Maine gravestones from the 1800s were decorated with snapped flower buds, broken tree branches and cracked columns to reveal that those buried below died before their time. From lightning strikes to shipwrecks, accidents to disease--and even a sensational murder-- there were many causes for these untimely deaths. Bessie Oliver came home to South Portland to die, bringing secrets she'd kept from her family that wouldn't be revealed for 100 years. Rose Vincent became a victim of a sensational murder in 1878 in Biddeford, perpetrated by her jealous boyfriend, and Priscilla Burnham was a town pauper in Scarborough, who lived most of her life under town care and was buried twice without a gravestone. Cemetery historian and guide Ron Romano uncovers how mysterious symbols, epitaphs, monument forms and cemetery landscapes tell the stories of those whose lives were cut short.
Stories from Maine Cemeteries : Lives Cut Short