USA > Maine > Hancock County > Traditions and records of Southwest Harbor and Somesville, Mount Desert island, Maine > Part 20
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"Remember now as you pass by In bloom of health, so once was I. As I am now, so you shall be Prepare for death and follow me."
Mr. and Mrs. Rafenal were married April 13, 1785, at Bor- deaux, France, and came to Mount Desert in the early days of its settlement. They took up land at what is now Manset and owned a large tract there including the Clark Hopkins field and extend- ing back into the woods. They built a house on this land and brought up their family. That they were people of standing in their native land is shown by the few household treasures that have been handed down to their descendants. These include some very fine china plates, choice little wine glasses, delicate old silver spoons and a quilt of the old time "copperplate" print in mulberry and blue, the work of Mrs. Rafenal's own hands. In 1829 she purchased a large family Bible and in it she wrote her family record in beautiful handwriting. On the first leaf of the book is written, "Presented by Mrs. Ann Rafenal to her daughter Susan Rafenal, Annodominni 1829 Jan'y 8, Mount Des- ert." The name of Susannah Rafenal is stamped in gilt letters on the leather cover. The daughter Susan married John Moore and their daughter, Mary Ann Strickland, married Clark Hop- kins and the Bible came down through the generations to Mrs. Hopkins' daughter, then to her granddaughter, Mrs. Celia Wil- son Hamilton, in whose possession it now is. Within the little enclosed plot are the graves of John and Susan Moore and Mr. and Mrs. Clark Hopkins.
In the summer of 1934 this churchyard was cleared of bushes and underbrush by the boys of the C C C camp, Company 158.
THE LURVEY BURYING GROUND
On November 3, 1792, Jacob Lurvey of Newburyport, Mass., bought of Joseph Bunker one hundred acres of land "from the
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shore to the mountain", i.e. the Norwood Cove shore to the foot of Beech Mountain. His first log cabin was near the shore, but later he built a house on the high ridge near the foot of the mountain where the land was free from stones and more fertile than the shore lot. When his wife, Hannah Boynton Lurvey, died on April 1, 1839, at the age of 81 years, 7 months, her grave was made in the cleared field not far from the house. Jacob Lurvey died Sept. 11, 1853, at the age of 92 and was laid by her side. On the slate slab which marks his grave is engraved "He was a Soldier of the Revolution and was twice taken prisoner during that war. When the memory of kings and princes shall have crumbled to dust the name of this man will be held in grateful remembrance."
The graves of several of the young grandchildren of this pioneer couple are here; Nathan Curtis Lurvey, who died April 5, 1848, aged six months and an infant who lived but two weeks, both sons of Enoch and Rebecca Higgins Lurvey, and also their fourteen year old daughter Hannah, who died Oct. 5, 1848.
Hannah, wife of William Gilley of Baker's Island, who was the eldest daughter of Jacob and Hannah Lurvey is buried near her parents. She died March 24, 1852, aged seventy years. She was born in Byfield, Mass., Dec. 8, 1782, ten years before the family moved to Mount Desert. Soon after her marriage in 1802 to William Gilley, they went to Baker's Island where they spent their lives and brought up their twelve children-six sons and six daughters. They were separated in their old age each going to live with some member of their family and when Hannah died she was brought here, as she had requested that she be buried with her parents near her old home.
Isaac F. Lurvey's stone records that he was a member of Co. E. 28 Me. Regiment and that he died at Augusta, Maine, Sept. 7, 1863, aged 38. He was the son of Isaac and Abigail Dodge Lurvey and was always called by his second name of Freeman. His wife was his cousin Rebecca, eldest daughter of Enoch and Rebecca Higgins Lurvey.
Lemuel and Jacob Lurvey, grandsons of the first Jacob Lurvey are buried in this lot. Lemuel, born 1839, had an honor- able record of service in the Civil War where he suffered many
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privations while a prisoner in Andersonville and Libby prisons where he lost his health. He died in 1923. His brother Jacob, born 1844, died in Portland at the home of his niece, Mrs. H. Edwin Stanley, in 1928, and was brought to his home here for burial.
The Herrick family lived on the lot adjoining the Lurvey place and members of that family lie here with those who were their neighbors for a lifetime.
Isaac Herrick was first of the name in this vicinity, dying at the age of fifty-seven years, seven months. His death occurred Sept. 15, 1852. His wife Lavinia lived to the age of seventy-five years, dying July 20, 1872. Two of their sons, William and Asa Herrick, are buried near their parents.
Pine and spruce trees have grown tall over what was a grassy field when the first graves were made in this spot nearly one hun- dred years ago (1938).
EVERGREEN CEMETERY
After the death of Jacob Lurvey his home place became the property of his youngest son Enoch and he was not willing that the family burying ground on the place should be enlarged. So a committee was formed to purchase land for a family cemetery and on April 15, 1865, this committee purchased of Enoch Lur- vey and William Lawler the land on the road to Somesville, now the site of Evergreen Cemetery. The sum of $18 was paid for the lot, which was at first called Lurvey cemetery and later changed to Evergreen to distinguish it from the old family lot.
The sons and daughters of Jacob and Hannah Lurvey re- served for themselves the lots at the front of the new cemetery with the plan that their children were to be buried in the next row of lots. The need of a public burying ground was felt in the community and after a while the neighbors were permitted to buy lots in this yard. Several generations of Lurveys lie here. Samuel Lurvey and his wife, Abigail Gilley ; Enoch Lurvey and his wife, Rebecca Higgins; John Carroll and his wife, Rachel Lurvey ; Isaac Lurvey and his wife, Abigail Dodge, all sons and daughters of Jacob and Hannah Boynton Lurvey.
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They all lived to a ripe old age, their stones recording eighty and ninety years and more. Samuel Lurvey, son of the first Samuel, lies in the second row of graves, dying at the age of seventy-six. He was one of the soldiers of the "bloodless Aroostook war", volunteering for service and going to Houlton where he was for some time as a part of the garrison of that town while the boundary was in dispute. His wife, Joan Mayo Lurvey, 1815-1907, spent her ninety-one years in good works among her neighbors. She was among the first in the work for maintenance of the church, she was sent for in sickness or mis- fortune, she was present when the children of the community were born and she prepared the dead for their graves. She had no children of her own but she took two orphans into her home and reared them as her own. "Aunt Joan" as she was almost universally called, was a remarkable power for good all through her long life.
Gilbert L. Lurvey of Co. G. Eighteenth Regiment of Maine Volunteers, with his wife, Mary E. Gilley Lurvey, and their son, George A., lie in their lot here. John Dodge Lurvey and his wife, Hannah Carroll Lurvey, lie side by side in the lot which they selected as their last resting place. Mrs. Lurvey was an- other woman whose good works were many. Always cheerful and smiling, she too, went to the bedside of the sick and helped to usher in the newborn. She was a valiant worker for the church and she brought up a large family of sons and daughters. One daughter Alice and an infant son are buried here.
Cyrus Lurvey's stone records that he was a member of the United States Navy during the Civil War. His wife, Mary Ann, who died at the age of sixty-three, their son, Charles A., who died in 1871 at the age of sixteen, another son, Arthur C., who grew to manhood, a daughter, Elva May, and four infant chil- dren sleep their last sleep here with their parents.
Sergeant Enoch Lurvey, Co. H. Fourth Maine Infantry, is en- graved on a small marble stone erected in memory of one who was lost at sea. He served his country through the Civil War, one of the four sons of Enoch and Rebecca Higgins Lurvey who answered the call at the beginning of the struggle, was wounded once, but served to the end, came home to his family and was lost
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at sea December 24, 1867. His body was never recovered. His infant son Georgie is buried in this lot.
