or, "Hmmm...
It's not easy to describe."
The response he will avoid is, "No. I don't know where it is."
My husband and I have a theory about this. By asking your question, you have given
this person a platform. He has your attention. He has a chance to tell someone what he
knows. You, his audience, wait eagerly to learn from him, to do his bidding. You may
be the only person all day, ail week, or ever who has wanted to hear what he has to say.
He doesn't want to ring down the curtain with, "I don't know." He leans against your
car. "Well, it's quite a way," he begins. Long pause as he surveys the road ahead, ther
the road behind.
From here on, the encounter varies according to the personality of the questionner. In
our car, a conflict with the direction-giver quickly develops. My husband, a gentle and
patient man, is also a man of few, carefully chosen words. He has put the question sim-
ply; he wants a simply stated response. He is eager to get into that graveyard while the
sun is right for photographs, and poorly enunciated rambling frustrates him. He calls
across me to the direction-giver, "If you don't know, it's alright to say so." This may
do the trick; if our guide doesn't know the way, he can get off without losing face. Or
he may know. Either way, he usually persists. Now, though, there has been a reversal
in our roles. No longer is the direction-giver doing the favors. He is performing before
an impatient audience that can walk out — that is, drive out — if he doesn't get his act to-
gether. My husband takes charge; his interrogation is businesslike, demanding:
"You mean bear right or turn right?"
"How far [ri miles to the circle?"
"That's not clear. Repeat it, slowly. "
"Stop light or stop sign?"
"You said right but you're pointing left! "
The direction-giver may founder a bit, but he perseveres. Direction-givers turn off
their power mowers to improve the situation. They stop pumping gas. They let child-
ren weep in their strollers. They check with wives, make phone calls. They even get
in their cars and on their motorcycles and bicycles and lead the way. They hold the
stage for as long as possible. Sometime, instead of one direction-giver, there are two
or more competing for attention.
Recently, after a long description full of local check-points and many turns and cau-
tions, my husband, who was somewhat familiar with the town, asked, "You mean we just
stay on route 9?" A long, deflated pause followed this blow. "Yes, sir... well, yes..."
he answered, eyes downcast. It was all over.
MORAL: Be nice to direction-givers,
their fun. JLF
If you do them the favor of asking, don't spoil
»*,«liiT»S »IS
M.tVtfJTCS HT
H ftX.M ».» c r
cAtDSdwrw
f « «si:t 0 I c N
TrKMOlTX N
.l^»^«,1l»* to
STM 0 R C
H * S 10 H E
II 0 * RM T
SM Y EH E
02 02tT T
FSC EE E
•m 7 «0 M
s«a t &T
T C L I E S
kt n I p M
D23A PEL
0 I D TO H
0C27MC 0
«N C V N A
IK * t M Y
a M«vn
This stone marking the graves of the two wives
of Dr. Samuel Bean is located in Rush's Cemetery,
Crosshill, Wellesley Township, Ontario, Canada.
It is a gray granite replica of the original marker,
which had deteriorated and could not be restored.
To read the inscription, start seven letters from
the top and seven from the left-hand side. Read
counter-clockwise in alternating straight and zig-
zag lines.
Need more help? Full directions for reading this
inscription will be published in the Fall, 1983,
ACS Newsletter.
Courtesy, MBNews, May, 1983.
ACS Su '83 P11
VUlllS/WlN
Olfr ON tiuiJBd
a I V d
3ovisod s n
-OVJO lldOdd NON
60910 ss^W -I31SSDJOM
suouvDiiqnj SOV
NEWSLETTER NOTES
This issue's guest editor. Pinil Kallas, a M.A.T. in American History Education from
the University of Wisconsin/Stevens Point, is editor of INSCRIPTIONS , the newsletter
of the Wisconsin State Old Cemetery Society. He is also editing a tabloid celebrating
the 100th anniversary of the incorporation of Stevens Point, Wisconsin. We are in-
debted to Mr. Kallas, not only for collecting material for this issue, but also for con-
tributing three books to the AGS archives. His method for collecting the books is in-
novative, and we hope others will use it. When he orders a book that he thinks should
be in the AGS archives, he asks the publisher to send an extra, complimentary, copy
for AGS. We thank both Mr. Kallas and the publishers for the following books, which
will be reviewed in future issues.
Old Graveyards of Clark County, Kentucky , by Kathryn Owen, published in 1975
by Polyanthos, Inc., 811 Orleans Street, New Orleans, Louisiana 70116.
Metai'rie Cemetery: An Historical Memoir, by Henri A. Gandolfo, published in 1981
by Stewart Enterprises, Inc., P. O. Drawer 19925, New Orleans, Louisiana 70179.
Hardcover, $24.95.
Clasped Hands: Symbolism in New Orleans Cemeteries, by Leonard V. Huber, pub-
lished in 1982 by The Center for Louisiana Studies, The University of Southwest
Louisiana, P. O. Box 40831, Lafayette, Louisiana 70504. Hardcover, $20.
Kallas tells of another book that we should get for the archives: Texas Graveyards:
A Cultural Legacy, by Terry G. Gordan, published in 1982 by The University of Texas
Press, Box 7819, Austin, Texas 78712. He says it is one of the best "graveyard books"
he has seen.
Fall, Winter, and Spring Newsletters. The Fall issue will report the 1983 Annual Meet-
ing and Conference. Most of the other news items and contributions will be held for
publication in the Winter and Spring issues.
CONSERVATION CONFERENCE
The Federation of Nova Scotia Heritage is holding a two-day seminar/workshop October
22-23, 1983, in Halifax. Featured speakers will be Deborah Trask, Department of Edu-
cation, Nova Scotia Museums, and Martin Weaver, Heritage Canada. The program over-
view is unusually comprehensive, dealing with a broad range of timely and important
subjects. To learn more about the excellent program, which includes a graveyard tour,
write Betty Ann Aaboe-Milligan, Federation of Nova Scotian Heritage, 5516 Spring Gar-
den Road, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3J 1C6.
\
NLWbLtTTtR
OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES
Editor, Jessie Lie Farber
Volume 7 Number 4 Fall 198 3 ISSN: 0146-5783
CONTENTS
A REPORT FROM THE PRESIDENT
THE 1983-81 ACS BOARD OF DIRECTORS and some ACS ADDRESSES
THE HARRIETTE MERRIFIELD FORBES AWARD, presentation address
VOLUNTEER STATE OLD CEMETERY ASSOCIATIONS, by Hilda Fife .
THE CONFERENCE SPEAKERS AND THEIR SUBJECTS
THE ACS CONFERENCE TOUR
STONECUTTERS AND THEIR WORKS Thirteenth installment
The Feltons of New Salem, Massachusetts
by Robert W. Drinkwater
BOOK REVIEW . . .
,,. 1
,,. 2
.,, 3
.... ^
5.5.7
11
Epitaph and Icon
by Diana Hume George and Malcolm A. Nelson
Review by James A. Slater
THE RETURN OF THE CONSTANTINE BAKER STONE from a report by Fred Fredette 13
SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT FUNNY EPITAPHS AND OTHER MATTERS -30- 14
(ENCLOSURE: form for ordering ACS materials)
A REPORT FROM THE PRESIDENT
■^
As this sixth year of the Association for Gravestone Studies draws to a close, I would
like to report to you briefly some of the accomplishments of which we have reason to be
especially pleased.
A great part of our focus this year has been on the legal aspects of our developing or-
ganization. After two years of study, the by-laws, whose legal adoption has been in-
complete following our incorporation, have been revised and have been adopted by the
original incorporators, thus giving a great deal more flexibility to our operation.
Our growing reputation as a resource center for gravestone information, and in parti-
cular for the preservation and conservation of old burial grounds and stones, suggest-
ed that we offer a position statement in this field. "An Act for the Preservation and
Care of Burial Places and Memorials for the Dead" has been prepared and is now avail-
able to communities or individuals interested in such legislation.
For two years MARKERS II has been ready for publication, but funding has eluded us.
It is a real pleasure to tell you that this volume is now available and orders are being
filled.
It is also gratifying to report that we appear to have slowly emerged from a precarious
financial position to one of somewhat greater stability.
This fall marked the first of what we hope may be a series of small, area walking tours
of interesting burial grounds, hosted by a knowledgeable AGS guide. Our tour this
year took place in Boston, and it covered three of the older graveyards.
The archives continue to grow in quality and diversity as we receive additional gifts.
We welcome and encourage your collections, publications, and financial contributions
in order to enlarge this unique repository of gravestone information.
Membership has doubled in the last two years, but perhaps of even greater value than
the number of members is the diversity of interests represented. Our original focus
on the early New England stones and their carvers has broadened in scope and now
encompasses studies of Victorian, southern, and middle-western stones, as well as con-
temporary carvers and their techniques. We are pleased to have increased participa-
tion by genealogists, historians, and monument companies. Without losing our orig-
inal enthusiasm for the early stones and carvers, AGS membership is now more thor-
oughly representative of all aspects of gravestone and burial ground interests.
These developments are the direct result of the dedicated volunteer efforts of our
members. Their contributions of time, effort, research, and financial support have
resulted in the growing reputation of AGS as a national repository of gravestone in-
formation and expertise, and as a source of assistance to those interested in any area
of gravestone research and in the preservation and conservation of our burial grounds.
We encourage your financial support and your active participation in whichever as-
pects of the organization you are most interested.
"Sallt^ < iU(
<5rno)S
AGS BOARD OF DIRECTORS. 1983/84
President THEODORE CHASE 74 Farm St., Dover, MA 02030
Vice President LAUREL CABEL 12 Beecii Hollow, Fairport, NY 14450
Secretary BETSY WIDIRSTKY Box 523, 140 Founders' Path, Southold, NY 11971
Ass't. Secretary SALLY THOMAS 82 Hilltop PI., New London, NH 03257
Treasurer ALICE BUNTON 21 Perkins Rd., Bethany, CT 06525
Directors-at-large: Michael Cornish, Jessie Lie Farber, Ceraldine Hungerford,
George Kackley, Rufus Langhans, Carol Perkins, Gina Santucci,
Miriam Silverman, Deborah Trask
PLEASE NOTE: ACS has no physical headquarters. Correspondence should be ad-
dressed to the appropriate Association office listed below. Any mail addressed to the
mail drop provided by The American Antiquarian Society will be forwarded to the ap-
propriate ACS officer or committee chairperson. To use that mail drop, address:
The Association for Cravestone Studies
do The American Antiquarian Society
Worcester J Massachusetts 01609
AGS ADDRESSES
To join AGS or to renew MEMBERSHIP, send dues to Carol Perkins, Membership Sec'y,
1233 Cribb St., Apt. 204, Toledo, OH 43612. (419) 476-9945, evenings
To change your MAILING ADDRESS, drop a card giving old and new addresses, with
ZIP codes, to Carol Perkins, Membership Sec'y, 1233 Cribb St., Apt. 204,
Toledo, OH 43612. (419) 476-9945, evenings. Because AGS uses third
class mail, your Newsletters are not forwarded, so keep your address
current with the membership secretary.
To send contributions to the NEWSLETTER, address Deborah Trask, Editor, Dept. of
Education, Nova Scotia Museums, 1747 Summer St., Halifax, Nova
Scotia B3H 3A6, Canada. (902) 429-4610, office.
To send contributions to MARKERS III , address David Watters, Dept. of English,
Hamilton-Smith Hall, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824.
(603) 659-2925, home; (603) 826-1313, office.
To order MARKERS, address Betty Slater, 373 Bassettes Bridge Road, Mansfield Ctr.,
CT 06250. (203) 455-9668. Vol. 1, $15; Vol. 2, $12 paper, $24 cloth.
To request general AGS INFORMATION, or to get a price-list of AGS materials (informa-
tion sheets, graveyard guides, bumper stickers, decals, patches, etc.),
or to order these materials, address Betsy Widirstky, Box 523, 140
Founders' Path, Southold, NY 11971. (516) 765-3673.
To contribute material to the ACS ARCHIVES, address Michael Cornish, 14 Custer St.,
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130. (617) 522-1416, evenings.
To inquire or contribute information about CONSERVATION and PRESERVATION of ceme-
teries and markers, address either Gina Santucci, 8 Gramercy Park,
#4H, New York, NY 10003, (212) 228-1587; or Rufus Langhans, 85
Chichester Rd., Huntington, NY 11743, (516) 351-3244.
To inquire or contribute information about CARVER ATTRIBUTION, address Laurel
Gabel, 12 Beech Hollow, Fairport, NY 14450. (716) 425-3134.
To inquire about LEGISLATION protecting cemeteries and markers, write Theodore Chase,
74 Farm St., Dover, MA 02030. (617) 785-0299.
To correspond about FUND RAISING, write George Kackley, 3001 R St., NW, Washington,
DC. (202) 337-2835.
To inquire about and to make suggestions for EDUCATING THE PUBLIC concerning the
importance of markers, write Miriam Silverman, 300 W. 55th St., New
York, NY 10019. (212) 765-3482.
ACS F '83 P2
HARRIETTE MERRIFIELD FORBES AWARD TO HILDA M. FIFE
Presentation Address by ACS President Sally Thomas
June 25, 1983
It was in Worcester, not far from where we are meeting tonight, that Harriette Merrifield
Forbes wrote her book. Gravestones of Early New England and the Men Who Made Them,
the first solid and scholarly publication treating early American gravemarkers. And it
was at the first meeting of the Association for Gravestone Studies in 1977, fifty years
after the book's publication, that the Association decided to present a Harriette Merrifield
Forbes Award periodically to an organization or individual in recognition of outstanding
contributions to the field of gravestone studies.
In 1927 when the Forbes book was published, there were few visitors to New England's
old graveyards. The grounds and stones were neglected, overgrown and deteriorating,
their cultural significance unrecognized. During the past few years this situation has
been slowly but noticeably changing. Scholars and civic-minded individuals and insti-
tutions are becoming increasingly aware of the priceless, irreplaceable markers. A grow-
ing number of professionals and volunteer groups are diligently seeking out, recording,
preserving, and publishing information about these artifacts.
This changing situation is due in a large part to the enthusiasm, perseverence, and in-
spired efforts of the woman we are honoring this evening.
Hilda Fife grew up in Maine, where she still lives. When the time came for her to go to
college, her family encouraged her to study domestic science, that being the most ap-
propriate pursuit for a young lady. Young Hilda had other ideas and, to her parents'
dismay, she graduated from Colby College cum laude with a major in Greek. This field
offered few job opportunities, and after her graduation she reluctantly accepted a po-
sition teaching English. Continuing in this field, she earned her Master's Degree and
her Doctorate in English at Cornell University, after which she served as Professor of
English at the University of Maine until her retirement in 1969.
Hilda's familiarity with old burying grounds began when she was a child playing among
the markers in a local yard and accompanying her grandmother in search of ancestors'
stones. As she became aware of the artistic and historical importance of the early grave-
yards, she became concerned about the neglect she observed. It was obvious to her
that this situation must be altered--and soon — or an irreplaceable cultural loss would
occur. But what could one woman do about this?
Opportunity presented itself when the newly-formed Maine League of Historical Societies
and Museums called for suggestions for projects. Dr. Fife responded, pleading elo-
quently foi* help in saving the old cemeteries. As a result, the League authorized her
to form The Maine Old Cemetery Association. Her enthusiasm was contagious, and with
the cooperation of the History Department of the University of Maine and the assistance
of the founder of the Vermont Old Cemetery Association, Dr. Fife produced, in the
spring of 1969, the first issue of The Newsletter of the Maine Old Cemetery Association,
in which she outlined MOCA's purposes and invited interested individuals and organiza-
tions to join in her endeavor. The response was overwhelming, and in six months MOCA
boasted two hundred zealous volunteers dedicated to the discovery, restoration, and
maintenance of Maine's old graveyards and to the preservation of information relating to
them. From this beginning. Dr. Fife has watched MOCA grow into a nationwide organi-
zation of over 1100 members. Under her guidance and supervision, three major projects
have been developed. The MOCA Inscription Project has recorded data from 2000 town
and family cemeteries and has made this information available at the Maine State Library.
This data is now being microfilmed for further distribution. The Surname Index Project
has recorded 225,000 names, grave locations, and family and military records from the
seventeenth to the twentieth century. This wealth of data is being microfilmed by the
Church of Latter Day Saints and added to its extensive genealogical library in Utah. A
special Bicentennial project involved the locating and identification of the graves of 7500
Revolutionary soldiers. The data compiled about these men is computerized and avail-
able at several Maine libraries.
From the beginning, Hilda Fife has been the guiding light and driving force behind
MOCA's activities, serving at various times as secretary, membership chairman, and
program chairman. She has edited MOCA's quarterly newsletter since its first issue,
only recently accepting some assistance with this responsibility. She continues to an-
swer the mail which pours into Eliot, Maine, for her from all parts of the United States.
Her devotion to the work of preserving our ancient burying grounds and the heritage
they reflect has inspired tremendous support. The Association for Gravestone Studies
is proud to present the Harriette Merrifield Forbes Award to Dr. Hilda M. Fife.
The other recipients of the Harriette Merrifield Forbes award are Daniel Farber, Ernest
Caulfield, Peter Benes,, Allan Ludwig, and James Slater.
ACS F '83 P3
As part of her ad lib response to the presentation on page
Dr. Hilda Fife, founder of the Maine Old Cemetery Association,
briefly outlined some background information about the old ceme-
tery associations of Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, and Wiscon-
sin. We asked her to write a more detailed summary of the found-
ing and the work of these organizations for our readers.
VOLUNTEER STATE OLD CEMETERY ASSOCIATIONS Hilda M. Fife
Twenty-five years ago the first of four volunteer state old cemetery associations was
founded, in Vermont. Recognizing the historical and artistic value of the burial grounds
of our ancestors. Dr. Leon Dean of the University of Vermont was concerned that many
of the small family graveyards throughout the state were being lost through lack of in-
terest and care. He gathered a small group to consider what could be done to preserve
this heritage left by the early settlers.
Thus began the Vermont Old Cemetery Association (VOCA), in 1958, to stimulate the
protection from time, from neglect, and from vandalism, of the graves of those whose
resting places had no family left to care for them. Its purpose has now been expanded
to see that eventually every old graveyard in the state is given the dignity of TLC.
Word of what VOCA was doing spread around New England, and others became inter-
ested. In 1969, with helpful suggestions from Leon Dean, the Maine Old Cemetery
Association (MOCA) was started, at the request of the recently formed Maine League
of Historical Societies and Museums. With VOCA as a model, and with the continued
interest of Dr. Dean, MOCA attracted not only members from all over Maine, but also
descendants of Maine settlers in other parts of the country. Encouraged, too, by the
Department of History of the University of Maine, MOCA grew rapidly, held together
by a quarterly newsletter. In 1970 it established the pattern of three meetings a year,
in different parts of the state, and began various cemetery-related projects.
The third volunteer state old cemetery association was established by F. Winston Luck.
On a trip to Vermont, seeking information of his family background, he met Leon Dean,
and back home in Milwaukee he proceeded to organize the Wisconsin State Old Cemetery
Society (WSOCS), in 1971. A flourishing group, it celebrated its tenth anniversary a
couple of years ago.
Among the members of VOCA and of MOCA are some from the neighboring state of New
Hampshire. In 1976 Mary Emhardt and Philip Wilcox converted a Bicentennial project
into the New Hampshire Old Graveyard Association (NHOCA), with the blessing of Leon
Dean, the "father" of them all.
A joint meeting of the three New England old cemetery associations is being planned for
next summer, probably on a July date in New Hampshire. It is hoped that several WSOCS
members and some of our AGS colleagues can also attend. As usual, the meeting will be
open to the public.
Inquiries sometimes come from other states, asking about forming similar organizations,
but to date only these four volunteer groups are known. (None is state supported.)
Some states do support programs or studies of old cemeteries; among them are Massa-
chusetts and North Carolina.
Very interesting is the way that each of the four organizations have distinct personal-
ities and emphases.
VOCA has the support of over one hundred other organizations as dues-paying and
morale-building members. Its basic dues are still only $1.00 a year. From a special
"memorial membership" of $5.00 (in honor or in memory of someone), over the years
it has built up a fund, with the interest from which it provides matching grants of up
to $50 to help with the expenses of restoring a neglected old cemetery.
MOCA's specialty has become the preservation of information from gravestone inscrip-
tions and other sources, copied and organized to be available to the public at. several
large libraries in the state. A program of microfilming this material is now in process.
One of several on-going MOCA projects is the computer-listing of all known graves of
veterans of the Revolutionary War living in the state before, during, or after the War.
WSOCS has seven geographical sub-divisions. Wisconsin is a large state! It is making
a study of cemetery laws. Each year at its fall meeting, the program is a "clean-up
cemetery bee" at a previously selected graveyard in the locality — a "hands-on" session.
NHOCA is working toward a computer listing of the location and a detailed description/
analysis of all the old graveyards in the state.
All four organizations provide space for genealogical queries in their quarterly news-
letters.
AGS F '83 P4
THE GONFERENCE SPEAKERS
AND THEIR SUBJECTS
' James W. Bradley, Survey Director, Massachusetts Historical Commission, 294 Washing-
ton St., Boston MA 02108.
"BURIAL GROUND PRESERVATION from the Viewpoint of the State of Massachusetts."
The Massachusetts Historical Commission is the state agency responsible for the pro-
tection and preservation of historical burial grounds in the Commonwealth. A wide
range of problems threaten burial grounds across the state. These problems are
briefly reviewed, and suggestions are offered for resolving them both locally and
statewide.
Edward J. Comolli, Manager of Cemetery Services, Barre Granite Association, Barre VT.
"REPAIRING BROKEN MEMORIALS WITH EPOXY." A series of slides illustrates the
use of epoxy in repairing broken memorials. The advantages of epoxy, such as
consistency, adaption to weather conditions, etc. are discussed.
"THE STONE WHISTLE," a film narrated by John Forsythe. The film takes the viewer
through the Vermont countryside to rich granite quarries, where the stone is hewn
into twenty-ton blocks. One then follows the granite into the plant where it is fash-
ioned into magnificent monuments by craftsmen who work with modern machinery and
also by hand. The film touches on the significance of monuments, the variety of
subjects depicted, and the care and detail that go into the execution of Barre granite.
Robert Vy/. Drinkwater, 30 Fort Hill Terr., Northampton MA 01060.
"THE SIKES FAMILY, THE SIKES STYLE." A first report on a larger study of this
family of carvers. Gravestones attributed to the Sikeses, first produced about the
time of the Revolution, were still being produced in the 1820's. The distribution of
the stones extends from the northeast corner of Connecticut north-westward to the
Massachusetts-New York border; similar stones occur in Maine. In this progress
report, the speaker: presents recent research findings on members of this family;
introduces the few stones known to be their work; introduces examples of Sikes-style
stones known or suspected to be the work of other stonecutters; and reports on
progress made in defining the geographic distribution of the Sikes style.
"THE FELTONS OF NEW SALEM." In New Salem, Massachusetts, and adjoining towns
are a number of distinctive, boldly-chiseled gravemarkers which, in some respects,
resemble the work of the Sikes family. Their work has been called "among the most
inventive in all New England." From their geographic distribution, it is apparent
that these stones were produced in New Salem, and probate evidence suggests that
many may be the work of Ebenezer Felton. Entries in a local account book indicate
that Ebenezer's son, Robards, was also a stonecutter. The Feltons, it appears, were
active from the 1780's until about 1806. This report presents evidence showing these
stones to be the work of the Feltons and gives a preliminary analysis of the develop-
ment of the Feltons' work.
J. Joseph Edgette, Senior Lecturer, English, Widener University, Chester PA 19013.
Home address: 509 Academy Ave., Glenolden PA 19036.
"GRAVEMARKER MICRO-DENOTATION: A Step Toward a Unified Inventory ProcessJ'
Recently much attention has been given to gravemarkers by scholars in a wide va-
riety of fields. A common need is a viable, accurate, and thorough data source from
which a researcher can extract information pertinent to his study. This paper ex-
plains a procedure, "micro-denotation," and discusses its advantages: uniform data,
universal application, computerization potential, standardized inventory format and
process, and cost effectiveness.
Alfred Fredette, President of the Windham (CT) Historical Society, RFD #1, Baltic CT.
"RICHARD KIMBALL, THE POMFRET-HAMPTON CARVER." Richard Kimball's earliest
designs, which are very primitive and individualistic, are relatively unknown be-
cause of the isolation of the small yard in which they are found. There is an un-
mistakable design relationship between the early Kimball work and that of the "Hamp-
ton Indian" carver. Slides of rubbings with some design reconstruction and slides
of photographs of the eroded stones are viewed simultaneously to allow comparison.
AGS F '83 P5
/
Laurel K. Gabel, co-author of "James Wilder of Lancaster, Stonecutter," [The New
England Historical and Genealogical Register, April, 1983), 12 Beech Hollow,
Fairport NY 14450.
Theodore Chase, attorney (retired partner. Palmer & Dodge, Boston) and co-author
of "James Wilder of Lancaster, Stonecutter" (see above), 74 Farm St., Dover MA.
THE COLBURN CONNECTION: Hollis, New Hampshire, Stonecutters, 1780-1820.
Continuing their studies of carvers of the Lancastrian (MA) towns, the speakers
focus on the life and work of Paul Colburn, a stonecutter born in Hollis, New Hamp-
shire, who worked in Sterling and Holden, Massachusetts, from 1784 to 1808. The
Colburn research, conducted in burying grounds and archives in two states, led
to some remarkable genealogical and carving connections between Paul Colburn and
a group of four contemporary Hollis carvers. The trail continued through subse-
quent generations, eventually revealing the names of more than twenty carvers.
Gable and Chase have presented some of these carvers in detail in another paper,
but they concentrate for this presentation on Paul Colburn (1761-1825) and his
ties to John Ball (1759-1840), one of the several Colburn connections.
\
Diana Hume George, Associate Professor of English, Pennsylvania State University,
Behrend College, Erie PA
Malcolm A. Nelson, Professor of English, State University of New York, Fredonia NY.
Home address: 120 Main St., Brocton NY 14716.
"VARIATIONS ON 'STRANGER, STOP AND CAST AN EYE.'" A bewildering number
of changes are rung on the "Stranger, stop and cast an eye" motif, some tonally
comforting, some bitter, some brutal, some hopeful, some smug, some despairing.
The sharp tonal change is usually determined in the last two lines, for although
minor variants of the first two lines are common, these lines remain relatively uni-
form in tone and theme. A basic contribution to the study of epitaphs would be
the collection of these variants with an eye to determining geographic distribution,
the relation of variant to carver, and developmental trends.
Gregory Jeane, Associate Professor of Geography, Auburn University, Auburn AL 36849.
"TREES IN THE LAND OF THE DEAD: A Cultural Geographic Analysis of Woodmen
of the World Monuments in Southern Cemeteries." The Woodmen of the World Life
Insurance Society was organized in June, 1890. Among its provisions was the
objective that every member's grave be marked. Policies issued by the Society
had a monument rider option of which many members availed themselves. While the
monuments have a somewhat standardized emblem, there is much diversity in marker
design. The Society was particularly strong in the South, and a casual stroll through
virtually any Southern cemetery will reveal at least one, and often many. Woodmen
of the World monuments. The decided preference for a tree or log design makes them
stand out as one of the more interesting visual artifacts on the landscape of the dead,
Peter McCarthy, General Manager, Marvin Almont Memorials, 201 Santa Fe Dr. Pueblo CO.
"TRENDS AND PROBLEMS IN CONTEMPORARY MONUMENTALIZATION ." As times and
societies undergo natural change, the contemporary monument industry must recog-
nize these changes and operate within their guidelines. Contemporary monumental
styles fall into four broad categories. These categories have not much changed over
the years, but the use to which they are put is changing radically. A major trend
toward highly individual and personalized monuments is altering procedures in the
modern monument industry.
The existence of a group like AGS can be a good sign for those in the monument
industry. Both groups can benefit from their mutual interest and each should in-
clude the other in areas of common endeavor.
Roberta Palen, Social Science Dept., E. S. Bird Library, Syracuse University, Syracuse NY.
"CEMETERIES OF GUATEMALA." The clasped-hands design on Guatemala grave-
markers is compared with the same design on Texas markers.
Barbara Rotundo, Associate Professor of English, State University of New York, Albany.
Home address, winter: 217 Seward PI. Schenectady NY 12305; summer: 159 Concord
Ave., Cambridge MA 02138.
"GRAVESTONES FOR UTOPIAN COMMUNITIES: Equality and Simplicity." Ludwig
showed that one can trace a society's religious and intellectual changes through
changes in gravestone design. This study shows that through gravestone arrange-
ment and design one can identify a society's social, economic, and political practices.
The speaker argues that field work in a cemetery is productive and efficient in an-
swering questions about nineteenth-century beliefs and aspirations.
AGS F '83 P6
J
Cina Santucci, Landmarks Preservation Specialist, New York City Landmarks Preservation
Commission; 8 Gramercy Park, New York NY 10003
Sherene Baugher-Perlin, Urban Archaeologist for New York City, The New York City
Landmarks Preservation Commission, 20 Vesey St., New York NY 11792.
Caynell Levine, Doctorial candidate. Instructor of Anthropology, State University of
New York, Stony Brook; RD #2, Box 205, Wading River NY 11792.
"BEYOND DEATH'S HEADS AND CHERUBS: A Study of Victorian Cemeteries." The
technological developments in the 1800's transformed American Society from an a-
grarian to an industrial economy. These changes affected many facets of American
life, including mortuary practices. The Victorian Romantic cemeteries of New York
City provide historians and archaeologists with a wealth of information for analyzing
patterns of ethnicity and social class. The iconography on tombstones and the land-
scaping of these cemeteries reflect a nineteenth-century ideology.
Deborah A. Smith, Museum Registrar, The Kentucky Museum, Western Kentucky Uni-
versity, Bowling Green KY. Home address: 1250 Park St., Bowling Green KY 42101
"HUGH F. SMITH, VICTORIAN STONECARVER of Bowling Green, Kentucky." Hugh F.
Smith (1825-1897) was a skilled marble mason living in Bowling Green, Kentucky,
who produced gravestones of exceptional quality in a style unique to the area. Six
signed stones have been discovered, and about twenty others can be attributed to
his shop. Using census records, deed indentures, city directories, and funeral
directors' account books. Smith's life story has been pieced together. His biogra-
phy is an unusually detailed picture of Victorian domestic life. Whether or not it
it is typical of that of other carvers of the period is difficult to judge because of
the scarcity of studies on Victorian carvers. This paper suggests that research
into Victorian era stonecarving is needed.
Suzanne Spencer-Wood, Associate Graduate Program Director for Historical Archaeology,
University of Massachusetts, Boston 02125.
"THE ANALYSIS OF GRAVESTONES AND TEMPORAL SCALE." Because gravestones
are precisely dated, they are an ideal source of data for studying temporal methods
in archaeology. In this paper, research is presented using gravestone data to deal
with the effect of temporal scale on the perceived nature of cultural change. Samples
from graveyards in Virginia and Massachusetts were analyzed in time periods of
months, five years, ten years, and twenty years. In each case, a set of time peri-
ods was condensed into fewer longer intervals in order to assess the effect of tem-
poral scale on the apparent rate and direction of cultural change. The results of
this research clearly demonstrated that shorter time periods reveal the fluctuating
nature of changes which appear as simple trends in analyses using longer time per-
iods. Thus, the perception of culture changing in long-term, smooth trends is part-
ly due to large temporal scales of analysis that obscure the shorter term oscillations
that are really the essence of the process of change.
William G. Wraga, teacher. Green Brook High School, Green Brook, New Jersey 08812.
"GRAVESTONE CARVINGS IN COLONIAL PISCATAWAY: Local Artifacts and Chang-
ing Puritan Beliefs." The report of a four-part project, funded by the New Jersey
Historical Commission, for developing a gravestone-study project for high school
sophomores. Introductory slide presentation, development of students' data-gather-
ing techniques, field trip to a local burial ground and study of local stylistic pat-
terns and their significance. Objectives: to enhance students' understanding of
Puritanism and to increase awareness, appreciation, and understanding of local
artifacts. A teaching guide was developed and is available to classroom teachers.
John S. Wilson, Archaeologist, New England Division, Corps of Engineers, Home ad-
address: 15 New Hampshire Ave., Natick MA 01670
"ITHAMAR SPAULDIN: The Early Years." A further examination of the work of
Ithamar Spauldin, first identified as a carver by C.R. Jones {Markers I), results
in several new insights into the work of carvers operating within the "Georgian"
style of the late eighteenth century. The relation of price to stone size is ex-
plored, and discrepancies between date of death and date of stone purchase are
examined. Analysis of individual stylistic features on documented stones permits
the attribution of a larger number of stones, many of which appear to represent
Spauldin's early work. Comparison of the whole indicates a shift toward simpler
design, coupled with an improved sense of symmetry and proportion.
Introductions were made by Elizabeth Hammond^ Conference Chairman; Joanne Baker,
a past-president of the Association; David [Matters, editor of Markers^ and Michael
Cornish, Conference Program Coordinator.
AGS F '83 P7
AGS CONFERENCE TOUR
Friday, June 24, 1983
Ninety-five conferees filled two tour busses for the tour of Worcester County burial
grounds and other sites. Daniel Farber of Worcester planned the tour. He and Bill
Wallace, Director of the Worcester Historical Museum, were the tour guides. Early
carvers whose work was seen are:
William Young Jonathan Worster /Paul Colburn John Dwight
v^James Wilder Ebenezer Soule, Sr. Henry Emmes Joseph Barbur
James New Daniel Hastings James Foster II The Park family
(■'
THE TOUR ITINERARY
SOME FINE OLD AREA YARDS
1 -
Assumption College
9 -
- William Young house
not
on the tour
2 -
American Antiquarian
10 -
- Hope Cemetery
a -
Holden
Society
11 -
- Auburn
b -
Brookfield
3 -
Harriette Forbes house
12 -
- Grafton
c -
North Brookfield
4 -
Lancaster
13 -
- Shrewsbury
d -
Spencer
5 -
Sterling
14 -
- Worcester Historical Museum
3 -
Leicester
6 -
Princeton
for refreshments & photo-
f -
Uxbridge
7 -
Rutland (picnic lunch)
graph exhibition. Return
q -
Bellingham
8 -
Pax ton
to Assumption College
h -
Westminster
Oxford
Scheduled free time Saturday afternoon provided conferees with the opportunity to
visit area yards not on the tour and to return to the tour sites for stone-rubbing
and photography. Saturday afternoon walking tours were led by Michael Cornish
(Uxbridge old burying ground). Laurel Cabel and Theodore Chase (Shrewsbury old
burying ground), and Barbara Rotundo (Rural Cemetery, Worcester). The Harriette
Forbes house and grounds were opened by Mrs. Forbes' family, and memorabilia were
available for inspection. The Saturday afternoon activity ended with an open house
at the home of Dan and Jessie Lie Farber.
C
ACS F '83 P8
V
STONECUTTERS AND THEIR WORKS
Thirteenth of a Series
Anna Kendall, 1790
New Salem Center, Mass.
Kilburn children.
New Salem, Mass.
1790
THE FELTONS OF NEW SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS, Late Eighteenth Century
Robert Drinkwater, with contributions by Carolyn Chouinard, John Wilson, Francis
Duval, and Ivan Rigby.
Bold, evocative images populate the graveyards of New Salem and adjoining towns in
the uplands of central Massachusetts. Above are two examples. Designs similar to
the one carved on Mrs. Anna Kendall's stone are most numerous. The image carved
on the stone for the Kilburn children is unique, but it exhibits characteristics of the
early work of the stonecutter. All of these stones bear some resemblance to work at-
tributed to the Sikes family cutters. However, with varying degrees of certainty, all
can now be attributed to members of the Felton family of New Salem.
Harriette Forbes reported that Ebenezer Felton of New Salem was paid for gravestones
(see Appendix, Gravestones of Early New England and the Men Who Made Them) . Re-
cently, I found corroborative evidence: a record of payment for the head stone and
footstone for Samuel Cady (1799, Shutesbury Center, Massachusetts). On Cady's
headstone (not illustrated) is a somewhat simplified version of the images carved on
Anna Kendall's stone (obove) and the stone for Rev. Samuel Kendall [next page).
It appears that Ebenezer Felton was Ebenezer, 2nd: grandson of Ebenezer, Sr, nephew
of Ebenezer, Jr., son of David and Sarah. He was born in New Salem, c. 1741. His
father and his grandfather were house carpenters. The Feltons, like many of New
Salem's early settlers, were from Salem, Massachusetts. They moved to New Salem
about 1740.
At present, we know very little about Ebenezer Felton. He married Hannah Page in 1762.
They had four children who reached adulthood, a daughter and three sons: David, born
in 1767; Robards, baptized in 1771; Nathaniel, date of birth unknown. Ebenezer's wife
died in 1773. It appears he never remarried. His name is listed in the 1800 Census,
but not in the 1810 Census. When and where he died are unknown.
Entries in the account book of Nathaniel Chamberlain, a blacksmith and neighbor of the
Feltons, suggest that Ebenezer's son, Robards, was also a stonecutter. Three entries
are of particular interest: "to sharpening gravestone chisels" (two entries, March 1804)
and "to oxen to draw gravestones up hill" (February 1808). Other entries, though less
explicit, may also pertain to stonecutting. The earliest entry is dated March 22, 1797;
the last entry, February 16, 1808. Robards Felton left New Salem between 1808 and
1810. He died in Hamilton, New York in 1825.
Six of the stones I have attributed to the Feltons mark the graves of relatives. The
earliest stones commemorate Ebenezer's wife, Hannah, and a daughter, Hannah (1773,
1767, New Salem Center). Both stones are similar to the Eunice Brewer stone [next
page). The stones for Ebenezer's parents, David and Sarah Felton (1790, 1792, New
Salem Center) are also similar to the Eunice Brewer stone, but they have detached,
wing-like forms at the sides of the head and stylized floral borders. The stones for
Ebenezer's wife's parents, William and Sarah Page (1794, 1784, New Salem Center) are
similar to the Benjamin Porter stone {next page).
All of the stones attributed to the Feltons are of the same material, gneiss: foliated
stone which may resemble granite or schist, depending on where it is split. Most may
Continued next page
AGS F '83 P9
be Ebenezer's work; as few as four may be Robard's work. Three phases can be dis-
tinguished: an early phase, a transitional phase, and a late phase.
The Eunice Brewer stone {below) is an example of the early phase. There are eight-
een examples; most date from the 1780's. Stones of this early phase might be con-
fused with the work of the Sikes family; however, Feiton's faces are shorter and round-
er, and on most examples there is no mouth. Border patterns and lettering style pro-
vide other characteristics for distinguishing Felton stones from Sikes stones.
There are five examples of Feiton's transitional phase (.not illustrated) . All date from
the early 1790's. On these stones, Felton adapted design elements used during his
early phase to the format characteristic of his late phase. Examples include the Lt.
Amos Foster stone (1793, New Salem Center) and the stone for the Calhoon children
(1791, Petersham Center, Massachusetts). The stone for the Kilburn children {detail,
preceding page), though one-of-a-kind, might be considered an additional example of
this transitional phase.
The two Kendall stones {details, preceding page and below) , the Benjamin Porter stone
{below), and the documented Samuel Cady stone {not illustrated) are examples of Fei-
ton's late phase. Some, such as the Benjamin Porter stone, have stylized floral bor-
ders. On others, such as the Samuel Cady stone, slender columns flank the inscrip-
tion pannel. Of thirty-eight examples, all but a few date from the 1790's.
In New Salem Center there are four stones which, though similar to the Samuel Cady
stone, are clearly the work of a different stonecutter. On three, the date of death is
legible, and these date from the early 1800's. The latest of these is the William Giles
stone, dated 1806. These stones may be the work of Robards Felton. If so, five urn
and willow stones of the same material at Wendell Center, Massachusetts, may also be
his work.
Eunice Brewer, 1790
Wendell Center, Mass.
c
Benjamin Porter, 1793
Wendell Center, Mass.
Detail: Rev. Samuel Kendall, 1792
New Salem Center, Mass.
Robert Drinkwater, an archaeologist, lives in Northampton, Massachusetts. Drinkwater's
interest in the Feltons is related to his larger study of the Sikes family.
John Wilson, also an archaeologist, lives in Natick, Massachusetts, but he grew up in
the New Salem area. He presented a paper on the stonecutter Ithamar Spauldin at the
1983 AGS conference [and at that time called our attention to a NEWSLETTER error:
the rubbing on page 1 of the Spring '83 issue should have been attributed to Spauldin. )
Carolyn Chouinard, a genealogist and local historian, lives in New Salem. She compiled
much of the background information presented above.
The photographs, by Francis Duval, were made of castings from the Duval-Rigby Rep-
lica Collection. The drawings were adapted by Drinkwater from his rubbings.
Gr*anfl*ld
New Salem and vicinity, c. 1800
Distribution of gravestones attributed
to the Feltons
C
ACS F '83 P10
BOOK REVIEW
EPITAPH AND ICON: A Field Guide to the Old
Burying Grounds of Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard,
and Nantucket
By Diana Hume George and Malcolm A. Nelson
Profusely illustrated. 128 pages.
Orleans, Massachusetts: Parnassus Imprints, 1983
Cloth, $19.95; paperback, $12.95
Review by James A. Slater
This publication breaks new ground. The few previously published, serious efforts to
develop graveyard guides have focused on individual townships. This book treats es-
sentially all the burying ground on Cape Cod and the adjacent islands. Over one hun-
dred yards are included.
The book is beautifully produced. There are seventy-four photographs of stones, all
clear and handsome, some themselves works of art.
The organization and layout of the book is excellent. In addition to the main text, which
treats graveyards in fifteen Cape towns, six towns on Martha's Vineyard, and those on
Nantucket, there is an introductory discussion that includes an itinerary for a "Highlight
Tour"; a detailed section on epitaphs (of which, more later); one on iconography; and
one on photography and rubbing techniques (excerpted from AGS information sheets)
and on data collecting.
Epitaph and Icon is clearly the result of an exhaustive search of the old burying grounds
of the area, and it has great value for anyone exploring these wonderful old yards. Be-
cause it is a pioneer study and will be something of a "bench mark" for future efforts
of this kind, it is especially important to attempt to access the overall strengths and
weaknesses of the book.
There are two minor omissions. One is the lack of a map. This reviewer, being only
moderately familiar with the Cape, had to read the book with a map in hand to avoid los-
ing the sense of where he was. The other minor omission concerns the captions for the
illustrations, which give only the name and death date of the deceased. It would have
been helpful if the authors had indicated in the captions where in the text the discuss-
ion of the illustrated stones could be found. And for the illustrated stones whose car-
ver-attributions are given in the text, one wishes the carver had been named in the
caption.
Of more importance is the lack of cross references in the eight-page introductory section.
This section mentions many carvers by name, and the reader wants to know the page on
which an illustration of the carver's work can be found. Nowhere in the text is thereany
description of the carving style of any carver, and a reader without prior knowledge
would be hard put to tell, for example, the work of one Lamson carver from another or,
for that matter, to identify Lamson stones as Lamson stones. The same is true for all
the carvers mentioned.
It is obvious that the first interest of the authors is not so much in carving styles as in
epitaphs. Fair enough. However, for a field guide to be of maximum value, it should
contain two essential features: directions for getting to the burying ground (which it
does give, sans map) and ways to identify what one finds there. Perhaps the authors
believe their readers will go forth armed with Forbes, Ludwig, and Benes. Reader be
warned that without these books it will be hard sledding to discover who carved what
stones in these old yards.
Another major shortcoming is the authors' apparent failure to decide just what audience
they are addressing. At times one feels they are speaking to the novice who has little
familiarity with old graveyards. This is, indeed, the stated purpose of the book, and I
think few would question this approach. On the other hand, interspersed throughout
this basic information is a body of highly technical, sometimes abstruse, information
that can be understood by only a very sophisticated reader. This
is particularly evident in the discussion of epitaphs. Their treat-
ment of the epitaph is sensitive and scholarly (although the inter-
pretations of eroticism seem at times — see illustration — to run a bit
rampant), but to this reviewer, some of the analysis is a bit out of
place in a field guide and might better have been saved for an ar-
ticle, where a more quantitative treatment could have been devel-
oped. Interspersed as it is, it produces a very uneven treatment
of the various burying grounds, some of which are dealt with in a
straightforward manner and others in a very different and much more abstract way.
In spite of the good quality of the photographs, the choice of markers for illustration
could have been improved. One cannot avoid the feeling that some of the photographs
". . .0 perfectly pornographic
lingom of a nose. "
Continued next page
ACS F '83 P11
are there because they are beautiful or startling rather than for the information they
contain. It would have been more valuable to the reader if some of the almost repe-
titious work by the same carver had been replaced by the work of carvers mentioned
in the text but not illustrated.
None of this, however, outweighs the very real value of Epitaph and Icon. In addi-
tion to its sophisticated approach to the epitaph and its value as a guide, it is a rich
source, raising important questions and opening the way to future work. For example:
Where did the Cape Cod stones come from? Because the Cape is a terminal Pleistocene
glacial moraine, it does not have a source of local stone and hence had no local crafts-
men. The gravestones were all brought from other locations. What proportion of the
stones came from which areas? Was there a change in the proportions through time?
Was there a different proportion from different source areas in different parts of the
Cape? If so, does this reflect settlement relationships, commercial ties, ease of trans-
port? Are the epitaphs those of local people or of the cultures in which the stonecutters
lived? What proportion of the stones are from other than the Plymouth and Boston areas
(the authors mention the Narragansett Basin, eastern Connecticut, and the Connecticut
River Valley as certainly represented)? Do the percentages of these "other" stones vary
with time, place, religious background, etc., of the communities of their origin or with
the Cape communities? For example, it seems clear from maps in Benes' Masks of Ortho-
doxy that diffusion of the Plymouth County stonps has been chiefly to the graveyards
of the inner Cape.
Other studies suggested by this book involve the problem of why if, as is commonly be-
lieved, early carvers were largely their own masters in gravestone design, did so many
winged skull stones persist on the Cape to (and beyond) the end of the eighteenth cen-
tury, whereas they had long disappeared from the "source areas." If this is true, and
it appears to be, what proportion of late eighteenth-century stones are winged skulls as
compared with the proportion in a source area? What is the source area and how many
carvers were involved in the production of such stones?
Finally, how much difference is there in both the iconography and epitaph types from
one burying ground to another? Are these differences, if they exist, due to religious
differences such as old- and new-light communities?
The George and Nelson book introduces these questions to the serious student and makes
it possible to seek answers in an orderly manner and with confidence that the cemetery
coverage will be essentially complete.
Every reader of Epitaph and Icon will surely find new and insightful information of value
and at the same time, probably some material he wishes were treated differently. The
book is a pioneer contribution and, overall, a successful one. We hope it will be the pre-
cursor of a series of field guides that are badly needed throughout the United States.
James Slater is writing a field guide to the old burying grounds of eastern Connecticut.
r
PUZZLE SOLUTION
D U A
0 I H A
On page 11 of the summer issue,
we published a photograph of the
stone marking the graves of the
two wives of Dr. Samuel Bean, in
Rush's Cemetery, Wellesley Town-
ship, Ontario, Canada. The puz-
zling inscription can be read by
starting seven letters from the
top and seven from the left-hand
side, then reading as indicated
by the line in the diagram at left.
An asterisk marks the start.
The inscription, with our punc-
tuation: In Memoriam, Henrietta,
1st wife of S. Bean, M. D. , who
died 27th Sep., 1865, aged 23
years, 2 months, & U days, &
Susanna, his 2nd wife, who died
27th April, 1867, aged 26 years,
1 0 months, & 15 days. 2 better
wives 1 man never had. They
were gifts from God but are now
in Heaven. May God help me,
S. B., to meet them there.
€■
AGS F '83 P12
THE RETURN OF THE CONSTANTINE BAKER STONE
and other encouraging news from Connecticut
Adapted from a complete
report by Fred Fredette
This saga of a gravestone's return to its home began when Robert Stephenson of
Jaffrey Center, New Hampshire, saw a gravestone exhibited in the Ricco-Johnson
Gallery in New York City. Stephenson copied the inscription and on May 16, 1983,
sent it to the ACS address in Worcester, together with a sketch made from memory
(see illustration below). Jessie Lie Farber, who picks up AGS's Worcester mail,
wrote the gallery inquiring about the stone and received a reply from Roger Ricco.
The reply was accompanied by two handsome photographs: one of a 1753 Newport-
style slate stone, 22"x15", priced at $1,950; the other of two mounted eighteenth-
century Connecticut Valley-style sandstone fragments, approximately 7"x3", mount-
ed and priced at $2000 and $950 (illustrated below). According to Ricco, the stones
came "from private collections and have been in those collections for a reasonable
period of time. "
The slate stone, for Constantine Baker, appears to be the work of John Stevens II
of Newport, Rhode Island. The photograph of this stone was sent to AGS experts
on carver attribution, one of whom is Fred Fredette, President of the Windham (CT)
Historical Society. Fredette reports that tracing the Baker stone to the Cove Burial
Ground in East Haddam, Connecticut, took less than three minutes: the evidence was
in the Connecticut Vital Records, church records, and the 1934 cemetery inventory,
all housed in the Connecticut State Library. Fredette's subsequentgenealogical re-
search shows that Constantine's father, Samuel Baker, was a sea captain who sailed
on the Connecticut River and lived in East Haddam in the 1750's. The East Haddam
Burial Ground is located on the east bank of that river, all of which explains how a
Newport stone found its way to a Connecticut yard.
The above events occurred just prior to the AGS conference in June and were re-
ported to the membership at that time.
Following the conference. Lance Mayer, conservator for the Lyman Allyn Museum in
New London, Connecticut, forwarded to Fredette the name of a member of the East
Haddam Cemetery Association with whom Mayer had worked on a cemetery project.
Fredette telephoned Mayer's contact, a Mrs. Costa, who knew the stone and des-
cribed it as being "different from all the other stones at the Cove Burial Ground."
Better yet, the stone was listed in her 1971 inventory of the yard. Fredette and
Costa met at the burial ground, and there they found what they hoped was there:
the slate footstone bearing the inscription, "Constantine Baker 1753." The evidence
was presented by Fredette to Trooper Pabilonia of the Colchester State Police Bar-
racks on July l^th, and a three-page statement was recorded. Six days later, Pabi-
lonia reported to Fredette that the gravestone was in his office. The gallery had
been very cooperative. There had been no difficulty in retrieving it because of the
overwhelming evidence provided. The following day — ten weeks after Stevenson
wrote AGS — the Constantine Baker stone was returned to East Haddam.
OTHER CONNECTICUT PRESERVATION ACTIVITY
During July and August, Fred Fredette met with several Connecticut state legisla-
tors and preservation lobby groups. To those attending these meetings he pre-
sented an outline of the events leading to the return of the Jonathan Hutchinson
stone in 1982 and the Constantine Baker stone in 1983, together with a list of some
missing stones from New London and Windham counties and a copy of the proposed
legislation drafted for AGS by Theodore Chase. Fredette's presentations met with
favorable, enthusiastic response. According to Robert Silliman, President of the
Connecticut League of Historical Societies, "The subject is very important and should
reach all of the historical societies in the state." An effort is now underway to form
a support network through communications sent to all of Connecticut's historical societies.
The threatened fragment of a handsome stone carved by Lebbeus Kimball has been
removed for safekeeping from the Abington , Connecticut, Burial Ground, and ar-
rangements for its indoor housing are being discussed by the town and cemetery
officials. Cooperation with this effort has been offered by the Connecticut Histori-
cal Society in Hartford.
In Memory of
Constantine ye
Son of Samuel
8, Mary Baker,
he died April
th 1753
Years
Days
Left: Stephenson's sketch, which started the search
Above: The fragments, from the gallery's photograph
AGS F '83 13
t
VlllllSMIN
01.^ ON (iiujsd
a I V d
30ViSOd s n
'0^0 XldOdd NON
60910 ss\?w JS4S3DJOM
X^apos upijvnbuuv u\?D!JauJvo/D
suoijPDiiqnj SDV
Thirty. Since its initial, introductory issue in the spring of 1977, the AGS NEWSLETTER
has had four editors. The introductory issue was co-produced by Robert W, Mackreth
and Cayneli S. Levine. The four subsequent editors were Nancy (Buckeye) Melin,
Joanne Baker, Anne Ciesecke, and myself. This issue marks the end of three years in
this capacity for me, and it is time for new blood. That blood will come from Deborah
Trask, who has agreed to assume the editorship beginning with the winter issue. I will
continue as ACS Publications Director, developing the Association's information sheets
and offering assistance, if needed, to David Walters, editor of MARKERS, and to Deborah.
Editing the NEWSLETTER has been a pleasure, introducing me to interesting people and
to interesting ideas, and I expect Deborah will enjoy the work as much as I have. I also
expect that in her hands the publication will improve in quality and grow in scope. She
is a curator in the History Section of the Nova Scotia Museum and the author of Life How
Short Eternity How Long: Gravestone Carving and Carvers in Nova Scotia. She has, not
only enthusiasm for the job, new ideas, and the advantage of a different geographical
perspective, but she also has the cooperation of the Nova Scotia Museum to aid her. She
and I are working now on a few transitional details, one of which concerns the file of
readers' contributions which has backlogged in my office. These will not fall by the
wayside. We may decide to publish an addenda to this issue to bring readers up to date
on the news and other items in that bulging file. Or Deborah may use them in the winter
and issues following. Finally, this is the time to thank NEWSLETTER readers, not only
for your contributions but also for your corrections, your spirited comments--favorable
and otherwise — and for your overall friendly attitude. Before I write -30-, the school-
teacher in me nags me to share a little background information about the use of "-30-"
to mean finished, done, the end. This old newspaperman's term came into being in the
days when reporters sent their stories to their editors by Western Union Telegraph.
The telegraph operator took the copy in longhand, and at the end of each piece wrote
"XXX" meaning stop, the end. It was a natural step for the three X's to become -30-
and for a reporter telephoning a story to indicate its conclusion by saying, "Thirty."
Today reporters type a -30- at the end of their copy. To carry this a step further,
now, and to give this old term a new twist,
'30-
JLFi
The AGS NEWSLETTER is published quarterly as a service to members of The Association for Gravestone Studies.
The membership year begins on the date dues are received and ends one year from that date. A one-year mem-
bership entitles the member to four issues of the NEWSLETTER and to participation in the ACS conference in the
year membership is current. Send membership fees (Regular, $15; Sustaining, $25) to ACS Membership Secretary
Carol Perkins, 1233 Cribb St., Apt. 204, Toledo OH 43612. Order MARKERS, the Journal of the Association for
Cravestone Studies (Vol. 1, $15; Vol. 2, $12) from Betty Slater, 373 Bassettes Bridge Rd . , Mansfield Center CT
06250. Address contributions to MARKERS, Vol. 3, to David Watters, editor, Dept. of English, University of New
Hampshire, Durham NH 03824. Address NEWSLETTER contributions to Deborah Trask, editor. The Nova Scotia y->
Museum, 1747 Summer St. , Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 3A6, Canada. Address other correspondence and orders to V^
ACS Corresponding Secretary Betsy Widirstky, Box 523, 140 Founders' Path, Southold NY 11971. Mail addressed
to ACS do The American Antiquarian Society, Worcester MA 01609 will be forwarded to the appropriate ACS office.
1
THE NEWSLETTER OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES
This IS Part II of the Fall, 1983, issue of the ACS NEWSLETTER, Vol-
ume 7, Number 4. Its contents are , for the most part, a collection of
readers' contributions on a variety of subjects.
CONTENTS
A REPORT FROM THE PRESIDENT
CONSERVATION /PRESERVATION, a potpourri
BOOK REVIEW
• ■III
Iron Spirits
Edited by N.C. Vrooman & P. A. Martin; photos by J. & W. Cudmundson
Reviewed by Francis Y. Duval
RESEARCH AND WRITING, recent publications , research services, requests
CYPHER STONE, a puzzle
EDUCATION, courses, exhibits, conferences, a competition
TWO STONES TWO STORIES
FUNNY EPITAPHS, a point of view
15
16
22
23
26
29
31
32
A REPORT FROM THE PRESIDENT
J
Our membership will be interested in various important actions taken by the Board
of Trustees at its meeting on October 1, 1983, in Boston.
1- Geraldine Hungerford, the 1984 AGS Conference Chairman, reported excellent pro-
gress in the Conference planning. The 1984 Conference and Annual Meeting will
be held June 22-24 in Hartford, Connecticut, in collaboration with the Connecticut
Historical Society. The Conference Committee thus far appointed includes: Program
Chairman, Michael Cornish; Registrars, Alice Bunton and Lisa Gabel; Publicity
Chairman, Alfred Fredette; Hospitality Committee, Kevin Sweeney and John and
Claire Collins; Connecticut Historical Society Coordinators, Robert Trent and Peter
Malia; Graveyard Tour Coordinators, Anne Williams and Susan Kelly.
2- In order to coordinate memberships with NEWSLETTER mailings, it was decided that
memberships shall hereafter run on an annual basis from the date the application or
renewal is received. A member will receive four issues of the ACS NEWSLETTER
following the date of his/her application or renewal.
3- The Board authorized employment of a part-time staff person, and a Search Com-
mittee consisting of the President and Michael Cornish and Jessie Lie Farber was
charged with the responsibility for finding the right person for the job and work-
ing out the necessary details.
4- MARKERS is to have an Editorial and Review Board consisting of the Editor and
five other persons, these five persons to be appointed by the President of AGS,
the Director of Publications, and the Editor of MARKERS.
5- AGS has worked out an arrangement with the New England Historic Genealogical
Society in Boston whereby the AGS archives will be noted in the Society's card in-
dex and will be available to the Society's members as well as to AGS members and
any other person with the written approval of an officer of AGS. Michael Cornish
will bring the catalog of our archives up to date, and that catalog will be available
in the Reading Room of the NEHGS.
6- A small committee will be appointed to collaborate with the Museum of American Folk
Art in New York in the preparation of a glossary of terms used by students of
gravestone art. Miriam Silverman has agreed to chair this committee.
7- Hereafter, members are invited to attend AGS Board meetings as guests, excepting
possible rare occasions when the Board may have to go into executive session to
discuss personnel matters and the like. The next AGS Board meeting will be held
at the New England Historic Genealogical Society, 101 Newbury Street, Boston, on
^^= Saturday, January 28, 1984, at 10:00 AM.
Further developments on all of these matters will be reported from time to time in the
ACS NEWSLETTER. Suggestions, comments, and helpful hints from members will be
much appreciated.
Theodore Chase
CONSERVATION/PRESERVATION
The most frequent request received by ACS is for advice about graveyard re-
storation. Although each restoration situation is different, there are some basic
answers — call them "fundamentals of good graveyard restoration":
1- Don't rush in willy-nilly with only enthusiasm to guide you. Do some
background research before you go in with the spade, the power mower,
the cement, and the epoxy.
2- Document your stones and specify the conditions needing attention.
3- Publicize the need, the on-going work, and the final result.
4- Raise the funds necessary to do the job right. Get professional help;
mom-and-pop projects can be wasteful of resources and they are sometimes
in the long view, damaging.
5- Be persistant and also patient. Good restoration is not usually a week-
end activity.
But what if you want to do something useful and cannot afford the effort that a
thoroughgoing restoration would require? What you need is a small project, a
part of the whole. There are many small projects, and these can lead others to
join the effort, to pick up where you leave off. Before you choose one and get
involved, think through what you would enjoy doing. What are your talents,
your interests? Writing? Research? Or public speaking? Or organizing com-
mittees? Photography, or gardening, or genealogy, local history, computer anal-
ysis, carver identification? There is a job for every interest. Making a survey
of the situation can be the ideal start. Or find someone else to make the survey
and concentrate on publicizing the findings. Write a letter, make a speech, visit
the city fathers, or find professional help and determine the cost of getting this
kind of advice and service • Put up the needed money, or some of it, or find or-
ganizations and individuals who can give financial support. Or document your
stones. Photograph them. Find out who carved them. Find out who is buried
in your old graveyard and do some genealogical research. Write up the project
when it has been completed. Or simply serve on a committee organized by some-
one else. There are so many facets to a good restoration project that anyone
with a real interest can find useful work to fit any interest and any financial or
time budget. And what you do can influence others to join in the effort according
to their interests and talents.
Following are items based on news clippings about restoration projects. Each has
a little message concerning graveyard restoration efforts.
Document your stones so that you can identify any that are lost and found. We
know that gravemarkers disappear from old graveyards, and we have heard a vari-
ety of stories about why they were taken and where they go. Frequently mentioned
destinations are walks and cellar floors. Now we have a newspaper account of a
stone cemented into a basement wall. The basement is in a building in Racine,
Wisconsin, owned by Jim Sanborn, Jr., who bought it in 1978 to house his plastic
molding business. The inscription on the stone tells us that it is for Anne Stanford,
a native of Wales and the wife of a mariner, Edward Stanford, who died May 24, 1852,
age 30 years. Mr. Sanborn's efforts to learn anything about its origin have been un-
successful. The Racine Journal, April 5, 1983. Courtesy Anita Sorensen
Publicize the need. A letter written by Mike Hellinghausen and published in The Bos-
ton Globe last spring (the exact date was not on the clipping) begins:
Recently, I visited one of my favorite spots in downtown Boston. I go
there occasionally to keep some perspective on daily life. The tranquil-
ity of the Granary Burial Ground, near Boston Common, is startling a- ,
midst the noise and confusion of Tremont Street. My recent sojourn
was an exception. When I left I was furious.
Hellinghausen's letter goes on to describe the trash, fallen tree limbs, broken stones,
roaming dogs, and muddy paths, and to deplore this neglect of the resting places of
those who changed the course of American history. Our mention of this letter, we
assume, is somewhat after-the-fact in view of the restoration now being done in the
Boston graveyards (see Boston Historic Burial Grounds Project, page 20 this issue).
But we like to think the letter may have played some part in the decision-making
process that resulted in the restoration now underway. In any event, if your town's
yard needs attention, a letter to the editor is one place to begin.
AGS F '83 16
r
c
Conservation/Presepvation, continued
Get public support. Anyone needing ideas for enlisting public support for a cemetery
should read through an issue or two of the newsletter published by the Friends of Mt.
^j)) Hope Cemetery (address 791 Mt. Hope Avenue, Rochester, New York 14620). The
Friends are clearly bursting with good ideas for involving the Rochester community in
fund raising, history tours, photographic competitions, rubbing courses, exhibitions,
gardening projects, and much, much more, and we judge from the newsletter's inter-
esting reports that their ideas are working like charms. Incidentally, we note in their
most recent issue that AGS board member. Laurel Cabel, who has recently moved to
the Rochester area, has been named to the board of the Mt. Hope Friends — another
good idea that will work.
Get political support for protective legislation if it is needed. Rufus Langhans, Town
Historian for the city of Huntington, New York, and an AGS board member, has been
pressing for better state and federal legislation to protect markers in the state of New
York. From him we have news of two proposed improvements. At the federal level.
Representative Robert J. Mrazek, U.S. Congressman from New York, is co-sponsoring
a bill XM^^JtZv^i which was introduced January 6, 1983. This bill is an amendment to
Chapter 13 of Table 18 of the U.S. Code, and it provides that:
Whoever willfully vandalizes or defaces, sets fire to, tampers with, or in any
other way damages or destroys any cemetery , any building or other real pro-
perty used for religious purposes, or any religious article contained therein
or any religious article contained in any cemetery or any building or other
real property used for religious purposes, or attempts to do any of the same,
or whoever injures, intimidates, or interferes with any person or any class
of persons in the free exercise of religious beliefs secured by the Constitu-
tion or laws of the United States, shall be fined not more than $10, 000, or
imprisoned for not more than five years, or both; and if bodily injury results
shall be fined not more than $15,000 or imprisoned not more than fifteen years,
or both, and if death results, shall be subject to imprisonment for any term of
years or for life.
We are eager to hear how this bill fared in committee ^d on the house floor. At the
state level. New York Assemblyman John D. Calandrt - on January 5, 1983, read an
act to amend section 145-10 of the penal law, which classifies damaging cemetery prop-
erty as criminal mischief in the second degree, a class D felony. We are not familiar
with the penalties for a ciass D felony and would like to know what this amounts to
and how the legislation is proceeding. Readers who would like to communicate with
Rufus Langhans, who is a member of the AGS Executive Board, about protective legis-
lation should address him at 228 Main Street, Huntington, New York 11743.
Get legal help, if you need it, to see that laws are enforced. In addition to the work
described above, Rufus Langhans has been involved in a successful battle with devel-
opers who wanted to build a parking lot on the site of an old burying ground. He had
the yard mapped and photographed, and in the end the developers were obliged to move
the graves to another local cemetery and add headstones to replace those that had been
"stolen years ago," according to the developers (though others think "recently removed"
better describes their disappearance) . The law requires notifying the state Supreme
Court and advertising the proposed move to allow descendants to comment.
More about lawsuits. Newspapers from both coasts carried the story about a lawsuit to
halt construction of a $1.2 million, 5000-seat baseball stadium and parking lot thirty
feet from a Shaker cemetery containing about 450 graves, including that of the sect's
founder. Mother Ann Lee. The cemetery is the last physical evidence of the first Shak-
er community in the United States, established seven miles northwest of Albany, New
York, in 1776. The town of Colony, New York, argued that the Shakers, who never
sold the land, had, in effect, given up ownership because "for the last twelve or more
years the cemetery has been designated and maintained by the town as an historic site
completely at the town's expense." The county made an offer to protect the cemetery
once the ball park is built, but the eight Shakers who brought suit have refused to
accept this offer, and the case went to the New York State Supreme Court. At its
height, the community near Albany consisted of 3000 acres with 150 buildings. Today
only two Shaker communities remain in this country, one at Sabbathday Lake, Maine,
with five residents, and the other at Canterbury, New Hampshire, with three residents.
The survivors are women, most of them in their eighties. Their attorney asks which
is more sacred — a graveyard where the founders of their religious sect are buried or
a ballpark for part of the Oakland A' s farm system. He argues that the graves are
holy ground. Readers whose interest in gravestone studies centers on the folk art
carvings on! early markers will be interested to know that Shaker gravemarkers are
rectangular marble slabs without ornamentation. Thanks for this item to Dorothy
Annesser and to Richard Welch, who sent clippings from the San Francisco Chronicle,
JiJ April 12, 1983, and the New York Times, April 18, 1983.
AGS F'83 P17
Conservation/Pveservation , continued
Get financial support. To do a good job of restoration requires, besides enthusiasm
and interest, knowledge and money . And with money you can buy even knowledge.
We have in hand, courtesy of Rufus Langhans, Town Historian for Huntington, New (
York, a document which can be of help to persons with good projects needing fund-
ing. It is a copy of the grant proposal he submitted for work needed in Huntington's
oldest burying ground. The proposal, for a matching $20,375, is for the repair of
100 stones, bringing indoors for safekeeping ten selected stones and replacement of
these with replicas, replacement of a fence, and tree planting. The proposal is so
well done that we offer to copy and send it to anyone considering a similar project.
Address AGS, c/o The American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massachusetts 01609.
Please enclose $1.00, the cost of the photo-copy and postage.
Get professional advice. Meeting at a little cemetery Tuesday and Friday evenings
after work, members of a civic club in a small New Hampshire town have been re-
setting and cleaning the stones in its old graveyard. By August 24, the date of the
newsclip sent by Bill Wallace, they had set and cleaned eighteen markers, with twen-
ty more to do. We admire the good intentions of these citizens, and we can assume
that their shoring up their old yard will show that people care and, in turn, dis-
courage vandalism. On the other hand, the photograph illustrating the story shows
the uprighted stones being set into cement, and this is the kind of thing that worries
us about amateur projects like this. We know that markers set into cement tend to
snap off neatly at the cement line, and that in the long run it would have been better
(and cheaper and easier) to reset them into the earth. As for cleaning the stones,
we do not know what treatment was used; we do know that project leaders who are
not professionally guided often recommend strong cleaning solutions and abrasive
scrubbing, which produce an immediately improved appearance but which can, in
time, prove to be destructive.
Use volunteer help. In addition to keeping the project's cost down, volunteers fos-
ter continuing community interest in the burial ground. The following story, while
ignoring mention of the need for knowledgeable, organized guidance for the volun-
teers, does illustrate the special contribution volunteer help makes. In an attack by
vandals in Plymouth, Connecticut, forty-three historic gravemarkers in the Old
Center Cemetery (of about 400 markers dating from 1749) were damaged. The fol-
lowing two weekends, fifty-four residents responded to a call to bring shovels, rakes,
and wheelbarrows to repair the damage. The newspaper clipping we have does not
specify the nature of the repairs that were made or whether any professional advice
was used, but it makes it clear that before the community group effort, the cemetery
had not received much attention. Now town officials are starting a neighborhood
watch program. Town Councilman Lawrence Deschaine called the response of the
residents amazing, adding, "For whatever tragedy the destruction caused, it has
brought the community together. It has shown that the people who live here value
community and want to preserve its heritage." "People aren't going to let it happen
again," said Donald Hogan, Chairman of the Plymouth Cemetery Association.
The Havtfovd Courant, November 6, 1983. Courtesy Alfred Fredette
Do it yourself? Once in a while we do hear of a singlehanded restoration project,
and from them one gets some insight into the time, effort/ motivation, and knowledge
that are required to restore even a very small yard. Paul Caracoglia, a retired
National Guard technician who had some experience as a cemetery caretaker in the
1930's, bought a summer place in Bristol, New Hampshire, and there he discovered,
almost in his back yard, an abandoned private burial ground. Because the owner
had neglected to deed it to the city, it had been given no care in the decades since
it was last used, and Caracoglia set about to clean it up. He estimates he spent 200
hours and $100 clearing and landscaping the grounds and mending and uprighting
the fifty-two markers, only six of which were standing. In addition, he has had
some help from neighbors and from the city. Regarding motivation, he comments,
"Nobody pushed me. I wanted something to do. I like the work... it makes you feel
good." The New Hampshire News, Manchester, July 31, 1983. Courtesy Sally Thomas.
Persist. If you believe in your project, don't give up. To illustrate this, we have
a story — two stories, actually — about an energetic new AGS member and two grave-
yard projects she has spearheaded. We report them, thinking they may inspire and
show the way to others who are concerned about grave sites and grave yards that
are in need of attention. ByrI Dorland was bothered to find that the gravesite in
Tarrytown, New York, of the master satirist and storyteller Washington Irving was
in deplorable condition. She applied to have Irving's grave made a National Historic
Landmark and learned that the site would have to be restored and perpetually main-
tained in compliance with rigid standards. This required raising $10,000 to pay for
registration surveys, improving access to the site, and cleaning and planting the
area around the gravesite. Mrs. Dorland masterminded all projects — fundraising,
research, publicity, construction, and planting. The odds against getting Land-
AGS F '83 P18
C
-J^
Conservation /Pvesevvat'ion J continued
mark Status designation were overwiieiming. Only one grave in the United States —
that of Abraham Lincoln--has a National Landmark Plaque for itself alone, and only
eleven other single graves (as opposed to entire cemeteries) have Landmark Status.
She began in 1968. In 1974, after a five-year struggle with government bureaucracy,
the grave was declared a National Historic Landmark. An estimated thirty-thousand
people visit it each year, and this year that number will be increased as this is the
bicentennial of Washington Irving's birth. For her efforts, Mrs. Dorland was named
the recipient of a national award (the May Duff Walters trophy) for "Preservation of
Beauty In America." Now Mrs. Dorland is at work on another graveyard project, and
again the obstacles to success seem insurmountable. In 1710, an ancestor purchased
land in New Jersey which remained in the Dorland family for more than 100 years. On
this land is the Dorland family graveyard of about thirty-five markers. The oldest
stone, for Lambert Janse Dortlandt, 1720, has been removed for safekeeping. Carved
on it is a sailing ship with markings that identify it as the "Bontekoe" or the "Spotted
Cow," the ship that brought the family from Holland in 1663. Mrs. Dorland wants to
purchase and restore and protect the graveyard. Nearby acerage is being sold for
commercial use, and she fears that as civilization moves in, the pasture land on which
the graveyard is located will be similarly developed. She is meeting obstacles, but
we expect she will succeed. This is a lady who knows what to do with an obstacle.
Take time to do it right. Xia Nai, director of the Institute of Archaeology of the
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and chairman of the Archaeological Society of
China announces that further digging in the area of the 210 BC tomia for the Em-
peror Qin Shi Huang, near Xian, must wait until the artifacts already uncovered
are better understood and until preservation technology is better developed. "We
are reluctant to open the rest of the tombs," says Dr. Xia, "There is common think-
ing that more and faster is better, but I think that before we dig more, we should
slow down and evaluate. . .As it now stands, the artifacts are safer in the ground."
There may be a lesson, or at least food for thought, here for well-meaning but o-
ver-eager enthusiasts who rush into graveyard restoration projects. Restoration
is needed, and often doing something is better than doing nothing. On the other
hand, we know of restorations that have done more harm than good. So, when ac-
tion is in order, take a tip from China and make sure your action is the best action.
Do not move so fast that there is no time for sound preparation, including seeking
qualified advice.
The Trinity Parish Gravestone Project, a model. Trinity Church, in lower Manhattan,
New York City, is paying professionals to make a condition survey and to document
and give conservation treatment to the stones in its ancient churchyard. Following
are excerpts from a press release about this noteworthy project. The project team is
headed by Miriam Silverman and includes :
Conservation: Norman Weiss, Columbia University School of Architecture and
Planning, Division of Historic Preservation; Frank Matero and Frances Gale,
Research Associates and colleagues of Prof. Weiss.
Field work and research assistant: Suzanne Koslowsky, graduate student in
anthropology. Hunter College.
Photography: Carl Foster, New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission,
site photographer; Robert del Tredici, McGill University, Montreal, Canada,
consultant.
Miriam Silverman, an anthropologist, is a doctoral candidate in historical archaeology.
In 1977, she documented gravestone typology in the Orient, eastern Europe, France,
Holland, England, Italy, and the Holy Land. For the past two years, she has con-
ducted a series of Trinity Churchyard lecture tours sponsored by Trinity Church and
the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. Ms. Silverman serves on the
AGS executive board.
Phase I of the Trinity Parish Gravestone Project is a pilot study of one section to de-
velop the most reasonable and economical procedures possible for the more extensive
process to follow. Phase II involves documenting all the stones; creating an updated
and cross-referenced directory of all burials and markers, a written descriptive and
photographic record, and a site plan and map of all the memorials. The condition of
each stone will be evaluated; some will receive emergency treatment to protect them
from further damage and possible loss, while specific conservation treatment options
will be recommended for many others that are severely threatened. A complete re-
view of soil structure, vegetation, ground maintenance practices, and access policies
with recommendations for the improvement of the environment will be effected. Addi-
tional goals include the implementation of educational and research programs for the
private and public sectors, and the enrichment of the archival record in conjunction
with extant burial records.
AGS F '83 P19
Conservation/Preservation, continued
The Circular Congregational Church Project, another model. The restoration of the
eighteenth- through twentieth-century cemetery of the Circular Congregational Church
in Charleston, South Carolina, illustrates graveyard conservation and preservation at
its best. The project's attractive illustrated flyer asking for tax-deductible gifts (and
enclosing an addressed envelope) informs the public in a brief and straightforward
way of the importance of gravestones as America's earliest sculpture and of the unique-
ness of the Charleston yard in particular (e.g. , it contains original stones carved by
Henry Emmes, William Codner, John Bull, Lemuel Savery, and G. Allen). The flyer
then explains the need for restoration and describes the scope of the project (which
includes a photographic and written inventory, archaeological survey, research on
carvers and on persons buried there, upgrading of lighting and security, resetting
and repair of 250 stones, and preparation of a walking-tour guide); it gives the break-
down of the anticipated cost ($150,000); it names the funding organization (U.S. De-
partment of the Interior, on a matching fund basis) and the members of the Restora-
tion Committee; and it introduces the professional in charge. For your information,
she is Lynette Strangstad of Mineral Point, Wisconsin, "known nationally for her par-
ticipation in restoring the brownstone facade of the Theodore Roosevelt birthplace in
Manhattan for the National Park Service and for such work as stabilization of a Frank
Lloyd Wright Usonian house in Mt. Vernon, Virginia. Her articles on marble cleaning,
limestone patching, and brownstone repair appear in leading preservation journals."
Strangstad has a team of professional stone preservationists working with her.
One of the devices the Charleston group is using to raise
matching funds will appeal to our readers. T-shirts with a
caricature of an eighteenth-century carving by the stone-
cutting Lamson family of Boston and Charlestown, Mass.,
are available for $8.25, postpaid, from Historic Charles-
ton Foundation, Circular Congregational Church, 150
Meeting Street, Charleston, South Carolina 29U02. Lynette
Strangstad was wearing one of these shirts at the AGS
Conference in June, and we can vouch for the T-shirts'
good looks. The back of the shirt identifies the R.I. P.
as "Restoration in Progress." State your color (cream or
navy) and size (men M, L, XL; women M, L) , enclose a
check, and allow several weeks for delivery. Merry Christ-
mas if you hurry.
The Yankee Intern Program. The Yankee Publishing Company, Inc., (publishers of
Yankee Magazine) and the National Trust for Historic Preservation have formed a new
partnership to operate an intern program in the six New England states. The intern-
ships, which pay in the neighborhood of $2500 for the twelve summer weeks, are fund-
ed in part by the sponsoring agency and in part by the Yankee Intern Program. The
intern selection process is also a joint effort. Candidates apply to the National Trust
(Ann Niles, 45 School Street, Boston 02108), which screens and sends qualified appli-
cants to sponsoring organizations for interviews and final decisions. The program
sponsored more than fifty interns in 1983, all involved in protecting and preserving
New England's unique environment, both natural and historical. One of the projects
that has benefitted from the Yankee Intern Program is the Historic Burial Grounds
Project, initiated in the summer of 1983 in Boston (see below).
The Historic Burial Grounds Project, Boston. For twelve weeks last summer, Rosanne
Atwood-Humes of Melrose, Massachusetts, a senior at Northeastern University, Boston,
was a Yankee Intern (see above). She worked for the Bostonian Society, which is the
historical museum headquartered in Boston's Old State House at 206 Washington Street
with offices at 15 State Street. Her assignment was the Historic Burial Grounds Pro-
ject. A letter and press release from Ms. Atwood-Humes informs us that she comple-
ted an inventory of the 615 markers in King's Chapel Burying Ground and 500 of the
1700+ markers in the Granary Burial Ground. For this inventory, she recorded the de-
mensions, condition, material, and inscription of each marker. The data she gathered
is filed at the Bostonian Society. What bothered us was the last paragraph of her let-
ter, dated September 6, 1983, after a full summer of work: "Any information you can
provide, particularly in the areas of photographic inventory procedures, maintenance
of old graveyards, guidelines for the inventory process, and experts in the conserva-
tion field we should be in contact with, would be greatly appreciated. If preservation
efforts are to begin in Boston's historic graveyards, we should have available the in-
formation to do the job properly." How right she is! This is a project of monumental
(forgive us!) proportions. It concerns the most precious early sculpture in the coun-
try, and it is long overdue. In addition to the Bostonian Society and the National
Trust and the Yankee Intern Program, it has, according to the press release, the
support of the Boston Preservation Alliance, the Massachusetts Historical Commission,
Continued next page
AGS F '83 P20
f
Conservation/Preservation, continued
the City of Boston's Parks and Recreation Department (which maintains the city's old
burial grounds), and the city's Art Commission and Landmarks Commission. This
project should not only set standards, it should also be coordinated with other pro-
jects, and in particular with the Survey of Historic Cemeteries in the Five Boroughs
of New York City (sponsored by the New York Council for the Humanities and the New
York Landmarks Preservation Foundation). What a wealth of information can be gleaned
from the data from just these two projects if the data is compatible and can be easily
compared! The press release quotes Judy McDonough of the Boston Landmarks Com-
mission, "Rosanne's survey is critical for establishing priorities of conservation and
repair..." and Jim Bradley of the Massachusetts Historical Commission says, "Instead
of talking about the problem, we are finally doing something. . .This is the first tan-
gible step in saving the stones." From this we were hopeful that the work thus far
completed is just the beginning, but because we had a nagging doubt, we telephoned
the Bostonian Society. There we learned that the documenting begun in the summer
of 1983 may (but may not) continue in 1984, In any case, funding for the thorough-
going, professionally guided research and conservation that is needed in Boston's old
yards is simply nowhere in sight. Everyone recognizes the need, but until someone
masterminds a big and successful fund drive, we are not likely to see much progress.
Barre-Pak is an epoxy developed by the Barre Granite Association for the bonding of
natural stone. It is used to bond a monument to its base or to repair a broken stone.
Barre-Pak's advantages are that it is simple to use, and its bond is permanent. These
are also its disadvantages. A basic concept of good museum conservation is to use a
procedure that can be undone — which is not permanent. This is because over the years,
as new and better procedures are developed, it is important that the old work can be
replaced. Also, museum conservation requires that each artifact be analyzed and treat-
ed individually; no one bond is best for every object. Finally, to be sure a procedure
is a good one, it should be given a trial period of many years. But this approach to
conservation is clearly not practical for every stone that needs attention. Many old
markers do qualify as museum artifacts and should be given museum-type conservation
treatment. If there were time and money, we would like museum conservation for all
the broken stones in all the cemeteries. Meanwhile, for many gravestones now in need
of attention, an inexpensive, easy-to-use bond that can save them from further neglect
and total destruction is much needed. Barre-Pak, with instructions for its use, is a-
vailable from Barre Guild Consolidation Service, P.O. Box 481, Barre, Vermont 05641.
Orphan tombstones. The New York State Historical Association has been collecting
orphan tombstones for several years and has recently placed the best-preserved ones
on display at The Farmers' Museum Village Crossroads near the Church. The stones
have been found under outbuildings, behind barns, and in ditches. Research has
shown that in most cases they were discarded when family members replaced them many
years ago. The sandstone and marble markers are all from this upstate area and date
from 1790 to 1870. Various methods of setting and mending the broken stones have
been tried and they will be watched carefully to determine the best methods for this
rather harsh climate. C.R. Jones, Conservator for the Association and The Farmers'
Museum is in charge of the project. So far, visitor interest has been high. The small
graveyard adds much to the outdoor museum and provides an opportunity to interpret
changes in tombstone design, material, and burial customs. Courtesy, C.R. Jones.
Presidential sites . Leo Levers, a monument dealer, visited the graves of all thirty-five
dead American Presidents and was shocked by the neglect he found. He has formed a
non-profit organization. Preserve Our Presidential Sites, which has gained some heavy
backing by New York Representative Jack Kemp. Monument Builders News, September
15, 1983.
New conservation facility. A hundred million dollar art complex to be built by the J.
PaulGetty Trust in West Los Angeles will house a museum, a Center for the History
of Art and the Humanities, and a Conservation Institute. The Conservation Institute
will be an advanced training facility for conservators and for compiling and dissemina-
ting current information about conservation techniques. The director of the Center,
which plans to have an international community of scholars in residence, is Kurt Foster,
now at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Construction is expected to be com-
pleted in 1987. The New York Times, September 22, 1983.
AGS F '83 P21
BOOK REVIEW
IRON SPIRITS
Edited by Nicholas Curchin Vrooman and Patrice Avon Martin
Illustrated with black and white photographs by Jane and Wayne Gudmundson
Published by the North Dakota Council on the Arts, Fargo, North Dakota, 1982
Available from the Germans from Russia Heritage Society, 1008 East Central Avenue,
Box 1671, Bismark, North Dakota 58502. 116 pages, softbound, $10.95.
Review by Francis Y. Duval
This handsome book documents the iron cross
memorials wrought for Catholic Germans of
Russian heritage buried in North Dakota's
"Peace Yards." The horizontally-designed
publication (10i"x8i") is profusely illustra-
ted with superb examples of this elegant art
form executed by local blacksmiths during
the first half of the twentieth century.
The book opens with photographs of the
North Dakota plains, majestic or utterly des-
olate, depending on the season. In an ex-
tended section titled "The Smiths," the rea-
der can savor the vernacular of family and
friends transcribed from taped reminiscen-
ces of smiths they had known.
Several of these inspired artisans are also
seen posing in family portraits, standing in
front of their shops, or toiling at their trade.
Other archival prints depict touching scenes
of the burial rites of those early immigration
years.
A final section, authored by Timothy J.
Kloberdanz, traces comprehensively the tra-
ditional ramifications of this folk-like art
form and offers a short but valuable biblio-
graphy on this little-known subject. The
book was admirably designed by Vern Goodin. Its paper is of superior quality with
minimum print-through; its text is well-set and easy to read, and the quality of the
reproductions is, for the most part, very good. North Dakota's Governor Allen I. Olson
notes in the book's succinct Forward that "Blacksmithing is an epic occupation funda-
mental to an agricultural economy." The contents of this documentation transcend
his words with its expressive display of creativity. A gem of a book: it should open
the eyes of many whose interest in marker art remains confined to early New England
stone carvings.
Francis Duval is co-author^ with Ivan B. Rigby, of Early American Gravestone Art
in Photographs (Dover Publications, Inc., New York).
Very readable, excellently organized, beautifully designed. These are the comments
we are hearing from those who have seen the new book. Momenta Mori: Gravestones
of Early Long Island, 1620-1810, by Richard Welch. It is published by the Friends of
Long Island Heritage, Syosset, New York. $11.95, softcover; $17.95, hardcover, the
latter in an edition of only 200. James Slater will review it for THE NEWSLETTER.
A book and an article. A new book, published by the University of Virginia Press,
is The Space of Death, written by Michel Ragon and translated by Alan Sheridan. It
is hardcover, 7x10 inches, 336 pages, illustrated, indexed, $20.00. An article by
B. H. Levy, "Savannah's Old Jewish Community Cemeteries," was published in the
Georgia Historical Quarterly , volume 66 (Spring, 1982), Pages 1-20. Courtesy, Philip
Kallas, Stevens Point, Wisconsin .
ACS F '83 P22
RESEARCH AND WRITING
^ RECENTLY PUBLISHED BOOKS, ARTICLES, RESEARCH PAPERS
After two years in the making, MARKERS II is off the press! The new journal of
the Association for Gravestone Studies is a 226-page volume containing eight articles;
* Ranging in subject matter from studies of three early carvers and their
work to philosophical considerations of the gravemarker as folk art.
* And ranging in time from early American stones to the work of a contem-
porary sculptor of memorial art.
* And ranging geographically from Texas and Wisconsin to Scotland.
A tour de force by Susan Kelly and Anne Williams identifies extant signed stones by
81 early carvers, 66 of which are illustrated with Kelly-Williams rubbings.
MARKERS II is published by The University Press of America, Inc., and sells for
$12.00, softcover; $23.00, hardcover, post paid. You may order the book from the
publisher (1720 Boston Way, Lanham, Maryland 21706); but AGS will benefit if you
order directly from AGS Publications. Address:
Mrs. Betty Slater
373 Bassettes Bridge Road
Mansfield Center, Connecticut 06250
Anyone seriously interested in early Americana in general or in gravestone studies
in particular will want to have MARKERS I and MARKERS II in his/her library.
(Volume 7 is available at the above address; the price is $1 5j softcover. )
Gravestones of the famous. Readers interested in gravestones of the famous will
want to own Permanent addresses: A guide to the Resting Places of Famous Ameri-
cans. According to a review of the book in Rocktalk, the monthly newsletter of
the American Monument Association, "the book not only is reasonably entertaining,
but also works as a useful reference." The review says that the most useful sec-
tion is a 58-page cross reference index arranged by state and giving directions to
each marker. It is illustrated with about 45 woodcuts and a few photographs of
unusual monuments. Order from M. Evans and Company, Inc., 216 East 49th St.,
New York, New York 10017. $7.95, softcover.
Gershom and Asa Risley, stonecutters . Following is the introductory paragraph of
a thirty-page article, "'Wonderfully Lettered and Carved': The Gravestones of the
Risley Family, 1786-1835." The article was written by Margaret Moody Steir, for-
merly Registrar for the Hood Museum of Art, in Hanover, New Hampshire. She is
now a doctoral candidate in American Studies at Boston University. Her paper is
published in the April, 1983, issue of The Dartmouth College Library Bulletin.
The Risley Family Papers, owned by the Dartmouth College Library,
provide a rare and fascinating glimpse into the activities of a family
of Hanover, New Hampshire, gravestone carvers between about 1786
and 1835. Nearly 175 orders for epitaphs, business and personal cor-
respondence, deeds, miscellaneous papers, and a few sketches of stone
designs offer an unprecendented resource for the study of early New
England gravestone carving practices and production. While the pa-
pers are richest in materials relating to stones in the "urn and willow"
style made between 1817 and 1830 — the years of greatest expansion
in the Risley business — they document "death's head" stones made
as early as 1786, and reveal an unusual transitional carving style of
geometric and naturalistic forms that was popular around 1800.
Illustrating the article are photographs of stones with large, boldly-carved letter-
ing, borders with both foliated and geometric designs, and tympanum carvings of
simple faces, some with wings. Two particularly interesting illustrations, side by
side, show the drawing for the marker of John Crane, 1786, and a photograph of
Crane's eroded stone as it stands in Dartmouth Cemetery in Hanover today.
James Wilder, stonecutter. Theodore Chase's and Laurel Gabel's research into the
life and work of stonecutter James Wilder of Lancaster, Massachusetts, has been
published in The New England Historic and Genealogical Register, April, 1983, Vol-
ume 137, pages 87-113. The title of the article is "James Wilder of Lancaster,
Massachusetts, Stonecutter 1741-1794." The Register is available from The New
England Historic Genealogical Society, 101 Newbury Street, Boston 02116. Chase
and Gabel read the paper from which this article was developed at the 1982 AGS
Conference in Williamstown, Massachusetts. For a brief abstract, see the Summer,
1982, issue (Volume 6, number 3) of the NEWSLETTER, page 15.
' AGS F '83 P23
Eeseavoh and Writing, continued
Epitaph and Icon; a reader reacts . Frances E. Roche, a new ACS member, from
Falmouth, Massachusetts, reports that she recently took a rubbing trip to ten burial
grounds on Cape Cod and Nantucket using as a guide the new book Epitaph and Icon,
by Diana George and Malcolm Nelson. Of this experience she writes, "On viewing the
stones I experienced some of the emotion the authors did. When a book can take you
by the hand and rekindle an old interest as this book has done for me, I call it good."
This is a book that should be judged by its cover." (The cover features a fine photo-
graph of a marvelous skull.) She calls our attention to the book's index because it
"contains a valuable device. The names of the carvers of the stones are high-lighted
by a 'c' in parentheses in front of their names. To study the style of a carver, just
look for (c) and the name you are interested in." The book's full title is Epitaph and
Icon: A Field Guide to the Old Burying Grounds of Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and
Nantucket., published by Parnassus Imprints, Orleans, Massachusetts, 1983. $12.95.
Mrs. Roach is a writer. An interesting piece by her about the pleasures of rubbing
was published in the Five-College Campus Connection, Amherst, Massachusetts, Aug-
ust 24, 1983.
Cape Cod article. A four-page article, "Epitaphs: Sketchy Clues to Past Lives,"
was published in the fall issue of Cape Cod Life. The piece, by Patricia Mikulak,
illustrated with seven excellent photographs by Ned Manter, is one of several that
have appeared in recent Cape publications. None of them offers new thinking or
new insights into the inscriptions or iconography of Cape Cod stones, but we think
it is good that respectful attention is being paid to the old burial grounds in an area
so popular with tourists. VJe suspect that this groundswell of interest may be related
to the publication this summer of the George/Nelson field guide. Epitaph and Icon,
published by Parnassus Imprints, Orleans, Massachusetts.
"Archaeological Perspectives on Three Cemeteries of Old New York," by Sherene
Baugher and Frederick A. Winter, an eight-page illustrated article published in the
September-October, 1983, issue of Archaeology , is an account of the philosophical
questions which led to an investigation of historic cemeteries in New York City and
a report on the investigation and conclusions drawn from it. The study was con-
ducted by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission and funded by a
grant from the New York Council on the Humanities. The three cemeteries studied
included one from the city's core (Trinity in Manhattan) ; one from an outlying trade
center (St. Andrews on Staten Island); and one from an outlying farming community
(Cravesend in Brooklyn). It was intended that this selection would uield a sampling
of comparable data from populations with diverse geographical, economic, and ethnic
backgrounds. The focus was on the Colonial and Federal stones, that is, those with
dates before 1815. The thrust of the study was to question the too-neat conclusions
drawn by previous studies. Specifically:
Is the New England sequential pattern of tombstone motifs repeated in
New York? Does the use of images on gravestones reflect changes in
religious ideology. . .or differences between religions? Do different
ethnic groups choose different motifs for their burial markers? Lastly,
does the choice of a motif reflect preferences based on the deceased
person's age or sex?
The authors conclude that New York cemeteries do not seem to reflect a tie to any
particular faith or ethnic group. The gravestones studied "demonstrated more cul-
tural unity than diversity among the Dutch and English elites and middle class in
Early American New York." Following the article. Archaeology listed AGS as one
of a number of resources for further gravestone study. The AGS mail drop at the
American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, Massachusetts, has had several inquiries
from archaeologists as a result. Thanks to Malcolm Nelson for forwarding the article
to us. It will be added to the AGS archives at the New England Historic Genealogical
Society.
C
Have you ever wondered how a cemetery got its name?
In the case of Mt. Hope Cemetery in Rochester, New
York, it was the result of persistence and ingenuity, and
maybe audacity on the part of an early caretaker. The
city supervisor favored another name for the then new
cemetery, but the laborer, who wanted it named Mt.
Hope, made his bills out to the city "for labor in Mt. Hope
Cemetery" until, finally, the city council made the oft-
recorded name official. Well, that's the story, anyway.
We read it in the Friends of Mt. Hope newsletter.
AGS F '83 P2U
Research and Writing, continued
RESEARCH SOURCES AND SERVICES
Ohio photograph collection. Gilbert D. Schneider, Associate Professor of Linguis-
tics (now retired), Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, has given his collection of mount-
ed photographs of gravestones in Athens County, Ohio, to the University Libraries.
There are thirty-nine volumes in the collection; we do not know how many photo-
graphs this represents. According to Sheppard Black, Department of Archives and
Special Collections, Dr. Schneider's principal interest is in the stones' iconography.
Although the collection is not available for loan, the library welcomes inquiries a-
bout it, and it welcomes researchers. We urge readers who are able to inspect this
photograph collection to do so and report to the Newsletter.
Seven-volumes of the unusual. From C. R. Jones, conservator for the New York
State Historical Association, we have a report of a seven-volume work (1383 pages
with 934 photographs) produced by William Bethel from 1922-1940. Bethel worked
for the General Cigar Company in Chicago from 1905 to 1940. He retired to Eureka
Springs, Arkansas, where he resided until his death in 1956. His collection of un-
usual epitaphs and unusual tombstones includes British and American examples, all
located and most documented with photographs. Volumes I and II list the epitaphs
geographically. Photographs and additional material are in Volumes III through VII.
The inscriptions vary from quaint poetry to the factual:
In memory of Ellen Shannon
who was fatally burned March 21st 1870
by the explosion of a lamp filled with
"R. F. Danforths' Non Explosive Burning Fluid"
Girard, Pennsylvania
There are unusual combinations of names, such as Payne-Joy on one stone, and
Potts-Kitchen-Bacon on another. There are stones shaped like log cabins, full
size statues, bedstead markers, and one (in Hartford, Connecticut) with two por-
celain photographs flanking a working electric light. Those of us who spend time
in graveyards might take warning from a stone in Darfield, Yorkshire, England:
Here lieth the mortal remains
of Robert Millthrop who died SeptC
13th 1826 aged 19 years. He lost
his life by inadvertently throwing this stone
upon himself, whilst in the service of
Ja? Ray wood of Ardsley who erected
it to his memory.
The Bethel manuscript volumes can be found in the library of the New York State
Historical Association, Cooperstown, New York 13326. Mr. Jones offers to help
anyone interested in seeing the volumes and also in seeing the area graveyards.
Research clearing house. Laurel Gabel is developing a research clearing house. She
has filed Dan Farber's collection of 9,000 gravestone photographs (photo-copies) by
carver, and she is now ready to accept additional contributions. Good photo-copies
of good original photographs will serve for this purpose. She invites researchers in
all areas of gravestone studies to keep her informed of the nature of their projects
and of their problems and needs (concerning information, not funding!). With her
clearing house as a resource, she can assist researchers who make inquiries, par-
ticularly in the area of carver identification. Her address: 12 Beech Hollow, Fair-
port, New York 14450.
The Tibensky Collection. James Tibenski has a collection of 12,200 negatives he made
of stones in Hartford, New Haven, Fairfield, Middlesex, and Litchfield counties, Con-
necticut. The collection is indexed for computer retrieval, making it an excellent re-
source for carver identification and for indentifying lost and found stones. Tibensky
invites inquiries. He is also looking into the cost of having prints made from his
negatives in the hope that at least part of the collection can be assimilated into the
ACS clearing house mentioned above. Mr. Tibensky 's address: 1510 South Lombard
Avenue, Berwyn, lllinios 60402. More sources next page
D. Aldo Pitassi, a contemporary carver and the subject of an article by Robert
Prestiano published in MARKERS II , died of heart failure September 16, 1983, in
San Angelo, Texas. Those who have read Prof. Prestiano's article and seen the
photographs illustrating Pitassi's work will appreciate this loss to contemporary
memorial art.
AGS F '83 P25
Research and Writing Sources and Services, continued
Vermont inscriptions. Margaret R. Jenks has contributed to the ACS archives three
bound volumes of inscriptions she has taken from Vermont stones. The titles are:
"Middletown Springs and Ira Cemetery Inscriptions, Rutland County, Vermont,"
"Poultney Cemetery Inscriptions, Rutland County, Vermont," and "Wells Cemetery
Inscriptions, Rutland County, Vermont." Each volume contains several pages of
photographs. Mrs. Jenks, who is from Kirkland, Washington (116th Lane, F8, 98033),
combines her interest in genealogy with her interest in early stonecarvers. ACS hopes
to attract more members who have this interest combination and to this end has pro-
duced an information sheet to assist genealogists in researching carver identification.
(Order it from Betsy Widirstky, Box 523, UO Founders' Path, Southold, NY 11971.)
Montana markers. Doris Townshend (709 Townsend Avenue, New Haven, Connec-
ticut 06512) has an interest in early gravestones that goes back to her childhood in
Williamsburg, Virginia. She now spends her summers in Montana,- and during visits
there she has recorded the names and dates for the markers in the twenty-three cem-
eteries in that state's Madison County. The 241-page document describes and gives
directions to each cemetery. The volume is available in the AGS archives and at the
Montana State Historical Society. Because few of our members have had experience
with both eastern and western U.S. stones as Mrs. Townshend has, we asked her to
write a NEWSLETTER piece about Montana stones, making some comparisons between
them and their counterparts on the eastern seaboard. The interesting result is being
held for use in a future issue, perhaps one featuring western markers.
New Hampshire markers recorded. Louise Tallman, of Rye Beach, New Hampshire,
has recorded the pre- 1900 gravestones of Rye for the Rye Historical Society. Rye
contains fifty-three small graveyards and the large Central Cemetery, established
in 1895 but containing many older markers brought there from other local yards.
There are only fourteen markers dated before 1800. Of these, only eight are orig-
inals. The Rye Historical Society houses two replaced originals, dated 1726 and 1731.
Within Central Cemetery, the oldest markers are dated 1725 and 1731, with 800 stones
dated 1800 to 1900. Outside the Central Cemetery, there are 277 additional markers
dated before 1900. Mrs. Tallman's records include a complete transcription of the
inscription and epitaph, with notes on the condition of the stone and its general
shape and design. Mrs. Tallman has also recorded the thirty-three family ceme-
teries of Portsmouth. The Rye records are available to researchers at the Rye
Historical Society; the Portsmouth records are available at the archives of the Ports-
mouth Public Library and at the Portsmouth Athenaeum. A report from Mrs. Tall-
man reminds us that the New Hampshire Old Cemetery Association continues to in-
vestigate the possibility of recording with a computer all historic New Hampshire
stones. For more information, address her at P.O. Box 364, Rye Beach, NH 03871.
CYPHER STONE
"nc ArvcJ<rnA
VEE<cc>ravu
A>r
j-ip-ii<uJAnr3
LVA JLr3<U>n
JbU J1 TA tr^F>
rVT<>3VCUJR
This drawing of a flat leger tombstone in Grantham,
Lincolnshire, England, was sent to us by Pamela
Burgess (Flights Farm, Ledbury, Herfordshire, Eng-
land.) Mrs. Burgess, widow of Frederick Burgess,
who wrote the definitive English Churchyard Memor-
ials, is a lecturer and adviser on English Church-
yards. She writes: "In this country when conser-
vation of gravestones is discussed, the opinion is
that it cannot be done, and that I do not accept.
Fortunes are spent to conserve church monuments
to the late-great, but conserving churchyord memo-
rials is harder and does not carry the same pres-
tige or financial reward. Priorities are thus mis-'
placed, as many of the monuments in churches
would survive for many generations without atten-
tion, while every year we lose many memorials in
the churchyards through neglect. You may quote
me on this topic if you wish. The powers that be
over here know where I stand!
Mrs. Burgess sent the key to the code used on the leger. We think the code is
too difficult to make you wait for it until the next NEWSLETTER comes out . We
suggest you struggle with it a while, if you like, and then give up and turn to
page 30 of this issue for the key — and marvel that anyone less than a profess-
ional decoder figured it out.
AGS F '83 P26
Plat Lftt)^e«. to t^ <s sto Mt
c
Reseavah and Writing^ continued
REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION
Cemeteries as gardens. Among horticulturists, there is a healthy and growing in-
terest in the cemetery as a garden site. George Kackley, Superintendent of Oak Hill
Cemetery in Washington, D.C., has been asked by the American Horticultural Society
to compile a directory of cemeteries that qualify as notable gardens or arboreta for
the Society's imposing North American Horticulture: A Reference Guide. To do this
well, Kackley needs a network of knowledgeable persons who can report to him from
far-flung areas, and as a board member of AGS, he has asked our membership to
provide this network. To help us help him, he has developed a simple rating system
using these symbols:
Y - Yes, it is notable for its gardens
N - No, it does not belong on the list.
C - It is a "Garden" or "Rural" cemetery of the 1831-1860's period.
A - It has a notable tree and shrub collection.
L - It is clearly the work of a landscape architect or garden designer.
To respond to Mr. Kackley's request for assistance,
1 - Just send him the name of any cemetery you know whose grounds are well
planted and/or landscaped. Use his symbols, if you can. If you cannot, let
him follow up with his own investigation of its horticultural qualifications.
2 - Or ask Mr. Kackley to send you his rating sheet, which lists 100 cemeteries
and make ratings of as many as you can. To his list you can add others.
3 - Or, if you are really interested, offer to serve on a committee. It may be
that a small committee can accomplish more than will come from a general appeal.
The study of the horticulture of the cemetery relates in a peripheral way to the study
of gravemarkers. Cooperation between AGS and the American Horticultural Society
can foster among the Society's membership an interest in the markers as well as the
settings in which they stand. George Kackley's address: 3001 R Street, North West,
Washington, D.C. 20007.
Tread Lightly; the Flower Matters
HERE may well be virtue
in helping an endangered
speaes. But this tiroe
there's monej in rl as weiJ.
The niJes are simple: Watch
your fiteip; find a saridplam ger-
ardja (illustrated at lefij ; note tL3
location, photograph it m color,
and mail the picture to Dr. Rolf
Marun at BrookJyn CoJlege The
reward IS C5, possibly more
The gerflnha (.\gallnis acuta)
grfJWS from 4 to 14 inches tall Its
fiower is a deep pink, with darker
spois toward a cream-colored cen-
ter- The five petals are squared ott
andsUghily indeniedat theends.
A native of thc' Northeast, the
plant grew ir sandy, grassy soils
where natural tires cleared the un-
derbrush, or where the grass was
regularly mowed. By 197S. it was
leared ejciinct.
Two years ago. Bruce Some, a
biologist, found a few sandplain
gerartUas , in a Massachusetts
cemetery, raising hopes it might
have survived elsewhere as well.
Cemeteries and similar permanent
grassy areai shoCd be iht places
loltxjk The bloomir.g season is lale
August and throughout September.
According to Dr. Martin, it
would take 4^,000 miles ol trekking
to investignTc the gerardia's for-
mer range; he.ice the invocation of
help and the olfei of reward And,
he emphasizes, do not send
flowerst Leave the plari alone!
Pictures only, please, to Wild-
flower Discovery Prtjjecl. Biology
Department . Bruoklvn College.
Brooklyn. NY UZOl.
//■y. Tj^^s __^AlJls_
Froxi ■>•» En|^»3d't R*™. 'ni."»«i«r*<; wnl EIKU.-JTTW; F.*.-
Courtesy Mary Anne Mrozinski
Ceramic markers. In cleaning our files, we have discovered an illustrated article
from the "Know Your Antiques" section of The Ashville (North Carolina) Citizen,
dated July 16, 1978. Despite its being badly out-of-date and despite the fact that
we have lost track of who sent the clipping, it is too interesting to discard without
mention. The heading for the article reads, "Gravestones are Folk -Art Form," and
the authors, Ralph and Terry Kovel, introduce gravemarkers as neglected folk art.
They encourage their readers to collect not markers but photographs of markers.
They say that in Ohio there are elaborately sculptured gravemarkers made of sewer
clay and that the south has ceramic markers resembling an upside-down crock and
other shapes, such as open planters. The name and date are sometimes part of the
decoration. These salt glazed stoneware markers "now show the irregularities of
the glaze from a wood-burning kiln that is typical of southern ceramics. . .Studies
are being made by groups such as the American Ceramic Circle Conference and the
Georgia State University Folklore Program." The piece concludes, "If you are lucky
enough to find a small graveyard with unusual ceramic headstones, send the infor-
mation to Dr. John Burrison, Georgia State University, Atlanta.
AGS F '83 P27
Research and Writing Requests, continued
Where is this stone? "When Death was an Honored Visitor," an article about early
mortuary artifacts and customs, was published in the September, 1983, American
Cemetery Magazine. The four-page piece is illustrated by seven excellent photo-
graphs of stones from a variety of New England locations, only one of which is ful-
ly identified in the article. No carvers' names are mentioned, but many of our read-
ers would have no trouble identifying six of the seven stones by location and carver.
The seventh stone, illustrated here, is un-
usual in its design, and it is especially inter-
esting because the dominant detail of the tym-
panum carving appears to have been removed.
If so, when and why? What was the original
design? The carving style is that of David
Lamson of Charlestown, Massachusetts, who
carved in the 1790's. Drop a card to the ACS
mail drop (AGS Publications, c/o The American
Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massachusetts
01609) telling us anything you know about
this stone. Meanwhile, we will try to reach
the author, Lucille Guttler, to see what we
can learn from her.
Rattlesnake design. Isabel Shattuck, researcher for the Gooper Hewitt Museum in
New York Gity, reports finding in Savannah, Georgia, "a wonderful gravestone for
Teddy Roosevelt's grandfather, a Mr. Bullock, carved with a rattlesnake design."
She asks if anyone has heard of the use of this motif on other gravemarkers. Her
address: 350 East 57th Street, New York Gity 10022.
Upside-down wings, etc. What does it all mean? Mrs. Norman E. Gleuck, a genea-
logist in Towanda, Pennsylvania (200 Ann Street, ZIP 188U8) asks about the sig-
nificance of the upside-down wings on the stone for Thank-
ful How, 1766, in the Spring Hill Gemetery, Marlboro, MA.
She enclosed a photograph of the stone with her request,
and sure enough, the wings look upside-down to us, too.
If there is a scholar out there who wants to venture an o-
pinion concerning a symbolic interpretation of this design,
Mrs. Gleuck would like to hear from you. So would we.
Second-guessing the thinking of a carver who worked over
200 years ago is risky, though, and reminds us of a cartoon
we once saw of two cave men, one standing on the shoul-
ders of the other. The top man, much amused as he draws a prehistoric horse
high on the cave wall, is saying to his buddy below, "They'll think we're ten feet
tall!" Seriously, our guess is that the "Upside-down carver" just liked the look of
those wings. For a little help with some of the more^Dopular gravestone symbols,
readers are invited to write for the AGS information sheet, "Symbolism on Old Grave-
stones." $1.25 from Betsy Widirstky, Box 523, 140 Founders' Path, Southold, NY.
Selling a Cemetery
It was in June 1982 that New York
City, after operating the century-old
Canarsie Cemetery in Brooklyn for
nearly 40 years, said it was really in
the wrong business. The Department
of General Services said the 13-acre
site was going on the block through a
negotiated precedure known as Re-
quest for Proposals.
But selling a cemetery in New York
isn't easy.
By fall the city was wrestling with a
clouded land title, because many
plots that had been sold, some in the
early 1800's, were never occupied.
That problem has been resolved,
with the city reclaiming some 1,000
abandoned plots.
Next, be<^use it was a sale without
bidding, the city could not by law sell
directly to a cemetery corporation.
To solve this, a double sale has been
lined up, says Thomas Bolenbaugh,
The New York Times, September 25, 1983
Courtesy Mary Anne Mrozinski
AGS F '83 P28
director of financial analysis in the
Division of Real Property, which is
shepherding the transaction.
The Canarsie Neighborhood Devel-
opment Corporation, which says it is
a "not for profit" organization, will
pay the city $3.18 million for the
cemetery, Mr. Bolenbaugh says.
Then it will sell the property for ^.5
million to the Forest Lawn Cemetery
Company, recently set up by Joseph
Graziano, a Brooklyn undertaker.
The neighborhood group, which will
own the cemetery for an instant while
the contracts are signed, gets $325,000
for acting as middleman.
The Board of Estimate has ap-
proved the deal, but the sale to Forest
Lawn must be approved in State Su-
preme Court, Mr. Bolenbaugh says.
N.Y. Assembly Votes
For Cemetery Fund
The New York State Assembly
has voted to set up a special restora-
tion fund for vandalized cemeteries
that would be raised by taxing state
residents up to five dollars a burial.
The measure had moved to the
State Senate at press time. •
The proposed legislation would
allow the State Cemetery Board to
assess the need, set the fees, and
manage the fund. Opponents of the
bill, however, charge that a maxi-
mum $5 tax is an unnecessary bur-
den, and that the state, in effect,
would be "subsidizing" certain
vandalism.
Supporters argue that many ceme-
teries simply do not have the money
to repair properties victimized by
vandals.
The American Cemetery Magazine
September, 1983
C
- EDUCATION
COURSES. EXHIBITS. CONFERENCES
Richard D. Crasby, English lettercutter, typographer and graphic designer, will
be in the United States from mid-January to early March, 1984. He will based at
the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Fine Arts , in Philadelphia, as
a visiting lecturer and teacher. He will also be teaching and demonstrating his
craft at the Philadelphia College of Art and the National Trust for Historic Pre-
servation Restoration Workshop. Many of his former students will be brushing up
their skills with private lessons. Further information may be obtained from Chere
Jarrell, his U.S. contact, at (302) 697-93U7.
Classroom project. Sal Marino was looking for a bicentennial project for his sixth,
seventh, and eighth grade Gifted and Talented Class at the Veteran's Memorial Mid-
dle School in Brick Township, New Jersey. He remembered an old graveyard he
had known as a child in the 1940's when his family summered in the area, and he
brought his classes to the site, which in the intervening years had suffered fur-
ther neglect and serious vandalism. That 1976 visit became a continuing project,
and the 1983 students were the eighth group Marino has guided through the yard,
each with a different project. They have mapped the site, studied the lives of
war veterans and families buried there, recorded and rubbed inscriptions, and re-
mounted fallen markers. The city cooperated by erecting a fence. The overall
effort is designed to benefit the students and also to arouse the community to re-
claim this part of the township's past and connect it with the future. The Asbury
Park (New Jersey ) Press , March 27, 1983. Courtesy, Elisabeth L. Bowman.
Rubbing instruction. Four three-hour classes in gravestone rubbing were taught
this fall by Mary Anne Mrozinski in a program offered by the Garvies Point Museum,
Glen Cove, New York. Co-sponsors of the program are the Nassau County Depart-
ment of Recreation and Parks and the Friends for Long Island's Heritage. In addi-
tion to instruction in several rubbing techniques, Mrozinski's course examines the
backgrounds of the stones and their carvers and points out good conservation and
preservation measures. Newsday , date not known. Courtesy, Jean Wood.
Oldstone teaches the right way. Gravestone rubbing is an activity which many stu-
dents of gravestone art enjoy. In many instances, an interest in gravestone rub-
bing has initiated serious study of the stones. Stone rubbing is an ancient Chinese
art, and its use in gravestone studies has produced excellent records and illustra-
tive material as well as handsome works of art. The activity has, on the other hand,
received critical scrutiny because too little instruction has been available to the en-
thusiastic novice. Through ignorance, precious artifacts have been disfigured by
crayons and paint and in some instances actually damaged, usually by rough clean-
ing techniques.
AGS has available an information sheet which gives good advice to the beginner
(available from Betsy Widirstky, Box 523, 140 Founders' Path, Southold. New York
11971). AGS publications, however, tend to reach not the general public so much
as those who already have an appreciation of the stones' fragility and imoortance
and an understanding of their care. In a better position to disseminate this kind of
information is the seller of rubbing materials. We were pleased, therefore, to read
an article in the July, 1983, issue of Monument Builders' News, a trade magazine
published by the Monument Builders of North America, an article about the good
advice being given to its customers by Oldstone Enterprises, "the largest suppliers
of rubbing materials in the world." The company is operated by Donald Bentley and
his brother Ray, and, according to the article,
A chance gift of some rubbings from a cousin in England piqued
Ray Bentley's interest in the art. In 1972, he bought the begin-
nings of his unique company from a young couple making wax in
cupcake molds in their garage. From this simple start, Oldstone's
blossomed into an international business.
Featured in the article is a box headed "How to Rub the Right Way," in which Old-
stone lists ten steps that emphasize respect for and proper care of the stone being
rubbed. Oldstone sells a wide variety of rubbing waxes and papers as well as a
few books about rubbing. For a brochure, write to Oldstone Enterprises, 77 Sum-
mer Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02110.
Medical College exhibit. An exhibit featuring the contributions of gravestone study
to the study of medical history was prepared by Carol Perkins for the Ohio Academy
of Medical History. It was exhibited in April at the Raymon H. Mulford Library of
the Medical College of Ohio in Toledo. According to librarian R. M. Watterson, the
exhibit made a fine contribution to the Academy's conference program. Ms. Perkins
is on the AGS executive board.
AGS F '83 P29
Education, continued
Wrought iron crosses. The Endowment for the Arts provided $22, 835 to the North
Dakota Council on the Arts to support a photo-documentary exhibition of wrought-
iron funeral crosses. This was mentioned in a New York Times (April 10, 1983)
story about the Endowment's work. No further information about this exhibition
was given in the article. We think it likely that Iron Crosses, the book reviewed
on page 22 is another product of this funding.
Folk art exhibit. The American Museum of Folk Art, New York City, is preparing
an exhibit, "Reflections of Faith," which will feature folk art associated with reli-
gious expression. Photographs of gravestone carvings will be among the items
shown, and a photograph from the Farber collection will be used on the brochure.
Design competition. There were 230 entries in a design competition sponsored by
the Rock of Ages Corporation to encourage creative approaches to modern monu-
ment design. The 1983 awards were made to Alex Murray of Longstreth Memorials,
Gallon, Ohio, Tom Soper of Chesley Memorial Works, Chesley, Ontario, and Carol
B. Martin of Miller Memorials, Victoria, Texas. Soper's design took Best of Show
honors. Rocktalk, newsletter of the American Monument Association. Courtesy
Mark Youngkin, editor.
Nova Scotia meeting planned. "Observing and Preserving Memorial Art in Nova Scotia
Graveyards" is the focus of a two-day seminar to be sponsored in the spring of 1984
by the Federation of Nova Scotia Heritage (5516 Spring Garden Road, Suite 305, Hali-
fax, Nova Scotia B3J 1C6, Canada). Areas of study include the characteristics of the
stones, the environmental factors which affect them, the tradition of memorial art in
Nova Scotia, the present-day state of the art, and the transcribing of information
from gravemarkers. The program will offer a tour of area graveyards. The seminar
will receive financial aid from the Nova Scotia Department of Culture, Recreation and
Fitness. Seminar dates, which are not set, will be published on these pages.
Old carving business. According to John Bracoloni, owner of Bracoioni Custom
Monuments, in Hamilton Township, New Jersey, his shop "inscribed 18th and 19th
century gravestones by hand with hammer and chisel on stone that was easily work-
ed, such as limestone, sandstone, and marble." Bracoloni says his father, Frank,
"did it the old way. He started out carving ornate sculpture on limestone buildings
in Atlantic City and then got into monuments." He adds that power tools became
widely used in the forties and made possible the use of harder, more durable stone
such as granite, generally purchased from companies in Barre, Vermont. Barcoloni
said he used to cut the huge granite blocks into slabs himself until he decided the
practice was not cost-effective. The news item from which this information was tak-
en mentions that there are markers nearly 300 years old in New Jersey's Monmouth
and Ocean counties. We would like to learn more about the Barcoloni company's
long history, and more about the early markers in that area. The only eighteenth
century yard specifically mentioned in the article is Christ Episcopal Church, in
Shrewsbury. Asbury Park (New Jersey) Press j March 25, 1983. Courtesy Robert
Van Benthuysen.
Cypher stone solution.
The decoded inscription on the cypher stone on page 26 reads:
PLUS ALOES QUAM MELLIS HABUIT. ON THE FOURTH DAY OF
THE FIRST MONTH, 1843, OF CONSUMPTION DIED THERESA
NEWHAM, BORN CLEGG. (punctuation ours)
PLUS ALOES QU
AM MELLIS HAB
UIT
ON THE FOURTH
DAY OF THE FIR
ST MONTH
1843
OF CONSUMPTI
ON DIED THERE
SA NEWHAM BOR
N CLEGG
Translated from the Latin, the first sentence is, "More
aloes than honey she had." According to our dictionary,
aloe is a succulent plant or, probably in this instance,
the plant's juice, which is used as a purgative and tonic.
Here is Mrs. Burgess' key to the code:
'Co l^a-wK-
The dot indicating the second letter in the grid. '<•€. LlJ - C. .
AGS F '83 P30
o
Be
>-F
QW
3K
LM
NP
9R
ST
'■^f'.
TWO STONES. TWO STORIES
Thomas Kirkum, 1803, Sparta, New York. Brownstone detail. Carver unidentified.
This unusual carvinq was introduced at the 1983 ACS Conference by Cray Williams of Chappaqua, New York.
Richard Welch and Francis Duval subsequently went to the site, searched for and found the little stone, poor-
ly lit and almost hidden under a large tree behind a metal railing. Duval molded the tympanum, and the rep-
lica it yielded is shown above. Photograph by Duval.
Name of deceased unknown, circa 1780, Abington, Connecticut. Granite fragment. Carved by Kimball family.
A rubbing of this fragment was exhibited at the 1983 AGS Conference bv Alfred Fredette of Baltic, Connecti-
cut, who had discovered it lying in tall weeds at the Abington Burying Cround in Pomfret Township . James
Slater and Dan Farber later checked the fragment at its site and found it so threatened that they removed it,
reporting their action to Robert Trent of the Connecticut Historical Society. At a subsequent meeting of Abing-
ton officials with Mr. Trent, an arrangement was made to place the fragment on loan for safekeeping with the
Connecticut Historical Society (the site of the 198U ACS Conference). The fragment is broken from the stone
at the base of the tympanum in a clean, straight line, as shown above. Photograph by Farber.
ACS F '83 P31
f
sseyy 'ia»saDJOM
a i V 4
39VlSOd s n
OHO lldOiJd NON
60910 ss^W jajsaojOM
Xjapos upupnbijuv utJDuaujvo/D
suouvDiiqnj sqv
Funny epitaphs. The language used and the thoughts expressed on old gravemarkers are
often strange to the eye of the twentieth-century reader. Language changes. We no long-
er call a man's wife his "relict" or his "consort." We use the word, "accidental," where
once men said "casual," so it jars us to read of a man's being "casually shot" as we do on
the stone for Nathan Parks, 1794, Hoiyoke, Massachusetts. Today we have at our finger-
tips a dictionary that standardizes spelling, but it was not until well into the nineteenth
century that a dictionary, compiled by Noah Webster in 1828, became generally available
in America. In the eighteenth centupy it was quite enough if the written word communi-
cated the writer's thought (a commenaable andi hard-to-meet standard for any writer) .
And so, with our dictionaries on our desks and our attitudes toward language standards
much altered, we smile when we read that the deceased was "TWICE CAPTIVATED BY
THE INDIAN SALVAGES" (stone for Lieut. Mehuman Hinsdel, 1736, Deerfield, Massachu-
setts) and that "hur soul is fled two a hier spear" (stone for Phebe Marvil, 1707,Old Lyme,
Connecticut). We point out letters that are upsidedown and backwards or are hyphenated
or spaced in ways we now find unacceptable, and we wonder that the buyer of the stone
did not refuse it. The purchaser may have been illiterate. We know that some of the car-
vers were illiterate, and some of them must have copied inscriptions without knowing the
words and letters they copied. Once I tried to copy a name and address written in Rus-
sian, and what I came up with made my Russian friend laugh--letters upsidedown and
backwards, I suppose. I can imagine the condescending laughter I would provide an epi-
taph browser two hunderd years hence if, hacking earnestly into an old field stone, I
tried to copy an epitaph in an alphabet and language I cannot read.
Epitaphs use phonetic spelling ("my rase is run" from the epitaph for Ruben Smith, 1798,
South Hadley, Massachusetts.). They contain grammatical errors ("This stone stands But
to tell/ Where their dust lies and who they was," from the stone for the Rev. John Wood-
bridge, 1783, and his two wives. South Hadley, Massachusetts). Such epitaphs may be sur-
prising, confusing, sobering, even edifying. But funny? We wince at the description of
an epitaph as "funny," and yet we come across inscriptions that tickle our funnybone ,
nevermind our sympathetic unxJerstanding. Each of us probably has a favorite. Here is
mine. I happened on it, not in a graveyard, but in one of a group of research papers col-
lected by Phil Kallas of Stevens Point, Wisconsin, and contributed to the AGS archives.
The paper, "Nineteenth Century Cemeteries in Central-West Pennsylvania," by Thomas J.
Hannon, published in The Proceedings of the Pioneer America Society, 1973, quotes the
verse on a marker in Woodland, Pennsylvania. To Hannon's credit, he uses it, not as an
example of a funny epitaph, but in a serious analysis of the engraver's limited knowledge
of rhyme, meter, and grammar. It is no howler, but it must be a unique version of the
theme we know so well:
Remember us as your [sic] pass by
As you are not [sic] so once was [sic]ive
As we are now so you must be
Prepare for death and follow us
The AGS NEWSLETTER is published quarterly as a service to members of The Association for Gravestone Studies.
The membership year begins on the date dues are received and ends one year from that date. A one-year mem-
bership entitles the member to four issues of the NEWSLETTER and to participation in the ACS conference in the
year membership is current. Send membership fees (Regular, $15; Sustaining, $25) to ACS Membership Secretary
Carol Perkins, 1233 Cribb St., Apt. 204, Toledo OH 43612. Order MARKERS, the Journal of the Association for
Cravestone Studies (Vol. 1, $15; Vol. 2, $12) from Betty Slater, 373 Bassettes Bridge Rd., Mansfield Center CT \i>.
06250. Address contributions to MARKERS, Vol. 3, to David Watters, editor, Dept. of English, University of New
Hampshire, Durham NH 03824. Address NEWSLETTER contributions to Deborah Trask, editor. The Nova Scotia
Museum, 1747 Summer St. , Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 3A6, Canada. Address other correspondence and orders to
ACS Corresponding Secretary Betsy Widirstky, Box 523, 140 Founders' Path, Southold NY 11971. Mail addressed
■^
NEWSLETTER
OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES
DEBORAH TRASK, ED.
VOLUME 8 NUMBER 1 WINTER 1983/84
ISSN:0146-5783
CONTENTS
1 984 CONFERENCE NOTES 1
ARTICLES
Sexism in the Cemetery 2
by Leslie M. Thompson
Swiss-Gemian Mennonite Gravestones of ttie "Pennsylvania Style" (1804-1854) in the Waterloo
Region, Ontario 4
by Nancy-Lou Patterson
ASSOCIATION NEWS 5
EXHIBITIONS 8
BOOKS
Texas Graveyards: A Cultural Legacy 9
a review by Gregory Jeane
MORE ABOUT BOOKS 10
DIRECTIONS FOR A FUNERAL, NEWPORT 1767 12
CONSERVATION/PRESERVATION 13
MISCELLANEOUS 14
1984 CONFERENCE NOTES
Plans are shaping up for the 1984 AGS Annual Conference and Meeting, to be held June
22-24th at Hartford, Connecticut. The Connecticut Historical Society is availing itself of the
facilities at its headquarters and its publicity netw/ork for this event. In exchange, the AGS is
putting together a public forum presenting information on types of early Connecticut
gravestones and their deterioration/attrition problems, the history and future of conservation
and restoration attempts of Connecticut gravestones, recording data from gravestones, and
making constructive use of such data. This forum will be aimed mainly at a lay audience, and
will replace our Saturday morning and afternoon speakers' sessions. Hopefully new material
and information will be presented at this time which will interest the AGS membership,
although some repetition of previous presentations is inevitable. This fact is far outweighed by
the value of sharing our expertise with a good number of concerned people and perhaps
inciting them to action in their particular locales, by benefiting from the Connecticut Historical
Society's hospitality and excellent publicity contacts, and by the favorable attention which will
befall the AGS as sponsor of this program.
The program will include slide shows, panel discussions on conservation techniques, a walking
tour of the ancient burying ground in Hartford (which has been the site of several flawed
restoration projects to date and is currently undergoing a massive $500,000 rehabilitation
—maybe), and talks on documentation, data retrieval, and legislation to avert further loss. It is
in large measure the responsibility of the AGS to select and engage the best possible experts to
deliver this information. Although Michael Cornish will be making direct requests of certain
members to speak at the public forum, he welcomes any offer to participate, re the
aforementioned subjects.
The format for the rest of the conference will be familiar, beginning with a Friday bus tour of
area graveyards. Led this year by Sue Kelly and Anne Williams, the tour will likely include
Glastonbury, Windsor, and Wethersfield, with perhaps an optional trip to the Portland quarry.
The Friday evening session will feature the keynote speaker, and Saturday will be taken up with
the public forum. There will be speakers' sessions Saturday evening and informal members'
slide shows as well as the annual business meeting on Sunday.
Talk proposals should be received by the program co-ordinator, Michael Cornish, 14 Custer St.
#1, Jamaica Plain, MA. 02130 NO LATER THAN APRIL 1st, 1984 with abstracts no later
than APRIL 15th, 1984.
SEXISM IN THE CEMETERY Leslie M. Thompson
In most cultures women have had to live as second class citizens, sharing with men only the
equal prospect of death. Unfortunately, even death fails to fulfil its vaulted role as the great
equalizer, for a careful study of cemeteries reveals that stereotypical roles concerning women
follow them to the grave — one hopes not beyond. The epitaphs, symbols, and other
inscriptions on tombstones, graphically reveal the historically secondary and limited life roles to
which women have frequently had to resign themselves. Sexist and stereotypical attitudes
toward women are revealed through tombstones dating from the late eighteenth century to the
1920s in studies of six cemeteries in and near Nacogdoches, Texas and six cemeteries in and
around Savannah, Georgia. In fact, these gravestones provide silent but eloquent testimony to
many of the socially expected roles for women during this era.
What's in a name, the bard queries, "for that which we call a rose by any other name would
smell as sweet." This statement must come as small consolation to the countless women whose
sole tangible earthly memorials describe them only as a "loving wife" or as the dearly departed
mate of some John Doe. Indeed, such nameless female ciphers must at least twitch in their
graves to find themselves surrounded by a forest of marble whose ornate descriptions boldly
disclose, for all the world to see, each man's full Christian name, and perhaps even his
nickname, his accomplishments, and his major characteristics.
Even further, males are identified by a whole spate of associational, vocational, and avocational
interests, and the graves of many men display insignia of the Masons, or other fraternal
organizations. Numerous descriptions provide continued evidence that the dead man existed,
that he actively participated in society, and that he had social identity.
Women, however, usually had to bask, or at least exist, in the radiated glory of their husbands.
Thus, we commonly find women identified by either their initials or by a single Christian name
as is the case of N.J. , wife of J. W. Murphy, or Sarah, (b.1860, d.1914), wife of J. M. Bell, or Ann
(b. 1743, d. 1821), wife of Joseph Clay. In addition, women receive a great deal of tribute as
also's. In the case of Samuel Elbert, born 1740, died Nov. 1, 1788, his long list of achievements
ends with the notation "also interred herein the remains of his wife Elizabeth Rae Elbert." This
pattern replicates itself time after time, and many women receive credit only as addenda to their
husbands' accomplishments.
Typically, most women received identification on their husband's or father's tombstone, but
occasionally some woman would be accorded an individual marker. Most individual markers for
married women are much smaller and simpler than those of their husbands; and, as the
inscription to Mrs. Hilda, wife of Levi Hills, points out, separate recognition did not insure
separate identity. Even more more poignant is the marker in Savannah, Georgia: "sacred to the
memory of Briget Gillespie, who departed this life August 10, 1820 aged 12 years, and of her
sister Matilda wife of [blank] who departed this life October 15th, 1820, aged 19 years." In this
case, we can only guess as to Matilda's marital status. At least, the women above receive some
recognition, but what can one say of "Mary, Twin Sister of Emmett Reed", who gains identity
only from her brother. Equally deprived is the nameless woman described as "Wife of S.J.
Owens," Dec. 3, 1 873, Died May 31 , 1 900. This non-entity, nevertheless, receives accolades as
being "an affectionate wife, a kind mother, and a good friend to all." In reality, this statement
sums up the traditional, socially acceptable roles usually available to women at the time; and
numerous inscriptions extol these virtues. Mamie E. Watters (b. 1869, d. 1914), wife of B.C.
Monk, receives the following tribute: "The sweet Christian life which she lived in the home
speaks to us in tones ever deep and tender, and the influence of her life will live on when this
stone shall have crumbled into dust." In fact, women most frequently appear on these markers
as "mother", "loving mother", "kind mother", "devoted wife", "loving wife", "affectionate wife",
"true wife", and one sure to appeal to all modern women, "dutiful wife". A special recognition
accrues to Sarah Arum, the second wife of John Screven.
Women particularly benefit from society's penchant to eulogize the dead, and many of these
nameless or near nameless existences verge on sainthood. Rosa Ingraham's inscription, for
example, avows "None knew her but to love her,/ None spoke her name but in praise." Other
deceased women are stated to be "with the angels", and a recent inscription asserts that "an
angel lies here". Somewhere in the midst of all this goodness one looks for some distinctive
trace of selfhood, some human trait, some portion of honest-to-God reality. Perhaps such
appears in the somewhat enigmatic inscription to Martha T. Ingraham, (b.1 866, d. 1902) wife of
George F. Ingraham, which reads: "she did what she could". Of course the men too are
eulogized, but they rarely attain the sanctity ascribed to the women as sentimental extensions
of their socially expected domestic roles.
Even the women who had the spunk, temerity and strength of character to succeed in a man's
world usually receive no recognition for these achievements on their markers, and those
women who attained success in teaching, business, or some other profession still had to gain
recognition in light of their husband's accomplishments. Under these circumstances one can
only pity the successful women with failures for husbands, for an unsuspecting world would
forever see only "Mary, the wife of W.J. Wheeler". Thus, women are represented primarily as
people with few societal ties and as vague, often nameless extensions of their mates.
continued
AGSW'83/84P2
Males, on the other hand, frequently appear in strongly masculine, violent or heroic roles. Many
markers evidence the deceased's military rank or affiliation and the war or v>/ars in v\/hich he
appeared, such as Pvt, Felix H. Briley, Co. B. 102nd Inf., born Aug. 1, 1892, killed Sept. 27,
1918, "He gave his life at his country's call." Some deaths reflect the more ominous aspects of
men's social roles, and a marker in Savannah, Georgia painfully recounts the death of James
Wilde, killed in a duel, Jan. 16, 1815 by Capt. Rosw/ell P. Johnson. The heroic, masculine image
usually projected for many men is summarized in this epitaph; "W.A. Liles, Confederate
Veteran, Father of Three sons". Thus, the men usually do not appear as gentle passive, angelic
beings, but rather as strongly aggressive, heroic personages and much prone to violent death.
This study provides vivid evidence that the cemeteries studied, and probably those anywhere in
the United States, perpetuate even into death the sexist tenor of American society. I do not wish
to suggest that all of the tombstones are sexist or that no changes have occurred, for there are
exceptions to the generalizations discussed above. In fact changing life roles for men and
women and, more importantly, the modern penchant for efficiency have helped mitigate these
discriminatory distinctions. Sunset Glade, Sleeping Hollow, and even Forest Lawn force on all
— the great, the defeated, men, women — a simple, unobtrusive brass marker set at ground
level which will not interfere with the mowers. Even in such a classless state of death, however,
perhaps both men and women can find meaning in Pope's assertion that "Praises on tombs are
trifles spent, /A man's (italics mine) good name is his monument".
Leslie M. Thompson is Dean of the Graduate School at Georgia Southern College, Statesboro
Georgia, 30460.
THE mZARD OF ID
F^^U 15-
/'-'-"v^'^v"
Courtesy Gaynell Levine, Wading River, New York
Oldstone Enterprises has sent us its brochure of items for sale. Listed are two booklets, which
we will describe in another issue, and the following rubbing supplies:
Kit (five sheets of 24" x 36" Aquaba hemp paper; two 2 oz. cupcakes of rubbing wax, one black,
one brown; tape; nylon brush; instructions; in a tube) $12.50; $14.00 ppd.
Wax blocks (red, orange, blue, green, brown, black, silver, gold)
y4 oz. blocks, available in all colors except silver, gold @ $3.30 ea.
Vs oz. blocks, available in all colors except silver, gold @ $2.25 ea.
Vsoz. blocks,available in silver and gold @ $2.35 ea.
Wax assortments
Four pie-shaped wedges, red, orange, blue, green $3.35
Eight pie-shaped wedges, all colors, inc. silver, gold $6.00
Aquaba paper
White 24" x 36", by the sheet $ .45 per sheet
White, by the roll (40" wide) $ .65 per yd.
Black, 24" x 36", by the sheet $ .50 per sheet
Add shipping charges of $1 .25 per order.
Note new address for Oldstone Enterprises:
186 Lincoln St.
Boston MA. 02111
(617)542-4112
AGSW'83/84P3
SWISS-GERMAN MENNONITE
GRAVESTONES OF THE "PENNSYL-
VANIA STYLE" (1804-1854) IN THE
WATERLOO REGION, ONTARIO
Nancy-Lou Patterson
A rare opportunity to observe and document the gradual disappearance of a specific ethnic
form is provided by the "Pennsylvania Style" gravestones erected during the first fifty years of
settlement in the Waterloo region of Ontario, Canada. Mixed among the many conventional
white quartzite stones of Victorian style, these sandstone slabs show themselves to be derived
from an eighteenth century ethnic tradition brought from Pennsylvania along with the early
Swiss-German Mennonite settlers, whose ancestors had come to North America by way of the
Rhenish Palantinate. The stones are found in the immediate area of Kitchener, Waterloo and
Cambridge, Ontario: Blair (earliest stone, 1804); Kinsie-Biehn, Doon (c. 1806); Eby Cemetery,
First Mennonite Church, Kitchener (1807); Wanner, Hespeler(c. 1817); Freeport (1817), Hagey,
Preston (c. 1820); and Martin's Meeting House, Waterloo (1831). Two stones from the late
1840s are found in the Petersberg, Ontario, cemetery, and there may well be others.
A regularly striated sandstone from the Whirlpool Formation, in the Georgetown area of
Ontario, was commonly used to build in nineteenth century Ontario. This formation is situated
at the base of the Niagara Escarpment and was laid down by an Ordivican sea. Originally cream
or rust coloured, it is now weathered to dark grey. The laminated structure of the Whirlpool
Formation, called "reed" by stone-cutters, is well suited to the making of flat slabs for
gravestones. Slabs from this source were sawn into shape (saw marks are often visible) for use
in Waterloo County, and given distinctive contours which are part of their style.
Freeport Cemetery contains only one such stone, while First Mennonite Church (Eby
Cemetery) contains some 110 stones of this style. Most have straight vertical sides with a
contoured top.
Both German and English inscriptions appear throughout the period in equal distribution. An
inscription of interest calls attention to the trek from Pennsylvania to Ontario. The memorial is
for Elizabeth Schwartz, in Blair Cemetery. Translated from the somewhat phoneteic German
inscription, it declares: "She was born in Billtown {IBildaun) in Bucks County, travelled to
Waterloo (Waderloo) in the year 1822, died 20 March 1833. . ." No other stone of this type
reveals so much personal history, though the travel narrative is a feature of many local family
records in handwritten and printed form.
About fifteen individual ornamental motifs appear, eight of them in First Mennonite Cemetery,
and all have protypes in Pennsylvania. These include the willow tree, the tulip or lily, the
flourish, the Sechstern or six-pointed star, the quatrefoil, the heart, the eye, and the opposed
spirals (Brille). Most of these motifs are incised with precision and vigour typical of their ethnic
style, while the four willow trees are probably feeble versions of the widely-known weeping
willow of Ontario popular tradition.
The making of these stones within the Pennsylvania tradition was abandoned completely about
midcentury, and left to commercial carvers of the majority culture, no longer reflecting the
ethnicity of the dead for whom, in the VVaterloo Region, they were made.
Detail of the Elizabeth Eby gravestone, sandstone, 1844,
Eby Cemetery, First Mennonite Church, Kitchener,
Ontario. Photograph by Nancy-Lou Patterson.
Nancy-Lou Patterson is Professor of Fine Arts at the University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario.
She is a respected authority, in fact, the pioneer in Canada, on l\/lennonite Traditional Arts.
This note is a revised and abbreviated version of the author's "Grave h/latters: Swiss-German
Ivlennonite gravestones of the "Pennsylvania Style" (1804-1854) in the Waterloo Region,
Ontario," Past and Present (October 1980): 5-6; See also Nancy-Lou Patterson, "Death and
Ethnicity: Swiss-German l\/lennonite Gravestones of the 'Pennsylvania Style' (1804-54) in the
Waterloo Region, Ontario," Mennonite Life (September 1982): 4-7, and Teruko Kobayashi,
"Folk Art in Stone: Pennsylvania-German Gravemarkers in Ontario," Waterloo Historical
Society Volume 70, 1982, 1983: 90-113.
ASSOCIATION NEWS
AGS has hired two staff persons!! Susan Springer of Westwood, Massachusetts, will serve as
Executive Director, and Rosalee Oakley of Needham, Massachusetts, will serve as Executive
Secretary.
Ms. Springer graduated from the University of Michigan in 1969, v\/here she was a Sociology
major and a member Phi Beta Kappa. She has an M.S. in Sociology from the University of
Wisconsin, received in 1973. She has been involved in various museum-related seminars and
workshops, has been co-conservator of the Vermont Folk Life Program at the Billings Farm
Museum in Woodstock, Vermont, and Curator of the Old Constitution House in Winsor,
Vermont, Assistant Curator at the University Museum at the University of Pennsylvania and a
research associate for the Division of Urban Affairs at the University of Delaware.
Ms. Oakley received a B.M. degree from Drake University in Iowa in 1959 and the M.R.E. degree
at the Boston University School of Theology in 1 961 . She has done extensive work with various
church groups, with her husband owned and operated a video education service, using video
cameras and tape recording equipment with churches and educational groups, created a series
with slide presentations and walking tours for Boston By Foot, and owns and operates an Apple
II Plus computer. She has engaged extensively in genealogical research and prepared an
impressive volume of family genealogy.
The Search Committee felt that the skills and interests of these two persons would dovetail and
that they would work very well together as a team.
Susan and Rosalee will be reporting more fully on their activities in the Spring Newsletter. In the
meantime, make a note of these addresses:
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Susan Springer (617)329-6558
456 Hartford St.
Westwood, Ma. 02090
EXECUTIVE SECRETARY Rosalee Oakley (617)444-6263
46 Plymouth Road
Needham, Ma. 02192
Reader, STOP!
Please cast an eye. . .
Laurel Gabel needs the help of those of you who have photographs of signed or documented
stones (from probate, account books, town records, etc.) done by any 17th or 18th century
stonecutter. She is working to establish, as part of the AGS research clearing house, a
photographic file for each carver which will include documented examples of his work. The
Farber Collection (more than three file drawers of photocopied photographs, arranged by
carver) is a magnificent research resource which forms the basis for this project. The addition of
documented stones to the files will be an especially valuable research tool. Each file folder
includes information about the carver and references to articles, papers, correspondence, etc.,
concerning him and/or his work.
If you have any photos or slides illustrating the documented style of a carver, please consider
sharing them with the research collection. A quality photocopy is adequate in many instances.
If the cost of duplicating several prints or slides is a problem, please contact Laurel to work out
a solution. The photos will be used for research comparisons and identifications only, and are
available for all members to use. The contributor will be noted on each photo.
PLEASE HELP! Laurel Gabel
. 12 Beech Hollow
Fairport,N.Y. 14450
(716)425-3134
If you are working on a particular carver (known or unknown) or a gravestone related project,
the resource files may be of help. Send inquiries to Laurel at the above address.
ARCHIVES
Michael Cornish reports that he has done a minor overhaul of the AGS archives, reorganizing
them (with Diane Issa's assistance) into the following categories: Cemeteries, Gravestone Art,
General Studies, Regional Studies, Epitaphs, Carver Studies, AGS Business, and Conservation.
They should now be more useful. He has also brought the catalog up-to-date, and as soon as it
is typed, he intends to have it entered in the New England Historic Genealogical Society
(NEHGS) index, and to announce that copies will be available for the cost of postage.
AGS W'83/84 P 5
PRESIDENT
VICE PRESIDENT
(Research)
ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES
Board Members
Theodore Chase
74 Farm St., Dover, MA 02030
Laurel Gabel
12 Beech Hollow, Fairport, NY 14450
SECRETARY
ASSISTANT SECRETARY
TREASURER
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
EXECUTIVE SECRETARY
DIRECTORS AT LARGE
(Preservation)
(Membership)
(Conservation)
(Education)
(Archives)
(Publications)
(Newsletter)
(Conference
Chairman)
Betsy Widirstsky
Box 523, Southold, NY 1 1 971
Sally Thomas
82 Hill Top Place, New London, NH 03257
Alice Bunton
21 Perkins Rd., Bethany, CT 06525
Susan Springer
456 Hartford Street, Westwood, MA 02090
Rosalee Oakley
46 Plymouth Road, Needham, MA 02192
Rufus Langhans
85 Chichester Rd., Huntington, NY 1 1743
Carol Perkins
1233 Cribb St., #204, Toledo, Ohio 43612
Gina Santucci
SGramercy Park, 4H, New York, NY 10003
Miriam Silverman
300 West 55th St., New York, NY 1 001 9
Michael Cornish
14 Custer St., #1, Jamaica Plain, MA 021 30
Jessie Lie Farber
31 Hickory Dr., Worcester, MA 01609
George Kackley, Esq.
3001 R St., NW, Washington, DC 20007
Deborah Trask
1747 Summer St., Halifax, N. S. B3H 3A6
Geraldine Hungerford
Hilldale Rd., Bethany, CT 06525
617-785-0299
716-425-3134
516-765-3673
603-526-6044
203-393-2415
617-329-6558
617-444-6263
516-351-3244
419-476-9945
212-228-1587
212-765-3482
617-522-1416
617-755-7038
202-337-2835
H: 902-429-8109
0:902-429-4610
H: 203-393-1827
0:203-281-3400
«^<^*^
Tibensky photo index.
A major collection has recently been made accessible to AGS members. James Tibensky has
sent to AGS copies of his index of names appearing on 12,200 pre-1800 gravestones that he
photographed in 1974. Copies of the index are available in the AGS archives at the New
England Historic Genealogical Society Library in Boston or in the AGS Research Collection
held by Laurel Gabel. The computer printout lists stones in 1 38 burying grounds in the western
Connecticut counties of Hartford, Middlesex, New Haven, Fairfield and Litchfield.
Accompanying each index is a copy of Mr. Tibensky's masters thesis in which he interprets the
data he collected on inscriptions, carving styles, stone material, distribution and numerous
trends in the time span 1650-1800. AGS members may use the index and thesis at the NEHGS
library, or may direct specific inquiries to AGS research director. Laurel Gabel. Further
information about any particular stone can be obtained from author James Tibensky, who
retains the photographic negatives of all 1 2,200 stones.
This monumental study is a valuable addition to our AGS collections. Thank you James
Tibensky!
AGS W'83/84 P 6
Schoonmaker collection. Jane Sqhoonmaker served on the AGS executive board in 1978. She
lives in Camphill Village, Copake, New York 12516. Tw/o years ago, w/hen she decided that she
had to give up her active participation in gravestone studies, and at the same time moved from
her large house to smaller quarters, she felt she should make her collection of gravestone art
and literature available to others. Some of her rubbings, including two framed rubbings by Ann
Parker and Avon Neal, were sold for her at an AGS conference. Recently she gave the balance
of her collection to Jessie Lie and Dan Farber "to put to good use." From this gift, the Farbers
have selected a number of basic reference books and articles to give to AGS to be housed in the
office of the AGS Executive Secretary, for reference.
Books selected from the Schoonmaker collection and given by the Farbers to AGS:
Benes, Peter, The Masks of Orthodoxy: Folk Gravestone Carving in Plymouth
County, Massachusetts 1689-1805. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press,
1977.
Dublin Seminar for New England Folklife, Puritan Gravestone Art. Boston: Boston
University Press, 1976.
Gillon, Edmund Vincent, Jr., Early New England Gravestone Rubbings. A/ew York:
Dover Publications, 1966.
Jacobs, G. Walter, Stranger Stop and Cast an Eye: A Guide to Gravestones and
Gravestone Rubbing. Brattleboro, Vt.: Stephen Greene Press, 1972.
Kull, Andrew, New England Cemeteries: A Collector's Guide. Brattleboro, Vt.:
Stephen Greene Press, 1975.
Lie, Jessie, The Old South Hadley Burial Ground. South Hadley, Massachusetts
Historical Society, 1976.
Smith, Elmer, L., Early American Grave Stone Designs of New Jersey, Pennsylvania,
Maryland, and Virginia. Wilmer, PA: Applied Arts, 1968.
Tashjian, Dickran & Ann, Memorials for Children of Change. Middletown, Conn.:
Wesleyan University Press, 1974.
Ludwig, Allan, Graven Images: New England Stonecarving and its Symbols 1650-
1815. Middletown, Conn.: Wesleyan University Press, 1966.
Watken, B. Bertha, To Rub or Not to Rub: The Art and History of Tombstones.
Woodstock, N. Y.: Lith-Art Press, 1976.
Wasserman, Emily, Gravestone Designs: Rubbings & Photographs from Early New
York & New Jersey. New York: Dover Publications, 1972.
Connecticut Historical Society Bulletin. Hartford: The Connecticut Historical
Society. Issues: Jan. 1956, July 1962, Jan. 1963, April 1975, and Jan. 1978.
To these, the Farbers have added the following, which are duplicates of books and articles in
their own collection:
Byers, Laura, Till Death Do Us Part: Design Sources of Eighteenth Century New
England Tombstones: a catalog to accompany an exhibition at the Yale University Art
Gallery, 1978. Yale Center for American Art and Material Culture.
Dublin Seminar for New England Folklife, Puritan Gravestone Art II. Boston: Boston
University Press, 1978.
George, Diana Hume and Malcolm A. Nelson, Epitaph and Icon: A Field Guide to the
Old Burying Grounds of Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket. Orleans,
Massachusetts: Parnassus Imprints, 1983.
McGeer, William J. A., Reproducing Relief Surfaces: A Complete Handbook of
Rubbing, Dabbing, Casting and Daubing. Concord, Massachusetts: Minute Man
Press, 1972.
Slater, James A, Ernest Caulfield, Dan Farber, The Colonial Gravestone Carvings of
Obadiah Wheeler. Worcester, Massachusetts: The American Antiquarian Society,
1974.
Williams, Melvin G., The Last Word: The Lure and Lore of Early New England
Graveyards. Boston: Oldstone Enterprises, 1973.
Have our readers reference material not on this list that they are willing to add to this reference
library? Please look through your collection for books you can part with for a good cause and
drop a card to Jessie Lie Farber about anything you can offer. Her address: 31 Hickory Drive,
Worcester, Massachusetts 01609.
Rubbing for sale. A beautiful Parker/Neal rubbing measuring 29" x 21" mounted and framed is
still available from the Schoonmaker collection. It is from the tympanum of the stone for Capt.
Constant Hopkins, Turo, Massachusetts, 1800. It is a fine example of the "peeking-sun design,"
number 19 of an edition of thirty original rubbings, signed by the Neals. A bargain at $100.
AGS W'83/84 P 7
EXHIBITIONS
eflection^
of gttU^:
Religious Folk Art in America
An impressive exhibition titled REFLECTIONS OF FAITH: RELIGIOUS FOLK ART IN AMERICA
took place from Dec. 9th to Jan. 21st 1984at the IBM Gallery of Science and Art, Madison Ave.
at 56th St.
The spacious gallery facilities underneath the recently completed IBM Building hosted in
excess of 100 examples of 19th/20th century folk oil paintings, watercolours, painted silks,
embroideries, woodcarvings, woodcuts, quilts, samplers, and other expressive manifestations
in the folk art vein.
Being in the realm of the uncollectibles, actual gravestones could not be exhibited, but
photographs of marker details were on view near the entrance to the exhibition. The Silvanus
Jones harbinger carving, 1 806, from Barnstable, Mass., and the David Melvill tympanum effigy,
1793, from Newport, R.I. were present, courtesy of Daniel and Jessie Lie Farber. Three other
gravestone details were also included: the central ark/dove motif on the Eliakim Hayden
brownstone, 1797, from Essex, Conn.; the Sara Swan Adam and Eve allegory, 1767, from
Bristol, R.I.; and the Bible-inspired left border carving on the Lt. Nathaniel Thayer memorial,
1768, from Braintree, Mass. were contributed by Francis Y. Duval and Ivan B. Rigby.
This superb exhibition was prepared by Guest Curators C. Kurt Dewhurst and Marsha
MacDowell, Acting Director and Curator of Folk Art, respectively, at the Michigan State
University Museum. The exhibition was presented under the auspices of the Museum of
American Folk Art, New York City, supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the
Arts.
Of note is the following: extensive, simultaneous exhibition space was also provided in the
gallery for paintings and drawings from the fabulous Philips Collection in Washington, D.C.
Works by Bonnard, Braque, Cezanne, Daumier, Degas, Delacroix, El Greco, Gauguin, Goya,
Klee, Manet, Matisse, Mondrian, Picasso, Rouault, Roussean and Van Gogh were on view
alongside superlative examples by other masters.
This latter exhibition's favorite was undoubtedly the famous painting titled The Luncheon of
the Boating Party' done in 1 881 by Pierre Auguste Renoir, judging by the throngs of onlookers
mesmerized by its uncanny luminosity.
A report by Francis Y. Duval
Detail of the David l\/lellvill gravestone, 1793, Nev/port,
Rliode Island. Photograph by Daniel and Jessie Lie
Farber.
Wadsworth Atheneum exhibition, update. "The Great River: Artifacts and Culture of the
Connecticut Valley" is the title of a major exhibit scheduled to open September, 1985, at the
Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford (see the Fall, 1982, Newsletter, page6). According to William
Halsey, the exhibit will feature 360 pre-1820 objects of decorative art coming from an area
extending from Middletown north to Northfield along the Connecticut River Valley: furniture,
architectural decoration, ceramics, textiles, silver, pewter, iron, painting — and gravestones.
Kevin Sweeney, curator for the Webb-Dean-Stevens Museum in Wethersfield is writing the
exhibition catalog's section on gravestones; Halsey has visited all the area grave yards and
made approximately 450 photographs. (Both Sweeney and Halsey will be active participants in
the AGS conference to be held in Hartford June 22-24, 1984.)
AGS W'83/84 P 8
BOOKS
Texas Graveyards: A Cultural Legacy by Terry G. Jordan, University of Texas Press, Elma Dill
Russell Spencer Series #13, 1982.
(illus. 147 p., $19.95)
a review by Gregory Jeane
Terry Jordan's work on Texas cemeteries represents the culmination of many years of study,
field observation, and professional sharing. As such it is a commendable piece of research. The
author is a native Texan vi/ho has devoted much of his geographical research to the furthering of
investigation of the material culture of Texas. His book is divided into three major sections, each
dealing with a distinct type of cemetery landscape: Southern, Hispanic-American, and German.
These represent the majority of cemetery "culture groups", if you will, though other ethnic
groups do have limited representation in the state.
A brief review of the work done by other scholars indicates the eclecticism of interest about
death and its material manifestations. Anthropologists, archaeologists, folklorists, sociologists
and others (including a few cultural geographers) have spent innumerable hours delving into
the mystery of and man's fascination with mortality. The book contains a bit of everything for
everybody. Those interested in spatial aspects will find an analysis of cemetery location and the
concept of sacred space; those interested in literary aspects will find the material on epitaphs
entertaining; those interested in cultural diffusion will find data on the origin of burial traits and
pagan symbolism; and those interested in tombstones will find photographic and textual
information on folk markers.
Nearly half of the text is devoted to an analysis of the traditional Southern folk cemetery, not
unusual considering that it is numerically dominant in the state. Jordan identifies the traits of
the Southern folk cemetery as consisting of scraped ground, mounded graves, remarkably
varied decorative items upon the graves, preferred species of vegetation such as cedar trees,
burials grouped by families, and modest tombstones with abbreviated information. While these
traits do, for the most part, characterize the rural folk cemetery in the South, Professor Jordan
is stepping on thin ice when it comes to an adequate analysis of the origin of some traits. He
emphasizes, for example, that the trait of scraping is probably the most startling characteristic
and begs more explanation than any other. He believes the folk graveyard to be a cultural
conglomerate of the three main cultural elements — African, Amerindian, and European.
His insistence that the trait of scraping is likely African cannot be adequately defended from
field investigation. It is true that scraping of cemeteries is practiced in West Africa and that this
was ultimately a significant source region for blacks entering the U. S. slave trade. If, as he and
a handful of others (primarily folklorists) contend, the trait is African in origin, then it would defy
the major cultural thrust of the South from earliest colonial times until the 20th century! The
dominant culture in the South has been European. Early settlers accepted those Indian
practices that made it possible for them to survive but little else other than place names. The
same can be said for Africanisms. It was not until well into the 20th century that black slang,
music and food made a strong impact. It is not reasonable to accept that if it were unacceptable
to socialize or overtly fraternize with Indians and blacks, that one would arbitrarily accept a
major innovation in dealing with sacred space. In addition, attributing the practice to Africanism
does nothing to explain the widespread occurrence of the folk cemetery in areas that
historically had little or no black contact. I suggest that the Amerindian and African influences
are minimal and late.
The suggestion that scraping is an effort to recreate "in a humid climate, the long-forgotten
desert desolation of the Sahara and Arabia" is staggering! The phenomenon is apparently far
more widespread in the South than Jordan realizes, for it is found extensively outside the Gulf
and Atlantic coastal plain. Perhaps if he treated his research in a regional context rather than
assuming that Texas represents some magical, cultural microcosm, he would not be guilty of
such sweeping assessments.
There is an interesting, and I believe more defendable, analysis of other identifying
characteristics. A table indicating likely origin and similarity of custom is a useful aid to the
reader. His stress on an African origin for the use of shells as decorations is, again, by-passing
much European evidence of similar use. The dominance of the rose as a symbolic plant can also
be questioned. In addition, it is interesting that a discussion of the significance of the evergreen
as symbolic of immortality makes no reference to Vaughn Cornish's The Churchyard Vew and
Immortality, the classic treatment of the subject.
The treatment of traditional grave markers is more even. Markers tended to be simple pieces of
wood, fieldstone, brick, cement, or metal. The commercial tombstone is fairly late as an
introduction. Motifs tend to be expressive of fundamental religious beliefs and, unlike the fine,
artistic examples of markers found in New England, seldom signed.
continued
AGSW'83/84P9
Whereas the Southern cemetery expresses a marked propensity for order, the Mexican
cemetery does not. It is generally located on ground too poor to be used for farming and is, in
contrast to the Anglo counterpart, sanctified ground. I rather think this sanctity accounts for
the absence, in part at least, of the Anglo preference for aligned east-west graves. One sees the
lack of axial alignment in sanctified churchyards in England as well. There are other dominant
traits. One of these is the preference for elaborate floral displays and little or no preference for
symbolic species of vegetation. The cross is the dominant art motif, followed by representations
of Catholic icons.
It is in his analysis of the Texas German cemetery that Jordan is best. Perhaps it is reflective of
his seeming obsession with things German in Texas, but his intensity and interest is profoundly
evident. The German cemetery represents yet a third distinct type of burial complex in Texas
with some evidence of acculturation, but a larger tendency to adhere off and on, to Old World
traditions. The cross is dominant as an art motif and considerably more elaborate than the
Mexican-American development. Husband-wife plots rather than family groupings prevail, and
there is preference for rather elaborate curbing around some plots. Jordan offers that the most
distinctive expression of craftsmanship is found in the metal grave markers.
Texas Graveyards is an interesting work added to the growing bibliography dealing with death
in all its aspects. Professor Jordan has presented a brief, interesting assessment of rural folk
cemeteries in a limited context. As research continues, his work will remain controversial for the
hypotheses presented; the final chapter has not been written. The book will create interest but
raises many more questions than it answers. While there are copius footnotes and a fair
bibliography, it is disappointing that so many major works on the topic of cemetery evolution
have been omitted. The price is steep for a work so narrowly focused. Those not obsessed with
collecting books on death might consider other alternatives for perusal.
Gregory Jeane is Assistant Professor of Geograpfiy at Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama,
36849. Participants in the 1983 AGS Conference at Worcester may recall his interesting and
amusing paper on Woodsmen of the World monuments in southern cemeteries: "Trees in the
Land of the Dead". His article on "Cemetery Traditions" w/as published in American Cemetery,
June 1982.
MORE ABOUT BOOKS
A warning and a question. The New/ York Times book review section (November 27, 1983) lists
as a recommended Christmas book, Foll< Art: Paintings, Sculpture & Country Objects. The
book, by Robert Bishop, Judith, Reiter Weissman, Michael McManus, and Henry Niemann, sells
for $13.95, and the /\/eiv Vor/f r/mes describes it this way:
A new volume in "The Knopf Collectors' Guides to American Antiques" series. Folk
Art includes full-color art works made between the 18th century and the present and
accompanies them with descriptions, commentary and advice for collectors about
each item. "
We looked the book over for mention of gravestones and found a number of references. In a
general introduction to folk art and the collecting of it, gravestones are identified as "the earliest
remaining pieces of dated American folk sculpture, with the finest examples being created in
New England." The book's "visual key" lists nineteen categories of folk art objects and identifies
gravestones as flat sculpture, "flat and either painted or inscribed." Flat sculpture is placed in
the category with signs, architectural elements (such as finials and gates), figural sculpture
carved in low relief and painted, painted or carved fireboards, and engraved scrimshaw. A price
guide gives $1 000-$3000 as the current price range for gravestones.
Two pages devoted exclusively to gravestones offer, under the heading "Hints for Collectors,"
the following advice:
Since relatively few early tombstones are legitimately for sale, the chief risk in
acquiring such objects is that they may have been stolen from old graveyards.
Without a written guarantee or history of ownership, you may someday have to
relinquish your purchase — perhaps at your own loss — if it proves to have been
obtained illegally. The dealer who purchased the stone shown here, for example, had
to return it when a local historical society informed him that it had been taken from a
nearby graveyard.
continued
AGSW'83/84P10
Two photographs illustrate the two pages. One is of the returned stone referred to above, the
marker for Jonathan Hutchinson, 1717, carved by Obadiah Wheeler. The other stone illustrated,
also carved by Wheeler, is shown here. Can anyone identify its home yard? It reads:
h£RE: LYES et
B0DyOF:EBF^^2
jOHM50N:t:SOrvJ
OFM'^JOhN: lOmSO
«MRS:S>R/H:JOHN
SON- HlS.'WIFE
WHO-.DVEDOESE
^A^:f:\:\727:lH
^: NINTH .VE/R
OF -.HIS: Acs
^f^^ ^'^ ^'-Ss.
%^ ^A^ %^
Another folk art book by Robert Bishop is American Folk Sculpture, originally published in
1974 (by E.P. Dutton) and recently reissued ($19.95). Bishop, the book's designer as well as its
author, is director of the Museum of American Folk Art, New York, and Adjunct Professor in the
Department of Art and Art Education, New York University. Browsing through his beautiful
book is a pleasure, much like visiting a museum exhibition. Gravestones are the sculpture he
introduces first. The eight-page section is comprised mostly of photographs, five of which are
credited to Allan Ludwig. The brief text does an adequate, if somewhat superficial, job of
presenting the stones as early folk art.
Germanic gravestones in Canada. Anyone interested in learning more about Germanic-
Canadian gravestones is advised to look at A Splendid Harvest, Germanic Folk and Decorative
Arts in Canada, by Michael Bird and Terry Kobayashi (Van Nostrand Reinhold: 1981, 240p.).
Profusely illustrated, this book includes photos of gravestones from Nova Scotia, Ontario,
Manitoba and Saskatchewan, as well as a careful, well-researched text. Unfortunately, the
publishers are already clearing the remaining stock at a much reduced price.
From gravestones to doorways. Amelia Miller is the author of "Connecticut River Valley
Doorways: An Eighteenth-Century Flowering." The volume is the first "Occasional Publication"
of the Dublin Seminar for New England Folklife. Miller is known to gravestone scholars for her
research in the burial ground of Old Deerfield, Massachusetts, a study which is available at the
library in Old Deerfield. (Yes, the library has a name. It is The Pocumtuck Valley Memorial
Association Library and Henry N. Flint Library of Historic Deerfield.)
A stone book. A museum in Alberta, Canada, has written asking about a curious object which
someone had brought in for their inspection. This was a small "book" carved from stone and
identified with the name and death date of a person. The covers were decorated with incised
floral motifs, and altogether it was about 7 cm. thick, 22 cm. tall and about 16 cm. wide. This
stone book had apparently been lost or abandoned along a prairie trail in southern Alberta.
Anyone with any suggestions as to what this might be should write to F. Morris Flewwelling,
Red Deer and District Museum and Archives, Box 762, Red Deer, Alberta, T4N 5H2, Canada.
AGS W'83/84 P 1 1
DIRECTIONS FOR A FUNERAL, NEWPORT 1767
Directions for a Funeral. This transcript of a manuscript letter in tine collection of the Newport
Historical Society was written by John Banister, a wealthy Newport merchant in 1767. It
contains detailed directions for his funeral and a reference to a stonecutter named Johnson in
Middletown, Connecticut. Unfortunately the graveyard where his stone was located was nearly
destroyed during the 1800's and this particular stone was not recovered. Thanks to Patricia
Walsh, Registrar of the Newport Historical Society for transcribing and submitting this item.
Middletown June 1767
To prevent my children making enemies
These directions for my Friend to be opened as soon as it is known that I am dead.
It is my desire that I am laid out in a frugal manner by my Housekeeper and Servants and that
my body not be opened.
That my coffin be made of pine boards, as plain as possible and blacked without either white
nails, clasps, or handles and that it be nailed up the day before I am buried, to prevent the
indecent custom of exposing the corps just before the funeral proceeds, as in this Government
is practiced and which has at times Introduced Farces equal to an Irish halloo as I have
particularly observed at a Funeral of a distant Relative which was attended with great
indecencies.
I would have no watchers to Sit up with my Corps, which I would have laid out in the South-East
Room.
I would be buried by the Remains of my late Dear Wife in the family burying ground near Mr.
Vinals Meeting House.
Let my Paul be supported by six of my Tenants (viz) William Mumford, Mr. Crook, Mr. Sam &
Wm. Vernon's, Mr. King and Mr. Steward & in any of their absence let some others of my
Tenants be introduced in their place or places as Mess Greens, Mess Mumford (the reason I ant
mentioned Mr. Edward Thurston ant out of the least dissatisfaction, he being a Person for
whom I have a worthy Regard and if it be agreeable to him (as a Friend) to be one of the
supporters of my Paulit is perfectly so to me and he in Mr. Stewarts place.
I would have no gloves given but to Doctor Eyres, The Bearers, the persons that may assist in
laying me out. Watchers (if any) Mr. King, Mr. Taylor, my Esteemed Friend Mrs. Priscilla Paine
of Bristol, her Son and Daughters Potter, The Reverend Parsons Upham & Maxwell and their
Wives who have paid me timely and friendly Visits, in my opinion becoming duty and Functions
as Ministers of the Gospel of the Meek and lowly Jesus & Gentlemen of Noble Extensive
generous Catholic Dispositions.
And as I am of opinion some of my Friends may endeavor to introduce the Church Service to be
Read at my Grave; I disapprove of Such procedure, not being able to see thro the consistances
of the Funeral Service Book of the Church of England.
Therefore it is my desire that it not be used at my Interment. Neither would I have my corps
carried into Mr. Vinals Meeting House.
Or other place Sett apart for the Worship of God, as I think such Holy Sanctuaries ought not be
defiled with dead carcesses.
Funeral Orations I disapprove of a Gratutuity to often puts the Authors upon Transgressing
those bounds they ought not to Invade, and in lieu thereof, I beg leave to Refer the Charitable to
the Epitaph I have directed to be inserted on my Monumental Stone.
I further direct that Madam Priscilla Pain, Mrs. Elizabeth Allan at the Stone House Boston, Mr
Benjamin King and his Wife have Rings (which they ought to have had at my wive's Interment)
with her name etc. as also Mr. Samuel Moody & Mr. Huxham, Mr. Thomas Teakle Taylor & his
Wife with my name.
I would not have my children make new mourning to attend my Funeral. If they have blacks by
them, it is proper they wear it as Frugality the End designed in the new mode of Funerals would
ot h e rway s be d ef eated .
And in the last place I Recommend to my children the money Saved by my Frugal Interment,
which I estimate at 200 Dollars be given to the poor that are really so without distinction of Sect,
not forgetting honest William James, whose Industry and obliging behavior deserved a better
fate (according to Predestinarian Principles) then has hitherto attended him and here my
children let me caution you continually to bearing in mind God has given you Store without
cost of labor and Expense to you.
continued
AGSW'83/84P12
Therefore it will be Required that you move Eminently. . . . Remember the poor, the
consideration of which will be Musick to you at Midnight, and in an hour when Earthly
Injoyments fail you, and if I may be permitted to Say in order to be inabled the better for this
God-like charity omit a Meal, a Superflous Garment, Equipage or Journey and in order to see
this Particular properly enforced use the Spectator on this subject.
My Son Thomas probably will not be at my Interment as I would not have him purposely sent
for, and no certainty that my other Son may be at home and if they were both in the way, it
would not be decent in them to be running up and down before my Funeral. Therefore I desire
my Friends Capt. Thomas Teakle Taylor and Mr Benjamin King may be consulted & etc. and I
also Request my Children will advise with them on all occasions and follow their advise. And i
further recommend that when they are at Newport they Quarter at Mr. Kings House as
Boarders.
I also Request my said Friends Capt. Thomas Teakle Taylor & Mr. Benjamin King to direct Mr.
Johnson, the Stone Cutter at Middletown Connecticut to Cut and Sand down such a
monument as I have Erected to the Memory of my dear Wife. Provided he will take the price I
paid him for that Ten Pounds Lawful Money and put it up into the Bargain a Itable! Stone so
called that will serve both for my wife & me and that the Inscription be put on each end and not
on the top (as Connecticut Stone won't do for Inscriptions) agreeable to the Method in Boston
and cut on our Portsmouth Stone of the Slaty kind.
CONSERVATION INQUIRIES
First step. W. Keith McCoy, representing the Cultural Resources Committee of Christ Church in
New Brunswick, New Jersey, writes:
We have decided that our graveyard, which has stones dating bacl< to the mid-1700's,
needs to have some attention paid to it. Before we do anything, we would appreciate
it if you would send us some pertinent information about your organization,
particularly a bibliography of articles.
A similar request has come from the Livingston Historical Society, in Livingston New Jersey.
This is a good way to begin. Even though AGS does not, alas, yet have a bibliography relating
exclusively to graveyard and gravestone care, we can refer project initiators to the following:
"The Care of Old Cemeteries and Gravestones," by Lance Mayer. Reprinted from
Markers, Volume I. $2.75
"Recommendations for the Care of Gravestones," AGS information sheet. $1 .00
Part II of the Fall issue of the AGS Newsletter. $1 .50
These are available from Betsy Widirstky, Box 523, 140 Founders Path, Southold, New York
11971.
We also recommend Markers, Volume 1 , which contains Mayer's article, mentioned above, and
two other pertinent articles.
"Recording Cemetery Data," by Baker, Farber, and Giesecke
"Protective Custody," by Robert Emien
This volume of Markers sells for $15 and is available from Betty Slater, 373 Bassettes Bridge
Road, Mansfield Center, Connecticut 06250.
To whom it may concern:
St Peter's Church
Staunton on Am>w
It was decided at a recent
P.C.C. meeting that unread-
able and cracked stones
should be removed from the
Churchyard. Any objections
to this removal should be
made in writing, to Uie Rec-
tor, Rev M. Birchby or one
of the Churchwardens, by
Saturday, October 1st, 1983.
S. A. Preece,
Hon. Secretary P.C.C.
"Clearing" it is called in England. This clipping from the Hereford Times, September 2, 1983,
was sent by Pamela Burgess. Mrs. Burgess has a new address: Lower Lodge, Petty France,
Ledbury, Herefordshire HR8 1JG England.
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
The graveyard as pasture. From time to time we hear of graveyards used as pastures, usually in
England but also in New England (see "Trampled by Cattle," in the Spring, 1983, issue of this
publication, page 1 1). On a trip to England last summer, four of our members reported seeing
black sheep grazing in graveyards which were fenced to keep the sheep in! Following is an
excerpt from The Sabbath in Puritan New England, by Alice Morse Earle (Scribner's, 1892,
page 296), which gives some insight into this tradition:
It was a universal custom to allow free pasturage for the minister's horse, for which
the village burialground was assigned as a favorite feeding-ground. Sometimes this
privilege of free pasturage was abused. In Plymouth, in 1789, Rev. Chandler Robbins
was requested "not to have more horses than shall be necessary, " for his many horses
that had been pastured on "Burial Hill" had sadly damaged and defaced the
gravestones, — perhaps the very headstones placed over the bones of our Pilgrim
Fathers.
Courtesy Gloria and Robert Solari, Shrewsbury, Massachusetts
l\Jluseum care for threatened stone. There is an unusual exhibit item at the Museum of Fine Arts,
Boston. On permanent exhibition in the American Decorative Arts Wing are the magnificent
headstone and footstone for John Foster, 1681, carved by the "Boston Stonecutter". The
stones were removed with the permission of Boston's Department of Public Parks from the
much vandalized Dorchester Burying Ground, where a replica of the headstone now stands.
The Museum agreed to accept the originals into its collection of early American art, and they
were included in the Museum's important exhibition of seventeenth century artifacts "New
England Begins". The Foster head and footstones now make a stunning addition to the display
of New England Americana, which includes about a dozen gravestone photographs by Dan
Farber.
A Stone Mercedes-Benz. A full-size replica of a 1979 Mercedes-Benz 240-D stretch limosine,
hand-carved in granite in Barre, Vermont for Rock of Ages Corporation, has created much
excitement in the monument trade. The solid block weighed 66 tons when it was pulled from
the quarry. Larry Sheldon and his assistant. Rick Falzarano, chipped away 30 tons of grey
granite over 14 months. All external details of an actual Mercedes are present in the sculpture:
windshield wipers, muffler and tailpipe, tire treads, even the trunk latch has a hole carved to fit a
key. Sheldon used blue prints supplied by the Mercedes factory to sculpt every detail of the
actual car, except for the side mirrors and hood ornament, which were left off for fear of
vandalism. The monument was ordered by a Chinese businessman in New York City whose son
died before he could deliver on a promise to give him such a car. The son's name is on the
licence plate of the replica. A Mercedes-Benz 240-D retails for about $22,000.00 minimum.
According to estimates, the cost of this memorial would finance a fleet of theml. The stone
Mercedes was positioned this past Fall in Rosedale Cemetery in Linden, New Jersey. Pictured
with it is A.G.S. Member Mrs. Fred Angles of Detroit.
From American Cemetery, August 1983 and Monument Builder News, October 1983.
Fifteen vears. The Maine Old Cemetery Association (MOCA) Newsletter has been in existence
for fifteen years. MOCA's specialty has become the preservation of information from gravestone
inscriptions and other sources, copied and organized to be available to the public at several
large libraries in the state. A program of microfilming this material is now in process. One of
several on-going MOCA projects is the computer-listing of all known graves of veterans of the
Revolutionary War living in the state before, during or after the conflict.
AGSW'83/84P14
Readers respond. We received a number of responses to our inquiry in the Fall 1 983 issue, page
28, regarding an unidentified stone pictured in an article published in the September, 1983,
American Cemetery Magazine. Most respondents chided us for not having noted that this stone
is illustration number 1 in David Watters' book, "Witli Bodilie Eyes": Escliatological Tliemes in
Puritan Literature and Gravestone Art (Ann Arbor: UMI Research Press, 1981). The stone,
which has part of its design chipped away, is for Anna Perkins, 1762, and it is located in the
Episcopal Church burying ground, Newburyport, Massachusetts. Watters uses the stone to
illustrate iconoclasm (image breaking) in early New England.
One response came from an English reader, Ben J. Lloyd. We regret that we do not have space
to print his interpretation of the imagery on this stone, but readers who heard Mr. Lloyd speak
on gravestone symbolism at the 1 980 AGS conference can appreciate the depth of his analysis.
Mr. Lloyd closes his letter by offering a bed to any AGS member passing his way. His address is:
7 Back Lane, Great Bedwyn near Marlborough, Wilts, England (1 1/2 hours by train from London;
telephone 0672-870-234).
From William Wallace, director of the Historical Museum
In Worcester, Massachusetts, we have received a note-
card of interest. On it is a large (4.5" x 6") and
handsome photograph of the tympanum detail of the
stone for Susanna Jayne, 1776, Marblehead, Massa-
chusetts, and a quick check for information on the card's
reverse gives us this surprising information: "Photograph
by Ansel Adams c. 1948." This stone was in better
condition in 1948; recently a vandal has hacked the
moon from the carving.
Correction and follow-up. While doing some research in the Marlboro, Massachusetts, area,
Theodore Chase and Laurel Gabel happened onto the stone for Thankful How, 1 766, which was
mentioned on page 28 of the Fall, 1983, Newsletter. They report that it was in the Evergreen
Cemetery, on Wilson Street, Marlboro, not in the Spring Hill Cemetery, the location given in the
Newsletter. According to Chase and Gabel, the stone appears to be the work of the carver they
are seeking to identify, and the upside-down wing design is unique in this carver's work.
Ram Burgess tells us that the cypher stone mentioned in Part II of the Fall Newsletter (P. 26/30)
should translate "More bitter than sweet was her lot," as the aloe plant is so bitter that it is often
referred to as "bitter aloes."
Correction. The Shaker cemetery, seven miles north-west of Albany, N.Y., is far from the last
physical evidence of the first Shaker community in the United States, as inaccurately reported
in the Fall AGS Newsletter (p.M). Participants in a seminar conducted in September, 1983, by
the Shaker Heritage Foundation in co-operation with the New York State Museum, went on a
walking tour of the eight extant buildings of the Church Family of the Watervliet Community
—or Wisdom's Valley, to call it by its spiritual name.
In another sense, there is no physical evidence of the first Shaker settlement, which now lies
under the runways of the Albany Airport. When Mother Ann Lee died in 1784, they were living
on land which they did not own. In 1835, after the graveyard (the one involved in the 1983
lawsuit) had been established on land they had purchased, the Shakers decided to re-inter
Mother Ann Lee and her brother, known as Father William Lee. The marble stones were put in
place in 1880. Recently the 1880 stone for Mother Lee was replaced by a duplicate, and the
"original" is now in the Sabbathday Lake Community. The town of Colonie (proper spelling)
maintains the cemetery in good condition. The courts dismissed the Shaker lawyer's case, but
the cemetery remains undisturbed behind its chain-link fence with an unlocked gate, which
visitors conscientiously latch when they leave.
Thanks to Barbara Rotundo, Schenectady, N.Y.
Gravestone images as emblems. Lucien Agosta, Associate Professor of English, Kansas State
University, is studying the relationship between the images on Puritan gravestones and the
European emblem tradition. From his research into the sources of the many carvings that are
taken directly from emblem books, he hopes to develop ways of reading gravestone designs as
emblems. He expects to complete the project before coming east in June, 1984, to spend a
sabbatical year in Boston (studying the artist Howard Pyle, not gravestones!).
uaii3iSMaN
OLf ON liiu-i'd
a I V d
30ViSOd s n
■oyo iidoyd NON
J
6091-0 sseyy 'jajsaoJOM
'A^sjoos ue!ienb!)uv ueousiuvo/o
'sajpn^s 9uo)S3Aej9 jo^ uoj^epossv
Catching up. Peter Benes, who initiated the action which resulted in the founding of AGS in
1977, has several projects going. He is involved with the long-range planning for the 350th
anniversary celebration of the founding of Newbury, Massachusetts, which will take place in the
summer and fall of 1985. A feature of the celebration will be a display in Newburyport's Gushing
House Museum of objects, including gravestones, which reflect the early life of the community.
The celebration's principal sponsor is the Historical Society of Old Newbury, and it is funded by
a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Benes has limited his work with the Goncord Antiquarian Museum, of which he was assistant
director, to consulting and proposal-writing (he has just had word that the Massachusetts
Gouncil for the Arts and Humanities has again funded that museum's educational proposal,
which he wrote). He continues to live in Goncord, but he and his family have moved from 226
Lexington Street to the magnificent eighteenth-century Harrington-Wheeler House (149
Harrington Avenue, Z1P 01742) which he is "interpreting and renovating" for the Goncord
Historical Gommission. "I spend about ten hours a week either in remedial carpentry myself or
directing the work of contractors," Benes writes.
Benes continues as director of the Dublin Seminar for New England Folklife, which functions in
conjunction with the Program in American and New England Studies, Boston University. The
Dublin Seminar will hold its 1984 conference, "Itinerancy in New England and New York," June
16 and 17, at the educational facilities of the Essex Institute, Salem, Massachusetts. Benes is
now calling for papers dealing with early itinerants "such as the Soule family of gravestone
carvers," he suggests.
Michael Gornish, (AGS archives director, and program co-ordinator of the 1984 AGS
Gonference), has been awarded a grant by the American Folk Art Society to continue his
research on the Taunton River area tendril carvers. An article for their publication and a slide
lecture to their membership is expected from his effort.
New Look! Some of you may have noted that the NEWSLETTER has a slightly different
appearance. The change became necessary with the transfer of editorship away from Jessie Lie
Farber's fancy typewriter. This issue has been typeset by Earl Whynot & Associates Graphics
Limited of Halifax, N.S., and the logo has been re-designed by Francis Duval of New York Gity.
The AGS NEWSLETTER is published quarterly as a service to members of The Association for Gravestone Studies.
The membership year begins on the date dues are received and ends one year from that date. A one-year
membership entitles the member to four issues of the NEWSLETTER and to participation in the AGS conference in
the year membership is current. Send membership fees (Regular, $15; Sustaining, $25) to AGS Membership
Secretary Carol Perkins, 1233 Cribb St., Apt. 204, Toledo OH 43612. Order MARKERS, the Journal of the
Association for Gravestone Studies (Vol. 1, $15: Vol. 2, $12) from Betty Slater, 373 Bassettes Bridge Rd., Mansfield
Center CT 06250. Address contributions to MARKERS, Vol. 3, to David Watters, editor, Dept. of English, University
of New Hampshire, Durham N H 03824. Address NEWSLETTER contributions to Deborah Trask, editor. The Nova
Scotia Museum, 1747 Summer St. Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 3A6, Canada. Address other correspondence and
orders to AGS Corresponding Secretary Betsy Widirstky, Box 523, 140 Founders' Path, Southold NY 11971. Mail
addressed to AGS do The American Antiquarian Society, Worchester MA 01609 will be forwarded to the appropriate
AGS office.
^
NEWSLETTER
OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES
DEBORAH TRASK, ED.
VOLUME 8 NUMBER 2 SPRING 1984
ISSN:0146-5783
CONTENTS
ASSOCIATION NEWS 1
EXHIBITIONS 2
ARTICLES
Verses inAlverstoke Churchyard 3
by G.H. Williams C.B.E.
By Their Lettering Shall Ye Know Them 7
by Ralph L. Tucker and Fred W. Boughton
BOOKS
The Gravestones of Early Long Island 1680-1810 9
a review by James Slater
CONFERENCE UPDATE 13
Central Connecticut Grave Markers 11
a photo essay by Francis Y. Duval and Ivan B. Rigby
WANTED! 13
MISCELLANEOUS 13
1984 CONFERENCE REGISTRATION 15
ASSOCIATION NEWS
Newly appointed Executive Secretary, Rosaiee Oal<ley
(left) and Executive Director, Susan Springer (right)
are shown with early gravemarker in Needham
Cemetery. (Photo by Walter Masson)
Susan Springer and Rosaiee Oakley, as reported in the Winter Newsletter (p. 5), began working
for AGS in February. Susan is now our Executive Director, acting as a communicator and
support person to the membership. She hopes to focus on expanding our membership and
public awareness and to help initiate needed programs and projects with funding assistance
from grants and corporate support. Her suggestions include: extending our contacts with
like-minded organizations; selected mailings of AGS information material; a speakers' bureau;
an AGS sponsored travelling exhibit; increased publicity and public relations efforts; a
campaign to place AGS articles in magazines, journals and newspapers; and AGS sponsorship
of local and regional workshops or educational programs which offer a service to the
community.
The growing volume of mail directed to AGS will be handled by Rosaiee, as Executive
Secretary. She will follow up on articles related to AGS interests. One of her aims is to help
standardize and increase the marketing of AGS publications, and to index the Newsletter.
Our membership will be interested in other important actions taken by the Board of Trustees at
its meeting in Boston on January 28, 1984:
—AGS may choose to exchange its membership list with compatible organizations in future.
Anyone who does not want their name on such an exchange list should inform Rosaiee
Oakley, AGS Executive Secretary, 46 Plymouth Road, Needham, MA., 02192. (Phone:
617-444-6263)
AGSSp'84p. 1
—George Kackley suggested AGS give an award or citation to individuals or groups, non-
members as, well as members, who make some significant contribution to our field. This
commendation would reward praiseworthy efforts and also help to publicize AGS and its
goals. Suggestions for recipients of citations should be sent to Rosalee.
—Lib Hammond, Barbara Rotundo, and Vincent Luti were approved to serve on the nominating
committee, with Lib Hammond as chairperson.
—A draft of Francis Duval's first new guide to selected regional graveyards was shown to the
board and enthusiastically endorsed.
—The Editorial and Review Board of Markers III was appointed. The members include David
Watters as Chairman and Editor, John Brooke of the History Dept. at Tufts, Peter Benes,
James Slater, and Jessie Lie Farber.
— Fred Fredette reported on the return of the missing Hannah Townsend (1773) stone from
Salem, Massachusetts. Fourteen pages of correspondence relating to the stone and dating
back over twenty years were given to the archives.
—Michael Cornish presented an updated 10-page catalog of AGS material now on file at the
NEHGS library. Arrangements for making this catalog available to AGS members are being
investigated.
—Laurel Gabel reported on the acquisition of James Tibensky's thesis and computerized index
of 12,200 Western Connecticut gravestones for the archives and for the research
department. The Farber photographic collection has been filed by carver and is beginning to
prove useful to researchers. Photos of documented gravestones are being solicited for the
research files.
—The next Board meeting will be held in Hartford, Connecticut on April 28, 1 984.
EXHIBITIONS
•; InMohioryof;*
!.>''.i.-«situueania
First Church Gallery in historic First Church of Christ Congregational, Springfield MA.
presented the exhibition Gravestone and Brass Rubbings by Eileen Houle, Nancy Walker,
Gordon Knight, Melvin Williams, Susan Kelly and Anne Williams, January 20th to March 7th,
1984.
Sue Kelly and Anne Williams always introduce AGS into their lectures, interviews, workshops,
and even their exhibitions Publicity of this kind is valuable to the Association. To help other
members promote us, AGS has copies of a flyer giving information about the organization's
background and purposes, together with an application form. It is available from AGS Executive
Secretary, Rosalee Oakley, 46 Plymouth Road, Needham, Massachusetts 02192. Or from the
AGS mail drop, c/o The American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massachusetts.
AGSSp'84p. 2
VERSES IN ALVERSTOKE CHURCHYARD
G.H. Williams C.B.E.
ALVERSTOKE, Gosport, has a fine Vic-
torian church, but the churchyard is much
older. There are rather over 500 grave-
stones, nearly all in Purbeck or Portland
stone. The earliest date from about 1670. In
1805 an overflow churchyard (w/hich has
since been destroyed) was opened nearby,
and thereafter the rate of burials in the old
churchyard slowed down. In 1854 both
were closed by Order in Council, though
there were a few later burials in existing
graves. Thus most of the stones in the old
churchyard are 18th century, but there are a
few late 17th century and a good many
early 19th century stones.
This was a good period for headstones
elaborately carved with symbols of death
and resurrection and for well-proportioned
box tombs, of which examples are given in
the accompanying Alverstoke sketches by
Rear Admiral R. W. Paffard. But what is not
apparent to the casual visitor is that it was
also a good period for memorial verses. (In
the 19th century texts became more usual
than verses.) Most of the inscriptions on the
stones are badly eroded and require some
expertise to read; the verses are often more
lightly cut than the names, dates and ages
and so have suffered worse. Many of the
headstones have partly subsided into the
ground, and as the verses are usually at the
end of the inscriptions they may have to be
excavated before they can be seen at all.
In 1969 the Borough Council proposed to
destroy all, or nearly all, the stones in the
churchyard. This proposal (which they for-
tunately abandoned after years of dis-
cussion), came to the notice of Dr. H. L.
White, FSA, of Bournemouth, one of the
greatest experts in the country on church-
yard inscriptions. He, assisted by my wife
and myself and occasionally by others,
transcribed all the inscriptions so far as was
humanly possible. He later copied all the
epitaphs into a separate notebook. These
include about ninety verses, though in
some of them he has had to leave gaps
because of illegibility. This notebook is
now, with his other Alverstoke papers, in
Portsmouth City Records Office.
Most modern books on epitaphs deal
mainly with those relating to particular
occupations or to peculiar modes of death,
or with epitaphs regarded as amusing
(though the last chapter of Kenneth
Lindley's Of Graves and Epitaphs has a
good selection of typical verses). But Dr.
White's notebook provides an unusual
opportunity of studying the attitude to
death of several generations of mourners in
a single parish. I do not wish to imply that
they were all original. Some with variations,
appear on more than one grave at Alverstoke
(including those marked with an asterisk
below). Others appear elsewhere. But even
where not original, they were presumably
ENGLAND
selected by the mourners as expressing
their feelings.
The following are examples of the various
types. The punctuation is usually my own,
as that in the inscriptions is almost
completely lost by erosion.
As one might expect, there are some
eulogies:
James Ryall, 1795, aged 35.*
Here lies a Husband who was kind
And of a tender loving Mind.
He lived a Life of faithful Love
In hope to live in Heaven above.
Mary Antram, 1 796, aged 64.
A loving Wife and Parent dear,
A tender [\/lother lieth here.
Robert Moubray, Surgeon, 1795,
aged 64.
He who here sleeps in no unhonoured
Grave
Wanted not heart to bless or Skill to save,
A heart by many a kindred bosom loved
And Skill by suffering multitudes approved.
Stop, a last tribute of respect to pay
O'er the cold Stone which shelters
Mou bray's clay.
(I shall always remember the last two lines.
The long and badly eroded inscription is on
a horizontal stone and I slowly deciphered it
on a dark winter's night by shining a torch
horizontally along the surface. When I got
to these lines I thought how appropriate
they were!)
Occasionally comments on the virtuous
dead generally are obviously intended to
apply to the person commemorated:
Frances Colins, 1765, aged 70.
Why mourn We for our Well Departed
Friends,
Since Death all Pain and Sin and Sorrow
Ends?
A Life well Spent, then Death no doubt
brings Peace
With Joys Divine that nevermore will
Cease.
Elizabeth Somerville, 1816, aged 51.*
The sweet remembrance of the Just
Shall flourish when they sleep in Dust.
(This is on the only remaining memorial in
the above-mentioned overflow churchyard.)
continued
AGS Sp'84 p. 3
Some verses are in autobiographical form,
with the deceased in the first person:
Edward Salter, 1784, aged 69.*
Afflictions sore long time I bore,
Physicians were in Vain,
Till Death did Seize as God did please
To ease me of my Pain.
(According to Lindley, this, with slight
variations, is the commonest epitaph in the
country.)
William Poore, 1774, aged 76.
With sweat and toil I long have till'd the
ground
And in it now a resting place have found.
Through my Redeemer Jesus Christ I trust
That I like purest wheat shall spring from
dust
And share the joyful harvest of the just.
(He must have died fairly well off, as he had
an elaborately carved headstone and he
endowed one of the church charities.)
Elizabeth Derrick, 1809, aged 40.
Life's a jest, and all things shew it.
I thought so once, but now I know it.
(This, but beginning Life is a jest, was
written by John Gay the playwright for his
own epitaph, and appears on his memorial
in Westminister Abbey.)
Most of the verses, however, deal with death
and the future life rather than with the life
that is past. Death is represented in a wide
variety of ways:
Elizabeth Brown, 1 761 , aged 48.*
How Lov'd how valu'd once avails thee not,
To whom Related or by whom begot.
A heap of dust alone remains of thee;
It's all thou art and all the Proud shall be.
(A later grave has another version ending
with the more complimentary line>4nQ'iv/7a^
thou art shall evry Fair one be.)
Sarah Walledge, 1853, aged 44.
The King of kings a warrant sealed
And sent it out by Death
And ordered him to serve the same
Upon a feeble breath.
Death came with speed and seized me
Whilst I in trouble lay
And with his dart he peirced by heart
And took my life away.
(Death's dart is shown on two or more of the
sculptures on the headstones.)
Richard White, 1757, aged 34, and wife
Betty, 1753/4, aged 27.*
As like two Lilies
Fresh and Green,
Were soon cut down
And no more seen.
Ann Lemming, 1780, aged 70.
From this Life's stage all mortals must
remove,
The gloommy mansions of the grave to
prove.
But they that do in Jesus Christ believe
The grave cannot confine nor Hell receive.
Mary Blanchard, 1 801 , aged 72.
The watery deep I have past
With Jesus in my view.
The goodly land I see
And do injoy it too.
(The first three lines are adapted from the
hymn The God of Abraham praise. In that
hymn they are based on the Israelites'
crossing the Red Sea and approaching
Canaan. Here the lines seem to relate to
their crossing the Jordan and entering
Canaan. The Jordan and Canaan are used
as an allegory of death and heaven in the
18th century hymns There is a land of pure
delight, by Isaac Watts, and Guide me, O
Thou great Redeemer; D. E. Sale, in his
Hymn Writers of Hampshire, says that the
former may have been inspired by a view of
the Isle of Wight, of the Netley or Hythe
area, or of Portsdown Hill.)
A few verses describe or encourage
mourning:
Ann Carter, 1798, aged 39.
Columns and labour'd Urns but vainly shew
An idle scene of decorated woe.
The sweet Companion and the Friend
sincere
Need no mechanic Help to force the Tear;
Twill flow whilst gentle Goodness has one
Friend,
Or kindred Temples have a Tear to send.
Ellen Rebecca Diver, 1849, aged 12.
Consuming illness bow'd her tender frame
Low to the earth from whence at first it
came.
With heartfelt care we viewed the sad event
Which all our tenderness could not
prevent.
No marble marks her grave of lowly sleep.
But living statues here are seen to weep.
Affliction's semblance mourns not o'er her
tomb;
Afflication 's self deplores her early doom.
Often, however, death is welcomed:
Sally Brooks, 1780, aged 22.
A well spent life makes Death a wellcome
Friend
For joys divine that never more do end.
'// / I', '•< ,
fc¥;iii|*^^^
Headstone of Sally Brooks, 1780: an emblem of
the soul. Father Time, skull and coffin.
continued
AGS Sp'84 p. 4
James Thompson, 1804, aged 44.
Farewel vain World, I have had enough of
thee
And now am careless what is said of me.
What faults you have seen in me take care
to shun
And look at home, enough there's to be
done.
Charlotte James, 1852, aged 44.
The hour of my departure 's come;
I hear the voice that calls me home.
Now Oh my God let troubles cease,
Now let They servant die in peace.
Mourning is often discouraged, as in the
above epitaph of Frances Colins:
Roger Getheridge, 1 772, age uncertain.
/Wy Friends forbear to mourn.
Let Hopeless sorrow cease.
My sleeping dust at Christ's return
Shall rise in joy and peace.
Lucy Sadler, 1767, aged 22.
Forbear my friends to mourn and weep
While sweetly in the dust I sleep
And leave this toilsome World behind
A crown of glory for to find.
(I shall always remember the first two lines.
The stone is buried, sideways-on. Dr. White
and I excavated all but "weep" and "sleep",
and thinking that the final words must be
"cry" and "lie" dug no further. Later he
found the true version in another churchyard
and we had to re-excavate the stone to
check it.)
Some verses encourage the reader to
prepare for his own inevitable death:
George Skutt, 1 734, aged 36.
'Tis not for age that here I lye.
O friends betimes Prepare to die.
(This is now largely illegible, but fortunately
an 1 887 transcript exists.)
Ann Page, 1747, aged 39.
Learn to Live Well that ye may Dye so Too,
To live & dye is all we have to do.
As regards the future life, a number of
epitaphs, like those of William Poore and
Roger Getheridge quoted above, look
forward to a future resurrection of the body:
Mary Abraham, 1797, aged 62.
A happy change, my God hath set me free
From this vain World and all my Misery,
And may kind Angels guard this Dust
Till the last Trump shall raise the just.
Ann Wasell, 1810, aged 76.*
Our flesh shall slumber in the ground
Till the last trumpet's joyful sound.
Then burst the chains with sweet surprise
And in our Saviour's image rise.
But other epitaphs, such as the above one
of Mary Blanchard, describe the immediate
bliss of the souls of the faithful departed:
Sarah Sharp, 1762, aged 76.
Electing Grace, Redeeming love,
her theme below, her song above.
Charles Dods, 1830, aged 66, and wife
Mary, 1811.
1st Cor. ch. 2nd v. 9th.
Thus much (and this is all) we know
They are supremely blest,
Have done with Sin and Care and Woe
And with their Saviour rest.
(Possibly the scripture reference at the be-
ginning, on which the verse was based, was
a concession to the growing tendency to
inscribe texts on graves instead of verses.)
(k^^ul.i. rIpf.sT-tC'l (In; I , rp
W H/i ■/' ' ^'^'
Headstone of Joseph Roper. 1772: the
Resurrection.
Maria Jane Beazley, 1844, aged 8.
Ye weeping parents view
Your happy infant bands.
See how they beckon you
With all their little hands.
'Come father, mother, come up here.
Eternal glory you shall share. '
Most of the above are fairly typical. But we
may close with two problem verses which
can give rise to interesting speculations:
Samuel Langan, 1806, aged 30.
But Lord how long whilt Thou permit
the insulting Foe to boast?
Shall all the Honour of thy name
for evermore be lost?
Whyhold'st Thou back thy strong Right
hand and on thy patient Breast
When Vengeance calls to stretch it forth
so calmly lett'st it rest?
Apart from a bad rhyme, this is a fine
metrical paraphrase of Psalm 74 verses 10
and 11. But what is it doing on a
tombstone? To interpret the Foe as the
Devil or Death would be to take the verses
right out of their context in the psalm. Was
the deceased a crusader against some
supposed evil, and was this his favourite
text?
Finally, there is a headstone bearing only
the lines:
Remember not against me
O thou God of Truth,
For Jesus sake,
The follies of my youth.
The upper part of the stone, which would
have shown the name, date and age, is
broken or cut off fairly neatly, as if
deliberately. Dr. White's researches show
that the surname was Stancell, and the date
was in the period 1779-1790. Did later
relatives, considering that the stone was
discreditable to their family, remove the
name?
continued
AGSSp'84p.5
When we started transcribing the inscrip-
tions under threat of early destruction, we
naturally concentrated on the details of
genealogical importance. If the stones had
been destroyed at that stage the above
verses and many others like them would, as
a collection in a single parish, have been
lost without trace. The wholesale clearance
of churchyards since World War II has
caused grievous environmental, artistic and
genealogical losses; the above illustrates
another type of loss which is less obvious,
and which was just avoided in this
churchyard.
Godfrey Williams is an authority on the
gravestones in Alverstoke, Hampshire,
England. Mr. Williams' article, originally
published in the English Magazine, Hamp-
shire, April, 1983, was sent to us by Pamela
Burgess, a leading advocate of English
gravestone conservation. She represented
Alverstoke Churchyard at a Consistory
Court hearing in 1977 when the local
Borough Council applied for permission to
"clear" (that is, remove all the markers
from) the churchyard, and she won the
case.
. ."^^'^Ml^^S^V^tvi'V*!!*.'
Headstone of James Philpot. 1730: scythes,
hour-glass and grave-digger's tools, for death:
torches. Book of Life and trumpets, for
resurrection.
'^^^
A report from an English Cemetery Project.
The Fulwood Cemetery project was begun in 1982 and is planned for completion in 1984. The
cemetery is attached to an Anglican Church, dedicated to Christ, and lies in the parish of
Fulwood, once a small scattered hamlet of Yorkshire but since the 1890's the largest of the
suburbs of Sheffield, the industrial city in South Yorkshire, Gt. Britain.
Like many other suburbs of industrial cities, Fulwood has been the home of many of the
important pioneers of industry; the industry in Sheffield's case being that of steel and Sheffield
plate, and some of these pioneering families are buried in the cemetery at Fulwood. Others
buried in the Churchyard include millowners, farmers, publicans, shopowners, a member of the
Plymouth Brethren, victims of national disasters and of the 1st and 2nd World Wars and Mayors
of the City.
A pilot survey of the cemetery established that there were around 2000 monuments and
altogether around 2300 graves, dating from the opening of the cemetery in 1840 to its closure
in 1980. Over 30 different categories of monuments were recorded standing up to 12ft in height
and made of a variety of materials including marble, yorkstone, portland stone, granite, iron and
wood. Burial registers, newspapers, local history books and photographic collections were
used to identify the graves of as many of the local gentry as possible.
A more detailed study of 200 sample graves was undertaken and an analysis of the mortuary
variables carried out using the Computer Package MINITAB. The results so far prove
interesting: On the basis of present work there seems to be some correlation between age, sex
and burial rites. It appears that there was in the 1 9th Century a 'right sex' to be and a 'right time'
to die if you wanted an elaborate grave monument.
As part of her research for this project, Ms. C.L. Sampson, 18 Margaretta Close, Clenchwarton,
King's Lynn, Norfolk, PE34 4BX, England, would like to hear from AGS members who have
knowledge of burial customs in the United States. She notes that British burial customs are
now following some of the major changes that American mortuary ritual underwent 30 or more
years ago.
AGSSp'84p. 6
BY THEIR LETTERING SHALL YE KNOW THEM
Ralph L. Tucker and Fred W. Bough ton
The object of this study is to determine if the characteristics of the lettering on a given stone
could be used as a tool to identify a carver or differentiate between carvers.
The Mullicken Family of Bradford, MA., consisting of a father and three sons, carved
gravestones in the eighteenth century and their work is found in the lower Merrimack River
Valley. The early stones have a rather abstract face as decoration in the tympanum, while a
group of later stones have skull shaped faces with wings, and pumpkin faces with wings. The
designs of the borders have several patterns which are easily identified as being from the family
shop. A study of over 450 photographs reveals that one could identify with a reasonable degree
of certainty which member of the family lettered a particular stone.
The Mullicken stones have lettering that is often quite crude, primitive, irregular and lacking in
consistency. There are two types of lettering: Type A which has words composed of all upper
case letters and Type B which has an odd mixture of upper case and lower case letters. The
upper case letters used for this comparative study are shown in Table 1 .
An early Mullicken stone with type A lettering, all upper case, is shown in Figure I, and an
example of Type B lettering is shown in Figure II. Note the words with a mixture of upper and
lower case letters. The lower case letters used in this study, with examples, are given in Table 2.
table 1
BBB
D PD
i
L L
M PI
N N
R
uu
yyy
w
Figure I William Stickne, 1706, Bradford, MA
table 2
n
m
a
e
h
-t
ETDERy
J3aa.c
Lfpe pied
the
Robert
pie A
Figure II Hannah Woodman, 1728, Bradford,
MA
In order to identify which Mullicken used which style of lettering, a group of 89 stones dating
from 1756 to 1768 was studied. At this date Joseph Mullicken is the only known living carver in
the family. All of the stones in this group were found to be Type A lettering. At times there are a
few minor inconsistencies in the Type A lettering where a lower case "T" is used in a word like
"Robert", or "the". The same is true of the word "Body". Examples of Joseph's lettering are
shown in Figures ill and IV. Joseph also uses the upper case letter "U" with a small foot or serif
at the bottom of the right side. This can be seen in Figure IV. The lettering on these stones is
often bold, deeply cut and regular in shape. Similar Type A lettering, which can be identified as
Joseph's, cover the period from 1736 to 1767. These stones have a radical change in design: a
face with wings is used in the tympanum.
continued
AGSSp'84p. 7
Figure III Mary Barker, 1744, North Andover,
MA
Figure IV Elizabeth Stevens, 1764, North
Andover, MA
Gravestones with Type A lettering and with the abstract head are found from 1706 up to 1732.
Type B lettering is found from 1714 through 1751. To determine who carved the lettering on
these stones, we need to know the dates of the family members: Robert Mullicken, Sr., 1668-
1741; Robert Mullicken, Jr., 1688-1756; John Mullicken, 1690-1737; Joseph Mullicken,
1704-1768.
The stones with Type B lettering come to the fore when we note that Harriet Forbes, in her
seminal book on New England Gravestones, quotes a letter dated April 1739 which requests
Robert Mullicken to make three gravestones for David Foster, 1736; Lidea Foster, 1736 and
Isaac Foster, 1739. These are located in the Old Burying Ground in North Andover, MA. The
David and Lidea stones are shown in Figures V and VI. The lettering on all three stones is
classified as Type B. All three stones are back dated. We note a difference in the quality of the
lettering and the marked inconsistency in the lettering. The variations of the upper case letters
conform to Table 1. The lower case letters "B" and "D" used on David's stone are variations
found throughout the entire range of Type B. These lower case letters are shown, with
examples, in Table 2. We assume that these three stones were lettered in 1739. We know that
John Mullicken died in 1737 and therefore could not be involved. Our records also show that
this Type B lettering continues through 1751. This is well beyond the death of Robert Sr. in
1 741 . There is also strong evidence that Robert Sr. was not productive in 1 739. We have already
established the fact that Joseph was using Type A lettering with his own style as early as 1 736.
Therefore, we conclude that stones with Type B lettering and in the period from 1714 through
1 751 are the work of Robert, Jr.
Figure VI Lidea Foster, 1736, North Andover,
MA
Figure V David Foster, 1 736, North Andover,
MA
The earliest Mullicken stone that we have found with Type A lettering is dated 1706. (See the
William Stickne stone in Figure I.) Starting in 1714, we have a continuous record of these Type
A stones through 1727. After this date, the only Type A stone we have found is Moses Tyler
dated 1732 West Boxford, MA. A John White Stone, dated 1727, in Haverhill, MA., is a typical
Mullicken of this period with Type A lettering. A 1728 probate record indicates a payment to a
Robert Mullicken. Robert Sr. was taught stone cutting by John Hartshorne and when
Hartshorne left Haverhill, Robert Mullicken, Sr. carved the early stones in the 1706-1732 penod.
continued
AGSSp'84p.8
John Mullicken, based on limited probate data, was active from 1718-1732. In most cases he
seems to play a minor role or is involved with Robert Mullicken. A 1732 probate for Caleb
Hopkinson, who died in 1721, shows that Robert Mullicken and John were involved. Although
this stone is badly defaced, the readable letters show it to have Type A lettering. We have not
been able to find any special lettering or design that would identify the work of John Mullicken.
We must, at this time, conclude that John probably acted as assistant, and could have worked
with both Robert Sr. and Jr.
Summary
1. The study of the Mullicken Family stones, involving over 450 photographs, shows that the
characteristics of the lettering are a helpful tool in distinguishing the work of each family
member.
2. The stones with Type A lettering, all upper case, in the period 1706-1732, are probably the
product of Robert Mullicken, Sr.
3. Joseph's Type A lettering covers the period of 1 736-1767, together with a radical change in
design of the tympanum.
4. The Type B lettering, a mixture of upper and lowercase in the period of 1714-1751, is the
work of Robert Mullicken, Jr.
5. Existing data does not warrant any conclusion on John Mullicken. There are no special
attributes in the lettering that indicate he developed a style of his own.
Ralph Tucker of West Newbury, MA is no stranger to AGS. He tells us that Fred Boughton did
most of the extensive research on which this article is based.
BOOKS
The Gravestones of Early Long Island 1680-1810
by Richard F. Welch, 1983. (soft cover $11.95, hard cover $17.95) published by Friends of
Long Island Heritage, 1864 Muttontown Road, Syosset, New York 11791.
a review by James Slater
Despite its close geographic location and, more importantly, its early cultural ties to New
England, Long Island gravestones have been largely overlooked by students of Colonial
gravestones in the northeastern United States. This is unfortunate as many fine examples of
New England gravestone art and evidences of carver identity are present in Long Island
cemeteries. Richard Welch's fine book admirably fills this void and opens up a whole new and
fascinating area of study.
Important as the New England relationship is, I do not think it is the most important feature of
the book. The most original and, to me at least, exciting chapters deal with the New York and
New Jersey carvers. Chapter V (pp. 43-57) is a comprehensive account of these carvers and
their styles. It is the result of an impressive amount of original research and alone should stand
as a major contribution to American gravestone scholarship.
The difficulty of the task that Welch has undertaken can be understood best if one realizes that
Long Island, being a glacial moraine, does not have local stone, hence essentially no local
carvers. To produce his book he has had to study and understand the carving traditions of the
Boston and Plymouth, Massachusetts areas as well as those of Newport, Rhode Island, the
Connecticut River Valley (a most complex problem in itself), and those from the inland areas of
eastern Connecticut. He has then had to superimpose upon this complex mosaic of carving
styles the relatively unstudied work of the New York and New Jersey carving "schools". I think
there can be no doubt that he has done this remarkably well.
This book is not a guide to Long Island graveyards, nor is it an indepth study of carvers and how
to identify their work. Rather it paints with a broader brush. Included are discussions of the
origin of the gravestone tradition in North America, and symbolism on the stones. These
chapters are interesting but do not introduce much that has not already been said. It is when
the gravestones themselves come into the picture relative to their origins, that the book
becomes especially interesting and valuable.
One admirable feature is the author's clean, clear writing style. There is none of the pedanticism
or abstruse rhetoric that has sometimes tended to be present in gravestone studies. Welch has
a neat and often original turn of phrase; especially when describing the appearance of the faces
on the old stones. He is not afraid to give his own interpretation to expressions (sometimes in a
way that probably would have astonished the carver of the stone); examples are "serene",
AGS Sp'84 p. 9 continued
"cheerful", "a slightly astonished expression", "a horrified almost revolted expression", "a
generally savage appearance", "high lurching wings" and (my favorites) "a wild-eyed, rather
mad look", "a slightly open mouth from which it seems almost possible to hear a moan
escaping". Once in awhile his language does lead him astray. One wonders if the inability of
Vermont marble to "wear well" is quite the phrase desired.
There are so many excellent features to this book that it is unfortunate to have to say that there
are also shortcomings.
As always in regional works I decry the lack of a map! The quality of the photographs is uneven.
Many are excellent and germane to the text, but a number could be considerably better.
The most irritating feature in the book is the references to the photographs. When a given stone
is discussed and there is also a photograph, the text says "(illustrated)" but not where the
illustration is. One does eventually learn that the illustration will be on the same or a facing page
unless a page number is listed after the word "illustrated". Sometimes why the photograph is
not on the same page as the text is baffling. For example, the photograph of the Hartshorne
stone is on page 38 and the discussion is on page 40. Also on page 40 is the photograph of a
stone that has no relationship to Hartshorne. The problem is compounded when a number of
photographs are grouped together on one page. Instead of reading these from left to right we
are asked to follow the photographs around clockwise. (Try pages 35, 38, 45 for examples of
this joyful procedure.)
Of course, in a book with a sweep as broad as this one, there are bound to be minor flaws. The
Connecticut Valley carvers have always been (and remain) a difficult attribution problem. They
have been a problem for Welch. He states (pg. 33) that Joseph Johnson was unrelated to the
famous Thomas Johnsons, but he, in fact, was the younger brother of Thomas Johnson I. The
"unrelated" Johnson was John Johnson. Two of his stones are illustrated on page 61 but not
attributed to a known carver. One feels that the author may have too glibly followed Benes (in
Caulfield, Conn. Gravestones XIV, 1976) in assigning the origin of what he aptly calls the
"Flared-eared stones" to Peter Buckland. Peter Buckland may indeed have carved this type of
stone — many carvers certainly did — but the style certainly did not originate with him. In fact,
Benes' assignation of this type of stone (and that illustrated in the present book on page 63 top
right) to Buckland is probably based on a short business association that Peter Buckland had
with the Portland carver William Crosby. Crosby did definitely carve both of these types of
stones, which, incidentally, are very atypical of stones known to have been carved by Peter
Buckland.
Students of signed stones should not overlook the photograph on page 60 of a signed stone on
Long Island by the New Haven carver Michael Baldwin. This is the only known signed stone by
this carver and is an excellent example of the good possibility of finding signed work by a carver
far from the center of his work. (Deborah Trask's discovery of a Chester Kimball signed stone in
Nova Scotia is another excellent example.)
In addition to the main text there are two very useful appendices. The first discusses the
condition of Long Island graveyards and concludes with a list of the carvers (by state) whose
work is known to be present in Long Island (William Stanclift is omitted, but is mentioned in the
text). The second appendix is an invaluable list of 93 Long Island cemeteries with a chart
indicating the carvers or carving "schools" represented in each. Alas, there are no directions for
finding these wonderful old places.
One should not omit a few words about its layout. The format is eye-catching with an often
magnificent full page closeup detail of a stone (see page 13 for example) facing each new
chapter heading. However, there is almost as much blank space on many pages as there is text.
It does tend to make the photographs stand out, but before this reader was finished he found
the format distracting and wished for a more conventional double columned text, or a smaller
page size with inserted figures.
The few scenic photographs are beautifully chosen and add considerable charm to the esthetic
appreciation that sooner or later comes to all gravestone students and obviously has come to
Mr. Welch.
As with all seminal works of this kind, one of its major values is the directions to which it points
for future work, as well as the major questions it raises. One would like to know the distribution
on Long Island of the stones of a given carver both in space and time. What differences are
there in the overall composition of the individual burying grounds? Is there a geographic and
chronological pattern to the resemblances and differences? Why does the Connecticut Valley
"school" largely "take over" late in the 18th century: was it skill, fad, trade patterns,
transportation, cost, stylistic popularity, etc. etc.? Are Long Island stones by given carvers the
same as those in New England of the same period or are there significant differences — how
much control did the buyer have on the appearance of the stone that was produced? Will
probate studies of Long Island deeds solve some of the attribution problems of New England
carvers? Why did the New York and New Jersey traditions differ so strikingly from those of New
England in cherubim characteristics and in such a remarkable and unique way? The questions
that are raised are exciting, and open fields for investigation by local students that should be
extremely rewarding and valuable.
This is a book that should be in the possession of every student of colonial gravestones. It is a
fine and badly needed work. Only a careful reading will fully reveal the immense amount of
effort that has gone into its production and the large amount of original information that it
contains. All serious students owe a debt of gratitude to Richard Welch for this major
contribution to gravestone study.
CENTRAL CONNECTICUT GRAVE MARKERS
Photos/ Replicas by Francis Y. Duval and Ivan B. Rigby
The 1984 Conference area offers a rich sampling of carving styles: the Stanclift and Johnson
workshops are well-represented throughout the region as well as dozens of unidentified stone
artisans. It is regrettable that much of this sandstone art legacy will soon be obliterated through
freeze/thaw/freeze exfoliating cycles, acid rains, and the general absence of sound
conservation practices.
East Glastonbury, 1795. Holmes children memorial (frieze detail).
> ^
'S, t''*
M^
Portland, 1772.
Meriden, 1800.
;2sr»?'*^
Farmington, c. 1 785.
(tympanum detail)
Wethersfield, c. 1710.
(tomb detail)
AGSSp'84p. 11
,gi0fffj\
Glastonbury, 1703. (tympanum detail)
.'^^cm^
Windsor, 1737. (tympanum detail)
*
V
Middletown, 1751
Cromwell, 1731.
Sfc>^«> >v
Newington, 1728. (tympanum detail)
AGSSp'84p. 12
WANTED!
submitted by Fred Fredette, Baltic CT.
The John Lasell footstone was removed
from the Palmertown Cemetery, Gager Hill
Road, Scotland, Connecticut, in August of
1981. It was no doubt fashioned by an
apprentice in the Obadiah Wheeler shop.
The well preserved headstone is a marvelous
example of Wheeler's work (Type 1 design).
Out of the ground the footstone would be
about 30 inches high and about 14 inches
wide.
This is but one of 52 stones removed from
this cemetery since the early 1950's.
CONFERENCE UPDATE
Anyone planning to exhibit at the A.G.S. Conference in Hartford in June should notify Patricia
A. Miller, P.O. Box 1151, Sharon, Connecticut, 06069, (914-877-6251) in advance, letting her
l<now what you intend to exhibit and what your exhibit support and space needs will be. Ms.
Miller hopes for both professional and amateur type exhibits this year. For Conference
registration, see the white page at the end of this Newsletter.
MISCELLANEOUS
New York City Cemetery Survey Complete. The much talked-about survey of historic
cemeteries by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission has been completed!
This photo-record of all the pre-1800 gravestones in selected Colonial cemeteries
(approximately 1500 stones), and selected Victorian stones represents the first systematic
effort to record the diversity of stones within the city. The archival record will be used in the
preparation of slide-lectures and walking tours.
In connection with this survey, Sherene Baugher-Perlin and Gina Santucci have written an
illustrated brochure about preserving historic cemeteries. The brochure, which mentions AGS
as a group working on cemetery preservation, will be distributed free of charge to preservation
organizations, and to interested cemetery associations and religious congregations. Funding
for the brochure has come from a grant from the N.Y. Council for the Humanities; printing was
provided by the Bowery Savings Bank.
Submitted by Susan L. Springer, Westwood MA.
An article in the Corpus Christi, Texas, Caller-Times states that the San Patricio County
commissioners will provide funds to restore headstones at the historic Meansville Cemetery
near Odem, Texas. The funds are to be used for the repair, cleaning, foundation and bevelling of
grave markers. A century of neglect has left markers damaged and soiled. Barrera Monument
Company of Corpus Christi will be restoring the stones. This will include "each headstone being
treated with clorozide and cleaned, and for each headstone requiring it to be set back onto its
foundation." Last fall work crews began restoring the overgrown and eroded cemetery site
itself, and erected a protective fence around it.
Courtesy of Gay Levine, Wading River, New York.
AGSSp'84p. 13
The "home yard" of the Ebenezer Johnson stone (AGS Newsletter, Winter 1983/4 p. 11) has
been identified by Alfred Fredette of Baltic, CT. as the Trumbull Cemetery in Lebanon,
Connecticut. We hope for a full report on the return of this stone in the Summer Newsletter.
Fred has established a resource centre for information concerning missing gravestones and
retrieval methods. He is ready to receive and disseminate information for dozens of missing
eastern Connecticut markers. Forty-three stones are listed from one burial ground alone —
Plains Cemetery, Franklin, Connecticut. Photographs of some of these stones exist in the
Caulfield collection and other sources. Documentation is a simple process in Connecticut,
requiring no more than a few minutes. There are a number of inventories, beginning with the
Hale collection of 1 934, which includes all state burial grounds which existed at that time. More
recent listings are available in many communities, organized for the most part by local historical
societies.
A number of inventories of early Massachusetts burial grounds are in the process of being
added to the listings already on file. Photocopies of any similar material from AGS members are
most welcome. Mail to: Alfred Fredette, RFD #1 , Box 379, Baltic, CT. 06330.
An article by Matha Smith of the Providence Journal-Bulletin highlights nationally known
contemporary Rhode Island stonecarver Dick Comolli. His work includes monuments for
author John O'Hara, New York mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, the Westerly-Pawcatuck war
memorial, the Lions International memorial in Roger Williams Park, and many others in
Colorado, Texas, California, New Jersey, New York and Boston. Comolli, who runs the
stonecutting shop of Bonner Monument in Hopkinton, Rhode Island, "is one of a dying breed of
itinerant stonecarvers whose skills once were much in demand for decorating elegant buildings,
creating statuary and sculpting the ornate gravestones for which New England is famous." The
reduction in demand for this type of work and the rise of technology which enables fewer
cutters to do a greater volume of work makes these carvers an endangered species. "Decorative
gravestones have become unfashionable. . .and handcuffing an expensive service."
from the Hartford Courant, January 8, 1 984,
submitted by James Slater; the Worcester
Sunday Telegram, December 25, 1983,
submitted by Jessie Lie Farber; and Stone
in America, V. 97 #3, March 1984.
Betty Willsher, co-author (with Doreen Hunter) of Stones: A Guide to Some Remarl(able
Eighteenth Century Gravestones, and author of "Scottish Gravestones and the New England
Winged Skull" (published in Markers II), is writing a book which will be published as part of a
series on Scottish archaeology etc. Her book. How to Survey Scottish Churchyards, will be
concerned with methodology, as well as information about the use of computers for the
analysis of data. She hopes that local archaeological and historical societies will become aware
of the subject and survey churchyards in their areas. A letter from Ms. Willsher tells us that the
rate at which stones are disappearing in Scotland, as a result of vandalism, over-zealous
maintenance, or frosts, is distressing. "The faster each graveyard is surveyed and photographs
are taken of all the old stones, the better it will be for those interested in such a rich heritage as
we have." The Royal Commission for Ancient and Historic Monuments, Scotland has offered to
supply and process film, and to house her records in their library, so she is re-visiting yards in
the Scottish Lowlands, making notes and photographing the best stones. Ms. Willsher says she
lectures frequently on conservation. Her address is Orchard Collage, Greenside Place, St.
Andrews, Fife KY16 9TJ, Scotland (phone 0334-73023)
Barbara Ebert, a student in the Historic Preservation Program at Cornell University Ithaca New
York, IS planning to inventory the stones in the City Cemetery in Ithaca. The yard formerly
privately owned, is now owned by the City. In recent years it has fallen into disuse and has
become a hangout for the local youth. Instead of rushing blindly into her project Ms Ebert is
doing her homework first, for which we commend her. We urge students of New York State
gravestones who are willing to offer help with carver identification or other information to write
Barbara Ebert, 211 Cascadilla Street, Ithaca, New York 14856
AGSSp'84p. 14
History in her baclcyard. An old cemetery known as the Cosper Cemetery is located in the
Shenandoah Subdivision in eastern Ouachita Parish, near Bastrop, Louisiana. Mary Rose
Bassett, who lives in the subdivision, was told when she and her husband purchased a home in
the area that a small slave cemetery was located behind her house. Instead she found, to her
surprise, a very large cemetery enclosed with a handsome iron fence. The first burial in the
cemetery was about 1 850, and the latest in 1 968. Ms. Bassett has cleared much of the cemetery
of tangled honeysuckle and greenbriar vines, bushes and saplings, and has researched the lives
of a number of those buried there. She has spoken to various organizations and clubs about the
cemetery, and has a scrapbook of news articles and photographs taken in the cemetery. She
has also been given copies of letters written by some of the persons buried in the cemetery
which have been preserved and passed down through the generations, and which provide a
great deal of information about the circumstances of the time, particularly during the turbulent
years of the Civil War and immediately afterward. For her presentations concerning Cosper
Cemetery, Ms. Bassett uses but one title, "History in My Backyard". This way she notes, she can
keep the historical theme, yet adapt each talk to the interests of the specific group.
from the Bastrop Daily Enterprise, Bastrop, LA, January 6, 1984, courtesy of Marilyn G. Rowan,
Almeda, California.
More on "the graveyard as pasture". Esther L. Friend, of Plainville, MA., has recently been
studying the old town records of Wrentham, Massachusetts. The burying place in Wrentham
dates back to 1 673. Through its first century, this burying ground was alternately cared for, with
clearing and fencing, and neglected. Ms. Friend writes that in May of 1796, there appeared a
report from the committee which had been given the task of settling the bounds of the burying
ground. The Town Meeting accepted the report and the clerk made note, ". . .Cyrus Guild to
have the priviledge of pasturing sheep — and sheep only —in return for keeping the proposed
fence mended."
Thirty-nine years later, however, another committee found ". . .that for a long time no regard
has been paid to said agreement with Mr. Guild or to the recommendation (sic) in the report last
named. The fences were not kept up, both horses and neat cattle have for a long time been
permitted to graze on the same unmolested." This report was accepted and a committee of five
men appointed "for repairing and improving the burying ground without expense to the town."
The latter note is interesting in view of several entries (one dated March 4, 1 705/6) in which the
Surveyors of Highways "may Imploy men on the account of Highway work to clear of the Bruch
(sic) in the Burying ground." As of today, the work which is done in the "burying ground" is still
a function of the town's highway department. And there isn't a sheep in sight.
Burying ground fenced in. An article in the AGS Newsletter, Spring 1983 Issue (p. 11), entitled
"Trampled by Cattle" noted the plight of a Tinmouth, Vermont graveyard. The ancient stones
were in the midst of a field used for grazing of cattle, and many stones had been knocked over
and trampled. Michael Fannin, a resident of Tinmouth, has recently written to let us know that a
fence has been erected around the cemetery so that further damage has been halted in its
tracks (so to speak).
A new member of AGS, Mr. Fannin is a stone carver, builder, and restorer by trade. He writes
that the stones in Tinmouth represent "some of the most beautiful post-revolutionary carving
work that I have seen in the ten years I have been reproducing these forms. Most of it is ruined."
Mr. Fannin would be interested in finding sources for grant money to restore these stones.
Those who would like to correspond with Mr. Fannin can reach him at Box 603, Proctor,
Vermont 05765, telephone (802) 235-241 2.
Submitted by Susan L. Springer, Westwood MA.
Seminar and tour. The Federation of Nova Scotian Heritage has re-scheduled the gravestone
seminar (mentioned in AGS Newsletter, Summer 1983, p. 12; Fall 1983, p. 30) for June 9th and
10th, 1984. The main speakers will be Deborah Trask of AGS and Martin Weaver of Heritage
Canada. For more information contact the Federation, 5516 Spring Garden Road, Halifax, N.S.
B3J 1G6, Canada (phone 902-423-5669).
AGSSp'84p. 17
uaiiaiSM3N
a I V 4
30ViSOd s n
•Oyo ilJOMd NON
6091-0 sseyv 'j9»saoJOM
'A^apos ueuenbuuv ueoiiQiuyf ofo
'S9!pn)s 9uo)S9AeJO jo| uoi^epossv
350th anniversary exhibition. A recent letter from Peter Benes tells us more about the 350th
anniversary celebration of the founding of Newbury, Massachusetts, which will take place in the
summer and fall of 1985. (AGS Newsletter, Winter '83/4, p. 16.) The 350th exhibition, titled
"Old-Town and the Waterside: 200 years of tradition and change in Newbury, Newburyport,
and West Newbury, 1635-1835" is being planned by Ralph Tucker and Peter Benes. They will
attempt to trace and to contrast which families in the community were purchasing local
gravestones, and which ones were buying from Boston, Charlestown, or elsewhere, and will try
to relate these choices to other cultural differences (architecture, furniture, decorative arts) in
the Newbury area.
This epitaph for Daniel Day, died 1800, from the Armsby Road Cemetery, Sutton, Mass.,
accompanys a carving of a stiff-winged cherub by James New. New was about 58 at the time,
and the tides were changing to the new styles of carving, or maybe his work just wasn't selling
well.
To my once kind Neighbours dear.
Who buried friends and Parents here:
In life was kind to you.
Now shew them your last respect.
And let memorials to ye graves be set.
If not they'll be soon foroot.--
AMoniter.
Contributed by Vi nee Luti, Westport, MA.
The AGS NEWSLETTER Is published quarterly as a service to members of The Association for Gravestone Studies.
The membership year begins on the date dues are received and ends one year from that date. A one-year
membership entitles the member to four issues of the NEWSLETTER and to participation in the AGS conference in
the year membership is current. Send membership fees (Regular, $15; Sustaining, $25) to AGS t\/lembership
Secretary Carol Perkins, 1233 Cribb St., Apt. 204, Toledo OH 43612. Order MARKERS, the Journal of the
Association for Gravestone Studies (Vol. 1, $15; Vol. 2, $12) from Betty Slater, 373 Bassettes Bridge Rd., Mansfield
Center CT 06250. Address contributions to MARKERS, Vol. 3, to David Watters, editor, Dept. of English, University
of New Hampshire. Durham N H 03824. Address NEWSLETTER contributions to Deborah Trask, editor. The Nova
Scotia f^useum, 1747 Summer St. Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 3A6, Canada. Address other correspondence and
orders to AGS Corresponding Secretary Betsy Widirstky, Box 523, 140 Founders' Path, Southold NY 11971; or AGS
Executive Secretary Rosalee Oakley, 46 Plymouth R(l., Needham, IVIA 02192; or AGS Executive Director Susan
Springer, 456 Hartford St., Westwood, MA 02090. Mail addressed to AGS do The American Antiquarian Society,
Worcester MA 01609 will be forwarded to the appropriate AGS office.
■^
NEWSLETTER
OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES
DEBORAH TRASK, ED.
VOLUME 8 NUMBER 3 SUMMER 1984
ISSN:0146-5783
CONTENTS
Connecticut Legislation 1
by Alfred M. Fredette
MORE ABOUT LEGISLATION 2
ASSOCIATION NEWS 2
ARTICLES
A Spring Treasure Hunt 3
by Jessie Lie and Dan Farber
Out West, in the Graveyards of Montana 7
by Doris B. Townshend
BOOK REVIEW
London Cemeteries: An Illustrated Guide and Gazetteer
a review by Lynne Walker 8
MORE BOOKS AND ARTICLES 9
Rhode island Stones in Canada 10
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 11
CONNECTICUT LEGISLATION
by Alfred M. Fredette
Protective gravestone legislation in Connecticut will become a reality on October 1 , 1 984.
The AGS draft written by Ted Chase served as an excellent model throughout the ten month
process required to bring this project to completion.
Last July the draft together with supportive evidence was presented to Connecticut
Preservation Action (CPA), a Connecticut preservation lobby group. Each member was
provided with photocopies of all materials including details of the return of the Jonathan
Hutchinson and Constantine Baker stones. CPA agreed to support and work for gravestone
legislation.
The 1984 legislative session was not scheduled to convene until February 8th. This allowed
seven months in which to prepare.
Individual legislators were contacted during this period, most of whom expressed serious
doubts that such a bill could be introduced. The brief (3 month) session was to be devoted
primarily to fiscal matters.
Representative Andrew Carey submitted the AGS draft to the legislative research committee to
determine the need for such legislation. The committee report, dated October 27, 1 983, states,
"the American Cemetery Association, the New England Cemetery Association and a cemetery
owner in Massachusetts. . .all agree that gravestone stealing is not as much of a problem as
general cemetery vandalism. . .there are no available statistics to judge the extent of the
problem in Connecticut." It was noted in a personal response to this committee that they had
overlooked AGS as a resource.
Five burial grounds were then reinventoried in order to provide statistics. The results indicated a
loss of 168 markers since 1976! This appeased the statisticians and emphasized the necessity
for legislation.
Through the persistence of CPA Director, Joey Corcoran, the bill was introduced by two
legislative committees: Planning and Development, and Judiciary.
Five hundred letters were mailed to individuals and historical societies throughout the state
urging support through personal contact with legislators. This proved to be very effective.
continued
Two public hearings were held. All speakers urged positive legislative action. By April 27th the
combined bills passed both the Senate and House of Representatives. At present the
Governor's signature is all that remains to finalize the action.
Alfred M. Fredette of Baltic CT has been diligently researching and tracking stolen
gravestones, and has succeeded in returning at least two stolen gravestones to their home
areas. (See "Theft of Our Cultural Heritage" by Alfred M. Fredette in the Connecticut League of
Historical Societies League Bulletin Vol. 36#1, March 1984.) This Connecticut legislation is
largely the result of Fred's perseverance and hard work. He will be reporting on the whole
process at the AGS Conference at Hartford CT.
MORE ABOUT LEGISLATION
Legislation to amend the criminal code to establish penalties for damaging or destroying any
cemetery, religious building, or any religious article contained in such a building, was
introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. Mario Biaggi of New York. (For more on
this bill, H.R. 473, see AGS Newsletter F'83, p. 17.) Soon after the bill was introduced, it was
referred to the House Subcommittee on Criminal Justice of the Judiciary Committee for
consideration. In a recent letter to AGS Board member Rufus Langhans, Representative Robert
J. Mrazek stated that "in all honesty, it appears unlikely that the Subcommittee will have the
opportunity to hold hearings on H.R. 473 this year."
Nevertheless, the need for such legislation is identified in the numerous reports of cemetery
vandalism and desecration:
On November 30, 1983, 60 headstones were reported damaged and toppled in the
Congregation Brothers of Israel Cemetery in West Long Branch, NJ.
from the Long Branch Atlanticville, submitted by Robert Van Benthuysen of West Long Branch.
A 16-year old Northport NY youth who told police he is a devil worshipper, was charged with
digging up a grave in Asharoken. He was charged with a violation of the public health law.
from Newsday, April 25, 1984, submitted by Rufus Langhans, Huntington NY
It might be useful for AGS to have a compilation of all federal, state and provincial laws which
pertain to the care and protection of gravestones in the United States, Canada, and elsewhere.
Any lawyer member who is interested to take on this task will be provided with what material
has been accumulated, but which will require up-dating. Volunteers should contact Ted Chase,
AGS President, 74 Farm Road, Dover MA, 02030, for details.
ASSOCIATION NEWS
Highlights from the AGS Board of Trustees meeting, held April 28, 1984, at the Connecticut
Historical Society building in Hartford CT:
Both Susan Springer, Executive Director, and Rosalee Oakley, Executive Secretary, presented
written reports of their activities.
Rosalee has begun compiling a history of AGS. A revised brochure is to be printed in the near
future, which will include a mention of our interest in and the need for legislation. Rosalee has
also begun to index the Newsletter.
Jessie Lie Farber reported on publications. Francis Duval is working on a series of guides to
cemeteries, and the first one of the Naragansett Bay area will be for sale at the conference.
Jessie has also been working on an information sheet on preservation, with Lynette Strangstad.
It will be in two parts — the first of which should be ready for the conference.
Miriam Silverman and Richard Welch are co-chairmen of the 1985 conference.
