Life From The Roots: Tombstone Tuesday

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.

Showing posts with label Tombstone Tuesday. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 2, 2024

John Houghton and Mary Farrar of Lancaster, Massachusetts -- Tombstone Tuesday

Here Lies Buried

y^e Body of

John Houghton,

Esquir, As You

Are So Ware We.

As We Are So

you Will be.

Who Died February y^e

3d Anno Domini

1736/7 and

in y^e 87^th

Year of his Age.

John Houghton and his wife, Mary Farrar were my 8th great-grandparents.

They were buried in the Old Common Burial Ground, Lancaster, Massachusetts.

Here Lies Buried

y^e Body of

Mrs. Mary Houghton y^e

Wife of John

Houghton Esq'r.

Who Died Apriel

y^e 7^th Ano DM, 1724,

& In y^e 76 Year of Her Age.

Photos were taken in April 2012. During a second trip, I noticed a new large stone with the cemetery name.

Sunday, October 28, 2018

Halloween Greetings from Three Historic Massachusetts Spooky Cemeteries

Greetings From Three Historic Cemeteries in Massachusetts.

Old Burying Ground, Lexington

To research Lexington cemetery, go to If All Cemeteries Would do This.

Forefathers Burying Ground, Chelmsford

Monday, April 30, 2018

1630 Phipps Cemetery is One of the Oldest in Massachusetts

Buried in one of the oldest cemeteries in the United States, are Thomas Rand and his wife Sarah Edenden, who are my 9th great grand-parents. Phipps Cemetery in Charlestown, next to Boston, MA was established in 1630, and all the stones are in their original plots, none have been moved. Surrounding this cemetery is a locked iron fence and housing (apartments or condos?) on three sides. Fortunately, somebody will unlock the fence once you give them 24 hrs. notice. I was given the time slot between 8:45 - 2 on a Saturday. The photos below are of the tombstones, part of the cemetery, and surrounding apartments.

HERE LYES BURYE^D

THE BODY OF

THOMAS RAND

AGED 56 YEARS

DECEASED AUGUST

Y^e 4 1683

HERE LYES Y^e BODY OF

SARAH RAND WIFE

TO THOMAS RAND

AGED ABOUT 63 YEAR^S

^{DIED
JUNE 26 1699}

Google Map

My blog with instructions to find who is buried in the old Boston cemeteries: http://lifefromtheroots.blogspot.com/2018/04/how-do-you-find-your-ancestors-in.html

Alphabetical listing of names: https://archive.org/details/alphabeticindext00bost

Map: https://www.cityofboston.gov/images_documents/Phipps%20Street%20Map_tcm3-24968.pdf

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Jeremiah Fitch, Half of his Cemetery Stone

Trying to find a certain cemetery stone in this small cemetery could be a hassle, if you didn't know where to look. This past Saturday, I was very lucky for the following three reasons. First, the leaves hadn't emerged, thus there were very few shadows. Although, I've been here many times, this was my first visit in early Spring. Second, this is a very popular tourist spot, many school groups, scout troops and regular tourists go through here to see where Paul Revere was buried, and other well-known people. Third, if you don't know where to look, it could be a problem, there is nobody to help you. However, I knew exactly where to look, thanks to a map I recently located online. I did a post, so you can find if your family member is buried in Boston.
SEE: How Do You Find Your Ancestors in the Boston Cemeteries?

The Boston Athenaeum is on the left. The backs to the above buildings are not entrances.

Jeremiah Fitch

Born: 5 May 1621, England

Died: 3 May 1692, Boston, Massachusetts

Relationship: He is my 7th great-granduncle.

The sun was facing me, so my photos were rather dark. I lightened them quite a bit. You can see Jeremiah's stone from a distance, below. Tremont Street is in front.

Another day, lots of leaves and people.

Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Is This About Six Deaths of the Children, My New Relatives OR Research Problems -- Tombstone Tuesday

In the ideal world of tombstone hunting in an old cemetery, I should do a thorough research a head of time on who I was looking for and have an idea who else is buried there as well. However, in this case, I came across the cemetery stone by accident and didn't know the 6 Childs children were related to me. All 6 died within weeks of each other, so I wanted to post the tombstone because it's an interesting stone and sad because of all the deaths. Their stone photos were taken in two different years, in three visits. (Photos below with transcription.)

