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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.
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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."
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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
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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.
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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.
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