Never Heard From Again

I didn't purposefully leave this gravestone until last but wouldn't you know that this is the one that a reader emails me about! I would not have thought that this would be the man who left descendants who were interested in their family history!

Capt. Charles H. Gates's family has photos AND a family Bible to share information with me. It is hard to contain my interest and excitement. But, it is summer's end and this project will take some time to work on, so this series on Sea Captain's will not be over with just this summer of 2013. Instead of waiting until we long for the ocean again, I will blog about this as he and I uncover new information.

It will be a lovely winter investigation. So, stay tuned. Sadly, this father and son will never be buried here but we will remember them.

I have enjoyed writing about the men who went to sea and the women and children who were left behind. I hope you enjoyed it too.

Tombstone Tuesday: Esther D. MINER

Esther D. MINER, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Esther D. MINER

"Summer of the Sea Captains"
first wife of Capt. Gurdon GATES
"Devoted wife & mother. We loved her"

Esther D. MINER, first wife of Capt. Gurdon Gates was the daughter of Isaac Denison MINER and his wife Esther DENISON, who are buried at Elm Grove Cemetery in nearby Mystic, CT. Her mother was the daughter of Isaac Denison, Sr. and his wife Eunice Williams, who were my fourth great grandparents. 

Esther was born 22 Feb 1821 and was married to Capt. Gurdon Gates when she was eighteen years old by Rev. Erastus Denison. on 13 June 1839 (Barbour Index for Stonington, 5:76). The 1850 census for Gurdon and Esther is the only one in which she is named. In addition to her husband, Gurdon, listed as a "sailor", her unmarried sister Eunice (transcribed as "Bunion Miner") and a 14 year old male child named Gurdon Niles lived in the household. There is a woman who is 21 who might be a housekeeper or nanny for Gurdon and Esther, only child, Henry who is ten years old. His full name is William Henry Gates.

This is significant because Esther dies at the age of 31 years leaving behind her son who was only 12 years old. 

Capt. Gates marries his second wife Martha PHELPS in 1853, so she, as a second "sea captain's wife", becomes William Henry Gates' step-mother. Of course, Martha and Gurdon begin to have more children and the story continues....

Tombstone Tuesday: Capt. Charles G. SISSON

Capt. Charles G. SISSON, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Capt. Charles G. SISSON

"The Voyage is Ended"

Lisa Saunders, a Mystic resident and author, wrote a blog post about this gravestone. Instead of repeating information by researching him and his wife Anne (the gravestone that has fallen over in this photo), I'd like to write about the symbolism  represented on this stone.

The ship motif and the words "The Voyage Has Ended" plus the words Capt. indicate that he had something to do with the sea. However, the presence of the American flag tell us he was a veteran.

The drape sometimes is a symbol of the veil between the earthly and the spiritual worlds. As it is draped above the ship, a casual viewer may think that the person died on board ship. In fact, it was his wife, who is buried next to him, the one who died at sea. Of course, any drape on a gravestone or urn is a sign of mourning.

Lisa Saunders directs us, in her blog post, to a walking tour of Mystic (The other walking tour is about the sea captains which I will mention in a later post.)

Such an interesting gravestone with more of a story to tell!

Tombstone Tuesday: Capt. George W. GATES

Capt. George W. GATES, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Tombstone Tuesday:

 Capt. George Washington Gates and his wife Julia Ann Fish

Buried at the Lower Mystic Cemetery in the section on the far right, is this large granite monument, marked Gates. I stood in front of it and wondered if this man was named George Washington Gates and if the wife was related to the Fish family members on the other side of the cemetery. 

Unlike the "Capt.", reference on Horatio N. Fish's gravestone, this one has no anchor on it to tell us if he was a man of the sea or if it is a military title. The monument is typical of the mid-to-late 1800s, as it has a lovely vine and flower motif. I so like it when you get birth and death dates on gravestones, don't you?

After some research, I discover that Julia was indeed one of the daughters of Horatio N. FISH and his wife Lydia Morgan. 

As I guessed, her husband was named George Washington Gates and he was the son of the woman that I ventured to this cemetery to find her gravestone. She was Mercy DENISON and she was married to Zebediah GATES. 

Capt. Gates's life is outlined in the manuscript collection at the Mystic Seaport's archives. It tells me the name of his brother plus a lot about his life as a sailor. It is a different way for me to connect family members together. 

I have identified 5 children born to this couple.

Update: by Jean Evans, a friend from Mystic. Capt. Gates House

Horatio N. FISH, Jr.

Horatio N. FISH, Jr., a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

"Christ First, Then My Country"

Placed next to his father, this headstone is not one that is military issued even though he died in the service to his country. Horatio Nelson Fish, Jr. was the only boy in his family.  This tells me his family could afford a special headstone. There were three surviving sisters. A close-up of the verse is here.

Fold3 holds his Civil War Record of service which shows that the information on his gravestone is correct. 

Mustered in 5 Sept, 1862, Horatio was a member of the 21st Connecticut Regiment, Company C Infantry Volunteers. He died 8 July 1864 in Hampton Hospital in Fort Monroe, Virginia at the age of 21 years. Listed on the document below is his gunshot fracture and exhaustion as cause of death. 

I located a Web site called Civil War Manuscripts with information about Connecticut men who served. 

From Civil War manuscripts is this information:

"an unmarried farmer, enlisted on 25 July 1862 and was mustered-in on 5 September 1862. He was wounded at Drewry’s Bluff, VA, on 16 May 1864 and again at Petersburg, VA, on 18 July 1864. He died on 8 August 1864 from the wound received at Petersburg." 

This valuable piece of information tells us where he was wounded prior to Petersburg and and that he died of the second wound which was the one at Petersburg. I couldn't reconcile the dates until I found the information specific for Connecticut.

His mother collected his pension as he was single when he died. His pension card is at Fold3.

His cause of death was recorded in a database that I had not used before since my serving Civil War vets did not die in service:

Ancestry.com Clip of  Register of Deaths

Rest in Peace, Horatio N. Fish, Jr.

Ancestry.com. U.S., Registers of Deaths of Volunteers, 1861-1865 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.

Original data:

Registers of Deaths of Volunteers, compiled 1861–1865. ARC: 656639. Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1780's–1917. Record Group 94. The National Archives at Washington, D.C.

From Linda Woody, here's what he looked like!

Lower Mystic Cemetery [1849]

Lower Mystic Cemetery [1849], a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Fishtown Cemetery Fence and Sign

People may not know that the locals refer to this cemetery as Fishtown Cemetery. Most New England cemeteries have multiple names. There is one that is "official" and one that people were used to calling it before there was signage. Isn't this a nice fence and sign. 

The Groton Town Hall was kind enough to provide me with a listing of another cemetery (called Old Packer-Burrows) where many "direct line" ancestors are buried. I notice that a cemetery survey sheet was included and I just found the survey online! 

I would not be surprised if they got a lot of requests and so it is easier to just make a PDF of it and post it. Sure enough, there is this cemetery listed on page 40 and 41. But, it doesn't have the full listing of those buried here from the Hale Collection of Connecticut.

Using this information and the information on the next page, I discovered that it is the AREA known as Fishtown and the CEMETERY  known as Lower Mystic. I looked for information on the Lower Mystic Cemetery association and discover my contact for the Fish family died in November of 2012. I printed his online obituary for my files and I will now sadly delete his contact information from my list. 

John Knight Bucklyn, Medal of Honor

Bucklyn Mausoleum, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Civil War Hero, 1st Lieut. John K. BUCKLYN
(1834-1906)

In the Lower Mystic Cemetery in West Mystic, CT is a family mausoleum with a Medal of Honor recipient. To my knowledge, he is not a member of my family, but my family probably knew of him because he served for Rhode Island in the 1st Rhode Island Light Artillery, Battery E but I would like to remember him on this Memorial Day. 

Close-up of his marker and his Find-a-Grave memorial page with a picture of him and information about his service.

Rest in peace, John.

Grandchamp, Robert., Rhode Island and the Civil War. History Press, Charlestown: 2012. [ in print and digital format pages 88 and 126] in my private book collection.

Lydia MORGAN

Lydia MORGAN, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Sea Captain's Wife: Lydia Morgan

Buried next to her husband. this plain headstone tells us very little about her life as a sea captain's wife. It does tells us her full date of birth and death and that Morgan is her maiden name and she was Capt. Horatio N. Fish's wife. 

