The Stone Markers of the Cemetery

Stonecutter in Stone

Stonecutting, or stonemasonry, has existed for thousands of years. From cathedrals and cities to monuments and gravestones, carvers have worked to shape something of beauty from the stone around them.

Stonehenge

Taj Mahal

Some of the most famous stonemasonry includes the Egyptian Pyramids, the Taj Mahal, the Easter Island statues, and Stonehenge.

In the US, Vermont is known for its granite quarries and the work of its carvers can be seen in cemeteries throughout the state.

Rock of Ages Quarry

Such examples exist in Barre, Vermont, known as the “Granite Capital of the World,” and home to Rock of Ages Quarry, the largest deep hole granite quarry in the world.

Hope Cemetery Granite Stone

Granite Bi-Plane

Hope Cemetery in Barre is filled with over 10,000 tombstones and memorials, most carved from local Barre Grey granite. 

19th Century Stone Carvers

Stone Masons

By the close of the 19^th Century, skilled sculptures from around the world were coming to the US to become a part of the growing stonemasonry industry.

 

Although gravestones can be crafted from just about any material, there are three types of natural rock that can be carved and used for markers - igneous rock, metamorphic rock, and sedimentary rock.

Granite

Granite is an igneous intrusive rock consisting of mica, quartz and feldspar, usually ranging from pink to grey in color. It is a hard stone and one of the most difficult to carve requiring skill to sculpt by hand.

Alexander MacDonald

Kensal Green Cemetery

Alexander MacDonald of Aberdeen, Scotland carved the first polished granite tombstone using his invention of steam-powered cutting and dressing tools.  The stone was erected at Kensal Green Cemetery near London, England in 1833.

Queen Victoria & Prince Albert

Royal Mausoleum

During the next 50 years, MacDonald perfected his carving techniques on granite. The most prestigious granite monument was the Royal Mausoleum in England, located on the grounds of Frogmore, where Queen Victoria and Prince Albert are buried. MacDonald’s techniques were later discarded when better machinery became available in the 1880s.

Metamorphic Rocks

Metamorphic rocks make up a large part of the earth’s surface and include marble, slate and quartzite. Gravestones are usually fashioned from marble and slate.




Marble is a recrystallized form of limestone and 

Carrera Quary

Block of Marble

is easy to carve. Marble can range in color from blue/black to white depending on what part of the world it comes from. Italy is known for its Carrera marble- a white or bluish gray color. Sweden produces a green marble, while Tuscan marble can range from red to yellow with violet in it. Pure white marble can be found in Greece and near Marble, Colorado in the US.

Marble Soldier

Older Marble

Marble monuments and gravestones became popular during the early part of the 19th Century. Unfortunately, acid rain can cause damage to the stones over time, making the inscriptions difficult to read.

Slate

Slate is the finest grained metamorphic rock. Although very strong, it has a tendency to split. Slate is usually gray in color, but can also be purple, green or a combination of the two.

Slate Gravestone

Slate was commonly used for monuments and gravestones, and when carved carefully a slate marker can have very sharp details.

Slate Quarry

Slate quarries could be found in the US in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Vermont and New York, sometimes referred to as Slate Valley.

St Peter's Cathedral

Sedimentary Quarry

Sedimentary stone can be limestone or sandstone. Most of the world’s most famous buildings have been built with these rocks including St Peter’s Cathedral, and the Roman Arena in Italy, the cliff dwellings in Colorado, and practically the entire town of Hot Springs, South Dakota.

Indiana

Limestone comes from all over the world, but Lawrence County Indiana is known as having the highest quality quarried limestone in the US.

National Cathedral

Indiana limestone was also used for bridges, statues, memorials and buildings, most notably the Empire State Building, the National Cathedral, Biltmore Estates and the United States Holocaust Museum.

Older Limestone Marker

Older Limestone Grave Marker

During the 19^th and 20^th centuries, limestone monuments, mausoleums and gravestones were very popular, but after the discovery of the effect of acid rain on the stone, limestone is not used nearly as much.

Limestone Marker for a Carver

WW I Soldier in Limestone

For some excellent examples of limestone grave markers a visit to Green Hill Cemetery in Bedford Indiana is in order. Hundreds of carvings, statues, sculptures and engravings exist in minute detail, thanks to limestone’s ability to weather well

Federal Reserve Bank in Sandstone

Sandstone Quarry

Sandstone can also be found worldwide, usually around bodies of water or desert areas with sand. Composed of sand-sized minerals and rock grains, it has been used to build palaces and buildings; Ohio sandstone was used in the construction of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Sandstone Grave Marker

Sandstone is resistive to the elements but easy to carve making it a favorite of carvers for gravestones during the 17^th to 19^th Centuries.

Lettered Fieldstone

Fieldstone with Initials and Date

Fieldstone is just that, stone found in a nearby field or woods that is used to mark a grave. These were some of our earliest grave markers. In later times, those who could not afford to purchase a gravestone used fieldstone. Many times the deceased’s name and date of death was carved into the rock, but due to the elements and time, most inscriptions are difficult to red, if they remain at all.

