Posted in Cemetery Sculpture, Symbolism, tagged alpha and omega, buffalo, cleveland, forest lawn cemetery, grave art, lake view cemetery, new york, ohio, sculpture, symbolism on December 20, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Recently, I wrote about the Christian symbolism associated with the combination of the Greek letters alpha and omega. I’ve found even more photos that include this and wanted to share them with you.
The Holley family in Lake View Cemetery has them intertwined.
The Smiths of Forest Lawn Cemetery included the alpha and the omega symbols on their marker.
Posted in Dead Men Do Tell Tales, tagged buffalo, clergy, cross, euphemisms for death, forest lawn cemetery, grave art, ihs, new york, occupation, tombstone tales, wordless wednesday on July 25, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Posted in Morbid Musings, tagged buffalo, clergy, euphemisms for death, forest lawn cemetery, new york, occupation on July 24, 2012| Leave a Comment »
This is the first time I have seen “translated” used as a euphemism for death. It communicates a belief in death as simply a step rather than a final thing.
Posted in Cemetery Sculpture, Symbolism, tagged anchor, astrolabe, buffalo, forest lawn cemetery, grave art, new york, sculpture, symbolism, tombstone tales on July 23, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Walter Norton’s monument doesn’t state his occupation, but I’m going to guess that he was a sailor, possibly specifically a captain or navigator, since he has both an anchor and an astrolabe on his monument.
Posted in Dead Men Do Tell Tales, tagged buffalo, forest lawn cemetery, history, new york, occupation, tombstone tales, war of 1812, wordless wednesday on July 18, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Posted in Dead Men Do Tell Tales, tagged baby, buffalo, child, children, epitaphs, forest lawn cemetery, new york, tombstone tales on July 10, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Posted in Morbid Musings, tagged buffalo, epitaphs, forest lawn cemetery, grave art, new york, sculpture, tombstone tales, unsolved on July 9, 2012| 1 Comment »
Cemeteries are windows to the past, but sometimes they are somewhat clouded and cracked, so that the past we conjure up is cloudy or incomplete. I considered using this stone for a Wordless Wednesday post but then I realized I have questions that I wanted to ask about it. The monument stands to Barbara and Jacob Miller in Forest Lawn Cemetery and looks unremarkable for its time and place – the metal plaque with the deceased’s faces on it is a little more rare. But it was the epitaph that intrigued me.
Like father and mother they remembered us in life. We will not forget them in death.
Mr. and Mrs. Capt. J.B. Souter
Who were the Millers and the Souters? What relationship did they have? The epitaph strongly implies that the Souters erected the Millers’ monument, a task usually carried out by family. Did the Millers have family that couldn’t or wouldn’t take care of the arrangements? Or were the Souters and Millers related, just not immediate family to one another?
Posted in Cemetery Sculpture, tagged cincinnati, cleveland, east cleveland, erie street cemetery, first presbyterian church cemetery, forest lawn cemetery, nelaview cemetery, ohio, sculpture, spring grove cemetery on July 9, 2012| Leave a Comment »
One of my favorite decorative elements on old tombstones are the little rosettes and carvings that appear on the shoulders of the stone.
Posted in Morbid Musings, tagged ashes, buffalo, cremains, forest lawn cemetery, new york, tombstone tales on July 5, 2012| Leave a Comment »
I have written before about cemetery monuments that actually specify they cover cremains – the official name for cremated human remains. I think most people, like the designers of this monument, generally think of them as simply ashes.
Posted in Dead Men Do Tell Tales, tagged buffalo, civil war, doctor, forest lawn cemetery, new york, occupation, symbolism, tombstone tales, wordless wednesday on July 4, 2012| Leave a Comment »
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A Grave Concern 