Groton, CT Barbour Index, Ancestry.com

I searched The Barbour Index for Groton, CT and found Horatio and Lydia's marriage and Horatio's full date of birth and his parents first names as well as another piece of evidence verifying his middle name of Nelson. It doesn't tell us who Lydia's parents were, but this is only an index. 

I have sent for vital records for other ancestors from the town of Groton, CT but they don't send an image of the record just a plain certified vital record so I am not going to send any other  records at this time.

After some snooping through another Ancestry.com's public tree, I found a lead about Lydia's parents. 

Using the online database for the Groton Avery Clan, I found her marriage to Horatio and her parent's listed. Lydia's mother was an Avery and this book is familiar to me because I have several lines of Avery's and I am a life member of the Avery Association. 

The Groton Avery Clan, p. 350-351

Ancestry.com. The Groton Avery clan [database on-line]. Provo, UT: The Generations Network, Inc., 2005. Original data: Avery, Elroy McKendree,. The Groton Avery clan. Cleveland: unknown, 1912. [Database at Ancestry.com]

Ancestry.com. Connecticut, Town Marriage Records, pre-1870 (Barbour Collection) [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006.Original data: White, Lorraine Cook, ed. The Barbour Collection of Connecticut Town Vital Records.Vol. 1-55. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1994-2002. (also births and deaths)

Tombstone Tuesday; Capt. Horatio N. FISH

Photo by Midge Frazel, 2009

Capt. Horatio Nelson FISH
"Christ is the anchor of my Hope"

1800-1863

What better surname could we have for the first gravestone for the Summer of the Sea Captain (and their families) than this one? 

Anyone who sees this knows that this is a man of the sea as the anchor is prominent and his title of captain is carved on the stone. Douglas Keister's book, Stories in Stone mentions that the anchor symbol represents hope and that this type of anchor is the crux dissimulata (cross in disguise) and sometimes symbolizes religious belief. [p. 111]

Close up of the anchor symbol, photo by Midge Frazel, 2009

So, this anchor-cross, the words about his christian life and the title of Capt. are three separate pieces of evidence in this case.

Capt./ Horatio N. Fish/died/ April 25, 1863./Aged 63 Years./ A loving, kind and exemplary husband/ An indulgent and truly beloved parent./ A worthy and a christian man,/ For many years an officer in the Church of Christ./

We learn from this gravestone his full date of death, that he was 63 years old when he died, that he was a captain of a vessel, that he was married and she outlived him, that he was a parent and that he was a christian and officer in his church. Can you find all these clues on this stone?

The Fish genealogy lists him in the Connecticut Line #1764, p. 285. From this source we learn his middle name of Nelson, his birth date (June 18, 1800) his parents names George and Sarah, including her maiden surname of Hinchley), that he was brought up on the family farm in Groton, the maiden name of his wife (Morgan), and his date of marriage (Aug. 29, 1824). We also learn he was a deacon in the Groton Baptist Church. Listed for children is his only son's name and that he had several daughters but their names are not given. His death date is not given.

His lineage is listed as Horatio 8, (George 7, Jonathan 6, Moses 5, Samuel 4, John 3, Alice 2, John 1)

Fish, Lester Warren, A.B. M.D. The Fish Family in England and America, Genealogical and Biographical Sketches. The Tuttle Publishing Co. Rutland, VT. 1948. (purchased from the Higginson Book Company, softcover $71.00)

Keister, Douglas. Stories in Stone: A Field Guide to Cemetery Symbolism and Iconography. Gibbs Smith Publisher, Salt Lake City. 2004. (available in hardcover and Kindle and nook electronic formats)

Lower Mystic Cemetery (also known as Fishtown Cemetery) is located in West Mystic, New London, CT [Find a Grave]

Tombstone Tuesday

Elias BROWN
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

Tombstone Tuesday, 3 Nov 2009

Elizabeth Denison Brown was a teacher. I knew I felt connected to this gravestone when I saw the name DENISON clearly on this stone! The 1880 census lists her occupation.

Elizabeth DENISON, was born and died in November. She was the daughter of Allen DENISON and Elizabeth PARKE. Lizzie married Elias BROWN on 6 Dec 1865 and had no children.

Denison Genealogy #3062 page 103-104
Elizabeth (Allen6, Robert5, Benadam4, William3, William2, George1) was born 27 Nov 1843 and died 8 Nov 1924.