Stories Carved in Stone Photo Gallery

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Connecticut River Valley CemeteriesUse the Search button to find all gravestone photos in a specific LOCATION or CEMETERY.
20 111
Blandford Old Cemetery (1742)


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Two Blandford burying grounds were established in 1741 and 1742. This cemetery is located on Main Street, Blandford, across from the Blandford Historical Society. Numerous known and unknown sandstone and schist carvers have gravestones in this yard. A second cemetery lies nearby on North Street, and is known as the Hill or Centre Cemetery.

16 files, last one added on Jun 15, 2009

Old Burying Ground - aka Mechanic Street Cemetery (1669)


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Enjoy the works of many local and Connecticut sandstone carvers in the shady and well-kept Mechanic Street Burying Ground in Westfield. Visitors must pick up a key at the Westfield Athenaeum Library on the town green to unlock the century-old cast iron gate. It is worth the effort.

25 files, last one added on Jan 09, 2010

Chester Center Cemetery (1769)


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The Chester Center Cemetery may be found on the Skyline Trail and features many schist markers, carved from this common local stone. This was the original center of town until the railroad came through along the river, in the mid-1800s, and created a new Chester depot and factory village.

4 files, last one added on Nov 08, 2006

Enfield Street Cemetery


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The Enfield Street Cemetery is the last resting place of many Connecticut River families. It showcases a gorgeous view of the river valley, and skilled sandstone and marble works. Located at the corner of Enfield Street and Spier Avenue, in Enfield, CT. Enfield was originally a part of Springfield Massachusetts, before its secession. Features in Bob Clark's Stories Carved in Stone: Enfield Connecticut written in 2006.

2 files, last one added on Oct 25, 2006

Springfield Cemetery (1841)


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A picturesque, beautifully maintained 'garden cemetery' in the spirit of Mount Auburn. The oldest Western Massachusetts gravestone can be seen here, along with hundreds of early markers moved from the original Springfield burying grounds located behind Court Square in 1848-1849. Stop in at the little castle, and ask for a map, they are always helpful!

8 files, last one added on Apr 12, 2009

Historic Deerfield


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1 files, last one added on Jan 15, 2007

Pine Hill Cemetery


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2 files, last one added on Jul 30, 2008

Adams Cemetery


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1 files, last one added on Nov 06, 2006

Laurel Hill Cemetery


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1 files, last one added on Nov 08, 2006

West Granville Cemetery


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1 files, last one added on Jan 04, 2007

Union Street Cemetery


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6 files, last one added on Apr 12, 2009

Suffield Center Cemetery


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1 files, last one added on Jan 15, 2007

20 albums on 2 page(s) 1

Gravestone Carvers - Sandstone, Marble, Schist 1657-1850Knowing a specific carver's distinguishing styles can help you to identify his work in various graveyards.
21 137
John Ely


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A West Springfield native, John Ely began carving in the 1760s, and was probably trained by William Holland or Joseph Williston. His shop was located almost directly across the Great River from Williston, a contemporary carver. With a distinctive cherub carved in deep relief on his more expensive stones, John's work can be easily identified in numerous burying grounds up and down the Connecticut River Valley.

29 files, last one added on Apr 20, 2009

Joseph Williston


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Joseph Williston was another Springfield carver who was very likely trained by William Holland during his short stay in the area. Williston's shop was located approximately at the end of the current Liberty Street, on the banks of the Connecticut River. A very brief carving career, ending with his death in 1768, produced a large quantity of gravestones throughout the valley.

10 files, last one added on Aug 12, 2010

The Stebbins Shop


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The Stebbins Shop produced an abundance of stones out of Longmeadow in the late 1700s and early 1800s. The Farber Collection attributes at least twelve distinctive styles to the Stebbins School. While we are still unsure of the individual carver's names, we know where they worked.

14 files, last one added on Aug 01, 2010

Aaron Bliss


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Aaron Bliss commonly carved his gravestones from a chocolate colored stone quarried out of the Wilbraham area. His cherubs have wings which resemble a beagle’s floppy ears. In Westfield, his work also appears on red sandstone, likely originating from the Longmeadow quarries.

7 files, last one added on Nov 27, 2009

Stanclift Family


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The Stanclifts were one of the earliest and most influential of the carving families of the lower Connecticut River Valley. Their work extends from the late 1600s into the nineteenth century and includes five generations of carvers. The various Stanclifts worked in sandstone; that used for stones in eastern Connecticut came from their great quarry in Portland.

