Consort, in the popular sense of the word, would mean they weren't married but rather long time companions. The question would be whether the use of this word had the same connotation at the time. It is certainly unusual to find on a tombstone; unusual enough that it does suggest they were not married. I wonder if it was a common law marriage? Interesting!

I found this discussion on google, Alisande. While there isn't a conclusion as to what "consort" means, it does appear to be not that uncommon.

http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-9677.html

Other sites I've looked at state rather emphatically that "consort" means she was his wife but passed away before him.

I'm bored at work and this is more fun :)

Actually, I found two "consort" gravestones in this cemetery. Both women had the same surname as the man's--and the other woman's parents had that surname too. A little confusing, but the name wasn't all that uncommon.

I never heard of "consort" used to describe a late wife. Interesting, thanks!

I should have clarified that what I found most unusual was the handwritten, very light engraving. This is the first time I've come across it. There were two stones like this in the cemetery. The other was for a 3-year-old boy named Philander. Today that would be an odd choice of name, I think.

I'm pretty sure that the term, back then, usually referred to a wife.

At a family cemetery in Tennessee, we found a small monument dated to shortly after the Civil War. This monument was labeled 'Consort of...', had very near a baby's headstone showing the date of death two days after the Consort's. Being that these are in the very far corner of the cemetery, we have surmised this may have been a free woman of Color. We have not been back and I need to research our ancestor who appears to be the connection.

Free woman of color? Des that mean she was a woman of importance, but not married to the man? Maybe he couldn't legally marry her, but she was, in reality, his wife? I'm not making the connection.

Consort is wife. It's a very old term.

Our searches have shown that consort was an old term for spouse. The death date on this stone is 1821 and is in the period when that term was used. This term is rarely found on stones newer than 1850. We first thought that consort may have applied to a common law marriage, but found that the term may apply to either a common law or regular marriage.

Common law marriages were present on the frontier in the 1700s and up to 1850. In some cases, no clergy was available and a formal court house may not have been in existence. Some states had resolutions to cover common law marriages, Typically, if a man and woman had lived together as a married couple for 7 years, then the law considered them married.

According to my genealogy sources, they say that these terms were often used: a consort is the wife of a man and she died before him. Relict is used for when the husband dies first and she is always his relict. Now this term may have had a different meaning than it does now - a widow is any woman who has been legally married to the deceased but NOT NECESSARILY married to him at the time of his death and she has not remarried. Hmmm... that sounds odd.

BTW, I have come across several "consorts and relicts" in just my few years of doing genealogy in my husbands family.