Abstract: This article traces the previously unstudied life and work of a mid-nineteenth-century gravestone carver whose creations stand in graveyards across rural southern Middle Tennessee. His stones range from unadorned sandstone tablets to expertly carved willows on marble obelisks, the vast majority with a distinctive lettering style. Although he produced decorative elements including lambs, birds, flowers, and urns, he most often depicted cemetery mourner scenes on tablets and willows protruding from obelisk shafts. This study follows the evolution of his craft through increasingly skillful and florid lettering as well as ornamental motifs. Based on field studies in seven counties and documentary research, the author discovered over 150 Baucom gravestones as well as many pieces of his family history that give insight into the business during a time and place before grave markers were mass produced. The Civil War upended his life and his carving career; nevertheless, thanks to his many signed stones, the legacy of a forgotten artisan can now be recognized.
Nancy Adgent (Thu,) studied this question.