As my fascination grew, going to see local cemeteries became something that Lisa and I could do together on a whim. As I walked around with my pen and paper looking for names, Lisa would look at dates and ages and try to piece together family relationships. It’s been a while since I posted any of the more interesting names or headstones here. That’s about to change.

This headstone has it all: death with his scythe, cherubs, devils, crossed bones, an hourglass, scroll-work, the sun, and a snake eating its own tail to signify the unending cycle of life and death. See below for many more headstones.

Through this new crop of photographs, you can see similarities within regions and times, the effects of mass production, differing regional concepts of piety and sense of style . . . not to mention the role of wealth, the presence of master craftsmen, the concept of personhood, and so many other things.

Many markers are memorial stones—not actual headstones—and are often very simple. Many of the dead only got initials on their marker, if they had a stone at all. Some markers were added decades (even centuries) later, usually in a moment of civic pride.

The earliest remaining headstones with names and dates tend to be very ornate and were for extremely important clergy. There are vastly more 18th century headstones remaining, and they tend to be more simple. Unfortunately, machine-carved and die-cast stones signaled an enormous change in the interestingness of grave markers. By the late 19th century, everyone had a headstone, but most of them had no pictures at all. Almost 150 years after mass-production changed them, it’s interesting to see machine-etched pictures starting to return to stones in the late 20th century.

By touring cemeteries, you can see the transition from early Puritan to Georgian and Federal styles and themes. The macabre and religious iconography gave way to the secular and harmonious. In later stones, you can see hints of Transcendentalist sentiments (such as practicality and comity, symbolized in shaking hands) as well as the Second Great Awakening’s self-satisfied piety in skyward-pointing fingers exhorting you to look for the buried in Heaven. You can even occasionally see Art Nouveau and Art Deco stylings in New England.

Throughout the entirety of American grave markers, Bible verses or short secular poems appear. These usual implore the living not to mourn the dead but to seek to follow them into heaven. Indeed for a long time after the English first appeared in America in the early 17th century, images on headstones were one of the few acceptable forms of public art. Despite Biblical exhortations against the graven image, you can see the shape of a body in some of the early headstones. There are the shoulders; there is the round head. Eventually the skull gave way to the cherub and then to the fleshy human face.

Numerous themes appear in New England grave artwork, often combined together onto one stone:

• Skulls with crossed bones
• Skulls with wings
• Cherubs (or faces with wings)
• Faces and the “memento mori”
• Urns with trees
• Drapery, columns, arches, “false tombs” (This is a form of 18th/19th c. landscape art.)
• Scrollwork, vines, leaves
• Flowers
• Hourglasses
• Heraldry (Though this is usually very limited, very aristocratic, and very Tory.)
• Crosses, Jesus, Mary (These are almost uniformly Catholic.)
• Hands pointing toward heaven or shaking hands (These appeared during the Second Great Awakening.)
• Finials

A tour through a single large cemetery is often a fascinating way to see the generational changes in American orthography, typography, diction, expression, language, and style.

• “ye” versus “the”
• The ligature “s” (as f)
• The change of year didn’t always happen on January 1st. For example, you’ll see 1691/2.
• In the mid-19th century there was the same crazy typographical mishmash that you might see in a typical newspaper.

You can also see the change in tooling and craftsmanship that made these markers.

• Hand cut on slate by a local craftsman, often with visible guidelines — Until about 1820.
• Hand cut on marble by someone on a more regional basis, probably by mail order — Starting in earnest around 1840, just in time for the Civil War and its massive carnage.
• Cast from moulds. If you tap them, you can tell they’re hollow, and you can see the seams where they’re joined — ca. 1840s-1850s.
• Mass produced by machine with automated cutting tools — from 1860 onward.

I hope you will look at these photographs and start to see some of what I’ve noticed over the years. And I hope that, as you encounter things I haven’t noticed, you’ll tell me what you see.

Click on any photograph to enlarge it. Click on the enlarged photograph to move to the next one in the series.

