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Wednesday, July 31, 2019

“While on the tree the summons came”

Eleven years ago, Caitlin G. DeAngelis shared images of a gravestone that was lying on the ground and slowing sinking into the soil of Bristol, Rhode Island.

It reads:
ALLEN WARDWELL
son of Mr. Peleg
Pitman & Mary his
wife; who lost his
life by a fall from
a tree April 13th
1799, in the 11th
Year of his age.
While on the tree
The summons came
And call’d me
to my GOD.
The stone includes not only a carving of a droopy tree, not unlike those one sees on mourning embroidery of this period. But in this case the art also includes a picture of young Allen falling to his death, broken branch clutched in his hand.
Photos at Find a Grave suggest that this stone has been stood up again. Let’s hope it will be looked after.
PERMANENT LINK:

2 comments:

  1. Charles BahneThursday, 01 August, 2019

    Alas, if you look closely at the photos on Find A Grave, you'll see that someone is holding the stone upright so that it can be photographed. It also looks as if it's broken off at the base, just below ground level, not leaving enough stone to support a normal reinstallation.

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  2. J. L. BellThursday, 01 August, 2019

    Yes, I did see the person in the Find a Grave photo. I hoped that meant the stone was in the process of being cared for.

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