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Monthly Archives: July 2012
Coffin-shaped tomb
The coffin in cemetery symbolism represents death. The reasons for that are fairly obvious. Sometimes the image of the coffin is carved on the gravestone, other times the gravestone itself is carved to look like a coffin. This white marble coffin-shaped gravestone found … Continue reading
Posted in Symbolism, Tombs, Uncategorized
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A Strong Warning
The red sandstone gravestone of William Tompkins and Sally Tompkins in the Old Dutch Burying Ground at Sleepy Hollow, New York, has an epitaph that is a stern message and a strong warning for those who are still alive: Go home dear … Continue reading
Posted in Epitaphs
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The Last Word
Nothing is as final as death. The quote, “Dead men tell no lies” reminds us of the silence of the grave. However, the dead can speak one last time in wills, diaries, letters, and epitaphs. Though many epitaphs are chosen … Continue reading
Posted in Epitaphs
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Relief
Some epitpahs read as though they are out of a can–that is they read as generic–”Gone But Not Forgotten“, for instance. While others, even though, they rhyme, which was conventional, still sound personal. The epitaph of Stephen R. Stryker, who … Continue reading
The Door
Some tombs in the Metarie Cemetery in New Orleans, Louisiana, have a past, just as do their occupants! The polished red granite Morales Family Tomb was originally built for a former madam in 1911. The bronze statue of the woman at … Continue reading
Posted in Symbolism
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The Chocolatiers
Derry Church, Pennsylvania, which later became known as Hershey is the home of the Hershey Company, one of the oldest chocolate companies in the United States and the largest in North America. The company was founded by Milton Snavely Hershey … Continue reading
Posted in Famous graves
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Ionic Order
The classically designed mausoleum in the Cave Hill Cemetery at Louisville, Kentucky, was built for Paul Jones, a whiskey and tobacco distributor who left his native Atlanta when Georgia enacted prohibition laws. Jones picked up and moved to Louisville where … Continue reading
Posted in Mausoleums
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The Corinthinian Order
The stately light-gray granite James H. McNulty monument in the Forest Lawn Cemetery at Buffalo, New York, was designed to resemble a similiar monument in France. The monument’s dome is supported by Corinthinian columns forming a circular colonnade or peristyle. The … Continue reading
Posted in Tombs
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Replica Angel
One the most famous sculptors of the early Twentieth Century was Daniel Chester French, best known for his monumental sculpture of the seated Abraham Lincoln centered in the Lincoln Memorial at Washington, D.C. In addition to the many public monuments that he … Continue reading
Posted in Angels
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The Lowry Family Monument
Many Victorian cemetery monuments are adorned with a mourning figure. In his book, Saving Graces, published by W. W. Norton & Company, David Robinson photographed mourning figures from some of the most beautiful and famous cemeteries in Europe, including Pere … Continue reading
Posted in Saving Graces
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