Notes from 10 Feb 2016 TCGS Meeting Stacia Gunderson Carved in Stone Cemetery History and Symbolism [notes by L S Stephens]

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1 Notes from 10 Feb 2016 TCGS Meeting Stacia Gunderson Carved in Stone Cemetery History and Symbolism [notes by L S Stephens] TCGS President Walt Wood welcomed everyone to the meeting. There were 57 people in attendance at the 10 Feb 2016 TCGS meeting, with three new members. Margie Beldin reported that beginning genealogy classes will be offered from 6:15 PM to 6:45 PM before the monthly meetings. John Covey told about the annual trip he is coordinating from May 2016, to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, as well as a class he will give to prepare for the trip on 10 March at 7:00 PM at the Richland Family History Center. Walt Wood gave John Covey an appreciation pen and pencil gift set for the society s appreciation of his willingness and dedication to go beyond the call of duty by serving as TCGS President since Before Art Kelly, who is in charge of programs, introduced our February speaker, he reminded the audience of next month s program with Rick Reil, who will give a presentation in March about the history of photography. If audience members have old family photos that are undated, you are encouraged to bring them next month, and Rick will probably be able to give you a close estimate of the time period. Tonight s speaker is Stacia Gunderson, and she loves history and has a degree in British Medieval History. With her history interest, one of her jobs was working as an interpretive ranger at the Nez Perce National Historical Park. But lurking around cemeteries is her favorite thing to do, and she and her husband often spend much of their vacation time in graveyards. She is also a dog fan and is an obedience judge for dog shows. So she is at no loss for words when it involves the subjects of dogs or the dead! She grew up in a very small township in Illinois where there was a cemetery across the street. Her mother took time to weed the graves, bringing Stacia with her, so Stacia learned her love of cemeteries at an early age.

2 Regarding burial architecture, it s a huge field. Around 5,000 BC, an ancient pagan style was commonly known as a tumulus (plural tumuli), which is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves, sometimes called burial mounds, and usually found in Western Europe. Grotto burials, common with Catholics, occurred when the corpse and burial articles were placed inside a hidden natural cave. Other styles include mauseoleum; Egyptial revival; classical revivals (Islamic, Byzantine 530 AD and Romenesque 800 AD); Gothic from medieval times to the present; Renaissance revival; art deco; and modern. Originally a tombstone was the lid of the coffin, placed on top to keep animals out. Before the 1600 s, it was very common to see carvings of death such as skeletons and skulls on markers. It was only during a short period around 1880 to 1910 that headstones and footstones were both added to plots, making the grave appear like a bed, with the upright headstone like the headboard and the smaller footstone like the footboard. During the Victorian era, photographers earned a good deal of their income photographing dead people, with the deceased dressed in their Sunday best, eyes open, and propped up beside living relatives for their final photo. Due to fears of being buried alive, a safety coffin was designed in 1792 and another in 1829 with a bell that could be rung by the deceased that in turn tripped a flag if the person came back to life. This is where we get the terms dead ringer and saved by the bell. There are no known cases where anyone actually woke up in one of these safety coffins; however, in other cases, evidence of claw marks on the inside lids and skeletal remains found away from the original burial place inside family mausoleums showed evidence of people being buried alive. Fainting spells also were a concern of possible premature burals. With the extreme design in women s fashions trying to achieve a 15-inch waist, women wore tightly laced corsets made of steel bone during the Victorian era ( ). The tight corsets cut off their breathing because the volume of the lungs was greatly diminished which often led to fainting. Fainting couches and fainting rooms were well known in Victorian times. Even the shorter sleeves of women s dresses were so tightly restricting that women couldn t raise their hands far enough to reach their mouths, so stemwear was invented to allow women to hold the glass near the stem base and be able to drink the contents.

3 The well known graveyard shift got is name during the time when fears of being buried alive were still prevalent. During a 72-hour period after a person s death, the body was placed in a casket above ground and covered with a glass lid. Men were hired to check the graveyards to see if anyone resumed breathing. After the 72-hour-period ended, the glass lid was replaced and the casket lowered 6 feet under. Wakes were usually held in people s homes, sometimes for several days, with the deceased often laid out on the dining room table. The period was called wake in order to determine if the corpse could possibly still be awake. Stacia distributed a 2-sided sheet about headstone symbols and their meanings. Before the 20th century, most people knew the symbolic meaning of flowers. At that time, men would never have sent a woman a dozen red roses because that would depict a harlot. Using symbols on the gravestones provided a lasting legacy of what the family wanted to say about the deceased person. Common symbols on stones included: flowers (morning glory, lily of the valley, daisies, dogwood, primrose, or rose rose bud, partially opened rose or full rose to depict the age at death; doves, lambs, plants acorns, broken branch, cat tail, fern, oak leaf, wheat sheaves, ivy or weeping willow; hand pointing to heaven; clasped hands; orb or obelisk; heart with angel wings; star; anchor; cross; crown; drape or shroud; gates; and open or closed book. White bronze was used for grave markers for 40 years from 1874 to They were made-to-order and could be very detailed, always different, and found to be of outstanding quality and durability. They came in many different sizes from a few inches for name stones, to ornate 4-sided monuments, to 25-foot statues. Even though they were constructed from metal, they are actually hollow! The same company manufactured every one of them Monumental Bronze Company in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Sears-Roebuck was the first mail-order company to sell headstones starting in When going to cemeteries, always be respectful, and if you take a dog, please keep it on its leash, and pick up any poop left behind. If going to private family graveyards, ask permission first before walking on the site. When going to cemeteries that are overgrown with grass or weeds, it s best

4 to wear boots, especially if you go during the first warm days of spring when snakes emerge from being dormant. Stacia showed her book which was a gift from her husband, The Old Stone Rubbing Kit: Preserving Epitaphs and Artwork from Historical Gravestones & Monuments by Paulette Chernack and Cassandra Davidson, 1 Nov The kit is available from and cost is $ tax and shipping. The kit includes a 60-page book, rubbing paper, and 2 wax pucks (1 brown and 1 black). When taping your rubbing paper to a headstone, use masking tape. Never use Scotch tape or duct tape because they leave sticky residue. When doing rubbings, always make sure that your paper is larger than the stone you are rubbing to prevent wax from getting onto the stone. Long before the town of Richland began in 1906, there was supposed to be a Jesuit mission established in the area. However, the arrival of the Jesuit priest came during the same week as the November 1847 massacre at the Methodist Whitman Mission. When pioneers came west along the Oregon trail, if family members died, they were often buried near water because the ground was softer there. Sadly, if the people died due to some plague or infectious disease, the buried corpse could seep into the water, and wagon trains of people coming afterward were apt to get contaminated from drinking the polluted water After the meeting, I spoke with Stacia about a unique chair grave marker that I'd seen on so I told her I'd it to her. As huge as the chair is, I just realized looking at the site again after I got home that the chair is a small portion of the overall monument and markers. The couple had no children, so much of their estate must have been spent at the cemetery! See 2 photos below + 2-page handout on gravestone symbols.

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