A FAMILY REUNION OF SORTS 17: WILLIAM O'BRIEN & LYDIA DUNHAM

 

 While working on the last blog post about my Dunham cousins buried right here
in Abington (which I posted waaaaay back in August!) I came across the name
Patrick O'Brien. as the husband of Worthy Dunham's youngest sister Lydia
Howard  Dunham. So I wasn't surprised to find the O'Brien family buried a few
feet away from Worthy's family.

The inscription reads:
Patrick O'Brien-1834-1879 Aged 45 years
Lydia H. His Wife 1834-1932 Aged 98 years
Angie F. daughter 1854-1930 Aged 76 years
Mansfield S. O' Brien 1868-1848 aged 79 years
Winifred E. His Wife  1883
Delia H. 1862-1864
________
Helen Florence Cole 1875-1916 Aged 41 years
Leonard M. 1904 Aged 3 days

What I hadn't realized was just how prominent a family this was.
Patrick O'Brien had been born in Ireland and emigrated to America
where he ended up here in Abington at a period when both the
shoe factories and the Irish population were booming. That's probably

how Patrick met Lydia Dunham, through business dealings in the
shoe industry with Worthy Dunham or another of the male Dunhams.
The fact that a young Irishman was able to marry the daughter of
a Protestant New England family was an indicator of the changes
in the Massachusetts society in the Industrial Age.

Patrick and Lydia were married on 4Oct 1853. Besides the three
children buried with them there were four other O'Brien children.
Here's the full family as given in The Dunham Genealogy (p169):

LYDIA H., b. Oct. 17, 1834; m. Oct. 4, 1853; Patrick O'Brien,
of Abington. Issue, b. Abington : 218. I. — Angeline Frances O'Brien;
b. Aug. 15, 1854; milliner, Abington. 219. II. — William Smith, b.
Aug. 16, 1856; boot and shoe heel manufacturer, Abington, Mass. 220.
HI. — Delia Hammond, b. Dec. 22, 1862; d. July 23, 1864. 221. IV. —
Robert Lincoln, b. Sept. 14, 1865, Washington, D. C. ; journalist. 222.
v.— Mansfield, b. 1867. 223. VI.— Charles, b. April, 1870. 224. VII.
— Ellen, b. July, 1872. 

Of the children, two had illustrious careers. William S O'Brien had a
successful shoe heel manufacturing company and was a president of
the Abington National Bank. His brother Robert Lincoln Dunham was
even more prominent, being a Harvard University graduate, a secretary
\of President Grover Cleveland and eventually became Editor in Chief of
the Boston Transcript newspaper.

I'll have to check around Mt Vernon Cemetery to see if I can find any
of the other O'Brien children buried there.

Meanwhile, I'd found another member of the Dunham family buried
a bit further away from the others as I'll explain in the next post in this
series.

A FAMILY REUNION OF SORTS15

 

Benjamin Hobart's  History of the town of Abington, Plymouth County,
Massachusetts, from its first settlement  has become my first place to
look for information about my Abington cousins. On page 369 I found the
following:

IV. Worthy C Dunham, born in Abington June 17, 1815; was married to
Irene Shaw of Weymouth, December 24, 1837. Their children were—

V. Rensellaer, born September 16, 1838; died September 17, 1839.

V. Jotham Ellsworth, born May 3, 1842.

V. Sumner Ellis, born September 3,1847; died September 25, 1848.

V. Irene Shaw, born October 23, 1851.

V. Sarah Williams, born July 22, 1855.

V. Abbie Weston, born August 30, 1858; died August 15, 1859.

Irene Shaw, wife of Worthy C. Dunham, died January 4,

1860, aged 42 years, 11 months, 9 days; he next married Marilla Pratt, 
October 4, 1860.

Now I knew there were more children who were not listed on the monument.
Could they have been buried there and the names not inscribed on the blank
western side of the marker? It was far more likely they had survived to
adulthood and were buried elsewhere. But what about the inscription
for Frank, Grace and  Robert on the south side? Grandchildren perhaps?

First though, I wanted to check on Worthy's parents, I looked on the previous
page, 368:

"III. Mr. Ezra Duuham was born in Plymouth, May 10, 1785; married, first, 

Susanna Ford, of Abington, January 30, 1806. They had one son, Henry,

born October 13, 1806; second, married Polly Cary, daughter of Howard 

Cary, Esq., of North Bridgewater. They had seven sons and three daughters,

viz., Susan, Howard Cary, Worthy Columbus, Charles Atwood, Cornelius 

Thomas, Ezra Rider, Angeline Huldah, Elbridge Cary, Francis William, 

and Lydia Howard." 

