Gone But Not Forgotten

During the COVID-19 quarantine, I have been walking for exercise.  It may seem strange, but my favorite places to walk are cemeteries.  I find it interesting to walk through the cemeteries in Franklin.

 

 The Union St. cemetery has grave stones from the 1700s.  There are some very recognizable names: 

• ·         Oliver Dean, who founded Dean College
• ·         Fletcher family, there’s a softball field named after the family.
• ·         Ray family, funded Franklin Library -  the first library in the country.

Then there’s the Beaver Street Cemetery.  It is really called St. Mary’s Cemetery because the parishioners of St. Mary’s purchased the land in 1864 because Catholics weren’t allowed to be buried in the Union St. cemetery.  But that was then and this is now.  Now anyone can be buried in either the Union St. or Beaver St. cemetery.  I found it interesting to notice the Irish and Italian names on the St. Mary’s gravestones in contrast to the English names on the Union St. cemetery tombstones. 

Cemeteries hold the history of civilization.  These two cemeteries reflect the mindset of our Puritan ancestors who left England for freedom to practice their own religion and then in turn didn’t practice what they preached.  In St. Mary’s cemetery we see the oldest gravestones engraved with Irish surnames, reflecting the Irish immigrants fleeing the potato famine in the mid-1800s.  Soon overwhelming the Irish names are Italian names.   Names that only Franklinites could pronounce:

• ·         Mucciarone
• ·         Bucchiano
• ·         D’Aniello

St. Mary’s cemetery has a beautiful memorial garden and a columbarium. A columbarium is a wall of vaults containing the cremated remains of the deceased.  It is a peaceful area for respectful reflection. 

               

There’s one more cemetery that is perhaps the most interesting of all, albeit the smallest one.  It is on Green St., Franklin.  The official name is the City Mills Historical Cemetery.  That area is part of the City Mills section of Norfolk/Franklin, hence the name.  Some of the people buried there:

·         Samuel Allen 15 Mar 1778 Franklin, Norfolk, Massachusetts, USA - 14 Jan 1866
Edward Gay Jr 2 Jul 1696 Wrentham, Suffolk, Province of Massachusetts Bay - 28 Feb 1758

·         Timothy Hawes 21 Jul 1722 Wrentham, Suffolk, Province of Massachusetts Bay - 8 Mar 1772

·         Rhoda (Mason) Allen abt 1795 Dedham, Norfolk, Massachusetts, USA - 15 Apr 1862

·         James Shepardson 24 Jul 1789 Wrentham, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States - 8 Mar 1863 [1]

There are other reasons to enjoy walking in these cemeteries besides historical interest.  There’s the peace and quiet.  The roads are paved so one can wholly concentrate on their reflections.  The epitaphs on the gravestones are interesting and some are funny. (That will be a future story.)  The architecture, material, and choice of design offer imaginative stories about people’s lives.  It certainly makes you wonder what happened between birth date - death date.   Just imagine!  An entire life is represented by a dash! 

Soon many more graves and cremains will be added to our cemeteries, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  A walk through the cemeteries will put your priorities in order.  What will your legacy be?

---

[1] https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:City_Mills_Historical_Cemetery%2C_Franklin%2C_Massachusetts

Resolution 15-66

Tonight the Franklin Town Council voted to accept Resolution 15-66, Reconstructing, Adding to, Equipping and Furnishing the Franklin Public Library. Woohoo!

You see our library is the first public library in the USA.  Yes, even before Boston!  Our claim to fame is due to Ben Franklin sending the town books for public use.  The books were placed in the minister's home and were available for the town's people to  borrow. 

At the turn of the 19th century, a wealthy family in town, the Ray family, donated money to build our current building.  Since then the funds left the library from the Ray family were used to fund the library.  NO taxpayer dollars were spent!  It was all Ray monies.  That lasted until the 1980's.  The town took over the library and helped expand and support the library.

A history of the library can be read here.

Presently, the library needs to be updated and expanded.  The library needs $ 11, 500, 000.00 for updating electrical, mechanical and plumbing in the existing building, including compliance to the American with Disabilities Act, and an addition to provide additional space.

I was among those in the audience to support this proposal.  Since I am an avid reader and use the library a lot, I wanted to show my support.  Not only do I borrow books, CD's, DVD's, I also bring my grandchildren to the library for books, and programs.  A good library is an asset to the town.  

Think about it.  The town is named after Benjamin Franklin.  And he, himself, started our library.  Wouldn't it be a shame and an insult to not take care of his legacy?  The Ray family also, who gave their fortune for this important heritage.  Kudos to the Town Council for honoring this important literary and institutional heritage.

Advent in Franklin, MA

Advent

December dresses the town common                           
in excitement with white and shiny

red, and green, and blue bright lights.                            
That’s the best!  No!

Across the sky! Reindeer—Rudolf
--red-nose, racing about the night

through yellow twinkles of light
reflected on crisp, crunchy snow,

where children once upon a time,
sang Christmas carols in the gazebo.

Who is ever too old to want to see
beyond what we first see, to recover

the story lit by the stately menorah,
and follow three aged wise-men

around, tall camels, and still lambs,
across to the church’s crèche,

and see Mary and Joseph waiting,
….waiting…waiting…