Cemetery Photos Bring Me Cousins and Stories

My husband and I frequently visit nearby cemeteries to photograph headstones that I add to individual accounts on FamilySearch. Recently as we were slowly driving through the Weiser, Idaho Cemetery, I noticed this small headstone with the name "Mudd Main" on it. 

I was intrigued that a mother would name her son "Mudd"! As I reviewed the family as listed in FamilySearch, I discovered several more intriguing facts. Andrew Parker Main (1849-1932) and Sarah Elizabeth Hack (1853-1912) were the parents of 12 children. Notice their names:

Odus Olen, Lonnie Loren, Byard Bolen, Made Marian, Nina Noble, Harry Harmon, Carry Clifford, Flo Fountain, --Main (1891-1891), Rell Rencie, Mudd Marble, and Eela Elas. 

I don't think I've ever seen that pattern in naming each child with the same letter starting the first and middle names. 

The "Memories" on Family Search offers this photo of Mudd Main, at left with his brother Flo at right.

Further digging into the "Memories" of the family revealed a very sad story involving another brother of Mudd, namely Carry Clifford Main. Here's the story: 

Isn't this a sad story? The children of Carry (1885-1943) and his wife Lily Jones (1888-1934) were:

Cecil (1908), John (1910), Kenneth (1912), Gladys (1914), Clarence (1917), Claudia (1920), Elmer (1921), Laura (1922), Pearl (1924), Clifford (1028), Edith (1929), and Beulah (1933-1934).

So when Lily and her 11-mo-old daughter Beulah were burned to death in the house fire, their 11 children, ranging in age 26 to 5, lost their mother. And if the 4 oldest were out of the house, living on their own, that still left 7 children at home for the father to care for. 

I don't know the family's circumstances, but this story really hit me hard. When we see headstones in the cemetery, we see only a tiny fraction of the family's story!

As I reviewed the pedigree charts of the family members, I discovered that this Lily Jones Main who died at age 46 was the half-6th cousin, two times removed of my husband, as shown in the chart. 

And I discovered that I'm an 8th cousin, once removed of Mudd Marble Main, as illustrated in this chart. 

Perhaps this is why his headstone caught my attention! But now I know a new story about one of my distant relatives and that make the family seem more like "family" to me.