On the above referenced date, two people died in the city of Lancaster. . . and on the 12th of July both were buried in Lancaster Cemetery. One was Jacob M. Long and the other was Susan Ward Axer Cole. I’ve written about Susan, but I’ve never written about Jacob ~ never had a reason to, he’s not part of my family.
I had seen Jacob’s headstone while in Lancaster Cemetery several weeks ago and thought it unusual and beautiful. Since I wanted to do a blog on it some day, I looked for his obituary to find out something about him. Well, I found it, and directly under his, was Susan’s.
Besides the obvious gender difference, the first difference I noticed was the length of the obituaries ~ Jacob’s was 9″ long, Susan’s a mere 1″. Jacob was a merchant, businessman, Trustee of Lancaster Cemetery and on the Board of Trustees for Franklin and Marshall College. He never married.
Susan, on the other hand, married twice. Her first marriage was to a linen weaver and her second marriage to a tanner curer. She was a wife and a mother.
Susan was a teenager when Jacob was born. Very little is known about her before her marriage to Jacob Axer. Jacob M. Long, on the other hand, was born into a well established family. He had a good education and entered into business with his father. He inherited the business when his father died.
Jacob lived in the family home, “a handsome residence” at 14 No. Orange Street, in the heart of the city; Susan lived with her daughter and son-in-law in the city in a nice area, however the home was not her’s.
Although Jacob’s obituary was much longer than Susan’s, and appeared before her’s, Susan’s funeral was first. Her funeral was 2:00 and his was at 3:00 in the afternoon. They are buried almost directly across the road from each other in Lancaster Cemetery.
Jacob left an estate of between 70 and 100K. Susan’s was no where close to that. Her estate mainly consisted of clothing and household goods. Susan’s is a simple stone, next to her second husband, Abraham Cole. I’ve written about the placement of the stone on the above referenced blog about Susan.
I’m sure there must have been common friends, since Susan’s son in law was a merchant in the City. If in fact there were common friends, how did they attend both funerals? Did Susan and Jacob go to the same Church? If so how did the clergy handle the arrangements? Did the funerals cross paths at one point? Was Susan’s family leaving when Jacob’s funeral was arriving? Don’t you wonder about such things?
. . . and now that Jacob Long and Susan Ward Axer Cole are neighbors for eternity, are the playing grounds leveled?
