The Kerr Family Plot

Near the front of the Unitarian Church Cemetery is a pretty large sized family grave site. This site belongs to the Kerr/ Hurlbut family. Elizabeth Crocker Hurlbut Kerr is Thomas J. Kerr's wife and their children as well as Elizabeth's family is buried here. For the most part the grave markers in this family plot are headstones but one monument really stood out to me. In the front right corner of the plot is a pair of matching bedsteads. These bedsteads really stood out to me because unlike the other bedsteads I have seen, these ones have almost a mini headstone at the base that have the person's initials on them.

The matching bedsteads

Initials at the foot of the bedsteads

The bedstead to the left is Thomas J. Kerr's final resting place. Thomas J. Kerr was born on August 15, 1803 and died on May 22, 1890. His death certificate said that the primary cause of death was old age and the secondary cause of death was bronchitis.  He worked as a merchant and a warf owner. Him and his wife lived at 7 Pitt. The couple had two children named Emily and Thomas but sadly both died at young ages. Emily died at the age of three while her brother wasn't even a year old when he passed. The siblings are buried together under one headstone.

Interior of 7 Pitt

As I was doing research I couldn't find much about Thomas's side of the family but I did learn a lot about Elizabeth's. Elizabeth's father, Martin Luther Hurlbut was the minister and school master of the First Unitarian Church in Pennsylvania. His family later moved to Charleston where they lived for 20 years. During his time in Charleston he was a proud slave owner although he is a Yankee at heart.

Kerr Family plot

As I was researching the members of the Kerr plot one grave site is still a mystery to me. The bedstead to the left is the final resting place of Charles R Kerr. Charles was born in 1841 and died in 1865. I did tons or research through Ancestory.com, FindAGrave.com, as well as the Unitarian Cemetery records and Charles is nowhere to be found.