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: Owen Stewart MINER

Owen Stewart MINER, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Owen Stewart Miner

In 2004, I went to the Starr Burying Ground in Groton, CT after attending a Denison reunion in Mystic, CT. I was looking for my grandfather's Great Aunt Frances, who was the daughter of Dudley Wheeler Stewart and Eliza Fish Denison. She was sister to Charlie, my great grandfather and she was alive in my lifetime. She was the last woman to belong to the DAR and I followed her ine for my own application. (her gravestone)

This is the gravestone of Owen Stewart Miner, son and little first cousin to my grandfather. He is the little toddler in the photo shared with me last week. I don't remember ever meeting him. He lived his whole life in Groton. He is buried in the Miner section of the cemetery right off the second entrance. It was so easy to find.

I wish I'd taken more photos of nearby gravestones but at that time, I didn't know all the names of this family. My grandmother told me about my grandfather's cousins and the big house they lived in.

I wandered this cemetery especially the older sections taking any gravestones that said Denison. I took a photo of the grandparents of a fellow Denison cousin who sat at my table. Months later, she wrote me a letter asking if I went to the Starr Burying Ground. She and I were both stunned that I took photos of her grandparents.

    

Unknown Dead Couple

Miner Section
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

A couple of years ago, I photographed this section and figured out how they connected to my Denison and Miner families but then, I looked at the brownstone stones behind this group? Who are these people? I put them back on my "to photograph" list for the next summer.

Any old gravestones in this cemetery have been moved from a smaller graveyard to here. Doesn't it look to you (see the yellow arrows) that they are alone and not directly next to or near the other graves?

When I returned to this section, I photographed each stone you see here and then walked back to see if I could read the stones in the back. The digital camera did a better job of letting me know who they were that it did standing in front of them!

DAR Kindness

Frances Denison STEWART
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

Tombstone Tuesday: Grave of my great-grand aunt Frances (1866-1963)

Elizabeth Swanay O'Neal, fellow geneablogger and fellow daughter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) and I have shared a special event. I think this is the heart of blogging about your family history.

Elizabeth traveled a long way from her coast to mine to go to the DAR events in Washington, DC and was actively producing tweets about her adventure there. It was fun to follow her day-to-day adventures on Twitter.

She asked if anyone wanted anything in the DAR Library and I asked her to get me a "Record Copy" of my ancestors approved application to the DAR. Isn't that a great act of genealogical kindness? It arrived today! It is still exciting to get snail mail.

Last summer, I blogged about finding the gravestone of my DAR ancestor but I never have found the time to send for a copy of her application. Since we used the same ancestor to join, it is more confirming evidence of this special line. The record copy is written in her own handwriting with her signature and I think that is very special.

[Note to self: scan these pages right away!]

Naturally, I paid Elizabeth for the record copy and tried to give her a little extra money for her own little girl's college fund but she wouldn't take the extra money.

Geneabloggers rock! [Applause!]

George O. MINER Obituary

George O. MINER Obituary
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

Graveyard Rabbits Carnival, July 2009 edition
"Obituaries"

This is the obituary of George Owen MINER. He was the husband of my great grand aunt, Frances Denison STEWART. This obituary is probably from a local paper like The Day [of New London] or The Westerly [RI] Sun. It is not identified or dated. It came to me as a photocopy of many Stewart obituaries cut and pasted into a journal from the North Stonington Historical Society.

The Minor [Miner] family descends from Thomas Minor, a founder of Stonington, who came here from Chew Magna, England.

Although, George O. Miner is not a direct descendant of mine, the information given in this obituary does confirm information for my tree. I was pleased to see that his parents were listed and his wife. The date of their marriage, written in my family Bible, is the same date as listed here. Coincidentally, that is today's date. [117 years ago]. I have found George and Frances listed in the 1870, 1880, 1900 and 1910 census.

I have not located him in the 1920 census as yet. Reading obituaries and gravestone dates reminds you of the information you have not yet located.

George is listed as a farmer and business partner. They were a well-to-do family in Groton in their day.

Frances and George and their only child, Owen Stewart Miner lived first in the Minor house in Groton [House of Thomas Avery Miner] It is a fine house that stands, renovated, today owned by a physician.

George Owen Minor, his wife Frances Denison Stewart and their son are all buried in the Starr Burying Ground in Groton, CT. [I took these photos on 8 August 2004.] This obituary lists his two grandsons without naming them and as he died in1928, he did not live to see his four granddaughters.

I still have work to accomplish for this branch of my family!

DAR Connection

DAR Connection
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

Carnival of Genealogy 68th edition: "Tribute to Women"

On August 8, 2004, I went gravestone hopping to locate the resting place of Frances Denison Stewart, my great-grand aunt, daughter of Dudley Wheeler Stewart and his wife Eliza Fish Denison. Why, would this be important? Well, because she was the last woman in my family to belong to the DAR.

Earlier that year, I submitted my application following her line and was it was approved on July 11, 2004. As she was my grandfather's favorite aunt, he gave my mother her name, Frances, as her middle name.

As a small child, I went to visit this woman, probably in the last years she lived in the house built by her husband's father who was Thomas Avery Miner. It still stands today and has been restored by the present owner. I remember the "big stairs" and the horse chestnut tree outside. I met her in her bedroom as she was bed-ridden. My mother made me wear a "party dress" because I was told that she did not approve of women who wore slacks.

