The grave of William G. Bruce and its eternal silent guardian (5 photos)

The grave of a man killed in a hunt is forever guarded by a granite statue of a hound.





In an old cemetery in the small town of Mont Vernon, New Hampshire, there is a granite guard dog, eternally guarding and grieving for his master, who left this earth too soon.



Mont Vernon

William G. Bruce's tombstone contains a brief history of his tragic end. He was "shot accidentally while hunting" on October 27, 1883.

The Daland Memorial Library in downtown Mont Vernon, a stone's throw from Greenlawn Cemetery, houses a book published by the Mont Vernon Historical Society called "Here They Once Lived: The Graves and Monuments of Mont Vernon." It contains one full chapter on the history of William G. Bruce's tombstones.





William G. Bruce's family had deep roots in Mont Vernon, and Bruce was a respected figure in the town, serving in the New Hampshire State Legislature and as a city councilman for several terms. He was an avid hunter and was badly wounded while hunting in 1883.

He died the same day. William Bruce was hardworking and thrifty, and left his wife a substantial sum of money. Augusta Bruce used some of her inherited wealth to commission renowned Peter Brennan of Peterborough, New Hampshire, to create a fitting memorial for her late husband.



In the book "Here Once Lived," in the chapter "Stone Guardian of a Hunter's Grave," a facsimile of a ledger page shows that Mrs. Bruce paid $35 each for two headstones for herself and her husband, and $145 for a granite dog that has served as his eternal guardian since the late 1800s, keeping watch over his master in the afterlife.