Just a quick post about some inscriptions I saw in the Old Carlisle Cemetery.
First we have Margeby Eckels (I wonder if this is supposed to be Margery, but it sure looks like Margeby). Her tombstone tells us she died May 7, 1856, aged 43 years and 10 days, and that “Her infant son sleeps by her side.”
The second is Sarah Ellen Melester, wife of William Melester, who was born in 1857 and died in 1888. “Her babe sleeps on her breast.”
My educated guess is that these women and their children died in childbirth or from complications soon after. I have seen references in books to women and their infants being buried together, but this is the first time I have seen the reference made on a tombstone. I suspect I’ll see this more in my explorations.
A Grave Concern 