JAMES COUSINS

DIED

JULY 4, 1901,

AGED 50 YEARS

The segmented top white marble gravestone of James Cousins in the Old City Cemetery in Sacramento, California, is festooned with flowers and foliage—lily of the valley, ferns, and ivy—each with meaning. 

 In Victorian times, flowers took on significance as a way to send coded messages; this was known as floriography from the Latin combining flora—“goddess of flowers”—and graphein—“writing.”

In 1884, Kate Greenaway, a popular author and illustrator published a book titled, the Language of Flowers.  According to her book, each flower had a meaning that was conveyed to the viewer or receiver of the flower or bouquet of flowers—for instance, the weeping willow represented mourning, the white lily represented purity, the Easter lily represented the Resurrection, and so on.  The book is a nearly complete listing of flowers along with their “secret” or symbolic meanings. 

Since the lily of the valley is one of Spring’s first bloomers, often pushing up through the snow it symbolizes renewal and resurrection.  Also, as legend tells us, when the Virgin Mary shed tears, her teardrops fell to the ground and sprung up into lilies of the valley. They have come to represent purity and innocence.  The fern represents humility and sincerity.  The ivy is commonly found in most cemeteries. Because of the ivy’s nature to twine up a surface and hang on tight, the plant symbolizes everlasting love and eternal friendship.