MARY C.
wife of
John A. Spencer
died Nov. 14 1847
AE. 35.
This is the only gravestone that is inscribed at the Christiantown cemetery. The rest of the stones are unmarked.
Mary C. James married John A. Spencer of New Bedford on 25 Aug. 1835 in Chilmark, according to the Chilmark Vital Records to 1850.
According to Tisbury Vital Records to 1850, p. 87, three births are recorded to John Spencer, "colored," on 9 June 1836, 29 Oct. 1839, and 11 Jan. 1844.
On p. 239, it also notes that Mary Spencer, wife of J. Spencer, died of consumption in March 1848, aged 37 y. 11 m.
There are no Spencers listed in the 1850 Dukes County census, but there is a "Thomas James," "colored," aged between 36 and 55, in the 1830 Tisbury census - was this her father? Thomas James is also listed in the 1850 Edgartown census, aged 68, Black, mariner on Brig Pavilion, born c. 1781-2 in Edenton, NC.