John NEWMAN (1775)

Mr. John NEWMAN, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Mr. John NEWMAN died 13 Dec 1775

Compare this gravestone to yesterday's gravestone top. Notice that the "wings" are not there in this one and it has the appearance of clothes even though it is earlier in the same year.

These are not portraits of the person buried there.

Tombstone Tuesday: Your slip is showing.

Mary WILKINSON, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Mary WILKINSON's petite slate gravestone shows the erosion of the land around her grave. I liken this to her slip showing under her dress. A lady of this period would be much more modest than this!

We seldom get to see the part of the gravestone that is beneath the surface. This one is looks like it curves out with "feet" to give it stability. I can now see why gravestones that are set in the ground snap off at the base.

Mary was the wife of Abishai Carpenter. She died 28 Jan 1734/5 at the young age of 26

Newman Cemetery, Rumford, RI (used to be Rehoboth, MA)

William's Fieldstone

William Carpenter's Fieldstone a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

I thought I'd post what I have learned about CARPENTERS since last Saturday when I went to the Newman Cemetery in Rumford, RI.

But, first, here is another shot of William Carpenter's fieldstone. As you can see there are other "rocks" around it. I have no idea why there are pink plastic flowers in this general area. Perhaps they are there to guide others to this spot.

Gene Zubrinsky has been all over the Internet helping others understand the mistakes in Amos Carpenter's genealogy. I discovered he has a great Web site (with a PDF for offsite reading) to help all of us "Carpenters" with understanding our lines. Even if you are not a Carpenter, it is worth a look as it is a great example of shared, researched material.

Carpenter's Encyclopedia of Carpenters
Eugene Cole Zubrinsky, "William¹ Carpenter of Newtown, Shalbourne, Wiltshire (Bevis, 1638)" (2008; rev. 16 Oct. 2010), 3, online at http://members.cox.net/jrcrin001/Wm1_Shalbourne.pdf.

My line (as worked out by Gene):

William 1576-unknown
William abt 1605-1658
William 1631-unknown
Nathaniel 1667-1727
Ezekiel 1696-1770
Nathaniel 1719-1772
Molly 1751- 1796, wife of Japheth BICKNELL
 and so forth down to me.

I have very few lines where there are this many men of the same surname.

Tombstone Tuesday: William CARPENTER

William Carpenter a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

William CARPENTER's final resting spot is marked by this rock. Yes, it is a rock but it is called a fieldstone. New England graveyards are filled with markers like these that just look like rocks. Most are not carved.

I think this is an interesting one because of it's shape and because it is actually carved. It reads WC 1658.

The reverse and the sides show no markings. I photographed the back of it just so I could remember if I did or not.

I am grateful to Charlie Carpenter of North Kingstown, RI to show me where this fieldstone is located and to let me take his picture with the stone. That was you can see how small it really is.

William, the son of William, was born about 1605 in England. He died in Rehoboth (see yesterday's post) 7 Feb 1658. [William CARPENTER William. Sr., Feb. 7, 1658 Rehoboth, Massachusetts, United States Death Vital Records of Rehoboth]

Gene Zubrinsky was kind enough to help me with my Carpenter line and to give me a list of my ancestors based on Amos Carpenter's Genealogy and warned me about the imperfect nature of that genealogy book. It was one of the best emails I have ever received from a professional. He even included a copy of an article he wrote in TAG. His article and email demonstrates the excellence in collaboration between genealogists.

I spent quite a lot of time at NEHGS online finding as many vital records as I can for these ancient Carpenters. They weren't there when Gene wrote to me so I was excited to locate them this weekend. I was also rewarded with finding an online version of the Carpenter genealogy.

There's nothing like a gravestone to inspire me to work on this line again!

Newman Cemetery, Rumford, RI

DSC03551 a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

In September of 2009, I attended a meeting of the RI Genealogical Society held at the Newman Congregational Church in Rumford, RI. As part of the meeting, we went across the street to the Newman Cemetery where expert cemetery photographer, Letty Champion showed us how to use the mirror to photograph gravestones. She uses two mirrors and shade from an umbrella to photograph hard to read gravestones. (History of the Church)

This a photo of a group of gravestones at the end of the cemetery nearest the church building. I was so focused on learning the excellent techniques and taking photos that I wasn't thinking that this is the cemetery where my Carpenter ancestors are buried. How dumb can a blonde genealogist be?

