Have you ever seen small stones or pebbles placed on top of headstones in a cemetery? I run into it occasionally while I’m taking photos of headstones for clients from outside Minnesota. As part of the genealogical services I offer, I get requests for a photo of great-grandma and great-grandpa’s headstone in a small rural cemetery, or photos of a brother or uncle’s military burial site at Ft. Snelling National Cemetery.
It wasn’t until I came upon Paul and Sheila Wellstone and their daughter Marcia’s graves while taking photos in Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis − the family headstone topped with small stones − that I really began to wonder what the symbolism meant. I hadn’t realized they were buried in Lakewood, and finding them there, I felt an overwhelming sense of sadness for the six lives lost in that terrible plane crash on October 25, 2002.
When I got home, I did a little research on the topic (there are a number of genealogy-related blogs that talk about it). Turns out, putting stones on top of headstones is primarily a Jewish custom (that makes sense, because Paul Wellstone was Jewish), although other cultures and religions do it, too. Apparently placing a stone or pebble on a headstone indicates that you have visited the grave and that you respect and lovingly remember the deceased.1
I must be more perceptive than I thought. While at the Wellstone gravesite, I had the urge to add a stone to the collection, just to let the Wellstones know that I had been there and that I remember them fondly. I ended up putting three pine cones on the family headstone; it was all that was available, but hopefully, the sentiment came through. Lakewood Cemetery is immaculate, so if you’re going there, you’ll have to bring your own stones.
When I got home, I did a little research on the topic (there are a number of genealogy-related blogs that talk about it). Turns out, putting stones on top of headstones is primarily a Jewish custom (that makes sense, because Paul Wellstone was Jewish), although other cultures and religions do it, too. Apparently placing a stone or pebble on a headstone indicates that you have visited the grave and that you respect and lovingly remember the deceased.1
I must be more perceptive than I thought. While at the Wellstone gravesite, I had the urge to add a stone to the collection, just to let the Wellstones know that I had been there and that I remember them fondly. I ended up putting three pine cones on the family headstone; it was all that was available, but hopefully, the sentiment came through. Lakewood Cemetery is immaculate, so if you’re going there, you’ll have to bring your own stones.
1http://agraveinterest.blogspot.com/2012/04/leaving-stones-on-graves.html
Photo taken by Pamela J. Erickson. Released into the public domain July 31, 2012, as long as acknowledgement included.
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