Sunday, January 30, 2011

the Daniels Family


When tromping in Oak Hill Cemetery this past Friday, I found this monument inscribed with the letter D for Daniels. I knew the back story from this past year of research on Oak Hill Cemetery, so finding this layout of the family plots made me smile.

Harriette Weare (1829-1919) married Lowell Daniels (1822-1876). When he passed, he was only 54, leaving a widow in her late 40s. Poor Harriette Weare Daniels older brother then died within a few days. Harriette married Lawson Daniels (1827-1906), the younger brother of her deceased husband. They had a long marriage. He passed in 1906 and she memorialized him with a donation to Oak Hill Cemetery of $6600. That was a lot of $$$$ for 1907-08. Local architects Josselyn and Taylor were commissioned to design the new entrance to the cemetery, which included a split-granite boulder gatehouse, a stone wall, a cast iron fence, and an elaborate gate. A plaque set into the stone dedicates this entry to Lawson Daniels. There is no mention of the other brother, her first husband.

What made me smile when I happened upon this family plot? Harriette Weare Daniels is planted in between the two brothers, her late and later husbands.