Grave Mystery

Photo by Lorna Puleo.

This gravestone in the cemetery in the hamlet of Maplecrest, Town of Windham, Greene County, NY has long been a mystery. The inscription reads as follows:

AMBROSE MUNSON,

DIED

MAY 23, 1840

aged 41 years & 11 months.

A member of the Dutch

Reformed Church Red Hook.

Below that are a few lines of an inscription that begins with the words, “Peace, peace was the Language of my friend,” and ends with the initials G. D. P. To whom do those initials belong? Could it be a relative or the stone cutter?

There was a Gertrude Munson living in the Town of Hunter, Greene County, NY in 1840. She was between the ages of 30 and 40. There were no white males or any free colored persons in her household. There were three additional white females living with her, one between the ages of 20 and 30, and two who were less than 5 years old. Might she have been Ambrose Munson’s widow? Perhaps her middle or maiden name began with a D. As a young widow with a family to support, remarriage would have been a necessity. Perhaps her next husband’s surname began with a P.

Ambrose Munson’s name does not appear on any U.S. census schedule. Prior to 1850 the census only bore the name of the head of the household. Other members of the family, as well as any servants, apprentices and slaves, were enumerated as a mark placed into categories according to their gender, race and age. Presumably Ambrose’s absence from all census records indicate that he was living in someone else’s home. Was he living with one of his siblings or his in-laws? Perhaps. Was he living with an unrelated family? That, too, is a possibility.

His affiliation with the Dutch Reformed Church of Red Hook, Dutchess County, NY was important enough to be mentioned on his gravestone. Have the records from that church survived and, if so, do they shed any light on Ambrose or his family?

Why was he buried in Big Hollow, as Maplecrest was originally called? Did he have family or friends living in this hamlet? Was this gravestone originally placed in a different cemetery?

Did the stone carver make an error on the inscription and subsequently sell it to be used in the foundation of a home or as a paving stone? Such a practice was not unheard of. The inscription is still legible, unlike other gravestones that aren’t nearly as old and have become weathered and worn by the elements. Imagine buying a home and discovering an old gravestone lying face down on the cellar floor or embedded in the sidewalk. No doubt you would want it off your property and placed in the nearest cemetery. Is that what happened in this case?

Many members of the Munson family lived in Windham and are well documented in two volumes of The Munson Record: A Genealogical and Biographical Account of Captain Thomas Munson (A Pioneer of Hartford and New Haven) and His Descendants, by Myron A. Munson, M.A. that was published in 1896, but there is no mention of anyone named Ambrose Munson in this work.

This is truly a mystery that may never be solved.

Update: There was a Gertrude Munson living in Red Hook, Dutchess County, NY in 1850. She was 44 and born in NY State. Living with her were 13 year old Helen L. Munson, and 10 year old Mary Ann Munson, presumably her daughters. The ages of all three match those who lived in the Gertrude Munson household in Hunter, NY in 1840.

https://www.ebates.com/r/WINDHA?eeid=28187