Alexander Mackay Junior’s gray slate gravestone in the Granary Burying Ground at Boston displays a skull with the lower jaw missing, teeth nearly chewing on crossed bones. This symbol, like many found in cemeteries in the 17th and 18th Century are meant to remind passersby that life is short and that all will die. These grim images are called Memento Mori symbols. Memento Mori is Latin which translates to “remember death“.
Granary Burying Ground, Boston, Massachusetts
TEMPUS EDAX RERUM
THE CHILDREN OF ANDREW AND MELICENT NEAL
ELIZABETH NEAL
AGED 5 (OR 3) DAYES
DEC.D 1666
AS ALSO YE BODY OF
HANNAH NEAL IS
HERE INTER’D
ELIZABETH NEAL
AGED 2 WEEKS
DEC. D JUNE YE 12
1671
ANDREW NEAL
AGED 18 MONTHS
DEC. D
The Latin phrase, “tempus edax rerum” translates to “time: that devours all things”. Just under the phrase, is an incised carving of an hour glass referring to time. Combined with the flying death’s head with its grinning smile, hollow eyes, and downward sweeping wings, the symbolism, epitaph, and the gravestone itself are reminders that death is never far away. The corollary to that is that life is fleeting.
The deaths of the four children are also evidence of the high infant mortality rate during the 17th Century. Disease, plagues, fevers, maladies, and pestilence were always around and could strike young children at any time. In fact, the average lifespan during this time period was about 35 years old. It wasn’t that people didn’t live into old age, it was difficult to live past five.
The phrase “tempus edax rerum” is carved into the gravestone for the Andrew and Melicent children’s gravestone. According to a plaque in the Granary Burying Ground at Boston, Andrew Neal was the innkeeper of the Starr Inn. This gravestone has the distinction of having the earliest date of any gravestone found today in the Granary Burying Ground in Boston. Notice that two of the Neal daughters are both named Elizabeth. It was common for families to name a child after another child in the family who had died.
Mt. Auburn, Cambridge, Massachusetts
For this mortal must put on immortality.
To the Memory
Of
DAVID PATTERSON,
MERCHANT
Who died at sea, October 31, 1834,
aged 27 years.
ERECTED
By his commercial friends and associates
As a memorial of their
Affection
And respect for his elevated, moral and religious
Character.
He sleeps beneath the blue lone sea,
He lies where pearls lie deep
He was the loved of all, yet none
O’er his low bed may weep.
Like many symbols found in gravestone art, the butterfly has more than one meaning. The butterfly emerging out of the chrysalis represents the flight of the soul from the body. The metamorphosis of the butterfly, the change from caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly, also represents the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Union Cemetery, Uhrichsville, Ohio
This intricately carved gray marble caboose, track, and wheel displaying the letters: B of RRT can be found in the Union Cemetery at Uhrichsville, Ohio. The tale told by the cemetery maintenance crew about the marker is that the man buried under the railroad car was killed by a wheel that came off the train, which is supposedly displayed in front of the car. Besides being a cruel joke to show the weapon of one’s demise at one’s graveside, the story is not true. The gravestone does not actually mark the grave of a person, but is a commemorative marker for the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen.
Like many organizations and fraternal groups founded in the mid to late 19th Century, the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, founded in 1883 in Oneonta, N.Y., was organized to, in part, provide insurance for its membership. The BRT, B of RT or the BRRT, was founded to represent railroad labor’s interests in a negotiated contract with railroad management. The union included conductors, stewards, ticket collectors, brakemen, switchmen, car tenders, car operators, yardmasters, baggage men, flagmen, and various other workmen laboring in the railroad business in non-management positions.
Note: I first saw the gravestone above on the Website: www.graveaddiction.com. Beth Santore, the Webmaster, has photographed hundreds of cemeteries in Ohio, as well as, making photo forays into neighboring states. I highly recommend her Website, especially for those tramping around Ohio graveyards!
The winged death’s head was a grim reminder that life was short, not that one need’s that reminder as they stroll through a cemetery.
