A while back, Craig wondered about 18th-c tombstones in VA. The earliest known ledger (horizontal tombstone) in the NN is Capt. Thomas Beale's, dated 1679. In earlier accounts, it was called "the oldest tombstone with a perfectly preserved coat-of-arms in America" and "the oldest man-made artifact in the County - other than the Indians". It has been removed to Menokin Baptist Church from Chestnut Hill, the Beale family home in Richmond Co that was eventually in the possession of Hugh Morgan. Bill McCarty spearheaded its salvation and had a plexiglas cover made to protect it from the elements. When I last saw it, the cover badly needed cleaning. The ledger reads: "Here lies the body of Capn Thomas Beale, Junr, who tooke to wife Ann the Daughter of Coll. William Gouge [Gooch] and had by her two Sones and two Daughters, he departed this life the sixteenth day of October An D Mi 1679--AETATISSVE 32". I know of his children Anne, Thomas, and Charles, but I have not been able to identify the other daughter. Does anyone know who she was? Frances Beal Smith Hodges, following Hayden, called her Hannah and said she married Col. William Ball, but this is a clear error for Hannah Heale. There are a number of other markers from the 18th c, including some Balls and McCartys. I don't know firsthand of any other 17th-c stones, but there may be a few in the churchyards of early parishes or in private burial grounds on family plantations. Kathleen Much

Kathleen, I wonder about a lot of early stones. For those in the 1600s, that would be the 17th century. According to Page Henley, the oldest stone at St. Mary's White Chapel Church (Lancaster County) is for John Stretchley, one of the early county clerks, much associated with the Ball family, and 2nd husband of Alice (-----), widow of John-1 Chinn. Page is writing an article on John Stretchley for the next issue of the Northern Neck of Virginia Historical Magazine. Carolyn Jett has been assisting him on some of the English research, we they have found his baptism records, and much more. We are hopeful that more work on this will lead us to the true origins of Col. William Ball, emigrant. (That's another story for another day.) Craig P.S. Hannah Heale married William-3 Ball (William-2, Wiliam-1). I've not seen him styled Colonel before. On Aug 24, 2011, at 1:07 PM, Kathleen Much wrote: > A while back, Craig wondered about 18th-c tombstones in VA. The earliest > known ledger (horizontal tombstone) in the NN is Capt. Thomas Beale's, dated > 1679. In earlier accounts, it was called "the oldest tombstone with a > perfectly preserved coat-of-arms in America" and "the oldest man-made > artifact in the County - other than the Indians". It has been removed to > Menokin Baptist Church from Chestnut Hill, the Beale family home in Richmond > Co that was eventually in the possession of Hugh Morgan. Bill McCarty > spearheaded its salvation and had a plexiglas cover made to protect it from > the elements. When I last saw it, the cover badly needed cleaning. > > The ledger reads: "Here lies the body of Capn Thomas Beale, Junr, who tooke > to wife Ann the Daughter of Coll. William Gouge [Gooch] and had by her two > Sones and two Daughters, he departed this life the sixteenth day of October > An D Mi 1679--AETATISSVE 32". I know of his children Anne, Thomas, and > Charles, but I have not been able to identify the other daughter. Does > anyone know who she was? Frances Beal Smith Hodges, following Hayden, called > her Hannah and said she married Col. William Ball, but this is a clear error > for Hannah Heale. > > There are a number of other markers from the 18th c, including some Balls > and McCartys. I don't know firsthand of any other 17th-c stones, but there > may be a few in the churchyards of early parishes or in private burial > grounds on family plantations. > > Kathleen Much > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >