Tombstone Tuesday - Manassah Cutler and Mary Balch

Manasseh Cutler

Hamilton Cemetery, Hamilton, Essex Co., Massachusetts

Born:  May 13, 1742, Killingly, Windham Co., Connecticut

Died:  July 28, 1823, Hamilton, Essex Co., Massachusetts

Manassah Cutler and his wife, Mary Balch were my 4th great-grandparents.

Written on top of his tomb.

"Rev. Manasseh Cutler L.L.D.

He died July 28, 1823,

in the 81st year of his age.

He was beloved for his domestic and

social virtues. His talents were of a

high order. He was eminent for his

Botanical, Medical, Political and

Theological knowledge. He was a

member of literary and scientific

societies in both Europe and America.

After a useful ministry of 52 years

in this place, he expired with a firm

and peaceful reliance on his Redeemer.

"They that trust in the Lord shall be

as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed

but abideth forever."

Mary Balch (stone next to Manassah)

Born:  November 16, 1740, Dedham, Norfolk Co., Massachusetts

Died:  November 03, 1815, Hamilton, Essex Co., Massachusetts

Entrance to Cemetery.

Georgia O'Keeffe and Me

No words could explain my delight when I found out about a year ago that Georgia O'Keeffe and I are related.  Fourth cousin once removed.  The discovery came about in a rather haphazard way.  I had already completed my grandmother's line, that being Ten Eyck, spelled several ways, like Ten Eyk, Ten Eick, TenEyck and so forth.  But I believe all of us who share this name are related.  Last year I was breaking down a "Brick Wall," and in the process discovered that one of my ancestor's had married a Ten Eyck.  That isn't such a big deal to some, but it really was for me, because it meant that my mother and father were related before their marriage.  This new Ten Eyck line was now on my father's side.  It was a matter of minutes before I discovered that Georgia was of that line.  Andries Ten Eyck was the 5th great-grandfather to my mother, my father and Georgia!


For those of you who want to read about this famous American artist, two sites are:  PBS show on American Masters and Georgia's information on wikipedia.



Georgia's father was Francis Calyxtus O'Keeffe and her mother was Ida Ten Eyck Totto. The Ten Eyck surname in her line belongs to her 2nd great-grandmother, Ida Ten Eyck. Ida and my direct ancestor, Violetta Ten Eyck were sisters, children of Jeremiah Field Ten Eyck and Jane Van Arsdalen.  My mother's line was in Canada for four generations, and my father's was in New Jersey.

November 18, 2013. I subscribe to a blog, Ephemeral New York, and was surprised to see her post, "The modern metropolis of Georgia O’Keeffe" the link is: http://ephemeralnewyork.wordpress.com/2013/11/18/the-modern-metropolis-of-georgia-okeeffe/. It is very informative, I loved reading about Georgia's days in New York City, and seeing photos of her NYC artwork.

Looking Back

All the Christmas cards have been blogged about.  I think my grandfather would have been proud.  Eight of the cards were originally grouped together and put in a frame.  This picture was taken about ten years ago.

One of the most enjoyable postings I did was about my DAR job and I was looking forward in sharing it with my fellow DAR co-worker and friend who shared the love of genealogy with me, she is the one I wrote about at the end of the first paragraph.  Prior to Christmas I wrote her an email, and never heard back, so I contacted another former DAR employee to see if she knew anything.  This person began wondering about our friend, and called her house.  She soon wrote me telling me that Bonnie died on November 27th.  Her obituary stated, "She was passionate about genealogy."  Yes, that is my friend, she was passionate about genealogy. I had a little smile along with my very sad feelings on the inside.  Bonnie, I will always treasure our time together, and you will be missed.

Les Larrabee whose blog is A Bit of the Pieces went back to the West Plainfield Cemetery in Plainfield, Connecticut and took more photos for me.  Per my blog I Did Everything Right, but Couldn't Take a Photo! I failed in the picture taking department.  He sent me new tombstone photos on December 7th.  The most startling thing was, I saw that the Bishop names were on two sides of the monument, and not as I had them listed, all on one side.  He was smart enough to take the photo at an angle, showing both sides with the names.  I learned a lesson here, always include an angle shot.

