Tuesday, June 14, 2011

OLD GRAVEYARD, EAST BRIDGEWATER JUNE 14 2011

There are two reasons I started visiting local cemeteries. The first is of
course genealogy. The second is that it gets me out of my apartment so
that I'm not spending the whole day on my butt in front of a computer or
tv. Recently I joined Find A Grave and volunteered to take photos of
gravestones requested by other members, which means I get an education
about the surrounding area as a bonus!

I set out today down Rte 18 to nearby East Bridgewater to visit the Old
Graveyard to take some requested pictures. Some of my ancestral lines
came from the three Bridgewaters( East, West, and just plain Bridgewater)
and I found some Keiths there that I'll match against my family tree:



 




There were many stones still in good condition, including this one which has to be
the most informative gravestone I've yet encountered. It's inscribed on both sides:







But there are other stones that show the ravages of time and harsh New England
winters:


This husband's stone is holding up that of his wife.
The highlight of my visit came when the nearby church's bells began to chime:

 

After about an hour, I hadn't found any of the requested headstones.  Or so I
thought. When I got home and uploaded my pictures to my laptop, I discovered
I had  taken a shot of one of the requests without realizing it!