Olive Tree Genealogy Blog's Lorine has great blog post starter ideas and this week sounded like something I should work on.
Showing posts with label Bridgewater. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bridgewater. Show all posts
Monday, November 26, 2012
Our First House
Olive Tree Genealogy Blog's Lorine has great blog post starter ideas and this week sounded like something I should work on.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Sarah MORTON
This is a re-post from almost two years ago. Like a bad song, I can't get the epitaph on this gravestone out of my head.
From Latham's Epitaphs of Bridgewater:
Sarah Morton, died at 18 years of age. Her death recorded in the Vital Record of Bridgewater.
Grave # 148. In memory of Mrs. Sarah, daughter of Capt. Ebenezer Morton, of Middleboro, who died Sept. 4th, 1751, in ye 18th year of her age.
The rose and the lily, how smiling and gay,
In glory so verdent yet soon flies away;
Like the rose and the lily whose glory is fled,
So it is now with the here silent dead.
This excellent gravestone with the crown on the soul effigy and the crossed bones is an example of the use of the Mrs. for a single young woman of importance in the community. It is remarkably preserved compared to others nearby and is a favorite of mine!
From Latham's Epitaphs of Bridgewater:
Sarah Morton, died at 18 years of age. Her death recorded in the Vital Record of Bridgewater.
Grave # 148. In memory of Mrs. Sarah, daughter of Capt. Ebenezer Morton, of Middleboro, who died Sept. 4th, 1751, in ye 18th year of her age.
The rose and the lily, how smiling and gay,
In glory so verdent yet soon flies away;
Like the rose and the lily whose glory is fled,
So it is now with the here silent dead.
This excellent gravestone with the crown on the soul effigy and the crossed bones is an example of the use of the Mrs. for a single young woman of importance in the community. It is remarkably preserved compared to others nearby and is a favorite of mine!
Friday, February 12, 2010
Maud BRADBURY
February Footstone Project; Blog Post #5
You can see that this is not a footstone but the grave of a small child. But, it is the size of a footstone and without the gravestone next to it identifying her as a daughter, we would not even know what her last name was.
Little Maud BRADBURY, born 1880 and died in 1881, is the subject of this tiny baby granite gravestone. It has the drooping bud of a flower to indicate a life not yet lived. (mortal life unblossomed; renewal in the afterlife [Carmack p. 221])
She is resting next to her parents and grandparents in the cemetery closest to my home. I took this photo and those of her parents and grandparents because of an email this week from a man who used to live in Bridgewater, whose surname is Wheeler. As I have Wheeler's in my family, he wondered if we were related.Before it snowed yesterday, I drove to the cemetery with my camera and looked for these graves. I drive by here every day.
I asked him about the graves in this cemetery which is called Prattown or Orange St. Cemetery.He told me that one of his brick walls was Maud's sister, Ella May Bradbury who was divorced from her first husband.
I was delighted to help him out with his Bradbury problem and I learned a new skill when I went in search of Little Maud's dates of birth and death. The link to Maud's death record for 1881 at NEHGS was incorrect and led me to a listing of people who died at the State Workhouse in the MCI. So, I returned to the search box and cleared the results.
I searched for Bridgewater deaths in Volume 329 Year 1881 hoping that the results would yield all people who died in Bridgewater that year. It did! So, I looked backwards from page 295, which was wrong to get to page 293 to find her date and cause of death. It took looking at someone else's death to find little Maud.
Maud was born in Bridgewater on 10 Oct 1880 (Vital Records of Bridgewater 1841-1910, 314:323) and died of cholera infantum on 7 Sept. 1881. (Vital Records of Bridgewater 1841-1910, 329:293) She was 10 months and 26 days old. Very sad.
Carmack's book (p. 236) states that this disease was common and a non-contagious diarrhea of young children called summer complaint occurring in summer or early fall in hot weather. Death occurred in three to five days.
You can see that this is not a footstone but the grave of a small child. But, it is the size of a footstone and without the gravestone next to it identifying her as a daughter, we would not even know what her last name was.
Little Maud BRADBURY, born 1880 and died in 1881, is the subject of this tiny baby granite gravestone. It has the drooping bud of a flower to indicate a life not yet lived. (mortal life unblossomed; renewal in the afterlife [Carmack p. 221])
She is resting next to her parents and grandparents in the cemetery closest to my home. I took this photo and those of her parents and grandparents because of an email this week from a man who used to live in Bridgewater, whose surname is Wheeler. As I have Wheeler's in my family, he wondered if we were related.Before it snowed yesterday, I drove to the cemetery with my camera and looked for these graves. I drive by here every day.
I asked him about the graves in this cemetery which is called Prattown or Orange St. Cemetery.He told me that one of his brick walls was Maud's sister, Ella May Bradbury who was divorced from her first husband.
I was delighted to help him out with his Bradbury problem and I learned a new skill when I went in search of Little Maud's dates of birth and death. The link to Maud's death record for 1881 at NEHGS was incorrect and led me to a listing of people who died at the State Workhouse in the MCI. So, I returned to the search box and cleared the results.
I searched for Bridgewater deaths in Volume 329 Year 1881 hoping that the results would yield all people who died in Bridgewater that year. It did! So, I looked backwards from page 295, which was wrong to get to page 293 to find her date and cause of death. It took looking at someone else's death to find little Maud.
Maud was born in Bridgewater on 10 Oct 1880 (Vital Records of Bridgewater 1841-1910, 314:323) and died of cholera infantum on 7 Sept. 1881. (Vital Records of Bridgewater 1841-1910, 329:293) She was 10 months and 26 days old. Very sad.
Carmack's book (p. 236) states that this disease was common and a non-contagious diarrhea of young children called summer complaint occurring in summer or early fall in hot weather. Death occurred in three to five days.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Trinity Church Cemetery [1756]
Perkins Adventure Post 5
This is the sign for the Trinity Church Cemetery. Notice that it is dated 1756. Since the deed for the land (see description) is dated 1747 and the first burial was in 1763, I have no idea why this bears this date of 1756.
David Allen Lambert's newest edition of A Guide to Massachusetts Cemeteries (2009) lists this cemetery date as 1748 which is probably most correct as it must be based on the recorded deed.
The Vital Records of Bridgewater call this resting place "GR #10", which stands for grave records #10. It is also known as the Episcopal Cemetery.
Bridgewater cemeteries seem to have many names but at least they are marked with these white signs which must have been a Scout project some time ago.
This is the sign for the Trinity Church Cemetery. Notice that it is dated 1756. Since the deed for the land (see description) is dated 1747 and the first burial was in 1763, I have no idea why this bears this date of 1756.
David Allen Lambert's newest edition of A Guide to Massachusetts Cemeteries (2009) lists this cemetery date as 1748 which is probably most correct as it must be based on the recorded deed.
The Vital Records of Bridgewater call this resting place "GR #10", which stands for grave records #10. It is also known as the Episcopal Cemetery.
Bridgewater cemeteries seem to have many names but at least they are marked with these white signs which must have been a Scout project some time ago.
Trinity Church Graveyard
Perkins Adventure Post 4
This church graveyard, located on Main St. in Bridgewater, MA is typical of the numerous small and medium sized graveyards sprinkled throughout the town of Bridgewater.
Bridgewater today was once South Bridgewater as "Bridgewater" geographically encompassed Brockton (North Bridgewater) and the towns of East, West and South Bridgewater. This makes reading old books on Bridgewater a challenge!
It has a description, numbered map of the gravestones, an index (two pages), and transcriptions [click on the gravenumber in the index] which are in Thatcher's gravestone inscriptions. This book by Charles Thatcher is in the public domain.
We are grateful for these documents which Dale H. Cook and his team have posted online because the New England weather and time are really making the gravestones unreadable.
