That Misleading Tombstone

A relative and his wife share a monument with three of their children. The husband died in the 1850s in his early thirties. The three children buried with them died during the same decade, but in different years. The wife’s name and year of birth and death are also inscribed on the stone.

On the surface one might conclude that she never married again. That’s not true in this case. She married two more times, surviving those husbands as well. Initially I had tried to find a death record, obituary, and other end-of-life records based on the surname she had on the tombstone. I also had difficulty locating her in census records as well. There she was “hiding” in census and other records under the last names of her two subsequent husbands.

Likely because she had no children with those husbands, she was probably buried buried with her first husband and three of their children. I say probably because just because her name is on the stone does not necessarily mean she is buried there.

The death certificate is on my to-do list.