Slowly the imagery began to change. Though it is not as stark as the skull, it is still spooky. This haunting visage was somewhere between the skull and the chubby winged cherub’s that came next.
The image of a cherub’s face with curled wings circling upward became a popular symbol in the 18th Century. The winged cherubs replaced the stark and morbid flying death’s heads from our Puritan forefathers. The cherubs have a childlike countenance of innocence. The iconography represents the flight of the soul from the body upward to Heaven and the hope of the resurrection.
Graceland Cemetery, Chicago, Illinois
COLUMBUS R. CUMMINGS
1834-1897
SARAH C. MARK CUMMINGS
1841-1909
The tombstone of Columbus Cummings, Chicago millionaire rail road magnate, and his wife, Sarah, in the Graceland Cemetery at Chicago features a draped sarcophagus. The grand unpolished gray granite monument features three symbols: the lion head, the acanthus, and the laurel wreath.
The lion has long been a symbol of bravery, strength, and majesty. In popular culture, the lion is known for its power and is called King of the Jungle and King of the Beasts.
The acanthus
The acanthus leaf on a grave was actually the inspiration for the creation of the Corinthian column capital! Here, thousands of years later, the acanthus leaf is again found decorating a tomb. In funerary art, the acanthus represents the difficult journey from life to eternal life.
The laurel wreath
The laurel wreath dates back to Roman times when soldiers wore them as triumphal signs of glory. The laurel was also believed to wash away the soldier’s guilt from injuring or killing any of his opponents. In funerary art the laurel wreath is often seen as a symbol of victory over death.
The lion
The lion is often used as a royal emblem, found eight times in the Royal Arms for the Queen of England alone!
The lion in funerary art symbolizes the power of God. It is often depicted flanking the entrance of a tomb to guard against evil spirits to the passageway to the next realm. It also represents the courage of the souls the lions guard. There is also a connection of the lion to the Resurrection. It was once believed that lion cubs were born dead but would come to life after three days when the cubs were breathed upon by a male lion. The three days is significant because it is the number of days Jesus was in the tomb before he was resurrected.
Oakland Cemetery, Sandusky, Ohio
The cast-iron gravestone in the Oakland Cemetery at Sandusky, Ohio, is decorated with grape clusters and leaves.
In Christianity the Eucharist, which is part of a religious ceremony also called Holy Communion, is a time when Christ’s followers are to do as Jesus instructed at the Last Supper. Jesus broke bread and said, “This is my body” and drank wine and said, “This is my blood”. The grape in cemetery symbolism represents the blood of Christ.
Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia
The elegant 14 and a half foot tall Stony Creek granite monument designed by James Earl Frazer marks the graves of United States President William Howard Taft and his wife and First Lady, Helen Herron Taft. Gold lettering states their names on the marker.
The stele, a stone or wooden slab generally taller than it is wide and designed as a funeral commemorative, dates back many centuries and is one of the oldest forms of gravestones. Many examples of steles can be found in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens including one that looks remarkably similar to the grave marker designed for President Taft and his wife.
The Greek Stele found in the museum was created for Daisios, son of Euthias on the east coast of Attica in Southern Greece. The stele dates to the middle of the 4th Century B.C. and has two rosettes on the shaft and is topped with an acroterion motif just as is the Taft monument. The acroterion motif is a stylized palm leaf, which can be found on classical Roman and Greek architecture. The word acroterion comes from the Greek meaning summit. This motif has its origins in Egyptian art and architecture.
Taft was born into a prominent family of Ohio politicians, and was an accomplished public servant who honorably served the country for over 50 years; the only person in American history to serve in the two most powerful positions in the United States government, as president and as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
Greenbush Cemetery, Lafayette, Indiana
An oil lamp is carved into the top of Peter Leslie’s white-marble tablet gravestone. A flickering flame can be seen coming from the lamp, providing light.
The Bible verse, II Samuel: Chapter 22, verse 29, says, “For thou art my lamp, O LORD: and the LORD will lighten my darkness.”
