52 Ancestors Week 33: Tragedy

 From Amy Johnson Crow: There isn't a family tree that doesn't have at least one tragedy in it. What have you discovered? Did it change how you thought about that ancestor and his or her circumstances?

It was this or a sad clown and I couldn't find a free one.

    Normally I would post a story about some tragic event in my family's past and make some jokes. We'd have some fun along the way and I would sign off knowing that eventually something good did come from whatever tragedy I was going to write about and man do I have some whoppers. Sometimes something good does happen. Tragedy brings out the best in people and drama is everywhere. Don't kid yourself. Your family history has drama in it. Everybody's does. Yours. Mine. Mr. Perfect's. Everyone.

Gertrude Stevens, front and center (Senter).

    Today's blog post is actually ripped from the headlines on WMUR.com, the local ABC affiliate here in New Hampshire. It concerns an ancestor of mine and yet it doesn't. It's hard to explain. Let me share the link courtesy of WMUR.com.

   Are you back after clicking the link? Are you angry? Good. GOOD! I can feel your anger! Now to sum up. Approximately 100 headstones, monuments and obelisks were destroyed or damaged at Pine Grove cemetery in Farmington, New Hampshire. The incident occurred in the wee hours of August 11th, 2021.  

    Vandals destroyed many stones dating back to the 1800s and many of them were the final resting place of  people who did something for the town. The article wasn't very specific about whose stones were destroyed. Thousands of dollars worth of damage was done and it would take some time to replace, repair and restore the stones to pristine condition. That's a tragic event in and of itself. What does that got to do with me?

    As it happens, my 2nd great-grandmother, Gertrude Stevens, is buried there. She was born in 1875 and passed away in 1944 in Farmington. According to various articles I've found on the Internet, she was very well known and well liked in the small town. When I found out about the incident, I was pretty mad. I wondered. Was Gertrude's stone damaged in some way? There was no way for me to know for sure. Months ago I found where she was buried and I created a profile on Find a Grave for her. You can see it here. I also put in a photo request because I have never seen the stone before. I've never even been to Farmington and I have no idea where in the cemetery she was buried. The article did say it was a big cemetery. Where would her final resting place be?

Farmington News
March 17th, 1944

    Those are all very important questions on my mind. My 2nd great-grandmother already had some great tragedy in her life since she went through a bitter divorce, lost her second husband and a daughter who was born premature. If anyone should be resting in peace right now it's her! Leave her alone!! There's no sense in making her descendants depressed by messing up a stone, right? One of her grandchildren, my great-aunt, still lives and I don't know how I could tell her about the incident. I don't think she'd be thrilled.

    Odds are very good that Gertrude's stone has been untouched. She died in 1944 and the vandals targeted old stones with statues atop of them. There's a chance, albeit slim, that her stone is intact. There is a bit of good news on that front at least. One of my friends on WikiTree is located in the area. She's close by and offered to help me find her grave, take a picture and give me and by extension the family some piece of mind. See what I mean by tragedy bringing people together? You gotta love it when people are willing to go that extra mile to help someone. I still worried because I had no idea if her stone was effected and it's better to be safe than sorry.

    Right. So, what happens now? What's going to happen in Farmington? Well, if you read the article it goes on to say they collected some evidence and have some leads. However, if anyone has any information, they are invited to contact the cops and tell them everything they know. The Farmington Cemetery Association is left to clean up the mess as each stone has a hefty price tag of one grand to repair or replace. Many of the stones were heavy and very old. It will take time to repair everything. 

    

    Vandalism in cemeteries is nothing new, sadly. You see it all over the news whether it's a Jewish cemetery in New York or an African-American cemetery in the deep south. It's unfortunately something cemeteries have to deal with because it is an open space. The communities have to be mindful of what's going on. Some cemeteries have hours and yet that didn't seem to deter whoever vandalized Farmington cemetery. It boggles my mind why someone would actually go out in the middle of the night and trash a place. What's the point? In this case, there is no point. I have no idea what message they were trying to say and to be honest I don't really care. They committed a crime and they are so going to be haunted.

    See ya next time! I'll keep everyone posted when I get a picture of Gertrude's stone!