cemetery at the green (parish cemetery), middleboro, ma

I happened to be going through Middleboro again last week, and took the kids on a letterbox that was located at the Cemetery at the Green, also known as Parish Cemetery. After looking up where Priscilla (Raymond) Glazier was buried, I knew we would be looking for her here. Luckily we found her pretty quickly. A friend brought me to an older section of the graveyard and we first came across her brother Zephania Ellis Raymond. I knew she would be close by, and there she was. I was so excited I instantly started snapping pictures.

in memory of / priscilla s / wife of benj a glasur / who died / march 24 1832 / aged 33 years

z. ellis raymond / died mar 31 / 1873 / aged 71 yrs

My goal in finding Priscilla was to find her parents Samuel and Sylvia Raymond or her sister Silvia (Raymond) McConihe. I have no idea which cemetery they are buried in, but was hoping they might be with Priscilla. However, I was not able to find them in our brief visit.

I have mentioned before that I feel there must be a connection to Harlows, Shaws, and Ellis surnames with either Sylvia (Dunham) Raymond or Samuel Raymond as they named some of their children with these middle names. In some of Sylvia's children's death records, her maiden name is listed as Shaw. I have been going by her marriage record, which lists her maiden name as Dunham, assuming that to be more accurate as she probably recorded her name herself. Of course there is always a possibility of error, so I am keeping both options open for her maiden name. I did notice around Priscilla and Zephania's headstones other stones with the names of Harlow and Shaw. I took some pictures and made some connections between this Harlow family and Shaw family that is buried around them, but I still have not been able to connect them to either Samuel or Sylvia.

Located in the same area of Priscilla and Z. Ellis were many Harlow headstones. I looked into vital records on familysearch.org to try to understand their relationship, and I came up with the following. William Harlow died in 1793 and is buried at the Cemetery at the Green with his wife, Hannah Bartlett.

in memory of / Mr. William Harlow / ?

in memory of / mrs Hannah Harlow / wife of / Mr. William Harlow / who died April 1787 / ?

I was also able to find 5 of their children also buried here:

Joseph (1739-1759)

Ezra (1741-1808)

Mary (1745-1829)

William (1748-1780)

Josiah (1750-1798)

William and Hannah Harlow also had at least two other children, Hannah and Ephraim, but I did not see their headstones. Hannah Harlow's married Josiah Clarke, and it is very possible I missed their headstones as I was not looking for Clarkes at this time. Their daughter (William Harlow's granddaughter), Deborah Clarke; however, is buried close to the Harlow family at the cemetery. The Shaw connection comes along when William's granddaughter, Deborah Clarke, marries Elijah Shaw.

deborah / wife of / elijah shaw / born mar 27 1770 / died mar 21 1864

in the memory of / elijah shaw / who died / dec 14 1840 / aged 77 years

Deborah and Elijah Shaw had four children that I found in the records, at least one of which, Elijah Shaw, is also buried at this cemetery:

elijah shaw / died / june 26 1858 / aged 62 years

The Elijah Shaw that marries Deborah would have been about the same age as my Sylvia (Dunham) Raymond. Since there is some evidence that Sylvia could be a Shaw, I looked at Elijah's family to see if he maybe had a sister Sylvia born around Sylvia's birth year. Elijah Shaw's parents are Elijah Shaw and Phebe Sampson. I checked some family trees on ancestry.com to quickly see if there was a Sylvia born to this couple. According to these family trees, they did have many children, but none named Sylvia. This obviously is not proof that Sylvia was not a child of theirs, I will want to find a probate record of Elijah to see if there is any mention of Sylvia or any Dunhams. I would also need to go a step further back and look to see if Elijah had any brothers that had children named Sylvia. I realize this is a reach, as I have not even looked at probate and land records for the Dunhams in Plymouth County, but I will eventually do that too. Maybe there is a Dunham out there that married a Shaw in Middleboro and Plymouth area. I have not found one yet, but that might explain why Shaw was listed as Sylvia's maiden name, maybe it was her mother's maiden name.

I am guessing someday I will find the connection between these families and perhaps Sylvia (Dunham) Raymond, but so far I have not. I did notice in the Cemeteries in Southeastern MA book, there is a small cemetery in Plymouth with many Harlows, Ellis, and Shaws buried together. That will be another stop next time we are in the area.

central cemetery middleboro, ma

Yesterday we were driving home from buying some very delicious peaches at Ashley's Peaches in Acushnet and we decided to stop at a cemetery in Middleboro on the way home. I was not sure which cemetery one of my Raymond ancestors was buried at (Priscilla (Raymond) Glaziur - my 4th great grandaunt), but I knew it was one in Middleboro.

