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Or, if you'd rather a spooky gravesite decoration, check out this old post from Tomb Wrecks. I can only hope someday my descendants will put a "Zombie Xing" sign on my grave 
31 October 2010
30 October 2010
A male statue
So, instead of a sad stone lady, here's an intellectual male statue, from Forest Hill Cemetery in Utica:
Part of a giant...structure:
Part of a giant...structure:
29 October 2010
A mysterious prop
From Oakwood Cemetery, Syracuse:
A statue, high atop a tall obelisk, holding something neither a book nor an anchor (unique!), nor anything I can really readily identify (too unique!) It looks like a weighing scale, only...not.
A statue, high atop a tall obelisk, holding something neither a book nor an anchor (unique!), nor anything I can really readily identify (too unique!) It looks like a weighing scale, only...not.
28 October 2010
Handsy
More hands on gravestones...
From Liverpool Cemetery, Liverpool, NY:
...holding flowers...
This one was also neat because the inscription is in German, as you can see more fully on that of two of Katharina Kissel's relations:
From Walnut Grove Cemetery, Syracuse:
...holding a book...
From Oakland Cemetery, Atlanta:
...grabbing the link of a chain and symbolically snuffing someone's life...
From Chappell Hill Masonic Cemetery, Chappell Hill:
...and clasping another well-sculpted hand.
Related post:
Hand of God
From Liverpool Cemetery, Liverpool, NY:
...holding flowers...
This one was also neat because the inscription is in German, as you can see more fully on that of two of Katharina Kissel's relations:
From Walnut Grove Cemetery, Syracuse:
...holding a book...
From Oakland Cemetery, Atlanta:
...grabbing the link of a chain and symbolically snuffing someone's life...
From Chappell Hill Masonic Cemetery, Chappell Hill:
...and clasping another well-sculpted hand.
Related post:
Hand of God
27 October 2010
Symmetry
From Mt. Hope Cemetery in Rochester:
I wish I knew what inspired this unique layout...a background in math? puzzles? design? Compulsive pursuit of symmetry?
1946
0710
2006
0704
I wish I knew what inspired this unique layout...a background in math? puzzles? design? Compulsive pursuit of symmetry?
0710
2006
0704
Charles
William
Fischer
Husband
Father
Brother
Friend
25 October 2010
Ichabod Crane
The lovely blog Scouting New York is, naturally, on a Halloween kick, including this post from a few days ago on the overgrown New Springfield Cemetery on Staten Island, final resting place of the real-life Ichabod Crane, namesake of the Sleepy Hollow character. Pictures abound!
Go see Halloween in NY: In Search of Ichabod Crane
Go see Halloween in NY: In Search of Ichabod Crane
Little children
From Oakland Cemetery, Atlanta:
A child's headstone, of a little child/cherub curled up in a seashell:
Epitaph: Fell asleep Aug't 10th 1869. Aged 9 mon's & 1 day.
From Mt. Hope Cemetery, Rochester:
A small obelisk structure for "Our Willie," who is "Over in the summer land." the epitaph notes. The top is a neat little statue/column affair, but to me the most noteworthy part of this headstone is that chubby, creepy little hand.
Related post:
Little shoes
A child's headstone, of a little child/cherub curled up in a seashell:
From Mt. Hope Cemetery, Rochester:
A small obelisk structure for "Our Willie," who is "Over in the summer land." the epitaph notes. The top is a neat little statue/column affair, but to me the most noteworthy part of this headstone is that chubby, creepy little hand.
Related post:
Little shoes
24 October 2010
23 October 2010
Cemetery critters
Stepping outside my normal purview a bit for some pictures of cute critters that held still long enough for me to get a picture.
From Mt. Hope Cemetery, Rochester:
Surprised the poor little thing and he wound up just freezing for several seconds.
From Oakwood Cemetery, Syracuse, another chipmunk, perched on a headstone:
And one of the lovely black-furred squirrels that runs around up here:
From Walnut Grove Cemetery, Syracuse:
A non-living specimen-- a cement sculpture of what was apparently once a cardinal, perched alongside the stone urn atop an obelisk:
From Mt. Hope Cemetery, Rochester:
Surprised the poor little thing and he wound up just freezing for several seconds.
From Oakwood Cemetery, Syracuse, another chipmunk, perched on a headstone:
And one of the lovely black-furred squirrels that runs around up here:
From Walnut Grove Cemetery, Syracuse:
A non-living specimen-- a cement sculpture of what was apparently once a cardinal, perched alongside the stone urn atop an obelisk:
22 October 2010
Rocky epitaph
From Oakwood Cemetery, Syracuse:
A charming epitaph carved into a big chunk of rock left sort of out of the way of all the other headstones in that section.
A charming epitaph carved into a big chunk of rock left sort of out of the way of all the other headstones in that section.
I'd rather be a rather be
Than be a rather been,
Because you see a rather be
Is not a might have been.
...F. H. Harms
Even more poignant as an epitaph, I think.
And a slightly different angle:
21 October 2010
Dynamic text
Bold font stylings on headstones that put me in mind of flashy comic book-style text.
From Gibson Chapel Rural Cemetery, Cortland:
Flashy gold letters in a unique font, dramatically slanting across the headstone:
From South Onondaga Cemetery:
Really just the word "died" on this one, which so boldly different from the rest of the text and is really the most prominent word down there.
