CHAPTER NINE
CARVERS OF GRAVESTONES:  A GENERATION APART 

            One hundred twenty-seven signed gravestones were uncovered in the course of this survey of 177 cemeteries in the three Boonslick countries.  Based  upon these signatures, it seems probable that 16 or 17 individuals (the Warren from both Fayette and Columbia is probably the same person) in the Boonslick made at least part of their living by either carving the gravestones themselves or having someone else sculpt them under their trade name.  Approximately thirteen men made gravestones in counties adjacent to the Boonslick region.  Ten firms surfaced from either St. Louis or other towns to the east along the Missouri and Mississippi water system.  Three names were found on gravestones too weathered to decipher the town.  Table 4 gives the names, the towns, and the inclusive dates for the Boonslick sculptors.  Table 5 gives the data on the men from adjacent counties while Table 6 gives the data on the firms from outside mid-Missouri.  Table 7 lists the three firms whose towns are not known.   
                                                                

            Some of these companies or independent businessmen were prominent in their communities and much information is available about them, while nothing could be found about others. The following is a summary of what was discovered in the course of this survey.  It obviously contains gaps, but there is at least one gravestone erected in the Boonslick region that is signed by each of these people.  Just because the gravestone is signed does not automatically mean that the signer did all the carving on the gravestone.  As will be noted in the section below on W. A. Frazier, stones were sometimes inscribed and carved by men working for the monument company owner.  A letter written by John B. Kirkman  which is quoted in the section concerning him, reveals that workers often roughly shaped the gravestone, and then the o financial backer, giving credence to the fact that the signature on a gravestone represented a man who had actually been involved in the carving of the gravestone. 

    1. W. A. FRAZIER 
        The most unusual, signed gravestone was produced by W. A. Frazier of Columbia and is in the Fayette Cemetery (H64) in Howard County (Illustration 170).  Nine gravestones were surveyed that had Frazier’s signature.  The Fayette gravestone commemorates Lewis Crigler who died in 1866 at the age of 69 years.  The marble gravestone is unusual because it features raised lettering instead of incised lettering and says at the bottom, “H.N. Warren, sculptor.”  Then it has the Frazier signature.  This is the only example of raised lettering on a signed gravestone and one of the handful of raised lettered gravestones from any time period found in the Boonslick.  It also has the Masonic emblem in the front center and is in marble.  Closer to Columbia, W. A. Frazier signed the marble obelisk on a square pedestal to Julia Wilhite Woods  (Illustration 171) in Walnut Grove Baptist Graveyard (B33) in Boone County.  The gravestone proclaims, “ She united with the Baptist Church Dec. 1835: so she had been a member for 33 years. 

            The nine gravestones signed by W. A. Frazier do not have a single, unifying characteristic that allows some of the unsigned gravestone to be attributed to him.  Rather, he appears to have been extremely diverse and signed gravestone in whatever style was popular and demanded.  The lettering seems standardized and is also not unique.  Since his last signed gravestone dates to 1872, perhaps he left the mid-Missouri region.  He did carve a gravestone that has a death date of 1849, but it conforms in style to the 1860’s gravestones that he signed and thus must have been placed over the grave at least fifteen years after the person died. 

2 EDWARD FARLEY
             Eleven gravestones in the Boonslick bear the signature of Edward Farley.  A native of County Cavan, Ireland, he came to the United States in the spring of 1852 and settled in St. Louis.  He learned the marble trade there, serving an apprenticeship of three and a half years, but his biography does not give the name of the company or person for whom he was employed.  After living in St. Louis for seven years, he moved to Fulton where he lived for a year and then moved to Mexico, Missouri, where he married Mary Montgomery.  In the spring of 1861, Edward Farley, like so many others in the Boonslick, headed away from mid-Missouri to avoid the issue of war.  He went to Iowa and remained there until 1865 when the family returned to Missouri and settled in Macon where he opened a marble shop with D. E. Wilson.  A year later, 1866, he once again decided to move and Columbia was the destination.  This venture lasted for five years and then he was attracted to Marshall, Missouri, where he opened a marble shop and spent the next nine years.  An 1878 gravestone signed by E. Farley gives the Marshall address and is located in the New Hope Baptist Graveyard (H17) in northern Howard County showing that clients followed him to the Saline County location.  As stated in the 1883 Boone County History, 

“In the year 1880 he came back to Columbia and erected a large brick marble shop near the court-house, where he is now actively engaged in his line of business, employing two hands besides himself; he has three agents on the road.  He does work in the most artistic manner, using the finest Italian, Vermont and Pennsylvania marble; he makes tombstones and headstones at prices ranging from ten to one thousand dollars each; his work is widely known, being represented in nearly all the cemeteries of Boone and adjoining counties.  He is doing a prosperous business, which is well merited and generously bestowed.  In addition to his marble works, he owns considerable real estate in Columbia.  Mr. Farley is a member of the Catholic church.”²

