Meeting Karen

IMG_1601, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

 Karen Stanton Cook and I are cousins through our immigrant ancestor Thomas Stanton. She came from NY to the reunion held last weekend. She is my Facebook friend and will attest, to all who ask, that I actually exist!

Her husband took photos of all the attendees, including one of hubs and myself. 

She says I look taller on my Facebook page! At least I look taller somewhere. Behind me is my own display board, which I donated to the church a a conversation piece.


As most of the reunions that I attend are held in Connecticut, I choose only one or two to go to each year. The Stanton Society is smart. They don't have one every year. The last one was in 2008. It gives the committee a lot of time to prepare.


It was amazing how much they crammed into three days for activities. I was told 140 people attended. 


It was a great location and I hope that they have it here next time (after I am retired). It was a beautiful day. 


Thanks, Karen for letting me use your photo in my blog. By the way, she lives in NY. The car license plates in the parking lot were from many states. There are a lot of Stanton descendants.

Tombstone Tuesday: Rev. James Noyes

Photo by Frederck E. Burdick, town historian (please respect his copyright)
CD of this graveyard is available for purchase from him.

Used with Permission

This gravestone, one of the most amazing in the Wequetequock Burying Ground in Mystic, CT (1650), the oldest graveyard in Stonington, is a fine example of a tablet stone and are very hard to photograph because you must be up above it to get it all in the frame. I visited this graveyard with Fred a few years ago and decided not to take any photos but just walk around and look at the stones he pointed out. So many of my ancestors are buried there.

I didn't know, at that time, that my Stanton line is from this man's wife, Dorothy Stanton. That's the line I used to join the Thomas Stanton Society and the late Bernie Stanton told me that not too many people have chosen to join with this line.

I like the words, "In expection...", because he was a minister for more than 55 years. He should expect a good spot in Heaven, don't you think?

Inside the Church

Attempted Panaroma, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Classic New England Colonial Church

From the gallery next to the organ, this is the view. I am not good with height so this is quite blurry.

Everything is so narrow. The stairs up to the gallery are not even wide enough for my tiny feet!

 

The people enter via the doors next to the front of the church. Imagine being the bride! You'd been seen immediately and not have so far to walk. But if you were late for the service, everyone would know. I love being a New Englander!

Old Stone

Field stone in front of lower door, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Stepping Stone 

 

Being a New Englander, I understand that we never throw out something that might be old but is still useful.

This said, when I am old, I hope my grandsons don't throw me out!

I'd like to imagine that this stone (near the road side of the church) might have been here or nearby when the first meeting house was built.  I don't know that for a fact but it is a nice way to think about it.

Did my ancestors walk on this stone? Did small children sit on it to rest while walking to and from school?

Well, after all, this is a blog about stone!

Pequot Trail

The Road Church from Pequot Trail, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

"Back" of the Church

It never ceases to amaze me how confusing it must be to come to New England and try to figure out how the ancestors lived if you have not lived here your whole life!

I stood at the edge of the church property at 903 Pequot Trail and took this photo of the First Congregational Church of Stonington (the Road Church).

The front of the church does NOT face the main street.

Those driving by must be confused! This building was erected in 1826. The first building, long gone, was a Meeting House and church in 1674 by the British. Yes, the founders were considered British at that time because it was quite a long time until the Revolution.

I love the stone foundation and the ways that stone is used around the church.

The Road Church

The Road Church , a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

The Road Church, Stonington, New London, CT 

 

Yesterday, hubs and I went to Stonington, New London, Connecticut for the 2012 Thomas Stanton Reunion. It is a multi-day event with many activities. (Note: I did not visit any cemeteries!)

It's a long way to go for just a few hours but I wanted to see this church where it was held in the nearby parish house.

I took a lot of photos since it was a picture perfect day.

I used my iPhone app called Photosynth to practice taking panoramic shots. The software stitches the shots together but it is hard to keep your hand still to take the images.

This is the only photo that captured the whole of the church at once. I used an app called Snapseed to make it look this good.

This week, I will blog about this experience since it is of interest to several of my readers who live far away and may never see this great church or attend a Thomas Stanton Reunion.

Thomas Stanton Reunion 2012

Gravestone of Dorothy STANTON

wife of the Rev. Mr. James NOYES

photo by Fred Burdick and used with permission

This weekend is the family reunion of the Thomas Stanton Society. Because of family circumstances, I decided not to attend except for a single day (Saturday). It is a long way to go for just a few hours.