William G. Lurvey died 1879 at the age of fifty-one. He was the son of the first Samuel Lurvey and served in the Civil War.
Levi and Lydia Bartlett Lurvey and their infant daughter rest here. Levi was the son of Isaac and Abigail Dodge Lurvey.
The grave of Mrs. Myra Lurvey Walls and that of her sister, Mrs. Mabel Lurvey Tinker, are in this yard. They were daugh- ters of John D. and Hannah C. Lurvey. Capt. Thomas Milan, his wife, Ellen Maria Lurvey Milan, and their two daughters, Mrs. Hattie Milan Hamblen and Millie Milan, are buried in their lot near the center of the yard. Capt. Milan followed the sea for many years, retiring to take the position of head keeper of the lighthouse on Mount Desert Rock where the family lived for a long time. The two daughters, seldom separated in life, died within a few hours of each other and their double funeral was held at the home where they were born and had always lived.
One lot holds the graves of William H. Bartlett and his young wife Mary, who died in 1870 at the age of twenty-three, another little grave is marked with the name of Ruth F., daugh- ter of Jacob and Hannah B. Mayo, a tiny stone in the center bears the inscription "Baby Lawler died 1895 aged 3 months." This baby was the daughter of Allen and Caroline R. Lawler.
A large thin marble slab marks the grave of Isaac P. Mayo, died 1866, aged ninety-two and that of his wife, Rosanna Young Mayo, who died in 1865, aged eighty-three. These were the par- ents of Mrs. Joann H. Lurvey. The stone reads "Mark the per- fect man and behold the upright for the end of that man is peace."
One lot is occupied by the graves of Edward P. Dodge, died 1883, at the age of fifty-seven and his wife, Hannah B., who died in 1906. Benjamin H. Dodge, Co. 28th Maine Regiment of Vol- unteers, 1827-1903, and his wife, Lucinda T., 1831-1911, are buried here. Deacon Dodge was a prominent member of the Baptist church and a deacon for many years. He served as clerk of the church for a long time and the records of the church in his clear and beautiful handwriting are preserved. Deacon Dodge used to go from house to house with a quantity of small
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wares-buttons, elastic, stationery, sewing materials, etc .- which in those days were not always to be found in the village stores and which the housewives were very glad to have brought to their doors. He also oiled and regulated clocks which was a great convenience to his customers. Frequently his stores in- cluded some candy and the children were always delighted to see him approaching.
Mrs. Dodge was an energetic and capable woman, foremost in good works and very hospitable. She was a native of Bucks- port.
Frank Higgins, whose wife was Eldora Lurvey, and Edward Jackson, whose wife was Agnes Lurvey Delaney (sisters), have graves in the yard and a stone is erected in memory of Daniel Wilbert Walls, who died in Miragoane, St. Domingo in 1879. His wife was Margaret Lurvey, daughter of John and Hannah, who afterwards became the wife of Henry Trundy.
Capt. Willis Carver and Theodore Farmer, first and second husbands of Lorinda Lurvey Farmer, are buried in one of the Lurvey lots.
In the northwestern corner of the yard is the Higgins lot where lie Seth Higgins, Co. E twenty-eighth Regiment of Maine Volunteers, who died in 1877 at the age of fifty-three, his wife, Emily M. Herrick, whose death occurred in 1892 at the age of sixty-one, their son William, who was drowned April 5, 1893, aged thirty-two and their nephew, Orville Young, who died at the age of thirty-one.
The grave of Ella, wife of Orlando Gott, is in this lot.
"William Farquharson, a native of Prince Edward Island, died 1900" is the inscription on one marble stone and the grave of Charles B. Young is near by, also that of Mary J. Seavey, 1837-1906. Another soldier of the Civil War rests in this yard ; Minot Getchell, Corporal Co. B. First Massachusetts Infantry.
