It is often said that the work of genealogy is never done! After the NERGC conference, there is much 21st Century genealogy to be done. The social networking of genealogists is to be encouraged with the posting and tagging of photos, responding with thank-you's to those who spoke and email collaborations with those who mentioned intriguing ideas in sessions or in line waiting for breakfast.
Upon returning home, many decisions are to be made about the direction that professional genealogists are to make. I so love the gravestone work, that I am going to place a focus on that and work more on the technology side of genealogy.
I purchased RootsMagic 4 and am starting to learn it. I'm tired of the problems with Family Tree Maker (which I have used for many years) and using PAF {Personal Ancestral File] just doesn't seem good enough anymore. For a long time, I have posted my tree to Ancestry.com and will continue to do so, exporting it frequently to GEDCOM and bringing it into a desktop application. The folks at RootsMagic have produced a quality product and I will be occasionally posting about how it will be helping me with my gravestone research.
New goals, new adventures....
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Williams LATHAM
Carnival of Genealogy 71st ed. "Local History"
This very humble granite gravestone is double-sided with the husband's information on one side and the wife's information on the other.
It is faded and worn with not much information other than their first and last names and the full dates of their birth and death.
If it wasn't for the person I was "gravestone hopping" with, I might not have given it a second look and that would have been a terrible oversight. [This grave is in Mount Prospect Cemetery in Bridgewater, MA.]
Williams LATHAM was a lawyer and the author of Epitaphs in Old Bridgewater, Massachusetts. Illustrated with Plans and Views published in 1882 by Henry T. Pratt in Bridgewater, MA.
Latham's work is revered by all those who work with family members who lived in Bridgewater as he recorded gravestones and made plot maps for the oldest resting places in Bridgewater, East Bridgewater, and West Bridgewater. Without his work, it would have been impossible for me to find all of the Perkins gravestones in my current project.
Sources:
Massachusetts Vital Records to 1850, Massachusetts Vital Records 1841-1910 and Federal Census Records of Bridgewater, MA 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880.
This very humble granite gravestone is double-sided with the husband's information on one side and the wife's information on the other.
It is faded and worn with not much information other than their first and last names and the full dates of their birth and death.
If it wasn't for the person I was "gravestone hopping" with, I might not have given it a second look and that would have been a terrible oversight. [This grave is in Mount Prospect Cemetery in Bridgewater, MA.]
Williams LATHAM was a lawyer and the author of Epitaphs in Old Bridgewater, Massachusetts. Illustrated with Plans and Views published in 1882 by Henry T. Pratt in Bridgewater, MA.
Latham's work is revered by all those who work with family members who lived in Bridgewater as he recorded gravestones and made plot maps for the oldest resting places in Bridgewater, East Bridgewater, and West Bridgewater. Without his work, it would have been impossible for me to find all of the Perkins gravestones in my current project.
Sources:
Massachusetts Vital Records to 1850, Massachusetts Vital Records 1841-1910 and Federal Census Records of Bridgewater, MA 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
NERGC 2009 Badge
I returned home on Saturday afternoon from the NERGC (New England Regional Genealogical Conference) in Manchester, NH. I did a presentation for LTD (Librarian and Teacher Day) on Digital Storytelling on Thursday, attended sessions on Friday and Saturday morning.
When I go to Ed Tech Conferences, I take a photo of my badge as they are dated and then I can always remember the dates of the event.
The shiny sticker indicates that I am a Facebook member.
When I go to Ed Tech Conferences, I take a photo of my badge as they are dated and then I can always remember the dates of the event.
The shiny sticker indicates that I am a Facebook member.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Arrived In New Hampshire
I have traveled to NH for a genealogy conference. The weather at home was sunny and quite warm but as we neared the NH border it got overcast then rainy and chilly. The hotel is meshed with the conference center but nothing is set up as yet. People are milling about and we ate supper in the place in the hotel and my husband remarked that he could hear words like generation and record in the conversation around him!
I can report that genealogists are chatty and many who are here early are the dihards of this type of conference. A real New England bunch!
I can report that genealogists are chatty and many who are here early are the dihards of this type of conference. A real New England bunch!
Monday, April 20, 2009
Mentioned by Dick Eastman....
Some time back I set up a Google Alert for my own name because it is easier that performing a Google Search for myself. (That's called ego-surfing, btw)!
