Elizabeth Decks is known from her gravestone in the Berry Cemetery; archival records consulted thus far do not document an "Elizabeth Decks" in the Ash Grove area during the relevant time period. However, Elizabeth Decks may have been the woman known as Bettie (Dicks) Robinson, mother of Mollie Ellison and Jane Jones, who were interred in the cemetery (Russell 2012).
Grave Marker: The grave marker for Elizabeth Decks is a limestone pulpit style monument on a two-part base. Excluding the two-part base, the monument is 24 x 10 x 6 inches in size. The two-part base is 14 x 18 x 12 inches in size. By 2010, the upper portion of the monument had detached from the lower portion. In 2017, through a grant from the Phenix Marble Company, the upper part was re-set on the base. Imagery includes a relief open bible on the upper face of the monument, a diamond pattern around the bottom of the monument, a three-branched leaf design on the upper north and south sides, and an engraved image of open gates through which a path extends into the distance.
Grave monument in 2010, before repair.
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West face of monument in 2021, after the 2017 repair
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Text AT REST --- ELIZABETH DECKS DIED JAN. 14 1905 AGED 71 YEARS --- Heaven is my home |
Sketches of marker
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Images on gravestone
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