Could "Our Mother" be a term of endearment on 1855 headstone?

Question

In researching my great great grandmother, Elizabeth Cowan Short, I have located her death record in Franklin County, Ohio, USA (1896), as well as her burial record. They record her birth as 29 September 1824, in London, England, to parents Robert and Elizabeth Cowan. This was probably informed by her husband, John Short, who lived another 30 years.

Sources: Green Lawn Cemetery inscriptions, Columbus, Franklin Co., Ohio: http://www.delaware43015.com/greenlawn/greenlawn/Greenlawn/index.htm

Death record:

The 1850 US Census has Elizabeth (age 24) living with her new husband and infant son in Delaware County, Ohio: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-6QW9-BR5?i=2&cc=1401638

Also living in the household is Harriett Cowan, 72, born in England. Harriett's headstone (1855), located on the campus of Kenyon College, Gambier, Knox County, Ohio reads "Our Mother...Harriett Cowan..." There is no death record for this burial. From findagrave.com

I have researched the other members of the household and there does not seem to be a family connection. I cannot find any evidence of siblings for Elizabeth. I cannot find any other records that name Elizabeth's parents, other than quick mention of her father in a 1901 biography of her husband. It is possible that Elizabeth's mother was actually Harriett, but she would have been around 46 at the time of her birth. Could the phrase "Our Mother" on Harriett's headstone simply be a term of endearment?

Answer 1

My initial assessment is:

• I think it quite unlikely that someone would be referred to "Our Mother" on a headstone, without some mother-child relationship present.
• It may not be a genetic mother-child relationship, but consider whether Harriet may be a step-mother, or grandmother.
• The odds of two English women who bore the same relatively uncommon surname living in the USA in the same house but there being no family relationship is really quite small.
• You do not know for certain who erected the headstone, which is obviously key to understanding the relationship. Try tracking down cemetery records which may have details of the plot and plot owner. It could be that Harriet had children in the same area but they may not have the same surname.
• Immigration records? Elizabeth and Harriet obviously travelled to the USA, most likely around the 1840s. Finding the record may be challenging, but there is a good chance it is documented somewhere.
• The next obvious step is tracing Elizabeth in records in England. Finding her baptism is the first step. I have found that often "London" was used very loosely in American records to refer approximately to that part of England south of the Scottish border. That is, widen your scope substantially if nothing turns up in London itself.
• Don't rely entirely on the fact that the information on Elizabeth's death record is correct. There is a fair chance that in the time after her mother's death details such as her mother's name were forgotten. Errors are also very easily introduced by accident.