Fragments: Margaret Faris

The handsome tablet marker, which surely stood undisturbed for well over 150 years, is on the ground, broken in pieces.

With help from FindAGrave.com and hints from online census and marriage records, we can fill in the missing bits with some confidence.

MARGARE[T]
consort of
ROBERT FARI[S]
& dau of [Arthur & Ann]
Irwin, died Dec. 2, 1836:
in the 30 year of
her age.

There is more of interest on this gravestone: An epitaph is still intact and legible.

When nine years old, she sought the Lord.
Nor did she seek in vain:
According to his gracious word,
He pardon’d all her sin.   R.F.

R.F. = Robert Faris? I’d like to think so.

Oak Grove Cemetery, Delaware County, Ohio

Wednesday’s child: Osborn brothers

No intricate carvings. No symbolic lambs or doves. No epitaphs. Just plain, tablet gravestones with attractive script mark the graves of Lorenzo G.S.M. Osborn (b. 1842, d. 1846) and his brother Isaac D. Osborn (b. 1846, d. 1846).

The young brothers died within days of each other.

	Lorenzo G.S.M. Son of Leonard & Sarah Osborn Died May 21, 1846 Æ. 2 Y’s 7 M 18 d’s
	Isaac D. Son of Leonard & Sarah Osborn Died May 26, 1846 Æ 2M. 29. d’s

Census records for 1850 and 1860 show Leonard, Sarah, and their remaining family continuing to live in the area after the deaths of the young boys in 1846. By 1870, however, Leonard and Sarah had left Ohio and were living in Holland, New York.

Lorenzo and Isaac are the only Osborns buried at Williamsville.

Williamsville Cemetery, Delaware County, Ohio

Fragments: John C. Lowry

As recently as the summer of 2008, the marker at the grave of John C. Lowry (b. 1857, d. 1881) was standing tall in Thomas Cemetery. Most likely damaged by vandals, today the monument is in pieces.

JOHN C. LOWRY
DIED
SEP. 1, 1881.
AGED
24 YS. 1M. & 14 DS.
Thomas Cemetery, Delaware County, Ohio

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

Epitaph: With years oppressed

The grave of William S. Crumb (d. 1850) is marked by an ornate tablet marker with an epitaph that caught my eye. Oppressed? Harassed?

Wm. S. Crumb
Died
April 15th 1850.
aged
27 years 8 mo
& 12 days.

With years oppressed,
Dejected & Harassed
To thee Oh! God I pray
Oh! cast me not away.

The epitaph is from the first verse of a poem by Sir Robert Grant (b. 1779, d. 1838), a British lawyer, politician, and hymn writer. “Psalm LXXI” was first published in Grant’s posthumous Sacred Poems.

With years oppressed, with sorrows worn,
Dejected, harassed, sick, forlorn,
   To Thee, O God, I pray :
To Thee my withered hands arise,
To Thee I lift these failing eyes,
   O! cast me not away !

Thy mercy heard my infant prayer,
Thy love, with all a mother’s care,
   Sustained my childish days :
Thy goodness watched my ripening youth,
And formed my heart to love Thy truth,
   And filled my lips with praise.

O Savior ! has Thy grace declined ?
Can years affect th’ Eternal Mind ?
   Or time its love decay ?—
A thousand ages pass Thy sight,
And all their long and weary flight
   Is gone like yesterday.

Yes! broken, tuneless, still, O Lord,
This voice transported shall record
   Thy goodness tried so long ;
Till, sinking slow, with calm decay
Its feeble murmurs melt away
   Into a seraph’s song !

Williamsville Cemetery, Delaware County, Ohio