Taking a Break, but not From Summer

After five and a half years of blogging, and writing 1,133 posts, plus have 69 drafts in the can, I've decided to take a break. Genealogy research will continue, but no blogging about it, perhaps I'll do some posts about Lowell. My decision was made last week, and that is the reason I haven't posting anything this past week. Even with the lovely surprise of having my recent post selected by four fellow blog writers as one of their weekly favorites, I still decided to stop for a while.

My gratitude to those four women is shown by my putting their blog links below. It is my hope you will click on them and search around their sites. For my readers, I appreciate knowing many are still reading my posts, so with my time off, you are getting time off as well...I'm not cluttering your email box. Have a great summer. The photos on this post were taken last week.

Gail Dever of Genealogy à la carte

Jo Henn of Climbing My Family Tree

Jana Last of Jana's Genealogy and Family

Linda Stufflebean of Empty Branches on the Family Tree

Eleazer Wheelock of Medfield, Massachusetts -- Tombstone Tuesday

Eleazer Wheelock

Born: May 3, 1654, Medfield, Norfolk Co., MA

Died:  Mar. 24, 1731, Medfield, Norfolk Co., MA

Buried:  Vine Lake Cemetery

Eleazer was my 9th great-grandfather.

Cemetery stone for Eleazer Wheelock. Since I wasn't familiar with the cemetery and knew it was huge, I asked my friend, Sharon if she could help me. She lives in the town, so she enlisted the help of her friend, and he was kind enough to put an orange stick marker at the headstone for Eleazer. It is very hard to read because the sun casts a shadow. Sharon gave us a tour and provided a lot of cemetery information, including showing us an impressive stone belonging to her ancestors.

Medfield Vine Lake Preservation Trust has an excellent monthly newsletter called, Quiet Voices. In the March 2016 issue, there was a write-up about Eleazer and the excellent photo above. They kindly provided the option to save the photo, which I did, and is seen here. Thank you to the Preservation Trust. Feel free to subscribe to this newsletter, with exceptional articles and photos.

Vine Lake Cemetery has a lovely lake.

Sharon Gillis and my husband.

Below is the tombstone of Sharon's Samuel Morse of Dedham and Medfield.

Google map, showing Vine Lake Cemetery on the upper right-hand side.

Marston of Salem, Massachusetts -- Tombstone Tuesday

HERE LYETH BURIED

Y^e BODY OF

JOHN MARSTON SENIOR

AGED 66 YEARS

DEC^D DECEMBER Y^e

19 1681

Buried in the Charter Street Cemetery aka Burying Point Cemetery, Salem, Massachusetts

He was my 9th great-grandfather.

His foot stone was discovered when I pulled back a lot of the vine growing on the fence.

Two photos of the head and foot stones.

Photos taken May 23, 2015.

The above diagram is from the book, Charter Street Cemetery Burial Records: Salem, Massachusetts by William Carlson, Compiler, (Salem, MA: Higginson Book Co., 2009). I've used this book quite a few times, since I have five ancestors buried in this cemetery.

On pg. 38, you can see the entry for my ancestor, "Marston, John I. Born about 1615 Died December 19, 1681 age 66 years. The son of Thomas and Margaret (Salter) and the husband of Alice (Eden). D 163 (Note: D 163 is the section in the cemetery.)"

On His Birthday, I remember John F. Kennedy

Earlier this month, I read that the memorial statue of John F. Kennedy would once again be open to the public. Apparently, it was off limits right after 9/11/01, but now it may be seen by all. Since I wasn't aware of the statue in the first place, I made it a priority to see  it quickly...before the tourists hit town. I was rather lucky, even though there were several school groups, I remained patient and they soon moved on.

I have since learned that the public will be able to view the statue of the former U.S. president seasonally, from April to October, starting at 9:30 a.m. and ending at 4:30 p.m., from Monday through Friday.

If you face the State House, the statue is to your left.

In the below photo, I was behind the statue facing the Boston Common.

The view of the Shaw Memorial and the Boston Common as I stood by the memorial.

My post, "The Patriot and the Sculpturer, Both are Well-known. One Didn't Come Back" is about the Shaw Memorial. Yesterday was the anniversary for Robert Gould Shaw and his troop. The memorial scene depicts the 54th Regiment marching down Beacon Street on May 28, 1863 as they left Boston to head south.

Senator from Massachusetts 1953 - 1960 (I'll go back for that photo.)

For more information about President Kennedy, please see HERE.

