Budlong Cemetery - Tombstone Tuesday

(Digital Image. Photograph Privately Held By Cynthia Shenette; Photograph and Text, Copyright (c) 2012 Cynthia Shenette) We drive by this little cemetery in Schuyler, New York whenever we visit relatives in the area.  It intrigues me, because it looks like a place time forgot.  The cemetery is in the middle of a corn field.  My photo was taken last spring just after planting time.  You can see the little corn seedlings if you look closely.  By the end of summer tall corn stalks surround the cemetery, and in the winter the wind whips the barren, snowy field.  A list of people buried in the cemetery can be found here. The list refers to an earlier list which mentions the cemetery may be in East Schuyler, but the cemetery in my photo is actually in West Schuyler.


Other Posts You Might Like:

Photo Story: Helping the Red Cross During World War I
Photo Story: Grandma and Grandpa Get Married
Tombstone Tuesday: Jacob Riis, Riverside Cemetery, Barre, MA
Walter Chamberlain Porter, Titanic Victim - Tombstone Tuesday 

Walter Chamberlain Porter, Titanic Victim - Tombstone Tuesday

(Original Images and Text, Copyright (c) 2012 Cynthia Shenette) Walter Chamberlain Porter (13 May 1865-15 Apr 1912) was a prosperous Worcester businessman who perished in the sinking of the Titanic.  He is buried at Hope Cemetery in Worcester, MA with his parents, first wife, and infant sister.

Walter C. Porter / 1865-1912

Louise D. Phillips / Wife of  / Walter C. Porter / 1865-1905

Ada L. Porter / 1859-1959

Sarah C. Chamberlain / Wife of / Samuel Porter / 1834-1865

Samuel  Porter / 1833-1904

If you would like to read about the life and death of Walter Chamberlain Porter there are three fascinating websites for you to check out here, here, and here.  The last link is particularly interesting...


Other Posts You Might Like:

Tombstone Tuesday: Jacob Riis, Riverside Cemetery, Barre, MA
Harvey Ball and World Smile Day - Tombstone Tuesday
Cobh (Queensland), Ireland - Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Tombstone Tuesday: Frank L. Naramore, The End of a "Tragedy"

Choronzak - Tombstone Tuesday

Joseph (1873-1918) and Antonina (1882-1918) Choronzak,
Notre Dame Cemetery, Worcester, MA

(Original Image and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette)

 Joseph Choronzak 1873-1918 his wife Antonina 1882-1918

The Choronzaks are the couple I wrote about in my three part series, Flu 1918. Joseph and his wife Antonina died on the same day of the flu, and according to a newspaper account left seven children orphaned.  I found and photographed their grave which is located in an old section of Notre Dame Cemetery in Worcester. I was also contacted by yet another grandchild of Joseph and Antonina who kindly sent me a photo of their grave as well. Interestingly, many of the other graves in the immediate area appear to be the graves of victims of the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic. I plan to post more about some of the other flu victims in the near future, so check back for additional posts. If you are interested in reading a little bit more about one of Joseph and Antonina's grandchildren check out the two Mystery Monday links listed below.


Other Posts You Might Like:

Mystery Monday: Yet Another Polish Wedding...
Send Up A Flare, Mystery Bride Identified! - Mystery Monday
Going Home: Our Lady of Czestochowa, Worcester, MA
The Stories My Grandmother Told Me

Harvey Ball and World Smile Day - Tombstone Tuesday

Harvey Ross Ball (10 July 1921-12 Apr 2001), Notre Dame Cemetery, Worcester, MA

(Original Image and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette) I decided to post a photo of Harvey Ross Ball's gravestone in honor of World Smile Day which is on October 7, 2011. Worcester native Harvey Ball was a commercial artist and the original designer of the smiley face.  If you think Mr. Ball made a huge profit off of the smiley we all know and love, you are wrong.  Mr. Ball never copyrighted or trademarked his smiley and was paid the princely sum of $45 in 1963 for his work.  By all accounts Mr. Ball never regretted his decision, and was a goodwill ambassador embodying the true spirit of his iconic symbol.  Smile!


Other Posts You Might Like:

Tombstone Tuesday: Jacob Riis, Riverside Cemetery, Barre, MA
Worcester Tornado Memorial - Tombstone Tuesday
Fascinating Ladies
Tuesday's Tip: A Tale of Two Indexers

Worcester Tornado Memorial - Tombstone Tuesday

(Original Images and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette)  These are photos I took yesterday at the Worcester Tornado Memorial on the campus of Quinsigamond Community College.  In 1953 the campus belonged to Assumption College which has since relocated to Salisbury St. in Worcester.  The Worcester tornado blew through the center of the Assumption campus killing several people and destroying much of the campus.  The granite memorial marker lists all of the names of the 94 people killed by the tornado on June 9, 1953.

