Wednesday’s child: Annette Doomy

The epitaph on the gravestone for Annette Doomy (b. 1838, d. 1842) makes reference to “lilies of the field.”

The stone carver must have thought it too matchy-matchy to carve a lily on the stone. Instead he carved a broken column, perhaps to symbolize a life cut short.

In memory
of ANNETTE,
daghter of John and
Anna Doomy,
born June 8^th 1838
died Sept^r 3^th 1842,
aged 4 years,
2m^s & 25 ^s.

The lilies of the field,
    That quickly fade away,
May well to us a lesson yield,
    For we are frail as they.

Look at the space in which the column is carved. There is plenty of room for a taller column. Did the carver mean for that negative space to emphasize the shortness of this child’s life?

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Old Saint Peters Cemetery, Fairfield County, Ohio