 Good afternoon, I guess we'll start. I'm Gigi Barthill, a member of the Historical Society, and it's great to welcome you all on this drizzly day. I'm glad this is a virtual tour of West Sanitary and not a actual one. I'll get very damp. Before we begin today's program, I have a bunch of announcements. I always lose track at the end, so I thought I'd start with the organized. Crystal, I do want to acknowledge with great thanks to Jones Library for hosting this meeting last time and the forthcoming time. It's very helpful to us. We'll be here in two weeks for Marjorie Seneschal's 100 Years of Silk in the Valley. So today, we have Bob Drinkwater, an historical archeologist who holds an MA in Anthropology from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. And for much of the past 50 years, he's been recording, photographing, and occasionally reporting on the 18th and early 19th century gravestones and stone cutters of Western Massachusetts. For the past decade or so, he has also been doing literally groundbreaking research on gravestones for members of underrepresented populations and recently completed a book about gravestones for African Americans, which is called In Memory of Susan Freedom, searching for the gravestones of African Americans in Western Massachusetts. And this book is forthcoming sometime. Maybe July. Maybe July, great. Bob is a charter member and past president of the Association for Gravestone Studies and has served several terms on the AGS Board of Trustees and was the recipient of the 2016 Harriet Merrifield Forbes Award. A resident of Worcester, she was a pioneer photographer of gravestones and also of domestic architecture in Worcester. And her original glass plate negatives were in the collection of the American Antiquarian Society, where I worked, but some of her other glass plate negatives are still there. I think we sold or gave away a lot of the glass plate negatives and maybe you have some of them, Bob. I might get you, yes. That would be nice. Anyway, it's a treat to have this presentation today. Please welcome, Bob Drinkwater. A good day to be indoors. This will be a fast-paced virtual tour of West Cemetery. What we now know as the West Cemetery was for nearly a century the only burying ground in town. During the 19th and 20th centuries, it evolved into a municipal cemetery and a destination for those who come to town to pay homage to Emily and Labinia. Many of the people who helped make Amherst what it is today are memorialized there, but many others, just as worthy, can be found at other local cemeteries. This is a plant of the cemetery that was included in the preservation plan developed by Denning Design Associates 20 years ago that little blue dot, that's where the Dickinson's are, the big blue dot is the area sometimes referred to as the knoll, which is where all of the local notables are to be found. Well, not quite all of them, many of them. This area here includes the original burying ground. This area, most of the eastern part of the cemetery, was added during the 19th century. This is a view of the old section. As you can see, there's a wide range of materials, and that's largely because during the 18th century, gravestones were being obtained from a large number of sources up and down the valley. And these are some of the men who made those gravestones. This is what I do most of my research on, but we won't talk about that today, and a few more of them. That's something for another time and another place. This is what the newer eastern portion of the cemetery looks like. Different materials, different forms, and many of those headstones and monuments actually came from local sources, from monument dealers and stone cutters based right here in Amherst. Now, I'm gonna begin the tour, not in the cemetery, but next door at the Strong House. This gravestone on the left is, I think, in the shed attached to the north end of the building. Is it still there, Marianne? It has been known to be there. And when Phil Shaver brought it to my attention several years ago, I took one look and said, I've seen that name and date somewhere before. And sure enough, in the cemetery, there's a marble stone for the same person. This is her original stone. This is a 19th century replacement. No doubt purchased to match the stone for her husband, Dr. Seth Coleman, who died in the 18 teens. Now, curiously, the foot stone that went with that original headstone is still in the cemetery. And I often wondered, should the original be returned to its rightful place, or right, which is rapidly weathering away? Anyway, not for me to decide. Now, of course, the main attraction at West Cemetery these days is the Dickinson Lot and we'll visit with them very shortly. But first, I want to pay tribute to Lucius Manlius Boltwood, for if it was not for him, we would not know anywhere near as much as we know about the early residents of Amherst and other towns that were formed from the original territory of Hadley. He was the son of Lucius and Fanny Boltwood, an Amherst College alum, class of 1843. He served as Amherst College librarian, as Amherst postmaster, and as a state legislator. Not only was he himself descended from one of Amherst's founding families, he compiled the genealogies of Hadley families, appended to Sylvester Judd's history of Hadley. Among the sources he consulted were the moss grown and crumbling two stones of all the old burying yards within the limits of ancient Hadley. I want to continue the tour with visits. Well, before we get there, let's consider the question of who do we visit today? Who's worth visiting? There are over 2,400 names on headstones and monuments at West Cemetery. Most of the monuments are for single individuals, but that's a lot of people to visit in one day, certainly a lot of people to visit in 45 minutes. So we need to be selective, but we don't want to be too biased. So I'm going to pick and choose a few of these and a few of those. And first, I thought we would visit a few of the founding families. A few weeks ago, Cinda Jones was here and we called the history of the Coles family. Jonathan Coles and his brother John were among the East inhabitants of 1731. The stone on the left is for Jonathan. It came from a shop in Northampton. The one on the right is for his wife Sarah and came from a source up Pellamway. Not far away in the old section of the cemetery is this stone for Simeon Strong. Simeon was the youngest son of Nehemiah and Hannah Edwards. A Yale alum, he was a lawyer, state legislator, and during his final years, a justice on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. Of course, his house is now the home of the Amherst Historical Society. His marble gravestone, now a bit worse for wear, is signed on the back by its maker, Alpheus Longley of Hatfield. Emily and four generations of her ancestors are buried at West Cemetery. Her great-great-grandfather, Nathan, and his wife, Thankful, are reported to be buried there, but I have not been able to find gravestones for them. I have, however, found stones for her great-grandfather, her grandfather, and, of course, her parents. This is the Dickinson lot up on the knoll. What you see on the right there is what's left of what was once a very elegant gravestone for Esther Fowler Dickinson. It's been broken and mended countless times. I found no gravestone for Nathan, but his name is on the granite obelisk erected by one of his descendants, Perez Dickinson, in 1876. Nearby is this very massive and very impressive marble box tomb for Samuel Fowler Dickinson, Emily's grandfather. He died in Ohio. His body was brought back to Amherst. I don't know if he was buried here or in the same lot with Emily. On the other side of this monument, there is an inscription indicating that it was placed there by a descendant William Dickinson in 1881, several decades after Samuel Fowler had died. In the Dickinson plot, in lot 53, there is this marble gravestone for Samuel Fowler and Lucretia. This is probably his original stone. It's signed by its maker way down in the lower left corner. It came from the Kenny Shop in Northampton, and this stone was probably the model for all of the other gravestones in that lot, including the stones for Emily and her parents. A few years ago, they removed the fence around that cemetery and took it away for maintenance, and during that time, there was an unobstructed view of all of the gravestones in the lot, and I took full advantage of it. As you can see, Emily then, as now, is quite well looked after. Now, while we're up on the knoll, we should probably visit with some of the local clergy. Dr. David Parsons Jr., the first minister of the first church was born in Maldon, Massachusetts, educated at Harvard, yes. And he served as minister of the first church from 1735 until his death in 1781. The headstones and monuments for Reverend Parsons and several of his descendants occupy much of the knoll. What you see there is his table stone, and the high ground in the old section of the cemetery. Nearby are brownstone pillars for his son, Reverend David Parsons, I guess the third, who succeeded him. Harvard class of 1771, doctor of divinity, Brown. In 1800, he was appointed, he got his PhD in 1800. He was appointed to succeed his father. He served as pastor of the first church from 1782 until his dismissal in 1819. Though well regarded by many, Dr. Parsons, like his father, was a divisive figure. The elder Reverend Parsons and his son were Tories, parishioners opposed to the appointment of the younger Reverend Parsons, withdrew from the congregation and established the second church. What's now JCA? Dr. David Parsons and also on the knoll, a matching brownstone pillar for his son-in-law, Reverend Royal Washburn, who was installed as pastor of the first church in 1826, and served till his death on January 1st, 1833. In another area of the cemetery, the newer part, in fact, several other members of the local clergy are buried among them. Reverend Nathan Perkins, born in West Hartford, Connecticut, Yale alumnus, he served as pastor of the second church from 1810 to 1842. Not far away is this brownstone monument on the right for Reverend George Cook. Born in King, New Hampshire, he attended Dartmouth, served as pastor of the North Church from 1839 to 1852. His son, Lieutenant George E. Cook, died for wounds received at the Battle of Spotsylvania in May of 1864 and as a grave marker for him in the same lot. Not too far away is the Belden lot where Reverend Pomeroy Belden and many members of his family are buried. Reverend Belden was pastor of the second church from 1842 to 1849. He was born in East Waiteley, graduated from Amherst College, and subsequently attended Andover Theological Seminary. Mr. Belden was an earnest, faithful, and successful minister, winning to an uncommon extent the confidence and love of his people. At least six other members of his family are commemorated here, including his parents, Aaron and Sarah, and his brother Rufus, a leading physician whose services were in constant demand. In the shadow of the marble