Author Archives: gravelyspeaking

IN MEMORIAM MARGARET McK. MUNHALL MARCH 8, 1925 JOHN MUNHALL 1833 – 1904 HETTY MUNHALL 1837 – 1875 “BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN HEART” The massive rock face gray granite Munhall Family monument in the Allegheny Cemetery in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, … Continue reading →

Edwin William MacAllister December 8, 1895 – January 7, 1977 Hilda Lydia Elsie Yakle MacAllister March 17, 1897 – June 1992 There is an old saying that a man’s home is his castle which has its origins in English law … Continue reading →

ALBERT J. BEVERIDGE 1862 — 1927 CATHERINE BEVERIDGE 1881 — 1970 ALBERT J. BEVERIDGE JR 1908 — 1965 In 1942, Catherine Beveridge, second wife of Albert Jeremiah Beveridge, commissioned famed sculptor John Clements Gregory (1879 – 1958) to create a funerary … Continue reading →

KERRY SHANE SHECKLES Born September 11, 1973, Winchester, Indiana   Died February 4, 2005, Avon, Indiana Palmer’s Prairie Church of Christ in rural Sullivan County, Indiana, is no longer, but the church graveyard is, a testament to the congregation that … Continue reading →

The unicorn, carved into a gravestone in the Clear Creek Cemetery in rural Indiana, represents purity, steadfastness, and the incarnation and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  In Medieval times unicorns were depicted as protectors of divine sacrifice.

C. PENN WETTLAUFER OCT. 9, 1935 JAN. 11, 2000 AGE QUOD AGIS Conrad Penn Wettlaufer was a native son of Buffalo.  He hailed from a proud lineage descended from a signer of the Declaration of Independence and of William Penn, … Continue reading →

JOHN F. GROW NOV. 10, 1873—Oct. 2. 1923 IDA, HIS WIFE JUNE 19, 1880—SEPT. 11, 1962 The John and Ida Grow open book tombstone can be found in the Beech Grove Cemetery, in Bedford, Indiana. The open book is a … Continue reading →

We don’t often think of the classical orders—Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian—as having gender, but the ancients did. Allegheny Cemetery, Pittsburgh The Doric Order, associated with the Greek god of Apollo, represents masculinity which can be seen with its sturdy columns.  … Continue reading →

The Monumental Bronze Company of Bridgeport, Connecticut sent out enterprising door-to-door salesmen armed with a catalog to show customers the full range of “white bronze” markers the company produced. These grave markers came in a wide assortment of sizes and … Continue reading →

Michelangelo once said, “The sculpture is already complete within the marble block, before I start my work. It is already there, I just have to chisel away the superfluous material.” The great artist was merely helping the sculpture emerge. The … Continue reading →