Mercy (Gorham) Barnum (abt. 1780)

The Townsend Cemetery records posted at https://sites.rootsweb.com/~nyschuyl/townsnd.htm list the following: "Zar Barnum 12-23-1836 ae 61." Find a Grave lists Zar's death as 12-23-1838, aged 63. One is obviously wrong. I contacted the person who took the photo of Zar's tombstone, and she said the markings are very faded. However, she ran her fingers into the grooves and claimed the numbers felt more like the first figures, 12-23-1836 ae 61. There may be another clue in that same cemetery record. Zar's wife, Mercy, disappears from history after his death. Further down that cemetery page is a listing for Benjamin Ellis and his wife Martha, who died 11-12-1838. Further still is a listing for Mercy Ellis, 2nd wife of Benjamin, who died 10-10-1873 ae 96. Given it was quite common for widowers and widows to marry after the loss of their respective spouses, this Mercy seems like a good possibility for Zar's first wife. Census records also confirm she was from Connecticut and born the same year as Mercy Gorham, Zar's wife.