Excerpt from the sidebar of

What Lies Beneath, Texas Pioneer Cemeteries and Graveyards

By Cynthia Leal Massey

Consort and Relict

From the seventeenth through the nineteenth centuries, the terms “consort” and “relict” were used on tombstones. The term “consort” means that the woman was married and passed away prior to her husband, while a tombstone that says “wife” means the woman died after her husband. “Relict” is an archaic word that means “widow” and is rarely seen. An interesting family tombstone collection in the Old Waverly Cemetery that depicts this is that of Mary Elizabeth Thompson (1811–1860), “consort” of Andrew J. Thompson (1816–1887). Her marble pillar tombstone upon which stands an urn is substantial, especially when compared to the modest tombstone of Mary Anna Thompson (1844–1908), “wife” of A. J. Thompson. Mary Elizabeth was married to Andrew at the time of her death, while Andrew’s second wife Mary Anna lived several years after his death. Interestingly, Mary Anna was not referred to as “relict,” but rather as “wife,” although she was a widow. The fact that his first wife’s tombstone is so much more elaborate than that of his second may simply be because he was not there to select and pay for the memorial for her.