Abbott H. Thayer, Angel, 1887, oil
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Gift of John Gellatly
Tues Aug 26th Clinton Lothrop died about ten Oclock
last night Has been sick a long time with
the Typhus fever Mrs Witherell & I made the
shroud for him Mrs Mitchell went to Taunton
to get Bonnets &c for Mrs Lothrop
Rebecca White came after Pauline this morning
Alson here to Dinner and tea is drawing stones for
Edwins cellar. Oakes A and Frank returned this evening
Dewitt Clinton Lothrop finally died. He had been suffering from typhus, “an acute infectious disease caused by the parasite Rickettsia prowazekii, transmitted by lice and fleas [,and] marked by high fever, stupor alternating with delirium, intense headache and dark red rash.”* It’s not the same disease as typhoid fever, although the two conditions have some similarities. Clinton, as he was known, had probably been bitten by a flea.
One of nine sons of Howard and Sally Lothrop, Clinton was a brother of Sarah Lothrop Ames. While most of his surviving brothers had moved away from Easton in pursuit of their own lives, Clinton was the duty son who had stayed home with his parents. Only 26 years old and married with two small sons, he had tended the family farm.
Evelina and Sarah Witherell quickly prepared a shroud for the body, while Harriett Mitchell rode off to Taunton to find mourning clothes for the young widow, Elizabeth Howard Lothrop (or for the mother, Sally Williams Lothrop.) That no one had purchased the mourning clothes before now suggests that, despite the probability of death, everyone had hoped that Clinton would recover.
It was a busy day for Evelina. Besides helping sew the shroud, she saw her friend Pauline Dean depart to visit elsewhere in Easton and welcomed her brother Alson to midday dinner. Alson was working nearby, helping his son, Edwin Williams Gilmore, build a house. Jane McHanna washed clothes, and she and Evelina probably continued to set the house to rights after a weekend of guests. Oakes Angier and Frank Morton returned home from their fishing trip.
* Craig Thornber, Glossary of Medical Terms Used in the 18th and 19th Centuries, http://www.thornber.net
evelinaames 
What did Evelina mean when she said Alson is “drawing stones for
Edwins cellar”?
Not sure what the phrase “drawing stones” means. I do know that Edwin Williams Gilmore was building a new house in North Easton and that his father was helping him. I inferred that “drawing stones” had something to do with putting in the cellar, perhaps making the cellar walls?