Street Signs

Sometimes when a family is well-known in the community and lives there for several generations, a street gets named after them.  Here are some street signs named after my family members that I've come across in my ancestry road trips around New England.

1. Webber Road, Brimfield, Massachusetts

Charles Arnold Webber and family lived on this property in Brimfield for many years in the 1800s.  I'm holding his picture under his street sign and he is my 2x great-grandfather.

2. Morse Street, Putnam, Connecticut

Just over the border of Woodstock, Connecticut is Morse Street.  The Morse family lived in Woodstock since the 1600s. Peter Morse, my 8x great-grandfather, was one of the original settlers of Woodstock.  

3. Peake Brook Road, Woodstock, Connecticut

Sarah Peake is my 7x great-grandmother she was one of the first generation of settlers born in Woodstock whose parents were originally from Roxbury, Massachusetts.  Sarah Peake lived to be 99 years old (1702-1801).  Peake Brook Road was named after their family.

4. Harris Road, Cumberland, Maine

The huge Harris family lived in Cumberland and North Yarmouth, Maine for several generations in the 18th and 19th centuries.  Harris Road is just a couple miles from Turkey Lane and Gray Road, where other Harris family members lived. Amos Harris was my 5x great-grandfather. 

Don't touch the headstone

Yes, I love hunting through cemeteries for my relatives. (Shout out to my husband and mom who come with me and are amazing finders of headstones, which can be needles in haystacks.) Yes, I seek dead people.

This is a quick post with a helpful trick I have found for documenting headstones.

Gravestone rubbings are so 20th century. Some people consider this not only a way of preserving the information on a headstone, but of preserving the art of the actual headstone.  This was ok when every human didn't have a camera in their back pocket  Also, unfortunately, rubbing the stone may cause more deterioration.  Please let it be.

But there are drawbacks when using a camera to document the wording on a headstone.  Moss, weathering and bad lighting are not your friends.  For example, I took this picture of my 8th great grandmother's headstone that has been in Woodstock, CT for over 260 years.

Can read the words? Are you sure??  Argh! After traveling for hours, the last thing you want is for your pictures to be unclear.  So here's my trick.

1. Take the best picture you can.
2. Then take a video of the same headstone and of your voice while reading the words out loud.

Simple but effective. Watch this clip.

Then when I get home and I want to document the dates and wording, I'm not second guessing myself. So, just for the record:

"In memory of Mrs. Hannah Peake, ye wife of Mr. Jonathan Peake, Dec'd October 16, 1756, in ye 90th year of her age."

Family member name: Hannah Leavens Peake
Tree branch: Pearson
Lifetime: 1666-1756
Relation: My 8x great grandmother (my dad's dad's mom's mom's mom's mom's dad's dad's mom's mom)