All Posts

Silas Whitcomb was born in Bolton, MA on September 22, 1787 to Asa and Sarah (Whitcomb) Whitcomb. He was the oldest of their eight children, and was baptised on November 20, 1791. His father was a Lieutenant and later a Colonel in the local militia. Silas died on April 9, 1795 in Bolton, and is buried near other family members in the Old South Burying Ground. What makes this gravestone unique is the composition. Suns in and of themselves are not rare on gravestones. They

Sophia was born on January 30, 1793 in Bolton, MA to Jonathan and Ruth (Barrett) Nurse. She was the ninth of their ten children, all of whom were also born in Bolton. Her father was a Deacon in the town church, and had served during the American Revolution. She passed away in Bolton on July 19, 1795, and is buried beside two of her siblings in the Old South Burying Ground. What makes this gravestone unique is not that it is for a young child--before vaccinations and antibio

Captain Clouston was born on the Orkney Island and baptized there on October 2, 1743. By the 1770s he was living in New England. He served as a Privateer Seaman on the Dalton, which was based in Newburyport, MA. Thomas was captured during battle and imprisoned in England, but escaped and returned to North America. In 1781 he commanded the brigantine Antelope out of New York. After the War he returned to Newburyport. According to the 1790 US Census there were three women and t

Abel was born in Middleton, MA on April 4, 1743 to John and Elizabeth Nichols. He was their second child and only son. His other sibling was a sister named Mary who was born two years earlier in 1741. On December 5/6, 1766 he published his intentions to marry Elisabeth Preston. Both of them were residents of Danvers, MA. I can’t find any record of them having children. During the American Revolution Abel served as a Sergeant in Captain Samuel Flint’s Company of Minutemen and

David Wilder was born in Leominster, MA on May 3, 1778 to David and Lucy (Joslin) Wilder. He was one of Leominster’s most prominent citizens, serving his community as a State Representative, a State Senator, a Justice of the Quorum, a member of the Governor’s Council, and the Treasurer of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Mr. Wilder joined the Aurora Lodge in 1803 while it was still in Leominster. He served as the Lodge Master from 1812-1816. Later he served as the District

Captain John Virgin, mariner and trader of Plymouth, MA

Corporal Chandler was born on January 13, 1846 to Isaac Washington Chandler, a shoemaker and mariner, and Catherine C. Benson. He was their first and only child. The birth was recorded in Salem, MA, though in his enlistment papers he stated he was born in Norwich, CT. Sadly, his father would drown in 1847 when he was struck by the boom of a ship during a thunderstorm off Cape Ann. He was only 24. His mother married stone mason Thomas Heard the following year. Before the War

This unique gravestone marks the final resting place of Reverend Henry Emanuel Whyman, his wife Louise Maria (Andersson) Whyman, their son Bertil Emanuel Whyman, and Bertil’s wife Gerda Elvira (Wolsey) Whyman. Reverend Whyman was born in Roslags-Kulla, Sweden (near Stockholm) on October 26, 1860 to Henrick A. Whyman and Wilhelmina C. Brunstedt. He came to the US in 1886, and became a citizen in 1888. Reverend Whyman was the Minister of the First Swedish Methodist Church in th

Mary was born to Captain William and Mrs. Abigail (Kendall) Reed in Lexington, MA on April 8, 1695. Both of her parents were originally from Woburn, MA and among the earliest white settlers in the town, arriving around 1685. They made their home in the northern part of the town on the road to Bedford. The Reed family was very prominent and influential in town affairs. On April 8, 1714 she married John Stone. The Stone family came from Cambridge, and was another of Lexington'

There are many books out there about gravestones. This is the only one I know of that was written by a stone cutter. The author is J. David Gillespie, an artist and reenactor from South Carolina. He carves gravestones and other items from slate using traditional tools and traditional methods. This gives him a unique and valuable perspective on historic gravestones and the craftsmen who carved them. Gillespie's books contains biographical information on several different st

250 years ago Gen. Benedict Arnold led an expedition north from Massachusetts to Quebec in an attampt to capture the town. They left at the end of September 1775 and arrived in Canada in December. The battle, which took place in the middle of a snowstorm on December 31, was a disaster for Arnold's forces; every member either was either killed, taken prisoner, or deserted. Worcester lost three men: Captain Jonas Hubbard, Sergeant Silas Wesson, and Private Timothy Rice.

Patience was born on January 2, 1733 to Benjamin and Elizabeth (Winslow) Marston in Salem, MA. Her mother was originally from Marshfield, MA, and was a descendant of Mayflower passenger Edward Winslow. Her father was a Harvard graduate, and a very prominent man in Salem. He served as High Sheriff of Essex County and later as a Justice and Judge. Patience was the third of her parents' seven children. In the She married merchant Elkanah Watson of Plymouth, MA on October 19, 1

Capt. John Williams, Patriot, Mason, and charter member of the Order of the Cincinnati.

Errol was born in Ware, MA to Dwight Foster and Clara Norma (Ayers) Marsh on July 19, 1889. He had an older brother named Ernest who had been born eleven years earlier in 1878. His father was a lumber merchant and manufacturer. Between the 1900 and 1910 US Census the family moved to Westborough, MA where Dwight had found work as a book keeper at a box shop. Coming from a more affluent family, Errol was educated at Worcester Academy. After graduation he went into business wit

Josef was born in Russian-occupied Tajno, Poland in 1873 to Jacob and Catherine Misczkowski. He immigrated to the United States in August of 1913 aboard the Friedrich Der Grosse. He was married at the time of his immigration, and married again soon after in September 1913–his marriage record in Northampton, MA lists it as his second marriage, but the woman might be the same. Her name is Josephine Szener. A description of Josef is also in his immigration paperwork: 5 feet 4 in

Lewis was born in Walpole, MA on June 10, 1824 to Silas and Maria (Fisher) Fales. He moved to Milford, MA in his late teens, and became an architect. In 1862 Lewis married Sarah A. Wheelock of Mendon, MA. The couple never had children, but they did adopt and raise two of his nephews who had been orphaned. Sarah Adelaide Wheelock was born on March 29, 1829 in Mendon, MA to Andrew and Louise (Hill) Wheelock. Her passport application in 1892 gives the following description: 5’3”

Martha was born in around 1746 into a family with the surname of Clark. She married Dr. Peter Green in Hopkinton, MA on July 27, 1769. They had filed their intentions on May 28. Martha died during childbirth on June 8, 1770. Her husband remarried in 1773 and moved to Concord, NH. He named his eldest daughter Martha in his first wife's honor, and she lived to be 68. She rests with her stillborn babe at her side in Harvard Center Cemetery in Harvard, MA. Her gravestone was ca

Deacons in Colonial New England not ordained in the way ministers were, but were highly respected and influential in their communities. Deacons oversaw many of the civil and day-to-day tasks of the church in addition to being lay ministers. Many were from one of the town's founding families.

All hale and healthy men in New England between the ages of 16 and 60 were required to be in the local militia company. There was no standing army in the colonial era, and men were expected to be ready to defend their community from any threat. The leader of the militia was chosen by the men themselves, and he was usually part of a prominent family.

Wealthy and/or influential men might choose to memorialize a beloved child lost with a gravestone portrait.