“...and took him in an unexpected moment”

The marker with a large willow carving at the grave of Dr. Lawrence B. Case (d. 1841) not only records the cause of his death, but also describes the last years and days of his life.

IN Memory of
Dr. LAWRENCE B
Son of Job W & Julia Case
who died of Consumption
August 4, 1841
Aged 25 Years,

Although suffering extremely from pain and
debility for ten years, yet his industrious habits,
unexampled perserverance and patience continued
to the last day of life, still death came suddenly
and took him in an unexpected moment.

“The Son of man cometh in an hour when ye
     think not”

The quoted portion of the epitaph is from the Bible. The King James version of Luke 12:40 reads, “Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.”

One note about this cemetery behind St. John’s Episcopal Church in Worthington, Ohio: It is an old graveyard and a lovely garden. Gravel paths, mature perennials, 19th-century gravestones—beautiful!

St. John’s Episcopal Cemetery, Franklin County, Ohio