Much to my delight, I just got an alert of myself being mentioned at the famous Dick Eastman's genealogy blog for the upcoming NERGC conference in Manchester, NH.
Wow....
Much to my delight, I just got an alert of myself being mentioned at the famous Dick Eastman's genealogy blog for the upcoming NERGC conference in Manchester, NH.
Wow....
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Ebenezer PERKINS
This is a partial piece of a footstone which reads E.P. 1823 which rests in a lovely circle (created by a Boy Scout) at the Trinity Churchyard in Bridgewater, MA. When I saw this, I knew that it was orphaned and placed lovingly apart from the headstones.
It must be the footstone for Ebenezer PERKINS (1752-1823) but when I looked at the map of the cemetery, I knew that something was amiss! The headstones of Ebenezer and his wife Mary PRATT were missing. I walked all around the cemetery and didn't find them.
I emailed a Perkins family member who said, "Yes, they were moved to Mt. Prospect Cemetery!" It seems that the grandson of Ebenezer and Mary, had a wife who was unhappy with the Episcopal Church and decided to move the headstones to Mt. Prospect Cemetery.
Anyone looking for these gravestones would be mystified as to where they went, wouldn't they? It doesn't seem to be recorded anywhere. So, today, that family member and I went in search of the headstones of Ebenezer and Mary.
Now, the question remains...did they move the bodies as well as the headstones? We still don't know.
It must be the footstone for Ebenezer PERKINS (1752-1823) but when I looked at the map of the cemetery, I knew that something was amiss! The headstones of Ebenezer and his wife Mary PRATT were missing. I walked all around the cemetery and didn't find them.
I emailed a Perkins family member who said, "Yes, they were moved to Mt. Prospect Cemetery!" It seems that the grandson of Ebenezer and Mary, had a wife who was unhappy with the Episcopal Church and decided to move the headstones to Mt. Prospect Cemetery.
Anyone looking for these gravestones would be mystified as to where they went, wouldn't they? It doesn't seem to be recorded anywhere. So, today, that family member and I went in search of the headstones of Ebenezer and Mary.
Now, the question remains...did they move the bodies as well as the headstones? We still don't know.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
In Memory of John Lewis
Tombstone Tuesday 14 April 2009
John Lewis died 5th Mar 1796 in his 40th year. Buried at Woodside Cemetery, West Yarmouth, MA. [Rt 28 and West Yarmouth Road] Photo taken 5 Sept 2007 by Midge Frazel
A very clearly readable stone to which I applied a sepia color. It is so remarkable in its clarity!
Transcribed and photographed here.
Listing of the graves in this cemetery.
John Lewis died 5th Mar 1796 in his 40th year. Buried at Woodside Cemetery, West Yarmouth, MA. [Rt 28 and West Yarmouth Road] Photo taken 5 Sept 2007 by Midge Frazel
A very clearly readable stone to which I applied a sepia color. It is so remarkable in its clarity!
Transcribed and photographed here.
Listing of the graves in this cemetery.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Weekly Genealogy Blog #15
Week #15: List some vital signs.
When I can't find a vital record [birth, marriage, or death] for one of my ancestors or to confirm what is carved on a gravestone I am researching in Massachusetts, Connecticut or Rhode Island, I must admit I get angry! I think this is because the vital records for these dates, the compiled family genealogies, Bibles and diaries and gravestones are amazingly recorded quite perfectly! Vital records in New England can be lovely to look at!
But, instead of being impressed, I go about copying and pasting them into my database or blog with perfect rhythm until BAM!, one is missing. My blood pressure rises and I stomp around in my home office.
My 2nd great grandfather is a great example. Dudley Wheeler Stewart was the last child born to Edward and Rebecca (Noyes) Stewart of North Stonington, CT. I should have been suspicious that his birth was not recorded when Wheeler's History of Stonington's year of birth for him doesn't match what his gravestone reads. Now, why is this annoying? Because without some date and something that connects him to his parents, I can't prove him as a supplemental line as a Mayflower descendant.
I ran the town clerk and the assistant town clerk ragged looking for his birth record. We looked in North Stonington, Stonington and Groton to no avail! We did find his father's birth and his marriage and his grandfather's too. [Extremely cool handwritten records] But, poor Dudley, most likely born at home, to a mother of 40 years of age, no one bothered to record his birth. I guess they were glad he and this mother survivied the birth.
