F. W. Chesson File: LITTLEYE.HTM
144 Fiske Street, New: Feb., 1996
Waterbury, CT 06710 Rev: 5-20-2002
LITTLE YANKEES IN ETERNITY
Colonial families were large by today's standards, a "baker's dozen"
children not considered exceptional. Yet, the production of new souls often
failed to keep up with Death's grim attrition. Natural and sometimes induced
abortions, still-births, neo-natal complications and seasonal epidemics all
contributed to the toll of infant mortality and subsequent little markers.
Hartford, Conn.
Old Gold Street Cemetery
Mary Skinner, 1772.
"With ten of her children by her side, whom all died soon after
they were born...."
Maternal deaths from pregnancy and labor complications, plus rampant
post-partum infections, often saw combined mother and child burials, as
the following epitaphs grimly testify....
Sommers, Conn.
Salla Newcomb Barns & Infant
Died in Child-Bed Oct. 31, 1786. AE 19
"Remember friends the solomn hour,
I was a mother and a tomb.
In dreadful pains a corpse I bore,
And soon a corpse myself became.
Here blooming cheeks, here sparkling eyes,
Here every comely virtue lies,
Defaced by death. My friends come see,
Your looks, for soon you'll look like me."
Hartford, Conn.
Ancient Burying Ground
(Old Gold Street Cemetery)
Mrs. Lovice Seymour and infant Maria Anna, July 31, 1798.
"May their flesh slumber in the ground,
Till the Last Trumpet's joyful sound.
Then burst the grave with sweet surprise,
And in their Saviour's image rise."
Roxbury, Conn.
Center Cemetery
"In memory of Mrs. Polly Sandford, wife of Mr. Ira Sanford, who died
December 12th, 1797 in the 21st Year of her Age. Also Polly, their
daughter, who died December 25th, AD 1779, aged 25 Days."
"Sleep quiet here my Friend,
Death can't us long divide.
A few more rolling suns,
Will lay me by your side."
Woodbury, Conn.
Old North Cemetery
Emma J. Tuttle, W/O E. H. Munson. D July 6, 1870, AE 24.
Also Little Emma and Martha.
"In Life's brightest hour, they left us to mourn..."
Stone has inset circle with high-relief angel in flight holding babe(s).
Southbury, Conn.
Harriet Robertson Wheeler
Feb. 12, 1857, AE 31.
"Sleep sweetly on, dear Wife and lovely Babe.
The orphans home on Heaven shall last,
Unmarred by care, unmoved by pain,
With countless joys, for sorrows past."
Longmeadow, Mass.
Mrs. Naomi Woolworth and infant Joseph, August 22, 1760
"In Memory of Mrs. Naomi; Wife of Richard Woolworth, who died
Aug. 22nd, aged 39 years; also Joseph, their Son, died the same
day, aged 6 days."
"Darkness and Death make haste at once to hide me in the Grave."
Milford, New Hampshire
Mrs. Lydia Stanford & Infant, 1796
"Sacred to the Memory of Mrs. Lydia Sanford, the amiable consort
of Mr. Daniel Stanford of Boston, youngest daughter of John
Shepard of Amherst, who died June 1st 1796 aged 25 years and her
innocent babe.
"Here the fair youth who every promise gave,
Sheds her sweet blossoms on the silent grave.
True mutual love had softened every care,
When mournful Death divorced the happy pair.
Blest with mild temper and soul so even,
She seemed a copy of the saints in Heaven.
How loved she lived how much lamented fell,
None but her husband's sorrowing heart can tell.
And thou sweet babe, too innocent for Earth,
Gave HER immortal joys, who gave her birth.
Come ye virgins fair, your charms survey,
She was whatever your tender hearts could say.
For her sweet memory forever dear.
Let the green turf receive your trickling tear.
To this sad place your earliest garlands bring,
And deck her grave with firstlings of the Spring.
Let opening roses and drooping lilies tell,
Like those her virtues bloomed, alas like these she fell.
Round her ye Graces constant vigils keep
And guard fair innocence, her sacred sleep.
Till that bright morn shall wake the virtuous ....
To bloom and triumph in eternal day."
South Glastonbury, Conn.
Mrs. Mary (Kimberly) Smith & her Child
died Oct. 6th, 1751, Age 40.
The stone is especially interesting and poignant, as it has a small
arch to the right of the central one, with its own little winged face.
Southington, Conn.
Quinnipiac Cemetery
Very touching are the adjoining, nearly twin, brownstones, for the two
wives of Barnabas Power. Both died in childbirth, their infants soon after.
ABAGAIL. Died October 27, 1797.
"Hark! From the Tombs a Doleful Sound.
Mine Ear attend the Cry.
Ye living Men! Come view the Ground,
Where You must shortly lie."
ESTHER. Died September 20, 1802.
"Cold Death and Judgement is our lot,
Tho oft by mortals is forgot.
Pray view my pile as you pass by,
Consider all are born to die!"
Southington, Conn.
Oak Hill Cemetery
Gravestone with high relief Lily and Bud in circle for:
Julia, Wife of Martin W. Frisbee, Died Nov. 13, 1867, AE 28
Also,
Henry Austin, their Infant Son, Died Nov. 17.
Other maternal deaths are inferred where the deceased wife's age
is in the 18-24 range, suggesting mortality from first-time pregnancy
and/or birth complications.
Meriden, Conn.
Old Broad Street Cemetery
Ann Eliza, wife of Freeman R. Randall
Died April 7, 1857, AE 18 Yrs, 8 Mos.
"We have loved her, Oh how fondly.
We have laid her down to rest.
She has gone to dwell with angels,
In the mansions of the Blest...."
(rest sunk in the ground)
Norwich Town, Conn.
Mrs. Betsey Tracy, 1792. Age 19.
Headstone has a hand with palm, emerging from a cloud.
"To the memory of Mrs. Betsey Tracy, consort of Mr. Peleg Tracy
and daughter of Mr. Jesse Brown, who died March 19th, 1792,
aged 19 years & 8 Months."
Hamden, Conn.
