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The Life From The Roots blog topics have changed several times since I began this blog in 2009. I initially wrote only about the family history I had been working on for 20 years. Years later, I was into visiting gardens, historical homes, churches, libraries that had genealogical collections, historical societies, war memorials, and travel/tourism places. I also enjoy posting autographs and photos of famous people I've met or have seen.

Along with my New England roots, other areas include New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and the Eastern Townships of Quebec, Canada.

Please check out the labels on the right side for topics (please note, they need work). Below the labels and pageviews is a listing of my top nine posts, according to Google. Four of them pertain to Lowell, MA. These posts change often because they are based on what people are reading.

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Ogunquit Memorial Library, Ogunquit, Maine (History and Genealogy Section)

Ogunquit, Maine

I have been by this charming library many times, but because of limited parking and way too many cars and walkers on the street, we never stopped in. Recently, we left extra early for a coastal trip, and this was our first stop, were there at 10 and got one of their few parking spaces.

One librarian was working and was very helpful in answering my questions. They even have WiFi, which surprised me. Although small and filled with books, there are no future plans to enlarge, even though they have the space.







FREE MEMORIAL LIBRARY
OF
OGUNQUIT MAINE
ERECTED IN MEMORY OF
GEORGE M. CONARROE
OF PHILADELPHIA  PENNA.
BY HIS WIFE   AUGUST 1897

Proctor of Lowell, MA and Salem, MA -- Tombstone Tuesday

I noticed the first of the fall leaves falling on September 28, 2014, while in the Lowell Cemetery. As I entered the surname Proctor as a label (on the right side of this post), I saw I hadn't entered my own ancestor's surname John Proctor of Ipswich, Massachusetts. John was hanged as a witch on August 19, 1692. Unfortunately, I don't know if the family below was related to the one from Ipswich.
James Proctor
1795  --  1862
Joan Boynton
1796  --  1877
Thomas W. Proctor
1834  --  1850
Seward N. Proctor
1829  --  1910
Lydia M. Dinsmore
1830  --  1855
His Wife

Betsy A. Boynton
1837  --  1907
His Wife

Elvira B. Proctor
1857  --  1857
Emma J. Proctor
1869  --  1871
Arthur J. Proctor
1873  --  1874
Eva M. Proctor
1878  --  1938
This cemetery is called, Lowell Cemetery.

John Proctor
Hanged
August 1692
Age 60

He was my 9th great-grandfather.

The Burying Point Cemetery
 Salem, Massachusetts

The Site of the Salem Witch Trial Hangings Finally Has a Memorial
From the Smithsonian magazine, July 13, 2017, by 

Monday, September 29, 2014

Updates: Thank you to Pam Carter, Market Basket, Thanks to Bill Clinton, Ipswich, MA changes

I haven't written a Bits of News post in over three years, but thought I would group a few "bits of news" today.

Pam Carter writes in her blog, My Maine Ancestry blog, and received the Blog of 2012 award. She recently awarded me the One Lovely Blog Award, which was very kind of her, since I do very little writing anymore. To show my appreciation, I am highlighting her blog (just mentioned above). Please read about Pam, a seasoned U. S. History teacher at a high school, so whatever she writes will be a thorough blog post. Carter is her maiden name, so if you have Carters in your tree, you might be related. As a matter of fact, Pam and I are distant cousins through Thomas Carter. Thank you, Pam, very much for my award and I hope some of my readers will follow your blog.

Castle Hill (Wikipedia) at Ipswich, Massachusetts

More news, the above shows the almost completed restoration of the casino area. Today was a cloudy day, so you can't see the ocean. The huge house faces the ocean.

Some of you might recognize the castle because it has been shown in several movies, such as; "The Witches of Eastwick," "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past," "Flowers in the Attic" and more recently the current movie, “The Equalizer,” with Dezel Washington.
The 1677 Whipple House and the reconstructed 1657 Alexander Knight House were recently in the news. The Whipple House lost a huge tree during a severe storm, and there was roof damage to the house. The Alexander Knight House has a new handmade fence to go with the 1657 house. (my photo)

Yesterday, I was delighted to see that the Market Basket grocery store chain again made the news. The below statement was what Bill Clinton said...glad to see he follows my local news. He has been to Lowell, at least two times, perhaps more.

Clinton name-drops Market Basket in CNBC interview

Sentinel & Enterprise UPDATED:   09/28/2014 06:32:14 AM EDT
Read more: http://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/news/ci_26622370/sunday-notebook-clinton-name-drops-market-basket-cnbc#ixzz3EjhWkvUI
Part of the article reads:
"THE MARKET BASKET fight first made headlines in national outlets such as The New York Times and NBC Nightly News, among others. Last week, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology held a forum that attracted hundreds to hear about lessons that can be gleaned from employees' victory in getting the company to sell to beloved leader Arthur T. Demoulas.
A few workers who attended the forum loved that it was held just across the river from the Prudential Center in Boston, where the Market Basket board held so many of its meetings.
But no one probably expected a former U.S. president to mention the chain's name. But Bill Clinton did in a CNBC interview Sept. 23 at the Clinton Global Initiative.
Clinton was asked by reporter Becky Quick about the American economy, with the stock market soaring as many middle-class families still struggle. Clinton mentioned three reasons for the sluggish job market: a need to raise the minimum wage, a need for a better mix of jobs, and the fact that so many companies are using their wealth on dividends or buying back stock.

