An Artist in the Family

​A gravestone carver in the family tree?  Who knew! I discovered the legacy of Joseph Sikes while researching my Marshfield ancestors in Springfield, Massachusetts.

The Sykes are credited with this headstone for Prince Cowing, who died in 1788 and is buried in Chesterfield, Ma.

Joseph Sikes and his son Elijah not only carved headstones in Massachusetts and Maine in the late 18th century but their work is now celebrated as colonial art.

Joseph is also my 4th great-grandfather, the grandfather of Sarah Sikes who around 1840 married John Hickey, an Irish immigrant to Maine. (You can read more about the Hickeys here.)

He also managed to serve in the Revolutionary War from December 15, 1776 until March 18, 1777, marching 220 miles to take part in the battle of Princeton. He served again for two days in June 1782, in nearby  Northampton to “suppress a mob.”

Curious about these headstones, I began seeking them out in Chesterfield and Belchertown, Massachusetts and in Scarborough, Walpole and Pemaquid, Maine.

Sikes carved his classic spoon-shape face on the tombstone of Lydia Roberson in Ireland Cemetery, Chesterfield, Ma.

Joseph Sikes was born in Belchertown, Ma. in 1743.  It is believed he learned to carve from other members of the Sikes family in Connecticut.  But his work is distinct and his images haunting.  He often carved schist, which unfortunately does not stand up well to the ravages of time. 

Sikes almost always featured the face of the deceased on the headstone, encircled with ivy vines, rosettes, hearts, stars or moons. Occasionally he would include a winged cherub, a popular symbol at the time. ​

Benjamin Ludden's stone in Chesterfield, Ma. shows Sikes' classic features of ivy and a spoon-shaped face.
After arriving in Maine around 1790 his style evolved more.   Some of the faces he carved had hair that surround the face like a lion’s mane.

A lion's mane on the grave of Mrs. Hannah Libby in Black Point Cemetery, Scarborough, Maine.

Other stones show men and women with shoulder hair that flipped up at the neck.

Jonathan and Martha Libby's headstone in Scarborough, Maine.

Virtually all of the faces feature closed eyes that are carved as half circles.

Gravestone of Barlett Sylvester, Chesterfield, Ma.

Elijah Sikes' headstones in Massachusetts are perhaps the most creative of all.

Elijah Sikes carved Nathaniel Dwight's headstone in Ireland Cemetery in Chesterfield, Ma.

Despite his prolific career creating memorial headstones throughout New England, the whereabouts of Joseph Sikes gravesite remains a mystery.  He was reported to have died in  1802.  His last known residence was Bristol, Maine.  If you have any clues to where he is buried, please contact us!

His son Elijah moved to Vermont, where he ran a granite business before relocating to Ohio.

David Diaz, an armchair academic, visited some cemeteries in Connecticut and Massachusetts where he found  more headstones by the Sikes.

Here’s more from Brooklyn, Ct.  

Addendum
Joseph Sikes' mother, Hannah Wright, was a descendant of Mercy Marshfield of Springfield, who you can read about here.