Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Tombstone Tuesday: The Frazel Brothers


Albert Raymond FRAZEL
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel
Today's post is about readability of gravestones and the value of doing your homework prior to going to the cemetery to take photos.

These are the three little sons of Joseph and Naomi (Fancy) Frazel that were born and died in Marlborough, MA. Albert, John and Loren all perished from commonplace diseases that took the lives of many children of their time.

Before going to the cemetery, I was not sure that I could find out how many children Joseph and Naomi had. The side of the monument was very hard to read and I am glad that the surrounding headstones are carved in clear block letters. It did look to me that Loran was probably Loren. I was wrong. This clarity helped me find the vital records of their births once I returned home. For a family that had twelve children, it can be a daunting task to research all  twelve. I have a thirteenth child listed and I can't resolve her name with one of the unnamed infants buried in Nova Scotia or with their daughter Rhoda whose middle initial is M on census records.The child's name is clearly Sophia and she doesn't appear again. Such is the agony of the gravestone hunter.


2 comments:

Tina Lyons said...

Congrats on being nominated for Family Tree Magazine's Top 40 Blogs. Love your blog.

Midge Frazel said...

Thanks! I am honored. There are so many other blogs listed that I don't read! It is exciting.