Brunswick and Topsham, Maine Cemeteries (Continued)

The previous blog post was an introduction to the Brunswick and Topsham, Maine cemetery project done by my husband's uncle and cousin. See HERE. Below are maps of the two areas where the cemeteries are located, then a corresponding chart with the name of each cemetery, with the range of burial dates and number of stones. There is a listing where the books are housed, whether at a library or a historical society. The next diagrams are drawings where the tombstones are located in each particular cemetery, followed by a transcription of what is on that tombstone.

 See legend in figure #3

Figure #3*

 Example (above and below, for one section of a cemetery)

*Below list is identical Figure #3. (This was done to "catch" word searches.)

CEMETERY AND LOCATION FOR BRUNSWICK AND TOPSHAM CEMETERIES
Adams / Hinkley / Melcher Cemetery	East Brunswick
Ancient Burial Ground	Brunswick
Chase / Jameson / Bunganuc Cemetery	Brunswick
First Parish / Mere Point Cemetery	Brunswick
Goddard / Day Cemetery	Brunswick
Growstown Cemetery	Brunswick
Harding / Thompson Brook Cemetery	Brunswick
Hartwell / Little Cemetery	Brunswick
Heuston Burying Ground	Brunswick
Jones / Quaker Cemetery	Brunswick
Lunt Memorial / Quaker Cemetery	Brunswick
Maquoit Yard Cemetery	Brunswick
Marsh / New Meadows Cemetery	Brunswick
McMannus Family Burial Ground	Brunswick
New Meadows Burying Ground	Brunswick
Pennell Cemetery	Brunswick
Pine Grove Cemetery	Brunswick
Riverside Cemetery	Brunswick
St. John The Baptist Cemetery	Brunswick
St. Paul’s Memorial Garden	Brunswick
Simpon / Hacker Cemetery	Brunswick
Town Farm Cemetery	Brunswick
Varney Cemetery	Brunswick
Elmlawn Cemetery	Topsham
Haley Cemetery	Topsham
Patten Cemetery	Topsham
Riverview Cemetery	Topsham
Rogers Cemetery	Topsham
Topsham Cemetery	Topsham

Brunswick and Topsham, Maine Cemeteries

On a recent trip to Brunswick, Cumberland  Co., Maine to visit my husband's uncle, I inquired about his cemetery books, they covered cemeteries in Brunswick and Topsham, Sagadahoc Co., Maine. He and his son worked on their cemetery project for over 10 years, and I had never seen a book. Within minutes, I was in the basement, where the bound books were, all neatly labeled. Not only the books, but six photos of my husband's ancestors, several great-greats...but that's another story.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing, and although Donald remained reserved about my accolades, I read aloud about a major award they received, The Oakley Award. It stated, "Mark and Donald have worked as volunteers for over a decade and mapped 18,782 stones in thirty-five cemeteries in the Topsham and Brunswick area of Maine. They have mapped each stone's location, repaired sunken and lying on the ground stones, transcribed the name and family relationships and noted the military and fraternal information. Mark has self-published annually a series of books showing the results of their work. For each cemetery, the book includes directions, any known historical information related to the cemetery, maps to located the stones (numbering each stone on a map), a record of the individual stone's inscription – including epitaph, and at the end an index by family surname giving the location of each stone within the cemetery." The award is from The Association for Gravestone Studies*.

After a few photos were taken, I knew I had to write about this project of theirs. A few weeks later, cousin Mark, sent me a listing of where the books are located, the cemetery names, and a sample page. If you have ancestors buried in Brunswick or Topsham, Maine, this is for you. However, the books aren't online. Mark told me, a historical society, a cemetery task force and a library have been "working on getting the information online for more years than it took us to do the field work and paper work."

Additional information as to the locations of these books, all cemetery names and an example page will be in the next post.

* "The Oakley Certificate of Merit is presented periodically by the AGS Board of Trustees to individuals and groups that have helped to advance the mission of the Association. Named for long-time members Rosalee and Fred Oakley, the Certificate of Merit is designed to honor those whose work in the field of gravestone studies that is worthy of recognition by AGS.

