Episcopalian Cemetery Project

1. Dr. Enoch and Phebe Greene
2. Ann M. Shamp
3. Gilbert Marten
4. Charles and Deborah Haight
5. The Platts
6. Josie and Willie Sands
7. Annie and Emily Stanton 
8. John and Mary Green 
9. Gilbert, Mahalia, and Emeline Tompkins
10. Gilbert and Mary Merritt Brundage
11. Stanley W. Sarles

ECP 2: Ann M. Shamp

Ann M. Shamp, wife of James C., died on March 4, 1863, at the age of 26. My first task was to connect her, the only person with the surname Shamp in the cemetery, to the other graves. The answer was clear as soon as I found her death record in the collection of Massachusetts Town and Vital Records (she died in Springfield, MA). Of course she would be a Searles, the most common name in the cemetery.

Springfield, MA death record of Ann Shamp

Ann's brother Theodore, who had died two years earlier at age 21, is also buried in the cemetery, but their parents, Hiram and Ellen, are not.

Three years prior to her death from consumption, Ann was living in Westchester, New York, with her husband James, who was born in Wooster, Ohio, their baby daughter Mary, and Ann's sister Henrietta.

1860 US Federal Census

What had brought Ann to Massachusetts? It seems that she and James had moved there. In 1870, he was still living in Springfield, with his second wife Elmira, his and Ann's daughter Mary, and two sons. He worked as a superintendant at a cemetery. James's son Joseph, who was born around 1862, is plausibly Ann's son. There is a large gap in age between him and his (presumed) half-brother, Walter.

The one question is, whose daughter is Lillian? If she is Ann's, why wasn't she listed in the 1860 census?

1870 US Federal Census

The answer is provided by James and Elmira's marriage record. The couple was married on June 30, 1864, in Chicopee, MA. It was the second marriage for both of them. Although I've been unable to identify Elmira's first husband, presumably Lillian was hers from a former marriage.

James and Elmira's marriage record, Chicopee, MA

Springfield, MA in 1879

 Ten years later, in the 1880 census, James is still in Springfield, still working at the cemetery, but is living with a third wife, Nancy, along with Mary, Joseph, and Walter.

1880 US Federal Census

Thanks to Massachusetts's impeccable records, I was able to find that James and Nancy M. Knight were married on April 3, 1878, in Springfield, when he was 42 and she was 34. The record also lists James's parents, Andrew and Eliza Shamp, and Nancy's father, Asa M. Knight.

James and Nancy's marriage record, Springfield, MA

James died in Springfield on February 9, 1887, at the age of 50, of rheumatism (rheumatic fever?).

James Shamp's death record, Springfield, MA

James and Nancy didn't have children together. In 1900, she was living in Springfield with her sister, Rebecca Knight.

1900 US Federal Census

Meanwhile, Ann and James's daughter Mary married Robert M. West, a carpenter who was born in Nova Scotia, on March 15, 1882, in Boston.

Robert and Mary's marriage record, Boston, MA

Robert and Mary had one daughter, Anna, who was born in July 1881, or possibly 1882 or 1883, depending on which census you believe.

1900 US Federal Census

In 1910, Anna was married to Charlie H. Sibley, a railway machinist, and the couple were living with Robert and Mary at 50 Clifton Avenue in Springfield.

1910 US Federal Census

Ten years later Anna, age 37, was a widow and the owner of a house with three boarders at 60 Clifton Avenue. Her parents were still at 50 Clifton Avenue, and were still there in 1930, while Anna had moved to 267 Dwight Street Extension. After that, I lose track of them.

1920 US Federal Census

So there you have it. Three generations, beginning with the tragic death of Ann Shamp when she was 26, and ending with her granddaughter Anna being widowed in her thirties. James Shamp lost two wives, only to leave his third wife a young widow. It seems that only Ann's daughter Mary was the only person who was able to experience a long married life.

