epitaphs

Tombstone Trivia
Unusual, Humorous, or Poignant
Epitaphs

"I think were passing through here kind of fast,
Did you think these tracks in the dust would last?"
....David Crosby

How shall I watch for thee when fears are stronger,
As night draws dark, and darker on the hill;
How shall I weep, when I can watch no longer,
Oh ! art thou absent, art thou absent still,
Linger not longer.

Hung for stealing horses that didn't exist
Here are the people responsible for this
Under that was the names of the jurors who convicted him.

As you pass by
and cast an eye
as you are now
so once was I.

I knew this was going to happen to me

Here lies Slip Mcvey
He would be here today
But bad whiskey and a fast gun
put him away

Here lies an atheist
All dressed up,
And no place to go

Here lies the body of Samuel Crane
He ran a race with a passenger train
He got to the crossing and almost across
Sam and his car was a total loss
Sams spirit now tolls his knell
That Sam is on his way to well
If he only took time to stop look and listen
He'd be living now instead of missing

Owen Moore has passed away
Owin' More than he could could pay

Pause, stranger, when you pass me by,
For as you are, so once was I.
As I am now, so will you be.
Then prepare unto death, and follow me.

I was Carolina Born
and Carolina bred
and here I lay
Carolina dead

She did what she could

I Told You I Was Sick Here Lies The Body Of A Man Who Died
Nobody Mourned - Nobody Cried
How He Lived - How He Fared
Nobody Knows - Nobody Cared

Ope'd my eyes
Took a peep.
Didn't like it
Went back to sleep.

We all have a debt
To nature due
I've paid mine
And so must you.

Solomon Pease --
Here under this sod, and under these trees
Is buried the body of Solomon Pease
But here in his hole lies only the pod,
His soul is shelled out, and gone up to God.

My friends draw near and ponder here
My body's in this grave;
And if you have a moment's time
Pray God your soul to save.

Arabella Young, 1771 --
Here lies as silent clay
Miss Arabella Young.
Who on the 21st of May,
Began to hold her tongue.

Grim death took me
without any warning.
I was well at night,
and dead in the morning. Anna Wallace --
The Children of Israel wanted bread
And the Lord sent them manna
Old clerk Wallace wanted a wife
And the Devil sent him Anna

Sacred to the memory of Jared Bates,
Who died Aug. the 6th, 1800.
His widow, aged 24, lives at 7 Elm Street,
Has every qualification for a good wife,
And longs to be comforted.

Affliction sore long times I bore
Physicians were in vain
Till death did seize and God did please
To ease me of my pain

These were her last words.
"He is my hope and all my dependence"

He looked
for gold
and died of
lead poison I left this world of woe
And all its present strife
To my saviors arms to go
And live a heavenly life
I left my friends behind to mourn
No more to them shall I return.

Here lies the bones of Private Jones
For whom War held no terrors.
A private then, a private now
No runs, No hits, just errors.

Naked as
from the earth we Came
and Crept to life at first
We to earth return again
and mingle With our Dust
The dear delights We here injoy
and fondly call our own
are but short Favours Borrow'd now
to be repay'd anon

Now tho; buried deep in dust,
My flesh shall be thy care
These withered limbs with thee I trust
To raise them strong and fair.

My Dear Friends as You Pass By
As You are Now, So Once Was I.
As I am Now, You Soon Must Be.
Prepare Yourselves to Follow Me.

Lovely and useful in life
Peaceful and happy in death. Wrapt in the shades of death
No more the friendly face we see
Empty ah empty every place
Once filled so well by thee. Sleep quiet here my child
Death can't us long divide
A few more rolling suns
Will lay me by they side.

Death like an overflowing stream,
Sweeps us away, our life's a dream
This lovely youth an opening flower
Cut down and withered in an hour.

Ere long thy mourning orphan children come,
To you their mother in this humble grave,
Then rise together clad in bright array
And soar to regions of immortal day.

Soft pillow'd on the Saviour's breast,
Decaying nature calmly dies,
While to the realms of endless rest
The welcome soul transported flies;
No more shall sorrow vex that soul,
No more shall sin and satan strive
To hire it from the peaceful fold
Where the dear lambs of Jesus live

Rest on thy Sheaves
Thy harvest work is done.

Stop here young friends and take a second view,
This dust beneath was once beloved like you,
Parental love, and nuptial were combined
To make life dear but she was well resigned
To leave these blessings for the courts above
Forever to enjoy a Savior's love. No more with us his tuneful voice
The hymn of praise shall swell
No more his cheerful heart rejoice
When peals the Sabbath bell.

