A small zinc marker

At first glance, I guessed the zinc marker was for a child because of its small size. Looking more closely, I realized it was placed for a woman, Caroline Amanda Buck (b. 1827, d. 1898). Because no husband was named on the gravestone, I wondered whether she was a spinster or a widow when she died.

CAROLINE
AMANDA
BUCK,
BORN
FEBRUARY 12, 1827,
DIED
JULY 6, 1898.
Within a few minutes, Ancestry.com coughs up hints that Ms. Buck was a widow, that her husband died during the Civil War. FamilySearch.org provides a probably marriage record: On April 15, 1847, Andrew M. Buck married Amanda Waters in Marion, Ohio.

Marriage record from FamilySearch.org

Ancestry provides Mr. Buck’s military record: He enlisted in the Union Army (as a musician) in October, 1861; he died of disease in Kentucky, February, 1862.

Military record from Ancestry.com

Mrs. Buck, who evidently never remarried, lived as a widow for over thirty years. Federal Census records offer a glimpse—but only a glimpse—into her life. In 1870 she was head of the household, “keeping house,” and raising three daughters (17, 14, and 10 years old). In 1880, her daughters grown, Mrs. Buck, 52 years old, was living with her eldest daughter’s family.

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Ashley Union Cemetery, Delaware County, Ohio