John Wanton Stoddard's brown sandstone stele, shown standing upright in the topmost photo, taken in November 1986, bears the initials JWS in its tympanum. Born in Rhode Island, he had suffered and died of smallpox (see inscription below.) It appears likely that Mr. Stoddard was related to Joseph Wanton, a merchant and governor of colonial Rhode Island, and the former Mary Winthrop. Governor and Mrs. Wanton's children included a daughter named Catherine (b.1745), whose second husband was Robert Stoddard. Although John Wanton Stoddard's gravestone doesn't give his age at death, if his mother was indeed Catherine Wanton Stoddard, he was probably born after 1765, and therefore was only in his 20's when he as fatally stricken.

VANDALISM/THEFT OF PORTION OF THIS GRAVESTONE
John Wanton Stoddard's gravestone was broken off at its base some years after the 1986 photo was taken, and in the middle photo, taken in July 2002, it can be seen embedded in the ground. While many historic stones have been similarly damaged by the elements and even commercial lawnmowers, the third photo of Stoddard's stone---by 2014 fragmented and curiously incomplete---is suspicious. A close look reveals that the remnants of another colonial stone---this one featuring a soul effigy in its tympanum---are mingled with what remains of Stoddard's. This raises questions about the possible involvement of a local amateur photographer. Intrigued by a photo of the Stoddard stone on the photo website Flickr, he stated his intention of breaking off part of the Stoddard inscription in a comment posted on that website. The fragments of the second gravestone, which appears to have been recently broken, may have been deliberately placed on Stoddard's grave to make the desecration and theft less evident.