Born during the fifth year of the American Revolutionary War, little John Wright, the 3-year-old son of John and Elizabeth Wright, shares a gravestone with his siblings Sarah (age 8), Joseph (age 5), and baby Moses (5 months), who all died, as he did, in October 1784. 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---the 35th anniversary of little John's and baby Moses' deaths.
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---the 35th anniversary of little John's and baby Moses' deaths.
Born during the fifth year of the American Revolutionary War, little John Wright, the 3-year-old son of John and Elizabeth Wright, shares a gravestone with his siblings Sarah (age 8), Joseph (age 5), and baby Moses (5 months), who all died, as he did, in October 1784. 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---the 35th anniversary of little John's and baby Moses' deaths.
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---the 35th anniversary of little John's and baby Moses' deaths.
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