The decorations and epitaphs of early Puritan gravestones offer a fascinating glimpse into the religious beliefs, social values, and daily struggles of 16th-, 17th-, and 18th-century New England. These intricate designs and poignant words were not merely functional—-they were the work of skilled gravestone carvers, who were artists and craftsmen, and in some cases, even poets.
The gravestone carvers created many styles, indicative of the religious and iconic symbolism of the era. They carved intricate designs of skulls, winged angels, soul effigies with various facial expressions, flowers, vines, rosettes, urns and willows. Sometimes they even threw in even a little humor, such as the smiling, dancing skull holding a scythe on Samuel Hagar’s stone in Westminster, Mass., which can be seen on findagrave.
Many gravestones contained special a verse, or epitaph -– usually from poetry, the bible, or created especially for the deceased person.
Here is a sampling of some of the most notable gravestone carvers along with epitaphs that reflect the early New Englander’s views on death.
Gravestone Carvers of Coventry, Conn.
Jonathan Loomis (1722-1785) and his sons John and Amasa had a corner on the gravestone market in eastern Connecticut, as most of their stones can be found within 20 miles of Coventry. Many of Amasa’s stones are at Grant Hill Cemetery, both with the older style soul effigy and the newer style of urn and willow. Jonathan, John and Amasa are buried in Coventry’s South Street Cemetery.

South Street Cemetery in Coventry
The Loomis family ranged as faar as New London, Conn. Jonathan carved the gravestone of Capt. Adam Shapley, who died in the Battle of Groton Heights in 1782. His epitaph reads:
Shapley thy deed reverse the common doom, and make thy name immortal in a tomb.
When Benjamin Case was found dead in a Coventry field in 1801. His stone, carved by Amasa Loomis, reads,
Be ye also ready for ye know not in what hour the Son of man cometh.
Running Out of Room
Besides the artistic decorations, gravestone lettering had many variations. Some carvers used all capitals, and some carved deeply into the stone. Carvers who didn’t plan carefully tended to crowd words together, then squeezed a letter in at the end of a word.
John Just Geyer, a Boston gravestone carver, ran out of room on the third line of Sarah Gray Thacher’s epitaph. The wife of David Thacher, Jr., she died at 23 in 1793, probably giving birth to her third child . On her gravestone in the Ancient Cemetery in Yarmouth, Mass., her epitaph reads,
While weeping friends bend o’er the silent tomb,
Recount her virtues and her loss deplore,
Faith’s piercing eye darts through the dreary gloom
And hails her blest where tears shall flow no more.
Another famous example is the stone of Thomas Cushman carved by Obadiah Wheeler in Lebanon, Conn. This crowded inscription can be seen on findagrave (scroll down for the best image).
The Manning Family of Gravestone Carvers
The Mannings were a Connecticut family of carvers, consisting of Josiah (1725-1806) in Windham and his sons Frederick (1758-1810) and Rockwell (1760-1806) in Norwich. Several of Fred Manning’s gravestones can also be found in Bennington, Vt.
Josiah perfected the soul effigy face, depicting resurrection, according to the “New England Graves — Flight of the Soul” blog. These faces could look surprised, sad or even angry!
An elaborate stone for Huckens Storrs in the Old Storrs Cemetery in Mansfield, Conn., provides an example of Josiah’s work. It has a long inscription with some interesting spelling.

Gravestone of Huckens Storrs, who died in 1784
Six of Josiah’s children died young. No wonder his own gravestone, carved by himself in 1800, has a sad face! Further information and photos can be found at Manning Family Carvings.
Connecticut to Vermont
Zerubbabel Collins (1733-1797) was born Columbia, Conn., and died Shaftsbury, Vt. His early stones resemble those of his father, Benjamin. They feature bulbous noses, but the angel wings were smaller and sweeping downward. Zerubbabel created twisting floral designs down the sides of his stones.
Benjamin’s work resembles that of Obadiah Wheeler. The two can be distinguished by the length and width of the carved noses, according to the Bennington Museum’s Wallomsack Review of May 2012. Also, Obadiah carved deeper and used capital letters.

Gravestone carved by Zerubbabel Collins in West Cemetery, Middlebury, Vt.
Zerubbabel moved to Vermont in 1778, where he used white marble from the Shaftsbury quarry. Many of his gravestones can be found in Bennington and Shaftsbury. Some marble stones in Bennington Cemetery display the words “O, Relentless Death.”
Zerubbabel’s estate (his home, quarry, tools and three unfinished stones) were passed to son James who carried on the business in Shaftsbury.
A Cape Cod Gravestone Carver
Nathaniel Holmes (1783-1869) was the first gravestone carver to live and work on the Cape. He was born in Plymouth, Mass., and moved to Barnstable around 1805. His house and workshop are still standing in Barnstable Village. During his long career he transitioned from carving winged heads, trumpeting angels and sunbursts on slate to carving urns and willows on marble. The marble stones of the 19th century make up the bulk of his work.

