Antiquarian tomb
From Beyond, The Shunned House and other stories featured the name of Tillinghast. Here is fragments of The Diary of Capt. Samuel Tillinghast of Warwick, Rhode Island, 1757-1766
Imagine Lovecraft reading these antiquarian notes:
Samuel Tillinghast, a retired sea captain, lived in the Apponaug neighborhood of Warwick, but he was intimately connected by genealogy and geography with all parts of Rhode Island. He noted the deaths of hundreds of people during the ten years of his diary, often mentioning relatives, burial places, and the text of the sermon preached at the funeral. Samuel Tillinghast carefully recorded the circumstances of their deaths: Mary (Greene) Clapp who died with her garters around her neck, the ferryman Nathaniel Hill who drowned off Long Point, old Granny Olney who fell off a lime cart and was run over, the Indian John Absalom, Jr., who was hanged for murder at Providence, and many, many more. The author (has attempted to identify as many of the individuals as possible, with suggestions for further paths of research and an evaluation of conflicts in existing sources. He kept faithful records of the weather and visits from family and friends. These friends included the teenage Nathanael Greene, who was the half-brother of his son-in-law Benjamin Greene. In addition, Tillinghast recorded each day’s chores, civic duties, travels, religious meetings, and news of the French and Indian War.
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