 |
| Timothy Carpantar & Daberah Iovning, 1749, Providence, RI |
In Mamory of mr
Timothy Carpantar
Decd August ye 2th 1749
Aged 57 Year
&
Daberah Waif of Mr
Timothy Iovning
This is a strange one. Assuming that "Waif" is supposed to be "Wife" and "Iovning" is a last name, this gravestone commemorates two adults whose relationship is not immediately apparent.
I've seen some double stones dedicated to unrelated adults, but there is usually a story there. Teenagers Paul Harrington and John Ball drowned together in 1771. Richard Fisher, John Jacobs, and William Wright died together in a similar accident in 1826.
I'm not quite sure what relationship might exist between Timothy and Daberah/Deborah. My initial thought was that they might be siblings. Timothy was born in 1680 in Pawtucket to Timothy Carpenter and Hannah Burton, but there doesn't seem to be a Deborah among his siblings.
My other thought was that "Iovning" might not be a last name. This carver wasn't the most experienced gravestone cutter around — note how he scratches "mr" into an empty space and messes up the date (2th) — so it is possible that this could be the misplaced word "loving," as in "Deborah, his loving wife." I haven't been able to find anyone in Rhode Island with a name that looks like Iovning/Jovning/Iouning/Jouning — perhaps "Young"? or "Jovin"? I don't know, and it's really tough when there's no death date.
All theories welcome.
3 comments:
Given the illiterate quality of the rest of the inscription, I'd go with the theory that it's a misspelled and misplaced "loving". It makes sense in the face of the mess the carver made of this in general.
I just received an email from Charlie Bahne, who is having some trouble commenting. Here is his comment:
"
The gist of my comment is that you found a Timothy Carpenter born in Pawtucket in 1680. That gentleman would have been about 69 years old in 1749, not the 57 years of age that the gravestone cites.
I do enjoy your blog and I don't mean that as a criticism, just that you may have found a different Timothy than the gravestone refers to -- or else the gravestone carver was as bad with his math as he was with his spelling!"
Are we sure it wasn't his waif? A child he was guardian of?
Post a Comment