Visiting the Monuments and Old North Bridge 57 Years Ago!

My mother's college friend, Mrs. Williams and her two daughters came to visit us in Lexington in 1958. We had already lived in that town for about four years, so I am quite certain the 1958 visit wasn't my first time there. One of the daughters, Dee Williams Malan and I were about the same age and when I lived in Alexandria, VA, she did too. We saw each other often, and once she came to Lowell,  MA for a quick visit. I am in the middle back, mother on the right and my two sisters are in front.

HERE

On the 19 of April

1775

was made

the first forcible resistance

to British aggression

On the opposite Bank

stood the American Militia

HERE stood the Invading Army

and on this spot

the first of the Enemy fell

in the War of that Revolution

which gave

Independence

to these United States

In gratitude to GOD

and

In the love and Freedom

this Monument

was erected AD 1836.

Below photos taken 2013, 2015, Concord, Massachusetts.

I never knew the name of this monument, so Wikipedia came to the rescue. It appears it's just called the 1836 Monument. While on that site, I discovered some other very interesting bits of information, shared below:

"Bridge

The original North Bridge was dismantled in 1793 by the town of Concord because its use as a bridge had become impractical; a new bridge was erected a few hundred yards away. The bridge was rebuilt multiple times in 1875, 1889, and 1909. The current replica was built in 1956 and was based on drawings of the bridge built in the 1760s. The bridge was restored in 2005.

1836 memorial (above)

In 1836, when there was no bridge at the site, the residents of Concord erected a memorial obelisk on the east side of the river, the side closest to the town center. Inscribed on the eastern (approach) side of the monument is: "HERE On the 19 of April, 1775, was made the first forcible resistance to British aggression[.] On the opposite Bank stood the American Militia[.] Here stood the Invading Army and on this spot the first of the Enemy fell in the War of that Revolution which gave Independence to these United States[.] In gratitude to GOD and In the love of Freedom this Monument was erected AD. 1836."

On Independence Day, July 4, 1837, the memorial was dedicated, an event for which Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote his "Concord Hymn". The first, and best known, of the four stanzas of this poem is:

By the rude bridge that arched the flood,

Their flag to April's breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood
And fired the shot heard round the world.

1875 memorial (below)

The first stanza of "Concord Hymn" is inscribed at the base of the statue Minute Man by Daniel Chester French. The statue, which stands on a 7-foot-tall granite pedestal, was cast in the Ames Foundry in Chicopee, Massachusetts and was made from seven American Civil Warcannons donated for the project by Congress. The statue, and the 1875 bridge, were dedicated on April 19, 1875 at a centennial recognition of the original battle of April 19, 1775."

1875 Memorial, more commonly known as the Minuteman Statue.

Past photo posts about the North Bridge Visitor Center, park and bridge in Concord, seen HERE and HERE. In reviewing the photos, I don't think I need to take any more photos!

Glastonbury, Connecticut -- Kilborn Ancestor Buried There Plus See the World War II Memorial

A visit to the Green Cemetery in Glastonbury, Connecticut on April 17th proved to be the most frustrating hunt for a stone I've ever had in all 100 or so cemeteries I've been in. I thought I was so well prepared as I had a copy of my John Kilbourn /Kilborn stone beautifully photographed for FindAGrave (FAG) by Rebecca, and I knew the row and exact location of the stone. So what happened? I was armed with an iPad and a small Sony aim and shoot camera, but I couldn't read any writing on a large number of stones. The shadow is exactly in the same place as the FAG photo below. When you compare the two pictures, I'd love some feedback. Do you think it was taken in another month or is there another reason? I wonder if Rebecca will respond to my query as to what month she was there, even though she posted her photo in 2007!