As I was researching our shared ancestry, I queried the DAR Chapter in the Groton-Stonington area and talked on the phone with a woman from her chapter that actually knew her for many years. When I told her about meeting "Aunt Fannie", she laughed and said for sure my memory was correct. She was ever the lady and had very strong opinions about many topics including the issue of women wearing slacks. In a true gesture of DAR, the chapter helped me locate her grave, giving me driving directions and a very good sense of where the plot was inside the gates. She is buried in the Starr Burying Ground in Groton, New London, CT. I'd like to go back there, as there are many interesting gravestones in this beautifully kept cemetery.

Fannie married well. Her husband was George Owen Miner, whose ancestors go back to Thomas Minor, one of the founders of Stonington. [I have two direct lines back to Minor besides this collateral line.] Fannie had only one child, Owen Stewart Miner, who died in 1972. Fannie was widely known as Grama Miner and was very active in her community just as her mother Eliza has been before her. I think she would be pleased that I chose to follow her into DAR membership.

Great-Aunt Fannie lived to be 96 years old, another strong willed woman who lived past 90 in my family. I curtsy in my skirt in memory of her.

Here's her line:
Mrs. Frances Denison Stewart Miner.
DAR ID Number: 47008
Born in North Stonington, Conn.
Wife of George Owen Miner.
Descendant of Col. Benadam Gallup of Connecticut.
Daughter of Dudley Wheeler Stewart and Eliza Fish Denison, his wife.
Granddaughter of Isaac Denison and Levina Fish, his wife.
Gr-granddaughter of Deacon Sands Fish and Bridget Gallup, his wife.
Gr-gr-granddaughter of Benadam Gallup, Jr., and Bridget Palmer, his wife.
Gr-gr-gr-granddaughter of Benadam Gallup and Hannah Avery, his wife.
Benadam Gallup (1716-1800) served on the Committee of Safety, in the Assembly, and in the militia for the coast defense. He was born and died in Groton, Conn.

Journey to an Ancestor

Frances Denison Stewart Miner
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

Category: "Write, Write, Write"
Event D: write biographical ancestor sketch (Part 1)
Diamond

To begin telling the story of one of my ancestors in a biographical sketch, I must tell you how I found out about this ancestor and the steps it took to learn about him.

Family history told me about this lady, my 2nd great- grand aunt, my great grandfather Charlie's sister. Her name was Frances Denison Stewart before she married. Her mother was a Denison and her father was a Stewart.

They called her Fannie and as you can see by her gravestone (1866-1963) she was still living in my lifetime. Many women in my family live a very long time.

I do have a vague memory of visiting her because she never allowed women to be in her house wearing slacks. My mother put a dress on me and we went to see her. I remember the huge horse chestnut tree outside her house and my father and I gathered up the horse chestnuts while my grandmother and mother spent more time with her. That was fun.

She was VERY proud of being a DAR member. She lived in Groton, CT and was the wife of George Owen Miner. I have no photos of her but I did contact her DAR Chapter and they told me all about her even to the part where no woman could wear slacks in her presence. They were kind enough to direct me to her grave in the Starr Burying Ground. My grandmother and my mother were not interested in the DAR but I have found other family members from CT who have belonged to that chapter and must have known her.

I looked up her lineage to prove her DAR membership exisited and found out the Revolutionary War ancestor was named Col. Benadam Gallup. While my papers were being processed in Washington, I set out to find her grave and to find the graves of the people in the Gallup line.

I am thrilled to tell you that I have taken ALL of the gravestones from the immigrant ancestor John Gallup down to my mother. Every single one! (husbands and wives) I wish I could do this for all my lines.

To join the DAR you must first send for birth, marriage and death certificates back for three generations. In the line of my records, then my parents, then my grandparents, it only took about 3 weeks to send for (by mail) and receive back (by mail). The longest time taken and most expensive was the death record of my grandfather from Boston ($28).

Using the magic of the Web, I found that Col. Benadam Gallup was buried (when he died) in Groton. That location is now Ledyard. It took me a while to get the right location by figuring out Town incorporation dates.

It took some more time to get directions to find the graveyard. Many people helped. No one told me it was gated and locked or I might not have gone. Climbing over stone walls is not in my plan. (But, I have had to do that since that day to go back there with a town historian!)

Because it was the weekend before Memorial Day, the men mowing the grass were in the graveyard. The gates were wide open and they took a break so I could find his grave. Isn't that amazing? I think it was meant to be. I'd found him!

Now, that you know about my journey, I can write my ancestor sketch.

2008 Genea-Bloggers Games
Midge Frazel
Midge Frazel

Nathan Gallup FISH (footstone)

Nathan Gallup FISH (footstone)
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel.

N.G.S. (footstone of Nathan G. Fish)

Capt. Nathan Gallup FISH [Photo from Mystic Seaport] (Sands7, Nathan6, Nathan5, Samuel4, John3, Alice2, John1) was born and died in Groton. (see monument for birth and death dates)

The Mystic Seaport: Museum of America and the Sea holds his papers in Collection #252. It says in part that Nathan "was one of Mystic's most successful shipping investors. From 1825 to 1845 he led a seafaring life, eventually commanding the sloop PRUDENCE, schooners CREOLE and HUDSON, and brigs EMELINE and LION. Upon retiring from the sea, he opened a retail business in Mystic, specializing in outfitting and provisioning vessels. He also operated a large coal yard in connection with his store."

Nathan married Emeline F. MINER on 9 January 1833.

Buried: Lot 5, Row 1, Grave 1