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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