             Two examples of his work are located in Rocky Fork Primitive Baptist Church Graveyard (B26) and in cemetery (B40), a community cemetery, both located in Boone County.  At Rocky Fork, the gravestone to Sarah Wolfe dates to 1867, the time period Farley first worked in Columbia (Illustration 172).  It features a weeping willow tree with clearly delineated trunk and grouped, individual branches.  This was typical, but most monument carvers were unable to combine all three together.  The fact that Edward Farley could combine a definite trunk, grouping of branches, and then individual branches shows he had a level of professional training above the other carvers doing willow trees in the Boonslick during that time period.  The other gravestone is a memorial to Carrie Rautter (Illustration 173) and it features the standard, clasped hands with the word “Farewell” engraved above.  It dates to 1884, the second time Farley worked in Columbia.  A close examination of  the two gravestones reveal they cannot be identified by the carving alone.  Even the style of carving the vital statistics changes over the course of seventeen years. 

            When Edward Farley died, his was the first burial in the Farley Mausoleum (Illustration 174) in the Columbia Cemetery (B38) in Boone County.  This mausoleum is the only mausoleum dating to this time in the cemetery.  Others in the Boonslick were erecting mausoleums to their families, but it does not appear to have been popular in Columbia.  Farley had the technical skill as well as the finances to erect such a structure which contains twelve vaults, some of which are still empty.  The style is decidedly Richardsonian Romanesque, with composite columns supporting a rounded arch and the Hiberno-Saxon cross on top giving an Irish flavor to the building.  A locked, iron double gate allows the visitor to see inside without actually entering.  Two immense Grecian planters are placed at the ends of the lot.  Because it is the only mausoleum in the cemetery, it is immediately visible and dominates the landscape.  Measurements reveal that it is no larger than the standard mausoleums being constructed all over the United States during this decade, but it appears so largely because it is the only one.

3,  4, and 5.  EDWARDS & KIRKMAN, WALLACE & KIRKMAN, J. B. KIRKMAN
             Although these three firms were in business at different times in the Boonslick they all had John B. Kirkman as one of the partners and five gravestones in the Boonslick feature his carving.  John B. Kirkman, a native of North Carolina, served in the Confederacy during the War Between the States and came to Columbia in 1866.  He learned the gravestone business in Columbia (he must have worked under Edward Farley, the only known gravestone carver in Columbia at that time) and stayed in Columbia after Edward Farley moved to Marshall in 1871.  In June 1881, Kirkman moved to Cooper County.  Perhaps one reason he moved was the return of Edward Farley to Columbia in 1880.  Kirkman was no longer the only carver in town.  In January 1882, he moved to Gooch’s Mill in the southeastern part of Cooper County where he entered into the marble business, taking John H. Molan as a partner.³    Or rather, John J. Molan put up the money for the business which was called John J. Molan and Co., but Kirkman evidently did all the sculpting.  Molan’s signature does not appear on any Boonslick gravestones.  In 1883, the firm carried a stock of gravestones valued at $1,000.  In the first year of business they sold over $2,000 worth of gravestones which evidently pleased them very much.⁴   Kirkman was dead by 1919 when the second history of Cooper County was written, but in the biography about his children, it mentions that he also farmed and “was a dealer in memorial monuments and was one of the well known men in the county.”⁵   The biography confirms that some of the gravestones marking graves were sculpted several years after the person died because Kirkman signed a gravestone to Sallie Griffin who died in 1863 and is buried at Goshen Primitive Baptist Church Graveyard (B62) in Wilton in Boone County.  In 1863, John B. Kirkman was somewhere fighting in the Confederacy. 

            An extant letter written by Kirkman on December 20, 1892,has at the top his name and the fact that he is a dealer in both marble and granite plus he will gladly furnish estimates upon application.  The address is given as Gooch’s Mill.  He writes

 “to explain the cause of not having your work delivered before this time.  The first of November I was taken with a catch in my back and not able to work for nearly a month and just as I had gotten fairly well under headway and had your work almost completed, I happened to have another accident on last Wednesday which is very painful and will necessarily keep me from work for some days yet.  I had the flesh nearly all torn from the middle finger of my right hand.  I had your work almost completed and would have brought it up today had I not got hurt.  And as I want to do you a good and nice job, I cannot trust the work of finishing to anyone else.  My hand is getting along nicely so far and I hope to be able to work soon and your job will be the first I deliver.  Please have a load of good flat stone hauled to the graveyard and mark the grave so they can locate it for I shall send a man any good day soon to put in the foundation for fear the weather may get bad.  I hope there is no inconvenience in the delay and I am

                                                                                   Yours very truly,

J. B. Kirkman” ⁶  

                John B. Kirkman recovered to finish the gravestone  which  marks the grave of ten year old Stella Reavis.  (Illustration  175).  The letter also tells about the occupational hazards of working with chisel and hammer.   