From the photo below, I thought it was taken at 11:57 AM, but in fact I was in error. After I posted my original post, I realized that that time was due to my taking a copy of the FAG photo with my iPad. Thank you to the two who commented on why there could have been a difference of 3 minutes, since my horrible picture was taken at 11:54. The idea of a flash being used was a good suggestion, but I think since you see a shadow, like mine, that might not be a reason. Perhaps it was the time of the year.

I have taken cemetery photos of John's 7 of direct line of Kilborn, all in Connecticut (Colchester, East Haddam, Clinton, and New Haven). John Kilborn's father was probably buried across the river in Wethersfield per FAG.

John Kilbourn is my 8th great-grandfather. There are 21 Kilbourns or Kilborns in that cemetery and I could only read three! The stone reads

HERE

Lieth The

Body of Mr. Jn^o

Kilborn Who Died

November y^e 25^th 1711

in y^e 60^th year of His

Age

FAG photo above, not taken at 11:57 AM
Mine below was taken at 11:54 AM

Changing it to black and white helped a little, at least I can see a few words.

Inside the fence are the row numbers. I called the Historical Society and got the exact location.

Green Cemetery has many entrances, not just the one shown.

The Historical Society of Glastonbury is next to the Cemetery. This was the original town hall built in 1840. The war memorial is in front of the town hall.

IN HONOR OF THOSE WHO SERVED THEIR

COUNTRY IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR AND IN MEMORY OF

CHARLES GALLI WHO WAS KILLED IN ACTION.

HERBERT AMOND

RICHARD A. BANTLE

EVERETT E. BANTLY

ALLEN F. BEHNKE

ROBERT G. BRASH

CHARLES W. CHASE, JR.

JOSEPH A. CLAPIS

LAWRENCE L. COGGIOLA

ELMORE L. CORNISH

MARY L. CORNISH

JACK DARBY

GEORGE E. ELLIOTT, JR.

WILLIAM J. ELLIOTT

DURAND G. FULLER

CHARLES GALLI

ALBERT A. GEOFFROY

CHARLES M. GODDARD, JR.

DANIEL H. HODGE

ALBERT K. KARASH, JR.

VINCENT KASPER

WALTER KERR

JOSEPH KIRK

FRANK J. LEACH

EGIDIO F. MARINELLI

JACK E. MAY

RICHARD A. MERRIAM

EDWARD J. MILLER

HENRY J. MORSE

GUIDOI OLIVA

LAWRENCE W. RICHARDS

WALTER J. STANLEY

JOSEPH F. STARK

LUCIEN VEGIARD

JOSEPH J. WACHTER, JR.

EDWARD D. WELDON

JOSEPH F. WESTERGOM

ERECTED 1947

Town green is beside the cemetery and behind the Historical Society.

Memorials Written for my Mother and Her Revised Will to Benefit 6 Non-Profit Organizations

A newspaper obituary written about my mother was titled, "The Ultimate Volunteer, " I blogged about that obituary five years ago, see HERE. Now, 26 years after her April 16, 2016 death, I am posting three memorial articles to my mother. From the obituary, "She died of a heart attack, at the age of 70, doing what she loved, leading a group of bicyclists on an annual Patriot's Day bike ride in Lincoln [sic] (should be Lexington)."

Alan Dressler, Marta Gredler and Sharon Cain wrote memorial articles and Jean H. James wrote the Memorial Ride in my mother's name. Part of what they wrote are these statements: "Just a few of her activities: the Presidency of her Skidmore college class; Westford (MA) teacher; AARP; the Concord Piece-makers (her quilting group); Boy Scout recycling drives; Rails to Trails projects; and of course Bicycling with the Nashoba Valley Pedalers." "Long-time volunteer of the New England Quilt Museum." Personally, I know she was a Girl Scout volunteer and for several years the Sunday School volunteer administrator.

Her revised will dated 1 March 1990, just 6 weeks prior to her death and a few months before a scheduled trip to France, replaced her original one prepared in ca. 1955. She thought so much about her love of the Church, Rails to Trails, New England Quilt Museum, Friends of the Acton Council on Aging, Northfield Mt. Hermon School (where she attended a private high school), and Skidmore College that she left each of them 1/6 of 1/4 of her estate.