So, Worthy's middle name was Columbus and he was the half brother of 

General Henry Dunham and full brother to Cornelius T, Dunham, both of

whose graves I had previously discovered in Mt. Vernon Cemetery.

Now what else could I find out about him and his family?

A FAMILY REUNION OF SORTS14

 ((first posted on West in New England in Aug. 2011))

 

Ever since discovering the Cornelius T.Dunham family plot only
a few yards away from my parents' grave in Mt Vernon Cemetery
here in Abington, I've looked for more Dunham cousins buried
there. I thought I'd found all of them but apparently, I was
wrong. A few days before I discovered David Ellinwood's grave,
I discovered another Dunham family plot.

I found it as I was photographing the graves on the hillside
above the family of Henry Dunham. This is the east side of the
monument:

The inscription reads:
"Worthy C Dunham
     1815-1882
       His Wife
     Irene Shaw
     1817-1860
       His Wife
    Marilla Pratt
    1819-1904"

On the south side:

The inscription here lists three children:

   "Rensellaer
    1838-1839  
   Sumner Ellis
    1847-1848
   Abbie Weston
    1858-1859
    Children of
W.C.& I.S. Dunham"

On the north side:

This side reads:
"Frank E. Dunham
     1879-1951
      Grace E.
    1881-1970
     Robert E. 
    1918-2005"

So, not only do I have Dunham cousins buried here in Abington, some of them
were living here while my Dad was still alive, and there may still be some here
living in town.

I'll discuss how I'm related to these latest discoveries in the next post in this series.

A FAMILY REUNION OF SORTS11

 Brigadier General Henry Dunham's family seems to have suffered a
reversal of fortune in the latter half of the 19th century. The General had
commanded forty companies and five regiments at the celebrations
marking the completion of the Bunker Hill Monument (Dunham
Genealogy p167) and his son Henry had been a successful shoe
manufacturer and inventor. The rest of the General's were not quite so
prominent in Abington society.
 
After the younger Henry's death, his widow Ella became embroiled in
lawsuits against shoe manufacturers who'd copied her husband's inventions.
She and daughter Ida appear on the 1910 Federal Census for Holden
in Worcester County, Massachusetts as renting their home but neither
was employed. Perhaps son Harry B. Dunham paid their rent. According
to the Dunham Genealogy he was a doctor in nearby Rutland, Ma.
Younger son Arthur moved to New York and pursued a career as an
electrical engineer. He married and had two sons.

Brackley Cushing Dunham married  Elizabeth Hunt. There was a Hunt
family that were leading shoe manufacturers in Abington but as of yet I
don't know if she was from that line. I do know that Brackley stayed in
the shoe business but it wasn't in management from what I've been able
to find in the Federal Censuses up to 1910. The couple was childless.
Brackley and Emma are not buried in the Henry Dunham family plot.

Emma Annett Dunham  married Richard L Hunt. I've yet to establish any
ties to either the Hunts of Abington or Brackley's wife Elizabeth Hunt.
Emma and her husband lived in Weymouth, Ma. and they too died
without children.

This brings us to Andrew Jackson Dunham. Andrew followed his father
in serving in the military and the inscription on his gravestone tells us he
served "Civil War Three Years 1st Mass Cav, Also Minute Men T
hree Mos."  In other words, Andrew was in the Massachusetts State
Militia , then enlisted in the regular Union Army. I found his record
over at Ancestry.com in U.S. Civil War Soldiers and Profiles, and
with it, this picture:

Andrew J Dunham enlisted on 15April 1862. He'd been married for
seven years  to Mercie Florence Holcomb and their second daughter
was born the week after he enlisted. Upon his return from the war he
went back to work in the shoe business but then something changed.
Although he was listed as still married on the 1880 Federal Census,
Andrew was living alone except for his housekeeper  Amelia Peterson.
He and his wife may have been in the process of getting a divorce
already because his marital status was given as divorced in the
subsequent Censuses up to 1910. In his final years, Andrew turned to
poultry farming and was an officer in a local association of poultry
farmers.

