Wordless Wednesday: Aunt Annie's Parlour

Ann Gates Collage, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Wordless Wednesday Collage

The upper left is a photo of the Denison Homestead that I took. It shows the opposite side of the house shown in the scan of a slide found with my grandparent's slide collection. I think my grandfather and great-grandfather must have gone to Denison reunions in the 1930s after the Society was formed.

The upper right is a photo of a framed photo that hangs in the room where that bookcase is located today. 

Mystery of Cap't George Denison's Gravestone

George Dension, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Mystery of the Gravestone of Cap't George Denison 

Fellow Genea-blogger, Barbara Poole, [Life from the Roots] alerted me to this book about Hartford's Ancient Burying Ground shown here in this collage.This is her excellent photograph of the gravestone in her blog post.


I decided that this was a book I wanted to read and much to my delight, my library system has a copy for loan. I can't wait to read it.


Cap't George Dension was a colorful figure and his influence on his community is quite well recorded. I am descended from both his wives. Born in England about 1620, George came as a young teen to America settling in Roxbury, MA. He died 23 Oct 1694 in Hartford, CT.


When I visited the Denison Homestead , I took this photo of a well worn sandstone gravestone. I was told by my cousin, Fred Burdick, who is the historian for Stonington, CT. that when the cemetery wanted to replace this gravestone, they asked the Denison Society if they wanted it for display in the Homestead.


I love it because it is the perfect example of how TALL one of these gravestones really is. Most of it is below ground. You can see the dark area where it was above ground.


When I took this photo, another cousin told me that she owned a postcard from her mother's collection that showed the gravestone. To my surprise, it is NOT the gravestone postcard that the Society sells. That postcard is of the new stone. However, the "new stone" looks old.


I was wondering how I could ever explain this to people just learning about gravestones?


Robin, another cousin, and I have worked together on a mutual line and she admired the original gravestone of Cap't George's second wife, Ann Borodell. Her gravestone is presently located in the Elm Grove Cemetery in Mystic near a memorial gravestone for Cap't George and Lady Ann. So, we made an agreement that she could have a copy of my photo and I could have her copy of Capt. George's.


I didn't know when the gravestone was reproduced and exchanged until Barbara Poole found a reference to this in this book shown here in the collage.


By the way, Lady Ann's gravestone has been copper casted and was moved to Elm Grove from the Denison cemetery on the Cove probably by my ancestor, Levina Fish Denison, wife of Isaac Denison, Jr.


I keep thinking about how Cap't George and Lady Ann are NOT buried together. She outlived him. He is buried in Hartford because that is where he died while on official Connecticut business.


His first wife is probably buried in the Roxbury, MA burying Ground [Eliot Burying Ground] but there is no stone there that I know of. The cemetery there is locked and only available by appointment.


Who says gravestones are easy to photograph because they don't move?

Only One Irish Ancestor

Copy of the Miniature a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

My only Irish ancestor was Ann Borodell, born to English parents in Cork, Ireland. This photo is a photograph of a COPY of an original portrait of of this person. But, despite mention in several books and in a newspaper article by historian Grace Denison Wheeler (I have a copy), this miniature is not an actual portrait because it is NOT old enough. The Denison Homestead had it authenticated and it was deemed not ancient enough to be her. But, we like to think she looked like this. That's OK with me.

Legends have a way of being repeated and certainly it would have been "the luck of the Irish" to have a portrait (even painted from memory or description) of a lady who died in 1712.

300th Anniversary Wedding Vows

"William Denison" and "Mercy Gallup" exchange vows
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

The is a photo of the reenactment of the wedding of Mercy Gallup and William Denison's wedding in 1710 at last Saturday's (21 Aug 2010) combined Denison and Gallup reunion in Mystic, CT hosted by the Denison Society at Pequotsepos Road.

The magistrate was Archibald Gallup and the groom (William) was Jonathan McCue and the bride (Mercy" was Amy Marie Scott.

The guest speaker was historian Gail White.She told us that it was the custom for the groom to run away after the banns were published and the men who were family and friends of the bride had to go look for him and bring him back for the wedding!