The town historian, Fred Burdick, went to the Westerly (RI) Public Library and found his obituary in the microfilmed newspaper records but it had no mention of his birth or parents. Even the date of his death is different everywhere I look! (probably it is considered impolite to die on July 4th). There is no mention of his parent's names. All I have is Wheeler's History of Stonington, my family Bible and his gravestone. Arggghhhhhhhhh!
Dudley grew up to be an important member of his community. He ran the general store (and this did not serve in the Civil War) and he was selectman of the town of North Stonington. His wife, being a Denison, was prominent in the social and church community. I have their photographs.
Well, I know quite a lot about him and I guess I should be happy with that.
When I can't find a vital record [birth, marriage, or death] for one of my ancestors or to confirm what is carved on a gravestone I am researching in Massachusetts, Connecticut or Rhode Island, I must admit I get angry! I think this is because the vital records for these dates, the compiled family genealogies, Bibles and diaries and gravestones are amazingly recorded quite perfectly! Vital records in New England can be lovely to look at!
But, instead of being impressed, I go about copying and pasting them into my database or blog with perfect rhythm until BAM!, one is missing. My blood pressure rises and I stomp around in my home office.
My 2nd great grandfather is a great example. Dudley Wheeler Stewart was the last child born to Edward and Rebecca (Noyes) Stewart of North Stonington, CT. I should have been suspicious that his birth was not recorded when Wheeler's History of Stonington's year of birth for him doesn't match what his gravestone reads. Now, why is this annoying? Because without some date and something that connects him to his parents, I can't prove him as a supplemental line as a Mayflower descendant.
I ran the town clerk and the assistant town clerk ragged looking for his birth record. We looked in North Stonington, Stonington and Groton to no avail! We did find his father's birth and his marriage and his grandfather's too. [Extremely cool handwritten records] But, poor Dudley, most likely born at home, to a mother of 40 years of age, no one bothered to record his birth. I guess they were glad he and this mother survivied the birth.
The town historian, Fred Burdick, went to the Westerly (RI) Public Library and found his obituary in the microfilmed newspaper records but it had no mention of his birth or parents. Even the date of his death is different everywhere I look! (probably it is considered impolite to die on July 4th). There is no mention of his parent's names. All I have is Wheeler's History of Stonington, my family Bible and his gravestone. Arggghhhhhhhhh!
Dudley grew up to be an important member of his community. He ran the general store (and this did not serve in the Civil War) and he was selectman of the town of North Stonington. His wife, being a Denison, was prominent in the social and church community. I have their photographs.
Well, I know quite a lot about him and I guess I should be happy with that.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Easter Happenings
Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy, 18th Edition: "Easter and Passover Traditions"
When I look at this photo of me, it is hard to me to believe that in New England we ever wear anything but winter clothes for Easter and certainly that holds true this year. I decided to take time today to post old Easter photos taken from 2000 to 2007 (Easter 2008 is already posted) so I could think about what Easter traditions have lasted in my family. In short, not very much.
I still put out some Easter decorations and buy some chocolate eggs. I love Peeps and jelly beans but we have given that up this year. {Too fat} As a family we are having breakfast together which is the only real tradition left from my childhood.
My grandmother always bought me a toy (I still have one to write about next year) and she set out jellybeans for me to gather. The family ate ham and that meal tradition is gone as both my husband and I don't like ham! What would the older people think of us today?
It's been a long, snowy winter here in Massachusetts and we are glad to be leaving it behind. But, like so many of us, remembering our loved ones who are gone makes us sad but spring flowers remind us we must move on.
This is our last holiday before we will have a grandchild.
When I look at this photo of me, it is hard to me to believe that in New England we ever wear anything but winter clothes for Easter and certainly that holds true this year. I decided to take time today to post old Easter photos taken from 2000 to 2007 (Easter 2008 is already posted) so I could think about what Easter traditions have lasted in my family. In short, not very much.
I still put out some Easter decorations and buy some chocolate eggs. I love Peeps and jelly beans but we have given that up this year. {Too fat} As a family we are having breakfast together which is the only real tradition left from my childhood.
My grandmother always bought me a toy (I still have one to write about next year) and she set out jellybeans for me to gather. The family ate ham and that meal tradition is gone as both my husband and I don't like ham! What would the older people think of us today?
