Ebenezer PERKINS

E.P. 1823 [footstone piece]
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

This is a partial piece of a footstone which reads E.P. 1823 which rests in a lovely circle (created by a Boy Scout) at the Trinity Churchyard in Bridgewater, MA. When I saw this, I knew that it was orphaned and placed lovingly apart from the headstones.

It must be the footstone for Ebenezer PERKINS (1752-1823) but when I looked at the map of the cemetery, I knew that something was amiss! The headstones of Ebenezer and his wife Mary PRATT were missing. I walked all around the cemetery and didn't find them.

I emailed a Perkins family member who said, "Yes, they were moved to Mt. Prospect Cemetery!" It seems that the grandson of Ebenezer and Mary, had a wife who was unhappy with the Episcopal Church and decided to move the headstones to Mt. Prospect Cemetery.

Anyone looking for these gravestones would be mystified as to where they went, wouldn't they? It doesn't seem to be recorded anywhere. So, today, that family member and I went in search of the headstones of Ebenezer and Mary.

Now, the question remains...did they move the bodies as well as the headstones? We still don't know.

Trinity Church Cemetery [1756]

Trinity Church Cemetery [1756]
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

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.

Trinity Church Graveyard

Trinity Churchyard
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

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.)

Cemetery Restoration

DSC02082
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

This plaque and a lovely stone bench for resting and reflecting [when it is not freezing temperature wise] marks the work of a local Boy Scout here in Bridgewater, MA in the Trinity Church graveyard where I took some photos of gravestones.

As this is "Tombstone Tuesday" is is good to remember those who are trying to clean up and restore some of most ancient graveyards.