Mt. Caramel Cemetery
Mrs. Chloe Hotchkiss,
Consort of Mr. Elias Hotchkiss,
Died July 27, 1707. AE 19
"The rose that flourished in the Morn,
And little knows its doom,
My Friend, is taken from my arms,
And hastened to the Tomb."
Berkshire, Conn.
Zoar Cemetery
Pollie A. Clark wife of John A. Nash
Died Feb 10, 1876, AE 22 Y, 10 Mos, 7 Days
"Thou hast passed the Shadowy Portal,
Thou hast borne the Mortal Strife.
Thou hast left this World of Sorrow,
For a World of Heavenly Life."
In East Morris, surviving children erected the following memorial
to a mother dead some forty-four yrars...
Mary Benton Barnard, Wife of Samuel Barnard
Mother of Chauncey & Benton
July 23, 1786. Age 23
"Sleep on, Dear Mother, take thy rest.
Thy age of twenty three was set,
When from friends thou wast removed.
Forty and three have since ellapsed.
And now thy son, thy infant babe,
For whom thy care so much was paid,
Sets forth his love afresh to thee,
By this a marble memory." (stone c 1830)
Pregnancy and birth for older mothers was also fraught wuth perils...
Old Cemetery
Sandy Hook, Conn.
Jane E. wife of Walter B. Welton
Died March 5, 1867. AE 41 Yrs, 10 Mos.
Also Little Jane, Her Infant
"Here The Weary Are At Rest."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
...Babes In Eternity...
Tiny stones, or total anomyity, was the fate of most Colonial Children
after death from myriad diseases, accidents, starvation and random violence.
Dorchester, Mass., North Yard
Unknown Children
"Abel his offering accepted is
His body to the grave, his soul to bliss.
On Octobers twenty and no more,
In the yeare Sixteen Hundred 44."
"Submitt submitted to her Heavenly King.
Being a flower of that eternal spring.
Near 3 yeares old, she dyed, in Heaven to wait.
The yeare was Sixteen Hundred 46."
While countless infants had anomyous graves, some were considered
precious enough to be afforded their own stones and epitaphs.
One of the youngest to be honored was six-day-old Charles Corwin, who
died on February 8, 1900. He was interred under a two-foot tall cast-zinc
"stone" made by the Monument Bronze Co. of Bridgeport, Conn. The reverse
panel contains a traditional Broken Rose Bud, symbol of a too-early death.
Miner Street Cemetery,
Westfield-Middletown, Conn.
Charles Corwin. Feb 2, 1900 + Feb 8, 1900.
"Happy Infant, Early Elect,
Rest in Peaceful Slumber, Rest."
North Cemetery, Somers, CT
Dughter of Walter and Lois Ainsworth
June 6, 1812, AE 14 days
"Received but yesterday the gift of Breath,
Ordered to-morrow to return to Death"
Infant deaths were still quite frequent in the later 19th Century, as
these inscriptions on Victorian Era cast-zinc monuments proclaim.
Plymouth, Conn.
West Cemetery
Children of Samuel and Sarah Jessup
George H. T. Died July 30, 1874, AE 6 Mo, 8 Days
Gertrude S. Died Feb 26, 1876, AE 7 Mo, 20 Days
"Sleep on, my sweet ones! Sleep!
So early to earth a child is lost,
to Heaven a cherub born.
Take them, O Father, in thine arms.
And may they henceforth be messengers of peace
between our human hearts and thee."
Prospect, Conn.
New Cemetery.
Taylor Family
Eva L. 10 days. Lewis B. 9 months. Artie R. 4.5 months.
"Fond parents do not weep for the little angles flown.
For He who said `of such is the Kingdom of Heaven,'
Will keep them for His Own."
Little Mary Ann Bragel's epitaph seems more suitable for an adult...
Waterbury, Conn.
Old St. Joseph's Cemetery
Mary Ann, daughter of George and Mary Bragel
Died March 19, 1860. AE 5 Weeks, 1 Day.
"Stand by my friends, wipe off your tears,
And I'll be here till Christ appears.
And when He comes, I hope to rise,
Unto that life which never dies."
Watertown, Conn.
Old Town Cemetery
Martha Jane
Daughter of Frederick and Hannah Freeman.
Died Mar 25, 1826, AE 3 Mo, 15 Days
"My parents, dear, weep not for me,
When in this yard my Grave you see.
My Time was short, and blest is He,
That called me to Eternity."
Watertown, Conn.
Old Town Cemetery
Orin, Son of David and Polly Bunnel.
Died Feb 10, 1798, AE 9 Mos.
"Here, moulded in the dust, an Infant Boy,
When living was his parents greatest Joy.
Death early snatched him from their fond embrace,
And sent him to Another Place."
Many infants succumbed to infectious diarrhea during summer months,
as perhaps did little Miriah Coomes.
Hartford, Conn.
Ancient (Gold Street) Burying Ground
Miriah Coomes, August 26, 1794. Aged 9 mos, 6 days
"Lie still, sweet babe, and take thy rest.
God plucks the Flowers when He thinks best."
Newburgh, New York
Elizabeth Williams, Nov. 9th, 1795. Aged 8 mos, 26 days
"Sleep on, sweet babe, and take thy rest,
Thou was early called, God thought it best."
Compare the following epitaphs, as to God's intervention in one's
fate at any age between cradle and grave....
Hamden, Conn.
Westwoods Cemetery
Milla Gaylord D. 1803, age 5.
"Sleep on, sweet babe and take thy rest,
God called thee home, He saw it best."
Delos Gaylord. Died 1814, age 3.
"Soon ripe, soon rotton.
Soon gone, but not forgotten."
New Hartford, Conn.
Town Hill Cemetery
Frederic McNary
Dec 23, 1813. AE 2 Yr, 3 Mos.
"An evening bud, a morning flower,
Cut down and withered in an hour."
Trinity Church Yard, New York City
Nicholas Elsworth, 2 Yrs & 8 Mos.
"Sleep, lovely Babe, and take thy rest,
In the Kingdom of Heaven, now you are Blest."
Woodbury, Conn.