I had borrowed the book, Old Cemeteries of Southeastern Massachusetts, from the library a couple of months back and found Priscilla listed. I was hoping that if I found Priscilla I may also find her parents, my 5th great grandparents, Cynthia (Dunham) Raymond and her husband Samuel Raymond. From memory, I thought the cemetery was Central Cemetery, so we stopped there and walked around looking for any Dunhams, Raymonds, or Glaziurs. There were some Dunhams and some Raymonds, but they were not familiar names to my tree and the deaths were more recent than what I was looking for. We did not find Priscilla either, but we had all four of our children with us and it was a hot day. Needless to say we did not look at every headstone.

I took some pictures of the headstones but none are in my family. I looked up my notes for Priscilla, and found we were at the wrong cemetery anyway. Priscilla is buried at the cemetery at the green - which I believe is now Parish Cemetery. I had my iPhone with me at the time and could have looked this information up on my previous blog post, but I did not. That is fine though, as no cemetery walk is wasted. Next time I will stop at the Parish Cemetery though and hopefully find Priscilla.

Here are some pictures of some Dunhams and Raymond headstones:

samuel raymond and sylvia dunham

My 5th great grandfather, Samuel Raymond, married Sylvia Dunham on May 21, 1798 in Middleborough, MA (note 1). This date is recorded in the Town of Middleboro Vital Records Index: 1649 - 1945, on the Middleborough's Public Library Digital Library section. The Vital Records of Middleborough, as published on americanancestors.org, states that their marriage took place on either April 21, 1798 or May 21, 1798. I am not sure which date is accurate, I would have to look at the original records. On the May 21st entry, the top entry on that page states "A list of marriages solemnized by Rev. Joseph Barker", who was from the First Congregational Church of Middleboro, Massachusetts. Information on this church is included in the book First Church in Middleborough, Mass., which is available on ancestry.com. There is also a discussion of different sections of Middleborough and other churches on page 63 of this book. Oddly, I did not find Sylvia or Samuel's names on the catalog of members in the First Church from this book on ancestry (note 2).

The record of their marriage states Samuel and Sylvia were both of Middleborough, so they were at least living in Middleborough before they were married; but I am not sure if they were born in the town. I also do not know how old they were when they were married as I have not been able to locate birth records for either one (note 3). They probably remained in Middleborough throughout their married life as all of their children have birth records from the town, as recorded on the americanancestors.org database and the Index on the Middleborough public library's website. The first child I found a record for was Sarah, born in 1801. The couple continued to have 8 more children, for a total of at least 9 by 1819. The records only show one child who died in childhood, Lewis, at almost two years old in 1817.

Since Samuel and Sylvia were married in 1798, I looked in the 1800 census for them in the town of Middleborough. There are two Samuel Raymond's listed on the same page. The first Samuel Raymond has 1 male and 1 female between 16-25 and one male and one female 45 or over. This couple would probably be too old to be Samuel and Sylvia (note 4). The other Samuel Raymond has a 2 notation after his name, which would correspond to our Samuel's marriage record as the 2nd (note 5). In this household there are 2 females under 10 and 1 male and 1 female between the ages of 26-44. The latter family matches Samuel and Sylvia better, as it is possible that they had two children by the time the 1800 census was taken in August, 1800. I do not see any birth records in the Middleborough records for children of Samuel and Sylvia before their daughter Sarah in 1801, but it is possible these births were not recorded. Some genealogy books have Samuel and Sylvia with an oldest daughter Priscilla (note 6). There is not another Samuel Raymond in the Middleborough town records having children after 1785, which makes it even more likely that this family is Samuel and Sylvia in Middleborough. I cannot really gather where they are living in Middleborough, as the order of enumeration of the 1800 Middleborough census is strange; mostly alphabetical within groups. The groups themselves are not arranged alphabetically though, so perhaps they are by areas of the town.

I did not find Samuel and Sylvia in the 1810 census for Middleborough, so I broadened my search for all Samuel Raymond's in Plymouth County. One did show up in Wareham, a town right next to Middleborough. At first I did not think this would be their family, but after looking at the household it does seem to match up. There are 4 males under 10 (Zephania, John, Edson and Samuel), 1 male 26-44 (Samuel), 1 female under 10 (Sarah), 1 female 10-15 (Priscilla), and 1 female 26-44 (Sylvia). The other older daughter from the 1800 census would also have been between the ages of 10-15, but not enumerated. She may have died by 1810, as she would have been too young to marry. I do find it strange that Samuel and Sylvia's family is living in Wareham, perhaps they lived on the Middleborough/Wareham line or maybe the moved to the town of Wareham. I looked in the vital records for Wareham to see if there was a Samuel Raymond having children during this time to make sure I did not have the wrong Samuel, and there does not seem to be another one in this town. I also looked at the 1800 census for Wareham, and again there is no Samuel Raymond. It is likely that this is Samuel and Sylvia. The 1810 Census for Wareham does not seem to be alphabetical, which gives us a better idea of who Samuel's neighbors were. He is enumerated near Joshua Raymond, Amos Raymond, and another Raymond (illegible), all with young children. If they were all living on the same farm or near each other, perhaps they were brothers.

The only military action that Middleborough saw during Samuel's adult life was the War of 1812. The book, The History of the Town of Middleboro, Massachusetts, has a great excerpt (p 158) about how this war affected the town of Middleborough, and probably reflects how Samuel viewed the war.



This book also contains a list of Middleborough men that were enlisted in companies for the War of 1812; Samuel Raymond is not one of them. The only Raymond listed was a Zenas Raymond, I am not sure of his relation to Samuel, if any. There is also a Calvin Dunham, perhaps a relation to Sylvia.

By the 1820 census, Samuel and Sylvia seem to be back in Middleborough. There are 10 people living in the household, 3 males under 10 (Eleazer, Benjamin, Samuel), 1 male 10-15 (Edson), 1 male 16-18 (John), males 16-25 (Zephania), 1 male over 45 (Samuel), 1 female under 10 (Sylvia), 1 female 16-25 (Sarah), and 1 female 45 and over (Sylvia). The oldest daughter from the 1800 and 1810 censuses, probably Priscilla, is most likely married by 1820 and not listed with the family. This family is again enumerated next to Joshua Raymond and Amos Raymond's family, indicating this is most likely the same family in 1810 in Wareham, probably on the same land. Maybe the enumerator made a mistake and they were in fact in Middleborough in 1810, not Wareham; or maybe the census was simply filed incorrectly. Further down the page, I do see a Jonathan Dunham, perhaps a relation to Sylvia. Other than that, I do not see many Dunhams enumerated in the same area as Samuel and Sylvia, most likely they are living on land from Samuel's family (note 7). I have not yet seen any connections to Sylvia's family.

Samuel and Sylvia are still in Middleborough in the 1830 census. The household contains 2 males 10-14 (Eleazer and Benjamin), 2 males 20-29 (prob. Edson and Samuel), 1 male 60-69 (Samuel), and 1 female 50-59 (Sylvia). Many of their children are older and married now and have their own homes. I did find their oldest son Zephania living in Plymouth with his new family. The other Raymonds are not on the same page as Samuel any longer, but there are two Alden Raymond's. Joshua and Amos Raymond are on the next page, along with a Levi Raymond. Either they are not living as close to each other as before or some of the censuses were not enumerated in land order. I will need to check some deed transactions for Middleborough to see if there were any land changes for these Raymonds.

Their family decreased in size by the 1840 census in Middleborough, with all but one child leaving their household. There is only 1 male 20-29 (probably Eleazer), 1 male 70-79 (Samuel), and 1 female 70-79 (Sylvia). Samuel is again enumerated next to Joshua and Amos Raymond, and also a Samuel Jr. Raymond, most likely their son. There is also a John Raymond on the same page, again probably Samuel and Sylvia's son. Their son Edson seems to be living a couple of towns over in Weymouth. I did not see a Benjamin Raymond in Massachusetts that would match their son, but it looks like he married in Abington in 1841 (note 8). Their daughter Sarah is probably married to Bradley Gay, living in Middlebrough. Their oldest daughter, Priscilla, died in 1832, but her widow, Benjamin Glasur, and therefore Samuel and Sylvia's grandchildren, are living in Middleborough also. I also did not find their oldest son Zephania Raymond in Massachusetts, however there is an Ellis Raymond living in Middleborough, perhaps he went by his middle name sometimes. Their daughter Sylvia Raymond and her husband James McConney are living in Taunton (note 9) (they are living in Abington by 1850). So it seems most of their children did not wander too far from home by 1840, with at least 2, maybe 3 sons and probably 2 daughters still living in Middleborough, and the rest in surrounding towns. I am sure Samuel and Sylvia were busy with their lives and did not travel to see their family members outside of Middleborough much, but hopefully they spent some time together.

