One more thing, sspxbvm:
It comes to my attention that you took two front photos of the memorial, one
of which is a close-up, and then you took a close-up of the reverse (back)
which has "This frail memorial is the sentinel of my grave...," then you took and
show one more close-up, and it was of the right side, which has: "There is an
elysian home beyond this ebbing alloy..." The shadows and highlights of the
shots reveal the direction the camera was facing for each photo.
My question to you is, do you have another close-up that's of the LEFT side
of the memorial? I find it odd that the front would be so elaborately engraved,
and then the back and right side with such meet and unique verse, if it were
true that the left side should be left unadorned entirely. Your third upload,
RosettaKirkland4.png, shows the top fragments of prominent relief block
letters, of all caps: KIRKLAN, obviously her last name, without the uppermost
shred of the D showing. But as the chamfer above reveals the limits of the
right side (actually "left" if viewed from the front), there is just enough room
there for the D, so it must be there in reality, just not visible in the photo.
These classic standing monuments frequently show the last name on the
reverse side, but not on the right or left.
Your upload file names are missing RosettaKirkland2.png - could that be the
missing close-up? Also, it would be nice to see a closeup of that bas-relief
carving in the circle, in front, right about eye level. That was probably the
most expensive feature of all the engraving work on this monument. And
then, directly above that there appears to be an oak tree, with leafy
foliage that rises all the way to the top of the column. Is that an illusion?
Or, is the trunk of the oak tree carved into the stone, and the stone above
has weathered to appear as leaves on an impressionist canvas? Certainly
paint would not have lasted 129 years. The engraver would have to have
been thinking WAY ahead to anticipate what the stone surface would look
like after 5 quarter-centuries had passed!! When this monument was first
erected those evergreen trees in the background had yet been no more
than mere saplings!
All this attention Rosetta Kirkland is getting: her husband literally put a lot of
effort into making sure she would have a chance to be remembered. They
would never have guessed their memorial would circle the world a thousand
times via the Internet! Whatever expense George put forth to achieve it is
finally paying off! But I have another question: was their 7-hour old son
baptized? If so, he is a saint in heaven! If he had been baptized, he would
have had a name, for that is part of baptism: "I baptize thee Charles Michael,
in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." That
would have been for his big brother. The infant who died would have been
baptized during his 7 hour lifetime, after his birth. So there should be a
baptismal record at the local parish for Sept. 24th or 25th, 1883. If so, that
would also reveal what his name is, and would be the name of another saint
to whom we could pray for his intercession! How many of those there must
be: saints in heaven that nobody ever asks for graces, because they are
forgotten!