FOSTORIA LINEAGE RESEARCH SOCIETY
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The Meaning of Early Gravestone Art:
| Anchors and ships: | The seafaring profession |
| Arches: | Victory in death |
| Arrows: | Mortality |
| Bouquets: | Condolences, grief |
| Buds: | Renewal of life |
| Bugles: | The resurrection and the military |
| Candle being snuffed: | Time, mortality |
| Coffins: | Mortality |
| Crossed swords: | High-ranking military person |
| Darts: | Mortality |
| Doves: | The soul, purity |
| Father Time: | Mortality, the grim reaper |
| Flowers: | Brevity of early existence, sorrow |
| Flying birds: | Flight of the soul |
| Fruits: | eternal plenty |
| Garlands: | Victory in death |
| Imps: | Mortality |
| Hand of God Chopping: | Sudden death |
| Handshake: | Farewell to earthly existence |
| Hearts: | The soul in bliss, love of Christ |
| Horns: | The resurrection |
| Hourglass: | Swiftness of time |
| Lambs: | Innocence |
| Picks and shovels: | Mortality |
| Portals: | Passageway to the eternal journey |
| Roses: | The brevity of earthly existence |
| Sheaves of Wheat: | Time, the divine harvest |
| Shells: | The pilgrimage of life |
| Suns: | The resurrection |
| Thisles: | Remembrance |
| Tombs: | Mortailty |
| Trees: | Life |
| Trumpeters: | Heralds of the resurrection |
| Willows: | Earthly sorrow |
| Winged Death's head: | Mortality |
| Winged Effigies: | The flight of the soul |
Information courtesy of Wanda Pohlman