Old North Cemetery
* Walter A., son of Frederick A. and Lottie A. Thomas
Died Sept 22, 1880
(first two lines indistinct, ends....)
"How much Light, how much Joy,
Is buried with a darling boy!"
Twin or multiple gravestones were a grim reality, their epitaphs
poignant and reflective of how Death's grim intervention in a growing
family was to be interpreted.
Naugatuck, Conn.
Old Wooster Cemetery
An indistinct stone for Harrold W (Wooster?) and another boy...
"No sin could blight or sorrow fade,
Death came with pitying care,
These infant buds to Heaven conveyed,
And bid them blossom there."
Portland, Conn.
Trinity Church Cemetery
Wide brownstone tablet for Willie, Samuel and Charlie Gleason. ND
"A short time here, The longer in heaven."
Portland, Maine
Evergreen Cemetery
Four children of Ebanezer and Mary Woodford, all died at less than
one year of age between 1808 and 1818.
"These lovely buds, so young and fair,
Called hence by earthly doom,
Just came to shew how sweet a flower,
In Paradise would bloom."
Norwich Town, Conn.
Manning Children
A curved-top stone with three winged infant faces.
"In Memory of ye three/ Children of Mr. Samuel/ Manning and Mrs. Anne/
his Wife. Namely,/ Ennis, who died june/ 9, 1750 aged 4 Year./ And
Anne died Sept. 24th 1753 age 2 year/ and Anne ye 2nd died Sept/
3rd, 1759 in ye 6th year/ of her age.
"Death is a Debt to nature due,
Which We have paid, and so must you."
The Frothingham Family of Charlestown had four sons named after
their father. Only Thomas No. Two lived more than eighteen months...
Charlestown, Mass.
Phipps Street Cemetery
Frothingham Children
A large, wide stone, having five lobes, each with a winged cherub.
"This Stone is in Memory of the Children of
Mr Thomas and Mrs Rebekah Frothingham.
ABIGAIL born Aug. 19th, 1771. Died Aug 23rd, 1772.
THOMAS born and died in March, 1773.
THOMAS born April 28th, 1774. Died July 14th, 1778.
THOMAS born Jan. 6th, 1780. Died Feb. 20th, 1781
THOMAS born Feb. 26th, 1782. Died Sept. 20th, 1783.
"Our life is ever on the wing, And Death is ever nigh.
The moment when our life begins, We all begin to die."
The Ames Family, of Morris, Connecticut, memorialized its deceased
children both in monumental art and verse, the gravestone portraying a
Weeping Willow with severed branches.
Phebe B. Aug 14, 1829, AE 3 Yrs.
Julia Ann. Dec 10, 1830, AE 1 Yr.
Orange B. July 1, 1842m AE 14 Yrs (the son)
"The top-most branch has dropt,
To show the mother gone.
Three tender limbs are lopt,
To show her daughters gone.
The others represent her sons,
One is dropt to represent one."
Multiple births were especially perilous, both for mother and infants.
East Haven, Conn.
Bradley Children
Uriel, 1788. Age 2.
and
Three sets of twins, 1788/89 & 1793/94.
"See Death remove the eldest son,
Just as the family is begun.
And three pair twins in so short space,
To quicken them to the Christian race.
Wolcott, Conn.
Edgewood Cemetery
Double stone for Children of Ira H. and Sarah J. Smith
William T. Caroline B.
Sept 15, 1851 Sept 25, 1850
2 Yrs, 10 Mos Two Months
"Oh, God, how could we give them up,
To any arms but Thine?"
Brunswick, Maine
Maquoit Cemetery
Double slate stone for Children of Hiughton & Margaret Rideout
EDWIN GEORGE
Died Died
Aug 16, 1849 Sept 29, 1849
AE 7 Mos AE 7 Mos.
"Heaven's little Angles...." rest eroded away.
Brookfield, Mass.
Twin-arched stone for children of Samuel and Sarah Ann Wittemore.
JULIE E. ANNA MARIA
Oct 9, 1863 August 1, 1864
1 Yr, 7 Mos 5 Yrs, 7 Mos
"Fare thee well thou fondly cherished
Dear, dear blossoms, fare thee well.
He who lent thee hath called thee
Back with Him and His to Dwell."
For some little Yankees, their epitaphs are their small stones
themselves. The carver of Irene Williams' stone in 1734 decorated it with
a simple, child-like doll's face, far more evocative than the leering
skulls of the adult world.
For some reason, he made the "I" of both daughter's and mother's
name in lower case, which seems to add to the poignancy of the early death.
Essex, Conn.
Irene Williams, 1734. Age 4.
"Here Lieth ye Body of irene, ye Daughter of Daniel & irene Williames,
died March 10, 1734 (in) her 4(th) year." 16,359
Antientest Cemetery, New London
John W. Gibbens, 1786. Age 4.
"My date on Earth was very short,
My verge of life soon o'er.
Being clothed in robes which Jesus wrought,
My Soul shall rest secure."
Fifty-seven years later, another four-year-old had quite a different
epitaph. Here, the Victorian Era displayed its excesses of taste with this
overly sentimental affectation in children's mortuary art at Avery-Morgan
Cemetery in Groton's Poquonanock district.
Mr. Harte's photo shows an upholstered child's armchair in stone, a
folded cloak draped over its one arm, indicating its small owner had just
put it down for a little bit. On the chair's stone foot-stool is carved:
"LITTLE WILLIE Died Aug 18, 1843. AE 4 Years."
The deceased was William Manierre, whose enduring claim to recognition
rests in this outstandingly mawkish memorial.
Victorian sentiment could also become almost cloyingly sentimental....
Wiscasset, Maine
Greenlawn Cemetery
Laura H.,
daughter of Lewis and Laurette Lowell
Died March 27, 1878
Aged 2 Yrs, 21 Days
"Our Pet"
"The little hand we used to hold
Is cold and pulseless now.
But God hath placed a Seraph's Crown,
Upon her spotless brow."
New Fairfield, Conn.
Gerow Cemetery
"Son of Thomas & Carrie Cullen, died Mar.3, 1896 age 4 yrs."
