Little (zinc) lambs

Zinc markers, with their distinctive blue-gray color, dot the country cemeteries in Delaware County, Ohio.

On a recent walk through Shoup-Thompson Cemetery, I found three zinc markers, smaller than many I see, marking the graves of children. 

	CLYDE LEE, SON OF THOMAS & M.J. FRYMAN, BORN OCTOBER 24, 1879 DIED JULY 6, 1880 AGE 8 MO’S 12 DAYS.
	ADA,DAUGHTER OFS. W. & V.PENTONEY,BORN MAY 1881,DIED NOV. 1883.
	WILLIE OWEN, SON OF J. A. & S.A. MAIZE, BORN AUG. 27, 1877, DIED JULY 18, 1880.

Clyde Lee’s epitaph, on the back face of the marker, caught my eye.

I take little LEE,
And lay him on my
breast,
Protection he shall
find in me,
And be ever blest.
The epitaph, common enough on children’s gravestones, has been personalized by replacing “the little lamb” with “little Lee.”

What else is interesting here? The epitaph is in caps and lowercase. Lowercase! Take a look at your collection of zinc gravestone photos—I bet the inscriptions on nearly all are in all caps.

Shoup-Thompson Cemetery, Delaware County, Ohio