Tombstone Tuesday: Hyde Gravestone

Hyde Gravestone, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Unknown Hyde Gravestone

My husband's cousin took this gravestone photo but I am not sure what it says. I did find a list of gravestones for this cemetery and discovered that there are two Daniel HYDE gravestones listed. One should be David HYDE. You can see why that mistake could have been made with such a worn gravestone.


I think this may be a gravestone to mark the deaths of other children in this family.I can't find death or marriage records for other children. 

DANIEL HYDE, d. 1821, aged 23 years
RUTH HYDE, d. 1813, aged 5 years
RUTH HYDE, d. 1804, aged 18 years
EBENEZER HYDE, d. 1813, aged 58 years
RUTH HYDE, wife of Ebenezer, d. 1793, aged 29 years
ABIGAIL HYDE, d. 1828, aged 66 years
DANIEL HYDE, d. 1826, aged 21 years

Sutton, MA Web site

Sutton, MA Cemetery Page

Daniel HYDE

Daniel HYDE, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Daniel HYDE

Daniel was the first born son of Ebenezer Hyde, Sr. and his second wife, Abigail NEWTON.

This is a close-up shot of the stone.

Daniel was born 28 Sept 1797 in Sutton, MA and died 15 Mar 1821 (unmarried) also in Sutton, MA.

He lies buried in Dodge Cemetery with his parents.

Daughter Ruth HYDE

Ruth HYDE, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Ebenezer Hyde, Sr. and his first wife's second child was named Ruth. She was born 19 Dec 1786 and died at age 17 on 11 Jan 1804. This is a close-up photo of the faded carving on this gravestone.

Abigail NEWTON

Abigail NEWTON, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Abigail NEWTON

Abigail NEWTON, second wife of Ebenezer HYDE, Sr. like many women of her day, married a man whose wife died and left him with small children. (photographed by William Dunbar) Close-up of her name on the stone.

Unlike the record of his first marriage, which I can't find, are TWO "records" of marriage for Ebenezer and Abigail. This might be because the NEWTON family was a prominent family in this area.

Marriage Banns, although common, are not something I have consistently found as I search vital records. This one looks like this:

HYDE: (see Hide), Ebenezer and Abigail Newton of Southborough, int. May 4, 1794. Town Page Detail: Sutton Marriage Sutton, MA

Since Ruth ONTHANK, his first wife died at age 28 on 8 Sept, 1793, this intention to marry the following May in 1794, may seem hasty. But, Ebenezer had Ebenezer (age 9), Ruth (age 8), and little William (age 5) who needed a mother. I always feel sympathetic toward these previously maiden women who took on an established household. Such in life in the 1700s in New England.

Abigail married Ebenezer the following July as evidenced by the vital record of their marriage:


NEWTON: Abigail and Ebenezer Hide of Sutton, July 13, 1794. Town Page Detail: Southborough Marriage Southborough, MA

They had five more children. How did New England women manage this many children?


Ebenezer's gravestone and his second wife Abigail have matching gravestones obviously carved by the same stone cutter.

Abigail was born 20 June 1762 in Southborough , a daughter of David NEWTON and his wife Abigail. She died at the age of 66 in 1828, as a widow and is buried in Dodge Cemetery  in Sutton.

Ruth ONTHANK

Ruth ONTHANK, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Ruth ONTHANK

Ruth ONTHANK, first wife of Ebenezer Hyde,Sr. is buried in Dodge Cemetery in Sutton, Worcester, MA. I discovered as I researched her, that she was the daughter of William ONTHANK and his wife Elizabeth JAMES. She was the sister of William ONTHANK who is buried at Old Southborough Burial Ground. I took a photo of his gravestone before I knew that my husband was an ONTHANK/UNTHANK descendant! I posted that blog post on July 1st.

Ruth was born on July 1st in 1765 in Southborough.
ONTHANK: Ruth, d. William and Elisabeth, July 1, 1765. Town Page Detail: Southborough [Mass VR to 1850 Southborough, MA NEHGS]

She married Ebenezer HYDE, Sr. about 1784 (no marriage record found as yet) and had three children, Ebenezer (my hubs ancestor in 1785), Ruth (1786) and William (1789). She died in Sutton, MA at the young age of 28 years on 8 Sept 1793. Ebenezer married again, as was the custom, in 1794.

HYDE: Ruth, w. Ebenezer, Sept. 8, 1793, in her 28th year. [a. 29, G.S.] Death: Sutton, MA [Mass VR to 1850 NEHGS] 


This slate gravestone is hard to read. I used the one posted at Find-a-Grave to help read it as accurately as I can.


Erected/ to the memory/ of Mrs. Ruth Hyde/ who died Sept. 8, 1793/in ye 28th year/of her age.


Photo by William Dunbar. Used with permission.

Ebenezer HYDE, Sr.

Ebenezer HYDE, Sr., a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Ebenezer Hyde, Sr. 

Repost (with additions) of December so I can add the other gravestones from this cemetery to my blog

Steve's cousin, William Dunbar of Marlborough went to the Dodge Cemetery in Sutton, MA in search of the gravestone of Ebenezer Hyde, Sr., his wives and children. It was great to have family help on this project.

Fortunately, we can just make out the name of this gravestone. Ebenezer was my husband's fourth great grandfather.

His son was also Ebenezer (so I have added Sr. to his name) and he's buried in Southborough Rural Cemetery and was the first gravestone we located when we moved to this area.

I was excited to see this gravestone. He left behind a family journal with a brief genealogy. I don't have it but it was transcribed and I found it online at NEHGS. 

Ebenezer's birth record in the Vital Records of Massachusetts to 1850 is found under the name HIDE. His parents, Job and Prudence were cousins. Her maiden name was Hyde/Hide too. They are buried in a large cemetery in Newton Center.

HIDE: Ebenezer [dup. Hyde], s. Job and Prudence, Apr. 30, 1755. Birth: Newton, MA [Mass VR to 1850 NEHGS]

Ebenezer's first wife, Ruth is his direct ancestor.