Andrew's gravestone intrigues me. It gives his year of death as 1917
but The Dunham Genealogy says it was 1910. And although he and
Mercie were divorced they are buried together. Was this the triumph
of a determined woman or the decision of their daughters?

But I found something even more interesting about Andrew Jackson
Dunham and I'll discuss that next!

A FAMILY REUNION OF SORTS10

 I haven't forgotten my new discovered Dunham cousins buried here in
Abington's Mt. Vernon Cemetary. I've been reseaching them on the
internet with success in some cases and not so much in others.

I discovered a few things about General Henry Dunham. Apparently
he was a successful merchant here in Abington and worked his way up
as an officer in the Massachusetts Militia until he achieved the
rank of Brigadier General of the Second Brigade of the First Division of
the Third Regiment of the Light Infantry in the late 1840's. He retired
from that position in 1850.

One interesting note was the discovery of another connection with the
Gurney family. Henry's wife Mary Cushing was the daughter of Sarah
Gurney.

I had more luck researching their son Henry Jr. (He's listed erroneously
as "Hervey Dunham" in The History of the Town of Abington). In a
continuation of the ties between the Dunham family with Charleston,
S.C., he married a girl from there named Ella Bristol and a history of her
ancestry contained the following:

"Ella Bristol, born May 18, 1845. She married,  March 31, 1869, 
Henry Dunham of Abington, Mass., an inventor of leather machinery. 
He died Sept. 22, 1884.


From the Abington Herald:—" In the death of Henry
Dunham, which occurred Monday morning at his home on
Center Avenue, of inflammation of the bowels, the town
of Abington loses one of its most prominent, widely
known, and esteemed citizens. Mr. Dunham was one of
twelve children. His father was Gen. Henry Dunham,
son of Ezra, whose grand-father was Cornelius Dunham,
born in Plymouth in 1724. The name is among the
oldest and most distinguished of the Old Colony names.
The mother of the deceased, still living at the age of eighty-
one, was Mary Cushing, daughter of Col. Brackley Cush-
ing — another old and honored Old Colony family name.
Mr. Dunham began business life as a shoe manufacturer
in the large factory on Lake Street that bears his name.
He retired in 1873, and turned his attention to shoe
machinery, and has given to the world some very important
inventions and improvements in this direction. The
three most important are the Dunham riveting machine,
the toe nail machine, and the Dunham quilting, machine;
a detailed description of all these appeared in the Herald
of Sept. 5. Mr. Dunham made the first quilting nail
ever produced, and is believed to be the originator of
the idea of inserting nails into the sole while off the boot.
The funeral took place at his late residence Thursday
afternoon, Rev. Messrs. Pettee and Warren officiating, with
music by the new church choir. The esteem in which the
deceased was held was attested not only by a profusion
of flowers, but also by the presence of many prominent
citizens of this and other towns. Mr. Dunham leaves a
wife and three children, two boys and a girl."

John E Morris The Bontecou genealogy: A record of the descendants 
of Pierre Bontecou, a Huguenot refugee from France, in the lines 
of his sons (Hartford, Conn. Press of the Case, Lockwood & Brainard
Company, 1885)  pp179-180

After Henry Dunham Jr's death his widow became involved in several
lawsuits involving infringements on his patents by other shoe
manufacturers.

In the Massachusetts Vital Records, 1841-1910, the cause of his death
is listed as peritonitis and his occupation as "Inventor".




To be continued....

52 GRAVESTONES IN 52 WEEKS 4: TILDEN FAMILY PLOT, MARSHFIELD HILLS CEMETERY

Another photo from my  20111 visit to the Marshfield Hills Cemetery in Marshfield, Ma.
It's another family plot for members of the Tilden family, so these are more distant cousins. I'm
descended from Nathaniel Tilden, my 9x great grandfather. His son Stephen (my 8x great
grandfather) lived in Marshfield with his wife Hannah Little, who he married there in 1661.

 The family name is easily visible at the bottom of the monument... 

...but the names of the family members are weathered and difficult to read.

These headstones are also in tough shape.