It’s quite an affecting thing to see the miles of signs, flags, names and ages as I drive home from work. The names don’t leave much of an impression usually. But the ages definitely do. So many of them are so young. And this year more than in many years past — because of the surge of violence in Afghanistan — the dead were from many different countries.

It seemed to me the only way to really convey the experience of seeing all of those signs was to walk along parts of Routes 16 and 126 in Holliston and photograph each of the signs that I saw along the way. Here are 100 or so, as well as a few random scenes along the way to give a sense of what Holliston is like the rest of the year. (You can click any photo for a larger version.)

If you’re in the military, thank you for your service. And please stay safe.

Before the pictures, a little story. Remember that on Friday I wrote that I was going to do 90 mile ride in the Taconic Range today? Turns out, I forgot about an evening obligation, so I decided to delay the ride until next weekend and do a similarly sized ride starting at home but without any mountains.

About two hours into my ride through Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut — before I really even had a chance to get bored — I got a flat. After a year of riding, I was due, but it could have happened in a more convenient place, instead of halfway across the West Thompson Dam. My first thought was a hope that I could just raise my hand like they do in professional races and summon the neutral service vehicle for a quick wheel change. Oh, delusions!

After walking myself back to a place with a shoulder, I made a rookie mistake, breaking the head off the valve of my flat tube as I took it off the wheel. Had I been wiser, I would have also brought an extra tube with me. Like I said: rookie mistakes. Nothing to do after that but pack it in and call Lisa to pick me up. She’s a sweetheart, that girl.

Next week, I’ll be more sensible when I finally do that ride in the mountains.

Here are some pictures from the past couple days:

Lunch of palak paneer and chicken korma

What?!

How did we do SWAGging lunch? Uh . . . coulda been better.

Reading all y’all’s blogs

A movable feast

Stopping by the cemetery in Burrillville, Rhode Island

Lots of Joslins in this part of Rhode Island and Connecticut

I thought at first this might be the guy we PWDs owe a debt of gratitude, but he seems to be an uncle of some distance.

Waiting for the cavalry in Thompson, CT

I barely worked hard enough to muss my hair

Yesterday (day #8 of our trip) Lisa, my mom, her husband, and I drove about a half-hour west of town to the Freeland Cemetery. Mom had noticed that I have an interest in old-timey cemeteries, so she thought it would be fun to go see a frontier version.

Right around lunchtime, Barry Horn stopped by to show us some of the photographs he made there earlier in the month. When he was done, I felt like I had already been there but was still really excited to see it.

While the names and headstone imagery may be rather different than what you see out our way, this little cemetery out in the middle of nowhere had all the originality and charm that I’ve come to love about how the living memorialize the dead.

What’s interesting to me is that the bodies aren’t so much buried as covered. (And some people have decided that “being laid to rest under the sod” allows for the use of Astro-Turf if real grass doesn’t grow well.) But the tributes to individuality — which I think is a hallmark of Wyoming — really impressed me.

As usual, here are some photographs of the markers and memorial “plaques.” Some of the more unusual names follow.

Bodies covered with dirt, rocks, and driftwood. These bodies were “buried” more than twenty-five years ago and grass hasn’t really started to regrow.

When you can’t grow grass, use what you’ve got.

This mausoleum was built out of petrified wood, rose quartz, and other local minerals.

Click for larger…

Click for larger…

Note the ranch brands on the headstone.

Click for larger…

A little bit of everything.

Click for larger…

Notice the boot boxed in acrylic. We were musing about what we would put in ours.

Doris C. Clark (♀ 1916-2006)
Oh, put my spurs upon my breast,
My rope and saddle tree,
And while the boys lay me to rest,
Go turn my horses free.

Jim L. Nall (♂ 1937-2004)
If tears could build a stairway
And memories a lane,
I’d walk right up to heaven
And bring you home again.

