Hannah Drury - Wives and Mothers of 1776 - Temple, NH
Posted by: Telomere
N 42° 49.119 W 071° 51.061
19T E 266928 N 4744619
This simply engraved chunk of native granite is located in the "Wives and Mothers of 1776" cemetery, alongside several Revolutionary War soldiers.
Waymark Code: WM7TVQ
Location: New Hampshire, United States
Date Posted: 12/03/2009
Views: 3
In Temple, NH, adjacent to the tiny village common is a cemetery with a long history. Many Revolutionary War soldiers are buried here, and their stately gravestones stand proudly, alongside those of their family members.
This one, however, sits apart from the rest. It is an angular chunk of granite ledge, with the following inscription chiseled by hand:
Hannah Drury
The wife of
Zedekiah
Drury
If there is a date, it is indecipherable. Researching the history of the names, I found that Zedekiah Drury was born in 1716, in Massachusetts; he moved to Temple, NH and practiced as a blacksmith. The first town meeting in Temple was held at his house in 1768. In January of 1776, he enlisted along with 15 other men from this area, and in August of 1776 he died of malarial fever.
He was married twice, in 1738 to Hannah Axtell (b. 1721, d. 1740) and in 1741 to Hannah Wooley (b. 1722). It is unclear which Hannah is buried here. I would guess that he made this memorial using his smithy's tools.