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.
//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js
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.
//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js
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 »
//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js
Relict is a term you will see on old tombstones for a woman who was widowed.
//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js
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.
//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js
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.
//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js
One of my favorite examples of old language is the use of “consort” in place of “wife” when the wife predeceased the husband.
//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js
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.
//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js
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 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, Uncategorized, tagged mechanicsburg, pennsylvania, sculpture, silver spring meeting house, silver spring presbyterian church, zinker on October 3, 2016| Leave a Comment »
On a trip to south central Pennsylvania to visit my family, I noticed that there were zinkers in the Silver Spring Presbyterian churchyard. As fascinated as I am with this type of monument, I had never noticed this well-preserved pair of monuments before.
//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js
Posted in Dead Men Do Tell Tales, tagged epitaphs, mechanicsburg, pennsylvania, silver spring meeting house, silver spring presbyterian church, tombstone tales on February 2, 2014| Leave a Comment »
William W. Moore who departed this life May 26th, 1816, aged 50 years. He left a wife and three children to lament the loss of a tender and affectionate husband & father and much regretted by his acquaintances
Reader, attend and copy if you can the noblest work of God –
Posted in Dead Men Do Tell Tales, tagged american revolution, carlisle, epitaphs, history, mechanicsburg, occupation, old carlisle cemetery, old carlisle graveyard, pennsylvania, revolutionary war, silver spring meeting house, silver spring presbyterian church, soldier, veteran on January 24, 2012| Leave a Comment »
William Denny
Born Chester Co. PA.1737
Settled near Carlisle 1745
Coroner 1768-1770
In service with militia 1778
Comm. of Issues 1780
As Contractor build Carlisle Court House 1765
Died about 1800Agnes Denny, His Wife
Born 1741 Married 1760
Grand-daughter of Richard Parker who settled near Meeting House Spring 1724
A woman of great energy and intelligence, a devout Christian
I broke up the inscription on the stone so that it is easier to read, since William Denny’s accomplishments are run together and just flow from line to line without clear punctuation. This stone has a plethora of information about a man of many talents, but the line that caught my eye was actually about Agnes Denny. The stone notes that Agnes was the granddaughter of a “Richard Parker who settled near Meeting House Spring” in 1724. I think I know the Meeting House Spring. The Silver Spring Meeting House, now the Silver Spring Presbyterian Church, is where my mother and stepfather attend church and were in fact married. The name derives from the Silver family, that owned the land nearby the spring. There has been a congregation meeting at the site since at least 1734, and the current stone church building dates from 1784.
| S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
| 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
| 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 |
| 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | |||
A Grave Concern 