Tombstone Tuesday - Seavey-Richardson Families at Sandy Creek


Sandy Creek Cemetery, on a hill beside Willett Brook, is located on the present Pinook Road, facing the road to South Bridgton.  According to the published history of Bridgton,* "most of those living in this area when Sandy Creek was a thriving industrial village are buried here.  All the stones were removed at one time and the entire cemetery regraded and the stones replaced, presumably near to their original locations."  In 1843, Jonathan Seavey was one of the committee members tasked to "lot the grounds."  He and Harriet are my Great-Great Grandparents.


This cemetery has no sign or fence.  I only remembered where it was from exploring with Dad several years ago.  It was a beautiful October day when I ventured up Rt. 302 to take these pictures.   There are child graves from all 3 unions. 


A little time-line here:

• 1824 Jonathan Seavey and Mary G. Blake wed.  They had 7-12 children, including a child born in Jefferson, NH and adopted (lists vary).
• 
  
• 1838 Eben Richardson and Harriet Cross Libby  wed.  They had 2 children.
• 
  
• 1844 Eben Richardson died at age 29.  He and Harriet were only married 6 years.
• 
  
• 1845 Mary Blake died at age 37, and Jonathan Seavey married Harriet C. Libby.  They had 7 children, and Jonathan adopted the two Richardson daughters.

                                                 

"The widow of Eben Richardson married a widower Jonathan Seavey, 19 years her senior, and outlived him 32 years." 

fr. Bridgton Families

compiled by Mr. Blynn Davis, Maine Historical Society



  Jonathan Seavey

    DIED

   Nov. 14, 1858

   AE, 63 yrs. 6 mos.

Farewell my wife and children all

From you a Father Christ doth call

Mourn not for me, it is in vain

To call me to your sight again

  

Mrs.

Mary G.

Wife of

Jonathan Seavy

died Feb 9

1845

AE 37 years, 2 mos

& 15 days

Sleep on thy lovely dust

I shall soon be summoned

To sleep with thee then our

Spirits will be reunited in

The peaceful realms of bliss

And happiness

Albion P.

Son of Mary G. &

J. Seavey

Died May 11, 1856

AE 12 yrs, 8ms

14 ds.

Mr.

Eben Richardson

DIED

Jan. 10, 1844

AE 29 yrs & 4 mo.

Sleep on dear brother

Take thy rest

God called thee home

He thought it best

Harriet C.

Wife of Jonathan Seavey

May 23, 1814

Mar 23, 1891

Yet love will dream and faith will trust

Since he who knows our needs is just

That somehow somewhere meet we must

Elizabeth B.

daught. of

Ebenezer & Harriet

C. Richardson, died

May 27, 1847

AE. 

3 yrs, 11 mo.

& 8 days

Thus fades the lovely blooming flower

Frail swelling solace of a home

soon our transient
(some words buried/unreadable) 

Eben G.

Son of Mary G. &

J. Seavy

Died May 11, 1856

AE 12 yrs. 8ms

14 ds.

Charles C.

son of Jonathan

& Harriet C. Seavey

DIED

Sept. 7, 1851

AE 2 years. & 2 mo.

Cora May

DAU. OF

J. & H.C. Seavey

DIED

Sept. 21, 1865

* History of Bridgton, Maine, 1768-1994, 2d ed., Bridgton Historical Society, 1993. P.463.

Tombstone Tuesday - Grandpa Bustin

Have you ever plucked a random picture out of an assortment of relics, just to simply see how far you can go with it?  That's what I did the other day, with wonderfully unexpected results.


The following is the front and back of my picture, 2 x 3 in size (fitting in the palm of my hand).

 

Of course, my first question was "Whose Grandpa?" I remember my great-grandfather, Frederick Parker Bustin (1886-1965), buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Portland, Maine. Was this his father or his grandfather?


My second question was "Where is Church Hill?" It was not a placename I was familiar with, although I had to assume it was in New Brunswick, where my great-grandfather grew up. Was this a church graveyard, or was this the name of a NB village, like Mechanic Settlement, where "Pap" was born.  


Google Maps led me to a Church Hill Rd near Mechanic Settlement, as well as Elgin, a town I had also heard mention of:

After quite a bit of creative googling, going back and forth between Church Hill, Church Hill Cemetery, Church Hill United Church, I finally arrived at a list of Albert Co., New Brunswick, cemeteries, and lo and behold, there was my cemetery - Church Hill United Cemetery Est. 1865, in ELGIN! And it was annotated as being fully transcribed in 2010!  You can only imagine how excited I was!


But here is the best part -- M. Helena Lewis, just this August, transcribed and photographed (!) every single grave, including those of my great-great Bustin grandparents.  Here they are, with full credit to Ms. Lewis for doing all the work:

 

Samuel J Bustin

died Oct 29, 1897 aged 79 yrs 4 ms

 

Mary E Bustin

died July 10, 1904 aged 55 yrs 10 ms

As I finish this post, I realize suddenly that Great Great Grandmother Bustin died when she was the age I am now - 55.  I can only speculate on her life, which undoubtedly was a hard one, and what caused her death.  But I am thrilled with this "best yet" genealogy discovery, and hope to make it down east someday to pay my respects.

Tombstone Tuesday - The Lovell-Olsen Lot

I grew up always knowing this as Aunt Polly's grave. Dad and Mom were sometimes the only ones who tended to it, putting red geraniums in the urn. The urn has cracked now, and is quite pitiful looking. This is Dad, last summer on one of our last cemetery visits. On that day I was able to find out from the cemetery office that there are eight people buried on this lot in Forest City Cemetery, South Portland, Maine:

1. Mattie (aka Martha and Matilda) Packard Brackley Crilley, Pauline and Alice's grandmother (born a Packard - hence my father's middle name - he was not named for the car!)
2. Louisa L. Brackley Lovell Spalding Washburn, Pauline and Alice's mother
3. Pauline M. Lovell, who never married, as far as I can tell
4. Wallace Olsen, son of Lawrence and Alice
5. Lawrence B. Olsen, Alice's second husband
6. Alice N. Lovell, her sister, and my great-grandmother
7. Fred Olsen, son of Lawrence and Alice
8. Lawrence Olsen, Jr., son of Lawrence and Alice

Tombstone Tuesday - Nana and Pap

Frederick Parker Bustin and Melvina Jane Hamilton are buried under this gravestone in Evergreen Cemetery in Portland, Maine. They are my maternal great-grandparents. Fred and Vina came from Canada, he from New Brunswick and she from Nova Scotia.


Actually, Fred and his two brothers married Melvina and her two sisters. There was a big write-up in the Portland paper about it, but that's a good story to save for another post!