I’ve seen many headstones that provide wonderful clues for anyone researching that particular family tree. But none quite as wonderful as the Hollister headstone in Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis. The names, dates and relationships on the front and on the back made it easy to find the right Hollisters in the 1900 census on Ancestry.com. I…
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, beauty Even the way flowers…
I’m familiar with ditto marks in documents: But in a cemetery? I have to admit, this was a first for me..
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 unless the marker clearly states…
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 captured in stone caused me to…
Monuments do more than just mark spaces in cemeteries. In Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis, Olaf, Christine and Effie Olsson rest near a large family monument with several meanings. The style itself – a stone that is half carved and half uncarved – symbolizes the transition from life to death. Closer inspection reveals a complete pillar with leaves and…
I stumbled upon a little headstone in Chicago’s Rosehill Cemetery in July 2015. I was surprised there wasn’t an existing memorial for this infant on Find A Grave. Because that little headstone is next to this: Who was Adam Schaaf? I wondered as I added a Find A Grave memorial for Baby Schaaf. A link on the baby’s…
It was a little disconcerting, but I was impressed. While I was photographing headstones for Find A Grave at Riverside Cemetery in Black River Falls Wisconsin, I was being watched. Not from afar, mind you. The same pickup truck meandered through the very sections I was in at least a dozen times in two hours. I didn’t…
We tend to assume, do we not, that headstones are erected soon after the deceased is laid to rest. In some cases however, a descendant has a headstone put in place long after the death occurred. And this dear readers, is a wonderful clue that another family historian may be lurking about. So when a headstone looks too “new” for the era…
Mary Runser’s headstone stands among a number of old memorials in Riverside Cemetery in Black River Falls Wisconsin.
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