buried babies

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My third great grandparents, Charles Towson and Frances Tarr, had ten children. Four of these children died in infancy or childhood and are buried in the same plot, 481 FF in Baltimore Cemetery.

Those children are:
William (born abt. February 1868, died abt. December 1868)
James (born abt. Feb 1868, died abt. July 1868)
Sarah Ellen (born Sept. 9, 1876, died Mar. 27, 1881)
Henry "Harry" (born abt. Mar 1880, died abt. Sept 1880)

I have had the best luck finding evidence of Sarah Ellen's life and death. Baltimore City began recording births and deaths in 1875, the year before her birth, and I have both her birth and death certificates. She also appears in the 1880 United States Census, which also shows younger brother "Harry" at age three months.

The only evidence I have for Harry is, in fact, this census. There does exist a burial record for a "Henry" Towson at Baltimore Cemetery, alongside Sarah Ellen. In addition, a pension record of Charles has him list all of his children, and although he cannot give birth or death dates, he gives his son's name as Harry.

The information about William and James's lives is even more sparse. Neither one of them lived long enough to have been recorded in the 1870 Census. But two infant Towsons were buried in 1868; an James in July 1868, and an unnamed infant Towson in December of that year. Cemetery records list James as being four months old at the time of his burial, and the unnamed infant (who could only be William) as being nine months old, meaning that they were most likely twins born in February.

I've been to the FF area of Baltimore Cemetery, in the very back left corner of the cemetery. The area is sparsely decorated with headstones, and there are none in the area where the Towson children are supposed to be buried– either for them, or the four unknowns also buried in the lot with them (William H Busby, Annie Busby, Mary J Busby, and James Busby). One of my dreams is to buy a headstone for these four long deceased relatives of mine. But before I do that, I'm hoping to find actual birth and death dates for the three boys. I'd like to be able to remember them as best as possible. Their lives may have been short, but that doesn't mean they weren't important.

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