I took this angled photo to show that the church is no longer next to the graveyard [despite the description given]. The stone wall is only on two side which makes the gate seem out of place. The church is now located down the street and the house you see in this photo obviously has been here some time.
I determined that this cemetery is where some of the Perkins family members were buried after the oldest cemetery in town. Some of the family became Episcopalians. (Their religion is important to part of the story and that is why it is reported here.)
This church graveyard, located on Main St. in Bridgewater, MA is typical of the numerous small and medium sized graveyards sprinkled throughout the town of Bridgewater.
Bridgewater today was once South Bridgewater as "Bridgewater" geographically encompassed Brockton (North Bridgewater) and the towns of East, West and South Bridgewater. This makes reading old books on Bridgewater a challenge!
It has a description, numbered map of the gravestones, an index (two pages), and transcriptions [click on the gravenumber in the index] which are in Thatcher's gravestone inscriptions. This book by Charles Thatcher is in the public domain.
We are grateful for these documents which Dale H. Cook and his team have posted online because the New England weather and time are really making the gravestones unreadable.
I took this angled photo to show that the church is no longer next to the graveyard [despite the description given]. The stone wall is only on two side which makes the gate seem out of place. The church is now located down the street and the house you see in this photo obviously has been here some time.
I determined that this cemetery is where some of the Perkins family members were buried after the oldest cemetery in town. Some of the family became Episcopalians. (Their religion is important to part of the story and that is why it is reported here.)
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Site of David Perkins Sawmill
Perkins Adventure Post 3
For a solid week, I have been investigating the descendants of my Bridgewater, MA ancestor David Perkins. My husband and I went out to look for the approximate place where David built his sawmill in 1688. Yes, you read that correctly, 1688. David and his wife and several children moved from Beverly, MA where they were married and lived for some years before coming to Bridgewater.
David's sawmill must have been on this side of the railroad tracks (of course there were no tracks then) and up closer to the Taunton River.
I took several photos of Perkins "land" that is still owned by members of the large family.
Henry Perkins Co. 1848, Company Sign, Business Entrance on Broad St.
A family member is helping me identify gravesites and the homes that this family has lived in. This is called a "One-Name" study and I am learning a lot about how to research and document just one family. I call it Perkins Madness.
For a solid week, I have been investigating the descendants of my Bridgewater, MA ancestor David Perkins. My husband and I went out to look for the approximate place where David built his sawmill in 1688. Yes, you read that correctly, 1688. David and his wife and several children moved from Beverly, MA where they were married and lived for some years before coming to Bridgewater.
David's sawmill must have been on this side of the railroad tracks (of course there were no tracks then) and up closer to the Taunton River.
I took several photos of Perkins "land" that is still owned by members of the large family.
Henry Perkins Co. 1848, Company Sign, Business Entrance on Broad St.
A family member is helping me identify gravesites and the homes that this family has lived in. This is called a "One-Name" study and I am learning a lot about how to research and document just one family. I call it Perkins Madness.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Christmas in the Cemetery II
As you saw in the earlier posting, this is a photo of a gravestone in one of my local Bridgewater Cemeteries which has been decorated for the Christmas holiday with a weatherproof plastic potted decoration.
In the cemeteries where many of my own ancestors are buried, decorations and flowers (or items of mourning) are only allowed at burial. Many cemeteries are struggling with the costs of maintaining the grass, shrubs, trees and the walkways.
Families who paid for burials used to pay a fee for perpetual care. This was supposed to cover the expenses forever. I am sure no one anticipated the extreme costs of today. Most graves are not visited by later generations. Just try asking people if they visit graves even at Memorial (or Decoration Day as it used to be called).
I hope this family named Pease rests in peace.
In the cemeteries where many of my own ancestors are buried, decorations and flowers (or items of mourning) are only allowed at burial. Many cemeteries are struggling with the costs of maintaining the grass, shrubs, trees and the walkways.
