Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Tombstone Tuesday: Charles H. Fish and Ethel L. Hitchcock

Elm Grove Cemetery, Mystic, New London, CT 2009. Photo by Midge Frazel

Bumping into my Tree

In August of 2009 while walking down to the water's edge after a long hot few hours in the cemetery, this gravestone caught my eye. I stopped and took this photo and fixed the plant so it rested against the stone. Obviously this is someone who has living family. I looked past this stone in the distance to see how far away the rest of the Fish gravestone are from here. It was a long way. There was nothing carved on the reverse side. I wondered how this gravestone fit into my extended Fish family

Recently, a fellow genealogist and Facebook friend, Pam,  told me that while researching an autograph book, she "bumped into my tree" at Ancestry.com. The names she gave me did not seem to connect until she mentioned the surnames Gilpin and Hitchcock. Then, I went into my tree and looked at this gravestone. The maiden name of the woman named on this gravestone was Hitchcock. Yes, this woman was in the same family as the one she was researching.

Milton R. Hallady's wife was Blanche Hitchcock who was sister to the woman, Ethel, on this gravestone. Thanks for bumping into me, Pam! 

Charles Herman Fish (1879-1962) [Fish genealogy, p. 303] and his wife Ethel Louise Hitchcock (1879-1965) had two daughters, Prudence Dean Fish (1907-2000) and Alden Brown Fish (1911-1985). These children carry the classic Fish family names of Dean, Alden and Brown. Prudence and Alden are my 4th cousins, 1 time removed. 

1 comment:

Pam Beveridge said...

Wonderful - that we connected and that you kept the info on this stone even though it didn't seem to fit!