What does the word "necessary" mean on a headstone?

Question:We were at a cemetery in Kentucky, and the infant grave markers said "necessary". I've looked all over the internet, and cannot find anything about what this might mean.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: We were at a cemetery in Kentucky, and the infant grave markers said "necessary". I've looked all over the internet, and cannot find anything about what this might mean.

Just "necessary" or was there anything else as well?

**EDIT**
Why the hell have I got a thumbs-down for asking a civil and straight forward question so I can try help further? You people are weird.

I have a graveyard right behind the house i just moved in. I saw that for the first time on a couple od tombstones and thought it was weird. I googled it since you brought it up. I found nothing. So I was of no help ecxept you now know you arent the only one wondering. I will later call my father, he may know.

This is almost assuredly an indication of a stillborn child or a child that died soon after childbirth BEFORE they were named.

Sadly, infant mortality rates were very high. This was a way of life. A stillborn child, or a child who was clearly sickly at birth often was not named (though they would have usually been baptised and given a baptisimal name).

If the child was the first born male, then it wasn't unusual for the child not to be named sometimes for months - when the parents wanted to pass along the father's name. This gave the parent's higher confidence in the child's survival before passing along the father's name.

But "necessary?" Have no clue what it actually means. If this cemetery is still active, call the "office" and they probably know. You could also check with undertakers in the area, especially those whose operations have been around for a long time. They may know the reasoning behind that word.

My guess would be that when a fetus/child is a certain age gestationally and it/they die. Then it is necessary legally & morally to bury it. I do not know what that age is.