Born c.1772, gravestone carver Elias Darby was in his 26th year when he died in 1798. His survivors included his 22-year-old wife, Sally, who remained a widow until her own death 41 years later, and their son, also named Elias, a mayor of Elizabethtown/Elizabeth, NJ, during the Victorian era.
The short-lived artisan was orphaned at 12 by the death of his father, Elias Darby I, in 1784, and reached his majority under the guardianship of David Morris. He was in his early 20's when he married Sarah "Sally" Smith on New Year's Eve 1796, and had been practicing his craft in Elizabethtown for several years. Strongly influenced by the work of the well-known regional stone carvers Henry and Jonathan Hand Osborne and the great Ebenezer Price, Darby's brown sandstone stele, which is probably of his own making, reflects a change in gravestone design: by the end of the 1700's, the deceased's initials typically appeared in the stele's tympanum instead of a winged soul effigy. Darby's initials, "ED", are prominently inscribed below an arch of heavenly rays, and above a sun and smile-like crescent moon, which gives his gravestone an unusually cheerful look.
A generation later, the initials "E.D." also marked the work of Elias Darby's namesake son, a fine silversmith whose shop was located on the corner of Jefferson Avenue and East Jersey Street in present day Elizabeth. The craftsman-politician Darby, who served for two terms in the city's highest office from 1853-1860, holds the distinction of being the last mayor of "Elizabethtown" and the first mayor of the newly-incorporated city of Elizabeth. Bio by Nikita Barlow.
UPPER GRAVESTONE PHOTO & CLOSEUP VIEW by Nikita Barlow, August 1991.
The short-lived artisan was orphaned at 12 by the death of his father, Elias Darby I, in 1784, and reached his majority under the guardianship of David Morris. He was in his early 20's when he married Sarah "Sally" Smith on New Year's Eve 1796, and had been practicing his craft in Elizabethtown for several years. Strongly influenced by the work of the well-known regional stone carvers Henry and Jonathan Hand Osborne and the great Ebenezer Price, Darby's brown sandstone stele, which is probably of his own making, reflects a change in gravestone design: by the end of the 1700's, the deceased's initials typically appeared in the stele's tympanum instead of a winged soul effigy. Darby's initials, "ED", are prominently inscribed below an arch of heavenly rays, and above a sun and smile-like crescent moon, which gives his gravestone an unusually cheerful look.
A generation later, the initials "E.D." also marked the work of Elias Darby's namesake son, a fine silversmith whose shop was located on the corner of Jefferson Avenue and East Jersey Street in present day Elizabeth. The craftsman-politician Darby, who served for two terms in the city's highest office from 1853-1860, holds the distinction of being the last mayor of "Elizabethtown" and the first mayor of the newly-incorporated city of Elizabeth. Bio by Nikita Barlow.
UPPER GRAVESTONE PHOTO & CLOSEUP VIEW by Nikita Barlow, August 1991.
Born c.1772, gravestone carver Elias Darby was in his 26th year when he died in 1798. His survivors included his 22-year-old wife, Sally, who remained a widow until her own death 41 years later, and their son, also named Elias, a mayor of Elizabethtown/Elizabeth, NJ, during the Victorian era.
The short-lived artisan was orphaned at 12 by the death of his father, Elias Darby I, in 1784, and reached his majority under the guardianship of David Morris. He was in his early 20's when he married Sarah "Sally" Smith on New Year's Eve 1796, and had been practicing his craft in Elizabethtown for several years. Strongly influenced by the work of the well-known regional stone carvers Henry and Jonathan Hand Osborne and the great Ebenezer Price, Darby's brown sandstone stele, which is probably of his own making, reflects a change in gravestone design: by the end of the 1700's, the deceased's initials typically appeared in the stele's tympanum instead of a winged soul effigy. Darby's initials, "ED", are prominently inscribed below an arch of heavenly rays, and above a sun and smile-like crescent moon, which gives his gravestone an unusually cheerful look.
A generation later, the initials "E.D." also marked the work of Elias Darby's namesake son, a fine silversmith whose shop was located on the corner of Jefferson Avenue and East Jersey Street in present day Elizabeth. The craftsman-politician Darby, who served for two terms in the city's highest office from 1853-1860, holds the distinction of being the last mayor of "Elizabethtown" and the first mayor of the newly-incorporated city of Elizabeth. Bio by Nikita Barlow.
UPPER GRAVESTONE PHOTO & CLOSEUP VIEW by Nikita Barlow, August 1991.
The short-lived artisan was orphaned at 12 by the death of his father, Elias Darby I, in 1784, and reached his majority under the guardianship of David Morris. He was in his early 20's when he married Sarah "Sally" Smith on New Year's Eve 1796, and had been practicing his craft in Elizabethtown for several years. Strongly influenced by the work of the well-known regional stone carvers Henry and Jonathan Hand Osborne and the great Ebenezer Price, Darby's brown sandstone stele, which is probably of his own making, reflects a change in gravestone design: by the end of the 1700's, the deceased's initials typically appeared in the stele's tympanum instead of a winged soul effigy. Darby's initials, "ED", are prominently inscribed below an arch of heavenly rays, and above a sun and smile-like crescent moon, which gives his gravestone an unusually cheerful look.
A generation later, the initials "E.D." also marked the work of Elias Darby's namesake son, a fine silversmith whose shop was located on the corner of Jefferson Avenue and East Jersey Street in present day Elizabeth. The craftsman-politician Darby, who served for two terms in the city's highest office from 1853-1860, holds the distinction of being the last mayor of "Elizabethtown" and the first mayor of the newly-incorporated city of Elizabeth. Bio by Nikita Barlow.
UPPER GRAVESTONE PHOTO & CLOSEUP VIEW by Nikita Barlow, August 1991.
Inscription
"ED
In Memory of
Elias Darby
who died July
27 1798 in the
26 Year of his Age"
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