Stone markers are just another reason wandering through a cemetery can be such an adventure, and a delight. Especially when you hope to "leave no stone unturned."

~ Joy

Grave Markers Ordered From Catalogs

Hand Carved Stone Marker

Mass Manufactured Stone

 Grave markers are the oldest form of funerary art. They have been used to mark burial locations since Celtic and Roman times.  Gravestones and memorials differ widely depending on where they are located, the status of the person buried there, when they were erected, and if they were hand carved or ordered from a catalog.

Vermont Marble Company

Flint Granite Company

When someone died, the family usually went to the local stone carver to arrange for a grave marker to be made. Those who could afford it might order markers directly from stone quarries and monument companies in other states, possibly New Hampshire or Michigan for the best blue granite, or Vermont for exceptional marble.  By ordering from the source of the stone, customers felt they were getting the best stone available.

Monument with Statue

Family Mausoleum

Affluent residents of the 1800’s through the 1920’s might have their graves marked with a large obelisk monument, a memorial with a statue, or a family mausoleum.  Ornate and elaborate grave markers could tell the story of the deceased, or showcase the family’s wealth.

Abandoned Quarry

Inside a Quarry

Markers were made from several types of stone including, field, slate, limestone, marble, and granite. Some were also created from metals such as zinc (White Bronze) or iron. Marble and granite were the most popular and durable of the stones used.  Stone markers were quarried; hand carved with hammers and chisels, polished and then shipped to the local monument company or cemetery.

Sears Roebuck Catalog

Price Information

In 1902, Sears Roebuck offered a Tombstones and Monuments catalog from which anyone could select a grave marker.  This put a reasonably priced, custom-ordered gravestone within the reach of almost everyone.

 

Workmanship Guarantee

Information on a product

Sears included a statement in the catalog that the stone used and the workmanship were both on par with the more exclusive monument and stone companies, but the prices were less expensive.  However, Sears requested that the stone be paid for in full before being shipped.

Marker for $4.88

In the 1902 catalog, Sears Roebuck prices began at $4.88 for a basic marker (without lettering, embellishments, larger stone orders, or shipping.) Sears also touted that their prices could be up to $150 less than those of a home monument company or stone carver.  The idea of ordering by catalog caught on and many people began planning what they wanted their stones to say and deciding on which one they wanted.

Catalog Tree Stone

Options Available

The Sears Roebuck catalog offered a wide variety of products to choose from. Customers could select Blue Vein Marble from Vermont or White Acme Rutland Italian Marble; granite markers were also quarried in Vermont. Upright stones and those with some small sculptures were available. Even tree stone markers could be ordered, although the more ornate stones with statues, obelisks and mausoleums were not obtainable through the Sears Roebuck catalog.

Montgomery Wards Catalog

Montgomery Wards also offered a catalog of Monuments, Tombstones and Markers.  While Sears requested payment in full before shipping, Montgomery Wards offered an easy payment plan so that “You need not leave the grave of your loved one unmarked just because you haven’t the money to pay the full price of a memorial stone.”

Red Barre Granite Markers

Symbols & Emblems

Montgomery Wards also offered stones carved in Blue Vein Marble from Vermont, along with Red or Gray Barre Vermont granite.  Lettering, symbols, and embalms were an extra charge, as were large stones, and shipping costs.

The Portrait Eternal stone was available in 1929 on which to preserve the “Likeness of Loved Ones” with a photo.

Fencing, Benches and Vases

 In the 1929 catalog, Montgomery Wards also offered iron fencing for the cemetery lot, wrought steel benches, and cemetery flower vases.

Description of Granite

J.E. Harrison & Son

Many stone and/or monument companies followed suit, offering catalogs to showcase what memorials were available and what the prices were.  Most catalogs offered marble and granite stones.

White Bronze marker

Monumental Bronze Company

The Monumental Bronze Company also offered grave markers for sale, but these consisted of their custom line of White Bronze markers.  These grave monuments were cast individually from zinc.  Each monument was made to order, then assembled and shipped from one of the company’s manufacturing plants. Sales of White Bronze monuments were popular from the 1880’s to 1914.

By the 1930’s, catalog sales of grave markers had decreased significantly.  During the Depression and war years, many people could not afford hand carved, or even mass manufactured stones.  The only option for many was to create a home-made grave marker by pouring concrete in a frame, or painting the deceased’s on a rock.

Laser Stencil

By the late 1960’s, stone carvers had become a thing of the past, and mass produced headstones were the norm.  But people no longer ordered them from catalogs.  They now went to the local monument company and selected from what stones were offered there.   

The era of individualist grave monuments; of small family mausoleums, soaring obelisks, and intricate statues was over. Catalog grave markers had heralded in a new age.

~ Joy