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
Showing posts with label Gravestone Research. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gravestone Research. Show all posts
Monday, July 27, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Brad Jencks, Digital Storyteller
Today, I learned about teenager, Brad Jencks, who for his Eagle Scout Project, who put family history, good research skills and multimedia to good use. His digital story, hosted by RootsWeb Television, is inspirational. [Thanks Lee Drew of FamHist]
Watch his digital story!
Watch his digital story!
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
Gravestone Wanderings
As one reader pointed out, you can't wander through any graveyard without questioning, wondering and musing. This is why many people walk through the cemetery to enjoy the peace and solitude that the dead offer to us. If you aren't careful, you might actually be able to hear yourself think and hear your own heartbeat. It's not for everyone.
I spent a good amount of time yesterday, working with the books I own on gravestone research and even more time performing Web searches on the composition of gravestones.
An educator friend (who is gone but not forgotten) had a wonderful sense of humor and a very unique method of organization. As he was teaching 4th graders, he had to be sharp and quick. He put up a blank bulletin board in his classroom, with a border, and some cut-out letters at the top that read, "Famous Rock Groups".
He left it this way for a week. The students asked him a lot of questions about it. He smiled and said nothing. Then, he began the required science unit.
Can you guess what it was?
[Tombstone Tuesday: Grave of little Sarah Gallup, died in 1805 and is buried at the Gallup Hill Cemetery in CT. Grave composition: Sandstone]
I spent a good amount of time yesterday, working with the books I own on gravestone research and even more time performing Web searches on the composition of gravestones.
An educator friend (who is gone but not forgotten) had a wonderful sense of humor and a very unique method of organization. As he was teaching 4th graders, he had to be sharp and quick. He put up a blank bulletin board in his classroom, with a border, and some cut-out letters at the top that read, "Famous Rock Groups".
He left it this way for a week. The students asked him a lot of questions about it. He smiled and said nothing. Then, he began the required science unit.
Can you guess what it was?
[Tombstone Tuesday: Grave of little Sarah Gallup, died in 1805 and is buried at the Gallup Hill Cemetery in CT. Grave composition: Sandstone]
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Breezy, Bright and Beautiful Gravestones
Terry Thornton, who is a fellow genea-bloggers has asked us to participate in his blogger-carnival, "A Getting to Know You Challenge for Bloggers". It took a long time for me to review my blog posts and come up with posts that fit this topic.
I'm easy to get to know because of my Web presence. I have been on-line since the last 1980s and bought my own name [http://midgefrazel.net] and began to write Web pages and books about educational technology. Being a professional genealogist is my fourth career after medical technologist, educational technologist and writer. I am a "child" genealogist and believe I was born to be the keeper of records for my family. I was about 8 years old when I first saw my family Bible and the photos of my grandfather's grandparents and clearly understood about generations. You may have read about this in the forum section of the current, September 2008, Family Tree Magazine [Sept. 2008, page 3]
My goals are to take photographs of the gravestones of my direct line ancestors whenever possible and to take additional family members when I can. I have authored an article in print for teachers and librarians titled, "Gravestone Reflections" to blend gravestone photography and research to teach students about respect, family, community and memorials. I am speaking on the topic of "Digital Storytelling" in April at NERGC. This topic is the subject of a book in progress to be published by ISTE. That book will be my tenth.
The brightest of my work in this blog is the transcription of a paper on the Barber family of Rhode Island. It was mailed to me by a relative in Utah. It had so many mistakes that I felt needed to be corrected and the research needed to be completed. But, in all, it is a valuable document and gives a picture of life in my native state in this time in history long gone. [Link]
The breeziest of my work is the photo of Eunice Williams grave and her love story for Isaac Denison, Sr. A charming story of teen-age love which can't be proven but does attest, if true, of love that lasts. Isaac and Eunice were the parents of a dozen children. Most are buried nearby and it is a great genealogical treasure hunt to find them all. I am working on proving Isaac's service in the Revolution. There was a transcription error in the book Connecticut Men in the Revolution. [Link]
The most beautiful of my work revolves around the finding of an article about two cousins, who like curious little boys sometimes behave, went out onto the ice one day and drowned. Their bodies were never recovered. There is a lovely memorial stone for them and I was lucky to find an article in a newspaper about their drowning. I have recently found the grave of one of their mothers and it looks like she died not long after that. My grandmother told me that the worst thing that can happen to you is to have your child die before you. At least these young boys will be remembered in a beautiful way. My work at this section of the cemetery is a beautiful labor of love.
[Link]
Writing for the Web is not yet as well respected as writing in print. Blog entries, mean to be journal entries, are not as long lasting as paper. Most people know me by my teaching and my published books. However, the generations to come will turn away from print and to the Web for information and I strive to write and record people's lives and to help other begin to find their family gravestones in this, the 21 century.
I'm easy to get to know because of my Web presence. I have been on-line since the last 1980s and bought my own name [http://midgefrazel.net] and began to write Web pages and books about educational technology. Being a professional genealogist is my fourth career after medical technologist, educational technologist and writer. I am a "child" genealogist and believe I was born to be the keeper of records for my family. I was about 8 years old when I first saw my family Bible and the photos of my grandfather's grandparents and clearly understood about generations. You may have read about this in the forum section of the current, September 2008, Family Tree Magazine [Sept. 2008, page 3]
My goals are to take photographs of the gravestones of my direct line ancestors whenever possible and to take additional family members when I can. I have authored an article in print for teachers and librarians titled, "Gravestone Reflections" to blend gravestone photography and research to teach students about respect, family, community and memorials. I am speaking on the topic of "Digital Storytelling" in April at NERGC. This topic is the subject of a book in progress to be published by ISTE. That book will be my tenth.
The brightest of my work in this blog is the transcription of a paper on the Barber family of Rhode Island. It was mailed to me by a relative in Utah. It had so many mistakes that I felt needed to be corrected and the research needed to be completed. But, in all, it is a valuable document and gives a picture of life in my native state in this time in history long gone. [Link]
The breeziest of my work is the photo of Eunice Williams grave and her love story for Isaac Denison, Sr. A charming story of teen-age love which can't be proven but does attest, if true, of love that lasts. Isaac and Eunice were the parents of a dozen children. Most are buried nearby and it is a great genealogical treasure hunt to find them all. I am working on proving Isaac's service in the Revolution. There was a transcription error in the book Connecticut Men in the Revolution. [Link]
The most beautiful of my work revolves around the finding of an article about two cousins, who like curious little boys sometimes behave, went out onto the ice one day and drowned. Their bodies were never recovered. There is a lovely memorial stone for them and I was lucky to find an article in a newspaper about their drowning. I have recently found the grave of one of their mothers and it looks like she died not long after that. My grandmother told me that the worst thing that can happen to you is to have your child die before you. At least these young boys will be remembered in a beautiful way. My work at this section of the cemetery is a beautiful labor of love.
[Link]
Writing for the Web is not yet as well respected as writing in print. Blog entries, mean to be journal entries, are not as long lasting as paper. Most people know me by my teaching and my published books. However, the generations to come will turn away from print and to the Web for information and I strive to write and record people's lives and to help other begin to find their family gravestones in this, the 21 century.
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