Thursday, December 30, 2010

Gravestone of the Day: Lisley Pallmer

Lisley Pallmer, 1682/3, Granary Burying Ground, Boston, MA
HERE LYES BURIED
Ye BODY OF LISLEY
PALLMER AGED 33
YEARS DEPARTED
THIS LIFE FEBRUARY
Ye 12
1682/3

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Gravestone of the Day: Lydia Meriam

Lydia Meriam, 1690, Lexington, MA
 LYDIA
MERIAM AGED
32 YEARS DIED
DECEMBER 29
1690

It is somewhat unusual to see an epitaph with so little supporting text.

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Gravestone of the Day: Anne Whipple

Anne Whipple, 1720, Newport Common Burying Ground, Newport, RI
Here lyeth Interred
the Body of Anne
the Wife of Ioseph
Whipple, who dyed
Decembr: ye: 28th:
1720: Aged about
25 years.

Friday, December 24, 2010

Gravestone of the Day: Frankey and Judey

Frankey and Judey, 1732, NCBG, Newport, RI

Here lieth two
Negro Sarvants
to Mr Edward Baner
Frankey died Sepr:
ye 14th 1732 & Judey
died ye [22?]

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Gravestone of the Day: Samuel Mumford

Samuel Mumford, 1769, NCBG, Newport, RI

In Memory of Mr. Samuel
Mumford, son of Mr Benjamin &
Mrs. Ann, who died July 16th, 1769,
in ye 46th year of his Age.
Who, equal, steady, sirene, in temper liberal,
hospitable, social, humane, in Deportment,
first in friendship; catholic & benevolent
in principle, patient and persevering in
every duty; who liv,d the man
and died the Christian __
With sighs, his friends recall him but in vain,
when no pretence, a longer stay could gain;
Farewell, they cry dear charming friend; with thee
- - - - - - - -

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Gravestone of the Day: Nathaniel Appleton

Nathaniel Appleton, 1726, Cambridge, MA
Here Lyes ye Body of
Nathaniel Appleton
onely Son of ye Revernd.
Mr. Nathaniel Appleton
& Ms. Margaret His Wife
Who Suddenly Departed
this Life Decembr. 1st Anno
Dom: 1726. Aged 21 Mo

Nathaniel's brother, Jose, is buried nearby.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Gravestone of the Day: Eunice Tullock

Eunice Tullock, 1807, North Cemetery, Portsmouth, NH
FUGIT HORA, MEMENTO MORI.
Sacred
to the memory of
MRS. EUNICE TULLOCK
the late belovid Consort of Capt.
WILLIAM TULLOCK
5th. daughter of the late Mr. James
Tuttell, who after enduring a painful
and rapid decline, with Christian
patience fortitude, and resignation.
departed this life in the well grounded
hope of a better, Feby. 4th. 1807.
AEt. 27.
Favour is deceitful and beauty is
vain; but a woman that feareth
the Lord, she shall be praised

Eunice Tuttle Tullock?

Monday, December 20, 2010

Gravestone of the Day: Daniel Whitcomb

Daniel Whitcomb, 1746, Stow, MA

HERE LIES BURIED
Ye BODY OF DANIEL
WHITCOMB SON OF
CORNEl EPHRAIM &
MRS PARTHAIANS
WHITCOMB WHO
DECd SEPTMbr 13th
AD 1746
AGE 1 YEAR
2 M & 2 DS

"Parthaians" is Parthias Wheeler, who married Ephraim Whitcomb in 1731. Her name is also recorded as "Parthiana," but she may well have been named Parthians, as the stone suggests. Any guesses as to why an 18th-century New Englander is named after an ancient kingdom in Iran are welcome. The Parthians are mentioned once in the Bible (Acts 2:9), but the story is about Pentecost, and it is clear that "Parthians" are people from Parthia – it isn't a given name. Is there another Parthia/Parthias/Parthiana in classical literature?

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Gravestone of the Day: Abraham Fits

Abraham Fits, 1714, Ipswich, MA
HERE LIES Ye BODY
OF Mr ABRAHAM
FITS WHO DIED
AUGUST
Ye 18
1714 AGED
59 YEARS

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Gravestone of the Day: James Smith

James Smith, 1678, Phipps Street, Charlestown, MA

HERE LIES Ye BODY OF IAMES
SMITH AGED 28 YEARS DECEASED
SEPTEMBER Ye 18 1678

Friday, December 17, 2010

Prepare to Waste the Rest of Your Day


This nifty little tool lets you graph the frequency of a word or phrase in GoogleBooks over time.

More from Jezebel.

Gravestone of the Day: Katharine Chauncy

Katharine Chauncy, 1667, Cambridge, MA
MRS
KATHARINE CHAUNCY
AGED LXVI DYED IAN XXIII
ANo: DOM MDCLXVII

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Gravestone of the Day: Thomas Burroughs

Thomas Burroughs, NCBG, Newport, RI
Here lies ye bodye of
Thomas Burroughs
Who died deceer ye 16th
1722 aged 37 years
& 5 months

Note the thorn used as a y.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Gravestone of the Day: Peace Cazneau

Peace Cazneau, 1767, Granary Burying Ground, Boston, MA

Here lies buried
the Body of
Mr. PEACE CAZNEAU
who departed this
Life March 23
1767

Peace Cazneau was either a felt maker or a tavern keeper or both. He came from a family of Huguenots and is sometimes listed in the records as Paix Cazneau.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Gravestone of the Day: Orinda Carpenter Hyde

Orinda Carpenter, 1812, East Bridgewater, MA

In Memory of 
ORINDA CARPENTER
Daught. of
Mr. Ephraim &
Mrs. Mary Hyde,
died Dec. 14, 1812;
Aged 7 Years
& 5 Months.

Orinda Carpenter Hyde was named for her maternal grandmother, Orinda (Carpenter) Dresser (b. 1738). Though little Orinda's mother bore the prosaic name of Mary, Orinda the elder had an ecclectic naming style – English, German, biblical, classical/literary, and puritan virtues. Her children were:
  • Elfreda (b. 1759)
  • Huldah (b. 1761)
  • Serena (b. 1764)
  • Esther (b. 1766)
  • Thomas (b. 1767)
  • Nathan (b. 1769)
  • Mary (b. 1772)
  • Abel (b. 1775)
  • Comfort Carpenter (b. 1777) named for Orinda's father, Capt. Comfort Carpenter
  • Sally (b. 1779)
  • Jonathan (1782)

Orinda was the pseudonym of the 17th-century English poet Katharine Phillips. I do not know why an 18th-century New England family decided to name their daughter after a high-society, Anglican, pastoral poet whose work is best known for its celebration of passionate female friendships. Classical names were all the rage in 1800, but not so common in the 1730s.

Monday, December 13, 2010

Gravestone of the Day: Elizabeth Haiden

Elizabeth Haiden, 1680, Phipps Street, Charlestown, MA

[HERE] LIES Ye BODY
[OF] ELIZABETH HAIDEN
AGED ABOUT 76 YRS
DECD OCtOBER 31
1680

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Colonial American Names That Would Cause Trouble for a 21st-Century Child

Freelove

Mehitable

Dorcas

Gravestone of the Day: Peter Hart & Jubaafford Greenhill-Hart

Peter Hart & Jubaafford Greenhill-Hart, 1763 & 1755, NCBG, Newport, RI

In Memory of
Peter Son of
Michael &
Jane Hart
died Novr ye
5th 176[3] in ye
[10?]th Year of
his Age

In Memory
of Jubaafford
Daughter of 
Harford Green
hill & Jane
Hart died Janr

Peter and Jubaafford were the children of Jane Hart, a slave in Newport, Rhode Island. I don't know for sure which Newport slaveowner owned Jane and her children, but he/she was probably a member of the extensive Hart family, one of the largest and oldest Jewish merchant families in Newport.

The name that caught my eye here was Jubaafford. Google reveals no other Jubaaffords, Jubaffords, Jubaafords, or Jubafords whose records have made it to the internet. Juba is a tricky word to pin down; it is variously a term associated with African-American music, dance, and performers, a name for leftover food, and the Akan name for girls born on Mondays.

