Ask a Genealogist

Question: Can you direct me to the location and sources of acemetery in Middlefield, Massachusetts?  I believe it wascalled the Clark Wright Burying Ground.

Answer: The Clark Wright Cemetery dates back to the year1816.  It is located at 100 Clark Wright Road inMiddlefield.  The Vital Records of Middlefield, Massachusettsto the year 1850 include gravestone data.  If you find adeath, or a birth date with a reference in this book as G.R.4 it isthe Clark Wright Cemetery.  Also NEHGS has a manuscript of theinscriptions from this cemetery - Call # MS70/MID/11.

Question: Can you tell me if there is an early Quaker cemetery in the town of Mattapoisett, Massachusetts.  My ancestors farm was nearby, and I suspect they were members.

Answer: There is a Quaker cemetery in that town called the Mattapoisett Friends Meeting House Cemetery on Marion Road.  The cemetery was started in 1827, and was originally located in Rochester, Mass.  The town of Mattapoisett was incorporated from Rochester, Mass. in 1857.

Question: Recently examining some Vermont Cemetery transcriptions I found extra details.  These records extend back to his ancestors in the 1600's.  Obviously this is not on the gravestone or is it?

Answer:  In some cases genealogists added extra details.  In this case these inscriptions include the know ancestors of each burial in the cemetery.  As useful as this can be, it can also cause a little confusion. 

Question: I saw a military marker at a cemetery with abbreviations I do not recognize.  Can you refer me to a cheat sheet?  For instance what is a "T SGT."

Answer:  I would suggest a a list that I found online PDF from the Veterans Administration - http://www.cem.va.gov/CEM/docs/abbreviations/Ranks_Army.pdf     To answer your question regarding "T SGT." that is a Technical Sergeant.

 Question:  I recently saw in Newburyport, Mass. the gravestones of some ancestors.  It listed one as the Consort and one as the Relict of a relative.  What term does this mean, I am sorry I am new to genealogy.

Answer: No need to apologize.  I had the same confusion when I first saw the same type of inscription.  A CONSORT is the "wife" of a living man, and his widow would be his RELICT.

Question: I was wondering what happened to the tombs that were at St. Matthew's Episcopal Church in South Boston.  This site does not seem to be located there anymore.

Answer: It would appear from TheBoston Daily Advertiser – Dec. 7, 1863 that the bodies were to be transferred to Mt. Hope Cemetery on Walk Hill St., Roslindale, Mass.

"St. Matthew’s Church Cemetery – Orders were adopted discontinuing the Cemetery under St. Matthew’s Church, Ward 12, and permitting the removal of the remains, providing no objections are made within sixty days.  An order was subsequently adopted authorizing the Trustees of Mount Hope Cemetery to set apart for the use of the church before named, a portion of said Cemetery for the burial of the remains that may be exhumed; also to pay the Trustees of the church $600.  For expenses that may be occurred."

In 1867 an article appears in The Boston Daily Advertiser once again (Feb. 15, 1867) explaining the moved.

".. and a lot of 780 feet on Cypress Avenue has been set apart and used, under an order of the City government of 1864, as a receptacle for the contents of the tombs of the old St. Matthew’s Church, Church, South Boston."

I spoke with the Mount Hope Cemetery and they had no record of the lot initially, however on a map they realize where the spot is.  I would imagine that the names associated with the tomb burials are lost.  But you can feel free to contact the Mount Hope with the name(s) you have in question: 617-635-7361.

Question: I am looking for a place of burial for a person who died in Boston in 1879. I looked at the Massachusetts vital records however it does not list them.

Answer: At NEHGS we have a collection of microfiche of deaths records in Boston from 1849-1890. This collection is the same as the state record with one exception. You will locate the name of the place of burial on the city record. This is true with most cities and towns in the Mass. Vital Record series. The exactly location of burial is not uniformly given until the first decade of the 20th century on the certificates. If you have any question on the location of the cemetery you can consult my book A Guide to Massachusetts Cemeteries (Boston, NEHGS, 2009) while at NEHGS.