Silent Secrets Set in Stone
A walk through a cemetery when researching ancestors can be a haunting, yet beautiful and reflective experience. Aside from the names, birthdates, and death dates, what other secrets might their tombstones reveal?
Those majestic, weather-worn stone carvings you see (popularized by those cipher-loving Victorians from 1839 to 1920) are more than pure decoration. They mean something; a virtue the person exemplified, a value they held dear, or a nod to how they earned their living.
In the table below, learn the meanings behind twenty popular gravestone symbols. A revelation about your ancestor’s life may just be right in front of you, hidden in plain sight.
Meanings of Gravestone Symbols
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Acorn | prosperity; power; triumph |
| Anvil and Hammer | blacksmith |
| Basket | fertility; maternal bond |
| Bird | flight of the soul |
| Candle | life |
| Column/Pillar (Broken) | life cut short; sudden death |
| Evergreen | faithfulness; rememberence |
| Farmer | plow; hoe; rack; stalk of corn; shock of wheat |
| Fern | sincerity; humility; solitude |
| Fruit | eternal plenty |
| IHS Mono-gram | Christian; name of Jesus |
| Key | knowledge; entrance to heaven |
| Lamp | knowledge; spiritual immortality |
| Lily | innocence, purity, and the resurrection (Easter); marriage and fidelity (Calla); innocence and humility (Lily of the Valley) |
| Mariner | anchor; sextant |
| Oak Leaf | strength; stability; endurance |
| Olive Tree | peace; reconciliation between God and man |
| Palm | life conquering death |
| Rose | love; beauty; virtue; strong bond (intertwined); youthful death (rosebud) |
| Sphinx | courage; honor; power |
| Tree-shaped | possible member of The Modern Woodmen of America or Woodmen of the World fraternal organization member |
A Guide to Cemetery Research
This information, and much more, can be found in The Family Tree Cemetery Field Guide. In addition to a complete headstone iconography guide, you can learn more about cemetery research strategies and how to apply discoveries to your family tree.