It's been a long, snowy winter here in Massachusetts and we are glad to be leaving it behind. But, like so many of us, remembering our loved ones who are gone makes us sad but spring flowers remind us we must move on.
This is our last holiday before we will have a grandchild.
Thursday, April 09, 2009
Collamore Family Tree
As I am thinking to the near future when I might want to take client work as a professional genealogist, I spent a little time this week thinking about how I might want to organize my time in order to keep working on my own ancestors, take gravestone photographs, write blogs and be a grandmother. That seems like a lot to do but then I remembered that I was teaching, writing a book and magazine articles, going to graduate school and doing my own family research. [I suppose that's why I'm so tired!]
A long time ago, when I was young, my husband and I bought a small house here in Bridgewater in an area that was once farmland and woods. An elderly lady and her unmarried son lived across the street in a small house built for them because the old farmhouse was too much for them to manage. They maintained a huge vegetable garden and I was supplied with more vegetables than I could cook or eat. She was a delightful person and insisted that I call her "Granny". She was a great watchdog and when we went on vacation, she guarded my house and called the police if even a leaf moved.
Granny was so delighted when I told her that I was going to have a baby and I was glad to have her around until my daughter was just over a year old. I learned a lot about Bridgewater from this family.
Her youngest child, an adult man older than I am, lives there now and he showed me a family tree that hung on the wall in the house. I knew from Granny's obituary that her maiden name was Collamore. It turns out that the tree was a school project of one of the grandchildren and I photographed it so he could give it back to that niece. I printed a few copies of it for him to pass around this next Easter Sunday. [Sneaky, huh, a genealogist trick?]
That's when he told me that there was a "Collamore" book. I figured it was a compiled genealogy. The niece photocopied pages from it and glued them to that tree.
It only took a few minutes to locate two copies of the Collamore genealogy online. The photographs were the same, so I knew I had the right one. One copy was available as a public domain download in Acrobat format and the other was in the "family histories" section of Ancestry.com.
After about two hours, I was drowning in data, but I figured out why the niece had trouble with surnames. It is a double Collamore family. Granny's parents were BOTH Collamores! (Welcome to New England!) Now, I was really hooked.
I have started a tree at Ancestry.com in memory of Granny. I think this will be an interesting and good first attempt at client work. After all, I must owe Granny at least a million dollars in payment for the free vegetables, right?
Source:
Hatch, Charles. (1915). Genealogy of the Descendants of Anthony Collamer (Collamore) of Scituate, Massachusetts. Salem, Massachusetts: Newcomb & Gauss.
A long time ago, when I was young, my husband and I bought a small house here in Bridgewater in an area that was once farmland and woods. An elderly lady and her unmarried son lived across the street in a small house built for them because the old farmhouse was too much for them to manage. They maintained a huge vegetable garden and I was supplied with more vegetables than I could cook or eat. She was a delightful person and insisted that I call her "Granny". She was a great watchdog and when we went on vacation, she guarded my house and called the police if even a leaf moved.
Granny was so delighted when I told her that I was going to have a baby and I was glad to have her around until my daughter was just over a year old. I learned a lot about Bridgewater from this family.
Her youngest child, an adult man older than I am, lives there now and he showed me a family tree that hung on the wall in the house. I knew from Granny's obituary that her maiden name was Collamore. It turns out that the tree was a school project of one of the grandchildren and I photographed it so he could give it back to that niece. I printed a few copies of it for him to pass around this next Easter Sunday. [Sneaky, huh, a genealogist trick?]
That's when he told me that there was a "Collamore" book. I figured it was a compiled genealogy. The niece photocopied pages from it and glued them to that tree.
It only took a few minutes to locate two copies of the Collamore genealogy online. The photographs were the same, so I knew I had the right one. One copy was available as a public domain download in Acrobat format and the other was in the "family histories" section of Ancestry.com.
After about two hours, I was drowning in data, but I figured out why the niece had trouble with surnames. It is a double Collamore family. Granny's parents were BOTH Collamores! (Welcome to New England!) Now, I was really hooked.
I have started a tree at Ancestry.com in memory of Granny. I think this will be an interesting and good first attempt at client work. After all, I must owe Granny at least a million dollars in payment for the free vegetables, right?