It wasn't until we were about to leave that it dawned on me that William Carpenter's gravestone (which is a carved fieldstone) is located.

I knew this because I emailed Charles Carpenter about this family several years previously. Charlie is a great resource of "all things Carpenter". I am always amazed at the men who know everything about their own surname. I am also jealous that they can be that focused!

Newman Cemetery and the Hunt cemetery are joined together with no demarcation between them. The land was once Rehoboth, Massachusetts. Yes, you read that right. It was another state! New Englanders are "close to the land" and delight for many, many years in debate about land boundaries. Some have not given up.

This photo taken on a lovely September day, is lovely to look at. The stones are leaning in almost an picture ready position. They are crowded together leaning toward each other as if they were people at a family reunion.

Tomorrow, I will show you the photo I took of William Carpenter's fieldstone. By the way this is RI Historical Cemetery #3. Rumford is a section of East Providence, RI RI is full of tiny town names.

Close-up of Mirror and Shade

Close-up of Mirror and Shade
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

Recently, at the Rhode Island Genealogical Society meeting held in Rumford, Rhode Island, Lettie Champion, showed us some new gravestone photography techniques in the Newman Cemetery. [26 Sept 2009]

She uses an umbrella with a stake attached to the bottom to purposefully create shade. Sharp and pointy, this allows the umbrella to be placed in the dirt near the gravestone so that the person who is holding the mirror doesn't have to hold it in place. [I didn't get a good photograph of the umbrella in the ground which to passer-by folks must have looked bizarre!]

The umbrella creates artificial shade so that the sunlight can be directed on the face of the stone. Many times, I have noticed that using the mirror tends to bleach out the stone because the sunlight is too strong. [example of marble stone and too much light with the mirror taken by me in Elm Grove Cemetery in Mystic, CT]

Lettie sometimes uses two mirrors so that the sun reflects off one mirror to the other and allows for the concentration on the sunlight on the stone. This is shown here with the mirror on the left taking the sunlight from the mirror on the right (not in the photo) with the stone itself in the shade.

Lettie made a very clever mirror stand so that at least one mirror did not have to be held. Of course, all of this works well when there is more than one person working on the project.

We had a great time wandering around the cemetery angling the mirrors in different ways. I took several "with" and "without" the mirror. [CARPENTER, MEHITABLE 1777c - 25 JUL 1864 from the RI Historical Cemetery Database at NEHGS and her maiden name may be PHINNEY from Findagrave]

Now, I need an umbrella and a stake! Sounds perfect for October!

Lettie Champion gave her permission to be photographed and be featured in my blog and I gave permission for RIGS to use my photos in the October issue of the RIGS Reporter Newsletter which is available in PDF format.

Here's a link to some excellent photographs taken at Sanborn Cemetery in Bristol, NH using the mirror, courtesy of Lee Drew.

Comfort ALLEN

Comfort ALLEN
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

This is the stone's inscription easily read with the light reflecting on the face of the stone.

In Memory of / Comfort Allen / who died Nov. 8, / 1837, / In the 58th year / of his age.

"The path of the just is as / the shining light / that shineth / more & more unto the perfect / day."

Notice the stone next to him which is not illuminated completely tells us that his wife was named Olive and because it says relict, she outlived him.

The Rehoboth, MA Vital Records 1642-1896 available at Ancestry.com tells me that Comfort and Olive were married on 7 Feb 1808 in Rehoboth and that her maiden surname was Read. Comfort is listed in the 1800 federal census of Rehoboth.

By the way, Comfort is a first name for both a man or a woman!

Single Mirror Technique

Single Mirror
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

Letty Champion of Newport, RI did a gravestone reflection workshop last Saturday in the Newman Cemetery in Rumford, RI. She gave permission for me to photograph her showing her techniques.

The members of the RI Genealogical Society showed great enthusiasm for learning to use the mirror to help read gravestones and a member told me that Letty and another woman are photographing the Common Burial Ground in Newport for an upcoming publication. That should be spectacular reading.

Letty is shown here angling a single "door" mirror so that the sun is reflected on the surface of the stone. This is the technique that I have been using for some time. She is looking away to answer a question about the mirror itself.

It was a sunny day in a cemetery where most of the trees and brush are located along the wall.