Category: Cemeteries

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Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia

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Advertisements Of all the things to do in Washington DC, one of the places I was excited to visit was Arlington National Cemetery. Although it was incredibly hot, the trip was extremely worthwhile. There is a great deal of parking, and pedestrian traffic is led through the Visitor’s Center at the beginning of the cemetery, which has a little gift shop, an information center, and an exhibit that features large photographs of significant moments in the cemetery’s history, along with explanatory text. The photos themselves are very overwhelming, but they barely come close to capturing the actual experience of stepping … Continue reading Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia

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Green River Cemetery, Greenfield, MA

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Advertisements This article comes via the sharp eyes of Margo, who is keeping watch of all New England cemeteries while I am on vacation in Washington DC!! Erosion is endangering some 50 graves along the Green River, most of which are from the 1800s. The trouble is now to figure out just how exactly to undertake such a large project both safely and sensitively. Of note, a 40-foot obelisk belonging to William Washburn and his family has fallen to the ground. Washburn was Massachusetts’ Republican governor from 1872 to 1874. Let’s hope it all goes safely! Continue reading Green River Cemetery, Greenfield, MA

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St. Mary’s Cemetery, Middleboro, MA

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Advertisements On the way home from the YMCA Jubee and I stopped by St. Mary’s Cemetery in Middleboro. The cemetery is owned by Sacred Heart Catholic Parish in Middleboro. There’s a tidy history of the church and cemetery here. The cemetery is fairly large and is filled with modern stones, there is a great deal of large granite squares with surnames on the front and smaller individual names and dates etched on the back or on smaller flush stones nearby. The middle of the cemetery is dominated by a large statue of Jesus: As a Catholic cemetery, religious symbology is … Continue reading St. Mary’s Cemetery, Middleboro, MA

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“Forgotten” Cemeteries

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Advertisements Recently I was a bit disturbed to hear on the radio that a body had been discovered by someone on their lunch break, close to where I work. The radio proclaimed that a murder investigation was underway – but it became quickly apparent that there was no need. The body was just one of many that were once part of a pauper cemetery in Cranston that had been forgotten, and largely paved over by Route 37. The full article is here. They uncovered several remains, but estimate that hundreds – perhaps more than a thousand – are buried in … Continue reading “Forgotten” Cemeteries

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Ammon-Booth Cemetery, Lakeville, MA

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Advertisements 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 … Continue reading Ammon-Booth Cemetery, Lakeville, MA

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Parish Burial Ground at the Green, Middleboro, MA

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Advertisements 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 … Continue reading Parish Burial Ground at the Green, Middleboro, MA

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Richmond Cemetery, Lakeville, MA

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Advertisements 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 … Continue reading Richmond Cemetery, Lakeville, MA

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Tack Factory Cemetery, Middleborough, MA

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Advertisements 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 … Continue reading Tack Factory Cemetery, Middleborough, MA

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Old Burying Place, Plympton, MA

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Advertisements The Old Cemetery in Plympton stretches along Route 58 in the center of town. The oldest gravestone is from 1707, although it is probably that several older burials are here, because there was settlement in the western part of Plymouth (which became Plympton) at least in the late 1600s. The left side of the cemetery is called Hillcrest Cemetery and it is separated by the main cemetery road. The right side is the much older cemetery, overwhelmingly made of slate stones, most of which are suffering the fate of time. Many stones have sunk into the ground, or split … Continue reading Old Burying Place, Plympton, MA

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Thomastown Cemetery, Middleborough, MA

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Advertisements 3/27/06 The Thomastown Cemetery was formed in 1806. It lies on Purchase Street, near the border of Carver, and is long and rectangular in shape, with a chain-link fence surrounding it. The cemetery is still in use, and has a wide variety of shapes and sizes for the monuments. The visit was in part to seek further for the Middleboro Ramsdells, to no success. However, it did boast several stones with one of my favorite symbols: There are several versions of this symbol, but the most heavy-handed of them always make me smile. The finger pointing above is fairly … Continue reading Thomastown Cemetery, Middleborough, MA

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Burial Hill, Plymouth, MA

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Advertisements Went on a visit today to the Pilgrim Hall Museum, then took a stroll through downtown Plymouth and ended up at Burial Hill, overlooking Plymouth Harbor. Nearby Cole’s Hill has the monument which always comes to mind: “ The Monument marks the First Burying Ground in Plymouth of the passengers of the Mayflower. Here under cover of darkness the fast dwindling company laid their dead, leveling the earth above them lest the Indians should know how many were the graves.” Cole’s Hill also has the large statue of Massasoit, as well as a sarcophagus which holds the bones of … Continue reading Burial Hill, Plymouth, MA

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Warrentown Cemetery, Middleborough, MA

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Advertisements Am on a mission to find the burial location of the Ramsdells of Middleboro, circa late 1700-1800s. I know one set (John and Sarah Ramsdell) are buried in Lakeville (a field trip for another day!) but thus far finding John’s parents Seth and Soviah, as well as John and Sarah’s children has been a difficult task. Middleboro records do not seem to list the burial location of John and Sarah’s son (another John), who married Maria Jones of Virginia. John and Maria had a large family, with several children who died in middle childhood – old enough, I hypothesize, … Continue reading Warrentown Cemetery, Middleborough, MA