The Brown gate

Carved on a gravestone, a gate is generally understood to represent the passage to heaven. Those of us who look upon the gravestone remain on the earthly side of the gate; the deceased have passed through the gate to heaven.

The large monument at the graves of David Brown (b. 1842, d. 1898) and Olive Zinn Brown (b. 1849, d. 1894) is in the shape of a gate, announcing to all that Mr. and Mrs. Brown have passed into heaven

DAVID BROWN DEC. 16, 1842, JULY 19, 1898.

OLIVE ZINN WIFE OF DAVID BROWN SEPT. 8, 1849, JAN. 29, 1894.

The 1880 U.S. Federal Census shows the Browns living in Columbus, Ohio, which is home to the cemetery in which they are buried. David Brown was working in a grain elevator while Mrs. Brown, who went by “Ollie,” was keeping house.

From Ancestry.com

---

Union Cemetery, Franklin County, Ohio