Source:
Hatch, Charles. (1915). Genealogy of the Descendants of Anthony Collamer (Collamore) of Scituate, Massachusetts. Salem, Massachusetts: Newcomb & Gauss.
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
William Carpenter and the Geneabloggers
William Carpenter, passenger on the Bevis in May of 1638, surely would be surprised to find that Midge Frazel and Randy Seaver, both genealogists are his descendants.
Randy's blog post about finding corrections to his Carpenter line from Carpenter guru, Gene Zubrinsky caught my attention as Gene helped me with my Carpenter mystery in January of 2007 as I attempted to get help with Molly Carpenter, wife of Japheth Bicknell. Christopher Challender Child, of NEHGS wrote an article 159:319 which helped clear up some of the inaccuracies in the Bicknell line, which I would never have figured out by myself (Thanks!) but it still left me wondering about Molly's ancestors. Gene spent significant time figuring it out for me and warned me of the "dangers of historical books" which has become a worry to us who are trying to find accurate information.
Molly Carpenter7 born about 1751 in Cumberland, RI was the daughter of Nathaniel6 and Elizabeth (Butterworth) Carpenter of Attleborough. [Cumberland, RI was set off from Attleborough, MA, which was once part of Rehoboth, MA] Nathaniel was the son of Ezekiel5 and Sarah (Ide) Carpenter and he had a sister named Molly who died as a teenager and probably my Molly was named in her memory.
Ezekiel5 was the son of Nathaniel and Mary (Preston) Carpenter.
Nathaniel4 was the son of William and Miriam ("Saile") Carpenter
William3 was the son of William2 and Abigail (Briant) Carpenter
William2 was the son of William1 Carpenter (came together on the Bevis from England)
I am grateful to my RI friend who is also a descendant of William Carpenter for helping me with many of my RI lines. He took a photo of the grave marker of William who is buried in what is now East Providence, RI
Randy's blog post about finding corrections to his Carpenter line from Carpenter guru, Gene Zubrinsky caught my attention as Gene helped me with my Carpenter mystery in January of 2007 as I attempted to get help with Molly Carpenter, wife of Japheth Bicknell. Christopher Challender Child, of NEHGS wrote an article 159:319 which helped clear up some of the inaccuracies in the Bicknell line, which I would never have figured out by myself (Thanks!) but it still left me wondering about Molly's ancestors. Gene spent significant time figuring it out for me and warned me of the "dangers of historical books" which has become a worry to us who are trying to find accurate information.
Molly Carpenter7 born about 1751 in Cumberland, RI was the daughter of Nathaniel6 and Elizabeth (Butterworth) Carpenter of Attleborough. [Cumberland, RI was set off from Attleborough, MA, which was once part of Rehoboth, MA] Nathaniel was the son of Ezekiel5 and Sarah (Ide) Carpenter and he had a sister named Molly who died as a teenager and probably my Molly was named in her memory.
Ezekiel5 was the son of Nathaniel and Mary (Preston) Carpenter.
Nathaniel4 was the son of William and Miriam ("Saile") Carpenter
William3 was the son of William2 and Abigail (Briant) Carpenter
William2 was the son of William1 Carpenter (came together on the Bevis from England)
I am grateful to my RI friend who is also a descendant of William Carpenter for helping me with many of my RI lines. He took a photo of the grave marker of William who is buried in what is now East Providence, RI
Ancestors Poem
Wordless Wednesday, 8 April 2009
Found while doing a RAOGK for my neighbor. I think this is meant to be a reward.
Source: Genealogy of the Descendants of Anthony Collamer [Collamore] of Scituate, Massachusetts. Salem: Newcomb & Gauss, 1915 p. 282. [public domain]
Found while doing a RAOGK for my neighbor. I think this is meant to be a reward.
Source: Genealogy of the Descendants of Anthony Collamer [Collamore] of Scituate, Massachusetts. Salem: Newcomb & Gauss, 1915 p. 282. [public domain]
Monday, April 06, 2009
Weekly Genealogy Blog #14
Week #14: Talk about the different types of technology you use in your genealogy research. Whether it’s a new search engine, a special application, or anything else “2.0,” let readers know what you’re working with, and how it’s working for you.
I am seldom at a loss for blogging ideas but just on a lark (serendipity), I glanced at this blog post idea and said, well, why not!