Marta

Revolutionary War Memorial--22 Names from Andover, Massachusetts

IN MEMORIAM

TOWN OF ANDOVER

CASUALTIES IN THE MILITARY AND NAVAL SERVICE

IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR

PHILIP ABBOT

SAMUEL BAILEY, JR.

EZRA CHANDLER

JOSEPH CHANDLER

TITUS CHICKERING

CHARLES DANIELSON

STEPHEN FARRINGTON

BENJAMIN FRYE 

JAMES FRYE

JONATHAN HAGGET

THOMAS HAGGET

WILLIAM HAGGET

JESSE HOLT

ABIJAH INGALLS

JACOB JONES

JOHN LOVEJOY

BENJAMIN PARKER

DAVID PORTER

JONATHAN STEVENS

THOMAS STEVENS

EPHRAIM SWAN

ASA TOWN

"HE FOUGHT THE FIGHT, HE KEPT THE STEP,

LOYAL, AND BRAVE, AND TRUE.

FOR A FREE LAND HE PAID THE PRICE,

COMRADES, THAT DAY FOR YOU."

ANNIE SAWYER DOWNS

ERECTED BY THE TOWN IN THIS BICENTENNIAL YEAR 1976

I Wanted to Know More and I Found a lot from a Great Cemetery Database

The title is a little misleading because the post is mostly about my efforts to find where David Mercer was buried and who he was. He married one of the five daughters of Annie Ward Poole Bartlett of Andover, Massachusetts. I knew where daughter Sarah Poole Bartlett was buried but where was the husband? When I discovered Sarah had married David Mercer, I soon discovered he was the son of Major-General Sir David Mercer (1864–1920), British Royal Marine officer. Now that I knew who he was, I had to find out where he was buried, since it wasn't next to his wife.

First step is always to turn to FindAGrave, and the screen shot shows just a name and dates, and he was buried in Brookdale Cemetery, established in 1880, with almost 3,000 interments in Dedham, Norfolk Co., Massachusetts. Any genealogists knows, that isn't enough information.

A quick google search of the cemetery name shown on FindAGrave brought me to a link done by the town. I was hopeful.

http://gis.dedham-ma.gov/cemeteryviewer_brookdale/

Below are screen shots to show how to use their outstanding site, there isn't a lot of reading to figure it out.

After I clicked ok, and entered the  surname in the upper left box, you'll see a map and the surname you entered.

I then received a listing of all individuals with that surname. Below, you'll see five people with Mercer in their name.

I clicked on my Mercer, David Dixon, and noted he was in Lot 0421S.

Below, is a listing of all the people in that Lot. Complete with death date and age. A map showing where the Lot is can be seen as well. (You can exit out of this listing of names, and will be able to see the entire cemetery.) This Brookdale Cemetery database in Dedham, Massachusetts can provide a huge amount of information. Unfortunately, I didn't see a marker photo for David Mercer, but if I went, it wouldn't be hard to locate the spot. UPDATE: July 12, 2016, see at the end of this post.

In this listing, you have two options. One is to click on the name, that will give you his Grave Record, shown below. If you click on the last option, that of View Lot Diagram, you'll where the individuals are placed and additional bits of information.

Grave Record above, and Lot Diagram below.

I'm showing an incomplete lineage of Annie Ward Poole and her husband Nathaniel Edward Bartlett. The subject of this post is shown by the red arrow. You can see that Sarah Poole Bartlett married twice, and I should have David listed first, then the second, but in my haste.