Samuel must have died before 1850 as he is not listed in the census. His wife, Sylvia, is living with her son Edson and his family in Weymouth. This is the first US Census that enumerated every person in the household, so it is very exciting to see Sylvia's name recorded for the first time. Samuel and Sylvia lived in Middleborough together for at least 47 years (note 10). I have not found a burial location for Samuel and Sylvia. I would think that they would be buried in Middleborough, as that is where they spent their life. However; they are not listed in the book, Old Cemeteries of Southeastern Massachusetts (note 11), which has transcriptions for the cemeteries in Middleborough. The only family member I could find a burial record for in this book is Priscilla Raymond Glasur (if in fact she is their daughter). Priscilla is buried in Middleborough Green Cemetery. I will have to visit this cemetery to at least see Priscilla's grave, and hopefully find some other family members.

notes :

Without looking at land records, which I do not have access to online, the best guess for locating where in Middleborough Sylvia and Samuel Raymond may have lived is to look at where their children are living. There is a 1879 map of Middleborough on ancestry, so I looked to see if there were any descendants of Samuel and Sylvia living in Middleborough at this time. The only two I could find in the 1880 Census are their son John Raymond and their grandchild Charles Gay (Sarah's son). Perhaps either one of them is living on land handed down to them from Samuel and Sylvia. I did find a J. Raymond living on Rocky Meadow St. in Middleborough, as shown in the map below, a little below 1/2 way down, to the right of the center. (Thanks to Mark on ThinkGenealogy Blog for finding the zoom.it tool used on the map). I also placed a modern Google map under the 1879 Middleborough map.





View Larger Map


more notes:
1. The marriage record states Sylvia's last name as Dunham, but some of the death records of her children state her last name as Shaw. Shaw is also Eleazer's middle name.
2. First Church Members on the Middleborogh genealogy web page
3. On the 1850 census Sylvia's age would have her born around 1778, however estimating from the 1800-1840 census information, their ages would be as follows : Samuel between 1766-1770; Sylvia between 1771-1774.
4. A Samuel Raymond and Joanna have 9 births recorded in the Middleborough town records from 1768-1785 (from the Digital Library index to Middleborough's vital records on the Middleborough Public Library), which would make their two youngest children 15 and 18 (both boys) in the 1800 census, and their next youngest girl born in 1777, age 23 in 1800. Most likely this is the family enumerated above Samuel 2nd. Probably not Samuel's father as their son Samuel dies in 1795 - interesting that our Samuel is listed as the 2nd, maybe this is his uncle.
5. This index states Samuel Raymond is a 2nd, however the Raymond genealogoy books state his father is Joshua. Maybe 2nd refers to him being the younger Samuel in town.
6. The book, Genealogies of the Raymond families of New England, 1630-1 to 1886:... discussed Samuel and Sylvia's family on page 135, which states their eldest daughter was Priscilla who married Benjamin Glasur in 1819 in Middleborough. Priscilla Glasur dies in 1832 in Middleborough. This book does not mention another older daughter.
7. 1798 direct tax lists these brothers on father Joshua's land
8. Benjamin is living in Abington in the 1850 Census, same town as his sister Syliva Raymond McConney. Benjamin moved his family (wife Almira and 5 children) to Le Roy, Minnesota in 1860 Census, perhaps after his mother Sylvia died. I wrote another post about a Raymond/McConney family that were also in the 1860 Le Roy Minnesota Census. (Benjamin is the Uncle of Winslow Raymond who went to Minnesota in the earlier post) The Raymond Genealogy book, page 136, states Benjamin took his family out west and died around 1869 in Ohio; however he is found again in Minnesota with his family in the 1870 Census.
9. Sylvia and James Mcconihe household in 1840 Taunton 1 male 30-39 (james), 3 females under 5 (Sarah, Susan, ?), 4 females 5-9 (Lavina, Lucretia, Louisa, Sylvia), 1 female 20-29 (Sylvia) - very likely this is Sylvia's family - how many james mcconney's that have this many children so young - they had a set of twins which added to the number of young children.
10. I estimated Samuel's death as 1845, as there is a death record for a Samuel Raymond in Middleborough for 1845, in the index for the digital collection on the Middleborough Public Library. Sylvia died after 1850-1860 - could not find her in the 1860 census. She may have died in 1859 - a death record for a female Raymond without age or parental information who dies of Typhoid Fever in 1859 in Middleborough.
11. Moore, Diane L, Old Cemeteries of Southeastern Massachusetts: An Alphabetic Index.

