Author Archives: gravelyspeaking

I created a fun way to introduce cemetery symbolism to the uninitiated with this game of Graveyard Bingo. The bingo card has 22 common symbols and a couple types of gravestones like the tree-stump gravestone or a marker made of … Continue reading →

The polished granite MAY – WASSELL – GIBB Mausoleum in the Oakland Cemetery in Little Rock, Arkansas, has a beautiful stained-glass window depicting a brightly-colored angel sitting next to an empty tomb.  The ribbon at the bottom of the scene … Continue reading →

BASEL TROMBLY October 25, 1825 October 27, 1896 In a shaded area of the Fort Meigs Cemetery in Perrysburg, Ohio, Basel Trombly’s limestone grave marker replicates an intricately carved log cabin.  Basel Trombly’s gravestone has several markings and symbols that … Continue reading →

FATHER JOHN BURTON HENWOOD FEB. 15, 1855, NOV. 4, 1925. The white marble segmented-top gravestone of John Burton Henwood in the Oakland Cemetery in Little Rock, Arkansas, displays a caliper. Perhaps this is a nod to his profession–but what profession … Continue reading →

In nearly every public poll, George Washington is listed as either the greatest president or polls in the second spot behind Abraham Lincoln.  He was, of course, our first president, and many of those at the Constitutional Convention that drafted … Continue reading →

The white marble monument in the Miller Family plot of the Mount Holly Cemetery in Little Rock, Arkansas, is imbued with a profusion of symbolism as is common with many Victorian gravestones.  The monument depicts a winged cherub standing on … Continue reading →

THE NEWSBOYS FRIEND JOHN ELSTNER GUNCKEL 1846 – 1915 “THERE WAS A MAN SENT FROM GOD WHOSE NAME WAS JOHN” TOLEDO HONORS A CITIZEN WITHOUT REPROACH A FRIEND WITHOUT PRETENCE A PHILANTHROPOST WITH OUT DISPLAY A CHRISTIAN WITHOUT HYPOCRISY THIS … Continue reading →

LeROY McINTYRE LUDWIG 1840 – 1905 SAMANTHA A. SHERMAN LUDWIG 1853 – 1899 THEODORE L. LUDWIG 1973 — 1899 BESSIE HANCOX WIFE OF L. M. LUDWIG 1856 — 1930 NANCY A. LUDWIG 1809 – 1880 J. B. LUDWIG 1811 – … Continue reading →

Sculptures of cherubs often adorn the graves of children. Here, is an example found in the Greenwood Cemetery in New Orleans, Louisiana, on the top of a family tomb commemorating the grave of a five-year-old boy.  The chubby angel above … Continue reading →

Many Victorian cemetery monuments are imbued with a multitude of symbolism.  In David Robinson’s book, Saving Graces, mourning figures from some of the most beautiful and famous cemeteries in Europe show sculpted beautiful, young, and voluptuous women often wearing revealing clothing mourning the … Continue reading →