6. and 7.  WARREN & NICHOLS, KING & WARREN
            Each one of these firms has a Warren as a partner.  The 1866 gravestone to Lewis Crigler in the Fayette Cemetery (H64) in Howard County (Illustration 170) was sold by W. A. Frazier, but the gravestone proclaims the H. N. Warren was the sculptor.  The gravestones from King & Warren dated from 1856 to 1864, the Crigler gravestone signed by W. A. Frazier but sculpted by W. N. Warren dated to 1866 (if erected soon after Crigler’s death), and the gravestones from Warren & Nichols date to 1872-1873.  It seems probable that the Warren in all three firms is the same man as the dates match perfectly.  Two gravestones are signed by Warren & Nichols and two gravestones are signed by King & Warren. This brings the total to five gravestones if the Lewis Crigler gravestone (the one sculpted by W. N. Warren) is counted. 

            A unique gravestone erected by the firm of Warren & Nichols of Columbia commemorates Bentley Runyan who died in 1872 at the age of 25 years (Illustration 176).  Buried in the Columbia Cemetery (B38) in Boone County, the gravestone is a standard size and shape but a low relief medallion in the top center proclaims Bentley Runyan was a member of Phi Kappa Psi and features stars and a goblet underneath.  Perhaps he was a charter member of this fraternity since the gravestone further proclaims “Missouri Alpha” which means he belonged to the first chapter of that particular fraternity in Missouri. ⁷

            The signed gravestones by King & Warren contain no images, but are completely filled with writing.

8. WIRT & MERIFIELD
            Wirt and Merrifield were active only about 4 years in the Boonslick region and only two gravestones were discovered with their signature.  Their gravestones were found in both Boone and Howard Counties, however.  They seemed to appeal to the family desiring the middle priced gravestone.  One signed example is in the Community Cemetery (H74) in Howard County on the Oser farm (Illustration 177).  Now broken at the base, the gravestone nonetheless remains in excellent condition since it is under the protection of pine and cedar trees.  It features an anchor inside a circular floral wreath and commemorates four year old Sarah Campbell who died in 1870, showing that in this case an adult motif was used for the gravestone of a child.  The high Victorian sentiment is still two decades in the future.

 9. E. EATON
            One gravestone was found in Nashville Baptist Church Graveyard (B59) in Boone County signed by E. Eaton (Illustration 178).  It features the open Bible symbolism discussed in Chapter 6.  This is the only known gravestone by this person who remains tantalizing, but out of sight.  No other fact has been uncovered.

 10. AND 11.  THE BAIERS
            Probably three men were involved in this monument business over the course of its existence.  Twelve signed gravestones were discovered during this survey.  The first signed gravestone dates to 1855 with a signature stating “Ph. Baier” (Philip).  “A. Baier” signed a gravestone in 1877, but his name has not been discovered.  However, Philip Baier, Senior, and Philip Baier, Junior, are both buried in Glasgow. 

            The marble gravestone to Philip Baier, Senior, was erected at the death of his wife, Brigetta Baier, in 1859.  It is a typical, rectangular pedestal with a pedimental cornice capped with a cross, the type of gravestone expected to be found on the grave of a German, Catholic immigrant (Illustration 179).  The inscription is in both German and English.  The vital statistics on Philip were likely inscribed at this time, except his date of death of course, when the gravestone was carved for Brigetta Baier.  The four sides of gravestone are filled with inscriptions.  The poems read,

             “Suddenly, silently bodies here
            Calmly and peacefully rest.  Father and Mother.”

The impression is given that something is lost in the translation to English.  There is no rhyme.

 The poems continue, 

            “Their souls will find ever blessed
            Time can’t teach forgetfulness
            Now we mourn their memory less
            An orphan heart will ever bleed
            A parents’ love will ever need.” 

