Below are some more eccentric headstone inscriptions from New England cemeteries.
Sacred to the memory of
Inestimable worth of unrivalled
Excellence and virtue, N.R., whose ethereal
Parts became seraphic May 25th, 1767.
She lived with her husband fifty years
And died in the confident hope of a better life.
First a cough carried me off
Then a coffin
They carried me off in.
The town was settled in 1748
By Germans who emigrated to this place with the promise
And expectation of finding a prosperous city, instead of which
They found nothing but wilderness.
Rev. John Starman d. 1854, aged 72
In memory of Mr. Peter Daniels
Born Aug. 7, 1688
Died May 26, 1746
Beneath this stone, a lump of clay,
Lies Uncle Peter Daniels,
Who too early in the month of May
Took off his winter flannels.
Captain Thomas Stetson
Who was killed by the fall of a tree, d. 1820 a. 68.
Nearly 30 years he was master
Of a vessel and left that
Employment at the age of 48
For the less hazardous one of cultivating his farm.
Reader remember,
Man is never secure from the arrest of death.
Elijah Bardwell d. 1780
Having but a few days survived ye fatal night, when he was flung
From his horse; and drawn by
Ye stirrups 26 rods along ye path,
As appeared by the place where
His hat was found and here
He had spent ye whole of the
Following severe cold night
Treading down the snow in
A small circle. The family he
Left was an aged father,
A wife and three small children.
This is what I expected
But not so soon.
William Reese, 1872 – aged 21
Sources:
Bevis Hillier. Dead Funny
Alfred Clemont Rush. Death and Burial in Early Christianity
The Peter Pauper Press. Comic Old Epitaphs From The Very Best Old Graveyards
