What is it Wednesday - History from the Cemetery

When you visit a cemetery to bury a love one or place flowers on the grave site have you notice the carvings on the tombstones?  They all mean something and I found this great web site that answers some of the questions about what has been carved into the tombstone.

http://www.graveaddiction.com/symbol.html 

In my morning trip to our local cemetery I found a lot of tombstone with the same shape and size.  Most all came from the same period.  The style can also help you find the age of the tombstone.   

The big round glob was on top of a lot of tombstone and sad some on the ground.  From the size of them I would think kids where up to no good.

 This style is from 1880 to 1910.  Most of the writing has been removed from weather.  

 To really understand what was carved into the tombstone take some plain paper and a soft pencil to you can do some rubbings.  Please be respectful the cemetery and the grave site.

You can find veterans from all the wars.  They have a bronze star or wreath next to their graves.  DO NOT steal them, they belong to the veteran and his or her family.  I found Civil War Veterans to WWII veterans this morning.

You will also find other flowers and symbols on tombstone.

The one below with the  draped means morning. This side was in great shape, but the other side has been worn away from time.

The bronze stars by the veterans all have different markings.  So I will have to find out what each marking means and do another post.  So if you have more information on the bronze stars for the veterans please share with me.

Take a history listen at the local cemetery.  When leaving say a prayer for those who have gone before you.