Here is a scan from last week’s Clarion newspaper announcing the new county historian, Roberta Toby! (click on picture for full view)
Here’s the article on the Clarion’s website: http://www.clarionnews.net/Articles-News-i-2012-01-25-223602.114125-Passion-for-Crawfords-heritage-drives-new-county-historian.html
This PDF file, linked above, features some photographs that are currently unidentified. If anyone can identify any of them, contact either person on the PDF file (there is an email portion at the beginning).
I got this through email and thought I’d share it with everyone:
Old Cemeteries
A truly Happy Person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour. And, one who can enjoy browsing old cemeteries… Some fascinating things on old tombstones!
Harry Edsel Smith of Albany, New York:
Born 1903–Died 1942.
Looked up the elevator shaft to see if the
car was on the way down. It was.
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In a Thurmont, Maryland , cemetery:
Here lies an Atheist, all dressed up
and no place to go.
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On the grave of Ezekial Aikle in
East Dalhousie Cemetery, Nova Scotia:
Here lies Ezekial Aikle, Age 102.
Only the good die young.
=============================
In a London , England cemetery:
Here lies Ann Mann, who lived an old maid
but died an old Mann. Dec. 8, 1767
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In a Ribbesford, England , cemetery:
Anna Wallace
The children of Israel wanted bread,
And the Lord sent them manna.
Clark Wallace wanted a wife,
And the Devil sent him Anna.
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In a Ruidoso, New Mexico , cemetery:
Here lies Johnny Yeast.
Pardon him for not rising.
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In a Uniontown, Pennsylvania , cemetery:
Here lies the body of Jonathan Blake,
Stepped on the gas instead of the brake.
==============================
In a Silver City , Nevada , cemetery:
Here lays The Kid,
We planted him raw.
He was quick on the trigger,
But slow on the draw.
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A lawyer’s epitaph in England :
Sir John Strange.
Here lies an honest lawyer,
and that is Strange.
=================================
John Penny’s epitaph in the Wimborne,
England , cemetery:
Reader, if cash thou art in want of any,
Dig 6 feet deep and thou wilt find a Penny.
==================================
In a cemetery in Hartscombe , England :
On the 22nd of June, Jonathan Fiddle went out of tune.
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Anna Hopewell’s grave in Enosburg Falls ,
Vermont :
Here lies the body of our Anna,
Done to death by a banana.
It wasn’t the fruit that laid her low,
But the skin of the thing that made her go.
==================================
On a grave from the 1880s in Nantucket ,
Massachusetts :
Under the sod and under the trees,
Lies the body of Jonathan Pease.
He is not here, there’s only the pod,
Pease shelled out and went to God.
==================================
In a cemetery in England:
Remember man, as you walk by,
As you are now, so once was I.
As I am now, so shall you be,
Remember this and follow me.
To which someone replied by writing on the tombstone:
To follow you I’ll not consent,
Until I know which way you went.
Taken from Kentucky Ancestors magazine Summer 2008
Common Gravestone Icons and Symbols found in Cemeteries and Graveyards. These are some of the most common and defined icons one will see in a cemetery or Graveyard.
Anchor —hope (“Hope is the anchor of the soul.”)
Angel — messenger between God and man; guide
Angel (flying)—rebirth
Angel (trumpeting)—a call to the resurrection
Angel (weeping)—grief
Arrows or darts —mortality, the dart of death
Birds —the soul
Clock —passage of time
Coffins —mortality
Column (broken) —sorrow, life cut short
Cross —salvation
Dove —Holy Ghost
Effigies —the soul
Father Time —mortality
Flame (burning) —life
Flower —the frailty of life
Flower (broken) —death
Garland —victory in death
Gourds —the coming to be and the passing away of earthy matters; the mortal body
Hand (pointing upward) —ascension to heaven
Hand (pointing downward) —calling the earth to witness
Handshake -farewell to earthly existence
Heart —the abode of the soul; love of Christ; the soul in bliss
Ivy —memory and fidelity
Lamb —Christ; the Redeemer; meekness; sacrifice; innocence.
Lamp —truth; knowledge
Laurel —victory
Lily —resurrection; purity
Palls/drapery -mortality
Palm —victory over death
Picks and Shovels —mortality
Pomegranate —immortality
Poppy —a symbol of sleep, and therefore death (Victorian)
Portals —passageways to the eternal journey
Rose —sorrow
Scallop shell —the resurrection; a pilgrim’s journey; the baptism of Christ
Scythe —time or time cut short
Skeletons —mortality
Skull (winged) —the flight of the soul from the mortal body
Skulls and crossbones —death
Sun (rising) —renewed life
Sun (setting) —eternal death
Sword —martyrdom; courage;
Torch (inverted) —life has been extinguished
Torch (burning) —immortality; truth; wisdom
Urn —mortality (a receptacle for the bodily remains)
Wheat —time; the divine harvest (often used to denote old age)
Willow —grief