Stone Cutter Peter Higgins

Willow & Urn ornament, Old Dimmick Cemetery, Milford PA, 1861

Among the stone cutters active in the Upper Delaware River Valley during the period 1860 -1870 was Peter Higgins, a native of Ireland. It is likely Higgins arrived in the US via Canada sometime in the late 1840s for the 1850 census finds the family in New York City.  By 1860 they've moved to Deerpark, and by 1870 Higgins had established his firm on Jersey Avenue in Port Jervis, NY.

for James Suiter, 1861

The above crisp example of his distinctive Willow and Urn ornament is from the James Suiter tombstone which is presently in storage, protected from the ravages of weather.

19th century marble and stone cutters advertised their wares with a signature on the tombstone, typically in the lower right hand corner.

1870 Census, Deerpark, Orange Co NY

The Evening Gazette, Port Jervis, NY, October 1, 1874

Peter's only known son, John F. Higgins, apprenticed with his father but would leave the trade after Peter died to attend St Francis Xavier College. He later returned to Port Jervis to practice medicine.

Shohola-Worzel Cemetery, Pike Co PA, 1862

 The Higgins' tombstone carvings are noted for the use of mixed fonts in the lettering, the distinctive shape of the upper portion of the stone, and the frequent use of the Willow or Willow & Urn ornament.

Eldred Cemetery, Sullivan Co NY, 1861

In Memory of
James Collard
Who Died Feb. 8, from
wounds received on the
N. Y. and E. R. R., Jan. 29, 1861
Aged 24 years
7 mo & 3 D's
None knew him but to love

Higgins, Port Jervis 

Willow & Urn ornament, Delaware Cemetery, Dingmans Ferry, Pike Co PA, 1866

The Joseph H Albright tombstone bears the signature of Higgins, Port Jervis in the lower right hand corner.

German Hill Cemetery, Pike Co PA, 1864

This Civil War veteran's tombstone by Higgins is unusual in the tri-state area for its depiction of a standing soldier.

John 

son of 

Francis & Christine Kreiter

of the 56th Regiment of the New York Volunteers

Died Aug. 21, 1864

N Beauford, South Carolina

Aged 21 years

& 7 months

Higgins

Port Jervis

Willow & Urn ornament, Van Tuyl Cemetery, Pond Eddy NY, 1861

The Higgins signature is visible on the lower portion of this broken stone for Levi Middaugh.

 

Higgins Tombstones

Parker, Charles M (signed)

b. July 12, 1836 d. Aug 12, 1864

Barryville Congregational Churchyard, Barryville, Sullivan Co NY 

Albright, Joseph H (signed)
b. Oct. 13, 1807 d. Jan. 27, 1866
Delaware Cemetery, Dingmans Ferry, Pike Co PA

Collard, James (signed)
b. Jul. 5, 1836 d. Feb. 8, 1861
Eldred Cemetery, Eldred, Sullivan Co NY

Mapes, Kezia Oakley 

b. 1792 d. Feb. 23, 1861
Eldred Cemetery, Eldred, Sullivan Co NY

Kreiler, John (signed)
d. Aug. 21, 1864    
German Hill Cemetery, Shohola, Pike Co PA

Meginnis, Joseph W (signed)

d. March 17, 1859

Laurel Grove Cemetery, Port Jervis, Orange Co NY

McCarty, Amanda (signed)
b. Nov. 28, 1833 d. Nov. 8, 1860
Milford Cemetery, Milford, Pike Co PA

Van Etten, Oliver P (Willow & Urn ornament)
b. Nov. 29, 1816 d. Dec. 18, 1864
Milford Cemetery, Milford, Pike Co PA

Suiter, James (signed)
b. Mar., 1781 d. May 2, 1861    
Old Dimmick Cemetery, Milford, Pike Co PA

Brink, Elizabeth (Willow & Urn ornament)
b. Jan. 18, 1837 d. Nov. 25, 1864
Rowlands Cemetery, Rowland, Pike Co PA

Terwilliger, Roxy S Brink (Willow & Urn ornament)
b. Feb. 8, 1834 d. Jul. 30, 1867
Rowlands Cemetery, Rowland, Pike Co PA

