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NPS Form 10-900 (Rev. 10-90) OMB No. 1024-0018 RECEIVED 2280 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service 716 AUG 04 2009 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NAT.REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES NATIONAL PARK SERVICE This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in How to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form (National Register Bulletin 16A). Complete each item by marking "x" in the appropriate box or by entering the information requested. If any item does not apply to the property being documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories and subcategories from the instructions.
Place additional entries and narrative items on continuation sheets (NPS Form 10-900a). Use a typewriter, word processor, or computer, to complete all items. 1. Name of Property historic name TYRINGHAM CEMETERY other names/site number_ 2. Location street & number_ CHURCH ROAD -not for publication city or town TYRINGHAM -vicinity state MASSACHUSETTS code_MA county_BERKSHIRE code_ 003 _ zip code 01264 3. State/Federal Agency Certification As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1986, as amended, I hereby certify that this nomination - request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.
In my opinion, the property Z meets Ddoes not meet the National Register Criteria.I recommend that this property be considered significant - nationally - statewide M locally. (O See continuation sheet for additional comments.) Brona Suron Signature of certifying official/Title Massachusetts Historical Commission Brona Simon, SHPO Jely 28, 2009 Date State or Federal agency and bureau In my opinion, the property meets - does not meet the National Register criteria. (- See continuation sheet for additional Comments.) Signature of certifying official/Title Date State or Federal agency and bureau 4. National Park Service Certification I, hereby certify that this property is: entered in the National Register - See continuation sheet. - determined eligible for the National Register - See continuation sheet.
- determined not eligible for the National Register - removed from the National Register - other (explain): sont. Beall Date of Action 9.16:09 Tyringham Cemetery Name of Property 5. Classification Ownership of Property (Check as many boxes as apply) - private x public-local - public-State - public-Federal Berkshire, MA County and State Vumber of Resources within Property (Do not include previously listed resources in the count Contributing Noncontributing (Check only one box) _ building(s) - district x site _ structure _ object 2 1 59 4 62 4 building sites _ structures _objects Total Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register Name of related multiple property listing (Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing.) N/A 6.
Function or Use Historic Functions (Enter categories from instructions) FUNERARY: cemetery Current Functions (Enter categories from instructions) FUNERARY: cemetery Z. Description Architectural Classification (Enter categories from instructions) N/A Materials (Enter categories from instructions) foundation walls roof other Narrative Description (Describe the historic and current condition of the property on one or more continuation sheets.) NPS Form 10-900 (Rev. 10-90) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 7 Page 1 OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 Tyringham Cemetery Tyringham (Berkshire), MA Narrative Description The Tyringham Cemetery is located on the west side of Church Road in the Town of Tyringham in Berkshire County, manufacturing provided its economy.
The 3.67-acre property is situated on the western edge of the enclave of buildings that comprise the town center at the crossroads of Main, Church, and Jerusalem roads. It overlooks open land across the valley to the south and west and Cobble Hill to the north. The Union Church, built in 1844, is located nearby on the east side of Church Street. The church was listed on the National Register in 2000. The nominated property contains the historic section of the cemetery as well as a section on the south added in 1956, where more recent burials have taken place. Another 4.14-acre parcel recently added to the north and west sides of the historic cemetery for future grave sites has been excluded from the nomination. The rectangular parcel is divided into three sections by a blacktop driveway following a horseshoe route and connecting to Church Street at two locations.
A central unpaved pedestrian way divides the wide center section and also connects to the street (see site map). The west side of the wide center section contains the oldest stones, which are aligned in rows running east to west. The east side of the center section and the section north of the driveway are divided into square plots. The corners of some of these plots are marked with stones; some show evidence of having been outlined with iron fences, although only one plot retains an intact enclosure (IMAGE 4). The newer south side of the cemetery is also divided onto plots in a regular, numbered grid on both sides of the south leg of the driveway. A late 19"-century iron fence runs along three of the cemetery's boundaries (IMAGE 1). The section on the Church Road frontage is distinguished by cast-iron "bow and dart" features.
The site of Tyringham's first meetinghouse, built in 1779, is located within the cemetery. The church was removed after the new church was built in 1844. A stone marker denotes the location of the church, locating it on the west side of the oldest section of the cemetery, where an elevated terrace is discernable in the topography. Yet many stones in this area predate the demise of the building; either the stones in their neat alignments were later reset, as often occurred in old burial grounds, or the church was actually located on the east side of the cemetery, where stones of a much later date are concentrated. This alternative location would have positioned the building closer to the Church Street with its burial ground in the rear. There are no surveys, maps, or images that document the actual site of the church.
