Rev. Nathan Stone (1781)

Rev. Nathan Stone (1781), a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Minister's stones are often in excellent condition. This one is in the Old Burial Ground in Southborough, Massachusetts.

Some are so amazing you might think it was a portrait. Some might be but unless someone wrote that down, we won't know!

Attorney at Law

Attorney at Law, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Browsing through my gravestone photo collection today, looking for specific surnames, I found this gem from the old Southborough Cemetery of a 40 year old lawyer who graduated from Harvard. This is a great gravestone!

In Memory of Peter Clark, Esq. attorney at law who was born at Concord in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and fifty two, graduated at Harvard College in the year one thousand seven hundred and seventy seven, departed this life July 14th 1792 in the 40th year of his age.

Ruth RICE

Ruth RICE, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Ruth RICE, wife of Nathaniel FAY 

Old Southborough Burial Ground, October 9, 2011. Strong sunlight in the afternoon made the lettering on this tall slate gravestone clearly readable.

Ruth RICE, daughter of Jonathan RICE and his wife Ruth EAMES born 4 April 1755 in Framingham [VR] She was the wife of Nathaniel FAY, son of Robert FAY and Elizabeth JOSLIN. She married Nathaniel FAY on 18 Aug 1774 in Southborough [VR] and she died in Southborough 12 Feb 1812 [VR] as shown below:

Her death is recorded in the Vital Records of Southborough:
Ruth FAY
Ruth, w. Nathaniel, Feb. 12, 1812, in her 57th y. C.R.
Death/ Southborough, MA 


Source: The RICE family by Andrew Henshaw Ward [1858] p. 85 #1032

Ruth6 (Jonathan5, Hezekiah4, Jonathan3, Henry2, Deac. Edmund1)

Empty Space

Empty Space, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

My husband's ancestor, Thankful NEWTON, wife of Aaron FAY and mother to Nathan FAY is on the list of 300 unmarked graves at the Old Southborough Burying Ground. Where Aaron FAY is buried, I still do not know.

Knowing that there are unmarked graves in this cemetery, explains the wide open spaces. I might not have questioned this if I had not known that this cemetery was considered "full" by the town of Southborough and it was decided that they needed space for a new burial ground. They called this new burying place Southborough Rural Cemetery. It was established in 1842. Except for a small family cemetery nearby to the historical society building and St. Mark's Churchyard (est. 1842) Old Southborough Cemetery is the only burying place where my husband's ancestors could be buried. They might be buried on their own farmland or have not moved to Southborough from Marlborough. This does give us a framework of where to look.

It is also known that the Hurricane of 1938 toppled many trees and thus knocked over gravestones in this cemetery. Many gravestone were not replaced because of the depression and some have been recovered by residents in the town. They were flipped over and used for paving stones.

I have heard from a cousin of my husband  and asked him if he would like to go to Sutton to the Dodge Cemetery and to Newton Center's East Parish Cemetery and look for the Hyde gravestones. He was excited to help out. This is great. It will give me more time to work on the research.

Grave Marker's Mark

Grave Marker's Mark, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

The gravestone of Martha that I posted a few days ago, was not easily read but does have a carver's mark visible on the stone.

It reads J. O'C

Molly of the Southborough Historical Society offers her research on this gravestone carver. I am posting here her exact email to me. This is the reason why it is important to work with the historical society.

"James O'Connor" in Framingham in the 1872 - 1873 city directory who was a "marble worker" (he was 45 in 1870 census in Framingham). I also found him in the 1873 Middlesex County listings for "marble workers (see also stone cutters)" on page 233 - image #247 AND amazingly in the 1889 Directory for Milford, Hopedale, Natick, Framingham, and Holliston, not retired still working as a marble cutter, still in the same house. He would have been approx. 64 !!!!!! James died Dec. 10, 1902 in Framingham at the age of 77 of pneumonia. He was born in March of 1826 in Ireland. I couldn't find him in any censuses or directories before 1872 - 1873 or between 1873 and 1889. He's still listed under "marble + granite" in the 1900 in Framingham Directory. In the 1900 census he's listed as a granite cutter. It also says that he came from Ireland in 1860.
So,,,,,,,,,,,,,, if he's the right J. O'Connor he carved Martha's stone between 1860 and probably about 1880-1885 maybe as late as 1890 which doesn't really narrow it down all that much but ay least it eliminates the 1830s, '40s, and '50s.

