The effigy on this carving kinda looks like she’s wearing those horn rimmed glasses that the women in The Far Side are always wearing. I think I’ll call her “Miriam”. Anyway, she stands solemn watch over the bones of Dr. Giles Goddard:

IN MEMORY
of
Doctr. Giles Goddard
who died January 31
1757 Aged 33 Years.

This effigy reminds me of a sun figure. Simple and elegant.

In Memory
of Capt.
Adam Shapley, of Fort
Trumbull who bravely
gave his Life for his
Country a fatal Wound
at Fort Griswold Sept. 6th
1781 caused his Death
Febr. 14 1782 Aged
43 years
Shapley, thy deed reverst
the Common doom
and made thy name
immortal in a tomb

I needed some help for the ending from CT Gravestones, who also add some other interesting historical tidbits, such as the fact that Capt. Shapley fell during the same battle against the British that Benedict Arnold watched from the cemetery, and that this gravestone “is one of special historic interest in Connecticut. It is carved on what we call Bolton Granite
which was quarried from the Bolton Notch Quarry that is just a
few miles east of where I live. It was made by a carver named
Jonathan Loomis from Coventry, CT.”

This carving really creeps me out – especially with the erosion of the faces. It makes the angels look quite ghostly.

Here lyes interred
the Body of Doctor
Guy Palmes, who
Departed this Life
on the 27th Day of
March, 1757 Aged
44 Years.

A good name is better
than precious Ointment.

Here’s another nice skull effigy – this one’s for Sarah Soley. Lucky Sarah!

Here lyes Buried the
Body of Mrs. SARAH SOLEY
Widow of Mr. MATHEW
SOLEY of Charlestown
Who Departed this
Sept. 26th A.D. 1744 Aged
93 Years & 4 Months

Wow!! 93 years old is ancient for those days. She must have had a fascinating life. If only her bones could tell me all about it…

This is another carving that cracks me up. What a dopey looking face! This guy was kinda the Picasso of grave carving – he had his own style. Roots and Routes tells me that the carver was Gershom Bartlett from Bolton, Connecticut. CT Gravestones provides the following biography of Gershom:

Gershom Bartlett (1723-1798)
Gershom Bartlett’s gravestone carvings are among the most bizarre of any produced during the eighteenth century. He was a native of Bolton, Connecticut, the son of Samuel and Sarah Bartlett who came from Northampton, Massachusetts. Gershom Barlett appears to be the first owner of the Bolton Notch Quarry where he sold too and worked with other carvers of the area such as the Bucklands and Loomis’s. To those of us who study these carvings, the Bolton schist/granite that came from that quarry is very much appreciated for it’s durability. During one period of his early carving career, he apparently lived in Windsor and possibly also in East Windsor. His stones are easily recognized by the bulbous noses, turned down mouths, row of vestigial teeth at the bottom of the face, raised eyebrows, usually a four-lobed crown, three curved wings of curls beside the face. The finials are most frequently pinwheels or four-leafed clovers and often a small heart can be found near the bottom of the legend. Bartlett was called the “hook-and-eyeman” until identified by Dr. Caulfield. His footstones are often easily recognized if displaying a pattern of three or four diamonds on them. Bartlett stones are found throughout eastern Connecticut but are most common west of Mansfield and become very scarce in the northeast and in coastal communities. They continue until 1772 when Bartlett moved to Pompanoosuc, Vermont, where he continued to carve (but on slate) until late in the eighteenth century.

In Memory
of Mrs. Lucretia
widow to Mr.
JOHN Procter
MA who died
Septr. 10th 1770
in the 64th Year
of her age

Another nice skull head – and you can see the lines for the lettering on this one as well.

Here lies the Body of
Mrs. ANNE DENISON
Daur. of Mr. DANTEL
& Mrs. RACHEL DENISON
died NOVr. 10th 1767
aged 24 Years 2 Mo & 11 Ds.

This is another well-done carving which begs the question – what the hell is a “consort” in 18th century terminology anyway??? (I believe it’s either a wife, or a “companion”…)

Here lies the Remains of
Mary, Consort of Thomas Dare
who in full hope of a glorious
Immortality put off this earthly
Tabernacle in her 25th year
A.D. 1775

In youthful Bloom Death came down
Here to await the trumpets sound
When God commands I will arise
To meet my Saviour in … “

Damn. I can’t read the end of the last sentence. What do you suppose it is? “To meet my Saviour in Paradise” maybe? Ah well…

This effigy looks like it’s got a fro goin’ on, don’t it? And the carving begs the question – what exactly is a “relict” in 18th century terminology, anyway??? (I believe it’s a widow…)

In Memory
of
Mrs. TEMPERANCE SHAW
Relict of 
NATH’L SHAW ESQR.
who died
June 27, 1796
Aged 87 Years

Here’s a Siamese Twin effigy. A kinda creepy looking Siamese Twin effigy, actually…

In Memory of Joseph
Harris Esqr. who died
April 21 1792 Aged
72 Years

The rest is sadly illegible. By the way, I wondered what the heck the “Esqr.” (Esquire) behind so many of the names means. Apparently, these guys were either officials of some sort or lawyers.