When I began this post last year, I thought some of the photos of other grave stones could be related to the children and later discovered two to be their parents. It seemed that each subsequent trip provided another family member to them and to me.

Without a doubt, I've lost a lot of time making these trips, when two visits should have been enough. Even if I didn't know who they were, the above Childs and Cutlers were buried in the same area, and that was a clue. I now need to return for a fourth trip because I see that the children's great-grandmother, Abigail Dewey Cutler is also buried there. Much time could have been saved, if I had used FindAGrave for the Childs children first and looked at all the family members. (On the link above, you'll see that at one time, the long tombstone was almost flat on the ground.)

The six children of Abijah Childs and Sarah Cutler were buried in this plot located in Y^e Old Burying Ground in Lexington, Massachusetts. They died within a three week period between August 19 and September 6, 1778. The parents were buried behind them under the two tall cemetery markers, seen in above photo and below), photos taken Oct. 17, 2015. (Photo too dark, so I returned last week for a better picture. Summer photo too light.)

Abijah Childs and Sarah Cutler above and below.

They are my 2nd cousins, 7 times removed. Photos taken Aug. 22, 2015.

In memory of
Mr. Abijah Childs
who died
Aug. 30
1808
Age 70

His wife is below.

SACRED
to the memory
of
MRS. SARAH CHILDS
wife of
Mr. Abijah Childs,
who died
March 3, 1812
Age 78.

A return trip to the cemetery on October 9, 2016 was necessary because I used FindAGrave again and discovered the children's grandparents were two stones from them. (Photo above and below.)

Benjamin Cutler and his wife Mary Hartwell are the grandparents to the Childs children, and My 1 cousin 8 times removed.

Memento mori

Here lies the
Body of Mr.
Benjamin Cutler
who departed this
Life Novr. 3d. 1776.
Aged 79 years
3 months and
29 days

Here lies the
Body of Mrs. Mary
Cutler, wife of Mr.
Benjamin Cutler
she departed this
Life Novr. 6th

Aged 75 years 9
months and 21 days

For more information about this cemetery, please see my post HERE called, How to Find a Tombstone in the Old Cemetery in Lexington, MA

Children listed on the above stone.

My third cousins 6 times removed.

Sarah Childs

Died

August 28^th

1778

Aged 13 Years

^8
months

^{and 11 days.}

^---

^{Eunice
Childs}

Died

August 23^rd

1778

Aged 12 years

3 months

and 8 Days

---

Abijah Childs

Died

Sep^t 6^th

1778

Aged 11 years

And 37

Days.

---

Abigail Childs

Died

August 29^th

1778

Aged 7 years

7 months

and 11 Days.

---

Benj^m Childs

Died

August 24^th

1778

Aged 4 years

9 months and

8 Days.

---

Moses Childs

Died

August 19^th

1778

Aged 3 years

Wanting

8 Days.

This Monument is Erected to the Memory of 6 Children

of M^r Abijah Childs and M^rs Sarah his wife.

Foot stone listing the six Childs children.

Thursday, June 30, 2016

A Fourth Cousin Wrote Because my Two Cemetery Posts Pertained to Her Ancestors!

"Hi, I was doing my semi annual google search for my natural grandfather's name, and your April 13 blog post was all about him." (This was about the great cemetery database for the Brookdale Cemetery in Dedham, MA.) She continued, "And a previous one (post) was about my great grandmother Annie Ward Poole." That post was about the three databases for the South Church Cemetery / South Parish in Andover, MA.

So, when I heard from my fourth cousin last week, I was quite surprised, because I had no information about her nor her parents! This is a case where writing a genealogy related blog doesn't always have to be about your immediate family. Often, readers doing their own research often find their way to my blog, one thing leads to another and wow, there we are discussing our shared ancestors. Case in point, are the statements in the first paragraph.

The photos were taken during several months, late winter and late spring. Winter was the best for taking photos because when I returned for additional pictures, the grass was way too high.