Poememoriam

Anna "Annie" Margaret Snyder Eisler, born January 1849 in Germany (according to the 1900 US Census), widow of Isadore Eisler (according to city directories), mother of eight children including Libbie (b. abt 1871), Mary (b. abt 1874), Margaret (b. abt 1876), John (b. abt 1883), Julia (b. abt 1885-October 6, 1924) (according to the 1892 NY Census).

The granddaughter of A.M. Eisler, the daughter of Julia Eisler Rowe, published at least a few poems in memory of her mother and grandmother; her siblings Lorraine, Winifred, and Mildred did as well. Like verse on headstones, they largely seem to be old standards, e.g.

"EISLER—In loving memory of my dear grandmother, Mrs. Anna Margaret Eisler, who passed away Dec. 17, 1927:

"A precious one from me has gone,

"A voice I loved is stilled;

"A place is vacant in my heart

"Which never can be filled.

"GRANDDAUGHTER MARGUERITE ROWE YAVONDITTE."

"In Memoriam." Knickerbocker News. December 17, 1945: B9.

That poem can be found, for example, included in a 1909 periodical; I'd guess it's even older than that. "American Death Poetry," as Beverly A. Bleicher called it in her 1990 University of Michigan-Flint Master's thesis.

"A loved one from me has gone,

        "A voice I loved is stilled;

"A place is vacant in my home,

        "Which never can be refilled."

"In Memory." The Railroad Telegrapher 26(11). November 1909. 1807. http://books.google.com/books?id=6_Y0AQAAIAAJ&pg=PA1807.