Sudden He was called to go
And bid adieu to all below
Sudden the vital spirit fled
And he was numbered with the dead.

Here lies the tender active wife,
The friend and mother dear.
Whose sympathizing acts of life
Did oft the afflicted cheer. Some happy years, of happy birth
Were spent by me with friends on earth
Altho I'm gone to worlds unknown
I hope to meet you all again.

Death thou has conquered me,
I by thy dart am slain;
But Christ has conquered thee
And I shall rise again.

Return! Suppress the mournful sigh,
For she is happy, no more to die. Ah, little pleasant lovely boy,
Thy fathers hope thy mothers joy,
Why didst thou make no longer stay
Just steal our hearts and then away.

My flesh shall slumber in the ground
Till the last trumpet's joyful sound
Then burst the chains with sweet surprise
And in my Savior's image rise

This lovely bud so young and fair
Cal'd hence by early doom;
Just come to show how sweet a flower,
In Paradise would bloom. When I lie bury'd deep in dust,
My flesh shall be thy care;
These with'ring limbs with thee I trust,
To raise them strong and fair.

How blest is our friend now bereft
Of all that could burden her mind
How easy her soul that has left
This wearisome body behind.

In dust their relicks here repose,
Their joys and griefs are done;
The judgement day will full disclose,
The crowns which they have won. So fades the lovely blooming flower,
Frail smiling solace of an hour,
So soon our transient comforts fly,
And pleasure only blooms to die. "Quick flees the shadow, man!"
Though greedy worms devour my skin,
And gnaw my wasted flesh
When God shall build my bones again
He'll doth them all afresh.

Here in the silent grave I lie
No more the scenes of life to try
And you dear friends I leave behind
Must soon this gloomy mansion find.

Farewell but where thou art gone
Adieus & farewells are a sound unknown
May we but meet thee on that peacful shore
The parting words shaIl Pass our lips no more
Hail sweet repose by me desired
With pain and lingering sickness tired
Here shall I rest till (:hrist descends
To gather home his chosen friends. Thy gentle spirit now is fled,
Thy body in its earthly bed
Is laid in peaceful sleep,
A spirit pure and good as thine
Blessed in immortal scenes can shine
Though friends are left to weep.

Behold the sad impending stroke,
Which now arrests our eyes;
The silken band of union broke
A tender mother dies.

Behold a little prattling boy
His father's hope his mother's joy
Why should he make so short a stay
To steal our hearts & run away? Too dear for earth, her fleeting soul has fled
And claimed its kindred with the Godlike dead
O'er realms of everlasting bliss to roam,
And find in Heaven its long sought blissful home.

Hark from ye tombs a doleful sound
My ears attend the cry
Ye living men come view the ground
Where you must shortly lie.

The die is cast, my hope, my fear
My pain, my joy lies buried here,
And read'r you ere long must try
This dreaded change as well as I;
Nor can a curteous Ghost reveal
What I have felt, and you must feel.

It is well with me why dost thou weep,
As thou saw thy lov'd one in his last long sleep,
As thou, lingerest to gaze on my dwelling of clay
Forgetting my spirit in his white array.

Though not till ninety some retire
Yet monuments around declare
How vast the number who expire
While youth & beauty promise fair.

Frail as the leaves that quiver on the spray
Like them man flourishes like them decays. Alas the brittle clay
That built our body first
And every moment every day
'Tis moulderlng back to dust.

There is a world above
Where parting is unknown
A long eternity of love
Form'd for the good above
And faith beholds the dying here
Transplanted to that glorious sphere

To sect or party his large soul
Disdained to be confined
The good he loved of every name
And prayed for all mankind.

And on the lips the faint smile almost said:
None know lifes secret but the happy dead

Life's a tale,
An empty song.
Tis but a breath,
However long

Depart my friends wipe off your tears,
I must lie here till Christ appears, O, land of darkest shade
Pierc'd by human thought.
The dreary region of the dead,
Where all things are forgot.

Death gave to me a sudden call,
I have obeyed and so must all.

Farewell my Consort & my Friends
In peace on earth may you remain
Till Christ our Judge shall call us home
To meet with me in love again Friends & Physicians can not save
My Mortal body from the grave
Nor can the grave confine me here
When Christ doth call me to appear.