The award consists of a certificate, presented by the Board of Trustees, as well as, a gift of a book to the honoree's local library, in their name on behalf of AGS. Whenever possible the award presentation will be made by a local AGS member. Each year's recipients will have their names printed in the conference program book and annual report.   In addition, they will be acknowledged at a reception held in their honor at the conference."

Congratulations and thank you, Donald and Mark!

Tombstone Tuesday -- Wilder of Lancaster, Massachusetts

Ebenezer Wilder

Born:   June 23, 1683, Lancaster, Worcester Co., Massachusetts
Died:  December 25, 1745, Lancaster, Worcester Co., Massachusetts


"Here lies buried Ye Body of Mr. Ebenezer Wilder Who Departed This Life Decembr ye 25th A.D. 1745 In Ye 65th Year of His Age"

Mary Houghton, Wife of Ebenezer Wilder

Born:  March 15, 1682, Woburn, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts

Died:  January 6, 1734, Lancaster, Worcester Co., Massachusetts

"Here Lies Buried Ye Body of Mrs. Mary Wilder, Ye Wife of Mr. Ebenezer Wilder, Who Dec'd January ye 6th, A.D. 1733/4, Age 54 Years 9 M. and 22 Ds"

They were my 7th Great-grandparents.

Old Common Burial Ground, Lancaster, Worcester Co., Massachusetts

Founders of Windsor, Connecticut

Twenty-one of my direct ancestors were Founders of Windsor, Connecticut. A list of all the founders is below, with my directs in blue. The photo shows the town common, with the First Church of Windsor, Windsor Historical Society, monument of my ancestor, Maj. John Mason, and a smaller monument dedicated to all the Founders of Windsor with their names engraved.

Historic Windsor common, Windsor, Connecticut.

George Abbot	Matthew Griswold	John Porter
Benedictus Alford	Thomas Gunn	Edward Preston
Samuel Allen	William Hannum	Mathew Rainend
Matthew Allyn	John Hawkes	Philip Randall
Thomas Barber	Anthony Hawkins	Jasper Rawlins
John Bartlett	William Hayden	John Reeves
Margaret (Barrett)	John Haynes	John Rockwell
(Huntington)	William Hill	William Rockwell
Stoughton	John Hillier	Bray Rossiter
Thomas Bascomb	Thomas Holcombe	John St. Nicholas
Thomas Bassett	William Holmes	Robert Saltonstall
John Bennett	Mary Holt	Richard Samos
Richard Birge	William Hosford	Matthias Sension
John Bissell	John Hoskins	(St. John)
John Branker	Simon Hoyte	Nicholas Sension
Jonathan Brewster	Samuel Hubbard	Richard Sexton
Thomas Buckland	Ephraim Huit	Thomas Staires
William Buell	William Hulbert	Aaron Starks
Joshua Carter	George Hull	Francis Stiles
George Chappel	John Hurd	Henry Stiles
Daniel Clarke	Humphrey Hydes	John Stiles
Henry Clarke	Joseph Loomis	Thomas Stiles
Joseph Clarke	Roger Ludlow	Thomas Stoughton
Aaron Cooke	Henry Lush	George Stuckey
Thomas Cooper	Thomas Marshfield	John Talcott
Nicholas Denslow	Ann Marshall	John Taylor
Thomas Dewey	Thomas Marshall	Stephen Terry
Thomas Dibble	John Mason	Thomas Thornton
John Drake	Mary (Merwin)	William Thrall
John Dumbleton	(Tinker) Collins	John Tilley
John Dyer	Miles Merwin	Peter Tilton
John Eels	Simon Mills	Michael Try
Bygod Eggleston	John Moore	Frances (Unknown)
William Filley	Thomas Moore	(Clark) (Dewey)
Thomas Ford	Thomas Newberry	Phelps
Henry Foulkes	Thomas Nowell	Richard Vore
Walter Fyler	Richard Oldage	John Warham
William Gaylord	Thomas Orton	Richard Weller
Francis Gibbs	John Osborn	Richard Whitehead
Giles Gibbs	Nicholas Palmer	Arthur Williams
William Gilbert	Elias Parkman	John Williams
Jeremiah Gillett	Thomas Parsons	Roger Williams
Jonathan Gillett	Edward Pattison	David Wilton
Nathan Gillett	George Phelps	Robert Winchell
Matthew Grant	William Phelps	John Witchfield
Thomas Gridley	George Phillips	Henry Wolcott
Edward Griswold	Humphrey Pinney	John Young
	Eltweed Pomeroy
	Samuel Pond

