Pittsburgh Cemeteries

Tag: Romantic

  • Grace I. Bell Monument, Concord Presbyterian Cemetery

    Grace Bell monument

    Father Pitt is not entirely sure of the middle initial; the best he can say is that it looks more like an I than like any other letter he can think of. Here is a lavishly romantic monument typical of the taste of the middle 1800s, when Carrick was a country settlement along the road to Brownsville.

    Here is Father Pitt’s attempt at a transcription, but he would be delighted to be corrected, since the stone has eroded to the point where some parts are not easily legible.

    In memory of
    Grace I. Bell
    Wife of Samuel Wallace
    Died Aug. 27, 1862.
    In the 66. year of her age
    —
    Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord,
    From henceforth, yea, saith the Spirit,
    That they may rest from their labors.

    The epitaph is from Revelation 14:13. It leaves out the last words of the verse: “and their works do follow them.”

    To improve the chance of legibility, we reproduce the monument in both color and black and white.

  • Annie F. Wood Monument, Union Dale Cemetery

    Annie F. Wood monument

    A good example of the romantic style of the middle 1800s, which—as we can see here—lasted into the 1870s. These monuments were usually in marble or limestone, which erodes far too quickly in our climate—although it is often beautifully picturesque in its eroded state. This is Father Pitt’s best attempt at reading the inscription:

    ANNIE F. WOOD,
    WIFE OF
    ROBERT J. GRIER
    DIED MARCH 8, 1873
    IN THE 32 YEAR OF HER
    AGE.

    We are fairly certain of the name “Annie F. Wood,” but almost all the other readings are subject to amendment.

    There was also an epitaph in a kind of cartouche below the inscription, but it seems hopeless to try to interpret it now.

    Inscription

  • Martha Boyd Grave, St. Clair Cemetery

    Martha Boyd grave

    Two women in the Boyd family were given these bed-like romantic graves; the one for Irene Boyd is grander and more ornate, but this one is perhaps in better taste.

    Headstone
    Rear of the headstone

  • Sutton Monument, Union Dale Cemetery

    Sutton monument

    This glorious creation is what happens when monument makers design monuments the way illustrators imagine them: a very romantic interpretation of classical forms, including stylized Ionic capitals, swags, a shrouded urn, and classical foliage. Unfortunately the inscriptions have eroded into illegibility, but in certain lights some of the burial dates seem to be from the 1860s.

    The variation in colors is mostly the result of using two different cameras.

  • Irene Boyd Grave, St. Clair Cemetery

    Irene Boyd grave

    A particularly florid example of the romantic style that was popular in the middle 1800s. In its current state, it does not seem to have any dates for Irene Boyd: the name “Boyd” is on the back, and the name “Irene” on the front, with the rest of the stone given over to decorative elements. The footstone remembers a child, A. E. Boyd, who was born in 1855 and died in 1872.

    A. E. Boyd

    Inscription on the footstone.

    Back of the Irene Boyd monument

    The back of the headstone.

    Irene Boyd grave