#B029 Barteau Cemetery, Brookhaven Hamlet, Suffolk County, Brookhaven Town, NY, USA

Epitaph: The same epitaph that appears on the head stone of Barnabas T. Rider appears on the stone of Noah Terry (see), I think with the same unusual spelling of "sacrafice," but the Noah Terry stone is much harder to read, so it's hard to say how "sacrifice" is spelled.

[Richard Thomas, April 2012]

Epitaph:

Beneath this stone my body lies,
In youth to death a sacrafice,
From death no age nor sex is free,
Oh be prepared to follow me.

See Barnabas T. Rider.

[Richard Thomas, April 2012]

Epitaph:

Farewell my partner and my friends
See our days, how soon they end,
Our children dear with pitty view
And see what care from you is due.

This verse on the grave stone of Huldah (Terry) Hulse seems to be rare, since I found only two other examples, and one is quite nearby.

(In many cases, when I can make out only a phrase or two in the epitaph, I can put the phrase into Google and find others who have recorded the same verse on the stones they have studied.)

The other two stones must not have been in as good a shape as Huldah's, as some words that are recorded as being on their stones are easily seen to be misreadings.

Since 2003 when the photo was taken, the word "See" on the second line has nearly worn away entirely. The spelling of "pitty" suggests that the same stone mason carved both Huldah's stone and that of Deborah Brown (see below).  The Eliza Phelps stone (see below) has two additional lines, and if it also had an unusual spelling of "pitty," the person who recorded the epitaph has silently corrected the spelling.

I could find no poem or hymn with the same epitaph words.

Also found the epitaph on the stone of Deborah Brown, born 23 Dec 1751, died 5 November 1819, whose stone must have been moved to Cedar Grove Cemetery, in nearby Patchogue.

Quoting from http://longislandsurnames.com/genealogy/getperson.php?personID=I1783&tree=Baker.  There is further writing on Deborah's deteriorating stone,

Farewell my partner and our friend.
See our days how soon they end.
Our children dear with pilly (sic)
And fed what cure from you is Him.

(At least this is what we thought we were reading! Cedar Grove was dedicated 24 October 1875. Therefore, Deborah's grave site had been moved to this location.)

At the Center Cemetery, Hartford County, Connecticut, we find:
Phelps, Eliza , b. c.1768, d. Mar 21, 1816, Age 48, w/o Joseph Phelps,

Farewell my partner & my friend,
see our days, how guid they end. [This stone may have used "quick" instead of "soon," which has been misread as "guid."]
Our children dear with pity view,
and feel what care from you is due.

Teach them the law of God to love,
That we may hope to meet above.

An epitaph that starts similarly is the verse on the stone of Eliza G. Holmes, who died 19 Jun 1843 at age 23, and who is buried in the Dedham Cemetery in Massachusetts.

Farewell my partner and friends so dear.
If ought on earth could keep me here,
It sure would be my love for you,
But Jesus calls: I bid adieu.

Another epitaph that begins similarly is that of "Mrs. Lois, wife of Arnold W. Jenckes, Esq. who departed this life Oct. 23, 1833, in the 47th year of her age," and who is buried in Cumberland, Rhode Island. Her verse reads (from http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~rigenweb/stones/jenkes_graves.html ):

Farewell my partner and children dear,
I've left this world of pain;
May virtue be your practice here
Till we do meet again.

Friends and physicians could not save
My mortal body from the grave.
Nor can the grave confine me here
When Christ doth call, I must appear.

This second stanza, with several alternative wordings but no change in meaning, appears by itself on many grave stones.

[Richard Thomas, April 2012]

Epitaph: The grave stone of Elizabeth Terry is a few lines from a poem entitled Retirement by William Cowper.

The calm retreat the quiet shade
With prayer and praise agree
And seem by thy sweet bounty made
For those who follow thee

The poem was also sung as a hymn. It appears as in A Selection of Sacred Songs for Use of Schools and Academies by Elias Nason, Saxton & Pierce, Boston, Mass., 1842, and in Songs for the School Room, also by Elias Nason, John G. Tilton & Co., Newburyport, Mass., 1855. Neither of which suggest a tune.

It also appears as Hymn LXXXIII in The American School Hymn Book, Asa Fitz, Boston, 1854, (p. 75), where it is stated that it may be sung either to the tune ORTONVILLE or to the tune DEDHAM.

You can download a free copy of The American School Hymn Book at Google books, and you can read it here: http://archive.org/stream/americanschoolhy00fitz#page/n5/mode/2up. Just pull the little hand with the pointing index finger over to page 75.

[Richard Thomas, April 2012]

Epitaph:

Calm on the bosom of thy God,
Fair spirit rest thee now,
Ever while with us thy footsteps trod.
His seal was on thy brow.