Other Posts You Might Like:

The Worcester Tornado, June 9, 1953 - Those Places Thursday
Flu 1918 (Part 1 of 3) - Amanuensis Monday
Tombstone Tuesday: Jacob Riis, Riverside Cemetery, Barre, MA
A Matter of Habit: Solving a Mystery

Man O' War - Tombstone Tuesday

Man O' War, Sculpture by Herbert Haseltine

(Original Image and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette) Given that the Kentucky Derby is this coming weekend, I thought it would be kind of fun to show a tombstone of a different kind this week. This is a photo of where the great racehorse Man O' War is buried at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY. My family and I visited Kentucky in August of 2009 when my husband had to travel to to Lexington for business. My son and I visited the Kentucky Horse Park while my husband was at work one day.

While Man O' War never won the Kentucky Derby he is still considered to be by many the greatest racehorse of all time. His offspring include the 1929 Kentucky Derby winner Clyde Van Deusen and the1939 Triple Crown winner War Admiral.  He was also the grand-daddy of legendary horse Seabiscut. 


Other Posts You Might Like:

Tombstone Tuesday: Jacob Riis, Riverside Cemetery, Barre, MA
Tuesday's Tip: A Tale of Two Indexers
Tombstone Tuesday: Francois Chenette, Civil War Soldier
Tombstone Tuesday: Frank L. Naramore, The End of a "Tragedy"

Tombstone Tuesday: Frank L. Naramore, The End of a "Tragedy"

(Original Images and Text, Copyright (c) 2010 Cynthia Shenette)

A Lonely End To A Tragic Tale...


For those of you who have been following my series on the Naramore family and "The Coldbrook Tragedy" which I began for the 97th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy, here is the unmarked grave of family father Frank L. Naramore. Frank died on 04 Mar 1936 and was buried in Hope Cemetery in Worcester, MA on 07 Mar 1936. Frank's grave is a single grave to the right of the memorial plaque with the small metal marker sticking out of the ground. There is no headstone.


Here is another photo of the grave from the opposite direction. This time the grave is to the left of the grave plaque with the metal marker.


Here is another photo, and again Frank's unmarked grave is to the left of the plaque with the metal marker.

This seems to be the classic sad ending to a tragic tale. In 1901 Frank had a wife and six children. In death he was alone. His obituary says he leaves no known relatives. His last address, given in his obituary, is listed as 44 Exchange St. in Worcester which was a rooming house at the time he lived there. My guess is no one knew or cared where he was buried, or has visited his grave since he died in 1936. Perhaps it's an appropriate conclusion to a life poorly led.


Other Posts You Might Like:

Tombstone Tuesday: The Naramore Children, Riverside Cemetery
Tombstone Tuesday: Jacob Riis, Riverside Cemetery, Barre, MA
Tombstone Tuesday: Francois Chenette, Civil War Soldier
Madness Monday: The Stuff We Throw Away, and...

Tombstone Tuesday: Jacob Riis, Riverside Cemetery, Barre, MA

(Original Image and Text, Copyright (c) 2010 Cynthia Shenette) Last spring I read The Other Half: the Life of Jacob Riis and the World of Immigrant America. It was an interesting biography of Jacob Riis--journalist, photographer, and author of How the Other Half Lives: Studies Among the Tenements of New York. I was surprised to read that he had a farm in Barre, MA in the later years of his life. I was also surprised to learn Jacob Riis died in Barre on May 26, 1914 and is buried in the Riverside Cemetery. I forgot about this until started researching the Naramore family for my series of posts COG 97: Researching the "The Coldbrook Tragedy" (Part 1 of 4). Last week when I was out at the Riverside Cemetery searching for the Naramore memorial for my post, Tombstone Tuesday: The Naramore Children, Riverside Cemetery, I located the Riis marker. The marker is a simple field stone without any kind of inscription. I found it interesting that a man who spent so much time documenting the miseries of tenement life in turn-of-the-century New York, was laid to rest in a place so quiet, rural, and timeless.

See Also:

New York Times obituary for Jacob Riis.

Tombstone Tuesday: The Naramore Children, Riverside Cemetery

(Original Images and Text, Copyright (c) 2010 Cynthia Shenette) This was definitely one of the most interesting cemetery experiences I've ever had. Last week I drove out, or tried to drive out, to Riverside Cemetery in Barre, MA to take a photo of the Naramore memorial for my post, COG 97: Researching "The Coldbrook Tragedy" (Part 1). I checked MapQuest before I went and plugged the details into my GPS. I knew the cemetery was in the Barre Falls Dam area. The town of Coldbrook Springs no longer exists as a town as it was taken by the state for the dam in 1930.

I drove down three separate dirt roads which became narrower, rockier, and more remote. On the last road, according to my GPS, I was only about 500 feet from the cemetery, but the road looked questionable at best. I decided to double check my information and try again another day. Over the weekend I confirmed the location with another researcher familiar with the area. Yesterday I tried again following her directions. I found the cemetery without a problem.

When I got out of my car it was like traveling back in time. The Riverside Cemetery is remote and silent, far from any traffic sounds. I walked through the wooden arch at the front of the cemetery and eventually found the Naramore memorial down a hill, away from the main part of the cemetery. I will say the memorial wasn't exactly what I was expecting with all of the offerings left on and around the stone.

