Broken but still mostly legible, except where the stone has flaked away toward the right. We are almost certain of the surname “Henry,” because the stone lies near several other members of the Henry family. Here is how we reconstruct the inscription:
[In] MEMORY OF Elizabeth Hen[ry] who departed t[his life] June 10th 1839 in t[he –] Year of her a[ge.]
—
Esteemed Deaugh[ter,] this silent grave Love and respect [?] shall ever have.
This epitaph, such as it is, seems to be an original composition; Father Pitt has not found it anywhere else on the Web. The spelling “deaughter” is not unusual for Western Pennsylvania tombstones.
An easily identified work of the Master of the Robinson Run Reliefs, whose trademarks are all present:
thistle decoration flanked by flowers
fan patterns in the corners
curled tail on the top of the lower-case g in age
“IN” in all capitals, “memory of” in all lower case, name in all upper case.
Interestingly, there is a Henry Huls buried in the Peters Creek Baptist Church Cemetery, whose tombstone is also by the Master of the Robinson Run Reliefs. We therefore know of at least three cemeteries in which this fine craftsman worked.
The inscription: IN memory of AMELIA HULS who departed this life April 16th 1836 in the 49 year of her age
The old Bethel Cemetery is full of Gillfillans (or Gilfillans), whose memorials are in all styles from the early settlers’ handmade tombstones to elaborate marble monuments from the middle 1800s.
IN
memory of
SARAH GILLFILLAN
Who departed this Life
March the 2nd 1818 aged
20 years.
IN Memory of ALEXANDER GILLFILLAN Who departed this Life Agust the 11th 1821 in the 27th year of his age.
SACRED to the memory of ALEX’R GILLFILLAN who departed this life Sep. 6th, 1836 in the 91st year of his AGE.
PVT 4 CO 2 PA BN WASHINGTON COUNTY MILITIA REVOLUTIONARY WAR 1745–1836
SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF MARTHA, Wife of ALEXANDER GILFILLAN who departed this life February 19th, 1840 In the 81st year of her age.
JOHN GILLFILLAN BORN JUNE 21, 1784 DIED JUNE 20, 1859. — “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.”
ALEXANDER SON OF JOHN & MARGARET GILLFILLAN Who died in Philada. Dec. 7, 1845 Reinterred in this place Jan 1, 1846 in the 26 year of his age. Resident[?] of Jefferson Medical College Philadelphia
IN MEMORY OF JOHN SON OF ANDREW B. AND ANN GILFILLAN WHO VOLUNTEERED IN THE SERVICE OF HIS COUNTRY SEPT. 1861. IN CO. E. 101ST REGT. PA. VOL. WAS WOUNDED AT THE BATTLE OF FAIR OAKS AND DIED JULY 1ST 1862, AGED 23 YEARS AND 11 DAYS.
Captain Philips, who fought in the Revolution, lived to see the fiftieth anniversary of American independence. He is identified as Revd. Philips on his tombstone, and he is buried in the Philips family plot, which is still separated from the hoi polloi by a metal rail. From this one stone we identify a new Master in our collection of folk artists who produced tombstones here two centuries ago: the Master of the Curly Numerals, identifiable by the curled decorations on his numbers. Note also the fine curly script of “The Revd.”
A newly identified work by the Master of the Robinson Run Reliefs, all of whose trademarks are visible here: the thistle decoration flanked by flowers, the fan patterns in the corners, and even the curled tail on the top of the lower-case g in age. Henry Huls was a private in the Revolutionary War; he is identified here as having served in the Washington County Militia, but that could only have been in the last few months of the war, since Washington County itself was formed in 1781.