William Stanclift (1686-1761) was the oldest son of James I. Like his father he carved in capital letters, and some of his stones also have evenly rounded tops. William, however, produced stones with designs, including some delightful folk-skulls and Halloween-like faces. His more common stones are shouldered and have nicely executed but simple rosettes in the finials. He used the “thorn” in his legends, which James I never did. William’s stones are distributed throughout the Connecticut River Valley even into Massachusetts and also along the coastal areas of eastern Connecticut.

From: Slater, James A. The Colonial Burying Grounds of Eastern Connecticut and the Men Who Made Them. Memoirs of the Connecticut Academy of Arts & Sciences, vol. 21. Hamden, Connecticut: Archon Books, 1987.

3 files, last one added on Nov 26, 2006

Thomas Johnson Family


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The Thomas Johnson family worked out of the Middletown, Ct. quarries, actually called the Johnson quarries locally. Producing gravestones for over one hundred years, they heavily influenced the work of many Connecticut River carvers. The elder Thomas was one of the first gravestone carvers in the area to exhibit preplanned lettering on his stones, and the quality of his letters shows care and attention to detail rarely found on earlier stones.

7 files, last one added on Mar 17, 2009

Aaron Haskins


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Aaron Haskins was heavily influenced by the Manning and Collins schools of carving. Based out of Bolton, Ct, he was an accomplished carver. His cherub in the tympanum of the David Olmsted stone was so unusual, we featured it on the cover of the Enfield Connecticut: Stories Carved in Stone book.

1 files, last one added on Oct 25, 2006

Gershom Bartlett


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Gershom Bartlett began his carving career in the Windsor, Ct. area, where he carved on the local sandstone. After moving to Bolton, Ct. in 1751, he began carving extensively on the local schist, quite a different texture and consistency from the sandstone he was accustomed to carving in Windsor. Even after moving to Bolton, he retained his loyal customer base in Enfield, as both sandstone and schist stones bearing his carvings can be found there.

2 files, last one added on Oct 25, 2006

Ebenezer Drake


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Ebenezer Drake carved out of the South Windsor sandstone quarries with his brothers, Silas and Nathaniel. Ebenezer was a carver who seemed to be constantly dissatisfied with his work, as he constantly moved from style to style. As he grew older, he let his imagination run more freely, resulting in stones which were often said to scare children out of the burying grounds after dark.

3 files, last one added on Aug 01, 2010

Lathrop Family


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The Lathrop family, consisting of Thatcher, the father, and Loring and Luther, the sons, worked out of the same sandstone quarry as the Drake brothers in South Windsor, Ct. Strongly influenced by the Mannings of southern Connecticut, they brought the popular style to the north.

13 files, last one added on Aug 02, 2010

William Holland


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William Holland had a brief, but very influential, stay in the Springfield area during the mid 1700s. He apprenticed under Joseph Johnson, carving out of the East Windsor quarries. While working together, they gained a reputation for heavy drinking, running up large rum tabs at the local taverns. His style of carving cherubs will be seen for fifty years after he left the area.

3 files, last one added on Nov 26, 2006

Ezra Stebbins


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Ezra Stebbins began a prolific carving shop in Longmeadow, MA in the mid 1700s, and his early work bears a strong resemblance to that of William Holland.

8 files, last one added on Mar 17, 2009

21 albums on 2 page(s) 1

Unusual CarvingsRandom oddities found in our wanderings.
Celtic Crosses
1 5
English CemeteriesFollowing a recent trip to England, it was found that over 7000 photographs made the trip back. Most of them were cemetery-related. The lure of Stories Carved in Stone made its way across the Atlantic.
1 2
ZincsMarketed as 'white bronze'. zinc monuments were popular from the late 1800s until World War I, when the factories turned to munitions output for the war effort. With four removable panels, updating family information was easy and economical. Many of these monuments look brand new after more than one hundred years in the elements of New England.
1 11
ObelisksWhen Napoleon had the Luxor obelisk brought back to Josephine in 1831, it began a new craze in funerary art around the world. In the latter half of the 1800s, obelisks began to appear in many local cemeteries.
1 3
Other Unusual Monuments
1 2
271 files in 46 albums and 8 categories with 0 comments viewed 11478 times

Last additions
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Dickinson children49 viewsIn Memory
of three
Children
of Mr Medad
Dickinson
Aug 12, 2010
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Jonathan Dickinson 176729 viewsIn Memory
of Mr Jonath
an Dickinson
who died
Dec'ber ye 31
1767 in the
80th year
of his
age
Aug 12, 2010
dickinson_mary_1763.jpg
Mary Dickinson 176352 viewsIn Memory of
Mrs Mary
wife of
Mr Jonathan
Dickinson who
died april 10 1763
in her 63d Year

Behold he taketh away
who can hinder him
who will say unto him
what dost thou
Aug 12, 2010
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Jeannah Ingram 178330 viewsIn memory of
Miss Jehannah daughter
of Mr Reuben and Mrs Pheba
Ingram who died April 9th
1783 aged 27 years

