As it turned out, the cemetery wasn't as old as the ones that normally interest us, but when we were circling through and about to leave we spotted this marker:
What caught our eyes was the dates on the headstone. The date of birth is the same for both the man and the woman, and the dates of death show the woman died one day after the man. Pretty enormous coincidence, huh? I'd really like to know the story behind these people but so far haven't had a chance to look into it.
6 comments:
Actually the dates suggest that the man died one day after the woman did, which, to my mind as a man who loves his wife deeply and doesn't know what he would do without her, makes perfect sense.
The other possibility is that they were twins - brother and sister - which would account for the same birthdates. Nevertheless, given that they both died at the age of 26, whether they were brother and sister or young husband and wife, it is likely that they were carried off by influenza contracted during the terrible outbreak of that year.
They were married.
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=East&GSiman=1&GScnty=2635&GRid=13066170&t
That is cool... I went to the above link but it doesn't talk about the DOB's. It would be interesting to know :)
Thanks Bob! I would have put my money on them being twins, as M.D. suggested. The copy of the newspaper article was interesting at the findagrave link. Doesn't give their cause of death but mentions one of their parents being sick with influenza at the time - so that wouldn't be a bad assumption.
Just goes to show you never know what you'll find when you're wandering around.
@MD Jackson -- I think you nailed it regarding influenza. Folk called it The Three Day Flu.
Day1 - you got it
Day2 - you were sick as hades
Day3 - you were DEAD
Anyone intertested should check out a book called "The Great Influenza"
- Brad
Post a Comment