EXPLORING SIX DIFFERENT TYPES OF STONES USED FOR GRAVES

If you’ve spent much time in a cemetery, you know that not all grave markers are the same. Today, we'll take a look at six types of stone you will find in a graveyard.

 

Types of Headstones

1)  Fieldstone (1600s – Present)

Fieldstones were the earliest types of grave markers used from 1600s to the present. Besides being plentiful, these rocks could be carved, chiseled or painted with a name, dates and other information. The main problem was that over the decades, the stones get moved so many might not be where they were originally placed. You will still find fieldstones in cemeteries. They became popular again during the Great Depression when families could not afford markers.

 

2)  Slate (1600s – 1900s)

Slate was very popular, mainly in the eastern U.S. during the 18th to the 20th centuries. One of the reasons is because the stone is easy to carve. Slate can withstand freezing and thawing fairly well, which is why we can still read them. And acid rain appears to have a minimal effect. But due to the stone’s porousness, it is subject to delamination, which means it separates into sheets and falls away.

 

3)  Sandstone (1650s – late 1800s)

Sandstone was another stone that carvers used from the 1650s to the late 1800s. It was easy to decorate and was available around the country. The stone's color may range from red to light tan to brown to grey. The problem with this stone includes spalling and flaking. This is where pieces chip off the stone making the surface uneven, hard to read and encourages  the growth of lichen.

 

4)  Limestone (mid-1700s – 1930s)

Limestone was favored in the Midwest from the mid-1700s to the Great Depression because of its availability and ease of carving. This stone is made up of calcite and calcium carbonate. These small particles are composed of fossils held together by a lime cement.

Although visually appealing, this soft stone is severely affected by weathering, which causes pitting and that slowly wears the details of the stone away. This also causes the letters to dissolve over time. Tree stones were usually crafted from limestone and were a very popular marker in the Midwest.

 

5)  Marble (1780s – 1930s)

Marble has been used for centuries due to its strength and beautiful appearance. In the U.S. marble gravestones were popular from the 1780s through the 1930s. The stone is usually white with blue or grey veins running through it but can also be black with white veins. When you rub your hand over marble, it feels like sandpaper.

But marble began to fall out of favor when weathering made it difficult to read. Acid rain has become the main enemy of this stone causing the surface to become grainy and the lettering on the stone to slowly fade away.

 

6)  Granite (mid-1800s – present)

Granite is the most durable of gravestones, and currently, the most popular. With use mainly from the mid-1800s to the present, these gravestones can be red or grey in color. The red stones contain a small amount of oxidized iron. Granite that ranges from bright red to pink in color usually come from Missouri, and the darker red stones are from Wisconsin. Grey stones are quarried mainly in New Hampshire. Granite lettering is resistant to deterioration, and the stone does not erode. Modern techniques make it easy to carve, and lasers allow etching of personal images to tell your life’s story.

 

And then there's the marker that isn't really a stone but still prevalent in cemeteries across the country: 

Bonus - White Bronze (Zinc) (1880s – 1920s)

“Tombstone Tourists” will be familiar with another type of gravestone made of white bronze or zinc. Although not white, and not made of bronze, these memorials are usually very detailed, always different, and found in very good to excellent condition. White bronze monuments are easy to spot once you start looking for their telltale bluish-grey color.

White bronze monuments offered a less expensive alternative for a custom designed and detailed grave marker.  But there were those who looked down on the white bronze marker as being a cheap imitation of a solid granite stone.  Some cemeteries even banned them, many times due to the urging of local granite and marble monument companies. This is part of the reason they had such a short life, only from the 1880s to the 1920s. 

These monuments weathered well but they did have one flaw – creep. This occurs when the weight of the top of the monument bears down onto the base and it begins to bow or bulge – very slowly, over the years.  The only way to rectify this is to place a stainless-steel armature inside the base of this hollow marker to help support the upper weight.

 

Regardless of what type of stone you decide on, be sure to put a little of your story on the marker with carvings, images or symbols. Leave something for the coming generations to consider and enjoy when they wander the cemeteries.

