Born c.1726, Katharine Eckley was the victim of a "sudden accident". On a summer day in 1772, 46-year-old Mrs. Eckley had set out in a carriage, while her husband, Thomas, rode along side on horseback. She had been eating an apple as they traveled, fruit knife in hand, when the carriage suddenly jolted. Thrown into the road, she fell on the knife before the eyes of her horrified spouse, sustaining a wound that proved fatal. That an apple figured in her downfall may have reminded him of Genesis, but the grim Biblical verse on the ledgerstone which marks her grave is from Job. Carved from brown sandstone, the work is signed by the great NJ stonecutter Ebenezer Price of Elizabethtown, "Sculptor". Embellished with soul effigies, scallop shells, crossbones, hourglasses, and a subtly incised hand pointing to his name, it's most striking device is the bas relief vignette of the deceased shrouded in her casket.
"ANONYMOUS" PHOTOS OF EPITAPH & COFFIN IMAGE: Nikita Barlow, 2002)
"ANONYMOUS" PHOTOS OF EPITAPH & COFFIN IMAGE: Nikita Barlow, 2002)
Born c.1726, Katharine Eckley was the victim of a "sudden accident". On a summer day in 1772, 46-year-old Mrs. Eckley had set out in a carriage, while her husband, Thomas, rode along side on horseback. She had been eating an apple as they traveled, fruit knife in hand, when the carriage suddenly jolted. Thrown into the road, she fell on the knife before the eyes of her horrified spouse, sustaining a wound that proved fatal. That an apple figured in her downfall may have reminded him of Genesis, but the grim Biblical verse on the ledgerstone which marks her grave is from Job. Carved from brown sandstone, the work is signed by the great NJ stonecutter Ebenezer Price of Elizabethtown, "Sculptor". Embellished with soul effigies, scallop shells, crossbones, hourglasses, and a subtly incised hand pointing to his name, it's most striking device is the bas relief vignette of the deceased shrouded in her casket.
"ANONYMOUS" PHOTOS OF EPITAPH & COFFIN IMAGE: Nikita Barlow, 2002)
"ANONYMOUS" PHOTOS OF EPITAPH & COFFIN IMAGE: Nikita Barlow, 2002)
Inscription
From an 1894 source:
"To this sad Shrine the Reliques we commend
Of once the tender Mother, Wife & Friend
Too soon, alas those tender Tyes were broke
Friends, Husband, Children felt ye fatal stroke
Yet cease fond Grief--no murmuring Sigh arise
Heav'n struck ye Blow--and Heav'n is just & wise
Think dying Passenger: Life's Final Date
Steals on thee, needless of impending Fate
While Pleasure courts thee with her smiling
Charms
Prepare to meet thy God--the Tomb alarms:"
Man cometh forth like a flower
and is cut down. Job 14, 2
Family Members
Spouse
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