Gerry Hungerford, 1984 conference chairman, was complimented by President Ted Chase on
the co-operative ease with which the affair is being worked out with the Connecticut Historical
Society. He also mentioned the impressive list of speakers lined up by Michael Cornish.
The resignation of Gina Santucci as a member of the Board was accepted with regret.
A beginning was made on the budget, with Susan Springer and Rosalee Oakley presenting
estimates of their expenses, and Deborah Trask reporting on newsletter costs.
Ann Parker and Avon Neal have gracefully accepted the Harriette Merrifield Forbes award
nomination for 1 984. They will be at the conference.
A SPRING TREASURE HUNT
by Jessie Lie and Dan Farber
ROUTE
Sharon Lutheran Churchyard, Ceres, Virginia, near
Wytheville.
This past spring, Dan and I made a rambling excursion through Pennsylvania, Virginia, and the
Carolinas to explore old graveyards. Our interest in grave-markers is centered on early, made-
by-hand stones, and in particular on their decorative carving and lettering, and our search for
this kind of work vi/as rewarding. The following brief account of our trip is one way of sharing
our good experience with others whose study, like ours, has been limited to the northeast
United States.
winged figures (details).
Barefoot angel with horn, for Mary Davis, 1767, Old
Waxhaw Presbyterian Churchyard, Lancaster, South
Carolina. Attributed to the Bigham family worl<shop.
Imp with book, name Illegible, 1782, Christ Little
Tulpehocken Churchyard, Bernvllle, Pennsylvania.
Wing-footed angel, for James Old, 1777, Emanuel
Lutheran Churchyard, Brickerville, Pennsylvania.
continued
We left Massachusetts by car March 1 6 armed with photography equipment and a small library
of gravestone literature and maps. We restrained ourselves as we drove through Connecticut
and New Jersey, checking out only a few of the special stones we knew to be in yards on our
route. In Pennsylvania we focused on the area around Lancaster and Hanover, where the old
Lutheran graveyards are studded with sandstone markers displaying striking designs featuring
hearts, tulips, and moons. From Pennsylvania we drove through Maryland and into Virginia,
wandering down and to either side of the Skyline Drive and Blue Ridge Parkway and making a
few stops to investigate tips we had about yards along the way. Not until we reached the area
around Wythevilie, Virginia, did we find another rich vein. The stones there, many carved by
Lawrence Krone, featured rosette-type blooms springing from hearts, and bore some
resemblance to the Pennsylvania designs.
Charlotte, North Carolina, was our next important stop, its Presbyterian yards a profusion of
handsome gray soapstone monuments carved by the Bigham family and Samuel Watson.
Birds, deer, lions, winged effigies, and coats-of-arms are among the unusual motifs on these
stones.
Because the work of eighteenth-century New England carvers is scattered along the eastern
seaboard from Nova Scotia to Georgia, we looked forward to visiting Savannah and Charleston
and to seeing familiar stone faces, like faces of old friends. Savannah was warm, moss-hung,
and lovely, but it was disappointing in its meager collection of eighteenth-century slate and
sandstone markers. From this southernmost point of our journey, we began the return
segment, moving northward with the spring. The Charleston stones were all we expected them
to be —and more. We were surprised to find that the markers cut by New England carvers and
placed in Charleston are generally more elaborate and more English in style than the work by
the same carvers standing in New England yards. We also saw a significant number of stones
which were imported from England.
In northern South Carolina, two yards (Waxhaw and Fishing Creek) in the area around
Lancaster, were a treasure trove of fine work by the Bigham workshop, Samuel Watson, and of
imaginative carving by Hugh Kelsey. And in Davidson County, North Carolina, just below
Winston-Salem, the cut-through soapstone markers were even lovelier than we had
anticipated; they fairly twinkled despite the foggy, overcast weather (which allowed us to
photograph only one stone). Near Burlington, North Carolina, between Winston-Salem and
Durham, we found an interesting collection of nicely lettered discoid stones, and on a return
visit to the Wythevilie, Virginia, area, following a colleague's tip, we turned up, in a family yard
high on an isolated hill, another profusion of Krone's hearts and flowers looking as fresh as if
they had been carved yesterday. From this yard we took the largest and most direct highways
to Pennsylvania to look up additional yards, this time in the Allentown area. The floral carvings
there were, we feel, the most beautiful we saw in our entire month-long survey.
Typical of hearts, tulips, moons in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Two nameless, dateless sandstone markers by
unidentified carver(s).
•
Detail of a 40" marker,- Bergstrasse Lutheran Churchyard, 24" marker,
between Blue Bell and Ephrata. Ephrata.
Muddy Creek Lutheran Churchyard,
continued
Virginia and North Carolina.
Typical carving by Lawrence Krone. Reverse of the
lieadstone for Nicl<olas Darter. 1821. l-leigfit, 39". St.
Jofin 's Luttieran Ciiurctiyard, Wytfieville, Virginia.
Soaps tone carving, possibly by Joseph Clodfelter.
Reverse of the headstone for Sarah Davis, 1822. IHeight,
25". Abbotts Creek Primitive Baptist Churchyard,
Davidson County. North Carolina, near Wallburg.
We were fortunate in having generally good weather for making photographs, the sun and
clouds cooperating everywhere except in Davidson County and Charlotte, North Carolina, and
in the Allentown, Pennsylvania, area. A return to these sites is high on our priority list, and we
urge readers with information or suggestions to write us at 31 Hickory Drive, Worcester,
Massachusetts 01609, or telephone (617) 755-7038. And of course, we welcome the
opportunity to help anyone interested in planning a similar adventure.
The areas we visited need further exploration and study. As a starter, we would like to see AGS
develop its membership in Pennsylvania, with a plan to hold the AGS conference there in 1 986.
Reactions to this idea from Pennsylvania members would be most welcome.
South Carolina.
Slate stone for Maria Quincy, 1742, b- he^iry Emmes of
Boston. St-Philips Churchyard, Charleston. Height, 25".
Detail of folk carving by Hugh Kelsey for Sarah
McCance, 1792, Fishing Creek, South Carolina. Height
of whole stone, 22".
continued
In our investigation we were aided by books and articles by Preston Barba (Pennsylvania
German Tombstones), Elmer Smith (Early American Gravestone Designs), Bradford
Raushenberg ("A Study of Baroque and Gothic-Style Gravestones in Davidson County, North
Carolina," in \\r\e Journal of Early Southern Decorative Arts, Vol. 3, No. 2), Klaus Wust ("Folk Art
in Stone," in Shenandoah History), Daniel Patterson ("Upland North and South Carolina
Stonecarvers," in the AGS Newsletter, Vol. 6, No. 3), Francis Duval and Ivan Rigby ("Openwork
Memorials of North Carolina," in Markers The Journal of the Association for Gravestone
Studies, Vol. 1, and "Memorial Images in Three Presbyterian Yards, Charlotte, North Carolina,"
in the AGS Newsletter, Vol. 5, No. 2), Gary Schneider, ("Rockbridge County Gravestones and
Their Carvers," in the Proceedings of the Rockbridge Historical Society, Vol. 9), as well as the
summer, 1982, issue of the AGS Newsletter, guest-edited by Ruth Little-Stokes, which featured
southern gravestone carving.
Members of AGS and other persons Dan and I looked up during our travels for information and
advice and for pleasure are:
Lynette Strangstad, 33 Charlotte St., Apt. E. Charleston, SC 29403
Cheves Leiand, 500 Royall Ave., Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464
John Meffert, 456 King St., Charleston, SC 29403
Nancy Crockett, Route 4, Box 230, Lancaster, SC 29720
Daniel Patterson, Greenlaw Building, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
17514
Bradford Raushenberg, Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts, P.O. Box 10310,
Winston-Salem, NC 17108
John R. Spencer, National Conservation Advisory Council, Department of Art, Duke
University, Durham, NC 17706
Ruth Upchurch (formerly Little-Stokes), 3501 Turnbridge Dr., Raleigh NC 27609
Mary Lynn Vance, 13 Tompkins Avenue, Ossining, New York 10562.
Each of these individuals contributed significantly to the success of our trip and our meetings
with them were the real highlights of our southern adventure.
Dan Farber has over 9000 photographs of early markers in the collections of the American
Antiquarian Society and the Yale University Art Gallery. Jessie Lie Farber is AGS Director of
Publications.
Although MARKERS III will not be ready for sale at the
Conference in Hartford, both MARKERS I and II will be
available. This Kelly/Williams rubbing of the James
Paine stone, 1 71 1 , in the Lothrup Cemetery, Barnstable
MA, signed "NE" for Nathaniel Emmes, from their article
on the signed gravestones of New England in MARKERS
II, was printed in the Boston Sunday Globe, December
11,1983.
AGSSu'84p6
OUT WEST, IN THE GRAVEYARDS OF MONTANA
by Doris B. Townshend
For years studies by professionals and amateurs have been made of old graveyards in the
eastern part of the United States — on the antiquity of the markers, the uniqueness of their
designs, the humor or pathos of their epitaphs and the significance of their information to
general and genealogical history and folk art. Preservation and recording of the old stones has
been of paramount concern to serious students of cemeteries as a cultural and historical
resource.
This attitude of concern has not yet spread to the rocky mountain west — at least to Madison
County, Montana, where I made a detailed study of all the cemeteries, both public and private.
This self-imposed project wherein I copied every inscription on every gravestone in twenty-four
cemeteries took me eight years. The end product is now in the Montana Historical Society in
Helena.
The public cemeteries in Madison County are divided into eight districts, each under the
supervision of three trustees appointed annually for a three year term by the county
commissioners. Some of these cemeteries are well-maintained (green grass, shade trees, erect
headstones, etc.) by caretakers hired by the trustees, but some are sadly neglected, as are most
of the private ones. The latter lie almost forgotten on the top of a sun-baked or snowy, wind-
blown hill suri-ounded by a sagging, barbed wire fence and entered over a cattle guard. Cactus,
sagebrush and spear grass grow in abundance while gophers and frost-heaves topple the
gravestones.
I think the reasons for this lack of interest and attention are three: 1) the cemeteries are always
at a distance from the towns (out of sight, out of mind) and in the case of private burial grounds
are difficult to locate with the casual directions of old-timers; 2) the beginning of history here in
the mountain west is still not so long ago, in Grandfather's time, so there isn't the urgency to
hold on and take note of what was "only yesterday"; 3) it is more laborious here to counteract
the ravages of severe weather — dry summers and arctic winters.
The oldest of the western markers (the earliest dated 1869 in Virginia City) are wooden slabs
with the painted or whittled inscriptions unreadable. Some graves are merely outlined with
white quartz rocks and undesignated as to who is buried there, while others bear only funeral
home plaques with faded writing on cardboard inserts. Later, slate and marble were used, but
as in the east, slate proved unreliable because of sloughing and marble carvings were apt to
blur with time. Marble was particularly expensive to haul in, yet a few were ordered from back
east, such as the one in the Sheridan Cemetery for Lina P. Eldred. It came from the Bedwell &
Abbott Company in Chillicothe, Livingston County, Missouri.
The shapes of the stones are simple, for the most part — erect slabs with square or rounded
tops, although there are obelisks of various heights, usually dedicated to some prominent man
and his family. As to design, the death-heads and winged skulls and weeping willows found in
the east are absent here. But there are individualistic engravings symbolic of the western scene:
an Angus bull and a horse; a saddled, riderless horse pictured in front of mountain scenery;
horses' heads.
The greatest difference between eastern and mountain west markers is in the epitaphs. The
Madison County gravestones abound in Victorian sentimentality. The emphasis of the
inscriptions is on sleep and rest, contrary to the dire warnings and dry, macabre humor of early
New England tombstones. Western examples: "Walk softly, she sleeps here," "God's fingers
touched him and he slept," and "Sleep, Hughie, take thy rest. God called you home, he thought
it best." Religion played a strong part: "The Master is come and all wept and bewailed her, but
Jesus said, weep not, she is not dead but sleeping."
Nineteenth century bereavement was expressed in flowery language, some epitaphs
undoubtedly taken from a funeral home's standard book but some were original: "A precious
one from us is gone, a voice we loved is still, a place is vacant in our home which never can be
filled. God, in His wisdom, has recalled the boon His love had given, and though the body
slumbers here the soul is safe in heaven." And: "Brother, first to leave our band, life's song as
yet unsung, while gray hair gathers on our brows, thou are forever young." And: "God takes the
beautiful, the best; He sets His jewels on His breast that they may shine in Heaven."
Many of these headstones are inscribed with the place of birth of people who lived and died in
the wilderness of the frontier, far from their place of origin and from the more civilized east or
"the old country": "Born in Bedford Co., Penn., 1830," "Born in St. Martin, Canada, 1832,"
"Born in Pourrain, France, 1 835. Quite a few boasted Civil War involvement. Pride induced the
descendants of the first settlers to make note of that fact on the markers by engraving:
"Montana Pioneers, 1865."
Doris Townshend, 709 Townsend Ave., New l-laven CT, 06512, tias an interest in early
gravestones whicli began in her childhood in Williamsburg VA. Her 241 page, spiral-bound
volume Cemeteries and Graves of Madison County, Montana is available in the AGS archives
and the Montana State Historical Society.
AGS Su'84 D 7
BOOK REVIEW
London Cemeteries: An Illustrated Guide and Gazetteer by Hugh Meller. Humanities Press,
Atlantic Highlands, NJ 07716, 1982, 318 pp., illustrated, $15.95 (paper)
a review by Lynns Walker
In the 19th century, guides to cemeteries were common, but in the 20th century a
comprehensive guide to London's 1 00 burial grounds, "unattached to any one parish church or
chapel," has been left to Hugh Meller, the former architectural adviser to the Victorian Society
whose experience in handling conservation problems associated with decaying and vandalized
Victorian cemeteries undoubtedly stimulated this book and informs its knowledgeable text.
Although cast as a guide and gazetteer. Mailer's book is substantially more and contains
introductory chapters on history, planning, monuments and buildings, epitaphs, and flora and
fauna, followed by the gazetteer to individual cemeteries with a register and index of deceased
and an index of architects and sculptors, as well as a full bibliography. This is essentially a guide
to 19th-century London cemeteries, although the Non-Conformist Bunhill Fields of ca. 1665
and Barkingside (West) of 1954 are included as front and back markers, with the Jewish
cemeteries of London's East End providing 18th-century examples and the less rewarding
inter-war developments bringing up the aesthetic rear. Nevertheless, many of the most notable
names of English history, literature, and the arts of the period will not be found buried in
Meller's 100 cemeteries, as they are concentrated in Westminister Abbey and St. Paul's
Cathedral, which as "churchyards" are beyond the scope of the book.
The proliferation of cemeteries in the 19th century was in response to the overcrowded and
unsanitary state of traditional sites in churchyards and the inadequacy of the more recent
private burial grounds. With 40,000 deaths each year, fed by cholera epidemics and by the
growth of population, conditions rapidly deteriorated and cemetery reform became a focus of
writers, such as Charles Dickens, and periodicals, like the zealous Builder, both quoted by
Meller, who exposed the horrific and putrid state of London's churchyards, which contrasted
sharply to the capital's exalted position as "the center of civilization." Actually, London lagged
behind foreign cities in the United States (New Orleans), India, Turkey, and particularly France
(Pere-Lachaise, 1804, Paris) in the cemetery movement. Within Britain the Protestant
dissenters in Scotland and Ulster founded cemeteries which predate those in London. Even
within England itself, London was behind the provinces in cemetery reform. The Liverpool
Necropolis opened in 1825, seven years before Kensal Green, London's first and perhaps best
cemetery. This was developed by the General Cemetery Company (still in operation today) in
the best Victorian tradition of commercialism, a business venture heavily colored by reform,
artistic considerations, and the profit motive. It was set up under an Act of Parliament which
established the precedent for other private cemeteries in London during the important period of
expansion in the 1830s and 1840s. Kensal Green (1832), Norwood (1837), Highgate (1839),
Abney Park (1840), Brompton (1840), Nunhead (1840), and Tower Hamlets (1841) formed a
cordon sanitaire around London of almost 300 acres with "water-tight" graves, vaults, and
catacombs set in sites which were carefully landscaped. Representing £400,000 of investment,
these "magnificent seven," as Meller would have them, and the host of lesser public cemeteries,
such as City of London (1856) and Paddington (1855), were accompanied by the so-called
"black trade" of wreath makers, coffin merchants, ironmongers, mourning clothes suppliers,
and stonemasons who clustered about the cemetery gates.
What is most appreciated about Meller's perspective, however, is that it is fixedly architectural,
dealing with questions of style, materials, attribution, architects, both major and minor,
chronology, and, most expertly, conservation. The analysis of materials employed for Victorian
tombs and monuments is exemplary. In the 19th century, marble and granite, imported to
London by rail, gradually superseded the traditional favorites of Portland, Bath, and York
stones. The more perishable iron, sandstones, stained glass, and wood are extant but rare.
Meller has taken much care in the production of this book, ensuring that it is generously
illustrated with large photographs and that it is printed on good paper with wide margin^ (he
has even commissioned a series of decorative wood-cuts). Unfortunately, many of these
positive and commendable points work against its use in the field as a guide book, making it
cumbersome and rather heavy in spite of its paperback covers. There are also some omissions
in the gazetteer which one does not expect in good guide books. First, there is no indication of
appropriate metropolitan transport. Meller does not give the necessary Underground stations,
bus routes, or, more often for the outlying areas where cemeteries are located, the trickier
Suburban Railway Lines. He obviously drove around in a car, as exact street addresses are
given. Second, the opening hours, which are not as straightforward as suggested, should have
been included to avoid frustration and disappointment. Finally, the greatest shortcoming is the
absence of plans for individual cemeteries, showing the lay-out, location of major monuments,
chapels, lodges, and the graves of prominent figures; at least, this task should have been
undertaken for the seven key cemeteries, if the guide is to be used in a systematic way.
continued
This important and fascinating subject deserves another, more portable edition with details of
public transport, opening times, and plans along the lines of the highly useful map of London
cemeteries which was drawn for the present edition. It should also include a full chapter on
conservation to make Meller's expertise available in a coherent form to action groups, like the
Friends of Highgate Cemetery, whose role in the preservation and restoration of cemeteries is
crucial to their survival.
Lynne Walker is at the Newcastle Polytechnic, Ellison Place, Newcastle-upon-Tyne NE1 8ST,
England. This is an abbreviated version of a review published in the Journal of the Society of
Architectural Historians (Vol XUI #4) December, 1983. Copyright ® 1983 by the Society of
Architectural Historians, reprinted with their permission.
MORE BOOKS AND ARTICLES
Death in Early America by M.M. Coffin, published in New York by Thomas Nelson Inc. in 1976 at
$7.95, is now available through Publishers Central Bureau, Dept. 261 , 1 Champion Ave., Avenel
NJ, 07001 (catalogue item #422131) for $4.98. It contains chapters on Places of Burial, on
Gravestones, and on Epitaphs, with interesting illustrations. Its style is rather folksy. Certainly
worth the $4.98.
We have received an abstract for an article by Judith W. Hurtig published in The Art Bulletin,
Vol. LXV #4, December, 1983, titled "Death in Childbirth: Seventeenth Century English Tombs
and Their Place in Contemporary Thought". This demonstrates the significance of tomb
imagery in an analysis of social attitudes. On a large group of 17th century English tombs the
deceased women are represented with swaddled infants. Inscriptions usually indicate that
these women died in childbirth. The new concern with the perils of childbirth that these tombs
seem to express is paralleled in several contemporary paintings and is echoed in contemporary
poetry, prayer books, women's memoirs, and obstetrical treatises. The tombs, paintings, and
associated literature are related to the changing structure of the family and particularly to new
attitudes toward the woman as wife and mother.
"The American Cemetery as Picturesque Landscape" is the title of a very interesting article by
Margaretta J. Darnell in the Winter 1983 issue of Winterthur Portfolio (v. 18#4). Ms. Darnell
compares statuary in European eighteenth century picturesque gardens with monuments in
nineteenth century American cemeteries and finds striking visual similarities, although the
intents differ significantly. "Europe's eighteenth-century picturesque arose in part from the
desire to recreate classical scenes and metaphors for private pleasure and amusement, whereas
America's nineteenth century cemeteries emerged from both the need for larger and healthier
burying grounds and a nostalgia for the pastoral view of death culled from classical
authors. . .The rise of the American rural cemetery movement in the 1840s coincided with the
lapse of interest in the picturesque in England and with the rise of popular interest in the
classics in America." Her study is focussed on Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri,
founded in 1849. The layout and design of the 138 acres was the work of Almerin Hotchkiss
who had been brought to St. Louis by the Bellefontaine Cemetery Association from Brooklyn
where he had just completed Greenwood Cemetery. He remained as superintendent of
Bellefontaine until his death in 1896.
Sotheby's has announced that it will auction on June 26 a picture book produced in Prague of
the Old Jewish Cemetery near the Alteneuschul, the oldest synagogue in Europe, showing
closeups of some of the gravestones and bearing the seal of the burial society of Prague.
Produced possibly as a souvenir or to raise funds for the society, the book is expected to sell for
up to $400.00.
from the New York Times, Sunday April 15, 1984 submitted by Francis Duval of New York City.
Received for the archives. Patricia Irvin Cooper, President of the Old Atlnens Cemetery
Foundation, 145 Pendleton Drive, Athens GA 30606, has sent a copy of Map and Historical
Sl(etch of the Old Athens Cemetery, 2nd edition, 1984, which she co-wrote with Glen
McAninch. This old burial ground served the town of Athens from its beginning in 1801 into the
1880s. There are four stones signed by the Augusta stonecutters R.H. Goodman and William
Glendenning. Henry Fitzsimmons, whose work is represented in the cemetery by a unique
soapstone gravestone, was the pioneer of the Georgia marble industry. He opened the first
quarry and the first marble mill. Included with the inscriptions are notes on the material used
and stonecutters' signatures. Ms. Cooper writes: "We have had the happy experience of finding
taken stones returned to the cemetery — one taken before 1966 — and of discovering one lost
since before 1960, under thick turf. A corner became visible, heaved upward by a deep cold
spell this winter." She also sent a copy of an article titled "Some Strange North Georgia
Tombstones" from Pioneer America Society Transactions Vol. V (1 982) which will be discussed
in a future newsletter.
RHODE ISLAND STONES IN CANADA
In June of 1745, a force of New Englanders commanded by Sir William Pepperell captured
Louisbourg, Cape Breton, now part of Nova Scotia, from the French. The "Provincials" to whom
Louisbourg surrendered spent the winter of 1745/6 there, where more men (nearly 900) died
through sickness than were killed in the seige. Now a National Historic Park, Louisbourg has
been elaborately restored to its former grandeur. These two stones were found in the vicinity of
the ruins of the hospital. Dr. Vincent Luti of Westport MA has attributed the Richard Mumford
stone (he did not see the William Smith stone) to the work of William Stevens (1710-?) a lesser
known son of John Stevens I of Newport Rl.
Anyone with any information to add to this should contact Deborah Trask, Nova Scotia
Museum, 1747 Summer St., Halifax, N.S. Canadg B3H 3A6.
■/.J
* ft
!U,\U\
V ' r.i' 111 \\i i\
'\ \IU\S)
i ■
Richard IVIumford, 1745
William Smith, 1745
Both stones in the collection of the Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Park, courtesy of
Parks Canada.
AGSSu'84p10
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
"making a tombstone" from Embellishment of Landscape
by W.H, Pyne, London, 1845.
Readers Respond. James C. Jewell of Peru, IL sent us favourable comments on Leslie M.
Thompson's article "Sexism in the Cemetery" (AGS Newsletter W'83/4 pp. 2-3). He added yet
another illustration of Dr. Thompson's point: "In Lindenwood Cemetery in Fort Wayne IN is the
grave of Chester T. Lane (1851-1917), first principal of Fort Wayne High School, and of his wife,
Carrie Blomfield. His epitaph is from Tennyson's Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington: 'O
Iron nerve to true/Occasion true,/0 Tower of strength/Now Fallen at length/Which stood
foursquare/To all the winds that blew.' His wife's epitaph reads: 'A perfect wife and mother/An
example of sweet/and gracious motherhood.' Her dates are listed: '1853-1876-1906', for the
year of her marriage is listed as a crucial event in her life! Let him be a tower of strength,
foursquare — her major accomplishment was in marrying him!"
Francis Duval of New York City wrote: "The sexism article is frankly an exercise in futility. That
sort of thing existed in all matters of everyday life in all cultures. Why then would it not exist up
to the grave?"
It is interesting that Jim Jewell, Francis Duval and Leslie M. Thompson are all male. Any readers,
especially women, with further observations or insights into sexism in the cemetery are invited
to share them.
WHERE'S THE RUB? We have a letter from Jeffrey Pribut, a transplanted New Englander living
in southern California. For 14 years Mr. Pribut has been making rubbings in New England and,
during the war, in Charleston, South Carolina, and he wants to know if we have any suggestions
for worthwhile rubbing sites in California "so I don't have to wait for my yearly trips back east to
indulge in this sometime considered odd and eccentric hobby." He also asks for locations of
especially good rubbing sites in any of the eastern seaboard states from Massachusetts to
Georgia as he is planning a summer rubbing expedition during which he expects "to rub my
little fingers to the bone." He will be very grateful to any rubbing enthusiast who will take the
trouble to send him a post card naming especially good rubbing locations and giving him your
telephone number so that he can call for additional information. Address Box 283, Norco,
California 91 760.
Inscription finds home in museum. The mid-eighteenth-century sandstone gravemarker for
clockmaker Macock Ward in Wallingford, Connecticut, was unusual, probably unique: set into
the stone was a copper plaque incised with a clockface design and an inscription for the
deceased. The cleverly crafted plaque was removed, probably in the nineteenth century, and it
has since been in private collections. It was recently purchased by the Connecticut Historical
Society.
AGSSu'84p11
The Trinity Gravestone Project, a joint edu-
cational venture of the Parish of Trinity
Church and its namesake, The Trinity School,
is being offered as a pilot program to students
of the Trinity School as part of their senior
year spring semester. After lectures and
classes on the American character using
primary source material, the students will
spend 100 hours each on one of several
related gravestone projects.
The Trinity School students will study grave-
stones as indicators of social, religious,
political and economic attitudes. They will
also get firsthand experience in using New
York City as a learning resource and in using
source materials in the city's historical
repositories. In addition seniors will have the
opportunity to learn the technology and
science behind preserving gravestones: how
organic chemistry, botany and soil analysis
play an important role. They will also study the
archaeology and architecture of the city and
in some cases photograph or sketch individual
stones dating back 300 years or more.
Miriam Silverman, Director of the Trinity
Gravestone Project (the project was described
in the AGS Newsletter, F'83 p. 19) will be
lecturing to the students on gravestone
images, changing ideas and styles of the
stones, and feelings toward dpath reflected on
the stones. Professor Norman Weiss, who is
developing gravestone conservation methodo-
logy, will take students to visit his laboratory
at Columbia University.
^'
Miriam Silverman, Director of the Trinity Gravestone
Project and AGS Director of Education, In action In the
Trinity Churchyard.
from an article by Rose-Marie Rolan In A/ew York City's
Trinity Parish Newsletter, Trinity News, V. 31, #2, April
1984.
More on ttie Historic Burial Grounds Project, Boston.
Last summer, the Bostonian Society initiated the Historic Burial Grounds project in Boston,
with co-sponsors Yankee Publishing Co. and the National Trust for Historic Preservation, to
inventory several of Boston's historic cemeteries stone-by-stone, to assess the conditions at
each cemetery, and to make maintenance and restoration recommendations. A Yankee intern
completely inventoried and indexed King's Chapel Burial Ground, inventoried about 500 stones
in Granary Burial Ground, and produced a report detailing the problems observed during the
inventory process and possible solutions. Last year's project also gained widespread exposure
through newspaper and other media coverage (including the AGS Newsletter, F'83 pp. 20-21),
and, as a result of the interest shown, the inventory will continue this summer. Through the
generosity of local historical societies, the Phipps Street ground in Charlestown and the South
Burying Ground in the South End neighborhood of Boston will be included in the project. The
remaining 1 200+ stones at Granary will also (hopefully) be completed, as well as the removal of
selected damaged stones from all the grounds for safe storage at the Bostonian Society.
The Yankee Intern Program has again provided an intern, Carol Szymanski, for this summer's
project. Last year's intern, Rosanne Atwood-Humes, has been retained as the Project
Supervisor. Volunteers from the AGS membership in the Boston area are encouraged to
contact Rosanne, Historic Burial Grounds Project, The Bostonian Society, Old State House,
206 Washington St., Boston MA 02109, if interested in participating in the inventory process.
Interested queries (and contributions) are always welcome.
AGSSu'84p12
WHAT GOD COULD DO. There is a wonderful story of the 1930s about Richard Rodgers (or
similar Broadway notable). He bought a farm in Pennsylvania, had it fixed up extravagantly, and
invited the Algonquin group for a housewarming. The library was the climax of his tour. Its new
wing matched the fine stonework of the Dutch house. It had a window wall displaying the
rolling green fields, and, in exactly the right spot stood the perfection of a mature American
elm. When the host confessed that he had paid a fortune to have the tree moved to that spot,
Alexander Woolcott remarked that "It just shows you what God could do, if he had money."
The Victorian garden cemeteries are "naturalistic", deliberate constructions of what God might
have done, if he had had money. Nature was made more natural, romantically natural,
dramatically natural, "picturesque", through man's construction, design, artifice. Oak Hill
Cemetery, Washington D.C., has blind (buried) walls to support its miles of terraces. It is
honeycombed with storm sewers, to avoid surface drainage. Caves and grottoes were
constructed where God had neglected to put them.
Submitted by George Kackley, Superintendent, Oak Hill Cemetery, Washington DC and
member of the AGS Board.
Neglected cemetery. For years, people who knew it was there complained that the 124-year-old
Little Ferry Free Colored Cemetery had gone to seed. Gravestones had fallen or were pushed
over. It had become a dismal last resting place for people like Nohan Read, who died at 17 in
1902. No one knows if Read's stone is anywhere near his grave.
School children attempted to clean the place, but the cemetery — its formal name is the
Gethsemane Cemetery — would be littered with broken beer bottles, fruit peels, and other
garbage almost as soon as it was cleaned.
The NAACP and other black organizations expressed concern about the cemetery, which is
near Route 46 and Liberty Street. Then, last summer, the free-holders moved to acquire it, right
its fallen stones, and preserve it.
Jonathan Harris, a partner of the Little Ferry borough attorney, is seeking an order to allow the
borough to acquire title to the property.
If there are no objections — Harris expects none — Little Ferry could take title within about six
weeks, and then sell the cemetery to the county for $1 plus legal expenses. Then the county
would begin the cleanup, and though Nohan Read's grave may never be found at the Free
Colored Cemetery, his bones would rest in a more dignified setting.
From the Bergen County NJ Record, April 5, 1984, submitted by Ruth Cowell, Westwood NJ.
Timothy Ryan
died May 12th 1814
in the 66th year of his age
A thousand ways cut short our days
None are exempt from death
A honey bee by stinging me
Did stop my mortal breath
This grave contains the last remains
Of my frail house of clay
My soul is gone not to return
To one eternal day
Friends one and all both grate and small
Behold where I do lie
Whilst you are here for death prepare
Remember you must die
This epitaph from the stone of Timothy Ryan (died in 1814) is found in a small cemetery in
Shortsville NY, southeast of Manchester. Contributed by Carol Perkins of Toledo, Ohio, who
has a large collection of epitaphs.
AGSSu'84p13
d3iiais/waN
6091-0 sseyg 'jaisaojOM
'A)a!30s ueuenbi^uv ueouaiuvo/o
'sajpn^S auo)saAeJO iO| uoj^epossv
BACK ISSUES OF THE AGS NEWSLETTER. Copies of back issues are available at $1 per issue,
postpaid. If you know which back issue or issues you want, specify the volume and nunnber or
the season and year (there will be an opportunity to look through all back issues and to place
orders at the conference in Hartford). If you do not have a specific issue or issues in mind,
please order by packet, as follows:
Packet #1 — Spring '82 through Winter '83/'84: 1 0 issues, 1 52 pages $10
Packet #2 — Fall '80 through Winter '81 /'82: 6 issues, 100 pages $ 6
Packet #3 — Fall '79 through Summer '80: 4 issues, 62 pages $ 4
The Newsletter began publication in the spring of 1977, but its first five issues were
experimental, irregular, and did not follow a standard format. Available, but recommended for
the collector only:
Packet #4 — Spring '77 through Spring '79: Five issues, 53 pages $ 4
Address your order, enclosing check made out to the Association for Gravestone Studies, to:
AGS Publications, c/o American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, MA 01 609
A Correction. In the Winter '83/4 issue of the Newsletter, we spelled the name of William Hosley
incorrectly, in an item on "his" September 1985 exhibition at the Wadsworth Atheneum in
Hartford GT. Mr. Hosley tells us that the show, "The Great River: Artifacts and Culture of the
Connecticut Valley", will do more to co-ordinate the art on old gravemarkers with that on other
contemporary artifacts, than any period show has done before.
The AGS NEWSLETTER is published quarterly as a service to members of The Association for Gravestone Studies.
The membership year begins on the date dues are received and ends one year from that date. A one-year
membership entitles the member to four issues of the NEWSLETTER and to participation in the AGS conference in
the year membership is current. Send membership fees (Regular, $15; Sustaining, $25) to AGS Membership
Executive Secretary Rosalee Oakley, 46 Plymouth Rd., Needham, MA 02192. Order MARKERS, the Journal of the
Association for Gravestone Studies (Vol. 1, $15; Vol. 2, $12) from Betty Slater, 373 Bassettes Bridge Rd., Mansfield
Center CT 06250. Address contributions to MARKERS, Vol. 3, to David Watters, editor, Dept. of English, University
of New Hampshire, Durham N H 03824. Address NEWSLETTER contributions to Deborah Trask, editor. The Nova
Scotia Museum, 1747 Summer St. Halfiax, Nova Scotia, B3H 3A6, Canada. Address other correspondence and
orders to AGS Corresponding Secretary Betsy Widirstky, Box 523, 140 Founders' Path, Southold NY 11971; or AGS
Executive Director Susan Springer, 456 Hartford St., Westvi/ood, MA 02090. Mail addressed to AGS c/o The
American Antiquarian Society, Worcester MA 01609 will be forwarded to the appropriate AGS office.
NEWSLETTER
OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES
DEBORAH TRASK, ED.
VOLUME 8 NUMBER 4 FALL 1984
ISSN:0146-5783
CONTENTS
1 984 CONFERENCE TOUR 1
CARVERS REPRESENTED ON THE AGS BUS TOUR 2
prepared by Susan H. Kelly and Anne C. Willianns
1 984 CONFERENCE SPEAKERS, and their subjects 7
THE HARRIETTE MERRIFIELD FORBES AWARD 10
1984/5 AGS BOARD OF DIRECTORS 11
E.D. HARRIS COLLECTION OF GRAVESTONE INSCRIPTIONS 12
BOOKS AND ARTICLES 13
STONECUTTERS AND THEIR WORKS, fourteenth installment
Gardiner Moore of Napanee Ontario, Canada 16
by Lynn Russell and Patricia Stone
EXHIBITIONS . . . . ; 19
MEMBER NEWS 20
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 22
1984 CONFERENCE TOUR
\
The 1984 AGS Conference Bus Tour was led by Susan H. Kelly and Anne C. Williams of Darien
CT, Friday, June 22nd. The first stop was Glastonbury, where we were met by Lisa Broberg,
Director of the Glastonbury Historical Society. Kevin Sweeney of the Webb-Deane-Stevens
Museum spoke to us in the Wethersfield graveyard. After lunch, it was on to Suffield, and from
there to Windsor. Robert Silliman, Director of the Windsor Historical Society, showed examples
of sandstones coated with an epoxy sealant. This procedure was described and criticized in the
AGS Newsletter, V5 #2 & 3, 1981. The bus tour finished with a wine & cheese reception at the
Connecticut Historical Society.
AGS F'84 p 1
CARVERS REPRESENTED ON THE AGS BUS TOUR
GLASTONBURY, WETHERSFIELD, SUFFIELD AND WINDSOR,
CONNECTICUT
prepared by Susan H. Kelly and Anne C. Williams
BARTLETT, GERSHOM: Bolton, CT, 1723-1798
Nicknamed the 'hook and eye man' by Caulfield, Bartlett
stones occur on both sides of the Connecticut River all the
way from Bolton, CT to Pompanoosuc, VT where he is
buried. They are typically cut on schist with the hook and
eye design.
Glastonbury example: Elizabeth Wells, 1753
BAT CARVER: Simsbury, CT, @1733 - 1 757
So named because of the bat-like wings used in
conjunction with a skull. No known identity. Truly a folk
cutter, he carved only about 100 stones in a fifty-mile
radius from Simsbury. The stones are in an incredibly
poor state, having been carved on a pourous sandstone
or shale. Many totally illegible.
Suffield example: Children of Timothy & Es' Burbank,
1741
BLISS, AARON: Wilbraham, MA, 1 739 - 1 776
A winged effigy looking very much like that of other cutters
of the same period, Aaron Bliss stones are often cut on a
dark brown grainy sandstone. They appear mostly in the
Springfield/Wilbraham area of Mass., but are represented
occasionally in the Hartford area.
BUCKLAND, PETER: E. Hartford, CT, 1738-1816
Working in the same time period and area as Bartlett,
Peter Buckland's earliest style (A) on sandstone soon
shifted to a design similar to Bartlett's (B) on schist, and
finally to a stylized winged effigy (C), typical of the 70's,
80's and 90's. In this late period several area carvers
worked on schist also using this same pointed chin,
capped head and wings, or 'ramshorn headress'.
Glastonbury example: Sybil Eells, 1773
/S&v
/dSi\
continued
AGS F'84 p 2
COLLINS, ZERUBBABEL: Lebanon, CT & Shaflsbury,
VT, 1733-1797
Truly an eastern Connecticut carver, Collins stones are
scarce in the Hartford area, being represented by only one
stone in Glastonbury.
Glastonbury example: Eleazer Wright, 1790
DRAKE, EBENEZER: Windsor, CT, @1 760 - 1 780
dL^
f*m
An extrennely prolific cutter in the Windsor/Bloomfield
area, Drake worked on a hard reddish sandstone from a
local quarry. Although his design changed radically from
the compass-rounded face to an elaborate, deeply-
incised cherub, his effigy ALWAYS has a dimple in the
chin. If in doubt, check the chin.
Windsor example: Kezia Elsworth, 1 762
ELY, JOHN: Springfield, MA, b. 1 735 ■
Although a Springfield, Mass. area carver, occasionally
his stones are found south into CT, but north of Hartford.
The effigy is a simple oval face with lined wings and a
small single or double head cap. The stones have little
other ornamentation and are done on a hard red
sandstone.
Suffield example: Mrs. E. Hitchcock, 1795
GLASTONBURY LADY: Glastonbury, CT, @1 720 - 1 740
Another true folk artist, this man is dubbed the Glaston-
bury Lady because his deeply-incised face has a female
appearance. His stones are always of a heavy thick
sandstone, graceful in shape with small scrolled shoul-
ders. Sometimes no image appears but the shape is a
dead giveaway. The lettering is a conglomeration of
mostly lower case with a few misplaced upper case.
Notice the ampersand and the letter a.
Glastonbury example: Mary Hubbard, 1721
GRISWOLD, GEORGE: Windsor, CT, 1633 - 1704
HASKINS, AARON: Bolton, CT
One of the earliest stone cutters in CT, he used a simple,
unadorned stone with only a raised border outlining the
rectangular-shaped shoulders and rounded tympanum.
They are on a hard, reddish sandstone from the Windsor
quarry. The lettering is simple, deep and a mixture of
upper and lower case. He attempted poetry. In spite of
their age, most of these stones are in good shape.
Windsor example: Joseph Drake, 1 657
Aaron Haskins worked not only on the same schist as
Josiah Manning, but usurped his image, lettering and
stone shape. He even usurped his territory, although there
is usually a predominance of either one or the other in any
given cemetery. Haskins' mouth line is heavier and the
entire carving style is a bit more gross than his master's.
Glastonbury example: Hannah Hale, 1786
continued
AGSF'84p3
HOLLAND, WILLIAM: Middletown,
MA, @1 750 -1760
CT & Longmeadow,
Working on a rough, brown sandstone from Middletown,
Holland's typical effigy had traces of hair on the forehead,
crowns, foliate borders and distinctive 'eyeballs'.
Wethersfield example: Elizabeth Francis, 1767
JOHNSON, JOSEPH: Middletown, CT, @1 698 - 1 770
Using a smooth, hard, reddish sandstone, Joseph
Johnson characterized his stones with elaborate foliate
borders of vines, fruits, flowers and leaves, neatly carved
lettering and an ovoid face with a distinct chin. He used an
abstract design for children and often on footstones.
Glastonbury example: Eunice Loveland, 1751
JOHNSON, THOMAS I: Middletown, CT, 1 690 - 1 761
One of Connecticut's earliest cutters, he used two designs
on a rough sandstone — one with only careful lettering
and pin wheels in the finials, the other with a fierce,
winged, toothed skull crowned with a wavy-lined cap.
Glastonbury example: Lieutenant Joseph Smith, 1725
JOHNSON, THOMAS II: Cromwell, CT, 1718-1774
David fKe
^"Son of Noab^
Son of Thomas I, they worked together after 1 740 and it is
hard to tell the work of one from the other, if indeed
separateness did exist. The face, foliate border and crown
resemble that of Joseph Johnson, but this sandstone was
a rough, pourous, dark brown material. He used a stylized
fleur-de-lis abstract also which sometimes resembled a
'nebbish'.
Glastonbury example: Lieut. Josiah Hollister, 1749
JOHNSON, THOMAS III: Chatham, CT, 1 750 - 1 789
Using the same quarry and design as his father, the effigy
now takes on an upswept feathered wing, a three-
dimensional facial feature and an intricate "superstruc-
ture" over the head. After Thomas's death, the image
continues and becomes more elaborate, being then
associated with the 'Johnson Shop'.
Glastonbury example: Thomas Kimberly, 1777
continued
AdQ, F'R4 n 4
LATHROP, THATCHER: Wapping, CT, 1734 - 1806
A downturned, deeply-incised mouth area, open upswept
wings, heart 'necktie' and Manning-like hair characterize
this cutter. The word who' is often italicized in the epitaph.
LONGMEADOW SHOP: Longmeadow, MA
In the 1760's through the 1790's, a group of profile and
'Mayan king' stones appear in the Longmeadow, MA area
south to Hartford. Cut on a hard brown sandstone, and
occasionally on a hard red sandstone, they have
weathered well and most are in excellent condition.
Suffield example: Eliakim Kindall, 1790
MANNING, JOSIAH: Windham, CT, 1 725 - 1 806
Prolific eastern Connecticut artist, Josiah occasionally
placed work as far west as Glastonbury and Hartford. Two
examples of his work on schist are in Glastonbury.
Glastonbury example: AsaTallcott, 1785
MILLER, DAVID:
Working on the same blackish-brown, rough sandstone
from Middletown as Holland, Miller copied the effigy and
style of his master. The stones tend to be less foliate and
bear no traces of hair.
Wethersfield example: Josiah Wells, 1783
RITTER, THOMAS: East Hartford, CT, @1 720 - 1 770
With a headress rising upwards, Ritter's work is closely
allied to Miller and Holland, indeed, styles overlap so, the
general term "Middletown School" applies to all who cut
this type of design in this time period.
Wethersfield example: Joseph Wells, 1788
continued
AGS F'84 D 5
STANCLIFT, JAMES I: East Middletown, CT, 1 634 - 1 71 2
The second of Connecticut's earliest stone cutters, James
Stanciift's stones are always characterized by canopied
A's. Often no image appears, no pinwheels on the finials,
no border. There is often elision of letters. If an image
appears, it is a simple skull or a single line face.
Glastonbury example: Richard Smith, 1703
STANCLIFT, JAMES II: Middletown, CT, 1692 - 1772
Jofepk
Jonathan 1/ M**^
Brother to William and son number 2 to James I, this
Stanciift's stones are similar to William's; in fact they
worked together for a time. James's stones have a flat
rosette and use capitals primarily at the beginning of
words only. The stones lack the naive and folksy
character of William's, being a bit more regular and boring
with no image, poetry or errata.
Glastonbury example: Joseph House, 1 756
STANCLIFT, JAMES
town, CT, 1712-1785
III: Middletown, Simsbury, New-
Herelies
1 _ n 1 p.
^Jemima DauiH"
L^
of Nf David ariHMi:
Son of William, he was often called 'Junior'. Most of his
stones in the Hartford/Glastonbury area date before
1756, for he emigrated to Simsbury and then to Newtown
where he continued to carve until his death in 1785. In the
Glastonbury area, most of James Ill's stones are plain,
unadorned works, with a fleur-de-lis, abstract leaf and
simple, flat pinwheel.
Glastonbury example: Jemima Hollister, 1745
STANCLIFT, WILLIAM: Middletown, CT, 1687-1761
eMtr^'wf^.§(5i>v
Son of James I, they worked together as father/son
workshop until his father's death. William's stones differed
from his father's by common elision, often of three letters,
use of wavy lines as space fillers, three-dimensional
rosette finials, mispellings, poetic attempts and extremely
simply lined skull, faces and symbols.
Glastonbury example: Marce Halle, 1719
BODy-OF.-K^ -
ABTGAH'WIFF-:OTte=
AGS F'84 p 6
1 984 CONFERENCE SPEAKERS
and their subjects
Peter Benes, 226 Lexington Road, Concord, MA 01 742
Ralph Tucker, 928 Main Street, West Newbury, MA 01985
"Out of Sight Out of Mind: Gravestones in Newbury, Massachusetts, 1680-1800"
This presentation drew on research undertaken in the course of planning an exhibition of
paintings and decorative arts celebrating the 350th anniversary of the founding of
Newbury in 1635. Benes and Tucker contrasted the architecture, furniture, needlework,
table artifacts and dress (through portraiture) patronized or produced by Newbury,
Newburyport and West Newbury residents during the period 1680 to 1800, with the
gravestones found in the burying grounds of these communities during the same period.
Four social and occupational groupings were considered separately:
1 ) The wealthy Newburyport merchant elite (Atkins, Jackson, Tracy and Coombs families)
2) The Newbury educated elite (ministers, lawyers, doctors and teachers)
3) The Newburyport maritime and shipbuilding families
4) The farmers, tradespeople and craftpeople of the rural Old-Town, Upper Green and
Newtown districts of Newbury and West Newbury
Slides of approximately 50 Newbury gravestones by local stonecutters as well as shops in
Boston, Charlestown, and Salem were shown in juxtaposition with a number of domestic
objects, houses and portraits belonging to the families which purchased these stones. The
presentation confirms what had long been known by cultural historians: that fashionable or
conventional modes and styles in domestic decorative arts (Queen Ann, Chippendale,
Georgian, Federal) did not extend into seventeenth and eighteenth century gravestone
art.
Warren F. Broderick, 695 4th Ave., Lansingburgh, NY 12182
"Rensselaer County Graveyards: Ttie First 100 Years"
A description of the location and history of this New York State county; earliest
cemeteries, sources of tombstones, and early ethnic stones. In looking at early Catholic
gravestones, Broderick noted the remarkable folk art stones of Michael Mullany, a
Berkshire County carver whose work is found in Rensselaer County.
Bruce Smith Cheeseman, Reference Archivist, Cemetery Survey Program, North Carolina Dept.
of Cultural Resources, Archives & Records Section, 1 09 E. Jones St., Raleigh, NC 2761 1
"Nortti Carolina's Cemetery Survey Program"
Of about 38,000 graveyards in North Carolina, approximately one-third are "abandoned".
In 1978 the North Carolina General Assembly established the Committee for the Study of
Abandoned Cemeteries in order to determine the status and condition of such graveyards
throughout the state, and to make a thorough examination of the statutes and ordinances
relative to them. The committee originally envisioned a detailed study of cemeteries in
seven counties, but public support and concern prompted it to include any county that
expressed an interest in the project and was able to form a local survey committee. Under
the leadership of Michelle Francis, the first state coordinator of the program, cemetery
surveys had been organized in 57 of North Carolina's 100 counties by the time of the
committee's 1981 report. This report to the General Assembly led to legislation which
strengthened the laws protecting graveyards and revised the penalties for the desecration
of cemeteries and graves (now a felony — $1 ,000.00 fine or 90 days in prison). Moreover,
subsequent legislation resulted in the continuation of the project in an expanded format to
include all graveyards. Cemetery surveys now are being conducted in over sixty counties,
with seven having been completed to date.
Robert W. Drinkwater, 30 Fort Hill Terrace, Northampton, MA 01060
"Sikes-style stones by Ebenezer Stebbins" (informal slide presentation)
In Gravestones of Early New England, Harriette Forbes noted Wilbraham, Mas-
sachusetts as one of several centers of a stonecarving style she associated with the Sikes
family. Only recently have other proponents of this style begun to emerge from anonymity.
Among them was Ebenezer Stebbins, fourth son of stonecutter Ezra Stebbins. Born in
Longmeadow, Massachusetts in 1773, Ebenezer (or Ebber) moved to Wilbraham in the
mid-to-late 1790s. Land records and items in the inventory of his estate firmly establish
that he was a stonecutter. The probate papers of Rachel Work of Wilbraham provide the
most direct means of identifying his work. It seems quite probable that he produced all of
the Sikes-style effigy stones in Wilbraham and comparable sandstone markers in
neighbouring towns. Throughout the first quarter of the nineteenth century, he carved
Sikes-style effigies along with urns, willows and other motifs. He died in Wilbraham in
1826.
AGSF'84d7
J. Joseph Edgette, Senior Lecturer in Humanities, Widener University, Chester PA; 509 Academy
Ave., GlenoJden, PA 1 9036
"Family Graveyards: A Dead Tradition"
The earliest private, family burial grounds in Delaware County, Pennsylvania were
established in 1 700. Since that time only nineteen such burial sites have been in existance
with just one currently in use. This paper surveyed the characteristics of the family
graveyard and ennumerated the possible causes which have led to their slow but steady
extinction over the last two hundred and eighty-four years.
Alfred Fredette, retired Manchester, CT, schoolteacher, R.F.D. #1, Baltic, CT 06330
"The Kimball Family in New York"
After many adventures, Fred located the gravestone of Richard Kimball, an unimpressive
marble from 1810, signed Chester Kimball, in rural New York state.
Peter Grant, 7 Columbia St., Hartford, CT 061 06
Sanford Parisky, Parisky Associates/Consultants, 2 Capitol Ave., Hartford, CT 06106
"Hartford's Ancient Burying Ground: A Restoration and Improvement Model"
Peter Grant of the Society of the Descendants of the Founders of Hartford and Sanford
Parisky, an architect and urban planner retained by the Society, described their "master
plan" for the restoration of Hartford's Ancient Burying Ground.
Roberta Halporn, 391 Atlantic Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11217
"Gravestone Rubbers and Conservators: Conflict or Cooperation?"
Roberta persuasively contrasted the dangers to gravestones and monuments from natural
and man-made causes with gravestone rubbing as a contributor to these hazards. "How
does acid rain compare with a couple of crayon marks? What about the few grains of
marble rubbed off compared with outright theft?" She described the benefits of a
carefully-constructed educational program, to include monitored rubbing sessions, and
called for standards by which to evaluate the rubber's credentials.
Vincent Luti, P.O. Box 41 2, Westport, MA 12790
"Stonecutters of the Narragansett Basin: George Allen, His Early Works"
Both Forbes and Ludwig came to conclusions concerning certain stones in the Providence
(Rhode Island) area that now can be seen to be untrue. Both apparently believed that
George Allen had only a fully mature, highly refined style. Works they attributed to the
Tingley family or other lesser local craftsmen are in fact all the work of George Allen in his
early period.
Barbara Rotundo, Associate Professor of English, State University of New York at Albany; 217
Seward Place, Scenectady, NY 12305
"Shared Designs in Gravestones and Architecture"
A presentation on the interplay of design between gravestones and domestic, commercial,
and institutional buildings, this paper compared designs and symbols used by builders,
architects and stonecarvers, especially in the 1 8th and 1 9th centuries.
Lynn Russell, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto; 17 Nesbitt Dr.,
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4W 2G2
Patricia Stone, Librarian, Canadiana Department, North York Public Library, Toronto; 136
Stratford Crescent, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4N 1C8
"Gravestone Carvers of Early Ontario"
The authors photographic survey of pre-confederation gravestones (before 1867) in
southern Ontario, Canada, is nearing completion. They now plan to assemble a catalogue
of decorative symbols and their variations, and a checklist of Ontario carvers. This
catalogue will then provide them with an organized basis from which to work on further
topics, especially the study of the work and lives of identifiable carvers who have made
important contributions to the craft of gravestone design and decoration. Frorn these
various studies they anticipate that a picture of this craftsman in his society will emerge.
Lynette Strangstad, Professional Stone Preservationist, 33 Charlotte St., Apt. E, Charleston,
SC 29403
"Circular Congregational Churchyard: A Case Study in Graveyard Conservation"
Lynette Strangstad has conducted many stone conservation projects on architecture
around the United States, and has written articles on marble cleaning, limestone patching,
and brownstone repair for preservation journals. She is currently leading a team of
professional stone preservationists in a project to restore the circular Congregational
Churchyard, the oldest burial ground in Charleston, South Carolina. This yard contains a
great number of important early gravestones, including rare signed New England carvings
and exceptional portraits. Her talk focused on the various techniques involved in the
conservation effort, the do's and don'ts of stone treatments, and the happenings that
occur in the course of such a project.
Jonathan Twiss, 230 Farmington Ave:, A-1 , Hartford, CT 061 05
"Silas 8rainerd: Bricklayer, Stonecutter and Gravestone Carver"
Silas Brainerd of East Haddam, Connecticut started his 30-odd year career in 1788 as a
bricklayer and stonecutter, and most importantly, gravestone carver, whose artistic genius
produced more than 20 headstones of noteworthy quality and beauty. The most notable of
his works are the "portrait" stones from 1792-99. Examples carved after 1800 cannot be
compared with those of the earlier years. Besides gravestone carving, he laid foundations
and built chimneys of many fine Federal houses in East Haddam; the most noteworthy of
them are the Georgian mansion of General Epaphroditus Champion in 1792-4; the
George Lord house in 1802-4; the Samuel Crowell house in 1803-4; and the William
Gilbert house in 1 802-3. He died in 1 854 at the great age of 87.
Speakers, AGS-CHS Public Forum on Gravestone Conservation
Saturday, June 23, 1984, Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford
Introductions; John W. Shannahan, Director of the Connecticut Historical Commission
Part I Local and Connecticut Gravestones and their Makers
"Local and Connecticut Gravestones and their Makers"
Kevin M. Sweeney, Administrator, The Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum, Wethers-
field, CT. An authority on Connecticut River Valley gravestones, Kevin spoke at
length on the historial background of Connecticut burying grounds.
James A. Slater, Professor of Biology & Head of Systematic & Evolutionary Biology
Section, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT. The recipient of the Harriette M.
Forbes Award for Outstanding Contributions to Gravestone Studies in 1982, Dr.
Slater is currently working on a book about Eastern Connecticut graveyards.
"How to Look at a Gravestone"
Laurel K. Gabel, RN, Fairport, NY. AGS Vice-President in charge of research. Laurel
originated and maintains the AGS Research files.
Part II Documenting Methods, Data Collection & Organization
Photography Demonstration
Daniel Farber, Retired businessman, Worcester, MA. Recipient of the Harriette M.
Forbes Award in 1977, Dan's gravestone photographs are in the collections of the
American Antiquarian Society, Yale University, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and
in the AGS Archives.
Rubbing Demonstration
Anne C. Williams & Susan H. Kelly, Darien, CT. In the field of gravestone rubbing
they have specialized in reconstructing nearly-lost relief images on early New
England gravestones. Their article on signed stones was published in Markers II.
"Conservation of Gravestone Information: A National Cultural Data Base"
Gaynell Stone Levine, Anthropologist, State University of New York at Stony Brook.
Gay has developed a Universal Recording Form for computer analysis through
National Science Foundation funding, to be used for systematically recording grave
markers.
Part III Graveyard Preservation arid Gravestone Conservation
"R.I. P.: Restoration in Progress"
Lynette Strangstad, Professional Stone Preservationist.
"Comparing Methods of Gravestone Repair"
Lance R. Mayer, Professional Painting Conservator, Lyman Allyn Museum, New
■^ London, CT. Former AGS Vice-President in charge of conservation, and the author of
the AGS handbook on care of old cemeteries and gravestones, Lance has been
monitoring the sandstone deterioration problem in Connecticut for years.
"The Problems of Acid Rain"
Richard Newman, Conservation Scientist/Assistant Conservator of Objects and
Sculpture, Center for Conservation and Technical Studies, Fogg Art Museum,
Harvard University. He has been studying effects of acid rain on stonework, among
other things.
. "Community Organizing for preservation of Burying Grounds"
Peter Grant, Society of the Descendants of the Founders of Hartford.
Part IV The Effort for New, Better Legislation
"Gravestone Theft and the Effort for New Legislation in Connecticut"
Alfred Fredette, Retired Manchester CT school teacher. Fred has been policing
historic Connecticut graveyards for theft, tracking down stolen gravestones and
arranging for their return, and successfully lobbying for new state-level legislation.
Many other people, including legislators such as representative Nina Parker, and AGS members
contributed to, and were supportive of this arduous, but ultimately successful lobby.
vj
Because of time constraints, Theodore Chase, current AGS President, was unable to
speak on "The AGS-endoreed Model Legislation" for better protection of historic
graveyards and gravestones, which he authored.
THE HARRIETTE MERRIFIELD FORBES AWARD TO ANN PARKER
AND AVON NEAL
presentation address by AGS president Ted Ciiase, June 23, 1984
This association has given its Harriette Merrifield Forbes Award to a series of distinguished
people in the field of Gravestone Studies: Daniel Farber, Ernest Caulfield, Peter Benes, Jim
Slater, Allan Ludwig, and Hilda Fife. Now the association does honor to itself, as it does to Ann
Parker and Avon Neal in making them recipients of the award. "
Their names have been inextricably linked for more than 20 years in the minds of persons
interested in folk art — all over this country and in Central America as well. Ann Parker, with her
beautiful photographs, Avon Neal with his careful research and lucid writing, and both of them
with their exquisite and subtle rubbings, have done more than perhaps any other two people to
bring early american gravestone art to the attention of the wide audience it now enjoys.
From 1958 to the present, Ann's work has been exhibited in more than a dozen one-person
shows: Articles written by Avon and illustrated by Ann have appeared in such distinguished
magazines as American Heritage, Smithsonian and Art in America. They have written books
about scarecrows and molas, and only last year enjoyed the enviable distinction of having two
books published at the same time: One a study of itinerant photographic portraiture in Guatemala
"Los Ambulantes") and the other that magnificent volume familiar to us all — "Early American
Stone Sculpture Found in the Burying Grounds of New England." The first exhibit of their
rubbings was at the Brooklyn Museum in 1963 and now their rubbings may be found ir\ the
permanent collections of the most important museums in America: The Abbey Aldrich Rockefeller
Folkart Collection in Williamsburg, the Anon Carter Museum in Fort Worth, the Boston Museum of
Fine Arts, and the Metropolitan Museum and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, to name but
a few.
Brought together by their common interest, Ann and Avon became a husband-and-wife team.
They moved to North Brookfield in 1965 because it is near so many 18th century graveyards, and
perhaps also because they are so fond of the work of William Young, whom Mrs. Forbes called
"The Thistle Carver of Tatnuck." They think of graveyards as "Outdoor Museums" and regard the
stones which are the subject of so much of their work as "National Treasures."
And now for the presentation of the award, we have a very special surprise for all of you —
someone who can tell us something of the person in whose honor this award is named. She has
come down from Worcester with her daughters in order to be with us. She is Mrs. Linwood Erskine
— Katharine Erskine. She is Harriette Forbes' daughter!
1984/5 AGS BOARD OF DIRECTORS
PRESIDENT:TheodoreChase, 74FarmSt.,Dover, MA 02030 H; 617/785-0299
VICE-PRES.: Laurel Gabel, 205 Fishers Road, Pittsford, NY 14534H; 716/248-3453
SEC: Betsy Widirstky, Box 523, 140 Founder's Path, Southold, NY 1 1971 H: 516/765-3673
TREAS.: Alice Bunton, 21 Perkins Road, Bethany, CT 16525 H: 203/393-2415
ARCHIVES: Michael Cornish, 10 Greylock Road, Allston, MA 02134 H: 617/522-1416
CONFERENCE CO-CHAIR: Miriam Silverman, 300 W. 55th St., New York, NY 10019
H: 212/765-3482
NEWSLETTER: Deborah Trask, Nova Scotia Museum, 1747 Summer St., Halifax, Nova Scotia
B3H 3A6, Canada. H: 902/429-8109 0: 902/429-4610
OTHER DIRECTORS:
Geraldine Hungerford, Hilldale Rd., Bethany, CT 06525 H: 203/393-1827 0: 203/281-3400
George Kackley, 3001 R Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20007 H: 203/337-2835
Rufus Langhans, 85 Chichester Rd., Huntington, NY 1 1 743 O: 51 6/351 -3244
Vincent F. Luti, Box 41 2, Westport, MA 02790 H : 61 7/636-1 984
Carol Perkins, 1233 Cribb St., Apt. 204, Toledo, OH 43612 H: 419/476-9945
James Slater, 373 Bassettes Bridge Road, Mansfield Center, CT 06250 H: 203/455-9668
EloiseP. West, 199 Fisher Road, Fitchburg, MA 01420 H: 617/342-0716
MARKERS: David Walters, Dept. of Eng., Hamilton-Smith Hall, Univ. of N.H., Durham,
NH 03824 H: 603/659-2925 0: 603/826-1313
PUBLICATIONS: Jessie Lie Farber, 31 Hickory Dr., Worcester, MA 01609 H: 617/755-7038
CONFERENCE CO-CHAIR: Richard F. Welch, 55 Cold Spring Hills Road, Huntington, NY 1 1743
OUT-OF-POCKET EXPENSES OF AGS MEMBERS
Board members, committee chairmen and other volunteers are likely to incur expenses for
supplies, telephone, postage, travel and the like in discharging their responsibilities to AGS. The
voluntary contribution of such expenses has been, and will continue to be, an important element
in the growth and health of this young organization, and is greatly appreciated.
Such expenditures constitute charitable deductions for federal income tax purposes, if properly
supported, since AGS qualifies as a non-profit, tax-exempt organization. The Executive Secretary
will, upon request, provide a letter recognizing any such contribution if the expenditure was made
in the line of duty for AGS, that is, as a Board or committee member or otherwise at the request of
an officer of committee chairman. Following is the form of acknowledgement which you will
receive if you will send in the information necessary to complete it.
Date:
FORM OF ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The Association for Gravestone Studies gratefully acknowledges a contribution of $ made
by representing unreimbursed expenditure for
incurred in performance of the following
activities in behalf of the Association (at the request of) (as a member of the Board) (as a member
of its committee).
Executive Secretary
uaiia~isM3N
Olf ON l!«^-'«d
a I yf 4
3ovisod s n
-DUO XldOUd NON
6091-0 SSB^ 'jeisaoJOM
'ssipnvs 9U0)S9AeJ0 jo^ uoj^epossv
THE EDWARD DOUBLEDAY HARRIS COLLECTION
OF GRAVESTONE INSCRIPTIONS
fed Chase
The Edward Doubleday Harris Collection at the Massachusetts Historical Society in Boston
should be of particular interest to those engaged in research of 19th century ancestors and their
gravestones in Saratoga County, New York, and in certain New Hampshire, Massachusetts and
Connecticut towns. In the late 1870's, Harris, and some associates, carefully copied all of the
inscriptions on all of the stones in all of the graveyards in Saratoga County. The work involved 229
cemeteries and 19,824 inscriptions. These are contained in five nicely bound volumes, each
containing an alphabetical index of the graves and a description of each graveyard and its
location, as well as the inscriptions themselves — all done in a beautiful clear script. As stated in
the introduction to the first volume, the job was undertaken because of the proposed
abandonment of several of the cemeteries. The work was extended to include all of the
graveyards in the County because few of the towns kept vital records, with newspaper obituaries
and the gravestones themselves representing the sole record. And, as the author states, from the
nature of the marble used, it seemed certain that in a hundred years the inscriptions would no
longer be decipherable.
The volumes are variously entitled "Some of the Epitaphs in Saratoga County" and "Further
Epitaphs". The term is used in its strict sense, meaning an inscription, rather than a verse or other
description of the deceased. With few exceptions, the only information appearing is the name of
the deceased, his or her relationship to some other person such as a husband, wife or parent, the
date of death and the age at death. The' inscriptions are not organized alphabetically, suggesting
an arrangement similar to that of the stones as placed in the cemeteries. Few of the stones
antedate 1800. As the preface to the second volume suggests, the early markers are of rough
fieldstone without inscription, but proximity of most of the towns to the Hudson River made it easy
to obtain slate, brownstone and later marble. Some of the towns and villages are "dotted with
family burying places," as for example in Old Saratoga, where 32 of the 39 graveyards are small
private cemeteries.
Mr. Harris' pursuit of this hobby was not confined to Saratoga County for there are similar volumes
of inscriptions for Jackson, Jefferson, Lancaster and Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire, for Medford,
Lexington and Newton, Massachusetts, and for Washington, Connecticut.
Vandals, the weather and the lawnmower have undoubtedly destroyed or effaced many of -these
stones with the passage of time, so that in some cases these volumes represent the only record
available for the genealogist. Only two copies of the Saratoga Epitaphs were prepared. It does not
appear whether more than one copy was made of the other volumes. In any event, the
Massachusetts Historical Society, and genealogists whose research may lead them to any of
these places, are indeed fortunate that at least one set is thus preserved.
NOTE: This is the end of Part I of the Fall issue, 1984.
Part II will be mailed separately.
AGSF"84p12
NEWSLETTER This is Part II of the Fall issue, 1 984, V. 8 #4
BOOKS AND ARTICLES
Tales of the Old Dutch Graveyard Are Told Again. The burying ground of the Old Dutch Church
of Sleepy Hollow gained worldwide fame as the resting place of the Headless Horseman in
Washington Irving's "Legend of Sleepy Hollow" of 1819-1820. In recent years, however, the
burying ground has not received the attention it deserves. The Junior League of Westchester-
on-Hudson has developed a project to increase the public's awareness of the historical and
artistic importance of the graveyard by publishing a 33-page book Tales of the Old Dutch
Graveyard: A Walking Tour of the Burying Ground of the Old Dutch Church of Sleepy
Hollow.
The book is a history of the burying ground and the individuals who are buried there, as well as a
guidebook that includes a fold-out map and line drawings. It recounts the legends of the Headless
Horseman and 43 local farmers, housewives, and children: their roles in local history, the
American Revolution, and personal family history. Emphasis is also placed on the gravestones
themselves, which date back to 1755. The stones are carved in a variety of styles (including
several John Zuricher styles) and are inscribed in English and in Dutch, the predominant
language of the area until about 1800. The tour ends with the gravesite of Washington Irving
which is just over the boundary line in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, the privately-funded cemetery
begun by Irving and his friends in 1849 as part of the rural cemetery movement. The burying
ground of the Old Dutch Church, not to be confused with Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, was originally
part of the Manor of Philipsburg, but has been owned by the First Reformed Church of North
Tarrytown since 1789, after the American confiscation of the manor from the British loyalist
Frederick Philipse III.
Complimentary copies of the Tales of the Old Dutch Graveyard have been sent to all schools,
colleges, historical societies, and libraries in Westchester County. Copies may be purchased for
$2.95 each at the bookshops of the Sleepy Hollow Restorations, which has assisted the Junior
League in the distribution of the book. The book may be purchased through the mail with a
prepaid order for $4.45 (including postage and handling). Checks are to be made to Sleepy
Hollow Restorations and sent to Sleepy Hollow Restorations, Attention: Publications, 150 White
Plains Road, Tarrytown, NY 1 0591 . The price of this' non-profit book is set to cover subsequent
printings.
In conjunction with this publication, the Junior League has been conducting free public tours of the
burying ground twice a week this summer. From Labor Day through Hallowe'en, we are offering
tours every Sunday at 2:00 p.m., as well as specially arranged tours for school groups. This fall
and winter, we plan to assess the preservation needs of the burying ground and the feasibility of a
community-wide preservation project.
If AGS Newsletter readers have any questions or suggestions for our project, we would be
grateful to hear them. Please write to the Heritage Committee, The Junior League of
Westchester-on-Hudson, 35 South Broadway, Tarrytown, NY 10591 or leave a telephone
message at 91 4-631 -2620 Monday-Friday, 9:00 to 12:00 noon.
submitted by Mary Lynn Vance, Ossining, NY
Modulus is a magazine produced annually by the graduate students in the Department of
Architectural Design at the University of Virginia. This year the focus is on public architecture, and
there will be several illustrated articles featuring gravemarkers. Mimi Mead (Campbell Hall,
University of Virginia, Charlottesville VA 22091 ) is the editor.
AGSF'84p13
Allan I. Ludwig has contributed an article on gravestone iconography toF/Wfl Magazine. It will be
illustrated with sonne 20 large color photographs of various New England marker styles chosen
from the Duval-Rigby Collection of America Gravestone Art. In fact, a Duval-Rigby color
photograph of a 1 733 Robert Mullican stone from Bradford, MA will be featured on the cover.
FMR Magazine (the initials are those of Franco Maria Ricci of Milan, Italy, its Editor/Founder) is
called the most beautiful magazine in the world, and according to F. Duval, it is. The publication
contains 160 pages, is large format (9 x 11), sewn bound, and is printed on heavy coated paper.
Each issue features 4 to 5 articles about little-known works of art. Its layout and laser-scan 5-color
reproduction are unequalled by any other magazine in the world.
This contribution by AGS members is due to appear in Issue #6, November 1984. To those
interested in acquiring the Issue of the Magazine, please send a check or money order to the
amount of $8.00 ($10.00, outside the U.S.A.) payable to Mr. Francis Y. Duval, 405 Vanderbilt
Avenue, Brooklyn, New York 11238. NO LATER THAN NOVEMBER 30th. Mr. Duval will then
proceed, forwarding a list and payment to FMR Magazine. The issue will then-be forwarded to all
interested parties by the Magazine. This is a unique opportunity, and AGS members should take
advantage of this offer.
We have received a copy of an article by Michael F. Bamberger in the Martha's Vineyard, Vinyard
Gazette of March 16th, 1984, titled "Urgent Is the Need to Protect Our Honored Burial Grounds".
Bamberger states that there are nearly a score of cemeteries and private family burial grounds on
the Vineyard, and they are among the most thoughtful of Island walking grounds. In Chilmark,
work now being done by the planning board and the Martha's Vineyard Commission will take an
inventory of all tombstones, as a protective measure. The sale of Vineyard tombstones is not yet a
problem, but vandalism is. Cemetery commissioners estimate that in the past three years at least
a score of tombstones have been knocked over, or desecrated in some fashion. But so far little
has been done to protect the treasured burial grounds of the Island. "It's going to take somebody
with a very deep interest in tombstones to get it started, but obviously an inventory is desirable,"
says Arthur R. Railton, president of the Dukes County Historical Society. "There's an enormous
interest now in genealogy, and these cemeteries are where much of that research starts. As an
historical resource, they really must be protected."
Submitted by Casimer Michaelczyk, Glastonbury, CT.
"Reliving History in Cemeteries of Old" is the title of an interesting article by William Moir, 42-D
Union Ave., Little Falls, NJ 07424, printed in theWew Yorl< Times, July 1, 1984. In it, he mentions
his slide/tape program "Gravestones, Epitaphs and History" which he has presented to
numerous historical societies and other groups throughout New Jersey. He also notes that many
fine examples of the urn and willow motif can be found in New Jersey graveyards such as those of
the First Presbyterian Church in Elizabeth, Connecticut Farms Presbyterian Church in Union, the
Church on the Green in Hackensack, Christ Episcopal Church in Shrewsbury, the Church on the
Green in Morristown, the Presbyterian Church in Westfield, and many others. You might want to
keep these in mind, for the 1.985 AGS Conference planners are considering a bus tour in northern
New Jersey.
article sent by William Moir, and by Robert Van Benthuysen, West Long Branch NJ.
Another interesting article is "Cemeteries of Newport: A Peaceful Walk Through The Pages of
History" by Linda Lotridge Levin from the Worcester Sunday Telegram, July 1 , 1984 sent to us by
Barbara Dudley of Sterling Junction, MA. This describes the many and fascinating graveyards of
Newport, Rl. These graveyards are all included in AGS Regional Guide 1 Narragansett Bay Area
Gravestones, available from AGS Publications, c/o American Antiquarian Society, Worcester,
MA 01 609 for $3.50 (including postage and handling) to AGS members.
An article in the Corpus Christi, Texas, Caller Times provides a follow up to an article reported in
the AGS Newsletter, Spring 1984 issue, p. 13. Cleaned and repaired headstones have been
returned and are in place in historic Meansville Cemetery, near Odem, Texas. Isaac Barrera,
owner-manager of Barrera Monument Co. in Corpus Christi which carried out the restoration, said
the entire project took about 60 days. Work performed included cleaning and leveling, and in
some cases resetting and making new foundations for the headstones.
Submitted by Gay Levine, Wading River, NY.
AGSF'84p14
Received for the Archives: a copy of GRAVEYARD RESTORATION HAND BOOK, just
published by the New Hampshire Old Graveyard Association. It has 24 pages (5'/v" / 8V2").
Louise Tallman, an AGS member and President of NHOGA, is one of the authors. She said their
group felt there were so many neglected graveyards in New Hampshire that the first thing to do
was to get them cleaned up — then they could go on to studying carvers and folk art. However,
most of these communities will not be able to employ professional conservators to do the
restoring such as is being done in Trintiy and South Carolina. So this bool< was written to help
amateurs with some guidelines and cautions and specific how-to's. She feels there will likely be
criticism from those conservators that prefer nothing be done rather than risk damage but the
situation is one of such extreme need that they decided to go ahead with these guidelines. It costs
$1.50 from the NHOGA Corresponding Secretary, Carleton R. Vance, 445 Greeley Street
Manchester, NH 03102.
Another contribution is from new member Edith M. Nyman, 32 Juniper CT., Greenfield,
MA 01301 who has been recording cemeteries in Massachusetts since 1974. She has given us
the typed copy of the records from six cemeteries in Greenfield, Mass. (145 pages with a 33 page
index)
Also received, an article by Richard Welch titled "Huntington Gravestones" published in the
Huntington Historical Society Quarterly, Spring 1984. Back issues are available through the
Society's office, Huntington NY at $3.00 each.
CALL FOR PAPERS
MARKERS IV
The Annual Journal of the Association for
Gravestone Studies
Papers are invited on any subject related to the study of gravestones from colonial times to the
present. The text should be typed, conforming to the Chicago Manual of Style, and accompanied
by black and white photographs or black ink drawings. Papers may be submitted to:
Professor David Watters
Editor, MARKERS IV
Department of English
University of New Hampshire
Durham, New Hampshire 03824
'^^^
AGSF'84p15
STONECUTTERS AND THEIR WORKS
fourteenth installment
The Napanee Carver, a Unique Ontario Gravestone Carver
by Lynn Russell and Patricia Stone
The craft of gravestone carving came relatively late to the province of Ontario, Canada, an area
which began to be settled only after the American War of Independence. It was probably not until
the 1830's that craftsmen began to cut stone locally, stone which in many cases was likely to have
been imported from the United States. Prior to the arrival of artisans who were able to carve stone
to satisfy the range of needs of early nineteenth-century Ontario, gravestones were carved from
rough fieldstone by any individual who would undertake the work. The results were primitive, the
information limited usually to a few initials and a date, and design or decoration non-existent.
Those families who could afford something cut by a skilled carver had to turn to American or
British sources for their grave markers. The imported stones frequently were elegantly designed
with finely cut lettering. A few examples are to be found still in the Niagara region and the Upper
St. Lawrence River Valley.
By the 1850's local Ontario craftsmen were producing a range of willows, urns, lambs, birds,
hands, flowers, leaves, and, less frequently, angelic or mourning figures. These designs
remained similar across the several hundred miles of the settled part of the province. Undoubtedly
pattern books and, perhaps, even templates were available in Ontario by this time, and some
communication was occuring among gravestone carvers in the province.
Generally designs were carved at the top of the stones, lettering and design constituting two
separate elements. The designs tended to be realistic but simplified, probably because fine detail
was difficult to cut into white marble, the stone most widely used from the 1840's to the 1880's.
Judging by their numbers in Ontario graveyards, the willow was one of the most popular designs.
It is a good example to use to consider the work of the Ontario carvers.
Most approached the willow in the same way. They cut a solid, even massive, trunk supporting
several branches of varying lengths from which long fronds drooped almost to the ground.
Frequently the fronds fall over an urn or monument, or even, in a few cases, a mourning figure.
Most examples are clear representations of the living tree, though some stylization appears
occasionally to give the design an individual character. On some stones the design moves farther
away from the realistic, occasionally with amusing results. We have named some examples we
have seen 'corn cob willows,' 'banana willows,' and even 'sheep dog willows' to describe the
overall effect of the design. In general, however, Ontario carvers created pleasantly designed,
clearly recognizable willows which fulfilled their purpose as decorations, but in no way aroused
any emotion in the viewer (figure 1 ).
Figure 1
stone dated 1855, St. Paul's Presbyterian Cliurch
Cemetery, near Palermo, Ontario
The Napanee carver is an exception to this statement. The town of Napanee is situated near the
north shore of Lake Ontario, close to the point where the Lake flows into the St. Lawrence River. It
is almost directly north of the town of Oswego, New York, the port used by many loyalists in the
1780's and 1790's as they made their way to Canada to live under British rule. By the 1860's and
1870's Napanee had become a bustling county town situated on the road between Montreal and
Toronto, the major northern centres. As in most other communities of its size and prosperity in the
area, its inhabitants were a mix of second and third generation Canadians and new arrivals from
Britain and America. It seems an unlikely place to have nurtured creativity, and yet it was in
Napanee that Gardiner F. Moore created some of the finest gravestone designs in
nineteenth-century Ontario.
continued
AGSF'84p16
Gardiner Moore was born in the province of Quebec in 1818 of Irish ancestry. We know nothing of
his life until the later 1850's. By that time he was operating a marble factory in Odessa, a village
fifteen miles east of Napanee, with William Riley Moore, a stone carver whose relationship, if any,
to Gardiner is still unknown. The only willow signed by the partners, dated 1855, is a conventional,
if somewhat sparse, tree with long, drooping fronds that part to reveal a small monument and urn
on the right. The design fills the entire frame and is held back by jagged tracery along the sides
and top. The whole effect is somewhat crowded and the juxtaposition of tree and tracery is
incongruous. Certainly there is nothing in the stone to suggest that an unusual imagination was at
work.
By 1861 Gardiner Moore had settled in Napanee and was advertising in the newspaper and
directories that he had set up his own marble manufactory. Nearly two-thirds of the stones we
have located that are clearly carved by Gardiner Moore have a willow as a major element in the
design. We can trace the development of his skill as a carver, and the growth of his artistic
imagination through his willows.
The first willow probably cut in the early 1860's and signed by Moore has many characteristics in
common with the stone signed by the two Moores. A pair of willows lean from left and right over a
central monument. They are surrounded on three sides by a complex border of leaves with a
central star. The design is rather awkward and crowded, yet the willows are more vital, and the
border does not threaten the central design. Gardiner seems to have been exploring a design
rather than representing a willow.
Very early in the 1860's, and throughout the decade, the willows which we have called 'symetrical
willows' appear, signed by Gardiner or clearly cut by him (figure 2). The trees are reduced to
essential elements. The trunk stands in the centre of the frame; a few branches grow symetrically
from each side filling the frame and frequently creating an abstract pattern where they emerge
from the trunk; the fronds fall rhythmically to the ground. There is a sense of flow from the ground
at the trunk and back to the earth at the tips of the fronds. The mood is reassuring: there is order in
the universe. The design has become the dominant element in these symetrical willows; the 'real'
tree is completely forgotten.
Figure 2
stone dated 1860, Riverside Cemetery, Napanee, On-
tario
By the late 1860's Gardiner was also developing a different willow, an agitated, almost tortured
design. Sometimes" a swirling tree rises from the left of the stone, and sometimes a pair rise from
left and right of central object in a refinement of his early paired willows. On occasions the trees
are so simplified that they appear to be rooted fronds rather than trees. The monument, when it
appears under the tree, is always simple and stark. These anguished willows convey grief and
despair as do no other willows carved in Ontario. They can resemble draped, mourning figures
(figure 3); they can even evoke a remembrance of bare bones when they are stripped to a few
simple branches (figure 4). By the early 1870's Gardiner had abandoned any attempt to create a
natural willow and was clearly concentrating on design and emotion.
continued
AGSF'84p17
Figure 3
stone dated 1870, Centreville, Ontario
o >s » ^Sji^ i^Av/«>v ^^i,i,n^mMM4MHf$ ■'<^^4^-'«|I$4'»:^^
',■■ stone dated 7867, Riverside Cemetery, Napanee, On-
-'* If tario
It would seem that the population of Napanee liked Gardiner's work, for his stones are well
distributed within a fifteen mile radius of the town, and local records indicate that his business
enjoyed a small measure of success between the early 1860's and the mid 1870's. In 1873
Gardiner's Odessa partner, William Riley Moore, set up a rival marble business in Napanee. It
may be that the conventional W.R. Moore provided stones more to the taste of Napanee, for very
soon after his arrival, Gardiner Moore appears to have been in some financial difficulty. There are
signs, too, that Gardiner may have been becoming unstable. For instance, several stones from
the late 1 860's and early 1 870's are signed in large letters just below the epitaph, and the name is
followed by two clear exclamation marks. Nowhere else have we seen such a signature.
Whatever the reason, Gardiner Moore disappears from Napanee records by 1877, and the latest
stone we have found, that is clearly by him, is dated 1 874. We have yet to locate him or his unique
work anywhere else in Ontario.
Pliotograplis by Lynn Russell and David Stone. Lynn
Russell and Patricia Stone also wrote Gravestone
Carvers of Early Ontario, a research report published In
the Material History Bulletin 18, National Museum of
Man, Ottavi^a, Canada, Fall 1983
AGSF'84p18
EXHIBITIONS
A Gallery of Gravestone Art
contributed by Esther L Friend, Plainville, MA
AslJKmJiow.
of qr^e<,lcni m4
)ji ^ ^Vlmmde^:.
The art of carving on slate gravestones may have become a "lost" art, but the remaining samples
can be lively attention-getters. That fact was proved last Fall when the Historical Commission of
Plainville, Mass., used a collection of rubbings to attract the townspeople to an exhibit of the
Commission's projects.
Established by the Town at the time of the Bi-Centenniel, the seven-member Historical
Commission has, from the first, made good efforts to document the town's old houses. But, by
1 983, its interests had expanded to include documentation of the growth of the town. As research
uncovered stories of some early people of the area, an admiration of (and a concern for) their
carved-in-slate memorials began to grow.
Then the Arts Council granted to the Historical Commission a sum of money to be used in
photographing the old stones. When Arts Council members asked if there could sometime be an
exhibition, the Commission's creative forces promptly went into motion. What resulted was the
most unique (and talked about) "art" exhibit that the town had ever seen.
Rubbings were made of those slates which illustrated the development in design from the first
rough death's heads to the final lovely urns and feathery willows. In the old schoolhouse used for
the exhibition, these rubbings were placed prominently where the visitor would see them first,
read the typewritten captions and proceed from "earliest" to "latest" before turning to the rest of
the displays.
In the middle of the main floor area, a number of 6-ft., burlap-covered cubes held another group of
rubbings. These had been selected for the purpose of linking the memorialized persons with their
still-existing houses. Therefore, each cube displayed not only the rubbing but also an 8 x 10 photo
of the house, a map showing its location and a short story about the house, its land and the people
who had lived there. Underneath each collection was a lineage chart showing the original family's
generations.
Another display featured rubbings of stones which have been damaged in some way. One, which
had been burst by frost during the previous winter, was especially arresting as the carving is as
sharp as the day it was finished in the carver's shop: yet the stone is now in four fragments and
the smaller ones will obviously become pulverized and/or lost unless care is immediately taken.
Pre-publicity involved not only posters but also invitations — both designed directly from a small,
cameo-perfect stone carved in 1762. Newspapers, local cable-TV and radio communicated the
(to them) odd news that people were expected to go look at the art expressed on old gravestones.
(The Providence Journal and two local papers were so intrigued that they wrote feature stories
complete with pictures!) And a pre-view night brought in town officials, members of other
Historical Commissions from miles around, people who are related to the featured families and
people who are living in the featured-families' houses. That pre-viewing turned into a truly
memorable party as people who had come just to be polite lingered to recognize and discuss
parts of their common neighborhood scene. And, much to the astonishment of the delighted
members of the Historical Commission, a goodly number of the party-makers came back during
the following exhibition days with friends and relatives who "really shouldn't miss out on this!"
As a pleasant by-product of all that work, the rubbings, photos, maps, etc., are stored away in the
Commission's headquarters — ready to be used in schools or to go out on the lecture-circuit, to
local exhibits of historical objects or anywhere that people might be interested in the carver's art.
An.9 F'R4 n 1 Q
MEMBER NEWS
Twenty-six photographs by Daniel and Jessie Lie Farber of Worcester MA were featured in an
exhibition An Endangered Heritage Recorded: Photographs of Hartford's Ancient Burying
Ground, displayed this past summer at the Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford. Besides the
photos were three rubbings by Kelly & Williams, plus two artifacts from Connecticut yards, which
are housed in the Connecticut Historical Society's collection. (One was the fragment pictured on
page 31 of the Fall '83 Newsletter; the other was a handsome brass insert which had been
removed from a Connecticut stone years ago.) An excellent commentary prepared by the CHS
accompanied the show.
AGS member Dr. Mary Francis Stewart, 6990 Greenhaven Drive, Sacramento, CA 95831 offers
to make photographs backed up by tape recordings for members who would like certain stones
researched in the Sacramento, San Francisco, Los Angeles and possibly Nevada areas. (She
does not do the "Gold Country" because Mary-Ellen Jones does that.)
A past member who is rejoining, Nancy Dodge, has sent along an update on her cemetery project
of mapping, recording and indexing all known burial places in 7 northern New Hampshire towns.
Clarksville (completed) Pittsburg (very little completed)
Colebrook (nearly completed) Stewartstown (completed)
Columbia (completed) Stratford (very little completed)
Dixville (completed)
As she completes these records, they are being deposited with the New Hampshire Historical
Society Library in Concord, NH, the Colebrook Public Library, the New Hampshire Old
Graveyards Association and the NEHGS in Boston. Her next project will be Hereford, P.O. and
then will work southward down the CT River in Vermont.
For a SASE, she will check her records for those seeking northern NH roots. Send to Nancy L.
Dodge, 28 Ball St., Portsmouth, NH 03801 (603) 431 -7501 .
Another new member, George E. Bentley of Waterford, VA, is a trustee for the Waterford Union
Cemetery which received a Citation Award for Preservation through Maintenance from the
Preservation Society of Loudoun County at their Third Biennial Awards Program Dinner on June
23,1984.
Mike Cornish, Rosanne Atwood-Humes, Ralph Tucker and James Bradley led a tour for
Charlestown MA residents of the old Phipps Street Burying Ground on Sunday, August 5th, which
was filmed for Charlestown Cable TV.
Mike Cornish will be giving a slide lecture on early Boston gravestones to the Bostonian Society
on Wednesday, October 31 st, at noon. Rosanne Atwood-Humes will introduce the program.
Ellen R. Glueck of Towanda, PA, who pointed out an
image of an angel with up-side-down wings to us in the
Fall '83 issue of the AGS Newsletter, took this photo of
Thelma Ernst of Tallahassee FL rubbing the same stone
in Marlboro MA. She notes that this cemetery is the
Wilson St. Cemetery, and the new part surrounding it is
the Evergreen Cemetery, according to the U. S. Geologic
Survey Map.
Mrs. Aileen Sechler, 155 Hanover St., Gettysburg, PA 17325 make this notation on her renewal
notice: "Would you be interested in a non-serious article? (I was locked into the French Hugenot
graveyard in Charleston, CS in May and was rescued somewhat reluctantly by two young
roofers.) But no, this hasn't the tone of your newsletter!"
AGS F'84 p 20
Regional Conferences
We have talked about having regional meetings for years and finally someone has organized one
region successfully! Pat Miller of Sharon, CT decided it was an idea whose time had come and on
August 3, 1984 gathered about thirty AGS members in Hampton, CT for a marvelous graveyard
tour of the area. Led by Alfred Fredette, they visited ten graveyards in nine hours. They saw
approximately twenty identified carvers' stones, saw lots of signed stones and some with prices,
the "Connecticut clock stones," and "Eagle stones." Many thanks go to Fred Fredette and to
James Slater, who, in addition to serving as an excellent mirror holder, shared exerpts from his
soon to be released book on CT gravestones.
For the Sept. 22nd Connecticut Regional meeting. 25 people were present, mostly new faces
from Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts and Virginia. James Slater guided the group through
four graveyards. Wine, cheese and homemade chowder were enjoyed by all at the home of John
and Claire Collins at the end of the tour. October 6th there was a tour in the upper Fairfield and
Litchfield Counties. Next meeting will be November 10th in New Haven with Sue Kelly and Anne
Williams.
Pat Miller sent notices to all CT AGS members. Those who replied will automatically receive
future notices. She wishes to make it clear, however, that anyone is welcome — guests, members
from other states. If you would like to receive more information write or call Pat Miller, P.O. Box
1151, Sharon, CT 06069 (203) 435-01 63.
Nova Scotia Seminar. In Halifax, Nova Scotia on June 9 and 10, Deb Trask and Betty Ann
Aaboe-Milligan put on a regional conference sponsored by the Federation of Nova Scotian
Heritage.
Attracting people who already had concerns about historic cemeteries, the conference offered
theoretical background and practical advice for attenders as varied as Parks Canada
professionals and amateur genealogists who had discovered the value of gravestone information.
On Saturday Deb gave an introductory background talk. Then representatives of two historical
societies described their work in recording and indexing gravestone information. Harry Nelson
from the monument firm owning the only granite quarry in Nova Scotia showed the modern
methods for cutting and polishing stones. Finally Martin Weaver, Director of Educational and
Technical Services for Heritage Canada Foundation, presented a lecture packed with information.
First came a geology lesson because the formation of rock creates inherent problems. He then
discussed what could and could not be done to repair or stabilize different kinds of damage and
disintegration.
The Sunday field trip began at the historic graveyard under the care of St. Paul's Church in
downtown Halifax. Here Martin met us and pointed out some problems and some alternative
treatments. For the rest of the day we visited four cemeteries (from Lunenburg to Windsor, if you
have a Nova Scotia map available) that represented different cultural traditions, including German
inscriptions and New England carvers.
This participant came away from the conference with better information about stone conservation
and Nova Scotian history and culture as well. I enjoyed the friendliness of the Nova Scotians and
marvelled that Deb and Betty Ann managed to produce good AGS weather.
reported by Barbara Rotunda, Schenectady, NY
In Huntington, LI, Rufus Langhans, who has been the town historian since 1970, has established
the Huntington cemetery adoption program. "There are 71 historic cemeteries in town," Mr.
Langhans said. "Many of them date to the 18th century, when families had burial grounds on their
own property which were then abandoned. Town Hall is supposed to maintain them, but they
don't, so it's up to us."
Mr. Langhans, whose house once belonged to Walt Whitman's family, has adopted the 80-grave
plot in his backyard.
In the five years since the Huntington program placed an advertisement offering cemeteries for
adoption, 25 have been taken on, with some 40 people cutting the grass, keeping the plots clean
and watching out for vandals.
From an article in tlie New York Times, August 30, 1984, contributed by Rufus Langhans and
also by Francis Duval.
AGSF'84d21
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
Pennsylvania graveyard tour. On October 13, 1984, the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society
conducted a guided field trip of a wide variety of Pennsylvania denominational graveyards, family
plots, and township cemeteries that feature unusual carvings, inscriptions, and epitaphs. Among
the Lancaster County yards visited were Bergstrasse Lutheran Churchyard and Penryn Union
Churchyard, both outstanding for their wealth of unusual folk art carvings. The Lancaster
Mennonite Historical Society (2215 Millstream Road, Lancaster, 17602), which houses an
extensive collection of educational and research materials, has expressed an interest in
co-sponsoring a future AGS conference.
More Pennsylvania graveyard exploration. In, September, Jessie Lie and Dan Farber of
Worcester, Massachusetts returned to Pennsylvania to photograph markers that they saw on an
earlier visit (see their article, "A Spring Treasure Hunt," AGS Newsletter, Summer 1984). On this
return visit they had good weather and were able to photograph many of the beautiful
eighteenth-century floral designs in the area around Allentown. They also photographed stones in
the Gettysburg area, described in "Pennsylvania: Adams County Colonial Stonecarving," by
Duval and Rigby (AGS Newsletter, Winter 1979/80). With the assistance of Randy Smucker of
the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society, they also located and photographed stones in four
more Lancaster County yards, the best of which were in the villages of Penryn and Chestnut
Level.
reduction of a rubbing by Jessie Lie Farber, made in tiie
Penryn Union Ctiurchyard, Penryn, PA.
A recent letter from Peter McCarthy, Marvin Almont Memorials, 200 Santa Fe Drive, Pueblo,
Colorado, 81006, has been comparing notes with Susan Clement "as two beginners trying to
restore old and battered burial yards." She is involved with an ongoing project of tremendous size
in St. Louis. He raises the question: "When do you stop and say that enough is enough and the
rest will be a waste of money? She and I both feel that our work has become largely invisible
because of the amount of vandalism in the areas in which we have worked. The City of Pueblo
has paid us (Marvin Almont Memorials) around $3,000 for an amount of work in an old p,ublic
cemetery, but they won't spend any money or time to try to keep vandals out of the cemetery and
it almost appears now like we haven't done any work at all. It's discouraging as both a
businessman and a taxpayer."
The Mendon Historical Commission, Mendon, Massachusetts is planning to inventory the town's
public and private cemteries. The group intends to research and document each marker within
each cemetery. The project will take several years to complete.
The commission has arranged an independent study program with the local high school. This
year two seniors, John Ruhan and Paul Hill will be assisting the commission in it's work.
Any AGS member with knowledge of special stones, carvers or photographs of Mendon
cemeteries or markers please contact R. Christopher Noonan, P.O. Box 12 Mendon, MA 01756 or
call (617) 473-7799. Also any information of carvers in the south Worcester County/Blackstone
Valley region of Massachusetts would be appreciated.
AGS F'84 p 22
Tombstone From Monticello
Speaal lo The
COLUMBIA, Mo., Jiine 12 — On the
east side of the University of Missouri
quadrangle, in the yard of the chancel-
lor's residence, is a clM gray obelisk
about six feet high.
It has been largely ignored by gener-
ations of students wfio have passed by.
Few knew the obelisk was the original
tombstone of Thomas Jefferson, the
nation's third President.
How it came to rest here is no mys-
tery, says William Peden, professor
emeritus of English at Missouri, who is
a former Virginian and a Jeffersonian
scholar.
In 1880, Samuel laws, a Virginian
who was a former president of the Uni-
versity of Missouri, convinced Jeffer-
son's descendants that the school de-
served the marker bedause it was the
first state university in the Louisiana
Territory, purchased under President
Jefferson.
"The reality of tlie situation is that
when Jefferson died, on July 4, 1826, he
was virtually bankrupt," Professor
New Yortt Times
Peden said. "The whole of Monticello
and the plantation fell into disrepair,
and curiosity-seekers had chipped
away pieces of the original tombstone.
"The Government wanted to replace
the beat-up original with a more awe-
inspiring obelisk, which they did. So the
University of Missouri got it through
the best wishes and complete coopera-
tion of the Jefferson descendants."
But a latter-day Jefferson admirer,
Willis Sanders Jr. of Richmond, Va.,
says the monument rightly belongs at
Monticello. Mr. Sanders said he did not
know the obelisk now at Monticello was
not the original tombstone until he vis-
ited the Coliunbia campus two years
ago.
Back home he sought help from The
Richmond News-Leader, and it pub-
lished a column urging the Virginia
Commonwealth to "show some spunk
by appropriating some money to hire a
raiding party to go to Columbia and lib-
erate Jefferson's tombstone."
from the New York Times, June 17, 1984, submitted by
Richard Welsh.
Pamela Burgess, author of Churchyards, published in 1980 by SPCK, London, has written us
some comments on the Spring 1 984 Newsletter:
OH dear — did I give the impression that I saved the churchyard at Alverstoke single
handed!! It really was the Parishioners of Alverstoke who saved the churchyard. It was
by their efforts and I feel they should receive the credit. A parishioner wrote to me and
asked if I would be prepared to give evidence on behalf of the churchyard and it was
while I was carrying out preliminary research in the churchyard on which to base my
case that I met Mr. Williams, and He and his wife most kindly gave me accommodations
whilst I was in Alverstoke. Others giving evidence were Dr. White, of the Society of
Genealogists, author of a very useful book (published through the Society) Memorials
and their Inscriptions; Mr. Hoare, a stonemason of very high repute from Hampshire;
and the parishioners themselves.
More churchyards could possibly have been saved/be saved if the parishioners made a
stand against proposed clearance, very few people know who to turn to for help, and
some parishioners, unfortunately, welcome clearance, particularly if they have to keep
the grass in the churchyard cut!
Re cattle in Burial Grounds — In England the "incumbent" that is the parson or minister
of the church, had the right of "Herbage" in the churchyard — that is, he could allow his
horse, cattle, and sheep to graze in the churchyard. See my book, page 9. A grave in
Braugling (?), Hetfordshire, is still "Brambled" every year, following the instructions of
the deceased. That is, brambles are pegged over the grave to protect it from grazing
animals.
AGS F'84 p 23
Ol> ON <!«^^«d
a I yf 4
aovisod s "n
'OtlO XUOUd NON
d31131SM3N
60910 SSB^ 'ja;saoJOM
'Ajapos UBuenbiiuv ueoueuivo/^
'saipnjs suojseABJO jo^ uoijbioossv
GRANT AID AVAILABLE FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES ! !
The state of Massachusetts has made available twice yearly grants to each
community, the money coming from the Massachusetts Lottery and earmarked
for all types of artistic endeavor. The grant amounts vary, depending
on the funds available, but awards are made to each town on a per capita
basis. The typical small town of about 7500 people can expect to receive
grants in the range of $2500.00 to $5000.00 twice yearly. The funding
naturally increases as the size of the community increases. The funds
are administered by local Arts Lottery Councils and applications for this
funding can be obtained from the Town/City Clerk's office and frequently
through local art associations, libraries, etc.
The Local councils are quite autonomous and their interpretation of what
constitutes art may or may not include gravestone studies, but grant fund-
ing has been approved for this subject in the past, and it certainly should
not be overlooked by others who find that their funds are not inexhaus-
able.
If the grant is approved, please take note that you will not be funded
in advance of your project, the cash award is made upon completion of
the approved work. The grant periods normally cover the first and second
half of each calendar year, with application deadlines about the first
of April and the first of October. The applicant is expected to cover
such areas as description of the project, qualifications of the grant
applicant, amount of funding required, ; and , most importantly for approval,
how the project will benefit the citizens of the community.
For questions or further information, contact Robert Klisiewicz, 46 Granite
St. Webster MA 01570; Tel. (617) 9A3-5732 evenings, or (617) 798-1128
weekdays.
The AGS NEWSLETTER is published quarterly as a service to members of The Association for Gravestone Studies.
The membership year begins on the date dues are received and ends one year from that date. A one-year
membership entitles the member to four issues of the NEWSLETTER and to participation in the AGS conference in the
year membership is current. Send membership fees (Individual /Institutional, $15; Family, $25; Contributing, $25) to
AGS Executive Secretary Rosalee Oakley, 46 Plymouth Rd., Needham, MA 02192. Order MARKERS, the Journal of
the Association for Gravestone Studies (Vol. 1, $15; Vol. 2, $12; Vol. 3, $16) from Rosalee Oakley. Address
contributions to MARKERS, Vol. 4, to David Watters, editor, Dept. of English, University of New Hampshire, Durham
NH 03824. Address NEWSLETTER contributions to Deborah Trask, editor. The Nova Scotia Museum, 1747 Summer
St., Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 3A6, Canada. Address other correspondence and orders to Rosalee Oakley. Mail
addressed to AGS do The American Antiquarian Society, Worcester MA 01609, or to Rosalee Oakley, will be
forwarded to the approphate AGS office.
NEWSLETTER
OFTHEASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES
DEBORAH TRASK, ED.
VOLUME 9 NUMBER 1 WINTER 1984/5
ISSN:0146-5783
CONTENTS
EXHIBITIONS 1
ARTICLES
Jonathan Harmer of Heathfield 3
by Pamela Burgess
In Search of Our Mystery Carver 5
by Theodore Chase and Laurel Gabel
Italian Cemeteries and Marble Markers 8
by Ruth O. Cowell
BOOKS & ARTICLES 9
MEMBER NEWS 11
STONECUTTERS & THEIR WORKS, fifteenth installment
Thomas Brown of New York City 12
by Richard Welch
HELP FOR TEACHERS! 14
CONFERENCES 15
AGS CONFERENCE '85 16
EXHIBITIONS
An exhibition, Nature by Design: The Art and Landscape of Cincinnati's Spring Grove
Cemetery will open at the Taft Museum in Cincinnati on Saturday, March 23, 1985. Blanche
Linden-Ward, assistant professor in American Studies at Brandeis University, is curator of the
exhibition that will include a selection of nineteenth-century maps, photographs, and engravings;
a slide-tape presentation; and the contemporary photography of Alan Ward, landscape architect.
The exhitDition will be shown for a month in conjunction with three public symposia on April 9, 10,
and 11 by Dr. Linden-Ward, Mr. Ward, and Dr. David Sloane of Dartmouth College at the
Cincinnati Historical Society, the University of Cincinnati School of Design, Art, Architecture and
Planning, and Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.
A self-guided walking tour brochure of Spring Grove, authored by Blanche Linden-Ward, will be
published by the University of Cincinnati Center for Neighborhood and Community Studies with
funds from the Ohio Arts and Ohio Humanities Councils' Joint Program in Human Values and the
Built Environment. It is intended to permit visitors to "read" the landscape and iconography of the
cemetery founded in 1845 as part of the "rural" cemetery movement. It will be available at the
exhibit, at each of the symposia, at the cemetery and other Cincinnati area cultural institutions. A
catalogue and poster will accompany the exhibition. All events are free and open to the public. For
more information, contact Dr. Henry D. Shapiro, Center for Neighborhood and Community
Studies, History Department, Mail Location #132, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221.
(513)475-6992.
The Worcester Historical Museum is planning an exhibition for June 1985 of works by the
gravestone cutter, sculptor, and cameo carver, Benjamin Harris Kinney (1821-1888). Kinney
spent most of his early life in Sunderland, Vermont, and by the early 1840's he and his brother
Charles M. (1818-1911) had marble yards in both Worcester, Massachusetts, and Barre,
Vermont. By 1845 the operation was consolidated in Worcester, and shortly thereafter was
operated solely by Benjamin, examples of whose works, correspondence, and other documentary
material would be appreciated. Contact William Wallace, Worcester Historical Museum, 39
Salisbury St., Worcester, MA 01609.
AGSW'84/5p1
Flower show. Showing now in Old Deerfield Village, Mass., is an exhibition. Flowers in the
Deroratfve Arts: Selectk^ns from the Historic Deerfield Collection." This show draws from H storu:
DeeS s permanent collection of early American artifacts many items that feature flower
desTqns in their decoration. Among the flower designs being exhibited are designs on
aSarkers Photographs (by Dan Farber) rather than actual gravestones are used to show he
grSon^flowers. The exhibition is in two locations in the Village: the Hall Tavern and the Helen
Geier Flynt Fabric Hall. It will continue through Apnl 30, 1 985.
f
m
''^\^ u CO me' ,: ■ ■"'• 'Mm^i^pSmJ. v. .;. ,, ;
P airirnpqridf P>ofe,„
Margaret Shepard, 1769, Westfield MA (probable work
of Sikes family, signed "C. S.")
~M
Mary LeRoy, 1792, Brooklyn CT (probable work of SIkes
family).
Elizabeth Prescott, 1780, Templeton MA (probable work
of John or Thomas Park).
Colonel John Shepard, Amherst NH (probable work of
John or Thomas Park).
Thaddeus MacCarthy, 1705, Granary Burial Ground,
Boston (probable work of "J. N. ")
All of these illustrations are reproduced from photocopies of photographs by Daniel & Jessie Lie
Farber.
« ^-^ ^^ I X //-I y« / r- _ O
JONATHAN HARMER OF HEATHFIELD
by Pamela Burgess
:-.ir^^v^ *.«>?!,
Figure 1
Winged angel's head, in terracotta, made from one of
Harmer's molds
Jonathan Harmer, stonemason, creator of the Sussex Terracottas, was born in Heathfield,
Sussex in 1762. He was the eldest son of Joseph Harmer (church-warden and parish
book-keeper) and by trade was a plasterer and bricklayer, as well as stonemason. He was a
radical, as were many others in that part of Sussex.
In 1795 he emigrated to America with his family in search of a new life in a democratic state, after
receiving a glowing picture of life in America from his younger brother John, who had arrived in
New York two years previously. John had informed him that the rate of pay for a stonemason was
6/ - sterling a day, more than double the English rate, but Jonathan was unable to obtain
employment in this trade, and so worked for some time as a builder's labourer.
In several letters written to his father and his brother-in-law (Richard Hook, shopkeeper in
Heathfield) we learn of his life in America. He writes in 1796 "I have hope of being with you again,
but not till that grand Event has taken place that I have so long harped on." (The Revolution in
England) He continues "I now find myself in a middling way of saving, at least for the last three
months, having engaged in Painting and Glazing Lines in partnership with Michael Lampriere. "
He complains about the flies and insects and many "swindlering tricks", and high prices, and adds
that many immigrants gave American life too rosy a complexion when writing back to England. He
tells of many deaths from yellow fever, theirs being the only family who came out on the brig Eliza,
not to have lost two or three persons from this fever.
His lot improved, and he stayed on in New York until 1800 when after the loss of three of his
children from fever, and the death of his mother in Heathfield, he sailed with the remnants of his
family back to England aboard the Atlas.
Jonathan wrote to his father from Hull in May 1800, telling him of his safe return, but his father
died before he arrived home.
Back in Heathfield, with his RepubJican sympathies rather dashed, he settled in a house called
Stonecutters, and soon after he had the original idea of making terracotta plaques to set into the
headstones that he carved. For these he made some twelve attractive designs for which he
charged 8/- for a basket of fruit and flowers or a figure of charity; 1 0/- for a various urns and 1 6/-
for the figures of Faith and Hope. Some fifty of these may be found on headstones in East Sussex,
together with a number of stones with empty sockets, showing how popular they were at the time.
Figure 2
Detail of an urn. from the end of the box-tomb for Walter
Jenner, died 1815, Hailsham, Sussex
continued
An^ Wfid/R n n
Figure 4
Charity, as depicted on tlie gravestone of James Kemp,
died 1813, Warbleton, Sussex .
Figure 3
Basket of flowers on tfie gravestone of Elizabetli
Wickerson, died 1841, East Hoatfiiy, Sussex
Pamela Burgess is a lecturer and adviser on cfiurchiyards and cfiurcfiyard memorials in England, continuing ttie work
of hier late fiusband, Frederick Burgess, whose book English Churchyard Memorials was reprinted by SPCK, Holy
Trinity Church, l\/larylebone Road, London, NW1 4DU in 1979. l\/lrs. Burgess is also the author of Churchyards,
published by SPCK in 1980.
All the illustrations for this article show terracotta set into headstones, mostly of Portland stone.
Gravestone Studies in Northern Ireland. The Ulster Historial Foundation has for many years
been actively involved in the recording and publishing of pre-1900 gravestone inscriptions in
Northern Ireland. They have published 24 volumes of gravestone inscriptions, 19 volumes for
County Down and a completely new and enlarged edition of Vol. 5, 2 for County Antrim and 2 for
Belfast. This represents about a quarter of the total number of pre-1900 inscriptions in Northern
Ireland. During the last few months, the Ulster Historical Foundation has launched a new scheme
whose purpose is threefold: to clear up overgrown and neglected cemeteries, transcribe pre-1900
gravestone inscriptions in Northern Ireland for publication, and last, but not least, provide work for
a few of the young unemployed seventeen year-olds who are the unwitting victims of the
economic and political difficulties which confront Northern Ireland.
Clearance work continues on the oldest graveyard in Belfast, Friar's Bush. Work in this graveyard
has progressed to the point that it is now once again a public amenity and it is hoped that
arrangements can be made for its preservation in this state. This graveyard, which rests in the
shadow of the Ulster Museum, was a burial place for all denominations until 1 829. Since that time
Friar's Bush has been used almost exclusively by Roman Catholics and there is a tradition that
the graveyard was used for open air masses when the Penal Laws were enforced against
Dissenters in the 1 8th century.
The Director of the Ulster Historical Foundation has written AGS to say that they are exploring the
possibility of collaborating with societies in North America in producing joint publications of
inscriptions of Irish interest from graveyards in the United States in particular. They also have a
firm prospect of starting such a collaboration with a series of volumes on the Irish in Boston. For
more information on these projects and publications, contact Mr. B. Trainer, Director, Ulster
Historical Foundation, 66 Balmoral Ave., Belfast, BT9 6NY, Northern Ireland.
Q0^
The Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society (2215 Millstream Road, Lancaster, PA) has
translated the inscription on the Penryn, Pennsylvania, marker that was illustrated on page 22 of
the Fall, 1 984, issue of the Newsletter. David Smucker, genealogist for the Society, writes:
In consultation with others here at the Society, we can be sure of the letters in the outer
circle.
"Kom Sterblicher Betrachte Mich'
Come, mortal one, consider me.
or
The inner circle of letters is "WAS ICH B" which we believe is the beginning of "Was ich bin,
so wirst auch dich" or What I am, so you will.also be.
AGSW84/5p4
IN SEARCH OF OUR MYSTERY CARVER
by Theodore Chase and Laurel Gabel
Most articles on the attribution of early New England gravestones are success stories. This is a
tale of frustration and a cry for help.
An anonymous 18th century artisan, who we have called the Mystery Carver, currently tops our
"most wanted list". He remains at large despite our graveyard stake-outs and several years of
digging. Disguised as detectives, genealogists, local historians and probate sleuths, we've
pursued him in three states . . . with very little success. He is still a missing person. Review the
evidence with us; perhaps you will see the obvious clue, the missing link that has eluded us for so
long. Who is the Mystery Carver?
First and foremost, he is a marvelously gifted artist! We suspect that he was based for a time in
one of the towns west of Boston, as his work, the eloquent and slightly bemused effigies that
epitomise his style, appears in Watertown, Newton, Waltham and Weston, Massachusetts in the
late 1 750's and early 1 760's (Fig. 1 ). He did not produce a great number of stones (one or two in
1760, perhaps ten in 1765 .... a total of less than 100 stones between 1758 and 1768), but they
are beautiful and distinctive. Carving on fine-grained green/gray slate, often layered with a dusty
mauve color, the Mystery Carver frequently used:
* visible carving guidelines
* neat, cuneiform stipling as a background for tympanum or border designs on all but his simplest
stones
* side panel borders unlike any Boston/Charlestown or other designs of the time, except for
borders, attributed to Soule, found on stones in Grafton and Deerfield of the early 1770's (Fig.
2)
* a ruffled bib under the chin; crossed bones or an hour glass above the head in the tympanum
design; a crooked or smiling mouth
* several different and interchangeable designs for wings, hair, eyes, nose and mouth (Fig. 3)
* unique lettering characteristics; the Mystery Carver appears to have been the first to use the
widely copied (and as yet unexplained) large lower case "a" to begin the word "age" (Fig. 4)
(^
Figure 1
Hannah Moor, 1 765. Bolton, MA, Berlin Road
Figure 2
Stones, unquestionably by his hand, are scattered as far afield as Woodstock and Abington, CT,
with examples of his work appearing in the Massachusetts towns of Brookfield, Bolton, Brighton,
Brimfield, Cambridge, Framingham, Grafton, Hopkinton, Holliston, Lincoln, Marlborough,
Needham, Oxford, Petersham, Quincy, Roxbury, Rutland, Sherborn, Shrewsbury, Southborough,
South Natick, Sudbury, Sutton, Stow, Sturbridge, Upton and Wayland. Why are his relatively few
stones so widely scattered? We've checked family genealogy on many of these far-flung stones
and found no obvious explanation. Was the Mystery Carver connected in some way to the
itinerent Soules? There are vague design similarities to the South Shore carving style of
Hay ward/ Howard and Soule. Whoever he was, the Mystery Carver was accomplished and
relatively sophisticated for the dates and locations of his work. Yet none of his stones appear in
Boston or Boston's seaport markets; most are distributed in Middlesex and Worcester counties to
the west of Boston. Where did he learn to carve? Why did his unique style die out in the late
1760's?Ordidit?
continued
AGSW84/5P5
Figure 3
a. Martha Williams, wife of Isaac; 1763, Newton MA
b. Esther Ward, wife of Joseph, 1761, Newton MA
c. Nathaniel Harris, 1761, Watertown MA
There are a large number of somewhat similar stones dating from about 1768 to 1772 and
concentrated in an area around Marlborough and Newton that may turn out to be the Mystery
Carver's later work. But it is difficult to reconcile the later, more ordinary mass produced markers
with the earlier unique examples of his artistry which are finely executed and more interesting.
The case for Ebenezer Howard suggests an intriguing, but unproved, theory.
We devised a worksheet to gather data on all of the possible Mystery Carver stones and then set
out to check the probate records on every one, in high hopes of finally pinning down this elusive
carver. No luck. However, we did stumble on a tiny clue in the probate papers of John Cheney
(1770, Warren, MA). Cheney's estate paid for a pair of gravestones "cut at Marlboro". Although
the Cheney stone is different from the earlier Mystery Carver stones, there are also some striking
similarities (Fig. 5). The three old Marlborough burying grounds are rich in stones much like the
Cheney model, most dating between 1768 and 1770. We knew of no stonecutter working in or
near Marlborough, but an examination of land records disclosed a 1768 deed of land in
Marlborough to one Ebenezer Howard "of Newton stonecutter"! In a mortgage dated a little
more than a year later, the same Ebenezer Howard is described as "of Marlborough
stonecutter". And the deed of the same land dated in 1773 describes Ebenezer Howard "of
Rindge, New Hampshire yeoman". We followed Howard's trail to Rindge, hoping to find
there a yard full of Mystery Carver stones. Again, disappointment. We did find that Ebenezer
Howard had acquired land in Rindge early in 1771 and apparently lived there for a time, because
church records confirm the births of three of his children, the last recorded in 1777. But burying
grounds in the Rindge area yielded only two rather disappointing stones that were in any way
similar to the John Cheney stone "cut at Marlboro": Moses Hale, 1762 (backdated) and Abel
Platts, 1777, both in Rindge and both carved on a hard, coarse local stone. Back to the drawing
board! We obviously needed to know a lot more about this Ebenezer Howard, late of Newton,
Marlborough and now, Rindge.
Figure 5
John Cheney, 1 770, Warren MA
^m
Figure 4
Hannah LIvermore, formerly wife of Daniel Harrington,
1765, WalthamMA
continued
Except for one encouraging connection, we have been able to confirm very little. Ebenezer
Howard was probably born between 1735 and 1740; his parents have not been identified. In 1764
he married Mary Hastings of Newton. Mary, born in 1742, was the daughter of Samuel and
Hepzibah Dana Hastings and an older sister of Newton stonecutter Daniel Hastings (1749-1803).
Three years after his marriage, Ebenezer signed a petition for support of the central school in
Newton (placing his residence in the eastern part of Newton near the Hastings home), and
sometime "before 1772" a son, Charles, was born to Ebenezer and Mary Hastings Howard of
Newton. There seems little doubt that Ebenezer Howard and Daniel Hastings worked together for
a while. There is much similarity in their work. There is also a probate payment made in 1770
(Caleb Dana, 1769, Cambridge) to Ebenezer Howard for a tombstone L4.0.0, followed by a
payment to Daniel Hastings for cutting the same, LO.15.8. The only other known probate payment
to Howard appears in the estate of Caleb Dana, Jr., who also died in 1769; the account, allowed in
1772, shows Eban' Howard paid LI. 16. 6 for a pair of gravestones. Neither of these stones
survive, although apparently Caleb Dana's fine tomb was once in the Market Street burying
ground in Brighton. The probate entries for Caleb Dana, Sr. and Jr. which should have led us
directly to the work of Ebenezer Howard, and perhaps therefore to that of the Mystery Carver,
have led instead to another dead end.
Is Ebenezer Howard the Mystery Carver we are looking for? His approximate birth date,
residence in Newton, ties to the Hastings family and removal from the area at about the time that
the Mystery Carver stones cease, all provide circumstantial evidence for this theory. But the only
stones we can assign to him with any confidence are sufficiently different from the early Mystery
Carver stones to cause real doubt. The vital link is missing.
There are a few problematic stones in the Mystery Carver style done after 1770 when we believe
Ebenezer Howard ceased to carve in the area. All of these stones are in some way associated
with Daniel Hastings, which suggests that Hastings worked for, or with, the Mystery Carver,
whether or not he was Ebenezer Howard.
The answer is out there somewhere in more information about Ebenezer Howeard and his
roots, more analysis of the stones, a study of the early work of Daniel Hastings, and maybe a
lucky clue. Can you help?
Theodore Chase and Laurel Gabel are respectively President and Vice-President of AGS. Their previous research
collaboration resulted in an article, "James Wilder of Lancaster l\/lassachusetts, Stonecutter 1741-1794". published in
the New England Historic and Genealogical Register, April, 1983, and which was summarized in this Newsletter,
Winter 1982/3, Vol. 7 #1.
\*^« Weathering of marble tombstones
'*'fifSf When Thomas C. Meierding, a geologist at the University of
•?* Delaware in Newark, wanted to study how weathering wears
•?5. down stones in a variety of climates, he turned to cemeteries to
a^S' do his fieldwork.. Marble tombstones in particular seemed an
y ideal indicator of weathering over the last century because they
wear down more rapidly than granites, and unlike sandstone,
marble weathers fairly evenly. Moreover, only a few quarries
served the United States when the stones were widely installed
from 1860 to 1910. so the marble composition was fairly uniform.
However, Meierding's hopes of incorporating tombstone
weathering into a more general model of weathering dissolved,
he says, wtien he found that the effects of air pollution, including
acid rain, overshadowed normal weathering in many regions. In
Philadelphia he and a colleague discovered that flaking — an
effect more dramatic than the gradual dissolution of marble
grains due to weathering — of tombstones sampled in 70 ceme-
teries was most severe in the inner city where pollution levels
were highest. The researchers suspect that sulfur dioxide (SOn)
. — the pollutant involved in acid rain production — is responsible
for flaking, because the flakes confined 5 percent sulfur Nitro-
gen, another common pollutant, appears not to be involved. By
comparing old photographs with the tombstones, the scientists
also estimated rates of flaking over the last century. The most
dramatic increases took place between 1935 and 1960 when both
SO2 and atmospheric acidity were highest in Philadelphia.
In his most recent work, Meierding looked at 80 cemeteries
scattered across the rural United States and found that weather-
ing rates correlate highly with rainfall acidity maps. To de-
termine how much the tombstones had worn away, he compared
the bottoms of the stones, which tend to retain their original
thickness and polish, with the tops. Weathering rates were com-
puted by dividing the reductions in thickness by the stones' em-
placement ages. The highest rates, up to 2 millimeters per 100
years, are found in the Ohio River Valley. Lower weathering rates
occur in the deserts of the West, but also in areas like the South-
east. Maine and Hawaii that have high rainfall but little acid rain.
From the journal Science News, (Vol. 126) November 17,
1984, sent by James Tibensky, Berwyn IL
ITALIAN CEMETERIES AND MARBLE MARKERS
by Ruth O. Cowell
Figure 1
Horizontal part of the cemetery in Fontia, Italy
Twenty years ago, when I first started to make rubbings of early New England gravestones, I
never suspected that my interest would lead me to the source of the marble used by the greatest
maker of grave markers of them all: Michaelangelo! Even more remote was the thought that I, like
my grandfather and great-grandfather before me would become an avid stone carver! Yet this
past summer, while the other members of AGS were conferencing in Connecticut, I was in
Carrara, Italy, learning to use power tools on Carrara marble in a program sponsored by Brooklyn
College. I was not carving gravestones, although the studio in which I worked contained an exact
reproduction of the most imposing grave marker of all time: Michaelangelo's Moses for the grave
of Pope Julius II. I had marvelled in awe at the original in the St. Peter's in Vincoli Basilica in Rome
before going to Carrara, but after six weeks of working under its facsimile, I saw it as an old and
inspirational friend.
My hotel room faced the street down which rumbled the gigantic trucks hauling marble — at the
rate of about one a minute it seemed — from 5 AM to about 7 PM. Marble in all sizes, from chips to
tons, was trucked out of the amazing quarries, which have been supplying sculptors and builders
since Roman times. The veins go deep into the mountains and the source is probably
inexhaustible. The tremendous slag heaps covering the mountain sides give a snowcapped
appearance, glaciers of marble which are impervious to the torrid heat of the Italian summer sun.
It is hard to imagine that less than 100 years ago these large blocks of marble were hauled down
from the quarries by teams of four, six or eight oxen. An old photograph in our hotel proved this
was so.
As one of the original members of AGS, I have not entirely forgotten my former obsession with
gravestones and graveyards. In Pietrasanta, a small town near Carrara which is the mecca of
sculptors from all over the world, our class was taken to a stone yard. Here master carvers (men
from families where stone carving had been a tradition for many generations) were executing the
most elaborate flower and religious designs with only a picture to guide them. Lacking power
tools, Michaelangelo had just such artisans helping him with his Moses! One elderly man,
described as "the best flower carver in Italy", proudly told us that he was 70 years old. He was
amazed to iearn that I, a student of carving, was older than he. He held out his matello (air
hammer) to me! I did not accept it!
Figure 2
Artisani in Pietrosanta who proudly said he was 70! The
oval will be the repository for a photograph of the
deceased
continued
Around Carrara the mountains tumble into the sea, leaving little room for the towns and cities of
the Italian Riviera, and certainly no space for graveyards as we know them on the hills of New
England. The steep mountain sides- are covered completely, wherever arable, by terraced
vineyards, with the towns nestled at the base, or clinging to the steep sides, in the vicinity of the
quarries.
In one of these little towns, Fontia, I visited a small graveyard. One section, about 20 by 100 feet,
was "traditional", crowded with beautifully hand-carved marble stones, each with a photograph of
the deceased in its marble-framed niche. The greater number of graves were above ground in a
vertical cemetery. This may be a forecast of cemeteries of the future, as land throughout the world
becomes more necessary for life rather than for death. One startling and beautiful innovation
here, and throughout this part of Italy, is the placing of large bouquets of fresh flowers on almost
every grave, whether horizontal or vertical. I cannot read Italian, but the stones seemed to contain
only birth and death dates in addition to the elaborate and beautiful religious subjects or flower
carvings.
On another day, I visited a fantastic little town, Vernazza, one of the "cinque terre" (five lands) that
lie at the foot of the mountains, each sheltered by its own tiny peninsula which juts into the sea.
The houses were literally piled on top of each other, with "streets" about three feet wide. The
gardens were in flower pots. This town can be reached only by boat, footpath, or the train, which
tunnels down this part of the mountainous coast of the Riviera from Genoa to LaSpezia. I
wandered up and down the tiny town, climbing the "street/stairs" until I was breathless. Where,
here, could there be room for a cemetery? When our boat pulled away from the harbor, I saw it,
high on the mountain top. A vertical cemetery, with its gaping holes making a checkerboard of
occupied and waiting-to-be-occupied squares. No need here for such carved epitaphs as "as I am
now, so shall you be"!
Ruth Cowell of Westwood NJ is a former board member and former corresponding secretary of AGS. She has
become an avid student of stone sculpture.
BOOKS AND ARTICLES
A Shaker Connection for Gravestones. In a recently published monograph Daniel W. Patterson
suggests that New England gravestone designs were among the visual models that inspired
Shaker artists drew upon for artworks they produced in the 1840's and 1850's. He sees
gravestone motifs such as the winged skull and the trumpet of Judgment reinterpreted as Shaker
symbols in works of artists from the community at Mount Lebanon, NY, and thinks the
husband-and-wife headstone may have offered an organizing design for a series of visionary
drawings he attributes to Sister Sarah Bates of the same community. The most prolific artist in the
Shaker community at Hancock, Mass., was Polly Collins, who may be directly related to the
stonecutter Zerubbabel Collins. Polly's father Benjamin bears a surname common in
Zerubbabel's family and had lived in Cambridge, NY, just over the Vermont border from where the
stonecarver worked. Polly was nineteen when her family moved from Cambridge to the Hancock
Shakers and is likely to have seen stones by Zerubbabel standing in sites around Cambridge.
Needlework was the dominant influence upon the paintings she made as a Shaker, but a few
elements in them — as well as her unusual artistic gifts — seem indebted to the Collins family
tradition.
Patterson's monograph is entitled Gift Song and Gift Drawing: A Study of Two Forms of
Shaker Inspiration. It sells for $24.95 in paperback and may be ordered from the publisher. The
United Society of Shakers, Sabbathday Lake, Poland Spring, Maine 04274. Patterson is the
Chairman of the graduate program in Folklore at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
and has for some years been at work on a study of early gravestones in North and South Carolina
and their Pennsylvania connections.
The IVIaterial History Bulletin, published twice yearly by the National Museum of Man, Ottawa,
Canada, will feature a special issue on death and dying, dealing specifically with Canadian topics.
Anyone wanting more information about this special issue can contact the guest editor. Dr. Gerald
L. Pocius, Advanced Studies, Winterthur Museum, Winterthur DE 1 9735, phone (302) 656-8591 .
A book of very dramatic photographs, Highgate Cemetery, Victorian Valhalla, was published in
the United States by Salem House, Salem, New Hampshire, 03079. The photographs are by John
Gay, with an introduction by Felix Barker. We hope to be able to include a review of this
interesting record of an English Victorian Cemetery in a future issue of the Newsletter.
y\/^0 \A/a /t I c D r»
A significant aid to inistoricai, genealogical or gravestone research is The Cemetery Record
Compendium compiled by John "D" and E. Diane Stemmons and published in 1979 by the
Everton Publishers, Inc. This 261 page book is a state-by-state, town-by-town directory of
cemetery records; and includes where these records are located. For more information, contact
Everton Publishers, Inc., P.O. Box 368, Logan, Utah 84321.
submitted by Laurel Gabel, Pittsford NY
The Journal of Garden History, an international quarterly voiumc4 Number 3 juiy-sc-pumbcr i984
published in England but distributed in North America by
Taylor & Francis Inc., 242 Cherry St, Philadelphia PA,
19106-1906, devoted the July-September issue (Vol. 4, InUVfl/l nV
#3) to "Cemetery & Garden". We hope to be able to JWUll t l^L^L KJJ
Garden History
include a review of this special issue in the Spring
Newsletter.
AN INTERNATIONAL QUARTERLY
Cemetery & Garden
Co-edited by David Sciiuyler
Editorial 209
P^re Lachaise and tlie Garden Cemetery Richard A. Etlin 211
The Design of Early British Cemeteries James Stevens Curl 223
Mount Auburn: Fortunate Coincidences and an Ideal Solution
Barbara [^otundo 257
The emergence of the American landscape professional; John Notman and
the design of rural cemeteries Keith N. Morgan 269
The Evolution of the Anglo-American Rural Cemetery: Landscape
Architecture as Social and Cultural History David Schuyler 291
A note on the Garden-Cemetery in Ctigis by Chritien de Troyes
Marline l*aul 305
Problems of Symbolism in Cemetery Monutnents
Hraiues Clegg 307
"Death, Italian Style" is the title of a lecture presented by Dartmouth College Art Historian Robert
McGrath at the Brattleboro (VT) Museum of Art on November 30, 1984. In his lecture. Professor
McGrath focused on the late 19th century works in Barre Vermont's Hope Cemetery, relating
these monuments by expatriate Italian carvers to the traditions of baroque and neo-classical
Italian funerary sculpture of such masters as Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) and Antonio Canova
(1757-1822).
MARKERS ill
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Where the Bay Meets the River: Gravestones and Stonecutters in the River Towns of Western
Massachusetts, 1690-1810
Kevin M. Sweeney
Speaking Stones: New England Grave Carvings and the Emblematic Tradition
Lucien L Agosta
The Colburn Connections: Hollis, New Hampshire, Stonecarvers, 1780-1820
Tfieodore Cliase and Laurel K. Gabel
'A Particular Sense of Doom': The Revival of Skeletal Imagery in the Merrimack River Valley
Peter Benes
Signed Stones: An Addendum
Sue Kelly and Anne Williams
Markers III should be available by mid-February, 1985. The price will be: for the public $11.25
(soft cover), $22.75 (hard cover); for AGS members $10.25 (soft cover), $20.75 (hard cover). We
will be making refunds to those who paid $16.00 (!). Markers III is available from AGS
Executive Secretary, Rosalee Oakley, 46 Plymouth Rd., Needham, MA 021 92.
Back issues of the Newsletter. The offer made on the back page of the Summer 1984 issue of
the AGS Newsletter is now DISCONTINUED. This was an offer of packets of back issues at set
prices made for the 1984 Conference. Back issues will still be available, but at $3.00 an individual
copy from Rosalee Oakley, 46 Plymouth Rd., Needham, MA 021 92.
RECEIVED FOR THE ARCHIVES
In recent months, a number of copies of newspaper articles have been received from members
for the AGS archives, available to -any AGS member at the New England Historic and
Genealogical Society, 101 Newbury St., Boston MA.
These include:
"Death is full of life if you're a ghostduster" by Dennis McCann. Milwaukee Journa/, September
16, 1984, pages 1, 14.
"Dunn cemetery: History in Neglect" by Timothy Ropel. Stoughton Wl Courier-Hub, July 26,
1984.
"Sentinels of the Past" by Jean Geracie. Brookfield Wl News/EIrr) Leaves, August 2, 1984, pages
1-2.
"Historical Group Now Owns Cemetery in Ohio" Knightstown IN Tri-State Trader, April 2, 1983,
page 1 1 .
"Clyde man won't let history die" by Ron Seely. Wiscorjsin State Journal, August 1 9, 1 984,
section 4, page 1 .
submitted by Phil Kallas, Stevens Point Wl
"Indians, Air Force work to protect burial grounds". Cleveland OH Plain Dealer, October 19,
1984.
submitted by Laurel Gabel, Pittsford NY.
"Indian Cemetery Being Washed Away" by George Snyder. San Francisco Chronicle, October
27,1984.
submitted by Mary Frances Stewart, Sacramento CA.
"Graveyard Gothics" by Rick Mashburn. Americana, November/December 1984.
submitted by Pat Miller, Sharon CT.
MEMBER NEWS
AGS Connecticut Tours 1985. There were four graveyard tours in Connecticut in 1984, and the
1 985 Tour Program has been scheduled as follows:
DATE PLACE TOUR LEADER
April 20 Haddam Jonathan Twiss
May 18 Newtown Daniel Hearn
June 15 Cornwall Pat Miller
July 20 South Windsor Talcott & Lorraine Clapp
August 17 Mansfield Center Jim Slater
September 21 Goodwin Park Fred Fredette
October 19 Old Saybrook Jim Halpin
Each tour is the third Saturday of the month (except November) at 10 AM. These Tours are free
and all are welcome, just bring a box lunch, to be eaten in a graveyard, and let Pat Miller, Sharon
CT, (203) 435-0163 know if you are planning on coming. Anyone interested, contact Pat Miller,
P.O. Box 1151, Sharon, CT 06069 for more details.
Kevin Sweeney, who has conducted important gravestone research in the Connecticut River
Valley, has accepted a position as Teaching Associate at the Winterthur Museum, Winterthur,
DE. He will leave his post as Administrator of the Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum in Wethersfield,
CT, to devote himself full time to teaching and research at Winterthur.
Mr. Sweeney's article on Connecticut gravestone carvers is the featured article in the new volume
of the AGS journal. Markers IV. He presented a paper on this subject at the Open Forum held at
the Connecticut Historical Society as part of the 1984 AGS conference program. AGS members
who participated in that conference's graveyard tour will remember Mr. Sweeney as the guide for
the Wethersfield sector of the tour and organizer of the tour lunch at the Webb-Deane-Stevens
Museum. He is currently working with William Hosley on the Wadsworth Atheneum exhibition of
early Connecticut Valley art and on an essay on gravestone art for the exhibition catalog.
Mr. Sweeney will assume his new post in January, 1985, and can be reached after January 1 at
the Office of Advanced Studies, Winterthur Museum, Winterthur, DE 19735.
Looking for a winter project? Laurel Gabel (AGS Research) has an ever-expanding file of
research projects awaiting attention. There are probate records to be checked, carvers to identify,
established carvers about whom little is known to research, bibliographic references to compile
for each carver, etc. If you have some extra time and might enjoy this kind of sleuthing, please
contact Laurel Gabel, 205 Fishers Rd., Pittsford, NY 14534, phone (716) 248-3453.
STONECUTTERS & THEIR WORKS
fifteenth installment
Thomas Brown of New York City
by Richard Welch
Figure 1
Slidell children, Trinity Cliurchyard NYC, 1770
Rubbing from Gravestone Designs by Emily Wasserman
(Dover, 1972) plate 42b
At first glance the Slidell children stone (Trinity Churchyard, New York City, 1770, fig. 1) with its
delicately engraved tossled-haired cherub, and the Mary Smith marker (Nisseqougue NY, 1766,
fig. 2) emblazoned with a stark skull and crossbones, complete with sharp pointed teeth, seem to
have little in common. They were both, however, products of the workshop of Thomas Brown of
New York City.
Brown was an English emigrant craftsman who announced his arrival from London in the New
York Gazette or Weekly Post-Boy on August 30, 1764. He titled his workshop "Thomas Brown
and Co." which indicates that he employed assistants or apprentices. One of the latter was
probably his son, Nathaniel. Brown's advertisement also offered lessons in drawing and
architecture. In his first Post-Boy ad, and in subsequent newspaper notices. Brown emphasized
his supply of marble. Nevertheless, both Brown and his competitors worked almost exclusively
with New Jersey sandstone until the 1790's. It is significant, however, that the earliest
symbolically decorated marble marker carved by a New York cutter, the Mary Lawrence stone,
(Steinway NY, 1767), is his work.
Brown fashioned both resurrection symbols (soul effigies) and mortality designs (crossbones and
skulls & crossbones). He cut both styles during the 1760-1776 period, with the mortality symbols
having a slight numerical edge: twenty-five to nineteen. Since Brown could craft either symbol
with facility, the preference for mortality images was apparently a popular choice — and an
unusual one for the post-1760 years. Brown also possessed a repertory of less common funerary
motifs such as Masonic and floral patterns. More impressive was his design depicting a snake
biting its tail. Three extant examples of Brown's rendition of this ancient symbol of immortality
remain {fig. 3). On two of these the snake is superimposed over crossbones with a "Time how
short. Eternity how long" motto reinforcing the message of the symbol.
\i M*i ! '•"%>»,'!; s.
<
f*
■r:~m^^^^&^^
Figure 2
Mary Smith, Nisseqougue NY, 1 766
Figure 3
John Gedney, Mamaroneck NY, 1766
continued
Though trained in England, Brown did not follow the molded relief provincial baroque style popular
in the land of his birth. His cherub does bear some relation to the naturalistic approach of the
provincial baroque, but, even when rendered in relief on his more expensive stones, the cherub is
closer in spirit to the plainer, more static style of the vernacular carvers than to English provincial
baroque.
Despite the diversity of Brown's symbols, several characteristics reveal their common origin. On
his less expensive products. Brown frequently left the space between shoulder and tympanum
only partly cut through (see fig. 2). Even more distinctive is his lettering. Brown's letters, in Gothic,
Italic and Roman styles, are obviously the work of a master craftsman. Among the more
distinctive letters are the small "a" with bent upper loop, and a small "g" with a flattened lower
loop which frequently does not quite meet the upper. His numeral "1" is a delicate italic "J ", and
his "7" is an exquisite number with a long, lithe descender. "8" is his clumsiest number, seemingly
fashioned from a capital "S" with loop extensions.
The Revolutionary War had a detrimental effect on New York gravestone cutters, and Brown was
no exception. His output plummeted during the decade between 1773 and 1783. After the war,
Brown adjusted to the trend in the Lower Hudson Valley region towards unadorned markers. Only
two of his symbol-carved markers survive with dates after 1776. One is the Gertrude van der
Heyden stone (Albany, NY, 1784), which bears a unique double cherub design. It is the only
known signed Thomas Brown stone.
Evidence gleaned from newspapers and city directories indicates that Brown moved about a great
deal, though always in the same general area — the west side of lower Manhattan, close to the
major churchyards of the period. Brown last appears in city directories in 1791 and apparently
died shortly thereafter. His son, Nathaniel, disappears from the record five years later. Lettering
on markers from the 1795-1805 period suggest several stonecutters trained by Brown remained
active after their master's death.
Forty-nine Brown workshop symbol-carved memorials survive. All but four are located in
Manhattan, Long Island and Westchester County. Thomas Brown's own gravesite remains
unknown.
Richard Welch, of Huntington NY. has written for a number of historical journals and popular magazines. He is also the
author of Momenta Mori: Gravestones of Early Long Island, 1620-1810, published by the Friends of Long Island
Heritage, Syosset NY, in 1983.
An interesting story. Martha Asher and Kim Carpenter discovered that the Park children stone
(1803, Grafton VT) has been mounted in cement. (!) Asher wrote to Grafton about this, and got
from them a response of a sort (they scribbled a couple of remarks on the letter and returned it) to
which Asher responded, and then sent copies of all correspondence, with explanation, to AGS.
Asher's letter mentions that the cement covers the signature on the Park children's stone. This is
electrifying, for no one else has ever mentioned its being signed. A telephone inquiry brought from
Asher, Registrar of the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown MA, a photo of a rubbing made by Kim
Carpenter before the stone was sunk in cement, with an enlarged detail of a carved "M" or "W" at
the base. Kim Carpenter, who lives in Everett MA is studying the AGS "logo carver". Newsletter
readers may have opinions concerning this mark: signature? quarry mark? practice carving?
This story is not only interesting; it has some lessons
them in cement.
document your stones, and don't sink
"Icmorv o( ' ^tlhlVIcmoiy o
/la.s K.Palk .liiii'' ] ' |l{rlHC ca Rjik wife v>{\
jnd Tliirlcch Iiifiinl.s. \ RlVliTlK)mi.isl<,Pcirl<. |
2:»iilcli:cn of Mr. jj ' fwlioD.fd ..Sfplt'J?^!:
iH gncj TJiirU't h Iiifiinl
% ChilclKn of \i\v
■'it Thomas- iCPcii-Ujaii
■fn' , ■■■".-■ -v" ". , :
friSr I PscLccca his \vi(<'
I oo 5 in t!ic'lo'-yot)i|
J of lltl- cIgC.: -p (
3 , ' \
hrl'ofj (iikI/i fjv fjuu jjtm ii(j, ' ..ll
Ml/ lvljr['v,n/jifr//f/ii/lt/jWf ll(\
Oldnri/owt^ tjoujoonniuil ilif:. "
^ndiutn'todiistui ufll <iv y. ;■.
7fSi'-\ie^ i
Help for teachers! Michael Flannigan, a 7th grade geography teacher in Hopkinton, IVIA, has for
several years taken his classes to the local graveyards for primary research into the community's
cultural background. This year his gravestone unit was so enthusiastically received by his
students and also by their parents that he is enlarging the unit. He has asked AGS for assistance.
His request for useful printed material has pointed up several disturbing facts:
Although Mr. Flannigan has been actively involved with gravestone studies for several years, he
only recently learned of the Association's existence. Clearly, AGS's lines of communication with
educators needs strengthening.
Although he has collected a file of source material, including a teachers' guide, only one item in
his file mentions AGS as a source of information. We need to promote the organization more
aggressively.
Although AGS has produced some materials that would be helpful to teachers setting up
gravestone study units, the Association has never thought to develop a ready-to-mail packet of
resource material for grade school and high school teachers.
These deficiencies can be viewed as an opportunity, even an obligation. With help, the
Association can take some positive action, such as:
1. Collect materials for assisting teachers planning units on gravestone studies. Ideally, this
collection should include everything available, not excluding weak materials which need
improvement.
2. Evaluate these materials and prepare a list of good source material for teachers, together with
reading lists (one for teachers and one for students), and suggestions for field trips and other
learning activities.
3. Contact organizations that have produced this kind of teaching materials and ask them to
mention AGS as a source of assistance.
4. Contact educational publications that reach large numbers of grade school and high school
teachers. Through these publications, offer AGS resources to interested teachers.
To accomplish the above, your assistance is needed. The procedure can be as simple as sending
a postcard mentioning the existence of a source of gravestone-related material written for
teachers. But if you have an extra copy you can spare, we would appreciate your sending the
material itself. This can be anything specifically written to aid the grade school or high school
teacher develop and teach a gravestone study unit — a teaching guide, a bibliography, a
pamphlet, a research paper, a published article, or just a reference to available literature. In
addition, please send the names and addresses of any organizations you may know of that have
produced gravestone-related teaching aids; also names and addresses of educational
publications that are read by grade school and high school teachers. Reports from or about
teachers who have taught gravestone study units would also be helpful.
Members who respond to this call will be helping AGS bring an important new service to
individuals and organizations interested in gravestone study. You will be helping AGS encourage
more teachers to incorporate this kind of study in their programs. You will be helping grade school
and high school students appreciate gravemarkers as cultural artifacts. Finally, you may help
some of the organizations producing teaching materials to improve their products.
We hope AGS members will not assume that somebody else will send the needed information;
somebody else may not. So please send or tell AGS about any material you know of that is
addressed to the needs of the classroom teacher at the grade school or high school level. Mr.
Flannigan has agreed to assist AGS by collecting and organizing members' responses to this
notice. Please mail your responses to Michael Flannigan, 15 Cedar St., Westborough, MA 01 581.
=2^^
The source of the engraving on page 23 of the Fall '84 Newsletter was not identified, but came
from Churchyards by Pamela Burgess, published in London by SPCK, 1980, p. 9. This depicted
a "brambled" grave. Brambles (rubus fruticosus) are the long woody runners, covered in thorns,
of a wild plant that grows throughout England. Mrs. Burgess writes that the brambling at
Braughing, Hertfordshire, has a curious story. A rich farmer named Matthew Wall died, and was
carried to the church in his coffin. One of the coffinbearers slipped on the leaves on the
churchyard path, causing the coffin to be dropped. When the bearers lifted the coffin up they
heard knocking, and upon opening it, found Matthew Wall to be alive! She does not have a date
for this event, but apparently he later married, and when he did die, he was buried in the
churchyard at Braughing. In his will he left various bequests, including a sum for the churchyard
sexton to bramble his grave, and most strangely of all, a sum "for a poor man to sweep the path
from his house to the church gate"!! On October 2 every year it is the custom to "bury him and
marry him" (a knell and peal of bells), the grave is brambled and the road is given a token sweep
outside the church gate. She last witnessed the brambling at Braughing in 1 965.
CONFERENCES
British Columbia Cemeteries will be the subject of a
symposium to be held in Victoria, British Columbia,
Canada, April 27-28, 1985. Registration is $45.00
Canadian (abour $35.00 US), $55.00 Canadian (about
$42.00 US) after March 1 5, 1 985. For more information, or
to register, write to Heritage Cemeteries in BC. Sym-
posium Committee, 628 Battery St., Victoria, BC V8V
1E5, Canada.
Victoria, B. C. April 27-28
1985
ll
HERITflQE
QEHETERIES
m RC.
/SYnF05iqn\
sponsored by
VICTORIA BRANCH. B.C. HISTORICAL FEDERATION
with financial assislanca by
Current Research
Preservation
Guided Tours
Historic Landscapes
Symbolism
Ttie Stonecutter's Art
Legislation
History
Indian Cemeteries
Geneology
REGISTRATION $45. AFTER MARCH 15.1985 $55
INCLUDES BUS TOUR. ONE LUNCH AND RECEPTION
CHEQUE « M.O. PAYABLE TO' B.C. HISTORICAL FEDERATION
C«mel«r[«i to b« visltad lnclud«'
PIONEER SQUARE (leSOs) JEWISH CEMETERY (1860)
NAVAL CEMETERY ROSS BAY CEMETERY (1872)
Write to H.C. SYMPOSIUM, 628 tJATTERY ST, VICTORIA, aC. VOV 1E5
To= H*fH»g» C«fn«teri«a in B.C. Symposium Cooimitte* tn e*TTERv st. vxitori.^ oc v
O Pl«ase find i^istration fM« andosed fof ,
Mr Ms Mrs .
Addrass
City Pnw Code
li ncKmot
CEHETERIES
II IN P.*^ II
Organization r APf-vCAO^ _
Office ph
_ Home ph.
/STn705HJn\
D Please send mofe Infofmation
n I can offef a papet/lalkon
The Society of Historical Archaeology held their annual conference at the Park Plaza Hotel in
Boston, January 9-13, 1985. Of special interest to AGS members was the Thursday afternoon
session "Gravestone Studies Outside of New England", chaired by Norman V. Mackie of William
& Mary University, and the Friday morning session "Preservation and Research of Forgotten,
Abandoned and Historic Cemeteries", chaired by Peter B. Mires of Louisiana State University.
Perhaps we can include a report on the proceedings in a future issue of the Newsletter.
l^gr)
(Sp^Q
@^ (S\
After a gravestone in South Hingham, Massachusetts. "Here hes buried ye body of Mrs. Sarah Pratt who
died Oct^^ 22 1 761 in ye 101^*^ year of her age latterly ye wife of Lieu. John Pratt but formerly ye wife of
Mr. Stephen Garnet. By him she had a numerous posterity running to ye 5th generation in numbers 187"
The above drawing by Peter Benes illustrates the announcement of the 1 0th annual conference of
the Dublin Seminar for New England Folklife, to be held June 29 and 30, 1985, at the Governor
Dummer Academy, Byfield, MA. The subject of the conference will be Families and Ctiildren. For
more information about the conference, address Peter Benes, Director, Dublin Seminar for New
England Folklife, 249 Harrington Avenue, Concord, MA 01 742, or telephone (61 7) 369-7382.
On January 14, 1984, three AGS members spoke at the 24th annual meeting of The Monument
Builders of the Virginias in Norfolk, Virginia. Dan and Jessie Lie Farber presented a slide-lecture
featuring 17th and 18th century gravestones ("An Introduction to Old Gravemarkers as Artifacts"),
and Laurel Gabel talked about 19th century markers in a presentation entitled, "The Rural
Cemetery and the Victorians." A third session, presented by Mrs. Gabel and both Farbers, dealt
with methods of studying and methods of conserving old gravemarkers.
U31131SMaN
«PW
'j»lsa3JO^
Olt-
ON |iujj«<j
a
1 V 4
3DViSOd s n
■OHO lUOHd NON
6091-0 "SSB^ 'j9)sa3JO/w
'A^apos ueuenb^uv ueouaiuvo/o
'sajpn^s 9uo)S9AeJO jo| uoi^epossv
AGS CONFERENCE //
WANTED — PAPERS, PRESENTATIONS, EXHIBITS.
Conference '85 will be held this June at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey. Dr. Alan
Ludwig, author of Graven Images, and a recipient of the AGS Harriet Merrifield Forbes Award,
will give the keynote address. Papers, lectures, informal talks, slide shows, and exhibit materials
are now being accepted for consideration. While speakers and materials relating to all aspects of
gravestone studies — carvers, styles, symbolism, etc. are desired, those dealing with the New
York - New Jersey - Pennsylvania area are especially encouraged. Richard Welch, 55 Cold
Spring Hills Rd., Huntington, NY 11743 and Miriam Silverman, 300 West 55th St., New York NY
10019 are co-chairing the conference. Anyone wishing to make a presentation, give a lecture or
talk, or participate in any way should contact Miriam Silverman. Two days of touring are planned.
As lecture time will be limited, submissions by April will be greatly appreciated. Those having
materials for exhibition should contact Maryanne Mrozinski, 47 Hammond Road, Glen Cove, NY
11542. Let her know how much space you will require, whether for wall, table or free-standing
display.
Benjamin Thomas, 1744, Trinity Cliurcliyard, NYC
David Braseir, 1758, Trinity Ciiurciiyard, NYC. Attributed
carver: Uzal Ward
The AGS NEWSLETTER is published quarterly as a service to members of The Association for Gravestone Studies.
The membership year begins on the date dues are received and ends one year from that date. A one-year
membership entitles the member to four issues of the NEWSLETTER and to participation in the AGS conference in the
year membership is current. Send membership fees (Individual /Institutional, $15; Family, $25; Contributing, $25) to
AGS Executive Secretary Rosalee Oakley, 46 Plymouth Rd., Needham. MA 02192. Back Issues of the NEWSLETTER
are available for $3. 00 per issue from Rosalee Oakley. Order MARKERS, the Journal of the Association for Gravestone
Studies (Vol. 1, $15: Vol. 2, $12; Vol. 3, $10.25) from Rosalee Oakley. Address contributions to MARKERS, Vol. 4, to
David Watters. editor, Dept. of English, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824. Address NEWSLETTER
conthbutions to Deborah Trask, editor, The Nova Scotia Museum, 1747 Summer St., Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 3A6,
Canada. Address other correspondence and orders to Rosalee Oakley. Mail addressed to AGS do The American
Antiquarian Society, Worcester MA 01 609, or to Rosalee Oakley, will be forwarded to the approphate AGS office.
This is Part II of the Spring issue, 1985, V. 9 #2
NEWSLETTER
JEWISH GRAVESTONES IN POLAND
"No more, no more Jewish townships in Poland", wrote Antoni Stonimski on learning about the
mass extermination of Jews in Poland during the Nazi occupation. And there are no cemeteries
either. The fascist invaders tore out the tombstones and used them to pave roads so that they
would be trampled into the earth. The rest was done by time and desolation. This book is the
fruit of the tireless labour and ardent will of one person, Monika Krajewska, who visited the
remains of Jewish cemeteries, looked for them in remote parts of the country, photographed the
relics, and drew up reports on the state of synagogues and graveyards. Searching for a
cemetery or a prayer house, she would sometimes discover Jewish relics in small towns: an old
building orthe traceof a/nezuza/7 on a doorpost.
Despite the destruction, much of what has survived constitutes a valuable relic of a culture
which had developed in Poland throughout centuries, and builds up into a monument to a
people that has been exterminated. Notwithstanding the religious and cultural differences, the
Jewish art of the synagogues and cemeteries forms part of the culture of old Poland. Polish
timber, a sandstone called weeping stone, and granite have gone into the building of that
culture. Monika Krajewska was particularly interested in the traditional tombstones, especially
in the familiar motifs, typical of the small towns of Eastern Europe.
Monika Krajewska's photographs show the old Jewish cemeteries in Poland, or what has
remained of them, in a profoundly moving way. They are not only faithfully true but also of great
emotional depth. She visited innumerable places, tramped an untold number of kilometres with
a knapsack and her photographic gear sometimes to find just a few stones scattered in the
fields with a white village horse grazing among them, or the rusty key to a locked fence behind
which stretched a cemetery, all grown over, which the villagers call "kirkut".
from the introduction to
TIME OF STONES, a book of photographs, rubbings from tombstone reliefs and a selection of
quotations by Monika Krajewska, with an introduction by Anna Kamienska, translated by
Krystyna Keplicz, published in Warsaw by Interpress, 1983, and available in Polish, German,
French and English. (ISBN 83-223-1999-1)
AGSSd'85d15
JEWISH CEMETERIES IN BOOKS
i In 'Memory
iof Ifaao v'5on
[Of Mofes r .
RchcKa Lopft '
died the 4'I'
Tiiri ^4"jL-5
■^Tt'd 6.M" 8t^
9 Days.
n 3 :s j/i
^KcljHtT.i fhc Vt'iff of
"Z-iili,Mi:ili Piiloik.
H'oil Marrl\ ■i'j ; y 64,
Afff.il ^'i Yf.irs
J '. M''y<jn Day;,
Rubbings of the gravestones of Isaac Lopez (c. 1763)
and Rebecca Polock (c. 1764), both attributed to John
Stevens II (1702-78) from the burial ground of Touro
Synagogue, Nevi/port, Rhode Island, are reproduced in
The Jewish Heritage in American Folic Art by Norman L.
Kleeblatt and Gerard C. Wertkin, published by Universe
Books- for the Jewish Museum and the Museum of
American Folk Art. 1984 (paper $10.95, ISSN 0-87663-
858-2). The rubbings are from the collection of AGS
members Anne C. Williams and Susan H. Kelly.
Another very interesting book of photographs pertaining to Jewish cemeteries in Europe is The
Beth Haim of Ouderkerk aan de Amstel, images of a Portugese Jewish cemetery in Holland,
written by L. Alvares Vega, and published by Van Gorcum & Comp. B.V. Assen, Amsterdam
1975.
The first burial in the Portuguese Jewish cemetery at
Ouderkerk aid Amstel (Holland) took place in 1614. This
was for a child, Joseph Senior, son of David, a Parnas
(governor) of Neweh Shalom, one of the two then
existing Portuguese Jewish communities. This photocopy
of a photograph shows the small tombstone as it is
found today. In the course of time it has been damaged.
It was restored last in 1970 under the supervision of the
State Tnstitute for the Preservation of Historic
Monuments. The inscription is still very legible. It
contains a Hebrew poem in which the child says that he
was taken from this world at a tender age and the first to
be buried in this Beth Halm.
Esther Gabay Henriques was the wife of Daniel de la
Penha. She died in 5458/1697 at the age of 40. The
gravestone shows us their house along the Boompjes in
Rotterdam.
Received from Roberta Halporn, 391 Atlantic Ave., Brooklyn NY, 11217, a brochure on the
Shearith Israel Cemeteries of New York City, published in 1980 and available from her for 75(1;
plus 37(1; postage. This mentions particularly the Chatham Square Cemetery, which is the
oldest Jewish cemetery in New York — 1 683-1 805.
AGSSp'85p 16
We have received a note from the Jewish Genealogical Society of Montreal: "Our objective is to
eventually list all people buried in Jev\/ish cemeteries across Canada. After all the photographs
are collected, we will be putting the nSmes on a computer and it will list them alphabetically
with the other data. This information will then be made available to anyone who wants it. The
Canadian Jewish Congress in Montreal has tentatively agreed to publish the information. While
this is going on, we are gathering names in Jewish cemeteries in Montreal where there are an
estimated 100,000 Jews buried." For more information, contact Raymond Whitzman, 4605 St.
Kevin, Apt. 2, Montreal, Quebec, H3W 1N8, Canada
Rochelle Weinstein, Associate Professor and Deputy Chairman of the Department of Music and
Art, Borough of Manhattan Community College, City University of New York, writes that her
dissertation "Sepulchral Monuments of the Jews of Amsterdam in the 1 7th and 1 8th Centuries"
(NYU 1979) is being readied for publication. "In this research area my own interests are in the
art and history of the Jews of the Hamburg region, the Netherlands, and their American and
Antilles colonial settlements and cemeteries. North German research has also brought me in
contact with Walter Luden, author of a recent major contribution to gravestone studies:
Redende Steine: Grabsteine auf der Insel Fohr, (Hamburg: Christians Verlag, 1984). It is
profusely illustrated with many figurative reliefs, with epitaph transcriptions (chiefly 18th
century seafarers) and informative text and bibliography."
MEMBER NEWS
Photo of AGS member Lynette Strangstad in the
Circular Congregational Church's graveyard,
Charleston SC, reprinted from the Charleston News &
Courier in Stone in America, October 1984.
The trade journal Stone in America, official magazine of the American Monument Association,
6902 N. High St., Worthington, Ohio 43085, dedicated a large section in the October 1984 issue
(Vol. 97 #10) to AGS and the topic of old gravestones. An article by Mark Youngkin states that
"knowledge of old monuments and their value is simply good business for retailers. . . Any
monument dealer can use old monuments as a new way to develop business prospects. By
establishing the local retail monument business as the resident expert on conservation, dealers
can tap a popular, interesting public relations vehicle. . . Generally recognized as the best
source for monument retailers to find out more about conservation of old memorials is the
Association for Gravestone Studies."
Since this was printed, Dan and Jessie Farber and Laurel Gabel represented AGS on the
program of the Monument Makers of the Virginias, in Norfolk, VA, Jan. 15. "It was our first
experience speaking to members of the modern monument industry, and we were gratified by
the warm reception we received. A nice spin-off was the opportunity to be inserted into the
program of the meeting of New England monument builders held the following week in
Worcester, MA. Our presentation was sponsored by Royal Melrose Granites, Cold Spring,
Minnesota."
This is a tribute to F. Winston Luck, a man who recognized burial grounds as endangered
cultural sites and took exemplary action. In the early 1970's, Luck spearheaded efforts to
identify and preserve the abandoned cemeteries in his home state of Wisconsin. The effort
resulted in the founding of the Wisconsin State Old Cemetery Society (WSOCS), chartered
November 30, 1971. WSOCS was the third such organization in the United States, after the
Vermont Old Cemetery Association (1959) and the Maine Old Cemetery Association (1969).
(For additional information about volunteer old cemetery associations, see the AGS Newsletter,
Fall 1983, page 4.) In addition to serving as chief executive of WSOCS, Luck edited the
Society's newsletter. Inscriptions. He also established an endowment fund, separate from the
Society's budget, to finance special-need projects. Mr. Luck received many local, state, and
national awards for his work. The most recent of these was the founder's Memorial Plaque
presented to him by WSOCS in September, 1984, three weeks before F. Winston Luck's
untimely death. The plaque will be affixed to his monument in Valhalla Cemetery, Wisconsin.
For this information about F. Winston Lucl<, we tliani< Piiil Kallas, editor of Inscriptions, 308
Acorn St., Wiiiting, Stevens Point, Wl 54481. l\Ar. Kallas will be the featured speaker at the
WSOCS annual meeting in Milwaukee, April 27, 1985. He will present a slide-illustrated lecture
focusing on gravestone restoration and preservation.
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
The old last line delemma. The marker is important, the epitaph is unusual, but you cannot
make out the last line. If that last line is hidden by brush, you have pruned and clipped. If it is
underground, you have dug and brushed. And if the lettering has eroded, you have studied it in
every angle of both the sun's light and the reflected light of a mirror. If the last line has been
sunk into concrete, or is broken off and lost, you may have had to give up.
But not so Jeffrey S. Parker. At the Society for Historical Archaeology/Conference on
Underwater Archaeology meeting in Boston this winter, Mr. Parker concluded his presentation
about wood bedboard markers by asking his audience for help with the missing line of this
epitaph:
Far distant from my native land
O'er Neptunes Water I've Crossd'
Interned I am with strangers here
But. . .
It's a long shot, but we decided to take Mr. Parker's puzzle to our readers. He says the mystery
is driving him crazy — and we know the feeling.
The four-line epitaph is on a wood, bedboard marker that was originally erected in St. James-
Santee Churchyard, in Charleston, S.C. If you have an idea for Mr. Parker, who is an
archaeologist for Engineering Science, please send it to him at 1201 Connecticut Avenue,
N.W., Suite 830, Washington, D.C. 20036.
Thanks to Robert Raushenburg, Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA), Winston Salem, SC. for the
Illustration of wood bedboard markers In St. John's Lutheran Churchyard, Charleston. The painting Is by Francis
Christopher Hill (1784-1887).
A reminder to anyone planning to correspond with the Newsletter — Canada is a foreign
country, outside of the United States. American postage stamps marked "D" or "domestic use
only" may not get across the border, so use stamps with the cost printed on them. Also, check
with your post office about the correct postage to Canada. I love to get mail. DT
AGSSp'85p18
Graffiti Removal
We pass on to our readers the following information concerning graffiti (paint) removal, taken
from an article in the New York Times.
The best results are obtained if the graffiti are removed immediately.
Graffiti cannot be removed if the temperature is below freezing.
It is comparitively easy to remove graffiti from non-porus surfaces and from some types of
marble and stone, but porus surfaces, which include most stone, absorb paint. Attempts to
remove it may make the stone look worse. Even if the graffiti do come off, they often leave a
darkened area.
Clear latex and polyurethane "graffiti barriers" can be painted onto masonry and stone, and
they do make graffiti easier to remove, but the barriers may turn yellow or gray in time. Barriers
are not recommended for use on gravestones.
Most removers fall into two categories: (1) strong detergents which may contain lye, and (2)
solvents, most of which contain methylene chloride, an extremely toxic chemical. Use either of
these with extreme caution and strictly according to the manufacturers' instructions.
The article recommends a new product produced in West Germany, which is supposed to be
less toxic. The product, Kein Bio Stripper, is available at Mineros Industries, 3950 10th Avenue,
(21 2-304-1 500) and costs $23.75 a gallon.
A major manufacturer of graffiti removal products is ProSoCo, 111 Snyder Road, South
Plainfield, NJ (201-754-4410), which makes Sure Klean products.
Wolf Paints, 771 9th Avenue, (212-245-7777) sells a remover in a spray can ($3.66) for non
porus surfaces, as well as a heavy duty remover.
Advice on graffiti removal can be had from: (1) the Center for Building Conservation, 40 Dover
Street (212-608-6350), which maintains a research library on the subject; and (2) a National
Parks Service pamphlet, Preservation Brief No. 6: "Dangers of Abrasive Cleaning." This
pamphlet is available free from the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic
Preservation, Agency Building 1, Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY 12238.
WlNIEHGBAVEHAltKEB CLEARANCE
'100
INCLUDE USUAL INSCRIPTION
MONUMENTAL GRANITE
CASH i CARR Y
DAILY 9 AM TO 6 PM
19a HAMILTON ST.
AILENTOWN, PA.
Cash & Carry?? from the Daily Intelligencer, Doylestown
PA, Oct. 1984
contributed by Judith Rivell Hufnell, of New Hope PA
I have several copies each o^ A Small Booli of Grave Humour, edited by Fritz Spiegl (Pan Books,
1 971 ) and Comic Epitaphs from fhe very best old graveyards ( Peter Pauper Books, 1 957) . These
have all been given to me by well-meaning friends, who, knowing of my love for old
gravestones, thought of me when they saw these frivolous little books. These contain epitaphs
such as "Thorpe's Corpse", location given as "unverified", or "Erected to the Memory/of /John
McFarlane/Drown'd in the Water of Leith/By a few affectionate friends", location: "Edinburgh".
I always doubt whether these stones really exist.
Occasionaly we receive a note about an epitaph with more convincing documentation, such as
the following:
NATHAN DAVIS
DIED
Sept 27, 1867
AE, 71 Ys5M0
&16ds.
FATHER HAS PASSED TIME BOUNDARY HERE
WHERE HE LOVED SO WELL TO HUNT THE DEER
WHERE HE LOVED SO WELL TO HUNT THE DEER
TO CLIMES SO BRIGHT AND FAIR
HIS GUN WILL NOT BE NEEDED THERE
This is in the Manorville (NY) cemetery, near corner of the Wading River Road and the North
Road in Manorville. It is across from the Old Brookfield Cemetery which is across from the Old
Brookfield Church (Presbyterian). The stone is in the central first 1/3rd from the entrance.
This was contributed by Evelyn C. Hansen of Southampton NY, and her documentation is a
model. The reader hasn't the slightest doubt that the stone not only exists, but where exactly to
find it, if you want to.
Arrtc Ok,'oc
With the renewed interest in the Park family stone (AGS Newsletter, Winter 84/5, p. 13) readers
might be interested to see the full story of the family, as it was in their Bible. This information
comes from an article by David Watters, "The Park and Whiting Family Stones Revisited: The
Iconography of the Church Covenant", The Canadian Review of American Studies IX (1978),
1-15. Dr. Watters writes "given the fact that this huge stone is now in cement, it might surprise
Newsletter readers to hear what Dan Farber learned: Mrs. Forbes and her daughter apparently
rolled the stone end over end into the sunlight to get their picture of it for her book".
Mrs. Samuel B. Pettengill of the Grafton Historical Society has transcribed the following
information from the Park family Bible. In the Bible on a slip of paper headed with "By the first
woman" stands this record:
Births
Hezekiah Park
Second Son
Third Son
Fourth Son
First Daughter
Fifth Son
Sixth Son
Second Daughter
Thos. K. Park, Jr.
Third Daughter
Eighth Son
Fourth Daughter
Ninth Son
Fifth Daughter
Tenth Son
Feb. 3, 1787
Oct. 19, 1789
Feb. 12, 1790
Nov. 12, 1790
Aug. 12, 1792
Dec. 3, 1793
March 23, 1794
March 5, 1795
March 30, 1797
July 3, 1799
June 5, 1800
July 24, 1801
July 9, 1802
Sept. 2, 1803
Sept. 2, 1803
Deaths
Second Son
Third Son
Fourth Son
First Daughter
Fifth Son
Sixth Son
Second Daughter
Thos. K. Park, Jr.
Third Daughter
Eighth Son
Fourth Daughter
Ninth Son
Fifth Daughter
Tenth Son
Oct. 21, 1789
Feb.. 20, 1790
Nov. 15, 1790
Aug. 17, 1792
Dec. 6, 1793
March 31, 1794
March 7, 1795
May 15, 1804
July 6, 1799
June 8, 1800
July 27, 1801
July 11, 1802
Sept. 5, 1803
Sept. 7, 1803
(^^
-^§51^3.-
What have I wrought? Roberta Halporn, Brooklyn NY writes that she had an adventure on a visit
to United Housewrecking in Connecticut last fall. This is a salvage firm which sells materials
removed from old buildings, such as windows, street lamps, stained glass church windows, etc.
"Many of the housing materials are stored outside without any protection from the
elements, or in rough open-ended sheds. While prowling around, I saw a weathered piece
of wood, with letters cut into it. I picked it up, and lo and behold it was a wooden grave
marker in oddly spelled French. I cut a sharp bargain with the salesman and captured it,
though alas went home without a door. Before leaving, I asked him where he had gotten it.
He told me that one of his men had brought it down from Canada, and that he had some
more. Sure enough, stored out of the weather were two more, about six feet high, on posts
that had been stuck into the ground like a stake, and in French. Unlike my first find, these
two had small crosses set into the tops."
She later returned and bought these two also. "But, and here's the problem, the young
salesman reported our presence to the boss, who came over and wanted to know what we
wanted with them. When we told him, he took our names and addresses, to tell us 'if his men
find some more'. So far we've had no calls, but it's still winter. And I have three markers, which I
don't need. Anyone who wants to buy them can have them for what I paid for them, and the
shipping. I only want to keep one, for goodness sake. All I wanted to do was preserve them, and
here I am with more riches than I bargained for, and I fervently hope, no more."
AGS Sp'85 p 20
THE ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES
THE NINTH ANNUAL MEETING
AND CONFERENCE
CO-SPONSORED BY
THE MUSEUM OF AMERICAN FOLK ART
AT
RUTGERS UNIVERSITY ♦ NEW BRUNSWICK ♦ NEW JERSEY
JUNE 27«28*29«30 1985
MUSEUM C*^
AMERICAN
PCXJCART
REGISTRATION
INFORMATION
THE CONFERENCE '85 REGISTRATION FEE IS $40
All Participants and Speakers Are Required to Register
This fee is arranged so that ONE FEE includes all of the following activities and privileges:
n/^
/x
4
Participation In All Outdoor Conference Sessions-Three Cemetery Tours
Because we are certain that all three tours will be equally interesting and irresistible, we offer them in
a package deal — all three for the price of one tour in a single registration fee.
Attendance To All Four (4) Indoor Conference Sessions
Thursday Evening-Friday Evening-Saturday Evening-Sunday Morning
Attendance To All Social Events
Includes a Wine & Other Beverages & Cheese Reception for New Members; The Get-Acquainted
Refreshment Breaks; The Late Evening Slide Shows & Presentations; The Late-Late Get-Togethers
for iNight Owls.
Option to Exhibit & Admission to the Exhibition Hall
SCHEDULE FOR DORMITORY LODGING AND MEALS: DAILY RATEs'
Thursday June 27-lncludes Dinner (for arrival before 6:30 PM.) $40^
Friday June 28-lncludes Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner $40
Saturday June 29-lncludes Breakfast, Lunch, BANQUET Dinner $50^
Sunday June 30~lncludes Breakfast, Lunch (no lodging) "
Da/7y Rates:
Price per person per day (double occupancy air-conditioned rooms) $40. Only limited number of
single occupancy rooms available at $45; reservations on a "first-come" basis only. If you have made
arrangements to share a room with someone in particular, please indicate this on your reservation
form. Commuter meals may be purchased for cash in the dining hall.
2
Conference Day:
Runs from Dinner through Lunch the following day Single meals for either early or late arrivals can
be purchased for cash in the dining hall.
Banquet Dinner:
Extra charge for Banquet Dinner is $10; a bargain rate for AGS elegance.
"Sunday Night:
Post-Conference lodging may be arranged if desired with advance notice.
The Conference Coordinators, Miriam Silverman and Richard Welch
along with the Conference Registrar, Selma Trauber, and members of the Conference Coordinating Committee
will be ready to welcome you and to guide you to assigned lodging accomodations on
Thursday June 27th, from 2 PM'until the start of the first evening session .
THE ASSOCIATICN FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES, a non-profit organization with international
inen±>ership devoted to the study and preservation of all burial grounds and gravatiarkers ,
announces the 1985 ANNUAL MEETING AND CCNFERENCE, to be held on June 27, 28, 29, 30, .
on the Cook Campus of RUTGERS UNIVERSITY, NEW BRUNSWICK, NEW JERSEY. The Association
welcones THE MUSEUM OF AMERICAN FOLK ART as co-sponsor, and the Genealogical Society of
New Jersey as guest participant.
THE CONFERENCE PROGRAM
LECTURE SESSIONS
Featuring the 18th century carving traditions of New York and New Jersey, the Conference
program will also cover many other aspects of gravestone study fron all over the country
and Canada. Dr. Allan I. Ludwig, photographer and author of the preTorunent book about
the New England gravestones. Graven Images, and Dr. Robert Bishop, author of many books
on folk expression, and Director of the Museum of American Folk Art, will be the prin-
ciple speakers.
Subject material to be presented at the four lecture sessions and the three csnetery
tours will deal with the historical, genealogical, and folk artistic perspectives of
gravestone study; the archaeologist's view of gravestones as a valuable source for the
study of material culture. Reports on recent identification and attribution of unsigned
stones both in New England and the Middle Atlantic States; reports on successful preser-
vation and conservation projects, with an emphasis on the methodologies developed for
documentation, preservation, and conservation, will be an important part of the program.
The full roster of speakers will be made available in the very near future.
CEMETERY TOURS
Friday, June 28
An all-day tour of colonial sites in Rahway, Woodbridge, Westfield, and Elizabeth,
New Jersey will be led by Richard F. Welch, Conference Co-Chair, and author of
Memento Mori ; The Gravestones of Early Long Island. Mr. Welch, ^a^io has done ex-
tensive researcn in the Lower Hudson River Valley, will show superb examples of
the carving styles of the Price and Osbom workshops, Uzal Ward, William Grant,
Aaron Ross, John Frazee, and others, f^. Welch is scheduled to speak at the open-
ing session on Thursday night. Working with Mr. Welch will be the well-known
native of New Jersey, Mr. William Moir, lecturer, tour Director for the Wayne
Adult School, and long-time local gravestone authority.
Saturday, June 29
The double-faceted day-long tour in New York City will begin in the morning at the
GREENWOOD CEMETERY, and will conclude by mid-afternoon in TRINITY CHURCHYARD, the
landmark site on lower Manhattan.
The "Victorian" Greenwood Caiietery Tour will be lad by two expert teams.
Dr. Sherene Baugher, City Archaeologist, and Miss Gina Santucci, Preservationist,
— both on staff of the New York City Landmarks Canrdssion — will present the cultur-
al/ideotechnic and architectural aspects of the 19th century funerary monuments in
the beautiful "garden" cemetery.
The husband-wife team. Marge and Bill Ward, educators, veteran Greenwood guides,
and co-authors of a forthconing book. The Age of the Beautiful Death, will present
the monuments and the 19th century people from the historical, social, and political
perspectives .
The Trinity Churchyard Tour will be led by Miriam Silverman, Conference Co-Chair,
and Project Director of the Trinity Parish Gravestone Project, v^^o will describe
the Project, and focus on the great diversity of ethnic groups, historical person-
ages, and stylistic variability among the carvers represented on this site. Signed
stones and attributions will be shown. Works of New England carvers as well as those
of Uzal Ward, John Zuricher, William Grant, Thonas Brcwn, and many unidentified
craftsmen will be seen.
Professor Frank G. Matero, Conservator, Columbia University, and a member of the
conservation team participating in the Trinity Project, will describe and donon-
strate the techniques and materials used to stabilize and repair certain severely
endangered stones. Mr. Sidney Horenstein, Geologist, The American Museum of Natural
History, will identify the various types of stone materials found on this site.
THE EXHIBITION
Photographs, rubbings, replicated stones, and other items relating to gravestone
matters will be mounted for study and enjoyment in the Exhibition Hall adjoining
the Auditorium. An extensive selection of books and other publications will be
on display and for sale throughout the duration of the Conference.
Here too, a sample of the special collection of gravestone epitaphs documented by
the Genealogical Society of New Jersey will be on display.
THE ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES
CONFERENCE '85
REGISTRATION FORM
MUSEUM OT
AMERICAN
FOLKrART
ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP DUES:
Although encouraged, membership in AGS is not required for Conference
Registration. Please circle one of the categories of membership below.
PAYMENTS
Individual $15
Institutional $15 Family $25 Sustaining $25 $
REGISTRATION FEE:
before June l-$35 After June l-$40-
DORMITORY LODGING & MEALS:
Thursday June 27-$40 $
Friday June 28-$40.
Saturday June 29-$50 $
(Additional $10/Banquet Dinner)
Sunday June 30^$20 $
(Post-Conference Lodging Only)
TOTAL AMOUNT ENCLOSED $
NAME
ADDRESS
SPECIAL NEEDS RELATING TO LODGING OR MEALS?
Please make your check payable to:
THE ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES
Mail to:
GERALDINE HUNGERFORD
PRE-CONFERENCE REGISTRAR
Hilldale Road, Bethany, CT 06525
For Conference Registration after June 15th please call:
SELMA TRAUBER
CONFERENCE REGISTRAR
1-718-743-9219
THE ASSOCIATION FOR
GRAVESTONE STUDIES
GERALDINE HUNGERFORD
PRE-CONFERENGE REGISTRAR
Hilldale Road
Bethany, CT 06525
Cook Campus
Conference Spots
/T\ VOORHEES RESIDENCE HALL (#28) LODGINGS
MORNING REGISTRATION
BUS TOUR DEPARTURES
(2) NEILSON DINING HALL (#103) MEALS & BANQUET
(3) LOREE GYMNASIUM (#100) EVENING REGISTRATION
LECTURES & AUDIO-VISUALS
EXHIBITION HALL
BOOK SALES
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT REACHING NEW BRUNSV/ICK,
J.
»3Y CAR:
FROH THE UPPER MEW ENGLAND AREA
Take Mass. Turnpike (90) to M.Y. Thruv;ay (3?) South to
Rte (17) South, to Rte (80) East-George Washington Brid-
ge, for some three miles, until you reach the N.J. Turn-
pike (95). Stay on N.J. Turnpiker(95) South, until you
reach Exit 9, (rte. IS) TO Rutger's Cook Campus..
FROM THE LOWER NEW ENGLAND AREA
Take Connecticut Turnpike (95) which leads to N.Y. Thru-
way (95) West, to Bruckner Expressway (95) to Cross Bro-
nx Expressway (95) across the George Washington Bridge
to (rte 46) for some three miles, until you reach the
New Jersey Turnpike (95) South. Stay on N.j. Turnpike
(95) South until you reach Exit 9, (rte 18) to Rutger's
Cook Campus.
FROM THE SOUTH
Take New Jersey Turnpike (95) North to Exit 9 (rte 18)
to Rutger's Cook Campus.
FROH THE WEST
Take (rte 22/78) East to New Jersey Turnpike (95) South
OR take (rte 287) East to (rte 18) to reach Rutger's
Cook Campus.
.3Y TRAIN
'aMTRAK provides service to Downtown New Brunswick, N.J.
Check schedules. Then proceed by taxi to Rutger's Cook
Campus.
I BY BUS
GREYHOUND, TRAILWAYS , or other bus companies provide ser-
vice to Downtown New Brunswick, N.J. Check schedules.
Then proceed by taxi to Rutger's Cook Campus.
tBY PLANE
' Make sure arrival is at Newark International Airport.
Several airlines provide transportation to that facility.
Pool Limousine Service to Rutger's Cook Campus is avail-
able from the Airport.
AGSSp'85p25
THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY
RUTGERS
Campus at New Brunswick
New Brunswick Campuses
Mimom
Location of the COOK Campus
Directions
From New Jersey Turnpike
Turn off at Exit 9 and follow signs reading "Route 18-West-New Brunswick."
If going to the Douglass or Cook campus, bear right at sign reading "George
Street. ' The overpass will take you tothe Douglass campus. For Cook College,
proceed to second traffic light beyond the overpass and turn left onto Nichol
Avenue. Follow signs to campus.
From Route 1
To reach the Douglass and Cook campuses, exit at Route 18-West and
proceed as you would from the New Jersey Turnpike.
From Route 287
For Douglass and Cook, take IHighland Park (Route 18) exit, follow River Road
(Temporary Route 18) to Albany Street bridge (Route 27), then turn right onto
bridge. Stay in right-hand lane and turn right at end of bridge onto Route
18-East. Take a riight at first light (Commercial Avenue), then left on George
Street to Nichol Avenue. For Cook College, turn right onto Nichol Avenue and
follow signs to campus. The Douglass College Center is at George Street and
Nichol Avenue.
AGSSp'85p26
PRESERVATION NOTES
Boston's Historic Burying Grounds Initiative. The Fund For Parks & Recreation, which is
administered by the Boston Parks and Recreation Department, has received a $20,000 grant
from the Henderson Foundation, $25,000 from the IVIassachusetts Historical Commission's
Preservation Fund, a division of the Office of the Secretary of State, Michael Joseph Connolly,
Secretary, and a commitment of $5,000 in kind from the City of Boston. The $50,000 in all will
be used to support a research and demonstration project of preservation techniques applicable
to the repair and protection of Boston's sixteen historic burying grounds.
It has been known for many years that Boston's cemeteries have needed extensive repairs and
restoration but, because of higher priority problems, major restoration tasks have been put off.
Well intended, but inadequate, temporary solutions have been attempted and, in some cases,
have done more harm than good. Unfortunately, if something is not done soon, Boston may
well lose some of its valuable historic treasures.
Recognizing that the city may never have enough money to undertake the rehabilitation of all
the cemeteries at the same time, the Parks & Recreation Department, the Boston Landmarks
Commission, the Bostonian Society and many other friends, began a collaborative effort to
address the problem. This collaborative effort has been titled the Historic Burying Grounds
Initiative (HBGI). The Initiative's goal is to develop a Master-Plan that will be flexible enough to
allow incremental or sequential segments of work to proceed as money becomes available and
until the entire restoration project is completed.
The first phase of this effort began in April, 1983 when the Bostonian Society organized the
City's first comprehensive gravestone inventory and condition-assessment through the
National Trust For Historic Preservation and the Yankee Publishing Company's Intern Program.
Since then, 3000 stones and tombs, in four cemeteries of an estimated 10,000 stones and
tombs have been catalogued and their condition noted. The Intern program will continue.
The current phase of the Initiative, an Interim Study, will take six months and an estimated
$50,000 to complete. Valerie Burns of Parks & Recreation will serve as the Project Supervisor,
Judy McDonough of the Landmarks Commission will assist in an advisory capacity and Ellen
Lipsey will serve as Project Manager to oversee day-to-day operations of the study.
A team of experts including a historic masonry conservator, an historian, an archaeologist, a
structural engineer, and a landscape architect will be assembled to provide the state-of-the-art
expertise necessary to determine and demonstrate the best possible preservation and repair
techniques for the tombs, stone-markers, walls, gates, fences and landscaping. Selected
preservation and repair methods will be demonstrated on specific and typical elements in the
King's Chapel and the Central Burying Ground.
As each element of the study is demonstrated, specifications and unit costs will be
documented. Feasibility studies and cost estimates for the repair of major structural defects,
such as the above-ground tombs in the Central Burying Ground, will be conducted and options
for rectification specified.
A training program will be developed to teach maintenance personnel how to care for the
cemeteries without doing further damage to the stones and tombs. Recommendations for
capital improvements, maintenance, interpretation and visitor services will be studied and
reported.
In other words, when the interim study is complete, the Initiative group will have a
comprehensive planning document that will enable them efficiently and knowledgeably to
proceed to the Master-Plan phase. A comprehensive Master Plan will insure coordinated
consideration of the interrelated factors common to these urban open spaces, including capital
improvements, maintenance policies and practices, usage, conservation and interpretation.
Since, at this point, funding is not available for preparation of the Master Plan, an incremental
approach is being used.
Historic Cemetery Program in Saratoga Springs NY. The Saratoga Springs Preservation
Foundation invites the public to attend programs on May 11 and May 18 to learn about the
history and importance of the Gideon Putnam Cemetery (1812-1871) located on South
Franklin Street, Saratoga Springs.
Featured topics will be the restoration of this historic landmark, the only tangible heritage left
by Saratoga Springs' founding father, the use of cemeteries in general as archives of history,
preventing vandalism, studying cemetery art, and learning the techniques of stone rubbing.
Participants will meet at the Drink Hall, 297 Broadway, from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. each
Saturday. Elementary and secondary school students are encouraged to attend as well as
adults. There will be a modest registration fee that includes the cost of stone rubbing materials.
The program will be partially underwritten and staffed by the Saratoga Center for Real Estate.
The Burial Ground Programs are under the direction of Margaret Coffin, the Foundation's
Education Director. For further information, contact the Foundation's office at 465 Broadway,
P.O. Box 442, Saratoga Springs, New York 1 2866 or telephone (51 8) 587-5030.
AGSSp'85p27
usiiaiSMaN
a \ yf 4
39ViSOd s n
-OUO lUOHd NON
6091-0 'SSB^ 'jaisaojOM
'A^aioos ueuenb|)uv ueoNeujvo/3
'sajpn^s auo)SdAeJO iO| uoi)epossv
A Program to Preserve Our National Monuments. To cope with the threat to America's
endangered outdoor monuments, the National Trust for Historic Preservation is planning to
launch a national sculpture-study project. The study will seek to determine the most effective
methods for dealing with damage to outdoor sculpture as well as to identify conservation areas
needing more scientific research. A major facet of the program will be the creation of an
inventory of all significant public monuments in the United States. To aid scholars and
conservators, the inventory will include up-to-date information about the condition of each
sculpture. To become involved contact Dr. Michael Richman, Editor, Daniel Chester French
Papers, National Trust for Historic Preservation, 1785 Massachusetts Ave. N.W., Washington,
D.C. 20036.
from Historic Preservation, June 1984, contributed
by Laurel Gabel, Pittsford, NY
ATTENTION ALL RUBBERS!
Did you know that you can make a rubbing using a specially prepared paper that requires no
wax, no ink, no paint, and no tool of any kind? The monument industry uses it. At recent
conventions of the Monument Makers of the Virginias and the New England Monument Dealers
Association, AGS was introduced to this paper, which has been around for some time in the
modern industry. You use it like any other rubbing paper, except that you rub it with a piece of
cloth over your finger or a sturdier object. Presto, a rubbing. We think it may come in several
colors.
We were told that the paper is not archival and may fade if subjected to extremes of heat, so it
would not serve for museum quality work. However, it is good for any other purposes, and its
convenience makes it ideal for making records for later study by researchers. Ask the
monument dealer in your area where you can get it (and introduce him/her to AGS if the
company is not a member).
By coincidence we assume, we have recently received samples of a paper which seems to fit
this same description. This paper, which is white, has a good-looking matte finish, and we
found it makes a sensitive, bluish-charcoal image, with hard or soft line quality depending on
the rubbing technique used. It comes in 24" x 34" sheets that are available for 750 each from
the J.R. Paper Company, 3139 Woodland Avenue, Niagara Falls, NY 14304. The company
invites your orders. Or, if you would like to experiment with it first, send a stamped, addressed
business-size envelope (or larger mailer) to AGS, c/o The American Antiquarian Society,
Worcester, MA 01 609, and we will send you one of the company's samples.
The AGS NEWSLETTER is published quarterly as a service to members of The Association for Gravestone Studies.
The membership year begins on the date dues are received and ends one year from that date. A one-year
membership entitles the member to four issues of the NEWSLETTER and to participation in the AGS conference in
the year membership is current. Send membership fees (Individual/Institutional, $15: Family, $25; Contributing. $25)
to AGS Executive ;Secretary Rosalee Oakley. 46 Plymouth Rd.. Needham. MA 02192. Back issues of the
NEWSLETTER are available for $3.00 per issue from Rosalee Oakley. Order MARKERS, the Journal of the
Association for Gravestone Studies (Vol. 1, $15; Vol. 2, $12; Vol. 3, $10.25) from Rosalee Oakley. Address
contributions to MARKERS, Vol. 4, to David Watters, editor, Dept. of English, University of New Hampshire, Durham,
Nhl 03824. Address NEWSLETTER contributions to Deborah Trask, editor, The Nova Scotia Museum, 1747 Summer
St., Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 3A6, Canada. Address other correspondence and orders to Rosalee Oakley. Mail
addressed to AGS c/o The American Antiquarian Society, Worcester MA 01609, or to Rosalee Oakley, will be
forwarded to the appropriate AGS office.
■'"^
NEWSLETTER
OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES
DEBORAH TRASK, ED.
VOLUME 9 NUMBER 2 SPRING 1985
ISSN:0146-5783
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A FAIRYTALE
"The Old Gravestone" 1
by Hans Christian Andersen
GRAVE CARVINGS: Eastern New Jersey Area Graveyards 3
GRAVESTONE STUDIES
Abstracts from the 18th annual conference of the Society for Historical Archaeology and the
Conference on Underwater Archaeology 5
GRAVE CARVINGS: Trinity Churchyard, New York City 7
BOOK REVIEWS
Gravestone Art: The Tombstone Cutters of Early Fairfield County, Ohio, and Their Art 9
reviewed by Francis Y. Duval
Cemetery Inscriptions: Pawlet, Vermont 10
reviewed by James Slater
God's Acre and Five Thousand Years at Podunk 11
reviewed by Casimer Michalcyzk
The Journal of Garden History (4:3) 12
and "Problems of Symbolism in Cemetery Monuments"
reviewed by George Kackley
JEWISH GRAVESTONES 15
MEMBER NEWS 17
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 18
CONFERENCE INFORMATION AND REGISTRATION 21
PRESERVATION NOTES 27
A FAIRY TALE
'The Old Gravestone" by Hans Christian Andersen
In a little provincial town, in the time of the year when people say "the evenings are drawing in,"
there was one evening quite a social gathering in the home of a father of a family. The weather
was still mild and warm. The lamp gleamed on the table; the long curtains hung down in folds
before the open windows, by which stood many flower-pots; and outside, beneath the dark blue
sky, was the most beautiful moonshine. But they were not talking about this. They were talking
about the old great stone which lay below in the courtyard, close by the kitchen door, and on
which the maids often laid the cleaned copper kitchen utensils that they might dry in the sun,
and where the children were fond of playing. It was, in fact, an old gravestone.
"Yess," said the master of the house, "I believe the stone comes from the old convent
churchyard; for from the church yonder, the pulpit, the memorial boards, and the gravestones
were sold. My father bought the latter, and they were cut in two to be used as paving-stones;
but that old stone was kept back, and has been lying in the courtyard ever since."
"One can very well see that it is a gravestone," observed the eldest of the children; "we can still
decipher on it an hour-glass and a piece of an angel; but the inscription which stood below it is
quite effaced, except that you may read the name of PREBEN, and a great S close behind it,
and a little further down the name of MARTHA. But nothing more can be distinguished, and
even that is only plain when it has been raining, or when we have washed the stone."
continued
AGSSp'85p1
"Oh my word, that must be the gravestone of Preben Schwane and his wife!"
These words were spol<en by an old man; so old, that he might well have been the grandfather
of all who were present in the room.
"Yes, they were one of the last pairs that were buried in the old churchyard of the convent. They
were an honest old couple. I can remember them from the days of my boyhood. Every one knew
them, and every one esteemed them. They were the oldest pair here in the town. The people
declared that they had more than a tubful of gold; and yet they went about very plainly dressed,
in the coarsest stuffs, but always with splendidly clean linen. They were a fine old pair, Preben
and Martha! When both of them sat on the bench at the top of the steep stone stairs in front of
the house, with the old linden-tree spreading its branches above them, and nodded at one in
their kind gentle way, it seemed quite to do one good. They were very kind to the poor; they fed
them and clothed them; and there was judgment in their benevolence, and true Christianity.
The old woman died first: that day is still quite clear before my mind. I was a little boy, and had
accompanied my father over there, and we were just there when she fell asleep. The old man
was very much moved, and wept like a child. The corpse lay in the room next to the one where
we sat; and he spoke to my father and to a few neighbors who were there, and said how lonely it
would be now in his house, and how good and faithful she (his dead wife) had been, how many
years they had wandered together through life, and how it had come about that they came to
know each other and to fall in love, I was, as I have told you, a boy, and only stood by and
listened to what the others said; but it filled me with quite a strange emotion to listen to the old
man, and to watch how his cheeks gradually flushed red when he spoke of the days of their
courtship, and told how beautiful she was, and how many innocent pretexts he had invented to
meet her. And then he talked of the wedding-day, and his eyes gleamed; he seemed to talk
himself back into that time of joy. And yet she was lying in the next room — dead — an old
woman; and he was an old man, speaking of the past days of hope! Yes, yes, thus it is! Then I
was but a child, and now I am old — as old as Preben Schwane was then. Time passes away,
and all things change. I can very well remember the day when she was buried, and how Preben
Schwane walked close behind the coffin. A few years before the couple had caused their
gravestone to be prepared, and their names to be engraved on it, with the inscription, all but the
date. In the evening the stone was taken to the churchyard, and laid over the grave; and the year
afterwards it was taken up, that old Preben Schwane might be laid to rest beside his wife. They
did not leave behind them any thing like the wealth people had attributed to them: what there
was went to families distantly related to them — to people of whom until then one had known'
nothing. The old wooden house, with the seat at the top of the steps, beneath the lime-tree, was
taken down by the corporation; it was too old and rotten to be left standing. Afterwards, when
the same fate befell the convent church, and the graveyard was levelled, Preben's and Martha's
tombstone was sold, like everything else, to any one who would buy it; and that is how it has
happened that this stone was not hewn in two, as many another has been, but that it still lies
below in the yard as a scouring-bench for the maids, and a plaything for the children. The
high-road now goes over the resting-place of old Preben and his wife. No one thinks of them
any more."
And the old man who had told all this shook his head scornfully.
"Forgotten! Every thing will be forgotten!" he said.
And then they spoke in the room of other things; but the youngest child, a boy with great
serious eyes, mounted up on a chair behind the window-curtains, and looked out into the yard,
where the moon was pouring its radiance over the old stone — the old stone that had always
appeared to him so tame and flat, but which lay there now like a great leaf out of a book of
chronicles. All that the boy had heard about old Preben and his wife seemed concentrated in
the stone; and he gazed at it, and looked at the pure bright moon and up into the clear air, and it
seemed as though the countenance of the Creator was beaming over His world.
"Forgotten! Every thing will be forgotten!" was repeated in the room.
But in that moment an invisible angel kissed the boy's forehead, and whispered to him:
"Preserve the seed-corn that has been intrusted to thee, that it may bear fruit. Guard it well!
Through thee, my child, the obliterated inscription on the old tombstone shall be chronicled in
golden letters to future generations! The old pair shall wander again arm in arm throug'h the
streets, and smile, and sit with their fresh healthy faces under the lime-tree on the bench by the
steep stairs, and nod at rich and poor. The seed-corn of this hour shall ripen in the course of
time to a blooming poem. The beautiful and the good shall not be forgotten; it shall live on in
legend and in song."
This old fairy tale, which makes a very sound and poetic argument for the preservation of gravestones, was found by
AGS Archivist, Mike Cornish.
The Old Gravestone comes from an 1887 edition of Andersen's Fairy Tales, which Mike Cornish believes is the first
English language edition.
AGSSp'85p2
GRAVE CARVINGS: EASTERN NEW JERSEY AREA GRAVEYARDS
photographs contributed by Francis Y. Duval and Ivan B. Rigby
Elizabeth, 1 728 (attributed to the Old Elizabeth-Town carver II)
The New Jersey area within view of New York City offers several important graveyards:
Elizabeth, Rahway, Woodbridge, Westfield, to name a few. Initials or signatures often identify
the output of carvers Ebenezer Price, Abner Stewart, Jonathan Acken, Jonathan Hand Osborn,
Aaron Ross, Elias Darby, John Frazee, and others. Many early stones are attributed to the Old
Elizabeth-Town carvers I and II. The planned 1985 Conference tour of some of these yards is
highly recommended to inquisitive AGS members.
Elizabe th, 1 783 (signed E. P. )
Elizabeth. 1839 (anonymous)
Perth Ampoy, 1687 (anonymous). Relocated tomb to St. Peter's Episcopal Churchyard from the Old State Street
Cemetery In 1875.
AGSSp'85p3
continued
Woodbridge, 1729 (attributed to the Old Elizabeth-Town carver I)
Rahway. 181 1. groundline detail (signed: Frazee-Rahway)
AGR Ficj'RS o 4
GRAVESTONE STUDIES
abstracts from the 18th annual conference of the Society for Historical Archaeology and the
Conference on Underwater Archaeology, held in Boston, January 9 - 13, 1985.
Barnett, James F., Jr. (Mississippi Department of Arcliives and History)
PRESERVATION EFFORTS AT AN EARLY NINETEENTH-CENTURY CEMETERY IN
SOUTHWEST MISSISSIPPI
Initial research and preservation efforts have been undertaken by the Mississippi Department of
Archives and History in the conservation of an early 19th-century plantation cemetery on the
grounds of the Grand Village of the Natchez, a state-owned archaeological park in Adams
County, Mississippi.
Crowell, Elizabeth A. (Engineering-Science), 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W., Suite 830,
Washington, DC 20036
"DEPART FROM HENCE AND KEEP THIS THOUGHT IN MIND": THE IMPORTANCE OF
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS IN GRAVESTONE RESEARCH
The study of gravestones and burial practices in New England, Philadelphia and New Jersey,
and Virginia has revealed much about the isolated regional traditions that developed in these
areas. This information, however, can be used in a much broader context, to enhance not only
the knowledge of mortuary patterns of specific regions, but to see how these patterns compare
with one another and with other areas. This paper will discuss the differing gravestone forms
and burial patterns from these areas and will attempt to explain them in terms of regional
cultural variation. Regional comparative models will be discussed based on these studies.
Holland, Claudia C. (Louisiana State University) and Peter B. Mires (Louisiana State University),
Department of Geography & Anthropology, Baton Rouge, LA 70803
THE DISCOVERY AND INVESTIGATION OF THE ST. PETERS STREET CEMETERY IN NEW
ORLEANS
During recent condominium construction in the French Quarter of New Orleans a number of
graves were encountered which are believed to belong to the city's first cemetery dating to the
early 18th century. Following emergency negotiations between the developers and those
interested in the preservation and study of the graves that remained intact, a team of
archaeologists, osteologists, and students from Louisiana State University was mobilized.
Under less than ideal field conditions, controlled excavation of the human skeletal remains and
associated artifacts was conducted. This also prompted a search for the available historical
documents that detail the occupational sequence of the site, as well as the legal implications of
abandoned cemeteries. This paper considers the St. Peters Street cemetery as a case study in
public and urban archaeology and presents the results of archaeological, archival, and
osteological study.
Jones, Denise (University of Pennsylvania), 6494 Woodstock, Fort Worth, TX 761 16
BOSQUEVILLE CEMETERY: MATERIAL MANIFESTATION OF THE RELIGIOUS
PHILOSOPHY OF A RURAL TEXAS COMMUNITY
In addition to gravestones;, the investigator of a cemetery must examine the living community
that erected those markers. In the case of Bosqueville, a small rural Texas community, it was
church membership rather than spatial proximity that bonded the cemetery's inhabitants
together. Many of the individuals who lived in and around Bosqueville chose burial sites other
than the community cemetery. Some buried their loved ones in small family plots on private
land; some preferred the urban cemeteries of nearby Waco. The individuals buried in the
Bosqueville cemetery, however, shared the experience of participation in the congregations of
the two local churches: the Bosqueville Methodist Church and the Bosqueville Church of Christ
(later called the Bosqueville Baptist Church). Thus, the gravestones represent a material legacy
of the religious philosophy and community identity shared by the cemetery's inhabitants.
Mackie, Norman Vardney III (College of William and Mary), 506 N. Henry Street, Williamsburg,
VA 23185 (till May 1985)
A SOCIOECONOMIC HISTORY OF GRAVESTONE PROCUREMENT IN SOUTHERN
MARYLAND
To date, the majority of gravestone scholars have paid little attention to the socioeconomic
information contained in their data. Recent research in southern Maryland, however, illustrates
the potential significance of this type of analysis for archaeologists. Unlike New England, where
local raw materials were abundant, southern Maryland during the period 1634-1820 was
plagued by a dearth of local stone. Thus, an indigenous stonecarving tradition never developed.
The result was a dependence on imported gravestones that, to varying degrees through time,
became reflectors of status differences. This paper traces the history of gravestone
procurement in southern Maryland as revealed through field and documentary data. Raw
materials, style, and distribution of stones through time are then examined as a means of
recognizing changing socioeconomic and trade patterns.
continued
AGSSp'85p5
Mires, Ann Marie (Louisiana State University), Jerome & Rose (University of Kansas), W.
Fredericl< Limp (Arkansas Archeoiogical Survey) and Lawrence Santeford (Arkansas
Archeological Survey)
CEDAR GROVE HISTORIC CEMETERY: EXCAVATION, ANALYSIS, AND REBURIAL OF A
RURAL BLACK POPULATION IN SOUTHWESTERN ARKANSAS
During revetment construction along the Red River in Southwestern Arkansas by the New
Orleans Corps of Engineers in 1980, evidenceof the cemetery was exposed. The historic burials
were underlain by a prehistoric site. Archaeological evaluation of the prehistoric site led to the
determination of eligibility to the National Register and mitigation of adverse impact. At that
time, the historic cemetery was thought to be small, but, ultimately 126 graves were mapped.
The substantial number of graves as well as the ambiguous nature of the earlier assessment of
significance for the cemetery led to the questions as to what removal measures were now
appropriate. The cemetery was determined eligible and the Arkansas Archeological Survey
carried out excavations in 1982 to recover and relocate 80 graves. Each grave was excavated
and relocated. Artifactual analysis dated all graves to the period 1890 to 1927. Skeletal
demographics showed a highly stressed but normal biological population. These data reveal
that diet, health, and general quality of life for Southwestern Arkansas Blacks had deteriorated
since emancipation.
Nakagawa, Tadashi (Louisiana State University), Department of Geography & Anthropology,
Baton Rouge, LA 70803
CEMETERY FORMS IN ASCENSION PARISH, LOUISIANA
Cemeteries show a variety of forms in Ascension Parish Louisiana, where traditional cultures of
planters and peasants, and those of Anglo, French, and Black Americans juxtapose with one
another. This study identifies some types of cemeteries by using scale, vegetation, symbols,
spatial arrangement, interment patterns, and forms of vaults and gravestones as indices. The
relationships between the type of cemeteries and the historical, denominational, and ethnic
background of the people are then demonstrated.
Nassaney, Michael S. (U Mass Amherst)
MORTUARY PERSPECTIVES IN AN ETHNOGRAPHIC SETTING
Since the last century, archaeologists have recognized the potential for cemeteries to provide
information on ideological and social aspects of human behavior. Yet seldom have
archaeologists had the chance to study ethnographic data in conjunction with mortuary
remains. The ethnohistorical context of Native American-English relations and 20th-century
ethnographic observations are used to derive interpretations of a 17th-century cemetery in
Southern New England. A Native American perspective towards the interpretation of mortuary
data serves to clearly define a distinctive cultural identity.
Palkovich, Ann M. (George Mason University), Dept. of Sociology & Anthropology, Fairfax, VA
22030
THE CEMETERY AS GARDEN
By the mid-1 9th century, a new genre of formal cemeteries was being established. Like the
Mount Auburn Cemetery of Cambridge, Massachusetts, these new places of burial were
designed as "gardens." Common in the Mid-Atlantic region during this period, such "garden
cemeteries" served to memorialize the dead. A selection of cemeteries from Northern Virginia
indicate that elements of style and symbolism cross-cut socioeconomic groups and religious
affiliation. A preliminary analysis of gravestone styles, material, epitaphs, and spatial
arrangement of graves demonstrates the umbrella of mortuary ideology under which other
socioeconomic and religious differences were expressed during this period. Interpretation of
these cemeteries must therefore account not only for their variety but also for their basic
underlying common elements.
Parker, Jeffrey S. (Engineering-Science), 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W., Suite 830, Washington,
DC 20036
"O'ER NEPTUNES WATER I'VE CROSSED": NEW PERSPECTIVES ON THE ANCIENT
TRADITION OF WOODEN GRAVEMARKERS
The use of wooden gravemarkers by European immigrants during the earliest years of
colonization until the early 19th-century has been given little attention by archaeologists
because of a lack of data. Discoveries and research in the last several years in the coastal south
promises to provide a better understanding of these vanished features of the landscape.
Because a wooden marker decays naturally, leaving little evidence of the location of the grave,
grave rails, and grave boards may have served as a mechanism to prevent a burial ground from
filling up. The cycle of burial, decay, and reuse of grave space may have been dealt with in a
pragmatic manner with the wooden marker. The origins, contexts, and archaeological
implications of the examples will be discussed.
Smith, Ann E. (Tulane University, New Orleans)
STYLISTIC DIFFUSION AND ETHNIC BARRIERS: NEW ORLEANS CEMETERY ART MOTIFS
This research is concerned with the evolution and diffusion of different artistic motifs that
appear at the top of tombstones in predominantly 19th-century cemeteries in New Orleans.
Data sources were an early "white" cemetery and its neighboring "black" cemetery. The nature
of the cemeteries and the stone carvers is considered in examining the distribution of styles
within and across ethnic boundaries.
A ^"^ /-\ l~\
GRAVE CARVINGS: TRINITY CHURCHYARD, NEW YORK
photographs contributed by Francis Y. Duval and Ivan B. Rigby
1772 (Anonymous)
The Churchyards of the Parish of Trinity Church in the City of New York contain one of the most unique assemblages
of early American sculpture, from the imported New England slate stones attributed to Nathaniel Emmes, William
Mumford, John & William Stevens, to the sandstone designs of the New York City carvers, John Zuricher, Thomas
Brown, Thomas Gold, and William Grant, and the New Jersey carving schools of Uzal Ward from Newark, and
Ebenezer Price and David Jeffries from Elizabeth. These 17th, 18th, and 19th century gravestones memorialize the
prime movers of America's early society — a diverse ethnic population of British, Dutch, Danish, French Huguenot,
German Palatine, Irish, Scottish, and West Indian emigre groups. Among the patriots who wrote the Constitution,
and the military and naval heroes of the War of Independence, the Civil War, and the War of 1812, lie the political,
religious, social, and mercantile giants in our nation's history. Despite the din of modern Broadway's traffic, and the
daily use of the churchyards as thoroughfare and lunching place for hundreds of office workers from the heart of the
financial district, these beautifully preserved national landmark sites — both St. Paul's Chapel and Trinity
Churchyards — retain their colonial air of grace and quietude after more than three hundred years. The guided '85
Conference tour of these burial grounds should be of immense interest to AGS members.
7748 (Attributed to E. Price)
1779 (Anonymous)
1734 lAnonymous)
continued
AGSSp'85p7
1 762 (by carver John Zuricher)
7754 (Anonymous)
,i/"i». , .•".WB«k- S'i'
7770 (Anonymous)
1768 (Anonymous)
AGSSp'85p8
' ■ % I ■ ■•■ V I I
Gravestone Art: The Tombstone Cutters of Early Fairfield County, Ohio, and Their Art
by Carol Foss Swinehart, photographs by Douglas W. McCullogh. Lancaster Ohio, Fairfield
County Chapter, OGS, 1984. 94 pages, 8'/? v 11, $7.50
reviewed by Francis Y. Duval
The memorial styles found in Fairfield's townships and surrounding counties are well-known to
this reviewer, and it is with some distress that I must voice the following. Although this book
contains some heretofore unpublished genealogical information about some of the region's
carvers, its lack of organization, cohesion, and above all, presentation overwhelms its good
intentions.
Included are genealogical probes into the Strickler and Jungkurth families of carvers who
produced the most delicately-carved grave imagery in central Ohio, and sundry research on a
few other lesser-known artisans of the region. The Stricklers' and Jungkurths' histories would
be better served by the addition of drawn genealogical trees. Merely written down, the
happenings are extremely hard to follow. Also present are listings of known carvers, monument
companies, and locations of cemeteries within Fairfield and adjacent counties. Where some
map(s) would prove most useful, they are non-existent, as if the book was intended for the sole
gratification of local residents. An extensive list of gravestone motifs includes such 'exotic'
symbols as 'pelicans', described as being of Pennsylvania Dutch origin, and interpreted as
being symbolic of piety and atonement, one of the earliest symbol of Christ.
The text for the book was produced on a typewriter, single-space, in a light typeface, with a
ragged right border. One constantly re-reads the previous line which is most frustrating.
Photographer McCullough's contribution fares well here and there, in spite of the production
odds of the book. Uncredited rubbings (by different individuals using various techniques, and
acknowledged only as being part of the collection of the Fairfield County District Library) are
intermingled throughout with the photographs. Illustrations bear only plate numbers: one has
to refer repeatedly to the back of the book for caption material. The layouts for the illustrated
pages are thrown together, happenstance-style, adding to the general confusion.
The book was published locally with the support of the Ohio Arts Council whose standards, to
my knowledge, are generally much higher. I can only suggest to all concerned, to go-back-to-
the-drawing-board, as the saying goes, and revamp the whole thing in a far more professional
manner.
It is regrettable, for no published material existed previously on such a scale, about the superb
gravestone art of the region.
The book may be obtained, $7.50, prepaid, by check or money order made to: Fairfield County
Chapter, OGS, P.O. Box 203, Lancaster, Ohio 43130.
Francis Duval Is the co-author, with Ivan RIgby of Early American Gravestone Art in Photographs, published by
Dover In 1978. He is a frequent contributor to the AGS Newsletter.
Antiquarian bookseller, Henry Deeks
188 River St., Cambridge, MA 02139
Business phone - (617) 576-21 16, Wed., 10-6, Th.-Sat. 12-6
Home phone - (61 7 488-8408)
has for sale the work of landscape architect Adolph Sprauch, who designed Spring Grove
Cemetery. The work includes 28 mounted albumin photographs, including ones of himself and
others involved in the development of Spring Grove, some 19th c news clippings about death
and burial history, and drawings of the designs for the cemetery.
AGSSp'85p9
Cemetery Inscriptions: Pawlet, Vermont
by Margaret R. Jenks, privately printed, 1985 (106 pp., $15.00)
reviewed by James Slater
This is one of a series of similar publications by the author, each dealing with a town of Rutland
County, Vermont. I have examined only two volumes of the series, the one listed above and the
volume for the town of Tinmouth. Both are of the same format.
These volumes are really both more and less than compilations of cemetery inscriptions. Since
the Pawlet volume is the larger, my comments will be directed chiefly to it. While the bulk of the
booklet consists of a list of names of persons buried in each of the town cemeteries, much more
is included. There is an interesting synoptic history of the town and of most of the cemeteries
that usually includes the cemetery's age and upkeep, and the present condition of the stones.
Of great interest to gravestone students is the identification of the enigmatic carver whose work
somewhat resembles that of Zerubbabel Collins and who previously has been known only as
"E.C." — the initials that he placed on a Poultney, Vermont (also a town in Rutland County)
stone. Mrs. Jenks presents probate evidence that the carver is Enos Clark of Middletown
Springs, Vermont (another Rutland County town). This important discovery allows students of
gravestone carvers to attribute many of the late marble cherubim stones of southwestern
Vermont and adjacent areas.
Also of considerable importance is the inclusion of a clear, easily read map giving the location
of each cemetery. Photographs of 1 6 stones are included (there are 1 2 in the Tinmouth volume,
plus four photographic views of the cemeteries). These illustrations are of variable quality, but
they do give helpful information concerning the nature and condition of the early stones.
The stone list is exhaustive, each stone being listed as it occurs in the cemetery from east to
west in some cases and from west to east in others. Thus names are not alphabetical in the
main text. This method is valuable for those interested in locating an individual stone and not a
serious problem for any one interested in the genealogical information once one realizes that a
complete alphabetized index is included. The list gives death date, age and sometimes other
details, such as wife, husband, father, mother, etc. However, not all inscriptions are complete as
only selected "verses" etc. are included.
The volumes are attractively bound in a soft green leatherette cover with gold lettering. There is
no doubt that students of Rutland, Vermont, will find these booklets of great value. My chief
reservation is that the price may be prohibitive for the amount of information included. Thus far
the towns of Pawlett, Tinmouth, Wells, Poultney, Ira and Middletown Springs have been
published at a total cost of $57. These are only 6 of the 25 towns of Rutland County, so that the
cost of the completed series is going to come to several hundred dollars.
One can certainly applaud the thoroughness of these booklets and the author's devotion and
energy. This reviewer hopes that her fence around the Old Sawyer Cemetery lasts longer than
the 5 years the previous one did!
The volumes are available from Mrs. Margaret R. Jenks, 12727 N.E. 116th Lane F8, Kirkiand,
Washington 98034, for the following prices: Tinmouth $10; Wells $7; Poultney $1 5; Middletown
Springs, Ira $10, and Pawlett $15.
James Slater is Professor of Entomology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, and a frequent contributor to the AGS
Newsletter.
Ellen Glueck of Towanda PA found the following epitaph in the HistoricalJournal, Volume I, by
John F. Meginness (p. 122-3) published in Williamsport PA in 1888. She sends it along in
response to Leslie Thompson's article "Sexism in the Cemetery" (AGS Newsletter V 8/1).
In memory of George Allison,
Late Husband of
Frances Allison.
He Dec'd March 29,
1790, Aged 61 years.
The stone in 1888 was in the Conewago Presbyterian burying ground, about 4-5 miles east of
Middletown, and "within the same distance of the little village of Gainsburg."
AGSSp'85p 10
Goof's Acre and Five Thousand Years at Podunk
by Barney E. Daley, privately printed, 1984
reviewed by Casimer Michalczyk
-'^i^:
Barney E. Daley, from a photocopy of a pfioto printed In the Hartford Courant, August 16, 1984
For more than sixty years Barney E. Daley of South Windsor, Connecticut, has been pursuing,
studying and preserving South Windsor's past. Daley recently published two books about
South Windsor's past inhabitants. One is on the ancient headstones of the earliest settlers in
the area (Hartford, Windsor) and the other is on original Indian inhabitants of the same area.
His book on ancient headstones "God's Acre" is a paperback of 157 pages, well designed and
attractively printed with 365 photographs of headstones. These are located in the Old Burying
Grounds of South Windsor (God's Acre) as well as Wapping, Scantic and East Hartford CT
cemeteries.
Since 1985 is Connecticut's 150th Birthday and marks the settling of the earliest towns of
Hartford, Wethersfield and Windsor, these books are timely. The names of the earliest settlers in
South Windsor are indexed, there is also a map of their home lots on the Main Street, as well as
a listing of the inscriptions on each stone, with verses of interest. Mr. Daley has done a fine job.
"God's Acre" is a labor of love, which is evident. Here is a quotation:
"As I stand here on this beautiful, early summer morning on a Sunday in early August, I
am overwhelmed with awe at the peace and tranquility of this lovely final resting place of our
forefathers. As I gaze across the green of the grass, the red sandstone markers stand out a rust
red with a few grey or white stones mixed in for contrast, and a background of towering
maples the robins egg blue skies overhead and a mocking bird providing background
music,. . . It takes your breath away".
The companion volume "Five Ttiousand Years at Podunl(", 203 pages, is a detailed study of the
Indians of this same eastern side of the Connecticut River. The central area was the home of the
Podunk tribes. It tells a great deal about archeological research and early Indian artifacts, with
detailed descriptions of the area, where the author has roamed since he was a boy. He deeply
loves the people and the history of the area. For anyone interested in this sort of history, and
our earliest inhabitants, Indian and white, these two volumes are nice to have.
Orders for either volume can be sent to:
Mr. Barney E. Daley
561 Ellington Road,
South Windsor, Conn. 06074
Please enclose $10.69 to cover the cost of the book. State tax, and mailing.
Casimer !\Alchalczyk is a stone sculptor in Glastonbury CT. Along with other AGS members, he was actively involved
In the lobby to pass protective gravestone legislation In Connecticut.
We would like to acknowledge a gift to the AGS Archives of $125.00 by Fred Oakley of
Needham l\AA. It came completely unexpectedly, and this is a most welcome no-strings
attached contribution. The gift augments a recently approved Archives budget of $500.00.
AGSSp'85p 11
The Journal of Garden History, July-September 1984 (Volume 4, #3)
reviewed by George Kackley
The Journal of Garden History for July-September 1984 is a special issue on a topic of great
interest to A.G.S. members: cemeteries as gardens.
An excellent lead article is by Richard A. Etiin of the University of Maryland. His topic is "Pere
Lachaise [at Paris, France] and the garden cemetery". More extensive treatment of this subject
is found in Etiin's new book, The Architecture of death: the transformation of the cemetery in
eighteenth-century Paris, MIT Press, 1984, which is highly recommended to A.G.S. members
who are interested in nineteenth (yes 19th) century cemeteries.
James Stevens Curl of Winchester, England, is the author of a 32-page article entitled "The
Design of the early British cemeteries". Here is much valuable information for us. Curl is also
the author of The Victorian celebration of death. Nelson Abbot: David & Charles, 1972, and of
The Egyptian revival, an introductory study of a recurring theme in the history of taste, George
Allen and Unwin, 1982. These are two more books that are valuable additions to any gravestone
studies library.
The third article is by Barbara Rotundo of the State University of New York at Albany and the
Association for Gravestone Studies. This is a thirteen-page version of her history of the
establishment of Mount Auburn Cemetery.
Keith N. Morgan of Boston University has a 28-page article on "The Emergence of the American
landscape professional: John Notman and the design of rural cemeteries". This is another
important contribution to A.G.S. literature, dealing specially with Laurel Hill at Philadelphia and
Hollywood at Richmond, Virginia.
David Schuler of Franklin and Marshall College has a fourteen-page article about "The
Evolution of the Anglo-American rural cemetery: landscape architecture as social and cultural
history", which does an impressive job of tying together the other articles in this journal.
Martine Paul of the Centre for Medieval Studies, Toronto, has a one-page "Note on the garden
cemetery in Cllges by Cretien de Troyes", a French romance of the twelfth century. The
following page is occupied by a pertinent illumination of a medieval manuscript, showing burial
in a garden. All of these articles are accompanied by good illustrations.
Frances Clegg of the Institute of Psychiatry, London University, reports "Problems of
symbolism in cemetery monuments". This has no little interest to the Association for
Gravestone Studies.
Editor John Dixon Hunt's introduction to this special issue of the Journal of Garden History
notes that it "maintains the recent scholarly emphasis upon nineteenth-century developments"
which was clear at the biennial meeting of the American Studies Association at Philadelphia.
Calling attention to the one note in this issue that does not pertain to nineteenth-century
cemeteries as gardens, the editor invites future contributors to provide materials for another
issue on gardens and cemeteries before the advent of the "English" landscape garden. We of
A.G.S. hope that the Journal of Garden History is receptive to additional — probably more
important to garden history — articles, about the American garden cemeteries that are sadly
missing in this survey. We need articles by writers who are not solely dependent upon dead
documents, material already in print; who have an eye for the gardens and landscape at least as
sharp as the eye for fine print; writers who notice how these American cemeteries are quite
distinct from those of Europe, being the more lasting (though still ephemeral) examples of a
distinct variance from the "English" landscape garden, in a way prescribed by Thomas
Jefferson in 1806; writers who have scholarly appreciation of these gardens as a major
expression of the Romantic Movement that is at least as important as the Hudson River School
of painters.
The Journal of Garden History, an International Quarterly is edited by Professor J.D. Hunt of
The Sir Thomas Browne Institute at the Rijksuniversiteit te Leiden, The Netherlands.' It is
published by Taylor and Frances of London. Subscription is $48 American for any one volume
(which spans a calendar year). The issue on cemeteries is number 3 of volume 4 (1984). Orders
should go to Taylor and Francis at 242 Cherry Street, Philadelphia, PA 1 91 06-1 906.
In Barton L. St. Armand's Emily Dickinson and Her Culture: The Soul's Society (New York:
Cambridge University Press, 1984), there is a fascinating chapter on poetry and funeral rituals
and monuments entitled "Dark Parade: Dickinson, Sigourney, and the Victorian Way of Death."
The whole book illuminates Victorian culture and should be invaluable to anyone interested in
the rural cemetery movement.
AGSSp'85p12
Problems of Symbolism in Cemetery Monuments
by Frances Clegg (of the Institute of Psychiatry, London University) in the Journal of Garden
History V. 4 #3, (July-Sept. 1984) pp. 307-315
reviewed by George Kackley
Even to one whose life is devoted to cemeteries as gardens, it is strange that an article on
gravestone symbols appears in a journal on garden history. We of the Association for
Gravestone Studies are grateful that our subject does merit attention in such scholarly journals.
We are grateful for this stimulus to take a closer look at our problems with symbolism.
The one important sentence in this shallow article is: "As time passes we become more
divorced from the unwritten knowledge of earlier generations and so our attempts to
understand their interpretation of symbols become increasingly speculative." Let us note that
"more divorced" suggests that divorce has been there all the while, that the very first interpreter
of a symbol was divorced from the person who produced it; passage of time simply makes us
even more divorced from what Ms Clegg calls the "actual meaning". Perhaps being more
divorced is like being more pregnant, or more dead. Note also that "increasingly speculative"
implies that interpretation of symbols is speculative from the first use of the symbol, and
interpretation becomes increasingly speculative as times goes by.
Henry Adams has such understanding when he had his friend, Augustus Saint-Gaudens,
produce the famed memorial for Adams' wife. Much philosophizing between Adams and Saint-
Gaudens included talk about that monument. This preliminary input was supplemented
through their friends, Sanford White and John La Farge. But Adams adamantly (no pun
intended) refused to have anything to do with the monument's design and execution. So it was
in its place in the cemetery when Adams had his introduction to it. In his autobiography, writing
in the third person, Adams tells us:
His [Adams'] first stop on returning to Washington took him to the cemetery. . . to
see the figure which Saint-Gaudens had made for him in his absence. Naturally, every
detail interested him; every line; every touch of the artist; every change of light and
shade; every point of relation; every possible doubt of Saint-Gaudens' correctness of
taste or feeling; so that, as the spring approached, he was apt to stop there often to
see what the figure had to tell him that was new; but in all that it had to say, he never
once thought of questioning what it meant. . . . The interest of the figure was not its
meaning, but in the response of the observer.
Ms Clegg could have thrown light on her "problem" by noting that the era of her concern is very
much under the influence of the Romantic Movement. Hugh Honour, in his book. Romanticism,
quotes Baudelaire: "Romanticism is precisely situated neither in choice of subject nor in exact
truth, but in a way of feeling" which is understood subjectively. Honour tells us that the
romantics "rejected the notion that symbolic images had codified meanings, laid down in
emblem books". He says, "They felt free to use symbols either in traditional or new ways, to give
personal significance to those which had been long familiar, or to find others to express the
constant preoccupations of the human spirit." (Hugh Honour, Romanticism, Harper and Row,
1979, pp. 14, 17-18)
So let us be aware that even the crudest artist on a tombstone might be trying to affect us with
his use of symbols, to create deep emotions within us, not to deliver a canned message that
requires a handbook to decipher. Inasmuch as they are informed by the prevailing romanticism,
symbols are used to create feelings; it is always understood that the reception is greatly
affected by the receiver; no one receiver is in a position to be the oracle who dictates
interpretation, though many try.
The important question is, "Does it turn you on?", not "What does it mean?"
Ms Clegg tells us that different nations and different religions have different sets of symbols,
and the same symbol might have different meanings in different countries or religions. So, what
else is new? Within her brief article, she often gets off her subject and she gets into simplistic
classifications that are unworthy of the pages they occupy. Although her view is of British
cemeteries, with a glance at France, she deals entirely with symbols that are quite familiar to
Americans.
The symbol that gets most attention from Ms Clegg is the clasped hands. They are her prime
illustration of her "problem". More than any other symbol, they are accompanied by captions.
She suggests that "Perhaps they were a symbolic invention of the Victorians. . . and thus words
were needed to inform the observer of their meaning". Ms Clegg finds those captions
confusing: "REUNITED" and "WE MEET AGAIN" appeal to her, but "FAREWELL" upsets the
pat interpreter of the clasped-hands symbol.
Evidently, thousands of buyers of tombstones in Britain and America knew much more about
ancient Greece than Ms Clegg understands. The romantic yen for the exotic had brought the
Greek Revival in all its aspects, not the least of them in our cemeteries. Don't those Victorian
handshakes serve as shorthand for the full-figure scenes that are most typical on ancient Greek
tombstones? There we see figures shaking hands, quietly and solemnly. And this very symbol
on the ancient stones has the rare caption; it reads, "XAIPE". That Greek word says both "hello"
and "goodby", like ciao, aloha and sayanara. There does not seem to be much doubt that these
AGSSp'85p13
uaiiBis/wai
01^ ON |iuiJ«<j
a I yf 4
3ovisod s n
■OaO ildOHd NON
60910 SSB^ 'j9)se3JOM
'S3!pn)s 9UO)saAeiO joi uoj^epossv
scenes on ancient Greek gravestones depict tlie departing person saying farewell to his family,
his wife, or his friend. The departing man sometimes has his forlorn dog, pathetic at his feet.
Ms Clegg mentions the use of pets as symbols on Victorian stones; she classifies them with her
"three dimentional ornaments". These dogs, in America, are, apparently, almost always
portraits of family pets, suggested by those ancient Greek stones. And they are romantic,
guarding the grave.
Here let us stop to realize that each symbol, such as the dog, has a large cluster of possible
meanings and affects, some stronger in one person than in another, some totally unknown to
some viewers, some quite subconscious.
Students of art and artists at least suspect that a work often has more "meaning" or affect than
the artist ever consciously intended. Also, the artist speaks through his product; he is no expert
in verbal definitions. If, for such reasons, the producer of the symbol can not define Ms Clegg's
much sought "actual meaning", who can?
We can be grateful to the genius that possesses an artist for a work with affects and values that
the artist could not possibly anticipate. Therefore, a work can have its greatest impact and
"meaning" among later generations and foreign cultures. It is important that a nineteenth-
century funerary monument or a nineteenth-century garden can charm some of us, stimulate
strong emotions, or simply make life better by amusing us. What that stone or garden said or
did for the people who made and paid for it is interesting, but secondary.
George Kackley is Superintendent of Oakhill Cemetery, Washington DC.
AGS member Thomas Graves has published "Liebsten Kinder und verwandten: Death and
Ethnicity," Keystone Folklore 2 (1983), 6-14. He describes Pennsylvania German reactions to
the nineteenth-century anti-German sentiment in America, writing, "the Pennsylvania
Germans can be seen as having strongly and publicly announced their differences from the rest
of society in a (probably unconscious and unplanned,) unified front. . . The ways Germanic
elements mix with non-Germanic and more mainstream popular elements can tell us a lot about
the ethnic awareness and feelings of identity among the Pennsylvania Germans." He includes
several interesting epitaphs and notes the introduction of hex signs in the 1840s. Of related
interest are the earlier studies he cites, including Preston A. Barba, Pennsylvania German
Tombstones: A Study in Folk Art Pa. Gem. Folklore Society, vol. 18 (Allentown, Pa.:
Schlechter's, 1954); Klaus Wust, Folk Art in Stone: Southwest Virginia (Edinburg, Va.:
Shenandoah History, 1970); Ferederick S. Weiser, "Baptismal Certificate and Gravemarker:
Pennsylvania German Folk Art at the beginning and the End of life," in Ian. M.G. Quimby and
Scott T. Swank, eds., Perspectives on American Folk Art {New York: Norton, 1980).
Oh Woodsman, spare that Tree-Stump Tombstone. Warren E. Roberts has published the
definitive work on these stones and their carvers, "Investigating the Tree-Stump Tombstone in
Indiana," in Simon J. Bronner, ed., American Material Culture and Folklife: A Prologue and
Dialogue (Ann Arbor: UMI Research Press, 1985), with comments by Roger L. Welsch and
Michael Owen Jones.
NOTE: This is the end of Part I of the Spring issue, 1985.
Part II will be mailed separately.
NEWSLETTER
OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES
DEBORAH TRASK, ED.
VOLUME 9 NUMBER 3 SUMMER 1985
ISSN:0146-5783
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ARTICLES
SURVEYS HELP PROTECT BURIAL GROUNDS 1
by Alfred Fredette
"B.C." 2
by Margaret R. Jenks
THE DATING OF GRAVESTONES BEFORE 1752 5
by N. T. Harvey Williams
AGS ARCHIVES CATALOGUE 6
MEMBER NEWS 12
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
COMING EVENTS 14
PRESERVATION NOTES 15
Rachel Clarke, 1741, Westfie Id NJ from a photocopy of a
photograph by Dan and Jessie Lie Farber
SURVEYS HELP PROTECT BURIAL GROUNDS
by Alfred Fredette
Legislation alone is unlil<ely to bring an abrupt end to the problem of gravestone theft. But the
protection of burial grounds need not be a formidable task. One step in this effort is the
documentation of all existing stones, which is essential to the retrieval of missing artifacts.
The Constantine- Baker stone of East Haddam is an example of a gravestone retrieved because
documentary evidence was available. An Association for Gravestone Studies (AGS) member in
Worcester, Massachusetts heard of a gravestone for sale in a New York City gallery. A query to
the dealer was answered by a letter, accompanied by a photograph, stating that the price of the
stone was $1,950.
Copies of the letter and photograph were mailed to AGS members in eastern Connecticut and
Rhode Island. The design of the carving was found to be typical of the work attributed to John
Stevens II of Newport. The inscription, though incomplete because of damage, stated, "In
Memory of Constantine Baker Ye Son of Samuel & Mary Baker who died April. . .th 1753. . .
Years. . . Days."
The resources of the Connecticut State Library provided the evidence that placed the stone in
the Cove Burial Ground in East Haddam. Constantine Baker was mentioned in the East
Haddam Vital Records and the East Haddam Church Records, while the stone was recorded in
the 1934 Hale Collection of Connecticut gravestone inscriptions. A 1958 and a 1961 survey of
the Cove Burial Ground also listed the Constantine Baker stone. Further research revealed that
Constantine Baker's father, Samuel, was an East Haddam sea captain, which explained why
and how a Newport carved stone appeared so far from the Stevens shop.
continued
An inspection of the burial ground by Mrs. Fred Costa and Jonatiian Twiss of the local cemetery
association confirmed that the Baker headstone was missing but that the footstone was still
present.
The information that had been gathered on the missing stone was presented to East Haddam
resident State Trooper Max Pablonia. Within six days, the stone was retrieved and returned to
East Haddam.
The return of the Baker stone depended upon information recorded, for the most part, many
years ago. In order to establish the extent of graveyard vandalism, and to protect remaining
resources, current inventories are needed for all early Connecticut burial grounds. Local
historical societies and cemetery associations can help: A small group of volunteers can easily
record the markers in most burial grounds in one afternoon. In addition to recording the
complete inscription on each stone, black and white photographs should be taken. The
developed film may be stored and prints made later as needed.
A copy of a current inventory should be forwarded to the Association for Gravestone Studies,
c/o Rosalee Oakley, Executive Secretary, 46 Plymouth Road, Needham, MA 02192. New
inventories will be compared to those in the Connecticut State Library's 1934 Hale Collection.
From a feature article in the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation News, V,3 #J Winter J985, Alfred
Fredette is a frequent conCributer to the AGS Newsletter,
E.G.
by Margaret R. Jenks
Fig. 1 Mindwell Grant, East Poultney VT, Detail
With numerous ancestors buried inthe East Poultney VT cemetery, I became most interested in
the stones there. William Buckland of East Hartford CT, an ancestor and gravestone carver, is
buried in North Poultney, Vermont. I was hoping to find a stone cut by William. He died in 1 795
and not a single stone dated before 1 795 bears any resemblence to the stones he cut in CT. His
own stone, that of his son Ebenezer, daughter Hannah and father-in-law John Barret are all of
"EC" type. {Markers II p. 20, 79)
In the last several years, I have copied and published the cemetery inscriptions for the
townships of Wells, Poultney, Middletown Springs, Ira, Pawlet and Tinmouth, Rutland County,
Vermont. In the process, I have taken pictures of many of the beautiful old stones. Among my
pictures was that of the stone for Mindwell Grant, said to be signed "EC". It took digging down
about three inches and six inches from the right edge of the stone to find the "EC", but it is
clearly there. (Fig. 1) The more pictures I take, the more variety I find in the "EC" type of stones.
Dr. Ernest Caulfield thought "EC" might possibly be Edward Collins, son of Zerubbabel. (CT
Historical Society Bulletin 28:1 :29)
Taking a list of the "EC" type stones for adult males, I searched the Rutland County probate
records. Only two had estates, Joseph Rann and Zebediah Dewey. Finally, after page after page
of inventory, there was a one page administrators account for Zebediah Dewey who died Oct.
28, 1804 in 78th y. (Fig. 2) The account was dated Oct. 17, 1806. There were two items of
interest: "to Jonas Clark for toom stones $20.50; to digging graves $1.25." (Rutland Co.
Probate, Rutland district 5: 1 46) Who was Jonas Clark?
continued
AGSSu'85p2
Fig. 2 Zebadiah
photograph
Dewey, 1804, photocopy of a
Fig. 3 Jerusha Morgan, 1804, Middletown VT
Since the majority of the "EC" stones are in East Poultney and Middletown Springs, it has
seemed lil<ely that the carver lived in that area. A search of the census and vital records has
failed to show an Edward Collins in Rutland Co. In my Middletown Springs cemetery bool<, I
found two Jonas Clarks. General Jonas Clark d. Feb. 23, 1854 age 79, thus born about 1775,
and Jonas Clark Sr. d. Sept. 23, 1813 age 70 y. 3d., thus born about 1743. Either was the right
age in 1 806 to have carved or sold gravestones.
An examination of the "History of Middletown", by Barnes Frisbie, 1867 pp. 75-77 said that
Jonas Clark came from Canterbury, CT in 1790 with his son Jonas Jr. His sons Enos and
Theopholis had come about two years earlier. Both Jonas Jr. and Enos were masons, an
occupation that could easily lead to gravestone carving! However, Jonas Jr. studied and
became a lawyer at about age 30. Enos died April 12, 1815 in 51st year. The "EC" stones are
dated only till about 1809. Could Enos Clark be "EC"? Was Jonas also a carver, or just an
agent?
