Eunice Mather Williams's Gravestone
Eunice Mather Williams, wife of the Reverend John Williams, was one of many captives taken in the 1704 raid on Deerfield, Massachusetts. Weakened from recent childbirth and burdened by heavy petticoats, she was unable to keep up during the march to Canada and was killed by her captor. A search party found her body the next day and brought her to Deerfield to be buried. The epitaph inscribed on her gravestone in Deerfield reads, "Here lyeth the body of Mrs. Eunice Williams, the virtuous and desirable consort of the Rev. John Williams and daughter of Rev. Eleazer and Mrs. Esther Mather of Northampton. She was born Aug. 2, 1664, and fell by the rage of the barbarous enemy March 1st, 1703-4. Her children rise up and call her blessed." The winged death's head, a harsh symbol of orthodox Puritanism, tops the gravestone's carved decoration.
Date: 1729
Topic: Ceremonial
Materials: Red sandstone
Dimensions: currently unavailable
Accession #: n.a.