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Visit a cemetery with 19th-century gravestones and you will likely see plenty of hands. Clasped hands, pointing hands, hands holding flowers, hands holding books. The hand on the gravestone for Theresa M. Schultz (d. 1869) is holding a cross.
THERESA M.
WIFE OF
PETER SCHULTZ.
DIED
AUG. 9, 1869
AGED 82 Y’S
1 MO. 20 D’S.
Why should we weep for her
was she not ready:
Oil in her lamp and her bridal
robes on
Waiting in faith with a hope
firm and steady
The good Shepherd’s call and
the plaudit well done.
This epitaph is a tough one. There are records of it in other cemeteries, but the literary source eludes me.
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| There is rest in heaven |
Whatever the source of the precise phrasing, the epitaph appears to be a reference to The Parable of the Ten Virgins (Matthew 25), assuring all who pass by that Mrs. Schultz was wise—and ready.
Mayfield Cemetery, Delaware County, Ohio
There is a single lily carved on the gravestone for William H. Cline (b. 1844, d. 1871) in Marlborough Cemetery, Delaware County, Ohio.
The lily is often understood to represent innocence and purity. Is that how we should interpret the lily on Mr. Cline’s marker? Perhaps. He was only 27 years old when he died.
Or maybe, as I sometimes suspect, the lily was his—or his widow’s—favorite flower.
Gone but not forgotten
WILLIAM H.
CLINE
BORN
Nov. 26, 1844
married to
Siantha Weiser,
Nov. 16, 1867.
DIED
[Aug. 21, 1871]
The stone has been reset and without digging around the base I was not able to read the date of death. The online cemetery records provided by the Delaware County Genealogical Society help to fill in the blank.
Marlborough Cemetery, Delaware County, Ohio
The gravestone for Parthenia A. Flaisig (d. 1849) has no decoration, not even the simplest frame around the inscription. But the lovely epitaph, taken from a 19th-century children’s poem, has been sweetly personalized.
Parthenia A.,
daughter of
Samuel & Wilmoth
O, A, Flaisig.
born & died.
August, 2,
1849.How beautiful will Parthenia be.
When God shall give her wings.
Above this dying world to flee.
And live with heavenly things.
Parthenia’s epitaph is from the poem “Mother, what is Death” by Caroline Howard Gilman (b. 1794, d. 1888), an American writer and poet.
“Mother, how still the baby lies!
I cannot hear his breath;
I cannot see his laughing eyes—
They tell me this is death.
My little work I thought to bring,
And sat down by his bed,
And pleasantly I tried to sing—
They hushed me—he is dead.
They say that he again will rise,
More beautiful than now;
That God will bless him in the skies—
O, mother, tell me how!”
“Daughter, do you remember, dear,
The cold, dark thing you brought,
And laid upon the casement here,—
A withered worm, you thought?
I told you that Almighty power
Could break that withered shell,
And show you, in a future hour,
Something would please you well.
Look at the chrysalis, my love,—
An empty shell it lies;—
Now raise your wondering glance above,
To where yon insect flies!”
“O, yes, mamma! how very gay
Its wings of starry gold!
And see! it lightly flies away
Beyond my gentle hold.
O, mother, now I know full well,
If God that worm can change,
And draw it from this broken cell,
On golden wings to range,—
How beautiful will brother be,
When God shall give him wings,
Above this dying world to flee,
And live with heavenly things!”
Fargo Methodist Episcopal Cemetery, Morrow County, Ohio
While wandering among the gravestones at Shoup-Thompson Cemetery, I noticed the broken white gravestone for Artimus Russell (d. 1862). Pausing to read the inscription, I wondered: Was the top of the stone lost? Had it been carved with an urn and drapery? Maybe an open book?
ARTIMUS,
son of
E & B. RUSSEL
DIED
June 9, 1862
aged
20 Yrs 4 mo.
15 ds.
Then I spied the missing piece.
It was safe and sound, leaning back-to-back against the lower half. The date of death plus age and gender already had me wondering whether he was a Civil War casualty. The carvings convinced me: Flags swagged to reveal an eagle an shield. What handsome military-themed decoration!
Some post-cemetery research on Amazon.com reveals that 19-year-old Artimus Russel (Artemus Russell) enlisted in the Union Army on November 4, 1861. He died of disease the following June, but not before he earned a promotion to Corporal.
Even without a fancy graphics program, I managed to put the pieces back together. Not perfect by any means, but when I squint my eyes, I like what I see.
Shoup-Thompson Cemetery, Delaware County, Ohio
