I made an attempt to get to Appomattox Courthouse this evening, but the park was closed and so I was disappointed that I couldn’t get closer to the site. That said, the drive was beautiful and the area was quite moving. I don’t recall visiting any other place in America that instills such a sense of history while seeming quite natural and uncommercialized. It was quite moving.
While I couldn’t get into the park, there were several historical markers.
The one in the photo below is a monument to the Raine family and lists birth and death dates of several family members. I never realized it when I took the photo, but there is an oddity on the left face of the marker.
You’ll notice the listing of a daughter born to J.A. and Hannah E. Raine, but there is no first name listed, just a block of text where a name should be. The birth and death date tragically reveal she was just over a year old when she died.
Did she never receive a name, or is there some other explanation for this?
Raine Family Memorial
I am assuming that to the Raine family, this is not a mystery, but it is to me. Please leave a comment if you know the answer.
I’ve read that when infant mortality was high, parents would wait a year before naming their baby. During this time they would find a name to suit the character of the child.
I guess that would explain it. After your comment, I googled some more and saw that was the case, with an explanation that parents didn’t want to become too attached. It is hard to fathom how tough that would have been.