Hehn, Anna Maria (signed)
b. Apr. 13, 1862 d. Sep. 13, 1862
Shohola-Worzel Cemetery, Shohola, Pike Co PA

Covart, Sarah C. 

d. Oct. 16, 1864
Upper Mongaup Cemetery, Upper Mongaup, Sullivan Co NY

Middaugh, Levi (signed)

b. Jul. 7, 1786 d. Sep. 13, 1861
Van Tuyl Cemetery, Pond Eddy, Sullivan Co NY

Middaugh, Margaret Van Aken (Willow & Urn ornament)

(In the style of Peter Higgins, likely lettered after his death from stock on hand when the business was sold in 1874.)
b. Feb. 26, 1793 d. Oct. 11, 1876
Van Tuyl Cemetery, Pond Eddy, Sullivan Co NY

A virtual cemetery of Higgins tombstones, photos from various contributors.

Stone Cutter William Goodliff

for Rachel Davenport Persbacher, 1873, Shohola PA

We've been surveying tombstones in the field by the talented English stone cutter, William Goodliff, who settled in Barryville, NY around 1865. His beautifully carved & signed stonework can be found in cemeteries in Sullivan County NY and across the Delaware River in Pike Co PA through the late 1870s.


Click to enlarge the images.
   

for Elizabeth & George Hubschmann, 1871, Shohola PA

We noted Goodliff's signature over the past year but only recently, on a visit to German Hill Cemetery in Shohola PA, did we find two markers with the identifying place name of  "Barryville" in the lower right hand corner of the gravestone.

for Warney Quick, 1875, Eldred NY

The old Eldred Cemetery a few miles from Barryville has a number of tombstones signed by William Goodliff, including Hannah Eldred, William Kyte, 1872, Runyan Longstreet, 1873, Caleb Shotwell, 1873, and Jane Stewart Wallace, 1874, featuring symbols and emblems commonly found in 19th c. cemeteries.

for Leon Devnoge, 1857, Eldred NY

The date belies the actual work, as this marker must have been carved some years after 1857.  William and family arrived in the US around 1860.  He served briefly with the 36th Reg. NY State Volunteer Infantry, mustering out in 1862, and spent the next two years or so in Brooklyn with a possible relative, John Goodliff.

Brooklyn New York City Directory, 1864, p 178

36th New York State Volunteer Infantry

By 1865, after moving to Sullivan Co, tragedy would strike with the death of William and Maria's daughter, Mary, who is buried in Van Tuyl Cemetery, Pond Eddy NY. Her headstone is unsigned but William would use the same mourning ribbon & lamb motif for Mary Eckhart's signed marker in 1872 in Shohola PA.

Mary Goodliff, 1865

Mary Eckhart, 1872

Did William Goodliff order from a catalog, await the railroad shipment & and simply inscribe the name & date or did he shape and cut all aspects of the stone?

Stone Cutter Galen Bennet, in an 1875 ad for his marble yard in Port Jervis NY, states: "most of our designs are original." Peter Higgins' signature "Willow & Urn" motif appears on several differently shaped and sizes of headstones in cemeteries throughout the tri-states area.
 

Lumberland, Sullivan, New York State Census, 1875

 for Hannah, second wife of James Eldred, date unknown, Eldred NY

  

for Elizabeth & George Hubschmann, 1871, Shohola PA

Note Goodliff's quite distinctive numeral 7, and his use of a semi-colon after the 4.




Goodliff's Inventory of Works in New York & Pennsylvania.

Shortly before the 1880 Census, William Goodliff would move the family to Virginia where his sons William H & Harry would carry on the business after his death in 1882.  

Update: A brief notice in the 14 April 1877 issue of The Evening Gazette, Port Jervis NY:

Update:
An interested reader has supplied us with photos of the signature of Goodliff on the lower edge of the bottom half of a broken tombstone in the Micah Churchyard, Blanks Store, Charles City County, Virginia. This is the first example in my experience where the carved signature would have been purposely placed on an area of the stone intended to be below the surface and not visible to the public.