The Unsolved 19th-Century Mystery in the Parking Lot
Why is there a lone grave in the parking lot of a former Dunkin' Donuts in Peabody, Massachusetts—and what happened to its occupant? Researcher Jonathan Hill uncovers the unsettling story behind the death of George Washington Flint. Read More
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Share your thoughts about the survey! Please limit submissions to 150 words or fewer. Your submission may be featured in an upcoming newsletter or shared on social media; please note in your email if you do not want your story to be shared. Published responses may be edited for clarity and length.
Last Week's Survey:
Multi-generational Family Burial Plots
Total: 3,428 Responses
89%, Yes, at least one of my ancestors is buried in a multi-generational family plot.
48%, I have done research to determine who is buried in a multi-generational family plot.
15%, I don't know the identity of everyone who is buried in my multi-generational family plot(s).
66%, I have visited at least one multi-generational family plot for genealogical purposes.
9%, No, I don't think any of my ancestors are buried in a multi-generational family plot.
Readers Respond
Peter H. Van Demark, Rockport, Massachusetts: My wife, Dr. Kathleen “Kate” Ackerman Van Demark (1948-2023), was buried last April in a plot in Mt Hope Cemetery, in Rochester, New York, that was purchased by my great-great-grandfather Charles Frederick Crosman, a Shaker apostate who lived from 1802 to 1865. Kate’s natural (or “green”) burial was the first burial in that plot since my great-aunt Lillie Louise Crosman Fowler (1885-1979) was interred there. Aunt Lillie’s parents are also buried in the Crosman plot, making four generations buried there.
John Graham, Melbourne, Florida: My great-great-grandmother Alma Taggart (Eveleth) McCulloch is buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Orlando, Florida. After Alma’s Civil War veteran husband died in Ohio in 1882, she and her three young children moved to Orlando where she ran a boarding house and worked as a dressmaker. She died and was buried in Orlando in 1917. Among those buried in the plot with her are two of her children, three of her grandchildren, and two of her great-grandchildren (including my mother). Also buried there are wives and husbands of her progeny.
Dick Ver Eecke, Peterborough, New Hampshire: When going through my mother's papers several years ago, I came across a letter dated December 4, 1942, from the manager of a funeral home in Brooklyn, New York. The letter listed ten individuals buried in a family plot in Calvary Cemetery, Queens, New York. The list included my great-grandfather Maurice McNamara, who died in 1887; his father, Maurice, who died in 1889; my great-grandmother Ellen McNamara, who died in 1926; and my grandfather Harry B. Ver Eecke, who died in 1942. Also interred there were four great-aunts and uncles and two close friends of the family.
Marcia Huntley Maloney, Laguna Woods, California: My ashes will be buried in our family cemetery in Langdon, New Hampshire. Five generations are buried there on Walker family land. My mother is buried in another Langdon cemetery with my father and his parents. I now live in California so it will be a long trip “back home.”
What We’re Reading
In My Yesterday In this Canada’s History magazine article, JJ Lee discusses uncovering her family’s immigration stories.
Joel Mackall hopes that his tours teach “the hidden histories of the city that we're in... Our inclusion, our belonging, our survival and our humanity is throughout the entire history [of Boston].”
The Climate Canvases of the Little Ice Age Low Country artists of the late Renaissance and Early Baroque eras captured the happiness and hardships of snowy winters—an ever rarer phenomenon now.
Spotlight: Online Finding Aids, Boothbay Region Historical Society, Maine
by Valerie Beaudrault
The town of Boothbay is located in Lincoln County, on Maine’s Atlantic coast. The Boothbay Region Historical Society has made a number of finding aids for their collections available on their website. There are seventeen lists and indexes that detail the contents of each collection. The society’s collections include account books, cemetery lists, family history files, maps, oral history recordings, and photographs. The individual lists and indexes have also been compiled into a Master Index, so that researchers can search all collections at the same time. Use the Find function to perform keyword searches of the indexes and the master list. Search Now
Non-probate assets such as an IRA, 401(k), or life insurance policy are not covered in your will or trust—you must name beneficiaries for these assets separately. Our friends at FreeWill.com have provided a free and secure online tool to help you plan out your beneficiaries for each of your non-probate assets. Learn More
