Hi--- I have a problem with a cemetery inscription. ---There is a man buried whose tombstone says that he died something like---Nov 11-1875--age 68 years--3 months--2 days.----next to him is his grandson whose stone says he died Feb-2-1861---age 1 year & 1 month-----NOW that baby should have been born Jan-1860 but he is not listed in the census taken in July-1860----I am wondering if it is likely that the stone is unreadable and it actually says---1 month & 1 day---Otherwise I believe his stone would say---1 year--1 month & 2 days --or whatever.----I would like some input in what others think---Thank you---Loretta

now i will admit that i have not read this entire post with the intention of sorting out all the dates... but i will say this... my first thought was that a child name unknown but 1Y1M was buried and then another child, a name likely the same but 1M1D.... the writer is assuming that they are the same child... i would NOT make that assumption... and between the census and the monument i would believe the monument... WHY you ask.... because the people PAID for a monument ( a rather large expense for many so early in the country) and the info would be more accurate.... or it would likely have been done AGAIN by the engraver... plus... and this is assuming that the kid's names were the same (writer did not say this but i assume it so) i would guess that the second child was the first child born after the death of that first baby who died... a tradition of old... if a girl child died, then the next girl child would be named the same... so there could be two marys on your charts for the same mother... ditto with the next boy being named after the boychild that previously died.... Attention is called to this often in the nicknames that the second child had... imagine.... you would not want to call your second mary by mary, constantly reminding yourself of the first would you? so a nickname is used... often all thru life, so if you see this instance, scout for a baby dying young.... re the census..... check on the date that was used as the base date for that year.... go here... http://rwguide.rootsweb.com/ click census and scroll to the very bottom.... (June 1 for 1830-1880 ) another thing is to revisit the stone and do what you have to do to read it better.... i would suggest shaving creame, squeegee it off over the engravings and take a photo.... rag off what is excess when you are done.... ----- Original Message ----- From: Loretta0422@cs.com To: WIWINNEB-L@rootsweb.com Sent: Saturday, January 10, 2004 9:30 PM Subject: [WIWinneb] tombstone death dates Hi--- I have a problem with a cemetery inscription. ---There is a man buried whose tombstone says that he died something like---Nov 11-1875--age 68 years--3 months--2 days.----next to him is his grandson whose stone says he died Feb-2-1861---age 1 year & 1 month-----NOW that baby should have been born Jan-1860 but he is not listed in the census taken in July-1860----I am wondering if it is likely that the stone is unreadable and it actually says---1 month & 1 day---Otherwise I believe his stone would say---1 year--1 month & 2 days --or whatever.----I would like some input in what others think---Thank you---Loretta ============================== Gain access to over two billion names including the new Immigration Collection with an Ancestry.com free trial. Click to learn more. http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=4930&sourceid=1237