ECP 1: Dr. Enoch and Phebe Greene

Grave of Phebe Greene and her children

This is the first post in what I hope will be an extensive project, which I'm calling the Episcopalian Cemetery Project. I'll pick a gravestone (or two) from the cemetery, and see what information I can find out about the people based on some basic genealogical research.

I was drawn to this pair of gravestones first because of their sadness. There are a lot of young children buried in this cemetery, along with young mothers, fathers, sisters, etc., but the story behind these graves is that of the total annihilation of this small family within a few years. Five souls are buried beneath these two stones.

Grave of Enoch Greene, MD

Enoch Greene, M.D., as he is identified on his stone, was born in Weare, New Hampshire, on October 29, 1820, the son of Moses Greene and Betty Johnson. He was presumably named for his grandfather, Betty's father, Enoch Johnson. He attended the Clinton Grove Academy, the Nine Partners' Friends' School in Dutchess County, NY, and the Medical University of New York (now NYU School of Medicine).

In his early career, Enoch worked as a physician at Bellevue Hospital and Blackwell's Island Hospital in New York. In May 1845, he moved to New Castle, in Westchester County, where he began his own private practice, and "very soon gathered a large circle of patients and friends," according to The History of Weare, NH.

On June 25 of that year, he married Phebe Hoag Chase, a Quaker who was born in Weare to John Chase and Betty Dow in March 1810. An antiques dealer in Philadelphia had a sampler (now sold) that was created by Phebe's first cousin, Mary Gove, under Phebe's instruction (Phebe is credited on the sampler itself as "instructress").

Sampler made by Phebe's cousin Mary Gove

In 1848, Enoch became the medical director of Sing Sing Prison, and, shortly after, the superintendant of the hospitals on Ward's Island, where in the course of his duties he was responsible for saving two dozen child patients from a fire. He was also credited for improving the quality of care for patients with "ship's fever" (typhus), so that the death rates greatly dropped, and for designing and overseeing the construction of several new buildings on the island.

Then, in August 1849, Phebe died of cholera following only a few hours' illness. Buried with her in the cemetery are their son Freddy and "two infants." 

Enoch was forced to resign his position at Ward's Island in January 1850 due to illness, but by November was well enough to begin working again, as chief physician at Kings County Hospital. During this time Enoch was living in Manhattan as a boarder in a house with four other people, one of them a medical student, according to the 1850 Census, taken in August.

1850 US Federal Census

On March 13, 1851, Enoch married again, to Susan Brundage, the daughter of Gilbert Brundage and Mary Merritt, who was born October 13, 1822. Then, on April 24, Enoch died of typhus in Flatbush, Brooklyn. This was the announcement of his death in the New-York Daily Tribune on April 26.

NY Daily Tribune April 6, 1851

By the 1900 Census, Susan - now Susan Horton - had been widowed again. The census states she had no children (living or dead). Her widowed "sister" (who was probably misidentified, judging by the fact that she was 37 and Susan was 78) and "niece" (age 14) were living with her. Susan died on August 13, 1906, and is buried in the Episcopalian Cemetery.

1900 US Federal Census

[Sources]

Back to the Graveyard

I went back to the graveyard today after doing some research. I now have a list of most of the people buried there, which I can compare against the stones. I'm planning on doing some sort of project with them on this blog - pick a stone and see what genealogical information I can come up with to match that person. What do you think?

Weekend

 

 

 

 

1-4. Checking out some ancient (18th century) sandstone gravestones at the Episcopalian Cemetery with a local group that's working to conserve them. Check out the detail on the first one - the angel head has curly hair and grid-patterned wings. There are Revolutionary War soldiers buried in this cemetery (the church served as a military hospital), but few have markers.
5-7. SNOW.
8. Tea and Welsh tea cakes made by my grandmother.
9-10. Stripey's favorite places.

Howell Icelandic Collection

These are some of my favorite photos from the Howell Icelandic Collection at Cornell University, featuring photographs taken by Frederick W. W. Howell, Henry A. Perkins, and Magnús Ólafsson in the early 20th century. Click that link to see the rest of them.