Tombstone Tuesday: Elisabeth (Wilcox) Stone

Sometimes, I photograph tombstones simply because I find them interesting or beautiful, poignant or fragile. The crude carving on Elisabeth Stone's marker in East Canton (Pennsylvania) Cemetery stood out. The fact that part of the stone appeared to be missing also attracted me, since I like to photograph stones before they disappear entirely. The missing segment, however, was an integral part of the stone. The letters were carved around it.

According to Heverly's Pioneer and Patriot Families of Bradford County, Pennsylvania (1913), 1: 327, Elisabeth was the daughter of Daniel Wilcox, a Massachusetts native and the first settler in Franklin township. Her husband, Benjamin, was also an early settler in the area, following Daniel from Massachusetts. Benjamin moved on to settle in LeRoy, where he and Elisabeth raised six children, several of them also buried in this cemetery.