Tombstone Tuesday: The Adams Family

Adams Family, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

The Adams Family

I laughed out loud when standing in front of these graves. Molly, made a cute joke about this being October and here we are in front of the Adams Family. (You know she just loves the gravestones!)

Well, ok, it's NOT THAT Adams family but I knew it would make you smile.

Nothing is perfect. Notice the missing gravestone?

Fee for a Coffin

Fee for a Coffin, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Southborough Historical Society's Cemetery Project Board

As evidenced by this handwritten and transcribed bill, a coffin maker received $2.00 for making a coffin in 1801. Notice the bill was paid for by the town.

What Lies Beneath?

What Lies Beneath?, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Southborough Historical Society's Cemetery Project Board 

Post 1

Upon entering the Southborough Historical Society, I told them that I was interested in the cemetery nearby. They ushered me into their cemetery project board.

They have made a wonderful display of the gravestones they can identify. Each dot represents a grave. It lift up and there is more information underneath. I took partial shots of each section as examples. They gave me permission to post anything I wanted.

You can imagine how long it took to create this. I wish I had my Flip-Pal scanner with me. I could have taken each section and pieced them together. I still may do this...

Martha

Martha, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Old Southborough Burying Ground, Southborough, Worcester, MA 

 

This marble gravestone marks the resting place of a female person named Martha. It is probably a young girl or an unmarried woman. I have encountered graves of teenagers before and they were about this size.

Sadly, baby graves are usually smaller.

The Southborough Historical Society thinks they have a list or lists(s) of the persons buried here. I have sent an email to Dave Lambert of NEHGS, a fellow gravestone lover because in his book there is a reference to this cemetery with transcriptions.

I am fairly sure that Martha's gravestone has no dates. With that in mind, she might have been an infant. What do you think?

Martha is my "real" name, so this makes me sad.

Timothy JOHNSON

Timothy JOHNSON, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Old Southborough Burying Ground, Southborough, MA

In Memory of

Mr. Timothy Johnson

Who departed this

Life June ye 5th

AD 1768 in ye

79th year of his

Age.

Death is a debt to nature due

Which I have paid and so must you. 

 from Google Books

2nd cousin, 7 times removed from Stephen H. FRAZEL 

Dazzling Sunlight

Row of Newton, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Old Southborough Burying Ground, Southborough, Worcester, MA

Last Sunday, we went to visit the Southborough Historical Society to gain information about my husband's ancestors who lived in that area.

I finally met Molly who has been a great help by assisting me with his HYDE ancestors. Guess what? She loves a good cemetery. Well, of course. Who wouldn't?

We wandered out into the parking lot and I was struck by the warmth of the day. The leaves are changing here but the temperature is summer warm. As we gazed out into the cemetery, I was delighted to see the sun at just the right angle to take the photo without the need for the mirror or the reflector. All I had was my camera.

The ancestors are calling! After all it was Heritage weekend. What could be more fitting than taking a few photos?

I took over 75 clear, readable shots. It was blissful. This is the row of Newton gravestones that I have blogged about before. They are descendants of Richard NEWTON.

Wait until you see the photos!

Southborough

Side View of Cemetery, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

I love this summer view of the Old Southborough Cemetery. It was a beautiful June day but there was still not enough light in the cemetery that day for clear reading of gravestones without using the mirror or the reflector.

I am going back here today because Southborough has a big Heritage Weekend that I knew nothing about until this past week.

The Historical Society is to the left rear of this photo. I didn't take a picture of it. I thought I did!

Make me wish it was June and not October even though it is a beautiful day today.

Southborough History

Fences of Stone, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

An Evening in Southborough

On Wednesday evening, Hubs and I went out to eat and then to Southborough Library to meet Nick Noble, author of Fences of Stone. I "met" Nick on Facebook some months ago after buying his book. 

After learning that there was history of Southborough written in 1990, I  searched the Web site for my local library system and found a hardcover copy of the book. I reserved it, and after reading about half of it, I knew I needed my own copy to write in and highlight. The Southborough Historical Society had copies for sale and I bought one and had it sent to my mailbox.