Horace C. Brown, whose grave is here, was an interesting figure in the life of the community. He was the son of Rev. Charles Brown, who was minister of the Congregational church here for some years. His horse and cart filled with merchandise was a familiar and welcome sight to housewives of fifty years ago as his stock was varied and ample and its owner, a man of interesting qualities, who was welcomed in any of the homes.
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Many graves originally made in this yard have been removed to Mount Height but the yard is still (1938) in use and many of the lots well cared for. In 1934 the boys of the C C C camp, No. 158, rebuilt the stone wall on the eastern side of the yard and replaced the broken fence with one of neat cedar rails.
MOUNT HEIGHT CEMETERY
Mount Height cemetery may well be called a memorial to Mrs. Emily Robinson Farnsworth, through whose efforts the land was bought and the yard laid out. Mrs. Farnsworth used to say in her inimitable way that "the living can speak for them- selves but I am looking out for the dead."
There were several small burying grounds in the town and many private ones but there was need of a public cemetery. None of the burial places could be enlarged as the owners of the adjoining properties would not sell.
Mrs. Farnsworth raised money for the purchase of a new fence for the High Road burying ground and she also raised funds for the purchase of a new hearse to replace the ancient one purchased long before by the Ladies Benevolent Society of Manset.
After some years of searching for a suitable place that could be bought for this purpose, Mrs. Farnsworth was able to pur- chase from the Brown family, the dry and sandy hill to the left of the road to Bass Harbor which had been known for years as Hio. A company was formed for its purchase and in 1900 the first graves were made there.
Many graves have been removed from private burying grounds and from those that are neglected and many families from other towns have purchased lots. The boundaries have been several times enlarged.
FERNALD FARM BURYING GROUND
There were a number of graves made on the Fernald Farm, all members of the Fernald family or connections. The first one was probably that of Liab Gott, son of Stephen and Patience Gott, who died by accident in 1789. Sally Lurvey Ladd Gott,
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first wife of the second Liab Gott, died May 20, 1816, and was buried there. She was the daughter of Jacob and Hannah Lur- vey and was born in Newbury, Mass., June 22, 1786. She died when twin daughters were born.
Sarah Wasgatt Gott, second wife of Liab Gott, died in 1827 or 28 and was buried here. Andrew Tarr, Sr., was buried here and Patience Gott Tarr, born Aug. 18, 1737, died in October of 1824 or 25 and was laid to rest here on the land which had been her home for her lifetime.
Tobias Fernald, first of the name to be at Southwest Harbor, died about 1839 and his wife, Comfort Tarr Fernald, died in February of 1848. This farm had been her home all her life.
Eben Fernald, son of Tobias and Comfort, died in 1884 as did also his wife, Sophronia Wasgatt, and they were laid in the family lot by the side of the year-old son John who died in 1857.
There were graves of several children and some unidentified graves in two different places on the land. When the farm was sold (1921) and passed out of the possession of the Fernald family the graves were removed ; some taken to the Gilley bury- ing ground and others to Mount Height.
SEAWALL CEMETERIES
On the road to Seawall there is a small private burial plot be- longing to members of the Moore family who owned the land when the first graves were made there. The stones record the names of Joseph Moore, died Nov. 17, 1872, aged seventy-nine years. His wife, Joann S., died Jan. 19, 1863, aged sixty-six years. There are the graves of Melville Moore ; Lanie F., daugh- ter of Joseph and Joann Moore, died Sept. 19, 1862, aged twenty- one years ; Margaret S., daughter of the same, died 1866, aged forty-seven and Ferdinand P., son of Joseph and Joann Moore, died at State Hospital, New Haven, Conn., Oct. 3, 1872, aged fifteen years. Another record is that of John S. Moore, who died in 1914 at the age of eighty-six years.
The Newman cemetery is also at Seawall and is some dis- tance from the road. It is quite overgrown with bushes. It is on land originally belonging to the Newman family which
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name is most frequent on the stones there. The following names are recorded on the markers of marble or granite :
Sans Stanley, born 1827, died 1900.
