Milley Gay Everett Clapp (1803-1848)
Milley Gay Everett was born on February 6, 1803 in Dedham. Her parents were Ebenezer Everett Jr. (1766-1842) and Sarah Morse Everett (1772-1828). She was the sixth of nine children born to the couple. She was likely named after her father’s first wife, Meletiah Gay Everett, who died in 1790 following childbirth at 20 years old.
On October 16, 1825, Milley G. Everett married Joseph Clapp of Roxbury. They had one child: Adeline S. Clapp, born in 1827.
Milley G. Everett Clapp died on May 20, 1848 in Worcester. According to her death certificate, she was a widow and passed away from heart disease at 45. When Joseph Clapp died is unknown.
Milley Everett Clapp was buried in Old Parish along with her family. Her gravestone reads:
Milley G.
Wife of
Joseph Clapp,
Died
May 20, 1848,
Aet. 45.
According to Fred Holland Day, sometime shortly after the railroad was put through South Dedham (in 1849), part of the burying ground was washed away by a terrible storm. According to Day, “There is no record of the many graves so destroyed, but it is certain that no small number disappeared at that time.”
Milley G. Everett Clapp’s stone is among the line of stones set side-by-side in lot 94. They were likely placed there following that storm, which may have washed away the original gravesites.
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