Gravestones typically include dates for the start and the end of life and, sometimes include the cause of death.  In a few cases they also document when a death was caused by human action.  Today’s gravestone is for Daniel Campbell, of Rutland, Massachusetts (yeah, I’m going to use a lot of central Massachusetts stones), who was murdered in 1745.

HERE LIES BURIED Ye

BODY OF Mr DANIEL

BORN IN SCOTLAND

AND CAME INTO

NEW ENGLAND ANNO 1716

WAS MURDERED ON HIS

OWN FARM JN RUTLAND

BY ED FITZPATRICK AN

IRISHMAN ON MARCH

Ye 8th ANNO DM 1744

JN Ye 48 YEAR

OF HIS AGE

~ MAN KNOWETH

NOT HIS TIME

The case seems to have been the first murder in the county, between two Europeans at least; Fitzpatrick being executed for his crime in September of that same year.  See HERE for a few more details of the case.  His stone was likely carved by Moses Worcester; we will talk about him another time…

Tom and Brenda Malloy explored this and many other Massachusetts murders recorded on gravestones in their article “Murder in Massachusetts: It’s Written in Stone” in Markers XVI (1999).