• Izetta G. Clark (♀ 1908-1973)
• Homer R. Clark (♂ 1909-1973)
• Diller W. O’Brien (♂ 1873-1949)
• Hattie P. Clark (♀ 1875-1948)
• Rollin A. Clark (♂ 1870-1952)
• Cordelia M. Cheney (♀ 1834-1906) [1]
• Baby Towne (no date)
• Mary Trollope (♀ nd)
• Lillie Trollope (♀ nd)
• Emery Crouse (♂ 1902-1970)

[1] — Still-Vice-President Dick Cheney grew up in Natrona County and nominally still resides in Wyoming. We went to the same high school (separated by about 40 years, of course). The football field was renamed in his honor sometime after 2001.

Lisa and I went to the Old Burial Hill in Marblehead today, where Lisa took this picture:

In Memory of James Dennis Hammond
He was one of the Heroes of the Frigate Constitution and having been wounded in the capture of the Java he received a pension from his grateful Country untill his decease which happened Oct. 24, 1840 at the age of ?4 years 10 mos. & 14 days.

For some reason, this small, rural cemetery was once known as “Paddy Lincoln Cemetery.” Now it’s just “West Cemetery.”

• Enoch Chamberlain — Revolutionary War soldier (♂) [1]
• Capt. Staples Chamberlain — Revolutionary War soldier (♂) [1]
• Enoch Chamberlain (♂ – †1841 Æ63) [1]
• Mrs. Submit, Wife of Enoch Chamberlain (♀ – †1831 Æ84)
• Appleton Adams — Co. D 1st Mass. H.A. (♂ 1822-1862)
• Washington Adams (♂ 1814-1894)
• Mrs. Thankful Watkins, Relict of Mr. Andrew Watkins (♀ – †1811 Æ71)
• Jemima Fisk (♀ – †March 6, 1819 Æ46)
• Levi Fisk (♂ – †June 20, 1819 Æ53)
• Jackson, son of Josephus and Emeline Phipps (♂ – †1858 Æ18mos. & 2ds.)
• Mrs. Achsah, wife of George W. Merchant & daughter of Samuel & Achsah Leland (♀ – †1839 Æ28)
• Dexter Leland (♂ – †1841 Æ1mo. & 8ds.) [1]
• Dexter Claflin (♂ – †1832 Æ8yrs.) [1]
• Ebinezer Cutler (♂ – †1828 Æ82) [1]
• Miriam, Wife of Amasa Foristall (♀ – †1858 Æ49) [1]
• Selina A. (♀ 1843-1866)

[1] — The elder Enoch Chamberlain was likely born in 1737 and died in 1812. Capt. Staples Chamberlain, probably is not buried in this cemetery, though, since he was born in Newton and died in Roxbury. Staples did have a namesake grandson who was born in Holliston in 1796, but I suspect the government marker for him probably doesn’t belong here. (More info…)

This is a wonderful, little cemetery just north of Sherborn Centre on Route 27. There are many interesting stones, including a couple unique designs and one of the best urn motifs that I’ve yet seen. (See some of them in the Miscellany.) For a small burying ground — which often indicates a rural or clan-like community — the powerful and the plainfolk are buried together.

we noticed that several families had more than their share of tragedy. Adelphus and Nancy Clark buried seven infants in the span of seventeen years. Each had their own marker at a time when it was very rare for infants for to have any marker at all. Only young George Washington Clark (♂ – †1814 Æ11 mos.) was given a name. Next to him were three brothers (†1817, †1819, †1831) and three sisters (†1818, †1821, †1826). And then there are the Chamberlen orphans who also died young.

Isaiah Woodcock died by a wound in his arm that he received in the Battle of Bridgewater.* July 25, 1814. Æ28 yrs. 3 mos.

Mrs. Mary, Relict of Johnathon Leland, who died Dec. 3, 1839, in her 92 yr.