            Philip Baier, Senior, and Philip Baier, Junior, evidently were in the monument business together.  This is because some of the gravestones are signed “Ph. Baier” and some are signed “P. Baier” and one is signed, “Baier & Son.”  Philip Baier, Senior, died on February 7, 1877.  He was preceded to the grave two weeks earlier by his son, Philip Baier, Junior.  Both were buried in Washington Cemetery (H47) in Glasgow in Howard County, but who carved the gravestone for Philip Baier, Junior, is unknown.  His marble obelisk is topped with a draped, Grecian urn on a square pedestal (Illustration 180).  The front of the obelisk features an eye in a sunburst, an IOOF chain, the left hand raised with a heart in the palm of the hand, and a diamond shape underneath (Illustration 181).  Underneath the vital statistics, the inscription says, “Member of the Ivanhoe Lodge NO. 3, K of P (Knights of Pythias).”  The gravestone also proclaims “Married October 16, 1873”, but it does not give the name of the wife.

             The gravestones signed by the Baier family are typical and have no characteristics that leads the viewer to suspect they were carved by the Baiers except their location.  This family had firm control of the monument business in western Howard County.

 12. ELIAS J. BEDWELL
    Bedwell was a native of Virginia and in 1837 was living in Ohio where he married.  He was in Boonville, Cooper County, Missouri, before 1850, and opened a marble shop called the Boonville Marble Works.  Eighteen gravestones were found with his signature.  In 1850, he employed sixteen men, used 3,500 tons of marble costing $3,000 and made 550 gravestones valued at $16,000.⁸     The 1860 Boonville Directory says he was making, “monuments, tombstones, mantels, headstones and everything in the marble lines.”  ⁹   According to Charles Van Ravenswaay, Bedwell may have employed three other stonecutters who never signed any gravestone, but were known to live in Boonville in 1860:  John Cloud, a native of France, Charles Inkenyerger from Hanover, and William Senns, also a German. ¹⁰     The War Between the States nearly ruined Bedwell, but by 1870 he had recovered and was prospering.  The Boonville Directory for that year states he had nine workmen and produced, “10 monuments for $1,500, 30 tablets for $1,500, 400 tombstones for $1,000 and 4 mantels and tops for $400.” ¹¹     The same directory lists his business at what is now 515 E. Morgan in Boonville on the north side of the street.  Morgan Street was the main street of Boonville before the War Between the States because it became the Rocheport Road at the eastern end of town and headed to the next community.  According to the Directory, Bedwell had a marble yard that fronted onto Morgan Street while in back of the business was his house which faced onto Court Street, the street running south of the Cooper County courthouse.  Thus he was in the very center of the business district and since he lived there was always available (Illustration 182).  An old photograph taken of this Morgan Street block shows at the extreme right a tree and a blank space. ¹²    This blank space was the marble yard.  Bedwell died in 1882 and the next year William Trigg bought the lot and erected a two story business building on the lot which is still used in 1989 as a wholesale grocery warehouse.  Like the Bedwell business, the current building has entrances on both streets. 

    Bedwell obviously did not sign nearly all his work.  Interestingly enough and logically, the signed gravestones are in cemeteries other than Boonville, no doubt a form of free advertisement.  His work, as will be seen, was characterized by finely, detailed, scrolling with curving lines.  The family burial lot in Walnut Grove Cemetery (C10) in Boonville was filled with detailed, sculptured gravestones to his wife and children who died of  “a fever.”  Unfortunately, Bedwell used the finest, thinnest lines he could carve in these gravestones and a century of weathering has left them merely marble blocks.  One of the best gravestones that shows his fine line is the headstone for Robert Cornelius (Illustration 183) in Roanoke Cemetery (H5) in Howard County.  The headstone has no decorative motif so Bedwell has made the name the decorative motif of the marble.  Incised, fine lines brokenly encircle the gravestone.  In a private, family burial ground in Howard County (H43) the same motif is basically attempted again (Illustration 184).  The headstone to Mary Spotts shows that her name was also used as the decorative motif and has a scallop above and below her name.  By 1988, the burial ground was in such ruins and filled with brush, that photographs of this gravestone are poor.  The final example is from the Harris Cemetery (C69) in Cooper County (Illustration 185).  This headstone to Nancy Burrus who died in 1871 aged “about 86 years,” features a laurel wreath at the top with the motto “Our Mother” inside.  The wreath is delicately carved and reveals each individual leaf and stem while some of the leaves even have berries.  Whirls of swirling, Baroque lines fill the space between the top motif and the elaborately inscribed name.  Underneath the name is a waving, stubbly line while swirls and curves dominate the “died” and “aged” inscription.  Most of Bedwell’s gravestones must have looked like this originally.  This particular headstone is not protected by any tree and even faces west so its remarkable preservation is doubly amazing.