I took my pictures and left for the day. While I drove around the area, I noticed the Barre Falls Dam area is dotted with little old cemeteries--Parker Cemetery, Coldbrook Cemetery, and Riverside Cemetery. There's something kind of interesting, and maybe a little sad about them. Whether it's an accurate statement or not, at least to me, they almost seem like people and places that time forgot.

Tombstone Tuesday: Wladyslaw Kowalewski, The Mystery Continues

(Copyright (c) 2010 Cynthia Shenette) A while back, in my post What's In A Name? (An Ongoing Series): Kowalewski, I mentioned the frustration I was having tracking an ancestor, Wladyslaw Kowalewski. I was at Notre Dame Cemetery in Worcester, MA planting flowers for my grand-parents and great-grand-parents for Memorial Day when I decided to look up Wladyslaw, who is also buried at Notre Dame. When I stopped at the cemetery office to ask for the location of Wladyslaw's grave, the people in the office kindly provided the information requested. I was somewhat surprised to notice that they listed his age as 53 at the time of his death. The funeral notice in the Worcester Telegram mistakenly, or so I thought, listed his age as 53. All along I'd suspected the Telegram funeral notice was incorrect, but now I was starting to wonder. I thought he was 63 when he died. Hmm...

After planting flowers at my grandparents grave, I drove around a bit and found Wladyslaw's grave without too much trouble. An interesting side note, even though Wladyslaw's wife Antonina (buried 14 Feb 1933 at age 63) is also buried in the same plot, her name is not listed on the stone. A John Kowalewski, a son I believe (buried on 19 Sep 1932 at age 39) is buried in the plot as well and is also not listed. As you can see from the photo above the stone reads the following, "Wladyslaw Kowalewski, 1865-1928, Prosi o Zorowas Marya." Hmm again... 1865-1928. Wouldn't that make him 63? My guess is the family, who actually knew how old he was, put the correct end date on the stone. Clearly my next stop is to Worcester City Hall to get a copy of the death certificate.

Poor Wladyslaw. Spelling issues followed him throughout his life and apparently into eternity as well. Look at the inscription on the gravestone, "Prosi o Zorowas Marya." I had trouble translating Zorowas, so I asked my cousin Marek for assistance figuring it was another misspelling of some sort. Marek told me the word should be spelled Zdrowas. Aah. The inscription should read, "Prosi o Zdrowas Maryjo" translated, "Please say Hail Mary." That's about right...

Tombstone Tuesday: Francois Chenette, Civil War Soldier

Given that Memorial Day is only a few days away, I thought today would be a good day to write about and remember Francois Chenette, Jr. Francois died of disease at the age of 19 while serving as a private with the Company K, 11th Vermont Volunteers during the Civil War. He is buried at the Winchester National Cemetery in Winchester, Virginia. Two years ago, as my family and I drove back to Massachusetts from a trip to Charleston, South Carolina, we stopped in Winchester to visit Francois' grave. Young Francois was my paternal grandfather's half-brother, the son of my great-grandfather, Francois Chenette (18 Apr 1813-22 Mar 1886) and his first wife Maguerite Charon.

I know little of Francois' life other than he was born on 02 May 1845 in St. Hyacinthe, Quebec. He was baptized the same day at Notre Dame-du-Rosaire. Interestingly, Francois Jr. and Francois Sr. both enlisted on 10 December 1863 in Woodstock, Vermont. Francois Jr. was 18 and Francois Sr. was 50. Father and son mustered in on 16 Dec 1863. The Vermont 11th fought in a number of major battles in the Shenandoah Valley during the Civil War, including the battles of the Wilderness, Spottslyvania, and Cold Harbor.

Sadly, Francois Jr. died of disease on 03 Nov 1864, less than a year after enlisting. According to statistics compiled by the Army Medical Department after the war, four soldiers died of illness and disease for every one soldier killed in battle. A sobering statistic. Francois was originally buried on someplace called Braggs Farm. I have looked for information about Braggs Farm without luck, and would love to hear from anyone with knowledge of it. Francois body was eventually moved to the Winchester National Cemetery, which serves as the final resting place for soldiers who fought and died in the battles of Winchester, New Market, Front Royal, Snickers Gap, Harper's Ferry, Martinsburg, and Romney. Francois' name is listed on the gravestone, and in military records as Francis Chenette.

I felt a great sense of sadness while visiting the cemetery, looking at the graves of all the men who died. Francois Jr. died young and hundreds of miles from home. I've often hoped that his father was with him at the end. My guess is family circumstances were probably such that, financially and/or logistically, it was impossible to have Francois' body returned to be buried at home. I did feel a little sense of happiness that we were able to visit Francois's grave, and occasionally wonder if anyone else has visited his grave in the last hundred and fifty years.

Memorial Day is a time to reflect and remember the fallen, those who gave their lives for us so that we may be free. It's a day to remember the soldiers--to remember the thousands of men like Francois--who died fighting a war far from home.

***
Reference:

• Wiley, Bell Irvin. The Life of Billy Yank: The Common Soldier of the Union. Baton Rouge: Louisana State University Press, 1978.