Wednesday, July 13, 2011

REVEREND EZEKIEL DODGE, MT VERNON CEMETERY, ABINGTON, MA

There are many old gravestones at Mt Vernon Cemetery here in Abington but
there are three in particular that attracted my attention several months ago.
They are near the Perry Mausoleum facing across from the Veterans' lot and
are quite large and weathered.




In fact, only one of them is  readable, and that barely:




I tried converted it to a negative which gave me a better view of the inscription,
and this is what I believe it says:

In Memory of the
Rev, Ezekiel Dodge
Second Minster of Ab-
-ington who was Seized with
an Apoplexy on ye 5th of June
in ye morning & died at ye night in yr
48 of his Age having ye day before
his Death compleated ye 20th year of
his Ministry . Pious & faithful as a Min-
ister well accomplished as a Scholar
truly benevolent as a man & amiable
in all Relations as Husband & Parent
(------) World respected & beloved.


Further investigation online revealed that Rev.Dodge was born in
1722 and died in 1770 so that would fit the 48 years on the
gravestone. I also found that, as is sometimes the case in families
with an accomplished and upstanding parent , Rev Dodge's
son Ezekiel turned out as a rogue and scoundrel.

I did not, however, discover as to whether or not the fatal apoplectic
seizure was caused by something his wayward son had done.

No comments:

Post a Comment