Memorable Halloween

Midge at Halloween
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

One of my favorite Halloween tales was when I dressed up in this outfit and went to my daughter's classroom party and taught my first computer lesson (yes, in this outfit). It was 1984 and the teacher who was my daughter's third grade classroom teacher just passed away this fall. Wasn't she brave to let such a creature into her classroom?

It took several days for me to wash out the orange in my hair. Blonde hair takes nicely to the stained color!

Cemeteries in the News

This week is always big for articles about cemeteries.

I enjoyed reading this one, especially to find out the founder of Find a Grave is only 37 years old and I have belonged for nine years. You do this math.

And apparently, things are not going well in the UK to find a place to be buried. Yikes.

Happy Halloween!

Wordless Wednesday

My Last Night in the Crib
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

Yes, this is me. I am far too big to be still sleeping in my crib. I can read some words. This is a photo I am going to re-scan and clean up.

Daniel L. BURROWS

Daniel L. BURROWS
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

Front Row, Right Side [Grave #12] Photo # 3021

Daniel L. / Son of Benjamin & Lucy C. / BURROWS/ A member of Co. H. 14th Reg. Co./ Vol. died at Knoxville, Md. / Dec. 12, 1862 / Aged 16 Y.

Daniel was the second son of Benjamin Burrows and his second wife Lucy. Lucy died in 1858 which left Daniel and his brother Lorenzo alone with their father. Benjamin's other children were grown and living elsewhere.

In the 1860 census, Benjamin Burrows is 70 and has two young teenage sons. It is hard to imagine that young Daniel at 15 years old enlisted on 8 Aug 1862 and died of disease on 15 Nov 1862. This evidence doesn't match the date on this gravestone so I imagine this is the only information that was available to the family when Daniel's body was returned for burial.

Stony Wilderness

Symmetry
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

Tombstone Tuesday 27 Oct 2009
Halloween Week

I am reading this book on my iPod using the Kindle app. I chose it because the story is partly about the famous Highgate cemetery in London. I didn't expect the story to feature the cemetery so much but much to my delight, it is an important part of the story. Great reading or listening for any lover of cemeteries.

How wonderful is it that in just a few clicks, you can get photo and videos about the cemetery itself? Here's a sample of what I found:

Video from Amazon and a YouTube video [that is wonderfully seasonal] and a photo set at Flickr and a whole group for the cemetery itself with over a thousand photos to look at. Not enough? check out Find a Grave's listing! They have divided the graves into the physical two huge sections of Highgate: East [75 famous interments] and West [96 famous interments]

New York Times Book Review

Douglas Noel Adams (1952-2001) made me smile at the simplicity of this gravestone for a mind so wonderfully complex.

A quote from the book, Her Fearful Symmetry:

"...there was only the cemetery itself, spread out in the moonlight like a soft grey hallucination, a stony wilderness of Victorian melancholy"

Update! From the Publisher:

Regal Literary has 25 hardcover and 10 Advanced Reader?s Copies of Her
Fearful Symmetry ready to go to the book?s Facebook fans. All you have
to do is become a fan of Her Fearful Symmetry on Facebook, send an
e-mail to hfs@regal-literary.com with the subject ?Facebook Special
Offer ? I?m a fan!? by November 13, and we?ll enter you into the
lottery.

Not only that, but if you tweet or blog about the Facebook special
offer and e-mail the link to your post or tweet to
hfs@regal-literary.com, we'll enter your name again! We?ll enter you
for each post or tweet and for each entrant you refer. Become a
follower of @regal_literary on Twitter, and we?ll enter your name for
that too! To be eligible for these additional entries, you must first
be a Facebook fan.