"A smile was on my babies (baby's)
face, the night he passed away.
The Angels helped him up to God,
and changed his night to day."
Thomas Cullen; Aug. 1, 1845 + Jan. 21, 1892 AE 46 yrs. 5 mos.
Carrie Satterlee Cullen; 1852 + 1931
Southington, Conn.
Quinnipiac Cemetery
"Children of Amos & Sarah Upson."
Shubely Upson. Died Aug 20, 1773 AE 6 Yrs.
Sarah Upson. Died Sept 13, 1773 AE 5 Yrs.
(Plague victims?)
and
Levi D. Upson. Died Aug 12, 1779 AE 3 Yrs.
Oliver Carter Son of Abel & Rhoda Carter.
Died May 12, 1790 In the 5th Yr of his Age.
"Few were his days, he quickly left the Stage,
And bade a long farewell all before...."
(rest illegible)
Hamden-Bethany
Westwoods Cemetery
Milla Gaylord. Died 1803, AE 5.
Sleep on Sweet Babe and take thy Rest,
God called thee home, he thought it best."
Delos Gaylord. Died 1814, AE 3.
"Soon Ripe, soon Rotten.
Soon gone, but not forgotten."
Epitaphs also reflected the changing attitudes towards death, as did
these mourning parents' feelings that God's actions were hard to fathom,
if not outright unjust....
The sentiment for little Lewis was grimly Old Testament in tone...
East Morris, Connecticut
Lewis W. Ensign. Feb 9, 1843. Age 7.
"It is the Lord Jehova's Hand, that blasts our joys in Death.
Changes the visage once so dear, and gathers back the breath."
Woodbury, Conn.
Old North Cemetery
Willie, son of William & Martha Fowle(r?). D Feb 7, 1862, AE 2 Mos.
"We mis Our Willie at home, we mis his loving smile.
For Jesus took our Darling, and we are left to Mourn."
Wiscasett, Maine
Greenlawn Cemetery
The fall of 1861 saw disease and death stalk this costal community,
taking the following children...
Gilman Page, Oct 2, 1861. AE 12 Yrs, 6 Mos.
"Farewell my own sweet boy, farewell.
Tis hard to give thee up.
Yet He who wills this bitterness,
Can help us drink the Cup."
Sons of James and Drusilla White:
Eddie. Died Oct 16, 1861. AE 5 yrs, 4 mos.
"Rest dearest child, ah gently rest.
We yield thee with unfaltering trust.
Thy name is now among the blest.
Although thy body sleeps in dust."
Alvah R. Died Nov 11, 1861. AE 7 yrs, 1 mo.
"We saw him sink with sore disease,
We tried in vain to give him ease.
His work is done, his pains are over.
Till we meet again to part no more."
Hartford, Conn.
Ancient Burying Ground
Joseph Watson, AE 3 yrs, 5 mos.
"Sweet opening rosebud, like the dew drops morn,
Too soon, alas, from thy fond mother torn."
Wolcott, Conn.
Edgewood Cemetery
Mariah A. Dau of Stiles L. and Mary A. Hotchkiss
Died Sept 9, 1842. AE 5 yrs, 2 Mos
"This lovely bird, so youg and fair,
Called home by early Doom.
First .... how sweet a flower,
In Paradise should bloom."
Bridgewater, Conn.
West Cemetery
John Morris, son of Peter & Caroline Wooster
D. Jan 14, 1856. AE 5 Yrs, 4 Mos, 9 Days
Our Morris
"These ashes few, this little Dust,
Our Father's care will keep,
Till the Archangle's voice shall break
Thy long and peaceful sleep."
East Morris, Conn.
Alice E. Morse. Aug. 29, 1873. AE 7 yr, 2 Mo.
"Gone in the springtime of life,
From those who loved her.
From the hearts that had grown to be her own.
She has crossed the River of Death,
She is with the Angels now.
The Cross is laid aside,
The Crown is on her brow."
Emily Ensign. Feb 25, 1823. Age 10 Yrs, 10 Mos.
"If Worth departed e'er deserved a tear,
Oh! Gently stranger, pay that tribute here."
Ann Elizabeth Hubbard. March 28, 1867. Age 17.
"The midnight stars are beaming upon her silent grave,
Now sleeping without dreaming, the child we could not save."
Cheshire, Conn.
Mary Emily, daughter of Luther and Laura A. Ives
Died June 5, 1858, Age 12.
"Peaceful be thy silent slumber,
Peaceful in the grave, so low.
Thou no more will join our number,
Thou no more our songs shall know."
Besides disease, older children were also subject to accidents "Due
to Their own Folly," or even "Acts of a Jealous God." For Bethel Scovil,
his 6th Birthday, on July 6, 1769, was also his last day on earth:
Watertown, Conn.
Old Town Cemetery
Bethel, Son of William and Sarah Scovil. Born July 6, 1769.
Killed by the Fall of a Tree, July 6, 1775. AE Six.
Young Darius also died at six, from another form of fall:
Darius S. Griswold, Killed by Falling into a Well,
July 9, 1826, in His 6th Year.
Hartford
Ancient Burying Ground
John Sargeant
Drowned in Conn. River, July 23, 1802. Age 11.
"On him reflect, ye young and gay.
And thus a solemn warning take.
That though this hour, ye sport and play,
The next, to God, your flight may make."
Some Acts of God were literally "Bolts out of the Blue." Not even
children of the clergy were spared from disease and sudden death. In fact,
because of their association with a Minister of God, they became special
targets, or "Shining Marks" for Death to strike down.
Northampton, Mass.
Bridge Street Cemetery
Jonathan and Thankful Hunt
1754-1769 & 1762-1769
Buried here ye Bodies/of Jonathan & Thankful/ Hunt Children of Deacon/
Jonathan Hunt who were/Killed by Lightning July/5 1769. In ye 15th
Year of his/age & ye 7th Year of her age.
"Death loves a Shining Mark of signal Blow
A Blow which while it executes, alarms
And startles Thousands with a single Fall."
