Let's Go For a Walk......

Hubby and I have been on several Haunted Walking Tours - from a small mining town in Colorado to the big city of New Orleans. We have enjoyed them all, but I think my favorite ones were when we went to cemeteries. I do so enjoy looking at headstones and pondering the lives of the people who are buried there.

Our Walking Tour today is of no cemetery in particular but we will see numerous tombstones, some quite unique. And we might even learn something along the way. (OH NO! Learn something? I can already hear the gasp from the crowd ~ don't worry, it'll be painless!)


As common burial grounds became prevalent, confusion about who was buried where was quite common. Thus emerged the tombstone - a record of a person's burial plot with the date of birth and death inscribed on the stone.


When immigrants came to America, carving tombstones was the last thing on their minds. So simple wooden markers were used. But the settlers soon discovered that the harsh weather of the New World quickly erased any trace of their ancestors. Crude, thin stones became the norm. By the mid 1600s deposits of sandstone were discovered. Because of its soft qualities, sandstone was easy to carve and so it was quickly adopted for use in headstones. But its soft qualities were also a detriment - allowing it to succumb to erosion over time. Slate and later marble were used for headstones. Both of these are harder and have withstood the test of the elements.



Early grave markers had only the pertinent information about the deceased. But as tools advanced, carvings became more prevalent. By the mid 1600s, religious beliefs influenced the ornamentation carved into headstones. Footstones also made an appearance around this time. These small flat stones were used to mark the 'foot' of the grave. They would usually only bear the initials of the deceased.


Epitaphs on tombstones have been around since man has had a written language. It is a way of memorializing the deceased's life. In America, epitaphs did not become common until the mid 1600's. It soon became quite popular to have a poem, Bible verse, or Latin phrase inscribed on one's gravestone. But like any fad, it eventually died out with very few tombstones today sporting such a personal legacy.

For more information on Cemeteries and Tombstones, check out these sites:

• Grave Matters
• Gravestone Conservation
• The Association for Gravestone Studies

Or this book, Tombstones of Your Ancestors by Louis S. Schafer


And please remember, when visiting any Cemetery be respectful. You never know who is watching!