History is where you find it.

Going, going…. a carved floral detail in a fallen brownstone is almost gone as the grass envelops it.

Underfoot. Or the details carved into a brownstone standing like a sentinel since 1784, 1776. Humans who answered the call to arms for Lexington, in a war for independence are here at rest now. Oh, the stories they hold. The effort of the carver to capture a likeness and add beauty to a stone marker. The comings and goings of people gathering to pay respects, remember, maintain.

Imagine the carver of this beautiful portrait on an old gravestone of a life that ended in 1784. Note the flourishes created with care on either side.

From Find-A-Grave is this description: “Since the Broad St. gate does not open you must enter through the High Street gate … The cemetery takes up a whole city block. It is the second oldest cemetery in Meriden and the Revolutionary War veterans are listed on a plaque attached to a boulder in the southeast corner. Some of the older stones are obliterated, broken or missing. … The present 955-foot steel fence was constructed in 1932 by Harry W. Riley, owner of an ornamental iron plant at 42 Centennial Avenue, the Bradley & Hubbard Mfg. Company built the two gates.”

And since many of the carved inscriptions are hard to read due to time, deterioration of the stone, as well as the growth of moss and lichens, here is a link to a listing that features names, dates, and memorable words that were chiseled into stone for all time. Source: A Century of Meriden (1906)