Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1889-10-12
I'm Shot


It was in the Grafton cemetery that
we.found one Of the very oldest of our
stones. It was in three sections, two
large stones with smaller one in the
middle. On one Of the large stones
was an angels head. with slits for the
eyes. nose and mouth, and two enor.
nous feathered wings growing from the
side of its head, at the place where the
ears should have been. On the small
stone was an exact copy of this in minia-
ture. and on the other large stone was
weeping willow tree, with twelve
branches, at the end of each branch,
hanging like a great, round apple, being
cherub's head, in the typical unadorned
and unconnected style of the very early
pioneers In the art of carving tomb
stones. The small stone was sacred to
the memory of Thomas Parke, Jr.; one
of the larger stones was in memory OF
Mrs. Thomas Parke, Sr.. and the other
was sacred to the memory of her twelve
infant children. The inscription read:
Stranger. pause as you pass by;
My thirteen children with me lie.
See their faces how they shine
Like blossoms on 9 fruitful vine.
The story runs that an old slave of
Thomas Parke. Sr., had been promised
his freedom, and. not obtaining it, died
cursing his then youthful master, and
praying that his children might die be.
fore they were grown. All died in in
fancy. and only Thomas, Jr.. reached
his second year; but whether the slaves
curse had anything to do with their sad
deaths is matter of opinion rather than
of history.
In sunny corner Of the Vernon Gem.
etery lie the three wives of Mr.. Abiiah
Rogers. The first died in 17S4, and her
tombstone bore the following epitaph:
Look down on me- slumber here;
The graves become my bed,
And think Of death, that's always near
For life may quickly fade
Five years later the second Mrs. Roger
died, and the widower buried her in
friendly neighborhood to the first, and,
to avoid all appearance Of partiality,
placed on her tombstone precisely the
same stanza. though dignifying the per-
s0nal pronoun in the first line with a
capital letter. The third Mrs. Rogers
has more touching epitaph than the
others
In another graveyard was found thit
ungfammatical statement carved In
stone:
Ny stan and stay Is took away.
And am left alone,
NV husband dear. who was 90 near.
Is took away and gone
LAMBS Al WHOLESALE.
It was in New Hampshire buryina
ground that were found the graves ol
eleven children. over each OF which was
marble lamb. Thefather Of the eleven
had. after the death of the seventh, II
was alleged. purchased the lambs al
wholesale. There was still one left OF
the dozen he bought, the story went.
One Of the Grafton epitaphs reads az
follows:
His languIshing head . nc resi-.
Its thinking and aching are oct =
His calm. lmmovable breast
WIN heaFs 70 fihtter no more
Il Is strange TO see how some one nor.
tuary stanza would have q run, 80 tc
speak, in the neighbOrhood. Here Is d
favorite one:
e Sickness sore long tlnas bores
Physicians skin was Vnne
TIL God did send death as 3 frieuh
70 ease me- o. my Baue
For m0desty this Is ig;Teproachsble. Il
was not seen by this party, bat was
lvouched f0f by one Of the villagers:
00od. DO Thou 70 AIlen Knen Radd
~ Allen Ellen nadd monId do ID God
We're God but Allen Ellen Radd