The Her Fearful Symmetry Facebook page features video interviews with
Audrey, links to reviews, a list of Audrey?s appearances and much more
about Audrey?s new book.

http://www.tinyurl.com/facebookhfs

Joseph Warren BURROWS

Joseph Warren BURROWS
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

Front Row, Right Side [Grave #11] Photo # 3020

J. [Joseph] Warren BURROWS was born 3 Feb 1831 and died 17 Apr 1865 en-route home.

J. Warren was the last child of Benjamin BURROWS and his first wife Rebecca THOMPSON.

The Burrows genealogy states that he died on the Pacific Ocean e-route home from Marianas Islands and that he is buried here. When it says that someone died at sea, I wonder if the gravestone is just a memorial.

The inscription on this stone is quite vague about the island name and says he was going to the Sandwich Islands (now Hawaii) which is not home!

He was only 25 years old.

Citing Gravestones

Midge's Graveyard 2009
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

Thomas MacEntee has posted a great entry concerning the citation of gravestone photographs from Find a Grave. com.

Citation format is becoming increasingly more important over time as more and more resources are becoming available to genealogists. Whatever format you use, it is essential that you should be able to locate your own source materials and help others find them so they can be evaluated as needed.

As this is October, my husband created this graveyard for me in our own yard. I knew you would want to see it....

More! Here's a post from the footnote Maven about citation!

Update! Elizabeth Shown Mills helps everyone spruce up the citations! [Post]

Rufus S. BURROWS

Rufus S. BURROWS
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

Front Row, Right Side [Grave #10] Photo # 3019

Rufus S. / son of Benjamin & Rebecca / BURROWS / Died Jan. 16, 1822 / Aged 1 YR. 1 MON. / & 11 DAYS

Twin brother of Roswell S. Burrows, Rufus is the first person to be buried in this cemetery.

His birth date calculated from the death date given here is 5 Dec 1820 but that is not what the Burrows genealogy gives as a date. It read 2 Dec 1820. Rufus was born and died in Groton, CT but there is no vital record in the Barbour Index for either birth or death.

His twin brother is also buried here but there is no exact birth date on his grave either.

Katherine NILES

NILES, Katherine
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

Mother of Four, Dead at Twenty-Nine

In Memory of / Mrs. Katherine Fish / Wife of / Mr. Nathan Fish / who died Jany 9th/ AD 1759 in the / 29th Year of her / Age.

Katherine was the first wife of Nathan FISH. When she died he buried her with her parents who were Nathan NILES and Mary NORTHRUP here at the Niles Cemetery in Groton, New London, CT.

Nathan FISH is buried with his second wife are buried in the Old Packer-Burrows Cemetery. His second wife, Catherine HELME was a cousin of his first wife Katherine. After working with the vital records and the gravestones I am convinced that these two women spelled their first names differently. Katherine's birth record in Rhode Island is spelled with a C but her marriage and death record agree with this gravestone. Of course, they sound the same which must have been more convenient for Nathan!

Poor Katherine. She was married at nineteen, had four children and died at twenty-nine. Her last child, Simon, died before her and is not buried with her but is buried with her husband and his second wife. I have taken photographs of other Fish graves in this selected family but I have not blogged about them as yet.

Photo by Jan Franco. Used with permission

Mary NORTHROP

NORTHRUP, Mary
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

Sandstone gravestones often look like this today but it is clear that this is Nathan NILES' wife Mary NORTHROP [ye wife of Nathan Niles in ye 46th year of her age] who died 15 Sept 1757 and is buried next to her husband and in front of her daughter Katherine NILES.

Photo by Jan Franco. Used with permission.

Mary was probably the daughter of JosephNorthrup and his wife Hopestill Smith being born in RI abt 1712. There is a vital record of her marriage [see below] to Nathan. The man who married them is also in my family tree!

1728 NILES Nathan, and Mary Northup, by Rouse Helme, Assistant, Sept. 12, 1728. / 1: 71 / Marriage /South Kingstown

Nathan and his wife Mary were the parents of nine children. Some are buried here.

Nathan NILES

Nathan NILES
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

Tombstone Tuesday 20 Oct 2009
Adventures with Find A Grave

Some nine years back, when I first started to think about gravestones as a source of family history, I joined Find A Grave and posted a scanned photo of my second great grandfather. Someone had already posted a photo of his gravestone. I can't say I have done much else with Find A Grave until last year.

I was looking around to see if gravestones of my local town were posted, found some, and read a message there denying a visitor the right to use a photo of a gravestone in his work.

I immediately went out with my camera took the gravestone photo myself and emailed it to it to that man with permission to use it in his book. [This started my investigation of a local surname PERKINS.] He is a serious genealogist with one book in print and another in progress. The surname Perkins runs in my direct line from David, buried here in Bridgewater, and then to his son Abraham who moved to RI and married Tabitha NILES.

Since then, I have been remembering to look to see if anyone had taken a gravestone photo I need or just to see how to get to a particular location. This part of Find a Grave has vastly improved over time. However, I have found some my own photographs posted without credit or permission. I consider this rude. I would have given permission.

Last week, I began my yearly research on which cemeteries I will be visiting next summer. Finding and photographing gravestones requires a lot of "doing your homework" before you leave home. I was blessed with finding the Niles Family burying ground in Groton, New London, CT with a good list of who is buried there, clear shots of the graves, a GPS location and a map.

However, I took it one step further, I emailed the person who took the photos to ask permission to use them in my blog and in the tree I am building at Ancestry. I was rewarded with a positive response almost immediately and was given permission as long as I credit her with the photos. She also gave me great directions on visiting this cemetery. This is exactly what us "gravestone hoppers" need!

This is the simple statement I am using: "Photo by Jan Franco. Used with permission."

I have pulled out my Niles surname notebook and reviewed what I already knew. There are problems with the names in a genealogy of this family. An article posted at Genealogy.com, titled, Genealogies of RI Families, Vol II John Niles of Braintree, Mass and some of his Descendants, by Joel Nelson Eno, AM of Brooklyn, NY says that this man, buried here is named Nathaniel. A look at the Vital Records of RI by Arnold, clearly says that this man's name is Nathan. [This is confirming evidence that the vital record and the gravestone agree and are correct]

In Memory of / Mr. Nathan NILES / who Departed this / Life July 5th/ AD 1778 / in the 78th year / of his Age.

Born 12 Sept 1700 in South Kingstown, Washington, RI [1700 NILES Nathan, of Nathaniel and Mary, Sept. 12, 1700. / Birth / North Kingstown]

Perpetual Care

Perpetual Care
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

What does perpetual care really mean? I am hoping my readers have more information on this topic.

Notice that these gravestones are carved on the back side with a reminder to all that perpetual care is part of this plot of graves at Elm Grove Cemetery in Mystic, New London, CT.

On plot cards for my family in another cemetery, perpetual care is listed with a dollar amount. Is this pro-rated for the particular year [or century]?

Gaylord Cooper, in his book, Stories Told in Stone, gives this definition on page 117:

"Guarantee of eternal cemetery upkeep; funds are collected and set aside; sometimes markers are placed beside monuments, or inscriptions added to stones, to denote payment has been collected."

Does perpetual care also mean that the gravestones are protected from removal? Does this mean that if the gravestones have fallen over or are broken that it is the responsibility of the cemetery to repair them?

Egypt

Egypt
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

Smile for the Camera 18th edition: Travel

As a family, we don't consider ourselves well traveled except for my maternal grandmother who enjoyed many trips before and after her husband died. I found this postcard in the photo box that belonged to my mother and it always makes me laugh. I may find a matching one with my grandmother on a camel yet. Sound like a book title "Grandmother on a Camel". But, I digress.

Obviously this is a "tourist trap" photo. See the tiny number next to the camels? That's how they knew who to bill for the photography. I do know that this is a photo of Douglas and Louise Young of Providence and Barrington, RI. who often accompanied my grandparents on trips.

Mr. and Mrs. Young had a 50th wedding anniversary party at their "summer" home in Barrington when I was a young teen. It was the first time I saw a servant catered party. I mention this because it would have been around the time that this photo was taken so perhaps this was a 50th wedding anniversary trip.

For a person who doesn't even have a passport this is the closest I will get to this place.

Edwin S. BURROWS

Edwin S. BURROWS
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

Edwin S. BURROWS
Transcription:
In / Memory of/ Edwin S. / son of / Benjamin and Rebecca Burrows / who was drowned at Norwich / July 2, 1836 / Aged 17 years. /

Front Row, Right Side [Grave #9] Photo # 3018

Edwin was the sixth child born to this family (or seventh as there was an infant son) and he was born 19 April 1819 in Groton, New London, CT. Why he was in Norwich at the time of his drowning is unknown. I have not been able to find a newspaper account of his death.

Nathan BURROWS and infant brother

Nathan BURROWS and infant brother
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

Nathan BURROWS
Transcription:
Nathan BURROWS / died at New Orleans / June 17, 1833 / age 24 years /Also an infant age 1 day / sons of / Benjamin & Rebecca Burrows.

Front Row, Right Side [Grave #8] Photo # 3017

Nathan BURROWS, son of Benjamin and Rebecca Burrows died at New Orleans, LA on 17 June 1833 at the age of 24. He may have been sailing with his father on one of the sailing ships his father owned. Nathan was the oldest son and was unmarried. He was born 12 July 1809 in Groton, New London, CT.

The Burrows genealogy doesn't tell us in what birth order the infant son that is buried here falls into as it doesn't give the date of birth and death.

Great Blog Post!

Lee Drew's blog posting about Find-a-Grave echoes my feelings about the growth of this valuable resource of user posted photographs of gravestones.

Like, Lee, I joined 9 years ago, at the beginning, to post a photograph of my 2nd great grandfather because someone who was not a family member posted a photo of his gravestone. Cool, I thought! Maybe I should start taking photos of gravestones.....

I have stories to tell about my Find-a-grave experiences in next week's blog postings.

Lucy C. PERKINS

Lucy C. PERKINS
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

Front Row, Right Side [Grave #7] Photo # 3016

Lucy C. PERKINS (Mrs.)
Transcription:
Lucy C. / Wife of / Benjamin Burrows. / DIED June 21, 1858 / Aged 52 Years.

Probably PERKINS is not her maiden name, as the Burrows genealogy lists her on p. 137 as Mrs.

She and Benjamin were married 10 Nov 1844 by Rev. Simon B. BAILEY. Benjamin and Lucy had two sons.

Update! Lucy has been identified as Lucy ROBBINS. Her first husand was a man named Robert PERKINS. There is no middle inital C in her name!

Rebecca THOMPSON

Rebecca THOMPSON
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

Front Row, Right Side [Grave #6] Photo # 3015

Rebecca THOMPSON, first wife of Capt. Benjamin BURROWS, Sr. was born in Westerly, Rhode Island and died in Groton, CT

Transcription:
Rebecca THOMPSON, / wife of / Capt. Benjamin BURROWS / BORN / June 14, 1787 / DIED / Nov. 23, 1842.

"Therefore be ye also ready for in such an hour as you think not the Son of man cometh"

Benjamin and Rebecca were married 17 Mar 1808 and had thirteen children.

There is no vital record for Westerly, RI which matches this person with this birth date.

Capt. Benjamin Burrows

Capt. Benjamin Burrows
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

Tombstone Tuesday 13 Oct 2009

Captain Benjamin BURROWS [Sr.] (for whom this cemetery is named)

Transcription
Capt. Benjamin BURROWS / BORN / Oct. 20, 1789 / DIED / Mar 27, 1876

Benjamin6 (Nathan5, John4, John3, John2, Robert1) b. 20 Oct 1789 in Groton, CT to Nathan BURROWS and his second wife Sarah WILLIAMS died on 27 Mar 1876 at the home of his son, Benjamin BURROWS, Jr. 5 West Mystic Ave. Groton, CT.