Like as the opening flower she bloomed
With flattering prospects bright
But withering faded e'er twas noon
And closed her eyes in night
Aug 12, 2010
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Jonathan Ingram 177627 viewsIn memory of
Jonathan Ingram
Son of Mr Reuben and Mrs
Pheba Ingram He died
March 20th 1776 aged
eleven years
Aug 12, 2010
dickinson_mary_1779.jpg
Mary Dickinson 177926 viewsIn Memory
of Mrs Mary
ye wife of
Mr Jonathan
Dickinson Ju
who died
Dec'r the 6th
1779 in the
Aug 12, 2010
dickinson_mary_1794.jpg
Mary Dickinson 179421 viewsIn Memory of
Mrs Mary Dickinson
wife of Mr Jonathan
Dickinson
who died June 4th
1794
In the 49th year
of her
Age
Aug 12, 2010
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Catharine Emmons 177928 viewsIn Memory of
Mrs Catharine
Wife of Mr Robert
Emmons who died
April ye 1st 1779 in
ye 40th Year of
her Age
On her Right hand
lies Solomon ther
Son
Aug 12, 2010

Random files
Dewey_Eunice_1772.jpg
Eunice Dewey 177243 viewsEunice Daught
of Mr Aaeon &
Mrs Sarah Dew
ey who died
Dec'r 22nd 1772
in ye 15th Year
of her Age
blair_hannah_1798.jpg
Hannah Blair 180315 viewsIn memory of Mrs Hannah
Blair who was the wife of
Deacn Robert Blair she
departed this Life July
10th 1803
in the 81st year of her age

Mrs Blair was born in Ireland
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Stephen and Archelaus Russell 178330 viewsOriginally erected in the Old South Burying Ground, which was located where Court Square is now, it was moved to Springfield Cemetery when the railroad was built in the mid 1800s.

The verse reads:
Reader beware
venture not too far
to save one drowning
lest my fate you share
The second time
I ventur'd in to save
a brother drowning
brought me to my grave
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Esther Pease 179012 viewsIn Memory of
Mrs Esther Wife of
Col Abiel Pease
who died
May 31st 1790
in the 61 year
of her age

Rest here my flesh
in this dark tomb
And wait awhile
Jesus will come
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Israel Pease 177151 viewsIn Memory of
Mr Israel Pease
Who died
June 14 1771
in his 70th
Year

Man,s Age
lo Seventy Years is set
How short the term
how Frail ye slate
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Asa Burt 177468 viewsThis deep red sandstone was carved by Solomon Brewer, whom we met in the Union Street and Federal Hill Cemeteries. He carved the fancy double portraits, and the gravestone for the unfortunate Hessian who died by a lightning strike. Solomon seems to have a knack for finding accident victims.

A little genealogical info - From Springfield Families:

16 JAMES BURT (Henry & Elizabeth), b 9 Oct. 1703, m int 6 Nov. 1725 Mercy Sexton (James & Hannah) b 26 Dec. 1695

Children

Mercy, b 18 Sept. 1726, m Stephen Warriner

Phebe, b 4 Aug. 1728, m Thomas Stebbins

Katherine, b 2 Mch. 1731, m Stephen Bliss

James, b 11 June 1733, m Catherine _____, see deed 42-98 (dau. Abigail m David Bates,

dau. Mercy m Horace Cadwell, wid. Catherine m Cornelius Merry)

Asa, b 3 June 1737, m Ruth Hubbard

Wife d 22 June 1746. James m (2) 30 July 1747 (1st Ch. Rec) Margaret Bliss (William & Margaret)

b. 3 June 1715

Children

Margaret, b 28 July 1748, m Solomon Deming

Sibbel, b 13 Oct. 1750, m Nathan Spellman

Caleb, b 18 July 1754, went to Sandisfield, MA

Mercy, b 18 July 1754, m William Cornwell or Cornwall

Jonathan, b 22 Apr. 1756

James went to Granville, MA., 1st Ch. Rec. He bought his farm in Granville in 1756-1757. See deeds Y-422, Y-675, 37-341, 298, 42-98.
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Catharine Emmons 177928 viewsIn Memory of
Mrs Catharine
Wife of Mr Robert
Emmons who died
April ye 1st 1779 in
ye 40th Year of
her Age
On her Right hand
lies Solomon ther
Son
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Marble baby angel35 viewsA little angel placing a crown on a gravestone. This marble stone is at least 120 years old, and you can see no inscriptions anywhere.

Graciously donated by Andy Viletta from Old Bones before he passed away in the fall of 2005.