The historic cemetery contains approximately 800 stone markers dating from 1797 to the present day. They record more than 1,300 names of the town's residents. The older 19"-century markers are made of local marble, which was being quarried nearby in Lee and Stockbridge. Later 20t*-century stones are made of granite. There is also an unusually high number of monuments fabricated from molded and stamped zinc components known as white bronze. Totaling fourteen in number, with no two alike, they represent a large and distinctive selection of this turn-of-the 20t-century memorial type, of which no more than one or two are typically found in rural cemeteries of this kind. The cemetery's earliest markers are made of marble, which would have come from nearby quarries in Lee and other surrounding areas.
Stone carvers associated with those supply sites were surely responsible for the gravestones; however, (continued) NPS Form 10-900 (Rev. 10-90) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 7 Page 2 OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 Tyringham Cemetery Tyringham (Berkshire), MA maker marks are not visible on the existing stones. Some of these stones date to the period when the first meetinghouse was present on the site (1779-1844), while others date from that period to after the Civil War. Only two headstones are inscribed with death dates in the 18'" century. One is a granite tablet that is roughly shaped and in which are crudely carved the initials I.C.H., the number 21, and the date 1798.
One historian has suggested it marks the grave of Josiah Culver Hill.' The other headstone is a much more elaborate tablet type, with a semicircular arch centerec in the top containing a shallow relief of an angel's head with wings. Smaller arches on the shoulders flanking this feature are embellished with pinwheels in typical 18'"-century New England fashion. The inscription reads, "In Memory of Christeen / Garfield, Dautr to Mr Isaac / Garfield, wife of Lodowick / Gardener, who died June / 25" 1797 in the 24* / year of her age. / Depart my friends dry up your / tears / Hear [sic] I must lie until Christ / appears." The remarkable crispness of the carving is remarkable in contrast to all the other marble tablets, which are seriously eroded by acid rain, leading to the possibility that this particular stone is a replica of the original.
Marble tablets with rounded pedimentsand shoulders The duplicate of Christeen Garfield's gravestone is one of a group of early 19"-century marble tablets of similar form concentrated in the central section of the cemetery. Solomon and Ruth Garfield, and their son, Minard, were buried side by side in 1821, 1814, and 1818, respectively. Solomon was Christeen Garfield's brother (both were children of Isaac and Margaret Garfield). Solomon's grave is marked by a large marble urn supported by a hollow marble pedestal, which will be further described below. The burial sites of both Ruth and Minard have flat marble tablets with rounded pediments and shoulders. Being later in period and more Neoclassical in style than that for Christeen Garfield, these markers have an urn and weeping willow carved in the center pediment with the vestigial shoulders unembellished.
Name inscriptions are contained in oval panels surrounded by a stippled field; rectangular panels at the base of the stone contain memorial verses. James Gardener, a veteran of the Revolutionary War, died in 1816, and his marble tablet also has a rounded pediment at the top, although the shoulders have been removed and replaced with curving hollows that accentuate the height of the central element, which contains a stylized urn and willow carving. Like the later Garfield stones, the memorial is inscribed in a round panel with ribbed spandrels creating corners of a square. There is also a second panel at the base of the stone, with hollowed corners filled with fluted spandrels, but it contains no verse inscription. James Gardener's son, Benjamin, died at age 23 in 1810. The rounded pediment of his marker contains a carving of a hand pointing to heaven, a typical motif used for children.
The top includes rounded shoulders without decoration and an oval panel containing the inscription. A second panel at the base contains the following verse: "Behold we see while here we look / The dearest ties of friendship broke / the grief and sorrow pierced the heart / The dearest friends we see must part." Amos and Hannah Northrop are buried together, having tablets with rounded pediments. Hannah (d. 1804), has an old- fashioned tablet with a primitive angel head carved in the pediment; the angel wears a headdress surmounted by pinwheels, apparently representing heaven. The top of the arch is embellished with carved cloud-like scrolls, or "running dogs," and there are additional pinwheels in the round shoulders.
The lettering also is carved in the 18*-century fashion (continued) 'Clinton Elliott, Tyringham Cemetery, Burial Ground Inventory Form, Massachusetts Historical Commission, October 2006. NPS Form 10-900 (Rev. 10-90) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 7 Page 3 OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 Tyringham Cemetery Tyringham (Berkshire), MA of Christeen Garfield's marker with mid-syllable returns and superscripts used to fit lines within the frame. By choice or accident, when Amos Northrup was buried six years later in 1810, his tablet, while nearly identical in form, incorporated the more modern urn and lettering. In rural Massachusetts, the taste was more plain and its workmanship more mannerist than naturalistic.
