185 Cemeteries

Cemeteries-–A Grave Matter

Happy and healthy 2019 to you, dear readers. I had every intention of blogging some New Year’s fun but absolutely got side-tracked working in the library archives. Many researchers over the past month were looking at genealogies. Makes sense--Thanksgiving through Christmas is a time of family gatherings, of sharing old stories, and family myths.

So that you might get an idea of how my brain jumped from topic to topic--I think I went from helping folks with Ancestry.com to Find a Grave to…many other more specific sites and old Bibles, books, and manuscripts. I also recalled what an

time I had in high school helping my Mother make a list of the headstones in a graveyard at an old church where many of her ancestors worshipped. 

I learned the following specifics which may help you do your research (from the Oxford English Dictionary):

Cemetery – a burial ground not in a churchyard

Graveyard – a burial ground in a churchyard

Tomb – a large underground vault or the hole dug to hold a coffin or casket

Tombstone - a large, flat engraved stone which may stand or lie over a grave

Headstone – can be synonymous with tombstone, but often used to denote a monument to a noted person or event

Mausoleum – a building erected to hold the dead bodies of a family; in the past, mainly for royals and landed gentry

Crypt - a stone or concrete chamber in which the casket is placed

Coffin – a long, narrow box of wood in which the dead body or ashes of the dead is placed

Casket – often synonymous with coffin, but usually of better, longer lasting qualities or the larger rectangular wood or metal box into which a coffin is placed

Sarcophagus – above ground tomb

Cenotaph - a commemorative monument to a dead person or persons who are buried elsewhere

Epitaph – saying engraved on the tombstone

From the website Livability, I learned some facts about graveyards and cemeteries (yes, inside the churchyard and outside of the church property). Gravestones are made of many types of material: granite, marble, quartz, sandstone, and wood. The assumption may be made, said author Kari Ridge, the more expensive the material, the higher class and more important the deceased is deemed to be. 

Obelisks began cropping up in the 1840s when Egyptology was very popular. The obelisk, reaching to the heavens, indicated the direction the soul was headed AND often they were cheaper because they took up less ground. 

Ridge also suggested that we pay attention to any carvings on the stones. For example, hands in prayer symbolize devotion, an hourglass says time flies, and lambs were commonly used for children. A final admonition from the author is that the once popular art of doing rubbings of a tombstone is often no longer allowed in many sites as age and acid rain are harming so many stones. Use your camera instead. 

If the weather holds (it’s in the 40s here in Virginia and in the 80s where Savvy Trish is now), go visit a cemetery or graveyard. It is a fascinating way to spend an hour or two. Some stones will break your heart, others will make you laugh like these two examples below: 

or even better, send this cartoon to your children!

Glenne