A Cult of Memory

It snowed on Thursday!  

I finished my database last Thursday, along with all the queries, reports, and forms that go with it. In addition to working on the database, I have been spending a lot of time reading sources

View from the vestry window facing north. 
Snow covered the cemetery in a light blanket by the end of the day. 

regarding Victorian era monument details and materials and attitudes and behaviours about death. One interesting aspect of  Victorian era mourning is the emergence of a  "cult of memory" (Aries in Smith 1987, p. 85). Before the Victorian era, attitudes around death focused on the imminency of death and the need to strive for your soul's salvation. This resulted in many monuments speaking directly to the immorality of the deceased or being particularly blunt about the permanence of death (Smith 1987, p. 85; Gillion 1972, p. vii). For example, one monument's inscription from the 18th century identifies the deceased as a "dirty liar"(Gillion 1972, p. vii)  While not all monuments would have been so directly moralising, the direct and blunt nature of monument inscriptions changed in the Victorian era. Epitaphs began to shirk the finality of death, often stating the deceased "sleeps" or is "at rest." Other epitaphs speak to how loved the deceased were and reflect the survivors' need for consolation (Gillion 1972, p. vii; Smith 1987, p. 85). Monument materials also changed, shifting from the ever-present grey slate to white marble (Gillion 1972, p. vii). Overall, Victorian era monuments and the inscriptions upon them reflect this cult of memory, and often speak to a survivor's need to venerate the dead in an effort to comfort themselves (Smith 1987, p. 85).

Sarah Pope's monument. This epitaph is a religious hymn and illustrates the idea of death as slumber, rather than a permanent end. It reads: "O for the death of thoes [sic]/ Who slumber in the Lord./ O be like theirs my last repose/ Like theirs my last reward."

As I read into this, I noticed that the epitaphs present at St. Stephen's definitely followed this trend. While many monuments did not include inscriptions other than those identifying the deceased, those that did spoke of the deceased in a loving, endearing way, often speaking to the idea that the dead merely slumber or have gone on to live in heaven. These epitaphs reject the permanence of death and speak about the deceased in a sentimental way that would comfort survivors. Some examples of this include: " Sleep on sweet babe/ And take thy rest/ God called thee home/ He thought it best"; "His toils are past, His work is done./ And he is fully blest, He fought the fight/The Victory won, and enters into rest";  "O for the death of thoes [sic]/ Who slumber in the Lord./ O be like theirs my last repose/ Like

Mary Watson's monument. The epitaph on this reads: "She is
not dead, but sleepeth." Perhaps one of the most obvious
epitaphs rejecting the notion of a permanent death. 

theirs my last reward."; "Come Unto Me All Ye That/ Labour And Are Heavy Laden And/ I Will Give You Rest"; and most obviously "She is not dead, but sleepeth." Even hymns or bible verses chosen often speak to the concept of sleeping or resting, as the third and fourth epitaphs in the list above. One last epitaph I will highlight here is on a  monument marking the burial of a young wife: "An angel while on/ Earth, She is waiting/ now in Heaven." A simple, yet poignant epitaph, which suggests that although the deceased has left this life, she waits in Heaven for her loved ones. The Victorian trend of venerating the dead seems to be very much present at St. Stephen's Cemetery and it speaks to the desire and need for consolation and positive remembrance after the death of a loved one. A book made for memorial dealers in 1947 states that "[m]onuments are for the living and they fail of their purpose if they do not inspire reverence, faith and hope" and that a "cemetery memorial should be a source of consolation to the bereaved" (American Monument Association, Inc 1947, pp. 33, 40). This tradition appears to have began in the Victorian era and continues on today.

Eliza Anderson's monument. Her epitaph reads: "Come Unto Me All Ye
That/ Labour And Are Heavy Laden And/ I Will Give You Rest."

This marks the end of the most intensive part of my project. I have completed the bulk of what I set out to do, however, I still have to write a paper pulling together all of my findings, many of which I have tried to highlight in this blog.  I will also be creating a map with photos and inscriptions next semester. This blog post will be the last until after the holidays. I will continue to update next semester, however, because the bulk of my research has been completed, it will be more sporadic and not on a weekly basis. I hope everyone has enjoyed this blog as much as I have enjoyed writing it! Happy holidays!!







Bibliography

AMERICAN MONUMENT ASSOCIATION, 1947. Memorial symbolism: epitaphs and design types. Boston: American Monument Association. 

GILLION, E.V., 1972. Victorian Cemetery Art. New York: Dover Publications, Inc.

SMITH, D.A., 1987. Safe in the Arms of Jesus: Consolation on Delaware Children's Gravestones, 1840-99. Markers: Journal of the Association of Gravestone Markers, 4, pp. 85-105.