the Long S

Have you ever walked through a very old cemetery and become confused as to what a stone was trying to say? Or looked at an epitaph and wondered why in the world a letter -f- was used in place of an -s-?  If so, you have witnessed first hand the confusing use of the long s.

The word pass appears as pafs and wise looks like the word wife.

For years I have wondered about this character in Colonial script. Why did they use this -f- letter... and what were the rules dictating it's use? Some words had it, others didn't... some words that contained double -s- had both the -f- like letter and a normal -s-.  I asked teachers and historians alike but with no suitable answer to my question. Everyone had the same answer... "I'm not sure."

The problem was... neither were the Colonists who etched it into their memorials and that's the reason it's not used today.

Let me explain:

What you are looking at is referred to as the long, medial or descending letter s represented by what looks like a lower case f.

The true lower case s we are accustomed to using today is referred to as the short, round or terminal s.

From here on I will make reference to long and short s forms.

The long s came from early Roman cursive. After dying out, it was picked up again in usage sometime in 1400's by Italian printers. It was quite a fashionable trend. The long s also came in 2 forms, with and without a nub. When appearing, the nub is always placed to the left of the letter.

It wasn't used exclusively by the Italians though, the Germans also used this character in Blackletter typeface.

Here are some of the complicated rules on how to use this letter:

When a font containing long s is used, German typographic rules require the short s to be used when it occurs singly at the end of a syllable, while long s is used at the beginning of a syllable.  The short s appears at the end of each word within a compound word. This is why some call it the terminal s - it comes at the end. Where as the long s comes in the middle and is sometimes called medial s.

Confused yet? 
Yes, and so were most people!
 
These rules were broken all the time.

 Notice the last two pictures on the left. They belong to a husband and wife, both were carved within about 10 years of each other. Sarah's stone makes reference to her husband - Joseph - using a short s. While on Mr. Belknap's stone his name is spelled out with a longs s. Same name two different usages of the s.


  The use of any typeface using the long s fell out of favor in the US and Britain within the early 19'th century about 1810, although handwritten samples can be found into the 1860's. It is said that confusion and even those suffering from poor vision, all led to the demise of this font trend. In a population that wasn't terribly literate, it was just too complicated.

Today those who use the long s do so to catch the eye only.  It's modern use is as buried as the Colonials who so long ago etched it into stone.

Taphophile Corner - Displaced Honor

Over the years as I make my way through cemeteries gathering Civil War veterans burial information, I have noticed a common occurrence, one of misplaced GAR flag markers. 

The GAR (Grand Army of the Republic) was an organization much like today’s American Legion and was made up of honorably discharged Union Veterans, not every veteran joined the GAR but those who were members would receive a flag holder for their grave so a flag could be placed for Decoration Day.

But as I make my way across states and cemeteries I see the same theme, that of these markers on the wrong graves, such as a child’s grave, that of a woman, on a man’s grave who was not even born during the Civil War and even propped up near a fence. 

Women were not permitted to be G.A.R. members

I have had the chance to talk to some cemetery groundskeepers who have told me that the markers are moved a lot of times so they can mow around a stone and then either forgotten about or misplaced.

 A person whose relative who fought in WWII needed a flag holder and this GAR marker on a grave seemed like a good holder, and even some cemeteries will help a person remove the marker to place elsewhere. 

The reasons are many of why they are removed and still some are removed and sold on Ebay,  

which is against Ebay policies. In some states it is against the law to even sell these.

One day I walked into a cemetery office and asked about the misplaced markers. I was told that they had no idea of what to do and for me to just fix it if I like…WHAT!!! Ok, so I can just remove any grave marker??? I know there were laws protecting grave markers. What about cemetery rules??? 

Born after the Civil War - could not have earned a G.A.R. marker

Before removing a marker you need permission from the cemetery commission and from a relative of the person whose grave it is on. That can take a long time and research.

But I am starting to notice that this trend is now not being limited to just the GAR markers but is also effecting other veterans from other wars. It is sad that these men and woman who gave so much and asked so little can not even keep a simple flag holding to honor them, just because someone is too lazy to buy their own or to replace it correctly after mowing.

One day I was talking with a member of an American Legion and he asked me to ID an item. He showed me a GAR Marker, I explained to him what it was and the organization. He told me that the Legion Post had a 55-gallon barrel full of them and they were going to scrap them because they didn’t know what they were. I took them all and have since replaced them back into their local cemetery.

 I am a believer also that the correct marker should be placed at the correct grave, GAR or Civil War Vet for Civil War Veterans, Span Am for Spanish American Veterans, WWII Markers for WWII Vets.

 

I have been seeing VFW Markers for Civil War Veterans and this is a miss representation as there were no VFW’s around at that time and if you want to spend the time marking graves then it should be done with the right marker. 

A special Thank You to Daniel Meehan my guest blogger. 

Daniel has spent countless hours in the cemeteries of New Hampshire documenting Veteran's graves and compiling their photos and histories. Daniel is a War reinactor as well as a Veteran advocate. He was intricately involved in the moving and honorable re-interment of a Civil War Veteran and his family due to a construction project in his area. Daniel personally provides the flags to various cemeteries in his town since the VFW has refused to do so. He feels passionately about honoring the service of Veterans across the board and I believe, was the perfect person to speak on this topic.