My first impression of the Swan Point Cemetery was great. The lawn was well kept up as was most of the tombstones. There were many trees and flowers growing creating a beautiful scenery. As I walked around, I noticed how many people were around. Some people were visiting loved ones and others were just riding a bike or taking a walk.
It is a very peaceful place to go to. I personally have someone dear to me who is buried there and was very pleased to see how beautiful it really was. My cousin Tammy Freeman, who died when I was two from cancer, is buried there. She left behind a son who was also two at the time of her death. Next to my cousin Tammy is my dad Leo Paul. He passed away three years ago from what we think was some kind of heart failure. Ever since his funeral I have only visited him once earlier this year alone. At the time I was only paying attention to his grave instead of all the beauty around me. Not only am I very happy with where my dad is buried, but I myself would like to be buried there because of how beautiful and well kept it is.
As I walked passed my dad’s grave and farther into the cemetery, I found a wonderful view of a lake. With 200 acres behind it, I never thought twice to walk around the cemetery. Not only did I find a lake, but I found a set of staircases leading up to a gazebo. It was amazing because as I stood on the top of the gazebo, I could see many graves that overlooked the water. However, the graves around the water were very old. Most of them dating back to the 18 and 1900’s. Because they were so old, they were not as well kept by loved ones probably because most of them had passed as well and were forgotten. Near the water, I found many tombs with multiple family members inside.
I also found many family lots which had big statues naming all of the members of the family that had passed with smaller stones surrounding stating either their first name only or “mother” and “father”.
These next pictures show the inside and the outside of a family tomb. On the inside of this tomb there was four family members all of which are inside of the tomb wall.
The funerals held at Swan Point Cemetery are always held with a tent over the hole where the coffin will go. At my dad's funeral, this same thing was there. If you look closer underneath the tent, you can see the hole all ready for the person to be burried. This is what all funerals in Swan Point Cemetery look like before the person arrives.
This gazebo was absolutly beautiful. It overlooked graves and the gorgeous view of the water. After climbing the stairs, of course, there were more and more graves which was were I found the Paul family's grave stones. This was interesting to me because my last name is also Paul
I found this stone interesting because of the design in the stone and I also noticed the rocks placed on top of the grave stone which I understand to be a Jewish tradition.
My cousin Tammy's grave has a part of the stone that is meant to put fresh flowers in. It is perfect because there was already water inside from rain which will allow her flowers to stay fresh for more than just one or two days.
Towards the water were all old tombstones. Most of the dates on all of these were form the early 1900's and the 1800's. Most of them were clearly not kept up by family members becasue they are so old.
Of course in every cemetery there will be children and babies burried there. However, although I knew this, it was still hard to see tombstones with a baby angel engraved on them and to really see the ages of these children. In the picture below, there are two children burried underneath an angel who looks as though she is crying, both of these children were under ten years old.
This tombstone was very interesting to me because of the great detail of who this person was and what his family had accomplished. It says that the father of the man burried here came to Providence in 1648 as a Baptist Minister. This man was 64 when he died in 1854.
"Row after row with strict impunity the headstones yield their names to the element, The wind whirrs without recollection; In the riven troughs the splayed leaves pile up, of nature the casual sacrament to the seasonal eternity of death; Then driven by the fierce scrutiny of heaven to their election in the vast breath, they sough the rumour of mortality..." Allen Tate
This child was also under 10 years old when she died and as you can see has many pictures engraved on her stone with a small picture of her.
This was also interesting to me because there is no death date inscribed on the stone. It only says November 8, 1959. It also says beloved special son. This may be a baby who died during child birth or someone who decided to get a gravestone ahead of time before they actually passed( if that is possible).
As I was walking through the cemetery, I noticed two long graves that seemed to be pretty old. Both were just babies when they died. Brother and sister, Ann Frances and Samuel died within three years of each other. Samuel was a little over a year old and died in 1836 while Ann Frances was two years old and died in 1838. This was very interesting to me because of how much heartache their family had to have gone through losing two children within such a short of time.
No comments:
Post a Comment