Learn More About Symbols on Tombstones

Are you familiar with the term "iconography"? Pronounced "eye-con-og-ra-fee," it means, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, "symbolic representation, especially the conventional meanings attached to an image or images." Even if you've never heard of the word, as a genealogist, you know how important it is to understand the meaning of what we see on tombstones. Among many other things, we may learn whether an ancestor was in a fraternal order, what his/her occupation may have been, or if he/she had life cut short too soon.

There are images that appear fairly regularly on tombstones conveying religious, natural, and secular motifs. In April 2021, we posted two blogs on funeral rituals and traditions. The second of those posts included a look at floral iconography on tombstones. You can read that post here. But there are many more symbols that appear on our ancestors' tombstones that can help you understand their lives.

To the right is the tombstone of famous riverboat captain, Isaiah Sellers, born in 1802, died in 1864. You can have no doubt in your mind as to his occupation when you see him forever etched in stone, standing at his paddlewheel in his captain's uniform at Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri. (Captain Sellers, by the way, was the inspiration for Samuel Clemens to adopt the name Mark Twain.)

Also in Bellefontaine is this beautiful shrouded angel watching over the family plot of the Francis family. (David Rowland Francis, one of the first graduates of Washington University, became mayor of St. Louis in 1885 and then governor of Missouri. He was the chair of the executive committee and president of the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis. He afterwards served as Secretary of the Interior and ambassador to Russia. He died in 1927.) The angel is a fine example of a religious symbol conveying both grief and solace.

Even simple stones can use icons to convey meaning. Elder Ellis Neece, buried in Lawrence County, Missouri, in 1882, has his bible etched above him on his original tombstone. A newer stone meant to replace this eroding older one in the cemetery has no artwork on it, hence potentially losing the association between Elder Neece and his job as a Baptist minister.

(All photos by the late C. Edwin Murray; used with permission of his family.)

Ready to learn more about iconography on tombstones? 

You are in luck! Our friends at Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis are presenting a special Zoom class on the subject and are offering it on three different days this month. It is free and the class is open to all. The classes are from 7:00 p.m. till 8:30 p.m. Central time, and you must register. 

The same class will be presented three times, so you should plan to attend on just one of the three days:

Tuesday, 11 January 2022: Click here to register.

Thursday 20 January 2022: Click here to register.

Tuesday, 25 January 2022: Click here to register.