Built in 1878, this was originally the receiving vault for the cemetery: if you died in the winter when it was impossible to dig, you would rest here until spring. Now it is a columbarium, a place where cremated remains are kept. It is a masterpiece of Victorian Gothic architecture.
Strange as it seems, old Pa Pitt has never published pictures of this building before, although he has been accumulating them for years.
The pictures below are from November of 2021.
We have already met the Master of the Curly G in Robinson Run Cemetery. Union Cemetery, the burying ground of the adjacent Union Church, is only a few miles away, and we find the same readily identifiable craftsman active here, too. Above, the grave of a Revolutionary War veteran who died in 1807 (spelled “John Nicle” here and “John Nickle” on a modern bronze plaque next to the stone).
This stone is no longer completely legible, but its few distinct features mark it as obviously the work of the same artist. It is interesting to note that (if Father Pitt reads the remains of the inscription correctly) it begins with “Here lies the body of,” like a New England tombstone, rather than the far more usual “In memory of.” Father Pitt’s best effort at a transcription follows; unfortunately, the two data we should most like to have—the surname and the date of death—seem to be irretrievably obscured.
Here lies the body of Matth.
—— who departed this
life ———— in the 27th
year of his age.
Only a small part of the inscription on Mary Morgan’s tombstone is visible above ground, but again it is enough for us to recognize the craftsman instantly.
