Margaret Muzzey, died 1787 in Newbury, Massachusetts

 

THIS

Mournfull Stone is

Erected to ye Memory of

Miss Margaret Muzzey

the only Child of Mr. Joseph

and Mrs Lydia Muzzey

who after a long & painfull

sickness which she bore with

Unexampled patience

Exchanged this Mortal for an

immortal state Decr. ye 8th

1787 In the 23rd year of

her age.

What tho this body turns to dust

It can't disturb my rest

May I but dwell with Christ above

To be for ever blest. 

Margaret Muzzy, born 12 January 1765 in Newbury, Essex County, Massachusetts, and died 18 December 1787 in Newbury, was buried at the First Parish Burial Ground in Newbury.  She was the daughter of Joseph Muzzey (1731 - 1801) and Lydia Stickney (1733 - 1799) married on 26 May 1756 in Newbury.  

We often think that the Puritans, who lost so many babies to childhood diseases, were cold hearted and stoic.  This tombstone shows two parents mourning the loss of an only child.  It is an example of how our assumptions are wrong, and the parents of the eighteenth century were just like us today. 

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To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Margaret Muzzey, died 1787 in Newbury, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted April 2, 2024, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2024/04/margaret-muzzey-died-1787-in-newbury.html: accessed [access date]).