Symbols 1

There's a rich assortment of symbols in graveyards, generally relating to the end of life. This is just a small batch of pictures; others will follow eventually.

From Middleville Cemetery in Middleville, NY:

From two faces of one obelisk, a broken chain and a bundle of wheat with a sickle:

This elegant obelisk sports an upside-down torch:

From Jamesville Walnut Grove Cemetery in Jamesville, NY:

Another obelisk, another sheaf of wheat with a sickle:

A long-view of the obelisk's point with its detailed drapery and tassels:

This headstone is modeled after a simple door with carved surround:

From DeWitt Cemetery in DeWitt, NY:

The epitaph reads simply "Our little infant" and depicts a hand releasing a dove into the air.

From Oakwood Cemetery in Syracuse, NY:

This sort-of crest was actually carved on the back of the headstone and, as you can see from the picture, close to the ground-- not a prominent decoration at all.

War & Veterans, part 1

A few war-related headstone photos. [edit: part 2 here]

From Middleville Cemetery in Middleville, NY:

Harold McGraw, Pvt, US Army, 1904-1986: this (un)lucky fellow made it through both World Wars.

Roger W. Agne, New York, Cpl 28 AAF ADRM GP World War II, April 24, 1928-April 28, 1948. The headstone is not interesting in and of itself, but notice the birth and death dates. If correct, Agne was only 20 (almost to the day) when he died three years after the end of WW2... meaning he was only 17 at that time. Enlistment age with parental consent seems to have been 17, but he would have needed at least a little time to rise to the rank of corporal, which suggests that he was one of those who lied about his age to enlist.

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There were also several graves of men who had served in the War of 1812, like this one for Hopestill Bradford (also a peculiar name):

From DeWitt Cemetery in DeWitt, NY:

Ethel M. Glasford, 1st Lt US Army, World War II, May 27, 1917, Dec 19, 2005
Another plain headstone, but the rank of 1st Lieutenant accompanying a woman's name caught my eye.I tracked down her obituary and it turns out she was in the Army Nurse Corps in the Philippines at the end of WW2. (Reading her obituary also taught me that at one time, stewardesses--her prior occupation to the Nurse Corps-- were required to be RNs.)

From the Granary Burial Ground in Boston, MA:

From a precursor to an older war, the tombstone for the victims of the Boston Massacre

Anchors Aweigh

This time, a nautical motif: the presence of anchors on headstones.

From St. Agnes Catholic Cemetery in Syracuse, NY:

Several statues resting their left hands on anchors

An anchor overlapped by a cross

From Oakwood Cemetery in Syracuse, NY:

An anchor tied to an abbreviated column. There's also a feather engraved on the base.

Little shoes

A pair of shoes and socks on the headstone of a deceased toddler, from St. Agnes Catholic Cemetery:

Benches

I love the idea of a bench-shaped headstone. It's big, it's different, and it's nice to sit down on after wandering around.

From Oakwood Cemetery in Syracuse, NY:
(Thank you, Campbells. I will remember you/your gravestone fondly.)

From Jamesville Walnut Grove Cemetery in Jamesville, NY:

Au Naturale

A collection of headstone pictures that were inspired by nature, with slight emphasis on the tree trunk headstone.


From Oakwood Cemetery in Syracuse, NY:

From the Jamesville Walnut Grove Cemetery in Jamesville, NY:

The simple boulder look:

 This one is actually modeled after a log, complete with rings and a small branch stump.

From Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo, NY:

(Pardon the raindrops; the visit to this cemetery was somewhat interrupted by a storm and I just tried getting some pictures from the dryness of my car)

This headstone's ornamentation is a little hard to see, but it's wrought iron grapevines set into granite.

This isn't strictly nature-derived, but I liked how the cross was made to look like a cross propped up by stones and grown over by vines.

Shapes and Forms

An assortment of headstones that were strikingly shape-based.

From Oakwood Cemetery in Syracuse, NY:

Cylinders...

A rounded, cylindrical obelisk....

Cylinders and sphere....

From earlier posts: pyramidal mausoleum (second & third images)

From Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo, NY:

Cubes...

 

From earlier posts: rectangular prism obelisk (first image)

Over Seas Nurse

From Myrtle Hill Cemetery in Syracuse, NY:

 Edna A. Winshurst

1894-1933

Army nurse over seas

1918-1919

I initially thought that the service date had something to do with WW1, perhaps, before it occurred to me that the war would have been officially over (but still plenty of clean-up to be sure). The Flu Pandemic of 1918 (aka the Spanish Flu) would've been at work however.

Sculptures

From Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo, NY:

From Oakwood Cemetery in Syracuse, NY:

 

 A pair of very eroded...lions? sheep?

A broken headstone with a flower engraving

"Hollow dark in this mausoleum..."

Title is just an appropriate little snippet from a Jill Tracy song, "You Leave Me Cold."

From Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo, NY:

From the Oakwood Cemetery in Syracuse, NY:

Another view

A sort of art deco-styled mausoleum:

A semi-spooky twilight shot of a mausoleum built into the hillside:

And this is technically not a mausoleum, but it has the overall size of one, so I'm including it here:

Facts of Life

Death was approached more bluntly centuries ago, as numerous gravestones feature its end product of skulls and skeletons. The classic winged death's head makes the most appearances on these delightfully morbid decorations.

From the Granary Burial Ground in Boston, MA:

From Copp's Hill Burying Ground, also in Boston, MA: