John Borodell Denison

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Photo by Midge Frazel, taken 23 May 2004.

Gravestone in a Rock

In May of 2004, nearly 10 years ago, I embarked on a mission to locate the cemeteries where my ancestors were buried. I was still a fledgling gravestone photographer then but as I bought my first digital camera in 1999, I had already moved on to a smaller lightweight camera a Sony DSC-P32. 

I remember this day quite fondly, we were driving through Mystic, CT trying to find out where we could eat dinner that was not too close from the hotel we were staying at. I was looking out the window and exclaimed, "OMG, stop the car"!

Hubs was not used to that then and he turned the car around and went back to find a spot to park near this little cemetery right on the water in the cove. We parked in the parking lot of a business, I grabbed the camera and walked over to the front of the cemetery where there were steps. I took a photo of the sign and the plaque on the stone wall and walked right up to this rock. I knew this was my ancestor since I had already worked diligently on this line so that I could make the most of my trip. It was 4:55 PM and I took only a few photos as the light was low, and I didn't want to use the flash.

In August of that year, I went to my first Denison Family reunion and asked about the cemetery. They directed me to Fred Burdick and he told me he was making CDs of all the oldest burying grounds that he had located and that I could have a copy. Since that time, he has photographed a lot of cemeteries and has shared them with me. I went on an adventure one day with him, all over Stonington and had a great time. I guess I will never run out of gravestones to blog about.

This photo was shared via Picasa. I have renewed my Flickr membership but they are not allowing easy sharing of photos so I am looking for other ways to do so.

John Borodell Denison (1646-1698) and his wife Phebe Lay (1650/1- 1699) were my 7th great grandparents. This is an original gravestone. Whether it was always embedded in this rock, I do not know.  Here's a clip of the Hale Cemetery listing from page 176 for this cemetery (Denison Burying Ground #19)