A letter to Mr. Herbert Davidson, Middletown Springs historian was the next step. He wrote
back that the word "mason" rang a bell and he remembered an old hand written manuscript in
the Historical Society: "Genealogy of the Clark Family. . . 1639-1891" by M. Clark, Feb. 11,
1891. M. Clark was Merritt Clark, son of Jonas Jr., b. 1803, d. 1898. Merritt Clark places Enos
(1746-1815) and Jonas (1774-1854) as sons of Jonas Sr. The Canterbury, CT vital records verify
this. Merritt Clark wrote "Enos was a stone cutter, some of his work may be seen at the old
cemetery in Middletown on grave stones and generally ornamented with the head of a Seraph
or weeping willow. . ." Merritt Clark was 12 when his Uncle Enos died, so that the statement
may be taken as first hand knowledge.
continued
Fig. 4 Thomas McClure, 1794, Middletown VT
Fig. 5 Roswell Buckland, 18 4, North Poultney
AGSSu'85p3
Not knowing that "EC" carved willow stones, I have very few pictures of that type of his stones.
"EC" has two distinct types of writing. He uses a flourish with the beginning "IN" of IN
MEMORY OF and often used italics for the name of the deceased. The Seraph's wings are
usually smooth, but change shape as the years pass. The face is always oval with the hair in the
same form as used by Zerubbabel Collins except that "EC" often had three curls on each side
while Collins has only one.
Several questions still remain. Where did Enos learn the craft? Was he an apprentice of
Zerubbabel Collins as there are many similarities in their work? Was Jonas Sr. or Jr. acting as
an agent for his son/brother or did he also carve gravestones?
Margaret R. Jenks, 12727 N.E. 116th Lang F8, Kirkland, WA 98033, has transcribed and published gravestone
inscriptions for several townships in Rutland County, Vermont. Her volume on Pawlet VTwas reviewed In the Spring
1985 Issue of the AGS Newsletter.
EPITAPHS
the epitaph reads:
Decaying mortals, here's the place,
The Houfe defin 'd for Adams race.
Be ready then to meet the Lamb
Of God, the Judge, the great I AM.
John Muzzy, 1 789, Spencer MA carved by a member of
the Itinerant Sikes family.
Law of Cemeteries
by Lenny Robusto, Counsel
Once a cemetery always a cemetery is a proposition which has great support in American Law.
As so eloquently stated in an old Pennsylvania case, "ground once given for interment of a body
is appropriated forever to that body. It is not only the domus ultima, but the domus eterna, so
far as eternal can be applied to man or terrestrial things." But in an old Kentucky case the Court
spoke just as eloquently in stating the opposing conviction that "when the land has lost it's
sacred character, when the remains of those who lie buried in the soil have disintegrated and
mingled with the dust beneath, when there is nothing left to identify the ashes that lie buried
there, when the names of the dead are no longer heard in the ears of men, and not a trace of
their memory remains, then it seems to me, no plausible reason suggests itself to the mind why
such land should be withheld from serving the needs of a community solely for sentimental
reasons."
Thus, the concept of what is an abandoned cemetery is debatable. Attempts have been made to
define an abandoned cemetery by statute in N.Y. The County law, section 222 (5)(a), provides
that the Board of Supervisors of any county may provide for the perpetual care, upkeep and
maintenance of any cemetery in the county if the cemetery has no funds available for it's
expenses. The town law sections 291 and 296 and General Municipal Law Section 164 also
provide for care by the municipality but stipulate that there must be no burials for twenty years
to be considered abandoned. Unfortunately none of these laws applies to New York City. In the
opinion of the State Comptroller, Vol. 23 page 629 (1967) an abandoned cemetery is defined as
one for which there is no longer any board or corporate body or trust fund. But a corporate
body lasts forever unless specifically dissolved [or they fail to answer repeated requests about
taxation by official sources!] Thus, this definition doesn't help us to solve the problem about
what an abandoned cemetery is.
from the Newsletter of the Friends of Abandoned Cemeteries of Staten Island, V. 2 #1, Jan.-
Feb.,1985.
AGSSu'85p4
THE DATING OF GRAVESTONES UNDER THE OLD STYLE CALENDAR BEFORE 1752
by N.T. Harvey Williams
Many examples can be seen in graveyards where the date of death on the headstone is written
as a double date, such as 1742-3. There are numerous variations in the way the date is shown
and, because of the religious basis for the reform of the calendar in medieval times, some
intriguing aberrations occur. A brief explanation of the origins of our present calendar is
necessary in order to appreciate the reasons for adopting this style of dating.
The calendar we use now derives mainly from the Roman and Egyptian calendars, to which
Julius Caesar made a number of reforms in the mid-lst century B.C. He assumed that the year
was 36574 days long and compensated for the fraction by adding an extra 'leap' day every four
years, on 29th February. In fact, this correction is marginally too long, although for practical
purposes the error was hardly significant, amounting to about 3 days every 400 years.
The life of early man revolved around the seasons which regulated the cycle of farming and
husbandry that dominated his existence. The apparently capricious nature of the events which
determined the success or failure of the harvest led him to believe that they were controlled by
gods who had to be propitiated, and the key reckoning points marking the phases of the year
assumed especial religious importance. Chief amongst these were probably the winter solstice
and the spring equinox. 25th December, for instance, was the conventional Roman date for the
winter solstice and the Mithraists kept it as the feast of the Unconquered Sun, when the
recovery from the darkness of winter began. Towards the end of the 4th century A.D., the
Christians felt the need to assert themselves more strongly against competing religions and
decided to adopt the same date for the observance of Christ's birthday, on the grounds that
Christ, the bringer of supernatural light, would naturally be born when the world was darkest.
Eostre was the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring, from whose name came the word Easter, the
most sacred festival of the Christian calendar and linked, like the Jewish Passover, to the spring
equinox.
The error in the Julian calendar meant that by the middle of the 1 6th century the spring equinox
had shifted from 21st March to 11th March. The initiative to restore the links between the
seasons and the traditional dates for the Christian festivals came from the Church, and in 1 582
Pope Gregory XIII introduced a new calendar designed to do this. The equinox was brought
back to 21st March by omitting ten days, and there would not be a leap year at the end of a
century unless it was divisible by 400. Unfortunately, these changes were made during the
turmoil of the Reformation and whilst they were adopted fairly quickly in Catholic countries,
those that had broken with the Church of Rome would have nothing to do with them.
Although the Roman calendar had always taken 1st January to be New Year's Day, in Britain,
under the old calendar, it had originally been 25th December and then, from the 14th century
on, 25th March. So, for 170 years, until we eventually fell into line in 1752, there was a three
month overlap between one year and the next under the two systems. The ambiguity was often,
but not always, recognised by the use of the dual date. In addition, by the time we changed over
to what became known as the New Style calendar, the discrepancy in dates between the Old
and the New had increased to 1 1 days, and this was corrected by leaving out the days 3rd-13th
September inclusive, and Wednesday 2nd September was immediately followed by Thursday
14th September. Passions ran high at these departures from the established order, old
resentments still lingered and some felt that their lives had been shortened.
An early reference to the New Style Gregorian calendar is made on a fine heraldic monument to
John Spencer, son of Baron Spencer of Wormleighton, in Wormleighton church, on the
Warwickshire/Northants border. Part of the inscription reads that he "departed this life at Blois
in France the sixt of August after the computation of the Churche of England and the sixteenth
after the newe computation in theyeareof ourLord Christ 1610".
It should be a safe bet that all the dual dates occur between 1st January and 25th March but
human nature being what it is, that isn't so. What prompted the grieving parents of Joseph and
John Parkins to give their dates of death as, respectively, 27th November 1731/2 and 6th
Decembep/l 731/2.? This stone is at the east end of St. Nicholas' Church, Leicester.
The New Style Calendar Act decreed that New Year's Day would be 1st January, starting with
1st January 1752, but still some people wouldn't give up. At Shepshed there is a stone dated
January 24th 1751/2 and at Stoughton another with the date 'the 20th Day of February 17512.'
Mary Hudsby 'departed this Life Sept.r the 9*^. Q: S in the year of our Lord 1 752.', according to
her gravestone at Breedon-on-the-Hill, a date which the laws of mere man had said was not to
be; clearly not good enough. At Mowsley, Sarah Hugelscott apparently died on September 4th
1752. The final word rests with John Winfield of Loughborough, whose table stone proclaims
that he died on 'the 8th day of October 1 753 N.S.
Nevii Harvey Williams, 16 Peckleton Lane. Desford, Leicester, LE9 9JH, writes
about gravestones in England,
AGSSu'85p5
Here JLyrs thrl
BoJy of I
IOSi;i>ll GRIMr.sl
Died Mai'<ll.W|l
Vcm* 6t liis 'nprll
y'ctipgExagswaaiOi
Joseph Grimes. 1716. Stratford, Ct .
AGS ARCHIVES CATALOGUE
The Association for Gravestone Studies Archives are comprised of donations of original and
published material relating to the study of historic grave markers. The collection is divided into
the following subject categories: "General Studies", "Epitaphs", "Cemeteries", "Gravestone
Art", "Carver Studies", "Regional Studies", "Conservation", and "AGS Business". The material
is accessible to NEHGS and AGS members, or any authorized visitor to the NEHGS reading
room. AGS business papers and original photographic negatives may be made available for
inspection upon application to Michael Cornish, archivist, 10 Greylock Road, Allston,
Massachusetts 021 34.
General Studies
1. Albertson, Virginia. Here Lies Buried. 1971 thesis photostat.
2. Allen, Peter Sutton. An Investigation into tiie Validity of a Fundamental Assumption of
Arcfiaeology Utilizing Data from New England Gravestones. 1968 thesis photostat.
3. Andrews, Ruth, ed. How to Know American Folk Art. 1977, E.P. Dutton, New York.
(Chapter: "Early New England Gravestones", by Avon Neal, photographs by Ann Parker.)
4. Benes, Peter, ed. Puritan Gravestone Art I. 1976, Boston University and the Dublin
Seminar. (NEHGS #7815776)
5. Benes, Peter, ed. Puritan Gravestone Art II.- 1978, Boston University and the Dublin
Seminar. 2 copies. (NEHGS #781 5767 & #78157076)
6. Coffin, Margaret M. Death in Early America: The History and Folklore of Customs and
Superstitions of Early Medicine, Funerals, Burials, and Mourning. 1976, Thomas Nelson,
Inc., Nashville, Tenn.
7. Cornish, Michael. Bibliography of Gravestone-related Literature. 1981 manuscript.
(NEHGS #810520)
8. Drinkwater, Robert. From Quarry to Graveyard: A Schematic Reconstruction of Early New
England Gravestone-Carving Technology. 1972 thesis photostat.
9. Duval, Francis & Rigby, Ivan. "Silent Art of our Past" in American Art Review, November-
December 1976.
10. Educational Perspectives Associates. Early American Cemeteries: Clues to a Nation's
Heritage. 1975 sound film strip program.
11. Farber, Jessie Lie, ed. Markers: The Annual Journal of the Association for Gravestone
Studies. 1980, AGS Publications, Worcester, Mass.
12. Farber, Jessie Lie, ed. Newsletter of the Association for Gravestone Studies. Volume III,
Number 3 through Volume V, Number 3. AGS Publications.
13. Forbes, Harriette M. Gravestones of Early New England and the Men Who Made Them
1653-1800. 1927, Houghton Mifflin, Boston.
14. Friswell, Richard. Faces in Stone: The Early American Gravestone as Primitive Art. 1971,
privately printed, Belmont, Mass.
15. Green, James. Inventory of the Ludwig Gravestone Photographs. Manuscript.
16. Halporn, Roberta. Lessons /rom f/7e Dead. 1979, Highly Specialized Promotions, Brooklyn,
N.Y. 2 copies.
17. Ludwig, Allan. Carved Stone-Markers in New England: 1650-1815. 1964 thesis photostat.
18. Mayer, Lance. Aspects of New England Gravestone .Carving: 1668-1815. 1973 thesis
photostat.
19. Mooz, R. Peter. /4 Historical and Aesthetic Study of Early New England Gravestones. 1962
thesis photostat.
20. Neal, Avon & Parker, Ann. Early American Stone Sculpture found in the Burying Grounds
of New England. 1981, Sweetwater Editions, New York, N.Y. (Includes 2 original
photographs and 1 original rubbing.)
21. Neal, Avon & Parker, Ann. "Graven Images: Sermons in Stone" in American Heritage,
August 1970.
22. Perkins, Carol A. Scrapbook of Gravestone-related Periodical Clippings.
23. Rumford, Beatrix T. The Role of Death as Reflected in the Art and Folkways of the North
East in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. 1 965 manuscript.
24. Slater, Peter Gregg. Children in the New England Mind/In Death and in Life. 1977, Archon
Books, Hamden, Conn.
25. Smith, James M. "Puritanism: Self-image Formation Through Gravestone Form, Style,
and Symbols" in The Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine, April 1980.
Photocopy.
26. Stannard, David E., ed. Death in America. 1975, University of Pennsylvania Press.
27. Stannard, David E. The Puritan Way of Death: A Study in Religion, Culture, and Social
Change. 1977, Oxford University Press, N.Y.
28. Vecchione, Constance Mary. Memorial Art in North American Churches, Eighteenth and
Nineteenth Centuries: Some Sources, Styles and Implications. 1968 thesis photostat.
29. Weatherby, C.A. Original gravestone photographs and commentary. 461 photographs in
eight looseleaf notebooks divided as follows:
Volume I, "Death's Heads" Volume IV, "Portrait Stones"
Volume IIA, "Winged Cherubs" Volume V, "Symbolic Stones"
Volume MB, "Winged Cherubs" Volume VI, "Designs & Willows"
Volume III, "Wingless Cherubs" Volume VII, Index
Assembled in the 1920's. (NEHGS #7815732) This collection is in disintegrating condition.
Permission to inspect it may be gained upon application to Michael Cornish (see
introduction).
AGSSu'85p6
Epitaphs
30. Andrews, W\\\\am. Curious Epitaphs. 1899, William Andrews & Co., London.
31. Greene, Janet & Mann, Thongs C. Over Their Dead Bodies: Yankee Epitaphs & History.
1962, Stephen Green Press, Brattleboro, Vt.
32. Greene, Janet & Mann, Thomas C. Sudden & Awful: American Epitaphs & the Finger of
God. 1968, Stephen Green Press, Brattleboro, Vt.
33. Maydalany, Jeanne & Mulkerin, Jean. Poems in Stone in Stamford Connecticut. 1980,
Stamford Historical Society, Stamford, Conn.
34. Northend, Charles, compiler. A Bool< of Epitaphs, Amusing, Curious and Quaint: Being
Light Readings on Grave Subjects. 1873, Geo. W. Carleton & Co. N.Y.
35. Pettigrew, Thomas Joseph. Chronicles of the Tombs. A Select Collection of Epitaphs,
Preceded by an Essay on Epitaphs and Other Monumental Inscriptions, with Incidental
Observations on Sepulchral Antiquities. 1873, Bell & Daldy, London.
36. Pike, Robert E. Granite Laughter and Marble Tears: Epitaphs of Old New England. 1983,
Stephen Daye Press, Brattleboro, Vt. Photocopy.
37. Payment, J.L. Notes on the Recording of Monumental Inscriptions. 1978, Federation of
Family History Societies. Booklet.
38. Spiegl, Fritz, ed. A Small Book of Grave Humor: Comic & Curious Memorial Inscriptions.
1971 , Cox & Wyman Ltd., London.
39. Wallis, Charles L. American Epitaphs Grave & Humorous. 1973, Dover Publications, New
York, N.Y.
Cemeteries
40. Bouley, Charles H. & Farber, Daniel. Locations of Graves on Worcester Common. 1966.
Booklet with map. (NEHGS #81 1004)
41. Brown, Theodore L. & McKallip, Jonathan D. Discovering, Restoring and Maintaining Old
Cemeteries. 1973-4, Maine Old Cemetery Association, Augusta, Maine.
42. Daggett, David L., ed. History of Grove Street Cemetery. (New Haven, Conn.) Booklet. 2
copies.
43. Decker, Lewis G., assisted by Clarinda Bellen, Nancy MacVean, & Brian Oles. Cemetery
Recording. 1978/Town of Caroga/Fulton County, New York/Including Vital Records,
Statistics, Data, and Information Found While Recording Town Cemeteries. CETA Project
1978-9. Photocopy. (NEHGS #81 1004)
44. Gabel, Laurel K. A List of Gravestones in King's Chapel Burying Ground, Copp's Hill
Burying Ground, and the Granary Burying Ground, Boston, for which there are Actual or
Likely Probate Payments to 17th and 18th Century Stone Carvers, as Recorded in Suffolk
County Probate Records, Boston, Massachusetts. 1981.
45. Jacobs, G. Walker. Stranger Stop and Cast an Eye. 1971, Oldstone Enterprises,
Marblehead, Mass.
46. Johnson, Arthur Warren & Ladd, Ralph Elbridge. Memento Mori: Part the First Being an
Accurate Transcription of the Tombstones, Monuments, Footstones, and other Memorials
in the Ancient North Burial Yard in the Town of Ipswich, County of Essex, Massachusetts,
from its Beginnings in the Year Anno Dom^, 1634 to the Present Day: With a Chart of the
Location of the Same that Any Grave Therein may be Located with Ease and Accuracy,
Together with a History and Description of the Ancient Burial Yard. 1935, Ipswich
Historical Society.
47. Kuwik, Lenore Rennenkampf. A System for the Collection and Retrieval of Gravestone
Data and a Survey of Gravestones within a Five- Mile Radius of Cooperstown, New York
from their Earliest Date to 1815. 1976 thesis photostat.
48. Maine Old Cemetery Association. Newsletters. In a binder: Summer 1969; Volume II,
Number 1 (Spring 1970); Volume 11, Number 3 (Fall 1970); Volume VIII, Number 2
(Summer 1976); Volume IX, Number 1 (Spring 1977); Volume IX, Number 4 (Winter 1977);
Volume X, Number 1 (Spring 1978); Volume X, Number 2 (Summer 1978); Volume X,
Number 3 (Fall 1978); Volume X, Number 4 (Winter 1978); Volume XI, Number 1 (Spring
1979); Volume XI, Number 2 (Summer 1979).
49. Marchant, Charles E. Vermont Old Cemetery Association Information Packet, Sample
Cemetery Survey Sheet, Etc. 1 982 AGS Conference presentation.
50. Marion, John Francis. Famous and Curious Cemeteries. 1977, Crown Publishers, Inc., New
York, N.Y.
51. McGeer, William J.A. Reproducing Relief Surfaces: A Complete Handbook of Rubbing,
Dabbing, Casting and Daubing. 1972.
52. Mohr, Charles. E. Notable Cemetery Trees. 1982 AGS Conference presentation.
53. Mohr, Charles E. Eye On: Graveyards, Cemeteries, and Memorial Parks. Delaware
Audubon Society. Brochure.
54. Nelson, Patricia & Harman, Susan. Be Ye Also Ready: A Guide to the Historic Cemeteries
of Bridport, Cornwall, Weybridge and Middlebury. 1976, Addison County Vocational
Center, Middlebury, Vt.
55. New Hampshire Old Graveyard Association. Newsletters. In a binder: Volume I, Number 1
(May 18, 1976); Volume I, Number 2 (Sept. 15, 1976); Volume I, Number 3 (Spring 1977);
Volume II, Number 2 (Fall 1977); Volume II, Number 3 (Spring 1978).
56. Stranix, Edward L. The Cemetery/An Outdoor Classroom. (Project KARE Student
Handbook.) 1974. Con-Stran Production, Philadelphia, Pa.
57. Tallman, Louise H. Family Graveyards of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. 1983, manuscript.
58. Townshend, Henry H. The Grove Street Cemetery: A Paper Read Before the New Haven
Colony Historical Society October 27, 1947. 1948, NHCHS. (NEHGS #7815767)
59. Vermont Old Cemetery Association. Bulletins. In a binder: Summer 1977; Fall 1977;
Spring 1978; Fall 1978; Winter 1978.
AGSSu'85p7
Gravestone Art
60. Coolidge, Charles A. Original gravestone photographs. 1934. Four in envelope.
61 . Crane, Mrs. S.H. Original photographs of Sikes-type gravestones. 1 964. Five in envelope.
62. Dadmun. Large original photograph of 1693 William Greenough gravestone (Boston) in
frame.
63. Farber, Daniel. "Massachusetts Gravestones" in Antiques, June 1979. Photocopy.
(NEHGS #810520)
64. Farber, Daniel. Original gravestone photographs in three metal filing boxes, with index.
65. Forbes, Harriette M. original gravestone photographs used to illustrate articles in Old Time
New England. 1920's. 56 in envelope.
66. Hart, C.H. Original gravestone photographs. Eight envelopes organized as follows:
IIA: 17th Century (10 photos) IIE:1760's(1 photo)
MB: 1700-1710 (2 photos) IIF: 1770's (4 photos)
IIC: 1740's (4 photos) IIG: 1780's (10 photos)
IID: 1750's (4 photos) IIH: (indecipherable)
67. Miscellaneous original gravestone photographs. 11 in envelope.
68. Severy, Robert Bayard. Original gravestone photographs, 1974-80. 69 in looseleaf binder.
69. Smith, Elmer L. Early American Grave Stone Designs. 1968, Applied Arts, Witmer, Pa.
Carver Studies
70. Brown, Roberta D. H.J. Wiebusch, Batesville, Ark: A Nineteenth Century Stone Carver.
Thesis photostat.
71. Chase, Theodore & Gabel, Laurel K. James Wilder of Lancaster, Massachusetts
Stonecutter 1741-1794. 1982 AGS Conference presentation.
72. Cooley, Adelaide N. The Monument Maker: A Biography of Frederick Ernst Triebel. 1978,
Exposition Press, Hicksville, N.Y.
73. Slater, James. Jotham Warren, The Plainfield Trumpeter. 1982 AGS Conference
presentation.
74. Welch, Richard F. "Carvers in Stone: Ithuel and Phineas Hill" in Long Island Forum, Jan.
1983.
75. Baker, Faye Joanne. Toward Memory and Mourning: A Study of Changing Attitudes
Toward Death Between 1 750 and 1850 as Revealed by Gravestones of the New Hampshire
Merrimac River Valley, Mourning Pictures, and Representative Writings. 1977 thesis
photostat.
76. Broderick, Warren. Early Gravestone in Rensselaer County, New York. Key to 1982 AGS
Conference presentation slides.
77. Chase, Theodore & Gabel, Laurel K. The Colburn Connections: Hollis, New Hampshire,
Stonecarvers 1780-1820. 1983 manuscript.
78. Concord Antiquarian Society. Memento Mori: Two Hundred Years of Funerary Art and
Customs of Concord, Massachusetts. 1967, CAS, Concord, Mass.
79. Cornish, Michael. Bay Colony Tendril Carvers. 1982 AGS Conference presentation.
80. Dethiefsen, Edwin S. Original 35mm negatives of gravestones. 2897 in cardboard boxes.
Not available for inspection unless approved by archivist.
81 . Duval, Francis Y. & Rigby, Ivan B. "While There Is Still Time. . . Photo-Documenting Ohio's
Early Grave Markers" in Ohio Antique Review, April 1 982.
82. Endersby, Eldrick J. New Jersey Gravestones. Exhibition catalog (photostat). New York
State Historical Association, Cooperstown, N.Y.
83. Foster, Stephen Charles. Massachusetts Gravestones: Evolution and Behavior of Folk
Carving in Colonial New England: 1 969 thesis photostat.
84. Gabel, Laurel K. & Gabel, Lisa Beth. References to Gravestones, Stonecutters, Funeral
Expenses, etc. in the Suffolk County, Massachusetts Probate Records Vol. 2-97
Transcribed from the Handwritten Manuscripts of Harriette M. Forbes in the Collection of
the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massachusetts. 1981.
85. Gabel, Laurel K., Gabel, Lisa Beth, & Tucker, Rev. Ralph. References to Gravestones,
Stonecutters, Funeral Expenses, etc. in the Middlesex County, Massachusetts Probate
Records Vol. 1-79 Transcribed from the Handwritten Manuscripts of Harriette M. Forbes in
the Collection of the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massachusetts. 1980
(NEHGS #810520)
86. Halaas, David Fridtjof. Walk Into Historic Colorado. 1976 (booklet), Fairmount Cemetery
Association.
87. Harding, William E., Jr. Bennington Gravestones. 1975 study for Bennington Centre
Cemetery Association, Bennington, Vt.
88. Hester, Paul & Milburn, Douglas. Our Ancestors' Graves: Houston's Historic Cemeteries.
1980 (booklet). The Beasley Company.
89. Ludwig, Allan I. A Short Introduction to the History of New England Gravestone Carving
from 1635-1810. Original manuscript with 4 working-print photographs, plus copy.
90. Ludwig, Allan I. Original gravestone photographs used to illustrate Graven Images. Four
Volumes: 112-172, 173-238, 239-298, 299-357. (NEHGS #7815732)
91. Ludwig, Allan I. New England Gravestone Carving, 1635-1810: Identifications. Original
manuscript key to photographs, plus copy.
92. McKay, Warren. Massachusetts Quarries. 1982 AGS Conference presentation.
93. Mcleod, Paul Joseph. A Study of the Gravestones of Monmouth County New Jersey,
1716-1835: Reflections of a Lifestyle. 1 979 thesis.
AGSSu'85p8
94. Slater, James. Bedford, Indiana Stonecarving. 1982 AGS Conference presentation.
95. Snnith, Jannes M. The Early Years: Children's Gravestone Symbols in Puritan New England.
1982 AGS Conference presentation.
96. Welch, Richard F. "A Folk Art Legacy: Early American Gravestones" in Spinning Wheel,
November-December 1981 (photocopy).
97. Welch, Richard F. "Colonial and Federal New/ York and New/ Jersey Gravestones" in The
Journal of Long Island History, Winter 1 981 . (NEHGS #81 0520)
98. Welch, Richard F. Memento Mori/The Gravestones of Early Long Island 1680-1810. 1983,
Friends for Long Island's Heritage, Syosset, N.Y.
99. Wust, Klaus. Folk Art in Stone/Southwest Virginia. 1970, Shenandoah History, Edinburg,
Virginia.
Conservation
100. Duval, Francis Y. & Rigby, Ivan B. "A Neglected Legacy: The Conservation of Dis-used
Graveyards and their Memorials" in Ohio Antique Review, May 1982.
101. Gloucester Community Development Association. Journals from the Gloucester
Experiment: A School Community Partnership Project. 1974, Gloucester, Mass.
102. Mayer, Lance R. The Care of Old Cemeteries and Gravestones. 1980, AGS Publications.
AGS Business and IVIiscellaneous
103. Farber, Jessie Lie, compiler. Several folders of notes, article drafts, and various other
materials relating to the AGS Newsletter.
104. Keshishian, John M. "Notes on the Art of Making 'Rubbings"' in Diversion, March 1978.
105. Melin, Nancy, compiler. Four boxes of clippings and periodical literature relating to
gravestone studies, organized alphabetically by author: A-FI, Fo-Ma, Mc-T, W-Z.
106. Miscellaneous AGS business papers, including the folder containing correspondence and
agreements pertinent to the formation and policies of the AGS Archives.
107. Ruggles, Joan. "A Walk Through History" in The Pennsylvania Gazette, October 1980.
108. "Three Centuries of Connecticut Folk Art" in Folk Art Finder, March-April 1980.
Omissions and Late Additions
109. Brooke, John L. Society, Revolution, and the Symbolic Uses of the Dead. 1982, University
Microfilms International, Ann Arbor, Michigan (General Studies)
110. New Haven Colony Historical Society. Inscriptions on Tombstones in Madison,
Connecticut Erected Prior to 1800. Reprinted from the Papers of the New Haven Colony
Historical Society, Volume VI (1900), NHCHS, New Haven, Conn. (NEHGS #7815767)
(Cemeteries)
111. Butler, Patrick H. On the Memorial Art of Tidewater Virginia, 1650-1775. 1969 manuscript.
(Regional Studies)
112. Butler, Patrick H. This World and the Next in Old Deerfield. 1966 manuscript. (Regional
Studies)
113. Pocious, Gerald L. "Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Newfoundland Gravestones: Self
Sufficiency, Economic Specialization, and the Creation of Artifacts" in Material History
Bulletin 12. 1 981 , National Museum of Man, Ottawa, Canada. (Regional Studies)
114. Vincent, William T. In Search of Gravestones Old and Curious. 1896, Mitchell & Hughes,
London. (General Studies)
115. Welch, Richard F. "Folk Art in Stone on Long Island" in Early American Life, June 1979.
(Regional Studies)
116. Welch, Richard F. "The Great Headstone Hunt" in QC Magazine, Fall 1982. (Regional
Studies)
New Archives Contributions (1984/5)
Alstyne, L. Van Burying Grounds of Sharon, Connecticut, Amenia and North East, New York
(Being an Abstract of Inscriptions from Thirty Places of Burial in the Above Named Towns)
1 903, Walsh, Griffen & Hoysradt, Amenia, NY
American Monument Association Symbols/The Universal Language: A Guide to Designing and
Personalizing Family Memorials 1982, Worthington, Ohio
"Amesbury Inscriptions. Salisbury Plains Cemetery." The Essex Antiquarian, Volume 1,
Number 11 (November, 1897) Salem, Ma.
Cowell, Ruth Original color snapshots of memorials and ironwork in Trinity Church Cemetery.
27 in envelope
Cronyn, Elinor & Wilder, Ruth Epitaphs from Bernardston's Old Cemetery 1967, Alrad
Creations
Darnall, Margaretta J. "The American Cemetery as Picturesque Landscape: Bellefontaine
Cemetery, St. Louis" Winterthur Portfolio, Winter 1983
Deetz, James & Dethlefsen, Edwin S. "Death's Head, Cherub, Urn and Willow" Natural History,
March 1967
AGSSu'85p9
De Koven, Jas (?) Stone & Monumental Work 2 Volumes. Antique leatherbound books of
original, numbered photographs and prints. No index.
Dudeney, Peter The Newtown Bee's Gravestone Study 1976, The Bee Publishing Company,
Newtown, CT
Friends of Mt. Hope Cemetery, The Newsletter, Volume 1 , Number 4 - Volume 2, Number 1 (Fall
1981 -Winter 1982) Rochester, NY
Harding, William The Graveyard at Old Bennington, Vt., and the Gravestones of Zerubabel
Collins thesis photostat, 1973, Williams College (includes appendix of gravestones before
1 81 0 in Bennington and Shaftsbury, and key to gravestone profiles)
Kelly, Susan H. & Williams, Anne C. Cemetery Survey: Glastonbury Model 1698-1810
Prepared for AGS Conference, June 1 984
Leonard, Carolyn B. "Rare Old Cemetery Memorials Traced to Woodmen of World" The
Sunday Oklahoman, January 8, 1984.
Lowe, Virginia A. P. & Vidutis, Ricardas "The Cemetery as a Cultural Text" Kentucky Folklore
Record: A Regional Journal of Folklore and Folklife, Volume 26 Numbers 3-4 (July -
December 1981)
Moon, Robert J. "Contemporary Monuments in a Traditional Town" Stone in America
(American Monument Association) February, 1984
Moore, William B. "Indian 'Cemeteries' in Northwestern Pennsylvania and the Sole Survivor:
The Heydrick Farm Graveyard" photostat, manuscript article
Neal, Avon & Parker, Ann "Gravestone Rubbing: Preserving a Heritage in Stone" >4mer/cana,
September 1974
Norton, Rev. John F. TrteHomeof f/?e /\/ic/'enf Dead Resforec/ (An Address Delivered at Athol,
Mass, July 4, 1 859 at the Re-consecration of the Ancient Cemetery of Athol) Athol Depot,
1 859 by Ruf us Putnam
Parisky Associates Hartford's Ancient Burying Ground: An Improvement Plan 1983, for the
Ancient Burying Ground Committee
Perry William Graves The Old Dutch Burying Ground of Sleepy Hollow Privately printed for the
First Reformed Church of Tarrytown, NY, 1953, The Rand Press, Boston
Phillips, Diane A small typewritten collection of epitaphs from Connecticut and Massachusetts.
1984 (?)
Rotundo, Barbara Mount Auburn Cemetery: A Proper Boston Institution offprinted from
Harvard Library Bulletin, Volume 22, Number 3 (July, 1974)
Rowlands, Walter Curious Old Gravestones In and About Boston (photostat) Photographed by
Howland Shaw Chandler, , Boston, 1924
Rufus, Sharon "Heaven's Gate: Shades of History in the East Bay's Oldest and Grandest Burial
Ground" Express: The East Bay's Free Weekly, September 16, 1983
Severy, Robert Bayard Approximately 300 black & white photographs of gravestones old and
new in envelopes. 1980-1984
Talcott, Mary K. "The Center Church Burying Ground, and its Associations" The Connecticut
Quarterly, January, February, March 1895
Tibensky, James Walter The Colonial Gravestones of Western Connecticut thesis photostat,
1977, including computer-generated index
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Blueprint Maps: Eastman Cemetery and Fisk Cemetery,
Chester, Mass. 1964
Various Authors Articles on Contemporary Monument Business Sfone in America (American
Monument Association) December, 1983
Welch, Richard "Huntington Gravestones" The Quarterly of the Huntington Historical Society
Volume 23, Number 3 (Spring 1984) Huntington, NY
Welch, Richard F. Memento Mori: The Gravestones of Early Long Island 1680-1810 1983,
Friends for Long Island's Heritage, Syosset, NY
Northern entrance of Greenwood Cemetery NY. from
Greenwood Illustrated publistied in 1891.
AGSSu'85p10
NEW ACQUISITIONS
The Worcester Historical Museum has given the AGS archives tw/o interesting items, a book and
an original woodcut print.
The 1856 book, inscribed by its author, H.W. Fuller, is Woodlawn Cemetery in North Chelsea
amd Maiden. It contains over 15 lovely engravings and an introductory commentary on the rural
cemetery movement.
The woodcut print is not dated. A note in its margin reads, "This print was made from an old
wood cut found in the attic of an early Holden [Mass.] house." It is a folksy depiction of the
Judgment Day, an event referred to in many epitaphs and the inspiration for much decorative
carving on gravemarkers (e.g., crowns, trumpets, gates and doorways, trees, angels).
In our woodcut, an angel holding a book seems to be announcing the names of the chosen. The
souls, in their reconstituted bodies, are emerging from their graves and are proceding to their
just rewards. Angels place halos on the heads of the righteous as they move toward the Pearly
Gates, behind which are the tree of everlasting life and the many mansions. The less fortunate
souls are feeling the devils' pitchforks as they are bearded like cattle into the fires of hell.
Overhead in a dazzling brightness are heavenly figures with crown and sword, and trumpets'
celestial music.
The stones marking the open graves are black, except for the artist's vertical lines for shading
and texture. The dates and decorative carving are not shown. As an exercise in gravestone
identification, we have given these stones a probable date range, and we have guessed at the
motifs we would expect to find on their tympanums. If you would like to compare your educated
guesses and your reasoning with ours, see page 13
AGSSu'85p 11
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
Saran Naier, 1756, Trinny Cnurcnyara nyC pnoto by
Miriam Silverman
Church sale of cemetery angers community. Descendants of those buried in a century-old
burial ground near Millersburg, Ohio say that selling the scenic hilltop was unethical, even if it
was legal.
"You can't sell a community cemetery to a private person for profit," said Dean Boyd
of Killbuck. "I feel like they sold my grandmother's grave."
Oak Hill Cemetery in southern Holmes County was sold by the Oak Hill Conservative Mennonite
Church last fall to a young couple with two children who moved their mobile home onto the
property. The descendants, who are not Mennonite, say the 1.16 acres, half of it the cemetery,
has been transferred, free of charge, from church to church since 1882. It became the property
of Oak Hill Conservative Mennonite Church ten years ago. Church trustees sold the property
after lightning destroyed the church building, built in 1 882.
Some descendants still own unused burial plots, for which they paid $5.00. Millersburg lawyer
Paul Miller, who conducted the title search for the congregation, said selling cemeteries on
farms was not unusual. Buy Boyd, who was raised on a nearby farm, said farm cemeteries were
different: "They're family plots, not community cemeteries like Oak Hill." The descendants
believe that they should have been notified of the impending sale and given a chance to buy the
cemetery.
from The Plain Dealer, March 4, 1985, contributed by Ted Chase, Dover MA
Damaged headstones to get free repairs. Three monument companies at West Long Branch NJ
have agreed to repair toppled headstones at the Mount Carmel Cemetery. Workers from the
Long Branch Monument Company, Long Branch, the H.T. Hall Inc., Manasquan and John Van
Kirk and Son Monuments, Red Bank, will work together to repair 32 headstones overturned
during a recent vandalism spree at the cemetery. "It was felt that if we put forth a combined
effort, that jointly we could get this job done for the good of the community", said Bud Hall,
owner of H.T. Hall Inc. Usually repairs to stones must be paid by individual plot owners since
cemetery headstones and markers are purchased privately. According to spokespeople from all
three companies, however, repairing the stones at the Wall St. Cemetery will not cost plot
owners anything. Borough police officials estimated the cost of repairing the headstones could
reach $20,000. Work will be done on the headstones whenever any of the companies are at the
cemetery to do burial work or install monuments.
from the Register, Long Branch NJ, contributed by Robert Van Benthuysen
A 350-pound marble slab tombstone popped up, officials of the Willow Grove Naval Air Station
in Horsham PA revealed, "right in the middle of the air station" on the day after Hallowe'en.
Presumably it was the prank of sailors, soldiers or marines on the base. The task of finding
"where in heaven it belongs" fell upon Judy Hufnell of Upper Makefield because of her expertise
in gravestone history.
The engraving on the stone reads: "In memory of Charles B. son of William P. and Elizabeth
Holscher. Died June 19, 1868, Age 17 years, 1 month, 11 days." Whether the pranksters were
delivering a message to some airman at the station was not immediately clear, for the epitaph
inscribed on the stone reads: "In youth his spirit took its flight to meet The Redeemer above,
leaving dear friends here below to prepare to meet him with God. Adieu, but not forever."
from the Bucks County PA Courier Times, November 1984, contributed by Judith l-lufnell
AGSSu'85p12
These are photocopies of photographs of a signed stone
by a modern monument maimer. Gary L. Simmons of the
L.E. tvlonument Co., Crewe VA. The signature is hidden
in the tree barl<.
Elizabeth Hanson, 707 West Iowa St., Urbana, IL 61801, has written us about a recording
project at the Tomlinson Cemetery, a pioneer cemetery in Kerr Township, Champaign County,
Illinois.
"The County Forest Preserve District is slated to control access to the Cemetery, which can
only be approached through private property. They will manage it as a prairie remnant for the
Illinois Nature Preserves system, while the Cemetery Association continues to repair and
preserve the gravestones. We feel that this is a happy combination — the picturesque old
gravestones of the pioneers set in a wild garden of the rare, surviving flowers and tall grasses of
the original prairie to which these pioneers came. A number of such pioneer prairie cemeteries
have been dedicated as Illinois Nature Preserves, and are thus offered a reasonable long-term
chance at survival and conservation."
Modulus 17, the University of Virginia Architectural Review, contains a 22 page article by
Richard Becherer entitled "Placing the Dead: Burial Sites in Early Boston and Beyond."
Becherer, who is Associate Professor of Architecture at the University of Virginia (with a
background in fine art and art history as well as architectural history), argues that while the
Puritan gravestone is being "laboriously examined," its site, the graveyard itself, is largely
ignored by scholars. The article describes the alterations in design and location of several of
Boston's old yards and offers theories regarding the significance of these changes. It is
illustrated with drawings and photographs, among them some unusually interesting 19th-
century photographs credited to the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities.
Also in this good-looking publication is an article, "Honor of Sacrifice: The Evolution of
Arlington National Cemetery," by Jill Bretherick, a graduate student at the University of
Virginia. Modulus 77 is published by the University of Virginia School of Architecture, Campbell
Hall, Charlottesville, Virginia 22903. This is the 1 984 issue.
OLD WOODCUT STONES
Because the gravestones in the woodcut are very dark, we think they are slate. Other dark stone
was used in early New England, but inasmuch as this print was found in central Massachusetts,
where slate was quarried, slate is our guess.
The earliest New England gravestones were unshaped fieldstones; the stones in the woodcut
print are shaped. Although shaped slate markers date back to the early 17th century, the large
majority bear dates in the 18th and early 19th centuries. By the mid-1 9th century,
transportation and trade had so improved that white marble from Vermont dotted the
graveyards of dark, locally quarried stone. Because there are no fieldstone and no white stone
in our print, we think the dates on the stones would range between 1 720 and 1 820.
In our print we can make out three round-shouldered stones. These generally predate 1 800 and
feature tympanum carvings of either a skull or a winged face. One stone appears to have square
shoulders, which would place it in the 1 9th century. On it we would expect to find an urn and/or
willow design.
AGSSu'85p13
COMING EVENTS
The Heritage Center of Lancaster County PA announces five new exiiibits included in tine 1985
Exhibit Season. One of them, Symbols in Stone: Lancaster County Grave Markers explores the
variety of styles and artistic motifs on hand-carved Lancaster County gravestones from the 1 8th
and 19th centuries. This exhibit includes actual head and footstones as well as photographs,
and is guest curated by Dr. J. Joseph Edgette of Widener University.
Admission to the Heritage Center is free. All exhibits will be open Tuesday through Saturday,
April 30th through November 16th, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Center, located on Penn Square at
the intersection of King and Queen Streets, Lancaster.
For further information or to arrange group tours, please contact Beverly Greenfield at
(71 7)299-6440 weekdays.
INTERPRETING THE AMERICAN CEMETERY
This course demonstrates ttie variety of material — cultural and social
evidence preserved in American cemeteries, and reveals ttie value of this
evidence for historical research, education and interpretive programs,
and historic landscape appreciation. The course proceeds from the folk
roots of memorial design in Britain and New/ England to the popular
norms, shitting fads, and cultural mosaic of the Victorian era. Methods of
gathering, sorting, and interpreting field evidence are stressed, with an
introduction to computer analysis of gravestone data. Through record
linkage techniques, gravestones are shown to be a revealing social
indicator of American communities. The course also considers cemetery
design as a mirror of contemporary ideals between the colonial period and
the twentieth century. Illustrated case studies, field inventory
experience, and a course manual will be provided. The course will be
presented by Dr. Darreli Norris, Associate Professor of Geography at the
Geneseo campus of the State University of New York. Dr. Norris' travel
and research background in cemetery analysis spans the United States,
Canada, and Britain. He has published extensively on cultural landscape
and historic preservation themes.
For more information on this seminar, which
will be held afternoons July 7-13, 1985,
contact Seminars on American Culture, New
York State Historical Association, P.O. Box
800, Cooperstown, New York 13326.
Hester Weyman, 1769, Trinity Ctiurchyard NYC
attributed carver — Jolin Zwicl<er. photo by Miriam
Silverman
AGSSu'85p14
Acid rain, pollution taking a toll on colonial cemeteries
by Nancy Matsumoto
One concern of groups such as the AGS and others interested in gravestones is the damaging
effect of acid rain on grave markers, especially those made of marble, sandstone and limestone.
For gravestones made of these materials — most dating from the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries — acid rain works to "eat away, to literally etch the stone to nothing," according to
the James Bradley, survey director at the Massachusetts Historical Commission.
Although it has played an increasingly prominent role in society in recent years, acid rain has
been around for some time, says Alan VanArsdale, a spokesperson for the state division of air
quality control.
The term "acid rain" was coined in 1872 when a British climatologist named Robert Angus
Smith noticed the discoloration of clothes drying on a clothesline and the death of certain types
of vegetation. He examined the content of rainfall and found that it contained unusual levels of
sulfuric and nitric acid, and named his discovery.
According to Arthur Beale, director of the center for conservation and technical studies at the
Harvard University art museums, acid-neutral rain registers a pH, or acidity level of 7 and In the
Northeast, the average pH reading is 4.2, or sometimes as low as 3.6 during storms.
This highly acidic rain causes an acceleration of the gravestone's normal erosion process, and
has taken its toll on cemeteries throughout Massachusetts. Although there are various methods
of chemical treatment, or "consolidance," available, "there are no real satisfying ways of
preserving marble and limestone," Beale notes.
Chemical consolidance can give a deteriorating stone added stability and cohesion, Bradley
says, but it is still a very "experimental" process. It must be administered by professional
conservators, he adds, and because the process is not standardized and is also labor intensive,
it is a relatively expensive one.
One commercial product called Incralac, a complex of plastics and corrosion inhibitors has
been used on bronze and copper monuments, Beale says, but cannot be used on stone. "With
stone, one wants it to breathe, so you have to keep the pores open," he notes.
These coatings and chemical treatments are only a "stopgap" measure, however, says Beale.
Although they all require annual or frequent retreatment to maintain the protective coating,
these methods are nonetheless valuable for the short term, because "we're losing them (marble
gravestones and monuments) so fast. . . The real emphasis has to be on the environment,"
Beale believes.
Another way of combating acid-rain induced corrosion on gravestones is to move the markers
indoors. At the Hancock Cemetery in Quincy, Beale says, a project of replacing marble markers
with granite stones was undertaken several years ago by the Quincy Society, a historical
preservation group.
Jessie Farber, a founding member of the AGS, says there's a right way and a wrong way to
replace gravestones. "They should be brought into a good museum or historical society where
they will be catalogued and kept properly, instead of being stored and forgotten," she says.
In Massachusetts, it is the earliest slate gravestones of the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries and the granite markers that became popular in the mid-eighteen-hundreds that
withstand acid rain the best, says Morgan Phillips, architectural conservator for the Society for
the Preservation of New England Antiquities.
But even good granite can be affected by acid rain, he notes. Many granite gravestones are
polished to a gleaming dark color, then carved. The unpolished carved lettering is visible
because it is lighter in color than the rest of the stone. "Acid rain can take away the polish of a
gravestone," Phillips says, "until you can't read the lettering."
From The Tab, May 9, 198i, contributed by Lorraine Snowden, Needham, MA.
Gravestone of George Brown
Died 1767, Wellfleel. Mass.
The May 1, 1985 issue of the Wall Street Journal, contributed by Francis Duval of New York,
contained an article by Joann Lipman titled "In Search of Art, Collectors Leave No Stone
Untouched" which gave AGS considerable coverage. Although AGS members are referred to as
"zealots", the article publicized the fact that gravestone theft is forbidden in 34 states.
AGSSu'85p15
/}'
uaiiaiSMai
a I V d
30ViSOd s n
•oao iidoyd NON
60910 SSB^ 'jaisaoJOM
'A)ai30S uejjenbiiuv ueouauivo/o
'S9ipn)S duo}saAeJO jo| uouepossv
Action "Stone By Stone" A Society for the Restoration of the Jewish Cemetery in The Hague,
Netherlands has been formed.
In 1693 Alexander Polak bought a plot of land to be used as a cemetery for the Jewish
community. The first burial took place in 1694 and the cemetery has been used for this purpose
without interruption. 2,81 0 headstones mark the last resting places of the great and the humble.
After the Second World War, the sharply reduced Jewish community was unable to bear the
costs of the upkeep and regular maintenance of this, the oldest cemetery of The Hague.
Therefore a Society was formed to assist in this project.
The Society's brochure explains the history of the burial place and gives information of the four
year restoration plan with costs. It gives a breakdown of the costs of various restoration phases.
For example: cleaning of one headstone Fl. 25.00 (approximately 9 or 10 dollars).
Financial assistance has been requested from different levels of government, but donations
from the general public are invited to the tune of Fl. 400.000. So far, the amount of Fl. 60.000
has been donated.
What more appropriate way to contribute to a memorial to the victims of the Holocaust than to
help in this inspired project!
For more information, contact the Secretary, "Steen Voor Steen", Kerkebosiaan 4a, 2243 CM,
Wassenenaar, Netherlands.
translated and contributed by Cora Greenaway, Dartmouth, N.S., Canada
Ben,am,n Scudde,, 1798, Westf,eld NJ. (photocopy of a
photograph by Dan & Jessie Lie Farber)
The AGS NEWSLETTER is published quarterly as a service to members of The Association for Gravestone Studies.
The membership year begins on the date dues are received and ends one year from that date. A one-year
membership entitles the member to four Issues of the NEWSLETTER and to participation in the AGS conference In
the year membership Is current. Send membership fees (Individual/Institutional, $15; Family, $25; Contributing, $25)
to AGS Executive ;Secretary Rosalee Oal<ley, 46 Plymouth Rd., Needham, MA 02192. Back Issues of the
NEWSLETTER are available for $3.00 per Issue from Rosalee Oakley. Order MARKERS, the Journal of the
Association for Gravestone Studies (Vol. 1, $15; Vol. 2. $12; Vol. 3, $10.25) from Rosalee Oakley. Address
contributions to MARKERS, Vol. 4, to David Watters, editor, Dept. of English, University of Nev\/ Hampshire, Durham,
NH 03824. Address NEWSLETTER contributions to Deborah Trask, editor, The Nova Scotia Museum, 1747 Summer
St., Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 3A6, Canada. Address other correspondence and orders to Rosalee Oakley. Mail
addressed to AGS do The American Antiquarian Society, Worcester MA 01609, or to Rosalee Oakley, will be
forwarded to the appropriate AGS office.
NEWSLETTER
OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES
DEBORAH TRASK, ED.
VOLUME 9 NUMBER 4 FALL 1985
ISSN: 0146-5783
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1985 RUTGERS CONFERENCE
Northern New Jersey Tour 1
Forbes Award 4
Minutes of the Annual Meeting 5
Project First 6
AGS Board of Directors, 1985/86 8
A CASE IN POINT
the Mutilation of the Lydia Worcester Marker, Mollis, NH 9
by Francis Y. Duval & Ivan B. Rigby
FOR HIS MANNERS WERE EASY 10
an essay by Jon Carroll
WHITE BRONZE PROGRESS REPORT 11
by Barbara Rotundo
1986 AGS CONFERENCE, BOSTON 12
EXHIBITS 13
MEMBER NEWS 13
GRAVESTONE EPITAPH KEY TO HAWAIIAN
FAMILY HISTORY 16
by Nanette N. Purnell
PUBLICATIONS 18
GRAVESTONES FOR SALE
reports on the controversy 19
NEWSPAPER NOTICES FROM HERE AND THERE 22
summarized by Jessie Lie Farber
CONFERENCES 25
A TRIBUTE TO GLO J. KIRBY 26
TOUR OF SELECTED BURIAL GROUNDS IN NORTHERN
NEW JERSEY June 28, 1985
NEW JERSEY GRAVESTONE CARVING
The earliest indigenous gravestone carving tradition in the Middle Colonies began in Northern
New Jersey around the close of the seventeenth century. The earliest markers may have been
inspired by New England models as, with the exception of the areas around present day Jersey
City, the first European settlements in Northern New Jersey were the work of New Englanders.
Nevertheless, proximity to religiously and ethnically hetrogeneous New York, increasing
admixtures from England and Scotland, and a growing Dutch population exposed Jersey carvers
to a widening and diverse array of artistic influences. Consequently, New Jersey gravestone
styles are distinctive regional variations of the standard European funerary motifs.
The tour on Friday, June 28, took conference participants through four of the earliest, and,
in terms of number and variety, most significant New Jersey burial grounds: Elizabeth, Rahway,
Westfield and Woodbridge.
continued
1687
AGSF'85p 1
ELIZABETH. FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. CALDWELL AND BROAD STREETS.
Elizabeth, formerly Elizabethtown, was the first English settlement in the state of New Jersey.
The original grant, made in 1664 was conferred on settlers from Jamaica, Long Island, and
other Long Islanders and New Englanders soon followed. Elizabeth was the capital of East
New Jersey and remained the largest settlement in the colony through the Revolution. The
first church, constructed in 1665, was originally Congregational, but became Presbyterian in
1712. The present structure was completed in 1793, replacing an earlier church razed by the
British in 1780.
Old Elizabeth Carver I. 1707
Common Jersey soul effigy, 1 759
The earliest memorials in the First Church burying ground consist of two grave slabs attached
to the wall on the northwest side of the church. These archaic looking markers are dated
1687. Only two others of this type are known in the area. In the center of the north section
of the churchyard stand most of the markers carved by the Old Elizabeth carvers I and II.
These varieties, bearing dates between 1726 and 1733, mark the real beginning of New Jersey
gravestone cutting.
Seven examples of the "common Jersey soul effigy", the first widely distributed cherub pattern,
are found at Elizabeth. Twenty-three "large jawed" skulls, the most common style from 1720-
60, may also be seen.
Elizabeth was home to Ebenezar Price, whose workshop was the most prolific in the area.
A total of 177 of his cherub, and 44 of his tulip and fan (shell) designs remain at Elizabeth.
At least three of Price's assistants are known by name: Jonathan Acken, David Jeffries and
Abner Stewart. Like Price, they also signed their work which followed their master exactly.
Price may have had other apprentices and his influence can be seen on practically all Jersey
stonecutters after 1760. Price's own gravestone stands in the last row on the extreme northwest
by the parking lot (found by Kelly/Williams to be signed "A.S."). Ellas Darby, Aaron Ross and
Noah Norris are also represented at Elizabeth as are Newark Craftsmen Uzal Ward and William
Grant.
William Grant, 1782
RAHWAY CEMETERY. ST. GEORGE'S AVENUE AT WESTFIELD AVENUE, RAHWAY.
Rahway Cemetery began as the churchyard of the Rahway Presbyterian Church in 1742. The
church was moved in 1832 and the burial grounds have been operated as a non-sectarian
cemetery, although controlled by the Board of Trustees of the First Presbyterian Church in
Rahway.
Though the Price workshop is represented, Rahway's main attraction consists of stones by
the Osborne family and John Frazee. Henry Osborne and Jonathon Hand Osborne worked
out of Woodbridge and Scotch Plains respectively. They carved cherubs which look like stylized
versions of Price's patterns as well as some idiosyncratic designs of their own. The Phebe
Fleming stone, 1793, with its hands and flowers motif, shows Henry Osborne at his more
individualistic. A third generation Osborne, William, is represented by neo-classical designs.
continued
AGSF'85p2
John Frazee, who later became a sculptor of some note, worked during the transitional period,
1800-1825. His work is neat and sharp with whimsical flourishes that recall Henry Osborne.
Note the musical motif at the bottom of the Charles looker stone, 1811, and the cameos on
the side borders of the John Nafies marker, also 1811.
Late Jersey style patterns by Aaron Ross and Noah Norris can also be seen. Rahway holds
the grave of Abraham Clark, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence for New
Jersey.
J. Tucker (?), 1778
WESTFIELD. WESTFIELD PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. MOUNTAIN AVENUE.
The Westfield Presbyterian Church was founded in 1728. Westfield provides a fine selection
of Osborne and Price markers. Several of the Price memorials in the northernmost rows are
exceptional in design and execution. Also note the Able Miller marker, 1776, on the northwest
side, for a superb example of blatant advertising. Westfield also contains markers by two imitators,
Ellas Darby and J. Tucker who followed the Price/Osborne cherub style. Stones by third
generation Osbornes stand in the southeast section though they are badly weathered. Transitional
period markers by Ezekiel Ludlum and Noah Norris are located in the southern rows.
WOODBRIDGE. WOODBRIDGE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. FREEMAN AVENUE.
Woodbridge was founded in 1666 by a company of settlers from New England. A fieldstone
marker cut "1690", on the eastern fringe of the colonial section is a reminder of this formative
period of Woodbridge's history. Woodbridge provides a fine reprise for the tour. The Old Elizabeth
Carver I has left one skull marker, while several "Comon Jersey Soul Effigies" stand in the
middle rows. The 117 "large jawed skulls" are the largest number of this variety among the
four burial grounds visited. Henry Osborne worked out of Woodbridge for part of his career
and several of his cherubs are encountered. The Price workshop and Newark cutters Uzal
Ward and William Grant are also represented. There are a large number of late Jersey transitional
markers by various carvers (Osborne, W. Schenck, Ross and probably the Norrises) featuring
traditional secondary motifs but with the initials of the deceased replacing the central symbol.
Note the persistence of the lobe-tipped configuration well into the 1830s.
Homesick New Englanders may wish to hover over the Lamson skull and Narragansett cherub
on the near southeast side. Trinity Episcopal Church is just north of the church yard. It has
a small selection of markers.
Large jawed skull, 1730
Osborne Workshop, 1 783
Tour Leaders: Richard F. Welch
Francis Y. Duval
Tour Guide Notes: Richard F. Welch
Rubbings: Emily Wasserman, Gravestone Designs
Line Drawings: J. Richard Welch
AGSF'85p3
Saturday June 29, 1985, there were conference tours of two significant New York City sites:
Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn and Trinity Churchyard in IVIanhattan.
All AGS members who were unable to attend the Conference should have received a copy
of the 1985 Conference program in the mail. If you have not received your copy by now, contact
Rosalee Oakley.
QUEEN AMNE'S GARDEN
''^V^J!^s^^%°'^'^-'">"^^^
S'MilSl ''^^^
J^^r
f9BtJ^t^AMjS/lV£l(fi**tf
THE HARRIETTE MERRIFIELD FORBES AWARD TO JESSIE
LIE FARBER
Presentation Address by AGS President Ted Chase June 29, 1985
Since our first annual conference we have awarded the Harriette Merrifield Forbes Award to
eight people — last year a double-header: Ann Parker and Avon Neal. The award is made
periodically to honor either an individual or an organization in recognition of exceptional service
in the field of gravestone studies — whether in scholarship, publications, conservation, education
or community service. This year the Board voted unanimously to make the award to Jessie
Lie Farber. I suggest that she has rendered exceptional service in every one of these areas.
While a professor and department head at Mount Holyoke College, she documented and published
an impressive book on the South Hadley graveyard under the auspices of the South Hadley
Historical Society. I suppose this is what aroused, or in any event quickened, her interest in
gravestone studies. She attended the Dublin Seminars and became one of the incorporators
of this association. And since its incorporation she has edited the first volume of MARKERS,
and established the format and style of our Newsletter, which she edited for four years. As
director of our publications, she has inspired and taken a leading part in publishing virtually
all of our information leaflets and guides. I have been in constant association with Jessie during
the past two years, and I can testify, as can so many of you, that she is ever brimming with
ideas, is indefatigable in carrying them through, and always has the welfare of AGS close to
her heart.
Perhaps best of all she met (in a graveyard I am told) and married Dan Farber, who has himself
been a recipient of this Award. Together they organized the first AGS Conference away from
Dublin — that is Newport. She has been Dan's partner in building a magnificent collection
^of more than 10,000 gravestone photographs, and she is now his partner in the preparation
of a book based on that collection.
But in making this award, I want to make it clear that we are not again honoring a husband-
and-wife team, as we did last year, but are honoring Jessie for her own unique and exceptional
service in the field of gravestone studies.
AGS F'85 p 4
ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES
ANNUAL MEETING
June 30, 1985
President Theodore Chase called the Annual Meeting of AGS to order at 9:10 AM in the Loree
Gymnasium building of Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ. He declared the presence of
a quorum.
Eloise West, chairman, gave the report of the Nominating Committee, which was the same
as the slate presented at the April Board meeting and presented with notice of the Annual
Meeting. Ruth Cowell moved that one vote be cast for the slate as presented. Gay Levine
seconded. Passed unanimously. Mrs. West thanked the other committee members, Pat Miller
and John Wilson. President Chase thanked Rufus Langhans for his service on the Board.
Alice Bunton gave the Treasurer's report. Receipts for the Conference so far are $11,750 and
the expenses so far are $11,400. President Chase thanked Mrs. Bunton for her fine work as
Treasurer. He noted that this year has been our first with a budget and that next year's budget
shows a deficit, but the Conference will help if it shows a profit. If not, we may have to organize
a drive for money. Another possibility is to raise the dues. The deficit is projected, not actual.
In the budget the Conference is carried as a separate item as it overlaps the fiscal year.
President Chase announced that the 1986 Conference will be co-chaired by Michael Cornish
and Rosanne Atwood-Humes. It will be in eastern Massachusetts, possibly at Stonehill in North
Easton or Bridgewater State College in Bridgewater. It is presently planned that the Conference
will last three days and that there will be a bus tour of the Narragansett area. NOTE: THIS
HAS BEEN CHANGED TO BOSTON (see page 12)
In regard to the 1987 Conference, President Chase said that last year there was mention of
Pennsylvania. Both Savannah and South Carolina have been suggested. He asked for comments.
Victor Dupont said that many people wanted to meet in Boston and that New Haven is a good
possibility, especially for guest lecturers and university facilities. President Chase said that the
surveying and mapping of Boston cemeteries is going on and eventually 16 graveyards will
be done. Too little is known about Boston carvers. Miriam Silverman asked the membership
for further site suggestions when completing the Conference questionnaire. There were no
other suggestions from the membership.
President Chase gave his report. He noted that there were four Board meetings in Connecticut
and Massachusetts which were well attended.
Jessie Farber is retiring as Publications Chairman and Richard Welch will take over. President
Chase expressed the appreciation of AGS to Jessie for a job well done. MARKERS III has
sold well. MARKERS IV is well on the way. It has been suggested that the articles on carvers
which appeared in the NEWSLETTER be reprinted in MARKERS iV. The Regional Guide for
Long Island is ready. Lynn Strangstad's publication is ready and has been reviewed by other
experts — Mayer, Matero, Weiss, etc. An effort is underway to obtain a grant to publish a
guide to documenting and interpreting a cemetery based on the Kelly and Williams "Glastonbury
Model." A dozen foundations have been approached. The National Institute for the Conservation
of Cultural Property has shown some interest. They suggest that a larger grant should be sought
to provide for field testing. The AGS proposal seems to fit in to their plans for a survey of
statuary, it was suggested that we join this organization. We have other grants, $500 from the
Barre Granite group and $750 from the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
President Chase complimented Deborah Trask on the good articles and fine touches in the
NEWSLETTER.
The Research Bureau is doing well under Laurel Gabel. She is giving much help to researchers
and is continuing her work with the Farber Collection.
In conclusion, the President deplored the mention of gravestones as collectibles. As examples
he referred to a Wall Street Journal article and a book on collecting antiques. He suggested
that it is impossible to get good title to a gravestone. If a stone is taken without authority,
it is stolen and the thief can be prosecuted. No special legislation is needed.
Rosalee Oakley, Executive Secretary, gave her report. She said it has been a good year for
her with lots of mail, sales, new members, inquiries about restoration, etc. The new renewal
procedure seems to be working. We had 485 members last year. 114 did not renew just after
the Conference. We had 194 new members just prior to this Conference and have gained
some at the Conference. We have 565 plus the ones just gained. She suggested that members
take brochures along when they have a speaking engagement, also keep gift memberships
in mind. If you are interviewed, please get the name of AGS into the article. The Connecticut
tours have yielded members also. She hopes to see 1000 members by the '87 Conference.
She would appreciate receiving as much information about each member as possible so she
can make use of their expertise, especially as speakers. We have clusters of members in several
states and it may be possible to get local groups together.
Rosalee was especially pleased that President Chase will be in office for another year as he
has been very helpful to her and very generous with his time. She mentioned that she is pleased
to be part of such an excellent organization.
continued
AGSF'85p5
President Chase expressed his admiration of Rosalee and said that behind every successful
woman there is a man. He expressed the appreciation of AGS to Fred Oal<ley for his help
and support — vyhich was greeted with applause.
President Chase introduced Pat Miller by remarking that she has had great success with regional
tours in Connecticut. Word about her has spread and the tours are well-attended and well-
conducted. She has done so well that we would like to encourage the formation of other groups,
not chapters, but informal groups. Pat Miller gave a report on her activities and distributed
hand-outs. To begin, she got a list of Connecticut members from Rosalee; then she got newspaper
and TV publicity. Knowledgeable members, such as Jim Slater, Fred Fredette, and Sue Kelly
have led tours, and other AGS members have been very helpful. She has had tour participants
from Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and New York as well as Virginia. The most she has had
has been 75. She recommends taking along many brochures because the people work up
a lot of enthusiasm and become really interested.
President Chase commented on our projects. PROJECT FIRST is locating cemeteries. The
Glastonbury Model will tell how to record and interpret the cemetery data after it is located.
Lynn Strangstad's publication will tell how to conserve after it is recorded.
Mike Cornish presented PROJECT FIRST. It was conceived last year as an all-member project
and the results will be preserved in the Archives. Michael's hand-outs included a form on
which to record the location of all the cemeteries within a town or other designated area.
The information may be available elsewhere but it -can be put on this form for our records.
He thanked Rosalee and the Board for their help in this project. In the question period it was
noted that: there is not a cut-off date for the age of the cemetery; if one is in doubt, put information
down; include the area; include churches with crypts and museums with gravestones, everything,
so the work will not have to be done again.
Dr. Edgette asked about a certificate for rubbers, as it is hard to get permission to rub in some
graveyards. This had come up last year. President Chase said it had not been discussed by
the Board, but we will be glad to certify a person as a member and give him a letter to that
effect.
Ruth Cowell moved that the membership compliment Miriam and Richard on a fine Conference,
and the motion was carried with a standing ovation.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:10 AM.
Respectfully submitted, Sefsy Widirstky, Secretary
AGS CEMETERY SURVEY PROJECT — 1985
PROJECT FIRST
This year at our AGS Annual Conference we are announcing PROJECT FIRST, an all-member
opportunity to contribute to the ongoing work of cemetery studies in your home area during
the year.
PROJECT FIRST is the beginning stage of a systematic procedure for eventually locating all
our burial places, recording the data on the markers, cleaning, resetting, restoring the markers,
and planning for future preservation. Some of this work has already been done by local and
state groups. We need to know what has been done, is in the process of being done, and
what is yet to do. So our goal for this year is the important first step, that of locating all burial
sites in a given area.
PROJECT FIRST is an acronym made by the four steps involved in the project:
Find the burial grounds in your specified area.
Identify their location on a road map.
Record basic information about the site, including whether the data
on the markers has been recorded previously.
STore these records in the AGS Archives, making additional copies for
your local historical society or library.
If you would like to participate in PROJECT FIRST during the coming year, here are the guidelines
we suggest you follow:
1. Write to the AGS Executive Secretary, 46 Plymouth Road, Needham, MA 02192, outlining
specifically the area you choose to survey, so that duplicate efforts can be avoided. If overlapping
surveys are proposed, we can suggest collaboration.
The survey area may include any size area, so long as that area is manageable and a completely
thorough inventory of all cemeteries within it can be successfully undertaken. A single town
or township may be too small in most instances, and areas larger than one county are likely
to be too ambitious.
2. When the Executive Secretary responds with a positive answer, can begin work locating
the public and private cemeteries, church cemeteries, abandoned graveyards, family burial plots
on private land — as many sites as possible in the area you have chosen to cover. (Your
local funeral director's Green Book can be helpful.)
, , continued
AGSF'85p6
PROJECT FIRS
t
ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES
CEMETERY SURVEY SHEET
Cemetery number on map:
Name or names of cemetery^
Location:
(state, county, township, city, town, community)
Special directions if site is difficult to find:
Span of death dates recorded on the markers;
Approximate number of gravemarkers:
Owner: public (town, county)_^
private (family, church, fraternal , etc.)
Accessibility to public: unrestricted
restricted For permission to visit contact:
Status: ^Currently in use
Maintained but not in use
Abandoned (date of last burial)
_Not identifiable as graveyard but known to be one
Type of markers: kinds of stone_
wooden
kind of metal_
other
Condition of markers: (inscriptions readable, broken stones, damage, etc,)
Bibliography of all published literature and previous recording relating directly to
this site in your knowledge. Check with town clerks, cemetery superintendents,
church records, historical and genealogical societies, etCo Indicate where you have
checked EVEN THOUGH YOU FIND NO RECORDS THERE. (Use back of sheet if necessary.)
Comments: (historical significance of cemetery, hazards imperiling cemetery's
existence. National Register status, etc.)
Name of Recorder:
Date of Survey:
This form is designed for PROJECT FIRS*^ of the Association for Gravestone Studies.
Questions about this form and inquiries about the project may be addressed to AGS,
Rosalee F. Oakley, Executive Secretary, 45 Plymouth Road, Needham, MA 02192.
(Photocopy this and make your own forms I)
AGSF'85p 7
PROJECT FIRS^
3. On white 81/2" by 11" paper of reasonably good quality (without punch-holes) prepare
a map with the following information:
TITLE: Geographic region (state, county, and towns or portions of towns included).
MAP: A good, CLEAR ROAD MAP, reduced if necessary to fit on the paper, with all graveyards
marked by dark circles enclosing NUMBERS which will correspond to the number on the survey
form. This map may be photocopied directly onto the paper, or traced on from a road map
(although reducing is not an option with this technique). Reference to the number of the local
assessors' map and lot number and /or to the coordinates on the USGS topographic map would
be helpful. Please, no free-hand drawn maps, or loose, seperate-sheet maps.
4. Prepare one of the PROJECT FIRST survey sheets for each burial ground located on the
map. Arrange the typed sheets in order, oldest graveyard first (determined by the earliest death
date). Enter a number at the top of the survey form corresponding to the circled number on
the map.
5. Send two copies of each map and associated survey forms to the AGS Executive Secretary.
Data collected during PROJECT FIRST will provide a guide for further intensive study and
detailed recording of cemetery inscriptions. By the 1,986 Conference, we hope to have published
a manual for recording and interpreting gravestones. In the meantime, suggested procedures
are found in MARKERS I, "Recording Cemetery Data."
AGS BOARD OF TRUSTEES — 1 985-1 986
PRESIDENT: Theodore Chase, 74 Farm St., Dover. MA 02030
H: 617/785-0299
VICE-PRES.: Laurel Gabel, 205 Fishers Road, Pittsford, NY 14534
H: 716/248-3453
SEC: Betsy Widirstky, Box 523, 140 Founder's Path, Southold, NY 11971
H: 516/765-3673
TREAS.: William D. Wallace, 39 Salisbury Street, Worcester, MA 01608
H: 617/832-6807 O: 617/753-8278
NEWSLETTER: Deborah Trask, Nova Scotia Museum, 1747 Summer St., Halifax, Nova Scotia
B3H 3A6, Canada.
H: 902/275-4728 0: 902/429-4610
PUBLICATIONS: Richard F. Welch, 55 Cold Spring Hills Road, Huntington, NY 11743
H: 516/421-5718
CONFERENCE CO-CHAIR: Michael Cornish, 10 Greylock Rd., Allston, MA 02134
H: 61 7/787-9695 O: 524-1 805
OTHER DIRECTORS:
Alice Bunton, 21 Perkins Road, Bethany CT 06525
H: 203/393-2415
Lorraine Clapp, 1 693 John Fitch Blvd., South Windsor, CT 06074
H: 203/289-9026
Geraldine Hungerford, Hilldale Rd., Bethany, CT 06525
H: 203/393-1827 O: 203/281-3400
George Kackley, 4201 Greenway, Baltimore, MD 21 21 8-1 1 35
H: 301 /243-6461
Vincent F. Luti, Box 412, Westport, MA 02790
H: 617/636-2984
Lance R. Mayer, Lyman Allyn Museum, 625 Williams St., New London, CT 06320
Patricia Miller, PO Box 1 1 51 , Sharon, CT 06069
H: 203/435-0163
Carol Perkins, 1233 Cribb St., Apt. 204, Toledo, OH 43612
H: 419/476-9945
Miriam Silverman, 300 W. 55th St., New York, NY 10019
H: 212/765-3482
James Slater, 373 Bassettes Bridge Road, Mansfield Center, CT 06250
H: 203/455-9668
Eloise P. West, 199 Fisher Road, Fitchburg, MA 01420
H: 617/342-0716
AGS F'85 p 8
A CASE IN POINT
THE MUTILATION OF THE LYDIA WORCESTER MARKER IN HOLLIS,
NEW HAMPSHIRE
submitted by Francis Y. Duval and Ivan B. Rigby
As it now appears, In a recent photograph by Dan &
Jessie Lie Farber.
As it was in July, 1977, in a photograph from the Duval-
Rigby collection.
One has no way to ascertain precisely when this malicious act was perpetrated, but it is quite
recent: only eight years separate the two above photos. The Lydia Worcester slate, dated 1772,
stood unique in the Congregational Church Burial Ground, and in all New England (as far
as is known). Those of us who have advocated protective custody for outstanding examples
of the art form feel sickened by this irretrievable loss. This most regrettable occurence should
prove the wisdom of relocating and sheltering such memorials in the near future.
AGS F'85 p 9
FOR HIS MANNERS WERE EASY
The unfinished immortality of Charles !\AacKarter, Skye piper
by Jon Carroll
The graveyard was about halfway up a hillside near Kilmaluag, on the very northern tip of
the Isle of Skye. The surrounding countryside, like so many places in northern Scotland, was
almost impossibly picturesque: green cowdotted meadows sloping down to the rough slate
cow-dotted waters of the ocean strait known as The Minch, small white houses at the intersections
of low stone walls, hard arrogant mountains wrapped in clouds.
The largest monument in the cemetery was to Flora MacDonald, the Scottish patriot who hid
Bonnie Prince Charlie after the Battle of Culloden, charmed Dr. Johnson and raised money
to support the crumbling dream of Jacobite resurgence.
The other stones were smaller, commemorating ordinary citizens, farmers and artisans mostly.
The grass around them was high and wet; on most were carved just a name, two dates and
a request to God to treat the soul of the deceased in a gentle and compassionate manner.
One chunk of granite had fallen supine; on it was a longer message:
"Here lie the remains of Charles MacKarter whose fame as an honest man and remarkable
piper will survive this generation for his manners were easy and regular as his music and
the melody of his fingers will"
And that was it. The verb just hung suspended halfway down the stone. There was plenty
of room to complete the thought, to tell the passerby what precisely the melody of Mr. MacKarter's
fingers would do through eternity.
But the stone was smooth and mute. It provided questions but no answers.
Stonecutting is not like writing a postcard; you don't abandon it in the middle because the
phone rang or the vicar came to call.
Did the family of the bereaved run out of money? Did the stonecutter (perhaps MacKarter's
best friend, who stood with him shoulder to shoulder in the Skye Pipe Band, matching finger
for finger, note for note) simply perish of grief, unable to complete his tribute?
The melody of his fingers. The melody of his fingers will. The echoes of the melody of his
fingers seemed to drift up from the stone.
If the sentence had been completed, if some conventional thought had been inserted — the
melody of his fingers will continue long after his mortal remains have gone to dust, something
like that — then it would have been just another grave stone, charming in its reaffirmation
of simple virtues but otherwise unremarkable.
The mystery of the unfinished sentence haunted the graveyard. The sound of the unwritten
words resembled the sound of an invisible bagpipe. It was a kind of conjuring act; a kind
of immortality for Charles MacKarter.
Maybe that was the idea all along. Perhaps the stonecutter realized that he was creating a
sort of Celtic Koan, an aid to meditation. By considering the words left unwritten, the casual
traveler might begin to believe that death is both final and ephemeral, and that people of easy
manners are cherished by the universe.
And on that hard Scottish Judgement Day, when remarkable pipers and honest men will inherit
the earth; Charles MacKarter will stand on his headstone, swathed in tartans, face ruddy, his
pipes pointed toward the sea, and the melody of his fingers will.
This engaging essay, printed in the San Francisco Chronicle, September 16, 1985, was sent
by Dr. Mary Frances Stewart, Sacremento CA.
Back Issues
Back issues of the Newsletter may be purchased. Xerox volumes are available for $10.00 per
volume (4-5 Newsletters in each volume) for Volume 4 (1980), Volume 5 (1981), Volume 6 (1982),
Volume 7 (1983); Volumes 8 & 9 are available only in the original for $12.00 each. Contact
Rosalee Oakley, AGS Executive Secretary, 46 Plymouth Rd., Needham MA 02192 (617) 444-
6263 if you are interested.
Guidelines for beginning a Regional Branch of AGS are available from AGS Executive Secretary
Rosalee Oakley, 46 Plymouth Rd., Needham MA, 02192. Anyone wishing to know more about
the Connecticut experience should contact Pat Miller, Box 1151, Sharon CT, 06069.
AGSF'85p 10
WHITE BRONZE PROGRESS REPORT
by Barbara Rotundo
a typical white bronze grave marker
At last I have some progress to report on white bronze gravestones, those distinctive blue-
grey hollow/ metal markers that spread all over the United States and Canada in the last decades
of the nineteenth century and the first of the twentieth. The central source for these markers
has always seemed to be Bridgeport Connecticut, because the designs in every geographical
location matched those in the Bridgeport catalogue and because the 1 91 0 article on the Bridgeport
company in the trade journal The Foundry credits the company with a patent on a unique
method for "fusing" zinc — the metal from which "white bronze" markers are made.
I finally made a pilgrimage to Bridgeport, more specifically to the third floor of the public library,
where David Palmquist presides over the excellent local history department. Mr. Palmquist has
also written the text and chosen the illustrations for a detailed picture book history of Bridgeport.
He assiured me that the information about "our company" in the Reverend Samuel Orcutt's
nineteenth century history of Bridgeport would be accurate.
Orcutt says that production of monuments began early in 1 874, although the Monumental Bronze
Company did not take that name or issue stock until 1 879. By 1 887 the company had "established
many factories in the following places: one at Chicago known as the American White Bronze
Company, the Western White Bronze Company at Des Moines, Iowa; the St. Thomas White
Bronze Monument Company at St. Thomas, Canada; and the New Orleans White Bronze Works,
at New Orleans." Those of you who have reported about markers in the middle west will notice
the absence of Detroit Bronze. This must have been established in 1887 or later. Also missing
is Philadelphia White Bronze Monument company. I have seen just one "signed" stone from
Philadelphia, and that was five years ago, before I realized how rare it was. I still have to
go back and check the details against my field experience and the 1882 catalogue, owned
by the Winterthur Museum, to see if the details match all the others, as the Detroit signed
stones do. If you helpful AGS members would photograph all four sides of any marker with
a company name, other than those listed here as connected with Monumental Bronze of
Bridgeport, we can find out more concerning the manufacture of the white bronze markers.
(Other companies like the Zinc Roofing and Ornamenting Company, Chicago or W.H. Mullins,
Salem, Ohio, made zinc ornaments for architectural detail or municipal use such as statues
of Justice or a brave fireman rescuing a child, but supposedly they did not make grave markers.)
If you would also report the location of stones showing the familiar manufacturers' names (no
need to send photographs of these), especially to the south and west of Kentucky and Iowa,
we can learn more about the distribution.
The Monumental Bronze Company was dissolved in 1939, but by the 1920s the advertisement
they placed in the Bridgeport City Directory offered "Castings in all Non-Ferrous Metals", and
by 1929, although they were still listed, they no longer paid for an advertisement. These facts,
in addition to the lack of reports on markers dated after World War I, suggest that the business
had declined drastically from its former success.
While I was in Bridgeport, I naturally checked its earliest rural cemetery. Mountain Grove, which
opened in 1850. As I did my usual overview drive around, one large white bronze monument
caught my eye. It was the marker for the Parsons family. A.M. Parsons was the first president
of Monumental Bronze, and it's nice to know he remained loyal to and beyond the end.
Barbara Rotundo, 217 Seward Place, Schenectady NY 12305, gave an initial report on her
white bronze research at the 1982 AGS Conference, at Williamstown MA.
AGSF'85p 11
uaiiansMaN
01^ ON |iujja<j
a I V d
BOViSOd s n
6091-0 'sseyg 'jd}sa3JOM
'A)9!30s ueuenbDuv ueouduivo/o
'sajpn^s 9uo}S9Aejo JO| uouepossv
1986 CONFERENCE — BOSTON
Contrary to previous conference information, the 1986 meeting will not be held in Bristol County,
Massachusetts, as suitable facilities are not available. The 1986 AGS Conference will be held
at Pine Manor College, Chestnut Hill (Brookline), Massachusetts. The focus of the bus tour
will be, then, Boston.
Pine Manor is a beautiful, countrified institution built around an elegant turn-of-the-century
mansion. The campus is compact and features immaculate grounds, remarkable stone and
shingle architecture and a world-class reception hall. It is very easily accessible by car or
air, and is situated only five miles west of Boston. We will enjoy unusually luxurious dormitories
— with a maximum of five rooms per bathroom! — and an AIR CONDITIONED auditorium.
The three-day conference will run from June 27 through 29. Friday will probably be devoted
to self-directed tours, with hosts, of suburban graveyards. Saturday's bus tour will visit the Granary,
King's Chapel Burying Ground, and Copp's Hill. We will be updated by team members on the
status of the Boston Historic Burying Grounds Project and have an AGS Archives Open House.
The Conference Committee is working on interesting co-sponsors for this event.
Roughly, the pre-conference schedule will run thus:
Call for Papers will go out January 1 ; proposals with abstracts due by February 1 5.
Early Conference Notice \n\\\ go out March 1.
2nd Notice will go out April 1 (or nearest newsletter).
Early Registration (discounted fee) wilt be up until May 15.
Regular Registration \N\\\ continue until May 31.
Late Registration (by phone) will end on June 15.
The cost of this conference to registrants will be comparable to previous years. The Boston
area is so rich in early carving that this should be a truly extraordinary weekend! Michael
Cornish and Rosanne Atwood-Humes are co-chairing the conference committee, Pat Miller
will be the registrar, Vicent Luti will handle regional organization, and Eloise West will take
charge of publicity.
Please direct all inquiries and suggestions concerning the conference to Michael Cornish at
(617) 524-1805 (days) or (617) 787-9695 (evenings), or Rosanne Atwood-Humes at (617) 662-
8496, or write to Michael Cornish at: 10 Greylock Road, Allston, Massachusetts 02134. The
Conference Committee is seeking volunteers to act as receptionists (at the registration desk),
and Exhibit Coordinator, and knowledgeable hosts for significant cemeteries in the vicinity.
This is the end of Part I of the Fall Newsletter. Part II will be mailed separately.
AGSF'85p 12
NEWSLETTER This is Part II of the Fall Issue, 1 985 v.9 .#4.
EXHIBITS
The exhibition The Great River: Art and Society of ttie
Connecticut Valley opened September 22, 1985, at the
Wadsworth Atheneum. An assemblage of Connecticut
Valley objects that tell a story about the region's history
during the colonial and early national period, this exhibit
is the result of five years of research effort, and includes:
silver, pewter, paintings, furniture, prints, books, textiles
and needlework, clocks, and gravestone photographs by
Dan Farber.
from the magazine of the Wadsworth Atheneum. Autumn
1985.
William Wolcott stone. 1749. East Windsor Hill,
photocopy of a photograph by Dan Farber
CT
MEMBER NEWS
Lorraine & Talcott Clapp of South Windsor CT cleaning
a gravestone, from a photocopy of a photo printed in
the Journal Inquirer, August 10. 1985.
An article in tine Connecticut Journal Inquirer (AugusX 10, 1985) introduces Talcott and Lorraine
Clapp of South Windsor to Connecticut readers. The Clapps have had a long-standing interest
in gravestones because Mr. Clapp is sexton for the four South Windsor cemeteries, which
position he inherited from his father. In the 1970s Mrs. Clapp's 4-H Club received a Reader's
Digest grant to photograph and research epitaphs and carvings in South Windsor's cemeteries.
These include the historic Timothy Edwards cemetery, called "God's Acre" by many. Edward's
son was Jonathan Edwards, the eighteenth century fire-and-brimstone preacher, and the cemetery
has been preserved in book form by another South Windsor resident, Barney Daley, author
of God's Acre (reviewed in the AGS Newsletter, Spring '85, p. 11). The Clapps frequently get
letters of inquiry from genealogists and others interested in the historic yards. "We're happy
if we can help in any way," said Lorraine Clapp. "It's fun. It's something we can do together.
We even stop in cemeteries when we go on vacation." Mrs. Clapp is a newly elected member
of the AGS board of trustees.
sent by Rosalee Oakley, AGS Office, Needhiam MA.
AGS F'85 p 13
"Language of Tombstones" is the page headline in The Sun I The Daily Herald {May 5, 1985),
which newspaper serves the iVIississippi Gulf Coast. The story is the second of a 2-part series
on cemeteries in the Mississippi panhandle, written by Kate Bergeron. Her primary source was
historian Charles L Sullivan, Social Studies Chairman at the Perkinston Campus of Mississippi
Gulf Coast Junior College. The article contains so much excellent and interesting information
about southern gravestones that we will save it for a more complete report than we have space
for in this issue.
Contributed by David Lupkin, Serials Dept. Head, Colorado State University
The Association office has recently sent news releases to the hometown newspapers of members
who participated in the conference program. An example of one newspaper's response to one
of these releases is a front-page article and photograph in the (Worcester, Mass.) Evening
Gazette Sept. 3, 1985 about Daniel Crawford and Jessie and Dan Farber, three Worcester
residents. The piece, headed "Three City Scholars Hear the Tales Dead Men Tell" introduces
numerous approaches to gravestone study. It highlights Dr. Crawford's use of gravestone study
at Assumption College, where he is coordinator of the undergraduate program in the Institute
for Social and Rehabilitation Services, and the Farbers' efforts to assist gravestone research
by preparing an index of their gravestone photograph collection. This article illustrates the good
newspaper coverage that can follow a simple news release to a local paper. News releases
about gravestone study are welcomed by the news media, and members who are active in
this study are encouraged to alert their papers and TV stations. If you would prefer to have
a release sent out through the AGS office, send the information, with the name of the paper
or television station to Rosemary Oakley, AGS Executive Secretary, 46 Plymouth Rd., Needham,
MA 02192, or telephone her at (617) 444-6263. A reminder: If a news release results in an
interview, be sure to encourage the reporter to give the address of the AGS office (above).
As a follow-up to "Program to Preserve Our National Monuments" (AGS Newsletter, Spring
1985, p. 28), Lyn Strangstad reports "the regional director of the National Trust for Historic
Preservation in Charleston SC inquired of the Trust to see if they were considering gravestones
among their outdoor monuments. He was told that they are not interested in graveyards. Since
that is where much significant outdoor American sculpture is, it seems they need educating."
Markers I, II, III, IV, and V
The University Press of America, which publishes the AGS journal, Markers, has printed a
second edition of Markers II so that volumes I, II, and III are all in stock again. Order from
Rosalee Oakley, Executive Secretary, 46 Plymouth Rd., Needham, MA 02192. Prices: Markers
I (softbound only) $75; Markers II softbound $12, hardcover $23; Markers III softbound $10.25,
hardcover $20.50. All prices include postage and handling. -
Markers IV \s in its final stages of production, and articles are now being considered for Markers
V. Please send your submissions, or your suggestions for subjects or authors you would like
to see included in Markers V, to the editor: David Watters, English Department, Hamilton Smith
Hall, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824.
NEW ARCHIVIST
The board of AGS has appointed Mrs. Elizabeth (Beth) Rich, 43 Rybury Hillway, Needham,
MA 02192, telephone (617) 444-5566, as Archivist, to succeed Michael Cornish who will be
devoting much of his time to the 1986 Conference. Mrs. Rich hopes to put an up-to-date index
of our archives on computer, which will be easier to keep current. Although an index of the
archives was published in the AGS Newsletter, Summer 1985, much valuable material has
not yet been catalogued, and so was not included. If you donated material to the archives
and did not see it listed in the summer index, do not fear that it has become lost or disappeared
into a private collection. All of this has been held for safe-keeping and will be handed over
to Mrs. Rich for cataloguing. Contributions to the Archives will continue to be gratefully accepted!
AGSF'85p 14
•i
"body stones" in Adams County. Ohio, photographed by
Don Newman of Cincinnati.
Don Newman of Cincinnati, Ohio, writes that he has found a couple of gravestones which
puzzle him; "The graveyard is named 'Jaybird Cemetery', located in Adams County, Ohio, It
is off State Route 73 on County Road #18. The earliest stone we found there was 181 4. ..The
two stones in question belong to Isaac B. Newman, born Feb. 2, 1811 in Ohio, and died May
6, 1880; and his wife, Elizabeth Smalley, born Nov. 29, 1821 in Ohio, and died Sept 7, 1868.
For each marker, the base and the body stone are all one piece. We have found no evidence
of other stones of this type in the cemetery. . . We have cleaned the stones and looked for
a maker's signature, but have not found one. We have also been through most of the other
cemeteries in that area and have not found another stone even close to it. We are certain
that both the Newman and Smalley families came from Virginia c. 1800. If you could give us
some idea of the history or origin for this type of elaborate stone, we would be very grateful."
William Wallace, Director of the Worcester Historical Museum, Worcester MA, and a member
of the AGS board of trustees, has for a decade been collecting information about the nineteenth-
century gravestone carver and sculptor, Benjamin Harris Kinney (1821-1888). Kinney's
gravestones are placed in central Massachusetts and in northern Vermont cemeteries, areas
where he lived. Wallace has now presented the results of his extensive research in an impressive
exhibition at the Worcester Historical Museum. The exhibition, which opened August 18 and
closes November 16, 1985, brings Kinney to life via examples of extant sculpture, life-size
photographs of cemetery monuments, and other documents. The handsome exhibition catalogue
is a unique contribution to carver study; no other gravestone carver has been given this full
museum treatment The catalogue's acknowledgements mention (among others) research
contributions by Robert Drinkwater and photographs by Dan Farber. The volume is dedicated
to Jessie and Dan Farber (who are known to have tunnel vision for eighteenth century markers)
"for their friendship, their support, and their broadminded willingness to accept the nineteenth
century."
Old Sturbridge Village, in Sturbridge MA conducted a three week workshop for teachers that
concluded August 23 with a lecture by Albert George. George introduced the use of graveyard
field trips to teach a variety of subjects. The lecture was followed by a visit to the Sturbridge
burying ground, where workshop participants were given instruction in rubbing. Another CSV
workshop for teachers was held October 26 at the Worcester Historical Museum in Worcester
MA. The Old Sturbridge Village workshops for teachers are developed by Maud Coyle, Assistant
Director of Museum Education. She is also President of the Central Massachusetts Council
for Social Studies. Michael Flanagan, who is on the board of that council, assist with the October
workshop. Flanagan recently appealed through the AGS Newsletter (Winter 84/5 p. 14) for
readers' assistance in collecting materials that are useful to teachers organizing field trips to
local cemeteries. He received an excellent and gratifying response. He is now working with
Jessie Lie Farber and Maud Coyle to organize these materials and develop a packet for distribution
to teachers. Anyone wishing to help with this project by forwarding materials or ideas, please
do so by writing to Michael Flanagan, 15 Cedar St., Westborough MA 01581.
AGSF'85p 15
GRAVESTONE EPITAPH KEY TO TRACING FAMILY HISTORY FOR CHIN
FAMILY OF HONOLULU
by Nanette Napoleon Purnell, Honolulu, Hawaii
A gravestone epitaph, written in Chinese calligraphy, proved to be a key clue in a genealogical
search which took Daniel Ching, of Los Angeles, nearly 10 years and 6,000 miles to Hawaii
and mainland China to complete.
Descendents of Ching's paternal grandfather, Chinn Mook, who immigrated to Hawaii from
China in 1881, gathered recently in Honolulu to renew old memories and to strengthen long-
lost family ties. The Reunion's guest-of-honor was a great-nephew of patriarch Chinn, from
mainland China, who spent months getting permission to leave his homeland, for the first time,
to attend this special event.
Mr Ching says that his grandfather's name was spelled "Chinn Mook" when he first came
to Hawaii-the Chinese write their surname first, followed by the given name - but immigration
officials changed the spelling to "Chin". However, the name was changed again, to "Ching",
when his children started going to school.
Daniel Ching's quest to trace his family history began when his grandfather passed away. At
that time he realized that not much was known about Chin's life and family that he had left
behind in China when he came to Hawaii. All that was known was that Chin came to Hawaii
to work in the plantation fields as a laborer, and never went back. He came with no written
documents or other items which would indicate anything about his past life in China.
At the suggestion of one of his aunts in Honolulu, Ching went to visit the family plot in KET
ON CHINESE CEMETERY on the slopes of Punchbowl volcano, (site of the National Memorial
of the Pacific Cemetery) to see if any information could be gathered from his grandfather's
gravestone. Much to his dismay, he found that the inscription was written in Chinese calligraphy,
which neither he nor any of his family pould read. Ching copied all the data from the gravestone,
but did not get it interpreted until some years later. When he finally did, he found that the
inscription included the name of his grandfather's ancestral village in China.
Apparently, one of Mr. Ching's uncles had arranged to have the gravestone inscribed by the
Ket On Society (a Chinese cultural society) in Chinese, as is traditional in Chinese culture,
even though he could not read Chinese himself. That uncle, who has since died, knew the
name of the village, but that knowledge had been lost to the family.
Ching then spent a considerable amount of time and money writing to various agencies in
China, through interpreters, trying to find out if the village still existed, and if so, if there were
any family records there.
Some months later, to his delight, he received a letter from Chinese authorities stating that
the village still existed and that the house where Chin was born was still intact there, but that
the family had long since moved to another village.
Contact was made with that village and eventually it was discovered that a great-nephew of
Chin's had settled there, and was aware of his American counterparts, but had had no means
of contacting anyone there.
This discovery was a monumental one for Ching, who immediately made plans to go to China
to see his long-lost cousin. It was the first time any of grandfather Chin's descendents had
been to their grandfather's ancestral homeland. Arrangements were then made to bring the
cousin out of China for the family reunion in Honolulu in July of this year.
This story is remarkable for several reasons, not the least of which is the fact that a gravestone
inscription played such a crucial role in solving one man's amazing search for his roots in
a long-forgotten village in China.
continued
AGSF'85p 16
w
-f
u
1
c
H
1
Y
e
R
Mr.
<\
n
E
P
U
Otrtfl/
n
3
3
t
Mrs.
u
c
s
u
n
0
e
n
u
P
C ^.
3
c
+
^ :
H
1
H
1 0
€
r
n K
1-
s
jr*
1
1
n
h
■/ea.!-
3
g^
1
)-1«'\+K
c-4
c-3
c-2
c-1
EXPLANATION:
This 4 column style of headstone inscription (which reads vertically from right to left, top to
bottom) is typical of Chinese inscriptions in Hawaii.
Column #1 indicates Chinese calendar date of burial.
Column #2 indicates name of the husband's ancestral village and county.
Column #3 indicates family name (wife's name rarely inscribed).
Column #4 indicates western calendar date of burial.
According to Chinese burial tradition, husbands and wives are buried separately at the time
of death, but several years after the second spouse has died, both are disintered and reburied
together in a common grave. The above headstone indicates the date of the common burial.
HAWAII CEMETERY RESEARCH PROJECT SEEKS FUNDING
A ten-year fascination and respect for historic cemeteries has led one young researcher from
Kailua, Hawaii, to all parts of the Hawaiian islands to view scores of old and new cemeteries,
and to just about every charitable funding agency in town, looking for money to support her
efforts to catalog and study these sites in a professional manner.
THE CEMETERY RESEARCH PROJECT, which is being sponsored by the Hawaiian Historical
Society, is under the direction of Nanette Napoleon Purnell, who has studied cemeteries and
ethnic burial practices in the islands, as a hobby, for over 10 years.
Over those years she has seen more and more old cemeteries decline and fall into disrepair
because they receive little maintenance or care.
Oahu alone has over 80 cemeteries, many of which have become overgrown with grass and
weeds, or their tombstones have been toppled, or, in some cases, large parts of sites have
been completely destroyed by vandals, the weather or by erosion.
Aiea Government Cemetery, Aiea, Hawaii (Japanese)
Puea Government Cemetery, Honolulu, Hawaii
continued
AGSF'85p 17
According to Purnell, cemeteries were once respected as focal points in many etinnic communities,
especially Hawaiian communities, where families would gather to sing and pull weeds and
pass along family genealogies to youngsters. But interest and pride in these places has decreased
markedly, she says, since World War II, as descendants of those buried have moved away
from their old ethnic neighborhoods and lifestyles.
Ms. Purnell, a part-Hawaiian, is especially interested in documenting Hawaiian cemeteries, as
a means of preserving and perpetuating the Hawaiian culture. She hopes that her study will
revive Hawaiian interest in preserving individual sites and cultural traditions.
Although cemetery research and perpetuation efforts have been substantial in many parts of
the mainland for many years, especially on the East coast, this is the first research effort of
this magnitude ever attempted in Hawaii.
If anyone has any historical information about cemeteries, including family cemeteries, please
write or call Nanette Purnell, 247 Aumoe Road, Kailua, Hawaii 96734; (808) 262-2723.
PUBLICATIONS
Rufus Langhans, Town Historian for Huntington NY and former AGS Board member, has
announced that two booklets are now available, dealing with historic sites and cemeteries in
the town. "Huntington Historic Markers" lists all the state-type markers in the town, their locations,
and the texts of the markers.
"Huntington's Historic Cemeteries" is a comprehensive list of 70 cemeteries, their known ages,
the number of grave markers, and 20 maps showing the locations of the burial grounds.
The booklets can be purchased for 500 and $1 .00 respectively (plus postage) from Rufus Langhans,
85 Chichester Rd., Huntington NY, 1 1 743.
The lead story in Bay State H/sfory(winter/spring 1985) is an introduction to early New England
gravemarkers by Jessie Lie Farber, with photos by Dan Farber. Bay State History is the journal
of the Bay State Historical League, which co-sponsored the 1980 AGS conference in Haverhill
MA. This article introduces the gravemarkers, their carvers, symbols, the graveyard landscape,
threats to their survival, and some steps that can be taken to preserve them. It is an overview
article which may be useful in planning a talk or news item. Copies of the 6-page article are
available for $1.50 (the cost of photocopying and mailing) from AGS Executive Secretary Rosalee
Oakley, 46 Plymouth Rd., Needham MA, 02192.
The Cumberland County PA Historical Society, organized in 1874, last year started publication
of its journal Cumberland County History. The current issue contains an article by Virginia
Rupp on pre-1850 tombstone sculpture in the county. Robert G. Crist, editor of the journal,
reports that this article is "scholarly in approach, footnoted and serious in nature. Mrs. Rupp
investigated 74 graveyards in our area as part of her preparation. There are a dozen pen-
and-ink drawings reproducing various, items of sculpture. Acid rain has made most of these
indecipherable, or at least, not such as to be photographable." Copies of the journal can be
purchased for $5.00 by writing to the Society at 21 North Pitt Street, Carlisle PA, 17013.
Norttiern New Hampshire Graveyards: Transcriptions and Indexes to Burials in the Towns of
Clarksville, Colebrook, Columbia, Dixville, Pittsburg, Stewartstown and Stratford NH have been
compiled by Nancy L Dodge, 28 Ball St., Portsmouth NH, 03801. Four copies of the manuscript-
in-progress have been deposited respectively in the Colebrook Public Library, the New Hampshire
Historical Society Library, the New Hampshire Old Graveyard Association, and the New England
Historic and Genealogical Society in Boston. Work is now underway to publish this volume
during 1985. Notices will be sent to those expressing an interest in obtaining a copy. Ms. Dodge
reports that she has already begun work on her next volume, which will include the towns
of Hereford, Quebec, and Canaan / Lemington / Bloomfield / Brunswick VT. These towns are across
the Connecticut River from the New Hampshire towns mentioned, and include many of the
same families.
We have received notice of a new publication, Gone To A Better Land, a Biohistory of a Rural Black Cemetery
in the Post-Reconstruction South, edited by Jerome C. Rose, Arkansas Archeological Survey Research Series #25,
216 pages, $12.50. This is available from Arkansas Archeological Survey Publications, P.O. Box 1249, Fayetteville
AR 72702-1249. Perhaps we will have more about this in a future issue of the Newsletter.
sent by Anne Glesecke, Arlington VA.
AGSF'85p 18
"GRAVESTONES FOR SALE" CONTROVERSY RAGES ON
Synopsis: In the Spring of 1985, Sotheby's Auction House of New York listed two gravestone
fragments in an auction catalogue. These same fragments had previously been offered for sale
by a New York gallery (see AGS Newsletter V. 7 # 4, Fall 1983, p. 13). As a result of a phone
call from AGS member Bill Hosley to the editor of the Maine Antiques Digest a negative editorial
was printed in the June issue. Sotheby's withdrew the pieces before the sale. In early July
an article by Lita Solis-Cohen, (who is, among other things, Associate Editor of the Maine Antiques
Digest ) appeared in many newspapers. This article mentioned the Sotheby's withdrawal and
quoted Hosley saying that he felt it was clearly wrong to sell gravestones. A July article in
the Hartford Courant on Fred Fredette's search for stolen gravestones also quotes Hosley,
and Robert Bishop, Director of the Museum of American Folk Art. This article suggested that
Dr. Bishop encouraged the sale or at least the collecting of gravestones, in his book Folk
Art: Paintings Sculpture and Country Objects (see AGS Newsletter V. 8 # 1 Winter 1983/
4, p.10-11) In a letter to the Maine Antiques Digest printed in the September issue. Bill Hosley
mentioned the Couranf article, and went on to say that Robert Bishop "has reportedly stonewalled
attempts by the Connecticut police to retreive a gravestone owned by one of his folk art collecting
friends" (the Ebenezer Johnson Stone, 1727, from the Trumbull Cemetery in Lebanon CT). Dr.
Bishop's reply was printed in the October issue, in which he stated that he had been quoted
out of context, and that he honestly did not know the source of the illustration of the Johnson
stone used in his book. The editor of the Maine Antiques Digest Sam Pennington, added
his comment to the letter, saying "the way to discourage collecting such objects is not to include
them in a book for collectors."
Miriam Silverman, who worked as co-chair of the 1985 AGS Conference at Rutgers, worked
closely with the Museum of American Folk Art, the conference co-sponsor. Mrs. Silverman
asked Dr. Bishop to comment on the Curant article, which was reprinted in August, in the
Sacremento Bee, and in which he was said to condone the collecting of gravestones.
Dr. Bishop's reply to her was strong and clear, two paragraphs of which follow;
I am as concerned as anyone about the theft of other people's property, be it fine art,
folk art, gravestones or weathervanes. I do not personally, nor does the Museum of American
Folk Art, attempt to promote or condone the theft of works of art, and certainly I would
never withhold information that would protect the unlawful owners of such objects. In addition,
the Museum would never consider exhibiting or acquiring for its collection, such pieces.
I applaud Alfred Fredette's foresightedness in persuading the Connecticut General Assembly
to enact a law making gravestone thefts a felony in the state. Frankly, I was unaware
of this law and would support the introduction of similar legislation in other states where
these important historical objects are threatened.
What follows is a more complete reporting on the specific incidents or articles mentioned above,
as sent in by AGS members from around the country. We appreciate your taking the time
to send in these newspaper clippings, and hope you will keep the Newsletter informed of any
further incidents of this type.
Lot 237, from Sotheby's catalogue #5357
0 2,37
Two Carved Sandstone Head Fragments, New
York, late 18th Century, siyli/.cd aiigclhcacls (oiw
cracked): cacii on a black nicial .stand. Ovemll hei<j,lit 7/ lo
llm.(I'Jlo2Hon.) ' 'ITl
S8()I)-I.2U()
AGSF'85p 19
Good News
A recent attempt to sell gravestone fragments at auction has been stopped. The pieces were
described in the catalog of Sotheby's sale number 5357, which was scheduled to take place
in New York on June 27, as "Two Carved Sandstone Head Fragments," estimated to bring
$800-$1,200. The cataloguers must have been aware of possible controversy, for they did not
mention that the "head fragments" are actually broken pieces of eighteenth-century Connecticut
gravestones.
Fortunately, AGS member Bill Hosley, of the Wadsworth Atheneum, spotted the proposed sale
and telephoned the Maine Antique Digest just before press time for the June issue. Hosley
was quoted on the editorial page as saying that "The legality of selling gravestones is questionable,
but the morality is black and white - it's wrong." Editor Sam Pennington added, "We think
it's a bad precedent and hope Sotheby's can be convinced to remove them from the sale."
By the time AGS members telephoned Sotheby's to add their voices of complaint, the auction
firm had already decided to withdraw the items.
Maine Antique Digest is a nationally important publication read by most dealers and collectors
of Americana, and its strong editorial stand carries a lot of clout. Let's hope that this incident
will make prospective traffickers in gravestones think twice before risking the bad publicity
that Sotheby's has received.
contributed by Lance Myer, New London CT
A syndicated article published in several newspapers in July deals with an exhibition of
gravestones and gravestone photographs in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The exhibition, "Symbols
in Stone: Lancaster County Gravemarkers," was curated by Patricia Keller-Conner and mounted
at the Heritage Center of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. J. Joseph Edgette, who teaches folklore
at Widener and Villanova Universities, worked with Keller-Conner in photographing stones in
all parts of the county. Twenty-five stones on display had been removed from the Trinity Lutheran
Church in Lancaster in 1949 and stored in the Landes Valley Farm Museum, but never displayed.
According to the article, exhibiting the markers has caused some adverse comment from the
public, but Keller-Conner believes that "by making people aware of the sociological as well
as the aesthetic value of these 'documents,' we will let them know that they need to be protected."
She also "hopes that the exhibition will help prevent damage being done to gravestones in
the name of preservation," and adds: "Some have set the stones in cement, which does not
permit their natural expansion and contraction, so that they crack and break off. When they
notice that the stones are delaminating [peeling away], they fix them with cement, which in
fact drives a wedge between the layers of stone, accelerating the process of breaking apart."
The article was written by Lita Solis-Cohen, antiques writer for The Philadelphia Inquirer and
The Artists and Writer's Syndicate, who comments, "Although the exhibition prompts certain
ethical questions about exhibiting tombstones, it is hard to fault a museum for showing items
deposited in its care when the display adds to knowledge about an earlier time and its people."
from the Philadelphia Inquirer, July 14, 1985 and reprinted in ttie San Francisco Chronicle,
the Sun (Baltimore?), Asbury Park Press and the Sunday Telegram, all dated July 21, 1985.
Contributed by Helen Wojnarowicz, Worcester MA, Robert Van Benthuysen, West Long Branch
NJ and Mary Ellen Jones, Orinda CA. •
Fred Fredette, of Windham CT, was featured in two lengthy, illustrated articles, one in Antiques
and the Arts Weekly (May 17, 1985) and the other in The Hartford Courant (July 6, 1985).
The former describes the early stones and carving styles, giving special attention to the work
of Connecticut's Manning and Kimball families of carvers. The Courant article concentrates
on gravestone thefts, citing several examples of foiled attempts to sell stones. It also reports
on the enactment of Connecticut legislation last year that makes gravestone theft a felony
punishable by up to five years imprisonment and a $5000 fine, the result of research and lobbying
by a citizen's group in which Fredette was active. Besides Fredette, a number of other AGS
members are mentioned, including William Hosley, Curator of American Decorative Arts for
the Wadsworth Atheneum ("Gravestones are the most indigenous and interesting of early
American art forms"); James Slater, Professor of Biology at the University of Connecticut, who
is writing a book on eastern Connecticut markers; C.R. Jones, Conservator for the New York
Historical Association in Cooperstown, who reported the proposed auction of a Connecticut
stone and thwarted the sale; and Jessie Farber and Jonathan Twiss, who took part in the
recovery of a Connecticut marker from a New York City gallery.
contributed by Goldi Koskoff, Plainville Gland William Hosley, Hartford CT.
AGSF'85p20
Dr. Bishop's response, reprinted directly from the Maine Antiques Digest, October 1985, p.8A.
Fragments ==
Bishop Replies on Gravestones
Robert Bishop, dirtetor or thr
Museum of Amrrtcan Folk
Art, has come under some
criticism lately as a result of an
article in the Hartford Cour ant
and comments In M.A.D.
about the implications of the
article. Bishop wrote the
following answer to Antiques
and the Arts Weekly in
Newtown, Conneclicul,
because he said he hoped to gel
it printed faster and because Its
area of circulation was closer to
the problem. He sent a copy to
us and said we could use it
however we saw fit. We have
chosen to print his letter in full,
with our own comments after
it. Ed.
To the Editor
Because ofthe carelessness or
a reporter and the irresponsibil-
ity of a museum curator. I Hnd
myself at the center of a
growing controversy about the
protection of gravestones. The
purpose oT ihis letter is to clear
the record- Ai the outset, I
should state unequivocally that
neither I nor the Museum of
American Folk Art condone
trafficking by dealers or
collectors in stolen gravestones.
On the contrary, wc deplore
this alarming phenomenon and
fully support efforts lo bring
what only can be characterized
as a vicious practice to a
prompt end.
Wc recognize gravestones as
an of the religious, cultural,
and historical legacy o\
America and prefer, whcrcwr
possible, to sec ihem rcmiiin
protected in situ in accordance
with the original intentions of
the families that commissioned
them. For this reason, the
permanent collection of the
Museum of American Folk Art
docs not include gravestones.
In recognition of their
importance as works of art,
however, wc arc pleased to own
Srfii Maine Antique Digest, October, 1985
a series of excellent
photographs of significant
curly gravestones, generously
donated by Mr, and Mrs.
Daniel Farbcr. Wc believe this
to be an appropriate way for
the earliest form of American
folk sculpture to be documented,
studied, and exhibited.
it has been suggested that I
somehow condone illegal trade
in gravestones because among
(he 360 objects illustrated in my
book. Folk An: Painting.
Sculpture, and Country
Ohjecix (in the Knopf
Collectors' Guides scries), two
gravestones arc pictured
(figures 121 and 122). On the
very page upon which one of
these illustrations appears,
however. I specifically noted
that very few early tombstones
are legitimately for sale, and
warned collectors that a written
guarantee or history of
ownership should be obtained
in order to prove that the object
was not stolen. In fact, I slated
that one of the two gravestones
illustrated had to be
relinquished by a dealer when it
became clear that it had been
procured illegally.
Sometime toward the end of
June or early July. I received a
telephone call from a man who
identified himself as Edmund
Mahony, staff writer of the
Hart/urJ Courani . He
requested that I identify the
owner of the two gravestones. 1
told him that I would forward
any correspondence he wished
me to deliver, but that as a
general policy, I do not reveal
the names of individuals, who
have allowed me to publish
objects in their collections, if
they have chosen to remain
anonymous. Mahony replied
that his telephone call was
prompted by his discovery that
the Connecticut police were
looking for one of the
gravestones and that he
possessed information that led
him to believe that the object
has been stolen.
Because the individual I then
believed to own the gravestone
was a collector of unimpeach-
able reputation, who clearly
would have nothing to do with
stolen materials, I advised
Mahony that I would make an
inquiry and then telephone
him. The day following this
conversation, I was able to
communicate with the
collector, who stated without
equivocation that the
gravestone in question had
never been in her possession. I
immediately called Mahony
and advised him that the
individual with whom I had
spoken had no knowledge
about the object. At t hat
juncture, I did not have a hint
of the source of the photograph
used in my book because I had
not yet checked my research
files, but Mahony did not ask
me any further questions. He
merely thanked me and
concluded the conversation.
Notwithstanding the brevity of
this interchange, Mahony
published an article in the
Hartford Courant of July 6.
1985. which slated, in part:
"Robert Bishop, director of
the American Museum of Folk
Art isic] in Manhattan, said he
thinks he krtows the
whereabouts of a valuable and
exquisitely carved stone that
marked the grave of Ebenezer
Johnson, who died at age 9 in
1727.
"Yet, even though Bishop
was told the stone was stolen
from Trumbull Cemetery in
t^banon and is hein^ sought by
the Connecticut slate police, he
will not say where it is hemg
kept. He respects the right of a
collector to collect.
'"Oh. come on. 'he said. 'The
public doesn't care at all, to be
perfectly frank. If it did. it
wouldn 'I be building dams all
over the place and washing out
graveyards'. "
Mahony's article is entirely
unrepresentative of both the
content and tenor of our
conversation. Moreover, it
contains an implication that [.
in some way, was interfering
with an investigation being
conducted by the Connecticut
authorities, which is untrue. As
I slated at the outset. I do nol
condone the purchase and sale
of stolen works of art. At no
time had I been contacted by
any representative of the
Connecticut state police nor
had I refused lo cooperate in
any pending inquiry. My
comments about the lack of
public concern, which were
taken out of context, were not
intended as an expression of my
own opinion. It is unfortunate
that, with the exception of the
members of such groups as the
Association for Gravestone
Studies, few members of the
public seem to be properly
involved in this important
issue.
The damage "done by
Mahony's recklfets disregard
for the truth has been extensive.
Letters have reached me from
several individuals involved in
the field taking issue with my
apparent refusal lo cooperate
in the recovery of a stolen
object. I have been obliged to
respond to these icUen with a
statement of my own position
on the matter; but the damage
has been done.
One such concerned
individual, William N. Hosley,
Jr., Curator, American
Decorative Arts, at the
Wads worth Alheneum in
Hartford, has raised the level of
misinformation being touted
still further by publishing
irresponsible and untrue
statements of his own. In a
letter to the Maine Antique
Digest (September, 1985).
Hosley slated, as follows:
"Not so good for Robert
Bishop, who has reportedly
stonewalled attempts by the
Connecticut police to retrieve a
gravestone owned by one of his
folk art collecting friends.
Indeed, Mr. Bishop is most
explicit in his encouragement
of gravestone collecting, and
while he is entitled lo his
opinion as a private citizen,
such views are less defensible
when held by the director of a
tax-exempt, non-profit
ihsliiuiion. In essence, the
public is subsidizing an
institution thai implicitly
endorses the theft of public
property."
In his rush to express his
concerns about Ihc theft of
gravestones, Hoscly has
demonstrated a callous
disregard of the truth. His
charge that the Museum of
American Folk Art implicitly
endorses illegal acts is
nonsense, but it nonetheless is
calculated lo injure the
reputation of the institution.
Because of the seriousness of
Hosley 's misrepresentation, the
Museum has taken the matter
under legal advisement. It may
not be inappropriate for me to
suggest, however, that Hoslcv
has abused his position n(
public trust as a museum
curator. Me did not cxprcvN Ins
opinion as a private ciii/cn but
rather as a senior member of
the professional staff of an
important museum
Whether or not the
Wadswonh Alheneum endorses
Hosley's misconduct is an issue
to be resolved, but by
associating his employer's
name with his accusations, he
has provided ihcm with a level
of credibility lliev rniglii
otherwise lack. It seems in me
that a curator, by the vers
nature of his profession, niuvi
be concerned enough lo seek
the truth. Hosley fails on ihi\
account, especially since I had
written to him persona 1I>
stating that I shared his distress
about the continuing loss of
gravestones.
A question still arises as to
the source of the illustration in
my book. I earlier believed thai
it, along with many others, uas
drawn from my files, which
include thousands of black-
and-white prints and color
transparencies. This resource
has been developed over a
period of many years and
contains many materials passed
on to me by friends in the field,
often without complete
idem ifical ion. After carcfulK
checking my files. I u;is unable
to discover the source of the
gravestone and so advised
Hosley.
It should be noted that three
other individuals uerc
associated with me in wrimij:
ihe book, one of whom,
Michael McManus, provided
much of Ihc nialerijil en
sculpture. Alter my iniiiai Id^jV.
of success, 1 contacted
McManus. who recalled
arranging to ha\c the
photograph taken at a Madison
Avenue gallery in New York 1
have no further information on
the matter.
It is my hope that this letter
will help correct the public
misconceptions fostered h\
Mahony and Hosley E\cn
their righteous zeal for the
protection of gravestones does
nol excuse their reckless and
harmful misrepresentations.
Sincerely,
Dr. Robert Bishop.
Director
Museum of American
Folk Art
We contacted reporter Mahon;
for his side of the conlroversj
and he said he stuck by his
story, but noted the Hartford
Courant had assigned an
ombudsman to look into thr
complaint of inaccuracy.
As for (he material in the
Knopf Collectors* Guide, we
have (o note tha( (he dust jacket
of the book said, "...here is
American folk art in all its
fascination and beauty-
pictured, discussed, appraised,
and cMtt^onitd, specifically for
the collector.' No( only were
the gravestones pictured in a
book for colleclors, a price of
SIOOO lo $3000 was assigned to
each of Ihem. The caveat about
the legitimacy of title to
traveslones seemed not to he
written to discourage collecting
but to help collectors avoid the
legal pitfalls. Color pictures
and prices, it seems to us, are
designed to whet a collector's
appetite, nol discourage
collecting. The wa> lo
discourage collecting such
objects is not to include them in
a book for collectors. Ed.
AGSF'85p21
NEWSPAPER NOTICES FROM HERE TO THERE
summarized by Jessie Lie Farber
A full page in The DeKalb (Georgia) News/Sun (February 6, 1985) reports that a study is being
conducted by MARTA in connection with its development of a new commuter line whose route
will pass through the Nancy Creek Primitive Baptist Church cemetery, in Chamblee, Georgia.
Fifty-five of the 775 graves in the old yard will be relocated to two sites in the south part
of the cemetery, which dates to a few years after 1824 when the church was founded. Many
of the graves are unmarked; the oldest marked stone is dated 1841. The study states that the
yard is representative of rural community cemeteries in the south, and MARTA has spent $93,000
hiring an historian and genealogist to study and catalog the findings. "We have to answer
certain anthropological questions in order to meet federal and state requirements," said Gloria
Gaines, Environmental Planning Specialist for MARTA's Engineering Division. Another $132,000
is being spent to study the remains and to publish reports. According to Gaines, there is an
amazing amount of information — age, race, sex, disease, cause of death, etc., — to be obtained.
The information gleaned from the study will be donated to the Dekalb Historical Society. No
opposition from the Church or citizens is anticipated.
Contributed by Margaret Jenl<s, Kirl<land, WA
Kathy Read, staff writer for The Duluth (Minnesota) News-Tribune & Herald (June 28, 1985)
has written an article about The Encyclopedia of Associations, which, according to a New
York Times advertisement for the 3-volume set (price $195 from Yale Research Co., Suite 41,
150 E. 50 St., NYC 10022), "Tells you whom to write phone or visit for current facts and figures
on every subject which concerns your interest now and in the future. . . It covers every subject
you could conceivably be interested in." From the Encyclopedia's 18,170 associations "catering
to every imaginable interest," Ms. Read chose ten to feature in her story. AGS was one of
these, along with such out-of-the-ordinary groups as The Man Will Never Fly Society, The
Society to Curtail Ridiculous, Outrageous and Ostentatious Gift Exchange (SCROOGE), The
Ghost Research Society, MEGA, the upscale cousin of MENSA, and The Emphemera Society,
whose members collect things that "normally do not see the light of day except in a trash
barrel." Read's description of AGS and its activities was accurate, and we are waiting to learn
if we had an influx of new members from the Duluth area. (Our current membership has only
three members in the state.)
Contributed by Kathy Read, Duluth, MN
From The Denver Post (July 18, 1985) Arts Section, we have a story about Phyllis Harrison-
Brose, Folklorist-in-residenceat Denver's Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanity. Mrs. Harrison-
Brose teaches a course at the Center, "Folk Art in the Graveyard," which includes a field trip
and rubbing instruction in Riverside, Denver's oldest cemetery, founded in the 1870's. A folklore
researcher with a Ph.D. from the University of Indiana, Harrison-Brose regrets that so few of
the stones were signed. Among those that are is a miniature replica of the deceased's cabin,
complete with a chinked, falling-apart chimney, a rope handle on the door with a pick and
broken shovel beside it, "and, always, ferns and ivy." It is signed by M. Rauh. A huge tree-
stump stone and a stone bearing a Chinese inscription illustrate the article. Mrs. Harrison-
Brose notes that today "more and more people are going back to individual designs on stones,"
and she feels that "drawing these designs is every bit as artistic an accomplishment."
Contributed by Ray Bentley, Oldstone Enterprises, Boston MA
An interesting overview of the 1985 AGS conference participants is seen in an article published
in the Morristown, NJ newspaper. The Daily Record (June 30, 1985). Jay Levin, staff writer
for the paper, went on the conference tour of New Jersey graveyards, interviewing conferees
and noting their activity. Among those mentioned in Levin's story are:
Tour leader, Richard Welch, history professor from Huntington, NY, who comments, "Most of
us are interested in gravestones as a form of decorative art and as historical artifacts. Gravestones
really are the earliest of American decorative art. And it's a very democratic art. There are
cemeteries all around, and you don't have to pay to get in."
Madeleine Brennan, of Lake Hopatchong, NJ is an associate scientist with the Sobering
Corporation. She makes gravestone rubbings and says, "I see [an interest in gravestones] as
an interest in history. It's not just poking around."
Don and Betty Odie, of Franklin, Mich. He is a retired advertising illustrator and she a retired
museum exhibit designer. They spend their vacations visiting cemeteries up and down the
Atlantic coast making rubbings.
Roberta Halporn, Brooklyn NY, who is Director of the Center for Thanatology Research, explained
that thanatology is the study of death, dying and bereavement. "Gravestones," she said "are
the art of death."
The story describes New Jersey carving styles and names three Colonial-era stonecutters
represented in the New Jersey yards (Ebenezer Price, Henry Osborne, and John Frazee.) It
also describes threats to the stones posed by the elements and vandals, and it quotes Welch:
"What the vandals do not realize is that they are trampling an irreplaceable piece of art and
an important symbol of the nation's heritage." The article is illustrated by two color photographs
made on the tour, one of Gray William of Chappaqua, NY (on hands and knees with camera
aimed at a marker).
Sent by Richard Welch, Huntington, NY.
AGSF'85n22
A three-year-old newspaper item has found its roundabout way to us, and it is still timely enough
to mention. It was published in The Los Angeles Times (May 1 4, 1 982) and is headed: Association
Works to Save Old Sites/Graveyards-Find New Life in Public Eye. The article tells of "a resurgence
of interest in America's old, often forgotten and frequently vandalized burial grounds spreading
across the country;" of graveyard guide books "rolling off the presses of small New England
publishing houses;" and of the development of the Association for Gravestone Studies. The
balance of the piece gives examples of interest in graveyards across the U.S., from Rhode
Island, where Edwin Connelly, Rhode Island's director of its 2400 cemeteries, reports on the
early work of AGS and its (then) "250 members from coast to coast," to California, where Ellen
Jones, a researcher in the Bancroft Library in Berkeley reports having followed the careers
of 125 northern California gravestone carvers working between the mid-1 800s and the 1890s.
Other examples of interest in gravemarkers mention Rufus Langhan's "Adopt-a-Cemetery" project
in Huntington, NY; the Wisconsin State Old Cemetery Society's state-wide clean-up and
documenting projects; and the Kentucky Cemetery Records Project to inventory and computerize
that state's cemeteries, "bringing alive 250 years of state history." The Kentucky project is directed
by William Chescheir in Frankfort, the state capital.
Sent by Mary-Ellen Jones, Orinda, CA
The lead story in Conserve Neighborhoods (July/ August 1985), which is a newsletter for citizen
organizations published by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, also deals with the subject
of the 1982 news item mentioned above. Headed, Community Cemeteries Make a Comeback,
it outlines ways that local groups can develop community interest in their old yards, solicit
funding, and use volunteer help, and it lists a variety of information sources, placing AGS first
on its resource list The article introduces the subject of graveyard rediscovery by saying that
"neighborhood groups across the country are taking steps to preserve their local cemeteries.
Long championed by students of art, architecture, literature and history as precious sources
of inspiration and information, burial grounds too frequently have been dismissed by the larger
community as unimportant. The recent surge of interest in individual and collective roots, however,
has reversed this unfortunate trend. ..After years of neglect and even abandonment, neighborhood
graveyards are beginning to be recognized as critical social and historical resources." It
concludes, "Clearly neighborhood graveyards have a story to tell; neighborhood residents must
insure that story is told." Crucial points are made regarding damage that can be done by those
who are over zealous or careless in cleaning grounds and applying inappropriate cleaning
and mending techniques to markers. "Repairing stones should be undertaken only with the
guidance of a trained professional...As with any historical restoration, enthusiasm must be
tempered with prudence." The item quotes AGS executive secretary Rosalee Oakley, who reminds
enthusiasts that "many conservators say to do nothing that cannot be reversed." The National
Trust for Historic Preservation is located at 1785 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, DC
20036.
Sent byHosalee Oakley, AGS Office, Needham, MA
Two articles from The Clinton Daily Item (August 1 9 & 26, 1 985) report the arrest of 1 5 teenagers
in connection with damage to the Old Settlers Cemetery in Lancaster MA during a beer party.
Six more people have been summoned to appear in court for trespassing with a motor vehicle,
according to the Lancaster Chief of Police. Damage includes destruction to the grounds, broken
tree limbs, litter, a broken stone and an upended one. Old Settlers Burying Ground, one of
the oldest in the state, dating to the 1600s, was on the 1983 AGS conference tour. The follow-
up news item states that 12 of the vandals were found guilty and ordered to perform 15 hours
of community service work each, cleaning the cemetery. Three Juveniles are scheduled to
be arraigned in juvenile court. A photograph of the broken marker shows it to be a 19th-century
marble stone.
Sent by Ruth Hopfmann, Sterling, MA
Amid the bustle of New York City's Chinatown is Shearith Israel cemetery, also known as the
Chatham Square cemetery, thought to be the first burying ground in New York. According to
a story in The New York Times (July 19, 1985), a pick-wielding vagrant jumped the cemetery's
wrought-iron fence and plunged his pick into 7 sarcophagi. The 30 year old vandal has been
arrested. It is unclear which of the sarcophagi were damaged; however, the cemetery's best
known grave — that of Walter Judah, a Columbia University medical student who died while
helping victims of a yellow feaver epidemic in 1789 — was not damaged. The congregation
of Shearith Israel (which means Remanent of Israel) is believed to be the oldest Jewish
congregation in the United States, dating from 1654.
Contributed by Robert Van Benthuysen, West Long Brance NJ, also reprinted in the newsletter
of the Friends of Abandoned Cemeteries of Staten Island. V.2#3, July-August, 1985, p.4.
Seventeen years ago, The Staten Island Sunday Advance published a list of Staten Island
cemeteries under the heading, "Cemeteries: Sites of interest to conservationists, historians."
On April 28, 1 985, the same newspaper published a revised list that omitted many of the cemeteries
on the earlier list. As a result, the Friends of Abandoned Cemeteries of Staten Island hopes
to work in conjunction with the funeral directors of Staten Island to jointly publish a map of
current and past burial grounds there, and to record the names of the interred. (The Rossville
A.M.E. Zion Church Cemetery, which appears on both lists, was in April, 1985, designated a
Landmark by New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. Judging by a photograph
in the newsletter of the Friends of Abandoned Cemeteries of Staten Island, this cemetery contains
a number of interesting early markers.)
From the newsletter of the Friends of Abandoned Cemeteries of Staten Island
AGS F'85 p 23
A full page illustrated story that appeared in The Pamlico (North Carolina) News (April 24, 1985)
may open some interesting and fruitful avenues for carver research. It describes in detail the
history of the Pierson/ Pearson cemetery, the oldest in Palmico County, North Carolina. Among
its markers are two slate stones dated 1745 and 1748 — one carved with a death's head
and the other, now broken, with a winged cherub — and four red sandstone markers dated
1751. 1774. 1791. and 1791. The sandstone marker dated 1757 is engraved on its back, "Made
by John Suricher [sic] in New York." Ruth Lee, who helped found the Pamlico County Historical
Association in 1968, documented the yard 17 years ago (when the cherub stone was intact)
and made rubbings of the markers. She has recently completed research on the genealogy
of those buried in the yard. According to her findings, the first settlers in the county were
seafaring men.
Contributed by David Lupl<in, Serials Dept. Head, Colorado State University
In a follow-up article in the above newspaper (April 1, 1985), the existance of another slate
marker in Palmico County, North Carolina, was reported. This one was found propped against
a garage in Oriental, North Carolina, by a 13 year old youth. The youth, Adrian Hensen, is
a bottle collector who researches his bottle finds, and he "felt no differently about the 'misplaced'
gravemarker." It is dated 1760 and has a death's head in the tympanum. Frank Gatton, assistant
state archivist and Bruce Cheeseman, also in the North Carolina Department of Archives and
History, were contacted about the find, which they believe originated in New England. The
disposition of the headstone will be decided based upon recommendations by Archives and
History. It is presently in the hands of the Palmico County Historical Association.
Contributed by David Lupkin, Serials Dept. Head, Colorado State University
A '57 Chevy, carved in black granite, glints in
the sun in a cemetery in South Gloucester,
Ontario. Commissioned by a young widow, the
carving is a "perfect model" of the car her
husband, who died of leukaemia, treasured in
life. The stone cost more than $3000.00.
from the Ottawa Citizen, July 12, 1985, sent by IVIadeiine
Thomson, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
The first Congregational Church of Paxton MA wants to add onto its building, but this means
an extension into the cemetery is necessary. The University of Massachusetts Archaeology
Services, Department of Anthropology, Amherst, has begun a survey to see if the location of
the pilings to support slab foundations would interfere with natural grave sites. No decision
to build has yet been made.
After a lot of educated digging. Rich Gumaer, the U. Mass. project archaeologist, reported that
many of the gravestones as they exist now, do not lie exactly above burials. "Obviously," said
Gumaer, "they were shifted when the stones were reset."
Records indicate that in 1919 the cemetery was regraded and the stones reset. Mr. Gumaer
noted, "It doesn't look as if the stones were as carefully reset as they should have been."
He pointed out a stone that was reset backwards.
Gumaer explained that the soil profile shows if the soil was ever disturbed by digging for a
burial. The archaeologists dug down about a meter, only enough to show a refiled grave shaft.
They did not go down as far as coffins or skeletal remains. The soil told the story.
The final archaeological survey will be ready about the end of October. AGS visited the graveyard
on the Worcester Conference tour in 1983.
from the Holden Landmark, September 12, 1985, sent by Ruth Hoffmann, Sterling, MA.
Fifteen years ago a group of citizens, concerned over the neglect, vandalism, and destruction
of old cemeteries, organized the Maine Old Cemetery Association. Its aim is "to foster interest
in the discovery, restoration, and maintenance of old cemeteries, and the preservation of records
and historical information which relate to them". In 1971 the Association was incorporated as
a charitable organization. There are dues which are nominal and provide for four Newsletters
a year. Three meetings are held yearly, each in a different part of the State. At these meetings
project reports are heard, methods of restoration are discussed, rubbings are viewed, and qualified
speakers give advice and information. Visits are made to local cemeteries and historic sites.
These well-attended meetings are kept informal and inexpensive. Membership has grown to
over 1 200.
From the Maine Old Cemetery Association Newsletter, V. XVII #2, Summer 1985.
AGS F'RF, n 9A
CONFERENCES
Pat Miller of Sharon CT attended the seminar on Interpretation of American Cemeteries at
Cooperstown NY, sponsored by the New York State Historical Society July 7-13. Twenty people
attended this seminar, led by Darrell Norris, a new member of AGS. Mr. Norris used slides
from England, Scotland, Canada, New York state and New Orleans to stress methods of surveying
cemeteries and of cataloguing various marker types. The group also visited cemeteries in the
Cooperstown area, including a Russian Orthodox Monastery. C.R. Jones' lecture to all seminar
participants (about 120 people) "Funerary Customs in Early America" was very well received.
He had an interesting display table of funeral related items, including sample models of caskets.
The Connecticut branch of AGS has been functioning for one year! Pat Miller reports that
they have had nine tours and one luncheon meeting, overall involving at least 400 people.
"Countless others have read about us, thanks to excellent newspaper publicity. Our '86 schedule
is set and ready. We are planning an October weekend trip to Boston, and are working on
an all day public winter meeting at a Connecticut college." For more details, write or call Pat
Miller, P.O. Box 1151, Sharon CT, 06069 (203) 435-0163
CALL FOR PAPERS FOR SPRING 1986 NEASA CONFERENCE: "Memory and Memorials in
American Culture"
The spring NEASA (American Studies Association) conference on "Memory and Memorials in
American Culture" has been scheduled for the Boston area for April 18 & 19, 1986. We invite
individual papers or session proposals dealing with oral history, autobiography, psychology
and mneumonics, ethnic consciousness, folklore, public history, monuments, historiography,
and related subjects. Send proposals to Blanche Linden-Ward, Program in American Culture
and Communication, Emerson College, 100 Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02116.
From the NEASA Newsletter, Fall, 1985.
THE FIRST "HERITAGE CEMETERIES IN BRITISH COLUMBIA
SYMPOSIUM"
A very successful meeting took place in Victoria, B.C. on April 27 and 28, 1985 that attracted
old cemetery enthusiasts and scholars from throughout Canada's most westerly province and
adjoining Alberta. The fifty-five participants met for one day of papers and slide presentations
on the status of old cemetery research and preservation in B.C., followed by a day of tours
to five of the most interesting cemeteries around Victoria, the capital city. These included: Pioneer
Square (1850s); Ross Bay Cemetery (1872); the Jewish Cemetery (1860); the Veterans' Cemetery
(1 868); and, the Chinese Cemetery (1 903). Of particular interest was a visit to one of the province's
oldest monument makers, Stewart's Monumental Works for a demonstration of stone cutting
and inscription techniques. Another highlight was the visit to St. Stephen's Anglican Church
in rural Saanichton for a supper in the church hall then a tour of church and churchyard
by the parish historian, Hilda Butterfield.
Many historical societies and other groups have been involved in old cemetery projects in
British Columbia for a number of years, but this was the first time a meeting on the subject
had ever been held. The response for a second meeting was tremendous, so one is being
planned for 1986. A book entitled "Heritage Cemeteries in British Columbia: Collected Papers"
includes some of those presented at the Symposium, combined with others. It was published
in August by the Victoria Branch of the B.C. Historical Federation, the Symposium sponsor,
as a follow-up to the spring meeting. Copies of the book may be ordered for $6.00 (Canadian)
postpaid by writing to the Symposium Chairman, John D. Adams, 628 Battery Street, Victoria,
B.C., Canada V8V 1 E5.
AGS F'85 p 25
uaiiaisMBN
a I V 4
3ovisod s n
•OyO lUOMd NON
6091.0 ssey^ 'ja^saoJOM
'A)9!30s ueijenbuuv ueouauivo/o
'S9!pn)s 9uo)sdAeje) jo^ uoj^epossv
A TRIBUTE TO GLO J. KIRBY
by Victor Dupont, Greenwich, CT
Glo J. Kirby, who died in Chico CA in IVIarch 1985 was an artist who went from painting and
the plastic arts to the study, preservation and conservation of early American gravestones.
Active in the Association for Gravestone Studies since its beginnings in Dublin NH, she found
a new aspect of art in not only the colors of New England autumns, but in the decorative
and highly symbolic art of colonial stonecarving. A grant to paint at Woodstock VT, she said,
drew her out of the studio to the vivid New England landscape and the precincts of burying
grounds.
Glo J. Kirby made rubbings, consulted with Ann Parker and Avon Neal and experimented with
monumental brass rubbing in England. Her association with AGS brought her in contact with
Pamela Burgess, widow of the English gravestone scholar, Frederick Burgess. Glo J. Kirby's
rubbings and study were the subject of her radio lecture broadcast by the Pacifica stations,
with which she was associated in both Manhattan and San Francisco. She served as a president
of Artists Equity. At her retirement she was working with the Broadcast Foundation of America
in New York City.
Educated in Edmonton, Alberta, and in California, she was known to AGS members as "the
lady with the van"; she travelled by WV van and finally a white truck large enough for a rubbing
portfolio and part of her working library on stonecarving, heraldry and symbolism. (For our
story about Glo Kirby and her van, see the AGS /Vews/eWer Vol. 7 #2, Spring 1983, p.4)
Glo J. Kirby had desired that our Association work to expand a body of knowledge on which
scholars, artists and crafts workers could continue to draw. She had framed and mounted a
number of her own rubbings and had exhibited several at AGS conferences.
She is survived by her daughter, Judith Jacobson of Chico CA, and two grandsons.
The AGS Newsletter is published quarterly as a service to members of The Association for Gravestone Studies.
The membership year begins on the date dues are received and ends one year from that date. A one-year membership
entitles the members to four issues of the Newsletter and to participation in the A GS conference in the year membership
is current. Send membership fees (individual /Institutional, $15; Family, $25; contributing, $25) to AGS Executive;
Secretary Rosalee Oakley, 46 Plymouth Rd., Needham, fJIA 02192. Back issues of the Newsletter are available for
$3.00 per issue from Rosalee Oakley Order Markers, the Journal of the Association for Gravestone Studies (Vol.
1, $15; vol. 2, $12; Vol. 3, $10.25) from Rosalee Oakley Address contributions to Markers, Vol 4, to David Watters,
editor, Dept. of English, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824. Address Newsletter contributions to Deborah
Trask, editor, The Nova Scotia tJluseum, 1747 Summer St., Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 3A6, Canada. Address other
correspondence and orders to Rosalee Oakley. Mail addressed to AGS c/o The American Antiquarian Society,
Worcester MA 01609, or to Rosalee Oakley, will be forwarded to the appropriate AGS office.
NEWSLETTER
OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES
DEBORAH TRASK, ED.
VOLUME 10 NUMBER 1 WINTER 1985/6
ISSN: 0146-5783
CONTENTS
GRAVESTONE CARVING
a useful overview by Ann Parker and Avon Neal 1
WANTED! 6
Funeraires
reviewed by Francis Y. Duval 7
OUR MYSTERY CARVER PURSUED
by Theodore Chase and Laurel Gabel 8
MEMBER NEWS 11
UPDATE 14
CAN YOU HELP? 16
1986 CONFERENCE 16
CONFERENCES 17
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 17
IN PRAISE OF EPITAPHS 20
Timothy Lindall stone, 1698/9, Salem MA
The following article, from the November 17, 1985 issue of the Worcester Telegram, was
prepared by the recipients of the 1984 AGS Forbes Award. The article is a useful, brief, overall
discussion of gravestone art.
GRAVESTONE CARVING,
an historical overview of a New England Art Form by Avon Neal, photographs by Ann Parker
There are no remaining examples of the first memorials used to mark Puritan graves in New
England. Probate records indicate that they were wooden "coffin posts," also called "rails"
and "bed boards." This type of marker was used extensively in England during the 17th century
and a few specimens have been preserved. The "posts", very simply made from squared-
off logs, were placed vertically at the head and foot of a grave. They were sometimes inscribed
with the name and death date of the deceased. A unique granite post still marks the grave
of Jacob Worner in Hadley. It is dated 1711, well after most markers of this kind had been
supplanted by other forms. Fieldstones on which were chiseled the briefest of statistics, often
no more than initials and a date, were soon introduced. The earliest dated stone discovered
thus far in New England was carved for Sara Tefft of Warwick, Rhode Island, who died in
the same year the town was settled. It is a rough fieldstone which reads: HERE LIETH THE
BODIE OF SARAH TEFFT 1642. Since the 1860s this rare specimen has been housed in
the Rhode Island Historical Society in Providence.
continued
The oldest surviving slate markers, dating from the 1650s, are found in Massachusetts. Most
were made without any pictorial content but they were already beginning to assume the arched
shape that later became typical and lent itself to a wealth of gravestone imagery. As early
as the 1670s, Boston area carvers were incorporating a limited variety of mortality emblems
into their designs. It was during this decade that Colonial gravestone carving began to develop
into an art. By 1680 there already existed important and surprisingly complex examples of
this form of early American sculpture, many of them highly dramatic representations of the
Puritans' all-pervasive preoccupation with death. The winged skull in its various interpretations
reigned supreme as the gruesome king of images in this early period of New England gravestone
inconography. It had been a traditional familiar emblem of death since medieval times, declaring
the frail mortality of man and reminding all that "Death is a Debt to Nature due." From 1680
on, New England carvers combined these death's heads with an expanding assortment of
lesser mortality symbols such as hourglasses, coffins, crossed bones, and grave-digging tools.
The primary source for these designs was printed matter, particularly the crude-woodcuts
which appeared on contemporary funeral broadsides.
A few gravestones were inspired by allegorical images used as book illustrations, such as
the fascinating 1681 marker for John Foster in Dorchester. This design was based on a British
engraving first published in 1635 in Francis Quarles' Hieroglyphics of ttie Life of IVIan. It
was made by a still unidentified but major figure in early American art who is now called
"The Charlestown Carver." Death, attended by Father Time, is shown snuffing out the flame
of Life. The design demonstrates the willingness of .17th century Colonial carvers to experiment
with depicting complex allegorical themes on gravestones. John Foster, a close friend of Increase
Mather, was Boston's first printer. He engraved the Massachusetts seal, compiled an early
almanac and, because of his keen interest in astronomy, wrote a book about comets. He
died at age 33. He specifically set aside in his will 30 shillings for "a pair of handsome
Gravestones," meaning a headstone and footstone. His desire was amply fulfilled. The Foster
stone is now considered so important that it has been removed to the Boston Museum of
Fine Arts. A replica stands in the Dorchester graveyard.
John Foster stone, 1681, Dorchester MA
A growing number of ambitious and energetic stonecarvers now began to produce impressive
work. One of the outstanding names is that of Joseph Lamson of Charlestown. His output
was prodigious and many of his stones have survived. He often placed a frieze above the
epitaph and peopled it with imps of death performing funerary tasks or carrying mortality
emblems. On the dramatic stone he carved in 1688 for Zechariah Long in Charlestown, two
such demons wielding darts are vividly portrayed trying to pierce a starkly rendered winged
death's head. It becomes evident from both the stylistic differences on existing stones and
information gleaned from probate records that quite a few craftsmen had taken up gravestone
carving by the turn of the 18th century. Each succeeding decade brought new talent into
the field. The carvers of Boston and adjacent communities had introduced the use of graphic
imagery on Colonial gravestones and the custom quickly spread to other settlements. After
the opening of the John Stevens Shop in Newport in 1705, Rhode Island became another
center for fine gravestone carving.
In Connecticut, markers remained extremely plain until the 1720s. These sandstone and schist
slabs were made by a few self-trained artisans who seemed unaware of the powerful imagery
portrayed by their Massachusetts and Rhode Island contemporaries. Although primitive
representations of skulls are found on Connecticut stones as early as 1689, they hardly prepare
us for the great diversity of imaginative work this region was to produce later in the century.
Graphic interpretation of the same death symbols varied widely from one settlement to another.
Within a few years numerous local styles had emerged. This rich variety, which grew in large
part out of the carvers' isolation combined with their lack of artistic sophistication, is one
of the qualities that makes gravestone carving an important form of American folk art. Since
materials to a great extent governed the shape of a stone, they also had much to do with
the way the imagery was conceived and executed. Images easily carved on slate, for instance,
lost incisiveness when attempted on sandstone or schist.
continued
AGS W'85/6p2
Until about 1800 the central figure on an overwhelming majority of New England gravestones
was some form of soul effigy meant to represent the spiritual image of the deceased. Death's
heads, both realisitic and stylized, as well as most portraits and angel forms, were all attempts
by the carvers to symbolize the afterlife essence of the person commemorated. Winged skulls,
according to some authorities, also express this symbolism. Other researchers see them simply
as visible reminders of death. It is quite possible that gravestone artists intended a double
meaning. There are of course many exceptions to this soul effigy interpretation. Some portraits
strongly suggest that they were meant to represent the deceased in all his or her worldliness,
in much the same manner that specific likenesses were portrayed on Roman stelae and English
church brasses.
Secondary motifs — designs placed on the crown or border in addition to the central figure
— illustrate an even broader range of meaningful imagery. Fruits, flowers, birds, hearts, vines,
trumphets, hourglasses, the Eye of God, scythes, crowns, arrows, severed branches, as well
as a profusion of compass-drawn or geometric shapes, are all frequently found. Practice carvings
have also been discovered on the buried shanks of early gravestones. The forms include
letters, numerals and even images unrelated to the design above.
Despite significant stylistic differences in the designs that appeared on headstones from the
1670s until around 1800, carvings of these 130 years are faithful to a single symbolic tradition,
and thus can be considered a unified body of work. What followed with the introduction of
neoclassical influences was a complete break with the imagery that had been favored up
to this point. The neoclassical urn and willow tree design which can be found on New England
grave markers as early as the 1 780s became the dominant theme shortly after 1 800. It continued
to be popular until the 1830s, extending even beyond that date in some rural areas. It reflected
the philosophy of the time: to be more involved in the act of mourning that in the obsession
with death itself.
Although the neoclassical urn relates directly to the deceased, when combined with the willow
tree the resultant image suggests an environment, almost a landscape. This was a radical
departure from previous gravestone iconography. If figures were represented at all in the newer
designs, they depicted mourners rather than the deceased. This popular motif was echoed
(or perhaps prompted) by the elaborate mourning pictures which were painted or stitched
in great numbers during this period by young ladies as part of their schooling in refined
accomplishments. When the popularity of the urn and willow tree pattern finally subsided another
major change rapidly took place. By the mid-1 9th century cemeteries were usually dominated
by square-topped white marble slabs, their polished surfaces embelished with epitaphs in
bold lettering. The artisans who designed these stones adapted the decorative type faces
of contemporary printing, just as gravestone carvers in the 1600s copied elements from the
grim funeral broadsides of their time.
New England's old burying grounds differ visually from region to region. Although weather
plays a significant role, the main reason evolves from the type of stone primarily used by
local carvers. The delicate overall white of innumerable marble slabs that characterizes the
burying grounds of western Vermont, and the silvery luster projected from sites where sparkling
mica schist was popular, differ radically from the somber moods created elsewhere: by
Connecticut's heavy red sandstone markers, by the chunky, low-set early slate memorials
erected in Boston's Granary, Copp's Hiil or King's Chapel burying grounds, by the thin, brittle
slates of Rockingham. Each area produced a tonal quality of its own, including the spotty
mongrel look of many burying grounds where a profusion of different stones and carving
styles occurred.
Daniel Campbell stone, 1 744, Rutland VT
continued
AGS W'85/6 p 3
The men who made New England's early grave markers came from many walks of life. Their
backgrounds were as varied as the stones they carved. Some were fairly well educated; most
were not. Many began early in life as apprentices in family workshops and a few labored
more than half a century as stonecutters. Occasionally carvers worked as itinerants, moving
from place to place in pursuit of profitable markets for their skills. They called themselves
stonecutters, engravers and sculptors. John Hartshorn (1650-1734) referred to himself as a
"stonecutter." Beza Soule (1 750-1 835) was described as a "maker and inscriber of gravestones."
Typical of most crafts in Colonial America, gravestone making was from an early date a family
affair, with fathers training their sons, brothers working together and business being passed
along from one generation to the next. Newport's John Stevens Shop was one of the most
productive. Founded in 1705, it was run for well over a century by members of the Stevens
family. It still produces fine quality handcarved stones after 280 years of almost continuous
service.
Payment for gravestones was not always made in currency. In 1 724 John Hartshorn of Norwich,
Conn., sold a batch of partially finished stones to Joshua Hempstead for which he was paid
in part with "1 bb. of bluefish." Both men were gravestone cutters. Joshua Hempstead frequently
purchased already ornamented stones to finish with epitaphs for his own clients. In return
for four pair of gravestones, John Stevens II accepted from Timothy Hutson of Long Island
"12 bushels of wheate and one pistole." The receipt has survived. And, in 1742, the butcher
John Topping had a pair of gravestones made for Mr. Billings of Stonington, and gave in
exchange "95 Ibs.of beafe at 10 pence per pound, by killing one ass."
Footstones have had a high rate of attrition over the years. In many cemeteries headstones
have been reset in rows and footstones have been removed altogether to facilitate the use
of mowing machines.
A wide and amazing variety of letter forms can be found on early New England gravestones.
Some epitaphs practically vibrate with stylized alphabets and calligraphic flourishes. A few
carvers were masters of fine lettering. Others contented themselves with whatever would pass
as legible, concentrating their efforts on the sculpture instead. The incongruity between design
and lettering on so many stones strengthens speculation that, at least in some cases, one
may have done the pictorial part while another cut the inscription. This would seem logical
in an apprenticeship situation. It should not be assumed, however, that the placement or general
style of the inscription was haphazard and unstudied. Most gravestones were conceived as
artistic entities and the inscription was an integral part of the total design.
Quaint and curious epitaphs have long provided a source of amusement for those interested
in old graveyards. Numerous collections have been published over the years, the earlier ones
valuable for their documentation of markers that have since disappeared. The graphic imagery
on gravestones was virtually ignored in those days; when its artistic and symbolic importance
was finally recognized, the general over-reaction which took place practically eclipsed the
epitaph, thereby obscuring its sociological significance. Not even the simplest epitaph was
casually put together. Bereaved survivors were called upon to distill into a few concise phrases
the key biographical facts and eulogistic sentiments they wanted the world to remember about
the departed. To the essential details — name, age, names of parents and, for women, name
of husband, date of birth — were invariably added words in praise of the deceased's virtues
or talents. Often there was a reference to some memorable event in his or her life.
There seems to be no end to the fascinating particulars encountered on early gravestones.
They are footnotes to history, glimpses into a bygone epoch brought to life by accounts of
privation and achievement; of murders, accidents, and epidemics; of expressions of religious
views prevailing at the time. These revealing epitaphs are clues to a segment of our cultural
heritage which is gradually being deciphered by scholarly investigations.
It was not uncommon for an inscription to include the cause of death, and in a few cases
the manner in which it occurred was carefully depicted on the headstone. When several members
of a family died at close intervals, it can be assumed that they were victims of an epidemic:
smallpox, scarlet fever or the "throat distemper" now recognized as diptheria. A single marker
over a common grave usually commemorated the deceased.
Customarily, a few lines of verse, a short English or Latin phrase, or both, appeared beneath
the epitaph .proper. Whether these were chosen by the bereaved relatives or by the carver
cannot be known. We do know, however, that some carvers had notebooks containin'g both
lists of appropriate phrases and selections of short and long verses. We can assume, therefore,
that the carver sometimes chose the verse and sometimes offered the relatives suggestions
from which they could choose. The familiar "Tempus Fugit" or "Memento Mori" were favored
lines. Certain verses were also favorites, and are encountered repeatedly. One of them is
the stern couplet brought early from England:
Death is a Debt to Nature due
Which I have paid and so must You.
Another popular reminder of man's frailty was some version of the chilling directive which
appeared throughout 18th century New England:
Reader stop and cast an eye
As you are now so once was I
As I am now so you will be
Prepare for death and follow me.
continued
AGS W'85/6 p 4
This verse inevitably lent itself to a waggish rejoinder which is still occasionally found chalked
beneath it:
To follow you I'll not consent
Until I know which way you went!
One's imagination cannot help being sparked by the ironic history recorded on young Amasa
Brainard's gravestone in 1798. The deceased "received a Mortal wound on his head by the
falling of a weight from the Bell — as he was about to enter the Church to attend on divine
worship."
Still more provocative are the legends on twin stones in Little Compton, R.I. The epitaph on
the right-hand stone reads, conventionally, "In Memory of Lidia ye Wife of Mr Simeon Palmer
who died Decem ye 26 1754 in ye 35th Year of her Age." The stone on the left unexpectedly
declares: "In memory of Elizabeth who should have been the Wife of Mr Simeon Palmer who
died Aug. 14th 1776 in the 64th Year of her Age." Such candor in an epitaph is extremely
rare; perhaps it was displayed in obedience to an often-quoted assertion made by Cotton
Mather in 1603: "And know, reader, that though the stones in this wilderness are already
grown so witty as to speak, they never yet that I could hear of, grew so wicked as to lye."
In general, gravestone inscriptions were not meant to be humorous, although frequent
misspellings and the use of words now considered archaic sometimes make them appear
so. Until spelling was standardized, words were written the way they sounded, a linguistic
achievement in itself when one considers the various English country dialects spoken by New
England immigrants.
Gravestones for slaves and ex-slaves are found in more than a few early New England burying
grounds, particularly those in towns with residents wealthy enough to maintain servants. The
Old Common Burying Ground in Newport, R.I., has an entire section set aside for slaves of
prominent families. Pompe, an African servant in the John Stevens Shop, is known to have
helped in the carving of gravestones. In 1761 he made a marker very much in the style of
John Stevens II, and chiseled into the rough slate. "This stone was cut by Pompe Stevens
in memory of his brother, Gusse Gibbs." It was not unusual for a family to erect handsome
memorials over the graves of their faithful and beloved servants. Two large slate markers,
identically shaped and elaborately carved in the neoclassical style, stand side by side in Jaffrey
Center, N.H. One commemorates "Amos Fortune, who was born free in Africa, a slave in America,
he purchased liberty, professed Christianity, lived reputably, and died hopefully, Nov. 17, 1801.
Aet 91." The other is for "Violate, by sale the slave of Amos Fortune, by Marriage, his wife,
by her fidelity, his friend and solace. She died his widow, Sept. 1 3, 1 802. Aet 73." In Providence,
R.I., the stone for Patience Bordon, who died in 1811, aged 53, states: "A free woman of
Colour; and humble disciple of Jesus. She gave to the first Baptist Church in this town, of
which she was a member, 230 dollars, as a fund for the relief of the Poor of Colour of that
Church."
The great majority of 18th century New England gravestones was sold locally. Stones were
exported, however, from a few centers of carving, usually in coastal areas. Maine relied heavily
on the Boston area to supply its grave markers, as did the island of Martha's Vineyard. The
burying grounds of Cape Cod, where there were no workable quarries, are also filled with
imports from the Boston region and Plymouth County. Long island, for the same reason, imported
virtually all 18th century gravestones. Sailing vessels carried gravestones north to Nova Scotia,
south to the thriving ports of Charleston, S.C., and Savannah, Ga., and even on down to the
Caribbean islands. The earliest of many New England markers found in Nova Scotia can be
attributed to Nathaniel Emmes of Boston and is dated 1720. Some carvers had advertising
in mind when they added signatures to their export stones, unlike John Stevens Jr., who is
reported to have signed every marker he cut in his native Newport. Among gravestones standing
outside New England is a 1774 example which solicited future business by its signature:
"Abraham Codner, next the drawbridge, Boston." In Montego Bay's old burying ground on
the island of Jamaica, New England-made stones can be found intermingled with more elaborate
works imported from England. The point farthest from New England where export stones have
been located is on the island of Barbados. In the early 1 960s, in Bridgetown's Cathedral Cemetery,
there were still about a dozen New England-made markers laid flat, like paving stones, beside
the church. They were in generally poor condition.
Early New England gravestones are being lost at an alarming rate. Weathering, vandalism
and neglect are the chief causes of this ongoing destruction. The natural erosion from more
than 200 years of exposure to the elements is inevitable, although some stones can be protected,
treated chemically, mended or even taken indoors. The four major types of stone used by
early New England gravestone cutters deteriorate in distinctly different ways. Moisture seeps
into the crevices of slate and expands when it freezes, causing segments of the stone to
flake off. White marble granulates until the design disappears. Sandstone decays from within,
causing the stone to disintegrate. The granite-like schist is hardier and survives the rigors
of longtime weathering, but is of course vulnerable to intentional or accidental violence.
Vandalism is rampant It ranges from mindless youthful exuberance to sheer lack of responsibility
on the part of many caretakers who remove damaged stones or score them badly with mowing
machines. Sometimes even carelessly felled trees destroy stones. Theft is an ever-increasing
problem and has accounted for the loss of several important stones during the last decade.
continued
AGSW'85/6p5
Whatever the reason, the fact is that we stand in danger of losing valuable examples of our
nation's artistic heritage: carvings — many of them unique and irreplaceable — that comprise
the major body of creative sculpture from our Colonial period. Nowhere else in early American
design was the artist as free to create an object which represented his feelings, beliefs and
philosophy. In almost all other areas the first consideration was ultilitarian: houses, tools, utensils
and furniture were quite often beautiful, but it was in gravestone carving that the artist achieved
a truly dramatic force. In an extremely rigid society, the artists who carved our early New
England gravestones managed to convey an astonishing variety of pictorial images, not only
reflecting the attitudes of their time, but reaching beyond them in vision and originality.
WANTED!
Elizabeth McClave, of the Stephentown NY Historical Society, was browsing one day through
the book Victorian Cemetery Art by Edmund V. Gillon Jr., published by Dover in 1972. There
she found a photograph of a three-dimensional sculpture of a young girl seated, with praying
hands and a bible in her lap, from the Swan Point Cemetery, Providence Rl.The monument
was photographed in the cemetery in a glass case. She wrote to Swan Point Cemetery for
information on the case — its age, details of construction, and whether or not it could be
opened for cleaning. The reply from Swan Point contained some surprise information, as follows:
We are pleased to respond to your inquiries regarding our "Little Sarah". She has
been a much admired feature here at Swan Point Cemetery since 1866.
The picture that aroused your interest was of the original statue but it was stolen
in 1978 together with a copper-bound glass case. The case had a latched door
but no lock; neither was the case cemented to the marble base. The adhesive properties
of cement exposed to weather are limited so the objects were easily lifted off. We
would like very much to have the original statue but we were fortunate to have been
able to have an exact copy made from pictures and measurements. It was fabricated
in Carrara, Italy, and we now have it re-installed in a more protective courtyard near
our Chapel.
We have placed a commemorative monument at the original site explaining what
we had done and once again, we have our "Little Sarah" to be enjoyed by all.
I'm not sure if the protective case was conceived by the Cemetery or by the family
who commissioned the statue but it had been there for many years. It was always
known that any exposed marble will eventually deteriorate.
Any AGS member with information which could help locate this very lovely memorial could
contact Elizabeth McClave, Stephentown, NY 12168; or James P. Black, Vice President, Swan
Point Cemetery, P.O. Box 2446, 585 Blackstone Boulevard, Providence, Rl 02906, Telephone
(401)272-1314. -
reproduction "Little Sarah", Providence Rl, 1986.
"Little Sarah" as pictured in Gillon's Victorian Cemetery
Art, 1972.
AGS W'85/6 p 6
BOOK REVIEW
Barcelona Cemetery
FUNERAIRES
By Bernard Oudin (Paris: Societe Nouvelle des Editions du Chene, 1979)
Softbound, 8" x 8", 84 pages, 77 color plates, French text and captions,
review by Francis Y. Duval
'Funeraires' translates best as 'Memorials', and what a delightful book it is. The succinct text,
design concept, superb color photographs and reproductions of turn-of-the-century funerary
sculptures make it a 'must' reference publication. Its low price is a surprising plus, for this
is a quality book.
Author/photographer Oudin visited several large cemeteries, including those in Milan, Genoa,
Florence, Rome, Paris, London, Barcelona, Budapest, as well as lesser-known European cities.
Nearly all of the illustrated memorials date from "La Belle Epoque", the legendary era when
inspiration and craftsmanship were still manifested in the throes of the Industrial Age. Mr.
Oudin states that these types of memorials rate as major sculptural works to be appreciated
according to one's own artistic perceptions. The author also deplores the modern memorial
trends of functionalism, anonymity and utter lack of artistic integrity. The memorial norm since
then buttresses his statement. However this is only partly true, as some forceful, inspired markers
commissioned in ensuing decades can still be found in Swiss, German, Austrian and Swedish
cemeteries, and elsewhere.
Mr. Oudin's French text is short and to the point. It is beautifully written — poetic, non-convoluted,
and definitely non-pedantic — a breath of fresh air. The works pictured are impressive in
their scale or their inspiration, craftsmanship, or in a combination of these attributes. For instance,
one can see the resting place in Amiens of visionary novelist Jules Verne (d.1905) where
he is depicted as a muscular, heroic figure breaking free from the grave, right arm outstretched,
as if reaching for the unknown. Another example, from the Cimitero Monumentale in Milan,
offers a filmy-clad female figure adrift in dreams, floating peacefully on a bed of roses. A
close-up view of a statuary in the Verona Cemetery displays a certain unabashed eroticism,
and there is far more to behold in this remarkable little book.
A minor criticism: because the individual plates bear only numbers, one has to refer constantly
to the front of the book where their locations are listed. This bothersome organization was
obviously dictated for the sake of a crisp, uncluttered layout effect, a mere peccadillo in view
of the total results. Bravo to all concerned!
Although this book was available until December, it is now out-of-print, and is no longer
available even as a remainder. Beady-eyed AGS members who search through out-of-the-
way bookstores may still be lucky enough to find a few copies.
Francis Y. Duval is co-author witli Ivan B. Rigby of Early Gravestone Art in Photographs
(Dover, 1978) and a frequent contributer to tfie AGS Newsletter.
We have received notice of a new publication by Betty Willsher, titled Understanding Scottish
Graveyards, published by W & R Chambers Ltd., 43-45 Annandale St., Edinburgh, EH7 4AZ,
Scotland. (104 pages, 40 photographs, 36 line drawings, ISBN: 0 550 20482 2, original price:
£3.95) We hope to be able to include a review of this in the Spring issue of the Newsletter.
AGSW'85/6p 7
OUR MYSTERY CARVER PURSUED
by Theodore Chase and Laurel Gabel
A year ago, in the Winter 1984/85 issue of the Newsletter (Vol. 9, #1), we asked for help in
identifying a talented carver who worked in Middlesex and Worcester Counties in Massachusetts
between about 1760 and 1770. Help came from our fellow members of AGS! Daniel Hearn
discovered, and sent identifying photographs of the stone for Caleb Dana, Jr. (1769) in Wallingford,
Connecticut — literally a key stone in the solution of the mystery. Alice Bunton made rubbings
of it, and Dan and Jessie Farber photographed it in elegant detail. Thelma Fleishman helped
locate the probable source of the gray/green slate which our Mystery Carver sometimes used.
And Peter Benes loaned us his collection of photographs of the stones which he has attributed
to Nathan Hayward of Bridgewater, Masachusetts.
In our earlier article we suggested design similarities in the work of our Mystery Carver with
the carving styles of Nathan Hayward. As Peter Benes points out in The Masks of Orthodoxy,
Nathan Hayward developed, after his earlier geometric style, a design involving wings which
appear to sprout from the ears of his skulls. This design had further developed by 1759 into
one involving a face with wings, a design which was taken up by William Cushman of
Middleborough and by the Soules of Plympton (Fig. 1). We believe that the Newton, Massachusetts,
carver Ebenezer Howard, who moved briefly to Marlborough and then about 1771 to Rindge,
New Hampshire, was born in Bridgewater in 1734, the son of Timothy and Mary (Davis) Hayward.
This belief is based primarily on a Bridgewater genealogical history of good repute published
in 1840, which deschbed this Ebenezer as having "moved to Rindge, N.H." The names Hayward,
Haward and Howard, we learned, were used interchangeably in southeastern Massachusetts,
and all were pronounced Howard.
Ebenezer was 1 6 years old when his father died in 1 750. His uncle Josiah Hayward was appointed
Ebenezer's guardian to receive and manage the legacy his father had left him. Josiah was the
father of Nathan Hayward, the stonecutter. Nathan was 14 years older than Ebenezer, and we
believe that the latter may have learned to carve gravestones in his cousin's shop. Nathan's
face-with-wings design may even have been the inspiration for the beautiful and distinctive design
which Ebenezer developed in the early 1760s (Fig. 2).
The first stylistic group of Mystery Can/er stones appears over a widely scattered geographic
area in the years 1760-65. Every stone is different, but all are characterized by some consistent
lettering and /or design elements that link them together as the work of a single carver.
T ^' l t A ;^ /Is2e, \^\3 the letter "u" used for a "v".
(a) j ^ - -'
(b) The use of chisel marks, frequently at the hairline, on the edges of wings or at the bottom
border of the stone. KS''''^
(c) Almost all of the stones have cuneiform stippling in the tympanum background or as a
decorative addition in the border design. The more elaborate stones have an additional
design device in the tympanum such as crossed bones, an hourglass or a border in the
arch.
(d) A scalloped bib ruffle appears under the chin on all but a few of the stones.
(e) Most of the wings are tapered to end in a series of sharply pointed tips which we have
dubbed "spider wings".
(f) The different border styles illustrated below are used interchangeably (Fig. 3).
(g) The consistent use of "who died" instead of "he died" or "she died".
Fig. 1 Thomas Perkins, 1761, Bridgewater MA
(phono by Peter Benes)
Fig. 2 Capt. William Old, 1749, Brookfield HA
(probably carved 176i) (photo by Dan Farber)
continued
AGS W'85/6p8
The stones in this first group are carved on a distinctive gray/green laminated Cambridge slate
which appears to have come from the New/ton area where Howard lived, for outcroppings of
it may still be seen on the Newton campus of Boston College, opposite the old burying ground,
and at several other places in Newton not far from the homes of both Howard and his brother-
in-law Daniel Hastings.
Sometime between 1764 and 1766 a definite change occurs in the Mystery Carver stones. Bib
ruffles and background stippling are seen less frequently. The elegant spider wings give way
to a simpler wing style. The borders become more standardized, less elaborate, and their vine
leaves are flattened and broader. Whereas the earlier stones use "A" in Age or a small lower
case "a" in aged, the unexplained use of a large lower case "a" to begin the word "age" or
"aged" begins in 1765. The words "he died" or "she died", always beginning with a lower case
letter, replace the words "who died" seen earlier. The use of italics, especially for emphasis
or for the epitaph, becomes more common. The face also changes, becoming more egg-shaped,
with a long slender nose and expressively arched eyebrows over calmly staring eyes. The mouth
beconies a single crooked line, creating an appearance of placid bemusement. The stone for
Caleb Dana, Jr. in Wallingford, for which Ebenezer Howard was paid t1-16-6 is an example
of this later style (Fig. 4).
(ff\ ^
Fig. '3 Mystery Carver's side panels
Fig. 4 Caleb Dana Jr., 1769, Wallingford CT
(photo by Dan Farber)
One picture (and an alert AGS member) is worth a thousand words. No reference to the Caleb
Dana stone was found in the Barber Collection at the State Library in Hartfound, in the Wallingford
burial yard epitaphs or in any Wallingford cemetery inventories, probably because the "ana"
in the name Dana was missing where the stone was broken. But Daniel Hearn remembered
seeing it, and sent a photograph to prove it. It is our only probated stone and is an admirable
supplement to the body of evidence which we have collected indicating Ebenezer Howard as
our Mystery Carver. While marked changes took place in the development of his second style,
the essential elements of the earlier style and lettering peculiarities persisted, and there can
be little doubt that the same carver is responsible for approximately 100 stones which we have
attributed to Howard and which were carved between 1760 and 1770.
There is substantial evidence to corroborate the conclusion, based upon the Dana stone, that
Ebenezer Howard was the Mystery Carver. We suspect that he lived in Newton during most
of this period. The largest number of Mystery Carver stones are to be found in Newton, and
there are many others in neighboring towns such as Waltham, Watertown and Weston. Some
of the stones in places far removed from Newton may nevertheless be identified with Newton
through family relationships. The striking gray/green slate used in Mystery Carver stones found
in remote places is traceable to a source near Howard's workshop. Perhaps most significant
of all is the fact that in 1764 Ebenezer Howard married Mary Hastings, a daughter of Samuel
and Hepzibah Dana Hastings and sister of Newton carver, Daniel Hastings.
It seems clear that Ebenezer Howard and Daniel Hastings worked together for a time, and it
is likely that Hastings, who was born in 1749 and was therefore 15 years younger than Howard,
was influenced by his brother-in-law. The senior Caleb Dana died in April 1776, only nine days
after the death of his son, and the account of his executor shows a payment of £4 on December
15, 1770 to Ebenezer Howard for a tombstone and another payment of £0-15-8 on December
21 to Daniel Hastings for cutting the same. Similarities in the early work of Hastings with that
of Howard may readily be found, and there appear to be some stones begun, or perhaps even
completed, by Howard which Hastings later used or recut (Fig. 5).
continued
AGSW'85/6p9
But an air of mystery still lingers over our carver. Why did he leave Newton, where Daniel Hastings
subsequently developed such a flourishing business, and move to nearby Marlborough and then
to Rindge, New Hampshire? Why did this talented carver appear to have given up the trade?
And how is it that he and his entire family seemed to vanish after 1777? Strangely enough
the most baffling and intriguing part of the mystery which still remains involves the very stone
which led us to discover Ebenezer Howard in the first place, the stone of John Cheney (1770,
Warren, Massachusetts) and other stones like it found in Marlborough, Massachusetts (Fig. 6).
An entry among the papers in Cheney's estate indicating payment for a pair of gravestones
"cut at Marlboro" led us to find, through research at the Middlesex Registry of Deeds, that there
was indeed a stonecutter named Ebenezer Howard living in Marlborough at that time. But the
Cheney stone, and others like it in Marlborough for people who died in 1770, are quite unlike
Howard's earlier style, and may have been cut by another carver. Yet stones in this style cease
when Ebenezer Howard moved to Rindge. And the two stones which we found in Rindge which
might be attributed to Howard are more like the Cheney stone than any others in Rindge or
nearby towns (Fig. 7). Had Ebenezer Howard, the creative carver, simply developed another
style before moving from Marlborough to Rindge?
Daniel Hastings was only 21 years old in 1770. He soon developed a flourishing business which
supplied gravestones over a wide area into the nineteenth century. Was there another carver
bridged the gap between Howard and the mature work of Hastings? Indeed, did Hastings or
someone else have a branch shop in Marlborough, perhaps manned at one point by Howard?
Quarry marks on some of Hastings's stones suggest this possibility — DHM (Marlborough?)
and DHN (Newton?) on the back of some, and a stone in Grafton, Massachusetts (1775) crudely
inscribed "this for Marlbro."
Further, research remains to be done before the definitive article on Ebenezer Howard, our Mystery
Carver, can be written. We believe that such research will reveal that Howard and Hastings
were part of a larger network of carvers working in this area.
Fig. 6 John Cheney, 1770, Wuiren .'M
Fig. 5 Elizabeth Fessenden, 1776, Brighton HA
Fig. 7 Cape. Abel Places, 1/
RmiJgtr Sli
Theodore Chase and Laurel Gabel are President and Vice-President, respectively of AGS.
AGS W'85/6p 10
MEMBER NEWS
We hear from Peter McCarthy, who is jn the modern monument business in Pueblo, Colorado,
that he is spending his free time taking photographs of cemeteries in the San Luis Valley
of Colorado (South-Central Colorado). He writes: "These small graveyards have nothing like
what I saw when I visited New England for the 1983 AGS conference, but they are interesting
in their collections of small, indigenous and, to my eye, very idiosyncratic little Mexican-American
and Native American markers. There are hundreds of homemade markers and markers which
are very sentimental. I think they're interesting in that they illustrate a mixed-cultural effort
by extremely poor people to remember the dead. Many of them are made of relatively temporary
materials that tend to disappear over time so they're not very old, but I think they represent
a real, honest sentiment." We hope Mr. McCarthy will share his findings by sending an illustrated
article about these yards to the Newsletter, or to Markers.
We also have from him an article from the Pueblo Chieftain, November 23, 1985, about Marvin
Almont Memorials Inc., his family's business, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary with
a sale. The article quotes McCarthy as saying, "We don't very often have a bona fide sale,
like a Memorial Day sale, but we often have monuments marked down. We almost always
have a g.roup of inventory on sale." He explains that monument companies are able to purchase
granite at lower prices at certain times, and so it makes sense that they follow the normal
retailing practice of reducing their old inventory to make way for the new. Marvin Almont
memorials are made on a one-of-a-kind basis, but if you're looking for a deal on the basic
tombstone itself, getting it on sale can amount to a considerable savings. He goes on to say
that "we don't generally sell our products unless somebody needs them."
McCarthy is one of the AGS members representing the modern monument industry who has
taken an active part in Association activities. He and his wife, Kelly, have recently "talked
quite a lot about visiting Boston and New England this summer. . . I really hope it works out
for us to come. I think she would be interested in the conference tours, programs, etc., and
I would love to see more of New England. Kelly has never been to New England, and I think
it would be a good trip for us both." We hope they make it to Boston next June and that
other members in the modern industry will do the same.
Hilda Fife, 1983 recipient of the AGS Forbes Award, is stepping down after sixteen years
as Chair of the Newsletter Committee of the Maine Old Cemetery Association (MOCA). Eye
surgery and its problems, and a bad accident, prevented some of her usual activities in MOCA
matters last year. In the Winter 1985 issue of the MOCA Newsletter, she writes "MOCA took
charge of my retirement before I realized what was happening. I had plans for my approaching
freedom, but MOCA, it seems, had plans for it, too. And MOCA was stronger than I. I soon
found myself speaking and writing about Maine cemeteries — and starting the MOCA Newsletter.
Writing it has been a challenge and a pleasure (occasionally a headache) for sixteen years.
I am happy to leave these responsibilities to those who are younger and have fresh ideas
and energy. I have been blest indeed in this, my second career." The new editor of the MOCA
Newsletter is Isabel Coburn, Route 2, Box 14, New Harbor, ME 04554.
from the MOCA Newsletter, Vol. XVII M, Winter 1985
%^
Mozelle Hutchison and her daughter Gail Howard, both of Vienna, Missouri, have been combing
the back roads and brush patches in Maries County MO tracking down cemeteries and
developing a record of them. "It's a big job," Hutchison said. "We didn't realize just how big
until we were committed to it." The two began the project by chance as they were trying
to find the grave of an ancestor. At a cemetery, Howard looks at each tombstone closely
and reads aloud every readable inscription on the stone. A portable tape recorder picks up
Howard's voice and the spoken record is later transcribed to paper by Hutchison. They have
found that the using the tape recorder is much faster than the pen and notebook route. So
far, during their two summers of work, they estimate they have visited and made a record
of approximately 60 Maries County Cemeteries. When the job is complete, Hutchison and
Howard will have made a record of over 100 cemeteries, and still have missed a few family
graveyards and long-forgotten ones, they estimate. "What we hope to do, at the very least,
is to have a copy of this at the museum, the courthouse and the library." "You can tell a
lot about the people who live in each area by how they take care of their cemetery," Hutchison
said. Many cemeteries have signs asking for donations to help with upkeep, and many small
isolated cemeteries are much neater than would be expected. Some have been long forgotten
and give the appearance of not having been mowed for at least 20 years. In addition to their
written records, the two have also been experimenting with photography and are beginning
to keep a photographic archive of many of the older stones.
from the Maries County (Missouri) Gazette-Advisor, May 29, 1985
AGSW'85/6p 11
CONNECTICUT BRANCH 1986 TOURS
10 A.M. FREE BRING YOUR LUNCH
ALL WELCOME! JOIN US! LEADERS
APRIL 19th STRATFORD ANNE WILLIAMS
SUE KELLY
1-95 to Stratford, exit 32, W. Broad Street, signs to Shakespeare Theatre. U turn onto Main
Street, 3rd drive into Raymond Baldwin Center (the library), cemetery behind.
MAY 17th EAST HADLYME JAMES LEATHERBEE
Route 82, Hadlyme Congregational Church. 1 mile north of Hadlyme Center, 4 miles south
of East Haddam Center.
JUNE 21st ELLINGTON JAMES SLA YTER
Ellington, Main Street.
JULY 19th CHESHIRE DANIEL HEARN
Behind Cheshire Academy.
AUGUST 16th MIDDLETOWN ALISON JOHNSON
Route 66, Indian Hill Cemetery, Washington (Route-66) and Vine Street. Park in cemetery.
SEPTEMBER 20th PLAINFIELD FRED FREDETTE
Plainfield, Cemetery Road.
OCTOBER 18th WATERTOWN PAT MILLER
Route 63, Main Street, in Town, park in the rear of the cemetery.
Connecticut Branch News. Pat Miller of Sharon CT organized a series of seven tours in different
locations, April through October, 1985. In addition, she was interviewed for a Channel 3 TV
spot, and was seen in a picture and article in the Hartford Courant. Her enthusiasm is infectious,
and the all-day outings have averaged 35 people. Laurel Gabel of Rochester NY gets the
medal for travelling farther than anyone else to attend these sessions.
The visit to the Brooklyn CT graveyard on Route 169 on September 21 resulted in a real
"find" for the group. We were led that day by Fred Fredette of Scotland CT. While we looked
at the tablestone of the famous Revolutionary War hero Israel Putnam, one of our group knelt
down and peered under the stone to see if anything was written on the underside. To his
(and everyone else's) surprise, there was a lot written underneath! The inscription told us
that the replacement stone was carved in 1942 of Danby marble by the John Stevens Shop,
Newport Rl. Furthermore, it went on to tell us that Israel Putnam's original stone, by Josiah
Manning was removed to the State Capital in Hartford. This saved us a lot of research, and
we discovered that it pays to be inquisitive! That same day the group visited the Malbone
Cemetery in Brooklyn, as well as Canterbury and Plainfield. Other 1985 tour leaders and their
centers of interest were Jonathan Twiss, East Haddam; Daniel Hearn, Newton; Pat Miller,
Cornwall; Talcott and Lorraine Clapp, South Windsor; Jim Slater, Mansfield Center; and Jim
Halpin, Old Saybrook.
The Connecticut Branch welcomes any and all to the Saturday tours. Direct inquiries (enclose
a stamped self-addressed envelope) to: Pat Miller, P.O. Box 1151, Sharon CT, 06069.
from Janet Aronson, Coventry CT.
BUMPER STICKER BUDDIES
Pat Miller of Sharon CT, writes that having the AGS bumper sticker "I brake for old graveyards"
on her car has led to some interesting encounters. On one occasion in a state park in Connecticut,
she found a woman waiting at her car to meet her, because the woman's mother was interested
in gravestones. 'Tve had knocks on motel room doors by other members of the group, which
made for a pleasant evening instead of the expected lonely night with TV. I've been pulled
over on the road to be asked about the Association and how to get more information. My
son thought he spotted my car on the side of the road. When he pulled over himself, he
realized the licence was from another state. He couldn't find a graveyard, or anyone to speak
to, so we are both still wondering who from Vermont was in Massachusetts driving the twin
to my Connecticut car and belonging to AGS!" AGS bumper stickers are available from Rosalee
Oakley, 46 Plymouth Road, Needham, MA 021 92, for $1 .50 ($1 .35 for members).
%^
Any member interested in obtaining an AGS membership list for your state, particularly if you
are interested in starting a state or local gravestone studies group, should contact Rosalee
Oakley, Executive Director, 46 Plymouth Road, Needham, Ma 02192.
AGS W'85/6p 12
An Award of Merit for achievements in local history was
presented to AGS member Phil Kallas by the State
Historical Society of Wisconsin during the annual
convention of the Wisconsin Council for Local History
in Madison, October 1985. Kallas received the award for
his role as editor of the Wisconsin State Old Cemetery
Society newsletter, and for developing an exceptional
external publications program for the Portage County
Historical Society. He was nominated for the award by
members of both organizations.
Kallas has served on the board of directors of the Portage
County Historical Society for nearly 10 years and is a
life member of the Wisconsin State Old Cemetery Society.
As editor of the cemetery society's newsletter "Inscrip-
tions," and as a member of the board of directors, he
is recognized as a leading force in encouraging
preservation of the state's cemeteries and informing the
public about the importance of cemeteries as a part of
Wisconsin's cultural heritage.
Awards of Merit in local history are presented annually
by the State Historical Society to individuals or local
societies that have made outstanding contributions to the
collection, preservation and dissemination of Wisconsin
history. Individuals are also selected on the basis of their
participation and leadership in the activities of local
historical societies, especially contributions spanning a
period of years.
y
Phil KaUas
Jessie Lie Farber, 1985 recipient of the AGS Forbes Award, writes tliat "in 1975 I bought,
for 50, an old photograph at a sale of items the Mount Hoiyoke College art library had no
use for. It was of an old graveyard in an unknown foreign city. A dark complexioned boy
in the forground of the photo sits surrounded by handsome gravemarkers. In the background
is a body of water and a city with a mosque and minarettes. The photograph has been lying
around the house, unidentified until recently, when Ann Parker and Avon Neal saw it and
guessed that the city is Istanbul. A check with several friends who know Istanbul confirmed
this guess at the time that Dan and I were making reservations for a December trip to Barcelona.
Dan said he thought we ought to combine the trip to Spain with one to Istanbul "as long
as we're in the neighborhood," and this we were able to arrange. Even though December
is Istanbul's rainy season, we are taking photographic equipment and high hopes of making
photographs of the interesting stones. We will return in early January." AGS board members
had an opportunity to see some of Jessie's wonderful rubbings from Istanbul at the January
board meeting in Worcester. Hopefully, more members will be able to see them soon.
the French caption translates as "Turkish cewetery at Eyijp and
view of the Golden Born"
Only superstition? Blanche Linden-Ward of Boston found an old New England belief recorded
in an 1 824 issue of the Boston Medical Intelligencer (V. II #33, p. 1 33): "Whoever reads epitaphs,
loses his memory."
AGS\N'85/6p 13
Update on the, "Gravestones for Sale" controversy, reported in the Fall 1985 issue of the
Newsletter: Fred Fredette of Scotland CT reports that as a result of the Hartford Courant
syndicated article of last July, he has responded to more than 70 letters, and they continue
to arrive. He writes:
A great deal of information about isolated burial ground in Connecticut has been
provided in some of the letters. One of the great things the publicity has caused
is the return of several very important gravestones which have been missing for
at least nine years. In all cases the stones were left off at the entrance of various
burial grounds at night; most likely by more than one person. Some of the stones
are quite large and too heavy for one individual to handle. Among the returned stones
are two unique Manning examples; one with an almost full figure of a man wearing
a long frock with buttons all the way down the center. His elbows are bent and
both hands are well executed, the other was the marker for three Pember family
children. Three open coffins with a little face peering out from each were carved
across the face of the stone (illustrated in Allan I. Ludwig's Graven Images, plate
153a, p. 279). Every returned stone is in pristine condition without a trace of lichen.
They were obviously well cared for during their absence from the cemetery.
'1^^'wwfm^m^'
mm
F»cfc>8 mo«Ji»Ti threat! The Pkins CemetM^ iji Frafsklin, Camu. has. £«nra vtasm to thtcwau
A supportive article titled "Colonial Tombstones, After Weathering the Centuries, Succumb
to Thieves" by James Brooke, appeared in a November issue of the New York Times, and
later in many papers across the United States. AGS members Alfred Fredette, Frank Matero
and Ted Chase are all quoted in the article on the topic of gravestone theft. "We are a collecting
society — theft for sale is much more widespread than damage by Hallowe'en vandals," said
Fredette, a retired school teacher who lives in the town of Scotland CT and devotes much
of his time to documenting disappearing tombstones. "Vandalism and neglect used to be the
main problems. Now the most serious threat is theft," said Frank Matero, an assistant professor
of architecture at Columbia University, For the last five years, Matero has headed a Columbia
team researching gravestone restoration techniques in colonial cemeteries of Boston, New
York City and Hartford. The article goes on to mention AGS: "The Association for Gravestone
Studies, a nonprofit group dedicated to preserving ancient tombstones, is working to stigmatize
ownership of gravestones." "'Black market' is an appropriate term for it," said Theodore Chase,
a retired Boston lawyer who is president of the 600-member association. "It is almost impossible
to obtain good title on a gravestone. If you see one for sale, most likely it is stolen." Roger
Ricco, former owner of a Manhattan gallery where the Constantine Baker stone was found
for sale (see AGS Newsletter V. 7 #4, Fall 1983, p. 13), told the reporter: "Four years ago
[gravestone sales in art galleries were] much more common. The work the preservation groups
are doing is very valuable. We shouldn't be dealing with gravestones because it encourages
theft." Recently in Manhattan, at the Fall Antiques Show, only 1 of the 106 dealers had a
gravestone for sale, according to Robert Bishop, director of the Museum of American Folk
Art in New York. Bishop said he talked with the dealer and was satisfied that the stone had
been legally acquired. "I don't see gravestones in the market very often anymore," he said.
"Every dealer who knows the field knows it can be confiscated."
Once in a while, Fredette said, stones are returned. Last summer, four tombstones reappeared
in the Plains Cemetery in Franklin, Connecticut. "They knew what to select,"Fredette said
of whoever had stolen the 18th Century stones found one summer morning leaning against
the cemetery's white picket fence. "These are very, very unusual stones."
from the New York Times, November 17, 1985, and the Chicago Tribune, December 5, 1985,
sent by Robert Van Benthuysen, West Long Branch NJ, and Jim Jewell, Peru IL
AGSW'85/6p 14
Michael Cornish, AGS board member and 1986 Conference Committee Chair, wrote to the
editor of the Maine Antiques Digest commending that publication for its coverage of the
"Gravestones for Sale" controversy. His letter was published in the January 1986 issue.
CHAVfcSTONKS
Dear Mr. I'L-niiin^ioii.
I want to commend your
publication for iis rt-sponsiblc
action in providing u forum for
the recent controversy over the
\\\ suygesiion thill early grave-
stoncN arc colteclible examples
of American folk art in the
Knopf guidebook.
As one of the directors of the
Association of Gravestone
Studies and its archivist for five
years, and as an avid student ol
the Held. I am very aware thai
the stealing of early gravestones
from New Tngland burying
grounds is neither as bi/iirrcas
It sounds, nor is it a rare
occurrence. My observations
indicate that attrition from
theft is, in fact, enormous,
especially in rural Connecticut.
That New York galleries ha\e
been known to offer fragments
of Connecticut sandstone
monuments embellished with
cherubs or soul effigies for sale
confirms their apparent value
to collrctors in an area greatly
short of supply, namely,
colonial-period sculpture. The
rest of the stolen m.irkers
probably go directly into their
new homes as quirky decor (as
coffee tables'^ hearthstones? 1
really can't imagine!).
I here is really no reasonable
debate on the subject. As has
been pointed oui. it is
practically inipossihleto legally
own these artifacts, I he AC»S
has been concerned with this
problem for years, and our
president. I hcodore Chase, has
drafted model legislation to
protect gravestones, Another
member. Alfred Fredettc, was
instrumental in bringmg a bill to
the Connecticut legislature. It is
truly scandalous that these
sacred carvings, already the
victims of escalating vandalism,
municipal neglect, pollution,
and natural weathering, should
suffer (he removal from their
gravesiics by unscrupulous
Americana-hounds.
The eighth annual AGS
meeting and conference will be
held June 27-29. 1986. at Pine
ManorCollcgcinChesinut Mill
(Hrookline). Massachusetts.
June 27 will feature walking
tours of area grasevards and
cemeteries including Millon,
.\ewton. LcAtngion. Koxbury.
Charlcsiown. and I'orcsi flilli
in Jamaica Plain, and Mount
Auburn in Cambridge On June
28. we offer a bus lour to the
important early burying
grounds on the Freedom Trail
m Boston. Four sessions of
speakers will be scheduled over
the weekend (latk proposals arc
invited) 1 he conference in c»»-
spoiisotcd b> the llo^tonian
Society.
The fees have not yet been
established, owing lo our costs
not yei being confirmed by the
college. Hased on previouit
years and verbal understanding
with Pine Manor's conference
office. I expect the registration
fee to be about S25.the bus lour
about SIS. ss'ilh accommoda-
tions and meals (if needed)
available separately
Complete registration
informalion. when reads. wiU
he .iv.iilable Iroin Pal Miller.
Conference Regislrar. P.O.
Box 1 151. Sharon. Conncciicut
0(>069.
Michael Cornish
Allsion. Massachusetts
M.iiiu- .Vnliqui- Dim-st, |.\tiu.iry. l«fto .^-A
OOPS! The mailing address of Don Newman
of Cincinnati was left out of the last issue of
the Newsletter. Anyone having any thoughts
on the history or origin of the elaborate "body
stone" type gravestones which he found in
Adams County, Ohio, can write to him at 5135
Kirby Road, Cincinatti, Ohio, 45223. (see AGS
Newsletter V. 9 #4 p. 15)
Michael Rea, publisher of Early American Stone Sculpture Found in the Burying Grounds
of New England by Avon Neal and Ann Parker, has made a generous gift to AGS of 120
copies of this elegant volume published in 1981. The book is coffee table size and contains
text, photographs and reproductions of rubbings illustrating the work of 42 New England carvers.
Each copy is boxed and carries an original rubbing using the authors' matchless technique.
The volume originally sold at retail for $325 per copy. The AGS Board is considering how
best to make use of this magnificent gift and has appointed a committee to consider the matter
and report at its April meeting. Among the suggestions which have been made are these:
— that a limited number be given to museums and university libraries
— that several copies be raffled at our June conference
— that copies be given to individuals making contributions to AGS in excess of a stipulated
amount
— that the book be sold to members at a price considerably less than the original list
price.
This is a great event for AGS and we want to make the most of it!
AGSW'85/6p 15
CAN YOU HELP?
Members who attended the Storrs CT Conference in 1981 will certainly remember our colorful
English member, Ben J. Lloyd. Mr. Lloyd is seeking accommodations for several days prior
to the conference with an AGS member. He will gladly reciprocate at his U.K. home. Please
get in touch with Michael Cornish, P.O. Box 2089, Jamaica Plain, Ma 02130-0035.
In the process of investigating rural cemeteries in southern New Jersey, Sue Samuelson,
American Studies, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08903 encountered many plots of
crushed green glass, used as a replacement for grass that cannot be supported in the sandy
soil without intensive care. Occasionally, crushed rock or indoor-outdoor carpeting will be
used as a similar grave covering. She would appreciate hearing from any researcher who
has encountered similar practices elsewhere in the United States, particularly in areas noted
for poor soil and/or glass factories.
Greetings to all AGS members who are also rose lovers. Clair Martin, Head Gardener of the
Botanic Gardens which surround the Huntington Library and Art Gallery (1151 Oxford Road,
San Marino, CA 91108), is searching for Old Roses Lost to the Trade. Many are found in
old cemeteries.
If you too are interested in forgotten plants, especially roses, will you please drop a note,
no matter how far away from the Huntington area you may be? Of course, the roses are
not required to be in a cemetery, but many are. Some people did plant a favQri1;e rose on
a family plot. News of an Old Rose growing in your own garden, along a road, or in a friend's
garden, is just as welcome.
sent by Mary Frances Stewart, Sacramento CA
1986 CONFERENCE — BOSTON
June 27-29, 1986, Pine Hill College, Chestnut Hill (Brookline), Massachusetts,
Chair: Michael Cornish, P.O.Box 2089, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130-0035
Pre-Conference Registrar: Geraldine Hungerford, Hilldale Road, Bethany, CT 06525
At-Conference Registration & Reception: Patricia Miller, P.O. Box 1151, Sharon, CT 06069
Reception & Hospitality Committee: Jonathan Twiss, Harriet Ryan, Jack & Claire Collins, Jerry
& Selma Trauber
Exhibits Coordinator: Alfred Fredette
Fitchburg & Worcester Publicity: Eloise West
The following "mini-tour" guides are confirmed:
Newton — Thelma Fleishman
Milton — Vincent Luti
Roxbury — Michael Cornish
Forest Hills, Jamaica Plain — Barbara Rotundo
Mount Auburn, Cambridge — Barbara Rotundo
Lexington — Theodore Chase & Laurel Gabel
AGS Archives — Elizabeth Rich
Boston bus-tour guides confirmed:
Malcolm Nelson
Diana George
(other guides will soon be added)
Approximately eight formal presentations are confirmed including:
Warren Broderick, Ellen Lipsey (Boston Historic Burying Ground Project), James Slater, Ben
Lloyd, Darrell Norris, Ralph Tucker, Elizabeth McClave, and others soon-to-be confirmed.
The Bostonian Society, our co-sponsor, has arranged a gallery in Boston's Old State House
for a month-long exhibit of gravestone art.
Several after-session informal slide shows are promised.
AGSW'85/6p 16
HELP WITH CONFERENCE PUBLICITY IS
DESPERATELY NEEDED! Contact Michael
Cornish, P.O. Box 2089, Jamaica Plain, MA
02130-0035.
CONFERENCES
The New England American Studies Association will hold its spring 1986 conference, "Memory
and Memorials in American Culture," on April 18 and 19 at the University of Massachusetts-
Boston (a co-sponsor) and the John F. Kennedy Library. We request proposals for papers
considering aspects of how the past is remembered and commemorated by individuals,
communities, states, regions, and the nation, with focus of oral history, autobiography, psychology
and mnemonics, ethnic consciousness, folklore, public history, monument building,
historiography, and related subjects. Paper proposals of a page or two in length should
summarize the thesis of a paper that can be delivered in a standard twenty-minute portion
of a session. If paper proposals are accepted by the NEASA Council and assigned to a
thematically coordinated session, a finished paper of seven to ten pages (not including footnotes
and visuals) should be ready for submission to the session chair and commentators by March
1, 1985. Send paper proposals and brief vita or cover letter to: Dr. Blanche Linden-Ward,
President of the NEASA, Program in American Culture, Emerson College, 100 Beacon Street,
Boston, Ma 02116 no later than February 15, 1986. Requests for information about NEASA
membership, the "Memory and Memorials" conference, or other NEASA activities may be sent
to the same address.
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
The old South Burying Ground in Newton MA is the cemetery that time passed by. Practically
no one has visited Newton's third oldest cemetery — an anachronism at the top of a hill
surrounded by modern-day office buildings and businesses — for several decades. The
exceptions are Richard Metro, who cares for the grounds as city parks supervisor, and Carleton
Merrill, Newton's veterans services director, who places flags at the graves of Revolutionary
War and Civil War veterans on Memorial Day. "This place is just a forgotten memory," said
Metro, a decorated Vietnam veteran. "In 11 years I haven't had a request from descendants
to unlock the gate." Merrill said that in the last quarter-century when the cemetery has been
opened for Memorial Day, "nobody has visited or put flowers at any grave." South Burying
Ground was built in 1803. The once-sylvan knoll, which in the early 19th century overlooked
marshes and farmland, was probably selected as a cemetery site because it rose above the
wetlands, according to Thelma Fleishman, a Newton Historical Society volunteer. (AGS members
may have an opportunity to visit during the June 1 986 AGS conference when Thelma Fleishman
will be a "mini-tour" guide at Newton.)
from the Boston Globe, January 12, 1986
In the town of Huntington NY there are seventy historic cemeteries. To call attention to these
treasures, the Huntington Historical Society presented an exhibition of photographs, rubbings,
and gravestones at its Trade School Gallery, 209 Main St., across from the town's oldest cemetery,
the Old Burying Ground. The exhibit, "Fragile Treasures": Huntington Gravestones, in co-
operation with the Town Historian's Office, ran from January 26 to February 23, 1986. The
photographs were the work of Harvey Weber, noted author and photographer, best known
as Newsday's columnist and photographic editor. Mr. Weber has long had an interest in
Huntington cemeteries, and his photographs, many taken years ago, record elements now
destroyed. Rubbings of some stones have been made by Madeline Weber and Mary Anne
Mrozinski, in many cases illuminating subtleties not visible through other media. Also on display
were nine gravestones from the Old Burying Ground, removed by the Town to protect them
from vandalism (replicas will be made and placed at the graves), including the work of John
Zuricher, Phineas Hill, John Bull, and the Stevens family. The Society's own collection provided
the account books of J.F. Lockwood, noted Huntington stonecutter, who succeeded his father-
in-law Phineas Hill in the profession. The books record the work done, the prices charged,
and drawings of the actual stones executed.
AGSW'85/6p 17
In 1984, the Polish Genealogical Society of Connecticut Inc. embarked on a massive project
to record the gravestone inscriptions of all persons buried in Polish cemeteries in the State
of Connecticut and the four counties of Western Massachusetts. The purpose of this project
is to create a central file of family history information for those researching Polish roots in
the area. Printed sources have not been adequate to meet the needs of those researching
ethnic roots in the region. The number of cemeteries includes approximately thirty, of which
two thirds have been recorded. The second phase of the project will record Polish burials
in Catholic cemeteries in communities where there was no Polish cemetery. The Society reports
that they have also recorded a small number of Russian Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic
Eastern-rite cemeteries.
The recording is done by volunteers, nearly all of whom are members of their Society. Anyone
wishing to help complete the remaining cemeteries, located principally in Fairfield and New
London Counties in Connecticut and Franklin County in Massachusetts, is asked to contact
Jonathan D. Shea, 8 Lyie Road, New Britain, CT 06053. They hope to expand the project
to the remaining New England states eventually, as there are approximately twenty additional
cemeteries, mostly in Eastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island, with approximately 5 in all
of Northern New England.
We have received a press release from the Township of Randolph, New Jersey, which states
that on June 1, 1985, their Landmarks Committee dedicated the Walnut Grove Baptist Cemetery
as an historic memorial park. The ceremony was significant because it marked the acquisition
by Randolph Township of an abandoned and forgotten cemetery which dates back to the
late 1700s. The acquisition became possible because of new legislation that has recently passed
into law. Previous State law and regulations made it very difficult for municipalities to take
control of abandoned cemeteries for maintenance and preservation purposes. Randolph brought
this problem to the attention of Assemblyman Arthur Albohn, who together with others introduced
A-1109, a bill which simplified the procedure by which a municipality could acquire abandoned
cemeteries for preservation and maintenance purposes. The legislation applies only to
abandoned cemeteries, and future burials would be prohibited.
Vandalism discovered at a South River NJ cemetery was described as "satanic" by Middlesex
County authorities. Nearly 100 headstones were overturned and a small bonfire was started
in the Washington Monumental Cemetery. "This was a ritual type of thing," said Paul Hargrave,
vice president of the cemetery association, who noted that the vandals took memorial items
that had been placed near the graves and laid them in the form of a star. Slightly more than
half of the headstones were in the new section of the cemetery.
from the Star-Ledger, November 27, 1985, submitted by Robert Van Benthuysen, West Long
Branch NJ
from an old issue of The New Yorker, contributed by
Bert Hubbard, Gibbsboro, NJ.
AGSW'85/6p 18
GRAVEN IMAGES AND INDEXES:
A NEW SERIES FROM CLEARWATER PUBLISHING COMPANY
The gravestones of the early settlements of North America are an endangered species, as
all AGS members know. These primary documents in stone contain much social and cultural
information about American society which is daily being lost as the stones disappear. In a
hundred years or so most of them will be gone.
To preserve this material historical record of our heritage, Clearwater Publishing Company
is beginning microfiche editions of gravestone photo-collections of the priority culture areas
of America. These collections, which are a normative record of the early gravestones of selected
areas, will be computer indexed. Thus the gravestones can be accessed for name, death
date, cemetery, area, age, sex, type of design, lettering, size, shape, language used, ethnic
group, noteworthy attributes, etc.
These gravestone data bases are useful for many interests and disciplines — genealogists,
historians, anthropologists and archaeologists, geographers, sociologists, art historians,
American Studies scholars, and others. These photo-archives can be used as basic reference
material, for comparison with other forms of material culture, for regional comparative studies,
to test theories and hypotheses.
Clearwater Publishing Company is a major microforms publisher. Graven Images And Indexes
will join a distinguished list of visual materials, such as the Trade Catalogs Collection of the
Winterthur Museum, the Royal Collection of Drawings and Watercolors, Card Catalogs of the
Harvard University Fine Arts Library and of the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Art,
Sixteenth to Twentieth Century Emblem Books, and much more.
The early gravestones of Long Island will be the first collection of the series and will be available
in Summer 1 986. Following will be Western Connecticut and additional portions of New England
and New York (New Netherlands) until the Northeast is covered. Other culture areas are in
process, for example, the Gold Rush area of California by Mary Ellen Jones of the Berkeley
Bancroft Library. Those with photo collections of their area's gravestones are urged to contact
Series Editor Gaynell Stone, Anthropology Department, State University of New York at Stony
Brook, Stony Brook, NY 11794, or call 516-929-8725 for details on royalties paid, requirements,
etc. A portion of the royalties from the Series will accrue to the Association for Gravestone
Studies to further support its activities on behalf of America's markers and memorials.
A cemetery mapping and photography project is underway in Portsmouth NH. Neil Cote wrote
in an article in the November 23, 1985 issue of the Portsmouth Herald: "A city that prides
itself on its colonial heritage should maintain its largest collection of relics. For that reason
a small group of enthusiasts is compiling records of Portsmouth's history-rich cemeteries.
Louise Tallman, a Rye woman who is president of the private non-profit group New Hampshire
Old Graveyard Association, is mapping Portsmouth's pre-1800 cemeteries while a University
of New Hampshire English professor, David Watters, is photographing the tombstones, many
of which show the effects of time, the elements and vandalism. Tallman and Watters (both
AGS members) hope that many of the damaged tombstones can be repaired, and the city's
public works department plans to lend assistance. Tallman credits city workers for
conscientiously maintaining cemetery grounds — that wasn't always the case — and says
she'll welcome their efforts when it comes time for straightening out monuments leaning at
45-degree angles and mending broken slabs with epoxy. Repairing gravestones is a tricky
process, Talman says, adding that she hopes the city can improve 60 sites over a six year
period. She and Watters will recommend which monuments are priority items."
sent by David Watters, Durham NH. To correspond with the New Hampshire old Graveyard
Association, write Mr. Carleton R. Vance, Corresponding Secretary, NHOGA, 445 Greeley St.,
Manchester, NH 03102.
AGSW'85/6p 19
uaiiansMBN
01^ ON l!iuj8<j
a I V d
3ovisod s n
•sao iijoyd NON
6091-0 'SSB^ 'jaiseoio/w
'safpn^s 9UO)saAeio joj uojieioossv
IN PRAISE OF EPITAPHS
An interesting article in praise of epitaplns was found in an old issue of the Boston Herald,
May 27, 1935, by Gwen Trask of Needham MA. "Of the quaint and curious epitaphs which
abound in the cemeteries of both Old and New England everybody has heard and some of
these many have memorized merely for diversion. Why does not somebody set about collecting
epitaphs which are so beautiful that once learned they never can be forgotten? Some years
ago there passed away in Pittsburgh an astronomer whom all the city respected. His wife
for years had been his fellow-worker; many a night they had explored the heavens together.
They now lie together beneath a stone on which is carved by their direction a line they composed
for that use. One reads the names of John Brashear and his wife and then: 'We'd have loved
the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night'. . . One thinks of the sheer beauty of the one
line of the Brashears and wonders why so much art is expended on the monuments and
so little on the epitaphs."
"Art Scholar Laments Demise of the Interesting Epitaph" is the title of an article which appeared
in the Fort Wayne, Indiana, News-Sentinel, September 13,-1985. Gerald Boyce, professor of
art at Indiana Central University, Indianapolis, says modern burial grounds "are quickly becoming
deserts of verbal and visual banality. Abysmal tombstone designs we see today tend to insult
the lives of those being remembered-" Cemeteries have evolved into what Boyce calls "a
grand landscape with no uniqueness; no personality. A kind of Disneyland." Much of what
Boyce has found during 14 years of cemetery hunting was recently displayed in an exhibit
at Indiana Central University, the DePauw University Art Center in Greencastle IN and Earlham
College in Richmond IN.
contributed byJim Jewell, Peru IL
The AGS Newsletter Is published quarterly as a service to members of The Association for Gravestone Studies.
The membership year begins on the date dues are received and ends one year from that date. A one-year membership
entitles the members to four Issues of the Newsletter and to participation In the AGS conference in the year
membership Is current. Send membership fees (Individual/Institutional, $15; Family, $25; contributing, $25) to AGS
Executive Secretary Rosalee Oakley, 46 Plymouth Rd., Needham, MA 02192. Back issues of the Newsletter are
available for $3.00 per Issue from Rosalee Oakley. The goal of the Newsletter Is to present timely Information
about projects, literature, and research concerning gravestones, and about the activities of the Association for
Gravestone Studies. It is produced by Deborah Trask, who welcomes suggestions and short contributions from
readers. The Newsletter is not Intended to serve as a journal. Journal articles should be sent to David Watters,
editor of Markers, the Journal of The Association for Gravestone Studies. Dept. of English of New Hampshire,
Durham, NH 03824, Address Newsletter contributions to Deborah Trask, editor, The Nova Scotia Museum, 1747
Summer St., Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 3A6, Canada. Order Markers, the Journal of the Association for Gravestone
Studies (Vol. 1, $15; vol. 2, $12.50; Vol. 3, $10.25) from Rosalee Oakley Send contributions to the AGS Archives
to Elizabeth Rich, Archivist, 43 Rybury Hlllway, Needham, MA 02192. Address other correspondence and orders
to Rosalee Oakley. Mail addressed to AGS c/o The American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, MA 01609, or to
Rosalee Oakley, will be forwarded to the appropriate AGS office.
^
NEWSLETTER
OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES
DEBORAH TRASK, ED.
VOLUME 10 NUMBER 2 SPRING 1986
ISSN: 0146-5783
CONTENTS
The Story Behind a Masterpiece 1
James Stancliff — in Yorkshire, England 2
by Sherry Stancliff
WANTED! 4
MEMBER NEWS 5
EXHIBITS 7
CONFERENCES 8
BOOKS 9
Betty Wilsher's Understanding Scottish Graveyards, and
How to Record Scottish Graveyards
NEWSPAPER NOTES FROM HERE AND THERE 11
PRESERVATION PROBLEMS 16
Important Archives Acquisition 18
A Wordless, Anonymous Memorial The story
behind a masterpiece
by Joseph Gallagher
The Adams Memorial, as illustrated in Famous and
Curious Cemeteries by John Francis Marion (Crown:
1977. p. 80) photo by Jack E. Boucher.
A century ago, across Lafayette Square fronn the White House, a Washington celebrity died
by her own hand, and a masterpiece of sculpture found its occasion. Marian Hooper Adams
was Washington's leading hostess of the day and one of the first American women to take
a serious interest in photography. She was 42 years old.
Marian, whose nickname was Clover, and her husband, Henry Brooks Adams, were natives
of Boston and had been married 13 years. They had met in England, just after the Civil War,
where Henry Adams had been serving as a private secretary to his father, Charles Francis
Adams, whom Lincoln had appointed minister to England in 1861. (Henry Adams' grandfather
was John Quincy Adams, and his great-grandparents, Abigail and John Adams.) Depressed
by the death of her own father, Marian Adams swallowed potassium cyanide while Henry
was paying an emergency Sunday visit to his dentist; the chemical was available in her darkroom.
The capital was stunned by the news, which was first reported as paralysis of the heart. Her
salon on Lafayette Square was the place to be invited. Years earlier in Boston, William and
Henry James had noted the intellectual grace of the witty and sharp-tongued woman, whom
Henry James judged a "perfect Voltaire in petticoats." Her death devastated her 47-year old
husband, a journalist, novelist and historian; he never remarried.
continued
Marian Hooper Adams was buried in Washington's Rock Creek Cemetery (near the 5,000
block of North. Capital Street), and in 1888 Henry Adams turned to a friend, Augustus Saint-
Gaudens, for help in designing a memorial for her grave. Saint-Gaudens, who was born in
Dublin in 1848 and who worked in a studio on West 36th Street in New York, by early 1891
completed what many consider his masterpiece; the memorial, a bronze statue of a draped
and cowled figure seated on a rock and leaning against a highly polished granite backdrop.
The setting, which includes a semi-circular granite seat opposite the statue, was designed
by another celebrated friend, Stanford White.
There is about the memorial an air of mystery, emphasized by the cowled face. To begin
with, it is hidden within a circle of shrubs and holly trees. But most remarkably, the memorial
is wordless: no name, no date, no epitaph — not even the sculptor's identity. Thus there is
no indication that Henry Adams himself was buried there as well, in 1918.
Henry Adams had very definite ideas about what he wanted the statue to represent, but not
at first. The year after his wife's death, while still mulling over the matter of a monument,
he paid an extended visit to Japan, where he spent long hours studying Buddhist statues.
He grew convinced that art should pursue beauty in the way that the Buddha seeks nirvana
— by letting the self be absorbed into the universal and the infinite, by anonymity, by the
extinction of the ego and its ceaseless spasms. To help Saint-Gaudens in his work, Adams
sent him photographs of various Buddhas, asking the artist to fuse in the statue the art and
thoughts of both East and West. In his own notes the sculptor wrote: "Buddha. Mental repose.
Calm reflection in contrast with violence of nature." Wanting the whole effect to be universal
and architecturally sexless, Adams instructed Stanford White that the setting should have
"nothing to say." The architect, however, resisted; he was permitted to design a small classical
cornice above the backdrop.
For all his words about peace and surrender, Henry Adams remained a grieving man, and
the message of the statue remained for him only an ideal and a hope. This was the man
who said: "I always expected the worst, and it was always worse than I expected." He also
said: "I lack nothing but what I want. I have no complaints except the universe." So perhaps
the popular name for the statue, "Grief" is not entirely off the mark.
from The New York Times, December 1, 1985 contributed
by Jessie Lie Farber.
JAMES STANCLIFF I IN YORKSHIRE, ENGLAND
by Sherry Stancliff
WA5 MINISTAR
OF T£ GOSPEUt
ANDPA5TVRE
OF TE CHVRCH
OF CHRIST
In the AGS Newsletter Fall 1980, Volume 4, Number 4, I ended the article on the Stone Cutter
James Stanclift of East Middletown, Connecticut with the following remark, "James Stanclift
used the mark J to sign his documents and to identify the stone boundry markers of his
land. I have searched without success, but hope one day to find this mark on one of his
gravestones."
I have yet to find a gravestone with this mark, but in the Shibden Valley at Halifax, Yorkshire
England, at the site of the Stancliff ancestral home, I found an Historic Mansion House bearing
a number of different "Mason's Marks". One of those marks was J. The mark appeared frequently
on the portions of the house we were able to examine closely. It was on the shaped window
mullions as well as the large blocks that made up the main structure. We were assured that
the mark I also appeared freqently on all the walls and up to and including the third level
and eaves of the building.
It was genealogical research on the Stancliff family that created my interest in James Stanclift
(1639-1712) the Stone Cutter of the Connecticut Valley and the founder of the Brownstone
quarry in Portland, Connecticut. Now it seemed that the research on the Stone Cutter was
going to aid us in our genealogical research.
continued
AGSSP'86p2
Family lore handed down from several branches of the Stancliff family said that James Stanclift
had come from Halifax, Yorkshire, England. In past years researchers had visited the site where
the Stancliff family originated hoping to find proof that James Stanclift had been there, fvly
husband and I made the trip to this area in April 1986.
The name Stancliff is said to have been taken from this site in the Shibden Valley about 1274.
It is probably an adaptation of Stonecliff or Scarcliff. An old British definition of the word "scar"
is "a precipitous rocky place". The description is apt, for the Stancliff family built a home
called The Skowte or Scout situated on the very steep slope of one of the high hills in the
Pennine Range. About 1640 Scout was sold to Samuel r\/litchell who married a Stancliff woman
and purchased the remainder of the property from her family. The property passed to their
grandson, John Mitchell, who rebuilt Scout Hall in grand proportions.
John Mitchell ordered the construction of the present Scout Hall to be the finest and largest
home in the valley. It is 76 feet long by 48 feet deep, the three levels reach 33 feet at the
eaves and 55 feet at the peak of the roof. The construction was carried out by the famed
Yorkshire stone cutters and the stone was taken from the sandstone quarry just over the
hill. Blocks damaged in transport from the quarry to the site of Scout Hall still remain on
the side of that steep incline. It is interesting to note that the buff colored stone at Scout
seems to differ only in color from the Portland brownstone. The house is dry construction,
the two foot thick walls were put up without mortar, closely fit and reflect the skill of the
stone cutters. Much of the strength of the structure comes from two gigantic stone chimney
systems that taper as they rise, each containing six large fireplaces with shaped stone mouldings.
Even the windows have shaped stone mullions. The roof is "shingled" with flagstones that
are about four feet by two and a half feet by four inches thick, pegged to thick oak beams.
The construction of Scout Hall was a matter of exceptional pride to the local artisans working
on it, and as a reflection of that pride, they left their "Mason's Marks" on a large number
of stones as they built the house. In addition to the mark , another of these Mason's Marks
caught my attention, it was a canopied Upper Case A like the one James Stanclift favored
when he cut gravestones. These marks are unusually numerous on this building, and we
were told they attracted "a group from a Nottingham Society, who traveled to Scout to verify
and study these Mason's Marks".
We are attempting at this time to identify this group and contact them.
A visit to the surrounding graveyards revealed surprisingly few stones cut in the 1600s still
able to be found. We were told that some church yards have layers of graves, with the old
gravestones now buried. Most of the stones still existing manifest a number of the characteristics
by which. James Stanclift's work is identified in Connecticut. We found the canopied upper
case A, the second L nestled in the angle of the first, slanted numerals 6 and 9, the roman
use of V for U, combined letters, large upper case lettering covering the face of the stone,
and dots, diamonds and hearts separating words. James used the dots and diamonds but
I don't think he was ever guilty of the cute little hearts. We found a stone with the beginning
of the inscription forming a border, just as James Stanclift had done on several table stones.
There were low table stones with single transverse support stones at each end as well as
higher table stones with legs. If some of the stones we saw in Halifax were found in the
Connecticut River Valley, I would, without hesitation, identify them as the work of James Stanclift.
If he did not actually cut any of these stones, it is certain that he was greatly influenced
by the men who did. James Stanclift of East Middletown, Connecticut cut in the style of Halifax,
Yorkshire gravestone cutters.
The rebuilding of Scout Hall was completed in the fall of 1680. That time coinsides with the
record of a man named James Stankliffe who took ship from Bristol, England bound for Nevis.
The ship, Nevis Merchant, on which he sailed in the fall of 1680, carried passengers bound
not only for Nevis in the West Indies, but also for the Virginia Colony. On other voyages,
the Nevis Merchant also made port at Boston, Massachusetts on her sweep north to pick
up the trade winds for the return trip to England. I believe that with the completion of Scout
Hall, James Stanclift, stone cutter of Halifax, began his journey to the Connecticut Valley.
STANCLIFT, JAMES I: East Middletown, CT, 1634-1712
Sherri Stancliff, of Cincinnati OH came to ttie study of
stones cut by tlie Stancliff carvers ttirough genealogical
research!.
AGSSP'86p3
WANTED!
We have received a letter from Michael B. Clegg, Manager of the Genealogy Dept., Allen
County Public Library, 900 Webster St., Fort Wayne, IN 46802. In a family newsletter he came
across a question regarding a symbol on some gravestones. The symbol was a hand, and
on some stones the hand was carved with the palm facing the viewer of the stone and on
others the back of the hand faced the viewer. The newsletter wondered whether or not it
denoted marital status, or just what was the meaning. Have any AGS members run across
this symbol?
As part of a research project on Afro-American mortuary patterns I collect epitaphs, tombstone
designs and records of material artifacts associated with the graves of black Americans. If
any of the AGS Newsletter readers know of interesting graves in black ethnically mixed
cemeteries, I would greatly appreciate any information that you could share. on this subject.
Angelika Kruger-Kahloula, Afro-American Studies, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-3388.
Mike Richard, 101 Temple St., Gardner MA, 01440 writes that he is interested in historical
markers placed at the site of a fatal accident, and upon which the dire fate of the victim
is chronicled. One such example is the Browning monument on Williamsville Road, Hubbardston
MA: "Death is evernear! Near this spot, on Sunday 7 Sept. 1828 Mrs. Betsey, wife of Mr. James
Browning, was thrown from a carriage, as she was returning from Publick Worship and instantly
killed." He would appreciate any information on similar markers in the Massachusetts area,
or anywhere in New England.
A fascinating article on "Pennsylvania Tombstone Folk Art" appeared in the March 12, 1986
issue of The Antique Trader Weekly, Dubuque lA. This includes a discussion on typical materials,
ornamentations, a select bibliography, and a list of good sites for Pennsylvania German
gravestones. The author, in preparing this article, viewed tombstones in over fifty cemeteries
in Berks, Lancaster, Chester and Montgomery Counties, PA. He would welcome correspondence
on the subject Write to: John A. Shulman III, P.O. Box 57, Pottstown, PA 19464.
contributed by Laurel Gabel, Pittsford NY
AGS Executive Director, Rosalee Oakley, recently received an anonymous postcard which
reads as follows: "For Your information — At the Boston MA annual flower show, one of
the large garden exhibits included gravestone fragments in the design. Exhibitors included
garden clubs and commercial outfits. Obviously it might not happen again, but perhaps AGS
members in cities that have big flower shows might be on the alert Why suggest the idea
of gravestone decoration to all those people attending the show? (a friend)"
I:;;
THE
I "of y'
■I OTHER j , ~. I
IN. ,.f V
MAHKO^F-
from an old issue of the New Yorker, contributed by Jessie
Lie Farber, Worcester MA.
AGS SP'86 p 4
Notes on Chinese Gravestones in California
Dr. Mary Frances Stewart, Sacremento CA, and her husband visited the Cemetery of the Six
Companies in Daly City, near Colma CA in November 1985. She writes that even though she
does not read Chinese, the stones contained a lot of information. "f\/lost had pictures of the
deceased. The men are shown in western dress, the women in Chinese-type clothes — the
older the marker the more likely this was the case. I wondered how many had bound feet,
how many were "picture brides". Some looked as if the original picture had been copied
for the marker. The designs on the markers interested me — no roses, and I don't think any
peonies, but mostly flowers not found in nature. One had a lotus pod, several showed bamboo,
and only one had temple dogs. Some stones had a picture of the deceased, with the Chinese
inscription painted in white, beside another inscription painted in red, under an empty hole.
I know that red is used by the Chinese for good luck, so I jumped to the conclusion that
'one of them has the good luck to live'. In a discussion with a monument maker, I learned
that red means 'blood still running'."
iMtai
a
d
,-« •
h:
— j t J «
pr-wr
*.
I^^^^^^^bTwH
sa
^^^^^^^■it>W
MEMBER NEWS
Betty McClave of Stephentown NY writes that last fall she temporarily gave up searching for
reported cemeteries. "I was mistaken for grouse, did a rubbing in a beginning snow storm
(with the help of Warren Broderick) and heard the following day that an adult bear was shot
on that mountain — in my own neighborhood! Figured I had had enough until warm spring
arrived." The Stephentown Historical Society is aiming to be the first town in New York State
to have completely surveyed its cemeteries, the first town to have its cemeteries completely
adopted, and the town with the most cemeteries "rubbed".
An article titled History Carved in Stone by AGS members Eloise P. West and Rosanne Atwood-
Humes, published in the Montachusett Review, March 26, 1986, makes special mention of
the up-coming AGS Conference at Pine Manor College, Connecticut Hill MA, June 27-29.
They say "Many of the members of the Association for Gravestone Studies are classifying
stones by the carvers. Such a task, of course, can be equated to solving a jigsaw puzzle
minus a few pieces. However, the joy of finding a carving in Groton or Sterling by the same
carver of stones in Fitchburg makes the task rewarding for stone-seers. Such discoveries
have been made locally. In Sterling, some stones from the late 1800s carved by Hartwell of
Fitchburg have been found.
Longtime-AGS member, Dr. Mary Frances Stewart of Sacramento, CA died (of a heart attack
following a "routine" cancer operation) April 18, 1986, just several weeks short of her
75th birthday. She was an enthusiastic member who frequently corresponded with many AGS
members on a variety of topics from tree stones to portrait stones, always enclosing several
current clippings from newspapers on gravestone related subjects. Her most recent research
took her to the many California Mission graveyards which she hoped to write about for the
Newsletter when she had finished. Her husband, Robert E. Stewart, Jr., has suggested to their
friends that they make contributions to AGS as a memorial, so we are establishing a Memorial
Fund in Mary Frances' name. Memorials are to be sent to the AGS office at 46 Plymouth
Road, Needham, MA 02192 marked "Stewart Memorial Fund." Should you wish, condolences
may be sent to Mr. Robert E. Stewart, Jr., 6990 Greenhaven Drive, Sacramento, CA 95831.
AGSSP'86p5
Mr. A. Russell of Totley, Sheffield, England writes that he is currently recording a churchyard
at St. Mary's Parish church, Handsworth, Sheffield. "Briefly, my survey is centred round a
twelfth century church; the gravestones number just over 400 and date from the early seventeenth
century to the early twentieth century (Georgian stones are particularly in evidence). What
perhaps makes the churchyard so unusual is that within its grounds there is a public house
(named the Cross Keys). The reason for this is that way back in the thirteenth century there
was a priest's house for the church, which was used as a school from about 1640 to 1800
and finally from 1821, a public house. Gravestones are built into part of the floor, but cannot
now (unfortunately) be seen.
For AGS, dedicated Co the preservation of
old gravestones, it is gratifying to see an
article in the major trade journal Monument
Builder News which recognizes the signifi-
cance of old markers. Does anyone know any
more about this lithichrome stain process?
Monuments Mean History
Wally Bloedel, owner of Bloedel
Monument Co., New Ulm,
Minn., knows a lot about how monu-
ments relate to history. During the past
winter, employees of his firm preserved
bits and pieces of history while restor-
ing memorials from the Traverse Des
Sioux Cemetery and the Prairieville
Cemetery.
Pioneer stones, which had been
placed between 1858 and 1880, were
carefully removed from the cemeteries
and taken to Bloedel's shop for resto-
ration.
Victims of the Sioux Uprising of
1862 are buried in the Traverse Des
Sioux Cemetery. Descendants of those
pioneers were also laid to rest there.
The marker for Rev. Tholmas S. Wil-
liamson is an example of the historic-
12 / MB NEWS January 1986
cal information that can be found in the
cemetery. Its inscription reads: Died
June 23. 1879: aged 79 ]^ears. 3
months: for 45 years missionari; to the
Indians.'
Prairieville Cemetery reflects the
Scandinavian roots of the settlers who
homesteaded the surrounding
farmland.
When Bloedel's workers removed
the stones from the cemetery, they did
so with great care. Often the stones had
broken into several pieces or had fallen
to the ground. All parts of a broken
stone are numbered, then reassembled
much like a jigsaw puzzle.
In most cases, more than a century
of wind, rain and snow have destroyed
much of the marker's inscription. After
its reassembled, a carbon rubbing or
print of the marker's inscription is
made. If the lettering cannot be
deciphered clearly, more information
is sought from available records.
Pioneer stones were inscribed with
either block-raised or V-sunken letters.
During restoration, a lithichrome stain
is sprayed into or around the letters to
make the inscription visible. The result
is a clearly legible sample of historical
information.
When the restoration had been
completed, the markers were returned
to the rural cemeteries where they will
mark history and provide minuscule bi-
ographies of pioneers who settled in
Minnesota's Brown and Nicollet coun-
ties more than a century ago.
from the trade journal Monument Builder News, V 43
#7, January 1986
AGSSP'86p6
EXHIBITS
So many famous — and some infamous — people have been buried in the Green-Wood
Cemetery in Brooklyn that one could get the idea that the 425 acre tract of green hills, lakes
and flowering trees has no more room for the dead. But there is still room in the old family
plots. "Oh my, yes," said Henry Z. Steinway, whose great-grandfather, Henry E. Steinway, not
only established the piano company, but also paid $80,000 in 1870 to build a giant mausoleum
as the centerpiece of a family plot. The plot has room for at least 200 of his descendants.
"He had the idea that the family was going on forever," said Mr. Steinway, who showed up
recently for the opening reception of an exhibition called "Now Reposing in Green-Wood
Cemetery". This show of paintings, sculpture, photographs and maps was on display at the
Museum of the Borough of Brooklyn in Boylan Hall at Brooklyn College. Mr. Steinway, 70
years old, said that what with the dispersal of his family and the trend to cremation, little
of the Steinway plot had been filled. "I ran into a cousin in Los Angeles who didn't even
know the plot existed," Mr. Steinway said. "I told him, 'Look, we've got plenty of empty spaces.' "
from "New York, Day by Day" by Susan Heller Anderson
and David Bird, in The New York Times, April 12, 1986,
contributed by Jessie Lie Farber, Worcester MA.
AND OTHER IliJJSrillllllS RraOLSTjV
NfflJi8^[»IGW
m&mmmm.
Museum o( Ihe Borough ol Bfrjokfrn
2H? Boylan Hill Brooklyn Collaif
April 9 10 Hjy 20. 1986
Inlormal'on. (7181 780S1S2
The Jewish Patrons of Venice was an exhibit at the Jewish Museum, New York NY until
the end of September, 1 985. This was the second presentation of the exhibition which explores
the role of Jewish patronage in Venice from the eighteenth to the early nineteenth century.
Ceremonial objects, textiles, illuminated manuscripts, books, drawings, prints and photomurals
of architectural monuments and tombstones were featured.
from the Council for Museum Anthropology Newsletter,
V. 9, #3, July 1985, sent by Gaynell Stone.
GRAVE LESSONS — Art and Ethnicity in the Graveyard
The Center for Thanatological Research and Education, 391 Atlantic Ave., Brooklyn NY, opened
an exhibit of gravestone art celebrating the ethnic diversity of American immigrants on March
9, 1986. Prominent in the display of life-size paper and wax rubbings was the stone of the
slave Phillis, from Newport Rl; freed man, Caesar, from Concord MA; a black revolutionary
war hero from Providence; memorials to the murdered children of Atlanta GA and playwright
Lorraine Hansberry, created by living gravestone sculptor, Robert Pugh.
Jewish memorials displayed included a monument to a "Student of Physic", who died helping
New Yorkers during the dreaded yellow fever plague that struck the city in 1789, the stone
of Rabbi Moses Seixas from Touro Synagogue in Newport Rl, German-Jewish immigrants
from the Civil War period, and the work of contemporary Jewish stone designer, Jerry Trauber,
whose work has been compared to the outstanding lettering of Hebrew calligrapher, Ismar
David. Other groups represented include early settlers of New York from Dutch, Hungarian,
Irish, Chinese and Spanish backgrounds. The exhibit ran until March 30.
AGS Board member Pat Miller of Sharon CT writes that she, and a number of AGS members,
attended the opening of Grave Lessons. "Well done and well attended! Food good — well
written eight page catalogue, very educational — a treat to meet the other NYC active gravestone
designer Robert Pugh."
AGS SP'86 p 7
CONFERENCES
A Gravestone Forum was held March 29, 1 986 at Western Connecticut State University, Danbury
CT. Speakers included (in alphabetical order): Fred Fredette, Frank Hole, Roberta Halporn,
C.R. Jones, Thomas Jay Kemp, James Leatherbee, Lance Mayer, Patricia A. Miller, Steven
Neuwirth, Jack Scully, Michael Selvaggi, James Slater, Marilyn Whittlesey and Kenneth Young.
Anne Williams and Sue Kelly led a tour of Wooster Cemetery, Danbury, while Pat Miller led
a tour of Ridgefield Cemetery.
The Association of Interpretive Naturalists (AIN) will be holding its Twenty-fifth Anniversary
National Workshop September 21-25, 1986 in the Delaware River Basin area of Pennsylvania
and New Jersey. AIN invites all who are interested in the interpretation of the cultural, natural
and/or built environments to participate. For more information, contact Peggy Van Ness,
Executive Director, AIN National Office, 6700 Needwood Road, Derwood MD 20855; or phone
(301)948-8844.
Mary-Ellen Jones of Berkeley CA writes that "AGS will be well represented at the American
Association for State and Local History (AASLH) Annual Meeting in Oakland CA, September
30 - October 3, 1986." She, along with Jo Hanson, Marilyn Rowan and Phyllis Wainwright
will be leading a panel discussion on "What is the role of the cemetery in the interpretation
of socio-cultural history".
The American Culture Association is pleased to announce the formation of a new section
on "Cemeteries and Gravemarkers," with a paper session planned for the ACA's 1987 annual
meeting, to be held March 25-29 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Topics are solicited from
a wide range of disciplinary perspectives, including History, Folklore, Cultural Geography,
Sociology, Art History, Archaeology, and others. Those interested are invited to send a 250-
word abstract by October 1, 1986 to the section chair:
Richard E. Meyer
English Department
Western Oregon State College
Monmouth, Oregon 97361
(503)838-1220, Ext. 362
EARLY AMERICAN STONE SCULPTURE FOUND IN THE BURYING GROUNDS OF NEW
ENGLAND by Avon Neal and Ann Parker.
At its meeting on April 26 the Board of AGS adopted the recommendation of a committee
with regard to disposition of half of the Parker and Neal books generously contributed to
AGS by Michael Rea. The book is coffee table size and contains text, photographs and
reproduction of rubbings illustrating the work of 42 New England carvers. Each copy is boxed
and carries an original rubbing using the authors' matchless technique. The volume orginally
sold at retail for $325 per copy.
One copy will be raffled at $5 per ticket to be purchased at the conference. Fifty-nine copies
are to be offered for sale to libraries and members of AGS at $150 per copy. Members may
purchase copies by writing Rosalee F. Oakley, Executive Director, 46 Plymouth Road, Needham,
MA 02192, enclosing a check for $153.50 ($3.50 being cost of insurance and postage).
Suggestions as to museum, university and other libraries which might wish to purchase the
book would be gratefully received.
AGS SP'86 p 8
BOOKS
BETTY WILLSHER
Understanding SCOTTISH GRAVEYARDS
An interpretative approach
73/4 X 5", 80 pp.
B&W photographs and line drawings
W & R Chambers Ltd.,
Edinburgh, Scotland, 1985.
Review by Francis Y. Duval
Uruierstanding
SCOTTISH
GRAVEYARDS
BdtuWiMTer,
In the preface to this book, Edwina Proudfoot of the Council for British Archeology Scotland
writes that it was produced "as a timely reminder of the wealth of an irreplaceable community
resource when the risk of losing it is at its greatest, and when it would be most valuable".
That statement also applies to all ancient graveyards wherever they may be located. In Scotland,
as sadly reported by author Willsher, some unsavory developers have already acquired and
bulldozed hallowed grounds, recycling these into car parkings, while others are currently eyeing
choice locations to be used eventually for housing and shopping malls.
Author Willsher introduces the reader to an enlightening survey of Scottish history and
archeology in terms of its churches, churchbells, churchyards, burial practices and monuments,
from the Neolithic/ Bronze Ages to the Victorian era and beyond. The chapter closes on an
alarming note concerning the physical state of the Lowland memorials which were favored
because of their imagery.
Chapter II details the types of monuments, emblems and inscriptions. These are illustrated
in archival photographs, in others by the author, and in line drawings credited to Robert Rodger.
The listing is impressive and informative, especially the section devoted to those marvelous
trades' symbols so profusely rendered on 18th century Scottish markers. Several inspired
epitaphs are included near the close of the chapter, the author noting that "inscriptions are
indeed a subject to be taken seriously; they offer far more than the simple genealogical
information for which they are generally studied."
Chapters III and IV deal primarily with local issues, such as how to proceed to supplement
existing records, a history of past surveys, jurisdiction over graveyards, how to identify carvers,
and what is presently being done to record and save extant memorials of special value. Mention
is made of the AGS, of the Association's aims, and of its publications. A useful glossary of
monuments' characteristics is included, followed by three appendices, extensive bibliographic
data and an index.
This book will delight individuals interested in foreign gravestone studies. It is well written,
comprehensively organized, professionally laid-out, and typeset for easy reading. It suffers
somewhat in the production of the photographs which lack the sparkle of Betty Willsher's
illustrations in her previous book STONES (Taplinger, NY, 1978), co-authored with Doreen
Hunter. One also wishes that the line drawings might have been afforded a larger format:
as they appear, they are barely postage stamp size, this was obviously dictated by the near
pocket book size of the publication.These are minor flaws; the information this little book contains,
the dedicated research of its author, and the prestige of its sponsors make it a most valuable
contribution to the field of gravestone studies.
The book may ordered for $6.50 (prepaid, postage and handling included) from The Center
for Thanatology Research, 391 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11217-1701. Outside the U.S.,
THE BOOK may be obtained for $8.20 (prepaid, postage and handling included).
The first issue for 1986 of the Material History Bulletin (National Museum of Man, Ottawa,
Ontario, Canada, K1A0M8) has "death and dying" as its theme. This can be ordered only
by subscription, for $10. individual, $14. institutional (Canadian funds) for one year (2 issues).
Cheques should be payable to the Receiver General of Canada. This issue is expected to
include interesting articles on gravestones in Canada such as: Nancy Lou Patterson on Masonic
gravemarkers in Ontario; Gerald Pocius on Newfoundland gravestones; Deborah Trask and
Debra McNabb on gravestones in Kings County, Nova Scotia; Hall and Bowden on Ontario
cemeteries and the Beautification Movement.
AGSSP'86p9
BETTY WILLSHER: How to record SCOTTISH GRAVEYARDS; A Companion to Understanding
SCOTTISH GRAVEYARDS. Edited by Edwina Proudfoot. 7% x 5", 52 pp. Line drawings.
Council for British Archeology Scotland. Edinburgh, 1985.
Review by Francis Y. Duval
This little book is a kind of spinoff of the pilot book reviewed on the reverse side: it mainly
expounds on its chapter III: the recording of graveyards. As its title displays, this is an 'How
to' book: how to obtain certain permissions, how to prepare oneself for field work, how to
acquire certain equipment, what to be cautious about in the cleaning of memorials, how to
prepare data sheets, tips on photography, types of film emulsions to use in recording, etc.
