Exploring Connecticut Burying Grounds: Old Yard Cemetery Columbia Connecticut, September 2020

I visited the Old Yard Burying Ground in Columbia CT last september, plenty of great stones and most of the major eastern CT granite schist carvers were represented well here.

The most common carvers here were of course the Collins Family carvers, Benjamin Collins and his son Zerubabel. Benjamin moved to Columbia from Salisbury Mass in the early 1700s, and was not only a stone carver, but a fine woodworker. His stones while skillful and elaborate, have the touch of a woodworker with their elegant but thin carvings, that often faded through time when compared to the work of other Schist carvers. He was influenced by the Carver Obadiah Wheeler of Lebanon who's work can also be found in this yard. Many examples of his stones are visible at the Old Yard.

The photo on the left is a tombstone for Richard Lyman dated 1746 is one of the nicest examples of his work I have seen. His carved on a considerably darker granite schist then most other carvers.

Another fine example of his work from the 1740s,

though the thin carvings fading is very evident.

Though the majority of Benjamins work featured a

winged soul effigy, he did occasionally carve stones

with only floral patterns or plant designs. Several

are viewable at the Old yard, this one dated 1737.

This stone shows while faded, was still legible. The

lighting reflected off the shiny texture of the granite,

resulting in me being unable to read the dates or names

from the photo.

Zerubabel Collins carried on the family business in Columbia starting around 1749. His earliest work was similar to his fathers, though still discernible. While I did not see any of those early stones at the Old Yard, some are present in other Colonial cemeteries in the region including the Norwichtown Burying Ground, Windham Center Cemetery, and the Woodstock Hill Cemetery. Zerubabel's stone designs evolved several times, and by 1755, while still somewhat reminiscent of his fathers work, had changed a lot, and he was now carving on a lighter shade of schist. Plenty of these "Second Generation" stones were mixed in the yard.

The stone of Jofiah Lyman dated 1760 is

a great example of Zerubabels work. While

the overall stone shape and design has

evolved away from Benjamins style,

the soul effigy and borders are clearly

reminiscent of his fathers designs.

The grave of Benjamin Collins dated 1759

carved by his son Zerubabel. One can only

imagine the emotions Zerubabel felt while

carving his fathers tombstone. Notice the

gravestone in the rear, carved by Benjamin

his legacy forever to loom over his final

resting place.

From the mid 1760s onward Zerubabel's work showed

more detail oriented effigies and designs, showing

very impressive craftsmanship. The stark differences

in his work after 10 years is drastic,

(R - 1759, L - 1769)

These two stones dated 1776, are great examples

as to why Zerubabel was considered one of the

finest New England carvers of the later 1700s.

Zerubabel moved to Vermont in 1778 and

continued carving out of locally sourced

white marble. The business decision proved

viable, as he gained even more popularity

now carving stones for yards in New York,

New Hampshire, and even as far as Halifax

Canada. When he visited CT in later years,

he would often get orders for stones, two

of these Vermont carved stones are found

in the Old Columbia Yard. He died in 1797,

still carving a few months before he died.

Over 100 stones from both Benjamin and Zerubabel Collins are in the Old Columbia Yard.

Though the work of the Collings Family dominated their hometown burial ground, plenty of other Eastern Connecticut carvers work are represented here.

This stone dated 1756 was carved by

Gershom Bartlett of Bolton CT. His

stones are common all over eastern CT

Burying grounds.

A double stone for two brothers, carved by Gershom Bartlett

The stone is backdated as Bartlett did not start carving

until 1747 while the death dates read 1737 and 1744.

A total of 6 stones carved by Bartlett are in the Old Yard.

This ornate stone dated 1779, was carved by

Josiah Manning. While Manning was the

dominant carver in the region in the later 1700s,

only 8 stones can be found in the Columbia yard.

This stone carved by Lebbeus Kimball dated 1779,

is the only example of his work in the Old Yard. He

lived in Pomfret CT and worked with his father

Richard in the family grave carving business, their

stones common in the Northeast part of the state.

Josiah Manning's dominant style inspired

several carving imitators, the most notable

being Aaron Haskins who carved this

stone in 1798.

Though only a few Manning stones

are in the yard, Aaron Haskins was

well represented with a total of

24 stones mixed around the yard.

This stone was carved by Johnathan Loomis

of Coventry. Though his stones are common in

other nearby yards, only two are present in the Old

Yard. Once again, despite the fine condition,

of the stone, the lighting has made it near

impossible to read any dates or names.

This stone dated 1789 was carved by an unknown

carver, often referred to as the "Columbia Nun

Carver" due to the hooded angelic figure

present on the designs. Two of these stones

can be found in the Old Yard.

This stone dated 1802, was carved by an unknown

carver, often called The Upswept Wing Carver.

Nineteen examples of his work can be viewed

at the yard.

This mystery stone baffles me. Instead of the usual

soul effigy design, this stone uses a family crest.

While some carvers in Connecticut have been

known to use Coat of Arms on occasion, this

stone does not appear to be the work of any of

the usual suspects. In his book about eastern

Connecticut burying grounds, James Slater

predicts this is the work of Gershom Bartlett

but is not fully certain. Dated 1746.

While stones carved by Amasa Loomis and Obadiah Wheeler are also present, the photographs I took of those stones turned out very poor, and I intend on eventually revisiting the yard when in the area. No colonial era brownstone tombstones are in the yard.

As many folks who study early American history know, the urn and willow gravestone design began to gain prominence in the 1790's, and almost completely replaced the old Winged Soul effigies by 1820. The plain slab design began gaining prominence in the early 1810's, especially when marble was replacing Schist/Brownstone as the main headstone material during the 1810's and 1820's.

An example of a schist stone with the Urn

and willow design in the yard, dated 1809.

Notice the overall headstone shape is still

in the style that was used through the

colonial period.

A less common sun design on a marble headstone

dated 1805. The setting sun design was a common

design on Rhode Island slate stones, and was

rarely used by CT carvers.

Marble stone dated 1815. This tombstone shape

was often used on marble, brownstone and slate

stones in this period, depending on the region.

Some Rhode Island slate carvers used this shape

until well into the 1860s.

Another schist example dated 1811, still retaining

a more traditional shape. Some of these stones

were carved by the Upswept carver, who made

the switch to Urn and Willow designs, while

still carving some soul effigy stones, assumedly

due to customer requests.

Brownstone grave dated 1807. Though none from

the colonial period are present here, a fair amount

of post 1800 brownstones are scattered around.

Example of Schist and marble slabs,

The dominant design by the 1830s.

The dwindling carvers who still used

schist, tried to emulate contemporary

designs while using cheaper material.

Late period brownstone slab dated 1828. Clearly

emulating the now dominant plain marble slabs.

View of the some 1800's stones. You can get the picture of the grave carving shift of materials and tombstone shapes and designs that occurred during this time from this photo,