Slice of Life.
I have been pairing quotes about poetry with images to celebrate poetry for the month of April. #NPM2018. Today’s quote is “Poetry is what we do to break bread with the dead.”
When I read Seamus Heaney‘s words, I immediately thought of this photograph that I took on a chilly October morning in the Old Common Cemetery in Lancaster, Massachusetts, while Carl and I were on a personal pilgrimage to find the resting places of thirteen of his ancestors who lived in the 1600s and 1700s. We were, in a way, on a journey to break bread with them.
“Poetry is… No. 24 ” for #NPM2018
In the photograph, Carl is reading the headstone of a grave–the large stone marker with biographical information. Growing out of the grave is a tree, and by its size, I would say the tree has been growing there for a number of years. Then if you look carefully, opposite the headstone, nestled between the roots of the tree, you’ll see a much smaller stone. Look carefully because it is a side view and the same color as the roots. It stands erect like the headstone, only much smaller. This stone marks the foot of the grave and is appropriately called the footstone. Only the name of deceased is engraved upon it.
Finding Captain Jeremiah Stiles.
We began our journey on an October morning.
Liquid gold filled the sky below us as we departed Portland.
Departure PDX. Sunrise.
We flew 3,300 air miles,
and landed in Boston beneath a sky of more liquid gold.
Arrival BOS. Sunset.
On the first day, we drove to Keene, NH.
Center of Town Square, Keene, NH
In Keene, we found the Washington Cemetery dated 1795.
The skies were heavy with rain and an early winter chill was in the air.
Leaves like golden nuggets covered the ground.
1795 – Washington Cemetery – Prison Street Yard
Entering the Washington Cemetery in Keene, NH. This is where Captain Jeremiah Stiles and his wife are buried.
Captain Jeremiah Stiles and wife, Mary Sanger Stiles. The American flag marks his grave as a Revolutionary War veteran. Captain Stiles fought at Bunker Hill.
After visiting the cemetery, we went to the local library to find old history books and more information about Captain Stiles. We were also looking for more information about Aquila Ramsdell, another ancestor who served in the Revolutionary War and also had lived in this area. (I will write more about finding Aquila Ramsdell in my next slice.)
Staircase in Keene Library, a beautiful old building. We spent about an hour pouring over some old history books, histories of the families that settled Keene and Swanzey, NH.
Page from History of Keene , a book we found in the library in Keene, NH.
Captain Jeremiah Stiles is the father of Jeremiah Stiles, Jr.
Jeremiah Stiles, Jr. is the grandfather of Lydia Stiles Taft, daughter of Charles Stiles.
Lydia Stiles Taft is the mother of Frank Stiles Taft, my husband’s maternal grandfather.
There are seven generations from Captain Stiles to my husband, from the Revolutionary War to today.
Lydia Foster Stiles Taft, born in Worcester, Massachusetts, 1839, homesteaded in the 1880s with her family in No Man’s Land — the land we know today as the Oklahoma Panhandle. She died in 1915 and is buried in Madison Cemetery, a small cemetery at the edge of a field that my husband plowed when he was a teenager, a peaceful place with unbroken horizons where five generations of my husband’s kinfolk rest.
Windmill at Sunset. Oklahoma Panhandle. Another sky of liquid gold.
Direct descendant of Jeremiah Stiles here! ( 5th great grandfather) very interesting read !
This is extremely interesting to me. I now would love to make this same trip someday.
I too am descended from Captain Jeremiah Stiles as well. His son, also named Jeremiah, had a daughter named Mary who married John Woodward. From there the family line moved to central Wisconsin where we still own the family farm.
What an amazing journey, Alice. I agree with Amanda..it is hard to believe the Revolutionary War is just 7 generations back. Beautiful pictures and story -thank you for sharing!
Thanks, Dani!
I love studying history and visiting historical sites. I daydream about the lives of those from the past, and since I recently took a stroll through our local cemetery and wrote about it, I’m fascinated by your journey. Your photos are glorious, too, and the Seamus Heaney quote is a WOW unto itself. I’m catching up on my Irish poetry to prepare for our trip to Ireland next month. Thanks for all the golden nuggets in this post.
Oh, your trip to Ireland sounds like fun! We love history and love knowing the history of places we visit… and when there are family connections, it’s even better. We’ve visited libraries, cemeteries and plots of land and old houses that once belong to the family in NH, MA, PA, IN, KS, OK–tracing the footsteps of our greats.
Thanks for sharing this journey with us – in words and pictures. I love your opening photo – someday, may my resting place also be the birthplace of a tree. And I can’t quite believe that the Revolutionary War is only 7 generations away. Amazing, really.
It is amazing! Causes the years to telescope when you think about it. And because we know family stories about those generations, the thread pulls us even closer.
I love cemetery walks, especially where there are old gravestones with verses. Oh – those lines about breaking bread with the dead! How they zing straight to my heart. What a fascinating journey of your ancestral search, beautiful in both photography and poetry. Powerful.
That’s how I felt… haunting and hopeful at the same time.
It was thrilling to “walk” with you on your journey to “break bread with the dead.” It is amazing to me that there are only 7 generations between Captain Stiles to your husband or from the Revolutionary War and today. It seems like it is a much wider chasm.
This line, “Leaves like golden nuggets covered the ground,” is very poetic. You should think about writing a poem about it or use it a “poem-starter.” Thanks for the adventurous slice.
Thank you. It is amazing. Large families and youngest child stretches a generation. I will ponder that line as a poem starter; thanks for mentioning.
Jeremiah Stiles, Jr., married Abigail Bridge, my ancestor. Loved reading your research. I, too, have been to all those places in Keene, NH, combing through the archives.
How fascinating! It is quite amazing the kind of information you can learn while walking through an old cemetery looking at headstones. I have never delved into our past, but I think it would be interesting to learn about those who came before.
It’s a most fascinating way to study history.
What a wonderful journey to history.
What an amazing journey searching for more information about your roots! And I love the thoughtful poem to capture the moment!
Your slice and your photos are wonderful. Very inspiring.