Time Is Hungry

Memento mori

Eʀᴇᴄᴛᴇᴅ In Memory of Mʳ  Zechariah Emery of Chalmſford who Departed this Life Augᵗ 30ᵗʰ 1776 in the 86ᵗʰ year  of his age.

Photographed on an early morning dash through Forefathers Burial Ground in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, in November 2025. 

It’s the only time I’ve been to Chelmsford, and I only think of it as Chalmſford now.

James ſon of Mʳ Matthias & M[rs] Sarah Hawes, di[ed] Nov. 24 1793 aged 8 years

In [...]

Photographed at Common Cemetery in Union, Maine, in July 2024. I didn’t notice the dew-covered spiderweb until I looked at this image a couple years later. I don’t even remember why I was in Union, Maine.

The italic verses at the bottom of the stone are not legible past the first word, even in the lichenless images on finagrave: the outer layer of the stone flaked off some time ago.

In Memory of Dyer the son of Mʳ  Benjamin Thurber  & ᴍrs. ȹhebe h[is]  Wife heDeparted This L[ife] Octob[er] [...]

Photographed at North Burial Ground in Providence, Rhode Island, on a cloudy afternoon in September 2024. I remain puzzled by the image at the top of the stone: is it meant to be a tree, or a symmetrical cloud formation? Or something more abstract?

Madam Hannah Peters.

Photographed at Second Parish Burial Ground in Burlington, Massachusetts, in April 2026. I visited this graveyard in midafternoon and found that the angle of the sun was not conducive to photographing headstones. Fortunately, the footstones in this place are rather nice (and possibly haven’t been moved from their original placements?). 

I feel that this jaunty little guy deserves his own post. Is he some kind of fanciful quadruped bird? A plant imitating a pigeon? A pangolin? 

Hannah Peters’ headstone was enormous and ornate, and will be photographed properly next time I get groceries from Burlington’s enormous Hmart.

In Memory of Mʳ  Thomas Baldwin; Son of Mʳ Eleazer Baldwin by Eliabeth his Wife; Who departed this Lufe Deeᵐ 26ᵗʰ 1777 aged 25 years 10 Months & 27 days

Death like an overflowing ſtream, Sweeps us away, our life’s a dream An empty tale a morning flower Cut down and wither’d in an hour.

Photographed at Maple Hill Cemetery in Dorset, Vermont, on a sunny day in May 2026. It was late in the day and the light was fading.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/205927515/thomas-baldwin

Memento Mori.

Here lies the Remains of Mr. David Trumbull. Son of Capᵗ Aſaph. and Mrs. Zilpah Trumbull: of Hebron (Connecticut) who died Octʳ 26th 1708. Æ. 26.

: ≈ : : ≈ : : ≈ : : ≈ : : ≈ : : ≈ : : ≈ :

My friends you muſt die. as well as I: Make your peace with GOD.

Photographed at Big Bend Cemetery in Moreau, New York, in June 2026, at golden hour. Based on what little information I could find online, I had expected this graveyard to be neglected and difficult to access. I was pleasantly surprised that there was a clear path into the woods from the road, the stones were largely clear of lichens, and that someone had built new benches and seemed to have begun straightening up the stones. The light in the clearing was dappled and shifting, and the leaves and ferns glowed.

Sacred to the Memory of ᴹʳˢ Betty Lane Who Died June 22ⁿᵈ 1791 In the 34ᵗʰ year of her Age & alſo her Twins, one ſtill-born the others age 3 days

Our fleſh ſhall ſlumber in the ground, Till the laſt trumpet’s joyfull ſound Then burſt the chains with ſweet ſurprize, And in our Saviour’s image riſe

Photographed at Rockingham Meeting House Cemetery in Rockingham, Vermont, in June 2026. The sun was bright on the stones and the sound of insects was loud.

Cyrias Libby

Photographed at Black Point Cemetery in Scarborough, Maine, in golden hour, January 2026. There seems to be another marker for Cyrias Libby nearby, with more text and likely placed much later. Perhaps the one pictured here was a foot stone, but if so, it seems odd to put a face on it.

Photographed at Salisbury Colonial Burying Ground, in Salisbury, Massachusetts, on a mostly sunny afternoon in May 2026. This stone appears to depict a coffin lying on its side and an hourglass. If there is a name or text of any sort, I wasn’t able to make it out through the erosion and the lichen. 

RESURRECTION to Immortality in ſpotleſs Beauty with all other  Bodily Perfection’s, after the faſhion of Christ's  Glorious Body, is expected for the  ſub adjacent duſt of Lucy Moodey, who was born, & died, July the, 6 1705. Thus Birth, Spouſals to Christ, Death, Coronation All in One day, may have their Celebration.