 13. AND 14.  ROCHEPORT DEALERS
            Rocheport was a thriving town on the banks of the Missouri River in the years before the War Between the States.  Gravestones were signed by two men with this address, G. B. Dunn and James Gellatry.  Dunn signed six over a period of five years, while Gellatry’s two works date only to 1858 and 1859.  Both men vanish by 1860.  The gravestones signed by G. G. Dunn are of standard marble design and are found in the area surrounding the town.  The broken gravestone to J. J. Austin (Illustration 186) in Ashland (Disciples of Christ) Christian Church Cemetery (H75) in Howard County shows he could do delicate carving because the grapes and leaves are individually carved.  The Gellatry gravestone features a weeping willow and standard lettering.  It could never be identified by style alone.

 15.   L.L. KENEPP
   This man was very successful in the monument business if signatures are any indication. He signed eleven Boonslick gravestones and appears to have been especially interested in the Hand of God theme where the hand either points upward or is clasped.  An example of each shows his style.

             The gravestone to Cornelia Hoffstetter who died in 1877 (Illustration 187) and is buried in the Friendship Baptist Graveyard (H35) in Howard County contains the clasped hands.  A hallmark of the work of L. L. Kenepp is the straight lettering, very businesslike with clean cuts as shown by this gravestone.

             The finger pointing upward is illustrated by an unusual gravestone in the Roanoke Cemetery (H5) in Howard County (Illustration 188).  This gravestone must have been designed and sculpted by Kenepp because it is not the standard size or shape of other regional gravestones.  Instead of being a vertical slab, it is practically a square column or an obelisk as if Kenepp took the top part of a prepared, marble obelisk and re-worked it to form this gravestone.  Only four feet in height, the cost would be less than the standard obelisk.  The top of the gravestone does contain a stepped cornice with a capped urn.  The front features the hand with finger pointing upward and the straight lettering.  This custom designed gravestone shows that the carver would sculpt a special order.

 16.   J. R. BLAKEMORE
            An older contemporary of L. L. Kenepp in Moberly was J. R. Blakemore and his signature is carved into six Boonslick gravestones.  His earliest dated gravestone is to Sarah Fisher who died in 1852 and is buried at Mt. Pleasant (Disciples of Christ) Christian Church Graveyard (H19) in Howard County.  Since the carving features clasped hands, it is doubtful that the gravestone is contemporary with the 1852 date; it likely was erected closer to at least 1870.  Blakemore loved to add curves and swirls to his work like Elias J. Bedwell of Boonville.  The gravestone to Laratt Windsor (Illustration 189) in the Community Cemetery near Lisbon (H53) in Howard County is an excellent example.  Here, Blakemore adds a decorative motif above the man’s name by carefully notching the circle enclosing the clasped hands.  He even adds a final dash at the bottom of the gravestone.  His masterpiece is in the Roanoke Cemetery (H5) in Howard County (Illustration 190).  In this marble, 52 inch tall gravestone, Blakemore carves a stylized weeping willow tree, then places symmetrical medallions underneath containing the vital statistics of Synday and Hyram Robertson who died in 1879 and 1880 respectively.  Above the weep willow tree is written, “To the memory our Father and Mother.”  The poem underneath the medallions says,

             “Our father and mother are gone
              They lie beneath the sod;
               Dear parents, tho’ we miss you much,
               We know you rest with God.

17.  FISHER & CLAYTON     
             This signature was found only on a broken gravestone in Riggs Union Church Cemetery (B11) in Boone County dating to 1887.  The gravestone was too broken to photograph and the pictorial theme is not known; the signature had survived because it was part of a base next to a cedar tree.

18. J. A. TIPPING
            J. A. Tipping worked in Arrow Rock, but by 1872 he was in Marshall, the county set of Saline County, the county adjacent to the west of the Boonslick.  Arrow Rock is on the Missouri River and marble could have been delivered to him by steamboat.  Marshall had only railroad access so Tipping’s move to the county seat shows when steamboat traffic was surpassed by railroads.  He obviously did headstones for unmarked graves or graves that had been merely marked with local gravestones.  One of these (Illustration 191) is in the Boonsboro (Disciples of Christ) Christian Church Graveyard (H54) in Howard County.  It features a flying bird facing left with a rose bud in its mouth; it also features the Baroque curvilinear shape (Tipping avoided the rectangular slab shape whenever possible); the death date is 1824, obviously far too early for a marble gravestone.  Measuring four feet in height and twenty-two inches wide, it is the standard size of the marble gravestones of the 1860’s and 18700’s.  An inscribed poem reads

 “This tablet to a brother lost
 Is reared by kindred left
His soul in bliss is now above
His friends on Earth hereof.”

           A gravestone contemporary to the death date can be found in the Pulliam family cemetery (H40) in Howard County (Illustration 192).  Commemorating Susan Pulliam who died in 1880 at age 33. the marble gravestone continues the Baroque fascination with curves and swirls.  Gone entirely is the rectangle which is replaced by medallions, waving cornices and symmetrical semicircles.  The motif is an upright, pointed hand clutching roses, while the short poem reads,

 “Lord, they will be done
Not mine, but thine, oh Lord.”

