Gravely Speaking

Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Nashville, Tennessee

The thistle is characterized by a purple or red flower that rests in a cup-shaped part of the stem and has prickly leaves and thorns that protect it from plant-eating animals.  The thistle is in the family Asteraceae.

This flower, like so many symbols in funerary art, represents many different things.  For instance, the thistle, with its thorns, can symbolize the Passion of Christ.  The thorns on the plant remind the Christian viewer of Christ’s crown of thorns.  It is also a symbol of earthly sorrow.  After Adam ate of the tree of life, God said to Adam that the ground was cursed to him for disobeying Him and that Adam would eat in sorrow.  God said that, “Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee…”.

The thistle is also the floral symbol of Scotland most likely adopted by the Scots because, as legend has it, a Norse army was about to attack a Scottish army encampment when an opposing soldier stepped on a thistle.  The soldier cried out alerting the Scots to the presence of the Norsemen.  This legend is also likely to be the origin of the Scottish motto, Nemo me impune lacessit, which is translated as No one attacks me with impunity or No one can harm me unpunished.  The motto is a fitting slogan for the thislte, as well, because to eat it or pick it, one has to overcome the thorns.

The gravestone below marks the grave of a native of Scotland.

Jannette Turner

Wife of

Matthew Henderson

Born March 2, 1830

Died July 2, 1871

Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord.

Matthew Henderson

Born Nov’r 6, 1825

At Roslin, Scotland,

Died April 28, 1893.

Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Nashville, Tennessee

Old Tenet Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Tenet, New Jersey

The metal markers placed beside the tombstones of volunteer and full-time firefighters vary in size and shape but usually display traditional iconography.

Maplewood Cemetery, Freehold, New Jeresy

Old Brick Reformed Church, Holmdel, New Jersey

South Haven Fire Department, South Haven Michigan

Styles for grave markers to commemorate firefighters’ service are varied.  Some are designed with very little ornamentation looking like a plain badge while others display a myriad of different firefighters’ iconography.

Old Brick Reformed Church Graveyard, Holmdel, New Jersey

This marker honoring a volunteer firefighter from the Morganville Fire Department in New Jersey prominently features the distinctive firemens hat.  The original hats were made of leather, often with an eagle adorning the top.  Because of the material, leather, that they were made of firefighters were dubbed “leatherheads“.

Maplewood Cemetery, Freehold, New Jersey

This marker commemorating service in the Relief Engine Company displays the most iconic tools in the firefighter’s repitoire–the bugle, the nozzle, the protective hat, the axe, the hook, and the ladder encircled in a hose.

Harlingen Reformed Church Cemetery, Belle Mead Cemetery, New Jersey

Men and women who have worked as firefighters either as volunteers or as full-timers have their service commemorated in the cemetery in a number of ways.  Sometimes there are communal plots where the departed members are buried together around a memorial or monument.  In some cases they are buried together in communal tombs.  Most often, however, their service is marked by a metal marker that is placed next to their gravestone.  The markers almost resemble a badge and almost always display some of the tools and iconography associated with firefighting such as the hook and ladder, the distinctive hat, the bugle, and the nozzle.

Harlingen Reformed Church Cemetery, Belle Mead, New Jersey

Prospect Hill Cemetery, York, Pennsylvania

The Sun Fire Engine Company of York, Pennsylvania, is one of the oldest fire engine companies in the nation.  S. F. E. eventually became the Laurel Company Number 1.  The monument that was erected in 1915 in the Prospect Hill Cemetery in York is dedicated to the fallen members of the fire engine company.

The monument features a copper sculpture of a fireman holding a bugle as if he is getting ready to call his fellow firefighters to action.  The firefighter stands on top of a granite base that features three bas-reliefs that highlight the tools of the firefighters’ trade.

This bas-relief displays a firefighter’s hat, ladder, hook, bugle, nozzle, and torch.

This bas-relief shows two crossed nozzles and a firefighter’s hook.

This bas-relief displays two crossed axes over a torch.

The base of the monument has inscribed in Latin the phrase, “Spectamur Agendo” which translates to, “Let us be judged by our acts” or “By our deeds we are known”.  This statement is a definite nod to the acts of bravery of the men and women who have worn the firefighters’ uniform.  Inscribed on the base of the monument is the following:

ERECTED

BY THE

LAUREL

S. F. E. Co. N0. 1

IN MEMORY OF

THEIR DEPARTED

MEMBERS.

1790-1915

“SPECTAMUR AGENDO”

Cypress Grove Cemetery, New Orleans, Louisiana

Cypress Cemetery at New Orleans honors firefighters in several communal tombs dedicated to firefighters which were designed in a number of different styles.

