Born during the second year of the American Revolutionary War, little Sarah Wright was the 8-year-old daughter of John and Elizabeth Wright. She shares a gravestone with her younger brothers Joseph (age 5), John (age 3), and baby Moses (5 months) who died, as she did, in October 1784. Their brown sandstone stele, which features four soul effigies in its three tympanums, appears to be the work of noted craftsman Uzal Ward of Newark, NJ.
It is as yet unknown to this contributor whether the deaths of these four Wright children in early October 1784 were caused by an infectious disease or by an accident, such as a house fire. But even in an era when half of all children born did not survive to adulthood, the one-fell-swoop nature of their loss must have been particularly devastating to their parents. In a sad coincidence, Mrs. Wright died on October 4, 1819---a week before the 35th anniversary of little Sarah's death, two days before her brother Joseph's, and on the same day as her brothers John and Moses.
It is as yet unknown to this contributor whether the deaths of these four Wright children in early October 1784 were caused by an infectious disease or by an accident, such as a house fire. But even in an era when half of all children born did not survive to adulthood, the one-fell-swoop nature of their loss must have been particularly devastating to their parents. In a sad coincidence, Mrs. Wright died on October 4, 1819---a week before the 35th anniversary of little Sarah's death, two days before her brother Joseph's, and on the same day as her brothers John and Moses.
Born during the second year of the American Revolutionary War, little Sarah Wright was the 8-year-old daughter of John and Elizabeth Wright. She shares a gravestone with her younger brothers Joseph (age 5), John (age 3), and baby Moses (5 months) who died, as she did, in October 1784. Their brown sandstone stele, which features four soul effigies in its three tympanums, appears to be the work of noted craftsman Uzal Ward of Newark, NJ.
It is as yet unknown to this contributor whether the deaths of these four Wright children in early October 1784 were caused by an infectious disease or by an accident, such as a house fire. But even in an era when half of all children born did not survive to adulthood, the one-fell-swoop nature of their loss must have been particularly devastating to their parents. In a sad coincidence, Mrs. Wright died on October 4, 1819---a week before the 35th anniversary of little Sarah's death, two days before her brother Joseph's, and on the same day as her brothers John and Moses.
It is as yet unknown to this contributor whether the deaths of these four Wright children in early October 1784 were caused by an infectious disease or by an accident, such as a house fire. But even in an era when half of all children born did not survive to adulthood, the one-fell-swoop nature of their loss must have been particularly devastating to their parents. In a sad coincidence, Mrs. Wright died on October 4, 1819---a week before the 35th anniversary of little Sarah's death, two days before her brother Joseph's, and on the same day as her brothers John and Moses.
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