The last reunion was in 2008. Seems so long ago!


I don't like passing up this well attended reunion because it is a very active one which only meets every third year. However, one of the most interesting things is that I am one of the few people claiming descent from Dorothy. Isn't that cool? Actually, when I examine my genealogy work as a whole, I tend to look at it with a matriarchal perspective. The women in my family were the recorders of events, lived longer than their spouses and were strong willed.

I won't be able to report much about this reunion since I will arrive in the cool of the morning, chat with people and eat lunch before we head back.  I've made a display board to leave behind.


They are holding this reunion in the church in Stonington, CT called The Road Church. I have never been there. Many people in my charts worshiped there. I'd like my own photos of the outside and inside. That I will report about.


By the way, this is a three day event! Dave Stanton, President, is very "hi-tech" and has an active area online for members to join, discuss their line and get to know one another. They are also on Facebook.


I will get to meet a Facebook friend too. That doesn't happen to me often.

Capt. John Stanton and family

Elm Grove Stanton Graves plus text, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Tombstone Tuesday: Why Photography is Important

Elm Grove Cemetery in Mystic, New London, CT. 
Photograph by Fred Burdick

Overlaid text on a digital image can significantly improve the understanding of a family plot. These gravestones, moved from another cemetery some time ago, are important to the family of descendants of Thomas Stanton. Most descendants of the Thomas Stanton Society can lay claim to this line.

Some of the sandstone graves are completely unreadable and without a transcription or a photograph of how the grave once looked, it can only be a guess at what was once carved on them.

This is the classic example of why gravestone photography is important. By taking digital images of gravestone, the information will never be lost. That's our job to preserve history.

Capt Elias Williams and wife Thankful Stanton

Capt Elias Williams and wife Thankful
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

Noyes LADD's wife was Harriet Z. WILLIAMS. She was the mother of the young boys who drowned in the Empire Steamship Disaster. She is buried in IL and I hope that someday my new friends who have been corresponding with me about this disaster will be able to find her grave and her son Noyes LADD, Jr. (and her unmarried sister too). Then, I can bring these gravestones together in my blog.

I have had a lot of interest in my blog posts about this family and it is great to be able to share data and photos with those who found my blog by doing a search for their ancestors.

I am going to focus on Harriet's family that she left behind for a few blog posts. This gravestone posted here is compliments of my cousin Fred Burdick who took several photos of people who are related to the family of Thomas Stanton for the Stanton Society.

Wheeler's History of Stonington, states that this gravestone marks the resting place of Harriet Z. Williams Ladd's parents. Capt' Elias WILLIAMS (#279 p. 672, 675) and his wife Thankful Stanton. Notice that her name, based on naming women with the names of virtues, is spelled with two LL's on this gravestone. [It is not spelled that way in the genealogies.]

Elias was born 3 Sept 1773 and died 31 Jan 1809. I think he must have been a sea captain because he died in North Carolina. He was only 34 years old at the time of his death leaving his wife a widow with young children (Harriet was 11 years old). This makes it all the more ironic that someday Harriet would marry a man who died young, leaving her with children to raise.

Thankfull was an only child and lived to be 87 years old, dying 8 Sept 1861. This means that she was alive in 1849 when her grandsons drowned. She may have been a witness to the burial of these boys at Elm Grove Cemetery.

Note: update! Please read the comments left by one of my readers. Capt Elias Williams, was a master of the schooner "Fair Trader" and sailed regularly into the Caribbean and along the Carolinas. My reader spent a lot of time researching this master mariner for me. There are sources for you to follow to learn more about this interesting couple.

Reunion Tent and Meadow

Reunion Tent and Meadow
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel

This past weekend I attended my first reunion of the Thomas Stanton Society in Pawcatuck, CT. I have chosen to show you this photo so you can see the lovely countryside and the big tent we had to hold all of us. Many things were of interest. Many people came a very long way to attend and some are members of the other families in the area and are people I see at the Denison reunion (which is tomorrow).

The land is now (and has been for a long time) the Davis farm. The Stanton family "lost the farm" and the Davis family snatched it up and as it goes in New England, a Stanton woman married into the family bringing this family together once again. The Davis farm is the oldest continuously farmed land in all of Connecticut! That's a lot of hay.

The Farmhouse Cemetery is, of course, situated right on the farm property. I dashed over to it and snapped a few photos which I will be blogging about in the future.