Epitaphs and Symbols on the Painter Gravemarkers

If you read my post on The Burying Ground of the Painters and Tylers, you may have noted the statement, “Papers document that Jacob Painter designed his own grave marker, as sketches for his grave and drafts of the poetry engraved on both his own tomb and on his brother Minshall’s tomb are found among Jacob’s papers.”  Someone has asked about the text on the gravestones of Minshall and Jacob Painter, so I thought I would provide the text here, for those that cannot make the trip to visit the cemetery.  As you will see, the epitaphs capture their love of nature – and the love one brother had for another.

Minshall Painter was the first of the two brothers to pass away.  He lived from March 6, 1801, to August 21, 1873.  Minshall has three epitaphs carved in his marble tombstone.  This photo looks at the north side of the grave site.

The west side reads:

MY BROTHER ‘ROUND THY PLACE OF REST
WELL MAY THY ONCE LOVED FLOWERS ENTWINE,
NO HEART THAT THROBBED IN MORTAL BREAST
WAS KINDER OR MORE TRUE THAN THINE.

The south side reads:

FOR THEE, NO MORE SHALL VERNAL SPRING
RENEW THE LEAVES ON TREES AND BOWERS;
FOR THEE NO MORE SHALL FLORA BRING
HER CHOICEST GIFTS OF RAREST FLOWERS.

The east side reads:

‘TIS SWEET FOR HIM WHO KNEW THEE BEST,
TO CHERISH THOUGHTS OF THEE THAT KEEP
THY MEM’RY FRESH. WITH HOPE OF REST.
NEARBY THEE IN UNENDING SLEEP.

Minshall’s grave marker has many common tombstone symbols found in cemeteries.  An urn represents a soul, or mortality.  Any object draped on a tombstone, such as this urn, indicates mourning.  In fact, the draped urn is probably the most common 19th-century funerary symbol.  The ivy represents immortality and fidelity.  Ivy clings to a support, which makes it a symbol of attachment, friendship, and undying affection.  The flowers around the base of the urn represent beauty and eternal sleep.

Jacob Painter lived from June 22, 1814, to November 3, 1876.  Jacob’s tombstone has many symbols on the north and south sides, with epitaphs carved only on the east and west sides.

The west side reads:

IF FOR HIS KIND SOME GOOD HE WROUGHT,
PERCHANCE REVEALED ANOTHER’S PAIN,
IF HE ONE USEFUL MORAL TAUGHT,
HE HAS NOT LIVED IN VAIN.
IF GRACELESS DEEDS HAVE MARRED HIS FAME,
MADE SAD HIS LIFE THAT ELSE WAS FAIR,
HE SINS NO MORE, WITHHOLD THY BLAME,
IN CHARITY FORBEAR.

The east side reads:

WHEN HE WHO LIES BENEATH THIS TOMB,
FELT LIFE’S WARM CURRENTS THROUGH HIM FLOW
HE WAS THE SPORT OF HOPE AND GLOOM,
OF JOYS THAT COME AND GO.
WHERE TRUTH AND NATURE SEEMED TO LEAD,
THAT PATH IN HOPE AND FAITH HE TROD.
FROM NATURE’S LAWS HE DREW HIS CREED,
AS TAUGHT BY NATURE’S GOD.

Jacob’s grave marker has many more symbols.  I have described some of them here.

The oak leaves and acorns can symbolize strength, endurance, eternity, honor, liberty, hospitality, faith, and virtue, in addition to maturity and “ripe old age.”  The pansy is a symbol of remembrance.  The lily of the valley represents purity, innocence, renewal, and resurrection.

When found on a grave marker, the philodendron is more of a decorative element than being a representative symbol.

The anchor stands for hope.  The hourglass represents the passage of time.

In general, trees represnt life.  The weeping willow tree, in many religions, represents immortality.  The flowers on the left appear to be roses, which represent brevity of life or sorrow.  The flowers on the right may be the morning glory, representing morning, youth, the bonds of love, and the Resurrection since the flower blooms in the morning and is closed by afternoon.

If you are interested in learning more about tombstone styles and symbols, I recommend the following books to further your exploration:

Keister, D. (2004). Stories in Stone: A field guide to cemetery symbolism and iconography.