Albert Green, who died in San Francisco, Cal. Jan. 10, 1857, Aged 30 yrs, 2 mos & 3 days

• Moses Chamberlen (Father – †1813 Æ36)
• Sarah Chamberlen (Mother – †1815 Æ36)
• Charolette Chamberlen (Daughter – †1819 Æ18)
• Labez D. Chamberlen (Son – †1820 Æ16)
• Rebekah Bigelow, Wife of Elijah (1788-1825)
• Micah Leland (♂ – †1810 Æ69)
• Lawson Leland (♂ – †1819 Æ9 mos.)
• Amory Babcock (♂ – †1853 Æ60)
• Eunice French (♀ – †1821 Æ24)
• Ophelia Sanger (♀ – †1876 Æ64)
• Elbridge Sanger (♂ – †1885 Æ79)
• Ouvra Taylor (♂ – 1821-1852)
• Angenett Davis (♀ – †1844 Æ18)
• Miss Thankful Whelock (♀ – †1844 Æ32)
• Rufus Lufkin, Member of Co. G. 25th Regiment Maine Vols. (♂ – †1909 Æ76)
• Keturah Hill (♀ – †1836 Æ75)
• Aseneth Pratt (♀ – †1804 Æ36)
• Roxana Pratt (♀ – †1872 Æ73)
• William Pratt (♂ – †1810 Æ15 mos.)
• William Pratt 2nd ** (♂ – †1831 Æ20)
• Bela Grout (♀ – †1800 Æ36)
• Royal Grout (♂ – †1825 Æ38)
• Rhoda Grout (♀ – †1808)
• Almira Perry (♀ – †1836 Æ28)

* — The Battle of Bridgewater is better known as the Battle of Lundy’s Lane.

** — It was fairly common before the mid 19th-century to name children after their deceased siblings.

I love having Lisa come along with me, because she always notices so much more than I do about what’s written on the gravestones, while I usually look at the stones themselves. She notices who had multiple wives, the children who were named after deceased siblings, the spinsters, the families decimated by a sickness in the house, etc.

Here are some of the highlights from Holliston, which is a great town for visiting burying grounds. (Previously I wrote about the Old Indian Cemetery and Central Burying Ground.) Most of the cemeteries are small and well maintained, and there are a lot of great names.

South Cemetery — Holliston

• Gilbert Lovering — “A hopeful and engaging youth” (♂ – †1803 Æ17)
• Hepsibeth Adams (♀ – †1852 Æ66)
• Elial Littlefield (♂ – †1865 Æ88 yrs 6 mos)
• Tabatha Littlefield (♀ – †1819 Æ81)
• Loammi Littlefield (♂ – †1874 Æ90)
• Isanne Littlefield (♀ – †1837 Æ20)
• Ephraim Littlefield (♂ – †1828 Æ74)
• Huldah Bullard (♀ – †1853 Æ46)
• Bathsheba Hill (♀ – †1825 Æ82)
• Mrs. Zilpha Clark (♀ – †18?? Æ27)
• Abijah Clark (♂)
• Silence Claflin (♀ – †1828 Æ74)
• Achsah Pond, wife of Phillip Pond (♀ – †1832)
• Achsah E. Pond, daughter of Phillip and Elizabeth Pond (♀ – †1833 Æ12 days)
• Admiral Albee Sr. (♂ – †1848 Æ68)
• Admiral Albee Jr. (♂ – †1849 Æ29)
• Althira ? (♀ – †18??)

East Holliston Cemetery

• Cyrus Marsh (♂ – †1873 Æ90)
• Thomas Honey (♂ – †1863 Æ59)
• Libert Ekensteen — “Born in Sweden” (♂)
• Arlow A.E. Giles (♂ – 1861-1907)
• Marietta G. Joslyn (♀ – 1845-1911)
• Lavinia Joslyn (♀ – 1815-1851)
• Lucius G.(?) Joslyn (♂ – 1843-1844)

Today’s additions mostly fit into the existing categories:

• Skulls, Angels, and Heads
• Urns
• Other Hand-carved Things
• Modern Graven Images

I’ll keep adding images as I come across really interesting stones.

I will give you the full rundown of the cemetery itself soon, but you might be interested in my family’s particular connection to this country that was so new to many of the people buried in Copps Hill.