Neoclassical symbols for mourning and the incorporation of pious verse grew increasingly more common. Abi Miller's marble tablet, with a traditional rounded pediment with carved urn and willow motif and round panel with spandrels containing the memorial, was outdated when erected in 1828. It showed the trend towards more naturalistic carving with the leafy spandrels, flowers in the shoulders, and more representational willow. It is paired with a stone marking the grave of her son, Joel Miller, who died in 1822. This stone represents the transition away from the pedimented stone forms originating in the 18" century to the precise rectilinear forms and carving style that followed Initially the rectilinear stones contained the same Neoclassical mourning iconography, such as the willow and urn motif used in Joel Miller's stone.
The tradition of shaping the top was somewhat preserved in the hollowed corners seen in this example. The stones of both mother and son have texts carved in various styles, which became more distinctive as the 19" century progressed. Marble tablets with rectilinear forms and pictorial elements The style of the rectilinear gravestone forms introduced in the 1820s epitomized the flat, sharp-edged aesthetic of the period that was also prevalent in the architecture, portraiture, and decorative arts of this agrarian region. The exaggerated and distorted lettering further evinces the plain taste of early 19t-century rural society. Like Joel Miller's stone, rectilinear marble tablets early in the period (1820s and 1830s) continued to incorporate a pictorial panel, usually containing the urn and willow motif. Mrs.
Chloe Heath's headstone, dated 1820, has an urn and willow carved in a small central panel at the top. The memorial is inscribed in a simply framed panel beneath. Perhaps her age - she died at 82 years of age - - was a factor in the selection of this traditional feature. The twin tablets for Hamlin and Cynthia Clark, who died in 1833 and 1856, respectively, represent the extent to which this method of decoration developed. Although Cynthia died in 1856, her stone evidently was carved to match her husband's, which was created at the end of the style. The urn and willow motif is carved within a circular panel at the top, flanked by the deceased's initials. The memorial panel is outlined by a narrow frame and contains the varied types of lettering that would distinguish later stones. The verse panel found at the base of earlier tablets was replaced by an ashlar pattern.
Ann Eliza Heath died at nine years of age in 1838, and her marble grave marker has a highly mannerist broken willow symbolic of one cut down early in life carved at the top. The memorial laments that she was the only child of Ezra and Eliza Heath, and eight lines of verse are carved at the base mourning her passing. Nearby, there are three tablets for children in the Cargill family sharing the identical pictorial element. They denote the graves of Marietta Cargill, age 12 years (d. 1841); Wilber Cargill, 18 months (d. 1843); and "infant son" Cargill (d. 1844). Marble tablets with rectilinear forms and text carving only By 1840, the urn and willow motif had essentially run its course, and for the next decade or so gravestone design focused on lettering, which was perhaps the fullest expression of the plain taste.
There also is a strong sense of modernity in the highly stylized fonts used and the disavowal of the traditional symbols of mourning and piousness. Mary Ann Northrop's (continued) NPS Form 10-900 (Rev. 10-90) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 7 Page 4 OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 Tyringham Cemetery Tyringham (Berkshire), MA gravestone, dated 1840, is a simple example with a typical mix of lines incised in bold, italicized, upper case and lower case fonts, and her name carved in relief within a box. Unusual for this type, two groups of verse are included at the base to mourn the loss of this 22-year-old wife and mother. Ithiel Battle's rectilinear stone records his death in 1827, suggesting that it may have been erected nearer the time his wife, Kezia, was buried in 1846.
The stones are not identical, with Ithiel's displaying an earlier incised lettering style without the same variety of fonts and name carved in relief. The thin, flat-topped marble tablets of this period are prominent forms in the older section of the cemetery. In this view, two headstones for children in the Cheney family, who died in 1848 and 1851, are pictured in the foreground. Behind them are three more for, left to right, Martha Tomlinson (1851), Hannah Kilbourn (1854) and her daughter Lydia K. Kilbourn Marble tablets with arched tops After the Civil War, marble tablet form and design became noticeably different. The tablets are generally thicker and shorter, without the exaggerated dimensions and compositions of the hand-wrought objects of the first half of the century.
Clearly the machinery employed in the cutting, shaping, and lettering of the markers served to standardize the component elements, but the somber mournful period also dampened the religious and aesthetic enthusiasm that marked the early republican era. The transition was subtle at first, with the tablets losing their sharp angularity, particularly with the appearance of arched tops. The matching tablets at the graves of Samuel and Elizabeth Jones, who died in 1861 and 1867, respectively, contain memorials incised in the continuing manner of the previous decades, but show the shaping of the tops in a subtle segmental arch.