 This gravestone is also four feet tell by twenty-two inches wide and must have been a standard item personalized by Tipping.

19. and 20.  H. S. GLAZEY AND F. C. BAIRD
            The names of H. S. Glazey from Brunswick and F. C. Baird from Salisbury could each be read on one marble gravestone from Walnut Hills Cemetery (H6) and Richland (Disciples of Christ) Christian Church Graveyard (H51), respectively, both in Howard County.  The gravestone done by Glazey was too weathered to be legible and the gravestone done by Baird retained only the broken bottom third with the signature still in place on its base.

21. W. P. HANDLEY
   W. P. Handley signed three gravestones giving his address as Stringtown, California, and Archie.  All three gravestones feature clasped hands and on the one with the Stringtown  address, the signature is as elaborate as the actual gravestone (Illustration 193).  Handley evidently kept moving westward in Missouri and the clients kept following him from the Boonslick. 

22.  CLAY & HEYNEN
    Likewise, the firm Clay & Heynen from Sedalia to the southwest of the Boonslick is responsible for the 1883 gravestone in Mt. Nebo Baptist Church Graveyard (C57) in Cooper County to Anna Wallace (Illustration 194).  Instead of clasped hands, the right hand reaches for the left hand with no motion by either.  Their fingers are on the verge of touching.  The gravestone proclaims that Anna was the “wife of A.. Wallace, a soldier of the War of 1812” and the poem at the bottom continues,

“The old veteran and his companion
Separated for twenty and one long years
Are now united.  He took her from a world of care,
Her husband’s love and bliss to share.”

 The viewer learns more about the husband, A. Wallace, than Anna from this gravestone.

 23.  FLEMING & THOMPSON 
            A Jefferson City firm, Fleming & Thompson, was active in the decade just before the War Between the States.  The seven gravestones signed by this company are larger than average and appear to have been purchased because of that reason.  This survey suggests that if a large, really grand monument was desired, people either went to this firm in Jefferson City or traveled all the way to St. Louis.  The 1858 monument to Dr. John A. Talbot (Illustration 195) In the Fayette Cemetery (H64) in Howard County is a good example of the Classical Revival style done on a larger gravestone than the other Boonslick examples.  The marble, rectangular pedestal is at least ten feet in height and is capped with a Grecian cornice with acroteria like a sarcophagus.  A Grecian urn with individually inscribed acanthus leaves tops the monument.  On the west side is a signed cross while the east side contains the vital statistics of the deceased.  When Alice Talbot died in 1871, her name was inscribed on the north (right) side, but the monument does not appear to have originally been planned to include her.  Rather, it was erected as a commemorative marker to one person.  Perhaps the large size made the family feel they had spent enough money or perhaps Alice later asked to be included on this monument.  Either way, it is obvious that it is an afterthought as her vital statistics are squeezed into the side area. 

            Another gravestone erected by this company is in the Columbia Cemetery (B38) (Illustration 196) in Boone County and commemorates Anthony and Sallie Rodes Rollins, an early Boone County doctor and his spouse (Illustration 197 and Illustration 198).  A marble base approximately 3 ½ feet tall rests upon a concrete foundation.  The base contains the vital statistics of each with inscriptions on the two sides while the front reads, “In Memory of Our Father and Mother by their grateful and affectionate children.”  A long poem fills the entire back of the marker:

“A model citizen, an able physician
A sterling patriot, a Christian philanthropist
Just and upright in all relationships of life
He commanded universal respect and died lamented by all
Who knew him.

A dutiful daughter, a faithful wife,
A devoted and affectionate mother
Kind, charitable and benevolent to all
She died a sincere Christian and in
Perfect faith of a glorious immorality.”

             The front and sides of this gravestone feature marble panels topped with Baroque swirls and end in pilasters of uncertain style.  Above this base, two marble, round columns rise and are capped by a circular top.  Floral wreaths wrap between and around the columns, uniting them.  The garlands contain many species of flowers and foliage.  Anthony and Sallie Rodes Rollins were very interested in education and the nearby University of Missouri still gives an Anthony Rollins Scholarship every year to an undergraduate.

 24.  ZUBER BROTHERS
             Another Jefferson City firm, the Zuber Brothers, signed one badly weathered gravestone in a rural cemetery (C39) near Pilot Grove, in Cooper County.  A finger pointing upright in a quatrefoil is the motif.  No other signed gravestone by this firm was discovered during this survey.

