{"id":78,"date":"2016-10-09T17:07:23","date_gmt":"2016-10-09T17:07:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/?p=78"},"modified":"2016-10-09T17:07:23","modified_gmt":"2016-10-09T17:07:23","slug":"euripides-was-right-why-you-should-leave-no-stone-unturned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/?p=78","title":{"rendered":"Euripides was right! Why you should leave no stone unturned."},"content":{"rendered":"

Originally published on genealogyatheart.blogspot.com 23 Apr 2015<\/p>\n

\"stones\"Sometimes in genealogy we get so consumed with the names, places, and dates of our ancestors that we overlook the details that tell us much about their character.<\/p>\n

The cemetery records transcribed by Josephine Frost from an earlier book by Henry Onderdonk broke through a 16 year genealogical brick wall and gave insight on the spiritual beliefs of the Wilson Williams Family:<\/p>\n

\u201cWilliams,\u00a0\u00a0 Wilson Williams:\u00a0 died March –?, 1831; aged 76 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWilliams, Margaret.\u00a0 Wife of Wilson Williams, died April 26, 1807 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 in her 64th<\/sup>\u00a0year<\/p>\n

F.W.\u00a0 A common field stone marked \u201cF.W.\u201d<\/p>\n

W.W. A common field stone marked \u201cW.W.\u201d1<\/sup><\/p>\n

The obvious information provided by these records are the name of the deceased, month and year of death, age at death and type of grave marker. For Margaret, her spouse\u2019s name is also provided. \u00a0F.W. most likely is a mistranscription of Wilson\u2019s father, Thomas Williams.<\/p>\n

There is much more information provided that isn\u2019t initially obvious, however. The first hint is the mention of a common field stone.\u00a0 Onderdonk and DeHart (1884) tell us that the Dutch Reformed denomination custom \u201cIn early times farmers often interred their dead on their farms and put up at their graves a rough flat stone with the initial of the name, and year of decease rudely cut thereon.\u201d2<\/sup> \u00a0From the record we know that Wilson and F.W. are following the Dutch Reformed tradition of burial.<\/p>\n

But what about wife Margaret?\u00a0 There is no mention of a common field stone marker for her.<\/p>\n

To locate picture of the markers, death dates were inputted into Find-a-Grave. No record for F.W, W.W., Thomas or Wilson Williams was found.\u00a0 The common field stone markers may be missing or may have been missed by the volunteers who photographed the cemetery.\u00a0 There is a record for Margaret Williams; she is noted to be buried in Christ Church Cemetery, Manhasset, Nassau, New York3. :<\/sup><\/p>\n

\"margaret-williams-stone\"We know this is our Margaret because the death date, spouse’s name and her name match the church burial record of Frost’s transcription.<\/p>\n

Margaret\u2019s headstone reveals that she did not follow the field stone custom as did her husband. \u00a0Margaret also did not follow what Walter (1987) notes is “the traditional Dutch practice of the wife retaining her maiden name” on her marker.4<\/p>\n

A more careful examination of Margaret\u2019s tombstone will give a better insight of her belief system.<\/p>\n

Margaret\u2019s stone is worn so a transcription is needed.\u00a0 Enlarging the picture uncovers:<\/p>\n

In Memory of Margaret<\/p>\n

Wife of Wilson Williams<\/p>\n

deceased the 26th<\/sup> of April, D. 180_<\/p>\n

In the 64th<\/sup> year of her age<\/p>\n

Behold my friends, as you pass by<\/p>\n

As you are now so once was I<\/p>\n

As I am now you soon shall be<\/p>\n

Prepare for death and follow me<\/p>\n

By researching the poem more knowledge about Margaret becomes available. With some variation in the third line, the poem was commonly used in colonial times.5\u00a0\u00a0<\/sup>Meyer (2006) noted that the poem was \u201cInfluenced by the \u2018British pre-Romantic graveyard school\u2019 of poetry\u201d and the \u2018Americanized Puritan mind-set\u2019.\u201d6\u00a0He cites George and Nelson (1985) who identify it as a \u201cmori gravestone epitaph found throughout\u00a0New England”\u00a0between the 16th<\/sup>-17th<\/sup> century.7<\/sup><\/p>\n

Wilson and Margaret lived between 1754-1831. \u00a0Margaret was born, lived and died in Long Island, New York and there is no record that she ever ventured to nearby New England.\u00a0 The use of a common New England epitaph tells us that:<\/p>\n