Barry Sisk mentioned that he had a gravestone for a little girl in his garage. In 2002, Barry and Ruth helped clean out her uncle’s (Edward Arthur Pease) garage/workshop in Waterford Conn. after he passed away. Barry and Ruth came across the gravestone when they emptied the garage and didn’t know what to do with it, so they brought it home. Ruth Sisk and her uncle Edward were from a long line of Pease ancestors who lived in Suffield. Barry didn’t know how Edward got the stone or if the name on the stone was related to the family. Barry was also concerned about the legality of having the gravestone. The stone was white marble, engraved with: “Catherine E, Daughter of Mr. William E & Mrs. Emily Fuller, died, Nov 20, 1840, AE 7yr”.
Using the information on the stone, Ancestry, Find-A-Grave and Barry’s knowledge of his wife’s family, I was able to create a Fuller/Pease family tree. I determined that Caroline and her family lived in Suffield. She is buried in the old Center Cemetery behind the Congregational Church in Suffield with her parents, William E Fuller and Emily Granger, and her two brothers, William and Edward.
Catherine’s brother William Henry Fuller was a farmer, assessor and General Insurance agent. He is also Abby Wolcott’s 2nd great grandfather. Caroline’s other brother was Edward A. Fuller who married Sarah L. Pease. They had no children, but they did raise Sarah’s young nephew, Howard Fuller Pease (Ruth’s grandfather) as their own son after his parents passed away. Edward A. Fuller was a tobacco grower, 1st Selectman of Suffield, represented Suffield in the Connecticut General Assembly, was director of the CT State Prison and director of the National Exchange Bank in Hartford. Edward was also a Civil War veteran. He was a sergeant in the 22nd regiment, CT infantry, part of McClellan’s army.
How did Catherine’s gravestone end up in Barry’s garage? Sometime after other members of the Fuller family passed away, Caroline’s gravestone was replaced by the larger family monument and markers that include Caroline. It must have been that family members didn’t have the heart to dispose of the gravestone of little Catherine, and the Pease descendants became the caretaker of the stone. Was it ok for Barry Sisk to have a gravestone in his garage? The answer is yes. We know the mystery behind the gravestone, and it didn’t include any nefarious deeds.