Betsey Crary

Betsey Crary, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.
Tombstone Tuesday: Rebecca CRARY, photo by Brian Zoldak, used with permission

Betsey CRARY 

Sadly, three out of four children of Nathaniel Marsh CRARY and his wife Rebecca STEWART died at a young age. For a long time, I didn't know there was a fourth child because all the evidence of children of this family was taken from the index of burials of this cemetery.

This photo of Betsey CRAY who died at the age of 24 in 1852 was taken at the Crary Cemetery in North Stonington, CT by my friend Brian Zoldak. I am using it with his permission.

I blogged previously about Betsey's brothers, William and Edwin. All three children probably died of consumption.

Notice how clearly you can read the numeral 5 in the death date as opposed to the other gravestones of this family. Especially her brother Edwin.

Betsey was named for Rebecca's sister, Betsey STEWART (1803-1849). She was the second child born to Edward and Rebecca (NOYES) STEWART.

William Crary

William Crary, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.
Photo by Brian Zoldak, used with permission

First Born Son William Dies in 1839

Buried in Crary Cemetery #65 in North Stonington, CT is the first born son of Nathaniel Marsh CRARY and his second wife Rebecca STEWART. She was my 2nd great grand aunt.

William died at 14 on 2 Dec 1839 having been born 24 Apr 1825. [The Brown Genealogy, V1, p. 465, #4037] 

His parents were married 9 months and 6 days when he was born. 

The youngest child of Nathaniel Marsh CRARY and his first wife was only 4 years old when Nathaniel married Rebecca. The other children were 7, 10 and 12. Prudence died just a short time after giving birth to her last child.


It is hard to imagine being a farmer's wife with so many small children to care for. So many children died of consumption. Winters must have been hard.

Edwin CRARY

Edwin CRARY, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.
photo by Brian Zoldak, used with permission

What year did Edwin die?

The Hale Collection transcription of the cemeteries in Connecticut (taken in the 1930s) states that this gravestone says: "Crary, Edwin, son of Nathaniel & Rebecca, died June 18, 1830, age 17 yrs. 6 mos. 11 days" Since, this year doesn't seem right for 17 years old, I turned to the date calculator to find the combination of dates for the years 1830, 1850 and 1860 would make his birth year.

Feeling that it was not enough evidence (and not finding a birth in the Barbour Index for CT), I cropped the date and crowd-sourced the image to my Facebook page. 

 With this script it is hard to be sure but it still looks like a 5 to me. Brian Zoldak saw the transcription in the index and he did the date calculator and was also still unsure. So, he reminded me about the US Federal Mortality Schedule, while I was looking for the actual date of the 1850 census. The 1850 census was taken in August of 1850 and Edwin was not listed. This cut out 1860 as a choice.

Nathaniel and Rebecca were married in 1824 and clearly this grave states that he is their child and not one from Nathaniel's first marriage, so the Mortality Schedule was my only hope.

Bingo!

Source Information:

Jackson, Ron V., Accelerated Indexing Systems, comp.. U.S. Federal Census Mortality Schedules Index [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1999. Original data: Compiled and digitized by Mr. Jackson and AIS from microfilmed schedules of the U.S. Federal Decennial Census, territorial/state censuses, and/or census substitutes.

So, here he is as died in June, 1850 of consumption with an occupation of farmer. At 17 he was already an adult.

It pays to keep looking for evidence, even if several records taken from the same index look wrong.

Yes, sometimes it is hard to read gravestones. Rest in peace, young Edwin. 

Rebecca STEWART

Rebecca STEWART, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Tombstone Tuesday

Rebecca STEWART

This clearly readable and lovely granite gravestone is of Rebecca STEWART, my 2nd great grand aunt. It was taken by Brian Zoldak this past Friday (11 May 2012) in the Crary Cemetery #65 in North Stonington, CT. I have used it with his permission.

Please notice the excellent system that he has in place for labeling his photographs. He is an active member of Find a Grave and his username and the photo number as well as a copyright symbol is on this work in the lower right corner. His goal is to record all the gravestones in this cemetery. I am so excited to meet Brian, whose photographs are some of the best I have seen. 


Rebecca was the daughter of Edward Stewart and Rebecca Noyes, his wife. She was the first born child and her youngest brother, Dudley Wheeler Stewart was my ancestor. I have done considerable research on this line with the help of Gladys Chase of the North Stonington Historical Society. 


Rebecca was born 12 Nov 1801 in North Stonington. She married Nathaniel Marsh CRARY as his second wife. This couple had three children together. But, as Nathaniel's first wife died in 1820, she left behind several young children for her husband to raise alone. These second wives certainly had a lot to do being a farmer's wife and raising another woman's children plus having her own.


Crary, Nathaniel M, m. Rebeckah Stewart both of North Stonington m. 18 July 1824 by Rev. Gideon Perry. p. 88 (Barbour Index of North Stonington)

Sadly, Rebecca's own three children did not live to adulthood. One son doesn't have a birth record and so I am hoping his gravestone gives me a clue as to his age at death.