Born c. 1678, Mrs. Thompson, nee Martha Parkhurst, was the wife of John Thompson. She died "in her 50 Years", as it's rather awkwardly phrased in her gravestone inscription (see below).
Her brown sandstone stele appears to have been made by an unidentified craftsman known as the "Old Elizabethtown Soul Carver I", who was active in the 1720-30's, and whose work is distinguished by highly detailed mortality imagery and the unusual use of skull-with-cross-bones soul effigies. Mrs. Thompson's gravestone reflects the Puritanical emphasis on the brevity and frailty of life on earth, but its grimness is somewhat alleviated by the Tudor-style roses engraved in the border, which may allude to noble descent and/or spiritual virtue in full bloom. Roses like these, with undulating stems and leaves, may be seen in Connecticut gravestones of the period--an indication that the carver of this stone learned his craft in that colony.
NOTE: Source of spouse & parental links: Findagrave member #47353710, "family tree maker"
Her brown sandstone stele appears to have been made by an unidentified craftsman known as the "Old Elizabethtown Soul Carver I", who was active in the 1720-30's, and whose work is distinguished by highly detailed mortality imagery and the unusual use of skull-with-cross-bones soul effigies. Mrs. Thompson's gravestone reflects the Puritanical emphasis on the brevity and frailty of life on earth, but its grimness is somewhat alleviated by the Tudor-style roses engraved in the border, which may allude to noble descent and/or spiritual virtue in full bloom. Roses like these, with undulating stems and leaves, may be seen in Connecticut gravestones of the period--an indication that the carver of this stone learned his craft in that colony.
NOTE: Source of spouse & parental links: Findagrave member #47353710, "family tree maker"
Born c. 1678, Mrs. Thompson, nee Martha Parkhurst, was the wife of John Thompson. She died "in her 50 Years", as it's rather awkwardly phrased in her gravestone inscription (see below).
Her brown sandstone stele appears to have been made by an unidentified craftsman known as the "Old Elizabethtown Soul Carver I", who was active in the 1720-30's, and whose work is distinguished by highly detailed mortality imagery and the unusual use of skull-with-cross-bones soul effigies. Mrs. Thompson's gravestone reflects the Puritanical emphasis on the brevity and frailty of life on earth, but its grimness is somewhat alleviated by the Tudor-style roses engraved in the border, which may allude to noble descent and/or spiritual virtue in full bloom. Roses like these, with undulating stems and leaves, may be seen in Connecticut gravestones of the period--an indication that the carver of this stone learned his craft in that colony.
NOTE: Source of spouse & parental links: Findagrave member #47353710, "family tree maker"
Her brown sandstone stele appears to have been made by an unidentified craftsman known as the "Old Elizabethtown Soul Carver I", who was active in the 1720-30's, and whose work is distinguished by highly detailed mortality imagery and the unusual use of skull-with-cross-bones soul effigies. Mrs. Thompson's gravestone reflects the Puritanical emphasis on the brevity and frailty of life on earth, but its grimness is somewhat alleviated by the Tudor-style roses engraved in the border, which may allude to noble descent and/or spiritual virtue in full bloom. Roses like these, with undulating stems and leaves, may be seen in Connecticut gravestones of the period--an indication that the carver of this stone learned his craft in that colony.
NOTE: Source of spouse & parental links: Findagrave member #47353710, "family tree maker"
Inscription
"Here lieth ye Body
of Martha Thompson
Wife of Mr. John Thompson
who departed this life
July the 16th Ao 1728
Aged in her 50 years"
Family Members
Spouse
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