Zerubbabel Collins Explained

Zerubbabel Collins (1733–1797) was a carver of stone gravestones in New England in the 18th century. He has been called "one of the most important carvers represented in Vermont in the years after the American Revolution"^[1] and "one of the most talented [gravestone carvers] of his time".^[2]

Life and work

Collins was the son of Benjamin Collins (1691–1759), a cabinet maker and gravestone craftsman.^[2] Collins' older brother Julius Collins (1728–1758) was also a gravestone carver and later a military man.^[2]

Collins first worked in eastern Connecticut. He carved his father's gravestone.^[3] In 1778 he moved to Vermont, where he worked in white marble and in granite.^[2]

Cemeteries with gravestones by Zerubbabel Collins

• Hebron, Connecticut
• Columbia, Connecticut
• Salem, New York
• Bennington Centre Cemetery, Bennington, Vermont - over 40 gravestones by Collins
• Shaftsbury, Vermont

See also

• Funerary art in Puritan New England
• Gershom Bartlett

Further reading

• Harding, William E., 1972, “The graveyard at Old Bennigton, Vermont, and the gravestones of Zerubbabel Collins”, B.A. thesis, Williams College.
• Benes, Peter and Dublin Seminar for New England Folklife, 1977, Puritan Gravestone Art, Dublin, New Hampshire: Boston University and the Dublin Seminar.
• Hosley, W.N., 1985, The Great River: Art & Society of the Connecticut Valley, 1635-1820, Hartford, Connecticut: Wadsworth Atheneum.
• Slater, James A., 1987, The Colonial Burying Grounds of Connecticut and the Men Who Made Them, Hamden, Connecticut: Archon Books.
• Ludwig, Allan I., 1999, Graven Images. New England Stonecarving and Its Symbols, 1650–1815, Wesleyan University Press.

External links

• Bennington Centre Cemetery, Vermont
• Youtube video of Zerubbabel Collins' gravestones in Salem, New York
• Youtube video of Zerubbabel Collins' gravestones in Shaftsbury, Vermont

Notes and References

1. Web site: William E. Harding Collection, 1972-2003. Archivegrid. 24 October 2023.
2. Web site: Collins Family Carvers. Connecticut Gravestone Network. 24 October 2023.
3. Web site: Shapleigh-Brown. Ruth. The Cemeteries of Hebron, Connecticut: Their Historic Monuments, Stone Carvers and Care. The Hebron Historic Properties Commission & The Hebron Historical Society . 24 October 2023.