Tablet pairs at the grave sites of William and Lucinda Stedman (1870 and 1880) and James and Amanda Wilson (both 1880) were made in the same general manner, but have the heavier dimensions and raised lettering of the post-war period A trio of tablets marking the burials of members of the Isbell family illustrate more fully developed rounded-head gravestones typical of the 1870s. William and Mary Isbell, and their son, William H. Isbell, all died within a year of one another for unknown reasons. The tablets are mounted on a two-tiered base with the lowest being brownstone. They have a segmental arched top with chamfered edges on their faces. Rounded hood molds wrap across the top and partially down the sides terminating in filleted pendants. The memorials are carved in a raised font. The tablet shared at the graves of Albert B. and Hannah C.
Thompson (1876 and 1874) is similar, but while it has a chamfered front edge, there is no hood mold embellishment. Marble tablets with carved lambs Small tablets with carved lamb figurines resting on the top were popular for marking the graves of children in the late 19'h period. Howard P. Fielding was five years and two months of age when he was buried in 1886, and his gravestone is one certud HonuaecP. rading wa flr yean and uoeonctas ago wihen ho as urcg mi of many utilizing the motif. Others include monuments erected for Joan K. Pickens, who died in 1943, and May Jane Wadsworth, who died in 1952. They are part of a group that includes a heart-shaped monument marking the burial of Eleaner Dube, who died in 1920. (continued) NPS Form 10-900 (Rev.
10-90) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 7 Page5 OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 Tyringham Cemetery Tyringham (Berkshire), MA Marble urns and obelisks There were more fancy types of grave markers erected in the early 19" century, particularly those in obelisk and urn shapes. Like similar carved motifs, these three-dimensional objects represent the role of Neoclassical iconography in funereal practices of the period. More elaborate and costly than the carved tablets, they are immediately recognizable as marking the burial sites of the elite members of the community. The 1821 monument to Lt. Solomon Garfield, comprised of a marble urn on a marble pedestal, is unique to its period. Sculpted urns mounted on pedestals, shafts, and obelisks became more common later in the 19*h centurv.
The Garfield object is accompanied by marble tablets with rounded pediments marking the graves of Solomon's wife, Ruth, and son, Minard, as noted above. Solomon was an early settler in the Hop Brook Valley and a veteran of the Revolutionary War. The large urn was turned from a single block of marble; its top is broken, perhaps intentionally as a symbol of a life broken off. Its pedestal is about three feet tall and assembled from marble panels joined to marble corner posts. The early date of this marker and its distinctive method of construction makes it particularly significant among the many other gravestones of the period. The oldest and most prominent obelisk from this period was erected for Thomas Jones and his wife, Lydia, who died in 1841 and 1839, respectively. The tapered four-sided marble shaft is approximately eight feet tall and is mounted on a low marble base and ground pad.
It is plain and unembellished with any pictorial or naturalistic carving. Memorials to both of the deceased are inscribed in relief on the north face of the shaft followed by a two-line verse incised in italics. The Jones family was established early in the town, and Thomas is remembered as veteran of the Revolutionary War. Another obelisk of similar scale appeared 25 years later to distinguish the gravesite of Eli Hale, a prominent farmer who died in 1864, and his wife Lucy who died in 1869. This one has two stages, with a shorter tapered marble shaft seated on a wider, tapered marble pedestal with a cornice. The Hale name is carved in relief on the north side of the base supporting the pedestal; the names of the deceased are incised on the sides of the plinth with Eli and Lucy memorialized on the north side and two of their children on the east side.
A pair of small obelisks marks the graves of children of Thomas and Angeline E. Garfield, Jr. Approximately four feet tall, the simple shafts' diminutive size visually associates them with small children. Otis W. Garfield died in 1856 at the age of six years, two months and seven days; his marker is embellished with the carving of a broken branch. His sister Caroline's marker has eroded to be illegible; she died in 1847 at age two years ten months and one day. Squire Thomas Garfield, Sr., was a successful rake maker. The choice of these stylish and expensive markers reflects the Garfield's local prominence. Mary Jane and Franklin Crittenden were buried in 1851 and 1855, respectively, in graves marked by short obelisks capped with pedimented Greek Revival-style cornices with acroterions on the corners and anthemia in the center.
