This was an absolutely captivating read. I never thought of gravestones as a form of official record keeping, and always thought of inscriptions more like performative statements. Of course I realize now this is totally wrong.
The moment that I realized that for many people (especially children born between the census years) these stone tablets are the only record of their existence, I knew my job was to tell this story and preserve these stones. That's why a good photo and transcription put into the public domain are so important. In another 200 years, they will all be disintegrated.
I like The calculation of age down to months and days underscores the idea that every moment of life is significant in the eyes of God. I have found such precision in German burial registers though not usually in English registers.
I was interested in the tip about the best time of day to photograph inscriptions. Your many clear photos are a great tribute.
A great 'long read'. I always interpret gravestones with caution. Certainly here in the UK in the Victorian period, ages are often stated one year older than we might calculate. This seems to be that counting was on the basis of, for example, 'in the 10th year' when they are 9 years old.
Gravestones wre sometimes placed years after the actual death, perhaps when a spouse dies. I have one in New York where the stone gives a date of death before the ship he travelled on had docked. There were no reported deaths on board, or dead on arrival. Presumably it is a few days out.
Yes we have encountered a number of oddities in our research. The accounting of age often adds an extra day because they count the day born as well as the day of death, unlike the way one would normally account for a period of elapsed time. Yes, I did worry it was too long but there were all the key parts that needed to be included in spite of brutal editing to shorten. Ironically a few days after my post epitaph expert John Hanson published a similar overview of epitaphs in the journal Association of Gravestone Studies. If mine hadn't been out four days earlier, I would have been accused of plagiarizing. Great minds think alike. The "back dating" of headstones is a known issue as well as "replacements." After a time I was able to estimate the date of manufacture based on nuanced features of the marker. We found that when the Illinois and Michigan waterway opened up, there was a flood of cheap Vermont marble to hit southern Illinois after 1848. Many families chose to buy numerous markers to update older burials, perhaps replacing temporary wooden markers.
Really enjoyed this article. I have loved cemeteries since I was a child, and have done many grave rubbings in the past. Now I am trying my hand at cleaning stones. I am eager to visit my 2xgreat-grandparents' stones that I cleaned last year, to see how they look this year.
I also used Fatal Years in a blog post about the babies my great-grandmother lost.
The different epitaphs and what they mean was very interesting. I have an ancestor whose stone reads "a native of Mannheim Germany" which told us she was an immigrant even tho she came at age 6. A lot of my ancestors have stones with their ages marked in years, months, and days - thank you for explaining the reason for that.
I looked at your article about finding the cemetery in the woods. The inscription is a sans-serif style typical of late nineteenth century and later. The stone looks like some kind of sandstone. Much of the white marble we see in Illinois was shipped in from Vermont and then later, northern Georgia.
I loved your piece on "Dead Babies in the City." The phlebitis death at age eleven days is interesting. I think that is likely an umbilical cord infection. Infections usually take 8 to 10 days to be fatal and an infected umbilical cord would sometimes be diagnosed as phlebitis. But to our modern view of things, this is an improper diagnosis. I have had some success using A.I. to find cause of death. See: https://serengenity.substack.com/p/cause-of-death
That makes sense on the phlebitis, thank you. I will have to look further into umbilical cord infection. The fact that 2 babies died of this, plus having never heard of it before, makes me think it was something going on in their home, either something genetic or something Gertrude did or did not do. Thank you for the 8 to 10 day time frame; I had thought it was something they were born with.
The other child who died of phlebitis, Ferdinand, is listed as died age 11 months. That is impossible because it makes him born 8 months after his sister, whose birth is definitely correct. So I thought the death record is wrong and it is meant to say either 1 instead of 11 in the month column, or the 11 should be in the day column. From what you say about infections, I think 11 days is most likely, which is what I already thought would be an easier mistake to make.
Even though this is not my part of the world, there is a wealth of information here that can be applied to other locations. Well researched and beautifully written. Thank you.
Graham, much of this applies to Great Britain. I left some good stuff on the editing room floor. Their were a number of English families here in Randolph County very early and you can see subtle difference. Take a look at this: https://serengenity.substack.com/p/shakespeare-and-pope-come-to-opossum
Oh yes, I enjoyed that too. I think it is hard to say whether our 18th/19th century forebears were more literary and culturally aware than we are in the 21st century. Certainly the apparent widespread use of poetry in many forms suggests they probably were.
It was an odd kind of literacy though. Exact spelling was not as important and formal education was halted earlier, but they were voracious readers and we find one of the first things in a new town, after the church was built was to set up a library.
This was an absolutely captivating read. I never thought of gravestones as a form of official record keeping, and always thought of inscriptions more like performative statements. Of course I realize now this is totally wrong.
The moment that I realized that for many people (especially children born between the census years) these stone tablets are the only record of their existence, I knew my job was to tell this story and preserve these stones. That's why a good photo and transcription put into the public domain are so important. In another 200 years, they will all be disintegrated.