I think that for the purposes of this blog, the photo hosting Web site, Flickr, and the online photo manipulation site, Picnik are my favorite Web 2.0 apps because without them, I could not write blog posts with the gravestone photos posted within them as easily as I do. It would be a laborious process for sure.
I have purchased premium [paid] versions of both sites as I think that I could not live without them and I feel that nothing is free forever. If you have a favorite Web 2.0 app then you should support it or it might disappear.
I have another new site I am working with but it is too soon to tell how much I like it!
I am seldom at a loss for blogging ideas but just on a lark (serendipity), I glanced at this blog post idea and said, well, why not!
I think that for the purposes of this blog, the photo hosting Web site, Flickr, and the online photo manipulation site, Picnik are my favorite Web 2.0 apps because without them, I could not write blog posts with the gravestone photos posted within them as easily as I do. It would be a laborious process for sure.
I have purchased premium [paid] versions of both sites as I think that I could not live without them and I feel that nothing is free forever. If you have a favorite Web 2.0 app then you should support it or it might disappear.
I have another new site I am working with but it is too soon to tell how much I like it!
Heather and future Red Sox Fan
For all of you who follow my blog and think I spent all my time in the graveyard, I thought you should see my daughter and her classroom. She's having a future Red Sox fan in June.
I wonder how many astute genealogy readers can find why I am posting this photo (not because it is opening day of baseball)?
Do you need a hint?
I wonder how many astute genealogy readers can find why I am posting this photo (not because it is opening day of baseball)?
Do you need a hint?
Sunday, April 05, 2009
Dorothy Salutes Her Brother
Carnival of Genealogy 70th edition: "Uncle, Uncle"
My mother's brother, my uncle, Evans Stewart, Jr. is not someone I remember because I was a tiny child when he died. He married Henrietta Jones, a widow or divorcee with a young son named Tommy on 11 Nov 1948 in Columbus, Ohio. [source: Stewart family bible] and they lived there until he died by suicide 28 Jan 1951. [source: Ohio Deaths 1908-1953] [Past blog post]
He is buried at Elm Grove Cemetery in Mystic, CT with his parents and his uncle. What happened to his wife and her son is unknown to me. I was quite surprised to find his death certificate at the Family Search [labs beta] and as it says in every genealogy book I have read that when you find something new you usually have to correct dates and spend at least one day re-investigating.
Evans was not born in Westerly, RI as I had assumed. His death certificate clearly says Providence, RI and after working with the Rhode Island City Directories at Ancestry.com, I find that my grandparents and my mother did live there but only until 1916. [My mother was born in January 1916 and then they must have moved to Cranston-Providence as my grandfather draft card for WWI dated June 1916 lists him living at 112 Wentworth Ave.]
Evans and my mother were very close in age. Devilishly handsome, he was a popular young man and after high school, he went to Dean Jr. College in Franklin, MA. but on 15 April 1941 he enlisted to serve in WWII. I think that after serving in France (from other photos I have that were taken there), he may have been an Army Recruiter perhaps in Columbus, Ohio. I have many photos of him as a young child and a young man. He looks confident and attractive at my mother's wedding but...
Evans was probably bipolar from the description my mother gave me of the highs-and-lows of his short life. Evans did hold me as a baby and he gave me a lovely baby locket which I still have.
It was very hard on my grandparents and my mother when he died. My mother really needed a sibling and because they were so close in age they must have been like twins. I really know so little about him.
My mother called him, "Brother" and never used his name. I expect they are singing and dancing together in heaven. Like my mother in the photo in the post, I salute him by remembering him in this blog post.
My mother's brother, my uncle, Evans Stewart, Jr. is not someone I remember because I was a tiny child when he died. He married Henrietta Jones, a widow or divorcee with a young son named Tommy on 11 Nov 1948 in Columbus, Ohio. [source: Stewart family bible] and they lived there until he died by suicide 28 Jan 1951. [source: Ohio Deaths 1908-1953] [Past blog post]
He is buried at Elm Grove Cemetery in Mystic, CT with his parents and his uncle. What happened to his wife and her son is unknown to me. I was quite surprised to find his death certificate at the Family Search [labs beta] and as it says in every genealogy book I have read that when you find something new you usually have to correct dates and spend at least one day re-investigating.