Two Litchfield area teenagers drowned in December, 1812, perhaps
from breaking through the ice of a skating pond. As one was from out of
state, they may have been attending the Morris Academy.
East Morris Cemetery
Dual Stones
William Bennet of Georgetown, S.C. Age 16.
"By foreign hands, thy dying eyes were closed,
By foreign hands, thy decent limbs composed.
By foreign hands, thy humble grave adorned.
By strangers honored, and by strangers mourned."
and,
William M. Ensign. (of Morris) Age 15.
"See here a father's rising hope,
A mother's fondest joy.
An unseen hand this flower didst crop,
And their fond hope destroy.
A father's prayer, a mother's tears,
Could not prolong his tender years."
Middlebury, Conn.
CHARLIE
Killed by a Fall
Aug 22, 1855
AE 17
and
SUSAN
Jan 23, 1851
AE 15
Children of Charles & Lucy Peck Townsend
Pomfret, Conn.
Peter Chandler, 1732. Age 16.
"Son of Capt. Joseph Chandler by Susanah his wife...."
"We are but Dust. And die we Must."
Oxford, Conn.
Brookside Cemetery
Emma W. Wheeler
Feb 7, 1873. Age 16
"God took our Cherished Treasure,
To join the Angel Band."
Martha B. Wheeler. Wife of Heber P. Carpenter
March 26, 1876. AE 21 Yrs, 8 Mos.
"Asleep in Jesus, Blessed Sleep,
From which none ever wakes to Weep."
New Haven, Conn.
Evergreen Cemetery
George M. G. Downing
December 22, 1862. AE 17 Yrs, 10 Mos, 22 Days
"He is sleeping, Calmy sleeping,
With the damp earth on his breast.
Loving eyes are sadly weeping,
O'er his lonely Place of Rest."
The death of a young person, just starting out on the Sea of Life,
has long been the occasion for elegiac verse reflecting on "this fair,
op'ning bud, untimely blasted by a Jealous Death...."
Watertown, Conn.
Old Town Cemetery
Miss Mary Daley
Died Nov 17, 1817. AE 20 Yrs & 8 Mos.
"When Life, as opening buds, is sweet and golden
Hopes, the Spirit greet,
And Youth prepares her Joys to meet.
Alas, how hard it is to die!"
Bethel, Connecticut
Elmwood Cemetery
Andrew Johnson
Died Jan 22, 1858. AE 20 Yrs. 11 Mo, 18 D.
"Andrew, thou art gone to rest,
Thine is an early tomb.
But Jesus commanded thee away,
Thy Saviour called thee Home."
The death of a recently married youth was always poignant, but Mary
Warner's so-brief wedded life was mirrored in here short, stark epitaph.
Bridgewater, Conn.
Mary E. Warner. Wife of Burr Mallett. Oct 2, 1856, AE 20
"From the Bridal to the Tomb in Four Short Days."
Not one, but two promising young lives were snuffed out, as evoked by
twin markers for daughters of a noted Milford area colonial family.
Orange, Conn.
Lucy Treat, wife of Everett J. Clarke, Died August 23, 1847,
Aged 23 Yrs, 10 Mos, 23 Days.
"She died as fair ones often did, when bridal flowers
Spring around their path may but to deck their Graves."
Sarah Treat, wife of Rev. W. W. Belden. Died October 3, 1853, AE 22.
"Here sleep two sisters; loving and pleasant in Life,
In death, not Divided."
Meriden, Conn.
Old Broad Street Cemetery
Mary, daughter of Hanna and Ivah Curtis
Died July 1, 1832, AE 21 Yrs.
"Then soft be thy slumbers in thy lowly bed,
Though rudely Earth's Tempests sweep over thy head.
The Savior remembers thy slumbering Dust,
And will wake thee again, when he summons the Just."
Whether Fanny Tileston had any inkling that a visit to see friends in
Northampton would be be her last, is not known. She must have been in fairly
good health to have made the 100 mile-plus trip from her Dorchester home,
near Boston. But the journey itself may have been Fate's final straw....
Northampton, Mass.
Fanny Tileston, July 12, 1795. Aged 21.
"She died in this town on a visit hear to see her friends,
July 12th, 1795 in the 21 years of her age."
"Death is the painful way that all must tread.
Tis joy to those who are by Virtue led.
Then, friends, grieve not because she died so soon.
God's will is done and I've received my Doom."
This ill-fated twenty-one-year old traveler was returning home by sea
from Mexico, where he may have become fatally infected.
East Morris, Connecticut
Edward C. Whittlesey, December 16, 1834. Aged 21.
"Oh, think on the stranger tossed on the billow,
Afar from the home of his childhood and youth.
No mother to watch o'er his sleep-broken pillow.
No father to counsel,
No brothers or sisters to sooth."
Boston, Mass.
King's Chapel
Another young voyager detoured into Eternity was Philip William Smith
of Hallifax, Nova Scotia. On the way home from the West Indies he made
Boston his Final Port of Call, passing away on July 24th, 1795 at age 24.
He was intered in King's Chapel Cemetery, the following verse upon his stone:
"Beneath this humble stone there lies a youth,
Whose Soul was Goodness and whose heart was Truth.
Cropped like a flower, he withered in his bloom.
Tho flattering Life had promised Years to come.
The years he lived, in Virtue's path he trod.
And now his spirit soars to meet his God...."
(Other lines have sunk into the ground)
Phoebe Farnsworth drowned much closer to home, but was no less deceased
in the capsizing of a small boat....
Old Burying Ground, Bristol, Conn.
"Here lies interred Phebe, wife of James Farnsworth, who was Drowned
in New Haven Harbour the 30th of May, 1805 by the overturning of a
Pleasant boat. AE 24."
Perhaps the carver mistook "pleasant" for "pleasure" boat...though the
small craft may well have been "pleasant" as well....
The most rapidly acting infectious disease in Colonial America was
small pox, which laid waste to entire populations and was responsible for
isolated burying grounds, most having unmarked graves. Of the "more
fortunate victims" were the following....
Center Burying Ground, Hamden, Conn.
