Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Stories from Bovina's Cemeteries - the Frank R. Coulter Monument

On September 15, 1902, Frank Coulter passed away at the age of 62.   The Andes Recorder reported his passing in their September 19 issue:

F.R. Coulter Dies Suddenly.
     Frank R. Coulter, of Bovina, died suddenly at his home in Bovina Centre on Monday morning, September 15, at about 2 o’clock.
     For several years he had been troubled with his heart, but had been feeling about as usual, and on Sabbath attended church.  Sabbath evening he complained of no[t] feeling quite as well and did not attend services.  He went to bed as usual but about 1 o’clock on Monday morning he awakened his wife and told her he felt very bad and had great difficulty in getting his breath.  Mrs. Coulter opened the windows but this gave no relief.  She then called the Rev. Samson, who lives next door, and when he came he saw that Mr. Coulter was dangerously ill, hurriedly aroused Dr. Raebuck and William Coulter but Mr. Coulter lived only a few minutes after the doctor arrived. 
     Mr. Coulter was born in the town of Bovina on the farm now occupied by E.L. Coulter, about 62 years ago and has always been a resident of the town.  Some 32 years ago he married Miss Jane Ann Scott, daughter of Robert C. Scott, who survives him.
     After his marriage he lived for two or three years on the old homestead, and then in the early seventies moved onto the farm at the foot of Bramley mountain where he lived until a few years ago when he moved to this village and has since resided here.


In December 1902, the Andes Recorder reported that "Mrs. Frank R. Coulter has received a check for $5,000, the amount of the insurance policy in the Phoenix company carried by her late husband."  By the end of that month, Mrs. Coulter had used $1,000 of that settlement to order a monument for her husband from Woodburn and Smyth, the monument dealers in Delhi.  The monument's base had been delivered to the cemetery by the end of April.  It alone weighed 5,850 pounds.  A few days later, the Andes Recorder reported that the rest of the "elegant monument" had been installed, noting that it weighed eight tons and that it is made "of Barre granite, consisting of four pieces beautifully carved, polished and lettered."
Photo courtesy of Ed and Dick Davidson
Jane Scott Coulter survived her husband three months shy of six years when she died in 1908.  She is buried along side her husband. 




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