Elizabeth Wright (1731-1766)
The death's head was a common symbol on tombstones in the 18th century, a reaction to the high rate of mortality. The symbol, along with the words, REMEMBER TO DIE (more commonly written, REMEMBER DEATH or MOMENTO MORI) was meant to warn passers-by that they should be prepared for death. The epitaph on Elizabeth Wright's stone holds the same warning, admonishing the living to improve their moral behavior before it was too late: MORTALS BE WISE IMPROVE YE DAY WHILE VITAL SPIRITS ANIMATE YE CLAY.
Two of Elizabeth's children, an infant of eight months and a stepson, 10 years old, died before she did. The children share the tombstone next to her. Doctor Thomas Wright, her husband, was a local physician. In April of 1767 a statement in the local Town Records recognized the doctor's right to grieve without being disturbed: It was agreed Doctor Wright should not be molested in his burying yard on ye Green in said town. During the American Revolution, Dr. Wright died on The Provost, a British prison ship in New York harbor.
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