obelisk, there's a stone for Alexander Marr. And I'm wondering, who was he and what was his relationship to the Beldens? And I learned that as inscribed on the stone, he was a native of Aberdeen County, Scotland. He lived with a family of Aaron Belden for many years. Apparently, he was a farm hand. And when he died, there was a place for him in the Belden lot. And of course, we need to consider the college floor. Reverend Zephaniah Swift Moore was the first president of Amherst College. He was born in Palmer in 1770 and graduated from Dartmouth in 1793. Before coming to Amherst, he had served as president of Williams College. He is most famous, or infamous, for leaving Williams in order to found Amherst, taking some of the faculty and 15 students with him. He came to Amherst in 1821 and died two years later. The lengthy inscription, much of it in Latin, on his marble monument is weathering away, but within the past 20 years or so, Amherst College erected a smaller granite marker with the basic information, as you see there on the right. Nearby is the Snell lot. Ebenezer Snell, born in Northbrook Field in 1801, was one of the Williams College students who accompanied Reverend Moore when Moore assumed the presidency of Amherst. Snell was a member of the first class to graduate from Amherst and several years later was appointed professor of mathematics and natural philosophy. In 1867, he was appointed professor of mathematics at the newly established Massachusetts Agricultural College. Professor Snell and several members of his family are buried atop the knoll a short distance from the monument to President Moore. The graves of all but Snell's daughter Rebecca are marked by small marble blocks and among them is one for Francis Weilauf, inscribed for 33 years, devoted servant and friend. Yesterday on ancestry.com, I learned that she and her family immigrated to the United States in the early 1860s from Germany. In 1870, they were living in Athens, New York where her father Conrad and her brother George worked at a woolen mill. Francis joined the Snell household as a domestic servant in the early 1880s and remained there until her death. Not far from the Dickinson lot is the Hitchcock lot. Edward Hitchcock born in Deerfield in 1793 was a Yale graduate. He served as pastor of the Congregational Church in Conway in the 1820s and during that time did a scientific survey of Western Massachusetts. He subsequently compiled and published a report on the geology, mineralogy, botany, and zoology of the entire state. Reverend Hitchcock came to Amherst in 1825 and was professor of chemistry and natural history until his appointment as Amherst's third president in 1845. Today he is perhaps best remembered for his pioneering work in geology. His wife Aura was the daughter of Jareb and Ruth White of Amherst. She and Edward were married in 1821. Aura was an artist and scientific illustrator. She did the illustrations in her husband's scientific publications and recently her work was featured in an exhibit at the Memorial Hall Museum in Deerfield. In lot 437, South of the Knoll, there are six marble gravestones for students who died while attending Amherst College. Some, perhaps all, were erected by classmates. At least one of them is a cenotaph, a memorial for someone who's actually buried elsewhere. Nearby that lot is this gravestone for Janalvin Mars. Janalvin was a janitor at Kaysai fraternity at Amherst College. He was an African-American born in New York, Pennsylvania and during the Civil War served in the 29th Connecticut Infantry. He and his family settled in Amherst prior to 1890. His stone is inscribed, erected by the boys of Kaysai, a loving tribute to a faithful servant and it is what it is. Not far from the Dickinson lot is the Stern's lot where William Stern's and several members of his family are buried. Granite stones for William, his son, Frasier and nine other members of the family flank a tall granite obelisk. Reverend William A. Stern's was born in Bedford, Massachusetts in 1805. His father and his grandfather were congregational ministers. William attended Harvard College and Andover Theological Seminary. He succeeded Edward Hitchcock as president of Amherst in 1854 and held that position until his death in 1876. His son, Frasier, served in the 21st Massachusetts Regiment and was killed in action while rallying his men to charge during the Battle of New Bern, March 14th, 1862. In the southeast corner of the Stern's lot, there is a stone for Susan Barnard, faithful servant and friend of four generations. Born in Boston in 1818, died in Milton, a suburb of Boston in 1908. Who was she? In the 1865, Massachusetts census, she's listed as a domestic servant. There's no indication that he was a person of color, thus she probably wasn't. And under a lovely cherry tree in the newer part of the cemetery is the Clark lot where William Smith Clark and several family members are buried. William, the son of a country doctor, was born in Ashfield. He attended Amherst College, class of 1848, and earned a PhD from the University of Göttingen in Germany in 1852. He then returned to Amherst College where he served as professor of chemistry, botany, and zoology from 1852 to 1867. Clark was one of the leading proponents for the establishment of the Massachusetts Agricultural College in Amherst. He was president of MAC from 1867 to 1879 and helped establish an agricultural college in Sapporo, Japan. Now, while we're at the cemetery, we certainly should not overlook the many manufacturers and merchants who