TIP #458 - TYPES OF GRAVE COVERS Before leaving the subject of cemeteries, I thought I would finish up this series with a description of some of the various coffins from the past and present. There are styles that are found only in particular areas of the country and unseen elsewhere. These will be generally found in Kentucky; many of these I had never heard of before. Without having the ability to show diagrams, I will do my best to describe them in words alone. Box Covers: These are quite common and were made of limestone and sandstone, slate, shale, even marble and granite. It depended on what type of stone was available in that area. They ran from the very ornate to the handmade. Slabs of stone were built up with a flat slab on the top, normally the inscriptions were on the slab. Many of these have broken over the years allowing one to look inside - children sometimes fear the body is inside the cover, but again, this sits on top of the grave. This style is found frequently in South Central Kentucky. Some covers were longer than the base, some of the side stones were mortared; some just piled on top of each other. Box Covered - Opened. In this style, there are only end pieces made of stone and the slab on top, allowing a view of the grave itself. Some were very ornately carved end stones resembling pillars. Some box covers were large enough to cover up to four graves. These were popular primarily in the first half of the 19th century. Box Vault Covers: These came in children's and adult's size, from 10 to 12 inches think. These were popular from 1830 up to around 1910. They were made up of two sides and 2 end pieces; each side piece was about three inches thick and the end pieces 4-6 inches thick. The vault covers could be up to 3 feet tall. Box With Comb Top Covers. A variation on both the box vault covers and the comb top. Coffin Shape Box Covers. The base is in the shape of a coffin itself and has a thick coffin shaped slap on top, normally about three inches think. They are about thirty inches wide. These were made in both adult and child sized and sat over the actual grave. Some of this style can be found in Clinton County, KY and assuredly other areas. Coffin Shaped Slab Covers. The covers look like the tops of the above and either set on the ground or are raised up on concrete blocks or stones. These were popular in the last half ot he 1800's. Comb Grave Covers: This is a cover laid out to look like a roof on a house. The tops are angled over the grave and fastened at the top, and with the headstones and foot stones, it looks like a roof of a house lying on the ground. The covers can be made of stone or brick with many patterns. On some comb grave covers, the ends were open, some were bricked or stoned in. 1830-1900 time frame. Corbeled Arch Covers: These are created by laying layer after layer of stone around the other edges of the grave with each level set in slightly from the level below. Stones could range from 5 to 12 inches thick and normally ran the full length of the grave. These were used roughly from 1820-1900. Grave Houses. This is a most intriguing covering for a grave and one that I'm never seen. They came in all styles , some being built as early at 1800. Some are concrete, some of native stone and built into a house. Some are quite ornate with doors and windows; some are of brick, some are large enough to cover an entire family plot. There were wooden ones that look like a gazebo. The individual stones could be placed outside the house to mark the actual location; there is one in Hawsville KY that is a concrete log cabin. Reportedly, some of the grave houses were ornate enough to include "siding" and roofing material Shell Slap Covers. This is an extremely unique and limited-area grave cover. It is found in one area of Kentucky and that is in Edmonson County close to the Nolin River Lake area. The graves are covered with mussels shells or half shells. They can be laid out in a random pattern or just tossed all over the grave. Many times the shells are bleached until they are almost pure white. This seems to have started as a family tradition, the shells were available and decorated the graves like a myriad of flowers and was continued. The main time-frame was from about 1880-1950. Slab Covers. In this style a solid slab just laid right on the ground and many have sunken into the ground over the years. The were the size of the grave and had the inscription carved on it. Some had head and foot stones at each end. More modern styles became popular in the 1940's and raised slightly off the ground. It was the mode also during the late 1940's and 1950's to have coffins with a glass window. The selling feature was that a survivor could have the grave opened one time to see their family member's face, but after that it could not be opened again because the seal would have been broken. Stone Arch Covers: The covers are normally made of limestone and form an arch with capstones. The normal size is about 8 feet or more long and 5-6 feet wide. They appears to have been built in the 1830's and 1840's. In closing, we've all seen the westerns where the lawman or the outlaw died with his boots on and was placed in a pine box. The pine box was used for many years and vaults were seldom used. The boxes were of the typical shape and contained a cut out window so the individual's face could be seen. It was the vogue to have your picture taken with the coffin - many times with the coffin leaning up against a chair or table and the family gathered around. The deceased's face was clearly visible in the photograph and was a treasured family memento. Most furniture stores in the 1800's into the 1900's, also made caskets. Sometimes furniture stores had a funeral home on the second floor of their business. References: Grave Covers, Our Cultural Heritage, Vernon White, Bowling Green KY, 2001 Ghosts Along the Cumberland Death lore in the Kentucky Foothills, University of Tennessee Press, 1975, William Lynwood Montel Cave Hill Cemetery, A Pictorial Guide and History, Louisville KY, Cave Hill Cemetery Co, 1985 by Samuel W. Davis (c) Copyright 11 Sept 2003, Sandra K.Gorin Colonel Sandi Gorin SCKY Links: http://www.public.asu.edu/~moore/Gorin.html SCKY surname registry sites: http://www.rootsweb.com/~kyclinto/reg.html http://www.rootsweb.com/~kyclinto/forms/SCKYreg.html Gorin Publishing: http://ggpublishing.tripod.com/