Priscilla Coney Lifelong South Dedham Resident

Priscilla Coney (1722-1768)

Priscilla Coney was born on April 2, 1722. She was the daughter of Nathaniel Coney I and his second wife, Abigail Skinner Coney. Priscilla Coney resided in Dedham, remained unmarried and died on September 11, 1768 at the age of 47. According to Dedham records, Priscilla died “suddenly as she was riding to meeting in a chair.” Her gravestone bears a winged-skull on its tympanum and reads:

In memory of Miss

Priscilla Coney daugh'r

of Mr. Nathaniel &

Mrs. Abigail Coney, who

died September 11th,

1768 in ye 47th year

of her age.

The winged-skull is a fine example of the work of stone cutter James Wilder. Born on June 22, 1741 to a well-thought of family in Lancaster, Massachusetts, Wilder served his community as a field driver, highway surveyor, and church warden as well as a stone cutter. Spanning three decades, Wilder created four types of tympanum styles: skulls and three types of faces (young, older, and a more stylized face).

There have been close to 200 Wilder-type stones documented, including two in Old Parish Cemetery. This memorial to Priscilla Coney is one of them; the other is that belonging to Sarah Coney Guild (lot 196).