By permission, the book makes use of much of the information and illustrations supplied in
the 1979-80 edition of the AGS' MARKERS I, in the article 'Recording Cemetery Data': the
grid method, the scaling and numbering of stones, and the mirror technique among others.
All of this information has been adapted to the metric system.
This is undoubtedly a useful book for Scots to obtain for it also provides a detailed listing
of addresses and postal codes of Organizations holding valuable archival material, and of
others to be contacted for volunteer work to help preserve the Scottish graveyard heritage.
Appendix I chronicles Adam and Eve, and Abraham and Isaac memorial symbols, some of
which previously recorded but no longer extant. Appendix II lists the Scottish Genealogy Society
Volumes of pre-1855 Gravestone Inscriptions, singling-out volumes which are no longer
available. A Select Bibliography ends the book.
As far as this reviewer knows, there is little chance of any U.S. distributorship for this follow-
up publication. Those interested in obtaining a copy should contact its foreign source, requesting
its price, and mailing and handling charges. The address is: Council for British Archeology
Scotland, c/o Royal Museum of Scotland, 1 Queen Street, Edinburgh, Scottland EH2 1JD.
Francis Y. Duval co-authored EARLY AMERICAN
GRAVESTONE ART in Photographs with Ivan B. Rigby.
He is a frequent contributor to the Newsletter.
David Watters, author of With Bodilie Eyes: Eschatological Themes in Puritan Literature
and Gravestone Art, writes that although this book is out of print, he has purchased copies
from the press at a discount. Any AGS member who wants a copy can purchase one from
Dr. Watters, c/o the Department of English, College of Liberal Arts, Hamilton Smith Hall,
University of New Hampshire, Durham NH 03824-3574, for $25. (publication cost was $49.95).
Early Gravestone Art in Georgia and South Carolina
by Diana Williams Combs, University of Georgia Press, Athens GA 30602.
In the colonial churchyards and burial
grounds of Georgia and South Carolina
stand eighteenth-century grave markers
of nearly unequaled virtuosity and am-
bitiousness. Carved by the most accom-
plished New England artisans, the
gravestones reflect the more cosmopoli-
tan taste of the southern clientele and
display litt(e of the puritan severity that
dictated the tone and motif of the mark-
ers found in northern colonial church-
yards and municipal burial grounds.
Diana Williams Combs explores in the
photographs and text of this volume the
rich legacy of gravestone art still to be
seen — in sortie cases surprisingly well
preserved, but in many others weath-
ered, chipped, or defaced — in the two
states, and in particular in the coastal
cities of Charleston and Savannah and in
the towns of Midway, Georgia, and
Georgetown, South Carolina. Combs
discusses the techniques and styles of the
individual carvers, comparing their
southern markers to those they executed
for northern clients; traces common pat-
terns of imagery, such as the winged
soul's head that gradually replaced the
winged death's head motif prevalent at
the beginning of the century; and chron-
icles the transformations in taste and in
the attitude toward death that gave rise
to neoclassical elements in markers and
that later, toward the end of the century,
began the transition toward the senti-
mental conventions of Victorian grave-
stone art.
Many of the most significant works of
the New England carvers appeared not
in their native region but in the South.
In addition, refinements in tomb art in
England and on the Continent usually
were introduced into the colonies
through the South. The southern colo-
nies, then, were in many ways central to
the development of American grave-
stone art, and in their churchyards and
town burial grounds can be seen the best
work of the colonial artists who turned
their skills toward the commemoration
of the dead — who portrayed in stone the
grip of death over the living, the sorrow
of the survivors, and the ecstasy of the
soul liberated from its earthly host.
Diana Williams Combs has taught art
history at Agnes Scott College and at the
Atlanta College of Art, and was, until
recently, executive director of the Histor-
ic Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta. She
now lives in New Orleans.
Illustrated with 1 94 photographs
December, 256 pages, 8x10 inches
ISBN 0-8203-0788-2, $35.00
notice oi publication from Art History, sent by Phil Kallas,
Stevens Point Wl.
AGSSP'86p 10
NEWSPAPER NOTES FROM HERE & THERE
An article in tlie New York Times, April 20, 1986, by Gene I. Maeroff described some of the
activities of the Boston Burying Grounds Initiative:
Some of Boston's most popular tourist attractions are dead. They have names like Hancock
and Revere and Adams and they lie in 16 historic burying grounds that the city oversees,
the oldest three dating to 1630. As tourists v\/atched the other day in King's Chapel Burying
Ground, a peaceful enclave amid the bustle of downtown Boston, a trio of conservators
refurbished the headstones of a few of the old Colonists. Their work is part of the city's Historic
Burying Grounds Initiative, a $5 million effort to stem the ravages of deterioration and vandalism
that have afflicted all 16 of its historic cemeteries. The reason for the initiative is evident to
anyone who strolls the burying grounds. Tombs with large chunks of masonry missing are
partly open in some cemeteries, victims either of the weather or the curious. At South End
South, where Bunker Hill veterans are buried, teenagers and dogs have pulled bones from
some tombs. Looking more like gravediggers than conservators in their workshoes and rugged
clothing, the team at King's Chapel had carefully scraped away the damp earth that obscured
the lower portion of the 208-year-old stone of Elizabeth Foster, a woman not known to be
of any particular historical significance. They were preparing a cement they hoped would
be strong enough to repair broken parts of the stone.
"The Burying Grounds Initiative began last year because people felt that the situation had
deteriorated to the point that there could be irreversible losses," said Ellen J. Lipsey, a
preservation planner who is project director. "In effect, what we are dealing with is an outdoor
museum with significant and important artifacts." Drawing on a panel of consultants that included
a structural engineer, a landscape architect and an expert in masonry, Ms. Lipsey assembled
a report detailing the needs at each cemetery and estimating the costs. A list has been prepared
to give priority to the most serious problems.
There are suspicions that there will not be enough money for all repairs. So far, according
to Ms. Lipsey, $400,000 has been contributed by private donors and an equal amount has
been contributed by the city. She is soliciting contributions from descendants of some of the
people buried in the graveyards, from concerns whose offices border them and from
corporations. A concern that has already pledged assistance is John Hancock Mutual Life
Insurance Company, based in Boston, whose namesake is in the Granary Burying Ground,
just down Tremont Street from King's Chapel. The $7000 donation by John Hancock will be
used, in part, to build a path to the Hancock marker, which now is reached by stepping over
a chain fence and walking around some other gravestones.
contributed by Robert Van Benthuysen and by Ivan Rigby,
of West Long Branch NJ and Brooklyn NY respectively
At the age of 87, Elizabeth Maselli, of Cromwell CT, has decided it is time for a new generation
to take over her longtime job as unofficial caretaker of the town's oldest cemetery. The unending
task of ensuring the headstones are in repair has grown burdensome. "The problem has been
getting someone who knows how to . . . handle cemetery stones," she said. "Repair of old
stones, especially brownstone, is a lost art." She has photographed more than 400 of the
stones.
from an old issue of the Hartford Courant, sent by Pat
Miller, Sharon CT.
AGSSP'86p11
HIGHGATE CEMETERY, LONDON
Visitors to North London's Highgate Cemetery usually know when it is time to leave. They
sense it. As sunset approaches, the shadows of Victorian tombstones grow longer and more
grotesque. Blackbirds flap through the tangled underbrush. Countless stone cherubs and chalk-
skinned angels peer through ferns and rusting iron fences as the last visitor hurries to the
entrance before the gate swings shut.
It's been called the "creepiest place in London" and an "anthology of horror," yet Highgate
remains one of this city's most off-beat tourist attractions.
Its reputation for creepiness is well-deserved, however. Area residents have often reported
hearing shrieks and cackling in the night Several years ago, a local architect parked his
car just outside the cemetery and returned to find a headless corpse at the wheel.
And, in 1974, David R. Farrant, the president of the British Occult Society, was given four
years and eight months in prison for damaging memorials and "offering indignities to the remains
of bodies." In a crowded Old Bailey courtroom, Farrant admitted opening 24 vaults, driving
stakes through the hearts of bodies and performing other "necromantic ceremonies."
But Highgate has more associations with the famous than the infamous. Here, for example,
lie the mortal remains of George Eliot, Herbert Spencer, Edith Sitwell, Michael Faraday, the
pre-Raphaelite artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti and his beautiful wife, Elizabeth.
Perhaps the most visited grave is that of Karl Marx, who died in Hampstead in 1883. Marked
by a monolithic bust erected by the Soviets in 1956, the grave is perpetually decked with
flowers (mostly red roses and red carnations) brought by tourists from Communist countries
and employees of Eastern bloc embassies. The inscription beneath the bust reads: "The
philosophers have interpreted the world in various ways. The point, however, is to change
it."
Created in 1 839 to relieve the hopelessly overcrowded churchyards of central London, Highgate
covers 70 acres and abuts beautiful Waterloo Park, which some will recognize as the scene
of the murder in the 1966 movie "Blow Up."
The cemetery, a commercial venture, prospered throughout the 19th century when Victorians
had a penchant for "funerary extravaganzas." By 1856, the demand for space had become
so great, the company extended its holdings to the east, across Swain's Lane, and a tunnel
was dug under the road to accommodate funeral processions from the chapel to the annex.
The 20th century brought hardships, however. As plots began to fill up, revenue slowed to
a trickle. New graves were squeezed in among the old, but as manpower and materials became
more expensive, maintenance declined. In 1975 the original, western section was closed.
The "newer," eastern section has room for a few more burials and so remains open. It is
there, several yards from the entrance, you will find Karl Marx. Nearby are Herbert Spencer,
George Eliot and Miss Eliot's live-in-lover, George Lewes.
But many graves attract more interest for their markers than for their occupants. That of Harry
Thornton, a concert pianist who entertained troops during World War I, for instance, is marked
by a concrete grand piano bearing a stanza attributed to Puccini: "Sweet thou art sleeping/
Cradled on my heart/Save in God's keeping/While I must weep apart."
Even more poignant is the headstone of David Leadbitter: a little boy in short pants sitting
on a marble slab holding a ball. According to the inscription, he died at age 5, leaving "on
earth one gentle soul the less, in heaven one angel more."
continued
AGSSP'86p 12
But the most ostentatious sepulchres — and a stronger feeling of wild, romantic decay —
are to be found on the western side Of Swain's Lane. Although officially closed, the western
section is opened to the public on weekends by a group called Friends of Highgate Cemetery
(FOHC). The aim of the group is to preserve and protect the cemetery from vandals and further
neglect.
FOHC publishes an annotated map that makes it easier to find your way down the overgrown
lanes and along such thoroughfares as "Egyptian Avenue," marked by its obelisks and lotus-
bud columns. The avenue ends at the Catacombs, a circular building with family vaults that
FOHC spokesman Nigel Shervey calls "a perfect example of Victorian funeral splendor."
Getting there: The nearest Underground stop to Highgate Cemetery is Archway. For more
information on opening of the western section contact Mrs. J. Pateman, FOHC, 5 View Road,
Highgate, London N6 4DJ, Phone 348-0808.
For more on this fascinating cemetery, see Highgate
Cemetery, Victorian Valhalla (Salem House: 1984),
photos by John Gay. introduced by Felix Barker.
from the San Francisco Examiner, July 7. 1985
The Old Jewish Cemetery In Prague
An undated clipping from the New York Times by Henry Kamm, describes the old Jewish
Cemetery in Prague, Czechoslovakia. Prague, he says, is mystical. And nowhere is it more
so than in the places left behind by the vanished Jews. History, or faith, or both, much more
than spenders of architecture or treasures of art, account for the mysterious hold that the
Old Jewish Cemetery has exerted over visitors for hundreds of years, long before the decimation
of the Jews of Bohemia and Moravia by the Germans elevated what the murderers left behind
to a special dimension of solemnity. The synagogues and treasures of Judaica in Prague
that were not destroyed, remained only because the Germans intended, on their victory, to
make the Jewish quarter a museum of an extinct species. These have been turned by
Czechoslovakia into a museum of tolerance of Jews and their faith. The only wing of what
is now called the State Jewish Museum that has been left what it always was is the graveyard
where for nearly 400 years the Jews of Bohemia buried their dead, the Old Jewish Cemetery.
The Old Cemetery bewilders with its disorderly profusion of Hebrew tombstones, many leaning
upon one another as the ground beneath has risen or fallen. Graves are superimposed upon
graves; some mounds are high, others low. The disarray makes death appear as a return
to chaos, less orderly even than life. And sometimes, visiting this place of chaos, it can become
believable that its disorder really means that its inhabitants have already quit their final resting
places. One wonders if the Judgement Day has come early to the Jews of the mystical city
of Prague.
contributed by Jessie Lie Farber, Worcester MA
The Old Jewish Cemetery in the Josefov ghetto, Prague,
as illustrated in an old issue of the New York Times.
AGSSP'86p 13
Dark of night and an old burying ground are the stuff of which spine-tingling adventures
are made. Add to that the grave of one of the world's best-known writers of morbid tales,
and you have the potential for a scary Halloween experience. The first two ingredients can
be found anywhere, but only in Baltimore can you find the grave of Edgar Allen Poe. It was
a rainy October day in 1 849 when Poe was laid to rest in a back corner of the old Westminister
Burying Ground in Baltimore. He had stopped in the city on his way from Richmond to New
York and had been found lying in a doorway on Lombard Street. He lingered in delirium
for five days, dying on October 7, at the age of 40. In 1875 the schoolchildren of Baltimore
raised money for a monument to Poe, and at that time his remains were moved to a more
prominent spot, just inside the cemetery gate at the corner of Fayette and Greene Streets.
On October 31 , 1 985, the Westminster Preservation Trust, Inc., which takes care of the cemetery,
ushered in Halloween with an open house. The most popular grave was that of Poe. There's
a certain mystique about the man who wrote such deep dark tales. What was he doing in
Baltimore when he died? The question has never been satisfactorily answered. And who, since
1949, has left a half-empty bottle of cognac and three red roses on his grave every January
19, the date of his birth?
from an old Issue of Southern Living, sent by Mary
Frances Stewart, Sacremento CA.
Scholars have documented about 400 pierced gravestones in more than 17 Davidson County
North Carolina cemeteries, claims an article by Kevin Spear in the Winston-Salem Journal.
Many of the stones have features similar to decorations found on furniture made during the
same period. It is uncertain which local woodworker first carved into a soft slab of soapstone,
probably quarried from a spot near Denton, for a gravestone. Many scholars think that the
first may have been John Swicegood, a cabinetmaker who lived on a branch of Abbotts Creek,
and his apprentices. None of the stones is signed. But as years passed apparently many craftsmen
began carving the stones. Two styles, Gothic and Baroque emerged, according to an article
written by Bradford L. Rauschenberg in the 1977 Journal of Early Southern Decorative Arts.
The Gothic-style stones are decorated with simple arches. But the Baroque-style stones are
more elaborate and have details that greatly resemble the furniture of the time in that area.
The most prominent symbol in both styles is the "fylfot", a swastika with three to five sweeping
leaves. It is usually carved through the stone. Rauschenberg says in his article that the fylfot
is a cross but can also be interpreted as a sun. Other symbols — some more common in
the Baroque style — are the tree of life, hearts, tulips, animals and the "Ur-bogen", a symbol
of rebirth, he said. Some carvings are obviously cleaner and more symmetrical than others.
Some gravestones are no larger than a dinner plate, and others stand higher than two feet.
Though each gravestone is different, the patient explorer who notes the eras when the stones
were carved will discover a shift to increasingly ornate carvings over time. The gravestones
are generally in cemeteries owned by Lutheran and German Reformed churches, but are also
found in those of Baptist and Methodist churches.
sent by Dee Rankin, Welcome NC. For an Illustration of
a pierced gravestone from Davidson County NC. see ttie
AGS Newsletter, V. 8 #3, Summer 1984, p. 5.
Of all the Indiana cemeteries orphaned by progress and left to the fates, the tiny plot near
Castleton, right beside the whizzing traffic of 1-69, probably has fallen into the best hands
— those of a storage company. "We take care of it. I don't know whether it belongs to anybody."
says E.S. Rawls, president of Wheaton Van Lines Inc. The van line's storage firm, Crown Moving
and Storage Inc., is next door. When the van line company moved 11 years ago to its location
across Castleton Way from the graveyard, it found that some of the 31 tombstones in the
plot had been tipped over. The firm righted the stones and turned the grass over to the same
lawn care company which trims its own lawn. The cemetery, the ultimate in storage, is probably
lucky that a storage firm that cares came along.
from The Indianapolis Star, February 23, 1986, contrib-
uted by Mary Frances Stewart, Sacramento CA
AGS SP'86 p 14
An interesting article by AGS member William Moir, titled "A View of Paterson's Past" appeared
in the New Jersey Opinion section of the March 9, 1986 issue of the New York Times. Moir
writes that Cedar Lawn, in the southeast corner of Paterson NJ, is a beautiful example of
the Victorian garden cemetery. It was dedicated in 1867, having been laid out by Gen. Edbert
L Viele, an expert topographical and landscape engineer. In 1868 a trolley line connected
Paterson proper with the cemetery; there, a waiting room contained an automatic speaker
that announced the approach of the cars, which indicates how popular a spot Cedar Lawn
was for visitors. On Sundays especially, families dressed in their Sunday best would pack
a picnic lunch, enjoy the trolley ride out of the city and spend the day at Cedar Lawn. This
might seem a bit strange to those of us (not, of course, to AGS members!) living in the 20th
century — that is, until we realize that cemeteries also served as our nation's first parks.
For example. Central Park in New York City was opened to the public in 1876; in Paterson,
Eastside and Westside Parks were not established until 1889. Although many people certainly
must have gone to cemeteries to pay their respects to their departed ones, these visitors also
could enjoy the day in beautifully landscaped surroundings filled with marvelous things to
see; miniature architecture with beautifully decorated doorways and stained glass windows
and a wealth of impressive monuments and sculpture. (One unusual work of sculpture in
Cedar Lawn is a finely executed copy of "Grief", the celebrated figure that Henry Adams
commissioned from Augustus Saint-Gaudens for his wife's resting place in Rock Creek Cemetery
in Washington, and which is described in this issue of the Newsletter.)
contributed by Robert Van Bentliuysen, West Long
Branch! NJ
The January/ February 1986 issue of Fine Woodworking mentions the brightly painted wooden
grave markers in Rumania's Merry Cemetery. Each marker includes a colorful portrait of the
departed: the good are remembered at their daily occupations, the bad indulging in their vices,
and the unlucky at the moment of their deaths. Located in Sapinta, the Merry Cemetery is
the creation of Ion Petrach, who carved nearly 200 grave markers for his neighbors between
1935 and his death in 1975. Since then Petrach's apprentice, Toader Turda has carried on.
One of Turba's first commissions as chief carver was to fashion his master's marker. Turda
carved the piece while Petrach lay on his deathbed waiting to give his final approval. AGS
members who attended the 1984 conference at Hartford CT may recall Ann Parker's wonderful
slides of these carved and painted wooden markers.
contributed by Betty Ann Aaboe-Milllgan, East Jeddore,
Nova Scotia
STINESVILLE STEAM MARBLE and GRAN-
ITE WORKS,
Granite,
Marble and
LiME Stone
Sawed and
Polished
l;y Sliviiii I'uun, |),>ii'l t:iil I,.
Sre IH ii.'tcili' liini:w m- wr,-M\
>;i\i' \(Hi inunc\
J. HORDLEY »♦' SON.
STINESVILLE. IND.
from ttie Bloomington Evening-World, Bloomington IN
July 2, 1892, contributed by Jennifer Lucas.
AGSSPmp 15
PRESERVATION PROBLEMS
OUR ANCIENT CEMETERIES: HALLOWED GROUND OR DEVIL'S PLAYGROUND?
Cemeteries, in addition to being the final resting-place of our ancestors, also are valuable
research tools for the genealogist. IVIany of us would be at a standstill if it were not for information,
sometimes for several generations, gathered from grave markers. We, who are searching our
roots, are actually preserving history, and many of us are helping to preserve historic buildings
and landmarks.
Yet, today, we learn that cemeteries are being viciously vandalized, some for 'kicks' by ignorant
teen-agers, others for profit! A New York genealogical group found that grave-stones and
parts of grave-stones with beautiful carvings and inscriptions are being sold in one of New
York City's most prestigious art and antique galleries.
What can be done to stop this violation? New York genealogical societies launched a state-
wide campaign against this defilement, and are making groups throughout the country aware
of the problem. We in Ohio must do our part. What can we do?
First, each member should report any known destruction to law enforcement officials. Talk
or write to local, county or state officers and ask for more patrolling of your cemeteries. . .
warning signs and notices of penalties for vandalism should be placed. Second, find out what
penalties are in force, and determine if any laws need to be revised. If so, contact your state
legislators,or if necessary, your Governor.
Each state historical society and genealogical group, should make this problem a Number
One priority. The time to act is now! Vandalism has been escalating for 20 years. If nothing
is done to deter these crimes, what will be the situation 10 or 20 years from now? Let us
hear your comments!
from the Lorain County Researcher, V. 3^2, Spring 1986,
Elyria OH. The group referred to above was actually AGS
New member Lawrence Riveroll, Chair of the Cemetery Preservation Committee of the San
Diego CA Historical Society, reports that work is continuing on their first project: the preservation
of the grave markers at Calvary Cemetery. Calvary Cemetery is located in the Mission Hills
area of San Diego on 10 acres of land purchased by the City of San Diego in 1870. It was
designated by the City of San Diego's Historic Sites Board as "Historic Site #5" in 1968. In
1970, the City transformed Calvary Cemetery into a "passive park" (a cemetery converted
into a park by removing the markers). It was renamed Pioneer Park, the markers being removed
with the understanding that they would be preserved. A flat general memorial was made providing
names of those buried there with no other details. Unfortunately, "preserved" meant piling
them in a ravine adjacent to Mt. Hope Cemetery where they remain today, unpreserved, but
more importantly, unprotected. In 1985 the City proposed to build a trolley track through Mr.
Hope Cemetery, and to build a retaining wall, backfilling behind it, thus burying all the
gravemarkers in the ravine. The San Diego Historical Society continues to try to recover the
stones and restore them to Calvary Cemetery, now Pioneer Park, but they have run into opposition
from neighboring residents who prefer the park. The Cemetery Preservation Committee would
be most appreciative of any presentation to the City in the hope of their agreement to the
relocation of these markers to a more suitable location.
Along this line, we have received another letter from a member in Illinois saying "We have
in our township an Irish Catholic Cemetery that was placed on the National Register of Historic
Places in Aug. 1 984. Unfortunately, it is in danger of being "modernized" by the Catholic Cemetery
Association of the Chicago Diocese. We need "pull" and connections badly to make sure
they do not ruin it."
Nancy Thornton, RR#2, Hwy. 83, Lemont, IL 60439
President of Lemont Area Historical Society
cvy — ^^^^O*^i;d0L^O^yy — ^^
I apologize for the lateness of this Spring issue of the Newsletter. The summer issue wil
be a conference wrap-up, 1 hope, but I still need lots of new material! DT
AGSSP'86p 16
Hazel Papole of Auburn MA sent a copy of the following article which appeared in the April
25, 1986 issue of the Worcester Morning Telegram: "Firefighters Facing a Grave Problem".
Christina Bourgault's epitaph tells her age, parentage and date of death. That's standard
information for any tombstone. But the firefighters at Worcester's Greendale Fire Station need
to know where she came from — so they can return her misplaced grave marker. The firefighters
found five loose gravestones dating from the mid-to-late-nineteenth century last year while
fighting a brush fire in the north end of Worcester, Firefighter Tom McNamara said. Firefighters
brought the stones back to the station and eventually forgot about them. That is, until spring
cleaning time this year.
Recent efforts to clean out the station once again unearthed the gravestones. Firefighter David
Firmin said. The staff of the Greendale Station, unafraid of poltergeists, would like to throw
the stones away. "They've been kicking around the station for a while, and they take up space,"
said Firmin. However, the firefighters were unsure exactly how to dispose of them. Curbside
pickup, for example, did not seem appropriate, they felt. They would prefer to find out where
these stones belong and return them, Firmin said. He said they may have come from Holden,
West Boylston or Boylston, all towns near the Greendale section of Worcester. Firmin said
he is fairly certain they did not come from a Worcester cemetery, although no one knows
for sure.
Christiana Bourgault's stone, in French, lists her date of death as May 13, 1883. She was
the child of Edmund and Marie Bourgault, and lived to be two years old and six months.
Unfortunately, it does not mention the whereabouts of her grave. A second stone also is that
of a child, Sarah E. Southwick, who died Sept. 9, 1852, at the age of five months, 10 days.
Both stones stand about a foot and a half high. A thin, tall, white gravestone with a pointed
top displays the initials M.C.O.B. No other markings appear. Another is a low white marker
marked with a name which looks like "Joe H." The ornate capital "J" could possibly be another
letter. It gives no clue what the "H" stands for or when he died. The last stone, that of Eve
H. Desmarais, is badly eroded. It is also made of white stone. The gravestones can be claimed
at the Greendale Fire Station on West Boylston Street, Firmin said. The fire station would
be willing to give the stones to interested parties.
Hazel's report continues: "I visited the Fire Station the next day (April 26) and was informed
that the stones were given to a man who drove to the station and just asked if he could
have them. The gentleman I spoke with said all they had was his car licence plate number.
I asked for that number and he said I would need to speak with Mr. Firmin, who could be
reached by phone after 6:00 PM. I did speak with him and he said he would have the person
who would know call me. I have not heard a word since." We hope Hazel, and other Worcester
sleuths will have more to report on this soon.
Former AGS Board member Rufus Langhans, who is Town Historian in Huntington NY, writes
that the burial ground at the rear of his home has been worked on as an Eagle Scout project
this past fall and winter. It will be one of the final cemeteries in Huntington to be recorded
by AGS standards (Project 1st). "The earliest stone we can read is 172?"
AGSSP'86p 17
daiiaisMaN
ssevv
'ja|S8DJ0/^
OLt-
ON lluJJ'd
a
1 V d
30ViSOd s n
•Oao ilJOdd NON
6091-0 SSB^ 'jaisaoJOM
'A^ejoos ueuenbDuv ueo\i9iu\fO/o
'S9!pn)S 9uo)S9AeJO jo| uoDepossv
IMPORTANT ARCHIVES ACQUISITION
As a direct result of a talk which Michael Cornish gave recently in Danvers, Massachusetts,
AGS has made an important acquisition: a gift by the Danvers Historical Society of four account
books of Jonah B. Griswold, a stone carver of Sturbridge, Massachusetts, covering the work
of his shop from 1841 to 1878.
Griswold kept his accounts meticulously, legibly and without interruption over the entire period,
and the records contain a wealth of information about his work: the location and price of
more than 3,000 stones; the material that he used (New England marble from the Berkshires
and Rutland, Vermont, Italian marble purchased from importers in Boston and New York, slate
from Oxford, Massachusetts and Connecticut "brownstone"); the men he employed and how
much he paid them; how the raw material and the finished product were transported; from
whom he purchased the stone and how much he paid for it; the areas in which his finished
work was sold (west central Massachusetts, northern Connecticut and southern New Hampshire);
and personal expenses as well (for the account books themselves $1.88, for watermelons
$1.19, for camp meeting $0.31, for tapping boots $0.87).
He purchased large quantities of marble from Charles Rule of Lanesboro in the Berkshires.
He paid $25.82 for transporting marble from Pittsfield to South Brookfield and $1.48 for
transporting three Italian marble slabs from Boston. All of the stones produced by his shop
from 1841 to 1878 (Griswold died in 1879) are listed by date, place, purchaser and price.
By examining selected work from the different periods covered by the account books, the
development of Griswold's work could readily be traced.
There is much room for research prompted by these account books: the life and family
connections of Jonah Griswold as they may be ascertained from genealogy and local history;
something more about the source of his material and the people from whom he purchased
it; whether he had a shop in Brookfield or began his work there before establishing a shop
in Sturbridge; and who else may have been associated with him, whether a man named Rockwell
or a relative, H.C. Griswold. The account books offer a fascinating opportunity for a scholar
interested, as so many AGS members are, in gravestone study, and they are available for
inspection by our members at the New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston.
The AGS Newsletter Is published quarterly as a service to members of The Association for Gravestone Studies.
The membership year begins on the date dues are received and ends one year from that date. A one-year membership
entitles the members to four Issues of the Newsletter and to participation In the AGS conference in the year
membership is current. Send membership fees (Individual/Institutional, $15; Family, $25: contributing, $25) to AGS
Executive Director Rosalee Oakley, 46 Plymouth Rd., Needham. I\/IA 02192. Back issues of the Newsletter are
available for $3.00 per issue from Rosalee Oakley. The goal of the Newsletter is to present timely information
about projects, literature, and research concerning gravestones, and about the activities of the Association for
Gravestone Studies. It Is produced by Deborah Trask, vi/ho welcomes suggestions and short contributions from
readers. The Newletter Is not Intended to serve as a journal. Journal articles should be sent to David Walters,
editor of Markers, the Journal of The Association for Gravestone Studies. Dept. of English of New Hampshire.
Durham, NH 03824, Address Newsletter contributions to Deborah Trask, editor, The Nova Scotia Museum, 1747
Summer St., Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 3A6, Canada. Order Markers, the Journal of the Association for Gravestone
Studies (Vol. 1, $20: Vol. 2, $15, hardcover $25: Vol. 3, $14, hardcover $23) from Rosalee Oakley Send contributions
to the AGS Archives to Elizabeth Rich, Archivist, 43 Rybury Hlllway, Needham, l\/IA 02192. Address other
correspondence and orders to Rosalee Oakley. Mall addressed to AGS c/o The American Antiquarian Society,
Worcester, MA 01609, or to Rosalee Oakley, will be forwarded to the appropriate AGS office.
NEWSLETTER
OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES
DEBORAH TRASK, ED.
VOLUME 10 NUMBER 3 SUMMER 1986
ISSN: 0146-5783
CONTENTS
1986 CONFERENCE, PINE HILL COLLEGE, BROOKLINE MA, June 27-29, 1986
Some of the Carvers Represented in the Boston Burying Grounds 1
Conference IVIini-Tours 10
Conference papers and presenters 12
Annual report of the President 17
Forbes Award 19
Thank you! 20
The use of a Mirror in Gravestone Photography 21
by Daniel Farber
More (and more accurate) on Highgate Cemetery 22
MEMBER NEWS 25
PUBLICATIONS 26
CONFERENCES AND EXHIBITS 27
WANTED! 27
The Association For
Gravestone Studies
Conference '86
Boston,MA June 27-29
NOTE: This is a reprint of a tiandout, prepared by Laurel
Gabel, wtiicii was given to all who took part in the
Conference Bus Tour. All Saturday bus tour attendees
should take a couple of minutes to correct the following
errors found in the original handout: On the page about
"The Old Stone Carver", all the dates should begin 16
instead of 17. Caleb Lamson's death date should read
1760 instead of 1767.
SOME OF THE CARVERS REPRESENTED
IN THE BOSTON BURYING GROUNDS
prepared by Laurel Gabel
Boston's first burial is said to have occurred in the fall
of 1630 when Isaac Johnson was laid to rest in the upper
corner of his garden plot. Before the end of the year,
there were many fresh graves; an early record notes that
"Brother Johnson's garden is getting to be a poor place
for vegetables." Brother Johnson's garden had become
what we now know as King's Chapel Burying Ground.
For the first thirty years of the Colony it was the only
burying place. Then in 1660 two new graveyards were
laid out: Copp's Hill in the North End and the Granary,
or South, Burying Ground. The earliest lettered stones
in Boston date from about this time. These three old
burying grounds (and to a lesser extent Central Burying
Ground on the Common, opened in 1756), serve as
galleries for the work of Boston's gravestone carvers:
the Old Stonecutter, Mumford, JN and WC, Gilchrist,
Gaud, Grant, and generations of Codners, Emmeses,
Fosters, Homers, Geyers and Lamsons. It is often difficult
to isolate the individual work of these inbred carvers.
Many worked within the same time period. They trained
under the same masters and with each other, borrowed
designs freely from one another, used similar slate and,
perhaps most important, carved for the same well defined
market. The results are the bewilderingly similar "Boston
style" stones. If you use the list of probate documented
stones provided for each of the three old graveyards,
you will soon see the problem. John Homer's standard
skull stones are not unlike those carved by William
Codner. Codner's more ambitious efforts are often
indistinguishable from the work of Emmes. The carving
styles of sons blend in with the father's and eventually
even the Lamson skull stones conform to look like
everyone elses! Harriette Forbes provided us with a
valuable foundation with her scholarship on Boston
carvers, but there is still a great deal to be discovered
about the stones, "the men who made them," and the
carving network that existed here in the 17th and 18th
centuries.
continued
THE OLD STONE CUTTER, (dates unknown)
He has been called the Old Stone Cutter, the Charlestown
Carver, the Old Master and the Stone Cutter of Boston,
but his actual identity remains a mystery. We know him
by his early work. Mfs. Forbes suggests 1653-1695 as
his carving dates, although there seem to be few stones
in his style before the early 1670's. After about 1686, his
work becomes difficult to separate from that of his
probable apprentice, Joseph Lamson. There are
examples of the Old Stone Cutter's work in all three
Boston graveyards. Look for Latin phrases, squared-off
designs in the shoulder arches, architectural columns
and arches, skulls with large broad craniums, hooked
eyebrows and a squared-off mouthful of teeth. In the
Granary, the Neal Children's stone is a good example
of the Old Stone Cutter's work.
WILLIAM MUMFORD (1641-1718)
William Mumford was a well patronized Boston carver
of the late 1600's and early 1700's. He seems to have
produced a wide variety of styles and shapes, some of
which may prove to be the work of journeymen carvers
or apprentices. Many Mumford stones are wider than
they are tall, with an elongated, somewhat shallow
tympanum. On the more vertical stones, a decorated
border panel just below the tympanum is typical.
Mumford's best examples have well sculpted, lush side
borders (he seldom used a bottom border), simple disc,
coil or doughnut finials, and capital letters neatly carved
within faint guidelines. The individual carved teeth of his
skulls often protrude toward the midline of the mouth,
creating a characteristic convex curve. Eye sockets are
oval, without brows. Mumford is well represented in the
three Boston burying grounds, although there are no
probated examples in the Granary. No signed or initialed
stones have ever been found. William Mumford is buried
at Copp's Hill.
JAMES FOSTER I (1 651 -1 732), JAMES FOSTER II (1 698-
1763), HOPESTILL FOSTER (1701-1773), JAMES
FOSTER III (1732-1771)
Although no signed or probated Foster stones appear
until the 1 720's, there is a substantial body of work dating
from the 1690's which Mrs. Forbes attributes to James
Foster I. These early stones exhibit the same sharp
carving style, square-jawed skulls and unique compli-
cated scroll borders that characterize the later docu-
mented work of James Foster II. There are relatively few
Foster stones in the three old Boston burying grounds.
The two major styles of the second generation —
characteristic light bulb shaped solemn mouths, large
noses and eliptical eyes under hairy brows — are heavily
concentrated in nearby Dorchester. James III carved
elongated pear-shaped heads with tight lips and
exaggerated bulbous noses. This late Foster style is
sometimes confused with the work of John Dwight, with
whom there is almost certainly some, as yet undiscovered,
carving link. Much of the Foster work is carved on a
high quality light grey slate that has weathered remarkably
well.
continued
AGSSu'86p2
THOMAS WELCH (1655-1703/4)
Thomas Welch is another "known" carver about whom
very little is actually knov(/n. Welch was probably an
apprentice or associate of the Old Stone Cutter. He is
linked to carver Joseph Whittemore, his cousin, and to
Joseph Lamson who, in 1705, married Welch's widow,
thereby acquiring his house and inventory. The few
known Welch stones are very much in the Lamson style
and appear to be concentrated, like the early Lamson
work, north of the Charles River.
JOSEPH WHITTEMORE (1666/7-1745)
There are no surviving documented examples of this
carver's work. Whittemore, like his cousin Thomas Welch,
seems to have been in some way associated with Joseph
Lamson and may have been a part of that active
Charlestown shop in the early years of the 18th century.
JOSEPH LAMSON (1658-1722)
The largest concentration of Lamson work is found north
of the Charles River in the towns of Charlestown, Maiden,
Watertown, Cambridge and Woburn. However, there are
very few old New England towns without at least one
Lamson example! Joseph Lamson's carving is charac-
terized by: drapery or "ruffles" and "Fugit Hora," faces
in the border finials, "death imps" at work on a tympanum
frieze, the early use of both capital and lower case letters,
oval-eyed skulls with hooked eyebrows, and the use of
a narrower bottom border of a slightly different design
than the side panels. Joseph Lamson's earliest work is
difficult to distinguish from that of the Old Stone Cutter,
with whom he may have trained. Likewise, many of the
early Lamson style stones may be the work of Welch
or Whittemore who are thought to have been associated
with the Lamson shop. Succeeding generations of
Lamsons continued to carve gravestones well into the
19th century.
^ —
JN (? JOHN NOYES)* (? 1674-1749)
There are no known payments for gravestones to anyone
bearing the initials "JN" in the I\/liddlesex or Suffolk County
probates. Thus, Jl^'s six initialed stones, all dated between
1 700-1 705, form the basis for what little we actually know
about this talented carver. The only Boston initialed stone
(Sarah Dolbeare, 1701, Copp's Hill) is apparently now
lost. The remaining five stones found in Roxbury, Newton,
Quincy, Marshfield and Duxbury, raise as many questions
as they answer. Four of these five are winged skull stones
and the fifth, upon which several other important
attributions have been based, depicts a vase or urn with
flowers. The Granary's Ruth Carter and Thadeus
MacCarty stones are generally thought to be JN's work.
fVlany authors have also attributed the urn/dagon stones
of the 1680's and early 1690's to JN, although several
of these stones seem to exhibit stylistic and lettering links
closer to the known work of William Mumford.
(*) David Watters presents strong circumstantial evidence
in his article "The JN Carver" (MARKERS II) to suggest
that JN was Boston silversmith John Noyes.
continued
AGSSu'86p3
JAMES GILCHRIST (1689-1722)
During the ten or fifteen years before fiis early death in
1722, James Gilchrist shared the Boston carving market
with Mumford, JN?, WC, Nathaniel Emmes, Gaud and
Grant. We know that Gilchrist was paid for four stones;
three have never been located, and the fourth, a
tablestone, no longer bears the lettering for which
Gilchrist was paid. However, there are eight initialed
stones, dated between 1705-1711, that provide clues to
Gilchrist's carving style. Five of these show a feminine
face surrounded by individual puffs of hair, a delicate
nose, eliptical eyes (0-), and short, lash-like carving
strokes over the eyebrow arch. Gilchrist had varying
degrees of success when it came to carving a chin, but
he always made the attempt. The three initialed skull
stones are similar to the known work of WC and William
Grant. Most of the stones show an hourglass somewhere
in the design. Gilchrist apparently had a working
relationship with the carver WC (William Custin) and
probably also with John Gaud. The JN initialed stone
in Marshfield for Rev. Edward Thompson is matched with
a footstone bearing JG's initials. Was there an earlier
JN/JG connection? Gilchrist's own gravestone stands
in the King's Chapel Burying Ground. The Granary stones
for Mary Green and Lt. John Mackintoshe are initialed
JG.'
iiir.Ri: i.'/i.s luiKiiiu
riii: noDv orn-
wiril.lnM HANKS.
, A(ir.i) 6 4-. yr.AKs
I 1)11.1) Ai'rtii.. '/ a".
' J., 7 1 1.
WC (7WILLIAM CUSTIN) (dates unknown)
The nine WC initialed stones (1711-1715) provide the
only clues we have about this carver, thought to be William
Custin. Except for a pinwheel device that occurs
somewhere in the border carving of all but one of the
stones, the nine documented examples have few common
elements. Six stones feature a winged skull, three are
winged faces; all but two appear to be exceptionally well
executed. William Custin and carver James Gilchrist
shared a Boston shop in 1714-1715, and their initialed
stones appear in several of the same out of town locations,
suggesting some sort of working relationship early in their
careers. Their styles are very similar. Boston records have
thus far yielded little biographical information about
William Custin. The Thomas Lanyon marker in the
Granary is a poor example of WC's talent.
NATHANIEL EMMES (1690-1750)
If probate payments are any indication, one of Boston's
most popular carvers in the first half of the 18th century
was Nathaniel Emmes; more than eighty-five estates list
payments to him. One of the earliest stones that can be
attributed to Emmes is the initialed 1808 Granary stone
for Arthur Mason. Perhaps more typical of his style is
the standard skull stone example of Lemuel Gowen (1 727)
or Benjamin White's face with wings marker (1721).
Typically, Emmes' skulls and graceful feathered wings
are designed to fill the various sized tympanum arches.
Often a set of crossed bones or a decorated border arch
is used above the skull. All but the earliest/cheapest
stones have bottom borders, usually in the common
Boston design of reversing curls and flowing foliage.
Nathaniel Emmes is not generally recognized as the fine
carver many of his documented stones prove him to be.
Some of the beautifully carved coats of arms and unique,
elaborate stones that are assumed to be the work of his
pupil, William Codner, may in fact be his. Nathaniel's son
Joshua, a Boston goldsmith, was also paid for graves-
tones and is thought to have been a carver. Son Henry
Emmes was one of the most accomplished gravestone
artists in the area.
continued
AGSSu'86p4
NATHANIEL LAMSON (1692-1735), CALEB LAMSON
(1697-1760), JOSEPH LAMSON (1728-1789), JOHN
LAMSON (1732-1776), JOSEPH LAMSON (1760-1808),
CALEB LAMSON (1760-?)
Joseph Lamson's sons, Caleb and Nathaniel, began their
carving careers while still in their teens. They continued
to produce variations of the early Lamson style skulls,
as well as sweet faced cherubs. Many of their stones
include a simple flower and/or a central oak leaf device
that hangs down from the tympanum arch. The char-
acteristic Lamson figs or gourds usually appear
somewhere on the stone. Be sure to notice the footstone
design; it was used with enough consistency to be
considered a Lamson trademark. Much of the second
generation Lamson work is carved on a distinctive
reddish-purple slate with pale grey/green or white
diagonal veins running through it. Joseph and John
Lamson of the third generation carried on in the general
Lamson style, but their work is less distinctive. Side
borders on their stones are narrow and more or less
identical, often with a small pinwheel divided disc in the
finial or above the tympanum.
JOHN GAUD (1693-1750)
John Gaud was paid £1,0,0 for Samuel Holbrook's
Granary stone. The conventional Boston skull, border and
lettering could otherwise have been attributed to any
number of contemporaneous carvers, each of whom
produced a similar generic design. Court documents
suggest an early link between Gaud and the Mumford
shop, and a later working relationship with the carver
James Gilchrist. Gaud appears to have used only two
basic designs, neither unique; a skull with wings and
a feminine face crowned with puffy curls of hair. Most
of his carving has a loose, freehand look and feel. He
often used a frond-like design over the tympanum arch,
as a filler, or for the side and bottom borders. Gaud's
carving can be found on many different types of stone.
John Gaud apparently left Boston about 1728. He
continued to carve in the area of Milford, CT, until his
death there is 1750.
WILLIAM GRANT (1694-1726)
The two gravestones for which William Grant was paid
in 1 726 have never been located, making the WG initialed
stone for Mary Marshall, 1718, Quincy, our only reference
for Grant. The Marshall stone is a lovely face with wings
stone, very much in the style of Gilchrist, WC and Emmes,
with whom Grant shared the carving market. Forbes gives
Grant's death date as 1726, although there are stones
in the Grant Style dated after that date. Interestingly, a
carver named William Grant moved from Boston to New
York/New Jersey about 1740. The relationship of these
two William Grants, both carvers, is not clear.
continued
KRE LTES Y UODZ OT
ifl?" MSRZ M>JlSHAtL J
mfe: -TO JOHN-.;-, i
MARSH>1LL AGBiSJr
yEARS DIED. 0M_.
.■ ■ . . ■■;■■-■■ I
AGSSu'86p5
WILLIAM CODNER (1709-1769), JOHN CODNER (????-
1769/1782), ABRAHAM CODNER (????-died after 1800)
For over sixty years, William Codner and his sons,
Abraham and John, supplied neatly carved skulls and
winged face for Boston's gravestone market. Codner
cherubs are characterized by a full, chubby looking face
with an attached cap of curls that seldom extend below
the line of the eyebrows. The bridge of the nose is thick
and often raised, the eyes are round and wide open,
and the mouth, with its crooked smile, often has drill holes
where the upper lip extends out on either side of the
more protruding lower lip. Perhaps most distinctive is
the overly ample dimpled chin. William Codner's carving,
especially the lettering, is similar to that of Henry Emmes,
which is not surprising since both were probably students
of Henry's father, Nathaniel. One fairly consistant clue
to William's lettering is the high cross bar on his lower
case "e" (e). As attested to by the beautiful Clark Arms
(Copp's Hill, Winslow tomb) and by several signed
masterpieces in Charleston, SC, Codner was capable of
great artistry when a commission demanded it. Codner
"everyday" skull stones are very ordinary and difficult
to distinguish from similar work by Homer, Emmes and
third generation Lamson carvers. The Granary markers
for Stephen Willis, Mary Treat, and Abigail Cheever are
typical skull examples. Thomas Fillerbrown and David
Gleason document the face with wings style. William
Codner died in 1769 and is buried at Copp's Hill. Son
John died shortly after his father. Abraham Codner was
living in Boston in 1789, but apparently moved soon after
to western Massachusetts, where he continued to carve
gravestones.
HENRY EMMES (1716-1767), JOSHUA EMMES (1719-
1772)
Perhaps the most talented of all the Boston based carvers
was Henry Emmes, son of Nathaniel. Although he
produced his share of the ordinary Boston style skull
stones, the more stunning three-quarter profile skulls,
elegant cherubs and baroque portrait cameos are the
basis for his reputation. Some of the best examples of
Henry Emmes' skill are found in Charleston, SC, a
lucrative carving market that he shared with his closest
competitor, William Codner. Emmes' stones are charac-
terized by a powerful sense of restraint and elegance.
A rough textured stipling used for background, and long,
pointy feathers for the wings are common features.
Cherub faces are frequently asymetrical, expressing a
sort of tossel-headed charm. Like Codner, Emmes often
italicized the date of death and capitalized the name of
the deceased. A lower case "g"=gfis characteristic.
Unfortunately, the Granary's Isaac Dickman (1755) and
John Savell (1756) stones are probated examples of the
more ordinary variety, Henry Emmes moved to Newport,
Rl sometime between 1758-1763.
■?^#~
JOHN HOMER (?1 727-c. 1 803), WILLIAM HOMER (1 770-
1822)
John Homer was first mentioned in probate records in
1 744 when Thomas Dakin's estate paid Nathaniel Emmes
E 0.50.0 for a gravestone and John Homer E 0.55.0 for the
coffin. Not until 1758 was there a specific payment to
Homer for gravestones. Based on many subsequent
probated examples, we know that John Homer carved
the standard design Boston skulls as well as a skull profile
with crossed bones, a face with wings, and toward the
end of the century when he was in partnership with his
son, William, the newly popular urn and willow designs.
Homer's standard stones are unremarkable. Sometimes
there are narrow side borders such as those used by
Codner, Emmes, and the third generation Lamsons. Most
of Homer's stones are framed with simple double line
borders. He was quick to adopt the squared off shoulders
and the flat, borderless tympanum surface that became
popular in the last quarter of the century. The gravestones
for Samuel Emmes, Daniel Pecker, Benjamin Tuttle and
William Summers are John Homer examples found in
the Granary. William Homer was paid for the 1 794 Thomas
Green stone.
continued
AGS Su'86 p 6
HENRY CHRISTIAN GEYER (c. 1 730/35-1 786/89), JOHN
JUST GEYER C79?.died after 1796)
The carving of Henry Christian Geyer and his son, John
Just Geyer, Is seldom confused with the work of anyone
else. Both father and son carved frontal skulls with
misshapen eye sockets and long, teeth-filled lower jaws.
John Geyer also produced a profile skull set in front of
crossed bones — in the style most often associated with
John Homer. The Geyers are probably best known,
however, for their easily recognizable winged faces that
often appear angled and in pairs under a large crown.
Typical Geyer cherubs have blank, level-browed eyes,
asymetrical swirled hair (usually with an errant forelock),
a crooked, thin mouth and a scalloped area under the
chin and along the top of the uplifted wings. The lettering
s recognized by the lower case "t" - K . Both men were
also quite fond oiJ^JP^*". regal crowns and shells in
their baroque borders
A special thank you to Conference Ctiairman Mictiael
Cornish who. along with his assistance in locating
probated stones, also drew up the enclosed Granary map
and provided almost all of the photographs used here.
To Sue Kelly and Anne Williams, for sharing the three
rubbings of initialed stones, and to Daniel Farber who
provided the photographs of the rubbings, THANKS.
IS.
^
^
Wi7//Am M*"r>/4iri^
•JAmts ^I'/eA/'/sf
'~7cA/i Sau.4^
CaAi Jia./nxfa/^
//eat J//// f^este/'
Arinry £v»»/m«j
•JosAu.*. ^/yinncs
JeS'tAA Ad,*n,sen
//e/i/'y CAf/sh'jiA Ceyt/'
\7iAn AA/rwtcn
■JomtJ A^fiJ AcA 2ZC
AJirAAA-m Ce^ACr
•JeAn JujA" ^t<Jir
'3tyt
J^St/iA AdoTimr)
AGSSu'86p 7
GRANARY BURIAL GROUND TOUR LEADERS
MICHAEL CORNISH, B.FA, Art History, Massachusetts College of Art; AGS Conference 1986
Coordinator, and Program Chairman. This year marks the fourth time that Mike Cornish has
acted as Conference Program Coordinator, and the sixth year as a very active member of
the Board of Trustees. He has just recently completed photographing for the City of Boston
Inventory more than 650 photographs of markers in the Eustis Street Burying Ground in Roxbury,
and is currently working on a study of pre-1670 Boston area gravestones by several unknown
makers, with a possibility of extending his research to England for their early work.
LAUREL K. GABEL, R.N.; Vice-President, Association for Gravestone Studies. A Registered
Nurse with a longtime passion for genealogical research and social history, she has transcribed
and indexed the probate documentation included in Harriet Forbes' Notes. She continues to
maintain the AGS Research Files as well as the Farber Collection, which is indexed by carver
and serves as a much-used resource for scholarly inquiries. She has co-authored, with AGS
President, Ted Chase, several articles on the life and work of 18th century New England
gravestone carvers. She is currently teaching a gravestone study course at the Rochester,
New York Museum of Science and Man, which includes a tour of the Victorian Mount Hope
Cemetery.
The Granary
Tremontst.
KEY TO GRANARY BURYING GROUND MAP
A. Hannah Craford, 1688, ("mermaid" carving)
B. Isaac Viburt, 1776, (Daniel Hastings)
C. Jotham Bush, 1778, (James Wilder)
D. Ann Richardson, 1760, (who did these?)
E. Stillborn daughter of Hopestill Foster, 1733, (Foster)
F. Ruth Carter, 1697/8, (standing skeletons; unauthorized over-cleaning)
G. George Hollord, 1688, (remarkable practice carving)
H. Hannah Hodge, 1786, (Lemuel Savery)
I. ' Paul Revere
J. John Hancock
K. James Otis
L Boston Massacre victims
M. Samuel Adams
N. Elias Grice (an early carver associated with Mumford)
O. Franklin Monument (Benjamin Franklin's parents)
P. Peter Faneuil
continued
AGSSu'86p8
1. Attwood, Susanna; 1791, John Geyer per receipt, 1.16.0
2. Bourn, Benjamin; 1 748-1 751 , William Codner for gravestones, 1 2.0.0
3. Bradiee, Samuel; 1 770-1 758?, CInristian Geyer for gravestones, 2.8.0
4. Bushell, John; 1 731 -1 738, Nathaniel Emmes for gravestones, 0.60.0
5. Cheever, Abigail; 1732/3-1735, William Codner for gravestones, 3.10.0
6. Crav\/ford, Thomas; 1773-1774, Henry Christian Geyer for gravestones, 1.8.0
7. Dickman, Isaac; 1755-1759, H. Emmes for gravestones, 1.12.0
8. Dix, Samuel (?Jr.); 1 736-1 739, William Codner for gravestones, 3.0.0
9. Duggan, Mary; 1795, signed: Geyer, Fecit.
10. Eliot, Andrew; 1749-1753, Nathaniel Emmes for gravestones, 20.0.0
11. Emmes, Samuel; 1775-1775/80, John Homer for gravestones, 2.0.0
12. Fillerbrown, Thomas; 1754-1760, William Codner for gravestones, 2.13.4
1 3. Gardner, David; 1 760-1 761 , William Codner for gravestones, 1 .4.0
14. Gleason, David; 1768, Mr. Codner for gravestones, 20.0.0
15. Gov\/en, Lemuel; 1727-1737, Nathaniel Emms for gravestones, 6.0.0
16. Green, Thomas; 1794-1795, William Homer, 1.0.0
1 7. Green, Mary; 1 709, signed: "JG"
1 8. Holbrook, Samuel; 1 721 -1 724, John Gaud for gravestones, 1 .0.0
1 9. Johonnot, Andrew; 1 760, William Codner, 2.8.0
20. Lanyon, Thomas; 1711, signed: "WC"
21 . Mason, Arthur; 1 708, signed: "NE"
22. Marshall, Samuel; 1 742-1 744, Emmes for gravestones, 8.0.0
23. Mackintoshe, Lt. John; 1710, signed: "JG"
24. McNeil, Robert; 1 752-1 755, William Codner for gravestones, 1 .4.0
25. Miller, Alexander; 1724, Nathaniel Emmes for gravestones, 3.10.0
26. Moore, William; 1 761 -1 767, H. Christian Geyer for gravestones, 1 .8.0
27. Morris, Charles; 1730-1732, Nathaniel Ems for gravestones, 5.0.0
28. Osburn, Ruth; 1 752-1 753, William Codner per acct., 0.30.0
29. Pecker, Daniel; 1777-1779, John Homer for gravestones , 1.10.0
30. Renken, Daniel; 1 753-1 755, William Codner, 1 .6.8
31 . Ridgway, John; 1 762-1 765, William Codner, 1 .1 6.0
32. Savell, John; 1756-1757, Mr. Emmes for gravestones, 1.0.8
33. Staniford, John; 1 754, William Codner, 1 .6.8
34. Summers, William; 1 765, Mr. Homer for gravestones, 1 .4.0
35. Treat, Mary; 1 741 -1 742, William Codner for gravestones, 3.0.0
36. Trecothick, Sarah; 1 749-1 763, William Codner for gravestones, 1 4.0.0
37. Tuttle, Benjamin; 1 782-1 785, Mr. Homer for gravestones, 3.0.0
38. Warden, William; 1 786-1 787, John Just Geyer for gravestones, 3.1 5.0
39. Way, Robert; 1736-1738, Nathaniel Emmons (?Emmes) for gravestones, 0.60.0
40. Wheeler, David; 1 782-1 783, C. Geyer for gravestones, 4.7.5
41 . White, Benjamin; 1 721 -1 726, Mr. Emmes for gravestones, 4.0.0
42. Willis, Stephen; 1 747-1 748, William Codner for gravestones, 7.0.0
SOME PROBATE PAYMENTS TO KNOWN STONECUTTERS — KING'S CHAPEL
1. Apthorp, Charles; 1788, Codner for a slate marker; later a payment for putting up the
monument in King's Chapel, 2.14.0
2. Band, Nathaniel; 1 773-1 774/5, Henry Christian Geyer for gravestones, 2.8.0
3. Brown, Mary; 1728-1729, Mr. Emmes for gravestones, 1.10.0
4. Dillaway, John; 7-1780, John Homer's acct., two gravestones, 7.36.0
5. Donneli, Sarah; 1 734-1 745?, Codner for gravestones, 4.0.0
6. Foster, Elizabeth; 1 733/4-1 739, William Codner, stone cutter, 3.0.0
7. Fox, Jacob; 1 778-1 783, Henry Christian Geyer for gravestones, 3.6.0
8. Griggs, Hannah; 1759-1761, Henry Eames (Emmes) for gravestones, 0.13.4
9. Grover, John; 1747-1749, Nathaniel Emmes for gravestones, 12.0.0
10. Jackson, Joseph; 1790-1794, to cash paid John Homer and Son per bill for tombstones,
etc.; by error in charging estate with cash paid to Geyer for a tombstone in account
rendered. (Earlier, cash paid Geyer per bill for gravestones), $14.75
11. Knock, Mary, wi'fe to Wiiliam Knock; 1724/5-1726, William Knock estate paid Mr. Emmes,
0.50.0
12. Marion, John; 1728, Nathaniel Emmes for gravestones, 2.18.0
13. McDaniel, Hugh; 1770-1771, John Homer for stone (?), 1.16.0
14. Newell, John; 1792, John Homer for gravestones, 2.8.0
15. Roaberts (Roberts), Mrs. Luke; 1780, Luke Roaberts/ Roberts estate paid Henry C. Geyer,
4.0.0
16. Sharpe, Elizabeth; 1721-1722, Nathaniel Emmes for gravestones, 2.10.0
1 7. Smith, Seth; 1 721 -1 724, Mr. Emmes for gravestones, 1 .1 0.0
18. Sweetser, Mrs. Wigglesworth; she died 1727, husband's estate paid William Codner for
gravestones in 1747, 6.0.0
1 9. Wharton, Dorothy; 1 776, Wm. Penirose for tomb; Codner for gravestones, 0.1 6.0
20. White, Joseph; 1751-1756, Nathaniel Emmes for gravestones, 15.0.0 (Nathaniel Emmes
died 1750)
AGSSu'86p9
KINGS CHAPEL TOUR LEADERS
FRANK G. MATERO, Director of The Center For Preservation Research, and Assistant Professor
of Architecture, Division of Historic Preservation, Graduate School of Architecture and Planning,
Columbia University. Prof. IVIatero has published numerous conservation papers, lectured widely
(both in this country and abroad), and has produced an initial interim planning study for the
Boston Historic Burying Grounds Initiative.
EDMUND SULLIVAN, B.F.A. Painting, B.S. Physics. Mr. Sullivan has exhibited his sculptures
in numerous juried and one-man shows in and around the Boston area. Sullivan Marble Company
has been engaged in structural stone restoration and conservation both in Massachusetts and
Connecticut. Under the Directorship of Ellen Lipsey and guidance of Frank Matero, both Mr.
Sullivan and Mr. Uchida have begun conservation procedures for the Historic Burying Grounds
Initiative.
BART S. UCHIDA, Sculptor, B.A. McMaster University, Ontario, Canada. Mr. Uchida has studied
and worked in various sculpture studios in Canada, France and Denmark since 1967. He
has also lived and worked in several marble studios in Carrara, Pietra-santa and Florence,
Italy. He is working with Frank Matero and Ed Sullivan on the restoration project.
CORPS HILL TOUR LEADERS
DIANA HUME GEORGE, Associate Professor of English, The Pennsylvania State University/
Behrend College. Professor Hume George has published many articles on poetry,
psychoanalysis, feminist theory, and American attitudes towards death in prestigeous academic
journals. Her book, BLAKE AND FREUD, was nominated for the Pulitzer and the James Russell
Lowell Prizes in 1980.
MALCOLM A. NELSON, Distinguished Teaching Professor of English, State University of New
York/Fredonia. In addition to several books. Professor Nelson has published numerous articles
and papers on eighteenth century music and poetry, Shakespeare and Elizabethan drama,
and American gravestone poetry and art.
Together, this team presented, "Alms for Oblivion: The Old Burying Ground in Brewster,
Massachusetts," in 1978, and in 1983 they published EPITAPH AND ICON: EIGHTEENTH
CENTURY BURYING GROUNDS OF CAPE COD, MARTHA'S VINEYARD, AND NANTUCKET.
CONFERENCE
MINI-TOURS
DRIVE-YOURSELF INFORMAL WALKING TOURS OF METROPOLITAN BOSTON
CEMETERIES BY AUTHORITATIVE GUIDES DURING THE MORNING AND AFTERNOON OF
FRIDAY, JUNE 27
morning:
MOUNT AUBURN CEMETERY (1 831 to present)
GUIDE: BARBARA ROTUNDO
Located on Mount Auburn Street in Cambridge.
Mount Auburn was the first rural or garden cemetery. It pioneered the new concepts that
are now considered obvious and essehtial in any cemetery: attractively landscaped grounds,
burial in perpetuity, purchase of as large a lot as a family wanted (and could pay for), and
a fence or wall enclosure that would have regular hours of opening with even lot owners
excluded when it was closed. The grounds of Mount Auburn are famous not only for their
beauty but also for a scientific interest since the wide variety of plantings through a century
and a half make it a true arboretum. You will see the burial places of famous people from
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow to Fanny Farmer to Buckminster Fuller.
BARBARA ROTUNDO has published extensively on the rural or garden cemetery as it developed
in the 19th century, and is assembling information on "white bronze" memorials. She teaches
at SUNY Albany.
ELIOT BURYING GROUND (1 653 through early 1 9th century)
GUIDE: MICHAEL CORNISH
Located at the corner of Eustis and Washington Streets in Roxbury.
Established in 1630, this graveyard is as ancient as King's Chapel and Phipps Street, but
has not enjoyed the attention of gravestone scholars. Mostly open and sunny, the crowded
yard contains about 700 pre-1800 markers. It is unevenly maintained and, although most stones
are in generally good condition, many are badly stained from urban pollution or are fallen
or out of the ground. Many excellent examples of Foster carving are found here (several
"probated"), as well as work by Hastings, Codner, Mumford, Geyer, New, Hartshorn, and at
least two unidentified early (1650's, 1660's) stonecutters. The stones face generally East AND
West, with some exceptions, and some areas in shade. RUBBING NOT ALLOWED.
AGSSu'86p 10
PHIPPS STREET BURYING GROUND (1648 through early 19th century)
GUIDE: JAMES BRADLEY
Located off School Street in Charlestown.
Set on a hill, this large and very ancient graveyard is unevenly maintained and completely
sunny. About 1400 pre-1800 gravestones face in all directions, making the site excellent for
photography at all times. NO RUBBING ALLOWED. Significant for outstanding armorial carvings
on tombs, great number of 17th century carvings in pristine condition, and high quality of
many especially elaborate early carvings. "The Old Stonecutter" or "The Charlestown Carver"
is best-represented here, as is the Lamson workshop. Other stonecutters include Hastings
and a few Boston shops, as well as unidentified local makers.
JAMES BRADLEY is an Archaeologist and Survey Director for the Massachusetts Historical
Commission.
LEXINGTON OLD BURYING GROUND (1690 through late 19th century)
GUIDES: LAUREL GABEL & THEODORE CHASE
Located behind the First Unitarian Church on Massachusetts Avenue, across from Lexington
Green.
This is a flat, well maintained, mostly sunny graveyard containing about 320 pre-1800
gravestones. RUBBING IS ALLOWED. The carvings face several directions, but the majority
face West. Stonecutters represented by work here include: the Lamsons (and probably affiliates
Welch & Whittemore), the Parks, Webster, Colburn, Wilder, Geyer, Worcester, and Foster. There
are several outstanding Lamson and Park stones, eight "probated" stones, a signed stone,
and quarry-marked stones.
LAUREL GABEL is Vice President of the AGS, as well as the organization's Research Coordinator,
currently working on the Farber Photograph Collection Carver Identification Project.
THEODORE CHASE is the AGS President and a member of the governing boards of the New
England Historic Genealogical Society and Massachusetts Historical Society.
afternoon:
CAMBRIDGE OLD BURYING GROUND (17th & 18th centuries)
GUIDE: BRYAN FERRICK
Located next to Christ Church, between Harvard Square and Cambridge Common, across
from the old gate to Harvard College.
This beautifully-kept graveyard contains 200-300 18th century headstones and about 75 17th
century examples. Open areas are broken by shade trees, and most carvings face West.
RUBBING NOT ALLOWED. Some of the stonecutters represented by work here include: "The
Charlestown Carver", the Lamsons, Hastings, and unidentified early makers.
BRYAN FERRICK is an Historical Archaeologist who teaches a course on Early New England
Headstones at Harvard's Center for Lifelong Learning.
MILTON CEMETERY (1705 through present)
GUIDE: VINCENT F. LUTI
Located at 21 1 Centre Street in Milton.
The cemetery is flat and well kept but has many shade trees. Gravestones face both West
and North. About 100 stones date from the 18th century. RUBBING IS ALLOWED but a rubbing
request form must be filled out at the caretakers house. NO INK RUBBING. Carvings from
Boston, Plymouth County and Bristol County are found here, and the stonecutters represented
include: John & James New, the Pratts, the Lamsons, Geyers, Hastings, Soule (Beza?), Linkon,
Washburn (?), the Fosters, and other unidentified Boston gravestone makers.
VINCENT LUTi is the prime contributor to AGS's "Regional Guide" on the Narragansett Basin,
and has written numerous articles on stonecutters in that area.
FIRST PARISH BURYING GROUND (1672 through 19th century)
GUIDE: THELMA FLEISHMAN
Located at the corner of Centre and Cotton Streets in Newton.
This graveyard is hiJIy, partly shady, and semi-maintained with about 250 pre-1800 markers.
RUBBING IS NOT ENCOURAGED, BUT AGS MEMBERS MAY MAKE RUBBINGS DURING
THIS TOUR. There are many fine carvings here, including work by: "The Charlestown Carver",
the Lamsons, Fosters, Geyer, Mumford, Hastings, Howard (the last two lived here), J.N., Gilchrist
and others. Almost all carvings face West.
THELMA FLEISHMAN is a member of the Newton Historical Commission and works full-time
as a volunteer at the Jackson Homestead, Newton's City Museum.
FOREST HILLS CEMETERY (1848 to present)
GUIDE: BARBARA ROTUNDO
Located between Route 203 and Walk Hill Road in Jamaica Plain.
Founded in Roxbury in 1848, Forest Hills is an outstanding example of the Victorian rural
or garden cemetery. It is still in regular use and has also maintained the historic sections
carefully. The topography consists of winding roads and paths over beautifully landscaped
rolling hills.
AGSSu'86p 11
CONFERENCE PAPERS AND PRESENTORS
Conference '86
PHYLLIS RAPP ANSCOMBE, A.B. University of Pennsylvania, English, 1946. Graduate work at
Middlebury College's Breadloaf School of English. A collector of quilts, and a licensed lay reader
and challice bearer of the Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Connecticut. Has lectured to
various groups on the kinds of textiles likely to be found in Connecticut homes, Quaker quilts
from Burling County in New Jersey, Christian symbolism of white bedspreads, symbols in friendship
quilts.
SYMBOLS FOR THE BED AND THE GRAVE
Falling asleep in Jesus is a euphemism for death, but its scriptural bases (1 These. 4:13, 1
Cor. 15:18-23) made it a popular Christian metaphor. It links the symbols used on bed coverings
with those found on gravestones. After the Reformation, Christians were instructed in devotional
manuals to practice death daily. Prayers for the dead were prohibited. The reformers felt that
an individual's life was summed up on the day of death, allowing nothing to be added or subtracted
in God's Book of Life. Practicing death required submission to God and dying to sin in order
to be prepared for death or for the end of the world foretold in the Apocalypse, whichever happened
first. Parallels were traced between symbols on bed coverings and on gravestones throughout
the 18th and 19th centuries in America.
WARREN F. BRODERICK, Archivist, New York State Archives, State Education Department, Albany,
New York. Mr. Broderick is historian, author, and researcher. Areas of specialization include
local history relating to gravestones, folk art, folklore, literature, stoneware and pottery. For the
past several years, Mr. Broderick has enriched the AGS Annual Conference programs with his
informative presentations of Rensselaer County New York State cemeteries.
OAKWOOD CEMETERY
Located in Lansingburgh, Rensselaer County, New York, this cemetery was founded in 1848,
when the Troy Cemetery Association was organized. Designed by landscape architect J. C. Sidney
of Philadelphia, it contains 2 streams, 4 waterfalls, 5 ponds, and 29 miles of roads and 24 private
mausoleums. This cemetery contains some of the finest scenery of any rural cemetery, and
commands striking views overlooking the Hudson River Valley. It is now on the National Register
of Historic Places.
MARGARET MATTISON COFFIN, MA. English, State University of New York. Education Director,
Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation, Education Curator, Saratoga County Museum. Art
Teacher, textbook editor, lecturer, photographer, antiques collector, Mrs. Coffin is an acknowledged
authority on American antiques specializing in tinware. She has authored numerous articles which
appeared in periodicals, and co-authored a two-volume compendium on painted tinware. Her
interest in gravestone sculpture arose from the research she did for DEATH IN AMERICA,The
History and Folklore of Customs and Superstitions of Early Medicine, Funerals, Burials and
Mourning.
THEODORE G. CORBETT, Ph.D., History, University of Southern California, Los Angeles; Executive
Director, Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation, Inc., Saratoga Springs, New York. Dr. Corbett
also serves as Vice-President, Chairperson of the Financial and Nominations Committees, of
the Federation of Historical Services at Troy, New York. He has directorships of historical societies
and special programs in Long Island, Cooperstown, Albany, and Gettysburg, and has §erved
on numerous Planning and Advisory Boards in New York State.
REHABILITATING AN URBAN BURIAL GROUND:
GIDEON PUTNAM BURIAL GROUND, SARATOGA SPRINGS, NEW YORK
The Gideon Putnam Burial Grounds was first used in 1812 and ceased to take burials in 1871.
Here is a case study of how a neglected Burial Ground is being turned into an urban park.
continued
AGSSuWp 12
J. JOSEPH EDGETTE, Ph.D., Widener University, Pennsylvania. J. Joseph Edgette is currently
the Director of the Master of Liberal Studies Program in the College of Arts and Sciences at
Widener University in Chester, Pennsylvania. He has been and continues to be active in scholarship,
teaching, lecturing, community affairs, and publication. This past year he was guest curator for
a special exhibit at the Heritage Center of Lancaster County, Pa., titled "Symbols in Stone: Lancaster
County Grave Markers." During its seven month run over 43,000 people viewed it. Dr. Edgette
is frequently called upon for consultations related to gravemarkers and cemeteries. He is no
stranger to AGS either. This year marks his fourth presentation to our membership.
MAN'S BEST FRIEND: HIS PLACE OF HAPPY REPOSE
It has often been said that "dog is man's best friend." How does one look upon the cat, birds,
hamsters, other small animals, horses, etc.? Ordinarily when pets depart from this world, a sense
of loss is felt by the owner. The bodies are usually disposed of properly and with some degree
of respect. However, there are many owners of pets who choose to preserve the memory of
their non-human companions by having monuments erected. This presentation treated the
gravemarkers of pets in terms of their style, epitaph, motif, and personal data which correspond
to those of humans.
DAN FARBER, Retired Worcester, Massachusetts, businessman whose avocation is photography.
His nature photographs are in the collections of over 100 museums, and duplicate copies of
his computerized collection of over 10,000 gravestone photographs are housed at the American
Antiquarian Society and the Yale University Art Gallery. He and his wife, Jessie Lie, are working
on a publication which will include an index of the photograph collection.
JESSIE LIE FARBER, Professor Emeritus, Physical Ed., Mount Holyoke College, Worcester,
Massachusetts. She was one of the incorporators of The Association for Gravestone Studies
and has served as Secretary, Editor of the Association's journal Markers, Editor of the AGS
Newsletter, and Director of Publications. (She enjoys making rubbings.) Recipient of the 1985
Association For Gravestone Studies Harriette Merrifield Forbes Award ior distinguished service
in the field of gravestone studies. She has documented and published an impressive book on
the South Hadley Graveyard under the auspices of the South Hadley Historical Society.
Both Jessie and Dan are founders, staunch supporters, guiding lights, mentors and benefactors
of the Association, and have consistently rendered distinguished service in the field of gravestone
studies on both the national and international scale. They have lectured and exhibited his
photographs and her rubbings widely.
THE TULIP, THE FEZ, AND THE TURBAN ON TURKISH GRAVEMARKERS
Turkish gravestones in Istanbul date from the 16th to the 20th century. They are hand-carved
in gray marble, and they are in excellent condition in spite of that city's heavily polluted air.
This paper described Istanbul's cemeteries, their relationship to the mosques, the placement
and facing of the head and footstones, their shapes and decorative motifs, and their inscriptions,
and it related these elements to the political and religious history of Istanbul. Slides and rubbings
were used to illustrate the verbal presentation.
BRYAN F. FERRICK, B.A. Harvard University. Mr. Frederick is Financial Officer (Senior
Accountant) of Harvard University; part-time instructor of colonial New England at the Center
For Life-Long Learning at Harvard; the co-author of an on-going project on Salem Village
witchcraft to be published ca. 1990. "Early New England Headstones," developed from a lecture/
field trip series sponsored by Harvard Outings and Innings — visiting the Harvard Square
Burying Ground.
EARLY NEW ENGLAND HEADSTONES: A SYNOPSIS
A Synopsis of a Course Covering: Man's Time on Earth; Cultural Baggage of the Puritans;
The Three Styles of Puritan Stone-Carving Artwork; 17th and 18th century Massachusetts:
Discovery in Harvard Square of a fourth style; The King Phillip Indian War in Massachusetts:
1675 Historic Cambridge; Arlington and Cambridge, one town; The American Revolution; Early
New England Headstones considered as remains of a Culture: Salem, Boston, Cambridge,
The Countryside.
(Ed. note: This was an enthusiastic, but somewhat slapstick approach to social history. Mr.
Ferrick's thesis, based on observations in the Cambridge Burying Ground at Harvard Square,
is that there were no death heads depicted on gravestones before 1675. The horror of King
Philip's War brought a revival of the medieval image of the dance of death to gravestones.)
continued
AGSSu'86p 13
THOMAS E. GRAVES, Thomas E. Graves has an M.A. and a Ph.D. in Folklore and Folklife
from the University of Pennsylvania. He has taught at The Pennsylvania State University —
Capitol Campus and is currently a Folklife Consultant to the Office of Folklife Programs of
the Pennsylvania Governor's Heritage Affairs Advisory Commission. He has done extensive
research on the attitudes tow/ard death reflected on both (Pennsylvania) English and
Pennsylvania German gravestones.
WE BOW TO THEE, O LORD, ON HIGH:
PENNSYLVANIA GERMAN MENNONITE GRAVESTONES*
The Mennonites, along with the Amish, represent what has become known as "The Plain
People." Their ideals of plainess are, or have been, shared by other religious groups in this
country, such as the Quakers and the New England Puritans. Along with the Puritans, the
Mennonites do not believe in "graven images", yet they enjoy a rich folk art in their architecture,
furniture, quilts and illuminated manuscripts, the latter two genres often embellished with bright
geometric or floral designs. While the Quakers carried their plainess over into their cemetery
markers, the Puritans had a richly decorated marker tradition. This talk will explore the ways
in which Mennonite ideals of plainess have, or have not, been applied to the markers in their
graveyards. Most of the examples will come from Berks County, Pennsylvania.
* This presentation replaces A PUBLIC SECTOR RESPONSE TO THE PRESERVATION OF
HISTORIC CEMETERIES by Paul Willis, who was unable to attend.
ELLEN LIPSEY, Project Director, Boston Historic Buring Grounds Initiative.
BOSTON HISTORIC BURYING GROUNDS INITIATIVE
The Boston Historic Burying Grounds Initiative is a private/public partnership formed out of
a concern that the legacy of the city's historic cemeteries could soon be lost without
comprehensive planning and preservation efforts.
Since February 1985, with grants totalling almost $200,000 the Initiative has completed a
methodology and pilot program for stone conservation, prepared landscape and structural
master plans for all sixteen 17th, 18th, and 19th century burying grounds, stabilized a 300'
long free-standing tomb structure, and completed inventories for 1,500 stones (2 burying
grounds). In addition, it has begun large-scale stone conservation treatments in King's Chapel
Burying Ground, received a commitment of $400,000 in Capital Improvement funds from the
City and launched a fundraising campaign.
The total project is expected to cost about $5 million and take ten years to accomplish. It
is probably the most comprehensive cemetery preservation project ever undertaken by an
American city, and is viewed as an important model for other communities.
BEN J. LLOYD, Stone Mason, Gravestone Scholar from Great Bedwyn, Marlborough Wilts,
United Kingdom. Mr. Lloyd has previously presented material to the AGS Conference. He has
devoted considerable time to the mystical interpretation of gravestones all over the world,
and in 1985 he spent one hundred days in New Zealand, Australia, and Bali examining burial
customs and burial markers.
GRAVEN IMAGES UPON GRAVEN STONES IN GRAVEN YARDS
Mr. Lloyd discussed what he has discovered: ". . . that subconsciously the gravestone cutter
carved the neutral communication system of man before he learned to write and speak, and
when compared, one reveals a language made of the number 21212345510, which add to
26 instead of 26 letters of the alphabet we use today." He believes that every letter in our
alphabet owes its origin to the gravestone.
ELIZABETH W. McCLAVE, The Stephentown Historical Society, Stephentown, New York. Mrs.
McClave has written a book, Epitaphs in ttie Only Stephentown on Earth. She states: "I hope
we will have received grants to enable it to be printed before next summer."
LIVING GRAVESTONES
LIVING GRAVESTONES was instituted in 1976 by recording, on 3"x 5" cards, all the information
on every carved gravestone in Stephentown. Since then all available facts about those and
other individuals have been added from records of schools, assessors, census, morticians,
churches, indentures, letters, legal papers, etc. These files are now on over 23,000 cards and
have turned the cold gravestones into LIVING GRAVESTONES, an authentic record of past
residents. Some of those records go back as far as the 1500's.
continued
AGSSu'86p 14
DARRELL A. NORRIS, Ph.D., Geography; Associate Professor, State University of New York
at Genesco. Dr. Norris holds degrees from Cambridge, McGill University, and McMaster
University in Hamilton, Canada. His cemetery research is part of his general interest in the
evolving cultural landscapes of the -United States and Canada, on which he has published
several articles. In 1985, he presented a course on the American Cemetery as part of the
summer program at Cooperstown, NY. Professor Norris is particularly interested in systematic
gravestone inventory and record linkage as teaching and research tools.
COMMUNITY, REGION, AND SOCIETY: A GEOGRAPHICAL PERSPECTIVE
ON IDENTITY AND MEANING IN GRAVESTONE DESIGN
Immersed in the eddies of local custom, unique traits, and carver idiosyncracies, we are apt
to overlook stronger currents which guided gravestone design in North America between the
recession of colonial folk tradition and the advent of twentieth-century mass culture. Any
community assemblage of nineteenth-century gravestone is a rich lode for the cultural
geographer, for it reveals changing norms of taste and practice indicative of each community's
exposure and adherence to external influences. Each gravestone embodied a complex set
of constituent elements and dimensions, all of which were variously responsive to standards
transmitted across space and through time. We may therefore view nineteenth-century
communities of the dead as many-faceted geographical signatures, marked at one extreme
by archipelagos of stubborn folk-cultural, denominational, or ethnic persistence, at the other
by the ebb and flow of societal iconography in Victorian America.
JOHN A PAUSTIAN, Landmarks Commission, Township of Hanover in Whippany, New Jersey.
GEORGE WHEELER, Stone Conservator, Staff, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
City.
CONSERVATION OF THE CEMETERY IN
HANOVER TOWNSHIP, WHIPPANY, NEW JERSEY
John Richards, schoolmaster, donated property in the Township of Hanover, New Jersey, for
a church and cemetery in 1718. Later that year, he was the first to be buried there. Also
buried there are two of the first judges of Morris county and eleven Revolutionary War veterans.
In recent years, responsibility for the care of this cemetery has passed from its Trustees to
that of the Township of Hanover. Recognizing the unique and irreplaceable nature of this
site, the Township, operating through its Landmarks Commission, has undertaken a program
of stone conservation and repair with professional supervision.
The historical aspects of the site as well as the problems caused by failure of the particular
types of stone involved, and methods used in their conservation were discussed, as well as
budgetary aspect of the project: the several sources of income, both public and private, and
use of volunteer labor to help reduce costs.
(Ed. note; This organised and practical community approach to cemetery conservation sparked
considerable discussion. We hope to have a written report on this project for a future issue
of the Newsletter.) Anyone wishing to correspond with Mr. Paustian can contact him through
the Landmarks Commission, Township of Hanover, Route 10, Whippany, NJ 07981.
NANETTE NAPOLEON PURNELL, Director, The Cemetery Research Project, Kailua, Hawaii.
Secondary Teaching Credential, Loyola-Marymount University, Los Angeles, California, B.A.
English, University of Hawaii. Born in Honolulu, Nanette Purnell is an experienced writer and
photographer for various educational and sports publications. She has been an amateur
cemetery buff for over 10 years, and is interested in all aspects of cemetery history and
preservation.
CEMETERY MARKERS OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLES
A slide presentation featuring various ethnic marker types commonly found in the state of
Hawaii, including Chinese, Japanese, Filipino and Hawaiian cemetery sites.
MARCIA G. SAMER, The Stereoscopic Society, American Branch. Ms. Samer is new to the
area of gravestone studies and has started a collection of photographic images to aid with
her research in this area. She is intrigued by the complementary art forms and the historical
learning that can be gleaned from each.
A VISUAL SURVEY OF CEMETERIES, GRAVESTONES AND
VICTORIAN ATTITUDES ABOUT DEATH THROUGH EARLY PHOTOGRAPHS
Photographic images have long been recognized as accurate preservers of history, art forms
and cultural attitudes. This presentation demonstrates the use of various types of photographic
images to gravestone studies. Ms. Samer showed early stereoscopic images from her own
collection as well as from that of Brandt Rowles.
continued
AGSSu'86p15
JAMES A. SLATER, Professor of Entomology, and former head of the Department of Biology,
University of Connecticut; Head of the Section of Systematic and Evolutionary Biology; 1981
Recipient of The Association for Gravestone Studies' Harriet Merrifield Forbes Award. In the
area of gravestone study, Jim Slater has published the results of his research on Connecticut
carvers Obadiah Wheeler, John Hartshorne, and the Loomis carvers. He is currently working
on a study of Jotham Warren, the Mannings and their imitators, with a focus on carver motifs
and evolution of styles. Soon to be published is his long-awaited book on the carvers and
graveyards of eastern Connecticut.
ASPECTS OF ENGLISH GRAVESTONE CARVING, OR
BEHIND THE MIRROR WITH JESSIE AND DAN
This presentation was an illustrated discussion of English Gravestones from the Leicester,
Cotswolds and Norfolk Broads areas observed during a 1983 trip with Daniel and Jessie Farber.
The comparison was between the slate stone of Leicester and the limestones of the Cotswolds
and Broads. He discussed these differences and related the carving (in quality and motif)
to contemporary work in North America. A comparison was made of the cherub-skull use
in England as related and differing from the use of these symbols in New England. This latter
discussion hypothesized the development of the New England winged skull with distinct but
contemporary use of a non-winged skull and winged cherubim on English stones of the same
period.
THE REV. RALPH L. TUCKER, Past President and Charter Member of the Association For
Gravestone Studies, Rev. Tucker is a retired Clergyman interested in stones made north of
the Charles River (in Boston), and the men who carved them. With another distinguished
gravestone scholar, Dr. James Slater, he co-authored, "The Colonial Gravestone Carvings
of John Hartshorne". Ralph Tucker has been a popular presenter at previous AGS conferences.
SURPRISES IN THE LAMSON FAMILY
Joseph Lamson, noted Charlestown (Maiden MA) carver had not only two sons who followed
his trade, but a third son who removed to Connecticut and carved in sandstone the same
types of stones his brothers did in slate in Massachusetts. Their work is found on the Connecticut
south shore and the west end of Long Island. Meanwhile back in Massachusetts, the Lamson
shop carved fictional stone hitherto not known to be products of the shop.
WILLIAM D. WALLACE, Executive Director, The Worcester Historical Museum, Treasurer,
Association for Gravestone Studies. Bill Wallace was curator of the Benjamin Harris Kinney
exhibition, and author of the accompanying catalog. A native of Northern New Hampshire,
Wallace was previously the Director of the Oswego County Historical Society in Oswego,
New York.
BENJAMIN HARRIS KINNEY (1821-1888)
GRAVESTONE CARVER & SCULPTOR
A relatively unknown stone carver personality, the total range of his work — portrait busts,
statues, medallions, cameos, monuments — reveals much about the cultural attitudes of the
period. The study of the life and work of B.H. Kinney represents an almost decade-long project
of the Worcester Historical Museum. Kinney and his work were the subject of an exhibition
from August through November 1985 at the Worcester Historical Museum, a project which
is documented in a 56-page catalog.
ROBERT A. WRIGHT, B.A. Fine Arts, K'enyon College, Gambler, Ohio; Graduate Studies, Visual
Design & Photography, Art History, University of Oregon. Residing and working as a freelance
photographer in Madison, Wisconsin, Mr. Wright brings his multi-faceted academic and
photographic experience to the study of funerary monuments. His photo-exhibitions (mostly
juried shows) in Oregon and Wisconsin, and photo-essays in the Magazine of the Monument
Builders of North America enhance our knowledge of the 19th and 20th century monuments.
His concentration on the art and architecture contained within the rural cemeteries provides
another exciting opportunity for AGS members to view funerary monuments as highly artistic
works.
POEMS IN STONE: THE TOMBS OF LOUIS HENRI SULLIVAN
Sullivan holds a unique position in nineteenth-century architecture. Acknowledged as the "Father
of American Architecture," he is known primarily for his design of the "skyscraper." Three
tombs designed by Sullivan will be examined: The Ryerson Tomb (1887), and the Getty Tomb
(1890), both located in the Graceland Cemetery, Chicago, and the Wainwright Tomb (1892),
in the Ballefontaine Cemetery, St. Louis, Mo. They are perhaps the most architecturally original
mausoleums in America, standing apart from the Greek, Egyptian, and Gothic revival mausolea
so popular in the nineteenth-century rural cemeteries.
Jolie Stahl's presentation, DEATH IN THE PHILIPPINES, was not given during the fourth session
due to an unexpected opportunity for Ms. Stahl to pursue her research in Nicaragua.
AGSSu'86p 16
INFORMAL PRESENTATIONS
(for night owls).
Barbara Rotundo "Some stones in Portland Maine"
Lindy Sutton "Graveyards in Australia"
Marcia Samer "Stereoscopes and gravestones"
Bob Drinkw/ater "The North Orange Carver"
Darrell Norris
Ralph Tucker "More Lamsons"
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT
Your Board of Trustees has met three times since our last Annual Meeting — in Branford,
Connecticut, in Worcester and Boston, Massachusetts, and just before this year's Annual
Meeting, the Board will meet in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. The meetings have been well
attended, pleasant and productive.
We shall be sorry to lose Michael Cornish, Eloise West and Betsy Widirstky, who have served
so faithfully and in so many capacities. We shall welcome Dan Farber as our new president
and Lance Mayer as our new secretary. All of our other officers and trustees will continue
in office.
Deborah Trask has continued a stellar performance as editor of the Newsletter, which continues
to be full of interesting and original articles and numerous quirks and oddities in our chosen
field. George Kackley has laboriously prepared a superb index for the first five volumes of
the Newsletter which is soon to be published in Newsletter format. It is to be put on the
computer; the next five volumes will then be indexed; and thereafter the index will be kept
up to date.
We regret to report our failure to find funding for development and publication of Anne Williams'
and Sue Kelly's Glastonbury Model despite numerous grant applications. However, it may
yet become part of a larger project — a book on conservation by Lynette Strangstad. The
demand for information on this subject has been so great that we should like to publish Lyn's
work as soon as possible, perhaps as a number of Markers. The American Association for
State and Local History, with whom we have had this matter under discussion during the
past year, is very interested and would like to publish and market a longer and more elaborate
version. They have encouraged us to go forward with the shorter primer as a first step toward
this objective.
Richard Welch, our director of publications, has found a source for funding The Long Island
Guide with the co-sponsorship of the Friends of Long Island's Heritage, and we hope that
this will be ready for the Conference this year.
AGS has been involved during the year in a wide range of other activities: Laurel Gabel has
pursued her work with the Farber photograph collection and has been kept busy answering
numerous inquiries 'submitted to her as director of research. She has also fulfilled various
speaking engagements, as have many other members. These speakers have distributed AGS
brochures which have been coded in order to trace the sources of new memberships. Fred
Fredette has been featured in a number of newspaper articles, on national television and
in Yankee Magazine on the subject of graveyard theft. All of this publicity has helped to arouse
interest in one of the main objectives of AGS — preservation — and has also helped AGS.
We now have more than 700 members, as compared with 565 a year ago.
But it has also added substantially to the work of our Executive Director, Rosalee Oakley,
for she is faced with an ever-increasing amount of mail and telephone calls which must be
answered. This she does faithfully and intelligently. More and more she has become the focal
point and center of AGS activities.
continued
AGSSu'86p 17
You have been informed through the Newsletter of the wonderful gift from Michael Rea of
120 copies of Ann Parker and Avon Neal's handsome book, Early American Stone Sculpture
Found in the Burying Grounds of New England. A committee headed by Dan Farber
recommended, and the Board decided, to sell 59 of these books to libraries and members
for $150 apiece", plus postage, and to raffle off one copy at the Conference for $5 per ticket.
The original list price was $395.
Beth Rich, AGS Archivist, has listed our extensive Archives on computer in several catagories,
including author, title, subject and geographical area, all cross-referenced. This index will
make our Archives much more available and useful to our members and others who wish
to consult our collection at the New England Historic Genealogical Society. The most important
addition to the Archives during the year, also reported in the Newsletter, was a gift from the
Danvers Historical Society (resulting directly from a talk given by Michael Cornish) of the account
books of Jonah B. Griswold, a stonecarver of Sturbridge, Massachusetts, covering the work
of his shop from 1841 to 1878.
An important piece of unfinished business considered by the Board during the year involves
the relationship between AGS and local groups, such as that formed and ably led by Pat
Miller in Connecticut. A committee of the Board carefully considered this matter and
recommended against formally recognizing such groups as branches or'chapters of AGS.
The basis for this recommendation was the expense, legal liabiality and administrative burden
which might be incurred by AGS. However, the Board instructed the president to appoint
another committee to work with the Connecticut group and report further to the Board in
October 1987. Still another committee is to study 1he possibility of establishing some form
of relationship with other organizations such as VOCA, MOCA, NHOGA and the Wisconsin
State Old Cemetery Society — a relationship which could be of substantial benefit to both
AGS and the state organizations.
Mike Cornish has worked mightily in preparing for the 1986 Conference, and our members
will soon see the fruitful results of that work: interesting graveyards to visit and a glittering
array of lectures. I am happy to announce that the 1987 Conference will be held in the area
of Deerfield, Massachusetts, and will be co-chaired by Cornelia Jenness of Spofford, New
Hampshire, and Gerry Hungerford of Bethany, Connecticut. This will be the Tenth Anniversary
of the founding of AGS, and a committee consisting of Lance Mayer and Lorraine Clapp will
make recommendations for a suitable recognition of the event.
June 10, 1986
out-going AGS President Ted Ctiase (left) greets newly-
elected President Dan Farber, photo by Gray Williams
The board of directors of AGS presented out-going President Ted Chase with a framed Dan
Farber photograph of the Thaddeus McCarthy stone (Granary, Boston).
ACCESS TO THE AGS ARCHIVES
The AGS Archives are housed in the New England Historic Genealogical Society, 101 Newbury
St., Boston. Any AGS member wanting to use the Archives should call or write AGS Executive
Director, Rosalee Oakley, 46 Plymouth Rd., Needham, MA 02192 (617/444-6263) ahead of
time, so that arrangements can be made with the NEHGS to expect you.
AGSSu'86p 18
THE HARRIETTE MERRIFIELD FORBES AWARD TO
LOUISE H. TALLMAN
Presentation Address by AGS President Ttieodore Chase
June 28, 1986
Since this Association was formed in 1977 we have given the Harriette Merrifield Forbes Award
to nine people, all of whom have done exceptional work in the field of gravestone studies —
whether in scholarship, publication, conservation, education or community service.
First, a word about the lady for whom this Award is named. We are all familiar with her book,
still after almost sixty years the leading authority on New England gravestones and the men
who made them. But how much do we know about her?
She was born in 1855 and started taking pictures in the 1880's. The first lens she bought was
an expensive one. She put it in a cheap camera, then in a second, better one, and she used
that lens and that camera the rest of her life.
Mrs. Forbes brought up five children and did not become interested in photographing
gravestones until about 1918 when they were all grown up. Then her interest was aroused,
not in the epitaphs but in the artistry of these stones. She was among the first, if not the
first, to recognize them as an important aspect of American folk art. And she took more than
1400 glass negatives, exploring old burying grounds all over New England.
She was interested in genealogy, too. She thought people should be buried where they were
born, to make it easier for the genealogist! And so she did an enormous amount of painstaking
work in the probate registries, going through all of the 18th century administration accounts
and noting references to payments made for gravestones, thereby initiating the principal method
still followed for identifying carvers and their work!
The lady whom we honor today is very much in the tradition of Harriette Forbes, as you will
see from the facts which I am about to relate and for which I am indebted to David Watters
and Cornelia Jenness.
Louise Tallman is a 1942 graduate of the University of Massachusetts in Landscape Architecture.
She is a native of New Haven who moved to New Hampshire in 1944. Her historical interests
began in 1969 with a family genealogy project which led to the study of community history
and from there to gravestones. Her work on graveyards began with the compilation of Rye's
historic burying grounds in 1 970. She began a town restoration project in 1 975 for the Bicentennial,
and this led to the founding of the Rye Historical Society in 1976.
She joined the New Hampshire Old Graveyard Association a year after its founding and became
second vice-president, and then president of the organization for a three-year term which will
end in May of 1987. Her work on recording gravestone information began with a feasibility study
as a member of a committee of NHOGA having as its object the recording of all stones in
New Hampshire before 1900. A computer was purchased by Louise in the fall of 1985, and
this project is now underway.
Beginning in 1982, Mrs. Tallman began to record all of Portsmouth's family graveyards of which
there are 21, one of which has been in continuous use since the late seventeenth century.
This was completed in 1 983, and she has since embarked on a recording project for all Portsmouth
public graveyards, of which there are 12.
Under her leadership of NHOGA, there has been an emphasis on recording and on preservation,
resulting in the publication of her well-researched handbook on preservation and restoration,
to serve as a guide for work in New Hampshire. Louise is a tireless worker for NHOGA throughout
the state. On one occasion she even carried a "lost" gravestone around in her station wagon
until she found its original location! Recently she aided in drafting legislation for the protection
of gravestones which is now under consideration by the New Hampshire legislature.
So you can see, this year's recipient of our Forbes Award has for the past sixteen years been
actively and effectively engaged in the very things in which AGS is now most interested: the
recording of graveyard data, encouraged by our own Project First, the publication of helpful
information on preservation, and the enactment of effective legislation.
It is a privilege and a pleasure for us to present the Harriette Merrifield Forbes Award to Louise
Tallman.
AGSSu'86p 19
MANY THANKS TO ALL OF YOU.
who have helped AGS to grow this past year. Our membership has now passed 700, greatly
due
... to those of you who passed along the AGS brochures sent with your membership
card,
... to you who asked for extra brochures when you gave programs and attended
conferences and workshops,
... to those of you who, when interviewed by newspaper and magazine reporters,
mentioned AGS and gave our address so that people could write in.
All these contacts have helped us reach out to include many who are working or would like
to work in the field of gravestone studies and preservation. Please continue your good work!
A number of you have walked an extra mile with AGS this year through your contributions.
At the risk of omitting some who should be included, here are some of the special gifts we
have received this year. First, those who took out contributing memberships:
Harold Allen, Chicago IL
F. Joanne Baker, Concord NH
Barre Granite Association, Barre VT
Harvey J. Blanchet, Jr., M.D., Medina NY
Kim Carpenter, Everett MA
Theodore Chase, Dover MA
Mary M. Cope, New York NY
Michael Cornish, Dorchester MA
Ruth O. Cowell, Westwood NJ
Empire Granite Corporation, Richmond VA
Mrs. Linwood Erskine, Sr., Worcester MA
Josiah Fowler, West Roxbury MA
Laurel K. Gabel, Pittsford NY
Sheila M. Godino, Gales Ferry CT
Elisabeth M. Hanson, Urbana IL
Robert B. Hanson, Dedham MA
Daniel A. Hearn, Monroe CT
Davyd Foard Hood, Raleigh NC
Geraldine Hungerford, Bethany CT
Dr. Gregory Jeane, Auburn AL
Cornelia P. Jenness, Spofford NH
Ted A. Johnson, Maunie IL
Irene Hutchings Jones, Folsom CA
Phil Kallas, Stevens Point Wl
Patricia A. Kemper, Golden CO
Jon Lee, Holyoke MA
Mrs. Felix Maiorana, Levittown PA
Lance Mayer, New London CT
Peter McCarthy, Pueblo CO
Patricia Miller, Sharon CT
Monument Builders of Ohio, Gallon OH
Rosalee F.Oakley, Needham MA
W. Fred Oakley, Needham MA
Oldstone Enterprises, Boston MA
Susan Olsen, Nashville TN
Carol Perkins, Toledo OH
Barbara Rotundo, Schenectady NY
Harriet R. Ryan, Middletown Rl
Michael M. Selveggi, Stratford CT
Miriam S. Silverman, New York NY
Martha Smith, Carrboro NC
Dr. Mary Frances Stewart, Sacramento CA
James Tibensky, Berwyn IL
Deborah Trask, Halifax NS
Frank Troost, Hillside IL
James R. Turner, Wooster OH
Wagner Memorial Company, Hutchinson KS
William D. Wallace, Worcester MA
John Walton, Inc., Jewett City CT
Andrea Ivie Webb, Corsicana TX
Eloise P. West, Fitchburg MA
Richard M. Wilson, South Glens Falls NY
In addition, some members have given special contributions of money or goods:
Barre Granite Association
Ted Chase
Daniel Farber
Laurel Gabel
George Kackley
Patricia Miller ' •
W. Fred Oakley, Jr.
Carol Perkins
Michael Selveggi
Contributors to the Mary Frances Stewart Memorial Fund
Many of you have contributed books and papers you have written or collected and photographs
you have taken to the AGS Archives. We are gradually building a repository of gravestone
literature which will greatly benefit researchers, folklorists, and genealogists.
And many of you have contributed that very essential element, TIME, to the work of the
Association. Board members, some of whom carry out special responsibilities and all of whom
travel to the quarterly meetings, the planning committee and all the volunteers who worked
on the Conference, the conservators who answered questions of hopeful restorers, and I'm
sure I'm leaving out others who should be mentioned — all have helped AGS enormously
this past year and are to be highly commended.
We have also received gifts from two outside groups this year:
Michael M. Rea, publisher, gave AGS 120 copies of EARLY AMERICAN STONE SCULPTURE
by Ann Parker and Avon Neal.
The Danvers Historical Society gave us the original account books of Jonah Griswold, a 19th
century carver.
For all these gifts, we are truly grateful.
Rosalee Oakley, Executive Director
AGS Su'86 p 20
THE USE OF A MIRROR IN GRAVESTONE PHOTOGRAPHY
by Daniel Farber
In order to produce a good gravestone photograph the subject must be illuminated by bright
sunlight that rakes across its face at an angle of about 30 degrees. At that angle each detail
throws a shadow which outlines it. At wider angles — for example 90 degrees — the design
flattens and is hard to see. For any particular gravestone this optimum light exists for about
an hour daily, usually mid-day. In most graveyards the majority of the stones face the same
way, so that the photogapher who wishes to record many monuments must work hurriedly,
and often must come back another day. Many stones are located in the shade — for example
under a tree — so that they never get the necessary sunlight for good pictures.
As a remedy for some of these problems I conceived the idea of reflecting the sun's rays off
a mirror onto the stone. The ideal time to use the mirror is when the sun is striking the back
of the stone. The mirror is placed to the side and in front of the stone, throwing the reflected
light at the angle that shows the details best. Using this arrangement, good photographs can
be made when the sun's direct rays are not properly lighting the stones, considerably extending
the photographer's work hours.
When the subject is in a shaded area the mirror is placed in the nearest spot of sunlight, which
is reflected onto the shaded stone. Sometimes the nearest sunlight is a distance from the subject,
but with a mirror of good quality the light can be thrown 50 or more feet. If the only available
spot of sunlight is behind the stone, so that the mirror's beam cannot reach its face, two mirrors
are used. One is positioned alongside and in front of the stone. The second is placed in the
sunlight, and it throws a beam onto the first mirror, which reflects it on the stone.
A mirror can be equipped to fasten onto a tripod, eliminating the need for an assistant to hold
it. A substantial tripod is required, strong enough to hold its setting under the weight of the
mirror. Wind can blow down this setup, and the higher the mirror is raised the more vulnerable
it becomes. A heavy mirror and tripod are less liable to be blown over. However in any case,
when a strong wind is blowing, two stakes spaced apart should be driven into the ground to
windward, and the tripod fastened to them with cords. In a lighter wind the tripod can be leaned
toward the wind, eliminating the need for staking.
A mirror 15 inches wide will light the width of almost any gravestone, and it should be as tall
as the stone in order to light it from top to bottom. A door mirror is large enough to photograph
most whole stones.
In some cases the mirror should be held higher than the subject so that the light falls to some
degree downward, in order to properly define some details. Many of the early stonecutters used
a horizontal incision to represent a mouth, and a hohzontal light will not create the necessary
shadow for best visibility of this feature.
I first employed the mirror at Milbury, Mass., on April 10, 1977. On April 16, 1977, I used it
again at Haverhill, Mass., assisted by Prof. James Slater and Rev. Ralph Tucker. In June of
1977, I lectured on the subject at the organizational meeting of the Association for Gravestone
Studies at Dublin NH. In June of 1978 I demonstrated the technique, with the assistance of
Jessie Lie, now my wife, at the Dublin NH graveyard, to AGS members attending the annual
conference. Following that demonstration, the use of the mirror became widespread amongst
photographers of gravestones.
The mirror idea was suggested to me during the Bicentennial year of 1976 when I watched
a television crew photographing a shaded stone in Granary graveyard in Boston.There they
used a sheet of aluminum, which threw a diffused and vague light on the stone. It raised the
light level, but it did not define the details the way a glass mirror does so well.
Mr. Brad Raushenberg of the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts independently discovered
this method in July of 1978. He had found the signature of the carver Samuel Bigham on a
gravestone in Georgetown, South Carolina, and it was in a difficult shaded situation. He tried
to light it by reflection from his handkerchief, without success, so he went into the neighboring
church and borrowed a mirror, which worked well. Since then he has used the technique
on one other occasion.
With the use of the mirror every stone can be seen in the light of the ideal rake, which the
visitor to the graveyard rarely sees. For revealing eroded inscriptions the raking light of even
a small hand mirror can bring out details that are otherwise invisible. For reading or photographing
a stone, a bright, perfectly raked light surpasses all other methods, such as chalking or making
a rubbing. Using a mirror is the best way to get this kind of lighting on a stone that is not
perfectly lighted by direct sunlight.
Daniel Farber is President of AGS, and a former recipient of the Harriet M. Forbes award. His
pfiotographs of gravestones can be found in many major museum collections.
AGS Sum p 21
MORE (AND MORE ACCURATE) ON HIGHGATE CEMETERY
Editor's Note: The AGS Newsletter receives newspaper and periodical clippings and articles
from AGS members all over the world. These are greatly appreciated. Whether or not they
are mentioned in the Newsletter, all contributions eventually find their way to the AGS Archives.
Because of the copious quantity of material, the editor will not check each article for factual
veracity. If you are aware of factual errors in any statement reprinted in the Newsletter, PLEASE
LET ME KNOW ABOUT IT, so that corrections can be shared through the Newsletter.
Barabara Rotundo of Schenectady NY has pointed out that there were a number of inaccurate
statements in the article on Highgate Cemetery which was included in the Spring issue of
the Newletter (page 12), reprinted from the San Francisco Examiner, July 7, 1985, but which
was syndicated in a number of major American newspapers. For example, she notes that
Highgate Cemetery abuts a park, but not Waterloo Park. Although Highgate was declared
bankrupt in 1975, it had been closed for burial for some time before that. Highgate is a private
cemetery, opened from 10 to 5 daily. You can go into the eastern section by yourself, but
in the western (old) section, you cannot wander (except for occasional vi'sitor days). There
are guided tours of the western section on the hour, with the last beginning at 4.
Widespread concern has recently been voiced over the condition of several of the great 19th-
century cemeteries, notably Highgate and Nunhead; an ironic situation when it is realised
that the very reason for the formation of the cemeteries was the public outcry over the conditions
of the old churchyards and burial grounds. The grand cemeteries were showpieces, and were
products of a radical reform movement just as important in urban history as those other political
and sanitary reforms that were a feature of the epoch.
The first great cemetery in London was that at Kensal Green of 1 833, and its success encouraged
the formation of other joint-stock companies to lay out and manage cemeteries. The London
Cemetery Company's Cemetery of St. James at Highgate followed, part being consecrated
in May, 1839. The firm was founded by the architect Stephen Geary, who may have designed
the basic layout and the pretty Gothic entrance and chapels, described by a contemporary
as "Undertakers' Gothic". Much of the best work in the cemetery, however, appears to have
been the work of the talented James Bunstone Bunning, who was appointed architect to the
company soon after the foundation.
Highgate Cemetery must have first claim to being the most unashamedly romantic of all the
cemeteries in London. It is situated on either side of Swain's Lane, and the older part, on
the southern slope of a hill, forms part of the original consecration of some 22 acres, but
a portion was left unconsecrated for the interment of Dissenters. Both sides of the cemetery
totalled some 50 acres. The western section was landscaped by David Allan Ramsay. Ramsay's
ingenious planting contributes to the spacious feel of the grounds, and his choice of varieties
has created a curiously Italianate landscape of great beauty. Lack of maintenance, however,
has enabled nature to run amok, and the cemetery is now excessively overgrown.
In 1967 the London Cemetery Company was acquired by the United Cemeteries Company,
a subsidiary of the Raybourne Group Ltd. In 1975 the company closed Highgate Cemetery.
Following the company's announcement of closure, the Highgate Society and other individuals
and groups helped to form the Friends of Highgate Cemetery.
Highgate Cemetery is a remarkable essay in the history of architecture, landscape, and taste,
and one of the finest necropoli of that curious phenomenon — the Victorian Celebration of
Death.
excerpted from an article "The Plight of Highgate Cemetery"
by James Stevens Curl, Country Life, April 1, 1976.
AGS Su'86 p 22
FRIENDS OF HIGHGATE CEMETERY
by Barabara Rotunda
I regret very much the inclusion of the news article about Highgate Cemetery in the last Newsletter.
It represents the kind of careless-journalism that people who care about cemeteries have
to contend with and should discourage. The writer aimed at giving his readers the thrills of
a horror movie without any concern for factual accuracy. The most important correction to
make is that, thanks to the Friends of Highgate Cemetery, both the eastern and western sections
of Highgate are open seven days a week. Unfortunately newspapers across the country have
picked up this "story" and republished it. Because her name and address appear, Mrs. John
Pateman, the volunteer secretary who has been a leader in the project from the first, has
been obliged to answer thousands of letters. She now sends out a form letter in response
— but postage across the Atlantic is expensive and drains funds that could be put to far
better use.
Don't write her; write me. I can send you a copy of the form letter, and since I've spent hours
with Jean Pateman on the site and in her home, I may be able to advise you or answer
individual questions. Leaders of the Friends are trying to channel the limited time of the volunteers
into essential preservation work or to fund-raising for preservation materials; therefore a fee
will be charged for searches for individual names or graves. (The Public Record Office in
London registers all the births and deaths in England. There is no excuse for not providing
exact dates in requests to a nineteenth-century cemetery.)
Some historical background is necessary for Americans to understand what has happened
at Highgate and the crucial role of the FOHC. Since it was the responsibiality of the parish
church — the official church of the government — to provide burial space for all who died
in the parish, the English approach to rural or garden cemeteries when they developed in
the nineteenth century was different from the American. There was no move by community
leaders to set up attractive, non-profit cemeteries such as the United States favored after the
founding of Mount Auburn Cemetery outside Boston in 1831. Instead private cemeteries sold
stock on which they paid dividends from earnings. That was fine in the early years, but as
the land was used up and inflation (and probably carelessness about funds held in trust for
perpetual care) took the toll of any invested funds, many English companies have ceased
to function and have closed their grounds not only to burial but even to visitors. Highgate
Cemetery is probably the most famous to suffer this fate. Consecrated in 1 839, Highgate Cemetery
attracted much public interest and social prestige. It had attractively planned grounds and
a superb location in the hills overlooking London. Its fame and beauty were responsible for
the many important burials there as well as the thousands of middle-class families who bought
lots. It was so successful that in less than twenty years it purchased additional acreage across
Swain's Lane. An occasional burial still takes place in this newer section, and the grave of
Karl Marx there draws hundreds of visitors annually. However, the private company that owned
Highgate announced on Easter in 1975 that the older, western section would be closed. (They
padlocked the gates.) In October of the same year the organization of the Friends of Highgate
Cemetery became official.
In subsequent years volunteers have spent thousands of hours working for the cemetery. Mrs.
Pateman sets a breathtaking pace for volunteers. She does everything from hard physical
labor on the site to editing the newsletter to escorting Communist dignitaries to Marx' grave.
(Political note: at last reckoning the People's Republic of China had been more generous
to FOHC than the Russians had.) FOHC has succeeded because there are so many dedicated
workers. The action I witnessed one Saturday last June is typical. Volunteers were guiding
tours and answering questions, while others were shaking collection boxes at the gates or
selling maps, postcards, and even T-shirts. Up one of the dirt lanes that have now been cleared
in the old section, a young woman who had traveled across London to help was working
with John Gay, whose handsome photographs are the focus of the book Highgate Cemetery,
Victorian Valhalla (Salem House: 1984). He was using an old axe to chop through the weed-
filled sod at the side of the lane to create a trench for the daffodil bulbs he had collected
from a park gardener who was about to discard them.
Under legal provisions nearly incomprehensible to Americans, this completely volunteer
organization is now, in effect, managing Highgate Cemetery. They have already taken giant
steps in their plan to clear out, carefully and gently, enough of the badly overgrown old section
to enable people to walk on the lanes and a few of the paths to see the many first-rate monuments
and unusual mausoleums. Because of insurance, guides must still accompany visitors in the
older section. Thanks to a contract FOHC has been able to arrange in the last few years
with the Manpower Service Commission (government subsidized work for the unemployed),
workers are now available on week-days to help with tours and physical labor. The Friends
themselves have undertaken the Herculean task of recording all the stones they can decipher.
In addition they run the tours, do site work, and open the new section every Saturday and
Sunday. They also maintain a sales table and display board seven days a week.
Because the grounds of the old section were undisturbed by workmen and had very few
visitors for so many years before the FOHC took over, a rich variety of wildlife-plants, birds,
trees, and animals — established itself on the peaceful site. The vision of the Friends of Highgate
Cemetery is the maintenance of a burial place within a wildlife sanctuary where visitors can
appreciate both the natural and the man-made beauty.
I'm sure AGS members join me in wishing continued success for the FOHC.
continued
AGS Su'86 D 23
Obviously the Friends need more money and more volunteer workers. (I haven't described
the derelict stone chapel now stabilized or the single mausoleum repaired as an example.)
If you want to make a contribution or send $15 for dues and overseas postage for the bulletin,
make out your checks to me so that I can send a single, larger check. English banks now
charge £ 3 (roughly $4.50) for processing an American check. TOURIST INFORM A TION: 2.50
is the fee for changing dollar travelers checks in 1986.
Barbara Rotundo, professor of English, State University of New York at Albany (SUNY), has
written extensively on Victorian Cemeteries, notably Mount Auburn in Cambridge MA.
CONCERNING THE SO-CALLED PIERCED GRAVESTONES' OF DAVIDSON COUNTY, N.C.
We take exception to a newspaper article reprint which appeared on p. 14 of the Newsletter,
Vol. 1 0, No. 2, Spring 1 986 issue. The newspaper article contributed by Dee Rankin of Welcome,
North Carolina is, in part, unfactual. Local reporter, Kevin Spear, writing in the Winston-Salem
Journal, states that 'None of the stones is signed'. Mr. Spear obviously took his cues from
Bradford L. Rauschenberg's 1977 survey of the County which appeared in the Journal of
Early Southern Decorative Arts 3, No. 3., pp. 24-50. Mr. Rauschenberg erred then in this
facet of his survey: one memorial at the Abbotts Creek Churchyard is visibly signed on its
reverse surface: the signature tells all who see it that it was MAID BY THE HAND OF JOSEPH
CLODFELTER, incised in capital letters surrounding the lower part of the fylfot motif. We were
fortunate enough to spot the identification in a mere 15 minutes following our arrival at the
site on a sultry August afternoon. The Josiah Spurgin memorial (1802) is likely a backdated
example of the style which flourished locally a generation or so later. A photograph of the
signature appeared on p. 65 of AGS' MARKERS 1 , Vol. 1 , in our photo/essay titled OPENWORK
MEMORIALS OF NORTH CAROLINA.
a statement by Francis Y. Duval and Ivan B. Rigby, frequent contributors to the Newsletter.
Josiah Spurgin, 1602, Abbotts Creek churchv'ud A ir.rt^ ■.igned 6p«c]man Inscribed.
MAID BY THE HAND OF JOSEPH CLOOFELTEB.
BACK ISSUES
On the cover of the Index to Volumes 1-5 of the Newsletter, reference was made to the cost
of purchasing back issues. The words "per volume" or "each" were omitted for volumes 4-
7 and 8-9. Please take a minute to correct your copy now. Back issues may be purchased.
Xerox volumes are available for $10.00 per volume for Volume 4 (1980), Volume 5 (1981),
Volume 6 (1982), Volume 7 (1983); $12.00 each for Volume 8 (1984) and Volume 9 (1985).
These can be bought from Rosalee Oakley, AGS Executive Director, 46 Plymouth Road,
Needham, MA 02192.
AGS Su'86 p 24
MEMBER NEWS
n n n n
^v
"onui''l\i_
.<} a
ATt .DOANK
& WAiMlRRT
.1? ,1H 1.
contributed by Wayne Kerr, Annapolis Royal. N.S.
A special meeting of the AGS Board of Trustees was ineld August 1 at the Worcester Historical
Museum, in Worcester, with President Daniel Farber presiding.
The transfer of Editorship of Markers was announced. Theodore Chase is new Editor, and
David Watters Associate Editor.
A committee was chosen to study the inception of regional leaders. Committee will report
at the October Board meeting. Committee members are Fred Fredette, William Wallace, Alice
Bunton and Patricia Miller.
A proposal to conduct an annual fund drive was discussed, and will be further considered
at October meeting.
Appointment of a perennial conference director, to advise the annual directors, was studied.
A proposal to hire a grant writer was studied.
Jennifer Lucas, Bloomington IN, writes that she has been interested in gravestone studies
since 1979, when she was 14 years old. She took some instamatic pictures of a ruined church
and the accompanying burial ground. Today, the church is being renovated as an historical
site, and she has documented all the stones of significance. "My work includes carver research,
complete documentation of neglected cemeteries, epitaph recording, and photographing
interesting and noteworthy stones. Rose Hill, the largest cemetery in Bloomington has received
most of my attention. No study of Monroe County cemeteries has ever been attempted, and
although it's rough going, I enjoy the mysteries to be solved. An article of mine on gravestone
carvers will appear in a book titled The New History of Monroe County. This is an update
of the last county history which was written in 1913. Correspondence of any kind is welcomed.
Jennifer Lucas, 3441 Stoneycrest, Bloomington, IN 47401.
Dorothy Mellett, Blauvelt NY, writes that the preservation and restoration of Rockland County
NY abandonned cemeteries has been her special interest for the past 1 5 years. Her manuscript
In God's Acre, a study of early gravestone art in Rockland County NY and its preservation,
has been deposited in the library of the Historical Society of Rockland County and at Rockland
Community College, as well as Valley College Library. Work is in progress to publish the
volume, which is generously illustrated, in 1986.
Greetings; from Carol Perkins, 1233 Cribb St., Apt. 204, Toledo, OH 43612. To all those who
sent their "get well wishes", I would like to send in return my deepest appreciation and thanks.
It was such a nice surprise to receive the card and see so many familiar names. The wishes
are surely working for I'm gradually getting back to normal. (A special "thank you" to Hazel
Papale for posting the card.)
Phil Kallas, Stevens Point Wl has been asked to give a presentation on Wisconsin's gravestone
symbolism, Tuesday 21 October, 1986, by the State Historical Society of Wisconsin as part
of their program "History Sandwiched in". The format is a brown-bag lunch (the site is on
the Capitol Square, near the UW campus, so there are ample carry-out places), and the event
takes place in the Society's Museum.
AGS Su'86 p 25
Peter McCarthy, Almont Memorials, Pueblo CO, writes in response to the Newsletter's request
for information on Lithichrome stain in the Spring '86 issue:
"The use of Lithichrome is common in the retail monument industry and it is a product which
we use consistently. Essentially it is a stone dye which, when correctly used, will highlight
sandblasted areas of granite or marble. We use only the black Lithichrome and only on
monuments made from light colored granites — most notably the light grey granites quarried
in Georgia. With the light grey granites, there is very little contrast between the carved surface
and the polished surface of the stone. We will add a small amount of the black Lithichrome
to the lettered areas of the granite simply to make the monument more readily legible. Of
course, the carved and lettered areas of the monument will naturally become more dark and
more legible as time passes, but many of my clients are older people and feel that the dyed
areas will be easier for them to read in the cemetery. On most of the granites we market,
I almost refuse to use the product since I think it tends to cheapen the monument. We all
know that granite will last for almost an infinite amount of time, but the Lithichrome stone
dye is, at best, a temporary addition to the monument It is available in many colors and many
monument firms around the U.S. and Canada use the reds, greens, yellows, blues, etc., to
highlight floral carvings, scenic designs, etc. I think that extensive use of the colored Lithichrome
only hides a poor carving job. Lithichrome does have some application in the restoration process,
I suppose, but I think that the more sparely the product is used, the better." ■
REPORT FROM PAT MILLER
The 1 986 Conference is now history — wasn't it grand (and tiring)! Please let me thank everyone
who helped me with the registration table chores. A special thanks to those good AGSers
who write to me, and to some special helpers who saved me from shame and embarassment
Connecticut has now had four good Tours this year, with three more on the calendar for
1986. All are welcome — a stamped self-addressed envelope will supply you with details
(P.O. Box 1151, Sharon, CT 06069). We have averaged 30 people on our tours this year. For
1987, the Connecticut April tour will begin in East Haven, led by James Halpin, 10 A.M., third
Saturday of the month.
AGS member, Kevin M. Sweeney, Assistant Professor at the Winterthur Museum in Delaware,
has been appointed to the new position of Director of Academic Programs at Historic Deerfield
MA. Kevin has long been a student of Connecticut Valley history and culture and has published
numerous articles and essays on politics and society, architecture, furniture, and gravestones
of the Connecticut Valley. He received his Ph.D. degree for Yale in May of this year.
from the Historic Deerfield Quarterly, V. XX\/#2, Spring 1986.
PUBLICATIONS
George Kackley, Baltimore MD, lias informed the Newsletter \ha\ there is a word for gravestone
studies: necrolithology (the study of rocks combined with the dead). He has provided back
issues of Grave Matters, a newsletter for Civil War Necrolithologists, published quarterly, Steve
Davis, editor, 1163 Warrenhall Lane, Atlanta, GA 30319. This contains Civil War grave notes,
inquiries and book reviews. The subscription fee is $4.00.
LOCATION GUIDE OF THE CEMETERIES OF CHAMPAIGN
COUNTY, ILLINOIS
Fonda D. Baselt and Josephine F. Moeller have compiled such an excellent location guide
of 1 10 cemeteries within the 30 townships of Champaign County, Illinois that it deserves special
mention in the Newsletter. Location directions, current condition of the cemetery and a cemetery
plat map are included for every cemetery. If information on the headstones has been transcribed,
location of the transcriptions is indicated. There are numerous photographs, a county map,
and 30 township maps. Data is also given for burial places which have disappeared and no
longer exist. The compilation represents a thoroughly workmanlike job. The information is
complete and straightforward, and a uniform approach is adopted throughout. At the end of
the book are 12 pages containing tips on cemetery research, including how to go about locating
cemetery records, equipment to carry with you to the cemetery, how to clean the stones,
a checklist for cemetery research, a cemetery record form and a bibliography.
This book is a model for those wishing to carry out our Project First — the initial identification
of burying grounds in a given area. Copies may be obtained for $12.50 plus $1.00 postage
and handling by writing to Cemetery Guide, 923 West Kirby Avenue, Champaign, Illinois 61821.
AGS Su'86 p 26
WANTED!
Can anyone tell me the location of the stone of Arthur Haine, an atheist, upon whose stone
is supposedly inscribed:
HAINE
haint
I include this in a talk I give on epitaphs, but I have tw/o sources and each places it in a
different location. Robert E. Pike's Granite Laughter and Marble Tears places it in Vancouver,
Vermont; while Earle Tempel's Tombstone Humour locates it in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Jim Jewell, 2208 State 5, Peru, IL 61354.
This is inscribed on a gravestone in Valparaiso IN of a professor at Valparaiso University.
Does anyone know what it means? I've asked a dozen math professors, who are as stumpted
as I am. ^ ^
Jim Jewell, 2208 State 5, Peru, IL 61 354. UOr ^3 - Tl/
Can anyone supply the location of the WOOD family marker upon which is inscribed "This
family did not vote for/Either Roosevelt or Truman"? I have a picture of it from a newspaper
photo section, but its location is not cited. (A similar epitaph — "None of us ever voted for
Roosevelt or Truman" — adorns the Hallenbeck familv marker in Elain, Minnesota.)
I'd like to correspond with anyone interested in political epitaphs — of, about or by politicians,
or expressing political opinions, philosophies or beliefs. Jim Jewell, 2208 State 5, Peru, IL
61354.
Peter McCarthy, Pueblo CO writes that he has been working with a group restoring a large
pioneer cemetery in Pueblo, for the past several years. It has been their plan from the beginning
to turn the cemetery into a sort of historic park. He would like information from other individuals
or groups who have done this. "We are in need of photographs, brochures, newsletters, etc.,
anything that can give some sort of form to the idea of an historic park. This has been done
successfully, I think, in one or two places in the mid-western part of the U.S. as well as in
Taos, New Mexico, but we do not want to base the idea solely on one which is relatively
close to Pueblo." Peter McCarthy, Almont Memorials, 201 Santa Fe Drive, Pueblo, CO 81006.
C.R. Jones, Cooperstown NY, 13326, reports another stolen gravestone: "In a back corner
of the Morris, New York cemetery are at least two burials of black servants, dating probably
from the late 1700s. One headstone was stolen last year. No photographs have been found
but it was about 12" x 24" thick. The stone was dark in color, either the local grey sandstone
or very badly stained marble. Locals remember that the inscription was "A Black Servant"
or something similar. I realize that this is a poor description but if anyone has any leads I
would like to hear from them. This is one more instance where a good inventory of the stones
would be helpful."
CONFERENCES AND EXHIBITS
Trinity Museum in Trinity Church, City of New York, has a new exhibit, "Trinity and the Newcomer:
Three Centuries of Outreach". The exhibit features a photograph of the gravestone of Elias
Neau, a French Huguenot who was buried in Trinity Churchyard. Trinity's outreach to those
in need began in 1705 with a school for slaves and Indians, taught by Neau.
"Now Reposing in Green-Wood" was the title of a recent exhibition by the Museum of the
Borough of Brooklyn, held at Brooklyn College April 9 to May 20, 1986.
The exhibition consisted of paintings of the famous who repose in Green-Wood, and of their
contemporaries in culture, commerce, politics and society from 1838 to 1920. There were
also photographs, documentary material and sculptures.
There were several lithographs of Green-Wood including one of the New York Pilots and
Firemen's monument by Nathenial Currier. A watercolor of Trinity Churchyard as seen from
John's studio and a pastoral view of Green-Wood in pen and ink entitled "Silent City of
Greenwood" were also on exhibit.
A mourning outfit and jewelry were interesting, as were the embroidered samplers. Unfortunately,
the exhibit will not travel as most of the artifacts were from private collections.
reported by Chris Sweaters, New York NY
AGSSu'86p27
daiiaisMaN
sseyy 'J3|S33J0^
Ol.t' ON »"^J»d
a I V d
3ovisod s 'n
3iva )nn9
6091-0 ssey^ 'j3)S93JOm
'Aiajoos ueuBnbDuv ueouaiuvo/o
'sdjpn^s 9uo)saAeJO jo| uoj^epossv
The weather was made to order for the first Gravestone Forum held March 29, 1 986, in Danbury,
Connecticut at the Western Connecticut State University (Wescon); sponsored by AGS and
the History and English Departments of Wescon.
The morning started off with complimentary coffee and danish, which gave people a chance
to greet old acquaintances and meet new ones. Dr. Steven Neuwirth (Wescon), Laurel Gabel
and Pat Miller (AGS) welcomed those assembled while Fred Fredette (AGS) introduced the
speakers.
C.R. Jones of the New York State Historical Association spoke on "Funerary Art and Customs".
Part of his lecture covered mourning jewelry and hair embroidery. To highlight this aspect
he showed several interesting slides of various hair jewelry. He brought along a hair portrait,
bought at an auction, which held the long blonde curls and photo of a deceased child.
Following C.R. was Frank Hole from Yale University whose topic was "Gravestones As Cultural
Artifacts". His talk traced the progression of images on stones from the unadorned to the
elaborate and their significance.
James Slater from the University of Connecticut finished up the morning with an informative
talk and slide show on the Collins' Masters, showing how one can identify and study colonial
gravestones.
After lunch, people reconvened to view the rubbings, books and other related items on sale
or exhibit. Several workshops went on simultaneously through the early afternoon, including
Preservation, Restoration and Recording of Gravestones and Burial Yards; Grave stones and
Genealogy and a discussion/display on Thanatology — the study of death and dying.
Two demonstrations were given — the cutting of gravestones in which glass in lieu of marble
was used, and gravestone rubbing. The sessions and demonstrations broke up mid-afternoon
to give people an opportunity to tour local g/avayards.
For a first Forum, it was very successful both weather and content-wise. Approximately 80
people attended, many of them non-AGS members, proving graveyard interest is alive and
well. Kudos to Pat Miller and all those who helped plan and organize to bring this Forum
to life. Hopefully it's the first of many.
submitted by Chris Sweeters, New York NY
The AGS Newsletter is published quarterly as a service to members of The Association for Gravestone Studies.
The membership year begins on the date dues are received and ends one year from that date. A one-year membership
entitles the members to four issues of the Newsletter and to participation in the AGS conference in the year
membership is current. Send membership fees (individual/institutional, $15: Family, $25: contributing, $25) to AGS
Executive Director Rosalee Oakley, 46 Plymouth Rd., Needham, /W/4 02192. Back issues of the Newsletter are
available for $3.00 per issue from Rosalee Oakley. The goal of the Newsletter is to present timely information
about projects, literature, and research concerning gravestones, and about the activities of the Association for
Gravestone Studies. It is produced by Deborah Trask, who welcomes suggestions and short contributions from
readers. The Newsletter is not intended to serve as a journal. Journal articles should be sent to David Watlers,
associate editor of Markers, the Journal o/ The Association for Gravestone Studies. Dept. of English, University
of New Hampshire, Durham. NH 03824, Address Newsletter contributions to Deborah Trask, editor. The Nova Scotia
Museum, 1747 Summer St., hialifax. Nova Scotia. B3H 3A6, Canada. Order Markers, the Journal of the Association
for Gravestone Studies (Vol. 1. $20: Vol. 2, $15, hardcover $25: Vol. 3, $14. hardcover $23) from Rosalee Oakley.
Send contributions to the AGS Archives to Elizabeth Rich, Archivist, 43 Rybury Hillway, Needham, l\/IA 02192. Address
other correspondence and orders to Rosalee Oakley. !\/lail addressed to AGS c/o The American Antiquarian Society,
Worcester, MA 01609, or to Rosalee Oakley, will be forwarded to the appropriate AGS office.
NEWSLETTER
OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES
DEBORAH TRASK, ED.
VOLUME 10 NUMBER 4 FALL 1986
ISSN: 0146-5783
CONTENTS
PUBLICATIONS ABOUT RUBBING
an annotated list by Jessie Lie Farber 1
PUBLICATIONS 5
ARTICLES
A Philosophy in Stone: the Marker of Martin P. Jeriners
by James C. Jewell 6
The Dawson Monument, Selma AL
by Jerry C. Oldshue 8
BOOK REVIEWS
A Celebration of Death, by James Stevens Curl,
reviewed by Richard Becherer 9
Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond VA by Mary H. Mitchell,
reviewed by Steve Davis 11
PEOPLE: Casimer Michalczyk 12
Edwin Dethlefsen 13
MEMBER NEWS 15
AGS BOARD OF TRUSTEES, 1986-7 17
NEWS FROM OLD CEMETERY SOCIETIES 18
RETURN! A Massachusetts stone turns up in a NYC apartment 20
PRESERVATION CONCERNS 20
RESEARCH NOTES 23
WANTED! 24
PUBLICATIONS ABOUT RUBBING
Following is an annotated list of bool<s and articles about rubbing compiled by Jessie Lie Farber.
Many of the publications are out of print, but they do occasionally appear on remainder lists,
and some are available in libraries. Books about English monumental brass rubbings are, with
one minor exception, not included because publications on this subject are numerous and are
of only peripheral interest to most AGS members. Readers are invited to send additions to this
list to Deborah Trask, Editor, AGS Newsletter, 1747 Summer Street, Halifax. Nova Scotia, B3H 3A6,
Canada.
Ann Tashjian's rubbing of the John Felt stone, 1805,
Rockingham VT. Reprinted from Memorials for Children
of Change (Wesleyan University Press, 1974), with
permission.
HARDCOVER
Andrew, Laye, Creative Rubbings. Watson-Guptill Publications, 165 West 46th Street, New
York, NY 10036, 1972.
Introduces rubbing as a fascinating craft with "an Immediate appeal to ctilldren and adults wtiether
or not they consider themselves artistically gifted." Easily-followed steps for creating both the
rubbing and the subject to be rubbed. No mention of gravestones, yet of interest to any rubbing
enthusiast. An attractive book, half illustrations, half text 96 pages.
Bodor, John J., Rubbings and Textures: A Graphic Technique. Van Nostrand Reinhold Company,
450 West 33rd Street, New York, NY 10001, 1968.
An excellent and thorough description of five techniques for rubbing a wide variety of subjects
from all over the world. A separate chapter on New England gravestones as rubbing subjects,
and a chapter each on the historical background of rubbing, suggestions for teachers, and
suggestions for cataloging, storing, displaying and photographing rubbings. Highly recommended.
Jacobs, G. Walker, Stranger Stop and Cast an Eye: A Guide to Gravestones and Gravestone
Rubbing. The Stephen Greene Press, Brattleboro, VT 05301, 1973.
Contains a section on the history of grave symbols and stonecutters, followed by a section on
five rubbing techniques. Good step-by-step descriptions. Well illustrated. 123 pages.
Neal, Avon and Ann Parker, Early American Stone Sculpture Found in the Burying Grounds
of New England. Sweetwater Editions, New York, NY, 1981 . Available from AGS..
This Is not a book about rubbing. We mention It here because of the quality of the full page
rubbings In the book. Neal and Parker have Introduced 42 of New England's most Interesting
gravestones, each In a double-page spread: on one page a rubbing of a detail, on the other,
the Inscription, Information about the stone, and a photograph of the whole stone. This handsome
book sold for $450, which Includes an original photograph and an original rubbing (according
to the New York Times review of the book — and we agree — It Is well worth that price). A
gift from the publishers makes It possible for AGS to offer a limited number (41) for contributions
to AGS of $150. First come, first served. Address AGS, 46 Plymouth Road, Needham, MA 02192.
75 oversized (1 1" x 16') pages.
Skinner, Michael Kingsley, How to Make Rubbings. A Studio Vista/Van Norstrand Reinhold
How-to-Book, Van Norstrand Reinhold Company, 450 West 33rd Street, New York, NY 10001,
1972.
Designed primarily for children, and Intended to Increase awareness of textures. Not limited to
gravestones, this book also covers coins, leaves, horse brasses, furniture fittings, cast and wrought
iron, fruit and vegetables, odds and ends, with some Ideas on materials and application. Well
Illustrated. 68 pages.
Tashjian, Dickran and Ann, Memorials for Children of Change. Wesleyan University Press,
Middletown, CT, 1974.
Like the Neal/Parker book, this Is not a book about rubbing, but It is listed here because Ann
Tashjian's rubbings will Inspire anyone who has ever made rubbings. The text compares the
carvings on early American gravestones with other examples of art. 309 pages.
SOFTCOVER
Diandrea, Phyllis M., Rubbing Off History: A Guide to New England Gravestones and Rubbing
and Casting Techniques. Published by the author, 142 Palfrey Street, Watertown, MA 02172,
1975.
Offers glimpses a bit broader than those found In most slim, pamphlet-type publications for
beginners. Brief sections on history (stonecarvers, symbols, epitaphs) and on technique (wax and
foil). Illustrations poorly reproduced. 29 pages.
English Brass Rubbing Centre, Brass Rubbings. 803 South Inglewood Avenue, Inglewood,
CA 90301, no date.
A catalog of rubbings, lectures, and activities offered by a California rubbing center. Good
illustrations of rubbings made from replicas of English monumental brasses. Also prices for making
your own rubbings and for ordering custom-made rubbings; also for ordering rubbings made
In England from the original brasses. 27 pages.
Firestein, Cecily Barth, Rubbing Craft: How to rub doors, letterboxes, gravestones, manhole
covers, and how to use these designs to make jewellry, T-shirts, needlepoint and more.
Quick Fox, A Division of Music Sales Corporation, 33 West 60th Street, New York, NY 10023,
1977.
A wide-ranging treatment of rubbing and of ways to use rubbing designs In other crafts. Of '
interest to the rubbing enthusiast who wants to go beyond making the rubbing. Half illustrations,
half text. The author teaches rubbing at the New School In New York City. 95 pages.
Friswell, Richard, Faces in Stone: The Early American Gravestone as Primitive Art. Published
by the author, 88 Beach Street, Belmont, MA 02178, 1971.
The first edition of this small pamphlet was probably the first of the spate of publications introducing
gravestone rubbing that appeared in the years preceding and following the 1976 bicentennial
celebration. It has been severely criticized, and rightly so, for recommending the use of a wire
brush for cleaning stones, for recommending an Ink technique to beginners, and for other errors
and inaccuracies (e.g., recommending a late afternoon sun to achieve a raking light for
photographing stones). Its pen and Ink drawings are Inadequate as illustrations. Nevertheless,
Friswell, a psychologist, wrote an Insightful Introduction to the stones as they fit Into early American
life and Introduced many people to stone rubbing. By 1973 Faces in Stone, with text revisions
and better Illustrations, had gone Into Its fifth printing. The book has had an Impact, and collectors
of books on the subject will want to find and own a copy. 19 pages.
AGSF'86p.2
Gillion, Edmund Vincent, Jr., Early New England Gravestone Rubbings. Dover Publications,
Inc., 180 Varick Street, New York, NY 10014, 1966.
A three-page introduction ttiat outlines ttie rubbing technique used by the author is followed
by a large and varied collection of-rubbings and photographs. No text. "Notes on the Plates"
are brief and are often inadequate and inaccurate. The illustrations may be copied without
permission. About 200 unnumbered pages.
Kelly, Susan H. and Anne C. Williams, A Grave Business: New England Gravestone Rubbings,
a Selection. Art Resources of Connecticut, 1979.
This excellent booklet was published in conjunction with a traveling exhibition of Kelly/Williams
rubbings sponsored by the Art Resources of Connecticut. In addition to a catalog of the rubbings
in the exhibition, with notations about the work exhibited and the stonecarver, the publication
includes a sound and succinct introduction to early gravestone art. A valuable addition to the
library of anyone interested in gravestone art. 42 pages.
Kull, Andrew, New England Cemeteries: A Collectors Guide. The Stephen Greene Press,
Brattleboro, Vermont, 1975.
Good directions for finding 262 interesting New England cemeteries. Symbols are used to indicate
whether the cemetery is "unusually picturesque, " has "interesting carving, " "famous people. " and/
or "a grand style." Not focused primarily on subjects for rubbing or on early carvings: and by
no means a complete list of yards containing fine rubbing subjects. A big help to the serious
collector of rubbings, nevertheless. 253 pages.
McGeer, Willilam J.A., Reproducing Relief Surfaces: A Complete Handbook of Rubbing,
Dabbing, Casting, and Daubing. Published by the author, 102 Brimfield Road, Holland, MA,
1972.
This small jewel of a book gives the reader professional directions for rubbing and other techniques
for reproducing relief surfaces, with special emphasis on gravestones and monumental brasses.
The author is an artist and a professional caster who has developed his own methods for making
molds and casts. He can cast a full size replica (or a miniature one) of a stone, and has done
so for the Boston t\Auseum of Fine Arts and other institutions. Beautifully illustrated. A list of
sources for materials is included. 40 pages.
Marks, Glen K. Oldstone's Guide to Creative Rubbings, Oldstone Enterprises, Inc., 186 Lincoln
Street, Boston, MA 02111, 1973.
Introduces gravestones, monumental brasses, historical markers and collages as subjects for
wax rubbings. Oldstone Enterprises is the foremost supplier of rubbing materials. Illustrated. 21
pages.
Smith, Elmer L, Early American Grave Stone Designs. Applied Arts, Witmer, PA, 1968.
"A pictorial presentation of the often forgotten folk art in the early graveyards of New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, l^aryland and in Virginia." Comprised of drawings made from rubbings; also some
photographs. No text. Of interest in that it introduces a number of little known stones. However,
the "Design Notes and References" are often inadequate and inaccurate so that finding the stone
is not made easy. 42 pages.
Wakin, B. Bertha, To Rub or Not to Rub: Being a Book on the Art and History of Tombstones.
Lith-Art Press, Woodstock, NY, 1976.
Touches briefly on symbolism, rubbing, documenting, and using gravestones and rubbing to teach
history and art. Illustrated with poor rubbings. Not for the initiated. 72 pages.
Wasserman, Emily, Gravestone Designs: Rubbings & Photographs from Early New York &
New Jersey. Dover Publications, Inc., 180 Varick Street, New York, NY 10014.
An interesting, informative 31 -page introduction to the designs and the stonecutters is followed
by a collection of 220 rubbings and photographs of New York and New Jersey gravestones.
Notes on the plates give information about the designs illustrated, some of which is not accurate
according to current scholarship. A useful introduction to some of the carving styles seen in
these states. The illustrations may be copied without permission. About 190 unnumbered pages.
Williams, Melvin G., The Last Word: The Lure and Lore of Early New England Graveyards.
Published by Oldstone Enterprises, Boston, MA, 1973.
A charming and useful introduction to gravestone studies and gravestone rubbing, available from
Oldstone Enterprises, Inc., suppliers of rubbing materials (186 Lincoln Street, Boston, MA 02111).
Six pages are devoted to rubbing instruction for the beginner. Includes a fold-out map (credited
to Ludwig's Graven Images) showing good yards. Illustrated by the author, a professor of English
and a popular lecturer on gravestone art, and Donald Bentley. 39 pages.
ARTICLES AND UNPUBLISHED PAPERS
Halporn, Roberta, "New York is a Rubber's Paradise." Highly Specialized Promotions, 391
Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11217, 1980.
Gives directions to and descriptions of several New York City cemeteries that offer good rubbing
and can be reached by subway. Also mentions the London Brass Rubbing Center where replicas
of English Brasses can be rubbed (phone 212-879-4320). The author is a publisher of books
on thanatology and knowledgeable in the field of gravestone studies. 11 pages.
Smaridge, Nora, "Tombstones, Manhole Covers and the Ancient Art of Rubbing." The New
York Times, Arts and Leisure Section, Sunday, July 27, 1978.
A spin-off from the author's book on retirement hobbies. An interesting overview of rubbing as
a hobby, which probably lured many readers into the graveyards with paper and wax. One wishes
the author had said more about good care of the stones.
AGS F'86p. 3
AGS PUBLICATIONS
Farber, Jessie Lie, "Rubbing for Beginners." Published by AGS, 46 Plymouth Road, Needham,
MA 02192.
Instructions for getting started riglit, written witin a special concern for the gravestones being
rubbed. Recommended for anyone unfamiliar with this aspect of rubbing, especially teachers
or group leaders planning to introduce gravestone rubbing to others. 2 pages. $1.00: members
$.90.
Duval, Francis, ed.. The AGS Series of Regional Guides to 17th and 18th Century Graveyards.
Published by AGS, 46 Plymouth Road, Needham, MA 02192.
This series is in preparation, with two guides now available:
Guide 1, to the graveyards of the Narragansett Bay area (eastern Rhode Island and parts of
southern l\/lassachusetts), by Vincent Luti. 17 pages. $4.50: members $3.50.
Guide 2, to the graveyards of Long Island, New York, by Richard Welch. 16 pages. $5.75; members
$4.75.
Each guide gives directions and information about the stones to be found in choice yards in
the area. Excellent illustrations.
FOR A PRICE LIST OF AGS PUBLICATIONS
WRITE TO:
AGS, 46 PLYMOUTH ROAD, NEEDHAM, MA 02192
Final touches being given a rubbing in San Jacinto Valley
Cemetery. The rubber is Patty Roberts, a member of AGS
from Hemet, California. On October 18. Ms. Roberts spoke
at a genealogical seminar cosponsored by the Hemet-
San Jacinto Genealogical Society and the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The impressive
program was divided into six all-day sessions, each with
ten speakers. Ms. Roberts' subject was, "Cemetery
Research and Headstone Rubbing." The photograph is
one of several that illustrated a story about her published
in the Hemet News, October 10, 1986.
GIFT MEMBERSHIPS AVAILABLE
Gift memberships in AGS are available for friends and relatives who would enjoy receiving
the AGS Newsletter and knowing about our activities and publications. When you are looking
for an unusual and special gift this Christmas or for coming birthdays, consider giving a gift
membership in the Association for Gravestone Studies. The membership card and materials
will be sent along with a special note indicating the membership is a gift from you. Write
Rosalee Oakley, 46 Plymouth Road, Needham, MA 02192 with your gift-giving needs!
The Parker/Neal books are still available for $150 plus $3.50 postage and insurance. Contact
the AGS office.
AGSF'86p.4
PUBLICATIONS
The Marcellus Village Cemetery, An Epigraphic Record, 1980-85, compiled by Florence Coville
Brock and Mary M. Losky and sponsored by the Village Cemetery Committee, Marcellus, is
an exciting addition to the historical and early family research in that area of Onondaga County
NY.
The cemetery was first established as a burial ground in 1804 and was called "Presbyterian
Cemetery," after the church by which it stood. It served the community as a whole; all faiths
were buried there until into the 1 860s, when other cemeteries were established. Burials continued
into the 1900s. The recording project, begun in 1980, was completed in 1985. Since no records
have been found, this project of transcribing the headstones provides the only burial record
of 182 years of existence of many pioneer Marcellus families. As work progressed, reference
was made to earlier readings of the cemetery, which pointed out stones that had disappeared,
transcripts that had been obliterated and errors in earlier readings. The present reading includes
all markers as they were found, 1980-85, with every visible stone recorded. Even children's
stones are noted. Entire transcriptions are recorded, complete with misspellings, stone cutters'
errors and epitaphs.
The publication includes a history of the cemetery, an introduction explaining the project,
the procedures used and plans for final recording. A surname index is aptly placed at the
front of the publication, where the reader may quickly spot a given name. The main body,
keyed to map location and index, gives a brief description of each stone, its style, condition,
etc., with a recording of the inscription. Two maps are included. Also provided is a list of
Revolutionary War soldiers; War of 1812 verterans; Civil War, Mexican War, World War I and
World War II veterans whose graves are in the village cemetery.
Looseleaf bound, at a price of $15, plus $2 for postage and handling, it is available from
Florence Brock, 3840 State St., Skaneateles, NY 13152. Proceeds are to benefit the Village
Cemetery Improvement Fund.
from the Syracuse Herald American Star Magazine, June
22, 1986, sent by Dorothy De Angela, Parish NY
THE CEMETERIES OF MARIES COUNTY, MISSOURI, A PERSONAL HISTORY
In the last Newsletter, Fonda D. Baselt and Josephine F. Moeller's Location Guide of tiie
Cemeteries of Ctiampaign County, Illinois, was highlighted as an excellent illustration of
PROJECT FIRSTS objectives. This time your attention is drawn to another recent Archive
acquisition, The Cemeteries of Maries County, Missouri, A Personal History, recorded and
compiled by Mozelle Hutchison and Gail Howard.
This mother-daughter team began work while hunting family genealogical information and
in the process decided to record the location of each burial site they found and to record
all the inscriptions on gravestones in Maries County. The 122 sites they found have been
grouped into the seven townships and each site is marked on a map of the county. Each
stone has been recorded with attention to accuracy, spelling, script, punctuation, and
capitalization exactly as it appears on the marker. When the individual or company responsible
for carving the monument is identified, it is so noted. With each burial site, the authors include
notes about its location, care, and condition, significant flora, unusual markers (often
accompanied by photos), and the presence of fieldstone markers. For small family cemeteries,
brief biographical information is sometimes included. Often the oldest inscribed gravestone
is indicated. Biographical information from county histories and old newspaper articles is
sprinkled throughout. At the conclusion of the book, several pages of brief newspaper quotes
include notes on individuals, accidents, events, prices of certain commodities, and other historical
observations which recapture the flavor of life in Vienna, Missouri from 1873 to 1911. A
bibliography and discography, maps of Maries County with cemeteries marked in red and
a 46 page index round out the 450 page book.
Much care has been taken in the preparation of this large and important volume. It will certainly
prove to be a valuable resource for researchers. Softcover copies may be obtained by writing
to Mozelle Hutchison, Rt. 1, Box 11, Vienna, MO 65582.
There is an interesting article by Sally Coutts, titled "Easeful Death in Toronto: A History of
Mount Pleasant Cemetery" in the September 1986 issue of the Society for the Study of
Architecture in Canada Bulletin (V. 2 #3).
AGSF'86p. 5
NEW EDITOR FOR MARKERS
Ted Chase, past president of AGS, will succeed David Watters as editor of MARKERS, upon
publication of MARKERS IV.
Ted is eager to receive scholarly articles for consideration by the editorial board and for
publication in future issues. Inquiries should be directed to him at 74 Farm Street, Dover,
MA 02030.
A PHILOSOPHY IN STONE: THE MARKER OF MARTIN P. JENNERS
by James C. Jewell
I WskS Bo'BM AucusT 21,1832,
Im A toe C ABtH SN THE SSITH WESTi
|cim«E«OF Ferbv akb fourth street-s|
/Died Dec 22, ISfS-
IMv OUtV OBJECTION TaSCtiGSMilS.THAT IT j
.1C0R.XV,S2.
iS.XXVL14.
INO PREAOHmCKB MIAYmB.M PSALM
IsWGiNE PERMITTO! Wi THIS LaT.
Martin P. Jenners stone, inscribed area 23" higii, 28'
across.
Spring Vale Cemetery, Lafayette IN (2580 No. State Rd.
25: Lot 38 Sect. 19)
photograph by Francis Hudlow.
One of the most frequently visited graves in Indiana is that of Martin P. Jenners in Spring
Vale Cemetery, 2580 North State Road 25 in Lafayette, Indiana. Today, almost seventy years
after his death, visitors come to the Tippecanoe County gravesite to see what Laurie Jensen,
writing in the June 28, 1982, Lafayette Journal and Courier, called the inscription that is "his
unique legacy".
While the tongue-in-cheek "All dressed up with no place to go" and Arthur Haine's rhyming
"Maine haint" indicate typical humorous viewpoints about the hereafter, Jenners' "My only
objection to religion is, that it is not true" is a defiant declaration of his beliefs. The humorous
epitaphs probably provoke smiles from even the most pious believers, but Jenners' statement
created an outrage in turn-of-the-century Lafayette when his headstone was erected in 1906.
Martin P. Jenners was born August 21, 1832, to Mr. and Mrs. David Jenners, who lived in
a log cabin on the northwest corner of Ferry and Fourth Streets in Lafayette. He became
a carriage painter; and, according to his obituary in the December 23, 1919, Lafayette Journal,
he "was recognized as one of the best in this section of the country." His business was apparently
lucrative as he was able to retire in the late 1870's. After that, the obituary continues, he
"devoted himself to reading and visiting his friends."
Fourteen years before his death, Jenners had his headstone erected at Spring Vale Cemetery.
The January 16, 1906, minutes of the cemetery association's annual meeting include a report
from Secretary F.R. Levering that the inscriptions on Jenners' stone had angered several owners
of adjacent lots. The cemetery board recommended that Jenners be ordered to have the marker
removed, but the Secretary indicated that such a ruling was not within the power 'of the
association.
In addition to his statement of objection to religion, Jenners had two Biblical references inscribed
on his stone. The first, 1 Cor. XV, 52, from the New Testament, reads ". . . in a moment, in
the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will
be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed."
This verse is part of the prelude to the oft-quoted
"Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is thy sting? (1 Cor. XV, 54-55),
O grave, where is thy victory?"
which is used to indicate a fervent belief in the afterlife and the powers of resurrection.
AGSF'86p.6
Apparently, Jenners used the second Biblical quotation, Is. XXVi, 14, from the Old Testament,
to reveal a conflict in Biblical teachings.
The quote is as follows:
"They are dead, they will not live;
they are shades, they will not arise;
to that end thou hast visited them with destruction
and wiped out all remembrance of them."
In his attempt to prove the impossibility of resurrection, Jenners lifted the quote out of context.
It is clear that Is. XXVI, 13, contains the antecedent of the pronouns "they," "them," and "their":
"O Lord our God,
other lords besides thee have
ruled over us,
but thy name alone we acknowledge."
The Christmas Day, 1919, Lafayette Journal — three days after Jenners' death and the day
after his funeral — includes an item informing readers about the upcoming Sunday (December
28) evening service at the United Brethern Church in Lafayette, at which the pastor, the Rev.
L.L. Shaffer, would "explain the two texts" and "remove the seeming contradiction in the texts".
The pastor undoubtedly focused upon the importance of the entire contexts in determining
the quotations' significance.
Jenners' stone ends with the almost-alliterative command that "No preaching, no praying,
no psalm singing permitted on this lot." Near the base of the stone is the request "See other
side"; the back of the mark bears the insignia of the International Order of Red Men and
indicates that Jenners was a member of Wabash Tribe Number 11. It is believed that he had
Indian heritage in his background.
f\/lartin P. Jenners remains as unique and eccentric in death as he was in life. His rust-coloured
marker contrasts vividly with the more common grey-hued stones surrounding it. His grave
lies in a north/south direction. Visitors to the site will notice that only splotches of grass dot
the plot — no thorough layer of grass has ever grown on the grave.
Thanks to the Lafayette Journal and Courier, which printed my request for information about
the Jenners' marker; and to the twenty-one individuals who responded to that inquiry with
directions, maps, and information: in particular, Lucille B. and Harold W. Zarse for copies of
Lafayette newspaper articles; Francis Hudlow for photographs; and Jamie Stroud and her mother
for a most attractive rubbing of the Jenners stone.
James C. Jewell Is Instructor, Division of Humanities and
Fine Arts. Illinois Valley Community College, Oglesby,
IL 61348
^^
ayQjACltt7
/i. memoriaL left, in the gar-
dens at Fish Cottage, Block-
ley, Gloucestershire, to the
remarkable affection be-
tween William Keyte, a
wheelwright, and a trout.
The tame trout used to rise
to the surface whenever the
old man went near the pond.
The trout died in 1855. It is
said that it was murdered.
irom House & Garden, July 1986
AGSF'86p. 7
THE DAWSON MONUMENT, SELMA ALABAMA
by Jerry C. Oldshue
Nathaniel Henry Rhodes Dawson was descended from distinguished ancestors. He was one
of those gentlemen who almost became great on a national scale but never quite made it.
Nevertheless, Dawson's list of accomplishments is extremely impressive. He was a well-known
attorney in the state of Alabama and a colonel of Alabama troops in the Civil War. Dawson
was also appointed to numerous important political positions within the state and was almost
elected governor. On the national level he became the third commissioner of higher education
for the United States and, in addition, he is credited with having founded the public education
system in Alaska.
With the coming of the Civil War, Dawson became a colonel in the 4th Alabama Infantry.
By that time, he had been widowed twice but in May, 1862, while home on leave from the
War, he married the young woman who had presented his unit their flag upon their departure
for Virginia in 1861. This young lady was Elodine Breck Todd, half-sister of Mary Todd Lincoln.
Elodine was busy with two sons and very involved with civic affairs as the wife of Colonel
Dawson. Tragically, in November, 1 877, Mrs. Dawson grew ill and passed away. Colonel Dawson
was grief stricken.
According to legend the Colonel contracted with an Italian sculptor to carve for him from
white Italian marble one of the most unusual rnqnuments in the Selma Cemetery, a statue
of Elodine standing at her grave. The facial features of the statue are an exact duplicate of
a photograph of Mrs. Dawson taken in her youth. The effect of this monument was so startling,
that it has been said that suspicious souls who had known Mrs. Dawson prior to her death
would glance up at the monument and flee in fear believing they had met her ghost.
ci-^eixU. <J^ctJ /kJ dUjj.aJfy'-J
[D^^@®K]
^A»J» Tftaht JJ ftit li. i-ncietj
Jerr'^ C. Oldshue is Assistant Vice President of the
University of Alabama
AGS F'86p.8
BOOK REVIEWS
A Celebration of Death: An Introduction to Some of ttie Buildings, Monuments and Settings
of Funerary Architecture in the Western European Tradition
James Stevens Curl, author
Well illustrated with 348 black and white plates. 404 pages.
Published by Constable and Co., London, and Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. 1980.
Hardcover £15.00 (England) or $35.00 (America)
Review by Richard Becherer, Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
Some six years ago, James Stevens Curl's A Celebration of Death first appeared. Since then,
the work has become a classic of sorts in that it is the only study of its kind — a comprehensive
history of Western attitudes toward death as chronicled by all types of monuments. Its subject
matter ranges from the ancient mausoleum and necropolis, through the chantry chapel and
campo santo, to the Victorian headstone and its location in the modern, garden cemetery.
Thus the book is considered to be required reading in all matters regarding the manifold
aspects of death.
The enormous scope of A Celebration of Death, its informative commentary, wealth of illustrative
materials, and bibliography do make this an indispensable reference. Its handy organization,
on first glance, is especially appealing. The text contains twelve chapters and an Epilogue.
Chapter 1 deals with prehistoric burial sites; chapter 2, with antiquity; chapter 3, the Middle
Ages; chapters 4 and 6, the Renaissance and Baroque; chapter 5, primarily the eighteenth
century. This stadial organization is complicated, however, by the superposition of a typology
upon the chronological scheme. The rise of particular tomb types — the altar and house
tombs and chantry chapel — is introduced in chapter 4. Chapter 6 is concerned with the
increasing popularity of the mausoleum during the 'individuated' Renaissance. The modern
cemetery is handled in chapters 7 and 9. The author treats war memorials and cemeteries
in chapter 11. Finally, to flesh out his typological discussions during the modern period, Mr.
Curl resorts to topical essays. Chapter 8 concerns the progressive cemetery proposals of
architect/landscaper John Claudius Loudon and chapter 10 deals with modern techniques
of mortuary disposal. Except for these topical intrusions, the book is generally organized along
chronological and typological lines.
There is no doubt that organizing this kind of book is a Herculean task. Materials have to
be catalogued in ways accessible to a non-specialist audience, and Mr. Curl's chronology
and typology would seem to fill the bill. Be that as it may, however, there are times when
I feel Mr. Curl's chronological and typological arrangements cause him to miss certain key
relationships that would allow him the fullness of interpretation deserved by the objects of
his inquiry. As often as not, his facile distinctions hamper his expressed goal: to present "constant
themes. . . to pull the whole into a coherent story" (p. xxiii). Indeed, there are times when
one wishes the narrative structure, the "story" of the author's history, more carefully wrought.
Besides the frequent limitations of typological and chronological distinctions, as well as the
author's active architectural bias, we also recognize Mr. Curl's implicit preferences of subject
matter at play in the book. Parts of no less than five chapters are devoted to graveyard reform
and the rise of the modern cemetery, clearly tilting the historical scales in modernity's favor.
The majority of this treatment is devoted to British reforms, though a reasonable amount of
attention is directed toward the creation of Paris' Cimetiere de I'Est, or Pere Lachaise, the
first modern, picturesque cemetery. From my point of view, American examples are sadly
undervalued in the book, especially given the fact that America's first modern cemetery (excluding
Louisiana), Grove Street in New Haven CT, precedes England's cemetery reforms by some
thirty years, and Mount Auburn in Cambridge MA preceeds the foundation of London's Kensal
Green Cemetery by three.
The written style of this 'modern' section of the book comes as something of a surprise especially
after the almost chatty way the author discusses monuments and burial grounds up to this
point. With the advent of the nineteenth century, Mr. Curl's conversational treatment is
transformed into reportage, as he provides his audience with an almost blow-by-blow account
of the fights between Anglicans and Dissenters, the proceedings of London's General Cemetery
Company, various Metropolitan Cemetery Companies, the GLC, stock scandals, mergers, and
cemetery decline. Clearly, these are the areas of Mr. Curl's expertise. This is what the author
really likes to discuss, and it shows. Unfortunately, by treating the audience to perhaps more
information than it is this kind of book's responsibility to communicate, these chapters produce
in the book a stylistic unevenness. The level of social and political detail here makes one
aware of how much the early chapters are indebted to secondary sources, and how much
these later portions rely upon primary materials and original interpretations. This is not to
say that the earlier discussions are not informative and entertaining. It is to say, however,
that Mr. Curl's enthusiasm for certain subjects, especially modern British cemetery history,
does come to qualify the Catholicism and consistent depth of his survey.
continued
AGSF'86p.9
The book's Epilogue makes a number of interesting observations and raises further questions
about the status of death in modern culture. Mr. Curl feels that death is no longer a meaningful
issue to man; this fact, he asserts, is reflected in the formal poverty of present-day funerary
art forms. To demonstrate this point, he enlists the aid of a nineteenth century catalogue of
Victorian headstones. He argues that the languor of the catalogue's forms, and its standardization
of detail bespeaks a conventionalized rather than a personalized understanding of death. Other
than considering such standardization and artistic decline as aspects of a prevailing
utilitarianism, however, the author begs the question as to why our estimation of death has
changed so fundamentally. To have responded to this query, Mr. Curl might have taken recourse
in yet another catalogue of nineteenth century monument designs, this one by the French-
born, Irish architect Cesar-Denis Daly, L' Architecture Funeraire Contemporaine.
L' Architecture Funeraire was a chronicle of headstone and monument designs during the
French Second Empire. It also powerfully influenced subsequent funerary architecture in France
and America. Similar to Curl, Daly's discussion exploits a typological method to categorize
his modern examples. However, unlike Mr. Curl's employment of specific building types, Daly's
catalogue is composed along iconographic lines. Daly emphasizes less the monument's forms
than their meanings. He describes three types of memorials. The first type constitutes those
which represent "I'idee de la Mort (Death)." These monuments, so Daly says, are essentially
retrospective. The second type, representing "I'idee de la Glorification", is prospective. The
third, symbolizing "I'idee de la Foi (Faith)", expresses, for Daly, a system of belief, whether
institutional or personal, and transcends time itself. -
For Daly, the design of the mortuary monument involves a two-fold interpretive process. The
first concerns the personal history of the deceased, entailing the personal battle with time
that the dead encountered in his quest for historical autonomy. The second involves the
consciousness of the artist himself, and the critical capacity required to accomplish the
interpretive task set before him, that is, the interpretation of a single life, and the ways of
incorporating that interpretation in plastic form. For Daly, the memorial celebrates not just
the life of the deceased but also monumentalizes the artist's distinct consciousness and critical
capacity. The tomb is more than a memento mori. It is the index of one man's understanding
of another, and of modern man's appreciation of mankind's exploits within the confines of
time. It is also, for Daly, a testimony by the artist of men who make of their lives a work
of art.
It is not insignificant Daly sees his first and second types, death and glorification, as historically
conditioned; one is prospective and the other retrospective. It is also not insignificant that
the third type, belief, commemorates the strength of personal ideology, especially in its capacity
to abandon time entirely. Although Daly sees all three types as involving a contest between
man and time to a degree, it is the third that he advances to commemorate personal
consciousness. It would appear that Daly regards personal consciousness as escaping time;
all else must be resigned to time's ultimate control.
In making these distinctions, it would seem that Daly envisions a potential conflict between
history and personal consciousness. Daly seems to recognize the potential of man and his
artifacts not so much to manipulate history as to brush it aside entirely. In so doing, Daly
might be seen as seeking to thwart any possible control that the past might exert over the
present, either in the domain of man's handiwork or in his institutions. The net result constitutes
a psychological distancing from history, an existential gap which, I maintain, provides one
of the emotional prerequisites for the birth of modernism.
This is, I think, the appropriate moment to return to the question raised above: why do people's
attitudes toward the cemetery change so fundamentally during the second half of the nineteenth
century? Surely, as Mr. Curl proposes, part of the reason is a prevailing utilitarianism. Yet
another is, as Daly suggests, the growing conflict that occurred between personal consciousness
and history during the period. The conflict sketched out by Daly in L' Architecture Funeraire
grows to mammoth proportions by the outset of this century, as modern artists fashion so
many ideal forms which implicitly contest the power of history. Likewise, modern man seeks
social and intellectual ideals which explicitly question historical convention. Unfortunately, the
cemetery, longtime repository of the past and transmitter of historical lessons, is, paradoxically,
an early victim of the modern consciousness it once assisted in raising.
Mr. Curl's assessment of modern funerary practices is understandably bleak. This may be
due, in part, to the fact that he fails to consider a rapidly growing school of architectural
thinking — Postmodernism — that is today as much embracing history and traditional aesthetic
values as modernism earlier repudiated them. It should come as no surprise that this 'new'
school of thinking directs new attention to the formal, functional, and intellectual problems
involving the spaces of death. Italian postmodernists, particularly Carlo Scarpa at the Brion-
Vega Cemetery and Aldo Rossi at the new Modena Cemetery have recently designed
formalistically intriguing burial places, the first for a family, the second for a city. Even in America,
architectural competitions like the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial have sought not just to
commemorate the nation's war dead, but also to put forth lessons to be learned by the living
from the tragic event. Through such projects the didactic potential of the artifacts of death
has been rediscovered, if not wholly explored and understood. Ongoing researches of this
continued
AGSF'86p. 10
kind may in time reveal more than the needed economic strategem permitting the cemetery
an enduring existence. In addition, they may cast the spaces of death in a different light,
thus revealing to posterity a renewed spiritual function. In discovering this spirit, posterity may
in turn direct the same respect andaffection to these spaces as sources of intellectual life
that it accords to its ancestors buried therein.
Editor's Note: James Stevens Curl also wrote The Victorian Celebration of Death (David &
Charles, 1972), which is an entirely different book. The above review is excerpted from a
much longer critical essay in which Dr. Becherer also discusses Curl's treatment of
f\Jlichelangelo's Medici Chapel, Henry VH's chantry chapel in Westminister Abbey, as well as
Curl's omission of Hadrian's Roman Pantheon and his exclusion of wall tomb sculpture. A
copy of the entire essay is available to any AGS member for $1.00 (to cover copying and
postage costs) from Rosalee Oakley, Executive Director, 46 Plymouth Road, Needham, MA 02192.
Mary H. Mitchell, Hollywood Cemetery: The History of a Southern Shrine. 1985. Virginia State
Library, 1101 Capitol, Richmond, VA 23219. 194 pages, $25.00.
For ten years, Mary Mitchell researched Hollywood, Richmond VA's famous burial ground,
poring through cemetery record books at the Virginia Historial Society, searching newspaper
files, checking sources at the Museum of the Confederacy, Valentine Museum, and other places.
Her exhaustive fact-finding shows on every page, and is confirmed by meticulous footnotes
and bibliography. Equalling the quality of her research is the gracefulness of her style. All
this combines for a truly memorable narrative about one of America's most prominent cemeteries.
The entire story of Hollywood's history is here, from founding in 1847 to the present. Nowadays
the cemetery sprawls over 135 acres, providing gravesites for over 61,000 people. When the
Civil War started, the cemetery encompassed 43 acres. Two of them were donated by the
Hollywood Board of Trustees for the burial of dead Confederate soldiers. But even before
the Seven Days' battles this Soldiers' Section was filled, so the C.S. government subsidized
the purchase of 11 more acres for interments. By the end of the war, 11,000 Confederates
had been buried in Hollywood.
There is more to Hollywood's history than the Civil War, of course, and Mrs. Mitchell covers
the full story exceedingly well. Don't let the rather plain-looking green and white endcovers
mislead you; this is no ordinary book. Published by the Virginia State Library, it is handsomely
printed and bound. Over seventy illustrations and photographs provide a pictorial chronicle
of Hollywood. The six full-colour, full-page plates, exquisitely reproduced, are particularly
fetching. Among the other pluses of this fact-filled book is its reproduction of the cemetery
map.
This review is excerpted from Grave Matters, A
Newsletter for Civil War Necrolithographers, V. 2 #2, Fall
1986, Steve Davis, editor, 1163 Warrenhall Lane, Atlanta,
GA 30319.
Pamela Burgess, widow of Frederick W. Burgess, the author of English Churchyard Memorials
(Lutterworth Press, 1963) is considering re-publishing some of his early articles. She writes:
"Frederick's articles date back to 1941, they were published in a trade paper, he
reserved the copyright, and instead of payment received the line and half-tone blocks
of the illustrations. All his early illustrations are drawings (he started drawing
gravestones in 1927) he did not have a camera until the late 1940's. Following our
marriage in 1952 we worked on the research and articles together. All the research
was written up and published in this way. After Frederick's death 1 continued to
write for this same trade paper until it ceased publication in 1968.
If I can find a publisher I will edit these articles, adding additional material as necessary.
There is really material for two books, the first which traces the history and development
of the gravestone from the Palaeolithic age to the 19th century, and another on the
gravestone makers which includes an index of the Midland carvers working in slate.
It is unlikely that I will find a publisher for this material in this Country.
At some time I would like to find a purchaser for Frederick's gravestone drawings,
to help finance further research, and also so that these drawings will have a safe
home, as many of the stones he drew no longer exist."
c^^/ — ^f'^^^^KzMfL^'Cy^$S^ — ^^
Are you planning to move? Our membership mailings including the Newsletter and Conference
mailings are sent to you by Third Class mail. If you have moved, these will NOT be forwarded
by the post office, nor will we be informed of your new address. YOU must inform the AGS
office oif your new address.
AGSF'86p.11
PEOPLE
Casimer Michalczyk
There is a man in Glastonbury CT whose work will outlive all of us. A carver of gravestones,
71 year old Casimer Michalczyk regularly creates a little bit of history. Although carving markers
is a fairly recent endeavor, Michalczyk has been a carver most of his life. While a student
at the Rhode Island School of Design and Yale School of Fine Arts (Sculpture), he worked
as a letterer and carver with John Howard Benson at the John Stevens shop in Newport
over the years 1935 to 1942.
Over the course of the past fifty years, Michalczyk's talents have been applied in a variety
of projects, and since his retirement from the industrial marketplace he has undertaken a
number of commissions. He restored the statue of Genius at the Connecticut state capitol;
created a monument to honor the country's first admiral (Hopley Yeaton, appointed by George
Washington) which is installed at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in Neyy London; and has
designed and executed a number of commemorative plaques. Along with other AGS members
in Connecticut, Michalczyk successfully lobbied for protective legislation for historic
gravemarkers.
He is now a specialist in carved gravestones. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, markers
often told a story. Michalczyk's stones echo the past in this respect — his tell a story in
pictures or symbols. Executed by a true craftsman with an almost intense regard for detail
and time-consuming patience, these stones are lovely to see. Some depict the individual's
experience or interests, while others convey the gentle overtones of personality or contribution.
Most people will never know who carved the markers, but people whose stones Michalczyk
has created will become a part of history.
from the Glastonbury News Bulletin, May 24, 1986. For
more on Michalczyk, see the AGS Newsletter, Winter
'82-3, p. 5
THE OLD ANDbESTWAV
1.
TRADITIONAL
HANDCUT
"V"5&CTI0fV
LETTER
Cut vf ith chisel
AND fMALLE-T
PRODUCE MOST
LONQ LASTING)
I N6CR1 PTIOfVS .
WITH NO
UNDERCUTS
THERE IS NO
ENTRAPMENT
OF ICE.
THE LESS THAN BEST WAV
^A
Pockets in stonf
HOLD WATER.
ICE FREEZIfVq
LtllLL EXPAN/D ,
PREAK COR/VeRS
ofstone.
IWITH LETTERS
HAVINq"lSLANDS"
AS in: A,B, D,0, P,
OR AT JUNCTURE Ol-"
5TROKES^ASlN
A, K,N\,N,V,W,X,Y,2
ice WILL cAuse
BREAKS.
2.
usiNq
rdbber stencil
Sandblast
letter has
<^ clean external
look. interior
is irreqular
in section,
no control
over ins/pe
SHAPES
Sandblast
cvttinc^ action
produces
A POCKET
J
Because of
undercuts
RBSULTIs/qpfiOrA
SAMDBLAST/Vi;,
CONTOUR /RRfquLARI-
TIE-S IN LETTERS —
OR — CErVTERS Of=
LETTERS U/ILtBELOST.
K
Closely spaced
cuts cause
WEAK STRfCTURE"
(^•84
AGSF'86p. 12
from a photocopy of a photograph. Casimer Michalczyk.
Glastonbury. CT 1986.
Edwin Dethlefsen
The following biographical vignette from the Keene VT Sentinel Plus, July 26. 1986. sent in
by Helen Rogers of Brattleboro VT, features Edwin Dethlefsen. Dethlefsen, along with James
Deetz. wrote "Death's Heads, Cherubs, and Willow Trees: Experimental Archaeology in Colonial
Cemeteries", American Antiquity V. 31 #4, April 1966; and "Death's Head, Cherub, Urn and
Willow", Natural History V. 76 #3, Inarch 1967, probably the most quoted article in gravestone
literature. Dr. Dethlefsen was the featured speaker at the AGS conference in Haverill fvIA in
1980.
Edwin S. Dethlefsen believes that cemeteries are alive — with clues to society's values, past
and present. Dethlefsen has been studying the communities of the dead for the past 23 years.
"It's the only place all have the chance to leave that 'last message,'" he said. "It's the only
cultural thing that was deliberately made in order to be preserved."
What's preserved reveals more about society than the individuals may have realized they were
leaving behind. Dethlefsen has found that changes in American culture are reflected in its
citizens' resting places. And, he says, modern cemeteries can be as interesting as New England's
oldest burying grounds.
Until 1979, "1 had never really looked at a modern cemetery." He decided to look at modern
cemeteries when he was teaching in Virginia. "What I saw. . . was a city and a plain. It reminded
me of Denver." The cityscape was formed by the granite stones, he said, with the plain made
up of the bronze tablets that populate many modern sites. At first, "I thought it would be boring,
since it was after 1850." But he noticed a trend. Most bronze plates were atop graves of
single people, while granite stones usually marked the places of couples. And on the bronze
plates, he found a new generation of symbolism. One plate was for a 19-year-old-man. "Rising
out of the bronze in sculpture was a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. I started looking at the
others," Dethlefsen said. "The young men had cowboy boots, guitars, motorcycles — all from
the '60s and '70s." The older men had symbols of their lodges, yachting wheels, sailboats,
rod and reel and other material things. "There was almost as much variety as during the
Victorian era." Women, though, had many religious symbols used throughout the decades:
folded hands, books, crosses, beads. Children had puppies, butterflies, ducks and birds.
To Dethlefsen, the stones and plates told of two things; the age the person died and the
kinds of values associated with the different ages. The children's plates, with the animals,
show that society "still sees kids as pets instead of little adults." He said earlier societies
saw children as little adults, and children used to get the same types of stones, only smaller.
Then, sometime after 1880, the relationship between adults and children changed, and stones
not only were smaller than the adults, but usually were decorated with baby animals.
continued
AGSF'86p. 13
Through the centuries, the way people are placed in graveyards also has changed, he said.
In the early years of this country, he said, cemeteries were very democratic, with people receiving
the same size stones, no matter what their importance to the community, and being buried
row after row. Shortly after the Civil War, he said, families began to be buried in clusters,
with one big monument marking the family plot if the family had the money, and smaller stones
marking off the individual family members. Family plots often were fenced in. Between these
two times — from about 1790 to 1850 — people buried family members in the back yard
instead of the church yard. The family plots in cemeteries, though, had about had it by 1920,
Dethlefsen said.
All this change, he said, shows changes in society. In the early years, communities were tight-
knit, and were small enough so everyone knew each other and had family feelings toward
each other. As towns grew, they became more impersonal and the role of the family took
on more significance. Thus, the backyard burials and family plots. Now, Dethlefsen said, with
people living longer and moving away, with few having "hometowns," family plots are becoming
husband and wife plots, if that.
Sometime around the beginning of the 20th century, cemeteries took on a different "air." Before
then, people used cemeteries almost as parks, holding picnics, spending sunny afternoons
walking along their paths. Then, in the early 1900s, cemeteries became "spooky," with people
crossing their fingers or holding their breath while going by a cemetery, and avoiding them
at night. Dethlefsen believes this shows a black influence, as many of the fears stem from
African myths.
Dethlefsen, 55, started his study of cemeteries quite by accident in 1963, when he was pursuing
a graduate degree at Harvard University after teaching school for 10 years in California. A
friend from California, Jim Deetz, came to serve as a visiting professor in archaeology at Harvard.
Since Deetz was from the New England area, he took Dethlefsen on a tour of his old stomping
grounds, including a cemetery in Concord, Mass. Dethlefsen at the time was a biologist with
an intense interest in entomology, the study of bugs. But by the time these two left the Concord
cemetery, Dethlefsen had discovered a whole other world to study.
Deetz "pointed out the designs on the headstones from 1680 to 1740," Dethlefsen said. "When
we started really looking at the headstones, we began to see that the designs started and
ended within time frames. We realized we had artifacts we could study right there." Dethlefsen
remembers that "Deetz got all excited about it. I didn't at first. I just saw it as culture fossils."
But within a short time Dethlefsen jumped into the study of cemeteries with both feet, and
for the next ten years, he and Deetz published about twelve articles on the studies in professional
journals.
Deetz then went off in another direction, being more interested in archaeological theory.
Dethlefsen stayed on, however, to see how much information he could get out of a cemetery.
In studying cemeteries, Dethlefsen admits that he "trips" over many ideas. "Each cemetery
gives me another idea."
ALL CEMETERIES ARE SIGNIFICANT FOR HISTORY
by Illinois State Senator Judy Ban Topinka
Cemeteries are often thought of as places to visit at the time of a funeral and perhaps a
few times during the year to pay respects. I see cemeteries, not only in the traditional sense,
but also as a source of history and link with the past.
A cemetery isn't just a bunch of stones and gravemarkers that have been set aside. They
are tangible reminders that these people were here, they did walk among us and played a
significant part in our lives. I believe that cemeteries can and should be used to a greater
degree by historians and ordinary citizens who have an interest and appreciation for the past.
I have submitted a plan to the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency asking them to prepare
a study and document of the burial grounds in Illinois. The study will encompass, not only
the state's larger well known cemeteries, but will include smaller, rural, family and pioneer
plots in order to provide complete data for the historian or interested visitor.
When the study has been completed, I hope that a publication, a sort of field guide, will be
produced giving interested persons a detailed description of the significant aspects of each
of the cemeteries surveyed. The visitor would be provided with a landscape plan, facts on
famous people buried there, data on any interested tombstone design and funerary sculpture
present.
In other parts of the country, especially in New England, cemeteries have provided repositories
of learning for, not only historians and scholars, but for area natives and visitors to the region
alike, Illinois need not take a backseat. Think of the historical figures we have buried here
in Illinois — Abraham Lincoln in Springfield — for instance.
The Illinois Historic Preservation Agency has announced that it will proceed with the study.
from the Chicago Tribune, August 27, 1986, contributed
by Barbara Anderson, Morris Plains NJ.
AGS F'86p. 14
MEMBER NEWS
Sffltei
"You can always tell when a genealogist finds his Pilgrim.
AGS member Barbara Anderson of Morris Plains NJ works as a travel consultant. By fate,
Mrs. K. Baker of Florida came to her desk for a trip to the Windham CT cemetery. Here follows
her discovery of the Manning stones in Windham.
"I called Dr. Slater to find out just how I might locate the Manning graves. He told
me about the first path nearest Windham Center as one would face the cemetery.
He said Josiah and Mary and some little stones would be about 20 graves down
the path on the left side. There was an old iron gate (closed) close to the road,
blocking off this old section so we had to drive into the center of the cemetery and
work our way back, a good part on foot. It had snowed a few days before and
it was very cold but the sun was shining and we were dressed warmly. I dare say
I whispered a little prayer that as long as we had gotten this far, 'Please help me
find Josiah and Mary Manning!' I ran up the path, looking left and right, afraid to
miss them, and then turned back down. This time I stopped and looked carefully
at each stone. It was hard to decipher most of the inscriptions because of time and
age and then I remembered that I was looking for Mary's headstone which was
special because Josiah was a stone carver. It would be connected to a footstone
by a slab. He did this so that the wolves could not get at her body. My husband
was on the top of the hill, looking too, but I knew that soon I would be getting the
signal, 'Let's go!' — then I saw the connected stones. What a thrill!"
AGS member Jim Jewell, who teaches full-time at Illinois Valley Community College, was elected
secretary of the Illinois Theatre Association at the organization's October convention in Chicago.
In addition to his many acting roles and other projects, he began his ninth year as editor
of Stage 212's eight-times yearly newsletter. Jim also found time to submit articles on Civil
War graves in Bloomington IL's Evergreen Memorial Park and Fort Wayne IN's Lindenwood
Cemetery to Grave Markers. He has completely (well, almost!) organized his gravestone and
epitaph files — and added to them immensely, thanks to new AGS friends. And he has forwarded
a mountain of gravestone related newspaper clippings to the AGS A/eivs/efferand Archives.
Jeffrey Anderson, owner of Austin Memorials of Austin, Minnesota, reports on work his company
has donated to repair area cemeteries damaged by vandals, time or the elements. Also involved
in donating thousands of dollars of labor is Anderson's Granite Company owned by Rolland
Anderson, Jeffrey's father. They are the third and fourth generations in their family to be involved
in the monument industry, and claim to be the oldest family monument business in the state.
"We have a genuine concern for the cemeteries," Jeff said in the Dodge Center Star of the
companies' reasons for donating their work. "What happens in a lot of cemeteries is that
monuments are left to deteriorate, and many graves are left without an historical record. And
also, we do this to show people that vandalizing cemeteries is not a thing to do." The vandalized
cemeteries were Dodge Center's Riverside Cemetery and Oakhill Cemetery south of Elgin.
Other cemeteries they repaired were Pleasant Prairie-Dale Cemetery near Zumbro Falls, and
Mona's Riverside Hill Cemetery. The estimated labor costs at Riverside Cemetery were between
$7,000 and $8,000, and at Oakhill about $10,000. The Andersons estimate that they work on
two to three vandalized cemeteries each year, so this is an ongoing effort.
Pamela Burgess of Gloucestershire, England, writes that both she and Betty Wilsher of Scotland
have contributed to a BBC TV documentary on Great Cemeteries.
AGSF'86p. 15
The editor of Markers would welcome submission of articles in our field for future issues.
Articles should be interesting, original and scholarly, should run from 20 to 30 typewritten
pages and should conform to the Chicago Manual of Style. They may be accompanied by
glossy black-and-white prints or black ink drawings. All manuscripts submitted are reviewed
by an editoral board. Manuscripts should be submitted to, or further information may be obtained
from, Theodore Chase, 74 Farm Street, Dover, Massachusetts 02030.
Patricia A. Miller, P.O. Box 1151, Sharon, CT 06069 writes that AGS members should consider
adding a clause to their wills leaving their books, research files etc. to AGS or a local group.
She is still looking for pictures of cemetery furniture, iron fences etc., as well as romantic
epitaphs, and maybe someone to take up research on Elijah Wheeler, Connecticut's northwest
carver.
NEW TELEPHONE NUMBER FOR AGS OFFICE
The AGS Office now has its own telephone line and a new telephone number — (617) 455-
8180. The Executive Director may stilt be reached at her residence number (617) 444-6263.
FROM THE OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
This has been a busy fall for many AGS members who have been leading seminars or giving
lectures to local groups. Many have written us and asked for brochures to give to their
participants. These are valuable contacts and some of these people eventually join AGS. In
an effort to encourage others of you to create programs and find opportunities to share them
with local groups, here are several members who in recent months have given programs
or led workshops.
Mary-Ellen Jones, Archivist, Bancroft Library, Univ. of CA, Berkeley, CA, spoke at the Contra
Costa Genealogical Society in September, and the Solano County Genealogical Society in
November. She reports that the panel which she organized for the American Association for
State and Local History's 46th Annual Meeting in Oakland CA, Sept. 30-Oct. 3 on the topic,
"The Cemetery and the Interpretation of Social and Cultural History," was well received. With
her on the panel were Jo Hanson, AGS member, San Francisco Arts Commission; Marilyn
Rowan, AGS member. Librarian, Oakland Public Library; Patricia Vanderberg, Librarian,
University of California, Berkeley, and Phyllis Wainwright, the Chair of Martinez Cemetery
Commission (an AGS institutional member), Martinez CA.
Mary J. Deal of Akron OH spoke to the local chapter of Architectural Historians in September
on her gravestone studies research.
Susan Olsen who manages Belle Meade Mansion in Nashville TN gave a series of lectures
this fall on cemetery art.
Pat Miller of Sharon CT appeared on radio stations in White Plains NY and Pawling-Patterson NY
talking about gravestone and graveyard concerns. She also put up posters in local establishments
offering a tour of the local cemetery. Pat found her townspeople to be an interested audience
and encourages other AGS members to consider offering similar tours in their localities. Pat
will be speaking in March at a meeting of the Friends of Berlin CT Library.
New member Patty Roberts of Hemet CA contacted AGS for informational materials when
she was asked to lead a class on "Cemetery Research and Headstone Rubbings" for The
Genealogical Seminar sponsored by the Hemet-San Jacinto Genealogical Society and the
Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints. She reports she had an excellent response
and that she has been asked to be on their program again next year.
Lindsey Fisher of Fayetteville NC writes that he and Anna Ray have been presenting a slide
presentation, "Open-Air Museums, Genealogy and Cemeteries," for several years and in October
appeared at the Cumberland County (NC) Archaeological Society to discuss ways to use
tombstones in genealogical research.
New member Wheaton Wilbar of Newton Center MA was the Display Chairman for the
Massachusetts Society of Genealogists Annual State Meeting in October in Boston. He was
responsible for AGS brochures joining the many other materials on display.
New member Jean Hawthorne, who is a Regional Interpretive Specialist for the U.S. Department
of Agriculture in the San Francisco CA office, wrote us for information materials when she
was asked to conduct a September workshop on cemetery preservation and interpretation
at the Association of Interpretive Naturalists National Workshop in the Delaware Water Gap
area of Maryland. She reports an excellent response from about 20 participants.
AGSF'86p. 16
One of the things to do when visiting Rochester NY is to tour Mount Hope Cemetery, the
first municipally owned garden cemetery in the United States. Two AGS members and members
of the Friends of Mount Hope, Shirley Stephens and Jack McKinney, regularly serve as guides
for these tours, drawing from 50 to 75. visitors.
Laurel Gabel has spoken to several local societies in and around Rochester NY, West Bloomfield
Historical Society, Fairport Historical Society and Ontario County Genealogical Society being
three groups. A Halloween tour of Mt. Hope Cemetery with a class of 15 ten-twelve year
olds from the Rochester Montessori School engendered their interest in pursuing special projects
in gravestone studies during the coming months.
Others have had speaking engagements but we neglected to record the audience reached.
Some of these are Nancy Dodge of Portsmouth NH, Darrell Norris of Geneseo NY, Lynette
Strangstad of Charleston SC, Fred Fredette of Scotland CT, and Carol Perkins of Toledo OH.
Most of these events have already occurred. If you will let us know as far in advance as
possible, we can list your talks in future Newsletters and enable other AGS members in your
area to attend. We can also send you a batch of AGS brochures to hand out to your audience,
so let the AGS office hear from you — 46 Plymouth Road, Needham, MA 02192.
AGS BOARD OF TRUSTEES — 1986-1987
Alice Bunton
21 Perkins Road, Bethany, CT 06525
Theodore Chase
74 Farm Street, Dover, MA 02030
Lorraine Clapp
1693 John Fitch Blvd., So. Windsor, CT 06074
Daniel Farber President
31 Hickory Drive, Worcester, MA 01609
Alfred Fredette
PO Box 37, Scotland, CT 06264
Laurel Gabel Vice-President
205 Fishers Road, Pittsford, NY 14534
William Hosley
Old Abbe Road, Enfield, CT 06082
Geraldine Hungerford Conference Co-Cliair
Hilldale Road, Bethany, CT 06525
George Kackley Newsletter Index
4201 Greenway, Baltimore, MD 21218-1135
Vincent F. Luti
Box 412, Westport, MA 02790
Lance R. Mayer Secretary
Lyman Allyn Museum, 625 Williams Street, New London, CT 06320
Patricia Miller,
PO Box 1151, Sharon, CT 06069
Carol Perkins
1233 Cribb St., Apt. 204, Toledo, OH 43612
Beth Rich Archivist
43 Rybury Hiliway, Needham, MA 02192
Miriam Silverman
300 W. 55th Street, New York, NY 10019
James Slater
373 Bassettes Bridge Road, Mansfield, Ctr., CT 06250
Deborah Trask Newsletter Editor
Nova Scotia Museum Complex, 1747 Summer St., Halifax, N.S. B3H 3A6
William Wallace Treasurer
Worcester Historical Museum, 39 Salisbury St., Worcester, MA 01609
Richard Welch Publications Chair
55 Cold Spring Hills Road, Huntington, NY 11743
AGSF'86p.17
NEWS FROM CONNECTICUT GRAVESTONE TOURS
1987 Schedule
April18 East Haven James Halpin, tour leader
May 16 Mystic Dr. James Slater
June 20 Kent Patricia Miller
July 18 Simsbury Bess Eyre
August 15 Norwich Fred Fred ette
September 19 Newtown Sue Kelly, Ann Williams
October 1 7 East Lyme James Leatherbee
Jonathan Twiss
Our tours visit four or more early burial grounds on the third Saturday of the month, April
to October. We enjoy art, history, writings, etc. of these early remnants of our past. Some
of us identify the grave carvers, others photograph the stones, or collect epitaphs. As a group
we worry/study gravestone deterioration and restoration processes, urge recording of
cemeteries.
Know of cemetery problems? Let us know!
Do come touring with us. As well as seeing fascinating old cemeteries, you'll meet a friendly
group of people — experience a picnic in a cemetery (bring your own!) Tours start at 10
a.m. always — FREE — Donations urged.
For directions, and additional information, send a stamped, self-addressed envelope to Patricia
A. Miller, P.O. Box 1151, Sharon, CT 06069.
NEWS FROM THE MAINE OLD CEMETERY ASSOCIATION
Louis Grenci, former owner of Grenci & Ellis, Inc., and later of Fletcher & Butterfield Monument
Co., was a speaker at the August meeting of MOCA. He recounted how his father, already
a full-fledged stonecutter at the age of 10, came to this country in the 1920s, going on to
erect St. John the Divine Church in New York City.
Following in his father's footsteps, Louis learned to cut granite in quarries and cutting sheds
with a hammer, before the days of saws and air drills; today's equipment does in a week
what used to take him a year.
Granite from Grenci & Ellis' Frankfort ME quarry can be found in Connecticut parkway bridges,
the Senate and Rayburn Buildings in Washington, the Lloyds of London Building in Los Angeles.
Swedish stone for the Henry and Edsel Ford Auditorium in Detroit was shipped via Searsport
to Frankfurt, where it was polished and finished. Grenci made the stones marking the graves
of Enrico Fermi and Al Smith, and for the Fenway War Memorial in Boston. While engraving
is done today by sandblasting over a rubber stencil, Grenci did it with a chisel.
Grenci didn't know the significance of a broken cross below an intact one. Do you?.
For cleaning granite or marble, he recommends bifluoric acid, obtained from Bicknell Mfg.
Co., Rockland, left on no more than two minutes; a half pound will do a dozen or more stones.
If brushed on full strength then flushed off quickly, Clorox will do a good job, too.
Editor's Note: This treatment should NEVER be attempted by an amateur. Perhaps some
Conservator members of AGS would like to comment on these cleaning treatments.
Since its inception in 1 969, MOCA has been building up a rich store of records, correspondence
and other evidence of its members and their memorable works.
The files contain organization papers, the by-laws, records of all public, board and committee
meetings, and issues of all the published newsletters.
Also preserved are copies of MOCA publications, such as the brochures regarding recording,
photographing and restoring cemeteries and making rubbings, as well as one listing some
of the more interesting cemeteries in Maine.
Clippings of all newspaper and magazine publicity have been preserved, as well as accounts
of cemetery vandalism and stories of exemplary cemetery restoration. There are also photographs
of the presentations of MOCA awards and other special events.
Maine cemetery laws are currently being codified, with the ultimate objective of an effort to
have them strengthened by the state legislature.
AGSF'86p. 18
NEWS FROM THE VERMONT OLD CEMETERY ASSOCIATION
With thousands of headstones falling into disrepair and dozens of tiny private cemeteries being
bulldozed for development, members of the Vermont Old Cemetery Association are redoubling
efforts to save what they see as a valuable part of the state's history.
At its annual meeting recently, the association of 600 people decided to double dues, to $2,
and to try to let people know of its existence.
Charles Marchant of Townshend VT, who is secretary of the organization and a high school
history teacher, said cemeteries were important research tools. Before the turn of the century
towns were not required by law to keep birth, death and burial records, so "a headstone
is sometimes all we have," he said.
And Mr. Marchant said the location of cemeteries gave information on the demographics of
early Vermont towns. Townshend, for example, had a population of 1,400 in the mid-1 800's,
almost double its current size.
Although funds for restoring old cemeteries are limited — the association awards no more
than a couple of thousand dollars a year in matching grants — Mr. Marchant said much
could be done with a small amount of cash. He recently restored a 20-grave cemetery in
Newfane VT, for example, for about $120, which included the cost of the special epoxy used
to glue eight broken headstones together.
To those who see no point in restoring old cemeteries, Mr. Marchant wryly quotes a verse
he found on the headstone of one Patience Brown, who died in 1832 in Ludlow VT:
Here life and all it's pleasures end
Here wander, read and weep
Soon each succeeds his fallen friend
And in the same cold bed must sleep.
from the New York Times, October 22, 1986. contributed
by Robert Van Benthuysen. West Long Branch NJ.
NEWS FROM THE WISCONSIN STATE OLD CEMETERY SOCIETY
On 29 April, 1986, Governor Earl of Wisconsin signed a bill (1985 Wisconsin Act 316) into
law to repeal, renumber, amend and create certain chapters and subchapters of the state
statutes relating to the preservation of human burial sites; creation of a burial sites preservation
board attached to the historical society; granting a tax exemption; imposing a penalty and
making an appropriation. The bill provides statutory protection for a// human burial sites, creates
new duties for the director of the state historical society, and creates a part-time burial sites
preservation board. It also creates a requirement, imposed on all persons, to immediately notify
the director of the historical society if the person knows or has grounds to believe that a
burial site is being disturbed without authorization. There are also sections dealing with
catalogued and uncatalogued burial sites as well as the disposition of human remains and
objects related to burial, burial sites on public lands, and disturbing a burial site for commercial
gain.
A copy of the 12-page 1985 Wisconsin Act 316 (enacted 29 April 1986, published 6 May
1986) may be obtained from the Wisconsin Legislative Council, Room 147 North, State Capitol,
Madison, Wl 53702. (Cost of the copy is not known.)
from Inscriptions, Newsletter of the Wisconsin State Old
Cemetery Society, editor Phil Kallas, 308 Acorn St.,
Stevens Point. Wl 54481
A\r^ ^f'k. ^V^
-^0 "^/i^ ^/l^
1987 CONFERENCE
The Annual Meeting and Conference of the Association for Gravestone Studies, celebrating
our 10th anniversary, will be held June 25-28, 7987 (Thursday afternoon to Sunday morning)
at Amherst College, Amherst MA. The tour area, from Rockingham VT to Northampton MA
including Deerfield, contains a tremendous number of varied carvers' works. More detailed
information about tours, speakers, exhibits, special programs for teachers and genealogists,
etc., will be sent to all members in a separate mailing.
AGSF'86p. 19
RETURN!
Laurinda Barrett of New York City wrote to AGS Executive Director, Rosalee Oakley, after
reading the article about Alfred Fredette and AGS in the May 1986 issue of Yankee Magazine.
"Years ago," she wrote, "I 'rescued' an old gravestone and it has sat in my New York apartment
many years. It was found one morning on the then construction site of Boston's City Hall
about one year before its completion. A friend of mine, one of the on-site architects for the
project, took it home and gave it to me. He assumed, at the time, that someone had thrown
it out the window of a passing car or van. If it is of any use to catalogue it and maybe return
it to its rightful burial ground, I would be delighted." The stone was for three children named
Isaac Dafforne, died 1782, 1783, 1785.
Rosalee sent her letter, and accompanying photograph to AGS Vice-president, Laurel Gabel,
who is very knowledgable about Boston gravestones. Laurel determined, from a 1918 inventory
by Ogden Codman, that the stone was from the Granary Burying Ground. A 1 985 index prepared
by the City of Boston lists the headstone and footstone of the father, John Dafforne, dated
1787, as located in the Granary. From the photo. Laurel made a preliminary attribution of
the stone to the carver, John Homer. Laurel then passed all this information along to Ellen
Lipsey, Project Manager for the Boston Historic Burying Grounds Initiative. Here is part of
her response to Ms. Barrett:
"You are acting in accord with Massachusetts law by recommending recovery of
the stone to the burying ground. I have not seen the photo, but Laurel noted that
there is a break at the base, which probably accounts for the stone's separation
from the Granary site. The City will attempt to locate the missing part, during an
upcoming Fall-Spring Granary grave marker program. Hopefully, we can mend the
pieces and reset the stone adjacent to the father's.
If the stone cannot be reset at the present time, due to lack of a base to secure
it in the ground, we will store it with other gravestone fragments from the Granary
— until we can find a way to remount them in the burying ground or exhibit them
indoors. A copy of our fragment collection form will be sent to the State Archaeologist
with full information on the identification of the gravestone and its storage location.
Again, thanks for your stewardship of the Dafforne children's stone and for urging
its recovery to Boston."
The stone is now in Boston, and the Burying Ground Initiative team will soon be looking
for the bottom fragment.
PRESERVATION CONCERNS
We have had a letter from Thelma S. McManus, a professional genealogist and local historian
in Doniphan, Missouri who is helping her local legislator draw up legislation to stop people
from destroying or otherwise defacing Missouri cemeteries. She writes, "We are gearing up
our efforts for the fourth year beginning in January 1987. . . This year both a State Senator
and my local Representative are introducing the same bill in both chambers. . . I think we
can make it this year." Any AGS members who would like to be encouraging or supportive
in this effort may contact Mrs. McManus at 507 Vine Street, Doniphan, MO 63935, telephone
314/996-2596.
R.I. P. Memories die too, by Woody Paige
I wouldn't want to be Ernest Gnipper. He's dead. And he doesn't rest in peace. Gnipper rests
in weeds. Gnipper, who lived in Denver from 1868 to 1901, is buried in the north section
of Riverside Cemetery. He might as well be in Death Valley.
Nobody is dying to get into that quadrant of Denver's oldest cemetery. The 160-acre cemetery,
founded in 1876, was once described as a "lush garden equal to any in the East." Many
of the prominent Denverites were interred at popular Riverside. But the city and the funerals
moved south. While the heart of the cemetery is still somewhat tasteful and proper, the fringes
to the north are distasteful and improper. What once was a tranquil land near the road the
pioneers travelled and by the Platte River is now located in the heart of Denver's industrial
belt and surrounded by railroad tracks and sewage and barbed-wire fences.
As usual, a solution involves money. The officials of Denver should contemplate the eventual
conditions of the cemeteries they will be buried in. Maybe, then, they would address the problems
at Riverside.
from the Denver Post, August 15, 1986, contributed by
Jim Goble. Denver CO.
AGSF'86p.20
RENOVATING CEMETERIES
Renovating Cemeteries
George Miller, of Westmount IL, wrote to AGS about a cemetery problem in Illinois:
Out here, due to rising costs, many cemeteries are being "renovated" by their owners, especially
the Archdioscese of Chicago. One very historic cemetery is to be "renovated" this summer.
When a cemetery is renovated, all plantings removed, excess trees removed, and all gravestones
are removed and set into the ground so that they may be mowed over by large, commercial
lawn mowers. In addition, family borders and dividers between family plots are removed.
The cemetery that I am concerned about, specifically, is the St. James of the Sag cemetery.
It is part of the Illinois and Michigan Canal Historic Coridor. Graves here date back to the
1830's when members of the congregation worked digging the nearby canal.
If you have any advice for preventing the destruction of this picturesque and historic cemetery,
please advise.
In her response, AGS Executive Director Rosalee Oakley said "We get many letters asking
what to do about neglected and vandalized cemeteries, but this practise is certainly one of
the most systematized we have heard about. There is a law in Illinois (Chap. 21, Section 15)
which makes it a misdemeanor and prescribes penalties for destroying or mutilating any stone,
tomb, vault, punishable by a fine of not less than $5 nor more than $100. It is possible to
proceed civilly against the owner of the cemetery if this law is being broken. However, it
will take a group of concerned citizens to raise a protest before the practice will be stopped.
Citizen support can be mobilized through newspaper letters to the editor, or capturing the
interest of a newspaper reporter who can write a feature story highlighting what will be lost
in the process, or better yet, perhaps, would be to go to the town's largest historical or preservation
society and get their support or engage their concern and have them carry on the protest
in the courts. Sometimes several associations locally will band together."
Rosalee also suggested that he contact the American Canal Society, a group which is devoted
to the canals in America. Since many of those buried in the cemetery were workers on the
canal, they might take an interest in supporting the preservation of the cemetery.
Here is an intriguing "preservation" twist, written by Janie S. Jenkins in the Youngstown Oliio
Vindicator, June 24, 1986, contributed by Jim Jewell, IL.
"A great deal of history lies in old cemeteries and I thoroughly enjoy investigating them and
getting to 'know', through research, the families buried there. Consequently, I was delighted
when a member of the Mahoning Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society phoned with
the exciting news that a 1 6 stone 'mystery' cemetery had been discovered by someone checking
a gas well. The 'mystery' was that the family name was 'Martin' on the stones, which dated
to 1839, could not be found in any of the area histories. The society was chagrined because
members were sure they'd investigated every cemetery around.
To make sure we wouldn't be pegged as intruders, I called Ann Kilcawley Christman to ask
permission. She explained that there was no cemetery at all, just the stones! It seems her
father, the late William H. Kilcawley, was perturbed that the markers in the ancestral cemetery
of his wife, the former Mattie Martin, at Bloomville which is southwest of Tiffin, were becoming
illegible, and about 1940 he ordered new ones made. He brought the old ones back to the
farm with the thought that they'd make a nice flagstone walk. They were unloaded down the
lane."
The MOCA Newsletter, V. 18 #3, Fall 1986, quotes a South Portland ME official who recently
gave permission to a St. Louis man to remove one of the oldest stones in one of the area's
oldest cemeteries and take it home with him. "You might as well, it's not doing anyone any
good where it is."
Baseball on Grave, the only gravestone we ever have seen that displayed crossed bats and
a baseball is over the burial place of an American Indian on Indian Island in the Penobscot
River, Maine. Those symbols of the American national game are on a bronze tablet that is
set into a granite monument over the last resting place of an Indian born on the island, whose
baseball career with the major league club of Cleveland, Ohio, was the origin of their name,
Cleveland Indians. He was Louis Sockalexis. He was born October 24, 1871, died December
24, 1913. He first won fame as an athlete at Holy Cross College and went on to become
a star player and a legendary figure in major league baseball.
from Food Marketing in New England, Autumn 1966,
contributed by Jim Jewell, Oglesby IL
AGSF'86p.21
We receive countless newspaper articles and essays from
AGS members, which all eventually find their way to the
AGS archives as' an important record of community
attitudes toward cemeteries. Many of these are reported
in the Newsletter. Occasionally one appears that takes
a new approach or is exceptionally well written, as is
the following, contributed by Jim Goble, Denver CO.
Originally titled "Old Cemetery a place full of life", it was
written by Lavonne Barber, and published in the San
Angelo, Texas, Standard Times, August 12, 1986.
I don't care for modern cemeteries. Granted they are neat, but they lack the character of
older resting grounds. Children who were raised in the small Texas town considered the cemetery
as ordinary and as much a part of our lives as Gilmore's Drug Store or Fitt's Grocery store.
Our step-grandmother would prepare a big lunch and a jug of tea, put bonnets on my sister
and me and then we'd climb into the wagon Poppa had hitched behind the team for the
three-mile ride to the cemetery. While they hoed and cleaned Grandma's grave and 'touched
up' a few lone graves. La Verne and I had a wonderful time. We always headed for the unmarked
grave in the far north corner. Uncle Ott had told us, "if you stand over this plot and shout
just the right way, "Whaaaaat are you doing down there?" and then place your ear on the
ground and listen very carefully, you will hear, 'Nooooothing at all." We must have shouted
the question and shivered a million times before we realized that was exactly what we were
hearing.
Ringgold boasted a gazebo in our cemetery in the '30s and '40s, and it was a wonderful
place to play with our dolls and color books and to spread a lunch. Before we could read,
we knew the history of each plot, and considered some of the deaths sad, but never scary.
Not for us were flat stones with name and dates that left nothing for the imagination or history
books. There were no tombs, shrines, crypts or mausoleums, but monuments rising like vagilant
sentinels. We never saw the divisions as family plots but silent reminders of homes, families
and lives that helped shape us into what we are.
Only a city kid would not know that the log-shaped monuments (there were five) mean the
occupant had been a Woodsman of the World.
We knew the picture of the dark-haired girl on one tombstone had been Opal Jewell Whorton
and we were fascinated with her black sailor dress, bit taffeta hair bow and headband perched
on her brow. Chisled below the picture of the fifteen-year-old when she died in 1919 are
the words, "Her spirit smiles from that bright shore and softly whispers, Mama, weep no more."
Inez Harvey died one month short of her fourth birthday in 1918 and our eyes brimmed over
when we read, "Our Darling one hath gone before. To Greet us on the blissful shore."
The word "shores" was popular in the early part of the century and the words "death" and
"waiting" were common. No one ever "'passed away" or "passed on" in Ringgold. We kids
were not lulled by frightening phrases such as "She's sleeping" or "He's resting." Shucks,
even toddlers knew if they were in the cemetery, they were dead. Period!
"Death is the crown of life" made sense to us and "Deaf wife and children, don't weep for
me, I am waiting in glory for thee" was a bright promise and literally believed.
You didn't have to know Lemuel M. Mitchell personally to know he had loved horses. The
one carved on the rancher's headstone tells the story. A woman's name on a stone is passed
over, but when three words — "Mother of Nine" are carved beneath her name, it gives pause
to the stranger.
The identical headstones that stand side-by-side write the brief scenarios of the lives of two
brothers who probably spent their time playing in the barn or milking the cows. Charles C.
was five years older than Odell and only 14 years old when they died together in 1931. An
adjoining marker tells us they had been greeted on the other shore (where else?) by their
father who had died in 1926 (aged 34) and their drownings must have hastened the death
of their mother who joined them three years later.
Numerous baby stones (always shaped like hearts, angels and baby lambs) are present because,
without antibiotics, the infant mortality rate was high a mere fifty years ago.
As visitors to the cemetery, we always place a small portion of our floral offerings on an
adjoining plot or a lone grave. A lone grave is one with no family members. Most of them
are infants who were buried by parents who later moved away and never returned. "A mother's
heart is buried here" still makes mine ache, fifty years after I first heard it.
Strangers driving down Highway 82 admire the well-kept, loved and lovely charnel and can
tell we're proud of it by the brick entries and the fence surrounding the 25 acres.
Now, if I can just convince the Cemetery Association that we need to replace the long-gone
white gazebo, I'll pack a lunch, get my bonnet and take my grandchildren. The noisy little
critters would love the unmarked grave. . . the one in the far north corner.
AGS F'86 p. 22
RESEARCH NOTE
from Laurel Gabel
During the last quarter of the nineteenth century, hundreds of fraternal organizations and
benefit societies began to spring up all over America. By 1920, ritualistic fraternal associations
such as Elks, Red Men, Knights of Phythias, and Odd Fellows, and fraternal benefit societies
such as Royal Arcanunn, Sons of Norway, and the Independant Order of Foresters claimed
an estimated 50 percent of the population as members. One of the tangible benefits of
membership in these societies was life insurance or sick and disability benefits. In a few.
Woodmen of the World for example, standardized grave monuments for members assured
a fraternal link even in death.
The emblems, symbolic devices and insignia of fraternal organizations, benefit societies, ethnic
fraternities, and trade unions often appear on nineteenth and twentieth century grave markers.
Although we recognize the three interlocking links of the Odd Fellows Lodge and the many
symbols associated with Masonic affiliation, a great many insignia remain unidentified.
Ax example of one such puzzling insignia drew inquiries from AGS member Dennis Amos
of South Carolina and from Evan Stohl of Florida.
Sunset Chamber #2470
(or Dutiful Zion Chamber or Willing Worker Chamber, etc.)
These symbols appear on a number of grave markers in Florida and Tennessee (and probably
elsewhere — ?) The stones are dated between 1916 and 1935, are for both men and women,
and appear to be in black cemeteries.
I suspect (but have no documentation) that the above insignia indicates an affiliation with
a black fraternal benefit society called Mosaic Templars of America which paid insurance
money to beneficiaries of deceased members. The "3 V's" are still a puzzle. Can any AGS
member supply information about this insignia?
I am cataloging emblems of this sort from across the U.S. and would welcome photographic
or hand-drawn examples that members find in their local cemeteries. Name and date of death
of deceased, location of stone (town, state), description of similar emblems on other stones
in area and any other "clues" should be included and sent, along with the contributor's name
and address, to: Laurel K. Gabel, 205 Fishers Rd., Pittsford, NY 14534.
I will try to identify the organization associated with the insignia and review some of the
documented examples in future AGS Newsletters.
I am continuing to record information (name, dates, place) on any known gravestone carver
before 1850, so if members locate signed markers, probate payments to gravestone carvers,
account books, etc., I would appreciate the information.
FUND DRIVE REPORT
Two months ago AGS began the first fund drive in its ten year history. It had become clear
that the publications and projects being developed could not be financed out of our current
income, which comes mostly from membership fees. We also needed to budget additional
office help. Ten thousand dollars ($10,000) would allow our work to proceed without raising
membership dues, and so that amount became our fundraising goal.
The response to our call for support has been heartening. Every gift, large and small, was
received with gratitude. "Old" New England members who have been active longest will be
particularly gratified to learn that we received cheques from members in 12 states outside
New England, many of whom we have not heard from before on a personal basis.
As gratifying as the response has been, our goal has not yet been met. The total income
from the drive, to date, is $3500. So, if you can help and have not done so yet, please mail
your contribution to: Executive Director, Rosalee Oakley, 46 Plymouth Road, Needham MA,
02192.
AGS F'86 p. 23
uaiiaiSMHN
a I V d
aovisod s 'n
•oyo j.uoyd non
60910 'ssev\| 'j9)S93io/w
'sejpn^s 9UOIS9ABJ9 jo^ uof^ejoossv
WANTED!
Diane Galusha of Halcottsville NY reports the theft last spring of 30 to 50 gravestones from
a small rural cemetery in Halcottsville, NY.
The stones are primarily from the first half of the 19th century. Apparently, no record was
ever made of names or dates, which complicates things, to say the least. There is one stone
I'm fairly certain of, though — that of Phoebe Roberts, wife of Ira. She died sometime after
1850, age 70-plus. Ira's stone is one of about 17 left by the thieves, whio also left, thankfully,
the stone of Col. Mathew Halcott, founder of the community, (1798-1845).
These people were the earliest settlers of Halcottsville and Bragg Hollow, an adjoining farm
valley. Many of them came from Connecticut, Massachusetts, and downstate New York in
the first years of the 19th century.
The stones were taken early this year. They were discovered missing in June. The cemetery
cannot be seen from River Road, the dirt road that runs past just down the bank. Access
is from the driveway of a vacation home, so the thieves worked in some seclusion.
No trace of the stones has turned up. Anyone with information or leads might contact Investigator
Joe Peptis, State Police, Margaretville, NY 12455.
As a life-time scholar in the field, I am interested in finding out if there is a published work
on black burials in Canada (or elsewhere) I should know of.
Robert Farris Thompson, Master, Professor History of Art, Timothy Dwight College, Yale
University, New Haven, CT 06520.
The AGS Newsletter is published quarterly as a service to members of The Association for Gravestone Studies.
The membership year begins on the date dues are received and ends one year from that date. A one-year membership
entitles the members to four Issues of the Newsletter and to participation in the AGS conference In the year
membership is current. Send membership fees (Individual/institutional. $15; Family, $25; contributing, $25) to AGS
Executive Director Rosalee Oakley, 46 Plymouth Rd., Needham, l\AA 02192. Back issues of the Newsletter are
available for $3.00 per Issue from Rosalee Oakley. The goal of the Newsletter Is to present timely Information
about projects, literature, and research concerning gravestones, and about the activities of the Association for
Gravestone Studies. It Is produced by Deborah Trask, who welcomes suggestions and short contributions from
readers. The Newsletter is not Intended to serve as a journal. Journal articles should be sent to David Watters,
associate editor of Markers, the Journal of The Association for Gravestone Studies. Dept. of English, University
of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824, Address Newsletter contributions to Deborah Trask, editor. The Nova Scotia
Museum, 1747 Summer St., Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 3A6, Canada. Order Markers, the Journal of the Association
for Gravestone Studies (Vol. 1, $20; Vol. 2, $15, hardcover $25; Vol. 3, $14, hardcover $23) from Rosalee Oakley.
Send contributions to the AGS Archives to Elizabeth Rich, Archivist, 43 Rybury Hillway, Needham, MA 02192. Address
other correspondence and orders to Rosalee Oakley. Mail addressed to AGS c/o The American Antiquarian Society,
Worcester, MA 01609, or to Rosalee Oakley, will be forwarded to the appropriate AGS office.
NEWSLETTER
OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES
DEBORAH TRASK, ED.
VOLUME n NUMBER 1 WINTER 1986/7
ISSN: 0146-5783
CONTENTS
OCCASION'D BY THE FALL OF A TREE 1
TENTH ANNIVERSARY! 3
ASSEMBLING THE FAMILY (a poem) 4
ODD TOMBSTONES 4
THREE MANNING STONES 6
BOOK REVIEW
Early Gravestone Art in Georgia and Soutti Carolina 7
reviewed by David Waiters
CONFERENCES 9
EXHIBITIONS 9
WANTED 11
MEMBER NEWS 12
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES FROM HERE AND THERE 13
PRESERVATION NOTES 18
OCCASION'D BY THE FALL OF A TREE
-f .'„-;<;»"* ^?^- ^f:
Detail from the sandstone marker for John Stockbridge
(age 26), 1768, Hanover, f^assachusetts, showing the
body of Stockbridge under a fallen tree. A line from the
lengthy epitaph relates the cause of death:
His Death was sudden premature awful and violent;
Provedentially Occasion 'd by the Fall of a tree.
Deaths caused by falling trees and logs have been memorialized on a number of eighteenth-
century gravestones. Such a death is also the subject of New England's oldest ballad, "The
Ballad of Isaac Orcutt," the tale of a young man who went out one winter's day nearly 200
years ago to cut runners for his sleigh and was killed when a tree fell on him. This story
intrigued Melvin Williams, a professor of English at American International College, Springfield,
Massachusetts, who enjoys delving into the history and folk lore of early New England. Because
the ballad mentions the names of the deceased, his brother and his minister, as well as two
continued
towns where the deceased lived (both, Williams was pleased to note, not far from Springfield),
he thought it would be relatively easy to track down the origins of the old ballad. He decided
to try.
Thus began ten years of false leads and dead ends. Williams found that there were several
versions of the ballad, not all of which agreed on the names and places. The records in
Westfield and Hartford, Connecticut, produced nothing. Eventually, Williams learned from an
Orcott descendant that Isaac had lived in New York, not Connecticut, and research in that
state revealed that Orcutt died in Hartford, New York, now a part of Fort Ann, New York,
formed in 1793 from what was then Westfield, New York. Everything else fit.
THE BALLAD
Come all you young peopfe far
and near,
A true relation you shall hear
Of a young man as you shall see
Was killed in Hartford by a tree.
One Isaac Alcutt was his name,
Who lately into Westfield camei
Residing with his brother James.
Last Thursday noon went, as it
seems,
To cut some timber for a sled.
The snow being deep, he had to
wade
Near. forty rods to an ash tree.
The top was dry as you may see.
He cut the tree off the stump,
The top being dry, threw back a
clump.
It fell and struck him on the head
And smote him down, yet was
not dead.
There this poor sufferer sense-
less lay
All the remainder of that day.
His charming face plunged in the
snow.
And from his head the blood did
flow.
His friends and neighbors being
gone.
Not knowing that he had with-
drawn.
No search was made by any one
Until the setting of the sun.
Then Mr. Daniels and his son
Alarmed, set out on the run.
They soon beheld him with sur-
prise
And gazed on him with steadfast
eyes.
They first supposed him to be
dead
Till by some motion of his head
They found that life was in him
left.
He moved his head, drawing his
breath.
Oh, 'twas an awful sight to see
So fair and sprightly youth as he
All coiled and crippled in a heap,
'Twould cause the stoutest heart
to weep.
One of his hands was stiffly
froze,
Part of his arms, some of his
toes,
The blood has issued from the
wound
And thawed a passage to the
ground.
They took him up and bore him
home.
Put him to bed in a warm room.
They rubbed his (I'mbs and
dressed his wounds
And tried to force some cordial
down.
But all in vain, the passage
choke;
His blood was chilled, his skull
was broke.
All useful medicines were ap-
plied.
But he on that same evening
died.
The heavy news did soorujrnVe
To his dear friends and relatives.
It filled their hearts with baler
grief,
I But he was past all their relief.
When all his friends has gath-
ered round,
A sermon preached by Elder
Brown,
His pleasant corpse was borne
away
To mingle with his native clay.
He was but 20 years of age
And some odd months, as we are
alleged.
He was both virtuous, fair, and
kind.
Beloved by every civil mind.
Think on his virtues, weeping
friends.
Mourn not for him, but for your
sins.
For sin is the procuring cause
That brings God's judgment un-
awares.
Let this be a warning be to all
To be prepared when God shall
call
Methinks I hear his voice aloud
Saying, "Prepare to meet your
God."
CopyrighIO Reprinted wtlh permission uf liir
Flanders Ballad Colleclion ei Middlebury Colic-go
In Mlddietwry, Vt.
The New York Times, November 1, 1986, carried the story of Williams' successful search,
and on December 1 Williams presented a paper on his findings to the Mid-Hudson Modern
Language Society in Poughkeepsie. Williams, a popular lecturer on early American gravestone
lore, is the author of "The Last Word," a booklet about early gravestones that is distributed
by Oldstone Enterprises, Inc.; also of "Mystery, History, and an Ancient Graveyard," published
by AGS in Markers I, and of numerous other articles.
contributed by Mary Ann Mrozinski, Queens Historical Society, Flustiing NY, and ottiers
111 W t moi -' r
f-..
■ \ i
\ i 1
111 II
I 1 !.
f 1
I •^
I Ki 1 Wi
I- ^
u 1 n ii II I li I
THE SAME STORY, CHISELED IN STONE:
The sandstone marker for Isaiah Leach, 1816, Hampden,
Massachusetts. The inscription reads:
In Memory of
Mr. Isaiah Leach
aged 30 years
Whose lamentable Death was occasion'd >
by rolling a large Log from his
Sled which went directly over him;
He lay alone in this most
distrefsing situation about an hour
before he was discovered.
This dreadful Catastrophe
happened on Jan'^ 31^' 1816.
Ah! haplefs man crush'd 'neath the pond'rous load;
Quick from his wounds the crimsen torrent flow'd.
Long time he lay prone in the chilling ground.
Ere friends arrive to drefs the fatal wound.
':'n.;^Mi,&frfSSi4i^-i-M
ai'jIJiiii^iiBi&iiiS^
AGSW'86/7p.2
TENTH ANNIVERSARY TRIVIA
Questions and Other Memorabilia
As part of the Association's tenth anniversary celebration, we are collecting trivia questions,
snap shots and other memorabilia from our first ten years. These will be displayed at the
AGS conference, to be held at Amherst College. Amherst, Massachusetts, June 25-28, 1987.
Please contribute to this event by sending your questions (with answers), photographs
(captioned), newspaper clips, etc., Exhibits Chairman, Fred Fredette, Box 37, Scotland, CT 06242.
Put your name on the back of all contributions so that we can return them to you, either
personally at the conference, or by mail. For return by mail, please enclose stamped, self
addressed envelope or mailer. Fred would appreciate receiving contributions before May 1.
Test your AGS trivia knowledge with these 20 questions. . . answers on page 5. More to follow
in the Spring issue!
1 . In what year was AGS founded? (1 ) 1 953 (2) 1 966 (3) 1 976 (4) 1 977
2. AGS grew out of a gathering of scholars interested in the study of early New England
gravestones. Who called that meeting, and where and when was it held?
3. Who were "The Boston Six" selected by Peter Benes to meet in Boston and formulate
plans for forming an association to study gravestones?
4. How many people attended the AGS organizational meeting in 1977? (1) six (2) about
40 (3) about 80
5. How many members does AGS have? (1 ) about 500 (2) about 800 (3) about 1 000
6. Many foreign countries are represented among AGS members. Which foreign country has
the largest membership?
7. People from many industries, professions, and interests belong to AGS. Which group has
the most AGS members? (1) museum people (conservators, curators) (2) genealogists (3)
college professors of American studies and anthropology (4) monument builders (5) grade
& high school teachers.
8. AGS has had five presidents: Theodore Chase, Ralph Tucker, Joanne Baker, Dan Farber,
and Sally Thomas. Place them in their proper sequence.
9. How many conferences have been held in states outside of New England? What state(s)?
(1) one, in NJ (2) Three in NY, NJ and VT (3) None
10. In what state will the 1988 conference be held? (1) NY (2) PA (3) Rl
11. What relative of Harriette Forbes attended two AGS conferences?
12. At which conference did AGS members tour Harriette Forbes' home?
13. In what year was Harriette Forbes' book published? (1) 1898 (2) 1927 (3) 1960
14. At what period of her life did Harriette Forbes write her book? (1) young adulthood (2)
middle age (3) old age
15. How many copies were published in the original printing of Early New England Gravestones
and the Men Who Made Them? (1) 7000 (2) 734 (3) 500
16. Who designed the AGS logo? (1) Peter Benes (2) Francis Duval (3) Michael Cornish (4)
Carol Perkins
17. The AGS logo design is taken from a headstone located in Williamstown MA. Who is
the stone for?
18. From its beginning, AGS has operated (1) only in the black (2) in the black until recently
(3) mostly in the red
19. The current fund drive, our first, seeks to raise (1) $1,000,000 (2) $10,000 (3) $5000 to
finance future work.
20. AGS's income is derived primarily from (1) membership fees (2) grants (3) gifts (4) sale
of literature.
CALL FOR PHOTOGRAPHS OR PREVIOUS AGS CONFERENCES
This will be the tenth annual AGS conference. To mark our tenth anniversary, we will have
a display board in the exhibits area which will describe the history of our organization, and
we would also like to include photographs of previous conferences and other AGS events.
All members are encouraged to bring photographs (of people, not of gravestones in this case!)
which they would like to display. Please bring, in addition, a typed label for each photograph,
indicating the date and place of the photograph, and naming the people shown in the photograph,
if possible.
AGSW'86/7p.3
This poem, sent by Pat Miller of Sharon, Connecticut, will appeal to any genealogist or any
student of gravestones who, while in an old graveyard, has contemplated the lives and
personalities of the people the stones memorialize and wondered what the dead might say
if they could communicate.
The poem's concept is reminiscent of Thornton Wilder's play, "Our Town," the opening scene
of which is set in the graveyard of a small New England town where the play's characters,
long dead, are talking with each other about their past lives, and about the present. "Assembling
the Family" requires of the reader the same suspension of disbelief
ASSEMBLING THE FAMILY
As I walked whistling through the cemetery
That haunted night of fitful moon and cloud,
I found my forebears' ghosts were making merry
At my expense, an undulating crowd,
From whose pale mist of faces some came through
And looked me over with sepulchral laugh,
I shook with anger, and my voice shook, too —
"Go back to sleep beneath your epitaph."
"Ha, ha! There speaks my temper, as I live, "
A young man said, taking a pinch of snuff
Around him all the shades grew talkative
As though they'd lain in silence long enough.
A gaffer in a cloak of homespun eyed me
And said, "His constitution's of the best.
I gave him that; I had the Word to guide me
And kept my health — 'twas all that I possessed."
"Oh, bosh, old Puritan. " a funny ghost
In flowered waistcoat sneered, "he has my gout."
"His eyes, " a young girl murmured, "are almost
As blue as mine before death put them out."
"He has my sense of humor, and he'll need it
In these drab days," a matron chuckled. . . .
"He has my hands. " "The ears are the best feature,
And they are mine." "I gave him all that hair."
"He has my wit, but not my depth, poor creature. "
"Ah, the kind heart! I'd know it anywhere."
They cried, "He's plagiaristically familiar!
Though now we're dust and lie where time has flung us.
There's not one particle. . .
We dead ones can't account for here among us."
I would not be dismayed. "Oh, yes, there is!"
They rustled nearer, hovering to know.
"What is it?" "What?" they twittered, "what is this
You have, that not one soul of us can show?"
"I'll tell you when I join you." So I spoke -
And, by sheer curiosity consumed,
They flickered softly into bonfire smoke
And the wan moonlight where they lay entombed.
Robert Hillyer
ODD TOMBSTONES
Designer Tombstones
If you wear designer jeans and dine on raw fish at sushi bars, then we suggest you consider
another fave rave: designer tombstones. Monument designer Eugene Rosenbioom of St. Louis
has already designed a guitarist's tombstone in the shape of a six-foot tall guitar, a jazz pianist's
tombstone with a bas-relief of the deceased seated at a piano, and a trucker's tombstone
that has a dump truck jutting from its face. Somewhat more bizarre is a tombstone (not designed
by Rosenbioom) that is carved with a re-creation of the deceased's fatal motorcycle crack-
up.
"Tombstones are just like clothing and hairdos: they run in cycles," Rosenbioom says. "Today
many people are trying to personalize their expressions of respect, affection and regard for
their loved one who is gone by creating a monument that really illustrates what his interests
and accomplishments were here on Earth." The price of a designer tombstone, if done in
stylish, three-dimensional bas-relief, Rosenbioom says, is typically double that of the average
$1200 monument.
from Omni, October 1986, sent by Chris Sweeters, New York NY
AGSW'86/7p.4
Warren Roberts, University of Indiana, noted the following item in Stone in America, September
1986, p. 381:
Glass Tombstones
A certain glass company of Indiana has gone into a novel
line of business." For some time past it has been actively
preparing moulds in different shapes for manufacturing
glass tombstones. The projectors of this enterprise claim
that a tombstone made from glass is far more durable
than one made of either marble or granite. It is a well
known fact that the wind and rain and heat and cold
have sufficient effect on a stone grave marker to almost
obliterate any lettering whicli may be upon it in the course
of a century or so.
No such effect is produced by the weather on glass. The
slabs will be made in all ordinary sizes and can be made
to so closely imitate the finest granite or marble in
appearance as to deceive anyone but an expert. The
lettering, made by the sandblast process, is very distinct.
To prove that this is not a new idea, he also sent along a note from the Monumental News,
December 1899, p. 696:
Glass Tombstones
In reply to a correspondent desiring to know whether
any tombstones made of glass have been put upon the
market, we would say that further than its being noted
that they have been made in Anderson, Ind., St. Louis
and Pittsburgh, we are not aware of any efforts having
been made to introduce them to the trade. Should any
of our readers have any information in this direction we
shall be glad to hear from them.
ANSWERS TO AGS TRIVIA
I. (4)
2. Peter Benes. Dublin NH, 1976
3. Peter Benes, Nancy Buckeye, Gaynell Levine, Jessie Lie, Robert Macreth, Ralph Tucker
4.(2)
5. (2)
6. Canada
7.(4)
8. Tucker, Baker, Thomas, Chase, Farber
9.(1)
10.(2)
II. Katherine Erskine, her daughter
12. Worcester MA, 1983
13.(2)
14. (3)
15.(2)
16.(2)
17. Elisabeth Smith, 1771
18.(1)
19.(2)
20.(1)
AGSW'86/7p.5
THREE MANNING STONES
Josiah Manning (1 725-1 806) carved many handsome headstones in Eastern Connecticut. Among
the most interesting of his designs are his boldly cut three-quarter figures of the deceased
surrounded by stylized trees. We know of three such Manning markers:
The stone for Marcy Geer, 1769. This sphinx-like headstone stands in a small, out-of-the-
way cemetery near Chaplin, Connecticut. The stone is covered with lichen and has some
deterioration.
The stone for Stephen Fisk, 1786, which once stood in Wales, Massachusetts. The Fisk stone
is illustrated in Edmund Gillon's Early New England Gravestone Rubbings, published in 1966.
(Gillon's rubbing — Plate 56 — does not show the effigy's wig, which is recessed and difficult
to rub.) In the early 1970's, when Ann and Avon Neal took a rubbing and a photograph of
the Fisk stone, it had been laid flat and a newly-cut modern marker had been erected in
its place. Some time later, when the Neals returned to take another rubbing, the stone had
disappeared. They reported the loss to the local police and historical society, but the stone
has not been recovered.
The stone for Daniel Squier, 1783. This stone has an unusual history. After being missing
for many years, it has recently reappeared, almost certainly in response to an article about
gravestone theft that appeared in Yanlcee Magazine ("The Grave Robbers are Back," May,
1986). Shortly after the article appeared, the Squier headstone and three other missing stones
were deposited near the Franklin, Connecticut, yard from which they had been taken. To protect
the Squier headstone from further vandalism, William McGreer of Holland, Massachusetts,
is making a replica of the marker, and Alfred Fredette of Scotland, Connecticut, is working
with Franklin town officials in an effort to have the replica erected in the graveyard and the
beautifully preserved Daniel Squier stone housed in a proper indoor environment, preferably
a museum.
Recently returned to Franklin, Connecticut
Stone for Daniel Squier, 1 783, inscribed:
The Mortal Remains
of W, Daniel Squier
Sacred to Memory is
Intar'd Beneath this
Stone, he Died March
26'": 1783: in y^, 66"^,
Year of his Age.
Photo by Dan Farber
Standing in Chaplin, Connecticut
Stone for Marcy Geer, 1 769, inscribed:
In Memory of M''^ Marcy Geer Daugh' to
Cap', Aaron Geer & Mar
cy his wife the died
June 6'", 1 769 in f 23'^
year of her Age.
Photo by Dan Farber
Missing since the early 1970's
Stone for Stephen Fisk, 1 785, Wales, Massachusetts
Photo by Ann Parker
AGS W'86/7p. 6
BOOK REVIEW
Early Gravestone Art in Georgia and South Carolina. By Diana Williams Combs. (Athens:
The University of Georgia Press, 1986. Pp. xiv, 246. $35.00.)
reviewed by David Waiters
Diana Williams Combs's richly illustrated book provides a welcome introduction to gravestone
iconography in Georgia and South Carolina. The book serves a three-fold purpose: it "establishes
the complex breadth of gravestone art in this region of the eighteenth-century South," traces
"the emergence of a distinctive and comparatively sophisticated genre, tombstone portraiture,"
and reveals "the preeminence of Thomas Walker, who transplanted Robert Adam's
interpretations of neoclassicism into funerary art in Charleston in the last decade of the century"
(p. 2). Comb's iconographical analysis is inspired by the work of Dickran and Ann Tashjian
in Memorials for Children of Change (Middletown, Conn., 1974). She ably demonstrates that
placing gravestones in the context of other arts "not only extends the upright memorial beyond
the domain of folk art. . . but, perhaps more important, places craftsmen like Walker in the
mainstream of the fine arts tradition" (p. 112). Beyond a doubt, English architectural prints
and baroque tombs influenced New England and local carvers in Charleston and Savannah,
and this fact forces us to consider the relationship of neoclassical imagery to colonial religious
beliefs and the sentimental uses of such imagery at the end of the eighteenth century. Combs
breaks new ground by identifying the work of Thomas Walker, a Scottish immigrant to Charleston
in the early 1790s who fully integrated Adam's, Richard Sheraton's, and James Gibb's
neoclassical designs in gravestone art. Equally strong are Comb's treatments of classical and
Renaissance mortuary art and Godfrey Knelleresque portrait styles, and the analyses of the
hourglass, the reclining skeleton, and the arch.
Omission of most of the scholarship on gravestones and other decorative arts in the colonial
period published in the past ten years weakens the book's thesis that Charleston stones reveal
an Anglophile aesthetic not present in New England. In lieu of field work in New England,
the author relies heavily on Allan I. Ludwig's Graven Images (Middletown, Conn., 1966) and
Harriette Merrifield Forbe's Gravestones of Early New England (Boston, 1927), which have
been corrected and supplemented over the years. Combs ignores Forbe's research notes and
photographs at the American Antiquarian Society. Any student of gravestones must also consult
Daniel Farber's photographs housed at the society and examine the archives of the Association
for Gravestone Studies at the New England Historical and Genealogical Society. A cursory
review of Puritan Gravestone Art I and //, edited by Peter Benes, Markers: The Journal of
the Association for Gravestone Studies, and that association's Newsletter reveals that earlier
researchers have treated many of the carvers and stones Combs discusses. Contrary to Comb's
claim, the signed works of William Codner and Henry Emmes have been documented by
Sue Kelly and Anne Williams in Markers, II, and by Richard F. Welch in Memento Mori: The
Gravestones of Early Long Island, 1680-1810 (Syosset, NY, 1983). Thus her argument that
Codner and Emmes placed baroque sculpture only in the South and that no neoclassical
marker appears in "provincial" New England before 1 769 (p. 1 39) cannot be sustained. Emmes's
stone for Abigail Frost (1742) in Newcastle, New Hampshire, surpasses anything by him in
Charleston. Its portrait bust, reclining figure, cherub with crown, anchor, olive wreath, and
pillar all receive poetic comment in an epitaph by Jane Turell.
