New England Cemeteries are gorgeous in the fall.

Leaves cover the ground, trees light with color and old trees stand as they have for hundreds of years…well, at least they look as if they have.

I have strolled through so many times. I have visited headstones more times than I can count, but that was years ago and before I started formally recording my family information. Now, armed with only a phone, I visited with the purpose of photographing what resting places I could find.

I have only started my work in Cemeteries. Here, in Abington,Massachusetts, I know that my Maternal > Paternal line, Balentine/Whitman rest here. I come from William L. Balentine who passed in 1941.

I found the Headstone of my Great Uncle Gilbert and his wife, which was nice. I didn’t know they were buried here.

William’s wife, Laura Whitman Balentine, she died of TB as a young mother. Verbal history states that there was no money for a gravesite, so her sister Blanch, married to a Wyatt, offered a spot in their plot.Interestingly, no one ever marked the spot and it has remained unmarked every since.

At near the other end of the cemetery, I did find the Wyatt section. Laura’s father, Alfred Whitman was also buried in the Wyatt plot, originally unmarked.I was happy to see a ground stone now placed there. I wonder where Alfred’s wife Mary is buried.

The Wyatt headstone is the one in the middle of the two bushes. Alfred rests where the flowers are sitting and Laura rests behind him.

Verbal history tells us that there was a request to move Laura to join her husband. They were told that too many years had passed and such a move would be impossible. Still, no one marked Laura’s gravesite. At least her father is now marked and we know that Laura rests behind him.

If you want to visit them, I took photos to help with directions. William Balentine and sons are buried at the Pearl Street end of the cemetery on a road entitled Hawthorn Rd. They rest immediately behind the Hawthorne sign.

To help find the Wyatts, I stood in front of their plot, looked to my left and saw the large tomb building. I thought that a good landmark. So find that first and mimic this photo.

Once what you see looks like this picture, you are standing in front of them. Alfred Whitman has a ground stone.

Laura rests in the empty space immediately behind him. It’s nice to know she rests with her father. I do still wonder where her mother lays. And Laura needs a stone to mark her grave. Investigation continues.

Views: 494

Now, lets look at Laura’s husband. My Great Grandfather, Bill Balentine’s mother died when he was 10. His son and namesake, Bill Jr, had his Mom die at 10 years old. Bill’s father, Elijah, had his mother die when he was 4 years old, and his father Elijah Sr, had his mother die when he was 2. That is 4 generations in a row where the mother died leaving motherless children.

So we have 3 lines of motherless girls marry into 4 lines of motherless sons.

When I started my dive into family history, the genealogists that I happened to met along the way warned me of patterns.Look for them, they said as they would make for the best stories.

Views: 323

I am sure he must have enjoyed painting a picture of himself as someone who had the courage and whimsy to name themselves after their beer, marry an Indian and be chased out of the tribe. But then there are always people like me who come along with a drive and focus to sort out real history and quite frankly ruin really good stories like this. I have to admit, if I could have lunch with anyone in history, he is at the top of my list. I wish I had known him.

I am also reminded that in a group photo he is seen posed with a dress form. His explanation was she was the only woman who would stay with him. My Grandfather told me that his Dad, Bill was quite the prankster.

So now I had the pleasure of attempting to document his lineage. Diving deep into research, I come up only with a mess. I have him as William, William L,. William Loring, William E., Willie E. and William Lorin. I had birthdates spanning a near decade and lots of mistaken written accounts online from other distant family members. Attempting to match names and dates and verify anything at all become close to hilarious.Should I be looking for Indians after all? Add that there seems to be hundreds of William Balentines in Maine, multiple Elijahs,all living in the same area, it seemed difficult to tease out my specific William Balentine.

But my task is complete. I have pulled up enough documentation by way of Census records, Social Security cards, marriage, death, and cross referencing others that were closely related to him. I am confident that I figured him out.

His Father is Elijah J Balentine of York, Maine, originally born in Bethel. Elijah named his son William E. Balentine. We don’t know what E. stood for. We do know that Elijah nicknamed his son,Willie. And for the rest of his life in Maine, he is Willie E. When he comes for Massachusetts, he then goes by Bill in oral history and William Loring on records. Loring was not his given middle name but he assumed it later in life.  He had other relatives that had Loring as a middle name so I wonder the reason. I also wonder if changing from Willie to Bill is the basis for the story about name changes. No way to know.

I have a photo of my Grandfather. I also have Bill, his Dad and now I have Elijah, his grandfather.

I  am continuing to prove this line. Once I am past Elijah, the next few generations have lots of records data so they are easy. Then I hit a line David Balentine that offers a name with no dates, spouse or death. That will be one that requires some real investigation.

And the immigrant, George Balentine of whom I am told received a grant from the King in Virginia doesn’t appear to be right either. If this immigrant is true, he was actually an indentured servant who came over as young man from Scotland lived as a servant to Mr. Burrows and then was released 3 years early in his contract as Mr. Burrows died. He then married a widow, had 10 children and bought land later in life.

We will see as the story unfolds. But for today I am happy to know that Bill was once a boy named Willie.

Views: 4249