This post will be added to yesterdays post, You need to Know What You Have So You Can Share With Others Your Cemetery List

UPDATE: July 12, 2016
I received notification from David Mercer's granddaughter that she found a site with the photo of the cemetery stone at the above cemetery. Both David and his second wife are named on this stone. It had been posted on BillionGraves (a site I don't subscribe to, but may in the future). Please see: https://billiongraves.com/grave/Elinor-Baker-Mercer/8378394#

You need to Know What You Have So You Can Share With Others Your Cemetery List

One of the best things you can do if you have a genealogy blog is know what you have. Today, I am talking about cemeteries, but not about the 234 entries I have with the label of cemetery. My problem is, it's impossible to remember where a certain post is, under the cemetery label, because they all are labeled cemetery.

Today, I decided to make a new label and have it be useful to me and for those who are searching helpful information, like maps and names in a cemetery, and you don't want to use FindAGrave.com. Most of these were done by towns, or individuals (such as my husband's cousin and uncle).

I am covering the following towns in Massachusetts: No. Andover, Billerica, Bedford, Watertown, Cambridge, Andover and one in Maine. Shortly, I will add one for Dedham, Massachusetts (the best I've seen yet).

I Wanted to Know More and I Found a lot from a Great Cemetery Database (Dedham, MA) Tombstone Tuesday -- A Makeover for a 1660 No. Andover, Massachusetts Cemetery Three Cemetery Databases for One Cemetery and Not One was Complete. What Would You Do? Billerica Public Library, Billerica, Massachusetts (History and Genealogy Collection) 43 Revolutionary War Soldiers and Widow Balch Buried in Bedford, MA -- Tombstone Tuesday Watertown Book, with Map and List of Burials at the Arlington Street Burying Ground Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, MA -- How to locate Records from Home or in Person Brunswick and Topsham, Maine Cemeteries (Continued) How to Find a Tombstone in the Old Cemetery in Lexington, MA, My Stearns / Stone for Tombstone Tuesday

Tribute to my Childhood Best Friend, Mary Bea Lingane of Lexington, MA

I recently found out that my former best friend passed away. I contacted her brother and he was kind enough to write and give me the details as well as other bits of information about the family. I am posting this in case anybody in cyberspace happens to google her name. I would like them to find this blog post and read about Mary Bea.

There aren't enough adjectives to describe the wonderful qualities of my former best friend. Smart, very pretty, talented, fun, nice and loyal. She and I were like glue soon after I moved 2 houses away from her in Lexington, Massachusetts in 1954. There were no other children our age, so we shared our early days together on the weekend and after school. We often took the bus to Boston, joined a very active Girl Scout troop (in my blog post about My Life as a Girl Scout, I wrote her name hoping she'd see it one day), and did what we could together because our stay-at-home mothers didn't work nor drive. She went to a private catholic school for several years, but we went to the same high school. There, she took college courses, went to college, became a teacher (at the same school my mother taught), left teaching, took more college courses, had a few different jobs, her last was about 30 years of working in several departments at Northeastern University, one as the Director of Personnel and her last position as Executive Assistant to the Provost.

During our almost 60 years, we often kept in contact the best we could but hadn't spoken to each other in maybe 10 years. Years after college, she bought a house with her boyfriend in Arlington and invited me for a weekend visit. I then moved to Virginia and lived there for 20 years, but saw her a few times on my return...always meeting up in Lexington. During one lunch, she spent a good deal of time talking about her very good friend, Candy, who had just passed away. I am doing the same for her, although more publicly. Mary came to my mother's funeral in 1990. And, I called her after I heard her mother passed. Soon, our Christmas cards stopped being sent, her postcards from afar, birthday as well. Later, I always knew how busy she was at Northeastern, and didn't want to bother her....I wish I had.

On November 22, 2015, I gathered a stack of Boston Globe newspapers to dispose of. I hadn't read any, but on a whim, something told me to flip through the obits (I never do that, as a matter of fact, especially this time as I could hardly see, never mind read anything because I had cataract surgery three weeks prior. Right there, on the very last bottom of one of the 4 or more full pages of obituaries was Mary's name, age, and date of death. I read it clearly. A short gasp and tears formed when I read it over and over. I called the University quite a few times, but nobody knew anything about her death. So, months later, I decided to write to her brother.