TO DO :
1. look up Raymonds and Dunhams in Plymouth County deeds
2. go to Middleborough Green cemetery and locate Priscilla Raymond Glazier gravesite and see if other Raymonds are buried near her UPDATE: see post here
3. see if Samuel or Sylvia Raymond left any probate records
4. find the shaw/ellis/harlow connection to this family UPDATE: further information here

le roy, minnesota

Winslow Raymond and Lavina (McConihe) McConney were married 156 years ago today, February 11, 1854 in Weymouth, MA. The McConihe family has given me the most difficulty in locating their ancestors. I know that the were a Scotch-Irish (Ulster-Scots) family from the Bedford, New Hampshire area. The family most likely came with the other Scotch-Irish families from Ulster, Ireland around the early 1700s. It also looks like my direct line changed their name (officially or unofficially) at some point from McConihe to McConney, as their name in Massachusetts records gradually became the latter.

Lavina McConihe and Winslow Raymond married and lived in Middleboro, MA until about 1860, when they are found in the town of Le Roy, Minnesota for the 1860 census. Most of my ancestors stayed put in Massachusetts, so I always find it interesting when one of them ventures off to another area of the country. There is also evidence that Lavina and Winslow may have spent some time in Mississippi before they went to Minnesota, as the 1860 census states that one of their children, Maria, was born about 1859 in Mississippi. Her older siblings are listed as born in Massachusetts. According to the various censuses, they have the following children: Elva, Ellis, Maria, Susan and Rufus.

They did not stay long in Minnesota as they were back in Massachusetts as early as 1861, the year their daughter, Susan, was born. The 1865 Massachusetts census states that she was born in that state. This would imply they were only in Minnesota for a year or two. The 1865 Massachusetts census also shows us that their daughter, Maria, must have died young, as she is not listed in this state census with her family. This census, along with Winslow's civil War enlistment in 1864, also adds to the evidence that the family moved back to Massachusetts shortly after venturing to Minnesota.

I do not know what brought them to Minnesota, or what brought them back to Massachusetts, but I would like to know a little about Le Roy, the town in Minnesota they lived in according to the 1860 census. I did find some books I plan to order from the library on Mower County, Minnesota. I also found this small excerpt on google books from Collections of the Minnesota Historical Society, Volume 17, p.360 :

"Le Roy township was organized May 11 1858. Its railway village bearing the same name was platted in 1867 when this Iowa and Minnesota division of the Chicago Milwaukee and St Paul railway was built."

It would also be interesting to see the common route travelled from Massachusetts to Minnesota at this time. There are some good websites and books on frequent trails, but I had no luck finding a specific path as of yet. I will also have to get some more information on this topic.

Lavina married a second time, after her husband Winslow died. According to Genealogies of the Raymond Families of New England . . , page 155, he died in 1876 in Kansas. I have not been able to find a document to support this, but Lavina was in Massachusetts by the 1880 census and married Winslow's first cousin, Samuel D. Raymond, in 1882 in Plympton, MA. It would be interesting to see the 1875 State Census for Kansas to see if Lavina and Winslow Raymond are living in Kansas at this time.

So with all the census data, the timeline for the Raymond family would be as follows: Lavina and Winslow marry in Weymouth or Middleboro, MA in 1854; they have two children in Massachusetts in 1855 and 1857; they have one child in Mississippi in 1859; they live in Le Roy, Minnesota in 1860; they have another daughter in Massachusetts in 1861; they have another son in Massachusetts in 1864; Winslow enlists in the Civil War in Abington in 1864; they live in Abington, MA in 1865; they live in Abington, MA in 1870; Winslow dies in Kansas in 1876 (according to the Raymond Genealogy book); Lavina marris Samuel D. Raymond in Plympton, MA in 1882.

Links on Topic:
1. Scotch-Irish article in American Heritage Magazine.
2. Scotch-Irish in New England taken from The Scotch-Irish in America: Proceedings and Addresses of the Second Congress at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, May 29 to June 1, 1890

To Do List:
1. obtain books from library on Mower County.
2. obtain books on migration routes.
3. look up Lavina and Winslow Raymond in the 1875 Kansas state census.