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John Glassford (#47271570)
 member for 3 years, 1 month, 4 days
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Bio and Links
Bio Photo REGARDING PERSONAL USE OF MY PHOTOS PLEASE SCROLL TO BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE.

Welcome to my page.
First a personal thank you to all of the great and dedicated folks I've met on this site with a passion for documenting our ancestral histories with the intention of passing this information down to future generations. I live in Essex County, Massachusetts on the beautiful and historic North Shore, and I have been interested in cemeteries (esp old Colonial Era Puritan burying grounds) since childhood and the history of Colonial Massachusetts Bay Colony in general. My grandparents, also history buffs, were also fans of old burying grounds and they used to take me to them quite a bit as a child on day-trips studying old gravestones. My father and late uncle were Civil War re-inactors and my father is an expert on the American Civil War and on antique guns. My main interest regarding older cemeteries in New England is Puritan gravestone symbolism.

I have written & published six books on Colonial Era gravestone study in Massachusetts and have published about 12 calendars full of my own photography from old burying grounds here in Massachusetts. I have also researched, written and conducted a total of three old graveyard tours in the area and have given one lecture on gravestone symbolism for charity.

I am a member of the NEHGS. I enjoy amateur photography and some light research [when scratching the surface of learning about the lives of folks from the past, you want to dig deeper]. My specialties would fall in the realms of deciphering hard-to-read stones, my knowledge on usages of symbols on any stone with a focus on Puritan era motifs, some of the old inscriptions inscribed in Latin, reading old Puritan-era scripts on gravestones [such as writing styles, obsolete and archaic words and trends in inscriptions], and a strong focus on transcribing of epitaphs. My greatest contribution to this site would have to be my ability to bring about identification of the individual listed on the gravestone which is the first and most important step in the process of unfolding the life of the individual and bringing truth to the descendants of that individual. My biggest challenge in identification of an individual is in deciphering fragmented pieces of inscription from an old gravestone and comparing that data to existing Vital Records, folks buried in the immediate vicinity and scouting for clues.

*******

Epitaph from the gravestone of John Sargent [d. 1797] found at Lower Corner Cemetery in Merrimac, Massachusetts:

"from scene to scene
our fleeting moments go,
And then return the grave, the dust we owe;
Yet, shall this dust in nobler form arise,
And join its kindred spirits in the skies"

Epitaph from the gravestone of Amos Perkins, shoemaker [b. 1811 - d. 1894] found at Boston Street Cemetery in Topsfield, Massachusetts:

"Rest aged saint, thy pilgrim staff lay down,
Now take the palm branch and the blood bought crown."

*******

Cemeteries I have photographed all extant headstones in entirety or finished off remainder, all photos (excluding post-event burials):

Wenham Cemetery, Wenham, Essex, MA
Dodge Row Cemetery, Beverly, Essex, MA (utilizing names list and plot maps)
Abbott Street Burial Ground, Beverly, Essex, MA (utilizing names list and plot maps)
Highland/Old North (old cemetery only incl. the terraced areas and woods), Ipswich, Essex, MA

Theological Seminary Burying Ground at Phillips Academy, Andover, Essex, MA
St Augustine's Cem., Andover, Essex, MA
Fletcher Cem., Tyngsborough, Middlesex, MA
Swallow Cemetery, Dunstable, Middlesex, MA
Averill Family Cem., No.Andover, Essex, MA
Second Cemetery, No. Andover, Essex, MA

Sawyer Hill Burying Ground, Newburyport, Essex, MA
Fuller Cemetery (at Richardson's Farm), Middleton, Essex, MA
Flint Cemetery, Middleton, Essex, MA
Lower Corner Cemetery, Merrimac, Essex, MA
Brookside Cemetery, W. Boxford, Essex, MA
90% at Walnut Hill Cemetery, W. Newbury, Essex, MA

Boston St. Cemetery, Topsfield, Essex, MA
Laurel Hill Cemetery (old sect. only & some newer) , Reading Middlesex, MA
South Burying Grounds, Tewksbury, Middlesex, MA
Old First Parish Burying Ground [Sandy Bay Cemetery], Rockport, Essex, MA
Second West Parish Cemetery, Haverhill, Essex, MA

*******

TRANSFERS:

I only transfer memorials within FindAGrave guidelines. Out of guidelines requests are deleted. I cannot transfer anything to you if you do not provide me with your member number. If I don't respond to your request for a transfer that means I would prefer to keep the memorial.

*******

PERSONAL USE OF MY PHOTOS ON NON-PROFIT WEBSITES:

Indicate "© 2010-2013 John Glassford on Find A Grave" as source of photo. You MAY use my photo as long as proper credit is given.

