Caroline the Koimetrophile

02/13/2025

White Bronze Wednesday

This is the gravestone for merchant Jeremiah Howarth (1829-1901) and his wife, Mary Jane (Peabody) Howarth.

Springfield Cemetery, Springfield, , MA

02/12/2025

Hepzabeth Swain (1731-1739)

Hepzabeth was born on in Reading, MA on April 8, 1731 to weaver Jeremiah and Sarah (Burnap) Swain. She was the fifth of their six children.

She died on June 19, 1749 at age 18. Interestingly her older brother Samuel also passed at age 18 just 9 years earlier.

Laurel Hill Cemetery, Reading, MA

02/10/2025

Masonic Monday

Linville L. Pike (1822-1867)

Linville was born in Montpelier, VT around 1822 to David and Lydia (Broad) Pike.

On January 15, 1845 he married Susan Saunders in Milford, MA where Linville was working as a boot maker. I cannot find any record of them having children.

In the 1860 Census he was working as a baker in Milford. Various other censuses and his death record list Linville’s occupation as a peddler. It sounds like he was resourceful!

He did register for the draft for the Union Army during the Civil War, but I do not believe he served.

Linville was a member of the Montgomery Lodge, which he joined in 1857 just a few years after it had moved to Milford from Medway.

Linville died in Milford of heart disease on October 8, 1867.

Vernon Grove Cemetery, Milford, MA

02/09/2025

Thomas Fox (1681-1699)

Thomas was born in Woburn, MA on November 13, 1671 to Jabez and Judith (Reyner) Fox. His father was a graduate of Harvard, and was a Reverend of the First Church of Woburn.

Thomas died in Dedham, MA on July 29, 1699 in his 18th year. His father died of smallpox in 1702/3, and his mother remarried. Thomas is the only (known) member of his family buried in Dedham. The rest are in either Woburn or Cambridge.

This gravestone is a favorite of mine due to the very delicate carvings on the sides. Look also at how the ‘T’ and ‘H’ in THOMAS are connected.

Old Village Cemetery, Dedham, MA

02/08/2025

Cemetery Saturday

This is Saint Paul’s Episcopal Churchyard in Newburyport, MA. Saint Paul’s is the oldest Episcopal Parish in Massachusetts, and was established in 1711. It has been in its current location since 1738.

For such a small area it has a large selection of gravestones from local and Boston area carvers.

02/08/2025

Footstone Friday

Mr. James Hayward (1750-1775)

James was born in Acton, MA on April 4, 1750 to Samuel and Mary (Stevens) Hayward. He worked as a teacher in his hometown, and served in the Acton Militia.

James was killed during the fighting between the British Regulars and the Colonial Militias on April 19, 1775. A commemorative marker at the Fiske Well in Concord, MA states:
“At this Well
April 19,1775
James Hayward of Acton
Met a British Solider Who Raised His Gun
Said, ‘You Are a Dead Man’
‘And So Are You,’ Replied Hayward
Both Fired The Solider Was Instantly
Killed and Hayward Mortally Wounded.”

Woodlawn Cemetery, Acton, MA

02/07/2025

Capt. Simeon Grover (1775-1840)

Simeon was born in Mansfield, MA on August 27, 1775 to Ephraim Jr. and Mercy (Tiffany) Grover. He was the fifth of their eight children.

On October 11, 1798 he married Sally Paine of Foxborough, MA in nearby Sharon, MA. Their intentions were published on September 5, 1798 in Mansfield, and they were granted a certificate on September 28. Simeon was a farmer and coffin maker. He and Sally had six children.

I wasn’t able to find any military service for Captain Grover, though his rank is listed in his gravestone and he has a veteran marker. He was likely a Captain in the local militia.

Simeon passed on June 14,1840. After his death his widow asked the court to allow her to keep the inventory of his estate after paying off his debts and fees. Her plea was granted. Sally passed in 1863.

In researching Simeon I found his probate, which included not only the carver of his gravestone (Samuel Tingly—a prolific carver in the area), but the man who made his coffin (Leonard Corey) and the man who dug his grave (Daniel Fisher). Probate records are magical!