It is probably impossible to know for certain how Jubaafford Greenhill-Hart came by her name, but I will venture a tentative speculation. If her father's name was Harford, it seems possible that Jubaafford may be a compound name: Juba + Harford = Jubaafford. Venturing even further out onto the overreaching tendrils of conjecture, it is possible that Jane could have been the slaveowner-given name of an African-born woman named Juba, in much the way that Phibba was often mangled into Phoebe. Even if Jane Hart was named Jane at birth, any name containing "Juba" would be read as a link to West African cultural continuity in a city where many of the most prominent slaves (Newport Gardner/Occramar Mirycoo, Jack Mason/Salmar Nubia) were African-born. To me, Jubaafford seems like a name that is meant to do a lot of work by linking a child to West African language and culture, as well as preserving a link to a paternal name even when slavery prevented the establishment of legally-recognized families and surnames.

Thoughts? Other explanations?

*According to the Rhode Island Historical Cemeteries Transcription Project, Jubaafford was born around 1749 and died in 1755.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Gravestone of the Day: Elizabeth Reed

Elizabeth Reed, 1803, Phipps Street, Charlestown, MA
 Sacred to the Memory
of Elizabeth Reed
Daut of Mr JOSEPH
& Miss ELIZABETH REED
died Septr 1st 1803

I love this tree. These carvings are usually so rigid, but this one has a sense of movement. It truly looks like the tree is mourning. The Farber Collection attributes a similar stone dedicated to another Reed daughter to the Lamson shop, though it does not differentiate between the work of Joseph, Caleb, and David Lamson.  Other carvings may be more precise, but this one is special.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Gravestone of the Day: Samuel Epes

Samuel Epes, 1760, Cambridge, MA
I am too lazy to transcribe this myself. Here is the William Thaddeus Harris' transcription:

Samuel Epes was a promising young lawyer and politician who died of consumption in 1760. His mother married Harvard President Edward Holyoke after the death of Samuel's father in 1741, when Samuel was eight years old. Holyoke considered Samuel a son — his diary contains entries such as "August 20 [1746] Sons John Holyoke and Samuel Epes first attended school in Boston."

I have not been able to find a translation online. My high school Latin is rusty, but this also looks like another way to say died: "Animam sjus in Jesu sinum expiravit." That must be something along the lines of "His soul expired in Jesus." Sinus means a curve or fold, so maybe something like Jesus' embrace? Does maceratus mean "to chew"? Tabesco means "to waste away," which makes sense because he died of consumption, but "to chew" seems a little graphic.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Gravestone of the Day: Elizabeth Lathrup

Elizabeth Lathrup, 1730, Norwich, CT
HERE LIES Ye BODY
OF MRS ELIZABETH
LATHRUP LATE WIFe
TO MR JABEZ LA-
THRUP WHO DIED
APRIL Ye 14 1730
AGED 79 YEARS 6
MONTHS & 9 DAYS

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Gravestone of the Day: Anna Holyoke Cutts

Anna Holyoke Cutts, 1788, North Cemetery, Portsmouth, NH

Here lies (mix'd with the clods of the
valley) the Dust of Anna Holyoke Cutts
2d: daughr: of Samuel Cutts Esqr:
she cherfully resin'd her Soul to God
who gave it 28th of Augst: 1788. AE 20
With Life contented as in death resin'd
To sea's congenial flow the unspoiled mind;
Attending Angels hail'd her to that shore
Where Times dull [winter?]

Does this count as another way to say died? Number 60 is "Resigned His Soul to God" — do you think that "cherfully resin'd her Soul to God who gave it" is substantially different? I usually have no trouble booting a gravestone from 101 Ways to Say Died when I find a more interesting version of the phrase, but #60 is the gravestone of Yarrow, which is one of the few gravestones of African Americans in the series.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Gravestone of the Day: Munings Sawin

Munings Sawin, 1722, Watertown, MA

Here Lyes ye Body
of Mr MUNINGS
SAWIN; Who
Decd Novembr ye
28th, 1722 in ye 68th
Year of His Age

Munnings Sawin, town clerk and treasurer of Watertown, was named for his mother's family.

