Epitaphs to Remember: Remarkable Inscriptions from New England Gravestones

by Janet Greene

Book Overview

In earlier times, people felt the need to leave a permanent record of who they were and what they stood for. Nowadays people tend to keep quiet about those things, at least in their final resting place. But many have found a new fascination in wandering about an old graveyar...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0911469109
• ISBN13: 9780911469103
• Release Date: January 1992
• Publisher: Alan C Hood & Company
• Length: 104 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.6" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Great collection, but author needs a fact checker.

I recommend this collection of epitaphs because they give a fascinating insight into the lives and deaths of past New Englanders. However, on page one of the author's commentary, I was stunned to see her erroneous statement that Benjamin Franklin was a Quaker! Benjamin Franklin was not a Quaker. He was baptized in 1706, at the Old South Church congregation's Cedar Meeting House on downtown Washington Street, Boston. In Philadelphia he occasionally worshiped at Christ Church, the Church of England parish established in colonial Philadelphia in 1695 and later reorganized into the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America. Because of this factual error, I found it difficult to trust the accuracy of the commentary and hence, the author's analysis. But, her collection is most excellent and for that reason, the reader will be rewarded.

Remember, friends, as you pass by....

This little book traces the development of the gravestone epitaph, from the earliest days of America's settlement, to the 20th century. Some are amusing, some a bit scary, some give lessons to the reader. The author explains why certain themes were chosen and how they reflect the times in which the stones were made. Fun and fascinating.