Soule Carvers

Four generations of Soule carvers worked in the Plymouth and Worcester areas. They included Ebenezer Soule (1710 - 1792) and his sons Ebenezer (1737-1811), Asaph (1739 - 1823), Coomer (1747 - 1777), Beza (1750 - 1835) and Ivory (1760 - 1846).

Just as Nathan Hayward and William Cushman replaced Nathaniel Fuller and Seth Tinkham as important gravestone suppliers in southeastern Massachusetts, the Soules replaced Hayward and Cushman. The Soules were major suppliers to Cape Cod. They copied the earlier carvers and they developed their own distinctive styles of markers. They often using a local green slate. Crude heads with wild hair and no wings or abstract wings were called Medusa stones. They also produced somewhat realistic winged heads with characteristic circles in the hair. Often the face had a slight smile. The wing design generally had either circles or a fish scale pattern. Sometimes the head and wings were attached to a cross hatched semi circle perhaps representing the body. They also carved realistic winged heads with curly hair and scallop collars. Following are markers of the styles carved by the Soules (some may have been carved by Hayward or Cushman). Literature sources confirm some of these attributions.

Medusa stones

Lydia Hersey (1740) - Barnstable Cobbs Hill Cem.
Bathsheba Fuller (1749) - West Barnstable Cem.
Samuel Chipman (1753) - West Barnstable Cem.
Freman Doane (1753) - Chatham Cem.
Mercy Churchill (1756) - Barnstable Cobbs Hill Cem.
Rebekah Cobb (1756) - Barnstable Cobbs Hill Cem.
Susanna Conant (1756) - West Barnstable Cem.
James Bearse (1758) - Barnstable - Centerville Ancient Cem.
Fear Lewis (1758) - Barnstable Cobbs Hill Cem.
Thankfull Bearse (1759) - Barnstable - Centerville Ancient Cem.
David Howes (1759) - Dennis Howes Cem.
Jonathan Bangs (1760) - Dennis Ancient Cem.
Bathsheba Dennis (1761) - Dennis Village Cem.
Sarah Dennis (1761) - Dennis Village Cem.
Ruth Hall (1761) - Dennis Village Cem.
Samuel Hopkins (1761) - Brewster Cem.
Sarah Eldredge (1762) - Dennis Village Cem.
John Dilingham (1763) - Brewster Dillingham Cem.
Temperance Howes (1763) - Dennis Howes Cem.
Patience Bacon (1764) - Barnstable Cobbs Hill Cem.
Ebenezer Clark (1764) - Brewster Cem.
Sarah Bodfish (1765) - Sandwich Cem.
Jabez Howland (1765) - West Barnstable Cem.
Richard Phinney (1765) - Barnstable - Centerville Ancient Cem.
Mary Sears (1765) - Dennis Village Cem.
Willard Sears (1765) - Brewster Sears Cem.
John Rider (1766) - Chatham Nickerson Cemetery
Joshua Mayo (1767) - Wellfleet Duck Creek Cem.
Enoch Sears (1767) - Brewster Sears Cem.
Constant Sears (1768) - Brewster Sears Cem.
Polley Stetson (1772) - Barnstable Cobbs Hill Cem.

Children's Gravestones

Abigail Hinckley (1751) - Barnstable Centerville Ancient Cem.
Rachel Doane (1753) - Chatham Cem.
Lydia Chapman (1758) - Dennis Village Cem.
infant Wing (1761) - Yarmouth Cem.
Consider Hamblen (1769) - West Barnstable Cem.
William Stetson (1769) - Barnstable Cobbs Hill Cem.
William Russel (1772) - Barnstable Lothrop Hill Cem.
Paul Crocker (1774) - West Barnstable Cem.
infant Lewis (1777) - West Yarmouth Woodside Cem.
Hennery Thacher (1777) - Yarmouth Cem.
Elizabeth Gorham (1778) - Yarmouth Cem.
Eunice Hall (1797) - Sandwich Cem.
Hannah Crocker (1801) - Barnstable Marstons Mills Cem.

