BEN. T. CLARK

SEPT. 15. 1867

OCT. 28. 1935

MY FAULTS WRITE THEM UPON

THE SANDS OF THE SEA;

MY GOOD DEEDS WRITE UPON

THE TABLET OF THY MEMORY.

ERECTUM AD MEMORIAM ME AM.

Alongside Alternate Route 58 in Abingdon, Virginia, is the historic Sinking Spring Cemetery established in the last quarter of the 18^th Century.  Buried with in the gates of the cemetery is the discolored marble gravestone of Benjamin Thomas “Ben” Clark.

In the top third of the gravestone is a bas-relief of a stag standing proud. The deer can have several different symbolic meanings in the cemetery.  The deer sheds it antlers, a symbol of the decay of the physical body—yet, the antlers regrow representing the eternal nature of the soul.  Those same antlers can also represent a “crown” signifying victory over death.

On closer look, the stag stands on an angled stone mimicking The Benevolent Protective Order of Elks statures that can be found in may cemeteries throughout the United States.  The B. P. O. E. is one of the many fraternal organizations in the United States, was originally a drinking club called the Jolly Corks founded in 1866 by a group of actors, who evidently liked to drink.  The club members made the fateful decision to change their organization’s name and increase their mission from frolic to public service. 

This gravestone carving may represent a crown and victory over death or more likely Bejamin Clark’s membership in the Elks.  You decide.