gravestone Archives - The Cemetery Detective™

Gravestone Depicts Snowy Cemetery Scene

Gravestones Tell a Story

Gravestones signify a person’s passing, a life lived.
Gravestones present opportunities for loved-ones to reminisce.
Gravestones allow those who never knew the deceased to imagine what their lives were like in the time they lived.
Gravestones can be as simple as uninscripted fieldstones; without names or dates, they simply mark places of burial.
Or, gravestones can give detailed information about the people’s lives, causes of death, and family connections.

I found a gravestone recently during my study of cemeteries in Polk County, Tennessee. With a laser-etched image and a few simple words, this gravestone might very well do the best job explaining a couple’s life and lifestyle of any gravestone I have ever seen.

The context of the gravestone lies in the surroundings of the cemetery. As I view the stone, behind me the hills of Chilhowie Mountain are ablaze in autumn’s colors. In front of me, the valley stretches into fertile flatlands. And all around me, Polk County slowly trudges through time as it has for two centuries.

The gravestone perfectly captures this couple’s life and the time in which they lived. He, in his overalls, is strapped behind a plow horse. She, in her apron, expertly wields a hoe. Together, they tend their garden. Beside the garden patch is a row of bee hives. Obviously, the couple made their own honey.

A small farmhouse sits just beyond a clothesline where the couple’s laundry was dried on warm summer days. I imagine the image is captured during a season change because the hilltops are lightly dusted with white frost. I’ve seen this frost many times but most recently when I began an early morning March paddle of the Hiwassee River not far from here.

This Gravestone Reflects an Image

The smoothness of the gravestone perfectly reflects Chilhowie Mountain behind me. I want to visit this cemetery one winter morning when there is frost atop the hills so I can see them reflected just as they are depicted on the gravestone. The crux of the scene is captured in words written on the tailgate of an old pickup truck parked in a wooden barn where the plow horse spends its nights.

The words allude to the changes that Polk County is experiencing and not only of the death of the couple buried here but the passing of a lifestyle and the fading of their home. The words are small. I have to get close to see what they actually say but when I read them, I almost tear up. “About all that’s left of the old homeplace is a lot of memories.”

The Importance of Maintaining Cemeteries

Whether a grave marker is a simple field stone or a detailed description of a person’s life, gravestones help us hold onto the memories, and that is important.

Snowy Hilltops — Snowy Hills Polk County Cemetery

Lyre on a Gravestone

I first notice her shoes.

The heel on her left shoe. Substantial. Contacting the ground with stability.
And her right shoe. The delicate way its laces peek out from beneath her dress…a dress with sleeves flowing from elbow to thigh.

And her lyre.

An antiquated instrument often depicted with 7 strings but her’s has only 5. Or, at least, it has fittings for 5 strings if it ever had strings at all. Which brings into focus the name on the gravestone behind her. “Strang” the past-tense of string.

I smile, bemused, wondering if anyone else would notice such a thing.

A Tree Growing Around A Gravestone

An engulfed gravestone growing into a tree’s trunk.

Engulfed Gravestone

This is, perhaps, my favorite picture from a cemetery I visited last June outside Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
I’ve looked at this picture a dozen times. With each viewing, I imagine the slow creep of this tree’s bark. The bark engulfs the gravestone. To me, it signifies the slow creep of time. The slow creep of time that eventually engulfs our life histories. Sure enough, time (the tree’s bark) will eventually complete its encapsulation.
I wonder what will happen if the tree falls one day only to be covered by leaves and mud. Given the correct heat and pressure and moisture, will the tree eventually become petrified wood?
A tree becoming rock.
After dying.
After engulfing a gravestone.
Of a man who died.
After living a full and glorious life.
The tree, which engulfs the gravestone, protects the gravestone for millennia.
The idea gives me chillbumps.

And, then, I look at the picture again. I notice a detail I’ve not seen before in the lower left corner. The fern fronds are SO delicate. So delicate in contrast to the unrelenting force of this gravestone…slowly being engulfed.

Celestial Alignment Behind a 100 Year Old Gravestone

Celestial alignment behind a 100 year old gravestone.

I blithely strolled through this cemetery when I first discovered this celestial alignment.
With sun setting low on horizon this chilly autumn evening,
I was in the right place at the right time just as it kissed the horizon.
A lone sunbeam glinted perfectly through the little boy’s outstretched hand.

Old Baptist Revolutionary War Cemetery – Carmel, New York

Old Baptist Revolutionary War Cemetery across from Mt. Carmel Baptist Church.

Living in the southern part of the United States, I often visit cemeteries containing Civil War soldiers. I even, occasionally, find a cemetery with Revolutionary War Soldiers as with my Rock Creek Cemetery Documentary. Although, Revolutionary War soldier grave sites are rare in the south, The Revolutionary War is fascinating and I always enjoy strolling through Revolutionary War era cemeteries when I visit New England states.

A Quick Visit To The Cemeteries Of Upstate New York

Last week, I paid a quick visit to upstate New York. Particularly, I was in Carmel, New York. While there, I dropped by the Old Baptist Revolutionary War Cemetery.

Just across 52 from Mt. Carmel Baptist Church, a hand-laid stone wall protects the Old Baptist Cemetery from a constant stream of nearby traffic.

The remains of more than a dozen Revolutionary War soldiers are at rest here. I can only imagine the changes their grave sites have witnessed in the past two and a quarter centuries.

Carmel Township is Proud of the Old Baptist Burial Ground

Town residents are proud of this cemetery. This cemetery is on a small plat of land not far from the city center. The grounds are under control of the Carmel town council. They appear to do a great job in maintenance and upkeep. It always bothers me to see cemeteries with gravestones in such tight quarters. I always hope the lawn maintenance guys are being ultra-careful running their mowers around these headstones. The graves sites are well maintained and, despite their age, most of the grave markers are readable. On the day I visited, United States flags were placed at the grave site of each soldier buried here.

While walking the grounds, I felt the distinct impression that there are probably many more burials in this cemetery than the number of markers would indicate.