Headstones Can Tell Interesting Stories

A monument in the Tombstone, Ariz., Boot Hill Cemetery reads: “Here lies Lester Moore. Four slugs from a forty-four. No Les. No Moore.” While not a poetic masterpiece, it does tell about the circumstances of Lester Moore’s death.

“Descriptive epitaphs have always been a part of cemetery lore,” says John Silva, a spokesman for the Monument Industry Information Bureau.

Cemeteries the world over contain brief looks at the lives of the famous and not-so-famous. Some epitaphs tell the story of death, others of how the life was lived. Still others provide a warning or lesson. And there is humor, as the headstone of a traveling salesman buried in Iowa reveals: “My trip is ended. Send my samples home.”

In a survey by the information bureau, the question was asked of some well-known American personalities: “If you could write your own tombstone epitaph today, what would you say?” Some answers were:

I wish I were standing here reading this instead of you.

--George Burns Here lies the head Stone.

--Mick Jagger She did it the hard way.

--Bette Davis She wasn’t always funny--but she was never unkind.

--Erma Bombeck I’ll be right back.

--Johnny Carson

Memorial Day is the traditional time when we visit the graves of our ancestors. These visits are important ways to remember relatives, and they provide an opportunity to pass along family history to our children.

The most prevalent of all memorial types are markers and headstones. Headstones were the first type of cemetery memorial used by our ancestors. They were simple, upright slabs of stone, but they were enriched with carvings and epitaphs.

One of the reasons Puritan gravestones were decorated with graphic images such as skulls, angel wings and hourglasses was that so many were unable to read the epitaphs. By learning the picture codes you can figure out the meanings on these old monuments. Puritan stones were designed to honor the dead and teach the living moral lessons. The winged skull meant the certainty of death, a crowing cock reminded of the rooster that called the Apostle Peter to repentance, while the trumpet or the rising sun testified to eventual resurrection.

Valuable genealogical clues can be found on the tombstones of our ancestors. Many stones of first-generation Americans carry the name of the town of their origins. Genealogists should make every effort to locate the burial places of their immigrant ancestors for this reason. Sometimes this is the only place you will learn the exact “old-country” origins of your family members.

Early churchyard stones hold a fascination for most people, because they are imbued with human sentiment and emotion. Colonial headstones move and inspire us because they tell a story or inspire us with some beautiful or humorous tribute. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington, Va., would be just another public monument were it not for the superb inscription that reads “Here Rests in Honored Glory an American Soldier Known but to God.”

If you discover tombstone markings that you are unable to translate, make a rubbing of the stone or reproduce it as exactly as possible and take it to a local monument works or sales outlet. Most of them have the illustrated book by American Monument Assn., Inc. entitled “Memorial Symbolism, Epitaphs and Design Types.” Or your local library may have a copy. The book contains illustrations of designs and explanations and meanings of various flowers, trees and other symbols, such as lambs (a favorite found on children’s stones), and the symbols used by religious, fraternal, military and labor organizations.