What to Know
- A centuries-old gravestone mysteriously emerged inside a Brooklyn man's garage
- It appeared to be dated Sept. 30, 1793, and bears the name of a baby who lived just 52 days
- The headstone has been traced back to a cemetery in Ashford, Connecticut, but how it got to NYC remains unknown
Recently unemployed, Richard Schilling decided to tackle the junk in his Brooklyn garage -- and found something that sent a chill down his spine.
"I was like, 'This is creepy. This is not supposed to be here,'" he said.
What Schilling found was a heavy gravestone, "a creepy gravestone that should not be in my garage," he said.
It appeared to be dated Sept. 30, 1793, and bears the name of a baby who lived just 52 days: Lucas, son of Enoch Pond and Peggy Pond. The headstone was traced to a cemetery in Ashford, Connecticut.
James Revichsky, who oversees the Babcock Cemetery for the town of Ashford, believes the headstone is real. But he has no idea how it got all the way to Brooklyn.
Schilling said his family has owned the Borough Park home for nearly 100 years, and they've had tenants come and go.
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"It's such a creepy thing to keep as a souvenir. Why would anybody want this?" he wondered.
He plans to gladly give it back to the town of Ashford in the coming weeks, and put the matter to rest.
