Category: Montours Cemetery

  • William Gordon Tombstone, Montours Cemetery

    William Gordon tombstone

    in Memory of
    William Gordon
    Who Departed this life
    April the 26th, 1812, in the 67
    year of his age.

    Our old friend the Master of the Curly G is instantly identifiable here. He does not have an opportunity to show off his distinctive lower-case G, but his other peculiarities are instantly apparent: the sunburst, his habit of beginning the inscription with a lower-case letter, the distinctive lower-case a, the exaggerated curl of the 2, the swooping tail of the 7, and a number of other quirks you may discover for yourself by comparing his work here with his tombstones in the Robinson Run and Union cemeteries.

    If you enlarge the picture, you can see that this craftsman actually incised rules in the stone to guide his lettering. He seems to have goofed a bit and missed leaving a blank half-line after the name of the deceased, but at least his lettering is mostly straight.

  • Mrs. A. Christie Monument, Montours Cemetery

    Mrs. A. Christie monument

    It is no secret that old Pa Pitt loves zinc monuments. They were made for a relatively short time, and they have pickled and preserved the popular taste of the late Victorian and Edwardian eras. Moreover, the monument dealers’ extravagant promises really were true: well over a century after it was installed, this monument looks almost brand new.

    The better grade of cemeteries objected to zinc monuments as cheap and tasteless, and this is a good example of what they objected to. Instead of using metal as a medium with its own properties, this is a direct imitation of stone, and therefore comes across as a cheap substitute for stone.

    Inscription

    MRS. A. CHRISTIE,
    WIFE OF
    ISAIAH ROBB CHRISTIE,
    BORN 1840,
    DIED
    AUGUST 27, 1902.

    Although the monument has panels on all four sides, only one was ever inscribed; the others are stock inserts. Perhaps Isaiah remarried and is buried with his second wife somewhere else.

    Anchor insert
    The Morning Cometh, with woman embracing cross
  • Ann Burns Tombstone, Montours Cemetery

    Ann Burns tombstone

    Several of the damaged tombstones in the Montours Cemetery have been duplicated in modern granite, which is a very good idea but costs some money. The broken stone of Ann Burns is still completely legible, and as a bonus it includes the name of the craftsman who inscribed it: Lanston S. Wilkins of Pittsburgh.

    IN
    Memory
    OF
    ANN BURNS
    Who departed this life
    Nov. 3rd 1840
    In the 88 year
    of her age.

    Lanston S. Wilkins
    Pitt••

    Ann Burns marker