Also in the graveyard of the United Congregational Church of Little Compton is a fascinating mystery involving two gravestones side by side which read:
IN MEMORY of Lidia ye Wife of M. Simeon Palmer who died
Dece *mr ye 26th 1754 in ye 35th Year of her Age.
In memory of ELIZABETH who should have been the Wife of Mr. SIMEON PALMER who died Aug 14th 1776 in the 64th Year of her Age.
Some accounts say Elizabeth and Simeon were actually married, but she wouldn't live with him and do her wifely duties because he was crazy and ate cats. Some say after his wife died, Elizabeth became his housekeeper, and in public opinion Simeon should have married her because they were living in the same house. Still others say he jilted her for Lidia and later regretted it. I was hoping it was a more romantic story, albeit with a presumably sad ending, and maybe it was. No one knows enough details to be sure, including where Simeon himself was buried. It seems it will remain a mystery forever.