Grave of Ransom Huntoon

Ransom Huntoon was a member of the West Point Class of 1834 from New Hampshire. He fell ill in early 1834 and passed away on February 18th of that year in Unity, New Hampshire. He is buried in the East Unity Cemetery. His gravestone reads,

Ransom Huntoon, a Lieut. in the corps of Cadets, attached to the United State's Military Academy: West-Point, Died, Feb. 18, 1834,  Æ23.

The symbols on Cadet Huntoon's gravestone are interesting. On the top (the tympanum) is a weeping willow draping an urn, a common 19th-century headstone symbol. Some scholars connect the willow with the Greek goddess of the underworld Persephone. The period in which Huntoon died was the height of the Greek Revival period in America. Below the willow and urn are an artillery piece and cannonballs representing his military career.

Below are three photos of the gravestone. 

Grave of Ransom Huntoon, 2016. Photo by Author. 

Detail of the weeping willow and urn on the tympanum. Photo by Author. 

Gravestone of Ransom Huntoon, 2016. Photo by Author.