From Gibson Chapel Rural Cemetery, Cortland:
Flashy gold letters in a unique font, dramatically slanting across the headstone:
Really just the word "died" on this one, which so boldly different from the rest of the text and is really the most prominent word down there.
20 October 2010
Intricacies
And finally, from Oakwood Cemetery, some lovely examples of attention to detail:
A Gothicy monument with very realistic flowers adorning its peak.
Nice detailing of...uh, some sort of plant (thistle?) along the arms of this bench.
A towering obelisk, which was the primary inspiration for this post:
A closer view:
And finally, the intricately-filled circle pattern on the end of an above-ground tomb:
Also of note! Today is the official one-year anniversary of my first post. Yay!
A Gothicy monument with very realistic flowers adorning its peak.
Nice detailing of...uh, some sort of plant (thistle?) along the arms of this bench.
A towering obelisk, which was the primary inspiration for this post:
A closer view:
And finally, the intricately-filled circle pattern on the end of an above-ground tomb:
Also of note! Today is the official one-year anniversary of my first post. Yay!
Family ties
Epitaphs that mention a family tie and fall outside the usual Wife/Son/Daughter identification. For instance...
From Oakwood Cemetery, Syracuse:
One more uncommon "husband" identifier, complete with a possessive!
From Rome Cemetery, Rome, NY:
From Oakwood Cemetery, Syracuse:
From Rome Cemetery, Rome, NY:
In memory of
Anna Elizabeth
Landon Adopted
daughter of Numa
& Betsy Leonard
who died Dec. 16,
1827, in the 6 year
of her age.
From Mt. Hope Cemetery, Rochester:
Amelia I.
Buchan
Second wife of
John Robb
Died
Jan. 9, 1883
Ae. 80 yrs.
Related posts:
Oops
Doh. Completely missed 2 days in a row, doubling my disappointment yesterday of missing 1 day. Time to make up for it! So in theme with my 'oops,' a couple headstones that seem to have good odds of having typos in the name.
From Walnut Grove Cemetery, Syracuse:
I know people have been naming their kids funky things since the dawn of time, probably, but which is more likely? "Hairm," or a misspelled and much more common "Hiram"?
From Mt. Hope Cemetery, Rochester:
Electa or Electra? I wonder...
And from South Onondaga Cemetery:
Not a full on typo, but the letter M usually does not have the little prongs of an E poking out from it.
From Walnut Grove Cemetery, Syracuse:
From Mt. Hope Cemetery, Rochester:
And from South Onondaga Cemetery:
17 October 2010
An unexpected arch
Whilst wandering through St. Agnes Cemetery, you'll come across an old arch and stairway that once marked a winding entrance to the now-gone Onondaga Sanatorium.
The view at the top of the steps:
A couple articles about the history of the sanatorium:
The view at the top of the steps:
A couple articles about the history of the sanatorium:
16 October 2010
Column envy
From Gibson Chapel Rural Cemetery, Cortland, NY:
From Oakwood Cemetery, a similar arrangement on a much larger scale:
From Oakwood Cemetery, a similar arrangement on a much larger scale:
15 October 2010
Bookish 2
More books!
From Liverpool Cemetery, Liverpool, NY:
An obelisk-cum-table for some draped fabric and a pair of books:
From Oakwood Cemetery, Syracuse, NY:
From Mt. Hope Cemetery, Rochester, NY:
From Liverpool Cemetery, Liverpool, NY:
An obelisk-cum-table for some draped fabric and a pair of books:
From Oakwood Cemetery, Syracuse, NY:
 | ||
| "Until the day break And the shadows flee away." |
From Mt. Hope Cemetery, Rochester, NY:
14 October 2010
Bookish 1
Books are not an uncommon motif, usually suggestive of the Bible, but as a bookworm it's fun seeing them nonetheless.
From South Onondaga Cemetery:
An upright Book of Life. This one is so neat in its simplicity-- it's basically just a normal, modern, upright headstone, but the small extra touches to create the spine and pages make it really different.
From Mt. Hope Cemetery, Rochester:
A couple's names written across the pages of a large open book:
From Oakland Cemetery, Atlanta:
Not quite a book, but name-dropping a historic author, the simple grave of Gone With the Wind author Margaret Mitchell:
From South Onondaga Cemetery:
An upright Book of Life. This one is so neat in its simplicity-- it's basically just a normal, modern, upright headstone, but the small extra touches to create the spine and pages make it really different.
From Mt. Hope Cemetery, Rochester:
A couple's names written across the pages of a large open book:
From Oakland Cemetery, Atlanta:
Not quite a book, but name-dropping a historic author, the simple grave of Gone With the Wind author Margaret Mitchell:
13 October 2010
Artful
From Assumption Cemetery in Syracuse:
The Last Supper engraved on a headstone.
I must say that this cemetery was the first one I have ever been in that creeped me out a little. It was very crowded (see below) and most of the headstones seemed to come from the same 5 templates, the main variance being size. It was ...disconcerting.
The Last Supper engraved on a headstone.
I must say that this cemetery was the first one I have ever been in that creeped me out a little. It was very crowded (see below) and most of the headstones seemed to come from the same 5 templates, the main variance being size. It was ...disconcerting.
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