Verbal/Material Lore – Gravestone Epitaph
“The Porter Family”
English
| Asa Porter Tuck Drive Graveyard – Hanover, New HampshireUnited States October 28th, 2017 |
Informant Data
Asa Porter was born in 1863. There is no death date listed on his family’s gravestone. His wife, buried with him, was Minnie H Crosby, was born in 1865, and died in 1898. They are buried with their infant son, for whom no birth or death date is listed.
Contextual Data
The Porter’s epitaph appears to come from a hymn written in 1855 by Hugh R. Haweis, with music by Arthur S. Sullivan, written in 1867, called “The Homeland! Oh the Homeland!” Haweis was an english minister, and fought in the Italian war of independence. Why the Porters chose this epitaph for their gravestone is unclear.
Text
“There is no pain in the Homeland.”
| Edward Feist, 21 11 Crimson Oak Ct, Niskayuna, NY Hinman Box 0459, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH Dartmouth College Russian 13 Fall of 2017 |
Asa is not buried here.
Note from Arthur Chivers’ 1951 inventory/manuscript:
The date of death of Asa Porter has never been inscribed on the monument. Asa’s second wife was Lottie B. Russell. After several children were born, he and the family moved to California where he died.
further research indicates that Asa Porter and Lottie Russell are buried in California, and the inscription on the memorial constitutes a cenotaph. The burials in Dartmouth cemetery are limited to Minnie Herman Porter (nee Crosby) and the infant Asa Crosby Porter.