Hanover deathscapes : Mortuary variability in New Hampshire, 1770-1920

Abstract

This article examines late-eighteenth- and nineteenth-century mortuary practices in Hanover, New Hampshire, and tests the assumption that gravestones and associated mortuary rituals serve as an accurate indication of an individual's socioeconomic status. Unique among historic gravestone analyses, this essay analyzes the entirety of a community's eschatology between 1770 and 1920 and contextualizes gravestones within the accompanying mortuary rituals. This article investigates possible correlations between multiple gravestone variables and Hanover Township residents' ideas about death, social structure, family organization, and individual identity. For the 150-year time span considered in this essay, I conclude that beliefs about death (rather than individual social status or ethnic identity) often dictated the style, material, and form of the gravestone.