Comb's first chapter, "From the Winged Death's Head to the Soul in Flight," on eschatology
and gravestone iconography contains little new information and does not refer to the most
complete discussions of these images in Benes's The Masks of Orthodoxy (Amherst, Mass.,
1977) and my "With Bodilie Eyes" (Ann Arbor, Mich., 1981). The next two chapters, "The
Gravestone as Tableau" and "The Rules of Arhitecture," are especially significant for showing
the complex relationship between eighteenth-century gravestones, architecture, silver, and
furniture, and Comb's evidence raises important questions about gravestones and colonial
status systems. The reader will need to place her findings in the context of earlier studies
on this subject. Robert Blair St. George's The Wrought Coi/enanf (Brockton, Mass., 1 979) connects
furniture and gravestones in Plymouth Colony, and "With Bodilie Eyes" treats gravestones,
Hadley chests, heraldry, and silver; Charles Bergengren deserves credit for addressing
vernacular and highstyle portraiture in "The Glorious Contrast" in Markers, II. Similarly, the
discussion of "Charleston's profound cultural and artistic linkage with England" (p. 152) contains
few references to earlier studies of Charleston. Combs might have considered this linkage
in the context of similar patronage patterns in coastal centers from Nova Scotia to Savannah.
continued
AGSW'86/7 p. 7
Chapter four, "Tombstone Portraiture," is remarkable for its insights on Knelleresque formulas
in gravestone portraiture. As Bergengren notes in Markers, II, this approach should be balanced
with attention to native portrait traditions, for it is difficult to tell whether a given image is
a true portrait or a soul effigy inspired by folk religious beliefs. Combs calls a Charleston
carving of 173,8 the first true portrait in America (p. 140), but she admits later that damage
to the stone makes it impossible to determine if the image is a portrait or a soul effigy.
Chapter five, "Creating Memorials for a New Century," does a disservice to previous scholars
by stating that the relationship between the decorative arts and the rural cemetery movement
"has been virtually unrecognized" and that "the transition of gravestone styles and motifs from
the eighteenth to the nineteenth century has never been explored" (p. 180). Anita Schorsch
(Mourning Becomes America: Mourning Art in the New Nation [Clinton, NJ, 1976]), Betty Ring
("Memorial Embroideries by American Schoolgirls," Antiques, C [1976], 570-575), and Diana
Hume George and Malcom A. Nelson {Epitaph and Icon: A Field Guide to the Old Burying
Grounds of Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket [Orleans, Mass., 1983]) show how
memorial arts express the ideology of domesticity and sentimentality in that period.
In an appendix. Combs presents a practical lexicon for the description of gravestones. One
wishes that she had consulted "Recording Cemetery Data" in Markers, I, to learn how to
photograph gravestones. Nearly half of the photos are heavily shadowed, out of focus, or
taken at odd angles. Despite these drawbacks, Diana Williams Combs has written a very useful
study that should promote further research on southern tombstones.
David Watters is Professor of English at the University
of New Hampshire, Durham NH, and former editor of the
AGS Journal l^arkers.
reprinted from the William & Mary Quarterly, third series,
vol. XLIV, No. 1, January 1987, with permission.
The entrance gate to Crown Hill Cemetery, Indianapolis,
designed by Adolf Scherrer, photographed by Robert
Wright of Madison Wl
Indianapolis had many problems when it was a struggling settlement in the wilderness of
Indiana. A very serious one was an outbreak of malaria in the early 1820s which left many
settlers dead. There was no cemetery area, so those who died were buried near their homes
or beyond the town limits. Alexander Ralston completed planning Indianapolis in the fall of
1821 and Greenlawn Cemetery was established. By 1863 Greenlawn had almost reached its
capacity. The name chosen for a new cemetery was Crown Hill, and a committee was selected
to seek out and acquire a new location. The site chosen was Strawberry Hill, the highest
point near Indianapolis, used frequently for picnics and, naturally, for strawberry picking.
Professional advice was obtained from John Chislett, a landscape artist who was superintendent
of a cemetery in Pittsburgh PA, and who had recently designed a cemetery for the town of
Fort Wayne. The dedication day for the new cemetery of Crown Hill was June 1, 1864.
contributed by Jim Jewell, Oglesby IL
AGSW'86/7p.8
CONFERENCES
riERITflQE
QEHETERIES
IM RQ.
/sYnpo!)Nn\
VICTORIA
BBmSH COLUKBIA
APRD. 24 - 26. 1987
A second Heritage Cemeteries in British Columbia Symposium is announced for April 24-
26, 1987, in Victoria BC.
Topics covered will include:
• gravestone conservation workshop
• cemetery research methods workshop
• papers and research reports about old cemeteries around BC
A day-long bus tour (lunch included) to the beautiful Cowichan Valley will stop at many interesting
and historic cemeteries:
total cost $50.00 Canadian funds (about $35.00 US), includes all tours.one lunch, one banquet
and published proceedings.
For information:
2nd Heritage Cemeteries in BC Symposium
628 Battery Street
Victoria BC
V8V 1 E5
Telephone: (604) 383-2392
EXHIBITIONS
"THUS SPEAKS THIS STONE"
PHOTOGRAPHS OF AMERICAN CEMETERIES BY
ROBERT WRIGHT
AQS member and free-lance photographer, Robert
Wright recently had an exhibition at the Madison Wl Art
Center, "Thus Speaks This Stone". "More than monu-
ments to the dead, the photos serve as testaments to
the living, to ideas of death and the esthetics of
remembrance. " In nearly 50 black and white photographs.
Wright examines cemetery architectural styles of the 19th
and early 20th centuries. The cast iron piece is a modern
casting from the original mold. This is an enclosure gate
from Cypress Grove Cemetery, New Orleans LA, and was
identified from a photograph in the Historic New Orleans
Collection (Thomas P. May tomb, 1851). The exhibition
will be reviewed in the Spring issue of the Newsletter.
AGS W'86/7 p. 9
GRAVESTONES IN TWO ART EXHIBITIONS
Two gravestone photos were included in the book and exhibition, "Young America: A Folk
Art History." The exhibition, organized by the Museum of American Folk Art, New York City,
was on view at the IBM Gallery from September 30 to October 15, 1986. The book, prepared
in connection with the show was written by Jean Lipman, Elizabeth V. Warren, and Robert
Bishop.
The two gravestones used in the show are for Jabez Smith (1780, the Granary Burying Ground,
Boston), and for Mary Harvey and child (1785, Deerfield, MA). The Jabez Smith stone was
also used to illustrate an excellent article in the September, 1986, issue of The Magazine
Antiques (September 1 986) about the "Young America" show. The article, by Elizabeth V. Warren,
curator for the Museum of American Folk Art, describes the significance of the folk artist
in depicting life in early America.
x\ HiLJitM.-,
Jabez Smith, 1 780, Boston
Inscribed:
In MeiTiory of ■
VBEZ SMITH It
In Memory of
JABEZ SMITH Jun',
Lieu', of Marines
on board the Continental
Ship Trumbull;
born in Groton,
State of Connecticut,
Auguft31. 1751;
departed this life in Bofton,
June 28. 1 780.
Aged 29 Years.
^ 'I I .' '
Mary Harvey and infant, 1 785, Deerfield MA
Inscribed:
In Memory of
Mary the Wife °'
Simeon Harvey
who Departed thF
Life December 20"^
1 785 In 39'^ year °'
Her age on her left
Arm lieth the Infan'
Which vi/as ftill
Born
Another show that exhibits a gravestone is "The Tale of the Mermaid," which opened at- the
Philadelphia Maritime Museum on November 7, 1986. This exhibition features a life-size
photograph of the stone for Jacob Eliott (1693, the Granary Burial Ground, Boston). After "Tale
of the Mermaid" leaves Philadelphia on February 28 it will travel to The Mariners' Museum,
Newport News, Virginia (June 5, 1987 - August 16, 1987), and to Explorers Hall, National
Geographic Society, Washington, D.C. (September 9, 1987 - October 25, 1987). Try to see
it; it will delight you.
The gravestone photographs in the "Young America" and the "Tale of the Mermaid" shows
were made by Dan and Jessie Lie Farber, Worcester MA.
AGSW'86/7p. 10
Jacob Eliott, 1693, Boston
Inscribed:
JACOB ELIOTT
LATE DEACON OF Y^ 3^.
CHURCH OF CHRIST IN
Boston Dec'^ V® 7 7""
OF AUGUST 1693.
& BURIED VSAMEDAY
AETATIS. SUAE 61.
WANTED!
Bob Williams, President of the Walpack NJ Historical Society has contacted AGS to report
the disappearance of some gravestones in Walpack. The stones were stolen about fifteen
years ago when the Army Corps of Engineers was planning to dam the Delaware River and
flood the beautiful Walpack Valley. The idea of the dam has since been shelved and the area
is called the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. The countryside is literally littered
with history of all kinds. The Old Mine Road, the oldest highway in America, passes through
this area. It is nothing more than a narrow dirt road in places with fields, forests, and some
eighteenth century homes along its way.
The area is filled with many long since forgotten cemeteries. Many of the first pioneer settlers
here used nothing more than crude stones, some with inscriptions, to mark a burial site. Along
the Old Mine Road about a half a mile above the recently restored 1750 Van Campen Inn,
is the small hidden Shappanack Cemetery where Anna Symmes is buried. She is the mother-
in-law of President William Henry Harrison and her husband, John Symmes, was the founder
of Cincinnatti, Ohio. According to her gravestone, Anna died in the latter part of July in 1776.
Between the Van Campen Inn and the Shappanack Cemetery, along the Old Mine Road, is
another cemetery which was known as the Clark Cemetery. All that remain here now are
a few fieldstone markers and one marble stone from 1826 that a large maple tree grew into.
There were three other marble cut gravestones here until recent years. Below are their
inscriptions:
1. Here lies the body of William Clark who departed this life on August 10, 1795, aged 45
years, 5 months and three days.
Verse:
"Why do ye mourn departing friends.
Or shake at death's alarms,
Tis but the voice that Jesus sends
To call me to his arms.'"
2. Caroline, daughter of Nicholas and Lydia Rosenkrans, who died June 11, 1823, aged 3
years and five months.
3. "Entombed beneath this cold clay sleeps what was mortal of Mr. John H. Dewitt, who
died May 24, 1827, aged 40 years and five months. A life how short and valued. A death
how sorrowful and afflicting to his bereaved wife and children. They mourn an irreparable
loss."
Any AGS members who find themselves in the Walpack NJ and would like a tour of the area
are welcome to contact the Walpack Historical Society, P.O. Box 3, Walpack Center, NJ 07881.
Mr. Raymond McAdams, 1826 Ebenezer Road, Cincinatti OH (513) 941-5966 offers a $25.00
reward for information on each of the following:
— proof of ancestors of Nancy Carpenter, wife of Greenman Carpenter, 22 Nov. 1774-1 April
1849, buried Garfield Cemetery, Stephentown NY.
— proof of ancestors of Huldah (Davis) Sheldon, wife of George Niles Sheldon, born 1778
NY — 1854 Hillsdale County, Michigan, buried there in Churches Corners Cemetery.
— proof of parents of Peter Robert Sr., or his wife. He was born before 1755, Nassau (?)
NY, moved to Stephentown NY 1784/5, died c. 1800. Father of Jerusa, Thomas W., Peter
Jr., Paul, Zophar, Margaret, Lydia, Benjamin.
AGSW'86/7p. 11
MEMBER NEWS
Elizabeth CroweJI, senior archaeologist at Engineering Science, offered her discussion, "Here
Lies Buried: An Analysis of Gravestones and Cemetery Studies in the Eastern United States"
as part of the Alexandria VA Archaeology Lecture Series, December 2, 1986.
Fred Fredette of Scotland, CT spoke to the East Haven CT Historical Society in November
on "Memories Carved in Stone" with slides of cemeteries in Connecticut.
Carol Perkins, AGS Board member from Toledo OH, spoke this fall to an audience of 114
genealogists, none of vjhom had heard of AGS before.
Mary H. Deal of Akron OH presented the September program for the Western Reserve
Architectural Historians meeting in Cleveland OH. She spoke on "Cleveland's Cemeteries,"
the art and history of Greater Cleveland's cemeteries from the earliest burying grounds to
the rural cemeteries of Woodlawn, Lake View/ and Riverside cemeteries. The tour of Lake
View cemetery which was to follow the lecture was, unfortunately, rained out.
A lecture and slide show by Dan and Jessie Lie Farber on "Early American Gravestones"
will be presented to Templeton Women' Club, Friday, April 3, First Church, Templeton Common,
8:00 p.m. Templeton, Mass.
Are you planning to present a show or a lecture on a gravestone subject? Newsletter would
be glad to announce it for you. Let us know early — We need a long lead-time.
Longtime AGS member William W. Woodward of Penfield NY has recently retired after 20
years of service from the position of Deputy Director of Parks for the City of Rochester NY.
He was associated with Mount Hope Cemetery both in his professional capacity and as an
active member of the Friends of Mount Hope. His friends at the Bureau of Parks gave him,
as one of his retirement gifts, a gift membership in AGS. Our congratulations and best wishes
for an enjoyable retirement.
Jo Goeselt of Wayland, Massachusetts, is a newly appointed officer of AGS. She has accepted
the office of Treasurer, taking over the responsibilities from William Wallace. Bill, who is Director
of the Worcester, Massachusetts Historical Museum, had to resign due to pressures connected
with the Museum's recent purchase and projected renovation of a new building, not to mention
its fund raising campaign to pay for it all. In his letter of resignation as Treasurer he writes,
"I'm not disappearing — just moving irito the shadows for a while so my brain doesn't short
out." We thank Bill for his time and effort in keeping the AGS books and we will miss his
contributions to AGS administration.
Jo has been an AGS member since 1983. She lives in a house built 100 years ago which
is located beside Wayland's old North Cemetery. Markers there include 17th century stones.
Revolutionary War memorials, Victorian monuments and even some Indian burials. Her interest
in history goes back to college days at Wellesley where she majored in Biblical history, and
continues today as she serves as Curator of the Wayland Historical Society located in the
Grout-Heard House built in 1751. We appreciate Jo's willingness to step in and take over
and are pleased to welcome her to the Board.
This rubbing, printed for hasty notes, comes from Carrie
Butler of Fulton NY. The design is by her favorite carver,
name unknown, but who worked In red sandstone In
the period 1820-1840. Stones of this type are found In
Oswego, Onondoga and Madison counties NY.
AGSW'86/7p. 12
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES FROM HERE AND THERE
"Here lies the body of
Elizabeth Pain wife
to Samuel Pain aged
near 52 years
departed this life
November 25, 1704"
Standing in the gloomy enclosure of Boston's King's Chapel Burying Ground more than a
century and a half ago, looking down at these words chiseled on a small, cold, canted gravestone,
author Nathaniel Hawthorne was deeply moved by the woman's unhappy fate and angered
by the cruel hypocrisy that was her lasting torment. One of the early settlers of the colony,
she had borne the child of her minister and was branded with the latter "A" as punishment
for her adultery. Hawthorne changed her name to Hester Prynne and told her story in his
classic novel, "The Scarlet Letter." Her grave is still there in that small, cramped cemetery
in the middle of downtown Boston at School and Tremont Streets, though the old brass plaque
telling of the inspiration it provided Hawthorne has been rubbed almost bare. Pause before
it on a cold, gray, windy afternoon, and you'll come away with the same feeling of sympathy
and sadness America's greatest 19th Century writer did.
It is, of course, a little ghoulish to take an interest in graveyards, but tolerably so. They are
repositories not merely of mortal remains, but of our immortal history. Visiting them adds to
our emotional appreciation of our past and is a means of paying it our respect. Anyone touring
or stopping in Boston, New York and certainly Washington who fails to go by their more
famous burying places has not truly experienced the city — especially at this time of year.
Manhattan real estate long ago became much too valuable to allow mere cemeteries to take
up costly square footage, and nearly all the old burying grounds from colonial days have
vanished. The major exception is historic Trinity Church in the heart of the financial district
at Broadway and Wall Street.
from an article by Michael Killian, "Mucin of American history buried in Eastern Seaboard's
graveyards", in the Chicago Tribune, October 26, 1986, sent by Jim Jewell, Oglesby IL
Following on that thought is this rather frightening report from the New York Times, December
1 1, 1986, sent by Joyce Rockmore of Needham MA
Landmark churches can sell the air rights over their adjacent cemeteries to developers because
of an unintentional loophole in regulations, according to the chief legal adviser to the New
York City Planning Commission. No church has applied to use its potentially lucrative cemetery
air rights, because until now the rules were interpreted to exclude graveyards from the
calculations. The transfer of air rights has allowed the building of many major skyscrapers
in Manhattan.
Planning Department counsel Philip J. Hess said he found a discrepancy in the regulations
while researching a different air-rights application from St. Paul's Chapel in lower Manhattan.
In accordance with the old interpretation, the church is seeking to sell the air rights from
land next to its church and cemetery. St. Paul's has signed a contract with H.J. Kalikow &
Company, the developer of a proposed office building across Fulton Street from the church.
The church hopes for an endowment of $4 million to $5 million to use for its charitable works,
and in return Kalikow would be able to add about a dozen stories more than would otherwise
be allowed, for a total of nearly 30 stories.
The zoning regulation now under scrutiny, Section 74-79, dates to 1968, Mr. Hess said. The
existing regulation excludes cemeteries as landmarked buildings, which have air rights that
can be sold, although they may be designated landmarks as historic places. However, under
Mr. Hess's interpretation, which has been overlooked, a cemetery on a lot that includes a
designated building — such as St. Paul's — does qualify for air rights because it is part of
the property around the building.
St. Paul's, whose structure on lower Broadway dates back to 1766, is affiliated with the nearby
Trinity Episcopal Church and lays claim to being the city's oldest continuously operated public
building. It's sanctuary proudly displays the pew where George Washington worshiped when
New York was the nation's capital and he was its first president. Another pew was used by
the state's first governor, George Clinton. Today, St. Paul's stands in the shadow of the World
Trade Center and copes with modern-era problems, including housing the homeless in the
church. The church's deputy for operations, Kenneth A. Ellis, said money derived from the
Kalikow project would go for such programs as housing the elderly, helping alcoholics, feeding
the hungry and providing day care.
AGSW'86/7p. 13
2500-Year-Old Egyptian Stonecutter is Returned to ttis Boston Home. Padi, a 2500-year-
old mummy, has been returned to his home with shining teeth, restrung beads and his head
back on. The mummy of an Egyptian stonecutter named Padihershef had spent two years
at the George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum in Springfield, where museum workers gave
new life to the bandages and the mummy was reunited with the long-lost sarcophagus. The
sixth century B.C. mummy was returned to the Massachusetts General Hospital. Padihershef
was donated to the city in 1823 by a Dutch merchant and given to the hospital as a medical
curiosity. For years he stood in a glass case in the room where ether was first used in 1846,
and where famous doctors later gave lectures at the Harvard-affiliated facility. Hieroglyphics
on the coffin indicated the mummy had been a stonecutter in the necropolis of Thebes.
sent by Laurel Gabel, Pittsford NY, who reports that she is "always in search of early stonecutters"!
From the New Yorlt Times, November 30, 1986
For more than a half-century, people have paused at Maplewood cemetery, in Mayfield, Kentucky,
and gazed with a mixture of reverence and puzzlement at one of the queerest groups of
memorials to the dead in the world. The man responsible for these monuments was Henry
G. Woolridge, who was born in 1822 and died in 1899, six years after his statue was sculptured.
He was interred in a vault in the midst of his strange group of statues, the only person buried
there.
Henry Woolridge intended to have some more statues carved, but died before doing so. He
liked to hunt fox and deer, and therefore a visit to the strange burial plot will reveal a statue
of a deer followed by Mr. Wooldridge's dog, "Towhead." There is also a statue of a small
fox, followed by "Bob," another of the Woolridge dogs. The name of his horse is "Fop." The
three statues at the back of the lot are to represent his father and mother, and the two small
statues his nieces, Maude and Minnie. It is told that the statue of Mr. Woolridge was carved
from an actual photograph, but the others are not.
True to his aristocratic background, Henry Woolridge was never known to work in a laboring
sense though a very energetic man. He made an excellent living by trading, principally horses.
The whimiscal Mr. Woolridge (some say it was Colonel Woolridge) was very proud of his
blue-blooded lineage and he believed that an enduring memorial should be installed that would
be different from that of the prosaic type appearing in most cemeteries. He decided upon
an open air Hall of Fame, where, for all time, the figures of himself, members of his family,
and the animals he loved would be preserved in enduring stone.
All monuments were placed on the ground at Maplewood Cemetery before Mr. Woolridge's
death. It has been said that the monuments cost approximately $6,000. The tall monument
in the center of the strange plot is that of Henry G. Woolridge. It is carved from Italian marble
and was brought to the United States from Italy costing the old gentleman $1,000. The three
statues in the back of the lot were carved in Mayfield by a-local tombstone maker and they
cost $550. All the rest of the statues, made of limestone, were carved twenty-five miles away
inn Paducah and were brought to Mayfield by freight train.
from a booklet "The World Famous Woolridge Monuments", by Col. Nathan Yates (l\/lessenger
Publishing Co., Mayfield KY, n.d.)
AGS W'86/7 p. 14
Under the section REPORTER AT LARGE, the October 27th issue of THE NEW /OR/CE/? featured
an article (pp. 100-115) on European Cemeteries by Berton Roueche, an Amagansett, Long
Island resident. The author states at the outset that 'There is nothing morbid about a taste
for cemeteries. Cemeteries are always havens of tranquility, and often of unusual beauty. They
are also, to me, an inexhaustible library of what Emily Dickinson called marble stories.'
Mr. Roueche writes at length about three prominent cemeteries: the Cimitero Acattolico di
Roma, the Zentralfriedhof in Vienna, and the Pere-La-chaise in Paris. His contribution is a
delight to read: it contains tidbits of information about several of the famous interred within
their walls, description of carvings and epitaphs, and the frustration in finding the resting places
of some luminaries, especially at the Pere-La-chaise.
contributed by Francis Y. Duval and Ivan B. Rigby, Brooklyn NY, and also by George Kackley,
Baltimore MD
Mary-Ellen Jones haunts graveyards, but she's far from ghostly. Jones, a practical, straight-
talking reference librarian for the Bancroft Library on the University of California's Berkeley
Campus, is a tombstone buff who finds the markers provide a fascinating glimpse of the past.
Jones began studying tombstones in the 1950s, during trips to California's Mother Lode country.
Around the same time she got interested in photography. "I began spending as many weekends
in the Gold Country as time and money would allow, exploring and photographing old buildings
and tombstones," she said. "It didn't take long to become aware that the area was growing
and changing. .Many cemeteries were being destroyed in the name of progress. Vandalism
was evident everywhere," said Jones. "More than once, when I returned to reshoot a stone,
I found it on the ground, broken in half or worse. I realized that I had to preserve what was
rapidly disappearing. The only way I knew how to do this was to preserve it on film."
from an article "Studying graveyards is haunting hobby" by Joan Boer in the Dublin Herald,
September 17, 1986, sent by Mary-Ellen Jones, Orinda CA
A very interesting article in American Way, American Airlines Magazine, October 15, 1986
by Michael Forman titled "Preserving Historic Cemeteries" was spotted by Laurel Gabel of
Pittsford NY while flying home from the October Connecticut Tour and AGS Board meeting.
"Who would dispute the words of 17th century poet George Herbert: 'No churchyard is so
handsome that a man would desire straight to be buried there.' For many people living in
a time and place where medical advances come so rapidly and promise so much, cemeteries
and all they represent have become foreign, sites of occasional visits to the graves of loved
ones. There are however, people for whom burial grounds and cemeteries have become more
than what many euphemistically call 'final resting places'. For anthropologists, historians, artists,
and students, they have become passions, even offices. . . The reason? For many people,
gravestones and burial grounds are museums, providing a wealth of information about history
and culture." He goes on to describe AGS, and to talk to some prominent members. Quoted
were Gina Santucci, preservation specialist for the New York City Landmarks Preservation
Commission, John Francis Marion, author and energetic lecturer on cemeteries, Richard Welsh,
writer and photographer, and Miriam Silverman.
Family trees in rural Maine sink deep roots, and that makes the state a good place for experts
to uncover information about genetic diseases. In their quest for clues, researchers at the
Center for Human Genetics have put together family trees of hundreds of names by poring
over telephone books, going through public records and visiting graveyards. With pedigrees
that extensive, said Thomas Roderick, a Center geneticist, "you're in a much stronger position
to find out if a disease is genetic, and if it is, you can make a more definitive diagnosis."
The Center has found a peculiar prevalence in Maine of Christmas disease, a rare type of
hemophilia. After years of research, the Center established that almost 80 percent of the victims
descended from the same couple who came to Maine in the 1700s.
from the New York Times, Octobers, 1986, contributed by Mary Ann Mrozinski, Queens Historical
Society, Flushing NY
In a recently published mystery novel, a research grant for a Massachusetts cemetery leads
to detection Its AGS type, Jenny Cain, not only digs up the history of the cemetery that has
been closed since 1898; she uncovers 133 graves sans corpses, sans coffins. Thus the title,
NO BODY. This mystery gets her involved in a comic mystery about contemporary corpses,
including a lewd surplus of bodies in one casket. NO BODY is written by Nancy Pickard
and is published by Scribner's.
contributed by George Kackley, Baltimore MD
"I am of Czech descent and would be happy to translate gravestone inscriptions or help decipher
names of persons, months, etc. out of Czech (Bohemian). This I will do free for anyone who
asks." Karleen Chott Sheppard, 13 Hall Lane, St. Paul, MN 55107.
AGSW'86/7p. 15
In Cornwall CT, in a hillside cemetery, is the grave of Henry Obookiah, native of that far-
off Pacific island, v^/ho undertook, early in the 19th century, the long journey from Hawaii
to Connecticut to become, it is believed, the first Hawaiian Christian.
Henry Obookiah lived for a time, about 1814, with a minister in Torringford, part of Torrington,
where he worked on a farm, and in Goshen in 1815, before entering the newly opened Cornwall
Mission School, sometimes referred to in those days as "the separate school for heathen
youths." His early interest in Christianity is credited with giving impetus to the establishment
of that faith in Hawaii. Obookiah became ill while a student at the school and died. His grave
in Cornwall is marked by a stone slab approximately 2 feet wide by 6 feet long, set atop
a stone foundation about two and a half feet high. The gravesite is visible from Route 4 and
is situated about 50 yards inside the first entrance to the cemetery as one approaches from
the east. A fading inscription cut into the stone on Obookiah's grave, typical of the long epitaphs
of that day, tells something of his story. It reads, in part, "He was once an idolater, and was
designed for a Pagan Priest, but by the grace of God and by the prayers and instructions
of pious friends he became a Christian. "He was eminent for piety and missionary zeal. When
almost prepared to return to his native Isle to preach the gospel God took to himself. "In
his last sickness he wept, and prayed for Owhyhee [Hawaii], but was submissive. He died
without fear with a heavenly smile on his countenance and glory in his soul, Feb. 17, 1818,
aged 26."
A few years ago the state of Hawaii sought permission to honor Obookiah in his distant
Connecticut grave by erecting in Cornwall cemetery at the spot where Obookiah rests a brightly
colored "Warrior Marker," about 3 feet by 20 inches in size. Town officials, however, felt that
the proposed marker was in violation of the zoning regulations and declined to approve it.
from the Litchfield County Times, sent by Patricia Miller, Sharon CT
When Loretta DeSantis and Sally Dufford began looking for their roots in local cemeteries,
their curiosity grew into an obsession to record tens of thousands of lives summarized on
tombstones. They spent five years copying the sometimes-cryptic messages on more than
100,000 headstones in 160 cemeteries, and three more years compiling their findings. They
are self-publishing a 15-volume set for genealogists tracing families from Mercer County PA
on the Pennsylvania-Ohio border.
The two women tramped through cow pastures, hacked away briars and brush and cajoled
suspicious landowners in their search. Armed with crowbars, the two even pried up part of
the sidewalk in nearby Greenville when they found it consisted of old gravestones from a
church cemetery that had been moved. In an Indian burial ground, they copied the markings
on boulders that served as headstones.
Vol. 1 — Lake Township; Liberty Township; Findley Township
Vo. 2 — Findley Township; East Lackawannock Township; Lackawannock Township;
Worth Township
Vol. 3 — Worth Township; French Creek Township; Jefferson Township; Mill Creek Township;
Springfield Township
Vol. 4 — Springfield Township; Wilmington Township; West Salem Township; Pine Township
Vol. 5. — Pine Township; Wolf Creek Township; Sandy Creek Township
Vol. 6 — Pine Township; Coolspring Township; Sugar Grove Township
Vol. 7 — Sandy Lake Township; Perry Township
Vol. 8 — Perry Township; New Vernon Township; Otter Creek Township; Jackson Township
Fairview Township
Vol. 9 — Greenville PA
Vol. 10 — Hempfield Township; Greene Township; Salem Township; Pymatuning Township
Vol. 11 — Deleware Township; Shenango Township; South Pymatuning Township; Clarksville PA
Vol. 12 — Sharpsville PA; Hermitage (Hickory Township)
Vol. 13 — Farrell PA
Vol. 14 — Hermitage (Hickory Township)
Vol. 15 — Hermitage (Hickory Township)
PRICES: Volumes 1 - 7 $9.00 (PA residents add $.54 sales tax)
Volumes 8-13 $1 2.00 (PA residents add $.72 sales tax)
Volumes 14-15 will by announced
NOTE: Volumes 4, 5 and 6 are temporarily sold out.
Send check to: Loretta Barker DeSantis, 337 Jefferson Ave., Sharon PA, 16146.
from an Associated Press syndicated item by Tara Bradley-Steck, spotted in the Indianapolis
Star by Jim Jewell, Oglesby IL, and in the Norman Transcript by Catherine Yates, Norman
OK, both dated December 21, 1986.
AGSW'86/7p. 16
The 32 cemeteries that help shape the contours of Salem CT, a small rural town-turned-
bedroom community, hide secrets rich in history. For 80-year old Louise S. Mutschler, unearthing
those secrets is detective work at its best. Ms. Mutschler is the historian of the Salem Historical
Society and a genealogist by hobby. Graveyards, and Salem's graveyards in particular, fascinate
her. Tombstones help unravel genealogical mysteries. In a study undertaken by the Works
Progress Administration in the 1930s, researchers recorded the names of all the tombstones
in Salem. "It was the best thing that ever happened because now the tombstones are crumbling,
they're so old," she said. Although uncovering family ties from tombstones is time-consuming,
Ms. Mutschler said, it is a pastime she plans to continue. For her, Salem's grave yards yield
rich morsels of the past.
from a New London CT area newspaper, contributed by Francis Y. Duval, Brooklyn NY
Friends of Abandoned Cemeteries ofStaten island, piioto
by Jotin S. Abbott
A gathering of Friends.
Marjorie Johnson pulls another vine off the grave and finds something. "Look what's buried
here!" she calls to Janis Kiernan, who drops her shovel and comes to see: It's a windshield
wiper from a car abandoned decades ago in the Staten Island Cemetery and buried there
now, among hundreds of graves lying beneath the weeds, mattresses, cans and smashed
tombstones. For Johnson, and the other Friends of Abandoned Cemeteries of Staten Island
(FACSI), visiting gravesites while armed with rakes is no criminal act. The two dozen working
members want to preserve the tombstones — documents etched in stone. They were drawn
to the job, they say, by an interest in history, gardening, beautification. "My friends think it's
weird," admits Johnson.
FACSI began adopting graveyards four years ago on Halloween; today, it cares for nine of
them. Members are working on the three-acre Staten Island Cemetery (which opened in 1847
and stopped being used in the 1920s), and two adjacent sites: the 121 -year-old Fountain
Cemetery and the 1 84-year-old Ascension Cemetery, both in decline since the thirties. Johnson
moves her rake to the grave of Civil War colonel Thomas Doubleday. Fred Crane comes
over to help. "You'll find at least 120 Civil War veterans here," he says. Kieran, meanwhile,
is planting violets in front of a gravestone with the epitaph "Our Little Violet". She discovered
it on her first visit and decided to plant the same kind of flowers that grieving parents must
have laid there a century ago. After several visits, the cemeteries have regained their romantic
charm. Beer cans have yielded to flowers, vandals are staying away, headstones stand upright
after years on the ground. The place is as inviting as an English churchyard — and just
a year ago, you wouldn't have wanted to be caught dead in it.
from an article by Sam Stages, "A Grave Bunch of People" in New York Magazine, October
27, 1986, sent by Christ Sweeters, New York NY
Peter Krell wants to keep the memory of Rockland's dead alive. Krell's an historian trying
to record the name of every person ever buried in the county, and the history of Rockland's
abandoned cemeteries. Krell heads the Historical Society of Rockland's 1 1 5-member Committee
for the Preservation of Rockland Cemeteries, and help find maintenance funds for them. He
estimates that there are more than 120 such cemeteries in the county.
from Suburban People, White Plains NY, October 26, 1986
AGSW'86/7p. 17
PRESERVATION NOTES
The September 1986 Staff Report, from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, lists the
Upper Illinois Valley Association of Chicago IL as receiving "$1000 for preservation and
management guidelines of 19th century cemeteries in the Midwest" (these are grants National
Trust gives out to various groups). Gerald W. Adelmann the Association's Executive Director,
is working to preserve some 10-16 cemeteries along the 60 mile length of the Illinois and
Michigan Canal running from Lockportto Chicago.
AGS frequently receives requests for information as to state laws relating to the care and
preservation of cemeteries and gravemarkers. Several years ago a compilation of the laws
of many of the states was made for us, but this is not complete and is now out-of-date. It
would be extremely helpful if one of our members would undertake the task of preparing
a summary of the state laws on the subject, with statutory references in each case. If anyone
will volunteer, let him or her write to our director, Rosalee Oakley, 46 Plymouth Road, Needham,
MA 02192, and she will provide such material as we have.
Ask engineer Stan Flowers how business is, and he's likely to tell you it's pretty grave. And
that's just fine, because that's how his Cemetery Mapping Services Inc. makes money. "Typically,
cemeteries are 150 or more years old and have records that are dried out, torn and sometimes
in almost unreadable condition," Flowers said. "It's a real problem keeping good records of
who is buried where." The newly formed company takes old, tattered cemetery maps and
reproduces them as digital images. The maps can quickly be corrected on video screens
and printed out any time they are needed. "And multiple copies of the data can be stored
off site, in a vault, somewhere it is safe in case of fire or even flood," Flowers said. "Many
of these records are so old, it would be a real tragedy if they were destroyed." The increasing
popularity of genealogy also has increased the wear and tear on cemetery records, he said.
With more people using them to search for ancestors, the records need to be made more
durable and accessible.
from the Cleveland Ohio Plain Dealer, December 26, 1986, contributed by Laurel Gabel, Pittsford
NY
London's Brompton Cemetery, founded in 1840, is facing hard times. Concerned people met
last October to form the Friends of Brompton Cemetery. The Friends will undertake four major
tasks. First, they will lobby the Bailiff of the Royal Parks in an attempt to reach a compromise
on the use of weedkiller in Brompton Cemetery. The weedkiller is harming the wildflowers,
butterflies and birds that inhabit the cemetery. The Friends hope to persuade the Bailiff that
more gardeners are needed to keep the cemetery in better condition. "We realize that it is
impractical to let the park become a complete jungle, but we believe there is a happy mean
between using weedkillers and letting it grow wildly," said Terence Bendixson, acting chair
of the Friends. Another goal of the Friends will be to raise money to transfer the "dog-earred
records of who is buried in the cemetery" to microfilm, Mr. Bendixson said. Finally, the Friends
will work to get the cemetery formally registered as a charity. "Brompton Cemetery is a wonderful
mixture of flowers and weeds, which is really quite exceptional for the centre of London,"
Mr. Bendixson said. "It is nature as God made it."
from the Kensington and Chelsea Times, October 10, 1986,
contributed by l^ichael Cornish, Dorchester MA
UPDATE ON SAN DIEGO'S CALVARY CEMETERY SITUATION
On November 12, the San Diego City Council voted down the San Diego Historical Society's
proposal to restore the stones to Calvary Cemetery, now Pioneer Park, as reported in the
Spring 1986 AGS Newsletter, p. 16. Voting with the neighborhood residents, they agreed that
the restoring of the cemetery would likely bring into the neighborhood undesirable elements.
There is no higher "court of appeal", so the Historical Society's next plan is to try to have
the stones reset in another cemetery which is also an historic one. A very desolate Lawrence
Riveroll called the AGS Office after the vote. After five years of work, it had all ended in this
"NO" vote. However, he is still determined to pursue this next step to try to save the stones.
AGS W'86/7p. 18
Washing away those
tombstone blues
(^ Out ci'tnt'tcrv has hi'vu in o/t-
fiiiliDii sinir IKl'l and sanif of the
ii'liilr and f^rey marhlv miinuinenis
a'llli uniiiiilli hasrs art' hadly dis-
c(tl<nvd and fiartially ciH'rn-d with
ni<iss The aid ^ranitf nioniimenls
with vanvd limcslanr liasi-a an- in
the name landitian. In all we htnv
man' than 200 mcinanals un-'d like
to clean Hint' shauld itv tin itf
William E. Egan
Laurel Hill Cemetery Co.
Bolton, Onl.
A - The prospect of scrubbing 200
tombstones would have anyone
sintjinK the blues, but the job
should be done correctly and un-
derstand i nR the physica I processes
involved is a necessary prerequi-
site for the task. The types ofdis-
coloration and growth you describe
are usually due to a wide variety
of microflora .-ind fungi which
flourish in damp, shady environ-
ments — such as at ground level
where protected by trees.
Algae are one possible cause of
soiling and staining. Visible as a
fine green or blue-green stain, they
form chlorophyll and are capable
of supporting themselves on air.
repririted directly frorv Canadian Heritage (V. 12 #4, Oct.-
Nov. 1986). Martin Weaver is an architectural conservator,
and Director of Education and Technical Services for
the Heritage Canada Foundation.
waterand traces ormincrals. Some
damage calcareous (lime contain-
ing) stones such as marble by se-
creting acids to extract nutrients
from the stone.
Lichens, which also cause dis-
coloration, are found in many
colors, including grey, green and
even bright red-orange. They can
attack stone surfaces in a number
of ways, l/ithophagous (stone eat-
ingl lichens, for example, can dam-
age stone by simply dissolving it or
by water retention — keeping the
stone wet, thereby triggering a
range of spin-orf problems such as
frost damage.
The major deterioration is usu-
ally caused by ion exchange and
acid secretion. These are complex
biochemical reactions that may
have particularly serious conse-
quences for marble. The efTects of
many of these agents of bio-dete-
rioration may be compounded by
carbon and other dust particles in
the air, which will .stick to damp
surfaces.
Fungi are a further cause of
staining, and many types, ranging
from black and dark grey to brown
and even blue, will exist on and in
the surface crust of marble. Fungi
have also been shown to damage
The prospect of scrubbing 200
tomb-stones
stone by secret! ng acids such as cit-
ric and oxalic acid and by extract-
ing aluminum,' magnesium and
silicate ions from some rock-
forming minerals.
Most problems associated with
moss growth are the result of moss
concealing or blocking the open
ends of capillaries or fine pores in
the stone. Such an organic cover
retards evaporation, causing the
stone to remain moist. The root
systems of mosses can also cause
damage by acid secretion and by
physically prying apart the rock
through root penetration and
expansion.
Removal of the various deposits
and organisms on the stone sur-
face can be affected by two means:
First, they may be softened and the
organisms killed by chemical
means, such as a weak solution of
baby shampoo or non-ionic deter-
gent; second, the softened mass
may be removed with a low-
pressure water jet and a bristle
brush — not a wire brush. On stub-
born stains you might also use a
weak solution of hyperchlorite,
also known as household bleach.
If these techniques are unsuc-
cessful, then try Sure Klean Liq-
uid Marble Cleaner, made by
ProSoCo Inc. of Kansas. This prod-
uct is a blue, concentrated gel with
a pH of 9.7 {strongly alkaline). It
should be used with great care and
only according to manufacturer's
instructions.
Always try techniques on un-
important test areas, such as the
back of a broken tombstone. In no
circumstances should any of the
suggested cleaning measures be
attempted in winter, or when there
is any risk of frost or freezing.
Quite apart from the danger of
damaging the stones by freezing of
liquids used, the chemicals also
work poorly, if at all, at low tem-
peratures. Most authorities agree
that cleaning should not be at-
tempted at temperatures below 10
degrees C (50 degrees F). You
should also avoid working in hot,
direct sunshine.
After cleaning and rinsing the
stones with water, you might apply
a biocidal wash such as weak (0.5
per cent) solution of orthophenyl-
phenol in iso-propyl alcohol. This
may assist in keeping the growth
at bay for a longer period than can
be achieved by simple cleaning.
Orthophenylphenol can be a skin
irritant. Use it only in well-venti-
lated conditions and with protec-
tive clothing and an organic vapor
mask. +
Martin Weaver
AGSW'86/7p. 19
uaiiaiSAvaN
Olf ON mi»d
a I V 4
3ovisod s n
•oao xijoyj non
6091-0 'sse^ 'jajsaojOM
'A^dfoos ueuenbouv ueouatuvo/o
'sajpn^s 9uo}S9AeJO JO| uoi)ei30SSv
A few years ago, gravestone "rubbing" became a hobby. . . interesting, and if properly done,
iiarmless. Gravestone "robbing" is quite another matter (see "The Grave Robbers Are Back",
Yankee Magazine, IVIay 1986). Such examples of the early stonecutting art, "flat sculpture",
are almost always acquired by theft!
In the town of Auburn NH two stones were taken from a private plot this summer, inscribed
as follows: Mary J. dau. or Nathan and Sophia Robie d. May 28, 1843 ae. 20 y.; Sidney B.
son of Orlando and Hannah Welsh d. July 9, 1858 ae. 1 y. 1 m.
A mile-stone disappeared this last spring. It read: 4 m/to/Chester/M.H./1799.
In the unlikely event that these stones reappeared in Auburn, no questions would be asked.
It is our considered opinion that adverse publicity, public awareness, and indignation could
help to curb the theft of gravestones and markers. In many instances, an epitaph is all that
has survived to record a lifetime. They often are of great value to genealogists. Existing laws
should be reviewed; probably need to be updated. There are hundreds of superb examples
of early stonecutting throughout New England. Leave them where they were intended to be,
or if they are in danger of deterioration, replace them with a reproduction and put the original
in a local historical society building for safe keeping. Dealers, collectors and auctioneers can
help by refusing to traffic in this type of folk art.
from a letter to the editor, Maine Antiques Digest, January 1987 from Harry E. Flanders,
Auburn NH
John D. Adams, supervisor, Heritage Properties, .age Conservation Branch, Parliament
Buildings, Victoria BC, \/8V 1X4, Canada writes:
I am trying to document what other major cities in Canada are doing to combat vandalism
in urban cemeteries. I have visited a number of cemeteries in Ontario and have learned the
great benefit of walls and gates that are locked after dark. However, our City Fathers in Victoria
have not supported putting up barriers around the two most important old cemeteries here.
As a result, vandalism continues at quite an alarming rate (about one hundred stones in Ross
Bay Cemetery in the past year). We are still lobbying for some perimeter security and increased
patrols and are organizing a workshop and tour for residents who live adjacent to the cemeteries.
Any advice would be appreciated.
The AGS Newsletter published quarterly as a service to members of The Association for Gravestone Studies.
The membership year begins on the date dues are received and ends one year from that date. A one-year membership
entitles the members to four issues of the Newsletter and to participation in the AGS conference in the year
membership is current. Send membership fees (individual/institutional, $75; Family, $25; contributing, $25) to AGS
Executive Director Rosalee Oakley, 46 Plymouth Rd., Needham, MA 02192. Back issues of the Newsletter are
available for $3.00 per issue from Rosalee Oakley. The goal of the Newsletter is to present timely Information
about projects, literature, and research concerning gravestones, and about the activities of the Association for
Gravestone Studies. It is produced by Deborah Trask, v^ho w/elcomes suggestions and short contributions from
readers. The Newsletter is not intended to serve as a journal. Journal articles should be sent to Theodore Chase,
editor of Markers, the Journal of The Association for Graveston Studies, 74 Farm St., Dover, l\/IA 02030. Address
Newsletter contributions to Deborah Trask, editor The Nova Scotia l\Auseum, 1747 Summer St., Halifax, Nova Scotia,
B3H 3A6, Canada. Order Markers, the Journal of the Association for Gravestone Studies (Vol. 1, $20; Vol. 2, $15,
hardcover $25; Vol. 3, $14, hardcover $23; Vol. 4, $14.75, hardcover $23; higher prices for non-members) from
Rosalee Oakley. Send contributions to the AGS Archives to Elizabeth Rich, Archivist, 43 Rybury Hillvifay, Needham,
MA 02192. Address other correspondence and orders to Rosalee Oakley. Mail addressed to AGS c/o The American
Antiquarian Society, Worcester, MA 01609, or to Rosalee Oakley, will be forwarded to the appropriate AGS office.
NEWSLETTER
OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES
DEBORAH TRASK, ED.
VOLUME 11 NUMBER 2 SPRING 1987
ISSN: 0146-5783
CONTENTS
SHOOTING WITH STROBE 1
photography advice from Richard Welch
THE GRAVESTONE SNAKE 3
a children's story, by Mary D. Bailey
MORE AGS TRIVIA! 5
THREE WOMEN GRAVESTONE CARVERS 5
by Laurel Gabel
AMERICAN CULTURE ASSOCIATION, March 1987 7
abstracts of Cemetery & Gravemarker papers
DOG SCULPTURE, a warning by George Kackley 9
MEMBER NEWS 10
NEWSPAPER NOTES 11
ROBERTA'S LAMENT 13
INFO FROM OLD CEMETERY SOCIETIES 14
REVIEWS 16
PRESERVATION NEWS 19
1987 CONFERENCE, AMHERST MA. 21
SHOOTING WITH STROBE
by Richard Welch
Fig. 1. Nathaniel Bacon, Esq., 1692, Bruton Churcii,
Williamsburg VA. slabstone, slate.
Taking sharp, clear photographs of their subjects has long been a major concern to gravestone
researchers. The advent of the single lens reflex camera put this goal within reach of all
— if the weather cooperates. Markers located in shady areas, or facing unusual directions
have presented greater difficulties. The use of mirrors to reflect light on such stones solved
part of the problem. However, mirrors are no use when available light is poor or non-existent.
Frequently, trips to burial grounds are planned long in advance and can't be easily changed
even if the weather makes normal, or mirror, photography impossible. Shooting stones under
such conditions produces dull, flat pictures, useful for a record or reminder, but little else.
Memorials located in churches where sunlight can not penetrate and can seldom be reflected
is another frustrating experience for the gravestone photographer. Even on sunny days, many
people find it difficult to lug around suitably large mirrors. Fortunately, there is a solution to
all these problems. In fact, the solution has been around for years and why it has been so
underutilized is a mystery. I'm talking about strobes.
continued
Strobe flashes for cameras have been available for decades. Modern strobes, compact and
powerful, easily mountable on the "hot shoe" of most SLR cameras, greatly expand the
possibilities of gravestone photography. To shoot with strobe one needs to use the separation
method in which, the sensor remains fixed to the camera's "hot shoe" while the strobe itself
is held in a position similar to the most desirable angle of the sun. This is somewhere between
a 20-30 degree angle. An immediate advantage of strobe shooting is that if a friend is not
around to hold the strobe it can be affixed to a tripod. The tripod method makes solo trips
profitable.
Strobe shooting is not only easier and less of a hassle than a mirror, but it allows photography
under all conditions. The accompanying photographs illustrate some of the possibilities. Figure
1 is a detail of a tomb-slab mounted in Bruton Parish, Williamsburg, Virginia. Sunlight does
not readily penetrate the vestibule where the slab is mounted. Even on a sunny day the vegetation
would require a mirror to be placed so far outside the church as to be nearly useless. Figure
2 is a marker in Springfield Gardens (Queens County), NY. The stone was shot in the morning
with the sun at its back. Note the shadow in front of the marker. A mirror could have worked
in this instance: strobe was simply more convenient. Figure 3 is a neo-classical marker in
Rahway NJ by John Frazee. It was photographed on a totally overcast morning with intermittant
showers. In fact, it was drizzling slightly when the picture was taken. The availability of strobe
salvaged what otherwise would have been a ruined day and a waste of time and planning.
Fig. 2. Springfield Gardens, Queens County NY.
\ Icr? i-.>\ ^ t nc
iWarv SkiciiT.nr? '^'^> ...
■\Uic Ocxohvr ^. ic^G .
nth- r ^.-L^'^ - >■-
D::i,.-a'iT- •i~r''^ — -
?.rr-} l.-N-nrK-
• J
Fig. 3. Hannah Terneil, 1813, Railway NJ, signed "Frazee
Sept".
There are two drawbacks to strobe. The connecting wire between "hot-shoe" and the strobe
may not be long enough to capture a large stone in its entirety. Secondly, a "hot-point" from
the flash may show up, especially while learning to control the distance between the strobe
and the stone. Usually, this is readily corrected by "burning" the print during processing. However,
this will probably mean finding someone who does custom work rather than relying on Kodak
or Berkee or the other mass-market labs.
Despite the two above mentions caveats, strobe shooting has a great deal to recommend
it — convenience, ease, flexibility, and its utility in otherwise non-photographical situations.
It should be a part of every gravestone researchers' equipment.
Richard Welch is the author of Memento Mori: the Gravestones of Early Long Island (1983)
and the AGS Regional Guide #2, "Graveyards of Long Island" (1986)
AGSSp'87p.2
THE GRAVESTONE SNAKE
a children's story by Mary D. Bailey
I, Scooter Scanlon, am really good at baseball, pretty good at soccer, and can run faster
than most kids. But I'm horrible in art, so, naturally, I've always hated Fridays. That's the day
Miss Blinkhorn, the art teacher, takes over our fourth-grade class. A few Fridays ago, Miss
Blinkhorn came into the room acting all excited. "And you ready for a nice surprise, children?"
she asked. Everyone but me looked happily expectant. "We're going to walk to the Old Historic
Burying Ground to do some gravestone rubbing."
Yuk. A graveyard. How low can you get, I thought. Then I remembered something that made
my art-class scowl turn into a grin — the Old Burying Ground was where Gus lived! He's
my garter snake — not my very own pet, but I like to watch him slither through the grass
or sun himself on a big rock or just disappear under the one particular gravestone where
he lives. That's when I call after him, "Aren't you glad you don't have to live in one of those
glass tanks some people keep for their pet snakes?"
Yes, I was thinking, you can make today's art class very interesting, Gus. The thought cheered
me up as we filed in pairs along the sidewalk. My partner this time was Carlton Stokes, the
math genius, and we didn't have anything to say to each other. He was probably counting
the number of steps it took to get there. Then he'd divide that number by two, take the square
root, and amaze everyone with some clever answer. Carlton was good in art, too — and
even in swimming. But he couldn't be perfect. Maybe he was afraid of snakes and would
turn a ghastly pea green when he saw Gus. And that Brenda Fawcett, with her dainty skirt
— she had actually screamed and said she felt sick the day some boys held a dead frog
in front of her. Wait until she sees Gus, I gloated. She deserves a scare, after the way she
made fun of my water-color painting last week. She had no right to say my pumpkin looked
as though it had been left out on a doorstep to rot. "You can crawl over Brenda's foot for
a starter, Gus," I muttered.
As we walked into the Old Burying Ground to look at the slate and fieldstone markers, I peered
around eagerly. Gus wasn't anywhere in sight. I stared hard at the gravestone Gus lived under
and whispered, "If you're hiding down there, please come out. Don't let me down, Gus. It's
very important."
Miss Blinkhorn didn't waste a minute getting started with the lesson. "Before I pass out the
materials; children, let me tell you a little about the history of early American gravestone art,"
she began. "Until about 1650, only the name and the date of death were engraved. Later
a skull with wings was added — and crossbones." Yuk. A skull! I started looking around,
hoping to see grass moving in a wavy pattern. Hardly a blade moved. Gus wasn't there.
Miss Blinkhorn was now up to the 1 700s, talking about the face on the death's head becoming
more like a cherub's. That's stupid, I thought — a cherub on some old man's gravestone.
I looked at the big, flat rock where Gus liked to sun himself. Why aren't you out in the sun
today, Gus? Don't you know it might start raining tomorrow and rain for a whole week straight?
"During the 1800s," Miss Blinkhorn droned on, "the stones were much larger, with urns and
willow trees replacing the skull." In desperation, I fixed my eyes on Gus's gravestone. If I
could just lure him out by some strange, hypnotic power.
"You can always tell the age of the stone by what is engraved on it." Miss Blinkhorn finally
stopped talking. I realized I hadn't really listened to what she'd said, so I decided I'd better
watch closely while she showed how to do the rubbing. She held a piece of rice paper up
against the gravestone and put little pieces of masking tape all around to hold it on. That
looked easy. Then, as she rubbed the paper with a piece of black wax, a design appeared.
"Be sure to have your paper as taut as possible and rub with firm, even strokes," she said.
I took the stuff she' handed to me and headed for the gravestone where Gus lived. "You
would take the smallest one in the whole place," Brenda sneered as she walked over to a
gigantic stone nearby. I gritted my teeth. What would she know about loyalty to pets? But
I did wish Gus lived under a bigger gravestone. With a struggle I got the paper on and started
rubbing.
Miss Blinkhorn walked around, looking at everyone's work. "As usual, you've done an excellent
job, Brenda," she commented. "That's a very clear urn and willow tree." She looked at mine.
"And you've done a fine job, too, Sarah." The teachers never call me Scooter. "But I'm interested,
how did you happen to select that gravestone?" "I don't know. I guess — because — it was
ju. . .just here," I blurted out. I could feel my face getting hot, and my mouth felt dry the way
it does when the dentist is filling a tooth. What would Miss Blinkhorn think if she knew I
had picked it because a snake lived under it, and — even worse — that I'd hoped the snake
would crawl out and scare a few people? But I felt a tingly, happy feeling, too. Mis Blinkhorn
had actually said I'd done a good job on an art project. That was a first.
continued
AGSSp'87p.3
"Roll up your rubbings carefully, children," she said as she packed up her stuff. "I'm going
to select the best ones for a display in the school library." I rolled up mine as if it were made
of spun gold.
The next Friday morning we went to the library during art period. I hung back, but the other
kids all hurried in to see whose rubbings were on the wall. I could hear, "That's mine," "Mine's
there," "Isn't Brenda's good?" Maybe, just maybe, mine was put up, too, I thought. Miss Blinkhorn
had said it was good. I went in and held my breath as I looked at every single rubbing all
the way down the wall. Not even the last one was mine.
"Look where Scooter's rubbing is!" I heard someone exclaim. I turned around and gasped.
There it was — all by itself — on the table reserved for outstanding items. Underneath was
a card that read, "A rubbing of the Oldest Gravestone in the Old Historic Burying Ground,
by Sarah Scanlon." Gus hadn't let me down after all. For one glorious day I was Sarah da
Vinci Picasso Scanlon.
•-vn/-«i*.Ar'i-.rv i/Tk ■••r'\P
ClECOJ^BEft r6^P
The oldest gravestone in Ye Old Burying Ground,
Lexington MA, rubbing by Mary D. Bailey.
reprinted from Cricket Magazine, August 1986, V. 13 #12, with permission.
A Shaker — Gravestone Connection
Among the most unique examples of American folk art are the inspirational or "gift drawings"
of the ante-bellum Shakers. These pictures, drawn mostly by female members of the sect,
were believed to have been inspired and guided from the next world, which they often depicted.
The person doing the drawing was merely the instrument of the divine force. The two Shaker
artists best known for these pictures are Hanah Cohoon and Polly Collins. What is not well
known is that Polly was a grand-niece or grand-daughter of Zerubbabel Collins, the m,aster
Vermont ornamental-style gravestone carver.
While Zerubbabel was no Shaker, his intricate, yet clean, floral and vine motifs seem to have
had a heady influence on his descendant's gift drawings. This link seems so clear that the
curators at Hancock Shaker Village, Hancock, Massachusetts, not only state the premise in
a printed explanation card, but include a photograph of one of Collins' markers for comparison.
Consequently, an important connection between two major folk art forms is made and publicized.
Hopefully, those visitors to the Hancock Shaker Village who may never have thought of
gravestones as cultural indicators will come away with a heightened awareness of their potential
significance.
contributed by Richard Welch, Huntington NY.
AGSSp'87p.4
MORE AGS TRIVIA!
As part of the Association's tenth anniversary celebration, there will be a display of memorabilia
from our first ten years at the AGS conference, Amherst College, Amherst MA, June 25-28,
1987. Test your AGS trivia knowledge with these 20 questions. . . answers on page 8
1. The first conference to offer a graveyard tour as part of its program was held in Newport
in 1979. What other important site was on that tour?
2. What stone is pictured on the cover of Graven Images and where is it?
3. Who wrote the first book on gravestone conservation?
4. Where can you find a stone with a carving of a snake?
5. Where is the stone for a man who was killed by the fall of a church bell?
6. A Manning stone was recently returned to a Franklin CT cemetery. There are two more
stones with similar designs by Manning. Where are they?
7. Where is the oldest stone in New England, and what is the date?
8. The stone for John Foster has been removed from the Dorchester burying ground and
placed on permanent display in a museum. What is the museum?
9. How many state old cemetery associations are there?
a) 24 b)40 c) 4
10. The Farber collection consists of how many photos of earty gravestones?
a) 590 b)1500 c) 7500 d) 11 000
11. AGS conferences have often been co-sponsored by other organizations. What organization
was our first co-sponsor, and where was this conference held? (1) The Dublin Seminar
for New England Folklife, in Dubin NH (2) The Bay State Historical Society, in Haverhill MA
(3) The Connecticut Historical Society, in Hartford CT.
12. What organization co-sponsored the 1985 conference in New Brunswick NJ? (1) Trinity
Church (2) The Museum of American Folk Art (3) Green-wood Cemetery.
13. What organization co-sponsored the 1984 conference in Hartford CT? (1) Trinity University
(2) The Wadsworth Athaneum (3) The Connecticut Historical Society.
14. The 1980 Conference in Haverhill MA was held in conjunction with (rather than being
co-sponsored by) what organization? (1) The Bay State Historical League (2) The Bostonian
Society (3) The American Association for State and Local History.
15. Last year's conference in Boston was co-sponsored by: (1) The Bostonian Society (2) The
Boston Athaneum (3) The Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
16. Identify the AGS conference tours at which work by these carvers were seen. (1) John
Stevens (2) Ebenezer Price (3) John Hartshorne (4) William Young (5) Samuel Dwight.
17. Which member of AGS has recently been the subject of gravestone articles featured in
the Wall Street Journal and Yankee Magazine? (1) Alfred Fredette (2) William Hosley (2)
Theodore Chase.
18. Who is research co-ordinator of AGS, answering members' knotty questions concerning
carver styles and attributions? (1) Vincent Luti (2) William Wallace (3) Laurel Gabel.
19. What AGS member has organized monthly summer tours in his/her state? (1) Roberta
Halporn (2) Patricia Miller (3) Elizabeth Christopher.
20. What "rubbing team" has produced a large collection of rubbings of signed stones? (1)
Parker/Neal (2) Williams/Kelly (3) Duval/Rigby.
THREE WOMEN GRAVESTONE CARVERS
by Laurel K. Gabel
A few summers ago on one of the regional Connecticut graveyard tours, AGS member Daniel
Hearn showed me two unique, simply carved gravestones in Southbury's White Oak Cemetery.
The pair of stones marked the graves of Cornelius Brownson (died 4 October 1746 at age
54) and his wife Abigail (died 9 November 1775 at age 82). Most of the tympanum, as well
as part of the left side of Mr. Brownson's adjoining marker was also broken and lichen-infested,
leaving exposed only a remnant of the design that once dominated the tympanum. (Figure
1) At the bottom of each marker, clearly carved in the same lettering style found on the body
of the stone, was the following: "Done by Jedidah Baldwin his ["her" on the mother's stone]
daughter." Local legend attributes the stones to Jedidah.
,. . I f -^ continued
fig. 1 » f -^
AGSSp'87p.5
A check of Connecticut records confirmed that Jedidah Brownson Baldwin was in fact the
daughter of Cornelius and Abigail. Jedidah was born in 1724, married to Nathaniel Baldwin,
Jr., in 1763, and died in 1808. Perhaps "done by" was simply meant to inform passers-by
that Jedidah had paid for the two stones erected for her parents? It is possible. However,
Jedidah had several brothers living in the area who would certainly have been the more logical
heirs to procure and erect the monuments. Furthermore, the two Brownson markers are of
an inferior local stone and are otherwise unlike the more recognizable efforts of the area
carvers James Stanclift, Jr., and his son James, which dominate the Southbury burying ground.
The possibility of an unknown carver, particularly a woman carver, intrigued me.
Shortly after my encounter with the signed Brownson stones, a note from AGS member Ellen
Glueck of Towanda, Pennsylvania, heightened my interest, for Ellen knew of another woman
carver. Her information came from an 1887 newspaper of Monroe Township, Bradford County,
Pennsylvania. The article mentioned two tombstones in the Kelloggville Cemetery that mark
the graves of Richard Johnson (died 1869) and his wife, Jane (died 1868). According to the
newspaper article "the engraving on [the stones] was done by Mrs. Henry Johnson." Local
research suggests that Mrs. Henry Johnson was probably Ellen Johnson, wife of Richard and
Janes' son Henry. There are five or six other stones in the graveyard obviously carved by
the same hand. This small sampling is easy to recognize, in part because of the consistently
backward J's and the prominent periods that appear after every word or date. (Figure 2) The
stones, all cut from a local sedimenetary shale, are without decoration.
fig. 2
lANE. lom$oN.
A third woman carver is mentioned in Gravestone Art: The Tombstor)e Cutters of Early Fairfield
County, Ohio, and Their Art, by Carol Foss Swinehart (AGS Newsletter, Vol. 9, No. 2, Pg.
9). Alice Jungkurth Farand, known locally as "The Tombstone Lady", was descended from
a long line of stonecutters. Her grandfather was John William Jungkurth, who emigrated from
his native Germany to Pennsylvania and then to the town of Lithopolis (Greek for "City of
Stone"), Fairfield County, Ohio, in the early 1800s. John William and four of his sons quarried
and carved the local Lithopolis Freestone. Other area stonecarvers, including A.V. Smith, Harrison
Johnston, and John Strickler and his sons, also used Freestone or "siltstone" from Jungkurth's
quarry. One of the Jungkurth sons who followed his father in the stonecutting trade was Harmon,
who worked from about 1860 to 1900. Harmon's daughter Alice Jungkurth Farand was known
to have designed and worked on many of the stones produced in the shop. Following Harmon's
death, Alice took over her father's carving business. The 1 900 Federal Census lists Alice Farand's
occupation as "gravestone cutter."
.^/^
fig. 3 This sketcfi of Alice Farand at work is from O'Henry's
Letters to Lithopolis (from the letter of July 23, 1903),
and is used courtesy of Wagnalls Memorial Library. Photo
by Douglas l\/lcCullough.
Laurel K. Gabel is Vice President of AGS, and tlie organization's Research Co-ordinator.
AGSSp'87 p. 6
AMERICAN CULTURE ASSOCIATION
Annual Meeting
Montreal, Canada, March 25-29, 1997
abstracts of papers from the Cemeteries arid Gravemarkers Sessions
Chair: Richard E. Meyer, English, Western Oregon State College, Monmouth, OR 97361.
Strange and Genteel Pleasure Ground: Tourism and Recreational Uses of Garden Cemeteries,
1831 to the Present, Blanche Linden-Ward, Amer. Culture & Comm., Emerson College, Boston,
MA 02116.
This paper examined the recreational and tourist uses of nineteenth-century American garden
cemeteries as "pleasure grounds" in the era before the creation of public parks, with primary
consideration given to the examples of Boston's Mount Auburn, New York's Green-Wood,
Philadelphia's Laurel Hill, and Cincinnati's Spring Grove.
J.N.B. de Pouilly and French Sources of Revival Style Architecture in New Orleans Funerary
Arts, Peggy McDowell, Univ. of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA 70148.
The famous above ground monuments found in New Orleans' earliest extant cemeteries were
significantly influenced by the work of J.N.B. de Pouilly, a French trained architect who immigrated
to the city in ,1 833 and whose tomb designs were instrumental in encouraging the development
of monuments inspired by revival style architecture.
Innocents in a Worldly World: Children's Grave Markers in Victorian America, Ellen Marie
Snyder, Brooklyn Historical Society, Brooklyn, NY 11201.
Victorian children's grave markers in the urban Northeast were examined, focusing upon three-
dimensional representations of children and their belongings. Such markers set children apart
from their adult counterparts, ultimately reflecting a Victorian ideology which celebrated them
as the purest beings in an impure world.
The Cemetery Today: A Public Problem, Harvard C. Wood III, H.C. Wood, Inc.; 6400 Baltimore
Ave., Lansdowne, PA 19050.
A discussion of the current trend of modern cemeteries to sell all services, such as funerals,
plantings, vaults and markers. In some cemeteries in Pennsylvania, these services are now
required. This is encroaching on other legitimate businesses. Cemeteries are tax-exempt and
should not compete with tax-paying industries. One large corporation owns 65 cemeteries
in 19 states, truly "acres of diamonds".
Social and Cultural Information from Gravestones, Long Island, New York, 1630-1800, Gaynell
Stone, Anthropology, SUNY, Stony Brook, NY 11794.
A discussion of information derived from a computer analysis of gravestone data from Long
Island.
Willow Weep for Me: Western Pennsylvania Cemeteries in Transition, Thomas J. Hannon,
Geography & Envir. Studies, Slippery Rock Univ., Slippery Rock, PA 16057.
Cemeteries, representing the "ultimate landscape" in terms of their ability to mirror the history
of the communities or regions in which they are found, are keys to understanding the diverse
regional character of Western Pennsylvania. Morphology, design, composition, symbolism, and
inscriptions are important indicators of the distinctive "flavor" of this area.
Grave Decoration in an Urban Mexican-American Community, Lynn Gosnell & Suzanne Gott,
Intercultural Studies in Folklore & Ethnomusicology, Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX 78712.
This paper examined the year-round grave decorating practices in an urban cemetery located
in the heart of a Mexican-American community in San Antonio, Texas. Considering previous
analyses of Mexican-American grave decoration, it assessed the contemporary placement of
natural and mass produced popular items as an emergent, ongoing aesthetic tradition.
Afro-American Gravestones in Newport, Rhode Island, Dickran and Ann Tashjian, Comparative
Culture, Univ. of California, Irvine, CA 92717.
The gravestones that comprise the Afro-American section of the Old Common Burying Ground
in Newport, Rhode Island were discussed, presenting the cultural data available on those
markers and focusing especially upon the work of Pompe Stevens, the only known Afro-American
stonecarver of the eighteenth century.
Mormon, Navajo, Zuni Graves: Mormon, Navajo, Zuni Ways, Keith Cunningham, English, No.
Arizona Univ., Flagstaff, AZ 86011.
Ramah Cemetery is a burial ground for Mormons and Ramah Navajo. The Vanderwagen
Cemetery is a burial ground for the Zuni: two cemeteries, three sets of graves; three ways,
three eschatologies. This presentation described the graves, ways, and eschatologies as they
are significant to those who use them.
continued
AGSSp'87p.7
Cemeteries of the Upland South, Gregory Jeane, Geography, Auburn Univ., Auburn, AL 36849.
A further look at rural southern gravestones: sacred artifacts in the Upland South Folk cemetery.
The Bigham Family Carvers: Gravestone Symbols of an Emerging National Identity in the
Carolina Piedmont, Edw/ard Clark, English, Winthrop College, Rock Hill, SC 29733.
The gravestones of the Bigham family carvers reflect a movement away from the old clan
identity of the Scotch-Irish to a sense of a new national identity in the Carolina Piedmont.
Gravestones from Northern Ireland and examples of Bigham-carved markers from Pennsylvania
and the Carolina Piedmont were considered.
The Development of White Bronze Markers, Barbara Rotundo, English, SUNY, Albany, NY 1 2222.
The blue-gray metal gravemarkers that appear in very small numbers in cemeteries throughout
the country dating from the 1870s to the 1920s are a conspicuous example of a product
that never became fashionable yet had a nationwide distribution. Often mistakenly called puddled
iron, white bronze gravemarkers are non-magnetic zinc.
'/ Made an Ash of Myself: Epitaphs-Reflectors of Personality, J. Joseph Edgette, Master
of Liberal Arts Prog., Widener Univ., Chester, PA 19103.
Sometimes defined as "the complex of attributes that characterizes the whole person,"
personality is revealed through many means. The personality of the deceased can be reflected
by the epitaph on the gravemarker.
Images of Logging on Contemporary Pacific Northwest Gravemarkers, Richard E. Meyer,
Monmouth, OR 97361.
Long the economic mainstay of the Pacific Northwest, the logging industry has contributed
greatly to the oral and material folk culture of this region. One contemporary manifestation
is the rich diversity of visual and verbal occupational imagery found on the graves of those
associated with this activity.
CALL FOR PAPERS
The "Cemeteries and Gravemarkers" Permanent Section of the American Culture Association
is seeking proposals for its paper sessions scheduled for the ACA's 1988 Annual Meeting,
to be held March 22-26 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Topics are solicited from any appropriate
disciplinary perspective. Those interested are encouraged to send a 250-word abstract or
proposal by September 1, 1987 to the section chair:
Richard E. Meyer
English Department
Western Oregon State College
Monmouth, Oregon 97361
(503)838-1220, Ext. 362
ANSWERS TO AGS TRIVIA
1. The John Stevens Shop
2. Samuel Green, 1759, Lexington MA
3. Lynette Strangstad, for AGS. To be published this year
4. In Marblehead MA; for Susanna Jayne, 1776
5. In East Haddam CT; for Amasa Brainard, 1798
6. In Wales CT, for Stephen Fisk, 1785; and in Chapen CT, for Marcy Geer, 1769
7. At the Rhode Island Historical Society, for Sara Tefft, 1642
8. The Boston Museum of Fine Arts
9. (c): 1 - Vermont Old Cemetery Ass'n., founded 1958, 2 - Main Old Cemetery Ass'n., founded
1969, 3 - Wisconsin State Old Cemetery Society, founded 1971, 4 - New Hampshire Old
Graveyard Ass'n., founded 1976
10. d) 11000
11.(1)
12.(2)
13.(3)
14.(1)
15.(1)
16. (1) Newport Rl, (2) New Brunswick NJ, (3) Haverhill MA, (4) Worcester MA, (5) Williamstown
MA
17.(1)
18.(3)
19. (2) in Connecticut
20. (2)
AGSSp'87 p. 8
DOG SCULPTURE
a warning, by George Kackley, Baltimore MD. George is the former caretaker of Oak Hill Cemetery
in Washington DC.
The New York Times of February 15 has an article reporting a proliferation of zinc, bronze,
lead and stone garden dogs at the prestigious Winter Antiques Show in Manhattan. A pair
of French 19th-century hunting dogs was bought for the entrance of a new Texas house;
it brought $95,000. Yes: ninety-five thousand! The reporter gave precedence over them to
a 41 -inches-high bloodhound (or English mastiff) that Mrs. Henry Luce III bought during the
first five minutes of the show's elegant preview. There are descriptions and prices of numerous
other dogs which sold dearly and quickly.
The article reports that those dogs were made for estate gardens. The reporter apparently
does not know that quite a number of these garden dogs were put onto family lots in America's
garden cemeteries.
The always-limited number of these dogs was decimated by scrap drives during World War
I and World War II and the destruction of estates by developers of tract housing. For most
of our century such Victoriana was generally damned as tacky and trash. The Times article
notes that dealers will have serious problems finding new stock for this latest trend in the
antiques world. Cemeteries appear to be the best source.
The prices for these dogs will surely get much publicity. That is apt to bring petty thieves
to our cemeteries, 20th-century "resurrectionists" who would be finders for antiques dealers.
The saddest part of all this is that these crude thieves are apt to destroy a piece of sculpture
in their attempt to extract it from a cemetery.
I have sent a letter to Ttte New Yorl( Times, with warning that members of the Association
for Gravestone Studies have repeatedly demonstrated that, when a piece of cemetery sculpture
is offered for sale by a dealer, they can prove that the piece belongs to a particular spot
in a particular cemetery, so it is obviously stolen property. Possessors (often dealers) have
been forced to return the sculpture to the cemetery where it belongs, and such possessors
lose what they have paid for it. I warn that, every year, the members of AGS are better prepared
to do this, and that new legislation is making the task easier.
Right away, AGS members should document every cemetery dog in their areas. Photographs
should clearly show breaks or scars that make that particular dog differ from others cast
in the same mold. There should be photograph(s) showing the dog within its surrounding
in the cemetery. The photographs should bear, on their backs, the date taken, the name of
the cemetery and its location, lot or site number. Furthermore, these photos should carry the
names and addresses of two or three persons who are prepared to testify in court that these
photos were taken when and where the notations state.
Finally, let each cemetery management (all of it) know that we are keeping our eyes on their
sculpture. They (even church boards) are sometimes no less greedy than the Wall Street
managers who have been in the news recently.
NOTICE
Laurel Gabel has compiled an alphabetical listing of stones in Copp's Hill Burying Ground
and in the Dorchest-er North Burying Ground for which known gravestone carvers were paid.
She used two sources: 1 . City of Boston Historic Burying Grounds Initiative, Report and Inventory,
Vol. I and II, and 2. Harriette Forbes' notes from Suffolk County, Massachusetts, probate records.
Each entry includes the name of the deceased, date of death, location of stone (keyed to
survey map of Historic Burying Grounds Initiative), probate payment information, and date of
probate account. Nonspecific as well as specific payments for gravestones are included. The
index contains a list of probated stones for each carver.
You may obtain a copy by sending a large, self-addressed stamped envelope* and $.15 per
page photocopy costs** to:
Laurel K. Gabel
205 Fishers Road
Pittsford, NY 14534
* Allow $.56 postage for one list, $1 .07 for both.
** Copp's Hill, 1 0 pages long (1 0 x $1 .5 = $1 .50)
Dorchester North, 9 pages long (9 x $1.5 = $1.35)
AGSSp-87p.9
FROM THE OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Lance Mayer was asked to reply to an inquiry from the Minneapolis Star and Tribune on
caring for gravestones. Lance's answer, which included an invitation to write to the AGS office
for a pamphlet on the care of graveyards^ appeared in a column in the paper on December
18. Since then we have had more than 50 requests for the pamphlet and we've been pleased
to welcome some excellent new members from Minnesota and nearby states who have joined
AGS.
Speakers:
A talk show on KNVS, a radio station in Denver CO, interviewed Dan Farber on November
24th.
Dr. James Slater spoke at the Annual Meeting of the Pomfret CT Historical Society.
The Eve Lear Chapter of the DAR in West Haven CT recently heard a program by Geraldine
Hungerford.
Jan Bartow and Harriet Ryan have also spoken at historical societies in Connecticut recently.
Patty Roberts will be leading a seminar in Escandido CA in June. Anyone interested in knowing
more could write her at P.O. Box 1 973, Hemet CA, 923-0371 .
Toni Cook of South Bend IN will be speaking in May to the South Bend Area Genealogical
Society.
New member Elayne Alexander of Hawthorne CA (13200 Doty, #220, zip 90250) will be showing
her tape-slide show on "Genealogical Gleanings in Cemeteries" to the Los Angeles Genealogical
Society on May 22 in the Burton Chace Community Center, Marina del Ray CA.
Gaynell Stone gave a paper on her gravestone research to the Society for Historical Archaeology
in Savannah GA, January 7-10, 1987.
Mary-Ellen Jones writes that she spoke to the Stanislaus County Genealogical Society in
Modesto CA on March 16. Also on April 25 and 26 at the 9th Annual Black Diamond Days
celebrating the history and culture of the coal mining communities of Contra Costa County,
sponsored by the US East Bay Regional Park District, Mary-Ellen exhibited some tombstone
photographs.
Gaynell Stone reports that about 10-12 people have signed up to record the gravestones
of their area/state for the National Gravestone Recording Project Graven Images and Indexes
with Clearwater Publishing Company (see the AGS Newsletter, V. 10, #1, Winter 1985/6, p.
19). Jim Bradley, Suzanne Spencer- Wood and Mary Beaudry will be working on Massachusetts
stones. Gaynell's 51,000 stones should be on fiche this Summer and for sale this Fall. For
more information on this series, contact Gaynell Stone, Anthropology Department, State
University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY 1 1794.
-AGS Board Member Pat Miller of Connecticut Gravestone
Tours with her hearse. She writes: "It's fun, but costly
to drive! — only 'caddy' I'll ever afford!"
Nancy Dodge reports that the Quebec Family History Society is well into a cemetery inventory
project. The contact for information is the president: Hugh M. Banfill, 300 Somervale #1, Point
Claire, PQ H9R 3H8, Canada.
AGSSp'87p. 10
FUND DRIVE FINAL REPORT
A SPECIAL THANK YOU to the 97 AGS members who contributed a total of $5558 in the
Fall Fund Drive. This is a significant addition to the AGS coffers and we are gratefuul for
the generosity expressed by these donors.
$1 -
$99
-$1858
77 donors
$100
-$199
-$1200
12 donors
$200
-$299
-$ 850
4 donors
$300
-$500
-$1650
4 donors
$5558
97 donors
L@^
The Woolridge monuments in Mayfield Kentucky (AGS Newsletter, V. 11 #1, Winter 1986/
87, p. 14) reminded Dorothy Mellett of Blauvelt NY of the Davis Memorial in Mt. Hope Cemetery,
Hiawatha, Kansas (3 blocks north of US36-US73 junction, and east V2 mile).
When Sarah Davis of Hiawatha died in 1930, her husband, John M. Davis, decided to perpetuate
the memory of his faithful wife by building a different type of memorial to her. All his life
John Davis had been an individualist, depending on himself, asking nothing from others. A
Kentucky orphan, he came to Kansas in 1879, was married in 1880, worked hard as a farmer,
and accumulated considerable wealth. Over the protests of many neighbors who thought he
should put the money into a park, a swimming pool, or a hospital, Davis had this memorial
of marble and granite built at an estimated $100,000.
The unusual feature of the memorial is the statuary, eleven life-sized figures depicting John
and Sarah Davis at various stages of their married lifetime. All but one of the statues, which
is of granite, were made from marble by Italian craftsmen. John Davis died in 1947 and was
buried beside his wife in the memorial. His death and funeral service was written up in Life
magazine, but it is reported that very few people attended the service. Only one seemed genuinely
moved by any sense of personal loss. It was Horace England, who was the tombstone salesman.
NEWSPAPER NOTES FROM HERE AND THERE
The American Institute of Commemorative Art is limited to 50 North American monument
designers and stone sculptors. Membership is by invitation only. "I suppose you could call
it a pretty select group," says Clarence Johnson. With his brother Dennis, Johnson has operated
the Kallin-Johnson Monument Company in Fort Dodge, Iowa for 38 years. The institute's purpose
is to "promote the finer aspects of true memorial art," says Johnson. A true memorialization,
he says, is one that is personalized. "The genealogy kick has had some effect on our business,"
says Johnson. People are listing the names of their children on the gravestone. "In one case
we had 19 children to list."
from the Newport Rl Daily News, October 5, 1982, contributed by Jim Jewell, Peru IL
In 1985, Virginia Marsh, doing research for the Genealogical Association of Sacremento, tried
to locate the grave of an Irish immigrant at the City Cemetery. Examining the files at the cemetery,
she found them disorganized. Records were often misfiled or missing, she said. Since then,
she and a small corps of volunteers have put in thousands of hours organizing and completing
cemetery records. She began by alphabetizing the cemetery's card index file. She then tried
to replace missing cards, gathering information about the unrecorded graves to include in
the cemeteries files. Using old newspaper clips and other research tools, more volunteers
have discovered and corrected inaccuracies and added missing information. Marsh then used
her own home computer to create a master index which allows people to look up a specific
gravesite without disrupting the master card file. A cemetery official said that Marsh's indexing
has been an "absolutely tremendous improvement" over previous record-keeping at the
cemetery. Her work has made it much easier for people to locate gravesites within the cemetery.
from the Sacremento Bee, "South Neighbors", February 19, 1987, sent by Virginia Marsh.
AGSSp'87 p. 11
An article titled "Gravestones as art, Brothers carve out business from personalized stones"
by Bruce Ward of the Ottawa Citizen recently featured Martel & Sons Inc., monument and
gravestone makers since 1903, of Vanleek Hill, Ontario, Canada. The firm is now run by Andre
Martel, 25, and his brother Michel, 28. "It used to be that people never thought of choosing
a gravestone until a death in the family forced them to," says Andre. "Even then, all they
wanted was something plain and traditional that was equal in cost to whatever their neighbours
had." Now, he says, "people want their gravestones to be as distinctive as their lives were."
Written signatures are also a popular item at Martel's. Unarguably, it's personal — your own
autograph ornamenting your tombstone. But isn't it also, well, rather tacky? Not at all, says
Martel. "Taste is personal too. What you may think is outlandish could suit someone else
perfectly."
Michel Martel prides himself on his marketing research. "This is one area, gravestones, where
the consumer is ignorant," he says. "That's what we are working to change." The Martels
are thinking about videos, TV ads and educational programs designed to catch the interest
of grade-schoolers.
Like the diamond trade in New York City, the gravestone business is a family preserve. "You
really have to be born into it," says Michel Martel. "If we sold out chances are the new owners
would have to close their doors within a year." In Toronto 25 years ago there were 41 gravestone
companies. "Today there are seven," he says.
from the Ottawa Citizen, April 21, 1986, sent by Madeleine Thomson, Ottawa, Ont.
Cemeteries are wonderful places to trace family history. Information on tombstones — the
names, dates of births and deaths, the poems, the family relationships — greatly help people
who are tracing their roots. Ella Johnson of Richfield MN, a long-time genealogist and director
of the cemetery project for the Minnesota Genealogical Society, has traced the Norwegians
in her family back to the 1 700s and the English branch to New England in the 1 600s.
Memorial Day weekend is a good time for a genealogy trip to the cemetery, Johnson said.
"Sometimes you can locate distant cousins you would have no other way of contacting by
taping a note to the tombstone. If you give your name and address, or the motel you're staying
at, cousins visiting the cemetery that day can contact you."
Preserving and sharing the information contained in the thousands of Minnesota cemeteries
is the thrust of the society's cemetery project. Because cemeteries often give information that
is not available anywhere else, the data on the tombstone should be copied and preserved.
"If three or four people visiting each cemetery would spend just a couple of hours, we could
do the whole state," Johnson said. "I can't do it all myself."
from an article titled "Tombstones Help in Tracing Family Roots" in the r\/linneapolis Star and
Tribune, May 26, 1985, contributed by Francis Duval and Ivan Rigby, Brooklyn NY.
Hidden from sun and the Sitka skyline by birch and hemlock trees, the graves in the old
Russian Orthodox cemetery settle quietly into Southeast Alaskan soil. Like the lives their
inhabitants once lived, older graves appear to be receding into the rich lore of Sitka's history.
History is what Sitka is all about, for it was in this place on October 18, 1867 that Imperial
Russia gave way to America as landlord of Alaska. It all took place on Castle Hill in what
is now downtown Sitka. Here too was the first capital of the new-found territory, and the
street names read like a history lesson. Native, Russian and American cultures merge as one,
but it wasn't always so, and nowhere is the difference more apparent than on the weather-
worn headstones and crosses in the old Russian Orthodox Cemetery.
Rhonda Grant discovered that the Russian cemetery was the only one in Sitka that was not
documented and mapped out. She decided to undertake the monumental task — not only
to preserve part of Sitka's history, but also to record an excellent source of genealogy for
the families of those buried there. Grant literally dug for information and facts. She turned
over tombstones that had toppled and been covered by time and the elements. She also spent
hours in the library, sorting through microfilm records, old newspapers and vital statistics of
the Russian Orthodox Church. One letter was dated July 26, 1848 from the Russian American
Company to a Russian Orthodox Bishop requesting establishment of a graveyard due to the
smallpox epidemic in Sitka. Permission was granted and the Russian Orthodox cemetery was
established the same year. At one time this cemetery was a mecca for daily visitors: not only
those who went to pay their respects to friends and relatives who had passed on, but early
tourists like Lady Franklin, who ventured to the scenic grandeur of "Sitka by the Sea".
from an article by Nat Mandel in the Alaska Souttieastern Log, August 1986. Nat Mandel
writes that she and Rhonda Grant are thinking about attending the AGS Conference in Amherst
MA this summer.
AGSSp'87p. 12
O TEMPORE, O MORES
A Watery Tale by Roberta Halporn
Every New Yorker complains, but submits to the inevitable with only a minimum of grumbling.
We know this city is so old that the infrastructure is always threatening to crumble, and things
have to be replaced, often so close to the breaking point that major surgery is required.
Thus it was, last May, that I sighed to read that a sewer was going to have to be rebuilt
on the Center's street. I sighed until I woke up one morning to the cacaphony of jackhammers
destroying not the roadway, but our sidewalk.
This certainly was not to be the end. After the jackhammers, came the dirt — red, greasy
dirt clinging to everything. Though I like to display rubbings as part of our decoration of the
Library, I quickly put my mounted collection away.
The contractors made a trench about twelve feet deep and we are still fighting the 4-footed
creatures that it brought. I was musing about who would pay the bills if a pedestrian tripped
on this mess, when the worst happened. I received a frantic call from home, one August
evening. My secretary had gone on vacation and since I was out working on a free-lance
job, the building was uncovered for the whole day. During that time, those mechanical geniuses
had finally decided to close up the trench, and had packed the dirt down so carelessly that
they had broken our water pipes. By the time I arrived home, we had an eight inch high
flood in our basement, forty feet long and the water was still pouring out.
In addition to the books that had been totally destroyed, about 100 rubbings had been standing,
rolled up, in a carton, on the floor waiting for mounting. Through capillary action, about three
inches of each was water-soaked. I brought them up the main floor and hung them, clothes-
fashion, to dry, with clothespins at the bottom to keep them from rolling up on themselves.
It's one thing to believe paper is archival. It's another thing to see it with your own eyes.
Not an inch of the Oldstone paper tore under the weight of the water — not a drop of wax
ran. The only defect to be found was the mark of the rusty water when the rubbings dried.
In some cases the marks could be cut away; in others they penetrated the images and made
the rubbings unmountable.
The next priority was to dry out the basement. Though we immediately removed about ten
cartons of books which had never made it up onto our library shelves, the puddles left standing
about, after pumping, were my biggest worry. All we needed was a little bit of mold to start,
and we could kiss the rest of our book inventory goodby. On my own, I had already started
throwing kitty litter on the puddles. As soon as a pile was water-soaked, I shoveled it out
and threw down some more. But I also received prompt and effective advice from Constance
Bachman, Paper Conservator at the Copper-Hewitt Museum. Immediately start the air circulating,
she told me, with fans. And start a dehumidifier too. We borrowed every fan we could, I purchased
an eight gallon dehumidifier the next morning, and left all the lights burning as well for four
weeks. For the next three weeks, we emptied the dehumidifier twice a day! But thanks to
her suggestions, and an incredible amount of backbreaking work, we saved everything.
Ms. Bachman also gave me another interesting suggestion. This helped to save some fine
art books that had fallen onto the floor in our excitement. She said we should wrap the books
in silver paper and freeze them until we could get around to separating the pages. So for
the next few weeks, Diego de Rivera was keeping company with my lamb chops until we
could get to him.
I have what is called commercial insurance. But I discovered to my rue that it does not cover
the business' property — only damage to the building itself.
So reluctantly, I filled out the claim against the City.
Well, this has now dragged on for so long that I have visited an attorney recommended by
the Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts. Fortunately for me, this honorable gentleman had a
subordinate who recognized what a rubbing was since he had one hanging in his living room.
The lawyer advises me that he is taking such a "small" claim (over $5,000) because the value
of the rubbings (as artistic property) has never been established at the bar. So those of us
who care about these wonderful lifesize copies of the art we admire will now have their value
established in court. More bulletins as they arrive.
Roberta Halporn runs the Center for Thanatology Research in Brooklyn NY.
AGSSp'87 p. 13
NEWS FROM THE MAINE OLD CEMETERY ASSOCIATION
SPECIAL RESOLVE The Maine Old Cemetery Association resolves, by unanimous vote of
its members assembled at its spring meeting in South Portland on May 17, 1986, to express
its appreciation and affection to Hilda M. Fife, its Founder and Corresponding Secretary, for
the many years of selfless endeavor that have made MOCA the successful and thriving
organization it is today.
It is further resolved that the name of Hilda M. Fife shall appear as Founder-President on
all documents and newsletters of the Association and that she shall remain as Honorary
Corresponding Secretary with a voting membership on the Board of Directors.
Cemetery listings for Series III are now being bound and microfilmed, adding probably 35
new books and five reels to our collection. The price of the new reels has not been established.
Katherine Trickey, indefatigable chairman of this project, wishes to thank everyone who worked
so hard to help her complete Series III. "To reach 7,000 pages required the efforts of many,
and couldn't have been accomplished without that kind of cooperation," she says gratefully.
When Series III is published, there will be more than 25,000 pages of cemetery inscriptions
available to the public. Kay points out that MOCA as an organization should take pride in
this accomplishment, and congratulates all who contributed listings, typed, and did other clerical
work to enable the preservation of this historical data.
It was pointed out at the annual meeting last fall that vandalism, industrial smokestack effluents,
acid rain, folk art collectors, and development are now taking their toll of one of our most
precious heritages and historical records, as if the obliteration caused by nature's unimpeded
encroachment weren't bad enough.
We were warned that senseless, deliberate cemetery damage, amounting to hundreds of
thousands of dollars — as much as $50,000 in each of two instances in the state last year
— is becoming increasingly frequent; erosion downwind of paper mills and other producers
of caustic chemical discharges is alarmingly more noticable; bulldozers push relentlessly into
the countryside, forerunners of suburban spread, both residential and commercial. Folk art
collectors or the dealers who cater to them, no longer content with just the gravestone rubbings
MOCA encourages, take either entire stones, as was done in South Portland last summer,
or break off only the decorative part, leaving the shattered remains.
Limited efforts to strengthen Maine's cemetery laws have been fruitless, although 33 other
states now provide stringent protection, it was noted. The Maine Cemetery Association (official
supervisors) is contemplating action during this session of the legislature.
from the MOCA Newsletter, V. XIX #1, Winter 1987
NEWS FROM THE HAMPSHIRE OLD GRAVEYARDS ASSOCIATION
Disappearing markers
Collectors covet historic gravestones
CONCORD, N.H. - Katherine Mclntire was two months
shy of her fifth birthday when she died on July 27. 1781.
She was buried in Portsmouth's North Cemetery. Her
gravestone marked the plot for two centuries, until It was stolen
last year.
Such thievery has become more common In New Hampshire
recently. Collectors covet the fine folk art carved in slate or
granite markers. Some use the long thin tablets for coffee
tables, and there are reports of posh antique shops selling tliem
for as much as $4,000. Pranksters add to the problem: so do
descendants who return to the region in search of family
"roots" and decide to swipe an ancestral tombstone as a
keepsake.
All of which led New Hampshire's Old Graveyards
Association to ask the state legislature for help this year. The
politicians responded, passing a bill to make it a crime to
disturb burial grounds or sell or possess gravestones.
Louise Tallman, who heads the association, says
gravestone-robbing in the state's 5.000 cemeteries "is a loss of
history." She cites the lesson contained in the epitaph of Mary
Ann Warner, who died in 1797. and whose tombstone was
stolen last year: "For you, a reader, every earthly bliss,
remember, closes in a scene like this."
- JOHN ALOYSIUS FARRELL
from the Boston Sunday Globe, April 26, 1987.
AGSSp'87 p. 14
NEWS FROM THE VERMONT OLD CEMETERY ASSOCIATION
Charlie Marchant, Secretary of VOCA, has been very influential in increasing both awareness
and membership in the Vermont OlcT Cemetery Association. Charlie has given numerous talks
and interviews about VOCA. Most recently he was responsible for an article about VOCA
in the New York Times, and also appeared on GOOD MORNING AMERICA. Charlie doesn't
just talk about VOCA. He is very interested and knowledgeable about many aspects of Vermont's
cemeteries. He writes: "I would like to plan a several day workshop staying at local Inns,
program to include restoration, genealogy, art, rubbings as possible subjects, history as well."
If you have any suggestions, contact Charlie at P.O. Box 132, Townsend, VT 05353.
Numerous requests have been received for burial places of ancestors. Unfortunately we do
not have extensive files of a geneological nature. VOCA seeks to locate all of Vermont's
cemeteries. We are trying to have maps done for every town in the state. It is our purpose
to restore the old and abandoned cemeteries and preserve this aspect of our history. Some
members, and non members have graciously furnished us with lists of burials in various
cemeteries. When we do have the information you seek we are very willing to forward it to
you. We are not computerized and the listings we do have are by towns. Therefore it is virtually
impossible to tell someone where in Vermont their ancestor is buried. We highly recommend
The Genealogical Society of Vermont. Members of that organization may submit queries and
are entitled to other benefits. For more information please contact Mrs. Fred Harvie, Treasurer,
P.O. Box 422, Pittsford, VT 05763.
from the Newsletter of the Vermont Old Cemetery Association, February 1987.
NEWS FROM THE WISCONSIN STATE OLD CEMETERY SOCIETY
The first annual conference of WSOCS will be held in Madison on Saturday 14 November
1987 in the main auditorium of the State Historical Society building on State St. The program
will consist of presentations on a variety of cemetery and gravestones related topics. Robert
Wright, a free lance photographer who has had several shows dealing with Victorian funerary
art, will discuss the 'rural' cemetery movement and the role of the Victorian cemetery. Phil
Kallas who has written and lectured extensively in the field will discuss symbolism found on
gravestones in Wisconsin. Jean Rentmeister, WSOCS past president and current Fond du
Lac County Co-ordinator who has authored several books on cemeteries will discuss locating
cemeteries, transcribing data, and publication of the efforts. Rick Dexter, Director of the Burial
Sites Preservation Program for the State Historical Society will discuss the implications and
ramifications of the burial sites act.
Last year the Wisconsin State Legislature overwhelmingly passed a new law (1985 Wisconsin
Act 316) that provides protection and property tax exemptions for all human burial sites. This
law was enacted because burial sites such as family plots, pioneer cemeteries, historic and
prehistoric Indian cemeteries have long been subject to inadvertant destruction as well as
deliberate acts of vandalism. Disturbances to burial sites can now result in fines from $500
to $5,000. Unfortunately, present funding for the burial sites program lasts only until the end
of this year, 30 June 1987. There is as yet no guarantee that the program will continue. Until
that time the staff is concentrating on creating an inventory of historic cemeteries and plotting
their locations on United States Geological Survey (USGS) topographic maps.
from Inscriptions, the Newsletter of the Wisconsin State Old Cemetery Society, Vol. 16 #3,
/Way 1987.
An article entitled "Green-Wood Cemetery and the Rural Cemetery Movement" is in a new
annual publication devoted to the eclectic world of the Victorian era. The article is by Marge
and Bill Ward, who led a tour of Green-Wood in Brooklyn, New York, at the A.G.S. conference
of 1985. This journal, entitled Hope and Glory can be obtained by sending six dollars to its
publisher, the Iowa Chapter, Victorian Society in America, 2940 Cottage Grove, Des Moines,
Iowa 50311.
information from George L Kackley, P.O. Box 4687, Baltimore, h/ld 21212
AGSSp'87 p. 15
REVIEWS
Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati Ohio. Photo by Robert
Wright.
AGS member Robert A. Wright, a freelance photographer in Madison Wl, has been concentrating
on the art and architecture contained in rural cemeteries. His paper "Poems in Stone: the
Tombs of Louis Henri Sullivan", presented at the 1986 AGS Conference, examined three tombs
designed by the "Father of American Architecture". He has done photo-essays on rural
cemeteries in MB News (the magazine of the Monument Builders of North America) and most
recently, in American Cemefery (January 1987) on Calvary Cemetery in Milwaukee. His exhibition
"Thus Speaks This Stone: American Cemeteries Photographed by Robert Wright" was shown
at the Madison Art Center, December 13, 1986 — February 1, 1987. The following review
by Paul Gerard was first printed in the Madison Isthmus, December 19, 1986:
Wright walks the line between the two functions of photography:
He is both artist and documentarist. For example, the 1 9th-century
architecture and sculpture that he presents is in itself worthy of
a museum's attention. The soaring gothic spires of Crown Hill
in Indianapolis, the classically pillared mausoleums, and the
Egyptian pyramid tombs with winged suns shining overhead
remind us that the rich and powerful in 19th-century America
wanted our country to be associated with the great civilizations.
Most of the work that Wright captures is not the product of masters:
In some ways he acts as a folklorist-archivist, chronicling the works
of anonymous artisans and designers, bringing them for the first
time into a museum, asking us to accept their richness.
Yet Wright's camera does more than just record. Like a conductor
interpreting a symphony, he recreates his subjects — romantic-
izing, highlighting the power and dark elegance of these neglected
monuments of time. A baroque facade seems to cascade like a
granite waterfall from one corner of the composition to another;
a gothic gate seems a force of darkness even though it stands
in the purest sunlight. Shots from St. Louis Cemetery in New
Orleans are marvelously complicated compositions, capturing the
yin and yang of color and texture. In one photo your eye dwells
for a while on crumbling stone walls and anonymous crypts, but
then is drawn to a brilliant white figure (atop a distant pedestal)
that seems to float above the scene. It's captured like the figures
on Keats' urn, imprisoned in eternal sorrow amid the decay.
Decay, in fact, seems to be one of Wright's favorite subjects. When
he focuses on the monuments' crumbling details, he gently mocks
the folly of our burials. In one shot the Getty tomb in Chicago
seems eternal, a living block of stone with roots that shoot straight
to the earth's core. But as Wright moves in closer, we see (in
almost microscopic detail) that the metal gate has felt the corrosion
of time. Even a Getty, you can hear Wright smirk, must go the
way of all things.
continued
AGSSp'87p. 16
CJ
'Jl
/A
h
The Victorian Gothic gatehouse and entrance arch to
Milwaukee's Calvary Cemetery, photograph by Robert A.
Wright, from The American Cemetery, January 1987.
By chronicling changes in cemetery design over a 60-year period in Paris, THE ARCHITECTURE
OF DEATH: The Transformation of the Cemetery in Eighteenth-Century Paris (IVIIT, $37.50)
explores the transformation of ideas about death. Richard A. Etiin, who teaches architectural
history at the University of Maryland's School of Architecture, discerns several stages in that
shift. The traditional Christian cemetery, centered around a parish church, reflected as late
as the 1740's the medieval obsession m\h physical decay and the promise of eternal life.
The Enlightenment's concern with public hygiene, its distaste for the morbidity expressed by
Christian iconography and its rejection of the parish cemetery's implied intimacy between the
living and the dead led to the closing of many urban cemeteries and the establishment of
others on the peripheries of cities. Flamboyant, late 18th-century designs brought the high-
Romantic concept of the sublime to cemeteries; they celebrated the achievements of great
men and the splendor of nature rather than the tenets of religion, while continuing to stress
the "terrible, grand, and somber" aspects of death. A gentler, more sentimental vision was
incorporated in the landscaped garden that embodied notions of death as a peaceful, eternal
rest and of cemeteries as pleasant, verdant places where families could visit their loved ones'
graves.
"The Architecture of Death" has splendid ground plans, maps and views of proposed and
actual cemeteries. One only wishes the text, comprehensive and intelligent though it is, had
some of the personality and vivid period flavor of the marvelous drawings.
from an old issue of the New Vorli Times Bool( Review, by Wendy Smith. There is a detailed
review of The Architecture of Death by John Dixon Hunt in the Journal of the Society of
Architectural Historians, V. XLIVHI, March 1985.
Correction!
Warren Roberts, Folklore Institute, Indiana University, Bloomington IN notes that in the Glass
Tombstones item in the last issue, (AGS Newsletter V. 11 #1, Winter 1986/87, p. 5) the date
of publication of the first note should have read 7896 rather than 1986, a mistake he made
in sending in the item. "Transposing digits in dates is a particularly heinous crime to be commited
by a student of gravestones, and I can only apologize and try to mend my ways."
Elizabeth Bowman of Toms River NJ spotted an error in the Fall issue, 1986, p. 13 of the
Newsletter. The Keene referred to in the article on Edwin Dethlefsen is in New Hampshire,
not Vermont!
AGSSp'87p. 17
That elegant periodical, FMR, has twice put grave markers on its covers. Two out of twenty-
five covers says something for gravestone studies. Its issue number 6 had a Duval-Rigby
photograph of the tympanum of a 1733 marker by Robert Milican that is in Bradford
Massachusetts. Its issue number 25 (for March/ April 1987) has a sculptured portrait carved
before the inscribed face of a stele (or upright slab marker) from the necopolis of Palmyra,
an oasis in the Syrian desert.
This issue has gorgeously illustrated and informative articles about Palmyra, which was an
important metropolis for caravan routes connecting India and China with the Roman Empire
from the first century B.C. until it was sacked by the Roman emperor in A.D. 273.
These articles include a double-page photograph of Palmyra's necropolis as it is today. We
see there both underground chambers (hypogea) and funerary towers. A full-page photograph
shows one of those towers, built by and for a family. It has five floors and contains "dozens"
of cells (loculi), each for one body. Another double-page photograph shows the interior of
one of the hypogea, this one of A.D. 108, with rows of portrait busts, each carved in front
of the limestone block that closes its loculus. There are several full-page and double-page
photographs of such busts, which also appeared on upright slabs (steloi) for single burials
within this necropolis. Those shown are now in museums and in private collections. They
are remarkably handsome and fascinating.
We can recognize America's rural cemeteries in this necropolis. It, too, was built for a metropolis,
outside the city. It, too, emphasized families. It, too, has underground chambers and above-
ground mausolea. It is a fair guess that the necropolis for this oasis also had its garden aspects.
If wealthy families of nineteenth-century America had had these photographs, they would surely
have revived the handsome funerary towers of the Palmyra necropolis.
contributed by George Kackley, Baltimore MD
PORTRAIT MEDALLIONS
Warren Roberts of the Folklore Institute, Indiana University writes that he has often been asked
about the "portrait medallions" which appear on gravestones in many cemeteries in the United
States and Europe. He has never been able to give any information about them except to
say that in most cemeteries, there appear to be ethnic preferences. In one cemetery ethnic
group "A" seems to have used them in substantial numbers while in another cemetery, ethnic
group "B" has used them. In the Septembr, 1901 issue of the trade journal. Monumental News,
is an advertisement showing a gravestone with one of these "permanent" portraits displayed
prominently. The text of the ad is as follows: "Photographic Porcelain Panels. Everlasting
Photographs. Portrait Medallions on Porcelain for Monumental Purposes (Patented April 20,
1897). Joseph F. Fritsch, Inventor and Manufacturer, 177 Jefferson Ave., Maspeth, Borough
of Queens, New York." At least now it is possible to say who invented the process and when.
Robert F. Wehman from Philadelphia PA wrote on Feb. 14 that he had just returned from
a 4-day trip to Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia. He writes:
"This is, as you know, the Rockefeller Foundation restoration of the early 18th century center
of colonial government in Virginia where such personalities as Thomas Jefferson, George
Washington, and Patrick Henry held forth in the House of Burgesses (the Colonial legislature).
"One of the most interesting and original structures in the restored area is the Bruton Parish
Church. It is still an active Episcopalian house of worship. It is surrounded by a beautiful
brick wall. Within the enclosure, the church yard is the ancient graveyard which is maintained
in beautiful condition. The gravestones are not erect but are laid horizontally on sarcophagus
type burials (seemingly above ground burials.) These gravestones are either of slate or what
appears to be white marble. There are few decorative details but the engraving is clear in
most cases and in memory of two-three members of one family. One interesting feature is
that in a number of cases the carver's name and address, i.e., Norfolk, Newport News, etc.
is entered clearly at the bottom of the stone.
"I don't recall seeing any mention of this graveyard in any of your publications. Perhaps one
of your active members might find this an interesting project to undertake.
"During my wanderings there, I met a gentleman from England. He told me that he was a
member of the Bruton Parish Church in Great Britain. He reported that in his church there
is a plaque which states that this is the Mother Church of the Bruton Parish Church in
Williamsburg VA. For that reason, he made it a point to visit this church during his stay in
America."
AGSSp'87p. 18
PRESERVATION NEWS
The future looks bright for Rose Hill Cemetery in Matawan NY, where a citizens group is
organizing a renovation project. "A walk through Rose Hill is like stepping back into the 19th
century," said Carolyn B. Hueser of Matawan. She is a member of a volunteer group formed
last spring with the goal of restoring the 15-acre cemetery on Ravine Road that probably
was a private burial ground about 50 years before its incorporation in 1857. Old arrowheads
found there indicate it may have been an Indian campground before that, she said.
Like most old burial grounds. Rose Hill has been the target of vandals over the years, a problem
Mrs. Huesser said the cleanup should deter. The worst incident was a mausoleum desecration
that made headlines in 1979, when coffins were pried open and skeletal remains were stolen
or mutilated. After the incident, the iron gate to the mausoleum was padlocked to prevent
further intrusions, and the Borough Council considered taking over responsibility for the
cemetery, but never did.
The new group is actually a revival of the "Friends of Rose Hill Cemetery" that was incorporated
in 1970 for a similar renovation project. So far they have about 10 members. One, Sue Miller,
has all of Rose Hill's existing records, a job she inherited from her mother.
The situation is far more complicated for volunteers interested in preserving what remains
of the Old Topanemus Burial Ground in Marlboro Township NJ, which dates back to 1693
and is owned by St. Peter's Episcopal Church, Freehold. After years of destruction by vandals
and grave diggers, the members of the church congregation and the Battleground Historical
Society moved about 70 grave markers in 1977 or 1978 to the church for safekeeping until
the day the grounds could be restored, but efforts by the Battleground Historical Society to
get it registered as an historical landmark have been unsuccessful. The old tombstones are
still at St. Peter's, and the chances for returning them appear even more remote today than
they were more than 10 years ago. "It's almost impossible to find now," says Edgar 1. Van
Derveer, a member of St. Peter's who is concerned about the future of Topanemus and the
church's role in it, "and the old right-of-way is now owned by the township and is completely
overgrown. There is no direct access. The only way to get into the cemetery now is to walk
through the yards of the model homes," he says. Another problem is with new residents dumping
trash and grass clippings at the site. The church offered to donate it to the township to be
maintained as an historical cemetery, but there has been no reply. Ideally, those interested
in the cemetery would like to see it restored, segregated from the development and marked
historically.
from the Asbury Park NJ Community Press, September 17,1 986, sent by Robert Van Benthuysen,
West Long Branch NJ.
ROCK ART CONSERVATION SEMINAR
Rock art, dating from prehistoric to contemporary times, is documented in over 100 countries
in all regions of the world, with the number of known sites increasing dramatically each year.
The painted or engraved images, whether found in rock shelters or in deep caves, are subject
to the deteriorating effects of environmental factors and human presence.
Rock art sites present geological, hydrological, geomorphological, biological, and environmental
problems that require the cooperation of specialists in each of these areas. At this time there
are only a few specialists in rock art conservation, many of whom are technicians from the
field of chemistry. Though somewhat similar to wall paintings conservation in approach, rock
art sites suffer from prolonged exposure to the elements and the images are not removable
from their supports.
In cooperation with the Conselleria de Cultura, d'Educaio i Ciencia, Generalitat Valenciana,
the GCI is organizing a seminar on rock art conservation. The seminar will be held in Valltorta,
Castellon, Spain from April 27 to May 10, 1987, and will include the examination and
documentation of sites, causes of deterioration, conservation, protective measures, and site
interpretation. Further information, contact Marta de la Torre, Training Program Director, the
Getty Conservation Institute, 4503-B Glencoe Ave., Marina Del Rey CA, 90292-6537.
In March of 1987 vandals knocked over about 40 tombstones in the Greengrove Cemetery,
Keyport NJ. This is the second incident of vandalism at Greengrove in recent months. In
November, 16 headstones were toppled. The cemetery, which borders Keyport High School's
athletic field, is used by students as a shortcut to the field. About 70 volunteer fire-fighters
reset the stones. "We have an ongoing problem with vandalism," said a policeman. "If the
family doesn't attend to the grave, an incident of vandalism may go unreported forever. Few
of these cemeteries have full-time caretakers."
from the Ashbury Park (NJ) Press, March 13 & 14, and the Shrewsbury Register, March 15,
1987, sent by Robert Van Benthuysen, West Long Branch NJ.
AGSSp'87p. 19
THE CRYPT AT CENTER CHURCH
31 1 Temple Street, New Haven, CT 0651 1
Below the walls of New Haven's historic Center Church on-the-Green, there exists a fascinating
monument of the past. When the present church building was designed in 1812, the plans
called for the new meeting house to intrude upon part of New Haven's earliest burial ground.
Some people felt it would be wrong to destroy any part of the cemetery, since the tombstones
were a physical reminder of the city's past and of those who shaped that past Consequently,
the builders decided to construct the church over top of the graves. Today, their work remains
as an historic and architectural gem. The earliest dated stone is from 1687, the last one is
1812.
Care was taken not to destroy the stones as the foundation trenches were being dug and
the adjoining ground was being raised. Thus the graves of our forbears were saved for the
viewing of future generations. Today, visitors to the crypt can still see the tombstones, including
those of prominent New England leaders, standing just as they did as long as three hundred
years ago. Carvings on the stones are remarkably well-preserved because they were protected
by the building from erosion all these years.
But time is taking its toll. Though preserved from the elements of wind, rain, and snow, the
stones and foundation walls have been vulnerable to ground water seepage. This water has
caused serious damage to the crypt. Presently, efforts are being made by a crypt preservation
committee to raise the funds necessary to prevent further deterioration and to renovate the
crypt area.
For 150 years, the old Skinner Cemetery has been a place of repose for pioneers who lived
and died in Denton County, Texas when America was a young nation. Now the peaceful,
tree-shaded spot, just off U.S. Highway 377 in Pilot Point, has become a battleground for
the Denton County Historical Commission and members of a church who are clearing away
the accumulated undergrowth.
The problems began when the Fellowship of Believers Church used a bulldozer for clearing.
Some of the trees were toppled, and the tombstones were pushed into piles. The Historical
Commission filed a complaint with the Sherriff's Department, accusing the church of a
misdemeanor offense of desecration of a venerated object. The church claims that the cemetery
has not been cleaned out since the 1930s. "It was so thick with vines, thorns and poison
ivy that you couldn't go 10 feet into it. You couldn't even see any markers," says Jimmy Viers,
pastor of the church. "The desecration has come over the last 50 years when nobody cared
a hoot about the cemetery."
from the Dallas Morning News, March 22, 1987, sent by Margaret Jenks, Richardson TX.
AGS Sp'87 p. 20
WHO'S DOING WHAT FOR THE 1987 CONFERENCE
7987 Conference co-chairs:
Geraldine Hungerford
Hilldale Rd.
Bethany CT
06525
Cornelia Jenness
Chandler Rd.
Spofford NH
03462
Registrar:
Newland Smith
Hosmer Rd.
Heath MA
01346
Program Chair:
Kevin Sweeney
Historic Deerfield Inc.
Deerfield MA
01342
Hospitality Chair:
Pat Miller
P.O. Box 1151
Sharon CT
06069
Publicity:
Marleen Von Goeler
88 Lindbergh Ave.
Needham MA
02194
Exhibits Chair:
Fred Fredette
P.O. Box 37
Scotland CT
06264
Continuing Conference Advisor:
Rosalee Oakley
Continuing Conference Program Advisor:
Dr. James Slater
0)
*:; z
JZ
I/) *^
4-*
3
.
>-
(U Z
CO
n
> LU
CM
TO v^
T3
■^UJ
r~-
<U
CO LU
fN
I.
o
S 3:
to
en
U3
(N
c
o
a
in
— Q
<
5
in
1
o
I/)
I-'
u
(LI LU
LO
LU
•5^
q:
Z
3
ro
a:
o
LU
X
—t
<
c
>
ro
■D
c
(1)
ro
u
u.
(/)
z
<
z
12
1-
c
c
(U
.- a;
<
-J
a.
UJ
u
Di
LU
a.
c
0) ro
s I
CO
CO
CI
o
z
UJ
UJ
S
0)
I.
u.
<
z
-o
s ^
3
o
UJ
<
z
o
o
LU
J3
c
o
!E
2
1-
(/)
>
<
CO
CJ
»
"to
+->
Di
ct
z
5
i--
+-•
LL
UJ
>
LJJ
tl i-
3
a:
<L)
.2J (0
CL
1-
CO
z
LU
u.
z
•
z
<
o
o
c
c
o c
Ol
CO
CT)
t^
o
CO
u
^ •—
CO
en
gc
^—
UJ
T—
(U
I
£
^ ro
^
1-
(/)
*->
S-
t^
o
_ro \j_
r—
<
i.
'E
LU
1-
ro
ro ••
> -^
_ <u
>, ifl
in
1.0
+-1
C c
LU
X
C 0)
z
(U
(U 0)
Z2
z
Q- JD
—t
Kevin Sweeney is co-ordinating the Saturday feac/jers' Workshop.
Laurel Gabel is co-ordinating the Saturday Genea/ogy Workshop.
Kevin Sweeney and Bill Hosley will be the tour guides for the Friday tours]
ifeVf
Daniel and Jessie Lie Farber, with one of tlieir pliotograplis
of an eigtiteentfi century Connecticut Valley gravestone.
AGS Sp'87 p. 21
U31131SM3N
a I V d
3ovisod "S n
6091-0 "ssey^ 'ja^saojo/w
'A^apos ueuenb!)uv ueouaiuvo/o
'sajpnis 9UO)saAeiO JO^ uoj^epossv
Near the middle of Chicago's Hebrew Cemetery stands a towering monument to Isaac L Waixel,
beloved husband of Caroline, born Sept. 21, 1830, died Oct. 2, 1892. Some time ago the gray
stone marker was desecrated with a swastika.
The sole mausoleum was broken into and the remains of the woman entombed there since
1928 strewn outside. Swastikas were painted on the stone structure. There was also evidence,
say those associated with the cemetery, that voodoo was practiced inside the tomb.
But in the fall of 1985, things began turning around. Hans Spear, a 68-year-old retired Lake
View resident and German emigre, organized what would turn out to be the first of several
volunteer clean-ups. Howard Eiseman, President of the Hebrew Benevolent Society is also
responsible for the turnaround.
Today, where the Nazi emblem had been inked on in quick slashes, there is nothing.
Also removed from the cemetery were truckloads of beer cans, wine and liquor bottles, dead
tree limbs, snack-food wrappers, underbrush, rags, chicken bones, weeds, vines, pieces of
plastic and chunks of stone — the accumulation of years of neglect and malice.
As a sign wired to the newly painted chain-link fence along the cemetery's North Clark Street
face proclaims, a renovation is in progress at the 136-year-old Hebrew Cemetery, the oldest
Jewish graveyard in Chicago.
This spring, Eiseman and Spear hope to hire professionals-to re-erect the heavy, fallen stones
and to remove as many as 150 dead trees that threaten both the markers and any cemetery
visitors. Spear estimates the work will cost another $10,000.
The Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois has also donated its efforts to preserve the cemetery.
Volunteers have jotted down the inscriptions on every headstone still legible. Society President
Judy Frazin said the staff is now figuring out how to catalog the information in a computer.
Today, the cemetery's original wrought-iron gate has been sandblasted and repainted. Flowers
and wreaths grace a few of the graves, and others, obscured by the unchecked growth of
plants, are now visible for the first time in more than a decade.
from the Chicago Tribune, January 9, 1987, sent by Jim Jewell, Peru IL
The AGS Newsletter is published quarterly as a service to members of The Association for Gravestone Studies.
The membership year begins on the date dues are received and ends one year from that date. A one-year membership
entitles the members to four issues of the Newsletter and to participation in the AGS conference in the year
membership is current. Send membership fees (individual/institutional, $15; Family $25; contributing, $25) to AGS
Executive Director Rosalee Oakley, 46 Plymouth Rd., Needham, fviA 02192. Back issues of the Newsletter are
available for $3.00 per issue from Rosalee Oakley. The goal of the Newsletter is to present timely information
about projects, literature, and research concerning gravestones, and about the activities of the Association for
Gravestone Studies. It is produced by Deborah Trask, who welcomes suggestions and short contributions from
readers. The Newsletter Is not intended to serve as a journal. Journal articles should be sent to Theodore Chase,
editor of Markers, the Jourr}al of The Association for Gravestone Studies, 74 Farm St., Dover, MA 02030. Address
Newsletter contributions to Deborah Trask, editor, The Nova Scotia l^useum, 1747 Summer St., Halifax, Nova Scotia,
B3H 3A6, Canada. Order Markers, the Journal of the Association for Gravestone Studies (Vol. 1, $20; Vol. 2, $15,
hardcover $25; Vol. 3, $14. hardcover $23; Vol. 4, $14.75, hardcover $23; higher prices for non-members) from
Rosalee Oakley. Send contributions to the AGS Archives to Elizabeth Rich, Archivist, 43 Rybury Hillway, Needham,
l\/IA 02192. Address other correspondence and orders to Rosalee Oakley. Mail addressed to AGS c/o The American
Antiquarian Society. Worcester, MA 01609, or to Rosalee Oakley, will be forwarded to the appropriate AGS office.
NEWSLETTER
OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES
DEBORAH TRASK, ED
VOLUME 11 NUMBER 3 SUMMER 1987
ISSN: 0146-5783
CONTENTS
Notes on Fraternal Symbols 1
by Laurel Gabel
1987 AGS ANNUAL MEETING, JUNE 28, 1987 4
PRESENTATION OF THE FORBES AWARD, 1987 5
REPORT FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR 8
A BRIEF HISTORY OF AGS 12
AGS BOARD OF TRUSTEES 14
ARCHIVAL ADDITIONS 15
"Safely Home" 15
by James Jewell
PRESERVATION NOTES 16
Ceramic Gravestone 17
by Jerry C. Oldshue
MEMBER NEWS 18
NEWS FROM OLD CEMETERY SOCIETIES 20
NOTES ON FRATERNAL SYMBOLS
by Laurel Gabel
AGS member Douglas Walker, of Aiken, South Carolina, sent a rubbing of the following
gravestone emblem for identification.
Fig. 1. Henry Salm, 1840, Augusta GA
Although the sun's rays, clasped hands and five-pointed star are symbols shared by several
other fraternal organizations, this particular emblem from an 1840 stone in Augusta, Georgia,
represents the Mark Master degree in the Royal Arch Chapter of York Rite Masons. The circle
v\/ithin a circle frames the letters: HTWSSTKS, an acronym for Hiram The Widow's
Son Sent To King Solomon, part of the mythology central to this degree.
continued
Lt Jonas Farnsworth's 1805 stone in Groton, Massachusetts (fig. 2) also bears a similar masonic
device in the keystone of the arch.
Fig. 2. Lt. Jonas Farnsworth, 1805, Groton MA
Other commonly used masonic symbols that can be seen on the Farnsworth stone and on
Dr. Philip Kast's marker (fig. 3) in East Derry, New Hampshire, include:
arch — symbol of the arch of heaven and of Royal Arch Masonry
beehive — industry, productiveness
book — the Bible, knowledge of God's word
candle — three candles represent the three Lesser Lights of the Lodge, symbolizing the sun,
moon and Worshipful Master of the Lodge
coffin — symbolic of death; with a sprig of acacia, symbolic of eternal life, immortality
columns — two columns represent the two pillars of King Solomon's temple. Often the pillars
are marked with a "J" for Jachin, representing stability, and "B" for Boaz, strength.
hourglass — symbolic of human life
key — symbolizes silence and secrecy
level — symbol of equality
plumb rule — uprightness, truth
shoe — associated with the first masonic degree and symbolic of consecration and assumption
of obligations
space — symbolizes Divine Truth discovered through human efforts and death
square and compass — reason and faith
stars — seven stars symbolize the number needed to make a perfect lodge. The five-pointed
star is symbolic of the five points to fellowship. The six-pointed star of a double triangle is
called "Solomon's Seal".
steps — represent advancement in masonic knowledge and the three steps of life: youth
(apprentice), manhood (fellow craft) and age (master mason).
trowel — the symbolic tool that spreads the cement which unites masons in brotherly love,
fraternity.
continued
AGS Su'87 p. 2
^ ?
x.:y
Fig. 3. Dr. Philip Kast, c. 1760, East Derry NH
For a better understanding of freemasonry and masonic symbolism, see:
Henry Wilson Coil, Coil's Masonic Encyclopedia, New York, McCoy Publishing Co., 1961.
Masonic Symbols in American Decorative Art, the exhibition catalogue of Scottish Rite Masonic
Museum of Our National Heritage, Lexington MA, 1986.
Lynn Dumenil, Freemasonry and American Culture, 1880-1930, Princeton NJ, Princeton
University Press, 1984.
Laurel Gabel, a member of the Board of Trustees of AGS, runs the AGS Research Clearinghouse.
WANTED!
Slides, photographs, rubbings or sketches of fraternal emblems found on gravemarkers.
Did your father/ mother, grandfather or great uncle belong to a secret society or one of the
fraternal benefit organizations so popular in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries?
A substantial percentage of the population did belong to at least one such brotherhood. Most
of these organizations provided life insurance or sickness and burial benefits to their members.
The symbolic insignia and emblems associated with membership in the Odd Fellows, Order
of Sons of Hermann, Sons of Temperance, Knights of Labor, Improved Order of Red Men
or Pythian Sisters, for example, are often displayed on gravestones.
I am compiling a catalogue of these fraternal emblems from across the U.S. Of particular
interest are examples of the less common, now defunct groups, and of the regional and ethnic
society insignia. If you find paternal emblems or other unknown symbolism on gravestones
in your area, please let me know. Thank you. Laurel Gabel, 205 Fishers Road, Pittsford, NY 1 4534.
AGS Su'87 p. 3
ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES
ANNUAL MEETING, JUNE 28, 1987
President Daniel Farber called the meeting to order at 1 0:37 AM, in the Merrill Center of Amherst
College, Amherst, Massachusetts.
The report of the Nominating Committee was read by Daniel Farber. Nominated for President
was William Hosley, for Vice-President Robert Drinkwater. Jonathan Twiss, Laurel Gabel and
Jessie Lie Farber were nominated as Trustees. A motion to approve the slate of candidates
was made and seconded, and passed unanimously. 106 proxy ballots were also cast in favor
of the motion.
Treasurer Jo Goeselt passed out copies of the Treasurer's Report.
Executive Director Rosalee Oakley reported on several changes relating to AGS' growth as
an international organization. New computer equipment has been added, courtesy of Fred
Oakley. An administrative assistant has been hired to help cope with the increased number
of inquiries brought about by larger mailings, and publicity in national magazines and
metropolitan newspapers.
Rosalee Oakley reported that each year we have gained about 100 members; we now have
about 810. Pat Milter was recognized and thanked for having brought in more new members
that any other individual, through her Connecticut gravestone group. Rosalee reported on
a survey, asking why members had not renewed. This year we will publish the names of
new members, and ask old members to welcome them.
The Executive Director reported that she has taken on some new jobs this year: she has
served as Conference Continuity Advisor, and as Assistant Treasurer. She also reported that
we have a new slide/tape program (gift of Laurel Gabel), and Barbara Rotundo is preparing
a program on Victorian cemeteries. These two programs will be available for rental by groups.
George Kackley has been working on a Newsletter Index, which will be an ongoing project.
Rosalee Oakley thanked Daniel Farber and the Board for their support and encouragement.
President Farber congratulated Rosalee Oakley on her able and constructive work. He also
thanked all those who had worked to make the conference a success, including Neal Jenness,
Geraldine Hungerford, Kevin Sweeney, Pat Miller, Newland Smith, Historic Deerfield, and Amherst
College. Dan Farber said that there is much progress to report. We have added teachers
and genealogists to our group, through workshops, and we should consider adding
archaeologists and anthropologists as well.
AGS has added two new positions: Rosalee Oakley serves as Conference Continuity Advisor,
and James Slater as Conference Program Advisor. We have also added an administrative
assistant to relieve the Executive Director of routine work. The Fund Drive raised $5,000. We
made considerable profit on last year's conference, and have more members than in previous
years, all of which have improved our financial position considerably.
President Farber also reported that we have tried to work hard toward having regional groups,
to serve local needs. This is difficult to do, we worked on it, and it is certainly worth pursuing.
He also reported that Lynette Strangstad's Graveyard Conservation Primer is about to be
published, and will meet a very urgent need. He thanked Lyn for h^r hard work, and there
was a round of applause. He added that we have now had an Executive Secretary, then
an Executive Director, for three years, and it is due to this that our membership has increased
so much.
Dan Farber then transferred his office to newly-elected President William Hosley. Bill Hosley
noted that in fifteen years he has not seen a subject which has galvanized public attention
as have old gravestones. AGS has grown a lot in ten years, and he looks forward to more
growth and more activity. Bill Hosley hopes that the Board will address preservation and other
issues, and looks forward to his term of office.
The meeting was adjourned at 1 1 :1 2 AM.
Respectfully submitted,
Lance Mayer, Secretary
AGS Su'87 p. 4
Presentation of
THE HARRIETTE MERRIFIELD FORBES AWARD
to
PAMELA GOVER AND FREDERICK BURGESS
by
Daniel Farber, President
\j^ \
Charles Cook, 1767, Warbleron, W. Sussex, England,
photo by Frederick W. Burgess
Frederick Burgess graduated from England's Royal College of Art in 1933. After a period of
teaching art in several British schools, he took an appointment, in 1942, as Lecturer in Design
and the History of Art and Architecture at the Reigate School of Art, where he remained until
his untimely death, in 1966, at age fifty-five. In these years he devoted time to painting and
to industrial design. His paintings have been exhibited in London galleries, his murals decorate
the interiors of British institutions, and he made designs for wrought iron and glass.
Early in his professional career Frederick Burgess became interested in the subject of sepulchral
and commemorative art, and in thirties he began his research in this area of art.
in 1952, Frederick Burgess married Pamela Gover, who became his research collaborator
and team mate in preparing a formidable collection of data, published works, lectures and
exhibitions of English churchyard art. Over the years of their partnership they amassed a
tremendous amount of information on churchyard art, including over 8000 drawings and rubbings
and 2000 photographs.
The epoch-making book, English Churchyard Memorials was published in 1963. This detailed,
profusely illustrated book, beautifully written in a simple and lucid prose style, is the most
complete survey of English Post-Reformation memorials yet published. In keeping with the
tenor of the time, the book was published in Frederick's name, although in fact Pamela was
deeply involved with all aspects of its development as she was with all of their projects. She
made all the transparencies used in their many lectures and articles. Together in the 1950s
they launched a campaign to educate the public to the serious loss to the Country caused
by its practice of "clearing" churchyards — that is, ploughing them under for reuse and discarding
the stones. Mrs. Burgess's first publication in her name was titled "Legalized Vandalism in
Churchyards." Following Frederick's death, Pamela Burgess continued their work, taking over
their lecture and exhibition commitments under her married name.
According to Mrs. Burgess, the work to conserve churchyard memorials in England is partly
won now that the Department of the Government has assumed responsibility for the protection
of pre-1750 stones. There is, however, still much to be done, and she is active in the efforts
of interested churches and communities to save their gravestones, serving without pay as
adviser and consultant.
It is my pleasure to present to Pamela Gover and Frederick Burgess the Harriette Merrifield
Forbes Award for Outstanding Contributions to Gravestone Studies.
AGS Su'87 p. 5
PAMELA BURGESS' RESPONSE
Dear friends, fellow lovers of the stone cutter's art. You do me and the memory of Frederick
Burgess great honor, and I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.
No one here could possibly have known how appropriate this honor is, so I will tell you something
about Frederick and his lone crusade to bring to recognition the art of the gravestone cutter
in our Country.
Frederick was born in Kettering, Northamptonshire, in 1 911 . There he attended the local grammar
school. His English Master, Edmund Kirby, was later to become, through Frederick, a gravestone
enthusiast. It was he who composed the inscription for Frederick's own gravestone, and now,
at the age of 97, Mr. Kirby has asked me to say that he wishes you all every success with
your gravestone ventures.
In 1926, when Frederick was 15, he moved with his parents to Woodbridge in Suffolk. He
had won a scholarship to the Ipswich School of Art, which he was to take up the following
year. He spent his free year traveling about Suffolk County on his bicycle sketching landscapes,
buildings, churches and churchyards, and in the churchyards he saw how varied the gravestones
were and how beautiful, and so he started to draw these, too. He became almost obsessed
by their infinite variety and was to spend his future vacations visiting more and more churchyards.
In 1931, he won a scholarship to the Royal College of Art in London, from which, in turn,
he won the Travelling Scholarship in Design, which took him to various schools of art in
Europe. But it was during his vacations, whilst he was at the Royal College that he first found
gravestones that were signed by their makers, and in trying to find out what if anything had
been written about these artists in stone he came across a copy of Harriette Merrifield Forbes'
book, Gravestones of Early New England and the Men who Made Them. Here was inspiration
indeed, and from then on Frederick set out to do for the English Gravestone Carver what
Harriette Merrifield Forbes had done for the New England Gravestone Carver.
As a post-graduate art student, Frederick had little money, but he had his bicycle, sketch
book and primitive rubbing equipment of grease-proof paper and heel ball, plus a sleeping
bag that his mother had made for him out of a couple of old blankets. In all his spare moments
he traveled, going further afield, gathering more material, spending his nights in his sleeping
bag under a hedge or in the corner of a churchyard. ((During the War years he was picked
up several times as appearing to act suspiciously.) Frederick was to acquire his first camera,
a plate camera, after the War.
In 1 952 when I met and married Frederick, he was staging an exhibition in London on Churchyard
Art, sponsored by the Arts Council. His book on Gravestone Cutters had been accepted for
publication, but the publishers closed down, and this book was never published. We spent
our honeymoon on bicycles recording gravestones in the Midlands — Frederick's mother had
enlarged the sleeping bag and Frederick had borrowed a small tent. It was not the most
comfortable of introductions to gravestone art, but I, too, was hooked!
Even before our marriage, Frederick had told me about Harriette Merrifield Forbes and her
book. I am under the impression that he was not aware that she was still alive; otherwise
I'm sure he would have written to her — or did he write and the letter not reach her? We
will never know. She was to play a large part in our lives. We both wanted to visit New England
and see for ourselves the stones she had written about. Every year Frederick applied for
grants for this purpose, but without success. We planned other ways. Could we work our
passage across? Could we hire bicycles? Would we be able to camp? We didn't know, and
we always hoped for a grant. We thought we had plenty of time. . .
Frederick always referred to Harriette Merrifield Forbes as "that most remarkable woman."
So I thank you all for bringing their names together so appropriately today. Thank you.
AGS Su'87 p. 6
The first time I ever saw Frederick "he was sitting at a table writing busily and surrounded
by books, and that is how he is remembered, always working, always with a pencil in his
hand making copious notes from reference books; outlining ideas for articles; making working
drawings for paintings; sketching and writing poetry.
In 1951 he wrote a book length poem called "The Worm and the Phoenix" and from it I
chose the following lines to be inscribed on his headstone. In the end I did not use them
as my final design was one of simplicity rather than verbosity.
All I would offer if I could,
Are these, the gleanings of one life.
Record of Death, and those who wrought his stones:
Some callow lines of youth-green love;
A hundred paintings given thus to dust.
Annals of Spring and Autumn unexpressed
Locked up within the breast.
The King brings gold; the Shepherd gives his lamb:
But I, the Poet, leave a tattered quire
Which tells of Nothing, but of what I am.
To many Frederick appeared to be a very serious person, but he also had a great sense
of fun which I feel 'Brackets' beautifully illustrates.
Frederick was asthmatic, and died during an attack. He left, appropriately, an unfinished sentence
in the last of his notebooks.
by F. Burgess
AGS Su'87 p. 7
1988 TENTH ANNIVERSARY COMMEMORATIVE CALENDAR
At our Tenth Anniversary Conference, the 7988 Tenth Anniversary Commemorative Calendar
went on sale. The set of 13 black and white Farber photographs of specially selected New
England gravestones, all suitable for framing along with the full page write-in calendar for
the year 1988 is a memento each of you will want to keep. A stone was chosen from the
location of each of our Annual Conferences. Carvers John Bull, Josiah Manning, Samuel Dwight,
William Young, Gershom Bartlet, Jonathan Osborn, "The Boston Stonecutter," Nathaniel Phelps,
and the Mulicken family of carvers are all represented. Also included are the AGS logo stone
and a stone typical of the hearts-and-flowers motif often seen on Pennsylvania German stones,
representing our coming conference in Lancaster PA, June 16-19, 1988. In the back are
comments about each of the stones along with an historical note about each of our conferences
written by Jessie Lie Farber. As you look toward Christmas, send for copies for friends who
would enjoy owning a set of these photographs, as well as one for yourself. Pages are 8V'2"
X 11"." Price $10. Order early from AGS, Rosalee Oakley Executive Director, 46 Plymouth
Road, Needham, MA 02192.
REPORT FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Our membership has now reached 800 with members in 46 states including Alaska and Hawaii
as well as in Canada, England, Scotland, West Germany, Italy, Japan, and Guam. We have
added to our mailing list several thousand names of individuals and groups which are quite
closely targeted to people we know to be interested in preservation, and possibly interested
in the preservation of gravestones. We are always eager to add people to our mailing list
who will receive information about our publications and annual conference. If you have access
to any mailing lists of groups you think would be interested in hearing about the work of
AGS and might join, please write or send them to the AGS office.
Many of you have also helped our membership development efforts this past year by writing
for a bunch of our brochures when you attend conferences and meetings where they may
be displayed, or by giving them out when you present a program to an interested group.
Thank you for helping us spread the word about AGS. More brochures are available from
the office for anyone willing to distribute them. Please indicate about how many would be
appropriate to send.
This past year a Member Survey went to every new and renewing member. Two hundred
of them have been returned with a wealth of information about the work individuals and groups
in our membership are doing in the field of gravestone studies. They are invaluable to our
Markers Editor, our Research Clearing House Coordinator, and as a resource for people looking
for speakers or specialized information. Thank you to those of you who have returned them.
To those who did not return them and would like to fill out a form now, or if you wish to
update the previous report, please write to the AGS office for another form.
In April we took a survey of the people who had not renewed their membership with AGS
over the past two years. One of the things we discovered was that sometimes our members
tend to feel they are the only ones in their area interested in gravestones and are not aware
there are other AGS members nearby. So we are beginning in this Newsletter to publish a
list of the most recent new members, and ask that you look down the list to find those in
your area and send them a note to welcome them to AGS. Perhaps share some of your
experiences and interests in gravestone studies. Let them know they are not alone in this
unusual field. If you are one who would like a companion when visiting graveyards, this may
be a way to find one!
We are beginning to put together a rental library of slide-audio tape presentations suitable
for 45 minute programs for small groups (historical and genealogical societies, for example).
Individuals seeking to learn about specific areas or time periods may also rent them for personal
study. The first in the series is Laurel Gabel's "Early New England Gravestones and the Stories
They Tell." Barbara Rotundo is working on a similar program on Nineteenth Century Rural
or Garden Cemeteries. If you have any suggestions for additional programs in the series, please
write the AGS office.
Good progress is being made on the AGS Newsletter Index. It's editor, George Kackley, is
quietly working to produce an index that will bring its users the greatest volume of information
on gravestone carvers, scholars, publications, and markers that has yet been published in
one document. Typing is well underway, but it is an enormous project, and is taking us a
long time. However, the end-product will be one you will all cherish and use for years to
come. We hope to bring you news of its publication at the earliest opportunity.
AGS Su'87 p. 8
Many Thanks to our Special Contributors this year!
There were 99 people who participated in the Fund Drive raising a total of $5625:
Harold Allen, Chicago IL
Fred E. Angle, Kansas City MO
Archaeo. Research Consultants, Raleigh NC
Janet S. Aronson, Conventry CT
Barre Granite Assoc, Barre VT
Melvin H. Barrett, Seyerna Park MD
Robert J. Bowen, Kennett Square PA
Madeleine J. Brennan, Lake Hopatcong NJ
Martha Wren Briggs, Port Washington NY
Alice Bunton, Bethany CT
A.W. Bussewitz, Jamaica Plain MA
Martha G. Campbell, Abington MA
Theodore Chase, Dover MA
Ruth Cowell, Westwood NJ
Nancy Crockett, Lancaster SC
Howard F. Darms, Manchester NH
Mary H. Deal, Akron OH
Dorothy DeAngelo, Parish NY
Nancy Dodge, Portsmouth NH
Bob Drinkwater, Northampton MA
Barbara R. Dudley, Sterling MA
Katharine F. Erskine, Worcester MA
Daniel Farber, Worcester MA
Rita Feddersen, Sherborn MA
Josiah M. Fowler, West Roxbury MA
Esther L Friend, Plainville MA
Ronald & Laurel Gabel, Pittsford NY
Albert J. George, Sturbridge MA
Rev. Msgr. John L Gerity, So. Amboy NJ
Ellen R. Glueck, Towanda PA
Elizabeth J. Goeselt, Wayland MA
Mrs. v. Shirley Grady, Pinellas Park FL
Ruth Gray, Old Town ME
Nancy E. Greene-Young, Lansing NY
Wiliam J. Halpin, Stratford CT
Mrs. Carl C. Hansen, Southampton NY
Herstead Monument, Scottsbluff NE
Ruth M. Hopfmann, Sterling MA
Wiliam Hosley, Enfield CT
Geraldine Hungerford, Bethany CT
Robert M. Hyde, West Boylston MA
Margaret R. Jenks, Richardson TX
Cornelia P. Jenness, Spofford NH
Theodore A. Johnson, Maunie IL
Phillip G. Kallas, Stevens Point Wl
Susan H. Kelly, Stamford CT
Marion L Kern, Ghent NY
Peter Krell, Nanuet NY
James H. Leatherbee, East Haddam CT
Ellen J. Lipsey, Cambridge MA
F. Neal Longshaw, San Mateo CA
Vincent F. Luti, Westport MA
Janet MacLennan-Fisk, Belmont MA
Stephen A. Mankowski, Cherry Valley NY
Judith Taylor McGarvey, Alexandria VA
John V. McKinney, Rochester NY
Sue Ellen McManus, Baldwinsville NY
Pat Miller, Sharon CT
Monument Builders of Ohio, Waterville OH
Caroline S, Morris, Swarthmore PA
Avon & Ann Parker Neal, North Brookfield MA
M.A. Nelson & D.H. George, Brocton NY
W. Fred Oakley, Jr.. Needham MA
Roberta Palen, Chicago IL
Richard H. Peasley, Beverly Hills FL
Carol A. Perkins, Toledo OH
Bob Pierce, San Francisco CA
Elisabeth Walton Potter, Salem OR
Nanette Purnell, Kailua HI
Anna Ray, Fayetteville NC
Rex Monumental Works, New Bedford MA
Charles A. Rheault, Jr., Dover MA
Barbara Rotundo, Schenectady NY
Harriet R. Ryan, Middletown Rl
Deanna Schultz, Ojai CA
Aileen P. Sechler, Gettysburg PA
Edwina D. Seeler, Waban MA
Michael Selvaggi, Stratford CT
Miriam Silverman, New York NY
Dr. James A. Slater, Mansfield Center CT
John & Nancy Slavinsky, Belmont MA
Newland F. Smith, Health MA
Suzanne Spencer-Wood, Arlington MA
Proprietors/Springfield Cemetery, Springfield MA
Mrs. Robert C. Stancliff, Cincinnati OH
Virginia E. Strahan, Baldwinville MA
John & Martha Tidman, Jr., Grafton MA
Anne Tkach, Sparrow Bush NY
Deb Townshend, New Haven CT
Selma & Jerry Trauber, Brooklyn NY
Frank Troost, Hillside IL
Ralph Tucker, Georgetown ME
Marleen von Goeler, Needham MA
William D. Wallace, Worcester MA
Gerard C. Wertkin, New York NY
Eleanor R. Wesson, Phoenixville PA
Eloise P. West, Fitchburg MA
Mr. & Mrs.H. Merritt Woodward, Princeton MA
Fred & Evelyn Youngren, Lexington MA
The following people took out Contributing Memberships this past year:
Harold Allen, Chicago IL
Barre Granite Association, Barre VT
Harvey J. Blanchet, Jr., M.D., Medina NY
Alice Bunton, Bethany CT
Vincent V. Cherico, Jr., Providence Rl
Mary M. Cope, New York NY
Mary R. Dernalowicz, Middletown Rl
Empire Granite Corporation, Richmond VA
Mrs. Linwood Erskine, Sr., Worcester MA
Josiah M. Fowler, West Roxbury MA
Friends of Highgate Cemetery London, England
(gift membership from Barbara Rotundo)
Friends of Ml Hope Cemetery, Rochester NY
Laurel K. Gabel, Pittsford NY
Rev. Msgr. John L Gerety, So. Amboy NJ
Sheila M. Godino, Gales Ferry CT
Thomas E. Graves, Minersville PA
Roberta Halporn, Brooklyn NY
Robert B. Hanson, Dedham MA
Daniel A. Hearn, Monroe CT
Herstead Monument Company, Scottsbluff NE
William Hosley, Enfield CT
Geraldine Hungertord, Bethany CT
Dr. Gregory Jeane, Auburn AL
Ted A. Johnson, Maunie IL
Irene Hutchings Jones, Folsom CA
Phil Kallas, Stevens Point Wl
Angelika Kruger-Kahloula, West Germany
Lance R. Mayer, New London CT
Peter McCarthy, Pueblo CO
John Meffert, Charleston SC
John Dorrance Morrell, Brooklyn NY
Caroline S. Morris, Swarthmore PA
Douglas Muncy, Amityville NY
Rosalee F. Oakley, Needham MA
W. Fred Oakley, Needham MA
Oldstone Enterprises, Boston MA
Carol A. Perkins, Toledo OH
Susan J. Piccirillo, Staten Island NY
Diane Psota, Rohnert Park CA
Charles A. Rheault, Jr., Dover MA
Lawrence, D. Riveroll, San Diego CA
Nancy Porter Rothwell, Marblehead MA
Barbara Rotundo, Schenectady NY
Harriet R. Ryan, Middletown Rl
Michael Selvaggi, Stratford CT
Miriam S. Silverman, New York NY
Martha Smith, Carrboro NC
The Wagnails Memorial, Lithopolis OH
James Tibensky, Berwyn IL
Linda A. Towie, Winchester MA
Carol J. Tranter, Vallejo CA
William D. Wallace, Auburn MA
Rochelle Weinstein, New York NY
Gray Williams, Jr., Chappaqua NY
William W. Woodward, Penfield NY
AGS Su'87 p. 9
These are our Family Memberships
Mr. & Mrs. William F,Alsop, Jr., Rutland VT
Mr. & Mrs. Fred E. Angle, Kansas City MO
Mr. & Mrs. Edgar C. Bailey, Lexington MA
Mr. & Mrs. John L Bethune, Medfield MA
Mr. & Mrs. Leslie V. Baird, Easton CT
William Blain & Diane Hnat-Blain, Danbury CT
Mr. & Mrs. James Campbell, Wallingford CT
Mr. & Mrs. Talcott Clapp, South Windsor CT
Mr. & Mrs. John F. Collins, South Lyme CT
Mr. & Mrs. John Connor, Troy NY
Mr. & Mrs. Raymond E. Cummings, Avon CT
Mr. & Mrs. Daniel Farber, Worcester MA
Mr. & Mrs. Bruce Finnie, Princeton NJ
Mr. & Mrs. Michael Flanagan, Westborough MA
Gregg Garfin & Laura Chessin, Providence Rl
Mr. & Mrs. Richard Goselt, Wayland MA
Mr. & Mrs. Loren Morton, Iowa City lA
Mr. & Mrs. David Hungerford II, Bethany CT
Mr. & Mrs. George L Kackley, Baltimore MD
Jim Miller & Chris Sweeters, New York NY
Mr. & Mrs. Robert Myers, Carrollton GA
Avon Neal & Ann Parker, No. Brookfield MA
Malcolm Nelson & Diana George, Brocton NY
Mr. & Mrs. Donald Odie, Franklin Ml
Mr. & Mrs. Roger Panetta, Hastings NY
Mr. & Mrs. Nicholas Papale, Auburn MA
Dr. & Mrs. James A. Slater, Mansfield Center CT
Mr. & Mrs. John Slavinsky, Belmont MA
Mr. & Mrs. Earl Stoetzer, Miami FL
Mr. & Mrs. John F. Tidman, Jr., Grafton MA
Mr. & Mrs. Jerry Trauber, Brooklyn NY
Mr. & Mrs. Richard Wilson, South Glens Falls NY
Mr. & Mrs. H. Merritt Woodward, Princeton MA
Mr. & Mrs. Fred Youngren, Lexington MA
NEW MEMBERS SINCE APRIL 1, 1987
(to July 22, 1987)
Bailey, Edgar C, 11 Stratham Road, Lexington, MA 02173
Bailey, Mary D., 1 1 Stratham Road, Lexington, MA 021 73
Bedford Historical Society, Stearns Building, 15 The Great Road, Bedford, MA 01730
Blakeley, Brian K., 74 Perkins Street, New Haven, CT 06513
Brelia, Betty, 48 Chesterfield Street, Keeseville, NY 12944
Burton, Clarissa A., 4040 E. Piedmont Dr., #91 Highland, CA 92346
Calmer, Patricia, 81 Sycamore Road, Carmel, IN 46032
Campbell, Bonnie, 104-G North Turnpike Rd., Wallingford, CT 06492
Campbell, James, 104-G North Turnpike Rd., Wallingford, CT 06492
Cassano, Lynne M., Coleville Road, Box 4028, Bennington, VT 05201
Chaveriat, John W., 77 W. Washington Street, Suite 505, Chicago, IL 60602
Chessin, Laura, 176 Waterman Street, Providence, Rl 02906
Comrie, Marilyn J., 566 Sandy Hollow Road, Mystic, CT 06355
Crawford, Sybil C, 10548 Stone Canyon Rd., #228 Dallas, TX 75230
Creek, Leon, 304 Mulberry Street, Rochester, NY 14620
Cunningham, Keith College/ Ed., Northern AZ U.C.U., Box 5630, Flagstaff, AZ 86011
Darlington, James, Dept. of Geog., Brandon Univ., Brandon, MB R7A 6A9 Canada
Delridge, Linda, 3350 W. 97, Cleveland, OH 44102
Dept of Arkansas Heritage, The Heritage Center, Suite 200, 225 East Markham, Little Rock, AR 72201
Devaney, Robert, 311 Grieb Road, Wallingford, CT 06492-2513
Emery, Steve, 67 Church Street, Merimac, MA 01860
Enman, Elaine M., Box 744, York Beach, ME 03910
Fijal, Robert, 4 Evans Avenue, Bedford, MA 01730
Finch, William E., Jr., Four Putnam Hill, Greenwich, CT 06830
Finnie, Bruce, 228 Western Way, Princeton, NJ 08540
Finnie, Virginia, 228 Western Way, Princeton, NJ 08540
Foster, Emily S., 50 East Bellevue Place, #1803, Chicago, IL 60611
Fry, Eleanor, P.O. Box 11386, Pueblo, CO 81001
Gainschigg, Janet G., P.O. Box 906, Darien, CT 06820
Garfin, Gregg, 176 Waterman Street, Providence, Rl 02906
Giangiobbe, Janice M., 460 Hoffman Road, Rochester, NY 14622
Goeselt, Richard, 61 Old Sudbury Road, Wayland, MA 01778
Gwinnett Historical Society ATT: Alice McCabe, P.O. Box 261, Lawrenceville, GA 30246
Hakanen, Ernest A., 902 S. Farragut Street, Phi.ladelphia, PA 19143
Hall, Nancy J., 15 Indian Trail Westbrook, CT 06498
Harwell, Linda F., 93 FM 2757, Forney, TX 751 26
Herold, David, Cemetery Restorations Inc., 5345 Forney Road, Dallas, TX 75227
Holter, Timothy, 21 North Sterling Avenue, Maplewood, MN 55119
Hungerford, David E. II, Hilldale Road, Bethany, CT 06525
Jacobus, Candice, 134 A. Carl Street, San Francisco, CA 941 17
Johnston, Rosa S., Maple St., RFD#1 , #291 Northfield, MA 01 360
Keene, Roger, 1353 Washington Street, North Abington, MA 02351
Kelley, Patricia, RD #2, Box 229, Germantown, NY 12526
Kerr, A. Hub, Box 81 1 , Monroe, NO 281 1 0
Kimball, Carol W., 28 Allyn Street, Mystic, CT 06355
Kizer, Franklin D., Route 2, Box 1449, Lancaster, VA 22503
Kott, Stephen T., 122 E. 13th Street, Huntington Sta., NY 1 1746
Kucinski, Karol P., P.O. Box 306, Vinal Haven, ME 04836
La Flesh, Evelyn, 41 Jones Hill Road, West Haven, CT 06516
La Pointe, Robin, 44 Overlook Drive, Leominster, MA 01453
Langdon, Cindee, 2202 W. North Loop Blvd., #149 Austin, TX 78756
Long, Ralph B., 230 Emma Street, Michigan City, IN 46360
Lucas, Pat, Main Street, Blandford, MA 01008
Markt, Maureen F., 257 Franklin Street, Holyoke, MA 01040
Martin, Daniel, 962 N.W. Polk, Corvallis, OR 97330
M.C. Crum, Bruce, P.O. Box 48, Kinderhook, NY 12106
M.C. Queston, Cynthia I., P.O. Box 131, 2 Mountain St., Haydenville, MA 01039
Mead, Jeffrey, 1 1 Mead Avenue, Cos Cob, CT 06807
Mercer, Joyce, Rt. 24, Box 290, Chesterfield, MO 63017
Milford Cemetery Association, P.O. Box 227, Milford, CT 06460
Morrison, Rose Buckman, 75 Hemingway St., Apt. 203, Winchester, MA 01890-1541
Muncy, Douglas, P.O. Box 961, Amityville, NY 11701
AGSSu'87p. 10
Phelps, Bonnie, 651 Foothill Drive, Pacifica, CA 94044
Phelps, Eileen, 151 Wintonbury, Bloomfield, CT 06002
Post, Ann, P.O. Box 12, So. Schodack, NY 1-2162
Prahalis, Fabiola, 304 Ridgefield Road, Hauppauge, NY 11788
Ransom, David F., 33 Sunrise Hill Drive, West Hartford, CT 06107
Read, Marilyn, Rt. 3, Box 349, Big Spring, TX 79720
Resig, Robert S., 1029 2nd Avenue (R), Altoona, PA 16602
Reynolds, Jaunita, 1 229 Lorie Circle, Brandon, FL 3351 1
Roberts, Joyce, 2209 Otis Dr., #G Alameda, CA 94501
Shepardson, Ann, 75 New London Road, Mystic, CT 06355
Smith, Charlene, Pacific Grove Heritage Soc, P.O. Box 51126, Pacific Grove, CA 93950
Snyder, Ellen Marie, The Brooklyn Historical Soc, 128 Pierrepont Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Solomine, Louis, Rahv\/ay Cemetery, 1670 St. Georges Avenue, Rahvi/ay, NJ 07065
Spaulding, Lucille M., 1124 N. Meade Street, South Bend, IN 46628
Spillane, Sally, P.O. Box 121, Lakeville, CT 06039
Storch, Sandy, 73 North Clinton, Doylestown, PA 18901
Syndor, Doris A., 1211 Neptune Lane, Huntington, MD 20639
Thompson, Ellen K., 1456 Beverdale Rd., N.E., Dalton, GA 30720
Trott, David E., 3216 Sellman Road, Adelphi, MD 20783
Turnquist, Jerry L, 1004 Adams Street, Elgin, IL 60123
Walcutt, Margaret, 201 Wagner Drive, Claremont, CA 91711
Walker, Jamie, C/0 Lloyd Bros. Walker, 302A Auburn, Toledo, OH 43606
Welch, Brenda, 4 Leslie Lane, Sturbridge, MA 01566
Whitehouse, Joel A., R.D. #3, Box 128, Pine Grove, PA 17963
Whitman, Nathan T., 1603 Ferndale, Ann Arbor, Ml 48104
Williams, Raymond Chester Cemetery Assn., Inc., 14 Deep Hollow Road, Chester, CT 06412
Wing, Anne C, 304 Front Street, P.O. Box 544, Marion, MA 02738
Wm. Smith & Son Monument Co., Bradfrord W. Cordell, Pres., 3508 Lake Avenue, Ashtabula, OH 44004
Several members have contributed beyond the above, either money to special projects, their
time or their talents which are also very much appreciated.
Ted Chase
Dan Farber
Laurel Gabel
George Kackley
Pat Miller
Fred Oakley
Carol Perkins
Lynette Strangstad
Deborah Trask
David Watters
Neil Jenness, Geraldine Hungerford, Kevin Sweeney, Newland Smith, Pat Miller, Fred
Fredette, Marleen vonGoeler — the entire '87 Conference Committee
AGS Officers and Board of Trustees
The extra funds, time and talent contributed by these members have made it possible to fund
and advance the work of AGS this past year. We celebrate the culmination of ten years of
association together and look forward to involving all our members in addressing the needs,
opportunities and possibilities of the next decade.
Anyone who attended the Amherst AGS Conference and asked Pamela Burgess to send them
information should write directly to her (Pamela Burgess, Four Oaks, Boarding Cattery, Four
Oaks, Newent, Gloucestershire, GL18 1LU, England) as she lost the notebook in which she
had written down all requests.
AGS Su'87 p. 1 1
THE ASSOCIATION FOR
GRAVESTONE STUDIES
A BRIEF HISTORY OF AGS
In the spring of 1.911 , notices were sent out and pinned to bulletin
boards all over the country, announcing that a new organization had
been born - one that would be dedicated to the study of old grave-
stones. The notice told us that anyone who wanted to take part in
the first organizational meeting of this unlikely group should come
to the little town of Dublin, New Hampshire on July 3.
Amazingly, dozens of us came. We were told that the' previous
December, Peter Benes, Nancy Buckeye, Gaynell Levine, Jessie Lie,
Robert Mackreath, and Ralph Tucker had met and called AGS into
being. All that was left to do was to decide what AGS should be
like, so we talked for hours about the most exalted and the most
mundane things. "Old gravestones must be preserved." "Is 'Association
for Gravestone Studies' a good name? Yes it is." "Are we non-profit
or not-for-profit?" What about the logo? Is it too unsophisticated?
Or does is demonstrate perfectly the folk aspect of American stone-
carving, as Peter Benes claimed (he won). The meeting room took
on the look of a grade-school classroom when we elected officers,
then arranged ourselves in small groups standing around each of the
several Vice-Presidents, while we wrote down on large sheets of
pajser what the goals of each section should be.
The foundin
Peter Benes
book. Grave
g members v^ere inspi
had organized the p
n Images , which made
pen to agre
some of us
gravestones
wide-open t
all the boo
gravestones
to AGS, tha
Amherst wil
AGS, and it
our memorie
in only ten
e or disagree with h
just want to go out
And we were excit
hat the budding grav
ks and articles that
in a small attache
t has changed. The
1 give us a chance t
is hoped that the f
s and make us realiz
years .
red by the Dublin Seminar that
revious year, and by Allan Ludwig's
some of us want to take up the
is controversial arguments, and
and make rubbings of our favorite
ed by a field that was so new and
estone scholar could carry around
had been published about old
case. Now, thanks in large part
Tenth Anniversary Meeting in
o discuss the past and future of
ollowing sketch history will jog
e how much we have accomplished
In 1976 the first Dublin Seminar for New England Folklife was
held , on Puritan Gravestone Art. 95 people attended, many of
whom subsequently joined AGS.
On December 20, 1976, the Association for Gravestone Studies was
founded in Boston at a meeting called by Peter Benes and attended
by Nancy Buckeye (Melin), Gaynell Levine, Jessie Lie (Farber),
Robert Mackreath, and Ralph Tucker.
On July 3, 1977 a meeting was held to organize AGS.
of officers was:
The first slate
Ralph Tucker, President
■ Jessie Lie, Secretary
Peter Benes , Treasurer
James Slater, Archives
Edwin Connelly, Conservation
Joanne Baker , Education
Gay Levine, Grants
Nancy Buckeye, Publications
Thomas Zaniello, Research
On June 23, 1978, AGS was granted a charter by the Regents of the
University of the State of New York. The incorporators were:
"Gaynell Levine, Ralph Tucker, Peter Benes, Nancy Buckeye, Jessie
Lie and Jane Schoonmaker, and their associates and successors."
AGSSu'87p. 12
Conferences, and recipients of the Harriette Merrifield Forbes Award
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
Dublin, New Hampshire
Dublin, New Hampshire
(cosponsored with the Dublin
Seminar for New England
Folklife)
Newport, Rhode Island
Bradford, Massachusetts
(cosponsored with the Bay
State Historical League)
Storrs, Connecticut
Williamstown , Massachusetts
Worcester, Massachusetts
Hartford, Connecticut
(cosponsored with the Connec-
ticut Historical Society)
New Brunswick, New Jersey
(cosponsored with the Museum
of American Folk Art )
Boston, Massachusetts
(cosponsored with the
Bostonian Society)
Amherst, Massachusetts
(cosponsored with Historic
Deerf ield, Inc . )
Award Recipient
Daniel Farber
Ernest Caulfield
( posthumously )
Award named for Harriette
Merrifield Forbes.
Peter Benes
No award
Allan Ludwig
James Slater
Hilda Fife
Ann Parker and
Avon Neal
Jessie Lie Farber
Louise Tallman
Frederick Burgess
(posthumously) and
Pamela Burgess
Membership statistics:
1977 membership: 77
1981 membership: 126
1982 membership: 327
1983 membership: 386
1985 membership: 535
1986 membership: 650
1987 membership, January: a little over 700
AGS Presidents:
Ralph Tucker
Joanne Baker
Sally Thomas
1977-1978
1979-1980
1981-1982
Theodore Chase: 1983-1985
Daniel Farber: 1986-1987
Markers Editors
Jessie Lie Farber: Markers I
David Watters: Markers II, III, IV
Theodore Chase: Markers V-
Newsletter Editors;
Nancy Buckeye: 1977-1978
Anne Giesecke: 1979
Jessie Lie Farber: 1980-1983
Deborah Trask: 1984-
information compiled by Rosalee Oakley and Jessie Lie Farber; introducti
by Lance Mayer.
on
An.c; .Qi I'RT n 1 r^
Members of the Board of Trustees 1977-1987:
Anne Armstrong
Joanne Baker
Peter Benes
Nancy Buckeye
Alice Bunton
Theodore Ghase
Lorraine Clapp
Edwin Connelly
Michael Cornish
Ruth Cowell
Daniel Farber
Jessie Lie Farber
Alfred Fredette
Laurel Gabel
Anne Giesecke
Ruth Gray
William Hosley
Geraldine Hungerford
George Kackley
Rufus Langhans
Gay Levine
Vincent Luti
Lance Mayer
Nancy Jean Melin
Patricia Miller
Mary Anne Mrozinski
Hazel Papale
Carol Perkins
Beth Rich
Gina Santucci
Miriam Silverman
James Slater
Sally Thomas
James Tibensky
Deborah Trask
Jerry Trauber
Ralph Tucker
William Wallace
Richard Welch
Eloise West
Besty Widirstsky
Anita Woodward
Thomas Zaniello
1987-1988 AGS BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Alice Bunton
21 Perkins Road, Bethany, CT 06525
Tel; (h) 203/393-2415
Lorraine Clapp
1693 John Fitch Blvd., So. Windsor, CT 06074
Tel: (h) 203/289-9026
Robert Drinkwater (Vice-President)
30 Fort Hill Terrace, Northampton, MA 01060
Tel: (h) 413/586-4285
Daniel Farber
31 Hickory Drive, Worcester, MA 01609
Tel: (h) 617/755-7038
Jessie Lie Farber
31 Hickory Drive, Worcester, MA 01609
Tel: (h) 617/755-7038
Alfred Fredette
P.O. Box 37, Scotland, CT 06264
Tel: (h) 203/456-8582
Laurel Gabel
(Research Clearing House Coordinator)
205 Fishers Road, Pittsford, NY 14534
Tel: (h) 716/248-3453
Jo Goeselt (Treasurer)
61 Old Sudbury Road, Wayland, MA 01778
Tel: (h) 617/358-2155
William Hosley (President)
Old Abbe Road, Enfield, CT 06082
Tel: (h) 203/627-5508 (w) 203/278-2670
Geraldine Hungerford
Hilldale Road, Bethany, CT 06525
Tel: (h) 203/627-5508 (w) 203/278-2670
Cornelia Jenness
Chandler Road, Spofford, NH 13462
Tel: (h) 603/363-8018
George Kackley (Newsletter Index Editor)
P.O. Box 4690, 4201 Greenway
Baltimore, MD 21218-1135
Tel: (h) 301/243-6461
Vincent F. Luti
Box 412, Westport, MA 02790
Tel: (h) 617/636-2984
Lance R. Mayer (Secretary)
Lyman Allyn Museum, 625 Williams Street
New London, CT 06320
Tel: (h) 203/464-9645 (w) 203/443-261 8
Patricia Miller
Suite 264, 36 Tamarack Ave., Danbury, CT 0681 1
Tel: (h) 203/798-7423
Beth Rich (Archivist)
43 Rybury Hillway, Needham, MA 02192
Tel: (h) 61 7/444-5566 (w) 61 7/455-7561
Miriam Silverman
300 W. 55th Street, New York, NY 10019
Tel: (h) 212/765-3482
Dr. James Slater
(Conference Program Advisor)
373 Bassettes Bridge Road,
Mansfield Center, CT 06250
Tel: (h) 203/455-9668
Deborah Trask
(AGS Newsletter Editor)
Nova Scotia IVtuseum Complex,
1747 Summer Street, Halifax, N.S. B3H 3A6
Tel: (h) 902/275-4728 (w) 902/429-4610
Jonathan Twiss
230 Farmington Ave., A-1, Hartford, CT 06105
Tel: (h) 203/278-6958 (w) 203/273-4667
William Wallace
40 Central Street, Auburn, MA 01601
Tel: (h) 61 7/832-6807 (w) 61 7/753-8278
Richard F. Welch (Publications Chair)
5 Cold Spring Hills Road, Huntington, NY 11743
Tel: (h) 516/421-5718
Rosalee F. Oakley (Executive Director)
46 Plymouth Road, Needham, MA 02192
Tel: (h) 617/444-6263 (w) 617/455-8180
Theodore Chase (Markers editor)
74 Farm Street, Dover, MA 02030
Tel: (h) 617/785-0299
Thomas Graves (Conference Chair)
110 Spruce Street, Minersville, PA 17954
Tel: (h) 717/544-6705
AGSSu'87p. 14
CROSSED BATS AND BASEBALLS, "SAFELY HOME"
by . lames C. Jewell mmtm
The article "Baseball on Grave" (AGS Newsletter, Fall 1986, p. 21) indicates that the marker
of Louis Sockalexis on Indian Island in Maine is the only one the authors of the article in
Food Marketing in New England had ever seen with crossed bats and a baseball adorning
it. Perhaps in the mid-1 960's this was true; but the resurgence of custom stones reveals many
such symbols carved on stones.
Although it seems unbelievable that some of the late, great Major Leaguers would not have
such symbols on their markers, the majority of crossed bats, baseballs, and other baseball
equipment seems to be on markers of young people. The carvings not only tell the observer
something about the interests of the deceased, but the similarity of the crossed bats to the
St. Andrew's cross and the orb of the ball to the shape of the world provides also — perhaps
unintentionally — a connection to religious beliefs.
Crossed bats and baseballs adorn the stones of James A. Koster (1964-1978) and Scott Joseph
Brandner (1960-1973), a few feet apart in St. Hyacinth's Cemetery, La Salle, Illinois; and of
Troy Alan Backer (1961-1978) in Magnolia Cemetery, Magnolia, Illinois. A bat and ball, along
with a track shoe, football, and St. Bede High School jersey, are carved on the marker of
James Ebener (1963-1981), also in St. Hyacinth.
Crossed bats, a baseball glove, and a cap are carved on the stone of John Michael Brothers
(1954-1978) in Brick Chapel Cemetery, Putnam County, Indiana. Brotheres was a sportscaster
with radio station WXTA in Indiana. At the time of his death, he was coach of the Tri-Star
Softball team.
This writer would like to hear from readers with knowledge of markers with all athletic equipment
and accomplishments inscribed on them. These will become part of a presentation he is preparing
entitled "I Have Finished the Race, I Have Kept the Faith". Please include name of cemetery
and directions (when possible) for locating both the cemetery and the grave.
James C. Jewell, Illinois Valley Community College, Oglesby, IL 61348.
^f^ Sf^L :^'^
"=^i\^ ^A^ '^i^
ARCHIVAL ADDITIONS
It has been a busy year for the AGS Archives. Currently over 350 books, journal articles and
pamphlets have been incorporated into a computerized list, with access by author, title, subject
and geographical area. Most of these are donations which needless-to-say are greatly
welcomed. A recent addition of importance was gained through the good efforts of Ellen Lipsey
and Rosanne Atwood-Humes of the Boston Historic Burying Grounds Initiative. The Archives
received a preliminary copy of the Inventories of Central Burying Ground, Boston Common;
Eliot Burying Ground in Roxbury; Phipps Street Burying Ground in Charlestown; King's Chapel
Burying Ground; Copp's Hill Burying Ground, North End; Dorchester North Burying Ground
Upham's Corner, and Granary Burying Ground. The inventory for each cemetery consists of
an alphabetical index, a chronological index and a listing by location. It is possible that these
will be published and be for sale in the near future by the Historic Burying Grounds Initiative.
The Initiative's stated goal is to restore 16 historic cemeteries, located citywide and dating
from 1630 to 1841. These burying grounds have suffered the effects of time, weather, deferred
maintenance, vandalism and overuse. Among the Puritans and Patriots honored in these
cemeteries are John Hancock and Samuel Adams, the victims of the Boston Massacre, Paul
Revere, John Winthrop, Gilbert Stuart, John Harvard, Cotton Mather and Mother Goose. The
current goal of the project is conservation, inventory and site rehabilitation with a long term
goal of developing a "Friends" program to provide future support.
continued
AGSSu'87p. 15
Another recent aquisition is a copy of "Project Remember, A National Index of Gravesites
of Notable Americans" by Arthur S. Koykka, published by Reference Publications, Algonac,
Michigan, 1986. it is a listing of more than 5,300 entries of famous people, classified by field
of endeavor. Each entry gives the name, vital statistics, a brief characterization and the name
of the cemetery or other burial place. There is an index of names, a listing by place and
maps of the location of cemeteries in the New York and Los Angeles area. The book invites
browsing. For instance, buried in Dedham MA in Pine Ridge Cemetery for Small Animals is
Igloo, pet dog of Admiral Richard E. Byrd who accompanied him on his Antarctic expeditions.
Rachel Carson's ashes were scattered over the Atlantic Ocean and Willa Cather is buried
in Jaffrey, New Hampshire. There are 5,297 more of these fascinating tidbits. Well organized
and I know of nothing else quite like it. Project Remember by Arthur S. Koykka, 597 pages,
$59.95 from Reference Publications Inc., 218 St. Clair River Dr., Algonac, Ml 48001. (There
is a brief review of this "monumental" publication in American Cemetery, January 1987, pp.
34-38.)
Another aspect of the Archives is its collection of Project First reports. Project First is an
acronym for Finding, Identifying, Recording and SToring information about all known burial
grounds. There is a file of resource persons for each area registered. A recent addition to
the file has been provided by Jonathan Twiss who has photographed the stones in the E.
Haddam CT graveyard and done genealogical research on each person buried there, including
the carvers when known.
For information about (or from) the Archives or donations to the Archives and Project First
please contact the Archivist:
Mrs. Beth Rich
43 Rybury Hillway
Needham, MA 02192
617-444-5566
PRESERVATION NOTES
In an item on the defacement of public property at St. Clair Park, Greesburg (PA), the Tribune-
Review lamented "Why don't we develop an appreciation and respect for public property in
our children?" The same paper carried a report the following week on the intentional disturbance
of graves. State police reported that someone entered the Bash-Somers burying ground in
Unity Township and dug up the remains of Henry Laffer, a veteran of the War of Independence,
who died in 1827. Investigators said the grave was opened for several days before it was
discovered.
from the Tribune-Review, March 15, 1987.
The State of Missouri passed a cemetery protection act in July 1987 (House Bill #60, 84th
General Assembly) which contains an interesting clause: (section 2) Any person who wishes
to visit an abandoned family cemetery or private burying ground which is completely surrounded
by privately owned land, for which no public ingress or egress is available, shall have the
right to reasonable ingress or egress for the purpose of visiting such cemetery. This right
of access to such cemeteries extends only to visitation during reasonable hours and only
for purposes usually associated with cemetery visits.
Cemetery protective legislation was also enacted this year in Maine and New Hampshire.
Representative Stephen Solarz of New York was kind enough to have the Congressional
Research Bureau prepare for AGS a complete compilation of state statutes relating to vandalism
and theft in cemeteries.
AGSSu'87p. 16
CERAMIC GRAVESTONES OF NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI AND NORTHWEST ALABAMA
by Jerry C. Oldshue
In the 1870's and 80's, the American South was struggling to recover from a war that had
been fought across its soil, and from the added economic ruin which had befallen it as a
result of Reconstruction. As a result of this, lower and middle class southerners, while wishing
to mark the burial place of their departed, were at the same time looking for an economical
method to reduce the high cost of using a marble or granite tombstone. This was especially
true in northeast Mississippi and northwest Alabama, areas that were separated by some distance
from a ready supply of marble. Several alternatives for tombstones were tried at that time
such as cast metal markers, cast metal and ceramic markers, homemade concrete markers
or sandstone monuments.
In order to meet this need for an economically priced gravemarker, William P. Lloyd and William
D. Lloyd of Tremont, Mississippi, began manufacturing monuments from potter's clay. Their
innovation received a patent June 10, 1879. The marker consisted of two portions. The upper
portion was flat and included the inscribing, while the lower portion was cylindrical, thrown
in such a way that its top was pinched so that the walls remained vertical in order to receive
the marker. This marker was salt glazed in light gray, and its incising and decorating were
in cobalt blue.
BORH
I MAR. 3, /ei5
' DEPARTED TVltS LIFE j
JUUE 50, 1885 ,|
Although it is possible that markers of this type were produced as early as the 1860's, the
heyday of this sort of grave marker occurred after the Lloyds received a patent and lasted
well into the 1890's. Many of the these markers were sold in northeast Mississippi and northwest
Alabama as the general public looked for an economic means of memoralizing their departed
loved ones. Today, many of the markers can still be found across the area; however, most
of them have bases that have been broken and ill-repaired. The monuments are now either
flat on the ground or leaning against adjoining tombstones, and their chances of existing
for another century are slim indeed.
Jerry C. Oldshue is Assistant Vice President, University
of Alabama, P.O. Box 1943, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487
AGSSu'87p. 17
MEMBER NEWS
In an item titled "Alfred and the Night Visitors", AGS member Alfred Fredette of Scotland CT
was recently featured in the June-July issue of Modern Maturity (sent by Chris Sweeters of
New York City).
Pat Miller will be speaking to the Newington (CT) Historical Society in September.
The Barnstable (MA) Historical Commission on Cape Cod is sponsoring a Conference on
Restoration and Care of Ancient Cemeteries October 2 and 3, 1987. The leader will be Frank
Matero, Director of the Center for Preservation Research at Columbia University in New York
City. Members of the Departments of Public Works and any others concerned with cemetery
care are invited to attend the Friday session. Members of Town Historical Commissions are
invited to attend the Saturday session. Both days the morning will be spent on plans and
procedures for cemetery care and the afternoon will be on location in one of Barnstable's
ancient cemeteries. Patricia Anderson, Consultant for the Commission may be reached at (617)
775-1 1 20 Ext. 1 76 for more information.
New Member David Herold, 5345 Forney Road, Dallas, TX 75227, tel. 214/388-5045 asks help
in locating a back issue of GEO magazine which featured an item on gravestones. Can anyone
tell him which issue he is seeking?
Barbara Moon, 1936 Stony Hill, Hinckley, OH 44233 writes of a stone she saw leaning by
the entrance to a local tack shop in Valley City OH which had been used as a sidewalk stone
to a milk-house. It reads:
Cordelia
wife of
W.A. Seeley
• Aug. 31,1861
aged
27 yr's 3 mo's 21 dy's
and is signed W. Babcock
Cordelia was the wife of the great-great uncle of the store's present owner, R. Seeley.
NEWS FROM HAWAII
The Cemetery Research Project under the direction of AGS member Nanette Napoleon Rurnell
has completed a three-volume directory listing nearly 9,000 names copied from gravemarkers
at 46 Oahu cemeteries that previously had no records.
To celebrate the publication of the "Tombstone Inscription Directory," a four day photo exhibit
took place at Ala Moana Center (in Honolulu) from May 22-25. The exhibit coincided with
Memorial Day and featured 100 to 150 photos showing that "Every Tombstone Has a Tale
to Tell."
Nanette also took part in the Ching Ming Festival, or the Chinese Festival of the Tombs, a
season that traditionally begins around April 5. She presented a slide lecture on Hawaii's
ethnic tombstones, burial rituals and ceremonies. This program was followed by visits to four
cemeteries, observation of a Ching Ming ceremony in Waihee, a traditional Ching Ming lunch
and a tombstone rubbing demonstration.
AGSSu'87p. 18
A PERSONAL QUEST
excerpt from an unpublished manuscript by Sylvia Hunt, W. Hartford CT
The next day I met a Mr. Wilcox as scheduled, to join him by bus to Stokes Newington to
find the graves of my Great Grandparents. He was a very nice gentleman whose hobby was
genealogy. Our first stop was the Presbyterian Church and cafeteria. After lunch he showed
me the historic library where all their early religious records were kept. It reminded me of
the Utah Mormon Archives records in the United States. It was a privilege to be there. We
then proceeded to the cemetery by bus.
All cemeteries seem old in England. This one was no different, especially since the brush
had grown to a thick entanglement, making walking difficult, like being in a jungle. We pushed
on, parting it aside with our hands. In the distance bulldozers could be heard. He assured
me it was not much farther, but it seemed forever. He knew just where he was going. The
bulldozers kept up their noise as we approached the area. I wondered what they could possibly
be doing in this very old section. When he pointed to the path which led to the graves I
asked, "What are those bulldozers doing here? Surely, they are not digging new graves?"
"Oh no," he said, "They are plowing under old unnoticed graves to make way for more graves."
I was appalled at first, feeling a sudden concern and affection for this elderly couple I never
knew, and said, "Are they touching my graves?" "No, not yet." was his reply, "They haven't
gotten that far." At home, I had a snapshot of my great grandfather with my cousin Rita on
his lap when she was a baby. He looked just like Santa Glaus with his long white beard.
He died soon after the picture was taken at the age of ninety two. We pressed on and finally
came to an area of dense underbrush with roots and bushes hanging heavily over the ground.
"There they are." he said. "Where? I don't see any graves." I answered, straining my eyes
to see. He pointed down and I looked carefully, afraid to take another step. Then I saw what
looked like the remains of graves with tree roots protruding from them and a headstone with
a faded inscription:
In Loving Memory
— of —
Adeline Matilda Jennings
Beloved Wife of John Cullum
Who Went Home Sep. 21 1904
Aged 79 Years
The Best of Mothers, The Most Faithful of Friends
Also of
JOHN CULLUM
Husband of The Above
Who Joined Her June 25, 1 91 5
Aged 92
"He Was a Man of God"
There was a feeling of accomplishment and gratitude that I had arrived just in time. In the
confusion, I had ruined a pair of hose, but it didn't seem to matter. I knew too, that this would
be my last and final earthly visit.
Am «%^.
Wfcfi mim 88«ii SIR ti. Ill
JSMM CULi««
AGSSu'87p. 19
NEWS FROM OLD CEMETERY SOCIETIES
M-'E/ifabeth Magoun
17 9 8
'^ifi TkhtkahMa^oun
17 9 8
At a recent Wisconsin State Old Cemetery Society meeting, Lois and Marian Rehmer brought
along a slate gravemarker which had recently come into their possession. It seems a man
who knows of their interest was moving and did not want to take the stone with him. Apparently
he had had it for about three years, having received it from a friend of his who may have
had it for as long as twenty years. Supposedly it was picked up in an "abandoned" cemetery
in Massachusetts. Nothing more is known as to its origin. Can anyone help in finding where
it belongs?
It's Now A Crime
stealing tombstones Is now a
trime In New Hampshire.
Gov. John Suniuiu signed a bill
May 6 which makes stealing from a
cemetery enclosure a Class B felony
Imnishable by up to seven years in
from the newsletter of the New Hampshire Old Graveyard
Association, "Rubbings", V. XII #2, Summer 1987
The Vermont Old Cemetery Association (VOCA) recently established a two for one grant in
which an individual or organization can apply for up to $200.00 toward the restoration of
an old cemetery in Vermont. This is called "two for one" because the applicant must guarantee
that additional money, equal to half of the grant, will be used toward the restoration. In May,
two such grants were approved, one for a cemetery in Bristol VT, and another for a cemetery
in Berlin. Prior to this, VOCA offered a $100.00 grant. From October 1983 to December 1986
a total of 16 cemeteries were helped by VOCA grant money.
from the VOCA Newsletter, Summer 1987.
Pierre Cloutier, Bedford, N.S., found a limestone grave
marker whicli has a smoothed surface and no inscription
except for an upside-down heart in a circle, surmounted
by another circle. Other stones in this long-abandonned
burial area indicate that this is likely mid-1 850s. Anyone
with any thoughts as to what this might mean can write
to Mr. Cloutier c/o Deborah Trask, Nova Scotia Museum,
1747 Summer St., Halifax, N.S., B3H 3A6, Canada
cut away around heart, so that the heart is raised.
AGS Su'87 p. 20
>A.
wiu»mumntti »tMUMniMwtseMti
WISCONSIN STATE OLD CEMETERY SOCIETY
ANNUAL CONFERENCE
Saturday, November 14, 1987
State Historical Society
Main Auditorium
816 State St.
Madison, WI
Registration at 9:00 a.m. with program beginning at 9:45 a.m.
PROGRAM
"Operation and Function of the Burial Sites Preservation Progreun"
by Richard Dexter, BSPP Director.
"The Rural Cemetery Movement: Romantic Landscapes for Urban America"
by Robert Wright, freelance photographer and writer.
"Cemeteries: Locating, Searching, Copying, and Publishing"
by Jean Rentmeister, certified genealogist.
"Images Graves in Stone: Symbolism in Wisconsin Cemeteries"
By Phil Kallas, WSOCS newsletter editor.
Registration deadline:
Make checks payable to:
Send payment to:
Conference only: $5
November 9, 1987.
WSOCS Conference.
Monna Aldrich
Box 141, 4370 Windsor Rd.
Windsor, WI 53598
(608) 846-3706
Conference and Lunch:
$11
20% Discount
Archon Books
The Shoe Siring Press. Inc.. 925 Shcrmiri Avenue. Hamden, CT 06514
copies of The Colonial Burying Grounds of Eastern Connecticut
Order Information
Prepayment required for all individual orders and all orders under $75.00, except for open
accounts. Please make checks payable to Archon Books.
Please send me
@$52.00. I have enclosed $1.50 per copy for postage and handling.
Name:
Shipping address: .
City
My check is enclosed in the amount of $_
VISA or Master Card It
Expiration
Signature
. State
Zip .
MC Interbank #.
AGS Su'87 p. 21
uaiiaiSMBN
sseyv 'ja|S33J0/^
a I V d
30ViSOd s 'n
6091.0 SSB^ 'jajsaoJOM
'A^apos uejjenbjiuv ueouaiuvo/o
'sajpn^S 9UO)S9AeJO jo| uoj^epossv
A Florida company wants to launch an orbiting space mausoleum containing remains of as
many as 10,330 people. The shiny craft would be visible through small telescopes to loved
ones on earth. But 31 University of Illinois astronomers are trying to block the venture. They
say a mausoleum would add to the growing accumulation of space junk that threatens navigation
and safety.
from the Chicago Sun-Times, June 21, 1987, sent by Jim Jewell, Oglesby IL
The Indiana Arts Commission, 32 East Washington St., Indianapolis, IN 46204, is offering four
slide tape programs featuring the folk arts in Indiana, produced by folklorists Betty Belanus
and Geoff Gephart. One of the programs, "Graveyard Symbolism" examines the forms of
graveyard folk art found in Indiana, both old and new, and the symbols people use to express
their identities in life as well as death. These programs are available for rent for $5.00 per
program for one week, or for purchase at $40.00 for one program. These programs are designed
as useful tools for the classroom, as well as for club meetings and historical society and
library programs. Each slide/tape comes with an information booklet containing study questions
and sources for more information.
THE FAULT OF THE WEATHER
This issue of the Newsletter is going late to the printer because the summer of 1987 has
been glorious weather in Nova Scotia. Instead of spending all my spare time working on the
newsletter, I have been swimming, sailing and having fun. And so I offer my sunburnt apologies,
and hope for your sakes that the weather is miserable next season. DT
The AGS Newsletter is published quarterly as a service to members of The Association for Gravestone Studies.
The membership year begins on the date dues are received and ends one year from that date. A one-year membership
entitles the members to four issues of the Newsletter and to participation in the AGS conference in the year
membership is current. Send membership fees (individual /institutional, $15: Family $25; contributing, $25) to AGS
Executive Director Rosalee Oakley, 46 Plymouth Rd., Needham, tvIA 02192. Back issues of the Newsletter are
available for $3.00 per issue from Rosalee Oakley. The goal of the Newsletter is to present timely information
about projects, literature, and research concerning gravestones, and about the activities of the Association for
Gravestone Studies. It is produced by Deborah Trask, who welcomes suggestions and short contributions from
readers. The Newsletter is not intended to serve as a journal. Journal articles should be sent to Theodore Chase,
editor of Markers, the Jourrtal of The Association for Gravestone Studies, 74 Farm St., Dover, MA 02030. Address
Newsletter contributions to Deborah Trask, editor, The Nova Scotia Museum, 1747 Summer St., Halifax, Nova Scotia,
B3H 3A6, Canada. Order Markers, the Journal of the Association for Gravestone Studies (Vol. 1, $20: Vol. 2, $15,
hardcover $25; Vol. 3, $14, hardcover $23; Vol. 4, $14.75, hardcover $23; higher prices for non-members) from
Rosalee Oakley. Send contributions to the AGS Archives to Elizabeth Rich, Archivist, 43 Rybury Hillway, Needham,
MA 02192. Address other correspondence and orders to Rosalee Oakley. Mail addressed to AGS c/o The American
Antiquarian Society, Worcester, MA 01609, or to Rosalee Oakley, will be forwarded to the appropriate AGS office.
NEWSLETTER
OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES
DEBORAH TRASK, ED
VOLUME 11 NUMBER 4 FALL 1987
ISSN: 0146-5783
CONTENTS
BOOK REVIEWS
Cave Hill Cemetery, reviewed by Robert Wright 2
Three publications by William B. Jordan Jr. 4
ARCHIVAL ADDITIONS 5
The Lawn Marker Monuments of Southern Indiana
by James C. Jewell 8
Illinois Stones Tell a Bitter Tale
by Paula J. Fenza 10
REPORT FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR / 11
THREE MODERN SCULPTORS .' 14
VIEWPOINT 15
Where History rests 16
PRESERVATION NOITES 19
WANTED! 20
LEGISLATIVE NEWS 21
MEMBER NEWS 22
ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS TO BE PRESENTED AT THE CEMETERIES AND
GRAVEMARKERS SESSION, ACA, NEW ORLEANS, MARCH 22-26, 1988 23
CALL FOR PAPERS
The 1988 Annual Meeting of the Association for Gravestone Studies will be held from June
16th through June 19th, 1988, at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
The conference will include tours of the historically significant burial grounds around Lancaster.
Papers on any aspect of gravestone research are invited. Papers dealing with the following
topics will be especially welcome: Pennsylvania gravestones, gravestones and genealogy,
the use of gravestones in teaching, and gravestone conservation, preservation, and restoration.
The deadline for abstracts is February 1, 1988. Proposals should include a one paragraph
abstract and a brief biographical description. The abstracts and descriptions of papers selected
for the conference will be published in the 1988 program. Please indicate the nature of audio-
visual equipment which will be required.
Send Proposals to:
J. Joseph Edgette
Program Chair, 1988 AGS Conference
Loveland Hall
Widener University
Chester, PA 19103
There will be limited space for exhibitions of photographs, rubbings, castings, books, and
other items related to gravestones. To submit an exhibit proposal, contact:
Randall I. Snyder
Exhibits Chair, 1988 AGS Conference
Lancaster County Historical Society
230 North President Avenue
Lancaster, PA 1 7603-4633
For further information concerning the 1988 Association for Gravestone Studies Annual
Meeting, contact:
Thomas E. Graves
Conference Chair, 1988 AGS Conference
110 Spruce Street
Minersville, PA 17954
(717)544-6705
The 1988 AGS Meeting is co-sponsored by The Pennsylvania Folklore Society.
BOOK REVIEWS
CAVE HILL CEMETERY: A PICTORIAL GUIDE
AND ITS HISTORY
by Samuel W. Thomas, 1985
Published and Distributed by:
Cave Hill Cemetery
701 Baxter Ave.
Louisville, KY 40204
Price: 16.95, plus 2.00 for postage & handling.
Entrance Building, 1880, by W. H. Redin,
clock added to tower in 1892,
Book review and photographs by Robert A. Wright
Recently I received my copy of Cave Hill Cemetery in the mail and was delighted immediately
to see a handsome book. The cover's aerial photograph provides an unusual vantage point
to depict the artistry of rural cemetery design. Inside the cover, a photograph of a nineteenth-
century funeral comprises the endpapers. Before I even turned a page, it was evident this
book was elegantly designed and would contain a wealth of pictorial information. The author,
Samuel W. Thomas, also designed and produced the book, demonstrating his broad range
of talents.
Thomas provides a chronicle of Cave Hill Cemetery by using a variety of archival sources.
Historical photographs, maps, and newspaper accounts are interwoven with his commentary
and contemporary photographs to present the cemetery's evolution from a farm to a nationally
prominent rural cemetery. The book embraces all facets of Cave Hill's development including
it's origin, landscape design, grounds improvements, architectural legacy, notable interred
personages, and present-day planning for future burial needs. .
Since there are almost two hundred photographs in the book, it seems appropriate to note
their contribution and role. Certainly text and pictures are equal partners in this volume, and
Thomas deserves credit for realizing this important relationship. However, despite numerous
photographs, there are two problems related to how the photographs are used.
First, photographs often appear in poorly chosen locations. For instance, the opening "Overview"
chapter contains the origin and early history of Cave Hill. Instead of using historical visual
material to accompany the description of early graveyards and the local geography, pictures
of late-dated monuments totally irrelevent to the text were chosen. The corresponding map
and archival photographs do not appear for nearly thirty pages! Another example of ill-fated
photograph-text pairings occurs in the book's concluding chapter. Thomas engages our attention
with a fascinating discussion of stone deterioration and advances being made in conservation
techniques at the University of Louisville's geology department. Not a single photograph showing
stone decay illuminates the text, and instead color pictures of flowers slash across those pages.
Second, Thomas often fails to examine and draw conclusions from the visual evidence which
he so abundantly presents. He rarely ventures beyond using photographs for descriptive
purposes. This neglect is particularly evident regarding the cemetery's art and architecture.
For example, historical monument designs provided American nineteenth and twentieth century
monument makers with models to emulate. Although a wide variety of major monument types
are shown in the book, there is little discussion of the cultural and social significance of these
artistic derivations. This erodes the book's capacity to provide observations on the fabric of
American culture through examining pictures of cemetery monuments.
Cave Hill Cemetery has several other faults. Most notable is the misplacement of a chapter
titled, "Who Was Who?". This chapter would have been better located at the end of the book,
since it functions as an appendix presenting Louisville's history. The chapter's location interrupts
the description of the cemetery's early history.
AGS F'87 p. 2 continued
Thomas commendably gives his treatment of the rural cemetery movement a separate chapter,
indicating his aw/areness of its importance to Cave Hill. But he is incorrect in his assessment
of the rural cemetery movement in Europe, and the relationship ot American cemetery reforms
to it. Although he mentions Pere Lachaise in Paris, he dismisses Great Britain's major
contributions in developing the rural cemetery movement. He erroneously states, "Rural
cemeteries were one of the first truly American phenomenons" (p. 32). Hugh Meller's outstanding
London Cemeteries (Amersham, England: Avebury, 1981), provides contrary documentation.
Liverpool established its necropolis in 1825, and Glasgow/'s opened in 1831, the same year
as Boston's Mt. Auburn, America's first rural cemetery. The follov\/ing year, London established
its first of many early rural cemeteries by opening Kensel Green. Philadelphia's Laurel Hill,
one of America's earliest and most influential rural cemeteries, owes many of its features to
Kensel Green. The architect John Notman, an immigrant from Edinburgh, Scotland, utilized
both the grounds design and building sketches of Kensel Green for his planning of Laurel
Hill. Both Notman and another Scotsman, the horticulturist John Claudius London, greatly
influenced the landscape design of rural cemeteries in America. Thomas should reconsider
his assessment of the rural cemetery movement. Beyond a doubt it developed simultaneously
on both sides of the Atlantic, and American cemeteries were strongly influenced by British
concepts.
Finally, Thomas provides numerous newspaper accounts, but he frustrates the reader by failing
to analyze them. He feels the excerpts "all reflect a different time which I will not pretend
to retell in paraphrase" (p. 7), and so again limits archival materials to descriptive purposes.
For instance, a clipping from 1870 states, "For the first time in the history of the management
of Cave Hill Cemetery, the colored people were yesterday admitted to the beautiful city of
the dead and they accepted the opportunity and enjoyed the delightful scenery with evident
satisfaction." (p. 16) This potentially rich subject, like numerous others suggested by the quotes,
never receives the attention it merits. What was the role of Cave Hill within the community?
What rules and customs maintained the social standing of the institution? What reasons might
be responsible for waiting five years after the civil war's end to allow their admittance? When
were Blacks first allowed to be buried in Cave Hill?
These criticisms notwithstanding, Cave Hill Cemetery remains a valuable addition to the scant
number of books available on American rural cemeteries. The evolution of the cemetery's
improvements is particularly well developed, and contains many fine historical photographs
depicting cemetery workers. Another well developed topic explores the major funerary
monument designers of Louisville. The contemporary photographs in this section are generally
quite excellent. Finally, the publication of this book is a good example that cooperative publishing
efforts between researchers and cemetery managements can prove fruitful.
Watchman's Shelter House, 1892, by Drach S Thomas.
Robert A. Wright is a freelance photographer in Madison Wl. His paper on the tombs of
Louis Henri Sullivan will be included in Markers V.
AGS F'87 p. 3
THREE PORTLAND MAINE PUBLICATIONS
In an article titled "Triple feat from a Portland Historian", another Portland ME historian, William
David Barry, discussed the recent appearance of three publications by AGS member William
B. Jordan Jr.:
A History of Cape Elizabeth, Maine (385 pages, softcover, $20.00)
Burial Records 1717-1962 of the Eastern Cemetery, Portland, Maine (194 pages, softcover,
$14.00)
Burial Records 1811-1980 of the Western Cemetery in Portland, Maine (164 pages, softcover,
$12.00)
The first volume is the reprint of Jordan's "A History of Cape Elizabeth," first published in
1965. This time it is in paperback and while the illustrations are not as sharp as in the original,
it is a very servicable printing job. Beyond the fact that Cape Elizabeth is a most readable
volume is the more important consideration of its substance. It is among the first and best
of contemporary local histories, a model that has, alas, rarely been followed.
Some years ago Jordan published in the Maine Historical Society Quarterly a list of people
buried in Portland's historic Eastern Cemetery. Entitled "Shaking the Family Tree" the inventory
was followed by a similar project involving Western Cemetery and additional study of maps
and city records related to deaths and burials. The two present volumes are a culmination
of that remarkably detailed labor. Jordan's struggle to preserve the names of those who shaped
our history was a one-man effort, without funding from city or state, and with scant interest
from local clubs and civic groups. As a result of his work and tenacity, some 170 replacement
stones for war veterans have been supplied by the federal government and the city has begun
the task of rehabilitating a small building in Eastern Cemetery. The two new volumes, which
Jordan describes as having a "thin plot. but a great cast of characters," provide a vast amount
of information which was previously unavailable or extremely difficult to uncover. The Eastern
Cemetery book lists nearly 7000 occupants with information about age, religion, military service
and parentage when documented. This is up from the 4136 previously reported (in 1890).
Jordan has compiled records of all persons known to have been buried there, with or without
markers, those whose bodies were consigned to local medical schools, those buried in the
Alms House Yard, shipwreck and 1866 fire victims, and everyone placed in the City Tomb
whose subsequent burial place was not recorded by the city. Western Cemetery became
Portland's primary burying site in 1829, and from then until 1852 it received a majority of
the city's dead. By 1888 burials were limited to family lots or tombs, and few burials have
occurred since 1910. Though burials occurred at Eastern from the 1600's, its oldest stone
dates only to 1 71 7, and Western's to about 1811.
Order from: Heritage Books, 3602 Maureen — Suite 600, Bowie, MD 20715. Include $2.00
for postage and handling.
from Maine Sunday Telegram, August 9, 1987, and the MOCA Newsletter, Vol. XIX #4, Fall
1987.
The Practical Yankee!
Barney E. Daley, of South Windsor CT, has sent along two photos of the same stone. The
upside-down side faces east.
Old Wapping Cemetery CT
AGS F'87 p. 4
New Orleans' four-star cemetery
By Rheta Grimsley Johnson
Scripps Howard News Service
NEW ORLEANS -- Marie
Laveau, the Voodoo Queen of
New Orleans, gets little rest in
her Greek Revival tomb in the
crumbling maze that is St. Louis
Cemetery.
People use her. They come at
night and scratch four red "Xs"
on the crypt of the mysterious
woman who came to New
Orleans from Santo Domingo.
They speak a name. An
enemy's name. Then, from the
very grave, the cult queen slowly
rises to put a hex on the unlucky
soul.
Orso they say.
Some believe, or want to. The
tomb is covered with "Xs"
resembling nothing so much as a
tic-tac-toe board missing an "O"
player. The grave has become a
slate carved with ill will.
As cemeteries go, this is a four-
star. That old black magic has
you in its spell. Even in daylight,
everyone in the place looks
vaguely suspicious. Up to no
good. What a perfect trysting
spot for lovers, for drug dealers,
for mugger and victim.
The famous above-ground
tombs on New Orleans' sodden
landscape are picturesque until
you walk alone among them.
Then you seem an unwilling
pawn, moving about at the behest
of someone or something much
larger.
The cemetery is full of a varie-
ty of receptacles. There are the
empty, extant wall vaults where
bums sometimes sleep out of the
rain. And the upright graves
where time sat too long, too
heavily, until it caved in the
shrines.
Housing projects surround the
cemetery at the edge of the
French Quarter. Beyond a high
wall you hear loud voices and
boom boxes — the sounds of peo-
ple living in close quarters. In
here, where bones have been in-
terred and then swept aside to
make room for more, there is the
occasional and startling flutter of
a bird or rustle of a leaf. There is
mostly the quiet.
If there is a hierarchical
scheme to burial at St. Louis, it is
easily missed. Death seems
largely democratic.
Here lies Paul Morphy, 1837-
1884. A prodigy at chess. Morphy
was recognized in his day as the
greatest player in the world. At
age 1.3 he defeated champiun J.
Lowenthal of Hungary.
A prodigy at chess, nodding,
waiting for his next move.
Here lies Stanislaus Foarn;er,
born St. Aubin, France, 1814.
Died New Orleans, 1883. Nev.
Orleans' only commercial
clockmaker.
New Orleans' only clockmaker,
killing time in a place witliOaC
clocks.
Here lies Benjamin Henry
Boneval Latrobe, born m
England, 1764. Died New
Orleans, 1820. The architect who
designed the U.S. Capitol and the
Baltimore Cathedral.
An architect who built grand
buildings, felled by the lowly
mosquito carrying yellow fever.
Here lies Etienne Bore, first
mayor of New Orleans when
France acquired Louisiana from
Spain. The first to successfully
granulate sugar commercially.
No sweet end for him, either.
(Rheta Grimsley Johnson is a
columnist for The Commercial
Appeal at Memphis)
October 21, 1987
Needham Chronicle, Needham, tIA
ARCHIVAL ADDITIONS
The Archives had many interesting gifts over the last few months, perhaps the most important
being Dr. James A. Slater's eagerly awaited book "The Colonial Burying Grounds of Eastern
Connecticut and the Men Who Made Them", published for the Connecticut Academy of Arts
and Sciences Vol. XXI by Archon Books, Hamden CT, 1987. The photographs are by Daniel
and Jessie Lie Farber. It's a wonderful book. The first half is dedicated to the carvers, with
all that is known (and it's a great deal) about each carver and the location of his work. The
latter half of the book describes each burying ground in the designated area (roughly east
of the Connecticut River, from Old Lyme north to the Massachusetts and Rhode Island borders)
mentioning the important stones in each yard. Dr. Slater's deep appreciation of the artistry
of these early craftsmen is evident in this work. It's a fine resource for scholars but it also
rewards the browser.
Another handsome volume donated to the Archives by Barbara Rotundo, is "Building the Back
Country, an Architectural History of Davidson County, North Carolina" by Paul Baker Touart,
Davidson County Historical Association, 1987. This book documents the early architecture
of the area with photographs and an historical write-up for each entry. The old cemeteries
are included in this inventory;
A recent addition to the Archives is a copy of the "Harvard Shaker Cemetery Project" compiled
by the Boston Area Shaker Group, 1987. This is an alphabetical computerized list of names
compiled at the Harvard (MA) Shaker Cemetery. Maps of the graveyard are included. This
is a gift of Nancy Joslin.
"Arlington National Cemetery, Shrine to America's Heroes" by James Edward Peters, Woodbine
House, 1986 is a detailed history of Arlington with a large fold out map and fascinating profiles
of dozens of legendary Americans buried at Arlington. There is also a description of Arlington's
major monuments and memorials.
Marjorie Fuller donated a copy of "Poems in Stone in Stamford, Connecticut" by Jeanne
Majdalany and Jean Mullkerin, Stamford Historical Society, 1980. This collection contains 370
poems. The authors feel that although many of the verses are stock poems, the collection
of all the existing poems used during the 18th and 19th centuries reflects the religious outlook
of this group of people. Also the poems are fast disappearing and this book is a means of
preserving them.
Several interesting items were donated by Roderick Sprague, among them a master's thesis
by Kathryn Ann Lang "Coffins and Caskets: Their Contribution to the Archaeological Record".
This is a compilation of research on burial receptacles throughout history, with a focus on
the last 3 centuries.
Please address any donations or questions to Mrs. Beth Rich, Archivist, 43 Rybury Hillway,
Needham, MA 02192.
AGS F'87 p. 5
RECEIVED FOR THE ARCHIVES
The following newspaper items have been contributed by vigilant AGS members across the
continent. Because of space limitations, or repetitive story-lines, these have not been
summarized for the Newsletter, however they will all be forwarded to the Archives to become
part of that useful gravestone information resource.
"Cemeteries Don't Die, but IVIany are Forgotten" by Mary Turner, from the Arkansas Gazette,
June 19, 1987, sent by Sybil Crawford, Dallas TX.
"Very Quiet Company": a sergeant in Fort Bragg NC spends his spare time cleaning and
recording in a graveyard, from Army Times, contributed by Phil Kallas, Stevens Point Wl.
"Garfield Statue Getting All Spruced Up" an Associated Press story from Cleveland about
the renovation of the James A. Garfield Monument (Garfield was the 20th' president of the
U.S.) from a LaSalle IL newspaper, January 3, 1985, sent by Jim Jewell, Peru IL
"Care of Historic Cemetery Up To Township Voters" and "Township to Care for Cemetery",
both items by Fran Brolley in the LaSalle IL News-Tribune, August 31, and September 5, 1987,
respectively, sent by Jim Jewell, Peru IL.
"Feathered Guests Don't Fly at Cemetery" about turkeys and ducks kept as pets by a cemeterian
in Michigan, from the Chicago Tribune, July 16, 1987, sent by Jim Jewell, Peru IL.
"Landmark Status Proposed for Keansburg NJ Cemetery" by Kevin Frechette in the Shrewsbury
NJ Register, contributed by Robert Van Benthuysen, West Long Branch NJ.
"Civil War Group, Church want to Preserve Cemetery" by Frank Argote-Freyre, concerning
the abandoned Jerseyville Cemetery, Howell Township NJ, from the Ashbury Park (NJ) Press,
May 29, 1987, sent by Robert Van Benthuysen, West Long Branch NJ.
"Civil War Graves Found in Cleanup" and "Red Tape Snarls Man's Attempt to be Buried Next
to His Wife", both by Terri Somers, about the neglected Staffordville Cemetery, Eagleswood
Township NJ. from the Astibury Park (NJ) Press, June 1 4, 1 987, sent by Robert Van Benthuysen,
West Long Branch NJ.
"Liberty (Township PA) Turns Down Cemetery" by Robert Holt, about a township refusing
to assume liability for an abandoned cemetery, from the Gettysburg Times, April 8, 1987, sent
by Mira Graves, Bendersville PA.
"Lawmakers Plot Strategy for Cemetery Aid" by Ted Cohen, about discussion on the proposed
law in Maine, from the Portland ME Press Herald AprW 27, 1987, sent by Neil Jenness, Spafford
NH.
"Falling Tombstone Kills Playing Tot" which happened this summer in Williamstown MA. from
the Boston Herald, August 29, 1987, spotted by Jim Jewell, Peru IL.
"Graveyard Tracer Seeks Cemeteries" about Robert McGinnis of Knoxville TN who is transcribing
all of the gravestones in Knox County, from The Specfafor (Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill NC)
contributed by Barbara and Peggy Rotundo.
"Jewish Cemetery Restored to Grace" by Larry Finley, about the restoration of the Jewish
Graceland Cemetery in Chicago, from the Chicago Sun-Times, September 28, 1987, sent by
Jim Jewell, Peru IL.
"Battle to Save French Cemetery" about the possible closure of a pet cemetery in Asnieres,
France, from the New York Times, September 29, 1987, sent by Susan Piccirillo, Staten Island
NY.
"Students Shape Up Cemetery" by Virginia Smith, about a sixth grade class learning research
skills while cleaning and recording a cemetery, from the Columbus (AL) Ledger & Enquirer,
May 1 4, 1 987, sent by Jerry Oldshue, Tuscaloosa AL.
"Church Can't Afford to Fix Tombstones" about vandalism in a Dartmouth, Nova Scotia cemetery,
from the Bedford-Sackville Daily News, April 29, 1987, contributed by Scott Robson, Halifax,
N.S.
"Yes, Dead Men Do Tell Tales" by David Swick, about some of the more interesting gravestones
around Halifax, Nova Scotia, from the Bedford-Sackville Daily News, May 14, 1987, contributed
by Scott Robson, Halifax, N.S.
"Old cemetery Blends Art and Natural Setting" by Kevin Cook, about Washington's Oak Hill
Cemetery, and AGS member George Kackley. from the Washington Times, February 12, 1985.
"Pioneer's Final Resting Place May Be Moved" by James Sulski, about the proposed moving
of an 1855 grave from an industrial site in Chicago, from the Hammond IN Times, March
22, 1987, sent by Suzanne Geis Long, Hammond IN.
"Abandoned Cemeteries", an editorial on preserving last resting places for the future, from
the Chatham NY Courier, June 11, 1987, contributed by Betty McClave, East Nassau NY.
continued
AGS F'87 p. 6
"Old Cemetery to Rest in Peace Amid Shoppers of Another Age" by Michelle Schneider, about
a shopping center developers' commitment to preserving the Melvin-Lev\/is Cemetery near
Denver, Colorado, from the Denver Rocky Mountain News, April 14, 1987, contributed by Jim
Goble, Denver CO.
"County's Oldest Cemetery Remains in Grave Condition" by Fran Brolley about the abandoned
Rockwell Cemetery in LaSalle IL from the LaSalle News Tribune, May 23, 1987, sent by Jim
Jewell, Peru IL.
"Thirty Century-old Gravesites Discovered" about the uncovering of a burial area in preparatory
work for an expressway near Pittsburgh PA. from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 24, 1987,
sent by Jim Jewell, Peru IL.
"DAV to Renovate Veterans' Plot at Cincinnati Cemetery". The article suggests that DAV chapters
should do the same in their areas, from DAV Magazine, April 1987, contributed by Mira Graves,
Bendersville PA.
"NPS (National Park Service) Offers Reward for Information on Vandalism of Battlefield
Monument" by Bobbie Piatt, about damage to a monument at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, from
the Gettyburg Times, December 1986, sent by Mira Graves, Bendersville PA.
"Reward Offered for Capture of East Berlin Cemetery Marauders", by Janet M. Williams, about
vandalism in a Pennsylvania cemetery, from the Gettysburg Times, March 1987, sent by Mira
Graves, Bendersville PA.
"Tombstones Toppled". Vandals damaged at least 90 markers in Chicago's Montrose Cemetery,
from the Chicago Tribune, July 13, 1987, contributed by Jim Jewell, Peru IL.
"Naval Cemetery Tells Its Own Story of Halifax" — the graveyard of the British naval hospital
at Halifax, Nova Scotia, dating from 1783. The crew of the USS Chesapeake who died at
Halifax during the War of 1812 are buried here, from the Halifax Chronicle-Herald, May 25,
1987, sent by Scott Robson, Halifax, N.S.
"History Rests in Cemetery". An eighteenth century graveyard was designated an historic site
by the Historical Society of Rockland County NY. The effort to restore the cemetery was
spearheaded by AGS member Dorothy Mellett, and involved the local Lions, Boy Scouts and
Board of Cooperative Educational Services, from the Journal-News, May 21, 1987, sent by
Dorothy Mellett, Blauvelt NY.
in
Linda W. Joslin, Special Projects Coordinator for the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program
(AHPP) has written to the Newsletter looking for information on the history or origin of grave
shelters similar to the ones shown in the accompanying photo. These were photographed
in Timbo, Stone County, Arkansas. Anyone who can provide information about these grave
shelters can write to Linda at the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, Suite 200, Heritage
Center, 225 Markham, Little Rock, AR 72201.
AGS F'87 p. 7
THE LAWN MARKER MONUMENTS OF SOUTHERN INDIANA
James C. Jewell, Illinois Valley Community College, Oglesby, IL 61348.
1. Cloverdale Cemetery, Cloverdale IN
2. Mannan Cemetery, Putnam County IN
While photographing in the Cloverdale (IN) Cemetery a couple of years ago, AGS member
Leia K. Bullerdick of Poland, Indiana, came upon the Hilburn monument (Photo 1). The letters,
slightly more than a foot high, are made out of a porous-appearing concrete and are connected
by a non-porous concrete base. Unfortunately, no individual markers are in the plot so little
about its occupants can be learned (The flat marker visible to the left of the "H" is not a
Hilburn family member).
LeIa and I were photographing in some of the interesting cemeteries in the Owen-Putnam-
Clay counties of Southern Indiana in late 1986, and the Hilburn monument was on our agenda.
Before we arrived at Cloverdale, however, we stopped at the Mannan Cemetery on the Owen-
Putnam county line. There we discovered the unusual monument of Kelly Ross Miley (Photo
2).i
The letters on the Miley stone are slightly under a foot high but are made of the same material
— as are the bases — as the Hilburn marker. The stone shelving of the marker themselves
(as with the Hilburn stone) are quite irregular in both shape and design.
LeIa recalled having seen more of these markers; but our day of photography included a
half-dozen more cemeteries, none of which had a similar marker. One of our last stops was
the Cloverdale Cemetery, where the minister of a nearby church saw us photographing. When
he approached us to offer assistance with cemetery information, we inquired about the stone.
He assured us that this was not a Hoosier trend nor common cemetery adornment. It was,
rather, a relatively inexpensive way to provide a family marker. The two we had photographed
that day were the only two he knew of.
When LeIa told him that she was sure she'd seen more, he said that he was sure she had
— but not in cemeteries: in people's lawns! Indeed, he was correct: on the last stretch of
our journey home, we counted five lawn markers, including the Runnells and Boston lawn
adornments of Putnam and Clay counties, respectively (Photos 3 and 4).
3. Runnells family lawn marker, Putnam County IN
continued
AGS F'87 p. 8
4. Boston family lawn marker, Clay County IN
Landscaping services in the area make the lawn markers by order, affixing the individual letters
to the base as requested. They appear to be a derivative of one of the legends regarding
the origin of the term "Hoosier". Prairie residents, wary of passing strangers, would call out
"Who's there?" or "Who's here?" as travelers passed. The speed of the question, coupled
with the southern Indiana dialect, eventually evolved into "Whooseer?", then "Hoosier."^
In modern times the area shares much with its ancestral setting, including frequent extensive
distances between residences. The lawn markers help travelers unfamiliar with the area to
identify destinations.
Please inform either Leia (Box 54, Poland, IN 47868) or myself if you are aware of other lawn
marker monuments.
' Although no other information appears, it is believed that this is a marker for an individual and not one indicating
the plot of three related families. Other Mileys are buried in the cemetery, but no Ross or Kelly stones exist.
2 This is only one of many legends about the term "Hoosier".
Jaives C. Jewell is a frequent contributor to ttie Newsletter.
An opportunity has arisen for the legal acquisition of a
life-size white bronze statue. About 35-40 years ago, a
granite monument maker in Lev»/iston, Maine, was
engaged by the family owning the General Wentworth
lot in the Jackson, New Hampshire cemetery, to remove
the white bronze monument (which they did not like) and
to replace it with a conventional granite monument, which
he did. The white bronze, 10-15 feet tall on a metal base,
was pulled over by a truck; the base was scrapped, but
the statue was saved by the monument maker, Gerald
Murphy, and set up at his place of business. He has
retired and now wishes to dispose of his property. The
statue is in perfect condition, except for the upraised arm
which was damaged by the fall, and has been repaired
in a less than perfect manner. Mr. Murphy wishes to find
an appreciative home for the statue, above the profit
motive. Ernest H. Knight, Box 98, Raymond, ME 04071,
will relay any inquiries or serious offers to Mr. Murphy.
■*>;«(»«** V*l»~'''X««'e*^* "
AGS F'87 p. 9
ILLINOIS STONES TELL A BITTER TALE
by Paula J. Fenza, Oak Park IL
In addition to their historic or genealogical information, tombstones often tell fascinating personal
stories about the lives of the individuals they memorialize. One such story is a tragic tale
of justice denied as inscribed on the tombstones of two brothers, Benjamin and Thomas Lett.
The two stones, in a small rural family plot near Sandwich, Illinois, are massive affairs, each
nearly eight feet high and inscribed over their entire surfaces with minute lettering. Although
the stones are badly worn, enough of the narrative is legible to discern the story.
Benjamin Lett was a trader whose route regularly covered the Lake Michigan area. Early in
December, 1859, he set sail from Milwaukee, Wisconsin to trade along the lake shore. During
the voyage he became mysteriously ill and was brought back to Milwaukee where he died
a few days later. Despite the accounts of two physicians who stated that Lett's symptoms
were consistent with those of strychnine poisoning, a coroner's inquest judged that he died
of pneumonia. They also acquitted his travelling companion, Stewart Wilson, of any wrongdoing.
Wilson had been accused of poisoning Lett, his employer, in order to steal the proceeds of
their trading venture.
Benjamin Lett's brother, Thomas, was firmly convinced that his brother had indeed been
murdered. He devoted his life and all his personal resources to proving this; accounts in the
Milwaukee Daily Senf/ne/for December of 1859 speak of his unrelenting efforts to have the
inquest verdict overturned. Unfortunately, he failed, but even beyond his grave he fought for
justice for his brother's death.
Benjamin Lett's stone describes his life's work, his personal accomplishments, and the tragedy
of his death. It is a touching, but rational, account. Thomas Lett's stone, however, is anything
but rational. He speaks of his own efforts to see justice done, but ultimately trails off into vague
harangues about the corruptibility of the judicial system, hints that Stewart Wilson bribed the
inquest officials, and suggests that the verdict was biased by his brother's unpopular political
views (Benjamin was suspected of having participated in some shady Canadian nationalist
plots). His rumblings range from classical allegory to political oratory. It is obvious he died
fanatically obsessed by his brother's death.
Lamentably, he was probably correct. The Milwaukee Daily Sentinel for December 1 1 and
12, 1859 printed two long articles by a physician who compared the symptoms of strychnine
poisoning to those of pneumonia. A description of Benjamin's symptoms as printed in the
December 10 issue were identical to the description of strychnine poisoning. Any modern
pathologist would undoubtedly have been able to prove this beyond the shadow of a doubt.
Unfortunately, in 1859, lacking the sophisticated laboratory testing available today, the inquest
officials had to rely solely on the testimony of their coroner; for whatever his reason, the coroner
stated that Benhamin Lett had died of pneumonia. And Thomas Lett died a bitter and beaten
man.
Only their tombstones remain, silent testimony to Thomas's fight for justice.
B
I
■
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Hnuilj^
^^^^^H
^^^^^^^^^^^^Hj^iBn^'
^HI^^^H
^^^H^^^^^^H^^^HjHK * *
f'^^^^^^H^^H
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Bi^^lHi^B^ T-^
4tK *l
^^^^^H
^^^^^^^HN»«?HSm
l.tt»>^
R^^^^^^^^^^^l
^^^^^^^^mtmitniUmtttiiSS
■iM[*tt!
^^■^^^H|te»>A>w(Miir^«t)« .
'^^^
^^^^^^^^^^^^1
^^^^^^^MM»^lHlt''WI «r
^t&«e^
^^B^^^^^^^^^^^l
*- .«k, 1 .:,.
■'3
^IH
AGSF'87p. 10
CHANGE IN PRESIDENTS
Hosley steps down, Fred Oakley Appointed
Hallowe'en 1987, Enfield CT — At a meeting of the board at William Hosley's house, the
resignation of the newly appointed AGS President was unanimously accepted. Fred Oakley
was elected to the board and as President immediately following.
Hosley announced his resignation with regrets, citing difficult logistics and mounting career
obligations. "AGS is at an historic turning point", said Hosley, "What began around a table
in the library at Dublin School a decade ago, has become a national organization with a
membership nearing 1,000 and far-flung activities and programs. It is essential that board
and staff establish regular communications. How more convenient can we be than to have
elected Fred Oakley to work alongside executive director Rosalee Oakley who has served
us so well under three presidents. I am delighted with this arrangement and have offered
my full support in remaining an active member of the board."
Oakley formed a long-range planning committee and handed out board assignments. Growth
will bring changes and both Fred and Rosalee are ideally suited to guide the course.
REPORT FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Several members are speaking or have spoken to groups on gravestone topics:
Rosanne Atwood-Humes, Project Manager of the Boston Historic Burying Grounds Initiative
and Ellen Lipsey, Historic Planner for the Boston Parks and Recreation Department spoke
October 22 as part of SPNEA's Vale Lecture Series. (Society for Preservation of New England
Antiquities). Their topic is "Graven Images: Preserving Boston's Historic Burying Grounds."
Charles Marchant, Townshend VT has led two workshops during August on cemetery care
and preservation.
David Watters, Durham NH, spoke at a meeting sponsored by the New Hampshire Council
for the Humanities at Barrington NH Congregational Church, September 2 on gravestone art
and what it reveals about colonial life in NH.
The 47th Annual Meeting of the American Association for State and Local History in Raleigh
NC, Oct. 4-7 included a Roundtable Discussion on "Cemetery Survey Programs: preserving
Tombstone Data". AGS member Donna Flowers, State Coordinator of the NC Cemetery Survey
who spoke at the AGS Conference this summer, participated along with former AGS member
Ruth Little, National Register Coordinator; Michael Southern, Restoration Specialist; and C.
Michael Baker.
Loren N. Horton of Iowa City lA has delivered his program "Victorian Gravestone Symbolism"
to Iowa County genealogical societies, historical societies, Iowa chapter of the Victorian Society
in America, Elder Hostel classes, adult education classes, several Nebraska genealogical
societies and the Missouri State Genealogical Association.
ADDITIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS
Some additions need to be made to the listings in the Summer Newsletter. David Watters
and Elizabeth (Hammond) Christopher should be added to the list of members who have
served as Trustees during our ten year history. Jeanne Friend, Bronx NY should be added
to the list of Fund Drive Contributors. Miriam Silverman has been working on developing
a glossary of descriptive terms used in gravestone studies and should be added to the list
of contributors of their time and talent to AGS. Sybil Crawford (Mrs. Thomas E.), an AGS
member in Dallas, Texas has shared her enthusiasm for our Association with a number of
other organizations in which she holds memberships, asking that they insert information about
our purposes and activities in a forthcoming issue of their publication. We thank Sybil for
helping us become known to people in groups that thus far are not aware of the existence
of AGS! Sybil is also typing cemetery transcriptions for Waterloo County cemeteries in Ontario,
Canada. She has contributed copies of two transcriptions to our Archives and promises more
as they are printed. We celebrate the contributions of these members.
AGS F'87 p. 1 1
BINDERS FOR AGS NEWSLETTERS
AGS members who are looking for ways to organize their AGS Newsletters may be interested
in the following resources:
1. Legal-size 4-ring notebooks in top grade vinyl binders with 1 inch plated metal rings which
hold up to 200 sheets are available in black, light blue and gray from 20th Century Plastics.
P.O. Box 30022, Los Angeles, CA 90030.
Special Size Binders
Price each
Stock #
Size
in. 1-5
-12
3-24
5-49
50 or more
E14000
Holds 8V2
x14
$11.85
10.85
10.55
10.05
9.50
Give stock #, description, color, quantity, price each and total. Add small order processing
fee if your order is under $20. California only need add sales tax. Shipping and Handling
costs:
$ .00 to 29.00 - $4.95
29.01 to 54.00 - $5.95
54.01 to 125.00 -$8.50
125.01 to 210.00 -$12.50
2. Also available in a rust color are legal-size punchless binders with fingertip spring action
clamps on the side. These are made of flexible presstex with gloss-coated finish which resists
soiling and wipes clean. There is no need to punch holes in your Newsletters with these.
A limited number are available for $5.00 from Pat Miller, Suite 264, 36 Tamarack Avenue,
Danbury, CT 06811.
SLIDE SHOW NOW AVAILABLE FOR RENTAL
The slide presentation, "Early New England Gravestones and the Stories They Tell," with
over 100 slides and an audio tape recording is available. Rental fee is $25 plus shipping
and handling.
The presentation is authored by Laurel Gabel with slides, in addition to her own, contributed
by Vincent Luti, Ralph Tucker, Allan Ludwig, Peter Benes, Daniel Farber, Lance Mayer. The
audio tape has been professionally made with both audible and inaudible advance capabilities.
It runs 40 minutes.
The content of the presentation includes an exploration of the variety of information that can
be found on New England gravestones, their many symbols, illustrations of the work of some
of the most widely known carvers, the historical development of the materials and symbols
used on the stones. It is an excellent introduction to the early Puritan gravestones and alerts
the audience to many things for which to look when examining early markers.
At this time we have only one set available for rental, so please plan ahead and give alternative
dates in the event that it has already been scheduled. The show is mailed so you will receive
it a week ahead of your program date and you are asked to put it in the return mail the
day following your scheduled use. For additional information or to rent the slide program,
write to the Executive Director.
AGS F'87 p. 12
These are our new members through October 26. You are encouraged to look through the
list to see whether any live near you, and if they do, to write a welcoming card or letter.
Let them know they are not alone in their unique interest in old cemeteries and gravestones.
Beales, Ross W., Jr., Dept of History College" of The Holy
Cross
Worcester, MA 01610
Bradley, Jack L, 1023 North Second Street
Chillicothe,IL 61523
Brush, Stuart C, 600 Riversville Road
Greenwich, CT 06931
Burial Sites Preservation, 816 State Street
Madison, Wl 53706
Chambers, Charles E., 6347 Del Monte
Houston, TX 77057
Cheeseman, Charles, 134 West Broad Street
Burlington, NJ 08016
Christensen, Daphne, 230 Valencia
San Clemente, CA 92672
Clevenger, Dr. Sarah, 717 So. Henderson Street
Bloomington, IN 47401
Cook, Susan Hawkes, 1900 Middleton Road
Hudson, OH 44236
Davenport, David Paul, Division of Social Sciences
Laredo Junior College
Laredo, TX 78040
Dempster, Mrs. Alix F., Knox County Gray Cemetery, 543
North Broadway
Knoxville,TN 37917
Dolins, Virginia, 1902 Evva Drive
Schenectady, NY 12303
Doolittle, Sharon, 27 Kiley Street, #3
N. Providence, Rl 0291 1
Duchon, Edna, Rt. 15, Box 455, Leatherwood Ct.
Raleigh, NC 27612
Fay, Richard R., 989 Cherry Street
Winnetka, IL 60093
Finnegan, Janet R., 310 Englewood Avenue
Syracuse, NY 13207
Fisher, Peter, Box 4791, Downtown Station
Portland, ME 041 12
Fiske, Marian B., 99 Bayview Avenue
Mystic, CT 06355
Goff, Neill E., St, John's Episcopal Church, 2401 E.
Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23223
Goodrich, Victor B., 1 55 Lebanon St., Rte. 2, Box 330
Hamilton, NY 13346
Gray, Kevin E., 3 Davey Street
Simsbury, CT 06070
Heinlein, Carole, P.O. Box 1892
Key West, FL 33041
Heublein, Irene A.M., 14 Maple Street
Natick, MA01760
Hist Blandford, CEM Foundation, 250 So. Sycamore
Street
Petersburg, VA 23803
Hollandsworth, Patricia F., 2500 Marian Avenue
Lafayette, IN 47905
Jaffee, James A., 631 Midiron Drive
Kissimmee, FL 32758
Jenkins, Barbara, Pelham Historical Commission, 222
North Valley Road
Pelham, MA 01002
Jensen, Mrs. Terry, 275 Clintonville Road
North Haven, CT 06473
Johnsen, Nancy A., 821 Kains Avenue #2
Albany, CA 94706
Johnson, Robert, 634 Odell Avenue
Yonkers, NY 10710
Jones Co., Genealogical Society, c/o Renee Dooley,
Sec. P.O. Box 174
Anamosa, lA 52205
Jones, Marianne McCann, 445 5th Avenue, #12A
New York, NY 10016
Joslin, Nancy, Boston Area Shaker Study Group, 159
Thoreau Street
Concord, MA 01 742
Lewis, Miriam W., 133 Saratoga Road, D-3
Scotia, NY 12302
May, Diane, 7764 Euclid Way
Springfield, VA 22153
May, Donna, 120 Terrace Avenue
North Babylon, NY 11704
McKenna, Sheila M., 25 Second Street, #108
Hallowell, ME 04347
McManus, Thelma S., CGRS, 507 Vine Street
Doniphan, MO 63935
Miller, Orrin E., 1920 Franklin Street
Waterloo, lA 50703
Modugno, Jr., Joseph R., 18 Upham Road
Lynn, MA 01902
Moore, Kathryn, 7234 Hosier Road
Leo, In 46765
Moore, William D., Sargent Camp-RFD #3
Peterborough, NH 03458
Morin, Ellen I., 114 Baldwin Avenue
Fulton, NY 13069
Moulder, Susan Peterson, 6524 Antioch
Merriam, KS 66202
PLeddicord, Ron, 711 Timberhill Road
Chatham, IL 62629
Pohl, Roberta, 7511 Spring Lake Drive,
Bethesda,MD 20817
Quigley, Christine, 402 Clayborn Avenue
Takoma Park, MD 20912
Rice, Wayne K., 121 Sprunger Drive
Wanatah, IN 46390
Rich, Floyd (#534), 43 Rybury Hillway
Needham, MA 02192
Round Hill Cemetery Association, Round Hill
Community Church, 395 Round Hill Road
Greenwich, CT 06830
Sharp, Alice M., 242 Marlborough Street
Boston, MA 021 16
Siegfried, John H., 5000 Piedmont Avenue
Oakland, CA 94611
Smallman, Mary H., RFD 1, Box 171 B
Hermon, NY 13652
Sterling, William, 15 Crofut Place
Danbury,CT 06810
Swartz, Richard B., 3631 N. Front Street
Harrisburg, PA 17110
W.B. Wells, Heritage Foundation, P.O. Box 976
Amherst, NS, B4H 4E1, Canada
Wagner, Susan, 265A Stony Hill Road
Eatontown, NJ 07724
Wells, Gideon R., 1692 Main Street
Newington, CT06111
Wilson, Cathy A., 100 Delaware Ave, Apt. 422
Oakmont, PA 15139
MARKET SURVEY
YOUR RESPONSE IS REQUESTED
The Board of Trustees is considering the establishment of a Lending Library of basic reference
books on gravestones to be made available by mail to its members. Borrowers would pay
a small fee to cover postage, the mailer and handling. The fees would go toward purchase
of new books and replacement copies.
1. If an AGS Lending Library were made available, would you use it?
2. Have you had experience with lending libraries that you could share with us?
Please send your responses, comments and suggestions to AGS, Rosalee F. Oakley, Executive
Director, 46 Plymouth Road, Needham, MA 02192 at your earliest convenience. Your response
in large measure will determine our decision to proceed with the project.
AGSF'87p. 13
THREE MODERN SCULPTORS
Information and photographs excerpted from "Masters in Stone Magic: Sculptors
of the Barre Granite Association," an article published in Barre Life, Summer
issue, 1987.
FRANK GAYLORD
Frank Gaylord, a graduate of Temple University's Tyler
School of Art, founded the F.C. Gaylord Sculpture Studios
of Barre [Vermont] thirty years ago. His work, which
includes the relief portrait of Pope John Paul II on the
Boston Common, is seen coast to coast.
Frank Gaylord
ALCIDE FANTONI
A native of Carrara, Italy, Alcide Fantoni's lifelong career
in stone began in carving school at the side of the masters.
He left Italy in 1966 and was lured to Barre by the fine
granite there. He carves religious figures and other works
and is well known for developing an etching procedure
for hand engraving on polished granite.
Alcide Fantoni
ERIC OBERG
A fine arts graduate of the State University of New York
at Oswego, Eric Oberg began carving as an apprentice
to Frank Gaylord. He is a self-employed sculptural
contractor to granite manufacturers with plans to expand
his business into architectural work.
Eric Oberg
AGSF'87p. 14
VIEWPOINT
The following article about gravestone restoration was printed in the September issue of
Milestone, a periodical published by the American Institute of Commemorative Art (AICA). AICA
is an honorary organization whose membership is by invitation only and limited to fifty members
of the monument industry. Harvard Wood, whose work is featured in the article, is a member
of AICA. He is also a popular and active member of AGS.
The article introduces a subject about which there has been considerable heated controversy
among those interested in restoring deteriorating gravestones. The controversy centers around
two divergent viewpoints. Presented in the extreme, they are:
Gravestones are works of art. Restoring them should not include sanding or recutting,
which destroys the work of the original stonecutter.
Some gravestones are works of art; others are simply records. In either case it is better
to recut than to let the carving disappear entirely.
In between these opposing viewpoints are a host of views based on a variety of considerations.
A friendly discussion of the subject is invited. The Newsletter will publish responses it feels
will be of interest and assistance to our readers. Please limit responses to 300 words or less.
Ravaged tombstones are given new life
By Bill Walls
Sp€Clat to 7h* tnquirer
" ... to jind him busied in cleaning the moss
from the gray stones, renewing with his chisel
the half-dejaced inscriptions, and repairing the
emblems o/ death with which these simple
monuments are usually adorned."
From "Old Mortality,"
by Sir Walter Scott
Old Mortality, the character in the work by
Sir Walter Scott who traveled the backroads
of Scotland repairing and restoring tomb-
stones, would have been pleased with the
clinking sounds of shovel and chisel that
came out of the cemetery of St. Peters Church
in the Great Valley in Malvern.
Tombstones "vere being restored. The bat-
tle against time, the elements, vandals and a
more recent enemy — acid rain — was being
waged by a crew under the direction of
Harvard Wood 3d, who in the past five years
has done restorations in a nuAiber of area
cemeteries.
Wood. 41, is of the fourth generation of his
family to operate the Wood Monument Co. in
Fernwood. Ami though the family has been
in the business of sculpting and engraving
gravestones for many years, he is the first to
take up restoration work.
It has become, he said, half a business and
half a hobby, done out of love for what are
some of the oldest examples of memorial art
to be found anywhere in the country. Among
cemeteries where he has restored markers
are thi; Old C;ithedral Cemetery in Philadel-
phia, St. Davids in Wayne and several indi-
vidual family lots in old Laurel Hill Cemetery
in Philadelphia.
"Restoration is really a new fielc, because
it wasn't needed before," Wood saic. "All the
damage has been done in the last 8(i years by
the pollutants in the air and the acid rain.
Before then, there was very little wear. But
since then, there has been five time:; as much
wear."
Wood said the stones that are most affected
by the acid rain are the soft marbles and slate
and limestone common in older cemeteries.
Granite is much more resisient. Another fac-
tor determining if a stone epitaph .:arved in
1750 is to remain legible today is whether it
faces toward or away from prevailing winds.
Other elements harmlul to stone are the
freeze-thaw cycle, salt crystallization, micro-
biological activity and water leaching, ac-
cording to Wood.
"As long as we have an outline still visible,
we can recut the letters," he said while
walking among the graves of St. Peters, occa-
sionally stopping to read aloud an inscription
as if it were poetry. "And even if we can't
read what the stone originally said, often-
times it will have been recorded somewhere,
and then we can recut it and refinish the
whole stone."
It could cost anywhere from S300 to S800 to
restore stones in a three-grave, individual
family lot to their original condition. Wood
said. The restoration would be paid lor by the
owner of the grave — a church, the cemetery
management or descendants of the deceased.
Wood first washes the stone and sands it
"Then we go over it with chisels to high- -
light the lettering and design." he :;aid. "We
fill and smooth any cracks, and we may put in
a new foundation. A little effort now could
ensure another 200 years."
The oldest legible tombstone in the St.
Peters churchyard is dated 1703. Yet strange-
ly, many newer graves there are the worse
for wear.
The Rev. Frank Harron. 39, rector of St.
Peters, a historic 'old Episcopal church that
served as a hospital during the Revolution-
ary War, said the decision to have the tomb-
stones restored was made "for safety as well
as aesthetic reasons. We realized that if we
didn't do something, we would lose the lett
ing, and that part of our heritage."
As if by divine example of the importance
an identifiable gravestone can play in pres-
ent-day life, a woman entered the old church-
yard searching for a particular marker.
For three years, said Margaret Tucker Ed-
wards. 48. of Oxford, she had been looking for
the grave of a distant relative, John Tucker.
He was the missing link in the family history
that she needed for acceptance into the
Daughters of the American Revolution. She
needed proof, she said, that John Tucker
"lived and died."
And suddenly there it was. the lettering
plain as day, bold and clean "John Tucker
born 1796, died 1883." .
Edwards was speechless. "I can't believe it.
What does this mean? It means the end of a
lifetime of searching."
Standing nearby. Wood explained why the
Tucker stone was in such fine condition.
"It's granite." he said, like a man who had
all the proof that he needed to believe in his
work.
Some Ideas on the Magoun Stone
(AGS Newsletter, Summer 1987, p. 20)
Laurel Gabel of Pittsford NY writes: "The 1790 Federal Census index lists several Magoon
families in Massachusetts in Plymouth County,but none spelled Magoun. However, the 1800
Federal Census index shows a James Magoun in Plymouth Co., MA. The Rehmers might
want to look at the microfilm for Plymouth Co., MA (of 1800 Census) to learn the name of
the town or township for this James Magoun. They could then check the vital records of
that community to see if there is a 1798 death for Elizabeth and Rebekah Magoun. It is possible
that the unadorned stone pictured is a footstone and that a more complete headstone still
exists. Once the Town of residence has been established, the local historical society or town
historian can often be helpful. Sometimes the local library has information, such as town histories,
vital records, cemetery inventories, or local genealogies."
