Midwest Headstones

While traveling between church history spots in the midwest, our bus stopped at a few cemeteries. On the road to Richmond we found Sunny Slope Cemetery, where David Whitmer is buried. The headstones in these fine places are an education in themselves. My flickr photos show examples of some interesting trends. Several of the grave markers we saw were sculpted to look like tree trunks. And on MANY headstones, great and small, there was a relief of a hand, the index finger pointing toward heaven. Other headstones bore the likeness of two hands shaking. Although the sign for Sunny Slope indicates it was established in 1911, many of the markers are from a previous time - a time when tree trunks and pointing fingers were in style. Modern cemeteries would have none of that. It causes one to wonder if the dearly departed were given directions so that when they emerged from the grave they would know which way to go. Straight up!