I like The calculation of age down to months and days underscores the idea that every moment of life is significant in the eyes of God. I have found such precision in German burial registers though not usually in English registers.
I was interested in the tip about the best time of day to photograph inscriptions. Your many clear photos are a great tribute.
https://serengenity.substack.com/p/five-easy-steps-for-better-grave
The gravestone images are stunning; the fonts decorative and brilliant. Well-written piece. Captivating.
A great 'long read'. I always interpret gravestones with caution. Certainly here in the UK in the Victorian period, ages are often stated one year older than we might calculate. This seems to be that counting was on the basis of, for example, 'in the 10th year' when they are 9 years old.
Gravestones wre sometimes placed years after the actual death, perhaps when a spouse dies. I have one in New York where the stone gives a date of death before the ship he travelled on had docked. There were no reported deaths on board, or dead on arrival. Presumably it is a few days out.
Yes we have encountered a number of oddities in our research. The accounting of age often adds an extra day because they count the day born as well as the day of death, unlike the way one would normally account for a period of elapsed time. Yes, I did worry it was too long but there were all the key parts that needed to be included in spite of brutal editing to shorten. Ironically a few days after my post epitaph expert John Hanson published a similar overview of epitaphs in the journal Association of Gravestone Studies. If mine hadn't been out four days earlier, I would have been accused of plagiarizing. Great minds think alike. The "back dating" of headstones is a known issue as well as "replacements." After a time I was able to estimate the date of manufacture based on nuanced features of the marker. We found that when the Illinois and Michigan waterway opened up, there was a flood of cheap Vermont marble to hit southern Illinois after 1848. Many families chose to buy numerous markers to update older burials, perhaps replacing temporary wooden markers.
The dead do speak in stone - perfect title.
Really enjoyed this article. I have loved cemeteries since I was a child, and have done many grave rubbings in the past. Now I am trying my hand at cleaning stones. I am eager to visit my 2xgreat-grandparents' stones that I cleaned last year, to see how they look this year.
I also used Fatal Years in a blog post about the babies my great-grandmother lost.
The different epitaphs and what they mean was very interesting. I have an ancestor whose stone reads "a native of Mannheim Germany" which told us she was an immigrant even tho she came at age 6. A lot of my ancestors have stones with their ages marked in years, months, and days - thank you for explaining the reason for that.
I have a "Grannie's Graveyard's" section on my blog, www.grandmasgrannysfamilyalbum.blogspot.com. Here is one of my favorites: https://grandmasgrannysfamilyalbum.blogspot.com/2022/07/rushton-family-cemetery.html
I looked at your article about finding the cemetery in the woods. The inscription is a sans-serif style typical of late nineteenth century and later. The stone looks like some kind of sandstone. Much of the white marble we see in Illinois was shipped in from Vermont and then later, northern Georgia.
Thank you.
Sans-serif is the lettering style or font, I guess?
It really makes me wish the gravestones were not bulldozed.
It makes me sick.
I loved your piece on "Dead Babies in the City." The phlebitis death at age eleven days is interesting. I think that is likely an umbilical cord infection. Infections usually take 8 to 10 days to be fatal and an infected umbilical cord would sometimes be diagnosed as phlebitis. But to our modern view of things, this is an improper diagnosis. I have had some success using A.I. to find cause of death. See: https://serengenity.substack.com/p/cause-of-death
That makes sense on the phlebitis, thank you. I will have to look further into umbilical cord infection. The fact that 2 babies died of this, plus having never heard of it before, makes me think it was something going on in their home, either something genetic or something Gertrude did or did not do. Thank you for the 8 to 10 day time frame; I had thought it was something they were born with.
The other child who died of phlebitis, Ferdinand, is listed as died age 11 months. That is impossible because it makes him born 8 months after his sister, whose birth is definitely correct. So I thought the death record is wrong and it is meant to say either 1 instead of 11 in the month column, or the 11 should be in the day column. From what you say about infections, I think 11 days is most likely, which is what I already thought would be an easier mistake to make.
And thank you for reading and liking my post!
Even though this is not my part of the world, there is a wealth of information here that can be applied to other locations. Well researched and beautifully written. Thank you.
Graham, much of this applies to Great Britain. I left some good stuff on the editing room floor. Their were a number of English families here in Randolph County very early and you can see subtle difference. Take a look at this: https://serengenity.substack.com/p/shakespeare-and-pope-come-to-opossum
Oh yes, I enjoyed that too. I think it is hard to say whether our 18th/19th century forebears were more literary and culturally aware than we are in the 21st century. Certainly the apparent widespread use of poetry in many forms suggests they probably were.
It was an odd kind of literacy though. Exact spelling was not as important and formal education was halted earlier, but they were voracious readers and we find one of the first things in a new town, after the church was built was to set up a library.
Absolutely fascinating. I will never read an epitaph the same way.
That was my goal. Thank you!
David, Amazing and so interesting. Thanks.
Thank you!
Gobsmacked
A year ago I couldn't have written this. I have great teachers.