I recently located the grave marker for our ancestor, Elisabeth Pearl, at Mt Vernon Cemetery in Boxford, MA. Elisabeth was the wife of John Pearl, the founding member of the Pearl family in America. Her seventh child was Timothy Pearl (1694/5 – 1773), who established the Hampton, CT branch of the family in about 1720.
Elisabeth’s original stone was set into a granite marker at some point. The original inscription reads “Here lies buried the body of Mrs Elisabeth Pearl. Died March 26, 1744, in ye 82nd year of her age.” On the granite below, a note has been added about her husband: “1650 John Pearl 1710″. (The information we have states that John Pearl was born in 1645 or 1646 in Beverley, England and died in 1720 in Boxford, MA.)
Numerous other Pearl stones are in the Mt. Vernon Cemetery, including quite a few from the recent past.
………….Allen Vander Meulen III
