Thursday, July 13, 2017

Tombstone Dates and More

We consider it fortunate to find an ancestor's tombstone giving his dates of birth and death, but it is a bonus if there is additional information. Some tombstones seem to have been designed by genealogists to help us fill in the blanks.

Now, it is rare to find the entire life story of a person engraved on his tombstone, but Esther Calhoun Love told us of the death of her husband on her tombstone. The original marker was in bad shape and has been replaced by a new marker. This is the old marker, as photographed in 1990.


Esther Love - Piney Fork Cemetery
Crittenden County

Mickleberry Bristow made sure that everyone knew of his affiliation with the Masonic fraternity by including many Masonic symbols on his tombstone.  He is buried in Mt. Zion Cemetery in Crittenden County.

Mickleberry Bristow - Mt. Zion Cemetery
Crittenden County

Her religious preference was important to Evaline Taylor. Engraved on her tombstone in Green's Chapel Cemetery, Crittenden County, is the following: "Joined the Methodist Episcopal Church 1824"

Tombstones with additional information most often include place of birth. Elizabeth Steinbreaker is buried in Smithland Cemetery, Livingston County. The engraving tells us she was born in Baden Baden, Germany 7 July 1806 and died 23 August 1875.


 Elizabeth Steinbreaker - Smithland Cemetery
Livingston County

Not to be outdone, when Louisa Carson's  family members died and were buried in Smithland Cemetery, she made sure their places of birth were included, but which family member is lacking this information? Louisa, of course!

Don't forget to look on all sides of tombstones as sometimes the best information is on the reverse side and if  you look at the bottom of the tombstone - sometimes on the front and sometimes on the back. You may just learn which stonecarver or monument company made the tombstone.

Published 13 July 2017, Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog, http://wkygenealogy.blogspot.com/

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