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:

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