Clinton mentioned Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba, which recently went public, as saying his investors would make more money in the long run if the company placed employees and customers first. He then turned to Market Basket, which has been putting employees and customers ahead of shareholders for years.

"This Market Basket case in Massachusetts and New Hampshire was a big issue because the family that owned it wanted to get rid of the guy who was running it," Clinton said, showing an accurate familiarity with the saga. "They thought he gave too much of the wealth of the company to the employees. The customers loved it. So the employees and the customers left when they got rid of him. They had to bring him back."

Read more: http://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/news/ci_26622370/sunday-notebook-clinton-name-drops-market-basket-cnbc#ixzz3EkA81Nun

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

There Is A Lot to Like About Lowell -- Artist James McNeill Whistler was born in Lowell

"There is A Lot to Like About Lowell" is the city slogan.
(See tab on right side called "Lowell Series" for many more articles about Lowell.)



Artist James McNeill Whistler was born in this house in Lowell.
Photos taken in spring.




WHISTLER PARK
"The Demoulas Foundation is
committed and dedicated to
the history, past and present and
future, of the city of Lowell."

Telemachus A. Demoulas
1920 - 2003
1834
Born in Lowell, Massachusetts, July 11, 1834,
at 243 Worthen Street
His parents were Major George Washington Whistler,
Civil Engineer and his second wife Anna Matilda McNeill.

City Hall in the background.


Saturday, September 20, 2014

Boston Remembers The Nurses

Above photo taken Memorial Day, 2014 in the Boston Common.
 IN MEMORY
OF THE NURSES OF
THE ARMED SERVICES
MASSACHUSETTS
ALL NURSES
POST #298
AMERICAN LEGION
11 NOV. 1959

Photo taken in the Massachusetts State House.
TO THE ARMY NURSES
FROM 1861 TO 1865
ANGLES OF MERCY AND LIFE
AMID SCENES OF CONFLICT AND DEATH
A TRIBUTE OF HONOR AND GRATITUDE
FROM THE MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT
DAUGHTERS OF VETERANS
1914

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

There Is A Lot to Like About Lowell -- The Beauty of the Lowell Cemetery

"There is A Lot to Like About Lowell" is the city slogan.
(See tab on right side called "Lowell Series" for many more articles about Lowell.)



The Beauty of the Lowell Cemetery

The Lowell Cemetery is one of my most favorite places to visit. Although I often take photos of tombstones there, this post is for showing the beauty of the cemetery. During the spring and fall, I am here several times a week. Please enjoy the three seasons with me.
One of two old entrances, this one built in 1862.


LOWELL CEMETERY
Established 1841
Listed in the
National Register
of Historic Places
1998









Tuesday, September 16, 2014

The difference of 13 years is astonishing, Mr. Ball -- Tombstone Tuesday

Amazing things can happen when you go through your genealogy "stuff." If you are like me, you have lots. For instance, you might mysteriously come across a photo you took in 1999, with some papers printed with the 2004 date, why? I asked myself. It was a great photo of a 1698 gravestone. But this newly found picture wasn't the photo I used for my May 2012 blog post, seen HERE nor the one I posted to the FindAGrave site.

If only I had been more organized, I wouldn't have had to make a repeat trip in 2012 to the cemetery, even though it is only 35 minutes away.

Please see the difference between the older photo (1999) and the 2012 one. Does this make you want to try and get all your photos now, before you can't read them. The difference of 13 years is astonishing.
The above and below photos are one and the same, taken in 1999. I personally like black and whites for cemetery stones, especially if the colored ones are too dark, and look artificial when lightened.
HERE LYES ye BODY OF
ELEAZER BALL
AGED 48 YEARS
DIED NOUEMBER 14
1698
Eleazer Ball is my 8th great-grandfather.

Above is my 2012 photo shown on FAG.
Old Hill Burying Ground
Concord, Massachusetts

Monday, September 15, 2014

Phillips Brooks Memorial, North Andover, Massachusetts


Phillips Brooks
Memorial in North Andover, Massachusetts

Phillips Brooks
1835 -- 1893
Great Preacher
Citizen Patriot

To Commemorate the Nobility of the Man
The Richness of his Intellectual Gifts
And the Complete Consecration of His Life
To the Cause of Jesus Christ
This Monument is Erected by Men and Women
of Many Creeds

The North Parish of North Andover Church
(and below)

From the Andover Memorial Hall Library site on Historic Homes, I share this information on Rev. Samuel Phillips. "Rev. Samuel Phillips came to Andover in 1710 as the pastor of South Church, an office he held for 62 years. His son, the Honorable Samuel Phillips, went into trade and built the Phillips Brooks House near North Andover Center in 1752. It stands across the street from the Parson Barnard House, built in 1715, and the Old Burying Ground, one of the few intact 18th century cemeteries in New England. Part of the Anne and Simon Bradstreet home that burned in 1666 was built into the back of the Phillips Manse. The Rev. Phillips Brooks, who wrote the lyrics to "O Little Town of Bethlehem."


Mr. Brooks was buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts. See HERE. I will visit the grave located on Mimosa Path, Lot 1288 on my next visit to the cemetery to take a photo.