Thursday, July 8, 2010

Gravestone of the Day: Baby Whitman

Baby Whitman, 1794, East Bridgewater, MA
In memory of
the son of
Mr. Jepthah Whitman
& Mrs. Betsey his wife,
who died Oct. 24 1794
aged 14 days

This one caught my eye because it implies that a 2-week-old child went unnamed. I am not surprised to find that stillborn or day-old babies often went unnamed, but two weeks seems like an awfully long time to me. Other gravestones indicate that 2-week-old infants were generally named.

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