Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins

Two (almost) matching gravestones, each with a hand pointing upward sit side by side in Mitchell Cemetery.

John Jenkins (d. 1868) and Elizabeth Jenkins (d. 1894), husband and wife, lived and farmed in Union County, Ohio. Their (almost) matching gravestones do have some differences, not the least of which is how their last name is spelled.

JOHN JENKINS Died Sept. 25, 1868 Aged 56 y. 10 m. 3 d.

ELIZABETH wife of J. JINKINS died Apr. 8, 1894 AGED 88Y. 5M. 22D.

Both stones are weathered, but the older one has aged quite well. For example, the hand carving is still crisp and well defined on the John Jenkins gravestone. You can still make out the words above, There is rest in Heaven. Compare it to the hand on the Elizabeth Jenkins marker, which is slowly weathering away.

(Or maybe the weathering is not as bad as it first seems. Is it possible that Elizabeth’s hand was not as skillfully carved to begin with?)

Is it Jenkins or Jinkins? Almost certainly it is Jenkins. Misspellings are not unusual on older gravestones; this one simply stands out because Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins rest side by side.

---

Mitchell Cemetery, Union County, Ohio