Do NOT post my photos to other FindAGrave memorials. Just let me know and I will upload them to each additional memorial. You may contact me for this purpose by clicking the EDIT tab at the top right hand corner of each memorial page.


*******

PLEASE VISIT MY WEBSITE BELOW...
 Contact: Leave Public Message
 Website: http://www.lulu.com/spotl...
Contributions to
Find A Grave
 • 21,333 Memorials Added
 • 20,646 Memorials Managed
 • 131 Memorials/week
 • 46,552 Photos
 • 793 Volunteer Photos Taken
 • 2,383 Virtual Flowers
 • 6 Virtual Cemeteries
 • 20 Fame Ratings
 • 18 Friends
Search Contributor's Records

 
First NameLast Name

Virtual Cemeteries
Averill Family Cemetery (11)
Epitaphs (209)
Favorites (161)
Folks I knew [friends & r... (19)
Fuller Cemetery (Middleto... (2)
Puritan Gravestone Design (191)
Find A Grave Friends
Amy Levesque, Barry Gates, Charles Ferris, Dan Driscoll, David Allen Lam..., Fred Elwell, House Of Procto..., Jack Parker, John Arsenault, John Thomas Gra..., Mary Gilmore, MHB, Nareen, et al, Norman Dodge, Paul Noyes, ReLyRoTh, Skip Colcord, Tarbox family
Messages left for John Glassford (36)[Leave Message]
David Boston
RE: Ebenezer Knap at Old Hill, Newburyport, MA
Thanks, John!
Added by David Boston on May 12, 2013 8:03 PM
Meges
Timothy Greenleaf
Thanks for the information. I have added it to the memorial.
Added by Meges on May 10, 2013 6:42 PM
Amy Levesque
Old Hill - Newburyport
Hi John G!

You rock! I love popping photos on such thorough memorials and having link requests, etc attended to so quickly!

Thank you for being awesome...

Amy
Added by Amy Levesque on May 10, 2013 6:00 PM
W. Blanchard
RE: Photo Permission
That's quite a Stone! A number of years ago a Lady wrote her memoirs of Athens and this area. In it she said there was a small white Headstone in a graveyard near Athens with an epitaph that reads:

O' how we loved her none could tell,
For earth she was to blessed.
The croup that took her off last spring,
Left more for all the rest.

I have been in every Cemetery in this area and even found a small Cemetery that had been completely forgotten about but I have yet to run across this Stone.
Added by W. Blanchard on Feb 08, 2013 7:34 PM
Time Traveler
Berry Farm Cemetery
Hi John, could you contact me regarding Berry Farm Cemetery in North Andover. It is in danger from development of a housing complex and I would like your expert advice.

hocker dot kevin at gmail dot com

Thanks
Added by Time Traveler on Jan 17, 2013 10:19 PM
Skip Colcord
Mary Radford Lord
Thanks for your fast response on my suggestions for the Mary (Radford) Lord memorial.

You're an absolute saint for all the work you've done on that cemetery!
Added by Skip Colcord on Jan 10, 2013 7:59 PM
Sue Follansbee
RE: Poore at Rural Cemetery (W. Newbury, Mass.)
Hi John,
It looks like you've done a fine job of adding those Poores. George Henry Poore is my grandfather's third cousin, so there is a connection. I think I'd rather you keep the management of them, at least for now; I'm dealing with cancer, and I don't have any extra time or energy right now for working on these. However, if my situation changes so that I change my mind, I have your email. Thanks for putting them all on Find a Grave.
Sue
Added by Sue Follansbee on Jan 08, 2013 7:03 AM
Fred Elwell
Allen Perley
Thank you for transferring Allen Perley & family memorials to me. I appreciate you taking pictures of my family headstone and I'm so glad you didn't wait for permission as I would never had found them and after all isn't that what this web page and community is all about?

Keep up the great work
Added by Fred Elwell on Jan 02, 2013 3:52 PM
Dennis & Jean Boyer
Richard Sutton, SAR Patriot #P-300573, your Find A Grave Memorial# 83162816
I am Dennis Boyer, Secretary, Arkansas Society, National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. I am a volunteer working on updates of the SAR Patriot Index, now available on line at http://patriot.sar.org. Richard Sutton is among my assignees, and I have located your photo at his memorial. We anticipate eventually being able to include photos, where available, with the Patriot's listing, so I am asking your permission to download and prepare for posting your photo.

Thanks for your good work.

Findagrave contributor #4749514
Added by Dennis & Jean Boyer on Nov 27, 2012 9:41 AM
Pete Newell
Samuel Moody
Hi John - Thanks so much for taking a photo of Samuel Moody's (my 4th great grandfather) marker. You did a great job!

Pete Newell
Sarasota, Florida
Added by Pete Newell on Nov 17, 2012 9:32 PM
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