Winged heads - most have wings with fish scale design or circle design

John Miller (1747/8) - Yarmouth Cem.
Hannah Thacher (1748) - Yarmouth Cem.
Sarah Burges (1755) - Dennis Winslow Cem.
Prissilla Lewis (1756) - West Yarmouth Woodside Cem.
Joseph Hawes (1759) - Yarmouth Cem.
Prissilla Lewis (1759) - West Yarmouth Woodside Cem.
Elezebeth Rider (1766) - Chatham Nickerson Cemetery
Zenas Rider (1766) - Chatham Nickerson Cemetery
John Snow (1766) - Brewster Cem.
Timothy Chipman (1770) - West Barnstable Cem.
Seth Crocker (1770) - West Barnstable Cem.
Eleanor Hallet (1771) - Yarmouth Cem.
Seth Hamblen (1771) - West Barnstable Cem.
Mary Hopkins (1771) - Brewster Cem.
Prince Howes (1771) - Yarmouth Cem.
Joseph Paine (1771) - Brewster Cem.
Sarah Thacher (1771) - Yarmouth Cem.
Walley Crocker (1772) - West Barnstable Cem.
Joseph Hopkins (1772) - Brewster Cem.
Jane Otis (1772) - Barnstable Cobb's Hill Cem.
Samuel Tupper (1772) - Sandwich Cem.
Benjamin Bourn (1773) - Sandwich Cem.
Sarah Hamlen (1773) - West Barnstable Cem.
John Hinckley (1773) - Barnstable Lothrop Hill Cem.
Jonathan Mills (1773) - Harwich Congregational Cem.
Daniel Scudder (1773) - Barnstable Ancient Cem.
Thankfull Bassett (1774) - Yarmouth Cem.
Elisabeth Bodfish (1774) - West Barnstable Cem.
Levi Chase (1774) - Sandwich Cem.
Joseph Huckins (1774) - Barnstable Lothrop Hill Cem.
Lydia Nye (1774) - Sandwich Cem.
Elisabeth Howland (1775) - West Barnstable Cem.
Hannah Kent (1775) - Barnstable Marstons Mills Cem.
Joseph Nye (1775) - Sandwich Cem.
Judah Thacher (1775) - Yarmouth Cem.
Peter Thacher (1775) - Yarmouth Cem.
Lydia Huckins (1776) - Barnstable Lothrop Hill Cem.
Prince Marston (1776) - Barnstable Marstons Mills Cem.
William Swift (1776) - Sandwich Cem.
Hezekiah Taylor (1776) - Yarmouth Cem.
John Beare (1777) - Yarmouth Cem.
Hannah Bodfish (1777) - Barnstable Marstons Mills Cem.
Hannah Chiles (1777) - Barnstable Cobbs Hill Cem.
Solomon Goodspeed (1777) - Barnstable Marstons Mills Cem.
Bettey Howes (1777) - Dennis Howes Cem.
Thankfull Hallet (1778) - Yarmouth Cem.
Isaac Chase (1779) - Sandwich Cem.
Mary Chipman (1779) - Barnstable Marstons Mills Cem.
Johnbeare Bassett (1780) - Yarmouth Cem.
Mary Gorham (1782) - West Yarmouth Woodside Cem.
Shubel Killey (1783) - North Harwich Cem.
Samuel Sears (1783) - Brewster Sears Cem.
Polly Bourn (1784) - Sandwich Cem.
Hannah Thacher (1785) - Sandwich Cem.
Rebekah Parker (1786) - West Yarmouth Woodside Cem.
Hannah Crocker (1787) - West Barnstable Cem.
Jane Phinney (1787) - Barnstable - Centerville Ancient Cem.
Betsey Sears (1787) - Brewster Sears Cem.
Susanna Freeman (1788) - Brewster Cem.
Ichabod Seabury (1788) - Brewster Cem.
Nathan Snow (1788) - Brewster Cem.
Mary Clark (1789) - Brewster Cem.
Thankful Paddock (1789) - Dennis Paddock Cem.
Mary Tayler (1789) - Yarmouth Cem.
Prince Freeman (1790) - Brewster Cem.
Lydia Hall (1790) - Sandwich Cem.
Elisha Sears (1790) - Brewster Sears Cem.
Marcy Sears (1790) - Brewster Sears Cem.
James Taylor (1790) - Yarmouth Cem.
Asa Eldridge (1791) - Yarmouth Cem.
Shubal Hall (1791) - Yarmouth Cem.
Mary Paddock (1791) - Brewster Cem.
Samuel Sears (1792) - Brewster Sears Cem.
Thankful Dimmick (1794) - Bourne - Cataumet Cem.
Seth Clark (1795) - Brewster Cem.
Marcy Howland (1795) - West Barnstable Cem.
Salley Bourn (1796) - Sandwich Cem.
Tryphosa Freeman (1796) - Sandwich Cem.
Hannah Burgis (1797) - Dennis Winslow Cem.
Barnabas Eldridge (1797) - Yarmouth Cem.
Mehetable Jenkins (1797) - Falmouth
Rebekah Jenkins (1797) - Falmouth
Elizabeth Nye (1797) - Falmouth
Chloe Blish (1798) - West Barnstable Cem.
Heman Nye Jr (1798) - Sandwich Cem.
Molly Killey (1799) - Yarmouth Cem.
John Thacher (1799) - Yarmouth Cem.
Timothy Crocker (1800) - Falmouth Cem.
Joshua Hall (1800) - Sandwich Cem.
Bethia Sears (1800) - Yarmouth Cem.
Betsey Bassett (1801) - Barnstable Marstons Mills Cem.
Samuel Gray (1801) - Yarmouth Cem.
Elisha Howes (1801) - Dennis Village Cem.
Edmund Nye Parker (1802) - Barnstable Osterville Cem.
James Parker (1802) - Barnstable Osterville Cem.
Elisha Howes (1809) - Dennis Village Cem.
Marcy Higgins (1818) - Brewster Cem.

Realistic winged heads with scallop collars

Deborah Sears (1753) - Brewster Sears Cem.
Benjamin Bodfish (1760) - West Barnstable Cem.
Thankful Chapman (1763) - Dennis Village Cem.
Mary Dillingham (1764) - Brewster Dillingham Cem.
Prissilla Sears (1764) - Brewster Sears Cem.
Hannah Snow (1764) - Brewster Cem.
Kathran Young (1764) - Wellfleet Cem.
Jeremiah Mayo (1765) - Wellfleet Cem.
Marcy Rider (1765) - Chatham Cem.
Hudson Vickery (1765) - Wellfleet Cem.
Zenas Rider (1766) - Chatham Cem.


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