Ruth B. Mires and her husband of Georgetown DE came up with the following "clue": A Dictionary
of Scottish Emigrants to the USA, compiled and edited by Donald Whyte, F.S.A. Scot., L.H.G.,
Magna Carta Book Company, Baltimore MD 1972: Magoun, p. 209.
AGSF"87p. 15
WHERE HISTORY RESTS
kn excellent article titled "Where History Rests, four cemeteries in and around Boston offer
places to reflect on patriots and poets" was in the New York Times, August 9, 1987, by Steven
D. Stark, a Boston-based writer. This was spotted by a number of AGS members, including
Richard Welsh, Huntington NY, Robert Van Benthuysen, West Long Branch NJ, and Hugh
MacLeod of Halifax NS. Although it does contain some not very supportable generalizations,
it is mostly accurate, and does provide an historical overview of Boston area graveyards.
Cemeteries mean different things to different travelers. To some, tliey are places for establishing
links with figures from the past, whether they be George Washington or Elvis Presley. To
others, cemeteries are quiet spots for reflection, places to ponder — perhaps fittingly — the
meaning of life. But cemeteries are also museums, tableaus of the past built to last. They
not only reveal changing attitudes toward death, but also vivid glimpses into the lives of the
people who built them. A cemetery's headstones, landscapes and inscription provide a distinctive
picture of an era and region. Changing fashions in burial customs tell a story. Perhaps nowhere
is such a story better illustrated in one small area than in four cemeteries in and around
Boston. In downtown Boston lie two of the nation's oldest cemeteries — King's Chapel, the
city's first burial ground established in 1630, and the Old Granary Burying Ground, established
in 1660. Besides containing the graves of several illustrious Puritans and patriots, these burial
grounds provide fine examples of one region's way of death for almost 200 years.
Outside of Boston proper are two other illustrious cemeteries, still in active use, which pick
up the story in the 19th century and continue it to the present — spacious Mount Auburn
Cemetery in Cambridge, set up in 1831 as the nation's first planned garden cemetery, and
Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord, a country cemetery started in 1823 and containing the
graves of Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Louisa May
Alcott. The four cemeteries can all be seen in one day.
Virtually all the first inhabitants of Boston were buried in the King's Chapel Burying Ground,
now on busy Tremont Street, but 357 years ago the backyard of Isaac Johnson, one of the
city's first colonists. (The church next door, which eventually lent its name to the graveyard,
wasn't built for another 50 years.) When Johnson died in 1630, the year the city was settled
by Puritans, he was buried — according to custom — on his land. Gov. Thomas Hutchinson
later wrote in his "History of Massachusetts," "Mr. Johnson. . . was buried at the southwest
corner of his lot, and the people exhibited their attachment to him by ordering their remains
to be buried near him." Besides, Johnson lived on a hill, which not only meant that drainage
was good but also that the ground thawed early in the spring, making it easier to dig graves.
The first grave markers were wooden, which is why the oldest standing gravestone — William
Paddy's — dates no earlier than 1658. The older stones contain names but no designs; the
Puritans thought the prohibition in the Second Commandment against the use of images forbade
their use. By the late 1600's, however, Boston preachers had begun to distinguish the use
of images on municipal land — like graveyards — from their use in churches, and grave
design began to develop. Since death was equated with eternal rest, the graves imitated beds
with a head and a foot stone. Most headstones originally faced east, so as to meet the rising
sun on the Day of Judgment. The well-preserved grave carvings throughout the cemetery
display the solemn symbols the Puritans adopted to symbolize death — skulls and wings
(later replaced by crossbones), emptying hour-glasses, snuffed-out candles. The burial ground,
however, looked much different in the 17th and 18th centuries than it does today. Since
cemeteries were not places commonly visited — much less toured — the grounds were
overgrown with weeds, with graves organized haphazardly in family plots. Though the 600
stones standing today in King's Chapel — and indeed throughout most of the nation's other
Colonial cemeteries — are laid out in neat rows, that configuration reflects a 19th- and early
20th-century practice of redesigning old cemeteries to make it easier to mow the lawn. Because
of the shuffling, few of Boston's early colonists are actually buried under their markers and
many in King's Chapel are believed to be buried under the nearby sidewalk on bustling Tremont
Street. The half acre King's Chapel Burial Ground includes the graves of four of Massachusetts'
early governors — including John Winthrop — as well as of William Dawes, Paul Revere's
compatriot on the ride to Lexington in 1775. Of particular interest to many is the gravesite
of Elizabeth Pain, who died in 1704 and is reputed by some to be the model for Nathaniel
Hawthorne's Hester Prynne in "The Scarlet Letter."
A block away on Tremont Street lies the Old Granary Burying Ground, established in 1660
on two acres taken from the nearby Boston Common. Today, the Old Granary is known principally
for the patriots buried there — Samuel Adams, Paul Revere, John Hancock, James Otis and
the five victims of the Boston Massacre, whose funeral on this site attracted 10,000 angry
mourners in 1770. The cemetery also contains the grave site of Elizabeth Goose, whose son-
in-law Thomas Fleet, according to legend, compiled the nursery rhymes she had told her
grandchildren. Many historians maintain Fleet did nothing of the sort, but "Mother" Elizabeth
Goose is buried there, though her headstone no longer exists. Because the Old Granary accepted
burials into the 19th century, the headstones reflect the spirit of a later era than King's Chapel.
By the late 1700's, attitudes towards death had begun to lighten, with cherubs and happy
faces replacing the gloomy death symbols of an earlier period. After the American Revolution
and the discovery of the archeological remains at Pompeii, republican designs also came
into vogue, with urns and willows marking many tombs. Like its neighbor down the street,
the Old Granary was originally a nightmare from a landscaping perspective — overcrowded,
with little organization or grass and some graves left open.
continued
AGSF'87p. 16
In 1822, a New York City yellow fever epidemic that killed 16,000 was blamed on the city's
unsanitary cemeteries and sparked a sharp debate in Boston and elsewhere about burial
practices. With the introduction of hearses to Boston in 1796, it became possible to move
the dead more easily to burial grounds outside the city. Dr. Jacob Bigelow, a leading Bostonian,
advocated the establishment of a new type of rural cemetery, outside the city, where conditions
were better and the dead could be buried in planned, natural surroundings "with everything
that can fill the heart with tender and respectful emotions."
In an age in which the Romantics extolled the rejuvenating powers of nature. Dr. Bigelow's
idea for turning burial grounds into peaceful resting places — or cemeteries as they began
to be called — struck a chord. In 1831, the Massachusetts Horticultural Society purchased
a 72-acre tract of fields, trees and gardens in nearby Cambridge and set about planning a
peaceful community of the dead in a place it renamed Mount Auburn. Almost immediately,
the idea took hold elsewhere. According to the historian Dr. Blanche Linden-Ward, within
two decades of its founding, Mount Auburn had inspired rural cemeteries elsewhere — Laurel
Hill in Philadelphia, Green-Mount in Baltimore, Spring Grove in Cincinnati and Green-Wood
in Brooklyn. Urban cemeteries like the Old Granary in Boston were designed and cleaned
up to resemble their rural counterparts. At the same time, cemeteries like Mount Auburn with
its paths, gardens and sculpture became tourist attractions.
Though the cemetery today contains more than 81,000 graves in 170 acres in the middle
of what has become a thriving suburb of Boston, it remains a model for rural or garden cemeteries
elsewhere. With ponds, fountains, statues, lakes and more than 300 varieties of trees, the
cemetery attracts bird watchers and strollers as well as the occasional mourner, to places
named Willow Pond Knoll, Bobolink Path and Halcyon Lake. During the 19th century. Mount
Auburn became a place for prominent Bostonians to be buried. Among these are Edwin Booth,
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Amy Lowell, Joseph Story, Dorothea Dix, Mary Baker Eddy,
Winslow Homer, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and more recently, Fanny Farmer, Henry Cabot Lodge,
Felix Frankfurter and Buckminster Fuller. Simple marble monuments were the common pattern
for graves at Mount Auburn throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries. Known for their
austerity and disdain of pretension, Bostonians never went in for the large, ostentatious tombs
that became fashionable elsewhere during the Gilded Age.
About 10 miles outside of Cambridge, in Concord, lies Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, a rural burial
ground established in 1823 and the very model of a peaceful New England country cemetery.
Within its 40 rolling acres and narrow paths built for carriages stand the simple graves of
some of the country's greatest authors — Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Louisa
May Alcott and Henry David Thoreau. (Thoreau is buried about 50 yards from Samuel Staples,
the local constable who put him in jail for failing to pay his taxes in civil disobedience against
the Mexican War.) Also buried in the cemetery is the sculptor Daniel Chester French, Anne
Rainsford French, whose tombstone describes her as the first woman licensed to drive a
car in this country, and Ephraim Bull, developer of the Concord grape who never profited
from his innovation. "He sowed, others reaped," reads his tombstone.
The patterns of 20th-century tombstones in both Sleepy Hollow and Mount Auburn will
undoubtedly be more discernible to future visitors than they are to us. Today's monuments
tend to be simple, made of granite, and the large family plots of previous generations are
disappearing, a victim of increased mobility. It's still the case, however, as Hawthorne observed,
that "a grave, wherever found, provides a short and pithy sermon to the soul." The graves
of Boston speak with an eloquence all their own.
^'•:
^
^
■Ml
^'^ is
/-/..
*w^
AGSF'87p. 17
A lengthy but wonderful article, "A Lost World Interred in Berlin", by Richard Kostelanetz,
recalls a flourishing prewar Jewish community. Because of space limitations, we can only
reproduce part of this item, orginally included in the travel section of November 8, 1987 New
York Times.
contributed by Francis Y. Duval, Brooklyn NY
Before World War II, Berlin ranked among the great cities of the world, and many images
from that time are familiar to us: the grandeur of Unter den Linden, the cosmopolitan elegance
of the Hotel Adion, the brimming activity of Potsdamer Platz and Alexanderplatz. But these
places were destroyed, surviving today only in photographs that scarcely represent their grand
subjects. Nonetheless, there remains in Berlin today an artifact less familiar than the others,
but no less evocative of Berlin's prewar years, in part because it survived the war, and then
East-West politics, relatively unscathed.
That relic is the great Jewish cemetery in Weissensee, now one of the suburbs of East Berlin.
Founded in 1 880, housing more than 1 1 0,000 graves, the cemetery differs from other European
Jewish cemeteries both in its immense size and its short history.
In contrast, say, with the historic Jewish cemetery in Prague, Weissensee, as it is commonly
called, holds the graves of Berliners who lived after 1860, when German Jews received full
civic equality; it thus contains Berliners from the period when Jews, though never more than
5 percent of the population had a disproportionate presence and an unprecedented prosperity.
No graveyard anywhere known to me is quite so coherent in evoking an earlier culture.
Just inside the entrance, to the right behind the office building, is the honor row, which
is the best place to start. Here lie the graves of distinguished rabbis, educators, lawyers,
writers, scientists, artists, musicians and community leaders — among them the composer
Louis Lewandowski, the chemist Max Jaffe, the painter Lesser Ury, the philosopher Hermann
Cohen and Rabbi Leo Baeck. Just behind the honor row are the oldest stones, from the
1880's and the beginnings of Weissensee, which was founded because an earlier Jewish
cemetery, closer to the centre of Berlin, was filling its available space and could not expand
into adjacent property.
Most of the inscriptions of these gravestones are only in German, for one theme made clear
throughout this cemetery is that most of these Berlin Jews felt themselves to be very German,
loyally German.
Indeed, many of these stones identify a birthplace somewhere else, usually east of Berlin.
These Berliners wanted their descendants to feel grateful that their forebears had gotten
themselves to Berlin.
Proceed 50 yards farther into the cemetery and you will see huge mausoleums from the
late 19th century — edifices that portray not only the wealth of some German Jews but the
confidence that they must have felt in Berlin, leaving behind monuments that they thought
their relatives would visit and honor, on plots that they must have imagined would include
their children and grandchildren. In 1912, remember, the Jewish community of Berlin was
the most affluent, the most emancipated, and culturally the most prominent in Europe.
Since Weissensee belonged to the entire Jewish community, rather than to an individual
congregation, as is more customary in America, that meant that Jews from elsewhere could
also be buried there. Indeed, every member of Berlin's Jewish community was likewise entitled
to burial in Weissensee. Those who chose not to do so were either members of an ultra-
Orthodox community, Adass Jissroel, who preferred a cemetery a kilometer farther out, of
apostates who preferred interment in the public cemetery in the west of the city. The fact
that nearly all Jews were buried in Weissensee explains why it came to represent the entire
community.
At the head of the cemetery^ just inside the front gate, is a memorial to Jews murdered from
1933 to 1945. Installed by the East German government as a tribute to its own antifascism,
this monument actually misrepresents Weissensee, which is not about the Holocaust at all,
but about the lively years preceding it. Even with respect to Nazi devastation, the most affecting
artifact within the cemetery is not this slick memorial but a set of stones perhaps 50 feet
directly behind the honor row, in an area where trees are spare. Here can be found the
graves of married couples, most of them aged, who died on the same day, or within a few
days, mostly on the eve of the so-called final deportations of late October 1942. Reluctant
to leave Berlin, unable to escape from the roundups, aware that deportation probably meant
death, they sooner took their own lives. Of the more than 2,000 Jews buried in Weissensee
in that terrible year of 1942, 805 were officially classified as suicides.
One question often raised is how this cemetery managed to survive the Nazi destruction
of synagogues and other Jewish edifices. In fact, both Weissensee and the Berlin Jewish
hospital were kept running throughout the war, initially because the Nazis had to preserve
the illusion of normal life within Berlin, but also perhaps because they were afraid, not
unreasonably, of disturbing the ghosts.
continued
AGSF'87p. 18
One way that anyone visiting Berlin knows that Weissensee escaped the Allied bombing
of Berlin is the presence of tall trees, some of them majestic; trees more than 40 years old
are rare in these precincts today. -
In the course of making a film about Weissensee, I interviewed scores of Berliners about
the place. The one who fully understood the cultural significance of the place was the American
biologist Gunther Stent. Born in Berlin in 1924, exiled to America in 1938, now a professor
at the University of California in Berkeley, he tells of spending his first academic sabbatical
in Southeast Asia, where he visited the famous ruins of Ankor Wat. Travelling from there
to Europe, he visited Berlin and thus Weissensee, where his mother and grandparents were
buried.
Returning to the cemetery after many years away, he saw that trees had split his mother's
grave and thought that the place was coming to resemble Ankor Wat, a funerary city returning
to nature. As he told it, he had the impression that he "was visiting the site of some lost
civilization that had existed in some distant past, and that by looking at all these things probably
that would be the way to reconstruct that civilization that is no more." That's exactly right.
%^
PRESERVATION NEWS
A very interesting two-part article appeared in the magazine of cemetery management American
Cemetery by Associate Editor, Ruth E. Messinger, titled "What Vandalism is Doing to Our
Cemeteries" (July and August, 1987). The magazine surveyed a sampling of readers to get
an overview of the problem of vandalism and determine what can be done about it. Approximately
82% of the cemeteries surveyed reported attacks of vandalism or theft within the last few
years; fewer than 10% of this group said that the damage was slight. Several factors preventing
vandalism were cited, including effective lighting and heavy patrolling. Crime Stoppers programs,
handled by local law enforcement agencies, control crimes such as vandalism by joining with
the news media and the community to involve private citizens. Another organized approach
to vandalism, aimed at prevention, is the Neighborhood Watch program. John Dianis, executive
vice-president of the MBNA (Monument Builder of North America), said that he has not seen
any increase in damage claims lately. In fact, he said that vandalism may have declined for
several reasons: the public is becoming more educated, there are stricter laws in many states,
and apprehensions are more numerous.
American Cemetery is an informative monthly journal, available for $12.00 per year, $20.00
for 2 years (outside U.S. $14.00 per year, $24.00 for 2 years). Address correspondence to
The American Cemetery, 1501 Broadway, New York, NY 10036.
In May of 1987, staff at Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve in Antioch CA returned two
gravestones that had been given back in error to district's Rose Hill Cemetery at Black Diamond.
Return to the correct cemetery was made possible when Supervising Naturalist, Traci Gibbons,
attended a talk on cemeteries given by AGS member Mary Ellen Jones, an archivist for Bancroft
Library at University of California, Berkeley. A photo of a gravestone inscribed, "In Memory
of Hardy the Faithful," taken at the Alhambra Cemetery in Martinez, and printed in the handout
material for the talk caught Traci's eye. The upper portion of the gravestone was in storage
at Black Diamond. Other research revealed another gravestone was stored at Black Diamond.
Charlene Perry, Martinez historian, confirmed that both gravestones belonged at the Alhambra
Cemetery.
The Hardy the Faithful gravestone was returned to the McClellan Family plot. Hardy was a
black slave who travelled from Tennessee with his owners to the Clayton Valley area in Contra
Costa County. He became a free man when he arrived in California, as the state did not
recognize slavery. He elected to stay and work for the family until his death in 1877. Perry
said no one is sure when the two gravestones were taken from the graveyard. Both had been
in place when the last cemetery census was taken in 1979, she said. "Each time a gravestone
is taken, a bit of history is gone forever," said Gibbons.
from the Oakland CA Tribune, May 12, 1987, and Regional Park News, Vol. I Issue 5, May
1987, sent by Mary Ellen Jones, Orinda CA.
AGSF'87p. 19
WANTED!
In continuing my searcli for the answer of Pennsylvania's Textless gravestones, I would like
to follow-up on references from people who know bibliographic references to painted
gravestones or who know of evidence of painted stones. Please contact:
Thomas E. Graves
110 Spruce Street
Minersville, PA 17954
(717)544-6705
An intriguing inquiry has come from the Mission San Juan Capistrano Museum, Nicholas
Magalousis, Director, P.O. Box 697, San Juan Capistrano, CA 92693:
During the Mexican and Spanish period of California history is it true that only 1 marker
was placed at the site of a cemetery and was it only after the American influence that a
marker was placed at each grave?
From Palm Beach County, Florida, AGS member Fred Boughton sent the following gravestone
symbol for identification.
The emblem appears on the plain marble marker for a black woman who died in 1926.
Lucy C. Thomas
Magnolia Circle No. 341
There are no similar emblems in the area graveyards.
I have not been able to find any information on the Supreme Royal Circle of Friends. Are
there any AGS members who know of these organization or have perhaps seen a similar
Royal Circle of Friends emblem elsewhere? If so, I would like to know about it. Thank you.
Laurd Gabel, 205 Fishers Rd., Pittsford, NY 14534.
Millington (IL) Cemetery
photo by Jim Jewell
AGS F'87 p. 20
LEGISLATIVE NEWS
Tax breaks for burial sites was just one of the major components of a Wisconsin bill passed
in 1 985 to protect grave sites outside the boundaries of formal graveyards. Designed to preserve
family plots, prehistoric and historic Indian burial sites, pioneer cemeteries and abandoned
cemeteries, the bill also created a Burial Site Preservation Program, which has just been staffed.
The office will survey sites and file the paperwork necessary to gain gravesites property tax
exemption. Once a site has been listed, it cannot be disturbed without a permit from the State
Historical Society. If any activity exposes a burial site not listed, the work must stop and the
society notified immediately. For more information, contact the State Historical Society, 816
Main St., Madison, Wis., 53706.
from Preservation News, June 1987. Information on this Act was included in the AGS Newsletter
Vol. 10#4(Fa!l1986)p. 19.
Legislation which addresses a major threat to the survival of an important part of New England's
cultural patrimony — its large stock of 18th and 19th-century gravestones — was enacted
by the General Court this spring. The new law took effect May 6, immediately upon Gov.
Sununu's signature.
Sponsored by Reps. Bardsley, Gage and Flanders and by Sens. Bond and Prestly, HB 456
was drafted in response to widespread reports of the theft and attempted sale of old gravestones
throughout New England. The bill provides that anyone who interferes with a burial ground
without permission, or who possesses, offers for sale, or sells a gravestone "knowing or having
reasonable cause to know that it has been unlawfully removed from a cemetery or burial
ground" shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. The bill also provides that those convicted of a
subsequent offense will be charged with a felony.
N.H. cemetery buffs Jim and Donna-Belle Garvin live in Pembroke, across the road from a
cemetery which dates from the early 19th century. The Garvins, who have visited cemeteries
throughout New England to research the work of stonecarvers, believe that efforts must be
made to interest a larger segment of the population in graveyard preservation — a view shared
by Carleton Vance of NHOGA. The Garvins prescribe a two-pronged campaign of "citizen
vigilance;" first, identify and monitor those who may be visiting cemeteries for the wrong reasons;
second, try to make local cemetery commissioners more accountable for careful maintenance.
The New Hampshire Old Graveyard Association (NHOGA), 445 Greeley St., Manchester, NH
03102 (Carleton Vance, Secretary, 668-0048), holds meetings in various parts of the state and
publishes a newsletter. In 1984 NHOGA published its Graveyard Restoration Handboolt. An
inventory of NH cemetery inscriptions in the library of the New Hampshire Historical Society
was published in the Winter of 1975 issue of the Society's quarterly, Historical New Hampshire;
an update can be found in the Spring 1980 issue.
from Inherit New Hampshire, Vol. 11^1, Summer 1987.
An Act to provide for the Preservation and Care of Burial Places and Memorials for the Dead
(H.P. 1258 - LD. 1719) was enacted by the 112th legislature of Maine and signed by the
Governor, June 1 5, 1 987, to take effect 90 days from that date. The new law does not accomplish
all that the Maine Old Cemetery Association had hoped for, but it is a very good start, and
contains the major component MOCA sought — stiff penalties for cemetery vandalism and
theft, and provides for local authority to prosecute.
from the MOCA Newsletter, Vol. XIX, U, Fall 1987.
ARKANSAS LAW PROTECTS CEMETERIES, REQUIRES ACCESS FOR AUTOMOBILES
Some confusion exists over Arkansas law concerning cemetery regulations, according to
Attorney General Steve Clark.
During the summer months visitors often attempt to locate historic cemeteries or family burial
plots in an effort- to trace family histories, Clark said. In some cases, visitors have found
some cemeteries in the state inaccessible by vehicle or enclosed in such a way as to prevent
entering, according to the attorney general.
State law guarantees the protection of cemeteries, and makes it unlawful to construct any
fence on property used for a cemetery unless an entrance for automobiles is provided.
According to Clark, this law applies to all cemeteries except family burial plots with fewer
than three commercial grave markers and those that have not been used for burial purposes
for at least 25 years, and have not had access roads to the plot for at least 30 years.
Vandalism and disturbed grave sites are problems often encountered by visitors to remote
burial plots, Clark said. It is against state law to place brush, tree tops, rubbish or other unsightly
debris on any cemetery grounds, according to Clark.
It is also illegal to deface or remove any markers in a cemetery. Violation of these statutes
is a misdemeanor and carries a fine from $10 to $100. People who see any violations of
these cemetery laws should report them to their local law enforcement agency.
from the Arkansas Democrat, June 22, 1987, sent by Sybil Crawford, Dallas TX.
AGS F'87 p. 21
Rosanne Atwood (formerly Atwood-Humes), is now the Project Manager for the Boston Historic
Burying Ground Initiative. She is planning a Restoration Conference to be held all day on
-^ March 1 1 at the Charlestown Navy Yard, Charlestown MA on graveyard restoration — both -^
the site and the artifacts. It will include both the planning and implementation of caring for
a neglected yard.
For more information, write: Rosanne Atwood, Project Manager of Historic Burying Ground
Initiative, Boston Parks and Recreation Dept, 294 Washington St., Suite 930, Boston MA, 02108.
MEMBER NEWS
The Fall 1987 issue of Grave Matters, the newsletter for Civil War Necrolithologists, edited
by Steve Davis, 1163 Warrenhall Lane, Atlanta, GA 30319, has a special supplement. Written
by Raymond Collins of Alexandria, Virginia, who worked in Washington from 1968 to 1980
arranging for government headstones and markers for eligible individuals, this article gives
a detailed history of U.S. military gravestones.
A recent article from a Connecticut newspaper, contributed by Pat Miller, Sharon CT, features
AGS Board member James Slater:
Storrs — It seems wholly appropriate that James A. Slater's office would be in the University
of Connecticut's Life Sciences Building — right across the street from a graveyard.
Slater is a bug man by day, but by night he moonlights as one of the state's foremost authorities
on local graveyards, having recently published the 326-page "The Colonial Burying Grounds
of Eastern Connecticut and the Men Who Made Them" (Archon Books/Shoestring Press Inc.,
$65).
With his training as an entomologist — and his knowledge of classification procedures —
Slater keys in on identifying gravestone carvers and tracing the evolution of their carving
styles.
The first carver he "discovered" is still his favorite. According to Slater, Obadiah Wheeler
of Lebanon was exceptional for his influence on other carvers and his ability, late in his career,
to hammer and chisel faces of "incredible expressiveness."
We hope to be able to include a review of this long-awaited publication in the next issue
of the Newsletter
The Center for Thanatology Research, and Education in Brooklyn NY held an exhibit entitled
"Colonial Folk Art in Photographs 1653-1800" on weekends October 11 through November
1, 1987. It was an exhibit of the works of Harriette Merrifield Forbes, photographs taken from
the original glass negatives made by Mrs. Forbes, a pioneer Victorian photographer of
gravestones of early New England. This exhibit was sponsored by the Regrant Program of
BACA Brooklyn Arts Council, made possible with public funds from the Greater New York
Arts Development Fund, a, project of the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York
City Department of Cultural Affairs, with the office of the Brooklyn Borough President, Howard
Golden, as administered in Kings County by BACA and the Decentralization Program of the
NY State Council on the Arts and with the New York Life Foundation.
NEWS FROM CONECTICUT GRAVESTONES
Connecticut '87 Tours have been well attended, with 70 - 120 people at each tour. Pat Miller
is always looking for hosts/ hostesses, tour leaders, publicity helpers, etc.! Daniel Hearn has
given Connecticut Gravestones a tremendous mass of work: 2000 typed pages, reporting every
word legible on every pre-1800 Connecticut gravestone to be found — over 26,0001! He gave
Pat Miller his only copy, having thrown out his notes as he typed them up. Financial help
will be needed to get this into the AGS Archives, Connecticut libraries, genealogical societies,
etc. Pat would also like to see AGS members in Connecticut verify and add to Dan's work.
Contact Pat Miller, Connecticut Gravestones, Suite 264, 36 Tamarack Ave., Danbury, CT 0681 1.
AGS F'87 p. 22 "
CEMETERIES AND GRAVEMARKERS SECTION: AMERICAN CULTURE ASSOCIATION
ABSTRACT OF PAPERS/PRESENTATIONS
Annual Meeting
New Orleans, Louisiana, March 22-26, 1988
CLARK, Edward: English Department, Winthrop College,
Rock Hill, SC 29733
"The Role of Rubbings in Gravestone Research"
Questions such as what the researcher can learn about
gravestone material, carving technique, weathering and
clarification of obscured information will be explored.
Rubbings from various gravestones and in various colors
will be displayed, as well as slides and photographs.
EDGETTE, J. Joseph. Master of Liberal Studies Program,
Widener University, Chester, PA 19013
"Precious Memories: Motivating Forces Behind
Gravemaker Design"
When the time comes to select a gravemaker for a loved
one, much care is put into selecting the design. This
paper will concern itself primarily with the story behind
the gravemarker, and will consider a number of motivating
forces which underlie design selection.
GREENWALD, Marilyn: Department of Journalism, Ohio
University, Athens, OH 45701
"Gravestones as Indicators of Societal Trends"
This paper examines the manner in which trends in
gravestone design reflect societal trends in general.
Changes in the family unit and its socio-economic status,
moves toward increased "one stop shopping" in the
memorial industry, and reflections of the modern
individual in monument design are among the factors
considered.
HANNON, Thomas J: Department of Geography and
Environmental Studies, Slippery Rock University,
Slippery Rock, PA 16057
"Here Lies Our Ethnicity: Syrnames in Stone"
Family names on gravestones are frequently overlooked
by the researcher in necro-culture: however, they provide
a key to interpreting a region's ethnic evolution, acting
as a chronological lexicon of "sequent ethnicity." Quite
often (e.g., Pennsylvania for the settlement period prior
to 1893) no other such convenient reference is available.
HAWKER, Ron: History in Art Department,. University of
Victoria, Victoria, B.C., Canada V8S 1Y9
"The White Man's Totem Poles: Stone Grave
Monuments among the Tsimshian Indians of the
Canadian Northwest Coast, 1885-1930"
The arrival of pioneers and missionaries in Northern
British Columbia altered Tsimshian culture. As the
monument industry grew in Victoria, gravestones began
to replace wooden totem poles, although some traditional
design continued. Tsimshian and European form
combined in the 1880s and 1890s to create a unique
style of mortuary art.
LINDEN-WARD, Blanche: American Culture Program,
Emerson College, Boston, MA 02116
"Nature by Design: The Art and Landscape of Spring
Grove Cemetery"
Viewing of a 28 minute documentary video — written,
narrated and produced by Dr. Linden-Ward — on
Cincinnati's renowned Spring Grove Cemetery, one of
the original gems in America's rural cemetery movement.
MATTURRI, John: 14 Spring Street, New York, NY 10012
"Death and the Emotions in the Modern Cemetery"
Building on recent work on the history of the emotions
and emotional standards, examples of modern American
cemeteries and monuments will be examined in order
to clarify the nature of their memorial role, the ambiguities
inherent in that role, and their place within the larger
context of commercialized memorial expression.
McDowell, Peggy: Department of Fine Arts, University
of New Orleans/ Lakefront, New Orleans, LA 70148
"Walking Tour of St. Louis Cemeteries 1 and 2"
An analysis of New Orleans tomb designs, features and
characteristics, on site, in the earliest extant cemeteries
in New Orleans — St. Louis Cemetery 1 and St. Louis
Cemetery 2.
MEYER, Richard E.: English Department, Western Oregon
State College, Monmouth, OR 97361
'"Together Forever': The Contemporary Husband /Wife
Gravemarker""
The use of a single monument for a husband and wife,
while certainly not unique to this century, has in recent
decades provided a number of highly imaginative visual
and verbal metaphors to suggest the joys of a life shared
in this world and, perhaps, throughout eternity.
OPT, Susan K.: Department of Communication, The Ohio
State University, Columbus, OH 43210-1360
"Stone in America as a Change Agent"
This paper offers an alternative approach — commun-
ication — to understanding change in a specific culture.
Stone in America, the official publication of the American
Monument Association, will be viewed as a commun-
ication intervention into the community known as
monument retailers and designers, thereby influencing
trends in contemporary monument design.
RILEY, Thomas J.: Department of Anthropology, University
of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 618801
"Burial Units in Nineteenth Century America: Reflections
of Ethnic Differences in Social Organization"
Anthropological approaches to funeral behavior in the
Americas often ignore the social arrangement of burial
plots, although such behavior is linked to principles of
descent/alliance in many other cultures. This paper
examines several nineteenth century graveyards,
determining principles represented and contrasting these
with kin burial practices of the Cook Islands, Polynesia.
ROMOTSKY, Jerry: Fine Arts Department, Rio Hondo
College, Whittier, CA 90608
ROMOTSKY, Sally: English Department, California State
University Fullerton, Fullerton, CA 92634
"The Memorial Park as a Student Design Source"
Rose Hills Memorial Park is the largest cemetery in the
world. Rio Hondo College shares the Puente Hills with
this memorial park. Many sites in Whittier, California have
been utilized as design sources by art students. This study
investigates whether Rose Hills can serve as a source
for student projects.
SMITH, Bruce: Department of History, University of Notre
Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556
"A Stonecutter's Life and Art: J.E. Smith of Clinton
County, Kentucky"
Through use of oral history, primary sources research
and artifactual analysis, this study seeks to document
the life of James Edward Smith, a stonecutter and Baptist
preacher whose distinctive, handcarved gravemarkers
were placed in three cemeteries near Albany, Kentucky
between roughly 1895 and 1925.
Section Chair:
Richard E. Meyer
English Department
Western Oregon State College
Monmouth, OR 97361
AGS F'87 p. 23
U31ianSM3N
sseyy 'ja|saDJO/y\
Olf ON tl'^-i'd
3ovisod s n
•OyO llJOdd NON
60910 sseyg 'jajsaoJOM
'A)9!30s ueuenbj^uv ueojjsiuvo/o
's8!pn)S 9UO)S3AeJO JO) uoj^epossv
An article titled "Star of David Makes This Grave Unusual" by John Anderson, was sent in
by Phil Kallas of Stevens Point Wl. This story, from the Stevens Point Journal of April 24,
1987, is about a man who gives the impression in death of being Nelsonville's (Wisconsin)
lone Jew as he rests in a country cemetery, surrounded by two hundred staunch but silent
Norwegian Lutherans. A Star of David, the mark of Judaism, is carved at the top of his tombstone.
He has one of the most intriguing monuments the author has ever found in his wandering
through the county. Its uniqueness stems from the fact that Jews aren't buried in Christian
cemeteries. In fact, they have a long tradition — probably an ancient law — that calls for
their mortal remains to be placed in graveyards reserved only for members of their faith.
Whenever Jews in this area have died, their caskets have usually been taken to Milwaukee,
Wausau or Chicago for burial. Therefore, the Star of David at Nelsonville may be one-of-
a-kind in an area cemetery.
So why this lone Jew — Irving Loberg — among all the Norskies? Truth is, Irving was a
Norwegian and a Lutheran, too. But his moniker was deceiving. Here's the author's assessment:
When Irving died in the fall of 1 942, at age 55, he was eligible for a government-issued tombstone
because he had served in the Army during World War I.
It has long been customary for Uncle Sam to place either crosses or Stars of David on stones
sponsored for soldiers who have died. Obviously, the name Irving with the surname Loberg
confused a clerk who was processing the order. Ginsberg, Goldberg, Loberg. Certainly this
fellow must have been a Jew, the clerk assumed.
Anderson noticed the unusual marker when he walked through the Nelsonville Lutheran
Cemetery for the first time about 10 years ago. He started putting two and two together and
soon determined that here was a classic government booboo.
Now, one request. If any of you think it proper to try to undo the mistake on the tombstone,
please let the opportun^^y pass. The Star of David has been there for 45 years, and ail has
been well. It's a nice reminder of the brotherhood of man and of the forerunner of the Christian
faith practiced by nearly everyone in the vicinity, including Irving.
The AGS Newsletter is published quarterly as a sen/ice to members of The Association for Gravestone Studies.
The membership year begins on the date dues are received and ends one year from that date. A one-year membership
entitles the members to four issues of the Newsletter and to participation in the AGS conference in the year
membership is current Send membership fees (individual/institutional, $15: Family $25; contributing, $25) to AGS
Executive Director Rosalee Oakley, 46 Plymouth Rd., Needham. MA 02192. Back issues of the Newsletter are
available lor $3.00 per issue from Rosalee Oakley. The goal of the Newsletter is to present timely information
about projects, literature, and research concerning gravestones, and about the activities of the Association for
Gravestone Studies. It is produced by Deborah Trask, who welcomes suggestions and short contributions from
readers. The Newsletter is not intended to serve as a journal. Journal articles should be sent to Theodore Chase,
editor of Markers, the Journal of The Association for Gravestone Studies, 74 Farm St., Dover, MA 02030. Address
Newsletter contributions to Deborah Trask, editor. The Nova Scotia Museum, 1747 Summer St, Halifax, Nova Scotia,
B3H 3A6, Canada. Order Markers, the Journal of the Association for Gravestone Studies (Vol. 1, $20; Vol. 2, $15,
hardcover $25; Vol. 3, $14, hardcover $23; Vol. 4, $14.75, hardcover $23; higher prices for non-members) from
Rosalee Oakley. Send contributions to the AGS Archives to Elizabeth Rich, Archivist, 43 Rybury Hillway, Needham,
MA 02192. Address other correspondence and orders to Rosalee Oakley. Mail addressed to AGS c/o The American
Antiquarian Society, Worcester, MA 01609, or to Rosalee Oakley, will be forwarded to the appropriate AGS office.
NEWSLETTER
OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES
DEBORAH TRASK, ED.
VOLUME 12 NUMBER 1 WINTER 1987/88
ISSN: 0146-5783
CONTENTS
OLD GRAVESTONE DESIGNS IN USE TODAY 1
BOOK REVIEWS
The Colonial Burying Grounds of Eastern Connecticut
review by Paula Ingham 3
Permanent New Yorkers
review by Robert A. Wright 4
Lettering
review by Francis Y. Duval 7
MORE ABOUT BOOKS 6
ARCHIVAL ADDITIONS 8
NEWS FROM OLD CEMETERY SOCIETIES 9
FEEDBACK 10
PRESER VATION NOTES 11
CONSERVING THE TRIUMPHAL MONUMENTS OF ROME 12
DESECRATION AND DISTRUCTION,
some opinions and disturbing news 14
ANCIENT IRISH GRAVESTONES AT CLONMACNOISE 16
MORE ON FRATERNAL EMBLEMS 18
VIDEOS 19
MEMBER NEWS 20
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 23
OLD GRAVESTONE DESIGNS IN USE TODAY
From time to time various businesses and organizations adapt a gravestone design for use
in their advertising. Here are examples. The Newsletter welcomes additions.
»t-**>'>;-*-^j;s
,!-.^'i»S„i^K;.S'h'-Xfv|-«7=A?,Wxi»
Deacon Abner & Mrs. Mary Stow, 1783/86, Grafton MA.
DAVID LAWRENCE GALLERY
ANTIQUES
18th and Early 19th Century
American Decorative Arts
303B Newbury Street, Boston
236-4898
continued
Charles Stuart, 1802, Peterborough NH.
FINE SOFAS
and
WING CHAIRS
(Custom Upholstered)
FABRICS and WALLPAPER
COUNTRY CUPBOARDS
ANTIQUES
COUNTRY ACCESSORIES
Catalog and Fabric Samples $3.i
P.O. Box 500-CA
Sturbrldge, MA 01566
Route 20
The Seraph
our chairs haue wings
an American Tradition
The Oldest and Most
Recognized Name
n Authentic Country Furniture
The Seraph
P.O. Box 500
Siurhridae. MA 0156(>
Tel. (617)347.2241
New England Antiques Journal, July, 1987
1985-86 Chamber Music Series
Brick Church Meetinghouse
^ Old Deerfield, Massachusetts
lCiCLO Our Seventh Season of Fine Music
t^-- I ■ ■ . I ■■ ■ — » •' -
PHOTO EXHIBIT — "Stories in Stone: the Art of the New England Gravestone" will be on
view in the library of the North Shore Community College, Lynn MA. The photographer is
AGS member Joe Modugno, who is an English professor at the college. The exhibit contains
60 enlarged black & white and colour photos taken in Essex County and Boston MA and
some in the Connecticut valley. April 13 - June 3, open to the public.
CALL FOR PAPERS
The Association for Graveston Studies, in collaboration with the University Press of America,
publishes a journal called Markers. Four issues, each containing from five to fifteen scholarly
articles relating to many aspects of funerary art, preservation, history and origin in different
parts of the United States and other countries, have already appeared. Markers V will be
published in late 1987 or early 1988. The editor now seeks papers for Markers VI, to be
published in late 1988. Manuscripts should conform to the Chicago Manual of Style and may
be accompanied by glossy black and white prints ot black ink drawings. For further information
write or call the Association of Gravestone Studies, 46 Plymouth Road, Needham, MA 02192,
(617)455-8180.
AGSW'87/8p. 2
THE COLONIAL BURYING GROUNDS OF EASTERN CONNECTICUT
And the Men Who Made Them
by James A. Slater, photographs by Dartiel and Jessie Lie Farber
Memoirs of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, Volume XXI. Hamden, CT 06514:
Archon Books, Shoe String Press Inc., 1987. 326 p.
review by Paula Ingham
Daniel Squier stone, Birchard Plains burying ground,
Frani<lin, Connecticut; carved by Josiali Manning in 1 783.
Tliis stone, stolen from the graveyard, was returned after
local publicity. Photographi by Daniel and Jessie Lie
Farber
If you wish to have maps and specific directions to visit the pre-19th century burying grounds
of Eastern Connecticut, or a field guide to some beautiful and interesting historical sites; a
scholarly encyclopedia of the latest information on the lives and works of the stone carvers
who worked in the area; or if you wish to curl up in your arm chair and ramble through
the historic beginning of early Connecticut towns — or just enjoy the striking photographs
of early Connecticut's only remaining but swiftly fading free outdoor folk sculpture displays
— then Dr. James A. Slater's book, The Colonial Burying Grounds of Eastern Connecticut
and the Men Who Made Them, (Anchor Books, Hamden, CT 1987) is a book that you will
thoroughly enjoy.
Dr. Slater has helped to provide leadership for AGS since its beginnings, and brings to this
book not only the observational and organizational skills of the practicing taxonomist but also
the broad sweep of knowledge and associations within both the geographic area and the
subject area he has loved for so long.
The book is organized into two sections: one. The carvers, and two, The Burying Grounds.
Carvers are arranged geographically, chronologically and by the materials in which they carved.
Information includes vital statistics, relations with other carvers — and quarries; references
to style and design, signed and probated stones, many pictured examples, plus a chart of
distribution of a maker's work within the eastern Connecticut area, and it's own bibliography.
Data have been included from published and unpublished works and generous credit given
for much work-in-progress. Many windows are opened on carvers and areas inspiring the
reader's interest as a future researcher!
The burying grounds are approached alphabetically by town, and each section includes a
brief historical sketch of the town origins, descriptions of the burying grounds and important
stones in each, the direction in which stones face, and explicit directions for locating each
ground within the town.
The amount of information is staggering and would be overwhelming were it not for skillful
organization, charts and diagrams, and cross references. Yet it is in this section of cemetery
descriptions that the gentle humanity of James Slater is allowed to show through. He describes
Old Litchfield Burying Ground as "a beautiful little plot isolated from any road, lying on a
knoll surrounded by handsome trees. To even find it is a bit of a chore, but once there, the
sense of peace and solitude. . . and beauty make the search worthwhile. Come when October's
magic is on the Connecticut countryside." And elsewhere: "stones rising from warm pockets
AGSW'87/8p. 3
continued
among the snow drifts", "an April liillside brigiit witln pink phlox", "enjoy the quiet and the
song of wood peewees, towhees and red-eyed vireos" and as he scolds communities for
their "lack of pride and awareness of their rich historical past", and decries the hurly burly
and "sadomasochism" of the modern world.
Yes, this is the serious student's copiously illustrated, well-indexed reference work, but who
can resist the invitation to "Come on a late winter afternoon with a few drifts of snow in
the shadows and the brown heads of Queen Anne's lace and asters stirring in the winter
wind, and enjoy the isolation and the beautiful stones." (Paul Wheeler Burying Ground p. 281)
Dewey children (1 769- 1 776) stone, by the Pelles carver
(possibly Lebbeus Kimball), Old Trumbull Burying Ground,
Lebanon, Connecticut. Photo by Daniel and Jessie Lie
Farber.
PERMANENT NEW YORKERS:
A BIOGRAPHICAL GUIDE TO THE CEMETERIES OF NEW YORK
by Judi Culbertson & Tom Randall
Chelsea Green Publishing Co.
Chelsea, Vermont: 1987
Paperback, 16.95
Book review and photographs by Robert A. Wright
Permanent New Yorkers is the second title in a series of books "about the most interesting
cemeteries of the world's great cities". It contributes to the growing number of books about
the gravesites of notable Americans. After writing Permanent Parisians (1986), Culbertson and
Randall crossed the Atlantic to study and photograph New York cemeteries. In scarcely more
than a year, the authors produced another journalistic work that chronicles the famous historical
figures that are buried in New York. Although limited to the New York area, the book functions
as a "who's who" compendium, and as such shares common goals with more wideranging
books of this genre, such as: Here Lies America: A Collection of Notable Graves (1978),
Permanent Addresses: A Guide to the Resting Places of Famous Americans (1 983), and Project
Remember: A National Index of Gravesites of Notable Americans (1 986).
Every cemetery enthusiast's bookshelf should include Permanent New Yorkers. It is a handy
guidebook for driving or walking through the cemeteries, much like a fieldguide functions
for bird watchers. The clearly drawn maps and directions enable a person to locate the cemeteries
within the New York metropolitan area, as well as specific monuments within each cemetery.
Organized according to boroughs and other geographical areas, the book even includes subway
information within the text, a thoughtful aid to non-resident visitors. Maps of the largest
cemeteries. Green Wood and Woodlawn, are subdivided into manageable parcels, another
good idea. In addition, all cemetery maps are uncluttered with a clear alphabetical identification
system for monuments. These pragmatic design features greatly contribute to the success
of the book as a guide.
continued
AGS W'87/8 p. 4
Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx NY: Kinsley Monument,
Daniel Chester French, sculptor, 1912.
Since the publication is an illustrated guide, it seems appropriate to judge its qualities within
that context. There are numerous photographs in the book, but their quality suffers from three
problems. First, the pictures are poorly reproduced throughout the book. Second, many important
photographs are printed across the gutter of the book. For instance Richard Upjohn's Gothic
entrance gate and Robert Launitz's enthralling Charlotte Canada monument, both prominent
Green Wood landmarks, are nearly impossible to view. These examples are only two of the
many instances of this exasperating problem. Third, many of the photographs were taken
with little care for lighting. Often the monuments and mausolea are so heavily shaded that
the images provide little aesthetic or study value.
Although the authors do not pretend to have written a scholarly work, the book is in part
a study of funerary art and architecture. In this respect, the book is extremely inadequate.
Sources in the bibliography consist almost entirely of biographies, with a few social histories
thrown in for a more general overview. Very few references to previous books about cemeteries
are included; a serious fault. Certainly Victorian Cemetery Art (1972) by Edmund V. Gillon
Jr. should have been cited, particularly since many of the fine photographs in that book were
taken in New York's Green Wood and Woodlawn.
Further, the coverage of significant monuments is inconsistent. One example is the failure
to include Daniel Chester French's Kinsley memorial located in Woodlawn. (see photo) This
skillfully executed bas-relief shares many qualities with other memorials by French created
during his justifiably famous career.
Green Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn NY: Stewart Mauso-
leum, detail of cast bronze door, c. 1883, designer
unknown.
continued
AGSW'87/8p. 5
There is more than one instance of incorrect information on art and architecture in this book.
For example, in chapter six the authors discuss the notable Stewart mausoleum in Green
Wood. They write, "It is the only piece of funerary art designed by Stanford White and has
bronze doors done by sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens." (p. 62) All the information contained
in that single sentence is incorrect. White collaborated with Saint-Gaudens on several cemetery
commissions. They are well documented in John Dryfout's The Works of Augustus Saint-
Gaudens. Further, a photograph would easily have shown there is only one door. The bronze
relief plaques were designed by Saint-Gaudens in 1883, but the door was not his work. The
designer of the door could have been White, but no one knows for sure. This type of incorrect
and missing informationis damaging to the new field of cemetery studies. In this light. Permanent
New Yorkers represents a step in the wrong direction.
The authors do not successfully describe the art and architecture within the cemeteries they
present. Instead, their approach can be described as an "entertaining photojournalistic stroll"
[George Plimpton, from the cover of Permanent Parisians]. While this style makes for enjoyable
reading and provides interesting biographical nuggets, the overall effect is a cursory sketch.
Culbertson and Randall's fondness for cemeteries and a dedication to spreading their enthusiasm
for these wonderfully intriguing places is admirable. It is unfortunate that they have not taken
the time to study art history. Future books, like the one they are currently preparing on London
cemeteries, would certainly benefit from a more careful approach.
MORE ABOUT BOOKS
George Kackley, Baltimore MD, found the following notice of publication in the Princeton
Architectural Press, Fall 1987/Spring 1988 catalogue:
AMERICAN CEMETERIES
by Kenneth Jackson and Amilo Vergara
The cemetery is perhaps the most profound and revealing architectural type in America, for
it embodies the ultimate values and aspirations of our people. In American Cemeteries, Pulitzer
Prize winning historian Kenneth Jackson and photographer Camilo Vergara tour our architecture
for the dead.
Vergara's photographs show tombs of children, immigrants,- indigents and statesmen resulting
in a complex variety of sculpture and architecture. Jackson's text shows how ethnicity, race,
religion, class and fashion determine the design and location of cemeteries.
Available Summer 1988.
$25.00 paper, 93/4 x 1 1
ISBN -910413-22-3
Cemeteries of Northeast Tarrant County, Texas by Evelyn D'Arcy Cushman is now available
from the author, 4904 Wedgeview Dr., Hurst, TX 76053, telephone (817) 284-5792 for $27.50
(Texas residents add 7% tax). This hardbound book, 320 pages, contains tombstone inscriptions
from twenty-seven cemeteries in the Northeast quadrant of Tarrant County TX. Also included
is an 1895 survey map of northeast Tarrant Co., showing names and homesites of rural property
owners, and other important landmarks.
A walking tour guide to the Ancient Burying Ground in the Wethersfield Village Cemetery,
The Stone and the Spirit, 84 pages, text by Gladys G. Macdonough, photography by Charles
Reich, Daniel & Jessie Lie Farber, has been published by the Wethersfield Historical Society.
Highlighted are the histories of 26 gravestones belonging to families long associated with
Wethersfield, and the work of gravestone carvers Gershom Bartlett (1 725-1 798), Peter Buckland
(1738-1816), and Samuel Galpin (1785-1864). The guide features a complete alphabetical
directory to over 2000 gravestones from 1648-1900 with name, birth/death date and location.
Available from the Wethersfield Historical Society, 150 Main St., Wethersfield, CT 06109 (203)
529-7656 for $8.95 (non-members); $8.06 (members) (Connecticut residents add 7% sales tax)
as well as $1.50 postage and handling for 1 book, $0.50 for each additional book.
AGSW'87/8p. 6
Degering, Hermann
LETTERING (with a preface by Alfred Fairbanks)
240 blacit and white plates, 8V*" x 11 " Softcover
Pentalic Corporation, New York City, 1965
review by Francis Y. Duval
This 274 page reprint of a source book originally publislied in 1929 chronicles the evolution
of letterforms. As would be expected, it includes several photographs of stelae, monuments,
sarcophagi, vaults and gravestones spanning the 4th century B.C. to the 1750s A.D. Both texts
by Mssrs. Degering and Fairbanks, though succinct, are enlightening.
This book should prove rewarding to historically-inquisitive individuals interested in all aspects
of gravestone art. Furthermore, the voluminous documentation presented on extant examples
of several recorded visible languages on papyrus, parchment, wax, wood, leather, bronze and
stone is impressive. One regret: because of the institutional format of books of yesteryear,
one has to refer repeatedly, page by page, to the front of the book in order to match the
numbered legends to the plates.
This out-of-print book is still available while the supply lasts. It can be acquired by posting
check or money order to: Order Dep't, Taplinger Publishing Co., 132 West 22nd Street, New
York City, NY 10011. Its price is $9.95 plus $1.00 for mailing and handling. NY, NJ and CT
residents should add their respective State taxes. Outside the U.S. proper, inquiries should
be made first to the Publisher about applicable prices.
AGSW'87/8p. 7
The Colorado Council of Genealogical Societies (CCGS) began in 1980 to compile a directory
of Colorado's cemeteries. The first volume was completed and offered for sale in 1985.
The Colorado Cemetery Directory is designed to guide researchers to organizations and
individuals who have compilations of cemetery records and inscriptions. The listings are
arranged alphabetically by county and contain as much of the following information as is
currently available:
The name of the cemetery
Where it is located
What type of cemetery it is — public, family, church, etc.
A brief history — when and how it is established, date of first burial, etc.
Current status — still in use, abondoned, etc.
Custodian of records — name and address
Whether an inventory of the graves has been published and, if so, by whom and where
available.
The 630-page, hard bound volume is in a SVaxH format and gives the' above information
for over 2,300 cemeteries, single graves and memorials. It is available for $32.50 plus
$3 postage and handling from the Colorado Council of Genealogical societies. Contract
Station No. 15, P.O. Box CD-76, 6460 E. Yale Avenue, Denver, CO 80222.
A friend recently brought back a copy of John Frazee, 1790-1852, Sculptor Uom the National
Portrait Gallery in Washington, where he picked it up for $0.99. This is an exhibition catalogue,
co-published by the Gallery, the Boston Atheneum and the Smithsonian Institution (and is
probably available at this bargain price at any of these institutions). It contains an interesting
illustrated article by Dennis Montagna and Jean Henry on "John Frazee's Gravestone Carving
From 1811 to 1817". AGS members had the opportunity to see some of Frazee's signed stones
on the 1985 Conference Tour at Rahway NJ.
ARCHIVES ADDITIONS:
We have received a new addition to the Archives, a hardcover edition of Tombstones of Mathews
County, Virginia 1711-1986, published by the Mathews County Historical Society. It is a gift
from Christine Sheridan, one of the two compilers of the book. The second compiler and
typist of the copy is Elsie E. Ernst. Charles W. Worden was the photographer who recorded
64 photos of gravestones and burial sites along with other illustrations throughout the book.
The county's early history, discussion of the materials available and imported to that area,
carving designs, historic personages, military stones, causes of death, and 23 identified stone
cutters are among the subjects discussed in the illustrated first part of the book.
Part Two is the recording of the tombstone data. The county is divided into 45 sections. Each
section has a map showing the location of the cemeteries whose stones have been recorded.
The route number is given, notes about the cemetery and sometimes about the individual
gravesites are included. Names, dates, epitaphs and any other information on the stone is
given for each stone found. Photographs of rubbings taken from the stones are scattered
through the records, making the book attractive throughout.
We thank Christine Sheridan, AGS member in Brevard NC for this fine gift.
Sybil Crawford of Dallas, Texas has been typing cemetery records that have been recorded
by volunteers in Ontario, Canada. She has sent to our Archives photocopies of the cemetery
records listed below. Many include maps of the yards; all are indexed. We thank Sybil for
her contribution and are pleased to have these records in our Archives.
Waterloo County, Ontario: Doon Cemetery, Kinzie-Bean Cemetery, Linwood Cemeteries —
St. Peters Lutheran Cemetery and Linwood Union Cemetery, Hawkesville Cemetery, Pioneer
Pergola (stones moved from St. Andrew's and United Presbyterian cemeteries on High Hill
on the Gait part of Cambridge), Pinehill Cemetery.
Wellington County, Ontario: Twelve small cemeteries in Erin Township, Peel Township
cemeteries, Wellington County Home for the Aged Cemetery, Belleside Cemetery, Kenilworth
Methodist (United) Cemetery, Petherton Pioneer Baptist Cemetery, Riverstown Church of the
Good Shepherd (Anglican).
AGSW'87/8p. 8
NEWS FROM OLD CEMETERY SOCIETIES
VERMONT
There will be a restoration workshop held in conjunction with the Vermont Old Cemetery
Association (VOCA) Spring meeting. The workshop will be May 6 from 1-4 pm and 7:30-
9:30 pm. Dinner and lodging are included, for those who want it. The workshop will be in
Brookline VT and the VOCA meeting and program will be Saturday, May 7 in Guilford VT.
The program is "Cleaning Markers — Yes or No". To complete the weekend, there will also
be a tour of 6-8 cemeteries in the Athens, Windham, Grafton, Townsend area to specifically
look at soapstone markers. For costs and a more detailed schedule, write Charles E. Marchant,
VOCA Secretary, P.O. Box 132, Townsend, VT 05353 or phone (802) 365-7937.
The following letter to the Rutland VT Daily Herald, July 20, 1987, by Arthur and Frances
Hyde of Bradford VT, was sent by John Tidman of Grafton MA:
As members of the Vermont Old Cemetery Association
(VOCA) we recently read with interest the article about
the condition of the lot and marker of former Gov. Carlos
Coolidge in the old South Cemetery In Windsor, and also
the more recent article stating that a West Rutland
monument manufacturer had agreed to help restore the
site free of chatge. We applaud his generosity in helping
with this effort.
VOCA is interested in and works toward the preservation
and restoration of all old cemeteries in the state, and
some not so old. In the process we are interested in
locating on town or county maps all cemeteries, large
and small, public and private, as well as family and
individual graves so they will not be lost. In working on
this project we have become very aware of many
neglected cemeteries and find that lack of living relatives
in the area has a decided effect on concern for their
care even in the older parts of some presently used
cemeteries.
Maybe civic pride also has some part to play in the
condition of cemeteries, as does the wealth of a town.
However, a few interested citizens in a town can make
a big difference as the law does require at least minimal
care which some towns don't give. Also broken and fallen
stones can be mended and set upright at minimal cost
by interested citizens or service organizations. This takes
very little equipment lor most stones, and a minimum
of training.
Saturday,
April 16th:
Saturday,
May 21st:
Thursday,
June 16th —
Sunday,
June 19th:
Saturday,
July 16th:
Saturday,
August 20th:
Saturday,
September 17th:
Saturday,
October 15th:
1988 CONNECTICUT GRAVEYARD TOURS
10 AM — BRING YOUR LUNCH!
THE GREEN, Glastonbury CT
JESSICA SAWYER — a delightful 5th grader who will impress you with „
her depth of knowledge.
TOLLAND BURYING GROUND, Tolland/NATHAN HALE CEMETERY,
Coventry CT
DR. JAMES SLATER — author! Author! And a nice man. Bring your copy
of his book for his autograph.
AGS CONFERENCE, Franklyn PA — ask for details.
or
Explore Connecticut on your own using Dr. Slater's book as a guide.
PIERCE HOLLOW CEMETERY, South Britain CT. Near Southbury Training
School.
BESS EYRE. A Stancliff-stone day. Almost unknown carver art!
An ancient burial ground, Milford, CT
Come see an early variety of stones!
Hartland CT (next to the General Store).
PAT MILLER.
East Haddam CT
JONATHAN TWISS — a History/Genealogy Expert who will provide us
with an interesting day!
See Connecticut's early history. Meet knowledgeable people who will guide you to an
appreciation of these artifacts.
Communicate and support us. Send any information relative to old cemeteries, books and
newspaper clippings on the subject, etc. We want to protect all old cemeteries. Your tax-
deductible donations and assistance are needed and would be most appreciated.
We have an inventory of most pre-1800 gravestones in Connecticut available, but we need
help checking and adding to it. For a fee, Pat Miller can check the inventory for you genealogists!!
Plan to stay late if you're joining our April trip — we will participate in a meeting in East
Hartford. Bring your "show-and-tell" items!!
AGSW'87/8p. 9
The January 1988 issue of Inscriptions, the newsletter of the Wisconsin State Old Cemetery
Society, contains a note from the editor, long-time AGS member Phil Kallas. Phil will be stepping
down this year, after editing that newsletter for seven years.
o
'Death is
but a
fleeting
instant
that lasts
for
eternity'
NE proud nun was
carrying around a
stone head, no body
attached. Others
were handing out
literature on winged
•kull symbolism and
similarly grave toi>-
ics, and in the lobby,,
registrants from
acroes the state were
assembling for a
lively day of death,
and related items.
But do not be
deceived, said Phil
Kallas — the Wis-
consin State Old
Cemetery Society is
not a bunch of dead-
beata.
That's what we
might believe at
first, those of us who
think of cemeteries only at Halloween and
during funerals. The cemetery society,
though, is dedicated to the care and
research of old cemeteries, the people who
built them, the people who populate them
and the wonderful stories that headstones
and grave markers telL
That they met in the State Historical
Society in Madison was most appropriate.
To the society's genealogists, historians,
anthropologists and art fans, Kallas said,
"cemeteries and gravestones basically are
outdoor museums."
"You never know what you're going to
fmd when you walk into a cemetery."
Kallas, of Stevens Point used to play in
cemeteries as a child in Beaver Dam. Later
he became intrigued with gravestone carv-
ers, an interest that flowed naturally into a
study of gravestone art
Now a medically retired Vietnam veter-
an, Kallas has become something of a
gravestone expert whose writings have
appeared in regional and national publica-
tions and who frequently speaks on the
topic He is also editor of Inscriptions, the
cemetery society's newsletter dedicated to
keeping members abreast of the latest
developments in the field.
But isn't all of this cemetery stuff just
the teeniest bit macabre? Kallas says no.
"Death is but a fleeting instant," he said
carefully, "that lasts for eternity."
Then even Kallas laughed at how deep
and phony that sounded. What he meant,
he said, was that death, the reason ceme-
teries exist, eventually takes a back seat to
the history, culture, art and tradition so
eagerly sought by cemetery skulkers.
ON THIS day, Kallas was addressing
the cemetery society on how grave-
stone symbols — roses, angels, wil-
lows and other carvings — offer an under-
standing of the people buried below and
the times they lived. The rose, for example,
depicts new birth (in flowers) as well as
life's trials and tribulations (thorns).
If grave reading sounds a bit dry, be
assured that it is also rich with human
drama and even humor, though generally
cemetery jokes number about two and get
told over and over until listeners are sick to
death of them.
"Tbey always say, how many people are
dead in that cemetery?" Kallas said.
"Well, all of them."
Want more? Kallas says that a tomb-
stone is the only thing that won't say
something bad about you when you're
down. Now that's rich.
Actually, headstones are starting to say
more than they used to.
After big, ornate headstones such as
those found in Milwaukee's Forest Home
Cemetery fell from favor, Americans
turned to little, flusb-with-tbe-ground
markers that gave only names and dates.
Now, advancements in stone-carving
techniques have made it easy to personalize
markers with dogs and cats, pheasants,
hobbies, family pictures and just about
anything else.
Kallas is a fan of epitaphs as well as art
and, while he hasn't settled on his own yet,
has found a few good onesi
He likes the one in a Rbinelander ceme-
tery that reads, "So this is Arlington?" and
the Harvard professor who plastered his
many accomplishments all over four sides
of a aeven-foot-square limestone block —
in Latin.
Then there's the Indiana man, a parking
attendant, who had a parking meter built
into his headstone with the inscription,
"His time has nm out"
One modem cemetery in — where else
— C^ifomia has begun offering cUenta
headstones with audio tapes built in so that
messages from the entombed, presumably
pre-recorded, are only a touch of the but-
ton away.
That is getting a Uttle carriul away, I
guess," Kallas said.
Besides, that would spoil the ambiance
of cemeteries.
They're a place of peace and quiet,"
said Kallas. "You can go out there and be
alone with your thoughts; you can reflect'
And when you're alone in a cemetery,
who wants to ke interrupted? ^
Dennis McCann works out of The Jour-
nal's Madison Bureau and roams the state
for this column on interesting people and
places.
from Wisconsin Magazine "Milwaukee Journal",
December 13, 1987, reprinted in Inscriptions, the
newsletter of WSOCS, January 1988, V. 17 #1.
FEEDBACK
Francis Duval, of Brooklyn NY, has suggested that there is little opportunity for members to
express their views concerning the contents of the Newsletter, "good, bad or so-so". He goes
■f on to lavish praise on the editor, saying that "So far, your services have proved close to
impeccable. Barring a few boo-boos here and there over the years, you have done an exceptional
job."
Peter McCarthy, General Manager of Marvin Almont Memorials in Pueblo, Colorado writes:
The Association's newsletters are both valueable and entertaining and I find
myself using back issues as reference on things ranging from cemetery restoration
work to memorial design. I am a retail memorialist — or monument maker —
by trade and my association with AGS has been a real help professionally —
it has given to me a little of this history and tradition of the work I carry on
today.
When I spoke to AGS in 1983, I made the point that, while AGS is and will
always be primarily interested in old and rare monuments, it should not lose
sight of today's monument industry. Much of the work we do today may not
be as appealing to most AGS members as the work performed generations ago,
but I think the work we do today reflects both our times and our attitudes. Much
of the work produced in North America and Europe in the past few years is
amazing in its beauty and complexity. I hope that the work we are making now
will someday be the foundation for research and study by AGS and similar groups.
AGSW'87/8p. 10
PRESERVATION NOTES
This article was published in the January/February, 1 988, issue of Americana magazine, Volume
15, Number 6.
Saving Stones
In Connecticut towns these days,
gravestone fanciers need a keen eye to
tell a fake from an original. To protect
old tombstones from deterioration
caused by weather and pollution like
acid rain, the Association for Grave-
stone Studies is replacing the most
significant stones with concrete repli-
cas. "The copies are so realistic," says
Alfred Fredette, a member of the asso-
ciation's board, "that I've seen people
doing rubbings of them."
The master "forger" is William
McGeer, a sculptor from Holland,
Massachusetts, who hit upon a plastic
capable of producing a nonstick mold,
which does not damage the monu-
ment. He uses ready-made concrete
and applies Carbon Black, a paint ad-
ditive, to give the replicas a weath-
ered appearance. The originals can
then be removed to a local museum.
The association began duplicating
gravestones when efforts to restore
damaged stones were only partially
successful. The stones chosen for du-
plication may be the only surviving
samples of a particular design, the
oldest stones in the cemetery, or those
of prominent people.
Some communities fear the expense
of duplication, although it can be
done for as little as $200 or $300 per
stone. Others simply object to tam-
pering with the gravesites. "There are
people who feel that the stones
should remain where they were
placed, and if they erode, so be it,"
says Fredette.
McGeer disagrees: "Once you make
a copy, it's twice as durable," he
points out. "The replicas give the
originals a chance to survive."
— Joyce Parente
AGS wishes duplicating gravestones were as simple as the article says it is. We also hope
Americana's readers do not enter into projects of removing and replacing stones without looking
much more carefully into the procedures involved. On the other hand, we are pleased that
the article was published, for it will encourage preservation-minded people to consider the
removal of certain important stones to safe indoor settings. Also, it encourages us to correct
some misinformation and to offer some guidelines.
First of all. The Association for Gravestone Studies is not involved and never has been involved
in the removal and replacement procedure. The Association's only function in this area is
advisory.
We take this opportunity to outline a few advisory guidelines.
1. SELECTION. Removal of a gravestone from its original setting should be limited
to threatened stones that are deemed unusually valuable from the point of view of
the iconography or inscription.
2. HOUSING. Safe housing for a threatened stone should be arranged before other
steps are taken. The only proper housing is in institutions, such as museums, that
are able to give it the same treatment, storage, cataloging and display that is given
to other valuable artifacts. The stone is better off in the graveyard than stored forgotten
in the basement of a non-fireproof building.
3. ERECTING A REPLACEMENT MARKER. A replica or other replacement marker
should be obtained before the stone is removed, and it should be erected at the time
of the removal of the original. It should state the date of the removal of the original
and the new location of the stone.
4. REMOVAL. Depending on the location and legal status, removal can involve
considerable research, including locating and getting permission from ancestors. The
actual removal and transportation is itself a big job that must be carefully arranged.
The time involved and the cost of carrying out a removal-and-replacement procedure can
be daunting. Bill McGeer, mentioned in the Americana article, does indeed make fine replicas
at a reasonable price, but the price of the work will vary considerably depending on size
of the stone and its location. Moreover, gravestone replication is a sideline for Mr. McGeer,
and he has limited time to devote to this work. According to a recent survey, replicas made
by other sculptors and casters can run into four figures.
All in all, removal and replacement can be a valuable step in preserving an important, threatened
stone. But it is a complex process that requires careful planning.
AGSW'87/8p. 11
CONSERVING THE TRJUMPHAL MONUMENTS OF ROME
"Art Conservation — Bringing the hand of science to bear on the rock of ages" by Priscilla
Hart, in the Christian Science Monitor, December 14-20, 1987;
"New Developments in Restoring an Ancient Arch" (Reuters), from the New Yorl( Times,
December 27, 1987, sent by Barbara Rotundo, Schenectady NY.
After eight years of painstaking work, experts have almost completed restoring the ancient
Roman arch of Septimius Severus — but they discovered that some modern restoration methods
were more likely to destroy a monument than to save it.
The triumphal arch in the ancient Roman Forum was completed in A.D. 203 to celebrate the
Emperor Septimius Severus's destruction of the Parthians after a 30-year war in part of what
is now Iran. The arch was built with techniques developed by Roman military engineers. It
was completed in two years by architects and craftsmen working around the clock, and it
was covered with intricate sculpture. Lettering on top of the arch reveals an ancient crime.
Septimius Severus's son Caracalla had his brother Geta's name erased and overwritten after
he was murdered, but marks left by the original inscription can still be traced.
The ravages of pollution had destroyed more of the monument in a few years than had 17
centuries of wear and abuse, and its survival was seriously threatened. Before restoration
work began in 1979 much of the marble had deteriorated and many of the beautiful sculptures
had literally been washed away.
Roberto Nardi, the young Italian expert in charge of the restoration, said much of the marble
was like a plastic bag filled with sugar. If the surface was broken, the marble inside would
just crumble. He said 90 percent of the original outer surface on the side facing the Forum
has disappeared. In many places, where once there was intricate sculpture of bearded warriors
and battle scenes, there is now only smooth stone. Mr. Nardi's team of 18 experts established
that many preservation or restoration techniques irrevocably damage ancient monuments. In
the past, concrete and later resins were used to preserve ancient monuments. But they were
harder than the original marble and caused it to crack and decay.
"Restoration is a two-edged sword," Mr. Nardi said during a recent tour of the arch. "Done
well it can save a monument, but this is rare. Done badly it destroys the rest of the monument
and this is common. We therefore need to be cautious and go slowly." He was scathing about
some notable mistakes in Rome, saying the Antonine Column, restored in 1956 with then
fashionable resins and silicones, had been severely damaged. "Now the monument is largely
silicone surrounded by marble," he said bitterly.
After what Mr. Nardi acknowledged as errors in the first three or four years of restoration,
which required long periods of correction, his team decided that the only way to preserve
the arch was to use the same natural "breathing" materials as the ancient Romans. To repair
everything from tiny cracks to big fissures the team has used various consistencies of filler
and mortar made from water mixed with marble dust, volcanic rock, brick fragments and sand.
It was vital that the materials should be "self sacrificing" so that they deteriorated, rather than
the marble. The ancient Romans themselves helped to preserve the monument by frequent
application of a liquid made from lime, sometimes mixed with milk and honey. This was so
effective that where it remains, as a beige stain, the marks of original tools are still clearly
visible. Mr. Nardi said modern substances tended to discolor in a matter of months or years
in contrast to the 15 centuries or more of the original lime preserving liquid. He said it was
vital that this beige marking should not be removed because it continued to have a protective
effect.
Areas of the monument covered in a black crust were in fact better preserved than white
sections exposed to rain. Here the water washed away not only dirt but the marble itself
after its destruction by acid rain from industrial and vehicle fumes. The arch is so fragile
that the restorers use a light spray of water droplets propelled by compressed air to loosen
dirt before gently brushing it off.
Mr. Nardi acknowledged the disappointment of tourists who for many years have been coming
to Rome only to find important monuments shrouded in green netting and scaffolding. But
he said this was the price to be paid for preservation because before work could begin a
long period of study and cataloguing was necessary. Over six years the 3,600-square-yard
Septimius Severus arch was painstakingly drawn, photographed and computer recorded.
Restoration then moved rapidly with the restorers also recording their work in detail.
Mr. Nardi' team has completed 90 percent of the restoration of the west half of the arch.
Now their financing, from the Italian Government, has run out, so the final 10 percent will
not be completed until next year. The east side of the arch will take 12 months to restore,
but financing is unlikely to be available until 1989. Meanwhile scaffolding and netting will
continue to hide one of the marvels of ancient Rome from the eyes of frustrated tourists.
continued
AGSW'87/8p. 12
Ever since Egyptian stone workers propped up the damaged right arm of the monumental
statue of Ramses II with crude stone blocks in the 2nd millennium before Christ, civilizations
have sought ways to protect their valued monuments.
But only in the past 20 years has a "science" of stone conservation emerged as physicists,
chemists, biologists, and geologists have joined forces with art historians and archaeologists
to save stone monuments worn by age and damaged by modern pollutants.
In the early 1980s, four of Rome's most important imperial monuments were targeted for the
conservation care: the Arches of Constantine and Septimius Severus and the Columns of
Trajan and Marcus Aurelius.
All four, now shrouded in protective green netting, were built as "triumphal" monuments by
the Roman emperors whose names they bear, from Trajan (born AD 53 and emperor from
98 to 117), under whom the empire reached its largest extent, to Constantine (280-337), under
whom Christianity became the empire's religion.
The hundreds of carved marble scenes depicting the emperors' conquest of Thracians and
other foreign tribes — their heads shown staked on posts and their chests pierced with the
imperial calvary's lances — were meant to convey both Rome's unrivaled military power and
its engineering and sculpting skills. But after over 1,600 years, the monuments themselves
have been "conquered" — beaten down by exposure to diesel fuel, home heating emissions,
pelting rain, and earthquakes.
"You can't imagine what it was like when we first climbed Marcus Aurelius' Column six years
ago," said Cinzia Conti, a conservator. "We didn't have any idea what to do."
Since 1981, conservation teams numbering up to 50 members have analyzed the thick black
incrustations, lesions, pockmarks, and powdery, disintegrating surfaces, and worked to restore
the stone with laboratory-learned conservation techniques, centimeter by centimeter.
The language of conservators reveals their increasing technical approach. First, the stone
is "preconsolidated." This means that particularly weak areas that cannot even stand up to
cleaning are coated (by brush or cotton wool) with a chemical solution that penetrates the
stone and "consolidates" it. Then the stone is "nebulized" — delicately showered (under a
plastic covering) with air-compressed water propelled from hissing nozzles. This cleans the
stone with a sheet of steady mist, almost like a sauna.
The stone is then picked over and cleaned with micro-pneumatic drills, tiny rotating metal
drills, scrapers like those used by dentists to clean teeth, and simple toothbrushes.
A neutral stucco-like mixture of lime, marble, and sand powder is applied to large lesions.
Finally, the stone is "consolidated" with another deep-penetrating chemical solution, and a
final protective water-resistant covering may be applied.
But despite the high-tech advances in stone conservation, conservators of the monuments,
who will finish their work in the next two years, do not see their efforts as eternal solutions.
"We are just trying to keep things on a kind of holding pattern," said one.
Since the organic chemical compounds used to consolidate the stone will start to wear off
within 10 years, they see regular maintenance, with checkups every three to five years, as
critical.
BRASS RUBBING
Make a (K)night of it on a day's outing to tiie Washington
Catiiedral, in the nation's capital, where you'll find the
London Brass Rubbing Centre. Tucked in one of the
cathedral's stone crypts, the centre has about 65
reproduction monumental brass plates, including the
famous six-foot-two image of Sir Robert de Bures, a
knight of England's King Edward I.
Genuine buffs may spend as long as four hours doing
a rubbing of Sir Robert, who is considered by many
aficionados to be the finest military brass in existence.
Those with less time and patience can do small rubbings
in about a half hour.
The London Brass Rubbing Centre is located in the
Washington Cathedral, near the intersection of Wisconsin
and Massachusetts Aves. N.W., Washington, D.C.; (202)
364-0030. All supplies are included in the workshop fee,
which ranges from $2.50 to $25, depending on the size
and complexity of the brass you rub. Open daily 9:30
a.m. - 5 p.m.
from the National Geographic Traveller, Winter 1987-
88, sent by Chris Sweeters, Brooklyn NY, and the
brochure of the London Brass Rubbing Centre in
Washington.
AGS W'87/8p. 13
A Legacy of Ruin
By Adam Hochschild
San Francisco
hen I was a
boy, 1 some-
times visited a
house in up-
state New
York that was
Wi
just across a fence from an old. over-
grown, hillside cemetery. This grave-
yard was a beautiful place, shady on
hot days, and 1 used to love playing
there. Cemeteries are often intrigu-
ing to children, I think. They are
sometimes our first brush with the
mystery of death, and also with the
power of memory. In the dates on
tombstones is contained the message
that we all must die and the reassur-
ance that a mark will be left, our
names will be preserved. Some day
other children may play on lop of our
bones and know whose they were.
As I grew a little older, the dates on
the gravestones had more meaning. I
liked counting how long people had
lived, figuring out how old they had
been at the time of historical events I
had read about, spotting the occa-
sional birth date before 1800 and
■ imagining Ihc Civil War regiments
.that were named on veterans' tomb-
slqnes. It was in this cemetery that I
first grasped how hard life had been
'in "the old days." So many graves
'were those of children. Ofien ihese
bore the engraved phrases 19lh cen-
tury parents used to ease the pain of a
small child's death: "God has' called
,this little lamb home."
On' my vacation last summer, I
wandered through that tiny cemetery
for the first time in many years. I was
'Adam Hochschild is the founder of
Mother Jones magazine. ,
1 1 00/. ^LA$TI<y^^'|^
^JlAv-,.— r^.
shocked. Acid rain had streaked and
eroded the lettering on the grave-
stones. Some you could barely still
read, one or two not at all. In a few
decades more, many graves will be
marked only by featureless, corroded
slabs of stone. Those buried below
will be anonymous.
There was another place I visited
on the same vacation trip: an Atlan-
tic beach on the coast of Morocco. Un-
like a cemetery, a beach should be
ever-changing, with the sand always
sculpted into new shapes. But on this
one too much was permanent. All
manufactured things and almost all
plastic: bottles, combs, broken toys.
bits of fish net and the webs that hold
six packs of beverage cans together.
Some of this was left by vacation-
ers, some washed ashore from ships
at sea. Scientists tell us that most of
this stuff will last for hundreds of
years. It is not biodegradable. Be-
sides fouling beaches all over the
world, these products are taking a
heavy toll of marine life — fish, lob-
sters and crabs that ingest the small
things or get tangled up in the partic-
ularly lethal can webbing.
The same beach was flecked every-
where with tiny tar balls. These
sticky black lumps were thi:: product
of oil tankers illegally cleaning out
empty tanks at sea. According to
Moroccan friends, tankers are much
more likely to do this when offshore
from a country with a long coastline
that is loo poor to have a navy or
coast guard to police the shipping
lanes. Not wanting to get their feet
covered with tar, "most people walk-
ing on this beach wore plastic san-
dals. When worn out, lost or discard-
ed, many of these, too, will become
part of the beach's permanent plastic
flora.
What verdict do the images of that
graveyard and that beach give on our
society? What we are doing to our
worldwide environment is not only al-
tering the air we breathe and the food
we eat; it is irrevocably altering or
removirjg what we leave for people to
remember us by centuries from now.
From ruins like the Parthenon and
the Colosseum we know a lot about
the Greeks and the Romans. To fig-
ure us out, will future archeologists
have to make do with plastic webbing
and plastic sandals? For we've
created a culture — the first In his-
tory — where the refuse lasts and the
monuments dissolve. D
from the New York Times editorial page, December 7,
1987, sent by Lindy Sutton, New York NY.
DESECRATION AND DISTRUCTION
There has been a lot of recent press coverage concerning the raiding of Indian graves in
many states: Kentucky, Texas, Indiana and New Mexico.
KENTUCKY
Assault on Indian Graves
From the air, the Indian burial ground by the Ohio River in Union County, Kentucky, looks
as if it has been ravaged by giant groundhogs. But the culprits responsible for digging 400
holes are a more predatory species. Artifact hunters tore up the gravesites late last year to
excavate tomahawks, medicine pipes and other antiquities worth hundreds of dollars apiece.
Last week in Morganfield, Kentucky, ten men were charged with overturning 1,200 graves
dating back to the 15th century.
The ravaging may be the worst sacrilege ever committed against an Indian site in the U.S.
"It was total devastation," says Indian Activist Dennis Banks. "There were bones strewn all
over the place." If convicted, the grave robbers face maximum penalties of just $500 and
a one-year term for "desecration of a sacred object." Archeologists called for action in the
case, saying the digging is a violation of graves and destroys clues about early inhabitants
of the region, who may have lived there between 1450 and 1750.
from Time, February 1, 1988, contributed by Frances Duval, Brooklyn NY and the Chicago
Tribune, January 6, 1988, sent by Jim Jewell, Peru IL
AGSW'87/8p. 14
continued
This is not a new issue. An article in the Texas Historical Commission Medallion, April 1987,
notes that their archaeologists have initiated a campaign to curb the growing threat to prehistoric
Indian burial sites in Texas. Burial sites scattered across the state, all of which are sacred
to the Indian community, have been repeatedly vandalized and desecrated by looters and
artifact hunters. Especially hard hit are Caddoan burial sites in northeast Texas. The vandals
primarily desecrate burials to retrieve items such as pottery and ornaments to sell on the
commercial market. Experts say that unless something is done to curb this trend, these sites
and the irreplaceable scientific information they contain will be gone within five years.
A rash of grave robbing plagued Hendricks County recently and law enforcement officials
were chagrined that a grave robber could only be convicted of a misdeamor, which carries
a lesser penalty than a felony.
Last September, The Indianapolis Star was the first to report what became a series of 15
grave robberies in Hendricks County. Sheriff's deputies eventually found vandalized plots in
Avon, Pittsboro, Brownsburg and Plainfield.
No arrests have been made, but authorities have been investigating the case and the reports
that alleged satanic cults are responsible.
The case gained international notoriety when the Wall Street Journal carried a front page
story January 7 about the Hendricks County Sheriff's efforts to solve it.
from the Indianapolis Star, February 12, 1988, sent by Jim Jewell, Peru IL.
The Dallas Morning News of January 31, 1988, sent by Dan Roberts, Wichita Falls TX, reported
on the same problem in New Mexico.
"Graves Being looted for artifacts" — Sante Fe NM —
Each year thousands of tourists leave here clutching a newly purchased piece of Indian pottery
and the pleasant feeling of owning a small bit of genuine Southwestern culture. In doing so,
however, some are unwittingly promoting grave robbing and "the destruction of America's
past," archaeologists and law enforcement officials say.
"I'd say Santa Fe is generally recognized as a major center for sale of looted prehistoric
Indian artifacts," said archaeologist Jonathan Haas, director of programs and research at the
School of American Research. Trafficking in such artifacts — even when dealers and customers
believe them to be legal — promotes the destruction of sacred burial sites and the permanent
eradication of the archaeological record, critics charge. "I'm sure . . .(dealers and customers)
don't think about it this way — but what they're doing is condoning grave-robbing," said Thomas
Merlan, the state historical preservation officer. "What sort of people are we that we would
condone grave robbery?"
The issue is not a new one in this rich showplace of Southwestern culture, but it remains
a highly sensitive one at a time when law enforcement officials say organized looting of
Southwestern prehistoric sites is continuing at a brisk pace. In addition, the issue illustrates
a clash between the West's traditionally permissive attitude toward such "pot hunting" and
the increasing urgency felt in recent years by those who consider prehistoric sites and artifacts
too endangered to be left unregulated. "Lots of people who grew up in the West have always
viewed hunting for artifacts as a fine, wholesome family thing to do on the weekend," said
Special Agent Noel Johns of the U.S. Forest Service. "What we're trying to do is educate
the average citizen that pot-hunting on public land is illegal," he said, "while really going
after the organized, sophisticated people who make a living from looting."
At the center of the controversy are pots, baskets and other artifacts mostly made by the
Anasazi, prehistoric Indians who occupied the northern Southwest from roughly the time of
Christ until the 1500s. Over the centuries the Anasazi — precursors of the present-day Pueblo
Indians — settled over huge areas of land, especially around what is now termed the Four
Corners of New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Arizona. They left behind what archaeologists
have estimated to be more than a million ruins, shrines, graves and other sites. Many — especially
the graves — should be considered as sacred as any European cemetery, Merlan said. Many
other sites contain potentially valuable additions to the archaeological record, he said.
AGSW'87/8p. 15
ANCIENT IRISH GRAVESTONES AT CLONMACNOISE
An article about ancient irisii gravestones "l-lere Lie tlie High Kings of Ireland" by Thomas
Mallon discusses the graves of Clonmacnoise.
from the New York Sunday Times, November 17, 1985,
contributed by Roberta Halporn, Brooklyn NY.
Atiantia Oaoan
0 MilM 100
The New York Times/Nov. 17, lyij5
The monastery lies just east of a 13th-century castle whose ruins are so tilted and craggy
that they resemble a geologic formation more than medieval architecture. Clonmacnoise's
founder, St. Kieran, was born in 515, the son of a chariot builder. Legends attribute to him
an extraordinary gentleness and a Franciscan rapport with animals. He charmed the outlaw
Dermot MacCerbhaill, a contestant for the High Kingship of Ireland, who in 548 donated the
meadow for the monastery. For more than two centuries Clonmacnoise's buildings were made
of wattles, those frames of woven rods and twigs that W.B. Yeats fantasized about using for
his Innisfree cabin. Beginning in the ninth century these buildings were replaced with stone
structures, and Clonmacnoise grew to be a comunity of nearly 6,000 people, 2,500 of them
students. Its reputation as a center of learning and culture was widespread and enduring
throughout medieval Europe. Before his days at the court of Charlemagne, the great scholar
Alcuin studied there, and Charlemagne himself made presents of siver and olive oil (rare in
Ireland) to the monks.
But for all its busy population and strengthened architecture, Clonmacnoise remained constantly
vulnerable to invasion: the Vikings and the Normans, as well as hordes of native Irish, plundered
it before the 13th century, after which it went into pronounced decline. Even its church bells,
the first to ring in all Ireland, excited jealousy in some Athlone men who stole them one night;
their boat is said to have sunk beneath the guilty weight of the exploit. The English garrison
(also from Athlone) stole books and chalices and glass, as well as bells, before setting fire
to Clonmacnoise in 1552. The site eventually became a public burial ground. Many of the
gravestones have now been flattened to afford a better view of the monastery's ruins — principally
its two round towers, nine churches and three high crosses — which are maintained by the
Irish Government's Commissioners of Public Works.
Of the three crosses at Clonmacnoise, two are of particular interest. The Celtic Cross combines
the legacy of paganism and the good news of Chritianity with a circle (for the sun god) around
the plain crucifix. The grandest of the high crosses — indeed, the proudest treasure of all
Clonmacnoise — is the cross of Scriptures. Erected early in the 10th century by the Abbot
Colmon Conailleach in honor of High King Flann ("OR DO FLAND" — "Say a prayer for Flann"
— is the inscription just above the base), this cross, like the other two, is made of sandstone,
but it is eerily unweathered.by comparison. Its iconography is complex, beautifully proportioned,
precise. The carved panels depict scenes from the Passion and the Last Judgment, as well
as the founding of the monastery: St. Kieran and Dermot MacCerbhaill driving a stake into
the ground. Below a panel showing the mocking of Christ is one depicting Irish soldiers in
national dress; a scene with horses and chariots is at the base.
"Ruins of Clonmaciinois", from Ireland, Its Scenery,
Character Etc., by h/lr. & Mrs. S.C. Mali, London: Virtue
& Co., new edition c. 1850, V. II.
continued
AGSW'87/8p. 16
MylM bynte
grave slab, 800-1200 years old, displayed at site
A series of grave slabs from the early 7th to late 11th centuries has been set into the walls
of an outdoor gallery near the entrance to the site of Clonmacnoise. Their inscriptions (in
Ogham, the oldest Irish form of writing) ask the passer-by to "Pray for OToole the Craftsman"
and "Pray for Daniel." (Daniel was almost surely a European student at Clonmacnoise, as
the name — in marked contrast to today, when every Irish street has its Daniel — was then
unknown in the land.) Different tastes and patterns of grave inscription can be seen evolving
along the gallery's walls — except in those places where, earlier this year, the lastest vandals
to attack Clonmacnoise made off with some of the stones.
The Celtic roods that stand amid the monastery's ruined structures look like a burnt forest,
trellises for the spirits of the dead. There is a new graveyard as well, between the main grounds
and the Nun's Church and if you walk through its high grasses you find markers dating from
as late as the 1970's and 1960's. The two graveyards seem to exist in a land of typological
relationship to one another, old and new human testaments. But after an hour or so of wandering
between them, you feel all the dead to be one host. The vagaries of weather contribute to
this sense. "Peter Daly of Clonfanlough" died on Christmas Day, one stone tells you. But could
it really have been in 1968? Surely it must have been ages before that, so worn is the stone.
But, no, there is the date: 1968.
PROPOSED STUDY, CONSERVATION, AND INTERPRETATION OF THE SILVER CITY,
NEVADA CEMETERY
The Comstock Historic District in cooperation with the Silver City Cemetery Committee is planning
the interpretation of this historic cemetery as a permanent exhibit on the lifeways of an urban
industrial mining community. This is the beginning of a long-range effort of conservation at
the cemetery and incorporating it into the community of Silver City.
Siver City, Nevada, is approximately 25 miles southeast of Reno, NV, and 8 miles south of
Virginia City, Nevada, at the extreme western edge of the Great Basin, in the rain shadow
of the Sierra Nevadas. This is an arid environment with seasonal extremes ranging from
subfreezing snowy winters to 100 degree dry sunny summers. The cemetery is in its natural
state of mostly bare ground with occasional sagebrush and a few desert grasses.
The proposed study team consists of an historian, an historic archaeologist, a folklorist, a
publications specialist, a specialist in conservation of historic artifacts and features, and a
consultant in exhibit design.
Some specific tasks which will be undertaken are: 1) obtaining background information
concerning the cemetery and its cultural context, 2) genealogic research on the persons in
the cemetery, 3) recording the current state of material remains in the cemetery, and 4)
synthesizing a coherent body of information to be used as the basis for a walking tour pamphlet
and an interpretive plaque. Individual features in the cemetery will provide visitors with a material
link to significant local, regional, and nationally significant events and movements. Examples
are the mining history of the area, health problems, frontier demographic patterns, frontier
urbanism, the nature of ethnic populations in the region, Indian-white relations, changes in
mortuary patterns through time, identification of individuals in unmarked graves, and so on.
continued
AGSW'87/8p. 17
Simultaneously, planning will be conducted concerning appropriate measures for conserving
decaying wood, stone, and metal features, stabilizing areas threatened by grave collapse, and
restoring enclosures subject to erosion of the steep slopes present in parts of the cemetery.
Markers are both wood and stone; enclosure types are both wood and cast iron. We have
only preliminary identification of materials, and cannot provide specific stone or metal types
at this time. There are numerous depressions of unmarked graves.
The earliest grave in the cemetery, Hosea Grosh 1826-1857, was one of the first two brothers
who discovered silver at the Comstock Lode. The cemetery has been in use ever since, as
Silver City has been one of the most consistent producers of minerals in Nevada. Asa Phelps,
a veteran of the Pyramid Lake Indian war of 1860, is buried here, as are representatives of
a number of ethnic groups, fraternal organizations, and labor occupations.
If you have any interest in interpretation and restoration of Nineteenth Century mining and
frontier cemeteries, we would be happy to share ideas with you. Ronald and Ramona Reno,
P.O. Box 105, Silver City, Nevada 89428.
JESTERS, SHRINERS, DAUGHTERS OF THE NILE
by AGS research co-ordinator, Laurel Gabel
Fig. 1 Royal Order of Jesters
AGS member Jim Jewell sent a photo of this (Fig. 1) fraternal emblem that he found on a
gravestone in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The carving shows a smiling, rotly-polly man wearing an
oversized crown. Above the figure is a symbol of the Royal Order of Jesters, an organization
founded in 1911 by a group of partying Shriners. As the name implies, the main purpose
of the Royal Order of Jesters is to provide members with a good time. Only Shriners are
eligible to join the Jesters fraternal group.
The second drawing (Fig. 2) depicts the more familiar emblem of the Ancient Arabic Order
of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. Shriners, as they are commonly known, are basically a
"fun order" whose members are Masons who have attained the thirty-second degree in Scottish
Rite masonry, or the Knight Templar degree of York Rite masonry. Shriners are probably best
known today for their dedicated support of regional burn treatment centers and hospitals for
crippled children.
Female relatives of Shriners are eligible to join the Daughters of the Nile. The emblem of
their order is a white rose. If you substitute a white rose for the star in Fig. 2, you will have
the symbol associated with Daughters of the Nile.
Fig. 2 emblem of mystic sfirine
AGSW'87/8p. 18
VIDEOS
AGS now has "New England Gravestones and the Stories They Tell" in 72 x %" VHS video
cassette format. The substantial cost of this conversion, from slide-tape format to one more
convenientfor our members, was made possible by grants from the American Institute of
Commemorative Art and Fred Oakley and a matching gift from Fred's former employer, New
England Telephone. Income from rentals will be used to finance further conversions of donated
slide-tape shows. A one week rental of the Vi' cassette is $10,, and of the %", $15. Order
from the AGS Office, 46 Plymouth Rd., Needham, MA 02192.
Garden cemeteries were created in the niid-19th century to provide permanent burial
sites far removed from the congestion of the contemporary city, but they rapidly emerged
as crucibles for the development of new notions about the relationship of life and death,
the individual and nature. As built environments, moreover, they served as models for
the public parks of the late 19th century, which their popular appeal as "pleasure
grounds" and "museums without walls" foreshadowed.
"NATURE BY DESIGN: THE ART AND LANDSCAPE OF CINCINNATI'S SPRING GROVE"
discusses the history of Spring Grove cemetery and the information it provides about
patterns of 19th century taste and style, and about the development of landscape design
in America. This 28.5 minute video is available in one-half or three-quarter inch
format.
Script and narration by Blanche Linden-
Ward, Ph.D., coordinator of the program
in American Culture and Communications
at Emerson College, Boston MA 02116.
Videography by John Morgan Productions,
Newport KY 41071.
Production supervision by Jane Goetzman
of TV-Image, Cincinnati OH 45220.
Burnet Tomb
© 1985 Alan Ward
The garden cemetery movement yielded two
monuments in the history of landscape
design that continue to influence our use
of public and private space in the 20th
century. Boston's Mount Auburn defined the
"romantic" landscape, characterized by
winding roads and deep forest shade in a
naturalistic setting; Cincinnati's Spring
Grove created a more open landscape,
characterized by grassy lawns and the use
of architectural elements and ornamental
plantings to create vistas and define
space. Because the older portions of
Spring Grove were laid out in the period of
Mount Auburn's greatest influence, however,
Spring Grove contains elements of both
landscape styles and permits us to see
their similarities and differences.
IVature by Design:
the Art and Landscape of
Cincinnati's Spring Grove
Nature by Design is a project of the
Center for Neighborhood and Community
Studies at the University of Cincinnati,
Zane L. Miller and Henry D. Shapiro, co-
directors. The video was produced with
the support of the Ohio Arts Council and
the Joint Program in Human Values and
the Built Environment of the Ohio Arts
Council and the Ohio Humanities Council
c 1987 by the Center for Neighborhood
and Community Studies. All rights
reserved.
The video may be purchased @ $2 5 for
one-half inch VHS or $45 for three-
quarter inch tape (includes postage &
handling) from the Center, Cincinnati OH
45221-0373 (513-475-4505).
Rental § $2.50 plus return postage may
be arranged through the Ohio Humanities
Resource Center, 2199 E. Main, Columbus
OH 43209 (614-236-6509).
AGSW'87/8p. 19
The Story Behind the Stone: The Choir Invisible
James C. Jewell, Illinois Valley Community College, Oglesby, IL 61348
It is one of the largest and (arguably) most impressive markers in the Woodside Cemetery
of Middletown, Ohio: over six feet high and twelve feet long with a two-foot thickness. The
Wausau red granite memorial attracts attention, located as it is along the main drive through
the hundred and thirty acre cemetery. But it is the relief sculpture adorning the granite marker
that is the actual focal point. Walking closer, the viewer comes across the small stone in
the Mathews plot: HELEN/Joined the choir invisible/on Easter morning/1926-1946.
The relief sculpture is of a young woman in a choir robe holding a hymnal. Face uplifted,
with hair cascading down her back, she stands before a pipe organ. Two granite vases grace
each side of the monument.
Helen Mathews was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mathews of Middletown. An accomplished
pianist and vocalist, she was graduated from Middletown Senior High School in 1944 and
attended Lindenwood College in St. Louis, Missouri, the next year. She then returned to
Middletown to study at the city's business college.
On Easter Sunday, April 20, 1946, Miss Mathews left her home in a truck from her father's
renovating shop. She was on her way to a friend's home and then to Easter services at First
Baptist Church, where she was to sing in the choir. She was killed when her truck was struck
by a New York Central passenger train at the Wildwood Road crossing, north of Middletown.
(Information provided by Mrs. Vera Gentry, Secretary of Woodside Cemetery; and Mrs. George
Crout, historian of Middletown, Ohio. Woodside Cemetery, established in 1891, is located at
South Verity Parkway and Fourteenth Avenue on the city's northwest side.)
Helen Mathews "Joined the Choir Invisible on Easter
l\Aorning", Woodside Cemetery, Middletown OH.
GIBRALTAR
British Gravestones (April 1988). Under
the sponsorship of Earthwatch, members of this
expedition will record information about the
gravestones in this cemetery- including designs
and inscriptions, as well as the religious affilia-
tion, status and ethnic origin of the individuals
buried here. Each gravestone will be measured,
photographed and mapped to yield a layout of the
cemetery. Rubbings will be taken of faded fea-
tures. Getting there: Contact Harold Mytum,
Earthwatch, 680 Mt. Auburn St., P.O. Box 403,
\%tertown, MA 02172 (tel.) 617-926-8200.
1rom Archaeology, the journal of the Archaeological
Institute of America, V. 41, #2, March/April 1988.
MEMBER NEWS
In September 1987, AGS member Virginia Marsh received an official commendation from the
City of Sacremento CA for her "generous and exemplary efforts which have been of great
benefit to the City and the citizens of Sacremento". Virginia's volunteer work at City cemetery
(see AGS Newsletter Spring 1987, p. 11) included more than 4000 hours of research into
the cemetery records, co-ordinating the identification of every City Cemetery plot, and raising
funds through social organizations for the restoration of deteriorated plots. Congratulations
Virginia!
AGS W'87/8 p. 20
Nf^w member, Timothy J. Bindner of Richmond CA wrote the following moving narrative to
accompany his l^ember Survey to explain his interest in gravestones.
"My interest in graveyards began after I saw the "picture" of a little girl on a gravestone in
1981. Such ceramic and glazed nnetal mennorial photos are very common in local cemeteries,
especially Catholic cemeteries. My observation is that they began to be popular memorials
around 1917 or so. In those times the adhesive used to attach the pictures to the oval recess
in the gravestone was usually a plaster-like white substance, which deteriorates after anywhere
from 10 to 50 years, and the picture falls off, to be damaged, or removed, or lost. I feel the
preservation of the image — in many cases the only remaining image — of the deceased
is important. I've re-anchored several hundred loose or detached pictures using epoxy resin.
If done properly with careful cleaning it works quite well. There is much yet to be done in
this area just in preserving such images. I've only completed a systematic inspection and
work in two cemeteries and partial completion of several others. Yet there are over 30 cemeteries
in the San Francisco Bay area.
"In addition to 'replacing' ceramic photos, I do general repair work on broken and vandalized
statues, crosses, and stone work. Mainly just piecing them back together and making the
gravesite look proper again. Many cemeteries in this area have a severe recurrent vandalism
problem. (I have repaired one gravestone 4 times; several others 3 times.)
"It is my belief that all grave markers and memorials should be preserved in tribute to the
deceased. When I have the time, I direct my efforts toward that ideal. My logbook shows
a total of 1,388 repairs done so far. If I had the time I'm sure I could easily do 5,000 just
in this area. Historical value is insignificant to me. If it's a grave marker, and it's broken, I
try to fix it. I also reset, level, and locate markers, and try to assist visitors to the cemeteries.
Most gravestones in this area are "new" compared to the "museum pieces" being studied
by East Coast gravestone scholars. The oldest cemetery in this area is Mountain View in
Oakland, founded in about 1863 (I may be off by 2-5 years there). So I have no experience
at all with the rich history and symbolism I read about in Markers III. Yet my own experience
tells me that there is much work to be done and much to be preserved here in this area.
There is incredible beauty in our local cemeteries. In my 6 years of walking through them
and working in them I've never met anyone else with similar interest, so I really feel that what
I do is important.
"I'd like to hear from others especially in this area interested in this type of work. I know
I can't do it all myself.
"About two months ago I was walking through St. Mary's cemetery (on a general patrol) and
encountered a Brownie troop of about 15 girls taking gravestone rubbings. I introduced myself
and helped them do the rubbings and had a lovely time for a half hour or so. I saw a 6
year old girl, staring wide-eyed at the memorial photo of a little baby girl who died at 2, and
listened and tried to answer her questions, and realized again that what I do has value and
meaning, even if I always do it alone, and even if it is almost never noticed. She noticed
the little baby girl's picture, and the wariness in her eyes disappeared when I told her how
I'd found the picture lying in the grass, and explained to her how I cleaned it and re-anchored
it. She asked me if I knew the baby girl and I told her no, and she asked me, "then why
did you fix it up," and I told her, "because it is the right thing to do, and because you can
love anyone if your heart is willing."
AGS member Nancy Thornton, Lemont IL, noticed this article while gathering information on
Northern Illinois Cemeteries. She was looking through newspapers on microfilm on loan from
the Illinois State Historical Library. Chicago Times, Oct. 13, 1872, page 5.
"Washington D.C. Oct. 12 (Special Telegram) At noon today the secretary of war, in pursuance
of public notice, commenced opening bids for furnishing headstones for the different national
cemeteries. There were in all 174 bidders, many of whom put in quite a large number of
bids for different kinds and styles of stone. It will probably be several days before the bids
can be abstracted for the secretary of war, who has the selection of the stone and will award
the contract to the lowest responsible bidder for the character of headstone which he may
finally choose. About 125 persons, including two ladies, were present at the opening of the
bids, which range all the way from 50 cents to $15 per stone.
About 250 varieties of headstone have been placed on exhibition, with the inscriptioon, "Sacred
to the memory of John Smith." Most of them are very simple in design, but a few are tastefully
ornamented with wreaths, flowers, and patriotic symbols in relief. Among the material exhibited
are iron, granite, slate, marble, artificial stone, zinc, and sandstone. The sum of $200,000 was
appropriated by congress to supply headstones, but that this sum is inadequate will be readily
understood when it stated that over 300,000 headstones will be required. It is looked upon
as a big speculation." (In a later paragraph): "Soldiers Graves — Bids will be opened at the
quartermaster general's office today for furnushing headstones for soldiers graves."
AGS W'87/8 p. 21
NEW AGS MEMBERS
Do any of these new members live near you? If they do, how about dropping them a card
or letter to let them know you share their unique interest in gravestones.
Stephen C. Andert, Rentzelstr. 1 3 (2 Links), 2000 Hamburg
13, W. Ger. Brd.
Phyllis Ashton, #8, White Heath, IL 61884
Tracy Barber, 35 High Street, #9, Marlborough, MA 01752
Timothy Bindner, P.O. Box 1165, Richmond, CA 94802
Dan Buckman, 2036 N. 3rd Street, Milwaukee, Wl 53212
William Carman, 3142Cloverly Drive, Furlong, PA 18925
Kimberly S. Carpenter, 59 Bartlett Street, Maiden.
MA 02148
Alfred M. Collins, 44 West Duarte Rd., Apt. K-5, Arcadia,
CA 91006
Connecticut State Library, Technical Services Dept., 231
Capitol Ave., Hartford, CT 06106
George E. Crone, G. E. Crone Monument Co., 81 1 Dudley
St., Memphis, TN 38104
Evelyn D. Cushman, 4904 Wedgeview Drive, Hurst,
TX 76053
Diane S. Davis, 4219 Holborri Avenue, Annandale,
VA 22003
Loretta Barker de Santos, 337 Jefferson Avenue, Sharon,
PA 16146
Dedham Historical Society, 612 High Street, Dedham,
MA 02026
Delaware Folklife Project, Delaware Agricultural
Museum, North du Point Highway, Dover, DE 19901
Robert A. Eisenberg, 3090 Old Brookside Lane, Canan-
daigua, NY 14424
Robert Fitts, Dept. pf Anthropology, Brown Univ.,
Providence, Rl 02912
Eadie Flickinger, 1114 Harvey, Topeka, KB 66604
Kathy FIJppo, RR. 1, Box 102, Morrison, MO 65061
Martha K. Griffin, 4280 Ridge Valley Trail, Memphis,
TN 38115
Mr. & Mrs. George T. Griswold, 5150 Wolf Road, Erie,
PA 16505
Susan Griswold-Treter, 24 University Avenue, Provi-
dence, Rl 02906
Rosa Harkness, 31 Tuckerton Road, Vincentown,
NJ 08088
Prof. Owen Hawley, 401 Aurora, Mariette, OH 45750-2334
Anita Hodge, Chairman, Mahomet Township Cemetery
Trustees, RR1, Box 68, Seymour, IL 61875
Harley P. Holden, R.F.D. #1-256 A, Horse Pond Road,
Shirley Center, MA 01464
Phyllis R. Hoots, 2820 Shiloh Ch. Road, Winston-Salem,
NC 27105
Linda Howerton, 832 Marcl Court, SE, Tenino, WA 98589
Joseph P. Hussey, 311 W. 102nd Street, New York,
NY 10025
Marilyn C. Jaeger, 221 Purdue Avenue, Kensington,
CA 94708
Charles M. Joyner, P.O. Box 7463-D, Birmingham,
AL 35253
K. H. Reeson, Remco Memorials Ltd., 611 6th Avenue
E., Regina, SK S4N 5A3 Canada
Hattie Ann Kelso, 4 Broadmoor, Conway, AR 72032
Shannon Kennedy, 29060 Lund, Warren, Ml 48093
Larson-Timko Funeral Home, 20 Central Avenue,
Fredonia, NY 14063
Candita Lee, Rd. 2, Box 144, Endicott, NY 13760
Library of Michigan, Periodicals-Pop, P.O. Box 30007,
Lansing, Ml 48909
Joseph Adams Malcolm, 901 Conjurers Drive, Colonial
Heights, VA 23834
Craig A. McCraw, P.O. Box 2667, Auburn, AL 36831 -2667
Edward McLaughlin, 5703 Yates Lane, Richmond,
VA 23223
John Medallis, 248 Walnut Street, Dunellen, NJ 08812
Mission San Juan Capistrano Museum, c/o N. M.
Magalousis, Dir., P.O. Box 313,- San Juan Capistano,
CA 92693
Linda Morley, 308 Sagamore Street, Manchester,
NH 03104
Mt. Holly Cemetery Association, 1 81 7 North Monroe, Little
Rock, AR 72207
Margerate E. New, P.O. Box 6383, Mobile, AL 36660
NSDAR Library, 1776 D Street, N.W., Washington,
DC 20006-5392
Carlisle Page, c/o Elmwood Cemetery, 824 Dudley Street,
Memphis, TN 38104
Gayle G. Pezzoni, 906 Tanglewood Drive, Cary, NC 2751 1
Provincetown Cemetery Commission, Attn: Gary Budlong,
Grace Goveia BIdg., 26 Alden St., Provincetown,
MA 02657
Peter R. PrunkI, 2811 Kingsridge, Quincy, IL 62301
David H. Quiring, 9608 Aurora Avenue No., Seattle,
WA 98103
Rawlins Monuments, P.O. Box 237, Weatherford,
TX 76068
Mr. & Mrs. Ronald L Reno, P.O. Box 105, Silver City,
NV 89428
Margaret I. Reysen, 615 Willow Avenue, Hoboken,
NJ 07030
Dr. Dan Roberts, 200 Valley View Road, Wichita Falls,
TX 76305
Kathryn A. Samsel, 113 Turkey Hills Road, P.O. Box 223,
Granby, CT 06035
Laura Sue Sanborn, P.O. Box 3947, 1795 Country Club
Dr., Logan, UT 84321
Mr. & Mrs. Ruby Albert Schultz, 1121 Gladstone Place,
Alexandria, VA 22308
Sharlot Hall Historical Society, 415 W. Gurley, Prescott,
AZ 86301
Mrs. Frances Skalet, 7773 Shasta Avenue, Highland,
CA 92346
Mrs. Newland F. Smith III, 1934 McDaniel Avenue,
Evanston, IL 60201
Theodore Spahn and Margaret Gross, Rosary College,
River Forest, II 60305
Kathleen M. Trebatoski, 6006 W. St. Paul Avenue,
Milwaukee, Wl 53213
Ron Weagley, 2304 Stumptown Road, Lancaster,
PA 1 7602
Frank (John) Yuhasz Jr., 202 E. 16th Street, Mishawaka,
IN 46544
Can anyone offer an explanation of ttiis contemporary
gravestone design from Indiana? In the centre of the
inscription Is a heart in a canoe, there is a buffalo at
the right, distant hills at the top, six dots at the left, and
a waving hand at the bottom.
Brick Chapel IN
AGSW'87/8p. 22
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
"Grave markers missing from historic graveyard" is the title of an item from the York hAaine
Weekly, December 23, 1987, sent by William Jordan, Portland ME.
The state of Maine holds a certain mystique about its numerous private cemeteries that dot
the countryside, many dating back to the early 18th century and beyond. For some, they bring
romantic thoughts of days past when soils were tilled and crops were harvested as part of
a yearly ritual. For others, they stand as a symbol of the hard work, sweat and determination
that it took to bring this country from a subordinate colony to one of the strongest countries
in the world.
The fact is that this piece of Maine's heritage is under threat by people who make their living
stealing cemetery and other historical markers and selling them for profit, and by other people
who find morbid excitement in the desecration and destruction of this country's history.
The latest incident involving the alleged theft of historical markers occurred with the recently-
discovered removal of two 18th century slate cemetery headstones from the Second Parish
Church Cemetery between Old Mast Road and Scotland Bridge Road in York.
There are actually two cemeteries at the area in question off Route 91. One of the cemeteries
is enclosed and the other is not. When a developer began percolation tests for a subdivision
on land adjacent to the open cemetery late this summer the historical society became concerned.
After hand cutting the field to assure that none of the stones were damaged, several new
stones were found. It was just last week that two of these headstones were discovered missing.
As of yet, the markers have not been located.
State Representative Neil Rolde (D-York, Kittery Point), concerned about the vulnerability of
cemetery markers, sponsored a bill during the last session of the legislature that made it a
serious crime to steal or vandalize any part of a cemetery, from headstones to the curbs
and fences surrounding the burial ground. Rolde, a trustee of the Old York Historical Society,
said that he introduced the bill on behalf of the State Old Cemetery Association because
"headstones were turning up in catalogues for antique shows at incredible prices."
from an article by Bryan McNulty, "Eastern Cemetery restoration done, for now" in the Portland
t\AE Evening Express, December 26, 1987.
A restored cast-iron fence once again closes off the Congress Street side of historic, frequently
vandalized Eastern Cemetery. Fencework and restoration of a small storage shed-receiving
tomb entrance were completed last month at a cost of almost $60,000 — $30,000 from the
city's general fund and $30,000 from a matching grant by the Maine Historic Preservation
Commission.
The restoration work has finally given William B. Jordan Jr., an advocate for Portland's cemeteries,
a reason to smile over the condition of Eastern Cemetery.
Jordon says that getting the city to finance and carry out the restoration took "years of prodding
(but) they did an absolutely wonderful job."
"It's the greatest thing that has happened here in years," he says. "This is the first bit of
restoration work at one of the old cemeteries undertaken by the city in living memory."
This cemetery contains thousands of graves, some dating back to the 1600s. It is Portland's
oldest cemetery, and one of only two Maine cemeteries on the National Register of Historic
Places.
Jordan has never stopped railing against the chronic smashing of ancient headstones,
desecration of old burial vaults and beer parties by youths.
City officials invariably argue that they do what they can for old cemeteries, but that taxpayers
lobby far harder for schools, police and fire services than for sprucing up old burial grounds.
Jordan says that when fences are all repaired, he would like a system that would increase
the accountability of people who enter Eastern Cemetery and other old cemeteries.
He proposes that the old cemeteries be locked at night in the summer, and day and night
during the winter, with keys provided to people who would sign in and out after leaving a
cash deposit with the city.
Peter McCarthy, General Manager of Marvin Almont Memorials in Pueblo, Colorado has written
the Newsletter to express the concern of the monument industry about the current trend to
cremation without memorialization. We also received a copy of an article on the same topic
from the Chicago Tribune, January 6, 1988, (sent by Jim Jewell, Peru IL) titled "The family
plot may be dying out". We hope to have more on this important issue in the next issue.
AGS W'87/8 p. 23
In an article title "Tombstone tossers ordered to attend graveside service" from the Pottsville
PA Republican, ^e read that four teenagers at Wiles-Barre were sentenced to 18 months
probation and ordered to attend a funeral for turning over 80 tombstones.
The boys caused $5,000 v\/orth of damage Dec. 6 by tipping over grave markers and flow/er
urns and ripping flags from graves of military veterans at three cemeteries, police said.
Each youth was charged with three counts of insult to the national or state flag and three
counts of institutional vandalism.
The two 16-year olds were ordered to surrender their driver's licenses and the younger two
were ordered not to apply for a license until their probation officer allows it.
Additionally, each youth was ordered to pay $1,250 in restitution, undergo counseling and
perform 60 hours of community service.
contributed by Tom Graves, Minersville PA
The Elk Horn Township Cemetery is looking a little ragged from lack of mowing right now,
but that's OK with most people. The cemetery, which was abandoned in 1891, is being turned
into a prairie preserve. The 20 or so graves will have their headstones straightened and location
recorded before the native Iowa plants take over. "It's been kind of neglected for quite a few
years," Ernest Schmid, Elk Horn Township clerk, said. "We'll restore it somewhat and then
try to get the virgin grasses and wild flowers to grow there." Schmid said the area will be
burned off once every two years to encourage the growth of plant life, but said it would probably
take three or four years to complete the project.
from the Des Moines Sunday Register, August 30, 1987, contributed by Loren Norton, Iowa
City lA.
Lawrence Riveroll of San Diego reported in mid-February on the gravestones which had been
removed from the oldest San Diego graveyard some years ago so that the area could become
a park (see AGS Newsletter Spring '86, p. 16 + Winter '86/87, p. 18). The stones had ended
up cast into a ravine, but now they have been scraped into a pit with a backhoe and covered
with soil. Riveroll had been working with the San Diego Historical Society to try to convince
the city council to restore the stones to their original location or to reset them in another
cemetery. Despite all their efforts, the city council voted against their proposal. At that point
Riveroll lost the support of even the Historical Society as it feared it would lose its funding.
Newspapers which had agreed to write stories about the endangered stones later decided
not to print them. In the end, the stones were pushed into a pit and covered. Riveroll was
not contacted ahead of time about it, so he could not inform descendents who might have
taken their ancestors stones away. A number of the stones were too heavy to turn over, so
they were not inventoried. If arrangements could have been made to have heavy equipment
turn them over, at least a complete inventory could have been made. And if they had been
carefully laid in the pit, at least they .would have been preserved should there be a future
time when someone would want to dig them up. But they were pushed in and broken. For
many years after the stones were cast into the ravine, an elderly lady has traveled regularly
to the site to see the stone of her brother. Now she won't even be able to do that. Riveroll
says he may try to at least have a plaque put in another cemetery indicating where the stones
are buried.
AGS W'87/8 p. 24
ANCHORAGE — Many of the motorcoach tours that operate on the Glenn Highway north
of here stop at the native village of Ekiutna, v\/hich was first settled in about 1650 by the
nomadic Upper Cook Inlet Tanaina, a branch of the Athabascan Indians who displaced an
earlier population of Eskimos.
The main attraction at the Ekiutna is a Russian Orthodox Church that is thought to be the
oldest surviving example of Russian architecture constructed by the Athabascans.
Capt. James Cook made brief contact with the Indians when he explored Cook Inlet in 1778,
but a more lasting effect was made by Russian missionaries sent by Catherine the Great
to convert the Alaskan natives.
Saint Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church, a hand-hewn log structure built sometime between
1 845 and 1 870, contains rare icons brought from Russia before 1 867 and an unusual candelabra
that uses rifle shells as candle holders.
Adjacent to the church is a colorful graveyard, still in use, that illustrates an old Athabascan
tradition.
When an Orthodox Indian is buried, for example, a new blanket is placed over the grave
and the three-bar Orthodox cross is placed at the foot of the grave.
Forty days later the family builds a "spirit house" over the grave and places some of the
deceased's belongings inside the little house.
No headstone is used — the family's traditional colors are the only identification.
A small spirit house is built for children. And a tiny house inside a large spirit house indicates
a mother and child buried together.
A picket fence around a spirit house means the person was not Tanaina.
To commemorate the anniversary of the death, the family often places a bowl of rice, raisins
and honey at the grave.
Ekiutna is 26 miles north of Anchorage.
contributed by Margaret I. Reyson, Hoboken NJ
Spirit tiouses cover ttie graves in tiie Athabascan
cemetery in El<lutna, Alaska.
Dillon R. Dorrell, President of the Ohio Historical Society, Rising Sun, Indiana, sent a clipping
"Graves are desecrated" from the Rising Sun Recorder, January 21, 1988. This describes
a family burial plot which was bulldozed, and the markers removed to an unknown site. The
Ohio statute protecting cemeteries applies only to dedicated cemeteries and Mr. Dorrell doubts
that any of the 45 family and private cemeteries in the county have been dedicated. He is
concerned that this may set a precedent for the destruction of more of these cemeteries.
Mr. Dorrell began a program named S.P.E.D.Y. in 1976 which is still in operation in which
federal funding provides for two to three high school students plus an adult supervisor to
work for eight weeks in June and July to restore and maintain the cemeteries in Ohio County.
Those that can be mowed with a lawnmower are mowed regularly. Stones are reset and
repaired in each cemetery. Some cemeteries have been fenced. The federal program puts
over $4,000 into Ohio County each year.
Mr. Dorrell has personally catalogued the rural cemeteries in Ohio county. Sixty cemeteries
have been found and over one thousand books listing all the burials have been sold with
all proceeds to the Ohio County Historical Society. Mr. Dorrell and the Society are very concerned
about the fate of these unprotected burial sites.
AGS W'87/8 p. 25
u3iiais/waN
sseyv 'ja|saDJO/A
Olf ON H'^-i'd
a 1 V d
BOViSOd s n
•oyo iijoyd NON
36l.Z0VIAl'iUBMpa9N
•py mnouiAid 9t7
'S9!pn)S auo)S3AeJO jo| uouepossv
from Mary Graves Johnson, Director of Locust Valley Library, comes this fascinating letter
from her great-grandfather's wallet, James A. Graves, tombstone carver of Deposit NY.
Adsiom May 12, 1863
Dear Sir
The stone you sent dos not sute it is not like tine iiother and i wrote to you to send me
one like the other this is not leterd like the hother it is not as nice a stone at alle we would
not have card (cared) a bout the price of it ad ben as nice a Stone as the hother we carnt
take the stone with hout you com and make it write we have ben waiting to cea (see) you
we would like to have you come rite a way for we want to git that stone hor som hother
down rite a waye for it as bothered me for i wan to git the yord fixt and a stone down rite
a way so please let me now what you will do for i carnt take the stone as it is
William Hepworth .^ , ^ . ^ ,y y 1
Wi^'^
'//^^yj^..^ .WJ^^ - - ^:^>g^Aga.£ig
The AGS Newsletter is published quarterly as a service to members of The Association for Gravestone Studies.
The membership year begins on the date dues are received and ends one year from that date. A one-year membership
entitles the members to four issues of the Newsletter and to participation in the AGS conference in the year
membership is current. Send membership fees (individual/institutional, $15; Family $25; contributing, $25) to AGS
Executive Director Rosalee Oakley, 46 Plymouth Rd., Needham, MA 02192. Back issues of the Newsletter are
available for $3.00 per issue from Rosalee Oakley. The goal of the Newsletter Is to present timely Information
about projects, literature, and research concerning gravestones, and about the activities of the Association for
Gravestone Studies. It is produced by Deborah Trask, who welcomes suggestions and short contributions from
readers. The Newsletter is not intended to serve as a journal. Journal articles should be sent to Theodore Chase,
editor of Markers, the Journal of The Association for Gravestone Studies, 74 Farm St., Dover, MA 02030. Address
Newsletter contributions to Deborah Trask, editor. The Nova Scotia Museum, 1747 Summer St., Halifax, Nova Scotia,
B3H 3A6, Canada. Order Markers, the Journal of the Association for Gravestone Studies (Vol. 1, $18; Vol. 2, $16;
Vol. 3, $14.75; Vol. 4, $14.75; Vol. 5, $18; higher prices for non-members) from Rosalee Oakley. Send contributions
to the AGS Archives to Elizabeth Rich, Archivist, 43 Rybury Hillway, Needham, MA 02192. Address other
correspondence and orders to Rosalee Oakley.
NEWSLETTER
OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES
DEBORAH TRASK, ED.
VOLUME 12 NUMBER 2 SPRING 1988
ISSN: 0146-5783
CONTENTS
AN UNUSUAL JOURNEY: TRACKING DOWN THE GRAVESITES
OF THE SIGNERS OF THE CONSTITUTION 1
RECENT TRENDS
affecting gravestone studies, from New York, Colorado and England 4
MEMBER NEWS 10
BOOKS 12
GREEN-WOOD'S 150TH ANNIVERSARY 14
THE RAIN ON THE PLAINS
Jim Jewell's newest corollary to l\/lurphy's Law 17
MORE OLD GRAVESTONE DESIGNS IN USE TODAY 17
TOURING THE CEMETERIES OF NEW ORLEANS 19
PRESERVATION NEWS 20
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 22
AN UNUSUAL JOURNEY: TRACKING DOWN THE GRAVESITES OF THE
SIGNERS OF THE CONSTITUTION
by Rhoda Jaffin
1 <'««f (,,
> « ft/
CHARLES COTESWORTH PINCKNEY
South Carolina
As you drive into Eiberton, Georgia from Atlanta, one of the first things you notice is all the
granite. Even the Elks clubs' signs here are carved in the stone. Granite is the lifeblood of
this thriving little community and is as common in these parts as peaches and Vidalia onions.
As executive vice president of the Eiberton Granite Association (a position he has held for
the past 33 years), Bill Kelly takes a professional interest in both granite and monuments (the
primary use of the Eiberton stone). When he and his vi/ife Frances (who also works for the
association) decided to do something to celebrate the bicentennial of the signing of the U.S.
Constitution (September 17, 1787), they opted to combine their interest in monuments with
their interest in the Constitution and see how these men had been commemorated. "As far
as we know," said Bill, "no one's ever done this before."
The signers, who included George Washington, James Madison, and Benjamin Franklin, were
all prominent men. Many, such as Thomas Mifflin (Pennsylvania), John Rutledge (South Carolina),
and John Langdon (New Hampshire), were governors of their states. Others, such as William
continued
Paterson (New Jersey) are remembered today by the cities named after them. You'd think
these men would be buried in style. Not so, say the Keliys. The good news is they located
almost all of the gravesites. The bad news is that in a few more years, other curiosity seekers
or historians will have a tough time duplicating their feat.
Both in their early 60s, the Keliys are small town Southerners. Warm, friendly, and unfailingly
polite, they took their duty seriously. There was no dilly-dallying, no shopping, no chit-chatting.
Their job was to see the grave, photograph it, make a rubbing of the inscription on the monument
and move on. "We spent about 30 minutes at each," said Bill, "We weren't there to sightsee."
They divided the journey into three parts — the first they started in Georgia and went as
far north as New Jersey. The second, which was sponsored by the Elberton Granite Association,
they flew to Newark and worked their way northward to New Hampshire. The third consisted
of a brief trip to nearby Knoxville, Tennessee where North Carolina's William Blount was buried.
The Keliys' bible on the trip was The Signers of the Constitution by Robert G. Ferris and
James H. Charleton (National Park Service). It lists where each signer is buried. Before they
moved on to the next gravesite, Frances and Bill would attempt to call the church or the
cemetery office to get directions, and call any local monument retailers to enlist their help
in finding the cemeteries. The only signer they knew from the outset they wouldn't be able
to find was Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer. No one is exactly sure where he is buried, although,
explained Bill, it's presumed that he was buried on his Maryland estate by the banks of Potomac.
As the river changed course over the years, it probably took the Jenifer family graveyard
with it.
The Keliys' journey began in Augusta, Georgia, the week before Easter 1987, with the gravesite
of Col. William Few. "When they signed the Constitution," explained Bill, "George Washington
signed it first, then they started with New Hampshire and went right down the Eastern seaboard
and the Georgia signers were the last ones. We did it in reverse. We started in Georgia."
Few was an easy one. One of the two signers from Georgia, he died in New York and was
buried there. "Back in the 1970s some good Georgians got together and brought the body
back here and had him reinterred," says Bill. Few's new resting place features a tall elegant
(Elberton) granite memorial. (The gravesite of the other signer from Georgia, Abraham Baldwin,
isn't as impressive according to the Keliys. It stands in Washington, D.C.'s Rock Creek Cemetery.
Actually Baldwin doesn't even have his own tombstone. He's listed on the bottom of his sister
Ruth's. "I think we should do for him what they did for Col. Few," said Frances, "bring him
home to Georgia.")
The Keliys went on to South Carolina and then up to North Carolina to the tomb of Gen.
Richard Dobbs Spaight. "His was a sad one," said Frances. After much searching, they finally
found it by the ruin of an old estate, surrounded by a brick enclosure put up by a conscientious
relative. The Keliys were directed to the spot by a woman who lived on the grounds of the
old estate. "She was just so glad that someone was interested," said Frances, "She apologized
for the condition of the square plot. The gravestone was split and almost covered with weeds
knee-high!"
Apparently somebody else had once taken an interest in Spaight's plot. "The woman gave
us a copy of a book that had been written by a Civil War soldier who'd been encamped
near there," said Frances. "The soldier came across the grave and wrote down the inscription.
It's fortunate he did, because now you can't read it at all." It said in part: "He is gone, lamented
by the good and revered by the brave. He is gone, loaded with the honors of his country
and the bendictions (sic) of his friends. So sleeps the brave who sink to rest/ By all their
country's wishes blest. . ."
"SOME WERE SMALL AND DIFFICULT TO LOCATE"
NICHOLAS :GILM AN JOHN DICKINSON GEORGE CLYMER DANIEL CARROLL
NewHampshire Delaware Pennsylvania Maryland
continued
AGS SP'88 p. 2
In general, however, the Kellys found there wasn't much on the gravestones. Benjamin Franklin's
was the only amusing one. Near the spot where he's buried stands a plaque that reads:
"The Body of B. Franklin Printer.
Like the Cover of an old Book.
Its Contents torn out.
And Stript of ijs 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
Corrected and improved
By the Author."
Many of the signers, especially those who were Quakers, didn't have anything on their
monuments except their names. John Dickinson from Delaware was one example. "It doesn't
matter if you were a policeman or a signer of the Constitution you got the same monument,"
said Bill, "Just your name and date." "Those Quaker monuments looked just like egg shells,"
observed Frances.
Such was the case with the monument of Nicholas Oilman. After spending an hour searching
for the right cemetery in Exeter, New Hampshire, Frances and Bill stumbled upon his grave.
"It was a very small marker. We had to move the weeds away to see the name," said Bill.
"It just said 'Nicholas Gilman, Adjutant Revolutionary War.' That was it. Nothing about the
Constitution."
Some, like Pennsylvania's Gouverneur Morris, New Hampshire's John Langdon and New
Jersey's William Paterson were buried in family vaults. Often their names aren't even on the
monument. Paterson, for example, died while visiting his daughter in New York. She had married
a Van Rensselaer and so he was buried in the Van Rensselaer family vault. "You see," Bill
explained, "when these people died they weren't considered the great historical figures that
they are now."
ALEXANDER HAMILTON
New York
JAMES MADISON
Virginia
The major problem for the Kellys, however, with the exception of the big guns — Washington,
Madison, Hamilton, Blair — and those in Pennsylvania and New Jersey (gravesites in these
states were marked by the DAR for the 150th anniversary of the Constitution) was the lack
of any historical markers outside or inside the cemeteries. Bill and Frances spent many an
hour climbing walls and pushing through weeds just tracking down gravestones.
Locating the cemeteries themselves was a task. Many of them are located in the oldest part
of the cities, and the city has grown upright around them. Some are in the middle of pretty
rough neighborhoods, as Bill and Frances found out.
David Brearly's gravesite in Trenton, New Jersey was one example. Frances and Bill arrived
on a Sunday morning and started searching for St. Michael's Episcopal Church, where Brearly
is buried. "Finally we asked the minister at another church," explained Frances. "He said,
Td better go with you.' He told me to put my pocket book in front of me and put my arms
around it and walk close together and walk fast." "Being from Georgia, this was all new to
us," said Bill. Fortunately they got pictures and a rubbing of Brearley's grave marker without
mishap.
continued
kQ>S> SP'88 p. 3
They encountered another such area in the Bronx, where Gouverneur Morris is buried. "This
made Trenton look tame," said Frances.
Morris was a prominent person in Revolutionary times. A close friend of George Washington,
he was also the drafter of the Constitution. Bill and Frances found that he's buried in his
family's vault in the yard of an ancient church in one of the worst neighborhoods of the Bronx.
The Kellys were dismayed to find bars and mesh covering the windows and only a small
mention of Morris. This will soon change however, the Kellys reported. A patriotic group in
Pennsylvania (for which Morris was a signer) is planning to add an impressive monument.
In the end, it took the Kellys a total of 16 days to find all 38 of the gravesites. The pair had
various reasons for spending two weeks traveling up and down the East Coast. The first was
to see the actual monuments. The second was to determine if the gravesites could still be
found. "As professional memorialists," stated Bill, "we did it to see how they all had been
commemorated. We were pleased to find the graves, but we'd have to say that many of them
haven't been memorialized as befits their role. On the other hand, it wouldn't be proper to
mark them all alike now. That wouldn't be fitting. But there should be more attention paid
to preserving the old ones as well as putting up something else that says who these men
were. We should preserve the gravesites of these folks so that they're remembered," Bill
continued. "Of course, that's the whole purpose of a monument — it tells you that a life was
lived."
"1 rri^-w
;_^3 BYTES P. ..
from the Elberton (GA) Granite Association Graniteer Vol. 31 #3, Fall 1987, reprinted with
permission.
DISTURBING TRENDS
CREMATION WITHOUT MEMORIALIZATION
by Peter McCarthy
Peter McCarthy General Manager of Marvin Almont Memorials in Pueblo, Colorado, has identified
this modern trend which should be of concern to AGS members. Marvin Almont Memorials
serves a very large territory in Southern Colorado and Northern New Mexico. They have found
that people are not purchasing grave markers for cremations because many people do not
know that cremated remains can be interred.
As a professional monument dealer, I am tremendously concerned and frightened about the
trend toward cremation without memorialization or commemoration. I am concerned about
it professionally, to be sure, but concerned about it because I think we run the very real
risk of scattering our nation's history over the ocean or up in the mountains never to be
seen again.
continued
AGS SP'88 p. 4
First of all, 1 should make it very clear that / am not against cremation\ I have been accused
of that before, but it simply is not so. In the first place, it seems exceedingly silly to be "against"
something which millions of people do every year. In the second place, cremation is an economic
reality and has gone far beyond the stage where "in favor of or "opposed to" matter very
much. My company owns a crematory, three funeral homes, and a monument company. Our
crematory is an integral part of the services which we offer to our customers. However, it
should be made equally clear that I am definitely and absolutely opposed to cremation without
memorialization. When I first joined the Association for Gravestone Studies and attended its
conference in 1983, I was amazed with the things about my industry's past that I did not
know. I was impressed with the very real love that AGS members had about burial sites and
the people who made those places come alive with their gravestone carvings, designs, and
epitaphs. We all know that the cemetery serves as a timeless and passive record of our country's
past and we hold the value of the cemetery in great esteem. However, that is all changing.
Traditional cemeteries with traditional upright granite or marble gravestones are becoming
anachronisms — things which have less and less meaning to today's society.
In the not too distant past, when a family member died, the family gathered together to remember,
respect, and bury their loved one. An important part of that tradition was the selection of
the monument or gravestone. The family chose a monument which spoke to them of their
family member's life, the things that person had believed in and the things that person had
done during his/her life. The gravestone became an almost everlasting mark that someone
lived and held an important place in society. The gravestone said that, even though their
place in society may have been small, the person named on that stone was important. This
scenario still happens, of course, but is becoming less and less common as time passes.
A more common scenario in the 1980's happens when a family member dies and the rest of
the family discovers that the person already has some kind of gravestone or marker that was
purchased "pre-need" or in advance of the time of death. In this case, the individual chooses
his/her own grave marker, orders it carved or cast and designed to his/her own specifications
and has it set in the cemetery awaiting only the date of death. The other members of the family
are left out of this process altogether. Pre-need grave markers along with the numbing
sameness of many cemeteries, the loss of personal identity, and the cost of funerals and
gravestones have led many people to look for alternatives to a process which may no longer
hold any meaning for them. Gravestones are like any other consumer product — they have to
work and perform a function for anybody to consider their purchase. If my father dies and has
already placed a monument to himself in the cemetery — borne not out of a big ego, but
guided by a wish that he leave his children few expenses and few decisions upon his death —
what are the chances that that stone will have any meaning to me, that the stone will talk to me
and tell me — and generations to come — anything about him and his life. Given that situation,
why wouldn't I simply want to choose cremation, have my cremated remains scattered over the
moutains and forget about it. If his gravestone doesn't serve a purpose, mine probably won't
either. And if I indeed make that decision, why should my children even consider burial and
the erection of a monument when they have no tradition, nothing to see and nothing to feel in
the cemetery. Within a few generations, an entire cemetery and funerary tradition is gone.
Most people, when choosing cremation, do not cite as their reason a situation like the one
described above. Most people choose cremation without burial because they say it costs less.
Cost is the easiest thing to blame when there is any kind of consumer product or service
we do not really want. Funeral and cemetery costs have become much more widely known
in the last few years and those of us in the death care industries have not done a very good
job in explaining what we are going to give or perform for that cost. We have not helped
ourselves by pricing things like "direct cremations" in "flush markers" at a level just above
what we need to earn a living.
I am asked by other retail memorialists what the solution is to all of this. Cremation, per se,
does not require any kind of solution when it is viewed for what it is — a somewhat simpler
and less costly alternative to traditional casketing and embalming. Cremated remains can be
buried in cemeteries and the graves marked just like any other kind of burial. Most people
see cremation as the end of the funeral process when, in reality, it is just another step along
the way. Cremation and burial are both "preparation for memorialization". Finding ways and
places to inter cremated remains requires some imagination on the part of the cemetery.
Explaining to people that this is a wise alternative requires some imagination on the part
of the funeral director, and finding ways to properly commemorate the lives of those people
buried requires the monument dealer to be both imaginative and resourceful. It also requires
the help of people like you — people who see cemeteries as repositories of the lives and
histories of a nation, people who see cemeteries as living things which change as time passes
and society progresses.
There are some things we probably cannot change — I wish I had a dollar for every time
I have heard something like "just cremate me and dump my ashes somewhere". Perhaps
some of you have said the same thing or at least thought about it. People who feel that way
are trying not to be selfish and trying to say that the world will exist without them and there
is no need for a record of their lives to remain. Desiring or placing a memorial is not selfish
— denying others the chance to place one is.
continued
AGS SP'88 p. 5
I speak for an industry in asking for your help with this dilemma. Much of the work today's
monument industry performs may not be as appealing to some members of AGS as the work
performed generations ago, but I think the work we do today reflects both our times and
our attitudes. By and large, the work produced in North America and Europe is amazing in
its beauty, complexity, and symbolism. I hope that the work we are making now will someday
be the foundation for research and study by AGS and similar groups. However, we need
your help to continue. That the dead not be forgotten is the responsibility of every single
person interested in the burial grounds of the past, present and future. That responsibility
is not something to be taken lightly — it is bigger than a single cemetery and bigger than
a single industry. We must help to formulate and forward the idea in our society that remembrance
of the past cannot be allowed to be forgotten or fade away.
Peter McCarthy, General Manager of Marvin Almont Memorials, 201 Sante Fe Drive, Pueblo,
CO 81106, chairs the Monument Builders of North America (MBNA) Cremation Study Committee.
He speaks frequently on the issue of cremation memorialization, and welcomes comments
on this article.
-m
This 27 unit, 8 foot square monument was
designed by Dilio Fontana, Barre VT.
from "Outstanding Monument Designs", Barre
Life (Barre Granite Association), Spring 1988.
THE DEBATE OVER STYLE AT DEATH'S DOOR, by Dena Kleiman, from the New York Times,
March 29, 1988, sent by Francis Y. Duval, Brooklyn NY.
le
.et's face it. No matter who you are, no matter
what you do, the only thing you leave behind
are your children and a stone."
Valhalla, N.Y., memorial dealer Halsey Tuthill,
on the trend toward customized tombstones
Valhalla NY — Here amid the tombstones of historic Kensico Cemetery, a quiet war is raging
over a subject as old as civilization: the desire of men and women to leave behind some
mark of their existence. The rhetoric at times is ethereal; the issues diverse. It is a polite
competition, more a struggle of sales techniques than open confrontation. It is a battle over
stone, in which the victor will be known by what cemeteries look like.
Monument makers want tombstones. Cemeteries do not.
"Monument makers look at it one way, and we look at it another," said Chester S. Day, a
vice president of Kensico Cemetery, which with more than 103,000 people buried on its 460
acres is among the largest cemeteries in New York. "With raised headstones, you can't use
the big lawnmowers." To cemeteries, the traditional standing tombstone is a maintenance
headache; vandals knock them over, and they are costly to mow around. But to monument
makers, the ground-level flush markers favored by many cemeteries, or worse, the growing
preference for cremation and mausoleums, threatens their very existence.
continued
AGS SP'88 p. 6
For the consumers caught in the middle, much has changed in the 25 years since the publication
of Jessica Mitford's "American Way of Death," which exposed the practices of the funeral
industry and led to changes in them. There is a new vocabulary, made up of words like "cremains"
— what is left after cremation. And there are more choices, from the simplicity of cremation
to climate-controlled mausoleums to the best hope of the monument makers: what they see
as a new interest in tombstones with the "personal touch." "Now the consumer can comparison
shop," said Stephen L Morgan, executive vice president of the American Cemetery Association,
which represents 2,300 cemeteries across the nation.
To be sure, the rich are still building above-ground vaults that can cost from $150,000 to
$1 million. Barbara Streisand, for example, recently had an Art Deco structure built in a cemetery
in Queens. Harry Helmsley's mausoleum in the Bronx has stained-glass windows of the New
York skyline. But the mainstay of the business is the average person, and while cemeteries
hope to persuade families that cemeteries are as much for the living as the dead, monument
makers are hoping to create a new market for upright tombstones with the so-called personal
touch.
Here in Valhalla, 24 miles north of midtown, Kensico and three other cemeteries form a vast
cemetery district. Nellie Robbins, 68 years old, and her husband, Willis, 71, of Armonk NY
both love to fish. Their stone, which cost $1,000, is already in place at a cemetery in Banksville
NY, and depicts a fisherman in a boat. John and Helena Clarke of Larchmont, NY, chose
a design with an etched drawing of the sun and a phrase from the musical "Fiddler on the
Roof." Their epitaph: "Sunrise sunset, swiftly fly the years." The stone is in place — a practice
referred to in the industry as "preneed." "When one of us goes, at least we'll have the comfort
of having selected it together," Mrs. Clarke said.
Halsey Tuthill of Peacock Memorial in Valhalla sees a growth of interest in "the distinctive."
"Let's face it," Mr. Tuthill said. "No matter who you are, no matter what you do, the only
thing you leave behind are your children and a stone." In his annual message to plot owners,
Franklin Montross Jr., president of Kensico Cemetary, said, "Again I urge you, install flush
instead of raised monuments and markers in order to help management control the increase
in the cost of care." Mr. Tuthill's response: "Ever try to find a flush marker in the snow?"
Rill
'^%^'
The Rice monument, an interesting example of personalization, was manufactured of
rough and polished Safari Black granite by the Buttura Granite Company of Barre,
Vermont and designed, sold and hand-lettered by Anthony C. Ciulla CM, when he
was with 'the Presbrey-Leland Company. The all etched monument depicts a scene
from the Texas sea coast, which is the family's home. Six seagulls fly above the
poem, while a seventh, higher gull flies away - there are seven members in the Rice
family The family name is surrounded by a wreath of Texas bluebells. The die
measures 5,0 x 0.8 x 2.6 with a base of 6 x 1.4 x 0.10. The monument stands in
Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York.
from "Design Notebook", MB News (the
journal of the l\Aonument Builders of North
America), V. 45 %2, February 1988.
AGS SP'88 p. 7
THEY PAVED PARADISE AND PUT UP A PARKING LOT*
■* 5
In this article from British Archaeology Monthly, October/ November 1987, AGS 1987 Forbes
Award winner Pamela Burgess contemplates the fate and future of British churchyards.
In one of our cathedral cities a burial ground was made into a car park. In the same city
another burial ground was turned into a playground, with the gravestones lined up around
the wall, yet another was cleared to make way for a housing estate. This last yard once had
a headstone (now destroyed) with an epitaph that began:
"The sick, diseased, wearied and oppress'd
Fly to the grave for refuge and rest.
Let then this sacred Earth my
body close,
And no rude hands its quiet
Interpose."
Perhaps the housing estate is haunted.
This is a fair example of the slight regard in which our gravestone heritage is held. Innumerable
gravestones have been removed from churchyards and very often destroyed, not because
the memorials were thought to be 'unsafe' but simply to make the area around the church
neat and easy to maintain.
The uninitiated may ask what are gravestones other than names and dates which can be
found easier in parish records? Perhaps not realising that some parishes do not have complete
records, and that in any case the records kept were only as good as the parish clerk who
kept them. „
Gravestones, when studied in depth, reveal far more about the times in which they were cut,
than the short biographies found carved on the stones. The stone itself is instructive. Where
local stone was suitable for both building and memorials the church and gravestones will
be of the same stone, creating a delightful harmony. Excellent examples of this can be seen
in the Cotswolds where cottages, houses and barns combine with the church and churchyard
in perfect unity. In areas where the local stone was not suitable for memorials stone had
to be 'imported' from other parts of the country. Stone was most easily transported by water
and one of the most ideally placed quarries was that of Portland in Dorset. Gravestones cut
from Portland stone dominate London churchyards, as well as being found in towns and villages
along the south and east coast extending inland throughout East Anglia to areas having navigable
waterways and no local stone.
The carvings on the gravestones are records of changes in fashion, from the stark simplicity
of the early stones, through the solemn period of the early 18th century when death was
the principal subject of the symbolism, to the great blossoming in the later part of the same
century, when elaborate stones were carved with great artistry and dexterity. The epitaphs
themselves echo the beliefs of the time in which they were written, and where else can one
study lettering in such diversity?
The work of particular masons can be studied in depth as.many signed the stones that they
had cut. It is also possible to survey the work of a mason and determine the extent of the
area within which he worked simply by his style.
This is an over-simplification of a vast subject and any researcher taking up the challenge
of study in this field will, regrettably, find themselves frustrated by the vast amount of evidence
destroyed by those whose only requirement was a tidy churchyard.
*"Big Yellow Taxi", Joni Mitchell 1974
When Florence Webb died in 1971, her husband and
childen ordered this unusual marble double-bed memo-
rial. The empty space was reserved for her husband,
Henry, who died recently and is now buried in the
couple's double grave below the monument. Soon his
likeness will fill the pillow beside Florence. This truly
special monument is found on a tiny hillocl< in St.
Mary's Cray, County of Kent, England.
from American Cemetery, April 1983.
AGS SP'88 p. 8
sent by Harvard Wood III, H.C. Wood Monuments Inc., Lansdowne PA.
CALL FOR PAPERS
The "Cemeteries and Cravemarkers" Permanent Section of
the American Culture Association is seeking proposals for its
paper sessions scheduled for the ACA's 1989 Annual
Meeting, to be held March 22-27 in St. Louis, Missouri
Topics are solicited from any appropriate disciplinary
perspective. Those interested are encouraged to send a
250-word abstract or proposal by September 1, 1988 to the
section chair:
Richard E. Meyer
English Department
Western Oregon State College
Monmouth, Oregon 97361
(503) 838-1220, Ext. 362
AGS SP'88 p. 9
MEMBER NEWS
FROM THE PRESIDENT:
Your Board of Trustees voted at its Board meeting on April 9, 1988 to raise all classes of
membership dues effective with the June 1988 renewal cycle. The revised schedule is shown
below.
This action by your Board was taken against a backdrop of cost increases over the six year
period since dues were last raised. During that time interval every aspect of our service to
a growing membership and an increasingly interested general public has been affected —
the most recent example being the April 1988 increase in postal rates.
Among the exceptional values accruing to each member are the benefit of sharing information
through the Newsletter; a scholarly annual journal, Markers, at member discount, replete with
information of significance for the more seriously inclined; the beginnings of an audio-visual
library and possibly a book-lending program; an annual conference that attracts a broad range
of lay and professional people presenting research papers as well as guided tours of carefully
selected graveyards; and the growing public recognition of the Association. In short, AGS
and its members are coming to be recognized as a primary resource for all aspects of gravestone
studies. We can be proud of this growing recogmtion for it reflects favorably on ail of us.
W FredOakJeyJr
President
An article "An Unusual Ten-Year-Old: Jessica Researches Gravestones" by Kathleen Stack
in the February 25, 1988, Glastonbury Citizen (CT), features the daughter of AGS member
Frederick Sawyer. Jessica led the Connecticut Gravestones April tour in Glastonbury.
For Jessica Sawyer, who carefully gives her age as "ten and one-half today," Eastbury Cemetery
is just "a fun place to be."
The Eastbury School fifth-grader's passion for exactitude may have been developed during
the painstaking historical research she's been doing since last July, cataloguing the stones
and researching the people at Eastbury Cemetery. Along the way, Jessica has begun writing
a story about one of the children buried there, and developed an original theory on the carver
of at least one of the stones.
Jessica participates in the Glastonbury schools' Gifted Program, and began her research at
Eastbury as part of the program.
Studying the cemetery, she said, involved first mapping the stones, then visiting the state library
to study probate and census records. Jessica estimates she was able to develop information
on about half of the persons buried at Eastbury and her father adds they were able to "identify
the families of just about everybody."
"We didn't get as much information as we would have liked," Jessica said, but the wealth
of information she did gather is impressive. It will be on view April 16, when the Connecticut
Gravestones historical organization visits Glastonbury, and Jessica gives the tour of Eastbury.
The tour people advertise Jessica as "a delightful fifth grader who will impress you with her
depth of knowledge."
Impressive she certainly is. The world, or even Glastonbury, does not exactly abound with
ten-year-olds who can discourse knowledgeably about table stones, soul effigies and various
carving techniques. In studying the techniques, in fact, Jessica has developed a theory about
the so-called Glastonbury Profile Carver which may lead to the unraveling of the carver's
identity.
The profile carver, she explains, is the name given to the carver of the Holmes Brothers'
stone at Eastbury, which Connecticut Gravestones describes as "among the most beautiful
and haunting stones ever produced in Connecticut." Studying inscriptions has led Jessica
to identify several other stones at Eastbury as gravestones she believes the carver also produced.
"The lettering is not just similar, but the same," she says. "The T's, A's and S's are slanted,
and although they don't have profiles the soul effigies are very deeply carved, the way you
would carve a profile." Jessica says "we don't have enough evidence to prove" the various
stones were all produced by the same carver, but James Slater, an expert on early gravestones,
thinks her theory is viable. "She convinced me," he adds.
AGSSP'88p. 10
NEW AGS MEMBERS
We welcome these new members who have joined us in the first quarter of 1988. If any of
them live near you, would you let them know you belong to AGS, too, by dropping them
a welcoming note?
Stephen C. Ander, Rentzelstr, 13 (2 Links), 2000 Hamburg
13, W. Ger. Brd.
Phyllis Ashton, #8, White Heath, II 61884
Harold A. Bair, Old Pine Street Church, 412 Pine St.,
Philadelphia, PA 19106
Tracy Barber, 35 High Street, #9 Marlborough, MA 01752
Barbara Roberts Baylis, 9835 Elmcrest, Dallas, TX 75238
Timothy Bindner, P.O. Box 1165, Richmond, CA 94802
Dan Buckman, 2036 N. 3rd Street, Milwaukee, Wl 53212
William Carman, 3142 Cleverly Drive, Furlong, PA 18925
Kimberly S. Carpenter, 59 Bartlett Street, Maiden, MA
02148
William Clendaniel, Mt. Auburn Cemetery, 580 Mt. Auburn
St., Cambridge, MA 02138
Alfred M. Collins, 44 West Duarte Rd., Apt. K-5, Arcadia,
CA 91006
Connecticut State Library, Technical Services Dept., 231
Capitol Ave., Hartford, CT 06106
George E. Crone, G.E. Crone Monument Co., 811 S.
Dudley St., Memphis, TN 38104
Evelyn D. Cushman, 4904 Wedgeview Drive, Hurst, TX
76053
Diane S. Davis, 4219 Holborn Avenue, Annandale, VA
22003
Loretta Barker De Santos, 337 Jefferson Avenue, Sharon,
PA 16146
Dedham Historical Society, 612 High Street, Dedham, MA
02026
Delavi/are Folklife Project, Delaware Agricultural
Museum, N. Du Point Hwy., Dover, DE 19901
Robert A. Eisenberg, 3090 Old Brookside Lane, Cana-
daigua, NY 14424
Robert Fitts, Dept. of Anthropology, Brown Univ.,
Providence, Rl 02912
Eadle Flickinger, 1114 Harvey, Topeka, KS 66604
Kathy Flippo, RR #1, Box 102, Morrison, MO 65061
George Walden Gayle, 7111 W. State Street, Rockford,
IL61102
Martha K. Griffin, 4280 Ridge Valley Trail, Memphis, TN
38115
Mr. & Mrs. George T. Griswold, 5150 Wolf Road, Erie,
PA 16505
Susan Griswold-Treter, 24 University Avenue, Provi-
dence, Rl 02906
Nancy Hampshire, 64 Broad Street, Rehoboth, MA 02769
Prof. Owen Hawley, 401 Aurora, Mariette, OH 45750-2334
Anita Hodge, Chairman, Mahomet TWP, Cemetery
Trustees, RR #1, Box 68, Seymour, IL 61875
Harley P. Holden, R.F.D., #1-256 A, Horse Pond Road,
Shirley Center, MA 01 464
Phyllis R. Hoots, 2820 Shiloh Ch. Road, Winston-Salem,
NC 27105
Linda Howerton, 832 Marci Court, SE, Tenino, WA 98589
Joseph P. Hussey, 311 W. 102nd Street, New York, NY
. 10025
Marilyn C. Jaeger, 221 Purdue Avenue, Kensington, CA
94708
Joseph E.B. Johnson, 84 Main Street, Chesire, CT 06410
Charles M. Joyner, P.O. Box 7463-D, Birmingham, AL
35253
Hattie Ann Kelso, 4 Broadmoor, Conway, AR 72032
Shannon Kennedy, 29060 Lund, Warren, Ml 48093
David P. Kunze, 266 Poplar Street, Roslindale, MA 02131
Donna La Rue, 7 Sherborn Court, Somerville, MA 02145
Larsen-Timko Funeral Home, 20 Central Avenue,
Fredonia, NY 14063
Candita Lee, RD 2, Box 144, Endicott, NY 13760
Library of Michigan, Periodicals-Pop, P.O. Box 30007,
Lansing, Ml 48909
Joseph Adams Malcolm, 901 Conjurers Drive, Colonial
Heights, VA 23834
Craig A. McCraw, P.O. Box 2667, Auburn, AL 36831 -2667
Edward McLaughlin, 5703 Yates Lane, Richmond, VA
23223
Joseph McNally, 1018 North Shore Drive, Brigantine, NJ
08203
John Medallis, 248 Walnut Street, Dunellen, NY 08812
Mission San Juan Capistrano Museum, C/0 N.M.
Magalousis, Dir., P.O. Box 313, San Juan Capistrano, CA
92693
Mississippi State Historical Museum, Patti Carr Black, Dir.,
P.O. Box 571, Jackson, MS 39205
Linda Morley, 308 Sagamore Street, Manchester, NH
03104
Mt. Holly Cemetery Assn., 1817 North Monroe, Little Rock,
AR 72207
Margerate E. New, P.O. Box 6383, Mobile, AL 36660
NSDAR Library, 1776 D Street, N.W., Washington, DC
20006-5392
Carlisle Page, C/0 Elmwood cemetery, 824 Dudley
Street, Memphis, TN 38104
Stephen Petke, 8 Cobblestone Road, East Cranby, CT
06026
Gayle G. Pezzoni, 906 Tanglewood Drive, Gary, NC 2751 1
Pimeria Alta Historical Society, P.O. Box 2281, Nogales,
AZ 85621
Provincetown Cemetery Commission, Attn: Gary Budlong,
Grace Govela BIdg., 26 Alden St., Provincetown, MA
02657
Peter R. PrunkI, 281 1 Kingsridge, Quincy, IL 62301
David H. Quiring, 9608 Aurora Avenue No., Seattle, WA
98103
Rawlins Monuments, P.O. Box 237, Weathertord, TX
76086
K.H. Reeson, Remco Memorials Ltd., 61 1 6th Avenue E.,
Regina, SK, S4N 5A3 Canada
Jim Reilly, 32 Ford Street, Milford, CT 06460
Mr. & Mrs. Ronald L Reno, P.O. Box 105, Silver City,
NV 89428
Margaret I. Reysen, 615 Willow Avenue, Hoboken, NJ
07030
Dr. Dan Roberts, 200 Valley View Road, Wichita Falls,
TX 76305
Richard C. Roberts, 596 Gurleyville Road, Storrs, CT
06268
Kathryn A. Samsel, 113 Turkey Hills Road, P.O. Box 223,
Granby, CT 06035
Laura Sue Sanborn, P.O. Box 3947, 1795 Country Club
Dr., Logan, UT 84321
Mr. & Mrs. Ruby Albert Schultz, 1121 Gladstone Place,
Alexandria, VA 22308
Sharlot Hall Historical Society, 415 W. Gurley, Prescott,
AZ 86301
Mrs. Frances Skalet, 7773 Shasta Avenue, Highland, CA
92346
Mrs. Newland F. Smith III, 1934 McDaniel Avenue,
Evanston, IL 60201
Kim Sowles, 7 Maple Court, Tilton, NH 03276
Theodore Spahn and Margarete Gross, Rosary College,
River Forest, IL 60305
Janet Strausberg, 2 Old Northville Road, New Milford,
CT 06776
Texas State Genealogical Society, C/0 Trevia W. Beverly,
2507 Tannehill, Houston, TX 77008-3052
Pat Thomas, 128 Townsend Street, Pepperell, MA 01463
Philip S. Tice Jr., 1345 N. Astor-14, Milwaukee, Wl 53202
Kathleen M. Trebatoski, 6006 W. St. Paul Avenue,
Milwaukee, Wl 53213
Keith W.D. Watson, Box 701 , International Falls, MN 56649
Ron Weagley, 2304 Stumptown Road, Lancaster, PA
17602
Robert C. White, 235 Grofftown Road, Lancaster, PA
17602
Mr. & Mrs. Barry Williams, 46 Ryders Lane, East
Brunswick, NJ 08816
Jacqueline M. Wirth, 352 Valley Brook Road #A-5, Ambler,
PA 19002
Frank (John) Yuhasz Jr., 202 E. 16th Street, Mishawaka,
IN 46544
AGS SP'88 p. 1 1
BOOKS & ARTICLES
NEW BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT!
Cemeteries and Gravemarkers:
Voices of American Culture
eciited by Richard E. Meyer
First book length study offering a rich overview
of American burial sites and omamentatipn
Cemeteries, their artifacts, and the valuable cultural insights they offer are the
focus of a new book to be published in December by UMl Research Press. Although
graveyards are often considered morbid places where superstition abounds, the study
of burial sites and their artifacts yields important cultural insight into community
values across regions and th« nation over time.
This multidisciplinary study examines cemeteries from New England to the
Pacific Northwest, revealing an astounding array of material artifacts from the seven-
teenth through twentieth centuries. Twelve never before published essays explore
Victorian children's gravemarkers, personality revelation through gravemarker
epitaphs. New England's Afro-American gravesite in Newport, Rhode Island and
much more. Contributors come from varying disciplines — folklore, art history,
cultural geography, English, American Studies, and history — and include leading
researchers Ann and Dickran Tashjian, Blanche Linden-Ward, Keith Cunningham,
and Cemeteries editor Richard E. Meyer, among others.
This 300-page illustrated hardcover book with dust jacket will be available in
December for $39.95 (est.) from UMI Research Press, 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann
Arbor, MI 48106 (1-800-345-9084 or 313-973-9821), ISBN 8357-1903-0. Series: Ameri-
can Material Culture and Folklife. Series Editor: Simon J. Bronner, Associate Profes-
sor of Folklore and American Studies, Pennsylvania State University at Harrisburg.
UMI Research Press is a publisher of academic and professional literature in
more than 60 selected series and subseries, which are edited by recognized authorities
from prominent universities and institutions. Founded in 1978, UMI Research Press is
a division of University Microfilms International.
Contact:
Donna Paz
313-973-9821
Please add $1.50 shipping and handling for first copy and $.50 for each additional
copy. Prices are subject to change without notice. Prices outside the U.S. are slightly
higher. Allow four weeks for delivery. Books not yet published will be shipped when
available. Rehun to ATTN: Donna Paz, UMI Research Press, 300 N. Zeeb Road,
Ann Arbor, MI 48106.
From the UMI Research Press catalog comes a notice of a new book by AGS member Warren
Roberts: Viewpoints on Folklife, Looking at the Overlooked. This publication features a wide
variety of essays written by distinguished folklorist Warren Roberts covering more than 15
years of his most creative scholarship. Recipient of the nation's first Ph.D. in folklore from
Indiana University, Roberts expanded the study of folklore to include folklife and traditional
material culture. The spiritual father to many of this country's most respected folklorists, the
research methodology Roberts developed still provides the foundation for much research
conducted today.
In Viewpoints on Folklife, Roberts tries to diminish the common misconception that our ancestors
were either wealthy gentry living in mansions or brutish slaves to ignorance and superstition.
He shows instead that they were primarily small farmers growing, raising, or gathering most
of what they needed, and that they were intelligent, hard-working people who passed their
knowledge and skills from one generation to the next.
Covering topics ranging from tombstone carving and chairmaking to fieldwork technique, social
customs, and folk architecture, Roberts encourages us to study this 95% of the population
that was ignored. A special foreward by fellow folklorist Edson Richmond and numerous
illustrations make this volume an exciting discovery of pre-lndustrial America while giving
us a fuller, more realistic picture of the past. ISBN 8357-1849-2, $44.95, illustrations, 350pp,
1987.
Anyone interested in obtaining the manual put out by the Boston Parks Department The Boston
Experience: A Manual for Historic Burying Grounds Preservation, can order one for $6.00
postage paid from Ellen Lipsey, Preservation Planner, Boston Parks and Recreation Department,
294 Washington St., Suite 930, Boston, MA 02108. Please make cheques payable to "Fund
for Parks and Recreation in Boston".
AGSSP'88p. 12
This handsome picture is a photocopy of an illustration
from an antique book owned by Robert and Gloria Solari
ofHardwick, Ivlassachusetts. It shows a gentleman taking
an inscription from a stone in the Old Granary Burying
Ground in downtown Boston.
The original of this illustration is a painting by N.C. Wyeth
(1882-1945), one of our best known painters (and father
of Andrew Wyeth, whose work includes the recently-
publicized "Helga paintings"). This fine painting hangs
in the library of the Boston Athaneum, which is located
so near the Granary that one looks out of the Athaneum's
windows onto the yard. It is a beautiful painting, and
also very accurate. Many of the stones are easy identified.
The book is MEN OF CONCORD and Some Others as
Portrayed in the Journal of Henry David Thoreau, edited
by Francis H. Allen.
fJIr. and Mrs. Solari, incidentally, have been instrumental
in the recent restoration of the Shrewsbury, Massachu-
setts, burying ground, and they are now involved in a
similar project in Hardwick.
Begun in 1984 to rescue the growing number of troubled Jewish burial grounds, the Jewish
Cemetery Association of Massachusetts (JCAM) is dedicated to preserving the dignity and
traditions of each cemetery as set out by its founders. The JCAM has organized its 108 Jewish
Cemetery Members into a dynamic community resource. Its largely volunteer efforts have rescued
five abandoned Jewish Cemeteries, merged with thirty troubled Jewish Cemeteries located
throughout Greater Boston, and procured over $400,000 in initial endowment funds. A permanent
Endowment Trust of over $2,500,000 will be needed to ensure the proper maintenance for
all its cemeteries in perpetuity.
As its principal means of reaching Boston's Jewish Community, JCAM publishes an annual,
comprehensive Guide To Jewish Cemeteries which serves as an important reference tool
for the entire community. The booklet identifies over 160 Jewish Cemeteries in Greater Boston
so mourners and visitors can locate lost loved ones by their cemetery affiliation. Maps are
included for 12 Greater Boston cemeteries and a Greater Boston map labels 16 cemeteries,
while 34 cemeteries are listed on another page. This booklet is available free of charge by
writing to the Jewish Cemetery Association of Massachusetts, 1340 Centre Street, Newton
Centre, Massachusetts 02159.
"Photography in the Field," an article by Dan and Jessie Lie Farber, was published in the
March/April, 1988, issue of Br/f/s/i Arciiaeoiogy. In the article, the Farbers outline techniques
for making photographs of gravemarkers and other outdoor objects with relief surfaces. Topics
covered in the article include equipment, lighting, composition and background. The piece
is illustrated with nine photographs from the Farbers' large collection of gravestone photographs
and with drawings by Francis Duval.
Currently, I am working on a study involving 19th century sandstone grave markers in
Pennsylvania, and I would like to hear from anyone within our readership who could provide
me with information regarding sandstone carving technology or could suggest any written
secondary sources on this topic.
Cathy Wilson
Dept. of Anthropology
Forbes Quad
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
AGSSP'88p. 13
A WALKING TOUR AND LECTURE SERIES CELEBRATING THE
150TH ANNIVERSARY OF GREEN-WOOD CEMETERY
Green-Wood Cemetery is the final resting place of many Americans whose names live on
today — DeWitt Clinton, Currier and Ives, Horace Greeley, Samuel Morse, Alice Roosevelt,
Margaret Sanger, and Louis Comfort Tiffany, to name just a few. A stroll through the grounds
is also a walk through Brooklyn's past with memorials to such great local families as the
Pierreponts, Schermerhorns, Packers and Lows.
But Green-Wood's funerary monuments also offer sculptural treasures and its dramatic
landscape overlooking New York Harbor is filled with mature trees, sylvan lakes and expansive
vistas. Few people today are aware that Green-Wood was a major national tourist attraction
during the 19th century, when weekend outings in its grand parklike environment were
commonplace.
To celebrate that history, commemorate Green-Wood's 150th anniversary, and return the
cemetery's beauty and significance to the attention of contemporary audiences, we invite you
to a series of walking tours and lectures focused on Green-Wood Cemetery.
A group of prominent 19th century citizens established Green-Wood Cemetery in 1838, while
the New York area was experiencing rapid development. As old church cemeteries were
displaced by new streets and buildings, a new type of burial ground was needed. The solution
was the creation of a carefully landscaped, picturesque rural cemetery at what was then the
outskirts of the city.
The Green-Wood site was selected because its farm and woodland was perched on a high
ridge overlooking the entrance to the New York Harbor. Once opened, it became the most
prominent cemetery in the region and served as the New York area's first large park. Its public
appeal was so great that it influenced the creation of Central and Prospect Parks.
America's most prominent architects of the day were commissioned to design richly detailed
and evocative funerary monuments for many buried on Green-Wood's grounds. The cemetery
is now laden with Gothic, Egyptian, and Classical structures set within a bucolic wooded
landscape.
This series of walking tours and lectures will examine Green-Wood Cemetery's prominence
in American History, Architecture and Landscape Design.
Northern Erttrance, from Green-Wood Illustrated, 1891.
All events are free. Lectures will be held at The Brooklyn Historical Society, 128 Pierrepont
Street at Clinton Street in Brooklyn Heights. The Society is within walking distance of all major
subway lines, including: IRT #2, 3, 4, or 5 at Borough Hall, the M, N, or R at Court Street,
and the A or F Jay Street/ Borough Hall.
Both walking tours will meet at the main gates of Green-Wood Cemetery, on Fifth Avenue
at 25th Street in Brooklyn, near the 25th Street station for the RR train.
continued
AGSSP'88p. 14
Wednesday, May 25 at 6:30 poi
LECTURE: Green-Wood and the American Rural
Cemetery Movement
As the evolution of American cities displaced the
traditional church burial ground, larger cemeteries were
established in rural areas. David Schuyler, Chairman of
the History Department at Franklin and fvlarshall College,
presents an introduction to the 19th century rural
cemetery and Green-Wood's place within this movement.
Wednesday, June 8 at 6:30 pm
LECTURE: Understanding ttie Victorian Cemetery
Green-Wood is just one of many Victorian era cemeteries
in the Eastern United States. Kenneth Ames, Professor
for the Winterthur f^useum Program in Early American
Culture, gives a cultural interpretation of the genre —
its prominent characteristics, types of monuments, and
use of terrain.
Wednesday, June 22 at 6:30 pm
Furniture in Green-Wood and Other Victorian
Cemeteries
The iron chairs and stone grave beds that once graced
Green-Wood and other American cemeteries were the
visual expression of a widespread Victorian belief: the
dead were not really dead but sleeping. Ellen Marie
Snyder, Chief Curator at The Brooklyn Historical Society,
examines these revealing objects and other articles of
mourning for a glimpse into Victorian attitudes about life
and death.
Sunday, June 26 at 1 pm
WALKING TOUR: Picturesque Green-Wood — Its
Landscape and Architecture
Stroll through Green-Wood with architectural historian
Andrew S. Dolkart as he examines its magnificent
landscaping and interprets the significance of its
plantings, siting, and monuments.
Wednesday, September 14 at 6:30 pm
LECTURE: Beyond Death Heads and Cherubs: An
Archaeologist's View of Green-Wood Cemetery's
Monuments
Tombstone architecture and inscriptions can offer clues
to the ways that ideologies and social structures change.
Sherene Baugher, Director of the City Archaeology
Program of the New York City Landmarks Preservation
Commission, discusses how such change is reflected
in the Colonial and Victorian monuments of Green-Wood
Cemetery.
Wednesday, September 28 at 6:30 pm
LECTURE: Cities of the Dead — The Evolution of the
American Urban Cemetery
What was once a rural cemetery is now surrounded by
urban development. Kenneth Jackson, Mellon Professor
of History at Columbia University, looks at Green-Wood
and other burial grounds as cities within the city.
Sunday, October 9 at 1 pm
WALKING TOUR: Autumn at Green-Wood
Veteran Green-Wood tour guides William and Margaret
Ward offer anecdotes from the past and present on this
promenade through the brilliance of fall foliage on the
grounds.
Miss Charlotte Canda, the French Lady's monument, from
Green-Wood Illustrated, 1891.
Elaine Nichols, Guest Curator of History at the South Carolina State Museum, is researching
African-American funeral and mourning customs in South Carolina, from 1890 to the present.
In the Spring of 1989 the Museum will have an exhibit and symposium on the subject. She
would be interested to hear from AGS members about information or artifacts related to African-
American funeral and mourning customs in South Carolina. She can be reached at the South
Carolina State Museum, P.O. Box 100107, Columbia SC 29202-3107, or phone (803) 737-
4939.
AGSSP'88p. 15
THE RURAL CEMETERY MOVEMENT IN NEW YORK STATE
In an article in the Times Record newspaper of Troy, N.Y., Kevin Wolfe, a contributing editor
for Metropolis rriagazine, takes a look at the rural cemetery movement as it appeared in the
State of New York. Specifically mentioning Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, Woodlawn
Cemetery in the Bronx, Mount Hope Cemetery in Rochester, Oakwood Cemetery in Troy, Albany
Rural Cemetery in Menands, and Trinity Church Cemetery in New York City, Mr. Wolfe writes:
The cemeteries are exhuberant and romantic reminders of the art and architecture of the
Victorians and their obsession with death. In an era before city parks, these cemeteries —
located in what were then rural areas — provided respite from the turmoil and congestion
of rapidly industrializing and expanding urban centers. Like some contemporary amusement
parks, cemeteries were specifically designed as recreational focal points organized around
a single theme, making them something of a Victorian Disneyland of the dead. Thousands
of New Yorkers visited cemeteries on weekends, strolled among the monuments, picnicked
around mausoleums decorated with Tiffany windows, and socialized with friends.
The rural cemeteries built in New York represent part of a nationwide movement during the
mid-1 9th century. The cemeteries — romantically landscaped and embellished with eclectic
monuments — mark a turning point in the evolution of landscape architecture in America.
The so-called rural cemeteries of the Victorian age influenced a whole series of landscaped
public parks that followed — including Manhattan's famed Central Park (1857) — in which
architecture and landscape architecture were treated as one.
At the Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, for example, the names of wealthy men and women
are memorialized forever, or so they hoped, with outrageous monuments in the form of gigantic
obelisks, churches, temples and tempiettos that offer a glimpse into a vanished way of life.
The fabulous fauna vies for attention with headstones of the likes of Boss Tweed, the ringleader
of the notorious Tammany Hall politicians, and the hilltop mausoleum of the Steinways, the
family who created the famous pianos.
According to historian Robert W. Venables, wealthy Victorians commissioned the same architects
to design mausoleums as they did to design their mansions: McKim, Mead and White; Richard
Morris Hunt; John Russell Pope; and others. The mausoleums and sculptures of Mount Hope
(1837), Albany Rural Cemetery (1841), Oakwood (1848), Green-Wood (1843), Trinity (1843) and
Woodlawn (1 863) are decorated with the same motifs and ornaments as the great public buildings
of the era.
One of the most impressive buildings on Oakwood's 325-acre grounds is the Gardner Earl
Crematorium, built in 1887 in a Richardsonian Romanesque style incorporating rounded arches,
poly-chromed brick and stone work, turrets and corbelled balconies, and a 90-foot tower.
The building was designed by Fuller and Wheeler, a well-known Troy firm which embellished
the interior with all the lavishness that money could provide. Marbles and mosaics decorate
the floors, and the rooms are outfitted with oak ceilings, bronze doors, an onyx altar and
a Tiffany window. The cemetery, laid out by Philadelphia eingineer John C. Sidney, takes
advantage of the spectacular views across the Hudson, with serpentine paths and roadways
studded with plantings including conifer groves and Japanese umbrella trees.
In Green-Wood in Brooklyn and Woodlawn in the Bronx, groupings of mausoleums create
miniature streets, smaller in scale but similar to the grand houses the rich were building for
themselves in the chic precincts of the city and then-emerging suburbs. The most grandiose
mausoleums at Woodlawn and Green-Wood surmount hilltops, or are sited around lagoons
with spectacular views of a gently rolling landscape. This bucolic landscape is a product
of the period's Romantic movement advocated by America's pre-eminent landscape architect,
Andrew Jackson Downing. When Frederick Law Olmsted began working on Central Park in
the 1850s, Green-Wood proved to be an inspirational model. Olmsted studied the way people
used the cemetery as a recreational resource, as well as the use of perspective to manipulate
vistas and sight lines.
The siting of Trinity, adjacent to an estate once owned by naturalist John James Audubon
(also buried there), differs dramatically from Green-Wood and Woodlawn because of its
topography. The long, narrow site between 153rd and 155th Streets steps up in a series of
hills from Riverside Drive to Amsterdam Avenue, with the mausoleums oriented to the dramatic
views of the Hudson River and the New Jersey Palisades rather than man-made features.
The first public outcry for the new cemeteries began in the early 1800s when yellow fever
epidemics were still commonplace. Residents believed the combination of shallow graves dug
during these emergencies and the overcrowded graveyards in the older parts of the cities
were a source of disease. City officials in Boston, for example, banned burials on the heavily
populated Boston peninsula in 1823. The first rural or garden cemetery. Mount Auburn in
Cambridge, opened in 1832, and went far beyond the need for better sanitary conditions.
The 110 landscaped acres (now 175) had five artificial ponds and 30 miles of winding carriage
paths and footpaths. Design restrictions controlled what kind of monuments could be built,
and monuments were placed to accentuate the landscape. Mount Auburn became the model
for rural cemeteries all over the country, and other cities copied ideas used in the design
of this highly successful and ordered landscape. A decade after Mount Auburn opened, almost
as many people visited the cemetery as had visited Niagara Falls.
AGSSP'88p. 16
MORE OLD GRAVESTONE DESIGNS IN USE TODAY
From the Boston Globe, March 23, 1986, comes an illustration from Joyce Kozloff's mural
for the Harvard Square subway station (1979-85). "Kozloff's Harvard Square station is a re-
interpretation of New England decorative styles — gravestone carving, scrimshaw, engravings
of clipper ships, quilts, weathervanes and itinerant colonial painting. Overall, she retranslates
regional folk art. The ceramic units are small and there are scale shifts throughout the mural
emblematic of the primitive technique and of the stenciling methods of early artists."
Jessie Lie Farber writes that she and Dan went into the handsomely redecorated Harvard
Square subway station in Cambridge MA to take a look at the tiles mentioned in the article.
"There are a lot of tiles with gravestone designs, many more than are in this illustration. Although
they are adaptations of authentic designs from all over New England, they are indeed attractive
and, considering their proximity to so many great stones in the area, appropriate as decoration
for the station's interior."
THE RAIN ON THE PLAINS WAS NEVER ON THE WANE
hy Jim Jewell
What is quickly becoming a cliche with me is my nominee for newest corollary to Murphy's
Law: Rain begins falling the minute you start assembling a camera in a cemetery!
Fascinated by the splendid displays I saw at the 1986 AGS convention, I resolved to start
saving immediately for a camera I could use while tromping through cemeteries. I finally got
around to it the following June, and I used the two weeks between buying it and leaving
for the 1987 convention to practice. Of course, I only went out on nice days. On June 23,
the day I embarked for Amherst, however, I began a relationship with raindrops that threatened
to ruin my newly-acquired passion.
I left Fort Wayne, Indiana, on Highway 30, heading east through Ohio, and stopped at eleven
cemeteries en route to my first destination: Pittsburg PA. The first three or four were small,
relatively uninteresting cemeteries with little to photograph. By the time I got to Crestline and
Canton, where I could begin to see the influence of New England stones, dark grey clouds
were chasing me.
I wanted to make some time the second day and planned very few stops through Pennsylvania.
I made it almost to the New York-Connecticut border. I only stopped at two cemeteries in
New York, and beautiful blue skies were above me all the way.
continued
AGSSP'88p. 17
I was able to get some nice shots even though overcast conditions were with us during the
convention. I left Amherst with plans to photograph in southern Ohio and Indiana. I had left
Boston a year earlier to visit the beautiful Woodside Cemetery in Middletown, Ohio, where
my grandparents are interred. It was one of the most beautiful days of that summer when
I walked through it, compiling a list of stones to be photographed when I returned.
A year later, showers plagued me the entire day I was at Woodside. As in Amherst, I did
get some nice shots; but I had to wait around and carefully plan most of them around the
rainclouds that frequently blocked the sun. By the time I got to the interesting little cemeteries
around Eaton, Ohio, I had chills and sniffles and was anxious to get to my destination of
Terre Haute, Indiana.
I planned to contact my friend Leia Bullerdick to photograph in her neck-of-the-woods the
day after arriving in Terre Haute. That was July 1, and on that day the area got more rain
than it had during all of June! We did photograph in six Southern Indiana cemeteries on
July 2, but the necessity of my returning to Peru on July 2 forced me to cancel my plans
to photograph in the beautiful Woodlawn, St. Joseph's, Calvary, and Highland Lawn Cemeteries
in Terre Haute.
I did stop in Oakwood, Mahomet, and Leroy, Illinois cemeteries on the way back; but grey
clouds and a steady downpour made me keep going when I got to Lostant in southern LaSalle
county, where I'd promised to photograph a particular stone for some Hoosier friends.
My next summer excursion was Indiana University's Broadway Theatre Tour, which left from
Indianapolis July 31. I planned to leave Peru on the thirtieth so I could stop at Woodlawn
Cemetery in Clinton IL I'd been by it many previous times when I had no time to stop, but
this year I made time. Halfway through, raindrops were falling on my Pentax!
The rain kept up, with greater and greater intensity, until I was in Indianapolis, where I had
planned to visit Crown Hill, Indiana's largest cemetery. The rain continued until long after
the gates were locked!
After returning to the Midwest from the Big Apple, I decided to go slightly out of my way
to visit Springfield IL, and Oak Ridge Cemetery, where Abraham Lincoln is buried. On a sunny
day, there aren't many more lovely sights than Lincoln's Tomb against the blue sky as you
drive in the front gate. Well, my pictures reveal a sky as grey as Lincoln's vault; and the
ensuing ran abbreviated the day I'd planned to stay there.
I did have a few sunny days for photographing after returning to Peru, and the morning of
September 19 began as one of the sunniest. I left my home for a day of shutterbugging that
was to end at the interesting Blackberry Cemetery in Elburn, Illinois, some sixty miles north
of Peru. By the time I was half-way through photographing the tree stones in Millington, I
noticed grey clouds in the West.
I raced on to Elburn and did manage to get most of the shots I wanted before the deluge
came, but I am going to have to return to photograph a series of interesting stones with animals
on them that are in a particularly heavily-shaded area of Blackberry. There are two with birds
— one a cardinal, the other (I think) a robin; there is a horse on a third stone and a ram
on a fourth. It's a good thing none of the stones has two of each species on it: I'd be convinced
that, in the next cemetery I picked to photograph, I'd encounter a robed man with a long,
grey beard building an ark!
Jim Jewell, Peru IL, is a frequent contributor to the
Newsletter.
Because these stones are identical in style and cut, it
appears that in Greencastle the Buster family married
into the Brown family! Photo by Jim Jewell, Peru IL.
Forest Hill Cemetery, Greencastle IN
AN INSURANCE NOTE
David White writes about homeowner's insurance in the October-November 1987 issue of
AAA Magazine. He notes ". . . There are even some very unusual coverages, such as protection
for tombstones. If a vandal should deface or destroy the family gravestone, homeowner's
insurance will restore it. . . ." This is coverage perhaps that should be looked into.
froiv Inscriptions, the newsletter of the Wisconsin State Old Cemetery Society, March 1988.
AGSSP'88p. 18
TOURING THE CEMETERIES OF NEW ORLEANS
Raised high above the surrounding sunken landscape, the cemeteries of New Orleans stand
as stark reminders of the city's unique cultural, religious, and even architectural traditions.
In few other places do cemeteries hold such fascination. From a jazz funeral to family reunions
on All Saints' Day, a death often evokes the same celebration as does a Mardi Gras parade.
Among the first sights for many visitors to the city are sprawling aboveground cemeteries
along 1-10. Some of the oldest burial grounds lie just outside the French Quarter and within
a short distance of St. Louis Cathedral, which they were built to serve. Although time and
vandals have taken a toll on some, they remain popular city attractions. The Greater New
Orleans Tourist and Convention Commission estimates that about 400,000 people visited the
31 historic sites last year.
The cemeteries' roles go beyond merely being places to remember the dead. They also weave
a binding thread between the past and present. Tombstones often record as much history
of a place as does a textbook. To genealogists and historians, they serve as open chronicles
of the people who molded a soggy piece of swampland into one of the country's most exciting
cities.
The National Park Service rangers lead daily tours into St. Louis Cemetery I, established in
1788. The Save Our Cemeteries organization and local bus tour companies arrange tours
also. Tours are advised for visiting the cemetery.
On All Saints' Day, November 1, the parks take on a festive appearance when family and
friends clean and whitewash the tombs and decorate graves with fresh flowers or immortelles,
which are wreaths made of wrought iron, glass, and beads. Families even schedule reunions
at grave sites, so don't be surprised to hear jazz musicians playing for friends of the past.
Among the unique local burial features are wall vaults, or burial ovens, that line the outside
walls of the cemeteries. Because water flows only a few feet below the ground in New Orleans,
aboveground burials are mandatory. And the stacked tombs conserve valuable land space.
Affluent families usually build large standing tombs. These vary in as many styles and designs
as are seen in the city's diverse architecture. Some tombs resemble miniature pyramids or
Greek temples. Others offer a glimpse of the person's life. In Metairie Cemetery, at 5100
Pontchartrain Blvd., a figure of a young girl knocking at a door is carved on one tomb. It
was erected by Josie Arlington, a Storyville madam who was determined to spend her death
with the socially prominent who looked down on her during her life. Unfortunately, Josie's
heirs sold the tomb after her death, and she was buried elsewhere.
Tombstones in St. Louis I, at Basin and St. Louis Streets, read like elite rosters of the early
neighborhoods. Etienne Bore, the founder of the sugar industry in Louisiana and the first mayor
of New Orleans, Is buried there. The list of yellow fever victims interred in St. Louis I includes
Eliza Lewis Claiborne, wife of Louisiana governor William C.C. Claiborne, and their 3-year-
old daughter. Both mother and child died the same day in 1804.
The most frequently visited grave in St. Louis I remains that of Marie Laveau, the legendary
voodoo queen of New Orleans. Hundreds of small X's cover her tomb. Visitors often perform
a ritual at her grave that involves mumbling a few words, stamping their feet, snapping their
fingers, and scribbling an X on the monument.
Set along oak-shaded Esplanade Avenue is St. Louis Cemetery III. Well-manicured grounds
offer a parklike setting. The pink-and-white granite mausoleum of the Hellenic Orthodox
Community adds to the beauty.
For details about the city's historic cemeteries, contact the tourist and convention commission,
1520 Sugar Bowl Drive, New Orleans, Louisiana 70112; or call (504) 566-5011.
from Southern Living, contributed by Chris Sweaters, Brooklyn NY.
AGSSP'88p. 19
PRESERVATION NEWS
In response to an item about gravestone preservation on page 15 of the fall issue (Vol. 11,
#4), we have a letter from Elizabeth W. McClave, Chairman of the Cemetery Committee of
the Stephentow/n (New York) Historical Society. Mrs. McClave reports that the Society has
elected not to sandblast or recut their deteriorating stones in the belief that these procedures
leave markers more vulnerable to future deterioration. She also reminds readers that coating
gravestones does not protect them.
The Society has, however, embarked on a large recording project that includes mapping and
making rubbings of the town's approximately 3000 stones. "Rubbing helpers" have been
recruited from civic organizations and trained, and she reports that, to date, "we have researched
all the 73 cemeteries and rubbed approximately 300 gravestones." Copies of maps have been
given to appropriate organizations.
The Newsletter appreciates hearing from Mrs. McClave and welcomes further comment from
readers.
MUST CEMETERY YIELD TO AIRPORT?
Detroit, March 29 — These days, other than the oak trees on the hillside, there is nothing
serene about the Serenity lot or any other lot at Detroit's Gethsemane Cemetery. City officials
want to remove headstones there to expand Detroit City Airport on the north. Outraged relatives
of people buried there have appeared at City Council meetings by the hundreds to protest
the move, some shouting obscenities and waving placards, warning, "Not over my dead body."
The city recently bought the old German Lutheran cemetery and in late February announced
plans to fill in land over 10,000 graves, remove many headstones and replace some. Officials
want to bring commercial jets to the East Side airport and hope to have Southwest Airlines
operating there by June. To do that, the city must lengthen several runways and provide a
safety zone in case an airplane lands or takes off beyond the runway. The safety zone would
be the northern half of Gethsemane. The soft land there must be made more firm with about
two feet of gravel and clay to support a plane's weight. To do this, at least 10,000 headstones
will have to be temporarily removed. About 500 upright tombstones will have to be removed
altogether and replaced with flat markers.
Betty Saccoia's mother, father, grandmother, grandfather, uncle, aunt, niece and daughter are
all buried in the path of what will be Runway 33. "There's no way they're going to get those
headstones back in the right spot," Mrs. Saccoia said, "You could end up putting flowers
on somebody else's grave." To avoid mixing up the headstones, officials plan to "videotape
the graves to document their relationship to each other," said Robert Berg, spokesman for
Mayor Coleman A. Young. "The headstones will only be moved a few feet from the graves."
Relatives with visions of graves being dug out or cemented over, are furious. They have organized
into two protest groups: Save Our Loved Ones and Rest In Peace. Rest in Peace is now
gathering signatures on a petition for a restraining order. "We want them to stay out of the
cemetery and leave us alone," said Diana Menendez, a leader of Rest In Peace. The city
took out full-page advertisements in local papers explaining its position, while the cemetery
manager, William Eldridge, quit because of what he called the city's "cavalier disregard for
human sentiments," saying, "You're dealing with loved ones here, not closing off a road."
The plan drew the attention of relatives who had not been to the cemetery in years. People
have called from Florida, Texas, Arizona and Montreal. They have driven in from across the
state and lined up everyday at a trailer at the cemetery gate to check on their relatives' graves.
Most are outraged that headstones they carefully picked out and paid dearly for may be dug
up and in some cases thrown out forever. Mr. Berg said the city had not decided what it
would do with the headstones. "If people want, they can take them home with them," he said.
Some people say they want to avoid the confusion altogether and move their relatives' remains
somewhere else. There have been 700 requests so far and more are coming in everyday,
said O'Neil D. Swanson, who was hired by the city to co-ordinate "grief counselling" out
of the trailer.
Relatives say that if the city gets its way, Gethsemane won't be a cemetery anymore. Officials
have already said that, after the construction is over, the safety zone will be fenced off and
people will be prohibited from visiting the graves whenever planes are flying. Grieving relatives
probably won't be able to leave flowers either because the safety zone is supposed to be
clear of obstructions. The thought of such restrictions infuriates people like Miss Menendez
who lives 10 minutes from Gethsemane and buried her mother, Willie Dickerson, there in
January 1987 so she could feel closer. "I go to see my mother three or four times a week,"
Miss Menendez said, "I don't want her disturbed." I plant flowers in that hard dirt. I go and
talk to my mother, and I cry there, I don't want to have to be out there crying with an armed
guard watching me."
from the New York Times, March 30, 1988, contributed by Francis Y. Duval, Brooklyn NY.
AGS SP'88 p. 20
R.I.P. CONFERENCE
On March 11 nearly 150 people attended a conference in Charlestown MA on the restoration
of gravestones sponsored by the Boston Parks and Recreation Department. At least twenty-
nine members of AGS were present plus six people from Halifax, Nova Scotia who learned
of the conference from Deborah Trask.
Available copies of the new Primer sold out and orders were taken.
The Executive Director participated in the last panel of the day, speaking on the work AGS
does in the way of advocacy for gravestones. The rest of the day was given to presentations
on various phases of the work of the Boston Historic Burying Grounds Initiative.
Quite a number of people left at the close of the day desiring additional restoration conferences.
Louis Tallman (past President of NHOGA) expressed a strong desire that a similar day be
tailored to rural New Hampshire where there is real concern and pockets of energy, but where
funding is elusive.
George Kackley, Baltimore MD, writes that the Spring 1988 issue of Sweet Auburn, newsletter
of the Friends of Mount Auburn, has a grand tribute to Alan D. Chesney who retired as president
of that cemetery on March 31. George feels that Sweet Auburn is a public relations tool of
Mount Auburn Cemetery's administration, and he was written the editor of that newsletter
the following letter:
History will record what SWEET AUBURN's blurb omits: Alan D. Chesney's major
accomplishment so far as the history of our landmark cemetery is concerned: the sneaky
destruction of its magnificent sweep of cast-iron fence. As he cruises the Maine coast, his
conscience should (and I do) remind him that, a year or so before that vandalism, when debate
between repair and replacement was discussed by him with me, alone, I told him of another
garden-cemetery fence, cast at the same time and in the same molds of the Mount Auburn
fence, and I told him I could provide an expert repair man. Furthermore, I stressed my need
for replacement panels and other parts for the fence for which I was responsible. Chesney
had many panels and parts shattered (like glass), and he gave me and the other cemetery
no opportunity to obtain them.
True friends of Mount Auburn Cemetery are aware that administrators of old cemeteries find
all -too-attractive inducements to call the undertaker when a surgeon, a chiropractor or even
a boy scout could save a precious masterwork. These old trees are temptations, too. It is
easy to ignore the second half of replacement cost: so many dollars and so many years (usually
a century or more).
George. Kackley was formerly the superintendent of Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, DC.
IDEAS FOR THE CLASSROOM
Haunting graveyards is a regular part
of the curriculum for archaeology stu-
dents at Davidson College.
Students in William M. Ringle's
course are required to conduct research
in several local cemeteries. Mr. Ringje,
assistant professor of archaeology, says
that studying how people are buried can
shed light on how they lived.
"A cemetery is a community like any
other, a community of the dead," he
says.
One visit takes students to a planta-
tion cemetery, where they have the op-
portunity to study how plantation own-
ers' families and their slaves were bur-
ied.
Students are assigned a portion of the
cemetery to study. They note the size of
the graves and their relative position in
the family plot and the rest of the grave-
yard. Students record information from
the headstones, including inscriptions
and birth and death dates. By doing a
stone-rubbing, students sometimes cap-
ture unusual epitaphs as well.
Class members log the information
on a computer, consulting church rec-
ords to help fill gaps in their research.
Mr. Ringle says he hopes to determine
the reliability of the students' findings
by matching their information with his-
torical records.
Mr. Ringle and his students found
that the arrangement of graves in the
Davidson, N.C., cemetery, for exam-
ple, indicated a person's status in
the community. Wealthy landowners'
graves were marked with marble
stones. The stones of women were
smaller and less ornate. The informa-
tion gathered also indicates an "ex-
traordinary" infant mortality rate of
nearly 40 per cent, he says.
Mr. Ringle says he hopes to expand
class study to include more slave grave
sites, which are difficult to locate be-
cause they are unmarked and often lo-
cated outside the cemetery walls.
— CATHERINE J. HOSLEY
from Chronicles of Higher Education, December 9, 1987,
contributed by Dr. David Paul Davenport, Laredo TX, and
Robert von Bentliuysen, West Long Branch NJ.
AGS SP'88 p. 21
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
A Reuters item from Tokyo says that Japanese who die in that city will have to be buried
in multistory buildings or stacked underground in structures similar to parking lots. Only one
in 20 applicants received graves in last year's public auction of the city's last remaining public
grave sites.
The Metropolitan Panel on Graveyards has recommended that permanent leases on graves
should be abandoned in favor of time-limited ones, saving space for future needs. There will
be no further conventional sites offered by the city government, the panel said. All public
cemeteries now will be of the new type. Graves sold by private real estate agents can cost
more than $40,000, but the continuing tradition of ancestor worship keeps demand strong.
from the Chicago Sun-Times, April 3, 1988, sent by Jim Jewell, Peru IL.
GENEALOGY METHODOLOGY
Brenda Daley's probe made a clunk when she used it to get up after a rest from working
in the little Skillin Cemetery on Running Hill Road, South Portland. Looking down, she discovered
she had been sitting on the "missing" stone of little Cyrus Skillin, erected in 1844 but now
lying flat under the dirt. She called it doing genealogy by the seat o' one's pants.
from the Maine Old Cemetery Association (MOCA) Newsletter, Vol. XX #1, Winter 1988.
AGS IS NOT ALONE
Comment from Francis Duval: Did you happen to see the Tonight Show when Johnny Carson
had as a guest an 89-year-old lady from Kentucky who makes artifacts out of gourds? At
one point he asked her if gourd enthusiasts communicated with one another. She answered,
"Oh yes, we are organized. I belong to the AGS — that stands for the American Gourd Society
headquartered in Loveland, Ohio."
A quick scanning of the Encyclopedia of Associations turned up several more AGS acronyms
— American Geriatrics Society, American Golf Sponsors, and the American Goat Society. There
is also a computer company in Orleans MA called Astro-Graphics Services which sells AGS
software for astrologers. Have you come across any others??
UNEARTHING FACTS
Richard Topp, head of the biographical committee of the Society for American Baseball Research,
is in charge of checking the 12,864 players and managers listed in the Baseball Encyclopedia.
Topp, a free-lance computer programmer and die-hard White Sox fan, says he loves to go
to cemeteries for research. Topp and his 43 co-workers have found 4730 corrections. The
seventh edition of the book will be published this spring by Macmillan.
from the Chicago Sun-Times, March 5, 1987, sent by Jim Jewell, Peru IL
AGS archivist Beth Rich has been appointed director
of the Needham MA Public Library. A May 1 1, 1988 article
in the Needham Times reports that "despite a recom-
mendation from the library search committee to appoint
another candidate as director, Rich, currently Needham's
assistant librarian, will be promoted to the main spot in
July. " Congratulations, Beth!
AGS SP'88 p. 22
SHELL SYMBOLISM
Dixie H. Garison, of Buda, Texas, writes that she is eager to discover the symbolic significance
of the shell as used on gravemarkers.
This symbol can be seen in New England, where it is sometimes carved on slate, sandstone
and marble markers. But in Texas, in the San Antonio area where Ms. Garison lives, many
graves are decorated with the actual shells embedded in concrete markers.
Concerning her research, she writes:
Ann Jones, archivist at the Sophienberg Museum in New Braunfels, Texas, said she had
just returned from the Holy Land, where she saw graves covered with shells and was
told by her guide that the shell is the Christian symbol of the Resurrection. That might
be true for the Holy Land, but the churches in the areas where I have lived all use the
butterfly as the symbol of the Ressurection. So I got out my books on Christian symbols
and learned that the scallop shell is the symbol of Holy Baptism, a pilgrim. If the shell
has three holes, these signify three drops of water as baptism in the name of the Trinity,
Matt. 28:19, 1 Peter 3:20, 21 .
Harper's Bible Dictionary states that the shell is a symbol of Pilgrimage.
I am inclined to go along with the Baptism or Pilgrimage theory as I have attended churches
where the Baptismal Font is shell-shaped.
Ms. Garison is continuing her inquiry into shell symbolism and would welcome information
from readers. Her address is Box 605, Buda, Texas 78610.
The two photos were made in the Comal Cemetery, New
Braunfels, Texas, by Dan Farber
AGS SP'88 p. 23
uaiiaisMaN
sscyv
'jaijajjo/^
Olfr
o|s| i!UJJ9<j
a
1 V d
3DViSOd s 'n
•oyo j.idoyd NON
36120 VIAl'uiBMpeaN
■pa MjnouiAid 9fr
SBianiS 3N01S3AVUD UOd NOIIVIOOSSV
A church's plan to sell part of the historic Tomac Cemetery in Greenwich CT to provide a
developer with open space needed to increase the size of housing lots on an adjacent piece
of land has been rejected. Under the rejected plan, the church intended to sell a portion
of the cemetery for $40,000 and later reclaim the property for $1. Profits from the transaction
were to be used to improve the cemetery.
While agreeing that the cemetery should be preserved, the Greenwich Historical Society and
the former owner of the Flyer property, Walter Pendleton, say the deal could have led to
a zoning precedent with which developers could take advantage of a cemetery to enhance
adjacent building lots. "I had a lot of reservations about this agreement," said Jeffrey Mead,
chairman of the society's burial ground committee, and AGS member. "I think the sacrosanct
nc-ture of these places should remain untouchable in regard to these types of agreements."
As the oldest burial ground in town, the Tomac Cemetery holds the remains of members
of Greenwich's founding families, including the Meads, Lockwoods, Fords and Ferrises, as
well as markers indicating what are believed to be the graves of slaves, Indians or servants,
Mead said. Historians found the 1718 tombstone of Gershom Lockwood, the earliest legible
grave marker in Greenwich, at the Tomac Cemetery. The tombstone is now stored at Greenwich
Historical Society headquarters.
Clark Whittemore Jr., an attorney with Whitm
acknowledged that the First Congregation;
but said local civic organizations have he^
difficult to say whether this (the cemetery)
insom, the law firm representing the church,
-■ch has no written deed to the cemetery,
e church maintain its grounds. "It's really
s to the church or belongs to the town."
As an alternative to the church's plan, Pe and Mead propose forming an "ancient
burial ground association" that would raise money to restore and care for historic cemeteries.
from the Greenwich CT Times, November 9 and December 16, 1987, sent by Jeffrey [\/lead.
The AGS Newsletter is publislied quarterly as a service to members of Tlie Association for Gravestone Studies.
Tiie memberslilp year begins on ttie date dues are received and ends one year from that date. A one-year membership
entitles the members to four issues of the Newsletter and to participation in the .AGS conference in the year
membership is current Send membership fees (individual/institutional, $15; Family $25; contributing, $25) to AGS
Executive Director Rosalee Oakley, 46 Plymouth Rd., Needham, IvIA 02192. Back issues of the Newsletter are
available for $3.00 per issue from Rosalee Oakley. The goal of the Newsletter is to present timely information
about projects, literature, and research concerning gravestones, and about the activities of the Association for
Gravestone Studies. It is produced by Deborah Trask, who welcomes suggestions and short contributions from
readers. The Newsletter is not intended to sen/e as a journal. Journal articles should be sent to Theodore Chase,
editor of Markers, the Journal of The Association tor Gravestone Studies, 74 Farm St., Dover, MA 02030. Address
Newsletter contributions to Deborah Trask, editor. The Nova Scotia l^useum, 1747 Summer St., Halifax, Nova Scotia,
B3H 3A6, Canada. Order Markers, the Journal of the Association for Gravestone Studies (Vol. 1, $18; Vol. 2, $16;
Vol. 3, $14.75; Vol. 4, $14.75; Vol. 5, $18; higher prices for non-members) from Rosalee Oakley. Send contributions
to the AGS Archives to Elizabeth Rich, Archivist, 43 Rybury Hillway, Needham, I^A 02192. Address other
correspondence and orders to Rosalee Oakley.
NEWSLETTER
OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES
DEBORAH TRASK, ED. VOLUME 12 NUMBER 3 SUMMER 1988
ISSN: 0146-5783
CONTENTS
1988 CONFERENCE, Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster PA
BUS TOUR 1
ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS PRESENTED 4
PRESENTATION OF THE FORBES AWARD TO U\UREL GABEL 7
ANNUAL MEETING AND REPORTS 1 1
1988-9 TRUSTEES 15
JEWISH CEMETERIES IN POLAND, by Monika Krajewska 18
FY!, contributed by Francis Y. Duval & Ivan B. Rigby 20
WANTED! Ohio carvers 20
GRAVESTONE RUBBINGS - FOLK ART STATUS! 21
ERRATA, Markers V 22
MAGNOLIA CEMETERY, MOBILE 22
NEW AGS MEMBERS 23
BOOKS, EXHIBITS AND TOURS 24
1988 PENNSYLVANIA BUS TOURS
JUNE 17 & 18
(c) Thomas E. Graves, PhD.
The style of colonial Pennsylvania German gravestones is highly regional. A particular style may be
found in as few as two or three graveyards. The works of a few carvers did find a larger geographic
audience, but these stones are not the norm. The sites selected for this year's bus tour all display a
unique set of designs. Many colonial Pennsylvania German stones are decorated on both sides. Explicit
death motifs are few, mostly hourglasses and crossed bones. You will see one of two skulls. The
Pennsylvania Germans never used the winged deathhead. What skulls do appear stand by themselves
or with crossed bones.
Tulpehocken: Charlie Bergengren (with beer can), a tour
leader, holding forth at the tablestone for the founder of
Myerstown PA. (photo by Bob Drinkwater)
continued
Emmanuel Lutheran Church, Brickervill®, Lancaster County
Founded in 1730, this cliurcli has one of the largest graveyards we visited. This burial place has a
highly curvaceous and decorated Baroque style of stone. These stones have intricate floral and
geometric designs and winged cherubs. The hourglass is worked into many of these designs. There are
a few stones from the more "folk" end of the spectrum.
Muddy Creek Lutheran Church, near Adamstown, Lancaster County
Muddy Creek (founded in 1732 as a Union Church) has dozens of decorated sandstone markers with
no text. The epitaphs may have been originally painted on the stones. While these stones do appear
in a few nearby graveyards, this site appears to be the center for their production. The motifs range
from tulips, trees-of-life and architectural forms to hearts and geometric designs. The stones date
from at least 1757. Bilingual English/German stones dating from as recently as about 1900
illustrate the tenacity of the Pennsylvania German culture in this region.
Bergestrasse Lutheran Church, Ephrata, Lancaster County
Bergestrasse is in the boundary region between the Baroque stones of Brickerville and the stones of
Muddy Creek. The blending of styles is readily apparent. The stone wall typical of colonial
Pennsylvania German graveyards was removed within the last ten years. Although Bergestrasse has
some "classic" colonial stones, the influence of the English culture was felt early. By the 1 830s most
of the epitaphs are in English.
Located north of the first three sites, Tulpehocken is dominated by designs typical of Lebanon and
western Berks Counties. Designs include the cartouche surrounding the epitaph, flat hearts,
"Stretched-Neck Winged Cherubs", and "polka dots". The table stone for the founder of Myerstown
is protected under glass. Another weathered table stone has the remains of crossed bones. Tulpehocken
has a fine example of the stone walls used to enclose burial places and farm yards. Tulpehocken
Reformed Church was founded about 1740.
Tulpehocken: one of the tour buses broke down at Tulpe-
hocken, leaving conferees stranded for several hours.
Here Roberta Halporn passes the time rubbing, while Emi
Shirakawa photographs, (photo by Bob Drinkwater)
Christ Lutheran Church, Stouchsburg, Berks County
The earliest stones that we saw on the Friday tour are in this graveyard. Dated in the 1740s, just
years after the church's founding in 1 743, they are probably the work of a single carver, although
no two designs are exactly the same. The ascription is based on the similarity in the overall shape
of the stones, the three-dimensional execution of the designs, and the lettering. The later colonial
stones are similar to those in nearby Tulpehocken Church. This site has some good examples of
nineteenth century Pennsylvania German stones. Regina Hartman, the "Indian Maid", is reputed to
be buried here. The stone wall is basically intact, but missing its cap. It is said that sheep grazed here
until just a few years ago.
continued
AGSSu'88p2
Lititz yoravian Church, Lititz, Lancaster Courtty
J's
The Moravian Church founded in 1457, is the oldest Protestant group, with beginnings stemming
from the teachings of John Hus. In Pennsylvania, they were originally a communitarian group which
allowed only members to live in their towns, including Lititz (founded 1756) which was closed to
outsiders until 1856. The Moravians had a mixed aesthetic which allowed architectural ornament
and music but which allowed for plain burials. The old stones are all flush with the surface, the
original "perpetual care" markers. Each burial has a number as well as the deceased's name and death
date. Unlike the plain stones of the Amish and Mennonites, most of the markers have a religious verse
on them. General Sutter, famous for having gold discovered on his California property, is buried here
in a crypt donated by the United States government. Most of the crypt is buried underground because
his widow did not want to have his grave be more pretentious than the other burials.
The Corps House (Leichen Kappelchen)
This small structure located beside the church, was built in 1786 to hold the corpses until the time
of burial.
The Hans Hess Cemetery
The burial ground for two of the early families in the County, the Hess and Boehm families, this
cemetery was used from at least the 1730s (earliest known stone dated 1733) through the 1860s,
at which time the farm, with the cemetery, was sold out of the family. This burial ground is one of
the oldest in the county and has the oldest known existent dated Mennonite stone in Pennsylvania, and
one of the earliest slate stones in the county. Unlike New England, slate came into fashion in Lancaster
County in the 1780s with the height of its popularity being from 1800 - 1850. The stones in the
Hess Cemetery are of the typically undecorated style of the early Mennonites. The Amish continue to
have such family cemeteries today.
This cemetery is currently undergoing restoration. The extant stones have all been catalogued, the
original surveys found, and background research done. The family wil build a stone wall similar to
others seen on the tour, which, although not originally part of this site, is typical of colonial
graveyards. They would eventually like to get ail the stones remounted.
Located down the road from the 1719 Hans Herr House, the Willow Street burial ground may be the
oldest cemetery in the county. A modern memorial stands in remembrance of Hans Herr (d. 1 725),
his wife Elizabeth (d. 1730) and his sone Christian (d. 1850). It was Christian who actually built
the Herr House and donated this land for burials. The earliest markers here are all crudely shaped.
Many have no dates. Some have full names while others have only initials. The "Victorianization"
of the Mennonites can be seen in the nineteenth century gravestones. Willow Street has a few good slate
examples.
A Victorian garden cemetery with examples of the interplay of the Pennsylvania German and more
mainstream English cultures, this cemetery contains the tomb of President Buchanan. Although
founded in the early 1 800s, some stones from the late 1 700s can be found around the old chapel. These
include simplified baroque designs as found at Bergestrasse and one death's head.
Founded in 1895, Greenwood is an entirely modern cemetery. Greenwood has good examples of late
Victorian markers and some excellent custom-made stones, including a reproduction of a Celtic cross
and a copyrighted Tiffany stone. Contemporary custom work with sandblasted and etched designs are
also featured. Greenwood has the oldest crematorium (1884) in the United States, and a 400 crypt,
191 1 Egyptian Revival Mausoleum — both structures were open for the tour.
AGSSu'88p3
ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS
PRESENTED AT
THE 1988 CONFERENCE
BALLARD, David D., "Bronze Preservation and Restoration." This
in-depth discussion of bronze preservation and restoration as it applies to
the many monuments at Gettysburg National Military Park treats a subject
very often neglected in cemetery research. More and more bronze markers
and tablets are being found each year in cemeteries across the nation. The
subject of preservation and restoration is one of concern, one that parallels
that of stone preservation and restoration. This paper will be given as a part
of the workshop on restoration and preservation.
BARRICK, Mac E. "Grave Structures and American Folk Belief."
Structures other than crypts and tombstones standing on graves have given
rise to a number of folk beliefs, namely that they were intended to prevent
wolves or other scavengers from desecrating the graves, but the nature and
period of their construction suggest that they had another purpose.
CHASE, Theodore. "Nathaniel (1690-1750), Henry (1716/17-1767),
^uid Joshua (1719-1772) Emmes of Boston." This paper will be co-
presented witn Laurel K. Gabel. See this listing for additional information.
CROWELL, Elizabeth A. "The Gravestones of Colonial Tidevvrater
Virginia: An Introduction to the Funerary Monuments of a Class-
Oriented Society." This paper will be co-presented with Norman Vardney
Mackie, HI. See this listing for additional information.
CUNNINGHAM, Keith. "Competence, Context, and Purpose: The
Paradox of Asmus Jorqensen s Stone Carving." One of tne great
unsolved questions of traditional art is why a given artist's work does not
always demonstrate straight line growth in competency. This presentation
examines the work of Asmus Jorgensen, a late 19th century Intermountain
West traditional stone carver, to show how context and purpose may
override competence.
EDGETTE, J. Joseph. "Rovs^s of Stone, Ceiling of Sky: The
Cemetery As a College Classroom." The cemetery has been used as an
outdoor classroom for students at both the elementary and secondary levels
of education. The experiences and information tt) be gained are truly
valuable. The college level student, both at the undergraduate and graduate
levels, can also derive similar valuable experience from their interaction with
the material offered in the cemetery. Here are suggested ways to make use
of the cemetery as a classroom for college level students. This presentation
will be a part of the workshop for teachers.
FREDETTE, FRED. "Hands-on Discovery Approach to Student
Exploration of Burial Grounds." This workshop offers a practical
student-oriented approach to gathering, organizing, and evaluating historical
information collected in any burial ground. Emphasis will be on the social,
occupational, economic, and religious charactenstics and the artistic skills of
the period. This is a hands-on discovery approach designed to encourage
students to work and learn with a minimum degree of guidance.
■:■]
TynrviUiltnn: HU^sseti niv they forfivr who dig uilh the l.'irtl
GABEL, Laurel K. "Nathaniel (1690-1750), Henry (1716/17-1767),
and Joshua (1719-1772) Emmes of Boston." Nathaniel and Henry
Emmes were influential Boston carvers of the 18th century. Their work,
dating from the early 1700's to 1765, is found from Nova Scotia to
Barbados, with concentrations of particular distinction in Boston and
Charleston, S.C. The slide presentation will introduce the audience to the
Emmes carvers and their work. This paper will be co-presented with
Theodore Chase.
GAGNE, Richard H. "Gershom Bartlett in the North: His Vermont
and New Hampshire Gravestones (1767-1798). Gershom Bartlett
carved gravestones for 25 years in Connecticut, then abruptly moved north.
He spent another 25 years in incipient Vermont, carving his ambiguous
skull/cherubs in an increasingly neoclassical age. His 305 stones are a
window on the colonial northern frontier.
GARMAN, James. "Problems of Attribution Among the Stevens
Family and Their Slaves, 1745-1810." This paper will present a
compaiison of stones cut by the second and third John Stevens and two of
their slaves, Sypeo and Pompey. The difficulties encountered in
distinguishing slave-cut stones from their masters will serve as the central
focus. Description of African motifs found on the stones carved by Sypeo
and Pompey should prove both revealing and interesting.
GRAVES, Thomas E. "Trees-of-Life — Stones-of-Death: The Folk-
Cultural Context of Pennsylvania-German Gravestones." The artwork
found on Colonial Pennsylvania-German gravestones is related to the
artwork found on the stones of the English-speaking colonists and to the
artwork produced in other areas of Pennsylvania-German culture. This
presentation will explore the motifs found on the gravestones in relationship
to such genres as fraktur, decorated chests, and decorated bams. A
coherent and consistent aesthetic of decoration will be seen to cross
between geni'es with the specific context of each genre helping to give
meaning to the decorative motifs.
continued
AGSSu'88p4
HALPORN, Roberta. "Thirty Dirty Lies About Graveyards . . .
Witches, Mandrakes, and Manticores, Or How To Get The Kids'
Attention." This talk will offer two (Jifferent approaches to using cemetery
data as learning material. The first, used with 9-11 year olds (35 at a time),
uses complete works from the speaker's collection, m combination with a
true-false game. The second, for adults was conducted in an actual
graveyard on Halloween entitled — "Witches Have a Bad Press." This
presentation will be a pail of the teacher workshop.
KAUFMAN, Jean Troxell. "Preliminary Report of the Primitive
Burial Yard At Hannastown, Wcstmorelana County, Pennsylvania."
The present orientation of historic Hannastown, a description of the village
carvers 1773-1787 with the focus upon its cemetery will constitute the
nature of this presentation. The cemeteiy's size, land use, primary
information, archaeological investigation, link between the surrounding area,
the village and civil and military events current then will serve as highpoints
of discussion. Conclusions formulated from research and field study will be
presented.
KLOBERDANZ, Timothy J. "Prairie Cross Makers: German-Russian
Blacksmiths of the Great Plains." Wrought-iron grave crosses comprise a
distinctive form of cemetery folk art in the Northern Great Plains region.
"Schmiedeeiserne Grabkreuze" were fashioned primarily by German-
Russian blacksmiths. The focus of this presentation is on tnese enigmatic
folk artists and the societal ambivalence that surrounded their cross-making
expertise.
LaRUE, Donna M. "The Old Cambridge Burying Grounds." This slide
show looks at the burying ground in its urban setting and in its historical
context. Old photographs and poetry reflect its past appeeirance and historic
importance; seasonal vistas and the changing venues in Cambridge since
1635 blend with a discussion of stylistics and of known cutters' works to
provide a holistic impression of this third-oldest grounds in the Boston area.
LINDEN-WARD, Blanche. "Nature by Design: The Art and
Landscape of Cincinnati's Spring Grove Cemetery." This highly
acclaimea documentary video provides an introduction to the material
culture, iconogi'aphy, and landscape design principles at Cincinnati's "rural"
or garden cemeteiy. Spring Grove, developed through the second half of the
nineteenth century following its 1845 founding and establishment in 1855 of
the "landscape lawn plan" of Adolph Strauch.
MACKIE, Norman Vardney, IIL "The Gravestones of Colonial
Tidewater Virginia: An Introduction to the Funerary Monuments of a
Class-Oriented Society." This paper examines the gravestones of colonial
Tidewater Virginia. Formal aspects of funerary monuments and their
distribution in the landscape will be discussea. Gravestone form and
decoration will be shovm to relate directly to the complex, hierarchical
nature of Virginia society. Burial patterns will be correlated with settlement
patterns. This paper will be co-presented with Elizabeth, A. Crowell.
MANGOLD, William L. "Chronological and Cultural Implications of
the Headboard Style Tombstone in Southeastern Pennsylvania."
Artifactual form is a basis for chronological placement. If a particular form
can be specifically identified with a certain time period, it can be used as an
"index fossil." Such is the case with the headboard style tombstone in
southcentral Pennsylvania as artifacts are a reflection of their culture, a
brief examination of it will be included.
MINIACI, Michael A. "Yorba Cemetery: From Rural Rancho Burial
Plot to County Historical Site." The Yorba Cemetery was established as
a burial plot by Don Bernardo Yorba on Rancho Canon de Santa Ana. In
1858, it was deeded to the Catholic Church and served the community until
the 1930's. Neglected for years, it was acquired by the County for
restoration as an historical site.
continued
AGSSu'88p5
ROBERTS, Warren E. "Stones and Statistics: Mid-19th Century
Gravestone Carvers in Bloomington, Indiana." A list will be given of
the known carvers, eleven in all, who worked in Bloomington, Indiana
between 1850-1860. During this decade the total adult male population of
Bloomington was about 225, meaning that one out of twenty men in
Bloomington was a gravestone carver.
ROTUNDO, Barbara. "White Bronze Covers the Country." This talk
will be illustrated by slides taken by the presenter and dozens more
contributed by AGS members. They will show that identical molds shaped
the white bronze memorials with then still sharp details in cemeteries from
Florida to California to Hawaii and from Nova Scotia to British Columbia.
SCHILDKNECHT, Calvin E. "Folkart of Gravestones of Western
Maryland and Adjacent Pennsylvania." Folkart and other characteristics
are compared of some gravestones of early Scotch-Irish and Germanic
settlers m the Monocacy and Catoctin areas of western Maryland and
adjacent Pennsylvania. Some of the art shown is believed to be pre-celtic
and pre-Germanic in origin. The best slate stones show far better durability
than sandstone, metabasalts, schists, and marbles.
SCHOEMAKER, George H. "Nineteenth Century Tombstone Art in
Utah." The study of tombstone art is one way to approximate the attitudes,
values, and beliefs of a particular culture. An examination of nineteenth
century tombstone art in Utah illustrates a major shift in aesthetic and
symbolic attitudes with the introduction of advanced technology and new
materials.
STONE, Gaynell. "Ethnicity and Ideology in Material Culture:
Colonial Long Island Gravestones. 1680-1820." Long Island was an
important part of New Netherlands, the most ethnically diverse settlement
in the New World. Its historical record has been culturally influenced by the
English and "Dutch," and their numerous denominations. A data base of
4,500 gravestones reveals new spatial and temporal evidence of these social
forces.
STRANGSTAD, Lynette. "Applying Historic Preservation Principles
To a Graveyard Preservation Project." Before beginning any graveyard
preservation project, awareness of sound preservation principles is essential.
'Begin at the beginning" is sound advice in any project, and this slide
presentation will illustrate basic principles to be utilized as a part of that
early planning phase which precedes cleanup, fundraising, or any other
activity. This presentation is a part of the workshop on preservation/
conservation.
"Conservation of Gravemarkers in the Southeastern United States."
The Southeastern United States contains cultural influences of native
Americans, Afro-American, Spanish, and French, providing rich variety in
cultural representations and marker forms, all of which must be understood
before conservation is attempted. A slide presentation will emphasize
conservation problems created by the subtropical climate and the variety of
materials and marker styles.
THOMPSON, Sharyn M. E. "Documenting the Historic Graveyard."
Many primary and secondary sources are available which can place a
graveyard within its historical context and determine its appearance during
earlier time periods. This presentation will focus on the questions to ask
when researching the history of a graveyard and will discuss how to locate
and evaluate historical materials.
TRASK, Deborah E. " 'Heir Ruhet in Gott' Germanic Gravestones in
Nova Scotia." Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia, settled in the 1750's by
German speaking people recruited from southwestern Germany and the
Montbeliard District of France and Switzerland, retains its distinctive
Germanic character. The Germanic tradition, as it evolved over time, is
clearly visible in the old graveyards of the region.
WEAVER, William Woys. "Pennsylvania-German Funeral Foods:
Symbols and Customs oefore 1900." This paper will discuss the various
types of food served in coimection with Pennsylvania-German funerals, old
serving customs, and the decorative symbols used on ftineral cakes and
other types of niemento or gift foods for the mourners. In terms of
decoration, there is often a direct link between symbols used on gravestones
and those used on funeral cakes or molded funeral breads and puddings.
WOOD, Harvard C.,111. "Replication vs. Restoration." With regard to
preservation there has been some heated controversy among those
interested in preserving deteriorating gravestones. Tne debate centers
around two contradictory viewpoints: one, gravestones are works of art and
restoring them should not include sanding or recutting the surfaces which in
effect destroys the work of the original stonecarver; two, some gravestones
are simply records of life on earth. In either case it is better to recut and
preserve the record than to let a carving disappear entirely. This
presentation will be a part of the workshop on conservation/preservation.
AGSSu'88p6
FORBES AWARD PRESENTATION
It is my distinct pleasure and honor to announce ttie selection by the Board ot Trustees of a
person to receive the Harriette Merrifield Forbes Award for 1988.
This award is named for the pioneer in New England gravestone studies whose book Grave-
stones of Early New England and the Men Who Made Them, published in 1927, marks the
beginning of contemporary gravestone study and research.
From among numerous candidates nominated for consideration for this coveted award, your
Trustees selected Laurel K. Gabel of Pittsford, New York.
Laurel was led into the study of gravestones as a consequence of her interest in genealogy.
Fortunately for those interested in the field of gravestone studies. Laurel's initial encounters were
with those in our association with impeccable credentials and an eagerness to share, teach and guide
a person as determined as our awardee.
Laurel attended her first AGS Conference in 1 980. At each subsequent conference over this
period of eight years she has either given a paper or lead a tour.
Laurel's early work in the field of her new interest was transcribing the original notes made
by Mrs. Forbes covering stones in Middlesex, Essex, Plymouth and Suffolk Counties in Massachusetts.
This effort took two years to complete in collaboration with her daughter, Lisa, and Ralph Tucker.
Among Laurel's earliest creative efforts was the development of a tour for the Boston By Foot
organization, cleverly titled "Boston, Six Feet Under." This began the study that resulted in the very
popular slide show, "New England Gravestones and the Stories They Tell" which she has given
permission for AGS to use as the premier piece of what we hope will become a series of slide show and
video cassette rentals. She assembled slides from her own collection and some from other AGS
members, wrote and narrated the script. Currently she leads tours at Mount Hope Cemetery in
Rochester, has taught classes at the Rochester Museum of Science for four years and lectures
frequently at public schools and historical and genealogical societies. She has served as Vice President
of AGS for four years and is in charge of our Research Clearing House Program.
In collaboration with Ted Chase, Laurel's research has been published in the Register of the
New England Historic Genealogical Society, the Bulletin of the Connecticut Historical Society and in
our own journal. Markers. As an avid researcher with a particular interest in carvers, the article
on the Emmes family of carvers, on which she and Ted are currently collaborating, will soon be
published..
Several years ago, Laurel was engaged by Daniel Farber to index thel 1 ,000 photographs of
about 6,800 gravestones included in the Farber Photograph Collection. And it is here that for many
AGS members. Laurel makes her most valuable contribution. They have come to herfor information,
advice, copies of photographs of gravestones, and other resources or other persons to contact
regarding their particular research project. As the coordinator of the AGS Research Clearing House,
she has her hand on the pulse of a vast amount of the research being done today in gravestone studies.
And this knowledge she shares in abundant measure.
With this litany of accomplishments that have and will continue to advance the knowledge of
gravestone studies and the purposes for which AGS was founded, I am honored to present the Harriette
Merrifield Forbes award to Laurel K. Gabel for her distinguished service in the field of gravestone
studies.
Laurel, this certificate was crafted by our own Carol Perkins. As with the previous
certificates she has made for our Forbes Awards, this one, too, is a work of art.
And by special request, Michael Cornish, who is also an accomplished framer, sought the
privilege of framing the certificate. In his request he gave as a reason, "Laurel has done many things
for me which I value very highly and I really would like to do this for her." With the great care that
each of these persons has taken, the physical beauty of this award is exceptional.
Laurel, have you ever seen a photograph of Mrs. Forbes? With thanks to Daniel Farber, we
have for you a photograph of Mrs. Forbes to go with your Award.
Fred Oakley Jr.
AGSSu'88p7
AGS President Fred Oakley Jr. presenting tlie 1988
Forbes Award to Laurel K. Gabel.
LAUREL GABEL'S ACCEPTANCE SPEECH
Thank you VERY MUCH.
I'd like to believe that I could stand up here and express my gratitude with the poise and
composure of someone who does this sort of thing frequently. But I doubt that I could convince you —
or myself. The reality is, I fall apart at weddings, graduations, AT&T commercials — when they throw
out the first ball of the baseball season... The Forbes Award means a great deal to me. Before I have
a chance to get all weepy/wobbly, I'd like to thank some very special people who are responsible, in
large measure, for my being here. I feel better reading this, because I probably couldn't get through
it any other way.
f^any people in AGS have shared their research and their friendship: Vincent Luti, Eloise
West, Jim Slater, Bob Drinkwater, Mike Cornish, Pat Miller, Jonathan Twiss, Jim Halpin and
especially Rosalee Oakley. My daughter, Lisa, helped proof read and index the Forbes notes, and Ron,
my husband, has stayed married to me in spite of it all. But I'd like to start with thanks to Ralph
Tucker, who got me started in gravestone studies.
Our family was living in San Francisco in 1968 when I became interested in trying to research
my Wyman family ancestry. Of course it was the wrong coast for New England genealogy research,
but someone had put me in touch with a Rev. Tucker, who was the corresponding secretary of the
Wyman Family Association back in Massachusetts. I wrote to this Rev. Tucker — long vague letters
requesting all he could tell me about all the Wymans in America, etc. He was terribly patient with
these naive questions and helpful with my research. We corresponded for several years before our
family moved back to the Boston area in the early 1970s.
A few years later I finally met Rev. Tucker at a family association picnic where he was the guest
speaker. His talk was about early New England gravestones and" about the Lamson family of carvers,
whose work he illustrated by flipping through an easel full of gravestone rubbings. I was really
fascinated by all of this and went up afterward to tell him so. He invited me to his home to look at the
rest of his rubbings. He also told me about a group of people with similar interest who had just formed
an organization called The Association for Gravestone Studies, i found out how to join, and the following
year went to my first AGS Conference, at Bradford. After that I'm afraid I made a pest of myself with
questions about carvers. Who carved this? Who did that? And how could you tell? Ralph Tucker was
a good teacher. He introduced me to the gravestone scholarship in print, shared his extensive reprint
files, and lent me a copy of Mrs. Forbes' book: Early New England Gravestones and the Men
Who Made Them. My husband carefully photocopied every page of that out-of-print Forbes
treasure and it became my Bible. Today the photocopy is in tatters, but it's still my "working copy."
I will always by indebted to Ralph. He took the time to nourish a beginner's, often impatient, interest.
And it was he who suggested that, if I really wanted to know something about gravestone research, I
might go to work on the boxes of uncatalogued Forbes notes filed away at the American Antiquarian
Society in Worcester.
There are several boxes of miscellaneous gravestone-related material in the Forbes Collec-
tion at the Antiquarian Society. Incidentally, Harriette Forbes never belonged to the American
Antiquarian Society. Women were not allowed to become members until after her death in 1951 . The
first woman member was, in fact, Mrs. Forbes' daughter, Esther, who had won, among other literary
honors, the Pulitzer Prize for her biographical history of Paul Revere and the World He Lived
I n and the Newbery Award for the still popular Johnny Tremain. The notes at the Antiquarian
Society from Harriette Forbes' probate research are written mostly in pencil, on what can best be
described as "available" paper; there is no uniform quality or size. The loose pages were obviously
working notes, never meant to be scrutinized by anyone else. The probate entries appear to be
complete for the two large Massachusetts counties of Middlesex and Suffolk, and there are also
scattered notes from several other areas. Mrs. Forbes's handwriting and abbreviations were difficult
AGSSu-88p8 continued
to decipher at first, and I'm certain that some of my attempts missed the mark. But her scholarship
and attention to detail were faultless. Each entry listed the name of the deceased, the probate date, a
quote, usually from the probate account, the volume number and page. Sometimes you could sense her
amusement when she recored a particularly entertaining excerpt from a will, or some especially
colorful entry that had nothing to do with gravestones. It was impossible to work with those notes
without gaining a real appreciation and affection for the woman who produced them. I would have liked
so much to have known her! She must have spent months in those dusty — always too hot or too cold
— stacks at the old Middlesex County Court House, sorting through the crumbling and fragile probate
envelopes and patiently reading the faded 18th century handwriting on hundreds of documents. Her
daughter said that her mother's usual lunch was one Mounds candy bar.
The more I learned about gravestones, the more Harriette Forbes became my heroine. She was
a housewife — the mother of six children, (in seven years!) — and somehow she still managed to
produce all of this original research, more than 1400 gravestone photographs, and a book! She also
photographed and wrote extensively about early houses and their history, about furniture, early
diaries, clothing styles... How did she do it?
In 1 979 Jessie and Dan Farber tape recorded an interview with Harriette Forbes' daughter,
Katherine Forbes Erskine, then in her 90th year. Mrs. Erskine's reminiscences about her mother
have been printed and are available through AGS. If you have never read the interview, or if you
scanned it so long ago that you can't remember much, I encourage you to re-read it. The conversations
provide a delightful glimpse into the life and character of Harriette Forbes, and the world she lived
in.
I discovered in the interview that Harriette Forbes was seventy-one years old when her
gravestone book was published in 1 927. She was born in 1 856, before the Civil War. That is a major
generation gap; but doesn't she seem much more contemporary? Maybe because she found fascination
in the same old stones that intrigue us; she sought answers to many of the same questions that we are
asking today. By using the advantages that leisure and intellect afforded her, Mrs. Forbes was able
to combine her love of research, photography, and writing to produce what is still considered by most
to bethe best all-around bookon EARLY NEW ENGLAND GRAVESTONES AND THE MEN WHO MADE THEM.
Dan and Jessie Farber are in the process of having the almost 1400 Forbes glass negatives printed
and catalogued.
What a treasure they are! The Forbes photographs and Dan and Jessie!
How do I even begin to thank Jessie and Dan Farber for all they have done for gravestone studies
and for me? Jessie, by being a role model, dispensing encouragement, counsel and her own enthusiasm
when I needed just that.
Although carver Daniel Hastings and the Park carvers were well represented in the
graveyards around our home, I could nevertell the difference between the two. So shortly after I met
Dan Farber, I asked him if he could show me how to tell these two carvers apart. He pointed out a few
differences that I thought were pretty subtle, and then said good naturedly, "Go look at a hundred
Hastings stones and a hundred Park stones; then you'll know the difference." I never can tell when
he is teasing, and still don't know. But I spent the summer tracking down probated Hasting and Park
stones, trying to assess the different carving styles. When I was through, I didn't particularly CARE
if I ever saw another Park or Hastings marker, and it embarrassed me that I could ever have confused
the two. I don't think I ever thanked you for that lesson, Dan. Or for all of the other wisdom,
encouragement, kindness, and resources that you and Jessie have shared so generously from the very
first. I admire you both very much.
I also owe a special thank you to Barbara Rotundo, who taught me to better understand and
appreciate Rural cemeteries and the wonderful, complex 19th century culture that they reflect.
Barbara, too, has been so generous with her expertise, and patient with my relative ignorance. She
showed me how to look at the 1 9th century, and a lot of other things, through new eyes. And because
of her I met a (quote) "Dear Friend." -because that is how he signs his letters.
i used to, as the bumper sticker says, brake for old graveyards — but, because of Barbara's
lessons, I learned to brake for ALL graveyards. So after I had looked at the stones in the old Dover
burying ground one day in 1980, my compulsiveness wouldn't let me leave without at least driving
through the adjacent newer section. One particularly stunning stone there caught my eye. It was an
old-style slate marker whose tympanum had the same calligraphic bird carving as the Ann
Cunningham stone, familiar from the picture in Ludwig's book. The side border panels were also
familiar copied from the Joseph Nightengale stone. It was such a striking memorial — perhaps
produced in the Benson's shop, I thought — and I jumped out to get a better look as well as a photograph;
actually I thought maybe it would have been signed. The person who placed this marker had to have
known something about old gravestones! The tablet inscription said "In Memory of Theodore and
Dorthea Chase," and although their respective birth dates were recorded, no dates of death had been
carved. I stopped at the town Hall and found out that Mr. and Mrs. Chase were very much alive and in
fact lived near-by. As soon as I got home I called them on the phone. Ted assumed that I was a high
school student doing some sort of term paper on gravestones and he graciously invited me over to see
his rubbings. (You meet the nicest people that way!) And that was the beginning of a really special
AGS Su'88 p 9 continued
friendship. Forthe next several years Ted and I spent almost every Thursday together, exploring out-
of-the-way graveyards, courthouses, historical societies, and libraries wherever the research trail
led us, from Rhode Island to Vermont. They are fond memories — of tramping an old logging trail in
search of an abandoned quarry; of a summer picnic lunch-break when working in the idyllic
Lancaster burying ground; of stumbling, almost by accident, upon carver John Ball's house in rural
Vermont, and being invited in for tea. With the passage of time, even the less ideal days have taken
on a more positive perspective.
When I think of those Thursday excursions I always remember one in particular. It was late
in the fall, the weather miserably cold and drizzly. We had spent a very long day inventorying six
southern New Hampshire burying grounds looking for the work of Paul Colburn. We were hoping to
find a signed or initialed stone, but hadn't. By the time we got to the final yard late in the afternoon,
it was already getting dark and we were cold, wet, ill-tempered, and pretty discouraged. Until we
found a stone with the unmistakable initials, "P.C." clearly carved on the bottom. What a find! We
hugged each other and shouted and danced around in the rain like two crazy people. And then we found
another — and another! Oh, this was what research was all about! This was Wonderful until we calmed
down and thought about it. And then it all became terribly obvious. "P.C." was not Paul Colburn;
"P.C" was perpetual care.
No matter what the outcome, we both loved these adventures. Writing up the research was
another story. Without Ted to set standards (and deadlines), sort out footnotes, and correct rough
drafts, I doubt — no, I KNOW —that our articles would not have reached publications At least half of
this Forbes Award, and all of my love, belongs to you Ted, and I wish so much that you could be here
to share it.
The previous recipients of the Forbes Award add additional distinction to its honor. Dr.
Caulfield, Allan Ludwig, Peter Benes, Dan, Jessie, Parker and Neal, Jim Slater — these are all people
whom I have look upon as teachers. I will try to be worthy of this recognition in Mrs. Forbes' name.
It has very special meaning to me. Thank you.
THE HARRIETTE MERRIFIELD FORBES AWARD
At the first annual conference of The Association of
Gravestone Studies, it was resolved that an award should
be made periodically to honor either an individual or an
organization in recognition of exceptional service to the
field of gravestone studies. This award, known as The
Harriette Merrifield Forbes Award, recognizes outstanding
contribution in such areas as scholarship, publications,
conservation, education, and community service.
Past recipients of this award are:
1977 Daniel Farber 1984
1978 Ernest Caulfield
1979 Peter Benes 1985
1980 Allan Ludwig 1986
1982 Jim Slater 1987
1983 HildeFife
Ann Parker &
Avon Neal
Jessie Lie Farber
Louise Talbnan
Pamela and
Frederick Burgess
AGSSu'88p 10
ANNUAL MEETING OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE
STUDIES
June 19. 1988
The annual nneeting was called to order at 9:06 AM at Kaufman Lecture Hall, Franklin and Marshall
College, Lancaster PA by President Fred Oakley. Secretary Lance Mayer reported a quorum of twenty
members, as well as 108 proxy ballots, and declared the meeting duly convened.
Jim Slater reported for the Bylaws Committee on several proposed changes in bylaws which had
previously been circulated to the membership:
A motion to revise Article III, Section 1 was made by Jim Slater, seconded by Mira Graves, and passed
unanimously.
A motion to revise Article III, Section 4 was made by Jim Slater, seconded by C.R. Jones, and passed
unanimously.