Cooper, G. (2009). Stories Told in Stone: Cemetery Iconology.

 

The Burying Ground of the Painters and Tylers

Philadelphia and the surrounding region is known for its historic and scenic cemeteries.  So which cemetery is the final resting place for the founding Minshall/Painter/Tyler families of Tyler Arboretum?  A quick review of the History of Tyler Arboretum webpage will get you up to speed on the names of the family members that owned the Arboretum property for eight generations and the ones I’ll be focusing on in this post.

The earliest documentation I can find for a burial of a Minshall family member is for Hannah Minshall (1782-1838).  Hannah, married to Enos Painter and mother of Minshall and Jacob Painter, is said to be buried in an unmarked grave in the Middletown Meeting Burying Ground (also referred to as Middletown Preparative Burying Ground and Friends Hicksite Cemetery, located here on Route 352/Middletown Road).  Many well-known Delaware County names can be found on the hand-written burial lists, such as Baker, Sharpless, and Darlington.  This property is surrounded by a stone wall and is across the street from the Penn State Brandywine campus.

This area had an immediate need for a burial site for “non-demoninational harmony” (as the Middletown Quaker Hickstie and Orthodox congregations that separated in 1827 both found their own burying grounds no longer adequate, suffering from graveyard overcrowding).  Interestingly, Minshall Painter’s written papers for May 5, 1859, mention a visit to his neighbor Thomas Pratt. Minshall had stopped at the Pratt farm, which included the land between the two Quaker cemeteries, as Thomas was “laying out a piece of ground for a cemetery laying adjoining the Middletown [Friends] grave yard.”  Bordering that stone wall and between two Quaker burying grounds was the establishment of Pratt’s Burying Ground, what is now expanded and named Cumberland Cemetery on Route 352.

The new burial ground was documented in the May 13, 1885 issue of The Chester Times (see below, and notice a familiar name in the list of purchasers in the third sentence):

A NEW PLACE OF BURIAL
A new place of sepulture, know as the Cumberland Cemetery, is a very finely located burial ground. It is situated in Middletown Township, and is part of the estate of the late Thomas Pratt. In February last Townsend F. and Horace P. Green of Media, James M. Smith, John J. Tyler and Thomas Sharpless, of Middletown, purchased the farm consisting of seventy acres and then sold all but eighteen of them, which they reserved for the new cemetery. A charter was granted by the court on April 6. The property will be laid out in lots, with avenues running to all portions of the grounds. The front of the cemetery will be embellished by a stone wall, on which an iron fence of suitable pattern will be mounted. It is thought this place will soon be come popular as a place of interment. It is on high ground, commands a fine view, and will make a fit spot for the living to place their dead. It is only a short distance from Chester. The officers of the association are J. M. Smith, President, T. J. Sharpless, Treasurer, Horace P. Green Secretary.

Minshall and Jacob Painter are both buried in “Pratt’s Burying Ground” (as they passed away before Cumberland Cemetery was officially incorporated in 1885).  Papers document that Jacob Painter designed his own grave marker, as sketches for his grave and drafts of the poetry engraved on both his own tomb and on his brother Minshall’s tomb are found among Jacob’s papers.  I have seen stories online that Minshall and Jacob wanted to be buried right next to the stone wall, so they could be buried close to their mother Hannah who was buried on the other side.

The final resting spots of Minshall (left) and Jacob (right) Painter. Note that both tombs are next to the stone wall of the Quaker burying site of their other (the meeting house can be seen above Jacob’s grave marker). If you visit this site, take a peek over the stone wall – you will be surprised to see more than tombstones within the stone wall!

The short text below is the only mention I have found of the cause of death of Minshall Painter:

The image above is a screenshot from the article “Some Old Gardens of Pennsylvania” by J.W. Harshberger in the 1924 publication The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 48, No. 4, available online through the Penn State Libraries.

Ann Painter, the youngest sibling of Minshall and Jacob who inherited the property after the passing of her brothers (which contradicts the above article), is also buried in Cumberland Cemetery – but on the complete opposite side of the property in the Tyler mausoleum (described below).  She lived from 1818-1914 and was the wife of William Tyler and mother of John J. Tyler.  It was John J. Tyler that managed the property for Ann.

