Daughter of J. and J. Gould. 6 yrs, 6 mos, 6 d.


"Cemetery Rumblings" published on 5/13/2016:

Located in the far right corner of Plot 186 in the Main Circle of Santa Rosa Rural Cemetery sits the small gravestone of Mabel Elmira Gould who died on July 19, 1876 at the age of 6 years, 6 months and 6 days. Not much is known about little Mabel except that her parents were J & J Gould, which is inscribed on her gravestone. That’s it. End of story—or is it?

During the spring of 2007 when I was recording the epitaphs inscribed on all the aging Rural Cemetery gravestones, I came upon Mabel’s little gravestone. I felt bad that vandals had smashed the little concrete lamb that sits atop her stone. How cold of someone to have done such a thing!

I had learned to check every angle of a gravestone when looking for epitaphs—front, base, sides, top, and back—so as not to overlook anything. So I checked the back of Mabel’s little stone, and there they were—two little words that nearly brought tears to my eyes. The words “Our Pet,” a term of endearment, is engraved on the back of her stone.

These two words speak volumes. They convey the message that this child had been her parent’s little darling—the apple of their eye. I could just imagine how she must have lit up their lives, and how painful it must have been for them to lay her down in that grave.

In the spring of 2008, the Rose Brigade, a group of volunteers who look after the hundreds of vintage roses growing in Santa Rosa Rural Cemetery, planted a rose at Little Mabel’s grave to honor her memory. Appropriately, the name of the rose is “Little White Pet,” a small white, mildly fragrant Polyantha rose, which was introduced in the United States in 1889, just 13 years after Mabel’s death.

~by Sandy Frary, Rural Cemetery Archivist


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