Tombstone Tuesday - Donald's Barry and Coughlin Lines

Calvary Cemetery, Queens, NY, 1 July 2019

This headstone is located at Calvary Cemetery in Queens, NY which has the largest number of interments of any cemetery in the United States according to Wikipedia. I'm 99% sure that I could lead you straight to any headstone in my family that I have personally visited but I am also 100% sure that I could not find this stone again without help. The size of this cemetery is breathtaking.

I don't remember exactly when I first saw a photo of this stone, but I do remember seeing it in person two years ago and being flabbergasted at the size of it. I guess I shouldn't have been so surprised, I mean how would you get all of that information on a "standard" headstone? That said, I'm sharing this particular photo with Donald standing next the stone so that you can get a good idea of its' size; Donald is 5'9".

This is one of my favorite headstones. It records 11 burials, three surnames, some family relationships, the purchasers of the stone, a home parish across the ocean, civil war service, the heartbreaking loss of young children, and it contains some great headstone symbols. It also reminds us never to assume that something "written in stone" is correct since Donald's 2nd great-grandmother's name is recorded three times with two different spellings.

The draped urn at the top of the stone is fairly common, representing the death of the flesh and the veil between the living and the dead. Interestingly, there are many interpretations of the IHS monogram and there is no way to know which motivated Winifred and Ann's choice. A blog post on this symbol can be found here. Between the two columns of names on the stone is a stem of ivy, which symbolizes long lasting connections, very appropriate for this plot. I assume the flourishes were just decorative and haven't found anything to tell me otherwise, but if do, I'll try to remember to update this post.

One of the goals of my current research on this part of Donald's family is to match the information found here to other records. Hopefully, I'll be able to share that soon.

Getting my Genealogy Groove Back

Linea Vulgaris, better known as Butter and Eggs. Prince Edward Island, Canada

I was giving my blog a little makeover last week and realized it had been almost a year since my last post. I'm not sure if it is good or bad that it doesn't seem close to that, but it is what it is.

I dipped my toe back into research a couple of months ago, starting with Donald's Irish ancestors in NYC and subscribing again to Find My Past. Nothing like some great parish records and confusing census records (are they sons??? are they nephews???) to get the juices flowing again. Next it was a membership to the New York Genealogical & Biographical Society (NYG&B) and a ticket to their virtual New York State Family History Conference.

Researching Donald's family after so much time away from any research made me realize that my process needs some tweaking. I've been doing a little work in Evernote and downloaded Clooz, which I am trying out in a free two week trial, and in a case of perfect timing, watching a series of Lisa Louise Cooke's weekly live videos (Thursday's at noon, Eastern) on how she avoids BSO rabbit holes, how she uses Evernote and her research process.

I also joined WikiTree last week, and lastly, I just registered for the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa's conference (Irish Lines and Female Finds) which starts in a few days. It's a great deal at just $45 Canadian which today was just over $37 US.

WikiTree has been doing some fun stuff lately, working on the brick walls of some well-known genealogists and making great finds. Definitely worth checking out.

Well, I am off to watch that Lisa Louise Cooke video, but if anyone reading this has tried or currently uses Clooz, I would love to hear your experiences with it. Hope to post again soon!