It starts with Richard Mather, the Puritan preacher of diminished means who came to Massachusetts Bay in 1635, fifteen years after the Mayflower arrived. The Puritans in America have their closest modern counterparts in the Ayatollahs of Iran, men who parlay religious authority into authoritarian political control. Richard’s son Increase Mather became one of the most influential men in New England. Increase’s son Cotton Mather carried on the family tradition, publishing prolifically on religious matters and is notoriously linked to the Salem witchcraft hysteria after giving expert testimony about how to identify “spectral evidence.” Increase is my tenth great-grand-uncle (once removed).

1. John Mather of Lowton, Winwich Parish, Lancashire County, England
2. Thomas Mather, Yeoman of Lowton
3. Rev. Richard Mather (1596-1669) — He emigrated to Dorchester, Massachusetts in 1635
4. Timothy Mather (1628-1684) — married Catherine Atherton. [1]
5. Atherton Mather (1663-1734) — married Rebecca Stoughton. [2]
6. William Mather (1698-1747)
7. Timothy Mather (1722-1802)
8. Timothy Mather (1757-1818) — married Hannah Church. [3]
9. Timothy Mather (1785-1858) — married Harriet Adams. [4]
10. John Adams Mather (1822-1875) — [5]
11. James Sherman Mather (1852-1933) — married Emma Elizabeth Fanning. [6]
12. Clarence Mather (1888-1975)
13. Richard Mather (1915-1979?)
14. Dennis Mather (1942- )
15. Me (1974- )

[1] — Catherine Atherton was the daughter of Major General Humphry Atherton, who purchased land from the Narragansett Indians under false pretenses. The Major’s grandson Humphry Atherton, Jr., apparently owned some fellow human beings, as well. (According to the probate record, Atherton left “Mentions Cuffee, a Negro Man £300″ to his heirs.)

[2] — Rebecca Stoughton was the granddaughter of Hon. William Stoughton, the Lord High Witch-Presser in the Salem Witch Trials. There’s a Stoughton, Mass., too.

[3] — Hannah Church was the daughter of John Church and Jemima Montague of Hadley, Mass. So, it’s likely that I’m related to the family that gave Montague, Mass. its name.

[4] — Harriet Adams is a descendant of John Alden, a Mayflower passenger. Her parents came from Milton and Braintree, so it’s almost certain that I’m also related to two American presidents, though I’m still working on the link.

Update: If you go four generations up the family tree from President John Adams (or five from President John Quincey Adams) you will find Henry Adams and Edith Squire. Their seventh son, Joseph, begat the presidential family line. A descendant of Joseph’s younger brother, Henry, married into the Mather family in 1812. It’s a very distant link.

My link to the common ancestor…

1. Henry Adams (1582/3 – 1646) m. Edith Squire (1587 – 1672/3)
2. Edward Adams (1629 – 1716)
3. John Adams (unknown)
4. Edward Adams (1682/3 – 1743)
5. John Adams, Dea. (1708/9 – 1790)
6. Edward Adams (1738/39 – 1825) m. Dorothy Spear (1743/4 – 1802)
7. Harriet Adams (1787 – 1828) m. Timothy Mather (1785 – 1858)

The presidents’ link to the common ancestor…

1. Henry Adams (1582/3 – 1646) m. Edith Squire (1587 – 1672/3)
2. Joseph Adams (1625/6 – 1694)
3. Joseph Adams, Jr. (1654 – 1736/7)
4. John Adams, Dea. (1690/1 – 1761)
5. John Adams, President (1735 – 1826)
6. John Q. Adams (1767 – 1848)

[5] — John Adams Mather was the guy who brought my family from New England to the Midwest. He first settled as a young man in western New York then moved his family to Wisconsin in 1857 and later to Minnesota.

[6] — Emma Fanning is a direct descendant of William Bradford, another Mayflower passenger and the second Colonial Governor of Massachusetts. I think we’re also related (indirectly) through her to the explorer Edmund Fanning.

(Click for larger image…)