The lichen growing on this well-preserved gravestone gives it an eerie glowing quality.

Sacred to the Memory of
Mrs. Lucy Wolcott
the wife of 
Doctor Simon Wolcott
who departed this life
April 14th, 1791
in the 39th Year
of her Age

Okay, this carving is even stranger than Gershom’s! I think I’d have to call this one “Mr. Bill”!

Here lyeth
the body of Mr. 
Thomas Wolcott
who died March
the 10 1724…

(That’s a best guess, anyway… damned weeds! Roots and Routes identifies the carver as John Hartshome.)

Here’s another wonderful skull carving.

Here lyes the 
body of Mr.
John Coit
Aged ?? Years.

Here are a couple more skull effigy figures. The inscriptions say (left to right):

HERE LYETH INTERED
THE BODY OF 
WILLIAM COITE
AGED ABOUT 27
YEARS WHO
DEPARTED THIS
LIFE MAY 17th 
1703

HERE LIES THE 
BODY OF
MARTHA GREENE
DAU’r. OF Mr.
THOMAS & Mrs.
MARTHA GREENE
DIED AUG. 3rd, 1752

Another nice carving by the same skull artist as the previous stones.

ELIZABETH GARDINER
the Daughter of
Mr. DAVID & Mrs.
ELIZABETH GARDINER
Aged 2 Years &
10 months Died
Aug’st. the 6th 1746
& lies Buried Here

On this one you can see some of the crosshatch scratches which sadly mar many of the stones.

Here Lies the Body of
Mrs. HANNAH CHADWICK
the wife of
Mr. CHARLES CHADWICK
Died November the 7th
1765 (?) in the ?? Year
of her Age.

This effigy head looks in dire need of a long nap and a little love. Poor thing.

IN MEMORY
of Sarah the Wife of
Mr. David Allen
Daught’r of Mr. Nathan
& Temperance Shaw
who died Sept. 11
A.D. 1759 Aged 25
Years & 5 Months

This one is a bit different. It has a more human quality to it than most of the carvings, which befits the 2 year old in whose name it is dedicated.

James the son
of James &
Mary Culver
died May 30
1760 Aged 2
Years & 6 M.

Another nice skull (although sullied by a bird).

Here lyes Buried
the Body of Mr.
BENJAMIN SWEETLAND
Who Departed this Life
Febru. the 9 Anno Dom. 
1759 Aged 2 Years

In Memory of
Benjamin Starr
Esqr. who died
Aug. the 23 1753
in the 74th Year
of his Age

This one has my favorite of all gravestone sayings – the “prepare for death” one! Oh, why don’t they write them like this anymore? Incidentally, it looks like the carver forgot the last digit of the year on the stone.

In Memory of
Mr James Ryon Jun’r
who departed this
life Sept 22 AD 179
Aged 22 years

Consider friends as you pass by
As you are now So once was I
As I am now Soon you must be
Prepare for death & follow me

These are two of my favorites. They are quite elegant in that simple, unadorned, puritan way.

In Memory of
Capt BENJAMIN BILLINGS
who Departed this
Life Jan’ry 15th
A.D. 1780
in the 52nd year
of his Age

In Memory of Benja-
min & Sally Billings
Son & Daug’r of Capt
Benjamin & Mrs Le-
ment Billings Benjamin
Died July 22 1784
Aged 21 Years Sally
Died Nov’r 17th 1786
Aged 18 Years

(I can’t decipher the poem that appears at the bottom of the gravestone, but it has to do with “Jesus” and “flesh” and “iron”. Probably just boring Bible verse anyway…)

Nice shot from underneath the beech tree. These graves haven’t seen the sunlight for a VERY long time.

Here’s another elegant carving (by John Stevens, Jr. of Newport, RI per Roots & Routes).

And finally, here’s an interesting, very delicate carving in slight profile which shows the unfortunate scratch-marks of a pathetic vandal. The scariest thing for me is that all of these invaluable headstones are so desperately vulnerable. If ever a cemetery needed a security system to keep vandals away, it’s this one. I only hope that something can be done to save these gorgeous and historic stones before the next idiot strikes.

In Memory of Mr.
JOSEPH HURLBUT
who departed this Life
Nov. 4th A.D. 1773 in
the 30th Year of his
Age.

Addendum:

Cranky Yankee provides the following information:

This book will have the info you need to identify the carvers in this cemetery:

Colonial Burying Grounds of Eastern Connecticut and the Men Who Made Them
(Memoirs of the Connecticut Academy of Arts & Sciences, July 1987, Vol Xxi)
by James A. Slater
Hardcover: 326 pages
Publisher: Connecticut Academy of Arts (August 1, 1987)
Language: English
ISBN: 0208021604

———–

Further info on this burial ground can be found in the writings of the late Ernest Caulfield. These writings were owned by James Slater (who worked with Caulfield) and now is in the process of being organized for the CT Historical Society.

Another place to find Caulfield’s research is the AGS journal, Markers. The entire Vol. 8 of Markers was dedicated to Caulfield. That issue is out of print, but copies can be obtained from AGS (Association for Gravestone Studies).  The Slater book can be purchased here as well.