Stone and brick tombs were repositories for the physical remains of many
of Connecticut's wealthiest and influential families. The desire was to
be interred within burial vaults rather than have their wooden coffins
laid into the earth in direct contact with crushing soil burden led many
prominent families to construct large above-ground and semi-subterranean
tombs, usually burrowed into the sides of hills as places of interment
for their dead.
"And So The Tomb Remains" tells the stories of the Connecticut State
Archaeologist's investigations into five 18th/19th century family tombs:
the sepulchers of Squire Elisha Pitkin, Center Cemetery, East Hartford;
Gershom Bulkeley, Ancient Burying Ground, Colchester; Samuel and Martha
Huntington, Norwichtown Cemetery, Norwich; Henry Chauncey, Indian Hill
Cemetery, Middletown; and Edwin D. Morgan, Cedar Hill Cemetery,
Hartford. In all of these cases, the state archaeologist assisted in
identifying and restoring human skeletal remains to their original
burial placements when vandalized through occult rituals or contributed
to the identification of unrecorded burials during restoration
projects.
Each investigative delves into family histories and genealogies, as well
as archaeological and forensic sciences that helped identify the
entombed and is told in a personal, story-telling approach. Written in
essay form, each investigation highlights differing aspects of research
in mortuary architecture and cemetery landscaping, public health,
restoration efforts, crime scene investigations, and occult
activities.
These five case studies began either as "history mysteries" or as crime
scene investigations. Since historic tombs were occupied by social and
economic elites, forensic studies provide an opportunity to investigate
the health and life stress pathologies of the wealthiest citizens in
Connecticut's historic past, while offering comparisons to the wellbeing
of lower socio-economic populations.