The tomb pictured above was built by the Perseverance Fire Company Number 13 and designed by architect John Bennett in 1840.

The tomb below was built by the Eagle Fire Company No. 7.  The number “7” is emblazoned on the gate.  Underneath the urn on top of the monument are the words, “Pro Bono Publico” which is Latin and translates to, “For the Public Good”.

Cypress Grove Cemetery, New Orelans, Louisiana

Lafayette Cemetery Number 1, New Orleans, Louisiana

Firefighting companies were also known as Hook and Ladder companies.  Hook and Ladder companies got their names from two of the primary tools of their trade.  Ladders, of course, were used to scale walls and reach people who needed to be rescued from upper stories.  Ladders also allowed the firefighters to scale the sides of buildings to get to the roofs to fight fires from above the fire in some cases.  Hooks were simple poles that had a hook attached on the end, to enable the firefighter to punch out a window or for pulling a piece of wall or siding away from a building to see if the fire had breached the interior walls.

A communal tomb was built in the Lafayette Cemetery Number 1 at New Orleans, Louisiana, for the Lafayette Hook & Ladder Company Number 1 in honor of one of their members.  The dedication is centered on top of the communal tomb and features the hook and ladder symbol.

In memory of

JACOB LEININGER

A native of New Orleans

Was drowned in the Mississippi River

April 17, 1865

And Body not recovered

AGED 26 YRS.,

Erected by his Brother Members,

OF LAFAYETTE HOOK & LADDER, Co. No 1

Lafayette Cemtery Number 1, New Orleans, Louisiana

Firefighting Companies were vital to all communities which could be swept away by fire.  Entire communities could be lost to flame, so volunteer and professional firefighters were vital to save lives and citizens’ homes and businesses.  Firefighters had to be ready at a moment’s notice to fly into action and risk life and limb to battle an inferno.

Fire companies provided their members with social benefits of fraternity but also provided them with society benefits of insurance and security. These societies were prestiges and many of the members included prominent citizens.

In Lafayette Cemetery Number 1 at New Orleans, Louisiana, the communal tomb of the Jefferson Fire Company Number 22, built in 1852, proudly displays the pumper wagon that represented relief and rescure to a vulnerable city.

Many organizations and societies of the time provided life insurance and burial benefits to their members.  Here the members were to be buried in a communal tomb.

Cypress Grove Cemetery, New Orleans, Louisiana

Many individual gravestones in the Cypress Grove Cemetery at New Orleans are dedicated to firefighters.  The gravestone of W. H. Webb, propped up against a tomb, is decorated with a pumper signifying his service as a fireman.

In Memory of

W.H. WEBB

Native of New York

Died Jan. 1, 1881, aged 42 yrs

Death came as gently

As the light wind wandering

Through groves of bloom

Detaches the delicate blossom

From the trees.

We closed thy dear eyes

After days of pain.

And we will trust the God

To soon meet you again.

          From your loving Wife

SUSAN A. WEBB.

Native of New Orleans

Born August 4, 1812,

Died May 24, 1886, aged 43 yrs.

A precious one from us is gone.

A voice we loved is till.

A place is vacant in our home

Which never can be filled.

          By her devoted Mother.

Cypress Grove Cemetery, New Orleans, Louisiana

Firefighters have had their bravery memorialized in stone by grateful citizens that have taken many forms.  In the Cypress Grove Cemetery, sometimes known as the fireman’s cemetery because it was founded with funds from the Fireman’s Charitable and Benevolent Association, the first monument erected in the cemetery was built and dedicated to a fallen firefighter.

Designed by J.N. B. Pouilly with a broken column, representing a life cut short, as the main feature, towers over the base of the tomb.  The monument is a classical design, with acanthus and inverted torches decorating the base.

The monument is dedicated to Irad Ferry, who at 36, was battling a fire on New Year’s Day on Camp Street.  During the firefight, Ferry was mortally wounded and died three days later.  He was first laid to rest at the Girod Street Cemetery but his remains were removed to Cypress Cemetery after it was opened.  One of the panels in the monument displays the bas-relief of a pumper of the era.

Dedicated to the memory of

Irad Ferry

Born in Wilton, Connecticut

13 December 1801

Died 4^th January 1837

The sacrifice of your life for the safety of others

shall not be forgotten by your grateful survivors.

This monument to perpetuate the glory of your disinter-

estedness is erected by Mississippi Fire Company No. 2

With the 1^st and 2^nd Municipalities.

Detail from the Irad Ferry Monument of an early pumper