Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Tombstones and Resumes

I thought about entitling this post :

Now Why Couldn't My Ancestors Do That?!

(I think you will see why is a minute.)

I found the historic cemeteries in Charleston, SC absolutely fascinating.   So many of the gravestones provided an incredible wealth of information on the person they represented. It like having a resume on the gravestone. For instance:


This is the gravestone for Captain James Ross, buried in the Presbyterian Church on Meeting Street in the historic district of Charleston.  The transcription of the stone is as follows:

HERE REST
The Mortal Remains of 
CAPTAIN JAMES ROSS
A native of the Town of Lerwick,
North Britain.
For upwards of Thirty Years,
He commanded vessels out of this Port,
And for the last Sixteen Years
Resided here permanently
As a Member of the Board of Port Wardens
And most of that time as its Chairman
The duties of which he discharged
Most faithfully
____________________of his existence
He was in the fullest sense
An Honest Upright and Noble hearted Man.
He died in this City
On the 8th October 1856
Aged 70 Years, 8 Months,
And 9 Days.
Justly and sincerely lamented
By a numerous acquaintance
And many sincere Friends.

This gentleman's name, age, place of birth, death dates, place of residence, and his occupation are all listed.  The information on Captain Ross's stone can also lead the researcher to other records for the city that mention him.  Records leading to other records is always a good thing.




2 comments:

  1. You found an amazing stone and thanks for posting it. I hope the Ross descendants are pleased with the amount of information given.

    ReplyDelete
  2. That would be a nice find. On occasion, I've found the children's names on the back of the parents' headstone or Wife of (Husband) or Son/Daughter of (Parents), but never anything with this much genealogical information.

    ReplyDelete

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