Ammon-Booth Cemetery, Lakeville, MA

Don’t let the title of this blog entry fool you – I did not intend to find the Ammon-Booth Cemetery today! I had gathered some of my lovely family members to go hiking through the woods of Lakeville off of Race Course Road, in search of the Ramsdell-Robbins Cemetery. Lambert and Thatcher both refer to the cemetery as being “set back in the bushes”, into the woods and away from the road. Maps online and printed also positioned it slightly past halfway to the west on the road, and certainly made it look like it’s location would be behind someone’s … Continue reading Ammon-Booth Cemetery, Lakeville, MA

Parish Burial Ground at the Green, Middleboro, MA

This afternoon Jubee and I grabbed some DQ and decided to spend our time as most other normal people do: walk through a graveyard nearby. As 105 was on the way, we pulled up along the cemetery and perused. I had not been there in several years (has it really been seven years already!?), when it was one of the “field trips” in a New England Archaeology course I had with the wonderful Edward Gallagher. We had gone into the Congo church across the road (an exact replica, it seemed, to the Hanson Congo, and every other New England Congo … Continue reading Parish Burial Ground at the Green, Middleboro, MA

Richmond Cemetery, Lakeville, MA

The Richmond Cemetery, also known as the North Lakeville Cemetery, is on the corner of Taunton and Cross St. in Lakeville. The oldest stone seems to be from 1821. The cemetery itself is very neat, with some nice plantings and fresh flowers and veteran flags. It seems to be well cared for. The stones are mostly late 19th and early 20th century. A view from Taunton Street… Richmond, Aldrich stones prominent: Here are the some of the Richmonds, after which the cemetery is named… Deacon Benjamin Richmond grave: Prudence Richmond grave: D. Frances and Amanda Dunham. Died Feb 7 and … Continue reading Richmond Cemetery, Lakeville, MA

Tack Factory Cemetery, Middleborough, MA

Went a few days ago to the Middleboro town hall to buy three death certificates, of 3 generations, hoping to find the burial site of the Ramsdells. Oswald Jones and his daughter Maria (Jones) Ramsdell’s certificates yielded no burial locations. Her son, Edgar Ramsdell’s, has the cryptic: Burial Place and Location: C-35. So the clerk gave me access to a big old book that had the Middleborough section of Thatcher’s Old Cemeteries of SE Massachusetts http://www.midlib.org/diglib/digcoll.htm , with a cross-reference to codes for death certificates. Middleborough cemeteries were given numbers, Lakeville one’s letter. “C” corresponded to a “Cemetery on Taunton … Continue reading Tack Factory Cemetery, Middleborough, MA

Pilgrim Hall Museum, Plymouth, MA

I just read in the Boston Globe a review about a fabulous new exhibit at the Pilgrim Hall Museum in Plymouth called “Journey’s End: Death and Mourning in Plymouth Colony”. The exhibit explores various death, funeral, and mourning customs in the Plymouth area throughout it’s history.Some items of interest include: *original 1704 will of Peregrine White, born aboard the Mayflower in 1620*a silk needlework mourning scene of Charlotte Winsor from 1810*the gravestone of Edward Babbit killed during King Philip’s War in 1675*the gold mourning ring of Plymouth Governor Josiah Winslow from 1680, with a lock of his hair*a funeral hymn … Continue reading Pilgrim Hall Museum, Plymouth, MA