CELESTA A.
Wife of
JOHN E. SLOAN
BORN
May 22, 1845
DIED
Oct. 27, 1879 

Marengo Cemetery
Marengo, Crawford County, Indiana 

This is in the old section of Marengo Cemetery in Crawford County, Indiana.  It is a beautiful cemetery with a lot of very nice stones.  Some of my ancestors are buried in this cemetery, including James and Malinda Suddarth.

SILAS
SNELL
BURIED HERE
1847

I have not been able to find out much about Silas Snell.  Wisconsin achieved statehood in 1848, so Silas died while Wisconsin was still a Territory.  Wisconsin was the last state entirely East of the Mississippi River admitted to the Union.

The marker for Silas Snell is located in a park on the bluffs of the St. Croix River, in Hudson, Wisconsin.  

This is a great example of an 18th century gravestone and is one of my favorites.  Although settled some, it is still very readable and the carving is crisp and very clear.  I would like to know more about Frank.

Recently, I was showing a colleague the photos of the old stone and the new stone and he questioned whether the stone looked like it was from 1865.  The material the stone appears to be made of, the style of the stone and the fact that it is on a base all raised his suspicions.  After thinking about it, I believe I agree; this stone is not from 1865.  Nearby, in the same family plot is the stone of James and Malinda’s son, David B. Suddarth.  I do not have a good picture of the whole stone, but here is a picture of the family plot:

The stone on the far right is that of James and Malinda.  The one on the left, in the back, is that of David B. Suddarth and his wife Alsie.  The small one in front on the left is Malinda A. Suddarth.  David died in 1913.  As you can see, the stone for him and his wife is exactly like the one for James and Malinda.  I am certain that the stone for James and Malinda was erected at the same time as the one for David and Alsie, most likely around 1913.  Whether or not there was ever an older stone for James and Malinda, I don’t know.  It would be interesting trying to find out if there was and if there was any other information (or different information) on that marker.

What do you think?  Is the marker for James and Malinda from 1865?  Or was is erected much later, after David died?

Having two different cards for the same person is something which I believe is very unusual. The one on the left is much more ornate and contains the full name, while the one on the right is more plain and uses only the first initial.  If anyone else has ever seen an instance of different styles of card being produced for the same person, I would love to hear about it!  Maybe it is not as unusual as I think it is.

While I was gone, Gini Webb was kind enough to feature me in her ‘May I Introduce To You…’ series.  Thank you, Gini, for the article!

For those who are interested, here is the link:  http://www.geneabloggers.com/

HERE LYETH BURIED
THE BODY OF
RUTH CARTER
THE WIFE OF
THOMAS CARTER
AGED ABOUT 41 YEARS
DECEASED JANUARY
THE  26  1697/8

I like this stone for a few reasons.  First is just the age of the stone.  This is one of the oldest (but by no means the oldest) at the Old Granary Burying Ground in Boston, MA.  There is a wonderful carving of flowers and an urn across the top of the stone.  But the thing that really strikes me is the skeletons on the sides of the stone.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Skeletons were used on gravestones to symbolize life’s brevity.  Here we see two different skeletons on the stone.  The one on the left looks like he is smiling, while the one on the right appears sad.

Also notice the year of Ruth’s death.  It is carved as 1697/8.  This is not a mistake. The old Julian calendar was replaced by the more accurate Gregorian calendar in 1582. However, the British Empire did not recognize the change until 1752.  When they did begin using the new Gregorian calendar, the first day of the year changed from March 1 to January 1.  Therefore, any dates between January 1 and March 1 of any year between 1582 and 1752 would be represented by showing a “double year”, one for the old calendar and one for the new calendar.  So Ruth died on January 26 1697 by the old Julian calendar, but January 26 1698 according to the new Gregorian calendar.

There are rules which need to be followed, now that I have accepted the award.  They are:

1. Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who granted the award and their blog link.
2. Pass the award on to 15 other blogs that you’ve newly discovered.
3. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

I am going to post this acceptance without the blogs right now, as this has been sitting in my drafts for a couple of days now and I need to get it out.  I will follow-up with a special post on some of my favorite blogs.

Thank you again, Deborah! (and check out her blog – you’ll like it!)

From this marker, I learn that James was born in 1795 and died 1865.  He was also a Corporal in Captain Coffee’s Company of the Kentucky Volunteer Militia during the War of 1812.  This is all great information to have if I am researching this line in my genealogy.  However, if I had just stopped there, I would have missed some important information.

To the left and a little further back in the cemetery is another grave marker for James Suddarth.  This is the original grave marker.

Although worn, it is possible to read (my apologies for the bad photo – it is easier to read in person).

OUR
FATHER
AND
MOTHER

JAMES                   MALINDA
SUDDARTH              SUDDARTH
BORN                       BORN
MAR 22, 1795           SEP 13, 1797
DIED                        DIED
OCT 21, 1865              NOV 2, 1865

Here, we see that there is more information on the old stone than what was put onto the new stone.  The biggest item is the fact that the old stone was not just for James, but also for Malinda Suddarth, his wife.  In addition, instead of just the year of birth and death, the old stone has the actual month and day for each.

There is also an inscription below the birth and death information.  This inscription is extremely hard to read (and cannot be read in the photo).  It tells us that James was a volunteer in Jesse Coffee’s company during the War of 1812, information which has been put on the new marker.

This is the gravestone of Malinda A. Suddarth, the daughter of J. and M.J. Suddarth.  Malinda died at the age of 14, most likely in Crawford County, Indiana. She is buried at Marengo Cemetery, Marengo, Indiana.  The stone is worn, but still readable.

MALINDA A.
DAUT. OF
J. & M.J. SUDDARTH
BORN
Apr. 1, 1855
DIED
Aug. 14, 1869

Her happy soul has winged
its way to one pure bright
eternal day