Presenting the bride and groom

"William" looks to the crowd for support

Wedding Banns

Posting the Banns
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

In the 1700s, (and probably before that) it was customary to post the intentions, called banns, of a marriage some days or weeks before the actual wedding.

I see this mentioned sometimes in the wedding date records of my ancestors instead of a recorded date of marriage. Although Mercy and William's banns did not survive as a record nor do we know who married them, this is most likely what they said.

The tent in the background was where the ceremony and luncheon was held. It was probably "fancier" than what this bride and groom had for a reception.

It was a lovely day, breezy and not too hot. The bride and groom changed quickly as the costumes were very hot.

Summer Wedding

Coming home
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

On 21 August 2010, there will be a celebration of the wedding of Mercy Gallup to William Denison. This wedding took place three hundred years ago.


The wedding invitation tells us this wedding will be held at the Denison Homestead (pictured here) at noon. I hope to be in attendance.

Mercy Gallup was a daughter of Benadam GALLUP and his wife Esther PRENTICE. [see the preceding blog posts]

I am directly descended from this young couple! It is not often you get to an ancestor's wedding!

Of course, this was not the house that stood here as Mercy and William were married seven years before this house was built.

Denison-Gallup Family Reunion

From the Denison Society Web site comes this news:

Denison Day 2010- New Date, August 21, 2010

"Denison-Gallup wedding reenactment of Mercy Gallup to William Denison and Denison Society Annual Meeting.

10 AM – Business meeting of Denison Society in DPNC building, Noon– Joint Gallup and Denison Societies catered lunch under a tent in our meadow or side lawn. Afternoon– Reenactment of Mercy Gallup marrying William Denison, Tours of Homestead, Reservations will be required to rent enough chairs, tent size, order food etc.

William and George were brothers and grandsons of Captain George. William married Mercy Gallup on May 10, 1710. George married Lucy Gallup on June 4, 1717. Mercy and Lucy were sisters. George built the Homestead as a gift for his new wife."

Family History

Family History
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

For the annual Denison Day on August 1, I thought I'd break out some of my educator skills and make a display. I have titled this, "Where Does Family History Come From?" as many folks who belong to such "lineage-based societies" often do not know whatt work it is to prove a line of descent from a specific ancestor.

I'll let you know what kind of comments I get if people look at it.

Gravestone Rubbings

Gravestone Rubbing
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

As I am getting ready to go to Mystic [Stonington] Connecticut for the annual Denison Day, I am going back through photos I have taken in the past and putting them online. This gravestone rubbing caught my eye at the cottage behind the Denison house and although I could not take a photo of it without the glare, I think it is worth looking at.

I did not take this rubbing, in fact because I live in Massachusetts, I have never done a gravestone rubbing. It is considered gravestone desecration and it against the law here.

I don't know if it is against the law in other states. This rubbing was done in Connecticut and probably many years ago. It is a reminder to all how well preserved this gravestone is to be able to do that.

At a recent meeting of one of my genealogist groups, a local history professor came to speak and talked about how he was having his undergraduate students do gravestone rubbings as part of their course.

I raised my hand and politely informed him that this was an illegal practice in Massachusetts and that he should be teaching gravestone photography instead. He replied that it wasn't the SAME and that he would continue to teach them to rub gravestones.

He quickly wrapped up his talk and headed for the door. Many people afterward remarked to me that he obviously knew it was illegal and they were surprised at how someone with so much education could be so disdainful and disrespectful of the dead and the law.

It occurs to me now that gravestone photography would be quicker and easier for his students to accomplish (and more educationally appropriate for 21st century learning and sharing online) and perhaps the time it took to make the gravestone rubbing and then to hang them somewhere in the college's halls (adding to his fame and reputation) was the point to the assignment in his mind.

I keep my eyes open for a newspaper article with photographs of his students doing rubbings so I can keep it to educate younger genealogists about the pitfalls of listening to educated people who do not have all the updated information they need to teach any subject.

Strangstad, Lynette. A Gravestone Preservation Primer. Altamira Press. 1995. Appendix D. Massachusetts Law Pertaining to Gravestone Preservation.

Massachusetts Law

Denison Family Reunion

Coming home
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

Every year since about 1930, the Denison Society holds an event called "Coming Home" at the Denison Homestead grounds in Mystic, CT. The Denison Society members are descendants of Capt. George Denison.