I have since learned that I could have gone to the library, walked in and purchased one from them! 


Nick's talk revolved around the history of the library (100 years at the present location), the librarians who have worked there (not as many in 100 years as you might think) and some about his book and his upcoming works.


It took him two years of steady research and writing to produce this book. Of course, before the talk, I asked him and the library director, about the cemetery records for the oldest cemetery that abuts the library. While the director went to get the records, Nick told me that the Hurricane of 1938, knocked over many stones in the cemetery and they were not replaced but he's been finding them used as flagstones all over town. Because it was the Great Depression, there was no money to replace or reset them. That was not what I wanted to hear. This means that I will not be able to find any gravestone earlier than Nathan Fay and his wife Lucy Bemas who are buried there near the fences of stone.

An odd coincidence did occur to me at that moment. Nick was telling me about the cemetery destruction on the anniversary of the day of the hurricane. There are so many of these moments in genealogy...

By Their Side: Patience BENT

Patience BENT, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Patience BENT, daughter of Peter BENT and his wife Mary, was a widow with six children when she married Capt. Seth NEWTON. She had been the wife of John Harvey of Marlborough. Patience was born 13 Feb 1740-41.

She married Seth at Southborough on 6 Feb 1783. (The Newton genealogy said he had a first wife but lists no name. If he did she is probably buried with her parents.) As you can see by this gravestone, she died 23 Jan 1837 at nearly 96. She had to live with one son and then another as she began to outlive them!

By their Side: Lucy BEMIS

Lucy BEMIS, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Lucy BEAMAS/BEMIS was the daughter of Elisha BEAMAS and his wife Lucy ELTON. I haven't been able to find her birth record but I am still working on that.

Lucy's gravestone is right next to her husband Nathan Fay. She was one of my husband's 4th great grandparents. She was a widow and the mother of a dozen children.

Tombstone Tuesday: 4th Great Grandparents

Steve with Nathan and Lucy FAY, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

My husband was so proud that he found the gravestones of Nathan FAY and his wife Lucy BEMIS at the Old Southborough Burial Ground in Southborough, MA.

He is standing at military attention in honor of his Revolutionary War ancestor.It just HAD to be my Tombstone Tuesday post...

He took this great photo of me with one of my Revolutionary War ancestors, so now it was my turn to take his photo.

Nathan FAY

Nathan FAY, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Photograph of this gravestone of Nathan FAY was taken in the 

Old Southborough Burial Ground in Southborough, Worcester, Massachusetts on 21 June 2011.
  
I sprayed water on this gravestone so it could be more easily read and we used the reflecting circle to take this photo.

In Memory of
NATHAN FAY

who died

21 Feb 1831

AEt. 84

We went to the Old Southborough Burial Ground to specifically search for the graves of Nathan Fay and his wife Lucy Bemis. The Fay Family Web page (which is no longer maintained by anyone as the person who created it has died) offered quite a lot of information on this branch of my husband's family. The list of Fay surnames gave me hope that we could find them but as it was not a complete listing, I didn't know who else was buried there. Find-a-Grave has a listing for this cemetery but there are no gravestones listed!

This is a snippet from the Fay genealogy of page 236 This genealogy is available at Ancestry.com.

The last child of Nathan and Lucy was my husband's ancestor. She, Rebecca, married Ebenezer Hyde and they are buried just up the road at the Southborough Rural Cemetery. [Mother and Father] 

Archive.org holds a copy of the Massachusetts Soldier and Sailors and on page 597 of Volume 5 it simply states:

NEHGS holds the vital records for Southborough as well as Archive.org: 

FAY

Nathan, s. Aaron and Thankfull, Feb. 6, 1747-8. Birth: Southborough [She was a NEWTON]

Nathan, Feb. 21, 1831, a. 84  Death: Southborough

William ONTHANK

William ONTHANK, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Photograph of this gravestone of William ONTHANK (Jr.) was taken in the 

Old Southborough Burial Ground in Southborough, Worcester, Massachusetts on 21 June 2011.

