It's a subject closely related to genealogy. Cemeteries and cemetery records are an important part of any genealogist's research strategies. Having knowledge of the customs and practices throughout the years can certainly be helpful. The importance of the gathering of cemetery data is obvious. The web site Find-A-Grave has been around for 15 years or more and now has nearly 15,000,000 entries. Billion Graves's goal is to log a billion graves! There are a myriad of other lesser known websites featuring cemetery and burial information. They're popular for a reason.
Back to the Gravestone Girls. Next Tuesday, 20 May 2014, the Chicopee Public Library has invited them to bring their knowledge and expertise to our genealogy "department." For the past few years, myself and some fellow genealogists have been teaching classes, holding seminars and inviting guests to speak. Brenda and company should certainly prove to be a hit.
To assist in the preparation for the event in Chicopee, I offered to take Brenda to all of the local cemeteries. She wanted to
[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="75"]
General Pershing (second from left) decorates Brigadier General Douglas MacArthur (third from left) with the Distinguished Service Cross. Major General Charles T. Menoher (left) reads out the citation. Colonel George E. Leach (fourth from left) and Colonel William Joseph Donovan await their decorations. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)[/caption]custom tailor this presentation to the local community, highlighting not only the families, but some of the more famous "Sons and Daughters" of Chicopee. For example, General Douglas MacArthur's father, "The Boy Colonel" of the Civil War, Lieutenant General Arthur MacArthur. There are other members of the MacArthur family including their in-laws the Belcher family.
A lesser known personality from Chicopee was Edward Bellamy, the cousin of Francis Bellamy who authored the original Pledge of Allegiance. Edward authored many books including "Looking Backward", a fictional account of a utopian world as
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Photographic portrait of Edward Bellamy, American author, c. 1889. This image is digitally edited from the Library of Congress online collection, as identified below. Copyright has expired on this image. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)[/caption]described by the main character, Julian West, who fell into a deep hypnotic sleep in his home in Boston, Massachusetts in 1887. When he awoke 113 years later, the world had changed....dramatically. "Looking Backward" was the third largest selling book of the time behind "Uncle Tom's Cabin" and "Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ." It immediately spawned the movement called "Nationalism" advocating concepts such as the nationalization of private property. "Bellamy Clubs" sprung open from coast to coast.
Does anyone remember Lizzy Borden? No, she wasn't from Chicopee but her defense lawyer lived here. George Dexter Robinson, Harvard educated, who became the principal of Chicopee High School at the ripe young age of 22 in 1856; left to become a lawyer, ran for and won a number of state offices including Governor of Massachusetts. After fashioning himself as a "country lawyer," his brilliant defense of Miss Borden led to her acquittal based on the fact that the state had presented nothing but weak circumstantial evidence which was nowhere near sufficient to convict.
All in all, I'm anxiously awaiting Brenda's presentation for a number of reasons. I'm intrigued with the subject matter, I've done more than my share of cemetery research with a large number of entries at Find-A-Grave and now, I've been personally involved in the research side of a presentation by Brenda and her Gravestone Girls!
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