Can anyone read this tombstone?

[Mary from Italy]

I don't suppose anyone can read this?

http://usgwarchives.net/wi/cemetery/images/juneau/wonewoctwp-pineedenlutheran/pineedenlutheran074.jpg

It's the tombstone of Henry Inman at Pine Eden Lutheran Cemetery, Wonewoc, Juneau, Wisconsin.

The Henry I'm interested in was born in Wisconsin c. 1869 to John Metcalf and Rachel Inman. They were living in Wonewoc in 1870, but they left by 1880, so if this is their son, I assume he died between 1870 and 1880 (he appears with them on the 1870 census).

I've checked interment.net and findagrave, but neither of them seems to have this burial (findagrave has the cemetery, but no Inman burials, and there are 3 tombstones there according to the usgwarchives site).

This site is an excellent resource for anyone with Wisconsin ancestors; I'll add it to the Resource board.

[kiterunner]

Henry John Inman died June 20th 1??? aged ? & 3 ??

Can't make out the important bits, sorry.

[Mary from Italy]

No problem, I'm afraid it's impossible :)

I think it may be Henry son of John (M?) Inman; Henry didn't have a middle name as far as I know.

Never mind, I expect one of the cemetery sites will have a transcription sooner or later. Thanks a lot for trying.

[Janet]

It doesn't look like John to me, Kite. Pretty sure I see an "S". I don't see "son of" either, Mary, but that could be. It would follow the pattern I see on similar tombstones in the cemetery next to me. For the rest, I think possibly:
HENRY
[SON OF???]
JAS. INMAN
DIED
June 20, 1873
AGED
4? [yrs.] & 3 mos.

Is that a lamb at the top of the tombstone? I'm thinking this may be a child.

[Kit]

I thought the year was 1873 and I'd say the name is Henry only given the way it is set out. The name in front of Inman may be James, the first letter is a J and the last is an S. There seems to be too much space to be Jas.

[Merry]

I can see....

HENRY
(big space)
J---S INMAN (middle letter looks more like an A than half an M, but I can't thiink of anything but James?)
DIED
June 29 18-3 (only think it's a nine because it looks bigger than the two)
AGED
----- & 3---

[Mary from Italy]

Thanks all. I think you're right about it being June 29, Merry, I hadn't noticed that.

My feeling is that this should be my Henry, who doesn't appear on any later censuses, because Inman isn't a very common surname; he had lots of relations in the area, but there isn't another Henry that I know of, and no James of the right age to be his father. I agree that it looks more like J...S than anything, though.

I think the age will be ... years and 3 months; the other local tombstones follow that format. 1873 does look plausible for the year, as Janet and Kit say, although it's very faint.

[Mary from Italy]

Just had a thought, looking at the photo from a different angle.

Before the name Inman there's a definite J, followed by two more letters, but they're very widely spaced, much more than the letters in Inman.

I wonder if it could be (son of) J & R Inman, which would fit with his parents' names? It does look as though there's a full stop after the J and the R.

[Merry]

Oh yes, so there is!!

I spent ages looking at that 'A' in the middle of the word (that isn't) James and it never looked like an ampersand before, but it does now!

[Janet]

Yes, now it does definitely look like an ampersand but I still can't see an R there. It still looks to me like J. & S. but I don't see a likely candidate. :(

I came up with these 4 Henry Inmans in Wisconsin:
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MWM1-1ZP
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MN9Q-VC1
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MN92-7QK
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MN9T-B6S

Is that 3rd one the family you're trying to track, Mary? If it were an R and not an S, then the rest of what I see would fit nicely with that one because Henry would be 4 by 1873.

[Merry]

It still looks to me like J. & S.

I have to agree with that, but I guess it isn't very easy to discipher.

[Mary from Italy]

Yes, it's the 3rd one in your list, Janet. As you can see, the family were in Wonewoc in 1870.