ADAM JACKSON

Born about 1862 in England

Died March 25, 1910, Bloomington, Indiana

At first glance the small limestone gravestone in Section E in the Rose Hill Cemetery in Bloomington, Indiana, looks like it was sculpted for a small child, maybe even an infant.  But at closer inspection, what at first looked like a child’s coffin is carved to resemble a stonecutter’s toolbox, complete with hinges on the back and handles on the sides for easy lifting.  The final clue is the chisel carved on the base of the gravestone, indicating the profession of the deceased person’s occupation—stonecutter.

The only other clue to who lay beneath the stone is the initial “A.” and the last name “JACKSON.”  A quick look in the cemetery files indicates that an A. Jackson was buried in the Rose Hill Cemetery and that he died March 1, 1910.  A search of deaths in Monroe County turned up an Adam Jackson who had been treated for pneumonia for about five days before he succumbed and died March 25, 1910, in Bloomington.  There was a small discrepancy in his date of death but that is not uncommon. Mr. Jackson was born in England in about 1862.  His occupation was listed as stonecutter just as his gravestone indicates.