The "Tombstone Picnic" Story

It was an ordinary day. Telling Carol about when I used to sing in the boy's choir at St. James Episcopal Church in downtown Lancaster. I know, you probably read some about it here, but I enjoy telling it. Used to have choir practice on Monday after school, Thursday evening with the men's choir, and Saturday mornings. On Monday and Saturdays it was daylight when we arrived at practice and most choir members made sure they arrived early so we could play in the cemetery before the start of practice. The church was founded in 1744 and the cemetery was opened in the same year. Many of Lancaster's leading citizens are buried there. Thomas Cookson, the town's first burgess, Edward Shippen, the county's chief magistrate and Jasper Yeates, a justice of the state Supreme Court are all buried there. And, they all had really neat tombstones to hide behind. We would play hide and seek before practice and on a Monday, when practice didn't start until 4:30, it would start to get dark and make for great times amongst the tomb stones. Mr. Mac, the choirmaster, would warm us not to play in the cemetery, but that didn't seem to deter us. If caught by him, he would fine you 5 cents from you monthly pay envelope. Doesn't seem like much, but back in the late 40s and early 50s, that was a big punishment. If the fun in the cemetery continued, a call to our parents would stop it for maybe, oh, a month. Now, we never were destructive or disrespectful of the tombstones, but they made for great places to hide. Half a dozen or so where large pieces of stone about four feet by 8 feet that were held up by stone or concrete pillars so they were about the height of a table. Some even had solid slab sides on two or three of the sides. Really great for hiding in. Ah ha, I finally got to my story for the day. Recently there was an article in the Lancaster newspaper about a family that was found in our grave yard having a picnic on one of the table tombstones. Seems that in the mid-1800s, having picnics in the churchyard, around the tombstones, was commonplace. It was part of a Victorian tradition. Our minister, Rev. Peck, who lives in the rectory which is adjacent to the churchyard, saw the eight or nine members of a Plain denomination sitting on benches, eating on the tombstones while enjoying the quiet and serenity of the churchyard. Very strange for a Plain sect family to visit an Anglican churchyard. "They came and spread a tablecloth on this tombstone and brought food and had their picnic there. It was a respectful and proper use. It warms my heart to see people using the churchyard in different ways," Rev. Peck related. "It was like looking at a 19th century dream," he continued. "They stayed for about three hours, ate their lunch, then the children played elsewhere in the churchyard while the adults talked." The tombstone the Plain family used memorializes Ann Eliza Aldridge, who died in 1815. Could be the family was related to the deceased and were paying their respects as they did 150 years ago. Hey, I bet I could give the kids a few hints as to where to hide if they wanted to play hide-and-seek. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - photo shows Rev. Peck at the tombstone that was used for a picnic, one of my favorite hiding places.