52 GRAVESTONES IN 52 WEEKS 3: REV. GEORGE LEONARD OF MARSHFIELD, MA.

    REV. GEORGE LEONARD,
                  Son of
    REV. ELIJAH LEONARD.
Born in Marshfield May 26, 1801.
                Graduated at
     Harvard University 1823.
Ordained vat Marshfield 1836.
Pastor of Second Congregational
        Society for 25 years.
             Died July 9, 1881.
A faithful and beloved minister.
A preacher direct and sincere in speech.
An affectionate husband, a kind father.
An honored and trusted citizen.
His memory will be a legacy of honor
and inspiration to the community.
 "Blessed are the dead who died in the Lord."

                   CHARLOTTE E.
                        His widow
                  Died Nov.21, 1884.
                       Aged 78 years.
          "Her children shall arise up and call  
          her blessed."

Charlotte's full name is Charlotte Emmeline (Washburn) Leonard. It turns out she is a distant cousin
through my Edson, Fobes, and Packard family lines. I didn't know we were related until just now as
I wrote this blog entry.

Despite the great esteem Rev. George Leonard was held in at the time of his death in 1881, when I
visited the Marshfield Hills Cemetery in 2011, the Leonard family plot was overrun by weeds and
young trees:

I'll have to go back to the cemetery this summer to see what condition the plot is in now.

WENHAM CEMETERY, CARVER, MA. 30APR2012 PT2

The Wenham Cemetery contains graves of distant cousins from the Barrows,
Dunham, and Faunce families. This post will deal with the Barrows family. My
immigrant ancestor was John Barrowe/Barrow/Barrows and I'm descended from
his son Robert, my 7x great grandfather, and then his son George Barrows. The
Barrows family members I found buried in the Wenham Cemetery descend
from another of Robert's sons, John Barrows.

My 3rd cousin 5x removed Asa Barrows.

His wife Deborah Dewey

Their children Isaac, Asa, and Almira Barrows

Their granddaughter, Jane (Barrows) Skinner

Next, the Dunhams.

WENHAM CEMETERY, CARVER, MA. 30APR2012 PT1

Wenham Cemetery in Carver Ma. dates from 1770 and is also known as the
East Carver Cemetery. It's located on Wenham Rd which passes by several
cranberry bogs along the way. I visited it on a warm April afternoon in 2012
looking for cousins from my Dunham and Barrows lines.

 

The woods at the back of the cemetery. I wonder if those steps were for kids or a hunter?

 

 

The view from the back of the cemetery across Wenham Rd. towards a cranberry bog.

 

 

 

Next post, what and who I found there.

SOUTH MIDDLEBORO CEMETERY, MIDDLEBORO, MA. 11JUN 2012 PT3

I knew that my 5x great grandfather Caleb Benson had been buried here but
while I found headstones for many Benson family cousins, I didn't find
Caleb's on this trip:

My 3rd cousin 4x removed Ansel Benson.

The rusted gate to the burial plot of Consider Benson & family.

First cousin 6x removed Lieut. Consider Benson

Second cousin 5x removed Asa Benson & wife Druzilla.

About a week later I made a return visit. It appears Caleb's original
stone had been destroyed by weather or vandalism and after searching
around a bit I found a newer marker for him :
 

This marker was the first hint I had that Caleb was a clergyman.

CENTRAL CEMETERY, CARVER MA, 26APR 2012

After leaving Lakenham Cemetery I continued further down Rte 58 to another
location in Carver, Ma. The Central Cemetery is situated behind the United
Church of  Carver, and there are more of my Barrows and Ellis cousins laid
to rest here.

This is the headstone of Lothrop Barrows,  my 2nd cousin 5x removed. It's right
 at the entrance to the cemetery, on the right hand side as you enter through the
gate by the Church. I didn't realize it at the time but there's something wrong with
this picture that I took. Lothrop Barrows was a Captain in the Massachusetts
State Militia and he died on 6ul 1857. The medallion on the flag holder is one for
a member of the Grand army of the Republic, the Civil War Union Army veterans'
organization. My guess is it was uprooted from it's proper location either by the
wind or human hands and was put here by mistake by someone trying to show respect.

ONE YEAR OLD RABBIT

I started The Old Colony Graveyard Rabbit a year ago today as a place to
post pictures from my cemetery trips. I'm afraid it doesn't get as much attention
from me as my genealogy blog West in New England but I hope to do better
this year and post here more often. I'm fortunate to live in Massachusetts
which is rich not only in history and genealogy but also in some of the most
interesting and beautiful graveyards and cemeteries.