Families who paid for burials used to pay a fee for perpetual care. This was supposed to cover the expenses forever. I am sure no one anticipated the extreme costs of today. Most graves are not visited by later generations. Just try asking people if they visit graves even at Memorial (or Decoration Day as it used to be called).
I hope this family named Pease rests in peace.
Christmas in the Cemetery I
As this small country cemetery is at the end of my street, I drive by it daily and have visited it many times. It is a bit unusual in that the newer stones face one way and the older stones face another.
It is written in many books on cemeteries that New England cemeteries face all in the direction of the inscriptions facing West so that on the day of Judgment (as many Christians believe), when the angel Gabriel blows his horn for the second coming of Christ, those buried will rise up to face the East. [Source: Carmack page 158]
Personally, I think it was a matter of space in later years that caused burials in different positions but this cemetery is an unusual case in my town.
Orange St. Cemetery has two gate openings, this one shown here from Walnut St. and one on Orange St. As you can see, this one is missing a gate.
One Christmas season, my husband and I were driving by this cemetery and got a big surprise! An elderly lady had driven her car through the opening here and right up to the graves. Talk about getting close to your loved ones at Christmastime!
She was busily attaching a Christmas wreath to one of the larger stones to the left out of range of this photo. Naturally, I was wondering if she could navigate her car back out through the granite posts. When we returned home, driving by again, she was gone so evidently she was quite used to doing this yearly! I have been looking for a car that is scraped on both sides...
I have been waiting for her to come this year so that I could take a picture of the grave with the wreath on it. She did not come back, at least not yet.
The wreath used to get brown and ugly as the winter wore on. She didn't come back to take it down. I often wish I had stopped to find out if she lived far away and could I help her take it down after Christmas. It made the winter cemetery scene look sad and lonely.
As I live in a town with a prison, the town has made an arrangement with the state to have our cemeteries cleaned several times a year by prison work crews. They can be seen in orange jumpsuits busily raking and taking away debris.
Sometime ago, a Boy Scout made the wooden signs of all of the small cemeteries here with the date and the name the cemetery is called in this era. If you look closely, you will see it says "Pratt Town Cemetery 1828" which is the date for this newer section.
This cemetery has been recorded and transcribed and that information can be found here.
It is written in many books on cemeteries that New England cemeteries face all in the direction of the inscriptions facing West so that on the day of Judgment (as many Christians believe), when the angel Gabriel blows his horn for the second coming of Christ, those buried will rise up to face the East. [Source: Carmack page 158]
Personally, I think it was a matter of space in later years that caused burials in different positions but this cemetery is an unusual case in my town.
Orange St. Cemetery has two gate openings, this one shown here from Walnut St. and one on Orange St. As you can see, this one is missing a gate.
One Christmas season, my husband and I were driving by this cemetery and got a big surprise! An elderly lady had driven her car through the opening here and right up to the graves. Talk about getting close to your loved ones at Christmastime!
She was busily attaching a Christmas wreath to one of the larger stones to the left out of range of this photo. Naturally, I was wondering if she could navigate her car back out through the granite posts. When we returned home, driving by again, she was gone so evidently she was quite used to doing this yearly! I have been looking for a car that is scraped on both sides...
I have been waiting for her to come this year so that I could take a picture of the grave with the wreath on it. She did not come back, at least not yet.
The wreath used to get brown and ugly as the winter wore on. She didn't come back to take it down. I often wish I had stopped to find out if she lived far away and could I help her take it down after Christmas. It made the winter cemetery scene look sad and lonely.
As I live in a town with a prison, the town has made an arrangement with the state to have our cemeteries cleaned several times a year by prison work crews. They can be seen in orange jumpsuits busily raking and taking away debris.
Sometime ago, a Boy Scout made the wooden signs of all of the small cemeteries here with the date and the name the cemetery is called in this era. If you look closely, you will see it says "Pratt Town Cemetery 1828" which is the date for this newer section.
This cemetery has been recorded and transcribed and that information can be found here.
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