Winged faces, also known as soul effigies are not common on gravestones here in central Ohio. What a surprise when, on an impulse, I pulled over at a tiny rural cemetery and quickly spied a winged face!
The winged face is on the sandstone marker at the grave of a baby, Jacob Kendler (d. 1827), suggesting the belief that his soul has risen to Heaven. The epitaph reinforces the interpretation.
Son of
Jacob & Mary Kendler
Died Aug. 10th, 1827. aged
6 months & 18 days.
Go lovely Infant go to rest
Where sorrows never intervene
Heav’n in mercy thought it best
To call thee from this troubled scen[e.]
The boy’s name is carved in letters made up of flowers and leaves—lovely!
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