April 1967 in front of her apartment in Watertown, later she moved to Woburn. Mary on the right, me on the left.

February 3, 2023, I am sharing the letter her brother wrote to me. I'm hopeful he won't mind.

"Hi Barbara. How nice to hear from you, despite the circumstances. Perhaps you know that Mary Bea was living for many years in Woburn, and had retired about a year earlier from Northeastern University where she was an administrator. Last spring and summer she started developing symptoms of headaches, vision issues and occasional falls, which turns out were the result of a brain tumor called a meningioma. Though not malignant it was in a difficult location, and last August she went in for surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Despite world-class specialists in this condition there were complications, and she never awakened from the 15 hour procedure, remaining in what was essentially a coma. As time went on our optimism gradually faded, and we finally decided to move her to hospice in early November. She was very clear in her living will under what circumstances she wished to continue her life if disabled, and it was clear that the chance of meeting that standard had been reduced to nil. She died at the Kaplan Family Hospice House in Danvers, which is an excellent and caring facility. Mary Bea had no children or significant other in the last few years, and she was very generous to her nieces and nephews in her will, such that it will have significant positive impact on their lives.

We had originally planned on a Celebration of Life this spring, but various complications with that plan arose and we decided to just have a family gathering and distribution of ashes in the sea at Cathy’s vacation home in Bar Harbor.

So that is the story. Cathy and her husband John live in Topsfield, MA, and my brother Peter (and his wife, daughters and grandkids) and I live in California. I am married, have one adult son who is an engineer (like his father) in upstate New York and one son who is finishing his freshman year at George Washington University in DC. We will probably be retiring once we stop paying for college tuition!

If you have a spare moment I would enjoy hearing your story.

with best regards,

Paul

p.s. make sure all your estate planning documents are up to date - it really makes a difference."

Two quick stories. When we were in the 4th or 5th grades, I remember being on the grass in her yard talking about love, marriage and white picket fences. Then we decided to kiss each other on the lips to see what that felt like.

The other story was much later, perhaps in the 10th or 11th grade. On a whim, we decided to walk 8 miles to Harvard University to see her dad. He was an instructor or professor (I don't know), but anyway we did, and didn't tell our parents what we were going to do. Her dad was shocked, and shortly after we arrived, he drove us home. My parents punished me. Both are wonderful memories.

Three Cemetery Databases for One Cemetery and Not One was Complete. What Would You Do?

South Church / South Parish Cemetery

Central Street, Andover, Massachusetts

Have you noticed that quite often there are different sets of cemetery records for one cemetery? I found three databases for an Andover, Massachusetts cemetery, so, you simply should not rely on FindAGrave all the time, although that is where I always go first when it comes to trying to find cemetery information with listings and photos. I was looking for the burial of Anne Poole Bartlett and began first with FindAGrave (and found my cousin's name listed), the second search provided a site with her tombstone photo and listed her birth and death dates, and the third site had quite a bit of information, complete with Lot and Grid numbers, but no photos or map. Which one helped me the most?

Step 1 

The first step was to check FindAGrave (FAG), and as you can see there is a listing for Anne Ward Poole Bartlett, who died in 1961. I was surprised there wasn't a photo, but because of her recent death date, I assumed she might have been cremated, but I needed to know for sure.

Step 2

A click on a website for http://www.southchurch.com/ given on the FAG site appeared to be just for the church. So decided to do a google search to see if there was any information on Anne Poole Bartlett. I found http://andover.essexcountyma.net/index.htm a site with a lot of Andover information, but I clicked on Cemeteries and Churches and then saw the  *** NEW *** South Parish Cemetery Photo Project (2006) which took me to an alphabet listing that is divided into 9 sections. If you do this, you'll need to go to the appropriate column for your surname. You'll find names of those buried, birth and death dates, and photos! However, there wasn't a way to find out where the cemetery they were buried.

