Category: Tombstone Art and Epitaphs
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Finding A Grave
My French third great grandmother Marie Anne Schmitt (née Gury) died sometime between June 1860 and June 1870. According to the 1860 census, Marie Anne (called Mary here), her husband Nicolaus (recorded as Nick) and eight of their children lived in Cincinnati, presumably in the Over the Rhine neighborhood. Their…
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Headstone Art Question
Those flowers and architectural details we see on headstones are purposefully chosen for the individual laid to rest there. For example, each flower has a different meaning: daises are for youth, innocence iris denotes hope, purity lilies signify the resurrection poppies are a symbol of eternal sleep roses mean motherhood,…
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Ditto Marks in a Cemetery
I’m familiar with ditto marks in documents: But in a cemetery? I have to admit, this was a first for me..
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Tis A Little Grave
Tis a little grave, but O have care, For world wide hopes are buried here. How much of light, how much of joy, is buried with our darling boy.
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A Tale of Two Cemeteries
While updating memorials on Find A Grave recently I encountered two burials in the wrong cemeteries. Well not burials exactly, just the headstones. And not the wrong cemeteries exactly, just different cemeteries. The 1st incident came to my attention via email. I received the following message (from a 3rd party, not…
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The Last to Die
As you may already know, I visit a lot of cemeteries and I read a lot of grave markers. I try not to make assumptions about the deceased based on the information on their headstones. For example, sometimes the memorial lists more than one person. I never assume a relationship between the people listed…
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Three-Dimensional Grief
Most of the headstones in Chicago’s Irving Park Cemetery are the run-of-the-mill variety one sees at many cemeteries. I took hundreds of photos for Find A Grave when I visited the cemetery in July of 2015. As I was leaving, the sun caught a large white headstone on my left. The feeling of deep loss…
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Independence Day in the Cemetery
A weather-worn obelisk stands proudly in section 7 of Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis Minnesota. On one side, a plaque pays tribute to a Revolutionary War soldier’s descendants. To all those who fought, and continue to fight for our independence – thank you.
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W B Porter, Jr and Sr
Eternal life is represented by an obelisk. A monument with two pillars symbolizes the passageway into the next life. W B Porter Jr, who died 07 May 1881 at the age of 36, is interred under an obelisk. One can assume it was his family’s hope that he was granted eternal life. W…
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