And Now You Know the Rest of the Story…

It’s stories like this that make history and roaming graveyards so interesting to me.

From THE HISTORY OF HUDSON NH by Webster Kimball

THE FIRST MURDER COMMITTED IN THIS TOWN, SO FAR AS IS NOW KNOWN OCCURRED JUNE 26, 1775 WHEN SAMUEL DAVIS SON OF ENSIGN NATHANIEL DAVIS WAS SLAIN WITH AN AX IN THE HANDS OF ROLAND RIDEOUT, AN INSANE PERSON. DAVIS WAS ENGAGED IN CONSTRUCTING A WATER HEDGE AT THE SHORE OF THE MERRIMACK RIVER, ON THE LINE BETWEEN HIS FATHERS LAND AND THE CUMMINGS FARM, ABOUT SIXTY RODS NORTH OF TAYLORS FALLS BRIDGE. HE WAS BORN IN THIS TOWN DECEMBER 21, 1757. PROBABLY RIDEOUT WAS ASSISTING IN THE WORK, AS ON MARCH 6, 1775 THE TOWN VOTED TO GIVE NATHANIEL DAVIS FOUR SHILLINGS PER WEEK, LAWFUL MONEY, FOR KEEPING ROLAND RIDEOUT. RIDEOUT CONTINUED TO CAUSE THE TOWN MUCH TROUBLE AND EXPENSE, UNTIL 1779, WHEN HE WAS REMOVED TO WILTON AT THE EXPENSE TO THE TOWN 30p-5s-0d LAWFUL MONEY.

2 SOUR S18

The court records are currently in the state archives at Concord and are identified as follows;

DAVIS, Samuel, yeoman, of Nottingham-West, vs RIDEOUT, Rowland, yeoman, of Nottingham-West, rec date 1776, recognizance, murder, file #2251.

Rowland pleaded not guilty however from the evidence presented it was obvious that Rowland hit Samuel Davis in the back of the head with an ax. Rowland was committed to confinement for an unspecified period where he died in 1779.

Images of the original Trial Documents from Concord NH:

Strolling in the Cemetery with Peter Vaughn

In my daily comings and goings, I constantly pass a small victorian era cemetery in Hudson NH. Set across the street from the local shopping plaza and right next to McDonalds, it stretches back behind the local Hanaford.

After seeing some of the remote and beautifully decorated landscapes of other cemeteries, it makes me think “Who would want to be laid to rest HERE?” I mean, it’s like the small graveyards in the center of Boston Ma. Who could consider THAT resting in PEACE with all the streets and large buildings that have gone up around it?

Several times I have wandered through while wasting a little time and always find myself without my camera. I keep saying “I’d love to photograph some of these statues” but the next time I’m there I find myself without the ability once again. There are some really nice angels and Celtic crosses here, being a largely Irish cemetery full of Morans, Sullivans and such, although I did see in the back and on the side, a small French section. They are still inturring people today so I’m sure eventually it will be more mixed.

Well this time (as it often is)  my stroll was accompanied with the presence of my dearest friend, Peter Vaughn. He had his cell phone camera available and took a lovely picture of one of the statues. It came out so beautifully that I had him send it to me for this post. Thank You, Peter

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Shoddy Work

Anyone who has taken any time gazing at old gravestones has seen the shoddy workmanship. A letter left out of the name, only to be added above the approximate space, a name split in half between lines are not uncommon. One would think they might plan it out a bit better.

(HUSBAND’S FIRST NAME IS NAT>>>HANEL?)

Some of these seem to be common abbreviations of the time like the letter “Y” with just an “e” super-scripted after it. I have also seen the name “Benjamin” shortened, but as it was consistent throughout the stone (father had same shortened spelling) then I can only assume it was on purpose to save on space.

I wonder how these stonecutters got away with such work. One wold think that if the customer paid for a stone, that it would be right or the engraver not get paid. Maybe back then you paid and got what you got. I wonder how many family members lived on broken hearted that not only was a loved one gone, but now the memorial stone was messed up for all time.

Here is a stone from a Windham NH cemetery. The motto across the top reads: mors indies accelepat (It’s squished but that’s not a real HUGE thing).

CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO BE ABLE TO LOOK IN CLOSER DETAIL

The problem is that it SHOULD read: mors indies accelerat.

