Tombstone Tuesday ~ John Worthen Dearborn, Hampton, New Hampshire

This gravestone was photographed at High Street Cemetery in Hampton, New Hampshire.

We were there to photograph a family member's stone, but when I saw this memorial I took a quick photo.

I knew there would be a story behind this sad inscription...

JOHN W. DEARBORN
1833 - 19915
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HIS SEVEN CHILDREN
WHO DIED OF DIPTHERIA
IN 1866

John Worthen Dearborn, son of John Dearborn and Mary Ann Towle, was a mason in Hampton, New Hampshire.  He was born 22 August 1833 in Hampton and died in 1915.  He married first on 24 Mar 1853 to Sarah Melinda Brown, daughter of William Brown and Nancy Hutchings Downing.   He married second on 29 April 1878 in Hampton to Ann Martha Brown, daughter of Jeremiah Brown and Martha Lane.  Nine children born in Hampton (all with Sarah) seven died of diphtheria in the fall of 1866.  

1. John P. Dearborn, born 1 August 1853, died 8 December 1866

2. Josephine A. Dearborn, born 22 October 1854, died 10 October 1866

3. Mary H. Dearborn, born 19 October 1856, died 19 October 1866

4. Charles W. Dearborn, born 17 August 1858, died 23 September 1866

5. George H. Dearborn, born 1 February 1860, died 19 September 1866

6. Annie L. Dearborn, born 2 April 1862, died 22 September 1866

7. Willie A. Dearborn, born 9 December 1863, died 20 October 1866

8. Philena G. Dearborn, born 11 June 1865 married Edward P. Moulton

9. Frank J. Dearborn, born 12 October 1868

The genealogy was gleaned from The Dearborns of Hampton: Descendants of Godfrey Dearborn, by Joseph Dow, 1893.  In this book I also learned that John Worthen Dearborn was a distant cousin, since I am also a descendant of Godfrey Dearborn through both his son Henry (1634 - 1725) and his daughter Sarah (abt 1641 - 1714) who married Thomas Nudd. 

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Tombstone Tuesday ~ John Worthen Dearborn, Hampton, New Hampshire", Nutfield Genealogy, posted June 12, 2012, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/06/tombstone-tuesday-john-worthen-dearborn.html: accessed [access date]).