John J. Tyler (1851-1930) was married to Laura Hoopes (1859-1944) and is buried in the only mausoleum in Cumberland Cemetery.  The structure is located on the one road that bends through the cemetery, named Tyler Memorial Driveway (as pictured to the left).  The beautiful and simple mausoleum has a stained glass window in the back and a small marble bench on a granite floor with six tombs inside.  When peering through the windows of the door, you will see John J. Tyler in the middle on the right, with Laura at rest below him.  To the left is Ann Tyler in the middle, William Tyler on the bottom, and their son William at the top who died in 1873 at the age of 25.

The Tyler Mausoleum at Cumberland Cemetery. Note Middletown Monthly Meeting in the background to the right, along with the Quaker cemetery.

If you want to further your exploration of Cumberland Cemetery, I strongly encourage you to read the undergraduate honors thesis of Eileen Fresta, who earned her B.A. in American Studies from Penn State Brandywine in Spring 2013.  Her thesis, titled “A Study of the Cumberland Cemetery in Middletown Township, Pennsylvania,” is freely available online as a PDF file.  I believe you will find Chapter 5, Middletown Township Quakers in the Nineteenth Century, of particular relevance and interest.  Visitors are also allowed to walk through Cumberland Cemetery during daytime hours.

RANDOM FACT  —  Perhaps the most well-known person resting at Cumberland Cemetery is Joshua Pusey, the inventor of the paper matchbook! There is a historical marker detailing this accomplishment along Route 352.

Minshall Painter around town

In 1857, when brothers Minshall and Jacob Painter inherited the property that is now Tyler Arboretum from their father, Enos Painter, they set about establishing a collection of over 1,000 ornamental plants for their own scientific study.  They even built the Painter Library to house their growing natural science collections and equipment, as well as their extensive and valued book collection.  The Minshall and Jacob Painter private collection was key in laying the foundation of the beauty that is Tyler Arboretum today.

But Minshall Painter left his mark not only on Tyler Arboretum but around Media, PA.  Minshall is also credited with serving on the local school board and getting the Delaware County seat moved from Chester (City) to Media.  In fact, on Orange Street across from the intersection with Linden Street, you can find a sign that credits Minshall with naming the town “Media.”  However, it is not clear why “Media” was chosen – some report that it was because of the central location of Media borough in the county, while others report that the name may come from the biblical area of Medea.

Personally, I feel the most valued contribution outside of Tyler Arboretum that Minshall Painter made to Media was being one of the founders of the Delaware County Institute of Science.  On September 21, 1833, a group of five individuals with an interest in science and natural history came together to establish DCIS.  Minshall Painter was one of the five founders and the first secretary of the organization.  He purchased a half block of land along South Avenue from Jasper to Front Street and secured the funds (much out of his own pocket) to construct the building that still stands today.  You can learn more about the history of DCIS from their website.  Admission to the museum is free and open on Monday, Thursday, and most Saturday mornings.

Minshall also recorded weather observations and was an enthusiastic genealogist – he compiled notes and collected deeds and other papers pertaining to many Quaker families of Delaware and Chester Counties.

Jacob Painter was not as active in the community as his brother Minshall.  As noted on this website from Swarthmore College:

Jacob Painter, while sharing Minshall’s scientific interests, was a student of language and a poet … The brothers acquired a printing press which they used to publish a number of essays on language, a system they developed for scientific nomenclature, and genealogical compilations. They were active in civic and Quaker affairs and members of Chester Monthly Meeting, attending Middletown Meeting until their resignation in 1842. While no longer formally members of the Society of Friends, they continued their interest in “liberal” Quaker concerns, including abolition and women’s suffrage, and collected classic Quaker texts.

And what about the Minshall House?  Located at the intersection of Providence Road and Front Street, the Minshall House (circa 1750) is believed to be the oldest house in Media, approximately 260 years old.  The house is located on the land Thomas Minshall purchased from William Penn in 1681, but there is no record that Minshall Painter (the great-great-great-grandson of Thomas Minshall) ever lived in the house.  The house is open for tours on Sundays from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

Minshall lived to 72 years of age, but his hard work and impact still lives on in Media, PA!