Children of Timothy and Ruth Goodyear,
"Died in One Month of 1773 of Smallpox, Aged 4, 9 and 11 Yrs."
Granary Cemetery, Boston
Mrs. Mary Peirce, 1755-1776.
"Died of the Small Pox July 20th, 1772. AE 21"
"Behold this little Pile enfolds my Limbs,
And puts a Period to my Time below.
Mortal, attend, there's no mutation here.
Ere long, you will Participate my Lot."
The deaths of these two youths within a month's time hints strongly
at small pox or another epidemic which periodically emptied colonial
homes of their most promising occupants.
Oak Hill Cemetery, Southington, Conn.
Riggs Chapman, Sept 5, 1776, AE 19
Abigail Chapman, Oct 5, 1776, AE 20.
Children of Rev. Benjamin and Mrs. Abigail Chapman.
"Mortals give ear, attend this faithful line.
The Lord of all the weighty Truth Enjoins.
Love God, His Will obey, on Christ rely,
Then sleep in death & rise above the sky."
Smallpox, or some other rapidly-acting plague was responsible for a whole
series of fancy Urn and Willow stones with circular inscriptions, carved by
John Ritter of New Haven....
Woodbridge, Conn.
Milfordside Burying Cround
John J. Chatfield, son of Lewis and Patty Chatfield
Died October 4, 1845, AE 25
"Approach this tomb ye living one,
And learn that ye must Die....
The wailing mother laid her Son
Down in this silent Tomb.
And here he Sleeps,
Though Friends do Mourn,
Till the Last Morning comes."
Mary E. Hannah Chatfield, dau of Lewis and Patty Chatfield
Died October 10, 1845, AE 19
"The son and brother, secure had slept,
In Death's relentless slumber,
Yet once again the Arrow sped,
And broke our joys asunder.
Oh, none can tell the anguish deep,
With which fond hearts are riven,
When Hannah in her blooming youth
Was called from Earth to Heaven."
Mary E. Baldwin, wife of George W. Ingham
Died March 12, 1856, AE 19
"Mourn not, Dear Friend, that I am Gone,
Not sorrow that You are left Alone.
But think of Me and prepare to Die,
For soon you're here with Me to Live."
Tuberculosis, then known as "Consumption," was a slow but sure killer
of teenagers and young adults into the 20th Century. Girls were especially
vulnerable, perhaps as they lived and worked at home in contact with other
ill family members. Thus, many a "once-blooming youth" was memorialized in
lines similar to the in the epitaphs below.
Middletown, Conn.
Miner Street Cemetery
Agusta G. daughter of Cyrus and Caroline Boardman
Died June 14, 1851. Aged 8 Years
"By no terror wast thou shaken,
Where thy spirit might not stay,
Like some flower by Spring forgotten,
Thou didst silent fade away."
But boys were hardly exempt, as the following epitaph for a young
teenager declares:
New Fairfield, Conn.
Old Town Cemetery
Amzi Lane
Died July 3, 1817, AE 13 Years
"Affliction sore, long time he bore,
Physicians' art was vane.
Till God did please to give him ease,
And free him from his pain."
There was no doubt that the White Plague killed Martha Smith
East Morris, Connecticut
Martha Smith. June 16, 1820. AE 26.
"A Pale Consumption gave the Fatal Blow.
The Stroke was certain, but the effect slow.
With lingering pain, Heaven saw me sore oppressed,
Pityed my sighs, and kindly gave me rest."
Watertown, Conn.
Old Town Cemetery
Ozro Scovil
"Died Feb 23, 1854 Of Consumption."
"Peace. Tis the Lord Jehova's Hand
That blasts our joys in death."
Stafford-Ellington, Conn.
Crystal Lake Cemetery,
Hannah Dimmock, 1807. Age 15.
"Death has come and eased my pain.
I have gone to Heaven, with Christ to reign."
Southington Conn.
Quinnipiac Cemetery
In Memory of Salmon Clark, Son of Mr. Lemuel & Mrs. Senath Clark
Who Departed this Life Sept. 2, 1796, Aged 15 Yr.
"Ye young and gay, pray time? and View
The spot where Salmon Relict lies.
He once could walk and skip like you,
But he is dead, and You must Die."
Josia Cowles, Jr. Son of Capt. Ashbel and Rhoda Cowles.
"Departed July 4, 1790, 16 years, wanting but ten days, to the
Great Greaf (grief) of the Family. Born July 14, 1774....
Here sleeps in dust...."
(remainder of text lost due to delamination of brownstone marker)
West Haven, Conn.
Louisia Kimberly, 1794. Age 17.
"Passenger behold, as you pass by,
As you now be so once was I.
As I am now, so you must be.
Prepare for death and follow me."
Phebe Wheeler likely suffered from "consumption" as her epitaph suggests...
Huntington, Conn.
Center Cemetery
Phebe M.
daughter of
Charles & Phebe M. Wheeler
Died Nov. 28, 1856. AE 18 yrs, 6 mos.
"Jesus can make a dying bud,
Feel soft as downy pillows are.
While on his breast I lean my head,
And breath my Life out sweetly there."
Roxbury, Conn.
Center Cemetery
Charles K. Hodge, a West Point Cadet, died suddenly while on a visit
home, August 8, 1839. He was aged 19 Yrs, 9 Mo, 4 D. A tall obelisk
monument was erected by Classmates in his memory.
Another nineteen-year-old died by drowning in a "freshet" in Derby
and was mourned by his friends for a "sunny disposition."
Derby, Conn.
Oak Cliff Cemetery
John Alling
"Drowned in the Freshet" Nov 13, 1853, AE 19
"Life was to us a sunny day, while we his friendship shared.
So bright and beautiful the way, that seemed for us prepared."
Thomaston, Conn.
Content Humiston, 1773. Age 19.
"No Gift of nature, Art or Grace,
Exempteth from the Burying Place.
All must obey the solemn Call.
Before the Tyrant, all must Fall."
Old Methodist Cemetery, Bethany, Conn.
Delia M. Deming. Sept 6, 1860. AE 19
"Tis hard to part with those we love,
Tis hard to see them die.