A pleasant child a morning flower
bent down and withered in an hour.

Here lies Lester Moore
four shots from a .44
No Les-no more Oh, senseless stone, how vain to boast
Or tell, here mortal relics lies;
All guardian angels valued most;
Now claims its mansion in the skies.

A wife, a Friend, a Mother Deir
with her deer Babe Lies buryed here
In bloom of Life and Useful days
The summons Came ye Soul Obeys.

If to be useful is our beings end and aim,
Then this high excellence, our friend might claim.
For this she lived, for this she spent her breath,
Nor ceased her acts of kindness, but with death. The rising morn cannot insure,
That we shall end the day,
For death stands ready at the door,
To snatch our lives away

Sweet Babes;
They tasted of life's bitter cup
Refused to drink the portion up
But turned their little heads aside,
Disgusted with the taste and died.

I with my offspring here securely rest,
God takes or leaves our comforts as is best.
Prepare my friends, to meet me on that shore
Where soul bereavements shall be felt no more. The grave of all his saints be blest
And softened every bed
Where should the dying members rest,
But with the dying head.

In the midst of life we are in death

A soul prepared needs no delay
The summon comes ye must obey
Swift was his race to his abode
He closed his Eyes to see his God. Death is a debt to Nature due,
Which I have paid and so must you

Hear lies cut down in youth,
One who loved & obeyed the truth
As you pass by, Look on & see
Prepare for death and follow me.

Time cuts down all both great & small. As runs the glass Mans life doth pass

In faith he dy'd in Dust he lies,
But faith foresees that Dust shall rise,
When Jesus calls while hope assumes
And bursts her Joye among the tombs

Thou wast cut down in Bloom of life
A faithful friend & Loving Wife
A tender Mother good & Kind
With her sweet Babe by Death consined The memory of ye Just is Blessed.
Oh! what is frail and Mortal Man
Or any of his Dying race,
That God should think to entertain
And freely save him by his Grace.

This languishing head is at rest
Its thinkings and achings are o'er
This quiet unmovable breast
Is heaved by afflictions no more.

She long'd the day, to go the way
Where all the living must.
And wished the hour of Sovereign Power
To turn to native dust.
By faith she lived in faith she dy'd
Left much behind to teach
Her husband near, & daughter dear,
Such things as none can preach. Farewell my friends and children dear
I've left this world of pain
May virtue be your practice here
Till we do meet again

In prosp'rous life, he felt deaths heavy stroke
Yet, calmly bow'd to what the Lord had spoke;
And left the church, a wife & children dear;
To mourn their loss while he's no longer hear.

'Tis but a few whose days amount
To threescore years and ten
And all beyond that short account
Is sorrow toil, and pain. After this I looked and behold a door was oppened in heaven;
and the first voice which I heard said come up hither.
And there shall no wise enter into it any, --
but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.

These words he said Prepare for Death and follow me

Heaven kind hath called thee hence away,
To yon bright world where shines eternal day
Not slow mine eye to drop a tear nor slow my heart
To feel a paining as we assunder part.

Friends nor physicians could not save,
My mortal body from the grave;
Nor can the grave confine me here
When Christ shall call me to appear.

Adiew my children dear a long adiew.
On earth I could no longer stay with you.
May virtue and piety be your practice here,
And at length in heaven may we all appear. Here lies the husband and a parent dear
In sweet repose till Jesus doth appear

Friends & Physicians could not save
My mortal body from the grave,
Nor can ye grave confine me here
I shall arise when Christ commands me to appear.

Beneath those clods in silent sleep,
Behold her body lies;
Surviving friends forbear to weep,
For virtue never dies Farewell my child and partner dear,
I've left this world of pain;
May virtue he your practice here
Till we do meet again.

I am not lost my dust shall rise
When the great Trumpet Shakes the skies

Consider my Friends
Wipe off your tears
I must lie here
Till Christ appear The rising morn can not ensue
That we shall end the day.

Mortals be dumb. what creature dares
Dispute God's righteous will;
Ask no account of his affairs,
But tremble and be still.

My time is spent my days are past
Eternity must count the rest
My glass is out my race is run
The holy will of God be done Here I shall rest in peaceful Sleep
Free fiom all care and pain,
Surviving friends forbear to weep
For we shall meet again.

Here sleeps the husband & the partner dear
Beneath those clods till Jesus shall appear
Surviving friends prepare with him to lie
Improve the present moments as they fly.

