Be Sure to Visit my new 1900 Galveston Storm Website at: http://freepages.genealogy.rootseb.com/~barnette 

NEW ENGLAND CEMETERY ART UNIQUE

 New England cemetery art is a curious, but, serious pastime of many in New England and elsewhere. The symbolism found in gravestone carved artwork is a unique and macabre form of art peculiar to the New England region. While many people study the art, some study the carvers. Others suggest to only way to go is study both together.

 Initially, following English custom,  the very early graves of New England were marked with "coffin rails" or "leaping boards". These wooden markers were formed by placing an upright log or squared beam at each end of the grave. The two ends were connected by one or two connecting rails  resembling a section of a fence. While none of the rails survive today, it is known from historic records they were often painted and carved.

 During the 1640's early New Englanders began using raw fieldstone boulders with crudely carved initials and dates to mark graves. By the 1650's they learned to smooth one side of the fieldstone to create a better carving surface. By the late 1650's they progressed to the familiar bedboard shape for tombstones which became the popular standard shape for tombstones.

 During the 1660's slate began being quarried in Charleston and on Slate Island and became the media on which many of the famous tombstones in New England are carved. It is quite common in Eastern New England to see row after row of slate tombstones touting beautifully carved symbols of skulls, crossed bones, weeping willows, hour glasses, urns and more.

GENEALOGY ON THE INTERNET

Sponsored by Houston Community College, Mic Barnette will present a one time three hour course, Surfing the Internet- For Genealogy. The course will be held on Wednesday November 15 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the HCC campus 1681 Cartwright in Missouri City. The class will consist a live tour of some of the best genealogical research websites on the Internet. For more information and to register, contact HCC at 281-835-5539.

 AMERICAN LAND RECORDS CLASS

 One of the most important methods of locating ancestors is through the land they owned. Mic Barnette will offer a two hour course on tracing ancestors through land records, American Land Records for Historians and Genealogists.

 The course will describe the land granting process and explain how property was transferred from the King or government to one person and from that person to another. The course will explain the land distribution systems prevalent in the colonial lands of the original colonies, Georgia, Texas and the Federal public land systems in the states west of the Appalachian Mountains.

 This one time class will be held from 7 P.M. to 9 P.M. Thursday, November 16 at Leisure Learning's 2990 Richmond Campus. For more information and to enroll, contact Leisure Learning at 713-529-4414.

SCHWEITZER VISITS CONROE

 One of the most informative and entertaining speakers in the country, Dr. George K. Schweitzer, will be featured at the Montgomery County Genealogical Society's Fall Seminar. The seminar will be held from 8:30 A.M. to 4:30 P.M. at the new Lone Star Convention & Expo Center, 9055 Airport Road (FM 1484) in Conroe on Saturday November 18.

 Schweitzer will deliver two sessions on Migration Routes and Settlement Patterns and a third session on Georgia Genealogical Research. For more information visit the MCG&HS website at http://www.rootsweb.com/~txmcghs/index.htm , email mcghs@yahoo.com or call the Montgomery County Genealogical Library at 936-788-8363. The postal address of the society is MCG&HS, P.O. Box 867, Conroe, TX 77305-0867.

NEWS FROM THE BOOK SHELF

 Betty J. Bouchard has revised and expanded her excellent book, Our Silent Neighbors: A Study of Gravestones in the Old Salem Area. The book is available for $6.95, plus postage, from The Depot Group, 191 Essex Street, Salem, MA 01970.

 New Englanders from the Salem area, those who expect to go to the Salem area or anyone interested in cemetery art will love this book. The book is a guide to the cemeteries, cemetery art and tombstone carvers of the Salem, Danvers, Marblehead and Beverly, Massachusetts area.

 Bouchard begins her book with a general chapter describing the symbolism found in New England cemetery art and a short discussion on the stone carvers who carved them. As she describes each cemetery in the four featured towns, she focuses on selected examples of cemetery artwork, their symbolic meanings and identifies the carver. Photographs are included to visually depict what is being stated in the text. The book is excellent, particularly when the price is considered.

 Another excellent book about cemeteries is Galveston County Tombstone Inscriptions, Volume IV: Galveston Memorial Park 1952-1962. It is available for $35 from the publisher, Texas City Ancestry Searchers, P.O. Box 3301, Texas City, TX 77592-3301.

 The book covers burials which occurred in Galveston Memorial Park between 1952 and 1962. The compilers began their information gathering with the cemetery office's burial cards. Often included with the burial card was a newspaper obituary. From the office, the compilers visited the gravesite where information was gleaned from the tombstone and the physical condition of the grave. The book is alphabetically arranged and contains the name of the deceased, name of lot owner, date and place of death, date and place of birth, the grave location and other available information.