Tag: Poster Style

  • Morgans in Clinton Cemetery

    John Morgan, died 1852

    JOHN MORGAN
    DIED
    MAY 15, 1852
    AGED
    75 YEARS.

    A number of Morgans are buried in the Clinton Cemetery, and we are not sure how or whether they are all related.

    Elizabeth Morgan

    ELIZABETH
    WIFE OF
    JOHN MORGAN
    DIED
    DEC. 2, 1845(?)
    AGED — YEARS

    Lizzie Morgan, died 1847

    LIZZIE MORGAN
    DIED
    MAR 24 1847
    AGED
    25(?) YEARS.

    There are several broken tombstones in the cemetery leaning against other tombstones. This one belongs to Robert McCullough.

    Dr. Charles Morgan died 1852

    Dr. CHARLES MORGAN
    Died
    Mar. 31, 1852
    Aged 52 Years

    In a different light the epitaph might be more legible. It seems to begin “In all his excellent…,” but we could be completely wrong about that.

    Daniel Morgan, died 1867

    DANIEL MORGAN,
    DIED
    SEPT. 26, 1867,
    AGED 62 YEARS.

    Daniel Morgan

    The shallow inscription is eroded, so this is our best attempt at interpreting it:

    IN MEMORY OF
    DANIEL,
    SON OF
    JAMES & HANNAH MORGAN
    WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE
    DEC 5, 1850
    AGED
    18 YEARS, 3 MOS.
    & 16 DAYS.

  • John and Margaret Smith Tombstones, Clinton Cemetery

    John Smith tombstone

    JOHN SMITH
    Died May 17, 1851
    Aged 69 Years.

    John Smith was a veteran of the War of 1812; his tombstone is in a simple version of what old Pa Pitt calls the Poster Style, because it is very similar to printed posters of the same era.

    Bronze marker

    The bronze marker tells us that Private Smith served a little less than four months and was discharged before the war was over. Perhaps he was injured, but if so he got over it, married, and lived another 37 years after his discharge. His wife is buried beside him:

    Margaret Smith

    MARGARET
    Wife of
    JOHN SMITH
    Died July 15, 183?
    Aged — Years.

    The date of death is not quite legible. The year appears to be in the 1830s, though the tombstone is in the style of the 1850s and matches John’s. If the stone was put up years after Margaret’s death, then the age may have been left blank out of uncertainty and never filled in.

  • William Davis Tombstone, Bethel Cemetery

    William Davis

    If Father Pitt reads this eroded inscription correctly, this is a tombstone for a two-year-old child named William Davis, son of James and Eliza Davis, who died in 1848. The epitaph is almost certainly a poem, but illegible in this light. The tombstone itself is a restrained example of the middle-nineteenth-century style that old Pa Pitt calls the “poster style,” because it resembles the style of printed posters of the same era.

    This picture was taken in 2015.

  • The Poster Style in Bethel Cemetery

    EDWARD H. KELLEY,
    DIED
    May 27, 1849,
    In the 41 year
    of his age.

    In the 1840s and 1850s the style of tombstone old Pa Pitt likes to call “poster style” became popular—a style that resembles printed posters of the time. The stone is usually limestone, which is soft and easily eroded; so that many of these stones are almost illegible now.

    Bethel Cemetery has a good collection of poster-style tombstones, and this article will serve as a good introduction to the style.

    ELIZABETH MISSKELLY
    DIED
    Aug. 7, 1847
    in the 90th (?) year…
    [the rest is buried]

    HANNAH SAWYER
    DIED
    Nov. 2, 1849,
    In the 19 year
    of her age.

    MARY ? SAWYER
    DIED
    March 22, 1849
    In the 15 year
    of her age.

    ABAGAIL
    Wife of
    JOSEPH WOODS
    died March 20, 1850,
    in the 35 year of her age.

    Also an Infant son…

    MARY —?
    daughter of
    J. & A. WOODS
    died Jan — 18—?
    Aged 1 year…

    Died May 23, 1848
    Mrs SARAH WOODS
    WIFE OF
    Mr. JOHN WOODS
    in the 34 Year
    of her age.

    SARAH HICKMAN
    DIED
    Jan 18, 1848…

    ANN,
    wife of
    THOMAS MORROW,
    died July 26, 1849,
    in the 37 year
    of her age.

    ELIZABETH, PA.

    MARY,
    WIFE OF
    THOMAS MORROW
    BORN
    MAY 18, 1810,
    DIED
    MAY 26, 1858.

    JAMES KIDDOO
    DIED
    Sep. 20, 1823
    in the 61 Year
    of his age.

    We can see James’ wife Mary’s stone leaning against his; she died in 1847, and James’ stone was probably ordered at the same time as hers, since it is definitely in the style of the 1840s rather than the 1820s.

  • Maria Garrard Tombstone, Bethany Cemetery

    MARIA
    Wife
    of
    JOHN GARRARD
    DIED
    Aug 2, 1848(?)
    Aged ? Yrs.

    A good example of what old Pa Pitt calls the “poster style,” with each line in a different style of lettering. The limestone has softened too much for us to read the whole inscription. It looks as though there may have been a second name below the main inscription—perhaps an infant child.

    Father Pitt usually makes legibility his priority in photographing old tombstones, but the situation of this one, with the fallen tree behind it, demanded a more artistic treatment.