Happy Halloween

Death Head, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Happy Halloween from Granite-in-My-Blood!

The classic Death Head (1700s era) creeps me out! 

 Warning: Don't eat too much candy!

Ruth BARRETT

Ruth BARRETT, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

New England Graveyards like the Pan Burying Ground (which is on the National Historic Register) are filled with groups of gravestones which most of the time are of a family nature. Most times, husbands are buried with wives as in the case of Ruth buried (and leaning toward her husband).

Notice that Ruth's gravestone is somewhat smaller than her husband's gravestone and her design does match his.

However, Ruth (Ruth Barrett, as it says at Find-a-Grave) lived until 1841 and was 92 at her death. This is probably way her gravestone is a bit more ornate with the sun motifs.

Families try to have the husband and wife gravestones match for a feeling of permanence. It is not uncommon for a man to be buried with his first wife and not his second, especially if the first wife is the mother of the children.

The second wife can be buried many miles away if she went to live with an adult child when she was a widow.  

   

Deacon Jonathan NOURSE

Deacon Jonathan NOURSE, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

I don't know if the descendants of accused witch, Rebecca Towne Nurse, chose to alter their surname or whether the surname was originally spelled NOURSE but I think thse folks buried at Pan Burying Ground are descendants from this family. These gravestones are linked backwards in time at Find-A-Grave to her.

There is a blog for The Rebecca NURSE Homestead which is located in present day, Danvers, MA. 

Deacon Jonathan NOURSE's gravestone is large and has a great weeping willow motif. If it wasn't for the lichen, this would be a spectacular gravestone. The flag and holder indicates that he served in the Revolutionary War.

Pause a moment this week to mourn for the awful events of accusing persons of witchcraft.  

It is the Season!

Unusual Gravestone, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

A reader of my blog offers this information about this gravestone photo I took in 2009 at River Bend Cemetery in Westerly, RI

"That grave belongs to a Giussepa Comoli. Its rumored to be a witch's grave. Whats even more interesting is the way its positioned; it appears to move every time you come back. I'm from Westerly myself. It is a beautiful gravestone; haven't seen anything like it since. "

Halloween Indoor Graveyard

Halloween Indoor Graveyard, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

My Indoor Graveyard, 2012

Cemetery Cake

Cemetery Cake, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

The Sweet Dead 

Last Halloween, I made this cute cake based on a "recipe" in a magazine. I always take shortcuts because I like sweets and eat too much of them so the less time they hang around my house, the better.

This is an 8x8 chocolate store bought cake with chocolate frosting. I added chocolate sprinkles and candy pumpkins. The gravestones are Milano cookies with RIP put on them with cake gel.

I am repeating showing this here in case you have to bring a goodie to a fall party. You could also use cupcakes. Yum. Love the dead.

 

Creeped Out!

Whitehall Scene, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

I am often asked if I visit any cemeteries at night. I don't see the point. I can't use my camera, right?

However, one ancestral cemetery does bother me. My friend, the footnoteMaven, asked me to write about it and she put it in her blog, Shades of the Departed a couple years ago. I thought you might like to read it. 

Much to my amusement, a hotel has been erected next to this cemetery. I hope I don't find out that it is haunted by my ancestors. 

  

Haven NEWTON

Haven NEWTON, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Buried in Pan Burying Ground, Bolton, MA

Haven NEWTON

This classic 1800's gravestone features the lovely weeping willow and urn, sharply defined  round top and square sides. It could easily have been the design of a headboard. It is clearly read after all these years.

The problem with this gravestone is in the thin cross marks of the year 1847. After many more years, it will be hard to read the 4 in the 1847. 

I love the way the name and the vital record information is set out in the rectangle. It looks as if the gravestone carver could have mass manufactured a single design and just put the name and dates in that space.

S. of U. V. Aux. 20

S. of U. V. Aux. 20, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Pan Burying Ground in Bolton, MA

What does this small metal object next to a grave indicate?

This is a grave marker for a veteran of the Civil War. It meant that the person belonged to an auxillary chapter (#20) of the Sons of Union Veterans.

Always photograph any flag or organization markers when you photograph your ancestors graves!

Mary HOUGHTON

Mary HOUGHTON, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Buried at the Pan Burying Ground in Bolton, MA

Mary HOUGHTON

Yesterday, we looked at the gravestone of Cephas HOUGHTON, who died in 1865. Notice that this grave, of a Mary HOUGHTON does NOT say she was the wife of Cephas. It does say that she also died in 1865. The shape of the gravestone with the turned up ends and the scrollwork are exactly the same as the other gravestone. Hmmm... So the question becomes, who was Mary?

I only found out who Mary was when I looked up the death record of Cephas. There on the same page is the death of Mary. She was single and the daughter of Cephas. Don't make the assumption that just because a gravestone looks like another in the same location! 

Must Read: Cemetery Photos Permission Required!

Newsflash!

Cemetery photos: Permission Required by The Legal Genealogist

Cephas HOUGHTON

Cephas HOUGHTON, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

 Buried in the Pan Burying Ground in Bolton, Massachusetts

In this simple gravestone of the 1860s, note the scroll work above the name. The shape of the gravestone is slightly different from others in this time period because it dips at the end of the top.

This is his information at Find-a-Grave. Note that the person who posted the photo did quite a bit of research.

Cephas Houghton

According to the Massachusetts Vital Records, Cephas died 12 Oct 1865, of Dysentery and Thyphoid Fever at 71 Years, 3 Months and 5 Days.

The Half Naked Grandmother

Publication of the Providence Plantation Club, privately held by Midge Frazel

My mother was not fond of keeping any papers that were not inside the family Bible, but she was proud of how beautiful her mother was, so she ripped this double paged article in a publication of the Providence Plantation Club in Providence RI.

The half naked woman is my grandmother!

The swimming pool is depicted below and they attempted to get me to swim in it when I was about 6 or 7. I can swim but I don't like it much.

Publication of the Providence Plantation Club, privately held by Midge Frazel

 

George Floyd STEWART

Photo by Brian Zoldak, 2012, used with permission

This is the last gravestone in the Stewart Hill Cemetery. 

G. Floyd Stewart, the only son of George P. Stewart and his wife Myra lived in the Stewart Homestead, working the farm, until his mother died.

He was unmarried. He must have sold the house and farm because he is listed in the 1940 census as living as a border in the home of Daniel Pierce and had been living there in 1935.

All there is of Floyd is his draft cards for World War 1 and II. He died on 6 August 1956 in North Stonington, New London, CT

Thanks again to Brian Zoldak for the excellent photos and to the family that still lives in the North Stonington area for their help with researching the people buried here.   

Searching for Tomorrow

Old TV, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Searching for Tomorrow: Stories of Family

When I talk to strangers about genealogy, I often spend time reflecting on how lucky I have been to have known some of my grandparents and to have listened to their stories (and remembered them).  But, there are stories of family all around us and it happens so often that we may not even notice it!

My grandmother and mother were stay-at-home moms. They took a break from their housework to listen to their "stories". Today, we call those TV programs, "Soap Operas". If you don't know why, then you should look that up.

One of my earliest memories is of lying in my crib, watching the blue curtains in my chiildhood bedroom, moving in the breeze with the sounds of the music and conversations of the TV (this one pictured here) while Love of Life and Search for Tomorrow were on. The comings and goings of the characters in these programs were topics of comversation in my family, just as if they were real stories about people in our family or in the neighborhood.

My mother told me that she was shopping in Macy's in New York and got on the elevator to go to another floor and met soap actor Larry Haines. She said hello to him but couldn't quite place who he was until her got off at his floor. I guess my mother was always "Searching for Tomorrow". Well, aren't we all?

Serial stories were popular in print and on the radio. Many TV soaps began on radio and moved to TV. I can't imagine how excitied people must have been to be part of that. But, folks, many of the story themes were about family and society. (Think: Dickens and Little Orphan Annie)

One that sticks in my mind was "I Remember Mama" about a Swedish immigrant family. Hey, if this isn't family history for Family History Month, what is? 

Myra L. ECCLESTONE

Photo by Brian Zoldak, 2012, used with permission

Myra ECCLESTONE, also known as Almira (in several census years) married George P. STEWART in 1889 (1900 census says 1890) when she was 37 years old. 

Daughter of William and Fanny ECCLESTONE, she grew up in North Stonington. In 1892, the they gave birth to a son. This child may have been the last person born in the Stewart Homestead.

George and Myra were living in the Stewart Homestead when Miss Elizabeth STEWART died in 1904 as it is listed in her obituary. In 1900, the couple lived with their 7 year old son and a 12 year old boarder named Kate E. Drake.She may have been a family member who lived with them to watch the son while his parents work the farm. We may never know.

When her husband died, Myra was left with the farm and a 12 year old son. She didn't die until Sept. 26, 1930 and stayed in the Homestead until that time with her son who was 39 and unmarried.

George P. STEWART

Photo by Brian Zoldak, 2012, used with permission

George P. STEWART

This striking white bronze monument of the family of George P. STEWART was the first one that I had ever seen of this kind. It features a lovely acorn motif at the top. Since they are made of zinc they don't weather as badly as other gravestones. They can get dirty. When the gravestone itself was purchased, each side had a panel for the names of the loved ones. The family surname was often place (like this one) at the bottom of the front panel.

Photo by Brian Zoldak, 2012, used with permission

George Palmer Stewart was born 13 July 1849 and died 19 July 1905. He was the son of George Washington Stewart and his wife Phebe Esther Palmer. He was their 5th child. He married his wife, Myra (Almira) in 1889 (according to his obituary). When he died of appendicitis and pneumonia in 1905, he was only 56.

Obituary courtesy of the North Stonington Historical Society

Obituary courtesy of the North Stonington Historical Society

Phebe E. PALMER

 

 George W. STEWART and wife Phebe E. PALMER, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Follow-up Blog Post to George Washington STEWART 

As I am a PALMER descendant, George Washington Stewart's wife Phebe and I are related. I've been working on her ancestors this week, very slowly as I know I need to connect her correctly to my own Palmer family in my tree.

Thanks to the database of the Walter Palmer Society, I can tell you that eventually, Phebe's family workd back to a husband and wife who were both Palmers! This isn't unusual in new England families but it make getting it right harder.

As you have seen with previous posts, men's names keep repeating in this Stewart family. Phebe's father was named Cyrus and his father was Ethel. Yes, Ethel is a man's name.

This explains the name on the gravestone for Charles Ethel Stewart that I blogged about earlier.   

Mother of 8 children, Phebe Esther PALMER was born 13 Sept 1818 in North Stonington and married 21 Mar 1841 at 22 years of age to George Washington Stewart. As her husband purchased the Stewart Homestead, she lived in the house that used to be next to this cemetery.

 

Wall Collages in Hallway

Wall Collages in Hallway, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

It is amazing how long it took for me to get these four collages on the hallway wall. My family gave me the two on the far left the first Christmas after we moved. The closest on the right was a special; buy one and get one half off and the Family one, I just had to have.

The balance of old and new photos had to be just right and then of course, I had to wait for my newest grandson to be born.

Finally, we have these up on the wall!

Sentimental Sunday: Reading with Dad

On the Christmas we moved from our house in Bridgewater to Stow, I asked my daughter to give us two collage frames so that I could showcase some of the many family photos we inherited. It has taken me nearly three years to get it accomplished. Some needed to be vertical, some horizontal. Some had to be enlarged; some cut. Then, I saw the perfect collage frame that said "Family". Yikes. Then, I had another grandchild born. More photos for the collage. Sigh.

You get the picture, right? Well, today I finally got the photos in the frames. Hubs is trying to get them hung up this weekend. I suspect that I need one more for the wall. I'm not telling him that, well at least not yet.

When I first had access to a scanner and a computer with photo editing software, my friend and I tried to scan and eliminate the yellow from some of my 1950s photos. I have finally edited as many as I think I will ever need. But, this past week, I found one of my favorites in the wrong envelope. I immediately scanned it. It was one of the same photos but was black and white.

It looks so old. Dad looks so young. My parents living room has furniture I don't remember. The moral to the story is that sometimes, you just have to stop researching and work on the story of your own life.

We are half way through the month of October. When the holidays start up, time seems to disappear.

I wish I could sit in Dad's lap and just read. He died sitting in a comfortable chair in the very spot in this photo.

He would be happy that I have spent most of this year working on the story of his parents. I now know so much more about my Scot ancestors. I think about how pleased he would be at the progress I have made.

Feeling sentimental.

Baby Books

Steve's Baby Book Page 1, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Steve's Memory Box

While going through yet another Frazel box in our basement, Hubs came upstairs to my office and told me that it was not just full of his military records, but full of some of his papers from his "Memory Box".

Hubs' father made a box for each of his sons and he put important things in it. Unfortunately, he would not let the boys look at the stuff in each box. I, the lowly, daughter-in-law, could not even look at the boxes.

When they moved to a retirement home, they were both over 90. They didn't tell us what they were moving or even when they were going to move. Before this, my husband insisted on having his baseball mitt. He's a "leftie". It was not OK with his father really, but we all stood there while he went to the basement and got it. He was down there so long, my mother-in-law got worried and sent Steve down after him. My father-in-law was quite angry at this intrusion of his privacy.

The point is that parents of the late 1940s and early 1950s were more "helicopter" parents than parents today. Check out this chart of my husband's baby weight. To do this, they must have had a scale with their baby stuff in the house. She did tell me that she had to produce it, and the next page which was a chart of "appropriately spaced" feeding times at each doctor visit to show that she was "on the right track" with her baby. Yikes!

The baby book itself was a guide on how to take care of a baby. When I had my daughter in 1975, I asked for the "owner's manual". The nurse didn't think that was funny. She couldn't wait until I went home. I asked too many questions. My doctor laughed at her. She was not pleased. (She was snooty.)

When she came to see her new granddaughter, my mother-in-law told me about the "hospital book". She didn't know where it was (we know my father-in-law put it in the "memory box" now) but she was quite dismayed to find it missing.

On the same page as this chart was a list of his illnesses. He has had the chicken pox. Now, we can get our shingles shot. Good.

The moral of the story is that parents should give their adult children ownership of important photos and documents. Photograph those papers with the mother and adult child holding them. Teach responsibility!

Family History Month: The Mustang

Ragen and Midge, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Family History Month: Wheels I Liked 

It has been a long time since my friend, Gail Casson, took this picture of Ragen Tiliakos and me in the parking lot at the Williams School in Bridgewater. It was a Kodachrome slide that I scanned to make this digital copy.

We'd been developing a program for 5 and 6 grade teachers and their students to get started in word processing in the writing curriculum. Ragen is now Dr. Tiliakos and workes for the Taunton School System. 

It is rare to see me in a skirt which, as I recall, was the reason for taking this photo. The wheels behind me was the only car (a Mustang) I owned that I liked. It was terrible in the snow. I hate snow.

One thing that genealogy does for us is it makes us reflect on our own lives in a way that other people do not understand. I am happy to say that I have moved away from this time in my life. Most people (not the school children) did not like my perspective of technology use. They disliked it just as I don't like cars.

I laugh now at the amount of time that I wasted trying to get teachers "on board" as it says on the decal on my car window. I hope that the ones I tried to teach are getting the help they need using technology in their retired life from their grandchildren. After all, I was right. Technology is here to stay.

The children I taught loved it and that's all that matters. 

This is the last post in this series for Family History Month 2012.

Family History Month: Wheel in the Graveyard

Morgan, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Family History Month: Going Around in the Graveyard.

You didn't think I remembered that I found this wheel-like stone, did you?

North Cemetery, Wayland, MA

Family History Month: The Convertible

Tom and Dorothy before they married, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Family History Month: The Convertible

My mother's father bought her this very fancy car, a Ford Phaeton, while she was in college in Providence.

She told me that "all the boys" loved it. Then, she told me she's rather ride in it than drive it. So, she drove to one of her boy friends house and he hopped in and they drove to the college where he was a student too! They reversed the process when the classes were over for the day. Seems like a lot of money for a few miles. My mother loved living with her parents. She's still be there if my father hadn't come along. She didn't marry the first guy she was engaged to. He wanted to move to Ohio. She said he drank too much. His name was Eugene Primm. (Just think, I could have been named Martha Primm. Yuck!)

As an old lady, she told me that she preferred to look out the window and "watch the world go by". This was the car they used when they got married and my father drove it to his job at my grandfather's laundry and dry cleaning business where he was general manager.

As a small child, I was terrified when they took the top down and drove down a hill.  My mother yelled "Wheeeee!" (with her arms up like it was a roller coaster) and told me I was a baby and I shouldn't be crying. I hated it.

I still don't get the concept of convertibles. But, I wonder if I don't like being in the car because of this car.

Going around in circles.... 

Family History Month: Wheels on the Truck

Victor Cleansing Co. Truck, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Wheels: Family History Month

 Please bear with me this week and I plan to think in circles for a few days. As I go around and around, working on family history stories sometimes a theme begins to take form.

I have just sold my car and so I am "wheel-ess" for the time being. I have not driven it in two years so although it is a little bit of a shock, I think it will pass. I really dislike driving and cars in general.

This tiny, damaged photo was found in the envelopes of my family photos. I may have blogged about it before when I was telling you about my family laundry and dry-cleaning business.

The address on this early Victor Cleaning Co. truck is of Weybossett St. in Downtown Providence, RI. This photo was taken long before I was born. I don't know who took it or where it was taken. The house behind it doesn't look familiar.

Friends who love cars tell me that they would need to see the front of the truck to be able to give this a year. But, my family records tell me that it must be after 1907. This printed pamphlet that is part of my family collection shows drawings of the company vehicles and a short history. I am sure my mother drew the trucks. She was a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence.

Here's the thing. She hated driving too.

My theme of wheels is appropriate as it keeps appearing in my family photos. Check out this one of the huge oil tank in later years. My grandfather is standing next to the big circle.

 

Family History Month: The Envelope Project

Envelope 1992, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

While my parents were both still living, I bought a photo box and a box of  plain, white envelopes so that they could easily start grouping the loose photos and putting them in envelopes. Hey, it was a plan.

I asked my mother to label each envelope so we could go over them together when I came to visit. On newer photos, I asked her to write the date and the place.

I had given her my old camera and some film and told them that I would pay for any photos they took. That part went fairly well and I do have some real treasures. 

My mother started out with the envelope project with great gusto but as my father got sicker, she began to have trouble focusing on our project. After my Dad died, we worked on it together but she was getting very vague and disinterested. That's dementia.

Today, I opened the box and starting looking for photos to blog about. As things always go, I pulled out a previously overlooked envelope and laughed out loud. Hubs came to look.

Notice the envelope is "dated" Thursday.  Hubs said, "Yes, that's how your mother thought!"

I was hoping the year was on the photos. Inside was this great photo of my Dad and a lot of scenery pictures.

The back of the photo was a big surprise. Dad labeled it. It gives the location (so I now know where the other photos in the envelope were taken Narragansett, RI). Mom did put the year, 1992. 

But, my father left me this message.

"Still have hair. Can't say the same for teeth." 

Yup, that's Family History.

 

Attorney at Law

Attorney at Law, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Browsing through my gravestone photo collection today, looking for specific surnames, I found this gem from the old Southborough Cemetery of a 40 year old lawyer who graduated from Harvard. This is a great gravestone!

In Memory of Peter Clark, Esq. attorney at law who was born at Concord in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and fifty two, graduated at Harvard College in the year one thousand seven hundred and seventy seven, departed this life July 14th 1792 in the 40th year of his age.

Kiosk

Howard St. Key 1, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Every once in a while, I spy a kiosk in an old graveyard. On Monday, we ventured out to Northborough, MA because it looked like everyone in this town is buried in one cemetery (from my research) and I think that might be the case. (Howard St. Cemetery)

We saw a man carving a date on a stone. I didn't want to disturb him and I didn't have my camera with me to take a photo at a distance. I took this shot with my iPhone.

In the oldest section was this kiosk with a map, numbered graves and as you can see here, the inscription on the gravestone.

At the bottom is this great reference to a town history and the reason for the existence of the oldest section.

I took a few photos which I will show you later but I plan to return on a quiet day with the mirror and my good camera.

George Washington STEWART

photo by Brian Zoldak, 2012, used with permission

photo by Midge Frazel, 2004

George Washington Stewart was also known as Washington. Many men were named George Washington for a number of years after the American Revolution in memory of our first President and because, like this family, there were a lot of ancestors named George!

Even the smooth granite stones are susceptible to lichen and weathering. Notice how the lichen have settled into the grooves of the letters and numbers on this side of this Stewart monument in just the few years since I took a photo and Brian Zoldak took a matching photo in 2012. This monument is one side of a Stewart monument in the Stewart Hill Cemetery in North Stonington, New London, CT

George Washington STEWART, son of George Palmer Stewart and Polly Hewitt, was born 31 March 1816 and married Phebe Esther PALMER  on 28 March 1841. They were the parents of Isabel and her brother Charles Ethel STEWART and the sisters Elizabeth and Sarah Louise STEWART (wife of Nathan EDGCOMB) that I blogged about previously. 

My 2nd great grandfather, Dudley Wheeler Stewart and this George Washington Stewart were first cousins and surely knew each other. George and his wife lived in the Stewart Homestead until his death on 26 July 1896 and I think that he and his wife are the people in the "family reunion" photos I was given by the North Stonington Historical Society.