Captain William Lyman, d. 1774

Captain William Lyman: In Memory of Capt. William Lyman who died March 13th, 1774, in the 59th year of his age. "The wise and the just, the pious and the brave, Live in their death, and flourish in the grave." The most remarkable aspect of this grave is the swirl-like patterns over the head of the cherub. These are most likely abstracted naturalistic patterns of vines and flowers. In the center is what appears to be a gourd. The gourd on grave art symbolized life and death, the coming and passing of earthly things. These would generally be surrounded with vines and flowers to reinforce the idea of a life cycle. The fact that they surround the cherub could also indicate that the swirls symbolize heaven. The cherub is rather naturalistic in comparison to the designs above it, and has unusually big and engulfing wings.

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