A motion to revise Article IV, Section 6 was made by Jim Slater, and seconded. Roberta Halporn
questioned whether the wording of the revision was ambiguous, and made a motion that the phrase "and
such other officers" be stricken from the proposed revision. This motion was seconded by Jim Jewell,
and after some discussion the amendment was unanimously defeated. Roberta Halporn then moved that
the revision of this section be tabled and sent back to committee. This motion was seconded by Tom
Graves, and passed unanimously.
A motion to revise Article VIII was made by Jim Slater, seconded by Barbara Rotundo, and passed
unanimously.
Fred Oakley introduced the Trustees who were present.
Bob Drinkwater, chair of the Nominating Committee, proposed the following candidates for election:
As Trustee for 2 years: Daniel Farber, Alfred Fredette, Janet Jainschigg, C.R.Jones, William Hosley,
Elizabeth Rich, James Slater, Gray Williams, and Harvard C. Wood III.
As Trustee for 1 year to fill an unexpired term: W. Fred Oakley Jr.
As Officers: W. Fred Oakley Jr., President fori year, and Lance Mayer, Secretary fori year. Roberta
Halporn moved that a single vote be cast for the slate of officers. This was seconded by Mira Graves,
and passed unanimously.
The Treasurer's report was summarized by Assistant Treasurer Rosalee Oakley. A motion to accept
the report of the Treasurer as distributed was made by Joe Edgette and seconded by Gray Williams.
Roberta Halporn asked whether the amount allocated for marketing and publicity was too small, and
Fred Oakley responded that we do heavy marketing which does not show in our summary budget — for
example, we are reaching 40,000 addresses through AASLH.
President Fred Oakley made his report, describing the activities of four ad hoc committees which have
been at work (Bylaws, Personnel, Nominating and Planning). He reported the institution of Grave
Board for circulating information to the Board, and reported that the Board has made detailed
budgets, and detailed studies of the finances of membership and publications this year. We have also
resolved problems with the IRS this year, in the area of publications, we have reprinted Markers
L and published Markers V and the graveyard conservation Primer. Lyn Strangstad has
generously donated the royalties from the first 2,000 sales of thePrlmerto AGS. We have invested
in software for desktop publishing, and Archivist Beth Rich has been indexing the AGS Archives at the
New England Historic Genealogical Society.
President Oakley complimented retiring Trustee George Kackley on his work on the Newsletter Index,
which he will continue, and Deborah Trask, who retires as Trustee but will continue as Newsletter
editor and as an ex officio member of the Board. Fred Oakley expressed his admiration and sincere
thanks to the two, and there was a round of applause.
Executive Director Rosalee Oakley gave her report. This has been a year of steady growth for AGS,
and as of today we have 895 members. She summarized the activities of several members who have
been making AGS known to organizations in which they are active, and are helping to increase AGS
membership. In January, after a review by the Personnel Committee, the hours of the Executive
Director were increased from 20 to 25 hours per week; this was necessary partly because of the
tremendous increase in the volume of AGS' correspondence. The Executive Director has also been
handling orders for publications, and compiles materials useful to the conference chair each year.
She thanked a number of people who have helped to make this conference a success, including Tom
Graves, Margaret Walsh, Mira Graves, Joe Edgette, and Charles Bergengren. She also thanked
President Fred Oakley, and the members of the Board.
Laurel Gabel reported that the Board has agreed to try to run, for one year, a lending library for those
who have difficulty getting gravestone publications.
AGSSu'88p11 continued
Fred Oakley described plans for the upcoming year, including re-examining our sales policies,
determining whether we should incorporate in Massachusetts so we could apply for Massachusetts
grants, reaching out to different groups, and looking ahead to a more permanent office arrangement
in another location. He announced that the 1 989 conference will be held at Governor Dummer Academy
in Byfield MA.
Vice-President Bob Drinkwater passed to Fred Oakley the copy of Harriet Merrifield Forbes'
Gravestones of Earlv New England and the Men Who Made Them which has traditionally
been passed from President to President. Jessie Lie Farber explained that this book was given to AGS
by the Forbes family, and thus prqvides a direct link with the first pioneer in our field.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:12 AM.
Respectfully submitted.
Lance Mayer, Secretary
1988 ANNUAL MEETING
REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT
Upon election as President by your Board of Trustees on October 31, 1987, four ad hoc
committees were formed: A By-Law Committee to review the By-Laws, a Personnel Committee to
review office functions and staffing, a Nominating Committee to recruit and recommend replacements
for retiring Trustees and a Planning Committee to look ahead at major issues and make recommen-
dations to the Board. The By-Law, Personnel and Nominating Committees have made final reports to
the Board. The Planning Committee will continue filing a series of recommendations on a wide range
of policy issues that regularly need to be addressed in a growing and increasingly influential
association.
A publication named the GRAVEBOARD was initiated to improve communications among
Trustees and to significantly reduce the time formerly used at quarterly meetings on details.
Among the policy issues considered by the Planning Committee in the first half of1988 with
recommendations to the Board were:
— An annotated operating budget for calendar year 1988.
— A "program budget" which provides a different perspective on the cost vs. benefit of major
program areas
— An analysis of our publications pricing policy, and
— Restructuring annual dues to reflect increased costs to service our membership, publish
journals, and respond to a flood of public inquiries stimulated by magazine and
newspaper articles.
Problems with the IRS and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts have been successfully
resolved. We now have all reports filed and have tax exempt status in Massachusetts.
Your Association has published three books this year — a reprint of the popular Markers I
edited by Jessie Lie Farber, Markers V edited by Ted Chase, and A Graveyard Preservation
Primer written by Lynette Strangstad.
Lynette Strangstad, in an act of notable generosity, directed all royalty income on the first two
thousand copies be donated to AGS. There is great confidence that Lynette's book will significantly
advance the practice of gravestone conservation. Certainly initial response to the book has been most
favorable. I suggest you all buy a copy either for personal use or for your local library or historical
society.
1987-88 was a year of transition in the editorship of our journal. Ted Chase became editor
following David Watters who had edited Markers II. ill. andiV. Neither Ted nor I had the slightest
inkling of what David Watters had been going through to get the journal published. It can be a most
difficult process as attested to by a nearly 90 day delay in publishing Markers V. The Association
is indeed fortunate to have had the services of David Watters and now Ted Chase in editing this
significant evidence of our existence.
Deborah Trask continues to edit our quarterly newsletter in masterful fashion and soon will
have desktop publishing technology to aid her voluntary effort.
Beth Rich, our Archivist, has just completed cataloguing the material held at New England
Historic Genealogical Society. The length of the list clearly indicates many hours of patient labor to
complete this project. Beth has earned our praise for a fine job.
Two of our Trustees retire at the conclusion of this Annual Meeting, having served the
maximum six consecutive years. George Kackley of Baltimore, Maryland, has invested hours beyond
AGSSuB8p12 continued
counting in compiling and editing an index for the first ten volumes of our Newsletter — a prodigious
undertaking! George has promised to complete the present task and to do further similar work.
Deborah Trask will retire as an elected Trustee. However, with passage of the amended By-Laws,
Deborah will continue to serve on the Board in an ex officio capacity by virtue of her position of
Newsletter editor. We express our admiration and sincere thanks for the commitment and dedication
of these retiring Trustees.
In concluding this year-end report I do want to thank the Trustees for their confidence and
trust in electing me your President. Thank you for the opportunity to have served the Association
during the past eight months.
W. Fred Oakley Jr.
Editor's Note: Mr. Oakley was elected President in October 1987 to complete William Hosley's term
of office. Mr. Oakley was nominated and elected President by ttie memberstiip at the Annual Meeting
for ttie year 1988-89.
1988 ANNUAL REPORT
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
This year I am pleased to report a year of steady growth in membership, in our sales, and in
the volume of correspondence handled in the office. Each year the membership climbs about 100
members from conference to conference. Today we have 895 members, just 5 short of the 900 we
were aiming for by this conference. When the Board raised the dues to $20 beginning this June, we
were aware that the coming year might see a decline in membership. So it is uncertain whether we
will have 1000 members by next conference — but we might! This year 257 new members joined
our ranks coming to us from many sources. Let me lift up several rather unique ones.
1 . Some were drawn to us by an article in the June issue of Country Home.
2. One of our members, Sybil Crawford, in Dallas, TX, who is a very active genealogist. She
wrote a very complete article about AGS to the editors of newsletters of a number of groups
she belongs to and as a result we are receiving membership inquiries from a number of people
in western states. She has also written an extensive article about us for the August issue of
Families, the quarterly publication of the Ontario Canada Genealogical Society with a
circulation in excess of 5000. So our Canadian membership may rise during the coming year.
3. One of our members, Chris Sweeters, wrote a letter to the editor of a New York newspaper
commending them on an article they had printed about a local cemetery and adding that their
readers might be interested to know about AGS. She included a good paragraph on what we do
and who to contact for more information. At least 15 letters can be directly attributable to
that article — something any of you could do in your locality.
4. Again this year Pat Miller has led cemetery tours in Connecticut, giving out information
about AGS and winning us many friends and new members. She has reached an average of 30
people on each of her six tours this past year. Some of you are here today because of the
Connecticut tours.
There are many others of you out there, handing out brochures when you speak or meet people
who might be interested, or taking their addresses and giving them to me to write to them. We are
always eager to reach more people. If you know of anyone who might write for our Newsletter or
Journal, be on the program for next year's conference, or in any other way participate in the life of
our association, please speak to me or write. By the way — please throw away all your old brochures
that have the $15 membership fee and send to the office for new brochures which have the new
membership fees.
We have continued to send Member Surveys this year to each new member. Those of you who
have not filled out one, please do. Even if this is a hobby or a strong interest, but not something on
which you feel you are an expert, we would still like to know if your interest is in folk art, rubbings,
genealogy, identifying carvers, working on legislation, maintenence and care of a graveyard in your
locality, or whatever. It helps us in our program planning and in knowing who the people are that
make up the organization. For those of you who do have expertise, we are able to give this excellent
information to our editors on prospective writers, and to our research coordinator.
Work is progressing on the A/eivs/efferlndex. It has gone through two corrections and will
receive a final going over this summer before being put into columnar format for printing — that is,
unless it is decided to avoid publication costs and put it on computer disks and sell them instead of hard
copy. George Kackley has done an excellent piece of work as editor and compiler, Michele Petipas, my
staff assistant, has been the typist of most of the document, and Dorothy Orrall, another helper, and
I have done the proofing. We are hopeful that the coming year will see the publication in some form
AGS Su'88 p 13 continued
of the Index to the first ten volumes of the Newsletter.
When we sent the conference registration form first class we had the opportunity to see how
good our mailing list is, since any undeliverable mail was returned to us. Only two came back with
address changes — so we were pleased. Please remember the Newsletter and almost everything else
we send go third class and we are not notified if they are undeliverable. So don't forget to let us know
when your address changes.
One of my assignments as Continuing Conference Advisor was to put together materials for
Conference Chairs and committee chairs which will be helpful in planning future conferences. By the
end of the summer, the records and suggestions from this year's leadership will be added to the
collection that was made at the conclusion of the Amherst Conference. Your evaluation forms are very
important to us in this process. They are gone over carefully for suggestions, and reactions, and ideas,
and criticisms, and all that you care to record. It will be summarized for the Board and put in
guidebooks for next year's workers. So please turn in the buff colored sheets.
In conclusion, let me say a word of thanks to several people.
First, a thank you to Thomas Graves who has worked so closely with me, (and the President,
and the Board) to make this conference a very special experience for all participants. His
communication, his creativity, his attention to detail on all fronts without becoming overwhelmed by
it, and his cheerful mein have made him a delight! My personal thanks also to Margaret Walsh, Joe
Edgette, Mira Graves, Charles Bergengren and Randall Snyder, our conference leadership, for all the
hours they have spent on our behalf.
And my thanks to our new President. It was a surprise to have things work out the way they
did this year, but there have been some very good advantages to the current set up. In the past eight
months Fred has, with the Board, started us on a new phase of future planning, a kind of planning we
hadn't needed before when we were smaller, but which we do now that we are nearing the 1000
member mark. I think you will find at this time next year that the Board will have made some very
good, even exciting, plans for the future of the association. It has been a good experience for the two
of us as we have worked together to prepare for Board meetings and not only this conference, but the
next one as well. So, I thank you, Fred, for being there when we needed you.
And to our wonderful Board, many thanks for your guidance and support. The enthusiasm and
dedication you have for the association's work and progress is truly an inspiration. I am proud to
serve as your Executive Director.
Rosalee F. Oakley
Executive Director
I V SYtVIA
AGSSu'88p 14
1988-1989 AGS BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Alice Bunton
21 Perkins Road, Bethany, CT
Tel: (h) 203/393-2415
06525
Lorraine Clapp
1693 John Fitch Blvd., So. Windsor, CT 06074
Tel: (h) 203/289-9026
Robert Drinkwater (Vice-President)
30 Fort Hill Terrace, Northampton, MA
Tel: (h) 413/586-4285
01060
Daniel Farber
31 Hickory Drive, Worcester, MA 01609
Tel: (h) 617/755-7038
Alfred Fredette
PO Box 37, Scotland, CT 06226
Tel: (h) 203/456-8582
Laurel Gabel
(Research Clearing House Coordinator)
205 Fishers Road, Pittsford, NY 14534
Tel: (h) 716/248-3453
Jo Goeselt (Treasurer)
61 Old Sudbury Road, Wayland, MA 01778
Tel: (h) 617/358-2155
William Hosley
Old Abbe Road, Enfield, CT 06082
Tel: (h) 203/627-5508 (w) 203/278-2670
Geraldine Hungerford
Hilidale Road, Bethany, CT 06525
Tel: (h) 203/393-1827 (w) 203/393-0102
Janet G. Jainschigg
PO Box 906, Darien, CT 06820
Tel: (h) 203/655-9379
Cornelia Jenness
HCR10, Box 643, Spofford, NH
Tel: (h) 603/363-8018
Patricia Miller
Suite 264, 36 Tamarack Ave., Danbury, CT
06811
Tel: (h) 203/868-2394
W. Fred Oakley, Jr. (President)
46 Plymouth Road, Needham, MA 02192
Tel: (h) 617/444-6263 (w) 617/455-8180
Beth Rich (Archivist)
43 Rybury Hillvi/ay, Needham, MA 02192
Tel: (h) 617/444-5566 (w) 617/455-7561
Miriam Silverman
300 W. 55th Street, New York, NY 10019
Tel: (h) 212/765-3482
Dr. James Slater
(Conference Program Advisor)
373 Bassettes Bridge Road, Mansfield Ctr., CT
06250
Tel: (h) 203/455-9668
Jonathan Twiss
230 Farmington Ave., A-1, Hartford, CT 06105
Tel: (h) 203/278-6958 (w) 203/273-4667
William Wallace
40 Central Street, Auburn,
Tel: (h) 617/832-6807
MA 01601
(W) 617/753-8278
13462-0643
Richard F. Welch (Publications Chair)
55 Cold Spring Hills Road, Huntington, NY 11743
Tel: (h) 516/421-5718
Gray Williams Jr.
32 Gray Rock Lane, Chappaqua, NY 10514
Tel: (h) 914/238-8593
Han/ard C. Wood III
6400 Baltimore Avenue, Lansdowne, PA 19050
Tel: (w) 215/622-0550
Ex officio members:
C. R. Jones
Nysha, PO Box 800, Cooperstown, NY 13326
Tel: (h) 607/547-8151 (w) 607/547-2535
Theodore Chase (MARKERS editor)
74 Farm Street, Dover, MA 02030
Tel: (h) 508/785-0299
Lance R. Mayer (Secretary)
Lyman Allyn Museum, 625 Williams Street
New London, CT 06320
Tel: (h) 203/464-9645 (w) 203/443-2618
Deborah Trask (AGS NEWSLETTER editor)
Nova Scotia Museum Complex,
1747 Summer Street, Halifax, NS B3H 3A6
Tel: (h) 902/275-4728 (w) 902/429-4610
Several special contributions were given this past year by
the following:
Theodore Chase, Markers subsidy
Daniel Farber, Research & Markers subsidy
Fred Oakley, Media development
AICA, Media develpment
University of New Hampshire, Markers subsidy
Laurel Gabel, Markers & book rental subsidy
Gray Williams Jr., Markers subsidy
Michael Selvaggi, General fund
Charles Marchant, General fund
Kate Neilson, General fund
AGSSu'88p15
CONTRIBUTING MEMBERSHIPS
The following people held Contributing Memberships this past year:
Harold Allen, Chicago IL
Barre Granite Association, Barre VT
Harvey J. Blanche! Jr., M.D., Medina NY
Alice Bunton, Bethany CI
Center for Thanatology Research, Brooklyn NY
Theodore Chase, Dover MA
Vincent V. Cherico Jr., Providence Rl
Mary M. Cope, New York NY
Dorothea E. De Zafra, Arlington VA
Mary R. Dernalowizc, Newport Rl
Empire Granite Corporation, Richmond VA
Mrs. Linwood Erskine Sr., Worcester MA
Rita Feddersen, Sherborn MA
Forest Home Cemetery, Milwaukee Wl
Josiah M. Fowler, West Roxbury MA
Laurel K. Gabel, Pittsford NY
Rev. Msgr. John L. Gerety, South Amboy NJ
Sheila M. Godino, Gales Ferry CT
Thomas E. Graves, Minersville PA
Robert B. Hanson, Dedham MA
Daniel A. Hearn, Monroe CT
Davyd Foard Hood, Raleigh NC
William Hosley, Enfield CT
Janet G. Jainschigg, Darien CT
Dr. Gregory Jeane, Opelika AL
Cornelia P. Jenness, Spofford NH
James C. Jewell, Peru IL
Robert L. Johnston Jr., Abilene TX
Irene Hutchings Jones, Folsom CA
Phil Kallas, Stevens Point Wl
Peter Krell, Nanuet NY
Angelika Kruger-Kahloula, Rodermark W.
Germany
Lance R. Mayer, New London CT
Cynthia I. McQueston, Haydenville MA
Jeffrey Mead, Cos Cob CT
Caroline S. Morris, Swarthmore PA
Douglas Muncy, Amityville NY
W. Fred Oakley Jr., Needham MA
Rosalee F. Oakley, Needham MA
Oldstone Enterprises, Boston MA
Roberta R. Palen, Chicago IL
Carol A. Perkins, Toledo OH
Stephen Petke, East Granby CT
Susan J. Piccirillo, Staten Island NY
Diane Psota, Rohnert Park CA
Nanette Purnell, Kailua HI
Melanie Reiser, New York NY
Charles A. Rheault Jr., Dover MA
Lawrence D. RIveroll, San Diego CA
Nancy Porter Rothwaill, Marblehead MA
Barbara Rotundo, Schenectady NY
Round Hill Cemetery Association, Greenwich CT
Harriet R. Ryan, Middletown Rl
Doris P. Schultz, Alexandria, VA
Michael Selvaggi, Stratford CT
Miriam S. Silverman, New York NY
Martha Smith, Carrboro NC
Shirley R. Stephens, Shortsville NY
Richard B. Swartz, Harrisburg PA
James Tibensky, Berwyn IL
Marleen Von Goeler, Needham MA
William D. Wallace, Auburn MA
J. S. Warner & Sons, Inc., Dundee IL
Rochelle Weinstein, New York NY
Richard F. Welch, Huntington NY
Eloise P. West, Fitchburg MA
Nathan T. Whitman, Ann Arbor Ml
Gray Williams Jr., Chappaqua NY
FAMILY/HOUSEHOLD MEMBERSHIPS
These are our Family/Household Memberships:
. & Mrs. William F. Alsop, Rutland VT
. & Mrs. Edgar C. Bailey, Lexington MA
. & Mrs. J. L Bethune, Medfield MA
. & Mrs. Leslie V. Bird, Easton CT
. & Mrs. Clifford Buck, Salt Point NY
. & Mrs. James Campbell, Wallingford CT
. & Mrs. Talcott Clapp, South Windsor CT
. & Mrs. John F. Collins, South Lyme CT
. & Mrs. Raymond E. Cummings, Avon CT
ancis Y. Duval & Ivan B, Rigby, Brooklyn NY
& Mrs. Dale D. Evans, Hutchinson KS
& Mrs. James Fannin, Concord MA
& Mrs. Daniel Farber, Worcester MA
& Mrs. Bruce Finnie, Princeton NJ
& Mrs. Michael Flanagan, Westborough MA
egg Garfin & Laura Chessin, Providence Rl
& Mrs. Richard Goeselt, Wayland MA
& Mrs. George T. Griswold, Erie PA
& Mrs. Stewart B. Harkness Jr., Vincentown
Mr. & Mrs. Jack Livezey, Bristol PA
James Miller & Chris Sweeters, New York NY
Diana H. George & Malcolm Nelson, Brocton NY
Mr. & Mrs. Donald Odie, Franklin Ml
Mr. & Mrs. Roger Panetta, Hastings-on-Hudson
NY
Mr. & Mrs. Nicholas Papale, Auburn MA
Mr. & Mrs. Ronald L. Reno, Silver City NV
Mr. & Mrs. Floyd Rich, Needham MA
Mr. & Mrs. Ruby Albert Schultz, Alexandria VA
Dr. & Mrs. James A. Slater, Mansfield Center CT
Mr. & Mrs. John Slavinsky, Belmont MA
Mr. & Mrs. Newland F. Smith, Heath MA
Theodore Spahn & Margarete Gross, River Forest
IL
Mr. & Mrs. Earl Stoetzer, Miami FL
Mr. & Mrs. John F. Tidman Jr., Grafton MA
Mr. & Mrs. Jerry Trauber, Brooklyn NY
Mr. & Mrs. Barry Williams, East Brunswick NJ
Mr. & Mrs. Richard Wilson, South Glens Falls NY
Mr. & Mrs. H. Merritt Woodward, Princeton, MA
Mr. & Mrs. Fred Youngren, Lexington MA
AGSSu'88p 16
PLANS FOR THE YEAR TO COME
The plan for the coming year begins with the expansion of the Planning Connmittee to five
persons who shall be namee at the October Board nneeting. Issues that will be addressed by the Planning
Comnnittee include:
— A re-examination of our product sales policy to find a more effective and cost efficient way
to market and distribute our publications.
— Whether to incorporate in Massachusetts, in addition to our current incorporation in New
York state, as a basis for seeking grants from the state affilliate of the National Endowment for the
Humanities. I would very much like to obtain a substantial grant to fund a gravestone restoration
project simultaneously with our 1989 conference.
— Identifying our several constituencies and determining how best to serve their particular
needs.
— To enlarge our media inventory with donations from presenters at this conference and
others who have developed interesting slide shows. This method of reaching many of our members
with valuable information to sustain their enthusiasm, provide instruction, and interest other
persons in our particular field, needs substantial commitment of financial resources.
— Finally, we need to begin planning for the time when full-time staff and more formal office
arrangement, perhaps at a college or in a major library, needs to be established. Directing our efforts
toward accumulating and sustaining the financial resources must begin now.
Our 1989 Conference will be held June 22-25, 1989 at Governor Dummer Academy in
Byfield, Massachusetts. Conference chair will be Michael Cornish. David Watters has consented to
be Program Chair, and Ralph Tucker eagerly accepted the Tour Leadership role. We have a person
in mind for Exhibits Chair. Registration will be handled in the office. We are still seeking a well-
positioned publicist who can deal effectively with radio and television stations as well as the print
media.
Governor Dummer Academy was founded in 1765. It is a relatively small private secondary
school located in a rural setting in the midst of some of the most fascinating gravestones in all of New
England. All of the facilities we require are adjacent to each other. It has a definite New England flavor
about it, which should add to the mystique of a conference focusing on Essex County, Massachusetts.
We look forward to seeing you there.
BOARD PASSES LENDING LIBRARY PROPOSAL
Thank you to all who responded to the opinion survey in the Fall 1987 Newsletter^ After evaluating
AGS member response to the proposed Lending Library, the Board recently agreed to implement a mail
order circulating Library for a one year trial period. When the library is established, AGS members
will be able to borrow basic gravestone reference books through the mail. The Lending Library will
be a service to AGS members who are unable to obtain gravestone related books by any other means.
Members may borrow one or two titles at a time and keep the books for two weeks from the date they
receive them. Borrowers will be responsible for postage (at the low "Special Book Rate for Libraries
and Borrowing Members"). A $2.00 processing fee will help AGS cover the cost of protective book
mailers, special labels, repair and replacement expenses, and of obtaining additional titles as we can
afford them. New books will be listed in the AGS Newsletter when they become available.
Before purchasing books for the Lending Library, we would like to solicit book donations from AGS
members who own duplicate copies of a book or who may have editions that they have read and would
like to make available to others. We are especially interested in obtaining any of the following:
GRAVEN IMAGES, Allan Ludwig
EARLY GRAVESTONE ART IN GEORGIA AND SOUTH CAROLINA, Diana Combs
AMERICAN GRAVESTONE ART IN PHOTOGRAPHS, Francis Y. Duval & Ivan B. Rigby
AMERICAN EPITAPHS GRAVE AND HUMOROUS, Charles E. Wallace
MEMORIALS FOR CHILDREN OF CHANGE, Dickran & Ann Tashjian
THE COLONIAL BURYING GROUNDS OF EASTERN CONNECTICUT, James Slater
PURITAN GRAVESTONE ART I, The Dublin Seminar, 1976; Peter Benes, editor
PURITAN GRAVESTONE ART II, The Dublin Seminar, 1978; Peter Benes, editor
GRAVESTONES OF EARLYNEW ENGLAND ANDTHE MEN WHO MADETHEM,Harriette M.Forbes
EPITAPHS AND ICONS, Diana George & Malcolm Nelson
THE MASKS OF ORTHODOXY, Peter Benes
IRON SPIRITS, Nickolas Vrooman
A TIME TO MOURN, M.V. Pike & J.G. Armstrong
MEMENTO MORI, THE GRAVESTONES OF EARLY LONG ISLAND, Richard Welch
If you have any of the above books and are willing to donate them to the AGS Lending Library, please
contact Laurel Gabel, 205 Fishers Road, Pittsford NY 14534, (716) 248-3453, before October 31 ,
1988. AGS publications such as MARKERS (I through V) and A GRAVEYARD PRESERVATION PRIMER
will not circulate through the Lending Library.
AGSSu'88p17
JEWISH CEMETERIES IN POLAND
by Monica Krajewska
A traditional Jewish tombstone in PIOTRKOW TRYBUNAL-
SKI, central Poland, tomb of Hana daughter of Joseph,
d. 1812.
In Poland, in addition to the prevailing Catholic cemeteries, there exist cemeteries of various
religious minorities: Russian Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, Protestant, Muslim (Tartar) as well as
Jewish ones, which deserve special attention. The reason for it is that during the Second World War
the Nazis tried to obliterate all the traces of the Jewish culture which had been maintained in Poland
for many centuries. Most synagogues were totally or partly destroyed by the Nazis, and those that
survived have been altered in the process of reconstruction, with the exception of a few. Other traces
of Jewish life are very rare, like an indentation in the doorpost marking the place where once a
mazuzah was affixed. The cemeteries were also intended for destruction during the war; the Nazis used
tombstones as paving material. Much was lost after the war due to neglect, when the Jewish
communities no longer existed. But the remaining tombstones are the rhost authentic vestiges of the
Jewish material culture in the Polish landscape.
There are a few hundred Jewish cemeteries in Poland, about a hundred fairly well preserved, the rest
varying from unmarked cemetery site to a few scattered tombstones. They are interesting for a
variety of reasons. Their development is part of the history of the development of settlements and
cities. Their epitaphs offer a wealth of information to historians, scholars of literature, religion,
and genealogy. The ornaments, and especially the symbolic images engraved over the epitaphs, are
a treasury of material for art historians and folklorists. The symbolic motifs are unusually
diversified; they have their roots in the Jewish religion and tradition stemming from it. They
illustrate the dead man's virtues and achievements, sometimes his name, or are visual metaphors of
death. They rank from roughly carved to very elaborate ones, testifying to the skill and imagination
of anonymous stone-cutters. They often bring to mind the decoration of small-town synagogues, and
Polish and Jewish folk art. The epitaphs vary from short ones to long poems, composed of Biblical
quotations. In small towns tombstones have the traditional form of a vertical slab while in big cities
like Warsaw and Lodz one can see obelisks, sarcophagi and .broken columns; all styles of art are
represented there, and some neo-Classical, neo-Baroque, Cubist or Art Nouveau monuments are
splendid works of art.
Since 1974, I, working together with my husband Stanislaw Krajewski, have traveled during our
vacations throughout Poland in search of Jewish landmarks, with special emphasis on cemeteries as
the least altered traces of the Jewish past that exist today. The result is a large collection of
photographs, color slides and black-and-white prints, from about a hundred towns and villages. They
document famous places like the 1 6th century Rema cemetery in Cracow and the magnificent cemetery
in Warsaw, to disappearing village graveyards. Rubbings from tombstone reliefs display motifs that
could not be easily captured with the camera.
Contact sheets of these photographs may be seen in the archives of the YIVO Institute for Jewish
Research in New York and in the Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People in Givat Ram,
Jerusalem. The originals are with the authors, who will produce prints upon request.
Some of the photographs and rubbings have appeared in the book Time of Stones (by Monika
Krajewska, published by Interpress, Warsaw, 1982 in Polish, English, German and French — see
AGS Newsletter V. 9 #2, Spring 1985, p. 15), in other books and magazines. We have material
for another book and are looking for a publisher. The photographs have also been shown at exhibits
in Poland, the United States ("Traces in the Landscape" first shown at the YIVO Institute in 1984),
and in Israel. Some have found their way into museums and private collections, including the YIVO
Institute and Beth Hatefutsoth.
Our lectures, first presented to Polish audiences with the aim of popularizing the culture of Polish
Jews and protection of its monuments, have also been given in the United States, Israel, England and
East Germany. I have studied and written on the symbolic meaning and origin of the different types
of images (animals, crowns, books, various objects) appearing in tombstone reliefs.
continued
AGSSu'88p 18
Beyond our work on Jewish landmarks, we volunteer our help to curators, art historians and art
conservators, advising them on the Jewish culture. Hebrew texts, etc. We are on the board of the
Committee for the Protection of Jewish Cemeteries and Historical K/lonuments in Poland, a volunteer
organization of Poles and Jews who have conducted restoration projects in the Jewish cemetery in
Warsaw and to a lesser extent in other places in Poland.
our address is:
Monika and Stanislaw Krajewski
Walicow 20 m 515
00851 Warszawa
Poland
(phone 24-67-81)
A 16th century tombstone in the Rema cemetery in Cracow,
in the form of a sarcophagus with rich sculptural decorations.
The July 1988 issue of Stone in America contains
a beautifully illustrated article on AGS member Jerry
Trauber's "Art of Fine Lettering". His interest in
this aspect of memorial art began more than 25 years
ago when he was employed as a monument salesman
prior to opening his own studio in Brooklyn in 1972.
He had become dissatisfied with the quality of letter-
ing and design he observed around him, particularly
in the Jewish cemeteries of metropolitan New York
City. Inspired to do what he could to improve the
situation — at least in his own work — he began to study.
The late Rockwell Kent, renowned 20th century
American artist-iJIustrator and Trauber's friend,
encouraged him to pursue the interest in lettering.
"Lettering alone can be a decoration," Trauber re-
calls Kent telling him. That is the philosophy he
subscribes to today. The bulk of his work emphasizes
fine lettering as the most important element in the
design and decoration of the stone.
"I don't look for new and unusual lettering designs,"
Trauber said. "I don't like lettering that shouts.
(Monumental lettering is not advertising. Someone
once said that an epitaph should be a whisper."
All f Ei3i^t^Ji|D ipfvnb
"TD.THi|iMJSf:bfJiABOK5?
TO pz/vi^^i^rMy M5TJCE ■
bS£«i*'it^
AGSSu'88p 19
FYI
contributed by Francis Y.
Duval and Ivan B. Rigby
1
{ 1 ^ 3lL.-i"~/B
^^K
K, o Ik
j»Wjt^flB>^SRc3B3g|^^ 1 \ -\
^^^^^^^^^Hb
MHi^^H^^
^^^^^^nHH
n^9HF|^
^^^^hhhi
I^^BrFu^
^^^■^H^H
f^^^^^^^^^^^H
a^^HHH
B^^B^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^BHI^KjBHB^B?^^!gi^E^iri^^^^^Mifci£B
Left: skull and crossbones from an ossuary built on the site of a mass grave, to the memory of plague
victims in 14th century Rouen, France, from the May 1988 issue of National Geographic. Vol.
173, #5)
Right: Wheel-headed cross-slab, Lonan, displaying close-knit interlacing typical of the Celtic
tradition, 9-1 0th century. Now in the protective custody of the Isle of Man Manx Museum. The Isle
of Man is located of the west coast of England (from a postcard published by the National Trust of Great
Britain).
* The initials FYI are sometimes used in American newspaper and magazine full-page
ads to mean For Your Information.
WANTED!
OHIO CARVERS
The Ohio Artists Project is researching the lives and works of thousands of artists who were active
in Ohio before 1 900. We are very interested in hearing from anyone who can contribute information
about gravestone carvers working here during the 18th and 19th centuries. Of particular value
would be biographical information, but we are also studying the locations, dates, and distribution of
as many signed stones as possible. The end result of our research is to be a biographical dictionary
covering all the arts in Ohio — but we believe this will be the first regional study to give due attention
to the neglected area of gravestone carving.
We can be reached at the address below, or by calling (216) 775-8081 . Please be on the lookout
for signed stones in Ohio and share your discoveries with us.
Mary Sayre Haverstock
Ohio Artists Project Oberlin College Library
Oberlin, Ohio 44074
AGSSu'88p20
GRAVESTONE RUBBINGS NOW ACCORDED FOLK ART STATUS
an important precedent by Roberta Halporn
Those of us who treasure our life-size representations of gravestone art now have a definitive legal
precedent to cite in cases of damage to our works on paper. Readers of the News letter will remember
the report last year (V. 11 #2, Spring '87, p. 13) of the destruction of 100 pieces by a contractor-
caused flood at the Center for Thanatology in Brooklyn NY.
The Center took the complaint to a Volunteer lawyer for the Arts, Adolph Seltzer, in New York. He was
actually convinced to take the case by his young partner. Because so many people we meet still do not
know what a rubbing is (I), I had taken a small piece with me to my first meeting with Seltzer. Lucky
guess! When his junior partner walked in during our conference, he exclaimed "Gosh look at that.
I have one I brought home from England hanging over my fireplace." That seems to have been the
clincher, as Seltzer responded in awed tones, "You actually know what this thing is?"
The second problem was to figure out how to evaluate the rubbings' worth. What I have been doing
recently is to charge $50.00 a piece if I rubbed it in New York City, and $100.00 if I rubbed it out
of town — except for a memorial plaque to Mrs. Emily Roebling, a handsome brass on the Brooklyn
Bridge, which is somewhat nervewracking to accomplish. For that one, I also charge $100.00 in
exchange for the traffic-vibrating, teeth-shattering two hours it takes because people are always
stopping me to ask questions. (Having sold two of these so far, I guess you might say I really "sold
the Brooklyn Bridge"!) Value by geography.
The claim therefore, including the book inventory which also swam away, came to $4200.00. The
contracting company settled out of court, for less, and even after the lawyer's percentage, we still
ended up with a sizeable settlement. Since my new gas burner broke down two weeks later, I can't
say 1 saw any of the award, but it's very exciting to be the agent of the breaking of new ground in this
field. Lawyer Selter says the legal precedent has been set. In claims, you should refer to "Halporn
vs. Carpasso Contracting Co., NY, November 1987".
Roberta Halporn runs the Center for Ttianatology Research in Brooklyn NY.
W^
from the Cfiicago Tribune. June 26, 1988, sent by Robert
Wrigjht, hAadison Wl.
NEW LOOK!
The Newsletter will be changing slightly in appearance over the next few issues. Since 1983 it has
been typeset in Halifax NS by Earl Whynot and Associates Ltd. However, this summer AGS purchased
desk-top publishing software to improve production. Now, 1 not only select, edit and layout the
Newsletter, But 1 get to type it as well! Please bear with me through this trasition period, while
I struggle through the complexities of Pagemaker Ml. This issue is partially produced with
Pagemaker, laid out in the old manual system, as that is what 1 know best. Watch for improvements!
DT
AGS Su'88 p 21
ERRATA
The following are corrections for errors in photographic references and captions for the article by
Robert A. Wright "Poems in Stone: The Tombs of Louis Henry Su///Van"in Markers V. Please note
these corrections in your copy.
1. P. 183: Fig. 4 should be Fig. 9
The photo caption should be "Getty Tomb, frontal view".
2. P. 187: Figs. 7 and 8 should be Figs. 4 and 8
3. P. 1 88: The photo caption should be "Getty Tomb, window archivolt".
4. P. 190: The first Fig. 9 should be Figs 4, 7, and 8. Figs. 7 and 8
should be Figs. 4 and 8. The second Fig. 9 should be Figs. 4 and 8.
5. P. 197: Fig. 14 should be Fig. 17
6. P. 198: Fig. 15 should be Fig. 14
7. P. 200: Fig. 17 should be Fig. 18. Fig. 18 should be Fig. 15. The photo
caption should be "Wainwright Tomb, side window".
Ornament detail of side window, Wainright tomb, Bellefon-
taine Cemetery, St. Louis MO. Photo by Robert Wrigfit
In Mobile AL the effects of age and neglect on the Magnolia Cemetery led the Friends of the Magnolia
Cemetery to launch a restoration project. The 100-acre, c. 1836 cemetery contains badly
deteriorated marble, stone, brick and cast-iron grave markers, monuments and mausoleums in many
styles, notable Neo-classical Revival — all of which will be restored gradually. Lynette Strangstad,
cemetery consultant and author of A Graveyard Preservation Primer has been hired to oversee
the project. The National Trust's southern regional office has awarded a $500 Preservation Services
Fund grant to the Friends to develop a long-term preservation and restoration plan for the cemetery.
More than 40,000 graves are contained at Magnolia, which is owned by the city of Mobile. Margaret
E. New, Treasurer of the Friends of Magnolia Cemetery, P.O. Box 6383, Mobile AL 36660 (432-
8672) writes: "The Friends organized in the fall of 1984 as an ad-hoc committee of the Historic
Mobile Preservation Society. Magnolia Cemetery has been sadly neglected for many years. We are
dedicated to restoring it to its original beauty. We are actively searching for heirs to family lots.
Unfortunately many families have died out, and others have moved away from the Mobile area. Even
with these problems, we have managed to locate families in 18 states, and one in Australia.
from tfie National Trust for Historic Preservation publication Preservation News. I^ay 1988,
and the Friends of Magnolia Cemetery.
AGSSu'88p22
NEW AGS MEMBERS
Those who have joined AGS during the second quarter of 1988 are listed below in zip code
order so that you can find your state easily. If any of these new mennbers live near you,
would you drop them a welcoming note so they won't think they are ail alone in the
unique interest in gravestones which we all share?
Mr. & Mrs. James Fannin, 271 Lexington Road,
Concord, MA 01742
Jan Morgan, 31 Farlow Road, Newton, MA
02158
David P. Choate, 21 Vine Street, Melrose, MA
02176
Edwin Wilmont Connelly, 930 North Main Road,
Jamestown, Rl 02835
Betty Harrington, 114 Brown Street,
Providence, Rl 02906
Winston Savage, 4 Country Club Drive #13,
Manchester, NH 03102
Rose Marie Levesque, 220 Wallis Road, Rye, NH
03870
Ruth A. Shapleigh Fornal, 299 Main Street, Apt.
5, Manchester, CT 06040
Christopher Hewat, Sellick Hill Road, Salisbury,
CT 06068
James C. Garman, 356 Elm Street, #101, New
Haven, CT 06511
Christine P. Phelan, 1037 Meriden Road,
Waterbury, CT 06705
Sandra M. Allard, 114 Chestnut Grove Road,
Watertown, CT 06795
Joseph P. Doherty Jr., 30 Glenbrook Rd., Apt.
8G, Stamford, CT 06902
Robert Longcore, RR#1, Box 390, Apt. 5,
Hamburg, NJ 07419
Dr. Ian Burrow, 337 Hickory Lane, Haddonfield,
NJ 08033
Kate F. Nielsen, 55A Seth Court, Staten Island,
NY 10301
Judith E. Szurko, PO Box 719, Eastport, NY
11941
Mr. & Mrs. Clifford Buck, PO Box 287, Salt
Point, NY 12578
Joseph W. Glass, 1 1 1 S. Duke Street,
Millersville, PA 17551
Joanne V. Fulcoly, 600 Iron Hill Road,
Doylestown, PA 18901
Mary Widmann, 1395 Pels Road, Quakertown, PA
18951
Mr. & Mrs. Jack Livezey, 3000 Rt. 413, Bristol,
PA 19007
Clyde Rohrer Herr, 5759 North 7th Street,
Philadelphia, PA 19120-2209
Richard Thomas Purkins, 11985 Cardamom
Drive, Lake Ridge, VA 22192
Ashley Neville, Rt. 4, Box 168, Glen Allen, VA
23060
Beaufort Historical Association, Attn: Barbara
O'Neill, PO Box 1709, Beauforl, NC
28516-0363
Tommy Jones, 394 Sinclair Avenue NE, Atlanta,
GA 30307
Helen M. Crawford, Rt. 2, Box 50, Hamilton, MS
39746
Carolyn Murray-Wooley, 3533 Winding Drive,
Lexington, KY 40502
Susan L. Henry, 1206 W. Maple Street, North
Canton, OH 44720
Bruce Smith, PO Box 32, Notre Dame, IN 46556
Kurt Johnston, 1595W - 800N, Huntington, IN
46750
George Schoemaker, Campus View #420,
Bloomington, IN 47401
B. J. Culver, 906 S. 22nd Street, Lafayette, IN
47905
Lynne Goldstein, Dept. of Anthropology, UW-
Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wl 53201
D. Arlene Allen, 2315 Pelham Road, Rockford, IL
61107
Nancy Gossett, RR 2, Box 186, Roseville, IL
61473
Kathryn E. Loncar, 8429 NW Nodaway Drive,
Parkville, MO 64152
Ann Koerner , 7602 Hampson Street, New
Orleans, LA 70118
Sue Patterson, 2624 Rothland, Piano, TX 75023
Madilyn L. Crane, 614 Copper Ridge Drive,
Richardson, TX 75080
Carol Martin, 8023 Burning Hills, Houston, TX
77071
Julie J. Westergren, 11 West 4800 North,
Provo, UT 84604
Cyd McMullen, 1629 4th Street, Elko, NV 89801
Helen Graves, 371 Idyllwild Court, Redwood
City, CA 94061
Thomas W. Tenney, 1129 Euclid Avenue,
Berkeley, CA 94708
Healdsburg Historical Society, PO Box 952,
Healdsburg, CA 95448
Connie Lenzen, 3033 NE 35, Portland, OR 97212
Old Burying Ground Foundation, c/o Jean Addison,
PO Box 2556, Halifax, NS CANADA
B3J 3N5
Paul Theriault, Tourism, Recreation & Heritage,
PO Box 12345, Fredricton. NB CANADA
E3B 5C3
"Know wunder kidds caint spel!" Tonica IL, contributed by
Jim Jewell, Peru IL.
AGSSu'88p23
BOOKS, EXHIBITS & TOURS
GRAVEYARD
PRESERVATION
PRIMER
by Lynette Strangstad
Written for non-professional and professional preservationists involved in small to mid-size
graveyard preservation projects, this basic primer explains in step-by-step fashion how to
preserve a graveyard. After reading the suggestions outlined in the book, you will be able to make a
sensible evaluation of a preservation project. In this way common mistakes and waste of resources
that characterize many well-intentioned graveyard preservation efforts can be avoided. In-depth
coverage of stone conservation is included — with recommendations as to what lay people should and
should not undertake.
144 pages. Index. Illustrations. Paper $13.96 post-paid. Available from the AGS office.
from the National Trust for Historic
Preservation publication Preservation
News, August 1988, sent by Laurel Gabel,
Pittsford NY
The story of Sephardic Judaism in New
York City is written partly in its
cemeteries. Now two out of the three
cemeteries of the city's Spanish and Por-
tuguese Synagogue will be renewed, thanks
to a $3,500 grant from the Sacred Sites
and Properties Fund of the New York
Landmarks Conservancy. The money will
meet part of the Lower Manhattan land-
marks' critical needs — repairs to masonry
walls, paving and ironwork. Said to be the
first Jewish congregation established in
North America, the synagogue was foimd-
ed in 1654 by immigrants from Bra2dl and
now worships in a 1897 structure on Cen-
tral Park West. The oldest of the ceme-
teries was founded on Chatham Square in
1682; the second was established in Green-
wich Village in 1805. Both cemeteries
retain original tombstones and monu-
ments. Created to help churches and
synagogues repair and restore their his-
toric properties, the Sacred Sites and
Properties Fund was started by the Con-
servancy in 1986 with a grant from the
J.M. Kaplan Fund.
The Museum of American Folk Art is having an exhibition of gravestone photographs by Daniel and
Jessie Lie Farber at the Federal Hall National Memorial on Wall Street, New York City, October 3 -
November 11, 1988.
NEW STATE OLD CEMETERY ASSOCIATION!
Interested members in Rhode Island and elsewhere may wish to join, offer support, or simply
welcome the Southern Rhode Island Old Cemeteries Association as new members of AGS.
Southern Rhode Island Old Cemeteries Association
Valerie B. Felt
Box 383
Saunderstown Rl
02874
AGSSu'88p24
CONNECTICUT 18th CENTURY
EPITAPHS
A Selection of Early Connecticut Inscriptions
Expressing Language - Love - History and Religion
of an Earlier Time
Selected by Patricia A. Miller
of Connecticut Gravestones
Preface by James Jewell, Oglesby, IL
Included in ihis collcciion arc cpiiaphs from most of Connecticut's early towns;
made possible through the kind cooperation of Daniel Hearn, the recorder of all
Connecticut pre-1800 gravestone inscriptions. Illustrated with Mrs. Miller's
gravestone rubbings.
TO ORDER: Please make checks payable to:
P. A. MILLER, Suite #264. 36 Tamarack Avenue, Danbury, CT0681L
$10.00 per copy includes postage, etc.
Number of copies
Also available Suggested Good Early Cemeteries in Western Connecticut
$5.00 a copy
Number of copies
JOHN O'BRIEN
^oj An Abandoned Cemetery
in Pocahontas County, West Virginia
From Southwest Review Winter 1987, V
for Beck 72 * 1, sent by Christine Quigley, Takoma
Paric MD
This scant half-acre,
long gone to thistle and mullen weed,
is all that's left of the early ones,
those who came here first.
The hand hewn sandstone markers
are worn so wafer thin
only the discerning touch
of the literate blind
might now decipher name from name,
date of birth from final day.
Half sunken, many broken, the stones
tilt all which way in riot,
the ash-gray chestnut fence,
laid years after the last funeral,
is more gone than there.
It no longer keeps the cattle out.
My wife's ancestors, what remains,
lie buried beneath this decaying tangle.
Where could they have gone,
those stern old fathers
scowling through their great beards?
Those fine and dour ladies,
stiff in their brocaded dresses
and ivory colored lace?
Has it come at last then,
that time they must have seen —
you Sir, pausing in the hay field
between long swipes of your scythe,
or you, good Wife, lifting your eyes
from a lap full of mending, only for a moment,
to wonder if in years hence
anyone, even some odd stranger,
might come to stand above your grave
and wonder in return.
AGSSu'88p25
uaiiansMaN
•j$ew
'j8|$a3JO//^
Olf
ON ijiujaj
a
1 V 4
30ViSOd s "n
•0^0 j.uoyj WON
Z6tZ0
Vi/\l luegpaaN
pa MinouiAid 9fr
SBianiS 3N01S3AVU0 UOJ NOIIVIOOSSV
A RARE OPPORTUNITY!
We are very excited to announce that the Museum of Folk Art is sponsoring a tour of New York City
area graveyards on October 27th, 1 988 at 1 0:30 AM which will include the beautiful Trinity Church
yard, led by AGS member Miriam Silverman, and Shearith Israel #3, led by Roberta Halporn.
Trinity's valuable and handsome pieces are well known to those who participated in the AGS New York-
New Jersey tour three years ago. Shearith Israel's plot is almost unknown to the public.
This tiny yard lies in a factory district on the West Side of Manhattan. Though this Sephardic Jewish
graveyard was established in the Victorian era, it contains the stones of eight colonial residents of
Peter Stuyvesant's New Amsterdam, cut in Hebrew, Ladino and English. They were moved here from
the oldest extant Jewish site in the City (in New York's Chinatown) because they were always washing
down hill in heavy rains.
Because Jewish yards have been subject to constant vandalism since the second century A.D., older
yards are almost always surrounded by very high gates orwalls. This tour will permit many viewers
the chance to examine these rarely viewed sculptures for the first time. It also represents an
acknowledgement by an eminent museum of the value of gravestones in the folk art tradition.
The tour will conclude with the exhibit of Dan Farber's photographs at Federal Hall, downtown. A
remarkable day!
For ticket information, contact Beth Bergen at the Museum of Folk Art, (212) 481-3080.
The AGS Newsletter is published quarterly as a service to members of the Association for Gravestone
Studies., The membership year begins on the date dues are received and ends one year from that date. A one
year membership entitles the members to four issues of the Newsletter and to participation in the AGS
conference in the year membership is current. Send membership fees (individual $20; institiutional,
$$25;Family $30; contributing $30) to AGS Executive Director Rosalee Oakley, 46 Plymouth Rd. Needham
MA 02192. Back issues of the Newsletter are available for $3.00 per issue from Rosalee oakley. The goal
of the Newsletter is to present timely information about projects, literature, and research concerning
gravestones, and about the activities of the Association for Gravestone Studies. It is produced by Deborah
Trask, who welcomes suggestions and short contributions from readers. The Newsletter is not intended
to serve as a journal. Journal articles should be sent to Theodore Chase, editor of Markers, the Journal
of the Association for Gravestone Studies, 74 Farm St., Dover MA 02030. Address Newsletter
contributions to Deborah Trask, editor. Nova Scotia Museum, 1747 Summer St., Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H
3A6, Canada. OrderMarkers (Vol. 1 $18; Vol. 2, $16; Vol. 3, $14.75; Vol. 4, $14.75; Vol. 5, $18; higher
prices for non-members) from Rosalee Oakley. Send contributions to the AGS Archives to Elizabeth Rich,
Archivist, 43 Rybury Hillway, Needham MA 02192. Address other correspondence to Rosalee Oakley.
■^.
NEWSLETTER
OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES
DEBORAH TRASK, ED. VOLUME 12 NUMBER 4 FALL 1988
ISSN: 0146-5783
CONTENTS
THE BAKER OF STREATOR
by James C. Jewell 1
CENTURY-OLD SCULPTURE UNVEILED
by Dick Reisem 2
ARCHIVAL ADDITIONS 3
BOOKS 4
LETTER FROM SCOTLAND 4
BUTTERFLIES ON GRAVESTONES 6
NEW AGS MEMBERS 7
SOME DISMAL TALES 8
ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS TO BE PRESENTED AT THE AMERICAN CULTURE ASSOCIATION
MEETING, ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, 1989 10
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 12
PRESERVATION NOTES 14
MEMBER NEWS 15
THE STORY BEHIND THE STONE:
THE BAKER OF STREATOR
by James C. Jewell
Riverview Cemetery, Streator IL
A wedding cake in a cemetery seems an incongruous juxtaposition, unless the area has been zoned for
an outdoor production of Thornton Wilder's Our Town with its birth-marriage-death cycle of life.
But there is, indeed, a wedding cake atop a pedestal in the Riverview Cemetery in Streator, Illinois;
and it commemorates no wedding marred by tragedy nor abbreviated honeymoon. Intact, it marks the
AGS F88 p 1
grave of a bachelor.
John M. Kmetz was born in Streator either on August 3 or August 12, 1898, depending on whether
you believe his obituary in the Novembers, 1928, Streator Da My Times- Press or his tombstone.
He resided in the Illinois Valley until 1923, when he joined his four brothers in a bakery enterprise
in Indiana Harbor, Indiana.
While in Indiana, Kmetz was described as "one of the most enterprising young business men" in
Indiana Harbor. He was a member of the Elks Lodge and several social clubs. He became ill shortly
after his thirtieth birthday and died Saturday, November 10, 1928.
The three foot pedestal is a brighter white than the cake, which appears to be made of a concrete-like
material that may have been painted at one time. The top tier is adorned with a criss-cross design,
and stars encircle the middle tier. The base tier has a bunting design encircling it. At the foot of the
pedestal is the epitaph: "HIS WORK LIVES FOREVER".
As the tallest stone in the area of the cemetery in which it is located, the Kmetz monument is certainly
attention-getting: off-white, topped with a grey cake and perhaps not as impressive as it was sixty
years ago when it was placed in Riverview. Still, it is frequently visited by local sightseers as one
of the most unusual gravestones in the Illinois Valley.
Riverview Cemetery is on State Road 18, on the western boundary of Streator.
James Jewell teaches at Illinois Valley Community College, Oglesby IL, and is a frequent contributor to the
Newsletter
^"mCi
top detail, John J. Kmetz stone, 1928, Riverview
Cemetery, Streator IL
CENTURY-OLD SCULPTURE UNVEILED
by Dick Reisem
For more years than anyone can remember, the George Ellwanger monument in Mount Hope Cemetery,
Rochester NY, has been covered by a glass-and-wood structure that largely obscured the fine marble
sculpture underneath. On a hot July afternoon last summer this cover was permanently removed. It
had deteriorated to the point of being hazardous. As there were no relatives in the area to carry out
AGS F'88 p 2
repairs, the structure was dismantled, with costs paid by the Friends ol Mount Hope Cemetery.
Originally, the cover was used for winter protection. Every spring the Ellwanger and Barry staff,
who had appropriate equipment, would remove the cover for the summer months. Finally, one spring
long ago, the cover's removal was overlooked, and it remained over the sculpture ever since.
Unveiled was an enormous, handsome marble statue of Saint John with the sculptor's inscription: "N.
La Cantalamessa-Papotti, Roma, 1874" Papotti was respected Italian sculptor in his time, and his
work is still to be found in Italy and abroad. Mount Hope Cemetery has a second Cantalamessa-Papotti
sculpture, "The Weary Pilgrim", in the Erickson-Perkins plot in section "G", and still another is
to be found in Rochester's Holy Sepulchre Cemetery.
Saint John sits writing while as eagle is poised at his left side. (Saint John is the patron saint of
writers.) The inscription on the base reads: "I heard a Voice from Heaven".
The sculpture, in section "V", is now clearly visible from Mt. Hope Avenue, but in its remarkably
pristine condition it is really worth a close-up visit.
reprinted from the Friends of f^t. Hope Cemetery Newsletter, witfi permission.
ARCHIVAL ADDITIONS
Many of the gifts received by the AGS Archives are materials published by active and concerned
historical and genealogical societies across the country. These groups are increasingly beginning to
perceive the graveyards in their area as the historical and cultural gold mines that they are and are
working to record and preserve them. One such group is the Ohio Genealogical Society. The AGS
Archives has received several publications from them, most recently a Guide to Cemetery
Preservation. This guide is published by the Ohio Genealogical Society's State Cemetery Committee
and contributed by Family Lineage Investigations. It was compiled and edited by new AGS member
Teresa Klaiber of New Concord OH, and Sharon Irby, the co-chair of the State Cemetery Committee.
It contains a substantial summary of Ohio's cemetery laws along with comments by the State Cemetery
Committee. County genealogical societies are encouraged to appoint a chapter cemetery chair-person
to research ownership of abandoned plots and administer an Adopt-A-Cemetery project. Guidelines
for simple repairs, recording cemetery data and publishing records are included. The booklet costs
$2.10 and is available from the Ohio Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 2625, Mansfield OH 44906.
The Wood County Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society has donated to the Archives a very well done
series of publications detailing the cemeteries in Wood County. Each report contains a map of the area,
some information about the cemeteries and then, for each cemetery, a list of inscriptions including
name, birth and death date and any other material found. There is also a list of lot owners. The Archives
has received 7 of these publications, to date.
Journal articles are anotherclassification of items that are incorporated into the Archives. Recently
received are copies of the quarterly Hawkey e Heritage published by the Iowa Genealogical Society.
These have been donated by Ruth Points of Ames, Iowa. They cover a period from 1973-1987 and
include burial lists of various Iowa cemeteries.
Among older journal articles recently catalogued is one by Richard Francaviglia "The Cemetery as
an Evolving Cultural Landscape" from the Annais. Association of American Geographers V.
61: 501-509, Summer 1971. This article sees cemeteries as deliberately created and highly
organized cultural landscapes. The author investigated five Oregon cemeteries and made casual
observations in Utah, Minnesota, Wisconsin and New York, leading to the conclusion that cemeteries
have undergone the same spatial and architectural evolution as the American scene and that they may
indeed be miniaturizations and idealizations of larger American settlement patterns. In a later issue
of the Annals (V. 62, March 1971) Donald Jeane rebutted this argument and Francaviglia
commented on this rebuttal.
From the Journal of Garden History V. 4 # 3, 255-267, Barbara Rotundo has contributed her
article "Mount Auburn: Fortunate Coincidences and an ideal solution". This article describes how the
newly organized Massachusets Horticultural Society was the base for the support that was needed to
found Mount Auburn, how this garden cemetery concept took hold and influenced later designers of
public parks, including Frederick Law Olmsted.
Please direct all questions, gifts, etc. to Beth Rich, Archivist, 43 Rybury Hillway, Needham MA
02192.
AGS F'88 p 3
BOOKS
Originally published in l978.0hio Cemeteries has been reprinted, and is available from the Ohio
Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 2625, Mansfield OH 44906 for $29.50, plus $1.25 postage and
handling (5.75% sales tax as well if you are an Ohio resident). This is a 414 page book with a name
index for cemeteries. The cemeteries are listed by county, and furthe- broken down into townships.
A description is given for each cemetery, giving the location. A road map for each county is also
included for easy reference. No tombstone inscriptions are contained in this book.
AGS member Jim Jewell writes that he bought Ohio Cemeteries because he does a lot of tromping
through Ohio - and he says "it's great! - oh, if every state would do this!"
Mount Auburn Cemetery, in cooperation with Applewood Books of Cambridge MA, has reprinted Dr.
Jacob Bigelow's A History of the cemetery of Mount Auburn, originally published in 1860.
Dr, Bigelow was one of the principal founders of Mount Auburn Cemetery in 1831 , and his personal
history of the institution, written when he was 73 and had served for fifteen of his twenty-six years
as President of the Cemetery, is a fascinating one. The reprint is an exact copy of the original, 4 1/
2 by 7 1/4 inches in size with a handsome red binding (the original was brown). It contains numerous
drawings of buildings, scenes and maps, and is 263 pages long. Copies are available from Mount
Auburn Cemetery for $17.50 postpaid.
LETTER FROM SCOTLAND
Dear Fellow Members:
I am always delighted to receive the Newsletter, and most impressed at the way things have burgeoned
in membership numbers, cemetery recording, conservation, research and writing. What a great
achievement in such a short time!
Here in Scotland there is slow but steady progress. Chambers have reprinted Understanding
Scottish Graveyards, and 1 continue to give talks with the aim of getting local groups to get to work.
Some are responding! At a lecture to the Society of Antiquaries in Edinburgh last December, I put out
an urgent plea that we conserve some of the gravestones (which are showing signs of old age) by
putting them under cover, whether it be in situ, in a shelter in the graveyard, in the church porch
or in a local museum. There was an encouraging debate about it and the first move is being made at
Perth, where 8 stones are to be put in a special shelter. Various official bodies are now interested
in the subject, and there is hope of a one-day conference next year.
I now have 900 slides (besides a million B&W photos) of gravestones. With two friends I have made
sample surveys in about two-thirds of the Lowland parishes. The range of emblems and the variety
of presentation is infinite. In Roxburghshire we found a winged skeleton, and also two Angels of Death
- large figures bearing bone and hourglass in hand.
What is preoccupying my attention is the GREEN MAN. It would be a great help if anybody could give
me information as to whether this emblem appears on buildings or on stones in the United Slates. It
originated in Roman art of the first and second centuries and was used by Norman masons in cathedrals
and abbeys and churches. In medieval times it became an emblem in tomb sculpture, but seems to have
waned in popularity by about 1700. However, it reappears on many buildings of the Gothic revival
period.
Detail of Francis Glog stone, 1739, Corstorphine
Churchyard, County Edinburgh.
AGSF88p4
What seems strange is that the GREEN-MAN is found on tombs and headstones from the 17th and 18th
centuries in the Scottish Lowlands, and especially in the region around Edinburgh (the Lothians). It
is carved in human or in animal form, a grotesque head with stylised foliage emerging from the
forehead or nose, mouth and cheeks (occasionally from two or three of these places). The expression
may be sad (like a weeper) but it is usually grim, macabre or sinister. Some GREEN MEN have
tongues sticking out, which along with the ears, are noticeably leaf-shaped. Some have fangs; some
are associated with snakes, some with cornucopias. Some peer out malignantly from the breast of a
winged soul, or from a mort-cioth hammack, or from the stomach of a caryatid.
f^y interpretation of the meaning of the GREEN MAN is that he is intended as a representation of the
death of the sinful flesh, in that he is hideous, but that there is a dual significance in that the greenery
represents the everlasting nature of the soul. I associate this with the use of evergreens and
cornucopias as emblems of immortality. Many of the sprigs on the foreheads of GREEN MEN seem
to be bay leaves. They are often used as a centrepiece on a cartouche, or a feature in a border, but again
appear in the place of the soul effigy or the skull.
I do hope to have some helpful comment. All good wishes in the furtherance of your special work.
Betty Willsher, Orchard Cottage, Greenside Place, St. Andrews KY16 9TJ, Scotland.
Betty Willsheris theauthorof Understanding Scottish Graveyards (Edinburgh: W& R Chambers Ltd.,
1985, reviewed in AGS Newsletter V. 10 #2, Spring 1986, p. 9), and co-author, with Doreen l-lunter, of
Stones: Eighteenth Century Scottish Gravestones (New Yorl<: Tapplinger, 1979, reviewed in AGS
Newsletter V. 3 #3, Fall 1979, p. 5).
Understandir^
SCffTTISH
GRAVEYARDS
BdtyWiOsher.
Thomas and Janet Dunn Jervie stone, 1705/12,
Old Bathgate Churchyard, West Lothicor. Photo by
Betty Willsher, reproduced with permission.
■ J' ^'*f^-/>.'j^ *^< *•-• .
ON GRAVEYARDS
R.L. Stevenson
...we Scotch stand, to my fancy, highest among
nations of the matter of grimly illustrating death.
We seem to love for their own sake the emblems of
time and the great change and even around country
churches you will find a wonderful exhibition of
skulls and crossbones, and noseless angels, and
trumpets pealing for the Judgement Day. Every
mason was a pedestrian Holbein: he had a deep
consciousness of death, and loved to pit its terrors
pithily before the churchyard loiterer; he was
brimful of rough hints upon mortality, and any dead
farmer was seized upon to be a text. The classical
examples of this art are in G re yfriars [Cemetery in
Edinburgh]. In their time, these were doubtless
costly monuments, and reckoned of a very elegant
proportion by contemporaries; and now, when the
elegance is not so apparent, the significance re-
mains. You may perhaps look with a smile on the
profusion of Latin mottoes -some crawling endwise
uptheshaftofapillar,someissuingonascrollfrom
angels' trumpets - on the emblematic horrors, the
figures rising headless from the grave, and all the
traditional ingenuities on which it pleased our fa-
thers to set forth their sorrow for the dead and
their sense of earthly mutability. But it is not a
hearty sort of mirth. Each ornament may have been
executed by the merriest apprentice, whistling as
he plied the mallet; but the original meaning of each
and the combined effect of so many of them in this
quiet inclosure, is serious to the point of melan-
choly.
contributed by T.N. Elwood, Halifax, N.S.
AGSF'88p5
BUTTERFLIES ON GRAVESTONES
Gietijzeren zerk voor Jurrien G. Slim
t 1861 op het kerkhof van Hoogezand.
In the province of Groningen, in the north-east part of the Netherlands, there are many old churches
dating from the thirteenth century. A group dedicated to preserving these churches puts out the
journal Gronlnger Kerken. in which there is occasional reference to gravestones. The March
1 988 issue shows some cast iron gravemarkers in the old cemetery of Hoogezand ["high sand"] which
have been restored by the group. Out of a total of 27 cast iron markers in the cemetery, 2 depict
butterflies as part of the image.
One reads [rough translation]
In Memory
of
Jurrien G. Slim
born at Wildervank
15 April 1857
died
24 l^ay 1861
Sacred is the destiny of a child
that goes to God at an early age
The other (not illustrated) reads:
Uneko Reinders
born 22 Aug. 1781
died 4 March 1865
wife of
Annechie Jacobs Boer [farmer]
born 19 October 1795
died 2 May 1867
This one has on it a winged hourglass, 2 torches and 4 butterflies.
Cora Greenaway, of Dartmouth NS, contacted H.G. de Olde, President of the Foundation Groninger
Kerken, to see if he could provide some insight into the significance of the butterfly as a gravestone
image:
The butterfly is a symbol of immortality, eternal life. In Greek mythology the immortality of Psyche,
the soul, is expressed by giving her butterfly wings. The basis forthis is that if the caterpillar means
life, the chrysalis death, then the butterfly is the resurrection. Seventeenth century still-life
paintings of fruit, vegetables and poultry signified the "good life". They usually contained a reminder
of the transitoriness of life such as an hour-glass, skull or a butterfly.
In the first half of the nineteenth century one sees the butterfly frequently on gravestones in
Protestant Germany. The neighbouring provinces in Holland did not lag behind.
AGS F88 p 6
NEW AGS MEMBERS
Those who have joined AGS during the third quarter of 1988 are listed below in zip code order so
that you can find your state easily, ft any of these new members live near you, would you drop
them a welcoming note so they won't think they are all alone in the unique interest in gravestones
which we all share?
Richard M. Frary, 19 East Street,
Southampton, MA 01073
Carol Machado, 142 Bowen Street, Amherst
#306, Lowell, MA 01852
Essex Historical Society, Inc., PO Box 277, 28
Main Street, Essex, MA 01929
Mr. and Mrs. Harold W. Boothroyd, PO Box
387, Wenham, MA 01984
Julie M. Bernson, 14 West Street, Newton, MA
02158
Ted Brown, 40 Newcomb Street, Arlington, MA
02174
Southern Rl Old Cemeteries Assn., c/o Valerie
B. Felt, Box 383, Saunderstown, Rl 02874
Judith Abranovich, c/o General Delivery,
Bedminster, NJ 07921
Phyllis Stanaback, 9 Union Grove Rd, RD#1,
Box 22, Gladstone, NJ 07934
Paul J. Gallagher, 1504 Metropolitan Avenue,
New York, NY 10462
Ann Farella, 5 Dillon Road, Larchmont, NY
10538
Robert Knight, PO Box 233, Congers, NY
10920
Mary Z. Williams, 40 Church Street, PO Box
73, Northport, NY 11768
Heidi Miksch, 222 Spring Avenue, Troy,
NY12180
Pompey Historical Society, c/o Sylvia
Shoebridge, Maple Hill, LaFayette, NY 13084
Mildred L. Becker, 10960 Dennison Road,
Forestville, NY 14062
Thomas C. Stephens, 74 West Main Street,
Shortsville, NY 14548
Harriet Kronick, F-349 Stratten Court,
Langhorne, PA 19047
Lucy Hazen Barnes, 3217 Addison Drive,
Wilmington, DE 19808
Historic Oakland Cemetery, Inc., 248 Oakland
Avenue, S.E., Atlanta, GA 30312
GA Dept. of Natural Resources, Hist. Pres.
Sec, 205 Butler St., S.E., Suite 1462, Atlanta,
GA 30334
Larry W. Cole, 3404 Old Dawson Road, Albany,
GA 31707
Susan Olsen, 609 Ashe Street, Key West, FL
33040
Judith P. Bartlow, PO Box 568, Norris, TN
37828
Mississippi Dept. of Archives & History, PO
Box 571, Jackson, MS 39205
Teresa L. M. Klaiber, C.G.R.S., Family Lineage
Investigations, 160 Fairfield Drive, New
Concord, OH 43762
Donna E. Hagerty, 151 Keagler Drive,
Steubenville, OH 43952
Mary Sayre Haverstock, Ohio Artists Project,
Oberlin College Library, Oberlin, OH 44074
Janet A. Burrowes, 870 Pine Needles Drive,
Centerville, OH 45458
Kate Boyce, RR1, Box 230, Morgantown, IN
46160
Betty Bellous, PO Box 1002, Marquette, Ml
49855
Edward J. Pulia, 300 E. Country Drive,
Bartlett, IL 60103
Oak Woods Cemetery, c/o Bruce Holstrom,
1035 E. 67th Street, Chicago, IL 60637
Doris Glade Vogel, 305 N. 1st, Box 132,
Holcomb, IL 61043-0132
Historic Springdale Cemetery Inc., 3014 N.
Prospect Road, Peoria, IL 61603
Ginney Briley, 1409 Rock Street, Little Rock,
AR 72202
Adrienne Jamieson, 9640 Covemeadow Drive,
Dallas, TX 75238
William H. Kellar, 5320 Auden #33, Houston,
TX 77005
Kevin Ladd, Executive Director, Wallisville
Heritage Park, PO Box 16, Wallisville, TX
77597
Scott J. Baird, Trinity University, English
Dept., 715 Stadium Dr., San Antonio, TX
78284
John C. Johnson Jr., 303 E. 9th
Street, Georgetown, TX 78626
Victoria Cosner, 1116 E. Watson, Tempe, AZ
85283
Benton County Historical Museum, PO Box 47,
Philomath, OR 97370-0047
Kaireen Morrison, Box 1065, 20 Main Street,
Wawa, ON CANADA P0S1K0
Harvey Medland, 980 Broadview Ave., #1403,
Toronto, ON CANADA M4K 3Y1
Toronto Branch, Ontario Gen. Society,
Box 147, Station Z, Toronto, ON CANADA
M5N 2 A3
Jim Jewell of Peru IL sent along an item he has had from the Fort Wayne IN News-Sentinel
since 1962:
Newark, Ohio: "presidents in Back Seat"
Periiaps tlie only monument in the nation where two
presidents take back seats to an obscure citizen marks
the grave of Robert W. Smith. Smith died in 1957 in a
rest home, l-iis will directed that about $15,000 of his
estate be used to erect a monument to his memory in
the style of some presidential markers. Those who knew
him say he lived frugally for years with the idea of the
monument in mind. On one side of it is a bust of President
McKinley; on the other. President Garfield. Smith graces
the front
Jewell writes that he spent a day in Newark OH looking for this stone. He checked both
the Newark City Health Department and Licking County Health Department records — no
luck! Anyone know where this stone is?
AGSF88p7
SOME DISMAL TALES
An article in the New York Times. Sunday August 7, 1988, sent by Francis Duval of Brooklyn NY,
titled "City Reclaims Grave Sites"talks about an unusual graveyard policy in Cambridge MA. Deirdre
Morris, a Cambridge illustrator, has spent hours in the Cambridge cemetery overthe last three years
learning about the history of the city and its residents. She has also learned that in the last 40 years
Cambridge has shoved the remains of thousands of people deeper into the grave, sold the space created
above and buried the newly dead above the old bones. She said she stumbled upon the city policy when
she found the gravemarker of one of the displaced, Samuel Hamilton, a 19th century Cambridge
glassworker, in a trash bin.
It seems that in 1948 Cambridge officials, worried about the limited amount of space available in a
66-acre cemetery, began reclaiming the graves of people whose grave sites had not been purchased
from the city. "The key is ownership," said Ralph E. Dunphy, superintendent of Cambridge Cemetery.
"Obviously if you own something, there is nothing we can do with it. Ownership is forever." Mr.
Dunphy said the city's policy was challenged in court in 1976. The city won. Ms. Morris said calls
to othercities in the area, including Boston, Medford and Arlington, uncovered no other city with such
a graveyard policy. "The graveyard is sort of the common person's shout of history," she said.
"That's the only place we are going to be known. It's our way of showing we existed."
The Cambridge Chronicle. July 21 , 1988, had more on the story. The confusion stems from the
interpretation of Massachusetts General law Chapter 114 Section 10A, on the "taking of unclaimed
graves" by communities. The statute reads: "Any town may take over the ownership of a grave in a
cemetery established under section 10 provided that such grave has not been used for a period of 50
years and that the ownership thereof cannot be ascertained. If such ownership is ascertained after
such taking, the town shall pay the fair value of such grave at the time of the taking to the owner
thereof." The law was adopted by the state legislature on June 9, 1977, about three decades after the
city began its grave reclamation program. Richard A. Rogers, a former state representative who
sponsored the original bill, said it only applies to "unoccupied" and "unused" graves. "The intent
was never to disturb occupied burial plots", he said.
Morris, who says she has discovered such things as partial skulls, bones and casket handles in areas
of the cemetery where they don't belong, claims there is no legal or ethical excuse for what she has
found. Ted Chase of AGS feels that she is correctly interpreting what she is finding as illegal. There
has been no resolution as yet.
A grave in the old Tick Creek Church Cemetery near Bonlee, North Carolina, was recently found
disturbed. "It wasn't vandalism," says Greensboro physician Brooks Gilmore. "They were digging
and looking for gold. ..watches, teeth, jewelry, anything they could find." Whether the intruders got
anything or not, nearby resident Charlie Thomas doesn't know. "The dirt was scattered and looked
like it had been sifted through," he says. "If they did get anything, they took it with them."
The cemetery has fallen into neglect through the years. There's a fence and a gate but the site shows
the effects of lack of regular attention that came when it was beside a church. Although old oak trees
that once were saplings when the cemetery was young still stand,'they have company. Water sprouts
and young trees have sprung up here and there, filling up space and making a leafy canopy that keeps
the plots continually in the shade. Rotten limbs lie where they've fallen and weeds cover parts or all
of many stones. Some of those stones have either crumbled, fallen, or perhaps been knocked over.
"The graves go back to the early 1 700s," Thomas says. "The oldest one that I know was the grave of
a slave. It had a soapstone headstone. You could read the 1700s on it before it crumbled."
from the Chatham Record. Pittsboro NC, July 14, 1988, sent by Martha Smith, Carrboro NC
The following item, from the Westerly Rl Sun, June 17, 1988, was sent by Raymond Cummings, Aron
CT.
Anita Gavitt Greene has roots in Westerly Rl and doesn't want to see them dug up. She and
others went before the Town Council to ask that the remains of her ancestors not be
uprooted to make room for a proposed shopping center. "I was shocked to read the first
legal notice of the intention to move historical cemetery No. 49; a Gavitt cemetery. The
people buried in the cemetery were honorable members of the community," Greene said.
They "held public offices, fought for our freedom in the American Revolution, and molded
our town and government into the democracy it is today." Developer Alfred Carpionato
has asked to move the graves of Ezekial, Hannah and Phoebe Gavitt to another location on
the former Panciera farm, which he owns and on which he wants to build a shopping center.
Edwin W. Connelly, director of cemeteries for the state, said there is little the family of
those buried can do unless they want to take the issue to court. Connelly said he has spoken
to the developer, who told him the graves will be moved to another site on the property
and will be cared for. He said he doesn't necessarily endorse the removal, but wondered
why the Gavitt family was interested in saving the graves now when they've been left
overgrown forsolong. "It seemsto me there's a double-edge that's very uncomfortable, "
AGS FW p 8
Connelly said. "At least what they're going to get out of this is a very well-kept burial
ground. Hereiswhereadevelopar actually wants to do something. "Greene said she did n't
know the cemetery existed before she saw the advertisement in the newspaper, nor did
members of her family. She said the spot where the graves are proposed to be relocated
is behind the planned shopping center on the edge of wetlands. "You know what that will
look like in a couple of years," Greene said. "I'm not trying to stop the mall from going
in. I just feel that they should not in any way change this memorial."
Under Rhode Island law this kind of developnnent can be stopped by the objection of a direct descendant.
In this case, there is none. Greene's attennpt to block the move failed because she is not a direct
descendant. Those opposed to the move also tried to convince the town manager that the law says a new
cemetery cannot be created without State House approval. The town manager felt that this situation
did not qualify as a new cemetery since it was on the same property and that new zoning was not needed.
The remains were removed with a backhoe and re-interred at the corner of the lot which is actually
wetlands. Valerie Felt has been working with the family and, along with several others, has formed
the Rhode Island Old Cemetery Association. The new group has also joined AGS.
Workers digging a trench for an electrical line to an historic house in Sam Houston Park in dwontown
Houston TX unearthed a tombstone 127 years old. The epitaph, carved in legible characters reads:
ALISANNAH
Consort of
JOHN WARNER NILES
Died March 2, 1861
We lost our Mother
The Name of a stone mason, T.E. Byrnes, is also carved on the stone.
Roger f^oore, an archaeologist who examined the find, said there were no signs of bones or other
funerary relics at the site. "(The stone) may have been originally in one of two cemeteries that were
on this site," f^oore said. "The bodies were disinterred around the turn of the century" and moved
elsewhere, he said. No burials have been disturbed during the current excavations at the site. The
Harrris County Heritage Society removed the stone shortly after its discovery.
from the Houston Chronicle. August 5, 1988, sent by Kevin Ladd, Waiiisviiie TX.
On a recent Connecticut Graveyard Tour, led by Jim Slater, the group discovered something very sad.
The marvellous old Deacon Joseph West stone by William Buckland in the Tolland CT graveyard has
fallen to pieces. The tassels were on seperate sections, the communion cups torn apart. Jim said he
would try to patch the pieces together. Bess B. Eyre, 46 Hard Hill Rd., Woodbury CT 06798 writes
that she has an excellent 35mm snapshot of this stone which she will gladly copy for anyone who writes
to her enclosing $0.20 per copy and $0.25 stamp.
FEEDBACK
In answer to Linda W. Joslin's question about the history and origin of grave shelters pictured in the
AGS Newsletter V. 1 1 #4, Fall 1987, p. 7, Sybil Crawford responds that she knows "the location
of a grave shelter in Saline County, Arkansas. It is somewhat larger than those in your illustration,
sheltering gravestones of a family group, with a decorative motif. The decoration has some of the
earmarks of Pennsylvania German art, but I think we both know that is highly unlikely when family
background and the location are considered." Additional details are available from fvlrs. Thomas E.
Crawford, 10548 Stone Canyon Road - #228, Dallas, TX 75230-4408.
A follow up to our inquiry on other groups using AGS as an acronym.
Jessie Farber sent word of AGS Computers Inc. of l\/1ountainside, NJ (which concentrates on tailor-
made computer solutions, including equipment, training and service).
fvlargaret Reysen of Hoboken, NJ checked the Acronyms. Initialisms & Abbreviations
Dictionary and found these in current use:
Alpine Garden Society
American Gem Society
American Geographical Society
American Geriatrics Society
American Graphological Society
Association of Graduate Schools
AGSF88p9
AMERICAN CULTURE ASSOCIATION
Cemeteries and Gravemarkers Section
Section chair: Richiard E. Meyer, English Dept., Western Oregon State College, Monmouth OR 97361
ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS/PRESENTATIONS
1989 Annual Meeting
St. Louis, Missouri
ADAMS, John: Old Cemeteries Committee, Victo-
ria Branch, British Columbia Historical Federation,
Victoria BC, V8V 2K8, Canada
"Ross Bay Cemetery as a Reflection of
Culture in Late Nineteenth Century Victo-
ria "
Ross Bay Cemetery in Victoria, British Columbia,
established in 1872 to replace the city's compact
and overcrowded Quadra Street Cemetery, quickly
became the fashionable place of interment and in its
design reflected artistic and cultural concepts of
the garden cemetery currently in vogue in Britain
and the eastern United States.
BARBER, Russell J.: Department of Anthropology,
California State University - San Bernadino, San
Bernadino CA 92407-2397
two. This paper analyzes the diverse processes by
which gravemarkers convey the cause of death to
the passerby.
ERWIN, Paul F.: Humanities and Social Sciences
Department, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati
OH 45221-0206
"Irish Gypsies or Tinkers Funeral and
Burial Customs In Cincinnati Cemeteries"
This paper analyzes Gypsy folklore surrounding the
Irish Tinkers, who for more than a century have
chosen Cincinnati for the final rites and resting
places of their family members, contrasting their
practices to those of the Scottish Traveling People,
or Scottish Gypsies, who also have traditionally
made the Queen City their final home.
"TheAguaMansa Cemetery as an Indicator
of Ethnic Identity"
AguaMansa, San Bernadino County, inland southern
California, was settled in the 1840s by New Mexi-
cans of Mexican heritage; surrounding areas pre-
dominantly were settled directly from Mexico. The
Agua Mansa Cemetery reflects a cultural stamp
different from that of the community's neighbors.
BOHAN, Ruth L.: Department of Art, University of
Missouri - St. Louis, St. Louis fViO 63121-4499
"Bellefontalne Cemetery: An Overview"
Established in 1849 as the first "rural" cemetery
west of the Mississippi River, St. Louis' Bellefon-
talne Cemetery is rich in history and sepulchral
adornment. Those wishing to include a visit to this
important site as a partof theirstay in St. Louis are
especially encouraged to attend this presentation.
CUNNINGHAM, Keith: Department of English, North-
ern Arizona University, Flagstaff AZ 86011
"The People of Rimrock Bury Alfred
Lorenzo: Tri-Cultural Funerary Practice"
Alfred Lorenzo lived most of his life in the Ramah,
New Mexico area. His funeral was conducted by
Mormons at the Ramah Mormon Church and was
followed by traditional Mormon, Zuni, and Navajo
graveside services. This presentation describes
the different services and their shared functions.
GRAVES, Thomas E. 1 1 0 Spruce St., Minersville PA
17954
"Keeping Ukraine Alive Through Death:
Ukranian-Amerlcan Gravestones as Cul-
tural Markers"
Ukrainians have been continually emigrating to the
United States since the 1 880s. They have retained
their Ukrainian heritage to an amazing extent. This
cultural retention among immigrants and later-
generation Ukrainian-Americans is manifested in
the gravestones of Ukrainian cemeteries in the
Philadelphia region which reflect natavistic and
ethnic attributes.
GREENWALD, Marilyn: E.W. Scripps School of
Journalism, .Ohio University, Athens OH 45701-
2979
"The Effect of 'One-Stop Shopping' on the
Death Care Industry"
This paper will examine trends in the contemporary
American "total death care" concept (the use of
one consolidated service for funeral, burial — or
cremation — and memorialization) and the implica-
tions of the growing popularity of such practices
for the funeral industry, memorialists and ceme-
terians.
HALPORN, Roberta: The Center for Thanatology
Research and Education Inc., Brooklyn NY 11217-
1701
EDGETTE, J. Joseph: Master of Liberal Studies
Program, Widener University, Chester PA 19013
"How Did It Happen?: Indicators of Cause
of Death on Gravemarkers"
It is not uncommon to find the cause of death
included among data inscribed on the face of a
gravemarker, conveyed through verbal denota-
tion, motific imagery, or some combination of the
"Oh, Death Here is Thy Sting"
Despite the oft-repeated platitude that "all men are
equal under God", the cemetery frequently indi-
cates quite the opposite. Our prejudices follow us
to the grave, and stand witness, immutable for
centuries. This paper will consider examples of
this phenomenon, utilizing rubbings from the author's
collection of early American stones.
AGSF'88p. 10
HANNON, Thomas J.: Departmentof Geography and
Environmental Studies, Slippery Rock University,
Slippery Rock PA 16057-1326
"Pittsburgh's Allegheny Cemetery"
Attempts to locate a "rural" cemetery in Pitts-
burgh began as early as 1834. The reward of the
labor of a few of the citizenry reached fruition
when Allegheny was incorporated in 1844. The
oldest rural cemetery west of the Alleghenies, it is
a model of beauty in landscape and monumentation.
KIEST, Karen: Carr-Lynch Associates, Cambridge
MA 02139
"Lasting Marks on the Prairie: Bohemian
Immigrant Cemeteries In Nebraska"
Bohemian immigrant cemeteries in Nebraska (1870-
1925) demonstrate transformation of traditional
forms to adapt to American pioneer culture and the
prairie landscape. Initially the cemetery was a
Bohemian nationalistic tool; after World War I a
shift of allegiance is reflected in changed forms and
functions to serve American memorial purposes.
LIPONSKI, Wojiech: Department of Polish-Anglo-
saxon Cultural Relations, Adam Mickiewicz Uni-
versity, 61 874 Poznan, Poland
"American and British Graves In Poland"
When distinguished representatives of one nation
are buried in another country, their graves often
become objects of symbolic and cultural interest.
Besides introducing a distinctive element into local
cultural landscapes, they often inspire legends and
other stories concerning the deceased. Such is the
case with the graves of numerous American and
British citizens buried in Poland.
MEREDITH, Ruth: P.O. Box 36995, Albuquerque NM
87176-6995
"Composanto and Cemetery: A Study in
Contrasts"
An examination of the different attitudes toward
death between Hispanic Catholic and Anglo-Protes-
tant cultures as reflected in the gravemarkers,
decorations and maintenance practices in two
cemeteries near Silver City NM. The meaning of
memory and its relation to sacred space/time in
each culture is also explored.
MEYER, Richard E.: English Department, Western
Oregon State College, Monmouth OR 97361
"'Burled Not on the Lone Prairie': Images
of the Cowboy on Western American Grave-
markers"
Whatever their function in a collective American
mythology, cowboys have for over a century con-
stituted a distinctive occupational folk group char-
acterized by certain highly visible features which
proclaim pride in and identify with the group. Many
of these are incorporated into the verbal and visual
images found upon cowboy gravemarkers.
ROMOTSKY, Jerry: Fine Arts Department, Rio
Hondo College, Whittier CA 90608
"Monuments, Memorials and Shrines"
Artists, the image makers, have produced our
monuments, memorials and shrines. Rio Hondo
College is nestled in the hills of Whittier CA along-
side Rose Hills Memorial Park. Using examples of
monumental art from Rose Hills, from art history,
and from popular culture, Rio Hondo art students
attempt to create an exhibition.
MALLOY, Thomas A. Social Sciences Department,
Mount Wachusett Community College, Gardner MA
01440-1000
ROTUNDO, Barbara: Department of English, State
University of New York at Albany, Albany NY
12222
"Old Burying Stonesasan Educational Tool "There's Nothing New Under the Sun"
for the Community College American His-
tory Teacher"
Based on the idea of using the community as a
laboratory for learning, this presentation will
demonstrate how American History teachers can
use old stones from their institution's service area
as a primary source for students. Slides of repre-
sentative stones from North Central Massachu-
setts will be used as illustrations.
MEAD, Mildred LaDue: 609 West 6th Street, Silver
City NM 88061
"Cemetery Saints Enshrined: Folk Art and
Popular Culture in Cemeteries and Related
Places In Southwest New Mexico"
A discussion and slide presentation designed to
explore folk art as characterized by Catholic His-
panic gravemarkers in Southwest New Mexico, and
the relationship of these artifacts to roadside
markers, yard shrines, and depictions of saints
found in churches.
This paper will briefly survey some of the elements
of design covered by the seminal scholarship of
Erwin Panofsky (e.g., image soul, urn, inverted
torch) and then analyze (as Panofsky does not) the
use of these same designs in the four hundred years
or so of American gravestone art.
SCHOEMAKER, George H.: The Folklore Institute,
Indiana University, Bloomington IN 47405
"Acculturation and Transformation of Salt
Lake Temple Symbols In Nineteenth Cen-
tury Mormon Tombstone Art"
The Salt Lake Temple is the most elaborately built
and symbolically rich edifice in Mormon culture. Its
lavish exterior is a window into Mormon cosmology
and world view. This paper will discuss the accul-
turation, influence, and subsequent transfor-ma-
tion of Salt Lake Temple symbols in nineteenth
century Mormon tombstone art.
AGS F88 p 1 1
VOLLER, Jack: Department of English Language and
Literature, Southern Illinois University at Ed-
wardsville, Edwardsville IL 62026-1431
"On the Reading of Cemeteries"
This paper will consider the cemetery as cultural
artifact, specifically a multi-layered text articu-
lating "popular" metaphysics. From the micro-
text of the funerary icon through the text of the
cemetery to the metatext of death in American
culture, cemeteries and gravemarkers reify and
dramatize our understandings of death and spiritu-
ality.
"Forum: Ethical and Legal Issues in Ceme-
tery Fleldwork"
All interested parties are encouraged to participate
in an open discussion of the diverse ethical and legal
issues involved in cemetery/gravemarker
fleldwork and the subsequent public or private use
of materials generated through such research.
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
Tuttle CA — A 68-foot obelisk rising out of fields of tomatoes and bell peppers on a huge farm in this
central California hamlet is a mystery to hundreds of motorists who pass it every day. The granite
shaft stands on a massive concrete base containing 13 steps on each of four sides. Carved in the obelisk
are two decorative scrolls and the inscription: "George Hicks Fancher. Born New York State Feb. 9,
1828. Died in California March 30, 1900."
Who was Fancher? Is he buried underthe obelisk? Why is a monument out there in the middle of the
tomatoes and bell peppers? Janice Brookiin has lived in this community (population 20) all her life.
Her mother, who died last year at age 99, knew Fancher. Brookiin says "Mr. Fancher was a wealthy
banker and farmer who owned all the land for miles around. Mom told us that when Mr. Fancher died,
all kinds of stuff he valued as part of his life was buried with him under his monument, like the limbs
of fruit trees, books and his favorite furniture." Apparently there was a ten year court battle over
the $25,000 he left for "proper interment of my remains in a suitable monument".
irom the Chicago Sunday Times. October 2, 1988, sent by Jim Jewell, Peru IL.
They came from Buffalo Grove, Rogers Park, Skokie, Hyde Park and Lincoln Park. They came to honor
loved ones and rememberthe past. That link between yesterday and today was more sweet than bitter
for 150 senior citizens who made the annual pilgrimage to Waldheim Jewish Cemetery in Forest
Park, the oldest Jewish cemetery in the Chicago area.
During the three-hour span, solitary figures wandered off into the pine trees and maples, following
cinder paths leading to family plots. Women strolled, arm-in-arm, looking for monuments with
names of Levy, Kanne, Cohen and Rosenberg. After they visited the sites, they walked over to a tented
area by the cemetery entrance at 1 400 S. Des Plaines Ave., where folding chairs and a table set with
cookies and lemonade provided a place to rest and visit with friends.
from the Chicago Tribune. September 9, 1988, sent by Jim Jewell of Peru IL
Jewish Gravestones in Mississippi
When Macy Hart, director of the Henry S. Jacobs Camp in Utica MS was informed that gravestones of
French and German Jewish immigrants to Grand Gulf had been found in a wooded area near the Grand
Gulf cemetery, he visited the site. Found were about nine gravestones, most of which date from 1853,
Hart speculated that the dead were victims of a yellow fever epidemic. Hart's interest in the
gravestones is related to a project he spearheaded: the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience.
He is collecting artifacts for the museum and is interested in any information of the history of
Southern Jewry.
from Mississippi History. V. XXX # 5, June 1988, sent by Tom Kemp, Stamford CT.
AGS member Jim Jewell of Peru IL spotted the following in a column of photography advice for visitors
to Colonial Williamsburg (Chicago Tribune. Sept. 11, 1988):
The tombstones in the Bruton Parish churchyard carry poignant inscriptions of lives cut short. One
reads,"Heresleepsin Jesus united to Him in faith and the graces of a Christian life, all that was mortal
of Mrs. Ann Burges, once the tender and affectionate wife of Rev. Henry John Surges of the Isle of
Wight. She died December 1771 in giving birth to an infant daughter who rests in her arms." The
inscription concludes with "Oh death where is thy sting? Oh grave where is thy victory?" The
tombstone is flat with the inscription facing up. Such inscriptions are difficult to photograph, but
we got some fine pictures with a wide angle lens in the late afternoon light as it fell across the surface
of the stone.
AGSF88p12
SAN MICHELE: VENICE'S CEMETERY ISLAND
A very interesting article from the New York Times travel section, July 31, 1988, titled "Far
From the San Marco Crowd" by Louis Inturrisi was forwarded by Robert Van Benthuysen, West Long
Branch NJ, Frederick Sawyer III, Glastonbury CT and Francis Y. Duval, Brooklyn NY.
Everybody wants to see Venice. They want to be able to say that they have been to its churches and
museums, admired its art treasures and sampled its curiosities. But the morning you wake up and
realize that you cannot possibly see it all and, like it or not, you are going to have to come back, is the
day you should turn your back on the herd, get off the merry-go-round of frenetic sight-seeing and
museum hopping and head for the Number 5 boat to San Michele. After only half a day on Venice's
cemetery island, sitting in its enchanting cloister or strolling in one of its green gardens or cypress-
shaded groves, you'll be able to cope once more with the Carpaccios and Bellinis, the crowds at the
vaporetto landings and the lines outside the Ducal Palace.
After picking up passengers at the Fondamenta Nuove, many of whom are carrying flowers to put on
the graves, the No. 5 follows a track of posts and piles until it arrives at the mooring in front of the
gleaming white marble church of San Michele in Isola. The oldest Renaissance church in Venice, it
has an elegant semicircular scalloped pediment and a bulbous domed chapel to the left. The cemetery
proper, beyond the cloister, is relatively new, established on the site of a monastery suppressed
during the French occupation and reopened for use in 1837, when the Austrians, for health reasons,
forbade further burials in the city. Among the more recent graves are those of Sravinsky and Ezra
Pound.
The cemetery itself has an odd fascination, with its masses of gleaming white marble, forests of wooden
crosses and legions of sculptured angels set against the dark green of the cypresses. Its sections— one
for infants, for example, another for the military and a section just for nuns — are separated by
colonnades and archways that echo that echo the arches in the enclosing wall seen on the approach to
the island. Most of the graves are simple with a cross or headstone; others may be lavish domed
mausoleums built of precious marbles with their own private chape Is behind tall wrought iron gates.
The perpetual hush everywhere is underlined by the presence of numerous cats drowsing on the sun-
baked headstones. The cemetery was laid out in the early 19th century but soon proved to be too small;
however, it is still the only cemetery in use in Venice. As a result, unless they are fortunate enough
to own mausoleums, most Venetians are buried in strange marble drawers for no more than a dozen
years, after which their relatives must pay the steep renewal charge or their bones are consolidated
to make room for other members of their family or removed to a common grave in a remote part of
the island. These terraced boxes, each with its tiny vase of plastic flowers, battery-run votive light
and photograph of the deceased, can be seen in the sections close to the walls.
A map oi Venice, with large arrow pointing to the
location of San Michele Island and its celebrated
cemetery.
A cylindrical marble marker to the memory of two
Venetian brothers pictured atop.
In sharp contrast to these sections of stark boxes within boxes and identical white crosses in regular
rows is the Protestant Cemetery in the eastern corner of San Michele. With its broken tombstones,
worn inscriptions and graves overgrown with moss and weeds, it resembles an old New England
churchyard. Rays of sunlight filter down through the tall gnarled trees and onto the grass, which has
grown wild and is covered with fallen leaves. Most of the names on the gravestones are English or
AGS F88 p 13
American — of people from Boston or California — but there are German names as well. Among them
is the grave of Ezra Pound. It stands out as a well-tended oval of green ivy and pink-flowering plants.
There is no gravestone, only a small rectangle of marble with his name on it and a large bush growing
out of the center where a cross might otherwise be. This is one of the quietest and most shaded spots
in Venice, and it is worth more than a tranquil moment or two to walk over its grassy paths, reading
the inscriptions and listening to the birds.
Similar in tone is the Greek Orthodox Cemetery nearby. Beyond an iron gate is an enclosure
distinguished by Greek crosses and words in Greek and Russian. Two men of music, who often worked
together, are buried here along the far wall. To the left is the grave of the Russian ballet impresario,
Sergei Diaghilev, who launched the careers of Pavlova and Nijinsky. A few graves to the right is the
resting place of another of his discoveries, Igor Stravinsky, with whom he worked on such
productions as "Petrouchka" and "The Firebird". Stravinsky, who died in New York in 1971, had
a Russian Orthodox funeral in Venice, which was attended by thousands of people from all over the
world. His wife, Vera, who died later, is buried next to him. Both have simple graves, without
headstones, their names carved in black on the stone covers. Diaghiiev's grave, like his character,
is more flamboyant. It is covered by a Byzantine domed canopy, with his name written on the base
in both Russian and English. A fortuneteller once told him that he would meet his death by water. He
died in Venice in 1929, at the Hotel des Bains, on the Lido, where Thomas Mann set "Death in Venice"
and where, in 1912, Stravinsky had played for him the beginnings of "The Rite of Spring".
Diaghiiev's grave has settled peacefully into the earth under the cypresses and is usually covered with
fresh flowers and ballet slippers left behind by balletomanes from all over.
PRESERVATION NOTES
WEED WHACKERS EATING TOMBSTONES
A note in the Vermont Old Cemetery Association (VOCA) News claims that "the string trimmers that
are being used so effectively to cut the grass close to the headstones are doing damage to the stone itself.
This is especially true of the old white marble markers that are inherently soft and delicate.
Considering the very short time these machines have been in use, it won't be long before very serious
damage is done! We therefore ask that you look for evidence of this problem in your travels and alert
the caretakers or the town selectmen. Not only do we have vandalism, theft, weather, animals,
accidents and age ail out to destroy our ancestors tombstones, we now have the string trimmer!"
New AGS Member Tommy H. Jones, Preservation Administrator for the Georgia Trust for Historic
Preservation in Atlanta GA writes that the Georgia State Historic Preservation Office has organized
a task force on cemetery preservation— in Georgia there is no office or agency that deals with cemetery
issues on a statewide basis. They are assembling as much technical and legal information as is
currently available so as to be able to respond well to inquiries.
Also, at the Trust's statewide conference this year there is a possibility that at least one track on
cemetery preservation will be included.
Tommy writes, "Our state legislature this year passed into law a bill authorizing cities and counties
to expend public monies for the care of abandoned cemeteries. Whether such expenditures will ever
be made is another question but, at least; the mechanism for it is in place."
Quite a bit of cemetery vandalism in the metro Atlanta area has been attributed by authorities to "devil
worshipers". Tommy suggests the spray-painted slogans on tombstones seem to relate more to the
"heavy metal" rock and roll groups than to the devil per se. Are there other AGS members with a
similar experience? If "heavy metal" bands can be identified as the source of this vandalism, perhaps
some of them could be approached to do public service announcements against this sort of thing. Any
comments?
TWO VIEWS
some thoughts on the merits of preservation, from the Maine Old Cemeteries Association (f^^OCA)
Newsletter V. XX # 4, Fall 1988.
A local woman was vehement when she said, "I'll never clean up another old cemetery!" She was one
of a group that had spent hours cutting brush, clearing weeds, straigthening and cleaning stones - only
to go back in a few days to find it vandalized. She firmly believes the exposure created by clean-up
is just an invitation for trouble.
Others argue that neglect is seen as a sign that no one cares - so what's the harm in taking a souvenir,
using stones for target practice, even bulldozing over the whole area for a house lot. Who cares?
Members of the Vermont Old Cemetery Association (VOCA) are strong advocates of the latter view. Not
only have they been holding workshops on cemetery maintenance and restoration for three years, they
provide $100.00 matching grants to anyone wanting to restore an old cemetery.
AGSF88P 14
MEMBER NEWS
HAWAII MEMBER NANETTE PURNELL RECEIVES AWARD
Nanette Purnell, Director of The Cemetery Research Project of Hawaii, a two-year historical study
to map every cemetery on Oahu, is among eight recipients of Historic Hawaii Foundation 1988
Preservation Awards. The awards were given out at the foundation's annual meeting in April. Ms.
Purnell received a Preservation Certificate for her extensive work in photographing and cataloging
thousands of Hawaiian cemetery inscriptions. This project is the only comprehensive study ol local
burial practices and artifacts. Her information and photographs are organized into a directory of all
people with Hawaiian surnames who are buried in Oahu cemeteries, along with their birth and death
dates and other data inscribed on grave markers. The list will be especially useful to genealogists
tracing their native Hawaiian ancestry.
Throughout her two-year study, she has given talks to various groups, and held several showings of
her photograph exhibition entitled "Graven Images" consisting of 200 color photographs of the
island's cemeteries. Her work is increasing public awareness of cemetery sites as important
cultural, historical and genealogical resources. She has done an excellent job of seeking funding
sources. Some of the community organizations which have supported her work are the Office of
Hawaiian Affairs, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, the Hawaii Allied Memorial Council, the
State Historic Preservation Office, and the committee forthe Preservation of Hawaiian Language, Art
and Culture. The Hawaiian Historical Society gave herthe sponsorship she needed to apply for grants.
The Cemetery Directory Nanette has completed is a 1500 page book that includes nearly 9000
individual tombstone inscriptions from cemeteries on Oahu, indexed by name and location. Of the 71
cemeteries on the island, 46 lacked documented records prior to this project. The directory is
available for researchers at the Hawaiian Historical Society and the University of Hawaii Hamilton
Library.
Nanette's future plans are to expand the tombstone inscription recording project to the neighbor
islands, to take the photograph exhibit to neighboring islands, and to write a book on Hawaii's historic
cemeteries, including anecdotes, ethnic memorial traditions and tombstone styles and symbols. She
also seeks funding to duplicate the Cemetery Directory for all state libraries and archives.
Nanette has lectured extensively throughout the state on the cultural and historical value of cemetery
sites — she has become "the" state expert on historical cemetery sites in Hawaii. Already the future
plans are beginning to come into being as herthird photo exhibit opened in the Maui Historical Society
Bailey House Gallery on August 26. She also presented her slide show and led a guided tour through
several of West Maui's varied and historical graveyards.
GRAVEN II^AGE?
Hats off to our AGS member from Hawaii !!
(From articles in the Hono/u/u Star-Bullet in & Advertiser. April 17, ?9gg; Windward Sun Press
by Vicki Viotti:K.a Wai Ola O Oha. bi^ Deborah Lee Ward, February 1988; and the Maui Historical Society
Journal. Summer 1988.)
AGS F88 p 15
News from the Old City Cemetery Committee
of the Sacramento County Historical Society
The 149th anniversary of the Sacramento settlement was celebrated August 6-14 by the Sacramento
County Historical Society and the Old City Cemetery Committee. It was on August 12,1 839 that Capt.
John Sutter and his eight Hawaiian crew members landed at the confluence of the Sacramento and
American rivers. John A. Sutter Jr. founded the city of Sacramento in 1849.
One of the events was a procession from the City Hall through Old Sacramento to the Old City Cemetery
by a horse-drawn hearse, accompanied by pallbearers in black frock coats and top hats, trailed by
a covered wagon and several antique automobiles. At the cemetery near the burial plot of John A. Sutter
Jr., a casket time capsule filled with many present-day mementos was buried, to be re-opened in
2088. This event was a fund-raiser to benefit the restoration of the historic graveyard. For a
minimum donation of $1 , business cards and materials descriptive of present-day Sacramento could
be contributed to the time capsule.
An Adopt-a Pioneer program was also introduced, in conjunction with the cemetery operations
supervisor and the city Parks and Community Services Department. Plots that are abandoned or
neglected are made available for adoption and adopters are asked to take responsibility for care and
maintenance of the plots for an agreed-upon period, including landscaping, weeding and watering. Any
repair or restoration, such as on brickwork, stone or monuments, will be undertaken jointly with
the cemetery committee.
Cemetery tours were given, a display of antique mourning quilts and embalming equipment was
held by the Folsom Historical Society, and tombstone rubbings were made, along with other
events highlighting the early history of the town.
AGS member Virginia Marsh and archivist for the Old City Cemetery Committee reports that they have
recently converted an unused chapel on the Sacramento City Cemetery grounds into a cemetery
research library. She is compiling an index of the 21 ,000 burials dating from 1849 using cards on
file at the cemetery, recorded data from all the gravestones, and by going through plot books page by
page to find those without cards and without gravestones. She also checks old newspapers for missing
information. They will be developing biographies for those interred there, beginning with their most
historical figures. Virginia commends AGS for being a source of information and inspiration to the
Old City Cemetery Committee.
. Virginia Marsh, Sacremento City Cemetery
NEW YORK CEMETERY BILL SIGNED INTO LAW
Gov. Cuomo signed a bill into law in August establishing a special fund for maintaining and repairing
often-vandalized not-for-profit cemeteries around the state. This marks the end of an 8-year
struggle for the bill's supporters.
The fund will apply only to the not-for-profit cemeteries and will not extend to cemeteries under
religious or municipal control. Pearse M. O'Callaghan, director of the state's Division of Cemeteries
said municipal cemeteries were not included in the bill's protection because to do so would have
required a lengthy procedure, including an amendment to the state's cemetery laws. "And I don't see
that happening soon. Nobody is lobbying for it," he said.
Rufus Langhans, AGS member and Huntington Town Historian, has come out strongly for the state's
protection of the municipal cemeteries, saying, "These historical cemeteries should be given the
most attention on protection. ..Many date back to the 17th and 18th century" and are virtually
unprotected from vandals and thieves. "The municipal cemeteries are also vital to our history."
Besides being Huntington Town Historian, Langhans is editor of a new newsletter, Six Over Six.
AGSF88P 16
Local Notes on Historic Preservation, put out by the Huntington Historic Preservation
Commission for those whose homes pre on the New York State Building-Structure Inventory Form,
the National Register of Historic Places and Huntington's local Landmark Ordinance.
REQUEST FOR SUGGESTIONS TO GROUPS MAINTAINING FAMILY PLOTS BY LONG
DISTANCE
A widespread need is emerging for ways to help family groups who join together to preserve family
burying grounds long after the family has moved out of the area. Interest is difficult to sustain over
the years and funding is hard to find. At the AGS office we could use some suggestions to give to such
groups as the one spotlighted below.
Dr.CarlShuster, President of the Baughman Burying Ground Association of Bart Township, Lancaster
County, Pennsylvania has written to AGS about the work the members of the Baughman family are
doing to restore and preserve their old family graveyard that dates from at least 1774.
It was carefully tended through all the years until World War II. Since then, there have been two
attempts to clean it up. The most current one has occurred after the establishment in 1983 of the
Baughman Burying Ground Association, an organization of family members, most of whom do not live
in the area of the burying ground. At their annual family reunion, one of the activities is to accomplish
major care of the burying ground. They have succeeded in clearing it of trees and brush and then
grassing it in. The picket cast iron gate which had been installed in 1811 had deteriorated and was
replaced in 1985 by a new gate patterned afterthe original. They are now in the process of renovating
the hand-laid stone wall that surrounds it, a job that is about half completed.
They have also carried out an historical/genealogical research program which has resulted in a
preliminary catalogue of persons buried there including a photographic album which will be refined
and stored in the Lancaster County Historical Society and several similar local organizations.
The BBGA is concerned about its ability to sustain the current interest in maintaining the family
cemetery and is seeking suggestions for ways to stimulate a continuing participation. One possibility
they are exploring is to set up a perpetual care trust with a local church orgovernmental entity, such
as Bart Township. They understand that at least $30,000 would be required to set up such a fund and
are currently able to put aside about $1 ,000 each year, so instituting this trust will be a long-term
project.
AGS members who are involved in similar projects orwho know of organizations and projects similar
to this one, or who have suggestions to offer, are urged to write to Dr. Carl N. Shuster, Jr., President,
BBGA, 3733 North 25th Street, Arlington, VA 22207-501 1 with a copy to the AGS Office so that we
may inform others who seek this kind of information.
Smithsonian Plans Inventory of American Sculpture
The Smithsonian Institution is beginning an inventory of American sculpture. Their collection of
information will be stored in a computer and will eventually provide the only substantial repository
of information on American sculpture.
The project focuses on the nation's monuments, statues and memorials across the United States.
Included is outdoor sculpture as well as sculpture in museums, historical societies, corporate and
private collections — all created by American artists or by those whose works are identified with the
United States.
They have contacted the AGS office indicating an interest in including some of the best cemetery
sculpture as well. They cannot include early Colonial gravestone sculpture — there is simply too much
of it — but they are interested in knowing of major scultural works by identified American sculptors
which are located, in cemeteries.
We urge those of you familiar with exceptional statuary in a nearby Victorian cemetery or one of
which you have knowledge, to make a special effort to identify as much as possible of the follow-
ing: _^
sculptor
title
creation dale(s)
medium
foundry
version identification
cast numbers and marks
location
(^/T^ provenance
^ — ^1\ subject matter
and any historical or conservation notes
J
AGSF88P 17
Barbara Rotundo has offered to be the collector of your suggestions. Please send this information
to:
Barbara Rotundo
217 Seward Place
Schenectady NY 12305
SPECIAL SPEAKERS, EXHIBITS AND WORKSHOPS
"Preserving Connecticut's Graveyards," Worl<shop on Saturday, September 2 4 ,
19 8 8, organized by the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation and sponsored by Connecticut
League of Historical Societies, Connecticut Historical Commission, Old State House, Ancient Burying
Ground Association, Antiquarian and Landmarks Society, Greater Hartford Architecture Conser-
vancy. AGS circulated publicity for the event to AGS rfiembers in Connecticut and Massachusetts.
Speakers were Hartford's Mayor Perry, Frank Matero discussing new technology in the field of
graveyard preservation; William Hosley (Wadsworth Athenaeum Curator and AGS member).
Shepherd Holcombe (Ancient Burying Ground Assoc) and David Ransom (Ancient Burying Ground
Assoc, and AGS member), Nicholas Bellatoni (CT's State Archaeologist), and Frances Gale (Masonry
Stabilization Services Corp.), with advice on various aspects of graveyard preservation. Demon-
strations of restoration techniques were conducted by John Zito of Beij, Williams and Zito, gravestone
conservators; and by Allan Williams from Chester Granite of Blanford, MA, gravestone replicators.
"Silent Sentinels," an exhibit of photographs by Robert A. Wright at Oak Woods
Cemetery in Chicago July 30-September 11 and Sept. 19 -Nov. 26 at the Archicenterof the Chicago
Architecture Foundation.
2^
J-;
1988 Winterthur Conference: "Everyday Life in the Early Republic" November 3
and 4, 1988 in the Copeland Lecture Hall at Winterthur Museumand Gardens. Through
a series of lectures, slide presentations, and discussions, the conference examined patterns of daily
existence, possessions, and cultural values of most Americans. The period examined, forty years
between the ratification of the Constitution in 1789 and the election of Andrew Jackson to the
presidency in 1828, is often described as a time of great political, social, economic, and cultural
upheaval. For more information contact the Office of Advanced Studies, Winterthur Museum and
Gardens, Winterthur DE 19735, (302) 888-4649.
"New England in Your Blood," the 1988 Federal Genealogy Society Conference held at
Boston Park Plaza Hotel August 24-27, 1988 included a session led by AGS Research Coordinator
Laurel K. Gabel entitled "The Art of New England Gravestone Interpretation." About 100 people
AGSF'88p 18
attended the session showing a marked interest in the topic.
"A Walk Through Mount Auburn History," lecture and tour by AGS member Barbara
Rotundo was conducted at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge MA on June 25, 1988.
Pat Miller's recent speaking engagements include the Salisbury Chapter of the DAR, Newington
Historical Society of Dover Plains, NY and leading a cemetery tour for the Discovery Center of
Ridgefield CT. Her regularly scheduled Connecticut Graveyard Tours met in July, August,
September and October,
"Chicago's Underground: Its Cemetery History, "and"Egyptian Tombs in American
Cemeteries," are two lectures given by AGS members Helen Sclair and Harold Allen
respectively, taking place on October 26 as part of the Chicago Architecture Foundation lunchtime
lectures.
The Museum of American Folk Art celebrated the opening of its Portraits in Stone exhibition of
gravestone photographs from the collection of Daniel and Jessie Lie Farber, October 4. Traditional
foods made from original recipes were served. The exhibit continues at Federal Hall National
Memorial, 26 Wall St., New York City, through November 11, 1988. The MAF A Explorers' Club also
sponsored a special Halloween Graveyard Walking Tour of several graveyards of historical and
cultural significance in Manhattan. Tour leaders were AGS members Roberta Halporn and Miriam
Silverman.
PORTR^TS
IN STONE
(.H,\\ Ks roNK I'lioroCKU'HS KROM THE
DAN AMJJKSSIK I. IF. FAKBER COLLECTION
Vr llli; Ml SKI MOE AMKRICAN FOLK ART
The Scott Fantan Museum in Danbury CT has a special exhibit through the month of November on
funerary and mortician history. This will include a photo of the Danbury monument for General David
Wooster, by AGS member Jim Miller. Another AGS member, C.R. Jones, will be speaking at the
museum on this topic November 20.
Jim Letherby spoke at the Old Lyme CT Historical Society November 16.
Donna La Rue gave a slide presentation and tour of the cemetery at Christ Church, Cambridge MA
October 23.
LiBRARlES, HISTORICAL SOCIETIES, USED BOOK DEALERS
AND PRIVATE COLLECTORS !
Do you have account books, pattern or epitaph notebooks, diaries or other personal records pertaining
to gravestone carvers? We would like to make AGS researchers aware of these resources. Please
contact;
Laurel K. Gabel
AGS Research
205 Fishers Road
Pittsford NY 14534
AGS F'88 p 19
dSliaiSMBN
G I V d
3DViSOd S Tl
■oao iijoad NON
261-30
Vl/M LueMpaaN
Pd mnoLuAid 91^
S3ianiS 3N01S3AVdO aod noiivioossv
LIST OF THINGS YOU CAN DO
1 . Throw away all old brochures with dues beginning at $15. Write to the AGS office for a supply
of new ones with the current dues schedule.
2. We have an increasing number of questions about how to handle situations where developers have
bought land enclosing or abutting a burial plot. They would prefer to destroy it, move it away entirely
or to a distant corner of the lot. We need some good suggestions to offer of actual situations where small
burial plots have been successfully incorporated into the housing or shopping development, fenced,
attractive, well cared for. Please write the AGS office if you know of such examples.
3. Over 800 Graveyard Preservation Primers have been sold so far. This suggests a very
strong interest in the subject. Members can boost sales even further by contacting their local
Historical Society or Cemetery Commission to see whether they are aware of the book and are
interested in investing in a copy of it.
4. If you have purchased copies of Markers or other books on gravestone studies which you have
finished reading and don't need for reference, may we suggest you considerdonatingthemto your local
Public Library where others in your community can enjoy them. Or perhaps as a memorial gift or
birthday gift you could purchase a set of Markers for your local Library.
5. Reread the article requesting suggestions for groups maintaining family burying grounds from a
distance. Do you have some suggestions or examples to send along?
6. Reread the article on the Smithsonian Inventory of American Sculpture and offer them your sug-
gestions.
-■^==T2VT5^:=^
The AGS Newsletter is published quarterly as a service to members of the Association for Gravestone
Studies. The membership year begins on the date dues are received and ends one year from that date. ^A one
year membership entitles the members to four issues of the Newsletter and to participation in the AGS
conference in the year membership is current. Send membership fees (individual $20; institutional, $25;
Family $30; contributing $30) to AGS Executive Director Rosalee Oakley, 46 Plymouth Rd. Needham MA
02192. Back issues of the Newsletter are available for $3.00 per issue from Rosalee Oakley. The goal of
the Newsletter is to present timely information about projects, literature, and research concerning
gravestones, and about the activities of the Association for Gravestone Studies. It is produced by Deborah
Trask, who welcomes suggestions and short contributions from readers. The Newsletter is not intended
to serve as a journal. Journal articles should be sent to Theodore Chase, editor of Markers, the Journal
of the Association for Gravestone Studies, 74 Farm St., Dover MA 02030. Address Newsletter
contributions to Deborah Trask, editor. Nova Scotia Museum, 1747 Summer St., Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H
3A6, Canada. OrderMarkers (Vol. 1 $18; Vol. 2, $16; Vol. 3, $14.75; Vol. 4. $14.75; Vol. 5, $18; higher
prices for non-members) from Rosalee Oakley. Send contributions to the AGS Archives to Elizabeth Rich,
Archivist, 43 Rybury Hillway, Needham MA 02192. Address other correspondence to Rosalee Oakley.
AGS F88 p 20
NEWSLETTER
OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES
DEBORAH TRASK, ED. VOLUME 13 NUMBER 1 WINTER 1988/9
ISSN: 0146-5783
CONTENTS
THE MAN WHO BURNED WASHINGTON 1
BOOK REVIEWS
History of Mount Auburn 2
Woodlawn Remembers 4
EXHIBITS 5
RESEARCH 6
WHAT IS NIC? 7
USING TECHNOLOGY TO RECORD A CEMETERY 8
HELP FROM GENEALOGISTS 9
ASSOCIATION INFO 10
NEW MEMBERS 12
ARCHIVAL ADDITIONS 13
NEWS FROM OLD CEMETERY SOCIETIES 15
AGSers AT WORK ! 18
THE MAN WHO BURNED WASHINGTON
Major General Robert Ross, a blue-eyed Irishman,
had a very distinguished career in the Napoleonic
Wars. The Duke of Wellington then placed him in
command of the British troops who were sent to
America after Napoleon's defeat to relieve the military
pressure on Canada in the War of 1812. The troops
under Ross were met by the American Army at Blad-
ensburg, about five miles north of Washington. Ross
used Congreve rockets, which the American troops
had never seen before. The British won the battle and
General Ross marched into Washington where his
troops set fire to a number of public buildings, including
the president's marision. This pale limestone building
was so badly stained by the smoke that it had to be
painted white.
The following month the British attempted to land at
Baltimore, but they were defeated. Pierre Burton, in
his book Flames Across the Border describes how
the young lawyer, Francis Scott Key, after watching
Ross' rockets' red glare was moved to compose "a
national anthem for his country to celebrate the sight
of the Stars and Stripes flying bravely in the dawn's
early light to signal British defeat." General Ross was
killed. His body was brought to Halifax in Nova Scotia
where it was buried with full military honours. His
grave is marked with a very formal, high, flat tomb-
stone.
Armorial Shield of
Major General Robert Ross
of BladensbursT 1814
Grave of Major-General Robert Ross, sandstone,
Halifax, N.S.
1814,
AGSW'88/9p.1
At Rosstrevor in Ireland there stands an obelisk also to the menrrory of Ross, which reads (the wording is very
similar to the monument in Halifax):
THE OFFICERS OF A GRATEFUL ARMY,
WHICH UNDER THE COMMAND OF THE LAMENTED
yAJOR-GEIMERAL ROBERT ROSS,
ATTACKED AND DISPERSED THE AMERICAN FORCES
AT BLADENSBURG, ON THE 24TH OF AUGUST, 1814,
AND ON THE SAME DAY VICTORIOUSLY ENTERED WASHINGTON,
THE CAPITAL OF THE UNITED STATES,
INSCRIBE UPON THIS TABLET
THEIR ADMIRATION OF HIS PROFESSIONAL SKILL,
AND THEIR ESTEEM FOR HIS AMIABLE PRIVATE CHARACTER.
HIS WELL EARNED FAME IS ALSO RECORDED
BY THE MONUMENT ERECTED AT HIS GRAVE
IN HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA, BY THE ARMY IN THAT COMMAND;
BY THAT WHICH HIS MOURNING BROTHER OFFICERS OF THE 20TH FOOT
RAISED IN HIS PARISH CHURCH AT ROSSTREVOR;
AND
THAT PLACED IN ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL,
AS THE LAST TRIBUTE OF A NATION'S PRAISE,
BY HIS COUNTRY.
Grave of Major-General Robert Ross, sandstone, 1814. Halifax, N.S.
The Veterans Administration has increased to $80 its reimbursement for the purchase of a headstone for a
veteran. The new rate, effective October 1 , ,1988, is $4 more than the previous allowance. Any honorably
discharged veteran is eligible for a government- provided headstone or an allowance to purchase a gravestone
privately. Government-provided headstones are used if the veteran is buried in a national cemetery or in most
state-operated veterans cemeteries.
from Army Times. November 21, 1988, contributed by Phil Kallas, Stevens Point Wl
The British Association for Cemeteries in South Asia
(BACSA) was formed in October 1976 to bring to-
gether people with a concern forthe many hundreds of
European cemeteries, isolated graves and monu-
ments in South Asia. There is a steadily growing
membership of over 1 200, drawn from a wide circle of
interest— government, churches, services, business,
museums, historical and genealogical societies. More
members are needed to support the rapidly expanding
activities of the Association — the setting up of local
Branches in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burma,
Ceylon, Maylasia etc., the building up of a records file
in the India Office Library and Records; and many
other projects for the preservation of historical and
architectural monuments. The annual subscription
rate is £2, with an enrollment fee of £8. There are
special rates for joint membership (husband and wife),
for life membership and for associate membership.
For details, contact Rosie Llewellyn-Jones, 135
Burntwood Lane, London SW17.
AGS W88/9 P. 2
BOOK REVIEWS
A History of the Cemetery of Mount Auburn
by Jacob Bigelow
Boston: J. Munroe & Co., 1860, reprinted 1988
review by Barbara Rotunda
AGS members tiave good reason to be grateful for reprints. Since popular and scholarly interest in
cemeteries and gravestones has been non-existent until recently, the few books that have been
published are precious. Unfortunately when children and grandchildren clean out an old attic they
have inherited, they never realize that the dusty old books on an unpleasant subject are worth
anything to anybody and they throw them out. Even libraries do not seem to have kept nineteenth
century books about gravestones. But reprints have saved us. First Pyne Press, now Roberta
Halporn, re-published Harriet Forbes' book on New England carvers, and in England SPCK, religious
publishers, have reissued Frederick Burgess' book on English churchyard memorials. Now
Applewood Press, in cooperation with Mount Auburn Cemetery has republished Jacob Bigelow's
history of the founding and the first thirty years of Mount Auburn Cemetery, in Cambridge,
Massachusetts.
Since Bigelow was the driving force behind the establishment of Mount Auburn, which was the first
of many rural cemeteries founded in the few decades between 1831 and 1861, his history is a valuable
first hand account. As a medical doctor, a classical scholar, a published botanist and an amateur
architect, Bigelow was a natural to create a cemetery that was concerned, for the first time, with
public hygiene, horticultural display and grounds laid out to provide picturesque views. One of the
things he regretted at the time he wrote the book was that too many views had become impeded by a
heavy growth of trees. He proposes in the text that a large portion of them should be cut down. (History
repeats itself. Today the professional staff in charge of Mount Auburn's grounds want to cut down trees
and let in sunlight, but trustees and proprietors mourn the felling of each tree as they would mourn
the loss of a dear friend.)
Although Bigelow was undeniably on the spot during the years he described, he relied on the minutes
of the Trustee meetings for dates of some of the actions taken and for texts of some of the resolutions.
After writing my first article using this history as the basis for my facts, I was offered the
opportunity to study the full record of cemetery minutes. There I discovered that the secretary who
copied earlier minutes into a new book after the cemetery ended its relationship with the Massachu-
setts Horticultural Society in 1835 miscopied one date. This meeting is reported as 1832 when it
is preceded and followed by meetings dated 1 833 and also contains business based on actions taken in
late 1832. This causes Bigelow (and me) to say that the amusing episode of the trustees' fruitless
attempt to keep carriages from driving around the cemetery for a pleasant recreational spin took
place a year earlier than the actual event. While this is a minor mistake, I regret that the cemetery
did not add a modern footnote of correction to the reprint, which remains invaluable regardless.
In addition to telling his own story, Bigelow provides in the second half of the book copies of several
orations given in support of the rural cemetery movement, various committee reports, the enabling
legislation, and the by-laws current in 1860. In other words, the book contains a wealth of
information, is reasonably priced at $17.50, and should be in every library with any pretensions
to coverage of American history as well as in the personal library of anyone interested in cemeteries.
I^ount Auburn Cemetery, in cooperation with Applewood Books of Cambridge MA, has reprinted Dr. Jacob
Bigelow's A History of the Cemetery of Mount Auburn, originally published in 1860. Dr, Bigelow was one
of the principal founders of Mount Auburn Cemetery in 1831, and his personal history of the institution,
written when he was 73 and had served for fifteen of his twenty-six years as President of the Cemetery,
is a fascinating one. The reprint is an exactcopy of the original, 4 1/2 by 7 1/4 inches in size with a handsome
red binding (the original was brown). It contains numerous drawings of buildings, scenes and maps, and is
263 pages long. Copies are available from Mount Auburn Cemetery, 580 Mount Auburn St., Cambridge MA,
02138, for $17.50 postpaid.
Barbara Rotunda is the author of "Mount Auburn
Cemetery: A Proper Boston Institution", Har-
vard Library Bulletin. V. XXII # 3, July 1974.
and a vocal AGS advocate of Victorian "rural"
cemeteries.
Tfie entrance to Mount Auburn Cemetery in 1847
showing the Egyptian Revival Gate, designed by Dr.
Jacob Bigelow, as it appeared after being recon-
structed in Quincy granite. From "Putting the Past in
Place: the Making of Mount Auburn Cemetery" by
Blanche Linden-Ward; Cambridge Historical Society
Proceedings V. 44; offprint 1985.
AGS W88/9 P. 3
Bergman, Edward F., Woodlawn
Remembers. Cemetery of Ameri-
can History.
(Utica: North Country Books, 1988. $24.95
Soft Bound)
NORTH COUNTRY BOOKS, INC.
PUBLISHER-DISTRIBUTOR
18 Irving Place, Utica, New York 13501
WOODLAW>
REMEMBERS
Cemetery of American Histor
by
Edward F. Bergman
Preface by
Louis Auchincloss
reviewed by Richard Welch
Woodlawn Remembers, by Edward F. Bergman, Chairman of the Geology Department at Lehman
College in the Bronx, is a thoughtful, intelligent and very enjoyable guide to one of the better second
generation "rural" cemeteries in the New York City area. Though the cemetery was only founded in
1868, Bergman provides a sound, if brief, history of what he dubs "Woodlawn's Precedents". This
is essentially a capsule history of the rural or garden cemetery movement which he traces to Pere
Lachaise in Paris, citing Mount Auburn and Green Wood as Woodlawn's direct American antecedents.
According to Bergman, Woodlawn's creation owed much to the shortcomings of area transportation,
particularly the difficulties in transporting bodies from Manhattan to Green Wood in Brooklyn,
which necessitated a frequently less than somber ferry ride. Woodlawn, being directly connected by
railroad provided an efficient and appropriate alternative.
Bergman also discusses the development of mid-Victorian park and cemetery design and credits much
of Woodlawn's attractiveness to landscape designer James C. Sidney. Indeed, the rich photographic
sections amply demonstrate Woodlawn's continued beauty which stands in sharp contrast to the
overurbanized neighborhoods which surround it. The introductory sections dealing with the early
history of the garden cemetery and Woodlawn's place in it, are accompanied by eleven overview or
area shots, all in color. The bulk of the book focuses on sixty-six individuals buried in Woodlawn.
They were selected partly for fame or notoriety, or, in some cases, because Bergman thought their
stories interesting and not well known. In the case of these individuals, a photograph of the tomb is
matched with a photograph of the person in life. In some instance, the designer of these tombs, mostly
high Victorian mausoleums, is identified. Most of those discussed in this section will be well-known
to the majority of AGS members. They include such luminaries as Woolworth, Duke Ellington,
Fiorello LaGuardia, Damon Runyon, Herman Melville, George. M. Cohan and Joseph Pulitzer. A
smaller section at the end of the book contains an annotated listing of the not-quite-so famous who are
also buried at Woodlawn.
Although only a softbound volume, Woodlawn Remembers is very well produced. The author's color
and black and white photos are well selected and perfectly printed. The nineteenth-century drawings
used to illustrate the introductory sections were also chosen with care and serve to enhance the points
made in the text. Those interested in nineteenth-century High Victorian cemeteries should find
Woodlawn Remembers a welcome addition to their library.
Richard Welch is the author of Memento Mori, the Gravestones of Early Long Island. 1680-1810
(Friends for Long Island's Heritage 1983), and the major contributor to the AGS Regional Guide 2:
Long Island NY Graveyards. He also wrote an article on "The New York and New Jersey Gravestone
Carving Tradition" , Markers IV (1987).
A GOOD QUESTION
Patricia J. Ellenwood, Secretary of the Gallup Family Association, 1 1 2 Cuba Hill Road, Greenlawn NY
1 1 740 writes that the Gallup Family Association is based in Ledyard CT where the family graveyard
has been located since the time of the Revolutionary War. Recently, the graveyard was vandalized.
Almost 30 headstones were attacked and broken. Our first concern is to restore the headstones. The
Graveyard Preservation Primer has been useful, but more crucial is the question "How do we stop
this from happening again?" Has anyone in the Newsletter readership fiad success with making
secure an outdoor site like ours? We will appreciate any suggestions.
AGS W'88/9 P. 4
EXHIBITS
Shadows of Life: James Mllmoe's Photography, a Colorado photographer's studies of
cemetery sculpture from around the world will be displayed in the Shwayder Photography Gallery
of the Denver Art Museum, 100 West 14th Avenue Parkway, Denver, Colorado 80204, from
February 18 through t^ay 21, 1989.
The 62 works on view that represent 13 nations and 10 states are only a small sample of the artist's
collection from over 200 cemeteries. Milmoe has been photographing gravemarkers since 1952. He
describes his cemetery photographs as "basically frontal, direct and selective". Both on site and in
the darkroom Milmoe concentrates on recreating his experience of the object without the sentimen-
tality that cemetery photographs can sometimes evoke. His choice of the 2 1/4-inch-square camera
format provides portability while recording detail with great clarity.
One of Denver's most popular and prominent photographers, Milmoe has lived in Colorado for more
than 30 years and has taught photography for almost as long. He has photographed for National
Geographic. American Art Review. New York Times, and many other major publications.
SILENT SENTINELS
reviewed by Phil Kail as
Located on the second floor of the historic sixteen story Monadnock Building at 330 South Dearborn
Street in Chicago is the ArchiCenter Gallery of the Chicago Architecture Foundation at which AGS
member Robert Wright's "Silent Sentinels" photographic exhibit recently closed (November 26)
following a ten-week showing.
The gallery itself is unimposing, is not wheelchair bound handicap accessible, and does little to
enhance the quality photographs presented. Cracking walls, a 'permanently' placed projection
screen, and audience chairs forthe gallery's weekly lecture series actually distract the exhibit goer.
Members of AGS are aware of Bob's quality work if the attended the 1987 Conference or by
happenstance subscribe to Stone in America or American Cemetery. This intervening period has
allowed for increased experience within the field and increased funding has permitted use of larger
and higher quality reproduction materials resulting in, using Bob's words, "...well-crafted photo-
graphs, that reveal the fine detail and subtle tonalities..."
To experience his craft as art all one need do is purchase A Walk Through Graceland Cemetery by
Barbara Lanctot, available at the gallery bookstore for $6.95 (paperback) and compare photos, mot
notably the Getty Tomb (book cover illustration), Lorado Taft's Eternal Silence and Crusader. John
Root's Celtic Cross, and the Ryerson Tomb among others to witness what Bob refers to as a
"photographic style" that "is purposefully direct and simple" so the viewer "may experience a
monument's presence."
The exhibit is not without flaws however, in addition to the above mentioned gallery conditions. These
omissions, non-inclusions in reality, refer more to the novice cemetery viewer.
An exhibit introductory explanation panel is succinct in defining the role of "rural cemetery". There
is however only one exhibit item that portrays a "rural cemetery" overview and that is through the
entrance gate of Calvary Cemetery in Evanston IL and it appears further along in the exhibit. It is an
excellent thought-provoking setting which gives a feel for entering into everlasting life but really
doesn't furnish the novice with a feel forthe blissful confines. A single visit to any "rural Cemetery"
would allay this minor concern. This writer is assured that the overall professionalism of the
photographer and .the quality of his work will cause the newcomer to seek out these necropolises and
join our ranks.
Again, from the perspective of the newly exposed cemetery viewer, there are two other minor
criticisms. The first being a lack of symbolic meaning explanation in the photo captions while motifs,
artists' dedication to work, materials used, and development are well addressed. The other being a
lack of explanation of the function of outbuildings in the only non-monument exhibit photo — a no
longer extant building. It would have been exemplary of the caption developer to have shared more
information given the diverse use and nature of these edifices.
Nit-picking aside this reviewer has noticed a maturation in concept, design and presentation of
Mr. Wright's work and one can only look forward to a range of funerary photography that will not
only excite photographers and artists but designers, architects and gravestone aficionados as well.
His creativity in future shows will only be limited by dastardly fiend, a lack of funds. This show
is again a prime example of why arts and humanities deserve an equitable realistic portion of
funding, private and public, in relation to other programs.
for more on Phil Kallas, see p. 15.
AGS W88/9 P. 5
RESEARCH
Fig. 1
Fig. 2
This emblem (Fig. 1) signifies membersiiip in the Sons of Temperance, a fraternal benefit
organization founded in 1842 at a time when the temperance reform movement was gaining
momentum in this country. The International Order of Good Templars (lOGT), whose insignia is also
illustrated here (Fig. 2), was another secret abstinence society founded in 1850 with the same
emphasis as the Sons of Temperance. The emblems of these two popular fraternal groups are often
found on gravemarkers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, (line drawings by Carol
Perkins, Toledo OH)
MODERN FRATERNAL GRAVEMARKERS
A chilling October wind swept the Nebraska hillside gathering of more than 50 fraters and friends as
Past Grand Prytanis Joel E. Johnson placed the first Tau Kappa Epsilon grave marker on the grave of
Frater Norman D. Brown. Recently approved by the Grand Chapter, the official TKE grave marker
is a heavy brass circular plate, nine inches in diameter. An outer circle represents the full circle
of life and is inscribed with the words "Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity" to identify the grave as the
resting place of a member of the Fraternity. Inside the circle is an equilateral triangle, the primary
secret symbol of Tau Kappa Epsilon. Inset in the triangle is the coat-of-arms, symbolic of our
brotherhood. On the back of the marker is a space for engraving the deceased frater's name, chapter
and scroll number.
Two years after Brown's death in a motorcycle accident in 1 981 , a proposal was made to the TKE Grand
Chapter for a gravemarker in his memory. A suitable foundry was located, molds crafted and a
prototype created. The TKE gravemarker will soon be available for purchase through the Offices of
the Grand Chapter. "For years to come, visitors to cemeteries around the world will be able to see
that for those in TKE, the bond we share continues even after we have joined in the Chapter Eternal.
Tau Kappa Epsilon is truly a brotherhood forever."
from The Teke. December 1987, sent by Phil Kallas, Stevens Point Wl.
ODD BALL STORY
In a suburban cemetery of Cincinnati there is supposed to be a gravestone of John Cleves Symmes
(1780-1829) surmounted by a hollow ball representing the earth. During his lifetime, Symmes
gained considerable notoriety for his theory that the earth is hollow and capable of sustaining a
population. At Transylvania University in Lexington, KY, where he gave public lectures for a time,
he tried to recruit 1 00 "brave lads" to help him explore the interior of the earth. It is believed his
theories account for the mysterious polar opening at the end of Poe's Arthur Gordon Pym.
contributed by Charles Boewe, Louisville KY
Jim Jewell of Peru IL reports yet another example of sexism in the cemetery. In the Zion United
Church Cemetery, Poland IL (known locally as the "Germany Cemetery") is the William and Nora
Tapy stone. The husband's name and dates are exquisitly carved in bas-relief with a border:
William o. Tapy
July 26, 1868
Dec. 3 1899
Nora A. 1869-1916
MEET ME IN HEAVEN
Underneath William's name, his wife's name and dates (years only) are inscribed into the stone. Not
only does she not get fancy bas-relief and birth-and-death dates, her epitaph would appear to be an
order since her husband died first!
AGS W88/9 P. 6
WHAT IS NIC?
by Lance Mayer
Three years ago, AGS became a voting member of the National Institute torthe Conservation of Cultural
Property (NIC). NIC is an important organization which acts as the national forum for preservation
activities in the United States, and provides leadership in national conservation efforts. It has done
this by conducting studies and publishing definitive reports on many different areas of conservation
need, and by influencing funding policies and legislation affecting conservation efforts. NIC has an
annual budget of $400,000, but it does not dispense any money for conservation w/ork directly — it
w/orks to get others to give even more money, and has been instrumental in securing millions of dollars
in federal grant funds each year. NIC, working with the President's Council on the Arts and the
Humanities, recently created and funded a National Committee to Save America's Cultural Collections,
which has brought together cultural leaders, financial experts and conservators, and which is making
special efforts to attract more private sector funding for conservation.
AGS members might be interested in the impressions of your delegate to NIC, Lance Mayer, at the
meeting of the NIC Council in Washington DC last October:
My first impression upon arriving at the meeting, which was held at the Smithsonian Institution, is
that AGS is in stellar company. As a voting member of NIC, AGS has an equal voice with the American
Institute of Architects, the Association of Art Museum Directors, the National Trust for Historic
Preservation, and many other national associations and art museums. I know a number of the other
Council members from my work as a paintings conservator, and over coffee I argue that old
gravestones should not be ignored when national conservation priorities are established. 1 try to
convince the head of a NIC project which will identify and assess the condition of all outdoor sculpture
that gravestones should be included in the study, even though they has been specifically excluded in
a preliminary study because of their large numbers.
The business meeting begins, and NIC President Larry Reger has some good news from "The Hill":
Congress has voted a $250,000 appropriation for operating support for NIC. We then slog through
a number of bylaw changes, article by article, and Larry summarizes NIC's twelve to twenty-four
month working objectives, which include an assessment of the current state of activities required for
the care of our national patrimony.
We break up into working groups to discuss the latter topic - I am with the Architecture/Historic
Preservation group. Someone suggests that the term "historic preservation" is too vague, and that
we should call our group "historic structures", but I object that a headstone might not strictly be
called a structure, so we stick to "historic preservation". All of us agree that the state of preservation
activities in our field is not at all what it should be, especially as regards research. I have brought
photographs of some Connecticut gravestones which have been destroyed by the elements since Allan
Ludwig's book was published (1966). Lee Nelson of the National Park Service waves these
photographs around and says we need a central research lab - a National Preservation Technology
Center - to solve problems like this. He says that we may need to piggyback on other interests, like
the concrete industry (the interstate highway system is the most valuable part of our nation's
infrastructure). Lee says that the Park Service has been looking into this; it would cost $8 million
to start up, but maybe the mood on "The Hill" is right for it.
The next day, the results of the small group discussions are summarized. What will come of our
discussions and reports? It may be very difficult to see any results in the short term. But Larry Reger
knows the ins and outs of "The Hill", and there have been some surprising successes in the past. It
seems important for AGS to be represented at NIC if for no other reason than to "show the flag" for
gravestones, and to make the point that old gravestones should not be left out of any future planning
for national conservation needs.
Lance Mayer is a conservator at the Lyman Allyn Museum, New London CT. He is a member of the Board
of AGS, and the author of "The Care of Old Cemeteries and Gravestones", Markers I
From an auction at Skinner's Gallery, Boston,
October 29, 1988, illustrated in the Maine An-
tiques Digest. December 1988, a piece of carved
stone, perhaps a gravestone cutter's sample,
which sold for $6270. to a New York folk art
collector. The design motifs were on the front, the
sample alphabet on the rear.
contributed by Jonathan Twiss, Hartford CT
AGS W'88/9 P. 7
USING TECHNOLOGY TO RECORD A CEMETERY
by Debbie Blackstone, James D. Klaiber and Teresa L.M. Klaiber CGRS
Norwich Presbyterian Church and cemetery, located on an original section of the historic National
Road, Union Township, Muskingum County, Ohio, was formed in 1828. The earliest located stone is
that of Thomas Jennings who died in 1827. His may well have been the first burial within the
cemetery. Of the first elders, John Jamison, who died in 1830, is buried beside the original church.
In the spring of 1988, Family Lineage Investigations was approached by Session to research, record
and plat the cemetery. Few records seemed available, and questions were arising concerning early
ownership of plots. A formal job description listing all procedures and limitations was presented to
Session and in late spring, as signs of drought hit Ohio, we began documentation.
Two church-owned maps known to exist were located. The first is on canvas, undated and nearly
unreadable — unsealed and very disproportionate. Surnames were deciphered after we enlarged
sections several times using a Xerox 1 025 R/E. The second map is a facsimile of the first with some
newer burials noted.
A history of the church, prepared in 1 953 to honor the 1 25th anniversary, makes no mention of the
cemetery. A 1986 "reading" published by the local genealogical society inadvertently placed burials
from another cemetery, one mile away, within its bounds. Some stones had also been overlooked or
improperly read. Session records and minute books (1926-1966) stored at both the church and
sister church, Westminster, New Concord OH, were scanned page by page for mention of cemetery
burials. The Presbyterian Historical Society, Lomard St., Philadelphia PA shipped the earliest
Sessions Records (1895-call # V-MJK8-N831S) on file for inspection. While deaths were cited
sporadically no direct citations referred to burials within the cemetery.
Research proceeded at the Muskingum County Courthouse, Zanesville OH where a 1986 Engineers
map gave acreage. A deed recorded October 1 7, 1 839 (eleven years after the formation of the church)
shows the land given to the trustees by one of the original Elders. The exact description gave bearings
allowing our Engineer to draft a properly proportioned outline map. As suspected, a second portion
of land was deeded to the church October 4, 1 832. Confirmation of bounds was made and the base line
marked at the cemetery.
Using an IBM compatible computer and FORMTOOL 2.01 program developed by Bloc Development
Corporation, a workable plot map was designed. The program allows custom drawing of grids. After
gridding, numbers, letters and/or block drawings can be inserted to scale.
A gird pattern was established to allow 1/2 the total width (85 feet) by 1/2 the total length (44 feet)
of the cemetery to be plotted and stored in manageable working sections. Sectional graphs with edge
margins labeled every 11 feet on the top, bottom and sides could be used individually (for easy
handling on site) or merged for a completed cemetery plat. Walks, roadway, foliage and structures
were positioned, to scale, on the appropriate grid page.
Physically each 1 1 foot increment was measured from the base line as described by Farber and Baker
i n Markers I (pages 1 06-8). Each tombstone was assigned an individual number and carefully read
and recorded by the stone's assigned number on the grid. We found that a child's red wagon easily
carried and kept our measuring tape, water, extra pencils, chalk and clipboard organized during the
long summer days that followed.
Each evening our days' reading of stones was transferred to the computer. The number of each stone
was placed on the grid, stored within the computer, exactly as we had measured and marked our draft
copy. Next, each stone number, inscription and physical description was placed within a second
program known as RAPIDFILE by Ashton-Tate. This allowed sorts numerically by stone, alphabeti-
cally by surname and given name, chronologically from the earliest/latest dated stone, or by grid line
measurement.
The completed grids were merged and several copies reproduced. Using a Mylar overlay, the original
canvas map was proportioned (as closely as possible) and reproduced. The deciphered surnames were
placed on the Mylar with a 3x0 Rapidograph pen and Rapidraw 3084-F latex-based drawing ink for
film. (Both products are produced by Koh-I-Noor Company and available through drafting, art or
business equipment stores. Large sheets of Mylar overlay may be found at drafting supply houses,
especially in large cities.) Duplicate copies of the finished Mylar overlay were reproduced at the
Muskingum County Engineer's Office on a Xerox 2510 which can reproduce images up to 36 inches
in width.
The Mylar overlay produced interesting results. We were able to establish ownership of older areas
even if stones were now gone. And in several cases found a genealogical link between the surname on
the canvas map (which differed) and the name on the actual stone. The resulting conclusion — the
original canvas map cited the lot owners and not burials per se.
AGS W88/9 P. 8
A bound copy of the final report included printouts of all sorts for easy stone location, and marked
sectional grids, which could be carried while in the cennetery for on -location research. Both the large
grid map and Mylar overlay will be held by the Session Cemetery Committee and a copy of the final
report submitted for safe-keeping to the Presbyterian Historical Society in Philadelphia
HELP FROM GENEALOGISTS
An article about AGS appeared in Antique Week. July 11, 1988, by John W. Heisey. Heisey attended
workshops and lectures at the AGS Lancaster Conference. The article, partially reprinted here,
"Spare that gravestone" was aimed particularly at a genealogist audience.
While some folks may think visiting cemeteries and reading gravestone inscriptions is a morbid
pastime, we genealogists think otherwise. Furthermore, we often bemoan the loss of or lack of old
tombstones for our ancestors. This may be a pet peeve or a problem for you. Possibly you have
wondered what could be done and/or why nobody was doing something about preserving these old
stones. Well, someone has done something. In fact, someone has been doing something about it since
1977. This "someone" is "The Association for Gravestone Studies". ..Local cemetery preservation
groups and historical and genealogical societies are encouraged by the association to record the data
found on old stones in all cemeteries in their areas. Thus, even though the stones may fall victim to
progress, pollution or vandalism, a record of the information will still be available.
Perhaps a tombstone survey has already been made of the cemeteries in your area. If so, that's not
the end of the matter. First determine when that survey or collection of inscriptions was done. It may
have been 50 or more years ago, and a lot has happened since then. Some of the stones may no longer
be there, or readable. Many new stones may have been added. What has been done about recording
them? Second, how accurate and complete was that earlier survey? It's possible the work was not
checked, that some names "could not be read", or that some data was misread. Third, do you know what
the cutoff date was for that earlier survey? If you're not sure, you may have more work to do.
And what about those stones that are no longer there? Has a record of those been made and filed along
with the original survey? If not, such data should be added, else some unlucky genealogist may spend
many hours trying to locate a now-missing ancestral tombstone. Finally, do your part to help
preserve these old gravestones. You'll be keeping alive the memory of those earlier folks, and also
helping future generations of genealogists.
North Branford — When a 140-year old gravestone turned up in a storage room of the Marsh Field
apartments last October, police weren't quite sure how to go about returning it. Not knowing where
the marker came from, Sgt. Ronald Trench and Patrolman Blake Rice checked with cemeteries from
New Haven to Boston.
Running out of idea, Trench turned to the Mormon Church in Salt Lake City, Utah, which he had heard
keeps extensive genealogical records. Referred to the Family History Library of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter Day Saints in Salt Lake City, Trench read the name on the stone, Delos Smith, to a
library worker specializing in Connecticut families. "Of course there were a lot of Smiths, but when
we popped the name Delos into the computer, it just came right out," Trench said.
Delos Smith, son of Sylvester and Judith Smith, died at the age of seven months in Wilmington VT, the
computer said. A little more research led Trench to the Intervail Cemetery in Wilmington, from
which the stone has been missing for at least three years, according to Cemetery Commissioner Mark
Shea. Trench said he would personally deliver the marker, a white marble stone weighing about 75
pounds.
from the New Haven Register. November 11, 1988, sent by Pat Miller, Danbury CT.
NEW GENEALOGICAL RESOURCE
Genealogists searching for place-names on Long Island now have a new resource available. Rufus B.
Langhans, Huntington's Town Historian, has published Place-Names in the Town of Huntington. Their
Location. Origin and Meaning, or Huntington Place-Names for short. Over three hundred and twenty
place-names used since 1653 are listed and annotated, names like Samuel Ketcham's Hollow,
Katawamake, Hassokie Meddow, now replaced with new names.
For further information or to purchase copies, write Rufus B. Langhans, Town Historian, 228 Main
Street, Huntington, NY 11732, telephone (516) 351-3244. Copies are $4 plus 250 for postage.
Make checks payable to Huntington Town Historian.
AGS W'88/9 P. 9
MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
RE: UPDATING OUR ASSOCIATION'S BY-LAWS
In an effort to update our Association's By-Laws to reflect the way we are ( 1 988) rather than the
way we were (when incorporated in 1977), several amendments were proposed at our 1988 Annual
Meeting. Two amendments were accepted while one (Article VI § 6) was "tabled" for further
revision.
Subsequent study by our By-Law Committee has clarified the definition of "officers" (that led to the
confusion at Annual Meeting), re-positioned articles to reflect the primacy of the Board in our
Association's affairs, modified our proxy process to a "one member one vote" procedure, and made
revisions in text to simplify and clarify the document.
Procedurally, it is very difficult to explain by-law revisions point-by-point in text form. Thus I
have instructed our By-Law Committee to publish a summary of the proposed revisions for inclusion
in the 1989 Proxy. Details of the proposed revisions will be provided to those. members attending
our Annual Meeting in June 1989 or upon request to the AGS office.
A GRAVEYARD PRESERVATION PRIMER SELLS LIKE HOT CAKES!
March of 1988 was a special time for AGS member Lynette Strangstad, because it was then that she
celebrated the completion and publication of A Graveyard Preservation Primerwhich she had written
for and at the request of the Association for Gravestone Studies. It had been a long project for the
Charleston, SC resident, who had continued her work in gravestone preservation at the Circular
Church of Charleston and elsewhere while she wrote the book.
In the ten months that A Graveyard Preservation Primerhas been on the market, sold by both the AGS
office and the AASLH Press, the sales have been brisk. By September over 800 had been sold and sales
continue to remain so steady that the AGS office has trouble keeping them on the shelf.
Who are the purchasers of this fast moving publication? Beyond our AGS members, we find a number
of historical commissions, historical societies and municipal departments of public works to be
among the purchasers. People with responsibility for graveyards, yet who are not trained
restorationists, have been looking for a resource with specific information on how to go about
restoring a neglected yard and how to preserve broken and deteriorating gravestones. They find this
book is just what they need.
Have you a need for such information? If you have not purchased your copy of the Primer, write AGS,
46 Plymouth Road, Needham, MA 02192 enclosing $13.95 and receive your copy in time to plan a
spring cleanup of a neglected yard near you. You'll be glad you did!
MARKERS VI IS OFF THE PRESS!!
On January 23 the UPS truck pulled up to 46 Plymouth Road with the latest issue of the Journal of
the Association for Gravestone Studies — paperback copies of MARKERS VI. By the next day 32 copies
were on their way to those who had already placed orders. The cloth copies arrived a few days later
and an additional 13 copies were shipped.
The paperback covers are an attractive blue-green and the cloth covers are maroon. Editor, Ted
Chase, has put together another fine collection of articles on a variety of topics.
Those attending the Amherst Conference in 1987 will remember the entertaining lecture given by
Eloise West on the carver John Dwight. Her research appears in Markers VI under the title, "The
John Dwight Workshop in Shirley, Massachusetts, 1770-1816." Accompanied by more than 20
photographs, this article is a "must" for those interested in carver research.
For the first time, we have two articles on gravestones for black people. Angelika Kruger-Kahloula,
while a fellow at the Afro-American Studies Department at Yale, specialized in researching black
graveyards. Now back in her native West Germany, she contributes the article, "Tributes in Stone
and Lapidary Lapses: Commemorating Black People in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth Century America."
M. Ruth Little, a PhD in Art History and Folklore from the University of North Carolina, conducted
the North Carolina Gravemarker Survey in 1980-82. Data gathered from that experience is shared
in her article, "Afro-American Gravemarkers in North Carolina."
Paula J. Fenza comes to gravestone studies with a background in anthropology. Her article,
"Communities of the Dead: Tombstones as a Reflection of Social Organization" examines monuments
AGS W88/9 P. 10
in cemeteries within Chicago's city limits and the immediate suburbs.
Laura Sue Sanborn's article, "Camposantos: Sacred Places of the Southwest" was written following
a year of studying New Mexican camposantos. When she discovered ten acres of one of the large
camposantos cited in her article had subsequently been destroyed and turned into a f^emorial Park,
she became eager to share her discovery of the special qualities to be found in the camposanto
gravemarker.
Nancy-Lou Patterson, professor of Fine Arts at the University of Waterloo in Ontario Canada has a
fascination for the hand motifs found on gravestones. In her article, "United Above Though Parted
Below: The Hand as Symbol on Nineteehth-Century Southwest Ontario Gravestones" she offers an
interpretation of three categories of hand symbolism: linked hands, upward pointing hands and
presenting hands.
Scott T. Carroll, assistant professor of Ancient History and Languages at Gordon College in f^assachu-
setts, has written an article about an unusual marker for Aurelius Eutychus, an early Christian
athlete who died in 250-300 AD in Eumeneia.
Peter Benes reviews the new book by James A. Slater, The Colonial Burving Grounds of Eastern
Connecticut and the Men Who Made Them.
To order this new publication, write to AGS, 46 Plymouth Road, Needham, MA 02192. Prices are:
Paper - $18 members, $20 others
Cloth - $29.50 members, $32.50 others.
INDEX TO FIRST TEN VOLUMES OF NEWSLETTER
Over a five-year interval, George Kackley's personal, voluntary effort led to a highly detailed
index to the first ten volumes of our Association's Newsletters. Over the past two years, office staff
has computerized the index. When the finished product ran to 260 pages it became clear that potential
sales in printed form would never cover the costs associated with staff time and publishing the
document.
Some ideas as to how best this powerful and valuable resource can be utilized were explored
at the January 21 , 1989 Board meeting. They were:
1 . Offer the Index in computer disc format (Macintosh and IBM formats) for $50-$75 per
disc.
2. Offer, as a service, research requests provided from the AGS office in hard copy for $5.00
per page (whole or part).
SUGGESTIONSFROMOURMEMBERS as to howthe NEWSLETTER INDEX could be provided inotherways
would be helpful.
SOON AVAILABLE —
NEWLY REPRINTED EDITION OF HARRIETTS M. FORBES'
GRAVESTONES OF EARLY NEW ENGLAND
The Center for Thanatology Research Is reprinting
Harriette M. Forbes' book, Gravestones of Earlv New
England and expects it to be available by the end of
February 1989. This is the original classic study of
gravestones as a form of folk art and historical
documentation, originally printed in 1 927. It is fully
illustrated with photographs from the author's col-
lection. Our Harriette Merrifield Forbes award,
which is given at Annual Conference, is named for the
author, citing her pioneering work in this book as
being the beginning of contemporary gravestone
studies and preservation as we know it.
Two new features in the reprinted edition include a
concordance between the illustrations and the text to
which they apply, which has also been tallied in the
new index, and a new preface, drawn from an inter-
view with Katherine Forbes Erskine, one of Mrs.
Forbes' daughters, which offers information about
the author's life.
The price is $21. 95. Orderfrom: TheCenterfor
Thanatology Research, 391 Atlantic Avenue,
Brooklyn, NY 11217-1701.
Q
RAVESTONES
Of Early jA^tv England
Ami tlu- Min Wlio Nhuk- I'Ik-ih
765^ -1800
by
flarriette zyiCerrifield Lvorbes
/
Pap. S21.95
AGS W88/9 P. 11
NEW AGS MEMBERS
// any of these new members live near you, why not send a card or letter to let them
know you share their interest in gravestones?
Constance L. Avildsen, 1 12 Church Road, Winnetka.lL
60093
Michael D. Bathrick, PO Box 27, Rt. 21 7, Mellenville,
NY 12544
Carolyn Behne, 2905 Ruggles Loop, Temple, TX 76501
Harriet Breton & Harriet Kankash, 168 Main Street,
Millville, MA01529-0701
Sally Brillon, RD2, Box 288, Salem, NY 12865
Robert H. Brooke, 625 South Vail Avenue, Arlington
Heights, IL 60005
Ian W. Brown, Peabody Museum, Harvard Univ.,
Cambridge, MA 02172
Marion Cioppa, West Road, Willsboro, NY 12996
Edward S. Comrie, Jr., 566 Sandy Hollow Road,
Mystic, CT 06355
Dorothy Cummings, 4824 Chicago Road, Warren, Ml
48092
Division of Historic Preservation, Fairfax Co. Park
Authority, 3701 Pender Dr., Fairfax, VA 22030
Lt. Col. (Ret.) Malcolm R. Dixon, 5431 Merkens
Drive, San Antonio, TX 78229
Mr. and Mrs. Will Earley, Box 806, West Brookfield,
MA 01585
Barbara Lee Eaton, 8 Prospect Street, Danvers, MA
01923
Jack Eberly, 25 Viewpoint Lane, Levittown, PA
19054
Naomi Bard Feller. 5 Knox Place, Dix Hills, NY 1 1 746
Jacqueline F. Graci, 101 Orchard Street, Millis, MA
02054
Historic Burying Grounds Initiative, c/o K. Kot-
taridis, 294 Wash. St., Suite 930, Boston, MA
02108
Kathleen Howard, 125 W. Gordon Street, Savannah,
GA 31401
Phyllis N. Laking Hunt, 86 McCallum Drive, Falmouth,
MA 02540
Beverly E. Hurney, 200 Concord Street, Newton, MA
02162
Thomas F. Kane, 1 1 1 Dodge Avenue, East Haven, CT
06512
The Rev. Walter Kern, 317 Leroy Avenue, Buffalo,
NY 14214
Sharon B. Krischan, 52 Division Street, Schenec-
tady, NY 12304
William Kucas, 113 Jackson Street, Trenton, NJ
08611
Henry H. Kuehn, 2407 Bennett Avenue, Evanston, IL
60201
John Mark Lambertson, 609 S. Cedar Street, Ot-
tawa, KS 66067
Mrs. Beth Luttrell, 1 005 Springer Drive, Griffin, GA
30223
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas A. Malloy, 59 Shady Avenue,
Westminister, MA 01473
Kenneth T. H. McFarland, 211 Watson Boulevard,
Pittsburgh, PA 15214
Melissa McSparrin, RD 3, Box 325, Ford City, PA
16226
Jana A. Metheny, 3348 Hudson Place, Fremont, CA
94536
Marge Miccio, 410 Market Street, Trenton, NJ 0861 1
Middletown High School, c/o Ruth Montgomery, 15
Brainerd Ave.,
Middletown, CT 06457
Middletown Historical Society, PO Box 4196, Mid-
dletown, Rl 02840
Wallie Mitchell, 1920 Aspen Lane, Glendale Heights,
IL 60139
Paul W. Nass, PO Box 209, Jefferson, Wl 53549-
02 0.9
Joe Ozga, 152 Mercer Street, Trenton, NJ 08611
J. Parente , 109 14th Avenue, Sea Cliff, NY 11579
Paul R. Peak, 7833 East Hampden Circle, Denver, CO
80237
Peerless Rockville Historic Preservation, Ltd., PO
Box 4262, Rockville, MD 20850
Jeff Pritchard, 6148 E. Hydro Lane, Chippewa Falls,
Wl 54729
James Rothenberger, 1200 Nicollet Mall #523,
Minneapolis, MN 55403
Jonathan F. Ruhan, 49 Park Street, Mendon, MA
01756
Sandwich Historical Commission, 145 Main Street,
Sandwich, MA 02563
Dr. Anita Schorsch, Ctr/Theological Inquiry, 50
Stockton St., Princeton, NJ 08540
Yvonne Sequirea, PO Box 256, Lynn, MA 01905
Serials Dept-E, John Vaughan Library, Northeastern
OK State Univ.,
Tahlequah, OK 74464
Elizabeth D. Shaver, 61 Seventh Avenue, Troy, NY
12180
Eileen Sheahan, 1032 St. John Street, Elgin, IL
60120
Carolyn Shipp, 906 S. Main Street, Princeton, IL
61356
Carl N. Shuster, Jr., PhD, 3733 North 25th Street,
Arlington, VA 22207
James D. Wall, 53 Almond Crescent, Brandon, MB,
Canada R7B 1A2
Wareham Historical Society, c/o Ben Dunham, PO
Box 211, Wareham, MA 02571
Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Werth, 1216E. Little Creek Rd.,
Apt. 301, Norfolk, VA 23518
Nancy R. Whitelock, 1 001 Hackberry Lane, Columbia,
MD 21046
A further note on Linda W. Joslin's question regarding the history and origin of graveshelters, I
suggest that she might refer to Texas Graveyards: A Cultural Legacy by Terry Jordan, University of
Texas Press, 1982, (reviewed in the AGS Newsletter. V. 8 #1, Winter 1983-4, p. 9). In his book,
Dr. Jordan discusses the gravehouse or graveshed in Texas. If she cannot find this book in her local
library, it is still available in paperback through the University of Texas Press, P.O. Box 7819,
Austin TX.
contributed by Cathy Wilson, Oakmont PA.
AGS W'88/9 P. 12
NEW CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE ARCHIVES
MISSOURI CEMETERY RECORDS
Kathy Fllppo, AGS member and member of the Osage County Historical Society, has presented the
AGS Archives with her recent publication, A Comprehensive Survey of Benton and Crawford
Townships. Osage County, f^issouri. The project was sponsored by Osage County Historical Society
and the contents was collected, edited and published by Mrs. Flippo of Hope, Missouri.
The two townships contain 124 cemeteries including 11 Indian mounds. 6,945 graves were recorded.
Each cemetery is given a number and the cemetery records are arranged in numerical order. The
surname index contains 1 ,248 names with the number or numbers of the cemetery where they may
be found. Preceding the surname index is a list of similarly spelled surnames.
At the beginning of the book are maps of both townships with the cemetery locations marked in relation
to the highways and roads. Within some individual cemetery surveys are detailed maps showing
burial plots that are especially difficult to find. Photos of either the graveyards or special stones are
included with each survey. A glossary of common words found on the headstones includes German,
Latin and French translations. There is also an index of maiden names.
For genealogists whose ancestors resided in Osage County, these cemetery records will be of interest.
The book has a 3 ring notebook format, costs $20 plus $2 shipping, and is available from Kathy
Flippo, RR1, Box 102, Morrison, MO 65061.
LUDWIG COLLECTION
The Whitney Library of the New Haven Colony Historical Society, New Haven, CT, contributed their
recently published Guide to the Manuscripts and Archives in the Whitnev Librarv of the New Haven
Colony Historical Society. Their collection consists of about 30,000 printed items, over 1,500
linear feet of manuscripts and archives with inhouse finding aids, maps and atlases, broadsides,
architectural drawings, and microfilm/fiche; it includes reference and rare books, indexes, family
and local histories, sermons, biographies, and other items that relate to the history of New Haven.
The library may be used by members, qualified researchers, and mature students with appropriate
identification; children cannot be accommodated.
Of particular interest to AGS members is Manuscript Collection #43, the Allan I. Ludwig Collection.
Its description follows:
Collection of New England Gravestone Images, 1653-1964.
550 items (mostly photographs).
The collection contains original photographs of New England gravestones taken by Ludwig between
1956 and 1959 and photographs taken by Charles Harte between 1936 and 1938 as well as documents
and correspondence (1959-64) of the Colonial Art Foundation. The images illustrate the range of
religious symbolism that made stonecutting one of the few socially acceptable art forms in early New
England.
VERMONT CEMETERY RECORDS
Castleton Cemetery Inscriptions. Rutland County. Vermont, published January 1989, has been
contributed to the AGS Archives by its transcriber and publisher, Margaret R. Jenks. The book
includes two maps of the county, one showing the township boundaries, the other showing main roads
and cemetery locations around the town of Castleton. Several pages of photographs of historic
buildings, historic gravestones and cemeteries precede the history of the town and the records from
the town cemeteries. An index of the names on the stones concludes the book. Just before printing,
an addendum was added giving additional information on the inscriptions for the Old Castleton
Cemetery taken from a recording survey made during the early 1980's using an 1886 listing done
by Dr. John Currier. Many dates and words which are now illegible were shown in these two records.
The book has 107 pages, 1 1 cemeteries, 5300 names, maps and index, all for $15.50 postpaid.
These records are another in a series contributed to our Archives overthe years by Margaret R. Jenks.
Also in print are records of Vermont's Tinmouth Cemetery, Pawlet Cemetery, Middletown and Ira
Cemetery, Poultney Cemetery, Wells Cemetery, and Danby and Mt. Tabor Cemetery. For ordering
information, send a self-addressed envelope to Mrs. Margaret R. Jenks, 915 St. Paul Drive, #235,
Richardson, TX 75080.
GREENWICH, CT GRAVEYARD SURVEY
Jeffrey B. Mead of the Burial Grounds Committee of the Historical Society of the Town of Greenwich,
CT, has contributed a listing of 62 graveyards and burial sites and their location in the city. For
further information contact Mr. Mead at the Bush-Holley House, 39 Strickland Road, Cos Cob, CT
06807.
AGS W88/9 P. 13
CALIFORNIA GENEALOGICAL SEMINAR SYLLABUS
Patricia Roberts of Hemet, CA contributed the Syllabus from the 1988 Genealogical Seminar,
"Harvesting the Family Tree" sponsored by the Hemet-San Jacinto Genealogical Society and the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It includes substantial summaries of each of the 66
lectures given during the day-long conference. Of special interest to gravestone enthusiasts is the
session led by Mrs. Roberts on "Cemetery Research and Headstone Rubbings."
Our thanks to these contributors who dedicate their energy, patience and countless hours to
preserving our valuable gravestone data for future generations.
LENDING LIBRARY
The new AGS mail-order Lending Library, which was announced in the previous issue of
the AGS Newsletter, has made a good beginning with a number of requests from as widely sepa-
rated areas as Texas, California, Pennsylvania, and Vermont. Up to two books may be borrowed at
a time for two weeks. A $2.00 processing fee is charged plus postage. For ordering information,
send a stamped self-addressed envelope to Laurel Gabel, 205 Fishers Road, Pittsford, NY 14534.
The following books are currently available:
THE COLONIAL BURYING GROUNDS OF EASTERN CONNECTICUT - James Slater
LIFE HOW SHORT - ETERNITY HOW LONG - Deborah Trask
GRAVEN IMAGES - Alan Ludwig
MEMENTO MORI: THE GRAVESTONES OF EARLY LONG ISLAND - Richard Welch
EARLY GRAVESTONE ART IN GEORGIA AND SOUTH CAROLINA - Diana Combs
EARLY AMERICAN GRAVESTONE ART IN PHOTOGRAPHS - Francis Duval & Ivan Rigby
AMERICAN EPITAPHS GRAVE AND HUMOROUS - Charles E. Wallace
MEMORIALS FOR CHILDREN OF CHANGE - Dickran and Ann Tashjian
PURITAN GRAVESTONE ART I - Peter Benes, ed.
BURITAN GRAVESTONE ART II - Peter Benes, ed.
GRAVESTONES OF EARLY NEW ENGLAND AND THE MEN WHO MADE THEM - H. M. Forbes
EPITAPH AND ICON - Diana Hume George & Malcolm Nelson
THE MASKS OF ORTHODOXY - Peter Benes
QUERIES
In the Moravian Cemetery in West Salem, IL, there is a section where the burials were segregated by
sex and by age; these are the graves of the German emigrants and of Moravians from Salem, NC (hence
the town's name) who founded the village. Among these stones is one about the size and shape of a brick,
rectangular like all the others and like th6m, placed flat on the ground. This small stone records the
burial of a child, and in my youth was touted in Ripley's "Believe It or Not" as "the smallest tombstone
in the world." I've long doubted that Ripley did enough research to be so sure, but it would be
interesting to know if there is a smaller one anywhere.
sent by Charles Boewe, Louisville KY
Elizabeth Sawyer, Box 43, Washington, NH 03280 writes of a gravestone made for a man's leg located
in Old Cemetery, Washington, NH, upon which is this inscription: "Cap't. Samuel Jones' leg which
was amputated July 7, 1804."
According to the History of Washington. NH - 1886. Captain Jones was born in Hillsborough, NH,
September 30, 1777, married Deborah Bradford, came to Washington, NH, about 1800. They had
2 children, Marcia, born in Bradford, May 25, 1 799 and Harry, born in Washington, November 27,
1800.
While working to move a building, his leg was crushed between the building and a fence. The leg was
amputated before the days of anesthesia, substituting copious doses of Medford rum. As there was no
work for a one-legged man in a pioneer town, Jones went to work at the Boston Customs House and,
later, at the New York Customs House. Eventually, he was buried "somewhere in Massachusetts." Can
anyone help with the location of the grave of Captain Samuel Jones?
AGS W88/9 P. 14
NEWS FROM OLD CEMETERY SOCIETIES
WISCONSIN STATE OLD CEMETERY SOCIETY (WSOCS)
A feature article 'm the Sentinel titled "Grave Fascination" publicized the activities of the
Wisconsin State Old Cemetery Society, and AGS member Phil Kallas.
Stevens Point Wl — Death is not the great equalizer poets and philosophers have made it out to be. If
you live in a middle-class neighborhood, chances are you'll be buried among your middle-class
associates. Cemeteries also tend to separate those who attended Ivy League colleges from those who
squeaked through high school by the skin of their teeth. "Walk through a cemetery and you'll be able
to tell the dead are buried the way they lived — separated by the same socio-economic factors that
influenced their lives," said Phil Kallas of the Wisconsin State Old Cemetery Society. "Cemeteries
have their own kinds of neighborhood," said Kallas while tramping through a snow-covered
graveyard in Portage County. "A cemetery is a microcosm of the community at large." The graves
of the wealthy usually not only have fancier tombstones that the graves of the poor, but also are apt
to occupy the best areas of cemeteries.
Burial grounds can teach us about life, said Kallas, 42, editorof Inscriptions, a newsletter published
five times a year for the society's 800 members. From cemeteries we can learn about history,
sociology, anthropology, genealogy, art, architecture, botany "and just about everything else that
exists in life," Kallas said. "In some instances, you can find plants that don't exist anywhere else bit
in old cemeteries, because they have remained undisturbed, while whole cities have grown up around
them," Kallas said.
The cemetery society, which was founded in 1976, is dedicated to the care and research of old
cemeteries. Its members see nothing ghoulish in visiting burial grounds to learn about life, Kallas
said. "If anything, it's kind of peaceful, kind of relaxing."
REPORT ON PROGRESS OF THE NHOGA CEMETERY LOCATION PROJECT
Louise Tallman, chair of NHOGA's cemetery location project, writes that good progress is being made
in listing and locating all the cemeteries in New Hampshire. While there are still years of additions
and revisions ahead, 3,000 sites have now been listed. The total will be over 4,000 when completed.
Each site gets a single line of data in the computer which includes the site name, road name, and location
coordinates of the Geologic Survey maps. For more information about this project, to offer to help
or to report an obscure burial plot that might be missed, please contact Louise Tallman, PO Box 364,
Rye Beach, NH 03871.
NEW COLLECTION OF
CONNECTICUT GRAVESTONE INSCRIPTIONS
AVAILABLE
We are pleased to announce the availability of an extensive new collection of pre-1800 Connecticut
gravestone transcriptions which has come into being through AGS member Daniel Hearn of Monroe,
CT.
While still in high school, Daniel became concerned that deteriorating and damaged gravestones in
Connecticut graveyards would one day no longer be readable. At first using shoe leather, then bicycle,
then trains, and finally a car to reach the sites, he began recording every decipherable word on every
pre-1800 stone in every public and private burying ground in Connecticut that he could find. He
envisioned that his record would be a resource to check on missing stones and deterioration in future
years.
In 1985, Daniel met Patricia f^iller of Connecticut Gravestone Studies, and told her of his collection
which at that time was recorded with pencil and paper or on a tape recorder. Pat urged him to type
his notes so that they could be shared with others. In 1987 Daniel turned overto l^rs. Miller a 2000
page manuscript, the monumental product of his many years of research.
Pat Miller and various Connecticut AGS members have studied his work, and noted a few additional
cemeteries not in the collection. Within a few weeks, Daniel completed those inscriptions and added
them to the manuscript. Connecticut members are now confident that this collection represents all
the graveyards and burial sites currently located.
AGS W'88/9 P. 15
This 2000 page manuscript is titled "The Hearn Collection" and a copy is now available to research-
ers at the Connecticut Genealogical Society in Glastonbury, CT. In addition, the Church of Latter Day
Saints is putting the collection on microfilm, so soon it will be available through the Latter Day Saint
research library in your locality.
AGS is very pleased to announce the existence of the collection and its availability to researchers, and
to extend our appreciation and congratulations to Daniel Hearn for an excellent contribution to
historical research. Our appreciation also goes to Pat Miller, who recognized the potential value of
what Mr. Hearn's collection represented and has taken measures to make reproductions available at
the above mentioned locations.
Pat Miller asks that those of you who use the collection let her know how it has helped, any errors
found or additions which should be included. She suggests someone might like to make a project of
adding details about the gravestones, i.e., carver, stone type, condition, etc. or follow Mr. Hearn's
original purpose to use his records to check for missing or unreadable stones since his recording.
Please write Patricia Miller, Suite 264, 36 Tamarack Avenue, Danbury, CT 06811.
1989 CONNECTICUT TOURS
Pat Miller has announced the schedule for 1989 Connecticut Tours. Beginning on Saturday, April 15
and continuing through Saturday October 16, the tours will visit cemeteries in New Mllford,
Woodstock Hill, Suffield Center, Montville, Marlborough, Norwalk and Canaan. AGS members who
will be sharing their knowledge of the burying grounds include James Slater, Steve Petke, Fred
Fredette, Bess Eyre, Polly Ingham and, of course, the Tour Organizer, Pat Miller.
All Connecticut AGS members will have received the tour schedule in the mail. Others may obtain
complete tour information by sending a self-addressed, stamped envelope to Connecticut Gravestones,
Suite #264, 36 Tamarack Avenue, Danbury CT 06811.
IOWA CEMETERY CONFERENCE
As a part of Historic Preservation Week (14-20 May 1989), the State Historical Society of Iowa will
sponsor a conference in Newton, Iowa, on Friday and Saturday, 19-20 May 1989. This will be a two-
track conference. One series of sessions will concentrate on what information one can get from a
cemetery, and how one goes about doing so. The other series of sessions will concentrate on the
preservation of cemeteries, their care and maintenance, as well as the preservation, care and
maintenance of the grave markers in the cemeteries. Abandoned, threatened, and rural cemeteries
often face problems of damage from lack of care and maintenance, deterioration from weather,
farming activities, urban expansion, highway projects, livestock and vandalism. Even town and city
cemeteries are not immune from some of these problems. Because cemeteries are one of our most
important sources of historical information about families and communities, it behooves us to locate,
copy information from, care for, and otherwise preserve this cultural resource.
Genealogists have long been aware of the importance of cemeteries and grave markers as sources of
information about our past. But in addition to the individual and family information that can be gained
from cemeteries, neighborhoods and communities can also learn a great deal about the collective
heritage of the people and their activities from this same source.
The conference will consist of presentations of a formal nature, and also of tours and other
presentations outdoors, in a cemetery setting. Among the topics which will probably be considered
AGS W88/9 P. 16
are:
1. How to Visit a Cemetery •
2. Victorian Gravestone Symbolism
3. Cemetery Gates as an Architectural Genre
4. Cemetery Names as Cultural Indicators
5. Geology of Stones Used as Grave Markers
6. Setting Up a County Cemetery Commission
7. Documentary Research for Cemeteries
8. Cemeteries and the Laws of Iowa
9. Copying Grave Marker Inforamtion
10. Cemetery Management and Maintenance
11. Carving, Embellishing and Finishing Gravestones
12. Repairing and Restoring Gravemarkers
13. The Search for Lost Cemeteries
14. The Search for Lost Burials:
a. archaeological expertise
b. pre-historic burial places
c. grave witching
d. ground-penetrating radar
e. infra-red aerial photography
f. probes
g. other methods
15. Photographing, Rubbing and Reproducing Gravestone Inscriptions
16. Tours of Cemeteries:
a. to find notable people buried there
b. to see artistic renderings and carvings
c. for general local history
d. for geological examples
e. for botanical and landscaping information
f. for genealogical information
g. for other reasons
While preservation of and documentation of threatened and abandoned cemeteries will be a major
focus, there will be sessions at this conference for anyone who has an interest in cemeteries for any
legal reason at all. The staff of the State Historical Society, Bureau of Historic Preservation will
discuss the National Register implications, the Secretary of the Interior standards when applied to
the repair and restoration of gravestones, and the current procedures for surveys of cemeteries in
other states. Material from the Association for Gravestone Studies will be available for participants,
as well as bibliographies and other printed materials on cemetery subjects.
For further information about this conference, contact Loren N. Horton, State Historical Society of
Iowa, Historical Building, Capitol Complex, Des Moines, Iowa 50319, telephone (515) 281-4358.
The New England Historic Genealogical Society
• 300,000-voIume library of genealogies and local histories
• Sources for early American ancestry and later immigrants
• Staff of professional genealogists for individual assistance
• Portraits and documents on display in Rotunda and Reading Room
• Publications program; monthly lectures; Saturday seminars
• Open to the pubUc for S5/half day Tuesday - Saturday, 9:00 - 5:00
P.M., Wednesday and Thursday evenings until 9:00 P.M.
• Memberships begin at $10/student, $40 annual.
99-101 Newbwy Street, Boston, MA 02116, 617-536-5740
AGS W88/9 P. 17
AGSers AT WORK!
Preserving and restoring Princeton MA's oldest cemetery, Meeting House Hill, started early in
October when preservation consultants from Fannin-Lehner started repairing and resetting of
gravestones. Anita Woodward, member of both the town's cemetery committee and the Association for
Gravestone Studies, stressed that the old stones are one of the few forms of American folk art left. The
Massachusetts Historical Society is also interested in preserving these historical records, religious
symbols and contemplative space, all in a form accessible to the public.
Woodward said that under Massachusetts General Law a permit is required when any gravestone is
repaired. It's important to use proper methods when cleaning or repairing a gravestone. Mechanical
repairs and chemical treatment may cause even greater damage. Woodward said. Princeton's
Veteran's Agent, Norman Dunbar, applied for a state grant and received $750. from the Office of
Commissioners of Veterans Services to repair veterans' gravestones at the Meeting House Hill
cemetery. Thirteen of the veterans ' stones have sunk or are badly tilted; four others are broken.
Minxie and James Fannin (also AGS members) have visited the site and identified which stones need
repair. Because some broken stones are slate, which is seldom repaired, the Fannins arranged to
consult with Charles Marchant (AGS member), a specialist in slate repair. Woodward said it is now
possible to mend slate stones with a special polyester resin adhesive that expands and contracts with
the stone. The Fannins have spent three days at the -cemetery repairing and stabilizing as many
markers as they can with the grant money. They document each gravestone they repair, record names,
dates, stone carvers, size and type of stone and describe the design carved on the stone. They note any
previous repair work, the present condition of the stone and photograph both sides for future
reference.
from the Holden MA Landmark. November 3, 1988, contributed by Anita Woodward, Princeton MA
Plymouth CT — Nobody's quite sure when the stone that marks the grave of Charity Tuttle, who died
October 26, 1 835 at the age of 1 0, was knocked down and stolen from the family plot at the Allentown
Cemetery. But thanks to 12-year-old Sarah Eyre of Naugatuck and her grandmother, Bess Eyre of
Woodbury, little Charity's gravestone will be back beside those of her parents and sister. Sarah
discovered the 2-foot tall stone behind a shed near a Naugatuck apartment building on the day after
Halloween. As soon as she saw it, she wanted to learn more. "But I couldn't learn much about her.
So I called Grandmother, the 'Tombstone Lady'."
Bess Eyre, an active member of the international Association for Gravestone Studies, has a passion
for old graveyards and cemetery preservation. After a research session at the State Library in
Hartford, she hadn't learned much about the life of Charity Tuttle, but she did learn that she was buried
at the Allentown Cemetery. "So I called Plymouth and asked if they wanted the stone back. They said
they did, but they wanted to know if I could help them unload a huge monster stone somebody had dumped
off in somebody's yard," she said. That stone was in police custody and commemorated a man named
Campean, who died in 1935.
The Tombstone Lady returned to Hartford, but this time the library records contained no information
about the stone's origin. So she looked through city directories at the library until she ran across
several listings of Campeans in Torrington. A call to a funeral home in that city confirmed that Gavrila
Campean was buried in Hillside Cemetery.. "His stone is probably on its way back to where it belongs
right now," Mrs. Eyre said.
Because Charity Tuttle's stone was not in police custody, reuniting it with the stones of the other
Tuttles here was more difficult. I didn't want to go right in there behind the apartment house and take
the stone, somebody might think I was stealing it." So she called Naugatuck police, told her story and
led them to the stone. The police released the stone into her custody and she traveled to the cemetery
with Sarah to see how the stone looked before it was stolen. Broken by vandals, the stones of Lyman
and Mehetable Tuttle leaned against their bases. Next to them was Charity's vacant base, and next to
that sat the stone of her sister, Julia Ann (Tuttle) Sheldon. It too had been knocked down but was reset
into the ground facing up.
"We have to figure out how to set Charity back so she won't disappear again," Mrs. Eyre said. "You
Hear so much about young people," she said, nodding toward Sarah, "It's nice to hear of a good thing,
especially when a young person gets the ball rolling."
from some Connecticut paper, December 8, 1988, sent by Pat Miller, Danbury CT.
AGS W88/9 P. 18
REPAIRED STONES IN MARTHA'S VINEYARD
Seth Daggett, because he died of smallpox, was buried in a field apart from the town cemetery in
Vineyard Haven, f^artha's Vineyard f^A. Today there are two other stones next to his in a cluster of
poison ivy and cedar trees. The shoulder was broken on the Daggett stone, and Ralph Parker, on whose
land the burials are located, had stored the broken pieces for over 25 years. This stone was repaired
by Casimer fvlichalczyk about four years ago. (For more on the work of Michalczyk, see AGS
Newsletter V 10 #4, Fall 1986, p. 12-13) The same Daggett stone was broken again in 1988, this
time at ground level, horizontally across the entire width of the stone. Michalczyk expects to repair
it again in the Spring.
The marble stone of Richard and Eliza Thompson at the West Tisbury Cemetery, f^artha's Vineyard
was also repaired by Michalczyk about four years ago.
CONSERVATORS TAKE NOTE!
The following suggestion came to AGS a circuitous route from Richard A. Wood of the Alaskan Heritage
Bookshop 174 8. Franklin, Juneau AK, 99801 via Phil Kallas and the Wisconsin State Old Cemetery
Association.
A hint for cemetery study: I recently learned that a mush (paste) of baking soda and
water applied with a four or five inch putty knife or stiff metal blade spatula to the
lettering on an early gravestone makes the reading easy and photographing possible.
Don 't work the paste on the stone too much or it will pick up the green color from the
lichens, cutting the contrast. Rain will quickly wash the harmless baking soda away.
Works great.
A WSOCA member wonders if baking soda might be too caustic for the stone. Any thoughts?
AGS W'88/9 P. 19
ssevv
'ja|sa3J0/(^
Olfr
ON iiuijaj
a
1 V d
3ovisod s n
•oao luoyd non
361-30
Vl/\l LueijpaeN
Pd mnoLuAid 9fr
saianis 3NOiS3AVdo doj noiivioossv
WATCH YOUR MAILBOX
FOR THE REGISTRATION INFORMATION ON
THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE
AT GOVERNOR DUMMER ACADEMY
JUNE 22-25, 1989
Michael Cornish, Conference Chair, reports that plans are well underway for an
excellent conference, full of information and fun. The Essex County area is replete
with ancient cemeteries with some of the oldest gravestones in New England. Guided
bus tours as well as ample free time to visit these yards are included in the 3-day
meeting. The Conference Staff, in addition to Michael, includes David Walters,
Program Chair; Ralph Tucker, Tour Chair; Rosanne Atwood, Exhibits Coordinator; and
Barbara Rotundo, Registrar. If you wish to reach any of these people or have questions
regarding the conference, please contact Michael Cornish, 1 99 Boston Street, Dorch-
ester, MA 02125.
The AGS Newsletter is published quarterly as a service to members of the Association for Gravestone
Studies. The membership year begins on the date dues are received and ends one year from that date. A one
year membership entitles the members to four issues of the Newsletter and to participation in the AGS
conference in the year membership is current. Send membership fees (individual $20; institutional, $25;
Family $30; contributing $30) to AGS Executive Director Rosalee Oal<ley, 46 Plymouth Rd. Needham f^A
02192. Back issues of the Newsletter are available for $3.00 per issue from Rosalee Oakley. The goal of
the Newsletter is to present timely information about projects, literature, and research concerning
gravestones, and about the activities of the Association for Gravestone Studies. It is produced by Deborah
Trask, who welcomes suggestions and short contributions from readers. The Newsletter is not intended
to serve as a journal. Journal articles should be sent to Theodore Chase, editorof Markers, the Journal
of the Association for Gravestone Studies, 74 Farm St., Dover MA 02030. AddressNewsletter
contributions to Deborah Trask, editor. Nova Scotia Museum, 1747 Summer St., Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H
3A6, Canada. OrderMarkers (Vol. 1 $18; Vol. 2, $16; Vol. 3, $14.75; Vol. 4, $14.75; Vol. 5, $18; higher
prices for non-members) from Rosalee Oakley. Send contributions to the AGS Archives to Elizabeth Rich,
Archivist, 43 Rybury Hiilway, Needham MA 02192. Address other correspondence to Rosalee Oakley.
^
NEWSLETTER
OFTHEAiSSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES
DEBORAH TRASK, ED. VOLUME 13 NUMBER 2 SPRING 1989
ISSN: 0146-5783
CONTENTS
An Addendum to Stonecarvers of the Naragansett Basin 1
by Vincent Luti
PRESERVATION NOTES 2
More on HIghgate Cemetery 7
BOOKS 10
ARCHIVES 11
"Gussie's Gravestone" 14
MEMBER NEWS /NEW MEMBERS 15
A Remembrance of Francis Duval 18
RESEARCH 19
EXHIBITS AND WORKSHOPS 20
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 22
AN ADDENDUM AND A VERY HAPPY ENDING
Jane MacKareth stone, slate, 1770, Halifax NS; photo by
Kathleen Flanagan
In the many years of research leading up to publication of the article "Stonecarvers of the
Narragansett Basin: Stephen and Charles Hartshorn of Providence" in Markers II, 1983, the
attribution of the Six Singular Stones was elusive for lack of a missing link that would connect one
of them — and thereby all of them — to Stephen Hartshorn. That link has just come to light.
After documenting St. Paul's Cemetery in Halifax Nova Scotia in 1984, Deborah Trask sent
photographs of suspected American stones to Laurel Gabel for carver identification. Laurel
immediately spotted a characteristic Stephen Hartshorn headstone among them. She then relayed the
photograph, along with the photo of its unusual headstone to Vincent F. Luti, author of the Hartshorn
AGSSP-89p. 1
article. He was elated, for here in this footstone was the essential missing link, not in Rhode Island
but in far away Nova Scotia all this time (there were Rhode island/Nova Scotia connections in the
eighteenth century).
The stones are for Jane Mackareth, died June 24, 1 770. Lower case "t" identification^ places their
carving date between 1770 and 1775, probably closer to 1770. The headstone effigy and borders
conform precisely to the primary authentification design elements of the article with one exception:
the wig. This wig type was unfortunately left out of the article where it could also be included as
another derived design element. At the writing of the article only two stones had been documented that
had this type wig; one for Samuel Wilkinson, 1766, North Scituate, Rhode Island, hasthe wig andthe
somewhat unusual appearance of a flower in the border scrolls as in the Mackareth stone. Now this
type wig looms large, for it is the kind found on one of the Six Singular Stones, that for Mehethabell
Wardwell, 1 764, Bristol, Rhode Island. Wardwell lettering links intimately into that of Sarah Swan,
1767, Bristol, Rhode Island, and Molley Danforth, 1769, Taunton, Massachusetts. Going from the
headstone for Jane Mackareth with its authenticated Hartshorn design elements: two-tiered feathered
wings, bulging button eyes, pear-shaped head configuration, stippled acanthus scroll borders, date
number heights and general broad lettering, to her footstone grinning skull links directly, then, to
the singular Molley Danforth stone. The unique grinning skull of the Mackareth footstone is found on
the Danforth headstone in conjunction with a peeping sun, trumpeting angel and scroll of which the
last three features are found on the Sarah Swan stone, 1 767, Bristol, Rhode Island. By a clear path
of chaining it can now be stated with certainty that not only were the Wardwell and Danforth stones
carved by Stephen Hartshorn but also the famed Adam and Eve stone for Sarah Swan.
Such are the marvels and unexpected pleasures that a network of scholars can bring to light under the
aegis of an organization such as AGS. That is, had there been no AGS, the identity of Stephen Hartshorn
as carver of the Adam and Eve stone would have remained forever in a state of uneasy uncertainty. Hats
off to Deborah Trask and Laurel Gabell
^On p. 1 66 of Markers II, line 11 , a sentence is missing for the original manuscript. Following the sentence
"He now uses a simple cross beam "t" until 1775" there should appear: "After 1775 the cross beam on
lower case "t" always has a serif".
Jane MacKareth footstone, slate, 1770, Halifax NS;
photo by Kathleen Flanagan
PRESERVATION NOTES
UPDATE ON MAINTAINING CEMETERIES BY LONG DISTANCE
Dorothy A. Stratford of Bound Brook, New Jersey writes to us about the "Low Dutch Cemeteries
Improvement Fund" which is maintained by a group that contributes to the care and maintenance of
the Low Dutch Cemeteries in Straban and Mount Pleasant Townships in Adams County, PA.
Ms. Stratford states, "These burying places were connected with the Conewago settlement, a large
number of NJ Dutch families from Bergen and Somerset Counties in NJ who migrated enmasse from
NJ to this area of PA in the mid-18th century, settled and thrived for a period of some 25 years. At
this point the colony broke up, some families going to the Finger Lakes area of NY state, others to what
is now West Virginia. Descendants and interested persons contribute yearly to the upkeep of the
cemeteries connected with this settlement."
Those wishing more information on the organization may contact the chairperson, Mr. John K. Lott,
646 Hunterstown Road, Gettysburg, PA 17325, who sends out an annual financial report to all
contributors, sometimes accompanied by historical research on the families of the settlement, done
by Mr. Arthur Weaner, historian of the organization.
AGSSP'89p.2
PUBLIC SAFETY THREATENS CEMETERIES IN ONTARIO
By Susann Myers
Our historic cemeteries are more threatened at present than they have been at any time in the past.
Neglect of cemeteries has become a widespread problem as populations and religious institutions have
changed. The maintenance and repairs which have been undertaken have often been inappropriate,
leading to further and faster deterioration. Acidic rainfall continues to take its toll on historic
gravemarkers, the majority of which in this province are of soft, porous marbles particularly
susceptible to acids. Both vandalism and theft of historic markers have increased dramatically in
recent years, to the point in some areas where removal of all significant markers to safe indoor
storage is being seriously considered. New threats have now appeared due to concern over public
safety and liability.
There are approximately 5000 known cemeteries in Ontario. Of these, almost 2000 have become
inactive and been abandoned by their owners, thereby falling to the ownership and control of
municipalities.
Cemeteries are governed by the Cemeteries Act, which is regulated by the Cemeteries Branch of the
Ontario Ministry of Consumer and Commercial Relations. The Cemeteries Act is concerned mainly
with regulating cemeteries as business operations, protecting consumers and preventing public
health hazards. While the Act requires that cemeteries be maintained by their owners, it does not
make clear whether gravemarkers are included in that maintenance requirement. Cemeterians have
argued strongly that they are not included, but remain the responsibility of families and descendants.
Under the Ontario Heritage Act, regulated by the Ministry of Culture and Communications, a
municipality can designate cemeteries as having heritage significance for historic or architectural
reasons. Such designation provides a measure of recognition and protection for an historic cemetery,
and makes appropriate conservation work in the cemetery eligible for grant assistance of up to 50%
from MCC. Interest in designation and conservation work is increasing, but at this point is not keeping
pace with deterioration and destruction.
In the summer of 1987 a four-year-old child was tragically killed by a falling monument in an
historic Ontario cemetery where she was playing. The Coroner's Jury which ruled on the cause of
this accidental death made far-ranging recommendations for the improvement of public safety in
cemeteries. The recommendations dealt with such issues as:
* clarification of cemetery ownership and liability;
* warnings about unsafe conditions in relation to school visits;
* design, inspection and maintenance of gravemarkers, both new and existing.
The Jury's recommendations on gravemarkers were based on the advice of an engineer. Existing
markers were defined as unsafe if they:
* were leaning away from plumb;
* were unable to resist sliding of overturning when subjected to a horizontal force of 50 lbs.
applied at any point, if less than four feet high;
* were unable to resist a similar force of 100 lbs., if more than four feet high.
It was recommended that such "unsafe monuments" be either laid flat in the ground, gathered together
and laid in a concrete cairn, or set rigidly on or in a concrete foundation at least five feet deep in such
a manner as to be able to resist a force of at least 200 lbs.
The recommendations of the Coroner's Jury are not legally binding. They were taken very seriously
by the Cemeteries Branch, however, which sent copies of the recommendations along with a warning
about liability to all cemetery owners in the province.
Public safety is clearly an important concern and cemeteries do need better care in order to be safe
for public use. The implications of these particular recommendations for historic cemeteries are
very serious, however. These cemeteries were already threatened by the increased need for care as
historic elements aged and by the dwindling of resources available for that care. Implementation of
these or similar recommendations, focusing on public safety alone, could mean the wholesale
destruction of historic markers, their connection to gravesites, their genealogical value and their
contribution to the scenic and historic character of graveyards.
To counter the destructive effect of the Coroner's Jury recommendations which have been so widely
publicized, the Stone Committee of ICOMOS Canada would like to be able to provide a set of alternative
guidelines based on conservation principles and practice. As a first step in the development of such
AGSSP'89p.3
guidelines, Gail Sussman and I are currently collecting existing publications and information on
cemetery care. We would be glad to hear from AGS members of other cemetery issues, publications,
legislation or initiatives. If you have any to contribute, please write or telephone either of us —
Susann Myers
Education/Technical Advisor
Heritage Branch
Ministry of Culture and Communications
77 Bloor St. West
Toronto, Ontario
Canada
M7A 2R9
Tel (416) 965-4961
Fax (416) 342-4692
r^Sgk r)Sgh ^^S£%
UPPER ILLINOIS VALLEY ASSOCIATION
The Upper Illinois Valley Association sponsored an Historic Cemetery Preservation Conference in
downtown Chicago, late Friday afternoon and Saturday, April 28 and 29. The conference explored the
legal, social and historical aspects of cemeteries, including such issues as liabilities, social
significance and the techniques of gravestone resetting and landscaping. Co-sponsoring the confer-
ence were the Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois, and the Illinois Historic Preservation
Agency.
AGS member, Lynette Strangstad, who has authored A Graveyard Preservation Primer, was be the
keynote speaker at the Saturday workshop.
The Upper Illinois Valley Association is an historic preservation organization dedicated to the
economic and cultural revitalization of the Illinois and Michigan Canal National Heritage Corridor,
the first federal land designation of its kind. Its mission is to promote cooperative efforts among
business, local governments, residents and civic organizations within the Illinois and Michigan Canal
National Heritage Corridor which stretches 1 20 miles from Chicago along Illinois' inland waterways
to Peru, Illinois. It serves as a catalyst in revitalization efforts: forging public/private partner-
ships, identifying development opportunities and offering technical assistance in historic preser-
vation, recreation and conservation projects. For more information about the association, contact
Jeff Winstel, Upper Illinois Valley Assn., 53 W. Jackson Blvd., Room 552, Chicago, II 60604.
A HIDDEN CEMETERY COMES TO LIFE
Under the floorboards of an old Lancaster PA church lies a cemetery. The only entrance is through
a small door in the wall of a boiler room. It's a cemetery that few people realize still exists.
Around the turn of the century, expansion of the First Presbyterian Church and limited space forced
the covering of a cemetery with what is now the education wing. Many forgot the old cemetery with
its graves and tombstones still in place along with those who were buried there. But because of one
man's interest in history, a former pastor at the church, the names of those buried in the old cemetery
will not be forgotten.
Finding the names was not an easy or quick task. It was a project begun 20 years ago under the
leadership of the late Dr. Donald Wilson, pastor of First Presbyterian from 1964 to 1977. Under
Wilson's guidance, many of the church's youth traveled to the church's basement, spending hours in
the old dark cemetery. Under a rigged lighting system they tried to recover as many of the tombstones
as they could find, first removing them from the graves and them stacking and cataloguing them for
future reference.
When the addition to the building was made, the dirt removed for the foundation was piled onto the
cemetery covering many of the old stones. After hours of digging, the workers had recovered 224
tombstones. Many had only initials on them [footstones?]. Others had names and dates and information
about the people buried there. In August of 1968 a catalogue was produced listing the names, ages,
dates of birth and death found on the tombstones, something the Lancaster Historical Society has found
useful in some people's quest to find out about their genealogy.
from the Sunday News. Jan. 15, 1989, sent by Arlene Chiarolanzio, Florham Park NJ
AGS SP'89 p. 4
UPDATE ON THE CAMBRIDGE CEMETERY CONTROVERSY
The Fall 1988 issue of the Newsletter carried a story about the work of Deirdre Morris. Ms. Morris
has been calling the attention of Cambridge, Massachusetts, officials and community leaders to the
city's policy at the Cambridge Cemetery. For a number of years Cambridge cemetery employees have
been excavating hundreds of gravesites and reinterring the remains deeper into the grave. These
"gravesites" are being reused for current interrments. The controversy relates to ownership; the
city taking the position that prior interrment sites were provided free to Cambridge residents. The
present law stipulates that after 50 years any grave that was not "paid for" is city property and can
be sold. Gravemarkers are being destroyed and some of the remains are not being reinterred as
evidenced by the collection Ms. Morris has made of bones and skulls found above ground while visiting
the yard over the past months.
Legislation has been filed to amend the 1977 Section 10A to Mass. Gen. Laws 114. The present
amendment deals with the 50 year time frame and uncertain ownership. The new legislation
approaches the situation from the view of "license of burial". Once the license is used, i.e. a body
occupies the grave, the license has been put into operation. Only gravesites in which the license has
not been used, i.e. are empty, could be considered for reclaiming.
Ms. Morris reports work at the cemetery continues. In the meantime, Ms. Morris has had her
collection of bones analyzed by Professor Al B. Wesolowsky at Boston University who has written a
report estimating that between five and seven people were represented in the collection. She has since
found a nearly complete skull (missing only the lower jaw) amid the fresh flowers of a newly created
grave. She has also found a coffin hardware specialist who is analyzing coffin ornaments she has
collected in an attempt to date their use.
Ms. Morris also sent in a copy of an article in the December 1988 Massachusetts Law Review. Vol.
73, No. 4, "Protections Afforded to Massachusetts' Ancient Burial Grounds" by Charles E. Rounds,
Jr., professor at Suffolk University School of Law in Boston. This is an excellent discussion of legal
definitions used in laws relating to cemeteries, of rights of relatives and the protection of these rights,
duties of title-holders whether they be private individuals, religious organizations, the municipal-
ity or a cemetery corporation, and some recommendations for short- and long-term action.
^
^^.
UPDATE ON EPPING NH HISTORICAL SOCIETY'S (EHS)
CEMETERY PRESERVATION COMMITTEE PROGRESS
In our last issue, we reported the work going on in Epping NH cemeteries following a savage attack
by vandals. EHS recently concluded their second year of work and summarized some of their
accomplishments thus far:
• They have received a number of donations, supportive comments and letters
along with "Statements of Permission" from a number of direct descendants
of the old families, allowing them to enter and work in many historic sites.
• They plan to be actively involved with the NH Division of Historical
Resources in Concord to create additional legislative protection for NH ceme-
teries.
• They have arranged for the Cole brothers of Exeter Monument Works to begin
restorative work at Central and W. Epping Cemeteries in the near future.
Two recent activities of EHS suggest ways to raise money for local cemetery projects. In October a
theater group invited them to provide refreshments for the production and allowed them to keep
everything they earned. Baked goods, cider, and coffee were donated by the Society members.
On October 29, after more than a year and a half of preparation, they held their first Allhallows
Antique Show and Sale, a benefit for cemetery preservation. It drew antique buffs, dealers, and
historians from many New England states and as far away as California. They charged $3 admission,
$2.50 with specially circulated ads, and for those wishing to be admitted one hour earlier than the
general public, a $10 fee.
AGS SP'89 p. 5
GRAVESTONES RECORD AIR POLLUTION
Two University of Delaware researchers have found that marble tombstones provide a unique record
of air pollution that shows the clean-up efforts of the last two decades appear to be working. By
measuring the deterioration rates of about 2000 tombstones from Newark DE to Norristown PA,
geography professor Thomas C. Meierding and graduate student Johan Feddema have produced an
outline of air pollution history in the Delaware Valley. The study found extensive differences in
pollution levels between areas and suggests that pollutants that have nearly dissolved some headstones
likely have extensively damaged other structures.
Many tombstones in central Philadelphia — the hardest-hit area in the study — are so weakened from
decades of sulphur dioxide deposits that they "flex under slight pressure", Feddema said. Their
surfaces are so disfigured from flaking that many inscriptions have disappeared. In contrast,
tombstones examined in Delaware cemeteries show less wear, and those in areas with excellent air
quality, such as Hawaii and rural Nebraska, show almost no deterioration.
The researchers surveyed tombstones placed between 1 790 and 1 840, restricting their study for the
most part to markers made from marble extracted from southeastern Pennsylvania quarries. They
measured the base and tops of 30 tombstones in each cemetery and compiled an average weathering
figure per cemetery. The difference between the bases and the tops, which were more exposed to the
wind-borne pollutants, showed the rate at which the stones deteriorated. The researchers calculated
the deterioration rate according to a 100-year scale and found that an urban tombstone may
deteriorate at 1 0 times the rate of a stone in a rural graveyard. They also found that a distance of even
a few miles from an industrial area can lead to markedly different pollution rates. For example, the
destruction of tombstone faces by pollutants was as high as 47% in central Philadelphia but only 2%
in the nearby countryside.
Because tombstones are widespread, remain relatively untouched over time and are easily damaged
by air-borne pollutants, they present a fairly simple gauge for air quality, said Meierding, who has
been awarded a National Science Foundation grant to survey pollution patterns in tombstones
nationwide.
The researchers said the tombstones appear to have been most affected by gaseous sulphur dioxide,
which spurs the growth of gypsum crystals that cause marble to shed large flakes and lose strength.
However, both Feddema and Meierding believe acid rain, which can carry pollutants great distances,
has made only a slight contribution to the deterioration. They point instead to local sources of
pollution, such as coal-fired power plants, steel mills and refineries.
The pioneering study, reviewed in November during an environmental forum in Newark DE, also
suggests:
* The worst pollution damage occurred from the 1930s to the 1960s.
* Sulphur dioxide damage to marble tombstones probably depicts the way air pollutants have damaged
building materials such as cement, brick and metal.
* Air-pollution controls to limit emissions installed in the last two decades appear to be working.
After 1 970, rates of deterioration in tombstones seem to have improved, reflecting the cleaner skies.
[Did they find many marble stones of such recent date?]
*The comparison of tombstone damage may be used to compare the costs of pollution damage between
regions.
an AP article, from the Chicago Tribune, contributed by Robert Wright, Madison Wl, the Kennebec
Journal, contributed by William Jordan, Portland ME, and the New York Times, contributed by
Robert VanBenthuysen, West Long Branch NJ.
Monument at Glenwood Cemetery, erected
by the Scott Legion as a burial-place for
Pennsylvania volunteers who served dur-
ing the Mexican War.
from Godev's Lady's Book. V. LVI, Jan-
June 1858. p. 490
AGS SP'89 p. 6
HIGHGATE CEMETERY
A GLORIOUS DECADENCE NORTH OF LONDON
The following article by MacDonald Harris, subtitled "Highgate Cemetery seems well suited for Poe 's
'Raven'" appeared in ttie New York Times. Sunday December 4, 1968. For more information and
background on Hiafigate Cemetery, see ttie AGS Newsletter. V.10#3, Summer 1986. p 22-4, and also
Higtigate Cemetery. Victorian Valtialla (Salem House: 1984), ptiotosby John Gay, introduced by Felix
Barker.
We first stumbled across Highgate Cemetery in an accidental way, as the culmination of a serendipi-
tous walk across Hampstead Heath. Except for the Heath itself, a very pleasant place, this part of north
London is not very promising in tourist attractions.
The town of Highgate is a prim, upscale, rather old-fashioned London suburb at the top of Parliament
Hill. But when you enter through the rusty gates of the old cemetery, you are in another universe,
and another time. In a jungle of untended vegetation that seems almost tropical, ruined tombs and
mausoleums appear in the foliage, half-smothered by vines. Weeds and wildflowers are everywhere.
There is a dank, dark odor of decay over it all. From somewhere a bird croaks like Poe's Raven, or
perhaps it is only a tourist making fun of the place. Surely it was here that Coleridge's lines were
inspired: "A savage place! as holy and enchanted/As e'er beneath a waning moon was haunted/By
woman wailing for her demon-lover!" And this is 20 minutes by tube from Picadilly Circus.
Intrigued by this discovery, I set about to find out a little history. Highgate Cemetery is not very old
as London monuments go. It was opened in 1 839, at a time when cemeteries and churchyards in central
London were overcrowded and becoming dangerous to public health. It was a private venture, intended
to make money, and the cemetery is still today in private hands.
The original planning was on a grand scale and exotic in tone. The early Victorians were having a love
affair with ancient Greece and Egypt, and Egyptian art was associated with death. The central feature
of the cemetery is an Egyptian Avenue, with a grandiose portal flanked by lotus-bud columns and
obelisks. At the end of the avenue is the Lebanon Circle, so called because of an ancient Cedar of Lebanon
that was there before the cemetery, and still stands today, a gloomy and heroic wreck of a tree. Another
tree at the top of the cemetery (according to the guide, a cheerful fabulist) is "the point of London
nearest Heaven," higher even than the Post Office Tower or the highrises of the City financial district.
You could see all of London from there, he says, except that the view is overgrown with vegetation.
The first tombs built were elaborate and, in many cases, curious in design. The cemetery was meant
to be a showplace, and it succeeded. In Victorian times, crowds of Londoners used to come here on
Sunday, in theirtop hats and crinolines, to spend the afternoon with their Dear Departed Ones, or just
to look at the sights. Some tombs were large enough for families to enter and remain inside in case
it rained; according to legend they often brought along their tea things and spirit lamps and took
refreshment inside the tombs.
The whole venture was such a success that in 1854 an annex was opened across the road, now called
the East Cemetery. Shortly afterward a tunnel was built under the road, with a hydraulic system to
lower and raise the coffins, so that they could be transferred smoothly from the chapel to the annex.
Highgate Cemetery had arrived at its glory.
But at the end of the century the old West Cemetery was pretty well filled up, and by the 1 950s it fell
upon hard times. There was no more money for maintenance or protection; people roamed in it more
or less at will; it was handy for lovers' trysts, and film companies used it frequently for horror
movies. On Easter Sunday 1975 the weed-choked and vandalized West Cemetery was closed.
Laterthat same year a group of local residents formed the Friends of Highgate Cemetery, with the aim
of preserving the place from further ruin and restoring it, if possible, to its former state — a
prodigious task. The movie-making was ended abruptly. Under the leadership of their chairman,
Jean Pateman, the Friends are today propping up the old tombs, clearing out a little of the
undergrowth, and thinning the sycamores that grow so thickly that everything is dank. Mrs. Pateman
says that her aim is "managed neglect" — a carefully chosen phrase.
The place certainly manages to look neglected. At the present you can see the West Cemetery only on
a guided tour; there are too many pitfalls, precipices and fern-choked ditches for people to be allowed
to walk about unattended. Even on a brief visit, it conveys an impression of awesome and decadent
grandeur. Sir John Betjeman called it a Victorian Valhalla, and indeed the scale of the decay is
Wagnerian. In the catacombs around the Lebanon Circle, a slab of stone has fallen away and the guide
points out a glimpse of a rotting coffin. The tomb of Julius Beer, a Victorian financier, is as large as
a cottage in the English countryside; it is modelled on the original mausoleum, the tomb of the Greek
king Mausolus of Halicarnassus.
The other tombs and monuments are an anthology of Victorian symbolism: empty chairs, sleeping
maidens, marble babes, winged angels, faithful dogs and a Polish eagle prying open the marble lid of
a grave. Over pathways around the Lebanon Circle hang branches of yew, symbol of sorrow.
AGS SP'89 p. 7
Such a place is a photographer's paradise, in spite of the poor light. But it is about as difficult to
photograph as a defence installation, or a Royal Princess. The Friends, led by Mrs. Pateman,
discourage private photography, and there are all sorts of rules as to what can and cannot be
photographed. You are asked not to take pictures of each other, for example, or burial parties, or
recent graves. To take a camera along on a guided tour will cost you a pound, and if you want to do more
serious photography "we ask for a donation of 10 pounds" ($17). It all goes for a good cause, the
restoration of the cemetery, so it won't be so interesting to photograph.
Highgate Cemetery is the sort of place that generates apocryphal tales. Among them is the story that
Bram Stoker got the idea for "Dracula" when he caught a glimpse of figures moving around in a tomb
and imagined that they might be resurrected corpses. ("There is no evidence that Bram Stoker ever
came to Highgate Cemetery," said Mrs. Pateman.) One very odd story, however, is true. The pre-
Raphaelite poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti was stricken with grief when his wife, Elizabeth Siddal, died,
and he buried his poems in the coffin with her. Later he repented and dug them up again, the desire
to publish conquering sorrow. You an still see the tomb, in Section XIV of the VVest Cemetery. It is
marked by a plum tree that Rossetti himself is said to have planted.
This is one of the few graves in Highgate holding a personage recognizable to an American, although
Karl Marx is buried in the newer East Cemetery. As you stroll about, pushing aside the vines and
rather wishing you had a machete, you come across'many familiar names — Wordsworth, Yeats,
Turner, Landseer, Pepys, Haydn. But they are never the famous ones, instead an obscure relative or
an accidental homonym. Like a good deal of Victorian art, Highgate Cemetery seems irrevocably
condemned to the second-rate. The novelist George Eliot is buried in Highgate, along with her lifelong
companion G.H. Lewes. Book lovers will be interested in the grave of William Foyle, the founder of
the famous Foyle's bookshop in Charing Cross Road. There is a Dickens burial plot, but only relatives,
including the novelist's daughter, are buried there; Dickens himself is in Westminster Abbey.
To my mind, the most interesting grave is of someone you never heard of. The Victorian menagerist
George Wombwell, who once staged a fight at Warwick Castle between a lion and six bull mastiffs, is
buried under the effigy of a sleeping lion with his chin resting demurely on his paws. From the trees
overhead hang festoons of a vine called Old Man's Beard.
Today the West Cemetery is still a lovely and spooky ruin, in spite of the efforts of the Friends to bring
it under control. In the East Cemetery we were shown glossy tombs in shining red marble, set in an
immaculate landscaping and looking no different from any other cemetery in England or America. But
Mrs. Pateman said she wanted to retain at least a part of the gloomy charm in the West Cemetery. In
any case, the wild power of nature in all its decadence is pitted against the job of restoration; the vines
are growing faster than the Friends can clip them. If there are ghosts — I don't believe there are — but
if there are ghosts — the the spirits of Victorians in crinolines and top hats must surely rise from the
earth in Highgate Cemetery, not on Halloween but on boring Sunday afternoons.
For hours, maps arid other information pertaining to Highgate Cemetery, contact Barbara Rotundo,
217 Seward Place, Schenectady NY 12305.
AGS SP'89 p. 8
The Newsletter contacted Jean Pateman, who says that this year the Friends of Highgate Cemetery will
be celebrating the Western Cennetery's 150th anniversary on May 20. This year the Friends need
£275.000.
Please try to prevail upon people that the Cemetery Is not a free place.
We do expect travellers to come, with some sense of reverence and
awe, and to contribute generously, otherwise there will have to be a
formal admission charge.
We do arrange, after a letter, special tours and try to make £30 the
minimum donation, in this way - as happened recently when 6 people
wanted to do a private tour - each contributed £5.
Thank you so much for your Interest. The New Yorl< Times paid for
the privilege of talcing photographs, as do thousands of people whom
we oblige, guide and Inform.
I^rs. Pateman also sent more up-to-date information about visiting Highgate than was included in the
Times article:
SPECIAL
GROUP
TOURS
by appointment, please, s.a.e.to
5 View Road, N6 4DJ and journalists,
film makers, students and researchers
should telephone 348 0808
ACCESS
The West side may be visited only with one of the
Cemetery guides. NOVEMBER-MARCH: Saturdays and
Sundays ONLY, on the hour, each hour 10-4. From
APRIL-OCTOBER 1989 it is hoped to provide mid-week
tours at '12, 2 and 4 initially. SPECIAL TOURS AT ALL
SEASONS, by appointment, and during summer evenings.
SPECIAL AFTERNOONS FOR VISITORS
are planned for the first Sundays in June, August and
October 1989, from l-5pm. Details from the Cemetery
office, established agencies and the FOHC office, as
above. Other special functions to be announced for
THE 150th ANNIVERSARY OF THE CONSECRATION
OF THE WESTERN CEMETERY ON MAY 20TH
Exhibitions of work by well known artists and students ,
are arranged. Appointments to view certain works can ]
be made, by special arrangement. '
PUBLICATIONS i
are sold in aid of restoration work and include £1
information packs, £1 colour folder and a bestseller
'Highgate Cemetery (Victorian Valhalla' (Murray/FOHC)
price £a95. plus £1.50 p & p. (5, View Road, N6)
THE EAST SIDE:
ACCESS
This part of the Cemetery may be
visited every day (except Christ-
mas Day AND during funerals.)
10-3.45 in WINTER and 10-4.45 in
SUMMER ■
DONATIONS
FOHC hopes that all visitors will
make a gesture in the East side
and a contribution of not less
than £2 for a tour.
PHOTOGRAPHERS
taking an occasional picture are
asked please to contribute £1 on
entering. Those wishing for
private appointments for more
serious purposes should please
write to ensure an arrangement.
BURIALS AND FAMILY RESEARCHES
Please contact the Cemetery
General Manager, Monday-Triday
and, for searches, send s.a.e.
to Highgate Cemetery, Swains Lane
N6. (Telephone 01 340 1834 only
for urgent information, for
funeral arrangements and general
details about the operating of
the Cemetery. >
contributed by Francis Y. Duval, Brooidyn NY; George Kackley, Baltimore MD and Daniel and Jessie Lie Farber,
Worcester MA.
JC^
HJGHGATE
METERV
■^Afe>hgssAfca^Sj]!Sg
AGS SP'89 p. 9
BOOKS
OHIO CEMETERIES
OhioGenealogicalSociety, 419 West Third St., Mansfield OH 44906; Maxine Hartmann Smitii, editor; $29.50
plus $1.75 postage/handling
reviewed by Jim Jewell, Illinois Valley Community College
Ohio is an excellent state for the cemetery explorer. Regular in shape, with miles of good highways
and interstates, the state allows tourists to get from Lakeview in Cleveland to Spring Grove in
Cincinnati with ease and facility. The burial sites of Presidents William Henry Harrison, Rutherford
B. Hayes, James A. Garfield, William McKinley, and Warren G. Harding offer significance for the
historical observer. The midwestern influence in gravestone style can be seen taking over from the
eastern some miles west of the Pennsylvania border, in short, a few days spent in the Buckeye State
would be well worth any AGS member's time.
That's why Ohio Cemeteries is a valuable volume that provides an alphabetical listing of cemeteries
by townships (also alphabetical) per county (again, alphabetical). Detailed directions for locating
each burial ground accompany each listing. Also included are many family plots, even single
gravesites, on private property. County maps for the Ohio Department of Transportation are placed
in each listing.
The index lists the cemeteries with a somewhat (until you get used to it!) complicated code for locating
them by township and county. The detailed locations often give roadways and passages not included on
service station road maps. A great deal of historical information — dates, county seats and courthouses,
compilation information and location — precedes each county listing. The determined graveyard
enthusiast will be able to use Ohio Cemeteriesm\h ease and appreciation after a little familiarization
with the book's introductory information.
As grateful as the graveyard tourist must be for the volume, it is not without its shortcomings, some
of which are acknowledged in the introduction. Three are some strange and inconsistent abbrevia-
tions. "R" can stand for either "Range" or "The Report'; and "S" can be short for both "section"
and "south". Why does a short word like "about" need an abbreviation (abt)? Why does Gateway to
the West need two abbreviations?
But the main drawback, ironically, is the same feature that could be the most valuable: the county
maps, which are thorough but very hard to read. Each is a page (7 1/2" x 9") in size, but the lettering
and numbering on each is quite small. Have a strong magnifying glass handy. Larger population
centers are, of course, more heavily lined and tend to turn into black blotches on the page. Subsequent
volumes, I hope, will have larger and more detailed maps for cities; or, at least, of those parts of cities
where cemeteries are located.
Still, the sum of the book is better than its individual parts; and you can be sure that Ohio Cemeteries
will be on the front seat of my Cavalier, right next to the latest Charlotte Macleod novel, when I drive
through the Buckeye State on my way to and back from the AGS Conference this summer.
An article titled "A surprisingly lively group tries to save our hallowed grounds" by Jon Anderson,
provided good publicity for AGS, Markers and the upcoming conference. Roberta Palen and Jim Jewell
both spotted it in the Chicago Tribune, March 1 , 1989.
Stones and Statues: laws governing Illinois cemeteries is a small pamphlet published by
the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. In simple terms it explains Illinois laws, including legal
terms used. Other sections pertain to the role of the federal government in cemetery care, the state's
role in cemetery care and maintenance, and obligations of the county, township or municipality. Also
included is information on how volunteers can become involved and how vandals can be discouraged.
Addresses and phone numbers of Illinois state agencies which preserve and maintain cemeteries
complete the pamphlet. It is available free from the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, Division
of Preservation Services, Old State Capitol, Springfield IL 62701.
info from Roberta Palen of Chicago IL.
AGSSP'89p. 10
DCL THE IDEAS SERIES, Practical Guides for the Historian #2 Ce/77e/er/"es.«esea/-crtroo/sfor//7ePasr
by Loren N. Horton (1989) is a 6-page technical leaflet available fro DCL Associaties, P.O. Box 904,
Iowa City lA 52244; telephone (319) 351-5842. The cost per copy is $1 .00, postpaid.
"Monumental Details: Reflections on the Architecture of the Cennetery" is a six page article by AGS
member Robert Wright which contains a dozen photographs of f^idwest mausoleums. Inland
Architect, the Midwestern Magazine of the Building Arts has published this latest contribution to the
field of cemetery studies in the March/April issue. Copies of the magazine may be purchased for
$4.00 plus postage. Send to:
Inland Architect
P.O. Box 10394
Chicago IL 60610
Oakridge Abbey, Joseph J. Nadherney, architect, 1928
Oakridge Cemetery, Westchester IL
RECEIVED FOR THE ARCHIVES
from the Wisconsin State Journal, February 1 , 1989, sent by Phil Kallafs of Stevens Point Wl, an
article about an Eagle Scout who had cleaned up a dilapidated cemetery in Oregon; 9 years later, when
he died aged 21 in a car accident, he was buried in the place he had helped restore.
from Margaret Reysen, Hoboken NJ, an item from Travel Weekly, December 1, 1988, on St.
Wilfrid's Cemetery in Marion ?? which contains the graves of 77 confederate soldiers and the largest
redwood tree in the eastern United States.
from the Friends of Magnolia Cemetery, P.O. Box 6383, Mobile AL 36660, a well-prepared and
informative brochure on the cemetery.
from Francis Duval, Brooklyn NY a couple of items from the New York Times, August 17 and 19,
1988, on the discovery of a Civil War burial siteatAntietam MD where remains of members of
the Irish Brigade of New York, killed September 17, 1862, were found. A clipping on the same
subject, from the Fort Wayne IN Weivs Sentinelwas also sent by Jim Jewell, Peru IL.
from Chris Sweeters, New York City, an article from the A/eivVor/c Times, November 2, 1988, titled
"In Mexico, This is not the Day to Bury Mirth" about November 2 celebration of "the Day of the Dead"
in Mexico.
from Phil Kallas, Stevens Point Wl, a Veterans Administration, Department of Memorial Affairs
brochure, "The Veterans Headstone and lUiarker Program" .
also from Phil Kallas, an Illinois Historic Preservation Agency (Old State Capitol, Springfield IL
62701) a brochure on Lincoln's Tomb. The tomb was designed by sculptor Larken G. Mead of
Brattleboro Vermont, and cost $1 80,000 by the time it was dedicated on October 15,1 874. The tomb
was reconstructed in 1899-1901 and again in 1930-32.
AGS SP'89 p. 1 1
from the New York Times, the Bridgeport CT Post-Telegram and the New Haven Register, all dated
November 13, 1988, reports of three youths arrested for toppling more than 80 headstones at the
historic Land's End Cemetery, Newtown.
from Pat Wilczak, Cazenovia NY, a note from the Syracuse NY Herald American, December 25, 1 988
(NOTE DATE) on the disappearance of the Mary Christmas stone (d. 1905) from !\^ount Pleasant
Cemetery, Bangor ME. (Also the same note from the New York Timesoi same date, sent by Robert Van
Benthuysen, West Long Branch NJ.)
from the New York Times, December 2, 1988, contributed by Francis Duval of Brooklyn NY and
Jessie Lie Farber of Worcester MA, an article on the proposed sale of the Canarsle Cemetery,
Brooklyn, by the City of New York. The city says that it does not want to be in the cemetery business
and this one has available space so a buyer must keep the entire property as a cemetery.
from the New York Times, October 1 2, 1 988, sent by Jim Miller and Chris Sweeters of NYC, an article
on funeral cakes, which were offered to guests at the opening reception for the exhibition
"Portraits in Stone", photographs made by Dan and Jessie Lie Farber of 92 gravestone carvings. The
exhibition was presented by the Museum of American Folk Art, and William Woys Weaver, a food
historian, researched and adapted the recipes for the museum reception.
fro m Antiques, September 1 988, a note on the recent acquisition by the Brooklyn Museum of a carved
angel by William Edmondson(c. 1883-1951) of Nashville TN. Edmondson wasthe subject of the
book Visions in Stone by Edmund L. Fuller (University of Pittsburgh Press, 1973).
from the New York Times, January 4, 1989, sent by Francis Duval, Brooklyn NY, an article on the
discovery in Hawaii of 900 skeletons at an ancient burial ground (an area listed in the Hawaii
Register of Historic Places) dating back more than 1 000 years. The discovery led to a temporary halt
in building an $80 million beachfront hotel on Maui island, and may lead to changes in Hawaiian law
to avoid future problems. The skeletons have been excavated by archaeologists although a group called
Malama Na Kapuna, or Caring for Our Ancestors have succeeded in halting the digging on moral
grounds. Now scientists are considering whether to continue studying the remains.
from the Guardian, November 4, 1988, contributed by Pamela Burgess, Gloucestershire, England,
afollow-uptothesale of three cemeteries by Westminstercity Council. Because of the political
furor caused by their sale and the distress caused to relatives by the subsequent decline in their
maintenance, Westminster is trying to buy back the cemeteries (Which they sold for 5p each).
from the Wall Street Journal, sent by Jim Miller and Chris Sweeters of NYC, an item on Grave Tours
of Hollywoodand g raves of Stars. Many Hollywood cemeteries provide free maps to resting places
of the stars to cut down on tourists pestering of cemetery workers. On the same subject, from Jim
Jewell of Peru IL, the Chicago newspapers the Tribune and\he Sun-Times oi July 5, 1988, which
describe Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery as an eyesore of overgrown grass and damaged
mausoleums.
ALL THE FOLLOWING MATERIAL WAS SENT BY JIM JEWELL, PERU IL, FOR THE
AGS ARCHIVES:
from the Chicago Tribune, December 26, 1988, an item about 2 Civil War cannons stolen August
7 from Highland Cemetery, Gladwin Ml which turned up in California and so were shipped back.
from the Fort Wayne IN News Sentinel, July 27, 1988, an article on volunteer efforts to right and
patch tombstones after vandals had knocked over nearly every stone.
from the Chicago Tribune, March 26, 1989, an article on the final burial of Floyd Collins, acave
explorer who died in February 1925 in a cave in Kentucky. The rescue attempt was considered one
of the biggest stories of the 1920s. His body was on public display in Crystal Cave until the early
1960s when the National Park Service bought the cave.
from the New York Times, February 12, 1989, an article on Columbia MD, the nation's first
planned community which now has its own cemetery. The owner quickly learned that operating
a cemetery was considerably different in a planned community — he had to agree to an extensive set of
guidelines. The objective is to create a beautiful green area.
from the Chicago Sun Times, January 27, 1989, "Vintage Mourning Jewelry is Regaining its
Popularity".
irom ihe Chicago Tribune, Februarys, 1989, an article on the desecration of Ben-Gurion's grave
in Ith Negev desert, Israel. An underground group of ultra-Orthodox Jews, "Keshet" are believed
responsible.
AGS SP'89 p. 12
iromXhe Chicago Tribune, February 26, 1989, "Satanic cults growing in preserves", about cult
practices in remote corners of public woods. In the Chicago area cults seem to favor stone alters,
hanging animals from trees, effigies and mausoleum burglaries. They like to hold ceremonies in
forest preserves near cemeteries.
from the Star, January 26, 1988, a report on the mysterious disappearance of 15 bodies from 19th
century cemeteries in Indiana's Hendriks County. The police suspect satanIc cult worshipers who
are using the bodies in midnight rituals.
from the Chicago Sun Times, March 4, 1989, "Danish Pioneers now rest in peace", about a Danish
Brotherhood cemetery in Lemont IL started in 1892 and always maintained by the same family,
recently deeded to another cemetery to insure continuing care.
from the Chicago Sun r/mes, December 2, 1988, "Boy's grave becomes friends' sharing place" about
14-year old kids who regularly spend hours at the grave of a friend, talking and dealing with grief,
death and reality.
BENT OFPERtNGS
from the Fort Wayne IN News Sentinel, "A Grave Assignment" about an eighth-grade class using the
cemetery for a research project.
from the Chicago Sun Times, July 30, 1 988, an item which claims that because Chicago has the largest
concentration of veterans (more than a million), the Veterans Administration is looking in that area
for the site of a new national cemetery.
from the Chicago Sun Times, October 5, 1 988, "War hero p ig to get new monument" describes a pink
marble monument in Anna IL honoring a 700 lb pig, King Neptune, that helped raise $19 million in
war bonds during World War II. The monument has been vandalized and so will be replaced and
relocated.
from the LaSalle IL News Tribune, July 29, 1988, as essay by Kristie Miller on a visit to the
graveyard in Charlottesville SC belonging to the oldest Unitarian Church in the South, founded in
1787.
from the Chicago newspapers Sun Times and Tribune, both of March 1 1 , 1989, an item about human
bones unearthed at a construction site believed to be remains of inmates of a turn-of-the-century
institution for the poor and mentally ill.
from the Chicago Tribune, July 3, 1988, a report on the funeral of gay activist Leonard
Matlovlch, who. died in June and was buried with full military honors. Mr. Matlovich, who was
awarded a Purple Heart after stepping on a Viet Cong land mine and won the Bronze Star for killing
two Viet Cong soldiers attacking his post, first challenged the Air Force's rules on homosexuality in
1975. Mr. Matlovich's tombstone includes in the top corners pink triangles that were used by Nazis
during World War II to identify homosexuals in concentration camps and that have since been adopted
as a symbol in the gay rights struggle. Under the triangles is the inscription:
A GAY VIETNAM VETERAN
When I was in the Military
They gave me a medal for killing two men
And a discharge for loving one.
from the Chicago Tribune, December 14, 1987, a grisly account of grave robbers breaking into
crypts in the Philippines by the thousands to steal from the dead. They are after kneecaps which
some people believe serve as amulets to protect them from harm.
from the Chicago Tribune, October 30, 1 988, an item on "the history found in our graveyards" which
lists a number of interesting cemeteries in DuPage County, and from the Chicago Sun Times,
AGS SP'89 p. 13
October 28, 1 988, "Touring Local Cemeteries" by Ernest Tucker about interesting cemeteries in the
Chicago area — including information on tours and hours.
from the LaSalle IL News Sentinel, June 14 and 24, 1988, a report that the National Trust for
Historic Preservation asked Congress to protect anan dent (17th century) Indian burial site
near Utica IL, ranking it among the top endangered historical places in the country. Developers
plan to build a luxury vacation resort on part of the village site.
from the Chicago Sun T/mes, July 6, 1988, "Hungary welcomes composer Bartok home", about the
ashes of Hungarian composer Bela Bartok, who died in 1945 in New York, which were returned to his
homeland.
from the Chicago Sun Times, July 6 and 8, 1988, and the Chicago Tribune, July 7, 1988, a report
on two mausoleum desecrations and subsequent arrests.
from the Chicago Tribune, May 8, 1988, an item on the dedication of Illinois' Vietnam Veterans
Memorial.
from the San Bernardino County Sun, May 30, 1 988, an item on the discovery of the grave of a World
War I hero killed in action in 1918 which had been all but forgotten by the veterans post that bears
his name.
GUSSIE'S GRAVESTONE
This is ttie story of a man, who, finding a gravestone in a bacl<yardin Hamiiton, MA, in the fall of 1988,
became interested in returning it to where it belonged. The process he experienced in finally
discovering its original setting is one which may benefit others.
In December the AGS Archivist received a letter from William L. Fiumerfelt who had found a
gravestone in the back yard of a house in Hamilton, MA, leaning against a utility pole. No one knew
how long it had been there. The stone was thick, with a small flower carved on the top surface. The
inscription on the front of the stone read:
AUGUSTUS B.
son of
Augustus B. & Anna P.
FRANCIS
Born May 7, 1846
Died Sept. 28, 1847
On the back of the stone was the name "Gussie."
Fiumerfelt wanted to restore the stone to its original location so he began his quest by talking to long-
time residents of the neighborhood where the stone was found. The family surname of Francis was not
one associated with or remembered in Hamilton. He next talked to people in the Hamilton and Wenham
(the next town) historical/genealogical societies. Both Hamilton and Wenham have complete maps
or listings of their cemeteries dated in the 1850's. The surname was not shown.
Lynnfield's genealogical room yielded the information that the family was from Salem. Fiumerfelt
found the census entry and vital records showing that Augustus B. Francis had died of infantile cholera
at age 1 6 months. Salem's Cemetery Commissioner's office searched their records and had no record
for "Gussie's" burial. Essex Institute's James Duncan Phillips Library had records for only Broad
Street and Charter Street cemeteries and neither had the grave listed.
Then a stroke of luck! Mr. Flumerfelt's next stop was the Peabody Institute in Danvers which has an
excellent reference room. That day they were hosting a librarian's meeting and all the parking places
in front were taken. Parking at the back of the building, he entered through the children's library
where he spotted a room labeled Danvers Archive, went in, and found a treasure trove not only for
Danvers but for the surrounding area. Had he not entered this door it is unlikely he would have found
the Archive. In the collection was a set of city directories for Salem from 1899 through 1982. In
the 1899-1900 directory was the listing "Francis, Anna P. died Feb. 16, 1899, and in the'l912
directory, "Annie P. Francis, boards 10 Pearl" (St.)
Vital records for Salem births had noted that the personal record for young Augustus was held by John
Francis, no middle initial or address given. The vital records book had originally been published in
1916. The 191 4-1 91 6 vintage directories listed three John Francises. Luckily, the directories are
cross-indexed, allowing one to look up who lived at a given address. In the 1 931 directory was listed
Francis, Elizabeth E., widow of John W. Francis, one of the three listed in 1914-1916. Her address
was 10 Pearl!
Tracking the residents of 1 0 Pearl Street forward through the years revealed that from 1 944 through
1982, the address was occupied by Winfield Francis. Mr. Fiumerfelt found he still lived there in
AGS SP'89 p. 14
1988 and contacted him. He was born in 1900and Johin W. was tiis father. His grandfather, Augustus,
had had the house built around 1875.- From his tombstone, John W. was born in 1851 and died in
1919, apparently a third child born to Augustus B. and Anna P. that the 1850 census didn't show. Most
important of all, Mr. Francis said all members of his branch of the family were buried in Salem's
Greenlawn Cemetery.
Upon entering Greenlawn Cemetery, Mr. Flumerfelt knew he was in the right place. There were many
stones similar to young Augustus' with roses and other flowers carved on the top, thick with respect
to their height and width, engraving of the same style; even the moss matched! The stones are unique
to this cemetery — there were none similar in any of the other Salem cemeteries visited. At the
Greenlawn office the secretary immediately plucked out the card listing Augustus B. with the right
death date, and a second larger card showing the Francis family plot and all occupants thereof. On the
plot card a single cross-hatched narrow rectangle lay parallel to the longer side of the grave, along
with two rectangles matching the present day stones.