A trip to the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) on Dec. 29th for research accomplished what I wanted, that is finding several sources.  In addition, I made a side trip to the Boston Public Library for some information, which will be used in an upcoming blog article.
 After my post of December 8th regarding Anne Dudley Bradstreet, I realized I hadn't entered sources for her in my genealogy software.  Fortunately, I discovered the source copies in a pile of her file papers.  So, 10 years later, I am doing now what I should have done a decade ago.  Writing about my ancestors is giving me a second chance to see what I am missing in regards to sources, see if I should add anything else, and also make any corrections.  It is pretty embarrassing because my entire file is on http://www.rootsweb.com/ and I do not want to appear as one of those individuals who doesn't use sources.

The month of December was filled with wonderful blogs about Christmas traditions.  Although, I didn't participate much, I sure enjoyed being on the receiving end and I will remember many posts for years to come.

On Dec. 29th, I noticed that http://www.findagrave.com/ hit 40 million entries.  The day before, it was at 39 million, I sure would have loved seeing the number change.

Moodus Cemetery - ROBERT CHAPMAN and MARY STEEVENS CHAPMAN

Robert Chapman

Moodus Cemetery, East Haddam, Middlesex Co., Connecticut

Born:  April 19, 1675, Saybrook, Middlesex Co., Connecticut

Died:  December 04, 1760, East Haddam, Middlesex Co., Connecticut

He and his wife, Mary Steevens, were my 7th great-grandparents.

Mary Steevens Chapman

Moodus Cemetery, East Haddam, Middlesex Co., Connecticut

Born:  December 03, 1674 at Killingworth, Middlesex Co., Connecticut

Died:  June 05, 1764 at East Haddam, Middlesex Co., Connecticut

A Christmas Gift from the Newberry Library

Imagine my surprise when on December 23rd I received an email and attachment of a beautiful photograph, an oil, taken of my 2nd great-grandfather, William Frederick Poole, the first librarian of the Newberry Library.  When I poured through some Poole papers in November, I realized I still didn't have a copy of his portrait which is hanging on a wall in the Library.  Immediately, I became a "Facebook fan" of the Library, thinking I could make a connection with somebody who lives in Chicago and who wouldn't mind taking a digital picture.  No connections were made, so I wrote the Library, only to get a reply that they would be glad to do it, but I would have to fill out a form, and pay $20!


Yes, I was a little miffed, because I wanted a cheap digital shot, nothing formal, and I didn't want to pay the big bucks.  When I wrote them back, I pretty much stressed that.


Well, as I stated above, I received a copy of the the photo and a very nice note.  I was also given permission to post it in this blog and share with anybody I wished, just as long as I credit the Newberry Library.  Very nice gift.

Note: Diane MacLean Boumenot wrote an excellent blog about her trip to the Newberry Library. You really get a feel for it, plus she had some nice surprises for me. Please see her One Rhode Island Family post, A Visit to the Newberry Library.

Wedding on December 25, 1888

I love this tree and think it goes well on this post for the Victorian Wedding of my great-grandparents on Christmas Day.  (Used with permission from Thomas MacEntee.)

Marriage Announcement of their Christmas Wedding, Dec. 25, 1888.

Everett R. Bishop
Mira J. Kilborne
Married
Tuesday, December 25th 1888.
New Haven, Conn.

At Home after February first, 1889.
40 Walnut Street
New Britain, Conn.

Marriage Certificate for my great-grandparents.

Christmas Card #22 #23 The Last Two (now in his mid-80s)

You didn't think he wouldn't do a genealogy tree, did you?

And the artist in me, couldn't even white-out the names.

The last card.

Tombstone Tuesday - James Bishop

James Bishop

Grove Street Cemetery, New Haven, Connecticut
James was my 7th great-grandfather.

He was lieutenant governor of Connecticut in 1681-83 and deputy governor 1683-1691

Born:  About 1625, Kent, England

Died:  June 24, 1691,  New Haven, Connecticut

A few weeks after posting the above picture, taken in 1999, I noticed that Rob Johnson had a nice marker in front of the above stone. He gave me permission to post them to this blog. See FindAGrave for all the photos.

James Bishop, born in England, came to New Haven 1647 served as secretary & Lt. Governor of the Colony died June 24, 1691 at an advanced age. Samuel Bishop son of James, died Mar. 12, 1747: AE. 81. Samuel Bishop Grandson of James died in 1780: AE. 81.

James was not listed on my Cemetery List because I wasn't organized enough or I just forgot to list him.  That is what happens when your photos are in many files and boxes.

From Wikipedia---

"Bishop was very involved in the early governments of New Haven and Connecticut colonies, serving at various times as deputy to the legislature, colonial secretary, clerk of court, assistant judge, and sergeant in the New Haven militia. Bishop served on the Committee on Indians in 1668 and later served on the wartime council in 1673-1676 that dealt with King Philip's War. Finally, Bishop was lieutenant governor of Connecticut in 1681-83 and deputy governor 1683-1691."

Advent Calendar - December 21, 2009 -- A Church, A Chapel and Music

This post was originally going to be the photos of the Church and Chapel my grandfather, an architect, designed, but I always think of music in them year round, but especially at Christmas. So, this has become my creative way of combing the two.  I have no memory of my immediate family ever listening to holiday music, but I sure do now.

Ah, the music, one of my most favorite things about Christmas. And, way before the month of December, you will find me playing my Christmas music. There is no one favorite song, I like the traditional, as well as the more modern songs.  I usually start with my record (yep, a record) and play Handels "Messiah." Then move on to a few cd's, and for a number of years, I would buy a new one each year. I have ones by Neil Diamond (2), Elvis, John Tesh (2), Celine Dion, Dolly Parton, Charlotte Church, Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Sanders Family Christmas, and throughout the year I will play Trans-Siberian Orchestra music, really, really loud. The Sanders Family Christmas album is actually from a wonderful Christmas play, a musical. The play was presented at our local Repertory Theatre about seven years ago, and was so popular; it was brought back the following year. The neat thing, for me, was at that time I was a volunteer usher, and ended up seeing it about 12 times!

Recently, a friend said she doesn't like Christmas music! That is hard to understand, I can agree with not liking snow, the shopping or the cooking, but music…it is so innocent, and best of all, it is free. Our local radio station plays it 24/7, and wherever I drive, I am in heaven.

While I can't carry a tune, and never sing in front of anybody, I belt out the tunes, esp. when I am at my beloved computer listening to my Christmas tunes on ITunes...what an invention is that. Several years ago, I got out a lot of the Christmas cd's from the local library and copied them to the computer, saved a lot, and had a ball. Now, I will pay for some, and recently added "White Christmas" and "Last Christmas."

Whenever we visited my grandparents, classical music was always on.  No wonder, he was an organist at his church for many years.  And, he could repair them as well.  Truly, a man of all trades.  I got my love of classical music from his house.

Church (Univ. of Connecticut) designed by my grandfather, photo bef. 1930.

Photo taken about 11 years ago by a relative, and used as a Christmas card.

The Barnes Chapel thanks to Google and Les

Lester Larrabee of  A Bit of the Pieces provided the link to me.

Inside the chapel.

Advent Calendar – December 20 - Religious Services

Lexington Green in Massachusetts, with the church I attended for eight years.

The question for today's Christmas Memories is, "Did your family attend religious services during the Christmas season? What were the customs and traditions involved?"
 
When we moved to Lexington, my parents decided to attend this Church, it is called The First Parish Church; then a Unitarian Church.  My father was an Episcopalian and my mother a Baptist, so they chose this Church.  I attended Sunday School, and my mother was a Sunday School teacher.  My father never went, except on Christmas Eve.  That was very special, because not only because we got out at night, we got to see the children's play of the Birth of Jesus.  Lots of happy people everywhere.  I think the program began at 6:30.
 
Below is a photo and information from the Church's website.

Our Historic Building

"In the 150 years we have occupied this meeting house, it has been a constantly changing place, expanding and evolving to meet new and changing needs of the congregation.


The town meeting house, built in 1692, was originally set on the Common. In 1713 (the year Lexington was incorporated) a new meeting house was built. This building housed small bands of militiamen and held the bodies of the dead after the Battle of Lexington on April 19, 1775. In 1794 it was torn down and replaced by a new building.

In 1846, after extensive and expensive repairs, the third meeting house burned to the ground on the night before it was to be rededicated. The congregation voted to locate the new church off the Common. Isaac Melvin was hired for $125 to plan the new building, which was to be completed for less than $8000. Pews were auctioned off to raise money for the building expenses."