WOODCUT PROM ASCHAM’S SCHOLEMASTER – A tree growing out of an effigy on a tomb with the motto “Etsi mors indies accelerat post funera virtus vivet tamen” (though death hastens on daily yet virtue will live on after the burial)

~~Social England: From the accession of Henry the Eighth to the death of Elizabeth, edited by Henry Duff Traill, James Suamarez Mann

Yes, that’s right. The engraver left off the little leg on the “r”. I looked really close to see if it had just filled in with lichens or eroded away in that spot but it simply wasn’t cut. Poor Adam’s last name was also spelled wrong, having to add a letter “e” after the fact.

Gumpas Cemetery, Pelham NH

One old cemetery set high on a steep hill on the side of the road. Lots of research to do here. The earliest stone I could read was 1705. I’ll be traveling back to Pelham soon. In the front, the stones are early 1800’s for the most part but if one travels toward the back, you will find some really old stones. Some are unreadable, or might only after a rubbing. It’s not prohibited here but I don’t make it a habit so I had no supplies.

Some interesting stones were for the family of Ferguson. John and his wife, Anna have a stone with two faces and a scalloped edge. He died in 1753 and she several years later in the 1760’s. (Forgot to write it down and obscured in pic, darn it)

There was also a stone for John Butler who passed in 1759. His stone has had it rough yet it has been encased in a cement block. The block is easily two feet by two and the stone is only held in a small cut out on one side by two bars.  This seems an odd preservation method, leaving it exposed yet “jailed” in like that.

The oldest I found was Mrs Josiah Hamble who passed in November of 1705* at the ripe age of 43. There was one other that was very hard to read and I’ll have to take a closer look another time and look a few details up.

*Correction: upon closer examination and a little research, the date of Mrs Hamble’s death was actually 1765, not 1705. As it turns out, there were settlers in the town of Pelham prior to this date but a plaque in one of the other old cemeteries stands in rememberance of them stating that they were burried in unmarked graves due to the lack of availability of markers (due to material or skilled workers perhaps?) prior to 1765.

Don’t Feed Off The Dead

Today I had a lovely morning hitting three old cemeteries. (posts soon to come)

In one, there was a hill and the back half was covered in low lying blueberries. They were everywhere and many were ripening nicely.

I said to my friend, “If we weren’t in a cemetery, I’d eat some”.

“What difference does that make?”

“I think it would be disrespectful,” I replied.

“To whom? The dead people here?”

“Yes.”

One should not disturb plants about old graves unless its a trimming back of overgrowth so that the markers can be read or preserved. Would they mind? I don’t really know and since I am not skilled enough to ask, I’d rather be safe. Plus these plants are growing and getting nourished from DEAD BODIES. Ick factor? I’d rather not feed off the dead, for many reasons.

Respect

Prompted by a recent comment left to one of my posts, I find it necessary to state what most would take for common sense.

Someone wrote to me about visiting one of the places I have talked about in my posts. They mention how they climbed all over one of the stones and "weren't so respectful" at another. And in case that person looks, no, I did not approve the comment. Please never let me in the same room as this person. I don’t care if you believe stories of haunting or myths associated with these places or not, these are the resting places of people who were once alive and kicking, just like we are now.

I don’t write about these places so that uncouth punks can go and wreck havock. I write of them because they are interesting and beautiful, like a museum or the Grand Canyon. There are unwritten rules of respect one should show at places like this and if your mothers didn’t teach you right then I suggest you go learn it from somewhere. I can’t believe I have to actually explain this.

Taking pictures, even touching most markers is fine, unless in a very old cemetery where the stones are old. Most of these sites post “no rubbings” or other advisories. This for the preservation of the place for you and others to come.

Ayer Lion

In the Lowell Cemetery is a witch and a lion.  No, there isn’t a tin man, nor is there a wardrobe involved. There are myths and medicine men, however.