Benjamin married four times and had fifteen children by his first two wives who are buried here. Theoda Y. WILLIAMS of North Stonington was his third wife and he married her on 28 Mar 1859 and his fourth wife was Mrs. Sarah HOLDREDGE who he married on 10 Nov 1864. Sarah died 22 Nov 1870.

Benjamin went with his parents to Chenago County, NY in abt. 1803 but he didn't like the life of farming his father had chosen so he went back to Connecticut. Family history tells a story of him going to New Jersey with an uncle to learn the fishing trade and after that he went from there to South Carolina and Florida on fishing expeditions. In the War of 1812, he was on the "Sea Fencible" and received a pension for it. He was a member of the Second Baptist Church in Groton and left an estate of $32, 059 in 1876.

Source: Burrows Genealogy p. 136.

Benjamin BURROWS and Ann Marie AVERY

Benjamin BURROWS and Ann Marie AVERY
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

BURROWS Monument

Benjamin BURROWS and his [second wife] Ann Maria AVERY

Benjamin Burrows / Feb. 6, 1815 - Aug 3, 1884 / His Wife / Ann Maria Avery / Jan. 27, 1830 - Apr. 12, 1850

Front Row, Left Side [Grave #4] Photo # 3013

Benjamin BURROWS, son of Capt. Benjamin Burrows, was married first, on 25 July 1838, to Sarah Amelia HAMMOND When she and their infant son (he died 10 June 1840, aged five days) died, Benjamin buried his wife and son together in the same plot as Sarah's parents and grandparents at the Avery Morgan Cemetery in Groton, New London, CT

Sarah HAMMOND, daughter of Thomas HAMMOND and his wife Sarah AVERY was born 15 Apr 1815. She died 31 Oct 1840 aged 25.

[A CD of the gravestones in the Avery Morgan Cemetery is available for purchase from the Avery Association]

Benjamin married secondly, Ann Marie AVERY, his first wife's cousin, 23 Oct 1854 in Groton, CT by Elder Isaac CHESEBROUGH. She was a dressmaker born 27 Jan 1830, daughter of Urbane AVERY and his wife [also an AVERY] Amanda Malvina AVERY. They had a son and a daughter, Elizabeth Avery BURROWS and Benjamin Franklin BURROWS.

Sadly, Ann Marie AVERY died 12 April 1860 leaving Benjamin with two small children. He married third, Frances Levina DENISON on 5 May 1837. They were married by her brother, the Civil War Chaplin and Baptist Minister, Rev. Frederic DENISON. She was the daughter of Isaac DENISON and his wife Levina FISH. [my third great grandparents]

Frances was 29 and single at the time of their marriage and probably considered a spinster. She raised his children and out lived him. She buried him with his second wife and is buried with her Denison family at Elm Grove Cemetery in Mystic, New London, CT.

The Burrows genealogy tells us that Benjamin was only 10 years old when he went with his father to Havana, Cuba and at 17 he was a sailor and mate on the schooner Bolivar. In 1838, he was a full sea captain of the schooner, "Talma" and continued in the commerical maritime trade until 1872 when he went into the Coal Trade.

Benjamin lived a prosperous life on "Skipper St." at 5 West Mystic Avenue, was a Whig and a Republican serving in the legislature in 1864. He was a member of the Baptist Church.

Grandchamp's Book

Review of my friend Rob Grandchamp's book on the Civil War.

For many of you who don't know, my 2nd great-grandfather, James A. Barber, is featured in this book as he and twenty other men were awarded the Medal of Honor in the Civil War.

Close-up of Mirror and Shade

Close-up of Mirror and Shade
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

Recently, at the Rhode Island Genealogical Society meeting held in Rumford, Rhode Island, Lettie Champion, showed us some new gravestone photography techniques in the Newman Cemetery. [26 Sept 2009]

She uses an umbrella with a stake attached to the bottom to purposefully create shade. Sharp and pointy, this allows the umbrella to be placed in the dirt near the gravestone so that the person who is holding the mirror doesn't have to hold it in place. [I didn't get a good photograph of the umbrella in the ground which to passer-by folks must have looked bizarre!]