The light emanating from the lamp represents the pathway to Truth and to Knowledge.
EDDIE DOLEZAL
Like a bud just opening,
Commenced my life to be,
But death came without mercy,
without pity
The Lord had sent for me.
I was not granted time to bid adieu.
Do not weep for me, my dear mother.
I am at peace in my cool grave.
RODINA FELDEVERTOVA
NICHOLAS FELDEVERT 1825-1911
TERESA FELDEVERT 1836-
PRO MNE SLUNCE MRAKY
KRYLY GEST BYLA TRNITA NEZ
UTEGHY UBIHALY DNOYE MEHO
ZIYOTA PRAGI SYOJI VYKONALAS
UDZY JEN K DOBRU SUET RUCE
SKLADAS HLAVA KLESA DUGH M
DALKY OKLETA KDE
POSTRASTEGH TEBESTALA
OCEKAYN ODPLATA
According to the Oakland Cemetery Website, this Bohemian inscription translates to:
The sun and clouds stood above my journey
There were tough and joyful days in my life.
You did my work just to make the world better.
You fold your hands and your head goes down.
Your spirit flies away where everlasting reward
Is waiting for you after hardship.
Iowa boasts two black angels. One is in Council Bluffs at the Fairview Cemetery, erected to the memory of Ruth Anne Dodge and her visions of the angel of death offering her a drink of the water of life.
The second black angel is in the Oakland Cemetery at Iowa City, Iowa. This black angel has darker stories surrounding it which probably began to swirl when the bright bronze statue turned black. Instead of oxidation being the reason for the color change, rumors began to emerge about the “mysterious” woman buried beneath the angel.
Teresa Dolezal and her son, Eddie, emigrated from Bohemia to America where she continued her practice as a midwife. Eddie died at the age of 18 with meningitis and was buried underneath a tree-stump gravestone in the Oakland Cemetery. After her son’s death, Teresa moved to Eugene, Oregon, where she met and married Nicholas Feldevert. Not long after their marriage, Nicholas died. Teresa moved back to Iowa City.
Teresa hired Bohemian artist, Mario Korbel, of Chicago, to create an angel for her husband’s grave. She also gave instructions that the angel was to hover over the body of her son’s grave, too. Korbel created the angel with one wing spread open over Eddie’s grave. Teresa died in 1924 and her ashes were placed underneath the grave ledger next to her husband’s remains.
No one remembers for sure when the angel turned color but that is when the rumors started. The stories about the reasons why range from fanciful to evil and suggest that the color change was due to the nature of the woman buried beneath the angel. One story goes that on the dark and stormy night of Teresa’s burial a lightning bolt struck the angel and turned it black instantly. Another rumor suggests that the angel itself portends of the evil—most graveyard angels, they say, look upward with their wings lifted toward Heaven, but this one looks downward. Ominous.
Stories emerged that Teresa had sworn to her husband that she would remain faithful to his memory until his death and that the angel turned black was proof of her infidelity. Others were more dire even, saying that the angel turned black, because it was not meningitis that killed her son, but Teresa herself even though the records tell a completely different story. The black angel, then, was a reminder of her deed and a reminder to all of what evil can do. The black angel was a beacon to remind people to be good.
Leave it to a college town to turn the stories of evil into a reason to challenge the mysterious circumstances behind the color change of the sculpture and even build upon them making it a place for college co-eds to kiss! The Iowa City college students created even more fanciful myths. They say that if a college girl is kissed in the moonlight near the black angel, she will die within six months. They also say that if you kiss the black angel you will die instantly. Or touching the black angel at the stroke of midnight will bring death within seven years. They also say if a virgin is kissed in front of the black angel the curse will be lifted and the angel will turn back to its original bright bronze color. Hawkeye co-eds have performed many experiments of the kissing nature in front of the black angel and the sculpture is still black. No deaths have been reported either as a result of the efforts of the college students—yet the rumors are retold with vigor and enthusiasm.
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