Step 3

It wasn't until I went back to the church website and saw at the bottom of the page the word Cemetery which brought me to Search Cemetery Database. (Note: Cemetery is now on the bottom because the entire front page was changed for Easter. After Easter, it will probably be towards the top.) It's easy from here on out, just type in your surname, as I did below for Bartlett, Anne Poole. You'll get the Lot number and Detail. Click on Detail, and you'll get a detailed report ... see my yellow report below on Anne Bartlett. I've never seen anything like this in all the 150 or so different cemetery visits I've made.

I made a quick call to the church and learned that they have maps! The following morning, after printing out my names and writing their Lot numbers with the Grid number (very important), I showed up at 9:30. Once you have the Grid, it is easy to find who you are looking for.  Copy of map is below.

To recap, if you believe your individual is buried in this cemetery, you'll need to insert the surname, note the Lot number and Grid number (from the Detail information), then use the map.

Cemetery Map

The Church and Cemetery from Google Earth.

The following Cemetery Statistics was taken, with permission, from the South Parish Burial Grounds page on the Cemetery link. Some information is extremely useful, especially about the for 339 Abbot / Abbott surnames.

"The South Parish Burial Grounds were established with the Parish in 1709.

Three of the four captains of the Andover Militia who marched on Concord and Lexington and later Bunker Hill, are buried here with their families, along with 81 other veterans of the American Revolution. 

Total gravestones: 1930 stones, representing 2854 people. Total broken or missing stones replaced 2001-2006: 72 (over 150 repaired) Veteran stats: Total veterans, patriots, and Pre-Revolution officers: 274, 150 newly identified.

• Oldest vet: Pomp Lovejoy 102 – fought in the Rev. War at age 51 as a slave.
• Youngest vets: 2 boys, both 16, died of disease during the Civil War at Ft. Albany, VA, 1862 British POWs from the Rev. War who stayed are probably buried here, still in research
• 7 French and; Indian War officers – including Rev. French, a Sergeant in the King’s army
• 81 American Revolution vets, 2 killed in action, 5 died of disease, 1 died of wounds, 3 accidental
  • 4 Patriots who carted Harvard’s library books to Andover for safe keeping during the Battle of Bunker Hill (stored at John Abbot’s and Samuel Osgood’s homes)
• 3 Patriots killed in Powder House explosion
• 2 slaves (Pomp Lovejoy, Titus Coburn) who fought at Lexington and Concord, April 19th, 1775
• 1 Lt. Governor of Mass., Samuel Phillips, III (1802)
• 127 Civil War soldiers, 4 Killed in Action, 6 Died of Wounds, 16 Died of Disease (1 chaplain)
• 1 Black Civil War soldier of the Mass. 54th Regiment, Robert Rollins (1879)
• 2 White officers of ‘Colored’ regiments
• 7 Civil War POWs (4 died in captivity in Anderson, GA prison)

• Most people on one monument: 21, of which 9 are John Abbot.
• Most popular surname: Abbot(163)/Abbott(176), 339 total (oddly, Abbot is rare in Andover, England)
• Most popular given name: Mary: 203, Sarah: 146, John: 99, Elizabeth: 93, George: 76, Hannah: 76
• Most popular name female: Mary Abbot/Abbott, 26, Sarah Abbot/Abbott, 16
• Most popular name male: John Abbot/Abbott, 16
• Only 111 stones remain before 1800
• 32 Abbots before 1800 out of 111 stones
• No Abbotts with 2 t’s before 1823
• At least 50 Abbot/Abbott stones misspelled or do not match Town Vital Record spellings (T or TT) 18 ministers
• Most wives with the same husband: 4 (and 2 sets!)
• Longest name: Rachael Eunice Timandra Bartlett Holt (and not even married!)"