Rhoda Stone

---

In Memory of

Mrs. Rhodea Stone

Consort of

Mr. Simon Stone

She died

April 9th, 1800

In the 33d year

of her age.

Rhoda was born in Groton, MA to Nathaniel and Sibel (Stone) Stone on October 22, 1767. She was the fifth of their ten children.

On May 13, 1795 she married Simon Stone Jr. of Templeton, MA, a distant cousin on her mother's side. Oliver Prescott, a cousin of Rhoda, presided. Unusual for the time period Simon was five years younger than Rhoda; he was 22 years old at the time of their marriage while she was 27. The Stones made their home on the western part of Gardner, MA. In addition to farming, Simon owned and operated a saw mill on Perley Brook. They had two children: Rhoda on February 29, 1796, and Simon on February 19, 1800. Both children lived into adulthood.

On April 9, 1800, about six weeks after she gave birth to Simon, Rhoda died in Gardner. Her funeral was held the following day, and she was laid to rest in the Old Burying Ground.

Simon remarried a few months after Rhoda's death. He would marry a total of four times, and after the War of 1812 he moved to Canada.

Rhoda's gravestone is interesting in that the gravestone carver made a mistake in carving the year of her death--he started carving "17__" instead of "18__". Gravestones were not always carved immediately after death--sometimes years later. Likely he was not yet accostomed to writing the new century yet. Her family may have received a discount on the stone because of the error.