THE STONE

The grave-marker of Joseph Wamsley is a monument. The stone is enormous but whether it marks a great man or a man with a great ego remains unknown. The whole structure is made up of at least four separate pieces of carved stone joined together. The column of the stone seems to be white marble while the base may be made of something sturdier, deterioration and staining varies from the top to the bottom. The marker is built upon a solid, square base on top of which is a four-sided curved section which bears the inscription and an abstract plant design on one side; the same design with no words or additional imagery is on the other three sides. Above this center section of the pedestal is a small ledge-like area jutting out from the point where the column of the marker meets the pedestal section. The area is squared out like the base, and on each side there is a carving of a wreath of laurel.

The column itself may be divided into four sections of differing decoration. The first section of the column (the lower third) is smooth except for a carving of a garland around the circumference. Above that section the rest of the pillar is grooved vertically up to the top part of the column. At the top of the cylindrical section of the monument there is a fluted, leaf-like design like that of corinthian columns, and on top of that section is a curled design similar to that of ionic columns. The column ends with a flat top that appears to have, at some point in time, supported an additional decoration (Page9, "Top of Column"). Having surveyed Mount Hope Cemetery for other columns, it is my opinion that the most likely decoration for the top of the column would be an urn. This belief results not only from having found other examples of columns topped with urns but also from the fact that the top of the column is too narrow to support most statue designs that would be visible on top of the structure. For the detail of a statue to be visible from the ground in this structure it would have to be reasonably large and given the small dimensions of the top of the pedestal it is unlikely that it supported a large statue. Further an urn has a readily identifiable shape, even from a distance, and the base piece for what was once on the column remains and is squared and at least several inches smaller than the supporting section of the column which also lends it to being a base for an urn sculpture. Lastly, both the column (called a 'stele' in Mount Hope) and the urn are of Greek origin (Reisem 54). While the most common base for an urn in the markers found in Mount Hope is a large, squared base that is tall and has a roof-like design on all four sides, there are examples of urns on top of columns. The one discrepancy found in the theory that there was once an urn instead of some other decoration is that all the column-with-urn markers, as well as the designs in various gravestones that depict a column in the carving, that I found dated from the 1870's whereas Wamsley died in 1856. However, since styles and fads may last the span of twenty years, the time difference does not directly contradict the possibility of an urn on Wamsley's marker, indeed he may have been a post-mortem trend setter.

THE MAN BENEATH THE STONE

The stone's size, decor, orientation in the cemetery, and its inscription say a lot about Wamsley but we will first discuss information not conveyed by the stone itself. According to information from the New York State censuses of 1840 and 1850 Joseph Wamsley moved to Rochester sometime after 1840, possibly from the Poughkeepsie, New York region. Mr. Wamsley then joined or, more than likely, established the Wamsley Brothers "firm" which, according to the Rochester Directory of 1850, was a millinery and straw goods store (Rochester Daily Democrat 2). It is likely that the business was successful and allowed Wamsley to have such an expensive stone.

Wamsley died of dysentery in 1856 at the age of 32. His body was kept in a vault at Mount Hope Cemetery for one day before he was buried. Wamsley's obituary was printed in the Rochester Daily Democrat on the day after he died: it reveals little information is revealed about Wamsley as a person but we do learn that he had family in the area as they are invited to attend. The obituary itself is an indication that Wamsley was a rich and possibly prominent member of the community in his time since not everyone who died received an obituary and, in fact, many of the obituaries of the time seem to be for children. Although Mr. Wamsley was not important enough to show up in any popular profile or autobiography of significant Rochesterians, he must have been important to those close to him to have received such a decorative and large gravestone. An evaluation of the stone's iconography and orientation gives insight into what he was like or, at least, how his family wanted him to be remembered. Unlike many of the stones in Mount Hope, the orientation of the marker seems to have significance in terms of affecting how one reads the epitaph. In many sections of Mount Hope the stones face all different directions and often seem to have no orientational relationship with the surroundings. Mr. Wamsley's epitaph is written on the side of the stone that faces the hill behind it and in order to read the inscription you must face out over a downward slope and out to distant trees, making the grave marker stand out (Page 10, "View Facing Epitaph").

I believe that the placement of the epitaph was intentional given the area in which the body was buried. The stone is tall and has a large base, which is clearly meant to draw attention to the deceased's gravesite as well as convey that he was an important person, even if only to family and friends. To complement the towering effect of the column the epitaph is placed on the side which requires its reader to look out over landscape; not only is there a view but, because the trees are in the distance, the pillar appears to be the tallest object in the field of vision. Currently, the view described is slightly obscured by an enormous tree growing near to the stone, which now hovers over the top of the column. If one looks at the stone from any other side, the background area is dominating and detracts from the impact of the height of the stone. Directly behind the epitaph is a steep hill, which means that if one looks at the column from any angle other than the one required to read the epitaph the stone is dwarfed by high ground and trees_ (Page 10, "View Facing Hill").

LAST WORDS

The iconography of the stone has its' own set of meanings but combined with the epitaph they take on a more personal tone (Page 9, "Epitaph"). The stone reads:

JOSEPH WAMSLEY
DIED JULY 30TH. 1856
AGED 32 YEARS.
AS FOR ME, I WILL BEHOLD THY
FACE IN RIGHTEOUSNESS: I SHALL
BE SATISFIED WHEN I AWAKE,
WITH THY LIKENESS.
PS. 17.15.