have played a prominent role in the town's history. That large brownstone monument is for Leonard M. Hills and his family. Leonard was born in Ellington, Connecticut in 1803 and came to Amherst in 1827. He is best known as the founder of Amherst Palm Leaf Hat Industry. Hills subsequently served as president of the Amherst and Belcher Town Railway, the First National Bank of Amherst. And with his son, Henry F. Hills, he provided the original endowment for the Massachusetts Agricultural College. He died in New York City in 1872. That tall brownstone pillar commemorates Leonard and six members of his family. There are ornate marble markers there for several of them. Henry F. Hills, his son, one of the founders of Wildwood Cemetery, is buried there. And over on the right, you see the monument for Luke Sweetser, who was born in Athol in 1800 and came to Amherst to attend Amherst Academy in the winter of 1820 to 1821. He worked for H. Wright Strong, a local storekeeper for a few years. Then in 1824, he and a few associates bought the store and remained in business until 1854. Following his retirement from business, he took up farming and played an active role in local affairs. Sweetser, along with Edward Dickinson and a few other men, purchased the property now known as Sweetser Park in the 1830s and created a private park. Sweetser owned the western portion of the property, his children donated it to the town of Amherst and honored their father in 1902. Not far away are impressive monuments for two other Amherst manufacturers. Oliver Watson, son of David and Lucinda Dickinson, was born in Amherst in 1806. He operated a tannery and a boot and shoe factory in East Amherst and was a select man and a state legislator later in life. Jarrod T. Westcott was, so far as I can tell, a real estate developer and of course, we should certainly visit some of the many war veterans who are buried at West Cemetery. One of them is General Ebenezer Mattoon who was born in North Amherst and studied with Reverend David Parsons prior to enrolling at Dartmouth College. In the spring of 1776, he enlisted in the Continental Army and served as lieutenant during the unsuccessful invasion of Canada. Mattoon fought at Saratoga in the fall of 1777 and returned to Amherst in 1779. He subsequently served in the state militia, the state legislature and the US Congress. He attained to the greatest prominence in public affairs of any of the earlier residents of Amherst, so say Carpenter and Morehouse. Bob Romer has estimated that about 20 African American men from the Amherst area enlisted in the Union Army during the Civil War. Some served in the 54th Massachusetts Infantry, others in the 5th Massachusetts Cavalry. At the West Cemetery, there are gravestones for some of them. Among them, Charles Finnemore. And nearby is this very recently installed memorial stone for five members of the Thompson family who served in the Civil War. And it also acknowledges the African American section of West Cemetery, which until quite recently most of us were unaware of. In this area, there is a small granite memorial to five Amherst unknown Civil War veterans installed in 1961. Jim Smith has argued convincingly that since these five veterans were buried in an area traditionally sent aside for burial of African Americans, they were almost certainly African American veterans. Among the others buried in that part of the cemetery is Henry Jackson, who has, I guess, become a local folk hero. He was born in Amherst, October 30th, 1817. He was employed as a stable hand in May 1840 when he participated in the daring rescue of Angeline Palmer. It was Henry who borrowed and drove the horse and buggy used in the rescue operation. He was subsequently employed as a teamster and truckman. Following the death of his first wife, Celia, Henry married Louis Frazier's widow. Louis Frazier was the brother of Angeline Palmer. Henry and his family lived on once now known as Railroad Street, a short distance from a railway depot. He owned land with a house and barn, several horses. He died of heart disease in January 1902. In another section of West Cemetery, outside the area that had been set aside for African Americans is the Goodwin Lot. Moses Goodwin, son of George Goodwin, was born in Columbia, South Carolina around 1855 and settled in Amherst prior to 1880. Following an apprenticeship with Porter Dickinson, a machinist, he opened a shop on Main Street where he repaired bicycles, locks, clocks, and other mechanical devices. His first wife, Mary Jane, died in December 1883. Her grave is unmarked. In 1891, Moses married Anna Reed. That's her, subsequently known as Ma Goodwin. Who for many years ran a local inn as well as a boarding house from Massachusetts Agricultural College students. Moses was a founding member and trustee of the local AME Zion Church established in 1910. He and Anna and their three daughters, Amy, Olive, and Ruth were very active in church affairs. In their honor, the church was renamed the Goodwin AME Zion Church in 1967. And Charles E. Roberts was the son of Perry Roberts, a janitor at Amherst College. He enrolled at Massachusetts Agricultural College class of 1911 and played fullback on the football team, but left school prior to graduation. When he registered for the draft in 1918, he reported that he was married with one child and was working as athletic director at Lincoln University and historically black university in Pennsylvania. He served in the infantry in World War I, but little is known of his later life. And for more