The secretary said that if the grave were an old one (from the time only wooden coffins were used)
a grave could be re-used. It appears that "Gussie" was the first to be buried in the plot in 1 847. In
1919 when John W. Francis died, the rest of the plot was evidently getting full, and he was buried
in the grave formerly occupied by Gussie. Two markers are currently on that plot, both flat in the
ground. The marker for young Augustus is engraved:
A.B. Francis
No. 126
and lies next to the stone of John W. Francis. It seems likely to Flumerfelt that the "No. 1 26" marker
was originally the footstone for the stone found in Hamilton. Flumerfelt theorizes that when John was
buried in Gussie's grave, Gussie's stone became "surplus", and was probably disposed of in the then-
wilds of Hamilton, to be unearthed years later when the current house in whose backyard it was found,
was built.
Neither the cemetery nor the descendants were enthused about returning the stone to its correct
location. The cemetery was concerned about having a vertical stone to mow around and who would set
it. The cemetery manager indicated the town was responsible for care of the land, mowing, etc., but
that the family was responsible for the markers and he could not, on his own, accept the stone back,
even though it was now known the precise square foot of turf it had come from.
A search of microfilmed area newspapers revealed the obituary for the latest Francis to be buried in
the plot. This led Flumerfelt to the rest of the family, whom he tracked down, one by one. The family's
reaction was mild interest but predominantly apathy. They didn't know much about the family history
and didn't seem to care. Mr. Flumerfelt continues to keep the stone, trying to contact some additional
members of the family who can decide whether to return it to Greenlawn Cemetery or another
appropriate disposition. He concludes philosophically, "As the saying goes, everything is either fun
or good training. . . this was both."
Editor's Note: Mr. Flumerfelt was directed to our Research Coordinator, Laurel Gabel. In his closing
letter he thanked her for her suggestions and her encouragement.
Important Note
Your Newsletter is sent Third Class Mail. Consequently it will not be forwarded should you change your
address. To insure continuity in receiving your Newsletters, send your new address to the AGS office,
46 Plymouth Road, Needham, MA 02192.
Canadian members are asked to have their checks converted to US dollars before sending since US
banks charge us $1 5 to cash checks in Canadian dollars.
MEMBERS' ACTIVITIES
Phil Kallas of Stevens Point, Wl spoke to the Wausau Noon Rotary Club in February on general
gravestone topics, art, and restoration. In June he will make a presentation before the Wisconsin
Cemetery Officials in Stevens Point on preservation and restoration efforts and how local groups can
work together to support such activities.
JEWISH CEMETERIES IN VIRGINIA RECORDED
Samuel Werth, AGS member from Norfolk, VA, has been at work since 1 976 mapping cemeteries in
Newport News, Hampton, Richmond, and Suffolk. He has 40 ledgers full of 10,000 names of Jewish
people who have resided in Virginia and who have been buried on one of the 16 cemeteries he has
surveyed and mapped, plat by plat and stone by stone. He is willing to share this information with
genealogists; write to him at 1 21 6 East Little Creek Road, Apt. 301 , Norfolk, VA 2351 8. Mr. Werth
has contributed a packet of clippings, letters and speeches about his work to the AGS Archives.
AGS SP'89 p. 15
NEW AGS MEMBERS
Those who have joined AGs during the first quarter of 1989 are listed below in zip code order so that you
can find your state easily. If any of these new members live near you, would you drop them a welcoming
note so they won't think they are all alone in the unique interest in gravestones which we all share?
Richard K. Atwood, Atwood Memorial Company
P.O. Box 8165, Ward Hill Haveriiill, MA 01835
Patricia A. Sheehan 112 Llewellyn Street Lowell,
MA 01850
Gerald A. Falo 28 Bridge Street, #12 Lowell, MA
01852
Mr. & Mrs. John F. Copeland 61 East Meadow
Lane, Apt 3 Lowell, MA 01854
Sawyer Free Library 2 Dale Avenue Gloucester,
MA 01930
Jean W. MacLeod 18 Burnham Road Wenham,
MA 01984
Claire R. Pauley 80 Stoughton Road Dedham,
MA 02026
Elizabeth H. Freeman 9 Lochland Road Hyde
Park, MA 02136
William Gilson 290 Harvard Street Cambridge,
MA 02139
Harold F. Coyne, Sr. 5 Hibbert Street Lexington,
MA 02173
Jean L. Whitnack P.O. Box 119 Grafton VT
05146
Mr. and Mrs. Mark F. White 98 Lakeview Terrace
Burlington, VT 05401
Thomas Gilson Box 95, Underpass Road Sutton,
VT 05867
Mr. & Mrs. John P. Turley 120 Britannia St.
Meriden, CT 06450
Charlotte Chafee 349 So. Main St. Middletown,
CT 06457
Mr. & Mrs. Anthony Griego, 163 Park Road
Hamden,CT 06517
Lynn Marie Wieland 6 Todd's Road Ridgefield,
CT 06877
Sarah M. Sogi One Payne Road Elmsford, NY
10523
David W. McCullough 117 Villard Avenue
Hastings-on-Hudson NY 10706
Nancy MacKintosh 6 Herbert Drive New Hyde
Park, NY 11040
Paul Glatzer 10 Eden Drive Smithtown, NY
11787
Bradford Derustit Corp. Lois R. Squire, Pres.,
Box 151 Clifton Pari<, NY 12065
David Rowles P.O. Box 671 Norwich, NY 13815
Carol Wells Shepard Near Westside
Neighborhood Assn., Church &. Davis Elmira, NY
14905
Patricia M. Steele 10 Cherry Street Brookville,
PA 15825
Brian A. Conley 4702 Commons Dr., #102
Annandale, VA 22003
M. Ruth Little 3501 Turnbridge Drive Raleigh,
NC 27609
Mildred J. Miller Route 2, Box 251 Stony Point,
NC 28678
Barbara W. Hoelzel 210 Hermitage Road
Greenville, SC 29615-1805
Fairieigh Monument Works R. M. Fairieigh IV,
285 Brookwood Dr. Marietta, GA 30064
Charlotte C. Cash 2132 Chadwick Road
Augusta, GA 30906
Brian E. Michaels P.O. Box 1305, 420 N. Third
St. Palatka, FL 32078
Sheila Riley 512 Fairfax Avenue Nashville, TN
37212
Thomas F. Stander 5750 Dunwoody Road
Hamilton. OH 45013
Scott G. Kunst Old House Gardens, 536 Third
St. Ann Arbor, Ml 48103
Kathleen B. McMullin 3708 Third Street N.W.
Rochester, MN 55901
Nancy J. Budd 124 S. Parte Avenue Hinsdale, IL
60521
Gary R. Toms 4223 E. 42nd Way Independence,
MO 64055
Robert L. Keeling 111 Forest Ct. Duncanville,
TX 75116
James O. Milmoe 14900 Cactus Circle Golden,
CO 80401'
Joe Schmalzel 4045 Ave. del Cazadar Tucson,
AZ 85718
Nita R. Spangler 970 Edgewood Road Redwood
City, CA 94062
Harold Wright Box 6326 Stn. A Saint John NB
Canada E2L 4R7
Howard J. Dawson 205 49th Avenue Lachine,
PQ CANADA H8T 2S7
J. E. Smith PO Box 431 Roxboro Station
Roxboro, PQ Canada H8Y3K4
AGSSP'89p. 16
NEW 'OLD' GRAVESTONES IN HARTFORD
The two brownstone gravestones at Hartford's Ancient Burying Ground look no different thian tfie other
venerable markers there. Both have crude designs of winged angels cut into the stone. Both have
lettering that tells of the untimely deaths of two young women who died at about the same time in the
18th century, almost before they had a chance to live. One stone reads:
Here lies interred
the body of
Mrs. Abigail Bigelow,
wife of Daniel Bigelow,
wtio departed ttiis life
Nov. 13. 1757
in ye 32d year of her age
The other stone, nearby, tells of an unmarried woman who died less than a year later:
In memory of Lydia,
daughter of Mr. William
and Mrs. Lydia Thomas
of Marlborough
who died Sept. ye 18th
A.D. 1758
in ye 30th year of her age
There is a difference, though, that sets these stones apart from the others in the cemetery, which dates
to the founding of the city in 1636. They're new.
"These are our 1988 stones," says William N. Hosley Jr., curator of the burying ground. What are
reproductions — look-alikes of original gravestones — doing in the old burying ground? The answer,
explains Hosley, has to do with the big ($1.1 million) restoration project now going on at the
cemetery. Many of the early stones in the cemetery were of Portland brownstone, he says, and
brownstone — particularly Portland brownstone — is a soft sandstone that tends to disintegrate. Thus
far, some 70 old brownstone monuments have been restored by the Hartford monument firm of Beij,
Williams and Zito. But 22 other monuments were, as one wag remarked, "beyond salvation" when
the decision was made to restore the cemetery. In Hosley's words, the gravestones had been "trashed"
by nature. "They were just rubble. You could never put them back together again." Hence the
reproductions, two already done, 20 more to come.
The reproductions are being done, Hosley says, by a stonecutter in Massachusetts, using brownstone
that matches, as nearly as possible, the original Portland brownstone. The Portland brownstone was
used for gravestones in many Connecticut cemeteries because it was available in quantity, but it was
always an inferior stone. The reproductions, Hosley hopes, will prove to be more durable than the
ones that have crumbled into dust. It's all a matter of finding brownstone that looks like Portland stone
but is more durable. Brownstone for the two existing reproductions was obtained in East Longmeadow
MA from a firm that deals in brownstone salvage. The stones were simply cut from big blocks of
salvaged stone, and it is possible that the other gravestones will be obtained there.
The big question is, however, how can you reproduce a gravestone that has disintegrated so badly that
its lettering cannot be read? The key to this mystery is Charles Hoadley. Hoadley was a prominent
historian during the Victorian era in Hartford and in 1877 he did something that was to prove
invaluable a century later. He made an inventory of all the gravestones at the Ancient Burying Ground,
complete with exact dimensions of the artwork and lettering on each stone. He even identified the
original carver.
The decision to use reproductions for some gravestones that could not be saved came after a great deal
of soul-searching by members of the Ancient Burying Ground Association, which is sponsoring the
restoration. "Reproduction is not generally an approved tactic," Hosley says, "but in the case of these
stones, it was a trade-off. We would lose some authenticity, but it was the only plausible way to keep
Hartford's history and traditions alive."
from the Hartford Courant. November 13, 1988
"\S'S'i:
AGSSP'89p. 17
HE DID IT HIS WAY
a remembrance of Francis Duval, by Roberta Halpom
One of AGS' founding members, Francis Y. Duval died suddenly May 6. His tiip tiad been broken in a fall. It
was treated at Brooklyn Hospital and f)e was progressing well when tie suffered cardiac arrest, went into a coma,
and died.
For those AGS members who knew Francis Duval personally, it might be helpful to know that he died as he
lived — idiosyncratic to the end, affirming his right to make his own decisions.
By ana accident of geography, I live quite near to Francis' home. We would meet very occasionally on
gravestone matters, and it would be impossible to say that we ever developed a personal friendship, because
on all other matters our philosophies were as different as Eskimos and Zulus!
Nevertheless, because of that easy proximity I went to see him with Ivan Rigby, his long-time colleague, at the
neighborhood hospital as soon as he was admitted. His was his same acerbic, forceful self — busily instructing
us on feline care (he had at last seven cats), and when to pick up the Sunday Times. He also was matter-of-
factiy facing the facts — he instructed us on what kind of funeral he wanted if anything went wrong. Since his
accident was of a relatively minor type, I didn't feel that information was particularly necessary at that point.
As soon as he was conscious after his operation for a fracture, he started to complain about the nurses. Since
the primary nurse was from the Philippines, and Francis' French temper made him difficult to understand, they
didn't get along. He let us know, in no uncertain terms, that he despised the nurses and the hospital food, and
he wouldn't eat any of it. All he wanted to do was go home.
I saw it as a sign that he was getting better, and began to think what kind of physical therapy he would need
before he could get his "legs" back. Unfortunately, he was more prescient than we were — a sudden turn for
the worse sent him to Intensive Care, and three days later he was gone.
I still find it hard to believe. He was so gifted — as a photographer, a graphic artist, and a sculptor, and with luck,
many more years to produce more fine works. His roaring sense of humor, when in a good mood, would make
you forget the nasty cracks he made the day before. His important wor1< in helping to establish the high level
of quality that informed every publication he worked on will forever be enshrined in the book Early American
Gravestone Art in Photographs (Dover) co-authored with Ivan Rigby.
We have lost a valuable and talented friend.
Several Trustees and members have made suggestions about ways in which Francis' contributions to AGS
could be commemorated. Suggestions should be sent to Bob Drinkwater, 30 Fort Hill Terrace, Northampton
MA 01060
LENDING LIBRARY
The AGS mail-order Lending Library (see Fall '88 issue of the AGS Newsletter), has made a good
beginning with a number of requests from as widely separated areas as Texas, California, Pennsyl-
vania, and Vermont. Up to two books may be borrowed at a time for two weeks. A $2.00 processing
fee is charged plus postage. For ordering information, send a stamped self-addressed envelope to
Laurel Gabel, 205 Fishers Road, Pittsford, NY 14534.
The following books are currently available:
THE COLONIAL BURYING GROUNDS OF EASTERN CONNECTICUT - James Slater
LIFE HOW SHORT - ETERNITY HOW LONG - Deborah Trask
GRAVEN IMAGES - Alan Ludwig
MEMENTO MORI: THE GRAVESTONES OF EARLY LONG ISLAND - Richard Welch
EARLY GRAVESTONE ART IN GEORGIA AND SOUTH CAROLINA - Diana Combs
EARLY AMERICAN GRAVESTONE ART IN PHOTOGRAPHS - Francis Duval & Ivan Rigby
AMERICAN EPITAPHS GRAVE AND HUMOROUS - Charles E. Wallace
MEMORIALS FOR CHILDREN OF CHANGE - Dickran and Ann Tashjian
PURITAN GRAVESTONE ART I - Peter Benes, ed.
BURITAN GRAVESTONE ART II - Peter Benes, ed.
GRAVESTONES OF EARLY NEW ENGLAND AND THE MEN WHO MADE THEM - H. M. Forbes
EPITAPH AND ICON - Diana Hume George & Malcolm Nelson
THE MASKS OF ORTHODOXY - Peter Benes
AGS SP'89 p. 18
FROM RESEARCH
AGS MARKERS editor Theodore Chase recently forwarded an informative letter he had received from
M. Virginia Regenthal. The correspondence concerned the porcelain-like gravemarkers that many
of us on the 1 985 Conference bus tour noticed at the Presbyterian Church burial yard in Woodbridge,
New Jersey. Mrs. Regenthal found that the "DBS" used on each of these markers stands for Danish
Brotherhood Society, and that the unique footstones were used to mark the graves of Danish members
of the local lodge of this society. Her subsequent inquiries led her to correspond with the Danish
Brotherhood Society in America, still an active fraternal/benefit organization whose headquarters
are in Omaha, Nebraska. This fraternal organization was founded in the 1880s following a wave of
Danish immigration to the U.S. The Society paid sick and death benefits and worked to perpetuate
Danish traditions and customs. A portion of the letter that Mrs. Regenthal received from Mr. Jerome
Christensen, Secretary-Treasurer of the Danish Brotherhood in America, is reprinted here with her
permission.
The footstone of which you are inquiring was manufactured around the 1 920s by a long-time member
of our Perth Amboy, New Jersey, lodge, who has since passed on. His name was Henry Hansen. He
worked with a man named Abel Hansen (no relation) in manufacturing these stones exclusively for
the Danish Brotherhood members. It is my understanding that these are many such stones in Perth
Amboy. The above information was derived in a telephone conversation with Jens Peter Christensen,
a valued long-time member of the Danish Brotherhood in Perth Amboy. Mr. Christensen informed
me that the symbols appearing on the stone were used exclusively for said stones. The anchor and the
key are still symbols of our society as well as the plumb. The plumb signifies 'the deeds of our
fraternity must always be correct and true". The anchor denotes the 'hope the society will be able to
withstand storms of adversity", and the key represents our 'desire to unlock the doors of our society
and open them to prospective members and friends'.
As you can see from the photographs supplied by Mrs. Regenthal, none of the markers bears a name,
date or epitaph; the porcelain-like markers are used as supplemental monuments or footstones to
identify the final resting places of members of the Danish Brotherhood.
Can any AGS member supply information about "Geo. Fischer & Bro., Bronze Foundry, N.Y.", the
company that produced this bronze statue of the dog "Carlo"? Does anyone know the location of any
other statues like this one? The names of carvers who signed or initialed stones (before 1875) are
always welcome, as are examples of fraternal emblems found on gravemarkers.
AGSSPWp. 19
LIBRARIES, HISTORICAL SOCIETIES, USED BOOK DEALERS AND PRIVATE COLLECTORS:
Do you have account books, pattern or epitaph notebooks, diaries or other personal records pertaining
to gravestone carvers? We would like to make AGS researchers aware of these resources. Please
contact:
Laurel K. Gabel, AGS Research
205 Fishers Road
Pittsford NY 14534
EXHIBITS AND WORKSHOPS
Eastfleld Village in East Nassau, New York presents as part of their 13th Annual Series of Early
American Trades and Historical Presidential Workshops, a workshop on "Architectural and Orna-
mental Stone Cutting", June 12-15 (4 days). The workshop description says "An opportunity to
experience first-hand the methods and tools used in early 1 9th century architecture and ornamental
stonework. Participants will work with sandstone, granite and marble. A large collection of period
lintels, window sills, sinks, hitching posts, headstones and so on will be available for examination
and study. The workshop will will include a trip to a working granite quarry in Blanford MA to
examine quarrying techniques and to find quarry stone to work.. .There will also be a discussion on how
to preserve and repair deteriorated or damaged stone."
Fee is $250 and the instructor is Allen Williams, operator of the Chester Granite Quarry in Blanford,
MA, a professional shop specializing in architectural stonework. Stonecutting has been his family
trade for several generations, giving him a wealth of primary information and knowledge from which
to teach.
Eastfield Village, located in southern Rensselaer County near the MA border is not available to the
general public, but workshop participants have access to 20 buildings and the study collection of
thousands of architectural elements.
Lodging is available free of charge at Eastf ield's tavern with early 1 9th century accommodations. The
only requirements is that each person staying at the tavern supply ten 10" white candles.
For registration information, call (518) 766-2422, orwrite Eastfield Village, Box 143, R.D., East
Nassau, NY 12062.
EXHIBIT OF GRAVESTONE PHOTOGRAPHS BY MICHAEL CORNISH
Mike Cornish's photograph exhibit of Essex County gravestones entitled, STERN EXPRESSIONS: The
Slate Countenance of Essex County, will be on view at the Historical Society of Old Newbury, 98 High
Street, Newburyport from May 15 through the Summer. The opening will be Friday May 19 at 7:00
PM. The exhibit highlights the many faces carved on Essex County gravestones by early stonecarvers.
Those who attended the 1986 AGS Conference at Pine Manor will remember the striking exhibit of
Mike Cornish photographs greeting you as you entered the auditorium lobby — all eyes from faces
carved on gravestones!
CALL FOR PAPERS
The "Cemeteries and Gravemarkers" Permanent Section of the American Culture Association is
seeking proposals for its paper sessions scheduled for the ACA's 1990 Annual Meeting, to be held
March 7-10 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Topics are solicited from any appropriate disciplinary
perspective. Those interested are encouraged to send a 250-word abstract or proposal by September
1, 1989 to the section chair:
Richard E. Meyer
English Department
Western Oregon State College
Monmouth, Oregon 97361
(503)838-1220, Ext. 362
AGS SP-89 p. 20
NEAR WESTSIDE NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION
The Second Street Cemetery in Elmira, New York was once on the outermost part of town, but is now
almost downtown and is constantly used. In 1949 a major restoration resulted in a park-like setting.
In the fall of 1988, another restoration project began spearheaded by Carol Wells Shepard and the
Near Westside Neighborhood Association. Carol is Executive Director of a 20-square block historic
district containing the largest concentration of Victorian Era structures on the National Register in
New York State. The district also has the lovely five-acre 1830-1925 cemetery, the oldest in the
city since the graves in an older cemetery were all relocated in the mid-1880's for a park.
We asked Carol to share with us her experience in organizing this restoration effort. She was more
than willing, stating, "I remember starting this project and thinking, who will I turn to for help and
experience. It has been an uphill battle all the way, but we're getting more and more support and
help."
One of the early things to be done was to have a large sign erected at the site with this message on it:
Near Westside Project
Settlers Burialground
2nd St. Cemetery Restoration
The preservation of this historic graveyard is another step toward
improving the quality of life in our city.
Contributions & Volunteers are welcome.
This community-wide project is being funded by:
(8 organizations, businesses and foundations were listed)
Signs such as this are excellent ways of raising the consciousness of the community that special work
is being done in the cemetery and that contributions of money, supplies and time are invited. An
article in the local newspaper along with the picture of the placing of such a sign is an opportunity
to educate the public on the importance of preserving these cemeteries and the wealth of art and
historic information they contain.
Carol worked to generate a base of support in the community for the project by making contacts with
local persons who had expressed an interest in restoring the cemetery as well as the historical society.
She has also worked to get as much publicity as possible locally, statewide and nationally.
Prior to beginning actual stone restoration, many plans were made. Since the cemetery is part of a
downtown area that is frequented by passers-by, they are adding park benches on the original
pathways and street lights on the perimeter for safety and to help prevent vandalism. A record of all
the data on each stone and a conditions report was made. Photographs taken of each stone complete their
records. Lynette Strangstad, a gravestone restoration specialist, has been employed to be their
consultant and restorationist.
Eventually projects such as this all reach the moment of truth when work must begin to raise
considerable amounts of money to fund the effort. A very important phase of Carol's work was the
writing of grant proposals and approaching local businesses for donations. Since the fall of 1 988 she
has been successful in raising $102,000. Included in this is $35,000 from a New York State
Environmental Quality Bond Act grant, the first awarded to a cemetery. The City of Elmira contributed
$20,000. Two other major contributors were the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
Local 139 and B.O.C.E.S., a local technical high school. A number of other contributors donated
supplies — lumber, paint, bricks, concrete, plants, conduit, labor and equipment to dig trenches and
lamp holes, and other tasks.
Beyond these donations, fund raisers were held. Ghostly House Tours on Halloween have been very
successful. Adults and children in costume meet at the Cemetery between 6 and 8 Pf^. Every half hour
a tour group leaves the cemetery to go through nearby homes which have been opened to the public
on this occasion. Lanterns and pumpkins line the walks and inside are storytellers with ghostly tales
to tell. The tour concludes with cider and donuts, costs $4 for adults, $2 for children and all children
must be accompanied by an adult.
An opportunity to adopt a tombstone for a contribution to the Cemetery Project generated a good bit
of interest. Categories of giving ranged from $20 to $1 000 or more and for that gift the contributor
could either select a particular stone to adopt or have one assigned. A brochure which stated many
reasons for preserving historic cemeteries was made which ended with an invitation to adopt a stone
followed by a sign-up form. In return the contributor received a thank you card giving their name,
their donation and the name on their adopted stone.
To show their appreciation for the support of their contributors, the Near West Side Neighborhood
Association held a Recognition Ceremony and luncheon in their honor where certificates of apprecia-
AGSSP'89p.21
tion were given to each. Can you interpret tfie very creative menu of "Assorted Goulisli Treats"?:
Cemetery and Olives Parish Potato Salad Vaultables Platter
Frankenstein Franks Medieval Macaroni Salad Count Chocula Brownies
Ghostburgers Crypt Lettuce Salad Epitaph Cookies
Munster Rolls Has Beans Iced Sour Spirits
Finger Sandwiches Slab Cheese & Crackers Tea & Coffin
We are pleased to hear of this major endeavor, to commend Carol Shepard and her Near Westside
Neighborhood Association for their vision, creativity and hard work, and to share their ideas and
successes with others who are involved in or thinking about beginning a similar restoration project.
For more information, contact Carol W. Shepard, Near Westside Neighborhood Association, Inc.,
Corner of Church & Davis Streets, Elmira, NY 14905, telephone 607/733-4924.
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES FROM HERE AND THERE
An AP story from North Riverside IL, dated December 10, 1988, reported on plans to build stores
on part of the Jewish Waldheim Cemetery there. The 45-acre cemetery lot was annexed by North
Riverside in the spring and the village's Planning Commission decided soon afterward to rezone five
acres for development. Gertrude Weinstein, president of the Des Plaines Cemetery Corportation,
which runs the cemetery said a dwindling local Jewish population caused sales of burial plots to
plummet. "We have enough land there for the 1,000 years," she said. The Chicago Rabbinical
Council, a group of Orthodox Jewish leaders, has reluctantly agreed to the construction of a shopping
centre on the plot of land, bordered on three sides by the cemetery. In so deciding, the council
concluded that the five-acre parcel, owned by the cemetery and leased to the developer, was not
consecrated land.
from stories in the New Yorl< Times (December 1 1, 1988 and January 4, 1989) sent by Francis Y.
Duval of Broolilyn NY; tlie Chicago Sun (December 7, 1988 & January 2, 1989) and the Chicago
Tribune (December 6, 1988) sent by Jim Jewell, Peru IL.
CURRENTS IN STONE
Granite Art in Barre VT, by Marialisa Calta
Jerry Williams left art school to make his living as a stone carver, chiselling finely wrought
images of the Virgin Mary and the saints into slabs of Barre VT grey granite to be used as cemetery
headstones throughout the country. But while tombstones pay the bills, his heart is in the large
geometric sculptures of black granite and neon that he creates on his own time. Three of his works
are on display in an exhibition that Williams says is the first to feature the personal work of the city's
stone carvers, a show that proclaims the carvers to be artists as well as artisans.
The stone carvers of Barre, a small blue-collar city that has been a granite quarrying center for 1 75
years, have always been known for their skill. Many were recruited in the 1950s from Carrara,
Italy, which is famous for its marble and skilled sculptors. "They pretty much stuck to tombstones,"
Williams said, but they received some commissions for public monuments or statues, or pursued
their own artwork as a hobby.
Now Williams is one of a growing number of former art students who are pursuing their individual
artistic vision in the granite sheds of Barre. Their work is diverse as Glullana CecchlnelM's
portrait of Pope John XXIII in white marble and Bill Kelly's whimsical child's seat carved in the
shape of a fish. Many of the artists learned their skills from Frank Gaylord, 63, who says he was
the first stone carver to have an art degree (from Temple University: for more on Gaylord, see AGS
Newsletter...) when he arrived in Barre in 1951. Aside from tombstones, he has carved many public
sculptures, including the statue in the Connecticut Statehouse of the late Gov. Ella Grasso and a
Shakespeare in the lobby of the Old Globe Theater in San Diego. Six of the ten carvers whose work is
on display apprenticed under Gaylord. His own sculpture, "God's Fool," a statue of St. Francis of
Assisi singing to a sparrow, is on display in the show. "I'm not sure I want to be known as the damn
fool who spawned his own competition," said Gaylord, a trim man in a blue smock and a burgundy
beret. "But when a young man came to me wanting to work, I wanted to help. It reminded me of myself.
When George Kurjanowlczcame to studywith Gaylord in 1983, he had a degree from the Academy
of Fine Arts in Cracow, Poland, and was "desperately in need of work". "I never wanted to do this,"
said Kurjanowicz, now 35, gesturing toward an ornately carved tombstone. "But I was forced to make
a living, and I became good at it." Kurjanowicz works, as do most of Barre's 18 carvers, in one of
the many granite sheds around the city's six quarries. The sheds are chilly, cavernous buildings
AGSSP'89p.22
where granite is cut and polished and made ready for use. They hold huge cranes and cutting tools.
Fourcarvers, including Williams, work in the Barre Sculpture Studios, housed in a former shed. The
building, part of which has been transformed into a gallery for the exhibit, is a 6500-square-foot
space strewn with slabs of granite, cacophonous with pneumatic hammers and suction devices
vacuuming hazardous granite dust from the air. At work in the studio, Eric Oberg uses a carbide
chisel on a bas-relief of St. Jude, which he is carving on a tombstone destined for a cemetery in
Westchester County. (For more on Oberg, see AGS Newsletter,...) "I learned how to sculpt on
granite," he said. "I learned anatomy this way." "Granite seems like such an unyielding material,"
he added. "I have learned to make it yield." For himself he is working on a sculpture of a horse in
black African granite.
Williams sees stone carving as a way to "learn the basics, learn anatomy, learn the tools" of art.
"School was a playground," he said. "Video, performance art, earthworks — that was what was in. I
had to come here to learn the fundamentals." He and the other stone carvers also make a good living,
commanding $30 to $50 an hour, he says. Williams, 37, is the founder of the Barre Sculpture Studios
and a moving force behind the newly formed Barre Sculptors and Artisans Guild. He calls the
exhibition a "celebration of stone," which he says is coming back into favor as a building material
and an artistic medium. Along with the work of 10 carvers, the show "Currents in Stone" features
the stone work of 12 regional sculptors.
from the New York Times, December 1 1 , 1988; and the Halifax, Nova Scotia, Chronicle-Herald, January 21 ,
1989. For previous reference to the work of Eric Oberg and Frank Gaylord, see the AGS Newsletter, Fall
1987, p. 14.
A BIT OF BLACK HISTORY IN PHILADELPHIA
A dilapidated hearse drawn by two aged horses.. .its shabbiness could only denote that it bore the
remains of an impoverished citizen. Thus, according to author John Jay Daly, did one of America's
most prolific black songwriters, James A. Bland, go to his grave in Philadelphia in 1911. And the
"Empress of the Blues", Bessie Smith, met a similarfate in 1937. In fact, her grave in Mount Lawn
Cemetery in Sharon Hill was without a headstone until 1970.
The grave sites of most black Philadelphians of the 18th and 19th centuries — whether they were
powerful or poor, humble or heroic — have been lost in the often convulsed and mindless process of
urbanization. John Francis Marion, author of Famous and Curious Cemeteries, said that blacks tended
to be buried at their churches, and that those burial sites have ben pretty much covered over and
forgotten.
One site that was found and excavated at Eighth and Vine Streets in 1982 — that of the First African
Baptist Church — held some important clues to the past. A report on the excavation, in the journal of
the University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania, concluded that the evidence found there
"dispels the notion that the African in the New World was a man without a past." The burial customs
at the site between 1 824 and 1 842, the report noted, indicate that members of this congregation (and,
by extension, other blacks of the period) "withstood the attempts of whites to dispel their culture and
carried [their culture] with them through the impact of slavery into freedom."
Philadelphia witnessed one of its largest and most emotional funerals for Octavius V. Catto. He was
a member of the first graduating class of the Institute for Colored Youth (forerunner of Cheyney
University) and later a teacher at the institute. He had been a major in the Union Army. Catto was
marching in 1871 in a demonstration for black suffrage and was killed when the marchers were
attacked by a white mob. The funeral was held with full military honors at the old city armory at Broad
and Race Streets. The crowd of mourners, composed of blacks and whites, was described as immense.
Catto's grave is in Eden Cemetery in Collingdale.
The Catto funeral stands in sharp contrast to that of James Bland, 40 years later. Bland, who is buried
in Merlon Memorial Park in Bala Cynwyd, was the author of the state song of Virginia, "Carry Me Back
to Old Virginny"; Philadelphia's unofficial New Year's anthem "Oh, Dem Golden Slippers", and that
enduring favorite of barbershop quartets, "In the Evening by the Moonlight". Bland's life was, in
some ways, as tragic as his forlorn funeral. He wrote more than 700 songs but died in poverty of
tuberculosis at his home at 1 01 2 Wood St. in Center City. The only way for him to make money writing
songs was to write for minstrel shows, which often took the form of pro-slavery propaganda —
portraying the black man as a simple, happy, comic figure contented with his lot and unsuited for
anything more. The stone that marks Bland's grave was purchased by the Lions Club of Virginia in
1946.
Blues singer Bessie Smith spent the last years of her life in Philadelphia. She died in 1 937 of injuries
suffered in a car accident in Mississippi. She had been turned away from a hospital that treated only
white patients. She was buried in Eden Cemetery, although for years her grave went unmarked. The
stone that marks her grave was purchased in 1970 by singer Janis Joplin and Juanita Green of
Philadelphia, a former maid of Smith's.
from the Philadelphia hquirer, contributed by Robert Wehman, Philadelphia PA.
AGSSP'89p.23
NEW ROAD IN DELAWARE COLLIDES WITH A CEMETERY
Perusing the legal notices in the local newspaper last October, Edward W. Heite, an archaeologist from
Camden DE made a discovery that excited him. The state of Delaware was looking for the descendants
of Robert Graham, believed to have been buried in 1813 in a cemetery of unmarked graves. Upon
seeing Robert Graham's name, Mr. Heite thought, "Hey, that's my great-great-great-grandfatherl"
The cemetery is in the path of Delaware's proposed $400 million highway. The highway, being built
to relieve congestion on U.S. Route 13, will be re-routed and the grave of Robert Graham, if he is
indeed buried at the site, will be protected because Mr. Heite has come fonward as next of kin.
Mr. Heite is the first beneficiary of state legislation giving unmarked human burials the same
protection as marked burials: they may not be disturbed. Under the law, excavations may only begin
if approval is given by next of kin, the state's Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs and the
medical examiner.
The Nanticoke Indians of Delaware were the catalysts for the legislation. Believing that archaeological
excavations of their ancestors' graves on Island Field DE was disrespectful, the tribe pushed for
legislation to protect the remains. Dan Griffiths, a preservation officer at the state's Division of
Historical and Cultural Affairs, helped draft the law and give it wider application to include both
Native American and non-Native American sites. Mr. Griffiths said he had studied similar laws in
Massachusets and North Carolina, and that Delaware was the only state in the Mid-Atlantic region to
have such legislation.
For three years a team of archaeologists from the Centerf or Archaeological Research at the University
of Delaware has been working with the Delaware Department of Transportation to assess the cultural
and historical significance of land where the proposed highway is to run. One of the historians saw
an obscure note in the margin of a surveying map from 1878 saying there was a headstone of Robert
Graham on the quarter acre site. On the basis of that information, the archaeologists began to dig the
fallow, overgrown farmland adjacent to the Dover Air Force Base. After stripping some topsoil, the
diggers uncovered the graves of an adult male and a child and initially thought it was a small family
plot. But soon the diggers were finding scores of grave stains, or rectangular coffin markings in the
soil, and realized they had uncovered a large forgotten cemetery.
The state, meanwhile, has decided to re-align part of the 58-mile highway just east of the cemetery
and to buy the cemetery and mark the graves. Kevin Cunningham, an archaeologist in the state's
Department of Transportation, says that they will work with Mr. Heite and other identified Graham
descendants over the aesthetic design of the cemetery.
from the New York Times. October 1988, contributed by Ted Chase, Dover MA
The town of Huntington NY has about 60 abandoned cemeteries within its border that are now town
owned by State Law. In order that these cemeteries be properly taken care of, we instituted a plan
a number of years ago to have as many of these cemeteries as possible adopted. To date, 31 have been
adopted by individuals and organizations. Some of these cemeteries have no public access, but there
are a few left that can be adopted. All we askis that you clean up the debris and keep the grass and bushes
cut. If the cemetery needs fencing we have a small amount of money to erect post and rail fencing
around the plot. If a veteran of any war is buried in "your" cemetery and s/he needs a new grave
marker, we can get a new stone from Washington.
from Six Over S/x(V.1 #2, Winter 1988). Anyone who wishes to be placed on the mailing list may do so by
writing the Office of the Preservation Commission, 228 Main St., Huntington Village NY 11743.
NOTE FROM JACQUELINE M. WIRTH, AGS member from Ambler, PA
"At the 1 988 AGS meeting H. C. Wood III spoke on replication of old gravestones. He used my ancestor's
stone as an example. In the course of the discussion, Mr. Wood was criticized - and I indirectly - that
we did not leave the old stone as it was, and where it was, in Old Christ Church Burying Ground,
Philadelphia.
The choice to replace was mine, since recutting was not possible. The audience was somewhat mollified
when Mr. Wood indicated that the back of the new stone indicated that the stone was a replication
commissioned by two descendants.
I want the membership to know that the old stone is on its way to a permanent, protected home at the
Historical Society of Pennsylvania."
AGS SP'89 p. 24
Graves are big business in Hachioji, Japan. The lush, mountainous terrain, less than ideal for
housing, is the perfect setting for a cerfietery, 20 of which have been bulldozed into the Tokyo suburb's
bamboo-forested hills over the last three decades. At the 1 0,000-grave Kamikawa Cemetery, sites
run the gamut from humble, Japanese-style upright markers to an ostentatious $387,000 spread
commanding a sweeping view of the valley below. The most lavish of all Hachioji graves will be that
of Emperor Hirohito, whose remains were interred February 24 at a new 27,000-square foot
mausoleum. The Japanese government has allotted $20.8 million to build the tomb, part of the $73
million total for the funeral and burial ceremonies.
Rooted in the Buddhist practice of ancestor worship, the family grave is an object of reverence to most
Japanese. Traditionally, the highest duty of the head of the family was to erect and maintain the tombs
of his ancestors. The inability to do so was regarded as an unspeakable shame. Three times a year,
during the autumn and spring equinoxes and a midsummer holiday known as "o-bon", Japanese
families visit the family grave. Workers flock from the city to their ancestral homes during o-bon,
and a park the size of Kamikawa Cemetery can serve as many as 8000 visitors a day, causing traffic
jams and a run on flowers.
Spiralling land prices are steadily tugging the sacred o-haka out of the domain of the family and into
the world of business and city planners. These exclusive communities of the dead are becoming
difficult to buy into, and purchasing a grave is now commonly equated, in cost and trouble, with buying
a house.
from the San Francisco Examiner, contributed by Robert Wright, Madison Wl
East Hartford — Dawn LaMarre had done what she thought would help the living and the dead. She and
two volunteers pushed into place and caulked about 13 of the 107 tombstones that had been knocked
over by vandals recently in St. Mary's Cemetery. One of the stones marked the graves of her father
and grandfather. The others belonged to area Roman Catholic families, including ones she had never
met. But she daid she stopped her work after a woman took offence because the volunteers had touched
a family gravestone. "She was really screaming at me. I thought she was going to hit me," LaMarre
said. "I wnated to continue on with it. But after what this lady did, I felt so hurt. I tried to do her
a favor."
She didi it, she said, because she had learned that it would cost $40 to $1 70 to have the stones righted
professionally. Several elderly residents told her they couldn't afford the price, and LaMarre
wondered what would happen to the stones that belonged to people who had been dead for decades, with
no family left in the area. She said that some people might have worried that the volunteers did not
have the religious or legal right to touch the stones.
This was not the first warning LaMarre received. Robert Marek, operations director of the Catholic
Cemetery Association said that LaMarre did not have permission to reset the stones. But LaMarre said
she had talked to a detective from the East Hartford Police Department who said the work was not
illegal. LaMarre said she was carefuMo right the stones only after she had each family's permission.
She had talked to the woman who yelled and thought the woman approved of the work.
from the Hartford CT Courant.
An item in the Cape Cod Times, October31, 1988, sent by Ivan Rigby of Brooklyn NY mentions a tour
of three Dennis MA cemeteries sponsored by the Massachusetts Audubon Society. Janet Stenberg was
the volunteer guide who led this October tour to the Dennis, Hall and Sears Cemeteries. The Dennis
Cemetery is large in comparison to the other two which are family cemeteries. The Hall Cemetery
is small and personal, surrounded by woods and featuring "the prettiest stone on Cape Cod" — that of
6-week-old Batha Hall, who died in 1698. It is one of very few centuries-old gravestones marking
a child's body on the Cape, says Ms. Stenberg. The Sears Cemetery, on a rolling stretch of East Dennis,
is also a family cemetery, though it is bigger than the Hall Cemetery.
Old Burying Ground in Harvard Square, Cambridge, MA Offers Tours
Enclosed in this issue is a copy of the tour map developed by Donna La Rue for the Old Burying Ground
in Harvard Square, Cambridge, MA. Ms. La Rue invites those who plan to attend the AGS Conference
this summer to inquire about guided tours of this Burying Ground either before, during, or after the
Conference. She may be reached at 7 Sherborn Court, Somerville, MA 02145. This guide has been
prepared with the support of Christ Church, Cambridge, and the assistance of the Cambridge
Historical Commission, for the use of visitors and residents alike. Those who have not yet made a guide
to their local burying ground may find this a useful model.
AGS SP'89 p. 25
DOG DAYS OF WAR
From R & R Pacific (V.2 #1 1 . November 1987), Agana, Guam, Jean Kuehneman has contributed an
article siie wrote, "Dog Days of War" about dogs used to flush out the enemy on Guam during World
War II. These dogs were recruited from the general public, and in a patriotic fervor, Americans gave
up their pets as contributions to the war effort. Both male and female dogs were used successfully
during the war. However, it took some time before civilians and military were convinced that two
breeds far surpassed the others. Although there was an exceptional dog here and there among the other
breeds, it was the Doberman pinschers and German shepherds that passed obedience, aggression,
dependability and loyalty tests. They also adapted better to weather changes, replacement handlers,
changes in food, endurance of tropical heat, and could withstand the noise of guns on the battlefront.
Dogs killed on Guam are buried in the American War Dog Cemetery in Dededo, five miles south of
Andersen Air Force Base.
Twenty-four war dogs are buried in Dededo; looters have removed the brass plates that identified the
graves. Photo by Jean Kuehneman.
Victor B. Goodrich of Genealogical Research Services, Hamilton NY writes that while abstracting the 1
December 1 887 Walton Chronicle, published in Walton, Delaware County NY, he came across the folloing item,
reprinted from the Chattanooga [TN] Commercial. He writes "How I wish I could find equally informative
epitaphs for some of my clients!"
A COMPREHENSIVE EPITAPH
A correspondent of the Commercial cop\e6 the following unique and exhaustive epitaph from a tombstone in
Tennessee, and sent it in as a masterpiece in its line. It gives pretty much all of the deceased's history, and
he certainly had a remarkable career. The stone was erected by M. Muldoon of this city.
THOMAS P. AFTERALL
The 8th son of
Solomon Fidelity Afterall
Killed in 1 81 6 by the Indians
Of Puritan Stock
And His Fourth Wife
Eliza Jane Smith
Who was the third wife of J. Smith, who was her second husband, born at the new city of Indianapolis, Indiana, in the year
of our Blessed Redeemer and Saviour, 1814 on the 15th day of January, the same blessed year, and after having been
baptized the proper way, and acknowledging the true Baptist faith, was married to Peggy Cott (the tallest one), daughter
of Jim Cott (who lived at the forks of the road), who, having died, he took to his tender breast his true f riend--and mine--Martha
Wolpus. The two alx)ve helpmates gave him seven sweet buds of trust and affection, and I gave him one after his death,
of myself, who got scalded accidentally by him on maple sugar, and then still trusting the promise of God, he clasped his
wife for the third time. O, so sweetl his now weeping widow, Mary Bangs Afterall (who is myself), and died soon after on
March 1 0, 182, A.D., peace to his ashes. Having performed the work laid out for him to do by his Creator, he now rests from
his labors. There is no sorroweth there. Erected by his weeping and disconsolate widow and his truest wife, Mary Bangs
Afterall.
Chattanooga Commercial
Robert Wright, 830 Terry Place, Madison Wl, 5371 1 has the following books (in mint condition) for sale:
Memorials for Children of Change Graven Images
Dickran and Ann Tashjian Allan Ludwig
(Wesleyan University Press, 1974) $18.00 (hard) (Wesleyan University Press, 1966) $15.00 (soft)
PLUS $2.00 shipping
AGS SP'89 p. 26
z
9
o
.522
« w tl
tq . <S ->>
a 3 -J o a
O 0) O) 73
»» O »--* 0 *-*
i
5, « a *j f, -g
"a .Q (0 5 5 <a
^.•3 t 3> 0 >->
•-J 31 q •-> O
n, u a -ji
«-u 1 C E
oil -fl tJ ,Q
a E t^ a O.Q ?;
o 5 3 IX oi-r; tj
S 5
M •« Ol <» ti
. !"
K-^ t, .v: 0)
0) C
<» <» 01 ti «
<B
0) .Q a p
Oi 0) « O) +»
<» a rj 35 <» to t»
<n 1 o Q t-i a tt; oj
■ •^
to
totj Q,t,ise » ^3
C -.1 c c p « *
t4
1 rr H <» <s t a,
to od a. t5ito .sr •«:
d , c ^ <» 5.
Q: K5 E-c to Tj =c a 4 <»
a: a v E-i -Q
*~( O to t. o tj
p o
ex 3
^ ^ O u 0) O
^a t) S3 S
00 a: ^ 3: « :* »>
01
11
■ii 0) 0) 01 3 tj
S> fel CC H r3 ij -^
cc ^ O to >-i ci,-t 3
K -M o 8
Q w to e-i E-,
. a 01 M a M
<o M g 3 fi 3
f*< -u ^ Ci tr»tn
S; ^J CC to to
Cl tj
I no
to Ci
to
Hi '^t
K ■-<
OQ O
r-i Ol
a "3
ri CI
g
•^8-
•j:-^
.Q ft; t:j
.•^
^6
aj
gap
3 rO <a
0 (X g
£ tji o 3
•r» T3 i->
3> w <» "
■W .C ,Q
5 to
01 O
<a c R
^ -ri .ta
El tj V, «)
•• R +i .O f-i
«) -fl 01 "4-, R
u g Fi <a <a o
g g -rf Ja rP -rl
ta •*-, El 01
"•|<a^.. "^
9 01 . o
•<-, t3 +1
Q 01
n t3ii--4
•XJ Ml tl <3
1^ 1 t-i
O ^o ^^^
tj to
<a to .
*< "-i eg
<i
<a 41 0) 01
ta 3>"*-, . .c
. >-j ti) ai 01
ti 01 +1 js ^
II
p
01
0 1
i, <a
01 3 .i:
|.§^
+> *X3 R
<3 P O
<a R ti R -fi
R ta a 5 "-J
~ til s) ta
a: +1
to tj J5 CO
(a
+1 -"Jl +1
<a
3 <a
01 tj- R
<» tl to >»-,
R 3 +»
0 o t) ta 3
+1 >~» j:
01 <a o +»
.R
ta El <a p
rC .R (i
j; R "^ R 01
tl> <» o o
o 5 "xj 01 1~» <t-,A:
.s: tj R ■!?,■" ti
i-J »-> .c tP "
<3 (X E-;
<a
, R ^ .
to 'ri ii
lO
to fi
r-1 (a tj -
Mao
R tj Q ffi
13 31 to O 01
to t~l » •,»
•^l .CI -vl ^. to
*x] t3 Oi to +1 1~»
.Q M .P .
0 0= M tJi I
3 as to t, cj
tSl (^ "»
►-4 Kj K4 k-»
Oi 0> Oi Oi
Cn t*i oi 04
C^ Oj Cj.4 O
ft -
t-l 5~^ ft
0)
O to CO D ft tJ
5-> ft C ft is r-»
ft. 4 4 3 (X«:
TO <5 ^ O' a
CO ft f^. 1^ Co o
ft.CQ ft^ c-» (Th
• CO <C> C5) s^
^ C^ CD CB 3
O O ^S r-»
3 ^-» O •-+> ft
CB «-> C Q t-»
CB S S Co
ft.CQ ft.2 o
ft CB ft.
rl •-»> (B CO iCi
«& "-h CB PI4 (B <-
PU O 3 ct-
C Ci ch «-,
M, 3 CB ri ft
O ft. ft. ^3
►i CB PU CB
ft. e- CO
3 5+
O
3
*3
*
H
J? 5? S* Si
ft ft 0 (B
g
?
?
a a CO e
TO
ft
•p
Cr' cy cf
<i
r-J
ft
X X § §■
?
TO -C
3
Ci
ft. ft. CQ
CO
:§!
ft^
(B
CAlCft OjCft C^ h3 00 r->
s;
?c
H f»i
TO
t)
Ca
rtCBrt-CBOSfCBft
<- T3 & ft 2
K
Co
a Q
e
<3
CO
ft "^
H
Ci
>• ^a to «-' c>« ft ft.
«i-
0
Xi C3'
tq
^^
"-•i
sf n f>. (B ^. ci
1
■-H,
TO (B
3
H
c^&ftcocs:ft3cr)
CO Co
^
»d
CC!
ft ?-» a ^ cB
CO
o'>-
?->
^
^.
a v^. CyQ OitntoS
•^
S
Co
Cr- ft ►i hS -ft c^. r^. (B
ft. c^.cft ft fj ft >- 0
«:> G* (B o* CB 4 Cft
§
3^ (>i
ft.
00 In
Q
Sj
E.§
0 to
►iS
en
?;:^ cq
r".
t-<
0
•^
CO Co
n
TO ►i >• CSS Co ^.
5^.
H tn
ft
* 0
ft Oi OB \ 0 ft
4 0 0 f*i CO ft
Ci^
<i
c:
H
^s
(B
to
3
cs: 0 CO r>. c1- c~4
Co
c^
c+
«• r>. cf 3 0
T
>13 r».
c+
tq
«»
C~j TO 0 TO 3 Co
t^.
• «5
0
Co
^S
ft Tl- 3 0
ffl
3
<B
CO
1 ^^ ^ 9J''
TO
TO
CO
cf
:^. s? 2- ^
3
W
TO
c§^ a to ?
CO.
to
TO ^i- 0
S:
t-i 0
(B 3
c. ^
ft
S S
ft CB
ts; 03
Co ci-
Ol Co
ft
Ci ft
ca ft.
??" ft
Co cf
•- o
3
INI
C^ C5
8 "^
a o
^. ft
ft. 4
Cft ft^
CB (B
" S
s: Co
ft <rt-
co •
Co
T3 'Xj 'Xi
Ci ft O (B
S^ Cr"-K Co
hS (B
C>0
Q3
CO
s
'^
fi cs;
, ft
^3
TO
ft^ Co
K
TO cs:
^.
S
TO
ft 3
ft TO
3 CO
Co
cy ft
TO CQ
TO
c:i
ft
03 ft
Co r-J
Oo
■Ni
00
CO
3
. ft
TO 3
S ft.
1^ TO
ft. S''-
CQ ft
ft
S
ft.
<n-
TO
3
TO ■*
ft. O
TO
ft. e
ft ^ _
TO
ft
ft
ft
TO
ft
TO
TO TO
r~J 3
TO
Co
Co
Co
I— 1
O ^^. TO hS *-+)
3 TO 3 O
r1- £ TO S ^
ft ^."-i^'Xi O
Ci S ^'^ Co C
<rt-<ft <r+- - i^S
t) ft ft^'X3 "xa
O "-hcs; hS TO
3 O -^
3 rt- ft «5 CO
ft S" i-S Q
TO Tf
tr-i O
ft CO _
ta r^-" 3 '^
K ft. CQ TO
TO TO ft
3
ft CO rt- TO
sn- 3" ft TO
O r-i ft. ft
S ?f CO S'
TO
o
*:5
ft ft ft. O
CO S
■M^'od
'P,-Jt^. c 3 5 ^ 3 •<
CO
X-
>t-
^
X. ^^
0
Co ft
§
X. ^ "i.
^. ?^
CO
Cq a rf
fta CO
0 s
0:)
;s^ ^. !5^
0 "^-i r^.
Co
0 *^ Co
;^
'r-i cf
0
133 0
S
H ^ "^
S Co cs;
1 Oi
t3C! ft
0 ^^
Se Q>
CO ;s^
^
to
to to
to to
to
to
MACABRE RING EXPOSED AT GREEN-WOOD!
notes from Roberta Halporn
In small New England towns, I presume it is safe to decide that what you see in a graveyard is what
got planted there in the first place. But woe betide the unwary historian who tries the same
presumption in New York City. What you see is definitely not necessarily the first resting place of
a gravestone, nor even its last.
This needed to be pointed out to the tour sponsored by the Museum of American Folk Art to Congregation
Shearith Israel Cemetery, Trinity Church Yard and the handsome exhibition of Farber photographs
in the Museum's collection, (see AGS Newsletter, V#fall 1988, p. ) Though the cemetery we visited
is actually the third Spanish-Portuguese graveyard built in Manhattan (1829, and thus contains
many handsome Victorian monuments), it also plays host to approximately thirty Colonial stones
taken in 1855 from the first graveyard, still extant, when the Congregation's members tired of
continually propping them back up in their original site every time it rained. In the case of Shearith
Israel III, this move has been forgotten by almost everyone in the synagogue, with serious results.
The Synagogue has recently sought and received two grants to restore its first two cemeteries, in
complete disregard of what is visible, and hidden under a massive crop of ground ivy, in the third.
However, Iwas completely shocked recently to finally locate a treasure trove of colonial stones in
Greenwood Cemetery that, rumour had it, were moved to this garden paradise when our main shopping
street was expanded to take over the site of the first Dutch Reform Church in "Breuklen". I have seen
old etchings of the original church with its quaint spire and familiarly designed attached yard. There
are three such yards to visit in this borough, nestled against the walls of fairly old churches.
Someone however designed the most befuddled arrangement for these poor old monuments I have ever
seen. He or she must have visited England priorto the move and decided to imitate Stonehenge! These
photographs indicate what turned out to be a gold mine of New York City cutters' work, set out in a
completely anachronistic circle, with, for goodness sake, new interments surrounding them. I can
just imagine some excited novice coming on this field, and deciding that the Dutch colonists were also
imitating the ancient Celts. Let the unwary beware!!
AGS SP'89 p. 27
uaiiaiSMBN
Olf ON l"^-'»d
a I V d
3ovisod s n
•gyo luoad non
261-30
VN LueiipaeN
pa MinomAid Qfr
SaianiS 3N0iS3AVd9 dOd noiivioossv
HE TOOK IT WITH HIM
When the moon creates eerie shadows on Westford Hill Cemetery, the longest shadow is cast from the
monument to a man who took his fortune to the grave.
When Lucas Douglass, a wealthy bachelor farmer, died in 1895, his heirs received $51 between
them: $50 for one sister and $1 for the other. The rest, just shy of $1 0,000, went to building and
maintaining an immense marble monument over his grave. The monument was constructed according
to his last wishes. The monument, over 20 feet tall, is built of imported Italian marble and surrounded
by a ring of granite about 30 feet square. A smaller headstone with his initials marks the actual grave.
Douglass apparently ordered the materials for the monument before his death.
His will also established a $500 trust fund with the stipulation that the interest would be used
"annually for the purpose of keeping my grave and monument in good condition and of repairing and
beautifying my burial lot situated in the Westford Cemetery in said town of Ashford." He wrote the
will six years before his death. "In those days, $500 was $500," said grave trustee Alexander
Fabian. The grounds have been maintained each year in the vicinity of Douglass' lot and recently
Fabian used most of the interest that had built up on the trust fund, close to $4000, to spruce up the
monument too The cleaning operation was no small task. "There's a lot of marble," Fabian said. "It
had grown covered with moss and dirt and grime." He said that the cleaning company, Tri-County
Memorials of Windham, had to build staging to reach the top of the monument.
However difficult the cleaning operation of 1 988, the trip from Italy with the huge marble statue was
even more trying. The first attempt to get the statue here failed when the ship sank, Fabian said. When
the insurance company paid up and a duplicate got safely across the Atlantic, it had to be brought to
the cemetery from New York City, according to an old newspaper account. It took three flat cars on
the New Haven Railroad to haul the monument and its trappings to Willimantic, but because the trip
from Willimantic to Westford was mostly uphill, the load was taken by train to Stafford. From there,
a team of oxen dragged the monument to where it now sits on the highest point in the Westford Hills
Cemetery.
Restored to its original grandeur nearly a century afterthe journey from Italy, the monument is still
the most striking feature of the old cemetery, which also contains graves of Revolutionary War and
Civil War soldiers.
contributed by Fred Sawyer, Glastonbury CT.
The AGS Newsletter is published quarterly as a service to members of the Association for Gravestone
Studies. The membership year begins on the date dues are received and ends one year from that date^ A one
year membership entitles the members to four issues of the Newsletter and to participation in the AGS
conference in the year membership is current. Send membership fees (individual $20; institutional, $25;
Family $30; contributing $30) to AGS Executive Director Rosalee Oakley, 46 Plymouth Rd. Needham MA
02192. Back issues of the Newsletter are available for $3.00 per issue from Rosalee Oakley. The goal of
the Newsletter is to present timely information about projects, literature, and research concerning
gravestones, and about the activities of the Association for Gravestone Studies. It is produced by Deborah
Trask, who welcomes suggestions and short contributions from readers. The Newsletter is not intended
to serve as a journal. Journal articles should be sent to Theodore Chase, editorof Markers, the Journal
of the Association for Gravestone Studies, 74 Farm St., Dover MA 02030. Address Newsletter
contributions to Deborah Trask, editor. Nova Scotia Museum, 1747 Summer St., Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H
3A6, Canada. OrderMarkers (Vol. 1 $18; Vol. 2, $16; Vol. 3. $14.75; Vol. 4, $14.75; Vol. 5, $18; higher
prices for non-members) from Rosalee Oakley. Send contributions to the AGS Archives to Elizabeth Rich,
Archivist, 43 Rybury Hillway, Needham MA 02192. Address other correspondence to Rosalee Oakley.
NEWSLETTER
OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES
DEBORAH TRASK, ED. VOLUME 13 NUMBER 3 SUMMER 1989 ISSN: 0146-5783
CONTENTS
1989 CONFERENCE, BYFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS
Abstracts of papers 1
Forbes Award presentation to Betty Willsher 4
1990 conference 6
Annual Meeting 6
President's report 7
Executive Director's report 8
New Members 12
1989-90 Board of Trustees 15
RESEARCH NEWS 17
DUVAL-RIG BY COLLECTION 18
ARTICLES
Grave Shelters, by Sybil Crawford 19
The Stone is Home, by Fred Oakley 20
Reading Illegible Gravestones 21
Odd Family Stones in Scotland 22
WORKSHOPS AND TOURS 23
MEMBER NEWS 24
ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS
PRESENTED AT
THE 1989 CONFERENCE
CHASE, Theodore and Laurel GabeL "Ford, Fowie, Holllman and Maxey: Essex County
Gravestone Carvers." James Ford, Robert FowIe, John Holliman, and Levi Maxey were
gravestone carvers who worked in Essex County, Massachusetts during the eighteenth century. Their
work is concentrated in the Salem, Beverly, Marblehead area, northward to Newburyport, and in the
case of Robert FowIe, southward to Boston. This slide presentation will introduce the work and lives
of these carvers.
CORNISH, Michael. "10 x 10." This series of ten images in ten groups presented several
opportunities for original research in gravestone studies, including carvings by unknown and
undocumented artisans in Bristol, Suffolk, Norfolk and Essex Counties. Other groups featured first
looks at hitherto hidden details, possible connections between certain carvings that need to be
pursued, and a few extra-ordinary designs that stand out from the oeuvre of their creators' routine
work.
EDGETTE, J. Joseph. "From Paper to Stoneby Way of Wood: Thomas Ha rg reave Wood,
Philadelphia Gravestone Carver." Prominent among Philadelphia stonecutters of the late
nineteenth century were the Wood brothers. It was Thomas Hargreave Wood (1 858-1 929) who was
probably the most talented and skilled of all the family members. Primarily a sculptor, Thomas
specialized in effigies and highly ornate and decorative curbing and fencing. Many of his major works,
such as "Bicycle Boy" and "Girl Under Glass," can be found in the Philadelphia area. Through the
use of primary source material from the Wood family archives, original drawings, early and current
photographs, and recently discovered renderings, Thomas' work was discussed.
AGSSu'89p1
FANNIN, Minxie Jensvold. "St. Augustine's Chapel and Cemetery in South Boston,
Massachusetts." The Saint Augustine's Cemetery, the first Catholic burying ground in Massachu-
setts, was established in 1818. The Chapel is the oldest surviving structure of the Gothic Revival
style in Massachusetts. An investigation of all available St. Augustine Cemetery records has been
undertaken along with the evaluation and recording of each individual marker. The presentation
focused on the St. Augustine's Cemetery as a source of significant information on the early history of
Boston's Irish immigration.
FARBER, Daniel and Jessie Lie Farber."How to Photograph a Gravestone." During the
field trip to the Byfield Parish Burial Ground, Daniel and Jessie Lie Farber demonstrated the how to
make clear, sharp photographs of gravestones.
FREDETTE, Alfred (Teachers' Workshop) "Hands-on Discovery Approach to Student
Exploration of Burial Grounds." This section of the Teachers' Workshop offered a practical
student-oriented approach to gathering, organizing, and evaluating historical information collected
in any burial ground. Emphasis was on the social, occupational, economic, and religious character-
istics and the artistic skills of the period. This was a hands-on discovery approach designed to
encourage students to work and learn with a minimum degree of guidance.
GABEL, Laurel K. (Teachers' Workshop) "Early New England Gravestones and the
Stories They Tell." This opening slide presentation forthe Teachers' Workshop is an introduction
to early gravestones and helps you see the old stones with new eyes. Burying grounds are full of
history, art, chronicles of religious beliefs, family genealogy, tragedy, scandal and even humor as
the presentation will depict.
HALPORN, Roberta (Teachers' Workshop) "Thirty Dirty Lies About Graveyards . . .
Witches, Mandrakes, and Manticores, Or How To Get The Kids' Attention" This section
of the Teachers' Workshop offered two different approaches to using cemetery data as learning
material. The first, used with 9-1 1 year olds (35 at a time) uses complete works from the speaker's
collection, in combination with a true-false game. The second, for adults, was conducted in an actual
graveyard on Halloween entitled, "Witches Have a Bad Press."
KOTTARIDIS, Katherine L. "Historic Boston Burying Grounds Initiative: The
Examples of the Dorchester North and Eliot Burying Grounds." The Boston Parks and
Recreation Department has in place the Historic Burying Grounds Initiative forthe restoration of its
sixteen historic cemeteries. The conservation at the Dorchester North Burying Ground (1634) is
about to begin, and since October, work has been undenway at the Eliot Burying Ground (1630) in
Roxbury. This talk reported on the status of these sites and the overall efforts of the Initiative.
LITTLE, M. Ruth. "The Last Generation of Traditional Stonecutters In Piedmont
Carolina: 1830-1 870." In orderto begin to understand the process of acculturation during this
time, when traditional ethnic communities in "backcountry Carolina," primarily the German
Lutherans and Moravians, were assimilated into the dominant popular culture, two of the major
stonecutting workshops in this region deserve study. The intersection of the folk tradition and the
popular Neoclassical style in headstones is a fascinating aspect of the work of the Conrad-Parks
workshop in Lexington and the Caveny-Crawford workshop in York County.
LUTI, Vincent F. "The Extentof the Newport, Rhode Island Carving School, and an
Overview of the Complex Questions Surrounding the Stevens Shop, 1705-1736."
This overview outlined ideas on the sources and development of the "Newport School." There are now
identified eight coherent bodies of carving styles in eighteenth-century Newport, work by a
"primitive" craftsman, some English imports, and possibly a slave carver.
MATTURI, John. "Uncommon Grounds: American Burial Memorials and the Relation-
ship Between the Living and the Dead." The development of the American burial ground was
viewed from a cultural perspective, focussing on the differences in burial and mourning customs over
time and between various religious and ethnic groups.
MILLER, Ruth M. "The Cemeteries of a City Without Stones: Charleston, SC."
Charleston, South Carolina, is a stoneless harbor with cemeteries featuring a variety of sto'nes in
many styles worked by carvers in other regions and by local workshops. The history of the
development of Charleston cemeteries and carving was traced from the early eighteenth to the end of
the nineteenth century.
REEG, Elva M. "To Preserve a 1665 Bradford Cemetery: More Questions Than
Answers." The Bradford Cemetery suffers from neglect as do so many of the burying grounds. It
is the location of the ancestors of the Kimball family whose members are concerned with preserving
the site. By examining the Bradford Cemetery, the difficulties involved in, and the strategies for,
preserving such sites was considered.
AGSSu-89p2
ROTUNDO, Barbara. "All About- Cemeteries Except the Gravestones." (Teachers'
Workshop) This section of the Teachers' Workshop engaged subjects giving teachers background
information which will be of value should the students' questions lead them into related areas about
cemeteries, crematories, funeral parlors, and other collateral subjects.
"Our Roots Go Deep: Emblems and Iconography on American Gravestones."
Scholars of colonial gravestone carvers have pointed out seventeenth-century emblem books and
Christian iconography as probable sources for design elements in those early stones. A study of the
history of art in the Western world, and in particular Erwin Panofsky's pioneering study, Tomb
Sculpture (1964), show that American gravestone symbolism and design is very much in the
mainstream of Western culture.
SAWYER, Fred and Jessica Sawyer. "A Case In Point: The Adoption and Revival of
Eastbury Cemetery" (Teachers' Workshop) A father and daughter team recounted the year of
research they undertook as part of their adoption of an abandoned local cemetery. Emphasis was placed
on the specific problems they encountered, the procedures they used, and the changes they experi-
enced in the way they viewed the cemetery and its history.
TUCKER, Ralph. "Essex County Carvers." A wide variety of carving styles by Essex County
and Boston stonecutters is found in the cemeteries featured in the self-guided tours and workshops
of this conference. This presentation previewed those graveyards and noted the prominent carvers
to be seen.
"Merrimac Valley Styles." This presentation identifies the many carvers whose works
were seen over the weekend. Some fifteen carvers, including the Hartshornes, Leightons, fulullick-
ens, Websters, and Worcesters, were featured.
WILLIAMS, Gray, Jr. "The Center Church Crypt, New Haven, CT: 1680-1800." The
Center Church was built in 1814 over part of the ancient burying ground. In the crypt there are 150
graves which have been protected from the elements since 1814. The stones range in date from semi-
professionally lettered fieldstones of the 1680s and 1690s to neo-classic slates and marbles of the
1 790s. The crypt is a uniquely preserved piece of history which offers several useful insights into
the practices and values of the past.
WILLSHER, Betty. "Heads in Stone: The Death Mask, the Portrait, and the Green Man
on Scottish Gravestones." There is an enormous variation in the ways the cutters of Scottish
eighteenth-century gravestones presented these effigies. Regional fashions are apparent, but each
mason followed his own taste. Some Scottish styles may correspond with those in the USA and Canada.
The sources for these images must be common to all western countries. After surveying the sources
for these images, the origin of the Green Man was discussed.
AGS President Fred Oakley confers with Minxie Fannin at Friday's Restoration
Worl<sliop, Byfield MA First Parish Church cemetery.
Handouts prepared for the mini-tours to Salem and Marblehead, and the
"Overview of Essex County Gravestone Carvers" prepared for the bus tour are
available to any interested members through the AGS office, for $5.00
(copying, postage and handling).
AGS Su'89 p3
THE HARRIETTE MERRIFIELD FORBES AWARD
At the first annual conference of The Association for Gravestone Studies, it was resolved that
an award should be made periodically to honor either an individual or an organization in
recognition of exceptional service to the field of gravestone studies. This award, known as The
Harriette Merrifield Forbes Award, recognizes outstanding contribution in such areas as
scholarship, publications, conservation, education, and community service.
Past recipients of this award are:
1977 Daniel Farber
1978 Ernest Caulfield
1979 Peter Benes
1980 Allan Ludwig
1982 Jim Slater
1984 Ann Parker & Avon Neal
1985 Jessie Lie Farber
1986 Louise Tallman
1987 Frederick & Pamela Burgess
1988 Laurel Gabel
FORBES AWARD PRESENTATION
by W. Fred Oakley, Jr., President
Betty Willsher is a long-time AGS member residing in St. Andrews, Scotland. Her work is important to North
American gravestone studies in providing information on the correlation of motifs on Scottish and American
stones, thus suggesting that many of the designs and symbols arise from a common intellectual and spiritual
source.
Betty Willsher's interest in recording gravestones began in 1 972 when she and a companion spent holidays and
weekends visiting graveyards all over Scotland. Aftertaking notes and making many photographs, they decided
to write a book. In 1978, Stones: A Guide to Some Remarkable 18th Century Gravestones was published by
Betty Willsher and Doreen Hunter.
In 1983 the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland commissioned Betty
Willsherto survey graveyards in the Scottish Lowlands. Since 1 983 she has visited or revisited 51 0 churchyards
in eight counties and 2/3 of seven other counties in addition to some in England. She has a collection of 1 752
photographs with detailed notes.
Betty lectures to local history and archaeology societies, using her collection of 1 000 slides, averaging a dozen
talks during the October-March club season.
Her books, Stones (1978), Understanding Scottish Graveyards (1985, reprinted 1988) and How to Record
Scottish Gravevards (1985), are stimulating interest and action. Other publications of Betty Willsher are
"Scottish Gravestones and the New England Winged Skull" in Markers II.
Betty's appreciation of gravestones in the Scottish Lowlands and the influence of those art forms on American
stones earned for her the 1989 Harriette Merrifield Forbes Award for outstanding contributions to the field of
gravestone studies.
I am pleased and proud to present this award on behalf of the Trustees and general membership of AGS.
Betty, this certificate was skillfully crafted by Carol Perkins and handsomely framed by Michael Cornish. To
accompany this award we want you to have a photograph of Mrs. Forbes. Congratulations!
Fred Oakley presenting the 1989 Forbes Award
to Betty Willsher
AGS Su'89 p4
BETTY WILLSHER'S ACCEPTANCE SPEECH
This is a taiiy great honour you have conferred upon me, and it is enormously appreciated. I was introduced
to the AGS by Francis Duval, and persuaded by him to attend the 1980 conference at Bradford. I learned of
his sudden death with sadness. He had written to me regularly, his letters were informative, interesting and,
of course, very amusing. I am indebted to him, to the Farbers, to Ralph Tucker and other members for that
enjoyable and interesting time, a time repeated at this wonderful conference.
The Association has one of the greatest success stories, burgeoning in numbers and in activities, both practical
and scholarly, and in its sphere of influence. It stands as a nrwdel to other associations. I look forward eagerly
to the AGS Newsletters and to the issues of Markers.
At that 1 980 conference, Dan and Jessie gave me one of the splendid Farber photographs. It hangs in my dining
room and has been a source of envy to many of my friends. When my grand-daughters were visiting me, aged
12 and 10 years old, they did a tour of the house, deciding what they would most like when I died; The prize
object was Dan's photograph and this I regarded as excellent discrimination!
By 1 980 Doreen Hunter and I had produced our book, Stones. We had romped from graveyard to graveyard,
all over Scotland, on some days from dawn to dusk. Since those happy days I have been 'taken in hand.' 1 have
had to learn discipline. Writing the commissioned Understanding Scottish Graveyards and the Manual, was
hard slog. In 1 983 an agreement was made with The Royal Commission on Ancient and Historic Monuments
of Scotland; I would record a sample of the most interesting stones in each parish graveyard in the Lowlands;
they would process the photographs. Recently I undertook to do the clerical work, as their Records Office is
short staffed. It entails form filling forthree copies of each photo, and two forms forthe negatives. What a terribly
hard job it is that clerks do have.
Sometimes an event is very timely. This wonderful Harriette Men-ifield Forbes Award puts a fine breeze to my
flagging sails. For while I do hope that it isn't a race against the hour-glass and scythe, it may be one against
the disabilities of age. The results of the surveys ensure that worn stones are recorded before it is too late; they
are building up a good picture of regional variations in design. And they give relevant material to me for lectures,
talks and walk-abouts. Yes, the gravestone addiction i£ spreading and groups aifi doing the essential local
surveys — but not yet on the scale you know here.
We all of us share the same enormous interest. I believe much of it springs from curiosity, which drives one
on to the satisfaction of solution. As an example, in May this year Doreen Hunter, who had been out of action
for a very long time with a badly broken leg, Jess Nelson and I, three Old Mortalities, did five days' work in the
Boarders. One morning we had argued our way into a graveyard: "Don't carry that — mind your hernia" and
"What about your shoulder?" and "Look out, Doreen, don't trip there." I electrified them by sighting a huge
carving of a camel. We set on the headstone, and with a bit of cleaning it turned out to be a winged horse.
Pegasus forsooth! We made no headway with the lichen-encrusted inscription beyond the date - 1 777. I made
an appeal to a group some 30 miles away, and quickly received the verdict by letter. It was a Turnbull stone,
with the family crest - a GRIFFIN!
When are some of you coming to Scotland? Will Griffins and Green Men tempt you?
My warmest thanks for the hospitality of Dan and Jessie, and to you all for your many kindnesses. And thank
you more than I can say for this Award.
FORBES AWARD NOMINATIONS OPENED TO MEMBERSHIP
Up to this time people have been nominated forthe Forbes Award by Board members. At the April 1 989 Board
meeting, the trustees voted to open the nominations of Forbes Award recipients to the general membership.
Nominations must be made in a typewritten or handwritten paragraph of not more than a half -page. The person
doing the nominating must indicate how the nominee fulfills the requirements of the award (see below).
The person nominating must also ascertain whetherthe nominee would be able to be present at the conference
to accept the award in person should they be chosen as the recipient. The award is not made in absentia and
no award will be made if the person chosen by the Board cannot be present at the last minute.
Please send your half-page nominations to Board member Jonathan Twiss, 230 Farmington Avenue, A-1,
Hartford, CT 06105. Deadline for nominations to reach Jonathan is January 15.
These are the requirements for the Forbes Award:
The honor is given to an individual or an organization in recognition of exceptional
service to the field of gravestone studies.
The award recognizes outstanding contributions in such areas as scholarship,
publications, conservation, education, and community service.
The recipient must be present to accept the award. The award is presented at a
designated time during the annual conference usually held the fourth or last
weekend in June each year. In 1990 it will be June 21-24.
AGS Su'89 p5
1 989 ANNUAL MEETING MINUTES
President Fred Oakley called the meeting to order at 6:24 PM in the Phillips Dining Hall at Governor
Dummer Academy, Byfield, MA, on June 23, 1989. Secretary Lance Mayer reported a quorum of at
least twenty members present, as well as 1 30 proxy ballots, and declared the meeting duly convened.
President Oakley asked for additions, deletions or corrections to the report of the Annual Meeting held
in Lancaster, PA on June 23, 1988. There being none, Ralph Tucker ;moved that the ;minutes be
approved. Barbara Rotundo seconded the motion, which was approved unanimously.
President Oakley asked for questions or comments concerning the reports from the President, the
Executive Director, the Research Coordinator and the Lending Library Custodian, all of which had
been printed and distributed to conference participants. There being no comments, the President
declared the reports accepted.
President Oakley asked for questions concerning the Treasurer's Report, which had been distributed.
There being none, a motion was made by Ralph Tucker and seconded by Roberta Halporn that the
Treasurer's Report be accepted as submitted. The motion was approved unanimously.
The report of the Nominating Committee having been distributed, President Oakley asked for
additional nominations from the floor. There being none, Cornelia Jenness, Chair of the Nominating
Committee, moved that the Secretary be directed to cast a unanimous ballot for the slate of nominees
presented by the Committee. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously. Secretary Lance
Mayer read the names of the newly elected trustees, and those present were asked to stand for
acknowledgement by the membership. Elected as Trustees for two years were Lorraine Clapp, Robert
Drinkwater, Jessie Lie Farber, Jo Goeselt, Cornelia Jenness, William B. Jordan, Jr., Lance Mayer,
Pat Miller, W. Fred Oakley, Jr., Barbara Rotundo, Ralph Tucker, Jonathan Twiss, William Wallace,
and Richard Welch. Elected as Officers were W. Fred Oakley, Jr. as President, Robert Drinkwater
as Vice-President, Lance Mayer as Secretary, and Cornelia Jenness as Treasurer, all for terms of two
years.
Vice-President Robert Drinkwater conveyed to President Fred Oakley the first-edition copy of
Harriette Merrifield Forbes' Gravestones of Early New England and the Men Who Made Them which
has traditionally been presented to the AGS President.
President Oakley reported that Jo Goeselt has been appointed as Archivist to replace Beth Rich, who
has retired from that office.
Vice-President Robert Drinkwater read aloud the names of the Trustees who are continuing for one
year: Daniel Farber, Alfred Fredette, Janet Jainschigg, C. R. Jones, William Hosley, Elizabeth Rich,
James Slater, Gray Williams, and Harvard C. Wood III.
Robert Drinkwater also read a list of Trustees who are retiring after six years: Alice Bunton, Laurel
Gabel, Geraldine Hungerford, and Miriam Silverman. Those returning Trustees who were present
were asked to rise, and were given a round of applause.
President Oakley discussed proposed changes in the by-laws, which had been printed and distributed.
He explained that we will have an absentee ballot system rather than a proxy ballot system, and stated
that the Board has studied the proposed changes at length and strongly recommends their approval.
A motion that the by-law changes be accepted as printed was made by Janis Ramoth and seconded by
Ralph Tucker. The motion was carried unanimously.
Neil Jenness reported that we will have AGS mini-conferences, beginning in Chesterfield, NH, on July
15, for teachers and also on August 19 in Portland, ME, on the restoration of graveyards.
Fred Oakley reported the death of Francis Duval, a long-time AGS member. Francis was a gifted
photographer, graphic artist, and sculptor, co-authored with Ivan Rigby a book of photographs of
gravestones, and Editor of the AGS series of regional guides. We feel his loss very deeply, and Fred
Oakley asked members to stand and join in a moment of silence. Fred Oakley also reported that the AGS
leadership and a number of members have sent letters of regret to Ivan Rigby. Jessie Lie Farber
recalled that Francis designed the AGS logo, and we will remember him through this. Roberta Halporn
reported that Bill Ward, who conducted tours of Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn for our 1985
conference, died two weeks after Francis' death.
President Oakley declared the meeting adjourned at 6:47 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Lance Mayer, Secretary
AGS Su'89 p6
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR BOARD OF TRUSTEES REQUESTED
The Nominating Committee invites your recommendations for nominations to the Board of Trustees.
We are looking for Trustees who have the ability and vi/illingness to take leadership positions within
AGS, and are available to serve at least one term of two years.
A member may recommend him or herself, or may recommend another member if that person is
contacted first to confirm his or her willingness to serve. We also ask that both the person making
the recommendation and the person recommended send a brief statement describing the nominee's
experience and abilities, and how that person could contribute to the growth of AGS and its programs.
The Nominating Committee reserves the right to interview potential nominees, and to limit the
number of nominees and/or indicate the Committee's recommendations for certain candidates when
the names of the nominees are published in the Newsletter.
Please send recommendations to:
Lance Mayer, Chairman
Nominating Committee
c/o Lyman Allyn Art Museum
625 Williams Street
New London, CT 06320
PRESIDENT'S REPORT
Your association is thriving at a level consistent with objectives approved by the Board of Trustees. Our fiscal
condition is good, the deficit for 1988 representing the cost of inventory and pre-publications costs for Markers
VI and VII. A major part of this "deficit" will be recovered by sales income in 1 989. Interest income has improved
markedly through our investment in short-term certificates of deposit.
As expected, our steady increase in membership slowed as a result of the necessary increase in dues effected
in June 1988. Fortunately, our marketing efforts have paid off. Member distribution of brochures, mailings to
5000 addressees in the fall of 1988, and publicity associated with Annual Conference have improved our
visibility.
Our Planning Committee was expanded to five members. An initial meeting in February was the first of two
planned for 1 989. Policy issues are being researched and will be presented to the Board at its October meeting.
The time-consuming revision of the by-laws has been completed and hopefully will be accepted at this annual
meeting.
The economics of having our journal printed by a different source is being actively pursued.
A "permanent" location for Board and Planning Committee meetings, reasonably located for our Trustees has
removed the uncertainty that prevailed.
A two-year "lead time" objective set by the Board for conference sites has been met.
The Conference site for 1990 has been selected and resen/ations made at Roger Williams
College, Bristol, Rl. An expert on Narragansett Basin stones has been appointed Program
Chair.
Our 1991 Conference site will be at Keene State College, Keene, NH from whence exceptional
burying grounds in Chesterfield (NH) and the area from Brattleboro, VT to Chester, VT can be
easily reached.
Pending Board approval, Bloomington, IN is a good prospect for 1992.
Mini-conferences, single day events with sharply focused program, are planned in New Hampshire and Maine
this summer. A Teachers' Workshop will be held July 15 in Chesterfield, NH. A Conservation Workshop is
scheduled for August 19 in Portland, ME.
Several members have agreed to donate their slide/lecture programs to increase our media inventory.
The brevity of this report belies the enormous amount of time, energy, talent and personal expense invested
by your Trustees, its Committees and Editors in advancing the purposes of your association. We are indeed
fortunate to have attracted such dedicated and committee leadership.
W. Fred Oakley, Jr.
President
AGS Su'89 p7
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S REPORT
This has been a year of holding steady in the face of membership loss due to increasing dues last June.
However, 222 new members have joined since June 1 988 and our membership today stands at 928 compared
with 895 members at this time last year.
The office has had a noticeable increase in volume of correspondence and telephone inquiries. These include
membership inquiries, requests for resources in restoration, and requests for information on legislation to
protect graveyards from developers. Through the GRAVEBOARD, a newsletter for the Board of Trustees,
issues from these communications and other agenda items are shared with the Board.
Sales of our AGS publications and scheduling the videos and slide show remain important parts of our office
activity. The slide show was used by eight groups during the past year and the videos by nineteen individuals
and groups.
The Newsletter Index entries were completed last August and sent to editor George Kackley for final editing.
Because of its length and complexity, we plan a service offering to provide specific information (in hard copy
form) sought by researchers.
Board meetings in October, January and April were supported in the office by pre- and post-meeting
communications and luncheon arrangements.
The Executive Director has accompanied Board members visiting potential conference site locations in Rhode
Island and Massachusetts.
Office participation for the conference has increased this year to include preparing the Call for Papers, the
registration form, the Program Book, and the evaluation forms, receiving pre-conference registrations, making
nametags and the chairing of the Teachers' Workshop. It was a pleasure to receive excellent responses from
those AGS members asked to participate as leaders, sharing their experience, knowledge, materials and
presence with other teachers.
My special thanks goes to President Oakley for taking on additional duties while I recovered from foot surgery
during the winter. And to Ted Chase and Deborah Trask, our editors, I want to express appreciation, as well
as to Laurel Gabel for her counsel, and to the rest of the Board of Trustees for their individual efforts on behalf
of the Association and their encouragement and support through the year.
Rosalee F. Oakley
Executive Director
■f
NEW AGS ARCHIVIST ASSUMES DUTIES
At the Annual Meeting it was announced that Elizabeth (Jo) Goeselt, having relinquished the position of
Treasurer to Cornelia Jenness, has assumed duties as AGS Archivist. All correspondence regarding the
Archives may be directed to her at 61 Old Sudbury Road, Wayland, MA 01778. Herfirst duty in her new position
occurred during the conference at the reception on Saturday night when, at a special presentation, Roberta
Halporn (above, right) presented Jo with a copy of the newly reprinted book, Gravestones of Early New England
and the Men Who Made Them by Harriette Merrifield Forbes.
AGS Su'89 p8
1990 CONFERENCE SLATED FOR BRISTOL, RHODE ISLAND
Roger Williams College, Bristol, Rhode Island, has been selected as the site for the 1990 AGS Annual
Conference. Named for the Puritan reformer and founder of Rhode Island, Roger Williams College is located
on a promontory overlooking f^t. Hope Bay in historic Bristol Rl. Its modern 80-acre, compact water-front
campus is fully equipped with meeting rooms, lecture halls and lounge areas. Providence and Newport are
about a half-hour away in opposite directions, Boston about 1 1/2 hours to the north, New York City some 4 hours
to the south. Half-hourly bus service from Providence enters the campus on the route to Newport. Amtrack
service is available to Providence. Numerous major airline carriers have service to Green Airport just south of
Providence which is approximately 45 minutes by interstate to Bristol.
Narragansett Basin carvers will be the focus for the bus tour. Also, a major Victorian cemetery in Providence
will be visited. The most knowledgeable person on Narragansett Bay carvers is Vincent Luti, professor of
musicology at Southeastern Massachusetts University. Professor Luti is chairing our Program and Bus Tour
Committees.
In addition to being an area rich in opportunities for gravestone studies, the region is a major vacation area.
Newport features Cliff Walk, tours of opulent mansions, the Tennis Hall of Fame, and much, much more.
Providence has its own rich history, and includes historic houses, many architectural treasures. Brown
University, Rhode Island School of Design, and many other opportunities for visitors to enjoy the state's Capitol
city. So circle Mm® i11=i4l, 1990 on your calendars and plan to attend.
SELECTING CONFERENCE SITES
The evaluation forms contained many suggestions for future conference sites. A number of them called
for conferences outside New England. The Board will be giving every consideration to selecting some
of these locations. Several components must be in place before that can happen, however: 4-5
cemeteries with interesting gravestones (unique art, researched carvers, unique materials, known
facts about the stones) must be close enough together to be reached in less than a half hour to make
a good bus tour. These yards must be nearby a school that can house 100 people overnight, with an
auditorium that seats at least 150, that is able to host us the 4th weekend in June and has reasonable
fees. AGS members in that area must be willing to take on the Conference Chair, Program Chair and
Tour Chair positions. It also means that AGS members in New England (where about half of our
membership resides) must save their pennies and be willing to travel since we don't have a
concentration of membership in more distant locations. These several conditions make conference
site location a real challenge!
ANNUAL MEETING APPROVES CHANGES TO BY-LAWS
The Board-proposed changes in the by-laws were unanimously approved including one section that had been
referred back to the by-law committee from the previous annual meeting.
As indicated in the proxy, the most apparent change that will be noticed by the general membership will be
absentee ballots in place of the former proxy procedure. This change was motivated by the excellent response
of members in returning their proxies which in recent years, had they been exercised by the President, would
have been sufficient to pass any issues to come before the meeting.
The plan outlined by the Board anticipates that the nominating committee, chaired for the next year by Lance
Mayer, will communicate with the general membership through the Newsletter and present their recommenda-
tions for officers and trustees in ballot form in the Winter 1990 Newsletter. As it is possible for there to be more
nominees than positions to be filled, each member may have broader choices than previously.
President Oakley wishes to express his thanks to the 130 members who sent proxies. This expression of
confidence in the leadership of the organization is greatly appreciated.
A photographic exhibit of photographs by
AGS 1989 Conference Chair, Michael
Cornish, titled "Stone Faces: Early Grave-
stones in Essex County" was at the His-
torical Society of Old Newbury through-
out the summer.
Mehetable Hobson, 1773
carved by Jonathan Hartshorne
original photo by Michael Cornish
AGS Su'89 p9
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S MUSINGS ON THE CONFERENCE
Roberta Halpom (kneeling) with helpers
The conference has come and gone for another year with all its planning, excitement, new people,
old friends, photographs, slides, papers, tours, bug bites, food, and much, much more. Looking
at the evaluation forms left behind by the 150 conferees, once you get past the few frustrating
situations mentioned by many, the general response was that this was an excellent conference,
possibly one of our best in many ways.
The first two days were hot, humid, and buggy A Virginia conferee was heard to ask, "Is it true
that the mosquito is Massachusetts' state bird?" And after a cooler but no less buggy day for the
bus tour, Jim Slater began his introductions of Saturday evening speakers by announcing that he
was an entomologist, "and as such, I must tell you that everything that bit you today was female."
David Walters brought a roar out of the audience when he shared his impression of the cemetery
tour — "After the long bus tour today where Ralph Tucker and Joe Modugno introduced us to all
the identifying carving features of the Mullickens and Hollimans and Hartshornes and Parks, it
seemed to me that the longer we went, more and more — they all began to look like Tucker!"
The Annual Meeting this year had a captive audience, being held after dinner on Friday night
instead of playing to the usually sparse audience on Sunday morning. While it was rushed in order
to keep to the evening schedule, it was well attended for a change. Besides voting on the nominating
committee's slate for new Board members, the other significant piece of business was the passage
of several by-law revisions, one of which opens the way for nominations and voting for Board
members by the general membership prior to the Annual Meeting where the results will be
announced. This is a major change for the Association. The meeting concluded with a moment of
silence in memory of long-time AGS member, Francis Duval of Brooklyn, New York who died
recently while recovering from surgery. Those with suggestions for a fitting memorial to
Francis, who was an excellent photographer of gravestones, were asked to submit them to Vice-
President, Bob Drinkwater.
The Teachers" Workshop featured historical research activities and displays of rubbings by Fred
Fredette, posters and books by Fred and Jessica Sawyer, a photo exhibit entitled "Eyes" by
Michael Cornish, slide shows by Laurel Gabel and Roberta Halporn and printed materials
contributed by Barbara Rotundo and the other leaders. The rubbing, mold-making and photog-
raphy demonstrations in the cemetery were also judged to be very helpful to the teachers looking
for ideas for their classes.
The Restoration Workshop was really work this time — a few speeches and then into the burying
ground for some digging, mending, poulticing, photographing, and rubbing. A number of problems
were identified and ways to handle the broken or tipped-over stones were discussed. People are
asking that next year two and even three sessions during the weekend to be devoted to restoration,
even going so far as to suggest offering sessions as an option to the bus tour!
The Friday evening reception was held in honor of the exhibitors. The Kaiser Gallery was an
excellent location for our exhibits and Exhibits Chair Rosanne Atwood saw to it that they were
handsomely presented.
A special feature at the reception on Saturday evening was Roberta Halporn's presentation to the
Archivist of Harriette Merrifield Forbes's reprinted book. Gravestones of Early New England. Jo
Goeselt accepted the book on behalf of the Association, saying she looked forward to placing it into
our collection.
The Forbes Award was presented by the President to a lovely, gracious lady from St. Andrews,
Scotland. Betty Willsher acknowledged Francis Duval's influence in getting her to join AGS and
mourned his passing. Following the presentation of the photograph of Harriette Merrifield Forbes
and the certificate which had been designed by Carol Perkins and framed by Mike Cornish, Betty
began the evening program with a fascinating lecture which included slides of the "green men"
on Scottish gravestones.
AGS Su'89p10
All through the conference, tickets. were sold for a drawing for a copy of the beautiful and
expensive bool<. Early American Stone Sculpture by Ann Parker and Avon Neal. The winning ticket
was held by Melvin Barrett of Severna Park, Iwlaryland who had already left for home at the time
of the drawing. His book was mailed to him. He has since communicated with us that he had bought
3 tickets and it was the middle ticket that won.
At Governor Dummer the price was excellent, but this was very much the result of that fact that
we were basically on our own. Very little was furnished. Even the linen service was somewhat
of an afterthought for our providers. It was more like opening day at camp than what people have
come to expect when attending professional conferences in large hotels. The first order of the day
(or evening as the case may be) was for everyone to carry a set of linen to the dorm and make the
bed. One dorm was, unfortunately, particularly unkempt, as though the cleaning service had
perhaps missed it. (Our conferees did od miss noting its condition on their evaluations!) We had
to obtain our own slide projectors for the programs, and while we could use the school's sound
system, it needed more enhancement which we tried to get from a lavelier microphone. This
worked muchbetterthan a fixed mike which speakers could turn away from and be lost, but it still
was difficult to hear certain speakers. The kitchen took care of obtaining food and beverage for
our receptions, but we had to set up, serve them and clean up afterwards. This was more than we
have done in previous years, but the willingness of our conference committee to do the extra work
is reflected in the low price. Speaking of the kitchen, our food service manager and chef received
the highest praise for the variety and tastiness of the bountiful meals.
We are concerned about keeping the price down so that as many of our members as possible can
attend. As the years go by we find more and more schools are realizing that hosting conferences
is good business for them and their prices are climbing. A college we could have gone to this year
wanted to charge $500 for each morning, afternoon and evening use the auditorium and $50 per
session for certain other rooms. So even though their price for board and room was competitive,
the facility fee drove us to a school where the facilities were not an extra cost. Two other factors
are making it difficult for our site selection committee — not every school hosts conferences and
our 4th weekend in June is a popular one for a growing number of other groups. All this is to say
that it is likely the prices will begin to climb for future conferences, and, it is our hope that the
services and accommodations provided by the school will also be enhanced. You can still count on
the fact that the youngsters take their lamps home with them, leaving only the ceiling 40-watt
lighting for us (bring a reading lamp), the facilities in New England will likely not be air
conditioned (bring a fan), we'll keep working on the sound system but so far haven't found the
solution (bring hearing aids or sit up front — maybe both), and linen services don't usually
include washcloths (better pack one).
Once again, Michael Cornish, along with his conference committee, provided us with a delightful,
inspiring, engaging, encouraging and engrossing time together that sends us away inspired to
continue our projects and research and determined to gather again in one year's time. And we need
to say a word about the wonderful AGS members that attended the conference, the first timers who
were open and accommodating and easy to get to know, and the longer-time members who greeted
those they had met at previous conferences as long-time friends and helped everyone, new and old,
feel "at home." As one conferee expressed it in a letter to another, "It was indeed a lucky day for
me when you mentioned AGS in one of your letters. . . I can't believe the deep dear friendships AGS
has given me. I belong to a dozen or so professional organizations and none has the fervor, devotion
and general welfare of its members as sharply in sight as AGS. Each conference is just like the
last one ended the day before." Thanks to so many of you who give AGS conferences that special
spirit.
SPECIAL AWARD TO LYNETTE STRANGSTAD AND THE PRIMER
Last yeartheCenterfor Historic Preservation at (^ary Washington College established the Historic Preservation
Book Awards. Bob Summer at the American Association for State and Local History nominated A Graveyard
Preservation Primer by Lynette Strangstad for this award. While it did not win the top prize, a special award
was made to AASLH for excellence in publishing books which have enhanced the ability of historic preservation
organizations in America to identify, maintain and preserve the nation's historic and cultural heritage. A
Gravevard Preservation Primer was a major reason for making this special award to AASLH's publication
program.
In a letter dated June 8 to Lynette Strangstad announcing the special award. Carter L. Hudgins wrote, "We
believe that A Graveyard Preservation Primer makes a major contribution to the intellectual vitality of historic
preservation in the United States. In communities across the country books such as yours make the difference
between preservation activities that succeed and those that do not. We commend you for it." Both Lynette and
AASLH received a certificate of commendation.
AGSSu'89p11
NEW AGS MEMBERS
Those who have joined AGS during the second quarter of 1989 are listed below in zip code order so that
you can find your state easily. If any of these new members live near you, would you drop them a
welcoming note so they won't think they are all alone in the unique interest in gravestones which we
all share?
Natalie H. Funk, RD1, Box 325, Clayton Road,
Ashley Falls MA 01222
Mrs. Ellen H. Bennet-Alder, P.O. Box 385, Natick
MA 01760
Gratia Mahony, 228 Salem Street, Andover MA
01810
Ethel L. Nash, Box 494, Winchester MA 01890
Rosalie N. Godfrey, 56 High Street, Ipswich MA
01938
Mrs. E. A. Henderson, 6 Marthas' Lane, Rockport
MA 01966
Willard L. Thomes, 343 Central Ave., Box 372,
Humarock MA 02047
Ellis B. Hayden, Jr., 62 Main Street, Norfolk MA
02056
Carolyn Warr, 150 Upland Avenue, New/ton High-
lands MA 02161
Elva M. Reeg, P.O. Box 618, Littleton NH 03561
New Hampshire Old Graveyard Assn., c/o Etta I.
Drake, Rt.1, Box 1234, Brookfield NH 03872
Mr. & Mrs. Norman Vogt, 101 Ridge Drive, Dekal
Otto W. Siebert, P.O. Box 743, Augusta ME 04330 IL 601 15
Jane Lucas, 2107 W. Lunt, Chicago IL 60645
Barbara J. von Hone, 465 Saw Mill Road, #209, Frank Brinkerhoff, 71 1 N. College, Salem IL 62881
W. Haven CT 06516
Town of New Milford, Youth Division, Town Hall, Tracy L. Coffing, c/o P.O. Box 78789, St. Louis
10 Main Street, New Milford CT 06776 MO 63178
Lucinda McWeeney, 9 Big Pines Road, Westport CT Maryellen H. McVicker, 813 Christus Drive,
06880 Boonville MO 65233
Ray B. Buckberry, Jr., 913 Smith Lane, Bowling
Green KY 42101
J. L. Rowles, 408 Garfield Street, Bloomdale OH
44817
Rev. Norman A. Bowen, P.O. Box 768, Norwalk OH
44857
Pat Schmidt, 329 North Gibson Street, Princeton
IN 47670
Mr. & Mrs. Clyde A. Chamberljn, 1228 West
Saginaw Street, East Lansing Ml 48823
David Mc Macken, 1010 Cheesman Road, St., Louis
Ml 48880
Joseph R. Songer, 419 9th Street, Ames lA 50010
Mr. Mikkel M. Nelson, 3724 W. Karstens Drive,
Madison Wl 53704
Joan C. Berkowitz, 609 Columbus Avenue, 8-i, Kathelene E. McCarty, 7600 Hampson Street, New
New York NY 10024 Orleans LA 701 18
Susan Acampora, 664 East 188 Street, Bronx, NY Amite City Cemetery Committee, Box 1017,
10468 Amite LA 70422
Vivian A. Farrell, 401 East 239 Street, Woodlawn
Heights NY 10470 AR Historic Preservation Program, 225 East
Marion Williams, 32 Gray Rock Lane, Chappaqua NY Markham - Suite 200, Little Rock AR 72201
10514 Mount Holly Cemetery Assn., 1817 North Monroe
Linda LeTendre, 45E Friars Gate, Twin Lakes Street, Little Rock AR 72207
Apts., Clifton Park NY 12065 Barbara Spelic, 1805 W. Covey, Jonesboro AR
James L. Butterfield, Upper Warner Rd., RR 4, Box 72401
264, Norwich NY 13815
William J. Garland, 17 Cadet Circle. Lancaster NY
14086
Russell E. Walters, Box 127, R.D. #1, Canadensis
PA 18325
Eleanor D. Roeder, 10118 Dwight Avenue, Fairfax
VA 22032
Shirley Clay Bell, P.O. Box 815, Crab Orchard WV
25827
William B. Alley, 5216 Sweetbriar Drive, Raleigh
NC 27609
Ruth M. Miller, 169 Manchester Road, Charleston
SC 29407
Virginia Warren Smith, 343 Josephine Street,
Atlanta GA 30307
Neill Herring, 257 S. Elm Street, Jesup GA 31545
Pat Bernard, 701 Cedar Lane, Apt. 15, Knoxville
TN 37912
Evelyn D. Cushman, 4904 Wedgeview Drive, Hurst
TX 76053
Anne E. Stewart, Rt. 1, Box 153-D, Comfort TX
78013
Frank A. Bonneville, P.O. Box 8308, Fort Collins
CO 80525
Lynn Koenig, 1007 Centre Court, Artesia NM
88210
Lenore Heppler, PO Box 395, Northway AK 99764
Betty Cowin, 849 W. Berkeley Court, ON Ca
91762
Susann Myers, 653 Shaw Street, Toronto,
ON, Canada, M6G 3L8
Historic Resources Branch, 3rd fl., 177 Lombard
Ave., Winnipeg, MB Canada, R3B 0W5
Mrs. Bessie Gannon, 468 Simcoe St., N, Oshawa
ON Canada, L1G-4T6
Gail Sussman, 87 Black Hawkway,Willowdale, ON
Canada, M2R 3L7
AGSSu-89p12
A SPECIAL SALUTE TO OUR INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERS
These individuals and firms took out Institutional Memberships from June 1988 to May 1989 and
we thank them for their support this past year.
Allen County Public Library, Fort Wayne IN
American Inst/Commemorative Art, Grand Rapids
Ml
Amite City Cemetery Committee, Amite LA
Archaeological Research Consultants, Inc., Raleigh
NC
Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, Little
Rock AR
Benton County Historical Museum, Philomath OR
Bergen Co. Div./Cult & Hist Affairs, Hackensack
NJ
Boston Athenaeum, Boston MA
Bostonian Society, Boston MA
Bradford Derustit Corp., Clifton Park NY
Brooklyn Historical Society, Brooklyn NY
Burton's Monument Shop, Inc., Waterbury CT
Edward A. Carroll Co., Inc., Bala-Cynwyd PA
John W. Chaveriat, Chicago IL
Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford CT
Connecticut State Library, Technical Services
Dept, Hartford CT
Cove Burying Ground Assn., East Haddam CT
Dakota Monument Company, Fargo ND
Dedham Historical Society, Dedham MA
Dept. of Archaeology, University of York, York,
United Kingdom
Donatelli Granite Company, Pittsburgh PA
Ralph B. Draughon Library, Auburn AL
Dul<es County Historical Society, Edgartown MA
Eastern National Park & Monument Assn. , Phila-
delphia PA for Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial ,
Lincoln City IN
Empire Granite Corportion, Richmond VA
Erickson Monuments, Denver CO
Essex Historical Society, Inc., Essex MA
Fairfax County Park Authority, Div. of Historic
Preservation, Fairfax VA
Fairleigh Monument Works, Marietta GA
Family History Library, Acquisitions-Serials, Salt
Lake City UT
Vance Ferguson, Benton Harbor Ml
First Congregational Church, Old Greenwich CT
First Reformed Church, Fishkill NY
Fort Hamilton Historical Society, Brooklyn NY
Friends of Mt. Hope Cemetery, Rochester NY
Georgia Dept. of Natural Resources, Historic
Preservation Sec, Atlanta GA
Georgia Genealogical Society, Atlanta, GA
Glenmount Memorials, Inc., Pt. Colborne ON,
Canada
Gwinnett Historical Society, Lawrenceville GA
Healdsburg Historical Society, Healdsburg CA
Historic Blandford Cemetery Foundation, Peters-
burg VA
Historic Burying Grounds Initiative, Boston MA
Historic Charleston Foundation, Charleston SC
Historic Deerfield Library, c/o Sharman Prouty,
Deerfield MA
Historic Florida Keys Preservation Board, Key
West FL
Historic Ithaca, Inc., Ithaca NY
Historic Oakland Cemetery, Inc., Atlanta GA
Historic Resources Branch, Winnipeg MB, Canada
ICCROM Library, Rome ITALY
Indiana University Libraries, Bloomington IN
J. S. Warner & Sons, Inc., Dundee IL
Knox County Old Gray Cem., Knoxville TN
Lancaster County Historical Society, Lancaster PA
Lancaster County Society for Historic Preserva-
tion, Lancaster SC
Lancaster Mennonite Hist. Soc, Lancaster PA
Landmark Commission-Twp of Hanover, Whippany
NJ
Landmarks Committee, Randolph Township, Ran-
dolph NJ
Library of Michigan, Lansing Ml
Los Angeles Public Library, Los Angeles CA
Mahomet Township Cemetery Trustees, Seymour
IL
Manfor Library, Farmington ME
Marvin Almont Memorials, Pueblo CO
Mary Washington College, Frederickburg VA
Mashpee Historical Commission, Mashpee MA
McFall Monument Company, Galesburg IL
Middletown High School, Middletown CT
Middletown Historical Society, Middletown Rl
Milford Cemetery Association, Milford CT
Ministry Library, Municipal Affairs, Recreation &
Culture, Victoria BC, Canada
Mississippi Dept. of Archives & History, Jackson
MS
Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge MA
Mount Holly Cemetery Assn., Little Rock AR
Museum of American Folk Art, New York NY
New Hampshire Old Graveyard Association,
Brookfield NH
North Carolina Div. of Archives & Hist., Archival
Services Branch, Raleigh NC
NSDAR Library, Washington DC
NYU Institute of Fine Arts, New York, NY Oak
Woods Cemetery, Chicago IL
Ohio Historical Society, Library, Columbus OH
Old Burying Ground Foundation, Halifax NS, Canada
Oldstone Enterprises, Boston MA
Ontario Genealogical Society, Toronto Branch,
Toronto ON, Canada
Parish of Trinity Church, Archives, New York NY
Parks Canada, Atlantic Region Library, Halifax NS,
Canada
Peerless Rockville Historic Preservation, Ltd.
Rockville, MD
Stephen Petke, East Granby CT
Pompey Historical Society, LaFayetle NY
Preservation Society, Charleston SC
Preservation Society of Newport Co., Newport Rl
Proprietors of Springfield Cemetery, Springfield
MA
Queens Borough Public Library, Jamaica NY
Remco Memorials Ltd., Regina SK, Canada
Rex Monumental Works, Inc. Bedford, MA
Sandwich Historical Commission Sandwich, MA
Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation, Sara-
toga Springs NY
Sawyer Free Library, Gloucester MA
Wm. Smith & Son Monument Co., Ashtabula OH
Southern Rl Old Cemeteries Assn., Saunderstown
Rl
St. John's Epis. Church, Richmond VA
St. Mary's Church, So. Amboy NJ
St. Paul's Nat'l Historic Site, Mount Vernon NY
State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Acquisitions
Section Madison Wl
State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Burial Sites
Preservation Program, Madison Wl
Stoneham Historical Commission, Stoneham MA
SUNY Library, Stony Brook NY
Thistledo, Inc., Columbia SC
Tourism, Recreation and Heritage, Heritage
Branch, Fredricton NB, Canada
Town Historian, Huntington NY
Town of Carmel Hist. Soc, Mahopac NY
Town of New Milford, Youth Division, New Milford
CT
Town of Yorktown Museum, Yorktown Heights NY
Union Cemetery Hist. Society, Kansas City MO
University of Illinois Library, Urbana IL
AGSSu'89p13
Vermont Historical Society Library, Montpelier VT Wood County Genealogical Society, Bowling Green
Wagner Memorial Company, Hutchinson KS CH
Wareham Historical Society, Wareham MA Yarmouth County Museum, Yarmouth NS, CANADA
Winthrop Cemetery Association, Deep River CT
CONTRIBUTING MEMBERS
The following persons and institutions held Contributing Memberships during the year June 1988 to May 1989.
AGS is grateful to them for their special support.
Barre Granite Association, Barre,VT
Alice Bunton, Bethany, CT
Janet A. Burrowes, Centerville, OH
Center for Thanatology Research, Brooklyn, NY
Theodore Chase, Dover, MA
Vincent V. Cherico Jr. Cranston, Rl
Mary M. Cope, New York, NY
Mary R. Dernalowicz, Newport, Rl
Empire Granite Corporation, Richmond, VA
Josiah M. Fowler, West Roxbury, MA
Alfred M. Fredette, Willimantic, CT
Laurel K. Gabel, Pittsford, NY
Sheila M. Godino, Gales Ferry, CT
Jo Goeselt, Wayland, MA
Thomas E. Graves, Orwigsburg, PA
Daniel A. Hearn, Monroe, CT
Davyd Foard Hood, Fredericksburg, VA
William Hosley, Enfield, CT
Janet G. Jainschigg, Darien, CT
Dr. Gregory Jeane, Opelika, AL
Cornelia P. Jenness, Spofford, NH
James C. Jewell, Peru, IL
Mary-Ellen Jones, Orinda, CA
Phil Kallas, Stevens Point, Wl
Angelika Kruger-Kahloula, D-6074 Rodermark 2, W.
GERMANY
Lance R. Mayer, New London, CT
Peter McCarthy, Pueblo, CO
Cynthia I. McQueston, Haydenville, MA
Jeffrey Mead, Nonwalk, CT
Caroline S. Morris, Swarthmore, PA
Douglas Muncy, Amityville, NY
New Hampshire Old Graveyard Assn., Brookfield,
NH
Oak Woods Cemetery, c/o Bruce Holstrom, Chi-
cago, IL
Oldstone Enterprises, Boston, MA
Carol A. Perkins, Fairport, NY
Diane Psota, Rohnert Park, CA
Richard Thomas Purkins, Lake Ridge, VA
K. H. Reeson, Remco Memorials Ltd., Regina, SK
Rex Monumental Works, Inc., New Bedford, MA
Charles A. Rheault Jr., Dover, MA
Lawrence D. Riveroll, San Diego, CA
Nancy Porter Rothwell, Marblehead, MA
Barbara Rotundo, Schenectady, NY
Harriet R. Ryan, Middletown, Rl
Miriam S. Silverman, New York, NY
Martha Smith, Carrtx)ro, NC
James Tibensky, Chicago, IL
William D. Wallace, Auburn, MA
J. S. Warners Sons, Inc., Dundee, IL
Richard F. Welch, Huntington, NY
Eloise P. West, Fitchburg, MA
Nathan T. Whitman, Ann Arbor, Ml
Gray Williams Jr., Chappaqua, NY
Mary Z. Williams, Northport, NY
SPECIAL CONTRIBUTIONS
These people gave monetary contributions beyond their membership dues during the June 1988-May 1989
year.
$5-$50
Phyllis Ashton
Alice Bunton
Theodore Chase
Lorraine Clapp
Barbara Dudley
Fred Fredette
Laurel Gabel
Joseph Glass
Richard & Elizabeth Goeselt
David Herold
Elizabeth Kienzle
Blanche Linden-Ward
Richard Meyer
Patricia A. Miller
Ruth M. Miller
Caroline S. Morris
Susan Olsen
Roberta R. Palen
Stephen Petke
John Slavinsky
$50-$150
Fred Fredette
Laurel Gabel
Patricia A. Miller
Barbara Rotundo
$2QQt
Laurel Gabel
W. Fred Oakley, Jr.
Matching Gifts
CIGNA $25
New England Telephone $400
Other Gifts (of time and kind)
Free Advertising
Connecticut Gravestones
New England Monthly
NEHGS Nexus
Deborah Trask - hours spent editing the Newsletter
Theodore Chase - hours spent editing Markers
Jo Goeselt - careful posting of AGS books and
AGSSu'89p14
preparation of financial reports
Betln Rich - cataloging and shelving books in the
AGS Archives
Laurel Gabel - managing our Research Clearing-
house and Lending Library
Michael Cornish, David Watters, Rosanne Atwood,
Barbara Rotundo, Laurel Gabel - Conference
planning and management
The Nova Scotia Museum Complex, Department of
Education, Province of Nova Scotia - postage, pho-
tocopying, and telephone expenses, Macintosh SE
computer, and other materials related to the prepa-
ration of the Newsletter
Our organization is extremely fortunate to have members and friends who believe so strongly in the
worl( we are doing to give above and beyond the usual amounts of money and time. Many thanks
to each one of them!
1989-1990 AGS BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Lorraine Clapp
1693 John Fitch Blvd., So. Windsor, CT 06074
Tel:{h) 203/289-9026
Robert Drinl<water (Vice-President)
30 Fort Hill Terrace, Northampton, MA 01060
Tel: (h) 413/586-4285
Daniel Farber
31 Hickory Drive, Worcester, MA 01609
Tel:(h) 508/755-7038
Jessie Lie Farber
31 Hickory Drive, Worcester, MA 1609
Tel: (h) 508/755-7038
Alfred Fredette
112 Manners Avenue, Willimantic, CT 06226
Tel:(h) 203/456-8582
Jo Goeselt (Archivist)
61 Old Sudbury Road, Wayland, MA 01778
Tel: (h) 508/358-2155
William Hosley
Old Abbe Road, Enfield, CT 06082
Tel: (h) 203/627-5508 (w) 203/278-2670
Cornelia Jenness (Treasurer)
HCR10, Box 643, Spofford, NH 03462-0643
Tel: (h) 603/363-8018 (w) 603/352-6980
C. R. Jones
Nysha, PO Box 800, Cooperstown, NY 13326
Tel: (h) 607/547-8151 (w) 607/547-2535
William B. Jordan, Jr.
672 Ocean Avenue, Portland, ME 04103
Tel:(h) 207/774-2569
Lance R. Mayer (Secretary)
Lyman Allyn Museum, 625 Williams Street
New London, CT 06320
Tel: (h) 203/464-9645 (w) 203/443-2618
Beth Rich
43 Rybury Hiilway, Needham, MA 02192
Tel: (h) 61 7/444-5566 (w) 61 7/455-7561
Dr. Barbara Rotundo
R.D. #2, Box 146, A-4, Laconia, NH 03246
Tel:(h) 603/524-1092
Dr. James Slater (Conference Program Advisor)
373 Bassettes Bridge Road,
Mansfield Center, CT 06250
Tel: (h) 203/455-9668
The Rev. Ralph Tucker
Box 414, Georgetown, ME 04548
Tel: (h) 207/371-2423
Jonathan Twiss
230 Farmington Ave., A-1, Hartford, CT 06105
Tel: (h) 203/278-6958 (w) 203/273-4667
William Wallace
40 Central Street, Auburn, MA 01601
Tel: (h) 508/832-6807 (w) 508/753-8278
Richard F. Welch
55 Cold Spring Hills Road, Huntington, NY 11743
Tel:(h) 516/421-5718
Gray Williams Jr.
32 Gray Rock Lane, Chappaqua, NY 10514
Tel:(h) 914/238-8593
Harvard C. Wood III
6400 Baltimore Avenue, Lansdowne, PA 19050
Tel:(w) 215/622-0550
Ex Officio members
Theodore Chase (Marlters editor)
74 Farm Street, Dover, MA 02030
Tel: (h) 508/785-0299
Patricia Miller
Suite 264, 36 Tamarack Ave., Danbury, CT 06811
Tel:(h) 203/790-6457
W. Fred Oakley, Jr. (President)
46 Plyrrrauth Road
Needham, MA 02192
Tel: (h) 617/444-6263 (w) 617/455-8180
Deborah Trask (AGS NEWSLETTER editor)
Nova Scotia Museum Complex,
1747 Summer Street, Halifax, NS B3H 3A6
Tel: (h) 902/275-4728 (w) 902/429-4610
AGSSu'89p15
ANNOUNCING THE 1990 ANNUAL
ASSOCIATION FOR
GRAVESTONE STUDIES
CONFERENCE & MEETING
June 21 through 24
Roger Williams College
Bristol, Rhode Island
CALL FOR PAPERS
Proposals are sought in subject matter related or integral to the study of gravestones. Papers dealing with
legal aspects, teaching utilization, restoration and preservation or topics specific to Rhode Island gravestone
studies are especially encouraged but not mandatory.
The paper presentation itself will hopefully feature the lively scholarly content of the subject appealing to a
broad range of conferees' attention. A full detailed document should be submitted to the editor of Markers for
publication
consideration.
A new feature this year is a request for papers that are site-specific for their delivery as part of a tour. If you
need help in locating or defining a site for your presentation, please contact the Program Chair.
Presenters must be members of AGS ($20) and will be expected to pay the conference registration fee as
well as other costs associated with full conference or partial conference attendance.
Submissions should be made to Vincent Luti, Program Chair, PO Box 412, Westport, MA 02790 as
follows:
By January 15
1 . a title that clearly indicates the paper content
2. a one page abstract
3. a short paragraph description for program announcements
4. a short professional biography
Bv fy/larch 31
1 . the number of pages of your presentation text (standard typed format)
2. the number of slides or projections
3. the timing of your presentation: 20-30 minutes or 30-45 minutes
You will be assigned one of these time slots on the basis of your submission material and held strictly
to it.
Questions will be written up by the conferees and submitted to the program chair for a Question and Answer
period to follow the last speaker of the day or evening.
AGS Su'89p16
RESEARCH NEWS
AGS Research has embarked on a long-term project to establish a computerized data base of known
gravestone carvers or monument makers anywhere in the United States during the period 1650-
1875. Ideally, such a listing would contain the name of the carver, his location, dates of birth and
death (or the period in which he carved), information about associates or apprentices, and names,
dates and locations of all signed or otherwise documented stones. Realistically, this degree of detail
is seldom available; a carver's name and date, perhaps found on a signed stone or taken from a city
directory, is often the extent of an entry. If you come across any information about a known gravestone
carver 1650-1875, please send it to the CARVER INVENTORY:
AGS Research
Laurel Gabel
205 Fishers Road
Pittsford NY 14534
I am seeking photographs of the following probated stones:
Rebecca Davis, probate date=1784, Pembroke MA area
Homer Whiting and the wife of Homer Whiting, 2 stones, probate payment made in 1795, Hanover
MA
Peter Hobart, 1796 probate date, Hanover MA
Philip Turner, 1794 probate payment, Scituate MA area
Mrs. Elizabeth Edmunds, 1779 probate, Plymouth MA
Nathaniel Gushing, 1799 probate, Rochester MA
Ephriam Briggs, ? 1790s, Halifax MA
Abigail Ripley, no date — probably 1790s, Kingston MA
If you live in fvlassachusetts or Connecticut and would enjoy hunting for and photographing other
probated or signed stones, please contact Laurel Gabel. Laurel is also interested in obtaining close-
up photographs or drawings of fraternal emblems found on gravestones anywhere in the country.
The dog "Carlo" illustrated on page 19 of the AGS Spring 1989 Newsletterhas been identified as the
work of George Fischer and Brother, a bronze casting company active in New York City between about
1867 and 1901 . George Fischer was originally listed in the New York Directory as a tin-roofing
firm; They also made galvanized cornices and operated for a time as a zinc foundry at 209 Forsythe
Street in New York City. Besides the handsome casting of the dog "Carlo", George Fischer and Brother
produced the well-known Ernst Plassman sculpture of Benjamin Franklin near City Hall in New
York, and the J.Q.A. Ward statue of George Washington that many of us admired while on the AGS
Conference bus tour to Old Burial Hill in Newburyport IviA this year. (The Washington statue stands
in the triangle park adjacent to the lake and the burying ground.) In 1 885 George Fischer and Brother
advertised as "fine art bronze foundry — figures, busts and monumental works". Additional infor-
mation about this, and other 19th century bronze casting and sculpture, can be found in: Bronze
Casting and American Sculpture. 1850-1900. by fulichael Edward Shapiro (University of Delaware
Press, 1985), and Cast and Recast, the Sculpture of Frederick Remington, also by Shapiro and
published forthe National f\/luseum of American Art by the Smithsonian Institution Press, 1981 . The
National Sculpture Society, 15 East 26th Street, New York NY 10010, is also a valuable resource.
AGS LENDING LIBRARY
Thank you to Hazel Papale for contributing her duplicate copies of Epitaph and Icon and Lessons from
the Dead to the AGS Lending Library. The following additions to the library are ready to circulate:
The Puritan Way of Death, by David Stannard (1 lb. 3 oz.)
Lessons from the Dead, by Roberta Halporn (13 oz.)
Epitaph and Icon, by Diana George and Malcolm Nelson (14 oz.)
The two week rental cost is $2.00, plus postage. See previous Newsletters for complete list of
available books, special Library postage rates and an order form, or send a self-addressed, stamped
envelope to:
Laurel K. Gabel, 205 Fishers Road, Pittsford NY, 14534.
AGSSu'89p17
DUVAL-RIGBY COLLECTION TO THE MUSEUM OF AMERICAN FOLK ART
Francis Y. Duval, right, in a photo copied from a
newspaper story about the removal, in 1976, of the
1797 Eliakim Hay den stone from the Riverview
Cemetery, Essex CT to the safekeeping of the Essex
Historical Society. With him is Kenneth Hayden, a
direct descendant of Eliakim Hayden.
Mr. Duval's contributions to gravestone study were
many faceted. Besides producing the large Duval-
Rigby collection of gravestone photographs, slides
and molds, he developed the AGS logo, designed the
Newsletter's banner, designed the layout and art for
Markers I. edited the AGS Regional Guide series, and,
with Ivan Rigby, was author of the book. Early
American Gravestone Art in Photographs (Dover)
and numerous articles on gravestone art and conser-
vation.
I am pleased to report that the Museum of American Folk Art has accepted the extensive collection of
tombstone art captured in photographs and plaster casts by the late Francis Y. Duval and myself. The
museum will not only support our private efforts to preserve the essence of this art form but will
also give many others the opportunity to enjoy its diversity and beauty.
Several interesting gravestones close to an old church in South Carolina sparked my interest in
gravestones many years ago. These I recorded with rubbings, but shortly thereafter, one of my
students at Pratt showed me another technique for making impressions of carved objects using soft
clay molds and plaster casts. With this technique, we made casts of many interesting tombstones in
cemeteries around the New York area.
At this point, my colleague Francis Duval reviewed our work and asked to come along with me on my
next trip to what he alter called "open museums." We made this first trip together to a cemetery in
Old Lyme, Connecticut, where Francis took photographs while I made a few clay molds, beginning our
long and fruitful collaboration and our collection of tombstone art.
Our fascination in the wide variety of design interpretations and our desire to preserve as much as
possible took us thousands of miles, from Maine back to South Carolina and as far west as Ohio. In some
cases, our casts and photographs may be the only record of the stones. Many people have helped us
along the way to explore the "open museums" and bring the results to the public in exhibits, articles
and books.
The Museum of American Folk Art, this latest friend, will preserve the imagination and talent of Mr.
Duval, with whom I was privileged to work over all these years, ensuring that the art in these "open
museums" will be available to study and enjoy for years to come. Please add your efforts to expand
this unique collection.
^hs^ /9,/QUl<^
Ivan B. Rigby
AGSSu'89p18
GRAVE SHELTERS
by Sybil Crawford
In recent years there has been a renewal of interest in grave shelters among historians and genealogists. These
shelters cover in-ground burials, and are not to be confused with false crypts or above-ground cemeteries such
as are found in Louisiana. The shelters range from rustic to highly decorative. There are those which have never
seen paint, and those which are lovingly lavished with a fresh coat annually. The very fact that the history of
grave shelters is so obscure is whetting the appetite of researchers, and any number of plausible theories
regarding their provenance have been offered.
In an article entitled "A Cherokee Graveyard," by Arthur B. Cozzens, in the January 1972 issue of Pioneer
America, he suggests that the slat-sided grave shelters seen at Cherokee burial grounds were intended to afford
shelter for the spirit of the deceased, and act as protection against roving dogs and wild animals in search of
the food offerings which were placed inside the shelter. Such shelters could be seen in sizable numbers around
Stillwater, Oklahoma, as recently as sixty years ago.
Those with Scots blood can perhaps more easily relate to the commentary of John C. Campbell in his book
entitled The Southern Highlander and His Homeland, where he paints a word picture of graves covered over
by low latticed houses painted blue and white. He leads us to believe that the primary purpose in early days
was to protect the burial site from wandering and rooting animals.
In the Spring-Summer 1969 issue of Landscape. Donald G. Jeane gives us his thoughts on the subject in an
article entitled "The Traditional Upland South Cemetery." Calling them "grave sheds" in his article, he
recognizes them as a distinctive decoration thought to have been widespread in former times, but becoming
increasingly rare. Those which collapse from decay are not being replaced. Generally simple in design, Jeane
describes most as consisting of a gabled roof supported by corner posts and a few crossbeams, though some
were made more elaborate with scalloped cornice trim, shake roof, pickets, and perhaps wire or siding.
The subject of grave shelters has admittedly not received the close study it deserves, with much research yet
to be done before any positive statements can be made. The American Indian seems to be credited with
practicing grave shelter use most widely, with greater frequency than either whites or blacks.
Looking at a map which pinpoints areas where grave shelters can be found, there is an obvious "string" reaching
from East Tennessiee to Texas. Considering the early migratory pattern of the Scots-Irish, it would appear that
this theory is not without merit. The use of grave shelters by the Cherokees of East Tennessee would have been
noted by the white settlers, and, with the passing of time, both the Cherokees and the Scots-Irish passed through
and/or settled the areas where the shelters are most plentiful. The Trail of Tears displacement story clearly
explains the unusually large number of Indian burials in Oklahoma of persons with East Tennessee
backgrounds. This is a personal observation only.
from ttie Vivian Turbyfill Collection
There were at one time a number of such shelters in Saline County, Arkansas. Pictured is one of the few now
remaining in the entire State of Arkansas. Erected by Lewis Fletcher James in what is today known as the Ewell-
Geurin Cemetery, this shelter is somewhat larger than the average. It evidences any number of the shelter
components mentioned by Jeane - a gabled, corrugated iron roof, a myriad of supporting columns, wire fencing,
and old "x" gates. Wooden decorations are found in pairs on either side of each supporting post. A number
of markers stand erect along the perimeter of the shelter, making it easy for the visitor to read the inscriptions.
Several of them are protected by glass.
Anyone wishing to share information or pictures is invited to contact :
Sybil Crawford
1 0548 Stone Canyon Road - #228
Dallas, TX 75230-4408
AGSSu'89p19
THE STONE IS HOME
by W. Fred Oakley, Jr.
The letter to AGS from Mrs. Day Blasi of Derry NH, described in detail a broken stone leaning against the barn
on a farm she and her husband had recently purchased. An article in Country Home magazine had alerted her
to AGS and "could we suggest how to go about finding a relative or cemetery where the stone might belong?"
Thoughtfully including the inscription in her letter, Mrs. Blasi provided key clues which subsequently led to a
descendant and the proper location for the stone.
The inscription read:
Sergt
John S. Ogden
Member, Co. E
7th Calvary
Killed at Little Big Horn River
Dakota Territory
Fighting under General Custer
June 25, 1876
27 yrs. 8 mos.
Erected by his mother Mrs. S. P. Dresser
A call to the Chief historian for Custer Battlefield National Monument (CBNM) in Crow Agency, Montana, yielded
a trove of information about Sergeant Ogden including the name and address of the person who provided data
to CBNM. A local Veterans Affairs official determined from the U.S. Army Center for Military History in
Washington DC the grave number and location of the stone in South Byfield Cemetery, Georgetown,
Massachusetts.
Several telephone calls and letters led to descendant Mr. Rodney Dresser of Georgetown, MA, who was
astonished to learn of the stone, amazed that AGS would work so actively to ferret out the details and was
delighted to assist in recovering the stone, having it repaired and set in place beside the family obelisk in the
South Byfield Cemetery.
Mr. Dresser also shared some of his family's history as it related to Sergeant Ogden. It seems that the
Sergeant's father responded to the lure of 'There's gold in them thar hills" and joined the California Gold Rush
of 1 849 never to return. His wife, Maria, was declared an "abandoned wife" and subsequently married widower
Dresser by whom she had additional children. Mr. Rodney Dresser is directly descended from a child of the
second marriage.
At our annual conference in Byfield this June, we had a chance to view the restored stone set in place. It was
very satisfying to your President and to Mr. Dresser to see that the "Stone was Home." How the stone got to
a farm in Derry NH, remains a mystery for others to solve.
A note in the Fall 1988 issue of the New Hampshire Old Graveyard Association (NI40GA)
Newsletter refers to a common motif shared between Jewish-carving (of middle ages origin?) and
that of colonial America, found in Monika Krajewska's scholarly work on Polish gravestones. Traces
in the Landscape. Illustrated is a serpent swallowing its tail, a symbol of eternity, within which
is inscribed the very popular hourglass motif. This can be compared with the stone of Susannah Jayne,
1776, Marblehead MA (seen on one of the 1989 mini-tours). The stone swallowing its tail is part
of the central representation, and above the image is the typical hourglass, reminding us that our
lives, too, are measured. Isn't it exciting to see how artistic traditions have been carried through the
ages, from continent to continent?
AGS Su'89 p20
READING ILLEGIBLE GRAVESTONES
Re: "Conservators Take Note. "AGS Newsletter. W'88/9, p. 19
In response to the suggestion to apply a paste of baking soda and water on gravestones for easier reading,
several conservators have made these comments.
Tracy L. Coffing, Architectural Conservator, St. Louis, MO writes;
"Baking soda or sodium bicarbonate has a pH of 8.3 (7 is neutral) prior to mixing with water,
and therefore, should not present a problem with alkalinity or causticity. I would be more
concerned that the baking soda paste may introduce soluble salts to the stones. The formation
of salt crystals on the surface of the stones (efflorescence) and/or beneath the surface of the
stones (subflorescence) can have a very detrimental effect (i.e. surface loss, flaking, scaling)."
Restoration methods used with the best of intentions may result in furthering the deterioration of
fragile gravestones which is not immediately evident. Casimir tvlichalczyk sent in a clipping from
Martha's Vineyard July 7th Vineyard Gazette, telling of the cleaning of gravestones in a cemetery in
West Tisbury using 1 ,500 pounds of pressurized water to remove the accumulated dirt and lichen,
a process used successfully "in removing mold, mildew and dirt from aging shingles and fences of
Vineyard homes." The stones are now clean and readable, but as Mr. Michalczyk pointed out in his
letter to the editor of the Gazette, there are other considerations when it comes to historic fragile
gravestones which don't apply to cleaning procedures used to clean wood or stone buildings. He
referred to A Graveyard Preservation Primer, (p 58), where Lynette Strangstad warns against
using pressurized waterto clean gravestones: "Water blasting can be as dangerous [as sandblasting].
Generally pressure should not exceed ninety pounds per square inch (psi) for most early stones. That
is less pressure than a strong spray from a garden hose nozzle, and even so is more pressure than some
of these delicate stones can tolerate." If the blasting removes the top layer of stone, exposing a new,
often softer layer to the atmosphere, deterioration will be hastened.
The Summer 1989 issue of VOCA NEWS carries this letter to the editor from Kenneth Hoadley of Amenia, NY:
"Several months ago I wrote you, asking about a possible way to read the name and information on a
supposed grave marker, standing by itself by the road. All had apparently been worn away.
You referred me to the Association for Gravestone Studies in Needham, MA who referred my question
to Laurel Gabel in Pittsford, NY. She suggested using a mirrorto reflect sunlight across the stone to bring
out the writing. It worked. Where nothing was identifiable to the naked eye, suddenly appeared the
following:
179 miles to Boston
35 miles to Fishkill
29 miles to Poughkeepsie
A road mileage marker, late 1 700s across from an old inn location. That mystery is solved. . . . Thanks
for your help."
Jessie Lie Farber, rubbing
An item in the Quincy MA Pafr/of Ledger (July 13, 1989) describes the Fannins approach to cleaning
a Carrara marble statue in the Hingham Cemetery. First they photographed the stone and then tested
the acidity. They applied an alkaline marble cleaner, wrapped in a poultice and covered with plastic,
to see how well it would clean a spot on the statue's base. The base is Vermont marble in contrast to
the finer Italian marble used for the statue. After the cleaner had been applied for about 1 2 hours,
the Fannins unwrapped the plastic, gently scrubbed off the poultice with a brush and washed off the
cleaner with water. The process lightened the stone without leaving any blemishes.
The most serious problem is large patches of lichen growing on the statue, darkening and slowly
damaging the marble. Jim Fannin said gypsum, a substance that forms naturally as the marble breaks
down, is also deteriorating the statue. The gypsum can be removed easily by spraying it with water
for a day or two, he said. To remove the lichen they use a poultice mixture of glycerine, kaolin and
water applied to the lichen area and left for one to two weeks to moisten and soften the lichen. "With
the age of this statue, we cannot get too aggressive because it could cause more damage."
AGSSu'69p21
SOME SCOTTISH FAMILY STONES
The Scots Magazine, which bills itself as "the world's oldest popular periodical" published a few
letters in the November 1 987 and February 1 988 issues on the subject of gravestones which depict
families.
There is a gravestone at Blair Drummond with an unusual inscription and carvings. It shows the
father, mother and ten children and all the children appear to be deformed, being minus limbs or parts
of limbs or severely twisted. Is there a story behind this stone?
Archie McKerracher responded: This stone at the church of Kincardine in Monteith is quite unique.
Beneath a winged cherub is an open book flanked by an adult male and female effigy. Below are the
carved figures of ten children (nine sons and one daughter). The open book is inscribed with strangely
mixed characters. The inscription on the stone itself is to Janet Ferguson, spouse of George Bachop,
but oddly neither he nor the children are mentioned. She died in 1 750. The Bachops were tenants on
the nearby Ochtertyre estate for many generations. The effigies of the children are not deformed, but
worn by exposure to the weather. The first child, like his father, is costumed in a tightly buttoned
frock coat, but the rest of the children are unclothed and their sex clearly indicated- The fourth and
fifth children stretch their arms to each other, and turn.t heir feet in the same direction. All the others
have their arms close by their sides and their feet turned to the left.
Bachop stone, Kincardine. I^onteith. photo by Betty Willsher
Betty Willsher wrote that the stone closest in resemblance to the Bachop stone is the Mure headstone
at Straiton, Ayrshire, which commemorates nine children. The Mure children stone has their names
and sizes at time of death: William, David, John, Thomas, William, James, Jean, Anna, Jean (if a child
died, they repeated the name).
In memory of six sons three daughters of one family
Here waiting for the joy of immortality
The flowers soon cropt shall be
made fresh and gay
The leaves often falling
The root doth stay
With voice renewed again
...(indistinct)
in the celestial new home
...(indistinct)
Mure children, Straiton, Ayrshire,
photo by Betty Willsher
AGS Su'89 p22
And Frederick Ellis-Hawkins noted that the Faichney stone in the graveyard wall of Innerpeffray
Chapel, near Crieff, depicts Mr. and fvlrs. Faichney and their ten children, six boys and four girls,
the boys wearing kilts, the girls in long dresses. It also gives each name and date of birth. James
Faichney and Janet Murray were married on July 18, 1674. He was a mason and carved the stone
himself. Betty Willsher said the Faichney stone is more a family portrait than a monument to the
children, who were all alive when their mother died.
Faichney family, Innerpeffray near Crieff, Perthshire.
Detail of headstone carved by James Faichney when all of them were alive,
c. 1700-1706. photo by Betty Willsher
DUFFY by Bruce Hammond
50, l6T>tNEJ0a£TTBR
n
'^1
TL
A NOTE ON NEWSLETTER CONTENT
The AGS Newsletter is a vehicle through which members of AGS can share information about
gravestones. The content of the newsletter is provided bv the membership.
Some members have expressed an interest in more articles on exotic stones. Please remember that
the editor can only work with what you, the members, provide. There are, proportionately, more
members in New England than in the rest of the world, and the overwhelming majority of members
are in the United States. Thus it is not surprising that the newsletter content is biased toward
American stones, particularly those in New England.
If you have any thoughts on changing the Newsletter content, please let me know, or, better still, why
not write something to share with the other members! DT
AGS Su'89 p23
WORKSHOPS AND TOURS
WORKSHOP ON THE PRESERVATION OF FLORIDA'S HISTORIC CEMETERIES
The Florida Trust for Historic Preservation and The Historic Tallahassee Preservation Board are
sponsoring a two-day workshop November 1 0 and 1 1 on the preservation of Florida's historic burial
sites. Among the topics discussed will be the importance of burial sites as cultural and historical
resources, the need for identifying and surveying historic cemeteries, and legislation which affects
their preservation and protection. Tallahassee's Old City Cemetery will be used as the "laboratory"
for a special lecture and demonstration on restoration procedures and a series of case studies will be
presented by organizations that are currently involved with the preservation of cemeteries in
Florida. Following the workshop there will be a tour of Leon County plantation graveyards with lunch
at Old Pisgah Churchyard.
For additional information and registration materials, contact the Florida Trust for Historic
Preservation, PC Box 11206, Tallahassee, FL 32302, (904) 224-8128.
SYMPOSIUM ON "Dsatlh in fth© Ninsteeinitlh Gsnl!yry"
The Victorian Society of America is having a symposium on "Death in the Nineteenth Century",
October 7 and 8, 1 989 at the Pennsylvania Hospital, the oldest hospital building in the United States.
The building has just been restored and has an auditorium with state-of-the-art audio-visual
facilities. They invite proposals for papers on mourning customs, cemeteries, preservation thereof,
gravestones, etc. Send proposals to The Victorian Society of America, East Washington Square,
Philadelphia PA 19106 (215-627-4252).
WEEKEND TOUR OF NEW ORLEANS CEMETERIES
Save Our Cemeteries announces plans for a special weekend tour of New Orleans Cemeteries to take place
November3-5. Five historic cemeteries will be visited as well as major cultural attractions inthe French Quarter.
Saturday morning will be spent touring the French Quarter, including St. Louis Cathedral, the Historic New
Orleans Collection, galleries which introduce visitors to New Orleans via art and history, and Gallier House
Museum. Saturday afternoon the cemeteries of St. Louis I, St. Louis II and Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 will be
visited. On Sunday Metairie Cemetery is the first stop followed by the St. Roch Cemetery. Save Our
Cemeteries' annual "All Saints Soiree" takes place on Saturday evening in a private mansion where some
leading jazz artists entertain and famed restaurants serve their specialties.
The cost for the weekend is $225 double occupancy or $295 single occupancy. Of that cost, $40 is a direct
charitable contribution which will be used to restore a tomb in Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 . Participants also
receive a year's membership in Save Our Cemeteries. Enrollment is limited so send right away a $25 non-
refundable deposit, your name, address and telephone, indicating double or single occupancy to Executive
Director, SOC, PO Box 15770, New Orleans, LA 70175 lei. (504) 588-9357. Make checks payable to Save
Our Cemeteries. Registration cut-off is October 1 , but a few may be accommodated after that date.
for more background information on New Orleans cemeteries, see tlie AGS Newsletter V. 12 #2, Spring 1988, p. 19.
MIDDLETOWN CT ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
On Sunday, October 29, the Middlesex County Historical Society will celebrate the 300th anniver-
sary of the oldest gravestone in Middletown, Connecticut. The celebration will begin with a walking
tour of the city's earliest burying ground. Riverside Cemetery, led by (AGS member) William
Hosley, Conservation Manager for Hartford's Ancient Burying Ground.
Riverside Cemetery, laid out in the 1 650s, is home to a number of extraordinary monuments. The
earliest stone is that of a young bride, Zipporah Harris, who died three centuries ago at the age of
twenty-one. Nearby stands the 18th century gravestones of two black slaves, and a triple headstone
to Jehosaphat Starr's triplet sons who died in 1755. Particularly poignant is a stone to Isaac and
Nathaniel Cornwell, two young brothers "both slain by lightening in an instant" in 1739.
Following the tour of Riverside Cemetery, Mr. Hosley will give a slide program on the area's historic
gravestones and stonecarvers. In the 17th and 18th centuries, Middletown was at the center of the
stonecutting industry in New England, m thanks to the town's proximity to the Portland brownstone
quarries and the outstanding skills of such local stonecarvers as the Stancliffs and the Johnsons.
The walking tour and slide program are funded by grants from Field Publications and the Fox-Becher
Granite Company, and are free and open to the public. For more information, call the Middlesex County
Historical Society at (203) 346-0746.
AGSSu'89p24
MEMBER NEWS
Helen Sclair, AGS member in Chicago, IL, spoke to the Chicago Genealogical Society on June 3. Her topic was
"The Cemeteries of Chicago" with emphasis on the changes from within (management), and without
(vandalism). She also discussed the encroachment and threats of the city's and the community's needs as they
see the cemetery as land possible for development.
Sharyn f^. E. Thompson is coordinating a workshop on November 1 0-1 1 on the preservation of Florida's historic
cemeteries to be held in Tallahassee, Florida. It is sponsored by the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation and
the Historic Tallahassee Preservation Board.
Mary-Ellen Jones is speaking on September 16 at a reunion of the Howell family attended by Howell relatives
from all over the United States. Her topic is archival management and will include discussion of information
found in cemeteries. Mary-Ellen is a librarian at the Bancroft Library, Berkeley, CA.
Short Course on Gravestone Rubbing
The New York Times on Sunday, July 9, 1 989 carried an article and pictures of new AGS member Beverly Farber
Kaye teaching a class on gravestone rubbing at the Milford Cemetery during the summer for the Short Course,
an adult education service in Hamden, CT. Having learned to make rubbings from her aunt, Jessie Lie Farber,
she shares her techniques with others. For information on future classes, call the Short Course at 203/281-
1407.
Lancaster Historical Society's meeting on November 12, 1989 will be on "The Old Settlers'
Burying Ground. AGS members James and iVIinxie Fannin from the Fannin/Lehner consulting
firm of Concord, MA, have been engaged to evaluate the cemetery. At the meeting they will report on
their inspection, show slides, and suggest ways to preserve these ancient relics.
AGS members R. Christopher Noonan and Jonathan Ruhanof Mendon, MA participated in "Meet
Your Ancestors Day" sponsored by the Mendon Historical Commission, co-sponsored by the Mendon
Parks Department. It was held on Memorial Day weekend at the Old Cemetery in Mendon. Christopher
is an historic preservationist and chair of the Mendon Historical Commission; Jonathan is an
archaeologist/anthropologist. They spoke on the evolution of cemeteries, their historical signifi-
cance, documentation and interpretation of the folk art. Christopher also spoke on the preservation
of gravestones and education of the community to care for and protect local cemeteries.
The Summer 1989 issue of The Palimpsest: Iowa's Popular History Magazine (Vol. 70 No. 2), carries
two articles of interest to gravestone researchers. AGS member Loren N. Horton has written,
"Messages in Stone: Symbolism on Victorian Grave Markers," with many photographs by Gerald
Mansheim and excellent notes on sources for further material. Also in the issue is an article by David
A. Brose entitled "Treestump Tombstones in an Iowa Cemetery," with several photos by Steven Ohrn
and notes on sources. Copiesof this issue of Palimpsest are available for $3.50 from Loren N. Horton,
3367 Hanover Court, Iowa City, lA 52245.
The Indiana Alumni Magazine's May/June 1989 issue features AGS member Warren Robertson its
cover with a marvelous tree stone and contains an article by Miriam E. Rosenzweig entitled, "Let the
Tombstones Speak" telling the story of Dr. Roberts' career in folklore research, particularly
focusing on his interest in the tree stump markers found in the area around Bloomington, Indiana. The
article is beautifully illustrated.
LITTLE ROCK'S iHISTORiC IVIOUNT HOLLY CEMETERY
Dallas AGS member, Sybil Crawford, has just begun work on a three-phase cemetery project which
is to include a cemetery history, full transcription of its gravestones, and a cemetery tour booklet.
Mount Holly Cemetery, located in Little Rock, Arkansas, and fast approaching its 150th anniversary
year, is known as the Westminster Abbey of Arkansas. Anyone having biographical data concerning
persons buried there is invited to make contact with the compiler: Sybil Crawford, 10548 Stone
Canyon Road, #228, Dallas TX, 75230-4408.
AGSSu'89p25
HISTORIC OAKLAND CEMETERY, INC. SUPPORTS ATLANTA'S GARDEN CEMETERY
We salute one of our new institutional members, Historic Oakland Cemetery, Inc., (HOCI), a
volunteer non-profit support group for the Oakland Cemetery which is owned by the City of Atlanta
and operated by the Bureau of Parks.
Oakland Cemetery is renowned for its rich array of stained glass, mausolea (some of which are in the
Gothic and Classical Revival styles), cast iron, bronzes (including signed urns from the Gorham
foundry, the first art foundry in the United States) as well as its remarkable Victorian statuary.
Established in 1850, the cemetery contains monuments and markers for almost everyone who died
in Atlanta between 1850 and 1884 when Westview Cemetery opened.
HOCI was formed in 1976 to promote the preservation, restoration and interpretation of Oakland
Cemetery. It provides lecture and slide presentations to community groups, gives guided walking
tours of the cemetery, publishes a quarterly newsletter, produces the Anniversary Party (an annual
event open to the public), and sponsors special events for its 500 members.
Some of its activities include completing the implementation of a Master Plan for landscaping and
restoring the cemetery which they had drawn up in 1983 and which was adopted as a guideline for
Oakland's restoration by the Atlanta Urban Design Commission in 1985. The plan includes grounds
maintenance, building repairs, a tree survey, planting plans for specific areas of the cemetery,
monument cleaning, repair of the earliest monuments on the Original Six Acres, and ironwork repair.
The organization has made a Pictorial Archives of monuments and markers before 1900 which
includes 1200 slides. A Metalwork Inventory with accompanying maps and pictures, has been
completed. Recently they received a grant from the City of Atlanta to do an engineering survey of
Oakland's outer wall. In 1930 Oakland was mapped as part of a WPA work project. However, the
actual inscriptions and epitaphs were not included. The Sexton's Office maintains these records and
HOCI members are in the process of checking each of the 22,000 records with the actual markers and
monuments. They also maintain a Descendant's File on computer.
• U.S. Customs inspectors in
New York noticed inconsisten-
cies in the documents accompa-
nying a concrete tombstone. An
X-ray revealed hashish packages
surrounded by wire mesh and
sealed in the concrete. The
smugglers had gone to the trou-
ble of inscribing the tombstone
with a name and portrait of the
dear departed.
O 1988, United Feature STndlcite, Inc.
from State News, July 11, 1988
IOWA GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY BEGINS SEARCH FOR CEMETERIES
In the Spring 1989 issue of Hawkeye Heritage, it was announced by the President that a project was being
revived to record the location of all the cemeteries in the state of Iowa, with hopes of completing it by the end
of this year. A final decision has not yet been made as to whether there will be one book published for the entire
state or nine regional books, each tx)ok containing 1 0 to 1 2 counties, each county listed separately, displaying
a county map and the list of cemeteries in that county, their location and whether it has been recorded and
published. Anyone with knowledge of hidden airal private cemeteries in the state of Iowa is urged to contact
Roger Robinson, C.G.R.S., President, Iowa Genealogical Society, PO Box 7735, Des Moines, lA 50322.
sent in by Loren N. Norton, Iowa City lA
AGS BOARD OF TRUSTEES SPONSORS MINI-CONFERENCES
Jim and Minxie Fannin conducted the August 1 9th AGS Mini-Conference on graveyard preservation in Portland ,
Maine. Charles Marchant and Fred Oakley also participated. Cornelia Jenness gave instructions on recording
cemetery data, Ralph Tucker led a tour of the cemetery, and Daniel and Jessie Lie Farber taught how io
photograph gravestones. The mini-conference committee is made up of Cornelia Jenness, Daniel and Jessie
Lie Farber. William B.Jordan Jr. was the conference coordinator. Co-sponsoring organizations with AGS were
Maine Old Cemetery Association, Maine Historical Society, Maine Historic Preservation Commission, Maine
League of Historical Societies and Museums, Maine Citizens for Historic Preservation, and the Department of
Parks & Public Works of the City of Portland.
July 15 an AGS Mini-Conference for teachers was held in Chesterfield, NH. Organized by AGS Trustee Neil
Jenness, the mini-conference was co-sponsored by the Chesterfield Historical Society. The leaders were
Cornelia Jenness, Fred Fredette and Daniel and Jessie Lie Farber. Twenty people attended.
AGS Su'89 p26
IMPORTANT UPDATE
In our last Newsletter (Vol. 13, #2) a review was given of the book Ohio Cemeteries. Coming out during the
summer of 1989 is ar\_Addendum to Ohio Cemeteries, a book of over 100 pages, bound like the original as a
companion volume. It includes many new obscure cemeteries that have been discovered as well as corrections
that have been noted since the original book was printed in 1978. Price information was not available at this
writing but may be obtained by sending a long SASE to Cemetery Addendum, Ohio Genealogical Society, PO
Box 2625, f^ansfield, OH 44906. CORRECTION: Please use this address and not the old address given
In the book review.
Sff ECIAL FARBER PHOTO COLLECTION TO BE AVAILABLE ON MICROFICHE
Chadwyck-Healey, Inc. and the American Antiquarian Society are planning to make the collection of 13,000
photographs of 7,000 gravestones currently housed at the AAS in Worcester, MA, available in a special
microfiche publication. The collection covers the best known region of early American gravestone art— New
England, New York, and New Jersey. There are also examples from the Southeastern states, the t^aritime
provinces of Canada, and Britain.
The collection will provide users:
— Access to artifacts, that, in order to be viewed in person, would require an overwhelming commitment of time
and expense.
— Comprehensive indexing of the gravestones by location, carver, and decedent; detailed cataloging for each
stone, including data on stone, ornament, and epitaph types.
— A thorough understanding of individual and local carving styles, from the "classic" work of the Lamsons in
Charlestown, IVlassachu setts to the exuberant flourishes of John Bull in Newport, Rhode island.
— A complete record of iconographic evolution — winged death's-heads to winged cherubs to willows-and-
urns — ^that reflected transformations in American Protestantism and other factors.
— New tools for intensive genealogical tracking.
— Insights into a mode of photographic documentation that represents a significant art form in itself.
The microfiche collection will cost around $1200. If you belong to a historical society, library or other
organization, or know of someone that would be interested in obtaining the Farber Collection of Photographs
of American Gravestones at the American Antiquarian Society, please contact them and have them write
immediately for further information to:
Chadwyck-Healey Inc.
1101 King Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
The microfiche may still be eligible for the early subscription price.
CEMETERY RECORDS AVAILABLE
The Northeast Washington Genealogical Society has written that they have published two volumes of
a three volume set of Stevens County, Washington cemetery records. Enumeration of Stevens County
Cemeteries is the title of the set. Book One - Cemeteries of Colville. Washington. Book Two -
Incorporated Town Cemeteries. Book Three which includes the cemeteries in the unincorporated
areas of the county will be available at a later date. All books include information taken directly from
the headstones, supplemented by funeral records where feasible. Directions are included for locating
each cemetery and a map of each cemetery assists researchers in locating the exact burial site. Each
book sells for $12.50 plus $2.00 from Northeast Washington Genealogical Society, c/o Colville
Public Library, 195 So. Oak, Colville, WA 99114.
AGSSu'89p27
U31iaiSM3N
ssew
'jaisasjo^
Olf
ON li^J-i'd
a
1 V d
3ovisod s n
•9d0 llJOyd NON
361-30
Vl/\l luegpaaN
Pd mnoiuAid 9fr
S3ianiS 3N01S3AVdO dOd NOIiVIOOSSV
CEMETERY PRESERVES IOWA'S PRAIRIE
From the May 28, 1989 Pes Moines Sunday Registercomes a story by Larry Stone about a community
that has become aware that their historic cemetery should be preserved, not only for the local history
it contains, but also because in it grow original prairie grasses and flowers that once covered 85
percent of Iowa and now have dwindled to a fraction of one percent.
Glenn Pollock of Omaha NE found the little Willow Township Cemetery atop a windswept hill south of
Charter Oak, Iowa a couple of years ago. He realized that there among the 100-year-old tombstones
grew a living record of the land as the first lowans found it. The five-acre plot had remained prairie,
with compass plants, prairie phlox, purple coneflowers, lead plant and New Jersey tea. Indian grass
and big bluestem waved in the September sun and in the spring pasqueflowers bloomed.
Pollock talked to township trustees. The Nature Conservancy and to the County Conservation Board,
explaining the natural area he had discovered and its endangered status. Township trustees responded
by agreeing to permit the County Conservation Board to manage the cemetery as a prairie.
The prairie is now protected from mowing except near the tombstones. Every few years, the plan is
to burn the vegetation to kill encroaching brush and to stimulate the fire-resistant flowers and
grasses. Three cemeteries have since also come under the management of the conservation board. The
four sites include only about 10 acres of prairie — but that could be nearly half the total left in the
county, Pollack said. These prairie cemeteries will link the area's cultural and natural history.
Willow Township Cemetery's prairie was dedicated at a ceremony on June 11, 1989.
(for more on cemeteries as Prairie remnants, in Illinois, see AGS Newsletter, V. 4 #4, p. 8 and V. 9#3,
p. 13.)
The AGS Newsletter is published quarterly as a service to members of the Association for Gravestone
Studies. The membership year begins on the date dues are received and ends one year from that date. A one
year membership entitles the members to four issues of the Newsletter and to participation in the AGS
conference in the year membership is current. Send membership fees (individual $20; institutional, $25;
Family $30; contributing $30) to AGS Executive Director Rosalee Oakley, 46 Plymouth Rd. Needham I^A
02192. Back issues of the Newsletter are available for $3.00 per issue from Rosalee Oakley. The goal of
the Newsletter is to present timely information about projects, literature, and research concerning
gravestones, and about the activities of the Association for Gravestone Studies. It is produced by Deborah
Trask, who welcomes suggestions and short contributions from readers. The Newsletter is not intended
to serve as a journal. Journal articles should be sent to Theodore Chase, editorof Markers, the Journal
of the Association for Gravestone Studies, 74 Farm St., Dover MA 02030. Address Newsletter
contributions to Deborah Trask, editor. Nova Scotia Museum, 1747 Summer St., Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H
3A6. Canada. OrderMarkers (Vol. 1 $18; Vol. 2, $16; Vol. 3, $14.75; Vol. 4, $14.75; Vol. 5, $18; higher
prices for non-members) from Rosalee Oakley. Send contributions to the AGS Archives to Elizabeth Rich,
Archivist, 43 Rybury Hillway, Needham MA 0219'^ ' ■ ess other correspondence to Rosalee Oakley.
NEWSLETTER
OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR GRAVESTONE STUDIES
DEBORAH TRASK, ED. VOLUME 1 3 NUMBER 4 FALL 1989 ISSN; 0146-5783
CONTENTS
19th Century Memorials to Americans In Gibraltar
by Harold My turn 1
Some Thoughts about Graveyards In Scotland 3
Letter from Betty Willsher - "Visit to New England" 4
The Last Yuppie Status Symbol 5
Should You Buy the Family Plot? 6
EXHIBITS 8
LENDING LIBRARY 9
ARCHIVES CONTRIBUTIONS 9
PUBLICATIONS 1 0
Description of a Rural Cemetery, Cincinnati, 1849 1 1
PRESERVATION COLUMN 12
FOUND STONES AND THREATENED CEMETERIES 1 2
MEMBER NEWS 1 4
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES FROM HERE AND THERE 16
The Sedgewick Pie 1 7
AMERICAN CULTURE ASSOCIATION, Cemeteries and Gravemarkers
Abstracts of papers to be presented, March 7-10, 1990, Toronto 1 9
19th CENTURY MEMORIALS TO AMERICANS IN GIBRALTAR
by Harold Mytum
A large part of the North Front Cemetery in
Gibraltar has been recorded as part of a project
funded by the Centerfor Field Research, Belmont
MA and the University of York, England. During
the course of this work, a small group of Ameri-
can burials of the 19th century were noted, and
these are of some interest.
Four of the memorials came from Witham's
Cemetery which now lies overgrown and ne-
glected, surrounded by apartment blocks south of
the city center of Gibraltar. They were moved by
the Services Section of the U.S. Graves Commis-
sion, probably in the 1970s. Three are simple
flat ledgers with inscriptions and no decorative
features recording two deaths from the U.S.S.
Boston in 1831 (white marble). The fourth
monument is more elaborate, again in white
marble, being a fluted column with an urn on top,
set on a rectangular block bearing the inscription
to Captain Booth of the U.S. Navy who died in
1828.
Two more monuments may mark burials origi-
nally made in North Front, and to which the other
memorials were added; both are later in date than
George Washington Elliott stone, 1875, North Front
Cemetery, Gibraltar
AGS Fa'89 p. 1
the others. The first of these was to George Washington Elliott, boatswain of the U.S.S. Shenandoah,
who died in 1 875. This old campaigner had seen action at Port Hudson, Vicl<sburg, Port Jackson, Port
St. Phillip, t^obile-Bay, New Orleans and Baton Rouge; the monument was erected by his shipmates.
The headstone is a simple marble slab with a coped body stone, but lying on these is a large anchor.
Even more splendid is the arrangement of six cannon barrels standing on end, joined by chains and
forming an impressive and appropriate marker for the burial plot.
The second memorial was erected by his shipmates to the memory of E.E. Ellingwood, bayman on the
U.S.S. Marblehead, who died in 1895. The monument consists of a fine white marble draped urn set
atop a rock on which is fixed a scroll containing the inscription. The monument is unlike others in
the cemetery and is similar, apart from the treatment of the urn, to one in Laurel Hill Cemetery,
Philadelphia, illustrated in Victorian Cemetery Art by Edmund V. Gillon Jr. (Dover Publica-
tions, New York, 1972).
The monuments are well preserved and maintained within the gravelled military area of the North
Front Cemetery, at the foot of the dramatic Rock of Gibraltar and next to the airport from which
American airplanes still fly as part of the military protection of western Europe.
Harold Mytum is a lecturer in the Department of Arctiaeology, University of Yorl<, Micklegate l-iouse,
Micklegate, Yorl<Y01 1JZ, England, f-le tias directed graveyard survey projects in Gibraltar, England
and soutti-west Wales.
E.E. Ellingwood stone, 1895, Nortti Front Cemetery, Gibralter
New visitor center open at Arlington
WASHINGTON (ARNEWS)
— The new Arlington Na-
tional Cemetery Visitor Cen-
ter and parking facility is
open to the public.
The new center contains a
tourmobile ticket office, rest
rooms, a bookstore, an infor-
mation center and a gravesite
locator which gives the loca-
tion of cemetery sites and the
routes to those sites, and offers
transportation to those sites
The three-story parking fa-
cility holds 570 cars and 42
buses. For the first time, vis-
itors must pay a parking fee
which will be used to recover
the construction costs of the
center and facility. Handi-
capped drivers, senior citizens
and relatives visiting grave-
sites may park free.
The construction of the vis-
itor center and parking facil-
from Army Echoes, May-June 1989, contributed by Phil Kallas, Stevens Pt.
ity allows for redevelopment
of the old temporary visitor
center and parking lot site as a
burial area, making about
9,500 new gravesites avail-
able.
Note: Retirees, their
spouses and minor children
are eligible for burial (or in-
terment of cremated remains)
in Arlington. You may not
reserve a grave (or columba-
rium) site.
wi
AGSFa'89p.2
SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT GRAVEYARDS IN SCOTLAND
by Mairead Macinnes
It is normal for people to turn to known historical sites and well-read reference books when searching
for some further insight into the historical heritage of Scotland. However, much can be learned from
the perhaps unlikely, though vastly enlightening, source of the graveyards and gravestones of the
country. Here among the tombstones and graveyard walls, is a largely untapped community resource
for sightseers and historians alike which provides a tantalizing glimpse of what life was like for our
forebears.
From earliest time people have shown a desire to commemorate their dead; a trait best exemplified
in Scotland by numerous finds of Neolithic and Bronze age burial sites. Pictish stones, Celtic Crosses,
standing stones and "Religoran", the graveyard of the Kings of Scotland on lona, all survive to remind
us of our heritage.
Before the Reformation of 1560, the Scottish churchyard was regarded as a meeting place as well as
burial place forthe community, thus becoming the focal point for markets, fairs and meetings of local
tradesmen. It was also recognized as a mustering ground for target practise and the display of arms,
as is shown by an act of Parliament of 1457 which declared that a "wappenschaw", for display of
weapons, was to be held in every parish churchyard four times a year!
Prior to 1560 the churchyards were remarkably free of gravestones because people of rank were
permitted burial inside the church, thus had tombstones or memorials erected to them there; while
those without rank were buried outside without stones. However, with the Reformation came an act
preventing burial within churches thus at least rendering men equal in death if not in life! This meant
that every man had the right to be buried within a plot which he could buy for such a purpose in the
churchyard of his choice. In turn, this innovation led to the idea of marking burial plots or lairs by
head and foot stones, and it did not take long for the practice of carving headstones as memorials to the
dead to become established.
When personalized memorial stones first became popular they simply showed a crude carving of the
initials and perhaps date of birth and death of the individual concerned, but quickly progressed to
include emblems and motifs suitable to the deceased, — be they visions of immortality or trade
symbols. It should be noted that until the nineteenth century (when stone could be mass produced
by specialist monument masons) each stone produced was unique as local stonemasons incorporated
this new line of business in with their usual pursuits as and when necessary.
Indeed, many of the stones which we can see today are monuments not only to the dead but also to the
craftsmanship and artistic skill of local stonemasons. While many of the surviving stones which date
from before the nineteenth century are made of sandstone, it is interesting to note areas where local
stone was used. In Ballachulish, Argyllshire, old men of the village can still remember to this day
that men spent time carving their own and theirfamily's gravestones during times of slack at the slate
quarries. That similar stories may be found elsewhere helps to explain why so many slate stones are
to be found in areas around quarries, and especially in Argyll. In Aberdeenshire granite was available
and so used for stones, although its hardness prevented much of the intricate tracery and inscription
work to be seen on stones elsewhere.
Notable regional differences between stones do not simply stop at the type of stone used, but encompass
differences in what is portrayed on the stone, how this is written and in what language it is given.
In the North, Northwest and Islands of Scotland many of the gravestones to be found dating to as late
as the middle of the last century may show only initials and dates, and may be written in any
combination of Latin, English and Gaelic. However, at the same time in Central and Eastern Scotland,
stonemasons were creating very intricate stones which incorporated not only biblical scenes and
images of the hereafter but also trade symbols which signified which trade the deceased had belonged
to. These stones are of interest in that they emphasise the importance and strength of religious
teaching in Scotland while also portraying the importance of the Trade guilds and incorporations in
the towns and cities.
Inevitably, comparisons can also be drawn between gravestones to be found in rural areas and in the
cities. By the nineteenth century, firms of monument masons were established in populous areas to
specialize in monumental sculpture. This led not only to more elaborate tombstones being erected,
such as obelisks and pedestal tombs, but also to the production of pattern books standardising
inscriptions, design and letter fonts. This in turn led to a move towards mass-produced stones which
could be provided to customers in white marble or sandstone ready for the inscription which they
chose. A further by-product of this age of mass-production and new industrial skill was the advent
of cast-iron railings and gravemarkers which became popular in graveyards from the mid-
nineteenth century onwards.
As with much in the Victorian era, graveyards were open to the excesses of rich and poor alike. The
Necropolis in Glasgow stands as a moot reminder of the wealth and prosperity to be found in Glasgow
at this time — indeed, one of the stones there was designed by the renowned Charles RennieMacKintosh,
AGSFa'89p.3
and others are of equal note. However, this should not overshadow the fact that these same graveyards
are now being aMowed to fall into a state of dismal disrepair today.
This century it has been the trend that local District Councils have assumed responsibility for the
upkeep of local graveyards, although this is not necessarily so in the case of private graveyards and
churchyards. Sadly, many of the gravestones which should be protected as part of our history have
suffered not just at the hands of vandals, but also through the vagaries of time, weathering and the
onslaught of acid rain.
from an article titled "Graveyards and Gravestones, Their Historical Worth in Scotland" in The
Highlander (V. 27 #2), March-April 1989.
ATTENTION GENEALOGISTS LOOKING FOR
SCOTTISH ANCESTORS!!
Betty Willsher writes that a friend of hers, recently retired and an
excellent photographer, is prepared to take photographs of the grave-
stones of your Scottish ancestors. It would be necessary to know the
district from which the family came (town or parish). Most of the
parishes have been surveyed for monumental inscriptions, so he would
be able to check whether there are stones. Terms would be by
arrangement. Enquiries to Robin Russell, Broomfield, Lower
Strathkinness Road, St. Andrews, Fife, KY16, Scotland.
LETTER FROM BETTY WILLSHER
Visit to New England
I greatly enjoyed the AGS Conference in June, and would like to congratulate and thank those who
organized it so splendidly. It was a great success.
A week later (after exploring some good cemeteries in Cape Cod with friends who write and say they
are now "hooked") I went to stay with a friend in Martha's Vineyard. There we approached
gravestones in a way which was novel to me. At Abel's Hill, Chilmark, we were intrigued with the
following inscription on a headstone:
"Here lyes the Rev. Experience Mayhew A.M. born on February 15th, 1663, and died of an
Apoplexy Nov. 29th 1758 aestat 85. He was esteemed as a Person of good understanding,
sincere Humiliation and Piety, and spent about 63 years of his life in the ministry of the
Gospel, chiefly among the Indians of Martha's Vineyard/The Sweet remembrance of the just/
Shall flourish when he sleeps in dust"
My friend had a good supply of books on the history of the Vineyard and that evening we read with
wonder some of the story of the illustrious Mayhew family. Next day at West Tisbury we found the
stone to Experience's father John and beside it the marker to the first wife of Experience - Thankful.
(His second wife was Remember - 1 marvelled at the names.) John's epitaph reads "Here lyes John
Mayhew that worthy labourer of Gospel to ye Inhabitants of Tisbury and Chilmark United and to ye
Christian Indians, who died ye 2nd February 1688".
John's father, Thomas, came to Martha's Vineyard in 1 641 , "together with diverse families", and
they were the first settlers. We visited the first Mission House and the Indian Burial Ground (the
numerous stones are unmarked). I enclose a photograph of the plaque on the cairn which relates the
sad story of the loss of Thomas when he was in the prime of life. His father (also Thomas) had followed
his son to the Vineyard, and had been made Governor; he carried on the missionary work after the loss
AGSFaWp.4
i
\
s
of his son. Father and son Thomas, aged 1 0, emigrated from England to Boston about the year 1 628.
They came from a place in Wiltshire called Tisbury (Chilmark is the next parish). I was sorry I had
to leave before we found the marker to Governor Thomas (said to be on what was his estate), and before
we could link up the many other Mayhew stones we found with those we saw which had been erected
in recent years. There were other illustrious families we might have traced through the gravestones
- it was a most absorbing and exciting way to begin to learn the history of the island!
Betty Willstier, Orchard Cottage, Greenside Place, St. Andrews KY16 9TJ, Scotland, is the author of
Understanding Scottish Graveyards (Chambers, Edinburgh, 1985); co-author with Doreen
Hunter of STONES 18th Century Scottish Gravestones (NY: Taplinger, 1979) and 1989
recipient of the AGS Forbes Award.
For more on Martha's Vineyard graveyards, see Epitaph and Icon, a field guide to the old
burying grounds of Cape Cod, (Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, by Diana Hume George and l\Jlal-
colm A. Nelson (Orleans l\/IA: Parnassus Imprints, 1983).
THE LAST YUPPIE STATUS SYMBOL
George Kackley of Baltimore MD sent the Newsletter an article titled "Hot Tombs, the last yuppie
status symbol" by l\/1ichael Specter, from The New Republic. September 1 1, 1989. Here are some
excerpts from it:
All of a sudden, a generation taught first to trust nobody over 30, and then to seek fulfillment through
accumulated goods, has stumbled over the notion of its eventual demise. And how is it reacting to the
first real intimations of mortality? Not with the defiance you might have expected of the Woodstock
generation. Not with the hedonistic blinders of the '70s, or the amused contempt of the '80s. Baby
boomers are buying cemetery plots in record numbers. From sea to shining sea, smart young couples
are edgily sizing up the nation's cemeteries, from the gaudiest memorial parks to the clubbiest little
churchyards. And you'd better grab these plots while they're hot, because whether it's a duplex
apartment with a Park view and a private elevator or a box tomb in a meadow crowned by the simplest
stela, real estate is real estate.
Yuppies have seen the future, and it is death. According to the Pre-Arrangement Association, which
represents funeral directors, cemeterians, and other suppliers to the death care industry, successful
young people with little else to worry about have become the driving engine of the growing
multibillion-dollar death business. They are out there hustling for the "right" cemetery spot in
much the same way they have scoured the nation for the most sophisticated cabernets, the most
authentic Italian espresso machines, and the best Aprica strollers.
"Pre Need" — as opposed to "At Need" which is how the industry refers to the shortsighted people who
die before they find a cemetery — is clearly going gangbusters. Before 1960 it was rare to find any
healthy young person searching for his own grave. During the '60s only ten percent of all such
purchases were made far in advance. But according to the PAA, that figure grew to 20 percent in the
'70s and 40 per cent in the '80s. And nobody sees any end soon to this bull market.
In most ways, trends in cemeteries parallel those that exist above ground. Grave sites in major cities
are difficult to come by and cost thousands of dollars. "Rich or yuppie people with large ways and
means are always able to buy a more expensive casket or a more impressive burial lot," says Dayne
Sieling, the PAA's executive vice president. "So naturally they gravitate to the more prestigious
cemeteries." In rural America the price drops drastically. Americans of the 20th century are still
among the first people routinely to die far from where they were born. So naturally we are among
the first to go house-hunting for our sacred resting place.
AGSFa'89p.5
"It makes great .sense if you're willing to admit it," says a physician from New York City, who is
willing to admit it but not to be quoted by name. He recently acquired for himself, his wife, and two
sons a fine patch of pricey Long Island hillside. "If you struggle all your life to get good jobs and the
best apartments and to send your children to Harvard, why the hell should you want to spend 3,000
years lying under a highway in Queens?"
But unless you are willing to shell out the minimum entry fee of about $15000, for example, you can
forget about getting into Westwood Village Memorial Park in Los Angeles, the final (and perhaps only)
resting place of Marilyn Monroe. At Abel's Hill Cemetery in Chilmark, one of the exclusive towns on
Martha's Vineyard, you can bury your whole family at the bargain basement cost of $210., but only
if you already own a house there — which shouldn't run you much more than a million dollars or so.
"We've always been able to take whoever comes," says Basil Welch, the superintendent of Abel's Hill,
a shabbily genteel cemetery where, through what could only be a harmonic convergence, Lillian
Hellman and John Belushi somehow managed to end up together for the rest of time. (Although Hellman
lived on Martha's Vineyard, she wasn't a resident of Chilmark, and her friends had to move heaven
to get her into that piece of earth.) But even this deal isn't going to last forever. "There's been a
stream of young people making plans in the past few years," Welch adds. "You don't want to be buried
standing up, do you?"
For the yuppies of this world — whether they are religious or not — cremation doesn't seem to hold
much appeal. "Most people want to be remembered," said Harvey Geller, of Columbia Memorial Park
in the planned city of Columbia, Maryland. "And they want to be visited. It's just harder for most
people to see the grandchildren gathering around the urn than around a more traditional grave."
But for people of means, people who know the difference between a single malt whiskey and a muddied
blend, who can choose.correctly between a vacation in Aspen or Vail or whetherto use chorionic villi
sampling rather than amniocentesis, why not the best when it comes to eternal repose? Cemetery
owners, taking full advantage of the deregulation of their industry, now use phone marketing, direct
mail, and personal visits in their attempts to sign new recruits.
Of course, none of this matters to the truly informed sophisticate, for he or she is no doubt a
cryonicist, and has no intention of going quietly into the good night. These people are the true avant-
garde. When they die, they fork over about $1 25,000 to have there bodies frozen and dipped in liquid
nitrogen. Then they are stored in stainless steel capsules and hooked up to a variety of electronic
equipment that makes sure they keep their cool. From then on they lie around like extras from "Star
Trek" for a few hundred years until some scientist with nothing better to do figures out how to defrost
them. It's not for everyone, of course, but what is?
FOR GENEALOGISTS - Should You Buy the Family Plot?
>^
Thomas Stand of Hamilton OH sent this article from AntiqueWeek, June 19, 1989, by John W.
Heisey.
Few Genealogists can pass by an old cemetery and not have the urge to go in and have a look. Right?
There could come a time when we must confront ourselves about being too sentimental and curious
about cemeteries, however, like when someone offers to sell you a burial site. Don't laugh. It does
happen, and if you should be involved with such an offer, be ready to take a second or third look at the
matter.
Based on an actual "for instance", suppose you have forbears buried in a small private cemetery you
visit occasionally on a farm. One day the farmer offers to sell you that cemetery because he doesn't
want to be bothered with caring for it any longer. The price sounds reasonable — almost a steal. Before
you eagerly hand over the money, better think the matter over. See your lawyer and find out exactly
what might be involved. Things might not be as simple as they seem.
Carefully research the appropriate state and local laws to see what is involved concerning cemeteries,
especially closed or abandoned ones. Don't be afraid to ask questions of the farmer, your lawyer and
even yourself. As a rough guideline, get answers to the following questions before you buy that plot
of family history or accept responsibility for its upkeep.
a. Who actually owns the site?
b. Is there anything mentioned about the cemetery in the deed for the land on which it is located?
c. Will you have a permanent and free right of way permitting you full access to that plot of ground?
d. Is that permission in writing and fully agreed to by the landowner?
e. Are there any restrictions or special requirements in any valid deed concerning that cemetery?
f. Is it fenced in now, or will the landowner permit you to fence it in?
g. Are there any state, or local, restrictions, requirements, special fees, reports or actions that you
AGSFa'89p.6
h. Are you acquiring the cemetery in your own name and right, or in the name and right of a family
or an organization?
i. Can you have a clause in the deed to cover any damage to it which might be caused by the farmer,
his employees or his livestock?
j. Would you be liable for any accident that happens in that cemetery?
k. If the cemetery is in poor condition (stones broken, sunken, overturned, missing, etc.; brush and
trees covering it; unfenced, etc.), how much would it cost to restore the property? Can you, and do
you wish to undertake that additional expense? This might cost much more than the initial purchase
price.
I. Is anyone else interested in owning the site? If so, better get in contact with them before a conflict
develops.
m. Have you determined the history of the cemetery and know definitely what your connections are
with it?
n. If you buy the graveyard, must you move it? (This is no joke.)
If you have doubts about even one of these questions, you should think twice and discuss the matter
thoroughly with others before you buy.
These comments deal with cemeteries that the owner wishes to dispose of. There are opposite
situations. The landowner may not want to sell an old cemetery on his land— even if you can prove your
ancestors are buried there. He may not even permit any access to it by anyone. He may not allow it
to be restored, maintained or fenced in.
If this is the case, the landowner may be quite antagonistic to any offers or discussions concerning the
site. Dealing with such a person may be virtually impossible, even when the laws require that such
old cemeteries be preserved. Quite frequently a cemetery in this scenario is allowed to deteriorate
and may eventually be plowed over or be lost in a maze of trees, brush or other debris.
Sometimes county officials can put teeth into their local laws governing old and/or abandoned
graveyards, however. The landowner may be charged with failing to obey the laws and may find it less
bother to sell the property, or let an interested individual or organization care for it. Sometimes all
you can do is wait and hope a new landowner will take a more benevolent view of the situation.
A friendly discussion with the balky landowner may be helpful in reaching an agreement, but it could
take lots of tact and patience, gentle persuasion and just plain luck. If You're in that situation, you
should make the effort to reach a workable solution with the landowner.
No matter how much you may try to save a family plot you may find it necessary to give up. A dam
may result in the flooding of the site. A new shopping center may macadamize the grounds, or a housing
development may obliterate the area. These circumstances are often beyond our control. Yet, most
states have laws that provide for the recording of these sites. There may be time to photograph and
copy inscriptions from all extant stones or even salvage them for placement elsewhere. Provision
may also be made for the removal of remains for interment at another site. In any case, be sure a map
of the entire original cemetery is made to show where it had been, who was buried in it, and where.
So don't jump at the chance to buy a cemetery until you've studied all the facts about it. You may save
yourself a lot of unnecessary problems.
ATTENTION ALL MEMBERS WHO LIKE TO COMPLAIN ABOUT
THE NEWSLETTER!
You will be delighted to hear that this is the very last time the AGS
Newsletter will appear in this format! For all those who have told us
how hard the Newsletter is to store, take heart, the Newsletter will
emerge in the Winter issue in a normal 81/2 x 11 format. The
Newsletter began in this legal size as a cost- efficient way for members
to share information. Now that we are able to use "desk-top" software
to layout the Newsletter, the format need not be as limited, so look for
a very different Newsletter in the next issue. (Nowif we could only find
a way to keep me on schedule...) DT
AGSFa'89p.7
EXHIBITS
The Mourning Art exhibit at Arlington Cemetery is a study of the changes in taste and religious belief
in America beginning in the seventeenth century and continuing until the nineteenth. The sense of
learning to die, then to live, and finally to pray — a medieval and a Puritan attitude toward existence
— will be displayed in the objects from the seventeenth century. The eighteenth century approach
of optimism concerning the deceased member's state of grace is expressed in the earthy, blooming and
neo-classical landscapes popular in Federal America. Funeral sermons, of which we have twenty-
one, follow the style and taste of the objects and motifs of their period. Objects such as the hatchment,
the bell, the hearse, tombstone blow-ups, ceramic jugs, gold, ivory and hair jewelry, pictures and
samplers join the literature and the metaphor of elegies, broadsides, sermons, wills and letters. The
mourning rings of the Reverend George Whitefield and George Washington will be on permanent
display.
The exterior architecture of the building, now almost complete, resembles closely I^ount Vernon in
honor of the man whose death gave life to the art in mourning. A chapel, necessary in the period, is
part of the building. A genealogical library is also included in this complex. And, of course, the actual
nineteenth-and-twentieth century cemetery, with important mausoleums and stones, actually
surrounds the building. The museum, library and chapel are all expected to open in IVIarch 1990.
contributed by Dr. Anita Schorsch,
08540
Center of Theological Inquiry, 50 Stockton St., Princeton NJ
AFRICAN-AMERICAN BURIAL CUSTOMS EXHIBIT
The South Carolina State Museum has presented an exhibit entitled "The Last Miles of the Way:
African-American Homegoing Traditions 1890-Present." It ran from June 4 to December 1 , 1989.
A 73-page catalog accompanies the exhibit edited by Elaine Nichols, Guest Curator of History at the
museum. Articles include "The Last Miles of the Way: African-American Homegoing Traditions,
1890-Present," "Honoring the Ancestors: Kongo-American Graves in the American South,"
"Archaeological Analysis of African-American Mortuary Behavior," "Mourning and Burying the
Dead: Experiences of a Lowcountry Funeral Director," and a transcript of the Keynote Address at the
opening day celebration by Rev. Dr. Charles B. Jackson, Sr. To obtain a copy of the catalog, send $1 8
to South Carolina State Museum, PO Box 100107,301 Gervais Street, Columbia, SC 29202-3107.
Make checks payable to the South Carolina State Museum. (SC residents add 5% tax.)
RESEARCH
Some unanswered questions from the mailbag
Frederick Terna is seeking any gravestones in the USA or Canada that depict the Biblical scene of
Abraham and Isaac.
Carley Robison, Archivist, Knox College,
Galesburg IL 61401 is looking for information
about the wrought iron "cage" structure in Hope
Cemetery, Galesburg, illustrated here. "Local
history refers to it only vaguely as the
'astronomer's cage', but unfortunately the local
folklore doesn't offer any explanation. The
sexton's records do not give a clue as to who is
buried there nor is there any indication on the
structure itself. It is made of wrought iron, the
curved pieces being joined by lead hubs. It is
roughly four feet square and eight feet to the top
decoration. Anyone ever see anything like it —
anywhere? In a cemetery? On a building? In an
astronomical experiment? Possibly an astro-
logical,experiment? Any suggestions would be
appreciated."
■4
Dr. Brian Durrans, Deputy Keeper of the Museum of Mankind (Burlington Gardens, London W1 X 2Ex)
is working on a computerized database and on a book on the "practice of compiling and burying/
depositing time capsules". He suggests that "in their 'immortalising' or commemorating function"
they resemble gravestones. He would appreciate AGS members sending him any first-hand accounts,
newspaper clippings or other information about such deposits. He would also like to hear from any
members who know instances of the funerary practice "involving the burial of objects which may
relate to mourning in the absenceoi a body — such as was a widespread experience in World War I, for
instance".
AGS Fa' 89 p. 8
LENDING LIBRARY
The AGS Lending Library has a new book available for circulation:
Cemeteries and Gravemarkers: Voices of American Culture. Edited by Richard E. Meyer.
6 oz. mailing weight)
(2 1b.
For a complete list of available books and mail order details, please refer to previous Newsletter or
send a SASE to: Laurel Gabel, 205 Fishers Rd., Pittsford NY 14534.
The Association's Board agreed last yearto establish and operate a mailorder lending library for one
year, on a trial basis. Since its beginning, nine months ago, the Lending Library has filled thirty two
orders. Judging from this response and from comments of members, the library service seems to be
appreciated, especially by those living outside New England. After assessing the apparent success of
this trial period, the Board voted to continue the Lending Library.
Ralph Tucker, Box 414, Georgetown ME, 04548, has sent an interesting item about wooden grave
markers that isn't included in Benno Forman's article ("A New Light on Early Grave Markers",
Essex Institute Historical Collections, V. 104 #4, April 1968) nor in Peter Benes'
("Additional Light on Wooden Grave Markers", Essex Institute Historical Collections, V, 1 1 1
#1, January 1975). In The Diary of Samuel Sewell... Ed.M. Halsey Thomas (1973) V. I p. 464
under the date 4 April 1702 in the Plymouth MA area he writes:
View the burying place, see Mr. Walley's Epitaph on a rail broken off, and tumbled
about; so well as could read the worn letters, 'twas this: "Here lieth the body of
that blessed Son of Peace, and late Pastor of the Church of Christ, Mr. Thomas
Wally (sic), who ended his Labour, and fell asleep in the Lord, 21 March, 1677."
ARCHIVE CONTRIBUTIONS
Two recent contributions to the AGS Archives:
1 . 1988 thesis in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Cultural
Resource Management at Sonoma State University on "Cemeteries in California and Nevada: A
Western Thanatopsis" by Kathryn Rae Crabtree of Richmond, CA.
Abstract: Death is a fact of life. Cemeteries are one response to the necessity of doing something with
the remains of deceased human beings. This paper takes the stance that cemeteries contain
information of value to anthropologists, historians, and other students of social customs.
The author's dual purpose is to indicate how to study cemeteries and why to bother with them. The
work, therefore, both recommends a procedure for recording western cemeteries (with forms and
a glossary included), and gives examples of using above-ground cemetery data to enhance our
understanding of past lifeways. The emphasis is on death in the nineteenth century. The setting for
the case study is Northwestern Nevada.
For information on obtaining a copy of the thesis, please contact:
Kathryn Rae Crabtree, 771 Yuba Street, Richmond, CA 94805
2. Research paper in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the
Department of Anthropology at Brown University titled, "Puritans, Yankees, and Gravestones: A
Linguistic Analysis of New England Gravestone Inscriptions" by Robert K. Fitts.
Abstract: Historians disagree on when Puritan New England transformed into Yankee New England.
In this study, gravestone inscriptions are used to determine when this change occurred. Through the
use of Noam Chomsky's rules of generative grammar, two styles of gravestone inscriptions, called
Markers and Monuments, are isolated. Analysis indicates that the shift from Marker to Monument
Inscriptions was caused by a change from Puritan to Yankee attitudes to death. This conclusion
suggests that the transformation from Puritan to Yankee society was a gradual process which was not
complete until the adoption of new attitudes toward death in the mid to late-eighteenth century.
To obtain a copy of this thesis, please contact Robert K. Fitts, Department of Anthropology, Brown
University, Providence, Rl 02912.
AGS Fa' 89 p. 9
PUBLICATIONS
< IS!' I» I i<
LI\
Chelsea Green Publishing Company, P.O. Box
130, Post Mills VT, 05058-0130 (FAX: 802/
333-9092) has put out the third in their
"Permanent" series: Permanent Califor-
nians, an Illustrated Guide to the Cemeteries ot
California, by Judi Culbertson and Tom Randall
(paperback/$16.95 ISBN 0-930031-21-0).
Permanent Californiansis lavishly illus-
trated with maps and black and white photo-
graphs of the gravesites, statuary and gardens of
the best and most interesting cemeteries in
California, principally in Los Angeles and San
Francisco/Oakland, but also in Salinas, Carmel
and San Diego. The AGS Newsletter hopes to
include a review of this publication in an up-
coming issue. Also in this series, by the same
authors: Permanent New Yorkers (1987,
paperback/$17.95 ISBN 0-930031-11-3)
and Permanent Parisians (1986, paper-
back/US.95 ISBN 0-930031-03-2).
The Ulster Historical Foundation, 68 Balmoral Ave., Belfast BT9 6NY, Northern Ireland, publishes
The Gravestone Inscription Ser/es which aims to include all pre-1900 gravestones in Ulster.
Since 1966, 24 volumes and 2 second editions have been published. Since 1981 over 100 young
people, employed under the Department of Economic Development Youth Training Scheme, have
recorded much information for the series, by fieldwork and on computer. Many school leavers have
thus been given valuable work experience. The UHF accepts payment by the following credit cards:
Visa; Access; American Express; Mastercard and Diners. Please add LI. 00 postage per book.
Gravestone Inscriptions - Co Down
Volume 1 North Down (Breda, CarrydulT,
Castlereagh, Drumbo, Gransha, Hillhall,
Killybawn, Knockbracken, Moneyrea and
Tullynakill). Reprinted 1976. £5,50.
Volume 2 North Down (Baileysmill, Boardmills,
Dundonald, Killaney, Knockbreda, Killybawn
and Legacurry). Second Edition, 1988.
£7.50.
Volume 3 North Down (Drumbcg. Edcndcrry.
Kilmore, Rademan and Sainllield). Oul of
Print.
Volume 4 North Down (Drumbo, Holywood and
Knock). Out of Print.
Volume 5 North Down (Ballygowan, Blaris,
Carrickmannon, Comber, Kilcairn, Killinchy.
Kilmood, Raffrey and Ravara. Second
Edition, 1984. £5.50.
Volume 6 Mid Down (Ballyniacashcn, Killaroscy,
Killinakin, Killinchy, Killyleagh and
Tullymacnous). Oul of Print.
Volume 7 Mid Down (Downpatrick, Inch. Killyleagh
and Saul). Out of Print.
Volume 8 Mid Down (Ardglass, Bailee, Ballycruttle,
Ballyculter, Bright, Dunsford, Kilclief,
Killough, Old Court and Saul). £5.50
Volume 9 Mid Down (Aghisnafin, Ballykinler,
Ballynahinch, Clough, Drumaroad. Kilmegan,
Loughinisland, Magheradroll, Magherahamlet,
Rathmullan and Seaforde). £5.50
Volume. 10 South Down (Ballymageogh,
Glassdrumman, Kilhome, Kilkeel, Mourne and
Tamlaght.) Index to Volumes 6-10. £5.50
Volume 11 Ards (Movilla and Newtownard,s). Out of
print.
Volume 12 Ards (Ballyblack, Greyabbey, Kircubbin, also
Loughinisland and Magheradroll addenda).
£5.50
Volume 13 Ards (Ardkeen Ardquin, Ballycranbeg,
Ballygalget, Ballyphilip, Ballylruslan, Lisbane
and Portaferry). £5.50
Volume 14
Ards (Balligan, Ballyhemlin, Carrowdore,
Cloghy, Inishargy. Slanes and Templepatrick). ,
£5.50
Volume 15
Ards (Ballyhalben, Glastry and Whitechurch.
Index to Vols 11-15), £5.50
Volume 16
Ards (Ballycopeland, Copeland Island,
Millisle and Donaghadee). £5.50
Volume 17
Ards (Bangor and Balloo House). £5.50
Volume 18
North Down (Annahilt, Hillsborough,
Loughaghery and Moira). £5.50
Volume 19
North-West Down (Ballooly.
Donaghcloney, Drumlough, Dromara,
Dromore, Finnis, Kilkinamurry, Garvaghy,
Magheralin and Waringstown). £5.50
In Preparation
Volume 20
North-West Down (Ballydown, Banbridge,
Clare, Laurencetown, Magherally, Moyallon,
Seapatrick, Tullylish). Index to Vols 16-20.
Gravestone Inscriptions - Co Antrim
Volume 1
East Antrim (Ballykeel, Ballyprionmore and
Islandmagee). £5.50
Volume 2
East Antrim (Glynn, Ralloo, and
Templecorran). £5.50
In Preparation
Volume 3
East Antrim (Ballynure and Carrickfergus).
Gravestone Inscriptions - Belfast
Volume 1
Shankill Graveyard, £5.50
Volume 2
Friar's Bush and Milltown Graveyards.
£5.50
Volume 3
Balmoral Graveyards. £5.50
In Preparation
Volume 4
Clifton Street Graveyard.
AGSFa'89p.10
i
*'/*•
LiLnl:iLnLTLnLnlr|lril=il--il=,iril.TLnlrilnbit--itriLnLTLTtriI-TlnI^LTErEr
CEMETERY RECORDS PUBLISHED
Members of the Genealogical Society of Raleigh and Fayette Counties, West Virginia, have been
compiling information from the cemeteries in Raleigh County, West Virginia. Books containing the
cemetery inscriptions are now being published. Volumes I and II are available and Volume III will be
available November 15th. Proceeds from the sale of the book will go toward cleaning, restoring, and
repairing tombstones in the abandoned cemeteries. The books are available for $12 each plus $2.00
postage and handling. Ivlake checks payable to Macie Lilly, and mail to her attention at 312 Mankin
Avenue, Beckley, West Virginia 25801 or call 304/253-8010.
A DESCRIPTION OF A RURAL CEMETERY, CINCINNATI 1849
The following description is from Sarah A. Trago's journal of her trip to Cincinnati which began
October 31, 1849. Sarah was born March 31 , 1818 and married John Trago in 1839. They had two
children born in 1843 and 1846 respectively; Sarah died March 19, 1891.
...We passed many beautiful country seats with all kinds of evergreen trees and shrubbery and most
beautiful flowers of all kinds we passed Comingsville a small village and crossed millcreek and went
up Millcreek bottom a good road through a fine country about five miles to the cemmetery ground
which is a large burying ground which contains 217 acres which is laid off in small lots and purchased
by any one who wants a family burying ground(.) The ground is enclosed with osage orange hedges
the first part of it which is a beautiful meadow is planted with forest trees, up through the center is
a graveled road leading to the burying lots, on each side of which there are evergree trees planted and
when we get to these lots the roads winds round and among these lots in every direction, some of which
is hedged in with evergreen, some with sc(a)lloped iron railing, but the most of them was fenced in
with marbe carved out in a most extravagant and showy manner some of which costs 2000 just for
the fence around them, then in the center they have great marble monuments which cost 6 or 8000
dollars(.) Part of the ground is very hilly and in the sides of the hills they have dug in and put in
vaults, I saw in one of them, it was lined all around with marble it had three tier of shelves with
divisions between which made places for 1 2 coffins there was one coffin in there(.) these vaults are
very expensive and costs 8 or 9000 dollars a piece(.) We spent several hours looking at the great
variety of pailings [palingsjand monuments most of which was marble finishes in a most showy and
superfluous manner(.) They have a great variety of evergreen trees planted among their artificial
works which makes it look very handsome indeed, true it looks very grand but I could not look on it
without feeling sorry that there was so much time and mon(e)y spent that was of no real used to any
person(.) The plan of the burying ground I was pleased with(,) so free from sectarian feelings, all
societies, sects, or denominations, could go bury in one burying ground. It has only been three years
since it was first laid out(,) what it will be in 10 or 20 more I cannot imagine.
contributed by her great-great-granddaughter, Judy Juntunen, Asst. Director/Librarian, Benton
County Historical Society and Museum, P.O. Box 47, Philomath OR, 97370. Judy writes that she is
"not familiar with Cincinnati, perhaps someone will know if Sarah's description is clear enough to
find out the name of the cemetery. [Spring Grove?] Sarah was a Quaker which may account for her
feelings about the money necessary to be buried in this cemetery. If the cemetery eventually filled
up the 21 7 acres, Sarah would find it even more difficult to imagine!. I would be happy to send a copy
of the journal's original pages about the cemetery if anyone is interested. Comments about
transcription: The letters and punctuation enclosed in () are not in the original. A "paling" is a fence
made of pointed pieces of wood.
AGS Fa'89 p. 1 1
PRESERVATION COLUMN
New Book Available
The Historic Tallahassee Preservation Board has recently published Florida's Historic Ceme-
teries: A Preservation Handbook. Written by AGS member Sharyn Thompson with a special
chapter on "Preservation and Restoration" by Lynette Strangstad, the 50-page book is designed to
educate Florida citizens about historic cemeteries. Other chapters include "Florida's Cemeteries as
Historical Resources," "Identification and Surveying," and Research and Documentation." Appen-
dices include information about the Florida Master Site File, cemeteries that qualify for the National
Register, and Florida statutes affecting protection of cemeteries. While it is written for Floridians,
it will be helpful to those in other states as well. The book is available for $7.95 postpaid from
Historic Tallahassee Preservation Board, 329 N. Meridian Street, Tallahassee, FL 32303.
An indication of the future was unveiled in Sep-
tember at Hartford's chief link to its colonial
past, the Ancient Burying Ground on Main St. In
midday ceremonies, two new brownstone grave-
stones were displayed in the cemetery that con-
tains the remains of the city's founders and has
not had a burial since the early part of the last
century. The new markers are replicas of two
gravestones that have long since crumbled almost
into dust — those that had marked the final resting
places of Ebenezer Watson, an early printer of
the Hartford Courant, and his wife, Elizabeth.
The earliest gravestones in the cemetery, said
AGS member William A. Hosley, curator of the
burying ground, were made of brownstone quar-
ried in Portland, a particularly soft and porous
stone, and many of them became so badly eroded
there was no hope of saving them. The only
alternative, he said, was to duplicate them— using
a tougher brownstone either from Europe where
it is still quarried orfrom stock left over at an old
quarry in Massachusetts. Massachusetts re-
storer, Allen Williams, then duplicated the let-
tering and artwork on the stones, Hosley said.
"This has been meticulously researched." The
restoration project was financed by the Hartford
Courant Foundation.
p.
from theHartford Courant, September 21, 1989, sent by Jonathan Twiss, Hartford CT. For more
on tfiis replacement project, see New "Old" Gravestones in Hartford", AGS Newsletter, Spring '89,
p. 17.
FOUND STONES AND THREATENED CEMETERIES
A tombstone which was stolen from a cemetery in Merryall CT was restored to its rightful place after
a relative's public appeal for the return of the 100-year old marker apparently reached the
conscience-stricken thief.
"We're thankful to whoever returned it," said Jacqueline Gilman of Windsor CT who had offered a
$100. reward for information about the whereabouts of the tombstone of her great-grandmother,
Phebe Bennett Sharra of New Milford. But Mrs. Gilman said the return of the 200 pound marble
marker was just as mysterious as its disappearance this summer. Mrs. Gilman, a genealogy buff, said
she discovered the tombstone was missing when she made her regular visit to the Lower Merryall
Cemetery in the beginning of September. She explained that it is not unusual for old tombstones to
be sold as coffee tables, but because newspaper reports described the inscription on the stolen marker
in detail, the thief probably figured it was too risky to sell and so decided to do the right thing.
from tfie New Milford CT Times, September 21, 1989, the News-Times, September 26, 1989 and
the New Milford CT Times, October 12, 1989, sent by Pat (filler of Danbury CT.
AGS Fa'89p.12
Three years ago, Mona Johnson visited her family's private cemetery and found Halloween masks,
beer cans — and a mysterious marble gravestone. Engravings on the flat 6-foot by 3-foot tombstone
indicated that it came from the grave of a Capt. John Hedges, who fought in the Revolutionary War and
died in 1804. In June of 1989 the stone was returned to Capt. Hedges' descendants.
fvlrs. Johnson and her husband thought that the stone was probably removed from a neighboring
cemetery as a Halloween prank. They tried, unsuccessfully, to locate family members in the area.
Then they cleaned the top of the stone so that they could copy the inscription, and asked the local
newspaper for assistance in finding descendants of Captain Hedges.
In the meantime, Marjorie Wood of Colonial Heights, whose mother was a Hedges, had spent hours in
libraries and clerks' offices during the past 15 years researching the family history. She was seeking
the site of the former Hedges plantation in Prince William County VA, in hopes that she could find a
family cemetery.
A newspaper reporter contacted her about the Hedges stone. When she learned that a family tombstone
had been found, f^rs. Wood burst into tears, saying, "You can't imagine how hard I've worked trying
to find something like this." The next day, she and her brother met with the Johnsons, who took them
to the cemetery. Johnson and two passers-by worked for nearly an hour, using makeshift levers, to
load the 700-pound stone into the back of a pickup truck. After witnessing the effort, Mrs. Johnson
said that she was convinced the stone wasn't brought to the cemetery as a prank. "Nobody would work
that hard to accomplish a prank," she said. "Now, I'm thinking that a workman may have found it in
the woods and used his heavy equipment to bring it to the cemetery for safekeeping."
Mrs. Wood said if they cannot find the actual site where John Hedges was buried, the family may place
the stone next to the other graves in Stafford Memorial Park.
from the Fredericksburg VAFree Lance-Star, June 16, 1989, sent by Davyd Foard Hood, Fredericksburg
VA.
The decision by the Du Page County Convention and Exposition Authority to build a county convention
center on a 1 5-acre site in Lombard IL means that the graves of as many as 1 400 people with families
throughout the Chicago area will be moved, possibly without the permission or knowledge of relatives.
The site is part of the 52-acre Allerton Ridge Cemetery, now owned by American Ennvironmental
Construction Company. The company is hoping to develop the remaining 37 acres of the cemetery for
retail, hotel, office and residential use. To make way for that development, the firm is planning to
move nearly all of the bodies to other cemeteries. They are close to securing approval from the York
Township Board, which serves as caretakers of cemeteries within the township, "to disinter if we
do not have relatives' consent."
From the Chicago Tribune, July 30, 1989, sent by Jim Jewell, Peru IL
The small colonial cemetery bearing the remains of Benjamin Franklin was vandalized last February
by a man who knocked a 200 pond granite ornament off a wall, missing the famous statesman's tomb
by about 1 0 feet. Police arrested a man who identified himself as George Guido, 36, after observing
the man breaking tombstones inside the 270-year old Christ Church Burial Ground. The cemetery,
owned by historic Christ Church, was purchased by the church in 1719 and the first burials were
made there in 1720.
In the north-west corner of the burial ground is the horizontal 6-by 4-foot marble slab marking the
grave of Franklin, who, according to church records, was buried there April 18, 1790, one day after
his death at age 84. During his life, Franklin, who made Philadelphia his home, signed the Declaration
of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, server as an American diplomat, experimented with
electricity and invented bifocals, the lightening rod and the Franklin stove. It was at a spot a few feet
from Franklin's grave that the circular stone ornament was pushed from atop a brick wall about seven
feet high that surrounds the cemetery. The stone broke on impact and crushed bricks in the walkway
where it landed. Several old tombstones were also broken or pulled from the ground, and wooden
benches were overturned in the cemetery.
"There's a lot of new damage; there's a lot of old damage, "said Bruce Gill, the curator and business
manager of Christ Church, as he walked among weathered headstones and holly trees. "I think for the
vagrants and the street people, it's a matterthat it's quiet, unpatrolled," Gill said. "It's not well lit.
They can come up here and they seek shelter. And, literally, they seek shelter in the graves."
Guido, who was charged with vandalism, criminal mischief, criminal trespassing, and desecration of
venerated objects, was arraigned and held on $10,000. bail pending his hearing. The Bail
Commissioner also ordered him to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
from the Philadelphia Inquirer, February 22, 1989, sent by Harvard Wood III, Lansdowne PA
AGS Fa'89p.13
MEMBER NEWS
Lynette Strangstad, Charleston SC and Sharyn Thompson, Tallahassee FL, along with former
AGS member Aff red E. Lemmon, New Orleans LA were participants in a graveyard preservation
workshop held in Tallahassee on November 10-11. Lectures on preserving and restoring a burial
site occupied the first day and Old City Cemetery was used as a "laboratory" for a lecture and
demonstration on gravestone conservation procedures. A tour of Leon County plantation graveyards
followed the workshop. The event was sponsored by Florida Trust for Historic Preservation, Historic
Tallahassee Preservation Board, Florida Funeral Directors Association, Florida Cemetery Associa-
tion and Lafayette Vineyards. Funding was provided in part by grants from the Bureau of Historic
Preservation, Florida Department of State, assisted by the Historic Preservation Advisory Council.
The Cambridge (MA) Center for Adult Education offered a slide show and tour of the Old Cambridge
Burying Ground which was led by Donna LaRue on September 30.
L, Sidney Esllnger of East Peoria IL was tour guide on October 21 for the Peoria Genealogical
Society's tour of Peoria's Springdale Cemetery, the largest cemetery in the state of Illinois.
Katherine Kohl of Cleveland OH is corporate secretary and foundation development director of the
Lake View Cemetery Association. She is using Lake View Cemetery as a classroom where Greater
Clevelanders can learn about history and botany. She uses the rotunda of the memorial to President
James A. Garfield for photographic and historic exhibits. In progress are materials Katherine is
writing to help school children learn about Cleveland's early history through the lives of people who
are buried there. The cemetery's 500 trees are being identified and tagged so visitors will know their
names. She has recruited 1 0 volunteer guides to give historic tours of Lake View. Katherine is also
vice president of the Ohio Association of Cemeteries, Superintendents and Officers.
Helen Sclair, Chicago IL writes of her work locating cemeteries and burial sites that have never
appeared on maps or in print. While her work is usually in Chicago, an October trip toward the
Mississippi and Wisconsin Rivers was the occasion for additional discoveries. The cemetery in
Belvedere, IL, has just completed restoration of the Pettet Chapel designed as a memorial by Frank
Lloyd Wright and is a gem of Prairie architecture. The cemeteries in St. Donatus lA, face each other
above a valley that is at least a mile across with beautiful fields between. The Catholic cemetery
contains a wooden monument and several iron crosses and crucifixes. The tiny military cemetery of
Fort Crawford in Prairie Du Chien contains box tombs, ala Charleston, Philadelphia, etc. Although
Frank Lloyd Wright's remains have been moved to Scottsdale AZ, his gravesite is intact in Spring
Green Wl — immense horizontal slabs of native fieldstone with bronze strips rising from the ground
and then extending over the slabs with names and vital statistics for all members of the family.
HURRICANE AND EARTHQUAKE SHAKES AGS MEMBERS
Word is beginning to come in from our AGS members who found themselves in the path of Hurricane
Hugo and the San Francisco earthquake. So far their reports have been of only minor damage to them
personally, but concern for others around them not so lucky is evident in each letter. Some also
mention how the cemeteries and grave markers have come through these latest threats to their
survival.
Nita R. Spangler in Redwood City sends this newspaper article from the PENINSULA TIMES TRIBUNE
of October 25, 1989:
GRAVEYARDS UNSETTLED
WATSONVILLE — Coffins were jostled and tombstones were toppled by the hundreds in graveyards
when the earth groaned during last week's 7.1 -magnitude earthquake.
The Virgin Mary and other religious icons, sentinals [sic] over a century-old graveyard near
midtown here, tumbled to the ground, and cemetery managers called off all burials until repairs can
be made.
"Some of the marble monuments are shattered, and they will be very difficult to repair. The granite
ones we can stand up again, though," said Everett Dias, manager for the five Santa Cruz County-
operated cemeteries.
AGSFaWp.U
NEW AGS MEMBERS
Those who have joined AGS during the third quarter of 1989 are listed below in zip code order so that
you can find your state easily. If any of these new members live near you, would you drop them a
welcoming note so they won 7 think they are all alone in the unique interest in gravestones which we
all share?
Virginia Rockwood, 124 Briar Way, Greenfield MA
01301
EIna Headberg, 11 Gates Avenue, Marlboro MA
01 752
Jef Foley, 25 Welles Avenue, Dorchester MA
02124
Peter G. Vaughan, 98 Beach Street, Wollaston MA
02170
Sheila Monks, 10 Brackett Street, Milton MA
02186
Diane Blair,1'55 Shaw Avenue, Cranston Rl
02905
James A. Bodnar, 3624 Valley Meadows Drive,
Bensalem, PA 19020
Fred Welt, 300 Moylan Avenue, Moylan PA
19065
Kathryn L. Whittington, 3133 Blithewood Drive,
Richmond VA 23225
A. A. Rossi, P.O. Box 228, Petersburg VA 23804
Cynthia Connor, 203 Tryon Street, Columbia SC
29201
Pat Spaulding, 1111 Inlet Cove Court, Mt. Pleasant
SC 29464
Vivian M. Turcott, Box 8727, Portland ME 04104
Richard Stearns Bowman, 34 Drew Road, So.
Portland ME 04106
Karol P. KucinskI, PO Box 306, Vinalhaven ME
04803
Margaret Y. Berg, 1956 Hebron Avenue, Glas-
tonbury CT 06033
Don Coomes & Susan Higginbotham, 251 Fountain
Street #1, New Haven CT 06515
Beverly Farber Kaye, 15 Lorraine Drive, Woodbr-
idge CT 06525
Annie C. Harvey, 249-08 Hamilton Avenue,
Stamford CT 06902
Hugh B. Jordan, 51 Colchester Road, Murray Hill
NJ 07974
Allen Bryan, 6196 E. Church Road, Saugerties NY
12477
Kenneth A. Perry, RD2, Lowber Road, Greenwich
NY 12834
Joan Horton, 22 Jaipur Lane, Saratoga Springs NY
12866
Rebecca Rosen, RD#5, Box 515, Martin Road,
Jamestown NY 14701
Riverside Cemetery, c/o Cecil R. Coke, Jr., P. O.
Box 373, Macon GA 31202
Brenda Darbyshire, 3204 Wayside Court, Albany
GA 31701
Laura E. Hagerty, 151 Keagler Drive, Steubenville
OH 43952
Rodger D. Ruddick. R.4, Box 118, North Vernon IN
47265
Carole Callard, 1033 Pomona, Ann Arbor Ml
48103
EIroy E. UbI, 510 So. State Street. New Ulm MN
56073
George E. Keane, PO Box 216, Festus MO 63028
David C. Shaw, P.O. Box 276, Venus TX 76084
Sharon Bart Carmack, C.G.R.S., 2750 Frazier
Lane, Colorado Springs CO 80922
Jeffery O. Johnson, 729 Third Avenue, Salt Lake
City UT 84103
Mr. and Mrs. Bernard E. Pedersen, 1533 Oakmont
Drive #7, Walnut Creek CA 94595
TWO NEW BOARD MEMBERS
During the past summer two AGS Board members found it necessary to resign their positions as
trustees. Janet Jainschigg's term will be served by Dr. J. Joseph Edgette of Glenoiden PA. Patricia
Miller's two year term will be served by Roberta Halporn of Brooklyn NY. We welcome Joe and
Roberta to the Board and look forward to their participation and assistance in conducting the affairs
of the Association.
AGS SLIDE-TAPE PROGRAM NOW FOR SALE!
New England Gravestones and the Stories They Tell in slide-tape format and in video
cassette (VHS) format is now available for purchase from the AGS office. This is our
informative and entertaining introduction to gravestone studies. Suitable for class-
room orgroup meeting use, the slide show teaches the viewerto see gravestones in new
ways.
slide-tape program $79.95
video cassette $39.95
For more information, contact the AGS office.
V J
AGS Fa'89p.15
CORRECTION
In our listing of previous Forbes Award recipients in the last issue, the name of Hilda
Fife was omitted. Here is the complete list of recipients:
Hilda Fife
Ann Parker & Avon Neal
Jessie Lie Farber
Louise Tallman
Frederick & Pamela Burgess
Laurel Gabel
1977
Dan Farber
1983
1978
Ernest Caulfield
1984
1979
Peter Benes
1985
1980
Allen Ludwig
1986
1981
no award given
1987
1982
James Slater
1988
1989
B(
3tty
Wills
her
Don't forget to send in your nomination for the 1 990 Forbes Award. See page 5 of your last newsletter
for complete instructions.
Retail memorialist Peter McCarthy of Marvin-Almont Memorials in Pueblo, Colorado, has been
named national sales manager of the Rock of Ages Corporation's Cemetery Services Group. In his new
position, Peter will oversee marketing research, sales development and account service. He also will
be responsible for the division's trade press and consumer advertising. In addition, Peter will
represent Rock of Ages at major cemetery conventions and through cemetery visits across the United
States.
Peter is a Colorado State University graduate and was general manager of Marvin-Almont Memorials.
His family has been involved in the monument industry since 1890. Peter is a respected speaker.
He served on the MBNA Strategic and Long-Range Planning Committee. Peter has been an occasional
A/eivs/effercontributor and was a speaker at the 1 983 AGS Conference in Worcester MA. He has been
influential in helping AGS coordinate its interests with those of the modern monument industry. Peter
and his family will continue to live in Pueblo.
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES FROM HERE AND THERE
Elizabeth McClave of Stephentown NY writes that the Stephentown Historical Society will be giving
a program "CENSUS '90" on March 5, 1990. Through a review of the census data from the past 19
censuses they intend to show changing population, customs, inventions and occupations.
"Stephentown is a good example of the use of census figures as it represents the towns, the people,
the growth and decline of the small town. WE are the people and we symbolize the lives of ail small
towns in the United States."
"Cemeteries Said to Bury Competition"
This sign of the chain-store approach to eliminating small monument businesses was also discussed
by Harvard C. Wood III in his presentation "The Cemetery Today: A Public Problem" at the American
Culture Association, Cemeteries & Gravemarkers group, in Montreal in March of 1987. In that
presentation, he stated that "Cemeteries are tax-exempt and should not compete with tax-paying
industries. One large corporation owns 65 cemeteries in 19 states, truly 'acres of diamonds'."
The battle over the sale of gravesite markers took a nasty turn last year when a retailer of memorial
monuments filed a $12 million lawsuit against four Brooklyn Park cemeteries for monopolizing the
grave marker market. The retailer, Upton R. Staniford & Son, is asked for $3 million from each of
the cemeteries. The Company's lawyers claimed that the cemeteries were violating Maryland
antitrust laws because they had been dissuading their clients from buying gravesite markers from
private companies.
The cemeteries "engaged in illegal tying arrangements in a successful effort to force those who own
lots or would like to acquire lots in their cemeteries to buy their memorials only from [them], and
also to use the installation service of the cemeteries to the exclusion of all alternative suppliers and
installers, including Upton R. Staniford," the lawsuit read. "In doing so, [the cemeteries] have
blocked lot owners from having a meaningful choice in the selection of memorials, resulting in a
substantial lessening of competition. Papers filed with the suit also charged that some of the
cemeteries did not allow outside firms to install the grave markers. Those that did allow such
practices charged the outside company, a cost that is passed on to the consumer and made it
"prohibitively expensive" for those businesses to compete for clients. Some of the cemeteries did
not permit markers from outside memorial retailers and refused to show the grave or give its location
to a client who purchased a memorial from another company.
from the Anne Arundel County Sun, November 11,1 988.
AGS Fa'89p.16
THE SEDGEWICK PIE
Excerpts from the New England Monthly September 1989 article, "The Eternity Club" by John
Sedgwick.
(John Sedgwick's book The Peaceable Kingdom is the basis for a weekly television series
beginning this fall by the same name.)
Most people are too busy with their lives to plan for their deaths, but we Sedgwicks have that part
worked out in detail.
When I die, I will be placed in a coffin and wheeled down Main Street in Stockbridge, Massachusetts,
in an open horse-drawn cart adorned with hemlock boughs and sprigs of flowers. My surviving family
and friends will trail behind me — weeping, I assume, profusely. The funeral procession will pause
for a moment of silence before the family's ancestral house, then slowly make its way to the town
cemetery and down a gravel path to the family's private burial ground, known, because of its unusual
circular plan (and, no doubt, with a nod to the eccentricity of the arrangement), as the Sedgwick Pie.
There I will be lowered into my grave.
I know the exact spot: behind my father and mother on the eastern slice of the pie, in the shade of a
spruce. My siblings and their families will go to my right and left. My wife will lie beside me, our
children behind. Like all the other Sedgwicks around me, my toes will point toward my great-great-
great-grandfather Judge Theodore Sedgwick, the statesman and jurist who founded our little race of
Sedgwicks and whose high granite obelisk stands at the center of the graveyard; and toward his wife,
Pamela, who rests beside him, her grave marked by a modest urn. Their seven children are buried
around them. Their children, in turn, are buried behind them in another circle, and so on out — circle
by circle to the place where I will ultimately go. . . .
Bordered by hedges, shaded by dark hemlocks and a high, lugubrious Norwegian spruce, and filled with
those rings of tombstones, the pie must seem to outsiders the gloomiest place on earth. When my
cousin, John Marquand, Jr., took Lillian Hellman there to show her around, she kept begging him to
take her on to the Ritz. Actually, there are a few cheery touches. On one side, a couple of sculpted
children cavort under a catafalque in memory of Robert and Charles Butler, distant relatives who died
in infancy in the 1860's. In a corner is a stone bench put up by Sympherosa Livermore and Maria
Delia Gracia Jackson, two aging Sedgwick sisters who until recently came here regularly to sit by the
graves of their husbands on sunny afternoons. And a family dog named Grip is buried here; the grave
is marked by a sculpture of him, sitting obediently.
Mostly, though, there are the somber gray stones. At times the pie reminds me of some Druidic ritual,
and I see the monuments as the ancients themselves circled about. But they are gravestones. The
lettering has been blurred by rain, and in places the stones have turned faintly green with moss. . .
The first time I can remember coming here was when I was five or six, playing hide and seek with my
step-grandmother, Gabriella, and some of my young nephews and nieces. ... At first we played in the
town cemetery adjoining the pie, but the groundskeeper chased us off. "All right then," Gabriella
said, "we'll go to our graveyard." And she marched us through a cordon of trees and down to the pie.
It seemed more like a playground than a sanctuary of the dead. We continued our game there, hiding
among the gravestones of our ancestors, racing about, squealing, leaping.
... in 1971, my father calculated that the circles of the pie were increasing at such a rate that the
family would runout of space by the year 21 01. I can't imagine how he settled on that particular year.
Far off as that time might seem, to my father the situation demanded action now. He immediately
petitioned the board of selectmen for the right to buy an adjoining parcel. He put the matter rather
plaintively in a letter to the selectmen: "If we rested content with our present land, we should be
completely surrounded by graves and have nowhere to grow." It is uniquely Sedgwickian, I expect,
to see death as expanding a family rather than contracting it. Nevertheless, at the selectmen's first
meeting the question was quickly tabled as being "premature." It went down again at the second
meeting, the shortest meeting, it was noted, "ever." But my father prevailed in the end; the pie's
future is secure well into the twenty-second century.
. . .My father died in 1976 when I was twenty-one. . . My father's stone is mottled and gray like all
the others now. . . [It] bears the Sedgwick crest, of a lion striding above a cross decorated with bells.
The Latin motto beneath is Confido in Domino, "With trust in the Lord." I helped choose the
inscription from a poem by Browning that Dad always liked. It reads: "He neverturned his back, but
always marched breast forward." I didn't realize until the stone was in place that the engraver would
inscribe the words on the back, as if Dad was still marching forward. But I think that's a joke my
father would have liked. Death, you see, can't stop him. . . .
The Sedgwick Pie is sufficiently quirky that it has attracted considerable attention over the years,
and it's often said that the graves are arranged so that on Judgment Day the Sedgwicks will rise and
see no one but Sedgwicks. I doubt it was a Sedgwick who first put it this way. . .
AGSFa'89p.17
. . .Growing up, I had always assumed the original scheme for the pie was hatched by the Judge himself.
He was a man of no small ego, and I figured it would suit him perfectly to have his descendants arrayed
at his feet. In truth, the Judge had developed no plans for his gravesite when he died in Boston, where
he was living with his third wife, Penelope Russell, in 1813. He was buried in Boston after afuneral
service led by William Ellery Channing and attended by the leading politicians of the day. But some
time later, his body was removed to Stockbridge and placed, along with that of his second wife Pamela,
under the soaring monument that stands at the center of the plot.
The question is, Who did it? Although Sedgwicks have written up practically every other bit of family
lore, the answer remains a mystery. Clearly, the pie must have been the children's idea, since it
restored the Judge to the company of their mother — and removed him from the clutches of a stepmother
they uniformly disliked.
[When Cousin Parker's longtime companion-nurse requested on her deathbed to be buried in the pie,
the request was denied by Cousin Ellery who said] "You have to realize that the graveyard is a club,
a club of the dead, to be sure, but it's a club." [The companion] was simply ineligible for membership.
Yes, the pie is a club. However prim it may appear on the outside, I have to say it is rather pleasant
to be a member. It takes a little of the coldness out of death to know I'll be passing eternity in the
clubhouse, as it were. The pie seems almost cozy, if death is eternal rest, the Sedgqicks see it as a
kind of slumber party. At least we dress as though it were one. The Sedgwicks who are not cremated
do not, like most people, go to their graves in their Sunday best. We wear pajamas. . . .
It is quite an image: on the surface, the rings of gravestones; but underground, circles and circles
of Sedgwicks, all tucked into their beds of pine for eternity.
And, some day, I will join them.
for more on the Sedgwick Pie, and the celebrated Sedgewicl<s, see an article in the June 1989 issue of Yankee
by Milton Bass. "No one has ever satisfactorily explained why the Sedgwicks are buried in circles nor how
the configuration received its name. Some attribute the name to a Stockbridge neighbor, Joseph Hodges
Choate (1832-1917), a wealthy lawyer and former ambassador to the Court of St. James. Choate, a famous
wit and raconteur, once declined to contribute money for a fence around the cemetery, saying; 'Nobody wants
out and nobody wants in.'"
ACID RAIN DISSOLVES GRAVESTONES
The National Audubon Society's volunteers, who have been taking samples of rainfall across the United
States, recently issued another set of findings, and the news isn't good. Rain in Connecticut had an
average pH of 4.3; anything lower than 5 on the scale is considered acidic. The Audubon Society's
collection station in Salisbury reported one of the lowest readings in the state, a pH level of less than
4.
In January, Audubon reported that Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine,
in addition to West Virginia, have the worst acid rain levels in the country.
from the Litchfield County Times, April 21, 1989, sent by Pat Miller, Danbury CT
An item in the LaSalle IL News-Tribune describes the grave of Benjamin Lundy, a driving force
behind the move to abolish slavery. Lundy died in 1 839 and was buried in McNabb IL. Lundy was born
in New Jersey in 1789. At 19 he left home to become an apprentice at a saddlery in Wheeling, now
in West Virginia. In Wheeling, Lundy first viewed the wrongs of slavery. He married and set up a
succesful business in Ohio which he later gave up so that he could devote his life to freeing th,e slaves.
In St. Clairsville OH he founded the Union Humane Society — the first abolitionist society. He began
publishing anti-slavery articles in 1819, and in 1821 published the first issue of the Genius of
Emancipation. He set up an abolitionist society in Haiti; he went on speaking and organizing tours in
Canada where many Quakers had moved to protest slavery; and he went to Texas several times to oppose
the land being annexed as a slave state. He also printed the Western C/f/zen— which was the forerunner
to the Chicago Tribune. After a mob burned his property in Philadelphia in 1838, Lundy moved to
Illinois where the Quakers had been taking care of his children since the death of his wife.
Lundy's gravestone is located in the Friends' Cemetery near McNabb IL among sandstone markers
broken or worn smoot over the years. The stone is barely larger than any of the other stones from
that era, and carries only his name and dates of birth and death. Although Lundy was famous all over
North America in his own time, he is almost completely forgotten now.
from the LaSalle IL News-Tribune, August 1, 1989, sent by Jim Jewell, Peru IL
AGS Fa-89p.18
ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS/PRESENTATIONS
AMERICAN CULTURE ASSOCIATION
CEMETERIES AND GRAVEMARKERS SECTION
Annual Meeting
MARCH 7-10, 1990
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Section Chair: Richard E. Meyer
English Department
Western Oregon State College
Monmouth OR 93761
BAIRD, Scott: Department of English, Trin-
ity University, San Antonio TX 78284
"From Territory to Tombstone: Language,
Culture and Rites of Passage"
Gravemarkers in Texas Cemeteries include upto nine
types of information. On the English language mark-
ers of native Texans, a provocative hierarchy of
importance emerges among the types — differing in
suggestive ways involving notions of occupation,
religion and ethnic custom from hierarchies in other
Texas gravemarker dialects and languages.
EDGETTE, J. Joseph: Master of Liberal
Studies Program, WIdener University,
Chester PA 19013
"Like Human, Like Pet: Parallelism In Grave-
markers"
Terminologically, real estate set aside for the final
resting place of pets is frequently called a "ceme-
tery": the objects which indicate the location of their
burials are called "gravemarkers", and the infor-
mation inscribed thereon parallels strongly thatfound
on markers for humans. Moreover, the similarities
do not end there.
ERWiN, Paul F.: Department of History,
University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati OH
45221 -0206
"Funeral and Burial Customs of Rom Gypsies
In Cincinnati Cemeteries"
An analysis of the funeral and burial customs of the
southern European Rom Gypsies, whose family clans
have used Cincinnati cemeteries as burial ground s for
more than a century, as contrasted with other Gypsy
groups — the Scottish Travelling People and the Irish
Tinkers — who have also traditionally utilized area
cemeteries.
FREEMAN' James A.: Department of Eng-
lish, University of Massachusetts/Amherst
MA 01003
" Strangers In a Strange Land: The Protes-
tant Cemetery In Florence"
Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Arthur Hugh Clough,
Fanny Hunt, Walter Savage Landor, Theodore Parker,
Hiram Powers and Mrs. Trollope may have admired
Italy in some ways but they attempted to keep aloof
from Italian burial practices. Their monuments defy
standard motifs associated with peninsular cam-
posanti hut echo Anglo-American attitudes toward
Italy.
GRAVES, Thomas E.: 100 Pollack Drive,
Orwigsburg PA 17961
"Work, Politics and Art In Contemporary
Ukrainian-American Gravestones"
Besides language and ethnic images, Ukrainian -Ameri-
cans use several means to display on contemporary
gravestones what it means to be a Ukrainian and the
importance of keeping their heritage alive. These
include information on occupation, personal attrib-
utes and military accomplishments. Further, many
markers are designed, and signed, by contemporary
Ukrainian artists.
GREENWALD, Marilyn: E.W. Scrlpps School
of Journalism, Ohio University, Athens OH
45701 -2979
"Tlie Effects of Computers on Gravemarker
Design "
This paper discusses the use of computers to design
and cut contemporary gravemarkers. Some of the
primary issues to be discussed include the effect of
computer-aided design on the personalization of
gravemarkers, cost factors and aesthetics.
HANNON' Thomas J.: Department of Geog-
raphy and Environmental Studies, Slippery
Rock University, Slippery Rock PA 16057
"T/je Monuments of J.S. Trimble"
An examination of the work of J.S. Trimble, de-
signer/engraver of tombstones and other monumen-
tation in western Pennsylvania during the latter half
of the nineteenth century, drawing upon on-site
fieldwork in area cemeteries as well as sketchings
and other materials found in Trimble's original design
prospectus.
HORTON, Loren N.: State Historical Society
of iowa, Iowa City lA 52240
"Cemetery Locations and Town Planning"
An examination of town plats and mapsfrom a variety
of geographical locations and time periods, noting
comparisons and contrasts relating to locations of
cemeteries, dates of creation of burial areas, and
how these locations fit into the general scheme of
residential, commercial and public spaces in the town
site.
LIVENGOOD, Mark: English Department,
Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff AZ
8 6 0 0 1
"Regional Emphasis in the Flagstaff Citizen's
Cemetery"
This paper will explore how gravemarkers in the
Flagstaff, Arizona, Citizen's Cemetery, whether
locally quarried and carved red "Flagstaff" sand-
stone, petrified wood. Native American metates, o r
AGS Fa'89p.19
contemporary granite headstones with mountain
images and other western motifs, continually
create a sense of regional identity.
MALLOY, Thomas, A.: Social Sciences
Department, Mount Wachusett Commu-
nity College, Garner MA 01440-1000
"The Disappearing Shaker Cemetery"
Over two hundred years ago a movement evolved
for the establishment of nineteen Shaker commu-
nities in the United States. These communities
have now come and gone. What also seems to be
disappearing are their cemeteries. This trend will
be examined through illustrations drawn from
Shaker cemeteries in the Northeast.
MATERNES, Hugh B.: Department of An-
thropology, University of Tennessee -
Knoxville, Knoxville TN 37996-0720
"Social Group Differentiation In a Modern
Private Cemetery"
Private cemeteries reflect features important to
community social groups. Within a private ceme-
tery, sections were drawn to determine whether
intra-cemetery location and marker type corre-
lated with social class and kinship. Relationships
between location, marker and kinship exist. A lack
of lower class graves indicated a deviation from
community demographics.
MEYER, Richard E.: Department of Eng-
lish, Western Oregon State College,
Monmouth OR 97361
"The Cemetery as Metaphor"
Following a long tradition of complex metaphoric
use in literature, cemeteries — and the individual
gravemarker — have become in recent years a
dramatic and frequently employed visual symbol
in popular art forms ranging from greeting cards
to political cartoons and cause publicity.
McCLAVE, Elizabeth W.: Stephentown
Historical Society, 67A Goold Road,
Stephentown NY 12168-9711
"The Living Gravestones Project,
Stephentown, New York"
Gravestones arearecordof families who live in an
area and reflect the history of a town.. This
presentation will detail the history and scope of
one community's efforts to record and preserve
its history through the development of a massive
file known as the Living Gravestones Project.
PATTERSON, Nancy-Lou: Department of
Fine Arts, University of Waterloo, Wa-
terloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1
"Symbols of Secret and Fraternal Lodges
In Southern Ontario Cemeteries"
Symbols of the Freemasons, the Loyal Orange
Lodge, and the Odd Fellows can be found in many
southern Ontario Cemeteries. These emblematic
images, derived from the Eighteenth Century
esoteric fraternal tradition, displayed in a mortu-
ary context, signify membership, brotherhood,
loyally, secrecy and the consummation of the
initiate's search for perfection.
ROMOTSKY, Jerry: Fine Arts Department, Rio
Hondo College, Whittier CA 90608
ROMOTSKY, Sally: Department of English,
California State University/ Fullerton, Fuller-
ton CA 92634
"Temple in the Garden: The Huntington
Mausoleum"
Erected at the highest area of the Huntington Library,
Gallery, and Gardens, the mausoleum of Henry E. and
Arabella D. Huntington, designed by John Russell Pope,
is integrated into the previously existing architecture.
This memorial blends classical garden motifs with a
beaux arts interpretation of an ancient temple.
ROTUNDO, Barbara: English Department Tou-
galoo College, Tougaloo MS 39174
"The Rural Cemetery Movement In the South"
This paper will look at the southern acceptance of the
rural cemetery movement as it swept across the land in
the antebellum period and seek the reasons this particu-
lar form was unique to the United States, transcending
sectional differences.
SCLAIR, Helen A.
IL 60614
849 W. Lill Avenue, Chicago
"Reconstructing a City's History: The Dis-
covery of Chicago's Missing Cemeteries"
Early burial sites disappeared as Chicago's population
grew, and, after the Great Fire of 1871, even the
records were gone. More than thirty missing cemeter-
ies have been located, however, and their discovery
serves to enhance much of the city's history.
SHERMAN, Susan C.
Houston TX 77079
814 Wycliffe Drive,
"The Maplewood Jewish Cemetery of Maiden
Massachusetts: A Source for the Study of
Boston's Early Jewish Community"
The abandoned Maplewood Cemetery in Maiden, Massa-
chusetts, contains forgotten chapters in the evolution of
Boston's Jewish population. A study of primary related
sources demonstrates the growth of religious and chari-
table institutions in response to high childhood mortal-
ity, poverty, illiteracy and moralchallenge faced by an
American immigrant community in transition.
WRIGHT, James: History Department, Triton
College, River Grove IL 60171
"The Resurrection Men, Anatomists, and the
Rise of the Cemetery Movement in the Early
Nineteenth Century"
The activities of the infamous "Resurrection Men",
epitomized by the names Burke and Hare, and their
clients, anatomists such as Doctor Robert Know, para-
doxically bespeak an all-conquering modernity in mat-
ters ranging from medical research to cemetery prac-
tices to philosophical concerns with death and the here-
after.
Forum.- "Ethical/Legal Issues in Cemetery
Fleldwork (Reprise)"
A continuation of open discussions initiated at the 1989
meeting revolving about the diverse and complex ethical
and legal issues involved in cemetery/gravemarker
fleldwork and the subsequent public or private use of
materials generated through such research.
AGS Fa'89 p.20
In Huntington NY, where Revolutionary war spy Nathan Hale probably spent no more than 24 hours,
there are three nnonuments to his memory. There is also a street named after him, a garden club, the
district council of the Boy Scouts, several veterans, organizations, and, of course, an entire
community — Halesite. In June, a stone monument honoring Hale was unveiled in a quiet corner of
Calverton National Cemetery. Officials of the National Cemetery System, which operates the facility,
spoke prior to the unveiling, saying it was only right that Hale, who was hanged by the British in
Manhattan on September 22, 1776, be honored by the federal government.
Hale, a 21 -year-old captain in the Continental Army, was asked by George Washington to spy on the
British in Long Island and Manhattan. In early September, 1776, he crossed Long Island Sound in a
boat, landing in what is now Halesite. AGS member Rufus Langhans, the Huntington Town historian,
said Hale likely spent the night and the next morning in Huntington before heading for Manhattan to
commence his spying mission. Perhaps two weeks later, no one knows for sure. Hale was captured
by the British. A gentleman to the end, Hale admitted his mission to the British, who promptly hanged
him, disposing of his body somewhere where it has never been found. The fact that Hale's body was
never recovered appealed to the National Cemetery System officials, who wanted to honor him on Long
Island.
from Newsday, June 7, 1989
a ii
Barbara Rotundo (left) and Laurel Gabel, searching for an old graveyard in a cornfield, Scipioville NY
near Auburn, photo by C^rol Perkins, Rochester NY.
A New York Times syndicated article last June featured AGS member Pat Miller of Danbury CT. She
is the head of Connecticut Gravestones, an organization she founded five years ago to educate the public
about the history and artwork to be found in Connecticut's 2000 Colonial cemeteries. Cemetery tours
are also Mrs. Miller's creation. Offered once a month, the tours usually include three or four
cemeteries and focus on such topics as carver identification, gravestone history, preservation
techniques and epitaphs. Sometimes other Connecticut gravestone experts are brought in as guides.
from Union News, June 24, 1989, sent by Pat fi/liller, and ttie Fredericksburg VA Free Lance-
Star, June 23, 1989, sent by Davyd Foard Hood, Fredericksburg VA
AGS Fa'89 p.21
uaiiansMBN
a I V d
30ViSOd s n
•Oyo ilJOMd NON
36130
Vi/\| LueiipaaN
pa mnoiuAid 9fr
saianis 3NOiS3AVdo dod noiivioossv
New Laws Protect Indian Relics
Nothing is more painful to Native Americans than the treatment of ancestral remains and relics —
which anthropologists study and looters sell (see AGS A/eivs/efferV. 12#1, Winter 1987-8, p. 14-
15). Now help is on the way in many states.
Last spring North Dakota, Kansas and Nebraska joined 19 other states in passing laws protecting
unmarked burial sites. Montana, New Mexico, Texas and Hawaii are expected to follow soon. Burial
legislation is different in each state but typically prohibits intentional disturbance and mandates
reburial after a reasonable period for scientific study. Although legislation includes unmarked
graves of Anglo and Spanish pioneers, the impetus for legislation came from Native Americans.
Kansas and Nebraska offer two different responses — and results. In Kansas the state historic
preservationofficerworkedclosely with seven tribes, the Native American Rights Fund and the State
Historical Society to ban unregulated displays of human remains and to protect unmarked graves from
unnecessary disturbance. In Nebraska, where state officials were initially reluctant to address
Indian concerns, lawmakers enacted a stronger, precedent-setting act that requires state-sponsored
museums to return tribally identifiable skeletal remains and associated burial goods. The act also
establishes criminal penalties for trafficking in the contents of graves.
In a similar spirit officials in Washington, D.C., recently announced a long-awaited agreement to
return Indian skeletal remains and bur-ial artifacts to their tribes from the mammoth Smithsonian
Institution collection. The more than 18,000 skeletal remains in the museum constitute the world's
largest collection.
from Historic Preservation, November 1989, contributed by Laurel Gabel, Pittsford NY.
The AGS Newsletter is published quarterly as a service to members of the Association for Gravestone
Studies. The membership year begins on the date dues are received and ends one year from that dMe. A one
year membership entitles the members to four issues of the Newsletter and to participation in the AGS
conference in the year membership is current. Send membership fees (individual $20; institutional, $25;
Family $30; contributing $30) to AGS Executive Director Rosalee Oakley, 46 Plymouth Rd. Needham MA
02192 (617) 455-8180. Back issues of the Newsletter are available for $3.00 per issue from Rosalee
Oakley. The goal of the Newsletter is to present timely information about projects, literature, and
research concerning gravestones, and about the activities of the Association for Gravestone Studies. It is
produced by Deborah Trask, who welcomes suggestions and short contributions from readers. The
Newsletter is not intended to serve as ajournal. Journal articles should be sentto Theodore Chase, editor
of Markers, the Journal of the Association for Gravestone Studies, 74 Farm St., Dover MA
02030. Address Newsletter contributions to Deborah Trask, editor. Nova Scotia Museum, 1747 Summer
St., Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 3A6, Canada. OrderMarkers (Vol. 1 $18; Vol. 2, $16; Vol. 3, $14.75; Vol.
4, $14.75; Vol. 5, $18; Vol 6, $1 8; higher prices for non-members) from Rosalee Oakley. Send contributions
to the AGS Archives to Jo Goeselt, 61 Old Sudbury Road, Wayland MA01778 Address other correspondence
to Rosalee Oakley.
Live Music Archive
Librivox Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Internet Arcade
Console Living Room
Books to Borrow
Open Library
TV News
Understanding 9/11