Distribution of Death Dates in the Episcopal Cemetery

This fascinating graph, taken from the Historical Society, shows the distribution of death dates recorded on the gravestones in the Episcopal Cemetery. Just look at how the numbers drop off beginning in the 1870s, when nearby Oakwood Cemetery was established.

Note that this graph reflects only the dates on stones that existed in 1984, when this data was collected. No gravestones survive to mark the graves of the Revolutionary War soldiers who were buried in the cemetery (if such stones ever existed). The earlier the year, the more likely that stones no longer exist and thus were not factored into this graph. Still, it is probably pretty safe to say that the number of burials per year in the 18th century was smaller than that of the 19th century, particularly the mid-19th century, when the community was growing.

Old Burying Ground, Sturbridge, Massachusetts: Part 2

Grave of Elijah Carpenter

The stone above was the most captivating one that I found in the Old Burying Ground. At the top, it has a rather ordinary image of two urns separated by a pilaster, but that is not what is interesting about it. What is interesting is the story relayed by the inscription and by the destruction to the top of the stone.

Old Burying Ground, Sturbridge, Massachusetts: Part 1

The Old Burying Ground in Sturbridge, MA, is immense and beautiful. Furthermore, it has many fascinating stones that beautifully illustrate the thesis underlying Allan Ludwig's 1966 masterpiece Graven Images: New England Stonecarving and its Symbols, 1650-1815. In fact, the burying ground wasn't established until the 1740s (and the beautiful wall around it built in the 1790s by Revolutionary War veterans), but Ludwig's work still applies. It's probably best to use his words:

It has long been assumed that the American Puritans had no religious art. We now know that the notion has no substance in fact. In little more than 165 years of hurried creation and rapid innovation the Puritans carved an art of great simplicity and power. It was an art which substituted emblems of death, symbols of the Resurrection, and iconic soul representations for the narrative and allegorical cycles we normally associate with high religious art. The imagery endured and prospered until 1815 when it finally succumbed to the neoclassical style.

Home Cemetery, Kennebunk, Maine

Home Cemetery in Kennebunk is nestled between the main road and a dense thicket of trees. The most prominent structure in the cemetery is the elaborate iron fence surrounding the White family plot. Unlike other family plots I have seen, it seems to have been planned out in advance - that is, I believe that the stones were already there, or were about to be put up, when the fence was put in place.

Mount Desert Street Cemetery, Bar Harbor, Maine: Part 2

Check out the incredible engraving of a ship tossing on the sea, set within a cameo, on the monument to the left. Isn't it wonderful? I didn't take note of the owner, but I assume that he was a seaman of some kind. He wouldn't be the only one buried there.

On to more stones from the Mount Desert Street Cemetery ...

Mount Desert Street Cemetery, Bar Harbor, Maine: Part 1

Mount Desert Street Cemetery, located between the Congregational and Episcopal Churches in Bar Harbor, was a very pleasant surprise. All cemeteries are unique, and I haven't been to one yet that didn't have something interesting to find in it, but this one was really special. What struck me first of all was the color of the stones. They are unusually white - milky and luminous. Are they made of a different material than the stones I'm accustomed to seeing at the Episcopal Cemetery, or are they just cleaner?

Cleaner isn't necessarily better. If a stone has been cleaned too rigorously, its details can take on a slightly fuzzy appearance. I'm not an expert on gravestone preservation, so I can't tell if the fuzziness of some of the engravings in this cemetery is the result of over-restoration or natural deterioration (I'm thinking specifically of the Captain Stephen Higgins stone, below).

In this cemetery I saw several stone shapes, motifs, and even names that I had never seen before. You could spend a lifetime tracing the typological sequence of gravestones in different places and eras. What I'm interested in is what that typology reflects about the character of the community.

Thorn Family Update

 

You may remember Stephen Thorn, the shoemaker who is buried in the cemetery along with his second wife and six of his twelve children. In fact, seven of Stephen Thorn's children were buried in the cemetery, but there are only six there now.

I found these documents at the local historical society last week. The first is a 1907 letter written by Charles Thorn's wife, Lucy, to the Board of Health requesting that the remains of her husband, who died in 1878, be removed from the Episcopal Cemetery and transferred to Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla.

The second is an application for the disinterment of Charles Thorn from the New York City Department of Health, indicating that his remains were transferred via the New York and Hudson Railroad for reburial.

Why did Lucy Thorn choose to have her husband's remains reburied? I can't say for sure, but a descendant of Stephen Thorn recently told me that a different Thorn relative wrote in a letter that she was considering moving her mother's remains out of the Episcopal Cemetery because it was "practically abandoned." Perhaps the neglect of the cemetery had already begun by 1907. Many thanks to this descendant for providing me with that information and to the historical society for giving me access to these documents.