We'll ever hold thy memory dear,
As through this vale we tread,
And bow submissive to that power,
That laid thee with the dead. Hail sweet repose by me desired
With pain and lingering sickness tired
Here shall I rest till Christ descends
To gather home his chosen friends.

The Church his memory will revere
And friends come round to drop a tear
While the imortal part above
Exalts in realms of endless love.

Sweet is that truth I shall arise
And see my Savior with my eyes
Though worms this body now destroy
The sublime part finds sweet employ Stop here young friends & read these lines
Improve this solemn call
Perhaps your morning sun will set
And you like me will fall.

In the agonies of death These words she spake,
Rejoice in the Lord And again I say Rejoice
The sweet remembrance of the just
Shall flourish when they sleep in dust

Just stepping forward on the acting stage
A studious only Son in youthful age
But soon his friends with their instructions kind
He leaves & is by deaths cold hand confined. Ma Loved Pa,
Pa Loved Women,
Ma caught Pa with one in swimmin..
Here Lies Pa

Cease friends to weep, your flowing tears refrain,
Hush every murmur, check every rising sigh,
Your transient loss is my eternal gain
Prepare to follow, all were born to die.

Of such is the kingdom of Heaven. Father I give my spirit up
And trust it to thy care
My dying flesh shall rest above
And rise at thy command

Trancient and vain have proved the hope
Which thy short life could give
But thou dear babe in realms of bliss
With Christ shall ever live

The aged father now completes his race
To meet his partner in that happy place. Our days alas ! our mortal days
Are short and painful too;
Evil and few the patriarch says
And well the patriarch knew.

No age from death can fly
No friends but what must part;
Death will dissolve the tenderest tie,
Thats found within the heart.

A tender husband and a parent kind
Is gone we hope where happy souls are joyned
to sing the wonderous love
in the bright realms of perfect rest above
When the archangel calls ye dead arise
death will no longer close our sealed eyes. My honored parents are you well
My Jesus doth me call
I leave you here with God
To meet you once for all.

Nothing could death this happy pair divide
Serene she slumbers by her partners side
Let faith converse with her on yonder shore,
Where sin and sorrow can invade no more
May all her friends to follow her prepare
Where Christ has told us many mansions are.

The memory of the just
Shall flourish
When they sleep in dust. In early life I'm called to go
My work on earth is done
With joy I'll part with all below
In Christ my heavenly home.

Decay ye tenements of dust
Pillars/of earthly pride decay
A noble mansion waits the just
And Jesus has prepared the way

Beautiful flower of the fragrant spring
Too Precious for earths barren Clay
An angel hath borne thee away on his wings
To the garden of God undifiled. Mysterious are the works of God,
And thy ways past finding out.
In haste I leave my earthly friends
To mourn and ponder out the change. Beneath these clods in silent sleep
Behold her body lies
Surviving friends forbear to weep
For virtue never dies.

I take these little lambs said he,
And fold them to my breast,
Protection they shall find in me
In me be ever blest.

Death could not long this pair divide
Serene I'm sleeping by my partners side,
Weep not my children that we've left you here,
>But trust in God and you have nought to fear.
Let not for her our tears be shed
For blessed are the holy dead
Ah weep for those that still remain
Subject to sorrow sin and pain. Lo where the silent marble weeps
A Friend, a Son, a Brother sleeps
A heart within whose sacred cell
The peaceful virtues loved to dwell.

This Marble marks thy couch of lowly sleep
And living statues here are seen to weep;
Afflictions semblance bends not o'er thy tomb
Afflictions self deplores thy early doom.

Fond were the hopes thy parents raised
But few have been thy mortal days. Here lies cut down in bloom of youth
A pleasant and obedient youth
Let this a warning be to all
To be prepared when death doth call.

Come hither mortals cast an eye
Then go thy way prepare to die
Think on thy doom for die thou must
One day like me be turned to dust

Youth blooming high
Was born to die. Dear as thou wert and justly dear
We would not weep for thee
One thought shall check the starting tear
It is that thou art free.

Deep in the grave thy faults sball ever slecp;
Deep in our hearts thy virtues ever live;
Here friendship sighs here fond affeotion weeps.
Tears are the noblest token, we can give

All on earth is a shadow,
All beyond is substance. Loved Child farewell thy early doom
Shall love & trutb & friendship weep;
Affections tears bedew thy tomb,
Where low thy mouldering ashes sleep.

