While looking for Lilacs, we discovered the General

While looking for lilacs to photograph, my husband remembered a huge grove of them in Dracut, Massachusetts, a small town next to where I live. The lilacs were way too high for us to touch and smell, so I walked across the street to take the photo below. I've seen the memorial hundreds of times, but never stopped to read it.

In Memory of

General

Casimir Pulaski

Born in Poland 1748

Died for America

At Savannah GA. 1789

Donated by

Polish American Citizen's Club

Dracut, Mass. 1934.

Naturally, I had to look him up. There was a huge amount of information. So, if you are interested in the Revolutionary War, you might want to read these links: HERE, HERE and HERE.

Do You Know?

As of May 31, 2013, there are now 100 Million grave records on FindAGrave. Their announcement is as follows:

Find A Grave passes the 100 MILLION mark!
And we're growing faster than ever!
Last month, Find A Grave contributors added
2 million new memorials and 1.8 million new photos!
Go, Team Find A Grave, Go! 
Now, on to the next 100 million... 
[Click to visit the 100 millionth memorial]

How long does it take Find A Grave to add a million grave records into their site?

By my calculation it is now taking just a little over 3 weeks. I base this on my visual viewing of their site, since I am on it almost every day. The weeks between December 7 and January 1 took a little bit longer to reach the million mark, due to holiday activities. I say by August 15th they will hit the 100,000,000 mark. What do you think? (I now think June 5th. (Date picked on April 26th))

In November, I wrote, Have You Looked Lately? a short piece about FindAGrave. For each new figure, I updated my blog to reflect the stats.

** While I was working with Find A Grave today, December 7, 2012, the total went to 91 million  grave records.

** The total is now 92 million grave records as of January 1, 2013!

** The total is now 93 million grave records as of January 22, 2013!

** The total is now 94 million grave records as of February 13, 2013!

** The total is now 95 million grave records as of March 4, 2013!

** The total is now 96 million grave records as of March 24, 2013!

** The total is now 97 million grave records as of April 11, 2013!

** The total is now 98 million grave records as of April 26, 2013!

** The total is now 99 million grave records as of May 14, 2013!

Mr. Fay and Father John's Medicine Co., of Lowell, Massachusetts

Many years ago, one of my bosses lived in this beautiful old house.  It originally belonged to Mr. Aubert J. Fay, who owned Father John's Medicine Co., Inc., where I worked for over 10 years.

I never met Mr. Fay, because he died in 1944, nor his wife, who died in 1965. She continued to live in the house until her death. As a matter of fact, her wake was held in the house, and that was the only time I stepped foot inside it. Although I don't know the history or much about Mr. Fay, other than material obtained through Ancestry, I intend to go to the Lowell archives and try to find out more. I do know the house was built in 1904. I want to know when he began the company and how and why his house and reins of the company were passed into the hands of the Donehue family, the father,  then his two sons, Gerald F. and George H. As long as I knew the sons, Gerald lived alone in this house and he was also the president of the company at the time I left. Brother George lived a few blocks away with his wife.

Cemetery photos for the Donehue family may be seen HERE. Cemetery photos for the Fay family may be seen below.

FAY
Front view

From a distance, the tombstone looks larger because the one in the next plot is so large that you can't distinguish the two.

BORN		DIED
1820	JAMES L. FAY	1907
1827	MARY N. HIS WIFE	1907
1867	AGNES L. FAY	1904
1852	EDGAR L. FAY	1915
1848	FREDERICK T. FAY	1938
1847	ANNE D. HIS WIFE	1927
1860	THOMAS G. McGANNON	1927
1865	BLANCHE HIS WIFE	1919
1860	AUBERT J. FAY	1944
1877	GERTRUDE E. HIS WIFE    (Gertrude Elizabeth Knowles)	1965

Father John's Medicine building is 4 stories high (building is where the street lamp is) and is now used for senior housing.

Census information:

1900, Lowell, Massachusetts.  Albert J. Fay, born August 1861 in New Hampshire was age 38, and working as a carriage dealer. Actual birth record states he was born Aug. 29, 1860.

1930, Lowell, Massachusetts.  Hubert J. [sic]  Fay, age 67 and Gertrude E. age 53. He is listed as the president, Medicine Co.

Two for One Regarding the Wayside Inn

This is a two-for-one posting. Last week a friend wrote a wonderful post and I'm sharing it here for you to read. You'll be glad you did. Diane Boumenot does a superb job with her blog called, One Rhode Island Family. Please read her "Buckley Parmenter and The Wayside Inn" post HERE.

I decided to re-post my blog from three years ago because I think some of you might have missed it.

Originally posted on Sunday, April 25, 2010.

On April 15, 1972, I attended a wedding at the Martha Mary Chapel in Sudbury, Massachusetts. The above menu is from that day. Yesterday, April 24, 2010, my husband and I went to the Sudbury Inn and ate there. They still serve the Yankee Pot Roast and Chicken Pot Pie, both are still delicious (prices much higher though).

The Inn / Restaurant is shown above.

"Longfellow's Wayside Inn is proud to be the oldest operating Inn in the country, offering comfort and hospitality to travelers along the Boston Post Road since 1716." 

Revolutionary War events still taking place.

The wedding in 1972 was held at the Martha-Mary Chapel, just feet from the Inn.

 Movie lovers may have seen the Chapel on films, as it has been in many movies, including a few coming out this year.

Across the street is a beautiful, still-working grist mill.

