1. Gravestones of Old New England

2. Gravestones of Old New England
Almost all were for or by Puritans
There were numerous carvers
Some Well Documented
Others Unknown
Various Styles and Symbolism

3. Gravestones of Old New England
Materials used :
Slate (Some over 300 years old)
Schist (Rough-textured and vein-laden stone)
Sandstone (Often Flakes and Delaminates)
Marble (Not Yet, Predominantly 19th Century)

4. Slate • Metamorphosed shale, hard and brittle
• Usually black, gray or blue
• Sometimes fades with time
• Extremely smooth, fine-grained stone with even bedding planes usually running parallel with the stone’s face
• Holds carving very well, inscriptions usually very clear
• Uniform surface appearance
• Gravestones tend to be thin and simple in shape, generally not more than six inches

5. Gravestones of Old New England
Some Symbols Used:
Coffins
Urns
Imps of Death
Tree of life
Geometric Rosettes
Skulls and Crossed Bones
Angels
Winged Effigies (Skulls and Faces)

6. Early Stones 1672 Old Burying Ground Cambridge, Mass.
Phipps St. Burial Ground Charlestown, Mass.
25 July 1671
1673

8. Typical Shape

9. Letters Used
SARAH PRESCOTT HVR BLAS ED SOVL ASSANDED UP TO HEA VEN IULY 17 DAY 1709
The letters I-J and U-V.
Translated
(Sarah Prescott
Her blessed soul
ascended up to heaven,
July 17 day, 1709.)
Lancaster, Massachusetts

10. “Thistle Carver” William Young of Tatnuck, Mass.
Old Center St. Burial Ground Auburn, Mass

11. “Thistle Carver” William Young of Tatnuck, Mass.
South Burying Ground, Oxford, Mass
Old Center St. Burial Ground,
Auburn, Mass

12. Damaged Marker Showing Colored Layers in the Slate
South Burying Ground, Billerica, Mass.

13. Various Skull and Winged Effigies
Granary Burial Ground
Boston, Mass.

14. Skull and Bones Mrs. Salley May d: 1787
Granary Burial Ground, Boston, Mass.
Benjamin Parker d:1769

15. Skull and Winged Effigies
1690
1713
Granary Burial Ground
Boston, Mass.

16. Skull and Winged Effigies
Granary Burial Ground, Boston, Mass.

17. Skull and Winged Effigies
Granary Burial Ground
Boston, Mass.

18. Imps of Death Old Burying Ground Cambridge, Mass.
Carved by Joseph Lamson of Charlestown, Mass.

19. Imps of Death
Old Burying Ground, Watertown, Mass. Carved by Joseph Lamson of Charlestown, Mass.

20. Three Children – One Family
“Here lies the children of Martha and John Cutler” Phipps Street Burial Ground, Charlestown, Mass.
Marker Carved by “The Stone Cutter of Boston”

21. Schist/Sandstone Examples
Old Burying Ground, Ipswich, Mass.
Carved by “Ipswich Carver”

22. Geometric Designs Old Common Burial Ground, Marlboro, Mass.
Carved by Jonathan Worcester of Harvard, Mass.

23. Trumpeting Angel Arise Ye Dead (Backwards)
South Burying Ground, Billerica, Mass.

24. Portrait – Head Replaces Skull
Old Burial Ground, Northboro, Mass. Carved by James Wilder of Lancaster, Mass.

25. Portrait: Head Replaces Skull Effigy
Old Burying Ground, Watertown, Mass.
Carved by Ebenezer Howard of Newton/Marlboro, Mass.

26. Portrait: Head Replaces Skull Effigy
Old Burying Ground Ipswich, Mass.

27. Portrait: Head Replaces Skull Effigy
Old Burying Ground Northboro, Mass.

28. Tree of Life & Urn

29. Lichens
Georgetown, Mass

30. Searching for Gravesites
US GenWeb Tombstone Project
Search for specific cemeteries, people, projects

31. National Cemetery Administration
US Veterans Gravesite Locator
Search for burial locations of veterans and their family members in VA National Cemeteries, state veterans cemeteries, various other military and Department of Interior cemeteries, and for veterans buried in private cemeteries when the grave is marked with a government grave marker.

32. Last Words Cynthia Stevens 1742 – 1776
Hollis, New Hampshire:
Cynthia Stevens
1742 – 1776
Here lies Cynthia, Stevens’ wife,
She lived six years in calm and strife.
Death came at last and set her free,
I was glad and so was she.