Permission to use Founders list given by Windsor Historical Society.

New Book on DNA by Dr. Bryan Sykes -- It's been a long personal wait

1. Dr. Bryan Sykes (The DNA Author)

Dr. Bryan Sykes was a renowned Oxford geneticist known for his breakthrough book The Seven Daughters of Eve (2001). [1]

• The Book Overview: The book explains mitochondrial DNA, using it to track European ancestry back to seven prehistoric "clan mothers". [1, 2]
• Reviews & Consensus: The first half of the book, which covers real genetics (like analyzing the DNA of Ötzi the Iceman), received wide critical praise for making science accessible. However, the later chapters—which featured fictional, romanticized short stories about the lives of these seven ancient women—received mixed reviews from critics and readers who wanted strictly hard science. [1, 2, 3]
• Personal Life: Dr. Sykes was married twice, first to Sue Foden and then to Janis Wilson. He spent his later years with his partner, Danish painter Ulla Plougmand. Dr. Sykes passed away in December 2020. [1]

"Blogs are Slogs" and Good Blogs to Read and Follow

The title, "Blogs are slogs, so companies just quit" was the title of an article in USA Today, the newspaper on April 20th, 2012. Well, it caught my eye that's for sure. The first paragraph, "With the emergence of social media, more companies are replacing blogs with nimbler tools requiring less time and resources, such as Facebook, Tumblr and Twitter." The article also states, "You need content regularly. And you need to think about the risk of blogging, accepting comments, liability issues, defamation. One benefit of a blog: It's a tool and content you own."


I've received many benefits from my blog, that being connections to people who share cousins, and love the exchange of ideas. I get that too, from reading other blogs. However, there is a lot of thinking and time spent writing an article. If you know my blog you know I usually have a photo, that takes additional time, for planning and travel. No complaints here, I love it, but I'm feeling like a Slog. Sometimes, nothing else gets done, my life is a big blog.

On that note, I'm finally stating my first publicly stated goal. Beginning in May, I plan to cut back on blogging until Labor Day. Library and research trips are my priority now.

Within the month I was fortunate to have 40 new subscribers to my blog, and I thought the new readers might like to see other genealogy blogs. Some of my favorite blogs are below, and I hope you check them out and subscribe or follow them also. They cover a  wide range of topics such as technical, legal, general research, organizing hints, and a combination of genealogy with travel. None cover New England genealogy, otherwise I would have to list too many, however, you may write me if you want suggestions.

A Three Genealogy

http://a3genealogy.blogspot.com/

Genealogy's Star

http://genealogysstar.blogspot.com/

Betty’s Genealogy Blog

http://bettysgenealogyblog.blogspot.com/

TJLGenes: Preserving Our Family History

http://tjlgenes.blogspot.com/

Reflections from the Fence

http://www.reflectionsfromthefence.com/

Genealogy by Ginger’s Blog

http://genealogybyginger.blogspot.com/

The Legal Genealogist

http://legalgenealogist.com/blog/

Old Stones Undeciphered

http://oldstonesundeciphered.blogspot.com/

Turning of Generatiaons

http://turning-of-generations.blogspot.com/

Journey to the Past

http://journeytothepastblog.blogspot.com/