Similar in detail to the belltower of the nearby church built in 1844, this motif is repeated on other obelisks in the cemetery. Mary Jane Crittenden was 18 years of age when she died, and her brother was 27 years. They were still living with their mother, Abigail, the widow of Hiram Crittenden, on the family homestead. A large marble obelisk was erected in the Cone family plot, which is prominently located at the eastern edge of the cemetery near a gate in the fence along Church Street. The plot retains the marble posts and iron railings that originally carried cast-iron fence parts. Frederick Cone was a prosperous farmer, and the obelisk records his death date in 1875 and (continued) NPS Form 10-900 (Rev. 10-90) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 7 Page _6 OMB Approval No.
1024-0018 Tyringham Cemetery Tyringham (Berkshire), MA that of his wife, Sarah Stedman, who died in 1891. The obelisk stands about 12 feet tall, with an octagonal shaft seated on a square pedestal on which the names are carved. The family name is also carved on a white marble base, and the whole is mounted on a gray marble block. While not technically an obelisk, a columnar shaft marks the grave of Milton Judd of nearby Monterey, who died in 1883. Like the Cone plot, this one is outlined by the remnants of a fence with marble posts and it contains a single monument with a column mounted on a three-stage base. A turned marble urn distinguishes the top. Cone and Judd were brothers-in-law. Although less than 50 years old, the obelisk erected for Fluxist art collector Jean Brown in the southwest corner of the cemetery following her death in 1994 is a notable landmark.
Designed by abstract artist Rodney Ripps, this four-sided monument is approximately ten feet tall and shaped from a single piece of black granite, tapering from a square base section to a virtual point at the top and capped by a copper metronome symbolizing the freezing of time. Two unique columnar objects are worthy of mention here. One is a monument comprised of twin squat columns mounted on pedestals and bridged by an arch surmounted by an urn-like finial. The south face of one pedestal contains a memorial to John Canon, a farmer and paper manufacturer who died in 1880; the south face of the other pedestal contains an inscription for his wife, Dorcas Tucker, who died in 1882. On other sides of both are carved the names of four of their children.
The other has four columns mounted on the corners of a large pedestal that support a marble roof capped by a central urn finial, giving the appearance of a baldachin. This monument marks the Smith family plot and is bounded by marble posts and the remnants of an iron fence; there also are four marble tablets within the plot. The pedestal contains inscriptions for Amos Smith, a farmer living in Monterey, and his wife, Chloe L. Brewer, who died in 1887 and 1916, respectively. White Bronze (Zinc) Markers White Bronze markers were fabricated and sold exclusively by the Monumental Bronze Company in Bridgeport, Connecticut, between the years 1874 and 1914.2 The manufacturer termed the innovative material "white bronze," although it was composed largely of zinc.
The intent was to create low-cost but elaborately decorated pre-cast markers in a material that could withstand the inevitable weathering in cemeteries. The galvanizing process had already demonstrated the remarkable corrosion-resistant properties of zinc. The markers were produced in Bridgeport and sold through illustrated catalogs with a broad selection of interchangeable parts. Company agents would produce the orders; whether these agents were also undertakers or more traditional stone carvers is not known. There must have been a very active agent in the Tyringham area because an unusually large number of white bronze markers were erected in the cemetery (fourteen in total) during this turn-of-the-century period. Each of the markers is unique and indicates the range of size and decoration possible, with the simplest ones selling for as little as two dollars.
Based on the scale of the largest ones, it would appear that the markers were delivered in parts, with the agent, family, or cemetery custodian assembling them. (continued) 2 Bill Plak, "Known Tombstone Carvers of Pensylvania: Monumental Bronze Company," http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/ pa/1pa/cemeteries/tscarvers/monumental-bronze.txr. NPS Form 10-900 (Rev. 10-90) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 7 Page 7 OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 Tyringham Cemetery Tyringham (Berkshire), MA One of the more elaborate white bronze markers was created for Benoni and Mary O. Stedman, who died in 1908 and 1902, respectively. The marker is in the form of a double tablet mounted on a tall base molded with the family name misspelled on the front.
The tablets are in the late 19"-century style with round heads outlined with architectural arched moldings engaged to the front. A pedimented central block springs from the junction of the two arched tops; it has a rusticated surface and central floral element. Name plates are bolted in the centers of the tablets. Benoni Steadman's is embellished with a furled flag (a marker added to the site identifies him as a veteran of the Grand Army of the Republic), and his wife's with a sheaf of wheat and the phrase "Passed to spirit life." As with many of these catalog markers, the rear is equally elaborated with the inset panels filled with memorial texts. The tablet for Jessie Sophia Steadman, infant daughter of William H.
and May Belle Steadman who died at five-months- old in 1909, is the smallest white bronze marker in the cemetery and represents the size of the deceased rather than a need for economy (IMAGE 11). Similar to her uncle and aunt Benomi and Mary O. Steadman's marker, the tablet is outlined by an architectural arch and includes a label applied to the front. The entire marker was cast in two front-and-back pieces, lettering included. A child's hand is cast in rear side of the marker in a melancholy expression of her loss. A white bronze obelisk was erected on the Brayman family plot in 1880. Seated on a marble base, the monument is about eight feet tall and ornamented with cast moldings at each stage. The complex edging updated the Classical form to Victorian-era taste.