 25.  J. C. ANDREWS
             If a local work was not desired, the Missouri River provided easy access to St. Louis and other towns along the rivers.  This is proven by the 1853 gravestone to Dulcena Martin (Illustration 199) in the New Salem Baptist Church Graveyard (B60) in southern Boone County.  This gravestone features a hand pointing to a crown and drapery, a standard theme.  It was signed by J. C. Andrews of Quincy, Illinois.  In the 1850’s, Quincy was the first stop north of St. Louis, in free territory along the Mississippi River.  The commerce between there and the Boonslick was brisk and private memoirs of the period discuss the differences between Quincy and Boonville in the Boonslick, using the Missouri River as the highway for comparison. ¹³

 26. and 27.  KENT & FULLER, B. D. FULLER
            Boonslick citizens usually used St. Louis firms if they did not choose to purchase a gravestone in mid-Missouri, either from a Boonslick company or from a neighboring county.  Nine different St. Louis firms were found in the cemetery survey and one gravestone gives the location as St. Louis, but the firm name is illegible.  Table 7 explains these companies.  Some of the more interesting gravestones produced by these firms deserve discussion.  All of the gravestones imported to the Boonslick were the elite gravestones of the cemeteries in which they were placed, showing they served the socio-economic class which had a great deal of discretionary money.

             Two of the most interesting imports feature Greco/Roman themes.  The gravestone to William Jewell, MD, who gave the money to found William Jewell College in Liberty is an excellent example (Illustration 200 and Illustration 201).  Dr. Jewell was buried in the Jewell cemetery (B37) in Boone County in 1852; the cemetery is now a state historic site.  The gravestone to Dr. Jewell contains the standard square pedestal with rectangular column topped with a Greco/Roman sarcophagus lid with acroteria and finally capped with a draped, closed urn.  The front of the gravestone features a laurel wreath in the rectangular column area while the square pedestal has a weeping Grecian woman with the words underneath, “His work is done, He did it well and faithfully.”  The firm, Kent & Fuller of St. Louis, sculpted the monument.

             In the same decade, the 1850’s, Sarah Howard died and was buried in the Columbia Cemetery (B38) in Boone County.  A similar type of gravestone was erected for her (Illustration 202) featuring a marble obelisk capped with the Greco/Roman sarcophagus cornice complete with acroteria and then the standard urn.  Likewise, a laurel wreath is underneath a high relief with a Grecian woman mourning and leaning against the same type of tomb.  B. D. Fuller of St. Louis signed this work.  Surely this B. D. Fuller is the same person as the Fuller in the Dr. William Jewell gravestone.

 28.   J. C. WILSON
            One signed gravestone was found during this survey.  It commemorated Thomas Hickman who died in 1849 and is buried in the Hickman family burial ground (H58) at the University of Missouri Experimental Farm near New Franklin in Howard County.  Nothing else is known about this man.

 29.  HALIFAX & BOWER
            One 1855 marble, gravestone commemorating Amanda Hulen was signed by this St. Louis firm.  It is located at Red Top (Disciples of Christ) Christian Church Graveyard (B20) in Boone County.  This graveyard is fully discussed in Chapter 4.

 30.  ROSEBROUGH & CO.
            Rosebrough and Company, also of St. Louis, provided several Boonslick gravestones including the monument to Eliza Johnson who died in 1862 (Illustration 203) and is buried in the New Salem Baptist Church Graveyard (B60). The gravestone is badly weathered but a pointed hand, a weeping willow, a crown, and a floral wreath plus the standard scroll for the vital statistics can be picked out.  John H. Stone who died in 1846 is also commemorated with a marble obelisk featuring a frontal laurel wreath carved by this firm. 

            The 1861 monument to Fielding Curtis in New Sale Baptist Church Graveyard (B60) in Boone County was purchased in St. Louis from Rosebrough & Son.  This 15 foot tall obelisk proclaims,

“He lived in celibacy throughout his whole life and by
industry and economy amassed a fortune of about
$73,000.  He was prompt and punctual in all his
business relations with mankind and died universally
lamented by all who knew him”

 31.  D. FRANCIS & CO.
            Other St. Louis firms also sold signed gravestones for  the Boonslick market.  D. Francis and Company (Illustration 204) signed two gravestones in New Salem Baptist Church Graveyard (B60) in Boone County.  The taller monument honors Eli and Margaret Bass while the broken column is dedicated to their son, Felix Bass, who in 1863 was “killed in Polk Co., MO. endeavoring to reach the Confederate lines.”  This firm will be discussed again in Chapter 10 in reference to an unsigned gravestone sold by them to be placed in Boone County.  The signed receipt is still in existence for this transaction.