Monday, December 6, 2010

Gravestone of the Day: Hannah Dodge

Hannah Dodge, 1773, Ipswich, MA
HERE lies Buried the
Body of Mrs.. HANNAH
DODGE, second amiable
Consort of CAPT: THOMAS
DODGE & 2d: Daugtr.. of Mr:
DANIEL STANIFORD; She de–
parted this Life Janr: 29th..
1773: In the 27th.. year
of her age.
Unblam'd through life lamanted in her end
A pleasant daughter, sister, wife, & friend.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Gravestone of the Day: Zibeah Sweat

Zibeah Sweat, 1791, Wellfleet, MA
In Memory of
Miss Zibeah Sweat,
who Died
June 27th 1791. in
the 28th Year of her
Age.

Another obscure name from the Bible — Zibiah was the mother of King Joash. Zibeah Sweat's mother, Zibah, is buried nearby. The divergent spellings make me wonder how the family pronounced this name.

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Caitlin and Mark, 14 July 2007

Gravestone of the Day: William Warland

William Warland, 1708, Cambridge, MA

WILLIAM
WARLAND SON
OF WILLIAM
& TABITHA
WARLAND WAS
BORN OCTOBR Ye
3RD 1706 & DIED
AUGUST 23RD
1708 AGED 1 YEAR 10
MO & 17 DAYES

This is not the first stone I have found that has the year added in as an afterthought. Since the year of death seems to be crucial information, I think that these stones might offer some clues about the time that elapsed between a death and the carving of a gravestone. I think that it would be easier to leave off the year if the stone were carved in the same year as the death — to the person who carved this stone, young William died in August, not August of 1708. I would venture that this thought is easiest to have between August of 1708 and the spring of 1709. It's not hard evidence, but it is suggestive.

Friday, December 3, 2010

Gravestone of the Day: John White

John White, 1690, Copp's Hill, Boston
HERE LYETH BURIED
Ye BODY OF
JOHN WHITE
AGED ABOUT 30 [edit: 50]
YEARS DECD Ye 6
OF AUGUST 1690

This stone has been vandalized to make it appear that the date is 1620, rather than 1690. If you look closely, you can see that the bottom line of the the 2 has been scratched in. Also, 1620 is an implausible date — there was no Boston, let alone a burying ground at Copp's Hill in 1620. No New England gravestone survives from the pre-1650 period, and I strongly suspect that some of the 1650s stones are backdated. I suppose someone could have erected a drastically backdated stone at Copp's Hill to honor an ancestor who had died in 1620, but that's more of a 19th-century thing, while this is clearly a 17th-century stone.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Gravestone of the Day: Thomas Webb

Thomas Webb, 1769, Granary Burying Ground, Boston, MA

Here lies deposited the Remains
of Mr. THOMAS WEBB
who Died Very suddenly much
lamented ye 8th July 1769
Aged 33 Years.
He was born in the City of
Glocester in England.
This Stone the Hand of Social friendship rears
Whose generous Griefs supply a Parents Tears
Could friendly wishes stay ye Transient Breath
A kind Companion had not tasted Death.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Happy Decmber!

Marcy Winsor, 1771, Providence, RI
 This message brought to you by Seth Luther.

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Gravestone of the Day: Asenath Tinkham

Asenath Tinkham, Nemasket Hill Cemetery, Middleboro, MA, 1806

Miss Asenath Daughter
of Mr James
Tinkham and Mrs
Chloe his wife
Died the 12 of April
1806 aged 22 years
and 11 Months

Another Asenath.

Monday, November 29, 2010

Gravestone of the Day: William Tarbell

William Tarbell, Groton, MA, 1757

Here Lies Ye Body of
Leut William Tarbell Who
Departed This Life Desmbr Ye
26th AD 1757 in Ye 69th Year
of His Age
Here lies intomb'd in this grave here
A Husband kind, a parent dear
A Neighbor good, the poor man's friend
Whom death hath brought unto his end.

It looks like the "AD" was added in after the rest of the line was finished.

Also, this is one of the more pathetic original verses I've seen.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Gravestone of the Day: Sarah Lamson

Sarah Lamson, Granary Burying Ground, Boston, MA

SARAH DAUR
OF EBENEZAR &
SARAH LAMSON
AGED 5 MO
& 23 D
DIED SEPT ye

This stone looks like it was carved by the same carver who made the "She that lies here needs no vercifying" gravestone in Malden.