Laid in the grave I must abide
Thus sleeping by my sisters side
Go home my friends and cease your tears
We must lie here till Christ appeal's.

Could grateful love recall the fleeting breath,
Or fond affection soothe relentless death
Then had this stone ne'er drained a social tear,
Nor read to thougtless man a lesson here. The time is short, the season near,
When death will you remove:
To leave your friends however dear
And those you fondly love. ,

This early bud so young and fair,
CalI'd hence by early doom,
Just come to show how sweet a flower
In paradise might bloom.

My loving children all draw near,
Perhaps mv death deserves your tears.
Here rests my frame in this cold ground
Where all of you may soon be found. I with my offspring here securely rest,
God takes or leaves as he sees best
Prepare my friends to meet me on that shore,
Where sad bereavements will he felt no more.

Behold my grave as you pass by
As you are now so once was I;
Death suddenly took hold of me
And so the case of you may be

Could he speak from where he's sleeping,
And his joyous feelings tell,
He would say my partner cease your weeping,
Back I would not come to dwell.

She in agony of spirit;
When she saw that none could save,
Said my friends I bid you farewell,
Till we meet beyond the grave.

Oh thou little smiling cherub,
Though on earth thy stay was short
Yet in memory dust thou linger
And forget thee, I shall not Consoling thought, dear parents dry up your tears
For I am gone beyond your anxious fears;
Weep not for me, my tears are wiped away
I've paid the debt which son must surely pay

Here lies his head upon the lap of earth
A youth to fortune and to fame unknown
Fair science frowned not on his humble birth
And melancholy marked him for her own

Depart my friends dry up your tears,
I shall rest here till Christ appears.
The Clouds dispelled the stormy dangers past;
And I've attained the peaceful shore at last ! To Jesus, make your sorrows known,
And banish all your fears,
His hand will raise your sinking hope,
And wipe away your tears.

Let worms devour my wasting flesh,
And crumble all my bones to dust
My God shall raise my frame anew,
At the revival of the just.

Receive oh earth this faded form
In thy cold bosom let it lie,
Safe let it rest from every storm
Soon must it rise no more to die. Death is a debt to nature due
Which I have paid and so must you.

Why do we mourn departing Friends!
Or shake at Death's alarms
Tis but the voice that Jesus sends
To call them to his Arms.

O how I love thy holy law
Tis daily my delight Father I give my spirit up,
And trust it in thy Hand
My dying flesh shall rest in Hope
And rise at thy command

In vain our fancy strives to paint
The moments after death
The glories that surround the saint
When yielding up his breath.

While pity prompts the rising sigh
Oh may this truth impressed
With awful power I too must die
Sink deep in every breast. Rest no sorrow can befall you
Mingle with the valley's clod
Rest till Christ your judge shall call you
Call you to approach your God.

One gentle sigh her fetters break,
We scarce can say she's gone;
Before her willing spirit takes,
Its mansions near the throne.

Well burn me or hang me
I will stand in the truth of Christ
(convicted "witch" George Jacobs
Salem, MA 1692) Earth's highest ends in Here he lies
And "dust to dust" concludes her noblest power
Loose then from earth the grasp of fond desire
Weigh anchor and some happier clime explore.

Stop passenger as you go by,
And view the grave wherein I lie,
And be prepar'd to follow me
And lay your body in the clay.
My friend, when you do read these lines
I hope you'll bear it in your minds
How instantly that I did die
And went into eternity.

Soft is the sleep of saints, in peace they lie,
They rest in silence, but they never die;
From these dark graves, their flesh refined shall rise
And in immortal bloom ascend the skies.
Then shall thine eyes, dear BLUNT! thine hands, thy tongue--
In nicer harmony each member strung--
Resume their warm devotion, and adore
Him, in whose service, they were joined before Released from cares, at rest she lies,
Where peaceful slumbers close her eyes.
Her Faith all trials did endure,
Like a strong pillar, firm and sure.
Did adverse winds tempestuous roll?
Hope was the Anchor of the soul.
We, by the Olive in her hand,
Her peaceful end may understand.
And by the Coronet is shown,
Virtue, at last, shall wear the Crown

Fold her, O Father in thine arms
And let her henceforth be
A messenger of love between
Our human hearts and Thee.

Cemetery Symbolism

Table of Contents

Back to Phipps Family Pages

A WORK IN PROGRESS!

If you have comments or suggestions, e-mail me at walkers@vaix.net

This page created with Netscape Navigator Gold