Section A Vignette #4
Zebulon Hebard was born August 1, 1793 in Amenia, Dutchess County, NY, a small town northeast of Poughkeepsie next to the Connecticut border. He was a minister in the Methodist Episcopal church and was also known a skilled marble mason. He married Martha Inman of Rhode Island on December 9, 1816. She died on September 16, 1847 after bearing nine children: Nathan, Robert, Charles, Henry, Harriet, Elijah, Zebulon, Martha, and a child who died shortly after birth. After Martha’s death, Zebulon married Maria Hepburn on December 20, 1850. This was a short marriage, as Zebulon died a little over a year later on February 23, 1852.
During the War of 1812, Zebulon was a soldier stationed in Harlem Heights in New York City. In 1831 he established the Hebard’s Steam Marble Works on South St. Paul St., Rochester, NY. This masonry was the oldest stone business in Western New York. His sons Robert, Charles, and Henry all joined Zebulon in the family business. Zebulon died at 58 from silicosis, a chronic lung disease caused by breathing crystalline silica dust ftom cutting marble stone. He is buried in Section A of Mt. Hope Cemetery in a family plot that includes his first wife, Martha, and his two oldest sons, Nathan and Robert. Other Hebard famlly members are buried in Mt. Hope in Range 3 and Section T, including his son Henry who is known for sculpting the two tallest statues at Mt. Hope, the Hartwell Carter monument (50 feet high) and the Fireman’s monument (55 feet high).
Eric Birken