Tag: Poster Style

  • 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.

  • W. H. Crawford Tombstone, Prospect Cemetery

    IN
    Memory of
    W.H. CRAWFORD,
    Who departed this life
    July 29, 1846,
    Aged 22 Yrs. 6 mos. 5 ds.

    A tombstone in the “poster style,” as Father Pitt likes to call it; this is probably one of the ones moved here from older graveyards.

  • Joseph McMurray Tombstone, Bethany Cemetery

    JOSEPH
    McMURRAY
    D i e d
    Sept. 16, 1839
    Aged 46 years
    10 mo. & 11 day

    An early example of the “poster style,” with each line in a different style of lettering.