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Two Smiths, but Only One Headstone?

8/24/2019

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Standing near the back of the Presbyterian Church is a headstone that says: 
David H. Smith
only 
son of 
David R. Smith 
died June 24, 
1844, 
aged 1 year &
1 month
According to cemetery records made in the 1930’s , not only was there a headstone for David H. Smith but there was supposed to be a headstone for David R. Smith. I then went to the records made in the 1990’s by Davis Bixby. He did list David R. Smith, but he had no location for him. I love a mystery!
Just to the right of David H. Smith’s headstone, there was an empty space. With my new found knowledge of foot stones, I noticed a small stone back a ways with the initials D.R.S. Bingo! Perhaps David R.’s stone fell over and was covered with sod. So I started digging test holes,,and found nothing. Then I went back to the cemetery and dug deeper, right where I thought the base of the headstone should be located. I met with success! I found a vertical stone, deeply buried in the ground. But where was the rest of the headstone? Which way did it fall? I took a chance and started digging,,,another success! I found the top of the headstone and a triangular piece. And it was inscribed with the name David R. Smith! So I decided to dig out the vertical piece, thinking it was the rest of the headstone,,,it took quite a while,,,but once it was out, there were no inscriptions,,,so this was the base and I have yet to find the rest of the headstone. But I hope to be successful. You can see the pieces in the photos. Now for some background information, if you are not into genealogy, you can stop reading here. 🙂
David R. Smith died in 1842 at the young age of 31. He was married to Sarah Dunnell Pitman and they had one son, called Henry, aka..David H. Smith. After David R. Smith died in 1842, Sarah married Jabez Gibbs. If that name sounds familiar, it is. Mariah Gibbs is also buried in this cemetery, I did a post about her a while back. She was Jabez Gib’s first wife. She died the same year David R. Smith died, 1842. She was also 31 when she died. Sarah and Jabez didn’t waste much time, they got married just a year later. They stayed married until 1857. They had a son, Edward Stanhope Gibbs who died in Louisiana in 1863 during the Civil War. Edward never met David H. Smith, but they were half brothers. Jabez and Edward are buried in Prospect Cemetery in Albany. Sarah married one more time, to William C. Isley. In 1870, they were living in New York City. I have not found out where she is buried or what year she died.
WOW, long post! Photos in this post show the intact and upright headstone of David H. Smith and also the pieces of the headstone that I have dug up so far for David R. Smith.

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Who Are You?

8/23/2019

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This beautiful headstone marks the resting place of Helen Jackson, just six years old when she died.  At first glance, I felt certain that she was from the Jackson family who lived in the area.  Stephen and Rhuama Jackson had two boys, Stephen B., born in 1816 and Reuben, born in 1820.  So I assumed that Helen was their third child. But this is impossible.  You see, Stephen Jackson, died December 17, 1825 and this little child, Helen, was born around March of 1827.  So no matter how I stretch the months out, Helen cannot be the daughter of Stephen and Rhuama Jackson.  This Jackson family is the only one I can find in this area.  
   So here is this lone grave.  Someone loved her. Someone had a beautiful stone engraved for her. Someone picked out a poem for her.  I wish I knew who her parents were.
The stone reads:
    In
Memory of
Helen Jackson
Who died
May 15, 1833
Aged 6 years
2 mos. & 18 days.


Below that is a poem.  After cleaning the stone I was able to figure out most of the words.  Then I looked for a similar poem and found one in a German book by Dr. Eduard Young.
The poem on the grave reads as follows:
Early bright transient
Like the morning dew
She sparkled was ex
Haled & went to Heaven


The original reads:
Early, Bright, Transient
Chaste as Morning Dew
She sparkled, was exhaled, and went to Heaven 

I posted this on Facebook in hopes that someone could help.  I also wrote to my friend, Pete Shew, as he knows so much about people from this area.  He came up with some great suggestions.  I haven't been able to prove anything yet,,,so if you read below please know that it is conjecture:
   Zardus and Laura Jackson are old enough to be Helen and Huyne's parents.  Huyne (or maybe Hayne) had Z. for a middle initial...probably for Zardus.  They used to live in Northampton, but then in 1838, they transferred ownership to their nephew Stephen B. Jackson. and moved to nearby Broadalbin.  When their daughter, Helen died, they came back to Northampton to bury her.  They did the same for their son, Huyne. All is conjecture, I have found no family trees to back this up.  But I live in a 200 year old house in Northampton,  that used to be the tailor shop for Stephen B. Jackson.  Zardus was a tailor and trained Stephen B. Jackson after Stephen's father died when he was a child.  The deed records show Zardus transferring this to Stephen. I also found a guardianship document for Stephen B. and his younger brother, Reuben, and it names Zardus and Chester Jackson...maybe another uncle to Stephen.  I know that is a lot of information, but the pieces seem to fit.

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FOOT STONES

8/8/2019

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    Before this cemetery project, I had not heard of foot stones.  I have been making a grid of the  old cemetery and these small stones (ranging in width from 5 to 12 inches) were stones that I tried to avoid tripping over.   They had initials engraved on them so I assumed they were family plot markers or markers for children.   It wasn’t until I started doing research about the orientation of bodies in a graveyard (yes there is such a thing) that I started to figure out their purpose.  
   In this little cemetery, all the gravestones (about 62 of them) face west, so I naturally assumed that as I was standing facing the headstone, I was standing over the buried body.  I was wrong.  According to old Christian beliefs, bodies should be buried East-West with the head on the West end. According to the New King James version of the bible, the second coming of the Lord will be from the East.  So the bodies, oriented East-West, will be able to rise and face the Lord.  But why were all the gravestones in this cemetery facing West?  It was then that I realized that the small stones, were related to the large stones.  The small stones were foot stones that established the orientation of the buried body.  They were put at the foot of the buried person. The initials were those of the person buried there.  WIth this “new” knowledge, I went back up to the cemetery and realized that even though all the large headstones were facing west, their corresponding foot stones were behind them!  So the bodies were buried behind the gravestones, not in front of them.
   The last person in this cemetery was buried in 1862, so this cemetery has been abandoned for more than 150 years!  During that time, several foot stones have become dislodged and lost.  I found several in a pile at the end of the cemetery.  Now that I understand their purpose, I plan on putting them back in their proper place.

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Many times you find foot stones in piles or leaning up against a tree like the photo at the left.  But sometimes, they are great clues!  The first photo is showing me where I might be able to find David R. Smith...his gravestone is missing, I am hoping it is buried.  Time to  start digging.
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    In 2009, I prepared the first Historical Tour of Fish House. As a result of my work and interest, the Historian of Northampton made me Deputy Historian, concentrating on Fish House which is part of Northampton.

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