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

Bockscar - A Look Back at the Plane That Ended WW II

Mushroom Cloud

From August 6 through 9, 1945, the Allies bombed Japan with two atomic weapons, finally bringing the War in the Pacific, and World War II to an end.

Crew of the Enola Gay

It was Monday August 6, 1945 when the Allies dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. The bomb, nicknamed “Little Boy,” was dropped the Enola Gay, a Boeing B-29 Superfortress. Allied officials hoped that this would end the war. If not, Allied troops would invade Japan in November of 1945. (The Allies had estimated that casualties would range from 250,000 to over one million, if that occurred.)

Hiroshima Cloud

Devastation form Atomic Bomb

Although tremendous damage was inflicted, Japan refused to surrender, mistakenly thinking that the Allies only had one atomic bomb.

Bockscar

Three days later on August 9, a second atomic bomb was dropped on Japan, this time on the city of Nagasaki. The second bomb, nicknamed “Fat Man,” was dropped by a B-29 Superfortress called Bockscar.

B-29 Dropping Its Load

Both B-29 planes were part of the 393d Bombardment Squadron in the US Army Air Force (USAAF). 

Tibbets in Enola Gay

Although the Enola Gay and her captain, Paul Tibbets and crew, are remembered for dropping the bomb on Hiroshima, it was the second bomb, dropped by Bockscar that ended the war. But Bockscar was never scheduled to be the plane to drop the bomb!

The Great Artiste

Chuck Sweeney

The plane that was to have dropped “Fat Man” was called The Great Artiste, under the command of Major Charles “Chuck” Sweeney. The bombing run was scheduled to occur on August 11, but due to the probability of bad weather, the date was moved up to the 9^th. 

Bockscar's Crew

The Great Artiste was getting a new fuel tank installed and would not be ready in time for the advanced date. Officials decided to substitute Bockscar as the drop plane with Sweeney and his crew at the controls.

Map of Bombings

And the city of Nagasaki was not the original target. Instead, the industrial city of Kokura had been selected for the second bomb but due to poor visibility over that city on the morning of August 9^th, the bomb could not be dropped. Sweeney had been ordered not to release the bomb unless he could visually see the target. Since Kokura was obscured, Sweeney flew on to the back-up target, Nagasaki.

Nagasaki Mushroom Cloud

At 11:02 am the second atomic bomb, weighing over 10,000 pounds, and carrying highly enriched plutonium, plunged toward the earth. Just 43 seconds later the bomb detonated about 1,500 feet above the ground. In a blinding flash, more than 40% of Nagasaki was destroyed.

Hiroshima Damage Map

Bomb Damage

The death toll from both bombs was overwhelming. When Hiroshima (population 350,000) was hit, over 70,000 people were killed. But another 70,000 to 130,000 died during the next five years from radiation poisoning, burns or other injuries related to the bomb.

Nagasaki - One day later

In Nagasaki, a city of 270,000, the death toll was near 74,000 with another 75,000 injured. Hundreds of thousands more would die of the fallout and radiation poisoning in the coming years after the bombing.

War's End

Celebrating in the Streets

On August 14, 1945 Japan surrendered unconditionally. After four years of vicious warfare with the US(since Pearl Harbor), most Americans expressed no ethical quandaries about dropping two atomic bombs on Japan. Most took it in stride as a part of war and the necessary price to pay to end it.

National Museum of the US Air Force

Bockscar at the Museum

After the war, Bockscar returned to the US in November 1945. Just one year after dropping the nuclear weapon on Nagasaki, Bockscar was given to the National Museum of the US Air Force (US Air Force Museum) http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. She spent 15 years in storage at an airfield in Arizona before heading to her final home.

Plane With Fat Man Replica

Bockscar's Nose Art

On September 26, 1961 Bockscar made her last flight. Bockscar’s original markings and nose art were restored and she was put on permanent display, next to a replica of the bomb, “Fat Man” in the museum’s World War II Gallery.**

Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum

The bombings are also remembered in Japan. The Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum http://www.city.nagasaki.lg.jp/peace/english/abm was first opened in 1966 as a remembrance of the second atomic bomb dropped there. In 1996 a new building was completed in that city.