Wheat sheaves, a symbol for farming, are centered on opposing faces of the square shaft and a rugged, ivy-twined cross is on a third. On the fourth side are the names of Elizabeth and John Brayman, two young children who died in 1827 and 1832, respectively. Other names are cast in panels on the middle level of the three-tiered zinc plinth; those of three generations of Samuels and their wives occupy three sides, and the fourth is cast with the erection date. The family name is mounted on the top tier on the north side in large bold letters. The Dowd family plot contains the most elaborate white bronze monument in the cemetery.
It is comprised of a large, rock-faced sarcophagus that serves as the base for a casting of a male figure, at approximately half-scale, in a shirt and toga pointing upwards with his right hand and holding a book (likely a bible) at his side with his left hand (IMAGE 2). The family name is cast in rustic letters at the base with monograms displayed in arched pediments in the center of the cornices on all four sides. Only Chauncey B. Dowd, who died in 1906, and his wife, Laura Collins Dowd, who died in 1911, are recorded on the panel on the rear of the sarcophagus. The Warren family plot contains two white bronze markers (IMAGE 3). One is in the form of a small baldachin supporting a draped urn.
The baldachin is composed of a square, three-stage, rock-faced base bearing four columns at the corners that support a heavy cornice and roof, which is surmounted by the urn, a traditional symbol of death and mourning. The Warren name is boldly displayed on the east side of the base and, like the Dowd marker, has monograms contained in pediments in the cornice. The only inscription on the monument is for Edna F. Rathbun, who died in 1914. This information is cast in a panel inset between the columns on one side of the baldachin. The other three sides have panels displaying religious images, which likely could be exchanged for cast name plates as required. Four zinc balls mark the corners of the plot outside of which to the east is the second monument that has a double lectern form mounted on a large rock-faced base bearing the Warren name.
Open scrolls on the sloping tops of the lectern have "MOTHER" (continued) NPS Form 10-900 (Rev. 10-90) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 7 Page 8 OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 Tyringham Cemetery Tyringham (Berkshire), MA and "FATHER" cast in them with male and female figurines. Panels with memorials to William Warren, who died in 1881, and Sarah J. Church, who died in 1911, are mounted on the face of the lecterns, and consoles on the sides contain the names of young children they lost. A group of three grave markers for members of the Sweet family effectively show the evolution of headstone design during the 19" century (IMAGE 4).
Sylvester Sweet's marble stone was erected after his death in 1849 and represents the plain pedimented flat stone with various types of shadow lettering and no pictorial carvings. It is mounted on a marble base that was likely added when the smaller but heftier marble marker denoting George Sweet's grave was installed in 1867. The latter's more standardized form and carving indicates the increased use of machinery and stock components in its fabrication. Plain raised lettering is centered in a recessed panel; the only embellishments are chamfered edges on the face of the stone. It is mounted on a two-tiered base. A small white bronze obelisk marks the grave of James L. Sweet, who died in 1901. The rock-textured base and shaft contain name panels, and the whole is topped by an urn.
Typical of the other two markers, the metal object is small, plain, and economical when compared to other markers of its type and period. Granite markers Granite was introduced as an alternative material for grave markers in the late 1800s, and by the early 20th century had all but replaced marble as the preferred medium. Although more difficult to shape and carve, modern machinery and techniques (such as acid etching) allowed this harder and more permanent stone to come into common usage. Traditional tablet and obelisk forms were sustained but often in different proportions and styles of decoration. Granite tablets are thicker and wider than their marble predecessors, to the extent of not really looking like tablets at all, yet these are the most common granite form, just as the marble tablet was in its day (IMAGE 5).
