New Hampshire Old Graveyard Association

July 10, 2004

The summer meeting of the New Hampshire Old Graveyard Association was held July 10, 2004 at the Little Red Schoolhouse and hosted by the Madison Historical Society.

NHOGA President, Arthur Jillette, opened the meeting and introduced Mary Lucy, Vice President of the Madison Historical Society, who welcomed us.

Recording Secretary, Joan Casarotto, read the Secretary's report for the May 8, 2004 meeting. A minor correction was suggested and minutes approved.

Treasurer, Jean Mertinooke, read the Treasurer's report which was approved.

Clark Bagnall reported about the handbook revision, which is in its final phase, and has been sent to Bea Jillette to finish formatting for publication.

Richard Maloon, Corresponding Secretary, reported there was a small ad in the May Rubbings asking for volunteers to go to Star Island, in the Isle of Shoals, to help clean up and restore two cemeteries this summer. He and Arthur Jillette visited the sites to see what needs to be done. They also spoke to Laurence Bussey, the President of the Isle of Shoals Historical Society, and with Paul Jennings, who is in charge of Star Island Volunteers. Richard asked if we would be interested in having a meeting there next summer and have us give a workshop on the care of stones. Louise Tallman has photos and records of Star Island graveyards from 1978.

Richard Maloon brought up the subject of who to send interesting items for the Rubbings to. It was explained news clippings of interest should be sent to Bea Jillette, so she can put it in the Rubbings. If the inquiry involves history, this should be sent to Richard Maloon.

A motion was made and passed to purchase Mary Lucy's book, "Cemeteries and Graveyards of Madison, New Hampshire", for twenty-five dollars, to add to NHOGA's book collection. Richard Maloon volunteered to pay for the book.

Rich Alperin from Newmarket updated us about the Wentworth Cheswell headstone. He has raised $4,000.00 to replace the old stone, which was in many pieces, with a new headstone. The restored old stone has now been placed in the Newmarket Historical Society building. He had contacted NHOGA about his problems this spring, and NHOGA had not dealt with this problem before. The New Hampshire Division of Historic Resources clarified the procedure for him, saying he needed written permission from at least one descendant. Richard had letters from three of Cheswell's descendants. Arthur Jillette asked if Newmarket had a Cemetery Commission, because they have certain legal rights and responsibilities to say how things are run. Newmarket doesn't have a Cemetery Commission.

Louise Tallman talked about some of the work she is doing for the Portsmouth Library, transcribing stone information into the computer.

Mary Lucy presented a slide presentation of remote Madison graveyards. Mary and her husband, Mark, evaluated and read all the stones. Madison broke from Eaton in 1852. Their oldest stone is 1806. All cemeteries in Madison are private. The town maintains two large cemeteries. Some new gravestones were put up in the large cemetery, even though the bodies and original gravestones are still in the tiny remote graveyards. The top of Martha E. Knowles 1810 stone has a red paint stripe across it indicating the Tamworth/Madison town line. Mary has marked 43 old graveyards on the display map, as well as listing additional memorials. She finished the graveyard work in 1998, and the book was published in 2002. The Madison Historical Society receives the money from the sale of the book, "Cemeteries and Gravestones of Madison, New Hampshire". The Madison Historical Society has many genealogy files.

After the lunch break graveyards visited were: Keneson Graveyard, John March Graveyard, Danforth Graveyard and Old Burial Ground, which was the original town cemetery.

Respectfully submitted,

Joan A. Casarotto, Recording Secretary