In a previous post I mentioned “Witch Bonney” looking toward a “protector” believed to be this beautiful carved lion figure. The information and facts on the real person resting here is just as interesting as Bonney’s. (At least I think so)

James Cook Ayer was a successful patent medicine tycoon. The town of Ayer Ma was supposedly named after him, but I couldn’t check the source of that. It is most likely him or earlier relations since his family was very prominent in Ma with connections to Harvard, the Lowell & Andover R. R., and did present the Memorial Library to the town of Ayer.  His brother Frederick, a wealthy textile industrialist, owned multiple mills in Lowell and Lawrence and was the president of the American Woolen Company.  Frederick Ayer’s daughter married George S Patton (Yes, THAT Patton).

Moving to Lowell  he  studied medicine and apprenticed under a local druggist. Eventually he earned a degree in medicine. His interest in medicine was not to become a doctor but in pharmaceutical chemistry and medicine compounding. Many of J.C. Ayer’s medicines were common household items purchased from travelling salesmen. Among these were Ayer’s Sasparilla Tonic and Ayer’s Cathartic Pills. Images and more information can be found HERE. His success was due in part to his wide advertisement, some of which was through his own published popular free almanac “for the use of farmers, planters, mechanics, mariners and all families” starting in 1853. If you visit Lowell and find yourself traveling down Middle St, you can still see the building where J.C. Ayer’s Lab was.

The story of this man is inspirational as he seemed to work hard, always better himself (such as devoting hours a day to learning different languages such as portugese) and I barely scratch the surface of this man. I encourage you to read History of Lowell and Its People by Frederick William Coburn which is where I got the image of him above.

I haven’t found the reason his grave is marked by this magestic animal, but he does look rather “lion like” in his picture, don’t you think? His grave is one of my favorites in that cemetery.

Bio/Into

Bio/Intro to be featured on May 7, 2009. Keep an eye out HERE

Evergreen Cemetery History

There stands a bolder with a bronze plaque on it in the Evergreen Cemetery in Nashua NH. The plaque was placed there in November of 1901 as a memorial of the “Old South Meeting House” and “Bird Meeting House”

This is the cemetery I posted about after the ice storm. The branches have now been cleared and Mr. Lund’s stone is no worse the wear.

Just North and across the path stands a prominent figure in the history of this town.

Fascinating information on the history of these meeting houses and the surrounding area and development of Dunstable/Nashua Village can be found here. For more historical information on the area, start at part one. (Geography, Topography, General Description and the ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS.)

Part 2 – FROM THE FIRST SETTLEMENT to 1702 INDIAN WARS FROM 1702 to 1725, Including: Proprietors – Charter of Old Dunstable – List of Heads of Families in 1699 – Indians Wars – [up to Lovewell's War with the Pequawkets in 1725]

Part 3 – FRONTIER HARDSHIP AND STRUGGLES 1730 and BEYOND

Part 4 – DUNSTABLE (NASHUA NH) DURING THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

Part 5 (first link I have on the page) – DUNSTABLE (NASHUA NH) FROM 1800 to 1860

Part 6 – NASHUA DURING THE REBELLION (CIVIL WAR)

Part 7 – NASHUA FROM 1870 to 1885

Part 8 – BIOGRAPHIES OF PROMINENT CITIZENS

Politics at Lowell Cemetery

The following information on the politicians was copied from The Biographical Directory of the United States Congress and the National Govenor’s Association

Politicians buried in the Lowell Cemetery:

• Frederic Thomas Greenhalge (1842-1896) — also known as Frederic T. Greenhalge — a Representative from Massachusetts; born in Clitheroe, England, July 19, 1842; immigrated with his parents to the United States in early childhood; attended the public schools of Lowell, Mass., and Harvard University 1859-1862; taught school and studied law; during the Civil War was with the Union Army in New Bern, N.C., for five months; was admitted to the bar in Lowell, Mass., in 1865; served in the common council of Lowell in 1868 and 1869; member of the school committee 1871-1873; mayor of Lowell in 1880 and 1881; unsuccessful candidate for election to the State senate in 1881; delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1884; member of the State house of representatives in 1885; unsuccessful candidate for reelection; city solicitor in 1888; practiced law in Middlesex and other counties; elected as a Republican to the Fifty-first Congress (March 4, 1889-March 3, 1891); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1890 to the Fifty-second Congress; elected Governor of Massachusetts and served from January 1894 until his death in Lowell, Mass., on March 5, 1896; interment in Lowell Cemetery.
• Thomas Talbot (1818-1886) —thirtieth and thirty-third governor to serve Massachusetts, was born in Cambridge, New York on September 7, 1818. After the death of his father, his family moved to Northampton, Massachusetts, where young Talbot was educated in the public schools. For a while he worked in a textile factory, and eventually opened a successful broadcloth factory with his brother. Talbot first entered politics in 1861, serving as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, a position he held three years. He also served as a member of the Governor’s Executive Council from 1864 to 1869, and was the lieutenant governor of Massachusetts from 1872 to 1874.  On April 29, 1874 Governor William B. Washburn resigned from office, and Talbot, who was lieutenant governor at the time, assumed the duties of the governorship. During his tenure, he endorsed restricting laborers workdays to ten hours; and he vetoed a bill that would abolish the state’s prohibition law.  After running unsuccessfully for a term of his own, Talbot left office on January 6, 1875. However, three years later he secured the Republican gubernatorial nomination, and then went on to win the general election on November 5, 1878. During his final tenure, the first prison commission was founded; educational reform measures were promoted; the state’s budget was reduced; and state agencies were operated more efficiently. Also, Talbot called for a constitutional amendment that would grant women equal voting privileges.  After declining to run for reelection Talbot left office on January 7, 1880, and retired from political life. Governor Thomas Talbot passed away on October 6, 1886, and was buried in the Lowell Cemetery in Lowell, Massachusetts.
• Paul Efthemios Tsongas (1941-1997) — also known as Paul E. Tsongas — Representative and a Senator from Massachusetts; born in Lowell, Middlesex County, Mass., February 14, 1941; attended the public schools of Lowell; graduated from Dartmouth College, Hanover, N.H., 1962, and from Yale University School of Law 1967; attended the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University 1973-1974; lawyer; admitted to the Massachusetts bar in 1968 and commenced practice in Lowell; served as Peace Corps Volunteer in Ethiopia 1962-1964, and the West Indies 1967-1968; deputy assistant attorney general of Massachusetts 1969-1971; served as Lowell city councillor 1969-1972; Middlesex County (Mass.) commissioner 1973-1974; elected as a Democrat to the Ninety-fourth Congress, November 4, 1974; reelected to the Ninety-fifth Congress (January 3, 1975-January 3, 1979); was not a candidate for reelection to the House of Representatives but was elected in 1978 to the United States Senate; served from January 3, 1979, to January 3, 1985; did not seek reelection; resumed the practice of law in Boston; unsuccessful candidate for 1992 Democratic Presidential nomination; co-founder, The Concord Coalition; was a resident of Lowell, Mass., until his death in Boston, January 18, 1997; interment in Lowell Cemetery.
• Edith Nourse Rogers (1881-1960) — also known as Edith Frances Nourse — Representative from Massachusetts; born in Saco, York County, Maine, March 19, 1881; graduated from the Rogers Hall School, Lowell, Mass.; graduated from Madame Julien’s School, Paris, France; volunteered, American Red Cross, 1917-1922; Presidential inspector of veterans’ hospitals, 1922-1923; president, board of trustees, Rogers Hall School, Lowell, Mass.; elected as a Republican to the Sixty-ninth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of her husband, United States Representative John Jacob Rogers; reelected to the Seventieth and to the sixteen succeeding Congresses (June 30, 1925-September 10, 1960); chair, Committee on Veterans’ Affairs (Eightieth and Eighty-third Congresses); died on September 10, 1960, in Boston, Mass.; interment in Lowell Cemetery, Lowell, Mass.
