I recently got hold of a photo of my great-grandfather's tombstone in Lawrence County, Ohio. He was an iron ore miner, killed by collapsing shale while he was working. I'm intrigued by this photo, in two ways. First, there is a symbol carved into the stone that I haven't before and I'm hoping that someone here is familiar with, and second, there is an inscription at the bottom that is mostly illegible in the photo.
The photo was posted on Findagrave, and you can see it there.
The symbol
at least in my imagination is a representation of how he died, and perhaps that he would arise from the rubble. The fist would represent working, the round things would be stones, and then he is either falling into them or rising from them.
On the other hand, the fist with the two round things on top could also be an owl, I suppose, but in that case I am without a theory as to its meaning.
In either case, there is something else to the left of the man (or bird or angel) that I have no idea about.
As for the inscription
it appears to be a statement of the effect on the family of the unexpected death. I make the last two lines to be “A place is burnt in our home/That never can be filled” but the rest I can't make much sense of, beyond a few isolated words (“husband” or “has gone” on the second line, “A voice ... it is ... (slalted??)” after that. No guess on the 1st line.
I'd appreciate any suggestions on this.
If I could go there and see it “live” I might be able to make more sense out of it, but I can't do that any time soon.
Thanks.