This year the weekend begins on July 31 and ends on August 2. I hope that all family reunions have as lovely weather as the day I took this photo.

Thankful DENISON Clift: Female Entrepreneur

Thankful DENISON Clift
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

Category: “Write, Write, Write”
Event: compose drafts and post them later
Gold

Portrait of Thankful DENISON, wife of Capt. Amos CLIFT taken in the Denison Homestead [2 Aug 2008 by Midge Frazel]

Thankful DENISON, daughter of Isaac DENISON, Sr. and his wife Eunice WILLIAMS was born in 1780 married Capt. Amos CLIFT (1769-1818] as his second wife.

I have taken a photo of her gravestone but until I watched the DVD Mystic An American Journey, I didn't know that when her husband died SHE took over his business.

Capt. CLIFT laid out the streets on the west side of the Mystic River and created the house lots. His gravestone (not posted yet) clearly reads Capt. so he may have been a sea captain or a military man and his gravestone also bears a Masonic symbol.

Pretty impressive for a woman of this era. Doesn't she look determined?

2008 Genea-Bloggers Games
Midge Frazel
Midge Frazel

Ralph and Mary DENISON

Ralph Denison
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

In August of 2004, I went in search of the Starr Burying Ground in Groton, CT to look for my 2nd great grand aunt who was the last woman in my family to belong to the DAR. (Yes, I found it, but that is a story for another post!)

The day before, I met a fellow Denison "cousin" at the annual Dension Day and in conversation, I told her where I was going. She gave me some names to look up graves there for her. I found them easily. It's fun finding other people's ancestors too.

But, while I was there, I took three random photos of graves with the surname Denison. Later, she told me her grandparents were buried there and I asked her to email me their names so if I went back to Groton, I could take the photo for her.

This got me to thinking about the random photos I took that day and when I went looking for them, I discovered her grandparents were one I had taken. She and I are both surprised!

That's gravestone radar, isn't it?

Gone Gravestone Hopping!

I'm on my way to the Denison Homestead Reunion Weekend in Mystic, CT. I have been researching more ancestors to "visit" and photograph while I am there. I have been working hard on my Rhode Island line and have met new people who have been helping me pinpoint the location of graves. It's wonderful to have these friends as "research buddies".

Don't try to do your gravestone research alone! It takes a village to get it done.

I am preparing for a new gravestone presentation to show others what a fun hobby this can be.

Going to pack my gravestone bag and mirror, camera and notebooks and of course, my computer.

Levina FISH Denison

Levina FISH Denison
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel.

As Levina FISH Denison was still alive when the camera was invented, there are photographs of her. The Denison Society was kind enough to scan this for me and allow me to post it with her gravestone photo.

Levina was a very strong presence in her family and in the community. She was widely known for her Thanksgiving feasts. Her son Rev. Frederick Denison, a minister, writer and family historian, wrote poems about her.

Frederick DENISON, Jr. (old stone)

Frederick DENISON, Jr. (old stone)
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel.

This is probably the original gravestone of Frederick DENISON, Jr. It was found in a barn and turned in to the Denison Homestead. This is a photo I took of it as it was on display on Denison Day.

I KNEW it looked familar but it wasn't until I reviewed my photos that I found the newer one at Elm Grove Cemetery. It has almost the same wording on it but it used the older date format of May 31ft. [read that as 31st]

Does anyone know where his widow is buried? Did she marry again? Two gravestone double the questions!

Cloak of Isaac DENISON, Sr.

Cloak of Isaac DENISON, Sr.
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel.

This cloak was found in the attic of the Denison Homestead with a note claiming it was the cloak that he wore during the Revolutionary War. (see "If Cloaks Could Talk" in this article)

Since Grace Denison Wheeler's book states that he was too ill to serve, this cloak may have survived because he didn't fight in the harsh outside weather of Connecticut but wore it when he opened his home for those who were fighting.

It is a great treasure. I enjoyed seeing it, touching it (with gloves on, of course) and photographing it. Not every family is so lucky to have such an honored piece of clothing worn by our ancestor.