The umbrella creates artificial shade so that the sunlight can be directed on the face of the stone. Many times, I have noticed that using the mirror tends to bleach out the stone because the sunlight is too strong. [example of marble stone and too much light with the mirror taken by me in Elm Grove Cemetery in Mystic, CT]

Lettie sometimes uses two mirrors so that the sun reflects off one mirror to the other and allows for the concentration on the sunlight on the stone. This is shown here with the mirror on the left taking the sunlight from the mirror on the right (not in the photo) with the stone itself in the shade.

Lettie made a very clever mirror stand so that at least one mirror did not have to be held. Of course, all of this works well when there is more than one person working on the project.

We had a great time wandering around the cemetery angling the mirrors in different ways. I took several "with" and "without" the mirror. [CARPENTER, MEHITABLE 1777c - 25 JUL 1864 from the RI Historical Cemetery Database at NEHGS and her maiden name may be PHINNEY from Findagrave]

Now, I need an umbrella and a stake! Sounds perfect for October!

Lettie Champion gave her permission to be photographed and be featured in my blog and I gave permission for RIGS to use my photos in the October issue of the RIGS Reporter Newsletter which is available in PDF format.

Here's a link to some excellent photographs taken at Sanborn Cemetery in Bristol, NH using the mirror, courtesy of Lee Drew.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

I'm having fun having my photo taken with my direct line ancestors. [Schofield Monument, River Bend Cemetery, Westerly, Washington, RI]

Epitaphs

Gravestone 4 Blog
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

Graveyard Rabbits Carnival November, 2009

I'm not much for epitaphs as most of the gravestones I have photographed have inscriptions that are hard to read. Many of them are exactly the same or so similar that I have ceased to try to take an extra photo just to read "the fine print".

When "Googled", many turn out to be partially based on Scripture.

I can't imagine any of them on my own gravestone, so how about this for an idea?

She worked in the present, using tools of the future, to research the lives of the past.

Source: Tombstone Generator

Stephen AVERY

Stephen AVERY
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

Tombstone Tuesday, 6 October 2009

Stephen AVERY, born 13 Jan 1756 was a Revolutionary War soldier. He served in the 4th Connecticut Regiment 1780.

He died April 1, 1828 and is buried in Great Plain Cemetery in North Stonington, New London, CT. He married twice and had 14 children. His last child, Frances Mary AVERY was the first wife of Judge Richard WHEELER, author of the History of Stonington.

He was the son of the Rev. Nathan AVERY and his wife Hannah STODDARD. They are buried in the same row of gravestones as their son. Rev. Nathan AVERY's gravestone can be found in the Farber Gravestone Collection, which makes it an example of early New England gravestones.

Stephen was "a prominent man in Stonington, and held various public offices of trust, particularly town clerk, which he held a number of years before and at the time when the town was divided and the town of North Stonington was established in 1807, again being elected town clerk of North Stonington, which he held until his death." [Source: Judge Richard Anson Wheeler's History of Stonington #159, p. 207, 208, 209.]

Mr. Stephen Avery, as a justice of the peace, married Edward Stewart and Rebecca Noyes {my 3rd great grandparents] in 1801. It is his signature on the hand written marriage certificate that piqued my interest to seek out his gravestone. His perfect handwriting can be seen in the ledgers for the town of North Stonington. It is a genealogist's dream to have records that are so legible.

Rest in peace, Mr. AVERY

Vote 4 My Blog!

Vote 4 My Blog!
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

Much to my surprise, I discovered today that this blog has been nominated in the Cemetery category for one of the 40 Best Genealogy Blogs from Family Tree Magazine. Winners will be in the May 2010 issue. Won't you take a moment and vote for me?

Oh, yes, and while you're there, don't forget to vote for the other blogs too!

