A Baby's Grave: Little Mary Hardy (d. 1879)

She was a daughter of Samuel Graham and Kate Moore Hardy. Little Mary lived just thirteen months. A stone memorial placed for her in Myrtle Hill Cemetery at Rome, Floyd County, Georgia is a sculpture of a little one reaching up, waiting to be carried to Heaven.

Rome Tri-Weekly Courier (Georgia)
26 August 1879 -pg. 3 [via Georgia Historic Newspapers]

Little Mary Hardy.

'We have gathered up her toys,
We have hid away each sad memento
That reminds us of our joys;
Not because we fain would banish
From our eyes the tears that swell,
But we would our hearts could whisper,
Heavenly Father, It is well.'

Only a baby's grave, and yet how a sight of the little mound will cause the hearts of the grief-stricken parents to swell afresh with the great sorrow that overshadows their lives. How lonely is their home without their treasure. None but He who reads our innermost thoughts can realize how they will miss their 'blue-eyed Daisey,' as she was wont to be called -- so like a sweet, delicate flower was she. Only thirteen months had left their impress upon her fair brow, so there is nothing to tell the world of her life; only the happiness and sunshine that she brought to the hearts and home of mamma, papa and little brother. Methinks I see her now, as she would hold up her dear little finger to show the tiny band of gold that encircled it, or with a flower in her hand passing it from mamma to papa while they inhaled its sweet perfume, her bright blue eyes dancing all the while with baby glee at her admiration for the shining gold or the pleasure she gave papa and mamma. Ah, me, little did we think that ere another month had passed we would lay this dear little 'bud of promis' away under the violets in Myrtle Hill Cemetery, that beautiful resting place of the dead by the river side. Yes, 'tis all over; the precious little darling fell asleep as a flower folds its petals at the appearance of evening, to waken no more till the resurrection morn. Sweet little Mary has vanished from our sight to where the beautiful fade not, to that blissful home above, where our loved ones cannot die. Already I seem to see the gates of that beautiful City of Love opening to let the little traveler in; and as she enters methinks I see her caught up in the arms of grandmamma, who only a few years ago was numbered with the saints. And I see too another sweet face, all aglow with love and light as her eyes rest upon the dear little one she wished so much to see while in our earthly habitations, but God called you to himself, dear, winsome Belle, too soon for that. Dear, bereaved parents, would that I could speak 'peace be still' to the storms of anguish that rage in your bosoms to-day. But what more could I say to you than your dear Lord and Master hath said? Listen to his voice and be comforted: 'As thy day, so shall thy strength be.' Let this promise be a whisper of hope and faith to your hearts now crushed and bleeding beneath this heavy sorrow, and leave your treasures to the watchful care of Jesus, our tender Shepherd, remembering that 'twas He who said Suffer little children to come unto me and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven. - INEZ.

The woman who wrote the tribute, Inez, was a sister-in-law of Kate Moore Hardy, mother of little Mary. Inez married Kate's brother, William N. Moore.

Samuel Graham Hardy (1847-1885); Kate Moore Hardy (1850-1885); William N. Moore (1838-1895); and Inez Ella Waugh Moore (1845-1931) are all memorialized on a large angel-topped gravestone next to little Mary.