But still we'll trust in God above,
On Him our hopes rely."
Some hopeful immigrants to America brought also the seeds of an early
death, as perhaps was the fate of this Irish lass from County Queens.
Waterbury, Conn.
Old St. Joseph's Cemetery
Mary Ann Kelly, April 5, 1856. AE 20 Yrs and 7 Mos.
"A Native of Queens Co., Ireland. May Her Soul Rest in Peace"
"Her spirit's fled and reigns above,
In realms of joy of peace and love.
Dull Death has done his part.
Where shall we hear the splendid laugh,
To give her name to years to come.
Ah! Hear it in the heart."
Durham, Conn.
Polly Arnold, 1793. Age 21.
"Let weeping Virtue mourn around thy tomb,
And meek-eyed Pity wail thy early doom.
Yet worth like thine sustains no rude decay.
And Time should sweep these sculptured lines away.
In realms of Bliss beyond the verge of Time,
Thy Name shall flourish in immortal prime.
Tho here, alas, thy life's mortal circuit ends.
Thou best of Daughters, Sisters and Friends."
Pomfret, Conn.
Oren Sabin, 1790. Age 21
"His early Death and shortened date,
Bid youth and age prepare.
His lifeless clay describes our fate
And shews how frail we are."
Twenty-two seems to have been an especially peril-fraught age....
Ancient Burying Ground, Hartford
Clarissa Robbins, July 18, 1801. Age 22.
"Stop, blooming youths, behold my urn!
With me, to dust, you'll soon return.
Be not dismayed, trust in the Lord.
And soon (your) dust will be restored."
Frink-Williams Cemetery, Stonington, Conn.
Ann Williams, 1826. Age 22.
"Lovely in life and health, she evinced,
In sickness, a degree of composure
And resignation. Consoling to her
Afflicted, surviving friends."
Oak Hill Cemetery, Southington, Conn.
Joseph Gridley, Aug. 7, 1846. Age 22.
"Cropt like a flower, he withered in his bloom.
This fleeting life had promised years to come."
(similiar inscription in nearby Quinnipiac Cemetery)
East Morris Connecticut
Lucy Smith, May 6, 1852. Age 22.
"Ah! Dearest Lucy, how short thy stay,
On this frail Earth of sin and woe.
How soon thy Soul persued its way,
And left thy weeping friends below."
Squire Road Cemetery, Roxbury, Conn.
Eunice, Daughter of Cyrus & Aura Nicholson
Died Aug 15, 1882, AE 22
"Our Daughter dear, we loved so well,
Has left us here, alone to dwell,
With prospects bright to meet above,
Where all is happiness and love."
Newington, Connecticut
An 1852 monument to the Rockwell Children, including two boys
who died at 20 and 21 years, one in distant California.
The usual admonitory warning...
"Remember Youth, that You must Die."
Is, in this case, followed by this rejoinder...
"Well, if our days must Fly,
We'll keep their end in view,
We'll spend them all in Wisdom's way,
And let them speed their flight."
North Cemetery, Somers, CT
Twin Epitaphs for a Brother and Sister:
Thomas, son of Francis and Eunice (Antram),
28 November 1803, AE 23
and
Betsey, daughter of Francis and Eunice Antrum
17 Sep 1806, AE 23 years, 2 months, 12 days.
"My living friends is this you see,
Consider where you soon must be,
Those in the bloom of life must die...
Prepare to dwell with GOD on high."
Northfield, Connecticut
Elvira Electa, Dau of Ard and Electa Warner
Died March 5, 1851, AE 22
"Long ere the waning lamp of life went out,
She knew that Death upon her wasting form had set his seed.
Yet still she feared not.
But when he came in filial confidence,
She yielded back that life to him who gave,
Knowing that Jesus had the power to save."
Brunswick, Maine
Maquoit Cemetery
James McManus
Died July 2, 1875
AE 22 Years, 22 Days
"Dearest Brother, thou hast left us,
Mortal in an early Tomb.
But Jesus summoned thee,
thy Savior called thee home."
Woolwich, Maine
Hedge Road Cemetery
Bradford Shaw
Drowned May 8th, 1845. AE 24 Yrs, 9 Mos.
"We mourn, but in our grief,
His spirit seems to say,
Weep not for me, I am at rest,
Wipe all your tears away."
Clara C, wife of James M. Elliot
Died April 9, 1857. AE 24 Yrs, 4 Mos.
"The heart is cold, whose thoughts were told
In each glance of thy glad bright eye.
And thou liest pale, who was so bright.
Thou scarest seemed made to die.
Yet we know thy soul is keeping now,
Where the Saints their calm watch keep.
That angels are crowning thy fair brow.
Then wherefore do we weep?"
Sterling, Conn.
Oneco Cemetery
Joseph Parke, Joseph, Sgt.
Son of Capt. Joseph & Sarah of Voluntown
Died June 24, 1771, AE 25.
"Here lies a well loved youth,
Who took delight to speak ye truth.
But now is sleeping in ye silent ground,
N'er to wake till ye Last Trumpet sounds."
Southington, Conn.
Oak Hill Cemetery
Miss Ama Tyler, wife of Asahel Tyler
Died May 5, 1794, AE 25.
"Ye mourners all, this Tomb you see,
My dust destined here to be.
Till the Last Trump shall shake the ground,
Then all our sleeping dust be sound."
Hamden, Conn.
Hamden Plains Cemetery
Betsy, wife of Chauncy Bassett
Died 1868, AE 27
"She always made him happy, but was too fair
for this world and faded like a flower."
Milford, Conn.
Lewis Merwin, 1794-1822. AE 28.
"Come all ye mourning friends, say peace be still.
And bow submissive to God's holy will.
We know he was a lovely youth, indeed.
But here he lies, the hungry worms to feed."
West Morris, Conn.
Lakeside Cemetery
George W. Peck, April 9, 1856, AE 28.
"No marble can his worth impart,
Tis written on my bleeding heart.
Inscribed with more than human skill,
In memory lives his virtue still.