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Gravestone of the Day: William Waters

William Waters, 1691, Copp's Hill, Boston
HERE LYETH BURIED
Ye BODY OF
WILLIAM WATERS
Ye SON OF 
SAMSON & REBECCA
WATERS AGED 21
YEARS 3. MO. & 12 DS
DECD JUNE Ye 15
1691

Friday, November 26, 2010

Gravestone of the Day: Mary Soule

Mary Soule, Nemasket Hill Cemetery, Middleboro, MA, 1777

In Memory of Mrs
Mary Soule
Widow of Mr.
Zachariah Soule
of plymton who
Decd May ye 14th
1777 in ye 74th year
of her Age

This stone looks like  it was carved by a member of the Soule family. I'm not sure how Zachariah and Mary were related to the carvers, but it doesn't seem presumptuous to assume that there was some connection.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Gravestone of the Day: Katherine and Shem Drowne

Katherine and Shem Drowne, 1774, Copp's Hill, Boston, MA

HERE LIES BURIED
THE BODY OF
Mrs. KATHERINE DROWNE
WIFE TO
DEACON SHEM DROWNE
DAUGHTER OF THE LATE
TIMOTHY CLARKE ESQr.
& SARAH HIS WIFE
WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE
APRIL 21st, 1754.
AGED 67 YEARS & 4 DAYS

The REMAINS
of
Deacon SHEM DROWNE
who departed this Life
JANUARY 13th:
1774.
AGED 90 YEARS
1 month & 9 days.
For if we beleive [sic] that JESUS
died & Rose again even so
them also who Sleep in Jesus,
will GOD bring with him.

I don't know why the carver decided to go with all caps on the left and a mix of upper and lower cases on the right. Since 20 years elapsed between the deaths of Katherine and Shem, it seems possible that the two sections of this stone may have been carved at different times.

Shem Drowne was a coppersmith/tinsmith in 18th-century Boston. He is best known for making the grasshopper weathervane for Faneuil Hall (1742). He made other weathervanes, too: the Indian Archer for the Province House (1716), a rooster for the First Church of Cambridge (1721), and the swallowtail banner for Old North Church (1740).

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Gravestone of the Day: Dyer Family

Dyer Family, 1786-1837, Plymouth, MA
Cap. CHARLES DYER,
died at Sea, March
1786; aged 46 yr.s.
BETHIAH, his wife
died June 8, 1837;
aged 87 yr.s.
Their son CHARLES,
died May 7, 1822:
aged 46 yr.s.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Happy Birthday, Brighid!

Mom, Biddie, and Wheeler, 1996, Gettysburg, PA

Gravestone of the Day: Susanna Quailes

Susanna Quailes, Groton, MA, 1775
Memento mori
Here lies ye Body
of Mrs: Susanna
Quailes wife of
Mr: Charles Quailes
who departed this
life Augt: 28th: 1775.
Aged 25 years, 9
mons: & 25 days.

Sign:
SUSANNA QUAILS
ONE OF COMPANY OF WOMEN
WHO CAPTURED A TORY
CARRYING DISPATCHES TO
BRITISH ARMY AT BOSTON

According to the Samuel Abbott Green transcription of Groton gravestones, local legend claimed that Susanna Quailes was one of the women who arrested Capt. Leonard Whiting in 1775. J.L. Bell of Boston 1775 wrote a series of posts about this alleged incident in August.

For no particular reason,
the Quails house:

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Gravestone of the Day: John and Mary Pitman

John and Mary Pitman, 1711, NCBG, Newport, RI
Here lyeth
the Body of
John Pitman,
WHo dyed
Novemr: ye 21st:
1711: Aged 48 Years.

Here lyeth
the Body of
Mary ye Wife
of John Pitman
Dyed Decembr:
the 1st: 1711
Aged 45 Years

This is a lovely stone in wonderful condition. I wonder why John Stevens decided to use "ye" in "Novemr: ye 21st," but use "the" in "Decembr: the 1st."

