Showing posts with label tombstone. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tombstone. Show all posts
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Last Connecticut Tombstone
The last tombstone we had on our list to locate was for my 6th great-grandparent Benjamin Burt (1680-1759). He was the one involved in the Deerfield, Mass. raid of 1704. The cemetery was the Titicus or Olde Town Graveyard, Ridgefield, Fairfield Co., CT. We located the cemetery easily enough using the GPS. This was a huge cemetery and was actually made up of about 4 different cemeteries. We did find the old section but it was a rainy day and the tombstones in that section were a dull reddish brown colour to start with and they were wet so we did not actually find the stone we were looking for. We will have to return at a later date. The cemetery GPS reading is Lat. N 41.29200 W -73.50200.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Connecticut Tombstones continued
The fourth tombstone we were looking for was in a rather forlorn little cemetery (about 25 stones) with the tombstones set off from an apple orchard with a ring of boulders. This was Niles Family Cemetery at Groton, New London Co., CT. The GPS helped us locate it. As we were leaving a state trooper stopped and asked if everything was OK. I said yes we were just do a cemetery tour! That didn't phase him at all! The tombstone in this cemetery was for my 6th great-grandparent Nathan Niles (1720-1778). The picture on Find A Grave looked readable but the stone we saw had lettering on it which was obscured by lichen making it difficult to read. I had no tools with me. Also the day was a bit damp, misty and dull. The GPS reading was Lat. N 41.37856 Long. W -72.00386.
The fifth tombstone was located in the Wightman Cemetery, Groton, New London, Co., CT which was just around the corner from the Niles Family Cemetery. This was a larger cemetery and the memorial stone was easy to find. It could be that Rev. Valentine Wightman (1681-1747) my 7th great-grandparent was buried here but this is a memorial stone erected in 1890. He was a pioneer of Religious Liberty and Founder in 1705 and 42 years pastor of the First Baptist Church of Groton. The GPS reading was Lat. N 41.38751 Long. W -71.99512.
The sixth place we visited was not a cemetery but a memorial plaque on the Joseph Loomis House in Windsor,CT. The Joseph Loomis House is on the grounds of the Loomis Chaffee School, Windsor, CT. It is not open to the public as it is occupied by school staff. Joseph Loomis (1590-1658) was my 11th great-grandparent. GPS reading Lat. N 41.84531 Long. W -72.63961.
While we were in the Windsor, CT area we also visited the tombstones of two of Joseph's sons, Samuel in the Woodlawn Cemetery GPS Lat. N 41.97686 Long. W -72.63205, Suffield, Hartford Co., CT and John in the Palisado Cemetery, Windsor, Hartford Co., CT. GPS Lat. N 41.85891 Long W -72.63917.
The fifth tombstone was located in the Wightman Cemetery, Groton, New London, Co., CT which was just around the corner from the Niles Family Cemetery. This was a larger cemetery and the memorial stone was easy to find. It could be that Rev. Valentine Wightman (1681-1747) my 7th great-grandparent was buried here but this is a memorial stone erected in 1890. He was a pioneer of Religious Liberty and Founder in 1705 and 42 years pastor of the First Baptist Church of Groton. The GPS reading was Lat. N 41.38751 Long. W -71.99512.
The sixth place we visited was not a cemetery but a memorial plaque on the Joseph Loomis House in Windsor,CT. The Joseph Loomis House is on the grounds of the Loomis Chaffee School, Windsor, CT. It is not open to the public as it is occupied by school staff. Joseph Loomis (1590-1658) was my 11th great-grandparent. GPS reading Lat. N 41.84531 Long. W -72.63961.
While we were in the Windsor, CT area we also visited the tombstones of two of Joseph's sons, Samuel in the Woodlawn Cemetery GPS Lat. N 41.97686 Long. W -72.63205, Suffield, Hartford Co., CT and John in the Palisado Cemetery, Windsor, Hartford Co., CT. GPS Lat. N 41.85891 Long W -72.63917.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Massachusetts and Connecticut Tombstones
I had determined to locate a few tombstones before we actually left home for the conference. However, at the conference I looked up a few more names in my tree and finally ended up with 10 tombstones to locate.
The first one was for Deacon William Holton (1610-1691) and his wife Mary Winche (c1650-1691), my 8th great-parents. The cemetery was Bridge Street Cemetery located in Northampton, Hampshire Co., Massachusetts. This was just a few minutes down the road from Deerfield. We located the cemetery by GPS. This was a large cemetery and fortunately there was a worker in the cemetery that morning and he directed us to the stone. This was actually a memorial "stone" installed by the Holton Family Association in 1938. So we are not sure if they are actually buried at that location. GPS reading Lat. N 42.32553 Long. W -72.62580.
The next tombstone was located in the Old Westfield Cemetery, Middletown, Middlesex Co., CT. Again the GPS coordinates guided us right to the cemetery which is located on a wooded country road among some local houses. This was a small cemetery and we easily located the stone for John Higby (1707-1789) and his wife Sarah Candee (1710-1792) my 6th great-grandparents. GPS Lat. N 41.57791 W -72.72835. We took off across country for the next cemetery and took a drive down a Higby Road.
The third tombstone was located in the Linwood Cemetery, Colchester, New London Co., CT. The GPS took us there. This was a large cemetery as well with no one around to assist. So we spread out and started looking for the Dibble surname. My wife found it. The stone was quite readable and was for my 8th great-grandfather Ebenezer Dibble (1671-1758). It was surrounded by Foote tombstones. GPS Lat. N 41.57104 Long. W -72.34141.