A Mother"
Cundy's Island, Maine
Cranberry Horn Cemetery
Mrs. Rachel Higgens
Wife of Captain Asa Higgens
Died June 27, 1821, AE 29
"Such worth and such piety combined,
With such unfeign'd humanity of mind,
Bespoke her fair to tread the way to fame,
And live in Honor to the Christian Name.
But Heaven was pleased to stop her fleeing hour,
And blight the fragrance of an opening flower.
We Mourn,
But not for her removal from Pain.
Our loss, we trust, is her eternal gain.
With her we'll strive to win the Savior's Love,
And hope to join her with the saints above."
Old Wintonbury Cemetery, Bloomfield, Conn.
Mary Ann Dunbar
Wife of Corp. James Boyle, Co. E, 25th Conn Inf
Died Sept 3, 1857, AE 29
"Almighty God, tis right, tis Just
That earthly frames must turn to Dust.
But, Oh! forgive the wishful Tear,
That would detain her Spirit here."
Travel had increasing perils when steam propelled ships and locomotives,
as the following two young Yankees discovered to their eternal regret.
Northfield, Conn.
Lyman Warner, Jr.
Died at Essex, Oct 9, 1833, AE 26
"Of wounds received by explosion of (the)
Steamboat NEW ENGLAND.
Oh, Fatal, Fatal!......blow. (ends) "my Brother."
Portland, Conn.
Trinity Church Cemetery
Joseph Stancliff. Died July 31, 1850. AE 29.
"His untimely death caused by the explosion on board
the steamer America on Lake Erie, July 31, 1850."
The death of a young family member was especially poignant when the body
could not be brought home for burial. "Lost at Sea." was an all too familiar
cemetery inscription in New England coastal communities.
North Guilford, Conn.
Luther Dudley, 1799. Age 21.
"Adieu my friends, my parents dear,
The heaving sigh, the falling tear
Will not avail. By God's decree,
I slumber in the roaring sea!
Then humbly bow and kiss the rod,
Adore and love a soverign God.
And let your fixt endeavour be,
To fit for death and follow me."
Fifty years later, another twenty-one-year-old went to his death
at sea, but perhaps his body was recovered for burial at home....
North Edgecomb, Mass.
Joseph C. Decker
"Drowned on Plum Island Bar, Ipswitch Bay, December 3rd, 1849."
"See the lovely, blooming flower,
Fades and Withers in an hour.
So our transient comforts fly.
Pleasure only blooms to die."
West Haven, Conn.
"To perpetuate the Memory of three sons of Joel, Mary & Betsey Beach
-----------------------------------
Amos died in Havannah, 1798, AE 24.
Joel died at Sea, 1802. AE 17."
George, whose body lies here, died 1805, AE 22.
"Peace, tis the Lord Jehovah's Hand,
That blesses our joys in Death,
Changes the visage, once so dear,
And gather back the death."
West Haven, Conn.
Children
of
Mary and Capt. Deliverance Panter
Samuel, 1748. Age 22.
Freelove Panter, 1751. Age 2.
Abigail, 1755. Age 16.
Amey, 1755. Age 21.
Thomas, 1755. Age 22.
"These underneath the Clods they be,
And two have their lyes beyond the seas.
Their names now which you may behold,
Though they are in the Ambieses cold." 14,923
The loss of young men, many still in their teens, reached a climax in the
Civil War, where deaths on both sides totaled over 600,000. The carnage and
its aftermath filled dozens of new military cemeteries and planted endless
graves and name-inscribed monuments across the nation. Government-supplied
Civil War gravestones are still being emplaced, as older monuments crumble and
the remains of un-marked veterans are discovered and recognized by their now
distant descendents.
Naugatuck, Conn.
Hillside Cemetery
Young Lt. John Isbell was yet another victem of the Peninsula Campaign
of 1862, General McClellan's abortive move on Richmond via the James River.
Lt. John D. Isbell
Co. I, 18th Mass. Infantry
Died at Harrison's Landing, Virginia
July 16, 1862, AE 22 Years
"An Only Son in the garb of a Soldier sleeps here.
Buried with Military Honors, July 25th, 1862 by
His fellow soldiers of Waterbury.
Beloved by his Comrades,
A Faithful Soldier to his Country,
And of the Cross of his Redeemer."
Woolwich, Maine
East Hedge Cemetery
James McKenney, 20th Maine Infantry
son of Alexander and Lucy McKenney
Died January 21, 1863. AE 18 Yrs, 6 Mos.
"Let no sorrowing tear be shed,
Mourn not for the youthful dead.
God has taken him to rest,
Early called and early blest."
In May, 1864, north of Richmond, the Wilderness and Cold Harbor Battles
saw enormous casualties. Many of the fallen were in the First and Second
Connecticut Heavy Artillery Regiments, pulled out of the relatively quiet
defences of Washington for employment as front line infantry.
Northfield, Conn.
Apollos C. Morse. Co. A, 2nd CHA
KIA Cold Harbor, June 2, 1864, AE 20
"Farwell, dear Mother, all is well.
Farwell, dear Brother and Sister,
Death hath no terrors to me."
Epidemics, such as typhoid, diptheria and scarlet fever were childhood
slayers well into the Twentieth Century, as one terrible, twelve-day period in
January, 1904 was to demonstrate for the Wildman family....
Brookfield Center, Conn.
A cast-zinc tablet to the children of Bert E. and Louisia M. Wildman:
Andrew Plude. January 6, 1904. AE 5 Yrs, 4 Mos
Alice May. January 6, 1904. AE 2 Yrs, 7 Mos
Burthon Arthur. January 18, 1904. AE 6 Mos, 12 Days
"Our Three Darlings."
Even the mid-twentieth century could be cruel to young children and
their parents. This was the case of a North Sea air disaster which wiped
out the entire Yarrow family of Woodbury, Connecticut, including their
five-year-old twins, Peter and Richard. Only Peter's body was recovered.
North Woodbury, Conn.
"Peter and Richard Yarrow, born Feb. 16, 1949, died Aug 23, 1954."
* * *
"And the rest is silence...."
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