Dust to its narrow house beneath,
Soul to its place on high,
They that have seen thy look in death
No more may fear to die.

From: Felicia Dorothea Hemans. 1793–1835

622. Dirge

CALM on the bosom of thy God,
Fair spirit, rest thee now!
E'en while with ours thy footsteps trod,
His seal was on thy brow.

Dust, to its narrow house beneath!
Soul, to its place on high!
They that have seen thy look in death
No more may fear to die.

Note: Stone in Barteau cemetery has "ever" instead of "even."

[Richard Thomas, April 2012]

Epitaph:

An angels arm can't snatch me from the grave,
Legions of angels can't confine me there.

From a poem by the English poet Edward Young (03 Jul 1683 - 05 Apr 1765): "An angel's arm can't snatch me from the grave; legions of angels can't confine me there."

[Richard Thomas, April 2012]

.. This gravestone was found during the April 2012 restoration work at the Barteau family cemetery. It is one of the few gravestones where the stonemason is identified: D. Riller, N. Haven, Ct.

Epitaph:

Consider friends as you pass by,
As you are now, so once was I;
As I am now so you must be,
Prepare for death & follow me.

The above verse appears on many stones in New England and New York.

[Richard Thomas, April 2012]

.. infant children of Nathan Curtis and Mary Ann Barteau, and siblings of Stephen Curtis Barteau.

Epitaph:  The verse on the stone of a double grave, that of two children of Nathan C. and Mary A. Barteau, commonly appears on the graves of children.

So fond desires are often crossed
And parents hopes in death are lost.

This epitaph is one that is recorded in Epitaphs and Elegies by Samuel Wood, published in 1816, which lists it as appearing on a stone in a cemetery in New London, Connecticut. It is the stone of
John Shackmaple
Willson, Son of
Thomas and
Phoebe Willson,
died Oct. 30th, 1798,
Aged 2 Years.

That was the earliest example I came across. The verse appeared on many other head stones of children's graves.

In Guilford, Vermont, this verse again appears on a stone for a double burial of children who died at different times, an Ellena who died in 1813 in her third year and a Mary Augusta who died in 1815, aged 2 months.(http://www.panoramio.com/photo_explorer#view=photo&position=420&with_photo_id=16618198&order=date_desc&user=1715858)

[Richard Thomas, April 2012]

Epitaph:

Adieu to all things here below,
My Jesus calls, I long to go.
I long to reach that peaceful shore
Where sin and death will reign no more.

The first line of the above appears in a hymn "composed by the late Rev. Elhanan Winchester and sung by him in his last moments," which is called "Rev. Winchester's Farewell Hymn."  It contains many of the sentiments of Hymn 163, "The Christian's Farewell" on page 180 of Divine Hymns, or Spiritual Songs: for the Use of Religious Assemblies and Private Christians Being Formerly a Collection by Joshua Smith—and Others. Twelfth Ed., Norwich: Connecticut.  Printed by Russell Hubard,1811.
http://archive.org/stream/divinehymnsorspi1811smit#page/14/mode/2up

Farewell, dear friend in Christ below,
I bid you all a short adieu:
My time is come, I long to go;
I trust I soon my Lord shall view.
. . .
Adieu, to all things here below,
Vain world, I leave thy fleeting toys;
Adieu to sing, fear, pain, and woe,
And welcome bright eternal joys.

The phrase "I long to reach that peaceful shore" appears in The Cottage Minstrel: Or, Verses on Various Subjects by A Female of this City. Affectionately Addressed to the Youthful Part of Her Own Sex, (Philadelphia, Printed for the Authoress by Joseph Rakestraw, 1827), in a poem entitled "In Memory of my beloved Father, who departed this life 1825."

It is probably a hymn that has not yet been indexed by Google.

[Richard Thomas, April 2012]

Epitaph:

A slave to no sect—takes no private road,
But looks through nature up to natures' God.

From:
An Essay on Man: In Four Epistles to H. St. John, Lord Bolingbroke.  By Alexander Pope (1688-1744)

This philosophical work is written in heroic couplets.  Pope initially had a much more ambitious scope in mind, but eventually it appeared as a series of four epistles. The first epistle concerns the nature of man and his place in the universe—the natural order God has decreed for man.  Because man cannot know God's purposes, he cannot complain about his position in the Great Chain of Being (ll.33-34) and must accept that "Whatever IS, is RIGHT" (l.292), a theme that would be satirized by Voltaire in Candide (1759).  More than any other work, it popularized optimistic philosophy throughout England and the rest of Europe.

Pope began work on it in 1729, and had finished the first three by 1731. However, they did not appear until early 1733, with the fourth epistle published the following year.  The poem was originally published anonymously; Pope did not admit authorship until 1735.