Halsey Stanley died 1880, aged twenty-six. He was lost on the schooner Kate Newman with others from Southwest Harbor and his body was washed ashore and brought home.
John Stanley, 2nd, died June 28, 1866, aged thirty-three.
Samuel S. Stanley, drowned on Georges Banks, April 2, 1871, aged twenty-eight.
Capt. Sans Stanley, born May 14, 1791, died July 26, 1858.
Fanny S. Dolliver. Passed to a higher life, Mar. 23, 1866, in her forty-first year.
Fanny, wife of Capt. Sans Stanley, died Nov. 19, 1849, aged fifty-two.
Anne Hodgdon died 1846, aged twenty-six.
Adelbert Newman died 1871, aged seventeen.
Archie Newman died 1889, aged seventeen.
Alma Newman died 1863, aged four years.
Emily Newman died 1850, aged twenty-two years.
Dolly Newman died 1878, aged eighty-seven.
Thomas Newman died 1875, aged seventy-five. John E. Stanley, born 1850, died 1908. Fanny Billings died 1880, aged sixty-three.
Harvel D. Stanley died 1869, aged thirty-three.
Annie Torrey died 1907, aged sixty-three.
Benjamin S. Newman, born 1814, died 1887. John Stanley died 1867, aged sixty-one.
Mary E., wife of Guy V. Young, died 1901. Betsey L., wife of Thomas Moore, died 1904. Alvah Dolliver died 1896, aged forty-four.
Abraham Morris died 1885, aged seventy-two.
Susan, wife of Abraham Morris, died 1898, aged seventy-six.
Thomas S., son of John Jr. and Fanny Dolliver, died 1849; and Julia S. A., daughter of John Jr. and Fanny Dolliver, died 1849. These two little graves are side by side. Capt. Benjamin A. Moore died 1898. His wife, Julia A., died 1909. Lydia Dolliver died 1845.
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Rachel Moore, wife of Philip Moore, died 1825. Welch Moore died Feb. 7, 1845, aged forty-two. Thomas Moore died 1858, aged forty-seven. Samuel Moore died 1839, aged sixty-eight.
Sarah Moore died 1861, aged eighty-eight.
Gilbert H. Moore who fell in defence of his country, May 16, 1864, aged 23. On same monument Ezekiel Moore died 1899. His wife Mary died 1887.
There are a few grass grown graves in a clearing near the gravel pit at Seawall on land where once John S. Dolliver lived. The stones bear the names of John S. Dolliver who died Jan. 22, 1864, aged 63 years and that of his wife Fanny who died Sept. 13, 1875 at the age of 73.
Near by are the last resting places of two children of William H. and Mary S. Dolliver-Hattie F. and Aggie S. and the grave of Edward Dolliver whose stone bears the words "California Pioneer." The older residents of the vicinity say that several graves of the family of James Gott are in this spot but no stones mark their places.
TREMONT CEMETERY
In the Tremont cemetery are the names of Benson, Daws, Moore, Sawyer, Holden, Watson, Mitchell, Abbott, Rich, Clark, Albee, Norwood, Dodge, McDonald, Kittredge, Booth and others. One stone is marked "Robert Stevens, died August 4, 1866 on board barque Maria Scammell on voyage from Valparaiso to Boston aged forty five."
The earliest date is 1850 on a stone at the grave of the son of John S. Dodge who died in that year at the age of five years. Mr. Dodge himself died August 5, 1854 from injuries received on board his ship. He was warping in the vessel to the wharf at Clark's Cove, Southwest Harbor, when the heavy rope some- how caught him, wrapped around his legs and the whole weight of the ship crushed his legs so that he died in a short time at the home of Nathan Clark where he was taken. The nearest doctor was at Ellsworth and a boy was sent there on horseback with orders to ride at top speed, but when the doctor arrived Capt. Dodge had died. He was a man of ability and was the first
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chairman of the board of selectmen in the new town when Tre- mont was set off as a town from Mount Desert in 1845. His clear and fine handwriting is in existence on the early town books. His death was a heavy loss to the community.