Peace Memorial Hall

The museum is home to exhibits, relics, and recordings of survivors who lived to tell their stories. Located next to the museum is the Nagasaki National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims http://www.peace-nagasaki.go.jp/english. The Memorial Hall was built in 2003 on ground zero.

Nagasaki- Before & After

Labyranth at Ground Zero Today

The Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum has summed up the historic happenings of 68 years ago best: “We also consider it our duty to ensure that the experience is not forgotten but passed on intact to future generations. It is imperative that we join hands with all peace-loving people around the world and strive together for the realization of lasting world peace.”

~ Joy

Cockpit

** As a volunteer and tour guide at the US Air Force Museum during the 1990’s, I was always amazed at the number of Japanese tourists who wished to visit Bockscar and be photographed with the plane. I have actually sat in the bombardier’s seat and looked through the bombsite. All those years later the atmosphere in that plane is still heavy, and the feeling when looking through that bombsite - chilling.

The Kiosk of Death at the Mall

 

The Mall

Now, it seems, you can have it all. One-stop lifetime shopping from baby clothes, to wedding supplies, to tax services, and funeral arrangements.

 

Earlier this year, a California funeral home, Forest Lawn Memorial Parks & Mortuaries,  http://www.forestlawn.com began placing kiosks in 4 southern California malls. 

Mall Shopping

The cart kiosks are low key, featuring urns, some with themes, to entice folks to stop and talk to the advanced planning representative that staffs the cart. Literature and brochures are also available and may be taken home and perused.

While at first the idea seems a tad unconventional, it’s really just another way of

reaching out to those who might want to pre-plan for death but can’t bring themselves to go to the funeral home or a cemetery.

But Forest Lawn is not the first funeral home to open a mall kiosk about death.  An Indianapolis, Indiana funeral home, Flanner & Buchanan Funeral Centers partnered with two Indianapolis area Simon Malls beginning in 2004 to provide unmanned kiosks to market their cremation services.

Flanner & Buchanan Kiosk

It proved to be very successful, not only in assisting people in making pre-need decisions but also in placing several sets of cremains in area cemeteries.

Cremation is now the fastest growing service for funeral homes, and having the ability to feature urns, photos of eco-green cemeteries, and cremation jewelry at a mall kiosk is an excellent strategy. It seems that most consumers view cremation as an alternative to a funeral. They don’t understand that a funeral service can still be held, and the cremated remains can also be placed in a cemetery plot.

Today, not only are funeral homes stepping out and becoming more visible, they are also starting to engage potential customers online through social media. Since the recession of 2009, funeral homes have seen a decline in the use of their services.

2013 Hearse

1960 Hearse

Not too surprising since the average cost of a “traditional” funeral has gone up about 940% in almost 50 years. According to the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) http://nfda.org, the cost of an adult funeral in 1960 was  $708. In 2009 (the last year figures were available) the cost was $6,560. Add the price of the cemetery vault ($1,195) and a funeral will now run around $7,700.

Donate to Science

New England Burials at Sea

Consumers are now looking for alternative methods to the traditional ‘burying their dead.’ Cremation is just one of these options, along with burial at sea and donating your body to science.

Crematory

And the cost of cremation is a relative bargain compared to a traditional funeral and burial. The average cost of a direct cremation (no service) is between $700 and $1,000, and that covers the cremation, urn, death certificate and taxes. Adding a funeral service, graveside service, or cemetery plot will cost extra, so plan accordingly.

In 1960 only 3.56% of those who died were cremated. As of 2011, 42% had chosen this alternative. That’s more than double the rate of cremations in 1995, and the Cremation Association of North America http://www.cremationassociation.org predicts that by 2050, over half (51.12%) of those who die will be cremated.

Mall Food Court

While it may seem a bit morbid or morose to some, it is just another opportunity for each of us to consider what we want to happen to our remains after death and provides a way for that conversation to begin; even if it is at the mall, over an Auntie Ann’s pretzel, – it’s still a beginning.

And as the band Semisonic sings in “Closing Time” -

“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end…”

How prophetic.

~ Joy