Why did she get the nicer stone?!

Today, we rabbits hop north of Orlando to visit Longwood Memorial Gardens, just east of Ronald Reagan Boulevard.


Longwood was one of the communities in this little corner of heaven that was founded by Northerners after the railroad came in the 1880s and opened the region for settlement. In fact, it was named for a suburb of Boston. But, I digress . . .


The oldest gravemarker yours truly could find here was this finely-cast stone belonging to a Civil War widow.


Here's the transcript, in case your eyes fail you:

DRUSILLA

MARGARET

SCOTT

Wife of

JOHN O. MOORE

Born

Jun 22, 1847

Died

Oct 15, 1903

Not too far away this much simpler, government-issued stone marks her husband's final resting place. It gives the unit he served in during the Civil War, but no vital dates whatsoever.

I did a little sleuthing and found Mr. Moore was born in September 1834. He and Drusilla lived at Centre in Perry County, Pennsylvania, before moving to this little corner of heaven in the late 1800s. As a young man, he worked as an egraver, but eventually turned to farming. They had 7 children, though only 4 survived to adulthood.

We rabbits get so used to seeing matching stones for married couples, or even one stone bearing the names of both husband and wife. Isn't it a little odd that the Moores should have such very different markers?

References:

* 1870 Census, Perry County, Pennsylvania, page 30a.

* 1880 Census, Perry County, Pennsylvania, page 181b.

* 1900 Census, Orange County, Florida, page 36b.