Name: Connery, Samuel W
Burial Date: 1855, 03/08
Age at Death: 53
Plot Location: 113 B
Notes: See below for probable correction ****
Notes below from Denny Meyer, 12/16/2022
Samuel is the GG Grand Uncle of my wife and the son of her GGG Grandparents, William Connery and Margaret Bartley Connery. I believe a typo was made on the tombstone with a date of 1855 instead of the correct date of 1885. It’s apparent that Samuel’s tombstone was erected at the same time as William’s who is also buried there, as they are of the same design and composition, so it may have been an error in reading the handwriting, etc. some thirty years later.
I am attaching a photo of the 1850 census listing Samuel and his brother William. I am also attaching the draft record from the Civil War which indicates Samuel was 30 in 1863 and William was 28. This coincides with William’s birthdate on his tombstone of 1835.
The tombstone indicates Samuel was 53 years, 8 months and 5 days at death on March 8th, 1855, with a birthdate of “UNKNOWN” on findagrave. However, if one calculates by subtracting the years, months and days, his birthdate would be would be June 21st, 1801 when his father was age 6 and his mother was age 12. Obviously, that is not possible. Besides the fact, the Connery’s did not move to Sterling until 1876 as noted in an article in the 1917 edition of the Sterling newspaper which mentions William and Samuel as being founders of the RP Church.
Based on my research, Samuel died in 1885 based on the fact that he was 30 in July of 1863 and 49 in the 1880 census. This would make his birthdate July 3, 1831 which correlates with the various census, age of his parents, family order, etc.