Tabitha Longfellow Lewis Willey for Tombstone Tuesday

 

Sacred

To the Memory of

Tabitha L.

wife of 

Dea. Stephen Willey,

DIED

Sept. 23, 1847

AEt. 40. 

Thou art gone to the grave, but we will not deplore thee,

Since God was thy ransom, thy guardian, thy guide;

He gave these, he took thee, and He will restore thee;

And death has no sting, since the Saviour that died. 

This tombstone is in a location I prefer to keep secret.  For more information on why it is not being made public, see this blog post:  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2025/10/this-story-will-give-you-willeys.html 

Tabitha Longfellow Lewis was born 23 September 1807 in Bridgton, Maine, the daughter of George Lewis and Ruth Lincoln.  She married Deacon Stephen D. Willey on 9 January 1826 in Bridgton and had five children.  She died 23 September 1847 in North Conway, New Hampshire.  

Stephen’s parents were Captain Samuel Willey 1785 – 1844 and Elizabeth “Betsy” Glazier.  He was enumerated in the Onalaska, LaCrosse County, Wisconsin Federal Census in 1860, and died December 1860 in Dover, New Hampshire. He is buried in the Willey Cemetery, too.  Stephen was the brother of Samuel Willey, who died in the famous1826 landslide in Crawford Notch that killed his entire family.  Deacon Stephen Willey was part of the party that tried to rescue his brother's family after the disaster, and he auctioned the contents of their house after burying the few remains that were recovered.  

Tabitha’s children:

1.           1. Samuel Willey, born about 1827

2.          2. George Lewis Willey, born 3 April 1829 in Conway, married Sarah Elizabeth Nutting 22 June 1856 in Kewaunee, Wisconsin.

3.          3. Sarah Peabody Willey, born 23 April 1831 in Conway, married Joseph Colley Dole 1865 in Coles, Illinois

4.        4. Ann Judson Willey, born 27 February 1837 in Conway, married John Henry Hale 1855 in Conway, died in Hamilton, Fillmore County, Minnesota

5.       5. Katherine Willey , born 1839 in Bridgton, Maine

For the truly curious:

My 2020 Willey Landslide blog post  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/10/happy-halloween-story-of-willey-family.html  

 

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 To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Tabitha Longfellow Lewis Willey for Tombstone Tuesday", Nutfield Genealogy, posted February 3, 2026, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/02/tabitha-longfellow-lewis-willey-for.html: accessed [access date]).