about gravestones for African Americans and the West Cemetery, I refer you to these two publications. Among the hundreds of other former residents of Amherst two numerous to mention today are Chandler Saban, who owned and operated a marble works in East Amherst prior to 1850. He signed a few examples of his work. A small marble obelisk for Leonard and Mary Hills at the West Cemetery is among them. Oliver Clapp was engaged in the manufacture of bonnets and artificial flowers during the 1840s, but around 1850 he purchased the Saban marble works and operated it until his death in 1887. He manufactured monuments, headstones and all kinds of marble work employing three or four men most of the time. Following Clapp's death, one of the workmen, Samuel P. Cluchia, purchased the business. Throughout the cemetery, there are gravestones that just aroused my curiosity. One of them was this one for Sarah Jane Bliss, a single woman who died of typhoid fever. This is all what I've determined from recent research on ancestry.com. In Jim Smith's notes on West Cemetery is written, she died in the communion of the Catholic Church, which suggests she had converted to Catholicism. And I'm wondering since St. Bridget's Cemetery was established five years earlier prior to her death, why she wasn't buried there. Anyway, there she is at West Cemetery. According to her death certificate, she was the daughter of Silas and Cynthia Bliss and was born in Ithaca, New York. 10 years prior to her death, she had been living with her father Silas and Pelham. And in another part of the cemetery, I saw this monument for Frederick Nightingale and wondered, that's an interesting name. What can I find out about him? And in ancestry.com, I learned that he was born in Germany about 1847 and immigrated to the United States in 1895. He and his family settled in Amherst prior to 1900. He was employed as a blocker in a local hat factory in 1910. And I didn't want to leave you today without mentioning someone who came up in discussion at the History Bites a few weeks ago. Actually, it was a month ago. Does anyone remember this fellow? Of course. It's good, his memory lives on. And he's quite fondly remembered on the Amherst College website. When I Googled him, all sorts of accolades came up from former classmates. Eric was an Army veteran and Amherst College alum class of 1965. He burst onto the local scene in the early 1970s. Eric the Rath, a name he actually liked, was a lawyer, a carpenter, an organic farmer, an annual activist, and a self-proclaimed communist. He was one of the ring leaders of the 1970 student strike, which I remember well, and a co-founder of a local branch of the Universal Life Church. In 1972, he ran unsuccessfully, for a seat on the Amherst Board of Selectmen, then challenged the election results in court because the town had scheduled the election during UMass intercession. As one of his Amherst College classmates recalled, there will never be another like him. Thank you for your patience. Are there any questions? Yes. William Smith Park. Yeah. Responsible for all these beautiful cherries that were given as a gift in return from down in the home. You made me write about that. Well, I've heard that. Yeah. Anyway, I know that all the ancient old cherry blossoms that you see were as a result of a gift from, first, I can see one by this tree. There was a camp of downed Elmer originally, but that died and they replaced it with a cherry tree. Okay, but I think that you're sort of appropriate. Quite, yeah. Anyway. And where did the market come from? Early on, it was coming from Berkshire County. There were quarries up and down the Housatonic River Valley from about 1790 until mid-19th century, then after that, Vermont got into the act and they pretty much controlled the market by the Civil War era. You're right. There is, yeah. I think Yvette was next. The material of the tombstones and why, I don't know anything about it, but why did they weather down and what material lasts longest as of today? Okay, the short answer is granted is the material of choice these days and this marble and some of the other materials that have weathered badly, which is to say weathered all too well. The folks around here did not have a history with those materials and they learned through trial and error what lasted and what didn't. Phil, I saw your hand up. One of the answers there is acid rain from all night. Well, that too. I just want to say this is the very best tour of that cemetery I've ever seen. Yeah, right. And I'm really, really impressed. Thank you so much. Well, George has suggested that maybe I should consider future installments in subsequent years. Yeah, yeah. I'll certainly do that. Yeah. Question. Yes. Why do some people have cable installments? Those were reserved for people of the highest rank, ministers, magistrates, militia officers, and so forth and they kept the memory of the deceased above the weeds, so to speak. It's cultural from Scotland. That's a short answer. Is there a time period there associated with it? Late 17th, early 18th century, for the most part. There were lots of other hands up. How about planting trees and shrubs in the cemetery? What guides that? That really didn't become popular until around the 19th century. And in some ways, they're kind of a nuisance, but they're also nice to have there. Anyone else? Well, thank you. That's great. And I'm going to send a PDF of this PowerPoint to Special Collections, along with a copy of the script for reference for anyone who might be interested.