They are generally mounted on a base with both sections rough-faced on their edges with polished faces containing etched or sunken panels with incised memorials, such as the tablet for Charles H. Hale and his wife, Arianna Heath, who were buried in 1934 and 1928, respectively. The highly stylized monument of the Moore family plot is a rough-hewn tablet and base with the name carved in relief (IMAGE 5). Smaller rock-like markers contain the names and death dates of the deceased, notably Lucian Barber Moore (1910) and his wife, Sarah Judd Moore (1906). Lucian Moore was an entrepreneur who operated a boarding house popular with well-known city men. He is remembered as "The Father of the Valley." An alternative to the conventional tablet is a taller stone mounted on a base with its top beveled and carved with the family name.
A red granite monument in this style is inscribed on the polished front with the names of Francis C. Heath and his wife, Cynthia Judd, who died in 1915 and 1922, respectively. Obelisk forms evolved into squat pillars in their later, granite manifestation. These monuments are more finished than the tablets with more components and decoration, surely making them more costly. Yet in most cases, the pillars are incised with numerous family members. The monument marking the graves of George W. Garfield and his family is a typical example of a short polished granite shaft with chamfered corners mounted on a two-tiered base, the upper one of which bearing the family name and surmounted by a pedimented cap, which is etched with an oak leaf, above an etched floral (continued) 3 Eloise Myers, Tyringham, A Hinterland Settlement (Tyringham MA: Tyringham Historical Commission, 1989), 49.
NPS Form 10-900 (Rev. 10-90) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 7 Page 9 OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 Tyringham Cemetery Tyringham (Berkshire), MA frieze at the top of the shaft (IMAGE 6). Garfield was a carpenter who died in 1919; his wife, Desire H. Bristol, predeceased him in 1904, as did two of his three children, Elvie May (1886) and Fred Almon (1892). The names of all three children, including George Hollis Garfield, who was the last to die in 1937, are inscribed on the pillar. Rake maker James L. Breckenridge's family plot is distinguished with a similar granite pillar further embellished with the initial "B" in rounded pediments on the four sides of the cap and topped by a polished and etched urn (IMAGE 7).
The shaft memorializes Breckenridge, who was buried in 1884; his first wife, Malvina M. Bills, who died in 1865; and their son, Frank E., who lived for less than two years, dying in 1855. The remains of James L. Breckenridge's two later wives and his children born by them are not buried in the cemetery. Hiram Clark's monument, which is similar to the Garfield pillar marker, includes his name and death date (1884) as well as both of his wives, Celine, who died in 1859, and Sarah, who died in 1905. Blacksmith Hiram S. Dorman opted for another type of large granite monument in the form of a sarcophagus, and it contains numerous inscriptions for him and members of his family (IMAGE 8).
Horizontal rather than vertical in orientation, the main rectangular mass is mounted on a two-tiered base, with the family name carved boldly in the center of the top tier, and topped by a hipped cap embellished with pediments etched with the initial "D" in the same fashion as the pillar types. Nearby is a similar sarcophagus monument for E.G. Hale. The two families were related. Granite markers make up a sizeable proportion of markers in the cemetery and document the second and third generations of old families, who while still involved in traditional occupations, were participating in a significant period when the town was rejuvenated as a country retreat for wealthy New Yorkers. Non-categorized stones A few of grave markers that do not conform to the general categories, but warrant mention.
The graves of numerous veterans of the Revolutionary and Civil wars are identified by flags and medallions, but at least two have stones memorializing the involvement those buried. One is a marble tablet inscribed for George L. Tichenor, who died in 1905 and was remembered as a "Member Company D. / Second Massachusetts / Volunteer Infantry / 1861-1863." The plain rectangular marker with the raised inscription framed within a shield-shaped recess appears to be one that was provided by the government or a veterans organization. Another flat marker recessed in the ground is typical of those issued by the U.S. Veterans Administration. It is inscribed for William Van Rensselaer, "PVT CO G US CLD INF / CIVIL WAR / MAY 14 1844 - JUL 27 1925." A member of the "colored infantry," Van Rensselaer is the only African American thus far identified in the cemetery.
Two early 20*-century markers are cast-stone replicas of tree trunks, with the inscriptions incised on scrolls appearing to hang by ropes from the stump of a branch (IMAGE 9). Paradoxically, these extremely elaborate and picturesque markers were erected for working men and their families. George H. Hawley was a farm laborer who rented his home in Ashford, Massachusetts at the time of his death in 1916, and Franklin H. Ward was a fireman in a Lenox paper mill when he died in 1922. A group of four marble tablets illustrate the Colonial Revival taste expressed in funereal objects (IMAGE 10). One is inscribed for summer resident Sidney Howard, a Hollywood screenwriter who won an Academy Award for his script for "Gone With The Wind," and who died in Tyringham in 1939. It has a scrolled top and a stylized representation of an (continued) NPS Form 10-900 (Rev.