For additional information on Henry Ford's Historic Preservation (1923-1960)

Amherst New Hampshire Church -- Wordless Wednesday

The Congregational Church of Amherst, New Hampshire

United Church of Christ, Organized in 1741

Second Meeting House Dedicated January 19, 1774

Amherst Town Common (below)

Bean and Eastman of Lowell, Massachusetts -- Tombstone Tuesday

 

BEAN

Samuel

1797 - 1867

Adeline

1802 - 1869

Livonia C.

1831 -1893

Horace W.

1857 - 1864

(On Eastman side)

Lizzie

1837 - 1860

Marietta

1845 - 1855

Lyman

1839 - 1864

 Lowell Cemetery, Lowell, Massachusetts

Merrimack River and Land Owners, Lowell, MA

The Merrimack River in the top and bottom photos, taken from opposite sides of the river. Walking trail is, I believe, at least a mile on both sides.

1889

Pawtucket Boulevard

The Donors of the Land

Planted and Built

With Great Vision

Thomas Varnum

Clarence Coburn

Thos. Underwood

Catherine Butler

Geo. I. Goodale

Benj. C. Morrison

Willard Coburn

Joseph Wilson

Geo. W. Clement

Edward S. Howe

William H. Hull

Geo. J. Carney

Lucy M. Fay

Charles Dana Palmer, Mayor

1939

Clark of Lowell, Massachusetts -- Tombstone Tuesday

Andrew J. Clark

1823  --  1875

Elizabeth S. Clark

1826  --  1901

George W. Clark

1846  --  1846

Lowell Cemetery, Lowell, Massachusetts

Brick Walls of My Readers on Surname Saturday

Permission given to use clip art by Bio Organics

Over the years, I have received hundreds of requests for help, I would say half of them I am able to help, which brings quite a bit of satisfaction. However, the others, if after my suggestions don't pan out, the person is usually left with a brick wall. This past week, I received two such requests and suddenly thought, why not post their letters. I have my own Brick Walls on a blog post, why not post theirs. I'll either use their entire letter or parts of it with pertinent information. If anybody has information on these unknown people, please write me and I will put you in touch with the appropriate person.

In addition, if anybody wants to write a piece on their brickwall, please do. Just send them to me, and I'll post here. This will be like a query board. Let's see what happens.

#1 "Hello Barbara,

It is me again. I had contacted you concerning the Lowrey / Grinnell Families and your help was so wonderful. I have followed your blogs ever since and find them so interesting. Again, thank you for all of your work!

Well, in reading the last few weeks, I noticed your connection to Momence, Illinois and the Hess family of the region. I've hit a stone wall with my great-great-great grandfather Andrew G. Hess who lived in  Iroquois County Illinois (near Momence). He was supposedly born in 1830 in Pennsylvania although I found in the 1860 Census his birthplace was listed "unknown". He was a drayman and married Sarah Sapp (born 1836 in Illinois, the daughter of Asa and Allie (Thomas) Sapp. Her nickname was Sallie.) The couple had children Ally (1854), Phebe (1856), LAVINA SEREPTA -my line (1859), twins Calvin and Benjamin (1866), Samuel (1868) and Andrew E. (1871). Andrew was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery when he died in Watseka, Illinois July 13, 1884( Find-a-Grave) but no mention of Sallie's burial there. 

I was just wondering if in your years vast research, if you ever came across mention of him, his parents or his family? Hess is a very popular name since a whole German part of the  country seems to have used this but the geographical location of the family and the early date of living in the same area may be coincidental  or they may actually tie in somewhere to the Scramlin - Hess Family that you have researched.

Thanks again for all your efforts!

Sincerely,

Bill"

----------------

#2 "Hi Barbara,

I have started researching my Westover genealogy. My father was Orville Francis Westover (1915-1992). My grandfather was Thomas Francis Westover (born in NY in April 1885 or 1887). My great-grandfather was Stephen Westover. According to the 1900 Census, he was living in Oneonta, Ostego, NY. He was born in Canada in October 1857. He had been married to Josephine Shortsleeve Westover (nickname "Rina"?) for 22 years. Josephine was born in May 1861 in New York. Their children are Thomas, May, Della, Harry, Arthur, Roy, and Reva.There is one other child that I don't know the name of. Both Thomas and Stephen were boilermakers for the railroad and the family moved frequently.

I am wondering if this Stephen Westover might be the Stephen that is on your family tree (born 1859 in Canada, son of Orange Westover). Do you have any suggestions on how to figure out if these are the same people?

Thanks for your help!
Nancy Westover S."
___________________________

Do You Know?

How long does it take FindAGrave to add a million grave records into their site?

By my calculation it is now taking just a little over 3 weeks. I base this on my visual viewing of their site, since I am on it almost every day. The weeks between December 7 and January 1 took a little bit longer to reach the million mark, due to holiday activities. I say by August 15th they will hit the 100,000,000 mark. What do you think? (I now think June 5th.)

In November, I wrote, Have You Looked Lately? a short piece about FindAGrave. For each new figure, I updated my blog to reflect the stats.

** While I was working with FindAGrave today, December 7, 2012, the total went to 91 million  grave records.

** The total is now 92 million grave records as of January 1, 2013!

** The total is now 93 million grave records as of January 22, 2013!

** The total is now 94 million grave records as of February 13, 2013!

** The total is now 95 million grave records as of March 4, 2013!

** The total is now 96 million grave records as of March 24, 2013!

** The total is now 97 million grave records as of April 11, 2013!

** The total is now 98 million grave records as of April 26, 2013!