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Gravestone of the Day: Elisabeth and James M[c]hard

Elisabeth and James McHard, 1736, Haverhill, MA

HERE LYES BURIED
the BODY OF
ELISABEth DAUGh
tER OF MR JAMES
& MARGEt
MttHARD WHO
DIED IULY Y 31
1736 & IN the 14
MONth OF HER AGE


JAMES the SON
OF MR IAMES &
MARGEt MttHARD
WHO DIED IULY
[the 31] 1736
IN the FEFH [fifth?] YEAR
OF HIS AGE

I don't know what letters those are supposed to be in the surname. Two lowercase ts? Does anyone know if this is an obsolete way of writing the "Mc" prefix?

The vital records of Haverhill transcribe this name as McHard or Mackhard:
As you can see from these records, the Mackhard family lost four children within two weeks in July of 1736. The others, John and Whitely, are buried near Elisabeth and James, but I don't have a very good photo of their gravestones:

Friday, November 19, 2010

Close, But Not Quite

This week, Andrew Sullivan published a 19th-century photo (c. 1870s) submitted by a reader who claimed that it depicts "a would-be transsexual." The person in question (far left) has not been positively identified, but he/she has short hair and the photo is labeled, "Howard."


Another reader wrote in to make the eminently reasonable point that we should not jump to conclusions when we view historical materials with 21st-century eyes:
Sometimes viewing things through a 21st century lens can be very misleading. I think there is a pretty good chance this young man is just a late bloomer and not a transsexual.  Most noticeably, he does not appear to be making any attempt to actually look like a girl.  He's just in a dress.  Of course I may be wrong, as I'm not an expert on the history of the practice of breeching, but I remember seeing pictures of my grandfather in a dress when he was at least five or six and nobody assumed he was a transsexual.
Close, but not quite.

First, dresses were for children — boys were breeched when they were kindergarten age. The person in the photo is an adolescent, not a child. Victorian boys sometimes wore military-style tunics over blousy pants until age 10 or 12, but this person is wearing an adolescent girl's dress.

Second, the reader is wrong when he/she says that there is no "attempt to actually look like a girl." As we've seen before, hair parted in the center is a strong indicator that the subject is female. The other adolescent in this picture has a more cutting-edge hairstyle: bangs. The prop, a parasol, is also a strong signifier of femininity.

The second reader makes a good point about the conclusions drawn by the first, but his/her supporting evidence falls short. Still, I am inclined to be skeptical about the possibility that the photo depicts a young boy. The original poster just makes too many assumptions. For instance, the person on the left looks like a boy to us because he/she has short hair. Yet, Victorian girls sometimes sported brutally short haircuts, particularly when they were recovering from serious illnesses. When you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras.

Could this be a photo of a boy in a dress? Sure. But I wouldn't bet on it.

Gravestone of the Day: Elijah Doubelde

Elijah Doubelde, 1750, Granary Burying Ground, Boston, MA

Here lyes Buried
the Body of Mr.
ELIJAH DOUBELDE;
Who Departed this Life
July 2d, AD. 1750. in ye
45th Year of His Age

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Gravestone of the Day: John and Zebina Montague

John and Zebina Montague, 1803, Hadley, MA
In Memory of
Lt, JOHN MONTAGUE.
who died
14th, June 1803.
Aged 753 Years.
Also ZEBINA his
son was Born
18th, Novr, 1786
& died Aged 10 mon-
ths.

Here's another example of a father and child buried together.

Zebina is really scraping the bottom of the Biblical names barrel. He is only mentioned once (Ezra 10:43) — he is one of the many, many Israelites who took a foreign wife in Babylon.

See also Noadiah. Apparently, the citizens of Hadley had a thing for obscure names.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Gravestone of the Day: Joseph Vaughan

Joseph Vaughan, Nemasket Hill Cemetery, Middleboro, MA, 1734

HERE LYES BURIED
THE BODY OF CAPt
JOSEPH VAUGHAN
WHO DECEASED
MARCH Ye 2D
1733/4 IN
Ye 81ST YEAR
OF HIS AGE
JOB Ye 14 CHAP
& Ye 10th 11th & 12th VS

For those of you who do not have the Book of Job memorized, the relevant verses are:

10: But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?

11: As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up:

12: So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Gravestone of the Day: Ruth Heaton

Ruth Heaton, 1781, Sheldonville, MA
In memory
of Mrs. Ruth,
wife of Mr.
Isaac Heaton;
who died
March ye 26th,
1781. in
ye 61st year of
her age.