Where the Heart Lies:
Historic Graveyards and a new way to experience old New England
© GraveMatter.com
There is a place in every New England town where you can find art, culture, history, poetry, theology, philosophy, anthropology and more, all in an outdoor park setting for free. This can all be found in the burying grounds of every village.
New England’s European history spans over 400 years. Our ancestors that came before us forged the country into what it is today, and the sweat from that feat comprises our history. First settlers brought with them the spirit of Old England and built their lives upon it. They lived and died here, burying their dead in ancient traditions that go beyond the span of America.
We were born on these eastern shores, and already had a heavy history before spreading west. Wars fought won or lost, culture clashes, pilgrims, puritans, witches, shipbuilders, privateers, inventors, soldiers, the wealthy and the poor all contribute many tales.
Although for many of them their possessions are long gone and homes torn down, their last and most personal possession can still be seen after centuries have passed. Standing at the resting places of our forefathers, our nation’s history comes into a close perspective as we are standing directly in their presence.
Not only did these first settlers begin the long and arduous journey of our past, but they have born millions of descendants. It’s a strange and wonderful thing to stand before the gravestone of your 11th great grandfather, the founder of your lineage in this country, who died 300 years before you were born.
It’s also a rare experience to touch and be near to an artifact of that age. Most others made out of other materials, like antique furniture, glass, pottery, clothing, can only be seen behind a rope or glass casing out of reach. But where you cannot trace the brushstrokes with your finger on an early colonial painting, you can touch the chisel marks of a colonial stone artisan. Their signs and symbols have a language all their own, with their meanings, hopes and dreads of the afterlife going much deeper than the carving into the stone.
But for many of these historic monuments, “perpetual care” means no more than an occasional mow of the grass and a new scar from the lawnmower. With today’s society’s attitudes towards death, the wealth of information and experience from these early burying grounds provide usually goes unnoticed and neglected. It’s possible that when passing by one you never gave it a second thought as being a place of interest. But look closer and you’ll be surprised at what you find.
New England Graveyards: Outdoor Museums
If you like art, you can see up close and even touch some of the earliest sculpture produced by European settlers and their descendants in America. Each of these pieces were hand-chiseled by artisans and artists. These carvers often had many other jobs in the community such as furniture makers, where many of their designs and symbols crossed over into whatever objet d’art they were creating.
Their styles vary just like the brush strokes of every painter. Commonly seen symbols are interpreted in a variety of ways from sculptor to sculptor and can contrast greatly from the dark reminder of our mortality by a boney grim reaper rearing his scythe, to a curly-haired angel’s cherubic face surrounded by intertwining flowers. Symbols were taught from master to apprentice, who in turn added their own marks in the art. Their many carved winged souls bear flight to heaven among the flowers and fruits of a blissful afterlife or stern reminders of preparation of ourselves for an equal doom.
Some stones are adorned with symbols to relate an individual’s career or achievements, such as a ship at sea or a leaning anchor for a former captain or privateer. There are even portraits carved of the person themselves, giving you a glimpse of what they looked like or wore though no painting or image of them exists.
Each Gravestone Tells a Story
Unlike today where we usually find only the years of a person’s birth and death on their stone, gravestones of centuries past told the story of their lives. Often you find references to family members, achievements (such as “Revolutionary War Soldier”), causes of death (such as “Barberously slaine by ye French & Indien enimie”), occupations, and many other events that made their lives unique.
Poetry and prose were often added, describing the beauty of life and the solace of death. At times these were even written by a family member such as a husband to his deceased wife. In other examples, the person’s status or occupation in life called for the services of a more illustrious author, such as an epitaph in Kittery, Maine written by the 19th century poet Robert Browning for a famous actor of that age, Levi Thaxter.
New England being largely founded by people seeking a place to practice their religion freely, you can often tributes of their devotion in religious quotes, biblical excerpts and phrases of praise. The severity of the Puritan religion often called for equally severe forewarnings, such as in the case of the following epitaph:
“Come mortal man & cash an eye,
read thy doom, prepare to die.”
In later years when the Puritan sternness wore away, the beauty of Heaven and the afterlife was more commonly referred to as in “This life is but a passing dream, We soon shall wake in heaven.”
Military service was commonly rewarded (although at times much later) by markers commemorating the wars people served in or carved directly onto the stone. It’s not uncommon to see a record of bravery with the words “A Soldier of the Revolution”. Veterans from every war from the beginnings of America lie in our burying grounds. Members of colonial militia, defenders of early town garrisons, Revolutionary war heroes that fought for the country’s liberty and Civil War generals that helped hold it together lie side by side in every cemetery.
During the Victorian Era, when the living dealt with death more frequently, there was a renaissance of art and beauty that was also reflected in their cemeteries. Death was not a fearsome event to them but a fact of life. They therefore included cemeteries as a useful part of life. The grounds were kept as beautiful parks, and were used as such. Strolling and even picnics at the resting place of a loved one was a common event.
The dark symbols of Puritanism were discarded for towering pillars topped with Grecian urns. The grey slate stone used in colonial times was replaced with sparkling white marble (which at the time was thought to last for eternity, and was shining and bright unlike the melted appearance it has today due to acid rain). The grounds were kept well manicured, with flowering shrubs and healthy trees. Many today still retain some of this beauty, offing an excellent place to stroll, jog or meditate.
When you lift off the stigma these places have received through the changes in society’s beliefs over the centuries, you can see underneath the culturally valuable and interesting places they are to visit. Use them as outdoor museums, and they display a summary of sorts of the history of America, and show us a study of our culture.
The heart of the history of any New England town can be found in its graveyards.
http://www.gravematter.com
About the Author:
Jennifer Marcelais is the creator of A Very Grave Matter, a web site of New
England gravestone photographs and history, and owner of Soul Oyster Web
Studios, a web site development, internet marketing and graphic design
company based in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. To contact her, send an
email to jenn@gravematter.com
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