Thanks!
Midge

Write Your Family History

Full Moon over the Campus
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

Fellow genealogical writer, Lisa Alzo, teaches a course for GenClass titled "Write Your Family History Step-by- Step" and since they were offering a discount on classes, I decided to enroll to give me the incentive to start writing some of my family history in a readable format.

As I am a published author of non-fiction titles for teachers, I know very well that you can learn something from everyone and this certainly is the case. Lisa sent out the first two lessons for the course a day early and in easily archived and printable PDF format. This course has no meetings and no homework which is perfect for me as I am a self-directed learner.

I am Facebook friends with Lisa and follow her on Twitter and I read her published articles in magazines. She holds an MFA in Non-fiction Writing. I feel confident that I will make progress in this course.

I have absolutely no formal training in writing. I was a science geek in my undergraduate days and I still feel most comfortable writing about technology in both education and genealogy. My most recent book on digital storytelling, is in final production and will be published in January.

In Lesson 1, Lisa asks some excellent questions about writing the stories of our family. All of these questions are ones that I have been answering in my blog posts in this blog but it is time to gather my ideas together, see what is missing genealogically, and begin to write a story based on my maternal line. I have been gathering the gravestone photos, books about both my ancestors and the time period in which they lived. Census records and city directories are helping with the later generations for the story that continues until today.

I own seven computers and a scanner. I purchased a new scanner for my Christmas gift and although it will not be used until then it has arrived here at my home. In Lesson 2, Lisa provides information about the genealogical aspect of the process and is very useful. I think anyone can get started with this process by following that lesson.

I have learned many things from my friend Maureen Taylor about preserving photographs and I am following her advise.

No matter how much research you have accomplished, there is more to be done. I still had to start pulling together the information into a notebook to be able to see what I have and what is missing. [so much is missing!]

Recently, I have switched from PAF to RootsMagic 4 and I am still learning the features and reading the book that Bruce Buzbee has written. I maintain a tree at Ancestry.com and I use it as my main resource and I GEDCOM it out from there to my desktop. I am slowly writing citations, but for now, I am going to focus on the story.

Upon the recommendation of Denise Levenick, I downloaded a software tool called Transcribe to help me manage the transcriptions I will need for future projects. For the purposes of this course I only have two sources to tie into the story and they are mostly ready.

For some of you, this story begins with one I used as a blog post last year but now there is more to tell as my research has progressed.

This will be my only blog post about the lessons in this course unless readers are interested in hearing more. I will be reporting later on about what I am writing.

Comfort ALLEN

Comfort ALLEN
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

This is the stone's inscription easily read with the light reflecting on the face of the stone.

In Memory of / Comfort Allen / who died Nov. 8, / 1837, / In the 58th year / of his age.

"The path of the just is as / the shining light / that shineth / more & more unto the perfect / day."

Notice the stone next to him which is not illuminated completely tells us that his wife was named Olive and because it says relict, she outlived him.

The Rehoboth, MA Vital Records 1642-1896 available at Ancestry.com tells me that Comfort and Olive were married on 7 Feb 1808 in Rehoboth and that her maiden surname was Read. Comfort is listed in the 1800 federal census of Rehoboth.

By the way, Comfort is a first name for both a man or a woman!

Single Mirror Technique

Single Mirror
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

Letty Champion of Newport, RI did a gravestone reflection workshop last Saturday in the Newman Cemetery in Rumford, RI. She gave permission for me to photograph her showing her techniques.

The members of the RI Genealogical Society showed great enthusiasm for learning to use the mirror to help read gravestones and a member told me that Letty and another woman are photographing the Common Burial Ground in Newport for an upcoming publication. That should be spectacular reading.

Letty is shown here angling a single "door" mirror so that the sun is reflected on the surface of the stone. This is the technique that I have been using for some time. She is looking away to answer a question about the mirror itself.

It was a sunny day in a cemetery where most of the trees and brush are located along the wall.