Old Town Cemetery, Mansfield, MA

02/06/2025

White Bronze Wednesday

Corbin Cemetery, Dudley, MA

02/05/2025

Reverend Bernard Whitman (1796-1834)

Grove Hill Cemetery, Waltham, MA

02/04/2025

Masonic Monday

Colonel Seth Banister (1739-1819)

Colonel Banister was born in Brookfield, MA on December 7, 1739 to Seth and Francis (Hinds) Banister. He was the third of their nine children.

On January 8, 1773 he married Marcy Warriner of nearby Brimfield. They had three children: William in 1773, Liberty in 1775, and Seth in 1778. All three lived to marry and have children of their own.

Colonel Banister served as a Captain for the town of Brookfield during the Revolutionary War in the 4th Massachusetts. He also marched on the Alarm of April 19, 1775 and served as adjutant staff under Colonel Ebenezer Learned.

He joined the Fayetteville Masonic Lodge of Charlton, MA in 1799–this Lodge often met at the home of Salem Towne, whose house is open to visitors at . In 1809 he became a Senior Warden of the Meridian Sun Lodge in Brookfield, where his son Liberty had served as treasurer.

Colonel Banister passed away in Brookfield on November 7, 1819.

Brookfield Cemetery, Brookfield, MA

02/03/2025

Mrs. Perses Forbes (c. 1747-1766)

Perses was the wife of Daniel Forbes. If his name was changed from Forbush to Forbes, they were married in Westborough, MA in 1759 and had three children. Perses and Daniel had one child listed in the Brookfield, MA vital records, a son named Samuel, on June 4, 1766. Exactly one month later Perces passed away. Daniel married twice more, and passed in 1808. Daniel and all three of his wives are buried in North Brookfield Cemetery in North Brookfield, MA

02/02/2025

I’m over at BlueSky! I don’t really post there much yet.

This is a heavily interactive web application, and JavaScript is required. Simple HTML interfaces are possible, but that is not what this is.

02/01/2025

Cemetery Saturday

This is Old Burial Hill in Marblehead, MA. It was established in 1638 and the first burials likely took place during that time. The oldest still visible stone is from 1681. The most recent burial was in 2009.

Old Burial Hill is only a very short drive from Salem (Marblehead was part of Salem until 1649), and is one of the most famous of our New England burial grounds. Filming for both “Hocus Pocus” and “The Good Son” took place here.

02/01/2025

Mr. Sterling Bird (c. 1778-1807)

Federal Street Cemetery, Greenfield, MA

01/31/2025

So many gravestones don’t appear very impressive from a distance. Many are dirty or covered in lichen and moss and difficult to read. But if one takes the time to take a closer look, wonderful details emerge.

Mr. Frederick Gilbert (1766-1802)

Frederick was a Freemason, and a member of the Mechanics Association. I found a record of a Frederick Gilbert marrying Maria Doyle in Boston in 1789, which I am thinking might be him. More research is necessary.

Central Burying Ground, Boston, MA

01/30/2025

Three gravestones from three different places. All for children, and all with the same epitaph:

“So fades the love­ly, bloom­ing flow­er,
Frail, smil­ing so­lace of an hour!
So soon our tran­si­ent com­forts fly,
And plea­sure on­ly blooms to die!”

It was written by English writer Anne Steele (1716-1778) in her 1760 publication “Poems on Subjects Chiefly Devotional”.

01/29/2025

The child mortality rate was high before vaccines and antibiotics. This gravestone belongs to Ebenezer Tay, son of Ebenezer and Sally (Winn) Tay. I found their marriage recorded in Woburn, MA on April 28, 1796. Their son Ebenezer died on August 8, 1800 aged only 3 1/2, which would point to his birth in early 1797.

Suns on gravestones can represent either the sun setting on one’s mortal life or rising on one’s immortal life. I like to think that this sun represents young Ebenezer playfully peeking down at his parents from his place in Heaven.

Broad Street Cemetery, Salem, MA