~ Joy

 

 

 

A Dying Art: Stone Carvers of the Cemetery

Cave Petroglyphs

Art has always been a part of our society; a part of what makes us human, and stone carvers are the oldest artists in the world. Their petroglyphs and carvings can be found on cave walls and stones around the globe.

Venus of Berekhat Ram

What is thought to be the oldest carved stone is known as the Venus of Berekhat Ram. Shaped like a female figure, this prehistoric stone is at least 230,000 years old and may have been carved by Homo erectus.

Carborundum

Early stone carvings were made using a harder stone to “carve” on a softer stone. The Ancient Greeks developed a technique where granules of carborundum (Silicon carbide - SiC) were formed into an abrasive file, which could then be used to scrape forms or designs on stone.

Indiana Limestone Quarry

Chisel Carving Tools

With the development of iron, carving tools were created and tempered so that stone could be shaped and cut without damaging the tools or destroying the stone. Gravestones could be crafted from granite, limestone, marble, slate, even metal.

The halcyon days of gravestone carving in the U.S. began during the 19^th century and continued into the 1920s. It was during this period that gravestone sculptors chiseled, rasped and carved with such proficiency that “cemetery stone carver” became a well-respected profession in America.  Carving grave markers gave these men a way to express their artistic talents, and earn a living. Many monument and gravestone sculptors were proud of their designs, and signed their works. 

The size of the mausoleums, grave sculpture, or stone mattered in the cemetery because it indicated a person’s wealth and status in that community. But well carved cemetery markers were not just for the rich – some of the most poignant examples were carved by local craftsmen as can be seen in the abundance of tree stones, statues and monuments carved around the country.

Indiana Stone Carvers

Stone carvers arrived in the U.S. and gravitated to certain areas of the country where quarries and work were plentiful – mainly in New England – in Vermont, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. Numerous stone carvers from Ireland, Scotland, France, Germany and Italy made their way to the U.S. during the 1800s, intent to settle here and carve stories in stone.

Limestone Quarry

Another destination for stone carvers was in Lawrence County, Indiana, and the town of Bedford, located in the heart of limestone country; the “Limestone Capital of the World.”

A Favorite Hat

A Stone Carver's Table on the Day He Died

The work of numerous stone carvers can be seen at Green Hill Cemetery in Bedford.  Hundreds of carvings, statues, sculptures and engravings exist in minute detail, thanks to the limestone’s ability to weather well.

Many of those stone carvers are now buried here near the Stone Cutters Monument, erected by the Bedford Stone Cutters Association in 1894.

Bedford Stone Carvers Monument

The monument shows a late 19^th century stonecutter, holding a mallet in his hand.  Clasped hands are shown on the front of the monument, beneath it’s gabled roof.  The other three sides bear the carved images of a hand with a mallet, a sexton and square, and a grouping of stonecutting tools.

Water Jet

Oxy-acetylene Torch

Today, “carving” on gravestones is done using water erosion and diamond saw cutting techniques, lasers, oxy-acetylene torches or jet heat torches.

Karin Sprague Stone Carvers

John Stevens Shop

Unfortunately, the art of stone carving by hand is vanishing from American cemeteries. Only a handful of stone carvers remain, most located in New England. Among them are The John Stevens Shop http://www.johnstevensshop.com, Karin Sprague Stone Carvers http://www.karinsprague.com, Custom Memorials (Michael Fannin, Stone Carver) http://www.custommemorials.com, Words Too Big To Read (Allison Blake Schofield, Stone Carver) http://www.wordstoobigtoread.com, and Anderson Memorials (Jeff Anderson, Stone Carver) http://www.andersonmemorialsinc.com.

Although a monument or marker cut with laser and die does a satisfactory job, a hand-carved stone has a more intimate feel, and offers a very personal way to remember a loved one. Hand carved stones give us a way to bridge the past and future - as stone carvers cut and shape each individual grave marker, one small chip at a time …

~ Joy