Besides sharing more pictures, I want to try to research & share the stories
of the people whose lives are represented by their grave markers.

So here's to another year of photography and story telling!

GRAVESIDE MEDALLIONS: F.L.T. R.

I spotted this graveside medallion the other day on a walk through my
local cemetery:

This was by a grave of a married couple. It denotes a member of a Lodge of
Rebekah, the female branch of the International Order of Odd Fellows. The
bird is a dove , a symbol of peace, and the moon and stars stand for the Divine
order of the universe. The FLT in the chain are the Three Links of Friendship,
Love and Truth, and the R stands for the Rebekahs.

WILLIAM F. BARLOW 1873/1874-?

This oversized urn has fascinated me since the first time I noticed it at the
Mt Vernon Cemetery in Abigton, Ma. It is actually a planter and at one time
had some shrub or plant growing in it. The only information on it is the plate
on the brick base: William F. Barlow Jr.

I haven't found much information on Mr Barlow but what I did find at a
Rootsweb page might explain the bricks. At Michael Damon's Damon Tree
there is a listing for William F. Barlow Jr who married a Nellie Damon in
North Abington on 27Mar 1881. There is no date or place of birth given
for William but he and Nellie had a son, Allen. William's occupation is given
as "Architect". Perhaps that is the reason for the bricks?

I checked Ancestry and found William on the 1920 Federal Census as
a widower living in nearby Brockton, Ma. His son Allen was living with him
and was 18 years old.  William was 46 and he was born in Rhode Island.

Then I looked for an earlier Census record and found William on the 1880
U.S. Census for Newport Rhode Island.. He was living in the household
headed by his grandparents Moses and Rebecca Barlow. Moses' gave
his occupation as boat builder. William Barlow Sr. lived there as well
and was a 36 year old house carpenter. There is a listing for a 30year
old daughter Maria but it's possible she was William's wife and William
Jr's mother since both William's are listed as sons.

I haven't found a death record yet but now I know a bit more about
the person buried under that unique memorial.

GRAVESIDE MEDALLIONS: I.O.R.M.

One of the things that I noticed when I first started taking cemetery photos
were the assorted medallions placed near gravestones. So I thought I'd feature
some here from time to time. Due to the recent rash of thefts of such items
from cemeteries I won't disclose the location of these items to protect them from
metal thieves.

This first one has the initials I.O.R.M. which stands for the Improved Order of
Red Men. This was a fraternal group organized back in the late 19th century that
claimed it was descended from the Sons of Liberty from the American Revolution.
The Indian theme was based on the Boston Tea Party when the Sons of Liberty
disguised as themselves as Indians,

"No 153" is the lodge of which the deceased was a member.

When I researched this medallion I thought I'd read about the I.O.R.M.
somewhere before and a quick google search reminded me of where it had
been: an article on Heather Wilkinson Rojo's Nutfield Genealogy about the
Boston Tea Party that you can read here!

THE FRIEND TILDEN TOMB, MARSHFIELD HILLS CEMETERY

When I visited the Marshfield Hills Cemetery two weeks ago I saw what
for me was an unusual tomb. The inscription over the entrance reads
"Friend Tilden !879 "  There are two panels of inscriptions at the entrance,
one that apparently broke free and then split in half. Only the bottom of
that panel is visible; the larger top half is leaning face first against the
entrance. The part I'd never encountered before are the headstones lining
the entranceway. They are for the same people listed on the tomb panels.
 Is it possible that Friend Tilden or his family had the remains of his 
parents and other relatives moved there from their original resting places
and included the original headstones in the move?

As I said, it's the first time I've seen something like this. But I'm still a
relative newbie in exploring cemeteries. Has anyone else ever seen
this sort of arrangement in their own explorations?

AFTER THE STORM: MT. VERNON CEMETERY, ABINGTON, MA..

Many of the oldest trees in any neighborhood can be found in the local
cemeteries. Because of their age and height they are at risk in severe
weather and several trees at Mt Vernon Cemetery here in Abington
suffered damage during Tropical Storm Irene.

What was striking about it was the type of damage. Officials had warned
that because of the heavy rain trees would be pulled out by the roots by
the high winds. Such was not the case here where it looks like the trees
were snapped or split by the force of the winds.Luckily it did not
appear that any headstones were damaged by the fallen tree trunks.
I hope the same is true in the other cemeteries I've photographed over the
previous months.