SACRED

to the memory

CHARLES CHRIS’r KEPPLER

who died April 18^th 1839,

aged 5 years.

and

ELIZA CATHERINE KEPPLER

who died August 7^th 1839

aged 18 months

Son and daughter of Henry and Eliza Keppler.

Weep not for us our Parents dear

But to the Saviour look,

Twas he that brought us here below

Our names were in his book.

This gray marble ornamented top tablet in St. Paul’s Rock Creek Cemetery marks the graves of two children.  The epitaph makes reference to the Saviour’s book.  Often graveyard sculptures of “recording angels” are depicted writing the names of the deceased into an open book.  The angels registered the names of the deceased into the Book of Life.  In Judaism and Christianity, the names of the righteous were recorded in the Book of Life; they were assured entry into Heaven.

The Book is referenced many times in the Bible (King James Version), including Revelations, Chapter 20,

Verse 12: “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God: and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.”

Verse 13: “And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.”

Verse 14: “And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.  This is the second death.”

Verse 15: “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”