Point of Graves contains some of the finest Colonial Era gravestones in northern New England. Portsmouth residents patronized Massachusetts gravestone carvers until the early 1800s, and work here includes that of Boston carvers William Mumford, a Quaker, Nathaniel Emmes, John Homer, and the carver known only by his initials "JN," possibly the silversmith John Noyes, as well as brothers Caleb and Nathaniel Lamson and possibly their father and mentor Joseph of Charlestown, James Foster of Dorchester, and John Hartshorne and Joseph Mullicken of Haverhill. Among the notable burials is William Button, who died in 1693 after falling overboard from his ship the Lyon in Portsmouth harbor; one of New Hampshire's wealthiest men, he is memorialized by an elaborate stone crafted by "JN." Alice Ayers, who died in 1718, received a striking stone by James Foster, whose trademarks include the light-bulb shape of the skull and the winged hourglass. Elisha Briard, also dead in 1718, made blocks for ships' rigging and coffins; his unusual stone by John Hartshorne, with design motifs that are hallmarks of this early American folk artist, marked a radical departure from Puritan-influenced Boston carving and represents the start of the Merrimac Valley style. Little is known about Joseph Small, who died in 1720, but his stone is an early work of Caleb Lamson, whose initials appear below the jaw of the death's-head; signed stones are rare, and six other signed stones by Caleb remain here, while only five others by him are known in Massachusetts or Connecticut. Obadiah Marshall, a blockmaker who died in 1746, is marked by a "pumpkin" stone, named for the oval shape of the angel's head, carved in the unique style of Joseph Mullicken. Francis Messer, a Portsmouth carpenter who died in 1692, has a stone carved by William Mumford that is unusual in Portsmouth for its Latin inscription "Memento Mori," meaning "Remember Death," though such wording is common in Boston. Captain Tobias Lear, a Portsmouth mariner who died in 1781 and whose home on Hunking Street is now a historic site, is remembered by a John Homer gravestone displaying the realistic skull and crossbones for which the carver is best known; his son Tobias Jr. later served as President George Washington's private secretary.