This passage from the Bible was probably of personal significance to Joseph and his family for several reasons. Generally, stones that bear quotes from the Bible do not cite chapter and verse, and, here, this may indicate that the person who chose the stone wanted to emphasize the passage to those who read the epitaph. Additionally, although Psalm passages often appear on gravestones, chapter 17 is not commonly quoted, which again implies some more personal significance to Joseph or his family.

Evaluating the epitaph in terms of Davies' "words against death" gives a basis for evaluating the beliefs and hopes of Wamsley and his loved ones. Psalm 17:15 is written in the voice of a righteous believer of God (The Bible, King James Version). In fact Psalm 17 is a confession of worthiness by the author to the Lord and a request for protection from the evils of the world. The author of the Psalm will be judged righteous in the eyes of God and will rise again and "be satisfied" when he sees the Lord in person.

The passage has twofold value in terms of its role as "words against death": it is a comfort to Joseph and it is a comfort to those who cared for him. Naturally, Joseph is not comforted in the grave by his epitaph but if we are to assume that this passage had bearing on him when he was alive we may believe that it was a source of comfort and protection from the thought of immanent death. The passage is a reference to the idea that good Christians rise again to meet the Lord after death. Like many biblical quotes, it implies that the believer does not truly die but sheds his or her body as the soul rises to heaven to be with the righteous. Later, when the iconography of the stone is evaluated, we will see why 'righteous' is probably the most appropriate word to use in describing the relation of the quote to Wamsley's life.

Joseph alone does not take comfort in these words: his family, too, is reassured by the idea that although they have lost him in this world, they may see him in the next one. The comfort of this passage was not only for immediate relief of the grief of loss but for long term alleviation of the pain of death such as at times when family members return to the gravesite and remember that they should be good Christians as Joseph was and they may follow him to see God as well. The family could consider the verse as applying not only to the deceased to themselves. The sting of inevitable death is lessened by the potential to transcend it through one's idea of righteousness and a heavenly reward after death, attained by being a good Christian.

The passage also eliminates the uncertainty of death; the question of 'what will happen to me after I die?' is implicitly answered: you will see the Lord. This, too, relieves the sting of death because the unknown is one of the most frightening aspects of dying. The relief that comes from knowing what will happen to one after death closely relates to Lifton's discussion of Freud's idea that we cannot imagine our own death's because we cannot imagine ourselves not being present (13). To illustrate: think of what space would be like if there were nothing in it. Because for one to experience the total absence of objects in space one must be there to perceive it the idea that nothing is there is immediately eliminated by ones presence. The nothingness is only absolute when there is also nothing there to perceive it and viewing one's own death is the same because, as Freud points out, when one imagines their own death they still include themselves as spectators, which is an impossibility if one is dead (Lifton 13). Thus the value of Joseph's epitaph also extends comfort to those who need to imagine themselves or those they love after death and who cannot cope with the concept of absolute absence from the world they know.

ICONOGRAPHY

The iconography of Wamsley's grave marker will be evaluated in terms of the symbolic meaning of certain designs as well as the relationship between the icons and the epitaph that interact to hint at the life of the stone's owner. The laurel wreaths that adorn each side of the base represent both success and victory (Reisem 54). Wamsley's success was mostly likely his business since he was able to afford a plot in Mount Hope and, more importantly, an expensive grave marker. Combine the idea of victory from the wreath with the meaning in the epitaph, and we learn how Joseph was victorious. By being a good Christian, Joseph has triumphed over death because only his body dies as his soul goes on to experience bliss. Earlier it was written that 'righteous' was a very appropriate word for Wamsley and I believe the iconography is indicative of that. The stone not only implies that Wamsley will "behold [the Lord's] face in righteousness" but that he is victorious over death through righteousness (Psalms 17:15, The Bible, King James Version).

The body of the stone (the column) falls under the description of a 'stele' according to Reisem and is decorative rather than symbolic (54). While it could be interpreted that Wamsley was a pillar of the community by being both a productive citizen and a good Christian, the column does not explicitly represent an idea or concept as the laurel wreaths do. It is probably that the selection of the column marker was determined mainly by what was stylish and opulent at the time. The urn, believed to be the now-missing top decoration of the pillar, represents mourning (Reisem 54). The use of an urn separates the grave marker from being merely a monument to the man by making also a monument to the loss of him. It states that not only was this man righteous and successful in life, but that he is missed in death.

Researcher: Gentry Ferrell
University of Rochester


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Bibliography

Bible [King James Version]. http://www.genesis.net.au/reference/bible/jkv/psalms

Davies, Douglas J. Death, Ritual and Belief. Washington: Cassell, 1997.

"Died." Joseph Wamsley. Democrat and Chronicle. 22 February 1872:4

Lifton, Robert Jay. The Broken Connection. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1979.

New York State Census. 1840.

New York State Census,1850.

Reisem, Richard O. Mount Hope. Rochester, New York: Landmark Society of Western New
York, 1994.

Rochester Directory, 1850.

Note: The "View Facing Hill" and "View Facing Epitaph" photos were taken from the same distance on both sides.