The Cherry Hill Cemetery’s location adjacent to the Addison Gilbert Hospital makes it somewhat more intriguing than some others, especially in light of the report on FindAGrave.com come which states, in part: Its proximity to the Addison Gilbert Hospital was convenient during times of epidemic when large numbers of bodies were reportedly buried in a common grave. Epidemics and pandemics are on our minds lately and it did seem that many of the burials were for the 1918-19 time period, but that was likely my imagination……..
The cemetery is very steep and uneven. Sections are not easily identified, except for the Firefighters’ Memorial. It is currently a bit overgrown, but so are we all these days. Despite hospital busy-ness and nearby traffic, I found it peaceful there on this beautiful morning. However, I was a bit winded by the climb and careful stepping. The worn sign seems to indicate it was established in 1865, but the Guide to Cemeteries in Essex County, Massachusetts (by the Essex Society of Genealogists) indicated it may have been established around 1823. There is a nice variety of stones, not many slate ones though. It’s not very easy to determine the growth of the cemetery as stones dated many years ago find themselves among more recent ones.
As I have mentioned before, FindAGrave supplies family historians with a place to search cemeteries for loved ones as well as to request photos of gravestones. It was with this purpose that we went today. “Cemetery Stomping” is a great activity during virus isolation. Armed with the FindAGrave list of about 55 photo requests, we started off in search of them. We were VERY lucky on this trip to have been able to fulfill 7 of those requests. It is not uncommon to leave a cemetery empty handed in the photo department, but today we were blessed with extraordinary luck.
I was even able to recognize some names from my own tree and took a couple of extra photos to add to the FindAGrave database. Coincidentally, two of the names that we were not able to find on this trip included Nellie and Frank Tyne, the grandparents of my featured soldiers Jeffrey Gordon Tyne and Gordon A. Tyne. I guess we’ll be going back! I’d really like to locate the Tynes.
Good Morning Gloucester 