• Charles Herbert Allen (1848-1934) — also known as Charles H. Allen — Representative from Massachusetts; born in Lowell, Mass., April 15, 1848; attended public and private schools; was graduated from Amherst College, Mass., in 1869; engaged in the manufacture of wooden boxes and in the lumber business with his father; held various local offices; member of the Massachusetts house of representatives in 1881 and 1882; served in the Massachusetts senate in 1883; colonel and aide-de-camp on the staff of Governor Robinson in 1884; elected as a Republican to the Forty-ninth and Fiftieth Congresses (March 4, 1885-March 3, 1889); declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1888; unsuccessful candidate for Governor of Massachusetts in 1890; served as Massachusetts Prison Commissioner in 1897 and 1898; Assistant Secretary of the Navy 1898-1900; served as first civil Governor of Puerto Rico 1900-1902; returned to Lowell, Mass., in 1902 and became financially interested in banking and other enterprises, serving as vice president of the Morton Trust Co. and of the Guaranty Trust Co. of New York and as president of the American Sugar Refining Co.; died in Lowell, Mass., April 20, 1934; interment in Lowell Cemetery.
• John Jacob Rogers (1881-1925) — also known as John J. Rogers — Representative from Massachusetts; born in Lowell, Middlesex County, Mass., August 18, 1881; attended the public schools, and was graduated from Harvard University in 1904 and from the law department of that university in 1907; was admitted to the bar the same year and commenced practice in Lowell in 1908; member of the Lowell city government in 1911; school commissioner in 1912; elected as a Republican to the Sixty-third and to the six succeeding Congresses and served from March 4, 1913, until his death; during the First World War enlisted on September 12, 1918, as a private with the Twenty-ninth Training Battery, Tenth Training Battalion, Field Artillery, Fourth Central Officers’ Training School, and served until honorably discharged on November 29, 1918; died in Washington, D.C., March 28, 1925; interment in Lowell Cemetery, Lowell, Mass.
• John Locke (1764-1855) — Representative from Massachusetts; born in Hopkinton, Middlesex County, Mass., February 14, 1764; attended Andover Academy and Dartmouth College, Hanover, N.H.; taught school; was graduated from Harvard University in 1792; studied law; was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Ashby in 1796; member of the state house of representatives in 1804, 1805, 1813, and 1823; delegate to the state constitutional convention in 1820; elected as an Adams-Clay Republican to the Eighteenth Congress, and reelected as an Adams candidate to the Nineteenth, and Twentieth Congresses (March 4, 1823-March 3, 1829); declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1828; member of the state senate in 1830 and of the state executive council in 1831; resumed the practice of his profession; moved to Lowell, Mass., in 1837 and to Boston in 1849; died in Boston, Mass., March 29, 1855; interment in Lowell Cemetery, Lowell, Middlesex County, Mass.
• Chauncey Langdon Knapp (1809-1898 ) — Representative from Massachusetts; born in Berlin, Vt., February 26, 1809; completed preparatory studies; learned the art of printing and engaged in newspaper work in Montpelier; for a number of years was coproprietor and editor of the State Journal; secretary of state of Vermont 1836-1849; moved to Massachusetts and located in Lowell; editor of the Lowell News and other papers; secretary of the state senate in 1851; elected as a candidate of the American Party to the Thirty-fourth Congress and as a Republican to the Thirty-fifth Congress (March 4, 1855-March 3, 1859); editor of the Lowell Daily Citizen 1859-1882; died in Lowell, Mass., May 31, 1898; interment in Lowell Cemetery.
• Tappan Wentworth (1802-1875) —Representative from Massachusetts; born in Dover, N.H., February 24, 1802; received a liberal schooling; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1826 and commenced practice in York County, Maine; moved to Lowell, Mass., in 1833 and continued the practice of law; member of the common council 1836-1841; served in the State house of representatives in 1851, 1859, 1860, 1863, and 1864; member of the State senate in 1848, 1849, 1865, and 1866; elected as a Whig to the Thirty-third Congress (March 4, 1853-March 3, 1855); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1854 to the Thirty-fourth Congress; engaged in the practice of his profession until his death in Lowell, Mass., June 12, 1875; interment in Lowell Cemetery.
• Benjamin Dean (1824-1897) Representative from Massachusetts; born in Clitheroe, England, August 14, 1824; immigrated to the United States with his parents, who settled in Lowell, Mass.; attended Lowell schools, and Dartmouth College, Hanover, N.H.; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1845 and commenced practice in Lowell; moved to Boston in 1852 and continued the practice of law; served in the State senate in 1862, 1863, and 1869; member of the common council 1865-1866 and 1872-1873; successfully contested as a Democrat the election of Walbridge A. Field to the Forty-fifth Congress and served from March 28, 1878, to March 3, 1879; was not a candidate for renomination in 1878 to the Forty-sixth Congress; resumed the practice of law in Boston; member of the board of park commissioners for several years and served as chairman; died in South Boston, Mass., April 9, 1897; interment in Lowell Cemetery, Lowell, Mass.