Thursday, June 16, 2011

Epitaph: To Heaven a cherub born

There are a handful of zinc monuments in Somerset Cemetery. The zinc marker at the grave of Katie L. McCarty (d. 1882) stands out for its statue of a praying child, but the sweet epitaph deserves attention as well.

 

KATIE
L.
McCARTY,
daughter of
F. E. & S. F. McCARTY
died aug. 26, 1882
13YRS, 4MOS, 19DYS.

SLEEP ON MY SWEET ONE!
SLEEP! SO EARLY GONE;
TO EARTH A CHILD IS LOST,
TO HEAVEN A CHERUB BORN.


The epitaph is taken from the final verse of a poem by J. H. Warland, “The Mother to Her Child.” I found it published in The Mourner’s Chaplet, a collection of American poems published in 1844. Here is the final verse in full:

Hark! Thy last breath and sighs
   Upon thy mother’s bosom! thou dost but sleep
And shall awake again in Paradise.
   Then who, oh! who would weep?
Sleep on, my sweet one! Sleep! So early gone;
   To earth a child is lost—to Heaven a cherub born!


Somerset Cemetery, Perry County, Ohio

2 comments:

  1. I always wonder about the people who purchased such elaborate monuments! Quite wealthy, no doubt!

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  2. I found her father mentioned in this article: http://books.google.com/books?id=WxdbAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA305&lpg=PA305&dq=f.e.+mccarty+somerset&source=bl&ots=Lu0FZ5z7Lv&sig=Wase3XlR7FXwmBO5ErHn56QArbU&hl=en&sa=X&ei=QLBFU-iwGcK0yAH95YCICQ&ved=0CFcQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=f.e.%20mccarty%20somerset&f=false

    Apparently, he was a free mason who worked at a firm which constructed grave stones. This explains her exquisite marker.

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