Wrong Day of Death on Stone

We have another conflicting date on a gravestone in Rockaway Valley United Methodist Church Cemetery in Boonton, Morris County, New Jersey.

Find A Grave memorial page
Dora E Vanness Cook 1863-1892

Picture of the stone of Dora E Vanness Cook
at Rockaway Valley United Methodist Church Cemetery
Note the date of death is November 10, 1892

The stone for Dora E VanNess Cook provides her dates of birth and death: October 24, 1863 - November 10, 1892.

But her death certificate has her death as the next day, November 11, 1892. She died at 29 years of age in Boonton.

Death certificate of Dorcastina Elisabeth Cook
November 11, 1892 in Boonton
Available through the New Jersey State Archives

As discussed in the prior article about differing dates for Hila Vanderhoof Cook, the death certificate is a primary source for the date of death. The gravestone is not a primary source. We do not know when or why the stone was engraved.

Elizabeth Dorcastina VanNess married William H Cook (1866-1960) on June 12, 1889 in Powerville, which is an area in Boonton. She was the daughter of James VanNess (1817-1885) and MaryAnn Pierson (1825-1908).

William Cook's paternal grandmother was Hila Vanderhoof (1803-1888), whose gravestone illustrated an engravement with an incorrect year.