+ I H S Christogram Jesus Holy Name |
+ ☧ + + IN LOVING MEMORY OF + MARY + LOUISE + BROWN JUNE TWENTY-SECOND MDCCCLVI +++ AUGUST FOURTH MDCCCLXXXV +++ BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN HEART + FOR THEY SHALL SEE GOD + she was 29 years old 1856 - 1885 (NY Times reference) |
+ IC XC NI KA + + IN LOVING MEMORY OF + HENRY HAIGHT PIFFARD FEBRUARY TWENTY-EIGHT MDCCCLXIX + SEPTEMBER TWENTY-SEVENTH MDCCCXCII ++ FOR HIS SOUL PLEASED THE LORD + THERE-FORE HASTENED HE TO TAKE HIM + he was 23 years old 1869 - 1892 (NY Times reference) |
IHS | A Christogram for the Holy Name of Jesus. The earliest example thus found was on a Byzantine gold coin (please click). In a quatrefoil, four-lobed shape, for the four perfections of God; unity, power, goodness & wisdom. |
☧-in-circle | Χ Ρ, the first two letters of the Greek "ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ" (Christos). This motif was widespread in the Roman Empire by the 5th century. |
ringed cross | With the letters IC XC NI KA dates to early Christianity. The letters are a Greek abbreviation for: Jesus Christ conquers (is victorious). |
given by Mrs. Helen M. Strong
In Loving Memory of
Mary Louise Brown and grandson, Henry Haight Piffard
(about Mrs. Strong)
I could not find any references that linked the Brown and Piffard families in 1885. In the New York Times account of the accident, Irving H. Brown's 3-year-old daughter (unnamed) survived. "The injured little girl was lying on the very edge of the cow catcher." Mary Louise Brown did have a sister (Helen Louise Brown) that was almost 3 years old at this time. Interestingly, twenty-six years later, on December 31, 1912 (NY Times ref), Charles H. Piffard (Henry H. Piffard's younger brother) married Helen Louise Brown, daughter of Irving H. Brown. Helen Louise Brown is 29 years old when she marries.