The Clarks were descendants of the pioneer Nathan Clark who came to Southwest Harbor from Sharon, Mass., in the early days of the settlement of the island. His son Eaton settled at the head of Bass Harbor where he had a tide mill, built vessels and carried on several kinds of business giving employment to many men. The Sawyer family has been connected with the history of the town since its earliest days as have also many of the other names recorded here.
BERNARD CEMETERY
This little burial place on the right hand side of the road leading to Bernard village was laid out in the early 1850's as a private family cemetery for members of the Rich family on whose land it was, but the friends and neighbors were permitted to lay their dead there. The earliest grave marked is that of Margaret Hamblen, who died in 1851 at the age of four years.
Ann B. Roamer's death occurred in 1858 and that of her in- fant child, Angus M., in 1854.
The stone in memory of Tyler E. Rich records that he was "killed at the Battle of the Wilderness" in 1864, aged twenty-two years.
Francis K. Young, a soldier of the Aroostook War, died in 1890 and his second wife, Mary Ann, died in 1874.
The resting place of Capt. Elias Rich is in the upper row of graves. He died Dec. 14, 1867, at the age of eighty-eight. A dis- coloration of the stone which frequently appears on marble has assumed the outline of a crowned head quite plainly to be seen from the road. After this had appeared the neighbors of this good old man recalled that he used often to express the hope of "being privileged to wear a crown of glory in the world to come" when he gave his testimony at the weekly prayer meeting which he faithfully attended, and superstitious ones whispered that this was something supernatural. Holman F. Day has written a poem about this stone but has used his license as a poet to write
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without strict adherence to the truth. Instead of being "on the town" as the poem states, Capt. Rich amassed considerable prop- erty which was inherited by his heirs. Many stories have been told about the stone-some that the face is an exact likeness of Capt. Rich and that the stone marking the grave of his good wife Sally, who died in 1882 at the age of ninety, also had a likeness of her, but this is not true.
The poem by Holman F. Day is given here as a curiosity but not because it is true.
"HEAVENLY CROWN" RICH
Elias Rich would kneel at night by the wooden kitchen chair, He would clutch the rungs and bow his head and pray his bed- time prayer.
And his prayer was ever the same old plea, repeated for two- score years :
"Oh, Lord Most High, please hear my cry from this vale of sin and tears.
I haint no 'count and I haint done much that's worthy in Thy sight,
But I've done the best that I could, dear Lord, accordin' to my light.
I've done as much for my feller man as really, Lord, I could,
Consid'rn' my pay is a dollar a day and I've earnt it choppin' wood.
I've never hankered no great on earth for more'n my food and. roof,
And all of the meat that I've had to eat was cut near horn or hoof ;
But I thank Thee, Lord, that I've earnt my way and I haint got 'on the town'
And when I die I know that I shall sartin wear a crown."
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Whenever he mumbled his simple prayer in the kitchen by his chair,
Aunt Rich would rattle the supper pans and sniff with a scornful air.
She'd never "professed" as the saying is, she never had felt a "call",
And she constantly prodded Elias with, "'Taint prayer that counts, it's sprawl."
There are some who are born for the pats of life and some for the cuffs and whacks.
Elias fought the wolf of want as best he might with his axe; He even aided with scanty store some desolate Tom or Jim,
But at last when his poor old arms gave out no hands were reached to him.
Folks said that a man who was paralyzed required some special care,
And allowed that the poor farm was the place; so they carried the old folks there.
'Twas a heavy cross for Elias' wife but Elias ne'er complained, To all of her frettings he made reply; "When our Heavenly Home is gained,
'Twill be the sweeter for troubles here and though we're on the town,
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