Nearby was a memorial stone which mentioned my 9th great-grandparent Nathaniel Foote (c1592-1644), who settled in Wethersfield, CT about 1630.
The first one was for Deacon William Holton (1610-1691) and his wife Mary Winche (c1650-1691), my 8th great-parents. The cemetery was Bridge Street Cemetery located in Northampton, Hampshire Co., Massachusetts. This was just a few minutes down the road from Deerfield. We located the cemetery by GPS. This was a large cemetery and fortunately there was a worker in the cemetery that morning and he directed us to the stone. This was actually a memorial "stone" installed by the Holton Family Association in 1938. So we are not sure if they are actually buried at that location. GPS reading Lat. N 42.32553 Long. W -72.62580.
The next tombstone was located in the Old Westfield Cemetery, Middletown, Middlesex Co., CT. Again the GPS coordinates guided us right to the cemetery which is located on a wooded country road among some local houses. This was a small cemetery and we easily located the stone for John Higby (1707-1789) and his wife Sarah Candee (1710-1792) my 6th great-grandparents. GPS Lat. N 41.57791 W -72.72835. We took off across country for the next cemetery and took a drive down a Higby Road.
The third tombstone was located in the Linwood Cemetery, Colchester, New London Co., CT. The GPS took us there. This was a large cemetery as well with no one around to assist. So we spread out and started looking for the Dibble surname. My wife found it. The stone was quite readable and was for my 8th great-grandfather Ebenezer Dibble (1671-1758). It was surrounded by Foote tombstones. GPS Lat. N 41.57104 Long. W -72.34141.
Nearby was a memorial stone which mentioned my 9th great-grandparent Nathaniel Foote (c1592-1644), who settled in Wethersfield, CT about 1630.
Monday, April 25, 2011
New York Tombstone
The next day after visiting Deerfield, we took a driving tour of Connecticut all the way down to Long Island Sound, to find a number of cemeteries and the tombstones of my ancestors, which I found through the use of Find A Grave. I hadn't put any thought into this before, but someone pointed out to me by e-mail that the tombstone of one of my ancestors still existed at Rock City Falls. We made this stop before we went to the conference.
Rock City Falls is on Route 29 West of Saratoga Springs, NY. We had no problem finding the cemetery as we had the GPS coordinates. When we arrived at the cemetery we asked ourselves, how are we going to find the tombstone? However, we knew it was old and we knew what it looked like. So while I was taking some photographs, my wife
wandered off and had located the tombstone about 2 minutes later. The ancestors in question were my 5th great-grandparents Deacon Daniel Rathbun b. Feb. 27, 1731 d. Jan. 17, 1823 and his wife Sarah Higby (1736-1835). The GPS reading for the tombstone is Lat. N 43.04943 Long. W -73.91841. Daniel's tombstone was still readable but the one for his wife was laying flat on the ground and the lettering was very worn but sort of readable with much difficulty.
We did a little drive around and found a historic plaque which I photographed and transcribed below.
Rock City Falls
V. Rathbun settled pre-1800.
Area grew around early saw,
grist mills; stores; hotels;
schools; 1810 Methodist Ch.;
mid - 1800 paper mills Kilmer,
West; P.O.; Catholic Ch. 1872.
I decided to take a quick tour of the town and turned left and found the Rock City Falls Post Office. I went in and met a very nice lady whose name was Emigh (pronounced Amy). She knew that the name Emigh was a Palatine name going back to the 1709/1710 Palatine emigration to New York State. She knew about the Rathbun connection to Rock City Falls and gave me a contact, her father or father-in-law who was 94 then. I will write and say thank you. We also found the Town of Milton offices where we obtained the name of the local historian.
Rock City Falls is on Route 29 West of Saratoga Springs, NY. We had no problem finding the cemetery as we had the GPS coordinates. When we arrived at the cemetery we asked ourselves, how are we going to find the tombstone? However, we knew it was old and we knew what it looked like. So while I was taking some photographs, my wife
wandered off and had located the tombstone about 2 minutes later. The ancestors in question were my 5th great-grandparents Deacon Daniel Rathbun b. Feb. 27, 1731 d. Jan. 17, 1823 and his wife Sarah Higby (1736-1835). The GPS reading for the tombstone is Lat. N 43.04943 Long. W -73.91841. Daniel's tombstone was still readable but the one for his wife was laying flat on the ground and the lettering was very worn but sort of readable with much difficulty.
We did a little drive around and found a historic plaque which I photographed and transcribed below.
Rock City Falls
V. Rathbun settled pre-1800.
Area grew around early saw,
grist mills; stores; hotels;
schools; 1810 Methodist Ch.;
mid - 1800 paper mills Kilmer,
West; P.O.; Catholic Ch. 1872.
I decided to take a quick tour of the town and turned left and found the Rock City Falls Post Office. I went in and met a very nice lady whose name was Emigh (pronounced Amy). She knew that the name Emigh was a Palatine name going back to the 1709/1710 Palatine emigration to New York State. She knew about the Rathbun connection to Rock City Falls and gave me a contact, her father or father-in-law who was 94 then. I will write and say thank you. We also found the Town of Milton offices where we obtained the name of the local historian.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)