This tombstone has been standing at Marshallville City Cemetery for so long a tree has grown up around a portion of it. Elizabeth Rembert died 5th January 1837, at the age of 51 years – 180 years ago. But what I really want to share with you is the signature in the bottom right corner of the stone: J. Artope . James B. Artope was the name of a marble cutter and stone mason from Macon, GA, located about 35 miles from Marshallville. He was born 4 December 1809 in Charleston, South Carolina. I know James came to Macon by the taking of the 1840 census, and the stone above puts him there even a few years earlier. Every census record from 1850 to 1880 shows James working in the marble industry. The following is a collage of snippets from the 1860, 1870, and 1880 records. James died 13 December 1883, and was buried at Rose Hill Cemetery in Macon . He easily made tombstones for his fellow Georgians for well over thirty years. James also passed the...
Telling the Tales of Tombstones