Nathaniel Holmes carved this gravestone for Kezier Hallet, who died in 1806 at 40. She rests in Ancient Cemetery in Yarmouth.
Boston Gravestone Carvers
William Mumford (1641-1718) came to Boston as a servant with a group of Quakers who were then persecuted by Boston authorities. He married Ruth Copp and lived next to Copps Hill burying ground. In addition to carving gravestones, he also constructed the first Quaker meeting house in Boston.
His gravestones featured side borders with fruits and vines. For Elizabeth Pain’s gravestone in King’s Chapel Burying Ground, he added a coat of arms.

Elizabeth Pain died in 1704 at 52.
Nathaniel Emmes (1690-1750) learned his trade from William Mumford and then he taught his sons Henry (1716 – 1767) and Joshua (1719-1772). When not busy carving, he also ran an inn and built stone foundations, possibly including that of Old South Church in 1729, where his initials N.E. are carved in the corner.
Emmes carved an elaborate gravestone for Joseph Tapping, a young man of means, who died at 23 in 1678. It features an hourglass, a winged death’s head and a panel depicting Father Time battling a skeleton along with Latin phrases and sundry decoration.

Elaborate gravestone of Joseph Tapping in King’s Chapel Burying Ground
The Lamson Family of Carvers
Joseph Lamson (1658-1722) belonged to a large family of carvers. He was born in Ipswich, Mass. His father William immigrated in 1634 during the Great Puritan Migration and died in 1659, the year after Joseph’s birth. His mother, who had eight children, remarried Thomas Hartshorne, who also had eight children, which caused a dispute over the children and their rights to property.
Joseph’s carving shop began in 1677 in Malden and Charlestown. He was very prolific and many of his gravestones can also be found in Yarmouth and Truro on the Cape and in Connecticut. They feature winged skulls, eyebrows with hooked ends and side panels with vines, flowers and fruit.

Joseph Lmson carved this headstone for Lucrecia Sturgis, who died at 2 months, 13 days and lies buried in Ancient Cemetery in Yarmouth, Mass.
Epitaphs
Like the carvings themselves, epitaphs offer a glimpse into the religious beliefs and cultural attitudes toward death in early New England. Some inscriptions soften the terror of death with Christian assurances, while other acknowledge grief and the unpredictability of life.
An epitaph in Lebanon, Conn., mourns the death of Roswell Terry in 1795 at age 27.
Here Social virtue; mourns a fav,rite dead; The tear of Sacred; friendship here is Shed.
In Milford, Conn., a gravestone recounts how an amiable consort disarmed the King of Terrors:
MRS MARGARET DEWITT the amiable consort of GARRIT V H DEWITT Who closed her eyes upon a vain World…1794 Her exemplary conduct in life her unparelled patience when wreck’d with pains the most excruciating & her perfect resignation in her last illness disarm’d the King of Terrors of his sting & softened him to a Prince of peace.
Some epitaphs treat death as a transition to a happier place. Two from Connecticut are good examples. Here’s John Treat who died in 1794 in Milford, Conn.
Though Earth to Earth and dust to dust return; And Silent Sorrow Sits to guard the urn; Yet moves the Soul through Ether unconfin’d; Thrice happy state of th [sic] immortal mind… The Elect Redeemed shall wing their Aerial flight; To reign for [smudged] in the realms of light
And here’s Deacon Thomas Bosell, who died in Canterbury in 1781.
On seraph’s wings I fly; to the bright worlds above; To spend a day of endless Joy; where all is peace & love
Middletown, Connecticut: Miss Rebecca Gilbert, suddenly died in 1765, age 5:
Death armed his shaft; Unheeded & unseen; At Blooming Helth; & free up the Scene; The tender Parents; in a wild surprise; embrace their Child; & close it’s Eyes.
Epitaphs of the 18th century stometimes taunt the passerby, as does the inscription on the Groton, Mass., gravestone of Capt. Samuel Tarbell, who died in 1776.
Halt passenger as you go past; Remember time it runneth fast; My dust in narrow bounds do ly; Remember man that thou must die.
In Longmeadow, Mass., Jonathan Goldthwait II had a Bible inscription from James 4:14: “What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vaJonathan Hnishes.”

The Old German Church and Cemetery in Waldoboro
And something different from the Old German Cemetery in Waldoboro, Maine. The epitaph for Mary Elenora Levensaler, who died in 1798, read:
Invisible I am to this blind world below.
New England Gravestone Carvers Head South
Some wealthy families of Charleston, S. C., ordered gravestones from New England, including some carved by Henry Emmes, ccording to the blog “Adventures in Cemetery Hopping.” He signed his stones as an advertisement. Later, New England carvers advertised in Charleston newspapers. An article in the Beaufort Gazette of June 20,1980, mentioned New England gravestone carvers in Charleston, including Henry Emmes.
A 1978 dissertation by Diana Combs entitled “Eighteenth Century Gravestone Art in Georgia & South Carolina” documented gravestones carved by New Englanders such as John Bull, John Stevens III, the Mannings of Connecticut, John Homer and Henry Emmes.
Today, there are a few companies who still do old-fashioned gravestone carving, such as found in old New England.
Rebecca Rector of Troy, N.Y., is a history and genealogy researcher, and retired librarian from Siena College. She has been transcribing letters and diaries for Newberry Library and National Archives for the past three years.
Images: Zerubbabel Collins gravestone by By Gravestoneman – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=154870947. Huckens Storrs gravestone By Gravestoneman – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=154826186.