Press Release: "Life in Stone"
Humans have an irrepressible urge to memorialize their personal and cultural history. For thousands of years, one of the more effective methods to do so has involved stone cutting. The Buxton-Hollis Historical Society’s program on Tuesday, September 20th, at 6:30 p.m., will feature Paul Barasel, who has been fascinated by and has studied gravestone carvings for more than forty years. He will illustrate how gravestones document human lives, social and cultural history, matters of life and death, and popular culture. We will also learn how the art of the stone carver can be further preserved by us today by “stone rubbing,” which creates an image of the person, places, and symbolic beliefs individualized and celebrated by each gravestone.
For example, the gravestone of one of the area’s most influential and earliest settlers, the Reverend Dr. Paul Coffin (buried in the South Buxton Cemetery), gives us the history of his most important accomplishments. Unfortunately, it is sparse on his personal life, except for verifying his birth and his death, so we may have to look to other gravestones in order to fill in the blanks. However, as a means of obtaining correct dates for historical and genealogical purposes, this stone is a clear expression of the life of a man who was “...a pious learned, and faithful Minister of Jesus Christ in this place for more than sixty years.”
Some of the saddest gravestones are those belonging to young children. Too often a family had to bury all or nearly all of their offspring. One such collection at Bear Hill Cemetery in Hollis has five little gravestones all in a row, and the family has no more children named after the last one died. From the dates on the stones, it seems probable that all of the children were sickened by one of the many virulent maladies such as influenza or whooping cough that we hardly consider a life-or-death matter now. Often cherubs graced these small memories.
Dr. Coffin’s gravestone has a lot of writing and very little embellishment. This may be more the exception rather than the rule of early stone gravestone carvers. Although the Puritans preached a life of plainness and absence of decoration, often the gravestones in the late 17th and early 18th centuries belied their Spartan ethic. Indeed, their gravestones were often quite fancy and full of symbolism, depending on the fashion, place, and date. We will have an opportunity to explore these apparent incongruities with Mr. Barasel, who will address gravestone funeral art styles and symbols from the early 1600s through the late 1880s on Tuesday. Refreshments will be served; suggested donations are $10 for adults and $8 for students and Seniors.
For example, the gravestone of one of the area’s most influential and earliest settlers, the Reverend Dr. Paul Coffin (buried in the South Buxton Cemetery), gives us the history of his most important accomplishments. Unfortunately, it is sparse on his personal life, except for verifying his birth and his death, so we may have to look to other gravestones in order to fill in the blanks. However, as a means of obtaining correct dates for historical and genealogical purposes, this stone is a clear expression of the life of a man who was “...a pious learned, and faithful Minister of Jesus Christ in this place for more than sixty years.”
Some of the saddest gravestones are those belonging to young children. Too often a family had to bury all or nearly all of their offspring. One such collection at Bear Hill Cemetery in Hollis has five little gravestones all in a row, and the family has no more children named after the last one died. From the dates on the stones, it seems probable that all of the children were sickened by one of the many virulent maladies such as influenza or whooping cough that we hardly consider a life-or-death matter now. Often cherubs graced these small memories.
Dr. Coffin’s gravestone has a lot of writing and very little embellishment. This may be more the exception rather than the rule of early stone gravestone carvers. Although the Puritans preached a life of plainness and absence of decoration, often the gravestones in the late 17th and early 18th centuries belied their Spartan ethic. Indeed, their gravestones were often quite fancy and full of symbolism, depending on the fashion, place, and date. We will have an opportunity to explore these apparent incongruities with Mr. Barasel, who will address gravestone funeral art styles and symbols from the early 1600s through the late 1880s on Tuesday. Refreshments will be served; suggested donations are $10 for adults and $8 for students and Seniors.