Lowell Remembers Memorial Day

IN MEMORY

OF ALL

BRAVE MEN

AND WOMEN

FROM LOWELL

WHO SERVED

AND ALL THOSE

WHO GAVE

THEIR LIVES

IN VIETNAM

ARMY

DONALD L. ARCAND

WILLIAM T. CALLERY

JOHN J. CARAVILLE

PETER TSIROVASILES

PAUL L. STEWART

BRUCE R. BAXTER

ROBERT L. HARRISON

RONALD E. FORGET

RICHARD C. ST. ARMAND

WALTER J. LEMIEUX

PETER J. BOUCHARD

WILLIAM J. HODGE

JOHN SCOTT KEENAN

ROBERT J. LAFLAMME

MARINES

RUDOLPH H. LEFEBVRE

JOSEPH L. VALLEE

PETER N. SAMARAS

ROBERT F. BIGELOW

RICHARD J. KELLEY

RONALD A. SKELTON

ROBERT W. McCLUSKEY

HENRY M. SARMENTO

Artifacts in LMA Hall of Flags is a detailed blog by Lowell historian, Dick Howe that he posted on September 25, 2022.

All memorials are in front of the Lowell Memorial Auditorium. Trees obstruct full view of the building, so I'll take another photo in late fall. Below are some of the events to be held, including William Shatner on June 11th.

There Is A Lot to Like About Lowell -- Franco American School

"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.)

FRANCO AMERICAN SCHOOL

Lowell had their annual Open Doors Lowell this past weekend. Approximately 33 various old and new buildings were open to the public, and the Franco American School was on the top of my list of those to see. The above house was built in 1876 as a residence, and in 1908 it was sold to the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate to be used as an orphanage for children of Franco-American heritage. In 1963 it became a school for boarding and day students, and in 1978 it became a school for day students only. The house is less than 4 miles from where I live, and this was the first time I had ever gone inside. There were quite a few visitors with us, and I'm sure everybody was glad to finally see the inside of this beautiful house.

Front door above, and one of the two panels of stained glass shown below.

Frederick Fanning Ayer House

"Frederick Ayer joined his brother, the patent medicine manufacturer J. C. Ayer, in Lowell. In time he managed to gain control of several companies and in the 1870s built this magnificent Second Empire style house to reflect his new position and wealth. Beatrice Ayer, the wife of General Patton, was born here."

From Wikipedia, "During a family summer trip to Catalina Island in 1902, Patton met Beatrice Banning Ayer, the daughter of Boston industrialist Frederick Ayer. The two wed on May 26, 1910 in Beverly Farms, Massachusetts." Beatrice was born in Lowell, as shown on the Lowell birth register, although other sources say Haverhill and Boston. Her death information on FindAGrave.com may be seen HERE.

 These two fall photos were taken in November 2016.

CENTER FOR LOWELL HISTORY – UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS LOWELL LIBRARIES has a  link to their to the below information. Please see their link at: http://library.uml.edu/clh/Exhibit/Orph01.htm

"In 2006, the University of Massachusetts of Lowell, Center for Lowell History in partnership with the Lowell National Historical Park and the Franco American School developed the Franco American Orphanage Project. The goal of this project was to preserve and make available to the public Franco American Orphanage and School Records from 1908-1972."

During my research about the house and occupants, I discovered from Wikipedia, there is another Ayer house, this one is in Boston. "His home in Lowell is now the Franco American School, a Catholic school, and the Frederick Ayer Mansion on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston, Massachusetts is a National Historic Landmark." NOTE: I just discovered that public tours are given inside the Mansion, and I'm booking one in June. See their link HERE. FOLLOW-UP: I visited the Ayer Mansion, and wrote a blog post consisting mostly of photos. Please see HERE.

April 2018 New Update...see at the end.

UPDATE: April 27, 2016: From the Lowell Sun newspaper

Over a century old, future of old Ayer mansion is uncertain in Lowell as school set to close
Read more: http://www.lowellsun.com/news/ci_29819359/over-century-old-future-old-ayer-mansion-is#ixzz474ZtfarV

UPDATE: August 10, 2016  From The Sun Newspaper

"Sale of historic Lowell property to hinge on preservation"

http://blogs.lowellsun.com/thecolumn/2016/08/10/sale-of-historic-lowell-property-to-hinge-on-preservation/

"Franco American School to be sold to local development team"

http://blogs.lowellsun.com/thecolumn/2016/12/16/franco-american-school-to-be-sold-to-local-development-team/

Franco American School: Some history by Richard Howe

http://www.richardhowe.com/2016/12/19/franco-american-school-history/

"Take A Tour of the Franco American School rehab"  (120 photos)

The Lowell Sun, April 13, 2018

http://photos.lowellsun.com/2018/04/13/take-a-tour-of-the-franco-american-school-rehab/#2

"Franco American School to become homes, offices -- with history intact"

By Rick Sobey, rsobey@lowellsun.com

UPDATED:   04/15/2018 09:07:27 AM EDT

Read more: http://www.lowellsun.com/todaysheadlines/ci_31806797/new-life-sight-an-old-lowell-gem#ixzz5CkZuMYWs