Sacred
to the memory of
Mr. William Onthank
who died
Jan. 6, 1820
Et. 62

The first thing I noticed about this gravestone was the name and dates of birth and death on the flag holder. I sat on the ground looking at both his stone and his wife's. He is nearby to Capt. Seth Newton of yesterday's post. {Yes, they knew each other] It took quite some time to connect this man to my husband's line. The name Onthnak is often written as Unthank. Both this William, Jr and his father William, Sr. served in the Revolution. 

My new friend, Molly Leavitt of the Southborough Historical Society send me these words in an email when I told her that I had visited this cemetery:

"I wanted to give you a little info I found connected to Mitte Newton who married William Onthank Jr. that I thought might be useful to you.
According to what I was able to find in Vital Records of Southborough to the end of 1849 :
Mitte (spelled Metey) was born to Joel and Lydia on October 14, 1764 (page 61)
Joel and Lydia had only one other child, another daughter, Zibah, who was born March 21, 1768 (page 64)
Joel and Lydia Beary (spelling of her surname on both page 93 and page 129) were married June 3, 1762
Mitte died January 28, 1812 (page 178)
Mitte Newton and William Onthank Jr. had 13 children:

Joel b. August 14, 1781 (pg. 66)
Lydia b. Oct. 29, 1783 (pg. 66)
Barbara b. June 22, 1785 (pg. 65)
Sabra b. Dec. 18, 1786 (pg. 66)
Emerson b. Aug. 2, 1789 (pg. 65)
Lovel (a son) b. June 15, 1791 (pg. 66)
Mitte b. May 7, 1793 (pg. 66)
Bille (a son) b. Dec. 28, 1794 (pg. 65)
Curtis b. Nov. 6, 1797 (pg. 65)
Nabby b. January 29, 1799 (pg. 66)
Sally b. April 30, 1801 d. March 26, 1822 (pg. 66)
Gulielmus ( a son) b. May 31, 1803 d. June 16, 1804 (pg. 65 + pg. 178)
Gulielmus b. March 28, 1805 (pg. 66)

Oh ! and I looked up "Gulielmus" online and found that it is Latin for William. "


Thanks, Molly for all the research help! Having this information let me have the time to search Footnote.com for his Revolutionary War Service record and to find his service reacord in the Mass Soldiers and Saliors [Vol XI, p. 653]
This is one page of that record. Can you see why I was excited? Wow, Valley Forge.

Capt. Seth NEWTON

Capt. Seth NEWTON, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Photograph of this gravestone of Capt. Seth NEWTON was taken in the 

Old Southborough Burial Ground in Southborough, Worcester, Massachusetts on 21 June 2011.

In Memory of

SETH NEWTON

who died

Feb. 12, 1807

aged 71

Seth4 (Isaac3, Daniel2, Richard1) NEWTON, was a third generation American, with English ancestors, who fought in the American Revolution. He was born 10 Sept 1732 in Southborough and died 12 Feb 1807 in Southborough. He was the son of Isaac NEWTON, Sr. and his wife Sarah BELKNAP. I love his gravestone. Note the square on the upper left. In this cemetery, there are black stickers that read VETERAN. They are probably there so they know where to place the flags. It detracts from the beauty of the gravestones. 

The NEWTON genealogy is available for free at Archive.org in PDF. It's a light read at 900 pages!

Seth was my husband's 2nd cousin, 7 times removed.  He is a recognized patriot by both the DAR and the SAR.


This is what the Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors has to say about Seth. [Vol 2 p. 404]

 

Back Side of Gravestones

Back Side of Gravestones, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

For the next two days, I will be showing you, dear readers, a few of the Revolutionary gravestones I took at the Old Southborough Burial Ground on the common in Southborough, MA. This was my first time here and we had a mission. [It was more than successful!] [Read this interesting article about the cemetery]

I turned around as we began our search and exclaimed, "Oh, no, the footstones are resting behind the gravestones!" I was dismayed because, it is often only able to identify a name on the front of the gravestone by what it says on the footstone. Caretakers do this ONLY because it is easier to cut the grass.

Notice also the ripple effect of the wind and weather on the backs of the graves. I think this is quite creepy.

But, in all, this is a lovely spot to be exploring....