Some Peculiar Epitaphs -Mount Hope Cemetery, Norwich, NY
Chenango Semi-Weekly Telegraph, October 3, 1891
It has been truly said that "cemeteries express the feelings and meet the wants of an altered time." No class of literature has ever afforded so much entertainment to the world as epitaphs and none is so rich in materials. So varied as to command the attention of the student, so simple as to please the thoughtless. In every land, among all nations, the epitaph has been a prominent branch of literary work and the study is as old as the custom of erecting memorials, which is almost coeval with man's existence. In the silent cities of the dead it is fitting that the tale of the life be told. But perhaps no class of literary work has been so abused as the writing of epitaphs. Some of them odd, some fairly ridiculous are found in the graveyards throughout the world.
In almost any cemetery there are stones with old and odd inscriptions. Mt. Hope [Norwich, Chenango Co., NY] is no exception to the rule and here and there amongst the silent messengers that speak of the departed are inscriptions which date back early in the century. Two standing side by side read as follows:
In memory of Patty wife of
Benjamin Palmer
who departed this
life August 30 A.D.
1818 in the 39th
year of her
age.
Behold my friends as you pass by,
As You are now so once was I.
As I am now you all must be
prepare for death & follow me.
In
Memory of
Betsey wife of
Benjamin Palmer
who died April 10
1822 in the 42
year of her age.
Consigned to dust my body lies
Till earths last dawn shall bid it rise.
Then with the saints arise & sing
Grave where's thy victory Death where's thy sting.
Near these stones is a smaller one which bears this inscription:
In memory of
Joseph O Son of
Israel & Clarissa
Hate who died April
17th, 1823, Aged 1 year & 2
m
Happy infant early blessed
Rest in peaceful slumber rest.
Early rescued from the cares
Which increase with growing years.
Another tribute to pure infancy found in another part of the cemetery reads as follows:
Sacred
to the me
Mory of La fay
ette son of Henry
y & Clarissa
Williams who
died August
the 30 1825 aged
1 year & 3
months.
Sleep on Sweet
babe And take thy
Rest God called thee
Home, when he
Thought Best.
In contrast to this one is a neighboring stone which marks the resting place of an aged lady:
In
Memory of
Widow Hann
ah Bennet
who departed this
life August the
25th 1828 in the
63th year of
her age.
A good old age as you may see
God permitted her to be
God knowing that it was his right
He took her home out of our sight.
A peculiar shaped stone near the front part of the cemetery bears to inscriptions. They read:
Seth Jr. Laury
son of Seth & daught of Seth &
Mercy Garlich Mercy Garlich died
died Feb 2d 1808 Aug. 3d 1807 Aged 1
aged 5y & 6 y & 11
months months
Death is the lot of all mankind
God takes no more than what he gave.
And they that mourn shall comfort find
Our hope extends beyond the grave.
The adjoining stone bears no inscription simply a verse:
We loved him, yes, we loved him
But the angels loved him more,
And with them he has gone
To that eternal shore.
The Golden gate was open.
A voice to him said come.
And, with a burst of trumpets
He entered His eternal home.
Opposite and facing this one is another which expresses something of the same sentiment:
Miss
Hariot, Da
ughter of Uriah
& Sibbel Avery,
Died March 18th 1816
In the 23erd
year of her
age
The hope of friends could never save,
Thee from a Cold Untimely grave,
Virtue itself could do no more
Than waft thee to a happy shore.
The spirit of contentment in bereavement is certainly shown in the following inscription:
In
Memory of
Samuel Hammond,
died Dec. 2, 1821;
in the
64th year of
his age.
Boast not thyself of to-morrow.
How blest is our father bereft
Of all that could burden his mind
How easy the soul that has left
This warisom boddy behind.
Standing next to the above is another stone which reads:
In memory of
William R.
Hammond died
Dec: 2nd 1820,
in the 38th year
of his age
The memory of the just, shall not rot.
How blessed tis to live at peace with man
and died in peace with God.
And tho the flesh may sleep A while
yet shall it rise & be forever with the just.
Standing away by itself in a stone which has upon it these words:
In
memory of
Abbigal Wife of
Dr. Elisha S. Wales
Dr. Elisha S. Wales
died June 21st
1814; Aged 17y
5M &
1D.
Death like an ever flowing stream
Sweeps us away, our life's a dream
An empty tale the morning flower
Cut down & withered in an hour.
Amongst a circle of modern stones are these two which catch the eye as being more ancient:
In
memory of
William Ransford
died July 2nd 1814 aged
85 y 1d.
By death removed from earthly scenes
I slumber in the dust
And leave my family and my friends
In God alone to trust
In
memory of
Horace son of
Haskel & Fanny
Ransford died
April 21, 1816
Aged 11y
10 m 2
D
In early life deaths arrow flow
And pierced me the heart
O blooming youth how soon must yon
From earthly joys depart
A curious mixture of sorrow and joy is displayed in the inscription on the stone which marks the grave of a boy who had been a lifelong invalid and sufferer:
In
Memory of
Harvey T.
Harvey T.
son of Mrs.
Editha Seeley
Who died Oct
26 1820
Aged 15 years
7 month
& 9 days
Alas is my dear child dead
Let not a sigh arise to mourn
His exit from this world of woe
Rather let a tear of joy suffuse
A mothers eyes that oft have wept
His suffering state be low.
Another in the same line of thought reads:
William Dennison
who departed this life
May 24th, 1819
Aged 45 years 2 mo
Death calls and mortals must obey
But still a hope is given
That we shall meet when far away
And join our hearts in Heaven
In a quiet corner of the cemetery under the shade of evergreens lie the remains of man and wife the stones over them bearing these inscriptions:
In
memory of
Jonathan Wh-
aples who died
Nov the 1st, 1808
Aged 45
years
A kind companion here doth rest
A tender father dear
We hope he is among the blest
Whilst we are weeping here
In
Memory of
Rhoda wife of
Jonathan Wh-
aples who died
January the 4th
1829, aged
61 years
Sleep on dear mother divinely blest
Thy Saviour calls thee home
His kindness has prepared the rest
His voice invites thee come.
Such are some of the epitaphs written on the headstones early in the century for the eyes of this latter generation to read. They seem strange to us but when they were written were undoubtedly perfectly ordinary. But after all: "Praises on tombs are trifles vainly spent. A man's good name is his own monument."
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