Evans was not born in Westerly, RI as I had assumed. His death certificate clearly says Providence, RI and after working with the Rhode Island City Directories at Ancestry.com, I find that my grandparents and my mother did live there but only until 1916. [My mother was born in January 1916 and then they must have moved to Cranston-Providence as my grandfather draft card for WWI dated June 1916 lists him living at 112 Wentworth Ave.]
Evans and my mother were very close in age. Devilishly handsome, he was a popular young man and after high school, he went to Dean Jr. College in Franklin, MA. but on 15 April 1941 he enlisted to serve in WWII. I think that after serving in France (from other photos I have that were taken there), he may have been an Army Recruiter perhaps in Columbus, Ohio. I have many photos of him as a young child and a young man. He looks confident and attractive at my mother's wedding but...
Evans was probably bipolar from the description my mother gave me of the highs-and-lows of his short life. Evans did hold me as a baby and he gave me a lovely baby locket which I still have.
It was very hard on my grandparents and my mother when he died. My mother really needed a sibling and because they were so close in age they must have been like twins. I really know so little about him.
My mother called him, "Brother" and never used his name. I expect they are singing and dancing together in heaven. Like my mother in the photo in the post, I salute him by remembering him in this blog post.
Friday, April 03, 2009
Heartbroken Granite
Graveyard Rabbit Carnival May 2009
[Topic: Cemetery Preservation]
The Association for Gravestone Studies offers expert information about the repairing of gravestones and the restoration of whole cemeteries and should be the first place to look for information.
If this work is interesting to you, then you should plan to join this organization and attend their yearly conference where you can educate yourself in the proper method of preservation.
Most people are aware that vandalism is a reason for broken gravestones. Some states have laws against vandalism in graveyards.
What many people do not know that you can get arrested for trying to fix a gravestone, make gravestone rubbings or even touch a gravestone to photograph it! This might not always seem be common sense but it is important to know the law and stay out of trouble.
This is the grave of Henry A. Denison that I found in the beautiful and well kept large cemetery in Mystic, CT. As I am assistant to the genealogist for the Denison Society, I am always seeking data from gravestones to add to our database of information.
Naturally, I am also preserving gravestone history by taking photographs of stones. I took this photo on 04 Aug 2007 and when I went back to the cemetery, I discovered that this stone's two pieces had been put back together. That is the true meaning of Perpetual Care. I did not take another photo because I found Henry in the database with his information intact.
The smaller family cemeteries that I visit and photograph are in shockingly bad condition because there may be no single person in charge of that cemetery. As I am no longer young, I don't think I will be taking a course in restoration but feel that I am doing my part by just photographing stones.
[Topic: Cemetery Preservation]
The Association for Gravestone Studies offers expert information about the repairing of gravestones and the restoration of whole cemeteries and should be the first place to look for information.
If this work is interesting to you, then you should plan to join this organization and attend their yearly conference where you can educate yourself in the proper method of preservation.
Most people are aware that vandalism is a reason for broken gravestones. Some states have laws against vandalism in graveyards.
What many people do not know that you can get arrested for trying to fix a gravestone, make gravestone rubbings or even touch a gravestone to photograph it! This might not always seem be common sense but it is important to know the law and stay out of trouble.
This is the grave of Henry A. Denison that I found in the beautiful and well kept large cemetery in Mystic, CT. As I am assistant to the genealogist for the Denison Society, I am always seeking data from gravestones to add to our database of information.
Naturally, I am also preserving gravestone history by taking photographs of stones. I took this photo on 04 Aug 2007 and when I went back to the cemetery, I discovered that this stone's two pieces had been put back together. That is the true meaning of Perpetual Care. I did not take another photo because I found Henry in the database with his information intact.
The smaller family cemeteries that I visit and photograph are in shockingly bad condition because there may be no single person in charge of that cemetery. As I am no longer young, I don't think I will be taking a course in restoration but feel that I am doing my part by just photographing stones.
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
Social Networking for Genealogists
It is about time that SOMEONE wrote a book about social networking and genealogy!
I purchased this book on Monday and because I opted for the FedEx delivery it arrived today on my doorstop.
Fastest book I have ever ordered!
Drew's Social Networking for Genealogists Blog
I purchased this book on Monday and because I opted for the FedEx delivery it arrived today on my doorstop.
Fastest book I have ever ordered!
Drew's Social Networking for Genealogists Blog
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