Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-01-09
oLD-TIME 8PITAPHS
CENTENARY OF 4 NEW YORK
RURAL Bu9Fr4e GROUND.
Crumbling Headstonsa and Quaint In
scriptions-Graxas Neglected
for Halt q Century.

y -
Warsaw CN. y Letter to New York Tribune.
As quaint q spot as one can find
in western New York lies on the east
side of South Main street, in this village,
and is marked for the visitors eye by the
gray and crumbling headstones Of antique
and formal style which dot In clusters the
greensward. rise mysteriously from dense
masses Of myrtle and shrubbery and CLEAN
like ghosts among the ancient trees. 1t Is
the "Old Burying Ground and contains
the bones OF the settlers who founded War
saw century ago, tkeir children and their
children's children. Every town has It's
old burying ground. If It IS old enough to
have anything besides new town hall,
but Warsaw's city Of the dead is as char
acteristic as ever a churchyard Of some
buried English parish, with its messy lanes
and gnarled oaks. For half a century now
the graves have been neglected. and the
weed-grown mounds and lichened stones
would have moved Gray to fancy again the
lines of his sweet Elegy.
Moldering and Ghostly.
It is not like other burying grounds, for
1t was founded in strange and touching
manner, and instead Of being the assigned
and formal place of rest for the departed
Is rather a growth and development which
spread about the lonely and tiny mound
beneath which lay the delicate body of
little child. But now it has assumed new
value and position as place Of rare his
torical Importance for Warsaw next June
will celebrate her centenary; and the "Old
Burytng Ground will come into its own
again as place Of honor and reverence.
Yet as 1t stands, deserted. moldering and
ghostly. it Is place Of constant surprises
and unexpected discoveries to the chance
wanderer who delights in the inspection of
forgotten epitaphs and pathetically awk-
ward inscriptions upon the cold marble
above those long dead.
The story Of the ancient cemetery is
peculiar. The town records show that the
ground was once "publick property"
sort OF village common. In the spring of
1904, when the village was a collection Of
only few scattered cabins, Sterling
Stearns and his family moved from
Wright's Corners six miles north Of War
saw, to new holding,in the southern part
Of what is now Wyoming county, and in
his family flight stopped over night at
the home of Elizur Webster. There a lit
tie child, the youngest in the Stearns fam
lily, suddenly sickened, and before the
morning dawned had died. At the request
OF Mr. Webster. the village gave permits
sion for the child to be buried in the COM
mon. So Amos Keeney. William Webster
and Elijah Cutting chopped down half
dozen trees, cleared away the brush and
Jug d lily grave III the InluSC OIL the WOODS,
and there the dead baby was buried. 1t
was not long before another came to share
its lonely sleep. and then, when Dwight
Noble. grown man. died. he, too. was
buried in the clearfngsin January, 1907.
From that time until 1850 the dead were
placed at rest one by one, and the trees
were cleared further away, and the mounds
multiplied, each marked by its headstone
of marble or slate or granite, carved in the
queer fashion of those early days.
".''- Rhyming Epitaphs., ,,;t,,.. -. j.
Many of these ancient stones have lost
their angles and their, sharp. corners, and
the lettering has been obliterated by time
few. however, have been preserved, and
the epitaphs are worthy of recording. Here
is one: x. ,. 90 ,s.5l.-
Clarissa. Daughter of VIM and Clarinda
Knapp. Died April 10, 1870. Age six years
A, poisoned plant among the rest,
In natures order stood.
I eat and was distressed.
It poisoned all my blood.
So sudden was the stroke, . a.,
By which l was Snatched away,
That In one hour lifes thread was broke
And moidered into clay. r...r--,f sf-.,
This was carved on the tombstone of the
second grave to be dug in the burial ground:
Alpheus, son of Nehemiah and Mary Far
go. Died Dec. g, 1904. In his sixth year.
The watery grave 1t was my doom
The way Christ took to call me home.
This one was perhaps inspired by the
memory Of the traditional Inscription on
Shakespeare's grave:
In memory Of Jerusha, wife of Julius Crit
tenden. who died Aug. 8. 1916, in the TWEEN
ty-sixth year of her age.
Behold and see as you pass by.
AS you are now, SO once was I,
AS am now so you must be,
Prepare for death and follow me.
A Carved Eulogy.
The following eulogy IS vigorous with old