New Jersey cemeteries and tombstones : history in the landscape / Richard F. Veit, Mark Nonestied.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Veit, Richard Francis, 1968-

Contributor:

Nonestied, Mark.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Cemeteries--New Jersey.

Cemeteries.

Historic sites--New Jersey.

Historic sites.

Sepulchral monuments--New Jersey.

Sepulchral monuments.

Landscape architecture--New Jersey.

Landscape architecture.

Cemeteries--New Jersey--History.

Sepulchral monuments--New Jersey--History.

Burial--New Jersey--History.

Burial.

Landscapes--New Jersey--History.

Landscapes.

New Jersey--History, Local.

New Jersey.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (343 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New Brunswick, N.J. : Rivergate Books, c2008.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

From the earliest memorials used by Native Americans to the elaborate structures of the present day, Richard Veit and Mark Nonestied use grave markers to take an off-beat look at New Jersey's history that is both fascinating and unique. New Jersey Cemeteries and Tombstones presents a culturally diverse account of New Jersey's historic burial places from High Point to Cape May and from the banks of the Delaware to the ocean-washed Shore, to explain what cemeteries tell us about people and the communities in which they lived. The evidence ranges from somber seventeenth-century decorations such as hourglasses and skulls that denoted the brevity of colonial life, to modern times where memorials, such as a life-size granite Mercedes Benz, reflect the materialism of the new millennium. Also considered are contemporary novelties such as pet cemeteries and what they reveal about today's culture. To tell their story the authors visited more than 1,000 burial grounds and interviewed numerous monument dealers and cemetarians. This richly illustrated book is essential reading for history buffs and indeed anyone who has ever wandered inquisitively through their local cemeteries.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgments

1. Why Study Historic Burial Grounds?

2. Early American Burial Grounds and Gravemarkers

3. New Jersey's Colonial Gravemarkers

4. From Graveyards and Burying Grounds to Cemeteries

5. Victorian Valhallas: From Markers to Monuments

6. New Technology, New Tools: The Professionalization of the Monument Industry

7. New Immigrants, New Traditions

8. Alternative Gravemarking Traditions; or, When a Gravestone Isn't a Gravestone

9. Mansions of Immortality: Mausoleums and Columbaria

10. Modern Marvels: The New Cemetery Aesthetic

11. New Jersey's Burial Grounds Past and Present

APPENDIX A. Burial Grounds Visited

APPENDIX B. Gravestone Carvers Active in New Jersey

Bibliography

Index

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-281-80175-5

9786611801755

0-8135-4566-8

OCLC:

476191056