FULKERSON | Elizabeth C. | 1842 | 1847 | d/o Benjamin Franklin & Mary Jane (EWING) FULKERSON. |
The top of the sandstone tablet, measuring about 14" x 16" is chipped off where the first part of the date is inscribed. only the year is left. Birdsall Grundy County History, 1881, reads (pp 658): "1841".
The history also reads: "Few were they who journeyed to that far away "bourne from whence no traveler returns" in the early days of Taylor Township. It was when the harsh winds of winter blew rough and cold that little Elizabeth, the sweet five-year-old d/o Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin F. FULKERSON, breathed her last and her soul winged its flight to the realms where angels live. On the Fulkerson farm, there stands today a small enclosure, the fencing stained and mildewed with time, and within is a tiny grave, all overgrown with tangled undergrowth, and here sleeps the remains of little Elizabeth. A tablet of sandstone, cold and gray, marks the spot, and in letters rudely scratched thereon, is: ELIZABETH FULKERSON, MARCH 19-1841
That is all. The child's slight grave no daisies deck, but there, the wild weed makes its home. This was the first burial ground in Taylor Township. Only one other grave appears in the small enclosure."
Since the Birdsall History does not quote the exact inscription correctly, and since there are other errors in the History concerning locations and dates, we feel that the stone indeed reads "1847" instead of "1841".
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Larry Flesher, Washington County, MO