EPISTLE IV.
. . .
See the sole bliss Heaven could on all bestow!
Which who but feels can taste, but thinks can know:
Yet poor with fortune, and with learning blind,
The bad must miss; the good, untaught, will find;
Slave to no sect, who takes no private road,
But looks through Nature up to Nature's God;
Pursues that chain which links the immense design,
Joins heaven and earth, and mortal and divine;
Sees, that no being any bliss can know,
But touches some above, and some below;
Learns, from this union of the rising whole,
The first, last purpose of the human soul;
And knows, where faith, law, morals, all began,
All end, in love of God, and love of man.

[Richard Thomas, April 2012]

Epitaph: "Rest in Peace," which appears on Amelia Snow's head stone, is easily stated in Latin with the same meaning, Requiescat in pace, or RIP.

Wikipedia says that the phrase "Rest in Peace" did not appear on tombstones in English before the eighth century ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rest_in_peace ).

The idea is expressed in Isaiah 57:2, "Those who live uprightly enter a place of peace; they rest on their beds," and that verse has been inscribed on the gravestones of Jewish tombs (in Hebrew) from the 1st century BC.

(Isaiah 57:1 says that "the godly perish, but no one cares" and in 57:2, Isaiah is saying, despite no one noticing the death of the righteous, one may be comforted in knowing that, in the tomb, they are at peace and sleep undisturbed.)

[Richard Thomas, April 2012]

Epitaph: You probably recognize the lines that appear on William Arthur's head stone (d. 26 Sep 1852)

Farewell, dear friends! I'm going home!
My savior smiles and bids me come,
Sweet angels beckon me away,
To sing God's praise in endless day.
from the film Cold Mountain.

If you would like to hear the hymn, click the "play" icon at http://www.jwpepper.com/8067547.item.

I guess the more southern singers sang "Farewell, vain world" instead of "Farewell, dear friends" to emphasize that it wasn't a sorrowful good-bye.

[Richard Thomas, April 2012]

.. wife of Wm. Arthur and daughter of Nathan and Abigail Bartow

Epitaph:

The Almighty spake and she is gone,
Eternity now reigns alone.
If you would dwell with God on high,
Learn O! ye living how to die.

Only one other example of this verse has been found.

It appears on the stone of "Laura, wife of Abraham Coon & daughter of Elijah & Elizabeth Bearss" who died 09 Mar 1803. She died even younger than Temperance, being only 19. She is buried in the Town Center Cemetery of New Fairfield, Connecticut.

Although there are poems with two fragments of this verse, "Eternity now reigns alone," and "living how to die," the entire verse has not been found.

"Eternity now reigns alone!" appears in the poem "Eternity and Time, a small part of Young's very long poetic work, 'Night-Thoughts" which appeared in the 1008-page book Elegant Extracts: Or, Useful and Entertaining Pieces of Poetry, Selected for the Improvement of Young Persons: Being Similar in Design to Elegant Extracts in Prose, that was published in 1796.

"And dying shews the living how to to die," appears in the poems of Charles James published in 1817, in the dedicatory poem of his book of poetry, "To Lady James, on Her Benevolent and Humane Conduct Towards the Daughter and Grandchildren of the Late Unfortunate Colonel Frederick."

[Richard Thomas, April 2012]

.. daughter of Stephen and Hepzibah Curtis Barteau.

Epitaph: "Gone but not forgotten."

From Google searches, I've found that "Gone but not forgotten" was appearing on grave stones as early as 1841 (on a stone at Starks Corner, Maine, and another example appears in 1846 in Methuen, Massachusetts), but the phrase itself may be nearly as old as the English language. (As the sentiment is difficult to express in Latin, I don't think it is much more ancient than that.)

Given the condition of Huldah Barteau's stone, she nearly was both gone and nearly forgotten.

[Richard Thomas, April 2012]

Epitaph:

"Prepare to meet thy God." which is from Amos 4:12.

[Richard Thomas, April 2012]

While Isaac Homan was recorded on the Town of Brookhaven Historian's cemetery inventory (c. 1939)
[S98] as having a headstone in the Barteau Cemetery, I have a suspicion that he was
never interred here. I think there may have been a clerical error when the entry was recorded in the Town Historian's database -- cemetery 029 was entered instead of 049. Other such errors were known to have occurred.

A survey of the old Baptist Cemetery conducted by Dayton and Carter in 1971 found Isaac Homan there. My understanding is that by 1939 when the Town survey was conducted, the Yaphank Baptist Cemetery was largely abandoned. It seems unlikely that a gravestone would be moved there between 1939 and 1971.

The Town Historian's office still has the original cemetery inventory work sheets, which I plan to consult..