Photographed at Old York Cemetery, in York, Maine, on a somewhat cloudy afternoon in January 2026.

This ſtone is erected to the memory of Abraham N Middlebrook who departed this life Auguſt 4th 1794: aged 27 years & 5 months

Here [let?] me] ſleep, forgotten in the [clay?] Death having ſhuttheſe weary [aching?] ᵉʸᵉˢ Reſting in hope of an eternal day When the long night ſhall ceaſe and the [...] ariſe.

Photographed at East Line Union Cemetery in Malta, New York, near sunset in May 2026. Dense patches of white wildflowers caught the light in a way that made this place especially lovely and eerie. 

Pauſe Mortal! and Contemplate the remains of Miſs Rebecca Cunnable. the amiable Daughter of Mr. Samuel Cunnable late of Barnardſton & Mrs. Rebecca his Wife who died Auguſt yᵉ 17ᵗʰ 1800 aged 13. If Sprightly youth or human tears [Or?] early piety could ſave Death had not thus cut ſhort her [years?] But [she?] will Triumph O’er the [Grave]

Photographed at North Vernon Cemetery in North Vernon, Vermont, in May 2026. It was the sort of somewhat-cloudy afternoon that’s ideal for driving through Vermont, and when you see thin old gravestones at the side of the road, you are obligated to stop and investigate.

Here lyes Buried the Body of Mʳˢ Eʟɪᴢᴀʙᴇᴛʜ Wᴀɪᴛᴇ widow of Mʳ Rɪᴄʜᴀʀᴅ Wᴀɪᴛᴇ who departed this Life march 25ᵗʰ 1771 In yᵉ 79ᵗʰ Year of her Age.

Photographed at Salem Street Burying Ground in Medford, Massachusetts, on a sunny morning in December 2025. 

MEMENTO MORI

Mr. Andrew Libby died Jan. 5th 1773 in the 71ſt year of his age.

Mrs. Eſther his wife die[d] Oct. 1ſt 1756 in the [...]

Photographed at Black Point Cemetery in Scarborough, Maine, in golden hour, January 2026.

There are three faces carved into this stone, but only two names visible. It’s like that there’s at least one more line of the inscription than what’s visible above the ground.

Here lies Interr’d the Body  of CHOW MANDERIEN a Native of China,  Aged 19 years; whoſe death  was occasioned on the 11ᵗʰ of Sepᵗ  1798. by a fall from the Maſt head  of the Ship Mac of Boſton.  This Stone is erected to his Memory  by his affectionate Maſter  JOHN BOIT Junʳ

Photographed at Central Burying Ground in Boston in the middle of a sunny day in January 2026.

There’s an Atlas Obscura entry about this one: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/chow-manderien-grave-boston

And the Wikipedia article on John Boit brings together some contradictory accounts of how teenage Zhou Libei ended up in Boston, the first known person of Chinese descent in the United States: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Boit#Relationship_with_Chow_Manderien

The voyage that John Boit was preparing the Mac for was a secret and illegal voyage to transport enslaved captives from Africa to Cuba. “There is an official record of the Mac’s arrival in Cuba in May 1799 after a harrowing voyage—only 206 of 244 enslaved captives survived the Atlantic crossing and almost one third of the survivors were children.” The Mac was seized and sold at auction in Bath, Maine, in 1799. https://www.masshist.org/object-of-the-month/objects/september-2023  

ʜᴇʀᴇ ʟyᴇs ᴇɴᴛʀ ᵉᴅ yᵉ ʙᴏᴅy ᴏꜰ ᴄᴀᴘᵀ ᴇᴅᴡᴀʀᴅ sᴘʀᴀɢᴜᴇ ᴡʜᴏ ᴅᴇᴄᴇsᴛ yᵉ 14 ᴏꜰ ᴀᴘʀɪʟ 1715 ᴀɢᴇᴅ 32 yᴇᴀʀs

Excited to see a stone with a winged skull _and_ a winged hourglass. 

The letter t in “ᴄᴀᴘᵀ” looks like an ↑ upward-facing arrow.

Photographed at Bell Rock Cemetery in Malden, Massachusetts, on a cold, windy afternoon in December 2025.

The remains  of Sᴛᴇᴘʜᴇɴ Cʀᴏsʙʏ A.M. A Gentleman of virtuus morals, And highly eſteemed, Who died On board yᵉ letter of mark brig Vᴇɴᴜs, Near port, July 19ᵗʰ. 1780. Aged 28 Years. Are here deposited till the reſtituſion of all things.

“Thy way is in the Sea, thy footsteps are not known”

Photographed at Old York Cemetery, in York, Maine, on a somewhat cloudy afternoon in January 2026.

I enjoy that the italic text paraphrases Psalm 77 in a way that makes it feel even more ominous. 

The full verse from the KJV version: “Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known.”