Posted in Symbolism, tagged mechanicsburg, mourners, pennsylvania, silver spring meeting house, silver spring presbyterian church, symbolism, urn, weeping willow on October 27, 2016| Leave a Comment »
I’m not lucky enough to see many tombstones with this particular combination of symbols, but those I have seen have all been gorgeous. A woman mourns at a tomb topped with an urn under the shade of a weeping willow tree, a representation of the grief felt by the bereft loved ones of the deceased.
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Posted in Dead Men Do Tell Tales, tagged mechanicsburg, occupation, pastor, pennsylvania, silver spring meeting house, silver spring presbyterian church on October 25, 2016| Leave a Comment »
In the Silver Spring Presbyterian Churchyard, previous pastors still watch over the flock.
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Posted in Dead Men Do Tell Tales, tagged mechanicsburg, pennsylvania, silver spring meeting house, silver spring presbyterian church on October 24, 2016| Leave a Comment »
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Relict is a term you will see on old tombstones for a woman who was widowed.
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Posted in Morbid Musings, tagged cincinnati, harrisburg, harrisburg cemetery, mechanicsburg, names, ohio, pennsylvania, silver spring meeting house, silver spring presbyterian church, spring grove cemetery on October 23, 2016| Leave a Comment »
When a tombstone includes someone’s real name, it can be revealing. I particularly like when the individual is named for someone famous.
In Cincinnati’s Spring Grove Cemetery, you can find the grave of Thomas Jefferson Henderson.
Florence Nightingale Houck lies in Harrisburg Cemetery.
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Ulysses S. Grant Fisher is buried in Silver Spring Presbyterian Churchyard.
Posted in Dead Men Do Tell Tales, tagged consort, euclid, first presbyterian church cemetery, language, mechanicsburg, ohio, pennsylvania, silver spring meeting house, silver spring presbyterian church on October 22, 2016| Leave a Comment »
I’ve always been a big fan of language and enjoyed learning about how it develops. If you followed this blog in its first incarnation, you know that I’m particularly fascinated by some of the archaic words and phrases you can find on tombstones.
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One of my favorite examples of old language is the use of “consort” in place of “wife” when the wife predeceased the husband.
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Posted in Cemetery Sculpture, Symbolism, tagged mechanicsburg, pennsylvania, silver spring meeting house, silver spring presbyterian church, sun, sunshine, symbolism, symbols on October 21, 2016| Leave a Comment »
I’m fairly certain that the symbol on top of this stone is a sunrise, and if so, it’s hard to imagine a more fitting representation of the family’s faith.
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Our society perceives sun and sunshine as almost overwhelmingly positive. It is a powerful symbol of belief in an afterlife of hope and comfort.
Posted in Dead Men Do Tell Tales, tagged big spring presbyterian cemetery, newville, occupation, pennsylvania, revolutionary war, wordless wednesday on October 19, 2016| Leave a Comment »
Transcription: ERECTED BY THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA IN MEMORY OF WILLIAM DENNING, THE PATRIOTIC BLACKSMITH AND FORGER OF WROUGHT-IRON CANNON DURING THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR BORN 1737 DIED 1830
Posted in Morbid Musings, tagged kanaga house, mechanicsburg, pennsylvania, silver spring meeting house, silver spring presbyterian church on October 11, 2016| Leave a Comment »
When my mother and stepfather married, they rented the Kanaga House, a colonial home that was converted to a bed & breakfast. I wanted to write a great deal more about the house, because the bed & breakfast website had a lovely history of the house, and each of the bedrooms was named for a member of the Kanaga family, but that information is no longer available on the web.
A few scant miles away, members of the Kanaga Family are buried in the Silver Spring Presbyterian Church yard. I’m sure there were other stones that I missed.
Posted in Cemetery Sculpture, Symbolism, tagged harrisburg, harrisburg cemetery, hourglass, pennsylvania, sculpture, symbolism, symbols, winged hourglass, wings on October 8, 2016| Leave a Comment »
The winged hourglass is a symbol of mortality, but it is a much rarer find than a weeping willow or an urn. Imagine my delight when I found multiple examples in the Olmstead family plot in Harrisburg Cemetery.
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A winged hourglass adorns each step down to the family plot.
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Posted in Cemetery Sculpture, Symbolism, Uncategorized, tagged harrisburg, harrisburg cemetery, pennsylvania, sculpture, weeping willow, willow on October 4, 2016| Leave a Comment »
Harrisburg Cemetery has a lot of lovely old funerary art, and willow trees are a personal favorite of mine.
I’m guessing based on proximity to another monument that the surname on this one is Haehlen as well. It’s a slightly different style of willow than I’ve posted in the past.
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A Grave Concern 