 32.  G. BOYD
            One gravestone signed by this man was discovered during the course of this survey.  Located in Columbia Cemetery (B38), it commemorates Caroline Imly Todd, the daughter of David and Eliza Todd, early Boone County pioneers.  Caroline died in 1873.  The gravestone features the motif of a cross suspended through a crown, a common mid-nineteenth century motif.  Above this are the words “In Memory Of.”

 33. PARK & MCCLINTLOCK
            The firm, Park & McClintlock of St. Louis, erected the large, marble obelisk with cornice and urn on a square pedestal to Kate Swinney Morrison.  Kate was buried in Washington Cemetery (H47) in Glasgow in Howard County, but she had lived in St. Louis.  Her husband erected a large cenotaph to her in Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis on his family lot.¹⁴

34.  MULDOON, BULLETT & CO.
            Colonel Benjamin Lewis died in 1866 from injuries received during the Battle of Glasgow.  A wealthy man, he endowed the Lewis Library (including the building) which in 1989 is the oldest public library west of the Mississippi; the building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  Originally, the library was part of Lewis College which he also founded with an endowment.  Thus, it is no wonder that a large monument was erected to him in the Lewis Family Cemetery (H46) in Howard County.  The epitaph on the gravestone says: 

“He was a man of honor, a devoted patriot willing to
give to his country, a Christian who delighted to
follow the Golden Rule.  He suffered patiently for
his native land and for Christ’s sake.  His liberality
and charity bring blessings on his memory and tears
for his untimely death.  His country gratefully
cherishes the remembrances of his noble deeds and the
Church will not forget his virtues.
They that sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.”

             Located at the extreme northern end of the cemetery, the sidewalk runs straight toward this monument from the entrance gate.  (Illustration 205).  The 25 foot tall, marble monument blends the Gothic Revival style with the Classical Revival.  The basic style is from the Classical Revival period and is the rectangle column with a cornice and an obelisk.  However, this type has been completed in the Gothic Revival style turning the obelisk into a Gothic cathedral spire complete with finial and Gothic tracery.  The cornice is now angled and no longer resembles a Greco/ Roman sarcophagus.  Muldoon, Bullett and Co. of St. Louis signed the monument.

THE ERA ENDS
            With the introduction of granite as a gravestone material and its greater resistance to weathering, the market shrank for local carvers.  Granite represented permanence and stability which was the Victorian ideal.  When these Boonslick men died, they were not replaced by another generation of gravestone sculptors. Instead, the next generation filled local orders which were sculpted elsewhere and then shipped to the local business who erected it over the grave (Illustration 206).  This transformation is illustrated by an old photograph of the eastern side of Main Street in Boonville.  At the right end of the block can be read the sign “Marble & Granite” showing that both were advertised and used.  This block of building was razed in 1912 to make room for the present Cooper County Courthouse and thus was approximately a half block west of the Bedwell marble yards.  This monument business was called Elliott & Duncan.  Elliott evidently had the money invested and Duncan was the salesman.¹⁵   The modern era was upon the Boonslick and there was no turning back.

 ENDNOTES

 ¹1883 History of Howard and Cooper Counties, Missouri,  (St. Louis: National Historical Company, 1883), p. 1150.

²1883 History of Boone County, Missouri  (St. Louis: National Historical Company, 1883), p 859.

 ³1883 History of Howard and Cooper Counties, Missouri  p. 1150.

 ⁴Ibid. 

 ⁵Johnson, W. F.,  History of Cooper County, Missouri  (Topeka;  Historical Publishing Company, 1919), p. 946.

 ⁶Letter in the possession of Helen Shrout of  Bunceton, Missouri.  The family burial ground is located on her farm in Cooper County, Missouri.

 ⁷Interview with Phyllis Markley, National President of Sigma Kappa Sorority, in Columbia, Missouri, on February 15, 1989.

 ⁸van Ravevnswaay, Charles, The Arts and Architecture of German Settlements in Missouri:  A Survey of a Vanishing Culture   (Columbia:  University of Missouri Press, 1977), p. 440.

 ⁹1860 Boonville Directory in the possession of the Friends of Historic Boonville and kept in their Archives.

 ¹⁰van Ravenswaay, p. 440.

 ¹¹Ibid. 

¹²Dyer, Robert L.,  Boonville, An Illustrated History  (Boonville: Pekitanoui Publications, 1987), p. 199. 

¹³Unpublished memoirs in the Friends of Historic Boonville Archives, located in Boonville, Missouri. 

¹⁴Memories of Missouri, Inc.,  Report on the Historic Architectural Survey of the City of Glasgow   (funded by the State Office of Historic Preservation), in 1987/1988.

 ¹⁵Dyer, p. 182.

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