Southern Graves

Today's epitaph comes from Mary Philpot's pedestal tombstone in Oak Hill Cemetery; Talbotton, Georgia.  Here's the entire inscription: In Memory of Mary A. Philpot Died Nov 13, 1893 Aged 50 Years "The good die first, and they whose hearts are dry as summer dust burn to the socket." I never cared for English Literature when I was in school, so I had to look this one up.  Mary's epitaph is a quote from William Wordsworth's The Excursion , first published in 1814.

In Memory of Iola Daughter of W. H. & J. D. Philpot Born Nov 27, 1857 Died Feb 12, 1882 We loved thee, my daughter, and miss thy sweet face and kind loving words.  But thou hast gone to meet thy angel mother and rest under "The shade of the trees." The tombstone pictured and transcribed above can be found in Oak Hill Cemetery; Talbotton, Georgia.  The epitaph is very loving.  One thing that stood out to me was the quoted phrase, "The shade of the trees." I was curious about it and performed a search on the phrase.  I have a hunch it is from a portion of the last words of Stonewall Jackson:  "Let us cross over the river and rest under the shade of the trees." It fits the time frame of Iola's life well. Here is a poem I found in an 1867 book, The Southern Poems of the War by Emily Virginia Mason.  The only reference to an author is above the poem:  "By James." Any of the lines from this poem would be a befitting epitaph. ...