Category Archives: Gravestones

The Unsolved 19th-Century Mystery in the Parking Lot

When George Washington Flint was buried in 1873, I doubt anyone suspected that in little over a century, his final resting spot would one day be the parking lot of a Dunkin’ Donuts.

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Uncovering Thomas Dalton’s Tragedy

The story of Thomas Dalton is a tragic one, and one that had been forgotten for many years, until a DNA match brought the truth of his brief life to light. I stumbled across the Dalton family years ago when investigating the origins of my own 2nd great-grandmother Mary..

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Beyond the Letters: What We Can Learn from Gravestone Symbolism

A broken column forms a monument to Adeline Wilhelmina Howell, indicating her early death at the age of 18.

Gravestones have long served as the cornerstone of genealogical research. While the words they bear can be crucial sources of information about our ancestors,..

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Signature in Stone

At the North Carolinian Piedmont, in the cemeteries of Davidson County, sunlight breaks through perforated soapstone, creating a lattice-like design in the shadows cast by the many tombstones. These grave markers are probably the earliest “pierced” gravestones in..

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