Born during the fourth year of the American Revolutionary War, little Joseph Wright, the 5-year-old son of John and Elizabeth Wright, shares a gravestone with his siblings Sarah (age 8), John (age 3), and baby Moses (5 months) who all died, as he did, in October 1784, the year after the war ended. Their brown sandstone stele, which features four soul effigies in its three tympanums, appears to be the work of noted craftsman Uzal Ward of Newark, NJ.
It is as yet unknown to this contributor whether the deaths of these four Wright children in early October 1784 were caused by an infectious disease, or by an accident, such as a house fire. But even in an era when half of all children born did not survive to adulthood, the one-fell-swoop nature of their loss must have been particularly devastating to their parents. In a sad coincidence, Mrs. Wright died on October 4, 1819---two days before the 35th anniversary of little Joseph's death, a week before his sister Sarah's, and on the same day as his siblings John and Moses.
It is as yet unknown to this contributor whether the deaths of these four Wright children in early October 1784 were caused by an infectious disease, or by an accident, such as a house fire. But even in an era when half of all children born did not survive to adulthood, the one-fell-swoop nature of their loss must have been particularly devastating to their parents. In a sad coincidence, Mrs. Wright died on October 4, 1819---two days before the 35th anniversary of little Joseph's death, a week before his sister Sarah's, and on the same day as his siblings John and Moses.
Born during the fourth year of the American Revolutionary War, little Joseph Wright, the 5-year-old son of John and Elizabeth Wright, shares a gravestone with his siblings Sarah (age 8), John (age 3), and baby Moses (5 months) who all died, as he did, in October 1784, the year after the war ended. Their brown sandstone stele, which features four soul effigies in its three tympanums, appears to be the work of noted craftsman Uzal Ward of Newark, NJ.
It is as yet unknown to this contributor whether the deaths of these four Wright children in early October 1784 were caused by an infectious disease, or by an accident, such as a house fire. But even in an era when half of all children born did not survive to adulthood, the one-fell-swoop nature of their loss must have been particularly devastating to their parents. In a sad coincidence, Mrs. Wright died on October 4, 1819---two days before the 35th anniversary of little Joseph's death, a week before his sister Sarah's, and on the same day as his siblings John and Moses.
It is as yet unknown to this contributor whether the deaths of these four Wright children in early October 1784 were caused by an infectious disease, or by an accident, such as a house fire. But even in an era when half of all children born did not survive to adulthood, the one-fell-swoop nature of their loss must have been particularly devastating to their parents. In a sad coincidence, Mrs. Wright died on October 4, 1819---two days before the 35th anniversary of little Joseph's death, a week before his sister Sarah's, and on the same day as his siblings John and Moses.
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