10-90) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 7 Page 10 OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 Tyringham Cemetery Tyringham (Berkshire), MA angel in the style of the local 18"'-century stone carvers. His wife Polly Damrosch Howard's 1964 tablet also has a scrolled top, but with carved foliage as ornamentation. The tablets inscribed with memorials for Mrs. Howard's sister and brother-in-law, Anita Damrosch and Robert Littell, who died in 1982 and 1963, respectively, complete the group. They are essentially matching stones with rounded tops, in which a flower is carved on the wife's stone and a shell on the husband's. A final notable stone was erected in 1984 for local landscape painter Michael Eisenman.
A large, rough- dressed shard of brown, iron-stained granite, the intentionally crude marker brings the design of gravestones full cycle, back to the old weathered slab inscribed with the initials I.C.H. and the date 1798. Cemetery Fence In 1892, the Hale family provided funds for a fence to be built around the cemetery in memory of Eli G. Hale, a local farmer and town leader. A fancy iron fence with round pickets was erected across the east or road side of the cemetery (IMAGES 1, 13). Every other picket is joined at the top in an arch, in a "paper-clip" style, and flanks a center picket capped with a pointed cast-iron finial. Fillets decorate the pickets as well as filigreed clips that attach the pickets to the three horizontal rails that are attached to posts constructed of four vertical rods with filigree connectors and topped by cast Gothic caps (IMAGE 13).
Vehicle and pedestrian gates are located where driveways and walkways occur in the plan. A plaque is mounted on the central walkway gate with the legend, "Erected in Memory / of / E.G. Hale / 1892 (IMAGE 12). Other plaques indicate the fence was fabricated by the Buckeye Iron Company in Ohio. The fence corners and extends across the north side of the cemetery, except without the embellishments. Simpler cast-iron posts are connected by three horizontal rails. It is likely that a similar type of fence followed the boundary on the south side, but when the cemetery was enlarged in 1956, it was apparently removed. This was also the case on the west side; remnants of this fence are in storage. A low chain-link fence now encloses the cemetery in the south and west sides.
Archaeological Description While no ancient Native American sites are recorded on the cemetery property, it is possible that sites are present. Four sites have been recorded in the general area (within one mile). Environmental characteristics for the nominated property include several locational criteria (slope, soil drainage, proximity to wetlands) that are favorable indicators for the presence of ancient sites. The nominated property includes well-drained, level to moderately sloping topography on a drumlinoid ridge west of Main Road. Hop Brook lies along the eastern side of the road. The entire town of Tyringham lies within the Housatonic River drainage.
Given the above information, known patterns of Native American settlement in the region, the size of the nominated parcel (3.67 acres), and impacts from historic period land use, a moderate potential exists for the recovery of ancient Native American resources on the property. A high potential exists for locating historic archaeological resources at the Tyringham Cemetery. Structural evidence may survive from Tyringham's first meetinghouse, built in 1779, within the nominated boundaries of the cemetery. The meetinghouse was removed after a new church was built just north of the cemetery in 1844. There are no surveys, maps, or images that document the actual site of the 1779 meetinghouse/church. Structural evidence of barns, stables, and outbuildings associated with the meetinghouse may also survive.
Archaeological evidence of occupational-related features (trash pits, privies, wells) may exist in the area surrounding the meetinghouse. (continued) NPS Form 10-900 (Rev. 10-90) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 7 Page 11 OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 Tyringham Cemetery Tyringham (Berkshire), MA Many of the potential barns, stables, outbuildings, and occupational-related features associated with the 1779 meetinghouse were also used and located within the cemetery after its founding in 1797. Additional structures and features may have been built and used after the founding of the cemetery. Unmarked graves may also exist anywhere within the cemetery and around its boundary.
Unmarked graves may result from gravestones that have been removed or deteriorated and from graves that were never marked. Paupers, indigents, and unknown persons were often buried in designated areas or in unmarked graves in peripheral areas of the cemetery. The first record of a fence surrounding the cemetery was in 1892, when funds were donated to surround the cemetery with an iron fence. The erection of a fence around the cemetery, nearly 200 years after the first recorded burial, indicates the potential for unmarked graves to be located within and beyond the current fence line boundary. Marked and unmarked graves may contain evidence of a burial shaft, coffin, coffin hardware, personal items of the deceased, and skeletal remains. Artifacts may also exist in graves and elsewhere in the cemetery related to memorial offerings of individuals and groups.
Archaeological evidence of maintenance activities associated with the cemetery may also exist. (end) Iyringham Cemetery Name of Property 8. Statement of Significance